#unlike other romantic theories ... for some reason ...

[iamafkrn]

I’m overthinking the dress up scene (DRDT theory *mild chapter 2 spoilers!*)

I’ve been rewatching DRDT and am very curious about the whole Dress Up Room scene in chapter 2, episode 2. Mostly, I’m curious about Whit’s inclusion in it. For one— unlike Teruko and Hu he does not get a very noticeable change in wardrobe.

There *are* differences (mainly his eyes and… socks) but they aren’t very noticeable to the casual watcher, especially after a production hiatus. Hu even points out the lack of change, therefore the viewers are pointed towards and intended to notice it.

So why was Whit included in this scene when a lot of characters got sprite revamps (such as Ace who got an entirely new haircut) between chapters?

I think it’s because of the information he gives to us (and Hu and Teruko) during that scene, which is why I’m gonna over analyze it!

Some people in the game take prescriptions and (assumably) only Whit knows who needs/takes pills and which ones. Here’s a mini theory — When asked, David told Whit that he takes anti-depressants, which could explain why Whit gave David the benefit of the doubt surrounding his motive secret.

2. I don’t think the show runners are trying to ensure comfort. They just don’t want anyone to die naturally or to die as a result of not taking their medicine. The whole point of the show is for the students to kill each other (even suicide is prohibited).

3. If a future murder takes place at night, and Whit claims to be asleep, he might be lying, since he’s supposedly a light sleeper. He only mentions light, though, not sound, bothering him but still I think it’s worth considering.

4. Here’s a mind experiment — who do YOU know in YOUR life which knows YOUR sleeping habits?? You can find a lot of private information about yourself online; but not many “ordinary” people share their sleeping habits online. Therefore the mastermind must (at the very least) know Whit personally, and personally ENOUGH that they found out about his *sleeping habits*. That’s the sort of thing that only immediate family (like the dead mom he tries not to mention??) or a partner (which is interesting because 1. Whit is a matchmaker, so it is fair to assume he has dated before; 2. Despite the lack of romance in DRDT Whit is being someone set up with Charles; 3. Whit is bi so this doesn’t narrow down the mastermind to one gender) or roommates have reason to know.

Now, the mastermind has to be someone who knows the students personally, not just through online research or questioning any of their casual friends. If the DRDT cast lost their school life memories, then whoever Whit was roommates with (assuming they had dorm mates at Hope’s Peak) is suspicious.

5. How would he have “checked around”? Did he ask politely? Did he break into everyone’s rooms? Hu and Teruko sure weren’t aware. Most curiously, Whit might have asked MonoTV…

But also, Whit is the only person to have such a thing?? What if, instead of Whit being the only one who needs accommodations, thr mastermind singled him out, potentially because the mastermind only has information on Whit. Maybe all of the “hints” we’ve seen towards Whit being the mastermind are actually clues towards him being related to the mastermind.

If the mastermind was a previous romantic partner, then it would tie in Whit’s matchmaking talent and incriminate Charles.

If the mastermind is his mother or some kind of family then his morbid interest in recording the executions and puns surrounding the victim’s death can be explained by how he was raised.

So yeah. Cute clothes!

TLDR: Whit was likely included in the dress up scene in order to establish information only he could possibly know about the game and himself.

[brilliantorinsane]

What's really funny about the below post regarding Leslie Klinger's "firm belief" that Holmes and Watson's relationship was "free from homoerotic content" is that. While in the course of annotating and collating scholarship about Sign of Four and Valley of Fear he never once alluded to it ever occurring to anyone that Holmes and Watson could have something queer going on. He did, however, report the following theories:

That Mary came to Baker Street with the intent to try and marry Holmes, then shifted to Watson upon discovering him to be a more likely prospect

That in the course of their marriage Mary was jealously convinced she was second in Watson's heart to the true great love of his life ... Helen Stoner from Speckled Band

That Holmes also fell in love with Mary, and was heartbroken that Watson beat him to the proposal

And, my personal favourite: That Watson had an on-again-off-again affair with Irene Adler, culminating in marriage when the both of them left their spouses for one another.

[wlwcatalogue]

A Gay Girl's Guide to Takarazuka

L to R: Sagiri Seina, Ouki Kaname, Amami Yuuki, Asumi Rio, Wao Youka, Asaji Saki, Shiraki Ayaka

If you’re queer and into theatre or Japanese media, chances are that you will have heard of all-female theatre company Takarazuka Revue… but it’s also equally likely that you won’t have checked out anything of theirs. For those who are curious but were intimidated by its over 100 years of history, or who just want a quick primer to ease in, click below!

1. Why get into Takarazuka?

L to R: Rei Makoto in Tiara Azul (2024), Yuzuka Rei

For those into androgynous women

As you probably already know, Takarazuka's big selling point is that it's an all-female theatre company where the male characters are played by women. The actresses are expected to continue presenting that way off-stage, which in practice means a lot of handsome women with short hair in binders and men's clothing... Why that might appeal to people who are into androgynous women (or GNC/enby folks) is pretty obvious.

Reality Check:

Sadly, after "graduation" (i.e. leaving Takarazuka), nearly all such actresses will transition into feminine presentation and take on female roles. It's similar to the "lesbian glasshouse" idea in Class S yuri, but for gender non-conformity. That said, there are some notable counter-examples: Shion Yuu and Nanami Hiroki have basically refused to change their presentation after graduating (the latter still frequently plays male characters in both anime and stage productions), and things are more relaxed lower down the rungs too.

L to R: Wao Youka & Hanafusa Mari, Sagiri Seina & Sakihi Miyu

For those into butch/femme pairs

Just as roughly half of Takarazuka's actresses specialise in male roles (otokoyaku/男役), there is another half specialising in female roles (musumeyaku/娘役). On top of that, Takarazuka is split into five different troupes, and for any given production, the male lead and female lead are automatically assigned to that troupe's "top star" (leading otokoyaku) and "top musumeyaku" (leading musumeyaku) - the "top combi".

Unlike leading pairs in other theatrical traditions, the "top combi" concept extends to them being marketed as a pair in interviews, magazine features, TV programmes, etc. Just watch the mini TV special where Sagiri Seina and Sakihi Miyu visit Tokyo Skytree and Sumida Aquarium-- it's basically a date, and is described as such by the commentating TV announcer. Likewise, Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari were interviewed about being a "golden combi" by women's magazine Fujin Kouron (though to be fair this was after they had, improbably, managed to win a Kikuta Kazuo Theatre Award - an award for individuals - jointly, for their "splendid performance as a combi" in 2004's Boxman).

Taken to its extreme, there have been cases where the Japanese public have been convinced that a top combi was dating, as with the immensely popular 1980's pair Daichi Mao and Kuroki Hitomi... It's no wonder that the actresses themselves frequently describe it as being like an arranged marriage.

Separately, due to certain reasons, it's practically part of the job description for top musumeyaku to adore their top star partners. This, in theory, inadvertently creates a safe space for any top musumeyaku who could be gay for their stage partners... Just to illustrate, during her graduation speech, Hinami Fuu repeatedly referred to her feelings for her top star partner Hokushou Kairi as koi (恋), a word specifically denoting romantic love, and nobody blinked an eye.

Reality Check:

Due to conservative attitudes in both Japan and Takarazuka itself, most actresses go on to marry men, including many of those named above. Vanishingly few are publically out, though former otokoyaku Higashi Koyuki (stage name Aura Maki) is a queer activist and was one half of the first same-sex couple to be married in Japan, and another former otokoyaku, Misuzu Aki, has been living with her female partner in Europe for years. Just, well, don't forget that being married to a man isn't necessarily evidence of heterosexuality.

L to R: Asumi Rio in The Poe Clan (2018), Sagiri Seina in Rurouni Kenshin (2016)

For lovers of anime and manga

Takarazuka is probably best-known as the inspiration behind Revolutionary Girl Utena, Revue Starlight, Kageki Shoujo, and Sailor Moon’s Haruka and Michiru, but did you know that it also inspired seminal works featuring androgynous female leads such as Princess Knight? If you enjoy “prince-type” characters in yuri, you’ve got them to thank

Apart from inspiring anime and manga, Takarazuka also does quite a few animanga adaptations itself! Most famous are their Rose of Versailles musicals, but other popular adaptations include Ace Attorney, Rurouni Kenshin, Lupin III, Boys Over Flowers, and Hagio Moto’s bishounen vampire vehicle The Poe Clan. They’re also doing a Castlevania musical this year!

Wao Youka & Hanafusa Mari in Phantom (2004)

For the theatre nerds

Female Phantom of the Opera, duh

Jokes aside, Takarazuka’s unique position in the theatre world can't be overstated. As a rule, all-female productions are either smaller-scale, one-offs dependent on the work, or part of a theatrical tradition completely separate to Western-style plays or musicals (hello, Chinese Yue opera). Takarazuka is the exception: it offers productions comparable in size and scale (and budget) to the largest West End and Broadway musicals - it just so happens that it's all-female.

If the all-female aspect doesn’t excite you then why are you here, then let me emphasise again: Takarazuka is totally worth checking out as a production company in its own right. It is very much a part of the broader Japanese musical industry, and one of its powerhouses at that. Just take a look at some of these clips from past productions (all around 5 mins or less):

(a) Maeda Keiji - a musical loosely inspired by real-life samurai Maeda Keiji; features an uncannily convincing horse performed by two people in costume which needs to be seen to be believed (b) Ephemeral Love - a period piece about the doomed love between Prince Rudolph of the Hapsburgs and his lover Marie Vetsera (c) The Man Who Never Sleeps - a biographical musical about Napoleon Bonaparte (d) Casino Royale - an adaptation of the 2006 James Bond movie of the same name (e) BADDY - an off-the-wall sci-fi comedy featuring loads of velvet suits, silly shellfish outfits, and queerness.

Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari in Dracula (2011)

2. Random Queer-ish Trivia

It's pretty common for former otokoyaku to be cast in WLW roles: Sena Jun headlined the 2018 Japanese production of Fun Home, Otozuki Kei cameoed as a lesbian escort in 2022 LGBTQ-themed J-drama Kojinsa Arimasu, and Seto Kazuya played the owner of a lesbian bar in 2024 yuri J-drama Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko. (Incidentally, Sal Jiang, the original creator of Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko, has mentioned being a fan of Sena Jun when she was younger)

Otokoyaku are sometimes mistaken for men, with amusing results: Yuzuka Rei was thought to be a “host” by a passer-by while talking to her fans, and Houshou Dai has mentioned being hit on by a woman before. But the prize goes to Todoroki Yuu, who like many women once had to rebuff unwanted advances from a man—except in her case, he thought that she was a guy

Before entering Takarazuka, Sou Kazuho – eventual Snow Troupe top star – went to a co-ed school and had long hair. To her confusion, this didn’t stop her classmates from asking her to play a male character (possibly the male lead, IIRC) in the school play. They saw her as an otokoyaku even before she did!

Continuing with the high school theme, former Cosmos Troupe top star Wao Youka has boasted about how in her high school days, she received more Valentine’s chocolates than her brother, and in fact second-most out of her year. Important note: she went to a girls’ school

Speaking of Wao Youka, her 2011 Dracula (see photo above) - from @cryoverkiltmilk's “Cunt Dykecula” post - wasn't actually a Takarazuka production! Since Wao was acquainted with and later married its composer Frank Wildhorn, some assume he was the one to cast her, and that Hanafusa Mari was brought in due to being her old stage partner. But Wildhorn had wanted Wao to play the female lead. It was she who insisted on Dracula. And Hanafusa wasn't just a third party... she had been Wao's manager since 2007, having retired from the stage after graduating and only just returned with 2010's Dietrich. (She played Edith Piaf, legendary chanson singer and “very good friend” of bisexual icon Marlene Dietrich, played by Wao.) Dracula was the swan song for their partnership, with Hanafusa going on to conquer the Japanese musical industry as she had Takarazuka-- but it marked the first, and so far only, time a top combi performed as romantic partners after graduating.

On a separate note, renowned queer photographer Leslie Kee has been responsible for taking the cover portraits for Takarazuka's offical monthly publication Kageki (歌劇) since 2010. You should definitely check out his ongoing "Out in Asia" project – he's taken literally thousands of photos of out queer people in Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan in a bid to raise visibility

Lastly, in November 2015, Takarazuka City became the first Japanese city outside of Tokyo to announce its support for same-sex partnerships… though this may of course be a total coincidence.

Flower Troupe in Takarazuka Fantasia (2015 Taiwan tour)

3. Where to Start?

Nearly all Takarazuka shows since the 1990's are available on DVD (earlier ones are on VHS), and these recordings are very well done - they have great video and audio quality, are well-edited, and use a large number of camera angles

They do livestreams and live broadcasts of performances as well! You can watch a livestream from your mobile or PC by spoofing your location. For a more communal experience, if you're in Japan, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, you can catch live broadcasts of Grand Theatre performances at a local cinema

VODs of selected productions are available on various platforms, including Amazon Japan, though this still requires location spoofing. If you're actually living in Japan, you can also consider subscribing to Takarazuka's official TV channel (yes, that's a thing) Sky Stage - they do a lot of reruns of past performances

With that done, here are several recommendations if none of the productions mentioned throughout the post caught your eye!

(a) Elisabeth - Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay's musical about Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi") of Austria and the fall of the Hapsburg Empire, featuring an (inevitably very sexy) personification of Death and fantastic music. Takarazuka has done many, many productions of this, so just search them and pick whichever looks most appealing - but you won't go wrong with the 2014 Flower Troupe production, which has a very strong cast and a more refined version of the staging

(b) Phantom - Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston's adaptation of Phantom of the Opera. Though obviously not the ALW version, the music is actually pretty great and Takarazuka goes all-out on the costumes and stage magic. All the productions are wonderful, but my favourite is the original 2004 version (which is also the one which went viral on Tumblr before - thanks, @wheel-of-fish!)

(c) Rose of Versailles - no list would be complete without Takarazuka's representative work, buuut I wouldn't necessarily recommend starting here if you're looking for a typical musical experience. There are loads of productions to choose from - note that these are split between a version focused on protagonist Oscar, and another focused on Marie Antoinette and her lover Fersen - but the 1991 Moon Troupe production is my personal pick

(d) Casanova - a light-hearted romp in which Casanova is reimagined as a charming playboy who falls for the feminist-minded daughter of Venice's mayor... only, she doesn't know his real identity. The very catchy music was commissioned from Dove Attia, the producer behind French musicals Mozart, l'opera Rock and 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille. Check out the performance digest here!

(e) Shinjuu: Koi no Yamatoji - Takarazuka puts Chikamatsu Monzaemon's tale of the doomed love between a commoner and a courtesan to a classic rock score (see this clip!). An Edo-era work that doesn't just focus on samurai and nobility, this romantic tragedy offers a grounded look at the social pressures of the time. (Though if you do want to watch something focusing on Japanese nobility, I highly recommend Takarazuka original and guaranteed tearjerker Hoshiai Hitoyo.) There are quite a few productions of this, but I've only watched the 2014 Snow Troupe one, which was very good.

Thanks so much for reading! Please feel free to DM me or send an ask if you have any questions~ I definitely want to do a follow-up post on musumeyaku, and maybe delve into Wao and Hanafusa's history (it's messy, but fascinating)... but we'll see!

[thelovelywriteress]

DEVIL MAY CRY: FILM INDUSTRY AU! GOSSIP SPECIAL

Step aside, Film Industry—Hell just got hotter. It isn’t just burning with fire—it’s burning with jealousy, flirtation, and forbidden affection. Rumors are flying! The superstars twins: Dante and Vergil, are now not just competing for films anymore—they’re both aiming for the same heart, the heart that belongs to the same level popular star (name)!

And you know how things get between fans especially Vergil and Dante fans, who like their idols are always on the other side of rope─competing for the spotlight. Love triangle among the twins and the (name) is just turning fans crazy and their theories to evidence even crazier!

As we say before the fandom is currently split right down the middle: #TeamDante, #TeamVergil, and of course, the rising rebel group known as #TeamThrouple. (Ahh yes the old-why choose only one? when you can have both!). Ever since Dante, Vergil, and (name) started dropping suspicious crumbs all over the place, their fandom has split into hardcore camps—and the battles for who's the "real" couple are peak chaos.

#TEAMDANTE

“You cannot convince us otherwise. (name) literally laughed at Dante’s joke that wasn’t even funny. That’s LOVE, baby.”

── Behind-the-scenes footage where Dante "casually" wipes something off (name)’s cheek.

Let's be real chat, no matter how flirty and mischievous Dante is, we had never seen him getting close to other stars rather than few verbal remarks but with (name)? He is just all about physical contact! And plus you see (name)'s reaction? They both have so relaxed reaction like it's every day thing for them. Now you won't be this casual with someone you are not dating now will you?

── (Name) and Dante literally had been top choices for all rom-coms! Most of their early films were even with each other.

It is no lie that many directions have bluntly confessed that (Name) and Dante were their first choice for any film that involves "romance" and Dante, who unlike his twin got only in spotlight after this two blockbuster romantic films which includes "(name)". So they know each other from long time and old friends to lovers is not a new troup to see anyways.

── (Name) and Dante have post many pictures together and show preference to spend time with each other.

Okay so is now everyone either blind or straight up idiots! Like what proof do we need more to see, these two definitely got something going between them which they wants to hide from public (their choice!🙌) but come onnnnn you can't be this blind to ignore the oblivious signs. in some interviews stated how they likes to hangout (informal word for 'date') together as they find each other's 'presence's fun'.

#TEAMVERGIL

“Vergil and (name) spotted in park together in disguise. They sit on a bench. At one point? They bump shoulders and he doesn’t move away??! Bro they are literal comfort zones of each other.”

── Vergil posts about being excited to work with (name) on their new film.

Okay we all know despite being a wonderful and famous actor─Vergil is still such awkward especially when it comes to his other fellow stars. He barely post anything on his socials or rarely even mentions other celebrities so you should get gist by now that how much significance (name) hold that 'he.is.excited.to.work.with.(name)'

── (name) who jokes about being lucky to get chance at acting cause their academic life sucks, are now suddenly posting quotes from classic literature.

(name), who in past have often criticized their academic skills and even state reason for coming into acting (media from random youtube, og interview is no where to be found): "I had many books those's plot interest me but I couldn't just find the focus and attention to read them, so I hope one day I can act or direct all those books so can I watch them instead!" An actor who once's couldn't find focus and attention to read is now posting quotes from orginal classics? Suspicious, isn't it? More suspicious it becomes when you realised in our industry only one other person is known to read classics (and oddly same classics (name) post's about) who is Vergil and another point that (name) start to show interest in literature around the same time their blurry photos in the park started to get viral.

── Many directors have state that (name) and Vergil work most efficiently together.

Guess who despite not even getting cast in couple roles still acts more naturally together? Yes, (name) and Vergil! Many directions seem to believe that they both respectively work more better when other one is around and due to this reason even if one isn't in the film, they will still cast other one in minor role interaction with major role so they will give their best. And while it might see casual for (name) but Vergil often accompanies (name) throughout the film on set even if his role is already done. These guys are just straight up example of those obvious couples who won't just agree that they are dating!

#TeamThrouple

“Why don't they all just accept each other's feelings for each other and start being poly! It's big 2025─everyone deserves love.”

Umm we don't say much about it but hey atleast this way everyone's fans will be happy! Now that's a pro.

What’s really going on behind the scenes? Is this a clever PR move, a real messy love triangle, or are we just projecting our shipping fantasies onto three ridiculously good-looking people who accidentally created the most intense slow-burn romance in the industry?

Now that's something we still have to find but seeing how interesting things have turn─It looks like this one gonna be on trend for while.

So stay tuned with us as we search our best on this trio and bring you the newest evidence about who is kissing whom, who got dating whom!

Now, now fellas don't ask me what was I smoking while I write this but hey! isn't this a nice one tho. (⁠◠⁠ᴥ⁠◕⁠ʋ⁠)

So this thing is inspired about by i. me and my friend in our school days, making exaggerated gossips about boys and girls separately (yes yuri and yaoi fans can be friends 😔✊) and just laugh to ourselves and ii. that asking chatgpt to make love island with your friends reel.

And ofc the literally inspiration─I was scrolling through tiktok and then saw few fan edits of actor-actress, saw the comments under it and was like damn this is fun and here we are sir🫡✨

Through isn't it fun fellas? Seeing how crazy the fanbase is about whom do you get chemistry with more(⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆

[lara635kookie]

Kpop Demon Hunters Theory 2:

I've seen some people talking about how Bobby (the Huntrix's manager) might be a twist villain but what if that's Celine?

Because Bobby seems to genuinely care about these girls, specially Zoey, who I headcanon is his favorite(yes, that completely based only in the fact they danced to Soda Pop together with the same facial expressions and perfect shoulder synchronization even though they are looking at his phone and not at each other). He might even be related to Zoey, since both of their names have the letter "o" as the second letter, both names end with the letter "y", they kinda look alike, both "Zoey" and "Bobby" sounds like cute nicknames for smaller names with three letters(Zoe and Bob), and their names are just some of the most American names out there; that's why I headcanon they are both USA-born koreans and are a part of the same family. They could be cousins, uncle and niece, I don't know but they passed me vibes that they were relatives just by being silly and goofy together for a few seconds.

The girls seem to genuinely trust him. He can easily enter the girl's' penthouse through the elevator. Of course, it would be the perfect disguise, but Celine's disguise might also be perfect, if my theory is correct.

Analyzing the hair and the eye, it's pretty clear that the woman Zoey is covering with her left hand is Celine. She was a member of the Sunlight Sisters. A group Zoey (I imagine Rumi and Mira too) admires and seemingly looks up to as a reference, an example. She is probably the woman who says:"The world will know you as Pop Stars. But you will be much more than that. You will be hunters." in the beginning of the trailer.

So she appears and starts training the hunters, maybe even becoming a part of their official team not just as hunters but also as kpop idols, like some sort of intense physical trainer, which would be useful for both fighting and dancing (gaining the same privileges Bobby has like entering and leaving when he wants), because her and her sisters were also demon hunters disguised as a girl group in the past. But she's alone. On her own. Her sisters (because unlike the HUNTRIX, the Sunlight Sisters actually look like sisters), nowhere to be found.

And that's why she's a villain:Maybe the big bad demon, Gwi-ma, is holding her two sisters hostage. She is fooling the girls to guarantee the safety of her sisters. I think she's one of those villains with a twisted mind that don't care in sacrificing other people (in this case, the HUNTRIX) for the well-being of the people they love and care about (her sisters) and believe that paying any price for their loved ones is not bad and actually noble. She will do whatever it takes to have her sisters back. Because she doesn't care about anything else in this world other than her sisters. The whole world could burn down, if she had her sisters, it wouldn't matter to her. She doesn't give a shit about others, only herself and her sisters, to the point she doesn't care in doing bad things to everyone else if that means she never loses that. Almost like in a Yandere type of way, but with family love instead of romantic love. Someone sends hate that makes one sister sad, the other sister has a friend that makes Celine jealous? Both "coincidentally" appear dead. She's willing to go as far as she needs to for her sisters (she might have a traumatic reason behind it, she might be born with it, who knows?).

So she won't let some huntresses stay in her way. And that's why she incriminates Bobby. Shift the girl's attention to him to make them believe he is the traitor. So Zoey, who I believe is the one that admires the Sunlight Sisters the most, is in a conflict between believing one of her absolute idols and Bobby, who's been with her for so long.

In the end, Zoey is shattered to hear the truth. They find out what Celine's all about and save Bobby from almost dying.

The Huntrix, then, finally found the other two sisters, and of course, they're not too happy to hear Celine is doing so many bad things because of a demon's orders, even if it's to save them. Because Celine, even though she loves her sisters, always hid that crazy psychopath part of her because she knew they would never understand. They would try to convince her to stop, and it would be left ambiguous if they succeed or not, because Gwi-ma decides Celine is not useful to him anymore and transforms her into a demon they have no choice but to kill.

Then, the HUNTRIX, now with the Saja Boys as allies, because they realized Gwi-ma is a lunatic, have the help of the two remaining members of the Sunlight Sisters to defeat Gwi-ma at the sequel, called "Kpop Demon Hunters 2:Rise of the King/Emperor". Because I imagine Gwi-ma as a n*zi monarch, who wants to kill all the demons who are not from his species and all humans, because he believes his species is "pure" and "superior to all of the other races of living beings", while the HUNTRIX only kills evil demons who want to do something to humans like stealing their souls, etc. And the Saja Boys are from the same species as him, but they realize they've been manipulated by Gwi-ma all along, just like Celine, and decide to help the HUNTRIX. Also, I imagine human souls are important for demons for some reason, they don't just steal it for funsies, but they would find something to substitute human souls that the demons could... consume? Eat? Drink? Use? Anyway, that the demons could have, so humans and demons could live in peace.

So yeah, this started as a theory, and it ended as a whole AU I'm probably going to write one day because what I just described is oddly specific to happen in the actual movie, I would have never guessed that correctly. Anyway, that was it. Bye!

[bylertruthr]

i’ve been wondering. why do people get so mad when people ship Byler, while they nonetheless support and like other ships that include Mike/El (example: Elmax)?

well the only logical explanation for this is that, if we’re being real, Elmax has almost a zero percent chance of being canon in S5. i think we can all agree with that. so people ship it because it’s fun and because their dynamic is cute, so what’s the harm in shipping them romantically right??? well that’s the thing. they KNOW it won’t be canon. that’s why they ship it, because it has almost a 0% chance of destroying their ‘perfect ship’, (aka Milkvan).

on the OTHER hand, the reason Milkvans (and some general fans) are pissed off with Byler shippers is because it actually has a chance of becoming canon in S5. think about it— what other possible reason could they be so mad at us for shipping them together? because they’re two boys?? but aren’t Elmax also two girls? so that’s not a valid excuse.

they see how our theories and proof make sense, yet they still call us “delusional” and that we’re “trying to make a character gay” because that’s the only responses they can ever come up with. to add to it, it has literally never been confirmed or denied that Mike is straight or not. so we are technically allowed to theorise about his sexuality and his possibly internalised homophobia; unlike Will who is canonically gay and in love with Mike (confirmed by Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, himself.) (also to all those who ship him with El, please get help. i mean it. <3)

it’s also the fact that if Will were a girl, i mean, just think about it— almost EVERY Milkvan shipper would be ready to admit that there’s something between Will and Mike. i can guarantee that 70% of Milkvan shippers would probably be team Byler. but they can’t see the signs because, number one, they’re less obvious to the GA, and number two, they’re both guys, so obviously their chemistry is just platonic, right? 😒

again, i’m not saying that affectionate male friendships shouldn’t be normalised in TV shows. i absolutely think they should be. but it’s the fact that there’s so much evidence backing up our theories and claims that makes us believe that this is not just a “simple affectionate male friendship.” again, we’re just called delusional because we DARE to believe in a queer couple being endgame. isn’t that crazy, when you think about it?

if you’re ever having Byler doubt, do not let those milkvans brainwash you into thinking you’re imagining things, because you’re not. you’re one of the few who can actually detect possibly hidden romantic innuendo, and i’m proud of you for that. you’re not delusional. you’re not desperate for a character to be queer. you’re simply observing and seeing very clear facts.

thank you for reading my rant if you made it this far 💕😭

[sun-and-moon-mushroom]

Ok so — Luo Binghe is happily living his life with his husband, all their problems have been sorted out, the human and demon realms are at peace… and then one morning he wakes back up at the base of Cang Qiong, a child again, on the day he was first accepted as a disciple by Shen Qingqiu. He doesn’t know how to get back to his original timeline, or even if it’s possible, but while he’s here… maybe he can make sure things between him and Shen Qingqiu go better this time around?

SQQ doesn’t like him initially, something he’s sort of forgotten over the years, preferring to think of happier times instead. He doesn’t get tea poured on him though, which is his first improvement, and he isn’t kicked out of the disciple dormitories either. Even his first cultivation manual is a copy that’s less damaged than he originally got!

(SJ still doesn’t like LBH much, but unlike the first time around, he doesn’t have a reason to specifically hate him. Instead, he just sees him as something of a sycophant, at least at first — cunning and ambitious, but loyal enough).

LBH manages to get the job of making food for SQQ again, which means he’s spending a lot more time around the bamboo house than he ever did before his shizun had that strange qi deviation, and it’s giving him the chance to see a side of SQQ he never saw before. He can still see the similarities between this one and his husband — they share a tendency for cutting critique, embarrassment over being seen enjoying something outside their role as Peak Lord, and a fondness for sweet snacks. They’re still very different though, and LBH slowly finds himself falling in love with this version of SQQ as well.

Being closer to SQQ also lets him see his interactions with the other peak lords — especially YQY and LQG, and their relationships are so different from what he’s become used to. He knows that SQQ apparently lost some memories during that qi deviation, since he apparently forgot whatever caused him to hate LBH in the first place, since he’s never been able to explain why to him — but he really must have lost a lot to forgive people that he so clearly doesn’t get along with. Sure, part of LBH is glad that LQG isn’t a romantic competitor any more, but that’s no excuse to be rude to his shizun!

Keeping this in mind, LBH decides to try and avoid that qi deviation that changed SQQ so much. The first time it happened, it was a blessing, but this time, it would erase this other version of SQQ that he’s only just getting to know. So he manages to convince SQQ to teach him how to treat qi deviations.

(SJ goes along with it, because it seems more convenient for him, even if he has to read up on some of the theory in order to teach it).

When Sha Hualing invades, LBH is ready — and when SQQ shows up with injuries he didn’t have the first time, LBH is willing to stand up and take on the first fight against the one-armed demon. Instead, SQQ fights the demon who covered his armour in Without-A-Cure, winning easily. Liu Qingge shows up, just as he did the first time, and that’s where things go wrong — when everyone is distracted by his appearance, the defeated demon charges at SQQ, almost getting him poisoned, if LBH hadn’t thrown himself between them.

(SJ was only just able to save LQG due to his better knowledge of qi deviation treatment, but he still ended up getting injuries in the process, and they hadn’t fully healed yet).

LBH wakes up a day later, in the side room of the bamboo house again, still dusty and filled with storage boxes. He’s met by a Qian Cao disciple who explains that, even though the poison ended up not being Without-A-Cure, he still needed time to fight it off, and qi infusions from a stronger cultivator — like his shizun. After they leave, SQQ comes in and asks if LBH knew he was part demon.

(SJ grew suspicious when LBH was so willing to sacrifice himself, and investigated, confirming the poison was actually Without-A-Cure, but he didn’t tell Qian Cao that. From the way he just fell ill from it, he knows that LBH must be only part-demon, although he doesn’t know how much, or if he knew if the poison would affect him or not).

LBH pretends he didn’t, drawing on his memories of the first time he learnt about his heritage, and it seems to convince SQQ. He tells him that he can stay in the sect, but only as long as he can hide his heritage — and if he decides to learn demonic cultivation, he should come to SQQ instead of seeking out any strange old masters who claim they’ll show him the route to power.

(SJ rationalises this as just a way to pay back the debt for LBH saving him from Without-A-Cure, and also a potential way to test out some of the theories about demonic cultivation. Over the next few days, he doesn’t get the chance to sleep, between the chaos resulting from the demon invasion, and the presence of LBH so close to where he sleeps. One day, just before LBH is meant to go back to the dorms, he finds himself collapsing onto his bed out of exhaustion. Rather than the nightmares he’s become used to, all his dreams are peaceful.)

Sleeping closer to him, LBH can now slip into SQQs dreamscape to take a look. The SQQ he married had strange dreams, absurd really, that mix things he’s never heard of with reality (what is a ‘microwave’ and what is it doing in his kitchen???), but this one has nightmares. Even from just a few glimpses, he can tell why SQQ might have wanted to forget those memories, to pretend they didn’t exist, so he pushes them away and replaces them with happier memories instead. A few days of peaceful dreams later, SQQ tells him he can stay in the side room, because ‘it will make cooking easier’.

(SJ still isn’t really sure what to think of LBH although he’s slowly starting to care about him — very against his will)

The Immortal Alliance Conference is coming up, and LBH has a difficult decision to make. He doesn’t exactly want to go back to the Abyss but… if Tianlang-jun gets free again, won’t his plan to unite the realms be the same? If he can find his way into the Abyss and claim Xin Mo before LBH does… no, it’s better for him to take it, to hide it away somewhere. Xin Mo may be considered lost, but there are still stories about where it could be found, some of which he knows to be accurate.

(SJ isn’t sure why his new head disciple seems so worried about the Conference, he’s sure he’ll do fine — he’ll even bet on it, and get some money out of all that work training him that he put in. It’s just a simple competition — what could go wrong?)

[lu-is-not-ok]

Same "mind me asking some questions about you theory" (yes again) thanks for your responses ❤️. You also raise another good point about a plot being driven by tragic romance being way too similar to canto 6 as well as other reasonings I never really thought about until now (like Daiyu not having a VA in the teaser unlike Cathy) Though I wonder if pjm will be "brave" enough to get rid of it completely.

Just curious what are the things you're highly looking forward to in canto 8? Honestly besides the things that I already mentioned, just the fact he'll get more lines already has me excited. He's been a more in the background kind of character until recently but I still managed to really enjoy his character.

Oh and I hope we have a moment where Yi Sang is important to his canto like Hong Lu was to this (thought Id mentioned this since you like the ship as well). I think it would be a really touching callback and even further growth for Yi Sang's character.

I mean PM were brave enough to turn the whole cast of Don Quixote into vampires and completely change the themes into being more about family. I think they're brave enough to remove a romantic plot for the sake of better narrative focus, especially since romance isn't their strong suit. They tend to use romantic relationships as vehicles for other themes and plots than as plots themselves.

I'm looking forward to being utterly destroyed by the Canto //silly

For a more serious answer, I'm curious to see how they build upon the themes of dehumanization they already set up in Nocturnal Sweeping. Also what characters they decide to include in the first place.

I hope we get a moment like that too. My hopes are comparably up since we did get a moment of Yi Sang trying to reach out to Hong Lu in Canto 7, though failing at the time. It would be nice to see that happen again, but have Yi Sang succeed.

[sansa286]

F&B Propaganda: Paternity Disputes (or Lack Thereof)

Something that's always confused me when reading Fire & Blood is why some characters have their paternity placed under scrutiny due to a lack of resemblance to one parent, while others are given a pass. These are some thoughts and analysis I had on the subject.

So, we all know F&B is a pseudo-history book written from a plethora of unreliable pseudo-sources, some of whom very well may be telling the truth, other's who are fibbing a bit (or a lot), and the rest that told flat-out lies and regurgitated gossip. Therefore, certain inconsistencies, like paternity debates, are not showing that GRRM is an inconsistent writer, but rather him pointing out the blatant favoritism and narrative spinning that happens when history is written. Simply put: unless/until we get the events of F&B written in an ASOIAF style multi-POV structure, most of the stuff in F&B is meant to be taken with a grain of salt, some grains bigger than others. For example: Visenya being "jealous" of Rhaenys over Aegon preferring her romantically is clearly out-of-character, but treated as legit because Visenya is not a well-liked person in the grand-scheme of Westerosi history and culture. Therefore, painting her as envious is a way to spin her as "bitter" and "unlikable," when she more than likely just had a lot of ambition, and/or did what she thought was right for the Targaryen cause (flawed those actions may be).

We all know Rhaenyra was the subject of side-eyes over her three eldest sons, Jacaerys Velaryon, Lucerys Velaryon, and Joffrey Velaryon, who are officially recorded as sons of Laenor Velaryon; however, it's widely believed (and canon in the show) that they are biologically the sons of Harwin Strong, who Rhaenyra had an affair with because Laenor was gay and their attempts to conceive children were not successful. The reason in-universe people believed (both in the books and the show) that they were Harwin's is due to their dark hair and eyes (Harwin has green eyes in the show, but in the books it's inferred that they're brown like the Velaryon boys'.)

However, the Velaryon boys are not the only ones who don't share the same coloring as their parents (or the parents on paper). There are actually two others that come before them in the Targaryen bloodline that share that in common, however their paternity is never called into question. They are Alysanne and her daughter, Alyssa.

Biblically accurate Alysanne Targaryen. "Her eyes were blue rather than purple, her hair a mass of honey-colored curls." - Fire & Blood (pg. 131, ch. "The Year of the Three Brides")

Alysanne is the fifthborn child and secondborn daughter of Aenys Targaryen and Alyssa Velaryon. Her older siblings were Aegon, Rhaena, Viserys, Jaehaerys (who she married), and Vaella (passed away in the crib). All of Aenys and Alyssa's children are inferred to have had stereotypically Valyrian features (silver hair and purple eyes); Rhaena is the only one we get a full description of outside of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, but if the others didn't look Valyrian, it definitely would've been noted in the book. Aenys and Alyssa are noted for both having Valyrian features (par. 3 here & F&B p. 127; Aenys weirdly enough never gets hair color mention, but if it were anything other than silver we'd know, but we'll get to Aenys in a minute). We're told explicitly Alysanne has a head full of honey colored curls and blue eyes. But this is never brought up as a point of contention or placed her paternity up for debate. It's just assumed that it's due to her maternal grandmother, Alarra Massey, being an Andal woman.

However, this assumption is never mentioned in F&B. Her features are just mentioned and that was it. The theory laid-out by fans is that her hair and eyes come from her grandmother, however, Alarra's looks are never detailed in F&B. We only know that she was considered very beautiful (p. 127); and there are plenty of people of Andal descent who do not have blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Her [Alyssa Targaryen] hair was a dirty blonde tangle with no hint of silver to evoke the dragonlords of old, and she had been born with mismatched eyes, one violet, the other a startling green." - Fire & Blood (pg. 287, ch. "The Long Reign-Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain")

Which brings me to her daughter, Alyssa Targaryen, who was also noted for having non-traditional Valyrian features (dirty blonde hair, green and purple heterochromia eyes). But Alyssa's paternity is also never brought up as possibly being anything other than what was recorded at her birth. (As for the show, Daemon's perspective on his mother is warped due to being knee-deep in the Targaryen sauce, so that's why I think his mother doesn't look like what she's supposed to in the show. If they ever do an adaptation of Jaehaerys' reign, I hope they don't throw a silver wig on her, but given what they did to Rhaenys who tf knows?) Interestingly, Alyssa is also described as long-faced, which is a trait associated with the Starks, and Alysanne was noted for being close to...Alaric Stark (I'll spare you that theory though.)

This is all fascinating with the knowledge of the dance being in the exact same book, because Rhaenyra has three dark haired and dark eyed boys and there's all of this speculation. Some may assume it's because both Rhaenyra and Laenor have silver hair and purple eyes, but so did Alysanne's parents, Aenys and Alyssa V. And like their great-great grandmother, Alysanne (if we're to believe she simply looks like her grandmother), Jace, Luke, and Joff also have a grandmother with non-Valyrian looks in Rhaenys, who in F&B had dark hair. There is no report of catching Rhaenyra and Harwin screwing around, jut observing the differences in looks of her children and Laenor. Surely, if we're to never assume that Alysanne is not a bastard because her grandmother (may have) had the same features/genes that simply skipped a generation, we could also do the same for them?

Sidebar: I am not saying that Alysanne is secretly a bastard or that the Velaryon boys' actually are trueborn, just that the reasons for this assumption are silly. If one kid is going to have their paternity scrutinized for not resembling their parents coloring-wise, then all kids who fall in that category should. That being said it is important to point out that it's not IMPOSSIBLE for Alysanne and the boys being/ not being a bastard to be true. It's been pointed out for years by the fandom that the people in ASOIAF don't understand genetics. The only reason Ned had a leg to stand on is because Cersei straight-up admitted to sleeping with Jaime, and letting him father her kids. Had Ned realistically went to Robert without Cersei's admission, and said that her children are not his because they have blonde hair and green eyes, he would be laughed at because a child resembling their mother and not their father is common. And on the off-chance that he does get some traction with it, well, not enough people would believe him, and Tywin would make a bigger example out of House Stark than he already has.

But again, secret-bastardy/secret-trueborness is not the point I'm trying to make. And if Alysanne were really a secret bastard, then, honestly, more power to her. She'd only become more iconic in my eyes.

So this begs the question: why are some people not speculated on for not resembling one or both parents coloring-wise while others aren't? It brings me back to the introduction: F&B is propaganda and certain pseudo-historical figures need to be portrayed in a certain light in order for the story they want to tell to be successful. This goes doubly-so for those that were close to Jaehaerys, and in this case: his mom (Alyssa V), his wife (Alysanne), and his daughter (Alyssa T).

Jaehaerys is considered the peak of the Targaryen dynasty and well liked by the establishment in Westeros (the Citadel, the Faith, various lords and ladies of the major houses). He is the Great Conciliator. Therefore, certain "creative liberties" being afoot is quite expected and this is not above the antics we see take place during his reign. Just look at how the true cause of Gael's death was covered up for years and the fishiness of Saera's disappearance and Viserra's death.

Alyssa V is considered a perfect mother, despite the less-than-stellar choices she made with her children outside of Jaehaerys. She's considered to be so great that the lords that sat the Small Council were able to put aside their misogyny and allow themselves to be ruled by a woman until Jaehaerys came of age. She is one of the main reasons Jaehaerys was able to take the Iron Throne in the first place. It would not go well if the man who was considered to be the greatest king of Westeros had a mother who may have cuckolded his father. Compare this to Aenys, who despite having Valyrian features had a one-off rumor about him being the secret bastard of Rhaenys the Conqueror and one of her male favorites mentioned in F&B; and this is 100% due to the fact that Aenys is considered by Westerosi historians to have been a weak and incompetent king. (Just think: if Aenys, who resembled his parents, had bastard rumors - do you seriously expect us to believe that neither Alysanne nor Alyssa ever had any?) "But, Jaehaerys is strong, brave, diplomatic, wise, etc... of course he comes from a mom who embodies Westerosi ideals to a tea. She even died trying to give her second husband more heirs despite her delicate age. Such a moral [debatable] man could only be born from a woman who was nothing but dutiful."

Alysanne is considered the perfect wife and queen consort, highly regarded for the active role she took during her husband's reign. She was intelligent, altruistic, birthed many children, and rode a dragon. She was so good at her job as queen she got several laws passed that now share her name. "Not only could such a woman not be born a bastard, but she in addition to being Jaehaerys' wife is also his sister, and could surely not be born from a woman who would ever risk bringing a bastard into this world."

And then, there's Alyssa T, the secondborn daughter and fifthborn child overall of both Alysanne and Jaehaerys, and was a wife to the highly regarded Baelon (also her brother), which means she was never going to be on the receiving end of those accusations. She even escapes having the usual witchcraft practitioner and/or lesbian/queer rumors that are usually thrown at women in Westeros who do not fit the traditional ideas of being a woman (even Visenya had those accusations). Her preferring boyish activities is never painted as a negative by the narrative unlike with other women in Westerosi culture. "Of course she's straight as an arrow and brags about how much sex she's having with her well-beloved and cherished-by-all brother-husband who was considered a peak heir and would neverrrrrr marry a bastard. Of course she thought most girls were idiots. Of course she brags about how many sons (never daughters) she's going to give her husband. Of course she does not care about anything outside of being a broodmare after being married like all good girls do. Bastard? Never. Two of her grandsons were kings we fondly remember. She is trueborn like her mother. She is Athena if she fucked."

But Jace, Luke, and Joff? Their mother was the first ever female heir apparent (not presumptive, apparent) to the Seven Kingdoms, and kept this status even after her father had three sons. She never apologized for this. And she entered a war over for her claim. "She wore a braid like that crazy warrior-witch Queen Visenya. She's breaking tradition by going ahead of her brothers in succession. She's bitchy sometimes. She's not thin like good women are supposed to be even after birthing several children. Speaking of children, yeah she did her duty and had many male heirs but some of them have dark hair and she's a whore, so they must be bastards. She's trying to take over a man's place. Of course she's evil and reveled in the deaths of her baby nephews. Of course she fucks outside of marriage. Honestly, I'd be more surprised if they weren't bastards!"

TL;DR: F&B uses paternity debates as a way to attempt to delegitimize/sow doubt against people the narrators don't like, this only prove by how inconsistent one's potentially faulty paternity is evoked on the basis of looks and nothing else. The chances of any of your trueborn faves secretly being a bastard is never zero. Now, I kind of want Alysanne to be a secret bastard.

UPDATE Sept. 5, 2024: Edited for grammar, word-flow, and minor spelling mistakes.

[cute-little-fly]

Will there be a Vassago love triangle in Helluva Boss season 3?

I have been seeing some theories regarding Stolassago. While I think it is a cool ship and conceptually they are cute I think that they are very unlikely in canon, even if temporarily, and they are not the only possibility to happen.

Let me explain.

What we have seen about Vassgo in the show:

In the episode Mastermind he was shown as a very righteous but also extroverted bird. He seems to care about Stolas a lot, but Stolas seems surprised by this, so we don’t know how much they know each other and why their interactions were like that. (This is a mistery for me honestly, if you are interested other post have covered this).

Vassago seemed very devastated at outcome of the trial, and he seems to know that all of it was unfair.

❤️💙Love triangle theory🤍❤️

The theory basically is Stolas being in love with Blitzø but feeling attracted to Vassago because of a possible falling out between Stolitz. After sinsmas for me this became very unlikely… but let’s see the evidence that is usually used for this.

One thing used to fuel the theory (even if not directly related) are certain parallels between Blitzø and Vassago:

-They both have a Red/White/Yellow color palette

-Vassago has some feathers in the back of the head that have stripes, that could be analogue to the horns.

-Vassago is wearing a red suit of a similar shape than Blitzø’s in the front.

-They both have or had something to do with pirates. In recent merch dropped Vassago has maps and pirate treasure imaginery.

This is used usually as evidence that Stolas might like Vassago because they are similar.

However, I haven’t seen people point out that Vassago has similarities with Stolas too. Of course, some similarities might be because they both are a Goetian prince, but, the rest of the Goetias shown at the trial are not like them at all:

The ones that I can think of are:

-They both like singing and music (Yes, I am taking this just because of the “Cántalo baby”).

-Vassago has a lot of stars in his clothes and magic, like the star on his neck that he uses as a brooch.

-Vassago has also purple in part of his tail, and purple is a color that is also related to Stolas, because of night sky and stars.

-They both have a yellow or white lock of hair. In Stolas is inconsistent but now is permanent as the pupils so I will count this and assume he hid it before.

The similarities between both of them tend to be overlooked, but I think are important for this analysis… Vassago could relate and reflect both of them for some reason.

Other things people use as evidence or as possible hints for a romance are:

-Viv liking some tweets about Stolassago and how Vassago has something that seems personal with Stolas.

-They talked about a temporary love interest for Stolas (but could be the BTB guy).

-People believed there was a duet between them, but that got disproven. These are two separated songs.

-The pride parade official art.

I don’t think the tweets mean specifically a love triangle. Those are either just art or the statement that Vassago seems to care too much about Stolas. But Stolas not necessarily has to reciprocate that (in case is romantic). So this doesn’t suggest a love triangle, just hints a possible one sided crush. I don’t think Stolas has eyes for someone that isn’t Blitzø right now.

Regarding the pride parade art:

The argument here is that Vassago is looking Stolas way, and that Stolas ambiguously looking back, because he has an eye more open and how this kinda foreshadows a love triangle.

This doesn’t fully convince me. For me Stolas is looking at Blitzø, because even if he has his right eye more open his gaze is going down. I think this is a subtle misdirection. (But, this part is my opinion, i can’t fully discard it).

However, let’s look beyond them:

There is a small unknown imp that is looking at Vassago while he looks at Stolas, Stolas is looking to Blitzø (and Vassago?) and Andrealphus is looking Stolitz (or maybe everyone?) with a confused/disgusted face from behind.

Remember that Viv said Season 3 was a queer roller coaster? This seems like that to me.

It is also more interesting than the love triangle.

I honestly don’t know if this character is meant to be someone important or not (?). I just find super weird that he is looking at Vassago and that all the rest of the characters around them have been present in the series I think. As extras for Verosika, extras that are around parties or something. But this dude comes out of nowhere, and is too close to the main characters. (Maybe we have seen him before and I haven’t noticed, if that is the case please tell me).

People tend to ignore him, but he might be relevant. He also seems to be trans, which is cool, because there are very few main trans characters in the show (besides our dear Sally May of course).

This messy scenario has a lot of avenues to develop.

If Vassago crushes on Stolas at first, Stolas might feel uncomfortable because of the help he needs with Octavia. But we know our good boy won’t do anything bad intended ❤️. He could also be friend to Blitzø or something about the pirates?

I think that Stolas and Vassago could end up being similar to Blitzfizz. Two characters having chemistry that have a very good friendship, with maybe some old story behind them, at least from Vassago’s perspective because I don’t think Stolas noticed him at all before.

I really would like Vassago ending up positively influencing Stolitz in the long run.

The symbolism and details that make him similar to both of them are pretty interesting, and I am excited to see what this will bring us to the table.

[transdimensional-void]

Do you think the parallel you found between Jonsa and Jaehaerys /Shaera indicates some truth to the pre canon Jonsa idea? Not a fan of it myself but your post made me reconsider.

i go back and forth about the pre-canon crush theory, to be honest. i think it's clear that jon feels something about sansa from the beginning of agot.

we have his sudden, deep jealousy of joffrey coupled with the "radiant" comment. we also have bran noting in his second chapter that jon has been really moody and standoffish lately for no apparent reason, right after sansa's betrothal to joffrey is announced. we also have jon's sudden eagerness to leave for the wall right now, which we didn't really see from him in previous chapters (though, of course, those were from other characters' povs). it does seem as though something is really bothering him at that point, and there are hints that it is connected to the joffrey/sansa betrothal.

however, this could easily be explained by him seeing sansa more for what she represents: the perfect, beautiful, high-born lady who would never look that way at someone like him. in this interpretation, it's less about him being romantically interested in sansa herself than it is him being angry that he isn't even allowed a chance with a girl like her.

i personally didn't put much stock in the pre-canon crush theory until i read this series of meta by @cappymightwrite. i also enjoyed @greenhikingboots discussion of the pre-canon crush theory here.

as for how the jaehaerys/shaera parallels might add to the theory, grrm does go out of his way to tell us that jaehaerys loved his sister shaera from a very young age and dreamed of wedding her in the traditional targaryen fashion. (so...jon loved his sister from a very young age and dreamed of wedding her in the traditional stark fashion...in the godswood before the heart tree? 👀)

however, i'm hesitant to say that this is 100% meant to be linked to jonsa. that's because jaehaerys ii/shaera are ALSO an obvious jaehaerys i/alysanne callback, and jaehaerys i certainly wanted to marry his sister from a young age...and did. she was only 12 when they married. @atopvisenyashill wrote a compelling meta discussing the grooming and child abuse that was happening within jaehaerys i's household, and it's pretty obvious to me that alysanne was his first victim. i don't think grrm wrote the story this way unintentionally. we are supposed to be put off and unnerved by the details we are given about targaryen history.

to me, jaehaerys and shaera, who unlike jonsa are full siblings who seem to have grown up with a close relationship (we're told that their parents' attempts to separate them were futile), marrying at 15 and 14 respectively is a closer parallel to jaehaerys and alysanne than to jon and sansa. what's worse, shaera's name is only one letter off from saera, the daughter who was almost certainly groomed and abused by her father, jaehaerys i.

once again, i don't think this is something grrm did unintentionally, especially when we take into consideration what jaehaerys ii and shaera did to their own son and daughter, aerys and rhaella.

i believe that jonsa is meant to be in conversation with the rampant targaryen incest and sexual abuse, just as their relationship is meant to be in conversation with jaime and cersei's (i mean, yet another sibling pair composed of a man with a j name and a woman whose name begins with an s sound? grrm, could you be more obvious?). i believe it's meant to contrast with them, though, in that:

jon and sansa don't look alike at all.

jon and sansa weren't close to one another growing up, to the point that we barely have any sense of what their relationship was like despite them both being pov characters.

jon and sansa are not actually siblings but cousins, which is a widely accepted degree of consanguinity in westeros.

jon and sansa will come together because of true compatibility rather than because of generations-long sexual abuse and grooming.

nevertheless, there will be no denying that their burgeoning romantic feelings will be at least partially a result of the years of trauma they will have just faced. in real-life cases of intentional sibling incest between consenting adults, it tends to occur in the wake of a serious trauma that has disrupted the original family dynamic. that is exactly what will be happening in jon and sansa's case...which is a very different situation from jaehaerys and shaera being in love from childhood and wedding just because they wanna bone their sibling.

if i had to give a firm opinion regarding the pre-canon crush theory, i'd probably say there were some one-sided feelings on jon's side (more on the order of admiration than attraction) and possibly an innocent kiss in the godswood (like the kissing games catelyn mentions she and lysa played with petyr at riverrun) that got blown out of proportion by ned because of his rhaegar/lyanna trauma.

thanks for the ask, and anyone reading this, feel free to jump in with your own thoughts!

[elainsgirl]

I know you guys are threatened by Gwynriel but it's not a crackship. This is a crackship: A crack ship is a ship that is highly ridiculous, bizarre, disturbing, and/or unlikely to ever become canon. The characters don't have any chemistry, never interact, are in different canons or timelines, are different species, one is an inanimate object, etc. Gwyn and Azriel have chemistry, enough so that they've won more than half the fandom. They've got positive and playful interactions. Sarah chose to end Azriel's bonus with him feeling a spark in his chest for Gwyn and thinking of the image of her happy as a thing of secret, lovely beauty. If this had happened between elriel, you would be using it as evidence for your ship. But all Azriel says about Elain is that he hasn't thought past his sexual fantasies. Hardly romantic.

Saying that she's a lightsinger is a theory, not a fact. Even then, that means that Sarah intentionally added Gwyn as a red herring because she knew that readers would see Az's interaction with Gwyn as romantic. She wanted to cause the ship war on purpose. Don't blame the readers, take it up with Sarah

Why would Gwynriel be a threat? Az isn’t attracted to Gwyn. Doesn’t even see her as a friend. Never thought off her after their session, cared so little he didnt show much of a reaction to Gwyn particularly being taken in the rite. sure, he smiled at the thought off her but it’s not like his behavior changed towards Gwyn after solstice. In fact, despite spending time with Gwyn, even giving her private sessions, whose on his mind? Elain. Gwyn means nothing romantic to him. So No anon, we aren’t threatened by your little ship.

Gwynriel is unlikely to be canon given what Mass has said about the spinoffs and literally all the foreshadowing in the past 3 books + BOTH bonuses (Azriels isnt the only important bonus) and quite frankly most people do find it ridiculous you’re shipping Az with someone he wouldn’t call a friend, in the same breath he’s wanting to beg on his knees for another woman. So, Gwynriel ticks two checkboxes of your “crackship” list and that’s sufficient.

Here’s the harsh truth: the only reason gwynriel is popular is due to how hated Elain is as a character. Chemistry is subjective. People found chemistry between Feyre and Lucien. Nesta and Eris. Bryce and Azriel - anon, are any of those ships endgame? No. Are any of those ships foreshadowed? Nope. Just bcs YOU found chemistry between two characters doesn’t mean it’s intentional by the author or the author feels said chemistry between those two characters. If - at any point - within acosf, Mass felt chemistry between Gwyn and Az, elriel would have never been romantic/have shown attraction for each other. The first part of Azriels’ bonus between him and Elain would not have been written. Why wouldn’t they have positive interactions??? So, now any time Az has a “positive” interaction with someone, that means they can be shipped? This is the reason we have brycerials. You guys think - any small interaction Az has with a woman means they’re endgame and that’s foreshadowing. At least Az held Bryce’s hand instead of ignoring it like Gwyns…yikes. “Playful” where? When Gwyn made him chuckle with a joke? Rlly? Thats all you got? A bit sad ngl.

Yh Azriels bonus ended with him thinking of Gwyns smile - not inherently romantic - but one of Cassians’ final povs in acofas was an interaction with Emerie, AFTER his fight with Nesta leading some people to believe Cass x Em would be a thing in acosf. What matters anon, is what came off it? He smiled at the thought of Gwyn -> yet no where in acosf is there a clear shift or any subtle shift even that Az views Gwyn differently or vice versa. Az felt glow & sparkle (which according to gwynriels is mate behaviour) -> yet he showed no mate behaviour towards Gwyn at all thus contradicting the theory him and gwyn are mates.

If Az had felt glow and sparkle for Elain yet showed no mate behaviour, no anon. I genuinely would not claim elriel are mates. Its illogical. If he smiled at the thought of Elain yet nothing has changed in their dynamic after, again, how can I use it as evidence when nothings come off it? Its moot. Useless. Pointless.

So like Feyre telling Rhys she only wants a fun time and nothing serious with him and he agreed? Nesta telling Cass the same and they agreed? If Az had thought of a future with elain without her input = entitlement.

As to your last point you’re right. She did add Gwyn as a red herring knowing she would be shipped with Az. The same technique was used when Emerie was included in Cassians pov. What happened? People like you actually believe Mass would introduce Azriels li so late into the series, in a limited bonus. That she isn’t going to follow the mythology she clearly has laid out and instead make Gwyn and Az happen. That she would break apart a couple thats been building up for books for a new ship thats not even a ship yet within canon. YOU fell for the marketing technique. This whole shipwar has increased acotar’s popularity and kept the fandom alive and waiting for the next book, which is a huge success for Mass. Mass never told you to ship gwynriel. She never made them romantic. Gwynriels just can’t understand that when a man and a woman interact it isn’t always romantic.

[misasimagines]

this isn't well written or anything I'm just. I'm Desperate to get Ren out of my head he's been living here rent free and I NEED to switch into Taiga mode to write that request so. Please enjoy structureless Ren rambles. He doesn't come off as character with Much Nuance (like some others, Rui!! Jin, Subaru, Haku, etc) but like. When he's been sitting in your head for the past 14 business days....things unravel.

I'm not like citing sources here. This is pure vibes. Please don't crucify me if I got smth wrong 🙏

So he has a Thing about the ocean. He watches horrors movies related to it, he seems especially grossed out by it, but he doesn't seem like he's never had experience with it. Which is why I just can't not think he came from a small, coastal town (like from Aquamarine lmao). The kind that has a Barrage of tourists in the summer and over holidays and he Hated it because now he can't just go anywhere without risking being in the background of someone's vacation pictures. And I also can't help but feel like he probably had a parent/parents who parentified him, probably not maliciously, but they still did it. Like two immature parents or one immature parent and one completely absent one, so when it came to actually being responsible about things, he had no choice but to step in. Which is why he's so annoyed by and against hard work- he's done enough of it and he doesn't want to keep getting involved when he now doesn't feel the responsibility to. He probably feels a lot of resentment towards them for what he had to take on. Whether he feels bad about that resentment or not, I can't say.

He doesn't like messes or the animals in Jabberwock. He doesn't want to have to care for anything besides himself. Haru might remind him of his family which is why he's so hostile towards him. Because like Notably, Ren isn't BAD at hard work. He does go to classes, does missions, has a job at the diner, and still has to help around Jabberwock no matter how much he tries to avoid it. He's even dedicated to his mobile games, which seems silly, but those require a lot of routine daily to keep up and it seems like he has a few he keeps up with! And if we consider the Jabberwock chapter, even though he was against Calamari and resented taking care of it, he still did and he still felt guilty when he didn't do a good job at it, so much so that he ran off to the beach to try to revive the poor thing. Not the actions of someone who truly is selfish and doesn't care. Him carrying Haru to safety too- yes, leaving him to die would have been really. Kind of reprehensible but he carried the guy and rejected any kind of thanks and appreciation for it. He could have used that as guilt-leverage to try to get out of things later but...did he? Not as far as I know.

Like he does all of that no matter how much he complains. Also, who ELSE has a campus job? I'll wait. 🥱. Sho doesn't count, the food truck is a passion project. Even BROKE ASS Kaito doesn't have a campus job. Why is Ren working? Does he NEED the money or does he feel some kind of compulsion to make it for some reason? Because he's responsible? Because he sends it back home? Because he wants to have money for post Darkwick life? Who knows!!!!! He got that job like INSTANTLY bro enrolled and got that work study like the first damn week.

And this is way less in the realm of Theory Crafting and conspiracy and more just a pure hc but I just feel like maybe his hostility towards other people, the MC included, is because he might be dealing with the aftermath of a damaged or lost relationship. Not exclusively romantic but like possibly? Like if he grew up in a small town, he probably knew the people around him from childhood to adulthood. And it's not unlikely that he had a childhood friend that stuck through all the years with him. And it's not unlikely that, if they were friends that long, that people would start making jokes and suggestions about them ending up together long term. And! It's not unlikely that! He felt some kind of pressure to at least pretend to reciprocate feelings towards them. So maybe a close friendship became a relationship and maybe he did have feelings for them and maybe he didn't or just wasn't ready for them. Either way, now he's in Darkwick and given how unhappy he is, it doesn't seem like it was his first choice to be there. Is he running away? Does he not have a home to go back to (either self imposed or true exile)? I just. I have questions.

Please someone ramble with me I'm going crazy here. I'm like God I'd kill this guy [thinking about making out with him sloppy style]. Hate him truly he's so annoying I'd argue with him every day. What if this were us

[nthspecialll]

Dutch Van Der Linde as the saviour and his early crime life.

Dutch Van Der Linde and his early life beyond the fact that his father died in the war and he ran away from his mother at the age of 15 is a mystery to us as players, however due to the fact he prefered a life of petty crime we assume that his mother was a terrible person, something that might not be true.

Unlike the majority of the gang Dutch does not have evidence of a terrible childhood, he was not orphaned, he was not fleeing from the government, he did not fear for his life and we cannot say that his mother was abusive, almost quite the contrary.

In Dutch's own words, he ran away because he and his mother "did not see eye to eye," and while this can indicate abuse the fact he follows up with "I was not always an obedient child" very much makes it seem like it was his own fault. He continues to talk about how they both loved one another in their own ways, meaning he ran away not because he had to but because he wanted to, especially as the reasons he was "not an obedient child" could very well be because he was young and rebellious.

What makes this even worse is that Dutch mentions having had a price on his head for fifteen years while he actually has been on the run for 29 as he is 44, this means for 14 years he committed crimes, did not have a price on his head, and had the choice to turn back to a "regular life." Now he might just have said 15 as a "about this many years but not the exact" but you don't get it wrong by 14 years.

Dutch mentions that he did not know that his mother was burried in Blackwater but was only told a few years later by an uncle. His mother died in 1881 (her grave can be found), he met Hosea in 1876, met Arthur in 1877 and had been on the run since 1870, meaning he was still in contact with his family at least in 1884, seven years after meeting Arthur.

Milton talks about Dutch being a Messiah, a savior for the people, and Dutch keeps saying "we" this and "we" that but the truth is he is nothing like them, Dutch chose his situation and had many chances to turn back but didn't, while the others in one way or another was forced into it. He also has many advantages, such as being in contact with his family, something which a character like Javier is forced not to and we only see one other character cannonically do, Pearson. Not only that but Dutch often reinforce his role as a boss by having his own tent, having expensive clothing, telling Molly that she doesn't need to work for the mere fact that she is his girl. He does not need to do this, everyone is already loyal to him, yet he does it for nothing more than to serve his own ego.

Now some would say he ran away to make a better world, but there is something wrong with that theory.

Dutch's favorite author is Evelyn Miller who is based on the real romantic/transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. Romanticism is a philosophy that dislikes the wealthy and the industrialization and wants people to embrace a more "authentic" life, which is why Thoreau as a more wealthy man wanted to do an experiment for two years where he moved into a cabin. He wanted to, for the experience of it, live in the woods, such as Dutch did not run away from his possible rich life because he needed to but for the experience of it.

Dutch did not spoil his chance at a normal life for love, he didn't spoil it for "a better world," he didn't spoil it for necessity, he spoiled it for fun, for the experience.

Imagine being Javier, hearing the man who claimed to understand you, say that he still is in touch with his family while you don't know if your sister is even alive. Imagine being Arthur, hearing the man who claimed to understand you, say that he chose a life of crime as an experience while you were forced into it to survive and now hate yourself for it. Imagine being Charles, hearing the man who claimed to understand you, say he chose to hurt for fun while you wish you had another way.

Based on conversations I had with @werewolfarthurmorganenjoyer and @heavenlymorals.

[sol-consort]

Do you think Salarians would ever participate in sex? It wouldn’t be out of any sexual desire but I could see a Salarian hooking up with a human or asari out of want to experience what all these species make a big deal out it

I see your vision, I have my own spin on it.

In humans, asexuality is an umbrella term that covers different ranges and spectrums of sexual attraction, the desire to have sex, the enjoyment of sex itself, the attraction to sexual traits in others, and the amount of conditions that must be met before the act.

You could have a completely sex repulased ace person who while still enjoys the act of masturbation, is averse to any sexual acts involving other people. Or an ace person who, while still consumes porn, doesn't feel a speck of sexual attraction to the people around them. And many other varying examples.

With salarians, being asexual is the default.

(To spare me the agony of nuance answers from smartypants, let's be clear that any mention of asexuality in this post refers to the sexual orientation commonly found in humans and not the scientific terminology for mitosis)

Again, I don't think the ME writers expanded much upon salarian asexuality, so anything past this point is headcanon territory.

The salarian asexuality is a genetic trait, a physical evolution that emerged from the reproductive use of external fertilisation.

Animals don't like being attached to one another for a long time, least of all inside one another much; puts them in a vulnerable position in the wide open, causing them to be on high alert the whole time.

So, some species opted for external fertilisation instead, a much more convenient and risk-free act, especially aquatic species where it's much awkward to fuck while floating (no one wants to be like whales)

As for the rest of us fools, sexual gratification helped overcome this glaring issue of safety in reproduction... or, more accurately, gave the illusion of a solution, a motive, the whiff of a carrot on a stick.

It feels good, unga bunga, i don't care if a wild tiger jumps and eats me halfway through.

So my whole theory stands on the fact salarians use external fertilisation—like most frogs! Without this one factor, it falls flat on its face.

They are unable to feel sexual stimulus. It's biologically impossible for them. They can "orgasm" to exert the necessary fertilisation and eggs, but it probably feels more like a sneeze rather than anything else.

Does egg reproduction correlate to external fertilisation?

Nope! Fruit flies reproduce through eggs, and a single female can lay them in the hundreds. Internal fertilisation still occurs prior to the egg laying, and fruit flies are known to seek out sex as a stress relief and a leasure for the gratification. (Also they have mating dances did you know fruit flies have mating dances!)

Despite both krogans and salarians reproducing through eggs, their contrasting methods of fertilisation resulted in their different evolution paths towards sexual pleasure and attraction.

So can salarians enjoy sex?

Not in the traditional sense of sexual gratification. It's an objective fact that they lack the necessary biology, which would allow them to.

So we approach it from a subjective point of view instead! If a door is locked, simply break open a window.

Our window here is the keyword "enjoyment"

"Enjoyment" is a highly subjective term and varies from person to person. Some people enjoy the colour blue because it reminds them of the ocean, other people enjoy the colour blue because it reminds them of the sky. Different subjective reasons but the same result of enjoying the objective colour itself.

Salarians experience romantic attraction, unlike most frogs. The term "bond mate" is a canonical term used in Mass Effect by Kallo at one point.

Human sex can have some romantic merits to it. The act itself may also resonate in some salarians through aspects of comfort, closeness, and intimacy instead of sexual pleasure. Or even—like you suggested, dear anon—sheer curiosity!

Human sexual Intercourse differs greatly from salarian reproduction

If a salarian watched a human porn video, they probably wouldn't make the connection that these two humans are performing an act of reproduction. Because everything about it is so out of range to what they associate with the word sex.

To them, it's a business affair, a chore, a maintenance task like brushing your teeth. A clinical process of external egg fertilisation, there is no need for both donors to be in the same room.

The similarities between the two acts start and end with them being labelled sex and being used for reproduction. That's it. That's all they have in common. They look unbelievably different to an outside observer, borderline polar opposite.

The same goes for sexual attraction! I spoke of this briefly in an older post where I explained my theory of how salarian sexual attraction and arousal wouldn't manifest in sexual ways or horniness, but instead be showcased as motivation to outshine the competition by achieving more and excelling in life.

I see a buff man in a skimpy pink dress and neurons in my ape brain light up, and suddenly I want to tie him up to my bed and do unholy things to him that'd make the devil blush.

A salarian sees an overly accomplished academic whose discoveries have revolutionised their field, and suddenly they want to eat lunch together and rub elbows.

A human gets horny so they masturbate. A salarian gets horny so they deep clean their room and draft emails. You get the gist of it.

-

Would a salarian have salarian sex with a human?

No.

Would a salarian have human sex with a human?

Sure! If they feel like it. They won't get any sexual gratification as we've previously established, but they can still get different kinds of pleasure and gratification.

Would a salarian be sexually attracted to a human? (in the human way)

No.

Would a salarian be sexually attracted to a human? (in the salarian way)

Yes! It's rare, a deviation, but not impossible. Isolated cases exist. The human in question would need to be outstanding by salarian standards, which is nothing short of a miracle. See: Mordin telling Shepard he'd gladly mate with them if they were a salarian.

-

To sum it up

Salarian asexuality differs from human asexuality despite the overlap in spectrums

Salarian sex is different from the other species' sex due to their fertilisation method

Human sex is so foreign to salarians that they don't associate it with their traditional concept of mating sex

Human sex could be reinterpreted by salarians to envoke different emotions and stimulus than sexual pleasure

Frog physiology should only be used as vague inspiration for salarians and not be cited as their bible of biology word for word

[wanderingskylooker]

Alex and Gene (Super 4: Canon)

I just felt the need to complain about this. Long post warning. No shipping (but I guess someone could find it useful for Alex and Gene's relationship).

I don't know if it's just me, but the second season improved every relationship with Gene except Alex, which made them unnoticedly get along worse.

It was not a clear move because it probably wasn't the intention of the writers, but there are a bunch of episodes of the second season which irks me at how they act (and I mean Alex) towards each other, specially the lack of micro actions/nonverbal interactions they had at the begining of the first season.

(Ep: A Colossal Challenge)

One of the few verbal moments I can remember is at Alex's disappearance. Gene is the only one who remains worried for him when Alex is missing, as long as Ruby, Twinkle and Alien look more bored or distracted than worried after a while.

I don't find any requirement in the script to make specifically Gene be the one who looks for Alex, even Alien could have made it and the narrative would remain. I do not find either some trait in Gene's personality to make him more worried than the rest either, besides being a control freak, but that isn't a real compelling reason. I have a theory, but I'll explain it later.

(Ep: Princely Wedding)

Yup, just a high five (or whatever Playmobils have).

I know they do this more throughout the series with the rest of the mains, but those two actually aren't shown to be especially close. I love this little action because it gives me heavy "male friendship" vibes, just like Ruby and Twinkle's "girls friendship", but also a bit different from the normal "male friendships".

Usually, when boys are portrayed being friends with each other in none serious series are: they being dumb, which pisses off the girls of the team, they playing rough/jock/sporty or being an awkwardly queer but not romantic bromance to make LGBTQ+ jokes about them. Gene and Alex are not like that.

"Girls friendships" (the not toxic ones) are portrayed as pure, sweet, loyal... You just need to see how Ruby and Twinkle hug each other when Twinkle goes back to normal after being transformed into gold (Ep: The Goose with the Golden Eggs). Alex and Gene's limit is to hug each other. Actually... Do Gene and Alex hug each other? And I don't mean a team hug.

Edit:

Thanks to a talk with @waterm3l0n618 , we realized that it is not that Alex and Gene don't want to hug each other, but that both of them aren't the types of people who take the initiative about hugs, more Gene than Alex, so it is not like they don't want to hug each other, but that unlike Twinkle and Ruby, friendship which has Twinkle to be the biggest spoon for hugs, they don't have the urge to express affection through physical contact, specially Gene.

(Ep: Baby Dragon)

I can't help- They are like suricatas hiding.

Gene gently pushing Alex to hide is the root of what I was going to explain to you later, that is, now.

One of the reasons they give me more vibes of a sweeter friendship style than dumber is their age difference. We don't know the canonical ages, but Gene feels a bit older than the rest, like an early young adult with teens, and the way he seems to care about Alex is as if he was his younger brother or someone to take care subtly.

Alex is the protective type of person. He feels like the one in charge to protect his family and his friends, not only physically, but emotionally, as we see when he cheers Twinkle or Ruby (plus headpatting Alien), but also takes care of himself on his own. In contrast, Gene requires less emotional attention. He is the one who protected quietly Alex in the first episodes, like worry when he disappears or gently pushes him to hide, and in general the one Alex asks for help to fix whatever he doesn't have a plan for.

(Ep: Tower Trouble and Gene's Four)

See that little smirk? Gene completely trusts Alex, even to fight a big baddie more than double his size. He had seen him doing it before with a bigger size gap, but still, Leonora too and she looks worried. At the same time Alex trusts Gene to defeat a huge laser shooting machine, not because Gene knows how to smash it, but because Alex knows he can do many amazing things.

Alex and Gene trusted each other's abilities, not only Gene's technology and Alex's sword technique. They help each other even if they do not completely understand what they are doing.

A little fact I want to add about Gene, maybe just a reference of which the characters are not conscious about, but I will assume it was completely intentional, is the name albaperonium. I think he named his fuel after the fairy he met once (Ep: Gene, Techno-Explorer - Part 3), Alba. Gene is a small details person, which makes his subtle moves be important to express himself.

(Ep: A Colossal Challenge)

([MLP] Ep: Sonic Rainboom)

Sorry, they had the same feeling (because they come from the same joke, make the quiet character be the most excited). I think this scene explains itself pretty well.

I had to put all the clips in the same video because you can only upload one video per post, sorry. The first clip is from the first season (positive friendship) and the rest from the second (not so positive).

(Eps: Convoy of Honor, Bittersweet Treasure, Superior, Bodyguards and The Truth is Far Out There)

1st clip: Convoy of Honor

See what I mean when I say they completely trust each other and their plans? Your friend has the idea to throw you with a machine that sometimes works and sometimes not and your answer is smile confidently. Their little smiles are awesome.

----------------------------------------------------------

Now the second season, where I feel like they tried to make Alex more flawed, which I like, but not by taking away some good traits he had. Anyway, this is not consistent throughout the season, it appears in relatively few episodes.

They tried to make "stubbornness" Alex's main flaw, which doesn't work because all the characters are awfully stubborn, and it ended up looking like he was irritable. I don't understand him getting mad at Gene the way he does in the clips, because two of the untold traits of Alex are be kind and empathetic, but in the second season sometimes he sees Gene more like a second plan (not even backup) or a machine to do for him what he can't.

Also, the second half of the first season and the complete second season take away the small friendly interactions they had. What the second season did was improve the relationships between two specific characters, but even in the scenes where these two are together alone, nothing out of the necessary for the plot happens.

2nd clip: Bittersweet Treasure

Of course you can explain Alex's tone due to the eagerness of the situation (the pirates are shooting cannon balls, the volcano is about to explode and they are jinxed), but he doesn't even ask it, he just demands it. Compared to the episode "Go Ruby!" where Alex asks Gene to give him the path because he is from Technopolis, in "Bittersweet Treasure" he demands Gene to guide them through Gunpowder Island, which is nonsense because Ruby would know the island better than him, and the holographic map is no excuse. Ruby might be jinxed, not amnesiac.

3rd clip: Superior

This is the clip that pisses me the most. I cannot find any special reason for Alex to talk Gene that way. Ruby is kidnapped? Well, more than one character has been, and he never yelled at them that way, not even when they were the ones who made things worse, he just stared at them badly or growled. In this episode, Gene is helping Alex taking off the barriers, but Sykronion puts them back. Literally Gene is purely trying to help as good as he can against alien technology he doesn't completely understand, but Alex sounds more mad at Gene than at Sykronion.

4th clip: Bodyguards

I get it, Alex is worried for his sister, and even if they bicker ninety nine percent of the time, they care for each other. But really, the exact words "It's your fault, Gene!" are too harsh for him. This time at least it has an explanation.

5th clip: The Truth is Far Out There

"Gene, have an idea", yeah... Again, he is demanding Gene to do something, when as long as I remember, Alex asks them politely (even if he is eager) if they "can" do something, and when they just say each other's name, unless they have made a huge problem, and not even there, they don't sound that aggressive.

This is not about Gene, but in Bittersweet Treasure, Alex also orders Twinkle to cast a spell before she is ready. I dislike that in some episodes of the second season they try to remark when Alex has a plan explicitly saying it but at the same time he becomes a bit bossy instead of a trustworthy plan maker freak.

----------------------------------------------------------

I am not good with conclusions, so I'll leave you a couple of clips of them being friends (originally I had many more but maybe for other posts because image limit). Enjoy the day!

(Ep: Spell Book in Danger)

(Ep: Some Like it Magical!)