#but this is a solid writeup

[badscientist]

i got two more lengthy scenes to rewrite for part 5s pre-beta.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

"While the true star of The Mysteries is its accomplishment as a behemoth of theatre and design, the audience's stamina over six hours relies on the vibrant performances by a fabulous ensemble that despite its size utilizes the diverse collection of talent it contains. Standing out among these are [...] Asia Kate Dillon as a Lucifer with a conscience."

[https://m.facebook.com/hidramas/posts/732666403439943] "Hi! Drama"

"A high tone is set early on with the conflict between questioning and growing self-knowledge espoused by Lucifer (Asia Kate Dillon) versus loving adoration given by Gabriel (Alice Allemano) to God (Matthew Jeffers)."

"Because of their ensemble structure, the [York mystery] plays force the issue of how to create a large-scale mega-narrative out of a series of associated short parts. For this reason, the playwrights held to certain conventions. By and large, heroes spoke in high-register language; villains used slang, wobblier verse forms, and more percussive sounds, so that their moral turpitude registered in hearers’ ears before it registered in their thoughts. Satan, however, was supremely engaging—funny, seductive, charming. He was bad, but likeable.

[...]

The play cycle is intensely jocoserious, taking its theology as a provocation for community reflection, meditation, and introspection, and riffing deftly and recursively on other literary traditions. By rejecting the compulsion to treat Biblical history as completed and thus part of the simple past, The Mysteries is a triumph of transhistorical experimental theater. It remains extremely faithful to the basic structure of the medieval plays, sometimes even integrating slices of Middle English from the plays themselves—often the most famous, the York mysteries. When Lucifer urges Eve to eat the apple of the tree of knowledge, they say, quoting the York Play’s diabolically plosive alliteration, “Bite on boldly.”"

[darcytaylor]

Are people mad that Luke Newton has a girlfriend? Or is it something more? A deep dive. Part 3/FINAL

In part one and two of this deep dive I have commented on some of the mistakes that Luke has made in regard to his relationship and how the pileup of mistakes has ultimately left fans to be angry. 

This is obviously just some opinions and are not fact. Since I don’t know him personally and never will, this is all just speculation. But what I can say is that I can look at a situation and I think I can form a logical opinion.

Is it very critical of me to be making these? Probably. I mean if I was in the same situation as Luke, I probably would have screwed up a hell of a lot more (but I also don’t have PR training). It’s a tough industry and having all eyes on everything you do would be insane, so I can also sympathize. I also know that I would never want to be in an industry with all eyes on me, I would never put myself in a situation like this to begin with. 

I have critiqued Luke’s earlier actions with situations and people in part one and two - (New Years. Instagram friendships. Saying he’s most like his character. His friend choices. Social media presence. Showcasing dates instead of work. InStyle situation. Admitting to being young and naive in 20s) 

If you are reading this before part one and two I would highly recommend going back and reading the earlier parts first. 

One of the more recent situations that happened was the first infamous Deuxmoi situation. The one where there was a writeup about his relationship, and then Antonia’s mother went and liked some of the comments. While I think that what the mother did was very unbecoming, wrong, and dumb. I do think she did it out of love for her daughter. 

Seeing comments degrading someone you love and care about would be tough, but then having it be about your daughter, I can see what lead up to this. Again I don’t want to excuse her behaviour, it was wrong and disgusting, but I can see how and why it all happened. 

This mistake wasn’t completely Luke’s . But it shows that everybody in this situation was very ill-prepared and it is Luke that ultimately has the PR team and the training. Some of the onus falls onto him. 

Since this all happened after people were already mad, the New Years video and the multiple situations that followed as the lead up. I wasn’t shocked to see Luke take an even bigger step back from social media - like FINALLY! 

There had to be some meetings with Luke about this situation and how he could remedy this. 

I was thinking that he would have given his social media to a team to manage, but it seems like he didn’t do that. Not sure if that is the correct move on his end, I guess time will tell. 

The post was taken down (or at least taken off of their main page) and it makes me wonder why? It had to be Luke’s team that made this happen. But what was the cost of that? How did they make that happen? Was there something that was promised? I don’t know enough about what would be involved to even remotely come to a solid conclusion. 

It probably had something to do with Luke wanting to protect Antonia and her family from the hate (legitimate or not). 

This blunder made me sad for every single person involved. Even if I don’t agree with the actions that created it. 

Now looking at the most recent Deuxmoi/People exclusive it can seem like this was the promise that was made? An exclusive with pictures. 

This could also be a continuation of Luke trying to protect Antonia and her family by saying - ‘we are still together, the situation wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be, we want to move past this, I want to support Antonia and her family” - Since the article was a Deuxmoi exclusive and right after the other article. I think it’s safe to say that the pictures are connected to that first article, and trying to do some damage control. 

If Deuxmoi was the only drama that had occurred this may have worked. But like I keep saying, the situation is wild because of the multiple mistakes that piled up to create this most recent blow. People do not like Antonia because of the image that both Luke and her created for themselves, together and separately. 

Now I know people will ask why the pictures and articles had to come out the release day of season 3. The most logical reasoning I have is that they knew this was going to cause outrage. To have season 3 as a  positive to talk about, could help. At least I think they hoped it would help. They saw it as an opportunity to drown out the negative by having something positive at the forefront. Did this work? I don’t think it worked as much as they would have liked. But not all mistake have to be intentional. 

If they were spotted after the release day I believe that it would have been way worse for Luke Newton. He wouldn’t have had anything else to fall back on. 

Summary Questions - 

Do I think all of this will ultimately hurt Luke’s career? No. I think that if he books jobs, he will be just fine. I do think that there will be outrage anytime he is spotted with Antonia, which will always be a slight step back. But he made his bed in that situation and now he has to lay in it. 

Do I think Nicola knew about the pictures/article that were going to be published? Yes. It’s clear that Nicola and Luke are a team and care for one another. 

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask!

Also, should I do a deep dive into anything else? Someone mentioned in a comment I should do a deep dive into Nicola’s songs she posted about. Is there anything else? It doesn’t even have to be about Bridgerton or the cast. 

[fuck-customers]

Why r managers allowed to get away with anything but us low wage fucks aren't??

Our SM is strict that we HAVE to use the iPads to check inventory and not leave the sales floor to check physically in the back. Guess where all the managers r always going? To the back to check physically for items (to get a break from customers)

We can ONLY wear solid black or white tops and bottoms. Assistant manager keeps wearing a striped black and white top but my coworker got threatened with a writeup for wearing a black and white skirt?

We have to be professional and friendly to all customers, obviously. So why does one of my managers keep snapping at customers saying she's "busy" or "in the middle of something".

Like I know it's small things but come on 🙄

Posted by admin Rodney

[aemiron-main]

~what the hell is going on the night will disappeared? TIME FUCKERY, PERCEPTION FUCKERY, SOME EXTREME STRANGENESS REGARDING JOYCE BYERS AND TERRY IVES THAT IVE NEVER SEEN MENTIONED ANYWHERE BEFORE~ i dont have all the pieces put together yet but there’s too many strange coincidences. ill make a proper document or smthn abt this theory at some point but for rn im just throwing this together

SO. THIS IMAGE. which i’ve made posts about here and here.  Long story short: im basically certain that this netflix still image, which is not from a scene that exists in the show but IS shown on the s1 ep1 pause/idle screen, is from the exact moment that we saw will disappear/the lightbulb get all bright in s1 ep1.  Which means that this is seemingly an image of Will watching himself disappear inside the shed OR watching whatever ACTUALLY happened when the lightbulb started glowing in the shed. 

Now, my focus for this writeup is going to be pointing out the little discrepancies that indicate that we’re not seeing the whole story in s1 ep1 the night will disappears. IMO there’s some pov/memory/unreliable narration fuckery afoot. SO, i wrote about how the door to the shed is completely different when will’s in the shed vs when hoppers in it in this post. Long story short: outside view of door the night will disappears + outside view of door when hopper goes to the shed + inside view of the door when hopper goes in the shed are all the same door. but will’s inside view of the door the night he disappears is a COMPLETELY different door with no spaces in between the planks- it’s not just a different door from hopper, but it’s a different door than the one we see from the outside the night that will disappears, as from the outside view, the gaps are clearly visible, whereas they’re nonexistent from the inside view.

I also want to point out the LAUNDRY. *charlie kelly voice* “can we talk about the laundry? i’ve been dying to talk about the laundry” This post has a more in-depth explanation of what I noticed with the laundry, but long story short: a.) that scene where will seemingly looks out of the living room window and sees the demogorgon was absolutely not physically shot from the living room window. it is not possible with the location of the clothesline. they cannot put a camera outside of the living room window and get that shot. however, it DOES line up EXACTLY with the location of will’s bedroom window. and b.) the clothes on the line the night will disappears vs the clothes on the line the morning immediately after, are completely different clothes. There is very clearly a plaid shirt with some sort of large, thick towel-like item next to it. However, the next morning, the laundry line has a pair of pants and a polka-dot shirt. This could indicate either time fuckery or perception fuckery, as the laundry could be from another day OR just edited entirely if it’s perception fuckery. I’m not sure which it is, but it COULD be time fuckery if we’re seeing will’s pov from a different time/date somehow in that scene?? 

Since that first screenshot labelled “will pov s1 ep1″ could not physically have been shot from the living room window, and instead aligns exactly with will’s bedroom window, it’s also worth noting that the blinds in will’s bedroom are pulled UP the morning after he disappears, and we don’t know if they’d been closed or opened before he got home, but we DO know that joyce or jonathan didn’t open those blinds since they would have noticed that will was missing if they went into his room. So, there’s a solid chance imo that will opened those blinds and was somehow looking through his bedroom window at the demogorgon- which would align with that still image that we see of will looking into a glowing shed, because both of these things point to a different will POV that we haven’t been shown yet/possibly point towards will somehow watching himself the night he disappeared.

  There’s also the phone. Two things about the phone: a.) will leaves it hanging off the hook the night he disappears, and b.) there’s different writing on the phone the night will disappears vs when joyce uses the phone the next morning. Who put the phone back on the hook?? Did joyce and jonathan just come home that night and go “oh, the phone ringing off the hook, that’s completely normal, let me just put that back and not check on will at all or bring it up whatsoever”?? Or, maybe, did something happen and the phone was never actually left off of the hook- was that scene part of an illusion/warped memory? I’m not sure but it’s definitely strange. And speaking of coming home that night: this is mostly speculation, but why didn’t jonathan check to see if will was home? was he just so tired that he went to bed + didn’t think to check if will made it back? did joyce not think to check on will either? did neither of them notice that his bike wasn’t outside? or that his shoes and coat weren’t at the door? Now, regarding part b.) of the phones- the phone in will’s disappearance scene just says AREA CODE 501, which, I made a post about here, and @byler-4-life​ made a post here about how 501 isn’t even the hawkins area code. The phone in joyce’s scene the next morning, and in the scene where joyce gets zapped by the phone for the first time, the phone has another line of writing underneath it, which is NOT present the night that will disappears.

As well, we’ve got the light switch. The light is already on when will seemingly runs into the shed. And it’s also on when we see him disappear/the light bulb gets all bright and then returns to normal. However, the light is then switched off, not just a dead bulb, but switched off, the next morning, when hopper goes into the shed and switches the light on.

NOW: something ELSE i’ve noticed: the fog. not only is there fog the night will disappears, just like how there’s fog in the upside-down, and fog in max’s upside-down billy graveyard vecna vision, but the fog literally seems to follow will. And it seems to emanate from behind the demogorgon, much in the same way that it seems to emanate from behind vecna in max’s  graveyard vision.  And also- WHERE IS THE SHED LIGHT? In the scene where will’s running into the house, we can SEE the shed in the fog: but we CANNOT see any light coming from it. which is extremely odd considering that when will gets to the back of the house, the door is open and the beam of light stretches across the backyard. We should be able to see it in that initial shot, espeically considering that the gaps in the shed walls allow light to seep through, as seen in that first netflix still image in the beginning of this post, but the shed is dark.

Visually, the image of billy/vecna disguised as billy in the fog is very similar to the demogorgon in the fog the night that will disappears. As well, vecna even sounds like billy in that scene- so there’s a chance that he could have disguised himself to look and sound like a demogorgon (like not actually disguised but rather done the same sort of perception warping/vision stuff that he does to max). As well, max runs into the fog in s4 in order to get away, and ends up in vecna’s mindscape. The fog literally seems to act like a barrier in vecna visions, almost like the invisible walls in a videogame. Will, however, does not run into the fog, so unlike max, he doesn’t escape the weird upside-down vision world. And also, note the lack of weird tentacles or typical upside-down stuff in max’s graveyard, despite the fact that it looks like the upside-down. That indicates that there’s a chance that what we see of the byers house on the night that will disappears COULD be a similar sort of upside-down looking vision situation except without the tentacles and other upside-down stuff??? and that will is going both physically and mentally between the real world and the upside-down on the night he disappears, just like he does in s2 with his episodes (he is able to interact physically with BOTH worlds at the same time in his episodes), which could explain why certain actions like leaving the phone off the hook didn’t actually happen in reality, but other ones like slamming open the back door and leaving an indent DID. (basically, the phone was never left off the hook in the real world because that scene happened when he was in the upside-down/vision/whatever, whereas the door slamming was when he came back to reality and then the shed would be when he went back again into upside-down/vision land) Going back to the fog again, it’s also interesting to me that this imagery of billy/vecna in the fog is blue-toned, whereas for will’s it’s warm and yellow-toned. which seems like nothing until we recall that picture of henry with the mindflayer in the yellow section of the upside-down. I wonder, if like how the red area started to peek through the blue for max + how running through that fog lead her to vecna’s mind lair, that if the fog would have lead to the yellow area for will. It’s an interesting lighting choice that i think is worth noting, at least, because aside from that moment, the fog is always lit in cool/blue tones for Will. 

SO: my conclusion? i don’t quite know HOW this all ties together yet, but something’s not right about the night will disappeared. I don’t think what we saw in s1 ep1 was what actually happened, I think it’s possibly what will remembers, but it’s not the entirety of what happened. I think that SOMEHOW, and im not sure HOW, or WHY, but i think that somehow, will was either watching himself go through what we saw in s1 ep that night, AND/OR will was flipping between dimensions/in and out of a vecna vision like he does in s2/when hes in the upside down using his true sight in s1/ AND OR, something else entirely happened in that shed, and will witnessed it (hopper even mentions at the library in s1 that there’s a chance that will ‘saw something he shouldn’t have’ related to hawkins lab + they got rid of him as a result). Hopper’s comment about will witnessing something becomes even more interesting when we consider the following:

a.) the discrepancy between the s1 article vs the s2 article I’ve written about this more in-depth here, but long story short, the article in the police station in season 1 tells a completely different story with a completely different timeline than the article in will’s locker in season 2. In the season 1 article, it says that will was found as a subject of the hawkins lab after a week of searching, having been subjected to mind control experiments/  In the season 2 article, however, it says that will was missing for eight days (”had gone missing two days prior” and “six days later hopper found him in a cabin”, so according to this article, will’s body was found after he was missing for 2 days, and then 6 days after the body was found, hopper found him, making him missing for 8 days), and claims that hopper found will in a cabin and that the coroner misidentified the body.  Strangely enough, the season 1 article makes no mention of will’s fake body/the one that they found in the quarry.  Both articles are written by the same person, with the same headline, and the same photo. They both seem to have been published at the same time (as i don’t think that they’d publish an article about will’s disappearance in s2), and they almost look like the exact same article except with difference content (again, same author same headline same photo), and part of me wonders if this is some sort of vecna perception warping/unreliable narration, because it really does strike me as strange that there was a whole article about will being tortured at the lab, an article that specifically says that joyce claims that will was taken to the lab and tortured, when the whole stipulation of joyce and hopper being allowed to go into the upside-down and rescue will, was that the lab had nothing to do with it. And why would joyce say that will was experimented on at the lab? Because as far as we know/joyce knows, that’s not true- he was stuck in the upside-down, not found in the lab having been part of mind experiments. So if joyce WAS going to break her agreement and expose the lab, then why wouldn’t she just expose the truth? 

As well, when you look at this uncropped image of the s1, article, there’s something VERY strange when you read further down in the second paragraph: “In a statement issued yesterday mornning (can’t see the other half of the word but ‘morning’ is inferred), Ives mentioned her ‘disgust’ towards, (word ‘towards’ isnt visible but we can infer it) the organziation, saying ‘our own american people are being treated like the enemy (again, with ‘enemy,’ we can only see the last two letters so its inferred), we should be directing out ___tion (not sure what word that is) to the real target, the Soviets, not our own daughters and sons” Wait- Ives? Ives who? What first name? It’s never mentioned.Why’d they just mention an “Ives” out of nowhere with no first name and no introduction, as if Ives was who they’d been speaking about the entire time?  “In a statement issued yesterday morning-” Which ives is even capable of issuing a statement in 1983? We know that terry isn’t, because she was tortured by brenner long before 1983. But we also know that Becky is very unlikely to issue a statement either, as she didn’t even believe terry’s story until El came to visit in s2. So that only leaves terry. But this statement was issued “yesterday,” which means that it’s from 1983. With the way that the last name “Ives” is dropped without a firstname, it almost feels like they’re conflating Joyce and Terry- because Joyce is mentioned with her first and last name, and JOYCE is mentioned as being the one who is making the allegations against the lab, so it would make sense for them to refer to her with her last name regarding statements and allegations in the second paragraph, but instead, they just say “Ives,” and don’t say any first name or give any context to Ives. It feels like it’s absolutely out of nowhere, especially considering what I just talked about with how we only know two Ives, and one of them (terry) isnt physically capable of giving a statement, and the other one (becky) doesn’t even believe in the words being stated.  This smells like time fuckery and perception fuckery, ESPECIALLY time fuckery in regards to “Ives” giving a statement “yesterday” in 1983. It’s very, very interesting to me that things are phrased in a way where it seems to conflate joyce and ives, ESPECIALLY since the story that is being credited to “joyce,” about will being the subject of mind control experiments at hawkins lab, is the EXACT story that we find out that Terry was saying about El at the lab, ESPECIALLY since at no point has Joyce ever said that Will was tortured/found at the lab, because as far as we see in the sshow/joyce sees, he WASNT!! And  that line at the bottom, about brenner issuing no comment- as far as anyone knew, brenner was DEAD at the end of s1. Even owens claims to jonathan and nancy in s2 that anyone involved with will’s and barb’s disappearance is dead. So why are articles being published claiming that he’s declined comment??  What the HELL is going on here?? Why is Terry’s story about El being credited to Joyce as being about Will???? This smells like timeline fuckery. 

b.) the fact that will seems to recognize brenner in s4 I know the 8flix scripts were a contentious affair, but i’m personally of the belief that they weren’t entirely fake, even if they were from earlier in production. And in the 8flix script, it’s mentioned that Will recognizes Brenner when he’s dying in s4. And even the script aside, watching that scene, Will’s reaction/expression towards Brenner is definitely different from Mike’s, and Will’s definitely looks like recognition/realization, imo.  c.) the fact that hawkins lab was able to create a perfect replica of will’s body How on earth did they manage to create such an extremely lifelike version of will’s body?? especially with the technology available in the 80s, compared to what we have today, that’s no easy feat. and it’s even harder, if not borderline impossible, if you don’t have the person to use as a reference or tons and tons of detailed images of that person. Will’s missing flyers were all in black and white, and yet they even managed to nail his hair colour and skintone. And even then, doing that sort of intricately detailed and accurate work based on a few photos from a small handful of angles alone?? I don’t buy it.  d.) the fact that the hawkins lab team, including brenner,  immediately went back to the shed when they visited the byers house.  They didn’t even go into the actual house. They immediately went around back to the shed, and YES they had their little machines that they were using to track, so that could totally be a large part of the reason, but it’s still a little odd to me that they basically made a beeline for the AND were geared up for the upside-down before they even got there, meaning that they knew/highly suspected that some upside-down shit had gone down at the byers household. I also wonder if there’s a chance that THIS is when will saw brenner + why he recognized him, since maybe he was in the upside-down version of the shed at the time, and with his true sight shenanigans, was able to see brenner the same way that he could see the alphabet that joyce painted.  long story short: there’s an absolute metric fuckton of discrepancies between the shed and the byers house the night that will disappeared vs the next day, and this isn’t even all of them. and that still image of will looking into the shed at the exact same moment that he would have been disappearing keeps me up at night because WHAT THE FUCK?? there could be time fuckery at play (i’m looking at you, laundry that’s definitely not clothes from the day that will disappeared), there could be memory/perception fuckery at play, there could be both!! and WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON WITH THE JOYCE AND TERRY STUFF?? IM BAFFLED. I’m probably gonna go compare that Will article to the actual articels written about terry’s comments. Much to think about. 

[onceinawhilemoon]

The World Hinges on Small Details: Jon vs. Sherlock and The Hand-Me-Down Quest

This quest intrigues me so much. It not only raises questions about Jon's “nature”, but also gives us a glimpse of where Sherlock's focus on the small details, and therefore his struggle to see the big picture, came from.

If you're as intrigued by this quest as I am, read ahead, but before we continue, I highly encourage you to go read @spiteful-crow ‘s wonderful writeup on Jon and Sherlock and the Jungian concepts of “anima” and “persona” (here) if you haven't already. Not only does it explain a lot about them and what/who Jon is, but that analysis also serves as a pretty solid basis for most of this one, and it will help make it make sense, I hope!

Under the cut we go-

Quick recap of The Hand-Me-Down quest: Jon notices a first of three riddles engraved on top of a monument called “The Silver Hand” in Old City, and convinces Sherlock to solve them, saying that the riddles lead to a lost treasure. Sherlock is bewildered by how Jon was able to guess that something was on top of the monument in the first place but goes along with it. Eventually, instead of the treasure, they find a magnifying glass that belonged to Violet, buried under a rock. Sherlock is so confused by the discovery and has no clue as to how the glass made it there. Neither he nor Jon seem to remember ever burying it there.

The third riddle stands out the most here, as the last two lines of it read “you may find only one small detail, but that doesn't mean that you have failed.”

Upong finding this riddle, Jon commends Sherlock on his admirable ability to notice the details. This evokes Sherlock's memory of one of his mother’s core teachings:

S: “In such moments I often recall Mother's voice teaching us of the importance of the smaller details. The world hangs on small hinges, Jon.”

J: “Even the most chaotic miracle becomes sequential when you take a closer look. I remember.”

Sherlock’s keen eye for detail is something almost everyone he meets praises him for, and it's an inherited trait from his mother, who was an authenticator and a truth seeker, she taught him that "the truth lies in the details." Consequently, his struggle with seeing the big picture due to focusing too much on the details sometimes stems from his mother's teachings, which he clearly holds in very high regard. She was also the source of his strong moral stance against lies and obfuscation of truth. He was closer to his mother than his brother, even during her worst days. It's no surprise that Violet had a huge and deep influence on Sherlock-she shaped all of his moral views, many of which are being challenged by what he's discovering on Cordona.

The title of the quest, the quest being strongly tied to Violet and her teachings, specifically the third riddle, and of course the magnifying glass, all lead me to believe that Sherlock put the glass there and made up those riddles and the silver hand treasure, inspired by his mother, the monument, and the pirate it was erected in honor of.

Maybe it was also a ritual like burying Siger’s “skull” to help Sherlock process things and move on. Maybe it was to help him process and reconcile with the negative feelings associated with Violet's abusive nature or with her death, or maybe it was simply just child's play. But, as with everything else, after the pond incident™, his memories of Violet and most of his time on Cordona were suppressed and lost to time, including the magnifying glass and the “ritual”. And since Jon seems to remember or at least seems to have a gut feeling about the past and those lost memories, he recalled the riddles and the legend about the treasure, which, interestingly, can be considered as the “creative” aspects of the ritual. Jon may not have remembered the magnifying glass itself but remembered the steps to get there because Sherlock created them with his help. I do believe he is Sherlock's creativity and imagination personified. I've written a (much shorter, thankfully!) theory about that and how I think it's tied to Sherlock calling him his "anima" (here) if you're interested.

And maybe it was something more, if you think of Jon as a Tulpa or one of Carl Jung's thoughtforms (like Philemon, who Jung described as a "guru" possessing of transcendental knowledge and wisdom) this quest could be an example in which these concepts are explored. Jon does act as a guide in the game. He also seems to notice things before Sherlock does sometimes, and points out things that Sherlock has no way of knowing or verifying with empirical evidence at the time, sometimes even despite his physical limitations, like the “engraving” on top of the Silver Hand monument.

I personally don't think there was ever an engraving on top of the monument. I think the idea was for the first riddle to be memorized by Sherlock while the rest to be written down and hidden. This, I think, makes the whole “ritual” much more personal and special to Sherlock. Of course, after what happened, he forgot everything, and Jon was left to remember the first riddle and made it look like he read it on the monument to entice Sherlock to solve it and remember, just like how he invented the fiction that the skull belonged to Sherlock's father.

Then there's their conversation after discovering the glass, which I think perfectly captures the “rational” vs “irrational” parts of Sherlock, or the "persona" vs. the "anima" :

Jon, the “irrational” and creative part that wants to believe in magic and miracles, tells him that sometimes he just needs to let things happen, that some things can't be explained and we should let them be, and Sherlock, the "rational" part that strives for logic and objective truths, has a hard time accepting that, because to him, everything needs to have a logical explanation and a tangible root in reality.

J: “The whole world is one big unresolved chaotic miracle" - That's the part of Violet's teaching that Jon chooses to follow. Jon finds beauty in leaving mysteries unsolved, in the “who knows?” which leaves the door wide open for imagination, in non-linear thinking which leads to originality and uniqueness. He thrives in chaos.

S: “But they will become sequential if you take a closer look" - And that's the part that Sherlock wants to follow. He finds stability in order. He sees the need to investigate to uncover what's hidden and verify facts with evidence to restore structure into the world.

The two parts are both sides of the same coin. They shouldn't be separated because they balance each other out and make up one whole. Thanks to this balance, Sherlock eventually concedes and lets this particular mystery remain unsolved. It must have been freeing for him to just leave it to "fate" and focus on the beautiful feelings that this strange experience has evoked-him feeling closer to his mother by remembering her wisdom and honoring her legacy.

Which makes me wonder how differently Sherlock would have faced the horrors in The Awakened if Jon was still with him to hold his hand and remind him that it's okay if things didn't make sense, that sometimes you just need to let things happen and free your psyche from the weight of fervently searching for logical explanations. Some things are just meant to not make sense, just like that magnifying glass.

Then there's the title of the quest.

“The Hand-Me-Down” I think, refers either to the magnifying glass itself, being a precious heirloom inherited from Violet which later becomes Sherlock Holmes’ signature crime solving instrument, or the mindset of “the world hinges on small details“, also passed on from Violet and the reason why Sherlock is so keen on the details that he sometimes struggles to consider them within a broader perspective-the big picture-which can cause him to tunnel vision on isolated facts and possibly risk making ill-informed decisions. A notable example is concluding that “Richter tried to save my mother; therefore, he was an innocent man who was wrongly accused,” while disregarding the fact Richter and his medical malpractice caused his mother to deteriorate in the first place.

Finally, there's what Jon wrote in his diary after discovering the glass:

“But when Sherry looked at me through that glass, I was suddenly struck by terror. For a brief moment, it felt as if I weren't there at all, his gaze passing through me and over the horizon.”

Jon rarely gets “deep” in his journal, so this line stuck with me. Jon is pretty aware of his “non”-existence and even seems pretty in peace with it, so why would he be struck by terror at the idea of him “not being there at all”?

The choice of words in “his gaze passing through me and over the horizon” signifies the future; Jon is terrified of a future in which Sherlock doesn't see him anymore; when he favors his rational and mature side so much, that it ends up consuming him and severing Jon, his anima, his irrational and creative part that clings to his childhood, from the whole. If Sherlock stops seeing Jon, only then does Jon truly cease to exist.

I think this means that at this point in the story, deep down in his unconsciousness, Sherlock knew that when he leaves Cordona this time, he'll be leaving Jon with it, and this gut feeling, this terror at being fractured and fragmented, possibly with no way of ever getting mended, manifests through Jon as he constantly tries to alert Sherlock to the danger of the situation, that once he steps through the threshold, there's no turning back.

[boxturret]

Bohrok Pens Part 2: Beads and Charms

In this second installment of my coverage of the Bohrok pens I'd like to cover the pens themselves.

PART 1

PART 3

Just for some quick terminology, the Bohrok feature 3 colours and they will be referred to as such throughout this writeup:

Primary: For Tahnok this would be red, the colour used for the body and shields.

Secondary: For Tahnok this would be orange, the colour used on the limbs.

Tertiary: For Tahnok this would be blue, the colour of the eyes and Krana

The main defining feature of this pen system is the use of a set of interlocking beads and other decorative charms that use a thin metal rod that threads through the assembly to hold it together.

Due to the fixed length of the rod the number of charms you can use at one time is limited.

The pens come with many parts to swap out, but to start let's cover the most coveted one, the miniature Krana.

The Krana featured in the pens are roughly half the size of the real ones and are quite accurate, mainly just missing the eye holes. They're even made of a slightly rubbery plastic. Unlike real Krana the Mini Krana aren't randomised, the Tahnok pen always comes with a blue Krana-Za. This unfortunately means that Kranas Ja and Vu are not available as Mini Krana.

As opposed to the original Toa pens, where their small mask clipped on to a round bead, the Krana attach to a small charm styled after a Toa head in much the same way as the real ones can, using a small peg that fits in to the mouth of the head.

Now for the most important part, structurally, the Bohrok face shield charm, which features the thin metal rod.

This part is styled after the Bohrok face shield, but the pattern is printed on, rather than achieved by mixing clear and coloured plastic like in the real part. The part is articulated and can be flipped up to reveal the Krana, should you decide to place it there. In the downward position it can also function as the pen's clip.

The next charm is made to resemble two Bohrok limbs merged together. Its quite open and allows a view of the metal rod when used in the pen. Interestingly its made in the primary colour, instead of the secondary like the real sets. The Bohrok limbs wouldn't be appear in the primary colours until the Bohrok-Kal.

That concludes the charms, so now we move on to the various types of beads. To begin with, each pen includes two cube beads in their secondary colours.

One features the corresponding Bohrok-Va on opposite sides, interestingly the art is mirrored between the two. The second features an image of the Bohrok's shield alternating with the first letter of the Bohrok's name written in the Matoran script. Unlike the Bohrok-Va being mirrored the shield is actually rotated 180 degrees.

Next comes the cylindrical beads. Again, there are two included in each pen, one is made of transparent plastic in the tertiary colour, while the other is made of solid coloured plastic in the secondary, with the Bohrok emblem printed in the primary colour on only one side. This is true for all except the one included with Kohrak pen, which for some reason inverts the colours.

The last of the printed beads is the large round one. Every set comes with a black one that features a BIONICLE logo. They also come with a primary coloured one that features a monochromatic image of the island of Mata Nui on one side and the name Mata Nui on the other, printed in the secondary colours.

Now for the filler beads.

Due to the fixed length of the metal rod there are several coloured beads that can be used to fill space. Every pen comes with one large ribbed bead in the primary colour.

There is also a much smaller, thinner bead. Each pen comes with two, one in the secondary and one in black. Except for, again, the Kohrak pen, which instead has two black beads.

Finally there are the double beads, basically two of the thinner beads stacked on top of each other. Each pen comes with one in light grey, and one in the tertiary colour.

Last but not least comes the actual pen component of these pens.

Each pen features a pattern specific to the Bohrok's element, bubbling water for Gahlok, flames for Tahnok, etc. This pattern is then encased in soft, transparent rubbery plastic that has, unfortunately, become quite sticky over the years.

The pen mechanism is rather simple, by rotating the very tip of the pen in one direction the tip will be extended and you can write with it, and rotating it in the other will retract the pen.

The mechanism can be easily removed by unscrewing the end cap, which is where the thin metal rod that holds the whole pen together is attached to.

The mechanism comprises of a small metal ink cartridge attached to a white piece of plastic with a large thread on it, which is responsible for the extending of the writing tip. There is a rather large spring to keep pressure on the cartridge, as when the pen tip is retracted fully the part is just floating freely. Due to the specialised nature of the parts I don't know how replaceable the ink cartridge would be. at the very least it would need to be cut down.

That concludes this look at the pens, finally this series will feature a small gallery of some photos I took of the pens.

[pumpkinpartynoelle]

Deltarune Angel Theory! Who it is, what changes in the weird route, why we do it, + more!

Variable Angel Theory Part 1:

Hi! Noelle Holiday here!

It's my first time posting anything like this so I'm not totally sure how it works, but here's my best shot. Spoilers for everything currently released in Undertale and Deltarune, and hopefully, spoilers for parts of Deltarune that haven't been released yet too!

A quick multi-paragraph intro with like 15 disclaimers:

Okay so I've been binging theorycrafting videos and Deltarune and Undertale playthroughs over and over for the past month and I think I've just cracked the code and seen into the matrix.

So, this started when I noticed that Spamton calls me Angel, which is weirdly specific, right? But then I noticed one of the Addisons also calls me Angel, and both of them only do it in the weird route. So that got me wondering why, of course! And I think I've connected enough dots that I might be able to predict not only who the angel is, but how the weird route changes things, exactly why we do it, what will happen in chapter 3's weird route, and even some mostly-unrelated stuff involving characters like Seam.

I'm more confident in this than almost any other major Deltarune theory I've heard, despite how little we know about the angel. I wouldn't be sharing it, and wouldn't have put this much time into a full writeup, if I didn't believe in it. And, given how limited our information is, don't expect rock solid, undeniable evidence for each point I cover. I'm working with what I've got. This is a theory about stuff we're probably years away from seeing to fruition, so I have to make a lot of predictions.

A lot of this uses @jarujaruj's theorycrafting method, which involves considering the story from a writer's perspective rather than relying on pure hard logic, but we're also going to be going over most of the info surrounding the angel in both Deltarune and Undertale, both stated and implied. So, if you're familiar with Jaru's theories and find them hard to believe, you might not get much out of this one either. I won't go over those theories in much detail in this post, as it's already long enough, and while I'll reference Jaru's theories a few times, even if they're wrong I don't think it would invalidate much of this theory. You also don't need to know them to understand most of what I'll be discussing, however, a few details make more sense with them in mind.

I'm looking for thematic parallels and interesting story implications just as much as the hard facts, but since we have so few hard facts to work with, you'll see more of the former I think. This will take a while, so stick with me if you care about the evidence.

Here's my theory:

The angel changes depending on which route you play, and when you play the weird route, Noelle is the angel.

Not only that, but you end up turning me into the angel yourself, at least in the weird route, but maybe in other routes too. And, borrowing from Jaru, every route (except maybe one) ends in the angel deciding to reset back to the start of the game. Look into his stuff for why I think that part is the case, but it's not quite as relevant to my theory as much of the info I'll be showcasing here. I'll still be discussing it though, as I think it explains a lot of what happens in the weird route. Much like Undertale's merciless route, it makes more sense after a reset.

I'll be going over all the evidence I can think of in this post, and giving my thoughts on who the angel is likely to be in each route, and why I think it varies.

Direct "angel" mentions in Deltarune:

Spamton and Addison call me angel in the weird route

I say I would hypothetically grow angel wings and fly out of the ferris wheel when I'm riding it with Susie

Alphys calls her cat that she may or may not have a "perfect angel"

The ANGEL'S HEAVEN

Discussion of the angel doll in Rudy's hospital room. The doll was made by Dess and I.

Alvin talks about the angel a few times

There's a clear pattern here of angels being associated with me. Not exclusively, but far more than any other character, other than maybe Alvin, but he's a priest of the angel so I'm not sure that counts for as much. Let's go over each one to see what they can tell us.

"Angel" is used here just like a nickname, there's not much clear context beyond that for its use. Spamton says it when you've cleared out all the weird route encounters and talk to him at his dumpster.

Here's that full conversation:

* [Angel], [Angel]

* ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE [Ring] of [Thorns]?

* THEN [[Why]] GO TO A DUMPSTER!!!

* THat'll be 1997 KROMER.

* HERE'S YOUR [Ring]! CAREFUL, IT MIGHT [Sting] * EAHEAHEAH

* (You got the ThornRing.)

Addison, specifically the pink Addison, though I'm not sure it matters all that much which one it is, calls me "angel" in a similar way, as a nickname with no clear meaning behind it.

Here's that conversation:

Addison: * If you're something else, maybe a Dating Shoes isn't right...?

Addison: * Maybe I could interest you in a FreezeRing?

Noelle: * Huh...? A ring...?

Noelle: * Faha, sorry, I don't think WE need something like that!

Addison: * C'mon, angel! You can't get stronger without good equipment!

Noelle: * Stronger...? R-right, I guess that's how it works here...

Following this, of course, Kris (or the voice associated with them) has me get the ring despite not being able to afford it, presumably by attacking the Addison with iceshock.

So, clearly there's a pattern to this, right? I could see *one* person calling me angel being a coincidence, but the fact that it's two different people, and both only on the weird route, feels too intentional to ignore, but there's not much meaning you can derive from the way it's used here other than establishing a strong connection between me and the angel, and specifically on the weird route. Additionally, the fact that it's associated with acquiring rings both times could mean something, maybe involving the romantic implication of the rings? It's something to keep in mind!

This isn't enough to say I *am* the angel though, even if that might be a possible implication. We can only be confident that there's a connection, so let's keep going.

2. This one is interesting, being an association I have with angels that isn't on the weird route, one that may not mean much on its own but combined with the other two we just went over is clearly important. I've included a bit more context than is probably needed, because I think it's relevant later.

Here's the conversation:

Susie: * So, uh... Ferris wheels, huh.

Susie: * Kinda makes you wonder what car they were built for.

Noelle: * (It's... it's different than riding one with Kris...)

Susie: * ... the hell's wrong, you scared of heights?

Noelle: * No! No, I... I love heights! Haha!

Susie: * You're, uh, shaking.

Noelle: * Well, um, maybe, I'm a little scared, but... I...

Noelle: * To be honest, I... I actually like... scary things.

Susie: * ... what do you mean?

Noelle: * When we were little, me and my sister would stay up...

Noelle: * And go past our bedtime watching horror movies.

Noelle: * At first I cried, but now... it's like... watching them...

Noelle: * Makes me feel... comforted...?

Susie: * Comforted? I guess I do like slime and blood...

Noelle: * It's scary, but I can just turn it off, right?

Noelle: * Now it's mostly... people, that are scary. Haha.

Susie: * You can just say you mean me.

Noelle: * Haha... umm... well... I guess y-you too, but...

Noelle: * But that's... what's... NICE about you, y'know?

Susie: * Nice!? The hell does that mean???

Noelle: * You're the... good kind of scary.

Noelle: * You aren't afraid to... break the rules, y'know?

Noelle: * ... I wish I could do crazy stuff like you.

Susie: * So, um...

Susie: * If YOU could do something crazy right now,

Susie: * What would you do?

Noelle: * U-umm... Well, I... I...

Noelle: * I'd... I'd jump out the window!

Noelle: * It's a dream, right?

Noelle: * I'd grow big angel wings,

Noelle: * And fly as far as I can, gazing back at it all...

Noelle: * The skyline shining like Holiday lights.

Susie: * ... that's kinda... beautiful?

Susie: * Wait, you wouldn't seriously jump out, would you!?

Noelle: * Hahaha!! No promises!

I actually noticed this one pretty late into crafting this theory, it almost felt like a smoking gun at the time, but obviously given what we've discussed so far this isn't enough on its own. It *is* a third instance of my being associated with the angel, undeniably a pattern at this point.

Growing big angel wings could be like not just being the angel, but becoming the angel. Flying above everything and looking down at all of it sounds like what the angel's role may be, to watch over and protect people, as Alvin will hint later. This solidifies the angel association even more and implies that I might become it at some point, but that implication is still a bit weak for now, so let's move on.

3. Alphys's saucer of milk. I was inclined to think this one doesn't mean much, but for the sake of being thorough, let's give it a good once over.

* Oh, this saucer of milk?

* I-It's for my kitty, MewMew! She's a perfect angel!

* ... uh? What does she look like...?

* W... well, I've never actually s-seen her, b-but...

* Ever since I started putting out milk, it's been disappearing.

* S... So I'd like to think that there's a cat.

* M... My cat.

There's enough mystery here that it could potentially mean something significant, but then we get the reveal to that mystery in the next chapter.

* Hey Kris, this free milk? It's amazing.

* It just magically refreshes itself over night.

So presumably, it's just Susie, and may just be a joke. However, this does give Susie a minor association with being an angel as well! Given how serious of a topic the angel is, I'm inclined to think this, while definitely a joke, isn't *just* a joke. We'll come back to it later, because it might be important.

4. The ANGEL'S HEAVEN is a pretty unclear concept. Whatever it is, Ralsei seems to think the heroes will banish it, or at least try to. It seems to be associated with the Roaring, but that's also an unclear concept. I'm inclined to believe Jaru's theory on this, that the Angel's Heaven is the reset at the end of the game, and the Roaring is the release of magic back into the light world, but it could mean something else. However, I don't think we have enough information about it to draw any significant conclusions about who the angel might be from whatever the Angel's Heaven is, unless it's a reset, the potential of which I'll be giving my thoughts on later. It's something to keep in mind either way, because whatever the Angel's Heaven is, it's obviously very important. Moving on!

5. Here's where we start getting into some bigger evidence for the specifics of my theory: the angel doll in Rudy's hospital room.

* (It's an angel doll.) * (Its lack of facial features is unsettling.)

* That angel? * Noelle n' Dess made it in youth group.

* It's kind of like a good luck charm to me now.

* Oh, right, you and Azzy tried to make one too...

* But you wasted the whole time making huge wings for it!

And, with Susie:

* (It's an angel doll.) * (Its lack of facial features is unsettling.)

Susie: * ... so why do you collect creepy dolls?

Rudy: * Hey, Noelle and her sister made that. Respect it!

Susie: * (Noelle's sister...)

So, weirdly, chapter 2's dialogue doesn't really reveal much, at least not much that you can't infer from other information. It tells us that Susie probably cares somewhat about whatever happened to Dess, but that's it.

Chapter 1's dialogue though, WOW there's a lot here, way more than you'd expect from such a short conversation. Let's break it down line by line, since I think we need to. I'll be drawing heavily on the thematics of this since we have so little hard evidence on the topic, and if this means anything at all, which it probably does, it's likely some non-literal foreshadowing.

* (It's an angel doll.) * (Its lack of facial features is unsettling.)

The fact that it's a doll could be referencing the puppet motif, the idea that somehow even the angel is beholden to fate, even its choices don't matter.

The lack of a face could mean that the angel's identity is unclear, could change, or is unimportant. I think all 3 are true. It's unclear because we don't know who it is, it could change because I think the route you take changes who the angel is, and it's unimportant because I think that, no matter who the angel is, they'll probably end the game by resetting back to chapter 1.

* That angel? * Noelle n' Dess made it in youth group.

The doll having been explicitly created by specific people could mean that the angel is created too, like an arts and crafts project. You might build up the angel over the course of the story. Plus, it's another association I have with the angel. This also associates Dess with the angel, but since she's already my sister, that might not mean anything new.

You could maybe argue the same for Susie's association, that she's my love interest, but the connection there is less solid, and Susie is an established main character, so I think there's merit to considering her association to the angel more separately. Don't count this as a full dismissal of Dess's connection though. I'd like to look into it, but we know so little about Dess that it's hard to really say much for it.

* It's kind of like a good luck charm to me now.

This line probably means the least. It could be a reference to the angel's role potential role as a protector, though. There's a decent chance Rudy will die by the end of the game. If he does die, and I become the angel, my resetting at the end of the game to bring him back, and undoing all of the damage done by the weird route, could be considered protecting him, like a good luck charm. However, that's a lot of ifs, too much speculation to be sure just yet.

* Oh, right, you and Azzy tried to make one too...

Kris and Asriel trying to make an angel is another point in favour of the angel being "made". Kris is our way of interacting with the world after all, so it makes sense that if the angel varies depending on the route, it would be Kris that makes them.

As a bonus, if Jaru's theory on the nature of Asriel (and Ralsei) is correct, and I strongly believe it is, this makes even more sense, for reasons I'm sure are clear if you're familiar with it.

* But you wasted the whole time making huge wings for it!

Wings, thematically, are heavily associated with freedom, not just in Deltarune but throughout media in general. Freedom is something we know Kris desperately wants from many sources, most clearly their interactions with the soul and with Spamton. Given the terrible fate this world seems to have in store, it's something everyone might want. This could mean that, if you focus solely on your freedom, you'll run out of time to make the angel, you won't make one that's complete enough to give you what you want, or, more vaguely, you won't achieve what you're after.

6. Father Alvin's dialogue is kind of a lot to go through, just because he's a priest of the angel, and as such, anything he says could potentially relate. However, most of it doesn't seem as relevant as you might expect, and, to be honest, I remembered him having more to say. Either way , there's still some interesting stuff here.

In chapter 1, if you select "Nothing" after he asks you if anything is weighing on your mind, Alvin says this:

* I understand. * I hope in time you may find the words you seek.

* Let the Angel's power light your way.

This associates the angel with "power". It's a very vague word, but it's used consistently at save points, implying the angel has a connection to saving and loading (and thus, potentially, resets). Of course, it's also used in the weird route. The whole purpose of the weird route, seemingly, is to gain power, and specifically for Noelle (me) to gain power. As I'm already the most strongly associated with the angel, this farther strengthens the connection. Kris is also connected to power, of course, but as I believe your actions determine who the angel is, and Kris is who the player acts through to affect the world, that connection is already accounted for in my theory.

While it could probably be assumed, this also tells us that the angel is likely a very powerful entity. If anyone's choices matter, it's theirs, but I'm not convinced even they can break the theme of the game. We'll explore the most powerful entities known in Undertale and Deltarune later, to see if we can draw any parallels.

Next, chapter 2.

Selecting "Gerson" as a conversation topic yields this:

* It's been a few years since my father passed on...

* Fans of his famous book series, Lord of the Hammer...

* We still received condolences from them until just recently.

* A brave man, brilliant, and sharp.

* Kris, it is a shame you were not able to have him as a teacher.

* And, difficult for Ms. Alphys, as his replacement.

* Let us pray that the Angel will smile upon her.

Selecting "Hammer" gives this response:

* As per the ritual, a hammer is buried in the earth here.

* To symbolize his existence.

* To connect his spirit to the divine.

* Originally a smith by trade, he began writing history...

* And made a turn into telling stories,

* As a means to entertain his children.

* That such a story, created for such a simple purpose,

* Could blossom into such a large, wonderful, world-changing thing...

* That is the majesty of words, Kris.

* My father was blessed to have such a talent for writing.

There's probably not too much to get out of this. The angel is associated, seemingly, with watching over people, and protecting or guiding them, and may be associated with Alphys. Specifically though, the angel is implied as distinct from Alphys, so this connection does nothing to support Alphys potentially *being* the angel, just having some connection. As a student in her class, this of course supports my own connection, but it also could support anyone else in the class.

This also seems to support the ritual of placing monster dust on an important item so that the monster's essence may live on, being connected in some way to the angel, or "the divine". This implies a connection with everyone in the graveyard, and anyone still living who may be associated with this ritual.

Again, those who know of Jaru's Asriel/Ralsei theory will understand why I think this may be supportive of Ralsei being connected to the angel, and by extension, maybe Asriel or even Kris. Outside of that speculation though, I see nothing else from this. The undead have yet to clearly establish themselves as much of a presence in Deltarune, as opposed to Undertale.

Alvin's other dialogue discusses sin, but I can't find anything particularly noteworthy in it, other than sin being associated with a couple lines in Sans's boss fight in Undertale, and by extension the merciless route as a whole. I might come back to this later, but right now, it doesn't tell us much.

Direct "angel" mentions in Undertale:

You might be wondering why I'm bothering with Undertale's angel mentions when we're talking about Deltarune. While they're different games, they're parallel stories, so unless a contradiction is shown or implied between the rules and themes of Undertale and Deltarune, I think it's safe to consider Undertale's lore as part of this discussion, and I feel it would be incomplete if I didn't look into it. Plus, Undertale literally has the Delta Rune in it, and a lot of this information is directly related to Gerson's lore on that.

Here are all of the "angel" mentions:

Gerson talks about the angel when discussing the meaning of the Delta Rune

An old inscription on a wall mentions the angel

The Riverman (or is it the Riverwoman?) mentions the angel

First up, Gerson!

While we go over this, we'll have to figure out what we can carry over from Undertale's Delta Rune into Deltarune's Delta Rune, since some of the details apply too specifically to Undertale to transfer easily. However, we can't 100% dismiss ANYTHING said here as unrelated without some serious consideration, as we're discussing the Delta Rune itself. So you can consider this sort of a Deltarune Undertale Delta Rune interlude.

That emblem:

* Eh? * You don't know what that is?

* What are they teaching you kids in school nowadays...? * Wa ha ha!

* That's the Delta Rune, the emblem of our kingdom. * The Kingdom...

* ... of Monsters.

* Wahaha! * Great name, huh? * It's as I always say...

* Ol' King Fluffybuns can't name for beans!

There are several reasons why I don't think Deltarune has a "Kingdom of Monsters". Here are just a few:

No one mentions it

There's a human in Hometown

There's enough intermingling for there to be a book on how to care for humans in the librarby

There's enough intermingling for there to be "monsters 4 humans" dating ads (Kris clicking on Poppup)

Granted, there are probably still tensions between Humans and Monsters, but whatever they are, I don't think it's enough to cause a complete schism like in Undertale.

So, how much lore can we retain? The "Kingdom of Monsters" is probably out. Does Deltarune have an equivalent? Sort of. The "Kingdom of Darkness" is Deltarune's closest counterpart, being trapped in a different plane you fall down into, for example.

However, the Delta Rune seems completely absent from the dark worlds, bar one location: Castle Town. This is also the only place directly called a "Kingdom of Darkness", by Ralsei. As Ralsei was its only inhabitant, and the Delta Runes were already all over Castle Town when we first got there, this associates Ralsei with the Delta Rune, and by extension, the angel.

This is a little strange, since the Delta Rune is otherwise exclusively a light world thing (barring one example we'll discuss in a moment), implying Ralsei has some connection to the light world. Seeing as he looks almost exactly like Asriel, and his name is an anagram, he at the very least has some connection to a specific lightner, so this isn't out of the question, especially given how religious Asriel is.

However, the Delta Rune, seemingly, can't be the emblem of the "Kingdom of Darkness", at least not primarily, given how often it's used by lightners who have, presumably, never heard of dark worlds. However, the "Kingdom of Darkness" may only be associated with Ralsei's Castle Town, rather than all dark worlds, which would explain the Delta Rune's presence there exclusively. This could tell us that Ralsei knows more about the light world than most, something that seems to be true given the specific directions he gives us to the unused classroom at the start of chapter 2, as well as all the strange lore he seems to know.

The weirdest placement of the Delta Rune, the one that seems to break this pattern, is in Seam's seap. It's prominent in the top left of Seam's shop's background. This, combined with the fact that the music that plays is named "Lantern" for no clear reason, gives Seam a weirdly strong connection to light/the angel, at least compared to any other darkner besides Ralsei.

Could Seam be considered a light in the dark because of a potential relationship with a lightner? As a worn down old plush, Seam was probably very beloved. Or, could that light in the dark theming mean that Seam absorbed a lightner's soul at some point? Spamton implies that's a possibility, as he tries to do it with Kris. Whatever the case, it places Seam in a weird spot. We'll consider Seam more later, there's a lot I want to talk about, some parts much more speculative than others, but there might be enough information to take a decent guess at his origins.

Emblem's meaning:

* That emblem actually predates written history. * The original meaning has been lost to time...

* All we know is that the triangles symbolize us monsters below, and the winged circle above symbolizes...

* Somethin' else.

* Most people say it's the 'angel,' from the prophecy...

Ironically enough, despite Gerson knowing they symbolize monsters in Undertale, I'm actually less sure about what the triangles mean in Deltarune than I am for the winged circle. It may still mean just monsters, but that doesn't feel quite right. The implication seems to be that the angel is more powerful than everyone, including Kris, and the disparity of power between monsters and humans doesn't seem to be a thing anymore. Monsters and humans seem to be on a more level playing field in Deltarune than they were in Undertale, seemingly having physical bodies as well, since they can wield determination.

So, I posit that, in Deltarune, the two upward-pointing triangles symbolize humans and monsters, and the downward-pointing triangle symbolizes darkners. It's still just a guess though, we may not know for sure until we get a more direct discussion of the Deltarune Delta Rune in Deltarune.

The prophecy:

* Oh yeah... * The prophecy.

* Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom.

* Lately, the people have been taking a bleaker outlook...

* Callin' that winged circle the 'Angel of Death.'

* A harbinger of destruction, waitin' to 'free' us from this mortal realm...

* In my opinion, when I see that little circle...

* I jus' think it looks neat! * Wahaha!

As for the circle, that still seems to symbolize the angel, so let's look at what it meant in Undertale. The angel is someone who's seen the surface, and has the power to free monsterkind, some way or another. This could apply to many people. Frisk, Chara, Asriel/Flowey, maybe even the player if you want to consider them enough a part of the world to have a prophecy about them. Freedom, of course, remains relevant, and may be much more relevant in Deltarune than it was in Undertale.

So, the angel is someone with an ambiguous identity, who, through murder or mercy, holds control over the freedom of those below it, perhaps as a protector, perhaps as a destroyer.

This, I think, is another point in favour of the angel in Deltarune potentially changing depending on how you play it. Even in Undertale, their identity was markedly ambiguous, and with how little information we have on the angel, the fact that attention seems to be brought to that ambiguity in both Undertale and Deltarune probably means something.

You could even argue that the angel changes depending on your route in Undertale, too. Frisk is the most prominent in the neutral route, freeing themself in a variety of ways. As they're the apparent player character (though I posit we actually play as Chara possessing Frisk, hence why we name them), they have the most versatility, but it also makes it hard to say there's any particular way Frisk "freed" everyone. Asriel explicitly frees everyone in the pacifist route, and Chara has a greater presence in the merciless route, freeing everyone from mortality. This isn't to argue that Chara is the cause of the merciless route, just that they have a greatly increased presence there. You could consider it "their route", to an extent.

It's not perfect, but it works far better than I'd expect from a pure coincidence, and you could absolutely make the argument that Frisk frees people in some way in the neutral route, or that the neutral route just doesn't count for as much, since it feels less complete and final than either of the other two routes (neutral has been called essentially "boneless pacifist"). You could also argue Frisk and Asriel share the pacifist route, as it's where everyone learns Frisk's name and they first clearly establish themself as distinct from just a nameless vessel for the player and/or Chara.

Either way, the ambiguity of the angel, and it changing based on route, is pretty clearly baked in to Undertale, and given that they're parallel stories that are likely to share a lot of themes (and already do in a multitude of ways), it factors nicely into a potential variation in the angel's identity in Deltarune as well.

What's "the surface" equivalent in Deltarune then? The light world? If so, all serious candidates so far, except for perhaps Ralsei, have seen the light world. Even for Ralsei, it's possible he's seen it, given that he knows the school's layout, and the game seemingly goes out of its way to never explicitly call him a darkner in the narration, menus, or Ralsei's own dialogue, but instead refers to him as a more ambiguous "dark world being", leaving the metaphorical door cracked open just enough for him to potentially be able to traverse the light world. Even if he is a normal darkner, it could still be argued that, as objects in the light world, every darkner has seen it, so this may not tell us much at all.

* However... * There is a prophecy.

* The Angel... * The One Who Has Seen The Surface...

* They will return. * And the underground will go empty.

The waterfall sign doesn't actually seem to tell us any new information. You could maybe see the specificity of the wording implying that the prophecy only applies to Undertale, as it specifically mentions the underground going empty, which seems to apply more to Undertale than it could to Deltarune.

However, even looking at this with more scrutiny, it's possible the angel's heaven, whatever it is, will destroy all dark worlds, or, by the time it happens, the roaring has already begun, all darkners have turned to stone, and the dark world, Deltarune's closest underground equivalent, has gone empty that way. In fact, I think the roaring being first is the implied, or even stated, order of events. There are plenty of ways to spin this that don't feel too farfetched.

* Tra la la. * The angel is coming... * Tra la la.

This tells us basically nothing. Thanks, Riverperson.

Stuff that's not direct "angel" mentions:

This section is going to go over some miscellaneous stuff. I'm not going to cover everything, because I realistically can't, but I'll cover everything that seems the most relevant to my theory.

I won't be discussing the design of the church, because, despite its obvious relevance to the angel, there's not much info I can get out of it besides the resemblance to Christianity. I tried.

First up, the character with the most angel connections, me!

Noelle, And The Purpose Of The Weird Routes:

So, right away we've got a lot of angel indicators in the character design, most clearly the dark world one. There's themes of christmas angels, snow angels, and when Queen's giant mech thing holds me at the end of Chapter 2, I'm strung up not only like a puppet, but like one of those angels you put on nativity sets.

Even my face is unseen, just like the doll, and I don't show it until I'm released from the hand and out of that angel-esque pose.

At this point, there are so many hints that I'm the angel, it feels almost too obvious! Which is why, on top of being called angel explicitly only in the weird route, I think I'm not the angel in a first playthrough. If I were the angel, and the angel's heaven is something we're trying to stop, why would we intentionally make the angel *more powerful* on a first playthrough? We wouldn't, of course!

But on a second playthrough, intentionally making me more powerful in the weird route to replace the previous route's angel makes perfect sense, and I'm the ideal candidate with all of my angel connections anyway. We're doing exactly what Queen did, albeit more harshly, and creating the angel rather than the knight. If the angel doesn't do what we want, we will simply make a new one. It's a reason for the weird route that isn't pure sadism. I don't think we'll have a repeat of Undertale's merciless route, where you do it just to see what happens. It's already been done, and the steps you take for the weird route are much more methodical and precise. This time, there's a purpose.

Plus, on a second playthrough, you'd know I have some hidden power, at least from Queen, but probably from other sources by then too. After all, the part where Queen mentions my power is immediately after the weird route section, you can't see it if you do the weird route to completion on your first playthrough, so anyone playing normally wouldn't know to make me more powerful, they have no reason to. It has to be a second playthrough, minimum, to make sense, just like the merciless route in Undertale.

So, if I'm not there for chapter 3, and it seems like I won't be, what might its weird route hold in store? How could it farther this goal? I believe the next step is to isolate me from my support network, anyone I might go to for help. That's why we killed Berdly in the first place. If I find out that Berdly actually died, the first people I go to would be the police. As such, I think we'll manipulate Toriel into killing Undyne, who is likely nearby watching over the house, as otherwise I doubt Toriel would be able to sleep soundly.

I bet we'll do it by getting Kris's health low and forcing Toriel to "protect" us with force. This is also supported by my mention of Fireshock in the hospital, as we know Toriel uses fire magic in Undertale, so she'll likely have it in the dark world, and it could serve as an equivalent to my Iceshock. We also know from Undertale that Undyne is specifically weak to heat. Over the course of the weird routes, we'll gradually eliminate anyone I could rely on except for Kris (or whoever is possessing them), letting them manipulate and mold me freely.

The fact that the angel themes are only so obvious with my dark world character design may also be meaningful. Only a certain, darker version of me is the angel. The normal me is just me. It's also interesting how much Chapter 2 seems to be trying to push me as a main character, despite my not being a normal part of the team.

As a bonus, though perhaps this is a bit of a stretch, I'm also wearing a white sheet almost like a ghost, possibly foreshadowing the death and destruction that comes with my being the angel? But that could just be coincidence given the clear angel theming the outfit already has. The pose may also invoke the idea of crucifixion. Knowing Toby's penchant for foreshadowing and double meanings, and how much the angel religion seems to share with Christianity, maybe it's intentional? Speaking of which...

Angels, Demons, and Power:

Lore on demons is incredibly sparse, far more than even something as enigmatic as the angel. Chara calls themself one. Kris has probably tried to summon one with Catti. That's it, as far as explicit mentions of the term in any even remotely serious context. However, despite this, I think it may be able to tell us a few things.

In some sects of Christianity, demons are fallen angels. I've been wondering, are demons and angels similar in Undertale/Deltarune? Or even the same thing? Maybe! Perhaps this is a bit, to borrow a term, dubious, but I think there's a case to be made for them being more similar than you might expect.

Chara matches everything we know about the angel in Undertale, and Chara also calls themself a demon. We know that the angel religion in Deltarune bears similarities to Christianity that feel more than coincidental, so angels and demons being one and the same wouldn't contradict that inspiration. What really makes me think this is important though, comes back to Power.

There are 2 beings in Undertale with power far beyond anything else: Chara, and briefly, Flowey. Flowey comes into power through his own actions, and while he couldn't have done it without our help in either route, to say we "made" Flowey into an all-powerful being is perhaps a stretch. Or, perhaps it's not. It depends on your perspective.

To say we made Chara into an all-powerful being however, not only is that perfectly reasonable, but it even seems to be the intended reading! Here's what they say:

Greetings. I am Chara. Thank you. Your power awakened me from death. My "human soul." My "determination." They were not mine, but YOURS. At first, I was so confused. Our plan had failed, hadn't it? Why was I brought back to life? You. With your guidance. I realized the purpose of my reincarnation. Power. Together, we eradicated the enemy and became strong. HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling... That's me. Now. Now, we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world, and move on to the next.

That's kind of explicit, isn't it? The blame lies with us. We made Chara into what they are, and we do it through mercilessly attaining Power above all else. Chara doesn't even meet the qualifications to be the angel until we make them into a demon. Even though we're making a demon in the merciless route, we're also making an angel. This all sounds pretty familiar to me!

It even ends the same way as I think Deltarune will. Chara takes control, and resets. Or, erases the world and then eventually resets.

You could also say, then, that "god" is an equivalent term to demon and angel, as that's what Flowey/Asriel calls himself in the pacifist final battle, and the angel seems to take the place of God in the angel religion. So, we're making a demon, we're making an angel, we're making a god, we're making frozen chicken, all in an attempt to drink some of that sweet sweet freedom sauce. Plus, what RPG inspired by the classics wouldn't end with confronting a god? All three routes of Undertale did it!

As for the less serious instances of "demon", I don't think Temmie's demon comic or Alphys's mention of demons ruining the later seasons of the Symptons really mean anything relevant. It's possible that the Alphys one has some meaning, so I guess let's give that a brief look:

* But make sure you don't watch past the second season

* Since they just rebooted it as Symptons Turbo

* They all started driving their own motor-vehicles

* And fighting giant giga-demons and stuff

* The main problem about that is that it kind of

* Lost the focus on family that it had earlier

* When their vehicles were shaped like animals

* And they were friends with the animal vehicles too

So, there's a chance that "when their vehicles were shaped like animals" refers to the rollercoaster cars in the second chapter, matching the second season. But the only potential "giga-demons" we might fight are the titans in the roaring, and those don't really give the impression of being things you can fight so much as forces of nature, mountains brought to life by the magic of a dark fountain, and presumably having so much magic in them that their emotions run wild and they wreak havoc (there's a lot tying magic to emotions in both Undertale and Deltarune, look into it if you're interested!). Unless the roaring happens way earlier than makes sense given the current pacing of the story, or we start fighting some giant demonic entity in chapter 3 with some kind of motor vehicle, this probably doesn't mean anything important.

If the Temmie one has any meaning, I can't for the life of me figure out where to even begin in deciphering it.

A Brief Extended Intermission To Talk About Seam:

It's time to talk about that one outlier Delta Rune again. What association does Seam have with light?

One of the possibilities I touched on before is the answer I've come to. Seam is likely the most powerful darkner we've met because Seam's so beloved by lightners.

Seam used to be owned by Catti, and possibly her family as well, passed down from person to person. That explains why Seam's a purple cat, the somewhat gothic aesthetic, why Seam's so worn down yet has been patched up multiple times, why Seam seems so old, and why Seam was the court wizard. Catti is the only lightner to mention magic as a real thing, outside of dark world contexts, and we know she involves herself in it frequently. Seam is like if she had a family member that was "more goth", as she says she wants.

So, how did Seam get to the school? How does Seam have a history with Jevil?

Catti's family is the perfect one to misplace Seam. They probably donated a bunch of items to the school, like a deck of cards, which is why Seam's known Jevil for a while. We know things get donated, because some of Kris's old books are there. I bet dad cat donated them, he's forgetful enough to accidentally miss Seam being in the box of stuff to donate, and their house is messy enough that they might not realize Seam isn't home anymore. That might also be why there are cardboard stands at the bake sale, they could be repurposed from the cardboard box used to bring Seam there.

This, I think, explains a lot of Seam's light in the dark theming. However, I don't think it's quite enough to fully justify Seam having a Delta Rune just from having a strong connection to a lightner. If angels and demons are the same thing, that could help, as we know Catti has an interest in demonology, and has looked into how to summon a demon with Kris. Seam, then, would absolutely be able to have an association with demons, and thus, angels.

I'm not fully confident that this is the only reason for Seam's Delta Rune, but it's the best idea I've got. Either way, while Seam is obviously important, I don't think Seam has enough of a presence to be a very realistic candidate for the angel on a non-weird route. Which brings us, finally, to...

The End:

Much like "kill or be killed", I think "your choices don't matter" is a theme that applies to the whole world, not just to Kris. The difference is, in Undertale, Flowey was proven wrong. In Deltarune, everything seems to be set out to prove its theme right. The secret bosses and Seam, those characters with the most knowledge of the world and its lore, seem to agree that the world's fate is sealed.

Even Ralsei, who also has a lot of lore knowledge he seemingly shouldn't, might agree with this. His approach, however, is not to lose hope, but to try to make sure his adventure with Kris and Susie is the most fun it can be. That's why he doesn't want you to think too hard about Spamton NEO. That's why he almost never asserts his will over Kris or Susie, and lets them make all the choices. When the destination is set in stone, it's best to just enjoy the journey, and he wants to make that happen for Kris and Susie. He doesn't want you to worry about a fate you can't change, so he never brings it up, and he tries to make sure you don't think about it. He only puts his foot down to stop the roaring, something that would cut that journey short, and perhaps he holds out a bit of hope that there might be some way to change fate.

I think the true message of the story isn't really "your choices don't matter", but "in a world where your choices can't affect anything on a grander scale, how will you live your life?". Jevil decides to focus purely on having fun, consequences be damned. Seam loses hope, but finds comfort in those that share his knowledge of the inevitable. Spamton tries desperately to escape his fate, but at the end of the pacifist version of his NEO fight, he finds new purpose in his existence, to live for the sake of himself and his new friends. Even when he fails to be freed, he still gives himself to his friend Kris, holding out hope that, maybe, they can break their own strings, even if he couldn't.

All we have left is figuring out how viable our candidates are for being the angel of a non-weird route. I've touched, already, on why I don't think I'll be the angel in that route (or routes, maybe), so we'll move on to who I think is the most likely:

Susie:

If I had to guess, I'd say Susie is the most likely by far of the candidates we know of to be the angel in a non-weird route.

But why? Isn't she always making her own choices? Doesn't she have the most meaningful impact on the world of any character we know of, besides the one we control? Yes, she does. And that's exactly why I think she'll become the most powerful being in the world, able to do just about anything. As the person who's choices have always mattered the most, what an irony it would be to, in the most important moment, with all this Power, have her choices not matter.

But, aside from the impact, why else do I think this? Well, first, she's the only other character who's ever been explicitly referred to as "angel". Susie is also the most powerful attacker, and will often refuse to equip items that lower her power. Power is practically baked into Susie as a concept, including power over choices. But in this world, your choices don't matter. Your fate is already sealed.

The roaring happens before the end of the world, before the angel's heaven. When Susie gains this power, the roaring will have already started. Lightners will die, darkners will turn to stone, including Lancer. Her hand will be forced. All this power, and she has no option but to reset.

But what even is Power?

I think the heart on Susie's belt may be a clue, not only to what Power is, but to Susie's eventual acquisition of it. Power is vague, but its function in Deltarune seems to at least match Determination. I think power is short for "soul power". Soul power is a very vague concept, but Determination falls under its purview, and thus the ability to save, load, and reset.

It's unclear exactly what sort of Power you gain by becoming LV 20 in Undertale, but the results seem to be much the same: control over the timeline, and perhaps even the power to attack reality itself. So, did Chara potentially retrieve the 6 human souls when we weren't looking? It doesn't seem like it, they were multiple rooms away, under the floor, and we cut immediately to the conversation with Chara after killing Asgore and Flowey, while still in the throne room.

Plus, Chara is a human, and while perhaps they're not one anymore by the end of the merciless route, or perhaps being a spirit means they're not human anymore, it would still feel a bit odd for them to have absorbed the 6 human souls, especially without us even seeing it. We see Flowey do it, why wouldn't we see Chara do it?

As such, I have to assume there are ways to attain this reality warping Power without needing human souls, which means we don't have to account for our candidate killing multiple humans to gain this Power. Or monsters as the case may be, if our candidate is Kris or some other human, as monsters can wield Determination too in Deltarune, though I don't know if that translates to other aspects of soul power.

Of course, LV is still tied to killing, and while Susie so far seems to be the most violent of our candidates, killing people to gain Power seems pretty far out of character for her, especially by Chapter 2. But Deltarune has a second system of LV used in the dark world that isn't tied to killing. You level up at the start of Chapter 2, whether you used violence or not. Maybe that holds the key?

Another piece of evidence, and a bit of a strange one, is the theme of romance with Kris. Both times someone calls me angel, it's when I'm getting a ring, and the romance themes of that are intentionally played up a bit. Kris may have a crush on Susie, that seems to be implied a few times, but most clearly by them liking Susie tea so much, by clicking on a Poppup ad for "monsters for humans in your area", and by them clearly preferring Susie when asked who they'd take to the fair at the end of chapter 2.

As I'm known to like scary things, and I mention Kris's name first when visiting the hospital after the weird route, it's possible I'll develop an unhealthy crush on Kris in the weird route, maybe even replacing my crush on Susie. Spamton even calls me Kris's "side chick" in this route, not only supporting the romance connection between Kris and I on that route, but that Kris has a different love interest as well, a "main" one, rather than a "side" one. As such, who Kris ends up in a romance with may also relate to who becomes the angel.

I can't be sure that Susie will be the angel, and while I think she is far more likely a candidate than anyone else we know of, our evidence is still limited. I'll be thorough and examine the other options as well.

Ralsei:

Ralsei is clearly based on Asriel (or maybe the other way around, as the idea for Deltarune came first), and we know that Flowey, a mysterious being with the essence of Asriel, met all the requirements to be the angel in Undertale. There are many clear parallels between Ralsei and Flowey that are easy to find if you're interested, so many that I don't see how it could possibly be a coincidence. So, if we know someone very similar to Ralsei in a lot of ways was the angel in Undertale, why do I think Ralsei won't be the angel in Deltarune?

Well, first, it feels too easy, and too much of a rehash. Deltarune is a remixed version of Undertale to some extent, right? So it would be odd for someone so much like Asriel to be the angel all over again. We also don't even know that darkners have souls in the first place, and while Ralsei is clearly no normal darkner, it still doesn't help his odds at all.

Ralsei is also never referred to as "angel", while Susie is, despite Ralsei clearly being more fitting to be called "angel" than Susie. He also, of course, knows of the angel's heaven and seeks to stop it, along with a lot of other lore knowledge, including how some future events are supposed to go. If he were the angel, he'd probably know it, and of course, knowing the lore doesn't mean he's the angel, as Jevil, Seam, and Spamton know it too.

So, aside from Ralsei having a clear association with Delta Runes, there's really not much evidence of Ralsei having a strong enough angel connection. There's the fact he has heal prayer, which may be associated with the angel. I also have heal prayer, and I think I'll be the angel. However, I think Toriel will also have heal prayer, as she's the only one to explicitly use healing magic in Undertale. I think you can have heal prayer with any sort of healing/angel association, it doesn't have to be a strong one.

The game does seem to place an odd emphasis on Ralsei being in romantic situations with Kris, like the swan boat ride, but Kris doesn't reciprocate. If romance with Kris is actually connected to who the angel is, it may work for Ralsei as well, giving him a bit more of a connection.

Ralsei is absolutely a possible candidate, I won't dismiss him. He has a few things in his favour, more than anyone but Susie. I just feel like it makes far more sense, especially from a storytelling perspective, to give Susie the role of the angel, unless there's more than one non-weird route so you can do both.

Kris:

Kris has fewer angel connections compared to either of the previous options. We know they've looked into demon-summoning, so if demons and angels are the same thing, that's a connection. They also resemble Chara, much like Ralsei resembles Flowey/Asriel, and while those connections exist and are numerous, they're not as strong as Ralsei's connections with Flowey/Asriel. Kris also has some Frisk connections, and Frisk may also meet the requirements to be an angel in Undertale. So, there's at least something here.

If the power of the angel is achieved through souls, Kris would probably need monster souls, but we don't actually know that monster souls are strong enough to grant that sort of power. They can wield determination, sure, but determination doesn't seem to be the only aspect of soul power, just part of it. After all, Kris is the only one who can seal the fountains, and they do it with their soul. Kris's soul may be unique, and I think it is, Jaru's Asriel/Ralsei theory can tell you how and why, but they don't demonstrate significantly higher power than anyone else on the team, just their own style.

Kris, unlike Susie, has not been called "angel". Kris's house has Delta Runes on it, but that's probably Toriel's design choice, not theirs. Kris is certainly mysterious, and has some unique abilities, but them being the angel feels too off. It feels like it would run counter to "your choices don't matter" if the character we control is the one to have all this Power. And if the normal route ends with them being so powerful, and we get to control it, it doesn't make sense why Seam, Jevil, and Spamton are all so convinced that the world's fate is sealed. Maybe, like Chara, they take control from us? But that, again, feels like too much of a rehash, and to do it, they've always demonstrated needing to remove their soul, seeming to be greatly weakened in the process.

It's not impossible! Certainly not! But there's just not enough evidence for me to think Kris has a strong case.

Anyone Else:

Berdly doesn't seem like an important enough character. If you kill him in a weird route and then abort it, if he's the angel in a normal route, what happens at the end? His personality also doesn't fit well for such a serious role, and we've already defeated him. It doesn't make sense from a writing perspective.

Toriel already had a major role in Undertale, I don't think she'd get one of the most important roles in Deltarune as well. It also would strike me as odd just by the vibe of it. She'll become important in chapter 3, I'm sure, but that feels like it's a little late to start getting to know the character that will become the angel.

Catti is even worse in this regard. She'll probably have a major role in chapter 4 at the earliest, and that just feels way too late to introduce your angel. The same, of course, goes for Jockington, but he also has the Berdly problem of not being suited for such a serious role.

Alvin has clear angel connections, but he doesn't even have a dialogue portrait. He doesn't seem important enough, and I think he's probably more tied up with knight business.

Lancer has nothing going for him. Absolutely nothing. He also, again, has the problem of not being suited for such a serious and dramatic role as the angel, and as a normal darkner, he should turn to stone before the angel's heaven even happens. This also rules out King and Queen.

Asriel might be an option, but again, him being the angel feels too much like a rehash, even more than Ralsei, and if we don't learn about him for a while, it'd feel kind of cheap, especially to pull the exact same stunt again as Undertale's pacifist ending.

That's about it!

Thanks for sticking with me on this, and suffering through all my ramblings about the variable angel theory, even the parts that only sort of related. Or, if you just skipped to the end, how dare you! But here's the TL;DR for you anyway:

The angel changes depending on the route. In the weird route, it's Noelle. In the normal route, it's probably Susie, but might be Ralsei, and probably ends with a reset to undo the roaring. The weird routes are about manipulating Noelle into replacing the normal angel by the end of the game, and removing Noelle's support network so she has no one but Kris to turn to. First Berdly, and in chapter 3, Undyne, so Noelle can't go the police if she finds out that what happened to Berdly was real. Seam used to be owned by Catti, before probably being accidentally donated to the school along with other toys, including playing cards, which is why he has a history with Jevil. "Power" probably refers to soul power, of which Determination is a part, and angels and demons may be the same thing.

[bismutharts]

i made another one of these corset belts! i made most of it at the end of february and then. stopped

but it's done now! i think this will be one of my most versatile ones, because of the solid colour and not tooo exciting pattern, it goes with many tops. sometimes i need to learn that fun yarn doesn't equal fun garment i'll wear lots

the pattern is actually pretty much the same as my first corset belt, which is unwearable because i used a 4mm hook and with the strain that the fabric gets you need to be using a hook that's as small as possible for the yarn you're working with, which in this case means a 2.5. a 3mm also gets the job done alright, but 2.5 i do think is an improvement

i used 42 grams of durable comfy for this

if you'd like a full writeup of how i make these, let me know and i'll try to . get that post done

[theyarebothgunshot]

if you're still taking suggestions, could you give your take on the breakup theory? Loved your writeup on pre-break era cockles

it's been a while since someone has asked me to talk about cockles, so i am rusty but let's see how it goes..... lmao

first of all, i will say that over the years my thoughts and theories about whatever is going on between them have changed so much. honestly my answers to what i think happened during break up era will probably change depending on the day.

for example, where i used to be sure that there must have been something solid going on between them even in those early years, ever since the poem men in woods i have changed my mind about that. to me, that poem screams jensen, and if jensen was indeed misha's new friend who tried to kiss him, i am more prone to assume that maybe the lines between very very close friends and something more were blurred at the time, but never really defined in the first few years before the 'break up era'.

i think we can all safely say we clocked something real there, real attraction, a real connection, but other than that who knows how they both saw their relationship or how sure they were of whatever was happening between them?

i do have some broad/vague thoughts (like i said, these could change any moment and is based purely on what we know and what we don't know aka fill in the blanks) on what might have been going on. i think it's possible that they both felt an attraction to each other, that jensen knew that misha was poly witch vicki and that jensen and misha either did actually explore that attraction or that jensen at the very least let misha know (by kissing him and god knows how else) that he was into him. and then, unfortunately, cas got killed off and suddenly they no longer had a valid excuse to keep blurring those lines.

because of everything that has been documented about that point in time, i have a strong feeling that jensen said or did something to fuck things up between them and upset misha and probably had immediate regrets but misha wasn't taking any shit and took his time to process everything and only when it was clear he would be back, did they hash things out.

they were clearly very very close, i mean they exchanged jewelry, this isn't something most men do with a coworker, so whatever was said or done was obviously hurtful cause even if they never explored each others bodies i have no doubt that misha valued (and still values) jensen a lot and that he considers him one of his closest friends, probably even back then. and the fact that misha was so very messy on stage, getting drunk etc, and jensen clearly tried to 'win him back' only strengthens the theory that they didn't even know what they were doing themselves back then, cause otherwise they would have been way less messy and loud imo.

[tavina-writes]

I've watched Word of Honor, Who Rules The World, and Mysterious Lotus Casebook(I'm also not sure if the Untamed is wuxia or xianxia or something inbetween?) I don't think I mind longer shows but over...60 episodes is probably a harder sell. I like recognizing actors from project to project but I also don't know all that many so I'm happy to see fresh faces. I haven't seen any older cdramas so I can't say for sure, though I watch us shows from the 90s sometimes? I've paid for iQiyi in the past though I've let my subscription lapse. Does that help?

HELLOOOO sorry I got so busy and couldn't answer earlier Nonny!

I think based off of this, I would suggest you watch Legend of the Condor Heroes (2017) first. (It has Meng Ziyi in it!) This one can be found on iQIYI with good subtitles -- you'll need an account though sadly :( -- it's 52 episodes long (so on the longer side for a contemporary cdrama but pretty average sized for cdramas overall). And it was made for introducing a new generation to LOCH so it doesn't go at as fast a clip as LOCH 2024 (came out this year, beautifully done, goes really fast and does assume you know the general storyline even if you haven't seen it since you were 8). I do think 2017 assumes you know some genre trends also so having seen other wuxias is a good thing!

@autumnslantern also wrote a great writeup of our journey through the various LOCHes here.

Below find some general thoughts on all of the LOCHes I've seen, copy pasted from a discord ask I got a few days before your ask!

my childhood favorite LOCH is the 1983 TVB Jade version, which is very noncanonical to the book but So Much Fun <-- may not be your cup of tea if you don't enjoy that special 1980s charm :dogkek: It has, however, my absolute hands down favorite version of the Huangs (this IS the writer room where the Huangs were their special little meow meows and Kenneth Tsang personally created at least two generations of Huang Yaoshi apologists so) but yeah I love this version for how well it understands the characters, not how much it follows the plot.

I was not as fond of LOCH 1995 TVB reboot version (there were some interesting plot issues, but imo the biggest problem is that KangCi is played by 30 year olds and JingRong by 20 somethings, increasing the dynamics that in this universe KangCi are twice divorced 30 somethings trying to make this work again for the 3rd time as though they're stuck in a timeloop, the actors gave it their all and it was very good! just! perchance, suspension of disbelief interesting.) I would rate this one as a pretty solid adaptation overall though, my minor quibbles aside, just not my personal fave

I enjoyed LOCH 03, I think it has the best Mongolia 1 and 2 that I have ever seen adapted to screen, and really does a good job on this front. The Temujin Corruption Arc here has me by the THROAT. and this also has the best ever Tuolei. (Fun Fact! all the Mongolian Characters in this adaptation are played by Mongolian Actors, and it did pretty well on Mongolian traditional clothing also!) Unfortunately, it was also made for the whole 5 LOCH Mongolia Arch enjoyers in the world so the ratings are terrible. this one has interesting CGI choices, some pacing issues towards the end, and tbf in my personal opinion Li Yapeng did a better Linghu Chong than Guo Jing, but the Guo Jing characterization choices felt purposeful? JingRong is delightful together but Li Yapeng Guo Jing is a bit flat when he's by himself. Zhou Xun was Jin Yong's favorite Huang Rong, overall I enjoyed 03 but I can see why almost no one else did

LOCH 08: my personal nemesis, I would delete my memory of LOCH 08 if I could but then I might watch it and reintroduce myself

LOCH 2017: for a LOCH made with couch cushion money this is really a smashing adaptation. Minor quibbles on them making Huang Rong less problematic, kind of character assassinating Huazheng, giving Temujin the world's best skincare products known to man, and somehow taking a blowdryer to Huang Yaoshi for the sake of coolness, but I forgive them. There's lovely fight scenes in this version, and Chen Xingxu acted his socks off as Yang Kang

LOCH 2024: You can tell this one was made by people who idolized LOCH growing up. I love love love the production and color palette of this one, it reminds me of an updated late 90s early 00s Wuxia vibe with all the new tech that makes wuxia so cool in this decade. Hands down, Ci Sha quickly became my favorite Guo Jing of all time, and I think they really get what makes JingRong click. Some very interesting backstory connotations, I really hope they air the prequels so I can see this in the order they wanted it to be shown in. This loch also suffers from pacing issues, and will assume you already know the story esp bc at 30 episodes for the main story, it's the shortest of all the LOCH tv adaptations and that trims a lot of the extra side quests that make LOCH LOCH.

[half-life-citizen]

A rundown of the flumblr Crimson peak watch party.

As you may or may not know, we recently had a watch party of the Guillmero Del Toro film Crimson Peak, I won't talk spoilers, but will mention some plot details.

It was organised by @thedeafprophet and @the-dye-stained-socialite, who streamed it in a discord.

The discord was made specially for the watch party, being set up a few days before the actual event, and invites opened at around the same time.

The setup:

As I previously mentioned, the server was open for a few days prior to the event, with a few members of the flumblr community joining, myself included.

A few emotes were made, mainly joking in matter. They included some amazing art by @the-insouciant-scientist of the endgame professions.

Some channels were made about the movie, spoilers permitted in one and not the other.

As well as some lovely conversation, the testing for the jackbox games was set up, and a few games were played.

The Pre-Show

As the date; March 9th came, more people flooded into the server, and said people began to talk.

The conversation really began to pick up 2 hours before the show, with many people preparing food for the event, such as pasta, or popcorn.

But there was a casualty.

In their unending hubris; one of the event organisers, prophet, created a quiche too powerful and deadly for any human to handle, and launched a quiche blast across the Atlantic, hitting the bowl of pasta I had made, knocking it to the floor, destroying it.

I am warning you, the image of the quiche pictured below may be too horrible to imagine, to even think about without the edges of your mind falling apart like wet paper.

You have been warned.

And the unleasher of the quiche admitting to their crimes

After this horrible event, I was left scarred, but more importantly, in lack of food. I thought nothing of it and ordered food for later that night.

I thought I'd also mention the loaf of bread made by @zeebreezin

Just a good solid loaf.

After the quiche incident, the conversation just moved along from topics of food and ended up continuing until the time of the event beginning.

The Beginning:

An executive decision was made to wait 10 minutes or so for people to arrive, just to make sure nobody would miss anything.

At 8:12 IST, the watch party had begun in full swing. People sat on chairs, beds, and couches, and were all tuned into a 720p possibly illegal stream of a movie from 2015.

As previously mentioned, I won't go into spoilers in this writeup, but I will mention characters and plot points, but nothing particular.

For this write up, I will go over some of the main characters featured in this film with a simple bio.

Edith: an aspiring author who's wealthy businessman father who disapproves of her relationship with Thomas Sharpe

Thomas Sharpe: an owner of a crumbling estate slowly sinking into the clay mines below the house, he seeks funding for a digging machine to help revitalise the mines.

Lucille Sharp: Thomas's older sister, seemingly distant from the world.

Dr Alan McMicheal: Blonde doctor guy

Ferguson: appears on screen for a total of two seconds, I expected him to come back later.

The slop: liquid clay, looks tasty and probably cures anemia.

As the movie began, everybody who hadn't seen the movie before immediately distrusted Thomas Sharpe, myself included.

As the movie continued, I began keeping two counters and a constant rating.

These were

1: the gun counter

2: the violence counter

And 3: the beard rating

The gun counter was simple, every gun on screen would add 1 point to the total.

The violence counter was every scene of violence in the movie; not act of violence. So a scene of someone getting punched twice would still only count as one.

And the beard rating, where I rated all the beards visible to me during the watch.

Anyways, as the movie progressed, a common theme appeared in the chat.

Manic slop posting.

The slop (pictured below) is the liquid form of the red clay the Sharpe household is slowly sinking into, a deep and rich colour that makes your mouth water slightly.

In my personal opinion, the slop is the single best character in the movie.

I will not explain myself.

As well as slopposting™, during scenes of intense violence people would start talking about the blood; and honestly? Good for them.

I wish I could go into more detail about the events of the movie, but I really urge you to watch it yourself, it's violent and very heartfelt.

Also slop.

now, about half way through the movie, I told the chat I needed to check for the pizza I had ordered over an hour and a half prior to the movie starting, and The Powers That Be graciously granted us an intermission, we're I called my pizza place 4 times and they never picked up, so I was forced to wait another 30 minutes for my pizza.

I did get it eventually.

The rest of the watch party was not uneventful, with a lot of jokes and gasps as the movie continued telling its story.

But all good things must come to an end, and as the final scene cut to black; the end began.

The aftermath:

Most people left after the movie ended, leaving around 8 people left to play some jackbox as the night continued.

Nothing major really happened, (except for prophet finding out the truth behind Easter eggs), so here are a few funny screenshots from the games I was in, I even won one of them

As a bit of a final note, I really have to thank everybody involved. It was a really fun little event, and any more in the future, I'd be glad to participate in.

SLOP!!!!!

[mikuchan]

Hi! Sorry that some people didn't get the point of your graphics because honestly, I thought they were very eye opening. Like, I always knew that sexism was rampant on this fandom (due to some personal experiences) but to also see it reflected into the numbers of fics is even more like...i don't know how to put it but it makes you think holy hell this is worst then I expected. And my expectations were already low. And like fics are just one part of the overall issue, but I don't want this to be to long. I just wanted to say that those were graphics were good and I think putting those numbers out there was also good.

Thank you! Honestly I was asking for trouble by including Astarion and Gortash hahaha.

The biggest issues are people taking the post personally, or pulling apart my examples as if they're isolated issues and not each a facet of a greater pattern - but that's just Tumblr being Tumblr. I am very glad that for every one person missing the point of my post there are multiple others reacting positively.

I don't think misogyny in fandom is an issue that can be solved overnight, but I think acting in good faith and with eyes wide open (whether you're writing Astarion or Orin or your own OCs) is a necessity for any fandom to work cohesively. Others have also been making some really solid posts about sexism and racism (zoloteh-volossya has some really good writeups), I'm glad that these issues are gaining traction & awareness and not being swept under the rug.

Fics are definitely only one small part. I wish I was more clever or techy and knew how to get any meaningful info from Tumblr, Reddit, etc but I just don't have those skills. I like ao3 because I can literally go in and count works by hand lmao I'm a passionate luddite.

I'm really glad you liked the infographic, thanks for the kind words 😊

[dailyadventureprompts]

Footnotes on Foes: Psurlon/Moonbeasts

There are way too many aberrations in d&d who’s whole deal is “these gross aberrations use their psionic powers to practice slavery, and will likely eat you” a niche that’s already more than filled out by the illithid,  who have enough material lore to spawn more adventures than all of these creatures combined. There’s even more when (like me) you collect 3rd party and homebrew material looking to flesh out your enemies roster spelljamming adventures.

As such, I decided to cram two of these baddies together to create a far more interesting beast, the idea of which I largely credit to a writeup by @thecreaturecodex, who’s discussion on how the creature’s lore changed over editions gave me a solid idea to work with.

Travellers of the deep desert tell tales of strange temples built atop subterranean warrens, of the things that lurk beneath blind and witless, and how on some nights these creatures emerge and are transformed: growing in intelligence and cruelty and engaging in raids or wild revels, before the sun rises and they return to a bestial state once again.

Given the name “moonbeasts” for their habit of reaching toward the darkened heavens with their mass of facial tendrils as part of their nocturnal ritual, these creatures were infact hosts for a seperate group of entities called the Psurlon. This alien species had “ascended” beyond the need for physical bodies but periodically inhabited the flesh of the moonbeats to enjoy all the corporeal pleasures they could. The Psurlon believed that this ascension over flesh made them inherently superior, and led them to view the lives and bodies of other creatures, including sentients, as material to be dominated, enjoyed, and consumed.

Adventure Hooks:

On their own, moonbeasts are relatively harmless, subteranian scavengers more than actual predators, living alone or in small packs. They only truly become dangerous when the stars are right and they are possessed, or when they are are compelled to gather food for the Psurlon’s feasts and end up hunting people and animals alike in order to stock their larders. In a mixed bit of fortune psurlons prefer to consume their prey alive, giving captured creatures a chance to escape or be rescued from the cavernous pits where they are stored before the stars align and the Moonbeasts drag them out for eating.

Above all Psurlon want comfort and indulgence, and will willingly squat in a decaying ruin/moonbeast lair for centuries. When they do get bored of their surroundings, one of their leaders uses planeshift to warp them to a new world where they can find some locals to bully and enslave. The Psurlon’s set themselves up as gods or lords to be worshiped and provided tribute, choosing  or constructing new hidden cave warren for their moonbeast hosts and having their subjects build a temple around it to deliver riches and sacrifices to. In this way the Psurlons hop from world to world, leaving moonbeasts and crashpads in their wake.

While they have an easier time inhabiting the minds of the animalistic moonbeasts, Psurlons are capable of overtaking any humanoid with psionic talent using physical contact one of their regular hosts as a sort of “signal booster”.  The process of prying the victim’s mind free of their body takes hours, and leaves them drifting lost in the astral sea while the Psurlon acts as a physically and socially clumsy imposter. The alien invaders mostly consider this to be a dumb party trick, but occasionally use their stolen vessels as blackmail material, or to lure others to the feast. 

[loving-n0t-heyting]

The most solid praise I’ve found so far for the UAW tentative agreements has been the copium oozing from the quotes they could find from the bad guys for the FT writeups

[busaikuknee]

a quick look back at may 2024

i got started on this early for once. character development, i suppose.

general overview and numbers

i watched 90 matches in may, 65 of which took place this month. this is…a lot more than i expected to, frankly! my sleep schedule has been kind of grim, so i ended up watching more shows live than usual. i might be sleepy, but at least i've been sports entertained.

nothing super notable to report on, though i have been backwatching quite a bit of dragongate this month. dead or alive got me bad. there's something about those cage matches, man.

most appearances throughout the month

hayata's in first place for both "matches that took place this month" and "matches i watched this month," so, fuck, i guess hayata's the Spreadsheet Champ of the Month. i wouldn't have guessed it; i feel like i've barely seen him this may, what with my Bad At Watching Tournaments disease striking halfway through best of the super juniors. i'll...catch up eventually, probably.

mumbling about matches

great sakuya and nagisa nozaki vs miyuki takase and nanashi (noah, april 1st)

starting off with one not from this month! i made a mental note to include it in last month's writeup, but realized that i left it off of the post proper right after i sent it out. unfortunate, but it's my self-indulgent summary post and i can break my "only talk about matches that happened this month" rule whenever i want, so it's making it onto this one.

anyway! short but very fun match. a blend of goofy hijinks and doing-moves wrestling that appealed to me greatly. the normal wrestler-spooky wrestler tag dynamics? the slasher movie sequence? excellent, wonderful, loved it. i've come to really enjoy nagisa nozaki, i should seek out more of her matches when i have the time.

kzy vs jason lee vs hyo vs shun skywalker vs jacky "funky" kamei (dragongate, may 5th)

i can count the number of times i've cried at something fictional on one hand. this isn't a good or bad thing, i just don't think i engage with media in a way that provokes that kind of response.

that being said, this match got me really, really close to crying. the power of love and friendship is real, maybe.

takashi sugiura vs masa kitamiya (noah, may 4th)

i'm reluctant to use this wording as i feel it sets expectations too high, but sugiura and masa had kind of a perfect ten-minute match? solid pacing, did everything it needed to, made both performers look stellar. masa rules and i just want him to have nice things. unfortunately, i also don't want him to experience head trauma, and that was not a wish granted here. my love for the single-trickle-of-blood-running-down-forehead visual is constantly at war with my feelings about shoot headbutts.

shoko nakajima vs miu watanabe (tjpw, may 5th)

i’ve been putting together a playlist of some personal highlights of 2024 wrestling to show some friends, and i am going to shuffle shit around as much as possible to make sure that this gets in there. “technical freak vs person who’s strong enough to just pick them up if they go for a hold” is a combo that always appeals to me, and since nakajima and watanabe are both excellent wrestlers, i was constantly delighted throughout the runtime. good, good stuff. while i might not cry often, i’m very soft-hearted, so the hug at the end made me Feel.

i find that it often takes a couple of matches for me to fully click with a wrestler, and i think this was the match that made me click with shoko nakajima. shokopilled bigkaijumaxxing.

kosei fujita vs el desperado (njpw, may 13th)

imagine a flame text gif reading “FUJITA ROCKS.” now imagine another, slightly different flame text gif reading “DESPERADO ALSO ROCKS BUT I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT BY NOW.” thank you for your time.

jun akiyama vs atsushi kotoge (noah, may 29th)

my exact spreadsheet notes were "still thinking about this. what a fucking match. why were they in love here."

onward to june! while there isn't a lot that i'm super invested in storyline-wise at the moment (barring minoura and yamato's whole deal), i am looking forward to a couple of the events scheduled for this upcoming month. despe invitacional save me. save me despe invitacional.

if there was something you particularly enjoyed this may, do feel free to share! see you next month!