#the moon and sun parallel kills me

[rancidsugar]

[sherlockggrian]

I need to talk about the parallels between Grian+Scar and Gem+Pearl for a sec. Grian and Gem are both the sun, they’re both unpredictable and chaotic and defiant and furious and Scar and Pearl are both the moon, they’re darker and reserved and at the same time equally as dangerous.

But Grian has been the Pearl and Scar has been the Gem, and vice versa. They’ve all been the killer at some point in time. Scar and Pearl’s parallel in Double Life and Secret Life of being alone, and their deaths mirror each other’s previous ones. Grian would kill for Scar, Scar would die for him. Gem would kill for Pearl, Pearl would die for her. Their relationships are complicated and messy and invariably linked to each other. Grian and Pearl are watchers, Scar and Gem are the favourites of the watchers. They find each other in every world. They’re parallels in all four ways and it makes me sick ugh the storytelling is so good

[tsams-confessions]

I wish Sun had more opportunities to bond with people outside of Moon. It feels like every character has a strong bond with one another except for Sun. I understand meta-wise it's because Sun’s VA plays almost every other character and it's probably not easy to roleplay with yourself, plus the added stress on the voice for having to change pitch so often, but story wise it feels like Sun is just disconnected from his family. I found it really sad that Solar had this deep connection with everyone in the family, giving Earth and Lunar support, literally being connected at the hip with Moon for the entire time he was in that dimension; meanwhile, he seemed critical of sun at worst and distant at best, using Moon most of the time as a proxy to help Sun. I’m sure he cared about Sun, he said he was proud of both of them, but it just felt like Sun received the bare bones of Solar’s affection. And there's something painful about seeing your entire family grieving over someone who didn't really give the same amount of love to you as they did to them. Each of them had their own special moments spent with Solar while Sun has nothing.

How when Earth was kidnapped by Stitchwraith and Sun defended Monty and Foxy from Moon’s anger and Moon replied with ‘What if it was me that was hurt’, like he didn’t believe Sun was at all affected by the terrifying events and that Sun didn’t care about Earth like Moon did. How when Sun offered Earth a hug and she denied it (Not blaming her, she was deeply upset at time), but moments later she accepted a hug from Lunar. How Sun just leaves, and Lunar, Earth, and Monty go off to grieve without him. He had bonding moments with Earth, but it still feels like Lunar and Moon are closer to her. When he speaks to them, he doesn't know what to say or how to respond most of the time. It sometimes sounds like he is talking to a complete stranger. He is awkward when he tries to do sibling dynamics, unintentionally hurting Earth's feelings or just plain pissing off Lunar or Moon- it doesn't feel like the good nature ribbing that Moon and Lunar do to one another. And can’t forget to mention that one time Lunar told Sun he knows Moon better because he lived in his head. I know Sun said he’s in the best mental state he’s been in a while, but sitting alone in your house just seems extremely lonely. I hope that if Bloodmoon or Eclipse (to parallel Solar and his Sun) get redeemed, it's Sun who is the one that reaches out first. Though, with what the show has foreshadowed it's most likely going to be Lunar or Moon to reach out to Eclipse, and Blood moon most likely will get killed off.

It feels like Sun is not only overshadowed by Moon, but also by his entire family. I just want on-camera bonding for Sun like everyone else has gotten. They did his mental health healing off camera, which I’m still disappointed about, I just want Sun to get more wholesome family or friend screen time.

.

[tequiilasunriise]

Okay yall lemme cook‼️‼️‼️

I really, really like the parallels of ‘she fainted and now I’ll fan her’ here with White Raven:

Annabel caught Lenore when she almost fell and tried to remain in this untouched and happy facade while still subtly trying to fan Lenore because Annabel believed her to be upset and needed some air.

Lenore caught Annabel when girlypop straight up fainted and more obviously fans her in an attempt to care for Annabel, her face full of open concern for the fallen woman, there’s even a whole panel that draws attention to the fan specifically.

Why does this even matter, you ask me? Because I love the stark contrasts between Lenore and Annabel, even down to the most minute details they’re opposites.

Annabel is trying to be more discreet in her affections for Lenore, her pretty smile and chipper words a diversion from the way she holds onto Lenore’s arm to steady her, bright eyes a complete distraction from the way her fan is flapping away. Her carefree attitude makes it seem like she could easily play off these attempts to care fer Lenore, like she could flippantly brush it off as ‘nothing big’ and that she ‘doesn’t really care this is just a throwaway whatever action’ (but we all know the calculative Annabel Lee doesn’t just do whatever fer just anyone).

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Lenore cares about Annabel. She cares a whole lot, actually, and she’s extremely open about it. From angrily calling Annabel a dratted liar fer claiming what they had to be fake to very clearly worrying about Annabel as she fans her. The delicate care, the way Lenore does not hesitate to grab that fan and start gently fanning Annabel, how she doesn’t try to set up a facade that gives her an ‘out’ if questioned why she’s doing all these things for Annabel. Lenore gives no shit about mindgames and appearances dude!!! Yeah she cares about Annabel, so what??? Lenore is just SOOOO acts of service as a love language, each time she reaches out is open declaration of, “love you love you love you”.

That kinda contrast kills me, man!!! Bright moon x dim sun, the sun does care but she needs to show it in a way where people don’t think she’s that invested you know you know she’s Just A Friend™️, meanwhile the moon says, “fuck it we ballllllll” and snitches her bleeding heart across her entire sleeve right before diving in with affections on full display.

That being said, I also really like how Annabel’s fanning is the last kindness she gave Lenore right before she left and Lenore ‘died’ and by sharp contrast Lenore’s fanning is one of the first kindness she gave Annabel when she came back from the ‘dead’ all resurrected like a funky butch lesbian Jesus.

Kindness as a last resort, as a final parting gift when the time’s up, vs kindness as an instinct, as a greeting call, as your first move.

[melodramaschild]

𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐒

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Summary: You reassure your girlfriend when she’s feeling a bit blue

Words count: 1 168

Pairing: Abby Anderson x fem!reader

Relationship: girls kissers

a/n: for my girls @kinukei and @tinytulip for putting up with my writing meltdowns and supporting me on getting back <3

The weather was cold, the rain drummed on the walls and early autumn was saying hello. The sun already fell asleep and the moon sparkled. through stormy clouds on you and your girlfriend in the dark of your room.

She laid in your arms, nuzzled in your boobs and tucked in your duvets, blankets and plushies. Your fingers twirled in her long hair, creating little loops and locks on her head. She occasionally sniffled and drenched your arm with her cold tears. Maybe there was a snot in your T-shirt too, but you really couldn’t care less.

“You promise?” Abby asked, looking up to you from your arms. Her eyes were glassy, eyelashes wet and a single tear was still running on her tender cheek and over her scar. You wanted to chuckle at her, she looked like a little kitten that couldn’t get more treats, but you knew better. You knew how your own mind could overthink, so when you had your girlfriend overthinking in your arms, you didn’t even dare to do something to make it worse.

“I promise, love.” You whispered and wiped away her cold tear. Her lips were wobbling (which is something most people didn’t believe nor wanted to admit that Abby would do (like she can control it)), her buffed arms wrapped around your waist and your leg thrown over her hip. It felt so domestic, it was how you often fell asleep, it felt so comforting, it was your home. Home was when Abby was in your arms and your leg was thrown over her hip.

She still looked sad, like she wasn't convinced by you, she needed your reassurance. Her own mind could get so cruel sometimes. She could fight anyone in this whole world, she could kill with punches but she couldn’t fight her mind alone sometimes.

“Abby,” you breathed and pulled your arm from underneath her and cupped her hot cheeks.

“I promise you, with my whole heart,” you whispered and she locked her eyes with you.

“I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else.” Your voice was quiet, like you were almost scared that being louder would scare her. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else either.” Your thumb stroked over her scar on her cheek. So slowly and tenderly.

You thought for a bit. You felt like what you were saying was a cliché and because you liked showing Abby your love for her…

“If I could choose… in my next lifes, in every parallel universe, I would always choose you. I would always choose to be in this bed with you. I would always choose to hold you. I would always choose to kiss you and I would always choose to love you, Abigail.”

Her muscular body relaxed. She breathed out in relief and peace. Another single fell from her closed eyes. She moved her hand from your waist to wipe away her tear. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. Her old habit of apologising for crying or for simply showing her feelings. She was always scared to express her feelings, fearing that people would make fun of her, but not with you. She apologised for overthinking again, she apologised for saying sorry again, she felt like she should apologise for her whole existence sometimes.

“No, don’t say anything like this. Remember what we agreed on?”

She propped herself on her elbow, staring at the wall behind you as she wandered in her memory. “Tears are normal, feelings are normal and okay, feeling things make us strong, not weak.” She replied the mantra you taught her when she opened to you for the first time.

“Good job, darling.” You praised her and you could see a little smile appear on her face. You sat up, leaving Abby’s warmth. “Look at me.” You said and wrapped your fingers around her soft hand. Abby locked her eyes with yours. She liked looking into your eyes. It brought her peace, grounded her and for some reason it always made you both laugh, when you looked into each other’s eyes.

“I love you.” You started. “I love you to The Moon and to Saturn and back and all over the whole universe. There's nothing that would change how I feel about you. I love spending time with you, I love listening to you, I love talking to you, I…” you breathed out as you were trying to find better words. How cruel that love can’t be measured, but so beautiful at the same time. Universe can’t be measured for the mysterious reason of expanding each passing second. The same goes for your love for this gentle giant. Hell, even calling it love isn’t enough. Love was a weak word for the bond you two had. It was more than love, what a shame that the English language didn’t come up with a word for ‘more than a love’. Even the French language failed in that.

“I want to watch every sunset with you for the rest of my life.” Abby swallowed as she tried her best not to cry over your open heart again. You were vulnerable too. She was able to open up about her sadness and you were able to open up about your love and gentleness to her. “And I mean it, everything I said.” Oh well, you know her too well.

“I love you.” She whispered like a promise, her lips trembled as she fought her tears again. “I love you so much.” She propped herself up and wrapped her arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug. You laughed into her chest. “Alright alright, I love you too, baby.” You managed to wiggle yourself from her tight arms, sitting in her lap with your arms resting around her shoulders. “You’re so pretty.” You whispered, a little flirt in your tone.

“Alright stop it.” She was laughing as a dark red painted her cheeks. She squeezed your hips and you squirmed in her lap with a little giggle. “Thank you so much, Y/n.” She tried to be serious but now she had a huge smile on her lips. “To your service, ma’am.”

“That’s enough.” She said and rolled her eyes, but she didn’t really mean it.

“Oh yeah? Or what?” You teased her and rested your forehead against hers. Abby only smirked, leaving a sweet laugh to tickle your own lips. “Or I’ll kiss you.” She threatened.

“Oh should I be scared?”

“Oh definitely!” She played into your game and leaned even closer, pecking your lips at first. One time. Two times. Three times. But then she craved more, her pecks weren’t so fast and so short. Her plushy lips stayed on your a bit longer, her kisses more softer and tender. Her lips worshiping yours as she held you close to her, never wanting you to leave from her arms.

So there you both were. Sharing soft, loving kisses in the dark room, with a rain singing to you, moon shining on you.

a/n²: this is my first fic after a year, maybe two. There’s probably hundreds of typos and I’m so nervous and I don’t know where to start but… thank you so much for reading this. I feel like I lost my writing style so if you have anything that could help me (which I would appreciate!) please message me or leave a comment! I hope you still liked me little fic. Love you all!

[scatterbrainedart]

Alright, if we're still doing the winners' poem, let's talk through some Scar ideas I've seen floating around (and some of my own). But first, see this post breaking down the poem as a whole and explaining why Martyn is definitely mars, if you want.

The Earth:

Probably the most popular. And it makes sense. Scar, full of life, so full of tragedy. Forever growing, like the sunflowers of sunflower valley, and the flowers on his cape. The earth, revolving around the sun and having its tides pulled by the moon. Both of whom he fought to the death, one of whom he won.

A Solar Eclipse:

Ah, more sun and moon. The moon blocking out the sun. Something could be said for parallels of the fight. Of a denied sacrifice followed by a fight already over before it had even begun. A fight that was always going to end the way it did.

Or, perhaps, if we take it another direction. The secret keepers blacking out all his light. He won as a forced villain.

And of course, an eclipse just generally being a bad omen, which also fits into his villainy. It also slightly ties into the sunflowers of sunflower valley. Just a bit. A sliver.

A Black Hole:

Similarly to the eclipse, the black hole is also devoid of light. Even more dramatically so. But still, he has a gravity that managed to pull people in during their last moments.

Mercury:

If I use the same thought process as I did for Martyn's "mars", I must mention the roman god. Mercury was the Roman equivalent of Hermes. He was also the god of thievery, wealth, trading and language. And what is Scar known for, if not for his silver tounge and swindling? Mercury is also the god of luck. And although Scar hasn't really had all that good luck this season, it still drives me to think about the first episode. The hard task, that wasn't all that hard. And the warden, and wither. How he just couldn't seem to die. Luck, maybe.

Mercury is a small planet, often overlooked. I don't think many people expected Scar to be a threat this season, not when he initially struggled to keep both secrets and hearts.

It also has no moons. Scar has no allies. And yes, of course, it's the closest planet to the sun.

The Void:

This is the first season where the end has been unlocked. A cold, lonely place. Makes me think of the word "devoid", and how many things haven't Scar had taken away from him? Potential allies, a home burnt and blown to smithereens.

Pluto:

Barely even a planet. People wouldn't think he'd even be included in the line of notable celestial bodies for this poem. But then again, most people didn't think they'd see Scar win either. And definitely not in the season where taking any damage had lasting consequences. Similar to the point I made about mercury, but when more pointed tbh.

Pluto is the furthest away from the other planets. Pluto is lonely, terribly so. Pluto, who has been told time and time again what he is and what he isn't (planet status, villain tasks), which has alienated him from the other planet (still, it has that little heart looking shape on it. Like a scar. Like a wish to be loved).

Now, of course, the Roman god. Pluto is the god of wealth. Fitting for a man whose whole thing this season was trading (and who, in every other season, also had a thing for material goods and negotiating). Pluto is also the god of the dead. Scar is the only winner to have been killed (by another player, in the cactus ring) and the only winner to have survived.

[sixteen-sugars]

satosugu - a review

pic by: Fanku19 on tw

(SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 AND SHIBUYA)

I am writing this in honor of Season 2 dropping! I am a manga reader so I know what's going to happen, but that's not the point. Its about seeing my boys! 

I literally am shitting bricks for these two. I would give up a kidney for these two to be happy. This ship has so much canon backing and parallels. Thus far, this ship has 2 parallels in canon;

The first one being Itadori and Megumi (ItaFushi). Itadori is from 'normal' parents and more importantly a jujutsu-society free upbringing. He is known as a curse eater. This is important because he parallels Geto. They both are either dead or going to end up dead, with Itadori hopefully being executed by Megumi. This death and execution is to parallel the KFC-breakup. Since the prodigy, and the one with the power to change to the world will have to kill the only person that could hope to understand them on such a personal level. Megumi here would parallel Gojo. Since both are treated like prodigies from birth, and told that they are the 'best'. Now, back to Yuji and the Shibuya incident. Both Geto and Yuji have killed millions of people (or monkeys, if you must) But, this is where their characters split, as this is a similar archetype taken different ways. As Yuji sticks to his guns, feeling absolute guilt for killing these people. Geto falls off the wagon, and he kills without remorse because he is a example of a very kind character warped by others and being used by them. I believe Itadori will also follow a similar path, albeit a little less intense towards the end of the manga. 

The other one being Yuuta and Rika. The score that plays during the KFC-breakup is the same that plays when Yuuta says, "this is pure love," That was a conscious choice, be it platonic or not both Rika and Yuuta were going to be the death of each other if they continued the way they did. And that is exactly what happened to SatoSugu, they saw they own eminent destruction and couldn't stop a  train on a dime. They came crashing together and destroyed so many in their wake. 

Tropes Associated: 8/10

(the friends to enemies to lovers is STRONG with these two, along with the only one that understands me etc. They are both insufferable. But the tropes are either soul-crushing and sad or like yay! Shibuya didn't happen and everyone is happy :D)

Dynamic: 10/10

(I love these two, they are such big jerks and so annoying to literally anybody but each other. But, they are also the only ones who every truly understood each other. Since both were burdened with Jujutsu society and trying to be the strongest.)

Looks:  9/10

(Sun and moon duo, contrasting hair. Also Geto has ass, Gojo has no ass to speak of, simply math, also Geto hot :3 sue me man) 

All in all: 28/30

[ikamigami]

I was wondering for a.. pretty long time.. about Lunar's plot points and I remember thinking how Lunar gaining star powers annoyed me at first. Because not so long before we found out that Sun's magic is very powerful which seemed to be quickly forgotten. And Lunar gaining star powers made them somewhat important.

It annoyed me at first because Lunar was still in sams and I thought that it's annoying that Sun can't have something important to his character without someone else stealing more spotlight from him in his show - cause it's Sun and Moon show, you know..

But later Lunar started their own channel with Earth and things started to be more balanced.. until Solar showed up and stole spotlight from Sun..

Only now I realized that Lunar is a reflection of Sun. It was obvious before cause everyone in the fandom know at this point that Lunar and Eclipse reflect Sun and Moon.. but I didn't realize at first that there's more to these parallels.

Remember how Solar Flare told Eclipse that he's just like Old Moon? I think that it's similar with Lunar and Sun. But let me get it more clear:

Eclipse is like Moon but with Sun's personality - Eclipse has similar experiences to Moon's but they shaped him differently than Moon because he is more similar to Sun personality-wise.

Lunar is like Sun but with Moon's personality - Lunar has similar experiences to Sun's but they shaped them differently than Sun because he is more similar to Moon personality-wise.

And it got me thinking.. what if whatever happen with Lunar has its own reflection in Sun and vice versa cause remember how Lunar was abused by Eclipse just like Sun was abused by Moon and how Lunar snapped and killed Eclipse just like Sun snapped and killed Bloodmoon. And Lunar has star powers which parallels Sun's powerful magic.

We all know that these situations weren't one to one but this realization may help us see another parallels between the two.. even those unexplored yet..

My point is that we see how Lunar feels like a failure and view themselves as a monster - we learned that from their dream. I think that it hints to how Sun feels - something I was talking about almost from the beginning - he feels like a failure (he can't do anything right, he makes things worse and ruins everything) and he believes himself to be monster/evil (it's Sun's fault that everyone died and it's his fault that Old Moon, Eclipse and BM turned out to be like how they are/were). Sun tries his best despite everything and hopefully with Lunar it'll be the same.

The same is with Eclipse and Moon. First Eclipse reflected Old Moon when he was stuck in Sun's head - they both were angry that they were stuck in Sun's head and wanted revenge. Second iteration of Eclipse reflected Old Moon after he separated with Sun - they both were finding themselves stuck in various ways; both cared but weren't able to show it; both wanted to change but were unable to. And now, third iteration of Eclipse reflects New Moon - New Moon tries to be better and really tries to change and we can see that this Eclipse also starts to slowly change.

Of course these aren't one to one either. Because like I said Lunar is more similar to Moon just like Eclipse is to Sun. Hence the differences between Lunar - Sun and Eclipse - Moon despite the similar experiences those pairs share. And that's why I think that it might be harder for Lunar to change due to how similar he is to Moon and I think that it might be easier for Eclipse to change due to how similar he is to Sun. But we'll see cause these are mostly just speculations for now.

I think that it shows us how well written these characters are. Of course there are more parallels between Sun - Lunar and Eclipse - Moon but I just wanted to point out some of parallels to show that we may possibly guess some of the things regarding Sun and Moon and also Lunar and Eclipse.

[violetganache42]

Highlights from tonight's movie night celebrating some of the different teams Donald has been a part of in categorized and chronological order (I honestly like this format. I might stick with it):

"Boat Builders":

Good news: The short has subtitles! Bad news: They're not in English, so you still can't understand what the fuck Donald is saying.

Donald: "Yeah, even a child can do it!" Godfrey: "Even Della could do it!"

justaboot: "god's third choice after the 3 stooges"

Max's mother has been found

"The First Adventure!":

Bradford Hate Club

Ludwig appearance!

puffywuffy8904: "he's serving whatever the opposite of cunt is" WriteBackAtYa: "So di—"

(I love this screenshot. 😂)

The reference to Della's letter

WriteBackAtYa and I being on the same wavelength

Eat the rich uncle (Sorry, Scrooge, but I had to. XD)

"You can't mute me, old man!"

RIP Donald's guitar

The Temple of Doom parallel!

PAPYRUS

"Treasure of the Golden Suns" easter egg!

"fragile old body"

POGO CANE

Black Heron doing the smug anime girl laugh (You know what I'm talking about.)

"I'm the chosen one!" Pure Deweycore

"So long, suckers!"

Just Black Heron in general (She's a fun villain. lol)

DONALD KILL

Us ranting about Bradford using the Papyrus of Binding to escape like the COWARD THAT HE IS! WHY WE OUGHTA— COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE—

If I had a nickel for every time Black Heron lost her robot arm, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

Me: "BEAKLEY YOU FOOL" Godfrey: "YOU FUCKING FOOOOOOOOL"

"The House of the Lucky Gander!":

Louie "I do hate hot dogs" Duck noticing the neon lights shaped like a hot dog

"We're all gonna die! I'VE WASTED MY LIFE!"

Launchpad deserves his own episode dedicating to his love life

Gladstone Hate Club

Scrooge looking at the camera like he's on The Office

puffywuffy8904: "gladstone you have a haircut shut up"

Huey autism moment

Just how bored and tired Dewey, Webby, and Scrooge were after seeing Aquarioon

Dewey and the jade tigers

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

27!

Webby's love for chocolate fountains

"And a distraction."

Scrooge: "I don't even get to be part of the blasted challenge?" Huey:

Real-Life-Pine-Tree: "Roasted duck anyone?" Me: "'Danny: I'll have the duck.'"

Louie's motivational speech

"Where did that come from?"

Us @ Liu Hai: RIP bozo (at least until DuckTales World Showcase Adventure)

The underwhelming Golden Cricket and how fucking bored and exhausted the family was

"Mt. Fuji Whiz":

LotTC basically being DuckTales on crack

Me: "Hell is a city. Where have I seen that before? 🤔" Godfrey: "Hazbin Hote—[gunshot]"

My idea of Clinton and Webby bonding over Clan McDuck history

Missy thirsting for Panchito

The return of the Ari the Autism Bird!

Xandra and the nieces in general (They're some of the best characters in the show. ^^)

*The Three Caballeros are stuck in the Underworld* AMJ: "We have a very simple solution." DT17!Huey: "This doesn't feel simple."

Jack Skellington moon

Donald saying the Karen phrase

Xandra and Charon clothes swap

Panchito being "that" guy

The Sheldgoose family tree taking notes from Goofy's family tree regarding the relatives' designs

IN THE PLUMS!

Clinton hugging Donald 💖

Tokyo? LIKE IN DUCKTALES!

"Potatoland":

Dreamy: "SEE HE HAS 27 FINGERS" Me: "27!"

POTATOLAND! POTATOLAND!

"Mickey, I am fed up with your bullshit devil magic."

Praising Mickey's characterization in the Paul Rudish shorts

Donald's blush

No more Idaho

Just the whole short in general. It's the best. XD

"Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers":

Black Arts Beagle's Musketeer cousins

puffywuffy8904: "they wanna be Scrooge soooo bad"

Donald being, and I quote Jamie, "a punk bitch" in this movie

The return of Pete Hate Club

"Whoa, he's bisexual, I didn't know that!"/"By the way, I'm bisexual! I forgot, I- forgot to announce it! How do you turn this shit off- wait-"

The entire opera gag

Clarabelle appearance!

Dreamy pointing out the parallels how Pete is to Minnie what Bradford is to Scrooge

In the Hall of the Mountain King

"Why did the music stop?"

"Together, we'll save the princess or die trying!"/"…Die? …Die?"

melcat33: "Minnie discovers she's into bdsm"

WriteBackAtYa and I quoting Philip CD-i Legend of Zelda

The turtle trying to be the rooster from Robin Hood at one point

"That little diddy's starting to grow on me."

Pete referencing The Lion King

Donald FINALLY unleashing his iconic temper

melcat33: "Goofy finally being Dad Material" WriteBackAtYa: "But he was daddy material"

(Look what you made me do! /lh)

Pirates of Penzance

"Not long… maybe… 40 years?"

The movie ending with the fucking Can-Can

Learning about how Tokyo Disneyland had Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as the Three Musketeers and they all looked AMAZING (Why does Japan get all the cool shit?!)

[the-violet-galaxy]

On the topic of Ruin

EDIT: Just for reference, with further updates a few of these opinions have changed, but a lot of the sentiment is the same. (I also hadn't watched everything from the show yet, so my knowledge of some of the lore was spotty).

-

So. We just learned a lot about Ruin, didn’t we? The big twist and who he was all along.

Let me say, I adore this show! The story has been incredible and I’ve been at the edge of my seat the whole time. It’s been fascinating going back and forth about Ruin, listening to the arguments about whether he was good or evil. And when he was revealed to have built Eclipse all along, it was a matter of whether he did so knowingly or not.

But. Now we know for certain that Ruin did it willingly, and he was 100% aware, and faking being nice the whole time; and even if I WANT to hold out hope for him, there keep being less and less ways for Ruin to somehow be good or redeemed at the end of this. It seems Ruin might be confirmed 100% to be evil through and through, no Jekyll and Hyde, second personality, or return of the virus, like a lot of us had hoped.

And… I don’t know if I like this twist.

… Sadly, I can't say I do.

And I’d like to give my thoughts why! I have a lot to say, both from the perspective of a Ruin fan and from a storytelling perspective. So there's lots of analysis and personal feelings mixed together down here!

(And of course, there is still more to be revealed, but this is how it stands now.)

My first point is that it loses the show of a very good character.

Ruin was a great character! He was so unique in his personality, traits, and mannerisms compared to the rest of the cast, and his interactions with others were tons of fun.

It also just made a ton of sense to have him around: he is basically Canon Eclipse from the Ruin DLC, so letting him be here is just a Big Brain move.

There was so much potential for where he could go, given his backstory. He was a person who had 50 years of his life stolen from him, his entire world and everything he ever knew was destroyed, HIS BODY was the tool used to do it; and here he was, waking up in a new world his evil self tried to destroy, after being saved thanks to the kindness of several strangers who had every right to kill him but risked so much just to give him a chance. And now, unmoored here, he’s just trying to rebuild anything resembling a life --

There were SO many things you could do with this, SO many interesting ways Ruin could have developed… the angst; the sheer guilt of having killed so many people and destroyed so much; the fear of what he would see, if his memories from his time with the virus ever got uncorrupted; the TERROR he feels that his virus self might not actually be fully gone, and the desperation to NOT turn back into his other self and hurt anyone ever again -- the feeling of being excluded by everyone in this new dimension, he stays out of their way because he feels somewhat responsible for his Virus self hurting them, being the Weird Person who tries to fit in but really has no place anywhere, just wants to have a new life and new family with these people… (His relationship with Solar in particular was so interesting to me.) Ruin could have made up with Sun, after a long time of Sun being uncomfortable with him.

He was just one of the most fun characters to have around, including his streak of doing weird things. (And this is just personal, but I’m autistic, so I read that into a lot of his mannerisms. I loved him.)

And he paralleled many characters too!! In a way, you could say he was similar to New Moon: Ruin was created when his Sun and Moon fused, meaning Ruin is technically an incarnation of them, but he’s NOT them -- the way New Moon is an incarnation of Moon, but he’s not Old Moon. Ruin and Moon could have had formed a connection through that, at some point.

(And in this new arc, if we go with the idea that Ruin is innocent and a second personality was the one doing everything, then Ruin would be a parallel to Eclipse himself!! Eclipse is fabricated and nothing about him is “real” – the same could be said for Ruin in this event, where his second personality is literally messing with his brain, making Ruin also a "fabricated" personality of some kind. There is a line Ruin says when Eclipse kidnapped him that I always found interesting, where Ruin offered to heal Eclipse’s mind like therapy, which Eclipse shot down… I always liked that idea, that Eclipse and Ruin could bond. If Eclipse learned RUIN wasn’t to blame and it was a second personality, then, well, it could have happened. Why would the writers throw that idea out if they knew they would never do anything with it?)

As it was, Ruin had an entire WORLD of potential. And his existence made sense on a meta level, with link to the DLC's Canon Eclipse.

But that’s all gone now. Ruin being 100% evil just loses all that.

I think they did too good a job of making Ruin an enjoyable character to have around, if they knew he was going to be evil the whole time and were going to kill him in the end. (At the same time, they also didn’t utilize him in certain ways, like how Ruin never got a therapy session with Earth and was excluded from some of the group events, which logically would have been good for covering his tracks.)

Could there have been both a Good-Ruin and Ruin-Remade-Eclipse-Twist at the same time?

I’ll talk more about it in the next point, but I genuinely think the writers could have had it both ways if they had wanted to. They could have let Ruin be a good and innocent person who can stay around as a member of the cast, while STILL having him be the rebuilder of Eclipse and the source of other evil things. How?

The Two-Personalities theory! It’s been a theory for a while that Ruin has more than one personality inside of him, the second personality usually theorized to be his Virus Self. When he slips up and says stuff like “OUR head’s spinning a little bit” when getting the memory scrub from Moon, for instance. Ruin would be innocent and unaware, while his Virus/Other Self takes over when he’s not mentally present and does the bad things.

(Or alternatively: Ruin as an innocent person WAS real for a while, but his virus came back at some point.)

If that is what happened, they could have their cake and eaten it too.

And I think that would have been a better utilization of the worldbuilding given to us. Elaborated further:

I feel they could have utilized the worldbuilding in better ways.

One of the most interesting parts of the Show is how it plays with the concept of identity for these robots. There are several characters that are new incarnations of previous characters, but are distinctly different people from their previous selves. Bloodmoon, Moon, Eclipse, etc. 

Look closer at Moon. Even if they are incarnations of the same person, Old Moon and New Moon are completely separate individuals. New Moon lost his memories and remembers nothing of being Old Moon, which is WHY he is a new person. It would be completely unfair to blame New Moon for what Old Moon did – New Moon did not kill those children, New Moon did not abuse Sun, because he does not remember it. Because he does not remember it, he shouldn’t be punished for those things, because HE did not do them. What this means is that MEMORY is one of the key aspects in a robot’s identity, and their identity can change depending on those memories.  

Now take that, and apply it to Ruin: how interesting would it have been if RUIN, the one we saw in the videos, was actually fully innocent and completely unaware of what his body was being used to do the entire time? Because his evil past self/second personality had been controlling him and literally editing over top of his memories while his body was building Eclipse and preparing the Arcade plan, so that Ruin had no idea anything was going on? For all these months, Ruin GENUINELY believes he is innocent, and doesn’t remember doing anything that brought Eclipse back; he’s in distress when suspicion falls on him because he “knows” he did nothing wrong, and he’s relieved when Moon scrubs his mind and finds nothing there; phew, now they can trust him. But then! Along with Moon, Solar, Sun, and everyone else, he would find out he WAS doing it all along. Ruin could be utterly HORRIFIED and aghast that his worst fear (turning back into his evil self) had come true. And imagine the angst for that too, “my memories have been messed with so much – I’m basically a fabrication of a personality, DO I EVEN COUNT AS TRULY EXISTING!?” 

This could even lead to an interesting moral conundrum for Sun and Moon too. Moon is already on the warpath and has less patience for Ruin’s life (especially with how much harm Ruin seemingly did to them), so would Moon be eager to KILL Ruin (or if not kill him, then at least give Eclipse permission to do it)? Or would Moon be talked through it, sort of realize “Ruin doesn’t remember any of it and didn’t do it himself. It’s not his fault. The same way Old Moon’s actions are not mine. It would be unjust to kill him because RUIN wasn’t the one who did any of it.”

Many possibilities.

...But no, none of that ended up happened.

Instead Ruin is a “was always evil, all along” kind of guy. Which is… pretty disappointing considering the other possibilities. It genuinely feels like “the most obvious option.”

Also, Eclipse has literal command orders built into his head.

So in theory, maybe the innocent Ruin could have had something like this too. Imagine: His second personality, doing things whenever Ruin is mentally asleep, also embeds Ruin's AI with those command prompts that force Ruin to do unusual things. Ruin builds his own body and he doesn't really have a good reason? The commands subconsciously forcing him to. He goes down into the bunker? He has this weird, pathological obsession with doing things with arcade machines he can't quite stop? THE COMMAND LINES, BABY.

Then when it comes time for Moon to memory-scrub him, the second personality could just. Corrupt the lines, hide them with the rest of them.

(Then OO DRAMA later on when everyone realizes Ruin's condition. Just as Eclipse knows he'll die if he differs from his plans, Ruin realizes he's being forced to do things and will die if he doesn't. Hey that's another connection the two could share.)

Eclipse has been right about everything, but this twist sort of invalidates a few of the things Eclipse has said.

Eclipse honed in on Ruin and was correct the whole time. But let’s look at a few episodes, to hyper-analyze some of the things Eclipse said.

The episode where Eclipse kidnapped Ruin:

Ruin: I was far too busy elsewhere to have any, uh, meddling with your being—

Eclipse: You see that’s the funny thing. I don’t think you realize what you’ve DONE. Or what you ARE going to do.

This implies Eclipse ALSO believes Ruin doesn’t remember his actions.  So if Eclipse has been right about everything so far, why would he be wrong about THAT?

In the same episode, after Eclipse tells Ruin: "I'm going to torture you" and leaves, Ruin is left all alone. Because Eclipse has left, Ruin has no reason to keep up the facade of being scared any longer, and YET, he still sits there hyperventilating for a few seconds before saying:

"Oh GOD...."

why would he do that, if he knew he could drop the act?

There’s also the episode where he confronts Ruin, he says:

“What did you do, huh? Changed a bit of your memory? Wiped your whole brain with a magnet? What did you do, huh?”

And I still just feel if Ruin genuinely changed his whole memory and brain, that his entire Ego/Personality should change. 

There’s also just the amount of Eclipse’s “Are you terrified of me?” and scaring Ruin that whole episode.

If Ruin WASN’T in a different, innocent personality at that moment, Eclipse would know he’s not scared. If Ruin BUILT him, he wouldn’t be scared.

Ruin offered to “repair” Eclipse’s mind at one point, comparing it to therapy.

Which Eclipse shot down, of course. If Ruin was 100% faking and knew what he was doing the entire time, and he knew he was never going to do anything of the sort with Eclipse, why would he EVER offer this to Eclipse? Why would the writers throw it out if it was never going to go anywhere?

It loses a perfectly good redemption arc.

One thing about the Show is how its redemptions rarely stick, at least for long. Lunar is like, the only one who has gotten a redemption arc and stayed alive. Killcode died shortly after his redemption. Old Moon tried to change, really he did, but he died before he could ever make the changes he needed to.  Eclipse is currently being worked on in a way, but that is still a LONG ways off. Etc, etc.

Then we had Ruin, who was another successful “redemption”, and it was pretty good to see!! …Which is now ruined (hah) because he was never good to begin with.

LEADING INTO ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT:

It makes all that effort the other characters went through for nothing.

Sun and Moon tried so hard to help Ruin, they took a risk for him to cure him of his virus – but in the end, this was the Wrong thing to do.

The characters did the right thing!! And they are being punished for it!!

And elaborating on that further:

This is going to negatively affect all the characters going forward.

This entire arc, Moon has been dealing with negative thought patterns and paranoia, and a lot of that paranoia manifested when he was investigating Ruin. He acted pretty cruel to Ruin in many ways, especially during the interrogation. This is why I thought it was very good for Moon when he did the memory scrub, found nothing, and realized he was being kind of a jerk, so he apologized to Ruin and pulled back a bit. He didn’t STOP LOOKING INTO HIM, but it was a lesson for him, to not to let his aggression reign over him when dealing with people he was suspicious of.

(One of the most concerning parts of Moon’s paranoia was how he said he didn’t trust ANYONE. He says so directly to Eclipse: “trust is a FARCE.” Despite this, in some way or form, he DID let his guard down around Ruin and began to trust him just a mild amount.)

WELL NOW THAT’S ALL GONE! Moon will never trust anyone ever again. The last person he gave the benefit of the doubt to turned out to be a multiverse-destroyer. Moon now has every reason to double down on his aggression, his paranoia, his mistrust of other people; in the future I doubt he will ever be so kind or lenient with people. He would probably be more likely to “attack first” when seeing a potential threat. And Sun as well; Sun will have much less reason to want to be kind or to take a chance to help a villain, because one time he helped Ruin and it blew up in his face.

So… good job. :/

It just kind of feels like the most obvious twist that could have written with the pieces on hand.

It’s like… There are a million different moving parts for this mystery -- multi-personalities, the virus, ways to play with memories that change identities, command orders embedded into robot's skulls – and then they chose the most straightforward way to use them.

Over the course of the storyline there were SO many signs pointing to Ruin (one of the Thumbnails even had a Creepy Face hidden in the corner) that it felt there HAD to be some kind of twist involving personalities or memories or someone else controlling him. I don’t want to say bad writing, but….

It almost makes Ruin a little too powerful.

I feel it’s almost cheating in some ways. Ruin is able to edit/corrupt his own memories so Moon couldn’t access them…… but RUIN still know them? Why didn’t Ruin literally forget those things, himself? It feels a little TOO powerful, a little too unrealistic, for him to be able to fool all these scanners and all these people SO easily. ESPECIALLY because we know Moon and Solar (and Eclipse definitely) went snooping around Ruin’s stuff before and looked at his computers; how did they, two galactic supergeniuses, never find ANY hint that Ruin had tampered with the security camera broadcasts when they were doing it?

When Ruin is supposed to be acting, he sounds just a little too sincere.

This is more of a minor thing, but in some of the episodes, when something dramatic happened to Ruin, it doesn't feel like he's acting in-universe; he sounds very sincere.

Just some examples: when he's interrogated by Moon and sounds so sad about being threatened. When Eclipse menaces him several times he's so scared. And many just other instances just. (And again, since I'm autistic, I read some of his stranger mannerisms as just being through that lens. Even if he acted strange sometimes that doesn't automatically equal fakeness.)

And I dunno, maybe he should have had more instances where it didn't feel so sincere.

This makes Solar the only person from another dimension who is good.

Pretty much everyone else from the other dimensions is bad or evil in some way, (aside from like one Sun from the one-off dimension where Moon never existed.) And I love Solar, but for some reason, it just doesn’t feel RIGHT that he’s literally the only person who is totally cool with the Celestial family.  Does anyone else feel that way?

Minor thing: When Moon apologized to Ruin, they said they would make Ruin a bedroom out of one of the alcoves.

Then they didn't.

Petty reason: Ruin was my comfort character, my personal one.

Lol, lmao even, my poor heart. It's broken.

And there are some various other thoughts, but this is also really long, so I'm going to stop here.

At the end of the day, I was really passionate about this character, and I’m disappointed to see it go the route that it did. There WERE ways to have Ruin still be good while also being a villain, just by giving him a second personality. And giving Ruin a second personality, to play around with the worldbuilding of robot memories and how Ruin isn’t responsible due to his memories being different, I personally think would have been more interesting.

Is there ANY hope for Ruin still being around after this? I’m not sure at this point. It’s looking less and less likely that there is a way out for Ruin. It’s looking less and less likely that there are two personalities, or even that Ruin was infected to begin with. 

If he somehow makes it out I’ll be ecstatic, but until then, I have a feeling we might be saying goodbye to him soon.

I still love this Show very much! And the story isn't over yet. So we'll just have to see if it can pull something off with this. But as it stands, I just have to respectfully say I think a mistake has been made in the direction they are going with it.

[celestialholz]

The P(aldea)-Solariser and the P-Lunariser (or 'you're really gonna give me sun and moon men outside of Alola, huh')

... Oh, @prince-kallisto, buddy. Look what you've done. xD (/j, been meaning to talk about this for MONTHS.)

My good pal spoke recently on the subject of Hassel's eyes and the significance of Baxcalibur, and it's reminded me yet again how Hassel is painted in the Paldean narrative as the sun, and how Brassius is painted as the moon - and the fact that that's deeply, deeply gay. Now, I've already discussed the fact that Hassel is a Sunflora, and further how one of The Harvests is both Dragon-coloured and features small suns, but let's go more in-depth, shall we? :D

What follows is every example I can find of sun and moon symbolism within these husbands. (They can't keep getting away with this shit. It's just unhinged.)

Let's begin with... well, eyes.

You know what this is based off? It's a parhelic circle, also known as this thing:

This is defined in scientific terms as following:

'A luminous halo, each side of the sun parallel to the horizon, caused by refraction of sunlight through ice crystals.'

... Huh. Ice crystals. Almost like the man owns an Ice type, and shows off a literal ice crystal in his classroom!

And just in case, for a singular half-moment of your day, you thought that there wasn't absolute equality in this marriage...

... Here's the lunar version, also known as a paraselenic circle. And I think, guys, I've seen this somewhere before...

You know that thing, of looking at someone like they hung the moon because they're the most important person in the world to you?

... Bit like this, in fact? Yeah. Look at these men, stood here with their fucking sun and moon eyes. I hate both of you intensely. <333

Next, the Sunny Day TM is in Artazon... next to a Surrendering Sunflora.

(Forgive my jank screenshot here - it's an old one.)

I happen to know from my five-hour meta on these bad boys that this Sunflora also faces solar south, or the part of the day where the sun is highest on the horizon. So, you've put the Sunny Day TM on a cliff that's nearer the sun, facing the sun, beside the sun. Okay Game Freak, very cool, I see you... Brassius' life has been brightened to blinding degrees, yes...

Whilst this isn't the only TM in this game that's in a hilariously appropriate location - TM92 Trick Room being on the roof of the professor's lab, directly above the time machine, springs to mind - it is the only one that's this gay, so... notable.

Next... Brassie is a dragon fruit. Look at this man.

Because, y'know, half-dragon, half-plant. Like Flapple.

Why is this relevant in a sun and moon meta? Well, the dragon fruit comes from a cacti, and its flowers?

Which again, seems really familiar...

... Sweet fucking Arceus. And it gets even better, because dragon fruit also comes in yellow!

And as with its flowers, yellow dragon fruit really likes the sun.

... The flower that blossoms only under moonlight, and the fruit that only flourishes in sunlight.

There is an entire world of spiritual symbolism surrounding Hassius and dragon fruits by the way, which would be going hugely off-topic here, but I'll leave you to chew on these two:

Mm...

... Mmmmm.

And just in case this all hasn't killed you off as much as it's killed me, pals, let me stick the final knife in for you.

Flapple's portrait in the Paldea dex is at dusk.

... Halfway between the day and the night.

Halfway between the sun and the fucking moon.

[envy-of-the-apple]

1) I absolutely love your fics. I found them when I was reading "the sun eats the moon." And I love love loved everything. Everything is so well written. Honestly speaking my head still hurts from the suguru betrayal. But oh well!

2) I just saw the ask with the isekai one and I once had this idea about one of my MC just randomly spawning into the JJK verse (Yeah i know this isn't exactly isekai but bear with me) and the only way out for them was to finish the story till the end with the characters. But just their mere existence in the universe started causing minor changes that led to bigger changes. And while she thought it would be easy it become difficulty hard because everything started to deviate from the actual plot. Her being there made things worse. Oh and also instead of Suguru she becomes the cult leader.

-🌼

Babe???? Why are you in my inbox GO WRITE THIS OMG????

Fuck I just love the idea of someone isekaiing(?) into a world that they adored and they try to save their characters but they keep making everything worse???? It’s kinda a parallelism with Gojo and Yuji, considering their mere existence in the JJK universe creates even stronger curses. But instead of pushing forward like Yuji and Gojo, they regress and just devolve into shambles because this isn’t a game. People are dying, and it’s their fault.

I had such a similar idea but the mc reincarnates as Sukuna right as Yuji eats the finger. And she just assumes that she can save everyone, but she cannot control sukuna's aka HER power and accidentally makes every situation Yuji switches out with her in worse. And she is just unintentionally just following the plot (accidentally kills yuji, accidentally makes the shibuya incident into a shibuya massacre). It's traumatic but like kinda funny.

honestly id kill for a good isekai rec. it can be from any fandom as long as it's reader-insert. I just wanna read something interesting, you know???

[everythingvolturi]

Demetri Character Analysis - Part 1

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Demetri New Moon - Duality of Diplomacy and Violence

Demetri first appears in the alleyway, instructed by Aro to bring two potential law-breakers back to him. Even in this tense and dangerous scenario with violence looming over everyone, Bella’s first impression of Demetri is his ‘soothing’ tone. This is no doubt a tactic to control the situation and discourage any rashness on Edward’s part. 

"Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun," the other shadow said in a soothing tone. 

Even when Edward is refusing his request, Demetri continues to play the role of a ‘polite’ shadow who resembles ‘reasonableness’. Indeed, his request does seem reasonable - they 'merely' and ‘simply’ want to ‘speak’ somewhere less conspicuous.

But simple requests should have simple consequences - you don’t kill someone for refusing to comply. Him masking the underlying threat under the pretense of reasonableness when bringing someone back for trial is manipulative and calculating.

The second, more reasonable shadow cautioned. "Not here." He turned to Edward. "Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all."

It also shows that he is not someone that relies entirely on his vampire strengths and animalistics instincts (very common for vampires), and instead understands the politics of the hunt. 

A readiness to kill: 

What impresses me the most is how quickly he is able to shift from politely negotiating, to being ready to literally kill Edward and Bella, and then immediately return to his polite demeanor once Alice points out the human witnesses. He is able to evaluate the most suitable course of action in a split second, and adjust accordingly. This is not a simple task, as many hunters need to actively get into the mindset to kill.

I imagine this is a requirement for his job, where he is often the first point of contact with the accused, and would be forced to make a split second decision to either give them a chance to attend trial, or take swift actions to eliminate them if necessary.

‘No doubt, he would be a fighter. There was no other way he could have survived so long, always at the spear point of any attack. And he must always lead, because he was their tracker. (Breaking Dawn).

Therefore, Demetri is either someone who is able to calmly negotiate even when he is ready to kill, or someone who is able to quickly shift into a killing mindset. Either is equally impressive and dangerous.

Cruel Detachment:

“Nice fishing” (In reference to Heidi bringing back the group of tourists for the Volturi to feast on). 

It is one thing to completely disregard humans, it is another to joke about the mass-killing of them. I am not a vegetarian myself, but if I were to go to a farm and meet the cows that will to be sent to the slaughter house for the BBQ I’m throwing, I would not feel comfortable joking about it. 

To me, this is Meyer’s way of emphasizing the cruelty of the Volturi vampires, and using Demetri, who was the voice of reason, to make this comment really reinforces the point that even the most polite of them exhibits a callous detachment. It draws an interesting parallel to Alec’s interaction, where we are once again presented with a stark contrast between a vampire’s outward civility, and their inner detachment. It somehow drives the point more so than using someone like Jane and Caius.

Casanova of life?

Charlie Bewley, the actor portraying Demetri, once described the character as a “casanova of life.” However, there is nothing in canon that indicates this. In fact, I believe his proximity with Felix, who appears to be the actual casanova, would make this more difficult.

I imagine his tracking ability and Felix’s combat capabilities make them the perfect duo (find and eliminate), so the two would often work together. The persona Felix takes on is a flirty and impulsive muscle, and he often times might have to engage in conducts to reinforce this brute image (more on Felix in a later post). Therefore, Demetri would need to play the role of a mature, cautious leader, as seen in New Moon. This includes laying low and cleaning up Felix’s mess - to also participate in a promiscuous lifestyle would draw too much attention. I do think Demetri needs to be charming and sophisticated for his job, which might give the illusion of him being a ‘casanova’, but he's got too much responsibility to actually indulge in this lifestyle.

However, this is mostly my take on the limited information presented in canon. I would not be entirely surprised if he does turn out to be more promiscuous. It just means he is able to balance work with pleasure better than I give him credit for.

[tsams-confessions]

Sun and Lunar are like mirror parallels but the show and the fans don't seem to get this, and it drives me crazy! They both had controlling brothers who belittled them and hit them. But when Moon did it to Sun it was played as a joke or was excused by other characters. Meanwhile when Lunar got hit, Monty and Moon both were there to comfort him and treated it very seriously. I remember being so shocked that these two, who abused Sun for years, had suddenly done a 180 for Lunar. And the hypocrisy never even got addressed! Lunar said something one time to Moon about how he hit Sun, but it got brushed off and then never mentioned ever again.

Lunar took over Moon and forced him into his head, and even hurt him on purpose. He did these things knowingly, whereas Sun never had a choice. And yet Moon tortured Sun for years but never once was mean to Lunar. It just felt so weird and I waited for weeks and months waiting for it to be brought up, but it never was. It's no wonder Sun always seemed a bit disconnected from Lunar. Heck, he never even got asked if he wanted him to be a brother, Moon just decided and told Sun. Like always, Sun never got a say in anything. And I am still so mad that NONE OF IT ever got pointed out! Ever!

And then when Sun wanted to kill Eclipse, Lunar insulted Sun by saying he was just like his abuser. Yes, HIS abuser because Eclipse abused Sun too, but everyone forgets that. And Lunar said he was just like him, and then went and implied that he knew Moon better than Sun. Because he lived in Moon's head. Well Sun did too, for longer! But Lunar basically said he knows Moon better?! I was so mad at Lunar in that episode, and it obviously triggered Sun. And all he did was tell Lunar to shut up. And then he got crucified by the fans over it. I remember how much people hated Sun, it made me so mad. And even to this day Sun carries that guilt, when he shouldn't! He didn't even make Lunar run off, Eclipse did. But does Lunar ever tell Sun that? Nope! Just lets Sun apologize to him multiple times when he comes back, and then has the audacity to say he wasn't sure if he could forgive Sun yet!!!! AHHH!!

And let's not even mention how when Sun gets an attitude, or is angry or even just mean, then he's a bitch and annoying and whiny. But when Lunar does he's sassy and a poor baby who deserves to get angry or violent. When Sun is withdrawn from everyone he's a huge jerk but when Lunar is withdrawn then it's excused because he's suffering. Basically Lunar and Sun are so much alike and yet time after time Lunar is favored by the characters and the fans, and Sun is just annoying or wrong, no matter what.

I could write so much more and I might in the future, but for now I'll stop my complaining. I just get so mad seeing all this "Lunar was right to kill Eclipse!" talk when this time last year people were calling Sun irredeemable and a villain for trying to do the same thing. Heck, even during his breakdown back then everyone was busy having sympathy for Lunar and Moon, and just calling Sun crazy. It drove me absolutely crazy then and it is now because we're seeing the same thing happening only this time because it's Lunar, he's a poor justified abuse survivor. But when it was Sun he was crazy and evil. And the worst part is the show CONTINUES to miss this fact! That Sun and Lunar are parallels! They just keep missing it or maybe they're doing it on purpose??? I want to scream!!!

.

[tequiilasunriise]

Annabel Lee & Fears: A Short Essay Based On Ep70

Here it is, folks, the truest crux of Annabel’s character, her deepest fears is not going mad or even people discovering she’s not as put together as she tries to appear, but rather:

Was that gambit of constant scheming and using others worth it, Annabel? Was always trying to think ten steps ahead and always keep yourself in a position of power and control truly worth it, because how can you ever be trusted when all you do is play 5D chess with everyone?

There is is, folks!!! Just like her greatest strength- her cunning willpower- is centered around a certain bright moon, Annabel’s greatest fear is rooted in Lenore. The deepest, darkest trenches of her soul, the one thing that would shatter her heart and send her lungs choking fer breath? The killing blow that would end her and make all these charades worthless? It’s Lenore seeing her constant conniving and asking Annabel, “Why would I be any different? You already have no problem using everyone else as a pawn, how could I ever possibly trust you, Annabel Lee?”

The way Annabel is SUCH a great morally grey character, y’all tell me you love hot villains yet many a time I’ve seen people calling Annabel too heartless. She’s the opposite! She cares!! SO MUCH!!! She would burn the world down if it meant kissing Lenore one last time, to the point where her deepest fear is losing Lenore in the process of trying to protect her. All Annabel knows is using manipulation to gain the upper hand because simply being born a woman in the Victorian era she was so throughly disadvantaged by such a horribly misogynistic society that girlypop had to scrape together any form of control she could. Annabel wants so badly to protect Lenore but all she knows are her own methods of protecting herself, which involves plausibility deniability and facades and sometimes sheer cruelty, and that’s where the conflict arises. From the start Annabel assumed Lenore and her had the same understanding of this ‘fake enemies’ ploy going on but surprise surprise babygirl, not everyone is overthinking four parallel universes ahead like you do. This boils over into her lover having doubts on what’s real and what’s not, which then culminates into Lenore asking if Annabel is using her affections as empty currency to get what she wants, and Annabel’s first move to tell Lenore to fucken kill her????

“To you alone, I have left myself completely defenseless.”

The drama of it all!! The shattered facade leading to exploding vulnerability of it all!! The dim sun sparking out into a heat death just to prove her sincerity of it all!!! The exposed innermost organs ripping out my heart with my bare hands and begging you, “Do you see it now? Do you see the way it beats for you and only you? Tell me you see it, tell me you see me…” of it all!!

Oh baby the way Annabel still retains this deep fear of Lenore not truly believing in the “only thing that’s real” to her, the way her lover’s ghost still lingers and haunts her and is then ripped up from her innermost psyche like a desecrated grave and given form by Ada’s power. The way, after all this time- and I mean all this time from Lenore’s constructed resurrection, to their relationship blossoming into a wedding, all the fucking way up to that bell tower scene, the fucken way Annabel still never truly let go of her fear that Lenore doesn’t see her, doesn’t see how she alone bashed through all of Annabel’s walls and made a home where her heart laid. I’m sure during their living relationship all the way until the wedding Annabel’s fears were greatly settled, but it’s the fucken way these panels implied that this wretched heartache never completely left Annabel’s guilt-wracked soul.

I just know, okay I just KNOW, that even up until she was putting her wedding dress on Annabel still questioned if she even deserved this happy ending because she still feel phantoms of guilt fer this betrayal. This comic only furthers this implication of unabsolved guilt when it’s made clear as day that Annabel’s biggest fear is Lenore not believing in her love. And before anyone argues how Annabel can currently feel guilt fer betraying Lenore when she hasn’t recovered the memory yet, I’ll argue back that from the very beginning of the comic these two were inexplicably drawn to each other even when they had NO memories. Therefore, even if she doesn’t have the explicit memory, I highly doubt Annabel’s subconscious would ever let go of something as huge as deeply hurting the one person she truly cared about in such a wretched way.

Fuck, dude, I mean Annabel’s greatest fear wasn’t even Lenore dying- which was already a huge thing if y’all remember her tearstreaked, panicked, “What is left? If she’s not here, what’s the point?”- no her greatest is Lenore!!! Not!!! Believing!! Her!!! Like yeah losing Lenore physically definitely would’ve cut so deep even her bones would bear the scars, but losing Lenore in the form of the other woman walking the same ground as her but choosing to stay away?? Call her fucking selfish because some people would rather have their other half still be alive even if they’re not by their side, but Annabel ain’t one of them that’s fer sure. Babygirl has spent a lifetime perfecting the craft of deceiving others fer her own gain, but the ONE TIME she’s genuine her heart is to be called nothing more but empty??? Oh babbyyy that’s gotta fucken hurt.

The thing is, I don’t think Annabel really loves herself all that much. I really don’t. A huge focus on self-preservation doesn’t necessarily mean one really loves themselves, and when we add the aforementioned guilt she carries? Plus, the fact that Annabel being forced to swallow down her anxiety attacks from a young age could easily lead to her having a rather sour view of her 'not normal' self? Yeah no yeah, I truly don’t think Annabel loves herself that much, if at all. So really, this line is adding immense insult to already grievous injury. Not only does Annabel deeply fear Lenore not believing her affections to be true, she also fears the New Yorker misconstruing her as nothing more but a shallow as hell, prissy, little pampered damsel, a role pretty much everyone else regulates her into whether she wants it or not (right from the beginning, before she even set her schemes in full effect, Annabel was already explaining, “Ada wanted a queen, so I gave her one”). Lenore, the only one Annabel had believed to ever really see her fer her, is now discrediting Annabel’s vulnerable affections AND seeing her as that unloving ice queen like everyone else?? Horrible terrible horrible!!! She may have a ribbon threatening to strangle her right now, but it’s clear that ghost!Lenore’s words are what truly cut her down to size. Y’all seeing that fucken pain in Annabel’s eyes? Her worst fear is just so… personal.

Which actually leads me to my next point, which is how just before Annabel’s worst fear is revealed in stark, horrifying detail, we see Prospero’s. Lemme just preface this by saying what Prospero went through is n o t any less terrible and is a super fucken mega valid fear/trauma, but let me cook y’all just hear me out. Prospero’s fear seems to be about medical malpractice and/or being conscious during a painful operation that likely went south (aka ‘oh shiiitttt he fucken DEAD-‘), and that’s fucking tragic as all hell. Yet, okay let me cook here, it’s more… I don’t want to say general, because that does NOT mean his fear is any less significant but it’s like. Way back when, death via medical bullshit was more or less fairly common, especially during wartimes (which is the era I headcanon Prospero to be from); meanwhile, Annabel’s fear is so uniquely hers, it’s borne of a culmination of specific experiences tied together by her relationship with Lenore.

By contrast of a more common fear vs something so deeply personal and specific to this one person- because it’s not just unrequited love, it’s being so vehemently denied and misunderstood by the ONE (1!) person who you wholeheartedly trusted in your entire life who also oops mega died on you- this distinction gives way to an almost more raw, more visceral feeling to Annabel’s fear sequence. Again!!! I am not undermining Prospero’s own trauma, I promise!!! But you have to admit that there’s something, from a narrative standpoint, that hits so much harder with how deeply personal Annabel’s fear is. The contrast is even more great when you look at how Prospero’s involved a buncha bloodied hands not really tied to any faces or even any indication of personhood like accessories, scars, etc etc. It could’ve been a group of anyone holding him down hurting him; on the flipside, Annabel is being restrained by one very specific person we see in full view. The faceless crowd who could’ve been anyone at anytime vs the lone perpetrator whose history you know like a second name. It’s just!!! So personal!!!

In conclusion, on the surface level, one would think a character so deeply ingrained in using deceptions and manipulation would have her greatest fear tie into having her true nature revealed to everyone she’d fooled, but then it turns out it’s the complete fucking opposite. What homegirl fears the most is her truest, innermost self not being believed and accepted by just one (1!) person. The way it’s framed is just so heartstabbingly personal, especially when you parallel it to a previous fear sequence just a few panels preceding it. This is it, your honor, this is Annabel’s deepest driving force broken down to its bare essentials. To hell with whatever reputation she’s carefully crafted! Who cares what anyone else thinks of her if she doesn’t believe her, if she doesn’t SEE her. Really, truly see her. Lenore is the defining point that Annabel has revolves around so wholeheartedly, and there’s no point to anything anymore if Annabel loses her. This crux of her character, OHHH BBAAABBYY it’s just so well done because we, as the audience, have been given clear evidence to build up this narrative of Annabel’s characterization fer so long now and to finally see it come together in a fiery explosion of lesbian angst with this latest chapter??? Gods, the writing of Nevermore will never not drive me absolutely insane in the membrane.

[thedemonscrawler]

Do you think Moon's current paranoia against Ruin is like a parallel for Original Eclipse and Lunar?

Like, do you mean Original Eclipse being paranoid of Lunar? Or the other way around? Because tbh, I don't think Eclipse and Lunar have ever been paranoid of one another's actions.

If you go back to the original original Eclipse, October takeover stuff-- Eclipse was no more paranoid about Lunar's behavior than he was anyone else's, and good deal less suspicious than he should have been. Lunar was pretty fatalistic about how Eclipse saw him-- Eclipse was very up front about how little he valued Lunar, and Lunar knew it.

With Eclipse 2.0, the backup who got the star-- well, Lunar was pretty sure that Eclipse was going to kill him. And he was 100% correct about that. What's that saying, 'it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you'?

Moon's current actions are very Eclipse-like, but just in that Eclipse is an anxious, suspicious, distrustful person. When it comes down to it, so is Moon. And he does have decent reasons to be mistrustful of Ruin-- Ruin has hurt his family in the past. He made Bloodmoon 2.0, destroyed the computer, kidnapped Sun, destroyed the Daycare, etc etc.

Is he right to be paranoid of Ruin? Well, we don't know yet. The characters have never worked with a former antagonist like Ruin before-- Lunar was a pawn, so even though he was an antagonist at first, he wasn't the one calling the shots.

So far Ruin has been more cooperative than you'd expect if he were planning something, which is making Moon look really bad. I also think the poor guy just has chronic 'sounds SUS' voice. They could be going for an angle where Moon's fears are assumed to be paranoia and he had to struggle against that (which honestly is a storyline that I'd prefer for Sun).

Me? I'm holding out for the 'Ruin's virus has manifested as it's own personality and is the one doing shit' twist. The show was built on 'oh shit there's another person in your head', it'd absolutely fit.