#speculative notes

[ambrosiagourmet]

I think one of the biggest tragedies of Laios & Falin and their relationship is how much his actions impact her life. But like. Specifically how much they WOULDN’T impact her life as much if they weren’t both stuck in such a shitty abusive situation.

This part of the Falin-tries-makeup daydream hour comic is what got me thinking about it again because truly it just... it seems like such a like an offhand comment that I'm sure Laios didn't mean to be cruel or anything. That's just like. A little kid not thinking about what they are saying. ESPECIALLY when the kid in question is Laios.

But man they depended on each other SO much as kids. Too much. It really feels like they didn't have any other source of positive reinforcement, or anyone else to share themselves with. So of course an offhand comment like that has a huge impact on Falin.

Or this little bit from one of the flashbacks:

This tears me apart. Do you think it tears him apart to think about? I think it does. I think Laios holds every small failure to care for Falin against himself.

And then there's the Bigger stuff. The way that him coping with his own trauma ended up impacting her.

Like his interest in monsters. Like him going to find a ghost, and accidentally revealing Falin's magic to the whole village in the process.

Like him needing to leave. And leaving her behind.

He shaped her life so much, and he carries so much guilt for it. And again, there should have been other people there to help. The same things that made Laios need to leave home are the things that made his leaving so hard on Falin. She ate alone after that. She shouldn't have had to eat alone just because Laios wasn't there.

She was 9 when he left for school, and he was 11.

Nine. And Laios feels like he failed her because he didn't stand by her through this better. As an eleven year old.

Both of these kids deserved so much better from the world.

[yourlocalcringekid]

GUYS

Idk if someone else has thought of this before, but hear me out on this new worldbuilding headcanon for Minecraft. Phantoms pose the same ecological role as IRL vultures. That being, they eat dead bodies. The reason a lot of them swarm (and even attack) the player when they haven't gotten sleep is because they sense lack of energy (which, for a lot of animals means death is nearby) and assume the player is either dead or dying.

[wyrmways]

Maned wolf azhdarchid because they remind me of each other

[goat-slop-art]

cup headed gubby

[cirrus-grey]

ALICE: So each of the cases is categorized on four metrics with a standard integer scale, that’s your DPHW.

GWEN: Okay. Now I’m pretty sure I need to try and keep them as even as possible.

ALICE: Ok, so, it makes sense that if you’re low on “W” that means we should probably prioritize processing cases with a higher rank on that metric to bring the average up, right? … So, it’s just a hunch but I bet if we have a look at old cases and then try and sort by “W” we can find out which cases got the biggest scores in that metric and reverse engineer what you need … Now, unless I’m wrong, which, let’s be honest, is pretty damn likely, when we cross reference this shortlist for common terms we’ll find out what Freddy thinks you need and that... is... more... Bonzo?

Loving finally getting a breakdown for why DPHW is important, here.

Now I, like the utter nerd I am, have been tracking the DPHW of each case on a spreadsheet, and therefore was able to do some quick sorting just like Alice. Bonzo is definitely our highest W scorer of the lot – he’s got 2 of the 5 cases ranked as “8” on that metric, though he tends to score pretty high on P and H as well.

However.

We are not low on W. When you add up the total DPWHs of every case we’ve gotten so far, you get:

D – 136 (average score 3.2)

P – 148 (average score 3.5)

H – 210 (average score 5.0)

W – 218 (average score 5.2)

W is the highest metric. So either it needs to be the highest, and the balance only works if it’s at the top...

…Or Freddie is lying about what’s needed, and intentionally trying to send things haywire.

Not too much mercury or the world ends, not too much sulfur or we all go mad…

[knockknockitsnickels]

I think this is one of my favorite lines from the Wraith route because of (imo) how much the meaning changes depending on if you got there via Spectre or Nightmare. For Spectre, it honestly strikes me as a genuine question. Why are you doing this to her? If you're on the Spectre route, you presumably already know the Narrator can't really be trusted, since you had to reject his reward to get here. What are you hoping to gain from continuing to hurt her? For Nightmare, it honestly just makes me sad. As the Shifting Mound describes her, "She desires only companionship, but the only thing she knows is how to hurt." This line feels like a plea from someone who genuinely doesn't understand why you keep rejecting her. She wants to be with you, but she just can't understand how to do that in a way which doesn't hurt you.

[ntls-24722]

"It was easy to see that, in a few hundred thousand years, humanity could start again with these titanic primatives. Sadly, as a catastrophic ice age took over the Titans' home world, the gentle giants disappeared, never to return."

[valar-did-me-wrong]

So I was watching a FoF video recently & saw someone mention in the chat that Eddie Marson only follows Owain & Sophia on Instagram; out of all the main ROP cast, hinting that he's most probably going to join the Dwarven storyline..

..so ofcourse i did a quick check and it's true!!! I think we're all correct in assuming he's gonna play Durin's brother!! 🎉

AND

That person also mentioned how Jamie Campbell Bower only follows Morfydd from the cast.. so I checked that too and it's true!! :D

NOW

..the fact that he's not following Rob or Ismael or Bens seems to hint that either the storyline he's joining is mostly going to involve Galadriel out of the main cast (except maybe Daniel too? because he isn't on instagram) or he's not in Galadriel's storyline yet but has gotten some sort of interaction with Miv during/since the casting (maybe a chemistry test :')

Ngl all this is feeding me so much excitement!! Because to me personally, all of this just makes sense if he's gonna be Celeborn 😭💛 it just makes so much sense dammit!!

Man I cannot wait for S3 ❤️‍🔥

(Anyone agrees? Opinions? Or do yall think I've finally lost my mind after the exam postponement 😭😭 honestly it could be the latter, I AM slowly going insane in exam anticipation 😭)

[bantersnatch]

Hello, all! I think the time has come for us to talk about Very Important People's former cryptid Bianca, because, frankly, I think it's fun to have fan theories in play before things start getting canonized -- especially if those fan theories end up being completely wrong! Before I get too deep into tin hat theorizing, let's take a post to review the facts.

To begin, some basics about Bianca herself.

Bianca is host!Vic's stepdaughter via their marriage to Bianca's unnamed father.

The Host dislikes Bianca to the point that they are willing to sacrifice her to dark forces, they fantasize about throwing her into the ocean, and so forth (all to Bianca's face, mind you).

Bianca, in turn, is at minimum not receptive to spending time with the Host.

She works as a PA on the fictional VIP set.

She is well-liked on set.

She and the Host are the same age.

She, the Host, her father, and a certain extraterrestrial are all living together.

And, of course, we now know she is played by the wonderful Talia Tabin! Is this relevant to lore theories....? No, not really. But I'm very excited about the recent face reveal :}

To understand Bianca and her relationship with the Host, I think it's worth also talking about her father/the Host's husband. So far, the husband is a somewhat mysterious figure, but a picture of him is emerging.

Continued under the cut is what we know about him, alongside some more surface-level speculation about what this all means.

The Host describes their husband as "a lovely man".

The Host sleeps and brushes their teeth on set, flirts with guests, and seems overall deeply lonely and unfulfilled. These are not signs of a happy marriage.

The Host and their husband can afford a house and an attached guest house. Presumably in LA. The guy has money.*

He was invited to a Gwyneth Paltrow goop party at some point.

He took the last name Michaelis "in order to feel closer to [the Host]" when they got married.

He is reportedly "in his forties".**

*this could be attributed to a "Friends"-like setup where people are inexplicably able to afford real estate for the bit, but I think that's relatively unlikely; if you've watched enough interviews with Vic, they make a lot of jokes about the LA housing market and how well-off you have to be to own property. Who's to say, though, this is improv and sometimes the bit reigns supreme! **per the Bonus Content episode, which I personally consider as canonical as anything else.

Extrapolating these facts out, we can gather:

Bianca's father had her fairly young, assuming that in lore Bianca (and the Host) are in their late twenties to mid thirties. Let's do the math for the absolute oldest he could have become a father. If the Host's husband is currently 49 and Bianca is (significantly younger than her actor) only 27, her father would have still been college-aged when he had her. It's possible that the Host lied about their husband's age because they're embarrassed about the true age difference; it's also possible that the "forties" statement was something Vic made up on the spot without fully considering the math. In either case this is worth noting.

Bianca's father is someone with enough of a foothold in Hollywood to procure invitations to celebrity events. He's certainly more prominent in the industry than the Host, who is relegated to "plus one" status.

Building off the previous point, and combining it with the oddity of both his daughter and his spouse working on the same project, I think it's possible Bianca's father was involved in hiring decisions at the VIP studio -- and, with the Host reportedly paying to be there rather than the other way around, it's possible he also bankrolled parts of the production.

He's the kind of guy who would marry a person young enough to be his kid, and he's willing to go through with such a marriage even though it creates friction with his actual kid.

In short, Bianca is the daughter of a man with influence, but for whatever reason she's stuck working alongside -- and living with! -- a step-parent who openly daydreams about tossing her into the sea. There's something keeping the Host and Bianca stuck together despite their mutual dislike, whether that's purely their connection through Bianca's father or something more complicated.

More on that here.

[yourlegacysnotyourstosee]

[cadere-art]

The founding populations of Uanlikri

Drawn by the sight of the moon over the horizon, antioles have peopled Uanlikri times and times again, first as newcomers to an empty land, and eventually as conquerors and colonizers. Which lineage first set foot on Uanlikri is a matter of debate: by the time of the first written histories, three of them were already so established as to form clines of ancestry from one end of the continent to the other.

Jẽ

The Jẽ might have been the first to set foot on the continent. They arrived from the north, through the belt of archipelagoes that almost connect Uanlikri to the land now known as Axue. It is a matter of debate to which extent the Jẽ actually form a single ancestry - how many times people arrived from the North, settled in, and mingled with those already there and those that followed. It is common to divide the Jẽ between the olive skinned coastal Ki peoples, and the brown skinned Cã desert-dwellers. The Cã count among their ancestors the civilization that invented the first forms of writing on Uanlikri. For this reason, they are often treated by scholars as descendents of Uanlikri's primordial culture - it is likely, however, that their arrival to Uanlikri is a latter one.

Illustrated: Cã male with brown skin and white feathers and Ki female with olive skin and yellow feathers.

Kpikigd

It is unknown when the Kpikigd arrived, but it is know that they stayed south for a long time before spreading northwards. The Kpikigd reached Uanlikri from the other side of the world by crossing the ice cap around the South Pole - a hazardous journey which resulted in a very small founder population. The Kpikigd that survived were a skewed sample of the population in their land of origin. Kpikigd are short and stout, with thick limbs and short rounded faces. The Kpikigd founders were hypermelanistic, black of skin and feather alike. In time, the Kpikigd expanded northwards, meeting and mingling with the southward-bound Undeno - the majority of Kpikigd today have significant Undeno contribution to their lineage, and the black skin and feathers of the founders are an unusual set of traits which survives today in the most isolated southern populations. Kpikigd have dark, greyish skin and tend to have abundant striping on their feathers.

Illustrated: Male with yellow feathers, female with green feathers, both of majority kpikigd ancestry with some distant Undeno contribution.

Undeno

The Undeno are two: the First Undeno, and the Second Undeno. Both arrived to Uanlikri from the distant lands to the West. It is unknow how the First Undeno crossed the ocean to reach Uanlikri, and when they did so exactly - it is only know that they did so a long time ago. The genetically distinct Undeno pigmies - the Dongo and the Apina'at - point towards a very early arrival.

The First Undeno landed on the Western Peninsula and spread eastward inland, and south and northwards along the western coast. In the millennia between their arrival and the first written histories of the Cã, they had settled the center of the continent and mingled with the Kpikigd and Jẽ so as to form a cline of ancestries, from the Kpikigd-most in the South to the Jẽ-most in the North, with the Undeno in the middle.

The Second Undeno arrived in recent history, bathing the Western Peninsula in fire and blood. They arrived as the conquering colonists of a distant empire, and were left behind as their homeland turned its gaze inwards again. Millennia have created considerable distance between the First and Second Undeno, but a shared ancestry remained apparent to the peoples of Uanlikri, as beyond the green skin, both groups share an ancient and deeply held taboo against showing one's throat, the roots of which are lost to time.

Illustrated: Female of the Second Undeno with red feathers, male of the First Undeno with green feathers. Arm feathers are a rare trait found in some central populations of the First Undeno.

Axuega

The Axuega are the last arrived on Uanlikri. They began coming to Uanlikri long after the first written words, from Axue, the same land the Jẽ had come from. By then, the continent was brimming with antioles, and there were no empty footholds. In any case, the Axuega did not come as conquerors and settlers, but as traders. Even so, some Axuega settled, and some more are settling still, leaving their old lives behind and founding a new one on Uanlikri. They are numerous enough to form diasporas in some regions, but not so much as to seem a serious threat to the locals... Yet.

Axuega are unusually tall, lanky, and pale, with low feather coverage and novel blue and blueish feathers.

Illustrated: Axuega male with green skin and blue feathers, and Axuega female with beige skin and teal feathers.

[kradogsrats]

it would be really fucking funny if Aaravos dismisses Rayla as a lethal threat to Viren in s3e9 because he has already decided that her immutable, predestined nature is "an assassin who cannot kill" and then does the exact same thing again in s7e9 in spite of how disastrously it turns out

[yellos2]

Whatever redesigning process jumpscare because artfight is getting closer.

Algaechh really needs it.

But god I need refs for my main guys.

Her caca face

[cirrus-grey]

I know I haven't mentioned it in a while but I'm still red-stringing about the symbolism of tea vs coffee btw. Alice found a tape recorder and now Sam’s bringing her tea. She's been introduced to the Archives' universe. She's upset and goes to make herself coffee instead. She refuses to be drawn in and finds refuge in the comforting and familiar instead.

[alderaphid]

Some of the more subtle things I’ve noticed in the April update:

- in “Springtime Salutations”, the narrator sounds like Sally. Previous narrators in other audios did not sound so close to the character’s voices iirc (though I may be mistaken). As well, “Sweet Briar” then has Sally narrating. There seems to be a distinction implicitly drawn here, perhaps.

Related: The Not-Sally narrators voice distorts as they go to say the authors name, and as the audio restores they cough. While the cough could imply some sort of meta element to the distortions, to me it calls attention to the fact that the author of the Looky-Loo books is still unknown. My current guess is that it’s Ronald Doloriane, and for as-of-yet unknown reasons his presence/influence is being obscured (either purposefully or not in a “cosmic censorship” sense). Especially since the distortions are really few and far between here.

- “Springtime Salutations” also denotes Frank’s home with a capital, Home. Now, afaik, the use of “Home” has been only towards the neighbourhood itself as a title, and for Wally’s home. Seems all the houses may be proper noun’d (implications, implications… all the neighbour’s homes being Home. Does Howdy’s Place and Eddie’s Post Office count? What could it mean if they don’t?).

- Franny, Bea, and Jonesy all evaluate Frank in a way that feels like family being critical of who Julie is “bringing home” (a la a romantic partner)

- In “Sweet Briar” there is no “true love’s kiss” between Frank and Julie, either in text or as part of the audio. Julie just wakes up; and it seems to be her decision to do so. There’s no deviation of Frank being the one to wake her up (as they could have made him shake her awake, or whisper, or something else to that effect if the kiss wasn’t actually scripted). She avoids the kiss herself

- All three currently available Looky-Loo books have that same dot pattern in the inside cover with no apparent changes. This could imply it’s simply a design choice, but it could also be relevant for a future puzzle instead due to the repetition

- Wally’s “Toyland” audio is gone, though the transcription for it is still up. Do not know if that is in error, though I’m pretty sure it’s purposeful. Wasn’t it the only audio of him speaking solo? A cursory search of the newly updated “Discoveries” page seems to indicate as such

- In the shorter book featuring Wally and Julie, as Julie is describing what brings her joy, one page is torn out. Every other neighbour is mentioned except Frank, her best friend. The page missing is his

- Wally’s easel is gone from his character page. Considering the other changes that involve him, I’m assuming this is because it prevents him from painting a message on it post-censorship

- Casual lore drop that Rainbow Monsters have control over the seasons/nature, appears to be a cultural/familial “business” for lack of a better term. The Joyful siblings appear to treat it as their responsibility. Woof, imagine the pressure that must put on someone (👀)

- On awayfrompryingeyes, W documents their consumption of what is likely decades-old, dubiously sealed soda in a glass bottle. Buddy.

- Jonesy sounds like John Lennon

[cubfan135-facts]

cubfan135 fact #21:

Hermitcraft season 6 featured an unknown individual known only as The Jingler, who conducted a series of pranks on several hermits. Those who fell victim to the Jingler's pranks were often referred to as being "#Jingled". Some pranks included (but are not limited to) vandalizing Grian's map room to say "You have been J-J-Jingled!!!", and leaving a mysterious book in Hermitville with coordinates that merely led to a sign reading, "GG You've been had! #Jingled".

The Jingler's identity was never revealed by the time Season 6 had concluded. Fans and hermits alike speculated their true identity for years. Many fans believed them to be Grian, however it was unlikely as Grian already had two prankster alter egos in Season 6, Poultry Man and The Salmon Ghost. GoodTimesWithScar was revealed to be the Jangler, a different entity entirely with no official ties to the Jingler. Rendog was suspected of being the Jingler for asking his viewers to "jingle that [notification] bell" at the end of his videos. Tango was also suspected of being the Jingler, as his returns to the server coincidentally aligned with the Jingler's pranks.

The most in-depth search for the identity of the jingler on the Hermitcraft server appears to be from Joehills. Upon checking the community mailbox, Joehills discovered a message from the Jingler left in every hermit's mailbox. Deciding that he could not let this devious behavior continue, he set out to follow a trail to reveal their true identity. He initially asks for the help of his viewers to gather intel from other hermit's videos, however this effort would prove fruitless as the Jingler carefully made sure to never reveal themselves on camera. Joe suspects a parrot by the name of Jingles to be behind the pranks, claiming that the parrot works for ConCorp. However, it is possible he was actually thinking of Captain Jack Sparrow, the CEO of ConCorp, and the lead seemed to come to a dead end.

The Jingler's identity was still unknown by the end of season 6, leaving both fans and hermits to speculate on their identity for years. Many began to believe there was no one true Jingler, but the hermits as a collective conducted a multitude of pranks under one common alias.

The Jingler's identity was finally revealed on April 23, 2022 on the Hermitcraft 10-year anniversary livestream. Cub admitted to being the Jingler, notably only after being asked directly by Jevin. Grian in particular was so distraught by the revelation that he joined the discord call from his mobile phone to comment on the situation.

Hermitcraft season 6 began in July of 2018, meaning that the identity of the Jingler was kept a secret for roughly 4 years. It is possible that this is the longest-kept secret in all of Hermitcraft history. The only known "evidence" of Cub being the Jingler is when he is seen during Impulse's Season 6 episode 32 asking if Grian has completed the infinity room. It is likely Cub was inquiring either to see if he could vandalize the map without Grian noticing, or to see Grian's reaction if the prank had already been carried out. Besides this small piece of circumstantial evidence, there was virtually no proof of Cub being the Jingler prior to April 2022. The most concerning detail in this story is, perhaps, the fact that the identity of the Jingler was only revealed when Cub was directly confronted by Jevin on stream. It is unknown if Cub ever planned to reveal the Jingler's identity on his own, and he very well may have intended to take this secret to the grave.