I Have Come Up With A Better Metaphor Than “you Can’t Pour From An Empty Cup” For Burnout. You

“I’ve been in that thing’s head,” or: how does Marcy view the Core?

In the last episode of Amphibia the Core decides to ram the moon into Amphibia and kill everyone on the planet because it is such a sore loser.

Ramming the moon into Amphibia is sort of an extreme action to me, so I do wonder what would lead it to do that. How lucky is it that Marcy says it for me, then: “Fear. I’ve been in that thing’s head. I know that more than anything, it’s afraid of being destroyed. Of being irrelevant. It will do whatever it takes to defeat us and claim the stones as its own. If that means destroying an entire civilization, then so be it.”

You don’t know how much this line means to me. Marcy of all people saying that the Core is scared, just, wow. But why? Why her? She’s been in its mind but how does she know? The Core would never admit this, the Core would never tell her that, so how does she know that it is scared? (And why does her voice go flat? Why does she look so tired when she says that?)

Well, there’s this word that Marcy uses. “Irrelevant.” “Irrelevant” is an interesting word considering it applies to both Marcy and the Core: “I am scared of being irrelevant.”

And, I gotta say, getting your friend to steal a music box for her birthday present and riding on the pipe dream that it might send you to a place where you’ll never have to grow apart is. Sort of an extreme action to me? You’d have to be really desperate to do that.

Marcy: “I’m sorry. I was so scared about moving away. The thought of losing you was just so big. I was afraid that if we weren’t together, we wouldn’t be friends anymore.”

Do you understand? The Core has Marcy’s actions and thoughts blasted up to eleven, pushed to extremes. “I am scared of being irrelevant. I am desperate. I will do whatever it takes to keep us together, even if it means sending us to another world.”

Because if Anne defeats Andrias the pushover and Sasha defeats Darcy the control freak then does Marcy defeat the Core? Does Marcy understand? She’s been in its mindscape, she’s been in its fantasyland. She’s rejected its fantasy adventure, she knows she’s not it, but does she look at the Core and does she understand, viscerally, what she’s looking at?

Marcy: “You know I bet I can fit in your pocket.”

There’s something to be said about Marcy going “boundaries, Marcy” and then immediately climbing into Andrias’ pocket. Ignoring boundaries like that, like the Core does all the time.

(Edit: Okay I just rewatched “the Beginning of the End” and in the flashback in the beginning Marcy spoils the movie they are watching. And Sasha goes: “Whoa! Spoiler alert!” Then Marcy apologizes, and, notice this, opens her mouth to spoil the other twisty twist right after apologizing.

Again, “boundaries, Marcy,” she thinks. The thought is fresh on her mind she literally said it out loud - and then she gets the bright idea to climb into Andrias’ pocket. No hesitation, no delay.

The Core is a thousand times worse in its actions, make no mistake about that, but on a base level they are the same! And Marcy would recognize that!)

There’s something to be said about Darcy going for the mind pain thing when Andrias is being pissy about his long-dead friend, forcing him to follow its orders.

Marcy: “But forcing them to follow my dreams is wrong. I learned that the hard way.”

There’s something to be said about Marcy using her own selfish wish as Anne’s birthday present and Andrias going “Yes … it’s … everything I’ve ever wanted,” because Mars & Dars both have a tendency to not consider what other people want in favor of what they want.

There’s something to be said about immortality and lasting forever.

Marcy: “What an amazing adventure. Makes you wish it could last forever, huh?”

Actually, let’s go on a tangent. In s3e22 (episode 13a) Mother Olm says this: “These conquerors, with their arrogance and greed, created an unnatural thing that does not sleep and will not die.”

Mother Olm really is hyping the Core up as the spookiest and scariest villain of all time, and for me as an individual I know that’s not true. I don’t view villains as scary, I don’t tend to buy the hype.

Crucially, I don’t think Marcy buys into the hype either. Does she hate it for what it has done to her? To everyone? Sure! Why not. But I don’t think Marcy finds the Core scary, she doesn’t buy into its hype, because ‘scary’ is a word used for things you don’t know and she’s literally been in its mind. (And also did slap away Aldrich’s hand and reject the Core’s sick fantasy that was so cool btw.)

Anyway, tangent over, back to “the Hardest Thing”.

Something interesting happens right after Andrias betrays the Core, and the interesting thing in question is that the Core-as-Aldrich says this: “Fools! You cannot stop … a god!”

Considering the Core canonically feels emotions, I’d imagine that it feels quite upset, because in the previous scene Andrias betrayed it and it failed the invasion so epically. (Rest in piss buddy.)

So if we take it saying the above in the context of the Core being upset, there is a certain interpretation I can and will make.

That is, do you think it wants to be a god?

Do you think it wants to be “an unnatural thing that does not sleep and will not die”?

Do you think it wants to be a machine computer? Do you think it wants to be anything but a bunch of losers in a trenchcoat that don’t know everything, that aren’t gods but pitiful mortals like the rest of us, that get scared and frustrated and make mistakes?

Because I am sure it would love to be an emotionless machine and god-emperor. I am sure it would love to be a thing, a machine computer that doesn’t feel fear or uncertainty, only here to conquer and control and restore Amphibia to its former glory. I am sure it would love to be a god, far above mortal things, soaring the skies instead. But the Core isn’t a god. The Core isn’t even a computer. It is very, painfully mortal, and capable of being destroyed.

I am sure it would love Mother Olm hyping it up as a villain like that, cuz it makes it big and it makes it relevant. I am sure it would love to be an object, a great and terrifying thing instead of a person (people?), because why be made of flesh and blood when you could rather be a machine computer?

Now, this analysis is about what Marcy thinks of the Core, so let’s bring it back to Marcy, shall we?

Marcy is an escapist.

Canon gives very little information about her home life which is honestly such a shame, but I can’t imagine that it was the greatest, considering she did what she did.

Marcy: “I started this whole mess because I wanted to escape that reality. But I won’t run away from it anymore!”

In Amphibia Marcy is the chief ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard, because why be the clumsy klutzy Marcy of Earth, the place where your pain comes from, when you could rather be a super cool ranger/artificer?

Because if Anne defeats Andrias the pushover and Sasha defeats Darcy the control freak then does Marcy defeat the Core the escapist?

…

I guess the Core would be sort of unnerved by Marcy because she can cut through its hype and see it for what it is: A bunch of old amphibians long past their expiration dates, still trying to bring back the nonexistent greatness of a millennia ago. It’s honestly sort of pathetic, that they can’t freakin’ let go. That’s what you get for being the antithesis of change, I guess.

Out of context spoilers

it is indeed December 10th my dudes

Please reblog if you think that “they/them/theirs” is a valid set of pronouns.

this post must be reblogged by everyone

Does anyone else have this thing happen where you hear about a movie/show/game/book that is universally praised and beloved by everyone, and then ironically get super intimidated to actually watch it because of that universal praise? Because I noticed that that happens sometimes with me, and it's very confusing but also kinda interesting. Things like Gravity Falls, Breaking Bad, Dune, etc. that everyone likes, and as a result, I almost feel nervous about trying them out. Maybe it's a fear that the thing will never be as amazing as the hype around it/the mental picture I've created for it, maybe I just really want the experience of getting into it to be as amazing as everyone says it is, idk for sure. But I did think this was kinda a funny/interesting thing that I do sometimes, and I'm curious if anyone has ever felt a similar kind of intimidation to try a new series or if i'm just kinda weird like that

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.

Everything feels awful right now but it isn't really. We still don't officially have a winner, but regardless of how the presidential election ends up, I wanted to take a minute and find what lights I can in the 3 a.m. darkness. Here's what I know:

* Kentucky overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to undermine the public education system by offering private school vouchers:

Louisville Public Media

Kentucky rejects Amendment 2 to allow private education funding, passes Amendment 1

Amendment 2 to allow public funds to go to private and charter school education was rejected universally in Kentucky counties when the Assoc

* Delaware has elected a transgender woman to the House of Representatives, the first out trans person of any gender ever elected to congress:

the Guardian

Sarah McBride becomes first out trans person elected to US House

McBride wins Delaware’s at-large House seat against Republican candidate John Whalen III, a former state police officer

* For the first time in history, two Black women will be serving in the senate at the same time, and they are only the fourth and fifth Black women ever elected to the senate:

the Guardian

US will have two Black women serving as senators for first time in history

Democrats Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland both saw victories

* New York State has passed a constitutional amendment enshrining the rights of pregnant people (including the right to an abortion), LGBTQIA+ people, the disabled, immigrants regardless of legal status, and other at-risk groups:

Gothamist

New York voters pass Prop 1, enshrine abortion rights into state constitution

The constitutional amendment faced a tougher-than-expected fight after a right-wing campaign against anti-discrimination protections.

* Democrat Josh Stein has beaten self-avowed Nazi Mark Robinson to become governor of North Carolina:

NPR

North Carolina’s Josh Stein wins race for governor over Mark Robinson

 Stein is the current attorney general and he noted his work winning opioid settlements. But it was controversy over Robinson’s inflammatory

That's everything I know off the top of my head. It's not many bright spots, but it's not zero. I'm going to try to find more and I'll add them to the post. It's the only thing I can think of to do that isn't sobbing and throwing up or looking up Canadian immigration rules.

If you know more good news, I encourage you to add it in reblogs.

Vander: I've always liked the name Violet. Silco: *snorts a line* Hey, you know what I like?

hot take: realism in a work of fiction doesn’t come from being as grim as possible. it comes from detail. 

Bronze age ship discovered

look inside

made of wood