Brained and Brawn for @xombigirl

There were some little inconsistencies in the first Tide and Bone chapter that I’ve been gnawing on but I think I’ve pieced together the Maw’s plan that makes everything make sense with the new context given to us in the asylum directors letters.

Parts of the break in mission seemed too…smooth? It was bothering me that there was a screaming beast transformation followed by a murder/resurrection in the backyard and that none of the guards, who were explicitly stated to be on high alert and had timed periods of feigned casualness drilled into them, didn’t go check on All of that. And maybe guards who work for greyslate have seen/heard their inmates do some weird shit and have learned to look the other way as long as it happens within the bounds of the sanatorium, fine, but in the middle of the night? In the backyard?? It seemed pretty sus to me before I realized

The Maw and the Serious Man had set up a Candela investigator honeypot

Here are the facts:

1. Sarkas’ escape from the sanitarium went oddly smooth, RIGHT after he witnessed some magic bullshit go on. It went so suspiciously that Rajan theorized that he might have been let out.

2. Sarkas had no proof of what he saw other than his word. According to Matt, a lot of Candela cases turn out to be ‘a drunk guy’ or ‘neophyte woman making big deal out of nothing’ or ‘mob hysteria’, so when Sarkas, who was previously in an insane asylum and had a background as a distrusted OUP, came to Candela with nothing but his word, it seems set up to appear as Baby’s First Investigation. Nekari and Cosmo, who are both old hat, heard about this assignment and thought it seemed ‘routine’. A little parting gift walkabout for an incredibly old man.

3. The Maw seems to mainly prey on the vulnerable. It took Rajan’s sister as a child thrall, and attempted to take him as well. This is speculation but if the Serious Man knew Raj’s mother well enough to stroll around with her, then it’s likely that she was involved with the Occult. Combine that with greyslate being a place where they put OUPs out to pasture, and her line about the circle having her ‘favorite flavors’, it seems like her preferred thralls are those who have had bleed exposure before. Investigators are both strong and vulnerable, and would make great thralls because they haven’t been ‘used up’ like the inmates were.

4. The director’s letters stated that the Maw needed stronger thralls as the current ones burned out too quickly.

So we’ve got the perfect setup to nab a few grade-A thralls, people who are in a line of work where disappearances happen regularly, are susceptible to the Bleed, come with a host of issues to feed upon but aren’t ‘greyed out’ yet like the inmates are. It seems like the perfect plan! Nab a circle, get strong thralls to get digging, set up some misdirection on where the group disappeared to once they are brainwashed and you know more about them.

Unfortunately for them, Cosmo rolled up with a guy who knew EXACTLY what he was fighting and had a chestful of locusts, a monster woman to engage the enemy monster woman in a kaiju battle, a backup triage lady since the first triage lady was preoccupied monster battling, and another dude with a personal vendetta who literally physically cannot die.

a Grimm fate indeed....

Damn Elsie.

Aabria just took out 4/5ths of the table without a swing swung or a die rolled. Just manipulated all the sad backstories. I'm absolutely speechless. She came for blood and by hill or by sea she got there.

Given the impression I have of this fandom, I am *terrified* by the possibility of Liam playing a GILF in Candela Chapter 3

i am so excited for the circle of tide and bone - i am hoping that this will be the circle that i will fully watch to get me into candela. with both vassal & veil, and needle & thread, i have partially watched the first episodes but not finished wither, despite really wanting too.

but this one is gonna be gmed by aabria who i love so incredibly much (im catching up with burrows end at the moment and its so good i love it), and want to see more stuff from all the time. also the liam and sam duo, thats gonna be devastating i can feel it already. i dont know much about gina but have seen a lot of people talk about her the past year or two so am excited to see what she brings to the table. i haven't heard of noshir before but am already obsessed with his characters look i am so intrigued. and then we also have my best friend ashly burch oh im so glad to see her back. i will say that i often will see her and just refer to her as mark likely as that is the person i associate with her the most.

first thoughts on candela chapter 3

- liam’s character is adorable and i love his bookshop and dog

- sam seems so excited to not smile and have some fun with a darker character

- gina seems so cool and i’m so excited to get to know her as a player and person

- ashly’s character seems so intriguing, loved her description

- noshir, everyone is swooning over him and i totally get the hype… his character seems so interesting and i’m so excited

- aabria i’m genuinely so excited to see aabria in the dark setting of candela, she’s going to have so much fun messing with all of us and i can’t wait

overall… so excited to see where this heads! (haven’t finished the episode and had to stop watching early… no spoilers please!)

CANDELA SEASON 3 PREMIERE LET'S GOOOO

I am once again ready to be horrified by what Aabria's mind comes up with

Excuse me. That Candela Obscura Chapter 3 ending freaking hurt.

So you know what??? Have a good-vibes-but-also-sad speed-drawing 😭😭😭

(but in all seriousness, congratulations to Sam, Liam, Noshir, Ashly, Gina and the amazing Aabria for that wonderful series. Ya'll did freaking incredible on this!!)

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST! REBLOG ONLY!

Interested in thinking about Elsie and what exactly her Deal is with the beast because like??? She refers to it as a separate entity but has memories of what the Beast did (in reference to snapping Oscar’s neck). She can’t read Old Fairan but can speak it, and was magically compelled by Cosmo in human form. Even when fighting the Maw Ashly deferred to what the beast would do in that situation rather than what the doctor would do. It’s described as having nothing of Elsie remaining in it but is directly tied to her emotional state. What’s the line between woman and creature? How much of that line is physical and how much is psychological?

thank you candela for the nightmare fuel & Ashly I salute you

Oscar is actually Cosmo’s dad

Oscar saying that he should be taking care of Cosmo just hurts more now

How dare Aabria and Liam give me even more closure.

Candela Obscura: Needle & Thread is about, if it is about anything, parent-child relationships and the desperate desire for a closeness in the face of a yawning chasm of separation, physical, emotional, or both.

Sean and Margaret, the creature and mother, Nathaniel and his father, Jean and hers, Allison and Lucas. Even Beatrix and the child she never had, transferred onto Sean. (Marion is the only major character who does not fit neatly and completely into this pattern, despite the brief look at his relationship with his father.)

That desire for closeness—even when there is immense strain in the relationship, even when that desire has been suppressed into more of an involuntary instinct—escalates over the chapter until incredible violence is being committed in an effort to reduce these distances.

These parent-child relationships are even weaponized repeatedly in the finale. Sean takes the deal to save his mother. The person in the cage observes that Nathaniel's father never liked him as a device to rattle him and his father's face is worn to force him to hesitate. Violet lashes out at Jean before she dies by telling her that her father was happy when she told him that Jean was no longer going to visit.

There is so much longing for a parent or a child in this chapter. Sean wants to be with his mother again, and Margaret wants her sons. Nathaniel craves his father's love, and in the end, his father reaches for him. Jean grieves for her father. The creature wants to be with their mother, and their mother is distraught when her child is killed. Beatrix is wistful for the child she did not have. Much of Lucas's screentime is devoted to missing his mother, and Allison misses her son terribly.

There is also much to be said about sibling relationships here: Sean and his brothers, Nathaniel and his, the creature and their sister. Sibling dynamics inform the relationship between Sean and Marion, and Sean and Nathaniel. That's not the focus of this post, though.

I believe that it is specifically this web of parents-children and the various distances in their relationships that really is the core of the chapter. This is about a desperately intense, even violent, desire for a closeness in those relationships and the willingness to do basically anything to overcome the distances.