#but also there's the. is anne really happy? no one knows! i like the theory that was floating around that she's actually much smarter than

[averlym]

Can you do prompt 34 for araleyn?

no.34, gen: "you look happy" //sometimes i think too much about dlyh

[artigas]

I’m really happy that Black Sails is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, but (predictably) some of the takes I’m seeing online are so busted. It’s wild to me that anyone would complain about the fact that Anne Bonny kisses Jack after she’s developed this life-changing relationship with Max. It’s absolutely wild to see anyone roll their eyes or feel uncomfortable about the fact that Flint has sex with Miranda when he returns to her in season one or that Max is most likely a lesbian but actively has sex with men for pay and knows how to make that pleasurable. It’s crazy to me that some of the very audiences who claim to want queer representation feel so discomforted when they actually see the mess and seeming inconsistencies of queerness that they asked for.

The reality is that there are lesbians who have had (and will have!) meaningful, mutually-gratifying, and deeply sexual relationships with men. There are gay men who’ve enjoyed having sex with women, who are gay as the day is long and nevertheless feel sexually attracted to a woman or two and are nevertheless gay men, full stop. There are gay cis men who are happily married to trans women. There are femme dom tops and butch bottoms and there are mascs afab people who like femme boys. There are non-binary people and trans men who actively identify as lesbians. There are ace and aro people who enjoy thinking about and engaging with sex — sometimes in fiction and sometimes in real life. Queerness, in fiction and in reality, defies neat categorization. That is the beauty, power, and (perceived) unorthodoxy of queerness.

Now, I’ll say this — do I think the straight men behind Black Sails were actively thinking deeply and insightfully about the paradoxes and fuckery of queer identity when they wrote Black Sails? No! By their own admission, Steinberg and Levine have owned up to the fact that some of the writing of the show was really hinged on their own blind spots as people who are not (to my knowledge) members of the queer community. If I want to be generous, I think that the beautiful mess of Black Sails is that, in not feeling like experts enough to designate specific identity labels to any of their characters, the writers stumbled their way into more authentic representation of lived queer experience, which is to say that the notion that James Flint was actively thinking of himself as a gay man was anachronistic. As many lesbian archivists and theories have noted, the notion of a queer identity — as in, queerness is who you are, not what you do — was patently unthinkable for most cultures in the past. In other words, the idea that Anne Bonny operates in the eighteenth century as a lesbian and thus would not willingly engage in relationships with men is not only untrue of the series, but untrue of most recorded lesbian experiences in the real world. The notion that a lesbian would operate her entire life without engaging sexually or romantically with men, for instance, is a very new privilege that some of us are very lucky to enjoy, but it is not true for the vast majority of human history — hell, it’s not even true of our present world.

This is all to say that think that there’s something really funny about how we want queer characters to fit into neatly organized boxes. This isn’t a new problem, either. When the show was still airing, the BS fandom would get itself into tizzies about wether or not Flint is gay or bisexual, wether or not Anne Bonny is a lesbian, wether or not Silver is queer when his only canonical relationship is with Madi, etc etc. We’ve been having these discourses for years and I don’t know. I get that much of it is fueled by how badly some people want to see themselves represented in media, but . . . well. The siloing of queer characters and queer narratives into neat little boxes has never felt very authentic to me and nine times out of ten, it’s also just so damn boring.

[starlightshadowsworld]

I got asked earlier what my thoughts are on the Mori is Atsushi’s dad theory. And personally I don’t buy into it (full breakdown is here incase anyone’s curious.)

But I find it an interesting idea and wanted to play around with it. So here’s my concept for what if Mori was Atsushi’s dad.

Mori knew he’d need a successor for when he took over the Port Mafia. It’d be easier for it to be his own heir. But he wasn’t exactly jazzed about having a baby to look after.

As time went on tho Mori did develop a bond with Atsushi. He wouldn’t call it love but he did feel some affection for him. A feeling that definitely grew when Atsushi manifested a powerful ability.

At first as far as Mori knew, it was simply to turn into a tiger. Which in enough itself was impressive. But that Atsushi got into an accident (as babies do) but miraculously his ability seemed to heal his wounds.

Upon closer inspection Mori realises it wasn’t quite regeneration. But reversion, bringing him back to his original state and thus no longer being injured (same analysis Yosano makes in season 1.)

Definitely does has a “of course he has a powerful ability, he is my son after all” moment. And things would’ve stayed mostly peaceful until the Great war. Mori ends up heading off and has enough sense not to bring his 4 year old with him (but bringing an 11 year old is clearly fine.)

And so Atsushi is left in the care of his mother. Mori and her aren’t together, they are amicable and only really interact if it concerns Atsushi. She’s even dating another man, a cute Russian man who offers to look after her son when an emergency comes up.

One he is directly responsible for because ✨surprise ✨ it’s Fyodor. He takes Atsushi to a far away orphanage, weaving a story about a poor child he found in a bin. Atsushi’s mum is horrified when she comes home, and turns out Fyodor was in disguise and using a fake name.

And because there was a whole thing about the northern lights in the Great War causing emp waves (or something), the phone service is shit and Mori doesn’t find out until he returns. He doesn’t exactly take the news well.

It’s then that Natsume reveals to him what the book is and Atsushi’s connection to it. Saying he didn’t say anything prior because he wanted to be completely sure. And had he known this man was after Atsushi he would have. Mori’s not exactly happy but he understands.

This whole thing only fuels his desire to be PM Boss. Knowing he’ll gain the resources to locate his son. Life carries on and Mori sits on the throne of the PM. The only people who knew of his son were Dazai and Chuuya, and Mori tells them at the same time.

When Chuuya is lashing out in Mori’s office about what he’s lost to the old Boss Mori says he understands. He understands how it feels to lose everything you hold dear, but also to rise above and take control. “I had a son. He was stolen from me, and I will rake this earth until I find him alive.”

When Chuuya joins he says something like “when the day comes you find a lead. I will do everything in my power to bring your son back to you.”

That lead would come 6 years later when a bounty for a tiger is given to the PM. And Mori freezes at the sight of its eyes, he’d know those eyes anywhere.

Everyone’s confused as to why the bounty isn’t being taken, except for Chuuya who puts two and two together. Akutagawa is instructed to bring the weretiger back.

But under no circumstances is he to hurt him. This goes out the window once Atsushi joins the Agency and Dazai, while captured purposefully riles up Akutagawa. Because he realised Atsushi’s identity and won’t let Mori take him.

Things carry on, Akutagawa’s on thin fucking ice as is Kouyou but things go on.

Atsushi and Mori still meet in Anne’s Room. Atsushi thinks he looks familiar and Mori pretends he doesn’t know him. And gives him advice, he’s curious to see what his son has grown into. And also doesn’t want their reunion to take place here.

Mori is also more open to a truce even if he doesn’t accept it right away, especially when learning it was Atsushi’s idea.

Atsushi doesn’t learn the truth until Dead Apple. He doesn’t take it well but learns to accept himself. Akutagawa gives him a good tongue lashing for not telling him and the Agency accepts Atsushi.

Atsushi and Mori don’t meet properly until the Cannibalism arc, truly wonderful timing. He feels guilty for worrying about Mori. Speaking of, Mori finally learns Fyodor’s the one who stole Atsushi, after being stabbed by him.

There’s really no easy way to break it to Atsushi that the Agency are going to kill his dad. He’s against it (even more so than in canon) and wants to try and find a different solution. But after the lead is a failure, all Atsushi asks is if he can at least say goodbye.

His friends grant him that at least.

Atsushi walks up to PM headquarters to Chuuya who stops the goons from trying to shoot him.

Atsushi: Do you know who I am?

Chuuya: The Agencies Weretiger?

Atsushi: Not that. It’s…About your Boss.

Chuuya: So you found out. Yeah, what about it?

Atsushi: I want to see him. I don’t know what’ll happen but, I know this might be my last chance.

Chuuya passes a message on, gets the okay and sends a goon with Atsushi to go up. “And kid, for what it’s worth. He’s missed ya.”

Mori is sat up in bed and sends Kouyou out. It’s awkward at first but Mori doesn’t seem phased by it. Asking how Atsushi is and sharing old stories.

Atsushi getting emotional because he was told he was abandoned. Mori firmly remarking that he wasn’t, that Mori scoured the country and than some for him.

That he was missed, dearly.

Atsushi saying that he wished they had more time. And that he’s trying to find a different solution, giving a teary smile when Mori comments he truly did take after him. Mori has no doubt he’ll survive this but simply says he has faith in Atsushi.

If he says theres a solution where everyone survives then there will be. And that when it comes they should get dinner, whatever he likes.

“Do you still love chazuke?”

“It’s my favourite.”

“Mine too. Chazuke it is then.”

Atsushi leaves with hesitation and the assassination plot kicks off and fails. The rest of the plan is carried out and the end has Atsushi and Mori eating chazuke together at a restaurant.

Atsushi knows what kind of man Mori is, but he’s also his dad. He knows he cares in his own way and wouldn’t hurt him. And they are allies currently.

Chuuya goes back for Atsushi during the rescue and finds he’s missing. Which gives Mori a heart attack until he realises Atsushi snuck out with Kyouka and made a deal with Fitzgerald.

Does he wish Atsushi came to him? Yes, though he does understand Atsushi’s reasoning and touched he didn’t want to drag the PM into this (oh dear boy we were involved when you got dragged into it.)

Also doesn’t appreciate Fitzgerald manipulating his son.

Things go on, worlds saved until it isn’t and Mori gets up to greet Atsushi. And for the first time, hugs him. Atsushi breaks down and Mori tells him this will all be fixed.

That damn rat had taken too much from Atsushi, he wouldn’t take anymore. Ability or not, Mori would find a way to kill him if he tried. He couldn’t even be happy at having his son in his rightful home.

Fyodor was going to pay dearly.

[ronearoundblindly]

Valentine's Ask Game: ...without a motive It's allowed to be abrupt, languid, bizarre, out of context, IN context but only you know what context it is-- it can too soon, start too late, anything!

I choose this work-weary space man from @larissa-ann's gif! Divider by @cafekitsune

James Mace x reader, one of my 2024 Valentine's Fics!

Warnings for not being a happy/roses-and-unicorns type of kiss fic, but I think it's still really cute and addresses that kind of numbness we can all feel from time to time. WC 418

Saying space is lonely is akin to calling water wet; it's accurate, sure, but it's also wildly understating the conditions as a whole.

There's fear and pressure, sleeplessness and fatigue, a never-ending schedule and infinite time to zone-out into the void.

You knew that going in. You've pulled your weight, stayed focused, remained practical, and been cordial.

No one on the crew hates you, but no one loves you either.

Space is truly lonely.

You've reached the point of acceptance. You can still bark orders during drills and smile over dinner. It's all...empty, though, meaning you never see it coming.

Mace just bumps right into you coming out of his quarters.

There are moves back and hands up, mumbled apologies, stated destinations, offered excuses. Then neither of you get out of the way because suddenly he is your way and you are his way.

Space doesn't contain slowed inertia. Space doesn't produce heat. No sound. No air. No gravity.

His head tilts and his lips meet yours, gentle but firm, the perfect middle ground, the most inoffensive action.

He exists with you. You exist with him. How can you mistake that for romance? How can you interpret that as passion?

If this were desperation, he'd grope and tug at clothing between you. If this were lust, he'd shove his tongue down your throat and moan. If this were love, he'd hold you in his arms.

There's no motive here. Space has nothing for either of you.

Soft and consistent, he doesn't break away. Your eyes never fully shut. Neither do his. It's a sort of experiment. You're evaluating reasons why you shouldn't, why you're wrong, why you can't, but he doesn't break away.

Like the ghost of a embrace, a whisper of a past life, James lowers his fingers to barely brush your arms. It's the first non-essential contact you've had in months, and a shiver races up your spine, pulling your neck taut.

The kiss is over, your head bowed and tucked to his rough chin, a rush of confusion and guilt lights through your nerves to make your breath catch.

His own breath shakes when it blows across your forehead and ear.

Mace takes a stable grip of your shoulders and shifts you to one side.

"See you later," he says as he walks by, turning to step into the mess compartment.

You finally close your eyes.

Space is lonely like water is wet, but even the depths of Earth's oceans hold other, unexpected discoveries.

➡️ Bucky Barnes and a kiss, casually

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

@supraveng @1950schick @patzammit @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @yiiiikesmish @ashesofblackroses @spectre-posts @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @brandycranby @buckysprettybaby

[blueberrymuffinmassacre]

So The Amazing Digital Circus has latched onto my brain like a particularly stubborn tick so now I gotta share a theory of mine from the Pilot.

Considering it's all, indeed, digital and the mental health of its occupants ties to their stability, I bet their avatars are near direct reflections of themselves and their issues/flaws, albeit with a filter to fit the Fun, Child Friendly Aesthetic of the Circus.

Pomni is a classic rendition of a Jester. A Court Fool. Her eyes are incredibly expressive and even change to scribbles, hollow circles, or pure black depending on her mental state.

She likely views her life as a joke, or views herself as the punchline of a joke. She's a Fool. Whether this is due to perceived incompetence, an inability to "grow up", or simply considers herself to be lesser than her peers.

I do however use the above picture on purpose. She's an absolute nervous wreck 99% of the time, but stops while being chased by a monster and is stunned by her own reflection. That isn't a look of fear or confusion, it's awe. Something about her avatar struck a cord with her and seemed right. I personally subscribe to the theory of her being transgender and experiencing a small bout of gender euphoria amidst the horrors thanks to a post made by one demilypyro.

Jax is a Cartoon Rabbit. Not really terribly much to say about the design itself other than it being very rubber-hose animation in its proportions and the seeming default smug expression.

Jax is an asshole. He plays pranks in bad faith, is incredibly snarky and dry even to someone in distress, and doesn't seem to overly care about the others well being.

"I'm fine with doing whatever, as long as I get to see funny things happen to people." It makes sense his avatar would take a similar look to another wise-cracking cartoon rabbit we all know. He also seems the most content to actually be in the Circus itself. Considering it can let him do all manner of things to others, from the lethal to the physically impossible, he might consider it better than reality.

Ragatha is literally just raggedy ann. A patchwork doll.

She seems to be the most outwardly kind of the individuals in the circus, showing patience and understanding with Pomni even when in distress, though she clearly has a limit to said patience.

I think it's safe to assume Ragatha has been through a lot of shit for her avatar to make her seem patchwork. Which is to say, damaged multiple times and repaired each time, leaving clear marks of the repairs like scars.

Zooble is a mess of individual parts slammed together in an approximation of a humanoid shape. Like someone took dozens of pieces from all sorts of toys and put them together into an amalgam.

Gooseworx has stated they have no idea what they're even suppose to be. This can and likely does include gender, but probably includes their entire identity as a whole. Or rather, their lack of one.

For whatever reason, be it alienation, isolation, or any number of potential causes; Zooble doesn't know who they are or what they want to be. No ambitions, no dreams, no real self identity. This makes their avatar manifest as a mess that also doesn't know what it wants to be, so is a little bit of everything.

Gangle is most insubstantial, their body almost entirely a ribbon. The key part of their avatar is the mask: Comedy and Tragedy. And it seems in the few instances it's not broken, they always try to wear the comedy mask over top the tragedy mask.

Gangle's behavior makes me think she's the youngest of the individuals, at least mentally. As for the masks, something about her circumstances in life made her feel the need to put on a facade of joy. Maybe to live up to expectations, or to hide her true feelings to avoid worrying others. As an avatar, this seems to have become literal: She seems to only be happy with the mask on and discontent at best with it off/broken.

Kinger is a White King Chess Piece.

He's a forgetful paranoiac who, according to the characters, has been present in the Circus for the longest amount of time. He seems to forget where people are and what he's doing quite a bit.

In a moment of lucidity near the end, he goes in depth about how the food they eat is just simulated, and how they provide the sensation of eating despite not being real. It's also worth mentioning the ground floor of the circus is a Chess Board.

I believe Kinger is/was at least partially in charge of creating the Circus. His avatar is a walking symbol of authority, a reflection on his standing within the digital space rather than his current mental state. Perhaps the avatar was more fitting when he first entered the Circus, aware of its intricacies and rules, but has long since forgotten such things.

We don't see Kaufmo while he's uh. Normal. But we do see pictures of what he did look like: A Clown.

From the dialogue of other characters like Ragatha and Gangle, he seemed to actually try and play the role of clown during his time in the Circus, even if he wasn't terribly funny.

Kaufmo likely found himself to be a clown in reality. Maybe he was a clown in the literal sense. Or maybe he just saw himself as a funny, quirky guy to be around even if he was none of those things.

Finally, we have what happens when someone goes completely plum insane.

The Avatars are based on mental scans of the individual made to fit the aesthetic of the circus. an Abstraction is what happens when said software tries to read a mind that has no logic or reasoning left. There's nothing to find, no basis of personality, no base to work with. So in confusion the avatar becomes a glitched mess, trying and failing to find a shape within the madness to settle into.

Kinger seems to be insane, yet they're stable, because there is still an individual underneath the neurosis. There's nothing left of Kaufmo at this point: Just a cyclone of emotions inside a broken human mind.

That's the theory, anyway. It's a fucking pilot I could be entirely wrong.

[mermaidsirennikita]

What's your theory on what's going on with Kate or do you not care enough to have one?

I mean, I've had a pretty solid theory since the day they announced she had abdominal surgery and she wouldn't be back until after Easter.

(I notice that a lot of people who are new to this versus true to this think the Royals have said this and meant "she'll be back on Easter". OH NO MON AMI. If they had her LOCKED DOWN for Easter, we'd know at this point. They would've announced it.)

Is it possible that this is all a part of a divorce play by her (and William is trying to get her to stay) or William (and Kate is doing a Gone Girl type move where she's basically refusing to cooperate)? Yes. I am more open to that than I once was.

However, I say:

--This family is not as divorce-averse as people think, lmao. I see people go "but the Church of England" okay but like... the King.... is divorced... He divorced the most famous woman... maybe ever. And shit got better for him after they stopped twiddling their thumbs and did it. The royal family knows that it is ultimately better to just call it than to try and make someone stay. Anne is divorced, Creepy Uncle is divorced. It's not as taboo as I think some people feel, so if she's leaving... why concoct this story to keep her in the game?

And like, I do think William has SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIM... because no sane individual would attempt to handle this as he has been, and it is HIM, Kensington Palace is HIM, and Charles's office seems to be very hands-off about all this. But idk, being like "my wife had abdominal surgery" to hide her leaving you is a bit... much.

--Then we go to "he's divorcing her"/"has cheated one too many times" and she's in hiding. First off, adorable if people think Rose is the only one he's fucked with in this 20+ year relationship. I think there are probably MANY issues with that marriage aside from cheating, but Kate is not Diana. Kate was with William for a long time, during which I'm sure he cheated, before they married. She knew what she was signing up for. Is it harder than she thought? Probably. But I don't think she'd pull something like this over cheating, because the man ain't gonna stop so it's like... leave him or not.

But then on William's side... I don't know, dude. Yes, Charles really wanted to be with Camilla. I don't think it's as romantic a story as people think, but there got to be a point where if Charles was going to be with Camilla, he needed to marry her, and Diana didn't want to be queen anymore, so they just... divorced. I don't buy that William is attempting to force an unwilling Kate out of the picture to marry Rose. I think that if William wanted to be with Rose and Kate didn't want to leave, he'd simply have Rose as a mistress, as many royals before him have. And then, where's the logic of this man replacing Kate with Rose, but also trying to make everyone believe he's a good father and husband with this "William took the photo of Kate and the kids" bullshit?

So while I know some viewed the random article(s) about Rose as "soft-launching the mistress"... I did not. I saw it as warning shots from the media. They're not very happy with Wills; they know shit; here's a random article about a totally random lady they know nothing about besides her being a random marchioness who looks like Kate, who lives near William and Kate, who used to be friends with Kate but isn't anymore...........

--I also just think the idea of her being perfectly well in hiding is kind of ridiculous. Because I just feel like... unless she's in a basement somewhere, someone has to have seen her in all this time. If she's well??? And can walk about???? You're telling me she's either never left some house or has and someone hasn't seen her? Even Princess Charlene had to make up some bullshit about why she was in South Africa for weeks when she tried to escape that one time. (I wish more KateGate people would read about THAT story.)

If they're not divorcing, what is it?

If that woman could appear in a short little outing, not even speaking, maybe in a wheelchair, and look well enough... They would have her out there. It is INSANE TO ME that people think a family that regularly shopped Diana around at events, knowing she was self harming and binging and purging and throwing herself down the stairs while pregnant, that ignored how increasingly upset and mentally unwell Meghan was (while pregnant)... would just let Kate sit back when the world thinks William has like, chopped her up into little pieces and put her in a fridge.

I'm not even saying an engagement! I'm saying a quick "here's William pushing Kate around the garden", "here's Kate sitting and watching her kids play in the yard, VERY clear VIDEO FOOTAGE (because they've fucked it all up, nobody believes still images of her anymore, I don't buy that the woman in the pic in her mom's car was her 100%, and I think the most recent pic without her face in it is probably an old one being shopped as new) is needed. And they're not making it happen.

And I don't think it's because they won't. I think it's because they CANNOT. Like, if she was okay, I do tend to feel like Charles might actually make her show the fuck up, but I don't think she is and it's on William to handle it. (And William fucking up kind of benefits Charles, because they are always in competition. "Charles has cancer that's why he's not doing it" Charles is not only... Charles. He is Camilla and their entire office.)

So. I think she is either incredibly unwell mentally, or incredibly unwell physically--beyond what they've implied. I think there's probably some truth to what the Spanish press has reported about her health. I feel like something probably happened around December 28, and she is having a hard time.

And why not just SAY THAT?

Because a) this is a very old-fashioned ableist family that treats issues that have to do with mental and physical health with shame, and I mean, they have literally locked members of the family they find unwell away before, and if you look at what they did to Diana beyond what The Crown even showed... this is not very off b) William is a disaster who thinks he knows everything and both uses the press and truly hates it, OR SO I GUESS NOT KNOWING HIM AT ALL and his PR strategy has never been good so once confronted with a genuine crisis he's flailing c) of WHAT CAUSED this incident.

Did increasingly horrible conditions in that family and in her marriage cause Kate to do something? (I don't know why people would think this is crazy when her mother-in-law literally discussed passive suicide attempts and constant suicidal thinking, though I suppose the Windsors have recently made a lot of headway with their "Diana did it all because she was crazy" versus "Diana did it because we drove her crazy" press tour.) Did someone hurt her? Did she have unhealthy habits exacerbated by the royal life that led to medical complications? I don't know.

And I also think it's possible that they're hoping they can get her back to "peak condition" if they have enough time, and it's possible that simply won't happen. No matter what does happen, though, I can tell you that there is no way they can get their way out of this looking the way they did before.

Anyway, I've been on this train since literally day 1 and everything they're doing just makes me feel increasingly correct, so. The press is starting to turn. The New York Post (a Murdoch rag, which therefore SHOULD support them) started doing write ups about how her health may be much worse than they've let on. It's not good.

Disclaimer: theories theories theories speculation speculation alleged alleged

[kiwibirb1]

More meetup au stuff because my brain keeps making the sashas extra angsty-

Basic general thing here but the party (which is what I'm calling the entire group think d&d) grows in the order I come up with the aus. Like in the beginning it was just canon and CiH, then BT joined, and so on. (I'm trying to think up some sort of plot but for now it's just an excuse to make them interact.) So the ToaF girls are the most recent additions. Also ages so from oldest to youngest we got BT (34 ish), canon (23ish), ToaF (19-18), WV (16ish), CiH (14ish), and CF (13ish). CiH is only older bc they spent a little longer in Hyrule than canon did in Amphibia (and by extension CF).

Okay now that the housekeeping is out of the way time to make WV!Sasha sad heh (ugh still stuck on their nicknames. Sasha will prob be Vagabond but i dont know what to do for anne and marcy...). So even though he's not the oldest, he kinda became the groups navigator bc he had traveled the most. He like calls put shit that's ahead, but it's always really gruff and pretty much all the speaking he does. Rest of the group just assumes he's shy or something, but he sure don't act it. And his Marcy and Anne are constantly mentioning conversations they had the previous night, despite no one hearing a single word from any of them. Anyway Heron and Domino are practicing their sign one day (everyone in amphibia knows it, most especially the lower classes. Since accidents are so much more common with frogs and toads and Idk other reasons im tryna worldbuild here okay) and Vagabond walks by them and waves. But Heron realizes that the reason she thought Vagabond always waved a little funny is bc it's not actually a wave its hello in sign! (they're like slightly different okay?) Heron tests her theory by signing something to Vagabond and he automatically signs back. So then Heron, Domino, and Vagabond are holding an entire conversation in sign and both the BTs are realizing "holy shit this kid is the exact opposite of shy" so one of them asks why they don't talk more and Vagabond awkwardly explains how he prefers signing but figured the rest of the group didn't know it. So yeah. Vagabond was also like really happy when ToaF joined because ToaF!Sasha was also fluent (WV!Marcy wasn't completely, or at least as fluent as Sasha, same with BT) so he could hold conversations with extra words and shit.

Hmmm oh! All the Sasha's with an eye scar have slightly different ones. WV's is two slash marks right over her eye, going towards her nose, that have nice clean edges because Rosie helped make sure it healed properly. ToaF has two slash marks as well, but they go away from her nose, and are much more jagged bc no Rosie to help. BT has one long thin one going from her hairline to that one spot at the edge of your jaw. Knife wound hehe

[asoulwithadream]

ANALysis and THEORIES- OFMD EDITION #1

Objective: PROMO GIFS

Time to analyse these bad boys, because I think I may have figured out what they are. They're lines from the show. Each individual little subtext to the official gifs are something which someone will say in the new season, and I'm determined to find out what, when, where and who (I determine that 3/4 would equal success).

I) "I've never seen Blackbeard like this."

This is the same shot from the trailer, possibly either before or after the infamous "Fuck you, Stede Bonnet." However, there may be a Clue in the second shot which may be able to somehow place this on a timeline (not by myself—this has drained my powers). I can't really tell, because of the low quality and high contrasting shadows, whether or not the side of the Stede topper has been smudged with Ed's make-up yet.

It was clear in the teaser when Ed played with the toppers that he'd caressed fake-Stede against his cheek as if he were some rather exquisite cashmere because of the smudges, but we couldn't tell during the teaser if this has already happened by this point because of the angle of the toy. But if anyone manages to get a better picture or spots something I missed that may contradict or strengthen this little thought, do let me know.

I'm pretty sure though that the person who says "I've never seen Blackbeard like this," is someone who has seen Blackbeard enough to know how he was. Someone that perhaps served by his side? So I think that the speaker in this context may be Izzy. There are two options of who he's saying this too: either Stede, once they team up, or to the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge, this being the old Revenge crew (Frenchie, Jim, and we count Fang). Maybe even Lucius in the walls.

II) "I should have just told him how I feel."

I just want to take a moment just to appreciate the fact how much this gif resonated with me personally. This was the entire basis of all stages of grief I went through after the season finale, the bottomline of all my thoughts: "why couldn't he have just told him how he felt?". Brilliant delivery and shot planning from the designers of OFMD.

Anyways, let's get on with it. This gif is similar to the first one, in it having the potential of being also shot before or after the Vanity Fair picture with the crew (minus Swede) standing under the bridge(?) in the rain. I do think it's before the scene where Stede takes Blackbeard's poster and very confidently elaborates on Ed's goodness. He has his red cravat on, and is looking so pathetic in the rain looking at a wanted poster of his ex-boyfriend, that the scene is loveably laughable in it's entirety.

It's a bit obvious as to who is the speaker for this line: our very own Stede Bonnet. He's regretting on his actions back at the sailor academy, where he chose to keep quiet about his own opinions on Ed's willingness to leave to China, fast, because of his own deep-rooted issues with speaking up about what he thinks about serious, possibly life-chaning topics. Or maybe he's thinking of why he didn't tell anyone, especially not Ed, about the happiness he felt around him, how great he felt in his company, and how much love he felt for the man.

I can imagine this pretty early on in the season (as we know they reconcile or at least get a long decently early, from the leaked promo), and for some reason I have a picture of Stede laying slumped down on some form of furniture, ragdoll-style, whining about this to someone he knows: either Oluwande (probably the most probably option) or, hear me out, Spanish Jackie. I think she's going to become better friends with the Genital Pirate this season, and be a prevelant character to the narrative.

III) "Feel's like a storm's coming."

This happens during the rapid, quick scenes which we were just able to catch from the teaser. Where Jim is half submerged in water trying their best to reach for someone which I may think might be Ed, and Frenchie working the capstan for whatever purposes needed to hoist something heavy in a storm (don't look at me, I don't sail 18th-century ships). But look, Edward has his cravat on, the cravat given to him by Stede. Why he's kept this eludes me, since this should in theory be before their reconciliation, but we all know that Ed still loves Stede, and perhaps this is his way to hang onto him close to his heart while still matching his new aesthetic.

I would like to think that Ed is the one saying this. After all, he is an expert navigator and weatherman, proving his skills during his first appearances in the previous season. (However, I don't particularly trust his date-keeping skills. He messed up the first one, and then let his other date be held at gunpoint and scared into leaving. Tut tut tut) Another reason as to why I think this is because there is no pronoun indicating that he actively feels the storm, but more passed as a backhanded quip just thrown onto the crew and/or Izzy to alert them.

This could also be interpreted as a metaphor: symbolism for something, foreshadowing to the main plot or villain of the series, which will most likely result in some form of cliffhanger at the end, I tell you that.

I wonder if they're going to have another cloud scene though, talking about how they might show signs of storm. However, instead of shape I'd assume that they'd be commenting on a rather large-scale, dark rain-cloud, and connecting it to perhaps winds stronger than usual.

I also saw someone saying that it was possible that Edward, when he falls off the ship, looses the cravat amongst the waves, and that is why he doesn't have it to what I'd assume is after this scene.

IV) I love a good pirate's tale We can see from this scene that Stede is currently fighting on the beach in the same outfit which he had during the teaser, and if one looks closely you can see that he's excellently accessorised with a beautiful looped earring. However, what we've also learn is that the shot where Ed washes up on the beach is probably in the same scene as this, and by the look on Stede's face (probably augmented by the surrounding chaos) this may be the first time that he's seen Ed in a long time.

I think, as I've said before in previous posts, that Ed has been thrown off the ship in the storm mentioned above. He's been thrown off, and has happened to wash up on this same beach where Stede is fighting, which we know to be possible because of the automatic gaydar in OFMD. (What would be funny though is that he spotted Stede off the shore and decided to make his entrance super dramatic and kraken-like, but ends up just swallowing a shit ton of sea-water and gets his leather ruined, which is why he gets new clothes.)

Why he's fighting? I don't know. But I'm still sure that it's Ocracoke that they're on, because I'm convinced that it'll make an appearance this season—it has too, or else I will send in a formal complaint with our dearest Mr Jenkins.

Now, back to the main bit. The text. Who is it that says "I love a good pirate's tale?" I think that it's either said genuinely, but by someone like Stede, eager to hear about the adventures of experienced and famous seafaring pirates, OR flirtatiously, to insinuate something directed as a romantic quip to get Stede or someone else (a pirate) to talk more about himself. By who, I can't be sure, but I have a list of possible speakers:

Edward Teach

Spanish Jackie

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny's campy friend

Lucius Spriggs

Stede Bonnet

If there's anything I've missed that you want me to add/change, which I find suitable, do tell.

I'm not sick at all. I'm a normal functioning member of society. I have a life.

[oh2e]

Since you’ve posted extensively about James Barry - I would love to know if you have any idea of how he represented his nationality while in the military.

He was said to have claimed London as his birthplace during his student years and identified as English in his thesis. However, I haven't come across any such details about his later years. Considering he was known to give varying birth years, I wonder if his claims about his origins shifted too.

There's obviously also the letter to his brother John (1808 I think), where he mentioned the honour of dying for one's country and his own desire to join the military. This could be sarcastic given the family's problems, but it might also suggest he was patriotic-ish towards a British identity.

As we know Regency - early Victorian wasn’t a very good time to be proudly Irish among the UK ruling class. He also lived through the Irish Potato Famine, which makes his stance even more intriguing. Did he conceal his Irish Catholic background throughout his life? What about his accent? Moving to England in his teens, he could have adopted a new accent, which wouldn’t be too difficult with determination I guess.

As a side note, apparently his father Jeremiah was eventually deported to Australia, tearing the family further apart. 🥲

This is such a good question! And something I’m really interested in learning more about.

My current theory is that Barry didn’t obviously identify as Irish in public. Ireland and Britain were merged in 1801 to become The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, though obviously England had been ruling Ireland long before that. Therefore Barry would’ve grown up in Ireland possibly already considering himself British. Historically there hasn’t been such a divide with being both (making that important distinction between being British and being English), much like how many Scottish people today are happy to consider themselves British also. Barry is often described as being Scotch in countenance and having studied in Scotland I wonder if he did let people assume he was Scottish rather than Irish. The accents aren’t too dissimilar to an ignorant ear and that would also allow him to get away with the odd word as Gaeilge in a way identifying himself as english wouldn’t. I know he gave his place of birth as London at some point but there is nothing to say he didn’t tell people his family were Scottish, or even Irish though I doubt it.

The thing about mentioning dying for one’s country, many Irish people died in World War I because they signed up to fight for Britain. Many. Ireland in 1914 was in a similar place to Ireland in 1801 regarding Britain’s rule, just the other way around. A lot of people regarded the war as their chance to fight for their country - yes even if they were proudly Irish they felt this was their fight too. (Not everyone obviously otherwise the Rising wouldn’t’ve happened but a not insignificant number of Irish people did go off to fight for Britain because they felt it was their duty.)

Ah the thing about the Great Famine (1845-1852) is that Barry was far far away at that point. I’m not sure how much he would’ve known about it and most (all) of what he did know would most likely have been from English newspapers, which we know are not necessarily fair on Ireland even today. However Barry was also born within living memory of an earlier famine (1740). James Barry RA was born in 1741, right at the tail end of that famine, and so Mary Anne Barry was probably not far behind him. I think there was 5 children in the family? Not many so they probably weren’t born too far apart. From my quick google to check when James Barry RA was born it also says his father (Dr Barry’s grandfather) was a coasting trader between England and Ireland.

Barry is sometimes claimed to be the child/grandchild of Lord Buchan, a Scottish Earl, and I wonder if his accent played into that. I could be wrong but James Barry RA’s insistence to be extra kind to his fellow Irish makes me think that although he lived most of his adult life in England he didn’t lose anything from home, probably including his accent. Barry MD may possibly have picked up an English accent when he was over there or he may have not. Which brings me back to my previous point of him passing himself off as Scottish. (Side note: while some people can pick up and drop accents at the top of a hat, I was raised in Ireland to parents with English accents and I never got an Irish accent. Maybe this is why I never see Barry as having lost his accent.)

Regarding Barry’s Catholicism - I’ve read very little but considering he spent most of his life abroad I am inclined to think that there would only have been one or maybe two Christian churches in the area that people attended regardless of their specific denomination. In South Africa this would’ve been a Dutch church, most likely the Dutch Reformed Church. Though of course it wouldn’t surprise me if the Church of England commandeered the Dutch Reformed Church buildings and made them C of E. Either way, I doubt Barry was proudly Catholic, not when working for the British Army.

I think I did know Jeremiah got deported but by all accounts it wasn’t much of a loss considering Mary Anne had been ignoring his correspondence, Barry had become Barry and therefore was not corresponding to anyone from home and John was in the military. It’s possible, considering the places James and John went, that they were actually closer to Jeremiah in Australia than they had been to Jeremiah in Cork.

I’m really interested in researching Barry’s Irish nationality, his Catholicism and also his knowledge of the Irish language, which at that point in time was about equally known as English was in Ireland. Especially in towns and cities and a lot of people could understand both even if they couldn’t speak both. It’s an angle that doesn’t often get considered - I presume because Barry moved to London, trained in Edinburgh and worked with the British army in British colonies - but it’s doubtful to be something that can be overlooked easily especially at the time.

I’m not unhappy when I see older pieces describe Barry as British because technically he was, but I feel that regardless of his own feelings towards being Irish or British, it is neglectful to call him British now. Ireland struggles to claim our notable people because Britain likes to get their claws in, whether because they moved to the UK, ignorance, or something else. And the fact that most historical notable people were Anglo-Irish doesn’t help but the fact that James Barry RA is *always* referred to as Irish and makes me determined to refer to Barry MD as Irish at any given opportunity.

At the end of all that - I know very little. Most of what I’ve said there is pure speculation and theorising from what we do know. I don’t know a lot about being Irish in the British army in the 19th century. I don’t know about religion in South Africa at the time. I don’t know about the opinions regarding being born Irish and British. I don’t know how Barry felt about the Great Famine. I don’t know if he was a staunch Catholic or if he…converted to being Anglican. I don’t know if he spoke Irish. I don’t know if he even wanted to be considered Irish. I don’t know and while some of that is things I can learn, a lot of it is not. I enjoy talking about it and I want to learn more.

[desertfangs]

Love your love for post-canon Armand/Daniel, I’m the same 🫣 In part because I love reading different interpretations of what their relationship is like in the present, what has changed and what has remained the same over the years. It seems like people agree on most things but I love how certain things simply come down to personal interpretation. And look, I know that Anne should’ve included WAY more armandaniel content in the last trilogy but I appreciate the fact that she had a plan in mind for them, or at least a theme: them wanting to spend as much time alone together as possible post-reunion, which is a thing every time their names are mentioned together (them sneaking out in the rain, them wanting to go back to Trinity Gate). They’re in their “run away with me/anytime you want” era and I really love that for them 🫀

I’m so into post-canon Armand and Daniel and I'm so glad you are too! Anne didn’t need to tell me they’d get back together for me to believe they would—I firmly believe they always will, they’re soulmates and two sides of the same weird coin, plus Daniel is Armand’s only fledgling. They have a bond in love and bond in blood. And they’ve always been so absolutely feral for each other. I just can’t imagine them staying apart for long without extenuating circumstances. I believe they’re that couple who will have their periods of being apart (either because they’re doing different things or because they had a fight, lol) but they’ll always come back together. They’re magnetic and they love each other so much.

But I am glad Anne did give us little mentions that they were in fact doing things together and, correct me if I’m wrong, as far as we know Daniel and Armand are living together when the series ends. Which is good enough for me. Of course I would have loved Daniel to get more screen time. I mean aliens are involved! Let the guy talk about that! I want his perspective on that stuff! Or just to be included in the ending because he is such a vital character. He’s the reason the series exists! He’s the one who started it all. I mean, come on! ISTG Anne.

💖💖 THEIR RUN AWAY WITH ME ERA 💖💖 Listen anon, I love that so much I want it on a throw pillow or a t-shirt! 😭😭😭 I’m going to refer to it as that from now on, it’s perfect, no notes. 

I love that you’ve pointed out how they seem to want to be alone together when they are mentioned in the last trilogy. I hadn’t really thought of it that way and now that’s my happy thought. Because it does seem in line with my prevailing in-universe theory for why we don’t get more of them together and that’s because they want their privacy. 

We know Daniel never wanted fame. He published Interview with the Vampire under a pseudonym. I can imagine he was vaguely uncomfortable with his story being out in the world once he realized people he knew might find it. (Which is a funny thought given how eagerly he devoured Armand’s story in TVL but like.. I don’t blame him there.) 

But also Armand and Daniel have been through a lot. Armand tried to end his life and has had to spend time recovering and then got saddled with two kids because Marius thought it would tether him to the world. Daniel thought Armand had died and he’d lost him and went mad for a while. Like they’ve been through some shit. I can absolutely see them deciding that they want some space and for their story to be kept off the published pages of Lestat’s books as much as possible and Lestat acquiescing because he clearly does love Armand. 

If they want some peace and their time together left out of the books, if they want to disappear together or run off alone for long periods, or even just sneak off to Paris when they’re at Court, or hole up alone in Trinity Gate with a “No Vacancy” sign on the door, frankly that’s beautiful and they deserve it. I love that for them.

Thank you so much for the ask! 💖💖 I’ve had a horrible week and this has greatly improved my night. I hope I wasn’t too rambly, my brain is very fried. 

[personishfive]

can i ask for your thoughts on all of the phantom thieves ?

i feel like im being interviewed lol... and well i've completed p5(r) 3 times + i'm starting my 4th right now so clearly i have a lot of thoughts so i don't know how to boil it down into a sensible easily communicated response to a tumblr ask haha...

basically i love everyone...um. in short (p5(r) spoilers):

joker: the most trans in any direction character, stylish, fun, mostly-silent swag. i love protagonists. joker can hold multitudes. insert the behind the mask lyrics. i think about 3rdsembadend a lot. also "canon" names wise i prefer akira by a fair amount if that matters. keeping them unnamed in my comics is a deliberate choice though haha

mona: people need to stop being mean to him he's literally a cat. my brother loves him :) little guy... yeah okumura palace sucks but most of the others have shitty moments too...lol. he's literally a little guy what more do you want. ask me about my thoughts on his gender

ryuji: my best friend!! i think i enjoy him more and more over time he's so ride or die. just a swell dude. such a bro. simple in a good way. aftermath aside his moment in shidopalace is so iconic of him

ann: my second favorite 5 character i love her so so so much. maybe her relevance drops hard post-kamoshida but do i look like i care. she makes me happy :) and also she will forever be iconic for the whole "he can't suffer if he's dead" thing. there are types of characters that i like.

yusuke: okay. confession. the reason yusuke's barely showed up in gomics (he was in the background One time) is because i'm bad at drawing him and worse at writing him (i'm aware the standard of writing for these things is low (lol) but i just can't channel his vibe. being an artist and Like That doesn't even help). i love him though!! he's so funny and his confidant rules. etc. one of those characters that i don't think of 24/7 but when i do think about him it's like. explosion

makoto: she'll figure things out.

futaba: little sister obtained...!! she's my everything. like...dude. i don't know how to put it into words to be quite honest she's just so real. so real. so real!! her palace was good :') she's really fun and resonates so well emotionally... mental illness represent and stem kid solidarity (i do not have the capability of hacking into the government). iconic that they gave her the male velvet suit.

haru: she really needed more screentime i know that's not a new thing to say but it's true she gets overshadowed SO bad. i adore haru... it's. um. the like. reservedness? like she's been holding things back. and strength. and the "i am no longer your subservient puppet". it's interesting how she doesn't get proper resolution for her palace-related troubles like the others (read: dad got assassinated)...and yeah the gap moe of her capacity for violence also. #girl

goro: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. yeah. um. he's my favorite. anyway

sumire: i like her a lot, just more in theory than in practice if that makes sense... why did they put her hair back up and steal her glasses... i think her inclusion in sae's palace is kind of nonsensical but i get it i guess it's for returning players and all. love the cinderella thing she has going on. she's sweet. she has so little time to really shine which is a bummer. i like her. she's a good contrast to the other two in 3rdsem and funny also.

[thirdtidemouse]

(In response to your losing your rant post.) If you ever get up to or feel like ranting about the art stuff and Kaisa’s interests in that again, I’d be very glad and also interested to read it. :) Art theory is great.

aww im thrilled someone is interested!!! i will have a go at rewriting some of it. just for you anon. i might do one about johanna, who's more inclined to illustration - like i said in previous posts kaisa is more anologue photography/fine art, and i embarrassingly don't actually know many photographers, but i have some more conceptual artists she would enjoy too.

long rant with pictures below, about artists, which you should totally read even if its boring because i would be soo happy (just kidding):

starting off with photography though:

Man Ray. these are 'rayographs', a cameraless photography technique, now more well known as photograms.

photography without cameras?!?! crazy!!!! Man Ray pretty much pioneered this technique into modern popularity with his much more surreal style, after William Fox Talbot was printing pieces of flora in the 19th century. photograms happen when you take an unexposed piece of photography paper, place objects on it in a darkroom, and quickly flash it with light. once developed, the shadows of the objects will be left white, and the exposed parts of the paper will turn black, leaving these beautiful imprints behind.

kaisa absolutely loves the darkroom, the more hands-on the technique the better (she might smell like chemicals). photograms work best with translucent objects. rubber gloves, strips of film, marbles, lightbulbs. as much as she loves black-and-white, these totally magical photograms by photographer Anne Hardy definitely would inspire her. i hope you can imagine some of the stuff she comes up with. it literally looks like magic.

if you haven't checked out @/hilda-the-librarians-wife 's hospital au, then first of all please do, but second of all can anyone else see the parallel with this artwork and pathologist dr kaisa underhill?!? these look microscopic, or like deep-sea fauna. this feeling of a glimpse into another world, which is something wife mentioned about cells and microscopy, is what i think kaisa would be fascinated by.

i'll mention some older art before i move onto installations - i dont know a whole lot about art history this far back, but i'm sure plenty of people will recognise Francisco Goya, so i have to quickly mention him. long painting below:

also known as the guy that did saturn devouring his son, goya's 'black paintings' (many of which were painted directly onto the walls of his home) bring that heavy nightmarish feeling that i think that moody moody bitch would love. i love goya's dog, the first painting. it is very imposing. and look at those depictions of witches - a little on the nose, but those dark, crowded scenes are just so much to take in!

now onto another quite macabre artist, Louise Bourgeois. you might again recognise her stuff - her spider installation, named Maman, went a bit viral at one point i think. the spiders were not a one-off thing and they crop up a lot as symbolism for, alongside other things, mothers and maternity. for context, she was born to antique tapestry repairers, and a lot of her work reflects on her childhood. these spiders, both threatening predators and industrious repairers, sometimes guarding hoards of eggs, give way to these ideas of maternal care and mending/weaving. her work carries themes of family, motherhood, abandonment, and fertility.

she describes these structures pictured above as 'cells'. a lot of her work is in cages. i really like the room made of doors, ghostly clothing hung up on cow bones barely blocking the view in. look at the tiny bed atop the tiny spiral staircase. it does a great job of making you think about who might sleep there.

i think kaisa, having a relatively lonely upbringing and complicated family, would both connect with Bourgeois' work and appreciate the unsettling nature of it ^_^

one last installation artist, because i'm a sucker for an immersive experience. this ones a doozy, probably a long one - Mike Nelson. i'm including him because of all the exhibitions i've visited, his Extinction Beckons genuinely scared me. not in some deep existential way, i was just truly unsettled. his stuff isn't nearly as dark or spooky as Bourgeois or Goya, but the way you are totally dunked headfirst into his imaginary parallel worlds really puts you off balance. and by god i think kaisa would love that.

i will describe to you, if you are at all bothered, some of the features of that exhibition!

the first i'll say is longer, the deliverance and the patience.

if you can imagine a large gallery room, please then imagine a set of constructed rooms within it, like a big box with an entrance and an exit. when you enter, the door shuts behind you; the ambience is literal nonstop creaking of doors and floorboards, from the other visitors wandering the structure out of your sight, interspliced with the humming of electric fans. the room you are in feels like the no-turning-back point. the next door invites you in.

this is where the atmosphere sets in for good. this is what you are greeted with, as you walk in from the door on the right hand side of the picture:

maybe i'm just a big baby, but i jumped. i think it was the gargantuan shadow on the wall, from the single lightbulb on the light fitting - it was definitely a figure, arms raised. this is an ugly ass room. the claustrophobic paint colours, doors either side of you, and nonspecific shrine on the far wall, all make for quite an uncomfortable feeling. you're in, and you have to push on. no one inhabits these rooms, all of the people present are visitors, and you expect none of them - despite the noise, it feels like you're alone, as if the only other humans in the building might be scare actors in a haunted house.

each door is a guess and each room is different. this one is a waiting room, without patrons, yellow wallpaper and advertisements; this one is the entrance to a seedy club, smudged mirrors and posters; this one is empty; this one is the captain's bar on an old ship, windowless like the rest of them; this one is empty; this one is empty. whose sleeping bag is this? whose are these cigarette butts? who will turn off the bare lightbulbs when we leave? there are large chunks missing from the drywall in the corridor. there is no one around the corner. the door handle is a shotgun, bolted vertically against the wood.

everything here is so old, like a domestic museum; there is writing everywhere. most of it is in a language you can't read.

the deliverance and the patience dunks your head into a different world, one without people, and then pulls you back out the moment you step out the peeling wooden door of the exit, leaving you feeling like you've invaded someone else's domain.

here's some more:

i, imposter (the darkroom) - in this picture above, you can walk into that tunnel! when we visited, my brother made the apt comparison of a slaughterhouse - animals are sometimes herded through curved corridors to prevent them from panicking when seeing the full road ahead. the door at the end is unlocked, but shut, and heavy - when you crack it open, the deep red light that emits from the room inside is less than reassuring. it's a darkroom - only red safety lights are lit, it's all factory-like with sinks and paper hung up to dry. it doesn't feel unlike a secret lair.

i am going to go to bed, and i don't have the energy to fully go into the amnesiacs - they are a fictional biker gang of Nelson's, made up of gulf war veterans, each having chunks of their memory lost to PTSD. he shows us their belongings, their home, their 'hide', their mindscapes, all through found object sculptures, in typical Mike Nelson fashion. they are more like approximations - a motorbike's handlebars are a pair of horns. more importantly, like any other work of his, they are infused with memory. this constant presence of someone, sometimes the artist, usually the character, sometimes the people who owned these objects before him.

back to kaisa, this is what i think she would be drawn to in his art. this total immersive experience, this otherworldly material. in this au, i think she loves art that is: transportative, textural, moody, surreal, unsettling, nostalgic, immersive.

i might do johanna if i have the energy. if you genuinely read to the end, i dont believe you!! thank you so much!! i'm sorry i went on for so long! i am a freak nerd about this! i'm sorry if you hate conceptual art. i hope i have convinced you to hate it less? i love you. if you have any ideas/corrections/anything at all send me a message or a comment or an ask. have a great day!!

[remypat]

Theories for Episodes 4 & 5

If you haven't watched the first 3 episodes, beware! Spoilers up ahead!

Ok, so Blackbeard tried to murder literally everyone on the revenge. There is not a single person person aboard that would be cool with him just hanging about (with the exception of Stede ofc). My thinking is that for episode 4:

-the crew will be begging Stede to maroon Ed, or just leave him at their next stop, Stede's gonna be all, 'i can change him, we can make this work'

-the Bell comes into play here because Ed is alive and terrifying and his presence must be known at all times. When he is near, everyone flinches, Fang nearly cries and that sets everyone off.

-Ed isn't going to want to stay aboard the revenge anymore. He would be happy to leave especially with Stede being so close by, it's just a stab wound to the heart everytime they're near, which brings me to my next point

-We all know the reunion is gonna be awkward as hell and Stede's heart is gonna fucking shatter, because yeah they love each other and yeah, Stede literally brought Ed back from the purgatory, but as if Ed's gonna just be straight up with him about it. Nah, he's gonna downplay it all and they are gonna pine for each other and it's gonna drive EVERYONE INSANE

-Just imagine it, the pining, Stede and Ed wistfully glancing at one another from across the ship, Ed turns away, Stede looks down all sad, Ed looks back at him, you can hear the swell of their hearts, its gonna be ridiculous, it'll be very akin to the "Ohmygod this is happening"

-Auxiliary Wardrobe reveal!!! Since only Ed and Stede know of it's existence, I am willing to bet that they spend some time talking in there but what is the state of the room? Is it pristine, untouched and unsoiled? Is it Ed's personal crying hole? Has he been sleeping in there, running his fingers across silks and throwing stuff around in fits of anger? I'm not too sure, but it'd be sweet if it's almost as Stede left it. Ed already destroyed so much of Stede's but this was something he also loved.

-Mary and Anne!!! The crew of the revenge decide to port and lo and behold, Ed knows where to go and finds his old friends! I have a feeling that after that whole awkward dinner double date, Ed will finally tell Stede that he isn't coming back aboard the revenge. That he doesn't want them to be like Anne and Mary just doing crazy shit to make their romance interesting. They'll see the red flags in their own relationship and well

-Ed leaves...

Something interesting that I noticed upon my rewatch of the teaser for episodes 4 & 5 is that when Stede is talking to Izzy and is basically asking him to teach him all that he knows, Stede says, "Blackbeard did say you taught him everything you know" Blackbeard??? Why isn't he calling him 'Edward'??? Just an interesting lil detail.

-the curse episode is gonna be goofy as hell and a much needed palate cleanser after all the angsty shit we've witnessed.

-another lil detail from the teaser, Stede has made they captain's cabin his again! He's getting dressed up, he has fixed the furniture or gotten new stuff, and it's very telling to me that Ed is gone . Izzy is even sitting in the cabin, entertaining Stede's antics .

-So, Izzy will become (somewhat) loyal to stede. After all, he saved their lives,didn't take out his anger upon them even after they admitted to killing Ed. No, Stede is flourishing as a captain and Izzy sees the potential to serve under Stede, and now that Ed's gone what else really is he to do?

-Izzy and Stede become (somewhat) besties!!! They train together, probably mourn the love of Ed together too. The crew grows back together and it's fun times again! But Stede still misses Ed deeply..

OMG actually what if they do indeed 'break up' so when we see Stede back at Spanish Jackie's, he's gone full 20-something-year-old, and is all 'Yeah, see this Ed? I'm having a great time without you! I don't feel even a sliver of sadness since we broke up, I'm gonna get absolutely trashed, I don't miss you at all-'

I'm gonna scream into the next year if that happens.

Anywho, these are just my predictions! Literally had to write 'em down because we still have 3 more days until we get our next episodes and I'm losing my mind!

Tell me what you guys think!

[strangcbchavior]

( ELLA PURNELL / 23 / CIS WOMAN / SHE/HER ) — did you see HOPE MERCER’S YOUNGER SISTER, SERENITY “REN" MERCER, wandering around the mercer hollow today? i heard around town that the COLLEGE STUDENT is INTUITIVE, and TENACIOUS, but also CYNICAL, and BLUNT. people say that they remind them of OVER-SIZED FLANNELS, INK-STAINED FINGERS, AND BLACK COFFEE, but how well can you ever really know someone in mercer hollow? ( admin j / 26 / mst /  she/her )

✧*･ﾟ𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚

in the gated community of mercer hollow, born and raised, ren mercer spent most of her days running around her parent’s estate, avoiding etiquette lessons and her french tutor underneath the overgrown willow tree next to their tennis courts, and reading her battered copy of anne of green gables.

her parents are loaded thanks to the mercer legacy. they own a shit-ton of property after her great-great-great-grandfather "settled" ( aka stole ) the land for his own colony. now, they really don’t do much other than sit on the town council and collect checks from their renters.

her family appears perfect, and in some ways it was. ren never wanted for anything or had to struggle the way most people do, but the mercer's are definitely only close on camera and in public. at home, they spend their time apart. the kids' wing was on the opposite side of the house, next to their nanny's room, so that they didn't disturb their parents.

they're very traditional christians. they expect marriage and grandkids to carry on the family name. hope was always willing to play the part, but ren wasn't.

it was very clear who the favorite was.

ren grew up in her sister's shadow, but she liked it there. she was the introverted science nerd with one or two friends, so people didn't scrutinize her the way they did with her hope.

she wasn't close with hope. they were just too different. they hardly saw each other once they got their driver's licenses.

ren got into liberty, but it wasn't as big of deal because, like always, hope did it first. she got a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and is now working on her masters so that she can get into a doctorate program. really, she's just going to as much school as possible to put off making a choice about what to do with her life.

now that hope's dead, her life is on pause, but sometimes she feels like she's grieving a stranger.

✧*･ﾟ𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕

so i know you aren’t technically Supposed to open with a disclaimer, but disclaimer, ren is annoying as fuck for a variety of reasons: 

1) she's can be an asshole. she doesn't like interacting with people, and she's not good at faking being nice. she's not actively mean, but she's definitely not friendly and gets overstimulated easily. she's got a lot of bitterness inside her that she doesn't want to address because we don't talk about childhood trauma here. prickly is probably the best way to describe her.

2) she’s incapable of admitting she’s wrong. it will never ever happen. you know that scene in malcom in the middle where they show lois the tape of her pulling out in front of the car when the cop pulled her over, and she was like the tape is wrong. that’s lottie–and she’d like to point out that lois was proven to be right, thank you very much.

3) she's such a cynic. she is completely disillusioned with the world, especially now that her sister was killed. tbh she's clinically depressed, but her good christian family wasn't about to admit their kid needed medication to be happy. but she knows why she got into an ivy, and it has very little to do with being smart. she's like okay follow your dreams, good luck with that without a trust fund. sorry babe.

now some less depressing things lmao. 

ren a giant nerd. she’s obsessed with quantum theory, organic chemistry, and biology, specifically, but also, y’know, ridiculous superheroes and anime. she will always have a hyper-fixation of the month that will be the only topic of conversation.

she has some symptoms of unmedicated adhd for sure ( not that her parents would ever admit that ). she's able to mask pretty well, and she did really well in school, so it just wasn't discussed and slipped under her teachers' radar.  

she’s also a classic music nerd; music is v, v important to her. she plays the cello, viola, and piano. she thought about going into composing, but you know how she is about unrealistic dreams.

she doesn’t believe in relationships bc she’s like that’s so much effort for so little reward, but she also doesn't want to have sex with someone she doesn't know, so. she might die a virgin.

✧*･ﾟ𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅

best friend: ( m, f, nb ), nerd herd ( m, f, nb), childhood friends: ( m, f, nb ), roommates: ( m, f, nb ), academic rival ( m, f, nb), unrequited crush: ( m, f, nb)

all the connections tbh. slide into my dms, or like this and i’ll hit you up !

[violetfeatherwind]

Hey guys, so I wanted to make a thread involving a theory in regards to the character Ragatha from The Amazing Digital Circus.

Trigger warning/// this theory will involve heavy topics such as abuse, sexual assault, and hints of PTSD

When we first meet Ragatha, she seems pretty caring and friendly towards our main character, Pomni. She's a cute Raggedy Ann inspired ragdoll human character trapped in the Digital Circus. She seems to try and settle down Pomni on her first day when she starts panicking. No one apparently remembers their past what their names and previous lives were before coming to the circus, however their Digital Circus persona selves could probably be a metaphorical reflection of what possibly happened in their past. When we walk down the hallway of the current and previous character's rooms, Ragatha is explaining to Pomni about how this world will slowly but surely drive you insane to the breaking point. We see her acting extremely anxious and freighted in a way that might make you think that she's having a PTSD moment.

When Ragatha got touched by Kaufmo, (who got abstracted) she started to glitch out in pain. She also told Pomni that she understands if she doesn't want to help her even if she is in pain. When Ragatha finally gets fixed up by Caine, we see her hold her arm which is what we also see her do later in the 2nd episode. Her holding her arm makes it look like she's been hurt in some way. I've heard some folks say that she might have been a mother in the past before coming to the Digital Circus, which is kinda why she has that sweet motherly figure to her personality. She could have had kids that she desperately loved so much and played with them while they also played with their toys like a sweet loving mother would normally do. However, as much as I love her design, I'm pretty sure there's a dark reason why she looks like this.

As I said, Ragatha looks like your typical vintage Raggedy Ann ragdoll that had been sewed up with different materials and one button for one eye. Based on what I've noticed about Ragatha's character design and personality. I'm getting the feeling that before coming to the circus, she had a partner who would constantly abuse her. Both sexually and physically. This could explain why she has a button for an eye and patches on her dress cuz those could represent bruises on her body. If Ragatha was a mom, then maybe one of her children would have probably asked if she was ok to which she would've responded that she was "a-ok" cuz she was trying to hide her hurt feelings from her own children. Which could explain why she tried to stay calm and happy towards Pomni. Abuse could have made her become in denial that she is suffering from physical abuse, sexual assault, anxiety, and some PTSD. She wasn't treated like a human being. She was treated as if she was an object. A toy metaphorically speaking. A plaything...

One of Gooseworx's inspirations for the series is a story called "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Elison. It has five main characters that are trapped by an AI that was used for different parts of the world for a war. Unfortunately, the computers merged together. and wiped out every human being on earth except for five human beings (four men and one woman). The AI which is called AM are continuously tortured and have their minds shifted to something they weren't when they were on earth. This theory that I've been writing reminds me of one of the characters in the book named Ellen. She was unfortunately altered by AM to be extremely sexually active, even though she was supposedly a pure and innocent person when she was on earth. However this part of the story is the complete opposite of what I'm theorizing about. I know that there really won't be anything like this in The Amazing Digital Circus , but it is definitely something that could've happened in the real world to Ragatha. She could have been a mother but also an abuse victim. I know that a lot of abuse victims will try to hide their scars and act like they're ok or think that if they tell, it'll make the situation worse. I can tell that people who have abusive partners probably try to make them happy by doing stuff for them if they want them to stay with them which is probably why Ragatha was ok with Pomni not wanting to help even though she was hurting which is extremely sad. NO ONE deserves to be in an abusive relationship. And I hope that anyone out there can get the help and support they need ❤️

[toonfanatic08]

pinned post

hello all ! this page here is my personal account. this is a Masterpost of sorts on all things about Me!

i will post stuff about my disabilities as well as my interests on here. this is basically a hub for All Things Me. Think of this as a Journal-- here i will divulge my thoughts, feelings, and anything else i want to share. :-) i might also catalogue my collections and infodump here

the basics

(online) names: moonie, pierrot, or mime. pronouns: he/they/it disabled both mentally and physically. i am Cripplepunk and Neuropunk, and also a metalhead! i am a transmasc lesbian. i am demisexual and genderfluid as well.

i am an adult, and my birthdate is november 15th :-)

i want to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner and give high quality diagnosis and care to fellow mentally ill people. i want to do this because i work to learn the deeper mechanics of certain conditions (autism, personality disorders.), so i can treat them more effectively than a neurotypical could.

equally so, i am also a cartoonist, and i want to Create educational cartoons about disability. i have an art account to document my drawings! please check it out... @pierrotlunaire08 .*~

i have a Wonderful Wonderful girlfriend whom i love Very much <3.

i have autism, (diagnosed level 1 but suspected level 2), adhd, dyscalculia, anxiety + depression (dysthymia), and borderline personality disorder. these are all medically diagnosed.

along w bpd is some traits of other PDs, mainly DPD and NPD. due to BPD, i also have occasional psychosis symptoms.

physically, i have hypermobile ehlers danlos syndrome and possibly other things

do Not interact

i am of the Opinion that DNIs are often misused and are kind of stupid. but there are some serious things i need to state. if you belong to ANY of these parties, do not speak to me online... bigots of all kinds, nazis, fascists, republicans, terfs, people who think "borderline/narcissistic abuse" is real-- tldr: mindless sheep dont come near me thats about it really. onto something more fun!

interests

special interests:

cartoons!! happy tree friends, ren and stimpy, aahh!!! real monsters, looney tunes, fleischer studios, films by animator richard williams (raggedy ann and andy, thief and the cobbler, who framed roger rabbit)

psychology + medical things (learning abt the theory and mechanics behind my own mental disorders. mostly autism and personality disorders. as well as some physical medical stuff, again mostly pertaining to my own disabilities.)

vhs cassettes and dvds,

piracy and anti-capitalism. queer rights, disability rights.

clowns, jesters, mimes, etc.

i also like coding, fashion, and music!

opinions

i am a walking contradiction. i have strong opinions, but i also have a fear of backlash and arguments. i will often look over my digital shoulder so to speak before stating any of my own opinions. but if you Must know my stances on the pressing topics in this site, i believe in the Following...

firstly, in terms of discourse, i Think for Myself and don't take sides. the majority of the internet is a bandwagon of misinformation, and it's up to You to do your own research and think for yourself.

if you have/are the thing you can say the slur/make the joke/speak on the topic

if you don't like something, stop interacting with it and move on with your day.

dont say "going nonverbal" to describe temporary and transient speech loss in autism. nonverbal/semiverbal autistic folks have said they dislike it and that it is Inaccurate and Incorrect. you can say verbal shutdown or speech loss instead

listen to high support needs disabled people PLEASE!!!!

you either support All mental illnesses/disabilities or you support none of them. you cant leave out the ones that make you uncomfortable or that challenge your worldview. my page is cluster b and psychosis safe, as well as safe for those with other stigmatized mental illnesses.

if its your disability you can refer to it however you want (e.g getting mad at people who say "i have autism" rather than "i am autistic" is Dumb.), just respect others' preferences when referring To Them and You're Fine

tiktok and twitter are cesspools of misinformation and fair-weather supporters. do Not accept information from there

"narc abuse" "bpd abuse" isnt real and is ableist. personality disorders come from trauma largely, so youre basically putting someone down for developing the "wrong" disorder from their trauma. (that, and PDs affect interpersonal judgement which impairs the ability to abuse someone. my symptoms are not signs of abuse psych2go!! )

stamps