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wangxianficfinder · 7 months

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Fic Finder

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1. Looking for a smut fic I remember reading. WWX was testing an invisibility talisman and ended up in the jingshi in time to watch LWJ masturbating, and rode him after he fell asleep. LWJ woke up and made WWX get rid of the invisibility after a bit. I think it was a roleplay between the two but I'm not fully sure

FOUND! Clinomania by malkinmalkout (E, 6k, wangxian, Voyeurism, Masturbation, Somnophilia, misuse of talismans, PWP, Riding, Oral Sex, binding, Happy Ending, canon typical non-con)

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2. Hi! So I'm looking for this one fic, I remember that it was set in post-canon & Wangxian go to help this village, I remember that the Juniors (all four) followed them without their knowledge & the village had a barrier preventing people from leaving, the village had a curse where they got to see their close-ones negative memories, the juniors learnt of what actually happened to WWX & the villain turns out to be a "god" like on Dafan, it had 4 chapter (I think) & was finished. @i-like-snakes-and-spiders

FOUND? Down comes the night by danegen (E, 67k, wangxian, Alternate Universe, Canon Era, inspired by From, Horror, Sharing a Room, POV LWJ, no jiangs, a whole village of OCs, tiny mention of past wwx/omc, Happy Ending)

FOUND? unhappy stories with happy endings by Last_for_Hell (M, 30k, WangXian, Memories, Memory Fic, Kinda, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, sexual content maybe, References to Torture, PTSD, Characters Watching Their Series, kinda, but not entirely, very light consensual non-consent)

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3. good day! 😊 I read this fic before and I know that I've bookmarked it but I can't find it in the list. So the story is after wwx fell, baoshan sanren and lan yi rescued him, nursed him back to health, and waited for him to wake up. I remember that when he woke up, they also taught him cultivation (he got a new sword). He also hid his face (i think he also wore a different name and different voice(?)). There's a yi city scene where xxc asked them who they were because he cant see, then bssr is also with them at that time. thank yoooooou! 💓💓💓

FOUND! Until The End by abCEE (M, 365k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, war changes people, resulting to OOC, no pinning, Established Relationship, Mpreg, Good Uncle LQR, a little grey LWJ, a bit of JC bashing from LWJ, BAMF JYL, 16 years of yearning, mainly CQL verse but has scenes from the novel as well, LSZ is WangXian's Child, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Canon Rewrite, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts)

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4. hi, I hope you can help me find this fic I've been looking for, I'm sorry I don't really remember much, just that WWX can cook non-spicy food but he does it on purpose, it might have been because of his time in the streets? or because someone would take his food? (maybe JC???)

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5. I cannot for the life of me remember anything else about the fic but I think it was cql based with lwj as chief cultivator? wwx returned to cloud recesses and the first thing he did was beat someone up for saying horrible things about lwj. I can't remember if it was multichapter or not so it might have been in the middle of a longfic?

FOUND? 🔒make this chaos count by devotedbones (E, 15k, WangXian, Post-Canon, CQL Compliant, canon compliant until the very last scene of episode 50, Getting Together, First Time, First Kiss, Hand Jobs, Chief Cultivator LWJ, a flute used as a melee weapon, Fist Fights, Gossip, Self-Worth Issues, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Mentions of Canonical Abuse, Minor Misunderstandings, [podfic] make this chaos count, by devotedbones by inkpens)

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6. this may as well be an itmf for its general nature, but it's actually a ficfinder! except. i only remember a single detail LMAO, and it's that wwx and lwj consider all four juniors to be their children, blood relation be damned. I'm so sorry i have literally nothing else to go on 😅 i think there's a similar theme in 'tragedy is not the end' specifically with zizhen, but not the exact detail im looking for... thank you for the help!

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7. Hi, first of all I want to thank y'all for the hard work, and I wanted to know if a fic has been deleted or if anyone has it, I don't remember the name but it was a time travel fic where Qishan Wen win the sunshot campaign and asked for war prizes (?) Zewu-Jun goes instead of his brother, Yanli is alive, they all have them captive, Meng Yao betrayed them and ultimately sided with the Wen's who were winning the war, and I think no one remembers Wei Wuxian, something like that, it would be great if someone could help! Thanks so much 🩷🩷

FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)

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8. Hi!!! Its me again!! Thanknyiu so much again!!! This time im looking for a time travel fic with lan qiren as the timentraveller. Pretty sure him and wen ruohan travelled together and MAYBE involved with each other??? Im not so sure but i do know that lan qiren time travelled. Sorry its not much thats all i remember hehe @sirius-bus1ness

might be one of Nirejseki's works. They wrote several on that subject (including in a big anthology work, so finding it might take some time)

FOUND? Cursed Couple by shorimochi (M, 121k, LQR/WRH, CSSR/WCZ, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Out of Character)

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9. Hello, I am looking for a fic but I only remember a scene from it

It was a fic wwhere wwx died and there was a scene where a-yuan was crying while laying above wwx's grave in the burial mounds. Thank you!

FOUND? To Offer a Heart by WhiteCrane (M, 111k, wangxian, major character death, Sad WWX, Hurt WWX, YLLZ WWX, soft wangxian, Cinnamon Roll WN, WWX Whump, WQ is a good sister, WN is a good brother, everybody loves wwx, yunmeng siblings, Triggers, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst with a Happy Ending, Taking care of WWX, Give WWX a break, Canon Divergence, Disturbing Themes, Changing Perspectives, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Grief/Mourning, Temporary Character Death, Getting Together, Redemption, Sibling Bonding, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brother-Sister Relationships, Parent-Child Relationship, Sad and Sweet, Tragedy, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF JYL, BAMF WQ, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Everyone Needs A Hug, WIP)

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10. Hi Mods (＾◡＾) I really hope that you can help me find some fics I've been looking for! (＾◡＾) if you can't that's ok, if you can then many thanks in advance! y'all are awesome!

A) this one is set during CR studies, and wangxian go on a date? in Caiyi and I think WWX gets emotional about something they are talking about? and I know they hug, and WWX don't want to let go.

B) this one wangxian gets married, WWX marries into the Lan, and there are a lot of rules specifically for married people/how to be in a relationship, I'm pretty sure that is a very big part of the story

10A)

FOUND! 🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 712k, WangXian, WIP, Fix-it of sorts, Talisman master WWX, Not JFM Friendly, Study Arc, Getting together, Fluff and Angst, Engagement) The scene described sounds like something that happens pretty early on

10B)

NOT FOUND! Into the Oubliette by Ruixx (M, 124k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, graphic depictions of violence, underage, Growing Up, Fix-It of Sorts, Arranged Marriage, Time Travel, Sibling Bonding, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Canon Divergence, Light BDSM, Breathplay, WWX protection squad, Sunshot Campaign, War, Politics, Hostage JYL, Visions, LXC Redemption, general LWJ, Internal Sect Politics, Good Uncle LQR, Lan OCs, No Golden Core Transfer, Empire Building, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence)

NOT FOUND! seldom all they seem by Fahye (E, 25k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, or rather Arranged Betrothal, followed by Weapons-Grade Thirst)

FOUND? Wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave by failedcharismacheck (M, 15k, WIP, WangXian, Marriage Proposal, Fluff, Protective LWJ, Domestic Fluff, Kissing, POV LWJ, Hair Brushing, Implied Sexual Content, soft horny)

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11. Noncon tw. Looking for a fic where when the wens burn lotus pier, they threaten to rape yanli but Wei Wuxian offers himself instead. So the wen soldiers rape Wei Wuxian in front of the Jiang sect,l. Yanli cries

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12. Looking for a specific fix where Wei Ying is dead and the sects come together to watch through his memories and end up finding out for selfless he was. @aviidaviibiitchboii

FOUND! Misunderstood by Silver_Flame_2724 (M, 250k, WIP, WangXian, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Heavy Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Canon-Typical Violence, Self-Worth Issues)

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13. Hi, I'm looking for a modern au where Wei Ying is a grad student in an orchestra and A-yuan is dropped off at his door by his cousin Mo Xuanyu. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan get together while caring for A-yuan and end up getting married. A-yuan has a fear of airports in this fic because of his abandonment issues. This was on AO3 but I can't seem to find it. @amindonbreak

FOUND! The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane (E, 70k, WangXian, Modern AU, Accidental baby acquisition, Kid fic, Green card marriage (but not really), Slow Burn, Endless Pining, Happy ending, [Podfic of] The Simplest Way Forward by knight_tracer, Translation into Русский: Самый Простой Путь Вперёд (The Simplest Way Forward) by grand_R, Spanish Translation, Turkish translation )

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14. hello! im looking for specific fic, where after burial mounds wwx thinks he's dead. instead of joining sunshot campain he storms nightless city and kills all cultivators without anyone knowing it was him (exept meng yao who survived but is wounded)

he then "haunts" yumeng for a while until he runs into wen quing and takes wens to burrial mounds

eventually ppl find out and together with meng yao they outsmart jgs to pardon all wens @chellsky

I can't find 14, but I do remember reading it; they ended up pretending Wen Qing was the one controling the dead and killing the Wen, and they faked her death

FOUND! can't find a way home by KouriArashi (M, 109k, WangXian, XiYao, XuanLi, ChengQing, Canon Divergence, Angst, Family, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Politics, Family Feels, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Developing Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, canon-typical political bullshit, Mental Health Issues, Eventual Happy Ending, Descriptions of suicide, (caused by dark magic))

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15. Hello! I'm looking for a fic where Sizhui's bio parents are alive and come to Cloud Recesses looking for him (post-canon, iirc)

Hello! I'm #15 from the latest fic finder. I'm quite sure that the fic was on ao3. It may have been inspired from the angstymdzsthoughts posts but it was a proper fic posted on ao3

NOT FOUND! This Post by angstymdzsthoughts Mad idea, could 15 be from angstymdzsthoughts?

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16. Hi! I was reading a really interesting story about LWJ being cursed and WWX helping him and I lost it! Arg, now I'm so curious to know how it ends, I hope you can help me!

The story is about LWJ being cursed with a change in his private body parts. (The curse changes his p to a v). Then WWX notices this and decide to help LWJ and the way to revert the curse is that LWJ has to have an org@sm.

Can you help me? I'm dying to know how to continues!! 🤗🤗 @wangxiansgirl

FOUND! Coming Back to Yourself by acernor (E, 21k, wangxian, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Oral Sex, Pining, Gender or Sex Swap, Vaginal Sex)

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17. Hi! Looking for a fic wherein wangxian married and suddenly Mo Xuanyu woke up again in his body, he fell in love with Lan Wangji but Lan Wangji just ignore or formal with him. Mo Xuanyu heartbroken tried to bring back Wei Wuxian Soul on his body

I feel like this might be in the angstymdzs collection, since I think it's was inspired by one of those asks?

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18. Kind of random, but I’m trying to find a fic I read awhile ago that featured hagfish? My memory of it is kind of vague, it was a college au and wwx was some sort of biology major i think and there were hagfish. Compelled to read it again because of hagfish reasons.

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19. Hello! I'm looking for a specific fic which I've seen in a few people's bookmarks but for some reason neglected to even mark for later. It's a modern AU where LWJ is looking for a pet sitter for his bunnies and is recommended WWX's pet sitting/walking venture (no dogs allowed ofc). Can you help? 🐇 @linderel

FOUND! A Single Note by airinshaw (E, 19k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Kissing, Anal Sex, Fluff and Smut, Light Dom/sub)

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20. I search a fic where Jiang Cheng tries to ask Lan Xichen to marry him and Lan Xichen is super offended by it. Nie Huaisang may have done something to make JC fail even more in his proposal.

FOUND? To Take A Wife- Or Perhaps A Husband by Admiranda (T, 2k, one-sided LXC/JC, one-sided NHS/JC, JC's canonical homophobia, JC's canonical inability to get married, Decides to solve his problems with spite, not JC friendly, We all love NHS in this household, JC's canonical blind spots, Post-Canon, JC's canonical classism)

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

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wundersmith-squall · 6 months

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ramble about your Ezra Squall redemption arc please?

Absolutely- id be very happy to! I'm quite aware that im about to sound like this:

but you asked so this is what you signed up for /j

Soooooooo it basically wormed its way into my head because of the one time where Squall said something like 'We're wundersmiths we take all of the blame and none of the credit' and I was like, okay sir are you speaking from experience? What was the 'credit' of your actions? And also the mention of the shared enemy, which I at the time took as meaning partially something in the republic that threatens Nevermoor, and partially something to do with the system, the Wunderous Society and like, all the people in charge who are against wundersmiths and are trying to hold Mog back.

Along with these two things, I'd like to think that 100+ years of banishment are long enough to rethink your actions and become a better person.

So, I'll explain it in a way that wont take an entire essay to write out. Basically it goes in my head that, Courage Square was, at least partially an accident, and over 100 years the story got skewed, and the current population turned against Ezra and the Wundersmiths, while the population at the time knew how, Wundersmiths ultimately were trying to help Nevermoor. Courage Square was bad, which is why Ezra was banished, but he wasnt killed. After a tragedy, it would be expected that he'd be punished, but at the time, the Republic as we know it didnt exist, and so being banished out there was a very bad fate, but it was definitely better than death.

Ezra went through a, lot of bad mental states during the first few decades of his banishment, but as he grew older, he came to terms with both his past actions and his current situation, though he still feels guilty about it.

In my head, the Wundersmiths were originally established to protect Nevermoor from the weird creatures of the darkness that the Wunderous Society takes care of now. Those creatures are attracted to Wunder. When Ezra was banished from Nevermoor, there were no longer any Wundersmiths in there, and so WunSoc had to step up and find a way to cover for him. Meanwhile, Ezra, who still loves Nevermoor, establishes Squall Industries, partially to improve conditions in the Republic and partially to provide a bigger, brighter beacon of wunder to attract the majority of the dangerous creatures to a place where he could still handle them. In this same thought, the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow werent something he created, but a group of these dangerous creatures that he managed to tame.

On the same subject are the other cursed children, those who, gather wunder but are unfortunately dont have the gift to control it. The creatures of the darkness, who chase wunder, hunt down these children to take the wunderous energy from them, which they dont survive. Ezra does his best in this situation, but one man can only do so much, and the creatures are relentless.

When he first discovers Morrigan, he's not exactly sure what to do. He tries to just get her as an apprentice through the usual means in the republic, but after a certain mad ginger got in the way he sent the Hunt after her, himself being busy trying to help the other cursed children, but we all know that that attempt didnt work. Ezra, knowing about the wunder critical-mass gather-too-much-without-using-it-makes-bad-things-happen thing, so he used the gossamer to get back into Nevermoor.

Having to enter and view Nevermoor again, even though not physically, took a bit of a toll on him, plus having to interact with someone new while being himself, which is not something he's had to do in a long time. He's also never, had to teach anyone before.

From there, I imagine he goes from frustrated and angry, to irritated but starting to get attached to Mog, to actually being a genuinely good teacher (aka the floof you saw in my drawing, who doesnt sleep nearly enough but still tries his best to be a good person), who is Tired™ and also just as chaotic as Jupiter when he wants to be.

Thank you for listening to my ramble- I can happily expand on anything if anyone happens to like this train of thought. I have further specifics on, basically everything, but this is a solid overview.

#im also working on a new drawing #so hopefully that will be finished in the next few days #nevermoor #jessica townsend #ezra squall #wundersmith #wunder #morrigan crow #ramble #ezra squall redemption arc

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theopolis · 5 months

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hello!! im sure youve gotten this question before but im having a Harry Moment and want to get Even Weirder about it SO !! i was wondering if you have a recommendation for approaching the original comics, where to start, which runs you think are the best reads for capturing his story, stuff like that!! your blogs a joy to browse, thanks so much!!!

Hello fellow Harold enthusiast!! I have in fact gotten this question before but I'm actually quite happy to receive it again as I've long been meaning to create a Harry reading list that would (hopefully) allow people to follow his entire story up to his death

In this chronological guide I've attempted to capture Harry's journey as a character, narrowed down from my own 616 reading experience.

I tried to stay focused on Harry-centric storylines and issues, but I couldn't resist adding some casual appearances particularly during the Silver Age because 1) I think of it as foundational to just about everything that matters in Spider-Man comics and 2) Harry-centric storylines tend to show him at his most distressed. They're important and often brilliant, but reading only those issues feels like a disservice to his kind and loving qualities. It's important to experience the smaller, calmer moments with him as well to truly understand his character.

Personal favorites are bolded, if you care for my bias.

Due to the numerous Spider-Man mags that were at times running simultaneously and ping-ponging storylines between one another, titles will be abbreviated as follows;

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) = TASM63

The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) = TSSM76

Web of Spider-Man (1985) = WOSM85

Now let's get into it!

Harry Osborn Reading List

Flashbacks

These were published more recently, but take place before Harry's first appearance in the comics

Short about Harry's childhood and Norman's failings as a father. One of the best depictions of their relationship, in my opinion

Nice Things from Amazing Spider-Man Extra! #3

Gwen-centric miniseries set during her time in high school and giving some insight on her and Harry's longlasting friendship

Giant Size Gwen Stacy

From introduction to deathbed

Watch Harry evolve from goofy background character to Peter's most important narrative foil!

First establishing of Harry's character and his dynamics with other key personages such as Peter and Norman

TASM63 #31, #34, #39, #40

Further development of all aforementioned things. The highs and lows of Peter and Harry's life as roommates. Daddy issues. Romantic drama. Drug addiction subplot. Anything you could ask

TASM63 #46, #47, #53, #54, #57, #59, #60, #61, #62, #63, #66, #74, #82, #95, #96, #98, #105, #110, #118

The storyline that changed everything

TASM63 #119, #120, #121, #122

Harry grows increasingly suspicious and paranoid around Peter following his father's death

TASM63 #123, #124, #126, #127, #129, #134, #135

Now... here's a disclaimer for the following issues: Despite the aforementioned buildup being very well executed, the result is not exactly so and has more to do with giving the Goblin as a concept another hurrah, rather than delving into Harry's character. In fact I'd even argue they're out of character for Harry, as his behavior in them is just cartoonishly diabolical and in stark contrast to both his previously established personality and subsequent depictions of his Goblin. So yeah, these issues are technically important to the grander picture of what is happening with Harry and why, but don't expect insight lol

TASM63 #136, #137

Harry's back and his friends are more than happy to welcome him. He even moves in with Flash

TASM63 #151, #152, #153

Harry and Liz Allan enter a romance and quickly move on to engagement. He is also seen seeking psychiatric treatment

TASM63 #156, #157, #163, #166, #167

The happiness was not to last: Liz' stepbrother, Mark Raxton aka the Molten Man stirs up trouble, and she leaves the city in the aftermath. Harry seeks fault within himself and appears to be on his way to going green again – but is all as it seems?

TASM63 #172, #173, #174, #175, #179, #180

Harry and Liz have settled into the suburbs. In come more Molten Man and more insecurities!

TSSM76 #63

A mysterious foe known as the Hobgoblin has been attacking the company Harry inherited from his father and even blackmailing him with Norman's secret identity. During this troubled time, Liz and Harry are also having a baby

TASM63 #239, #244, TSSM76 #85, TASM63 #249, #250, #251, #260, #261, #263, TSSM76 #146, WOSM85 #47, TASM63 #312, TSSM76 #147

Molten Man, take three – this time with a wholesome twist

WOSM85 #61, #62

Harry briefly attempts to turn the Green Goblin into a superhero

WOSM85 #66, #67

The final Green Goblin Jr Saga – an absolute Must Read. If I could recommend just one Harry storyline, it would definitely be this one

TSSM76 #178, #179, #180, #181, #182, #183, #184, #189, #200

Post OMD Revival/"Clone Harry"

Full disclosure, I don't read much Post OMD Spider-Man. One day I might venture into it despite my gripes and add more to this section. Until then: I'd sort of be amiss not to include these two at the very least in a Harry Osborn reading list, even if recent nonsensical twists have revealed Post OMD Harry to have been a clone all along

Harry and Peter's reunion

Amazing Spider-Man Family #4

Harry cutting ties with his father. While I think this story could have been improved in numerous ways, watching Harry leave Norman behind is still pretty satisfying and I enjoy the way his relationship with Peter is portrayed in this

TASM63 #595, #596, #597, #598, #599

#theopolispost #harry osborn #if anyone catches a mistake with the issue numbering pls correct me #harry

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besiegedhunter · 1 month

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Lappland Event

Theorycrafting a Lappland event from information from Terra: A Journey and information found in game. Also to further the Siracusa and Red agenda.

Continuing below:

To be more upfront about what this is, it's of course discussing this from the 4th PV trailer shown in the 5th anniversary livestream:

I think that there's opportunities that only work with 5.5 that could lead into the setting and plot points of Lappland's event that I want to discuss.

I suggest cherry picking what you think are applicable because I naturally don't work at HG, I'm just saying what I think works. I also don't know the direction that Lappland's story is going in, I have thoughts where it'll be set and some characters and things involved but her motivations I'm not entirely sure on. Il Siracusano was rather vague on it but if you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

Also I'm not as knowledgable on Zwillingstürme im Herbst as I'd like to be for this post. Which is to say this will spoil that event.

Now I'll be breaking them down into chapters:

Setting and Signora Sicilia

Relevant events and history

Signore dei Lupi and Projekt Red

The Bocca al Lupo

There'll be some other things placed here and there, with the first certainly getting into the lorebook the most and if you want to skip to any of these that's all good.

With that stated, let's get into it.

Setting and Signora Sicily.

So I'll be delving into the lorebook for this part however I don't have access to it right now and so only have so many screenshots I can use, which will be machine translated.

But for the setting of the event and the crux of my theorycrafting, I believe that it will take place in the capital of Siracusa: Montelupe.

I've got several reasons but the first one is that, as it's the capital of Siracusa, it's very probable that it's where Signora Sicily operates out of and Signora Sicily aught to be very important to Lappland's story ever since "To Be Continued" but throughout Il Siracusano we were purposefully left in the dark in regards to the scope of their history.

To be more specific:

When the Texas family declared independence from Signora Sicily, she ordered a purge of the family. Lappland led the Saluzzo forces in this event but her obsession with Texas and failing to kill her got her exiled from her family.

However next we hear, she's the one sent to deal with Gambino and Capone for Signora Sicily and in Il Siracusano, Signora Sicily offers her the chance of joining her Bocca al Lupo.

Since the Texas family purge Lappland has been working with Signora Sicily and was trusted enough by her to be offered to join her elite group. On top of that, Lappland's goal after Il Siracusano is destroying Siracusa which is an impossible task but the most easiest way to go about that would be by killing Sicily who acts as Siracusa.

That's an unfounded claim however and Il Siracusano really downplays the Lappland and Sicily stuff if she's planning on killing her. Just the point stands that Sicily is important and likely acting out of Montelupe. (You could also say Lappland as business with the Bocca al Lupo which I'll get back to.)

Relevant Events and History

The next reason is the meat of this, why it being 5.5 is important and what Montelupe really entails. So to begin, this is what we hear about Montelupe in the lorebook's section for Siracusa, in it's intro:

So from this alone we learn that Montelupe was at the head of Siracusa's drive for Independence from Leithania, a thing that we don't really learn much about from Il Siracusano. The only thing we really learn connects the two points:

In the chaos caused by the mafia following Siracusa's independence, Signora Sicily installed "Pistole e Ordine“ and the "Grey Hall" to establish order in the country.

We actually learn more about in the 4.5 event: Zwillingstürme im Herbst, set in Leithania.

As it explains: Siracusa was one of the ten founding tribes of Leithania, bound together by the magical pact of the Golden Rhythm. In breaking the Golden Rhythm, as seen in the lorebook passage, Siracusa gained it's independence and the Witch King did the impossible by fixing it and restoring order to Leithania.

The purpose of this is that we learn Leithania's side in 4.5 and in 3.5 the extent of it is Sicily dealing with the repercussions.

What if Lappland's event touches on this?

Perhaps her plan is to destroy Sicily or the Bocca al Lupo, returning Siracusa to the time just after it's Independence, contextualizing it and taking place in Montelupe which drove Siracusa's independence?

5.5 is the only time that can most accurately capitalize on the theme of Siracusa's Independence because of 4.5 depicting Leithania's side of the story.

But there's more to 5.5 being perfect.

See, the lorebook actually tells us why Siracusa joined Leithania and what the catalyst for it's Independence was.

Before there was a Leithania, the tribes that would found it were threatened by Sarkaz invasions. Siracusa particularly compared to the other nine tribes were in danger because of their harsh environment impeding their civilization from developing.

So Siracusa joined the other nine tribes to create an alliance against the Sarkaz invasion, which this being thousands of years ago likely meant that Kazdel was much larger, right on the edge of Siracusa and Leithania.

It was the Crusade led by Kal'tsit against Kazdel that all but destroyed Kazdel, did Siracusa feel it was safe enough to seek their independence.

Which not only connects it to the main story which of course focuses on the Sarkaz's story but more personally to IS5 where one ending appears to depict the crusade that would facilitate Siracusa's independence:

Since Chapter 14 and IS5 will come out before 5.5, we'll learn more about the Crusade and then 5.5 can show us how Siracusa was affected and Siracusa's Independence from Leithania that is rooted in these events and 4.5.

5.5 is the only time that can capitalize on the timing of 4.5 and IS5 to fully contextualize Siracusa's Independence, with Montelupe and Signora Sicily being ideal to do so.

As for looking towards the future, I think that the 4th pv trailer might provide us an idea for another event that it might tie into afterwards:

As stated before: Lappland and especially Sicily are connected to Laterano. And we don't know yet what Lappland's BoC skin is referring to:

Maybe we'll learn the full context inside her event and it'll tie into the Laterano plans that are coming up. If I'm right on her event delving into Siracusa's Independence and the Sarkaz, we might see whether Siracusa has any plans with Laterano in regards to the Sarkaz in her event also.

Signore dei Lupi and Projekt Red

Next is what I believe to be a subplot to the event akin to Lappland or Lunacub's plot in Il Siracusano but first I need to clear something up:

Lappland is not a Fang of a Signore dei Lupi and is not participating in their game. When Bernado took his own life in IS-9, Zaaro lost that round:

Red, Lunacub and an unnamed Fang are the only Fangs left in this round per what Bernado said and until only one of them is left, the next round won't begin:

I also believe that Lappland has her own idea of how she'll destroy Siracusa than using the Signore dei Lupi and doesn't really know or care what they are:

Which I don't think is to say that the Signore dei Lupi and the other Fangs won't play a role and interact with Lappland and be in her event. I actually think that this offers a unique circumstance to give us a fun scenario and insight into Red's story at the same time.

It's established early on in Il Siracusano that, go figure, Lappland works and stays at Rhodes Island:

It's obvious but I just wanted to establish that Lappland's time at Rhodes Island has been established and referenced which is important for this voiceline of hers:

Unless it's changed, I believe that Red and Lappland are the only 5*s with an Outstanding Combat Skill and this is a very interesting voiceline because you don't really see Lappland afraid and her saying she'd lose is nigh unheard of.

Il Siracusano depicted her playing everyone else like a chessmaster and scaring seasoned mafioso like Demetri just by her presence. Signora Sicily also personally invited her to join her Bocca al Lupo and she stalemated against Zaaro.

Saying she'd lose to Red coming from her isn't without cause but perhaps more importantly: this sets up them fighting and Lappland knowing of Red ahead of time.

There's also an OPERATORS page focusing on Lappland where she steals Pozy's coat thinking it was Red's probably, which sets it up as well.

I'd provide Red's comment about her but it doesn't exist, which arguably is more interesting than anything that could've been said because there is an official image that confirms that Red knows Lappland.

But it goes further than this because as interesting as it is for them to fight, it might be just as interesting for Red and Zaaro to meet. The reason being this, just before the Zaaro bossfight in IS-10:

Later on when Crownslayer discovers Red it's described in a very similar way and Red's skill is called Chill. It's also not something that Fangs do normally as Lunacub nor Bernado at any point are shown to exhibit the same effect.

Only Zaaro and Red. So if Red and Lappland fight, Zaaro could probably point out something about it that we otherwise wouldn't learn about. It'd also be an excuse for Zaaro to develop and be explored as a character, faced with another Fang or even another Signore dei Lupi if Grandma gets introduced.

Also it'd be really cool to see Lappland and Red fight as the 3D PV for the event.

But also I think it's possible that the "Unnamed Fang" could get involved as well. Either Red and them are drawn to Lappland, mistaking her for a Fang because they work off of smell or are both in the area and mistake Lappland as one and both fight her at separate times.

Either could serve as a miniboss before the main one and Red's subplot could end with her killing this Fang.

It could also tie into Montelupe's history and a theme of Siracusa's Independence as the "wild man" who tore apart Siracusa's "Golden Rhythm" was compared to what I'm pretty sure are the Fangs and maybe even one himself.

It could also further the themes of the wilderness and it's violence that Lappland's playing into and serve as a direct comparison to her, her beliefs and her methods.

The Bocca al Lupo

Another character who I'm even more sure will appear is Ben. I'm so confident I might even go as far as to say that he could be the main boss.

So firstly, he's already quite connected to Lappland. Firstly because of his monologue about her after she crashed into Texas's court case:

But also because this monologue of his effectively prophesizes where Lappland's story is going and the themes playing into it as well as how similar he is.

This is through how he is the one primarily driving the wilderness/violence vs civilization theme, which you could see Zaaro and Sicily being two ends of. Or Lappland and Texas. Which of course, the event ends off on:

Which contrasts Vigil and Penance's in the scene earlier that ends on: Civilization. In the same manner.

I also think that he holds similar views to Lappland but that he's come to accept Siracusa's current state as opposed to destroying it. He perceives himself as an outsider and Siracusa just being a wilderness where the people dress in civility but are no better than the wolves in the wilderness.

He despises it but where Lappland deems that she will destroy it, the wilderness and violence that stole her childhood, family, happiness away, he accepts that that's Siracusa.

And the thing about him as well as a parallel may be being drawn between them even further. As I've gone into before, Lappland was invited to become an Bocca al Lupo and Ben is the only other character who's been name dropped as being one:

And Il Siracusano really liked it's parallels with how Vigil and Penance mirror Sicily and Agenir. There's a possibility that Lappland and Ben are set up in a similar way but that's yet to be seen.

Either way, as one of the Bocca al Lupo, Sicily's wolves, if Lappland goes against her then they'll likely come for her and Ben would be one of them. And with his closeness to Sicily and his connections to Lappland, it's possible that he'll be an important adversary.

He also has an important talk with Lunacub in his Azione Solo so I wouldn't be surprised if he interacts with like, Red or the other Fang if they are in this event.

Wrapping it up

Those are my ideas for things that could feature in Lappland's event. I also think it's possible that this could be Suzuran's Mum or Dad:

We'll have to wait and see.

Also with W Alter being a Flinger Sniper, it's very possible that Lappland Alter will be a 6* Guard for anyone theory crafting what she could be.

Also y'know... Texas and Yato Alters being so close and Executors, Logos being the 4th Core Caster and 4th and 5th anniv non-limiteds being Core Casters, there's nothing to say Lappland won't be an Arts Guard or something.

Have fun. I hope this at least fuels ideas and uh, join me in hoping Red makes an appearance because if it's anything like 3.5 > 5.5 I could be waiting till 7.5 for her to get something if she doesn't feature in 5.5.

Please, she's been in Siracusa for two years already. Let her throw Lappland around a bit so Lappland can tell Kal'tsit back at Rhodes that she's fine, to make the next two years wait bearable.

#arknights #cn spoilers #cn server #spoilers #lappland #projekt red

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thesherrinfordfacility · 4 months

Text

six months on (albeit, a bit late) part 1/3

part one | part two | epilogue (at some point)

hello would you like a stupid-length run down of the final fifteen?

idk about anyone else, but i kinda find myself regularly in a position where i don't know what to think about the final fifteen. i flit from one explanation or opinion to another; there have been so many facets of this sequence discussed that ive even found myself turned around on what i actually think was going on... was aziraphale threatened? did he do a complete 180 on his character development throughout both seasons? does he genuinely buy what metatron is telling him? how does he take crowley's rejection to return to heaven with him?

so back to basics, and because im itching to stretch the meta-writing legs that isn't solely an ask response or a purely batshit speculation - and because throughout writing this, i anticipate that i might surprise myself on how, overall, i interpret the whole scene... going back to basics and simply rewatching the scene (and making copious notes) is in order! just don't expect this to be anything you've necessarily not seen before - there are no revelations in this post.

please also note that this is an incredibly long, winding, and abhorrently lengthy post. no im not actually sorry about it, i needed to write it all out for my own bloody sanity

shall we begin?

so first thing's first: metatron saying his first line as he did indicates that aziraphale has expressed some hesitation. might be his body language, or possibly he's even said as such - something along the lines of, 'id need to discuss it with crowley', or something as simple as, 'im not sure, i need to think'. either way, aziraphale certainly responds to the metatron in a way that would suggest he is excited... but definitely incredulous and nervous.

and as for the metatron terming it as 'good news'; he seems to think that he and aziraphale are on the same page, that they hold the same opinion on whatever they've talked about. given what he later says about crowley, however - plus the borderline-disparaging remarks about going his own way, the Evil Glare™, and how quickly he just accepts that crowley isn't going - suggest that he a) doesn't want crowley in heaven, and b) that he anticipates that crowley will, in fact, consider the offer to return to heaven as very much Bad News Bears, and summarily reject it.

aziraphale starts making his way back to the bookshop, and boy do those expressions tell a story. that is not a happy angel. as soon as he steps off the pavement, his face falls, and his brow tightens in nerves, worry, and possibly even confusion; that to me is a, 'how the fuck am i going to explain this, how am i even going to word it?'. there's a quick, fortifying breath, and he's squaring the shoulders just as he moves out of frame. getting fanciful, that is an angel that is practically steeling himself to do battle; he knows crowley isn't going to like this, knows that it's going to be a hard sell. but what is key is that he does all of this walking away from the metatron, where he can't see - if nothing else, it's a very different expression to the 'excitement' he showed just seconds earlier.

but then he gets into the bookshop, and that expression is gone. for whatever reason, he doesn't want crowley to see it either. he doesn't want crowley to see anything less than joy, confidence, or excitement - he doesn't want to let crowley see that something is wrong/amiss. we then see the metatron, after establishing that muriel might be an adequate replacement to look after the bookshop, look across the street and presumably have a clear view of the two of them in the shop itself.

now, let's talk about crowley for a sec. crowley is equally nervous, and we can presume that it stems from the conversation with nina and maggie - that he needs to start opening communication with aziraphale, especially if anything is to move forward... and the best place to start, we presume (because, ultimately, we don't know for certain what he was going to say or how he was going to word it in this moment) is to propose that he and aziraphale - if nothing else - truly become an 'us'. maybe there's a love confession in there, maybe not. regardless, he's fidgety, but resolute; he even swipes off his glasses to show how committed he is to diving headfirst into this vulnerability that he otherwise keeps under wraps.

aziraphale, whilst crowley is word-vomiting, is immediately starting off with hand movements to get him to slow down, to quieten down, or stop talking altogether. as he does so, he's looking right back out of the shop window, as if he's aware of metatron's reciprocal gaze in. he's doing so with a pretty sincere smile on his face, and that to me is saying a couple of things:

aziraphale, i think, from the moment he set foot in the shop and saw nina and maggie coming back out, possibly already knew where crowley was going with the conversation. he's just watched as crowley practically offered up alpha centauri to gabriel and beelzebub as a refuge, somewhere he's already expressed that he and aziraphale could go to escape the apocalypse. so; to aziraphale's mind, in crowley doing so, a) crowley has chosen to remain on earth come what may - otherwise he'd have kept his chosen prospective bolthole quiet, and b) in the context where crowley offers it to them, as a safe place for two hereditary enemies just like them to love each other in peace, aziraphale recognises that that might have been what crowley wanted for them too. ergo, to my mind, crowley's confession is not necessarily a surprise to aziraphale - i daresay he likely saw it coming

aziraphale does not jump in straight away to interrupt crowley, and nor does he do it with any harsh or abrupt language. he wants to revisit this conversation - literally the meaning of 'hold that thought' - but what he has to say takes precedence. and to be fair, depending on how we interpret the preceding scene with the metatron (and what is revealed in the flashback conversation), it is arguably a more pressing matter to discuss, especially if it concerns their respective safeties... but it's a conversation he wants to return to

that being said, if aziraphale does know that the confession is inbound, the fact that he would treat it as somewhat of a joking matter - especially given how uncomfortable and fervent crowley's own demeanour is - is a bit... nasty? aziraphale has definitely, on previous occasions, expressed flashes of superiority over crowley, but i don't think this is a situation where he does feel superior... not at all. instead, again, considering how he quickly cheers up his expression when he enters the shop, this to me is aziraphale trying to mask his own discomfort, panic, and worry. he's keeping this whole thing as light and airy as he possibly can.

we then move on to aziraphale telling crowley he has some "incredibly good news" to give him... which, okay, sure, it might be that aziraphale is anticipating it to be good news. but again, the expression outside the shop? if he was that confident that crowley would be jumping for joy at the merest suggestion of returning to heaven, the conflicted expressions of worry and trepidation would, presumably, not have happened. so, i once again can only take this line to be aziraphale trying to dress it up with excitement. and i say dress it up because... we've seen aziraphale beside himself with excitement, right? and this is not it. this (first two snips) is aziraphale being giddy with excitement, or at least a job well done, not the latter clip:

aziraphale is barely able to get the words out properly after this point, he's nigh incoherent, and his hand movements indicate he's practically frantic... someone who normally, even when nervous or uncomfortable, keeps his hands quite close to his body, clasped comfortingly in front of him or stiff at his sides. we then furthermore have what he seems to mouth in the midst of this flurry of movement and mumbling, which, yes, is speculation but i rather much stand by it so far... and as such, seems to match his expression outside of the bookshop of, 'what the fuck am i going to say'.

also worth noting, to his credit, that crowley is being remarkably patient throughout all of this - i think he potentially does recognise that something is amiss? the 'somethings wrong' voice? recognises that despite himself being interrupted from something really quite important, aziraphale is evidently... not himself.

what intrigues me however, before we get into the meat of aziraphale and metatron's conversation, is how aziraphale words this particular bit:

because aziraphale catches himself before he says something potentially rather offensive, and then turns it back on himself. for example: "i don't think he's as bad a fellow as he came across", or "-as we thought he was", compared to aziraphale then backtracking and owning that it was his fault, "i think i might have misjudged him!".

what does it matter if he calls out the metatron for having been an arse in s1? it was a perfectly fair assessment to make, by all accounts, and presumably one that he and crowley had a laugh/bitch over post-s1... why would he recount that particular line? it wouldn't change the sentiment, ultimately - that aziraphale is trying to convey to crowley that the metatron 'is actually kind of alright!' - and it's not like crowley would be offended either way... so, are we to assume that even if the metatron can't hear what he's saying (although i have further speculation on this too, by the by, but this is a little more tentative) aziraphale perhaps fears that he can? in much the same way that he only let his expression truly slip once his back was turned, out on the street?

but then we move onto the offer itself, and the conversation between him and the metatron. aziraphale starts getting into his stride, probably because now he's just simply recounting what actually happened, all supported by the flashbacks we get. aziraphale isn't having to lie, as far as we can tell - he's simply going over the conversation he had. let's break that down:

aziraphale initially seems quite relaxed to be sat opposite metatron, insomuch that he doesnt look overly tense. frankly, he just looks bored, wanting to get this over and done with, likely so he can head back to the bookshop and be left in peace. as he said before they left; he has made his position clear, he wants nothing to do with heaven (at least as it currently is), and this is just a courtesy, to hear out whatever the voice of god has to say. of course, metatron then blindsides aziraphale by saying that - of course - the only option to replace gabriel must be aziraphale.

what is noteworthy is how aziraphale says, "and i said... "me?!"... and he said-". because when we cut back to the flashback, aziraphale's expression has not changed at all. there's no excitement, but more just bafflement and shock... and not one that indicates he's in any way enthusiastic about the idea. the fact that aziraphale chooses to recount that particular 'me?!' the way he does to crowley suggests that he's, quite possibly, putting it on, playing the part, and deliberately overstating his initial reaction - almost like he's trying to hype crowley up in turn. furthermore - aside from all the handwaving and nervous huffs of laughter - aziraphale does not even blink throughout this whole spiel to crowley. just an observation.

metatron gives his bullshit rationalisation for choosing aziraphale - and i say bullshit because from their last interaction in s1, aziraphale arguably did not display much of the qualities that metatron purports he has... if any at all - and aziraphale visibly starts to subtly panic. there's the glance away, his shoulders stiffen, he swallows nervously, breathes heavily. when aziraphale does speak, it's immediately to declare that he doesn't want the position, doesn't want to go back to heaven full stop (very reminiscent of his reaction to the promotion offer in the cut 1800 scene), and gives the excuse of the coffee.

metatron then brings out Les Big Guns. before the metatron says anything else, and without so much as a hint from aziraphale, metatron oh so casually remarks that aziraphale would have the final say on who he works with. he already anticipates that aziraphale's hang-up about going back to heaven may not be in fact the coffee, and tbh may not in fact be anything to do with earth itself, but everything to do with crowley remaining on earth. crowley is however a demon, and in his current form would not be able to go to heaven (which in turn begs another observation - does metatron not know that crowley infiltrated heavily pretty easily earlier in the episode?... hmm).

as such, the obvious solution for the metatron is to drop the fact that he probably knows a lot more about aziraphale and crowley's historic dealings with each other than would otherwise be anticipated. he mentions that he has had the chance to peruse over... recordings? reports? photos? that show the span of aziraphale's relationship with crowley - and unspokenly suggests that he knows everything. and then he offers a very neat, tidy solution to that small 'hes a demon' snag. he tells aziraphale he would have the authority to restore crowley, so he could come with him.

aziraphale, whilst metatron is revealing the scope of his intelligence gathering, looks like he's about to burst into tears. to me? that is horror, and fear - like a frightened animal being suddenly backed into a corner. his eyes start darting everywhere, his face - especially his jaw - tenses, and he looks like he's about to leg it out of his chair at any given moment. and namely, once metatron tells him he could restore crowley to being an angel, we don't see aziraphale's resultant expression at all. it immediately cuts back to the bookshop.

why would aziraphale fear metatron knowing everything about him and crowley? this isn't clear. it may simply be residue fear, muscle memory, from years gone by where their association has had to exist in utmost secret. alternatively, it might be that aziraphale is not comfortable in the knowledge that not only does metatron want something from him (to return to heaven), but that metatron has very accurately landed on aziraphale's pressure point (crowley). this is what i mean when i say, as i have in previous posts, that i don't think there's a missing, overt threat from the metatron that we've not been shown, but that aziraphale feels threatened.

compare this to nearly every spy movie you've ever seen - you want someone to do something for you, but they're resistant? just casually drop that you know that their partner has just had a new haircut, or that their child looked happy going into school that morning, or that their parent is struggling to pay for their medical bills... it's sufficient information enough to instill a sense of peril without being an unclassy, hamfisted, overt threat.

my last thought on the flashbacks; as was said brilliantly in this post (@fearandhatred), i don't think the flashbacks were disingenuous, and i don't believe that there are gaps missing that will be revealed in s3. but i do think that there are some key things that aziraphale might not have actually told crowley in his recount of the conversation. crowley responds in his next line specifically to the offer of restoration... so, did aziraphale even tell him about the metatron knowing all about them? their "de facto partnership", their "previous exploits"? because personally, i don't think he did. once again - the narrative irony that we as the audience have the full story, but crowley potentially does not.

but anyway; back to the bookshop.

...okay, aziraphale. right. i mean, first of all, crowley is just as taken aback, shocked, and incredulous as aziraphale seems to have been during the flashbacks. but aziraphale? everything has slowed down, almost calmed, like the eye of the storm has passed over. he almost looks less manic, less (frankly) deranged, and seems to actually be settling in the fact that the offer itself might actually be a good thing - something that crowley might in fact want. it's still not quite right, he's still not quite acting in a way that makes me think aziraphale's being entirely forthcoming with crowley.

the way he says that crowley could "come back" is soft and gentle, as if he's granting the most amazing, positively astounding opportunity - that heaven is doing something that it has never (as far as we or aziraphale, presumably, is aware) done before, and welcoming crowley back... like it's equal parts forgiveness towards crowley for having done whatever he did (im deliberately trying to keep this concept very vague and objective), and apology to crowley for a punishment that far outweighed any possible 'crime' he could have committed... like heaven is attempting to make reparations for what they did to him in the fall.

putting this outside the main body because it's another slight tangent. we know that crowley being good, nice, and/or kind is not necessarily indicative that crowley should or ought to be an angel. there are shades of grey. however, i do think aziraphale... still has issues with that. still has issues with aligning what he thinks good is, how intrinsically important being good is to him, and then where crowley sits in the midst of all of it - almost like aziraphale accepts that he himself may be in the grey, accepts his shortcomings, but where crowley is concerned aziraphale readily glosses over a number of his... not-so-nice bits. this might stem from aziraphale believing that it's more palatable to love crowley if he believes him to essentially be an angel in all but name, but i don't think it's quite that. more that aziraphale maybe thinks that 'good' is the ideal to hold, that heaven is the place that was meant to be good, and that crowley himself is good... so... well, isn't it the logical conclusion that crowley would want to return to heaven?

so going back to this bit of the scene: i don't think aziraphale ever wanted crowley to revert back to factory settings, never even considered the notion, nor necessarily thought that crowley would be better as an angel... but instead perhaps that being an angel again is what crowley would want. that it would be nothing more, really, than a rubber stamp in his personnel file. i think aziraphale was simply remembering the angel that was joyful in creating, surrounded himself in the exaltation of imagining new and wonderful things, bringing them to life; why wouldn't, in its most basic essence, aziraphale want that for crowley again? for crowley to be back where - as far as aziraphale likely remembers - he was at his happiest? and if he has the power to give it, like the metatron said, isn't that the greatest gift aziraphale could ever bestow upon him?

if we accept, as the whole final fifteen scene is intimating pretty strongly thus far, that aziraphale is trying to keep his panic and fear about the whole situation under wraps from crowley, it simultaneously makes sense that he would offer this to crowley as if he's saying:

'here's a wonderful thing that im pretty certain you've always wanted; please, just this once, don't ask questions about anything else, please just concentrate on this, i can handle everything else. just please say yes to coming back with me, i need you to come back. you can be happy, and i can sort out heaven, so that one day we can just simply walk away and never have to look over our shoulders. i'm scared, but i don't really have a choice, and tbh im even more scared what might happen if i leave you behind.'

but as metatron, i think, clearly anticipates, and as i think aziraphale truthfully does too as he first heads into the bookshop, this was never going to be something that crowley would accept. it's not something crowley wants. crowley - for whatever reason (again, in the absence of knowing anything concrete about the fall, keeping this deliberately vague) - was rejected by heaven in the most literal sense possible. slapping him with an angel stamp and dressing him in a white suit means nothing of value to him, and is the furthest from what he wants; in fact, actually, if anything, it's the biggest insult he could be afforded. because what has suddenly made him redeemable, palatable, 'forgiveable', in the eyes of heaven? nothing; just that he's a pawn in whatever bargain the metatron is trying to strike with aziraphale... and from crowley's pov, aziraphale has agreed to using him as a game piece. it doesn't confer value onto crowley, if anything it reduces it; in this equation, even if he were to accept the offer, he'd essentially be nothing more than a negotiated benefit for aziraphale to take the job.

(and that's all assuming that restoration would in fact mean crowley gets to continue being him, albeit in fancy white clothes - when there's the very real possibility that, if restoration as a concept even exists at all, heaven would just wipe him and set him off from ground zero all over again. aziraphale seems to have taken the metatron's word for it; that restoration even exists, that aziraphale would have the power to do it, and that it would mean he gets to keep crowley exactly as he is).

at which point... crowley knows that aziraphale didn't turn down the offer in the metaphorical room - "and you told him just where he could stick it, then?"... he's hopeful, possibly, but his expression suggests that he fully anticipates that aziraphale has bought into the crock of shit that metatron has spun him. that aziraphale took the job on the provision that crowley could join him, which crowley points out to be beneath the both of them, "oh, we're better than that- you're better than that, angel!".

aziraphale however, as explained above, sees it as being the best, safest, most opportune option for them both to take; "not at all", said with the tone of surprise that it is, suggests that aziraphale didn't ever consider the possibility of saying no, maybe because he feels that he can't, and never thought that crowley would say no, either. along with the surprise tone however, he says it with a very tense expression - the smile has frozen, and his tense are gritted. it might be that he genuinely thought that crowley would say yes, or because - again, if he's in fear of being overheard - he's worried about the implications of what crowley has just said.

crowley goes on to rant that he turned down hell when beelzebub made a very similar offer to crowley in ep1 (which, by the by, he... didn't. for whatever reason, crowley did not say no, nor any variant of a refusal, to beelzebub), and aziraphale remarks that that's a given, as "you're the bad guys".

now... i wince at this particular line every time i watch the final fifteen, as im sure everyone else does, but i don't think it's - at all - meant in the way that crowley likely receives it. certainly not in the way that the majority of the audience seems to have received it.

im not set to diminish or invalidate, on crowley's part, how it must feel to hear aziraphale still consider him a 'bad guy', simply because he's a demon. but from aziraphale's perspective, crowley is a demon, and demons are of hell. hell are not the good guys, as a collective - as has been proven time and time again - and, well, if heaven are meant to be the good guys, hell are by process of elimination the bad guys. once again, aziraphale arrives a rather binary conclusion of good vs. evil.

but equally consider that this is also the aziraphale that regularly compliments crowley on his niceness and his good deeds. that same aziraphale does not think of crowley as 'a bad guy'. he is blunt that crowley is of hell, who are the collective bad guys, because hell is the bad side to the heaven that was meant to be the good side. and as said above - crowley is good! he's a good person! he might be a demon, of hell, but he belongs on the side of good! which leads to this lovely little number:

throughout this whole part of their discussion, aziraphale has presented as more and more sure, less panicky and nervous - because i think this is something that he absolutely believes. he might have initially not wanted anything to do with heaven, but now? with the possibility that crowley could join him? suddenly then it's viable... lucrative, even - that he could fix heaven, that crowley could help him do it, they'd be together, and they'd get their happy, safe ending. his expression on "good" would suggest his confusion that crowley doesn't appear to share the same opinion - sure, heaven is shit now, but it was always meant to be good, right?* doesn't crowley see that?

crowley, however, justifiably illustrates that, the way he sees it (and has been demonstrated by the narrative), both sides are as flawed and redundant as each other; aziraphale can be as optimistic as he likes that heaven is redeemable, is fixable, but all crowley can see is that both are so inherently awful, so rotten to the very foundation, that there is no saving them... heaven least of all, for being the side that purports itself to be good. hell, at least, is aware of its very nature; heaven is insidious, and doesn't even have the good grace to acknowledge it, instead chalking it up to being god's will, and therefore whatever they do must be good.

and with that, i think crowley simultaneously starts to really panic - knowing that he's losing aziraphale - and yet hopes against all hope that he's gotten through to him, changed his mind, and begins pleading with him to tell him the exact thing he wants to hear; 'this is a bad idea, please don't do this, please-'

aziraphale is visibly struggling to even collect his thoughts, to even find the words to summarise why he's going to do this. simultaneously, aziraphale is dumbfounded. i think part of that is because he recognises the truth in what crowley is saying, but i also think that he's now in a position where his plan to get crowley to come with him has failed, and he's at a loss for what to do - what to say - next. he looks from crowley, looks out the window, his mouth is working to try and say something, even looks down at his feet, before coming up with the best way he can to explain why he's doing this. "if im in charge... i can make a difference."

*because once again (i'll die on this hill), i don't think aziraphale thinks that heaven as it currently is, is something that is good, light, or truth... but that heaven's intended purpose was to be those things, and is what heaven in essence stands for... irrespective of whoever is in charge. aziraphale has no allegiance to heaven as it currently is. michael, uriel, sandalphon, gabriel when he was supreme archangel - all of them have corrupted heaven to be something that it was never meant to be. but aziraphale has to believe that heaven itself is redeemable, has to believe that there is something salvageable; if it weren't, does that mean that aziraphale in turn is not either of those things too? does that mean that aziraphale is not good? heaven is capable of great things, that could benefit everyone involved; so couldn't aziraphale, from all of the experience he's gained, do something to make heaven exactly that?

it doesn't mean that aziraphale is any more correct for this more nuanced assumption, but i think it poses there is a very fine line in aziraphale's thinking. to my mind, aziraphale is not backtracking on the entirety of what he's learnt since the beginning, he's not suddenly heaven's man again - but instead is recognising that heaven is broken as it currently is... and that he could potentially fix it. if anything, that recognition that what he thought was faultless actually needs fixing, and that he may be able to do it, because it's the right thing to do... is exactly the character development i was expecting? an angel who has himself been rejected time and time again for being who he is, without even the finality of falling, could actually be the key to making heaven something worthy of the name.

he has to take that opportunity, to be that change, but he doesn't want to leave crowley to do so. not only because, of course, he simply loves crowley and wants both, but if he does leave crowley, what could happen to crowley without aziraphale being in a position to protect him? what, for me, it all boils down to is that aziraphale thinks going to heaven is the right thing to do, but only entertained it seriously when a) crowley's name, and their relationship, was casually mentioned in a way that felt like metatron would use it as leverage, and b) crowley could potentially come with him. ultimately, the fact remains that crowley more important to him than heaven is.

let's return to the specific wording of 'make a difference'. it's... fairly neutral, right? make a difference for whom? what kind of difference? the difference that metatron was talking about, or the difference that, in the most idealistic scenario possible, aziraphale and crowley both would probably want to happen? it's carefully worded - and coupled with eeeeverything that i've said about how aziraphale acts with the metatron, how he was hiding his expression as he entered the shop, and then how aziraphale seems to backtrack on bitch-talking the metatron... look, i don't necessarily buy that aziraphale is trying to speak in a riddle or code that he knows crowley would understand, but i do wonder if he's now hoping that crowley will read between the lines. he can't outright tell crowley his suspicions, and was possibly trying to get crowley to come with him in a way that wouldn't alert crowley to anything amiss whatsoever... but now? now that crowley is resisting? he has to edge slightly closer towards transparency.

in the hypothetical scenario that aziraphale is fearful that they may be overheard, or observed, aziraphale has to be careful. he has to word whatever he says in such a way that he appears to be heaven's man, that he genuinely wants to take the opportunity to run heaven and the 'enormous projects' that are in planning, in a way that doesn't disclose to the metatron that aziraphale is in any way suspicious of him. to crowley, however, he has to convey that he isn't heaven's man, that he wants to change things that would mean that it be for the better, and do all of that whilst not alerting crowley that there may be danger. 'make a difference' suddenly has a double-meaning, because for whose benefit does aziraphale truly want to change things?

crowley then, bless his heart, bravely launches into his confession that he tried to start at the beginning, and i think he does so in an effort to be completely transparent on why he needs aziraphale to stay - an effort to convince him to remain with crowley for no other reason than that he wants to be with him... and now? now he's not even sure it'll work. he's tried demonstrating where heaven isn't worth the effort, to no avail, so now he's going for full vulnerability mode. honestly, what a trooper, he was so so brave

aziraphale throughout the confession is practically motionless. the manic energy has disappeared, and from the subtle flickers in his expression, i think he saw this coming - saw it coming from the moment that he saw crowley offer up alpha centauri to gabriel and beelzebub, and saw nina and maggie very surreptitiously leave the bookshop. i think to some degree, aziraphale knew at least the nature of what crowley was going to say, and as a result, he gets very nervous:

at the sheer mention of "group", aziraphale pointedly (to me, anyway) looks out of the window. generally, he looks shifty - avoiding eye contact, eyes flickering, heavy breathing - but it's so deliberate that he looks out of the window where, we can surmise, is the general environs of where the metatron is still waiting. again - the metatron saying "de facto partnership", and all of his allusions to knowing the true nature and extent of aziraphale's association with crowley, seems all the more sinister if this line - "a team- a group!" - is specifically when aziraphale's eyes betray his concern. i don't think he's necessarily scared that the metatron will overhear this bit, because ultimately the metatron has intimated that he already knows this, but crowley is, potentially, and very much unknowingly, placing them in even more danger by vocalising the exact nature of what he and aziraphale feel for each other.

i also want to remark on aziraphale's look of confusion when crowley says, "spent our existence pretending that we aren't". ive had many a thought on why aziraphale would look so perplexed, and only one kind of makes sense to me - that actually, within the last few years, aziraphale... wasn't pretending at all. crowley told him that they were on their own side in tadfield, something that may have taken a while, but ultimately aziraphale in the "so did i" demonstrates that he was fully on board with, and he's now spent a good portion of s2 trying to make 'their side' all the more meaningful... crowley was no longer going too fast for him, but instead he was trying to show crowley that he had caught up - felt free enough to match his speed.

that, for me, would make sense with crowley's next line, where he himself clarifies that actually, no - the last couple of years they weren't pretending like they were before. something changed after armageddon, and that was that they both were removed enough from heaven and hell that they could finally explore what 'us' might mean for them. crowley is consistently taken aback by what aziraphale intended to be overtures of closeness and adoration - the frequent touching, the bentley, the ball - because aziraphale was trying to demonstrate it with actions, rather than words. crowley previously showed aziraphale how he felt about him - the rescues, the dinners, the books - and aziraphale was trying to speak to him in a language that he thought crowley would understand.

but crowley then plays the card that he played before, and that even under better circumstances aziraphale would never accept; "if gabriel and beelzebub can do it, go off together, then we can!". aziraphale didn't accept it - however much he might have selfishly, privately wanted to - in s1 under threat of armageddon, and it's certainly not an option now when the metatron is literally outside the door. again, if we accept that aziraphale has read the conversation he had with the metatron as some kind of subtle threat, legging it is absolutely not an option he can take. on one hand, he might not want to; aziraphale typically chooses, when his back is against the wall, to fight his way out, to push back. on the other... it's the same as the bandstand; where could they possibly go where heaven won't find them? if they even got that far, how long would they have to keep running? they would constantly have to look over their shoulders, and exist together as if it's something that should be hidden out of fear, and guilt, and shame.

it then makes sense that aziraphale suddenly finds movement as crowley in turn grows more frantic in them being "an 'us'!"; aziraphale starts quickly shaking his head, tearing up, at what crowley is saying. crowley tries stoicly to cajole aziraphale into agreeing, because surely this time he will. aziraphale however strides right up to him, and counters again that he and crowley can be together, can be an 'us', but why can't it be in heaven? neither of them are denying what they want from the other. aziraphale then goes on to lay out exactly how it could work, that he could "run it, [crowley'll] be [his] second-in-command".

i know that a lot of people take issue with this line, because it suggests that aziraphale is claiming superiority, and relegating crowley to the oh-so-lowly deputy position... but tbh, i just can't see it like that. i have no doubt that crowley might see it like that (re: what i said above about crowley potentially seeing the restoration as an insult, because it's only offered not in recognition of crowley himself, but instead as a consolatory benefit of aziraphale taking the offer) but i just simply cannot fathom that aziraphale would ever mean it like that. because look - they haven't even gotten out the door, and already aziraphale has it all planned out. he'd bypass the other archangels not only to take the top position himself, at the metatron's behest, but he'd immediately use that power to install crowley right by his side. he's not offering crowley to just return to his lab/office cubicle as an angel, and once-in-a-blue-moon see aziraphale when he maybe had the time; he's already scheming to give crowley one of the most powerful positions he possibly can. he wants to place crowley in a position not only where aziraphale can always protect him, but it also shows that he trusts crowley more implicitly than any other being, and is frankly offering to fix heaven to be one that crowley would want to see. that crowley could have direct input in building. one that is good enough to have him.

aziraphale solidifies this with "we can make a difference". note the pronoun shift from before? and how he half-whispers it to crowley, fervent and desperate for crowley to see exactly what they could do together? notice how aziraphale isn't scanning around him at the windows anymore? to me, this is the real motivation, right here. metatron is giving both of them an opportunity for them to play their own game; aziraphale is prepared to take it, but wants crowley by side - as a team - when he does... why wouldn't crowley?

okay im going to cheat here slightly and direct you to this, because my thoughts on this are pretty much still the same. it's apt that this is the nail in the coffin as far as this conversation goes, because for me it's the main (only?) instance in which the two of them are both entirely candid in what they're saying, hoping the other understands, and yet the two meanings miss each other completely. everything else has been a conflict in beliefs or ideals, but this? this is The miscommunication.

crowley is saying: 'this bookshop means so much to you, and it means so much to me too. you even said it was ours, not just yours; it represents where we both felt most safe, where we could be entirely ourselves and not fear or worry about anything going on outside it. you gave me a home in this place, with you - you can't just leave it like it's nothing, you can't just leave 'us' like it's nothing, you can't just leave me like im nothing.'

aziraphale is saying: 'this bookshop means so much to me, it's true, but in a thousand years - even maybe a hundred years - it will be little more than rubble. it represents what i used to treasure more than anything, because it was what i took pleasure in, and i could be myself. it was ours, but really all it is, is little more than paper, glass, and brick. you are my home, and you are more important than a building with windows and a creaky front door. being together, being safe, is all i want, and is all that matters.'

all of that is summed up nicely in crowley just... letting all the fight drain out of his body. tilts his head back, in that famous nod of, 'oh right okay, i see what you're saying'. wills the tears not to fall; to him, aziraphale has just rejected everything that crowley thought aziraphale held dear - including himself. nothing lasts forever, including them... when what aziraphale is saying is that nothing lasts forever, but they could.

crowley puts his shield back on, the sunglasses back in their usual place. aziraphale sees him do so, and has the faintest, hopeful smile on his face; because he thinks that crowley has finally gotten what aziraphale was trying to convey to him - and so, now, they're going to leave the shop together, go to heaven together, and work together to fix heaven into what it always should have been... and along the way, grant them the freedom to do whatever the hell they want to do, and do it in peace. crowley however shatters that; he steps out from around aziraphale, and wishes him luck... and aziraphale realises that they are not in fact on the same page, and actually now whatever was holding on by a thread might have finally snapped.

okay look if you've made it this far - first of all how and why, you madman, this was stupidly long and convoluted... but also many kisses of gratitude unto you for sticking it out this long. i'm planning (if the dopamine gods remain with me) on doing a part 2 where i look at the last bit of the domestic, and the kiss, again - to see what i unearth there too, but thoughts so far:

aziraphale feels under threat from the metatron, and has to prioritise acquiescing to his request on pain of [redacted]

but he also knows that if the metatron knows that crowley is his pressure point, his only option is to try to a) convince the metatron that he (aziraphale) is completely on board, and docile, and b) convince crowley to come back with him, not only for his safety but also so they can be together, and because actually, to aziraphale's mind, the offer is a good thing, possibly something crowley has always secretly wanted, and crowley deserves it

alongside feeling threatened, aziraphale is wary that the metatron may be able to observe/hear their conversation. he therefore cannot say anything that would antagonise the metatron, cannot say anything that would suggest that aziraphale knows that the metatron is a Big Bad, and cannot let crowley in on the truth because crowley would question it too hard and endanger them both

aziraphale knows that crowley is about to confess his feelings, or something of a similar sentiment. aziraphale wants to hear it, but only when he can be sure that crowley will come back to heaven with him, where he can be safe in a position of power, right by aziraphale's side

when crowley begins to resist the idea, and battles back with a plan of this own for them to be together, aziraphale a) has to impress upon him that going back to heaven, and potentially fixing it in their image (lmao god complex much, aziraphale?) is the right thing to do, especially if they are to have any kind of future together, and b) has to do so, again, in a way that won't alert crowley that something more nefarious might be going on. regardless, they both operate on the understanding that they want to be together

however. the one major miscommunication in the entire part of the first sequence is "nothing lasts forever" - this particular part is practically the repeat of the different exactlies from episode 1

ok bye

#good omens #feral domestic/final fifteen meta #metatron spec #aziraphale meta

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pastabake017 · 7 months

Text

Bradshaw’s

hello there! i’m ollie and im just testing out my writing style here, i hope you enjoy!

summary: Robin and Rooster engage in an argument causing them to miss the warnings of a storm coming in⛈️

Pairings: Robin Bradshaw (my oc)X Bob floyd, established relationship(🤭)

warnings: swearing, arguing, injury (not detailed tho), Bit angsty lol!

Please lmk if there are any spelling or grammar errors 🫶

✮ ✮ ✮

“Rooster were falling really behind, we gotta move!” Robin shouted into her mask, desperate trying to get her team leader to pick up the pace. She knew if they failed the practice course again, flying the actual mission would be out of the question.

“No, we can make up time in the straight away, maintain your speed!” Rooster ordered back at her. To her annoyance, they reached the target but a minute late, meaning they had aloud time for the enemy planes to attack.

“Great, maverick is gonna kill us.” Payback sighed over coms.

“Maybe, but we reached the target how could he kill us for that.” Rooster barked back.

“You don’t get it do you? If we flew at your speed on the actual mission, we’d be dead right now.” Robin argued,

“You don’t know that!”

“Were not flying fast enough, the enemy would have intercepted us by now you stupid fuck!”

“Then it’s a dogfight!”

“Against 5th generation fighters? yeah right.” Robin scoffed. Between the twos bickering they’d failed to pick up on the strong winds they had flown into. Payback and Fanboy had been long back to base at this point, leaving the siblings to argue. They had been greeted by the other aviators who were confused at the absence of the Bradshaws. Especially a one WSO.

“Payback? Where’s Robin? Did you leave her and rooster out there?” Bob questioned the taller man as he walked towards to hanger, Payback just stayed silent, not wanting to escalate the situation,Bob lunged towards him in an attempt to strike his face but he was held back by Fanboy,“You asshole! How could you leave her? Did you even try to warn them?”

“Lieutenant Floyd, I think thats quite enough.” Cyclone shouted, allowing Payback to explain his piece.

Straightening his flight suit after the tussle, sending daggers towards Bob,

“We tried to warn them about the storm, but they were to busy arguing about speed and time to notice, Im sure they’ll be fine-“

Payback answered before being cut off by a sudden flash then thunder clap. A worried look adorned the aviators faces, racing to the communications room. Phoenix flicked on the radio to hear the panicked shout of Rooster.

“Robin! Eject! Eject!” he kept repeating but she wasn’t listening,

“No-I can- I can do it.” her voice was frantic, focused on trying to save herself from crashing. Her F-18 had been struck by lightning and her engines were starting to die one by one and she was getting to close to the ground.

“Robin you need to eject now! You can’t save the jet but you can save yourself! Think about Bob!” Rooster attempted to plead with her, when Robin heard Bobs name she looked down her the ring on her finger, remembering the promise she made to him. She knew she couldn’t fix it but ejecting from the plane seemed like the worst case scenario for Robin as it was the only part of flying she feared the most,the fear stemmed from her father and the stories her mother used to tell her about when he used to fly, and how an ejection from a jet going wrong was what killed her father. But with no other way of fixing the flames starting to creep up the wings Robin knew what she had to do to get back to Bob. A final attempt of re-engaging the engines failed and they all finally gave out, the jet fell eerily silent it was now too late for any Maverick type manoeuvre the only option was for Robin to eject, with a deep breath to clear her head Robin reached for the handles and pulled hard, sending her flying into the air away from her jet, away from her brother and away from where anyone could probably find her.

✮ ✮ ✮

Ringing. Was the first thing Robin heard when she came to. Her right cheek was pressed firmly into the dessert sand that had dried up signalling to Robin she’d been out here for a while as the storm was long gone. Waves of pain started to make their way across her body as she tried to move and assess her injuries, it took all her effort to just press her palms to the ground and try to sit up. However she only managed to flip herself onto her back, sending a shock of pain through her body. Attempting to look around was hindered impossible by the sun that was now beating down on her bare face, compared with the fatal storm that had brought her jet down in the first place. Looking down at her hands she noticed her ring still firmly on her finger, sighing to herself as she thought that she would’ve have definitely lost it.

She thought about the day Bob had gave it to her, it wasn’t long after they arrived at top gun. She had found a note attached to her helmet in the locker room reading that she should meet Bob on the beach after their class that day, unfortunately for Robin, Bob had not grown up near top gun so he got lost while trying to get back to where he’d set up his proposal. By this point Robin had figured out what he was trying to do and had said “Bob, i don’t care where we are or how you do it just ask me to marry you will you? i’ve been waiting too long!” Robin chuckled to herself as she remembered Bobs face when he found out she knew, of course she did, Bradshaw’s know everything.

Robin sighed to herself, bring her mind back to the present and her current situation, she couldn’t do anything but wait for search and rescue, as down here she couldn’t fully asses her injuries but by the amount of pain she was in she knew they weren’t going to be easy to fix. Pulling off her helmet she felt an agonising pain where her goggles had been, she brought a hand up towards her forehead running over where she thought the pain was coming from, she felt something drying onto and into her hair, blood. Her major senses were impaired, she couldn’t feel anything, hear anything other than ringing or hardly see anything due to her glasses being shattered when her head hit the ground.

The relief she felt when she saw the blurred out line of a search and rescue medic coming towards her was immense, she felt tears pricking her eyes. There was someone behind the medic dressed in a pilots uniform but Robin couldn’t make out who it was.

“Robin! Oh my god! Hey its gonna be okay, you’ll be okay. Don’t panic.” a muffled familiar voice said as they knelt down beside Robin. Rooster beckoned over to the medic that it was safe before attempting to comfort his sister.

She opened her mouth the speak but nothing came out, she wanted to scream and tell them how much pain she was in but she couldn’t make a sound. She wanted to tell him that she loved him and that she wanted Bob to know she loved him too, but her voice was course and quiet so Rooster couldn’t hear her over the helicopter propelers

The medic brought over a stretcher and called Rooster to help move the younger girl onto it. But the pain of being hoisted onto a flat surface overcame Robin and her world went black before they even reached the helicopter.

✮ ✮ ✮

#bob floyd #robert floyd #top gun maverick #robert bob floyd #top gun #lewis pullman #oneshot #i don’t know #please help #writing #top gun fanfics #fanfic

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jewishcissiekj · 2 months

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oh man i've got a few questions because i havent actually gotten to her yet.

first ones kind of rehetorical but what is up with ventress and being orphaned? everyone in star wars has a dead parent or two but damn.

im curious about that planet you always talk about that i simply cannot remember how to spell. starts with an r.

oh and i NEED a fun fact. multiple if you have them.

abd finally, whats your favorite source material? what screams "best characterization" to you? i think i know the answer to the second one, but whats the absolute bottom of the barrel trash that you wish you could wipe from existence?

ooooh I have answers

for the first one, I feel like it was originally (in Legends) just to get her parents out of the way so she'd has a reason to ally with Ky Narec and make her story more tragic. She was the daughter of two warlords who were killed by an opposing warlord (who also killed her Jedi Master eventually), and she ran away after their deaths. In TCW she wasn't orphaned at all but she was given away by the Nightsister nad her mother (who we see in a flashback in the episode "Nightsisters"), and was later raised by a slave owner who was killed by Ky. So she's basically an orphan to benefit her origin story.

yessss Rattatak!!! my glup shitooine. my love my sunshine my favorite Star Wars planet ever. It only appears in a few comic issues and two tv episodes and I'm still not sure what is the appeal it has on me but I love itttt. It's the planet Asajj grew up and was trained as a padawan on, and it's this war-ridden wasteland with bald people and a whole lot of problems. There's not much lore for it, and most of the lore there is comes from the Old Republic video games that I haven't played, but its people are prone to have Force Sensitivity and I just like its vibes. I have a lot of headcanons about it and the wars there, and I love the Rattataki a lot, it's just a fan playing ground for me and it may not sound like it but it is miles more interesting to me than Dathomir.

a fun fact um wait a minute. when developing her younger model for the flashback in "Sisters", Katie Lucas wanted her to have a mohawk. that led to these fucking concepts (from TCW season 3 witches and monsters featurette)

also she canonically once stole a Wookie doll from a Gungan child for some reason (hyperspace stories 3). very silly of her

my favorite source material for her is Star Wars: Republic #60. it's Obi-Wan and Alpha 17 trying to escape her castle and find out her origin story. I'm very normal about it. It's honestly a great issue for her and it establishes many of the things I love most about her (Ratttatak, Aidus, Ky, Warlord Origin, castle Ventress, and more). Haden Blackman's writing is in is so good. the cover is amazing. a close 2nd is her Clone Wars (2003) appearances for many reasons. least favorite is very very unexpected. Dark Disciple. I don't need to just erase it from existence I need to travel back in time to the pitch meetings where it was suggested and burn the paper and the computers it was written on. I need to kill that book

ok!!!! not sorry for the rants I love writing especially about Asajj

#daily asajj thought of the day #thanks for the ask!#asajj ventress #i have a lot of made up lore for ratatak and asajj's family #and yet funnily i don't have headcanons for her parents' names #aaand btw there ae more funny concepts in the tcw featurette i mentioned #honestly asajj's characterization is on point in every single one of the old 00s comics bc. well. they established her character #but i like the way w haden blackman writes her the best #star wars #republic 60 #rattatak #rattataki #sw #ventress #star wars comics #star wars legends #star wars eu #ky narec #star wars concept art

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nanistar · 1 year

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do you think we could get a sneak peak of saltburn's clan production? like the scripts or the sketches? (of pages already posted of course) i really like seeing how different people approach the comic making process

sure thing!

so i usually post the next 2 sketches on my patreon for the $1+ tiers on tuesday or wednesday, so they get an advanced little view of it before hand. so the ones here are all gonna be older pages.

my entire script and notes i keep in one long google doc. and i send myself feverish notes on discord to be copy/pasta'd into the doc later. i also have a rough estimation of my progress in the story and how much longer i have per chapters, since im trying to keep it to about 30-36 per chapter. i don;t want to spend longer than 2 years on this comic (though im not gonna speedrun it or anything if it ends up going long, im just hoping it stays shorter lol).

i don't script things line-by-line or like a stageplay. i tried doing it early on but i found i made too many deviations depending on how i placed panels and looking back at the script was really annoying.

earliest script i have^

i tend to do dialogue on the fly when actually sketching out the pages, because i know what i'm looking for, so unless i have the specific dialogue that i want to remember to add, i don't write any of that down. although sometimes i get on a roll writing and dialogue flows, so i write it down and change it as needed. i have scenes in my head rather than pages, and i translate those notes later when i need to work on that scene. i very rarely get actual page ideas in my head, but i will say today's update with saltburn flying thru the air and recalling some memories i;ve had in my head for months, along with the one where salt sees the angel i had planned for a while. (i'd LOVE to be able to get a ton of pages sketched at once so i can not worry about it, but the nature of the way that i work is that i just can't think in that much detail far ahead of me. so i can only really do 2 at a time)

^so it tends to look more like this, fast back and forth dialogue to get my point across that i will make fit their voices later on. also i don't use linebreaks or anything just because im lazy so my notes are a fuckin disaster

my god.

as for the actual drawing of the pages, i literally just do it i dont know how to explain it. i sketch things as fast and loose as possible , i try not to have the same size boxes next to each other unless i'm showing the passage of time or a very minor detail change between panels. large panels for establishing shots. ect. sometimes if needed i will do a secondary sketch to figure stuff out, like i needed to do a bunch when working out the first few coyote drawings since ive never drawn dogs in action before. but usually i just whip it out

nightmarish.

this one is still my favorite, and despite looking much better than my normal sketches i did whip it out like normal (i just looked at refs for the other critters so it looks nicer lol)

additionally, i do every single page in the chapter on the same canvas because i love it when procreate crashes. i do all my panel boxes, and any "weird" shaped speech bubbles by hand. i only have one layer for flats, one for BGs, merge them together and do one overlay layer. if i need some extra definition i will add an additional shading layer but i dont like to. once im done with all the art i merge every layer together, send the page to myself on discord, and open it up on my 'puter and do the remaining text and normal speech bubbles in clip studio.

oh yeah people sometimes ask why i do 2 pages instead of one per update, or just do a bunch and upload it less often and the answer is because i don't want to be working on this comic for a very long time, and 2 pages gets me thru faster. if i spend too long working on a scene it starts getting boring for me and im more likely to cheese it which i dont like doing, but if i do two at once i can get stuff done faster. additionally, i cant just do a bunch and upload them all at once because i like the feedback, and it's better for readers to have consistent updates. i have the deadly autism/adhd combo, and my life is literally scheduled week by week and i have to stay consistent or i will die.

but yeah. my process is nightmarish and fast (despite spending like 4-8 hours per page) and loose and crazy but it works for me and keeps me engaged.

#nyask #sbc #thanks for asking i love to talk about my process tbh #when i look back on it im always shocked like what the fuck am i doing here #mine

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caitie-likes-talking · 11 months

Text

Part 4 Critique: Everything I'd Change

I love DIU..however, I consider it one of the post flawed of the JJBA Parts. Honestly, I feel like Araki didn't fully know where he was going with it til halfway, which is why the plot can be so janky. No matter what, let's dive into it. First, characters.

(also quick disclaimer: this is all my opinion and i am biased for MANY things.)

if u diagree w me dont tell me i think it would crush me

Characters [Josuke, Jotaro, Okuyasu, Kira]

Josuke Higashikata

I LOVE Josuke. I think he's a lovely character concept and his design is really cool. My main problem with him is literally his LACK of screen time!! He is the Jojo of this part, yet his spotlight is constantly stolen by other side characters like Koichi, Rohan, and even Jotaro. This also happened a lot in Part 3, with it basically being the Polnareff show (idk why Araki did this sm in pts3-5...either let the mc have screen time or don't have them be the mc!!)

I think Josuke had some of the most missed opportunities in DIU. Especially with his relationships with other characters. I think this part could've been way more interesting if it chose a solid theme, and one that I think would've made sense is commentating on death & tragedy and how that can impact personal relationships. The reason I believe this is because there's already easy set ups for this in the story. Ryohei's death, The Nijimura Brother's family, Reimi, Shigechi, and Jotaro all have that theme in place, but not enough connecting points or real arcs related to this. What was the point of killing off Ryohei (who was the only father figure Josuke had growing up) if you're not going to show how this impacted Josuke, Tomoko, and how he acts with others besides one single page? Sure, it taught him that his powers have limits and that he can't save everyone, but that was a stupid thing to teach him because Okuyasu doesn't fucking die when he should've!! Like why did we make an arc saying 'hey stands aren't magic they can't bring ppl back to life' just for EXACTLY THAT to happen??

Moving on, I also have problems with his stand. I LOVE Crazy Diamond, I think it has a super cool design and power concept, but personally I wish it's powers were more grounded and had clear limits. I feel like a lot of stands suffer from this treatment of vague power limits (ex: Golden Wind..) but my problem with CD is that there were MANY opportunities to add one! For example: we know Josuke couldn't bring back Ryohei even after using his stand on him. So that bears the question: what can CD not fix? What is the real reason it can't bring a dead person back to life? Jotaro says "No stand has the power to bring back the dead" WHY?? am i missing something? Have I forgotten when it was officially established that stands cant do that? I mean, literally in part 3 there was a stand that could reanimate corpses. So does it have to do with the soul? No matter what, I would've used this moment to establish that CD can't bring back ANY living thing. I actually wrote a short fic abt this and included the fact that he also couldn't "fix" a dead leaf. I feel like overall his stand needed more grounding.

Also, I have beef with Josuke's backstory, but I'll get into that later.

Jotaro Kujo

Ok firstly, I have MAJOR beef with his design in part 4. Mainly the fact that he's drawn extremely pale in the anime. Like..obviously he COULD be pale as he is wasian (im not trying to say all wasian ppl look the same), but he is TAN in part 3. Why did they take that away?? Pisses me off to the extreme. At least they fixed it in p5+6. Anyways..

Character wise, I really enjoy Jotaro's personality in p4. I like how he's mellowed out in comparison to p3. However, I feel like he needed a more clear role in the story. He showed up to figure out grandpappy's shit, and then took the leader role when facing Kira. Why don't I like this? Because most of the time Jotaro was just..there. I think Araki wanted him and Josuke to have a mentor/student relationship (ex: rat episode) but just didn't focus enough on them or Josuke training with his stand for this to work.

Also, the fact that it took Jotaro so fucking long to figure out who Kira is WITH the help of all those other stand users is so goofy. Like him and the gang back in '89 found Dio's ass from a goddamn microscopic fly in a photo but couldn't find Kira's identity?? Like ugh he almost redeemed himself with the button thing but then he got blown up like gosh what happened king

When it comes to stands, I forever find it stupid that Jotaro didn't work with his stand to become more powerful. Araki just had to nerf him (which is something he does with most reoccurring characters, ex: Joseph). I don't like it and it pisses me off.

With the death of Ryohei, I feel like it would've made more sense for Jotaro to somewhat open up to Josuke and be a bit more sympathetic towards him about it (or maybe he stays closed off until Josuke explodes, causing Jotaro to reveal the truth about his past.) Either way, I think the two of them could've bonded over shared grief.

Okuyasu Nijimura

I absolutely ADORE Okuyasu. I think his dynamic with Josuke is really fun to watch and his personality is just overall super enjoyable.

Stand wise I do think Araki slightly nerfed him by making him dumb as fucking rocks, but I let this slide a little more just bc he's a side character..

I honestly think Okuyasu has the best character arc out of the whole part 4 cast. I think he definitely deserved more screen time, but what we got was really solid in my opinion. His relationship with his brother was well developed and it was really interesting to see how it still affected him even after his brother's death. The way he felt a need to get revenge for his brother and still felt like he wasn't enough really hit me in the gut. I love him.

When it comes to Okuyasu's "death" I have very mixed opinions. On the one hand, ofc the goat of part 4 survived. On the other hand, I feel like him surviving goes directly against the idea we've been given since the beginning. You can't save everyone. And on the one hand, I enjoy the subverting of expectations. On the other hand, I don't like how it's still just never fully explained. I guess in JJBA as long as your soul doesn't feel like dying yet, you won't. I wish we saw Okuyasu actually speaking to his brother when he "died" however. I find him and Keicho's relationship really gut-punching and that would've been a fire scene imo.

I have more to say on him, his dad, Keicho, and the arrow, but I'll save that for when I'm talking about the plot.

Yoshikage Kira

I find Kira to be a really interesting villain. I really enjoyed every moment we got going deeper into his psychology and it's something I really wish we got to see more of. I enjoy his sleek design and he's fine asf tbh.

Im not gonna give commentary on his stand rn bc honestly i dont fully remember how that shit worked by the time he was using the arrow

Character wise I just really wish he was established as the main villain sooner. The build up and hints dropped about him were so addictive, so it's disappointing that they're only there a little before his full introduction.

The psychology of Kira is something I really liked. The way he truly believes he's never really done anything wrong and only wanting to live a peaceful life is something I wish was even more looked into. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but from my memory, in the manga Kira's whole thing with his nails growing quicker when stressed/when his need to kill is getting too strong was only psychological. At least, I don't remember them growing the same way it's shown in the anime. I think this would've been something really interesting to deep dive into. The fact that he believes his nails grow when his need to kill is really high is really intriguing and the overall connection between hands and his killings are something I wanted to be fully developed more. I know it was kind of just a weird ass fetish but like..that's interesting!! this is interesting!!

I'll probably make an individual post to talk more abt him.

Plot

Where do I even begin. The plot of part 4 is all over the place. I loved many episodes, and I enjoyed when it leaned more into the slice of life style, but why the fuck where there like 3 seperate plots? Honestly, cut out Anjuro. His whole plot shit was annoying as hell. Didn't care for him.

Akira's entire plot pissed me off. I only like this arc because of Okuyasu. Overall I found there to be a lot of plot holes and just annoying parts. Everything til Kira was like this for me. Like get to the REAL plot please.

The arrow annoyed me. I've never wanted to rip my hair out more than when Kira's dad got a hold of it. He was SO GODDAMN ANNOYING. I like the concept of Kira using the arrow to get allies or ways to cover up his plot, but most of the stand users that came out of this were annoying and Kira's dad was insufferable in the worst way possible.

I think something I wish was more covered by the plot is the aftermath of Part 3 and Dio in general. This is something that CDDH (best jojo spinoff) covers really nicely, however. Go read it.

I also just in general think more should've been done w Okuyasu's dad, as he is a direct aftermath of Dio.

I feel like a lot of the women in Part 4 were set up to have strong, actually plot-influencing roles, but then were totally side-lined. I'm going to make a full post abt this tho.

Reimi being connected to Rohan never made sense to me. Just narratively speaking, why did you connect the main motivation for catching Kira to a side antagonist instead of the main character? This is slightly fueled by my hate for Rohan but like, c'mon! I think it would've made more sense to 1. just not include Rohan so fucking much and 2. connect Reimi to Josuke's past.

Speaking of Josuke's past, I feel like it just..needed more. Or at least, I think something needed to be done with the boy who saved him. I can appreciate the idea of it connecting to a theme of the general kindness of strangers, but you don't see that theme pop up as much in the rest of the plot. Also, I again would've connected Reimi to Josuke because WHY ISN’T SHE CONNECTED TO THE MAIN CHARACTER OH MY GOD

Overall tho I like the vibes of part 4, i really enjoyed different arcs and characters, and I just wish Araki got more time to flesh everything out and refocus on certain themes and characters.

#jjba #jojos bizarre adventure #diu #diamond is unbreakable #jjba part 4 #josuke higashitaka #jotaro kujo #okuyasu nijimura #yoshikage kira #plot review #critique #just my opinions #i love part 4 i swear #josuke is my fave jojo #review #commentary #manga #manga analysis

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stormyoceans · 1 year

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oh please please please please talk more about the puentalay kisses bc i am, also, severely insane about them

(the feeling! the physicality! the comfort!! god those are all such great kisses. also hoping for sea to grab onto jimmy too oh yes tho am not sure if the hesitancy before was just him or him portraying talay, we'll see??)

that could be!!!! as a viewer it’s pretty hard to establish if the physicality in a kiss is fully determined by the actor’s performance or if it’s partly due to directing choices, so it’s definitely possible for that hesitancy to be more about talay rather than sea himself, especially since talay isn’t as comfortable with physical touch as puen is, at least at the beginning, while sea himself seems like a very affectionate guy, at least now. i personally feel like both factors may be at play here, which is why im really curious to see how their kisses in last twilight are going to be, since in the mock trailer day is the one to initiate it

AND SINCE IM INSUFFERABLE HERE IS MY PERSONAL ANALYSIS OF THE PUENTALAY KISSES BASED ON AN ASSIGNEMENT I DID FOR MY HISTORY OF FILM CLASS BACK IN UNIVERSITY 10 YEARS AGO

okay so, obviously im far from being an expert, but what i learned while doing my research is that there are 5 elements that directors and acting coaches usually take into account when it comes to kisses. those elements are:

prelude: it’s everything that leads up to the kiss itself, from the story up until that moment, to the emotions of the characters, to the tone of the scene;

look: eye contact is essential when it comes to acting, and even more so when there’s a kissing scene. we love consent, but the truth is that a lot of times the invitation for a kiss is made through the eyes and the emotions you can express through them (needless to say, jimmy is INSANE at this);

breath: it's whether the characters just dive in or if there's some lingering before or after the kiss;

rhythm: it's about the length, the pace, and the technique of the kiss;

surrender: this is what i usually call the physicality of a kiss, because it’s basically the way the bodies respond to each other.

a good director can play with all these elements to give a specific feeling and match the scene itself. that being said, let's start with the kiss where all these elements can't be applied sfjksgfj

the drunk kiss in episode 2. drunk kisses are hard to judge because you are actually supposed to mess up all the things that make a good kiss. if a character is wasted they're hardly gonna be able to communicate emotions through their eyes or have a nice rhythm. in this case there's also not much of a prelude since they've just met, but that's kinda the point: the purpose is to surprise both puen and the audience. i still find it an interesting kiss because of what it tells us about the characters (talay is more open and affectionate when drunk, puen is perplexed but doesn't get angry or push talay away) and i think the fact that it stayed with them for YEARS says a lot about the instant connection they felt between them. i also really appreciate that we get a quick peck first and then a second slightly more purposeful kiss, lips puckered and fully touching.

(hiding the rest under the cut to preserve some kind of dignity)

the greenhouse kiss in episode 4. HERE'S WHERE IM GONNA START LEAVING ANY SEMBLANCE OF SANITY AND COHERENCY BEHIND. im usually not the biggest fan of one-sided/sudden kisses, but this one.... THIS ONE!!!!!! the entire episode is a perfect build up to this moment, engaging the viewers since the very beginning ("so, they will fall in love?" "i guess they will") and raising the (emotional) stakes with each step leading towards it ("why don't we fall in love with each other?", "i talked about the one im hitting on", "feelings aren't something you can toy with"): the second talay steps into the greenhouse and puen comes into view, you can actually FEEL it in the air, that something's gonna happen. then puen grabs talay's arm to stop him from leaving AND THE LOOKS HE THROWS AT TALAY!!!!!! THE WAY HIS EYES SOFTEN WHEN TALAY ASKS HIM "ARE YOU MESSING WITH ME AGAIN?" AND HE ANSWERS "NO"!!!!!!! his intentions are written all over them, so when puen grabs talay's neck and kisses him you're expecting it and yet it still manages to take your breath away. sudden kisses are pretty much the only type where it's kinda acceptable to have a frozen physicality (so arms down the side, body standing still) because it makes sense for the surprise to be freezing the character in place, and while that it's also what happens here, i really like how they were able to somehow still make it feel 'physical': jimmy goes in so strong sea stumbles/has to readjust his position a little, the hold jimmy has on sea's neck is gentle but firm and establishes connection, their lips are fully pressed together, jimmy's nose is almost squished against sea's cheek, and for a sudden kiss their bodies are standing surprisingly close to each other.

the greyllery kiss in episode 8. when i tell you i start FROTHING AT THE MOUTH every time i see just how perfectly they constructed and directed this kiss to parallel the one in the greenhouse…. from puen's adoring look to the way he pulls talay in by grabbing the back of his neck to the camera angles, every detail is built to make the viewers recall the end of episode 4 and give us a visual representation of how much their relationship has grown since then. obviously the mutuality of it is the biggest difference in itself, but there’s also a subtle shift in the physicality to match that: puen gets to wrap both of his arms around talay now, and talay finally reaches back too. this is one of the cases where i do wish sea could have been a bit more confident in grabbing jimmy back, but at the same time i think the hesitancy makes sense for talay as a character, so it's not a detail that pulls you out of the moment and everything else is just PERFECT. the prelude to the kiss in particular is incredible, not only because of the confession itself, which would deserve its own analysis even just for how it happens when the lights are out, highlighting the fact that they love each other for who they are, no matter which body they're inhabiting, but also because the tension gets progressively built up beat by beat until you find yourself on the edge of your sit holding your breath just waiting for it to happen: i said i like you, beat, i like you even though i don't know what you look like, beat, even though i don't know who you are, beat, i like you too, beat, i like everything about you, beat, puen dropping his bag, beat, and when puen takes an audible breath in before stepping forward, that's when you can finally release your own. this is also the first kiss where we can judge the rhythm, and i personally think that jimmy and sea have a very good sense of it in all of their kisses. it's kinda hard to explain why, but it's in the way they can pace the kiss, and mirror each other's intensity, and switch the side their head turns while doing it. last thing im gonna say (because this is already getting way too long ;;;;) is that letting the sounds of the kiss be heard under the background music sure was. A CHOICE.

the bucket hat kiss in episode 9. [RATTLES THE BARS OF HER CAGE] DOCTOR JIMMY THE THINGS YOU DO WITH YOUR EYES!!!!!!!!! in this case the kiss itself is pretty short so it can't be judged on more technical aspects, however it does not leave the viewers wanting for more, because the emotions behind it already say everything we need to know. the adoration the longing the want the reverence the wonder the love.... it's all written in the way puen looks at talay. the camera focuses way more on puen here because the revelation of who talay is is, quite literally, life changing for him, but the lingering on talay's eyes after they part and the two of them remaining close to each other as if they can't bring themselves to move on tell us how this kiss functions as a seal for the many promises made between them: of going back together, of finding each other again, of their mutual feelings. also i can't really figure out if this is a jimmy thing or a conscious directing choice, but when it comes to physicality i LOVE how puen always has his hand or his arm around talay's neck. it's such a protective and possessive gesture which is meant to send a clear message, not to other people, but to the universe: this is the man i love, it says, and im not gonna let you take him away from me.

the bathtub kiss in episode 10. i feel so normal about this kiss it's honestly insane how normal and hinged and sane and fine i feel about it. like not to be petty but i have no idea HOW can anyone watch this and then really say that jimmysea can't kiss, especially considering it hits EVERY SINGLE POINT of what a good kiss should be like. the simple intimacy of taking a bath together, the shared joy of their success, and the teasing of the reward are all perfect set ups for this kiss, and as always jimmy has the insane ability to broadcast puen's intentions through his eyes in a way few other actors can, however what makes this kiss really stand out compared to the rest are the breath and the physicality of it. when it comes to kissing talay, puen is always diving into it like a starving man, and this time is no different, but unlike all the other times there is a pause in the kiss and you can actually see how much it costs them to separate: they both look like they're getting out of a trance, breaths mingling together as puen keeps his eyes closed for a little longer to pull himself together and talay blindly chases his lips for more, confused by the sudden interruption. this temporary pause doesn't break the actual rhythm of the kiss, nor it pulls the viewers out of the moment, because it's clear that they're both still very much into it. i will never stop praising jimmy and sea for being able to portray just how overwhelmed the characters are here, both from the kiss and the feelings they have for each other, and it also shows in the way they almost sound choked up as they thank each other. the kiss picking up from where they left it is the only natural continuation to all these emotions bubbling to the surface, emotions that are way too big to put into words, so they rely on their bodies to try to convey them. and speaking of bodies, this kiss is the perfect example of why physicality is also called 'surrender', you just need to look at the openness and vulnerability of talay's neck in that position, but even when sea shifts a little into a more comfortable one you can see how their body fit together and melt into each other perfectly. honestly the only thing that could have possibly made this kiss better was to have jimmy hold sea's face for a bit longer instead of moving his arm on the side of the bathtub, but frankly im just nitpicking here (monica aren't you forgetting something, one may ask. and to that i say YEAH YEAH THE TONGUE SLIP WE'VE ALL SEEN IT. NO I REFUSE TO COMMENT ON IT BYE)

the riverbank kiss in episode 10. as much as i love this whole scene, this kiss in particular is sadly not my favorite one, mostly because i think the editing and the camera angles did a bit of a disservice to it. i really like how it starts: all puentalay kisses have very strong preludes because they always serve a purpose to the story, they're never gratuitous (in this case it's meant to be a confirmation of puen's words and an omen of what's to come), and jimmysea can both convey so much with their eyes that you can actually feel how they're pulling each other (and the viewers) in to the kiss by the looks they share. it's when the camera moves from their faces to go above and then behind them that i feel like it ends up taking you out of the moment they worked so hard to build, because it completely blocks the view of the kiss in a very jarring way, and when it gets in front of them again talay's arm is suddenly reaching up to puen, which it wasn't in the previous frame. it's such a pity because i LOVE that connection, it's the kind of physicality that can turn a good kiss to a great one, so i do wish we could have gotten more continuity and a more direct view.

the reunion kiss in episode 11. it may come as a surprise, but i actually don’t have a lot to say about this kiss, mainly because i believe any technical analysis becomes pointless in the face of the journey that led them to this moment. this is their first kiss after being reunited, and if this were any other show, i feel like it would have made a big deal out of this also being their first kiss in their real bodies, but the love between puen and talay has never been about physical appearance, and we're reminded of that once again. this kiss is the meeting of two souls who have missed each other and find comfort in being together again, and i don't think it's a coincidence that this is the one time they are fully facing each other, with puen mirroring talay's crosslegged position on the bed. “from this moment on, it’s me and you,” talay is gonna say in the next episode, “talay and puen,” and i think this kiss perfectly represent these words. i guess i do wish, once again, that sea were holding jimmy back in some way, even just by grabbing his arm, but like with the greyllery kiss i think it does work character-wise, because while this is a comforting moment for both of them, talay is the one who needs more reassurance, who needs to know that puen isn’t gonna leave him, and all the gestures puen does (the forehead kiss, the handholding, the protective hold he has on talay while they kiss) are his way to prove to talay, other than with words, that this isn’t a dream: it’s real, they’re both real, and now that they’re finally home and together, he’s never gonna let anything separate them again.

the boyfriends kiss in episode 12. what's better than a kiss in the same place the universe separated you as a way to seal the deal on your new-found and hard-fought boyfriend status? NOTHING THAT'S WHAT. i do think, however, that this kiss kinda leaves you wanting for more. it's not a short deep one like the bucket hat kiss, but it's also not a full make out session like many of the others, and since they don't have the time to build a nice rhythm it feels like the kiss ends before it even gets a chance to start. this is also one of the times where i wish sea were touching jimmy back in some way, or that his body were lining more towards him, because physicality wise it makes him seem a bit less engaged in the moment. despite these details im still pretty fond of this kiss, mostly because the utter adoration in both puen's and talay's eyes before it makes up for A LOT in my book. also it's not really related to the kiss itself but i love the dark/light contrast in their clothes.

the foggy glasses kiss in episode 12. GAME CHANGING LIFE ALTERING MIND BLOWING. A CULTURAL RESET. we've all read about kisses that leave a character breathless, lightheaded and weak at the knees, maybe even got to experience some ourselves in our life, and i honestly can't think about any other kiss in television history that was able to perfectly represent that feeling more than this one. from talay's dazed expression, to his foggy glasses, to his messy hair because of puen's fingers running through it, you can actually believe this kiss affected him to such an extent. and how could it not affect him when the rhythm and physicality of it are INSANE???? the way puen is holding talay's head with BOTH OF HIS HANDS to keep talay in place barely gives talay any time to take breath and they're so close and entangled in each other that you can barely tell where one starts and the other ends. i love the wider camera shots of this kiss because, as i mentioned before, you once again get to see why physicality is defined as surrender: it looks like their bodies are almost melting into each other. it's not even their longest kiss, but the tension and the intensity are off the charts in every part of it. the single-minded purpose with which puen approaches talay at the beginning, eyes firmly on talay's face, never wandering from it, already lets you know just how wild this kiss is about to be, and you can't expect anything less from it after getting to see talay confessing to puen for the third time in five episodes. i also find it very telling that both the show and the our skyy episodes end on such great kisses, they feel like the testament of their love and the proof of how far they've come.

the beach kiss in our skyy. ONE KISS TO RULE THEM ALL ONE KISS TO REMEMBER THEM ONE KISS TO HONOR THEM ALL AND IN FRONT OF THE OCEAN BIND THEM. so anyway bad jokes (and quotes) aside, this kiss does feel like a sum of all their previews ones, maybe because there are elements in it that tend to remind the viewers of a lot of them: the drunk kiss being used as a set up for it, the framing of puen's face at the beginning being the same as the greenhouse and the greyllery ones, puen's smile before pulling talay into it being a little nudge to the bathtub kiss, their position almost mirroring the boyfriends one...... not to mention that it's hard to look at the ocean and not be reminded of other important moments in their journey, like the two of them promising to find each other again in their universe on the secret island and talay having to wait for the tide to retreat to go back to puen. the ocean of is also the place where talay drowned and everything began, so it only makes sense for their story to end in front of it too. the cycle closes with a recollection of the past and a promise for the future, the kiss itself, the mouthed "i love you" and the forehead touch letting us know that no matter what's gonna happen, they will always love each other like the very first day. much like with the reunion one, i think any technical aspect of this kiss becomes of very little importance when you're faced with the whole entire everything of their history together being contained in it, but let me just say, what a difference sea's arm casually draped over jimmy's legs makes!!!!! compared to the boyfriends kiss, you can see how the extra physical connection makes both of them look fully invested in the kiss and makes the viewers feel more involved in it too. as always the rhythm of the kiss is really good, and this time sea is the one who really shines when it comes to the look, because he's just radiating adoration love and pure unadulterated joy everywhere. not that jimmy isn't giving insane levels of emotions too, but im gonna end this mess with something deeply controversial: i know the fandom likes their long hair, but jimmy's bangs end up covering his eyes way too much and that is A CRIME.

#MENTAL ILLNESS WON TODAY PT. 2 #I HAVEN'T REREAD ANY PART OF IT AND IM FRANKLY TOO EMBARRASSED TO DO IT #the fact that i feel like i haven't said half of the things there are to be said about all these kisses......#anyway it's been nice knowing y'all im gonna go bury myself in my backyard now goodbye forever #vice versa #puentalay #m: ask #vish 💜

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phlyaros · 8 months

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need more on that monster attracted to death benry au STAT. it's so good actually

Firefox fucking crashed while I was typing this the first time im going to kill god. Tysm but god typing all this out again WOOF.

Okay so it starts here with “I use au's and shipping to explore concepts/characterization that I feel is overlooked/unexplored in canon” and Benry already has a lot of associations with death to me (the skeletons, his explicit dying whereas everyone else has other explanations, his 'song of death', “there are no predetermined deaths”, him being a inscrutable and inevitable force that is only your enemy if you make him so)

this is a horror-aligned thing so uh body horror and other violence under the cut

I have other stories with benry that explore his relationship with death as well, this is just the one where Benry understands how fucking bad it is for Gordon in the first place and it's more of an interpersonal conflict than one of misunderstandings. They still do misunderstand each other but like.

Anyways most of the basic stuff also goes for how I generally interpret Benry; he's a simulacrum of human life basically. He's always been dead, he's never been dead, he's always been alive and he's currently living. I made a thing a while back out of cut up wiki pages to try and explain what I think of him better but never got around to prettying it up.

Anyways. He's something like that one interpretation of a changeling to me; something that's usurped the body and eaten it from the inside out, until all that's left is him. Partially this is a plural thing to me. Old host chipped away over time until it's something else entirely. Whoever he was before doesn't exist anymore. There is only Benry. (what is benry? well, he is.)

And so uh, Deathry specifically is the horse edition of this. He actually looks human most of the time but it's fun to draw him as silly little beasts. Deathry as established is drawn to death; he feeds from this somehow (the horror hunger enjoyer in me said so) but i'm not sure yet if it's a physical sort of eating or more of an energy-based one. Leaning to both, like a vampire.

I tried making him as compatible with canon as possible on the mechanical level at first. Something that's drawn to the doomed and the damned? Well, we all know what the rescas was like. I think he's just so desensitized to death that he does understand the gravity of it on a deeper level but nobody cared when HE died so why bother.

The story itself isn't compatible though because I was listening to my fucked up and evil music and thought to myself “well if two guys were out hiking alone in the woods and one tried to kill the other with an axe would that be fucked up or what” and now that's thoroughly lodged in my head. and uhhhh the personal drama of it all.

Listen. I am a gay man. I think about frenrey and think about them choking each other to death and I giggle and swing my feet. I love when they are violence and killing.

But also I am a gay man and thinking about a literal embodiment of the condition of death sitting in a tent as the guy he personally cut the arm off of (yes, him, personally!) is slowly succumbing to the cold; wrapping Gordon in his jacket, quietly laying on top of Gordon as the weather gets worse through the night, unsure of what else he can do... comparing Gordon's blackened frostbitten fingers interlaced with his own skeletal black hands, Gordon's slowly crawling pulse to his maybe one heartbeat a minute, Gordon's once loud and comprehensive speech slowly descending to confused muttering, becoming more like him. More like dead. The rituals are intricate okay.

And uh something that makes me crazy is that Benry in canon was explicitly the thing that was holding the rift between worlds open and he didn't even. Notice. With Deathry that sheer power manifests as freak weather events, flocks of birds dropping dead mid-flight, interrupting radio signals, making compasses go crazy. That sort of shit.

Deathry also takes pictures in places he ends up. Gordon is fucking flabbergasted at the underwater caves, dive bells from the outside, impossible angles on known landmarks, but it makes sense to him later. Gordon's probably more riled up by all the random shit Benry's collected over the years - what do you mean you don't want this coat covered in decomp?? aren't you cold??

Anyway. Au is also a fun excuse to think about frenrey shenanigans. Turns up in a hospital after being missing for 3 months raving about a guy who defies all physics with wounds that are only a few days old. Thinks about him for the next month until he randomly shows the fuck up with photos of Gordon bleeding in the snow with benry posed with the axe in front of him like they're having a fun girls night out

#phlyaros' nonsense #asks #deathry #merc's art #hlvrai #benry

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canarypost · 7 months

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first shot we can see not just the people sitting at the help getting spaghettified but the floor and controls themselves?? which means it's not just everyone who works at the tva (who are all variants) getting sent back to the sacred timeline but presumably all matter that exists outside of the timelines. idk if this includes he who remains' lair/space rock/final resting place whatever but basically the sacred timeline is taking every single atom at the tva with it as we can see on the screen showing the timeline states.

this is small but i noticed that in the first ss the lights in the pie room aren't on but what i'm assuming are emergency lights are on in the hallway and around the entrance?? and im comparing this to the second ss which we've obv already seen. i would've thought that any backup would be in red but yk whatever it's just a show

i genuinely have no idea when this is supposed to take place. none of these people remember him but they're all here anyway. is this going to be like when ob kept remembering things in real time when loki slipped back in his timeline? who knows

im just super emo about this. look at them all together. ob get in there you're part of the family too. and i don't like how sylvie is right behind loki here i feel like they should at least have mobius on one side with loki on the other. also b15 rights let my girl be in focus

this is cool to me actually i like how it represents all the different universes w the letter multiples. also gives me hope that we're gonna meet another loki variant at some point. it'd be cool if we ended up seeing two specifically loki variants together?? it wouldn't make sense considering the established way that time works inside the tva (as we saw with loki's slipping with ob) but it'd be pretty cool to see loki himself react to how much he's changed as a person from an outside pov

i saw a theory on twt that either loki or sylvie is going to become god of stories either at the end of this season or the show as a whole (that is if there's a s3) and i agreed w them that as cool as it'd be it wouldn't make as much sense for sylvie to do it bc she's already been shown to want and be happy with a life on the timeline and that's never been something that loki wants and it's never been disproven after s1 that loki wants/would be happy in a position of power!!

girl wth is this. im terrified. get my babygirl casey OUT of there!!!! is this a time prison or smth??? or was casey IN PRISON when his nexus event happened???

now listen im perfectly fine with him being a father he's always been a dad to me i'm sure his kid(s) is/are wonderful. but god forbid he have a FUCKING WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!! IF HE HAS A WIFE I'M STORMING MARVEL HQ

these 2 are out of order but i put them in what i'm assuming is the proper sequence of events that is 1. loki shows up in the room, 2. loki timeslips away, 3. screen and therefore everything gets consumed. what i don't know is how loki got there in the first place. im thinking this takes place in ep 6 instead of 5 bc loki had his brown tva jacket (not pictured) before slipping and he didn't have it at the end of ep 4. the real mystery here is where tf he got his jacket back from esp when talking to timeline!mobius after the tva got spaghettified

this one of him slipping INTO the car lot is placed IMMEDIATELY after the one of him slipping away in the tva control room which makes me think either he slips from there to here (still don't know where he got the jacket from!!!) or marvel is fucking with us and these two are unconnected

what cruel god would ever do this to them look at their sad wet kitten eyes. lord give us strength for the finale i can't do this alone

this is the one that terrifies me the most. it has the same background as the one with loki. why is loki back in his variant uniform. why are they almost crying looking at each other. what is mobius about to say. are they saying goodbye. what if i killed mys

THIS. THIS ONE. IS BREAKING MY BRAIN RN. WHEN IS THIS. WHY DOES HE HAVE HIS JACKET. WHY IS HE LOOKING AT THE BOOK. WHY ISN'T EVERYTHING SPAGHETTIFIED. WHICH ONE IS FUTURE LOKI. DOES IT EVEN MATTER

i promise this is going to be the only lokius thing i have in this post but like. hello. husbands

i saw another post on twt that was like "omg loki talking mobius through the walk <33" like no these are clearly different scenes. loki is holding the mic in the scene where mobius is right there in the room with him, it's much more likely that it's (another?) he who remains variant (who is absent in the middle ss with the group). my theory for this scene is that after loki went around the sacred timeline finding everyone and restoring their memories they went back to a time in the tva before he who remains got spaghettied and do pretty much exactly the same thing again. which thinking about it now wouldn't really be a great narrative choice but fuck it it's marvel

k this is gonna be contd in rbs bc i can only fit 30 imgs in one post and this next one is HUGE

#loki

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theprinceandthewitch · 1 year

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Okay so this is going to be the revised theory post for this one. I didn't want to edit the original post because I was worried the date would change. And I want to keep the date for record keeping purposes lol:

10.) Luz’s and Hunter’s trip to the past:

It's obvious King is going to be sent to the past. We can make this assumption based on the fact that it's foreshadowed in one of the paintings in The Collectors castle [bottom left corner].

This painting is the same one from Echoes of The Past. But this time, the little titan in the corner is present. This tells me King is going to be forced into the past and he's going to witness his father fighting a titan trapper.

I need to remind people: The Collector really, really doesn't like Luz because he's jealous of her relationship with King. As King only allowed Luz to touch his stuffed animal. The Collector also believes Luz and King are out to stop him for good. He thinks they're going to try giving him some kind of punishment worse than being imprisoned for eternity in a mirror. This frustration is only going to be exacerbated once Luz wins whatever game he forces her to play. Or when King steps up to defend Luz if she completely fumbles the bag during her game with The Collector.

Either way, this child - who's already wracked with jealousy and had his trust broken by his "best friend" - is going to be PISSED with Luz and King. We've already seen what he does to people when he's mad at them - he turns them into dolls. And he keeps doing this to people despite King's protests. This entire situation with Luz and King is the perfect storm for a tantrum - and who knows what kind of power this literal god is going to dish out when he's this angry.

Well... we already know one of these hidden powers is time magic...

Anyways...

Why would Hunter go to the past with Luz you might ask? Well, from a writing standpoint he's needs to see Caleb. All he knows about this guy is that he's Philip's witch-hunting brother and he founded a town with Philip. Oh and he has lured away to his doom by a witch from another world. Seeing Caleb for who he actually was a person and his relationship with Evelyn will help Hunter develop a better view of himself. And he will get answers to questions he had about Caleb, as he did try looking into his life story when he was in the human realm.

The other reason why Hunter would go to the past with Luz? From an in universe standpoint: because Hunter can flash-step. I can see him trying to snatch up Luz like he did with Gus and Willow before she get’s sucked through a portal. But he’s either not fast enough to get out of the portal or something knocks into him - causing him to fall through the portal with Luz.

Sooooo

They’re going to show us Caleb and Evelyn. I have no doubt in my mind now, because not only do they need to show us Caleb and Evelyn in order for the Luz/Hunter and Caleb/Evelyn parallels to make sense -- the portal, out of all the places it could have connected to, connected to Evelyn’s house:

This is Evelyn’s house, because this is the place where Eda found the door when she was a teenager [Keeping up A-fear-ances]. The door was obviously built by Evelyn because the portal door’s fixed location in the human realm was Caleb’s house. And because they chose this setting as the first place we see in the demon realm… they’re going to bring it back again. Don’t even try to convince me that they’re not going to bring it back lol. They literally established Hunter and Luz as Caleb and Evelyn towards the end of TTT… and now at the beginning of FTF they show us Evelyn’s house. Totally not worth noting or anything, im sure...

You know that one trope in stories with time travel plots where they show us a location in one point in time, but when the character goes to the past or future it looks similar but different? This is what’s going to happen here. They’re showing us what the gate and archway look like because this is an entry point to Evelyn’s house, which Luz and Hunter will end up at later.

They’re going to show us Caleb and Evelyn for two reasons:

1.) They need to turn the audiences assumptions about Caleb and Evelyn’s relationship on it's head.

... I'll emphasize this for the 9348023944th time: it's absolutely essential we meet Caleb and Evelyn in order for the parallels between Luz/Hunter and Evelyn/Caleb to work. We also need to destroy any sort of sympathetic qualities the majority of the audience thinks Philip has. Again, most people do not consume media with a fine tooth comb, so most people aren't going to notice or even CARE to look for the context clues in Hollow Mind. We also need to note that the story of Caleb and Evelyn is told exclusively from humanity's perspective. Humans have consistently portrayed Caleb as a victim of bewitchment, Evelyn as a malicious entity, and Philip as a man who wants justice for having his only kin taken from him. Humanity thinks Philip is a man worthy of sympathy - and this is how most people who watch TOH are going to view him, because they will not be aware of the context clues of Hollow Mind. Their assumptions about Caleb, Evelyn, and Philip need to be completely destroyed. This is why its absolutely integral for them to make an appearance before this series ends.

We also need to see them so Hunter can know who Caleb was as a person. I already talked about this towards the beginning of this post... but basically once Hunter meets Caleb and sees his relationship with Evelyn, he will have a better view of himself and Caleb. All Hunter knows about this dude is that he was a witch-hunter lured away to his doom by a witch, he's Philip's brother, and he supposedly founded the town of Gravesfield with Philip. The first one is obviously a lie and the last one might not even be true because history can be omitted and rewritten to fit certain narratives. But yeah, basically meeting Caleb would improve Hunter's view of himself.

2.) The majority of the audience believe Evelyn murdered Caleb, thanks to her protrayals in Yesterdays Lie and Thanks to Them.

In FTF it was implied Caleb died by a dagger wound, but the majority of the audience don’t know it was Philip who stabbed him. As Philip has never given explicit confirmation he was the one who killed Philip.

They’re also using his design as a teenager to make the audience think Caleb was murdered when he was really young. He wasn’t murdered as a teenager - he died when he was an adult. You won’t know this is a "trick" unless you look at the paintings in Hollow Mind. In the paintings in Hollow Mind, he is portrayed as an adult man with short hair. His hairstyle is a neater version of Hunter’s current hairstyle. When Caleb was a teenager, his hair was longer and in a pony tail.

Adult:

Teenager:

And another thing that confirms for me we are going to see Caleb and Evelyn: FTF made it very clear Belos is experiencing hallucinations. This is why he saw Luz as Evelyn and Hunter as Caleb in TTT [and Hunter as Caleb in King’s Tide after looking at Flapjack]. But despite this, we STILL don’t see Evelyn’s “ghost” appear at all in For The Future. This is another reason why I know we are going to see her in the final episode and that she’s going to look like Luz.

Seriously... what other logical reason is there for them to be so cagey with the way she looks if she didn't look like Luz? Why hide her appearance if shes just going to end up looking like Eda or Willow? If she looked like Eda, they would have shown us her face in Hollow Mind. If she looked like Willow they would have shown us her face in Hollow Mind, because Huntlow is totally going to be endgame right? There's no reason for them to hide her face in Hollow Mind or to not have her "ghost" appear in For the Future UNLESS they're building up for the reveal she looks like Luz.

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Okay, this is the fun part:

So, first of all, you know this image from Sense and Insensitivity - the episode that spoils certain story beats?

I thought they were going to drop this, but still go for a heavily implied Lunter endgame. Because almost every other piece of foreshadowing in this episode has happened [one of the drawing’s on the board is going to happen in the final episode. Consult the other post focused on Sense and Insensitivity to see what I mean]… but now… since time travel is obviously involved in the last episode I’m starting to think they’ll still go here.

Here’s the thing, I just don’t see Luz and Hunter going to Evelyn and Caleb’s time then just… going through a time door to the present right out the gate. That’s really really boring. Here's some possibilities.

1.) Since there is a level of tragedy at play this season with Eda and Raine being slated for death [and I think Eda's palisman is going to get killed by Belos], along with King getting sent to the past - all the way back to when his father died - and aging since then… It’s entirely possible Luz is going to age as well. We still don’t know how time doors work, but if we operate under the assumption they’re random like time pools, then Luz and Hunter might need to wait for the door to open at the correct time. I don’t think this is going to happen because it’s boring and it’s like… opening and closing the door would eat up alot of Titan Blood. While Evelyn did have access to alot of vials of titan blood, it’s still a highly coveted resource since people need to mine for it.

But another issue with this theory is that it would be really, really hard for Camila to explain what happened to Luz when she goes back to the human realm. Like Luz can't just drop out of school and disappear without Child Protective Services getting all up in Camilla's business lmao.

Unless Camila just... forsakes the life she built for herself in the demon realm to live on The Boiling Isles with Luz... but I dont see this happening tbh.

2.) This one is the option I believe they’re going to go with. Evelyn helps Luz and Hunter build a time door, but it has a one time use. It’s a one way ticket to the exact point in time they want - and the exact point in time they pick is a situation where they fight Belos in the future. But instead of going through the door right away, they choose to stay in the past to train under Evelyn until they feel like they’re ready to face Belos. Then once they’re ready, they’ll go through the door to kick his ass.

In this scenario, I don't see both of them aging significantly... they'll probably stay in the past for a few months, since Hunter and Luz are fast learners.

Even though Luz was on TBI's for only a few months, she rediscovered a lost form of magic AND she figured out you could combine glyphs to create spells. Just so you know, it took Philip YEARS to figure out he could combine glyphs, while it only took Luz around what... a month to figure that out. She also studies wild magic, which Evelyn would know since she comes from "The Savage Ages".

As for Hunter - the kid is literally a "teenage prodigy" and spent a great deal of his time studying while he was training to be the next Golden Guard. And he ALSO has an interest in wild magic.

So... the thing is: Evelyn somehow managed to fix her door to one location in the human realm, which was Caleb’s house. The door can be opened anywhere in the demon realm, but has one fixed location in the human realm. We still don’t know how she did this, but she could probably figure out how to fix a hypothetical time door to a specific point in time. Since she figured out the right ingredients to build a door to the human realm and have it be fixed to one location, she could figure out the right ingredients for a time door.

But yeah...

They’re most likely going to go with option 2 as a way to contrast with Luz choosing to stay on The Boiling Isles at the beginning of the series. And since they’ll be spending some time in the past, this will give Luz enough time to move on from Amity.

I honestly don’t think it’ll take her years to move on from Amity, because Luz has been mentally preparing herself to initiate a break-up for months. And narratively speaking, Luz was never going to break it off with Amity, because Amity has been set-up to be the one who ends their relationship. I just want to remind everyone: Luz came to the conclusion breaking it off with everyone was the best option for Amity and their friends. Luz thought about this for months, so the blow of a break-up will hurt less for her than it will for Amity.

Another thing to take note of: Luz was going to spring a break-up on Amity right after she found Eda and King. She even tried doing this to Amity before she found out Amity and their friends discovered a map to Titan blood. She had MONTHS to prepare for a break-up while Amity would have had this sprung onto her without warning. This is why I don’t think Luz is going to be NEARLY as heartbroken as Amity’s going to be when a breakup happens. Luz thinks her secret - wanting to break it off with everyone - is just going to be swept under the rug and never brought up again. However, Luz's secrets always come to the surface. She either throws herself into a situation where she is forced to tell someone her secret or someone else forces it to the surface. [The only exception to this "rule" is Camila accidentally turning on Luz's laptop]. Luz will not tell Amity or her friends her secret unless these two scenarios happen.

The only person who knows Luz wanted to break it off with everyone is Camila. And she's not going to her daughters secret to anyone - she even kept it a secret from Gus and Willow in FTF. So Luz's secret is going to come to the surface through whatever game The Collector is going to play with her. Another thing people need to take note of is that because of King, The Collector knows Eda's and Luz's personalities like the back of his hand. He's going to know about Luz's tendency to keep secrets from the people she loves.

But uuuuuh...

... Speaking of Luz and Hunter staying in the past... Hunter and Luz getting to live with Flapjack for awhile before they go back to the future KNOWING what’s going to happen to him in the future is going to fucking destroy me LOL.

ANYWAYS... back to Luz and Hunter staying in the past:

They’ll have more fighting experience and will have more spells to use during their final fight with Belos. Luz and Hunter are very intelligent and they both have a keen interest in wild magic. So it’s not going to take them long to learn all the spells Evelyn knows. Luz is going to need time to figure out how to fight with a staff and Hunter is going to need time to figure out how to harness Flapjacks magic consistently.

God... like... I really want to see Evelyn give Luz her red witches cloak - which will once AGAIN establish Luz as Evelyn with about as much subtlety as Philip calling Luz "Evelyn". I honestly want Luz and Hunter to get a change of outfit that fully sets them up as Caleb and Evelyn before they fight Philip once last time.

Oh right... another thing: Theres foreshadowing of Luz getting fucking murked by Philip, we are straight up going to have a reversal of what happened with Caleb and Evelyn. Where "Evelyn" is the one who's going to be stabbed by Philip and not "Caleb".

Let me just list the foreshadowing of Luz dying real quick:

1.) Sense and Insensitivity:

Luz: Luzura dies?!

King: I know right? What a twist!

2.) Thanks to Them, during Camila's dream:

Luz: Oh happy dagger, give me death!

3.) Thanks to Them, this comes after point number 2:

4.) Thanks to Them, this comes after point number three:

"Philip set off to save his brother and bring the witch to justice."

The dagger he's holding is the same one he used to kill Caleb with:

This is why a reversal is going to happen - where Luz [Evelyn] is the one who dies and not Hunter [Caleb]. Like, theres no way hes not going to try seeking justice from Luz because he sees her as Evelyn.

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Right, Right okay soooo I've been thinking about how this time travel situation is going to play out. I think it's going to go like this:

Luz and Hunter go back in time to meet Caleb and Evelyn - but it's not on the day Caleb dies - its some time before he dies. Luz and Hunter get to bond with Flapjack, Caleb, and Evelyn for a few months. They part ways with Flapjack, Caleb, and Evelyn, which is going to be bittersweet because Hunter and Luz know they'll never see Caleb and Evelyn again. They also know whats going to happen to Flapjack in the future. Hunter and Luz leave thinking Caleb and Evelyn are going to live long and happy lives together: and this is when Philip shows up to ruin everything.

We get to see the fight leading up to Caleb's death. Not only has the nature of Evelyn's and Caleb's relationship been completely flipped on its head - we also get explicit confirmation Philip murdered Caleb and not Evelyn.

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You might be thinking, oh but there’s not enough time for TWO time plots. I’d say, yeah there is.

Okay so, first of all, whatever game Luz and The Collector are going to play isn't going to be that long. This games only purpose is to force Luz's secret to the surface. Luz's secrets are always forced to the surface and it happens in two ways: The first way is Luz throws herself into a dangerous situation to distract herself from her emotional turmoil, which inevitably spirals so out of control she is forced to tell her secret to the person she's hiding it from. The second way is someone just straight up exposes Luz's secret to everyone - like what Philip did in Thanks to Them. The only exception to this pattern is Camila accidentally turning on Luzs laptop. But the point is is that the story has always made sure Luz couldnt keep a secret from her loved ones.

This game shes going to play with TC isn't supposed to be interesting or take up alot of time. It's going to be "anticlimatic" because again, its only purpose is to expose Luz's secret. And ya know... The Collector isn't the final villain of the story, so Luz and him aren't going to be in conflict for a huge chunk of the episode.

King isn’t going to get alot of time dedicated to him because he’s not the protagonist. Most of the time is going to go to Luz. We are only going to see King's father in his final moments and we're going to see King accepting the reality that he's trapped in the past - millions of years before the present day. Maybe we even see him carve the mural from Echoes of The Past. That's literally it.

We'll see someone - most likely Amity as she has been established to be great with kids in The Collectors age group - talk The Collector down from his tantrum. I don't see Camila doing this because I feel like the writers are going to have Camila meet up with Eda before her confrontation with Philip. I also think King [the future version of King] is going to help Amity calm him down. Because again, we have no idea what kind of power The Collector is going to dish out while throwing a tantrum.

Eda, Lilith and Camila fighting Belos [as he's possessing Raine] isn't going to take up alot of time either. Because the purpose of this fight is to kill Eda - this isn't some grand final battle - it exists specifically to emotionally compromise Luz and to highlight the tragedy at play in this season. This fight is also important for upping the stakes for Luz's final battle with Philip.

Philip is going to need to consume a palisman so he doesn't get one-shot by Luz in their final confrontation. Swapping bodies is going to put him at a disadvantage and his monster form is literally falling apart. He will continue to deteriorate if he doesn't regain his human form - which he can only do if he consumes a palisman.

Having Belos regain his human form and mental clarity will make the final fight much more tense than if he entered this fight as a deteriorating mass of goo. Because when Philip is in top form - Luz can't beat him. She can't beat him because this dude has CENTURIES worth of battle experience and magical knowledge he learned from The Collector. Luz couldn't even beat him when he switched to his monster form in King's Tide WITH EVERYONES HELP. This is how dangerous he is. This is also why I don't see the final battle ending with Philip dying. Luz and anyone else who comes with her into the final fight isn't going to be able to kill him. King still has the mirror The Collector was in, so Philip is set-up for a fate worse than death by eternal imprisonment.

I mean, maybe Philip will just die? It's kind of weird, because here's the thing about the mirror: It belonged to King's father AND you need an incredible amount of power to take someone out of it. So you MIGHT need an incredible amount of power to put someone IN it. I have no fucking idea - it's 50/50. Truthfully I don't want King to be remotely close to this fight with Belos, as he could turn this final fight into an anti-climatic shitstorm with his deity-like powers. While I do PREFER Philip to be given a fate worse than death - I don't want it if King or The collector are going to be involved in it. I would rather have Luz and Hunter kill this little idiot than have the literal god beings come in to completely undercut the tension of the fight.

...AHEM...

So... yeah... There's are only two things that are going to take up alot of time: Luz and Hunter meeting Caleb and Evelyn and the final fight between Philip, Luz and Hunter.

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We are not going to get any other characters joining in for the confrontation with The Collector or the Final Fight between Luz, Hunter and Philip. Do you know why they dedicated a good chunk of time in the second episode to the teen characters and Kikimora, despite the fact they could have just written them out of the episode entirely? It’s because you are never going to see these characters again.

You might see them at the very end of the third episode. But they’re not going to leech from the screen-time of the third episode. First of all, the confrontation between Luz and The Collector isn't going to be this grand thing spanning over most of the episode. To reiterate: It's only purpose is to force Luz's secret to the surface. The Collector isn't the villain of the story, so it makes absolutely no fucking sense to dedicate most of the episode to their confrontation. Nobody is going to show up to help Luz if she fumbles the bag with The Collector. The only character in the cast who has the courage to put himself in-between The Collector [a literal god] and Luz is King.

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See... I’m not here to argue whether or not Hunter and Luz getting together by the end of the story would be “bad” from a storytelling perspective. Because I’d say “no” lol.

First of all, Luz has been mentally preparing herself for a break-up for months. She was ready to break it off with everyone before she even knew her friends and girlfriend found a map leading to Titan blood.

By the way, the fall out between her and Amity is entirely Luz's fault. She's the one who continuously hides information from Amity, despite Amity making it clear time and time again she loves Luz and is willing to help her - but she cant help her unless Luz tells her whats bothering her. Despite being told this AND receiving unconditional love from Amity, she still hides stuff from her. This is an issue that's present in every single episode focusing on their relationship. This issue was also established in the very first episode focusing on them as a couple. And to think the writers will let Luz get away with attempting to spring a break-up on Amity - despite her unconditional love and support for Luz - is laughable. Because this show has never let Luz get away with keeping secrets from those around her. AND to think Amity wouldn't be heartbroken when she finds out Luz wanted to break-up with her is also laughable.

Anyways...

Hunter would obviously develop feelings for Luz because… she’s Luz… Shes incredibly intelligent and has an amazing personality - and if it wasn’t for her he’d be another body in a Golden Guard “graveyard”. She’s the only reason why he has anything good in his life. She’s also the only reason why he gave Flapjack a chance. I have to remind people that without Flapjack, he would have never gone back to save Willow and Gus in Any Sport in A Storm. The only reason why he went to help them is because he knew Belos was going to kill their palismen. Because of Flapjack, he was able to form a friendship with Willow and Gus - without Flapjack he would have never been able to bond with Gus and Willow through a flyer derby game. Hunter's friendship with Gus and Willow would have never came to be if Luz didn't show him wild magic wasn't dangerous. So to think Hunter wouldn't fall head over heels with Luz, especially when he's going to be spending some one on one time with her is just... hard to believe lol.

#lunter #huge theory post lmao #that ends abruptly because I am so fucking tired my dudes lol I aint getting paid to write consistently

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