I mean I also have many other thoughts but I'm just gonna talk about the twins rn.

regarding this specific bit

which is accompanied by a voiceover of Jeebh saying "It's all Red-Gavv's fault..."

I'm not sure how to phrase what I want to say, it's not speculation or a prediction or anything

it's just... I'm just reflecting on the psychology that's happening here

I didn't think of the twins as being victims until the latest episode and this preview, but now I kinda do

the kind of abusive family dynamic we're seeing in the Stomachs is abusive to all its members

as of the start of the series, Shita and Jeebh were sitting pretty. they were in Lango's good graces, they'd been given an important position, they clearly felt very secure

but, of course, that security was an illusion

as soon as the specter of Not Fulfilling Expectations came up, they were fucking scared

because the Stomach family and its business is not the kind of environment where you get, like, a reasonable performance review

your boss/brother doesn't sit you down like "hey, we noticed the supply's slowing down, is there something going on? do you need additional support?"

no matter how adverse the circumstances are.

and like. let's be real here. "the black sheep family member we tried to murder has become a transforming superhero whose sole aim is to prevent us from doing the thing we're doing" is a PRETTY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCE.

but nope. you get One Chance and then if you fail you're getting fired and used as bargaining chips. doesn't matter that you're family. you perform, or you're fucked.

because it certainly doesn't look like Lango is reconsidering this decision at all, even after having seen Shoma fight.

we don't see ANY solidarity between the Stomach siblings, except between Shita and Jeebh specifically, and that's because they're so codependent they do everything together

none of the siblings seem to have any particular warm feelings for each other

because this isn't a family where there's room for that.

but the twins are still blaming Shoma.

because, until the plot kicked off and Shoma started protecting humans, they were doing okay.

they were playing the game. they were doing what they've learned is how you live, in the Stomach family. and they were doing it well enough that they were "safe".

more to the point, they were doing it well enough that they were entrusted with a position of power.

and in that kind of environment, power is all you can count on.

it's all you can have, if you have anything.

now everything's gone to shit for them and the worst is happening and playing the game didn't save them.

playing the game was supposed to save them. playing the game is how life works.

and it's not like they half-assed it! they tried!

so, yeah, they sort of HAVE to blame Shoma

it's the only thing that makes sense to them at this point

it has to be his fault. because it's not theirs. and they can't get their heads around whose it actually is.

they can't... they're not in a place to realize or accept that the problem isn't that their half-human baby brother is fighting them

the problem is that their family is a crime family running a drug op that uses living people as ingredients

but because that's all they've ever known, they can't think outside it. that's how the world is, right?

so anyway that's my thoughts.

where is this gonna go? WHO KNOWS

I would LIKE for them to have a redemption arc

but I really cannot say how likely or unlikely that is. we are in the hands of komura.

shoves this plurk into my mouth

i want the twins to get redeemed and become good

i fear the twins are going to die.

YEAH

yeah.

that's about where I'm at.

I think if any of them CAN be redeemed, it's them

they're the youngest besides Shoma, and they love each other

they might be the only two siblings in that whole godforsaken family who DO love each other

thinks about how many times precure (the show, not the protagonists of said show, to be clear) has killed this exact character set off, laughs hysterically

dorohedoro:

I KNOW YOU'RE RIGHT, OKAY,

BUT I WANT TO BELIEVE,,

i think their odds are even worse for appearing in a kamen rider, even if they're not a trope that typically does appear in a rider show

yeah like. if I'm honest I don't think their chances are great.

their chances are absolutely awful

but it would be NICE to see them redeemed.

except

like. unless they turn out to be a W sort of situation and they're our pudding rider, as a combiner -

their only chance

is if komura realizes just how fucking funny it would be for sachika to hire the twins.

otoh like

there is the potential for them to just be the [SPOILER] from zenkaiger, here

precisely because. yes. komura could do it again

if anyone would do it, it would be komura, because she has

I am excited by what this implies for my future viewing of zenkai

zen zen zen ryoku zen kai

don't worry. you'll see it. eventually.

(because I am GOING to watch zenkai, it's just down to whether hannah decides I need more sentai experience first)

YEAH THAT'S THE REAL BITCH OF IT

honestly like. while zenkaiger is absolutely enhanced by knowing how much of it is just absolutely sentaimaxxing at all times, i feel like you could go right into it after shinkenger and be fine

honestly i think the only mandatory knowledge is

The Jetman Thing.

i mean we could just tell lyssie the Jetman Thing --

yeah

(it's not a replacement for Actually Experiencing Jetman but it'd work)

but it'd be better when it's. closer to the end of shinken. so it's not, like, Months Out.

yeah

I am just here for the twins. Who only have each other, really, and who were honestly probably Good at their job until SOMEONE henshined and Ruined Everything