Casual Days Analysis
- Pearl is really invested in her investigation if she’s using a casual day with friends to yap and work on it (honestly, Pearl reminds me of how I am with DDVAU analysis and theories 😂).
- Cleo seem like they are trying but not following along with Pearl’s yapping (reminds me of my friend who is subjected to my ramblings)
- Gem looks exhausted with putting up with Pearl and her “crazy” theories (are they crazy? We will have to see)
- Scott is moral support to a dying Gem
- Pearl and Scott probably know each other because they are both reporters
- Gem’s probably here because of Pearl 😏♥️
- Cleo is probably a close friend of Scott (guessing based on Double Life and how close they were then).
- Doody was inspired by Decked Out 2 for this drawing (hence why Tango is the Game Master)
- The monster they are fighting is a Warden and it’s already taken out Scar and Ren (based on their characters lying down).
- The Warden may also take out BDubs due to his absolutely horrific roll of a 1 (I completely understand why Etho is panicking).
- Ren’s character is based on his Hermitcraft Season 11 outfit (I don’t recognize any of the other characters lol).
- While Scar and Ren are dead in the game, I don't think this necessary means they are doomed to die. I'm thinking about these posts specifically. I don't think they are dead, just maybe put in a bad position.
- College friends gathering for ice cream!
- Ice cream flavors:
- Joel - mint chip
- Grian - strawberry?
- Jimmy - pineapple?
- Martyn - mango?
- *lots of potential fruity flavors
- Whelp, Joel isn’t going to have his mint chip ice cream for long
- Yeesh, sorry Jimmy, brain freezes suck!
Ragebaiting - daily occurrence?
Me and my sibling
Also, is this a daily occurrence? How the heck do they have enough energy after being professors all day to go beat each other up?!
IS THAT A BITE MARK!??!?!
IT TOTALLY IS! HG BIT CG!
I wonder if the in-universe students would find it amusing to learn that Professor Goodtimes bites Professor Solidarity on a daily basis.
I noticed that even on the ground, injured and fed up, Grian is still hiding his face from HG with his wings. Color me impressed, if I was a vigilante, I'd probably accidently have revealed my face multiple times as this point, especially after getting punched so hard I get knocked out.
Hi! So first of all, I’m such a big fan of you and your TOOTALLY in depth analysis of each chapter, that i see practically seconds after the chapters are released. Your work faster than the speed of light LOL. I never miss a post if I can, because each one provides such interesting insights! I am also insanely obsessed with DDVAU, its one of my biggest hyperfixations, and i have like half of the comic in my camera roll lmao. What you do, the analyzing you achieve, the conclusions you reach, are SOOO impressive to me and you’re genuinely so insightful. As a huge ddvau fan, I am also a HUUUUUUGE and I mean HUGE Lacy fan. I dont know if you take requests, but if you do… what are your thoughts on their relationship?
Like, for example. WHY does mumbo distrust Martyn? Why does Sparrow distrust Martyn? Clearly, as seen in that one frame in chapter 14 where Grian and Martyn exchange a meaningful look prompting Martyn to get up and go comfort Jimmy, they know each other EXTREMELY well. At one point I interpreted that look as like, “Oh my god what are you doing here I hate you” but then like I thought about it, especially in the context of chapter 20, and… no. That look was exchanged between two people who know each other so painfully well. Well enough that Martyn knows to check in on Grian, Grian knows how to say exactly what he wants to Martyn, and Martyn knows what he has to do. But as seen in literally all of chapter 14, Mumbo, bless his wet cat gorgeous tall spindly stupid little heart, is always putting himself between Martyn and Grian, and his eyes almost never leave Martyn, and his expressions always one of distrust or rage. Sure, Martyn’s kinda an asshole, but thats like his whole deal. This is much deeper than that.
Im a firm believer in Lacy, so I think Martyn and Grian were exes, maybe who ended on amicable terms? But like… no one else understands that they’re chill? As we know, Martyn travels loads, and has the type of personality to come and go without any warning. He’s a runner. Chapter 20 was a huge chapter for us Lacy fanatics, revealing that there is something that goes WAYYY back. Maybe they were never dating, they were just BEST friends. Or something? Or maybe they were dating and Grian realized that Martyn had to run and he couldn’t keep chasing, so they broke it up amicably as i said before. But all of Grian’s friends and family hate Martyn because…? He was a bad influence on Grian? He broke Grian’s heart, and Grian is the only one over it? Im so curious to know your thoughts on all of this because god knows I need new ones. My friends have heard the same old Lacy rant recycled again and again LMFAO.
Literally any thoughts you have on them would be so eagerly received from this front!
Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoy my posts! Always nice to know my work is appreciated.
When it comes to ships, I usually focus on the love square, but a Lacy analysis has been on my mind for a while and I'd love to take a shot at it!
Give me a few days to dig up old posts, drawings, theories and song analyses and soon we'll have my first Lacy analysis!
Guilt & Assumptions - Mother Spore Symbolism in DDVAU Chp. 25
I found the reappearance of Mother Spore in chapter 25 quite interesting as I’m sure she is some sort of symbolism that represents Grian’s feelings with the whole “hiding-he’s-a-mutant” thing, but more importantly, the MS incident.
In terms of Grian pretending to be a human, MS seems to represent his shame of doing so based on Grian’s body language (curling up, looking down) as well as him saying his reasons don’t justify the action. However, it seems like MS is mainly representing how Grian feels about the MS incident and the guilt he harbors.
Grian seems to have his own imagined version of what happened (makes sense as he had no memories and nobody who visited him was at the incident...), so he assumes he must have hurt people, leading to this all encompassing guilt symbolized by MS wrapping her arms around Grian, hands curling in on his face.
Additionally, the more MS closes in, the more Grian is wrapped in darkness. Both the closing in of MS and the disappearance of light around Grian show the immense guilt Grian feels for the incident and the people he thinks he must’ve hurt (even though he didn’t - Grian is assuming).
The hands and darkness recede once Tango elevates Grian’s guilt by saying Grian didn’t hurt him as MS. There is pure surprise in Grian’s eyes as he realizes he didn’t hurt Tango or anyone else, relieving him of the notion that he caused anyone any harm in the first place.
I also found it quite interesting that the MS we see is the version after HG shot her with an arrow. Because of this, I created a comparison between MS after the arrow and a wounded animal. Wounded animals act aggressively as well desperately due to pain, fear, or vulnerability, which can make them unpredictable and dangerous. Perhaps this is why Grian assumed that he must have hurt people, especially after being shot, explaining maybe why MS showed up in chapter 25 with the arrow wound.
"The... Arrow?" - how deeply getting shot by HG has affected Grian
Of course, getting shot isn't a pleasant memory for anyone, but it seems to go deeper for Grian. The memory keeps popping up for him, 3 times now! Chapter 15, 22, and now 25!
One of the most noticeable aspects of this scene is the colors and what is done with those colors.
HG’s colors are reflected in Grian's glasses and are the brightness, most noticeable colors in this scene.
We also have this purple-pink color with this oil slick patten that seems to pop up whenever Grian is uneasy, panicked, or on edge (chp. 14, 15, 22).
This one scene consists of HG’s colors being the most noticeable and seemingly in Grian’s peripherals in addition to being accompanied by the color and effect associated with Grian’s anxiety; this seems to imply that Grian has associated anything to do with HG (the arrow, the incident, the colors) with danger.
HG is no longer someone that Grian despises with all his being, he is now someone to be feared; Grian's anxiety is triggered the moment he receives any reminder of the incident, not to mention that he now has a permeant reminder of all that horribleness in the form of a scar (his first scar ever thanks to his quick healing abilities, making the scar such a worse reminder as not only is it from a traumatizing event, his abilities failed to heal it and now he's stuck with it forever).
HG may seem nice and went through the precautions of shielding Grian’s mutant status from the world, but he still blackmailed, manipulated and shot Grian. Him shooting Grian wasn't even necessary in the first place!
I think Grian is going to be on edge around HG or whenever he is reminded of the incident for a while, at least until he can make peace with it and HG proves he's not a threat through his future actions...
The DDVAU Classification System (Pt 5): Hybrids & Shapeshifters
I'm back with my series where I compile all the info we currently have when it comes to the in-depth, complicated classification system we have in DDVAU and this post is all about hybrids and shapeshifters!
Once again, these subsubcategories aren’t legal categories that the government recognizes, but they are socially recognized and used to categorize mutants. Most of the subsubcategories consist of mutants with specific powers of appearances that differentiate them from other mutants. There are many subsubcategories so I’m sure more will pop up at some point in the comic; however I did want to give explanations and breakdowns for the ones we already have seen or confirmed:
- Elemental
- Extraterrestrial
- Fae
- Hybrid
- Shapeshifter
Hybrids are mutants that are part creatures and have various subcategories: Avian (birds - Grian, Jimmy, Sparrow, Deryn, Skizz), Bovidae(goats - Zed, Feline(cat - Lizzie), Canine(dog - Ren), mythical creatures(griffin - Poli), ect.
Shapeshifters are a subcategory of hybrids, as they are mutants that can modify their limbs. A good example of this is Ren and Lizzie. Ren is always showing his hybrid features (his ears and tail) while Lizzie can modify her features.
Not only can Lizzie shift into a calico cat, she can keep her humanoid form while having certain feline features on display, such as her ears and tail.
Shapeshifters can only transform their limbs, they cannot grow them. For example, Lizzie in human form has a nub where her cat tail appears. When she wants to transform, her ears shift to the top of her head and her nub elongates. A shapeshifter cannot grow horns or any other appendage that they don’t already have some semblance of.
Once again, this entire classification system is flawed and there are people who don’t fit neatly into these categories. A great example when it comes to shapeshifters is Grian. He technically could be considered a shapeshifter and can change his hair and eye color, however he has a unique ability where he can scoop his wings into his body to hide them. As HG points out in chp. 23, shapeshifters can’t grow limbs (at least according to the government’s data and definition), showing the flaws present in this system meant to classify humans.
Similar to elementals, most hybrids have evolved to withstand time away from the specific environment where they thrive. While it is more common to see specific types of hybrids in certain places where they are more comfortable, like a fish hybrid feeling more comfortable in the water district, they still can survive outside of it. A similar example in real life is if you take someone who lived all their life in a very cold country, and suddenly you take them to a tropical country, they will be uncomfortable due to their body not being used to the environment; however, they can still survive.
Since we have so many characters who are avians, I'm planning to do a part 5.5, discussing the little details we have about avians in DDVAU, so be on the look out for that!
DDVAU Chapter 25 Analysis
- Ok I was skeptical about this all blue look considering I usually associate Tango with warmer tones, but he is really pulling off the look with the contrast.
- The lava gills thingies poking out under Tango’s turtle neck! I love seeing these markings.
- Grian seems really nervous about this talk with Tango, yet doesn’t seem to register that the talk could be about the MS incident. Is there something else perhaps on his mind?
- Weird how casual Grian is about the hospital and how he should have gotten out sooner. I guess he is used to fast healing. (Personally, if I was turned into a spore thing that forces my wings to be a wreck and also got shot with an arrow, I’m going to spend more than a week recovering). Did something in Grian’s past make it so that he views his injuries as less serious than they really are?
- Tango points out how tough the fight was. Grian broke bones during that fight and his body snapped them back together like a jigsaw. Is this common for Grian? (I hope not, but considering him being an avian with hollow bones as well as a vigilante that fights on the daily, I wouldn’t put it past him).
- Ok! Looks like that arrow really f-ed Grian up, especially considering how it has popped up three times for him now! (chps 15, 22, and now 25)
- Tango, being a mutant with such noticeable features, knows the prejudice against mutants and isn’t judging Grian for hiding his features; Heck, I’m pretty sure there are times Tango would like to hide his features. Tango just wants to inform Grian that he knows, assure him he won’t tell, and let him know that he’s a safe person for Grian to come to when it comes to this situation. What a good friend!
- Grian’s reaction to Tango telling him that he knows - shame, nervousness(laced hands, curling up, looking down).
- He though Tango would tell everyone?! Tango ain't like that Grian.
- MS shows up - appearance is after the arrow as the shoulder has a patch of mycelium.
- G feels guilty for the incident - I’m guessing that MS is a manifestation of that guilt as MS is wrapping around Grian, closing in as hands curl in on face and then releasing once Tango elevates Grian’s fears (pure surprise his eyes - my poor baby!)
- Grian seems to have his own imagined version of what happened (makes sense as he had no memories and nobody who visited him was at the incident...), so he assumes he must have hurt people
- Tango quickly quelling Grian’s fears (it wasn't you, not your fault)
- Grian - curl up further, eyes start to tear (not sad though, more out of relief I’m guessing)
- Tango second language peeking through! Love these moments - “hurted” instead of hurt”
- Oh, we can’t see one of Grian’s eyes here. Does that mean he’s hiding something, thinking of something else, or am I looking too much into this and it’s just a perspective thing?
- Haha, Grian punched HG really hard (lets be honest, Scar deserved that and more at this point).
- Grian expected anger not understanding (associated with mutant side?)
- Have Tango’s flames gotten redder? (Less energy output? - this is a really difficult and heavy conversation so I wouldn’t be surprised if Tango is using more energy than usual.)
- “...if you are okey” -> Grian starts crying. Usually if you check to see if someone is ok and they start crying, they are usually not ok.
- “Wow, you are an ugly crier”. TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE TANGO TEK!
- “Pull yourself together” - what I tell Scar everyday if he ever wants a chance of even deserving Grian.
- Tango is good at comforting people (stem from his experience as a mutant?)
- Tango is a good friend. Grian should be delighted when he and Jimmy start dating.
- Grian seems mildly surprised at HG’s efforts to hide his wings. Maybe HG isn’t the person who Grian thought he was - rethinking.
- Ha, hospital ride - Grian is just “blegh”
- HG was nicer than expected? Is this a general thing or is it because Tango’s an obvious mutant and he expected to be treated differently?
- *Face palm* Tango is great at comforting and also great at giving heart attacks
- Grian thinks Tango is talking about Jimmy being a witch and the mind reading (chp. 10 - more dangerous), while all Tango really knows is that Jimmy is an avian (fire hazard).
- Wait, what happened to Martyn? Still with Ren? (Did someone just say Treebark?)
- Doesn’t Scar look tired? He may also be burnt out or focused.
- Grian immediately perked up when he saw Scar (I know what you are)
- Pink sparks - pink usually represents romantic attraction in DDVAU
- God, he’s hot
- Scar perked up as soon as he saw Grian as well - how much of this is an act to get info and how much is genuine?
- Scar is nice and observant, but him offering to drive Grian home probably has some ulterior motive.
- Due to Grian having a crush on Scar, he literally can’t refuse - look at the blush on his face!
- This is how literally everyone acts when in a car with their crush (look at him clutching that seatbelt for dear life!)
- This is how literally everyone acts with their crush - overthinking to the max
- Starwars soundtrack? Grian seems to find this endearing
- It’s almost summer in the DDVAU universe, which means longer days. Considering the sun is setting, how long was Grian working for? It’s only his first day back, isn’t he pushing it a bit?
- I wonder if the colors of the sunset mean anything…
- They both seem comfy and happy in this moment (a rarity for both of them it seems)
- OMG HE’S HOT
- Hang out more? After five to six years? Right after the MS incident? This can’t be a coincidence, Scar is probably trying to get closer and get more info out of Grian.
- Warm to cold colors for the sunset (maybe shows the switch between Scar being light-hearted to him working on ulterior motives?) the red glow might also be showing that.
- Grian seems mildly shocked about Scar wanting to be his friend (I mean, it has been five to six years and they don’t seem very close…)
- Not sure if I’m looking too much into this, but Grian has literal rose-tinted glasses in this scene. DON’T FALL FOR IT GRIAN! I KNOW HE’S HOT, BUT THIS IS KINDA OUT OF LEFT FIELD ISN’T IT?
- Topic change - Grian seems pretty relaxed actually (stretched out, hands around head), Scar not so much (ears down, sweat, tense?)
- Scar is a really smooth liar (maybe his ears can give him away?)
- Scar does seem to care for Grian and is genuinely checking up on him (good)
- The shadow over Scar's face in the last panel is reminiscent of his HG visor.
- “I feel like myself again” - not really a straight answer, but considering that Grian seems decently happy here, I’ll let it go.
- I’m guessing this means he didn’t feel like himself while Mother Spore or in the hospital.
- Whelp, Grian just told Scar something he would never tell HG: where he lives
- Never been to this part of this city my ass
- At this point, Scar has lied four times in a single car ride (stayed home, Tango was the only teacher, didn’t visit Grian, hasn’t been to this part of the city)
- 1. SCAR, YOU BASTARD
2. At least you know you’re a bastard
3. You are going to have some explaining to do if you ever act on this info
- Grian’s apartment being the only one lit up makes this act of Scar’s seem so much more of an invasion of privacy considering Grian didn’t want HG to know where he lives and now he has unknowingly told him.
Why do the masks go on last?
Putting on their masks last feels like an accidental reveal just waiting to happen. All it will take is for someone to walk around the corner or glance into that alley and - “GASP! PROFESSOR?!” How has nobody caught Grian or Scar changing into their hero outfits? Thank goodness we have Cub for reminders if Scar forgetting his visor is a regular thing.