Just a Regular Sugar High

That episode is so fucking cute you guys,

It’s got hot tub shenanigans and bonding and sharing close personal secrets and awkward ice breakers

It’s the first time Essek really goes out of his way to spend time with the M9 and realizes how lonely he’s gotten in their absence

It’s when the M9 really begin to trust him not just as an ally but also as a close friend

In hindsight it’s so good because you can really pin-point the conflict in Essek and the anxiety because he got close to these chucklefucks because they were a security risk to him, but he *actually* grew to like them and really care about him because they’ve only ever been nice to him, even when he was a ball of hidden anxiety because they were close to finding out his secret

Hindsight is also good because we can see just how much Essek lies this episode, how much he’s dancing along the truth to save his own skin, but also how much he’s opening up about himself.

He lies about being consecuted, he lies about his involvement with the beacons and the Assembly, he obfuscates how much he really knows, and his reactions reveal just how much he’s been kept on the outs of the Assembly’s research as well—

This all to save face in front of the Nein to what most would assume would be standards of his culture (pretending to be consecuted when he’s not for example), but at the same time being strangely forthright with the Nein about other things that would be considered heresy in Dynasty culture, like his views on religion and the Luxon and his willingness to keep secrets from the Bright Queen, to his admission of his father’s death from the result of angering him.

It’s so interesting to go back and see what he was lying about and what he was being mostly truthful about, and dancing this line of being nervous anytime the Nein got close to questioning something he might have had involvement in to the genuine endearment he is gaining as he learns more about these individuals.

He admitted himself that he accepted their invitation after some thought because he didn’t realize how lonely he was and he was lacking good friends, how he began to lean towards the Nein because they are not strongly affiliated with either side of the conflict and not held up to one strong ideology over another, so he feels he can be himself around them and not hide his true feelings about certain subjects

This in turn endears him to the Nein because they agree with him on his candidness and because him endangering himself to hang out with them and help them and be nice to them in a world where so few people are nice to them let’s them really grow to like him

And in this group of secrets where they are known for hiding secrets upon secrets from each other and the world, seeing Essek appear to reveal some secrets to them and be trusted with some of their secrets I feel really brought them together

This episode (and the many episodes preceding it) I feel really built up the foundation of their friendship that could withstand the revelation of episode 97, because otherwise they would have turned him in or he would have fought back if he cared about them just a little less. And while it fundamentally changed their relationship I think for the better to have everything out in the open, that couldn’t have happened without all the hard work put into it first

I find myself grateful in a way that the M9 didn’t suspect Essek’s involvement with the beacons or possibly being the traitor up until the peace talks, because if they had been more suspicious or guarded with him, they would never have grown close enough to be hurt by his betrayal, and he would not have become friends enough to consider it one.

It was something he did before he ever met them, and it only became a betrayal after he grew to care about them, and by that point it was too late to take back, and this he is left with this mingled feeling of guilt and gratefulness to have met them in the first place.

Also episode 91 is just awesome anyway, you’ve got the Traveler Pitch, you’ve got Essek not knowing how to do small talk so he asks about their Ultimate Goals™️, you’ve got the Fjord Stone revelation, you’ve got “I’m the transmutation Wizard, but you’re the one that changes people”, you’ve got “I smell like a crayon” you’ve got the completion of Halas’s spell and Caleb hugging Nott and Essek, it’s literally the Best. I love this episode so fucking much, I keep having to pause it to kick my feet and giggle at how much I love Essek because of how awkward he is and how much he’s trying and he’s stress drinking and bashfully dipping his feet in the hot tub and I’m just 💜✨🥰💕❤️💜✨💕❤️🥰✨💜💕🥰❤️✨💕❤️✨💜

Jester and Essek are my favorite characters I want to see them interact soo baddd

A lot of fanfiction is specifically a type of amateur fiction that's shooting for maximum emotional gratification. 'i want these two characters to fuck nasty' 'i want this character to have a big ugly cry about their feelings' 'i want this character to get their legs broken' that sort of thing.

This is completly false. Rabbit shut down because they had no business model, were making no money whatsoever, and went bankrupt. What Rabbit did (host and stream remote-control virtual machines) is not inherently illegal by any means.

Hyperbeam is the exact same thing and I've been using it for years for perfectly legal activities -- you can display maps for d&d games, have youtube watch parties, play tag-team neopets, whatever you like. It has full access to the internet, so could someone do illegal things? Probably. But you could also do illegal things with your normal web browser. Not my problem.

Unlike Rabbit, Hyperbeam has a side-hustle (main-hustle?) offering more advanced virtual machines to businesses and schools, so they do actually make money and should stick around longer.

I guess God wanted the little robot to enjoy some sushi 🍣 🥲