#question mandar

And I LOVED how varied that was, like it was all devastating for Caine to hear but all of them were so in-character:

Pomni: I'm going waaaay overboard in tone but these are all legit reasons we're mad at you and I've got the ability to read you like a fucking book. (it would've probably detracted from the intensity of the scene but I would've loved it if we got a few frames of Pomni's "chaotic evil" teeth in there too)

Ragatha: This is harsh but it's also constructive criticism. She doesn't demean or call him names, just points out why they're unhappy despite his efforts.

Jax: Weakest baby insult the guy who's usually really good at insults can bring up. Jax has always been terrified of Caine, has always refused to talk ill about him to his face- even when he hates an adventure like the fast food one, Caine has to bring it up before he'll say anything- and even seeking comfort from Zooble when he thinks Caine may start punishing them, so "you're a liar" is probably the best the guy can do rn

Gangle: You're a middle-manager syndrome as a person- and that's COMING from a middle-manager.

She was the one to start the venting, but I wonder if he also blames her for things getting "worse", like Jax's comment. Like, Zooble is probably the one who recommended the suggestion box and was maybe the first human who flat-out refused to go on adventures unless forced. But, looking through the other episodes real quickly...

In E4, Pomni the one who asks Caine to chill with the horror, leading to Zooble asking Caine to check the suggestion box. Pomni backed Zooble up in E5 when they mentioned they had fun in an adventure grounded in reality. (And we all know how Caine feels about the suggestion box.) She's the one who first noticed Abel, which was probably intended, but was the one who caused everyone to pause, and was the one to figure out that Caine might have been suppressing their names in E7. And in E8 she's the one who starts the plan of suppressing Caine by getting Kinger lucid and the computer. Not to mention, throughout the season, she's the one the other members of the cast open up to.

This is maybe jumping, considering we really haven't seen what it was like before Pomni came beyond a few snippets, but it would be interesting if Pomni was an unintended domino.

I think so too!!! You make some really great points. I especially agree that Caine probably feels kind of jealous of Pomni- she's been here such a short time but has already become deeply important to many of the cast members. Caine's been here from the beginning and he still hasn't managed to make friends with anyone.

Pomni is, frankly, a LOT more emotionally cognizant than Caine is OR is used to- Gangle and Zooble are kind of off in their own world a lot of the time, Jax is Jax, and while Ragatha really tries her best she's great at stepping on her own metaphorical peen with the people she cares about. Pomni is deeply anxious but also incredibly observant- in the same way that Kinger is universally cared for because of his memory issues, Pomni has created the water of fondness from people who are Caine's metaphorical stone.

I've been thinking about making a character analysis on Caine, honestly. I'm kind of waffling on it because of how many analysis videos are out already, and also because I know logistically I probably can't write, record, edit (this would be my first time ever editing something like this, btw, so it's gonna take twice as long as it would for people who do this on the regular) and post it before the finale, and the finale might just eviscerate my whole spiel lol.

Oh I 100% think that Fold is gonna get his shit rocked before the end of the show. It's just too well set up.

Between the pilot more or less being one long 'this is how Syntax destroys games when they can't harm anyone' and that shot of Flappers looking SUPER pissed at the end, I think Flappers is gonna be gunning VERY hard to take some anger out on Mr. and Mrs. Paper.

I think Kit would probably help hold Flappers back- not for Syntax safety, but because she wouldn't want Flappers getting injured- but once she realizes that Fold did the exact same thing to HER world? That's going out the window. Kaboodle also will be happy to curbstomp imo.

I think it's also very interesting that Warrick mentions Malice getting "revenge" on Kit. I can't help but wonder if Malice blames Kit for the world getting blown up, on top of stopping whatever her plan was in the og world. Bad enough getting arrested imagine if two seconds later your house blew up. I'd assume the cops were to blame too!

If so, I can't help but wonder if MAYBE she might change her tune a little if she discovers Fold was feeding Kit and Kaboodle the info to do all of that. Not to heroism, or anything, but to the idea of a one-time team up.

I think there's a couple big reasons!

People who are traumatized generally DO want to talk about these things. They know, logically, that talking about them is supposed to help. The reason trauma is repressed is usually that the person either doesn't feel safe expressing it for whatever reason (maybe they think it was too long ago to matter, or that they were in the wrong and will be blamed for whatever happened, etc) or don't feel they can express it to the person(s) in question. Jax has, throughout the series, shown bits and pieces of her trauma, even to people she doesn't trust or like, because she can't contain it.

Traumatic experiences often tumble out without fully meaning to. It's important to recognize than when someone is reliving one of the worst days of their lives, their mind is usually still in that situation. Jax starts her monologue very professionally and detached, "i had a weird dynamic with my parents. They split when I was around high school age." that's shit you say to a therapist in the first session. Then, as Jax begins to express why she felt so at odds, she's drawn into the memory of her mom's abuse- she starts to be much more emotional, her dialogue becomes less structured and more feelings-based (not a bad thing, btw) and when she realizes she's opened up to Ribbit she tries to run and she stops her.

Jax has LESS trauma while Ribbit is still around. We see in her memories that she was able to hug Rib (or at least their running and name-calling seemed to be leading up to a hug) and that Kaufmo and Ribbit, over time, got her to open up some. She starts laughing, which they hadn't heard before. Jax starts her life at the circus thinking she may be responsible for someone's death, and by the time Pomni arrives she's complicit in the abstraction of two others. Jax is fully to blame for her actions, and I'm not trying to defend them- just recognize that she fucked HERSELF up on top of fucking up OTHER PEOPLE.

I really think Jax would've been okay with opening up if Ribbit hadn't clocked her. Jax is embarrassed about sharing these things but arguably not any more upset about it then when she started explaining her issues with Ragatha to Pomni. The first thing Jax does when Kaufmo knocks is toss the bow, and it's because that's her greatest source of shame- and when you consider that her last coming out might have ended with her mom dead, you can understand the basis while still recognizing she's being terrible to the people around her.

I'm pretty sure Sparky knows he won't be able to sell Gwen now that she's up and running. Because, like. Sure, he doesn't know Guinevere is capable of destroying something as powerful as Sir Arthur, but there's probably been plenty of news stories about Guinevere casually corralling and containing predators, kidnappers, etc for the safety of the park.

Sparky, to Frankie: so how much does this thing lift. I saw a video a few years ago of it grabbin' the hedge trimmers from that nutjob and it ripped 'em in half with its bare hands.

Guinevere: my current max capacity is three tons, but I am able to carry four tons if necessary before my joints begin break down.

Sparky, sighing: yeah, sure, fine. It's gonna be on heavy hauling detail until I die.

Guinevere: my pronouns are she/her/hers. It's not very princelike to forget a lady's pronouns. = )

Sparky: did the robot just fucking sass me

I'm sure I must sound like a broken record, but I'm just. SO curious as to what Malice and Mayhem's evil plot was??? It adds spice to the backstory, sure, but also Malice's intentions overall. What is 'revenge' for an evil robot catgirl?

From what I know of Megaman games, the robot bosses are all made by Dr. Wiley because he wants world domination. Backstory irrelevant, it's mostly about fighting unique and challenging gun duels with other robits. The thing is- world domination doesn't seem to be uber difficult to achieve in Kit's universe.

Kit's village is certainly technologically advanced- though I wonder how much of it actually is to the level of mecha suits and how much of that is Scratch being some sort of inventor prodigy in the game, because it's certainly ahead of time but not uber futuristic, especially since it appears to be made mostly of scrap. It also seems to be EXTREMELY isolated-

This shot appears to be from a different angle than the one of the planet blowing up, which makes sense contextually as this is a distance shot to show how BIG the blast is. There's a hunk of ruins in an establishing shot, but no signs of other homes or of ways to travel to them. So it seems like Kit's home is the ONLY major sprawling hub for at least a good chunk of distance.

Moreover, if Malice and Mayhem wanted the village, why would they be sitting at some random evildoer base far away? Why would the village show no signs of warfare? You'd think there'd be signs of previous bosses trying to take over in the game, but there's nothing like that.

These questions feel pertinent to me because they color the dynamic between Malice and Kit as it was before and as it is now.

And there HAS to be some sort of dynamic between the two of them. Malice is literally a Kit clone! She's built to outwardly mimic Kit!! So whoever built her- if she didn't do it to herself, which it does seems like body horror is a big motif of her dynamic so I'm not ruling it out- had Kit in mind.

Was Malice's ultimate goal to defeat Kit? To kill her? To keep her as a trophy? It feels telling to me that, in a game that presumably centers around cannon builds, Malice has zero blasters, rays, etc. Mayhem fires one off from his mouth after they fuse, but Malice has expanding arms and a tail balancer. Presumably so she can grab Kit and pull her too close to use her shields. Imagine the weird vibes of having an evil clone whose entire strategy is to hold you close so her buff friend can pile drive you.

On top of which, her catchphrase- the ONLY thing she's ever said thus far, possibly including to Kit in the entire game- is 'here, kitty, kitty'. A call of 'come to me' in a way humans typically use to capture strays. Mayhem tries to kill her but Malice just swats at her.