#that in order to become a better person he has to actually develop his own principles and not just adopt those of someone he considers to be

[mega-banette]

anyway i think the funniest way to hc teru as trans is to have him not know that there are trans people other than him. he woke up one day when he was 11 and was like oh of course i can be a boy i am the main character and most special person and then he just attacked anyone who said he couldn’t with his psychic powers.

[mswyrr]

The canon tragic ending of Snowbaird isn't a depiction of "What if Peeta betrayed himself and his true love and had to live without Katniss?" it's a depiction of "What if Katniss betrayed herself and her true love and had to live without Peeta?"

People want to make the parallels restricted by gender, boy compared to boy and girl to girl, but Everlark is actually a gender reversal of Snowbaird -- Katniss is the traumatized survivor who is tempted by narrowing the world down to necessity (and shutting off her own aliveness because it hurts and it's a risk to survival) and Peeta is the philosophical artist whose very presence and being invites her to open up and allow herself to feel alive inside, to take the risk of that, instead of merely surviving.

Their conversation before their first Games really drives this home:

"Who cares?" indeed. And "While I've been ruminating on the availability of trees, Peeta has been struggling with how to maintain his identity. His purity of self" is very reminiscent of conversations Lucy Gray and Coriolanus have where she's the poet, the philosopher articulating the carefully thought through inner life of the soul, and he's the person of action and pragmatism whose default in the face of exploring his own soul is often "Who cares?" Does that put food on the table? Will it keep us alive?

These qualities are meant to be in union -- they're meant to save each other. People can't actually lead a full life without developing both things (their soul and feelings and capacity for reflection and their capacity to act and be pragmatic in the world to physically survive) and being in cooperative union with others who have strengths where their weaknesses are.

Katniss and Peeta start off their first Games each seeing something different as most important -- the thing their personalities tend to make them focus on -- and it is only in their cooperative union that they are able to set the toppling of the entire tyranny in motion. Their cooperative union heals what the ruin of Lucy Gray and Coriolanus' similarly potentially fruitful union (life turned to death; food to poison) broke in the world.

Jungian concepts of the anima/animus can be gender essentialist--including requiring that someone's personality tendencies "match" their gender or else it's pathologized, which is so gross and inaccurate and bothers me as a queer woman deeply-- but if we think of these as natural components of all people that naturally vary regardless of someone's gender and need to be in balance, then -

Peeta is Katniss' anima--her dandelion in the spring, her pearl, her sunset orange gentleness that inspires her soul to come out from hiding, to reflect and feel-- in the same way Lucy Gray is Coriolanus' anima, whose music and her very being and her prioritizing of inner truth and reflective philosophy has the same effect on him. They become more themselves with their true love. The parts of themselves that hide, that they've drained energy away from in order to focus on survival, come to life.

And they are their beloveds' animus -- which is why Coriolanus goes from being a protective active agent of their survival when in a better place with Lucy Gray to becoming Bluebeard, the (attempted?) wife killer, in the worst case scenario. "[B]oth the demon and the savior are two aspects of the same inner power [of the animus]" (Marie-Louise Von Franz, Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche, Page 282) and:

"Many myths and fairy tales tell of a prince, who has been turned into an animal or a monster by sorcery, being saved by a woman. This is a symbolic representation of the development of the animus toward consciousness." ~Marie-Louise Von Franz, Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche, Page 281

Coriolanus devolves away from consciousness rather than evolving into a productive and balanced union -- he's a prince toward Lucy Gray early on in their relationship, saving and protecting and cherishing her, who becomes a beast rather than a beast who becomes a prince. (If he'd had a journey into being "cursed" by Gaul and becoming a beast BEFORE they met they could have had a happy ending where she's the heroine in a romance with her animus -- which is basically the majority of what the most beloved m/f romances are under the hood btw).

Oh and all of this is why Peeta is not and never was Katniss' "moral instructor"!! -- yes, instead of survival, his priority is inner reflection and truth. But he is not activating anything within her that wasn't already there, just in hiding and waiting to feel invited to come out and unfurl and live. She drained energy away from those parts of herself because (like Coriolanus) she was literally starving and had to put everything she was into surviving if she and those she loved were going to physically live. She does seem to be a naturally more pragmatic person -- but a healthy pragmatic person allows themselves more than mere survival. She's not choosing to be sermonized at by a "moral superior" -- she's choosing to embark on exploring and enriching her own inner life in partnership with someone who is strong in areas where she has been weak -- and when Coriolanus let himself embrace the peace and reflection that Lucy Gray seeks he wasn't finding anything there that wasn't a natural part of him too.

And both couples basically can represent (this is back to Jungian ideas) an individual human's inner psyche -- in chaos and ruin or in balance. Each of us has parts of ourselves that are in hiding and parts that dominate. And we all need to walk a path toward balance with those things. So, by splintering apart one union like that, Collins is doing something psychological and even mythological -- symbolically splintering the parts of a healthy self, splintering a balanced marriage union, and dividing core forces in the world that could be productive and fruitful against each other. So - the land becomes cursed. It all turns to poison because these forces aren't in balance. And then she shows the liberatory power of those forces, through Katniss and Peeta, fighting to be in loving union despite everything the curse and sickness of the land and the symbolically dead "Fisher King" president throws at them.

[kissedbyaphrodite]

Kyle Broflovski's got powers, and I don't see people talk about it

Okay so, I don't know if nobody's talked about this or if I'm just disconnected from the fandom. But just how many powers does Kyle Broflovski have!?!?!?!? Like, we see him having powers for the first time in The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000 (season 4 episode 1) He develops not only Personal Existence Manipulation but also Reality Warping and some sort of Omnipresence and Higher Consciousness. He develops these abilities after he discovers that the tooth fairy is not real, and he starts to question the truth of all things, including his own existence. He begins to study various��philosophies about the nature of reality. (Wikipedia plot summary). In the end of the episode, Kyle disappears into thin air while questioning his own existence, but soon reappears wielding control over all reality, even becoming a half-chicken half-squirrel beast.

Then in Cartman's Incredible Gift (Season 8 episode 13) he shows/develops psychic abilities, after jumping of a roof in order to fake having an accident to develop psychic abilities (Since in the episode Cartman starts telling people he's a psychic after he jumped of a rooftop) In order to be taken seriously (Wikipedia page so you can read the summary). After everything's said and done, at the hospital, a fight breaks out between Cartman and the fake psychics, at which point Kyle gets annoyed and yells at them to stop, at which point the light bulbs in the room explode and a shelf becomes partially detached from its wall, spilling its contents on the floor.

In the episode It's a Jersey Thing (Season 14, episode 7) he has these "Transformations" that are obviously making fun of/Referencing werewolf transformations, but you know, I'm still adding them mostly since he does seem to be stronger in his "Jersey form" and more aggressive (Again, clearly both making fun of people from Jersey and Werewolves)

In Turd Burglars (Season 23 episode 8) he seems to be able to see/feel the microbiome of his entire body and everything else, having almost psychic dreams showing the bookcase in Tom Brady's house, which is actually a secret entrance to a basement where he has been hiding his faeces. In the end of the episode, the boys take those faeces and they're used to save the whole town (Again, you can read the episode's plot in Wikipedia to get a better summary of it). And when asked how he knew about, Kyle just says that his microbiome knew.

Like, just the implications of it have so much potential, I know the show doesn't follow a canon timeline, with many characters dying and appearing again later on, or the cannon in the games, show and movies being different, etc. But like, it's almost becoming a running gag with Kyle having powers (If we follow the logic of "One time is a X, two times is a Y, three times is a pattern"). Just imagine both Kyle and Kenny would become the only characters (To my knowledge) Who canonically have superpowers (Kenny's immortality).

I don't know, I just thought I'd talk about it.

[da-janela-lateral]

Was discussing about Undertale soul traits with my friend and had the idea of classifying MP100 characters based on them. So.

Mob = Determination. Although I have classified him as Kindness before, Determination fits his entire self a lot since he has a) an intense desire to become a better person and b) a lifelong dream of getting to be himself freely one day. Determination is also a rather "neutral" trait, which reinforces how Mob is capable of doing both good and bad and only tends to do good due to the positive influence of his companions. Besides, he insists on following his morals no matter the situation, no matter how hard it may be.

Reigen = Kindness. LISTEN. This man has the complete ability to trick his clients into getting him more and more money, but he chooses to actually solve their problems. He claims his job is to dispell people's fears. Despite being stingy, he spent loads of money multiple times just to make the kids happy. He gave Mob a positive lesson even though he believed Mob was just an overimaginative kid. He made himself look bad for the sake of keeping Tome safe. This is a rude and selfish man but oh boy he is KIND.

Dimple = Patience. Most interpretations of the Patience trait agree on "waiting for the right oportunity to strike", which fits Dimple's strategy! He was a pretty tough spirit before, but instead of getting humans' attention by pure force, he researched about the most efficient ways to gain it with the least bloodshed and went through with the religion idea even though it would be painfully slow. He also waited a long time to gain Mob's confidence so he could eventually use his powers/body to achieve this goal.

Ritsu = Perseverance. Ritsu has long accepted that developing psychic powers is an extremely hard endeavor, even more trying to get to his brother's level. Despite that, Ritsu continues his attempts in nearly ridiculous levels of dedication (and lack of self-preservation, by following Mitsuura into a so-called lab he had never seen) even when following his goals would be weird, difficult or even unkind. Perseverance is a also a very similar trait to Determination, with the difference that its in-game description implies a more cautious, circunstance-based "trial and error" approach. Mob tried to be better because he wanted to be. Ritsu tried to get powers because he needed them.

Teruki = Bravery. This trait is commonly accepted as "rushing fists-first through all obstacles", which fits the method that he had to employ in order to survive Claw. Teruki is a rather aggressive person. He wasn't afraid of stabilishing his dominance over those he claimed to be commoners, and even after abandoning his "protagonist of the world" view, he doesn't care a bit about using violence to get what he needs. Teruki also pushed down his fears multiple times while facing much more powerful enemies. He is often in terrifying situations! Even so, he tries to be brave and smart enough to solve his problem as quick as possible.

Shou = Justice. Even though Shou was raised under Toichiro's influence to become a valuable member of Claw, he did everything on his power to stop his dad because he felt responsible for it. Sure, the organization was strong, and he would have plenty advantages by supporting them, but Shou didn't find it fair! He recognizes the evil Claw was doing to the world! He was alone and weak and unsure yet he faced his own powerhungry father because he didn't agree with such a horrible plan!

[panics-side-blog]

Alucard romantic headcanons

Auughauhahahhagaguughggg

Yea, more brain dump that I developed while working. A tiny bit of x reader and a tiny bit just him and how I imagine he would deal with romantic relationships and feelings.

I'm also thinking about doing the same/similar thing just about sexual relationships but we'll see.

🦇 A part of me thinks that he is AroAce another part things that it's just the vampirism that wore him down and honestly I'm more so leaning towards that part considering.

🦇 In his past as Dracula he definitely did have a few lovers (definitely hinting at Dracula's three wives), be it women who willingly wanted to be with him or women who got picked out from their village after his army steamrolled it.

🦇 Yet after the years became many and him seeing nations fall and rise his mind and heart turned cold and the desire of partnership became few. When he saw the first few people around him turn old and die of age or sickness, he fully grasped the concept of what it means to be a vampire and how it would affect him in ways he didn't think of just yet.

🦇 He still indulged in things every now and then but over time he had one too many lovers who died out of old age. Attaching himself to someone became hard and not many want to become a vampire in order to stay with him, so he decided to just give up that part which I believe is also him stripping himself from another part of humanity. To reject the very human way of falling in love and caring for one another.

🦇 Also a part of me believes it's a way of self punishment, someone like him doesn't deserve love, he is a monster meant to shred people apart, to eat the dead and drink the blood of the living, only the moon and night being his loyal companions for many years. A creature waiting for someone who is finally worthy and strong enough to kill him and pierce his heart, love will only make him attached to the undead life he has.

🦇 Now that doesn't mean he didn't have casual meet ups with others in a more physical way but that's a whole different thing I maybe let simmer inside my brain another day.

🦇 As Alucard he fully concentrated himself on work, it was one thing he still was passionate about and actually enjoys. Be it while working with van Hellsing or with sir Integra. It kept him entertained and his mind busy even if he never really found someone who could rival his strength and skills.

🦇 It kept those thoughts away long enough, the screams and begs of the once that get their flesh torn apart by him filling the void for some sort of deeper connection be it platonic or romantic.

🦇 Now, who will be the one who melts those ancient walls of regret, bloodlust and loneliness? Honestly depends, I don't think he has a certain type but he definitely has a few preferences when it's about catching his attention. Be it someone who is utterly human, down to the very last cell in their body, or someone who is pained by their own past, future and present like he is.

🦇 I think if it is a person who has a lot of humanity in them it can go multiple ways. Is it someone who clings to their kindness, who wishes to protect the good in the world and still wants to believe that there is good out there no matter how many atrocities happen? Amusing him for their nativity but still making a spark of respect flicker in him for them to not give up and show their determination for the good.

🦇 A person who has many flaws and complexities in them but still tries their best no matter how many mistakes they make along the way? He will admire their willingness for change and want to do better, to be better no matter how long it will take and how many times they will stumble and fall.

🦇 Or someone who just really gets on his nerves and making his blood boil yet he can't kill them because there is just something in them that makes him want to wait and see what will happen, in hopes he can unravel and understand them? To be constantly pushed by their eccentric nature, making it hard to get their strangeness out of his head like a nagging migraine.

🦇 If the potential love interest is more so the gloom and doom like he is I feel like it starts more so as mutual respect and understanding and slowly becomes something more if neither of them avoid their vulnerability and accept that, despite it all, a bit of company can be a balm for the soul.

🦇 This would be more of a slow burn than any of the others because not only is there one complex person/vampire dealing with a lot of shit but now there are two. I can imagine that it wouldn't be out of reach to think that they only would get together after at least a few years of careful testing of their own souls (or lack there of) and needs. Like two feral animals finding comfort with each other.

🦇 But the most important thing no matter who the person is, is that they will accept every part of him. Even when he shows something that is vulnerable and weak he is still Alucard, he has his own twisted way of showing affection and love. Seeing his enemies turn into minced meat and finding a good rival that can push him is something he craves. His partner has to deal with the fact that there are horrors beyond their comprehension inside him and that certain actions during his murdering (even if it is righteous) can make their stomach flip and the bile crawl up their throat.

🦇 Also considering that me most likely won't fall for a regular civilian considering his line of work, all of the options and for a potential lover have to be tough as nails to a certain extent.

🦇 There will be moments of gentleness tho after a long process of getting closer to each other, he'll hold them close and feel the warmth of their skin, listen to their heartbeat and feeling their breath tickle his paper white skin.

🦇 He'll whisper words of morbid passion, how he would gladly rip his heart out and place it on golden plates for them to eat and taste the love straight from the source.

🦇 Flowers will be placed in their room, some living some dying or already dead. If they have someone they absolutely hate, and he finds time, without hesitation he'll kill them and place their head on the table for them as proof.

🦇 Once they have him by their side there is no turning back, they stay with him for a long while. Vampire love is no joke especially with a man like Alucard, they have a taste of heaven and hell in one bite.

[raguiras]

What's this?! Spade of Storms is canon in the game now?! /j

Finally finished this Spade of Storms WIP from early June 😅 Click for better quality!

Reblogs are very appreciated ~

「 Bonus versions & ship ramble below the cut! 」

♤ More Deuce x Allen: ♤

SHIP INTRO: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

OTHER ART: 1

Ship blog: @spade-of-storms

♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤

♤ Ship ramble ♤

There are many reasons why Allen and Deuce are perfect for each other (list), but a fair share of said reasons are rooted in or can be traced back to one massive, highly important core point: these two have extremely similar experiences in a reversed order.

Said experiences shaped their personalities, goals, insecurities and "masks" — all of which are highly important factors for Deuce and Allen's relationship development.

So today, I'll be talking about how their backstories influence Allen and Deuce's relationship.

Something I noticed is that if Spade of Storms weren't dating, they'd pretty much end up experiencing at least parts of each other's backstory... and end up in a super miserable state.

Allen is a former honor student who overworked himself to the point of burning out, all because he was a people pleaser and his stellar grades still weren't enough for his teachers who expected nothing but the absolute best from him. Additionally, he had to suppress his true self and interests because he was expected to be a model student in every single way, and anger was something only "bad" kids felt.

Sounds familiar? Deuce is unknowingly on the path to end up in the same situation, except in his case, the fact that he can't seem to achieve better grades no matter what causes him even more distress. If he actually ended up becoming a honor student, Deuce would experience a ton of additional pressure, not to mention that he's already struggling to hide the delinquent tendencies that are a fundamental part of his true personality... Sure, "honor student" sounds like a nice and admirable title to have — but the reality behind it is cruel, and Deuce isn't aware of that yet.

Which is why I gave him Allen.

A large part of Allen's trauma is rooted in his past as a honor student and the crushing expectations people (including himself) threw at him, and he desperately wants Deuce to watch out for himself and approach his goal of becoming a honor student carefully and logically rather than bite off more than he can chew and end up drowning in even more pressure, self-suppression and insecurities. Allen doesn't want Deuce to experience all the negative sides of being a honor student and instead supports the Heartslabyul student's goals by working towards them with a pace appropriate for Deuce, helping him study through actually unique methods specifically tailored for Deuce, and — most importantly — giving Deuce a safe and healthy environment where he can be his 100% authentic self and learn how to properly get his impulsiveness under control at the same time.

And the other way around? How does Deuce's past help Allen?

Deuce quit being a delinquent because it not only disappointed his mom, but also caused him a lot of trouble and massively stained his reputation. While Allen can handle his own delinquent tendencies just fine on the outside, his anger is actually much worse than Deuce's, not to mention that he has incredibly violent fantasies about the people he can't stand...

So far, Allen hasn't done anything bad. But Deuce, despite being a delinquent at heart himself, is able to calmly remind Allen to not do anything he might end up regretting or that might stain his reputation, especially since this is a major fear of Allen's. Deuce's worries and loving way manage to keep Allen in check, no matter how strong the Ramshackle student's hatred for society grows.

♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎

Now, HOW exactly are they able to help each other grow? WHY did they form intimate levels of trust to begin with? And especially, why can Allen actually efficiently help Deuce in the first place when nobody else can?

All will be revealed in the next issue Spade of Storms explanation post >:)

[bigskydreaming]

Imagine looking at a character whose entire premise is that in every stage of his life, he's made every version of himself into someone that inspires people to such a degree that EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF HIM has people wanting to literally follow in his footsteps in some way or another.....

And coming to the conclusion that like.....the most important things about him are the sum of all his trappings. His entirely homemade developed from scratch could not exist if not for what he already was and brought with him BEFORE crafting this newest version of himself trappings, with his greatest trait throughout all of it being his adaptability; his ability and willingness to roll with the punches and not try to simply weather any opposition or changes to his life but instead reshape himself as needed to better fit INTO whatever new shape his life and the world around him takes. All while managing to carry the most innate, fundamental and necessary aspects of himself from one version to the next. Thus every single version of himself is different but simultaneously every single version of himself is also undeniably the same person.

The strength of this character, to me, will always be that he can be so many versions of himself, he can become so many things, all without ever actually losing or discarding any of the aspects of himself he considers most essential, the things he's not willing to lose or give up just to keep going. Finding that road not taken by most, usually because most never even think to look for it as an option. But one that he's always able to find because the one trick he's mastered in his tumultuous life is threading that needle of not just digging in his heels in an unproductive way but rather being selective about when and where he makes a stand and decides "this is not a thing I'm willing to compromise about" but here are places and ways I can and will change and evolve and adapt in order to make it possible for me to hold onto these parts and keep them as they are.

And that's why its always so mind-boggling to me that so many writers can't seem to think of anything else to do with Dick Grayson other than invent some new reason for him to just....not be that person, or to like just take the character whose most basic fundamental trait he's NOT about to compromise on is willingly giving up his spot in the driver's seat of his own life.....and make him just a passenger in his own life and stories.

Dick Grayson at age nine....at age nineteen...at age twenty nine....the one core thread running through all versions of him is the only way he's standing back and letting you call the shots for him or putting him on the sidelines in some way is over his dead body.

HOW he goes about that, what that looks like, who he becomes and what aspects of himself he plays up at some times and what traits he lets fall by the wayside at other times when they offer less in service to his primary goal here....that changes constantly. He changes constantly.

But those changes are almost always (or at least they used to be/should be IN MY OPINION) made with the intention of keeping certain things about him or his life as consistent as possible.

That's the duality of Dick Grayson that I'm here for. The inherent contradiction of him that COULD allow for endless conflict and breaking new narrative ground in all sorts of ways if mined properly:

His eternal willingness to compromise....but only ever in pursuit of doubling down on the ways he's not willing to compromise.

Forever walking that tightrope in ways that only a kid born and raised in a circus could ever hope to.

[carriagelamp]

My favourite books from 2024! Another really strong year of books for me -- every year will have some stinkers and a bunch of middling reads, but the highs of this year were really high so I'm pretty content

As always, I give more detailed descriptions and opinions of the books in my month reviews, but here's a quick breakdown for anyone who's interested:

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

A non-fiction book that looks at how childhood has been “rewired”, focusing specifically on the increase of overprotective parenting, increase of tablet/social media usage, and decrease of unstructured, independent play. It was a fascinating read that really looked at how children need to be given lots of opportunities to play, take risks, and make mistakes in order to learn and grow and how a loss of that might be impacting people’s mental health. As someone right on the cusp of the age bracket that’s being focused on, it felt very exposing.

Apothecary Diaries v1-2 by Natsu Hyuuga

Maomao is kidnapped and sold as a servant to the imperial palace, where she serves as a general dogsbody in the rear palace, home of the emperor’s various consorts and concubines. She’s determined to keep her head down until her contract is up… until she helps solve a mystery and catches the eye of the powerful eunech Jinshi who soon learns about her in-depth knowledge of apothecary work and anything to do with poisons. Very funny premise, Maomao hates Jinshi soooo much and he is such a simp for it. She just wants to eat poisons and be left alone and he says “no<3” to both of those

Bury Your Gays (and Straight) by Chuck Tingle

Both of these are very explicitly queer horror novels. Straight is a novella that riffs on the format of a zombie story, but with straight people becoming inexplicably violent towards queer people one day a year. Bury Your Gays is about a Hollywood screenwriter who realises his horror creations are begin to stalk him in the real world. Both are very intentionally built around social commentary on queer issues, and despite have audacious premises they completely own their camp and end up producing really well thought out, insightful stories. I can’t say I liked either as much as Camp Damascus but either is worth a read.

Console Wars by Blake J. Harris (and Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier)

Console Wars is a nonfiction book I’ve meant to read for years on my brother’s recommendation and I quite enjoyed it. It explores the history of the video game console market in North America, with a focus on how Nintendo revitalized it and how Sega then swooped in to upset the monopoly it held. The book is written in a very narrative, personable style and I found myself really rooting for the various people and companies being portrayed ahahaha. A shockingly fun read. I also read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels which wasn’t quite as narratively compelling but a related read that looked at games with complex development cycles.

Defekt by Nino Cipri

Technically the sequel to Finna which I also read this year, but Defekt works as a stand-alone and is, imho, the better of the two. Both deal with a surrealist horror Ikea setting, where the sheer density and liminal-space-ness of it all allows strange wormholes to open up between these stores from different dimensions. Finna deals with actual wormhole hopping, whereas Defekt focuses in on one employee who gets assigned to a very strange overnight inventory shift.

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish v1-2 by Xue Shan Fei Hu

Fish isekai book. Is this a good book? No. Is it a really really fun book? Yes, in spades. In this book, Li Yu wakes up in a court drama novel… but not as a character but rather as the tyrannical prince’s pet fish. He is given the task to improve the prince and is stuck figuring out how the hell to do this as a fish. This book knows exactly how ridiculous it is and leans into it. Li Yu and Prince Jing are both idiots in very unique and exciting directions. No one knows what the fuck is happening.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

A prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, though it works perfectly well as a standalone. Honestly I liked it more than the first. This book has deliciously gothic horror vibes, and it plays with all the tropes you would expect from gothic horror / fear of the sublime. It’s about sisters who find a strange chest that lets them descend to the sinister land of the Moors. This is where vampires rule, werewolves stalk, and mad scientist’s ply their craft. The girls end up separated on and very different trajectories as they grow and acclimatize to the brutal existence of the Moors.

Escape From Incel Island by Margaret Killjoy

Exactly what it says on the tin. Completely insane book that is very worth the read if you feel like something that is patently insane. I strongly recommend treating this as a read aloud with a friend or loved one because I read it with my brother and couldn’t stop laughing. Top notch mercenary Mankiller Jones is sent to escort a computer scientist to Incel Island to retrieve lost governmental data. There they have to survive the hoards of Nice Guys, Volcels, Betas, and every other violent inhabitant of the island if they ever want to… escape from Incel Island.

Heaven Official’s Blessing v6-8 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

I finished the main series of Heaven Official’s Blessing (without reading the extras yet), and man what an ending! I could not have asked for a more epic or satisfying conclusion! The final battle and its various stages? The character reconciliation? The villain reveal? Perfect, no notes. The series itself follows Xie Lian, a prince who has ascended to godhood twice and been cursed and cast out from Heaven just as many times, giving him the title of the Laughingstock God. The story begins with him, to everyone’s dismay, ascending a third time.

Horrorstör (and Paperbacks from Hell, My Best Friend’s Exorcism) by Grady Hendrix

This book also deals with a Strange Alternate Ikea, but is the superior book. This was one of my top reads for 2024, and it was flawless horror. It is essentially a haunted house story set in an Ikea, that manages to be both chilling, disgusting, and a shockingly insightful critique of capitalism and retail. Very worth the read. 

After reading this I also read Paperbacks from Hell (a nonfiction book that does an analysis of horror fiction from the ‘70s and ‘80s, very good read) and My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which was decent but not my favourite of Hendrix’s since possession and exorcism isn’t my favourite brand of horror. The vaguely queer undertones and ending I found interesting, and it did some cool things throughout.)

Jeeves and Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse

I ended up listening to so many of the Jeeves and Wooster audiobooks this summer while I was travelling. There were some I really really loved and some that fell very flat for me. I think I listened to too many in a row by the end… These books are like popcorn, not deep but very fun, and follow the airheaded but good natured Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves who unfailing swoops in to solve all the strange and inane problems the Bertie gets involved in. They tend to be funny, light-hearted, and clever in their resolution of plot problems… though some of the issues do get rather repetitive. My favourites were: The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good Jeeves, Right Ho Jeeves, and the Code of the Woosters.

Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Some excellent science fiction, especially for my Pacific Rim loving heart. This bordered on the cosy fantasy genre, while mixing in plenty of science, world-building and a good dash of excitement. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Jamie Gray is stuck trying to make ends meet as a food delivery driver… until he runs into an old acquaintance who suggests he might have a very different job offer for him. Jamie ends up joining this very secretive “animal rights group” and finds out just how massive, dangerous, and otherworldly these “animals” are by being risked to an entirely different dimension filled with giant, radioactive monsters.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

One of my favourite books from this year! Tthis book managed to hit on very topical subjects with both tact and humour. Lula Dean has spearheaded a book banning crusade, managing to get a number of “problematic” books removed from the library and has made a show of setting up a Little Free Library in her yard full of “appropriate” books instead. When Beverly Underwood visits her mother and hears about this she’s so exasperated with it all that she quickly hatches a plan swapping out the dust jackets of some of the banned books with the ones in Lula Dean’s Little Free Library. The rest of the story is about various people in the town who borrow a book from Lula Dean’s library and how the book they got instead ends up impacting not just themselves but their town. The first story involves a penis cake. Can’t recommend it enough, starts out humour and quickly becomes something you want to rally around.

My Happy Marriage v1 by Akumi Agitogi

This was pure mindless fluff, it was honestly a delight. This is a low-fantasy, Cinderella-esque story set in the Taishō era. It focuses on Miyo Saimori who lives under the thumb of her cruel step-mother, haughty step-sister, and indifferent father. She’s resigned to being treated like a servant in her own home and ekeing out a strained existence, but her life takes a turn when she finds herself nominally engaged to the allegedly cold and cruel Kiyoka Kudou. It’s just absolutely overwhelmingly cute and I really enjoy the contrasting POVs.

A Series of Unfortunate Events and Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

I’d never finished The Series of Unfortunate Events when it was originally coming out, so I finally sat down and did that, and honestly it was well worth the wait! It was a very interesting series to read as an adult, especially all in one go, because it really let me appreciate everything that Snicket was trying to say. It was a much more clever and philosophical read than I was anticipating, and The End was fucking superb. He absolutely stuck the landing, it completely blew me away. Poison For Breakfast was also a very interesting standalone novella that felt like surrealist philosophy. I might have even enjoyed it more than the basic TSOUE.

The Poison Squad (and The Poisoner’s Handbooks) by Deborah Blum

Poison Squad is a very compelling and topical nonfiction about the formation of the American Food and Drug act. The state of unregulated food processing in the late 19th century was, in a word, nightmarish. Don’t read this book if you have a weak stomach. But it’s completely fascinating to see how one person, Dr Harvey Wiley, made it a personal mission to scientifically prove what all these mysterious food additives were doing to people and put limits to what could be sold to consumers. I liked it so much I went to read Blum’s other book, The Poisoner’s Handbook which is set during Prohibition and explores the rise of forensic medicine and again exposes how people were being poisoned by simply living their standard lives.

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill

The real, true history of the New York City Pushcart War!! For real!!! This is a delightful underdog story that is really written in the style of a history textbook recounting the fictional Pushchart War. This war started in New York City as the roads get increasingly congested with traffic, the worst offenders being the increasingly massive and arrogant trucks. The trucking companies hatch a plan though: if they begin to push out the little pushcarts, framing them as the problem for the congestion, then how hard would it be to push out taxis next? Or buses? Or motorcars? How long until they can make the road a perfect habit for trucks and trucks alone? How can something as small and poor as a pushcart owner fight back?

Railsea (and This Census-Taker) by China Miéville

I heard Railsea described on tumblr and it sounded sufficiently insane that I had to read it for myself. This author is truly unrivaled when it comes to bizarre worldbuilding that feels both very, very grounded in reality while also being completely unexplained and impossible. Railsea is essentially a Moby Dick meets Treasure Island retelling but with trains instead of boats and giant, mutated, vicious moles instead of whales. Unhinged. Can’t recommend enough. I followed this up by reading his novella This Census-Taker which was not as much of a frolicking adventure but fucked with my brain just as much or more than Railsea did. Genuinely not sure I even know what happened in that story but I enjoyed the experience of being completely fucking baffled for some 200 pages.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

Another book to ideally not read if you have a weak stomach. This novella is very big on unrelenting body horror. This is a twisted fairytale retelling in which a cannibalistic Little Mermaid meets a plague doctor Frankenstein. Both of them are walking away from cruel past lives, along a trail that’s soaked in blood and viscera. You feel how painfuly and disgustingly human this book is, while also being so wildly separate from anything that resembles human anatomy or morality. Superb.

Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System v1-4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

The last of MXTX’s three series I needed to read. It was the one I was most hesitant about, but I ended up having a really great time with it. It is simultaneously the most light-hearted and silly of the three series, while also the one that most gleefully dives into torture and sex. So you get a bit of everything with this, and as usual MXTX does a really good job of mixing the humour and series in a way that keeps things constantly interesting. The story is about Shen Yuan who dies our of pure, frothing fury after reading the shitty ending to the shitty, porny webnovel he’s been reading for hundreds of thousands of words. He dies cursing the lousy author and the lousy writing so he’s given a chance: step up and do it better! Which is easier said than done, when he finds himself waking up in the body of the series’ villain who is destined to be gruesomely tortured to death. Better get on that!

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea

This is the written result of a number of interviews held between Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea and she discusses her time as a Shakespearean actress. It looks into what her time working with theatre companies was like, summarizes the plays she took part in, and delivers into some fascinating character analysis of the roles she played. An absolute treasure of a book for someone who enjoyed their Shakespeare and/or Judi Dench.

Singing Hills Cycle v1-5 by Nghi Vo

Probably my favourite series that I read this year, I can’t wait for the next book! This series follows Chih and her magical bird companion who come from the Singing Hills Monastery, an order that is devoted to keep recording tales and keeping a history of the land. Chih travels all over in these various novellas, collecting stories, memories, and histories that they come across. The first book has them entering the recently unwarded palace of the late Empress to learn about her marriage, imprisonment and rise in power. The second has them trapped by a pack of tigresses with nothing to do but frantically lure them into comparing stories. 

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ten year old Ada was born with a club foot and because of it has never been allowed to leave her apartment. She lives a hard life trying to care for her younger brother and suffer through the abuses of her mother. Things change though as the Second World War truly begins and London begins to evacuate children to the country. Ada is determined — she and her brother will evacuate, they will escape their mother’s house, even if it means her learning how to walk on her club foot. Even if it means facing how different life is for unwanted slum children in the country, and confronting how much she and her brother don’t know about life. This was a very touching book, it did a great job of balancing Ada’s justifiable pain and anger with an optimistic story. Queer elements are all subtext but there — they aren’t the main focus of this story.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

This book absolutely took my breath away, it was a next level literary experience. It’s very, very solidly magical realism, so don’t go into this expecting true fantasy, everything going on here is allegorical and a beautifully done allegory at that. This story is set during the 1950s, in a time surrounding an event known as “The Mass Dragoning” when thousands of women suddenly, spontaneously, transformed into dragons and flew away. The story follows Alex Green who was a child during this event. Her aunt transformed. Her mother didn’t. Both of these things have profound impacts on Alex as she grows up, and a woman’s role in society, a woman’s anger, her joy, her desire are all questioned and explored.

[highly-important]

More Severance Thoughts/ Theories

I really enjoy this theory that Dieter was a story Kier made up in order to separate himself from his own actions that he felt ashamed of. That the innies are just the outies punching bags that take consequences and bear punishments.

But what I think about confusing about the Kier and Dieter story is, which is the Innie and which is the Outie?

We know that Helena sees the Innies as inhuman slaves, which would lend to the idea that Kier is the Outie. The Innies are basically the whipping boys of the Outies. Mark gets drunk and his Innie gets the hangover.

But we also see that the Innies are much "better" people than their Outies, (with the possible exception of Irving, who'se Outie we don't really know). The Innies are really the ones given a clean slate.

Isn't this more like Dieter leaving his brother to become a part of nature, while Kier returns to the mills and factories?

So, although I've seen a lot of insane theories about Severance, I think it's probably really simple at it's core- severance is just a way of "purifying" a person. They detach themselves from the real world, and become more innocent "childlike" versions of themselves, tame their four tempers, and become something new.

I've said before about how the Alchemical process is a spiritual process of breaking away from worldly attachments and developing a higher consciousness.

In Alchemy, you take the four elements- earth, air, water, fire, and put them in a crucible with the fifth element- Aether, or luminiferous aether. (Lumon, get it?) The four elements correspond with the four tempers- woe, malice, dread, frolic.

In Alchemy, you "burn away" the old self, separate out the good and the bad, go through a process of death and rebirth, and distill the self into its most pure essence.

The Alchemical process has three main stages- the black stage, the white stage, and the red stage. In Alchemy, red would be associated with gold, and symbolizes alchemical success. (Think about how white, black, and red are major colors on this show, especially in the opening credits, and how red is used to symbolize knowledge.)

I think Severance also relates to protestant work eithic. The Innies basically exist just to work, and are meant to achieve some kind of spiritual growth through work.

To be clear, I think there are other things the tech can do, and different ways the Eagan family is using it.

I also think we are possibly seeing conflicts in Lumon between the pseudo-religious side, and the business side. Helena is on the business side, and thinks the religious side is a joke. Cobel is on the religious side. The business side is mostly interested in how this tech can make compliant workers.

Helena's dad doesn't like her and sees her as a failure. He may have made her get severed with the intent of actually "fixing" her in the process. That’s just a guess tho, I’m bad at predicting things

[yanxidarlings]

YANDERE HP GOLDEN ERA: SLYTHERIN BOYS X DORMMATE READER

continuation of my previous post (i got caught up in getting out my anthony goldstein headcanons was it obvious). okay so full disclosure, i haven't read the fanfictions lorenzo and mattheo are from (i only read yandere is it obvious) (i see their faceclaims and cannot. exclude), so if i'm not portraying them correctly shout at me. but just for a moment, imagine having the 79-80 liner slytherin boys yandere for their dormmate? (okay there is a loophole i'll write for male readers/darlings if asked).

maybe they've known the reader/darling since childhood, and the sudden close proximity magnifies the possessive and obsessive tendencies they were developing towards the darling. or, the darling could suddenly get sorted into slytherin and now they have a roommate they did not expect to have. for the second scenario i don't think the darlings personality would matter much - either way, they're all apprehensive about this really cute kid they suddenly are dorming with.

maybe they give the reader a hard time at first (although this is only really likely to happen for a darling in a different house, or a muggleborn darling) but whoo boy if anyone else thinks of teasing the reader, they'll get hell from our dear slytherins here. actually, anyone who the reader pays mind to becomes a target of torment and bullying by draco and his gang. especially potter. please, reader, for potters own sanity and the good of the wizarding world, do not approach, think about or even look in the direction of harry. it ends in an ugly tantrum from draco, prolonged sarcasm from theodore, silence from blaise, aggression from mattheo and teasing from lorenzo. crabbe and goyle won't be carrying your books for you for the next week either.

when they get like this, it'll be the darling that'll have to make it up to them, or risk having it all drag out until one of them gets over it naturally.

GREGORY GOYLE & VINCENT CRABBE (cast josh herdman, jamie waylett):

they're all horribly possessive and jealous by default, but generally, crabbe and goyle are the easiest to deal with, they both have a soft spot for their darling, and are pretty used to being bossed around, the second choice and having to share. they're also the easiest to appease, putting food on crabbe's plate is enough to make him happy, and paying goyle any mind will go a long way.

they don't need constant attention (draco), validation (draco), and affection (draco), from their darling, and are content just being in their life.

BLAISE ZABINI (cast louis cordice):

after them, i honestly don't know who's worse. going in alphabetical order, blaise appears to be calm and uncaring when it comes to his darling, but do not be fooled, he's not going to sit back and let his darling get whisked away by the likes of a half blood (sorry mattheo), spolit daddy's boy (apologies draco), spolit mommy's boy (soz enzo) or someone who's one lab accident away from becoming a supervillain (blaise's words not mine theo).

blaise tolerates the rest of the slytherins for now, but if any of them think he'd ever fully agree to sharing with the likes of them, they are wrong. he fantasises about taking his darling away from the world after graduating, and probably has his mother trying to arrange a marriage the moment he decides they're his.

DRACO MALFOY (cast tom felton):

unlike blaise, draco is not even a little bit subtle about his possesiveness over his darling, he only see's the other slytherins as tools to ensure his darlings safety and happiness at hogwarts, and does not bother to pretend like he isn't planning to kidnap move the reader into malfoy manor the minute they graduate. actually, he couldn't wait that long.

he'll look for any opportunity to have the malfoy family gain custody of his darling. all the more better if his darling comes from a dysfunctional household. but either way, he'll make sure his family is all they have to turn to.

all i know about lorenzo is that he has mommy and daddy issues so i'll have to piggybank off that. he'll present himself as the 'sane' one, if his darling is complaining about the behaviour of the other slytherins, enzo wholeheartedly agree's with them "i don't know what's wrong with all of them - you sure you didn't slip any amortentia into their drinks?" he becomes a safe haven from the possessive obsession his dormmates seem to share for their darling.

LORENZO BERKSHIRE (fancast louis patridge):

lorenzo acts the most normal, but don't be fooled, he's just as obsessed as the rest of them. enzo is just better at hiding it. he too, frequently thinks about whisking them away, but is much less finite about it; holing his darling up in his house isn't the end goal. he could honestly live with sharing them with his fellow slytherins, but this is all assuming that the reader takes well to his attempts at becoming the 'sane one'.

if enzo isn't able to successfully befriend them, he'll have to settle for being the 'mean one'. teasing and humiliation follows his darling, as does he. it's not severe, but it's probably the push the reader needs to fall into deep depression and anxiety. so please, take the sane bait.

MATTHEO RIDDLE (fancast benjamin wadsworth):

mattheo doesn't exactly have a family reputation to uphold, blaise, draco, enzo and theo would want to keep up a respectable reputation, whatever that is in pureblood society, but mattheo? the dark lords son? he's entirely unhinged.

if lorenzo is the 'sane one', mattheo is the 'crazy one'.

he doesn't really care what his darling, or others, think of his behaviour. if he wants to spend time with them, he's going to. he'll pull them out of class, drag them away from the other slytherins, just to skip rocks in the black lake with them, or raid the kitchens. he doesn't really bother hiding his yandere tendencies, he'll actively tell his darling not to talk to certain people "because i said so" "stop asking questions", and will refuse to elaborate further. sometimes, there will be disturbing moments of honesty between him and his darling; he'll admit that he's obsessed with them, and threaten to attack people they pay attention to. and he'll tell them that they belong to him.

sometimes it's frightening and sometimes he'll come across as sweet. he is both predictable and unpredictable, which puts his darling at unease around him.

THEODORE NOTT (fancast lorenzo zurzolo):

theodore uses guilt to garner his darlings sympathy, all the more easier if they are childhood friends. he'll make sure they know about his harsh childhood, and make them feel responsible for his wellbeing. he's the only one to create a sense of dependency not built upon threats. out of all the slytherins, he gets to know his darling the best, he'll use guilt, emotional breakdowns and dark secrets to create a sense of obligation towards him.

theo is the most comforting of the slytherins to be around, he's quiet and the only one who they can spend time with without feeling much pressure. he demands the most of their attention, and is by far the most possessive. whilst i can see the other slytherins finding a way to deal with sharing their darling amonst themselves, if the rest don't back off eventually (stop dreaming theo) (they won't), he's the most inclined to just get rid of them - he can't stand it when his darling is around anyone but him, he wakes early to walk his darling to class just so they won't get caught up in the busy halls, where eyes can wonder and other people can have a chance to interact with his darling.

theodore pairs with them for every project, which leads to some ugly arguments between him and blaise, who only really get's his fill of his darling by sitting next to them in class. and draco, and mattheo and enzo and even goyle who was hoping the reader would help get him a good grade for once.

out of all of them, draco, goyle and blaise are the most patient. they want their darling to love them, not see them as monsters to flinch away from.

theodore, lorenzo and mattheo will take whatever they can get. lorenzo in particular doesn't want his darling to fear him but won't let them get away with trying to escape or disobedience. mattheo doesn't mind being the villain if he must be, but his heart clenches when his darling acts so obviously distrustful of him. theodore is the least patient, and if his darling starts to shy away from him, he snaps. at them, at the rest of the slytherin boys. but he's also easy to keep content, so long as his darling is always by his side.

similarly, blaise just enjoys being in the presence of his darling, and doesn't feel the need to cuddle up to them constantly like draco and enzo do. mattheo is a loose canon, and sometimes is fine being near them, other times he wants skin to skin contact 25/8.

they're hopeless at sharing, and only really get along for the sake of their darling. there are only really two ways this can end; theodore finally snaps and tries to off the rest of them after graduation, or they somehow come to an agreement on sharing, maybe they each get their own day a week

monday for draco, tuesday for blaise, wednesday for theo, thursday for enzo, and friday for mattheo. goyle and crabbe probably aren't taken seriously enough to get given their own day, so then the weekends are spent sharing (fighting).

the only time the boys will work in tandem is when someone attempts to take their darling and their attention, away. best example, darling starts dating someone. which is already pretty improbable, considering they give the reader no alone time whatsoever. but let's just say the darling here is going on a date with cormac mclaggen (get a grip, darling), any grudges they've been holding against each other are off, mclaggen has just signed his death warrant.

mattheo and theodore do most of the dirty work, whilst lorenzo distracts the reader. draco and blaise cover up their tracks, so it seems like whatever they did to mclaggen was an untimely accident. or have it blamed on someone else. goyle and crabbe intimidate anyone who tries to get close to the darling from then on.

they might hate sharing with each other, but they truly despise sharing with an 'outsider'.

[tlgtw]

Bits and pieces of the still incredibly written backstory of Elden Ring continue to poke out from the dogwater, as it were.

St. Trina, as we learn, was a specific aspect of Miquella that was made separate: In Miquella's words, St Trina was the embodiment of his 'love.' And when he abandoned St Trina, he abandoned that aspect of himself that made her.

This newly introduced example reveals to us what the nature of Radagon's exactly was, in turn.

Radagon, the 'other half' of Marika in the exact same way that St Trina had been for Miquella, we learn here, had *himself* been a specific singular aspect of Marika's emotions or feelings.

With St Trina having been made out of Miquella's 'love.'

You wonder, too, what Radagon should have been made from.

What aspect of herself did Marika separate into her second person, as called by her the "Loyal Dog of the Golden Order"? We know Radagon was created prior to the creation of the Golden Order itself, since he was involved in the invasion of Liurnia.

So at the same time as Marika was married to Godfrey, begetting Godwyn and Mogh and Morgott. Radagon was married to Renalla, begetting Rykard and Radahn and raising the potential successor of Marika--the Empyrean Ranni. He was given a massive amount of responsibility, the seeming crux of the Liurnian-Leyndell alliance that ended the Liurnian Wars that Marika's empire was losing, and he by every account was completely dedicated and successful; even weakening the strength of the Carian royal family by reducing their practicing of astrology.

All yet, when push came to shove: After Godwyn was assassinated and Marika sought to destroy the Elden Ring. It was Radagon who dropped everything he had and stepped in to stop her.

"Proudly" as his Golden Order Greatsword says,

Radagon divorced his first wife, married his 'original self,' begettedthe Twin Prodigies Miquella and Malenia as two more potential successors to Queen Marika, set up the brutal inquisition and censorship of the Age of Radagon headed by his own son Rykard, and was even involved with the very the development of Golden Order fundamentalism!

Radagon did so much fucking stuff! He was so damn proactive! So what exactly must he have been!?

That Marika initially separated from herself? And who went on to try and stop her very own plans when they turned against the wishes of the Greater Will??

This conflicting 'half' of her original person! That nonetheless was all this strongly willed on his own!?

What part of Marika COULD Radagon have originally been!?!?!?

And it's awesome. It's really really well-designed writing.

Frankly, even, it's genius. It's not anything revolutionary in terms of narrative devices or anything like that, but it's really elegant. It's really meaningful and concise, and it's really cool!!!

A lot of Elden Ring's base game is, or now maybe--was. (It having been the basis of my entire show on YouTube.)

But the actual story, instead of solely the backstory, of the DLC, unfortunately, is not!

You ever seen a boss item whose entire description was literally entirely the game just fucking QUOTING ITSELF?

Hyetta at Frenzied Flame Proscription: "Become their lord. Take their torment, despair. Their affliction. Every sin, every curse. And melt it all away. As the Lord of Chaos."

Ghost outside Church of Inhibition in Liurnia: "Ahh, Lord Vyke, it seems that you were no lord, after all."

Midras's Flame of Frenzy, from killing Midras, Lord of Frenzied Flame:

Or! Better yet, ANOTHER boss spell, whose entire description is dedicated to literally just acknowledging its fucking colour!!

Land of Shadows, from killing the Scadutree Avatar:

I definitely sure wish I still hadn't!!

In fact, I don't think the level of vacuousness from Shadow of the Erdtree's descriptions has ever been seen before!

Not even in Dark Souls 3!!

AUGH

[horse-girl-anthy]

the leading male characters of RGU have variations on the same complex: "I failed at being a prince." however, they have their own specific versions of it, which manifest in widely different behaviors. I'll run through them, basing my account of the characters on how they were at the start of the show:

Saionji is deeply troubled by Utena's despair, but then witnesses her miraculous transformation. since Touga seems to be more mature than himself, he assumes Touga must be responsible for it. Saionji begins to feel himself a child, lacking in insight; not only was he unable to save the girl in the coffin, but he couldn't even understand her plight. having caught glimpse of a world he can't enter himself, he develops an inferiority complex, which he attempts to compensate for with old-fashioned masculinity, violence, and domination of others.

Miki gets sick, and his weakness forces Kozue to go to the concert hall alone. while she learns from this experience that she requires Miki in order to shine, he comes to the conclusion that he has committed a grave sin and destroyed the sunlight garden with his own hands. this irrational belief follows him into early adolescence, and he has somehow managed to turn it around and allot blame to Kozue as well. perhaps this is because siblings do not have strong ego boundaries, or maybe it's that Miki sees Kozue's failure to be a princess as an affront to his desire to be a prince. this becomes a vicious cycle, since negative attention is good enough for Kozue, who flaunts her naughty behavior to keep Miki fixated on her.

Touga is a two-faced character who outwardly projects the version of himself that he'd like to be. in actuality, though he may not be aware of it, he is a person who wishes the world was a better, fairer place and longs to alleviate suffering. however, he learned his own weakness young; to avoid the terror of powerlessness, he is willing to do just about anything. as Saionji believes Touga saved Utena, Touga believes Akio saved Utena, and so he models himself on him. on one level, he maintains a cynical worldview in which he is justified on acting however he pleases because he has gained power, but on another (deeply buried) level, he hopes he will become a prince and set things right. unfortunately for him, his behavior is contradictory with that goal and will only serve to enforce the status quo. he copes with this using cynicism, pretending to himself that he doesn't believe in nobility anyway.

Akio is like a monstrous combination of the previous three, with one crucial difference: Akio no longer actually wishes to be a prince. he may mourn his failure, but that's a form of narcissism; he doesn't even have the commitment to despair. rather, his "sadness" is a grand show in which he is the leading character. does he have a lingering spark of care for Anthy? perhaps, but he only calls it forth for the purposes of manipulation. long ago, his weakness caused Anthy immense suffering, suffering which has never ceased since. as eternity stretched on, Akio began to think to himself, "isn't this actually her fault? she's the reason I'm no longer a prince; she stole my beloved self from me. and what's more, she isn't a princess, which means she deserves this. in fact, doesn't she actually want this? yes, it's true: both of us love the way things are, and so she will always help me to keep them this way. why, I'm so magnanimous that I'll forgive her for starting this, even though it's so hard for me to bear living in my fallen state." thus, to Akio, being a failure of a prince is a sublime torture, and the scab he's grown over his original wound has calcified, not healing but rotting what's underneath.

the question now is where does Utena fit into this schema? I don't think she's in line with the characters listed above, since she's not living her life based on a failure, but instead on determination to suceed. in that way, I think she's most similar to Ruka, at least in outlook. Ruka tries to be a prince through manipulation and coercion, which is of course doomed to failure, but he is staking his life on his desire to be a prince. Utena, after overcoming her own hurdles, does the same.

[sage-nebula]

After my most recent playthrough of Sword, I think what has become very obvious to me is the fact that Bede picks a fight with Hop because Hop reminds him of himself. It's a very clear, "I'm in this picture and I don't like it" reaction.

A superficial read of Bede's character is that he has an overinflated ego, genuinely believing that he's better than everyone else around him. I would argue that he doesn't solely have a superiority complex, but that it's actually an inferiority-superiority complex -- that is, that Bede boasts about how much better he is at everything than everyone else in order to mask his feelings of inferiority from even himself.

As is stated at multiple points through the game, Bede is an orphan. We don't know if his parents abandoned him, or if they died, but Bede grew up in an orphanage. It was there that he first met Chairman Rose, who gave him both his watch and his Hattena. Later, Rose would also go on to sponsor Bede for the League Challenge, although I personally wonder if it was actually Rose who endorsed Bede, or Oleana on Rose's behalf. After all, when Rose and Bede encountered each other in Hulbury, Rose didn't recognize him at first. Rose also wasn't the one who instructed Bede to gather the wishing stars -- that was Oleana. So it's possible, in my opinion, that Oleana was the one who used Rose's name to endorse Bede, knowing that Bede would do anything at all if it meant assisting Rose.

And why would he do that?

Parents are the first people in a child's life who are able to give them validation and support. This is crucial for a child's mental and emotional development; without support, encouragement, and validation, children will develop insecurity with regards to both their own capabilities and their attachments. The difference between a child who was given consistent support and validation in their younger years (particularly toddler- and small child years) versus children who weren't is stark. The child who received validation and support will be confident, both in themselves and their relationships with others. The child who didn't?

Bede's parents are not in his life, and haven't been for a very long time. He grew up in an orphanage, and while we have no information on what life was like for them there, we can reasonably assume that the number of children outnumbered the number of adult caregivers by a likely significant margin. More children = less attention given to each individual child. (Which is why smaller class sizes in school are better: the larger the class size, the easier it is for a struggling student to slip through the cracks.) It is very likely that Rose was the very first person to ever give Bede even a shred of validation, at least in Bede's memory. And not only did he express that he supported Bede becoming a trainer, but he did so by giving Bede a pokémon and his watch. To a young child who has never had (again, in their memory) a parent who cared for and tried to build their confidence, this is huge. And it is completely understandable why Bede would have latched onto Rose as strongly as he did, desperate to do anything to help him (especially if doing so would earn him more of that validation and praise). Getting further validation via the Gym Challenge endorsement (which again, could have been done by Oleana using Rose's name because she wanted to use Bede to gather wishing stars) would have just added fuel to that fire.

Now, here's the rub: Bede felt that he could be a talented, powerful trainer because Rose told him that he could. Rose told him that he could, gave him a pokémon, and then later (as far as Bede knows) endorsed him for the Gym Challenge, further cementing that Rose believes in him. But what has Bede got to show for it other than that endorsement? He's able to win the Gym Badges, but he's not able to find the wishing stars as quickly as he likes. Additionally, he keeps losing against the protagonist. He boasts that he was endorsed by Rose, but an endorsement only gets you in the door. What if he isn't good enough to stick the course, actually? What if he can't find enough wishing stars? What if he fails, and Rose -- the first person to ever believe in him -- ends up disappointed in him, and regretting his endorsement?

I think that these thoughts would be too painful for Bede to bear. I think that he would try to avoid thinking them at all costs, focusing on how he is still gaining Gym Badges and finding some wishing stars, at least. But then, along comes Hop.

Hop has a similarly prestigious endorsement from his older brother, Champion Leon. Hop boasts about this endorsement a lot. Hop also, exactly like Bede, makes grandiose claims about his abilities and end goal, loudly proclaiming over and over again that he is going to be the next Champion, that he is marking down pages in his legend.

Sound familiar? I think it did to Bede.

Just as Hop brags about being endorsed by the Champion, Bede brags about being endorsed by the Chairman. Just as Hop boasts about how he's absolutely going to become the next Champion, Bede boasts about how he's absolutely going to become the next Champion. Hop loses to the protagonist, but so does Bede. Hop is earning Gym Badges without issue, but so is Bede.

Bede talks down to Hop for boasting about his connections to others without anything to have to say for himself. But Bede is guilty of that very same thing. And I think that he knows that, even though he doesn't want to acknowledge it, and that's why he lashes out at Hop. He doesn't want to acknowledge his own insecurities, and he couldn't attack himself even if he wanted to, but Hop is an external target. He can take his frustrations and insecurities out on Hop, and at the same time, bolster his own confidence in his lie that he really is special, more special than anyone else, Because Rose Said So.

After Bede defeats Hop, Hop says that Bede told him that he was making Leon look bad, and that people would think less of Leon since Hop was a rubbish trainer. (Which doesn't really make sense; Hop and Leon are two different people and everyone knew that Leon never lost a battle, but anyway.) I think that this was, again, Bede leveling his own insecurities at Hop. If Bede couldn't win the Gym Challenge, then everyone would think that Rose's endorsement meant nothing. They might question Rose's judgement. And Rose would be disappointed in him. And and and--

I'm not saying that any of this justifies how Bede treated Hop. But I am saying that I think it explains it. Bede wasn't being an asshole just to be an asshole, he was being an asshole because he saw in Hop what he fears about himself. And his desperation for validation doesn't go away after Rose revokes his endorsement, either; I think it's pretty clear that the reason why he agrees to be Opal's apprentice is because she's giving him validation now, in a manner that is both consistent (she isn't dipping from his life for long periods of time) and is due to merit that he's able to show her (her training regimen for him to be the new Gym Leader). He knows where he stands with Opal, and can see how he's building up his strength in a concrete way. He forms a much more secure attachment with her.

Anyway, Bede is an interesting character, so it's always a bit sad to see him dismissed as just an asshole rival. All three of the SwSh rivals have so much going on under the surface, and that's what makes them great characters.

[kalinara]

So this post, by @rei-ismyname, got me thinking of how I see Logan with regard to the Logan/Scott relationship specifically. This was intended to be a reply, but it got away from me, so I thought I'd turn it into its own post.

This is going to get long and very incoherent. And possibly not all that flattering to Logan in parts. Sorry.

I don't know if I see Logan as quite so Freudian myself, though I think it's a fascinating analysis.

I think for me, there's an element of the Scott-Logan and Jean-Logan dynamics that start off interestingly separate. Maybe it's because, initially, Jean never really seemed to return Logan's feelings. But there wasn't as much of a sense of "triangle" back in the early Claremont issues for me.

Logan was attracted to Jean, went after her, was rebuffed, and kept going. He had moments with Scott, like when he was judging Scott for not grieving her enough in the Savage Lands, when she and Hank were presumed dead. But generally that seemed to be a separate thing.

Whereas with Scott, we had the sort of maverick vs. leader dynamic. Scott is younger, more uptight, less experienced (in a military capacity, anyway), less traditionally macho, and Logan clashed with the idea of taking his orders. But pretty quickly, they did fit into a sort of bickering respect - Logan threatening Hawkeye when the latter insulted Cyclops, going to Scott during the whole demerit thing in general.

They do fall pretty quick into that "I'll follow you to hell, bitching all the way" sort of dynamic. And most of that seems to develop without Jean present (she wasn't, after all, officially part of the team at first, then she was presumed dead, then she was actually dead.)

In the 90s, things get a bit murkier, because the love triangle heats up and becomes a little more reciprocal on Jean's part. But Jean and Scott had gone through all of their real emotional turmoil in X-Factor, when Logan wasn't around, so by the 90s, they were pretty solid. Then you get things mashed together a bit.

And also during the time apart, Logan's had his own shift from stab-happy wild man to that more noble drifter cowboy meets Kurosawa type. So we get a shifted dynamic, where Logan's attraction to Jean becomes a lot more overtly romantic, in a certain courtly way. We get a lot more emphasis on the "she makes me want to be a better person" element of their dynamic here too.

Meanwhile, the 90s also give us Scott at what's probably his most emotionally and morally stable place. He's past his trainwreck stage (and Logan didn't get to see most of that), and has settled into a confident upright leader.

So we essentially end up with a kind of Lancelot, Guinevere, Arthur thing. (Honestly, I've always thought Jean made the better King Arthur, but we're talking Logan's perspective. And honestly, I've always thought that Logan has a bit of an issue with toxic masculinity and overly-rigid gender roles.)

So while there's still the sparky bickering between Logan and Scott, for the most part, it's comfortable. Any attraction Logan feels gets sublimated into respect (kind of like his dynamic with Captain America. I tend to assume most people are at least a little in love with Steve Rogers, and Logan's no exception.).

But it all sort of melds together into Logan being romantically in love with Jean, sublimated attraction-into-respect for Scott, and then ultimately idolizing their relationship on a whole. Which has the awkward effect of putting Scott on a pedestal, because he's the man Jean chose over Logan. So of course, he must be a paragon of virtue.

(The fact that Scott's trainwreck tendencies are still there pops up occasionally, but generally goes unnoticed.)

But then we get Apocalypse - and a Scott stripped bare of his illusions. But still possessed of his moral code. Mostly. He's wounded, but still pretty forthright. Then we have the situation with Emma. And Jean's death. And that's when things get a lot...sparkier. The bickering starts getting a bit more heated again.

Honestly, they're probably the slashiest they've ever been during that period between Jean's death and the Schism. And Logan seems to have a weird sense of judgmental entitlement over Scott during this time. He still respects him though, but things are starting to fray with Utopia and X-Force, and everything crashes down in the Schism, when the last of Logan's illusions about Scott shatter.

I've said before, I think that their whole dynamic would have been a lot healthier if Logan had realized that Scott, beneath the facade, is a lot more like Laura Kinney than he'd ever been like Steve Rogers.

But he didn't figure that out and now he's heartbroken, angry, and can't sublimate the fact that he kind of wants to fuck him into that whole Captain America/Paragon of Virtue veneration anymore. Nope, dude, that stirring in your loins doesn't come from the fact that you're in the presence of one of the Truly Good Men. You just want to fuck that trainwreck.

And honestly, I think Hank has a bit of the same thing. But Hank/Scott is a whole separate essay topic. I think Hank and Logan kind of fed off each other at this time. So we get things like the Cyclops-dartboard. When we both know that's not the penetration they really want to do.

What? I was talking about claws? What did you think I was talking about?

(Okay, that too.)

I think the post Schism/pre AvX dynamic is fascinating adolescent on the part of Logan (and Hank). I can't help but maybe conflate this a bit with the fact that Logan only relatively recently regained the full memories of his life, while Hank has that whole arrested development child soldier thing that most of the O5 have deep down. And they both start acting a bit like the bitter dorks in high school, watching the Homecoming King and Queen.

Which is a little bizarre considering that Scott and Emma are holding Utopia together by the skin of their teeth and intentionally trying to present it as a lightning rod for anti-mutant sentiment in order to keep the school safe. But things aren't necessarily rational there.

But then we have AvX. And everything goes from hilariously adolescent to absolutely tragic.

Because no one makes it out of that mess okay or whole. And Logan, in particular, has to go full on aggressor, because if he stops and thinks about it, he might well realize that if any one person could be the cause of this mess: it could be him. HE's the one who went to the Avengers, after all. Scott's plan with the Phoenix was batshit, but it might have been resolved differently if the Avengers hadn't gone in there all OOC heavy handed, guns blazing.

Scott, meanwhile, has lost some of his Utopia edge, and found a new easily romanticized role as suffering martyr. We start to see events that might lead to a resolution: Kitty and the O5 switching sides, a lot of realizations from a lot of people that Scott isn't the villain he's playing on television, and so on. (There's also the O5 putting a human face on the man that Logan's convinced himself he hates. And a version of Jean that's completely horrified and disgusted by him...)

And then Logan dies, and his role's taken by a dude from a side comic with no connection to any of these characters of events. And no, I'm not bitter about Old Man Logan at all.

(Sure, he was fun in his OWN comic. But there's shit going on here and he's not a part of it!!!)

Then there's the fucked up weirdness of Scott's death, his unspoken terrible acts (that eventually amounted to destroying a cloud), and so on.

Once both characters have resurrected, we get an interesting return, almost, to that post Jean's death dynamic. They're again in a foxhole, desperate. Scott's relying pretty heavily on Logan at this time, even as they rebuild the dregs of the team for their last stand.

Then Rahne leaves, dies. Logan skips the funeral to go after her murderers. And then when he returns, covered in her murderers' blood, he and an angry Scott have it out and he storms off, with the unfair accusations all over again. (This time, it's more apparently that Wolverine's lashing out because of his own wounds, but it's not very pleasant to experience.) He does make up for it a bit by coming back for their last stand. Which is, maybe, a bit romantic in its own right.

And then...Jean and the original team reappear and Jean immediately shoves her tongue down Scott's throat while Logan and Emma both look a little bitter.

And then we have Krakoa, and I know I've bitched about not seeing the foundation of the Throuple. But in a weird way, it does kind of work for me. The euphoria of their new sanctuary, the realization that death is no longer a thing, the return of lost loved ones (like Alex, who'd died recently in Rosenberg's run), and so on - it made a place, and a moment, where the sublimation can just be the truth.

Scott and Jean are Scott and Jean. They have their family again. Logan is welcomed into the family as occasional partner. Nate's "Uncle Logan". He gets to come on family vacations.

Logan still gets to be Logan, though, and do his own thing. As much of a romantic as he is, I'm not sure I buy him ever actually settling down to domesticity. But this works out fairly well.

There are still some hints of tension though. I like bringing up the "Scott in a Speedo" scene, not just for the expression of attraction - I've seen it dismissed as a "joke", but I still don't see how that works as a joke either of them would tell - but also for the actual scene.

In it, we see Scott, conflicted over the Crucible and his mixed feelings about the more...religious elements of Krakoan society, looking for something from Logan - maybe reassurance, maybe just commiseration? That the latter isn't willing or able to give him. "Go find a priest." He says.

Everyone's going to have their own interpretation, but my read on it, in the context of their complicated relationship, is that Logan's happy to enjoy the idyllic interlude that Krakoa's given them, but he doesn't want to go deeper. He doesn't want to talk about their underlying issues or be the support that Scott needs at this time. It's an emotional commitment that he's not ready to make.

In his own comic (or possibly X-Force, they blur together for me), Logan expresses dislike regarding Krakoa, feeling like it's fostering a false sense of safety and security.

I feel like that might be why Logan is the way he is in this scene. They haven't resolved their issues, and where Scott's overture might indicate that he'd like to, Logan isn't open to that now.

And I think that's the Watsonian reason that we don't see very much with these two beyond a couple of Pride issue panels of the trio having a good time together.

I don't think the Throuple really lasts that much beyond this either. We have that funny bit where Teen Nate has called in a favor to have Logan comfort his parents after his departure. We have a few Jean/Logan moments in X-Force, but they're pretty shallow, all things considered. Some light making out. A single scene of sex in a hot tub.

Beyond that, we have that bit where she's trying to help him telepathically in X Lives of Wolverine, but she'd have done that for him even if they weren't banging.

And then, nothing. Scott and Jean are doing fine in the X-Men (eventual Brood argument notwithstanding), Logan is doing fine in his own book. But the Throuple seems...done.

Oh, maybe that bit in AXE where Jean is having issues for failing her test and Logan's all "anyone who'd fail you and pass me..." bit of reassurance. But again, that's the sort of thing he'd have said even if they weren't fucking. (I also wish he were able to comfort her without making it all about HIS issues, but that's a separate essay!)

There are a few parts that annoyed the shit out of me though. In both X Lives of Wolverine and later toward the end of his own comic, Logan lists Xavier and Jean as members of his found family. Saying shit like how their broken edges come together to make a more profound whole.

Scott, who is Xavier's son, Jean's husband, and the man whose house Logan STILL LIVES IN, doesn't get a mention.

(Doylistically, I theorize that maybe Marvel wanted to downplay the Throuple implications already. But I don't know.)

Nor does Storm, Kurt, Kitty, Jubilee, or a lot of other people who'd fit into that category too, including his actual children, mind you. But this isn't an essay about them.

And then there's Fall of X/Fall of the House of X. We do know at one point, Logan was involved in a rescue mission for Scott which fell through because Xavier called Rasputin away to go help him kill a thirteen year old.

Then there's nothing but a mostly civil exchange in X-Men #1, where Logan decides to go off on his own to run with wolves after he's rescued, and then that snide comment in Uncanny.

Scott's not really mentioned Logan either, except maybe that bitter little "everyone likes HIM" as a response to Magneto's amazing accusation of "logan behavior".

So...I don't really know how I see their relationship dynamic now. I was hoping for some interaction in Raid on Graymalkin, but the closest we got was Logan saying to attack if Scott touched his temple.

(Doylistically, that may be all we get. If Marvel thinks interaction might fuel the Throuple implications, we may not get anything else for a long time, which sucks.)

Watsonianly, I think maybe it's as simple as the idyllic Krakoan interlude being over. Jean's in space and unable to smooth things over. (Also, I'm not actually sure how I think Logan will take the whole Phoenix side of Jean's personality. They'd been considered two separate entities by the time the triangle really started up...). And whatever attraction that Scott and Logan have for each other is back to being sublimated in unnecessary antagonism and bitterness.

It's a shame, really.

(I do think if the Throuple does end up rekindling, Logan shouldn't get to join back up until he actually apologizes though. Hmph.)

[thatswhatsushesaid]

mysterious lotus casebook has thrown such a wrench into the gears when it comes to accurately guessing who my favourite character is going to be in any given cdrama or novel. like

okay it goes without saying at this point why i like jin guangyao, especially if you've been following my blog for longer than five minutes. tl;dr antagonist of circumstance who could have been the protagonist but for the POV of the novel; the unresolved yearning and shared sanctuary of his dynamic with lxc; the absolute dogshit treatment he gets in the fandom discourse. he's ray bait. of course i love and stan.

then there's shi wudu from tgcf, a character i absolutely did not see myself coming to like and stan the way that i have, but if mxtx didn't want me to find him so sympathetic and compelling, she shouldn't have written him desperately trying to comfort shi qingxuan while he was sobbing uncontrollably over he xuan ordering him to cut his own brother's head off. 🥲 also his metal "i make my own fate" monologue, which i need to revisit sometime just to gush about it here, it's so good! and then there's no one at his funeral other than xie lian, ling wen and pei ming--and pei ming, oh!! "i don't even know if your eyes are closed," he says when he finds shi wudu's remains. waaahhh still not over it.

then we have xiao jinghuan from nirvana in fire who, and i cannot stress this enough, is a beautiful, articulate, intelligent, talking trash can prince who would drive a cybertruck. i want to shake him aggressively and also put him in a position where he can make different choices, because i just strongly believe that in the right fix-it scenario, he could survive the events of the show! no really, i think he could! would he be a better person, exactly? ...i mean, no, but do you really want him to be? i need him to be that guy who invites himself to parties only to leave in the middle of conversations to go outside and take a call on his stupid bluetooth device that he never removes from his ear, ever.

also i think a geology degree might fix at least 30% of his problems. we need to treat him like a cat, you can't discipline him towards making better decisions, you just have to redirect his attention, in this essay i will--

anyway that brings us to who my actual favourite character is in mysterious lotus casebook, and yeah, it's fang duobing.

"one of these things is not like the others" i hear you singing already, "one of these things does not belong" and to that i say no, he absolutely does belong, because just like /gestures @ all of the above, jin guangyao, shi wudu, and xiao jinghuan, fang duobing burst onto the scene and defied all of my expectations about what i was going to experience through following his journey through the story. and yes, usually i am drawn towards the more morally ambiguous characters in a story, but that's often because the protagonist characters don't give me quite as much crunch (nb: mei changsu is plenty crunchy, nobody @ me about that! but he and jingyan are a unit to me, and i'm talking about individual characters right now).

fang duobing delivers the crunch, but the delivery vector is through subverting my expectations about what a character of his type is going to deliver in the story. yes, he is Good™️, which can sometimes be an interest killer for me because the Goodness becomes a stand-in for any real character depth or development, but that isn't the case with fang duobing. from the very start he's complex and multifaceted; yes, he's earnest and sincere and a bit naive (to begin with) and coddled, a well loved young master from a rich family who's never had to want for anything in his life. but he also spent the majority of his early years too sickly to even walk, unsure if he'd ever be able to stand up and actually hold a sword, let alone follow in li xiangyi's footsteps to perfect xiangyi swordplay. and he's sharp, and quick-witted, and observant, and he learns and matures (and, in my opinion, falls in love) right in front of our eyes--and the emotional range that shunxi commands in this role! absolutely outstanding.

none of this even taps into how well he emotes, and i don't even just mean with his expressive eyes, tho those are responsible for making me burst into tears in episode 40, i won't even lie. but you can mark the moment he masters yangzhouman and xiangyi swordplay, because his combat demeanour changes, too.

anyway uh i don't. really have a point with this lmfao i was just mulling over who all my favourite characters have been in past shows and books i've gotten into recently (shoutout to wang zhi from sleuth of the ming dynasty, who i did not include here only because i haven't finished the show), and how fang duobing should NOT be among their number, and yet he is. he is, and i will fight and kill for him 🔪 not that he needs it but, you know, i'm here for you anyway xiaobao.

[gotskamstuff]

CHAT PAUSE, I MIGHT BE ONTO SOMETHING (or once again might be clowning)

THE DEATH CURSE IS NOT REAL!!

‼️S4 SPOILERS AHEAD‼️

I’ve spent the last 24 hours stressing over that fact that JJ is part of a family with a death curse on them… BUT THE CURSE PROBABLY DOESN’T EVEN EXIST!!

I apologize in advance ‘cause this is gonna be long, like looooong but follow me.

Wes Genrette (basically JJ’s grandpa) is the one who seemed the most convinced about the curse on his family probably because he never recovered from the sudden and tragic death of his daughter and that’s when he started believing in it, remember how Hollis told Rafe that the land on Goat Island remained untouched for a long time for generations and ALL OF A SUDDEN they now think it’s hunted and wand to get rid of it? There you go! It started with Larissa Genrette’s death.

HOWEVER is it really hunted? Ok Wes Genrette died like he knew he would, BUT he didn’t just drop dead in an unexplainable manner after supposedly seeing the ghost…HE WAS CONFIRMED TO BE MURDERED, STRANGLED BY A REAL PERSON!!

But who did it?

One thing that the forensic doctor also said to Shoupe is that the body found on the beach died in the same way by the same hands, so it means it’s a recurring method used by the killer…and do you remember how Cleo was about to get killed when taken hostage and Pope almost didn’t arrive on time? EXACTLY! PINNED DOWN TO THE FLOOR GETTING STRANGLED!!!

The man that went to the shop to ask “you’re those treasure hunting kids” and tried to kill JJ and Kie underwater and then also took Cleo is the one behind the killings, is he the main villain? Absolutely not! As we’ve seen he’s clearly being used to do the “dirty work” and taking orders, working for the main villain.

And who is the main villain? ALL OF THEM!!

Let me explain better, I think that Dalia (the British lady who’s the killer boss), Chadler Groff (JJ’s biological father) and Hollis Robinson (the real estate developer) are all working together orchestrated by Chandler.

Let’s take it step by step because there’s so much I unpacked (or think I did lol) and I hope I can make it understandable.

One of the major plot twists at the end of part 1 that we are not putting enough attention on is the fact that we see Chandler Groff and Hollis Robinson working together AND ACTUALLY IT IS A BIG REVEAL!!!

It’s big because it explains the whole motive behind the villains goal for this season’s plot.

You remember what business deal Hollis was making with Rafe? What her estate development plan is about? YEAH, GOAT ISLAND!

Chandler Groff and Hollis Robinson (who are also most likely together in a romantic relationship) are after Goat Island and becoming the owners of that land that’s worth a fortune.

The only thing in the way with that? The Genrette’s family!

Goat Island is property of the Genrette’s family and has been for generations and they are the only rightful heir to the mansion and land, Chandler however is only a son in law and a acquired family member by marriage, he is not a descendant of the family and therefore he doesn’t have any claim over the property as long as a member of the Genrette’s family is alive to inherit the island!

This brings us to the fact that Chandler is the one behind both Larissa’s (and also attempted JJ/Jackson) and Wes deaths, why? Because they were all direct heir to Goat Island before him. Now they’re all gone and he’s the only surviving member of the family who can legally claim the land in the eyes of the law. A tale as old as time, family killing family for the inheritance.

This also brings us to why and how JJ ended up with Luke.

I think at this point it’s pretty safe to say that Chandler killed his own wife Larissa and planned to kill their son (JJ) along with her, masking the whole thing as an accidental drowning but of course we know that the kid survived, JJ is right there.

My theory is that Luke Maybank either used to work for the Genrette’s family doing whatever maintenance job on the property (remember how in the first episode Chandler said to the Pogues that many people worked there over the years and never seemed to stick around for long?) or simply he had some sort of rapport with Larissa and therefore Luke is the one who found newborn JJ alive on Goat Island, which clearly wasn’t in Chandler’s plan who wanted him dead along with Larissa.

To get rid of him quickly before Wes Genrette found out that his nephew survived, Chandler probably offered Luke some money and a house on the Cut (or whatever he found convenient) to just take the kid with him and tell everyone it was his, a Maybank.

And the question everyone has been asking themselves since the reveal: why did Luke take this kid if he clearly didn’t want him and abused him for his whole life? My personal theory over this is that 1. As I said he was probably offered something convenient for him and as we know he is an opportunistic asshole 2. Luke actually said something important while revealing the truth to JJ, he said “I did it to help Larissa” which makes me think that perhaps Luke and Larissa actually did have an affair and Luke truly loved her (or at least he felt some sort of affection for her) so when Chandler Groff tried to get rid of his own son, Luke must have clocked that he was the one behind Larissa’s death and tried to do the same with their kid and therefore Luke realized that Chandler would’ve probably still killed JJ if he didn’t take him away, so he did and took Larissa’s son just for her sake and because he loved her…which also explains why in S1 Luke says to JJ something along the lines of “sorry that sometimes I’m like this, it’s just that you remind me of your mother” and gets triggered ‘cause he loved her and she’s dead.

Another important thing that Luke says to JJ in the reveal is “I guess the old man figured it out eventually” referring to Wes and the letter he wrote to JJ before dying, which explains that Wes never had any idea that his nephew was alive up until recently.

This brings us to where we left things off, the Pogues have completely abandoned the necklace part of the treasure ‘cause they are just left at “ok Wes is dead, our deal is done and we got the 5k byeee” and moved on to the blue crown for personal reasons ‘cause it’s worth a fortune…however once they find out about JJ’s affiliation to the Genrette’s family and to the curse, they’re gonna get focused on retrieving the necklace again to break the curse and save JJ.

Chandler is gonna take advantage of that making JJ believe he’s next for the curse and hopefully killing him with this excuse like he did for the other family members, and while the Pogues are distracted with the necklace he will go after the blue crown which technically also is part of JJ’s family fortune since they are related to the captain who killed Blackbeard and took over his ships.

He’ll do that with the help of the mercenaries led by Dalia with whom he probably made a deal and promised part of the treasure, if not the necklace itself which is why the Pogues will struggle to get it back and focus more on fighting with those mercenaries to retrieve it.

Now Chandler still doesn’t know that JJ has discovered that truth and he’s playing nice with the Pogues, he still thinks that JJ will live the rest of his life convinced of being a Maybank, but once JJ confronts him about it the truth then his true colors are gonna show and the Pogues will probably figure it out that this curse doesn’t even exist and it was Chandler all along who played into it and took advantage of this old legend to get away with all his murders of the Genrette’s family.

This also would explain why in the end we see Rafe and the Pogues working together in Morocco, they’re gonna find out that Chandler and Hollis fucked over the both of them together (Hollis is definitely scamming Rafe so they can use the Cameron’s money for the investments) and Rafe is gonna propose to Pogues “hey let’s join forces and go after them”.

I hope I explained what my thoughts are clearly enough, sorry if some part weren’t easy to follow but English isn’t my first language and I try my best, and although I gotta admit I am patting myself on the back a little ‘cause it does make sense, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THOSE ARE JUST MY THEORIES AND SPECULATIONS, IT’S STILL NOTHING CERTAIN SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!!