#and my current theory is that my posts are too... frequent?

[gibbearish]

so this post has been made unrebloggable now (shocker) but ive been feeling the need to address it since i saw it on my dash multiple times, so let's explore how lying on the internet works. more specifically, how blending truth, lies, and omissions to whip uninvolved people into anger works, because i think this is an excellent example and that pointing out the misinformation and the tactics used to spread it here is important, both in correcting the specific falsities but also in helping recognize similar tactics in the future.

so here we have several things that are technically true: staff has been very openly shitty to trans women for a long time and them banning predstrogen is clearly part of that, there is currently a movement regarding discussing transmisandry/transandrophobia, transmisogyny and transphobes sending transphobic asks is by far nothing new, and baeddel is/was a slur. however, among all of this are half-truths, unprovable speculation, or outright lies made to make you believe these events are originating specifically from transmascs.

firstly, the transandrophobia movement has been drastically misrepresented here in the same way it has been for the whole argument, "they're just trans MRAs" has been repeated so many times now that i'm gonna be hearing it in my dreams when i'm 80. i can understand not being willing to address the nuance of that whole discourse in one post that isn't directly focused on that, i'm certainly not, but in this example it's not unwillingness to address a complicated topic, it's a deliberate misrepresentation to frame one side of the discussion as The Evil Bad Ones That Can't Be Trusted. additionally, this post IS about that discourse and is just pretending it isn't to mislead a wider audience, so refusing to address it at all beyond this brief mention is deliberately misleading people about the goals of the group because They're The Other Side Of The Discourse. "transmisogynists" is used as a buzzword here, it doesn't actually refer to Anyone Who Hates Transfemmes, it refers to Transmascs Who Discuss Transmasc-Specific Oppression Using A Word They Coined To Point Out That Queer Spaces Have A Big Problem With Masculinity and just. doesn't tell you that's what it means, relying on the structure and framing of the post to create the Transmisogynist = Transmasc association in the audience's head so op doesn't have to say it outright (and of course the implied Transmasc = Transmisogynist association that follows because creating THAT association is the Actual Point of this post). the mentions of transmascs in this post are designed to look like afterthoughts, op says "typically those who espouse transandrophobia" to make it look like they're saying there's other people they're referring to here too, but almost everything in this post draws from the transandrophobia discourse. some random cis transphobe in texas has never heard the term baeddel in their entire life much less used it in a debate about transphobia, this is an intercommunity argument through and through, but op is trying to mask the fact that they're just referring to "transmascs who disagree with me specifically" and make it look like it's part of a wider trend. and again, i'm not going to go into the nuances of transandrophobia here, but i highly recommend reading some of the theory on it by @nothorses (x) and @genderkoolaid (x) because the "theyre just trans MRAs" argument kinda just collapses under its own weight as soon as you look into it even a smidgen. i've linked a couple broad overviews there but they both discuss it frequently and in-depth, specifically nothorses has a pinned post linking to many different discussion threads that i would recommend checking out if you do want to learn more about what the actual conversation surrounding these words is.

so, after framing the movement this way, they go on to say that the reason predstrogen was banned wasn't /just/ because staff has a long and established hate boner for trans women, but because the transandrophobia movement was teaming up with TERFs to mass-report her and other transfemmes, and implies that this is part of a deliberate conspiracy between Transandrophobia Truthers™, TERFs, and staff. you'll notice that there are no, say, screenshots of transmascs saying theyre deliberately reporting her or of that they're working with TERFs, behind-the-scenes lists of people who reported a certain account, or any evidence for this beyond "she was a trans woman, they're trans men who hate trans women, she got banned, so these must be related". which i find especially funny now given that photomatt has continued melting down about this since it happened and made it pretty clear it yknow. was just part of staffs ongoing hate campaign against trans women that has been going on much longer than the transandrophobia debate? and that maybe the fact that The Literal CEO is having a personal meltdown about this might explain where that could be coming from or at least why it's been allowed to continue for so long, moreso than any individual users reporting someone could? but i digress.

who reported what account is completely unprovable as a casual user unless people directly admit they did it, so to bring it up like this begs the question of what actual reasoning they have for saying it beyond trying to tie a current display of bigotry into an unrelated discourse. that's not to say it's impossible people who discuss transandrophobia were wrongfully reporting her, because again, thats something we have no way of knowing, and the internet is a shit place so i wouldn't be surprised. but given the circumstances and the rest of the lies here, i have my doubts about this being an actual yknow. Thing That Happened rather than just another lie to make people mad at transmascs. now one could make the argument that op wasn't saying transmascs are /deliberately/ teaming up with TERFs/staff, that "teaming up" was just a poor choice of words to refer to multiple groups who happen to have the same goals in mind at the same time but aren't actually coordinating with one another, but given the deliberate misinformative slant of the rest of the post and the overall phrasing in this section, i have trouble extending that grace. regardless, however, that doesn't change that who is reporting who isn't something verifiable, so stating it here as a confirmed fact is disingenuous at the absolute best, and a lie chosen specifically because it's unprovable at worst. if op /does/ have proof that transmascs have been teaming up with TERFs to get trans women banned, not including that with this post is just uhhhhh dumb, and if op /doesn't/ have proof then Why Would You Go Around Telling People That's What Happened Unless You Were Lying To Them On Purpose With Ulterior Motives.

next, op goes on to discuss the rise of the term baeddel. now as i said before, the truth here is that it certainly was a slur and certainly can still be used as one, again the internet is a shit place so i would be a fool if i tried to say "no one is using this as a slur". however, this is once again a drastic misrepresentation of the situation. baeddel's rising use is due to certain trans women reclaiming it and aligning themselves with the original group's politics, namely that femininity is good and masculinity is bad (aka terfism 101), with the added caveat that by abandoning femininity for masculinity, transmascs are evil and betraying devine womanhood and their community by putting more Evil Manhood into the world. of course that in turn is a drastic oversimplification of their politics and i highly recommend checking out this post with an actual in-depth exploration of the history (and without my added flavor), but the important part to note here is that this is not a term transmascs just Started Using one day because they hate transfems so very much as is implied here, its use is directly tied to a group of people saying "hello, here is what i am, and here is what this word means about what i believe," so others went "ok, these specific beliefs are called this." bringing up the fact that it historically was a slur is misdirection here, when you look closer this is almost a 1 to 1 translation of TERFs crying that TERF and radfem are slurs because People Don't Like Their Politics And Therefore Them, so the name for their politics is used negatively, so therefore it's a slur. that argument just has a little more oomph behind it this time because It Was A Slur Originally. and again, that isnt to say no one is now using it as a slur, the rate of decay for online discourse is ridiculous so it being boiled down to and used as "evil transfemme" has certainly already happened, but to act like /every/ use of it is a slur is literally just a lie, when you self-identify with a term based on your shared politics with the original group then you do not get to claim everyone using that term to describe those politics is doing so exclusively to attack you. also this part is entirely speculation but given that op's url is basically just. baeddel switched around to dae bel, i would hazard a guess that they perhaps are indeed aware of the origins of its re-use? but again, that's entirely unprovable and based just on wordplay, but like. given the Everything here i wouldn't be surprised. now, there's definitely an argument to be made about calling users baeddels based just off of their politics when they don't personally self-identify with it, if that constitutes calling someone a slur and if TIRF should be used instead, but crucially, that is not the argument being made here. the argument being made is "ANY AND ALL use of this term is calling someone a slur," and that literally just Isn't The Case.

finally, to tie the whole post off, op reminds us 1) if you hear anything bad about any trans woman ever, it's probably a lie to make her look bad, and 2) if you hear anyone say anything about transandrophobia, disregard everything else they have to say because they hate trans women. not "be critical of the things you see or get sent" or "be on the lookout for things following a certain pattern," a unilateral "anything bad is probably fake and anyone who uses the bad words is probably evil." that is not something someone does if they are genuinely trying to raise awareness of an ongoing trend, that is what someone does when they want you to turn your brain off and be mad at a group no matter what they say.

so yeah, in summary, do be critical of the things you see and be on the lookout for certain patterns, because sometimes people will just Lie to you. or, sometimes people will tell you portions of the truth while leaving out crucial bits so that you'll come to the conclusion they want without anyone being able to say they lied to you without typing up a thirty paragraph long hell post. transmisogyny is absolutely a problem on this site and there are 100% valuable conversations to be had about it and its presence within the trans community, but this post is not that. this post uses real transmisogyny and the wrongful termination of a trans woman's account as set dressing to say that it was all because of evil transmascs who run the trans community behind the scenes conspiring to take out transfemmes, so you should ignore anything they have to say because All of it is secretly motivated by transmisogyny. they're never discussing transandrophobia because it's something that actually effects them, they're doing it to hurt trans women by saying they have it worse. they're never telling you about shitty things a trans woman did to spread awareness, they're lying to make her look bad, or even if it's true they're only talking about it as part of a hate campaign because she's trans, they wouldn't care otherwise. they're never using a specific term because People Use That Term For Themselves, they're calling someone a slur because they hate trans women. there's always an explanation you can think up that ties it back to transmisogyny, and op says that instead of assessing all of what someone says and the context behind it to determine if that's what's happening, you should assume transmisogyny is the answer and refuse to engage any further as soon as you see a word you've been told is bad.

this post is discourse recruitment masquerading as a public service announcement that doesn't offer you any routes to actually learn more about what's going on, it just tells you Here's What's Happening, Here's Who's Evil And Should Be Ignored, And If You Disagree You're Also Evil And Should Be Ignored. content of the actual post aside, i think anything framed that way should be taken with a MASSIVE grain of salt and this would have raised my alarm bells even if i wasn't already pretty familiar with the arguments, people who genuinely want you to know something just because it's good to know will give you options to learn more or encourage you to actually use your critical thinking to assess things, not tell you to sit down and shut up and ignore anyone who disagrees with them.

anyways i guess tldr

[sapphoswh0re]

A Kuroshitsuji theory about the emerald witch arc

I've never posted something like this and English isn't my main language but I just wanted to share some thoughts with other fans, so please let me know what you think about this :)

We are in the dream in chapters 93-95, and could these scenes hide clues about the future/role of certain characters???

Who are the pieces on the chessboard?

(Maybe a big foreshadowing about the most recent chapters????)

What pieces are present for each group?

Black: 1 king, 1 horse/knight, 1 rook*, 3 pawns

White: 1 queen, 1 horse/knight, 1 bishop, 1 rook*, 2 pawns

*I'm almost sure it's a rook because it's the only piece left and the other shapes wouldn't really fit.

First, let's include a bit of symbolism for each piece. (Full article: https://chessquestions.com/chess-pieces-symbolism-shape/)

After looking at the various characters that Yana linked to the pieces it was super interesting to re-read their role/symbolism and try to understand the reasons behind those placements.

Later two mirrored panels appear and they indicate that certain pieces represent certain characters.

Ok that was easy.

But what about the others?

And we know that Yana doesn't do things randomly, so what could be the reason for certain choices?

Let's see the theory little by little…

White:

▪︎ BISHOP -> Joker

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Doll

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ?

▪︎ ROOK -> ?

▪︎ HORSE -> ?

▪︎ QUEEN -> ?

▪︎ ?

Black:

▪︎ ROOK -> Vincent

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Madame red

▪︎ KING -> ?

▪︎ HORSE -> ?

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ?

▪︎ PAWN 3 -> ?

4 of them are revealed by Yana herself and two more are quite obvious: O!Ciel is the black king and Sebastian the black knight.

These two symbolisms are often used both in the first chapters and in the anime.

Furthermore, it is mentioned in the same chapter:

O!Ciel is frequently shown as the "black king" but in the chapter we can see him standing in front of the king, he covers part of it and it's as if he is the one wearing the crown.

R!Ciel is leaning on the horse when he says that Ciel is scared to look at the "proof of sin" which is a clear reference to Sebastian. Also, on the chessboard in the first picture, we find the horse close to O!Ciel.

Ok, perfect, now the hypotheses and spoilers for the latest released chapters begin.

I start with two characters who are shown in the chapter but not as chess pieces: Rachel and R!Ciel.

Rachel is not present in the second picture but is always shown next to Vincent (in this chapter too) so I think she could be the pawn seen in the first photo in the box G8.

For R!Ciel, however, the question is a little different because we actually know which piece he represents even if that piece is not shown on the board.

R!Ciel is the white king, this not only because he's O!Ciel's twin but because it's shown to us by Yana through the way he moves.

This picture is super helpful to understand where the characters are positioned and how they move.

We can see him (blue dot) standing on C3 in a scene, then he moves until he's on F2 (the X), standing in front of the black horse (G2, red dot).

I found it interesting how the way he moves is almost underlined with zooms and sparkles: first, a single step obliquely (in D2) and then another single step.

We don't actually know if the move was C3->D2->E2->F2 or C3->D2->E3->F2 but the important thing is that he moves in multiple directions but only one step at a time, and this is a main feature of the king in chess.

So what is the situation now?

White:

▪︎ BISHOP -> Joker

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Doll

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ?

▪︎ ROOK -> ?

▪︎ HORSE -> ?

▪︎ QUEEN -> ?

▪︎ (KING -> R!Ciel)

Black:

▪︎ ROOK -> Vincent

▪︎ PAWN 1 -> Madame red

▪︎ KING -> ? (O!Ciel)

▪︎ HORSE -> ? (Sebastian)

▪︎ PAWN 2 -> ? (Rachel?)

▪︎ PAWN 3 -> ?

I'm not actually interested in the black pieces at the moment so let's focus on the rest.

Looking at the situation that has been created with the return of the real Ciel and other characters recently, do we perhaps have some clues about the current factions???

Both R!Ciel and Doll returned as bizarre dolls, so could we consider the whites their side or at least a side that is O!Ciel's enemy?

Then we can now guess who the white horse is in my mind.

Why do I think that Undertaker is the white horse?

He has a somewhat similar role to that of Sebastian for O!Ciel, albeit distorted.

They're both the "knight" to their "kings", someone who stays by their side (white horse in B4, really close to the white king in C3) and provides support and strategy, I don't know but it just made sense to me.

What about the white queen?

OK, now it's going to get a bit crazy.

Let's look down again where the white queen and black knight are shown, and let's see what is said.

“Nothing will hurt you here” is referred to O!Ciel, so who could be a threat to him?

Sebastian, of course (in that same moment in the manga he was trying/considering eating him, his goal is to devour Ciel's soul at the end) but is also shown the white queen???

A queen who could hurt him?

Yeah so I think it represents Queen Victoria. Why?

My theory is that on the chessboard she is part of O!Ciel's enemy faction (she is not R!Ciel's ally at the moment and she wasn't involved with the blue cult arc since Undertaker despises her lol) because she could be connected with the events of the twins’ tenth birthday.

There are too many coincidences about 14 of December: Prince Albert's death, the twins’ birth, the attack. A lot of theories here on tumblr explain it really well.

And the other pieces? I don't think it's too crazy to assume that all 4 stars may be present on the board: Sirius, Vega, Canopus and Polaris.

2 of them are already there-> Sirius (both Ciel) and Canopus (Doll).

We now know that Vega is Layla, so she could be PAWN 2 or the ROOK based on her future role/importance(??)

Polaris has yet to be revealed but I believe it could be Joker who is already the white BISHOP, an important piece who is however not linked to the royal court but to a different master, who in his case is Baron Kelvin.

For my first post, it got waaay too long, so maybe I should explain in different posts all my theories on the queen's role, Polaris' identity, etc.

I hope it wasn't too chaotic 😅

[misskattylashes]

Okay, I’m going to do it. I have been holding back and just telling my closest fandom friends my crazy theory, but what the hell. Most of you think I’m batshit anyway.

Here we go.....

What if we have been on the receiving end of a long played out psyop and Louise has been a way to make the public want Milex?

Okay, hear me out...

It’s 2017/8 Alex has abandoned Miles after EYCTE. He has gone to France to write and record TBHC, having realised their little TLSP bubble could never last (see Star Treatment). Without Alex, Miles is a little lost and lonely in LA. His reputation is also at rock bottom after the journalist incident. Miles decides he wants to move back to England, and Alex decides he wants to move back to, as we know they can never be more than a few minutes away from each other

Taylor either wouldn’t or couldn’t leave LA, so she and Alex break up. But they need a new girlfriend to keep up the straight image (especially with the new badly-received album and a world tour about to begin). On the original version of OPP as seen on the AM in Mexico video, over the turtle segment Alex sings ‘One More Year I’ll Call It Quits’ maybe the plan was to give it all up,but he had signed a contract to do another album and tour after TBHC, and with Miles’ reputation so bad, if they were together then they would both be cancelled.

So a European girlfriend is found and this is where the subterfuge begins. We start with old Instagram posts with tags like #alexturnerwillyoumarryme, then we get professionally shot videos of her backstage at AM’s concert (all the time Alex is ‘still with’ Taylor) so as soon as they launch, the first image of Louise the public get is a negative one, as a fangirl who has set out to get Alex, not caring if he cheats in his current girlfriend.

Before I list the reasons why I think she is fake, can I say this idea he has stayed with her as punishment for cheating on Taylor is absolutely ridiculous. Men who are serial cheats aren’t known for wearing hairshirts. Especially when you’re a handsome, wealthy rock star who could easily get another girlfriend.

So, the idea is, Louise is the most unpleasant person who makes Alex miserable, and if most people are honest, they want Alex to be happy..

So, let’s look at the evidence..(where there is a * it means there is a Miles counterside)

Louise doesn’t work. She claims to be a feminist, but her job seems to be being Alex’s girlfriend.

She openly copies selfies posed by previous girlfriends, making her look like she has no personality of her own

She boasts in her IG posts ie the ‘we just fucked’ pic and the panties on the piano.

She claims to be a musician but we rarely see her writing or recording anythjng.*

She writes embarrassing things about itAlex on social media (beautiful dick).*

Openly takes a neutral stance on Palestine.

Claims to wear vintage clothes but they rarely are*

When Alex was ill after the third London show, it is publicised that he leaves the Emirates with his parents, no sign of Louise. She’s too busy taking pics in the hotel with Matt and Amanda

Meanwhile Miles has worked hard on his public image. He has shown he is a hard worker. He rarely mentions Alex on social media and when asked about him in interviews, whilst admitting they are good friends, is insistent they are not working together. Which is good because he has always been accused of riding on Alex’s fame.

He frequently gives updates when he his writing and recording, treating us to little snippets, something Louise never does.

Is it a coincidence that holiday gate is the same as the week One Man Band’s release. Alex looking miserable with Louise Vs Miles being charming and hard working.

Not long after Louise starts going on about her fake vintage, Miles posts a whole real of him going proper vintage shopping so he looks authentic.

Even in Dublin there is no duet with Alex. Miles not using Alex’s,fame,but also those who monitor social media can see how hungry they are for Milex interaction.

The river Mersey comment – another way of guaging public opinion. Finally the legion of doom 😍😍 comment on the NY recent. The fandom went crazy at Milex acknowledgement.

Alex....

His face..Alex is a pro. He has had twenty years of faking smiles after arguments with the other Monkeys, girlfriends, even Miles. He could fake a smile with Louise if we wanted to when they call their friends at Backgrid to take pap pictures. But instead he chooses to look like someone either on the verge of tears or else being held hostage. And in the latest set of pics, Louise looks the same.

The Taylor tattoo....it looks like he thinks so little of her he has kept that tattoo.

‘I don’t wanna be hers, I wanna be yours’ quite often at gigs where Louise is in attendance.

Not one song on the car written about her.

And now of course with the tour over, a lot of people return to watching TLSP videos. Happy, muscly, healthy looking Alex having fun with Miles as opposed to skinny, miserable Alex trapped with Louise.

Apart from Louise’s most ardent fans, most people want to see him away from her and would be overjoyed at a TLSP reunion, and for us Milexers, a declaration of their love.

So, has this been a long game? A way of making the people think they want Milex? I told you it was crazy, but just remember the world of public relations is completely underhand and insane.

[venussaidso]

who tf do ketu men frequently date? 🧍🏼

so i decided to check the charts of ex/current partners of some selected well known ketu men.

See, Timothee Chalamat having dated Rahu and Jupiter girls kinda validates my theory of Ketu men going for these planetary archetypes. I also see Moon and Mercury nakshatra women.

He dated Shatabhisha ASC, Vishakha Moon Lourdes Leon. Was with Eiza Gonzalez who has Shravana Sun & a possible Purva Bhadrapada Moon. His iconic pairing with Lily Rose Depp who's Rohini Sun & Swati Moon and Vishakha ASC. And finally Kylie Jenner -- Ashlesha Sun, Swati Moon.

Avan Jogia, who is Ashwini Moon, is dating Punarvasu Moon Halsey -- and she also has Hasta Sun AND Swati ASC. He's also dated Zoey Deutch who is a Vishakha Sun. He dated Swati Sun Cleopatra Coleman. He had a thing with Vishakha Moon Miley Cyrus 💀

Ben Barnes, who is Ashwini Moon & Magha Sun, dated Ardra Moon Tamsin Egerton. Then Shatabhisha Moon Felicity Jones. And also Vishakha ASC AND Hasta Moon Julianna Hough.

Possible Magha Moon Robert Sheehan with his long-time girlfriend Revati Sun Sofia Boutella.

Idris Elba's -- who's Magha Moon -- current wife is a Punarvasu Sun AND a Jyestha Moon mwahaha.

Ashwini Moon Benedict Cumberbatch's wife is a Purva Bhadrapada Sun AND Rohini Moon.

Ashwini Moon Michael C. Hall's first wife had Revati Moon, name's Amy Spanger. Then he married Jyestha Sun Jennifer Carpenter who ALSO has Punarvasu Moon and a Hasta ASC.

Ashwini Moon Matt Dillion had dated Vishakha Moon Denise Richards. Also Punarvasu native Cameron Diaz. And I believe his recent partner is Vishakha Moon Roberta Mastromichele. He'd dated Ashlesha ASC, Swati Moon and Shravana Sun Heather Graham.

Magha Moon Paul Wesley was married to Hasta Moon Torrey DeVitto. He was also engaged to Punarvasu native Phoebe Tonkin.

Ashwini Sun Machine Gun Kelly (who also dated Punarvasu native Halsey), was with Ashlesha Moon Megan Fox. Daniel Day Lewis' wife is a Revati Moon. Cilian Murphy, who I also believe to be Ketuvian, is married to a Jyestha Moon woman. Christian Bale's -- who's Ashwini Moon -- wife may have Revati Sun (she may also be Ashwini Sun if she was born past noon).

And Ketu men also go for Ketu women. Justin Trudeau's wife is an Ashwini Sun. Machine Gun Kelly dated Ashwini native Amber Rose.

Ashwini Moon Milo Ventimiglia's wife, Jarah Mariano, is a Jyestha Moon. He's dated Ashwini Moon Alexis Bledel and also Hayden Panettiere who's also an Ashwini Moon with Magha Sun.

Ashwini Moon Boris Kodjoe's wife, Nichole Ari Parker, is a Mula Moon with a Hasta Sun.

Magha Sun Andrew Garfield was with Magha ASC, Swati Sun and Hasta Moon Emma Stone. He also dated Mula Sun Shannon Woodward. He'd been with Ashwini Sun and Vishakha Moon Phoebe Dynevor. Also Ardra Sun Alyssa Miller. He got on with Ashlesha Asc & Purva Bhadrapada Moon Rita Ora too.

Mula Sun, and confirmed Ashwini Moon, Jared Leto, had dated Vishakha Moon Scarlett Johansson. Then Ashley Olsen who is literally a Magha Moon with Ashlesha ASC. He'd been with Punarvasu ASC Cameron Diaz. He was also linked with Ardra Sun Lindsey Lohan. Had an iconic love struck moment with Shatabhisha Sun, Hasta Moon Lupita Nyong'o. I think Valery Kauffman too who's Rohini Sun and Shravana Moon. Reminder that he's a Krittika Asc, he's a Sun nakshatra and my god he's got a running list of hookups I can't deal with right now so Valery is where it ends. It's honestly giving Leonardo DiCaprio lmfao who's also a Sun nakshatra (can't stand solar males💀).

If I stumble on more Ketu men, I'll probably keep editing this post. But there's a pattern here. It's Rahu, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Ketu nakshatras that frequently pop up in the women they date. Honorable mentions are Sun and Mars nakshatras. Seriously, I find this fascinating.

[matan4il]

Most of the time, I don't bother talking about the hate and harassment I get, because I don't think haters deserve the attention. The person I'm gonna write about definitely doesn't deserve any, but they've started harassing others that I know of, not just me.

So this is basically a warning post for Jewish bloggers and bloggers who are allies to Jews, and a request for anyone who can, to report and block this person (if you want to warn other bloggers, then please consider a reblog, too). @staff, This is also for you, proof of a pattern of harassment and abuse. Please do something and protect your Jewish users and their allies.

They first commented here, denying the antisemitism of Hamas, with the url @grizzlyismyspiritanimal and they seem to change their url quite frequently. For now it's @fancowboy but expect that to change again. Since IDK if Tumblr will let the mention (@'ing their url) hyperlink to their blog, here's how you can check out what their current url is, so you can report and block them. Go to this post where they're tagged as @grizzlyismyspiritanimal and hover your mouse over their url, you'll see their blog pop up no matter what new url they changed to. Here's a screenshot of what that looks like:

Here's their first comment on my post, along with my reply. Tumblr arranges these comments with the oldest at the bottom, click to see the image better:

Of course they never provided a link sourcing their claim, instead they provided a link to an op ed, which was not written by anyone affiliated with Hamas. This link did not support their claim that "Hamas specifically stated," but that didn't stop them from ignoring the fact that they couldn't prove their claim. Next, they repeated an already refuted antisemitic conspiracy theory (and I linked them to a refuting source, which they just ignored), while using strawmen arguments (attacking statements I didn't make). Obviously, none of this addresses the point actually made in the post they were commenting on.

When I called them out on the antisemitism of their whole narrative, they pulled the "I can't be antisemitic, because I'm Jewish" line of defense, while also bragging in the same comment about not going the easy route by doing that:

I no longer believe people who say antisemitic things, and then use this defense, after several have been proven to have lied about being Jewish, but more importantly, and this is the point I made to @fancowboy, Jews are not immune to internalizing antisemitism, and repeating antisemitic narratives. But I was curious whether there was any sign of this person having any sense of a significant Jewish identity on their blog. When I went on there, one of the first posts I came acorss was an antisemitic one, claiming that Jews have stolen the Star of David from the Muslims... I know there are a lot of anti-Zionist Jews out there, and that many of them are very capable of saying antisemitic things, but I don't think even they would endorse this false claim.

What's ironic is that the post shares a screenshot from Wikipedia, which explicitly mentions that this Muslim kingdom that existed in the 13th century AD (roughly 700 years ago), adopted the six-pointed star, due to the Muslim belief that it was a symbol on the ring ("seal") of King Solomon, a Jewish king who lived about 3,000 years ago. In other words, this post literally points out that Muslims borrowed this symbol from Jews, not the other way around. And just for historical interest, the first archeological find of Jews using the Star of David is dated to the 6th century BC (around 2,600 years ago).

I pointed out to @grizzlyismyspiritanimal / @fancowboy that I no longer believe they're Jewish, because I don't believe any Jew would reblog this antisemitic lie. In response, not long after, this "I'm not a coward" and "you would've blocked me (aka fanatic)" person blocked me. Instead of addressing what I said, or taking responsibility for their wrongdoing, and deleting this antisemitic post. Our exchange started on Jan 5 IIRC, this post was reblogged by them on Jan 4, and as of Jan 25 it is still on their blog, as you can see here (post and current date highlighted in this screenshot):

A minute after they blocked me from the above blog, they commented on my pinned post with links to my fandom content from another blog, @verygardenerland and this comment made it clear that it was the same person. I made a mistake, I wanted my fandom space free from antisemitic harassment, so I deleted that comment, which means I don't have that piece of evidence that it's the same person, but I do have another bit of proof. Remember how this person claimed to be Jewish? This is how they presented it:

(again, using a strawmen, I never said all Muslims are terrorists, and never would, because it's simply not true, and if anyone made that claim to me, I would be correcting them)

Well, this is the VERY similar way @verygardenerland talked about their supposed Jewish identity, in a post they made solely to harass and DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) me:

Jews were almost completely ethnically cleansed from Muslim majority countries, so the likelihood of a random online stranger being a Jew from a Muslim country is generally incredibly low to almost non-existent, and two who just so happen to both harass me on my blog one minute apart is probably less statistically likely than winning the lottery.

It's poetic irony that the one comment the above post got from another blogger, is someone else also calling this person out on the antisemitism of what they're saying:

Gotta love the bonus misogyny with "bitch."

I'm also going to offer you this following antisemitic comment (which distorts the Holocaust, and refers to Jews insultingly as "the chosen ones"), which I also don't believe any person with an actual Jewish identity would make:

And here's also one of the last comments this person made from @fancowboy before blocking me on that blog and continuing from @verygardenerland. Just notice how we have the same antisemitic abuse themes from both of these blogs:

Once more, extra touch of misogyny with "that much of a pussy."

(I have to address the white phosphorus claim. There are 2 ways of using it in battle, one legal, the other's not. Israel stated that when using it, that's only in the legal way. There is no record to show the contrary. People just exploit the fact it's used, to pretend it's automatically illegal. But I accept this is an antisemitic libel against the Jewish state, that sadly some Jews might repeat. The rest is what makes me think this person isn't Jewish)

@verygardenerland noticed I write fandom meta, and harassed me on these posts. Here's one example:

Then they searched related tag/s, and proceeded to harass me by calling me names in comments they left on random posts from other fandom members. These are posts that had nothing to do with me. One of the people on whose post they were calling me a Nazi is someone I have never even spoken to. The OP deleted the harassing comment, but this time I did get a screenshot before that, so here it is, as an example:

Now, on top of all of the above, @verygardenerland also started stalking my main blog at the same time they made their first comment from this url, as well as my two back up blogs. One's last post was on Mar 2022, the other's on Apr 2021, so it's completely pointless to follow them, other than as an intimidation tactic:

And they sent me anon hate. The thing is, they made it explicitly clear through what they said and the language they used, that it's them. They sent more than one message, but the one I'll attach here was obviously meant to freak me out the most, because it falsely starts out as a fandom ask, and then transitions into abusive language, as well as telling me there's more blogs they're stalking me from, basically making it clear that even if I block this url, I'll still not be safe from their stalking and abuse:

From a certain point on, I told them that whenever they make a comment to me, all I'll do is just remind them repeatedly that they're an antisemite, which is exactly what I've kept to. That's when I even bothered to respond. I postponed blocking their second blog, 'coz I wanted to put this post together first. Now I'm done with them.

To wrap this up, here are some final screenshots of their antisemitic abuse, how they obsessively comment on my posts, or posts that in their mind are related to me, and how they have started directly addressing random people who are commenting on my posts, telling them not to talk to "it," meaning they're also using de-humanizing language when referring to me, and of course once more employing the DARVO tactic by accusing me of that which they're guilty of:

My activity feed yesterday:

And not just yesterday. Love the bonus hateful language towards those who are disabled...

And this is just one of their comments on a post simply mourning the death of Israeli soldiers, and putting it in the context of multi-generational Jewish trauma:

To summarize again, please:

report and block this person

reblog this post if you feel comfortable to, in order to warn others

@staff please do something to stop the abuse. Thank you in advance!

[orfisheus]

An elaborate thoughtpiece on the recent state of EW

With the recent Youtooz announcement, I've been having a lot of thoughts regarding Eddsworld and the rumors about them returning Tord back to EW canon, so consider this a dump?? (For clarity's sake, the IRL people will be referred with their name and last initial. :])

I'd like to preface this by stating that I wouldn't mind the character coming back, as long as there's consent with Tord L. I'd assume that they would do this with the full intent of respecting his boundaries, so I'll give that the benefit of the doubt.

My issue, however, comes with HOW they're doing it. We are all aware that they've been teasing the episode, first with their post teasing their scriptwriting, and then Matt H. on Twitter confirming something big is coming with whatever they're working on next. Along with the YouTooz release and the removal of the Tord FAQ, it's very likely that this is what they're teasing. And yeah, that's fairly big news. The return of a fan favorite character who had a major impact on the plot? That would shift the current trajectory of their presentation and of the fandom. But, in regards to the fandom, they're aware he's a fan favorite. Want a quick buck? Be it for a charity or for themselves, he's the perfect tool to weaponize. Especially with a prevalent neurodivergent population in the fandom, he's especially easy to use. These fans will be dedicated, and they will buy it. I've seen multiple people say that they would for this sole reason. In no way is this a jab at any neurodivergent folks. I hope y'all enjoy your figurine. I would too. However, it ties into my next point. The dedicated fanbase that Eddsworld has isn't all too dedicated to the actual episodes. Look at content creators on tumblr. A majority have created their own elaborate AUs or headcanons so estranged from the own canon that the real canon holds little value. As each episode comes out, it will gain minute traction, only to swiftly be buried in the sea of fan-derivative content. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't aware of this. In their comment sections on Instagram, oftentimes people will post GIFS of older episodes. Nothing to say about current content. Just GIFs. There's no drive for people to consume this media outside of their already preestablished footholds. So, how can people say something? How to bring in the quiet masses? Give them what they want. Give them Tord.

I made a theory a few days back with my friends. If a piece of media's lore has people begging for more, you'll likely see more AUs, more explorations of the characters outside of canon. I've seen this frequently when shows were coming out. The Owl House, for example, had budding fan theories and prevalent fan works and creators, such as moringmark, who played with fan theories as the show came out, exploring the potential the narrative had. However, by the time it ended, and the story was satisfactorily brought to its conclusion, this content diminished. Audience members felt fulfilled. When people aren't fulfilled, they ask for more. They make more. In this vein lies Miraculous Ladybug, a show known for egregious writing, to the point where content creators have basically transformed the entire show, disregarding a lot of the lore and establishing their own. Unfortuantely, with Eddsworld's current trajectory, the trend of AUs and headcanons feels more aligned with the latter rather than the former.

Another issue that's been plaguing my mind is narratively how his return would work. From the fandom, I've seen a few conflicting perspectives. Some people enjoy him as a villain/antagonist, whilst others prefer him as a member of the main crew. It would be impossible to satisfy both sides. Do they regard The End or not? And if so, how would they treat his facial scars and potential amputation? Ableism has been a plaguing issue in this fandom, and it makes me weary to see it potentially play out in the biggest form of media that Eddsworld uses. And I don't think people would be 100% okay if it was ignored, either. It's an extremely strange gray area where, no matter what, the consequence will be that someone will end up disappointed. To pull it off, they'd need a much more stable foundation and reputation. By the way the last few episodes have gone, I'm not too confident that they do.

After all, they've used this big episode so far to address a few criticisms I've seen for previous episodes. Aside from Tord's presence, they've teased the episode, which many had previously criticized Matt H. for his lack of transparency with the fandom upon production. The same goes with making it a sort of big episode. Beyond's episodes so far have been tamer and less narratively focused in comparison to later Classic and Legacy. That isn't a bad thing, but it's a major tonal shift that has felt awkward. Going back suddenly to the old formulas of narrative also feels a bit strange. The new narrative hasn't had success, sure, but every new creator will always have things to improve upon. Using what made Classic and Legacy successful in an era more focused on simpler narratives makes it seem like the showrunners don't know how to run in their own shoes, so they need to use someone else's to be successful. Here's the thing, you don't gain merit from being derivative, you gain it from making your own stuff work. Beyond wants to focus more on comedy than storytelling? That's great! That's what I've felt like those episodes were focusing on. Improving in that department will help overall. But changing something entirely because it wasn't working feels less confident, less focused on growth, and more on personal achievement. Especially when they have to use a fan-favorite character to get there. They couldn't make it on their own, so use what they know the people love.

I was discussing a book in one of my classes earlier, White Noise, when my teacher brought up how he wants us to constantly be aware of our society after reading this book, and how consumer culture greatly impacts our day to day lives. That's what the author wanted his readers to get out of it. Awareness. Every good work comes with a goal. What is Eddsworld Beyond's goal? What do they get out of bringing Tord back?

To me, it's the epitome of the current state of the entertainment industry. In Hollywood, where the animation corporations don't trust risk or exploration, they remake the old movies or produce soulless sequels. Kung Fu Panda 4, Megamind's sequel, every single live action Disney remake. And yet movies that take risks, like Strange World, no matter the quality, are shoved aside with little marketing. Cash grabs are easy ways to garner attention. They ensure profit. But they never garner the same soul as the original. To me, at least, the showrunners feel less confident in their own works because they've garnered little success from the 3 major episodes they've released so far, not including the shorts. Compared to Legacy and Classic, current Eddsworld has had nothing to say and very little gains from it. Legacy is a bit of a stretch for a standard, but it is a standard previously set by the show. This inflation is something so hard to achieve when a majority of fans have moved on, so I can't entirely blame them for potentially wanting to achieve this same success. It's just an empty way to do it.

I want to see this show succeed. I have a lot of love for it. I know there's a lot of love being put into it by the crew, and in no way do I want this to discredit their work. I see it as a current work in progress that's working out its kinks to reach its true potential. I just don't believe using the character of Tord is the right way to improve and garner traction. This is more of a critique on the writing and overall direction. Please understand this. I hope that, in the future, stuff starts going right for Beyond. Someday it'll succeed. But potentially using, for the lack of a better word, cheap tricks in order to obtain this is not the way to go as a creator.

Feel free to share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say. And feel free to give helpful critiques as well! I'd love to make more elaborate writing pieces like this, so anything helps! Thank you, and farewell.

[bitethedevil]

More Than Our Fathers (Raphael x Demigod!Reader): Chapter 2

Chapter: one, two, three, four, five

Read this on AO3

Summary: The relationship between you and Raphael has blossomed. While you are in isolation, Raphael informs you that your father has been freed from his imprisonment in the Scepter of Savras and that the scepter is lost once again.

Hundreds of years later, the Cult of the Absolute is on the rise in Faerûn and Raphael has a plan for how the both of you can get what you want. What you are not too excited about, however, is the fact that his little plan includes the two of you getting married.

Word count: 4,711

(Notes: I am making up Infernal laws and you'll probably see a lot of that in this fic since there is not a lot of material to go off when it comes to that. I am also posting this chapter rather quickly after the first one, but I got some real life stuff the next couple of weeks, so I wanted to get the second chapter posted before that. Now that the first two chapters are out of the way, the scene is set and we won't be "time-travelling" so much. Phew!)

“We will see each other again, Sibylla,” he had said.

And that you did. Raphael often seemed to have business wherever you did. How much of it was coincidence and how much of it was intentional, you did not know. All you knew was that you kept running into him throughout the years. Sometimes quite often, while other times there would go decades between you seeing each other.

You saw him as a pestilence in the beginning. Plenty of threats were thrown his way in those first meetings. It did not sway him to stay away, but it never got physical between you. Though Raphael was self-assured that he would win in a fight between the two of you, he was not eager to test if his theory was right.

You did eventually start to soften up to him. You even began to feel flattered by his growing obsession with you over the years. Your powers intrigued him immensely. His compliments and light-hearted flirting did not fall on deaf ears either, though you knew his intentions. His interest was purely out of the fact that it would be an accomplishment for him to seduce a creature of the divine, and for that reason you held his flirtations at an arm’s length.

Eventually the two of you started meeting outside of work as well, though because of the stubbornness of the both of you, you always found excuses for it. The idea that you might just have been enjoying each other’s company was unspeakable, especially to you.

You were not friends. People like the two of you did not have friends. You were a constant in each other’s life, and for immortals that is really all one can ask for. Raphael was the only other immortal in your life, and while Raphael was frequently surrounded by the many immortals of the Hells, he seemed to have a special fondness for your company.

Although neither of you were confused about the reality of your relationship: you would gladly stab the other in the back or shamelessly use the other person, if that was more beneficiary than keeping the peace between you.

It was hundreds of years after you and Raphael had met in Barth’s office. You had taken a few years away from your usual work around Faerûn. You had bought a comfortable house out on the countryside to live in solitude for a while. You had managed to anger quite a lot of important people, which meant that it was time to go into hiding for a decade or two, which was something you had done successfully a few times before.

Your wish for isolation was, of course, not honored by Raphael. You had seen him coming in a vision before he arrived, which is why it did not come as a shock when you heard the familiar poof behind you as you were doing garden work.

“Business or pleasure?” you asked without even turning around. “If it’s the former, I’m currently not interested.”

You were hunched over a flower patch with your hands in the dirt and your behind in the air.

“It’s always a pleasure when it’s with you, my dear,” Raphael purred from behind you. “I must say, you look lovely from this angle.”

You sighed and got up to face him. You were sweaty. A bit of your face was dirtied, from when you had dried the sweat off your brow. Raphael wrinkled his nose.

“Though considerably less so from this one…” he commented while looking at your dirtied and annoyed-looking face. “You look disgusting. Why not use magic for such a trivial task?”

“Because I’m trying to use my time on something productive and I am bored,” you answered and cleaned your dirty hands off on your pants.

You reached out for Raphael’s hands. It was often much easier to just touch him to find out what he wanted through your visions, instead of having to listen to all his theatrics as he explained.

“Don’t you dare,” he said and stepped back from your dirty hand, his nose wrinkled in disgust. “Besides I want to see your face when I tell you this, so I will not allow you to peek this time.”

“Fine,” you sighed. “Why are you here?”

“Please, get cleaned and try to look presentable first,” he said and walked into your house as if he owned it.

You washed off and changed into clean and comfortable clothing before joining him in your living room. He was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, waiting for you. He looked at your clothes and sighed.

“It will have to do, I suppose,” he said at your choice of clothing, that consisted of a simple lose dress and a belt, which is what you always wore when you were just at home.

You raised an eyebrow at his comment. He got up from the chair and snapped his fingers.

“No—"

Once you saw that you were suddenly somewhere else, you sighed deeply and fought the urge to slap him.

“I am in isolation for a reason,” you hissed at him and looked around at the people passing you in the street.

“We are on the Moonshae Isles,” he said casually. “I know for a fact that you rarely ever leave the mainland. No one will recognize you here.”

“Where exactly?”

“Caer Callidyrr,” he answered casually and walked towards the entrance to a tavern.

“A city that trades with both Amn and Calisham, which are both places that currently want my head,” you said in a low voice before you cast a glamour spell on yourself that made your recognizable silver hair and pale eyes into another color.

Raphael threw a glance at your change of appearance and chuckled.

“A bit overly paranoid, aren’t you?” Raphael said with a smile and held the door open for you. “I see the isolation is already starting to get to you.”

The tavern was fancy, which was to no surprise to you, knowing Raphael.

“Why are we even here?” you asked. “We could have done this at my house.”

He led you to a table in a secluded corner of the tavern.

“Because you went insane the last time you hid yourself away from the world, and you are of little use to anyone in that state. You need to get out every now and again,” he said calmly. “I also have news for you that calls for a celebration, and I am certain you will agree once you hear it.”

“I did not go insane,” you mumbled stubbornly. “And I am not going insane either.”

You remembered exactly the incident he was talking about. You had gone away for two decades, and when Raphael had finally visited you, he found you in a cottage far away from civilization with a small army of stray cats, along with at least a decade's supply of home-brewed potions of Animal Speaking. He had teased you with it ever since.

“Tell it to the cats, dear,” he said with a mocking smile and waved over a barmaid.

Shortly after a bottle of expensive of wine was brought to your table.

“Alright, why am I here?” you asked. “What is it that you seem so excited about telling me?”

He rested his elbows on the table between you and leaned forward.

“I merely wanted to inform you that while you have been doing garden work in the middle of nowhere, Savras has been freed from his imprisonment…” he said in a lowered voice with a smile.

You raised an eyebrow. Your father had been freed?

“How? By whom?” you asked.

“The very same who imprisoned him all those years ago,” he said.

“Azuth?” You asked. When Raphael confirmed with a nod, a look of annoyance washed over your face. “Which means that he is no doubt forced to bow down to both Mystra and Azuth now…I can’t say I’m surprised he went along with it. Gods, how embarrassing …”

It angered you to hear. Your father had truly been reduced to nothing. It had almost been better if he had simply stayed lost in the scepter.

“How did Azuth even find the scepter?” you asked.

Raphael’s smile widened.

“It had fallen into the hands of a woman called Syluné Silverhand, who used the scepter and your father’s powers for her own gains for some years before handing it over to Azuth. She is one of Mystra’s whelps,” he explained. “I’m sure you have heard of her…”

Your anger grew. Silverhand was the eldest of the Seven Sisters, who were all the daughters and chosen of Mystra. You had never liked Mystra for the way she had idly stood by as Azuth took your father’s place, but your dislike for her only grew at that piece of information.

“That bitch knew…” you said through gritted teeth. “Mystra knew exactly where my father was, and she did nothing. She let her daughter use her former servant as a pet.”

“Idleness is the way of the gods, dear. Surely that cannot come as a surprise to you,” Raphael said. “Although…there is a silver lining to all of this…”

“What?” you asked.

Raphael casually topped off your glass of wine as he explained:

“Azuth freed Savras, but the majority of his divinity and powers stayed in the scepter, if the rumors are to be believed. The scepter mysteriously disappeared once again, as it had done all those years ago, before your dear father could reclaim that lost part of himself. They say that only a chosen of Savras or someone of the divine can wield its powers…someone like yourself…”

He took a sip of wine as he waited for your reaction.

You could reclaim what your father had lost, and perhaps even absorb his powers for yourself. You could become what your father once was, but without making all the idiotic mistakes that he had. You could essentially ascend to godhood with powers like that in your hands.

Your anger had calmed as the spark of ambition was slowly being lit inside you instead. You narrowed your eyes at Raphael in suspicion.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” you asked.

Raphael sighed.

“Was there even a small chance that I could claim the scepter myself, I would not have told you,” he said. “As that is not the case, I am telling you this in the hopes that you will remember my generosity should I ever need a favor from you…”

“Hm…” you hummed. A slight smile tugged on your lips as you thought of all the possibilities if you should ever get your hands on it.

“Is that a smile I see?” Raphael asked. “How rare coming from you these days.”

“I still have to find the damn thing, though…” you said and sipped your wine.

“All good things come to those who wait,” he said with a hand gesture. “With a little determination and some patience, I am certain that you will stumble upon it eventually.”

“Hm,” you hummed again. “I’m not convinced that you don’t have some ulterior motive for telling me, but…thank you…”

“You know I always do,” Raphael said with a smirk. “And you are very welcome…”

You emptied your wine glass and put it on the table. Soon after, the barmaid came to take your empty glasses. You put some pieces of gold on the table for the barmaid.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” the barmaid said with a bright smile and gestured towards Raphael. “Your father has already paid for the wine.”

Raphael’s eyes darted to the barmaid at the comment, with a look in them that said that he was seriously considering reducing her to ash on the spot. You made a small snorting sound and had to bite your cheek to not start laughing. You managed to nod to the barmaid.

You had always teased Raphael relentlessly with his ‘age’. While you still looked like you were in your twenties, Raphael had insisted that people took him more seriously with his permanent glamour that made him look at least twenty years older than you.

The second the barmaid had left your table, you started quietly laughing and Raphael’s eyes darted to yours.

“Oh, that’s amusing to you, is it?” he asked. Despite his pointed tone, you could see that he liked seeing you laugh again.

You nodded.

“Not only do you look like a child, but you also act like one,” Raphael said with a sigh.

“I really needed that,” you said and tried to stop giggling, before getting up from the table. “Take me home, old man.”

The year was now 1492 DR, and it was the year that would change your life forever. You were just shy of 1600 years old. It was over a hundred years after Raphael told you about the second disappearance of the Scepter of Savras, and you were unfortunately no closer to finding it.

Raphael must have been busy, for you did not see him for three decades straight. You had received visions of him coming to visit you, though he never did. It meant that he had certainly had the intention to seek you out, but he had for some reason changed his mind.

When he finally did seek you out, you were in Waterdeep which was the place you had called home for the last century. You were quietly reading in your study when you suddenly heard the familiar poof of Raphael appearing. You smiled when you heard him appear, but you quickly hid it and did not look up from your book.

“Took you long enough,” you said in a slightly offended tone.

“I have been so terribly busy, my dear,” Raphael said.

“Mmhm,” you said. “So terribly busy that you could not even pay me a single visit, and now, because you most likely want something from me, you have the time.”

“Oh, how you know me so well,” Raphael purred and walked behind you to place his hands on your shoulders before he gave you a brief kiss on the cheek.

You could have taken a peek when he touched you to see his intentions and where he had been for the last many years by peering into his past, but you had made an agreement that you would not do so unless he asked.

You looked up at him.

“What do you want?” you asked.

Raphael smiled as he looked down at you.

“So many things,” he said. “But most importantly, I have something that you want.”

He snapped his fingers, and you were suddenly in the House of Hope. You had visited his home a couple of times before. What surprised you was that he had taken you directly to his archive instead of the large main area or the foyer where he had taken you all the other times.

“Come,” he said and beckoned you to follow him. He opened a hidden entrance and led you down a set of stairs that went under the archive.

There were artifacts from all over the realms lining the walls and placed on pedestals around the large area.

“Did you bring me here to show off?” you asked.

Raphael smiled and gently grabbed your shoulders. He turned you around to look at a particular artifact that was placed in the center of the room. Your jaw fell and your eyes widened.

A scepter. It was made from duskwood with nine star-sapphires along its length. There was one diamond at its base and one at its end. The one at the base bore your father’s symbol, while the one at its end bore Azuth’s. The scepter was extended in the air, vibrating violently against the confines of the magic that was keeping it in place.

“Is that…?” you asked breathlessly.

You felt as though you might start crying. You had been looking for it for so long, and there it was.

“It is,” Raphael said. “Quite a lot of trouble it was to get my hands on it too. It was even more difficult to make it stay in one place. I will be happy to get rid of it…eventually.”

You looked at him. You were speechless. Or at least you were until the awe had settled for a moment.

“How long have you had it for? Why didn’t you tell me immediately?” you asked with frustration in your voice.

“Because I need you to do something for me before I am willing to hand it over to you. Something that I know you would not be fond of helping me with unless the reward was big enough…” he said. “I have not had it for long. Once my plan was starting to come together, I promised a rather large sum for anyone who could find it and bring it to me. You have no idea how much this has cost me in gold, souls, and whatever else you can think of.”

You looked at the scepter again. You could almost not believe it was right in front of you.

“Where was it?” you asked.

“In the Hells, if you can believe it,” Raphael explained, looking at the scepter too. “It makes all the sense in the world when one thinks of it. What is left of your father in there is not eager to be claimed, and when only a pious chosen or someone with a touch of the divine can wield it, then what better place to hide than in the Hells where such people are a rarity?”

You were quiet. You had been looking in all the wrong places from the beginning, but now it was here. You would do whatever it took to get your hands on it.

“So, what is it that you want?” you asked.

Raphael smiled and led you away and out of the archive.

He brought you to one of his many balconies. He poured some wine for you and began to explain everything. You had of course heard whispers about the Absolute and you had also received some worrying visions every now and again the last couple of months. What you had not expected was the Absolute’s connection to the Crown of Karsus. The very thing that made Raphael cross paths with you in the first place.

“Not this old song again, Raph,” you sighed. “Why are you so eager to follow in the footsteps of Karsus?”

“Karsus was merely a mortal,” Raphael said with a sneer. “I am not. The Crown has endless potential and where Karsus failed, I will succeed.”

“And take over the Nine Hells, yes, yes, I know,” you said with anger at his stubbornness. “And yet you seem to fall into the very same trap that Karsus did. Karsus failed because of arrogance, and you would do well to remember that. He thought himself a god though he was only a man, and it ripped him apart and destroyed Netheril. It will do the same to you.”

“It will not, and even if it will, that is why I have you to warn me beforehand,” he said hurriedly, his frustration was clear in his voice. “I will have it, with your help or without it.”

You sighed deeply. You had heard it all before of course, but you never thought that he would even get close to the Crown, so you had simply brushed it off.

“If it was so powerful, why wouldn’t Mephistopheles had used it to get rid of Asmodeus ages ago? Why would he let it stay in his vault untouched?” you asked.

“Because he would have little control over its powers as he lacks the rest of Karsus’s artifacts,” Raphael explained. “My father is many things, but he is not a stupid man. Karsus created two other artifacts along with the Crown. To properly wield the powers of the Crown, you need the other two.”

You looked at him for a moment.

“Which you have in your possession…” you said, beginning to understand.

“Correct,” Raphael said and smiled. “There is the Scepter of Karsus, the Orb, and, of course, the Crown. I only need the Crown. If you ensure that it falls into my hands after the defeat of the Absolute, the Scepter of Savras is yours. You would become a god, Sibyl. We would both become gods…”

There was a fire in his eyes as he spoke. You were quiet for a moment. It was so tempting. You had been waiting for this for years, and yet you felt a knot in your stomach at the thought. You remembered Melesmer, the wizard who had raised you. How he used to tell you about the pure carnage and destruction that the Crown brought to Netheril and its people.

“This is such a bad idea…” you said quietly.

Raphael knew you were considering it, despite your words.

“The group of adventurers that is crucial to my plan has a former chosen of Mystra in their midst,” Raphael said. “A complicated relationship, to be sure, but still, it is there. Do you think that he would deny her if she asked him to bring the Crown to her? Mystra has all the reason in the world for wanting the Crown. One can only wonder what she would do with it and what kind of chaos it could create in the Heavens.”

It annoyed you how well Raphael knew which of your buttons to push to make you say yes. He knew that you hated Mystra for what she had done, or rather not done, for your father and that you truly thought the worst of her.

“Fine…”

Raphael’s eyes lit up.

“But,” you said sharply. “You will listen to me. If I see a slight chance that all of this goes wrong, in any capacity, we stop. You stop. We drop it and we move on as if nothing happened, and if you do not heed my warnings, I will not hesitate to lead you astray. I don’t care if we are…” you were about to say friends. “…whatever it is we are. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my dear,” he said and reached for your hand to place a kiss on it. “Thank you.”

You sighed deeply and took a big sip of wine as you looked out over Avernus.

“How do I know that you will actually deliver the scepter to me?” you asked after a moment of silence. “Since I won’t be signing any contracts, how can you ensure me that you will not go back on your word?”

“All these years and you still do not trust me?” Raphael said and put a hand on his chest in a gesture of feigned hurt.

“Not with this,” you said with a serious expression.

“I have already thought of a solution to that little problem…” Raphael said, and you noticed that he had an odd expression on his face.

It looked like hesitancy, and that was not something you had ever experienced with him. Raphael was many things, but shy was definitely not one of them. It made your eyes narrow at him.

“What?” you asked.

He looked at you briefly before moving his eyes back to the landscape in front of you.

“As you are well aware, if you were to ascend to godhood, the gods would likely have something to say on the matter,” Raphael said carefully. “It could take a few centuries before you have fully adjusted to your newfound powers. It could take even longer for them to grow to their full potential. You would not stand a chance against the gods if you were to stay in the Material Plane. Which is why I would be willing to offer you refuge in the Hells until you are better prepared…”

“A nice offer…” you said, and your eyes narrowed even more in suspicion. “Buuut…?”

“But” Raphael said and began fiddling with the arm of the chair he was sitting in, in what almost looked like a nervous gesture. “It would no doubt look odd that the coming Archdevil Supreme should be granting refuge to a non-fiend, and especially someone of the divine, simply out of generosity.”

“So…?” you asked impatiently. “Raphael…Are you going to arrive to your point anytime soon? What does any of this have to do with my question?”

“You see…there is a way to make verbal agreements legally binding. It is a longer and slightly atypical court procedure to ensure the validity of these claims, but it does work. Meaning that you would never have to sign anything, but my promises to you would still bind me in an Infernal court. There would be no additional terms aside from the ones we have already discussed, of course...In its essence, it would be a promise that I am forced to keep.”

You nodded.

“That sounds…fine,” you said with a shrug. “How do we do that?”

Raphael took a deep breath.

He mumbled something to himself that you did not quite catch. Something about ‘that you should have talked on the Material Plane in case you were about to kill him’ or something to that extent.

“I’m sorry, what?” you asked.

He cleared his throat.

“Archdevils are expected to have consorts,” he said and let the words linger in the air for a moment. “And verbal agreements are considered legally binding if the two parties are…married…”

He smiled, trying to take the blow off what he had just said. You stared quietly at him with an unreadable expression for a moment. Then you tapped your nail on the wine glass in your hand.

Raphael barely dodged it when you threw the wine at him.

“Have you lost your mind?!” you yelled.

“Calm down, dear,” he said calmly and held a hand up defensively. “Let me—”

“Don’t you ‘dear’ me, you slippery fuck!” you yelled. “I will not calm down when you are suggesting that I essentially sell myself to you like a common whore just so you can parade me in front of the Nine Hells and brag that you conquered a goddess!”

“I was suggesting nothing of the sort!” he said in a louder voice to match your volume, though he still remained calm in the face of your anger. “It is a political alliance, that will benefit the both of us. We do not have to act married behind closed doors unless you wish it.”

“Unless I wish it?” you repeated in a dangerous tone.

“A poor choice of words,” Raphael immediately backtracked. “I am simply stating that it would solve a myriad of problems for the both of us. You would live comfortably, never want for anything, and be treated like the goddess you will become, without the interference of the Heavens. I will not have to take my chances with some Infernal consort who might betray me or serve someone else behind my back, and I would have your sage council by my side as I rule.”

You were still fuming but you were being quiet.

“Consider it, Sibyl…” he said. “I understand that it is something you need to mull over and do take the time you need. However, if you refuse, the only sense of security I can grant you will be through a written contract, and I will not be able to grant you refuge…”

“You don’t speak to me for thirty years, and when you finally do you present me with all of…this…and ask if I will marry you…” you mumbled to yourself. “You are fucking unbelievable…”

Raphael smiled at you. You might have still been angry, but he could see that you seemed to be calming down at least a little bit.

“It is a lot to take in, I’m sure,” he said. “I would have taken the time to ease you into it, but time is a luxury we currently do not have with the way everything is progressing.”

You sighed deeply.

“Take me home,” you said. “I’ll think about it but do not get your hopes up. I am tempted to refuse you immediately.”

He gave you a short nod and snapped his fingers to send you back to Waterdeep.

[cutelootsuit]

hi im posting my silly fun idea (theory? idk) for fun here here it goes. 

i like to think that Lesley used to be like a Mr. Rogers type of character or blues clues, and yellow guy was like her blue; teaching yellow lessons about things; hence the “you’re one of my favorites” and yellows habit of talking to the viewer like a actual kids show character 

the dhmis theme currently was the theme for the version of the show that had lesley in it, hence the “him and you and me” part because it was from Lesley’s pov and she was referring to the (child) viewer 

more ideas undercut hehe

so key points, Lesley pitched the show idea to producers; this is HER show my main thought is that Lesley was one of the main characters, yellow being her little guy (not sure what to call him. hes the blue if this was blues clues) while duck and red guy were more supporting characters, popping in and out kind of like mr rogers neighborhood. Lesley would teach yellow things and the viewer (just three of them)  through songs in a more normal kids show way and duck and red guy would be there to further said lesson or plot.  I think (or my silly funny idea is) Lesley either got into some sort of (car) accident and couldn’t continue being on the show OR they took her off the show because she was getting too old, continuing her show without her and Lesley not being able to do anything about it because she signed it off. 

The show continued without her and made some changes like red guy and duck being more frequent and having the inanimate objects be more present. Here things go all down hill, characters start to change, theres less and less lessons to be taught, and its my silly funny idea that our current DHMIS is a result of burnout and a show NEEDING to be cancelled but not being cancelled. idk how Lesley watching them afar and being implied to be a master of their lives takes place in this but i like to think shes trying to take her show back in her own way, and making it a little fucked up because shes a little fucked up. 

other things i think are fun:

- roy is a prototype of yellow guy, the first one, then redesigned him to the current yellow guy

- Lesley handmade yellow guy and roy herself, somebody else made duck and red guy

-Duck and Red guy are neighbors of Lesley and yellow guy

- duck in the og show is a grouchy old guy archetype 

-red guys og character has been completely lost, being most effected by show burn out. which is the reason why hes so focused on finding where he belongs (ie family ep, and web series)

- the puppets don’t refer to to eachother by name because lesley forgot 

- Yellow guy is smart when he changes his batteries because youre SUPPOSED to change his batteries, but only lesley knew that. Yellow guy with new batteries being smart is a result of lesley teaching him so much in the OG show

- red guy longs to get out of the house because in the og show there were more sets, but again, but budget cuts and they only have limited sets. 

also heres a little drawing yay

[lovemishjen]

HELLO, i have a question about j2m. Do u think they're close friends or even friends in this day and age? Im a new fan and i dont have that much info about them yet, but i love them dearly. and i want a non delusional answer from someone.

Hello,

It's nice to get a normal question, instead of the usual troll-ish ones.

Alright, let's get down to this.

Disclaimer: I do not know these these gentlemen or their families personally, and I am not even American. But I have been in the fandom since 2009, on tumblr since 2010 I think. So this is based on my observation from con panels, especially jibcon, and social media interactions with each other over the years. I have not been super active in the fandom since over a year though.

If you a J2M fan, you should watch this honcon panel that is a sheer definition of fun 👆🏽

I think Jensen and Jared hit it off initially and were friends on set and even shared a home for a while.

Later on, Danneel and Gen and J2 would hang out, but at some point they had a falling out. I personally think the ladies did not just get along wth each other, need not have been a big falling out. They are different personalities and strong women and it's not necessary to become besties just because their husbands work together. Later, the men themselves had a falling out, the details of which we might never know.

This post is far more well-researched and well-explained than I will have ever patience for 👇🏽

Jensen and Misha, after a lukewarm start in early season 4 filming, started getting along really well. I believe a huge reason for this is that Danneel adores Misha, and she has always been vocal about it. Check out Jenmisheel tag to check out stories of their hanging out. One of the incidents is the story of Danneel and Misha eating chillies and Jensen laughing about, is one of the examples of this.

But also, Misha has been a great influence on Jackles. Misha had quite a wild youth, his ex-wife even wrote a book on threesomes! But he became a father first, mellowed down and being older as well, you always get a sense that Jensen looked up to him. While his relation with Jared was more of a fun buddy, I get the feeling that Jensen and Misha have an equation where they can sit and have a serious conversation.

But all three of them, and the rest of the cast as well, did have a lot of fun together. Have you watched the mockumentary directed by Misha? If not, do watch.. you will love it!

By the final seasons, Jensen and Misha seemed very obviously closer.

Their 10 year friendship post by Jensen was far too serious, unlike other fun posts, so he seems to give a lot of importance to their friendship.

Currently, I think Jensen and Jared are cordial and wish each other on birthdays and other occasions, and the same with Misha and Jared. I think Jensen and Misha interact more often and touch base more frequently, but if they meet up in person, and how often is not something we know. Unlike say Richard Speight Jr and Rob Benedict, who were (are?) doing a podcast together, and so we know they hang out a lot. With J2M, they are not super-active on social media off late, so we don't know as much.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[drdemonprince]

are there any medium articles or other essays you've written that you have a different perspective on now? Whether a small bullet point or the entire objective of a piece. It's interesting following your journey while catching up on the archive

Ohhhh yeah. In a big way. My thinking on nearly all matters continues to evolve, so much so that I always cringe a bit at some phrasings in my books by the time they are out.

In my work on Medium you can see a strong inconsistency in how I think about several topics -- I've gone through periods of disparaging my family, to extending them grace, to thinking I have a moral responsibility to fight with them, to regretting my rage at them, to calling my parents abusive, and on and on. On this topic, it's not so much that my feelings have changed, so much as each point of view represents one facet of the same gem I'm spinning in my mind's eye.

My thoughts on sexual assault and justice have evolved a ton. Around the time of the Weinstein and Ansari accusations, I wrote a lot about rape and coercion. Then a dear friend experienced an assault and was not believed by a huge friend group that we shared and I took on an even more hardline, believe-all-victims-and-take-action-swiftly-to-protect-them stance. I was more traumatized and dysphoric back then too.

My hardline stance eventually came into conflict with my abolitionism, and my growing respect for the importance of personal discernment that emerged more and more over the course of the pandemic. I just saw too many people who were afraid to exercise their own discernment on a wide array of topics and who amplified vague callouts of all kinds without skepticism (god, remember the Wayfair conspiracy?), and I saw how such formless accusations harmed the marginalized in particular. And all the gormless attacks on "narcissists" as the cause of abuse really chilled me. all that strongly tempered my dogmatism.

But I have also witnessed the "anti cancel culture" squad fail to live up to any value system whatsoever and I have fought with them a lot quite openly over their frequently racist, transphobic, theory-free views. All I know today is that navigating these waters is very, very hard, and that I am only in control of living by my values and being outspoken about them and that attempts to manipulate a moral response out of other people don't work and that information is only as good as my knowledge about who and where it came from. I think my evolution on all this closely tracks with the shifts in the zeitgeist -- it's rare for me to be that on pace with the average person I meet.

My perspective on how a meaningful difference in the world is made has changed. In 2016 I was calling politicians for an hour every day on livestream to protest this or that conservative bill. Now i'm an anarchist with minimal regard for electoral politics or any formal institutions. I did vote for Brandon Johnson though.

But by far the piece that least reflects my current understanding of things is one from 2020 called "Against Community." But that one was never meant to be a prescription for how people should live their lives. It was just a description of where I was at emotionally, having watched multiple friend groups disintegrate over abuse, triangulation, and bad boundaries. I'm glad I don't have to feel that way now. It was the growth after that experience that led to my revelation that communities are just relationships you build, and keep building, not static places you find.

On the whole I am less angry now, less dogmatic, less inclined to believe that electoral work matters or that posting is activism, less hellbent on making everybody agree with me, more comfortable with mourning, more radical, more patient, less grandiose and less hung up on what other people think of me. Despite all that i am still a very arrogant angry neurotic stressed out self superior insecure person.

Thanks for this great question. When I hold fake interviews with myself in the shower, it's being asked things like this that I fantasize about.

[nofomogirl]

Before the Beginning (part 2.2.)

Part 1.1. | Part 1.2. | Part 1.3. | Part 1.4. | Part 1.5. |

Part 2.1. | Part 2.3. | Part 2.4. |

Continuing from the previous post (I really recommend checking it out before this one).

Let's consider each of my theories.

Aziraphale got it wrong

This theory's biggest appeal is that it paints an interesting picture of knowledge in Heaven. Or rather lack of it.

Before the Beginning Aziraphale is genuinely interested in the plan and generally comes across as well-informed. If he was wrong about what was it that was intended to last 6000 years, that begs the question: what kind of information was he working with? How vague and incomplete it must have been to misdirect him like this?

What if this was not an isolated slip or a personal flaw but this is what Heaven is like, in general? What if nothing is truly certain and just an interpretation, and therefore potentially wrong?

Good Omens do toy a lot with ideas like Heaven not being huge on knowledge so it would be fitting.

Heaven changed its mind

I imagine this theory would be particularly compelling if your headcanon is that Aziraphale genuinely believed he could course-correct Heaven's policies and make it better.

I mean, if Heaven originally intended to obliterate the entire universe but at some point scrapped that plan and decided to destroy just a single planet then there's no reason why it couldn't change other plans too.

Also, what I've written for the first theory about information in Heaven being unreliable still mostly holds because if plans can change then who's to say which ones are set in stone and which ones are negotiable.

Crowley doesn't remember

This theory's strongest point is that it's the simplest explanation. It's very likely within the current canon and it doesn't spawn as many additional questions as the others.

If Aziraphale got it wrong or Heaven changed its mind, when did Crowley find out? Before or after the Fall? If this was his first doubt why didn't it change anything that it wasn't the case in the end? Did Aziraphale find out it is going to be just Earth after all?

That's just the tip of the iceberg, really.

But memory loss makes it all simpler and doesn't contradict anything we already know.

Crowley is in denial

Now this theory, this one is my favourite.

That's because it offers an explanation for why Crowley constantly brushes off inconvenient facts other than "he's just an optimist" or "it's for Aziraphale's sake" or my least favourite "he knows it doesn't really matter".

Crowley is a trauma survivor who's permanently trapped in an oppressive and abusive system. That does things to a person. It leads to trauma responses and coping mechanisms that are often unhealthy and irrational.

(Funnily enough, while Aziraphale's abuse is so frequently invalidated, there are still a lot of amazing metas out there analyzing how his trauma messed with his head, as traumas tend to do. But I haven't seen similar takes on Crowley. Yes, his abuse is never questioned but it's constantly romanticized, which, if you think about it, isn't any better.)

In my opinion, Crowley's coping mechanism is that when there's something terrible that he cannot change, he does his best to ignore it and live his life as if it weren't true, sometimes to the point of pushing it entirely out of his consciousness.

My headcanon

As I've already written, I strongly favour the last theory. But that's not what I mean by "my headcanon".

My headcanon is that whatever is the reason and however it happened, Aziraphale and Crowley believe two different things. Crowley believes the 6000 years deadline applies to Earth alone. Aziraphale still believes it applies to the entire material universe. And they're both unaware that the other understands the End of the World differently.

I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this.

I hope to find some time and unsurprise you with it in the next post.

[crepes-suzette-373]

Garuda, Judge, Germa 66, The Divine

@sangerie Perfect timing that you bring up Garuda in your reply, because I remembered a while ago that I didn't check what Judge's current belt looks like when I made that other post and I was just about to make a new post about my findings.

---

I messed up and completely forgot to check when I made that other post. That was just more of an idle thought, though, not something I really wanted to analyse or make theories out of. This one is the (conspiracy) theory/analysis post.

Artistically this is big enough difference that I cannot chalk it off as "simplification/wonky artwork because of image size":

Plus, the "simpler" shape from the MADS flashbacks would be drawn long after the WCI arc. So this has to be a purposeful change on sensei's part.

What was it beforehand and why the change? What is the newer shape supposed to be?

So anyway, that realisation prompted me to look into Karura (the Japanese interpretation of Garuda) because I thought the current belt shape looks like the helmet Judge is wearing, which in turn vaguely reminds me of headdresses in Buddhist gods' statuary.

I think there could be connection between the two in terms of design:

Like, his hair could look reminiscent of the Karura's "fire halo".

The Karura in Japan is a being who is heavily associated with flames (which happens to also look like number 6 spirals in the statue, very interestingly). Some Buddhist teaching even say the Karura either manifests itself as flames, or lends its flames in support to other deities.

Karura's "fire halo" behind Fudou Myou'ou:

This I find to be even more curious, because in the first place Garuda is divine being, and Garuda's "holy flame" is something that purifies evil. Judge seems to be awful in every way, so why give him a nickname that's based on a holy being? Is this just irony, or is this a hint that there's something weird going on that has yet to be revealed? (something in their ancient history?)

Also, about the "69" in the skull's eyes. Even Sanji's Stealth Black/Osoba Mask belt has that "69" element, even if it's in the little wings on the sides and not the skull's eyes. Is that symbol so important that it needs to be everywhere? (to sangerie, if you see this: Niji's belt still has that 69, even much later in the cover story, it just sometimes look wonky in the art because it's too small)

That symbol is known in Japan as "two tomoe" (considered different from yin yang by the Japanese). A tomoe is that comma like shape, and the Germa one is specifically the "right curling" one, because there are versions of it that goes the opposite direction.

A tomoe is also a divine symbol, so it's very frequently seen as the "crest" of shrines. Funnily enough the origin of the tomoe symbol is actually water, but I'm not sure if sensei would go out of his way to research that. If he was using this as a purposeful symbol I feel like he's using it more in the generic divine/shrine related usage.

It's a symbol you see in the drums used by the the Raijin (god of thunder), which also was the design inspiration for Enel.

Interesting thunder/lightning connection there. It's 3, though, and not 2, so I'm not sure if this means anything.

You see that exact symbol with just two in Wano, though it's turned 90 degrees anticlockwise:

I have wondered multiple times if the Vinsmokes have connection to Wano in their past. Even literally just a few hours ago I made a post mentioning the same thing. I always worry that I'm making too deep of a reach, but every now and then I still wonder.

It also has historical connection in Japan, since a two tomoe design is a common samurai crest. I highly doubt it's related to this, but that exact "69" shaped crest is the crest strongly associated with the 47 Ronin.

The interesting thing about the 47 Ronin is that even though they're typically celebrated as heroes who defeated an evil lord even to this day, by historical accounts the 47 ronin were actually the ones in the wrong and the guy they had revenge on wasn't a tyrant or corrupt official. Still, I don't think this has any relevance.

I mean, there's nothing about Germa that suggests that "they seem evil, but actually they're secretly good".

I will admit there is a part of me that is developing a suspicion that there could be a random twist where Germa's whole point was "their motivation/end goal is not bad, but their methods is what's really absolutely disgusting" for various reasons. As in, what if their desire to conquer the North Blue is not just for greed or power, but for a bigger goal beyond it, and this "bigger goal" might not be entirely bad.

I doubt it, because so far everything that we've been shown is just nasty. I'm just automatically suspicious because the World Government labelled them evil, and I don't trust WG.

It could just be something like "they're so evil, that even demons are disgusted", though.

[paradoxcase]

John 8:1

THE TOWER HA

Definitely sounds like Alecto, who is not a human, being unused to a human body. But it says "In the dream..." at the beginning of this, which makes it sound like the narrator here normally doesn't have this weird relationship with sleep, which points back to this maybe being Harrow dreaming of being Alecto. But if she is Alecto in the context of the dream, why did John call her "Harrow" earlier? Maybe it's a similar thing to how the pre-Resurrection names of the Lyctors are expunged, and John is actually saying those names, and calling Harrow "Alecto", but because it's a dream, Harrow hears Alecto's name as her own, based on knowing that it's the name of the person she is in the dream?

This is funny to me, because Flat Earthers aren't actually nice people. Like, there are reasons people believe in that conspiracy theory despite literal millennia of evidence disproving it, and they are not benign ones. They're not like the UFO guys. I also feel like a Flat Earther promoting John would actually make people less likely to believe he was the real deal

There actually is a telescope called LUCIFER (or at least, it used to be called that, they seem to have changed then name, lmao), which I didn't know about, but what's wild is that I absolutely should have known about it, since it was being built near where I grew up while I was going to high school there. But that was 20 years ago, and there are much higher profile telescopes to talk about, so why this one?

So John is somehow more powerful than regular necromancers at this stage, but also not as powerful as Lyctor Harrow. Is he just like regular-Lyctor-powerful here?

I don't have any idea what this means, re: Jesus. Is she saying that it was the miracles and bread and fishes and healing people and so forth that caused the Romans to crucify Jesus, and not his role as a charismatic ringleader for a bunch of unhappy colonized people that did that, or am I wrong here?

Oh, Alfred being a hedge fund manager is hilarious, actually

Oh, so this is the cow thing I've seen everyone talk about

I was hoping I could get some estimate on how long this wall would have had to be in existence for it to wind up on Google Earth, but apparently Google's official position on how frequently they update their maps is "it is a mystery"

So I guess that this is a dream that John is having, too, and the post-apocalyptic environment is here because this is also John remembering the part of the story where it was just him and Alecto, and everyone else was dead, and they are having a shared dream? This is the most dream bubble thing that doesn't actually have the word "dream bubble" in it. But I don't think I can say anything, because my current creative writing project also has vaguely Homestuck-inspired shared dreams in it

[rupturedtaleblog]

It looks like a lot of people here like to guess the story of this comic in the future, so I guess I might as well put my two cents in. I can't really think of anything super-clear in regards to plot and characters, but I'll be going off the content in the comic and this tumblr. I suppose I'll start with this "Monster Massacre".

It's pretty much confirmed that this is the result of Frisk attempting a No-Mercy route, but something went very, very wrong. As for where exactly, it's obvious that Frisk made it through the ruins, and Snowdin as well, with Papyrus all but explicitly stated to be dead, and most of the sentries presumably the same. I think it's in Waterfall where things start to get a little fuzzy. It's pretty heavily hinted that Undyne has a bigger part in the au, going by answered asks/posts, and the literal profile of the blog. She's mentioned by the Snowdin shopkeeper, as well as Doge in the asks. Now, Doge's response isn't too out of the ordinary, but the way the Shopkeeper phrases the dialogue in the comic is... strange. She says the previous Captain (Undyne) disappeared. BUT, Doge refers to Undyne in the past-tense, implying that she died. Now, we know that monsters dust when they die, and if we allow ourselves to think of Papyrus's grave and other graves in the underground area similarly to human ones, then, by that logic, Monster graves have their dust buried in them. Now, remember that the underground has just been attacked by a member of an enemy race who is currently slaughtering monsters left and right. If a monster were to disappear during/after that time, it's safe to assume that most people would have a fairly reasonable idea of what happened to them: Death. The possibility I'm trying to get at is, that after the chaos the human left behind, Undyne was (reasonably) declared dead, BUT her dust was never found. That's why the shopkeeper keeps it ambiguous about what actually happened to her. As for what did, well, that's where I believe the Something comes in. We also have an answered ask from Sans, confirming that the human didn't make it to Judgement Hall. Now, by the time Frisk reaches New Home, there aren't really any threats to them besides Sans himself, so it's unlikely they died there. that either leaves Waterfall, or Hotland. Hotland itself doesn't really present much trouble; the puzzles aren't too difficult (Remember, the human had to have at least reset once canonically to do No-Mercy), and Mettaton Neo... Well. That just leaves Waterfall. Now, let's get back to the theory of Undyne possibly not being quite dead. Some people might argue that Undyne the Undying doesn't dust, but melts. However, when she's killed, she still has a dusting animation and sound at the very end. Compare the amalgamates, who seem to frequently take the form of melted puddles and the like (A bit of an unfair comparison, considering one is dead and the other.... Not DEAD dead, but still). That means either one of two things: Undyne's dust might have been displaced after she died, or, she isn't dead... At least not fully. In Snowdin, we get a lot of talk about "The Something", a creature that appeared after the Monster Massacre. We don't know much about it, but it's a big enough deal for a search party to be deployed in Waterfall. This, along with an ask from Asgore about the something, referring to a "She" disappearing, leads me to believe that The Something is directly related to Undyne. It's hard to tell what exactly, but I think it's safe to assume The Something is the result of Frisk and Undyne meeting on the bridge in Waterfall. The details are pretty fuzzy, but it's certainly possible determination played a key factor in it. There are theories that it's a Frisk and Undyne amalgamation, which is certainly possible (Though that may give them power over resets/saves, so.). We also see Monster Kid on the bridge with the human in a hidden comic panel, so maybe he saw what happened.

As for other smaller theories I have: I think the Amalgamates will most definitely make an appearance, Since they technically can't die, so I think they'll be some closure there. Alphys might also make an appearance, but there are less... Favourable alternatives hinted. I have no idea about Mettaton, and it seems like Asgore won't hate Jack, but he'll still try to kill him anyway. As for the actual storyline, all I'm going to bet is that Jack is going to backtrack to Waterfall near the later half of the story, since The Something is theoretically directly related to Undyne and The Human, I don't think the story would do much with them until the climax, but that's just my guess. And that's all I got. Most of it is probably garbage, but I'd just thought I might as well give it a go. Either way, I love your comic, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

thank you anon very cool

[agftheorist]

Is it possible to create a Darcy? An Amphibia meta

After the last events ( which is tumblr literally deciding to obliterate my toh analysis for no apparent reason) I hope this gets posted without any mess.

Well, we can begin now that I've written my blessings...

Disclaimer: I am not a neurology expert on anything like that, just someone who is very curious and makes research about brain. I will try to give sources of the informations I use in this theory post, and I would love it if anyone points out the missing or wrong parts of the information I give.

While watching the show, Amphibian technology always made me question the real life equivalents of these technologies. And, probably for many others too, the standing out one was the Core itself (I mean duh). In this post, we will look into the technology and biology that is the Core, and if it's actually possible to create one, and the possession, of course.

So, our main question is; is it possible to create a Darcy? To answer that, we need to answer these questions;

What exactly is "The Core"?

Can a machine control a human body?

Well, of course they create many other questions within them too, so let's start with the first one.

What Exactly Is "The Core"?

I think we all can agree that the Core itself is, to some extent, just a super advanced AI. I mean, before possessing Marcy, it has no organic compound forming it. A jungle of screens and cables and that's just it.

What makes it interesting is, however, the memories it contains. Aldrich claims that "it is the collection of Amphibia's greatest minds", which himself will also be included. Now, is it possible? Can we simply download our memories to a software system? Well, no. On the other hand, however, the answer should be: not yet. Because memories are said to be the connections between our brain cells (neurons) and solving them is what many scientists are currently working for. In fact, your thoughts are actually very much reachable with the most advanced technologies we have today.

The problem is, they are nowhere near the level of the Amphibian technology with very low resolution. Scientists can connect electrodes to your brain and record which parts of your brain are working more than others while thinking a specific thing, but just not very specific. As an example, you may be thinking about eating a hamburger and the scientists will know that you are thinking about food, and not some maths problem, because they see that the parts of your brain that are responsible for perceiving foods works more than others at that moment. Even if you are just thinking about food and not actually eating it.

Long story short, human technology still has a LONG way to go before actually resolving thoughts in 4K quality, let alone memories which have already happened AND recording them to an outside source. Also, I do not have that much scientific evidence to support this, but I assume memories must require A LOT OF storage unit. Because they need to include sensory information of that specific memory, the person's thought process etc., for the whole life of every person. Assuming Leviathans did just that, they must need a very strong CPU.

Now, let's say that we've managed to record their memories. We can say that this would be similar to saving a video to your USB. What makes the Core more special is, the ability to process these memories and experiences. Them drawing correlations between Anne and Sasha's invasion and Marcy's memory of watching the show is a mere example of that. And whose feature is that? Artifical Intelligence. IBM's definition of AI is given as below.

"artificial intelligence is a field, which combines computer science and robust datasets, to enable problem-solving. It also encompasses sub-fields of machine learning and deep learning, which are frequently mentioned in conjunction with artificial intelligence. These disciplines are comprised of AI algorithms which seek to create expert systems which make predictions or classifications based on input data."

The definition clearly states that AIs make their decisions by given data. And in the Core's case, the data becomes the memories of Amhibia's Kings, Queens and top-scholars. Their experiences and life perspectives. Most of the AIs make their decisions based on what knowledge you feed them with, sometimes resulting with "racist" AIs. (Considerig Amphibia's caste system, the Core can also be called racist but that's a whole different story)

To answer our first question, the Core itself is an extremely advanced AI which was fed by the views of Amphibia's extremely colonialist upper-class. Therefore, becoming and reflecting their very "Core", quite literally.

Now we're coming to the most interesting part....

Can a machine control a human body?

Before giving scientific evidence, I want to state that a machine or AI controling a human body is becoming more and more prevalent in media actually. From books to very well known movies. In Matrix, we see the character Bane becoming a vessel for Agent Smith, a literal AI virus. The process also has some similarities with both of them acquiring a cable to the spinal cord etc. But since science and general worldbuilding of Matrix is WAY different than that of Amphibia's, I don't get into specifics here.

Okay let's get back into the Core. As you might have noticed, the amount of cables Darcy has is getting greatly reduced throughout the show.

From this

To this

Another thing I noticed which may or may not be a change of design, but there is a little extension on the cable at this picture. At the later episodes, it is removed.

As you can see, the cable is continiuous now. Did that part had a purpose? Maybe as a filter for Marcy's memories or quirks? If it's the later one, it's obviously not working very well. What's interesting is tho, the apparatus dissappears within that episode. I don'y they'd change animation style mid-episode...

The extension disappears with the optimization process. Wanna know what else also disappeared with it? Marcy's "quirks" that are inherited by the Core. The cravings, trippings and everything else. If it weren't Darcy would've tripped and fallen probably a thousand times during their fight with Sasha and Grime. So that makes us question: what exactly did the optimization do?

For the rest of the theory, we are going to assume that the AI level of the Core is so advanced that it works similar to a human brain. And for those who don't know, human brains process data like a giant sponge. In whatever form you give it the data, the brain finds a way to make it "meaningful", especially in children. Ever wondered why infants talk a lot and touch themselves and around them? It is because their brains are trying to find the meanings and patterns of the sensory input. An example to that would be locating where your ears are and where the voice is coming from. The brain sends a random signal out there (gibberish voices) a feedback comes in the form of electrical impulses, and the brain finds a pattern eventually by repeating this so many times.

Deep learning method for an AI is also quite similar to this. AI does something, gets a feedback and fixes itself over time depending on those feedbacks. How does this connect to Darcy? Well, that cable from the head has to be going to somewhere. The Core and it's inhabitants never had a body for at least a thousand years, assuming the newest one that joined was Aldrich. So they had to learn pretty much everything from the beginning, in a body no newt has ever been in: a human body.

Even though they had insisted on possessing her for being smart, why wouldn't they just choose a newt, someone they'd be familiar with and would be comfortable as a body? Probably because to them, being smart meant processing more information faster, like having a faster computer. But they were also cautious, since they'd also installed a filter before processing the feedback taken from the body. As a result, they got the sensory info, processed it during sleeping (which is also one of the functions of sleep in human body) therefore "calibrated" the body. But in fact, the AI itself also evolved to actually process the sensory info.

Another little detail that I noticed is from a scene after Sasha cut the cord in All In. Darcy checking the body to find any damage is actually very confusing. I don't think any human (even most of the other animals) would need to touch or see to the wound to see if they've been violently stabbed by a long sword. After thinking for a while, I've formed a theory for that. We are not 100% sure what the inside of the body costume is made of, but we can safely make an assumption by looking to this picture.

This is a shot that shows the inside of the helmet. And it is full of electrodes that transports the signals from the brain to an outside source. So, we have no reason to reject the idea that the clothing covering the body is also filled with electrodes. Plus, when Marcy was in the rejuvenation tank, they needed to check her vitals to ensure her survival which doubles the possibility.

Now let's get back into the topic. If the costume/armor/WHATEVER is receiving signals from the body, then the outer part of it would be pretty plain, like the shell of a turtle. Turtles do have nerve cells on the shells, but way less than other parts of their body. Since she didn't have any signals from the outside layer, and no sign of damage from the inner electrodes, they checked the outer part with hands, whose signals were very well received by the Core.

I think this also explains how she was able to all those acrobatic moves when fighting with Sasha and Grime. The Core wasn't actually inside the body, but sending signals to the body. Same as human brains not having any nerves to feel pain, the Core itself wasn't actually receiving any pain signals like a normal human body does.

To sum it all up, an AI, computer programme or the collective memories of dead Amphibian upper class possesing a human body, is VERY possible. With very advanced technology, definitely. As my personal opinion, I believe we will actually see examples of it. When exactly, I don't know. Lastly, the helmet and pretty much all of the equipment is pretty Marcy-sized, so I wonder how long they've been designing those...

[darkartistyt]

I would read that Layton colour essay if you were to write it :)

Hello, hello! Aspiring graphic designer Atticus here to infodump about my semi-basic understanding of color theory in my current favorite video game series

I could probably talk one’s ear off about the symbolism of the colors themselves, but I will instead try to focus on what they mean in regards to the plot and the characters as a whole

Let us begin with our titular protagonist, Hershel Layton

Our favorite lego man has gone through a handful of design changes throughout his life

His palette in this image is pretty simple (I mean, no shit, Sherlock, he’s 5, but still…) A cute little sulfur and white shirt and light blue pants make up his outfit here. Yellow is a color often associated with happiness and, at times, innocence, and that coupled with the brightness of said yellow and the white accent conveys that well, in my opinion. He’s a young child, living a happy life with his family, but after Targent takes them away, we see a drastic shift in colors

This is the outfit he wears when first meeting the Laytons, who will soon become his new family and identity. Notice how dull the colors are, especially compared to Desmond, who is still wearing that same red-orange vest (or at least a very similar one) and a bright red tie. Another thing to point out is the composition of the colors themselves. Here we have an orange button-down shirt underneath a dark colored coat (grey in this case)... now where have we seen that before?

This iconic composition is tied directly with the name Hershel Layton. And Desmond’s palette remains because they have yet to receive their new identity; they are not yet Desmond Sycamore.

Moving ahead through the timeline, Hershel’s colors become a lot brighter, the white returns, and now he has a bright red vest

Sure, it’s not exactly the same, but all (and I mean all) the colors are incredibly similar to Desmond’s and identical in composition. I’m sure it has been stated time and time again how this palette and composition was given to him along with the name Hershel, but it is interesting to note that it doesn’t stop at just the red vest

Red becomes a very prominent color later on, too

His outfit is almost entirely red as a university student

You get it by now; I really don’t want to overstate this point…

ANYWAY 👏

Post Claire getting yeeted through time and space, he starts wearing his coat more frequently as well as an orange shirt. I cannot remember where I saw this but someone made a post saying how that palette was symbolic of how he was at the time; the darkness of the coat, pants, and hat representing his grief and the seemingly oversaturated orange representing his remaining hope, I believe was what they said

And this brings us back to Desmond. Both of them underwent a drastic change in coloration after losing those they loved. Both of them now sport an identical dark brown, which is the same EVEN WITH DESCOLE

Were it not for the lining and shading, the area around Des’s legs would have blended perfectly

The only difference is Hershel has a very bright accent, one that is more than just a dash of red or purple (the boa and mask don't count mostly bc that’s exclusively a Descole thing and not shared with Desmond); it’s his second most used color. He hasn’t fallen as far into darkness as Des; he still has some light in him keeping him from traveling down the same path as his sibling

After that point, though, both of their designs remain consistent, so there’s not much more I can say about them…

Ok Luke time

I think my favorite thing about Luke’s palette is how much it complements Hershel’s

Blue is the opposite of orange, and Luke’s secondary color has always been a pale peach off-white that looks almost grey against the blue, which works with Hershel’s off-black dark brown

For funsies, I put the above image through a reverse gradient filter and snagged some colors to compare

While not identical in hue or anything, the inversions are still pretty close

And Luke has gone through a lot of design changes too

That Luke Blue™ becomes more prominent the older he gets, changing into a much more saturated blue when he’s 14 before his composition pulls a complete 180

Because his color palette stays pretty much the same, there’s not much to say yet on the symbolism of the changes and whatnot. We’ll have to wait until NWoS’s release to see if there is something or if I’m pulling a High School English Teacher

But yeah, Luke is quite opposite to Hershel in many ways, yet they go together extremely well. Luke is energetic, spunky, a bit sassy at times, and is far more outspoken 24/7. Herschel is calm, quiet, almost overly polite, and pretty reserved, always waiting until he has all the pieces in place before revealing his findings and generally not letting many people know about his personal life. They are complete opposites, yet they complement each perfectly, and their color schemes reflect this

And now we get to the fun part… ✨The Villains✨ Specifically Dimitri Allen and The Masked Gentleman

The Future Layton disguise is pretty much just a desaturated Hershel Layton and is way more representative of Dimitri himself than Hershel. It utilizes colors that, while not directly opposite to Dimitri’s design, complement his

Note the blue and red scarves, shift from off-black to off-white and vice versa,  and the red and white roses

Dimitri is our first example of a villain just being a light theme Hershel Layton. He’s reserved, intelligent, forward thinking, creative, and harbors a strong love for Claire. The difference is Dimitri’s “the ends justify the means” mentality. Were Hershel to have that kind of a mindset, I would not be shocked if the story of Future London ends up a reality

And then we have The Masked Gentleman…

Where he lacks similarities in character, Randall’s villainsona makes up for in its coloration. Turning Randall’s prominent purple into an accent separates him from the man behind the mask while the outfit in general is eerily similar to Hershel’s, just with its own Descole-esque spin on it. The hues of their major colors are nearly exact (32 and 31 respectively), blonde hair is pretty much opposite of brunette, and, most obviously, the red and green bands on their hats are compliments of each other. Not only that, but certain parts of Randall’s outfit are tilted down where Hershel’s are tilted up and vice versa, and rounded corners become sharper and vice versa

Putting our boy through a reverse gradient demonstrates this well I think

Could I go more in depth and drag this out even more unnecessarily long than it needs to be? Maybe. Am I going to? No.

Pretty much everything else I could say has to do with little things that don’t matter at all plot wise (aside from maybe kat and flora having warm colors too and alfie being the outlier and blah blah blah) but this is already over 1000 words long and holy shit i rambled so much my goodness

Anyway, excited to pick apart NWoS once that comes out. Just from the trailer alone I can already tell I’m gonna have fun with this one >:]