#i think that explanation makes about as much sense as the initial phrase

[monster-noises]

I want! I want to be able to tell people i make art wnd write comics and have something to Point Too y'know?

Like sure i have art but it's not like... Art (not in a self-degrading way, just in a way that says a majority of what i've made is very casual and disparit, and lacks a cohesion of intent I see from many of the artists I admire)

And there's an embarrassment that comes with telling people 'oh yeah i'm an illustrator and I'm writing comics when i'm not at work' and then being able to show... Nothing of serious import.

(again not to degrade my work, I like what i draw otherwise i wouldn't habe drawn it. It's just most of it does not necessarily satisfy the set up of "I Illustrate and Write Comics")

[ottersandfandoms]

Full Analysis/breakdown of the asmodous crystal exchange because the episode broke me and this is how I cope. Warning: long

So the first shot we have is Stolas sitting on his bed in apprehension, then Blitz jumps up on the balcony. Blitz starts the night off like any other, bringing out his bag of sex toys and just speaking in an unworried manner. Yet we have the sad music playing in the background that lets us know this is temporary. It’s NOT a normal night. Stolas knows this too and he’s just quietly watching.

Stolas finally speaks and he stutters at the beginning. This is really happening. He disregards all the other things Blitz brought and instead just asks for the book.

This is when Blitz first starts noticing something is up. We see a quick shot of his smile dropping. He was all worried about Stolas getting bored of him earlier and wanting the book back and now he began to actually think those fears are being proven true. Even if he doesn’t admit it, Blitz has a big fear of not being wanted and just pushed aside, like he has been for most of his life. 

So when Stolas admits he needs the book back Blitz panics. His fears are true. He begins to hurriedly speak and makes excuses. This book is his livelihood and the reason for his jobs so it makes sense why he is scared of losing it. He leans in and tries to initiate sex. It works every time with Stolas so why wouldn’t it work now? Stolas begins to grow sad. He does want to have sex with Blitz. But he knows that would be unfair so he gets up.

Blitz is terrified. He desperately begs Stolas for the book. Blitz is being put in a vulnerable situation and he doesn’t like it. His whole life could be destroyed if he can’t keep his business afloat. He wouldn’t be able to support himself and couldn’t support Loona. He would “do anything” to keep it.

But then Stolas shows him the crystal. Stolas presents it to him in a happy tone. He tries to be happy and hopeful even though he is clearly still very worried. Maybe everything will be ok. Maybe Blitz will reciprocate Stolas’s feelings and everything will be great.

Blitz thinks Stolas is joking. He doesn’t understand why Stolas would do this. Now his job is safe but his relationship with Stolas is not. His deepest fears are being proven once more. 

He’s not good enough.

He goes into this state of wanting to please.

When Blitz was a child, his dad clearly saw Blitz as the weakling compared with Fizz. And no matter how much Blitz tried to prove himself, it was never enough. “I can do better” is almost juvenile in its phrasing. A desperate plea and promise that might diffuse the situation. Blitz reverts back to his childlike self where he was always last choice and flung aside like he didn’t matter. Imagine how many times he said that exact sentence to his father.

Stolas explains. Stolas actually does a good job of saying what he wants. He is clear and to the point, emphasizing asking what Blitz wants. During Stolas’s speech, Blitz glances back and forth at the crystal, trying to make sense of what’s happening  and then at Stolas. Because he does want to stay. He likes Stolas. If he didn’t care, he would've taken the crystal and left, but he didn’t and chose to stay. Stolas finally just finishes his speech by confessing his feelings. He says them in a frantic way; he is putting himself out there but there is hope there too. 

Blitz thinks he’s joking. Of course he would be. Why could Stolas actually seriously care for him? How could Stolas care for him? The only possible explanation has to be that Stolas is joking. So he puts on a roleplay because he thinks it’s what Stolas wants. He refuses to accept there may be something more.

Stolas takes this as a mocking rejection. His hope has been squashed. Stolas is so used to being mocked that he immediately takes Blitz’s ‘roleplay’ as Blitz making fun of him. Stolas has been mocked by the people, the other Goatia, Stella. Blitz is just another one to add to the list.

He accepts the supposed rejection and walks away. Blitz now realizes he wasn’t joking. He is legitimately surprised that Stolas would want anything true with him. Blitz has this worldview of nobody truly wanting him; finding him useful, sure, but actually wanting him…that would be impossible. Stolas’s confession is a stark blow to that worldview and it makes sense why Blitz needs time to accept this.

This is where Stolas makes his mistake, he doesn’t give Blitz time to think through this. He takes Blitz’s confusion as rejection, not stopping to consider that Blitz is just as scared as he is. His hope is now totally gone. Both Stolas and Blitz are eerily similar in their fears. They both just want to be wanted but where Stolas shrinks away in sadness, Blitz lashes out.

And that's exactly what Blitz does now. And he doesn’t stop.

He doesn’t want to deal with his own hurt feelings so he instead blames it all on Stolas, to hide the fact that he may be blaming it on himself. The thing is, most of what Blitz says is true. Stolas repetitively called him a plaything and ‘little imp’ so it makes sense why Blitz doesn’t fully believe him. Blitz has always been the inferior one in his relationships. With Fizz, With Verosika, with Stolas, with countless demons. This has caused him this inferiority complex that he can’t escape. 

Blitz has tears in his eyes and he is truly breaking down. He has spent so long trying to convince himself that Stolas doesn’t care and now suddenly he does? He still hasn’t actually accepted that Stolas cares for him. He can’t accept that and that makes it all more painful. It has to be some lie or game and he is begging Stolas to stop playing. To stop complicating things because that will force Blitz to think about how he feels.

"Let's go!"

Blitz fully expects Stolas to yell back. he is so used to being in arguments where the other person will lash back as well. And Blitz almost wants this. He believes he deserves it.

But Stolas doesn't...

Instead he takes Blitz sceaming the wrong way. You see this heartbreaking scene of Stolas starting to cry. Stolas has spent his whole life being told to be quieter, be more controlled, less emotional. Him crying in front of someone, rather than alone really emphasizes the hurt he is feeling. And then there is of course the most heartbreaking line: “I didn’t realize you think so low of me”.

Everyone thinks low of Stolas. He is the “pathetic” Goatia prince who is constantly scoffed at and bullied. Blitz was his escape from all of that, but now he believes Blitz thinks the same as everyone else.

But Blitz DOESN’T think low of Stolas. He thinks low of himself. 

Blitz realizes he fucked up. He went too far and hurt Stolas.

He realizes that Stolas misinterpreted what he said because Blitz was never really talking about Stolas, he was talking about his own feelings. We can see Blitz actually try to reach out to Stolas. He needs to let Stolas know that he doesn’t think that. You can hear him start to say “I’m sorry-” but as he’s saying that Stolas portals him away. 

Blitz “What the fuck” perfectly encapsulates his feelings. He doesn’t understand what happened but he knows that he messed up. Blitz needs to let Stolas know that he actually cares about him and apologize for what he said and Stolas needs to understand that Blitz needs some time.

Blitz never once said that he doesn’t care, only that he doesn’t believe Stolas can.  

[into-the-feniverse]

Finished reading Trigun/TriMax a couple days ago and have been feverishly trying to piece together a timeline, so here’s the result of that ✨

EDIT: as of 3/13/24 this has been UPDATED

For a more detailed timeline (with vol/ch marks): google sheet

Full res of the graphic (& other resources): bit.l/trigunresources

Notes & rest of the timeline under the cut!

Edits as of 3/13/24

The detailed spreadsheet is organized and color coded! If you'd like a more concise breakdown of events/see some of my reasoning behind certain time stamps feel free to skim through that

Changed where in the timeline the Maylene and Wolfwood events happened (originally where I had placed them would have made Maylene like 6 when she and Wolfwood reunited which is NOT correct)

moved where in the timeline Knives started collecting the GungHo Guns (at latest he started in 0090 (20 years before 0110) since it's noted that Monev has been training in a cellar for the past 20 years

Moved where Knives initially tracked down Conrad (felt like it needed to happen at least a decade before July)

Changed up some of the months (personally, I don't think the Ark launched in December, since that'd put Milly and Meryl's arrival to the colony in July, which wouldn't make sense. So I placed the ark launch in October which of course offset some of the other month stand ins)

Added an earth year for when Knives and Vash are born. The explanation is I think at minimum there was at least a 2 year period between them and Tesla (since Rem was around for that whole process). I do think it was more than that, but that’s the earliest possible year I think it could have happened. Personally I’m more in the camp of 5-10 years, but def not 50 like in tristamp

Old Notes:

If you see any typos or phrase inconsistencies: no you don’t 💕 (😭)

Blue text can be completely ignored, that’s just kinda my personal preference/wild guesstimating of when “exactly” those events happened

Blue lines can also be ignored, they’re also just rough guesstimates on where exactly in the timeline these could have happened

The distance of the lines from one another doesn’t really mean anything, I started trying to follow a system to notate when things happened really close together but it was//// not consistently done ngl

Fun fact: by the time Wolfwood leaves the orphanage Meryl is 18! And she was 14 at the time of July’s destruction

Additional fun fact: Brad is 17 when he and sensei meet up with Vash in the Factioned city (which I think is absolutely RIDICULOUS), and we know this because he was 4 the one/last time he had met Vash and it’s been 13 years since

It was noted by Karen, one of Meryl’s coworkers, that she and Milly had been on assignment with Vash for about 4 months. (Might be that they were out searching for him during that time as well, but I’m choosing to interpret it as they were actually with him for that amount of time)

I’m also working on a 98 timeline for comparison (but more like just sequence of events cause I don’t think I have the patience to sift through the lore quite as much… mainly making it just to clarify how the anime delineates from the manga)

I am//::: feeling v unhinged after this and feel like it could be improved/i need to do a more thorough read, but I’m calling it quits for now before I actually go insane (but hopefully some people will find it somewhat helpful!)

Also: if anybody has any notes to add or clarifications/corrections I would be more than happy to hear them 👂

[bookscandlesnbts]

Keep Going Theory- Putting This Out There

I’m probably not the first to speculate the connection of these dots, and I haven’t been on this app much to see if anyone else posted about this. Since twt nearly set me on fire for this idea, I’ll try posting it here instead. By now it’s very obvious that Jungkook’s face appears at the end of the Who mv as well as the words “Keep Going” AND we have seen the Keep Going phrase used every time a photo is isolated in Are You Sure? Initially, when I had the fantasy of us getting a Jikook OST (my guess is they didn’t have time to record one and that’s why we didn’t get one 😥) I thought the song would be called Keep Going thus proving the spoiler at the end of the Who mv and why Jungkook is on the screen besides him being Jimin’s bf and the person his heart was waiting for.

Anyway, since then my theory is that the photobook merch is called Keep Going so it was still an Are You Sure spoiler connected to Jungkook. But no, Keep Going is an odd name for a photobook and it will be called something “normal”. I swear jikookers are so rude sometimes. Sure, hate on my theory while providing zero ideas yourself. 😒 I think it makes sense. Keep Going relates well to the theme of the show. During all the trials and tribulations of unexpected illness, clumsy injuries and no plans, Keep Going fits the theme of the photos they took. Now I really hope I’m right considering people are so quick to shut anything down. You want there to be an explanation? I came up with one that makes sense to me. But noooooo that’s dumb to you. I’m probably sensitive today but I needed this rant. I’m sick of people always raining on my parade.

[multi-level-shipper]

This shit was a fucking acid trip, like most of the game.

Anyway, something that poked my brain was the Infirmary. For all this game's insanity, there were actually some decent roots planted for worldbuilding/ character development.

It seems like the reason the cast ended up in Queen Bouncelia's domain is because they're treating the player as if they have 6 stars in GTA. Seline is no exception to this rule, and that seems to be her motivation for coming down to the lower floor, as she watched us leave in Chapter 3.

Toadster noted in his "Archives" that she was already hiding when brought in, and crying in her shell. She may have been antagonized by a bigger enemy- likely Kittysaurus or Tama/Chamataki (turtle chameleon thing), and she may have gone past the kingdom's walls for sanctuary. (That's just a loose theory, though.)

In any case, at some point she was frightened enough to shut down completely.

This could be some kind of anxiety attack, though there's no way to "diagnose" Seline at this point. Also interesting that Seline felt too afraid to even continue moving around on the lower floors. I think this is meant to speak to just how dangerous the lower floors are- if the giant ass snail is afraid, you should be, too.

Next, Jumbo Josh. Toadster categorizes him as a "Green Gorilla", which in hindsight, weirdly makes a lot of sense.

Firstly, an adult silverback gorilla can bench up to 4,000 lbs (or at least, that's what google told me.) Not that we needed an explanation of why he was able to throw Stinger Flynn, but I can only assume that if we adjusted that number for his size...it probably checks out.

Second, the fact that he walks like a chiropractor's worst nightmare. It took me a second, but I FINALLY realized that his posture is meant to IMITATE A GORILLA. Like, look at this:

DEFINITELY EXPLAINS WHY HE WALKS LIKE A HORSE IN GARRY'S MOD.

And thirdly, Josh's love for vegetables is also a gorilla trait. 85% of a gorilla's diet is leafy greens, with the remaining percentage basically amounting to termites and larvae.

Not too much to say about the Fucked Up Birds, but still! Nice to see them finally displaying a flamingo behavior (AKA their sleeping posture) because they seemed to lean more heavily on ostrich behaviors in previous chapters.

Toadster mentions in his archive for "The Teacher" that she keeps repeating the phrase "I can't be late" over and over to herself after being subdued.

He also notes that the bowling pins "calmed her down," which may not entirely be the case. In Chapter 3, in Banbaleena's "Classroom", each object had an assigned role like Cool Kid and Popular Kid. The bowling pins were meant to be the Bullies.

So Banbaleena is likely stuck in a prison of her own self-doubts right about now, which is doubly sad when considering her insistence in Chapter 3 that she was actually trying to be a good teacher. Either someone placed this idea in her head that she needs to strictly adhere to all these rules, or it's a stress she placed upon herself trying to fulfill her identity as a teacher.

Stinger Flynn gets better as the story progresses. He seems to have an ego to the point where he sees himself as a savior that can't see the faults in his own plans. His initial "safest procedures" plan seemed so obvious to him, but it seems as if he measures success by efficiency rather than the cost of human lives. While he's smart, he's not immune to being wrong, though he has yet to learn this.

He also seems to suffer from some form of depression, or at least intense sadness, and we see this as he talks to Banban in the latest hallucination sequence. Makes sense- his intelligence would make him much more privy to all the horrible things happening around him. It seems as if his high intelligence comes at a high price.

Last note- This might just be a case of recycling animations/rigs, but I think it's cute that Banban shares nearly the same emo pose as Banbaleena.

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 13: Initial Thoughts

We're back again! I'm probably just gonna do one of these for every new episode this chapter at least, just because there's so much to talk about in all of them!

Basically, I'm going to run through my not-live-but-sort-of-live-thoughts of the episode, then at the end I'll give my thoughts on any more overarching theories/conversations that are relevant.

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 PART 2!

T/W: Murder, suicide, hanging

The Reactions

Knowing where Levi's explanation is going now that I'm rewatching, it makes sense that this is the first thing he'd think of in regards to the secret. It's not about the lives lost or his status of being a "murderer," it's the real, concrete consequences of his actions-- AKA, the law.

Just, like, 'cause, or...?

Honestly, this adds a really interesting flavor to when Levi does threaten Ace. He's like, "do you think I don't have limits to my patience?" The fact that there was any amount of patience in the first place is honestly pretty cool for Ace.

Also, I don't really have a good place to screenshot this, so I'll just mention it: the clock motif in the backing track is really cool!! Has that been there before and I haven't noticed, or is it new? I also definitely find it personally suspicious that we're getting clock sound effects while Levi is talking about murder (Eden killer/Levi accomplice moment??) but that's probably just my confirmation bias talking. It could also definitely be something about wasting time in the Trial, which a point is definitely made out of. It takes them a long time to start talking about the method, and Levi even mentions that he's sidetracking before he starts on this monologue.

Extremely funny reaction from Eden if they ARE in on this together btw. "Wait... you've killed, like, more people?? This isn't soul-crushingly deviating from the norm for you?????"

I get that this is the point, but lmao, Levi's really just saying these things like they're normal. Forget the murder charges, did you get in legal trouble for any of this stuff???

Oh Hope's Peak, always the shadiest people with absolutely terrible priorities. I feel like you could tell me Hope's Peak did, like, literally anything morally dubious in a fangan and I'd be like, "yeah, checks."

Shoutout to this anon for slam dunking it! The phrasing Levi used in the other scene makes more sense to me now that we know how Levi feels about all of this. The dialogue didn't imply any different feelings to Levi's father than the other members of his family because the fact that Levi killed him means, like, nothing to him.

Still, I wonder what actually prompted Levi killing his dad. Like, I feel like he must've been provoked, at least. Hopefully we'll learn why someday.

This episode had more of J being more vocally anti-murder than most. I still don't know if that's just because she's one of few characters who's both loud and has morals, or if it ties into some specific aspect of her character.

"I can't forget about the fact that Felicity died because of me under any circumstances ever!"

I hope Arturo and Levi talk more about their secrets in depth at some point. Totally get why they're opposites on the narrative foils thing.

"I mean, we all know why I tried to kill Ace."

Unlike Arei lmao /j /lh

(To be honest, though, I think David at minimum is upset about Arei dying though. More on that later. Eden too, possibly even if she did kill her.)

This is such an interesting thing to learn as a Levi accomplice theory truther. 'Cause like, on the one hand, it makes it more believable that Levi would do some thing that wild; if the other people don't really matter, it's easier to justify killing all of them. But, at the same time, if he doesn't care about Eden, either, why the hell is he helping her?

I'm gonna need to rewatch this episode once I know who this Trial's culprit is, because I am incapable of reading the Levi/Eden interactions as anything BUT horribly suspicious.

(Also, god, the good person jumpscare counter this episode was wilding.)

Nice to get a confirmation that Levi is still trying to be a good person, even if he doesn't understand what that means.

Wow. Didn't realize Ace was gonna throw some emotional vulnerability (???) into his fuck you Levi speech. Or that he actually genuinely believed they had more of a connection than he let on! Like I said to Accirax, he's such a tsundere that I didn't even realize he was a tsundere.

me believing you

*squints in Ace is canonically gay*

I hope we'll get to learn more about this guy at some point. I'd expect we will, if nothing else in the bonus episode that correlates with Ace's death (or in the main story, if he lives long enough to be a survivor). "His memory" definitely makes it sound like he's dead, though. Sad.

Shoutout to the AceVi shippers, though. This episode must've been a WILD ride for you.

Thanks for clarifying, Veronika! It's nice to have a character who likes to psychoanalyze the cast so that the writer can basically use her to clarify what other people are thinking. Useful writing tip.

This does provide some interesting context to that early scene where Arei manipulates and kinda makes fun of Levi, though. He really could've just decked her ass if he wanted to.

Oh my god. Has no one actually said that David isn't behaving like a good person anymore? Is Levi still following David's example???

If so, it's a really good example of how little Levi understands about other people. Like, damn. You can't even tell with David??

To be fair, maybe all the stuff about ending the killing game confused him. Teruko and David are arguing about whether or not Xander was a good person. If everyone else can't even decide, how is Levi supposed to know?

Ban her? I'm not a forum moderator, dude. Also, I hardly even know her.

(Idk if that was meant to be a reference or not but. Whit brainrot go brrrrr)

Thanks for the confirmation, queen!

okay I'm Running Out of Images so from here on out I'm including stuff as indented text and only doing pictures when I think the picture itself is relevant

Veronika: After all, my own so-called secret isn't even the worst thing I've done. Isn't that so utterly disappointing of the motive?

What have you done. Tell me.

I do wonder if this is somehow character commentary on Veronika. Like, let's say Veronika has also murdered somebody or something. Would this imply that this is something she'd be more concerned with others knowing, possibly because it's more personal?

I'm not really sure. It could just be that Veronika doesn't really have any secret she fears at all, so they were at kind of a loss.

David: Achoo! Ah-- Bless me!

what is he so funny for

David: Teruko. Own up to your goddamn secret already. You are the last person to do so.

I so think David knows Teruko's real secret. Like, there's no way.

Interestingly, though, I read Teruko's hesitation towards answering David as her trying to figure out which secret belongs to Min. It's easier for everyone involved if Teruko and Xander's are backwards rather than it being a triangle scenario.

Yay!!! Even if I still think it's partially wrong!

Eden: W... wait! Before we move on! I have to know. David... What happened between you and Arei?

I'm still inclined to read this as Eden having not believed Arei back when she declared she wanted to be friends. Eden is still trying to get at the truth of the matter, because she can't just have killed Arei without knowing how badly she fucked up.

There's definitely still an innocent reading out there, too, though.

Arei: If even a perfect inspirational speaker like you turns out to be an asshole, then there's no such thing as a "good person."

This was a really interesting direction to take this conversation, for both Arei and David's characters. It's true that they both lie about their personality often to get their way; Arei's lie is just WAY easier to see through. It makes sense that it's something they could bond over.

However, the INSANE thing is that this means that David probably actually cares about Arei. Like, to a meaningful extent. Maybe it's just the Kazui vibes, but I feel like if anyone actually understands David enough to see through him, that would be really impactful to him.

Also, the vibes on this scene were wild. The Arvid (????????) shippers sure could have a field day with this one.

But, of course, we can't forget:

...WHAT????

Okay, so first of all, I have no idea if David actually knows/remembers this or if it's just meant for the audience. But, either way, this thing is crazy.

The first thing I noticed was definitely the fork; is that the same fork that we see in the opening sequence?? The one commonly thought to be of when Xander lost his eye?

I know there's some LGI stuff with the fork too, but I'm not going to dive into that right now. I think Accirax is touching on this more strongly in hers.

The other thing is, I have NO idea what this says about Eden culprit theory. I definitely still think it's possible that this is a level of lore that's gonna follow Eden to her death and give her a reason to haunt the narrative, but this could also be something that we're going to explore later.

The main reason why I think this could lead into her death is because as far as we know, Eden doesn't remember anything included in this flashback. If Eden doesn't know about the lore, it's sort of weird if we, the audience, have this vague piece of knowledge about her that she doesn't. It's not a death sentence or anything, but I think it could still be in line.

I'll leave the speculation as to what exactly this means for another post/another theorist. Right now, my guess is that there might've been some kind of other killing game with this class before, or something. But, I'm DEFINITELY both alarmed and intrigued.

Arei: Even she must've made a mistake she couldn't take back.

The inclusion of "mistake" in this section is really interesting to me. Is that referring to whatever we see here? Was it a mistake she later came to regret?

Or, I also think this could actually be a reference to Arei. Not the image itself, but the mistake. If Eden genuinely believed Arei wouldn't change and killed her, only to realize Arei was being sincere, that's a mistake she couldn't take back.

I wonder if this is going to be Arei's last voice line (in the main series, I'd expect she'll talk in the bonus episodes).

If so, I think it's a nice way to end her character arc. Not only is she trying to be friends with Eden to be better, she's also able to reach out to someone like her and help them, too.

David: ...Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I didn't say anything to her, and she didn't have much to say to me either.

This was CRAZY. I was expecting we were all gonna have to play the "to what extent is David lying" game again, but instead, it seems like it all MUST'VE been real, because it came straight from his mind because he didn't even say it!!

It's funny to me that he says he didn't say anything to her, because from what we saw, that was... accurate, maybe?? Was David really just standing there bluescreening that entire time? Like, man loves his elipses, but goddamn, don't leave her hanging! /j /ref

It's also interesting that David is keeping this from the class, and more specifically, from Eden, who Arei clearly liked. Is it because the moment is personal, and he doesn't want to share it? Or, does he have suspicions about who her killer might be or how to catch him that would interfere with him sharing?

Anyways. Wild.

David: One hundred and one percent, I promise. Ace overheard everything, and what he told you all was the entire truth. Does that satisfy you?

I wonder if Ace stopped listening for real, or if there's a chance he heard all of this. If so, I wonder why he's not calling David out. Is he still coping too hard over the Levi thing?

Whit: Dang, we really got hung up on those secrets, didn't we? I thought you all would be on those for years. MonoTV: Years indeed. Some people had to wait one year and five months for you to get this far.

I KNEW MonoTV and/or Whit would make a joke about the time gap! Hope that one doesn't get lost in translation for the people who join the fandom after the hiatus, lol.

Teruko: They filled those jugs up with water and used them to increase Arei's weight.

Oh hell yeah.

Veronika: I'm not an expert, of course, but my intuition tells me that jumping off the top of the swing set isn't enough to break Arei's neck.

Whit: The way hanging normally works is that the victim is put in a noose with enough slack in the rope that they're unharmed. It's only when the victim falls from a high location to a low location that the rope becomes tight, and the noose strangles them.

Very interesting to have Veronika call attention to the fact that she's not an expert shortly before Whit goes into a long explanation of the mechanics of hanging, including with bolded words for emphasis/added ethos. I definitely think we're supposed to notice that he knows this for... some reason.

I know Accirax's theory is that Whit's mom might have hung herself, which is... dark, if true. Like, that means that after the fact, Whit probably hyper-researched how hanging works. Yikes.

Also, I honestly didn't get why people were saying Whit was so sus before the hiatus, but I feel like it's been cranked up afterwards??? Whit are you the mastermind I thought you were chill??????

Whit: It's not like you can grab the rope when she's falling to stop it at the right time. If she's moving at a speed fast enough to snap her neck, I'm sure trying to stop it would shred your hands.

Caught between "yeah that's why they used the stopper rope" and "IS THE USING THE GLOVE TO STOP THE THING STILL REAL???"

YEAHHHHH

Tape truthers rise up!

Teruko joins the murder diagram contingent!!!

Incredibly real though. You simply can't figure out what the hell happens in this thing and how it works without being able to See It.

Teruko: Now that we've actually discussed the mechanism of murder, I realize that I've seen this murder method before. Eden: You have? Teruko: That's right. And so have you.

Funny you remind us of that, Teruko.

YES! GYM MURDER METHOD ANSWERS! PLEASE TELL US WHAT HAPPENED THERE!

Wow. What an episode. We truly learned so much.

Theory Update/Analysis

Okay, so I already yapped about most of the character stuff for a while in here. Similarly, I don't think all too much changed for my murder theory.

I'm still tentatively on Levi accomplice, but firmly on Eden culprit. The way I see this going is towards a Nico bait that goes nowhere because they have an alibi, then eventually causing the class to realize the culprit has to be one of the people who saw Nico's original murder method (who doesn't have an alibi)-- Eden, Ace or Teruko.

From there, they can discuss the Arei murder method more thoroughly, eventually circling back to the fish. That confuses the time of death more than anything.

Eventually, the tape can be the damning evidence. Or that could happen before the fish, not sure.

In summary, I liked this episode a lot! It's exciting that we're finally starting to get answers to the murder method that we all went so insane over.

This was. A short theory update section. If you have any questions please feel free to send in an ask! I like talking to people :)

[cylidae]

Peter Didn’t Actually Stab Edward (Divergent)

I know what you're thinking. Either "The books say he stabbed Edward, you dumbass," or "Nobody cares about this," or even "Who the fuck are Peter and Edward?" These are all valid responses, but they are also all wrong. If you want to hear me excuse one of Peter's worst actions because I love him, keep on reading! I've put too much thought into this.

Prefacing all of this by saying I do not excuse Peter’s actions as a whole. He is my favorite fictional character of all time, but he has done some unforgivable things that aren’t debatable either in morality or whether they happened. This is mostly for fun. I know what the narrative intent was, but the book leaves it open to interpretation, whether intentional or not.

I suppose the title is a bit clickbaity. It’s more “It isn’t proven that Peter stabbed Edward and when you think about it, it doesn’t make a ton of sense in some regards,” but that’s not as fun.

BIAS IN THE TEXT:

The first thing that we need to address in any discussion of the Divergent series is that, whether intentional or not, Tris seems to be a mildly unreliable narrator. Not to the extreme extent where we can't trust what events happen and how they happen, but we can't always trust her people reading skills. For example, let's look at something obvious. Her perception of people's appearances.

Here is Tris' description of Christina, her best friend.

“She is tall, with dark from skin and short hair. Pretty.”

Here is Tris' description of Will, another friend.

“He is blond, with shaggy hair and a crease between his eyebrows.”

Here is how she describes Four, her love interest.

“He has a spare upper lip and a full lower lip. His eyes are so deep-set that his eyelashes touch the skin under his eyebrows, and they are dark blue, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting color.”

And Caleb, her older brother.

“He has my father’s dark hair and hooked nose and my mother’s green eyes and dimpled cheeks. When he was younger, that collection of features looked strange, but now it suits him. If he wasn’t Abnegation, I’m sure the girls at school would stare at him.”

In contrast, here is how she describes Molly, a rival.

“Molly is tall like Christina, but that’s where the similarities end. She has broad shoulders, bronze skin, and a bulbous nose.”

And in a separate instance:

“She has a large nose and crooked teeth.”

And Drew, another rival.

“Drew is shorter than both Peter and Molly, but he’s built like a boulder, and his shoulders are always hunched. His hair is orange-red, the color of an old carrot.”

And how she describes Eric, the "evil" initiation instructor.

“His face is pierced in so many places I lose count, and his hair is long, dark, and greasy. But that isn’t what makes him look menacing. It is the coldness of his eyes as they sweep across the room.”

Even Peter, who is generally regarded as objectively attractive by Tris gets descriptors like this incredibly often:

“…he hisses, his face so close to mine I can smell his stale breath.”

While in terms of real life, I believe the explanation here is simple (Veronica Roth, the author, has subconscious biases) in the book's universe, these biases become Tris'. Those she dislikes are immediately deemed unattractive and described with generally negative phrases like "stale," "the color of an old carrot," "greasy," and "bulbous," while those that she's fond of are described positively with words like "A dreaming, sleeping, waiting color," (whatever that means) "pretty," and "dimpled." This attitude is even lightly referenced in Allegiant:

“Peter leans against the wall and laces his fingers over his stomach. ‘I’m just saying, if she decides someone is worthless, everyone else follows suit. That’s a strange talent, for someone who used to be just another boring Stiff, isn’t it? And maybe too much power for one person to have, right?”

This is not to say that Tris is wrong to have these biases, of course. People's actions and personalities do affect attraction. However, when discussing anything that takes place from Tris' perspective, her biases affect how events are read. These biases need to be kept in mind in cases like this.

And you could argue that maybe Molly, Drew, and Eric are ugly and Four, Christina, and Will are not. You're certainly entitled to that belief, of course, but it seems a bit coincidental that everybody Tris likes is described with positive physical attributes while those that she dislikes are not. For example, "the color of a old carrot." Well, let's look at some stale carrots, shall we?

There's no way the books mean to imply that Drew has spotted hair. Could it be the browning part? No, because his hair is described as orange-red, and that's dark brown. So it'd just be the color of the body of the carrot, right? But... wait.

That part's the exact same color as a normal carrot. So, essentially what Tris has done here is add the word "old" to her description of Drew's hair color despite that not actually changing anything. It makes it sound more negative than his hair just being the color of a carrot, so an old carrot it is. It doesn't have to make sense as long as it demonizes those she dislikes.

If you think I'm reading too much into this, you may be right. I've certainly never thought this much about carrots in my life. Obviously, the author just didn't know what an old carrot looks like. But mistakes on the author's part do affect Tris and how she's perceived as a character, and whether intentional or not, these biased descriptions occur quite often.

LACK OF CONFIRMATION:

With all of that said, let me drop what may be a shock. The books never confirm that Peter stabbed Edward. Tris and her friends assume that this is what happened, but Edward didn't see who stabbed him. Peter never confesses to being the one to stab him. There is never actually any evidence that it was Peter that hurt Edward besides "Tris doesn't like Peter, therefore it was Peter." In addition to this, if we actually look at textual evidence, it suggests that Peter is not the most likely candidate for the attack on Edward.

Let me start by just putting the entirety of the scene where Edward gets stabbed right here. I'll be going back to it a lot (obviously) so I need it as a point of reference.

“And then a wail that curdles my blood and makes my hair stand on end. I throw the blankets back and stand on the stone floor with bare feet. I still can’t see well enough to find the source of the scream, but I see a dark lump on the floor a few bunks down. Another scream pierces my ears.

‘Turn on the lights!’ Someone shouts.

I walk towards the sound, slowly so I don’t trip over anything. I feel like I’m in a trace. I don’t want to see where the screaming is coming from. A scream like that can only mean blood and pain; that scream that comes from the pit of the stomach and extends to every inch of the body.

The lights come on.

Edward lies on the floor next to his bed, clutching at his face. Surrounding his head is a halo of blood, and jutting between his clawing fingers is a silver knife handle. My heart thumping in my ears, I recognize it as a butter knife from the dining hall. Myra, who stands at Edward’s feet, screams. Someone else screams too, and someone yells for help, and Edward is still on the floor, writhing and wailing. I crouch my his head, my knees pressing to the pool of blood and put my hands on his shoulders.

‘Lie still,’ I say. I feel calm, though I can’t hear anything, like my head is submerged in water. Edward thrashes again, and I say it louder, sterner. ‘I said lie still. Breathe.’

‘My eye!’ he screams.

I smell something foul. Someone vomited.

‘Take it out!’ he yells. ‘Get it out, get it out of me, get it out!’

I shake my head, then realize that he can’t see me. A laugh bubbles in my stomach. Hysterical. I have to suppress hysteria if I’m going to help him. I have to forget myself.

‘No,’ I say. ‘You have to let the doctor take it out. Hear me? Let the doctor take it out. And breathe.’

‘It hurts,’ he sobs.

‘I know it does.’ Instead of my voice I hear my mother’s voice. I see her crouching before me on the sidewalk in front of our house, brushing tears from my face after I scraped my knee. I was five at the time.

‘It will be all right.’ I try to sound from, like I’m not idly reassuring him, but I am. I don’t know if it will be alright. I suspect that it won’t.’

When the nurse arrives, she tells me to step back, and I do. My hands and knees are soaked with blood. When I look around, I see only two faces are missing.

Drew.

And Peter.”

Here we get to see Tris' biases in action. Peter's absence is immediately given more credit than Drew's. Don't believe me? Here.

“As I reach for the door handle, Christina says, ‘You know who did that, right?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Should we tell someone?’

‘You really think the Dauntless will do anything?’ I say. ‘After they hung you over the chasm? After they made us beat each other unconscious?’

She doesn’t say anything.”

They don't directly state Peter's name here, but the assumption is, for the rest of the series, that Peter stabbed Edward. Here are some quotes that make it clear that this is what every character we see believes:

“‘I’m the one who’s threatening you,’ Shauna says, almost in a growl. ‘One more violent outburst and I’m going to teach you a lesson about justice.’ She holds the knife point over his eye, and brings it down slowly, pressing the point to his eyelid. Peter freezes, barely moving even to breathe. ‘An eye for an eye. A bruise for a bruise.’”

(The notable quote here is "An eye for an eye" paired with the mention of justice. It is clearly not being used as an expression here.)

Before you dare tell me that Peter didn't deny it here, he had a knife to his face. And I quote, "Barely moving even to breathe." You really think he's going to say "Well actually, I never stabbed anybody's eye out." No. Absolutely not. He might if that's what he was being confronted for, but he was in trouble for trying to kill Tris, not stabbing Edward.

“I don’t want to cry for Edward—at least not in the deep, personal way that you cry for a friend or a loved one. I want to cry because something terrible happened, and I saw it, and I could not see a way to mend it. No one who would want to punish Peter has the authority to, and no one who has the authority to punish him would want to.”

Here is another quote where punishing Peter is directly tied to the attack on Edward, clearly implying that Peter would be punished for the attack. Note that Drew, the other initiate missing that night, was not brought up at all.

“I should be pleased that I’m ranked first, but I know what that means. If Peter and his friends hated me before, they will despise me now. I I am Edward. It could be my eye next. Or worse.”

Here is yet another where Tris assumes Peter will stab her eye out like he did Edward's, despite being completely unable to prove it was Peter who did that.

“‘Yeah, and Peter is all about what’s fair. That’s why he grabbed Edward in his sleep and stabbed him in the eye.’ Christina snorts and shakes her head.”

Here is a quote from Christina (a very biased person considering Christina has directly stated her hatred for Peter and Co here:

“‘Those three’—Christina points and Peter, Drew, and Molly in turn—‘have been inseparable since they crawled out the womb, practically. I hate them.’”

Why would we trust Christina's opinion to be any less biased against Peter than anybody else?

“Peter sinks to his knees. His face glistens with sweat. For a second I almost feel bad for him, but then I remember Edward, and the itch of fabric over my eyes as my attackers blindfolded me, and my sympathy is lost to hatred. Caleb eventually nods.”

This quote is especially upsetting to me because it's the deciding factor in whether or not Tris feels any sympathy toward Peter. She's convinced herself that he's done something he hasn't. This teenager who is shown later to be incredibly mentally troubled, could have been shown some degree of mercy. He may have gotten that one chance to change that he's wanted for the entire series. But because of an action that nobody has anything but speculation on, he is not given that chance. He is seen as "undeserving."

THE LOGISTICS:

So far I've done a lot of complaining about Tris as the narrator, but I haven't presented anything that actually challenges her assumption. Well, strap in, because there is a lot.

Starting with the most basic and unconvincing piece of evidence, here is a quote from Will the morning after the eye-stabbing incident. Tris and co actually went out that night because they didn't have anything to do the following day.

“‘This is going to sound weird,’ Will says, ‘but I wish we didn’t have the day off today.’”

How unreasonable is it, then, to suggest Peter was also out doing something? Tris never notes him to be in the room after she gets back from hanging out with her friends, and the stabbing seemingly occurs not long after she returns. Why is it so ridiculous, then, to think that the reason Peter may have been off somewhere was because he stayed out just a little bit later than Tris? Why is he given this uncharitable assumption for doing the exact same thing as our protagonist? What if Tris had come back to the dorms a little bit later instead? Then would she be the one assumed to stab him? Of course not, because this isn't actually about who's in the room. Tris hates Peter and wants him to be evil, therefore he is evil. Evidence doesn't matter to her, because she is only seeking information that furthers her own hatred.

More importantly, the narrative has repeatedly made one very important thing clear. Peter is not stupid. He’s able to manipulate Al into betraying his friend. He comes up with a rather complex plan to save Tris in book 2 and carries it out successfully. Peter is established to have quite a few negative traits, but being stupid just isn’t one of them. So why then, would an intelligent person carry out this crime the way that he did?

The initiates have access to real, sharpened knives. Ones good enough that only Al failed to hit the target and have the knife stick.

“A half hour later, Al is the only initiate who hasn’t hit the target yet.”

So why then would Peter choose to use a butter knife? If you've ever used a butter knife, you know that they don't stab very well. Peter, as somebody with knife experience, would know this. he would be able to get an actual knife. a butter knife may take multiple tries to actually stick. This would leave more opportunity for Edward to wake up and see who stabbed him before they could make their escape. While whoever did stab him got lucky in this regard, somebody experienced with knives and described repeatedly as intelligent wouldn't make this mistake.

Even more damning, the knife is still in Edward's eye when he's found. Pulling the knife back out wouldn't add any time at all to the process and would increase how much it injured him greatly. that leaves us with two options. Peter, somebody who is known to be incredibly clever, just forgot what he would have to do to make a stab wound bleed the most, or Peter showed mercy and specifically didnt want Edward to die from this. the first answer is unreasonable and doesnt line up with characterization shown previously and the second answer actively makes Peter into a better person, which is clearly not the intention of this event.

The book is also definitely aware of the fact that pulling it out would worsen the injury, as evidenced by Tris telling Al the doctor had to be the one to remove it.

“‘No,’ I say. ‘You have to let the doctor take it out. Hear me? Let the doctor take it out. And breathe.’”

I also find it very odd that Peter and Drew are both noted as missing and it’s implied they did it together. What, did they hold hands and stab on the count of three? This is not a two person job. Having another person honestly just makes it much more likely you’ll get caught, because that’s another person you have to get out of the room before the lights turn on. I can’t think of a single benefit to having Drew help, but I can think of plenty of downsides to it. It seems more likely that neither were involved than both of them were.

Lastly in the “Peter is not stupid” argument, why would he leave the room after stabbing him? This is instantly seen as a sign of guilt from the others, and Peter would know that running off after doing this was a bad idea. What if somebody turned the lights off and saw him running? Instantly caught. And him just being the only one missing from the crime scene is seen as very suspicious. (I do think that’s rather stupid. Since when is not being at the scene of the crime something that makes you guilty? But I digress, because it does within the narrative so that’s what we’re going with.)

To contribute to the bias argument and counter more evidence the book presents, Peter being pleased with second place is also treated as proof of guilt. Why? Tris and her friends were excited about her sixth place ranking. Peter has every reason to be pleased with how high he ranked, especially considering that Eric, who ranked second two years ago, is now the youngest faction leader. its a good ranking and one he has reason to be proud of. This "Peter could never be satisfied with second place" sentiment is something that Tris has invented about him. she uses this to justify everything he does, but in addition to him showing no signs of being upset with second place:

“Peter didn’t say anything when the rankings went up, which, given his tendency to complain about anything that doesn’t go his way, is surprising. He just walks to his bunk and sits down, untying his shoelaces. That makes me feel even more uneasy. He can’t possibly be satisfied with second place. Not Peter.”

He also confesses to hurting people because he enjoys it.

“‘I’m sick of doing bad things then liking it and wondering what’s wrong with me.’”

He enjoys doing bad things. he likes hurting people. The only other instance of him doing something that could be percieved as for his rankings was his attempt on Tris's life. You mean to tell me that this man who we know hated Tris from the moment they met couldnt have done this for any other reason? We dont know why he despised Tris so much (and I’m trying to stay away from my personal headcanons here) but that targeted bullying started long before she beat him in the rankings. This is his first interaction with Tris:

“‘Ooh. Scandalous! A Stiff’s flashing some skin!’

I lift my head. ‘Stiff’ is slang for Abnegation, and I’m the only one here. Peter points at me, smirking. I hear laughter.”

Peter hated Tris when she was last place and hated her when she was first place. We cant pin his attempt to kill her on only her beating him in the rankings when he physically harmed her prior (no pun intended) to that.

Anyways, "what about the quote where he's mad tris outranked him," asks nobody because nobody else scans every line of this book to prove Peter’s innocence.

“‘I will not be outranked by a stiff,’ he hisses, his face so close to mine I can smell his stale breath. ‘How did you do it, huh? How the hell did you do it?’”

“I will not be outranked by a stiff." he's not upset about being outranked, but seemingly upset at being outranked by somebody from Abnegation. Erudites, on the other hand, he seems to have some level of respect for. he joins them in book two and seems to at least midly agree with their ideals. his hostility towards Tris is due to her faction, but Edward, being an Erudite, gives Peter no reason to be hostile in that regard.

ALTERNATIVES:

“So,” I hear the strawman asking because nobody has read this far. “If Peter didn’t stab Edward, who did?” Well, I’ll be the first to say I don’t really know. I feel that Peter being the one to do this goes against his character, isn’t proven, and doesn’t really make logical sense, but I’ll be the first to admit that the author almost certainly intended for him to be the one to do it. But since we’ve already come this far, why not explore some alternatives? For the purpose of this question, I’ll only be including the Dauntless transfer initiates and their two intructors at the time. Them, Eric, and Four are the only people with any investment in Edward that we’re aware of as readers. Some of these are obviously more ridiculous than others. I’ll rank them in order of least to most likely.

10. Tris

I don’t think I even need to explain why this is downright impossible. We read from her perspective. What Tris knows, the reader knows. If she stabbed him, the reader would know. That’s not even bringing up how distressed she is when he gets stabbed and how wildly out of character this would be.

9. Four

Four is also pretty much impossible, because we hear from his perspective in the third book. During one of his conversations with Peter in that book, I think it’s impossible he wouldn’t have thought of what he did at least once throughout that book if he was the one to do it. Not to mention that, like Tris, this is laughably out of character for him.

8. Christina

This, like the other two, is just out of character in every way. She seems genuinely angry at Peter for doing this, and I just can’t get behind the idea she would be the one to stab Edward instead. The only possible theory I could come up with here is that she wanted to frame Peter because of her hatred for him, but that doesn’t even come close to being convincing.

7. Eric

I’m not sure if anybody will be surprised that I put Eric so low on the list compared to some other much less evil characters. While Eric is definitely awful, he’s the neglectful kind of awful. He refuses to take action against the initiates. He says this to Four after Tris was nearly killed.

“‘Competitive environments create tension, Four. It’s natural for that tension to be released somehow.’ He smiles a little, stretching the skin between his piercings. ‘An attack would certainly show us, in a real-world situation, who the strong and weak ones are, don’t you think? We wouldn’t have to rely on the test results at all, that way. We could make a more informed decision about who doesn’t belong here. That is… if an attack were to happen.’”

But he doesn’t show any bias and doesn’t seem to care about who wins at all. He does dislike Tris, seemingly due to this world’s version of xenophobia, but he doesn’t have anything against Edward that we’ve seen. I can’t find motivation here whatsoever.

6. Will

Yeah, it’s taking us a bit to get into the actually viable theories, huh? Will is shown to be a caring person, if a bit logic driven at times. He tries to avoid conflict, even with people he doesn’t like, such as Molly.

“She lunges at me, her hands outstretched, but she doesn’t get far. Will grabs her collar and pulls her back. He looks from me to her and says, ‘Quit it. Both of you.’”

He isn’t shown to have any relationship, negative or positive, with Edward, and seems sickened the next day, saying he almost wishes they didn’t have the day off. We could maybe twist this into a sign of a guilty conscience if we try hard enough, but it isn’t convincing.

5. Edward

I may have to explain this one being on the list at all, especially since it isn’t even at the bottom. Do I think this is a ridiculous theory? Yes. But we’re going through them all, so. We aren’t necessarily given a reason why Edward would stab himself, but it’s the simple idea that there could be reasons. With most of the previous characters, we would know if they secretly hated Edward. Edward himself, however, is far from a narrative focus. He could have any number of things going on away from the reader’s knowledge.

I will say, I doubt this was a case of secret self hatred. This would be one of the worst attempts at suicide I have ever seen. He didn’t stab himself in a vital area, he used a butter knife despite being from Erudite, and by extension, not stupid, and he chose a ridiculously painful way to go about it. It’s a little more likely that he just wanted a way to leave Dauntless without judgment, but still very implausible.

Not even bringing up the fact that he beats Drew nearly to death for supposedly being involved

“‘That Drew guy, who helped Peter preform that butter-knife maneuver,” Tobias says. “Apparently when he got kicked out of Dauntless, he tried to join the same group of factionless Edward was part of. Notice that you haven’t seen Drew anywhere.’

‘Did Edward kill him?’ I say.

‘Nearly,’ Tobias says.”

Which is the only time Drew is brought up as a part of this incident apart from initially being noted as missing, which is appreciated.

In general, this is a very stupid theory, but it’s still a bit less stupid than the ones below it.

4. Myra

It’s always the partner. I mean, I don’t really think it was in this case, but her being Edward’s partner already gives her some suspicion. We don’t know much at all about her. Shes shown to be bad at most Dauntless things, and implied to have only joined to follow Edward. However, during the knife throwing scene, it is stated that only Al failed, so she isn’t completely helpless.

Edward and Myra could have any number of things going on that we would never know about because the narrative doesn’t focus on their relationship to any extent.

She seems more likely for the theory of “wanted to leave Dauntless without judgement” too. She didn’t have to get hurt this way, and would be seen as a good person for following her boyfriend.

This is compounded by the fact that she breaks up with him pretty soon after. Edward says that it’s because he got violent because of his anger about being stabbed, but who knows?

Pretty silly theory, considering Myra is shown to be kind in the few glimpses of her we see, but this is the first one on the list that has any merit to it in my eyes.

3. Al

This is not one I planned on putting this high at first, but after thinking about it, I can kind of buy into this one. Al is shown to get more and more desperate about rankings the longer the book goes on. During section two of initiation, he goes as far as to attempt to murder (or if he’s to be believed) scare Tris. (More like traumatize, but I digress.) If he’s willing to so horribly betray Tris, one of his closest friends, what’s to say he wouldn’t harm somebody who wasn’t close to him at all?

The rankings were just posted. Al is dead last and Edward is first. No matter who he attacks, Al gets bumped up a spot. The lower on the list he attacks, the smaller the range of suspects gets. If he goes for whoever was directly above him, he’s automatically the prime suspect. Two places above him, then him and the other person are the only suspects, so on and so forth. Aiming for the top makes it so that anybody could be a suspect.

Plus, getting rid of Edward specifically also got rid of Myra. Al couldn’t have known for sure this would happen (unless he asked Myra about it off screen) but it’s a pretty safe assumption to make considering how much she didn’t want to be there. If the attackers goal was rankings, which Al’s would be, this would be the best place to strike.

Additionally, this actually helps his character arc to some extent. Rather than him snapping all of a sudden, it’s a gradual decline. Starting with a non-fatal attack on somebody he isn’t close to, then a fatal attack on a close friend.

And in a piece of evidence I forgot about until I reread, Al actually stays in his room the night before, seeming very upset.

“‘We should go celebrate.’

‘Well, let’s go then, then,’ says Christina, grabbing my arm with one hand and Al’s arm with the other. ‘Come on, Al. You don’t know how the Dauntless-borns did. You don’t know anything for sure.’

‘I’m just going to bed,’ he mumbles, pulling his arm free.”

I’m sure this was intended to be him worrying about rankings, but since we can’t see his thoughts, it could be anything. Considering how he reacted to what he did to Tris, it seems guilt shuts him down. This would be a very in character reaction to feeling guilty for what he’s about to do.

Al also seems much more likely to make all the mistakes that Peter wouldn’t. He would use a butter knife considering his shown inexperience with real ones. He would stab the eye rather than a vital part in an attempt not to kill. He wouldn’t pull out the knife (whether because he doesn’t want to hurt Edward more or because he doesn’t know that it would.)

And to top it all off, this does work. Edward and Myra leaving bumps Al up just enough to stay. Considering Al’s reaction when he almost got kicked out of Dauntless the second time, I find it hard to believe he would sit still and rely on luck.

This is the first one that really got me to think. Is it meant to be true? No, definitely not. But could it be? Yes, and there’s actually an odd amount of evidence for it.

2. Drew

This one and number one were really a toss up for me. They’re tied at first place in my mind, and I went back and forth a lot. Seriously. While I was writing this intro paragraph you’re reading right now, I switched the name up there three times.

I ultimately decided to put Drew a bit lower than Molly because of this one quote:

“‘Drew is just his sidekick. I doubt he has an independent thought in his brain.’”

He doesn’t make decisions on his own, at least according to Christina. And since we’re working under the assumption that Peter was not involved in this, that’s automatically a point against him doing it. However, it’s kind of the only point against Drew. He’s a prime suspect.

For one, the obvious. He was also missing from the dorm when Al got stabbed. But unlike Peter, this actually seems very in character for Drew. He’s shown to be very flighty, running when Four approaches them at the chasm (well… starting to run.) He’s also shown to be not very smart, so he may not have put together that this only made him look more suspicious.

Actually, all of the intelligence points I put against it being Peter contribute towards it being Drew. He’s dumb enough to use a butter knife, to not pull it out, to leave the room.

He has motivation too. He gets kicked out of Dauntless later, so he could have been trying to save his own ranking. Due to his intense loyalty to Peter, he also could have been trying to impress/help him.

Drew also antagonized Tris right before this incident.

“Drew shoves me into the wall to get past me.”

Normally an antagonist doing something so small and… antagonistic wouldn’t be anything to write home about, but Drew is an incredibly minor character. He only gets a few lines and actions throughout the series. Most of what we know about him is through the one line Christina says and his choice of friendships. Everything else he does is sort of just saying “yeah, that!” to everything Peter does. However, this is his first time being a solo antagonist. It’s small, yes, but its proximity to the stabbing in the text and the fact it never happened before or since makes it worth including for me.

Theres also the fact that Drew nearly got killed by Edward over this incident. While I don’t believe Edward quite saw what happened (his eye was otherwise occupied) I did think it was worth throwing out there that Edward believed he was responsible to some extent.

1. Molly

Molly is a weird one in this situation. On one hand, she’s shown to be an accomplice to Peter pretty often, but on the other she’s absent from Peter’s two largest crimes (those being the butter knife incident and the chasm incident) At first I assumed Molly wasn’t brought along to the chasm because she’s a girl, and as such wouldn’t be strong enough to carry Tris. Until I remembered that being incredibly buff is one of Molly’s only features. It’s presented negatively/unattractively in the text, but she’s given the nickname “The Tank.” This girl is ripped.

She also was not noted to be missing from the room after Edward’s stabbing. In a way, this makes her more suspicious to me. The book presents three antagonists in this group who work together in every situation up to this point (considering the chasm hasn’t happened yet) and are described by Christina to be inseparable. When one of those three does something different from the other two, especially considering Molly isn’t the leader or focus of the group, it makes me ask some questions.

Her being set apart by the narrative like this has always been really odd to me. Not just in the sense of it being suspicious, but it just not making sense. Shes a much bigger antagonist than Drew. It’s one of Tris’s defining character moments when she beats Molly in a fight. Molly has more lines than Drew does, and does more to directly hurt Tris (more on that later.) She seems to be more than “one of Peter’s lackeys” to some extent, and acts separately from him more often than Drew. That’s what ultimately pushed her to first for me.

And the most clear indication of her acting separately from Peter is the event with the Erudite reporter.

“Peter continues. ‘Molly Atwood, a fellow Dauntless transfer, suggests a disturbing and abusive upbringing might be to blame. ‘I heard her talking in her sleep once,’ Molly says. ‘She was telling her father not to do something. I don’t know what it was, but it gave her nightmares.’’”

So this is Molly’s revenge. She must have talked to the Erudite reporter that Christina yelled at. She smiles.”

(Note that nothing said about Tris’s father here is true. That is why this act upsets Tris so much.)

This is a pretty large moment of bullying done by only Molly. Peter was not shown to be involved in feeding the reporter any information, only reading it out loud to tease Tris. This was all Molly. Drew doesn’t have any moment like this. The book’s repeated effort to set Molly apart from her two friends really feels as if it’s building up to something.

I will cover the only thing hurting this theory quickly before I go into its strengths. Molly is not stupid. The event with the Erudite reporter confirms this. She may not be especially intelligent - we aren’t shown that - but is she stupid enough to use a butter knife? Well, she is rather sadistic. Maybe she wanted to have to stab multiple times for it to stick? Or maybe obtaining a butter knife was less suspicious or easier? Those both seem a little unlikely to me, but that’s kind of the only downside of the Molly theory. Other than that, it makes more sense than Peter in my opinion.

She is shown to be very upset about rankings. Much more than Peter.

“‘What?’ demands Molly. She points at Christina. ‘I beat her! I beat her in minutes, and she’s ranked above me?’”

While Peter gets upset specifically when beaten by Tris, Molly is outraged to be low at all. She only turns her fury to Tris when Eric recommends she “stop losing to low ranking opponents.”

“The words sting a little, reminding me that I am the low-ranked opponent he’s referring to.

Apparently they remind Molly, too.

‘You,’ she says, focusing her narrowed eyes on me. ‘You are going to pay for this.’”

She then promises revenge. This is only a few pages before the stabbing. While her “revenge” is implied to be feeding information to the Erudite reporter, that does nothing to help her rankings. Considering how upset she was about her ranking even before Tris was brought into the picture, it seems likely that she would choose to also seek a way to bump that up, such as taking out the highest ranking initiate.

Molly is shown specifically to be terrified of getting cut towards the very beginning of the book:

“‘What do we do if we’re cut?’ Peter says.

‘You leave the Dauntless compound,’ says Eric indifferently. ‘And live factionless.’”

[Irrelevant reactions omitted]

“‘But that’s… not fair!’ The broad-shouldered Candor girl, Molly, says. Even though she sounds angry, she looks terrified. ‘If we had known—’”

Molly is also specifically singled out by Christina to be sadistic during the scene she describes the trio, saying she’s the type to hold a magnifying glass to ants just to watch them flail.

I see no reason to suspect Peter over Molly aside from Tris’s own biases. She’s just as, if not more, suspicious than Peter once you separate Tris’s monologue from the actual events.

JUSTIFICATION:

Now, switching gears a bit, I hear your cries, strawman. Well, I don’t actually know what you’re arguing specifically, but I’m sure there’s something stupid I said. Let’s say none of that convinced you. You still fully believe that Peter stabbed Edward. But now the question is, would he even be wrong to do that?

This probably sounds like a stupid question to you. Stabbing somebody’s eye out over rankings is a very wrong thing to do. But you’re forgetting one tiny detail, because I’m the only one who reads these books with a wordsearch on Peter’s name. It wasn’t over rankings.

This isn’t me shoving my theories in either! Edward directly states himself that it was not because of rankings:

“‘I seem to recall hearing rumors that you provoked that attack,’ says Tobias.

‘What are you talking about?’ I say. ‘He was winning, that’s all, and Peter was jealous so he just…’

I see the smirk on Edward’s face and stop talking. Maybe I don’t know everything about what happened during initiation.

‘There was an inciting incident,’ says Edward. ‘In which Peter did not come out the victor. But it certainly didn’t warrant a butter knife to the eye.’”

And Four was aware of this before Edward said anything. At first when I read this quote, I assumed it implied something stupid. Like they got into a fight or the like. But then I thought about it a little harder.

In Dauntless, it is not only socially acceptable, but socially encouraged to beat the shit out of each other. If it were just a fight, Four wouldn’t have been informed of this. Whats more, there isn’t a single place in the book that mentions Peter having a suspicious injury. For it to be worth stabbing an eye out for Peter, I’d imagine it’d have to be pretty serious. Something that either doesn’t leave a visible injury/limp/etc or an injury that is so minor Tris doesn’t see it as worth mentioning? Even if that would upset Peter enough, I doubt Edward would attribute something so small to why he got stabbed. If it was a small altercation like this, Edward would believe it was due to the rankings like everybody else.

And again, Four was informed of this. We don’t know who told him, so let’s go through a few options. Only the most likely ones for times sake.

PETER:

This seems most likely at first, but Peter is a proud person. He’s willing to manipulate to get his way, sure, but he would never go to Four just to admit to losing a fight. For him to tell Four, it would have to be serious.

EDWARD:

For Edward to feel the need to inform his training instructor, it would again have to be very serious. He doesn’t like Peter. If it was survivable (which I’m assuming it would be based on Peter’s lack of visible injuries or limp) he wouldn’t tell.

FOUR WALKED IN:

The last option that feels reasonable enough to explore is that Four walked in on something. Four attributes the stabbing to this event, not the rankings. Therefore, it’d have to be something so obviously bad at first glance that Four immediately knew that’s why Peter stabbed Edward.

I’m not going to waste time trying to establish what this thing Edward did was. There are far too many missing variables for me to even begin to guess. Anything I say beyond this point would leave the realm of theory and be pure headcanon with no basis in the books. I just want to make it known that something that seems pretty severe did go down, so even if Peter did stab Edward, he may have a better reason for it than we thought.

CONCLUSION:

I am not the author of these books, and will never know the narrative intent. I can make educated guesses (the intent was almost definitely for Peter to have stabbed Edward), but I can’t know for sure. These events are never touched back upon or explained further, so what I know here is really all there is to go off of.

That being said, I hope I made you think about this event a little bit differently, and consider the possibility that Peter maybe didn’t do this one thing. He still did all the other stuff though so it’s pretty irrelevant. But I had fun!

[adleryoung]

Let's take a look at some of your questions.

Do you really believe what you say or is it all an act? Also some rubbish about classism and the decline of the elves.

Elves do not lie. I'm not entirely sure what you're implying with the rest of your comment, but it is an established historical fact that too much associating with lowfolk is bad for our health. Staying aloof is the way to prosper.

Was he dabbing?

I have no idea what that means.

While Zandar was sleeping, did you ever use that magic bowl trick to see into her mind?

Fuma have mercy! That never even occurred to me. You lowfolk are truly devious … and yet some of you have the nerve to insinuate that I am Unseelie! Clearly a case of one of your many cognitive defects, the one called … what is it … projection? I think that's it.

Did you turn a low folk child into stew and feed them to Zandar? how did you come up with the "your original biological kid is missing, sent to lowfolk family, and yes, you did ask what did I do with the original lowfolk babe, so hey I made stew!" explanation?

Ah yes, I knew it was only a matter of time before this came up.

The short answer is, we are Royalty, and elvish royalty do not raise their own children! Additionally I came to trust Zandar less and less the more I learned about her. I couldn't let HER raise my child! She wanted to call the baby "Wulfrida," for Fuma's sake! That clearly indicates complete unfitness to be a parent. Furthermore: You can mock my intellectual ability all you like, but at least I had the sense to know that I was ill-equipped (not to mention too busy) to tend to the newborn princess myself.

Like, do you think you could have phrased it better, given how you presented yourself? Magical gate, fields strewn with skeletons, dead city, skeletal king on his dusty throne! You've clearly showed yourself as a great conqueror and killer of elves, wielder of terrible powers! To someone like her, wouldn't that paint you as someone who'd have no qualms making glazed ham out of random lowfolk and elf alike? Do you think this whole gig kinda, like, backfired a bit?

All of that should have charmed and impressed her! I admit it was my fault for failing to take into account the fact that Zandar was a complete stranger to elvish culture and knew nothing of our ways.

Also what herbs and vegetables do you use in your stews and what do you use as a thickener if you use any?

It requires a magickal spice called "paprika" which I believe is only available in Faerie. I don't want to give away too many secrets, because this information in the wrong hands could wreak havoc on your world … but I will whisper two words that will make sense to the initiated: SASSAFRAS FILE.

Now then, to properly explain what happened to the princess and her lowfolk swapling, I have to backtrack and set the stage.

Zandar and I had venery together, and I persuaded her to crown me. I was then able to issue a Royal Proclamation which lifted the geas confining me to Albric Tor, and also (reluctantly) honored the bargain I had made with Dr. Owter Cesawonki (aka Ash Marten.)

After a while Zandar became pregnant. I cared for her as best I could, even calling upon Barkingthwaite and Venatrix and my Ixie network to procure some of the more exotic foods Zandar craved as her gestation progressed.

Zandar was unfortunately addicted to the pernicious lowfolk habit of SLEEPING several hours per day. I joined her a few times, but ultimately I felt I was simply enabling her dependency. Perhaps during some of these naps, I should have used Estvan's water-bowl trick to spy on her dreams, but in retrospect it's probably best that I didn't.

More importantly, I could not stand wasting time lazing about when there was a world to explore! I hadn't seen anything beyond my stone circle and the battlefield in AGES, so every time Zandar snoozed, I was out wandering with a few of my Ixies, seeing sights and making connections. That's how I tracked down the O'Dor family that Vernier had married into so long ago. I also located the Persoc Tor Gate surprisingly close by (it's much farther in Faerie) and managed to get back in touch with Burnside and Rebecca.

But my goodness! Look at the time! That's enough for now, and I'll resume the tale when we meet again, next week. May Fuma guide your steps and protect you from owls until then!

[shootingstars-or-airplanes]

Book Review: Infinity Alchemist

I've decided I'm going to start reviewing books on here. Mostly because I like to get my thoughts down when I finish a book but also partly because it's my blog and nobody can tell me no. So here's my first one on the first book I finished this year: Infinity Alchemist my Kacen Callender.

Ok so the first part of my review is gonna be my overall thoughts, a TL;DR, and the rating out of 5 stars, and then under the cut will be some more detailed comments that contain spoilers. Ok? Cool! Let's go!

So I initially picked this book up because it has a cool cover (yes I judge books by their covers. That is literally how I choose 90% of the books I'm gonna read.) and the design was interesting but I was really intrigued looking at the summary that it was a YA fantasy featuring an entirely queer POC main cast. You really don't see that nearly often enough so I jumped on it.

Pros: - The worldbuilding is really cool. There were a few parts where I felt like I wished I had a bit more context for things, but for the most part, the world is present and extremely immersive, down to the common phrases the characters use. - I really liked Ash as a protagonist. I think he had a lot of potential. I had my qualms with him, I'll put those in the cons section, but overall, I think he was a pretty great protag to follow. - The descriptions of magic (Alchemy) are really immersive. I think Callender does a really good job of showing how it feels to use alchemy and what it looks like to the outside observer. All the intricacies of the magic system and how different people relate to it were also really well done. - Really cute happy ending that makes sense for the story.

Cons: - I felt like the romantic side plot was a bit rushed. I'll go into more detail in the spoilers section, but it felt a bit unnatural at points. Some of it had an explanation that made sense in universe, some of it didn't. - I feel like all of the characters could have been just a little more three dimensional. They all had their backstories and motivations which clearly drove their actions, but it didn't really seem like the events of the story impacted those motivations all that much (except for maybe Callum). I could be misremembering because I finished this book a few weeks ago but I definitely remember feeling like there was more growth that could be happening with them.

TL;DR - It's a pretty good YA fantasy with a diverse cast set in a cool world with an interesting magic system. There are some character aspects that I wish were fleshed out more, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Rating: ⭐3.5/5

SPOILER WARNING

Ok for this part I just really wanna talk about the relationship stuff that irked me. But first lets celebrate something:

Someone finally fixed a love triangle with polyamory!!!

We love to see it. But speaking of polyamory...

We had a decent in world explanation for why Ash and Ramsay got so close so quick. They were literally like, melding their souls to reach the higher realms so it makes sense that their emotional connection would have a bit of a jumpstart.

HOWEVER! Ash and Callum seemed to get together really fast. And I find that a little believable on Ash's part I guess because he had preconceived notions about this guy and it turns out he's just a big teddy bear with abs so like yeah ok makes a little sense, but I feel like Callum fell for him really quickly with seemingly nothing pulling him in that direction. It just felt like the feelings were reciprocated for convenience.

I was also a little skeptical about how quickly Ramsay forgave Callum. I'll admit, while I was reading, I was literally begging for them to make up because the angst was bothering the fuck out of me (not a bad thing narratively. A good story should be able to get under your skin a little.) but I feel like the angst was heavy one moment gone the next. Again, I could be misremembering. I wish I wrote this review when I first finished the book, but alas, I only thought to do it now.

Still, overall I thought the book was enjoyable and the little things that bothered me weren't enough to take away from my ability to enjoy the story. I would definitely recommend this read to people who are fans of YA fantasy and queer stories.

[stellamancer]

Hello hello Niku, I'm the anon who had sent that ask regarding sending in ideas earlier today! ^^

First and foremost thank you so so much for your kind words and assurances, I'm happy to hear that sending the ask was okay, I was so scared of over stepping or that the way in which I phrased the ask would come across/sound a certain type of that I almost wussed out and didn't send it lol ^^; I totally understand not being able to get to an ask or responding within a certain period of time, life happens, you've got hobbies and there's absolutely zero obligations in any way! <:) (Oh and while I utterly adore the way you write Gojo😳 in regards to your initial response. Yes. Make him even more pathetic if you so desire. That wet napkin of a man is always in a grave need to be humbled, and I don't think anyone would complain at the thought lol)

But to get onto the whole reason I sent the ask in the first place, while the idea doesn't have much background or development, it's just stuck with me in such a way that I couldn't help but latch onto it and the possibilities that came with it!

So without further ado.... What do you think it would look like if Gojo got a mean case of amnesia? Be it permanent or temporary is completely undecided, but I just wonder how he would act. Would he be more serious/ toned down? Any more chaotic and an unabashed menace than what he already is? I just wonder about any and all differences that he would potentially have, be it personality, mannerisms, how he acted around/treated others, etc... I'd like to believe he would at the very least make enough haste to put 'remember who I am' on the To Do list, but he's just such??? An eccentric guy even with all of his memories, so it's an interesting head scratcher to imagine lol

Furthermore, because it's not enough to have one thought, but another, smaller one to latch onto the first. What if, while still suffering from amnesia Gojo essentially gets Isekai'd(?) into a world that is literally exactly the same in each and every way, but there isn't an ounce of cursed energy to be had. No sorcerers, no curses, nothing of the sort.

Plainly speaking, the jujutsu world has played a part in each and every aspect of Gojo's life, no matter how much he despised and fought it. So the idea of someone losing their memory is already quite unfortunate, no matter who they are, but to have to even attempt to re learn who they once were but also in a different world, one that is familiar, but distinctly off just enough, especially considering what exactly it is that's 'missing' in his case, sounds so incredibly lonely and isolating :(

Because realistically he would have no one to fall back to, to help him. It'd be a miracle if he stumbled upon a samaritan kind enough to give him the time of day. I imagine it'd be super overwhelming, and the ever growing sense of his existence just being so inherently 'wrong' would be?? Horrible (Because yes, he garners attention. He's pretty. But would anyone he approaches honestly take him seriously? Maybe readers the first one to finally take his words for what they are, maybe they meet when he's passed out outside of their job as they're closing up for the night and after an intense bout of screaming and a hurried sad excuse of an explanation on Gojo's part, some kind of odd understanding is had between the two)

(And in regards to the mentioned Isekai, I don't really know why/how this would happen, maybe when being sealed away he was literally just express mailed to our world, maybe he manages to finally beat the antagonist of the story/fulfills his role and the universe just??? Presses the evaporate button. Hell, considering all of the wild cursed techniques and energies going on in all of these intense fights it wouldn't surprise me if it made the worlds oddest cosmic cocktail and rips open a wormhole or smth lol)

Sksksksk that was an absolute monster of an ask, once more I hope that's okay lol ^^ hopefully my rambles weren't too wild and coherent enough, this train of thought has been going rampant in my head for the past couple of days and I just!!! Had to share it! Thank you so so much for your kind words and time, once again please know there is never any rush or pressure to respond, simply being able to write and send the idea off is more than enough for me! <:)

Oh, yes, I must make him more pathetic then. I'm actually not quite sure how, though, actually. I guess I would need to put him in a situation where he can display his pathetic loser tendencies (maybe I should consult Morgan over this…)

I'm gonna put the rest under a cut.

Anyway, Gojo with amnesia… I guess that depends on a couple things, like how deep is this amnesia going? Are we just wiping memories or does it run deeper and has he lost some character development too because I think there would be differences depending on these two scenarios. That said, I think that either way he would be more serious, maybe not necessarily more toned down, but a little less joking because he's missing his memories. But on the other side of that is that I don't think he'd be freaking out, or anything; he'd probably outwardly try to look like he's perfectly fine and nothing's wrong.

Then to be isekai'd. Your brain's really going for the double whammy there. To lose your memories and be transported to another world… I'd assume that he probably still can use his CT and stuff, though the amnesia also begs the question of how skilled he is with those. If anything, the Six Eyes probably still work, so he'd probably know right away that things do not look 'right.' Actually, I think he'd probably still need to use jujutsu because, like, then if he rememebred bits of pieces of his life while he's in this other world… he might think he's going insane. The mind-fuckery potential is wild! You could really play up the horror factor and I think that would be a lot of fun!

And then having a reader who is kind and open-minded and… I do think he'd try to do things on his own because he's kind of like that, so I think a reader would have to be like "I am helping you and that is that."

I think that using his boxing would be a good way to, like, easily whisk him away. But, if he's there temporarily it does seem a little bit sad. I mean amnesia, I feel like, usually ends up being an angsty trope so… are you a little angst gremlin anon? I mean how else do people get isekai'd… Gojo vs Truck-chan… who would win? LMAO. An other worldly wormhole could be good too… I think that gives the chance for other characters from JJK to pop up. I think if any of his students came for him and he asked them 'well who are you guys?' they might actually think he was fucking around and not actually amnesic. LMAO.

And no worries on ask length! I'm happy to soundboard for you or anyone else for that matter! I mean I did input some opinion, but I hope you don't mind that. But thank you so much for sharing with me!! uwu

[tinydancer1127]

Why DO they call it oven?

One thing about me is I think this is one of the funniest sentences in existence, if you can even call it that. Another thing about me is that I think that sometimes, explaining why something is funny, getting into all the details on what makes a joke or comment or meme funny, makes it infinitely funnier. So, here I am, attempting to put some linguistic explanation as to why this awful, awful sentence is funny. 

Okay, so breaking it down, we first have the opener of the joke, “Why do they call it oven…” which isn’t all that funny on its own, because we all know this as the framing of a joke. Of course, we know it’s going to be a joke because we’re used to this type of opener, and we might be clued into it being something to do with wordplay because of the form as well. But at this point, it’s not funny yet, it’s just the setup.

Never fear, though, because things are about to change, and this is about to get real confusing. The next part of the joke just hits us in the face with “when you of in the cold food…” and we just sit there in confusion for a second. Of…in…the cold food? Okay… And here’s where some linguistics comes in. So obviously, there’s some wordplay involved, because “oven,” and “of in” sound similar when spoken. But that’s not what I want to talk about here, no, that’s too obvious. I want to talk about how, in using “of” as a verb, we almost get a garden-path effect in this sentence, which makes it that much harder for us to decipher. 

A garden-path sentence is a sentence that, as we hear or read it, seems to lead us on one “path,” but then abruptly changes that “path,” usually with a verb, and it makes it hard for us to, at least initially, read in a way that makes sense. Something like “the horse raced past the barn fell,” meaning “the horse that was raced past the barn, fell.” Kind of weird, but makes sense on a second or third read, right? So, this whole idea with garden-path sentences being hard to read and making us do linguistic double take became a sort of basis for the garden path theory, which suggests that our brains try to be really efficient in processing sentences, and will go with the easiest or most simple conclusion right away, and will only reassess if needed. This would explain the garden-path effect; efficiency over accuracy.

But! This would make all sentences with structures that aren’t super simple equally likely to have a garden-path effect, and that’s just not true. Take for example, “The glasses placed on the table were left overnight.” We don’t have the same, “Huh?” response that we might have to the earlier sentence with the horse. Enter: the constraint-based approach. 

The constraint-based approach basically says that we can hold multiple structures in our head at a time, and we evaluate them all simultaneously, and judge which one is most likely to be correct. The explanation for garden path sentences, then, would be that they’re just unfortunate. We would almost never assume that a horse is being raced without context, so why would someone choose their words that way, especially without some filler words to clarify?

That brings me back to “when you of in the cold food.” “Of in.” Double take there, because similar to “raced” being used in a relative clause instead of as a main verb, “of in,” is being used as a main verb, when it shouldn’t even be a verb phrase. “Of” is a preposition, and “of in” hardly makes sense anyway. But, okay, sure, for the sake of this joke (which at this point is already funny), we’ll go ahead and believe in the verbness of “of in,” and say that in an oven, we are “ofing in” the cold food. 

Then comes the final part, which I can hardly call a punchline, but definitely adds to the comedy. “...of out hot eat the food?” There are so many things wrong here. 

“Of out.” Okay, we’ve established that “of in” is a verb phrase, so this works and is funny in a wordplay sort of way, we’re “ofing out,” something, the opposite of “ofing in,” which sounds like “oven.” But then we get the word “hot,” which is just in the wrong place. It’s an adjective, smashed between our pseudo-verb phrase “of out” and the real verb “eat.” So that catches us off guard, but we’re starting to put together the meaning of the joke: the hot food is coming out of the oven, and we are going to eat it. But it’s a syntactic mess, and once again we aren’t getting what the sentence means, because there’s not a comma or conjunction separating the first part of the sentence from the second, and there are two seemingly “main verbs” in the second part (“of out” and “eat”). We’re reading this sentence and trying to parse it, but it keeps throwing us for loops, and even though we are kind of getting a meaning, we’re still confused. 

And linguistically, that’s the thing with the constraint-based approach and this sentence. This whole time, we have a few ideas running through our heads about what exactly this sentence is trying to do, and what kind of joke it is. It’s wordplay, so we’re looking for a pun, but we also find a weird verb thing, so we’re finding that punchline, and at some point we also realize that this delves into random equals funny humor. And on top of that, if you’re seeing this written down, it’s probably in this Garfield comic, which given Garfield’s place in meme culture and the other visual elements in this picture, just adds to the confusion. 

So essentially, we’re utterly confused by this sentence, because we pretty much know what it’s trying to tell us: you put cold food into an oven and take out hot food and eat it, which is funny because the word “oven” sounds like “of in,” which notably has something that sounds like the word “in” in it, but the entire sentence looks like it was “ofed out” too soon. And in the end, all we’re left to do is wonder, “yo why Jon thick as hell?” 

[theangryjikooker]

I want a serious answer that doesn't include fanservice or fanbaiting. Why did Jungkook ask Jimin if he wanted Ramen straight up in ITS? When Karmy spread it all over exactly how JK meant it & judging by his face, karmy are right. What exactly do you think his purpose was with his vid to Jimin on his bday, the way he acted? Unless the man wants to fuck Jimin there's no explanation cause who's he baiting? He knows no one in this fandom wants to see Jikook together. HE DOES IT FOR HIMSELF. So why?

I understand that intonation gets lost in text, but some of you ought to look into phrasing to avoid that pitfall. This submission sounds very entitled on initial impression, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't rub me the wrong way.

You'll get the answer I decide to give you. If you don't like it, I don’t know what to tell you.

The ramyeon line is a joke–a crass one, but amusingly befitting given the context. All that exchange showed me is that they're comfortable enough to have those types of conversations. It's almost like they're adult, virile men who know about sex. 😱 Surprise.

Can people who are dating and/or screwing around make that joke? Yes. Can people who are just friends make that joke? Also yes. Given that none of us actually know them, I find it strange that people would automatically assume Jikook making that joke suggests there’s something romantic/sexual between them. I’m not saying they’re “just friends,” because I don’t really know that either, but to think otherwise shouldn’t be people’s natural default.

By all accounts, it's still a Jikook moment. We're at least learning (once again) that they have a similar sense of humor and that they enjoy each other’s company. It's enjoyable to watch them have these off-the-cuffs, and not believing there's anything more to this particular exchange doesn't detract from a far more important detail, which is more confirmation that they happen to pull all-nighters together (at least in their Ch. 1–hard to say whether that still stands anymore).

As for Jungkook’s birthday greeting to Jimin–boy, oh boy. It being a thirst trap is a joke, I hope everyone is aware of this. We have no way of knowing his intentions, and honestly, his intentions could be two-fold. What we know at the very least is that it is unique to Jimin, as Jungkook has never created a birthday video for any of the other members, so it has some merit on its own, but I wouldn’t read too much into it beyond that.

[desn512-alexalansang]

exploring discombobulated posters

needs more visual confusion

Quick brainstorm of ideas to expand and keywords relating to discombobulated:

discombobulated means confused and disconcerted.

visuals for uncertainty: scribbles, blurring, question marks.

informal composition. odd number of columns and hanglines for grids? or using a alternative grid that is based off somethingg

phrases: what? huh? pardon? excuse me? hm? umm... <- could possibly add these in

confusion is messy, so I would expect lots of things going on in the poster (in a good way not a clashing way)

maybe i can approach it taking inspiration from david carson, gives me a different visual option than the interlinked posters.

perhaps I can merge these two ideas later on. showing that my interlinked experience in nz is discombobulaiting :D this way it tells more about my experience visually...

an idea for the second posters content could be a phrase of discombulation? and using the 'echoing' of text as responses to the discombobulation phrase.

I can improve this with texture... or distorting something.

I think black and white is suitable for this poster because they are basic colours and fit with being confused. If i were to choose colour it wouldn't make sense because knowing something means you see more colour(in my perspective) - black and white is like being blind.

could try with swapping colours so black is background and white text.

selection of typefaces can be improved. The type face for the smaller text looks unique, for example the y’s tail is like a backwards c shape. I think a typeface that is very normal might work well like Helvetica, because when you are confused you wouldnt know much, so less character or e in a question? Will have to try this to see if it works.

I think the type face VAG Rundschrift D used for discombulated is suitable because it uses rounded lines. Being in a constant state of confusion may look as if you're clumbsy or irresponsible; i think this relates to the round look of the typeface because it reminds me of childhood - clumbsiness and irresponsibility of a child.

Also try adding lines and shapes and experiment with layering them with low opacity so the tones build on to each other, making the poster more busy.

The empty spaces next to 'dis' and top right of the 'a' is bothering me. I'll extend the black line on the top right and add '...' near the 'a'.

to the final poster I added a very light grey to the background to achieve more tones. I feel that with the grey background poster more white is needed in some areas such as the inverted part of the 'u' and somewhere in the bottom left of the poster.

I am unsure if the grey background is better than the white but will try improving it first before making the decision.

I think the grey background works really well in showing more tones throughout the poster. I developed the poster with the grey background by adding white and tweaking with the shapes and text's opacities. I am happy with what I habe come up with.

Quick initial rationale/explanation:

layered lots of text and shapes to communicate my messy confusion growing up in NZ which I found confusing and messy because of cultural differences and events I have experienced.

added phrases and words relating to being discombobulated such as huh? and hmmmmm.

I think using grids to organise the clutter of the poster works well because it is clear to read and isn't randomly put together.

[mdxlearningjournal]

Report 1

For my first report I looked at Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 'The Manifesto of the Communist Party' (1848). The communist manifesto was Marx and Engels attempt at explaining the aims of communism and the history that made it. I initially struggled understanding it since I wasn't familiar with some of the phrases used, but once I broke it down, it started to make sense.

From what I read Marx (1884) believed we must work to adapt nature to meet our requirements if we want to survive. The only way for us to continue existing is to improve the way things are, to do this we need to work which then will eventually free us from our natural constraints. Even though we escape these natural constraints, we will then eventually get entangled in new unexpected societal restraints. Even though working together helped us to overcome these boundaries, Marx claimed that due to the way the working system is set up, it will always lead to major inequalities (P. 7). This is due to the way the class system was set up back then, the fight between the working class (Proletariats) and the capitalists (bourgeoisie) (P. 3).

This manifesto was quite interesting to read as it gives an in-depth explanation and point of view of modernity and an important time in history. It raises questions about the rivalry and competition of classes and how they came to be in the first place. When I think about our society today, I feel as though we may still be in a similar position as before.  Although technology has advanced considerably there still is a large gap between classes and the rights that come with it. They’re constantly rolling out new mobile phones and tech to brainwash us into thinking that we’re all the same class, that we have the same things so we must be on the same level.

I think this manifesto really highlighted no matter how much we develop, society or as a species, we will always fall back into this process that exploits and breaks us up into categories of class.

Reference:

Marx, K., Engels, F. (1848) The Manifesto of the Communist Party. [No publisher]. pp. 1-7.

[threecheersforinking]

Character Analysis: Shouya from A Silent Voice

(Spoilers for A Silent Voice/Koe no Katachi)

Shouya Ishida is one of my favorite anime/manga characters ever, and I’ve been meaning to make a post about him. In my opinion, he is the poster child for the perfect redemption arc. I want to talk about some of the reasons why his change of heart was foreshadowed/under the surface right at the beginning, and why we as an audience are rooting for him, despite the horrible things he did to Shouko.

A Silent Voice is currently one of the top anime movies of all time, and while I do really love the movie (KyoAni is amazing) I am a much bigger fan of the manga; it has more time to expand on the characters and introduces some smaller important plot lines. In this post I will be quoting some moments that were in the manga and not the anime, aka, Shouya’s internal monologue. Anyway, let’s get into it. I want to start with why I think Shouya went down the bullying path in the first place.

Environment and Role Models

One of the biggest factors that influenced Shouya’s class’s toxic environment and led him to be a bully was having an uncaring ableist teacher. In the manga, the phrases “something we just have to deal with” and “this is your responsibility”, things that the teacher said to him regarding Shouko, repeatedly echo in Shouya’s mind whenever he interacts with her. At some points, the teacher actually laughs when the other students make fun of Shouko, letting Shouya (as well as the others) believe that it’s an ok thing to do. If Shouya had an adult figure in the classroom with a stronger sense of morality, he might have changed his tune earlier.

Shouya was also highly influenced by his peers (which makes sense because he was literally 11 years old). When another teacher comes into the classroom to explain what sign language is, there’s a very small panel before anyone else says anything, where Shouya thinks “that sounds fun”. At first, he’s interested in sign language and may have been willing to give it a shot. But then, Ueno suddenly starts complaining about how it’s much easier for them to use the notebook than sign language, and Shouya absorbs this and immediately goes back to thinking about how much of an inconvenience Shouko is to him.

Another influence on Shouya’s behavior is his home environment. I do not want to shade Shouya’s mom completely because overall I think she is a loving parent, but unfortunately she was not able to fully be there for her son because she is a single mom with a full time job. Even though he was in a caring home, he was not necessarily in one that gave him enough attention, and by the time Miyako realized what her son was up to it was too late. If she had given him more guidance earlier on in his involvement with Shouko, they may have been able to avoid disaster.

But all of these reasons aren’t excuses, they’re explanations. Regardless of why, Shouya contributed to Shouko’s severe trauma and did unforgivable things. So why do I think he’s the best case for redemption in anime?

Recognition/Guilt

Shouya is repeatedly shown as having actual remorse for his past actions. This is why other bully characters like Ueno and Kawai are seen as far less likable than Shouya. Other people on here might have actual analyses about those two characters, but as for this post all I’m going to say is that I believe they are much more widely hated than Shouya because of their initial denial of having done anything wrong.

It’s also important to remember that Shouya changed his tune as soon as Shouko left. It wasn’t years after she left his school that he realized he was wrong, it was days. He as an 11 year old realized he was wrong for hurting her; he figured it out as soon as he noticed how she was protecting him from being bullied. And once he himself started to be harassed by his peers, he finally recognized the full weight of what he had done to her.

Some might criticize this moment, saying “Shouya only realized bullying was bad because he got bullied himself”, but frankly, what’s so wrong about that? Many kids who bully don’t realize the full extent of the emotional damage they’re doing until it happens to them. Through this experience Shouya was able to realize, “this is how much pain she felt from the things I did to her”. And that unfortunate shared experience is what drives him to have so much guilt and a desire to change.

Change of Behavior

After his realization of the severe damage he had done to Shouko, Shouya started actively being more kind and thoughtful to others. He learned sign language in order to properly apologize to Shouko. He started helping out strangers and not judging people who are different (Tomohiro, Yuzuru). He acknowledged the severe financial strain he put on his mother and worked hard to pay her back.

And the whole point of the ending of the story is that him feeling sorry for himself and hating himself for the rest of his life isn’t going to undo his past behavior. All he can do now is operate with a better mindset going forward and make a positive difference instead.

Obviously, no one should be forced to or feel obligated to forgive their bully/abuser. But the story isn’t about whether Shouko should forgive Shouya, it’s about whether Shouya can change into a better person. I think it’s a very harmful ideology to believe that people who were bullies as children will be the same person forever. The world isn’t divided into ‘good people’ and ‘bad people’, it’s made up entirely of people who are capable of doing both good and bad things. And I really like how the protagonist of A Silent Voice is someone who had done bad things but is now choosing to be different.

Anyway, this was super long so thank you if you read all of it. Please let me know your thoughts on Shouya or any other characters from this movie/manga.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

[tfw-adhd]

So I don’t have ADHD, but my ex did. We were together for about 1.5 years. Initially, when I was in the relationship, it didn’t seem like it was something that heavily affected his life. He was diagnosed at a young age, went to therapy, and has meds. It wasn’t something we really talked about and I only ever remembered he had ADHD when we were studying and he brought up his meds. Other than that, it was never brought it up in conversation so I will be honest and say I did not know much about how he thought and functioned. Now, in hindsight, I’m thinking it affected our relationship more than I or even he expected. There were often times I felt forgotten, he couldn’t properly make plans even though I would remind him, he often became infatuated with new people, it seemed like when I talked to about something really important, he would forget about it the next day and he said a lot of things that just feel like lies now. He ended up cheating on me, and I’m aware ADHD does not mean they are more prone to cheating but I’ve been trying to make sense of it cause he never seemed like the type. All I can think of is how you said they seek stimulation. Truthfully, I have been having difficulty believing I wasn’t anything more than some hyperfixation or someone he used for his own satisfaction. I apologize if this explanation sounds offensive as that was not my intention. I suppose my question would be, how does ADHD affect relationships? And is there any way to support someone with ADHD in a relationship? I just want to understand. I think I wasn’t the best partner either.

ADHD can affect relationships in... basically all the ways you just said.

They can be very hard for us to maintain because they can start as the result of a hyperfixation on a certain person. And hyperfixations fade over time, even when we really don't want them to. Even if the relationship doesn't start with a hyperfixation, we'll eventually hyperfixate on other things - this means that the other person can feel forgotten about or pushed to the side, because although we can't help it, only one thing or one person is giving us dopamine for however long it lasts.

New things are exciting and give us that dopamine rush, so chances are that whether or not a new relationship is a hyperfixation, we'll start to pull away after a few weeks, and won't be quite as full-on. Because the relationship is a part of our lives, now, so it isn't exciting and new anymore.

Our social skills also aren't always great, and we're rejection sensitive - we take things a lot harder than other people do. So if we ask someone if they want to go on a date and they say they're busy, we can start convincing ourselves that they've lost interest in us.

This might sound horrible, but we're the embodiment of the 'out of sight, out of mind' phrase, and... if we haven't spoken to you in a little while, we forget you exist. Not in a horrible way, just... we won't think to message you ourselves, or to make plans. We might accidentally ignore you because we don't... feel time passing in the same way that Neurotypicals do, and we just don't realise that it's been a few days since we last spoke.

We can be impulsive, and in my experience, that can get on Neurotypical people's nerves, especially when they're spending a lot of time around us.

Because of our executive dysfunction, we can be messy and have trouble with our own hygiene (in terms of brushing our teeth or showering regularly), and that can really get on people's nerves, too.

We have trouble with our working memory, which means that we can forget important dates (like anniversaries, or valentine's day) or forget about plans that we've made.

Honestly, I don't know of any ways to support us. For remembering dates, it can be useful to put them in a shared calendar on your phones. Engaging us in our hyperfixations and letting us talk about them to you can make us feel very loved - people rarely seem to do this.