#kals thoughts

[kalcifers-blog]

Okay but like just thinking outloud.

What if Avery does everything right. What if he follows Derlorde's instructions. What if he leaves things alone. What if he goes about playing the game as usual. What if he isn't persuaded by the allure of a mystery to he unravelled. What if he only turns right at the crossroads.

And it doesnt matter either way.

He was doomed the moment Derlorde knew of his existence after seeing The King. He was doomed long before he even found the laptop.

[kalcifers-blog]

TADC EPISODE 7 THEORY

Spoilers ahead!!

What if Jax got into a car crash with a C&A vehicle (with it being C&As fault for it) and they put him in the circus to keep it quiet

(I will admit that this is a little far fetched but I like to think that this is during a part of C&A's history where they where about to go bankrupt and couldn't afford a lawsuit or court trial. And they'd already trapped people in the circus before so....)

ALSO ALSO, what if the reason he was out driving that late was because he got into a really bad argument with his parents, to the point he was kicked out of the house (remember. Bro was 20 at the oldest of him joining the circus it is VERY likely he was a teenager when this all happens) and that is his last memory of being in the real world

It would explain why he's so apprehensive about going back, why he doesn't feel there's anyone waiting for him in the real world- and if his parents are the kind to be willing to kick their teenage son out of the house then I can imagine they where pretty awful parents. Which would also explain just. So much about Jax.

I have other thoughts as well, but for now, this is what I've got

[kalcifers-blog]

I have a thought and I physically need to talk about it BC I think the JSE Fandom as a whole does not talk about it nearly enough.

BEFORE WE GET STARTED!!! Content Warnings :

Discussions on mental illness, alcoholism / alcohol withdrawal, mentions of potential suicidal behaviour!!!!!

CHASE BRODY IS NOT AN IDIOT.

I feel like Chase gets mischaracterised as being a bit of a himbo at best and just straight up stupid at worst.

For the record I generally dislike the way that happens? Like there's already a big stigma around addiction, I'm actually very impressed with how Chase Brody is such a sympathetic character with his addiction being an aspect of that. I love how it shines a new light on this very real and scary issue that doesn't villainise Chase at all for his condition.

But this is exactly why I feel it's so important that people understand that Chase also isn't an idiot.

Genuinely speaking there are so many examples of Chase being someone who is an extremely smart individual and I think a lot of that gets overshadowed by the fact that he's an alcoholic and depressed.

EXAMPLES BEING:

He is immediately asking questions the moment he's in IRIS.

He's constantly making it known exactly how he feels about his predicament but at the same time he understands that at certain points (especially when he doesn't have a clear view on IRIS and what they're up too) he needs to go along with things and keep civil to not put himself in potential danger

He calls out the way IRIS puts him through shit and how fucking weird that is of them to do

The moment he sees a shimmer of hope (in the form of Echo) he immediately tries to comfort them and tries to help them and attempts to make a plan to leave IRIS

When IRIS attempts to relocate Chase he immediately calls out that they're lying to him, that something has happened

He can spot people being manipulative from a mile away and is very quick to shoot it down as soon as he can by making it known he knows exactly what they're doing.

I would also like to mention that all this is happening while Chase is very likely going through major alcohol withdrawal issues- the symptoms of which include: tremor, craving for alcohol, insomnia, vivid dreams, anxiety, hypervigilance, agitation, irritability, loss of appetite (i.e., anorexia), nausea, vomiting, headache, and sweating.

Chase is quite literally going through it, like every severely going through it and the entire time he is he's surprisingly got more of a level head than most people probably would in his situation. And he's doing all of this while probably going through some intensely bad withdrawal symptoms as well as all the mental shit Anti is putting him through every moment he can.

All things considered Chase is insanely capable of being able to keep fighting even through some of the hardest things a person could go through.

Chase Brody is not an idiot, he's not useless and he's certainly not weak. If Chase can go through all the things he has and he's still fighting tooth and nail to survive even tho he previously was shown to be someone who was very clearly suicidal? I just think it says so much about his character that at Chase's core he's smart and strong- in ways a lot of people wouldn't appreciate nearly half as much if they didn't physically see the things he was being put through continuously for potentially years at this point.

And again I wanna keep in mind that all of this is going on while Chase is quite literally at rock bottom, like we have only seen Chase while he's at his worst. The fact that he is so smart while he's at his worst only makes me wonder just how capable he has the potential of being once he gets the right help he needs and deserves.

[kalcifers-blog]

So I had the idea that all of the JSE Egos get possessed by Anti at some point- but all of their possessions look and work completely differently in comparison to each other because rather it being based on what's possessing them- Anti is utilizing what they perceive as their own worst traits/the image they have of themselves (in an extremely /neg way).

It's worth mentioning that it doesn't necessarily mean that these perceptions are true or not- the only thing that necessarily matters is that the Egos themselves think that it's true.

I'm going to go through each ego, describe what their possessions are like and go into detail as to why they're like that.

Buckle in dudes this is gonna be a long one

Chase Brody:

Chase to me has the most unstable variation of the possessions. His plays on the fact that they're constantly questioning their reality and feeling like a danger to not just himself but to those around him. Right now it's unclear if Chase has been experiencing alcoholism or his unstable view of reality before Anti but I do think Chase's entire life has been nothing short of turbulent it's a constant crashing rollercoaster, with the carriages shaking uneasily and sparks flying everywhere and the only thing he's able to do is hold onto the ride and hopes he gets to the end of it unscathed. Chase's possess has ALL of this on full display- it's the closest thing to the original Anti and it's far from pretty.

Visually I think the closest thing to Chases possession is Jinx's Hallucinations in Arcane. They're made up of the faces of his lost family mocking and taunting him while everyone else can only see Chase as an extremely unstable individual with unnatural eyes

[This shot in particular with the glowing eyes is what I imagine P!Chase to be like]

Marvin The Magnificent:

Now I've already briefly shown how I imagine Marvin's possession- and if I'm being honest it's my favourite one!! Marvin would by far be the hardest Ego to possess out of all of them, he's the only one with actual knowledge on Anti and the only one with the power to fight back against him. With that I think that Anti would only be able to possess Marvin with the help of IRIS- be honest, IRIS would JUMP at the opportunity to see what effects Anti could have on an individual with magic the way Marvin does. However, Marvin's biggest flaw is definitely his arrogance and his isolation. His "trust nobody" mindset has left him cold and uncaring to others and in my opinion this is something that he doesn't do because he enjoys it- something about Marvin screams that he wants to be able to connect with others but can't at every turn and that's what is portrayed in their possession. They're cold, robotic and uncaring. Their magic has been locked away deep in their subconscious because Anti knows it's too risky to let them utilise it. They've been forced into a state that's far removed from who Marvin really is. In a way it would make sense with how much of Marvin's memories have been tampered with for god knows how long- at a certain point there's only so much of yourself you can lose before you become unrecognisable to yourself.

The inspiration for P!Marvin is Chipped Catra from She-Ra Princess of Power

JackieBoy Man:

Jackie was by far the hardest to come up with- mostly because I couldn't come up with something that narratively would make sense. But I came to the conclusion that Jackie's worst perception of himself would come from the idea that he's not a true hero and only hurts the people around him, that he's a danger or a monster. That his powers make him a threat rather than a saviour. I personally think this would be a lot more effective if Jackie was possessed after an experience that left him doubting his role as a hero- maybe he couldn't save someone or someone he was trying to save and ended up dying instead. His grief and self loathing would come together into being possessed into being a weapon.

P!Jackie is nothing short of a weapon made for destruction- something that was designed to destroy. Part of the horror would be for him to wake up from his possession, only to realise that the ones he cares about the most and the only people he has left are now afraid of him and wants nothing to do with him.

The idea for P!Jackie is Infected She-Ra from She-Ra Princess of Power

Henrik Von Schneeplestien:

Henrik was another one that took me a while to figure out but I did eventually get to it!! Henrik would come from his insecurities as a doctor, the weight of people's lives being on his shoulders day in and out would wear him down over time and the idea that he could be at fault for the deaths of many whether he could've actually saved them or not plays in his brain so much its unbearable. Henrik's possession would take form as moss- or a general depiction of something rotting, a walking contamination that he can't heal or fix and he knows he's the route problem and to keep everyone else safe he'd need to remove himself from the equation. For the most part I don't think he'd be aware of how far his corruption goes, at first he'd write it off as being unwell, overworked maybe, but he has seen the others get possessed and harmed by their own possessions and he would never let himself succumb to that. Doctors do make the worst patients after all.

The inspiration for this has came from The Corruption in The Magnus Archives and Belos from The Owl House

Jameson Jackson:

JJ's possession is the one I'm most proud of and it's the one that's the most loyal to his debut in 2017. However the way I perceive JJs possession is that he is almost the exact same. But it's not him. He's fully conscious and aware of everything around him but he's trapped in his own skin with movements that are not his own. He's forced to watch and able to do nothing when those around him drop dead by his own hand. And the worst part about all of it is that Anti is clever enough to make him continue his daily routine, to carry on as normal. To let JJ see those closest to him not notice that something is deeply and horrifyingly wrong, that the person they're interacting with and bonding with isn't who they think they are. And no one notices. And there's nothing he's able to do about it. It's a play on his fear of no one really seeing him for who is is, no one notices something's wrong because they didn't know him to begin with. The entire experience makes him think about how much he actually spent time with these people. How much of him do they actually see and how much of Anti has painted over that.

If anything I might tweak Chase or Jackie's possessions slightly because they are extremely similar to each other??? BUT part of me wants to keep the similarities between them a constant thing because I personally see them as being two sides of the same coin

JJs possession was inspired by The Stranger and The Web from The Magnus Archives

AND THATS EVERYTHING‼️‼️ FEEL FREE TO REBLOG WITH THOUGHTS AND ANY ADD-ONS YOU WANT‼️‼️

[kalcifers-blog]

Thinking about how Anti could potentially torment Jackie.

I think he would create so many problems, infect so many people into doing crime that it gradually grinds Jackie down and exhaust him into complete burnout. It's planned out and mathodical, at first giving him a few days of rest before dropping something new on his lap-

It would gradually get worse, maybe the enemies start to get stronger or more unpredictable or more violent. And they start showing up more often. Leaving Jackie feeling mentally and physically fatigued constantly- maybe on one occasion he gets physically injured and it really gets to him. It's a reminder that he's not invincible and that he can still feel pain.

It's then that Anti drops another enemy, one so bad that can't be ignored. Jackie knows he is not physically fit to handle it, he knows fighting it will make him so much worse off and it's very likely he would receive nothing from helping out. But he also knows that he physically can't sit by and let it just happen.

Jackie uses literally all he has fighting this enemy, he's at his wits end, all the frustration and pain is starting to bubble and boil to the surface. Jackie doesn't want to take his aggression out on this enemy, but it just won't go down- Jackie knows he's so much more stronger than he lets people know because he doesn't want to hurt people, but holding back his strength while getting beaten down is almost as painful as the actual pain itself and Jackie is starting to see the very real possibility of not holding back anymore.

What happens after that I haven't fully decided on yet, whether his actions make his superpower abilities known to the public and he's immediately seen as a danger- whether he's detained by his universes version of IRIS since his powers are in full swing and they can't not study them. Or whether Jackie is simply faced with the realisation of his own actions and very quickly starts to become afraid of his own abilities (maybe leading him into taking himself into IRIS, seeing himself as a danger)

I'm not sure but those are my thoughts :33

[kalcifers-blog]

so...antisepticeye is an avatar of what? (TMA)

OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS QUESTION OKAY SO.

Here's the thing. Anti is kinda the hardest Ego to sort into a TMA entity because of the fact his direct inspiration is fear itself which people could make the argument that he's all of them?? But I do think that there are a few that he aligns with more (I'm strictly going off what we know for certain about Anti so far)

I know the one everyone would probably think is The Eye- he has elements of continuously watching- needing to be seen, and the obvious strong eye motifs, my personal opinion tho is that Anti isn't actually Eye Aligned himself but is only heavily associated with The Eye because he's tormenting Chase Brody/Marvin (?) (who are WAY more Eye coded in my brain)

So immediately my first thought was that he's aligned with The Web- there's an ongoing theme of him wanting to be in control over everything and would do anything to do so, plus the visuals to signify Anti's presence has almost always been about people losing control over their own self (however this is more aligned with the original Anti stuff)

My second immediate thought is that he'd be some kind of Avatar for The Spiral- in Void Silver he's described as "A man who was not there" (almost an identical description of a spiral statement in TMA) and his method of gaining control over people is their mental deterioration and them slowly losing grip on reality- Chase is the best example of this but it's confirmed that he's not the only one considering Dr Hansen knew exactly what Chase was experiencing (meaning he's not the first) Honestly if anything I would go as far as to say that The Spiral is the strongest contender for Anti.

As a few side notes- The Stranger could be one? Idk something about an Eldritch Being stealing your face to murder your family just to torment you- something that looks human but definitely isn't is very Stranger Aligned- as well as the fact that a lot of the horror Anti utilizes is the horror of the unknown (could be argued this is more Dark aligned which is why I feel less strongly about this one)

I was going to make an argument for The Slaughter but I think that's only because of the violence/forcing someone to be harmed thing- other than that there isn't much to go off of (currently speaking)

But yeah this ended up being way bigger than I expected so I hope you enjoy my rambles about this unbelievably niche topic XDDDD

[kalcifers-blog]

14?

14. Any favorite motifs?

(btw a motif is a dominant or reoccurring idea in artistic works for anyone wondering :3)

I have a few fav motifs are themes of control and self discovery and those things kinda going alongside each other (for example a character trying to figure out who they are while trying to escape an oppressive system)

In Arcane I absolutely love the reoccurring motif of progress and violence. There is no future without progress, there won't be a future in violence, your future it built on the foundations of the violence that came before and because of you esc. The idea that almost every character in Arcane is all chasing down a dream that they are so unbelievably close to that they'd do anything to reach it.

(for Arcane specifically I highly recommend the YT channel Schnee, his videos are so interesting!! I've linked my favourite analysis by him :3)

https://youtu.be/o_xfBmcWPKI?si=oI3zQIQl77yJwkvN

I also find the lite motif the Dies Irae to be my favourite musical motif. You're more likely to find it in film and stage productions (obviously) because of the fact that it's a theme that is utilised specifically in soundtrack of a story. It's the musical theme of Death- whether that be foreshadowing the death of a character, a character that's about to kill or who's entire arc is centered around the death of others, the death of an idea or system esc esc. The basic jist is that the Dies Irae plays when something bad is about to happen, and it's used so often in film and media that you've absolutely heard it before and it probably (unknowingly) taps into a subconscious part of you that tells you that something very bad is about to happen.

https://youtu.be/a4K-9Ekzc2A?si=cHlkUx22xfGAnzIF

I couldn't possibly go into how interlinked the Dies Irae is with media and music and how it affects us as an audience so I'm going to link another YouTuber (Sideways) who talks about this concept in far greater detail than i possibly could offer.