#also! if you get the reference/parallel you're a real one

[2aceofspades]

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[sreidisms]

Hiya! What do you think spending a day at home w Spencer would be like? Xx

Thank you for the request! And such a cute one at that <3

Spending a Day at Home with Spencer (HCs)

Spencer Reid x GN!Reader

Spencer would be DYING to have a day off from work, just to relax

More often than not, he'd lay in bed with you till late because he rarely gets the time to do that

You'd wake him up with butterfly kisses across his face (mgg reference 😙), or he'd wake you up that way

He'd snuggle up to you closer than he already he is - because let's be real, he probably clung to the side of your body the entire night - and bury his face in your neck

"You're so warm"

You'd stay like that, just absorbing each other's presence, until one of you gets hungry - time for breakfast!

Breakfast always leads to an argument over who should cook and who should stay in bed, but unless Spence is still exhausted from the previous case, you compromise by making your food together

Spencer MUST be on coffee duty because he's a snob about it and can't cook to save his life either way

While he makes his coffee and your tea/coffee, you're on cooking duty

Now due to Spencer's sensory issues, you'd have to learn to avoid certain foods, mainly eggs, avocados, and porridge (RIP I adore those foods)

Toast with some jam or chocolate spread is his go to, but sometimes you'll make pancakes or waffles to spice it up

After sharing a lovely breakfast, a day at home is going to be lazy if Spencer's around because poor boy is exhausted from work

Depending on his mood and how tired he is, the activities vary

If he's feeling energetic and happy, you'll have movie marathons where he explains the entire cinematographic history of each one - he'd definitely be into German expressionism and French new wave (existential bastard)

If the previous case has worn him out, you'll read near each other or even read to him if he's in need of extra comfort

Other possible activities would be baking, doing chores together, and letting him teach you chess

For lunch and dinner, you'd probably just order take out because cooking just "takes too much effort" according to him

You'd definitely share a nice bath together to wind down, because it's also a wonderful way to spend time together and take care of each other simultaneously

Spencer would most definitely dose off mid-bath

After drying off and changing, you'd either chat over dinner or some more tea/coffee because your boyfriend is a chatter; OR you'd sit on the couch and do your own thing, parallel play kinda

Spencer reading a book or solving a crossword puzzle, and you on your phone or listening to music

I HOPE THIS LIVED UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS, I tend to go into a lot of detail 😭 a flaw of mine

[scoobydoodean]

Okay so in 1.03 Dead In The Water, there's this exchange Sam and Dean have at one point in regards to Lucas—the little boy who watched his dad drown, who Dean connects with during the episode:

DEAN Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died. SAM There are cases—going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies. DEAN Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please.

And the last time I watched this episode, I went "Oh cool! A little Psychic!Sam Easter Egg." Right? Sam goes through the traumatic experience of losing Jess, and he's tapped into "whatever's out there" (the yellow eyed demon) and he's having premonitions about what he's going to do next. Which definitely makes a lot of sense.

But when I was gif-ing stuff from 1.03 today, I realized that... funnily enough, within the context of this episode we also have some fun stuff relating to the "slightly psychic Dean" posts that have gone around this year... Or if you prefer, Cassandra!Dean. Cassandra, in reference to the prophet in Greek myth, cursed by Apollo to utter true prophecies but never be believed.

Dean often knows when bad things are going to happen in Supernatural. He doesn't have visions—but he has "bad feelings" and makes predictions that turn out to be scarily accurate at times. Of course we can infer that Dean is just good at 1) reading people and 2) understanding how sequences of events tumble one by one in a row like so many dominoes. It's another sign of his incredible intelligence. But it IS fun to think about Dead In The Water as the first indication of Cassandra!Dean.

First, because Lucas has premonitions, and Lucas and Dean are paralleled and connect on an emotional level.

Dean and Lucas have similar traumatic childhood experiences. Both watched a parent die and both lost the ability to speak afterwards:

DEAN You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too.

Dean is able to connect with Lucas through their shared traumatic experience. He's the only one who's able to get through to him—and after a short conversation and just drawing together for a while—much to his mom's shock. Dean is able to understand what Lucas is feeling without Lucas saying it.

Second, because Lucas has bad feelings that tell him the locations where the spirit will strike next, but no one listens to/believes him.

...Kind of like people usually don't listen to/believe Dean's bad feelings.

DEAN Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh...or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake.

Of course, this line is just Dean paralleling Lucas with himself and his own reasons for not speaking, but it must hit home, because Lucas begins communicating with Dean through drawings.

Further, despite Sam also knowing Lucas is having premonitions, when Lucas reacts with extreme distress to the idea of going home and clings to Dean desperately, Sam still... doesn't think it means anything. He thinks the case is over.

Third, Dean has a bad feeling that the case isn't over, and Sam doesn't believe him.

The sheriff had just threatened to arrest them if they stayed in town, so of course going back to town is a big deal. When Dean turns around based on a bad feeling, Sam thinks he's just being paranoid.

SAM But Dean, this job, I think it's over. DEAN I'm not so sure. SAM If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest. DEAN All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt? SAM But why would you think that? DEAN Because Lucas was really scared. SAM That's what this is about?

Dean sticks to his guns, and they arrive just in time to save Lucas's mother from drowning in a bathtub.

[maddymoreau]

Banban Analysis

I think Banban's story is the most interesting part of Garten of Banban and I'm extremely excited to see how it plays out. This discussion is essentially going to breakdown what Banban is and go through some of his behavior in the first four chapters.

Banban is the #6 experiment created by combining human genome from one of the doctors named Uthman Adam with Givanium for the upcoming Bring-A-Friend Day.

At the time Case #6 was considered a success outside one flaw. He views himself as human and as the actual Uthman Adam.

Once Case #6 and the real Uthman Adam were introduced to each other this lead to disaster.

As described (in Case Report #13 Update #3) Case #6 has a complete meltdown.

Which results in two things happening:

1. Case #7 named Banbaleena is created.

Since Dr. Weverly Mason was the only person Case #6 was willing to communicate with it's speculated her genome was used to create Banbaleena. Especially since the real Dr. Uthman and Dr. Mason are close.

While Case #6 and Banbaleena both view themself as their human genome donor only Case #6 was introduced to his.

It's unconfirmed how Case #6 perceives Banbaleena. Either as her human genome donor or something else. Regardless he recognizes something in Banbaleena resulting in their long hug.

Banbaleena helps Case #6 feel less alone however it doesn't change his disobedient and aggressive behavior.

Sidenote while this part is also speculation the parallels felt too similar to not mention:

During Chapter 3 when Case #6 has us make Nabnab a companion he say, "Nabnaleena was that solution. We had a theory that Nabnab was as aggressive as he was due to his loneliness."

While part of the reason we're creating Nabnaleena is because Nabnab is on the hunt making it too dangerous to do anything. I think since Banbaleena helped ease Case #6's loneliness that's part of the reason he has us help finish creating Nabnaleena. As a way to help Nabnab no longer feel lonely.

2. They used a newly-modified Givanium to lower Case #6's ability to self-think.

We actually witness Case #6 fall victim to his primitive instincts during one of the secret tapes in Chapter 3:

Case #6 is constantly struggling in between an internal battle Uthman Adam (who he perceives himself as) VS Banban (his violent primitive instincts).

After all it's Banban who has it's iconic quote:

Even though Case #6 has met the actual Uthman Adam he still perceives himself as the real one.

We witness this through countless dialogue. Even during the creation of Nabnaleena this is mentioned. "We had a theory that Nabnab was as aggressive as he was due to his loneliness." Referring to himself as one of the doctors despite the fact Case #6 isn't.

The saddest example being this conversation in Chapter 4.

"I feel now is a good time to introduce ourselves, which we haven't done up to this point if you can believe it. I am Uthman. I worked here before everything came crashing down, literally and figuratively."

"My coworkers and I should've spoken up sooner. Perhaps all of this should've been prevented then. But then again, my coworkers weren't really friends in those last couple of months anyway, so it would've needed some good planning."

"You ever had those friends that suddenly turn on you for no reason? To say mine turned on me would be an understatement. They suddenly stopped talking to me. They looked at me like I was some sort of monster. Sometimes I lose my temper, sure, but it seemed excessive. I was and still am confused, to say the least."

The awful way Case #6 was treated by his "friends" could also explain his behavior in Chapter 2.

"Look, i'm sorry I hit you but you gotta understand I needed something from you that I could only get if you were unconcious and I was all out of sedatives. If you'd seen me, you wouldn't have trusted me, I know it. But there was one thing I didn't lie to you about, and that's me knowing why you're here."

I find Case #6's confusion SO INTERESTING!!! You have a character who knows others view him as a monster yet he cannot understand why. Since when Case #6 looks in a mirror he sees "himself."

While Case #6 holds all of Uthman's memories before his creation.

Who is the ACTUAL Dr. Uthman?

We have these two notes.

Along with one letter between Dr. Uthman and Dr. Mason discussing the ball pit which reads, "This thing can barely support the amount of children we have enrolled in the kindergarten. We're having double that tomorrow. Something really bad is going to happen, and we need to be as far away from here as humanly possibly when it does. We've been on the bad side of the wrong people for a long time, and if we're still here when everything goes down, it will be the end of both of us. If not at the hands of angry parents, then at the hands of our superiors."

"A place like this should not exist. The stuff we've witnessed here should not exist. The casualties that will result from this catastrophe will only serve the greater good; which is shutting down this place once and for all."

"I'll have a plan ready for tomorrow. now, you just pack your things."

We don't know if this plan, Bring-A-Friend Day or something else are the result of how things have turned out.

Regardless both Dr. Uthman and Dr. Mason were unable to escape. We don't know what happened to Dr. Uthman but we do know Dr. Mason is currently with our child (from the notes they've left).

Boarding passes found in Chapter 1:

There's one MAJOR difference between the real Dr. Uthman and Case #6. Unlike the real Dr. Uthman who was prepared to abandon ship even viewing the potential disaster and casualties as something for the greater good.

Case #6 wants to help and even acknowledges, "My coworkers and I should've spoken up sooner."

While Case #6 may be hiding another ulterior motivate since he retains most memories of Uthman including knowledge of the secret down in the basement.

I think overall he's being honest with his goals mentioned in Chapter 2, "But there was one thing I didn't lie to you about, and that's me knowing why you're here. You're here for your children. I, too, am working towards saving them if you can believe it. But someone else has them. Someone far stronger than you and me both that resides deep in the abyss."

However due to the internal struggle he experiences falling into his violent primitive instincts from the newly-modified Givanium. When control is lost that alters his goals to eating our pancreas.

Case #6 is constantly having to work around himself.

For simplicity in this upcoming section I'm going to refer to regular Case #6 as Uthman and the Violent Instincts as Banban.

Chapter Two

The first Case #6 we meet is in Chapter Two is Banban.

At first tricking in the player and hitting them from behind Banban says, "Three birds with one stone!"

Note: Mr. Kabob Man the statue in Chapter 3 that imitates Banban also says the quote, "Three birds with one stone!"

"I get all of your keycards, I get the perfect specimen AND I don't have to deal with that thing down there. And it's all thanks to YOU! Oh come on, I didn't hit you THAT hard. Or maybe I did. Either way, it's best you take a nap while I prepare for our little surgery."

Despite this they also leaving us a note warning about the attack. However it reads as more of taunt to me.

While Banban mentions a surgery and using us a specimen nothing actually happens to the player.

Uthman could’ve gained controlled but I think that Banban was possibly prepping things when we woke up earlier then expected.

Since during Banbaleena's class Banban says, "Also teachers, please keep in mind that we are on the lookout for a very, very naughty student believed to be accompanied by a drone. If you catch them, call Principal Banban’s office immediately."

Very very naughty doesn’t feel like something Uthman would call the player.

When we later reunite with Case #6 there's a glass barrier between us. We can tell this is Uthman due to his behavior. He apologizes, is upfront with his goals and informs the player of a way to escape Banbaleena and Jumbo Josh.

Chapter Three

We first encounter Uthman over the speaker system.

"Glad to see you made it! I don't know how you did it, but then again you survived a giant elevator crash so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Also, again, I apologize for hitting you over the head. In fact, it is for this reason that I believe we should not meet face-to-face. You see, for whatever reason I am prone to violent instincts, and I do not trust myself to not give into them again."

"I have locked myself inside of a surveillance room. That way I can help without being a danger to you."

Uthman sticks to his word helping the player throughout the chapter. It's ONLY when brought face-to-face by Stinger Flynn that Case #6's violent instincts come out. Being drawn to the smell of the player's pancreas.

"You can run away, but the smell of your pancreas will always draw me to you . . ."

Resulting in a chase scene and eventually a fight between Jumbo Josh, Banban and Stinger Flynn.

Chapter Four

When you reunite with Uthman in the infirmary he says, "When the Queen mentioned having many new visitors in one day, I knew it had to be you. Listen, whatever happened to me . . . Whatever I tried doing to you . . . Just know it wasn't actually me. I was forced to obey without much thought. I tried communicating with you from afar for a reason. Now you know the true reason why."

"Still, I want to make it up to you. The queen filled me in on the situation with the elevator. I want to help with that. I feel much more in control now. I'll come help you find the missing pieces of the elevator. I just need to rest for a little bit and I'll meet you at whatever that station is."

Which Uthman does until a fight between him and Nabnab breaks out. Which I think is really cool considering Nabnab is his opposite. Both in name and character wise.

Despite Uthman transforming into Banban during the fight he is able to restrain himself. Not attacking us for our pancreas even though we're so close.

This is the final scene we see Case #6 AND I'M SOOO INVESTED IN HIS STORY AND SEEING HOW IT PLAYS OUT!!!!

Also I like how Case #6 cares deeply for some of the other experiments. Whether it's some form of kinship or out of a sense of duty believing to be partially responsbile for creating them.

Examples of this are:

When Jumbo Josh falls for one of Sheriff Toadster's trap Case #6 comments, "Poor Josh . . . I can't imagine how confusing this has all been for him . . ." Holding no resentment despite the fact they fought in Chapter 3.

In Chapter 4 Case #6 intends to hand over the imposter statue AKA Mr. Kabob Man to someone he describe as, "very close to me." (This is speculated to be Zolphius). Even commenting, "He must've gotten very lonely, but I got him a new friend."

In Chapter 2 Case #6 indulges in Banbaleena’s behavior. During her class over the speaker he refers to himself as Principal Banban.

I find it interesting the non-human version acts more humane than the real Uthman.

[genericpuff]

Turns out it's been a while since I've talked about Rachel's medical fetish art so it came as a shock to people when I mentioned it in the last post (I've got quite a few asks about it lmao) So I'm gonna enlighten y'all real quick on what I'm referring to, and yes, it's probably exactly what you're thinking of when you hear the word 'medical fetish'.

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSION OF MEDICAL FETISH ART AND DEPICTIONS OF NEEDLES!!!!

So the name "used_bandaid" is one Rachel started using back in the early to mid 2000's. She went by a LOT of different pennames back then, including but probably not limited to:

Pepper_maid

madame_issue

Usedbandaid/used_bandaid

Rach Alex

Rachel Royale

Raquel

Medical Tophat/Medical_Tophat

Frill_house

Gingerbreadcoffin (? this one's kinda weird because the link itself with this username just goes back to her used bandaid MySpace account , so idk if she ever actually used it or if it was even affiliated with her lol)

Now you're probably about to ask, "Puff, how do you know these are all her?" and that's because Rachel still had all of these accounts interlinked through her projects, primarily The Doctor Pepper Show. She seemed to change up usernames often just for the hell of it.

Anyways. I'm not gonna show much of it here because I do think it's better to leave certain things in the past, but there's a LOT of her old work that implies the stuff that's questionable/problematic in LO has always been a part of her identity as an artist (DDLG, hot pink self-insert MC, etc.)

One such example is "madame issue":

This is such a 3-in-1 smoking gun for everything we see in LO. The reference to bandaids (see: used bandaid, which was part of her URL slug for her old flickr where this drawing comes from), the hot pink color palette, and of course, the fact that this character is almost DEFINITELY a self-insert of Rachel, thanks to that shared name.

She's also stated in old commission/print posts that Madame Issue was the one print she wouldn't sell.

She doesn't explicitly say why but I think it's pretty safe to assume it's because Madame Issue is her.

We also have Eva, "the queen of medical fetish". And the tags are... pretty self-explanatory.

That said, that's as much as I'm gonna go into with her old art, because a lot of it does get quite personal with her and I don't really think it accomplishes much more to continue digging up old skeletons, at least not unless they can be seen as parallel to LO (which some of them are and I'll likely be sharing more of those ones in a later post).

That said, there ARE still pages that are accessible without the use of the Wayback Machine that advertise her as a medical fetish artist without the need for extensive digging. If you search up The Doctor Pepper Show on Google, you'll actually find a reddit thread asking what happened to Rachel's old work, and there are comments with loads of resources to access her pre-LO content. You'll also find the listing for The Doctor Pepper Show on The Webcomic List, which literally describes it as a medical fetish comic: "This is a comic set in a world where evil doctors rule, girls wear frilly underpants and people use their manners. *May I please blow your f**king head off?* This comic features Gothic dandys, EGL (Gothic lolitas) and medical fetish fashion. (Neo victorian setting)"

I'll let y'all do your own digging from here, there's a LOT to unpack honestly and while I can't keep you from doing your own research, practice due diligence with what you choose to share. Again, I don't think it's a crime in and of itself for Rachel to want to distance herself from her past as a medical fetish artist, so I think it's only really relevant to show the things that are clearly still influencing LO (like her love for the movie Lolita or the very clear sexualization of youthfulness). While we can try to leave the past where it is, she does still write LO with a lot of the most problematic features of her former identity, and it makes it all the more bizarre that if she is trying to distance herself from it all, then why would she stick with one of the pennames that's the most easily tied back to medical fetishism?

TL ; DR: Rachel started off online with medical fetish and gothic lolita art (at least as far back as we can trace it) and elements of that past are still present in LO today. Use that info responsibly lol

[thewertsearch]

[ there was more to this ask, but some was spoilers 😆 - C ]

Ooh, that is a fun challenge! I might make this a bigger Title post, actually, because it's been a good while since we've had one of those.

...alright, I just finished, and this one kind of got away from me. I hope it's ok that I sort of hijacked your post to talk about Aspects as a whole - but rest assured, I did answer the original question. Let's get into it!

Unfortunately, it might be kind of difficult to make Class guesses. My theory is that they're Sburb's take on RPG party roles - and for obvious reasons, we haven't seen how any of the non-Player characters would fit into a Sburb party. A full analysis of the hypothetical Midnight Crew, Exile and Guardian sessions would be fun, but it's a little out of scope for this question.

Personality certainly seems to be a factor. I don't think it's a coincidence, for example, that the Seers are the most inquisitive members of their respective parties. Dave and Karkat both hide their true emotions behind a persona - but then again, so do Feferi and Jade, two happy-go-lucky Witches with incredibly dark backstories. Dave may be the worst offender, but half the cast is hiding behind some sort of facade.

John, for his part, doesn't seem to have anything in common with Equius - at least, nothing I can see. I might dig a little deeper for human/troll Class parallels once we've seen more of Equius and Feferi, but our sample sizes are so small that it's going to be hard to tell which shared traits are intentional.

Anyway, none of the other classes feature a pair of Players that I could toss into a Venn diagram, so we're at a bit of a dead end.

I suppose I could approach this from another angle, and try to extrapolate a Class from each character's life circumstances - for example, by speculating that Grandpa's inheritance of the Betty Crocker brand makes him a potential Heir - but that's clearly not an accurate method, given that literal heiress Feferi is a Witch.

See, Classes are a tough nut to crack! The main issue here is that the comic has given us very little to work with - it's been tight-lipped on Titles in general, and there's been almost no exposition on Classes specifically.

It might be easier just to try and assign Aspects to each of the non-Players - so that's what I'm going to do. I'll also take the opportunity to put forward my best guess for what each Aspect means.

Without further ado:

Time means time.

This one seems extremely straightforward. Not all the Aspects are quite so literal - Breath, for example, seems more closely related to wind than the body function it's named after - but Time is about engaging directly with its namesake. It may have other meanings as well, but we haven't seen any yet.

If you wield Time, then you're the session's designated time traveler - which is a lot less cool than it sounds, because it means you're on Doomed Timeline cleanup duty. Enjoy the corpse disposal!

Both of the comic's Time Players have fashioned their own personal time machines out of musical instruments. Music seems to have some connection to Time - which makes sense, since it's an art form of pitch, rhythm and beat. Music is time.

We can also talk for a second about Dave's Quest. As we'll see, each Land Quest seems to directly concern the Player's Aspect. Dave's Quest is to...

...um.

Well, one of these is Dave's Quest. The LOHACse is the only one of the two which is directly related to Time, but I've speculated that Dave's sword-in-the-stone quest will involve him rewinding Caledfwlch to an earlier point in its timeline. Plus, the Caledfwlch quest also speaks to Dave's Class as a Knight, so I think it's the real one.

For the sake of completeness, let's also talk about the Time Lands. Each Land always seems to feature one trait which either directly or obliquely references its Player's Aspect. LOHAC is self-explanatory, but Aradia's Land of Quartz and Melody is an interesting case, as its 'Aspect trait' could be either of its two descriptors. Quartz could reference the quartz in a modern clock, and Melody could reference the musical connection I mentioned above.

I can't think of any non-Players with particularly strong ties to Time - aside from the Felt and Lord English, who we know very little about. Let's say they're all Time Players, and English rules over them as a Prince of Time. As a mob boss and destroyer of worlds, he undoubtedly shares some of Eridan's megalomania.

Space... well, we actually don't have much for Space. We haven't seen Jade or Kanaya do anything with their Aspect, nor do we know anything about their Quests.

We do know that both Space Lands contain the Forge, so maybe there's something to that. Presumably it's going to forge something, and I think it's probably where you're supposed to create the universe. If your task is literally to create Space, it makes sense that a Space Player would take point - but that begs the question of what would happen in a session without a Space Player.

Maybe the game prefers a Space Forge, but it can spawn on another Land in lieu of one - or maybe Space is the 'default' Aspect, and it's actually mandatory in every session.

As far as Space's symbolism is concerned, my assumption is that it's as straightforward as Time, but we'll need to see more.

While I'm here, I guess I should dip my toe into this hot mess.

Yes, LOFAF's Space Word does appear to be Frogs. Yes, that does imply that Kanaya's was also Frogs, or something equally mysterious. No, I do not know what this could possibly mean.

These frogs are apparently heralds for their god, Bilious Slick, whose shadow has been looming over the comic for months now. I guess their appearance on the Space Lands implies that Slick is Space themed, which is at least consistent with my theory that he's the final obstacle between the Players and their universe.

Moving on, because I give up.

(Oh, and if anyone's a Space Player, it's Bec. You could also make an argument for Mom Lalonde, since her home was fitted with an observatory, but that's very tenuous. We don't know much about Space, so I don't know how else to tie a character to the Aspect.)

There's a lot going on with Light.

All Quests so far have had ties to the Player's Aspect, so whatever Jaspers thinks he's talking about here should have something to do with Light.

Jaspers... seems to be talking about different ways to represent information, and instructing Rose to find a particular DNA sequence. (I have to assume this isn't the MEOW sequence, because I don't think Sburb wants Rose to fill LOLAR's oceans with First Guardians.) So, it sort of looks like Light is information, doesn't it?

Well... maybe. See, things are are complicated by the fact that Dave's Quest above was also Knight-themed, so this spiel from Jaspers could be partially Seer-themed. How can we tell which is the Seer stuff, and which is the Light?

Recently, Rose said this, seemingly confirming that her Title is about information ('knowing shit'), and also implying that the 'knowing' is a Seer thing.

This allow us to compare her to Terezi, the other Seer. As we'll see below, she specializes in discerning people's personalities and motivations - literally, seeing into their minds - so it sounds like being a Seer is about perceiving or 'seeing' things that relate to your Aspect.

Rose, the Seer of Light, should therefore have an advanced perception of Light - but just what is Light? What can Rose see?

Well, she says she can see 'the big picture'.

I think Rose's powers allow her to zoom out, understand the broad strokes of a situation, and see how it all ties together - and I think that is the essence of Light.

Dave wonders how he's going to navigate the Furthest Ring's twisted-up space, so she scans the overall situation with her Light powers, and vaguely understands that it won't be a problem. Dave will be able to play his part.

However, if he asked why, exactly, it won't be a problem, or how he's going to do it, she'd be stumped. That's not her department.

I think I sort of understand what Light means now, but I can't think of a succinct way to describe it. The zooming-out Aspect, maybe? The everything-is-connected Aspect? The don't-sweat-the-details Aspect?

Guys, I think I'm starting to understand Homestuck!

Ah, shit.

Yeah, I don't know how Vriska or her powers slot into this interpretation. As the Thief of Light, I guess she'd be stealing... the bigger picture... from other people? And that lets her take their luck, somehow?

I guess when you give yourself 'good luck', you are sort of improving your situation in the general sense, rather than the specific. You don't know the details of how your luck will manifest, but you don't really need to - all you need to know is that it'll be good for you.

I don't know. This is getting messy, and more than a little abstract. I'm sure Vriska will be doing a lot of luck-stealing, so we'll hopefully learn more as we go.

At least the Land of Maps and Treasure fits Light-as-the-big-picture. A map is, literally, a big picture.

A flurry of disquieting happenstance is related to the ADORED SOVEREIGN. With no other options, her counsel is all that is left to be sought. Abdication is never ideal. But in the face of inevitable conquest, conceding ground can supply the only remaining advantage.

WQ, then, seems like a good fit for a Light Player. After listening to PM's full report, she seems to understand how the pieces fit together.

The Queen knows that Jack wants her dead, and clearly understands how dangerous a Player item can be, in the wrong hands. She doesn't know what's in the package, or what Jack will do with it - but she doesn't need to. She can see the writing on the wall, so she retreats.

I did a bit of Breath research for this post, and landed on the above quote. I think Breath is about direction and destination.

TT: John? TT: Are you there? -- tentacleTherapist [TT] is now an idle chum! -- EB: hey, yeah i'm here! EB: and not dead i think. TT: I know. TT: I've been watching you scramble through the house like a lunatic. TT: You should have answered me sooner.

John's a meandering kind of guy. He's wandered haphazardly around the session for three thousand pages, but he always seems to reach his goal. Despite not knowing where to go, he always seems to be where he needs to be.

John's Quest as the Heir of Breath has been explained in detail. He needs to unclog the pipes of LOWAS and defeat Typheus, freeing his Land's fireflies from their cloudy prison. In essence, John's Quest is to give these bugs a new direction, allowing them their full axis of movement once again.

There might also be some Heir stuff in this Quest, but its ultimate goal seems to align pretty well with that Breeze quote above, so I'm willing to accept it as Breath evidence.

AG: Have you ever tried to fly? I 8et you haven't! AG: How a8out we take to the skies, Pupa! AG: Hahahaha, oh you like that idea, Pupa? Yes, you do. I can feel it in your simple, mallea8le 8rain. AG: You want to fly so 8ad!

Breath might also have something to do with agency - or at least, the ability to choose your own actions. John's freedom-themed Quest isn't the only example of this - Tavros's entire arc is about how Vriska keeps denying him agency, while pretending she's doing the opposite.

(I'm going to avoid comparing Homestuck to other works, because this post is long enough as it is, so you're just going to have to imagine the twelve paragraphs of Deltarune meta that would otherwise be placed here.)

AT: bECAUSE THE ONLY TIME i EVER HAD FUN PLAYING THIS GAME WAS WHEN i WAS ASLEEP,

Tavros just wanted to do his own thing. He wanted to ignore the game and float around Prospit, away from everyone's expectations - but he was denied this opportunity, again and again. It's no wonder that he's on a bit of a high right now, after being granted the freedom of his new robo-legs.

As for potential Breath Players - well, CD reminds me of John a little, but he seems a lot more likely to stay on task. I don't know what Aspect he'd be assigned.

Now - we're onto the Aspects we've only seen in trolls. We don't have as much for most of these, since we haven't seen any troll Quests, nor any Aspect powers sans Vriska and Terezi.

Terezi, the Seer of Mind, deals in personality - or maybe, more generally, vibes.

CG: WE'RE NOT EXILING JACK, HE'S COOL. [...] GC: [...] 1 DO NOT G3T 4 GOOD F33L1NG FROM H1M! GC: H3 K1ND OF CG: STINKS? [...] GC: W3LL GC: SORT OF GC: H3 DO3SNT SM3LL B4D 4CTU4LLY GC: H3 SM3LLS R34LLY CL34N 4ND SH1NY 4ND D4RK D4RK D444RK L1K3 4N O1L SL1CK 4ND TH3R3 1S 4 T1NY H1NT OF L1COR1C3 TH3R3 TOO GC: 1TS MOR3 L1K3 GC: TH3 W4Y H3 MOV3S GC: 1 SM3LL H1S SMOOTH MOT1ONS 4ND TH3 W4Y H3 SQU1NTS H1S 3Y3S 4ND 1T G1V3S M3 TH1S R34LLY N3RVOUS F33L1NG

When she smells someone, her Mind-enhanced perception doesn't just tell her what they look like - it also seems to communicate that person's essence. Terezi can see the idea of Jack Noir, here. She's smelling what it feels like to be inside his head.

GC: TH3 D4Y 1T H4PP3N3D W4S TH3 F1RST T1M3 1 3V3R H34RD FROM MY LUSUS GC: SH3 WOK3 M3 UP, 4ND 3V3R S1NC3 H4S B33N T34CH1NG M3 4 D1FF3R3NT W4Y TO S33 GC: 4 D1FF3R3NT W4Y TO P3RC31V3 3V3RYTH1NG 1 GU3SS, NOT JUST 1N 4 S3NSORY W4Y

Terezi is also a naturally perceptive person, so it's sometimes unclear whether her reads are due to Seer clairvoyance or her own deductive abilities. As a general rule, I'll only treat her insight as a Mind power if she explicitly refers to her sense of smell as its source, since that's the avenue for her supernatural perception.

GC: T3LL M3 YOUR R34L N4M3!!! >:[ TG: ok lets say its TG: dave why not GC: D4V3! GC: TH4T SM3LLS L1K3 TRUTH GC: 1 W1LL D3C1D3 TO B3L13V3 1T >:] TG: fuck

Therefore, I'm pretty sure her powers do, in fact, allow her to detect lies. Mind, then, might be related to the concept of truth - as in, your Mind is the truth of who you are, stripped of all illusions.

I was initially going to place Droog here, since he seems to be the only Crew member with his head screwed on, but I no longer think Mind is about being rational or analytical.

Blood is the first Aspect I don't really have a guess for. Maybe it's got something to do with genetics - Karkat is a carcinoGeneticist, after all, and a mutant to boot.

Spades Slick is blood brothers with a Knight of Blood, and he's got a lot in common with Karkat, commanding his party with a moderately annoying leadership style. I'll put him here on the strength of those parallels, and I can revisit it when Blood is explained.

We don't know much about Nepeta, so we don't know much about Heart. Shipping is all about drawing them, though, so maybe Heart is about romance - or, more broadly, relationships and connections.

Nepeta's Land of Little Cubes and Tea is a lolcat joke, so it might not conform to the Aspect Word pattern. I guess, since the cubes are sugar cubes, it might be a pun on 'sweetheart'? Who knows.

I'll put Hearts Boxcars here, and not just because of his name. He's the only member of the Midnight Crew with any interest in shipping.

Feferi revived Sollux with a kiss, so Life is probably healing, as it is in many other element systems.

How her Land of Dew and Glass relates to Life is a mystery. While dew can refer to condensation on any surface, it's often used to describe the water droplets which accrete on grass and other flora. That's kind of a connection to a living thing, but feels like a stretch and a half.

Let's also put Nanna here, since she's the only true healer in the cast. I don't know why the other sprites don't use the healing beam.

Our Void Player is in a Land of Caves and Silence - a hole in the earth, and an absence of sound. Void seems to represent negation, or a lack of something.

Also - this might be a reach, but Scratch describes the gaps in his clairvoyance as 'pockets of void', so perhaps Void also has something to do with uncertainty - aka, a lack of information.

Most of the Guardians could go here, really. Bro seems the best fit, since he's constantly hiding from Dave, and completely vanishes for most of the session.

When a timeline is marked for destruction, we say that it's doomed.

Doom seems to represent death, obliteration and entropy. Sollux Entered into the Land of Brains and Fire, and I think it's pretty clear that Fire is the trait which is tapping his Aspect.

Doom may also be the Aspect of prophecy. After all, Sollux is a prophet of Doom - so maybe he's a prophet because of Doom. It could also be related to his nature as a Mage, but Mages haven't been explained, so I can't speculate.

I originally thought that Sollux might be a Seer - but the Seer Class seems to be about gathering information related to a particular Aspect, rather than directly divining the future. Maybe a Seer of Time could see future events, but it's certainly not a default ability of the class.

Grandpa seems to have some ties to Doom. He prophesized Jade's death to her when he told her about her dead Dream Self - plus, he's a hunter, with a house full of corpses. Also, his entire presence in the session is overshadowed by the spectre of his future death. This is probably the Aspect guess I'm most confident in.

I guess there's also Hope, a brand-new Aspect with no lore. Eridan's 'hope' would seem to be expressed in the fact that he constantly hits on people, hoping in vain for a yes. Thankfully, we're not aware of any non-Players like that....

The mail is the one final hope for resurrecting a dead planet from its ashes, and the letter carriers are the brave soldiers of God in this righteous crusade. They are the defenders of the light of knowledge, free communication, and the exchange of ideas. They are the bold toters of all those little papery conduits of freedom, the white postmarked angels that whisper a message on their deliverance, a promise to the yearning: "There is hope yet."

...but PM is pretty much screaming about hope in her mail monologue, so we'll put her here.

ORDER IN THE COURT. YOU WILL HAVE ORDER IN THIS COURTROOM. IF EVERYONE DOES NOT SETTLE DOWN YOU WILL CLEAR OUT THIS COURTROOM, YOU SWEAR TO GOD.

It's hard to classify the Aimless Renegade. He's all about crime and punishment - which is certainly a Terezi trait, but I don't think it's a Mind trait.

As for Dad, he has a well-established gentlemanly personality, but I don't know what Aspect is the most 'gentlemanly'.

I could try and classify more obscure characters like FedoraFreak, the Pen-pal, Jaspersprite or the Hussie self-insert, but I'll tell you right now I don't have any guesses. Still, that was fun, and it was a good opportunity for me to update my thoughts surrounding the Aspects!

[henrysglock]

Mother is God, In The Eyes of a Child

This has got to be my farthest-fetched theory, and its more of a collection of observations that weave together than an actual theory. However...there's something distinctly weird about all this.

It started here:

Max steps on spider egg sacs in Vecna's mind lair, and the babies spill out.

"If there's a spider, you're never gonna find it 'till it lays eggs and the babies spill out"

Then Vecna killing Patrick while looking distinctly like a spider on a web, a direct comparison to those black widows.

And I talked in the discord chat talking with Em for a while like. They. They wouldn't. Right? And I've been sitting here thinking about the last time I said "they wouldn't...right?" So here we go.

"Of course you have a mother. You couldn't really have been born without one."

But Mama is dead...

just like One doesn't exist.

And whoever you are, either you aren't home (which, you're "Terry's daughter" in Terry's home which was decorated for you in hopes that you'd come home 🤨)...or you aren't Terry's daughter.

but wait: Mr. Mom? Perfect!

Mr. Mom...which leads straight to the lab going haywire:

Because of the Mind Flayer, who we know is (most likely) a version of Edward.

And "sleepyhead" is a parent thing...but it's specifically a mom thing, and it comes from the guy who's likely Edward. Why are you, as a man, so distinctly mother?

And so I'm looking at all of his God coding:

And I'm looking at his talk of spiders, particularly black widows, being the gods of our world:

There's also this particular dialogue parallel with Carrie's mother:

As well as Black Widow "God of Our World" 001 and Henry "Sensitive (Gay) Child" Creel, framed this way in back to back shots.

One of them has the rainbow flag and the other's got the black widow spider, makes sense...right? (Sure. Except not really.)

He also has a ton of God coding in his music choices:

Except, when we look at the songs he alone or he and El are overlaid with...Akhnaten is functionally a mezzo-soprano. In the pieces we hear specifically, Akhnaten sings in the same range or higher than Nefertiti.

Which then gets me thinking about the Silent Hill parallels (that Em has talked about here), and specifically this one line of dialogue from Dahlia:

And the fact that every single black widow spider reference regarding Henward/Vecna/001 has been about female black widows, never male ones:

As well as a good portion of his rant being about:

- Being vaguely broken (what's wrong with him is never said) - His kinship with spiders (specifically the female black widows) - Society's oppressive made-up rules - Being forced to pretend (unspecificed as to what, exactly, he's pretending about...all we get is "a silly, terrible play") - Reproduction

Then the fact that Vecna kind of has a thing for showing up as mothers:

And on top of all that...the fact that Vecna somehow lost his dick along the way. Where did it go????????

There's also all the birthing and reproduction imagery that goes along with the UD, most blatantly in the scene where El crawls out of the same hole the Demogorgon came through:

As well as these movies from the ST4 Movie Board:

Ace Ventura Pet Detective: Finkle has a sex change to assume a new identity and seek vengeance.

Let The Right One In: Vampire girl who is really a boy being forced to live as a girl

Sleepaway Camp: Girl named Angela who is actually a boy named Peter being forced by his aunt to live as a girl after his twin sister (the real Angela) was killed in an accident. (Wibble knows more about this one than I do, but I'm staring at Peter Ballard and all of our Angela's parallels to the lab)

Splice: Female Human-Animal hybrid "dies" (is actually in a coma) and undergoes a spontaneous sex change to male and proceeds to go berserk.

Silence of the Lambs: Main villain is a blonde, wavy-haired cross-dressing serial killer.

And then with the parallels to Room (even if it isn't on the ST4 Movie Board):

Plus Will's Alan Turing poster and the castration stuff that goes along with that..and the "Henry" that shows up behind him:

What in the gender is going on here?

[producedbyhan]

"Want so BAD" - Lee Know, HAN (A messy essay)

I'll start off by saying I'm hesitant to post this. I don't really condone RPF and/or shipping of real people in most cases. However, I will be discussing why I believe there is some chance that Minho and Jisung are trying to tell us something with this song, and the possibility that "I love their friendship" reactions to the song are not necessarily what they wanted.

First off, some background for those that don't know. LGBT+ Koreans in the entertainment industry (especially idols) cannot come out, unless they want to risk losing their career. There are only a handful of people who have come out, and they have been either removed from their company, fired, or blacklisted by the media (i.e, they cannot appear on TV, radio, etc). There was one instance of a boy group which had 2 members being open about the fact that they were dating for several years, yet when one of the members had to re-debut in a different group, his company insisted they were “just close colleagues.” There is another instance of a soloist who had to fund their own debut through part-time jobs, as no labels would sign them due to being open about their sexuality.

Discrimination is also a serious issue - in the Anti-discrimination Act (2007) by The National Human Rights Commission of South Korea, the section prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation was withdrawn, and there are no federal laws against LGBT discrimination. In March 2015, the Ministry of Education banned the teaching of homosexuality or any other non-straight sexual orientation in sex education classes. Pride parades in Seoul are minimal and irregular, and face threats and violence from several different protest groups. On the 2019 Franklin & Marshall Global Barometer of Gay Rights, developed nations averaged a grade of B. South Korea, however, was one of only three countries to earn an "F," [1] and countries that receive an F are "persecuting" their LGBTQ+ communities. Men also have to face the additional issue when it comes to forced enlistment, where same-sex sexual activity in the military is illegal, sexual minorities can be marked as having a “mental handicap” or “personality disorder,” and hazing is widespread.

Now, onto the song - released on October 14th, aka. national "I love you" day. Not everything I mention will have a reference link, but I'll try to include an example here and there.

I'm not going to chart their entire history because we would be here all day, but some of the things they've shared are: Jisung's story about how they first met [2], and how they've always bonded over being movie partners [3] and their shared fear of heights (and amusement park "dates"). While they've always been close (can-kiss-each-other-on-the-neck-and-flirt-constantly-like-a-couple-close) the teasing from the other members has really ramped over 2023, with nearly every other member telling them to marry. They themselves have also been calling each other their s/o several times while on tour [4] and in a rachalog. Jisung also did a freestyle rap about love on tour that included "Should we go to the Han River today?" something Minho asks him to get him out of the dorm. In some parts of this song they sound like they're directly singing to each other, for example "For me, it's always you" being echoed back to the other.

Jisung said he was looking up flower language. The official birth month flower for October (When Minho's birthday falls) is the cosmos flower. [5]

Call and response from Han to something Minho said in their 2022 Two Kids Room.

Parallels to Jisung's song "Volcano", released just before Valentine's Day earlier this year.

I'll embrace the wounds you shed To me, you're already a sin I can't refuse because you're sweeter than evil

I can't live without you you're the only one, even if I die Even if I'm reborn over and over again, it's only you I want to give only to you my heart is burning When I'm thinking of you, my mind is Like a volcano

If it wasn't about each other, I have to wonder why they would make the cover art a collage of them together (none of these being pics we've seen before), some at the Han River, with the song lyrics decorating them. Other SKZ-RECORDS, be it solo or duets have a photo/image taken specifically for them... Even the title of the song itself reminds me of the beginning of the year when Minho commented "I want?? someone like you" on Jisung's IG post.

And finally, Minho and Jisung had both been quiet about this song both before, and after it dropped (something that never happens with SKZ-RECORDS - Jisung in particular is very talkative about them and usually spoils it in advance, does a Q&A, or goes live) until he broke the silence with this and everything it might imply.

To conclude. I think there's some chance that putting out this song to the public is the closest they can get to confirming there's something between them without irreparably hurting their future. While it's technically possible that this could all be a series of coincidences, I do feel that they knew exactly how this could be perceived by longterm/serious fans - if you know you know.

[theerurishipper]

I think anon was referring to what zuko said in response to aang telling katara to forgive yon rha. While aang came across as a bit patronizing even if he meant well and that was obviously unhelpful, I can honestly see why that would count as zuko mocking him. that being said, I agree with everyone else you said and anon shot themselves in the foot when they mocked Zuko;s scar and they engaged in azula apologismwhile using the fact that she's mentally unstable as a shield.

I mostly interpreted that as Zuko saying Aang is being naive rather than his disagreeing with the actual teachings themselves. Zuko isn't one for revenge either, or else he would have killed Ozai, or let Zhao die. And he's never been shown to disrespect the Airbender's teachings in this way before. He's listened when Aang has talked about the monks before. But he understands Katara's feelings in a way that Aang doesn't seem to (which is not to say that Aang hasn't suffered through tragedy or that Aang doesn't understand loss, but Zuko and Katara are specifically paralleled through the fact that they lost their mothers, and it's something they connect over because they feel similarly about it), and it's also a little personal for him in that way. I'm not going to justify what he said, it was a shitty thing to say regardless, but he wasn't being racist. Even Aang doesn't take offence to it because he knows that, and they're on good terms at the end.

I think decrying it as a racist comment simplifies the issue and shifts the conversation. Zuko had a point, but he said it in the worst way. But calling it a racist comment because Zuko think Airbender philosophies are inferior is the wrong interpretation, and it sort of changes the way you view the scene and removes any fault from Aang in the situation. Aang was telling Katara to forgive the man who murdered her mother. That's not really a small thing. And he was quoting the monks verbatim without trying to understand Katara herself and without trying to take into account the real situation they are in, which can't be fixed with a quote that Aang hasn't learnt to put into practice when something comes into conflict with it, as happens in the real world. This is not anti-Aang or anything, this is literally the conflict he deals with at the end of the episode and in the finale, of how to reconcile the monks' teachings with the reality of his situation.

Zuko didn't say Aang was naive because he wanted Katara to get revenge, he did it because he understands her pain, he knows how facing his father gave him closure, and he's angry that Aang is trying to tell Katara to not have the same chance. So when Aang uses "revenge is a two headed rat-viper" line, it makes him angry because Aang clearly doesn't understand. Zuko is saying Aang doesn't understand the reality and is resorting to quotes from the monks, simplifying a complex issue, which is... not wrong. Zuko himself never once pushes Katara towards violence or revenge in this episode. He himself is not that kind of person. If he had been completely wrong or if he had been a bad influence on Katara, pushing her towards a destructive path, the episode shouldn't have ended with her forgiving him, not just by words but with a loving hug. And it also ends with Katara saying she didn't take Aang's advice and ends with Aang being torn between the reality of his situation and his commitment to upholding the beliefs of his people. Simplifying it to "Zuko is racist" just because some people think Aang can never be wrong is reductive and misses the whole point. You're free to disagree, that's just how I see it.

Thank you for your ask!

[jewishvitya]

Anon:

I've actually met J.K. Rowling irl and asked her about the antisemitism controversy point blank. Very politley, she said it was ridiculous. She said she based the goblins on English folklore and nothing more.

It doesn't matter what she says. She can tell us her intent, not her impact. Not once did I accuse her of making the goblins in the books antisemitic on purpose. My issue was that she didn't care enough to acknowledge it and talk about it respectfully. The result stays the same. I laid out how they are antisemitic. It's in the text regardless of what she says.

She made Grindelwald an antagonist who claims he wants to stop the holocaust. By trying to stop him, the protagonists are trying to preserve the course of events where, in real life, the holocaust happened. She used holocaust imagery in her magic movies. I'm not just going to trust her word and her judgment on what's antisemitic. Be serious.

As for the game, most gentiles I know don't even know what a shofar is.

Even if you completely disregard the horn, it's still a storyline of blood libel using an antisemitic depiction. The only reason the horn is a problem, is that they put it in the hands of antisemitic caricatures. I'm not claiming ownership on the concept of ram's horn instruments. I was clear on that too.

As for the 1612 parallel, I genuinely don't know where that came from. [...] In fact, the one people keep referring to happened in 1614!

The Fettmilch uprising was a series of events that started at 1612. A bigger expulsion of Jews from the place was at 1614, but the attacks started before that, at 1612.

If you play it, you'll find trans and gay characters that are amazing and so fun to interact with, as well as an overall theme of antiprejudism.

Sure, I'll go ahead and interact with those fictional trans and gay characters. It sounds so nice. I'm sure I'll enjoy them enough to make up for giving money to a person who's at the forefront of the current attack on trans rights. Trans people dying in reality while she emboldens transphobes and makes it her entire online persona? That just isn't upsetting enough for me to feel repulsed by the idea of supporting this.

As far as I'm concerned, she has blood in her hands.

A theme of anti-prejudice is nice. Not compatible with the plot where you have to put down a rebellion, and not compatible with her behavior in reality.

But Rowling's world doesn't really lend itself to themes of anti-prejudice. She has:

A slave race where wanting to be free makes them weird, and if one is freed against her will, she becomes an aimless drunk. Our protagonists decorate their decapitated heads with Christmas hats. The idea of freeing them is a running joke, and the protagonist ends up a slave owner.

A werewolf community of HIV+ allegories where all but one person join the wizard Nazis. That one person ("the good one") poses a danger to innocent people more than once.

A race of greedy ruthless untrustworthy fantasy bankers, who are legally barred from having an equal place in society and shown as vicious for their attempts to fight for it, who have their cultural rules of inheritance constantly disrespected, and only have a place for their usefulness in crafting and managing the banks.

Giants who are shown as victims of wizards but also as dangerous creatures barely able to think.

Rowling doesn't understand prejudice. In her world, all the prejudiced opinions wizards have against the marginalized are correct. The slaves want to be slaves, the werewolves are dangerous, the goblins are greedy and bloodthirsty, the giants are violent and uncontrollable.

She doesn't have an issue with prejudice - as long as you're polite about it. She has an issue with outright physical violence, with rudeness and slurs, and with job discrimination. Beyond that, she doesn't care. She gets to have a surface-level message of anti-hatred because she can't come up with a villain that isn't literally Hitler.

[togglesbloggle]

Just musing out loud-

One of the gifts that time brought for me, ish, was a reduced interest in labels for myself. Reduced-not-gone, because humans love a good sorting hat, but definitely not what it once was.

It's most obvious in media, like with those YA books that routinely have explicit caste systems or divide people up by thematic groups, or with video games that let you pick a faction. But it sneaks in to real life too. Like, take the famed Tumblr* neogenders/neosexualities and proliferation of flags. It is, of course, unironically fun to watch the ever-increasing fractal complexity as people chase the questing beast of a coherent taxonomy of sexual nonconformity, and I think the people that do so often find it very rewarding. But I watch mostly as an outsider, because the whole thing is answering questions to which I already have satisfying answers in my own dialect- at least insofar as it comes to how I think about myself. And what's true in the narrow case of Tumblr's culture has some far-reaching impacts on politics as a whole, as you might guess.

It's not that I find the castes/factions/neogenders themselves uninteresting- almost the opposite really. I like exploring and thinking about them all, but in a way that doesn't trigger any questions about me as an observer; the 'me' in my sense of these things is a fairly high-inertia construct, one which doesn't really deform much in the presence of exciting new taxonomies. They tend to show me much more about their authors than they do about myself, though as always there are exceptions. It's like seeing a new map of a place you know well, where you're not so much discovering the territory as appreciating a new view of things through the eyes of someone else, a pleasure that follows from an appreciation of the cartographer's choice of framing and the cleverness by which they drew the lines.

The reason I say 'gift' is, most of the benefits of that sorting-hat instinct are front-loaded; a map, any map, is worth it's weight in gold when you're new to someplace. It helps you find a community where you can thrive, it helps you communicate with others and build shared expectations. But especially once you get a little bit more used to things and learn how to get around without a reference sheet, labels are a double-edged sword. There's no perfect label that can really capture a human person, leading to all manner of suffering as we try to conform to the labels we find ourselves carrying, and we can fall down a really deep hole if we start trying to treat those labels as the axioms from which a human is derived.

It also becomes clear, with the benefits of distance, that while a lot of my exertions in label-making felt like introspection at the time, they didn't really manage to be introspection. Introspection, I think, would have been a little more about my identity as a thing-in-itself; after all, it revolves around the question "who am I?" But a curious fact about these identity groups is that they're meant to be comprehensive; every single student at Hogwarts is placed within one of the four Houses. That is, playing around with these things isn't a matter of asking "who am I?", but rather, of describing the society in which we find ourselves, and our relationship to that society. Ruminating about the proper label for ourselves is asking a different question than introspection does: "where do I belong?"

A good chunk of what I thought was self-discovery was, in hindsight, something closer to self-consciousness. Trying to figure out how to be seen, how to be known, how to take up space in a social world where all of those things can be very high-stakes. But I seem to have stumbled in to a degree of equanimity with myself regardless, so I suppose no harm done. Probably you need to chase both lines of inquiry in parallel, but I think it would have helped me at the time to realize that they are fundamentally different questions.

[sleeplesssmoll]

So I've been reading the traces recently and came across a line that seems like it should be important to well at least something but I haven't seen anyone talk about it? Here's the line btw:

It's specifically the "you're imitating the Messiah" Part that's like making me think. So uhh yeah I just wanted to share it.

Sorry if it's a strange thing to send I wanted to see someone else's opinion on it.

Reverse1999 loves to put Vertin in the position of Jesus. We saw this at the end of Chapter 2 where she was sitting in Judas's position and Schneider was in Judas's spot. Arcana calls her "the savior" and describes Vertin in an almost biblical manner whenever she's interacting with her. Even her little Suitcase is called an "ark". However, this instance is a bit different.

Disclaimer, Idk much about religion but I did try to look this bit up because it reminded me of something too. If anyone has more experience in the matter pls feel free to correct me or add on. I will do my best but I might get stuff wrong.

Note: Vertin was placed in a coma because the Foundation wanted her out of the way. This is relevant to the theory.

Here is what I found:

Source

The Jewish high priests were apparently looking for a reason to get rid of Jesus. As the revolutionary leader of a new movement that challenged the religious status quo, he posed a threat to their power. But they couldn’t just take action themselves. Ultimately, sentencing was up to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor at the time. And they needed to provide him with a legal justification for Jesus to be crucified. The trial of Jesus A number of witnesses testified against Jesus before the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court. Although the Gospel of Mark says many of them gave false testimony, Jesus didn’t confirm or deny their accusations. In fact, Jesus remained quiet through most of his trial, refusing to respond to the charges leveled against him. But he did respond to one question. Asked, “Are you the Messiah?” he seemed to admit that he was. Caiaphas, the chief priest, called this blasphemy. And then the others agreed that Jesus should be put to death. 

This trial parallels Vertin's story.

Moving on, this trail is in the chapter where Madam Z is playing ping-pong while trying to convince her friend to vote for her decision. The whole thing is an analogy to referring to how Vertin started off as the simple Timekeeper who kept records of the end of eras and now she plays this pivotal role that is rocking Foundation's core. She is the real ping-ping ball being batted between two factions of the Foundation. She has no say in the matter because she is now an object in a bigger game. Her fate relies on the people around her. Poor little Vertin is always a pawn in someone else's game. I highlighted some bits in red from the trail posted below that helped me put it together in my head. You can see it if you click "Keep reading." I hope this helps!

Also, thanks for giving me a chance to really look at this. I glossed over it the first time but the scene is even more intense now and I have a deeper appreciation for it. Any corrections or additions are welcome cause I'm out of my depth here.

Source: Chapter 4-16 Ball Game

Ping, pong. Ping, pong. Ping pong ping pong ping, pong. Ping. Pong.

An imitation show?

Yes, an imitation show. A ball imitation show, little thing.

You're imitating the Messiah, while I'm imitating an orange ball made of plastic.

Being pushed back and forth by two rackets, I have nowhere else to go. Once they apply a force on me, I can't help bouncing to the sky. 

You can see how the air flows across my dry, wrinkled skin ...

Oh, what a coincidence! Aren't you in the same situation as mine now!

Ha! Look at your frowning face-

Your face wrinkles from the eyebrows to the nose tip, but people can barely see those light furrows. We know what that means. You have a poker face, and it's never your fault.

But for now, your face is not the thing that matters. Well, maybe for someone it is, but still, it's not. You know what really matters?

The game! Yes, it's the game, of course the game matters!

Everyone loves the game. They gather at the stadium, yelling or roaring vehemently. They choose one team to become its fan and spend good money on a team uniform or an autographed ball.

Yet, it's just a ball. You see where I'm coming from?

Just a ball. Its outline, a circle, could be found in any geometry textbook and anywhere in this world. When the first hominid picked up a coconut and threw it to the sky-and caught it—and threw it—and caught it-and threw it again, when she felt joy and yelped, had she ever thought of the future?

The future where a simple ball has become so complicated and enchanting, now we call it the present.

Complicated and enchanting?

Hahahahahaha! Yes, sure! Complicated and enchanting!

Use your silly and smart head to think about this ball game carefully.

The complex scoring rules, the harsh requirements for reactive agility, the countless possible foul points ... Your fingers, your wrists, and arms, a correct way of using them will lead to victory!

What matters more is, like every ball game, it focuses on how you serve the ball and hitting it back.

It's not an easy job as it sounds. When you are in the game, you need to concentrate. Where will the ball come from, and how will you return it to your opponent-you need to figure that out within half a second.

Use your power in a proper way, move your feet in a stable pace, inhale and exhale at the right timings.

Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong. Ping. Pong...

The sound will last forever and ever until that bouncing little thing falls to either side of the court.

[greghatecrimes]

Easter Eggs - In the Dirt Chapter 3

Okay. I have so many of these that I threw in for funsies. I had to have something to keep myself entertained while PVP-ing writer's block for six months xD I'll post my favorites first, just since the list is kind of ridiculously long, lol.

First: the entire funeral section of the chapter is written with the same structure as the first chunk of chapter one. >:) ("Sticky counters under fingertips. The sharp tang of sweat and alcohol..." -> "The stifling scent of artificially perfumed flowers. A dusty Princeton funeral home...")

Now for narration and dialogue. Unless stated otherwise these are just meant to be parallels/nods that we the readers see, not that the characters are explicitly referring to within the story.

"I'm going to die. What difference does it make if it's when I'm still young and healthy, or if it's five years from now when I've lost the ability to walk? To talk?”: This one is meant to be a tonal parallel to Thirteen and House's argument in You Don't Want to Know. ("I might die. So could you, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow. The only difference is you don't have to know about it today, so why should I?")

"Oh, grow up.” House snarls, so sharply that Thirteen feels herself flinch. “It's the same for all of us. Everybody dies. You know damn well that none of us get to do it with any dignity.”: HNNNNFHFSDF this is my favorite one. On my part, it's a reference to both Pilot ("You can live with dignity; we can't die with it") and House's angry, grieving outburst to Thirteen in Dying Changes Everything. ("People die! You, Amber, everyone. Don't act like you just figured that out.") Within the story, House only intended it to be a callback to the latter.

"You'd rather die than let anyone see the real you, because you think you're weak. You think you're pathetic.”: OOSHGSDF THIS IS MY OTHER FAVORITE. Okay. This was meant to be a parallel to my 7x18/5x08 web weave. Specifically House's dialogue with Sophia in Emancipation ("You need people to see how independent you are, how well you're coping. So they won't see the lost, hurt little girl.") (The other parallel to the web weave that I threw in there was Thirteen's later thought of House... what did you do?)

Before you start yelling at me– They're heading down a two-lane road, passing field after field under a dizzyingly wide blue sky, and Thirteen's vision fills with green-green-green– I'm doing this because I care about you.: When I first set up this connection when I was outlining the chapter, I almost fuckin' screamed. BIRTHMARKS. BIRTHMARKS!!!!!!!!! ("I am not doing this because I care.") I drove myself fucking insane with this one. I could write a whole ass post about the parallels between this chapter and parts of Birthmarks, but I think a lot of it will probably end up getting sprinkled into House's POV. (Edit to add: and the drugs. that was ALSO an intentional birthmarks reference. Idk how I forgor the drugs😭)

The rest are under the cut if anyone is curious!

Thirteen asking Foreman "Are you... okay?" at the beginning of their phone call: This was meant to parallel the moment in The Dig when Thirteen asks House the same thing, immediately after finding out that he and Cuddy had been dating but broke up.

“You had me worried for a second there. I thought you were about to show up at my apartment with a dead body or a stab wound.”: A nod to Darrien going to Thirteen for help in After Hours.

"I'm sorry." "Hey, no, don't do that.": Parallel to Remorse, when Foreman apologizes for firing Thirteen in the middle of their argument, and Thirteen snaps, "Don't do that! That's not what this is about!"

"What, did he finally break parole and get arrested or something?": Parallel to an exchange between House and Thirteen in The Dig about Lucas ("You could have at least hired Cuddy's weird boyfriend." "Lucas?" "Mmm-hmm." "You don't know?" "What, is he dead or something?"). Except with the horrible irony of: this time, someone actually is dead. Or something.

“I’m trying... to say that he’s gone. House is gone.” “Excuse me?”: Meant to be a thematic mirror image of a moment between Foreman and Thirteen in The Softer Side ("Do you miss sleeping with women?" "Excuse me?"). Tone-wise and context wise, they are complete opposites. But both times Thirteen reacts to the shock by asking for clarification (because clearly, to her, what she just heard can't possibly be what Foreman intended to say.)

"We've gotta be realistic. He's attempted before.” “Yeah, four years ago!": Reference to House quite literally killing himself (for less than two minutes) via electrocution in 97 Seconds.

"Why the hell did you just give up? What happened to 'killing yourself is never the answer?'”: House is referencing what Thirteen tells their patient in The Softer Side ("No matter how bad things get, killing yourself is never the answer"). He didn't mean it as a reference to Kutner, but it triggers memories for Thirteen of Kutner's suicide.

His words hit her like a sucker punch as memories of a different person– a different time and place, blood coated over her hands and face, cold and thick and copper-crisp– flash before her mind's eye.: Thirteen remembering the moment they discovered Kutner in Simple Explanation. (Also occurs at the end of the chapter when she feels "someone else's blood that drips from her face")

House's jaw drops.  “Charity case?” he demands, incredulous. “After everything I've done, you think that's what this is? A charity case?": lol this was just a nod to the title of the 'House fires Thirteen so she can be happy' episode being Charity Case. Something something House has never seen Thirteen as a charity case something something Thirteen tries to say he does so she can deny emotional involvement/connection.

She'd written out a little speech. Something about spud guns and lesbian bars and the number thirteen...: In-story reference to the events of The Dig and The Choice

Chase's easy grin, Eric's warm hand around her own: Thirteen remembering Last Temptation (Chase grinning and hugging Thirteen when he sees her again for the first time) and Simple Explanation (Thirteen and Foreman holding hands as they watch Kutner's funeral procession)

The cool metal of a spud gun beneath her fingers and House's hand over hers, steadying: That one screen cap from The Dig where Thirteen's aiming the spud gun and House looks like he's supporting her/guiding her through it. Thirteen is remembering that moment.

[lollytea]

in a hypothetical toh/Peter pan au (bc the parallels are interesting to explore) The Collector is probably the closest equivalent to Peter (eternal child who's repressed all their troubles in the name of Fun and Whimsy and has an ambivalent approach to morality) (though keep in mind I'm not a scholar and it's been a while since I last interacted with a pan adaptation. You're the more knowledgeable one here feel free to correct me)

And then Wendy's closest equivalent as the viewpoint character who learns the main lesson about growing up and moving on and while not losing the part of yourself that made childhood seem so wonderful would probably have to be Luz (though obviously if we're going for this lineup then the peter/Wendy dynamic would have to be decidedly not romantic. Probably lean more into the "mother" thing from the book or Luz and Collie's like. Babysitter and baby dynamic)

Though again I'm very interested in what you, Lollytea, local Peter Pan scholar and toh enthusiast has to say and whether or not I'm off the mark on these ideas. P.S I feel very seen w/ u obsessing about an early 1900s western children's Isekai (/j) bc I did the exact same thing w/ the wizard of oz.

Okay okay okay okay okay okay this is a huntlow AU for my little huntlow brain but I decided to develop the universe a little and give some info on where all the main characters currently are and what they're doing.

Yes absolutely the Collector is this universe's version of Peter. The island adores them for mysterious reasons and their mood and temperment has complete control over the elements. All his whims and dreams and fantasies become a reality here so the place is very chaotic. I'm imagining that the island has the same starry sparkly aesthetic as the BL in S3.

The Collector is heaps of fun and the Lost Boys love hanging out with him and going on adventures. However....he's also prone to tantrums and his tantrums can have devastating consequences so.....none of them are really his true friends either. They're afraid of him, they tiptoe around him, they try to keep him happy.

His only real friend is King, a Neverbeast whose species is as ancient as the Island itself. King has a depthless cavern of power that he just....hasn't really developed yet. He might be a few centuries old but he ages similarly to the Collector. Just a pair of babies. Boys will be boys.

Luz is the most recent Lost Boy in a whole village of Lost Boys. You know how they had that epic village in Hook (1991) Yeah that shit was so cool, I'm giving them one of those. Anyway Luz's reasons for taking the Collector's offer are very similar to her reasons for choosing to stay in the BL. Fantasy as a form of escapism, struggling with the conventional education system and also grief and her mom trying to get her help that she doesn't want. It lands her here.

Amity is a girl who used to be frequently visited by a fairy named Willow when they were both little kids. However, Willow's friendship influenced Amity's overzealous imagination. She was drawing pictures of and writing about fairies and the stories her friend told her about Neverland and this got her in trouble with her parents. Cracking under the threat of more severe punishment, Amity got into a huge fight with Willow, ending in her declaring "I don't believe in fairies!" before slamming her window shut. This is the most cutting thing you could possibly say to a fairy.

Now, years later, Amity is residing in the world she tried so hard to forget about all those years ago. You see, she was at the age where her parents were preparing to send her off to finishing school and were having discussions about future arranged marriages. But Amity is not ready for that just yet. She wants to be a teacher!! She wants to be an inventor!!! So she runs away to Neverland where she can live out her dreams for a while until she's ready to return home.

She's currently running a "school" for the Lost Boys and is affectionately referred to as "Miss Amity", while also tinkering in her spare time. She feels very comforted by the order and control she has over her life now.

It's Luz's arrival that throws it all into disarray. Luz doesn't agree with Amity's style of teaching and though she doesn't deliberately try to interfere, a lot of Lost Boys do end up gravitating towards her, preferring her strange anecdotes and insane hyperfixation infodumps to Amity's lessons. This ends up putting the two of them at odds.

Gus is a Lost Boy....with a gift!!! The Collector was initially drawn to Gus because of their fascination with his primative human "Magic" tricks. Cards, coins behind the ear, cute silly stuff like that. He chose to go to Neverland because the stress of his Dad's high expectations was getting to him and he wanted a bit of a break (a case of miscommunication between father and son).

However, after being spirited away, Gus became Neverland's official Magician, knighted by the Collector himself. And by that I mean the Collector went "Haha I like you. I wonder what you could do if you had real magic!" and then proceeded to snap their fingers and gave Gus powers beyond his comprehension. Like waaaaay too much power. Gus is currently struggling to control his new magic and it tends to come out in uncontrollable bursts and its actually more of a curse than a gift. But he's pretty optimistic about his ability to eventually master it. And also the Collector refuses to change him back so....[shrug]

Willow and Gus? Besties. They're kinda like Peter and Tink in that Willow's favourite place to chill is atop Gus' shoulder or in his pocket.

She does not tell Gus about her secret romantic rendezvous with a certain pirate because that pirate tried to kidnap her once and Gus is very protective of his best friend.

Eda is.....a lot.

Okay. Originally a rebellious but insanely intelligent human girl, Eda and her sister were preparing to take on the world together. They were both aiming to attend the same university on a scholarship, but due to circumstances, the opportunity was only available to one of them. Eda's sister Lilith, panicking about all her dreams being ruined, wound up doing something she'd regret.

She snitched. She told a representative of their dream school of one of the delinquent acts Eda committed. Things quickly got out of hand. One person told another, things getting warped and exaggerated and other people who knew Eda personally began chiming in with their opinions of her. Some things were true. Others were not. But the most hurtful thing is that everybody was willing to believe all of it, because that just seemed to be the person Eda was. All of a sudden, it felt like the whole world had turned on her.

Life became very difficult Eda, she felt isolated and detested. She felt like a monster. This resulted in her running away to Neverland, but she carried her outcast feelings with her. She continued to stew in her own self loathing but that had terrible consequences.

Neverland is unpredictable. Its wishy washy. Its very attuned to imagination and dreams. Because Eda felt so strongly about being a monster, she gradually became a monster.

The Owl Beast is like the Crocodile to Belos' Captain Hook. She sees him as a reflection of the way she was treated back home, while he views her as everything vile and disturbing about this wretched island. Plus when he looks in her eyes, she reminds him of somebody he used to know. Somebody he hates with his whole heart and soul. He needs her dead. She needs him dead.

A huge part of Luz's goal in this AU is uncovering the mystery of the Owl Beast and eventually bonding with her and maybe even helping her return to her human form.

Anyway so yeah thats what's poppin on the island if anybody was interested. We can have our fun with this stuff, incorporate it however we want. I'm very focused on huntlow being silly tho. It's fun to me.

[lets-play-pirates]

Ed and drowning imagery

(I’m sorry if this is awkwardly worded. I am not, as you might have guessed, a native speaker of English, and languages are definitely not my forte)

I'm fascinated by the drowning imagery associated with Ed. It's not omnipresent, they don't hit you on the head with it, but it's there nonetheless (or at least I think so).

It's also interesting that, as far as I can tell, this theme is pretty much unique to Ed.

People die in many different ways in OFMD: they get stabbed, they get skewered by their own sword, they burn alive, they get shot, they get a cannonball in the face, they get skinned alive on one memorable occasion (RIP French Captain, you will not be missed), and so on.

The only case I can think of of someone maybe drowning in a death that isn't caused (not directly) by Ed is Ned Low - Stede throws his own fiddle at him, hits him, he falls off the plank, and it's not really clear if it was the blow that killed Low or if he lost consciousness and drowned.

It's possible that some of the partygoers in S01E05 did, but because of the parallel with CJ's story about Ed torching a ship and how the people inside burned alive, I assume that they died in the fire.

Anyway. Ed.

We get the first reference to drowning in S01E04, when he tells Stede what being Blackbeard is like: “It's just fucking hard sometimes, you know? You ever feel trapped? Like you're just treading water? Waiting to drown?”

Then, the Kraken's awakening is heralded by Ed throwing Lucius overboard; Lucius falls into the ocean, and we can hear his terrorized screams and gasps as he tries desperately not to slip underwater.

If you want, you can consider both the shot of Stede's things being dumped into the ocean at Ed's behest and Ed pushing the cake toppers off the ship as two other examples of drowning-related imagery.

The most obvious example of this theme is Ed's coma dream while he's in the gravy basket; he is thrown by his vision of his old captain - the one who, presumably, taught him how to be a pirate - off a cliff and into the ocean, with a rock tied around his waist.

Then, we have Ed trying to sink the Revenge and drown everyone on board, including himself (and I assume that the crew members who are missing after the storm did, indeed, drown).

He regains consciousness as he's sinking deeper and deeper; he tries to free himself but in vain, and he's about to run out of breath when Stede appears.

The rope unties itself, freeing him, but it's interesting that Ed doesn't swim toward the surface, nor does Stede pull him out of the water.

Instead, suddenly, as he realizes that he isn't alone - that he is loved, despite all he's done, that Stede came back for him, that he's begging him not to die, that he’s vowing never to leave him again, that there's still hope, still a future - he finds that he can breathe underwater.

The last example so far is from the beginning of S01E07 when, early in the morning after his first night with Stede, after Stede’s first real kill, Ed bundles up his leathers - Blackbeard’s, and the Kraken’s - in a net, weights them down with a cannonball and drops them into the ocean.

He consigns his old skin, his identity as a pirate, to a watery grave, and wears in their stead Buttons’s old clothes, the clothes of a man who changed himself into a bird in order to be able to properly love his “ocean deep,” because there is a limit to the love he can share with the sea in his current form, like Ed thinks he can’t properly love Stede until he’s gotten rid of this weight pulling him down, of the poison he carries within himself (the atmosphere was poisoned, the soup was poisoned, and it was his actions that brought Ned Low to the Revenge), until he’s found his true form.

How wise this decision is remains to be seen. I know from the screenshots and gifs posted online of the season finale trailer (they don’t air the show where I live, so I couldn't watch the preview) that he’ll soon fish out his leathers again, but how permanent that will be is unclear. We know that he doesn’t want to be a pirate anymore, not like that - he has been trying to find a way to escape this life since before he met Stede - so drowning this symbol of a life he doesn’t want anymore seems understandable, and healthy, at least until he’s found how to wear that skin in a way that won’t hurt him or those around him.

I really don’t know what the point of this all is. I don’t even know if there is a point to begin with - maybe I’m just fixating on nothing - but if there is, I think that the key image of this series of scenes is that of Ed in the gravy basket breathing underwater.

The weight pulling him down is gone and he’s free, and yet he doesn’t have to make his way above the waves. He’s already safe where he is. He is home.

There is no struggle, no desperate rush to reach the surface. The ocean that used to be a threat, that was going to swallow him and devour him as soon as he got too exhausted to tread water and he eventually, inevitably, let go and slip beneath the waves, is now surrounding him, supporting him as he floats peacefully, effortlessly in front of the man he loves.

More than a transformation that has already taken place, it’s a promise.

It’ll take time, more than the season finale will allow him (but, hopefully, he’ll have another season to work on himself).

It’ll take patience, too, and for him to keep examining his own failings, to keep growing, to keep looking at himself - he still has a lot of fishing to do, and the sea monster is still there, maybe a bit less dangerous now that he’s learned to sit with himself and listen, and maybe the kraken is exhausted too, but he’s still lurking in the depths, still a beast - but if he manages to find that strength within himself, he won’t drown.

He won't drown.

He can change his shape, turn himself into an impossible creature, a merman, like Stede in his vision.

(and isn't this season's logo the image of two merman skeletons circling each other?)

[pottedplant53]

Silly Little Theory About Heartslabyul (Contains Mild Spoilers!)

Hello again :3

So I had this thought the other day after writing my theory about Cater (which you can read here if you're interested) about who the Heartslabyul characters are based on.

So all of the Heartslabyul kids (with the exception of Riddle) at first glance seem to be the card soldiers and nothing else – but I think most (if not all of them) have secondary inspirations on top of that, which is what I’ll be speculating on. It seems kind of unlikely that they would base an entire dorm, the largest and first one in the story no less, around what was essentially one ‘villain’. Because let’s be real, no one can name their favourite card soldier.

So in summary, this post is just Heartslabyul brainrot and some observations I've made - Note that I'm pretty far from a Disney expert, and this is all just speculation. Take it with a pinch of salt and enjoy :)

Trey Clover - King of Hearts

The reason that the King of Hearts comes to mind is because of the sort of mediator role both he and Trey play. In Alice in Wonderland, the King is very timid against the Queen and tries his best to calm her down without ever fully standing up to her. It’s clear he cares about her a lot, but is unwilling to call her out on her behaviour, only ever managing to barely fan the flames and clean up her messes (i.e. convincing her to hold a trial for Alice instead of outright beheading her).

This reflects most of Trey’s interactions with Riddle in chapter 1; He cares about him a lot (whether that be platonically or romantically, whatever floats your boat), but is too afraid to confront him about his actions. He tries his best to keep the dorm running smoothly under the oppression, always baking Riddle tarts and trying to talk him out of unnecessarily punishing students who break absurd rules. Don’t quote me on this because I can’t really remember, but I think he also tried to convince Riddle not to behead Ace at one point too???

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Ace Trappola - Alice

A lot of people seem to agree that Ace draws some inspiration from Alice. From their names sounding similar, to their shared disregard for things and people they find annoying or unfair, it isn’t difficult to see why so many have come to this conclusion.

What’s more is that they both stood up to their rulers (The Queen and Riddle) and both have a penchant for sneaking off and getting into trouble. I’m referring to Ace’s ceremonial vignette, in which he grabs Epel and sneaks out of orientation in case that wasn’t clear. It’s also mentioned repeatedly that Ace has an older brother who teaches him a lot of things, much like Alice’s older sister does. They both do whatever they can to get out of things they don’t want to do – Alice snuck away from her lesson and Ace refused to clean windows. There’s probably a lot more, but that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.

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Cater Diamond - Cinderella

Most people have already heard of this one before, so I’ll keep it brief. Cater shares some major parallels with Cinderella that aren't too hard to spot. Like I mentioned before, I wrote a small theory about Caterella which I linked earlier for anyone who wants to read it :D

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Deuce Spade - I honestly have no idea

I’ve thought about it for ages and aside from his card soldier counterpart, I can’t think of anything that makes sense (T⌓T). If you have any theories or even any nonsensical, unorganized thoughts about who Deuce might be based on, please let me know :3

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. I've finally found a medium to share my brainrot (tumblr) on and I'm never stopping so prepare yourself for an onslaught of shitty TWST theories with minimal organisation-