breaking bad, "grilled" // sufjan stevens, "make me an offer i cannot refuse" // breaking bad, "granite state"

Sorry, but I need to say something I've been thinking about for a while. I found geto's death forcing. 1.he loses to a boy with no experience and the power of ''love''. 2.he was stronger and had more knowledge and experience than the boy yuta. 3. It seems that the author just wanted to get rid of geto so that this annoying villain Kenjaku could come. 4. In my opinion, Geto is the best villain. I don't understand why the author didn't want to continue with him. 5. His death was forced because Saturo already had a change in character and personality. What I'm trying to say is that in the film, Satura is already different, he's no longer that immature young man. 6. the serious work was much more dramatic if geto had survived saturo blow he would have become stronger and returned as a villain again with sukuna. Sorry if it's big, but I have these doubts that such a good and well-constructed character had a horrible ending and very little.

I get you, Anon. You have every right to feel that way.

Honestly, as someone who does enjoy Geto, I'll tell you right now that your first point reminded me why I have came to hate the word "fraud".

I really hate what fandoms have done now to that word because it's like that word is thrown at every single character.

Lately, I keep seeing people call Geto a "fraud" because he lost to Yuta, but I'm sitting here like "what the hell is he faking though"?

They really associate losing to being a fraud and it's ridiculous.

Look, I adore Yuta, I do. But let's not sit here and act like Yuta wasn't having a difficult time against Geto because he was.

"Why is Geto considered a Special Grade"?

I don't know, maybe because his technique literally can bring about chaos all over Japan as how Kenjaku used it after the Shibuya Incident? Maybe because he did in fact trained as the same as Gojo did during their school years?

"He doesn't even have a domain"!

Domains are literal trump cards in JJK. It's actually impressive Geto hasn't relied on one. And how do we know he doesn't have one? Just because he didn't use one doesn't mean he doesn't have one. It's like saying a person doesn't have a purple shirt just because you didn't see them wear one that day.

I just can't with people!

The thing that gets me about the whole Yuta vs. Geto fight is that is it expected that Geto would have lost, even more so when the story made it clear that Yuta was going to be a strong individual, but it's how people are reacting to it that annoys me.

Oh my gosh, yes, he lost to a 16-year-old. A 16-year-old who happens to have an insane amount of cursed energy and a bond with the "Queen of Curses", and ooh! He's related to Gojo!

People saying this like it's a brand new concept and just to rag on Geto fans. Why though? You... you cannot be that bored! Yuta is written to be an overpowered character, while Geto was not.

Now, I could be wrong about this. But I feel like Geto was written to be a character that "haunts the narrative" much now just Toji does.

Geto, to me, is an interesting villain and I actually would have loved to see the years of from how he started his cult at 17 to an adult.

In relation to Kenjaku, that just reminded me of a post I saw that pretty much bashed Geto and praised Kenjaku. Now, the JJK villains, I enjoy them all to an extent, I do. And as such, it gets me sometimes how some Kenjaku fans (not all, folks, chill) will bash Geto like he's the worst and even as far as calling him ugly when... Kenjaku literally wanted to merge humanity with Tengen... for a laugh. Kenjaku has done some heinous things, too, come on. And going as far as to calling Geto ugly is funny when Kenjaku is walking around with his face.

Like, Kenjaku actually seeked out to use Geto's body. Not any of the other Special Grade sorcerers or anyone else. His technique was useful for Kenjaku and let's not forget that because of that face and that voice, Kenjaku put the Strongest Sorcerer in a box.

I won't lie, I'm actually intrigued how the plot would have been like if Geto survived and came back later for some more villainy. Him in Kenjaku's spot would be different... but that's a different I gotta see!!

Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender S1E5: Spirited Away Review [SPOILERS]

Overall, a strong and creepy episode. With its titular callback to Miyazaki, this one had a very different sensibility from the prior episodes, but I liked it. I wasn't so sure about bringing Katara and Sokka into the spirit world, but we got some really important scenes there.

THE GOOD

Katara and Sokka flashbacks in the Spirit World: I was initially skeptical when Katara and Sokka went along with the spirit world journey. But there was a strong emotional character-building payoff with seeing both of those painful flashbacks. The trauma of Katara witnessing her mother's death, and the emotional pain of Sokka's barely passed ice dodging trials -- a new memory of Hakoda that added something to Sokka's character.

Koh the Face Stealer/Fog of Lost Souls: Man, Koh was creepy. The Fog was creepy.

Better placed fan service: The callbacks to the cartoon in this episode were much more organically placed than "my cabbages" and the minstrels from earlier episodes. Sokka referencing Pippin Paddleopsicopolis. The men in the tavern talking about the canyon crawlers ("Great Divide") or battling the volcano ("Fortuneteller"). They were little easter eggs that didn't draw too much attention to themselves. Even the Knowledge Owl ("The Library") had a story-driven purpose, more or less.

THE I-APPRECIATED-WHAT-THEY-WERE-DOING-BUT-NOT-SURE-THEY-PULLED-IT-OFF

Gyatso in the Spirit World: I wanted to like the concept of Aang finding Gyatso in the Spirit World. I liked Gyatso "cheating" at Pai Sho and the warmth that showed. I even kind of liked Gyatso's slightly awful "we do it for the ones you love" exposition speech at the end of the episode, corny as it was. But I felt cheated out of that warmth in the Episode One, when that would have made a difference in emotional heft when Aang discovered his body. Now it just seems... cheap? Because he's back? And it undercuts the weight of the Aang's loss of his entire nation and people.

The thinness of the spirit world barrier: Ultimately, the show had to get these characters into the spirit world, so I don't fault the show for pulling a little "oh I can just feel it" Jedi Knight/Avatar once-over on the audience. On the one hand, this show keeps telling us (not showing us) that Aang 'doesn't know what he's doing.' And then on the other hand, it dumps spirit world mumbo jumbo exposition on us through Aang clearly kind of knowing what he's doing by referencing what "the monks told me." It's kind of jarring. It at once makes him seem wise while undercutting the message they're trying to convey about him not knowing what he's doing.

THE BAD

Clunky dialogue continues: "I also need to help these people..." "The avatar has to do the impossible..." Every time Aang talks about how he should have been there, should have protected the forest, needing to help people, it just feels so forced. Just show him helping people. You don't need to have him announce that he wants to help people.

Talking exposition fox: What the heck?

THE UNKNOWN

Narratively tying Aang, Zuko, and Azula together/Azula: The close of this episode, narrated by Gyatso in corny fashion, drew explicit parallels between the stories of Aang, Zuko, and, surprisingly, Azula. I am not sure whether this is going to pay off yet, as Azula's arc in this show has yet to be fully realized, but it does seem they are taking her in a different direction from the prodigal, "born lucky" daughter from the show. It shows her vulnerable, desperate for her father's approval. I am interested in this take -- and in how Ozai masterfully plays his children against one another -- and want to see more of where it goes.

Oh my God I have this idea–

So what if Kind!Muzan has rarely to never show what his Blood Demon Art is, and he also never show a majority of his demons (including his Kizuki's) his fighting skills. He is also always patient and never raises a hand nor voice at his demons. He was always so gentle and soft-spoken. You immediately feel safe when he is around.

So most of his demons thinks of him as weak and needs protection, and little believes otherwise. Not that they minded. They are all willing to lay their lives to protect their Master and father figure– the man who gave them a 2nd chance in life.

The demons goals here are to live a normal life (as normal as it could get, anyways), and try to blend in with humans for those who can, and live amongst them. Maybe one day demons will be accepted by humanity.

With that in mind, what if, during the Entertainment District Arc, Muzan went to visit Daki again but sees the town/city in complete ruins.

He panicked, worrying for Daki and Gyuutarou. He tried to see if they were alive (they are, according to his telepathic abilities. He can still feel their presence).

And when Daki and Gyuutarou were about to be decapitated, Muzan felt rage like he never had. His aura was so intense that it made everyone freeze out of fear. Whoever was about to decapitate his Upper 6 lost focus and got thrown across the field harshly.

Now Muzan's goal here isn't to kill, but to bring his Upper 6 to safety. Tanjirou and his comrades were considered lucky when Muzan decided to teleport away (thanks to Nakime).

With Muzan's intense anger and horrifying aura– something they've never experienced before– how would they react, especially when Muzan went on a rampage layer on to annihilate the Demon Slayer Corps.

They were a danger to his demons. They needed to be extinct.

How would the demons handle a feral Muzan, who now couldn't recognize them (think like when Nezuko first turned into demon and couldn't recognize Tanjrou). He even attacked them, seeing them as a threat. He was scared(?). But jeez, he was so terrifying with a temper.

Maybe one of them remembered what Muzan liked or a lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he was little (which Muzan went on to sing to the Kizuki's (especially the young ones) and other young demons. Wow, he had such a beautiful voice, too).

Maybe that's when Muzan came to his senses, and tears started forming. He just looked down, his hair covered his face as he cried silently.

He was so stressed. He lost so many people in a course of a thousand year, he didn't want to loose anymore people. Anyone that raised him or befriended him either abandoned him or died, and he never had a proper childhood. He forced himself to grow up because of his position as a demon king.

The (barely surviving) Slayers were confused seeing how loving and gentle the demons were towards Muzan. They comforted him, despite being confused because they had never seen their Master like this. He was usually the strong one.

Nakime, with her Blood Art, quickly warped them home and they took care of Muzan, who doesn't seem to remember who they were and was in a child-like state (like Nezuko, and he was so quiet and refused to speak. He was similar to Kanao– unable to make decisions unless told to).

They don't know how to get Muzan back to normal, but it didn't matter. They'll protect their father just like how he had done so for them. This information was told to the other demons, who got determined to be stronger and prevent slayers from getting to Muzan.

Thank you so much in advance! I apologise of it is too long and too much too read! Feel free to change stuff of you'd like! Or ignore this if you don't feel up to it!

A/N: This idea was such a pleasure to read, so I'll be focusing on continuing this narrative a bit instead of changing what you've already written. My writing style has changed a lot, I hope you still enjoy it! Sorry this is a bit short, my post will be getting longer soon!

~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆⭒~⭒☆

Truth be told, the uppermoons didn't know nearly as much about their master as he knew about them. When something happened to one of them he knew, and he knew how to help them or fix the situation.

So this.. problem..

It left them stumped.

Ever since the incident, Muzan had barely spoken to anyone, not to mention that it seemed his only pass time was research. Although, not even that got him out of his room in the castle, nothing and no one could do that.

And so, his dear demons tried to come up with a solution, or at least a plan of action

"Nakime-chan, couldn't you-" Douma started, but he was cut of by her "Most certainly not. Teleporting Master out of his room wouldn't achieve much." Resting back against the wall, the ice demon sighed, trying to think of a better solution- though coping with emotions wasn't his field of expertise.

"I must agree with that.. We must find.. some way to get him to come out of the room himself.." The voice of the demon who took over the duty of leading the demons echoed through the room, seemingly lost in thought too.

Daki and Gyutaro were silent, and it was silently understood by most that they truly felt guilty- however, despite their silence, they too had a plan of their own. After all, they somehow felt that more responsibility falls on them, despite all the other demons reassuring then that this couldn't be further from the truth.

They were advised by Kokushibou to not act on their own, especially as the siblings tended to be quite.. Impulsive when it came to deal with emotions. That was also the reason they hadn't listened to the advice they were given- looking back on it, they aren't too proud of it either, but hey, at least it all worked out!

Daki visited him regularly. Talking to him for hours, telling him about how reasonable Kokushibou is, how Douma and Akaza fight less nowadays, how Hantengu leaned to control his emotions better, how she was so happy seeing all the pretty projects Gyokko was making! As much as it saddened her that this seemingly didn't have much effect, it didn't stop her. And Kokushibou was no fool either, he was more than aware of her antics.. but something within him didn't allow him to stop her.

And progress did come, with patience and time, but it did. It was slow, and it showed itself as Muzan finally stepped out of his room. He didn't speak, but he did nod his head as a greeting to everyone he passed before continuing with his walk. Kokushibou could've sworn he saw the faintest smile on the Masters face, too..

..Could it be possible that things were slowly starting to heal?

Sorry to kickstart reaper Zoro brainworms again but like…I’m thinking about the implications of reaper Zoro and gear 5 Luffy- about what happens when that awakens. Literal god of the sun and a harvester of souls.

do not apologize, it's always reaper zoro brainworm hours in this house!!!!

omg @faggotzoro and i were literally chatting about this the other night, specifically with regard to gear 5/nika in both the "original" reaper AU branch and a third AU branch (that never actually made it out of the DMs, I think??) where the reaper-esque-ness of reaper zoro is less "immortal god of death" and more "title/power passed down", possibly more in line with demon zoro aus (my beloved). DMs are under the cut to give credit where credit is due in the hivemind (we are unionized)

however, in any scenario (giving this one the Official AU Canon Stamp, and it potentially answers your question) they are continually drawn together because luffy is (and always will be) marked for death, but at the same time he's also like zoro--something else, too. a god, maybe, or something zoro can't quite see. this would be the reason reaper zoro joins the crew, imo. reaper zoro sees nika/the sun god within luffy but also sees (as an agent of death) that luffy is destined to die, and it's either curiosity or duty (to his nature as death) that has him following luffy in the first place.

i think this could fit really well with the attitude zoro has in shells town at the beginning of canon--he just sort of goes along with luffy because what the hell, i guess, and his loyalty grows over the course of the series. his "original" reason for joining luffy is straight up just to get his swords back (reductive, but you get what i mean), so presenting an alternate reason within the AU keeps the growth of their relationship in line with what makes the growth of their relationship in canon soooo good (imo). and if that reason is luffy's divine/semi-divine nature as some element of nika? delicious.

i like to think an actual gear 5/nika awakening would be the climax of whatever story we're building here, simply because i am absolutely a sucker for holding gear 5 back as a narrative trump card (the dramatic irony of gear 5 waiting in the wings the whole story, only for everything to just explode when luffy finally awakens and zoro sees? insane. going crazy just thinking about it). setting aside the completely unhinged combat potential of the two of them side by side (god i love fights), on one hand you have a possible resolution where they're star-crossed lovers as diametrically opposed forces (light/dark, life/death) or a sense of profound, beautiful relief that they could be together for eternity, because--oh shit, luffy is something else, too.

and circling back to ~branch 3~ (baby) reaper zoro gets lost in the human world (because of course he does) and encounters baby luffy. they become friends, however temporarily, and luffy teaches him bits and pieces about what it's like to be alive. this could mesh with the already-existing childhood friend AU branch (immortal zoro and human-ish luffy), thinking particularly about things from this ask and this ask.

Trying and failing not to think about how every. single. duos. potential win would be made infinitely sexier if the bonds break in the end when I’m an angst and tragedy enjoyer

Tango and Jimmy… forced to kill their partner, the only one who has uplifted them every step of the way, believed in them when no one else would, stood up for eachother through thick and thin. It would break them. They would be inconsolable. Like first of all it would be no small miracle for them to be the final two standing, but just the absolutely crushing devastation. All their joy immediately decimated when the bond breaks and they realize what has to be done. It would have to be a Scarian-style thinly veiled self-sacrifice from one of them because I don’t think they could have the heart to do it for real, to actually fight eachother to the death.

Ren and Bigb… their messy on and off again relationship coming to a head. Could they really ever amicably come back together? After all their issues they’re always reunited by convenience, but will those feelings and frustrations and fears that we saw at Scott’s Relationship Ranch surface again? Will they make a honorable fight of it, or will Ren’s rage and Bigb’s resentment surface again? They were always so good at making issues with eachother when there weren’t really any there...

The Divorce Quartet would all make such interesting face-offs, because it shows the defeat of the system set in place. Cleo or Scott would have already lost their chosen soulmate, so maybe it would be easier for them, less feelings to get in the way of the job that has to be done.

Cleo and Martyn… wouldn’t it be such a grand show of valor, as the Soulbound who couldn’t provide, who endangered his partner, for Martyn to sacrifice himself? To let Cleo win? Though he was never very good at giving Cleo what she wanted or needed or asked for, he always was a bit too selfish, despite what hes always thought

Scott and Pearl… Scott doesn’t seem to think they’re making it to the end again, he’s said he’d rather kill himself than let Pearl wreck havoc as Red. But if they did make it to the end… the hatred between them is so much. Pearl has no sense of self preservation, she would take so many risks, so it could go either way. She could either win because of her lack of hesitation, or not be careful enough and slip that way. Also the concept of a repeat winner in Scott has me shaking, to be the champion of the traffic games by rejecting the very rules each set in place (Boogey and Soulbounds)… It would be incredible.

Joel and Etho… well they’re repeating fate. Last Life again, instead of the others who will repeat 3rd Life. An even more familiar memory. But Joel has been so loyal all season, so loudly devout. When they have to fight, will Joel continue to show servitude, or will his bloodlust get the better of him? Will Etho be able to turn fate and defeat him this time, or will he be forced to relieve it exactly the same? Their fight in Last Life was so satisfying to me too, it would just be a joy to watch them fight no-holds-barred again.

And those who would have to repeat 3rd Life…

Bdubs and Impulse… oh wouldn’t it just be everything? Wouldn’t it just be beautiful? I’ve seen the dash theorizing about Bdubs betrayal all night already, and I’m with you guys, narratively it would be beautiful. A clock couldn’t really save Impulse… Oooh to be doomed to repeat fate, oooh for Bdubs to prove himself a betrayer once again, after all that love. Oooooh for Impulse to either lay down his life and let it happen again, prove his love, or to reject his repeated fate, turn on Bdubs first or harder, not letting himself make the same mistake twice (not the lack of the clock, it was just trusting Bdubs)

Scar and Grian… Scar and Grian.

It seems like this whole game was set up so what happened in 3rd Life could never happen again. So Grian wouldn’t have to beg the ghosts that couldn’t just the both of them win it together? And for that to collapse at the very last moment, to prove that it will always come back to this, that there will always only be one, no matter what the games seem to promise…

It was set up so 3rd Life could never happen again, so Grian wouldn’t have to kill Scar again in the very end, but they’ve been on the rocks the entire game. Grian’s been trying to outrun what fate has given him again, a physical tether to Scar this time, instead of just one of obligation. He’s been trying to outrun it, and now he finally has his out, he’s no longer bound with Scar.

He just has to do it again.

And the result either way, if he repeats it, if he becomes the trafficgames champion, by having to strike down his oldest ally both times… or if he can’t do it again. If instead of Scar hitting at air and letting Grian overtake him, after already offering up his life before the fight, if Grian takes the fall. He lets Scar have this one. His obligation over, his service of a life. They’re even now.

Official Summary:

Before the tides turn, there is simply two men and a boat. One is trying to pull the other out of the storm. The other is the storm.

Sometimes love is closing your eyes to the lightning and choosing not to fear the thunder.

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

“And if you need to, you can break me too

You can disappear

Please just take me with you when you go

Oh, let me follow”

-Let Me Follow by Son Lux

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

Top Three Songs:

I Follow Rivers- Marika Hackman

Ocean- Alice Phoebe Lou

Without You- Ursine Vulpine, Annaca

Sound tags and genres:

indie, dark, haunting, slow, reckless, devoted, sacrificial, resigned, trapped

See more for the curator/author's personal notes and additions. Or don't. You really don't need them, they're just quite talkative.

Disclaimer: if you somehow ended up here and you don’t believe in Angeal x Genesis then this playlist is going to be pretty moot for you because I completely centered it around a romantic view of them. If you here for that, perfect >:)

Second disclaimer: this is heavy, heavy headcanon. this is my version of the characters and events and my interpretation based on that version.

Because WGPCMFG is told from Cloud's perspective there isn't really a way for me to dissect their fall in the storyline, so instead I will heavily headcanon and make playlists to get sad about them to.

This is a playlist that’s sort of both their perspectives but I think I let Angeal’s narrative dominate for the most part. Which is fine because Genesis narrative is primarily covered in The Red Sea.

I have this strong feeling that, even if Genesis was very fond of fire, Angeal never saw him as fire. He’s always been drawn to Genesis like a man is drawn to water, helplessly in need of it, amazed by the power of the torrents, unable to leave even under threat of drowning. There are a lot of references to water in both this playlist and The Red Sea, in songs like “I Follow Rivers,” “Fear of the Water,” and “Ocean.” So Genesis’ playlist being called The Red Sea is indeed purposeful, but his playlist has more fire metaphors to delve into his view of himself. But that’s for another post lol

You can’t really talk about Genesis’ degradation without talking about Angeal’s and that’s got its own level of terribleness if you think about it. Angeal’s forced to watch Genesis become this sad mockery of his true self, but even if it’s a mockery, it has Genesis’ image. It’s a monster with his lover’s face and, even disagreeing with what he’s doing, Angeal is still in love. There’s this teetering between what his honor says is the right thing and what his heart longs for and his degradation only enhances this, makes him indecisive in a place he’d usually lack no hesitation. There’s also some resentment, only on occasion, of how helpless he is to his love for Genesis, which I tried to bring in the sound of “Hate That I Love You”, “I’m Tired, You’re Lonely,” and “Everything We Do Is Wrong.”

Then there’s how Angeal is also losing his sense of self. He doesn’t physically degrade, but mentally, he can no longer view himself as human. His love of Genesis ironically feeds this, as he can’t forgive himself for continuing to side with what remains of his lover even as he attacks Zack and continues to get people killed. He can’t help but view himself as a monster and a danger, because if he can’t bring himself to truly leave Genesis alone, even as Genesis is slowly lost to his own obsession, then who can tell what he’ll do if Genesis truly asks?

Genesis’ view is very scattered throughout but it’s very much there. “Beautiful Undone” is probably the best example of it because, even in degradation, Genesis’ is a bit of an attention whore. Angeal doesn’t need to outright choose his side in the war for Genesis to know where his heart is. Genesis knows his heart is too large to outright fight against Zack, but he’s not fighting against Genesis either and it says more than enough. "Sane" is how he somewhat recognizes Angeal's horror at what he's become but he's too tied in his liberation to truly care. Even horror is captivation. Even begging and falling apart, Angeal is still beautiful, and if he’s begging, then he’s still Genesis’. He still finds what they have to be love, even if it’s sick. I also consider "Power" to be from his perspective, because even with him becoming a far more unhinged version of himself, he considers Angeal to be a large piece of him.

I'll leave things there because I've made an absolute behemoth of comments and honestly, I have more to say about quite a few of the songs, but I won't LOL. You guys please tell me what you think of the playlists and if you have any requests and/or recommendations :)

Hi! I was thinking... it's interesting how in the first seasons sam & dean kill each other's main 'villain' -i mean the evil entity that tried and succeeded in twisting and shaping them into the necessary form to break the first and last seal-: dean kills azazel (& ruby), sam kills alastair. And in instances of altered mental states, they both hallucinate the other's enemy who is already dead (dean azazel in yellow fever and exile on main st. and sam alastair in when the leeve breaks). as if what they fear most of all is the part of the other's enemy that already has seeped into the other, the dean that's a torturer, the sam that's a monster, and when they hallucinate those demons they're really afraid of how their brother is already affected or lost, or the possibility of it. in yellow fever is blatant, but, also,sam hallucinates alastair when his mind is rationalizing the pain dean is forcing him to endure in the panic room. sorry idk if im only babbling abt obvious things

Hi, anon! :)

Been trying to think of something insightful to say and kind of failing, so: I agree with you! Sometimes you can't deal with everything by yourself, can't defeat your own Big Bad... but your brother can. Kripke believes so much in Relationships as Good, and Relationships as thee key factor in being a good person, so given these villains are, in part, associated with the darkness with Sam and Dean's hearts, of course they would only be defeated by the other: it's our relationships that keep us human and help us defeat our inner demons.

There's also something to the narrative's framing around saving/protecting vs. revenge. Despite Azazel going after Sam, it's Dean who ends up killing him, as he's the character who didn't have such a strong drive for revenge. Or how Dean tries to get revenge on and catharsis from Alastair by torturing him, but that just ends up wrecking Dean, before Sam shows up to save him (also contrasting with the burdens the angels keep putting on Dean's shoulders versus Sam putting his skin in the game and taking Alastair on directly).

People talk about S3's shortened run and S4 as a major shift in the show with the introduction of angels, Heaven, etc. and it very much was, but I think Sam not saving Dean from Hell was also a big part of this shift too. It's the clearly intended narrative beat after S2, with Dean saving Sam (both thru his deal and then more symbolically thru killing Azazel) and so then Sam would've saved Dean except Oh No Unexpected Consequences -- but then Sam doesn't. They obviously have Sam save Dean in S4 so it does still happen later on, but the narrative break with what's expected thematically, and it being a forced rather than chosen decision, does make me wonder sometimes, that in another universe there would've been a very different S4 if they'd continued down more unexpected narrative roads...

... Oh so you want to play this game?

Okay then-

A. Emerald was also isolated from society due to needing to steal to fucking live.

B. Mercury fucking laughed at the same murder-

Mercury: I think he was some sort of cat, actually.

Emerald: What? Like a puma?

Mercury: Yeah, there ya go.

C. Emerald was shocked by the Fall of Beacon and it’s destruction. Mercury?

Cinder: Beautiful.

Emerald: (with a sorrowful expression on her face) It's almost sad.

Cinder: It's horrendous. Focus on the Atlesian Knights.

Mercury: Oh, I'm getting all of it.

I believe the terminology is ‘fiddling while Rome burned’.

D. Emerald has actually risked something in betraying Cinder and Salem, abandoning the person who uplifted her from being a gutter rat and painting the target of an immortal witch on her back. Mercury hasn’t done shit. Yet.

E. 

Behold, The face of a man with no narrative sympathy or redemption planned.

Now for Harriet and James-

1. Being a triple amputee and being tramuatized does not, in fact, mean that the character should be given redemption. By this logic, no one should have had an issue with Vader and he didn’t need to actually SHOW he was still a good man by the end.

2. Harriet is James’ UNDERLING. Any sins she has committed has been because James ORDERED them. Logically, she IS more deserving of redemption, especially since she eventually backed down and James KEPT GOING.

3. Said attempts to protect the citizens resulted in his army being hacked and being used to gun down innocent people, an army he was EXPLICTEDLY told he shouldn’t have brought because it was the equivalent of Germany bringing an army into Poland during an international holiday celebrating the end of WWII. Oh and the one guy he caught, who was the subordinate OF a subordinate? He wanted to get caught and proceeded to use his tech to blow shit up.

4. “Data Not Found”

Blake: But we're nowhere near finished evacuating everyone! You'd be leaving Mantle to die.

Ironwood responds with far less emotion.

Ironwood: Yes… I would.

Found your data. Took 5 seconds.

5. Yeah, what was that about tramua? Maybe it caused some paranoia and mental instability?

6. “No Narrative Sympathy”

Bitch what do you think this is? An animation error?

And here’s the kicker!

Cinder:

Amputee and blinded in one eye, lost her family, was effectively enslaved as a girl, abused by her adoptive mother and sibling to the point of being forced to wear a SHOCK COLLAR, is currently being abused by Salem.

Absolute psychopath who has caused at least two genocides by this point and continues to murder for the sake of power.

Woman

Narrative Sympathy: Fuck you. Redemption: About as likely as being hit by twelve consecutive thunderstrikes.

Salem:

Trapped in a fucking tower by her own father, lost the man who saved her from that imprisonment and is cursed with immortality.

Is literally responsible for 99.999% of the bad things in Remnant.

Woman

Narrative Sympathy: She killed it. Redemption: HAHAHAHAHA- No.

For the ask meme: Vio and 7, bc while I know you like the ship, I'm curious about the characters individually!

7- What do you like most about this character?

warning i went on an entire meta philosophical Thought Journey with this one and you will literally be able to SEE where it went off the rails. and then it just continued going off the rails until the rails disappeared from my field of vision and i have no idea if anything i wrote actually makes sense but here just take it

honestly i think part of why I love vio so much as a character is i did NOT expect to like or care about him, and then he ended up easily my favorite. the only thing i knew when i picked up the manga was that i would probably enjoy shadow as a character, which. of course i did. bc he's a very specific flavor of character i always gravitate towards, but vio was like... girl what? why are you in this story and doing the things you are doing? and by the end of my first reading i was just BLOWN AWAY by him and shadow and their entire subplot so i went to tumblr because i felt like i was hallucinating it and here we are now.

re: what i like most about vio... i go into it a lot in this post. vio is fascinating to me as a character from several perspectives, as a writer, a gay person, and just... having the philosophy and experiences that i do. there is such an inherent tragedy to his character that i don't think is lost on the authors--like i say in the post, shadow and vio both don't quite feel like they BELONG in this story, especially with how it ends.

like, i often write vio in particular struggling with the ways he deviates from the narrative set for him, both in canon and out of it. yes a lot of that is tied to queerness, but it also relates to themes of self-determination sub-textually tied to his arc. vio seriously just does whatever the hell he wants a good amount of the time, to like an eyebrow-raising degree. when he separates from the others and joins shadow he's on the Side of Good from the start, but i think he also realizes very quickly that there's more to himself than he'd expected. that doing what he had planned to do, especially to shadow of all people, was going to be shockingly difficult, and perhaps not even the correct choice at all. which is why vio's canon ending kind of falls flat to me, even though i can't imagine it could have ended any other way. this isn't to say he shouldn't have tried to betray shadow--it's an internal conflict he's going through, and a character usually makes the choice antithetical to what actually fuck i just boiled it down to the essentials i know exactly and fundamentally why i like vio as a character holy shit okay

SO normally a character in a story will start out Wanting something and Needing something else, and their entire arc is realizing, "aw beans, my Want actually sucks, i Need my Need" and then they pursue that instead. hero's journey etc.

think about the general premise of vio, and to an extent the other three: character is given individual consciousness to serve a specific noble purpose, and then cease to exist once said purpose has been served. and with the others, that's basically it, minor emotional and relationship arcs aside. but with vio? the premise GOES somewhere. oh no! character finds themselves drawn to the dark side by a "tempting" "evil" person or force, who CORRUPTS them into THINKING they WANT to defy that destiny! that they should be selfish, and bad, and turn their back on what they actually Need to do. so says the narrative, the character NEEDS to accept that they're not meant for anything but being used and discarded, because that's what good people do, and these are the Sacrifices We Must Make to Be Good. does your hero have any kind of unconventional or deviant leanings? well either that shit's getting straightened the hell out, or they are going to perish to save the Pure Good Guys, because that's all they deserve. that is a very common way to handle's vio's exact sort of character premise, and at first glance at the manga, one could argue that it's no exception. link still reforms, after all. arguably this kind of happens with shadow, but i think i like his ending a lot more outside of the shipping context. it says something more nuanced than above, but this isn't the post for going into that.

i would argue that almost every fiber of this manga pertaining to vio is actually trying to do the opposite of what i described above, even though it never is able to come to fruition.

quite simply, compared to the typical Needs and Wants of a corrupted hero type, vio's are like subverted. he's given a corruption arc, and it looks pretty basic at first, but it quickly becomes so... unconventional? and fun? and, dare i say, queer? i say it lot in reference to his whole turn of character once he joins shadow, but vio commits to the bit way more than is necessary to carry out his plan. shadow's not that perceptive and vio didn't need to be so close with him, so snarky and clearly enjoying himself, so bizarrely extra and innovative with the means by which he psychologically tortures his friends. his internal conflict, especially towards the end of his villain era, is less "i'm miserable because i'm a good guy and i want to save the world but i HAVE to pretend to be evil and like shadow," and more "i'm miserable because i'm actually enjoying a lot of these villainous theatrics and also i have become genuinely endeared to shadow, but i know i HAVE to betray him and rejoin the others because the world needs to be saved." i don't think it's a reach to say that that's what vio's conflict is, in the text. we see it in his expressions, his dialogue, and his reactions to things that happen.

i think this whole subversion was something the authors did with his character, whether accidentally or purposefully, REALIZED they did with his character, and didn't want to give up. but still, the story needed to end with vio rejoining the others and reforming the hero, because like. duh, of course it does, nintendo and source material and all that. but with the way a himekawa built up their obvious faves' (vio and shadow's) stories, it's like well shit, we came up with something we love but we can't really see it through. because within this brilliant subversion of the typical corrupted hero arc, the WANT is vio's sense of obligation to turn on shadow, reform link, etc, and his NEED is to say, "hey fuck this actually, i deserve to be a person and have relationships and do things i enjoy, and that doesn't make me any less of a hero. i'm smart and resourceful and there's definitely a way to both save the world and preserve who i am and get through to shadow."

self-sacrifice isn't inherently heroism. in fiction, it's often a deeply shallow and underwhelming resolution, especially when the character spends so much time growing and becoming who they truly are. i didn't grow up with religion, but i have a slight suspicion it plays a huge part in this entire attitude, and it sucks how much that permeates into media culture. doing good isn't something you can just phone in at the last second; it is a constant and ever-changing way of life, based on a moral system you develop for yourself as you grow. pretending to be someone you're not, acting solely under a prescribed ethical code especially as a grown-ass adult, makes you hollow and spineless, as well as unhappy, resentful, and unfulfilled.

doing good is hard. staying alive is hard. making decisions and forming connections and constantly being challenged are all very hard. but when you choose to embrace life, to accept failure and flaws but still try to be good, make meaningful connections and allow yourself to be genuine and happy and queer? that, to me, is the Goodest of the Good. and it's unique to each of us, while being something we all have the ability to choose for ourselves. and it's never too late for that. until the narrative tells you to jump off a cliff because that's, like, way too nuanced to be sustainable, and sure the story's resolved and it ended happily for the purest of heart, but what a bleak happiness that is. fuck that.

like, compare to vio to adora from she-ra. adora got the ending revelation i wish vio could have gotten. the whole, "i am worth more than my usefulness to others, i deserve love and self-determination" thing, and THAT's what really saved the day. adora saw her future, living happily with catra and the others, not dead or used but just LIVING, and said "hey, maybe the real answer here? the key to being a hero and saving the world? maybe it's loving, and letting myself be loved, and not sacrificing myself because someone said it's what i'm meant to do." and holy shit, she was right. and the narrative rewarded her for it, with a kiss from her catgirl gf and also destroying Big Evil and saving the galaxy or whatever.

fucking IMAGINE if that could have been the thing to save the day in the manga, just for a second. if you isolated just vio and shadow's arc and made them the Main Characters, like how adora and catra are in she ra. if it was truly allowed to be Their Story, if it was able to transcend the source material, if if if. it wouldn't even have to be just vio and shadow's story, honestly -- the four could realize, each for their own individual reasons, that maybe they can't unring the bell of their own existence. that they can protect hyrule better as themselves, that they deserve to continue the development they're been experiencing for the past 300 pages. and maybe vio would be the one to set that line of thought in motion, because has it not been set up exactly so he could?? if you've read my main au, you know exactly what i'm picturing here. and while i like some of the manga's canon ending, there's a reason most people who love these characters engage most often with alternate resolutions.

i think i like vio so much because he surprised me, and that's because he surprised the fucking AUTHORS OF THE MANGA. even more than a decade after publication, they made a point to say in their note that they appreciated the way people "got" what they were trying to say with shadow and vio specifically. i can't speak for them, and i will concede that i am mostly overthinking just for fun and none of this is that serious, but... come on. do you not see what i'm seeing here. they did something so fascinating and tragically unfulfilled here, and that all hinges on vio. and it's also just. so resonant to me as a gay person, in the same way she ra was.

obviously i could say more, and this is embarrassingly unhinged and maybe delusional, i don't know. i just wrote a lot of words about something so silly and arbitrary, but i took the time to write them because i care and can't get that time back now. so i might as well commit to the bit like gayass purple boy and post anyway

Oh damn I just realized something else about the possibility that Aurane Waters has captured the Elephant, another parallel with Alyn Velaryon.

To reiterate, the two Lysene ships which captured and enslaved the refugees at Hardhome were the Goodheart and the Elephant. As the quote from Arya confirmed, the Goodheart had been severely damaged in late autumn storms at sea and forced to dock at Braavos. Of course, because the Lysene ship was carrying slaves, and Braavos is militantly anti-slavery, Arya also reported that the Sealord’s government had seized the ship; if its ultimate fate is currently unknown, this ship definitely will not be finishing its journey to Lys with its enslaved human cargo (and alongside the Elephant, which was able to continue).

Well, I mentioned the possibility that Alyn’s pride in his capture of the Sealord’s elephant might be a nod to Aurane capturing the ship Elephant, but I only now realized that the other ship name might have a parallel with Alyn’s historical battle as well. As Gyldayn relates, while Lord Velaryon achieved a major victory over the Braavosi forces in the Stepstones during this engagement, the Velaryon fleet lost three ships in the Stepstones during the fighting. One of those three - indeed, the only named ship of them, and one of the very few names ships in this whole conflict - was the True Heart, captained by Alyn’s cousin Daeron Velaryon. Gyldayn specifically notes that Daeron “had died fighting for him [i.e. Alyn Velaryon]”, as does Yandel, so it’s clear that it was the Braavosi in battle who brought down the True Heart, rather than an accident or act of nature.

This note, I think, even more strengthens the parallel. Not only do we have a ship named “Elephant” (to echo Alyn’s captured living elephant), but now we have the Goodheart being captured by Braavosi (to echo the similarly named True Heart, sunk by Braavosi). The naming conventions seem to go past the point of coincidence, I think, especially given that the True Heart is one of the only named ships in this entire conflict (make what you will of any similarity between Alyn’s own Queen Rhaenys and the Sweet Cersei, one of Aurane’s stolen dromonds, assuming he even still calls it that). While it’s certainly true F&B has its share of red herrings and surface-level similarities, I don’t see this as being merely coincidental, especially with the narrative and thematic advantages of introducing Daenerys to the women and children of Hardhome.

Oh, now that you mentioned Prince of Egypt, I just finished watching it and it was great. I don’t really watch Disney but this one was *chef’s kiss*. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is next and that’s only because I just listened to Hellfire and loved it.

I felt for all of them. I felt for Rameses when he was grieving, and he’s better than me (well, not really since he’s a slaver) because if my sister knew that a force was going to come down and kill all first borns and not warn me, we’re fighting. I get why he did what he did, but still, the babies :( Rameses was always holding his son :((

I also really liked how there’s no reconciliation (but they still call each other brother, oh no I think I’m actually gonna weep, I’m too sensitive for stories like these). I just finished rewatching HOTD so the show’s still on my mind and as someone who, like many others from what I’ve seen, didn’t really like Alicent’s and Rhaenyra’s reconciliation (or at least the execution. Vaemond was just executed hours before for voicing what Alicent has been fearing since Aegon was like 2 years old.), Rameses and Moses hits different. I’m sorry but if anyone, even a loved one, suggests to have my 10-year old, freshly maimed, just lost an eye, permanently disfigured and disabled son tortured we’re fighting. All day everyday any day, it’s on sight. (But I may wish to see you again after death. I’d feel too guilty to voice something like while alive but while dying, maybe not - this is my Catholicism speaking btw.)

Problem is I watched Prince of Egypt while I was drunk over the holidays and I was immediately bowled over by how sad I was, and also the death of the firstborns is just...it's so depressing it's such an incredibly depressing scene it haunts me everything about it is so haunting. Part of what makes that, and the story of the Exodus, such a wrenching narrative is that it falls into a category some of the sadder Biblical stories do, like the life of Job or the Agony in the Garden, which is God making people do things that they do not want to do. The movie's more explicit with that line in the plagues song with the bit where Moses says he wished God had tapped someone else for this, but even the actual Exodus story has it specifically stated that Pharaoh was ready to let the people go and God specifically hardened his heart so that he could continue on with all the plagues, in order to have this clearcut lesson of what happens if you follow any other god than, you know, God (and I think he does it again for the parting of the Red Sea? But it's been a while since I've studied Exodus). But yeah, I said this before but one of the things the movie got really right is that if you're trying to make it a proper narrative rather than a parable, then the emotional core is the intense family tragedy that's befalling our two mains as they get thrust into plans that are literally Biblical in scope.

(also i'd like to point out that, in the actual exodus story, moses is saved from the river by pharaoh's daughter, not pharaoh's wife, so the pharaoh of the exodus is meant to be moses's uncle and not brother and you can do a whole lot with the idea of rameses not being pharaoh but still on pharaoh's side but trying to be an intermediary between his blood family/his liege and the brother he loves and getting caught in the crossfire when it comes to the death of the firstborns without later dying in the red sea, i think it'd be neat)

Lack of reconciliation works for a Disney movie, it does need a clear cut villain and for however much you feel even for Rameses (the character) when you're older rewatching, Moses is the protagonist fighting to free slaves and Rameses is the antagonist keeping them enslaved, so having him soundly defeated even if that means we never get a moment of rapprochement works. But I actually don't necessarily mind the Rhaenicent scene in episode eight cuz, even beyond the fact that relationships aren't always linear and they ebb and flow and fluctuate and that makes sense to me, I don't necessarily view it as a reconciliation. It's barely even the building blocks of a reconciliation, it's Alicent and Rhaenyra both holding A Block and agreeing that maybe they might put them down to try and build something like reconciliation later on. It's the fact that they're tentatively open to the opportunity, that if Viserys hadn't died and Rhaenyra had come back and maybe continued trying to make amends, a reconciliation could have happened, but they never got the chance, and when they meet again too much will have happened for it to ever be possible. It makes sense that Alicent was willing, at least that evening, considering not just the longstanding affection she's had for Rhaenyra as a girlhood friend and first love, but also that Rhaenyra took the first step and not only openly honored what Alicent's done over the last nearly twenty years (the first time she's ever done so in the entire show), but also said "she has my apology", specifically telling Alicent she knows she has stuff to be sorry for and she is. That's what spurs on Alicent's softening stance for her that night, not just old feelings, and it's likely that a reconciliation likely would have had the complicating factor of Aemond's maiming and Viserys's treatment of him and his family in the aftermath and how Alicent might still want some recompense for that, because that's her son. They're definitely going to change the lines about Jaehaerys though in Alicent's death monologue to be about Rhaenyra instead, and it'll make me cry.

Also my fave Disney movie is The Lion King, which happens to not only be excellent but is one I've been watching with my father literally since infancy so it gets its win not just for being the best but also for being a bonding factor in my relationship with my dad.

Hey explain GD's Kwondo Panda. Didn't know he into pandas all of a sudden. Is he trying to save the species from extinction or something? He's such a hero! GD for pandas!!!

OR could he be coming out with a whole line of wildlife based shoes?!?!? Oh my stars and stripes!!! So looking forward to the following ones, Kwondo Porcupine and Kwondo Hippo.

Everybody knows what/who those 5 lines represent. Don't kid yourself. Remember the sweet ending of Still Life? Those 5 lines are GOLDEN.

FYI for obvious reasons, the remaining members aren't allowed to outwardly support him but that doesn't mean that you are right. Also do remember, you are able to emotionally support someone without supporting what they had done. Some people have a heart and are able to forgive. Give it a try! Being bitter all your life won't get you anywhere.

Gladly. "Panda" is a marketing term used by Nike to describe a specific white/black colorway on their products. The name "Panda" isn't exclusive to GD and has been used on other Nike shoes, which you can easily confirm with a quick Google search. Pandas galore. GD did not come up with or assign the name "Panda" to this variant of the Kwondo. Nike did. What, did you think he designed a special line of sneakers to honor Seungri? Wow, get real.

The small minds of your kind are as miserably one-tracked as ever I see, and not grounded in reality. You plague rats have to stop making fools of yourselves and making everything about that man. Forcing your delusional bullshit about a convicted sex offender onto the BIGBANG members does absolutely no one any favors. Not you, not me, not BIGBANG, not even Seungri. The phoney public image you fell head-over-heels in love with is over, as is his time in the group he left. The group that has just now begun to recover their careers after he set them back years, continuing their journey forward without him in a song and video that delivered a message unequivocally in support of four. There's no such thing as a fifth season. When Seungri is released from prison next February, he will be required to enter his personal information on a national registry for sex crimes, per court order. He is not under any circumstances (outside of one's imagination) returning to BIGBANG, and BIGBANG are not returning to him. Deal with it. And by that I don't mean deny it. God knows y'all have done enough of that.

The five lines logo. Is everyone in agreement about what that logo represents today? Are they really? Because the fact that there are KVIPS still happily displaying it -- KVIPs who have no love for Seungri and mobilized en masse to deplatform him from Instagram immediately after his conviction -- should be giving you second thoughts about how it's perceived by different groups of VIPs. And this KDCKV person isn't an isolated instance. She's just one of many.

As for the MADE logo at the end of the Still Life music video, it was significant, but not in the way you think. Sadly, BIGBANG's strong sense of narrative seems lost on folk like you. It's very basic of you to reduce the MADE logo to a number when it can be seen as so much more than that. It also seems incongruous to tout it as a statement about holding on tightly in the context of a song and video whose message is of leaving the past behind. BIGBANG's use of those familiar lines at the end of the video more than likely signals the formal conclusion to BIGBANG's MADE era. The final installment, an outro of sorts, and the closure we all needed.

BIGBANG coming back to reunite with fans when the flowers were blooming was the fulfillment of the promise made in Flower Road, which was itself a continuation of MADE. In this way Still Life establishes itself as the completion of that story arc in BIGBANG's history (get it? History. Sorry, couldn't resist). There's so much beauty and poetry in the way they worked in references to Flower Road and Last Dance and other themes that were prevalent throughout MADE, then, as a finishing touch, used their old logo that marked the ends of MADE era music videos to say goodbye to that time of their lives, to offer a eulogy, an "in loving memory" before the new beginning, tying up a loose end and closing the book on a chapter of the band that had been left open for far too long. Keep the memories but move on.

Too bad it's too much for simple-mindeds like you. By viewing BIGBANG's artistry through such a narrow lens, by boiling everything of theirs down to the one who gave everything up, you're missing out on something great. Truly.

(However, if you insist on interpreting the MADE logo as meaning five, then you're more than welcome to see it as the members saying goodbye to five.)

BIGBANG have signaled their intent to pick themselves up and start anew amid the ruins of the worst reputational devastation they've ever faced as a group, and so far, their hard work and their resolve to remake themselves as something better than before has their future as four looking very promising. Stop shoehorning the source of that devastation back in where it doesn't belong. Stop standing in the way of healing. Stop standing in the way of BIGBANG's new beginning.

hmmm losing memories... oh wait right, Junpei's memories were lost too!

Ok since I outlined my essay. Might as well spitball some of my thoughts here.

One thing that I really appreciate about the episode 31 reveal, is that it makes the inner demons more complex. On a surface glance you would think

"Oh it just represents, y'know, what really bothers them about themselves."

But that would be in-fact, not true. Or at least, not the full truth. And now with the contract stuff coming to light, I'm realizing that the demons were probably all built on a foundation, a more general concept.

(AKA what started their contracts to begin with.)

And what better way is there to create an inner demon than trauma?

Furthering this idea -- I actually believe that their inner demons were created as coping mechanisms to handle said trauma.

That's their foundation.

For example, (1) Vice's foundation is built on Ikki's need for someone else to handle the situation. For someone else to handle the memories that would break him.

(2) Kagerou's entire creation is built on Daiji's trauma of not being good enough. Of being 2nd best always, and of never being seen or valued because of so.

Kagerou whole purpose was to be the coping mechanism for Daiji's self-hate. Like his name "mirage", he was built to twist the narrative. To hide the desert with the Oasis. Or, to hide Daiji's self-hatred and feelings of inferiority--- by lashing out and blaming others.

(3) Sakura? Well she couldn't be vulnerable. Not as the youngest, and the only daughter in the family. Her parents already had a lot on their plate. And she wanted that attention and love of a parental figure -- so she knew for Ikki-nii, that she had to be someone dependable. So she hid what would make her seem childish, or the youngest. And wore the mask of someone 'stronger' instead.

That's Lovekov's foundation. Lovekov is Sakura's way of coping with reality. Of separating herself from her more vulnerable and 'childish' aspects so that she could be stronger as a person.

I actually believe that you can see these foundations just based on the definition(s) of each of the inner demons names. (More on this later, in a separate post LOL!)

So........where does Papa-san come in?

Well. I think it makes sense that Ikki's losing his memories because he's relying on Vice's power.

If Vice's original foundation was built on Ikki needing to repress and/or use someone else to take care of the traumatic situation, then of course relying on that power would hurt him. The more he uses it, the less connected he is to reality.

"It's fine, nothing happened." But repeated until you actually think nothing happened. My dude's literally losing his past -- piece by piece.

(Stupida$$ multi-layered demons @_@...)

So I guess, not only did Vice take Ikki's childhood...but now he's taking all of Ikki's past. (RIP.)

...

Likewise, VAIL for Papa-san was what he needed in order to protect himself from the reality of being an imprisoned experimental subject with no humans rights, only used as a weapon for destruction.

Papa-san couldn't handle what this life would do to his heart, so he "VAIL"'ed it. But its that separation -- that refusal to acknowledge the pain of reality, that has kept Papa-san's memories locked away.

As of rn I believe Ikki's doomed to end up exactly like his father; if he continues on the path that he's currently on. I think there are 3 options he can choose from.

(1) Continue to use Vice's powers and lose all of his memories

(2) Kill Vice -- his repression coping mechanism, hereby forcing himself to stop running away from reality.

-- OR --

(3) Create a new contract.

Again --- this is why I'm getting even more firm on the theory that Kagerou isn't really "dead". I think that what happened is Daiji just essentially terminated their contract/what their contract was built on. He didn't need that coping mechanism anymore, and it wasn't healthy -- nor would it help him grow. So he ended the contract.

(By killing Kagerou.)

But, you see -- these "Inner demons" as stated before are complex mfers. They may have been built on a coping mechanism, but they evolved past that. As Kagerou and Vice have their Daiji and Ikki:

"I am you."

Vice is everything Ikki's repressed: His aggression. His childhood. His doubts. His fears. His wishes. His selfishness. His inner child.

Kagerou was more than just a "mirage." He represented the more "bad" / selfish parts of Daiji. And since Daiji has yet to acknowledge those parts (fking STILL) that only tells me that until he starts accepting them....until he forms another contract, he won't grow much further from where he's at.

That's why he's still playing second fiddle, and it's why he still fails to truly win his battles.

Its because he hasn't acknowledged or accepted all of himself yet. Something he can only do if he acknowledges Kagerou and the darker parts of himself that Kagerou represents.

Anyways --- I'll be dropping these essays within the next 3 weeks (insert anakin meme here -- LOL) :

(1) I'm about to copy and paste my analysis and theory about where -- narrative wise I think the sibs arcs are and what that might mean for the future; in like 2 minutes.

(2) An essay on the definitions of certain names and terms in revice and why I hate the writers LOL

(Did y'all know one of the many fking definitions of Vice is "to step in/ in place of" which directly fking alludes and foreshadows Vice's deletion of Ikki's memories. Because everytime Vice "steps in" its always "In place of" something else. That something would be Ikki ergo, Ikki's memories.) (Again -- I fking hate these writers T_T)

(3) Families, Generational Trauma, the "Absentee Father" and whether or not Ikki and George are supposed to embody:

"The Sins of the father are the sins of the son."

And If so, if that means they are destined to end up exactly like their fathers. (Ikki's already well on his way. Idk about George. LOL!)

(4) Nature vs. Nurture & the Formation of Identity, Morality and Personality In order to contrast and compare George Karizaki's -- morality, science, and experiments --- with his father's AND Sento's (from build).

(5) In depth PPT breakdown and analysis (ft. memes) of the Sibs and their Demons.

(6) Idk I'll drop a cult essay on the Deadmans 3 at some point.

First time watching ToH S1E6 (Hunting Palismen). Thoughts below:

Detailed thoughts:

Another episode that moves the central plot along! According to Belos and Hunter, their family somehow lost their family in an incident that involved wild magic, leading Belos to adopt Hunter as his son. Whatever it was, Belos refuses to talk about it, threatening Hunter when he speaks of it.

Hunter states that he (and possibly Belos) comes from a line of magicless witches, the first one that we’ve seen in the series, which would explain why Hunter and Belos both have staffs w/ artificial magic. The two lack the magical bile sac needed by witches in order to perform magic.

Belos also seems to separately suffer from some sort of curse that causes him to turn into an oozing tentacled monster w/ horns, necessitating his consumption of Palismen to keep it at bay, as his ‘outbursts’ only manifest when he is running low on magic, similar to Eda and Lilith growing feathers when they’re in the same situation.

This episode also sees the unmasking of Hunter the Golden Guard, both literally and narratively, transforming him from an unnamed antagonist into a person w/ their own identity, personality, and motives. By contrast, Belos still remains a mystery w/ the show taking every opportunity to hint at what’s behind the mask. For whatever reason, it seems Belos’ appearance is important enough to continue hiding it from the audience.

Hunter seems to be a foil to Luz as they’re both magicless witches that are fascinated w/ wild magic. However, while Hunter has a guardian that shuns his fascination, Luz has one that encourages hers. While Luz is friendly and optimistic but not forward-thinking, Hunter is dangerous and cunning.

As highlighted in the episode, the two characters also have opposing situations to each other: while Luz doesn’t who she is or what she wants, Hunter had an identity and role forced upon him by Belos as one of his top agents in the Emperor’s Coven.

It’s clear that, moving forward, Hunter will continue to branch away from Belos’ wishes and pursue his own. While it might start off only in secret, it seems that Kikimora plans to reveal that Hunter is the one that helped Luz rescue the Palismen, possibly getting Hunter exiled in the process.

A brief note on Luz: the fact that her wish to become a witch wasn’t enough to find a Palisman for her confirms that isn’t what Luz truly wants. In the past I’ve speculated that Luz doesn’t want to be a witch specifically, she just wants to be somebody, somebody w/ their own identity that is accepted and respected by others. As of this episode, I have two competing ideas of what Luz truly wants:

The first is that Luz wants to be accepted by her mother specifically. Before coming to the Boiling Isles, Luz’s mother was the only person w/ whom she was close, and it was Luz’s mother that sent her off on summer camp to ‘act more normal,’ unable to accept her daughter for who she is. It’s also clear that Luz is still thinking about her, especially now that she’s stuck in the Boiling Isles and can’t get back to her.

The second is that Luz wants more than to just find an acceptable identity for herself, she wants to be herself, protect others, and give them that same opportunity to learn who they truly are. Luz says as much in the first and last episode of S1: “us weirdos have to stick together.”

General thoughts:

Teal fire! I’m guessing we’re checking back in w/ Belos?

So those are the nine Coven Heads?

The Abomitons are here too! That was quick.

Looks like the portal door still has some way to go before it’s fully repaired.

So is the Day of Unity just a holiday dedicated to Belos’ takeover and the coven system? I thought it was going to be unifying the Human and Demon Realms, or was that just something Belos planned for this one?

I don’t like their eyes going white.

Is he going to reanimate the Titan?

OH! THAT’S THE HUMAN REALM! He’s planning on bringing the Titan and its magic to the Human Realm!

Is the Emperor suffering from another magic withdrawal?

So Kikimora and the Golden Guard are competing for influence?

OH! HE TRANSFORMS INTO A MONSTER WHEN HE DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH MAGIC?

Palistrom wood? Palismen are made from a specific type of wood? Why does Belos need magic from Palismen specifically?

UNCLE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN UNCLE?

What happened to their family? What did wild magic do to them?

Hey! New intro w/ Purple-haired Amity!

SUIT DRESS! WE GOT ANOTHER SUIT DRESS! A GREAT VICTORY!

Hey! it’s Viney! Didn’t expect to see her again!

First thing Luz asks about is Amity.

So how come Eda’s just hanging around for the ceremony? Is she the only one in attendance?

THE IMP ON PRINCIPAL BUMP’S HEAD IS HIS PALISMAN! FREWIN!

Boy, Bump must have gone through a lot w/ that scar over his left eye and stitches(?) on his right.

THE BAT QUEEN! They’re adopting Palismen!

Willow’s Palisman is Clover the hummingbee <3, Boscha’s is Maya the crab, Viney’s is a manticore, and Gus’ is a chameleon.

Luz is from Connecticut.

I have a feeling that Luz is going to get to create her own Palisman from Palistrom wood.

The Golden Guard is definitely going to steal the Palismen. YEP!

WOW! What a trick! And w/ just a leaf!

I love Luz’s cat pajama pants.

Wait was that the Golden Guard’s Palisman that Luz just knocked off?

WHat the hell is that? A hand dragon? Foot dragon? Whatever it is, I hate it.

The episode is definitely leaning towards the cardinal becoming Luz’s Palisman since it’s going out on adventures like her w/o any goal in mind.

“Probably caused by the incompetent pilot.” WOW! What shade!

OH KIKIMORA SUMMONED IT! SHE HAS HAND HAIR!

The Golden Guard has a missing tooth, notched ear, and and a scar on his face, probably from whatever happened to his family like Belos was saying. He also has either two black eyes or he’s just tired and they’re just baggy.

New location! Latissa!

Can Belos or the Golden Guard use magic?

So Luz can incorporate other objects into her spells?

Luz and the Golden Guard have both been studying wild magic.

Oh, is the cardinal going to be the Golden Guard’s Palisman? It has a scarred eye, just like he has a scarred face.

Hunter! I can call him a name instead of a title now! Six letters instead of 14!

Eda’s done it again! She’s gone through hell and high water to make Luz happy!

I wonder what Luz’s animal motif is going to be?

So the Golden Guard is adopted?

OH! Belos’ backstory w/ wild magic is a forbidden subject.

Whelp, Kikimora is going to report Hunter and get him exiled too.

Puppey doesn’t care about his Dota 2 TI record, he just wants to win some games

Few esports players can claim to have remained at the pinnacle of their respective game since before it was formally released, but Clement "Puppey" Ivanov can regarding his Dota 2 career. He not only assisted in raising the first Aegis of Champions during The International's debut edition in 2011, but he is also the last player to have participated in all TIs to date. That streak is once again on the chopping block this year after a rough Dota Pro Circuit season, however, but Puppey doesn’t seem too concerned. In an interview with Dot Esports, Team Secret’s captain said he doesn’t think much about his longstanding Dota 2 record and is just focused on winning games, regardless of the year. “I don’t really care about some narrative,” Puppey said to Dot Esports. “Of course, it’s in my head that ‘Oh no, maybe I’m going to miss TI, finally I’m going to miss it,’ or something like that. But some things are just bound to happen and you shouldn’t really worry about it. I just think in the moment and try to win the game. If I put everything into it and I lose, at least I put everything into it.” From winning the first TI with NAVI, Puppey has never been able to claim the Aegis again even with 11 trips to Dota’s biggest stage under his belt. He has come close with multiple teams but keeps falling just short, with a miracle run that started in the Last Chance Qualifier ending with him smiling and walking off the stage after a second-place finish that shocked the world. And, even more surprising, was the stark downfall of Secret this season as they have gone through three major roster shifts since Nisha left to join Team Liquid in December. Even if he does ignore the narrative, outside of some jokes, Secret has improved its placement at every TI it has attended since TI6—potentially leading to the Dota Gods to try and stop Puppey from attending this year and continuing the climb to a second Aegis. But he is taking it all in stride. “I’ve had bad runs at TI, I’ve had bad years, I’ve had good years, and a lot of the time you just end up unlucky in a way,” Puppey said. “Things just don’t work out and you start losing a lot that year. I’ve been in those years where I lost a lot and didn’t win anything, probably three or four different times in my career. This is one of those times where, you know, that I’ve been unlucky for a little bit. I’ve also maybe not played as well, but there are a lot of things involved.” With all of the roster changes Secret has made during turbulent seasons, Puppey has retained a sharp focus on the game and worked to keep an open mind around new ideas. That open-mindedness has become increasingly important to him as Dota continues to evolve 10 years into the game because adaptation is more important now than ever. Being able to find where one player excels and then implementing those unique traits within the team is a necessary struggle while the game is built around hero experts. “People are experts on some heroes that you cannot really control in the sense that you’re going to drafting things that are very unique,” Puppey said. “That’s an adaptation you have to do because everything has become more about getting the best out of your players and understanding their strategy much more than trying to force a strategy of your own towards them. People bring unique ideas ad you need to learn them and understand what they’re good at.” Puppey calls this process “adaptation mode,” because he is less focused on trying to find things that work traditionally and more on trying to craft strategies where those unique aspects and heroes each player brings to the table can become a cohesive approach to Dota. Understanding different heroes, the timings they have for certain abilities, and how a player with expertise on a hero changes those dynamics is a challenge that only gets harder the more diverse the game becomes. For Puppey, implementing those ideas into a strategy that will hopefully carry him to a 12th straight TI in October is just part of a “natural adaptation of what’s going on in Dota.” For Puppey and Secret, that adaptation led to a solid ninth-place finish at Riyadh Masters 2023 against some of the best teams in the world. Now they will have to take it up a notch and earn a spot at TI12 in the regional qualifiers, which begin on Aug. 17. Read the full article