#speculation and mysteries

[psalm22-6]

In 1925 the Daughters of the American Revolution's "Better Films Committee" created a movie guide which recommended the 1925 Les Mis movie (in the abridged form in which it was released in the United States). In 1930, the board of the Better Films Committee were all given Hollywood props as gifts (it's not clear to me who gave them these gifts but presumably the studios?) Mrs. William H. Pouch (who later served as the president of the D.A.R.) was the recipient of a brooch, described as "a delicately wrought brooch especially designed for Universal's production of 'Les Miserables,' worn by Laura La Plante." The problem of course is that Universal hadn't made any film versions of Les Misérables, they had only distributed a French production, which Laura La Plante did not appear in. Looking at the gifts given to other board members, they all come from films released in either 1929 or 1930. So assuming that the brooch came from a film La Plante appeared in during those years, there are six possibilities. I think the film the brooch is most likely to have come from was Captain of the Guard (a film "set during the French Revolution, but [which] was sufficiently unhistorical that an apology was included in the opening credit for any factual inaccuracies") because that's the movie I think someone is most likely to confuse with Les Mis. There are no surviving members of the Pouch family so who knows what became of the brooch, I doubt we will ever know. Sources: The Nassau Daily Review, 3 June 1930 The Australasian, 2 August 1930 Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, December 1927 Helena Hellwig Pouch obituary

[clumsypuppy]

wait for me

[galacticsabc]

Pokemon gijinkas but make it dnd.

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

Occasionally I find it mildly annoying when Palpatine is posited as the one Anakin had always trusted the most, tbh. There's a noticeable shift in how he interacts with Obi Wan and Palpatine in between aotc and rots, and there's an obvious reason why: the events of aotc themselves. He and Obi Wan had plenty of friction, but they were still close, and Anakin did in fact confide in him in his grumpy teenager way. About his feelings for Padme, about his worries for his mother. It's after his trip to Tatooine that he turns to Palpatine instead.

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[thanergetic-hyperlinks]

Given I am wholeheartedly convinced the Dr Sex letter was from Anastasia to Cassiopeia (and I'm into the theory that Anastasia might have been the first to attempt lyctorhood, her failure leading to everyone else not bothering), I cannot wait for Alecto to reveal that Anastasia was a lethal rizzler who successfully charmed Cassiopeia, Alecto, Samael and possibly other people through the sheer power of being the first goth girlfriend of their civilization.

[weebssecretattic]

We, as a fandom, are not collectively worried enough about how much Callum is gonna FREAK when he realizes that he had brought the wrong pearl and during their absence aaravos got f-ing free!! Like we actually risk loosing so much progress, my boy is gonna go down the self hating spiral again 😭😭

[hiccupshypotheticalleftsock]

Listen listen listen,

the celestial council killed Leola because she gave the humans magic (primal magic) and in all their celestialness and future seeing they only saw what would come of it (dark magic/end of the world/no more balance bla bla) but didn’t realise that the act of punishing her would drive Aaravos to look for a way to avenge her (by killing the other star touch elves on the council) and how would he do that?? By inventing a magic that takes power from squishing it out of a creature. And what are startouch elves made of?

I rest my case.

[bisexualenbyblueberry]

is this anything

[geckoodles]

In my travels across the Wasteland, the Deathclaws that prowl the Mojave sands display substantial morphological differences compared to their Commonweath cousins. These animals are notably more narrow in body. Limbs as well as claws are longer and their skin, while pebbled and not armoured, seems to be thicker - perhaps for thermoregulation or water retention, like the dewlaps on their throats? (Uncertain; to be updated as more information is gathered). Note: Be cautious of mounds that randomly appear in areas that did not have them before while working on observations. The reptiles seem to utilize their hands to escape the heat of the day by digging out burrows in the sand...

[psalm22-6]

The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 July 1864

[salty-and-spiraling]

I THINK I'VE GOT SOMETHING!

Ever since s6 the fans have always wondered 'why hasn't the council stopped Aaravos yet!?'

Unless Aaravos surrenders of his own will, which is definitely not gonna happen, they are the only ones who can defeat him permanently.

Now, given what we've learned so far, the council members can't really see into the future. We know that because of Leola's trial- them needing Sol Regem as a witness to tell them what happened- which tells us something BIG.

The archdragons are capable of contacting the star council!

But this introduced a new question- 'if the archdragons could contact the startouch council, why haven't they done that to stop Aaravos?'

I think that they already did. I think that's how they were able to imprison him in the first place.

Look at this!

At first I thought these statues were a reenactment of this-

But it couldn't be because this scene is so different! (The poses and facial expressions)

So that got me thinking- why is this here? Are these statues supposed to be foreshadowing for something else? If so, what?

Also, WHO MADE THIS STATUE!? Why is nobody questioning how it was created in the first place? This alone is sheer proof of the council's involvement with Aaravos's imprisonment! That they didn't just neglect Xadia after Leola's death.

So, to answer these questions, here's a few theories I have!

The Jailer is actually the Merciful One in disguise.

I'm gonna need y'all to hear me out on this one!

The Jailer seems to have a strangely deep knowledge of startouch elves. That would be strange for anyone in the show, let alone a human in that time period.

Think about it! This random human mage(?) who apparently knows how to trap a startouch elf? Also, assuming that the location of Aaravos's prison was The Jailer's idea, how would they know the significance of the Sea of the Castout!?

There were so many other places to put the pearl! It could've been thrown into a volcano and it probably wouldn't have freed Aaravos! The spell to free Aaravos was really complex and required one of the rarest ingredients in Xadia, it definitely wouldn't have freed Aaravos if they'd just chucked it in lava.

Now, with all this in mind, I'd like to present my next theory!

TMO was the only one that got directly involved with Aaravos's imprisonment.

I feel like this isn't too farfetched because TMO is the only one depicted in the statue. If the other council members were involved I'm sure they would've been there.

Now, I say 'directly' involved because I do think the entire council was aware of the situation and that they had some say in Aaravos's imprisonment.

Next theory!

It was TMO's idea to imprison Aaravos instead of killing him.

We already know that the council has the power to kill Aaravos so now it's just a matter of 'why didn't they?'

My idea is that when the council heard what was going on down there they were like "Let's go down there and execute him too, just like we did Leola" but TMO was like "wait no, let's be merciful and just imprison him forever!"

The only reason I think that TMO would've done this is because of @stardustamaryllis78 's theory that Aaravos used to be on the council but left.

I wholeheartedly agree and also think that when he was on the council, he and TMO were friends or had some sort of relationship. That's why they were the only one to go down to "comfort" him after Leola's death. They might've had a soft spot for him because he was probably their friend. But not for Leola.

Now, with that being said, obviously TMO's "mercy" isn't merciful, like at all. I think it's just because they have a very fucked up definition of what mercy is.

-Something about being so emotionally removed from everything that it makes you unable to really comprehend things like compassion and empathy-

Theory number four!

The archdragons knew who the Jailer actually was.

In Zubiea's storytime about Aaravos, she mentions The Orphan Queen but not the Jailer. I think this is because she already knew who the Jailer actually was so for some reason she didn't feel the need to mention them? This theory honestly isn't as strong as the others. I only think this because the archdragons definitely wouldn't include some random human in their plan to trap the most dangerous person in Xadia unless they were really important or something. The first time the Jailer is mentioned is when Akiyu tells her story and I don't think anyone else knew their true identity.

And, last but not least…

The statues are supposed to be depicting Aaravos's imprisonment.

This one makes the most sense to me and my other theories kinda back it up. The Jailer actually being TMO explains why they're there in the first place and it being their idea to imprison him kinda explains why in the statue depiction they're looking at him with such pity.

So, to summarize, here's how I think it went down…

The archdragons called upon the council to defeat Aaravos and the council wanted to execute him but the TMO offered to have him imprisoned instead. TMO then came down to Earth disguised as The Jailer to help the archdragons. The archdragons knew who TMO actually was but nobody else did.

Honestly I don't actually have any theories for who made the statue or why they made it but trying to come up with some sparked this idea. Idk, this makes a lot of sense to me so I kinda want it to be true. Hopefully I framed this all well and it doesn't sound too farfetched.

[fae-whispers]

i just finished the dragon prince’s season 6. holy shit.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

-AARAVOS IS MY NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER HOLY SHIT I LOVE A MORALLY GRAY MAN WHO WOULD BURN DOWN THE WORLD FOR THE ONE PERSON HE LOVES

-ohhh my god me and my friends were SOBBING over his daughter’s death oh my god!!!! what the fuck thats so sad. and him crying for A HUNDRED years is so fucking sad oh my god please

-viren redemption arc??? man he has to stop coming back to life. i think hes finally dead this time but holy shit it took six seasons

-TERRY ILY YOU DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE WAITED FOR HER OMG (like ily claudia youre hot asf but you need a redemption arc before you deserve terry)

-speaking of terry that scene where he ever so gently bathed her had me rolling over crying he is the sweetest man to ever exist

-IF SOREN AND CORVUS DO NOT KISS ASAP IM LITERALLY EATING A MY TV YOU CAN HOLD ME TO THIS

-lesbian wedding!!!

-rayllum finally kissed 🤭🤭 its only been sIX DAMN SEASONS OF TENSION

-yeah im still thinking about aaravos i love me a morally gray man and hes hot asf

-ezran is so young bro hes like 12-14 here im so mad he grew up so quickly hes gonna have so much trauma

-the ending with callum spotting his kingdom burning in the distance??? please 🤕

-SPEAKING OF MEN i forgot how *HOT* runaan is like sirrrr 🤭🤭 (i cant be saying this he’s old enough to he my actual father)

anyway i have to go rewatch the whole damn thing because my brother wants to watch it with me so ill be sobbing over fictional characters if you need me!! <3

[vagitterian]

convinced that Shisui is Loulan

Same hair colour

Same eye colour

Same eyebrows very thin, very short.

Loulan wears lots of makeup compared to Shisui's plain face, which I think is intentional to allow for the reveal, as well as all the earrings and accessories, all to distract.

Loulan having a fucktonne of staff allows for body doubles.

We don't know anything about Loulan and she is barely interacting with Maomao at all - that's odd for one of the primary concubines. But if she's actually interacting with Maomao "on her level" so to speak...

Shisui is abnormally well-educated for someone doing laundry. About the bugs sure -- do we have evidence of her reading in the anime?

And I do not think Loulan/Shisui is hostile to Maomao either, I think that she has had opportunities to harm Maomao (Such as the dried squid - senbei?) and she did not take them. Though as Maomao wasn't directly invited, maybe it's because she didn't know she would have the opportunity?

[fun-k-boards]

I know a lot of people think that Aaravos did something bad previously to Leola dying and his imprisonment, maybe he invented dark magic or is just an unreliable narrator to the story of Leola. Maybe he took out parts of the story that would make him more at fault. Maybe he didn't lie, just hid the truth. That what happened to cause his eyes to be dark unlike the other Startouch elves is what he's hiding from the story, maybe it's the real reason Leola died.

And, I'm fully aware that's absolutely going to be the canon explanation, but I think a fun idea would be that he's just built like that.

Given Startouch elves can reproduce without sex, and even if they did, it makes sense that a Startouch elf who gave life to another would share similar traits, right? Well, Leola is quirky, she has one horn, she's completely different from the others. Where could she have got that from? The physical differences? The way her mind is different from those around her? Perhaps, she got these from the one who created her.

Aaravos is a Startouch elf who lives among humans, who treats them with kindness and even when he knows his daughter is about to face the consequences of unknowingly disrupting the cosmic order, he doesn't snap at the human child who witnessed her being taken away, instead he comforts the child. I don't think any other Startouch elf is like him. Especially not like Leola.

They were doomed from the start. Startouch elves don't have time for those who view things in an emotional rather than subjective lens, they don't have time for those who grieve over lost family, or who try to fight against the rules in place. They don't have time for mercy. They don't have time for Aaravos or Leola.

This brings me to my question. Why let Aaravos live? Why not get rid of him like they did Leola? Perhaps they can't, or maybe, they knew of the way his story would play out. Whether they knew Leola dying would be the trigger or not, or only realised when it was too late, I think they were fully aware of Aaravos' plan at least some point before his imprisonment.

[fujosh1dreamer]

By doing right by Soren, Viren ended up unintentionally doing harm to Claudia.

Even though Viren didn't give him the letter which I was both happy and sad about. Sad because their mom leaving sucks, but she was scared I just wished she tried to take them both but in the end I understand. Soren didn't need to see the letter and know the truth because it would have taken away all the confidence he built up while Viren was gone he would have broken. By simply telling Soren that nothing was his fault, and Viren simply admitting it was all him bring a sort of closure. It also makes it so Soren isn't forced to forgive his father who was both his savior and abuser.

On the other hand Claudia gets no closure she didn't have the understanding of why Viren did what he did, or why he changed his mind. She was literally left in the dark. Viren thought by leaving her she would be better off and make choices for the betterment of herself. Claudia did everything for family because that's what she believed Viren also did, but Virens actions became corrupted and selfish. Claudia needed the clarity of that letter in a way Soren didn't.

Claudia has only been positively reinforced to use dark magic to solve her problems. Think about how her support structure consists of Terry, Viren, and Aaravos. Viren always had Claudia's best interests at heart, until he leaves free of dark magic. As far as she's concerned dark magic kept her tied to her father, and Aaravos has also been whispering to her about all the benefits, dark magic had gotten Viren back to her not once but twice. Terry on the other hand is supportive of her no matter what, unfortunately that is both a blessing and a curse. He'll let her choose for herself, but Aaravos is shaping her so she'll follow a dark path and Terry is also made to follow because he loves her.

Claudia having no answers or insight from Viren forces her to stay in the dark, while that lack of clarity pushes Soren forward.