#I'm going into crazy theory territory here

[brooklynisher]

Is the Spine still a victim of G.G.'s wheel addiction abuse or

Spoilers for the Not Live and Not in Person Show below the cut:

For context, in the Not Live and Not in Person Show, Rabbit mentions that she saw The Spine feed Zer0's firetruck wheels to G.G. and The Spine confesses that he's been feeding G.G. all of Zer0's wheels.

LATER, when the bots reveal what they're doing after the show, The Spine says he'll be stealing wheels because G.G. demands it every day and that it's serious. The band asks him if he's okay and if he's being blackmailed to which he starts crying and venting about having to do this all the time before quickly pulling himself together and insisting that everything is okay. He thinks that if he keeps feeding her wheels, she'll eventually be satisfied and stop asking for more.

Like what kind of It's Not Me, It's My Basement stuff is going on here.

[bitethedustfools]

New sagau idea?

This is my first time posting something on tumblr but I just wanna say that I'm getting tired of seeing the imposter! sagau au where the player/creator is so forgiving once they were declared innocent and not the imposter or something like that.

The eldritch one was good but kinda expecting to go to the dark territory. The yandere one is kinda okay but need more spicy with the creator personality. The one with letter is wholesome in a way but I'm a picky person and the player's personality is just not to my taste.

So uh, I'm just gonna drop some ideas to spice some new inspiration or something. Apologize if these aus/ideas already exist.

Indifferent god/player

You play the game to pass time, you don't even bother speaking, only staying silent the whole duration and maybe murmuring some dissapointing things on the characters when they don't reach your expectation. The characters designs are nice and maybe the personality but you don't give a damn about them. You probably don't read their story or voiceline or something. But anyway, whether they have sobs story or not, you already have enough and don't care as well.

Almost everything bore you and the only thing that keep you going is the curiousity for the ending so you tried to level up and give them the best artifacts so you can speed run or something.

Once you are inside the game, the first thing you do is sigh loudly.

You dont know who the hell is the creator they speak of that finally arrived in Teyvat cause your day is ruined from being approached by the characters who won't leave you alone. (You got that divine presence and distant looks in your eyes that made them tremble with realisation when in fact you're just annoyed with them, never giving them a single glance. "out of sight, out of mind")

You are the Watcher of Teyvat, the God of all Gods and you are finally descending to Teyvat which you create "lovingly" with your bare hands. (Not that you know about that)

Now the characters feeling towarda you can be varies. The characters may be feeling grateful because you helped them getting stronger which may lead to stronger devotion.

Your hurtful comments back in your previous world sometimes drove them insane which may lead them feeling desperate and insecure, ashamed and upset as well as letting their self confidence dwindled. Sometimes they questioned themselves why aren't they abandoned yet and why are they gifted with powerful artifacts instead? So lots misunderstandings here.

The Archons probably go crazy trying to figure out how to please you. Wanting to be by your side and show you how Teyvat came to be under their rule and after that. Use them however you wish, the rules of Teyvat bend to your will and all will act according to you. Maybe that's why their gnoses is in the form of chess pieces? For you to play and use with?

The Fatui harbingers probably have complicated feelings about you. But most probably are upset that you don't give a damn about them or glad that what they are doing doesn't offended you in the slightest and encouraging what they are doing because they thought you have no problem with what they are doing.

Can go yandere route I guess but none what the characters did will ever entered your eyes because you don't give a f*ck about them. Period. No feelings or heart to heart talk.

2) Introvert simping god/player

You are a Genshin Impact lover. You buy every merchandise possible and owned so many of their cosplay. You are probably the top 5 best genshin gamer and made some theories judging by what the game had shown you. No characters can escape your gushing as praises bullet out of your mouth. Nothing in the game could escape you cause you love them so much.

Unfortunately, as much as you love them from the roots of their hair to their fine shoes and the blackest and goodest of hearts, you don't want to be in their world.

Because you are an introvert and a simp! These combinations can't be good if you are to meet one of them!

The solution? Hide.

Needless to say, your ability to become one with the background unintentionally shut off your heavenly divine presence. You became the world's best hider, no Fatui could ever catch a glimpse of your shadow nor an Adeptus nor Archons. Always a game of mouse and cats yet theres no progress in catching the skittish mouse.

You refuse to meet them and can only look from a far. Staring with awe when they fought or walk or talk or whatever they do. It's like seeing an idol in a way.

In short, you're a stalker.

When they learn about how you look like, every place is not safe anymore. Everyone is looking for you, eager to meet you. But not you. By the power of cosplay, it's easy to avert meeting them.

And now, you are not the only world's best hider but the world's best at disguising themself as well.

3) Eldritch god/player

What if Teyvat is only one and the players is many? When you descend to Teyvat, some said you are tall, some said you are short and others said you are a male and another the opposite sex. They even said your hair was curly and black but the other refuted, saying yours was wavy and blonde.

Introducing you. A god who is all yet one individual. A god whose everything changes from one person to another's respectives. Sometimes the same person see you in a different appearance which confused many.

Your whole being is unpredictable, sometimes you're upset and then happy and then angry, all in the blink of a moment. even your accents changes, following the tongue of the one who is speaking currently.

Sometimes, when the feeling is getting intense, mostly anger, the face(s) morph into something horrible as if it couldn't decide which face(s) to take (or was it these players are feeling the same thing at once?) or what language to speak, resulting in gibberish words falling out your many mouth(s). Your eyes however are staring at the cause of your feelings, (enemy? the one that hurts you? experiment purpose?) All varieties of colours ranging from hazelnut to black.

The Archons are regal and full of divine aura, beautiful and something worthy to behold and worship.

But you are a different existence, leaning toward the dark and gory side than the Archons or the whole Teyvat.

But you are still a god, the God of all Gods.

Are you worthy to be loved and worshipped and to be behold?

Yes? No?

You're not you and you're also not them. Yet you are you and you are them.

Acceptance and violence, you have no problem to choose.

The feelings of the many you(s) are distorted and cannot be comprehend.

[kelseytheballerina]

Heyy so Starting by being straight up and admitting that envy is an ugly habit I have. I see people who grew up with money living their best life and I get hurt and mad because I'm working my ass off just trying to get by, or I see an attractive woman and feel like crap. Its something I'm recognizing as a problem and I want to stop. I saw a post where you said something about being inspired and motivated by women who are better off/more successful/prettier/etc instead of comparing and getting jealous. How do you actually put that into practice and acheive that mindset?

totally, so basically I would just look at it as inspiration and proof of an outcome. a lot of our desires can be based on theory. the possibility of having this or going there or excelling in this way. but we don’t technically know if we could pull it off or if it’s ever been done before with a specific set of conditions, so our goals and desires are just a theory. for example, maybe you desire to be a mom-model-actress-ceo under 25 and you see a woman literally become just that. I wouldn’t be like “grrrr how dare she have what I want” I would be happy that I now have proof that what I want is in the realm of possibility and there is a path that has been laid out should I choose to use hers as a blueprint. people will likely be more accepting of me doing the same thing since there’s already been someone who has come before me and been successful. plus, now you could have a potential peer who becomes a potential friend when you are in the same circle. when it comes to beauty, there’s so many girls out there being unapologetically into beauty care so now people won’t be weirded out when I start showing up with nails and hair and cute clothes because they have helped break down the taboo. so it’s more of an appreciation for them trailblazing a path or showing time and time again that something is possible and here’s what it looks like for a 35 year old and a 60 year old and a 19 year old and a white American and a black American and a Nigerian Brit and so on and so forth. it’s inspirational data.

it’s like, I now know I’m not crazy and my aspirations are attainable at least to a degree (factoring in variables like where you’re born and parents you’re born to, etc) so all I have to do is stay on track and I’ll be there too some day. when I’m studying over and over and wondering if this is even real and then I see a classmate got an A, I feel better knowing that I’m not screaming into the void and that the outcome I seek is actually a reality. I no longer feel like I’m rowing in open water of uncharted territory. this land has been conquered before and that’s great! so maybe I won’t get skin exactly like hers but I’ll get close. maybe I won’t get her salary at the same age she did but even if I have to work an extra 5 years I’ll be glad I was inspired by her to keep going. maybe you didn’t consider the possibility of having certain things until you saw that woman with it and now your mindset has been expanded to have more out of life.

I feel like when you’re envious, there’s a part of you deep down that will secretly wish for someone’s downfall, even if you’re friends with them because it’s a “me vs you and there can only be one” mentality. which means you’ll be likely to think everyone else is secretly out to get you too or the world is conspiring against you when it’s nothing of the sort. but when you have an “I’m happy for you and patiently waiting my turn” mentality, you’re more likely to see the blessings happening to you in action, you’re more likely to be a positive person around such women and they’d more likely want to be around you and help you come up with them rather than feeling some sort of repressed hater energy.

I always just remember that none of us are on the same timeline and not everyone peaks at the same age. some are late bloomers, some have more barriers in the way, but that just means you will end up being someone else’s inspiration one day when they find interest in your variables and outcome. let your journey be what it will be and keep your mind open to the wisdom you’re collecting along the way. if it took you 3 years to clear your skin up, you’ll have waaaay more insight on the topic than someone who’s only ever experienced the occasional breakout and let’s say you wanted to turn that into a skincare YouTube channel or something, you’d have more success than someone with nothing to say. what I mean by that is, sometimes the ones with the long journeys that feel unfavorable in the moment end up blooming into an unforeseen opportunity in the future.

envy is never worth it. it just makes the journey more miserable than it needs to be and pushes people away.

[noneorother]

The grand unified theory of Good Omens S2 hangs on - you guessed it - a double meaning (and art). *Part 2*

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l The End?

This is major spoilers for season 3 territory. You have been warned. I'm also going to split this into parts because wow, I have so many ✨Clues✨! Come with me on a long and magical journey through time, and trust that I will bring you back to the double meaning of it all very soon.

The second thing that Oofs and Ouches my Bones specifically about the art direction in S2 are the time/place cards. You know, the good old rope and stick cards we all know and love are back in S2E1! - wait a minute...

Oh. Okay. I guess we're going with a huge organ swell happening in the music at the same time as a gothic font. Seems... awfully religious of them. Let's try again. S2E2?

Oh shit. 1950s classic Hollywood biblical epic title cards? Really? Okay. But we've already been to London in 1941 in S1 so surely they would just use the same exact title card as last season because it's the SAME SCENE in S2E4 and-

OH GOD it's a black and white classic horror flick! Be afraid! Cower in fear from the zombies that eat brains. So...I think we're getting a feeling this season that they massively changed up the art direction for the all the Minisode title cards. Except did they? Wait, how did the Resurectionists Minisode start?

That seems... very normal. No crazy "Hollywood" title cards here. And they just punted all the classic rope and stick cards that tell us when and where everything takes place in the whole season?

They did not. Y'all there are TWO competing ways of showing the audience Time/Place going on in the same episodes. One is canonically familiar, and the other is new, and very *hack-esque*. If only there was another reference to classic cinema somewhere in the title sequence of each episode to explain what was going on with these things AHHHHHHH-

(If you haven't watched till the end of the opening credits) There's a dude with a big stick waving something in front of the projector in the booth each episode, and presumably this has an impact on what we see on the literal movie screen projecting bits of the story in front of us. So what do we see in front of us from the projector each episode, exactly?

Well for one, we can certainly see that Neil Gaiman found a really interesting place to put his name in the openings... right over a lot of the fishy things in each minisode is a FUN WAY TO DO LAMPSHADING, NEIL. At this point you're screaming at me "But what does this have to do with the gangsters, and Maggie, and everything else?" My friend, I am here to tell you that I'm starting to get the feeling The Metatron has been adding bits and pieces (not very well, mind you, he's a hack writer) to change the outcome of season 2.

Would you like to see more clues, and the prestige reveal of what the double meaning is? Part 3 right here!

[aipilosse]

Why Pengolodh of all people is able to stoke such rage within me on his behalf is so bizarre. Like, he's a non-character, a name and some facts Tolkien came up with in his carousel of in-universe authors to keep the layers of narration he loved, but the way he is maligned in this fandom is tragic.

I've touched on before that treating the Silmarillion as if it were written and relayed by a single author is entirely incorrect so I won't go into that here, and honestly I'm sure I've said this all before BUT

The idea that Penny is for some reason *least* suited to write most of the events of the Silmarillion is PATENTLY ridiculous, and I would challenge anyone who says that to a duel, either intellectual or physical (even in my current weakened state... Tulkas is on my side I cannot fail). First of all, the one place where nobody else knows anything about what happened is GONDOLIN, so I think if anyone is going to be writing about most of the events of the Silm, they either need to be from Gondolin or need to live in Sirion with survivors.

OH WHAT'S THAT.... SIRION?!?

Yeah, Sirion! The place where not only are there survivors of Gondolin, but there are survivors of Doriath and Nargothrond AND any remnants of the Beorians, Hadorian, and Haladin. Like, I can think of no other place where the Mannish legends would be able to be recounted, and put on the same level, as the Elvish ones.

"But the Feanorians," you squall. "He's so *unfair* to them, and how could he know ANYTHING about them? That's why we know sooo little about the Feanorians and why they are soooo unjustly maligned."

Ok, first of all, ya basic. Second of all, HE HAS ACCESS TO FEANORIAN SOURCES TOO.

There is Celebrimbor, and all the other former followers of Curufin and Celegorm that could of course tell Penny what was up in Himlad and afterwards while he was in Gondolin. Also, there were probably Feanorians who lived after turning on Maedhros and Maglor during the sack of the Havens who could fill in what happened after The Luthien Incident. So, actually, Pengolodh had multiple sources to literally all of the essential events of the Silmarillion.

OH YEAH THE SACK OF THE HAVENS. Despite living through what is described as the worst atrocity of elf v elf, despite having people we KNOW were friends with him KILLED during that fight, despite having his home destroyed by fellow Noldor, he *really* gives Maglor and Maedhros every excuse. "they felt bad, they're so tired, love grew between them and their victims" etc etc. The Silm is sympathetic to the Feanorians and you can't convince me otherwise (you're not some crazy rebel because you like them!) (They are also Doomed by the narrative, but attributing that to an in-universe author requires getting into the territory of events that occurred not actually occurring and... what's the point if you're going to say that the things that the book is about didn't happen? why are you even here?)

I see people say that the bias is against the 3 Cs, Caranthir especially, which is an ABSURD statement to make in conjunction with the 'Pengolodh, sole conveyer of the Silm' theory. Like, Pengolodh most likely never met any of the 3 Cs or if he did he was very young -- why would he dislike them more than the brothers that massacred his friends? I think the theory here is that he's just such a huge Turgon fan and just absorbed Turgon's opinions on the 3 Cs, which is just conjecture on top of conjecture with no solid footing.

I think there is more credence to him being biased against Maeglin on account of the Fall of Gondolin. But, I ask you, is it really *bias* when the guy is partially responsible for the sack of the city you spent most of your life in and likely the deaths of most of your friends and relatives? And Maeglin too in the published Silm is not without his good qualities! If you hate someone, it can be very hard to admit they're handsome and smart, but Penny does not have that issue.

Anyway, justice for Pengolodh. You didn't write the whole thing, Penny, but what you did write was I'm sure fucking fantastic.

[acourtofthought]

"When knife and sword are reunited, so shall our people be."

(listen, I'm about to get crazy here so please take this theory with a grain of salt. This is probably more wishful thinking than me believing I have it right)

The above is the Crescent City prophecy right? And Aidas tells them the sword belongs to Theia's female line.

But the thing is, that sword never really belonged to Theia in the first place, it rightfully belonged to Fionn, the first and only High King of Prythian.

"that one of the Fae heroes who rose up to overthrow them was Fionn, who was given the great sword Gwydion by the High Priestess Oleanna, who had dipped it into the Cauldron itself. Fionn and Gwydion overthrew the Daglan. A millennium of peace followed, and the lands were divided into rough territories that were the precursors to the courts"

“The last one Made, the great blade Gwydion, vanished around the time the last of the Trove went missing.”

"This sword isn’t Gwydion,” Cassian said, well aware of the myths regarding the sword. It had belonged to a true Fae High King in Prythian, as there had been in Hybern."

Amren lived in Prythian prior to Fionn and Gwydion arising in history and she only went to the Prison once the Daglan were defeated. Therefore she is as accurate of a source of Gwydions origins as we're going to get.

Theia most likely stole the sword from Fionn:

“Fionn was betrayed by his queen, who had been leader of her own territory, and by his dearest friend, who was his general. They killed him, taking some of his bloodline’s most powerful and precious weapons,

then ended up in Midgard through the tear in their worlds.

I am not of the belief that the people of Midgard will end up on Prythian, I think the Merpeople, otters, shifters, angels wolves, etc are happy in their modern society and plan on fighting for their world rather than ending up on another planet where they don't even speak the language and where they wouldn't even have homes to live in considering nothing but the Prison exists on "the lost Dusk Court" (which was never actually a court). I don't think those on Midgard feel they need to reconnect with "their people" considering those in ACOTAR are really just strangers they may have shared a common ancestor with 15,000 years ago. They're not "their people" but the people on Midgard are.

On Midgard, their biggest threat is the Asteri and those who work for them but to me, they're not really a land divided, they're a land being suppressed by a dictatorship.

However, we do have another series where the land is divided, where the people are at odds with one another:

“Do you think we stand a chance?” I asked, motioning to the human figures still walking, far away, back toward the camp. “Of peace between all of us?”

There was still much work to be done, trust to build, but the matter of crafting a new wall … It remained to be seen whether we could agree on that. Many of us were against it. Many of the humans, rightfully so, were wary. There were still other Fae territories to contend with—those who had found Hybern’s promises appealing. Seductive. The High Lords quarreled the most about the possibility of a new wall. And with every word of it, just as Helion said, that temporary allegiance frayed and snapped. Court lines were redrawn.

"We need the humans in other territories to trust us, if we can ever hope to achieve lasting peace.”

“Why does your father want to start a war so badly?” “Why does anyone go to war?” Eris reached out a long, slender hand, letting the falling petals gather there. “Why does Vallahan not sign the treaty? The borders of this new world have not yet been set.”

“Beron knows another war that pits Fae against Fae would be catastrophic. Many of us would be wiped out entirely. Especially …

It doesn't seem to matter how many came together to defeat Hybern, the humans, the fae in the continent, and the courts of Prythian are all at odds with one another after the war. Rhys knows the humans don't completely trust them and they're struggling to get Vallahan to sign the leave treaty.

The people of their world are not united.

“And I won’t?” Rhys demanded, standing. “I will not be High King. I will not consider it, not today and not in a century.”

“Very well then, Rhysand.” Amren also turned from the desk and the blades Rhys’s magic now sheathed and set upon the surface. “But know that the Cauldron’s benevolence will be extended to you only for so long before it is offered to another.”

I don't think Rhys will ever be High King though Cassian can't imagine anyone being a "fairer ruler than Rhys" but it does seem like SJM is hinting that someone might be.

I love Rhys but other courts and those in the human lands and continent don't trust him (understandable given that he spent centuries letting them believe he should be feared).

So who would be a fair ruler?

“I claimed Lucien as my own—named him emissary, since he’d already made many friends across the courts and had always been good at talking to people,

so he spent his youth doing everything a High Lord’s son probably shouldn’t: wandering the courts, making friends with the sons of other High Lords”—

Lucien shifted in his seat. “Not to be the bearer of truly bad tidings, but my contact at the Winter Court managed to get a letter to me.”

Thoughts slammed into me, images and memories, a pattern of thinking and feeling that was old, and clever, and sad, so endlessly sad"

"Things were bad, Feyre. I went in his stead, and I did my duty to the court."

His mother’s family is strong—that was why Beron wanted a bride from their line. The gift could be hers.

Other than the fact that Lucien might be Helion’s sole heir.

Lucien had remained behind to help with any of the human wounded still needing Fae healing, but had promised to come here when he finished

“Send Lucien, then. As our human emissary.”

Lucien had encountered him, I realized. Somehow, in living with Jurian and Vassa at that manor, he’d run into Elain’s former betrothed. And managed to leave the human lord breathing.

“He’s spent months helping them sort out the politics of who rules Prythian’s slice of the human lands,”

The male had grown up alongside Eris. Had dealt with Eris’s and Beron’s cruelty. Had his lover slaughtered by his own father. But Lucien had learned to keep his cool.

“Easy,” Lucien said. Cassian snarled. “Easy,” Lucien repeated, and flame sizzled in his russet eye. The flame, the surprising dominance within it, hit Cassian like a stone to the head, knocking him from his need to kill and kill and kill whatever might threaten—

He’d been trained, he once told me—at the Autumn Court and at this one. Like Rhys, he usually opted for words to win his battles, but I’d seen him and Tamlin in the practice ring. He knew how to handle a weapon. How to kill, if need be.

High King would not be the most powerful, they'd simply be the one capable of uniting everyone (sort of like Captain America, he's the team leader giving the big pep talk before battle). And there is only one character in the series who has friends across all courts, who is good at talking to people, who keeps his cool and doesn't seek out revenge even when he has the right to, who does his duty to one court, helps out another as emissary while being heir to third and the son to his powerful mother in a fourth, who helped the humans in a way no other did after the war, who prefers words to win his battles but can fight when necessary.

In mythology, Fionn Mac Cumhaill is the leader of a group of hunter - warriors, often depicted with his hunting hounds and fighting with his spear and sword.

What court in ACOTAR has hounds? Autumn.

Fionn was also able to call upon the "Thumb of Knowledge" which equates to wisdom.

Also from mythology "With natural fighting and hunting ability and now all of the world’s knowledge at his disposal, Fionn was poised to be a remarkable leader."

"A pattern of thinking and feeling that was old, and clever"

"he waded into the stream, boots off and pants rolled to his knees, and caught one with his bare hands".

"My friend had been economical about which ones he'd selected. The blade, plus a short sword, plus an assortment of daggers. A quiver of arrows and an unstrung bow were tied to his pack.

"but I'd seen him and Tamlin in the practice ring. He knew how to handle a weapon. How to kill, if need be."

"Where's my dear friend Lucien?" "Hunting for dinner."

What if Lucien is somehow a descendent of Fionn on his mothers side?

Gwydion, which Fionn wielded, means "born of trees" and SJM once said this of Lucien:

His woods, by blood and law. He was a son of this forest, and here....He looked crafted from it. For it"

(another note about Gwydion, it was the name of the magician who created Blodeuwedd out of flowers for the hero Lleu to have a wife and we know SJM tagged a picture of Blodeuwedd with Elain's name. Also Gwydion was Lleu's uncle in the tale).

Gwydion, in ACOTAR, also has a "savior's light" with Lucien's name meaning light and Feyre reminding us a few times of his goodness.

Again with this excerpt:

"Fionn was betrayed by his queen, who had been leader of her own territory, and by his dearest friend who was his general. They killed him, taking some of his bloodline's most powerful and precious weapons, and then out of the chaos that followed..."

In CC history, the sword belonged to Theia and Aidas angrily claims it belongs to her daughters line (it's important to note he's speaking as an angry ex lover who doesn't feel it belonged to Pelias's offspring) but in Prythian history, it doesn't seem like Theia is quite the hero of the story considering an unnamed queen married to Fionn and Fionn's general killed him. If Prythian's history is accurate, it was in his possession for years after being gifted to him by the High Priestess before it was taken by his queen after his murder, "his bloodline's most powerful and precious weapons".

We've gotten hints that the fae (including the Starborn), the Illyrians, etc were possibly "made" by the Daglan. Gwydion was "made" when it was dipped into the Cauldron therefore the Starsword could theoretically respond to anyone made or descended from those who are made (like calls to like).

Amren tells us made objects can also choose to reveal themselves to certain people when they have their own plan.

What if Truth Teller, which Az now has, once belonged to the general who also betrayed Fionn? What if TT is the weapon that killed Fionn? What if Gwydion doesn't necessarily belong to Bryce and she was simply part of the prophecy as Theia's female heir (Theia who murdered Fionn or was somehow involved), to return the sword to where it belongs? Sort of righting a wrong? (and kind of like what Aelin did with Elena and the other goddesses).

The novella and SF has been building up major animosity between Lucien and Az. Mostly on Az's side because of his jealousy that Lucien was given a bond with the "third sister" while his brothers are with the other two along with his possible jealousy over the NC relying on Lucien for information where Az was once the one they turned to. Because of that jealousy, Az isn't thinking clearly and doesn't seem to care about the problems he might create between the courts as a result, "I'll defeat him with little effort". To which Rhys responds: "And your doing so will rip apart any fragile peace and alliances we have".

The ACOTAR world settled into a fragile peace after the war, only to have Az threatening that tentative peace over Lucien and Elain. That sounds like Rhys's attempt to prevent a repeat of history, the peace Fionn brought about thrown into chaos over the actions of Theia and the general:

"They killed him, taking some of his bloodline’s most powerful and precious weapons, and then out of the chaos that followed"

What if the Az, Lucien and Elain setup is an echo of what happened between Fionn, Theia and the general.

What if Bryce returning Gwydion to the world of Prythian and it eventually being given to Lucien (maybe Fionn's ancestor), is a course correction from a bloody history?

And what if "when knife and sword are reunited, so shall our people be" is actually referring to Lucien and Az, two characters who have unknown history's with Gwydion and it's matching dagger, not making the same mistakes their ancestors did so that Lucien can take up the role of High King in whatever war is coming their way, uniting the humans, the fae in Prythian and the fae on the continent in order to defeat a more major threat to their world (possibly the Asteri if they do actually find their way back to the world of their brothers and sisters as they've been trying to do).

Again, their world is the one who currently needs united in a way that Midgard does not. Their world is the one that is divided and a world divided is not in a place to fight against major threats coming their way.

"Our people" may not mean the people living on Midgard but the ones who are living on the world they all originated from. Sort of like someone living in America but referring to "my people" in reference to their ancestors who are living in the country of their heritage.

Bryce has her own people to save on Midgard but what if the first step to doing that is learning about the Asteri and who they really are and learning the history of her people? And the way SJM brought all of that about was by creating a storyline where she, as Theia's descendent, came into possession of a sword that rightfully belongs in Prythian. The sword recognized her as the bloodline of the female who stole the sword, knowing she'd be the one to help it find it's way home (since we're told in SF that made objects have a mind of their own). With it's twin the beacon calling her to the world of ACOTAR where she can gather the knowledge she needs while also righting the wrongs of her ancestor (something we saw on the TOG series).

And as a final point, Helion is connected to the Mask through his ancestors, the Mask being a made object of the Trove. Gwydion, another Made object, also went missing around the time the Trove did. Following the "like calls to like" narrative, if Helion is connected to Made objects that means Lucien as his son would also be.

(below is a follow up to this original post)

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Ep. 8 "Bad Territory" Review

This episode was honestly the fluff I needed after last week's tense and crazy two parter. There was the usual action and excitement, but I loved the amount of fluff we got. Omega is forever our little ray of sunshine. I feel a bad feeling that it's going to get much darker after this week so I'll take any fluff I can get.

As always, spoilers below

It was really cool to see Fennec again and it makes senes that out of all the bounty hunters, the boys would choose to seek her out. She was originally after Omega, but she's not needlessly cruel like Cad Bane. If Omega's life were truly in danger, I don't think Fennec would want to see her get hurt. Cad Bane wouldn't give a second thought about it. Speaking of the ending, I definitely think she was talking to Ventress or someone like Quinlan. After all, Ventress is a Force-wielder and could be connected to whatever Hemlock is doing.

Overall, I really liked the interactions between her, Hunter, and Wrecker. Their banter was great and the joke about the Batch being straight up broke had me cackling. Like yes, these 5 guys with a kid are clearly enjoying Space Greece or whatever the fandom calls it. They're not gonna be looking for jobs right now. I also enjoyed seeing the boys use their skills like Wrecker's demolitions knowledge again. It's been so, so long since we've seen the boys go on a classic mission. That's not a bad thing either to have an "adventure of the week" style episode. It was cool to see them back in action (you know, non lethally).

The environment looked great, Wrecker and Hunter throwing hands with gators was pretty epic, and the final fight with the other bounty hunter (?) was exciting. I'll admit, the antagonist's design was cool and it allowed from some fun fight choreography.

Shoutout to the Phee cameo btw! Love seeing her as always. I think she'll be back after the Pabu invasion or she'll be back in time for that event to happen. Crosshair not knowing who she or Fennec was though was pretty funny. He's missed so much. (Also, this is the first time we hear him call Echo by his name fun fact).

Of course, Crosshair and Omega were the standouts because their dynamic is just that good. They're finally getting Crosshair's hand addressed! And I'm so glad Hunter stepped up to make sure it got looked at. Hunter loves Crosshair despite the past and he will look out for him. As many of us thought already, Crosshair's tremors are psychosomatic. We don't what happened on Tantiss (aside from some vague details), but whatever it was, it was bad; real bad. Crosshair is afraid of talking about it because it hurts. His reactions to even thinking about it were heartbreaking.

My theory is that Hemlock did something that broke a part of his identity. Maybe the identity erasure almost worked. Maybe he had Crosshair kill someone during a trial session to see if the reconditioning worked. Whatever it was, it traumatized Crosshair (on top of everything else he went through). For Crosshair to move forward, he's going to have to confront his trauma. He'll need to accept what happened to him and learn that it doesn't define who he is now.

Omega is so gentle and patient with him; I absolutely love it. She doesn't push him nor does she just leave him to get trapped in his mind. Instead, she tries to teach him coping mechanisms. The way he trusts her is so good too. Crosshair doesn't know what to do, but here is sister whom he loves. She's never left his side since they were imprisoned together and she was the only one who really advocated for him back in season 1. This girl loves him and he loves her. The scene where she holds his hand because it won't stop trembling genuinely means so much to me. It's such a small gesture that means so much. I really do appreciate that the writers are taking their time to show Crosshair going through the healing process. His hand doesn't get magically fixed because he escaped Tantiss nor because he redeemed himself. He achieved that. Now, he needs to finish the rest of his journey. AZI even mentions that it could be permanent. Real life mental health issues don't disappear in one night nor do they go away permanently. It comes and goes and that's what Crosshair will have to do. He'll have to cope with his trauma and hopefully the tremor will steady over time.

Many have pointed it out, but I would love to see a scene with him and Echo. Echo understands Crosshair's plight as he too was held captive and subjected to horrific experiments. I hope we get a scene between them where Echo comforts him. It would be a nice moment between two characters who often don't interact much.

Aside from that, the animation and music were great as always. That last scene of Cross and Omega meditating while Pabu's sun begins to set is truly gorgeous and it might be my favorite landscape shot of the show. It's also reminiscent of Hunter and Crosshair together on Barton IV. I am truly so happy to see Crosshair finding peace and happiness after so long. I honestly never thought we'd see him like this. But now, we do. (Side note: he looks so much smaller and vulnerable without his backpack or shoulder pads).

Anyways, I could go on and on about Crosshair. But I'll save that for another post. Can't wait for next week and hopefully we'll see Ventress!

[adachimoe]

Adachi trying to frame Yukiko

Early in Persona 4, there are a couple scenes where Adachi tries to frame Yukiko as Mayumi's murderer and raise suspicion about her.

April 17th, after you get caught with weapons at Junes:

Adachi: Well, that announcer, Ms. Yamano, was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder. Adachi: Seems Ms. Yamano had some harsh words for the manager about the staff's attitude towards guests. The stress of it caused the manager to collapse. And with Ms. Amagi being the manager's daughter…She must've felt pretty strongly about the incident, y'know. Adachi: By the way, did Ms. Amagi ever hint that she might be leaving the house? Adachi: 'Cause if not, there's been some theories floating around that she's laying low for some reason or another…

After you save Yukiko from the TV:

Adachi: We were just questioning Ms. Amagi, but she says she doesn't remember anything that happened while she was missing. And we can't figure out her whereabouts during the missing period, either. It's like she really disappeared. Adachi: It's all pretty fishy, if you ask me… Like there's something else going on.

On April 30th, when Adachi meets up with the kids at Junes and Yukiko is with the group, he doesn't say anything to her or about her. Seems he's dropped the subject... This all looks very silly after you learn he's the real killer. And so these interactions get written off by players as, "Adachi trying to drop hints about the case so that his little game with Namatame and the Investigation Team can continue".

But what "hint" is he dropping here? What is the point of his accusations? Or, idk, is there a point, besides to move the plot along? "Move the plot along" feels really, really generous. Chie seemed concerned about Yukiko going missing even before Yosuke brings up what Adachi said. The kids would have gone into the TV to try and save Yukiko regardless.

I'm not really confident about this because it *does* get dropped pretty quickly, and this feels like a bit of a stretch even for me and my walls of tl;dr. But I get the feeling that Adachi is trying to frame Yukiko or make her seem suspicious because he's (at first) concerned she might do exactly what she does in December. This would be pretty bad for him, seeing as how he's trying to get away with murder. And him sending Namatame off to try and kill someone then get blamed instead hadn't produced any results this early.

During December, Yukiko brings to light that Adachi showed up at the ryokan claiming to be Mayumi's police babysitter. Based on what we see, the game suggests that Adachi was lying about being assigned to her. But at the time, the ryokan staff didn't know any better. They took his word for it, and he hung around and chatted with them for a bit.

This makes Yukiko an eyewitness who can place him at the Amagi Ryokan before Mayumi's death, and that's why he's trying to make her seem untrustworthy or discredit her. Like, "What? Me? Mayumi Yamano? Impossible. This girl is crazy. She did it. She had a motive." But he drops it because after Yukiko comes out of the TV, she doesn't say anything that could implicate him. (And he would have an idea cause as he says after you rescue Yukiko from the TV, him and Dojima question her after she turns up.)

I have seen people call "Yukiko not bringing this up until December" a plot hole. I don't know. After you bring her out of the TV, it's like, "Shadows, blah blah, Personas, talking teddy bear, blah blah, amnesia about kidnapping, TV world induced exhaustion, Kanji's arc starts 5 seconds later". I doubt that "hey Adachi said he was there to guard Mayumi" is on the forefront of her mind.

What really puts this out of "plot hole" territory for me is that even if the kids think Adachi is a moron, they still respect that he's an officer. The power behind the badge is a very, very easy way to explain why Yukiko didn't think twice of him showing up at the ryokan to begin with.

And it's not just that one time, and it's not just her either. Like, Yosuke taking Adachi's accusation of Yukiko seriously is tied to him being a detective working on the case. Would Yosuke feel the same way if it was Kashiwagi saying this? Yosuke and Naoto respect that Adachi is in charge when the kids try to get the protagonist out of the interrogation room, Chie invites Adachi to Marukyu on the stakeout because he's an on duty officer, Kanji didn't think twice about his behavior specifically because he's an officer.

Semi-relatedly, I thought it was funny that out all of the Persona 4 characters, Adachi has special interactions with Yukiko in BB Tag. (Edit: Then again, Yukiko does have a special quote when she wins vs Adachi in Ultimax. So hm idklol.) On their partner victory screen, Yukiko says she won't question Adachi for now, but the Investigation Team will stop him if it turns out he's up to no good. And Adachi calls her and her friends naive for trusting him (even if only a little) enough to not be breathing down his neck already. Like, girl, come on, didn't you learn the first time?

[appliancealliance]

So Dafuq had an interview with one of the ST theory channels, specifically EliteCameraman, which I know quite a few of you do not bother watching because of the AI voiceover. So uh, yeah, I watched it for you so you don't have to. I'll say this, Elite Cameraman and Dafuq do actually keep in contact with each other, so these are actual messages from Dafuq himself. Any personal thoughts I interject below will be marked with || thought || and is not part of the interview

[ID:A series of Discord messages between EliteCameraman and Dafuq?!Boom!

EliteCameraman: First let's start with more general questions and after these I'll move on to more specific questions about the next episode Which episode are you most hyped for in the foreseeable future? Dafuq?!Boom!: 73, 74, 77, 80 are all fire episodes tbh

EliteCameraman: Also you said that we'll be getting more episodes compared to before after episode 79 and since now that season 24 is starting how do you think the upload schedule will be and how long the average episode length will be because the last couple episodes before 71 were quite the long episodes. Dafuq?!Boom!: I was expecting the episodes to come out faster, but stress after 70 pushed hard, so I started of slow and still going quite slow. I'm also trying to improve combat in the episodes which I think takes quite some time. I think at some point soon episodes will be rolling out faster.

EliteCameraman: Who is your favorite character in skibidi toilet? Dafuq?!Boom!: I have multiple

EliteCameraman: Are you excited for any new characters that you'll be introducing like the detective cameraman who was in the secret scenes? ||from the full season 23 video|| Dafuq?!Boom!: There's many more old and new characters coming in very soon.

||I skipped a troll question here. it wasn't that relevant, but it was about some fake troll scenes dafuq made about the naked microwave man||

EliteCameraman: blud must be trolling How do you think the astro toilets will effect the power scales? because from what we've seen so far they seem like they can actually hold off against the titans but it looks like they have a different plan. Dafuq?!Boom!: We have yet to see the strongest yet.

EliteCameraman: A lot of people have been wondering about simp cameraman ||browncoat cameraman|| and if he'll ever return. And as you know I'm quite a fan of simp toilet because of his incredible beliefs. Can you give us some info about if he'll return and if he does, will he still side with the alliance or join the dark side. Dafuq?!Boom: I have some interesting plans for him. ||so browncoat confirmed as not dead?!||

EliteCameraman: (crying skull emoji) Did you ever see a theory that guessed everything correctly even stuff that we haven't seen yet? Dafuq?!Boom!: No theories have guessed entire plot correctly, but partially some were very close

EliteCameraman: How long will episode 72 be? Dafuq?!Boom!: 3-4 minutes EliteCameraman: damn blud's been grinding fr fr This episode truly will be a new beginning for the series for the first time ever we got a conclusion for one of the evil characters and the last battle really had some crazy consequences. Do you think people are ready for what's about to come? Dafuq?!Boom: Y'all ain't ready.

EliteCameraman: You said we won't be seeing the titans in episode 72, are we going to see a different P.O.V from the last fight in the bunker once again or is it fully uncharted territory from now on. Dafuq?!Boom: Not bunker, but with territory of Alpha-Hills complex (huge territory).

EliteCameraman: We saw that all the titans have suffered some damage, normally whenever they go back to the bases for repairs it takes them about 10 to 20 episodes to come back, will it be the same or will we see them getting fixed on the fly just like how they got upgraded on episode 69 part 2? Dafuq?!Boom!: Now that the Alliance is dominating and pushing Skibidi Toilets, they don't have plans to retreat. Unless something truly unexpected happens.

||that doesn't sound ominous at all||

EliteCameraman: Also about the astro toilets, how was the claw astro toilet able to speak English while we haven't seen any other toilet speak normally? Does it have to do with their helmets because they all seem to have helmets and we don't know their uses. Dafuq?!Boom!: Skibidi Toilets posses all earthly languages. They just chose to speak on their superior, far more complex "skibidi" language. EliteCameraman: Thx for the answers bruh, now Imma leak it all.

End ID]

[crepes-suzette-373]

After seeing wavytam's theory, it occurred to me something. Judge said he wanted revenge on the other North Blue kings, with the implication that it had something to do with the former Germa Empire.

From the sound of it, this implies that the other kings somehow conspired together, and... I don't know, set the WG on Germa, perhaps?

See, when they talked about the Vinsmoke family having "conquered the North Blue". This seems to be talking about a ridiculously old period of time, since Yonji (or Reiju?) said that "at one time" (it says "during a certain era" ある時代の in the raw).

I'm guessing this must be talking about the Germa Empire from the past. It's probably not Judge's conquest of the 4 kings, or they'd have said "in my father's time". Even if the translation is wrong and it's someone else talking (in the anime, the one who was talking is Pekoms), ある時代の still implies something that happens ages ago, not just a few years or decades or so ago.

Brook said they "conquered the North Blue with military might", so I'm assuming this is why the other kingdoms don't like them for it.

Sure, if we believe the story at face value, what Germa did sounds terrible. Conquering territories sounds like tyranny.

Still, we now know from Kuma's backstory that the whole story of "Tyrant Kuma" is nonsense told to WG by the former king that he toppled. So did the other kings also went running to WG, told them a bunch of nonsense, and got Germa wiped?

Also, you know. This is not helping the conspiracy I had involving, ah, a certain historical figure. That certain someone was naturally disliked for "conquering the neighbouring lords by military might" *ahem*, but for the time? It was necessary. The nation is basically chaos, and so his conquest was intended to bring peace and stabilise the nation.

If the North Blue countries was also similarly in utter chaos, and Germa empire was what brought the wars to stop, I would sit here and laugh.

It's phrased differently but that certain someone's "slogan" was commonly interpreted in Japan to mean "unite/conquer the nation by military might".

I'm probably the only person who sees nonsense samurai connections here, so I'm most likely wrong, because by all the visible markers, Germa is based on the German Empire.

And since I'm already blathering absurdity here, I'll go ahead and mention it. The aforementioned historical person was infamous for setting things on fire, but arguably, what he set fire on was an establishment mired with corruption. A "purifying flame" so to speak.

Which brings to mind the "Garuda", the divine being who carries purifying flames. Is "Garuda" supposed to be Sanji's "final form"? That would be a slap in the face to Judge, if that were true.

I once alluded on Twitter that Sanji is very reminiscent of this trope of "the chosen one was thought to be a nobody, and becomes an outcast" that's increasingly becoming rather popular in manga and light novels (especially in isekai).

Basically the protagonist is actually the "chosen one", but due to various circumstances, their power didn't manifest correctly, or their power got stolen by someone else. As the result of this, the protagonist gets bullied, or gets chased away and suffers a hard life. Time passes, the protagonist eventually was able to come into their true powers, and well, the people who treated the protag poorly gets their asses handed to them.

You know.

It's just a shitpost, but suppose "Garuda" was some mantle/title that was inherited from that ancient era... the plot twist could be that Sanji is the "true Garuda" of Germa, whatever that ends up meaning.

Also even more plot twist would be if Sanji's powers were natural. Like, I once suggested that this was part of his modifications based on Lunarian template, but how crazy would it be if he was just naturally born with it?

[tumblezwei]

Hold on I'm about to go crazy again

during the warp jump to Penacony, scenes from the quest flash briefly on screen. We're first shown Acheron after our first encounter with her

then the moment right before Firefly's death where she turns to look at Trailblazer

a chessboard for some reason, the first image rattling around along with the turbulence of the Express

Stelle...looking at something? Outside of the Express? The angle looks like she's on the left side of the couch, near where the memokeeper for MoC stands. Or maybe on the other side. Either way this isn't a shot of her sitting on the couch like she is during the warp jump.

after that is Robin from after we crash land in the Golden Hour

then Acheron again from the same scene but played in reverse, interrupted by TV static.

I think the most base level theory we can craft with this involved Acheron and her multiple red dialogue options. Something about time loops, or multiple iterations of the same story happening at once. Personally, I don't have enough ammo in my arsenal to argue one way or another, but some things here interest me.

The first is the chessboard. I don't remember this being shown in the story quest at all, and as far as I know there isn't a chessboard on the Express. I mean, even if there is that doesn't mean anything to me atm. What does is the positions of the pieces.

We first get a close up shot of the black rook, and then a wider shot showing the state of the game board. My average knowledge of chess just tells me this looks like a stalemate. Both opponents have the same pieces left on the board, protecting their kings in the exact same way. There's potentially a trap being set up by the black rook to capture the white rook, and the white king has moves outside of its shield of pawns.

Since we haven't seen the chessboard or that shot of Stelle in the quest, my guess is that they're from future events we have yet to see. But I also think the order in which these shots appear mean something, or else why would they be included? Maybe we can view Firefly as the black pawn and the Trailblazer as the white rook. An intentional sacrifice to draw someone into a trap. After all, Sam and Firefly were working together until he abandoned her for some unknown reason, and then attacked us after we spent time finding Firefly's traces.

But using that interpretation would put us as the Trailblazer on the white side, with the king moving out of position. And I'll admit right here I don't know what that would mean. Unseen allies, maybe? Or an implication that we're entering into dangerous territory at a disadvantage? I Dunno.

Moving on I'm interested in the last sequence with Acheron. The TV static can quickly be connected to the pile of TVs we see in the primal dreamscape where we fight Something Unto Death. And the scene being played backwards brings to mind a tape being rewound. I swear to god I saw some text saying something like "you're not watching the TV, the TV is watching you" but I can't fucking remember where I saw it. So take that bit with a massive grain of salt until I can recall where I read it from, but I'm keeping it in mind.

I also think this sequence being bookended by our first encounter with Acheron is important. Is it evidence for some sort of time loop? Who knows.

Also also, that shot of Firefly is similar to the shot we get of Robin. Centered in their chests (where Firefly was pierced, and Robin has her wound) and obscuring their faces. This could have just been foreshadowing their shared fates as victims of Something Unto Death. But maybe, if my chess interpretation holds any water, could be foreshadowing Robin and Aventurine acting in similar roles as Firefly and Sam, i.e., bait for the Trailblazer.

anyways, I'm going nuts.

[good-beans]

(Milgram self-insert oc masterpost hehe)

Name: For the sake of posting online I’ll call her Rose!

Color: #E7355B [the pink in the art]

Age: I guess she’d be 20 given when Milgram started huh. Gross.

Status: Milgram Staff, Machine Technician

Symbols/imagery: ballet, musical theater, potted plants, board games, various bugs

Song genre: very similar to Mahiru's, something upbeat and extra pop-y

Tentatively she's number 011? She's not really prisoner but she's also not free to come and go, so I'm not actually sure if she'd get a number

Story: I figured since the project is supposed to be realistic/present day, the mv machine would be brand new and unpredictable tech, so they’d want someone keeping up on maintenance and making sure the brain-invasive process won’t cause any harm to the prisoners. She was studying abroad in Japan working on some cool neuroscience tech (irl I know nothing about technology or brains but shh) and she stumbled upon the Milgram team’s machine/plans. Long story short she was dragged into the experiment to make sure things ran smoothly.

Writer's Reasoning: She’s really fun for me to play around with, as she allows me to work with a character who is simultaneously trapped in the prison but hasn’t committed any murder**, someone who has a tiny bit of pull over Es’ mindset in conversation but not the final decision (aka the voting system), and someone who would have a reason to see all the canon content.* I really enjoy the character interactions and dynamics Milgram has set up so far, so it’s been super fun seeing how things change for better and worse when someone not quite aligned with either Milgram/the prisoners is thrown into the mix!

*As much as I love dramatic irony in fiction, it would drive me crazy if I knew every detail of of the vds/mvs but Rose didn't – and every single Milgram character is The Worst Communicator Ever so I couldn’t justify that she’d hear it second hand from them...

**I’ll also add that I don’t believe I’m above murder lmao – the main thing stopping me from making her a prisoner was a) the reason above, and b) there’s no way I could have produced a full music video, and it would've driven me crazy if she didn't have one 😂 Still, I imagine she has to run some tests on the machine to make sure things are calibrated correctly, so she'd extract little things here and there (giving me the opportunity to think up lyric snippets and recurring symbols for her without worrying about full encompassing music videos :))

Story roles:

She’s a bit conflicted -- she’s officially Milgram staff and knows she should remain neutral on the prisoners, since she won’t be allowed to interfere with the process/executions. At the same time, her job description is literally “make sure they all are safe and healthy” and she's way too emotional to avoid getting hopelessly attached to everyone 😅

I really enjoy the theory that the machine extracts videos based off of priming, so one of Rose’s duties involves listening in on the interrogation and making sure there’s been enough material discussed/not too much time has passed overall (hence the ringing of the bell happening at different lengths for each vd). She then watches the mvs along with Es to make sure there are no machine glitches.

I'm not afraid to admit she falls into Mary Sue territory every so often by being everyone's friend, because it's less about "aw everyone likes her" and more about "canon is too painful rn and I need a fix-it tool to take care of these guys and give them hugs and tell them someone forgives them and cares about them and unfortunately these characters wouldn't let anyone less than a friend do that." Rest assured she's definitely not perfect and will fuck everything up on occasion :3

Miscellaneous: Whenever I play around with normal au ideas she's still working on the machine (but in a public, more ethical setting), and she's Mahiru's roommate :) Her character isn't super focused on love, but if I had to pick a cover song it'd be Stickybug II. It's very much my vibe, the lyrics fit well enough (better than most songs, at least lol) and it's one of my favorites of the unchosen songs!

So yeah, I hope she's not too boring without a cool crime to decipher, but I wanted to share since I was really proud of her! It took a bit of tinkering to find a way to fit her into a perfect secret-third-thing role that runs very smoothly with all of canon, so I was very excited!

[ilynpilled]

Hey! So I'm from the Jaime/Lannister side of the fandom but wanted to ask your opinion on where you think GRRM is going with Dany. I don't mean spell out her endgame or anything, but what messages do you think he is trying to impart through her character? I see so much Dark!Dany! theory shaped by the show that has just never really resonated with how I read her in the books. I see her more as a figure who will try to be Queen of Westeros, but will ultimately end up abdicating or even sacrificing herself during the LN because finding "home" is more important to her than ruling... but that is not based on much other than gut feeling. What do you think?

yeah idrgaf about the show tbh. i think it fundamentally misunderstood key themes that the books were exploring. corrupted/mad dany feels so deeply cynical to me. people have been reiterating this: she is a subversive messiah figure & she is given a narrative that is so often reserved for the “male hero”. the gender commentary in that would fall flat on its face to me if she becomes mad fascist female ruler like bffr. yeah, she will get darker come winds, like everyone else she will have to make choices and will face moral dilemmas because she is resolved to continue combatting the institution of slavery. she knows she will not be able to do it without dirtying her hands in some way. i think grrm is gonna explore the concept of necessary force and the question of when it is more moral to take a stand and draw blood: is it justified to cut off and burn something at the root, especially if the alternative is allowing the cancer to exist and continue to spread? the institution of slavery is a wound that cannot just be covered up with a bandaid. like this is a very important aspect of abolition. the only way i can see the idea of “madness” be relevant is in a more subversive john brown paralleling way with how people thought that man was insane bc he wanted to end slavery lmfao. if terrible people think you are mad for attempting to make radical changes that harm them that is a good sign. also would hate her becoming an aerys parallel like in the show like that is cringe bio essentialism territory, again, antithetical to the themes prevalent in these books. d&d’s #subversive #dark #unexpected ending was unironically the equivalent of:

do not want her ‘idealism’ to be completely robbed from her at any point either really. im not opposed to tragedy but i dont think id vibe with it being too cynical in this instance. this series is about earned romanticism. its heroes are the dreamers yada yada. it is about a dream of spring. i always thought she represented hope in some way. she is gonna be the flame during TLN, literally and metaphorically imo. i do think there are thematic and more abstract aspects to lightbringer, like yeah humanity uniting over an ideal for a better future & it can be about hope or whatever, which is why multiple characters have some kind of flaming sword foreshadowing, but a main one is gonna be dany and her dragons. like on top of all the pretty overt foreshadowing, like let us think about the logistics here, what is gonna do more damage to the others?? three magic nukes or some convenient dues ex machina magical flaming toothpick we forge out of murdering a woman? i also do not want to instantly write her off as a doomed martyr either though. i see the appeal in the tragedy of the kind girl who wanted a home dying without ever getting to live in the one she created but still leaving it for millions upon millions of people present and future… but also idk i am just not crazy about martyrdom as a trope unless it is executed very well. i like when characters survive for a cause rather than die for it. dany always kept persevering, not just for herself, but others: her children and her people, so i like when altruism is framed in that way. also i might be a little bitter if she is the only one to die from the new generation or whatever like in the show

[fuckmeyer]

Ok so I follow you because of your amazing analyzing and theories of twilight, but it's gotten to a point I have to consider reading your stories, and besides a Paul lahote story here or there over the years, I haven't really read twilight stories, especially ones that aren't about the Wolfpack.

I'm scared. So I wanted to ask about yours, what is it like?

Is it crazy like full of plot twists and insanity and madness covered into brilliance (the good kind) or crazy in a way that I start liking bella and edward (the terrifying part)?

(If you answer this, please consider the fact it might actually make me reread twilight (the original) and start ranting worse. For both our sanities, is it smart?)

Is it crazy like full of plot twists and insanity and madness covered into brilliance (the good kind) or crazy in a way that I start liking bella and edward (the terrifying part)?

both! liking Bella & Edward is THE biggest plot twist of this saga LOL. i'm not really one to hype my work so bear with me. here's the difference between Twilight & In The Afterlight:

the familiar:

setting. rainy rural PNW vibes

rough plot. girl meets vampire. vampire wants to kill her. love ensues. it starts you off in familiar territory, then slowly peels away as the story progresses. you'll find enough of the "iconic" scenes to keep you oriented in nostalgia, but not so much that you feel chained to the original book.

characters. no OCs. Bella & Edward are somewhat OOC, but their core traits are still intact.

the unfamiliar(ish):

Bella's personality. i think it was @blurry-walker who made this excellent point: we're supposed to like Bella because of how she's described, not by how she acts. Bella is not really selfless, mature, observant, compassionate, intellectual, or self-aware. which would be fine... if that were the author's intention. i've tried making Bella a mix between how she's described & how she acts: selfless, contemplative, & stubborn, with a sense of humor. & i threw in a backstory & hobbies - i.e, drawing, music, reading - so she has a life besides Edward. (she can still act like she's 18 tho. as a treat.)

Edward's personality. no stalking, no anger issues or mood swings, no misogyny, no invalidation of Bella's choices, no militant chastity. just a vampire who's lost his way & startled to discover he is every bit a part of this world as Bella. more humorous, more overwrought/ romantic, more contemplative.

the result is a relationship that's rooted in mutual respect, common interests & values, & genuine companionship. they talk about philosophy, they exchange mixtapes, they tease each other, & have slightly less self-control when it comes to sexual intimacy

James/Victoria plotline

twilight is less fairytale, more gothic horror

deeper thematic discussions (bc i think they're neat! :D). what does it mean to be you? how do you find yourself again when you're lost? what's the secret to keeping your humanity in death?

vampire/Cullen lore. what's the difference between a golden-eyed vampire and a red-eyed one? what are "la tua cantantes" and "mates"? why are the Cullens going to high school? what's the Cullen-Volturi relationship like? who are the Cullens, really? i'm trying to paint them as grayer characters & have their personalities/backstories make sense for who they are.

werewolf lore. i *hate* canon imprinting - how an imprinter loses him/herself to the imprint, how the imprintee can't say no, the fact that they imprint on CHILDREN when the theory behind imprinting is to "find the strongest genes"... NO. i hate it all. i hate that smeyer appropriates the legends of the Quileute tribe & how stereotypes/ tropes of Native people are perpetuated in this series. i especially hate the double-standards Bella puts on the pack vs the coven. justice for the wolfpack or bust

since you mentioned liking the wolfpack (same), the sequel, Come Nightfall (aka New Moon), has way more wolfpack content than the original, & we see a lot more interactions between Jake & Bella. (and Bella & Sam!)

i don't feel it's my place to tell you whether you should read this or even whether it's good. if it helps, this is what other people say:

"This… Was incredible. It was the kind of fanfiction that should be praised along the classics of the fandom, the kind you would want to print and put in the shelf in between Twilight and Life And Death."

"This is, to me, the epitome of great fanfiction--you took the story idea and characters and tweaked them to how you imagine it would be better as well as adding in your own flare, AND you have the story telling ability to back it up."

"You've managed to write something that not only surpasses the source material, but flies so far beyond it in nuance, craftsmanship, raw emotion and SMUT that it travelled through space and time continuum and shows no signs of stopping. Every time I think it can't get better, it does."

"I read both of your books in like 2 days; I couldn’t put them down. This is some of the best writing I’ve ever read on here."

"What a gem of a story. I read it in one sitting, the best canon rewrite I've ever read. Very very clever writing, engaging plot, and the most real Bella and Edward relationship I've ever seen. Everything about it, Bella and Jacob, Sam, Alice and Bella's dynamic, Billy and Bella, everything added so much colour to this story. I can't believe this came from Meyer's twilight and New Moon. Absolutely genius."

[aemiron-main]

I think a lot of the issues people have with your Henry theories is that you so strongly believe in them (which is great! We all should believe in our own theories otherwise what’s the point lol) but then you and the other theorists so firmly believe that it’s canon and that everything you say is 100% truth and every single detail you’ve discovered is all gonna come out in s5 and anyone who either a) doesn’t believe in these theories or b) doesn’t understand/doesn’t see it is so stupid bc to you it’s like duh it’s obvious! And you’ve ‘cracked the code!’ or whatever and that comes across as rude and snobby to some and I think that’s where you lose a lot of people instead of gaining people to believe in your ideas too.

Sorry if this sounds really rude! I’m just trying to throw an outside perspective on it lmao.

Anon, I get what you're saying but here's the thing. I don't fully believe that. I don't fully believe that everything I say is gospel. I have repeatedly, publicly, retracted posts and said "I WAS WRONG!!!" when I notice something that isn't accurate. I am already WELL aware that some things aren't going to be in S5 and that I'm wrong about some things. But the stuff I feel strongly that I'm right about, I'm passionate about! Maybe I'd be less "rude" about it/veer less into "it's 100% right" territory if I didn't have people constantly telling me that it's 100% wrong even when it comes down to things that are literally confirmed by ST production. I also don't think that people who don't understand are stupid, so let's please be very clear about that. What I think is stupid is when people criticize posts without even TRYING to read them or ask for clarification. I think not even making an ATTEMPT to understand is stupid. I think that assuming that you know better than the ST production team themselves & what they've said about their work because you went to ~film school~ is stupid. The stuff that I think is obvious is when I've taken the time to lay things out repeatedly for certain people, and not just things that are up for interpretation but things that are STONE COLD FACT from the mouths of ST production themselves about their costuming and VFX work and people still act like their personal opinion overrides those facts.

I don't think people are dumb for not seeing things- I think they're dumb for not even being willing to try and look because they've already made their own biased judgements. I DO think people are stupid for posting about how Henry's inherently evil and how anyone who believes otherwise is crazy/stupid, especially when theyre unwilling to even consider the other side of things.

I absolutely agree that everyone should believe in their theories too- and I think that people should also be open to changing their beliefs when presented with new evidence. But for the majority of my stuff, I have yet to be presented with compelling evidence contradicting it that doesnt just boil down to "oh it's a production error".

And me being EXCITED about things isn't me trying to be snobby. I've literally posted about "cracking this code" or whatever and then retracted the post 5 minutes later because I found evidence that contradicted it. Most of the time I'm just being dramatic in that regard. And I also word my posts like essays with a thesis statement- so even when I'm not actually 100% sure if something's going to be canon, I word it as if it is because I'm trying to make the point about how it would be canon/again, writing it like a persuasive essay.

But when I'm not just being dramatic, I'm usually responding to a ton of vagueposts or unposted anons about how I'm a dipshit pedophile apologist and how everything in this show is a production error, and THAT is when the frustration comes into play. I AM very passionate when I believe I'm right about something and that I have the evidence to back it up, No need to apologize! I appreciate the perspective but I also don't see a need to censor myself & my excitement because people might think it's rude. Personally, I think the constant vagueposting and throwing the word pedophile around simply for analyzing a tv show is pretty rude. I hope this clears things up. I spent a long time on here watering down my posts with "well i might be wrong BUT" and I'm not doing that anymore because I'd hope that people would use their brains and understand that I'm just Some Guy and my posts are just My Analysis Based On The Evidence We Have. People don't have to listen to me. I don't care if they do. What frustrates me/when I do care is when it comes down to people dragging me for things I'm not even saying (such as acting like I'm saying that even if Henry did all those things, It's Totally Fine and Okay). I think EVERYONE should post their opinions firmly and strongly, and still be willing to change their opinions. I post my opinions firmly because I'm not afraid of being wrong- if I was afraid of being wrong I'd preface every post with "oh this might be wrong however-". But I'm not afraid of being wrong. I just move onto the next thing/next piece of evidence when I am. Sorry for being passionate about a subject I guess???? No yknow what I'm not sorry!!!!

[thebadjoe]

BAD JOE'S DRDT CH.2 CRIME SOLVING THEORY PART 2

Hello! I'm the dude who made a ridiculously long theory post about the culprit for chapter 2 by bringing a good amount of points that makes sense, but also makes it hard to believe for most. Just like previously, the post I'm gonna make is gonna touch the big spoilers territory, especially if I end up being right. More importantly though, a good chunk of this post will CONTAIN HEAVY Ch.2 Ep.10 SPOILERS, SO BEWARE!!!

For those who haven't read my theory yet, here it is. Click me!

MAKE SURE YOU CLICK ON THIS LINK AND READ MY FIRST THEORY POST BEFORE READING THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY.

So, a while ago, my theory post was made after watching Episode 9, but not Episode 10 since it wasn't released yet at the time. And then once the stream of that episode came live, it was time to put my theory to the test, to see if there would be any reveal that would make my theory difficult to work.

For the most part, it's still holding strong. There is however something in that video that throws a wrench into my theory. More specifically, it messes up with my motive. Today, I am here to explain in details what I mean by that as well as giving you alternate solutions to that problem. Also, I'll be discussing a few other holes in my theory (that was there before ep.10 existed) as well as giving you a few more reasons why my theory could work.

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Step #1 : The note & the flashback

Yeah... let's start with that.

To remind the readers just in case, my theory is all about Eden being the culprit of this case. And... you can already see where I'm going with this.

Eden was pretty nervous and hesitant with revealing the note­. But she eventually shares the note in a reluctant manner. Turns out... it's actually a pretty incriminating proof for her. But then... why would the note be found in the trash can? Why wouldn't she keep it instead of throwing it away if she was the culprit? Why would she help Whit and Rose to match the pieces of the puzzle being the ripped out note?

It seems so weird, but she claims right before that whoever made this note, they're trying to impersonate her. Makes sense, but she's still a tad suspicious. But then this happens...

We learn that the secret "Your younger sister killed herself, and you're the reason why." actually belongs to Arturo which is later confirmed by Eden herself. And to put icing to this messy cake, we also get the full explanation as to what happened back then which we get to view it as a flashback!

So yeah, with that explanation (flashback), not only do we learn why Eden was scared and hesitant in revealing that secret, we also learn that she became friends with Arei. Which screws up with the motive I had set up for Eden. For those who don't remember, it was supposed to be "She killed because of all the bullying, the overly excessive bullying from Arei was the final straw for her."

Because of that note and flashback, my motive doesn't really work on that theory anymore... or does it?

Nonetheless, there is a much bigger issue regarding Eden being the culprit. Thanks to this note and flashback, it makes Eden look a lot more innocent than usual. The odds of her being the culprit seem so... unlikely at this point, right?

Heck, there's even someone who made a poll asking who they think is the culprit after watching episode 10. Wanna know the % of votes towards Eden being the culprit? 1.6%. I repeat. 1.6%!!!! Like man... a lot of people don't think she is the culprit, moreso thanks to this episode.

Then... does that mean you're giving up on your theory?

Heh, not at all. I have an explanation for all of this. It's gonna sound crazy, but please, hear me out.

What if... this was all part of Eden's plan?

....what?

That's right! You heard me right! This was all part of Eden's elaborate plan and the reason why she would pull such a complicated plan is precisely because she seriously has the intention to win this killing game! Therefore, she pulled this grandiose scheme so that she would look the most innocent individual within this class trial and she pulled it off perfectly (so far).

Don't believe me? Then let me explain a few things. Let's consider this following fact first : the beginning of that flashback, from Eden sharing the secret to Arturo, to Arturo threatening Eden to Arei coming in to save the day and kick his ass, all of that is the truth. Otherwise, Arturo would've called it out if Eden was lying.

Now, let's get into Eden's pov and pretend that she's indeed the culprit. Considering how complex that murder scheme is, that part with her meeting up with Arturo to share the secret was also part of her plan.

She intentionally arranged that meeting to conflict so to create the possibility of Arturo blackmailing her. Add a convincing motive that Arturo commited the crime.

What about Arei coming in to save Eden?

That... it's hard to say. Easier answer would be no and that it was a very convenient timing that she ended up coming in to save Eden. It's also possible that she planned for her to arrive somehow. Probably not with a letter since they were not on good terms yet at the time. It's possible that Eden was keeping an eye to her surroundings to see if someone could hear her and Arturo in that medical room.

I know... it seems kinda weak, but I have a counterargument for this. Let me just finish explaining Eden's plan first.

So after being friends with Arei, she proceeded with the setup for her murder scheme, then knocked Ace unconscious with the turpentine. Then after this, eitheir two things happened : Eden wrote the letter to lure Arei into the playground to knock her out or Eden snuck up on Arei, knocking her unconscious, set up the rest then created a fake letter.

Regardless of which situation it was, she made sure to use a different handwriting than her usual for the note, ripped it and put it in the trash can. Whether it gets found out or not doesn't matter because she can easily claim that it wasn't hers.

Cause if we think about it, why would the culprit incriminate herself by leaving such letter out in the open? They could've hidden it somewhere much safer instead, but no, there was a reason for that. She did this because she knew the class would think that it wouldn't make sense for her to write that note and also be the culprit. So by leaving that proof in the open, she actually looks more innocent rather than suspicious.

And then if you take into consideration that she's super kind and sweet, the fact that she was acting nervous in the trial because she felt "threatened" by Arturo, her deception has paid off and now she looks incredibly innocent thanks to that buildup.

Eden is a lot more deceptive and terrifying than we can imagine if all I said ends up being the truth (for the most part).

What about that weak point of yours?

Right! It does seem like Arei saving Eden was not part of the culprit's plan for the most part, but it worked out really well for her. But did you know that even if Arei didn't save Eden, her plan would still work just fine?

Essentially, all Eden needed was someone to pinpoint as the prime suspect with a very valid motive. She only needed to meet with Arturo, to have him threaten her and the rest works out just fine.

It's just that if it happened that way, Eden would've instead snuck up on Arei, knock her out with the turpentine, murdered her, then fabricate this letter, or at least, something very similar.

It's also because of this that I don't think my original culprit motive is not quite thrown out of the water. Because if her plan actually didn't involve Arei saving her, then Eden wanting to kill to end the bullying would definitly work there. It's just that on top of wanting to end the bullying, she also wants to end this killing game, by winning on her own terms.

Now then, let's discu-

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Step #2 : Holes in my theory? Where?

Bro! I don't approve of your disguise theory! Eden is much smaller compared to Arei, so people would've known!

*sigh*

Yeah, this is an issue, but it's not impossible to explain. Let's start by saying that she couldn't hide her real height with heels simply because Arei only wears shoes.

I also doubt there's any kind of special powers or chemicals or skills that allows someone to be temporarily higher in height than usual and that would be a lame solution to this problem because I would be using hints that was never presented in the story on top of using things that doesn't exist.

So instead, there are 2 likely scenarios that could "probably" explain that issue.

People weren't paying attention enough to Arei during lunchtime because of all the arguing. Arei never spoke (obviously cause someone disguised can't replicate her voice) and no one ever spoke to her as far as we're aware. So it's not improbable to think they haven't really paid that much attention to her.

She was sitting down at the time, so it was harder to tell the height difference. I know what we saw were standing sprites, but we can imagine she must've been sitting down most of the time since they're at a cafeteria, surrounded with tables and chairs.

So yeah, not my strongest counter argument, but hey, it works!

Eden has different eye colors compared to Arei!

For the eyes, easiest solution to that problem is that she wore contact lenses of a color matching Arei's eyes.

But everyone has rather unique eyes, you couldn't replicate it with simply colored contact lenses!

Probably not, but it doesn't really matter. Look at this sprite!

See something interesting? You don't quite see her eyes very well, don't you? The disguised culprit could've easily hide any imperfections of the eyes with this pose.

What about the skin? Eden looks nothing like Arei!

Like I said before, makeup kit. I haven't watched these videos in details on youtube, but it's actually very possible to change a skin tone with foundation. Of course, since she'd have to do it on all her exposed body, it'd take a very considerable amount of time and effort.

Ah! I gotchu now! You just said that applying all this makeup would take a lot of time. There's no way she would have the time and energy to carry out a failed murder, a real murder, set everything up and take a long time to disguise yourself! It's impossible!

No, that's wrong!

Actually, it's very doable for someone like Eden. In fact, it's exactly because of this that she's likely one of the only classmate who could've carried out this whole plan.

I have the proof for you right there!

This goes way back. Prologue Episode 2.

"Sometimes I can work up to a total of 15 hours without breaks!"

I'm sure technicly anyone could do this with the proper motivation and determination, but take into consideration that she's used to doing this. She's done it before.

It's possible that she stayed up all night to carry out the plan, get her disguise ready and accurate for morning/lunchtime and then went to bed afterwards to take a nap before meeting up with Hu for cleaning duties.

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Step #3 : One more thing before I leave!

I know that some of you don't believe it's her despite everything I've thrown at you and that's perfectly fine. It's just a theory after all. I'm also perfectly fine with people coming up with different culprit theories, some more crazy than others and whatnot. I'm all down to uncover all kinds of possibilities we can uncover about this chapter.

However, I think it's also important to remind everyone of certain things that are probably facts to make sure we don't get too much off track.

So I'd like to give you guys a few pointers regarding what I believe would be the rules of a danganronpa murder mystery.

Based on my experience with this series and some of these fangans, I think there's a certain guideline and logic to follow. I personally think that from the beginning of chapter to the end of an investigation of that chapter, it's possible to solve the murder mystery with just that information.

Maybe not in regards to the whydunnit, but definitly for the whodunnit and howdunnit.

Although it's not usually easy to figure that out until you learn more information during the trial. They make it pretty challenging, but also solvable. I'd like to think that this applies to chapter 2 as well.

I think the creator intended it to be solvable with all the information given from the beginning until the end of the investigation of chapter 2.

This is one of the reasons why I seriously think Eden is the culprit in that murder mystery. I can only manage to solve it with Eden as the culprit.

But maybe you guys can with a different culprit. There's probably a perfectly explainable theory that I'm not seeing quite yet that could be plausible.

I'm looking forward to see what's about to happen in episode 11!

If you guys have any questions or anything you'd like to point out that I might be wrong, let me know!

Thank you!