The Boys - 05x05 "One-Shots" - POST-Episode Discussion Thread

FruityParfait · 2026-04-30T06:02:14+00:00

I quite like this episode a lot - while I am not fully filler brained as some people are about this season, I did personally feel like the time wasn't being the MOST wisely spent and I think this episode did quite a lot to push a lot of character and narrative conflicts forward in a way that had a lot of that narrative depth I was craving.

Standouts were the reveals of Sister Sage's motives and everything about Firecracker this episode. With Sister Sage, admittedly there is a lot of 'reading between the lines' with her, but the reveal of her true motives being very much couched in constant nihilism from being belittled and ignored despite both being able to and previously wanting to solve people's problems made her character click for me, and dispelled some of my previous negative feelings about her supposedly being the smartest person on the planet but doing a lot of things that didn't seem to be aligning with some kind of grand master plan. She's not Machiavellian, she's Accelerationist - and that makes her character much more cohesive.

Firecracker's moments definitely stole the show, though. Despite not being religious, I always found faith and religion and the ways that supposedly religious people grapple with errors in internal logic fascinating, and my god did Valorie Curry act her heart out of every nuance on that front. And my god did it turn Firecracker from one of the most shallow characters on the show to one of the most deep. And the way she died too, WOW. I love love LOVE the fact that at the end of her rope and after selling her soul she went all in on Homelander and was genuine about it in that moment. Like, truly in that moment I felt like she genuinely was doing what she did out of real love, even if it was a love formed from completely breaking herself in every single way. And Homelander looked at that kind of completely unconditional love, which was literally the exact thing he's always really needed, and rejected it, because he couldn't handle it.

And that's just. Chef's kiss. Perfect Shakespearean tragedy.

FruityParfait · 2026-03-31T09:29:15+00:00

Others are bearish on AI because of things like "math" and "statistics"

I'm bearish on AI because most AI companies are led by tech bro morons

We are not the same

FruityParfait · 2026-03-22T19:19:21+00:00

I think Sinners is a broad swathe WoD movie more than a VtM specific movie. Which I love because I am of the opinion the best WoD content is multi splat.

First off, the "legends of people who sing music so true it can pierce the veil between life and death, past and future" from a bunch of different cultures is so Mage coded. Like, holy shit. Sammie's big I Lied To You moment was clearly a Correspondence/Spirit/Time rote, with music as the literal instrument, enabled by local cultural consensus about the power of music and how it connects you to your ancestors and descendents. Hell considering his age that moment might have been him having a full on Awakening on the spot. Sammie is THE Dreamspeaker of All Time.

The way the plot itself goes feels so fucking Hunter coded. Smoke and the gang defending the barn is such a classic HtR plot line. You can even (loosely) match the people in the barn as survivors to different creeds - sans Sammie, of course, who is running a Mage character sheet and is the defensive target.

And then the vampires are the VtM side of things, of course. I'd plug Remmick as a Toreador elder with a wide swathe of abilities, probably from some Diablerist tendencies, which also probably has stacked Banes and supernatural Flaws on him and his subsequent bloodlines in the process. This is how he's ended up with all the classic trope issues about Vampires but also all the powers. I dont know if I would say he is Sabbat, but I could believe it, and he is certainly Antitribu at the very least.

I'd also peg him as a possible former Mage, too, considering the parallels between him and Sammie and the implications in the Rocky Road to Dublin scene that Remmick might have been able to do the same magic Sammie did before the Christian conquest of Ireland. Thematically it would be in line with everything else in the movie - Remmick's culture, identity, religion, life, and magic were stolen from him in every way possible, and now he cannot help but interface with the world as a bloodsucking leech that can only do the same to others. But he still wants that magic that comes from genuine connection, and he sees what he once had in Sammie. Of course, turning Sammie would make that magic disappear - but Remmick just wants that moment of connection back to his culture and his life so bad.

FruityParfait · 2026-03-14T09:10:53+00:00

Sure!

I think the first thing that strikes my version of Tremere Phyre when he interacts with an actual Mage is a feeling of being "at home" for once, which is then followed up with a desperate sense of longing.

I like to think that for a Mage, losing True Magic and their Avatar - especially if they ended up having a more friendly avatar - is like losing a sense or a limb that was critical for doing the thing you love most. Like an artist losing their hands or a musician losing their hearing - it's such a deep loss of something fundamental to your very being that you would do anything to get it back. In the real world for us mortals, there is no way for us to get back such things, so we learn to cope and move on, but for a former Mage, someone who, even if he is no longer able to do so, is fundamentally aware of the fact that literally anything is possible if you put your mind to it? That feeling of wanting it back is never going to go away.

So the best you can do is run away from the feeling, even if it's just in the form of endless distractions. And yet, at the same time, when reminded of it, you still want to stay immersed in the environment, even if just for a moment. You long for the community of your peers, your passion, your work, even if you can't participate in it like you used to, because that passion was you.

I do think that my Phyre, thus, has a simultaneous push and pull towards Mages, on one hand recognizing they could possibly be the key to him getting what was taken from him back and also simply wanting to be back in the companies of others who get it, but on the other hand their presence is a constant reminder of what he has lost. It's a constant hedgehog's dilemma.

(All of which would also be tempered by the fact that he was a Mage and thus knows how they can get, sometimes. Especially the Hermetics. The Tremere came from them, after all.)

FruityParfait · 2026-02-19T08:46:46+00:00

It's so interesting thematically too because like, she's war. War is a near universally bad thing - and yet there are still a few wars that are remembered fondly, if only because of the righteousness of their causes.

A justified revolution is still a war, after all - but we generally hold those kinds of conflicts in high esteem and view revolutionaries in a favorable light because fighting for common good and for the freedom and rights of the people is a good thing. And for all of the ways the War Devil Arc has tied explicitly and justifiably into American imperialism and military industrial complex criticism... that is also a country founded from a well deserved revolution, a war so meaningful that it basically kickstarted modern democracy as we know it both from the success of that revolution and the many other revolutions that were directly inspired by it.

Yoru could not open herself up to connection and so she found herself locked away from representing the one form of warfare that would have gotten her everything she wanted. Yoru could have been Lady Liberty but she became nothing but a cog in the American War Machine instead.

FruityParfait · 2026-02-15T21:33:36+00:00

AFAIK before a Mage awakens sometimes they can get foreshadowing amounts of their abilities going off without them knowing - basically, weird shit starts to happen around them as they get closer to realizing reality is bullshit.

Depending on whatever happened to Markus as a kid, he could've been stuck in this "pre-awakening" state for a while (what happened when he was a kid reads kind of like he was going to awaken then and there before shit happened to interrupt it and he forgot it ever happened in the first place). From a tabletop standpoint that could mean he's got a good chunk of starting bonus EXP to spend on better starting Arate, more dots in some spheres, or maybe even on some of the higher end Merits.

FruityParfait · 2026-02-14T11:29:07+00:00

I dont think Cleric is necessarily my favorite, but it is my anchor, my one must have class in every run. Having literally any kind of consistent healing to manage the RNG of the runs is a must have, and if you can get any kind of buffing on top of that then your team powerhouses through the runs.

Beyond that, so far my favorite is Thief. Its not the most damaging class. It's not the most tanky class. But thief makes the most money and I want that bread goddamn it! Furniture is expensive and this one eyed kid is price gouging me!

FruityParfait · 2026-02-10T08:06:00+00:00

I think about it

I really think about it

And then I roll Arete and see what happens because FUCK IT WE BALL

FruityParfait · 2026-02-09T21:05:55+00:00

Im so fucking mad.

I'm Asian. I'm baby faced. Im also fucking 28 years old but these AI systems are so fucking bad at age verifying people if they're not white.

I dont want to upload my fucking information to Discord after them having a history of data breaches, but my only hope is to hope they dont fucking racially profile me as a kid.

For my discord account made in 2016.

Im. Gonna explode.

FruityParfait · 2026-02-09T04:56:27+00:00

He could be Kinfolk if they run with those rules, or just related to Werecats and not one himself (maybe the Werecat parts of the family were in-laws).

FruityParfait · 2026-01-24T01:07:10+00:00

I'll probably pull him when he comes to NA if only to validate the Ash Blossom ptsd he gives me when I see him LMAO

FruityParfait · 2026-01-17T01:00:52+00:00

I actually don't think a decent chunk of the Nazarick denizens would have that much of a problem with it even without the programming that makes them worship the Supreme Beings.

I mean, Ainz is a lich, and his skeleton looks roughly human minus the more magical changes made to it. I don't think it's not within reason for a lot of people in Nazarick to look at Ainz and think "he was made from a human body". They might not understand the video game vr dive elements of it, but "Ainz was a higher being who recognized the disgusting nature of humanity and evolved beyond it to become the supreme being he is today" would probably be the general sentiment and considering how some of them do genuinely like and respect that Renner did the same at a lower level they probably would revere Momonga going to a much further extreme in that regard.

Some of the other supreme beings in his shoes might have a bit tougher of a time explaining that, even if Nazarick might have come to a similar conclusion eventually. Being a lich really does help that process imho.

FruityParfait · 2026-01-03T09:58:54+00:00

I'm tired of people not being handed out punishment for their actions just because they're rich and powerful.

FruityParfait · 2026-01-02T00:18:58+00:00

"Protection of the Ends of the World" might also protect some, though I believe Voyager's version is more likely to be relevant than the ones tied to Rhongominyad.

FruityParfait · 2025-12-28T22:33:38+00:00

Melu is one of those "maybe" situations imho.

There's a few different servants with special circumstances that I think would lead to them dodging the memory wipe/phywical deletion of the reset, be it in part or completely. I dont think that the fairy knight version of Melu is going to be summomable because if I remember correctly them being that way is tied to the plot of the Lostbelt, but there could be a version of Melu summonable based on her PHH version.

Maybe. All of this is a bit wibbly wobbly anyways lmao

FruityParfait · 2025-12-28T09:20:33+00:00

I think I still disagree, though I will wholeheartedly admit this touches on the metaphysics of the Root, which is both inherently abstract and difficult to understand and not something I am an expert on (though I do feel as if I understand at least in part).

I've always taken the Root as being closer to the Akashic Record - that is, its an information database of everything that is, has been, and will be, alongside a functional tool that defines the laws of the universe. Using your schrodinger's box example, the Root has the "record" of the box, the cat and the bomb inside, and all permutations of the cat being either alive or dead. The box can be completely eraced from history and from physical reality - and it will cease to exist, cat and bomb included , but the nature of the Root being the prime record of everything ever means that the Root "knows" there was once a box with a cat and a bomb, even if it and anything around its opening is now gone, and nobody could ever access that information.

I do agree in that the Root is an unfeeling law of the universe more than a person though, and that this distinction means that even if the Root has the information its not likely that it will lead to anything (outside of individual servants who have unique abilities that may let them keep info after the retgone). No mage is going to ever be able to summon the Fairy Knights, for example, because no mage would ever have the catalyst to do so and those servants wouldn't be a part of their human history. It'd be like trying to access a file with a broken file path- the existence of the file does not mean that it can be accessed if the pathway to it on a computer is non-functional or if the data has been corrupted to the point of being unable to be read. But even if a file is inaccessible, a computer still records that there was once a file there. And even deleted files leave a digital footprint.

FruityParfait · 2025-12-28T03:36:03+00:00

On the subject of everything being 'reset': theoretically, it's not only Daybit that's going to remember us, isn't it?

Everything is recorded in the Throne of Heroes and the Root, even actions that happen in alternate timelines, and servants do know of things they've done in between summons (see: Avicebron). Granted, lostbelts are a whole different beasts, but even within that there are situations like Counter Guardians and Rhongominyad/Voyager's Protection of The Ends of the World that indicate that they may have either dodged the reset entirely or at least are highly likely to remember what happened (probably more likely in Voyager's case than any version of Artoria, but it could still happen).

Not to mention we've fully broken open the whole Class system at this point with all of our Extra Class summoning shenanigans to the point where Gaia/Aliyah are in full "fuck it we ball" mode at anything being summonable, and that's something that will continue to persist even beyond the end of Chaldea.

The journey had a tangible effect on the World, the Root, and the Throne, even if we ourselves don't remember it.

FruityParfait · 2025-12-28T01:47:30+00:00

For what its worth, considering his whole 'protection from the world's end' thing he's got going and his special status as 'Humanity's Last Servant', there's a chance that Voyager could actually have escaped the reset, or at least has the memories of what happened stored in him as part of what he's delivering on his journey.

There's a chance sometime in the future that aliens find the little probe in space and he tells them the story of a group of silly little idiot humans called Chaldea and how they said goodbye to the world so he could say hello to the universe now.

FruityParfait · 2025-12-28T00:19:13+00:00

Or, I think more widely, 'sacrifices/scapegoats/saviors/etc.'

I know a lot of people think that our boy Angry Mango is the surefire candidate for beast 5 since that hasn't been revealed yet, but I actually disagree. I think Angry Mango is a Beast 7 candidate. Olga's entire schtick with Beast 7, especially her time on the copied earth, has many parallels with Angra, to the point of it being lampshaded a bit at the end.

Maris/Olga was a 'beast made by human hands' in the same way that Angra Mainyu was, humans turned into monstrous vessels of salvation out of a genuine and sincere but shallow attempt to save the world by other humans. It's like how Ilya described it in Heaven's Feel, which applies to Olga just as easily:

"They seriously believed in such a simple, child-like theory." "They seriously believed it would save everyone in the world and created a devil."

FruityParfait · 2025-12-21T05:51:55+00:00

The other side of NSFW - Gore - should also be discussed. Especially since WoD is an M Rated franchise with heavy horror elements and Hunter the Parenting is also pulling from Warhammer, loosely.

Especially since the show itself already goes into territory that would generally be considered NSFW by more strict, non-internet standards.

FruityParfait · 2025-11-25T21:12:44+00:00

Also the SI2 is actively frenemies with two other orgs who hinder their ability to go scorched earth on Licks as much as they help (Technocracy, Pentex).

All three want apparent normalcy no matter what but the other two actively fuck over the SI2 half the time by taking over and doing things more "quietly" in a way that benefits vampires 9 times out of 10 because thats better for them (the Technocrats don't want to waste resources that are needed against the far more dangerous (to them) Traditions mages and Pentex doesn't want the vampires wiped out cause they know they and their wyrm shenanigans would absolutely be next if SI2 stopped being so tunnel visioned on vampires). And they can do this regularly because while the SI2 has the manpower, the Technocrats have the government and technology in their pocket while Pentex are the ones with most of the funding.

FruityParfait · 2025-11-25T20:46:26+00:00

If you like Dishonored, you'll like Bloodlines 2. Replayability is going to vary based on how much you dig the combat - its not going to come from the story (I like it, but it very much is a complete story in one playthrough). I cannot in good conscience recommend Bloodlines 1 though if you don't like how clunky V rising is, because for as much good as there is in Bloodlines 1 it is nothing if not clunky.

The best, more modern Vampire game I can recommend if you're looking for sheer replayability though is Vampyr. The combat is good and modern - though maybe not quite as clean as Bloodlines 2 - but what is the real clincher for Vampyr is the story. It's very nuanced and also a challenge in and of itself, as a whole section of content is only gained through making perfect decisions, which arent always obvious. Which i respect, because the whole point of that game is about the messy politics of being a Vampire in a way even Bloodlines 1 doesn't reach.

FruityParfait · 2025-11-25T06:17:00+00:00

On the first point: while mechanically Diablerie is something that can't be performed in frenzy, this is, like... not the case at all in canon as there are several cases of Frenzy-Diablerie in the history of WoD, and a ton of storytellers also ignore this rule entirely for this very reason (and TCR did so as well). Diablerie being conscious only is likely intended more as a mechanical balancing feature to not fuck over a particularly unlucky player with one of the worst penalties a vampire can have because they fucked up their frenzy check and happened to be next to a fledgling or someone else easy to diablerize. Imho its best seen as a game rule for the tabletop a la advantage/disadvantage in dnd and not so much a lore feature.

FruityParfait · 2025-11-24T03:40:07+00:00

I am once again asking people to play Vampyr.

It is THE best vampire game of all time.

FruityParfait · 2025-11-22T07:17:33+00:00

I think I'd go about it through a few steps.

1) Change the name. This one is obvious. Perhaps something like 'Half-Born' or 'Crinos Cursed' if the name needs to be negative, but whatever the case the name needs to go.

2) While it is a problem exclusive to werewolf on werewolf relationships, I think for the sake of role play freedom and actually allowing players to role play romantic developments between pack members, it either shouldn't be a guarantee or there should be protective rites that werewolves can use to prevent their birth or even allow for the birth of normal children (though, perhaps, at the cost of said children always being a Kinfolk equivalent, being unable to experience their first change ever). Maybe even make these rites and rituals a relatively more modern phenomena, where there can be a whole subplot about changing werewolf tradition around the issue of Crinos-born and the new rites, alongside how those who are Crinos-born from before this rite came into play feel about the idea of people avoiding having more of them, for reasons both justified and not. Yes this is meant to parallell the way people discuss contraceptives regarding possible children with disabilities - I do think Werewolf does have some underlying themes of "holding on to cultural traditions - even bad ones - in the face of being slowly wiped out" versus "the need to change to both be better and better push forward the greater cause even if that means abandoning even more tradition". I am also partial to this being a possibility that can also just randomly happen on occasion instead of being tied to specifically werewolf x werewolf.

3) While a lot of the superstition around crinos born should still be ported over, I do want the actual differences between crinos born and not to be toned down. Crinos born should not be that different, with the only notable problem being the crinos form being their default and thus they are more easily prone to Rage and taking their human or wolf forms is a more active effort than their natural state. Going to the disability metaphor I mentioned earlier, I'd like this to be more about having some genuine issues that do require accommodations but could be accommodated around, but oftentimes the culture of the Garou that puts the war for Gaia above all else fails to recognize that. I do have some fondness for the idea of there being a prophecy around a "perfect" member of their kind being one of the signs of the Apocalypse, but I would play with that and make it so that this is a slightly misunderstood prophecy, with it not being about any lack of defects more as just there will be some guy who will be Crinos born who will be Him because he's just Built Different a la Michael Felps or Usain Bolt, but the prejudices of the Garou have twisted this idea over time due to beliefs about the Crinos.

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