#strange things theory

[kizzer55555]

Core Gems

So when a ghost becomes injured, they have a last ditch defense where they retreat into their core. And I mean, injured badly where their body is rip apart to the point they can’t hold a solid form anymore. And they basically go into a hibernation state until they are strong enough to form again.

Ellie, Danny, and Dan are all injured in a final battle against the GIW. The organization was destroyed and the ghosts were safe but the halfas ended up being so injured that they reverted to core form and then went to sleep for a bit. When they woke up, they were still weak but at least recovered enough to gain consciousness. And realize…they are in some kind of auction…in the middle of a heist. It appeared that two furries (one in a bat costume and one in a cat costume) were ducking it out. And they…they were a necklace. All three of them had been turned into a necklace with their cores as gems accompanied by sapphires, pearls, and opals. And frankly gorgeous craftsmanship as the metal was crafted around their cores as if to cradle them and the other gems.

Unfortunately, they were too weak to take a form properly, they could still feel the strain on their bodies. But at least they could still communicate through their auras. Then the cat lady punched a hole in the glass container surrounding them and grabbed their necklace.

However, the bat grabbed the other end and it resulted in a sort of tug-a-war. Meanwhile, Danny, Ellie, and Dan were having a back and form commentary on the situation and what they should do. Completely unheard by the other party.

In the corner of their eye, the three halfas finally noticed a third contender. Some kind of clown who was…hold on…holding a gun?! And it was pointed straight at the two fighting furies who had yet to notice him. The ghosts’ protective instincts went into overdrive and they frantically tried to shout, yell, move. Just do something to warn the two but their cries fell on deaf ears. All they succeeded in doing was faintly glow which immediatly caught the attention of the fighting duo. The two turned to look at the strange necklace but right at that moment, the clown fired and a gunshot rang throughout the auction room. Having no other options, Danny and the others poured every ounce of ectoplasm they had to try and phaseshift, making the two furries intangible as the bullets passed right through them, but in their shock, the two jumped away in opposite directions and accidentally ripped the necklace apart. Gems and pearls went flying and the three cores bounced along the ground.

Luckily, the two finally noticed the clown and went to deal with him and his minions who had appeared. Seemingly putting their fight on hold and forming a temporary truce. The three halfas could only watch as the battle finally wound down, ending with the cops barging into the place and arresting the clown and his grunts, the cat managing to escape with half the scattered gems and pearls from the broken necklace along with a few other jewelry pieces (none of their cores though) and the bat leaving through a skylight.

The auction continued and in the end, despite being broken, their necklace seemed to have caught someone’s interest. A man named Bruce Wayne bought up every piece of the shattered jewelry wear. The auctioneers appeared relived that the item managed to sell in the end and gratefully gave it to him.

Bruce had no idea what happened at the auction, but he could have sworn that some of the gems faintly glowed right before he and Selina were shot. If the necklace was some sort of magical item, then he needed to understand exactly what has been brought to Gotham. It was unfortunate that Selena had taken some parts of the necklace but he utilized his vast wealth to make sure all the other parts ended in his possession. Now he would take them back to the mansion for examination.

[yuseirra]

This is just a running thought in my head, but the phone call in the first volume of this series really bugs me...there's something about it, I can't really put my finger on it..

I was just thinking about something. In the first volume, when Ai contacted Kamiki from the phone booth, Kamiki already knew about the existence of his children, right? It wasn't the first time he was hearing about them. The conversation went along the lines of, "Our kids are pretty big now, why don't you come see them?" This means that by the time the kids were around four years old, he was already aware of their existence, but hadn't met them yet.

And it seems he wasn't receiving Ai's address for the first time either. Ai mentioned, "Here's the 'new' address," implying that he knew the previous addresses and had been in contact with her. Judging by their conversation, it wasn't the first time they had communicated since they separated.

At the time of their separation, Ai said something like she wouldn't keep their children. But at some point, Kamiki must have found out about their existence. Either that, or it was Ai who's told him. Since Kamiki was near the hospital on the day of their children's birth, he must have known about the children at least from then. Ai might have told him, "I would like you to come," or he might have found out on his own. At the very least, from then on, he knew that their children were born, and she was raising them. Ai knew that Kamiki was aware of their existence on her end too. (Even in the main story, Ai contacted Kamiki in secret. If you look at that conversation, it's clear they hadn't completely cut ties.)

When did Kamiki and Ryosuke first meet? If their first encounter was near the hospital.. -I'm making a really tilted and quite a favorable assumption here- do you think kamiki would've known Ryosuke's true colors?; What if he really didn't know what kind of guy he was and was capable of doing and just thought of him as a fan of Ai's? I'm sorry, this doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? but just bear with me for awhile here. I don't really believe my line of thought here as well but I've just been trying to make sense of everything..

What if Kamiki called Ryosuke just to lament, drinking, after being heartbroken by Ai's refusal to get back together from her call? (There are bottles in a small cut showing them together.) Kamiki might have been saying something like, "I don't understand why we can't get back together, even though I'm being shown the children. I can really raise them well." If they exchanged contact information around the time the children were born, it means they've known each other for at least four years. If Kamiki was a person who could have harmed Ai out of resentment, there should have been a previous connection between these two guys, right? For they'd have met for that purpose.. However, at that time, Kamiki was just a middle schooler... How could someone in the age difference between a middle schooler and a university student pinpoint and meet like that? Did he find someone online who intended to harm the Ai and approach them?; Even if that's the case, it doesn't seem like the first time Ai's told Kamiki about the kids. If there were four years in between, there should have been a reason for not doing anything significant. Considering how easily Ai's shared the address without even the need to be inquired from him, it doesn't seem like Ai's intentionally hid it from Kamiki. If there was hatred from that time, the public phone conversation wouldn't be so casual. When Ai speaks, Kamiki is asking if they can get back together, and Ai refuses. This implies Kamiki still wanted to be together at that time. If Kamiki had been overly obsessed with her about this, Ai wouldn't have contacted him so comfortably, would she? Knowing the possible outcomes, why would Ai contact someone who's obsessively clingy and show them her beloved children?

The bouquet is the problem here, that bouquet appears everywhere in the scenes where kamiki's involved, he did send one to Akane too. But... Kamiki didn't really do anything to Akane directly, did he? Nothing bad's happened to her much except the time she almost fell off the stairs. Could it really just be that he sent it without any ill intentions? I mean, it was just before the dome concert...maybe he really did want to congratulate Ai about the dome; Maybe he sent the bouquet to Akane after seeing the broadcast that Akane and Aqua were dating, and because Akane's acting career was going well, he sent it with a feeling of "Take good care of my son." At least, there’s no evidence that Kamiki ever tried to harm his own children. On the contrary, he seems to be in a position of accepting it even if his children try to kill him (Mephisto's lyrics ARE SPOILERS, I'm telling you). If he was interested in his children, he would have watched Aqua's TV programs. Considering how well he understands Aqua, he must have been interested in various aspects.

Actually, the idea that he deliberately revealed Ai’s address to have Ryosuke kill her<—there are so many strange things about this if you examine it. It seems more like he carelessly let the address slip while drunk. If it’s true that he revealed the address, that is. When he was feeling down after being rejected, Ryosuke might have said he would go congratulate her on Kamiki's behalf, so Kamiki could have told him the address then (Yes, this speculation sounds stupid... I also think it’s unlikely...he can't be that dumb but). Even if they met for the first time at the hospital, they could have been friends for about four years and he might have been too drunk to judge the situation.

No matter what, he probably didn’t want to kill Ai. Considering the past, even if she broke up with him, Ai did a lot for Kamiki. She was not just an ex-lover, but also literally the light in his life. Even if she didn’t love him (which was his assumption, but that proved to be wrong too), he was aware that she accepted and cherished him, gave birth to and raised his children well. If he harmed her, what would happen to his children? He doesn’t seem that crazy at that point. And if he really wanted to harm her, there would be no reason to wait four years... If the reason he couldn’t find her was because he didn’t know the address, the fact that Ai just naturally reveals her address to him doesn't line up with it. If he felt betrayed and wanted to harm her, there would be no reason to wait so long and he would have continuously harassed and spied on her, but there was too long of a gap.

I think a lot will be revealed in the next chapter. Anyway, this part was confusing. I might be thinking excessively favorably because I don't understand the psychology of a crazy person, but Kamiki seems to really love Ai a lot? Even after so many years, he can't get over her and seems to be suffering from her death. He seems to know very well that Aqua would hate him about causing her death and thinks that he deserves it all. Does it make sense that he would think of scaring Ai by sending Ryosuke? It seems likely he leaked the address since Ryosuke did find her and he's like the only one that could have that information. But if kamiki really intended to scare her, it's unpredictable how sending this random other guy would turn out to end up like. Also, it's inconsistent for someone who claims to have a parent's heart towards his kids (I don't think this is a lie. There isn't a reason to lie about this) and loves Ai so much they'd talk about marriage with her to send someone else to scare her. It doesn’t add up. This seems more likely to have been an accident, but perhaps I'm like this because I want to take him positively. I just don't know.. but things don't really make sense for me regarding this incident.

Even if Ai's said they couldn't date again, she was allowing kamiki to see their children, it's not entirely a negative thing. I think kind of feeling this'd initiate'd be more about feeling heartbroken and sad (which is why he drank), rather than feeling angry and wanting to torment someone...yeah... That part was strange. It could use more elaboration. It should, too.

Anyway, if we assume that kamiki really didn’t intend any harm, he might be someone like Aqua in essence, being unable to forgive himself for providing a cause in the first place. He could be lying about the whole wanting to scare Ai and all thing thinking "It’s all my fault, I'm a bad person," because he doesn't want to live. This character doesn't really want to live in the first place. I think he rather wants himself to be hated.

Additionally, if I were the author, the upcoming chapters would likely be the fun parts that I’ve really wanted to write.

It would be the "Now I can tell!" parts. If what I think is correct, the entire idea we have had about Kamiki in the beginning could be totally flipped. That'd be so fun as the writer, seeing all the readers going "oh my gosh what the heck?? so this was how things were all along?" I'd do that, actually. Since he is the protagonist’s parent, he wouldn’t be a character that's written with hate.. The author has experience in writing romance, so I think he'd be capable of writings stuff like that, that'd be his forte. Depending on how the past is filled in, the explanation of his actions could be extremely varied.

Even as I write this, it seems unlikely. However, the circumstances presented in chapter 154 are not easy to accept based on Ai's previous actions and common sense.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

"Honorary Water Tribe member"

Kuruk: I think we should claim Kyoshi as an "Honorary Water Tribe" member. Kyoshi: What the fuck are you talking about? Korra: Yeah Kuruk, I don't really get it. Aang: Yeah if anyone is going to be one, it should be me! I'm at least married to someone from the Water Tribe! Heck, even Yangchen counts. Yangchen: You all keep my private life out of this! Kyoshi: Yangchen, quick, what do we do when we're hit with allegations?! Yangchen: Deny, deny, deny. Blame it on spirits! Kyoshi: No! We take accountability! Yangchen: You stay in your lane, I'll stay in mine. Kuruk, please elaborate. Kuruk: Thank you, Yangchen. As I was saying. I think Kyoshi should be labeled as a member of the tribe! Roku: I mean, as Avatar's we technically belong to all the nations- Kuruk: That's not what I mean! Kyoshi: Then what the hell do you mean????? Kuruk: What I mean is, Kyoshi you've inherited some key features from me, my wife, and Kavik. Kyoshi:............................. Yangchen:.............................. Korra, Aang, Roku: ???????? Kyoshi: Hey Yangchen..... Yangchen: ...... Kyoshi: He's talking about your boy, you want to stop him? Yangchen: My boy? I don't have a boy. Kavick? Who's he? I'm leaving. Leave me out of this. Kyoshi: Damn, denying that poor boy of an existence, the hell do I have in common with him? Kuruk: You're both the subbiest bottoms I've ever met. Kyoshi: ......................................... Kyoshi: Kuruk, what do you want to say to your wife? Kuruk: What- Kyoshi: Kuruk, tell me what you want to tell your wife. Because I will find Koh and relay the message, after I FUCKING RIP YOUR SPINE OUT THROUGH YOUR THROAT- Kuruk, pulls Kyoshi into a one arm bear hug: THAT'S MY GIRL! Look at that bloodlust! You got that from me! Kyoshi: ?????! Kuruk: You also got my amazing game too! Dripping with rizz and you don't even try! Like c'mon! Nyahitha even says we're basically twins! Kyoshi: Kuruk shut- Kuruk: And same taste in the ladies~! uwu Kyoshi: ........................................................ Korra: She's going to kill him. Kyoshi: I'm going to kill him. Kuruk: You also have my wife's face, so I think that qualifies too! Kyoshi: Get off of me. Kuruk: Korra, you also inherited Rangi's wishes for Kyoshi! A castle, guards, people love you! Korra: Heh, so that means they're my great-grandmas? Kuruk: Exactly! Korra: You know what? I kinda feel a kinship with her, esp with Kuvira and Chin. Damn, I didn't realize Kyoshi had so much in common with us. Kuruk: I know! From our looks, to our personality, or our vibe. She deserves to be part of our Tribe! Kyoshi: None of you are making any sense. Let go of me and go do whatever you want. I'm leaving! Yangchen! Wait up!

[makelikenewton]

Hello, 🌹🇵🇸🍉

I hope you are well.

Could you please help me reblog the post on my account to save my family from the war in Gaza? 🙏

I am new to Tumblr and also to GoFundMe.🙏

I hope you can support and stand by me at the beginning .

Thank you ♥️ .

---

Yeah, of course. You got it.

Here is a link to this persons gofundme. Please, donate if you can. Share if you cannot.

If this ends up being a scam, i will be deleting this post.

[thatgirlonstage]

Holds Natsuki Subaru in my hands

[narwhalandchill]

wait aint no fucking way an actual genshin loretuber even jokingly acknowledged the rabbit hole insanity that is childe 3rd descender theories what the fuck.

is it finally legal for me to break my self imposed silence on the subject without publicly and shamefully removing all my credibility on genshin lore. please please . this is a super fucking vulnerable moment for me guysssss

(under read more bc full disclosure 100% i Will embarrass myself here. this is NOT on my top of the line Childe Theories And Analysis That I Will Defend In Court Under My Legal Name if Questioned list please understand. this is way more self indulgent and wildly speculative for me as much as i do Genuinely see there being a ground for the theory to stand on. ik when im off to the deep end JKWDKJJKWDJKWD)

like seriously be Aware this WILL be a complete mess btw you have all been warned so like no refunds accepted. if youd like to keep an image of me in your head where i am even slightly respectable and realistic when it comes to my theories please stay there. in the light. where the sun shines.

......

...

so. you have chosen death. o7

ok firstly. YES i KNOWW childe 3rd descender theory is batshit stuff thats Why i havent said shit abt it all this time bc i do Not trust myself to be truly objective on the subject bc i Want the theory to be real so bad so its like of course ill readily disregard all other possible candidates for 3rd descender bc bias. and also see it as more plausible that ajax has sth to do w that and make connections more readily. than any lore enthused person existing without his continued rent free existence in their brain for the last 3+ years. so like. yes. listen. i Know i know its prolly not real. but also i must # speak my truth .

anyway the vid didnt even fully touch on all the like. shady fucking shit when it comes to the Curious coincidences. bc like. so firstly the star thing and connections w childe

so wei did bring up the whole . ajax is released on patch 1.1 called "a new star approaches" (and also polar star is his sig) . except like Theres More bc while i was researching random childe brain rot stuff (sadly dont remember/have a link to where i first saw it) . that title in CN is even more pointedly About ajax bc apparently its about a "guest star". and a guest star again according to that post at least is specifically considered an omen of bad luck in chinese astrology. a guest star approaching = a disaster approaching. like mayhaps a ginger guy resurrecting osial or something . huh . maybe ajax Is the guestpilled starmaxxer in that title. the approacherrrrrr, even

secondly. there are some well hidden references to ajax As A Star in the fontaine AQ too. bc the act III where we go looking for him after he goes missing is called "to the stars shining in the depths" except again i have found a source (yes no link to it saved once again my bad) that its titled "to the morning star in the deep water" in chinese. which is again star singular. curious

then theres the act III official description. that goes "the moment it seized its destiny, the star quietly fell from its lofty perch". and like idk abt yall but if its fontaine AQ act III and you ask me WHOS out there seizing their destiny of all things. It Seems Somewhat Plausible To Argue that its PROBABLY referring to the guy thats out there getting teleported to the primordial sea to face the creature thats Literally etched into the stars as his constellation. like . i have a very Difficult time trying to see the star that is seizing its destiny at this moment as Anyone but him reuniting w the narwhal for the first time in a decade and his 1st thought is to throw hands JKJKWDJKWDJKWDJK

(also. "fell from its lofty perch". fell from where. falling towards where. mayhaps even................ descending?????? if Seizing your destiny is taking your fate into your own hands.... a star that Falls from its perch.... that Descends after seizing its destiny....... Curious is all i will say. hey guys do you think your vision would mayhaps begin rejecting you if you start seizing ur own destiny and thus failing to follow the "duty" of predestined fate that same vision had bestowed upon you. guys do you think a star that seizes its destiny and falls from its lofty perch would get vision error 404. guys----)

also this is a smaller thing bc i think ascension mat theories are largely fringe and not that reliable (ning guizhong reincarnation "theories" ThoseWhoKnow) but i do think it can be acknowledged as a sort of. Extension to all these curious references to stars and being A Star when it comes to childe. he does use Star Conches for ascension . so like it can be a little extra on top of the other more serious more Professionally Certified star things hoyo is curiously attaching to him

so like . a star. a star also being a thing the traveler is repeatedly called. its so quirky that this pattern continues. so thats one thing

oh and also. if childes the non-descender (bc he clearly hasnt regained that status Yet) reincarnated soul of the 3rd descender.

you know what. a dead star. if its massive enough. like perhaps massive enough in some genshin metaphysical fantasy way. to be a star that counts as a descender with a will that rivals a world. if a heavy enough. star. dies. you know. you know what they turn into---

[THERE IS A MAD GLEAM IN MY EYES. YOU HEAR BOSS MUSIC.]

Anyway Hello Dear Reader Of Mine Humble Blog Would You Like To Spare A Moment To Discuss How The All-Devouring Narwhal That Consumes Any And All Stellar Object Coming Into Its Orbit Also Known As Ajax' Reflection In Teyvat's Skies Is Essentially A Sentient Living Black Hole And How A Black Hole Is Formed When A Star Dies? No? Okay.

like wouldnt it be super fucking funny if the constellation of the dead descenders reincarnated soul is a creature that for all intents and purposes is a black hole. like. a dead star. wouldnt that be funny

and before you ask. yes i have thoughts that would make ajax & narwhal are soulmates slash halves of the same entity that remains fully compatible with the 3rd descender brainrot but i. will Not subject you people to that. theres "respectably self aware insane theory i indulge in but know the limitations of" and then theres "jens top 10 personal jenshin impact plot twist wishlist please fulfill mr dawei pwease i swear itll be peak" like ffs. it might seem otherwise given the words i am saying right now but i do have Some propriety

the divine halberd was shattered into NINE piece---- (GUNSHOT)

whoa. what a loser high on her own hopium i wonder who that was. good thing the snipers got her ass there

back to your regularly scheduled programming. obviously theres other things that would very conveniently be explained by this 3rd descender shit as well like. dead eyes. soul of a dead descender thats in Literal Pieces body wise. the dead star that carries a curse above ground upon first making contact with the truth of his being aka post abyss training camp post meeting his mirror imaged destiny in his narwhal. a curse like mayhaps bringing chaos whenever he goes. an incompatibility with the world. drawing everything into his orbit being the eye of the storm or perhaps... the Singularity???? the event horizon??? a source of endless unrest and disaster........ just like the curse of a gnosis TEE HEE .

anyway super funny how that goes. and then another thing wei didnt really. fully go into is naturally the

(DEEP BREATH)

3rd son of his family with 3 older siblings and 3 younger siblings 3rd limited character ever released with 3 names and the 3rd weekly boss with 3 phases each representing 3 unique sources of power (vision, delusion and foul legacy) a 3 petaled symbol aka the triquetra of riptide and six in-game constellations divided into 3 subgroups with 3 unique prefixes (foul legacy, abyssal mayhem, havoc in eng) 3 days missing from teyvat and 3 months spent in abyss is 3rd to wield foul legacy after surtalogi and skirk

also the first character to receive a 3rd rateup banner ANYWAY (also the possible. is the 3rd reincarnation of the original ajax thing. but yeas)

[Me When I'm In A Be Suspiciously Associated With The Number 3 Competition And My Opponent Is Childe Ajax Tartaglia]

isnt it just silly. how many times it comes up. Nobody talk to meeeee its so over

theres prolly some other things too that i have driven myself to madness with when thinking abt this but idr em right now and like . not like this is any manner of serious respectable theory anyway sooooooooo

anyway ill stop embarrassing myself now. like as i said i have been legally forcing myself into silence on this bc listen. i KNOW this is bullshit i KNOW im a deranged biased childe main who will do Anything just to cook up a fantasy version of genshins endgame lore where My Dude is at the center stage and gets to be a massive fucking deal yes 100% deserve to be disqualified on account of terminal stage blorbo bias when it comes to theories on the subject i just. the fact that this is the FIRST time i see Any loretuber person acknowledge the theory. i just had to come in here and let it be known that. Yes. ive been seeing this shit and thinking abt it SINCE 4.2 dropped since that stupid fucking note about forsaking the self and being reborn in the abyss as a holy infant or a primordial human or a descender and that somehow Thats called Ajax. of all things. its horribleeee it eats me alive

[decidueyedreamerdetails]

Loyal/Lousy Three’s Revival

Okay but did we ever actually get any explanation for how they came back to life? I’ve seen a few theories, one of them being it was the Tera Crystals in Ogerpon’s mask, but I feel like we would have seen that ability alluded to elsewhere if that was the case. (And Indigo Disk confirms that Kitakami’s Crystal Pool showing you the deceased is time travel, not anything to do with resurrection.)

Another theory I’ve seen is it was Pecharunt’s doing, and while there’s nothing in the game to say it CAN bring back the dead - it’s powers seem to revolve around controlling people - it does feel more credible than the crystal theory? The light shown at the Three’s revival was purple, and Pecharunt is their master too.

Or maybe they were just petty enough to revive themselves out of spite because a kid slightly disrespected their grave, it wouldn’t be out of character at this point.

[chibishortdeath]

Woahg, that’s a lot—

Explanations under a cut :3

This is Simon like immediately after defeating Dracula. Just sitting on his knees, hands on his face. He needs a minute, but he’s not gonna get a long one cause the castle is collapsing—

Wow! What a nice happy family :3. I sure hope nothing happens to them! :3 I’ve always liked to arrange the series of events like first Selena and Simon met and got married, then the Dracula stuff went down, so uh yeah uh fan interpretation of their (currently) unnamed kids.

The text here says “where’s momma?”, said by his daughter (who by this point is 2-3 about). Shout out to the artist ability to make yourself really sad—

Just Simon and the kids chillin. He probably was a really good dad, just kinda struggling.

Little quick doodle of the designs of the kids. Agh I need to name both of them (TwT ). It’s hard, I feel like they gotta have nice but cool names, but I just haven’t found any I like yet. Anyway, the one on the left is the older daughter and the one on the right is the younger brother and as of Simon’s quest they are 10 and 7 respectively. The brother would’ve been born the year of CV1 if I have my math right, so when Simon was 22.

Sobbing! It be like that sometimes 💀. This might count as like one part vent art and one part just expression and emotion practice :O.

This one also kinda counts as vent art I guess lol idk. It says “I did everything right”. I was thinking of a specific audio while drawing this and tbh I might actually have to animate something hmmm. Or just still images cause animation is hardddddddd oof. The text isn’t like from the audio or anything either (>< ;).

This one is based on an old insert character here kind of meme :D. The text says “step 1: establish character with a little worry but a lot of determination. Step 2: inflict soul crushing trauma Step 3: inflict soul crushing trauma—“ and that repeats until step 5 lol. The original meme only had two images, but each of these are supposed to be based on specific events so yeah. First one is just pre CV1, then the moment he got hit, then shortly after leaving the castle, then in the graveyard 6 years later, then somewhere in the middle of his quest.

This one is fun!!!!!! It’s an idea for like a double sided keychain :D!!!!! One side has the like CV1/CV4 era Simon swinging on one of those loops and the other is Simon’s Quest!!! And it’s supposed to be the Hanged Man tarot card!!! So cool!!! Idk how making keychains works so if I actually did this I’d probs just make one in shrink plastic tbh. But ough it would be so cool to actually make and sell little fan keychains and stuff (TwT ).

This one I don’t remember if I’ve posted or not but it’s never getting finished 💀💀💀. Gotta love drawing The Character in increasingly dynamic poses and surreal ways.

Ok it’s super late I have to sleep 💀👍

[burnsopale]

Childermass & Segundus - it sounds very well

So one day the York Society of Magicians receives a new member, and Childermass is like okay, no big deal, those guys never do anything interesting anyway.

But then, right, then the new guy and one of the old guys writes to Mr Norrell and asks if they may have the pleasure of waiting on him sometime, and Mr Norrell is like "No" but Childermass is like "Actually yes" because he's intrigued, or because the cards have told him something is about to happen, or because Mr Norrell is years overdue to go to London and revive English magic and Childermass figures this might jostle him into doing something. We don't know what exactly happened, but it seems likely that it was Childermass who made the visit possible, because the idea of Mr Norrell ever wanting visitors is impossible to accept.

So these two theoretical magicians come to Hurtfew Abbey, and Childermass is in the library waiting for the visit to end and Norrell to show up and tell him what the men wanted, but instead, when the door opens, there they are, the visitors, having been invited to see the library and what the fuck did they say to old Gilbert to make that happen?? Not that it matters, they're not gonna remember anything by the time they get home, the enchantments will see to that.

Mr Norrell introduces Childermass, and the new guy gives him a look like Childermass facinates him, but Childermass is used to that. He figures he'll just hang out until they leave.

Except the new guy, who is a dark, timid-looking little man named John Segundus, keeps looking around like he can sense the spells lighting the room, keeps looking out the window like he's not happy with the orientation of the walls, keeps blinking like the magic is making him a little dizzy. John Segundus is clearly magic sensitive. No one in the York Society is magic sensitive, Childermass knows that for a fact. This is suddenly intriguing.

So Childermass ends up keeping half an eye on Mr Segundus as he explores, until Mr Segundus notices, sensitive as he is, and their eyes meet. Childermass reads longing, need, delight and confusion on the man's face, but Childermass is without pity; by the time Mr Segundus gets home, he won't remember what he's seen. It doesn't matter; no one in the York Society ever did anything interesting anyway.

But then later, the letter from Dr Foxcastle comes, and Mr Norrell is Upset and Offended, and Childermass realises that the Revival is about to start at last. And because Mr Norrell is fearful and Childermass is pitiless, they send a lawyer with their demands.

Mr Robinson the lawyer returns to Hurtfew a little perplexed. Oh yes, they all signed, just like you said they would, every one of them ... except ... except one. Childermass is a little surprised to discover that the timid little man had a spine after all. Mr Norrell wants Mr Robinson to go back and demand the last signature, but Childermass says "Wait". And at this point, we do not know what he is thinking. Perhaps he simply thinks that they will need someone to write to London once the miracle has been done, and Mr Segundus is more likely to be amiable if he has not just been deprived of his calling. But then, Mr Honeyfoot, the other visitor, would definitely be happy to write, even though he WILL be deprived of that same calling. Perhaps, Childermass thinks that this is a strangely fateful twist, that the one member of the York Society who has an actual talent for magic is the one person who refused to give it up. Maybe he remembers a time when he himself was full of longing for magic, when he could sense it all around him but was unable to grasp it, when he too would get dizzy in Mr Norrell's library. He may not feel pity, but he can be intrigued. He convinces Mr Norrell to let Mr Segundus be.

Childermass laughs inside when John Segundus doesn't recognise him outside the cathedral, but then startles when the man almost recalls after all. He is not supposed to be able to break the enchantment. Thankfully, the moment passes, and after the magic is done, Mr Segundus turns out to be exactly as easy to manipulate as Childermass thought he would be. The polite ones are easy, especially when they are full of need and longing, and keep looking at Childermass like he has the answers they are searching for. Maybe Childermass uses a little bit of magic to persuade the man to write to London, or maybe he just smiles, and waits, and lets John Segundus come to him of his own accord.

Childermass returns to Hurtfew Abbey and says to his master "Go to London. Go now." and because Childermass knows about these things, they go.

And nine years pass in London.

But occasionally during those nine years, Childermass turns his attention to York, to see what timid little John Segundus is up to. Mostly it's not much.

Until Jonathan Strange happens. That he happens at all is rather extraordinary, but how interesting that he should come to seek Mr Norrell on the advice of John Segundus? For sure there are many people with an affinity for magic in England, but how many of them are magicians? Too few, thinks Childermass. How likely is it that two of them should meet at random? He wonders if this is another fated twist.

So he continues to keep half an eye on York, just in case Mr Segundus should discover how to actually grasp the magic that surrounds him. But when Strange returns from the war in Spain, his conversation tells Childermass that even with the learning, even with actual spells to hand, their timid little man in York cannot make the magic work.

John Segundus begins taking on pupils. Childermass keeps it from Mr Norrell. Childermass has been the instrument of many a theoretical magician's destruction, Childermass reads the hearts of men and feels no pity for them, and yet Childermass keeps John Segundus hidden from Mr Norrell. Maybe, just maybe, John Childermass is beginning to feel a little bit of pity after all. He was once the one longing to master the powers that often overpowered him. He too loves magic so much, enough to endure servitude and secrecy to be near it.

But then John Segundus wants to start a school. Well, if he is going to be that silly, then Childermass cannot help him. Mr Norrell finds out, Mr Norrell panics, and he dispatches Childermass to York to put a stop to this evil plan. Business as usual in other words.

Childermass sits quite comfortably on the steps of Starecross when John Segundus comes home. Childermass delivers his message.

"You know me, Sir," he says, completely forgetting that while he has always had half an eye on John Segundus, John Segundus has not seen Childermass for nine years. Maybe, just maybe, Childermass is a little embarrassed at his mistake. But the errand is completed, and Mr Segundus is easy to manipulate, because he is so very gentle and polite.

Childermass may or may not have noticed that he has been manipulated in turn, because he, who has no pity for any man, lets Mr Segundus know that he regrets that the school cannot be, and he is willing to do what he can to keep Mr Segundus' dream from failing entirely. Although of course, he knows that a regular school is not at all the same as a school of magic.

Childermass knows what it's like to long, but he has found, if not the answers to his questions, then at least the tools by which to hunt them down. He can do the magic.

Then Mr Strange and Mr Norrell quarrel.

And then Lady Pole tries to shoot Mr Norrel. The lady walks with one foot in Faerie and one in London, and for a while, so does Childermass. Something is not right with the lady, but Mr Norrell won't tell him what magic he employed to bring her back from the dead. She'll be sent away somewhere where Childermass will have no chance to discover the truth. Unless of course he decides where she goes. Perhaps for instance to one whom Childermass knows will feel the Faerie winds blowing about the lady, someone who will be able to carry on the search for the truth, whether he knows that he's doing Childermass' work or not. Mr Segundus is easy to manipulate.

Childermass recommends to Sir Walter that he send his wife to Starecross in Yorkshire. How fortuitous that the master of that hall has just decided to open a madhouse there. Surely the visions that gave him the idea were entirely coincidental.

Mr Norrell and Childermass quarrel.

Jonathan Strange Returns magic to England. The Raven King returns to England and rewrites his book.

Mr Norrell and Mr Strange disappear into Faerie.

Suddenly, Childermass is the most experienced magician in England. No one has read as much, has practiced as much, or knows the spells he knows.

But he thinks that there is one man who will not be far behind him in achieving similar results. And maybe Childermass wonders sometimes if it was not all meant to be this way, that it was fate, that he himself was meant to come out on the other side as a student of the two great modern magicians of the age, and that he was meant to bring with him, sheltered under his wing, a dark, timid little man with an extraordinary sensitivity to magic. The books may be gone, but through his instruments, the Raven King has made sure that the new generation of magicians are both capable of and eager to read the magic written on the sky. It will take sensitive men, full of longing, and isn't it fortuitous then, that all those years ago, in the library at Hurtfew Abbey, Childermass recognised another like himself in John Segundus, and decided to keep half an eye on him.

[the-meme-monarch]

Your strange someone frisk makes me think of what if they choosed to stay and disappeared thanks to gaster and everyone in ut either doesn't remember them or atleast one person does maybe flowey and now are trying to find frisk

OH GOOODDD IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU CHOOSING TO STAY AND THEN FRISK JUST DISAPPEARS AND LIKE. everyone being like “I guess they changed their mind? :( well at least we have their number” AND IT DOESNT WORK IT’S JUST GARBAGE NOISE and toriel being SO fucked up over all of this bc she left them a slice of pie that night!!!! she was the last person to see them!! and then they’re just gone the next morning!!!!!! probably didn’t even eat the pie!!!!!!!!! what if they were kidnapped? what if they really did just change their mind and left in the night? which hurts worse? BUT EVERYONE JUST. FORGETTING ABOUT FRISK. BC THEY JUST DONT EXIST ANYMORE. AND ONLY FLOWEY REMEMBERING THEM AND LOOKING FOR THEMMMMM OOOOOAAAUUGHHHHOOO

[a-url-that-exists]

hot take Deadpool and Wolverine wasn't that good it was sort of just Ryan jacking off about how much money Disney was giving him, fanservice, and comic book/tv show references that only the most hardcore nerds would get.

[divinekangaroo]

Surprised actually there’s no body-swap fic in PB fandom.

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

As an early modernist, it's always bizarre to see so much writing advice along the lines of "I just wish more writers read broadly enough to understand the fundamental distinctiveness of original characters and story lines in fiction writing, the thing that separates true literature from all other forms of fiction writing..."

I mean, I wish people read broadly enough to understand that the value for originality as the foremost defining quality of publishable fiction is bound up in deeply modern assumptions driven by capitalism and intellectual property law, but none of us get everything we want, I guess!

...But seriously, even if you restrict yourself to English-language literature, please read some fiction written prior to 1700 before forming arguments about the fundamental nature of fictional literature through all of time and space. You don't get Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida without Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, and you don't get Chaucer's Criseyde without Boccaccio's.

This isn't simply loose inspiration in the way that all things have inspirations, but active engagement with a very specific character and plot none of them had invented. Chaucer's version of Criseyde in particular is very much in dialogue with other iterations of her, and the sympathy and nuance he brings to the character really rewards familiarity with the Cressida figure as usually depicted—a familiarity he could, at the time, expect his audience to have.

That kind of intertextuality was extremely normalized at the time as a general rule, not only when it came to specific works or authors, and would be so for centuries afterwards. In fact, fiction writing involving pre-existing characters and plots was a common element of fiction written in English for far longer than capitalism has existed. We are still closer in time to when Shakespeare was writing Troilus and Cressida than he was to the medieval source of the story.

[castleclerics]

i’ve noticed recently that there are an insane amount of blatant parallels between life is strange and stranger things but this one takes the cake for blowing my mind the most

it’s so obvious they got inspiration from that scene i wonder how long they’ve been waiting to do this lmao. and both of these scenes are the ends of episodes !

even the song ‘obstacles’ fits the end scene of s4 so well my god i got a little teary

[chuuzmii]

While im on a roll i might as well talk about how tiktok 911 fans think buck cheating doesn't count. And ik what ur saying "Michu tiktok fans really? U shouldn't talk about their opinions cus their brain stems look like swiss cheese!!" Ik tumblr user and i understand but i still want to talk about it.

Anyway so like tiktok fans are saying buck kissing lucy doesn't count as cheating because "Lucy fed him alcohol and got him drunk then sa'd him" and like ik buck has a history of sa. That thing with the therapist was so fucking icky and genuinely made me concerned with the writers because like wtf?? How did u think thT was okay??? so like i get it but i think sometimes u guys sort of .. woe is me buck a little bit to make him the Squeaky Clean White Boy™ because Lucy did not force feed Buck drinks what the fuck. Literally canonically we only see her give him maybe one or two drinks the rest of the time he's drinking with EVERYONE? and we have seen buck belligerently drunk and he was not that there. I also find this crazy because when he retracted consent LUCY LET HIM? Like i feel like some of u guys just have this deep need to villify every woman that comes into contact with eddie and buck and its weird. Some of u guys have some real internalized misogyny to work through brother. Buck cheated. Its okay. Buck could punch an old lady in the head and i promise i wouldnt gaf. But some ppl just HAVE to have buck be perfect and pure so they just make up the worst shit they can about the 911 women its so strange and baffling

[mobiused]

I have a lore question if you habe the time: do we know why yyxy is in Cher from Clueless cosplay?

I've spoken about this before, I can't find where I've spoke about this before, but I think it's to do with setting yyxy's time in Eden as a story that takes place in the 90s. A lot of the lore is set in the late 90s, indicated primiarly in Vivi's and yyxy's arc with fashion and technology, such as the cassette tapes, walkmans, computers, VHSs and whatnot. As mentioned in the 1/3 section of this post, I think there might be some geopolitical signifiers too, that suggest a lot of the story is set in this time period. Talking about Walkmans at all reminds me of this theory, from ChoerryColour, whose theories are focused on metanarratives and the music industry and really worth checking out.

By using one of the most iconic outfits from the 90s, right in 1995, it helps indicate when this part of the story is taking place, and what that means. If yyxy's arc occurs at the same time as Vivi's pre-robotification life (as suggested by EDILY's retro vibes) then you can more easily make connections between the two, like why Yves shows up on Earth in The Carol 2.0, why Vives go on a date in 'new', why a lot of strange things happen like they do. What message are they trying to deliver by setting it specifically in the 90s, over setting it in present day, or a nonspecific time all together?