#mini analysis

OKKKKKKK can I chat about this-

He'd suspected this whole plan to be a trick. This WHOLE time. Then he starts thinking it may in fact be real and starts panicking.

Several other things implied he doesn't actually wanna go back to the real world and have to face something... or someone.

But then Ragatha asks what he did and he just... has no confidence, no arrogance in this moment; he just... ACTUALLY looks and sounds guilty.

Like he doesn't believe he actually just did that and sealed them all in forever.

The way he then blew up at Caine, screaming that he "almost made him--" something, got in his head-- is that implying that CAINE was shoving all those flashbacks through his head and making him panic to the point of "keeping" them in the circus??

Those images were likely real memories but

If you look closely enough, you can actually see history being edited in real time! Truth is socially constructed. It doesn't matter what she actually said, or meant, or was trying to say, what matters is one inarticulate soundbite and the story that is substituted for the context which, repeated over and over again, becomes the truth. Once it's true, you can use that truth in place of the facts.

I mean, despite all his cool chaos powers and being the Ultimate Lifeform, wasn't that one of the biggest reasons he was created? To cure Maria? But even though he couldn't cure her illness, he still seemed to have training on how to help someone who's sick or hurt. Exhibit A:

This is the most we've ever seen of Shadow truly taking care of Maria in reference to her illness. Still, you can see how attentive he was here. Even though they were standing a few feet apart, as soon as she started losing consciousness, he picked up on it and ran to catch her.

When she apologized and insisted that she'd just "pushed it a little," he gently scolded her by reminding her that her condition was only being kept in remission due to the low gravity on the ARK. Clearly, he was very knowledgeable on her illness and what she could and couldn't do, and he was always ready to take care of her if her condition suddenly dropped, or on her bad days (according to dialogue bits from the actual SXSG game).

And since Maria's been gone through the entire main timeline of the franchise, it seems we get so caught up in all of Shadow's coolness and powerful abilities and whatnot that we forget he's still trained— at least to some extent— in the medical and caretaking area.

That's where I'm glad we have something of an Exhibit B: the end of Sonic Prime.

I loved EVERYTHING about this whole group of scenes, but ESPECIALLY getting to see Shadow being so gentle and caring towards Sonic of all people. But to stay focused on the point of this post— even though Sonic's situation was more, shall we say, unique than Maria's, his health was still rapidly declining and he needed help for basically everything. Sure, they had a goal in mind, and all Shadow needed to do was take him to the Green Hill gateway. But knowing how violent Shadow can be (especially in context of the whole rest of the show), seeing the very gentle and clearly experienced way he assisted Sonic was both heartwarming and a strong reminder of his original purpose.

For one, in the above gif, the way he immediately went to support him the way one is supposed to with someone who can't really walk on their own— draping Sonic's arm around his shoulders and wrapping his own arm around his back to support him— with no pause, like he'd done it before. And how he waited for a moment until Sonic was ready, monitoring his face, before starting to move forward. Then—

—Sonic deteriorated to a point of being unable to walk or stand at all, or even move very much. Shadow hesitated only for a split second, but he stayed relatively calm, picked him up, and kept going. Even though he didn't say much throughout all this, he was keeping a watchful eye on Sonic through this whole sequence, even before he took over the mission of bringing him home. He knew what he was doing. It wasn't extensive, sure, but knowing his past, we know this was not his first time taking care of someone who couldn't take care of themselves.

it sounds as if the flynn rider books depict flynn pulling one over on scoundrels in positions of power (“remember that time you dueled that evil knight blindfolded?”), so it stands to reason that, even in the first episode, varian could have held a tiny bit of contempt for the monarchy.

now, i’m sure books are monitored in a propaganda-riddled kingdom like this one. their messaging would be that these antagonists are just misusing their power, and there would be plenty of good knights and benevolent kings to even out the bad ones.

One of my favorite things about the earlier episodes of Pokémon and even as a whole in general with the anime is the moments where we see Team Rocket and the Twerps making a truce and having to work together as not only do we get to see how well all these characters bounce off one another especially having great dynamics and hilarious, fun banter with each other. But it adds a lot depth to these characters and their dynamics especially with TRio themselves, Jessie, James and Meowth have always been phenomenal, complex and great characters on their own and they even stand out when they aren't around Ash and the gang but it's always such a blast and great whenever we see these characters putting their differences aside, some of these moments come from my favorite episodes even. Absolutely adore and love the frenemy dynamic between Ash and the TRio the most especially as they've known one another since the beginning and throughout the shows and even the movies (mainly 2000/The Power Of One & The Spell Of The Unknown) Team Rocket have risked their own lives and safety to help save all of humanity and the world itself and also saved Ash from falling to his death.

This not only shows that they genuinely and truly do love and care about Ash, but also adds more to their hearts of gold and good nature that's always been established and shown with the trio themselves and their backstories, ect. Even despite they're a pain and always cause trouble especially for Ash, but honestly for the most part they're nothing more than a minor annoyance. And besides let's not forget all the times TR are shown LITERALLY supporting and cheering for Ash and his Pokémon, rooting for his success and wanting the best for him, they've been by his side and been there almost like his companions since the very beginning, since the start of Ash's entire journey.

I also believe and think that despite everything they've done and who they are that deep down, Ash appreciates them and wishes the best for them, even hoping for them to redeem themselves, he might even respect them and probably sees the potential in them that their own boss Giovanni or the rest of Team Rocket can't even see or even recognize and TRio have been shown throughout the anime to be talented and great at other things than stealing pokémon.

I'll forever be disappointed and frustrated over how Jessie, James and Meowth didn't get the redemption arc and ending they RIGHTFULLY deserved especially after so much buildup and moments throughout the show. The series showed so much much potential to end TRio's story and showing how the three had so much going for them and that they deserved better than working for Team Rocket, there's been SO MANY episodes hinting at that. But unfortunately, their arcs/story ends with them chasing Pikachu forever leaving them unhappy and reaching towards a goal that'll never happen or be achieved, the same status quo which is so sad and unfortunate and it's also just so unfair. :(

I'll honestly forever headcanon and like to think that Team Rocket's story REALLY ended was how they were written and developed in the manga adaptation. ("The Electric Tale of Pikachu") Where Jessie, James and Meowth finally quit Team Rocket for good and settle down to live happier, better lives while Jessie and James end up falling in love and get married and expecting a child of their own. Now that's the true definite ending for TRio and I'm gonna see it as canon again this point, because I'm just really wanting to see the the three finally be happy in life and just wished they had a better ending in general as a whole. ❤️🚀

Because can you actually imagine it?

Character A who canonically cares about Will: Guys...we've been missing something this whole time!

Character B who loves Will: Oh my god what?

Character A: It's Will, Will is being used by Vecna to hurt and kill people.

Character B: Ohhhh that's right, so we should just kill him!

Will: I am willing to be sacrificed because I love you all.

Them: We love you too aw I'm so sad

Will" *dies*

Vecna: Oh nooo you defeated me bleh

The rest of the characters: Hawkins is saved!

CACKLING WHAT THE FUCK WOULD THAT BE U FOOLS

One thing I love about Nene is that she loves people for who they genuinely are.

In the outro for S2 P1 she’s shown drawing Hanako in his ghost form, not his perfect persona.

She loves flaw-filled Hanako with his Haku-Joudai and his ancient school uniform. She loves imperfect Kou with his useless staff and weak tendencies.

I also think it should be noted that she’s drawing with chalk, which is temporary and washes away with the rain. This hurts me the most because honestly, this whole outro is not only a reflection of the picture perfect arc— but also a foreshadow for the later moments in the series. Her picture perfect world is the most tedious, unstable, and temporary one there ever was. It’s the one where they meet in the bathroom and play cards with the mokke. It’s the one where she never has a chance with Teru, where she’s the assistant to a school wonder, where she bakes with Kou, where she plays silly and childish games on her phone. It’s the one where Hanako loves her beyond the grave and gives her the most beautiful memories she could ever want to have. The problem? He fulfilled his goal a little too well, and now she’s left with the most beautiful memories that she can’t have anymore.