#the audience of me and about two other people XD

[xviruserrorx]

"Promise?" "Promise..." From The Ingenuous

[sunny-flake]

wait omg analysis time bc I am LOSING my mind

I wanted to start with these two, because in the broad image they are looking at each other

In HW, only one song is played ever, and I feel like he may be a bit lost on trying to join in, and is looking to Four for help. Four has notices this, but doesn't understand why he's looking at him. Probably?

LEGEND. LEGENDLEGENDLEGEND LEG. THE LAD. Excuse me as I just- OMG HES USING ONE OF THE LA INSTRUMENTS ANAKAMSKKFJRJJDJD

Aside from that, he looks OVERJOYED to be able to play one of those instruments, and is just having a wonderful time. Good for you bud :)

These two made me laugh, bc I know that Twi had to probably go off onto the woods or something and come back to join in the only musical way he knows. To which Wind, who probably here still knows Twi & Wolfy as two different people. Confused small bean <3

SKYYYYYY THE BOYYYY!!!! In past comics, Sky has said that playing the harp helps remind him of Zelda, and whatever they are playing seems to give good memories

ALSO ARE WE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE WIND? Throughout the peice there seems to be wind going to the left. You can see this especially in Hyrule. But for Sky, ONLY HE, has a strong wind going to the right. Not sure what that implies but it's cool

I know I've already seen a few things talking about time and how he has the Zora guitar from MM, which I do think it's cool because it implies that Time still has the MM masks on him.

Not much to say about Hyrule, except for the fact you can see the wind I was talking about earlier, and I like the fact that he's playing a recorder, not a Flute, a flute would've gone to the side

Finally we have Wild, who is instrument-less and the audience XD

Petition to have Wild get out a bunch of stakes and some mallets and just be percussion in the bg lmao. No other words here

I imagine the Spirit of Cadence of Hyrule Link is smiling down of everybody

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

How about Vox successfully installs a hidden camera in Charlie and Vaggies room for sexy blackmail. But is pissed all the footage he has is cute fluffy hugs and kiss. Nothing explicit at all.

i think if the V's tried this... they would regret it SO fast and probably be scarred for life in the process XD

Vox: "The lack of risk research in this new venture of ours... astounding."

Valentino: "Aw kitty, what better way to keep track of Lucifer's bimbo daughter Charles than by keeping a little camera tucked away in her bedroom?"

Vox: "Pointed at her bed? ONLY her bed?"

Velvette: "Imagine the BLACKMAIL. Hashtag cancel little miss Morningstar!"

Valentino: "Her and her spicy lady are soooooo pruuuudish and so WHOLESOME about that shit stain hotel of theirs- just think of what they'd do not to be the new stars of hell's porn scene?"

Vox: "I'm thinking, if they DON'T mind, their ratings will skyrocket."

Valentino: "....ah."

Velvette: "Oh come on flat screener, there's no way they'd ever be ok with-"

Vox: "And if they DO mind, Lucifer will take us all off the air so fast the cameras will still be rolling while our own heads start to."

Velvette: "FUCK."

Vox: "Am I the only one here actually forecasting audience reactions??"

Velvette: "I HATE BORN LUCKY GIRLS AND THEIR TOP DOG DEMON DADS!"

Valentino: "We can at least heckle their boring sex life privately, yeah?"

Vox: "If they even HAVE one."

Velvette: "Heads up. They're getting into bed now."

Valentino: “Oooooh and they’ve brought equipment~!”

The V’s: “………………”

Valentino: "..... is that. Paperwork?"

Velvette: "Oh hell no."

Vox: "Birds of a feather. If Alastor can be so chummy with them, then-"

Valentino: "They're doing- they’re- fucking doing PAPERWORK in bed!? Together!?? INSTEAD of each other? That’s IT?????"

Velvette: "This is sick. I'm gonna be sick."

Valentino: "AND THEY'RE ENJOYING IT???"

Velvette: "Hhrrrk-"

Vox: "Cut the feed. Destroy the camera. I can feel the static of their domestic fuzzy feel-good lives overtaking my entire network, program by program, station by station." (clutches tv head) "This would be less unsettling if they were a pair of MUPPETS... Fuck this." (deletes camera)

-five minutes later-

Charlie: “You know what Vaggie?”

Vaggie: “What, sweetie?”

Charlie: "I love how much easier doing the hotel budget is when we have each other to cross check it! Frees up a lot more time!"

Vaggie: "Me too babe. Though I kinda still think I love you more."

Charlie: (smiles softly) "Yeah..?"

Vaggie: (leans in) "...yeah."

Charlie: (grins) "Wanna fuck nasty about it?"

Vaggie: (grins back) "I’ll get the toybox."

-meanwhile-

Valentino: “WAIT! ….I feel a disturbance in the fuck! As if two people are having really kinky gay sex right now, and I’m missing out on exploiting it!”

Velvette: (still nauseous) “I’ll exploit my fist to your face if you don’t shut up.”

Vox: “Velvette.”

Velvette: “Oh you know don’t mean it, darling~ Much.”

Vox: “Fair enough.”

Velvette: “Paperwork, blegh. They were using, actual PHYSICAL bits of paper… I’m gonna have fucking nightmares.”

Valentino: “This IS my nightmare!”

Vox: “Welcome to hell, Val.”

[artist-issues]

I’ve enjoyed a lot of your thoughts on Disney movies and I was wondering what you thought of the movie Enchanted(assuming you have seen the movie xD)? I rewatched it recently and I really enjoyed it(I personally like that even though Giselle does evolve throughout the movie, her wish of finding true love stays the same) so I was curious to know your thoughts :)

I

LOVE

Enchanted.

Morgan is the kid that represents Disney’s audience. Robert is the well-meaning parent of that kid, who is missing the point of the Disney movies. Giselle is the Disney movie.

I love it. It’s so good. It ranks right up there with Mary Poppins, in my mind, as Disney getting itself right.

Disney has been accused of two things, prominently. On one side, you have people being like “oh Disney doesn’t have any courage to do new things, they’re just bowing to whatever the culture says, they’re remaking everything, etc.” That’s nowadays.

But in the early 2000s, when Enchanted was released, it was much more punk rock and edgy and popular to criticize Disney for not being “feminist” enough, for having characters who are stupid or silly—“what, they fall in love in just one day? What, they sing about their feelings? Look at all the dippy magic in their movies! Ha! Corny! Cheesy! Kiddie! Gag me!”

But then Disney whips out Enchanted.

Enchanted is Disney saying “Yeah our princesses have undying faith in love, and to them, magic is normal, and that’s a good thing, and our world needs more of it.”

furthermore

like this video so perfectly captures:

Giselle is this character who is (at first glance) the typical Disney Princess: that is, she’s all about faith. Having a dream of the special someone you’re destined to be with is one thing, but believing he’s out there in real life and you’ll find each other? You kind of have to believe in a higher power (fate, destiny, a horse, a wishing star, God) making that happen to get there. And then, what comes with faith, is this positive, joyful, innocent happiness that she carries everywhere.

When she meets somebody new? She trusts them to help her. When she calls to vermin? They answer her and befriend her. When she gets lost? She trusts her friends or her Prince will come find her. No need to be suspicious, to pretend to be something she’s not, or to despair; everything will work out, because life is full of wonderful things happening, and she knows that love exists and that love is often directed toward her—so why worry?

That’s so Disney. (The REAL Disney.) “Maybe something wonderful will happen.”

Enchanted celebrates that ideology by having her teach it to a guy who is from our world—and he’s basically the opposite of Giselle in every way.

He’s been hurt by someone he thought loved him (his ex wife.) He works with people who used to trust each other and spends all day helping them legally dismantle their once-loving relationships. He has his own girlfriend, but he is way too uptight and controlling to take the next step with her—because he’s afraid. Afraid, afraid, fear, fear, the opposite of faith.

Giselle has that belief in the good, the beautiful, the true, in the world. Robert has zero belief. He thinks that kind of faith is just going to get everyone hurt by the cold hard ‘real’ world. But she teaches him that the most real things in the world are the good, the beautiful, the true…

She really does love him truly, there really is magic, and those two facts really do have power. That he’s the one who hasn’t been seeing things 100% “how they are,” because he leaves love and faith out of the picture.

…and we have to talk about what he teaches her. Which is that there’s something worth getting angry about and protective of—before him, none of her beliefs were challenged. I really think by getting angry with him specifically because he refuses to take that leap of faith and believe in anything (which is exactly what his current girlfriend is angry with him about), she realizes that she can be angry with him, that she can disagree with him—and like him anyway. That it’s a choice, to love someone—which is what everyone thinks fairy tale princesses don’t have, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Meeting a man and finding out enough about him on your first day to love him isn’t “boy meets girl, therefore they must end up together.” It’s her, knowing what is good, being insightful enough enough to see it in him even in a brief interaction, and then what ladies and gentlemen? Choosing to love him. So there’s Giselle, proving us all wrong about fairy tale princesses again.

I think it’s so good, because while he does help her to think more deeply and realize things about herself, he doesn’t change that joyful, faithful part of her. He just deepens it. It’s like a real life object lessons why “compare and contrast” is such an effective way to exercise your belief in something. Giselle believes in true love. Robert doesn’t. But she’s never met someone who doesn’t. By interacting with someone who’s trying his best, but is getting it wrong, she has a better appreciation for what she already knew was right.

I mean you could say “no she just realized that she has a right to be angry, women don’t have to be positive all the time” but that’s totally out of context. What’s she angry about? She’s angry that he keeps refusing to have faith, when she knows it would be good for him. It’s anger, for something worth being angry about.

And the songs are so good.

“That’s How You Know” is such a good song to refute critics of Disney Princesses and explain faith. Faith is believing what you know to be true and acting on it regardless of how you feel in the moment. In ‘That’s How You Know,’ Giselle is proving that princesses do actually need that truth component to have faith. It’s not blind faith.

It’s Ariel saying “I know humans are good because Truth 1: they make beautiful things, Truth 2: I saw one risk his life to save an animal, so I’m going to choose to love him.”

It’s Belle saying, “I know the Beast looks vicious, but Truth 1: he’s kind, he gave me a library and my freedom, Truth 2: he’s saved my life, and even though I’ve seen him break furniture and fight wolves, I’ve also seen him try to eat with a spoon and dance with me gently, so I’m choosing to love him.”

It’s Jasmine saying “I know this Prince Ali lied to me once already, but Truth 1: he saved my life and shared that he knows how I feel, and Truth 2: he keeps showing me the new things I want to experience without letting me get hurt in the process, so I’m going to trust him.”

It’s Snow White saying “I know I’m homeless in the woods and my only caretaker is trying to murder me, but Truth 1: I’m engaged to a Prince who promised to give his heart to me, so I’m not going to act despairing and fearful.”

Before the song starts, Robert is assuring Giselle that his girlfriend Nancy knows he loves her. But he doesn’t tell her all the time. He doesn’t do anything to show her. Because that would be vulnerable, and he’s a self-protective guy. Self-protection is the opposite of selflessness, and selfless action is love. So Giselle is telling him, “you have to do something, love is an action, and that action shows Nancy a truth she can base her faith, faith in your love for her, on.”

Not to…over-analyze a really catchy song.

But they’re all like that. This is the whole movie. The whole movie is Giselle being the Disney movie, walking and talking, proving the people who don’t get Disney movies wrong.

It is that deep!

And guess what? Robert, the guy who doesn’t get Disney movies? He falls in love with Giselle, the walking talking Disney movie. So there.

We haven’t even talked about the villains or Pip or Edward or Nancy, but they’re all amazing, they’re all perfect for this movie, but I’ll save it for another post.

I love Enchanted.

[percheduphere]

Hi! Firstly, I wanted to say, I LOVE your analysis, and your detailed deep dive into characters!!! I love your view of Sylvie, and I especially love your metas on Mobius (my beloved). I always jump with happiness, when your new meta shows up! :D Anyway, I wanted to ask - I know, you mentioned it many times but - how do you think the timeline of falling in love for the other looked like? I was thinking about it a lot. Like when Loki started to fall for Mobius? How s2e1 and the fact, that Mobius didn't remember him impacted him? What you think, that was THE moment, when Loki fall for Mobius as heard as he could? And what was the moment he realized he loved him? (and what did he THINK ABOUT THAT????) Also how do you think he was copying with this love for Mobius for those centuries in a loop?? ... And same for Mobius :D When do you think he actually fell for THIS specific Loki? When did he had that OH moment? :D (when he realized he love him) (Also how the 1893 DATE impacted them??? xD ) And lastly, what they think the other is feeling? They seem to me, like classic IDIOTS IN LOVE trope, but I would really REALY love to see your thoughts on that!!! Once again, I thank you for all your work, you're brilliant (I fell in love with your meta on sense and sensibility) Have a great day!!! ❤️ PS: I'm sorry for mistakes (I'm terrible at English) Tru

LET'S TALK ABOUT WHEN THEY STARTED FALLING FOR EACH OTHER

As always, thank you to all the lovely gif artists who make my metas possible.

Thank you so much for your patience @trutrustories!

With respect to the individual timelines of when Mobius and Loki "fall for each other", obviously my take is subjective and there are plenty of viewers who don't see any romantic angle between them at all. That's fine because even without the romantic angle, I think the timelines I map out still demonstrates key moments in which Mobius and Loki's relationship with each other deepens.

As a warning, since this is a timeline request from the perspective of two characters, this post is MASSIVE.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES

As a general note, the Loki series uses a few narrative techniques fairly regularly.

A.) REFRAMING / REVERSE PAY-OFF

The series has a habit of reframing the interpretation of previous episodes with the presentation of new information in future episodes. That is, reverse pay-off. Here are key examples, which I discuss in the "timelines" later:

Sylvie tells Loki she can't sleep in front of people she doesn't trust in S1E3; Loki falls asleep in front of Mobius in S1E2

Loki describes love as a dagger in S1E3; Mobius gives Loki daggers in S1E2.

Loki timeslips "uncontrollably", yet manages to timeslip back to Mobius with increasing accuracy in S2E1; Loki realizes timeslipping can be controlled by thinking about "who" in S2E5.

B.) MIRRORING

Loki mirrors Mobius's emotional trajectory from S1E1 - S2E1 (S1E3 has no Mobius). Episode 5 in BOTH seasons is when they both give each other up for the sake of the other.

Sylvie (chaos) & Ravonna (order) and Loki (chaos) & Mobius (order).

C.) REPETITION

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he wants and returns his friendship. Mobius is pruned. (S1E4)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he and Sylvie "don't see things the same way". Mobius has no memory of him. (S2E1)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he (Loki) loves him. Mobius (as Don) spaghettifies. (S2E5)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he has to give him up to save everyone. Mobius is left behind. (S2E6)

Let's keep these narrative techniques in mind as we proceed!

MOBIUS

Mobius is pretty straightforward. Though I didn't perceive any romantic love in my first watch through of S1, the angle of romance feels more credible when reviewing S1 after having seen S2E1. S2E1 reframes how we can view Mobius's emotional motivations.

The inferred backstory, as the audience understands it, is that Mobius has studied Lokis for eons. Loki is his area of expertise. His pet project. His special interest. As I mentioned in another meta, it's perfectly reasonable for someone to gradually fall in love with the subject matter of their work over time. In this case, that subject matter happens to be an actual person.

By the time Loki is apprehended by the TVA, Mobius already had a plan in motion to save him from deletion. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision for him. Mobius had been preparing for this encounter for a while. Likely centuries. This is inferred through the fact another TVA agent seeks Mobius out immediately with Loki (L1130)'s file. Why bother doing that if all variants who cause a nexus event get "reset"?

And boy, is Mobius eager to have Loki by his side once he has him. In what world would anyone offer 2012 Loki a handshake? Mobius's, apparently.

Mobius also doesn't hesitate to touch Loki right off the bat. When Loki pauses to look at the TVA "world", Mobius lays a guiding hand on Loki's back. (Unfortunately couldn't find the gif for this).

It also doesn't take Mobius long to get emotionally compromised once he has Loki under his wing. I talk about the exact moment I believe this happens here.

This reaction from Loki, in response to Mobius's praise, is a big moment for both of them. They genuinely like and enjoy one another in this scene.

Moments later, Mobius absolutely gushes about Loki to his best friend boss lady, Ravonna.

He's so proud of Loki's breakthroughs and is really happy with how well they work together as a team. So much so that his judgment gets clouded and he insists on bringing Loki out into the field, where Loki's most likely to betray him.

NOTE: The moment above is when I believe he's officially compromised.

By the middle of S1E2, Mobius fell first. However, I don't think Mobius realizes the exact nature of his feelings for Loki until S1E5. From a platonic standpoint, Mobius definitely started thinking of Loki as a friend by this time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have called Loki a "bad friend" in S1E4.

In a S1 interview, Tom describes Mobius as having love for Loki, and Loki, at that point in his character development, "not wanting that" (you can see a compilation of interviews with Tom and Owen here). Based on this, I think it's safe to say that Mobius's love for Loki is not only genuine but also unconditional and abiding.

This unconditional, abiding love is what allows Mobius to want to believe in Loki despite his evident betrayal in S1E4. In the same episode, he implies via rhetorical question that Loki doesn't deserve to be alone and accepts that it's Sylvie that Loki wants to be with.

If Mobius hadn't accepted this, he wouldn't have made it his focus to bring Sylvie to Loki in S2E5.

And as I mention elsewhere, the moment below was the first instance in which I felt there could be unrequited love. I think Mobius's realizes it, too, in this scene:

Mobius maintains his acceptance of Loki's feelings for Sylvie throughout S2, however grudgingly. A microanalysis of the McDonald's scene may be reviewed here.

In S2E1, Mobius's love for Loki is demonstrated throughout. I discuss how pivotal this episode is here.

In terms of Mobius's personal perspective on their relationship. I think Mobius believes he will only ever Loki's friend and #2, as opposed to #1, a position he believes Sylvie holds.

While Mobius knows Loki will support him as a friend and can count on his protection on the field, I don't think it ever crosses his mind that Loki would prioritize him (that is, place Mobius as #1). Their last private interaction would reinforce Mobius's notion that Loki will take Sylvie's side if given the choice to choose between the two of them:

And while Mobius might not like it, while Mobius is clearly hurt by it, he doesn't allow this interaction to ruin his friendship with Loki. Because he loves Loki deeply.

It can even be argued that, in addition to personal guilt due to his role in the TVA, Mobius doesn't fight Sylvie's accusations because to do so would hurt Sylvie, and hurting Sylvie would hurt Loki, which is unacceptable. Therefore, Mobius just takes it, even though it would be very easy to point out to Sylvie that killing HWR triggered the crisis they're in.

As far as Mobius is concerned, he mostly likely thinks his love continues to be unrequited and has made peace with that since S1. His final scene could be interpreted as grief over the loss of a friend as well as grief over the loss of what could have been.

LOKI

Loki's feelings for Mobius evolve much more gradually, and the emotional journey of those feelings is accordingly more complex.

In S1E1, I believe Loki appreciates Mobius's directness. I know I've stated this multiple times, but I think it bears repeating: a lot of Loki fans absolutely hate Mobius's treatment of Loki in this episode, but I think it's important to remember where Loki's state of mind is at.

There was no way 2012 Loki would have been receptive to soft compassion. He doesn't understand soft. He sees softness as a weakness and refuses to engage with it because he doesn't want to be seen as soft. What 2012 Loki does understand is cruelty. He will listen and pay attention to cruelty because cruelty is a gesture of power, and power is control. His default mode is the desire and respect of power, which Mobius has over him. He respects that he has been bested. Crucially, Mobius balances his cruelty (to get Loki to listen) with genuine kindness. This is what allows Loki's first breakthrough of choosing to be vulnerable with Mobius. Admitting he doesn't like hurting people, that he is weak, (that he isn't happy), requires trust on Loki's part that Mobius will not mock him for it.

Unlike Mobius, Loki does not have access to files and tape recordings on Mobius's life. As such, Loki starts out with less power in their dynamic. All he knows about Mobius is what he gleans from Mobius's treatment of him and others. And Mobius, even when he is frustrated and annoyed with Loki, consistently gives Loki chances to demonstrate his ability outside of the context of being a villain. He never gives up on him.

Mobius, through his consistency of compassion and refusal to abuse his power (until he's betrayed in S1E4), proves he is trustworthy to Loki.

Nevertheless, the power imbalance puts Loki in a corner where he can't afford to place all his eggs in the Mobius basket. There's manipulation happening between them, and they both know it, so their interactions in S1, while entertaining for both of them, are also colored with mutual distrust.

For this reason, in addition to raw curiosity and poor impulse control, Loki runs after Sylvie and betrays the friendship with Mobius he didn't know he already had.

In S1E3, we have our first instance of new information paying off the meaning of a scene from a previous episode. On the train, Sylvie informs Loki she cannot sleep in front of people she doesn't trust (can't find the gif with the quote). Since Sylvie is a Loki, the audience can infer the same baseline nature may apply to "our" Loki as well.

In S1E2, we find Loki sleeping across Mobius. The significance of this is implied but not confirmed until S1E3.

When Sylvie wakes up (having fallen asleep despite herself, reinforcing the relational impact of Mobius to Loki to Sylvie, as well as affirming tentative trust on her part), she finds Loki drunk. When people are drunk, subconscious feelings come to the fore.

It is here that we have our second instance of new information paying off a scene from the previous episode. Or alternatively, Loki's interpretation of a previous moment with Mobius defined in a scene with Sylvie: "Love is a dagger."

Personally, I don't think Loki feels any love for Mobius when he makes his infamous metaphor. What I think happens in this scene, is that Loki has subconsciously interpreted the gift of daggers as an act of love.

Why?

Because daggers are for stabbing people in the back. For someone to give another a dagger implies absolute trust. That level of trust entails love.

But at this point in the story, Loki's experience with love and trust is very new. Perhaps it stands to reason, at least in Loki's hindbrain, that those feelings would be better directed at someone familiar, someone like himself: Sylvie. It certainly helps that he's immediately fascinated with her to begin with and he genuinely cares for her.

Significantly, upon Loki making the dagger disappear, Sylvie describes the dagger, love, as "it isn't real". This is an answer Loki intentionally draws out of Sylvie, because he and Sylvie are the same, which reinforces the thought that the love he subconsciously feels from Mobius cannot possibly be real. I think this may be what Tom is alluding to when he describes Loki as not wanting Mobius's love (because he isn't ready for it yet, even if it's purely platonic).

Loki and Sylvie's capture in S1E4 lead to the interrogation scene, which in turn leads to the tension of mutual distrust and mutual desire for trust snapping. This is articulated when Mobius calls Loki a "bad friend", which startles him. Within the MCU canon, no one has ever called Loki a 'friend'.

The tension breaks when Mobius returns to Loki, and they make very clear, active choices about what they want:

They choose to forgive one another

They choose to trust one another

They choose to affirm that a friendship between them exists

They choose to be on the same page and side

They talk through their fight in a very direct and healthy way. In addition to being called a 'friend' for the first time, it's highly likely this is the first time Loki has successfully mended fences with someone who isn't family. Thus, in one episode, Loki has had not 1 but 2 substantive milestones that contribute not just to his relationship with Mobius but his personal healing and growth.

But the narrative demands that as soon as the main character experiences triumph, they must experience tragedy, too.

Loki loses Mobius a total of 4 times in the series:

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he wants and returns his friendship. Mobius is pruned. (S1E4)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he and Sylvie "don't see things the same way". Mobius has no memory of him. (S2E1)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he (Loki) loves him. Mobius (as Don) spaghettifies. (S2E5)

Loki loses Mobius after realizing he has to give him up to save everyone. Mobius is left behind. (S2E6)

If you notice, Loki's emotional journey, at least as far as romantic reciprocation is concerned, is more or less a season behind Mobius's. Its progression is also punctuated by loss almost as soon as the personal epiphany occurs.

After Sylvie, for lack of a better word, "dumps" him, Loki has time to reflect on what has transpired, the dire consequences likely awaiting, and who has chosen to support him all along (a review of Mobius's decision-making where Loki's well-being is concerned may be read here.)

With this in mind, Loki runs in search of Mobius.

Which makes encountering a Mobius who doesn't know him, that much more devastating.

Tom's acting here is something else. Loki's desperation to have his Mobius back is visceral and foreshadows a similar desperation in S2E5. This moment, I feel, is the beginning of Loki's feelings tilting from platonic love to romantic. He's not fully there yet like Mobius already is, but it's starting.

And that gradual build-up of investment in Mobius spreads over S2E1 - S2E5. In these S2 episodes, Loki mirrors Mobius's emotional trajectory from S1E1 - S2E1 (S1E3 has no Mobius). Keep this mirroring in mind because Episode 5 in BOTH seasons is when they both give each other up for the sake of the other.

In S2E2, Loki protects Mobius physically:

And supports him emotionally:

In S2E3, Loki enjoys his magic and curbs its intensity for Mobius:

In S234, unbeknownst to Mobius, Loki defends his character and his efforts to save the timelines:

Now, S2E5 is where it all culminates.

I'm getting close to the gif threshold and the fit-check has been discussed at length, so I want to focus on this scene. Here, Loki tells Mobius that he "belongs" in the TVA and that he saved Loki's life when he first arrived. This shot of Loki saying Mobius's name echoes Mobius's look of unrequited love in S1E5's goodbye scene.

But I don't think Loki has fully articulated, in his mind, exactly what his feelings are because he's rushing. His sole focus for the time-being is getting Mobius back, and he does so, temporarily, through recruiting Don.

It's when Loki find's Sylvie that he has the time to once again reflect on the nature of his and Mobius's relationship and his regard for it as he did in S1E6. And it is, once again, Sylvie who acts as the catalyst for Loki's emotional epiphany.

When Sylvie challenges Loki to say what he actually wants, he struggles to respond. The want is too vulnerable to reveal.

I love Tom's micro-expressions in the above gifs (thank you @starrose17!) The pursed lips, the hard swallow, and the tears welling up in his eyes ... This is it, this is the moment I believe Loki finally realizes he's in love with Mobius.

He phrases his desire as wanting his friends back. That's true enough (an analysis of what the TVA means to Loki and Mobius may be read here). However, Loki later reuses the word "belong" and applies it to himself. Mobius, in his words, "belongs" in the TVA. Without his friends (the TVA) where does Loki "belong"?

This is outside of text and the sociopolitical conflict between the artists and the studio, but the case can be made that Loki doesn't entirely trust Sylvie with his feelings. Loki did, after all, witness Sylvie reprimand and humiliate Mobius. To directly admit love for the same person Sylvie harshly rebuked may not be received well, but I think Sylvie already knows and may have known as far back as when she commented "he cares about you" in S1E5.

From Loki's perspective, I think Loki knows Mobius loves him, but I am less certain if Loki knows Mobius loves him romantically. That said, prior to his sacrifice, I think Loki was emotionally ready to confess. I also believe Loki, while not 100% confident his romantic love would be reciprocated, senses his odds for reciprocation are good.

Unfortunately, their fate was to become star-crossed lovers.

(For now).

[violetganache42]

Be sure to watch the season 2 premiere of Moon girl and Devil Dinosaur because the show is in danger of being cancelled

Yeah, everyone at the Disney Beat server and I saw a couple of nights ago, and we've all been so fucking ANGRY at Disney. 14 episodes getting dropped all at once on Disney+?! What the fuck were they thinking?!

(Rant under the cut.)

It's bad enough they release batches of episodes at once like what Netflix did with Sonic Prime, but they plan to drop around half a season there to where they're making the main channel do two episodes per week?! You seriously couldn't do weekly premieres on TV and have the new episodes get released the next day on streaming, like what HBO Max did with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures with Superman?! The fact they reveal this on the MGDD Crew TikTok and paint it as a good thing does not help either. "How could you not celebrate" HOW COULD YOU NOT REALIZE YOU'RE BEING SO FUCKING DENSE RIGHT NOW?! LOOK AT THIS SHIT!

You cannot make this up! Streaming as a whole has seriously fucked over entertainment. Netflix made the binge format the new norm, and it's not working anymore. If you thought shows getting shorter-lived hype through binging compared to a weekly release was an issue, the quantity is a-whole-nother problem. If it was 5 or 6 episodes getting added at a time, that would be less infuriating, but this is 14 half-hour episodes we're talking about! That's 308 minutes of straight-up binging Disney expects us to do! No one is gonna binge this many episodes in a timeframe like that! And keep in mind, this isn't an earlier season from a finished or ongoing show; this is a whole new season we're talking about. People who haven't watched MGADD yet or don't have Disney+ and/or cable are gonna get exposed to a fuck ton of spoilers. Not to mention Disney Channel is gonna have to spend 7 weeks catching up to Disney+ with the episodes they air on TV. That will do a serious number on the TV views! And don't get me started on the international releases because I was told MGADD has been delayed so much to where S2 of dubbing is done (hence the promos in Japan), but considering the company's crapass handling of international releases, people won't be able to watch it until a much later date. Oh, and there are also countries that don't have the show despite it being dubbed in their language. Right off the bat, that's international views down the drain and the strong possibility of people in the other countries being exposed to spoilers depending on what they come across and who they're following.

You know what the absolute kicker is? They had the fucking audacity to reveal this shortly after they treated The Ghost and Molly McGee like garbage. No joke! The very minimal reruns they gave it throughout its run, its cancellation as season 3 was being drafted, the shitty promotions, them releasing "Jinx vs. the Human World" on iTunes and "The End" on YouTube ahead of their TV and Disney+ releases. I am not kidding about the last part; because Disney didn't temporarily remove them, SpoilerTV reported both episodes received only 63K and 56K TV views! Now compare that to the 375K views "Watching and Dreaming" got; all three TOH specials weren't released on YouTube or Disney+ until after the DC/XD simulcast premiere! And this is the same show that got shortened by the now retired Gary Marsh! The upsetting part is Bill Motz is blaming himself for putting too much pressure on the fans for watching TGAMM and appointing ambassadors to help promote it. No, it's not your fault, Bill. It's the Disney executives and their shitty marketing strategy's fault your show got cancelled. You care about the show you and Bob Roth created, and you wanted it to do well. The higher ups didn't bother to continue promoting the show after it premiered, and that alone just forced you, the ambassadors, and the audience to do their job for them. They're the reason why it underperformed on D+ and DC. Now, it may potentially happen again with MGADD thanks to them!

Why did they pulling any of this shit was a good idea?! The show got ample marketing, from an advertisement outside the Days of Christmas store in Disney Springs and Moon Girl herself appearing in Disney California Adventure to merchandise such as a Moon Girl Funko, a couple of books, and even a graphic novel! It has received nominations and won awards, and the current lead executive Ayo Davis said season 1 performed well in ratings! Yet they turn around and pull all of this bullshit as season 2 approaches! Seriously, what is preventing you from doing next-day weekly releases and continuing your marketing, Disney?! All your other Marvel shows have gotten weekly releases and so much promoting, and regardless of the reception of each show, they all get high ratings! That even includes What If…?, the MCU's first animated show! Just because MGADD is adjacent/not entirely connected to the MCU and is a Disney TVA show doesn't give you the excuse to treat it like crap post-season 1!

I'm sorry for the ranting, but this multi-whammy has been so fucking frustrating. I have been a big fan of MGADD since the beginning, and like I previously said, it helped fill the DuckTales-shaped hole in my heart. I'm glad that it has such a strong start, and I want it to continue doing well, but the upcoming 14-episode release was such a fucking gut punch. The more the active Disney Beat server memebrs and I ranted and vented about it, the more furious we grew to where a few of us—myself included—were in tears; it is such a horrendous decision the Disney executives made! I'm at least glad the past week has gotten people to talk about how shows are getting treated nowadays thanks to streaming, and Disney Beat tweeting about the 14-episode bomb release announcement got deleted. Unfortunately, the higher ups most likely deleted it just to save face and won't reverse the decision in the end. Regardless, more people are catching onto the pitfalls with streaming and are noticing how shows no longer have the opportunities to build audiences over time. They are treated as nothing more as a means of gaining views and instant gratification rather than a medium made for one's enjoyment. With the Animation Guild's contract having been expired for around a few months, I hope one of their demands is to stop the shows' mistreatments and lack of sufficient marketing because streaming left a devastating and worsening impact on the entertainment and animation industries.

[saveraedae]

What is The Mark Side?

★ THE MARK SIDE follows the life of MARK REED— an unconventional and flawed protagonist navigating a drama-filled life while pushing everyone to their limits in the meantime!

Filled with angst, complex relationship dynamics, LGBT characters, and comedy! A story with a deeper meaning than you'd think!

Throughout the show, I aim to tackle a lot of serious issues like mental health and abuse with morally grey characters.

Here's a new and improved TMS introduction thread!

Featuring some new information for TMS's returning audience! ★ Happy Indie Animation Day! Make sure to follow me for updates on the show and fun community stuff! Go to @ask-tms for fun ask blog shenanigans and check out themarkside.com for more!

Help boost by reblogging to support the show. :)

See below the cut for more!

Show premise:

The Mark Side centers around titular character Mark's strained relationship with his childhood best friend Benjamin, who due to years of communication issues now absolutely despises him. Mark however, seems blind to the obvious deterioration their relationship has had, as he harbors major unrequited romantic feelings towards him.

Mirroring the two are Jonathon and Kenny, the other half of the friend group who through their years of knowing each other have communicated and helped each other through hardships, presenting as a strong, healthy couple today because of it.

After a summer of not being on speaking terms, Mark manages to wiggle his way back into the friend group again only to find a new guy has 'replaced him'— Ash, Benjamin's new boyfriend.

It takes place in the fictional town of Ohwell, Texas in the late 2010's!

Season 1 will showcase the arc of Mark struggling to maintain his place in the friend group despite his jealousy whilst also dealing with a plethora of emotional and complex family issues.

The main takeaway theme is that most scenarios are less black and white than one may assume at first glance, showcased by the characters being the antagonists of themselves instead of portraying one character as the villain.

All while maintaining a good balance of humor through an expressive and cartoony style! Humor and style draws lots of inspiration from 2000's Cartoon Network and Disney XD shows!

★★★★

The characters:

Mark Reed —

Master of chaos and making people hate him! He is voiced by Collin Weiler!

Benjamin Washington —

Mark’s aggressive former bestie who’s not afraid to speak his mind! He is voiced by Andre Grandpierre!

Jonathon Washington —

He thinks everyone deserves a second chance… Even Mark! He is voiced by Kruyo!

Kenny Peterson —

He navigates life with a smile even amidst his friends' chaos! He is voiced by XephThePanda!

And much to Mark's dismay...

ASH POWYRS —

Benjamin's boyfriend! ...May or may not be Mark's replacement! He is voiced by Jaden!

Wanna read about Mark's family?

They'll get character sheets soon, don't worry! I'll update this post when they get them!

But for now, you can read about them on the website! Darcy is voiced by Katherine Black, Boss is voiced by Josh Portillo, and Leon is voiced by DarkMage!

And that does it for season 1 info!

If you want EVEN MORE info, and to learn the extensive history and development of the series, give the wiki a look!

Beware of both spoilers and outdated content!

★★★★

YOU MADE IT TO THE END!

Thank you sooo much for reading to the end! You're a real one!! Again, follow me, the series' showrunner and creator for updates and information regarding the series, and follow @ask-tms to get involved YOURSELF by submitting to the character ask blog!

The merch store and support tiers will launch sometime soon! For now, the best way you can support the series is by GETTING THE WORD OUT! SPREAD THE WORD! HYPE IT UP!

WE HAVE SO MUCH PLANNED FOR THE MARK SIDE AND CANNOT WAIT TO SHOW EVERYONE WHAT'S IN STORE!

[kitkatopinions]

Your take on the recent RT announcement of a storybook anthology series to show what was happening in Remnant during volume 9?

I really feel like it's unnecessary at best at the moment and really doesn't give me any hope at all for... Anything going forward. XD

Like, 'this shows what's happening in Remnant during V9' V9 happened over the course of like a day and a half. And yes, it's obvious to the audience through the visual of the ships over Vacuo that it's been at least aa bit longer for the people of Vacuo than for RWBY+J in the Ever After (which I didn't want.) But if they were doing V10, I think they could stand to actually confirm how long they were gone in the show before they're like 'aren't you curious about what happened during all that time?'

Number one, it makes me feel like they will just brush over any time gap and have RWBYJ be like 'Well I guess it's been six months' or whatever and then move on quickly. Number two, despite caring about and liking a lot of the characters left in Vacuo, my hope is below zero for the fact that we'll see anything good or worthwhile at all.

Here are my predictions:

We'll get a minor cameo from Team SSSN and Team CFVY working with Team FNKI or something and at best Sun will ask about Blake and Nora will offhandedly say something about Blake belonging to Yang and Sun will be like 'oh, good for them.' Nora and Ren will get back together. Winter will get a ton of focus and weirdly will be like the only person really allowed to grieve for the presumed dead kids in more than a passing way. Maria and Pietro will also make a minor appearance and the anthology will say like one thing about Pietro missing Penny, but there's not gonna be any info on what happened to them out in the tundra or how they got to Vacuo. Qrow will get like a moment of acting bummed about Ruby and Yang and then Robyn will put a hand on his shoulder and Qrow will just move on. Theodore will make an appearance being 'the good member of Oz's inner circle' where he'll make some comments about never trusting Ironwood and will say something to Oz like 'it's a good thing you had those girls picking up the slack' and Oz will be like 'I know,' and they'll mention Glynda in passing. Mercury and Tyrian will be dealt with in this anthology.

And honestly, I could like all of them so much and I still wouldn't buy this because 'what Ren and Nora did in passing while Ruby was committing suicide' obviously doesn't matter as much to me as seeing Ruby actually go through the plot. And there being enough time for an 'anthology' to happen in Vacuo does damage imo to the main story because it gets consequences of V8 for Remnant and personal conflicts and moments I'd have liked to see addressed in the actual show for characters all brushed aside.

Also some people in the Discord chat I'm in mentioned that they think it's possible that the 'Beyond' portion of this is concerning.

As in, we might be getting important things like Team RWBY+J's return to Remnant and reunion with the others in this instead of waiting for V10 out of a desire to quickly tie up loose ends in the fear that V10 will never happen.

I've been on the 'V10 will probably happen but it might be the last season and probably will get rushed hardcore' train, but everything that RT does with RWBY makes me feel like V10 might not happen after all, or at the very least will only happen if the projects they make sell very well.

[fluffypotatey]

Don't think I ever explained it, but the reason I like SWK accidentally killing Mac so much isn't actually for the whumpy apologies, tho the confrontation of it in fics is always so delicious, but what has me going insane is actually the layers of their relationship breakdown. Like, you have these two immortal monkeys, they are perfectly designed by fate for each other's companionship. There is genuine care there, and it never dies. Never. They were just torn apart so tragically. Nobody fell to the dark side, there was no jealousy, no hatred. There was just every manifestation of grief and miscommunication. You could never get the right words out. You couldn't help what came out of your mouth in that moment, the bitterness you would have swallowed back in for just one more morning of peeling tangerines in the summer breeze, all the quiet ways to say 'I love you.' Their break-up was like shredding bamboo, the faults and woes, the insecurities and failings, and the hurtful words and the entrapment and all the ways you can't reach, and the loss of everything and the denial and oh, the time just wasn't right, it all boiled over, and speaking a language that can no longer be heard, and the shattering of unconditionality. They had their own flaws, that you never could have thought would tear them apart, but it did. And they had to go on their own journeys of self-growth, had their own people and places they were devoted to, they were the only ones for each other, but they were not only meant for that. And goodness, was it the wrong time. Wukong, trapped, the loss of freedom he fought for, to be the strongest so he could be free and happy, and everyone else too. Macky, constantly grappling with having to follow the sun-streaked trail Wukong blazes, even the moon unable to pause the day unless the sun chooses to set in its ambition to climb higher into the sky, never coming down. The accident of it all? Even if Swk never did, the "did you think all this time, that I could kill you just like that? like you meant nothing to me?" is going to be SUCH a good broken, grief-stricken line delivery from Wukong. But if not, then ooh, the exploration for those who have a similar anger they try to control, when they release emotions externally, and might accidentally break something, those moments don't define you, but how could you undo the damage, how do you make it normal when its not an object you broke, you hurt a friend, it was you, but it also wasn't you had it only been, what if what if what if- if only, and that's a very basic explanation, and even I can't get all the words down right, but its just a realistic thing, how it all fell apart, I think. that conversation has layers, even if I explain it poorly XD you could grab every tragic tumblr post about fading friendships, and love metaphors with sharing quiet spaces and fruit together, and it could be them. also the "came back wrong" trope potential with Macky, ooh. is it him. despite everything, are you still you, could you ever be. are you the same person killed long ago, is this for the best, or shall we both start over again? can you be recognized underneath it all, and is that tragic or a second chance.

god they have so many layers and one of the cool things about lmk keeping Macky’s death and the specifics of shadowpeach’s relationship vague is how much nuance and subtext is left in there. you can peel back layers upon layers and pain upon pain and bond upon bond and still find new info and interpretations and nuances and—

I know you’ve seen me gripe about not being given enough info, but i do really enjoy it when the story allows us to infer and think deeply about certain aspects of the story. I like it when a story isn’t 100% clear or honest to the audience because that leads you to look deeper. think deeper. and try to fathom all the clues brought to you

(but i gripe about it because i’m inpatient af and like having all the pieces right in front of me. there are so many threads and plot theories i have on my little conspiracy board that i don’t want to touch just yet because i feel like i need more pieces before making a confident analysis)

another thing is that both swk and Macky are unreliable when retelling their past. they have their biases and emotions that are tied to the memories. however, swk omits the truth more than outright lies while Macky cannot keep his emotions away from skewing the past. and then the clear truth comes out when it’s forced out from them (think Samadhi fire and scroll memories)

(then again, swk doesn’t really say much of his past and likes to keep it brief. out of the two he is the most honest in terms of he’s self reflective and understands that his past self has issues. is he completely honest about shit tho? no but we’re talking about shadowpeach)

and the cool thing is that “the love was still there” in the past and even when both were on opposite ends. both monkeys were falling into a darker path and while they had communication issues the love was still there. and even while they fought under the mountain and even when they probably fought during jttw, the love was still there

but neither had the tools to save each other and neither really knew how to stop each other from their doom and isn’t that such a beautiful thing to analyze and think about on the screen?

[mdhwrites]

How sick are you of the "TOH season 3 was bad because of Disney" argument?

I feel bad that I've been talking about the shortening as much as I have lately and this ask feels like a part of that. XD It's probably the one thing that the troll from a bit ago really got under my skin with and what seemed to piss them off the hardest. The idea that I was 'blatantly ignoring the circumstances' that led to the problems in the show.

But frankly, I just don't hear the argument being used much anymore. That might just partially be because at this point, I feel like I see more Amphibia art than I see Owl House art on my timeline because... Who is really defending this show at this point? It seems like even die hards are glancing back and fidgeting about it, like that person who I reblogged about the glyphs. That was a decently popular post for something that should have been controversial considering how theoretically important the glyphs are to at least the branding of the show.

S3 in general seems to have left a really bad taste in people's mouths and it's not hard to see why. When you had two and a half hours of content to give your story a proper bang of a finish, even if you can't make it all cohere thematically or the like, you should be able to do SOMETHING. That's WAY longer than most movies and TOH didn't have to do the first two act of establishment that most movies need to do. They had their players, they had their villains, they had their stakes and they never have to find an answer on their own to the Collector or Belos so they effectively already had their solution. They were setup to have payoff after payoff after payoff.

But I made an entire blog about how S3 could never have been great... Because what was there to payoff? Beating Belos is about the ONLY thing S2 left for the cast to do, especially once the second special came around and the interesting elements of the Collector were killed. He's just a sad but playful boy, just like Hunter was sad but mad and Amity was sad but smart. We had no other villains that we as an audience were connected to, all the character arcs were done, to the point where they have to make shit up for Willow so they can do SOMETHING with her and even that feels like shipping fodder, and the thematics were left so far down the road that... What can you say about the ending positively besides "I'm happy everyone is alive and seems happy where they are"?

None of these issues only arose in S3 of TOH though and I think that's the real problem for the fandom right now. Literally the longer the show has gone on, the more its inherent flaws in its writing become obvious as well as the fact that these writers simply aren't good enough to improvise off of the flaws in their own writing to make it better. We have no one who is Toriyama during the Cell Arc here where they can change on the fly and actually build off of what has to now be discarded. Or, hell, me, because I don't plan my stories from go but I take GREAT pride in being able to build on surprises I leave for myself on accident. Remember: The Power of Love did not start even with that title or Boscha planned to ever make more than joke appearances. Now it has a lot of people's favorite versions of both Boscha and Amity.

And that story is over a hundred chapters long. I had at least another hundred chapters of plans in mind. But when my brain stopped working for it and I decided I needed to write an ending so readers could be satisfied, I managed to do one in six parts that word count wise was probably at most 15k words. Not that long frankly but I was able to highlight the mended relationship between Amity and Boscha, how far Boscha had come socially as to be able to ignore those who might have gotten under her skin before, her better relationship with Luz, tie up the biggest loose ends and get them all together.

Was it entirely coherent? No. Was it as impactful as it could have been had I done all my plans? Of course not. But it was satisfying and true to the story and none of it wasted my audiences' time while still giving them an ending that was not only poignant to what had come because of how far Boscha had come but also just give the audience what they wanted. I knew what to cut and I knew what was important.

The Owl House never knew what was important to it though. Never met an idea it didn't like. So... How do you end a story that has never had a focus, clear thematics, plot, world or even characters? That throws everything into the kitchen sink and just waves away the elements in the sink that will stop them from adding new elements that will never get past the surface?

In a lot of spectacle that shows you were always a lot more shallow than you claimed and that's gonna leave a lot of people cold. I know it did for me, even well before the finale.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[twistedtummies2]

Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 10

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I am counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! We’ve reached the Top 10! Today’s entry truly never gets old. Number 10 is…Peter Pan.

Okay, let’s get the elephant out of the room immediately…no, some parts of this film (I think a lot of you will know which ones) have NOT aged well. It was made primarily for children in the 1950s, with development reaching as far back as the late 1930s, and certain elements are clearly a product of their time. I acknowledge this, and how it was as wrong then as it is wrong now. I concede it’s an issue for at least some (if not, indeed, many) modern audiences. If those elements or any others bother you for any reason – and I imagine they probably bother a LOT of people – I won’t pretend like you don’t have justifiable grounds for disliking the film as a result. With that said…I freaking love this movie, despite those issues, and that is the hill I choose to die on.

While I don’t know if Disney’s Peter Pan is the BEST interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s classic fantasy adventure, it’s certainly one of my top three favorites. (The other two are the 2003 film, and the musical that originally starred Mary Martin…also, no, I’m NOT counting “Hook" there, because “Hook” is a sequel, not a direct adaptation or reimagining.) When I think of the character of Peter Pan himself, it’s Disney’s version that most immediately comes to mind. The same can be said for many of the other characters, such as Smee, the Darling Children, and Tinker Bell…in fact, I think the only exceptions to this rule are Captain Hook himself (and he’s certainly not a version I dislike; easily in my top three takes on the character, as well as one of my Top 5 Disney Villains of all time), the Mermaids (who have so little to do with anything it hardly matters), and the Native American characters, who...I'm not going to touch here with a ten foot pole. 'XD I think it’s my passion for the story itself, and the fact the film introduced me to it, that helps make this such a major favorite for me. It also has the advantage that, like “Fun and Fancy Free” and “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” it was one of the first Disney movies I ever owned, and I watched it over and over again. In fact, I think I saw it perhaps more than any of the others I had on VHS. Something about Peter Pan just spoke to me as a kid, and still speaks to me as an adult. I loved its sense of cartoonish comedy, I loved its spirit of swashbuckling action and adventure, and I loved how it had this sort of strange edge of something unsettling under its colorful exterior. Hook is a funny villain in a lot of ways, but he’s also a murderous psychopath who’ll kill and betray you at the drop of a hat. Peter is, in some ways, who we all wish we could be, but he’s also brash, cocky, and not exactly the most likeable protagonist…and then he’ll turn right around and do or say something that makes you like him all over again. While one could say the film really only covers the superficial elements of Barrie’s darker and more psychological story, it does brush on those deeper layers in some interesting ways, and still makes the ride enjoyable all the way through. This is possibly one of the single most merchandised and frequently referred to films in the entire Disney canon. There’s a preschoolers-aimed TV show, a whole spin-off franchise about the fairies, books, plays, a sequel film that was actually brought to theaters (and, in my opinion, while flawed it is actually not really bad; rare for Disney sequels), and numerous appearances by the characters in various other properties and attractions. It’s one of those stories and worlds that seems impossible to mine dry, and I think that also may be part of why it appeals to me. I was actually fully primed and ready to place this one in 8th place, at the top of the heap of the four films in the stretch between 11th and 8th...but after revisiting it, I found it lacked some of the punch the two films above it had. But hey, Top 10 isn't too bad, right? The countdown continues tomorrow with my 9th Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: If You Were Hoping It Would Be Here, Wish Granted!

[arlathvhenan]

hey, just wanted to thank you for your and kaija-rayne-author's post about Solas being ND. I only got super deeply into him very recently and it's been fun but also... incredibly distressing and disheartening, and i couldn't quite put my finger on why. im usually fine with ppl disliking characters i like, but so many of the opinions on him were very two dimensional and simplistic or outright hostile. just... yeah. i appreciate you typing all that out. it rly helped clarify part of why i gravitate towards him so much and part of why it's been so upsetting to see how he gets treated by some of the fandom.

You’re welcome, and I get it. I’m not normally this defensive when it comes to fictional characters. I’m so used to the fandoms treating my favorites better than the actual writers that this situation is downright unprecedented XD

NDs have to stick together and stand up for each other because clearly no one else will.

Yes, Solas is ultimately just a fictional character. He’s an idea, but how people respond to certain ideas, even in fiction, says a lot about them and what they believe. It’s generally never a one to one. Things like tone, context, and framing matter. For example I’m not going to try and argue that anybody who really loves Dennis Reynolds from Always Sunny is somehow a bad person for finding such an awful person entertaining.

That said, there’s a big difference between finding a character entertaining and actually relating to them on an emotional level. And connecting with a character emotionally is not only one of the most rewarding aspects of fiction, it’s also a huge component of what makes for good representation.

Wether or not Weekes intended to write Solas as neurodivergent is ultimately irrelevant. Authorial intent can only go so far. At the end of the day what matters is what the actual text tells us and how the audience responds to it.

The fact that many neurodivergent fans of Dragon Age identify so strongly with him is all it really takes for him to be a neurodivergent coded character. And as we’ve established over and over, neurodivergent people have a pretty difficult time finding good representation.

I really shouldn’t need to explain why representation matters in goddamn 2023, and I honestly don’t have the energy to right now. What I will say is I sure hope we don’t need to re-explain that shit because I thought it was pretty common knowledge by now but I digress…

As I said earlier, it’s never a one to one with fiction, but overall you can gauge a person’s capacity for empathy and emotional intelligence based on their relationships with fiction. And the way people talk in this fandom sometimes…it’s honestly pretty alarming just how little emotional intelligence factors in to the way people formulate their opinions. It makes you wonder just how much of their attitude towards a fictional character with neurodivergency translates to the way they see and treat actual people.

I’m not saying disliking Solas as a character automatically means you must hate neurodivergent people, but a lot if the arguments I see people use to defend their position are either:

1) Factually inaccurate or otherwise misrepresent/misinterpret the facts

Or

2) Sound like a lot if the same shit people have said to or about me because they don’t know how to properly deal with or respond to neurodivergent people.

That first one is just frustrating, but the second one hurts. And the idea that flagrantly offending an entire group of people with no remorse simply because you can’t empathize with them is considered acceptable? That really sucks. It just sucks to think about.

[starlightbooklove]

Ok, today I was watching a video of a guy reviewing acotar (yes, I know I was impressed too) Something to note is that the videos are good, and without misogyny btw lol. Right now he is going for Acowar and a point that many made in the comments caught my attention was the 'death' of Rhys where they said how bad it seemed to them that SJM gave us collective heart attack with that part and then relived it in the next chapter Don't get me wrong, it's not keeping Rhys dead, but killing him in the first place that was causing the conversation and then I started thinking about it.

Something completely obvious is that people die in wars in books, often being main characters, because that's how it is in reality, close people die, so Having a main character die is something realistic, especially if he is going to be in charge or putting his life in danger, that's why I didn't see it as bad or strange when I read it - apart from having a breakdown crying - , (i did saw Amren's one very forced, It kind of took away a little bit of the greatness of her sacrifice yk) the first time, until I saw that, and then I thought about ACOSF and that something that makes the fandom a little agree is putting the main characters of the saga at risk was direct abuse to our hearts to make a convenient excuse for Nesta's arc, for nothing more.

You'll see, in cinema and literature, the use of death or torture to the characters that are loved by the audience is something Quite used, and i think that they're two ways You can use this: The practical And consistent and the stupid and desperate one.

In the first we can use Feyre's death in Acotar, it made sense, she was a human in a fae world, it went with the story, it advanced the plot, since she answered the riddle right before Amarantha killed her, What triggers Prythiam's release.

It is practical, it is something that in the context, with those characters, would happen, it is consistent because it fits into the environment, into the world that was built and it doesn't come from nowhere, since Feyre decides to go under the mountain, we know that she is in danger, so IT MAKES SENSE.

In the second one i'll use something different, there's a movie that didn't get much success in My country, and that is Enchanted 2, (i don't remember the name xd) where they take the protagonist, Giselle someone we sympathize with, and pretty much kill Her for a few seconds before Magic yk save her, all of this with the intention That the rebel daughter realized that her mother loved her, the movie was not really good really, it was very Made on the fly, it didn't have a specific direction, so this twist came out of nowhere, and not in the way that one manages to sympathize well, it shows that they used it to get a reaction from the audience so we can pay attentionv And to advance the plot, IT MADE NO SENSE, they used a death to grab attention because the movie wasn't surviving very well. So they turned to the fans' emotions In the same way that the nun resorts to jumpscares to have some terror, because it causes a completely instinctive empathetic reaction, not something genuinely felt.

Feyre's risky pregnancy made sense in the book, since from the beginning they specified that it had complications, the problem comes with the ending, where (which I see is not mentioned much) Not only Feyre died for a few seconds, but also Nyx, it is not the fact itself that is wrong but why it is clearly included in the story And it is clear that she is only there to be able to give a complete arc in the middle of this terribly done redemption arc, to Nesta.

It was not necessary, outside the redemptive context.

I think it was there for tel reasons (And one was completely lost in the other), to give some realism to all that about the Illyrian birth, and Nesta, and both could have been done in a very different way. They could have written Nesta more growth, And at childbirth it could have been a long labor or a cesarean section where it would take a long time if what they wanted was to make the the clear point, not directly 💀

It did not have a reason, and hey, yes, death is like that, confusing many times, but when you have a story, where you have absolute control of what happens (who lives, who dies) you must understand and be responsible for what the death of one character will do to the others And the story, it must have an impact that you are going to use in some way beyond just having an emotional reaction to readers to like Nesta.

Because number 1, this achieves the opposite effect because it greatly limits the growth that the character is supposed to have and makes Nesta less likeable.

And number 2 plays with the audience as if they were children, and the author is an adult who has her favorite toy next to fire, underestimating The mental process and maturity as if we could not see the senselessness of their death

If you don't believe it, think about it this way: aside from what Nesta did at the end, what other redeeming acts did she get? That she had anything to do with Feyre...None And who is the character with whom Nesta was the most bitchy in the entire book? Feyre What is the most necessary arc?The one about the sisters, the one with which we have nothing in almost the entire book, Nesta needed something that could cover almost a thousand pages of zero growth, a definitive act instead of writing a complete arc, and this is confirmed In the same book , because they were revived (Nyx and Feyre), And who was the only one with the power to do something? Well, our protagonist.

In essence, sjm killed the characters (characters that feel real to a certain degree for us fans and readers) so that Nesta could revive them, the only reason

What convenience does

If your character can only have one arc in your opinion, saving the people who saved her in the first place, then something is a little off in the story.

And if you can't keep a character dead, because you know what it does to your fans, then don't kill him in the first place. Once is coincidence, twice is causality, three is already a pattern and is crossing the line.

Abusing the integrity of a character in the story just because, without reason, without development, without background, is playing in the worst way with the emotions and affection towards the work of fans.

This is why this part is SO Bad Not only because oh, they die, but because of the reason behind it, when many talk about this, they don't do it from a place of a sad fan, but from a fan who is upset because they use our favorite characters as puppets.

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 173 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: cutting the French tamarisk in my garden. (Speaking of cutting, I’m going to put only one bullet point instead of three before the cut because the first two are so damn long...)

JON: "Look, I would just really like to get through here as quickly as possible." MARTIN: "How come? This one seems like the quietest place we’ve been in a while – it’s just rows and rows of quiet houses. I mean, I know some people don’t like that sort of thing, but – (slight laugh) – I’m actually finding it kind of relax–" JON: (cutting him off) "Martin. Please." [ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT’S APPARENT HE’S BREATHING HEAVILY.] Hm, thinking a bit more about the background why Jon sounds so panicked here. Like really, reaaaally in distress. I somehow can't imagine it's just about Martin not finding out where they are and what this is. So is this domain doing something to him? In what way, the fear usually feels right to him. Is it the knowledge that the fear of children feels good to him and he doesn't want that? Being reminded once in a while that it is the suffering of others that feeds him? One could argue that he kind of got used to that by now and he gets a bit of a wake-up call here.

JON: "The Eye prefers the more complex neuroses and disquiets of a fully developed mind. So the children are allowed to age – and they are placed into domains where their fears can… mature." Remembering there was something about no pets/children will be harmed in TMA, I think? (Sorry, Gertrude's cat I guess.) Is there more to this "Eye prefers more complex fears" or is it simply done for the audience to get info that they are growing out of their childhood, so no child is harmed? (This has been done before, making a comment that no child came to harm. MAG 97, there were no children in Bucoda, so they couldn't die in the pit. MAG 125, none of the victims of that Slaughter Leitner had children). What begs the question, is the suffering of some people more okay than that of others? Ah, it's fine though, they didn't have children? (regarding MAG 125 e.g.) Or where's the limit to childhood? 13? 14? 15? 16? 17? 18 you're legally not a minor anymore though I very much didn't feel all that different than 16. (What did feel different was that everything suddenly wanted money from me just because I hit that magic mark although I was still in school - damn you, Capitalism!!) This was venturing a bit into the territory of MAG 155 though and not so much what this is about here, I just enjoy moral debates as one might have noticed from my MAG 155 relisten post ^^’’ So returning a bit to the topic, actually I didn't really have the impression that the victims here are not children. The screams sound like children. The statement seems like childish fears. Parents are mentioned... (so the kids on Night Street are joining Gertrude's cat here, I guess xD)

MARTIN: "Anyone who’s chosen to spend their apocalypse tormenting children – God, you need to end them. Now." The one who torments children: Is a child Martin: Surprised Pikachu face

MARTIN: "This is that kid Basira went after last year, right? The one the darkness cult took. So, So that’s not even a kid, that’s whatever was inside Maxwell Rayner; it’s just wearing his body!" [JON INHALES.] JON: (calling) "Callum!" Callum: Whatever was inside Rayner died with him and besides, I was an asshole before this. Martin: Surprised Pikachu face Guess what, kids can be assholes.

MARTIN: "I want you to use your power. I want you to help them; I want you to make things better!" Jon's power. The one he gets from a Dread Power. Dread! Which is at its best passive. Yeah, he got Martin out of this Lonely state he was in in MAG 159, but there is no snapping out of it in this new world anymore. There are no nuances. It's either causing fear, or feeling fear. Martin really is not up to date on how all this works. It makes sense, he is a few steps behind. Steps Jon already made when the world was still normal. (But yeah, I love the trope of trying to use evil powers for good and it does, naturally, backfire horribly because these powers are designed to cause suffering.)

"Is it because he is brave enough to fight the monsters? No. Jack is scared all the time. The world is so big and the night is so long, and the monsters are waiting under the bed and in the closet and down the hallway and in the street and round the corner and behind him." Oh, love the pace picking up here. It's getting this chasing rhythm.

"Her mother is downstairs, but she is part of the sofa now. She won’t stop staring at the television and laughing. Laughing and laughing." Haha, yeah, gotta love the TV zombies xD Do we have a word for them? That generation was quick to call the younger generation with smartphones “smombie”, while they themselves melt plenty into the sofa hypnotized by the TV in front of them. And then they just put a tablet (or a smartphone), the thing they condemn so much, in front of their children for them to watch YouTube so they don't have to play with their children... Sorry, this turned a bit into a rant about hypocrisy. Furthermore this is a domain of the Dark, but there is actually another fear in there. The parents not helping. Bit of Lonely? Or what would you say? This is also something that already dips a bit into the “matured fear”. When you’re a kid, you (usually) have grown-ups to stick up for you. When you’re the grown-up you gotta stick up for yourself and that can be very scary.

JON: "Is that enough for you? Do you need to hear more? See Luka. See Luka sleep –" MARTIN: (cutting in) "No, no, no; that’s enough!" [A JANGLING AS HE – REACHES OVER?] MARTIN (CONT’D): "That’s enough." [PAUSE.] [A FEW STEPS.] [THEN, CLOTHING SOUNDS AS JON SPEAKS:] JON: "Thank you for not hitting me this time." [A PAUSE THAT STRETCHES ON FOR THE SPAN OF THREE HEAVY BREATHS.] It's so interesting that this call out is phrased in a positive way. Highlighting, that now Martin has done it right rather then telling him what he did wrong before. But there is definitely hurt in Jon’s voice and Martin not reacting feels like he's taking time to consider what his actions really did to Jon and then stays silent out of shame. Also what did he do this time? Just pat Jon's arms? Shake him?

@a-mag-a-day

[scruffyplayssonic]

Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80's/90's syndicated cartoon? Episode 57: Can't eat favourite food

Welcome back to my look at the ArchieSonic comic series, and how it shared a lot of the same story tropes as a typical ‘80s or ‘90s syndicated cartoon! We’re getting close to the end of the series now, so what classic cartoon trope are we looking at today?

Episode 57: Can't eat favourite food 

Ahh, okay. I feel like this one’s a little less common in mainstream media, to be honest. When it does show up, it’s often used to signal to either the audience or the other characters that there’s something seriously wrong with that character. They could be sick, or under the effects of a curse or spell, or could even be a villain disguised as the main character.

That being said, I can think of two instances when Sonic couldn’t stomach the idea of eating his trademark favourite food (and one instance when everyone else couldn’t stomach it either), and none of them were used to hint that there was something wrong with Sonic. In fact, our first instance went in the exact opposite direction. That would be when Sonic and Tails wound up in Sandblast City in issues #62 and 63. I’ll be covering this one in a bit more detail in an upcoming episode, but the long story short is that Sonic and Tails found themselves in a city full of people who idolised Sonic for defeating Robotnik, and were hoping to trick him into staying with them full time to fight the constant robot attacks on their city. How did they go about trying to convince Sonic to stay?

By pampering him with around the clock massages and chilli dogs, of course!

At first Sonic seemed thrilled at all the attention he was getting, while Tails was eager to just leave Sandblast City and get back to their mission of hunting down the evil wizard Ixis Naugus. However at some point Sonic realised that he was being played, but kept up the charade so that the Sandblasters wouldn’t figure out that he was on to them. 

When even Sonic the Hedgehog thinks he’s had too many chilli dogs, that’s when you know you’ve crossed a line.

An earlier instance of Sonic not being able to stomach the idea of eating chilli dogs happened way back in issue #11.

This extremely trippy story once again saw Sonic gorge himself on too many chilli dogs, and this time it caused him to have a bad dream.

Like, really bad.

When Sonic awoke he solemnly vowed to eat more responsibly.

…that vow lasted all of thirty seconds. xD

I’m reluctant to bring up this last story again, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t. You may remember in a previous episode that I discussed how Sonic #33 is an issue that lives in infamy, and its plot kicks off once again because of chilli dogs.

Yup, the Freedom Fighters were so sick of chilli dogs that they fell for the most obvious trap ever. Seriously, Team Rocket had traps that were more subtle, and the Freedom Fighters still fell for this. That said, I would like to acknowledge that this comic was decades ahead of its time, showing both the importance of wearing masks to help prevent spreading disease (although Rotor really ought to be wearing a mask too) and the dangers of ordering from fast food delivery companies like Doordash and Uber Eats. 😛

Now if Tails or Rotor had been spared from the French Fryrus, they probably would have gotten to work trying to synthesise a vaccine. Sonic isn’t really brainy enough to do that, so he settled for the next best thing:

Yup, shrinking himself down to a size small enough to run down Rotor’s throat and try to punch the virus into submission. And it was here that he met…

…I can’t. I can’t with this stupid issue, I just can’t. 😛 The puns by themselves are bad enough, but the idea of all the Freedom Fighters’ immune systems being sentient creatures who just couldn’t be bothered fighting this disease annoys me.

Anyway, Sonic was able to fight off the grunts easily enough, but struggled a bit more when he got to the boss fights, Paris-site (sigh) and Fever.

Fortunately for him, Rotor’s (SIGH) Auntie Bodies was inspired to take up the fight again.

She also called her counterparts in the other Freedom Fighters and told them to get off their lazy butts and do their jobs too.

So in the end the day was saved, and Sonic gave everyone the perfect food for when you’re sick:

Well, close enough.

Were there any other instances of Sonic or other characters in ArchieSonic not being able to eat their favourite foods? Remind me of any that I missed in the comments! The next episode I'll be looking at is one that arguably fits the entire Sonic franchise: “We have to save the environment, and so do you!” See you then!

[fitzrove]

The true logic behind the "kitschification" of Elisabeth Schönbrunn

After hanging out in Vienna for a few days, I feel like a lot of Elisabeth Schönbrunn makes sense to me in a way it didnt before. But this is not a compliment... XD

To put it simply, it feels like a catered tourism ad. Like, think about it. There was already so much kitsch potential in the original Elisabeth (actors playing widely mythologised iconic characters in period-accurate costumes straight from the portraits and postcards), and the most cynical critics kinda dismissed it as a tourist trap from the start. But Schönbrunn puts in so much additional touristy kitschiness... Let me make a quick list.

1. The concert experience as a whole

It's a massive outdoor concert in peak holiday/summer season, in the iconic Schönbrunn environment. With the astronomical ticket prices (and the intentionally massive number of seats), I feel like it's intentionally made into a "luxury experience". The target audience is not really musical fans: the target audience is Elisabeth (historical figure) fans, royalists & Habsburg history enthusiasts, tourists in Vienna and people who don't usually go for that sort od thing but want to be immersed in history in the real historical location, with famous actors, famous costumes and catchy music. Idk, I think this became apparent to me when I encountered somewhat pushy concert ticket merchants at the entrances to the Hofburg and Schönbrunn, with little details given about what exactly would be performer at the concert. It was very generic. And with Elisabeth Schönbrunn too, you aren't really paying for the content of the experience or to see the art - you're paying for the experience itself. Of course, there are tons of advance bookings made for the Schönbrunn concert (in fact I doubt you can get tickets the day of, given the very short runs), so perhaps this theory doesn't entirely hold up, but still.

2. The postcard projections

The Schönbrunn stage is surrounded by two big screens with images projected onto them for the audience to see. In addition to providing closeups for the people sitting too far away to see much otherwise, they show real historical pictures (maps, photographs) during transitions between songs. Now, VBW tends to like projections in their other musical productions too lol, but while wandering in Vienna I realised that many of the images projected at Schönbrunn are sold as postcards - at the Schönbrunn souvenir shop. This could be chalked up to intentional irony (like during Kitsch and Neues Sortiment, obviously it's an extension of Lucheni's whole thing), but sometimes it does seem to happen genuinely (like during Die Ersten Vier Jahre iirc).

3. The carriage

When I went to the Hofburg and saw the horse carriages leaving from the front with tourists aboard (120 euros per ride), I had a moment of recognition. It was exactly like when FJ and Sisi rode in at the beginning of the second act of Schönbrunn. This is what first got me thinking about Schönbrunn being a giant tourist ad for the "Habsburg Vienna experience" XD Now, idk if I'm being a conspiracy theorist by saying it's an intentional ad, but it does seem a bit suspicious on that front... I should check if the carriage operating company sponsored them.

4. Tod

Schönbrunn Tod is so... generic? The white leather makes him seem almost invisible, in a way. The black leather from 2012 at least had an edge to it, casting a contrast between him and the historically dressed characters. But the white leather (like Tod himself) is just there, kinda blandly. I feel like it's intentional too. If Tod had more flair (like he had, in some way, in every Viennese production up until this point), it would perhaps feel inappropriate to the target audience of Habsburg enjoyers and casual tourists. So he's not queer, not very supernatural, not odd in appearance or demeanor, not even dressed in a particularly eyecatching way. I think it's because the show relies more on the appeal of the Habsburg costume replicas and familiar historical figures than the actual subversive writing gimmick that Michael Kunze created as he created Der Tod - because some people inevitably wouldn't Get It if Tod was less bland. They can't write Tod out for obvious reasons, but they can make him as palatable as possible to a wide, general audience. This is the true reason they got rid of the Mayerling kiss - I'm not sure Tod's role is very clear in the Schönbrunn staging at all, so some people in the audience wouldn't be able to appreciate his monstrous, all-consuming, equal-opportunity nature (which is at its most visible in the Mayerling kiss. It's the first and only time we see Tod take someone's life so violently, completely and explicitly. Lol my Mayerling kiss enjoyment is showing.)

So yeah. This might read a bit like a conspiracy theory but to me, it all makes sense now. I get where the choices come from a bit better, but I will never ever accept them. The VBW might want to rake in easy money with the mangled kitschified skeleton of this show, and it probably helps finance their other musical productions quite a bit, but still... I wish they would bring back the horrors... 💔