#we have had Many a convo about this and I wonder if there’s a correlation

[saritaurez]

Was having a conversation about this and now I’m curious.

What do you prefer: Automatic dishwasher or hand washing dishes?

Do you have ADHD or OCD?

[gamebunny-advance]

Power from the People (NSR Theory and Speculation)

I was thinking about the convo we had about why B2J don't literally die from being attacked by the NSR artists, and how it's likely because the power/magic of being artists is what makes them more resilient. In the original theory, the only real support I had for this idea was an unsourced anecdote that devs said that the artists are powerful due to artistry being a source of power in this universe, but it wasn't supported by anything in-game. However, I recently realized that there actually is something in-game that supports this: the upgrade system.

NSR's upgrade system trades "fans" earned from defeating megastars for new abilities.

So the game equates fan support to literal power: it's only through fan support that B2J can unlock their full potential. There is a similar correlation in the Megastars in that their power is proportional to their popularity. Arguably, since Tatiana once ruled the entire city with The Goolings at some point, this rule even applies to her as the final boss, and most powerful member of NSR.

That said, I do wonder how much of any given artist's ability is linked to their fan support. Like, if someone is inarguably talented but is unknown to the greater public, would they still have the same abilities as the megastars? Can talent only get you so far if you don't have the reach or connections to get support?

I mean, B2J can get upgrades through fan support, but you can technically go through the entire game without buying a single one and the amount of fans you have doesn't provide any kind of passive buff, ergo B2J start the game already strong enough to take down Tatiana. In fact, they start the game strong enough to take down DJSS without any fan support since May considers Kliff their first fan, but he doesn't get involved until after DJSS is defeated, so if the artistry = power theory is also true, then fan support may not be necessary at all for an artist to have extraordinary power and the fans are just an extra buff.

But, if fan support isn't linked to power, but is instead linked to special abilities, then why does Tatiana still have time/fire powers if she *doesn't have an active fanbase anymore? Did her abilities stay even if the fans aren't actually there to support her, or is the support from her staff enough to still give her all those abilities since she's still a talented guitarist at her core? Or do all her political supporters count as "fans" that she can draw power from? Is it both? Are Mayday and Kliff's admiration of her still giving her power? If power comes from any kind of support, then does a person even need to be an "artist" to get the kind of power buff that we see the artists getting? If enough people get convinced that Amal is a real unicorn, will he eventually be able to preform miracles? Does this example not even work, since he's technically participating in a performing art by acting as a unicorn to begin with?

There are just so many interesting questions to be asked about this…

*Since you still gain fans and a platinum record from beating Tatiana, she may actually have an active fanbase which would render the rest of the speculation moot, but the entire framing and mechanics of Tatiana's fight are so weird and don't fit into the pre-establish mold, that I have a hard time parsing any useful information from analyzing her boss battle. I dunno what's real, what's metaphorical, what's just there because this is a video game, and it doesn't make sense to just abandon the pre-established systems for this one fight.

[buddiebeginz]

I just caught up to the current episode of 911. Jesus that ending 😭 I’m pretty sure I sat there and stared at the tv for a good five minutes afterwards in shock right along with Buck.

Okay get comfy because this is going to get long. I have a lot of thoughts on  why I think it’s more likely than ever that Buddie will become canon. I’ve seen a lot of fandom talking about why they feel the same and honestly it’s not surprising given the way that shooting scene played out. But I have some other thoughts I haven’t seen talked about yet too.

--

I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I think Buddie will happen. I want them to get together in canon and I think the show should definitely make it happen and not just because us fans want it to happen either.

Since Eddie arrived the show has continually written Buck and Eddie in a way to say to the audience there’s more going on there. So I don’t think it’s some far fetched idea that so many of us ship them or want to see them end up together. I’ve shipped many characters who I knew were never going to get together in canon but Buddie has always felt different. It’s not just wishful thinking there’s a lot of substance there provided by the writers.

Still more recently I’d kind of lost hope that Buddie was ever going to happen. Throughout season 4 I’ve been wondering if the show was working on pulling Buck and Eddie in different directions. I figured maybe they were just tired of listening to the fans yell about Buddie. I figured it’s why we had been seeing a lot more of Taylor and Ana and why we rarely see Buck and Eddie and Chris spending time together the way we used to in season 3. It had actually been bumming me out a lot because I miss that dynamic in the show.

---

Last night’s episode changed my mind on that though and not just because of the shooting. I was worried at first when I saw that Carla was meeting Ana because I wondered where this was going. Like was the show trying to solidify Ana as a more substantial part of Eddie’s life now? Were they trying to show that she was important enough to start meeting more of the people in Eddie’s life? But I realized after watching that the whole reason Ana was even included in the episode was for Eddie and Carla to have the convo they did.

Eddie and Carla talk about Carla’s dad. Carla says that she was thankful she got to spend time with him (before he died) and she was sorry she left them (Eddie and Chris) Eddie says “you were where you were supposed to be”. When Eddie says that Carla gets this look on her face like she’s considering his words and thinking about the meaning and responds with a line of questioning that gets her to asking Eddie about Ana. Mainly I think because Carla is one of the people who knows Buck and Eddie better than anyone and when Eddie said to her “you were where you were supposed to be” she was likely thinking so how come you’re not where you’re supposed to be with Buck?

Eddie and Carla talk about Chris and how Eddie had been worried about him (after what happened to Shannon) and how happy he is to have Ana around.  Carla presses Eddie about how he feels about Ana and Eddie simply says “it’s easy being with her” (aka he doesn’t have to be emotionally invested). Carla responds and says she’s glad Eddie is moving on but most importantly she tells him “just be sure that you’re following your heart and not Christopher’s”. 

The show easily could have framed this whole scene in a different way if they were planning on making Ana and Eddie into a more significant thing. Eddie could have responded and said he was following his heart being with Ana. The show could have shown Eddie watching Ana and Christopher with a sense of ease and love on his face instead he clearly looked like he was thinking about what Carla said and it was obvious he’d been running from the fact he was only with Ana for Christopher.

----

The other thing that made me feel like Buddie is much more of a certainty and the main thing I wanted to write this for since I haven’t seen anyone else really talking about it is what’s going on with the other couples and how that correlates with Buddie.

911 is obviously an ensemble show so some characters and ships will inevitably get more attention than others still there’s usually some that are the consistent main. For example Hen and Karen they’re a great couple but I wouldn’t necessarily call them a main couple of the show. To me the central canon couple of 911 is Athena and Bobby and second to them I think would be Chim and Maddie at least in season 4 where they’ve had a lot of focus given the baby storyline.

I think we’re headed towards both of these couples being on the rocks. Clearly Athena and Bobby are about to go through some stuff. I’m hoping Bobby doesn’t die but no matter what their marriage is in trouble at this moment. As for Maddie and Chim I think it’s likely that they’re headed for a postpartum depression storyline so that will probably spell some trouble for them too.

My point in all of this is if you watch the ending of the recent episode right after the argument between Athena and Bobby we saw the shooting with Buck and Eddie. In the promo for the next episode the majority of what we see is Buck and Eddie juxtaposed with what’s going on with Athena and Bobby and Chim and Maddie.

TV shows particularly drama ones like 911 ebb and flow and there’s usually some kind of balance. If you have one or more of your main couples in the middle of the worst times chances are you’ll see other couples in the best times. So while Athena and Bobby might be unraveling which hopefully is just temporary) in the midst of this shooting Buddie might be coming together or at least closer to getting there. More on that below. 👇

----

I don’t necessarily think that Buddie will just magically get together in the last episode of season 4. Part of me doesn’t even want that to happen. I think it makes much more sense for things with Buddie to happen gradually. Besides which nothing in tv ever wraps up that neat and tidy anyway. Shows like 911 thrive on drama so if Buddie is going to happen there has to be conflict involved before they get to that point.

My guess is that this shooting will push one of them to recognize their feelings for the other and he’ll want to tell the other one but something will stop him. I think it could be Buck. Like maybe while Eddie is recovering Buck talks to Taylor and finally realizes/admits his feelings for Eddie, to which she says something snarky like she knew that already. She pushes him to go tell Eddie the truth but when Buck goes to the hospital he ends up seeing Ana there and decides not to tell him. Maybe in season 5 we have to watch Buck figuring out his sexuality and dealing with his feelings for Eddie while seeing Eddie with someone else.

911 could also surprise us and it could be Eddie who realizes his feelings for Buck. We had that scene with Carla and Eddie and it’s clear that Eddie is only with Ana for Christopher. We had Carla telling Eddie to follow his heart. When you look at the symbolism of what happened during the shooting Eddie’s blood ended up all over Buck which is like a trail to this heart (albeit a morbid one) not to mention Eddie reached out for Buck when he was on the ground. So Eddie could wake up and realize the truth about his feelings for Buck and want to tell him but be afraid to loose his best friend. Or maybe Eddie is afraid to change anything now that Christopher seems happy again finally.

There could also just be a scene with them in the hospital or maybe Buck comes to stay with Eddie and Christopher to help take care of Eddie and and  it’s clear the atmosphere has changed between them. Like we don’t get anything super serious yet but there’s something more there and they both feel it but aren’t acting on it yet. Maybe Buck tells Eddie how he felt when he saw him get shot maybe Eddie tells him he reached for him. Maybe they both realize they couldn’t bare to loose the other.

Everything that’s happened thus far with Buck and Eddie feels like it’s leading towards something. It definitely feels like something is going to change with them heading into season 5. I feel like they’re going to leave us on some kind of cliffhanger and then drag out whatever happens next season. Which makes sense as it incentives more people to watch. But I’m more optimistic than ever that Buddie will happen now.

---

I do agree with what others have said that there’s no place really for the writers to go now than to put Buck and Eddie together even if it doesn’t happen immediately. The shooting scene was completely framed like Buck watched the man he loved get shot and they were even wearing complimenting colors which is something I’ve seen done often in movies and tv for lovers. They were staring at each other and reaching out. I mean how do you explain that if it doesn’t lead anywhere?

Not to mention the whole thing was done in slow motion and the scene didn’t focus on anyone else besides Eddie and Buck for a few minutes. It even had an almost a freeze frame with the two staring at each other across the street and since there was blood and the ambulance the whole scene was lit up bright red. And apart from everything else red is pretty much universally known as the color for love.

One other thing I forgot to add was that the convo with Eddie and Carla happened in an episode called Suspicion where people are keeping things from the people they love. The mother keeping things from her bridezilla daughter, Bobby and Athena keeping things from each other, Maddie keeping her depression from Chimney, Hen’s mom keeping how sick she was from Hen.

Why would 911 choose this episode in particular to feature all this important Buddie stuff? That important convo with Carla and Eddie where Carla basically tells Eddie she knows he’s not following his heart. That crazy intense moment with the shooting where Buck and Eddie are just staring at each other like soulmates having to watch the person they love die.

Maybe because both Buck and Eddie have things they’re hiding? Things they’re hiding from themselves and things they’re keeping from the person they love the most. Each other.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Chapter three! I already skimmed through it and just. Holy fuck I’m falling in love with this series all over again, and this is just the opening arc, how the hell is this so good??? I’m genuinely just in awe and fuck is it making it hard to decide where to have a cut-off point for this chapter. I suppose we’ll just have to see what fate decides.

(Also, the temptation to just paste in all of the last three pages of the chapter is so incredibly strong, you don’t understand.)

[No. 3 - Entrance Exam]

We start off with some exposition: UA’s hero course is designed to give students all they need to go pro, and is the toughest and most popular hero course in the country, with only a 1 in 300 acceptance rate. Discounting the four slots that are recommendation students, that’s 36 slots a year, which is about…

Yeah. That’s a lotta applications, and that’s just for the hero course! 

Several alumni are mentioned: All Might, who declined the people’s choice award; Endeavor, who’s stopped more crimes than anyone else in recorded history; and Best Jeanist, who’s won the Best Jeanist award eight years running. (One of these things is not like the other~ One of these things just doesn’t belong~) The exposition suggests that graduating from UA is basically a requirement for becoming a great hero - something which we’ll learn soon enough isn’t quite true.

But yeah, Endeavor with the record for crime handling, even above All Might. Quite the impressive hero, though that face…

Not precisely reassuring.

So yeah, Izuku here mentions the date of the exam - February 26th. I figure that this has to be a Sunday, for the simple fact that Japan has a slightly different school schedule than us. Most notably: Japanese schools (some of them, anyways) have 5.5 day school weeks. Yes, that means the first half of Saturday can still be a school day. 

While I couldn’t confirm for sure whether this is more common among the higher end schools, I feel like a school like UA, with its ‘Plus Ultra’ motto, would definitely be a school to have a half-day (or even a full day) on Saturdays, and since they also have to accomodate for middle schools that have Saturday morning classes, I figure that it would make the most sense for UA to schedule this exam on a Sunday. 

The benefits of this, as we’ve already seen, is that we can then narrow down the timeline for the rest of the series, just based on that single, confirmed date. We know from the last chapter that the Sludge Villain had to happen on a Thursday or Friday of the first week of school (April 14th/15th), with the first training session two days later (the 16th/17th). But what this also gives us is when Izuku’s first year of UA starts, AND the possible years it could start on. 

Since we see the glowing baby is in a modern hospital, we can assume that’s correlated to about our times. Give it a few generations, and we can guess that we’re in the 2200s or 2300s for the current era. Based on that assumption, we get the following years that have February 26th on a Sunday:

23rd century potential years: 2204, 2209, 2215, 2226, 2232, 2237, 2243, 2254, 2260, 2265, 2271, 2282, 2288, 2293, 2299

24th century potential years: 2310, 2316, 2321, 2327, 2338, 2344, 2349, 2355, 2366, 2372, 2377, 2383, 2394, 2400

As a side note, when I got into the series, my brain weirdly latched onto the idea that this had to all be happening in the year 2317. I don’t know why I decided on that number, but that’s what I rolled with, and hilariously I could be RIGHT about the year the current manga arc is happening in, provided Izuku’s first year is in 2316. Sometimes you just know, ya know? I know at least one other friend made these calcs independently of me and chose to run with 2237, which is totally valid! Probably makes more sense to be in the 2200s, but there’s room depending on how much time one thinks has passed.

As for when Izuku’s high school school year starts, we know that Japanese schools start on the second Monday of April. Since we don’t know if this is a leap year or not, we’ll end up with two dates, but that’s fine!

Feb 26 (Sun) -> Feb 27 (Mon) -> March (6/5, 13/12, 20/19, 27/26) -> April (3/2, 10/9)

Therefore, Izuku’s first day of classes (not counting the orientation, which I’ve seen a few other timelines assume is on the Sunday before classes start) is April 10th (or the 9th if a leap year)! I know this is all in the future from this chapter, but still, I wanted to share this at some point and figured now was as good a time as always.

Math!

Sorry, I’ve just wanted to share this math I did for a while now, I put a lot of work into it and I am very proud of it. Let’s get back to the chapter.

So Izuku lives a 40 minute train ride away from UA, and has made it just in time for the exam. Apparently, this is only the practical portion? Or well, that’s the part that gets focused on in this chapter, with no mention of the paper exam. I would imagine they’d be the same day, though? But I suppose one can do whatever they like with it.

He’s standing there looking at the school, thinking about how he didn’t have a chance to test the power, while the other students head in-

Excuse me, Toga?? I know that hairstyle is just a bit off, but… ???

...right, anyways. Izuku is wondering whether the hair really did anything (also, it was apparently sour, which, ew.) Katsuki comes up behind him and tells him to move aside.

Truly a flattering image. Izuku panics a bit and greets him, but Katsuki just walks by without another word or gesture, leaving Izuku confused as he watches him head on into the building. The narrative notes that since the villain incident, Katsuki hadn’t bothered Izuku, while the unnamed characters in the background apparently recognize Katsuki from the ‘sludge’ incident (well, not shocked how the fandom held onto that name). 

Izuku notes that he’s gotta stop flinching instinctively, and then tries to hype himself up, noting that it’s not like before, and think about the past ten months while taking a wobbly step forward- and then tripping over himself.

I’m sorry Izuku just has so many fantastic faces in this chapter I am crying trying to limit myself to just a few. But yeah, that little derp as he realizes what’s happening is adorable, especially while Ochako gently sets him back on his feet. She mentions that it’s her quirk, and apologizes for using it, but that it’s a bad omen to trip and fall. (I wonder if that gets played with again during later parts of the series… will have to check to see.)

While Izuku freaks out over talking to a girl, Ochako notes that the exam is nerve-wracking, and then heads off while wishing both of them luck as Izuku stares after. 

This fucking kid. I love him so much. His flustered excitement gets him some weird looks from the others still outside.

We transition to a new character (Present Mic) who immediately shows off his performative side by calling for a ‘hey!’ which… is met with silence from the crowd. He doesn’t let this throw him off, instead letting them know that he’ll present the guidelines for the practical, followed with a ‘YEAH!’ that gets met with an even heavier silence.

Izuku and Katsuki are seated next to each other, with Izuku descending right into excited muttering over Present Mic and how he listens to his radio show every week. Also with the assumption that all the UA teachers are pro heroes, which I mean, true, but still. Katsuki tells Izuku to shut up.

Present Mic explains the test: ten minute long ‘mock cityscape maneuvers’, with the applicants split among seven arenas, labelled ‘A’ through ‘G’. With more than 10k applicants total, that’s about…

Yeah, more than 1500 per arena. Fucking hell, no wonder the robots deplete so quickly in only a few minutes. Also of interest:

“Bring along whatever you want.” So technically, if Izuku were able to procure the tech and training to handle the robots, there would be nothing keeping him from getting into UA quirkless… though I imagine any kid who gets in mostly on tech probably gets side-eyed… though if said kid made their OWN tech, they might also get an offer from the Support department.

(AU where Mei accidentally took the heroics exam and got a shitload of points, but she ended up taking the offer for Support instead despite setting the record for most points in said exam. Katsuki forever wants to fight her. Izuku and her are good friends.)

Also, another thing I love is how Katsuki just told Izuku to shut up a moment ago, and then:

He’s the one to initiate conversation on the details of the test, basically agreeing on the reasoning behind dividing up the students between arenas. Katsuki is annoyed at not being able to crush Izuku, which has Izuku awkwardly silent. 

Also mini-Mic.

Poor, poor Mic. He just wants audience participation. Anyways, he continues on to explain the points system, with the help of cute little Mario-themed silhouettes. There are three kinds of faux villains, with different points awarded for defeating each based on their difficulty levels. Also, attacking other examinees is prohibited!

A student (cough Tenya) raises their hand to ask a question, going on to note that the handout sheet appears to have four varieties of villain, and that such a blatant error (if it is one) reflects poorly on Japan’s top academy. He then spins around and points at Izuku, calling him out for his muttering and how distracting he’s been, and that ‘if this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!’ 

Is that… Mineta seated behind Izuku? I can’t find another panel that disproves that theory, so. Whelp. If you ever for some reason want to have Izuku accidentally deal with the grape early, he’s right there. 

Anyways, Present Mic brings the convo back to the initial question/comment, noting that the fourth villain is worth zero points, and is more of an obstacle. He then brings up Super Mario Brothers, the old retro game, and compares the Zero Pointer to a thwomp. There’s one per site, serving as a gimmick that’ll rampage in close quarters. Tenya thanks Mic and apologizes for the interruption. 

And so we get our final words from Present Mic:

??? either he's referencing the original guy (which I think would be a misquote because I doubt OG Nap ever noted anything like that) or some French hero or the like who took on the name.

Discord offered this to me while putting together the post:

So there you have it. Tentatively confirmed.

Those EYES man, dude’s got the Rinnegan going on.

Honestly, I have to end on this panel just because of that last line from Present Mic. Like, look me in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the exact point to end on. 

The discord’s takeaway from this:

[tinfcomic]

Hi Nikki! Just wondering, what are your favourite tinf pages you've drawn so far?

Hi anon! WOW I love this question, thank you!! I never thought about it before… usually I very rarely like a TINF page because there’s at least 1 panel I don’t like that I’ve drawn 😂

Here’s what I came up with, though, in date/page order, underneath a read more:

ch 01 pg 01 - SO CLICHE I KNOW, THE 1ST PG 😂😂😂!! I actually do love this, though, I love his “screeee” and “pt pt pt pt,” if I have to describe the feeling of Julian in one page, it’s definitely this one LOL. When I first started TINF, I had a lot of people disliking my style and I think it scared me into becoming less cartoon-y/exaggerated over time (even by the end of the chapter), and that’s something I regret and had to work really hard on getting over. Outside of TINF, I feel like I’m reverting back to cartoon-y a bit (which I like), but I wish I exaggerated more in TINF… this 1st page shows when I was wild and free and I like that 😂

ch 07 pg 05 -  the 3 middle panels are MY FAVORITE!!! I absolutely LOVE the joke of just blowing up an image to “zoom in” for a panel, just slightly making it lower quality, and then Julian in the pink panel…………. my sweet boy… I LOVE HIM he’s so cute, so earnest TT____TT))) I also love Landon laying on the ground + on Isaiah 😂 also wow that last panel dialogue.. don’t hurt me, Landon *upset thinking in contrast to recent pages*.. LOL

ch 10 pg 12 - this is the only good art I’ve ever drawn

ch 11 extra 02 - this page is on like every “favorites” list I’ve made but LISTEN!! I LOVE IT LOLOL I LOVE Julian’s handwriting + how he writes + all his diff papers + “pen running out of ink” TCH Past-Nicole… she really knew how to make Julian SO cute LOLOL I mean, I still do LOL *Julian stan*

ch 14 pg 15 - after 7+ yrs, jokes in TINF rarely remain funny, but this. This is gold……… gatsby 👁️👄👁️ what the hell

ch 15 cover - LANDON KISSED HIM ON THE CHEEK WHAT?????? I’M STILL LIKE??? PAST-NICOLE, PLS LOLOL I love this little “story” if you read from top-to-bottom, left-to-right! Esp the 2nd to last… Julian LOLOL goodness gracious, kid. Also I love the red shirt I used in this !!!

ch 18 pg 08 - that’s cute..

ch 19 pg 09 - this pg is cute LOL I’m good at drawing cars for some reason, like, seriously, the last panel I got ambitious and Isaiah opening the door for Selby is 👌👌👌 but the real star is the inside of the car door, like… calm down, Nicole, we get it, you draw cars better than people

ch 22 pg 01 - this chapter is randomly drawn so good IMO and idk why but it’s my favorite (drawing-wise)???? ig I was ~in the mood to draw~ LOL I like the wave of blanket in panel 2 and my sleepy babu in panel 3 😂

also can we just acknowledge how much I jam into 1 page of TINF??? Waking up / Julian’s not as excited as he used to be for Sydney Morgan / he’s troubled / hints that it directly correlates with Landon since he’s looking over at Landon’s house in the last panel like !!! I work hard for this biweekly comic LOL

ch 22 pg 08 - so much movement in this pg!! I luv!! I have too many ~important convos~ currently in TINF, which makes sense since I’m gearing towards the end, but I definitely miss them running around wildly like this LOL

There’s a bunch I like from this chapter but I won’t post them here bc 😴, but if you’re curious, they’re pages: 12, 13, 22, 23 !! Congrats, ch 22, I like u 👏👏👏🎉

ch 23 cover - I love my long boy, he’s so cute TT____TT))) even tho I think he’s a jerk and I’m mad at him LOLOL wow I’m really layin’ it w/the feelings in this list aren’t I LOL idk who’s reading this *continues*

ch 23 pg 34 - I’m unsure what I like more, angsty Landon or my background characters 😂

I also really like the next page (35) but idk if it’s like a “favorite”…

ch 23 pg 59 - listen…………… I’M A SIMPLE GIRL, ANON

ch 24 pg 09 - idk I just like it LOL *push* *stop* *push* Bye + Isaiah’s pants look cute 😂

ch 24 pg 19 - Landon’s handwriting / Isaiah and Selby flirting playing / out in the city ??? Feels different, I like it LOL but the true winners of this art are the 2 dogs in panel 2

ch 24 pg 48 / 49 / 50 - describing lanjuls in 1 pg / 🍓 soft 🍓 / I SHIP THEM LMAO SHRIEKS

ch 25 pg 34 - HOLD HIM !!!!!!! I brought these feelings on myself

ch 25 pg 37 - I think I set this page up pretty good and I really like how it reads!!! I effectively break my own heart. Nice

ch 25 pg 42 - Dear Past-Nicole, thanks. I hate it. I spent 90000000 hrs on panel 3 Landon’s expression tho and I BELIEVE I GOT IT! So, it makes the list LOL

ch 26 pg 01 - I’M BASIC OOOOOK LOLOLOLOL LET ME LIVE!!!! I scream for 90 yrs

THAT’S IT! WE’RE DONE HERE!!! I feel like my “favorites” are weird, I have some page compositions I enjoy more since they’re more creative, but in the end there are just some drawings/feelings I like better in these pages.

Thank you so much for asking this question, I had fun looking back at older pages!! 💕

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Holy Crap! Nicotero just called Daryl the OMEGA man!

Good morning Bethyl peeps! So today's post is kind of a small thing, and I honestly wasn't going to post about it. It started out as something interesting I posted in my FB group, but I didn't expect it to blossom into a full-fledged theory/post. But then, as usual, the ingenious fellow-theorists in the Safe Zone (my FB group) had tons of insights and it ended up being a detailed and lively discussion. The wonderful Nonny-M encouraged me to post it, so here it is.

So this is what happened. I noticed this post on Greg Nicotero's IG account a few days ago. 

It was posted on Friday the 23rd. I could tell right away that it was a movie poster that had been edited to be a Daryl/TWD poster, but I had no idea what film the poster had been for originally. I'm not sure why--maybe because it was Nicotero posting it--but I had a little niggling suspicion in the back of my mind that I should look into this. I didn't get a chance to until Saturday evening. At that point, I noticed the caption, which told me what the movie poster had been originally: The Omega Man.

For those who don't know, The Omega Man is an old Charlton Heston film from the 70s based on the book I Am Legend. If you've seen the 2007 Will Smith film, the story is nearly identical. (Synopsis HERE.)

So of course this makes sense on many levels for Nicotero to post. 

1) It's zombie genre. 

2) We've heard several times over the past few weeks from tptb that Daryl will "go rogue" this season, which I think means he may spend a lot of time away from TF at large and be on his own. 

(Of course we're side-eyeing that anyway. Is he going to be ALONE alone, or is he perhaps going to meet someone out in the woods? Let's face it: Daryl wandering around out in the woods alone for the entire season would be pretty boring. And the last time he was alone for a bit in the woods was in 6x06, where he first ran into Dwight, Tina because a Beth proxy, and there were a crap-ton of Beth parallels and symbolism. Just saying.)

So of course Nicotero could simply be hinting at Daryl's arc for S8. In I Am Legend/The Omega Man, the character is out on his own in a zombie-infested world. But I thought, if the parallels to the story are there, what other parallels are there? So I checked out the synopsis, and sure enough, there are other possible parallels that make me smile. The main character in The Omega Man meets a random woman while he's out and about. She saves him from a horde of zombies, and has a kid with her. (Think the Beth and Daryl as Protectors of Children theory.) The synopsis even mentions the two of the riding around a zombie-infested, but otherwise empty, city. *coughs D.C.*

Oh, and then there's the title: The Omega Man. As in Alpha and Omega? (X). I mean, Nicotero could as easily have made this edit using the I Am Legend Poster, but he specifically chose the older film with the Omega title.

So I posted this in my group as something with possible parallels that could be important. Enter Nonny M, @katkhaos, @boltthrutheheart, and @wdway.

So here's what we talked about:

@boltthrutheheart pointed out the "one survivor" line, which I didn't even notice. Definitely has callbacks to Beth's line about Daryl being the "last man standing."

Then Nonny-M figured out that Alpha can mean…wait for it…The North Star. I'd never picked up on that before. The North Star, also called Polaris, is designated Alpha Ursae Minoris. (Source).

So bear with me here. We've considered that Alpha and Omega is biblical, meaning beginning and end. It's also a name for Christ. The "end" is particularly important heading into S8 because of all the 8/endgame references. Eugene: "8-ball, corner pocket." (X) Which is literally the end game. Also note that we had two separate 8-ball references around Beth and Daryl in Still as well. So we can trace this back to them.

We've also considered that Alpha and Omega might mean Alexandria to Oceanside. This was @wdway's insight, and it comes partly from Abraham's last speech to Sasha (☹). "Alpha to omega. Whether on a battlefield or a beach…" Battlefield/Alpha = Alexandria. Beach/Omega = Oceanside.

So now, we have this poster. If Alpha = North Star, and we already think North Star = Beth, because, as Carl told Judith, it's at the end of the Little Dipper, which correlates to Beth's D.C. spoon, then Alpha = Beth.

Nicotero has just designated Daryl the Omega Man. So Alpha to Omega in Abraham's speech could be translated into, "North Star to Daryl" or, even better, Beth to Daryl.

Holy crap! And, you know, four weeks until the start of S8 as he's posting this. Four weeks!

This is huge, guys. We can now correlate the North Star stuff, the Bear Stuff (because the North Star is part of the Little Bear constellation) and the Alpha Omega stuff. We've always thought it was all about Beth's arc, but now we can connect it through true facts! Thanks Nonny-M! What an amazing insight!

So then our conversation turned some other, interesting side-notes. Nonny-M is Swedish, and she and KatKhaos were talking about names for the Little Dipper in their native languages. Nonny-M made the observation that we actually see a lot of Swedish around Carl. (He was part of the convo because of his Little Dipper line to Judith.) In the pudding house, we see the word "Fredag" which is Swedish for Friday.

@KatKhaos and I have noted that before, but could never make anything concrete of it. There is the theory that S4 = Good Friday, S5 = Crucifixion, etc., but by that theory, the resurrection should have been S7, and she didn't show up. Now, I'm not saying that theory is wrong. It could still be a thing, but we'd have to lengthen out the timeline to her showing up in S8 instead. That's all.

But Nonny-M also noted that in this shot, we see the poster on the mantle for checking one's eyesight. Some of the letters (middle row) are Swedish: A, O (my keyboard won't do the Swedish versions.) 

I asked her what letters they correspond to, but they don't correspond directly to English letters, though they are derived from them. So my first thought was that perhaps these letters aren't there for their own meaning. Rather, we once again have A and O. Alpha and Omega. Nonny-M also informs me that these are the last three letters of the Swedish alphabet. The Swedes have 29 letters, and these are 27-29. End game. The alphabet also starts with another A, but of course ends in O. So once again, A to O, Alpha to Omega, Beginning to End.

And why Swedish? That, we’re not entirely sure about yet. The only thing I can think of is that in Swedish, the Little Dipper is called the Little Bear. So maybe it’s a way of pulling in the bear symbolism (X). They can say Little Dipper in English any time (and they did later in S6 with Carl) but this is a way to tell us that the bear stuff is also related to all of this?

@wdway also added that at the top of this chart is an A and an X, both of which represent Beth. (A = Alpha and then X Theory) That's especially important given the other stuff in this episode. I've talked about this frequently lately, but in the pudding house, Carl sees a dead song bird, then has tons of resurrection symbols around him. Lamps, a bat, yellow scissors, loses a shoe, shoots a walker in the left side of the forehead, and it jumps back up. Carl's whole arc in this episode, while immensely important for him, was also one big foreshadow of Beth. (He was trapped, had to get out on his, emphasis on sheriff's hat, fell down on the first try, room with the nautical theme, I could go on.)

Oh, one other thing I almost forgot to mention! Daryl’s shirt. This really looks like something from S7, and it’s his blue shirt he wore for most of 7b with the pocket missing. The color has obviously been altered…to green. I don’t think we’ve seen him wear that particular color on the show. Like, ever. But who has?

Just saying. So yeah. I posted this as just a point of interest and it became a four-hour discussion with something like 40 comments. Who knew?

And of course Nicotero (of the 800 walkers in Coda, the missing 17 days, and maybe Creepy Wolf Dude was in love with Denise) LOVES to drop TD hints for us. So this kind of made my weekend.

Thoughts?

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Tsukigakirei 6 | Kado 6 | Boku no Hero Academia 20 | Royal Tutor 7 | Grimoire of Zero 6

Apparently there weren’t 2, but 3 .5 episodes (i.e. series recaps) this week (although after Tsukigakirei and Kado, I haven’t found the 3rd series that was affected by such a thing)...with Boku no Hero Academia’s Hero Notebook, that makes a few recaps too many in one season. Still, it does (sadly) mean a break from Tsukigakirei and Kado for one week in regards to simulcast commentary, and it’ll be noted in the next commentary post’s title too (as I’ve done previously for Erased).

Tsukigakirei 6

Wait, there’s a 6.5? I don’t know about you, but a lot of times the .5 ep is a recap. With Tsukigakirei’s current track record of Very Bad CGI Background Characters, I’m not sure I need a .5 ep.

Kinako.

Aren’t there firearm laws in Japan? I’ve heard it’s the safest place in the world…

The piano here (I turned on the volume around here) is quite nice.

The mascot is part of Akane’s background. I guess I should’ve known.

Leaving out the fact Chinatsu likes Kotaro is going to damage you, Akane. That’s how it always goes in these sorts of shows…

I didn’t think Chinatsu would be so understanding…

I didn’t notice Hira had freckles. Or maybe someone added them by accident?

I wouldn’t recommend ditching friends who like the same guy as you (just as a pointer from someone who cuts off relationships a lot).

“Boxes”? Isn’t there a Box app out there or something?...There is indeed a Box app, but it’s for business and FTP. Boxes is then a parody of Dropbox.

I also wouldn’t recommend being sorry for falling for someone. If your feelings are genuine, then that’s all that matters.

Apparently there’s a LINE convo in the ED that changes every ep. I’ve never noticed it because I skip the ED of this show most times. This convo seems to be about finishing exams, at least for the top half or so, and it seems to be a convo with “Kanojo-san”, which could mean “Girlfriend” or just “Her/She” (more than likely the former).

Huh? Never seen this before, this “Sakura’s Fantasies”. It seems to be an omake, appended to the show itself. However, it’s kinda boring…Sure, there are good things about this show, but the show hasn’t actually tried its hand at humour until now (not to my knowledge) and this shows exactly why.

I keep forgetting who Roman is, so…Roman is pink-haired dude? Okay then.

Roman is definitely referring to a wedding dress, I know, but she’s already wearing a dress while looking at the mag, so the wording makes the joke fall flat for me.

Kado 6

Uh-oh. There’s a .5 episode on this show, as well…(it means we get more Kado, sure, but it may be a cost-cutting measure).

I found a guide on the Anisotoron language used for the ep titles while looking for spoilers (because I heard Shindo was forcefully promoted to a higher state of existence without zaShunina telling him…but since that’s an event that occurs in this ep, that doesn’t require a spoiler tag).

Well, it makes sense that those who are more “go with the flow”, like Shindo, would be able to…no, that’s not the right words for it. I think the key component of making a proper Wam is empathy.

Get your hands back on, Shunina. By the way, why’d you take Shindo’s Wam?

Note for later: Kado movement on Aug. 6th 2017. Kado is set in our current year…(I wonder what’ll happen if the anisotropic do arrive in our universe in the future? Would they laugh at zaShunina?)

Amplitude…after all of Kado’s physics, here’s one thing I happen to know about…if you don’t know about amplitude, check the explanation here). What does Kado have to do with waves…?

…Maybe it’s the amplitude of the ground…? That would explain why Kado can conform to a lake’s surface.

Notice there’s a red marking on the map for where Kado is and will be. Not sure if the demo cube is magentised…it’s definitely not velcro though.

Lookit Asano, sleeping on the fold out chairs…LOL.

There’s a box near the mother (on the counter) that says “Delicious Eggplants”.

For some reason, they chose to make the “visiting mother” scene in 2D, and…you know what I’m going to say, right? Knowing me and my gripes with CG? Yeah, you guessed it – it looks a lot better than if it were CG. It would’ve been costly to render the sunglasses and face mask too, I bet, and it seems to give the scene some gravitas due to the sudden contrast.

Octopus tentacles are meant to be snacks, in case you didn’t figure that out from the size of the serving.

…er, CGI Shindo drinking beer completely causes the gravitas to be lost. Welp, it was beautiful while it was happening.

I wonder what it means to show the origami turtles as a trio…it’s gt to be foreshadowing of some sort. Either it’s saying Shindo’s dad is dead or Shunina’s going to reveal how he breeds…well, those are my thoughts, but I heavily lean towards the latter as being true. (By the way, I always thought Shindo was a guy with siblings. Did anyone else think the same thing?)

I know your feels about having to get up early, Hanamori, but why were you running like you were trying to get away from Godzilla?

BVLCARI? Well, Asano’s watch seems to be roughly of that brand (as in, I may have gotten a letter or two wrong).

They’re going to drag Kado by the corner? I’d never think of that, but now that they’ve revealed this, Shindo made it (figuring out how to move Kado with least ground contact) seem a little too easy.

Kado spinning, with all those clouds around it, took my breath away…

Visually speaking, it’s interesting they showed kids on cube-like structures in a park. If I were an anime scholar, I’d want to analyse things like that. Unfortunately, there is no such title as “anime scholar”…

Geometrically speaking, it’s interesting they put Kado, a cube, next to a Ferris wheel, a circle. It’s almost like minimalist art.

*lowkey tries to stifle laughter* That’s not a brain! It’s an egg, or a pill or a lozenge, with brain-like designs in it!...Er-hem. Well, I knew this from the spoilers, but basically, what they implied with the “brain” was “Shindo hasn’t had to sleep since he got anisotropised (or whatever you call it)”.

Boku no Hero Academia 20

“Nabooh” is apparently a Star Wars reference. I hadn’t caught on to that sort of thing until my second watch through of the first season, where Deku cleans up Tatooin Beach and I thought, “That name is a little weird for an anime”.

Brainwashing. I’ve tried that sort of thing in stories before (it was in Conquest Dreams before it got deleted), but seeing the pros and cons of powers is something only the user can really see.

The static was a nice idea, visually speaking.

Ojiro, that’s not selfish at all…

Deku’s looking scary right now. Be careful not to become a villain, or else you’ll fall into the Nietzsche trap*! * - Nietzche once said, “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

The judo throw seems to be a favourite of Deku’s, eh? We saw it in his fight with Bakugo in s1.

I think I get Shinso, actually. The power of stereotypes is a harsh mistress.

I see…Shinso was pointing out Midoriya’s gullibility, in a way.

If Shouto wants to win over his dad, he should face off against another ice user. That’s how these things work, y’know. I should know because I tend to write these sorts of things (see White Parasite for one).

There’s a person in a tiger onesie…well, their onesie kinda looks like a tiger.

Royal Tutor 7

Make sure to keep your torte properly, Leo, or else…ew…

Aw, Bruni. Sad though it is, I know exactly how you feel. I used to be good at a lot of subjects, and in the advanced classes for them, but now I’m average, potentially even struggling in things I thought I was good at.

I have fond memories of a certain show where they’d have home improvement stuff that I’d watch on Friday nights with my dad. It’s still going as we speak, but it’s a shell of what it used to be in my opinion. Why do I bring up this show? It’s because this flashback reminds me of that nostalgia.

Why does Viktor want to have a “backup” successor then, if Eins is so good?(!)

I could see that “I will not have you as my apprentice anymore” line coming, although the line straight after it roped me out of dropping the show.

Dat Bruno sleeping at his desk. That would be me, if I were capable of sleeping at my desk.

Yeah, silver-haired man. In the words of the Who, “Who are you?”

*does double take* Smirdy-what???

(when Dmitri’s drinking his wine) Why do I have the feeling something’s about to go very wrong?...(when Bruno is asked to go away from Granzreich) Yep, must be that dastardly Count…

So Mr Fancy Hat (Heine version) is Eins’ high steward??? You pulled me right back into watching for at least the third or fifth time.

Ooh-wee, Mr Fancy Hat. That’s some soft power, carrot Machiavellianism you’ve got going on there.

Wuh? An old man making a Sailor Moon gesture is funny, but it does make me question exactly how drunk he is. It also makes me question stereotypes again (see Boku no Hero Academia above for the first time).

Ah, Bruni. I don’t just understand you, I grok you (as much as I’d hate to admit it). Back when I was writing Ro.Te.O, the demon of envy (Skyrua/Astaroth) was the easiest to write…

Smirdy-man, you do know what “sophistry” is, right? For reference, here’s Google-sensei to the rescue.

Borscht? I heard of it once, through Cooking Mama…(LOL. Shows how much I suck at recognising cuisine.)

For one second, I thought Heine was a mini ninja, not a mini teacher.

*ROFLs* They’re actually using the live-action version of the ED??? That’s a surprise I never saw coming! (Note: Prior to this ep, I saw the teaser version of this ED on ANN.)

Grimoire of Zero 6

“Grimoire of Zero” is shortened from “Starting the Magic Grimoire From Zero”…or something along those lines…

Thirteen’s name is actually a title, “The Thirteenth”.

How does being an animal correlate with “Because I’m eating, I won’t die?”…?

The thing about the clash of ideologies is that both sides can be as correct as each other…

I have the feeling the final opponent Albus and Mercenary will have to face (I think they’ll regroup) is not necessarily Thirteen, but Zero herself…*shivers*

Ah, the Machiavellianism strikes again! (See Royal Tutor above for the first time.)

A woman (Taichi You) voices Albus, and Takehito Koyasu voices Thirteen…hmph. What a cast.