#then again I've come up with outright crazy theories

[mileymint]

Anyone else think Khan is gonna develop into this?

I mean. This concept art is high-effort and detail. He IS developing into SOMETHING.

I mean, he already has a gun and a slight new attitude.

And he's about to get into a 3-on-1 fight with J. I'd be surprised if he doesn't see any injury at all.

Like, Alice's concept art wasn't as detailed and the only thing that really changed was the outfit. It was still the same character

Edit after adding tags: Please read the tags lmao I rambled again

[thr0wnawayy]

Midoriya's Delusion

This is post that builds upon my previous one, I've copied many of the points I made there to here. Albiet with some corrections and tweaks.

To summarize, I have a bit of a crack theory that chapter 430 isn't as real as we've been led to believe. (As for when this actually takes place, that's up to you but I like to imagine the start of his third year marks the beginning of his mental decline.)

(As an update, I find it dubious whether 8 years have actually passed or if that's also a part of the fantasy. I can see Midoriya becoming so attached to the lie that his reference of time begins to warp)

This theory mostly comes from some inconsistencies in regards to the hero rankings and some other things I've found.

Corrections:

It's left ambiguous whether Best Jeanist and Endeavor are still active. However the fact that people view these two in a postive light (especially after Dabi and the war) still seems absurd.

2. Midoriya wasn't outright abandoned, rather their busy schedules make it hard for their days off to coincide. This falls apart when you look at this panel

"The rate of new villains keep decreasing and the number of heroes have stabilized"

Besides Ochaco who's funding a quirk counseling project, the rest of the class should be able to make time. Again it's stated that they aren't actually fighting.

There's no real threat to face. Besides PR and Community Service there's bot a whole lot else (besides the occasional natural disaster)

One could argue it's because the scope of what heroes do is increasing, thus keeping them busy. But again, we see heroes doing exactly what they did before, PR, Advertising and (implied) Showboating.

This leads me to believe that the lack of contact is based in reality, to some extent.

Whether it was by choice or forced by their (1A's) respective PR teams to preserve their images (can't be seen around the "freaks" for too long, now can we?).

The lie comes in the form of busy schedules.

Now whether that's what Midoriya tells himself or what he's been told, I cannot say for certain.

Disturbia:

For those of you who didn't read my last post, you may be wondering, so what's going on?.

Simply put:

Midoriya's having a breakdown fantasy to cope with the fact that he won't be becoming a hero due to the loss of his quirk.

Im aware it sounds crazy but consider the following:

1. Midoriya subconsciously knows the way he's been treated was wrong.

This manifests within the escapists fantasy in Bakugo's drop in the rankings + the attitude surrounding him (as well as his damaged hand never fully healing)

He meets a kid who just so happens to be in a near exact same position as he once* was (and still is to an extent). One could take this as his mind's way of trying to cope and heal itself, by having Midoriya do what he does best and help others, henceforth working though his trauma by using the kid as a stand in.

*Even the kid's "bully" seems to be a warped version of Bakugo (perhaps this is how Midoriya tries to fool himself into believing how it was)

2. We see Kota.

I believe that here, Kota serves as what Midoriya thinks he could have been had he not failed. Kota is the idealized version of Midoriya here, the unobtainable.

3. A lesson ignored

Apparently people forgot the connection between Endeavor and Shoto. You'd think this would be a good thing as Shoto would be able to become his own person.

This falls flat when you remember that also includes people forgetting the reason and happenings behind Shoto's existence, it feels like Midoriya is trying to have his cake and eat it too

To elaborate, this is a major copout, it allows Shouto to be unaffected by his family's past bith career wise and emotionally. While also feeding into Midoriya's rather toxic belief that forgiveness is required to be a good person.

(The fact that killing Tomura violated this only adds to my theory that this whole thing is an escapist coping mechanism.)

(You can also add the idea that Tomura didn't forgive society for what they did to him and his friends. That likely broke all the "rules" that Midoriya knew.)

4. The Mech Suit is a massive cope, it's the dying whimper of Midoriya's childish hope that All Might will save the day.

This time there's no magic quirk, no garrish mech suit, no plot twist.

No. There's only Midoriya and the consequences of his, his classmates and hero societies actions. It doesn't matter how shiny and seamless the illusion, how sweet the lie.

You can't hide the blood.

Concerning Aspects:

That was mostly the revised stuff, let me introduce you to some new points

1. A Frozen Lake

Something I noticed was certain characters seem to be almost frozen in time, as if someone tried to continue a story using scraps of the original text.

The curious case of Rei Himura:

This scene seems almost stagnant, what was most noticeable was Enji's bandages still being on and Rei still being there.

It's as if Midoriya hasn't seen them in years (or perhaps doesn't want to acknowledge what happened). So his mind uses what he last saw/heard of them, creating a sterile, static scenario. Little better than props.

Those surrounding her (with the exception of Hawks) also seem to be stuck in the past.

It's definitely strange.

2. See No Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak No Evil

Shigaraki is a representation of Midoriya's repressed guilt and his fears. I believe deep down Midoriya knows that, inevitably the cycle will repeat, so long as the system is allowed fester and wallow in it's complancy.

I find the fact that he's behind Midoriya to be ironic, as if to say: don't look back, don't think about what you've done.

A Symbol of Stagnation:

I should warn you that it does get lengthy from here, however I think it's important to get the full picture. Even if I tend to ramble here.

It's implied here that Lemillion's the top hero. This is awful for a variety of reasons. Mirio is a horrible symbol.

All Might was flawed for a variety of reasons, but a majority of these were byproducts rather than directly being his own doing.

Mirio on the other hand, has such a cancerous philosophy that it actively harms all who interact with it.

Mirio is a follower, he follows orders first and asks questions never.

Eri is the best example of this. Even after Nighteye's death, Mirio never truly reflects on the damage his actions could have caused ( only saved by the narrative, seriously it's a miracle Eri trusts anyone besides Midoriya after being abandoned like that)

You see, the difference between Toshinori and Mirio lies in their actions and principles.

Mirio left Eri to die, all for the sake of the "mission".

For all the heroes knew, Eri could have been a trafficking victim and either have been killed or relocated. But no, appearances and "gotta catch em all" take priority even after knowing Eri is in the Yakuza's clutches.

Lemillion made the worst decisions possible. He followed a known murder into a secluded, restricted area (with a hostage mind you) bringing his pupil with him.

Willingly ignored blatant signs of abuse (just look at the girl) and played hooky with thre leader of a criminal organization, who is known for his short fuse and willingness to kill.

He did all of that, when he could have easily detained Overhaul at any point (his quirk being a direct counter)

Toroshinori would fight tooth and nail in that situation. Consequences be damned if it meant saving Eri.

Part of the reason Toroshinori was so effective as a hero was 1. His sense of justice and 2. His compassion.

Mirio is a symbol that can be controlled, a weapon if you will.

The fact that Mirio is at the top shows that things haven't changed and are even beginning to decline. So this brings me to my next point

You may be asking, if Midoriya's losing it in his own mind, what's the outside world look really like?.

Allow me to set the stage.

4. Speculation

Within Midoriya's muddled mind, Lemillion represents both his toxic optimism and a subconscious understanding that nothing has changed. It represents denial and acceptance, a dysfunctional middle ground that's easy enough for Midoriya to stomach.

The truth of the matter is, delusion or not, the reality is soon to sink in.

Something that I don't see discussed is the lack of reactions from other nations or really any insight into how they were affected by everything that happend.

Here's the idea: Most likely they are foaming at the mouth.

Particularly it's the countries who suffered under Imperial Japan in the past (Korea, China, Singapore etc), however this also applies to every nation Nedzu brow beat into aiding with the rebuilding efforts, albiet their reaction would be latent.

Not not only is the attitude painfully reminiscent of how Japan handles it's past atrocities, Japan has had them clean up their messes. seen below:

(you cannot tell me Big Red Dot over here is having a good time)

From an outside pov. The Commission never told anyone about AFO, rather they suppressed any information, locked him up in Tartarus and then sat on the whole situation until it blew up in their (read: everyones) faces.

He then proceeded to: kill over 8000 people (+ those killed during the Blackout period), kill the top hero of one of the world's most powerful nations and incite mass panic. Destroyed massive amounts of infrastructure and transport nationwide, broke thousands of criminals out of prison, destroying those prisons in the process.

Meanwhile the heroes:

Abandoned civilians in mass by quitting in the middle of a war.

Left the public in the dark for months and allowing crime and paranoia to grow rampant, even (forcibly) bringing someone they knew was being targeted by AFO and his forces to the one place they could find shelter.

Mutilated a seven year old girl. Who has a history of being mutilated for the gain of others and patted themselves on the back. (Also having no holdup on how that may effect her physically via her quirk or mentally via her trauma)

Mic: tried to kill a docile prisoner who could be considered in comatose, based off of his emotional attachment to a dead man + viewing it as justified if it meant Spinner couldn't get to him.

Used hospital staff and patients as meatshields (Central Hospital) during a riot.

Most had no qualms supporting a child beating eugenicist and implied marital rapist, even with his one of his victims exposed him and citing it as his main reason for turning to villainy.

Held an illegal questioning* with said abuser while ignoring his main victim (Rei, who is probably the most reliable source of information there)

(*which effectively is like conducting an investigation on yourself and declaring you are not guilty)

And so much more! (But this post is getting too long)

My point is by the time everything was said and done, it seemed everyone but Japan was paying for it.

It's outright stated that the US president risked national security by sending every hero they had to help Japan. (Impeachment worthy if you ask me)

Endeavor's little plan to kill himself and Dabi in a blaze of death ended up disrupting the weather. Very likely it'll end up resembling an El Niño phenomenon, only vastly off schedule and even more destructive than normal.

For Reference [https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html]

Very likely it'll lead to an agricultural drought in the northern America's and mass flooding in southern America's, likely starting at the west coast and bleeding inland. Leading to a domino effect where cost of living surges due to the sudden displacement of people and the rapid loss of products.

Worse still, because the US had no heroes (likely for months on end), crime has likely surged in the America's, which will further impact the rest of the world.

The rebuilding efforts likely emptied the wallets of most participating countries, leaving them unable to help anyone, including themselves.

Also keep in mind that Japan incriminated themselves with the Business Course footage. I don't think the general public (outside of Japan) is going to take too kindly to a known murder and abuse apologist being in charge of a system already known for it's corruption.

The end result is likely be a world that detests Japan, either from a moral perspective (Rei's treatment + the treatment of those society abandoned), a financial perspective (we can't afford shit and you contributed to that) or historical perspective (you do this everytime and ignore the consequences).

A world divided by struggle and united by an immense loathing for the Commission's Japan and the culture surrounding it.

Oh, don't forget there's no finding left for quirk research. Meaning that it's very likely no one will be prepared for quirk singularity to start manifesting in the upcoming generations (Thanks Nedzu).

_______________________________________

Update: Can I just say that Aizawa's lack of ownership infuriates me even though this is likely a fantasy and not grounded in reality.

Like what the fuck do you mean "with the way he talks, it was pointless" Fantasy Aizawa.

Because "Hey Asshole", You deliberately ignored his attitude and offenses!. And what? Now your just gonna shrug it off like it wasn't your fault. To hell with that you had two years, most teacher are said to only get one. As you so graciously mentioned at the start of this shit show of an epilouge.

Heres the moment I'm referring to btw:

While we're at it. Are you telling me it was too hard to get Momo some proper attire all three fucking years she was at UA for.

Not to mention Toru is still naked, how the fuck hasn't she died yet, she is literally exposed to the elements (and lord help her of she gets a cut)

Kirishima's costume is still his biggest liability considering it exposes his chest and back (also seeing as even when hardened he can't repell bullets)

Does Denki still fry himself with his quirk?

Before we move on Aizawa. How's that daughter you neglected, her horn still broken?.

Speaking of which let's look at the rescue team:

What the hell is this!?

Let's see, we got a guy who can only do damage (and his sweat detonates on contact, destroying whatever it touches.)

A brainwasher who only got into the hero course via nepotism and who can only brainwash people who directly respond to him!. A person trapped underneath rubble either frantic or groaning in pain isn't going to be able to respond or even just give consent.

(On a side note what are the laws regarding mind control quirks, does some sort of waiver have to be signed, can a person sue for being controlled against their consent?)

Oh, but wait there's more.

Midoriya running headlong with experimental tech that has, very likely never seen the light of day. Let alone preform in an actual high stakes situation before.

You're trying to carry someone and oops! Something malfunctioned or was miscalculated, now there's an even bigger mess (hooray!)

Who could forget Mezo "they'll come for your kids" Soji. Who climbed the ladder and pulled it all the way up.

Yeah forget that Heteromorph's were getting hate crimed long before the war, ignore the fact that you yourself were maimed by an angry mob after doing one of the most heroic things a person can do. Dismiss Spinner's comment about being sprayed with Pesticide for walking in public.

Nah screw it, let's all sing Kumbaya while the Creation Rejection Clan runs wild outside the reach of the cities, then ignore that the discrimination still is prevalent in the countryside and it's only a matter of time before somone gets fed up and takes matters into their own hands. (talons, claws, you get the picture)

But your a hero now Soji, you got your's. So fuck the rest of 'em

And don't even get me started on Hawks. Congratulations you ignorant bastard, way to kill time and by that I mean for everyone but the heroes.

"Yeah life is great!, everyone hates us, we're rapidly falling into debt from all that rebuilding 8 years back."

"Speaking of which some of those buildings are staring to fall apart due to being rushed to meet deadlines set within the month they were started."

"Social darwinism is on the rise and people are becoming more complacent that ever before due to heroes applying bandaid solutions on decade long, deeply ingrained problems."

"All so the average person doesn't have to think about what's festering beneath society's floorboards, so thank you Safety Commission. Here's your star of positivity ⭐️." - Some random anti-hero civilian

So much for greatest heroes, huh.

_______________________________________

UPDATE 2:

A dark thought I just had, is that the main reason Izuku killed Tomura was because Tomura broke the rule of "Forgiving Your Abusers makes you Good".

When Tomura refused to relinquish his hatred, when he stood his ground, that is when Midoriya decided he had to die. If not to "stop" him, then to preserve Midoriya's perception of the world .

Shigaraki + The LOV by their very ideals went against everything Midoriya has had beat into him by Bakugo and Aldera over the years.

Makes me wonder how'd he react to a person refusing to forgive their abuser. If he interacted with Natsuo or Rei, I could see that delving into a complete mess.

Now that I think about it, The Midoriya we know now, he would have never tried to hold onto Eri back when they first met.

Ironically, he became what he named himself after, a Deku. A puppet attached to thorns of liquid gold, glistening and burning hot.

A slave to his own biases and belief system, now trapped in a stage of his minds own making.

First bound by his past, then by legacy and finally, now by his own hand.

木偶.

[beevean]

One of the most baffling misinterpretations I've ever come across on TvTropes (and coming from a Sonic fan this says a lot) is that Isaac was straight up possessed by Dracula during CoD. It's everywhere:

He has a devious and original scheme with which to get back at Hector, but in truth it's not even really his scheme at all... Dracula is not the nicest of employers. Brainwashed and Crazy: Stated outright to be his deal by Julia in the end. Dracula is a horrible boss. Rival Turned Evil: Mostly out of spite and jealousy, but exacerbated by Dracula's influence. <- notice the link to "Demonic Possession" Unwitting Pawn: Dracula takes advantage of his jealousy to hijack him for his own ends. Evil Plan: Dracula via Isaac runs one through the game. Played with in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness; Isaac is completely nutters, but it's heavily implied that, half the time, Dracula is driving or at the very least co-piloting him. Isaac's a willing "passenger", but still...

This is profoundly stupid for multiple reasons. The Curse is not straight up possession: it alters your mind by making you more cruel and angry. From the intro:

With his final words, Lord Dracula left a demonic curse that enshrouded all of Europe in misery and torment. Ravaged by hideous plague and dire famine, the people's hearts turned black and murderous.

Dracula was not possessing all the thousands of people that lived in Europe at the time. Dracula was not possessing the Church who at the time, according to Julia, was hunting witches like vermin! It was a passive effect.

And from the cutscene after the final boss:

Dracula: The curse. My soul may return to the abyss, but the curse will not be lifted! It will fester in the hearts of humans until they obliterate themselves...

He's not the same thing as his own Curse. He knows that his soul is about to go to Hell again: can't exactly possess people without it, right?

And most blatantly, Hector was Cursed as well! He says so plainly right after the second battle with Isaac! Did he look Dracula-fied to you? No! He was very quick to anger and with a strong hateboner for Isaac, but still his own person! And so was Isaac! He knew very well what he was doing! Dracula wasn't there whispering in his ear: the only agents in the story were Isaac and Death, running their parallel gambits on Hector's expense. (sadly we don't know if they were cooperating)

Isaac is already considered to be a flat, one-note antagonist, and this theory strips him even more of his agency. I seriously have no idea how you can even come to this conclusion, and I'm pretty sure these pages haven't been edited in 10 years or so, because no one cares.

But ngl, this astounding misinterpretation of the text comes along with hilarious implications:

Isaac, the villain in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, has a modest amount of tension with protagonist Hector, but his one scene with Trevor Belmont is just full of it, with Isaac driving Trevor's own dagger through Trevor's body, pressing up against him, whispering in his ear and kissing him on the neck before "pulling out". It gets worse if you consider that Isaac may be possessed by Dracula at this time.

You are seriously implying that Dracula, canonically, lusted for Trevor, aren't you? What next, was he the one wiggling his hips at Hector while taunting him over Rosaly?

More than Mind Control: Both straight-up and with Drac-trojan. His resentment of Hector is cranked up to eleven… with a heaping load of Dracula's anger and envy on top, because Hector's gone and hooked up with a blonde healer (like Lisa)… jealous much, Dracula?

... guess he was.

Yeah and I bet Dracula was the one spying on Hector and Rosaly through a naked Isaac, no doubt very salty to see his special boy happy with someone else. Please, do go on, maybe I'll start buying your theory... 👀

But yeah, for a site that has become so strict when it comes to editing and the kind of tropes that can be featured, the old slop still comes through. Whoever edited these pages played the game with an eye closed, and no one else cared to fix this, spreading even more misconceptions than there already are.

[fruit-sy]

Hello hello, it's the fellow Sampo's anon person again. I've literally just logged in and saw you answered my shapeshifting delusion/theory

Regarding the cat thing, well its like multiple theories connected into one so i will try my best to explain it. Firstly, there are folks that think Sampo could be a member of the Masked Fools OR Stellaron Hunters(or both even but I don't want to make this even more complicated). The highest evidence towards the Stellaron Hunter Sampo theory is that besides the three members we've seen in the game aka Kafka, Blade and Silver Wolf, there's two more confirmed ones. Firstly, there's Elio and then there's Sam. And I've seen people speculate that Sampo could be Sam because of the name similarities, (Although apparently they use different letters/symbols in Chinese version for writing those names so that's important to note) but also some folks think he might straight up be Elio because of 4th wall breaking stuff and Elio knowing everything basically.

Now on top of those speculations, there are theories that the cat in Kafka's art could be again, either Elio or Sam and therefore, maybe they are Shapeshifters. (Or maybe they're just a cat. Imagine having a playable cat. That would be wild)

So basically, because some people think that Sampo could be Sam or Elio (Sam I think is definitely more popular opinion in the Stellaron Hunter theory), and other people think that Sam or Elio could have been a cat, then, following this logic:Sampo=cat.

...gosh i sound so insane huh. I'm really sorry for this but I've dug so deep into so many different theories that people might have about this guy, that now if i get any opportunity to share a bit of the craziness I've seen, I'm taking it.

Coming really quickly back to Qingzu, you're making some great points there, I literally have no idea if he was possibly pretending to be Qingzu since we arrived in Luofu or what I-

There's so many questions but not a lot of answers.

I'm sorry

(Sorry for the late reply!)

Ahh, if the chinese characters for Sampo and Sam are different, that kinda settles it for me already. Also in Silverwolf's story IV there's a metal humanoid that follows Blade, Kafka and maybe Elio?

Either the metal humanoid is Elio, or it's Sam. Or it could be someone completely different lol

Hmm, as for Sampo = Elio, I personality don't see it. Elio so far has only been revealed to see various different futures and not outright know they're in a game.

Going to the stretch-zone for this;; But I think his fourth-wall-breaking fits more with him being tied to Elation than with the Stellaron Hunters, just bc we have more evidence that he's linked to Elation than the SH for now.

Some people speculate that because he can break the fourth wall, Elation members might also be able to break the fourth wall. With this in mind, some people speculate that part of the reason why Elation thinks existence is a joke is because they know they're in a video game. The simulated Aha in SU immediately knew they were just an equation in a computer, which leads me to believe the real Aha is equally, or possibly even more self aware, which might apply to their followers as well.

... Though, I will acknowledge that Silver Wolf is able to break the fourth wall. But I'm not sure why exactly she can ^^;

As for the cat -- as much as I'd LOVE to see a playable cat, like not a cat girl, just a walking-on-four-legs-real-ass cat -- I think this is a bit of a stretch. We barely know what Sam and Elio look like, let alone the scope of their abilities. All we know about Sam is that he takes his job very seriously

As for Qingzu, I tried to think if she was in on the plan. As in, if she was a Masked Fool as well. But I really think this is a stretch. I'm not sure how tightly government officials in the Xianzhou hold on to the beliefs of Hunt, but I just can't imagine her also being in cahoots with Elation.

If not that, then maybe it's a tavern buddy of Sampo's.

Anyways, its okay!! We are still early into the story, so it's natural that there are more questions than answers. But while we wait, it won't hurt to speculate! 👀 so lets be crazy together hahahahshajk 🤪🤪💫😜🤪💫

I've dug way too deep into this rabbit hole as well, like Sampo is so sus, there's NO WAY he's not appearing again in the story.

[omegawizardposting]

Since I've been playing it again lately, here are my criticisms of Tears of the Kingdom:

The events of Breath of the Wild are almost never mentioned. None of the Sheikah tech remains, either on the surface or below ground. The Divine Beasts are simply gone. TotK, therefore, ends up feeling less like a sequel to BotW and more like a second pass, like what they wanted BotW to be originally.

Adding onto the above point, why do some characters seem to have completely forgotten Link? Characters like Hestu and Bolson have no idea who Link is. Link, the Champion of Hyrule. Link, who defeated Ganon and freed Princess Zelda. Link, inarguably the most famous person in Hyrule, second only to its literal ruler.

The Depths are pretty boring. There are some points of interest, like boss rematches and the Master Kohga storyline, but there's not a whole lot to do down there.

Speaking of the Depths, why are they so goddamn big? Did they really need to be the same size as the overworld? Did every Shrine have to connect to a Light Root? Sky exploration was a major part of the game's advertising, and yet there's even less to do up there, because they make up such a miniscule portion of the map. The resources dedicated to the Depths should have gone to fleshing out the overworld and sky.

Ultrahand can be pretty janky and could have benefited from a bit more tweaking.

Quick selecting items, weapons, and shields becomes a massive chore once your inventory starts filling out.

You can't put Zonai devices back in your inventory once they're out.

As cool as it is to have the Sages running around with you, I have lost count of how many times they've gotten in my way or I've accidentally activated their ability while trying to pick up an item.

We still cannot summon our horses to us. They didn't even give us the ancient horse gear. I think they wanted Zonai vehicles to solve that issue, but honestly, horses are easier to control and oftentimes move quicker than Zonai vehicles, so I still found myself relying on them almost exclusively in the overworld.

This is an unpopular opinion, but that crazy face Ganondorf makes that everyone loves? It looks bad, man. It looks really bad. They needed to put it back in the oven, because it was NOT done cooking.

They gave Sidon a fiance. More specifically, they gave him a fiance who is supposedly his childhood friend but who is never mentioned in BotW. She was slapped into TotK to give Sidon a little arc about having faith in others and not being afraid to lose them like he lost his sister, but I feel like Yonah was originally meant to be a sister figure to him. He even outright states that he views her as a sister. I don't know why they made her his fiance and then had him get down on one knee and give Link a ring. Like, come on.

Where the fuck is Kass?

"Demon king? Secret stone?"

While I like the story in theory, it also needed some serious tweaking, but going into detail would take up way too much of my precious little time on this earth.

[atwas-gaming]

Building on this theory, I've actually come up with something even crazier:

So, Damu was just a kid, and he didn't seem all that crazy about destruction and killing. He also kept apologizing for various things, like not being able to turn Indra into other creatures (which was what he was initially supposed to be able to do, but it never worked right), or not being able to turn Indra back into a human. So Damu is characterized by innocence, deep concern for others, pacifist tendencies, and a tendency to feel guilty for not being able to fix a situation.

Trace- at least, the Trace that we play as- is strongly opposed to violence, and apologizes frequently for various things (apologizing to his other self in the hallucination boss, apologizing to every boss he has to kill, apologizing and taking it upon himself for not understanding certain things that Elsenova says). He's not someone who holds grudges or loses his temper, even when Elsenova killed him. He also doesn't use strong curse words- and as we see in AV2, the developer, Tom Happ, is not opposed to using strong language. In short, Trace comes across as being innocent, pacifistic, concerned for others, and riddled with guilt.

Do you see where I'm going yet?

In my last AV post, I suggested that Ophelia's real reason for creating a clone version of Trace was to use him as a test run for creating a body for Damu. BUT... what if Trace wasn't just a test run? What if Ophelia already did put Damu's consciousness into Trace?

I've often said that I just can't see how someone as innocent and as opposed to violence as Trace could have possibly turned into Athetos. But if Trace's personality is being influenced by Damu hiding in his subconscious, then that could explain a few things.

In addition, Damu is the one who gives Indra the ability to turn into a drone. And Trace has the drone ability, albeit somewhat jankier than Indra's drone ability. No explanation is ever given for the process of Trace's nanites being transferred into the drone, nor is it ever explained how Trace learned this ability. It seems like he just somehow knows how to do it. He comments on almost everything else he gets in the game- the gun, the lab coat, the bioflux mutation- but not the drone ability. (And, tbh, I've had a headcanon for some time now, before I ever came up with the theory in this post, that the names and instructions for all weapons and items just randomly appear in Trace's mind as soon as he picks them up.)

It would even explain Trace's amnesia. Trace doesn't seem to consciously remember anything from Damu's life, but Trace also forgot "over a year" of his own life. If Damu is tucked away in Trace's brain somewhere, then Trace's memories are likely suppressing Damu's- but Damu may be suppressing some of Trace's memories, as well, in an attempt to bring Damu's memories to the surface.

Now, a large problem with this theory is that it still goes against what Ophelia was trying to do. She wanted Damu to have his own body, his own life. But if Damu is in Trace, then she's essentially just transferred Damu from her body to someone else's. And in fact, Damu is in a worse position, because Damu never even speaks for himself, aside from possibly influencing Trace's personality to be more gentle and pacifist. But outwardly, he's forced to go by the name Trace, and sees all of Trace's memories and none of his own.

In addition, if Trace's mind and Damu's mind are conflicting with each other, I would expect more than just a personality change. I would expect an outright war in Trace's mind. You remember in Star Trek 3, how Dr. McCoy basically went a little nuts because he carried Spock's memories? That's more like what I would expect if Damu was inhabiting Trace's mind.

But then again, Ophelia is the one who experienced having her body stolen by Amashilama. And the notes seem to indicate that Amashilama and Damu are brother and sister. So perhaps Ophelia thinks that Damu can take over Trace's body?

Is that why they put Trace to sleep instead of either killing him or sending him home?

(BTW, the thing about Amashilama and Damu being siblings is straight out of ancient Sumerian mythology. The story goes that Damu died and Amashilama was supposed to bring his blood to him so he would resurrect, but Damu realized he could not be resurrected and accepted his own death, with Amashilama eventually dying so she could be with him. Interestingly enough, Ophelia has been the one to take on parts of Amashilama's role. And we don't yet know how Damu feels about any of whatever Ophelia is planning for him.)

For the record, I realize that this is one of the craziest theories I've ever had for anything. But at this point, we don't have enough information for me to come up with anything better. And, uh, it might be another 4 years before we do.

[horrordirtbag]

I see a ton of conflicting information online and the movies contradict each other so I had to ask, do you know of any reliable sources for looking up horror character bios and timelines for the 80s slashers?

I certainly do. Finding direct sources can be a little tricky, this may be my bias but a lot of people just... get it wrong lol. But I'll put a few down here. If you have any specifics lmk

A Nightmare on Elm Street:

http://nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com/site/features/timeline/http://nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com/site/features/timeline/

This site has a pretty solid timeline that backs up it's info, and makes the most sense. Most people go by this I've seen

Friday the 13th:

This timeline is hotly debatable, and finding sources is really hard but since I’m a registered F13 nut I’m just gonna roughly break it down.

What we know for a fact is Jason drowned in 1957, Pamela killed 2 counselors in 1958, the first film is in 1979 (this comes from Pam's tombstone in p4), and parts 2-4 are in 1984. Every sequel after that is a toss up and there is no confirmed date for any of them. However, by guesstimating Tommy's age we can roughly place part 5 and 6 around 1989 and 1990 respectively. In F13: The Game, starting a match on Pinehurst (part 5 location) opens with the date "1989," so take that as you will.

John Carl Buechler has said part 7 is 10 years after part 6, which roughly puts 7, 8 and 9 in the late 90s/early 2000s, right in time for Freddy vs Jason in 2003 which matches up perfectly with the NOES timeline I posted previously. Jason X gives us the dates 2010 and 2455

I can't find any real good sources to back this up, most sites ignore the Buechler thing so they place part 7 too early. But this again from my observation is the most accepted timeline, people just disagree on years, so websites will vary on specifics. But generally this is it

Let me just say, though: when people say 9, X and FvJ are reboots that ignore previous sequels, they are 100% wrong in my book lol. For some reason, a lot of people like to say 9 ignores everything after 4. From everything we know about the making of these movies, they 100% intended to continue off the paramount sequels, just didn't have the rights to say so directly.

Halloween:

This is a nightmare.

Luckily these films mostly take place in their release years with a few exceptions (H2 & HKills)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre:

This is an even BIGGER nightmare

This is mostly right. The one exception is, TCM 3 and 4 are both extremely bizarre reboots/sequels. It's really unknown what they are. They continue off the original, and only sort of continue off the sequels. They almost line up with the previous sequels, except their are some confusing contradictions that just don't make sense unless you ignore them or do some crazy stretching. It's better to not think too deeply about them.

Also, the remakes both take place in the 1970s and Leatherface 2017 takes place in the 60s if I remember right. Texas Chainsaw 3D was supposed to take place in the 90s but the studios forced them to have it set in modern times which really makes no sense at all.

Evil Dead:

Not a slasher, but people get pretty confused with this timeline so I figured why not talk about it

(clearer picture: https://www.deviantart.com/kombatgod/art/Evil-Dead-Timeline-628952998)

I've seen some people make insanely complicated multiverse fan theories to explain the Evil Dead timeline, but it's honestly all bullshit tbh. The truth is Sam Raimi didn't really give a shit about minor continuity, and copyright issues required them to refilm old scenes for recaps in sequels. That's why Evil Dead 2 has a different intro and ending. Ash vs Evil Dead couldn't outright reference Army of Darkness, but it's been pretty much confirmed AoD is canon with it, especially since the new video game uses characters from AoD and AvED

Important note: Ash vs Evil Dead has stated the original two films take place in 1982. This was likely done because it wasn’t until 1982 that the original really started hitting theaters, even though it was released in 81 and filmed in 1979. Army of Darkness says it takes place in 1300

EDIT:

Just adding a few Evil Dead things. The intro and endings to ED2 seem to be a weird sort of “soft canon,” since AvED uses footage from them but uses the events of ED1 and AoD as primary canon. A lot of people chock these inconsistencies up to Ash being an unreliable narrator, which imo makes the most sense. 

The Evil Dead remake is also debatably not a parallel universe at all, but could take place in the same universe as the main events. Some people also theorize it could be a sequel to just ED1. The director has confirmed these as possibilities.

Child's Play:

This is a little outdated, but breaks it down really well and you'll get the gist of things. The TV show added a lot of new backstory that needs to eventually be added to this

https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3444878/complete-timeline-childs-play-franchise/

These are the big ones but if there's any others I'll gladly talk about them, i love it lol. Most other slasher franchises are pretty straight forward

None of these charts were by me btw

For bios I’m not really sure where I’d look other than their respective wikis. Those can be a bit bloated with info from comics or weird misinterpretations, but they’re mostly right from my knowledge. 

The Hellraiser wikis are a bit misleading though, they take into consideration a lot of the comics that imo muddle the original vision of the Cenobites. Understanding Hellraiser is a daunting task in and of itself.

Can you tell I had fun with this?

[wowsoboring]

Deconstructing Baseless Harry Potter Arguments#2 (i) : Harmione Edition

Obviously I once again do not mean to target all Harmione shippers. I know quite a few who're very good human beings and tolerant and accepting above all. However these aren't. In this case, you might sense quite a bit of levelheadedness in the beginning, however you must not be fooled as it goes south and takes a nasty turn very quickly. Don't get your hopes up, this is some of the worst shit I've ever seen, especially the way in which it progresses through its course. Naturally, for this post I have picked my own style of writing which will match that of those redditors. Reddit is the perfect breeding ground for all these weird cults, honestly. I shall be resorting to a formal language and style of conversation, very much like a debater would to sound as pretentious as these do. These posts are found on the instagram handle toxicharmonyshippers who gather such toxic musings and sayings for Harmione shippers while respecting the ones that are nice.

1)

Oh yes, let's use words like 'vehemently' to sound smart, why not? Of course, this little tidbit of the highly stupendous post seems more or less civil at the start. They also have the common decency to say "some Romione shippers" rather than generalizing all of us. Very nice of you, how very saint like. Let's wait till they drop the act and show us their true colors. Harkening back to the argument, I have but one question for you, "where do you find these people?". Where's the proof? Who are these radical Romione shippers who worship Ron and dislike Hermione? I haven't seen any such shippers and I am surrounded by Romione shippers on tumblr, instagram and fan fiction sites as well and haven't met the people you speak of. Some point out her flaws, yes, but no one hates her or dislikes her that much. I have seen two or three Romione shippers across hundreds and thousands who're skeptical of Hermione's perfection. Skeptical. Not hating, disliking, or anything. Of course, unlike this person, I have evidence: find these pi charts for your referral (clickable): https://imgur.com/a/QfPnQbB

you can, through these, see the amount of Hermione bashing across Harry Potter fanfiction and you can see that even in Romione fanfiction there's more Ron bashing. Hermione-bashing is a non-issue. That's what it is. Regarding the "nagging" statement, where's the lie in that? "Annoying" is somewhat subjective, I personally don't find her annoying at all. Who are these people and how often do you find them? "Mary Sue" is only reserved for Movie!Hermione. I have only seen book fans call her that. No one has ever called Book!Hermione Mary Sue. The movie does paint her as a flawless, all-rounder who's also drop-dead gorgeous. Only things she's bad at are flying and divination, all of which she denounces as useless, even though flying is like biking for wizards, divination, sure, not that important. with a teacher like Trelawney, even I would denounce it as hokum.

2)

Remember what I said about waiting for them to show us their true colors, well here they are. Bask in the glory of their senseless arguments. Why, I am from reddit, heck I have 25 thousand karma points on there, I just left because it was too stupid for me but I can argue like them very well. And in this case I would like to say that these people are under the impression that Ron is just there in the story for the sake of existence. And he doesn't work hard. That argument is of course, wrong. Because Ron (in no particular order):

1) fights a troll when he's 11

2) is willing to sacrifice himself when he's 11

3) stands up for his friends

4) makes sure Harry feels like he belongs in the family

5) worries about Harry and rescues him from literal jail

6) stands up against Draco rather than by-standing and enabling his behavior

7) tries his level best to make sure Norbert the dragon is in safe hands and carries it out, albeit not in perfection

8) is with Harry every step of the way in his confronting the basilisk

9) sends Harry and Hermione long letters and calls them often to check up on them

10) stands up on a bitten leg to defend his best friend

11) always apologizes for any of his mistakes and is forgiving when others wrong him

12) works his way to join the Quidditch team unlike Draco who most certainly bought his way in

13) destroys at least 2 horcruxes

14) finds out how to defeat a horcrux

15) has an excellent enough memory and observation to notice Harry speaking parseltongue and also using it to his benefit which proves he's resourceful

now since I have 8 more such pictures to rebut and I do have a life, I will stop. These aren't even a twelfth of the remarkable things Ron has done though, so rest assured.

oh wait what did you say about him just existing and not working for anything? If I recall correctly, he did just as well as Harry did in school and didn't score well only in subjects he didn't care about. Which is true for most people except for Hermione who has an eidetic memory which not everyone has, understandably. Rote memorization is not the best way to get by in life, by the way.

what are the "so many reasons" behind why Harry is the best fit for Hermione? Kindly share so I can rebut those too, I'm rather free nowadays, my finals have been cancelled. You say there are so many reasons but don't even give one, yet you want me to take you seriously. I'm afraid that's impossible.

Romione shipper here, i don't dislike Hermione. I haven't met or seen many people in the book!romione fandom who dislike Hermione (except for Movie!Hermione). The question of someone you like ending up with someone you dislike doesn't particularly make sense. In Friends, Chandler ends up with Monica: now I'm not the biggest Monica fan (I don't hate her but I don't like her very much either) but they are my favorite couple because they make sense. It's about compatibility and character traits, not liking or disliking because that's just a set-up for a ghastly invitation for people to pair up hideousness. "Oh yeah, I like Harry and I also like Hagrid, they should be together. I mean it would be very very disgusting but that's my logic, now, you can't fight it. "- that's how you sound. Please read what you write. Your logic is just...abysmal. That's all I can say without breaking my resolve and berating you with colorful profanities.

3)

This is without the doubt, the easiest one to rebut. It's a delight to see such terrible arguments at my disposal. Come on, dear Harmione shippers, write something that makes me question my choices, not things that make me scoff in disbelief.

In this case, you're essentially providing us with theories. Unproved theories and speculation of what you believe because you'd say anything you like. Where's the proof of your theory, though? Where is that crazy radical Romione shipper who does this? Kindly show me these people. Oh yes, you wanna say we objectify Hermione and disrespect her and view her as a prize. This aches me, that you believe this. No one has ever insinuated this, ever, in the history of anything. What is this winner-loser theory? How do you round off Harry Potter to "an alpha-male ends up with lead-lady" trope and still say you're a fan of the series? Harry Potter doesn't fit in with that format. Ron, Hermione and Harry are co-heroes. Similar to how there's no main character in Friends or the Heroes of Olympus series or the Avengers. We're not living in the 80s anymore. Hermione will be a hero, invariably whether she ends up with Harry, Ron or no one. She ends up with Ron and that's it. Talking about her like this doesn't make you sound any better either. Now you're calling me a misogynist because I don't support the ship of two people who describe themselves as siblings. That's very mature of you. Well here's the thing- I'm not a misogynist. It's as simple as that. I believe that women are capable of anything and everything. I believe Hermione is an amazing person and she is a hero and a different person. I believe the series would be impossible without her. I believe she is no one's prize. There's no requirement of a prize. I just think, similar to canon and the truth and her romantic interest, she will have a great relationship with Ron. There's nothing complex or deep about it, really. No personal weird-thing, no psychological complex, no internalized misogyny. There's nothing deeper than what I said. I am not sexist. I am a feminist. I am all for women empowerment. I love women with the fabric of my being. I love Hermione. I think she's amazing. You only become sexist when you ship people with unstable power dynamics, a bully-victim relation or something of the sort. Neither Romione, nor Harmione are sexist. Heck if you paired Neville with Hermione you wouldn't be sexist. And I hate talking about this so much, I can't even tell you. This talk does make it sound like I treat Hermione like an object and I assure you I respect her and I normally won't talk like this unless someone just outright calls me sexist for something that's not sexist. And this is that situation.

4)

in the case of Romione, no one is too good for anyone. Both are amazing people who're heroes and have done amazing work. That's all I have to say. There's no league, they are romantically interested in each other. I have no intention on sounding lame, but, in love there is no league. As long as you're not putting in any effort and are extremely lazy and leech off of your partner, there is no such concept and no, Hermione is not "too good" for him. Unless of course you're talking about movie Hermione, who is too good for anyone.

5) (halftime!)

oh yes they try to pull this off and wonder why we hate them. Classic. This person likes to sound british, so let's switch up our language, yeah? At least then I won't be out of my element. Let me correct ya, Ron at his best is an amazing, loyal, friendly, brave, strategic hero. There you have it. Ron and 'git' can't be used in the same sentence. Now if you talk about Ron's achievements, I re-iterate you to point two. If it's too much work, here:

1) fights a troll when he's 11

2) is willing to sacrifice himself when he's 11

3) stands up for his friends

4) makes sure Harry feels like he belongs in the family

5) worries about Harry and rescues him from literal jail

6) stands up against Draco rather than by-standing and enabling his behavior

7) tries his level best to make sure Norbert the dragon is in safe hands and carries it out, albeit not in perfection

8) is with Harry every step of the way in his confronting the basilisk

9) sends Harry and Hermione long letters and calls them often to check up on them

10) stands up on a bitten leg to defend his best friend

11) always apologizes for any of his mistakes and is forgiving when others wrong him

12) works his way to join the Quidditch team unlike Draco who most certainly bought his way in

13) destroys at least 2 horcruxes

14) finds out how to defeat a horcrux

15) has an excellent enough memory and observation to notice Harry speaking parseltongue and also using it to his benefit which proves he's resourceful

hey, see, I like Ron and I took the time to copy-paste this instead of asking you to scroll up. And I'm a lot of bad things but I am not lazy. I stick to my deadlines like Hermione. I start my homework in library class and continue it during phys ed the day its given. And I am not exaggerating. Bloody hell, I wish I was. I'm the ceo of deadlines, mate, don't tempt me! So you can see that Ron is much more than just a "nice bloke". And being a "nice bloke" isn't a bad thing either. He's all the things I said: intuitive, strategic, helpful, loyal and on top of that he's also a nice person. Yes, I do see a bit of myself in Ron. I do. I see the insecure side. I waste my time hating myself and criticizing myself and undermining myself, telling me I'm no good. But Ron overcomes that. He inspires me to appreciate myself. Is that a bad thing? Are you going to shame me for having a low self-esteem? Do you want to worsen my low self-esteem and make me feel more like shit?

Now the person who replied to your comment saying, "he isn't a nice bloke most of time.", he is. He is not being nice twice in a span of 7 years. How often do you act rudely or with jealousy? Wasn't Harry yelling at everyone in caps lock in OOTP. Now I don't condemn him for that because he's a fucking hormonal teenager like me and that would make me a hypocrite, but by your logic why don't you condemn him? Or why not condemn Hermione for saying "I only date good Quidditch players" and shoving canaries at Ron's face because someone else kissed him, while she kept using Krum and Cormac to make him jealous. She wasn't being a nice girl, then, was she? Now, once again, i don't dislike her or hold that against her because guess what, mate, I'm a hormonal teenage girl who gets jealous most of the time and would probably react in a similar fashion in the spur of the moment (Not defending her actions here, just putting myself in her shoes.) In short, Ron is a nice bloke MOST OF THE TIME.

6)

It would be misogynistic to think that. The thing is, NO ONE DOES my dear friend! My dear daft friend. I have never heard anyone say that! why are you so hell-bent on portraying us as misogynists when no one ever says that? Stop assuming. Just stop. You are crossing a limit here, aren't you? Yes you are. You cannot say these sort of things. We never said that or believed that, no one ever said this to be a reason to ship Romione. God what is wrong with you? Literally, stop fucking ASSUMING god damn it! Do you want me to assume things about Harmione shippers? Do you want me to go there? Because I will go there! I will go there the moment you tell me to. Just challenge me.

Ron is not a perfect best boi , the reason why so many of us like him is that he's imperfect and tries to become better through the course of time. You are once again assuming and I am once again asking you to stop.

Ron might be an ordinary wizard. He might be poor, sure, but he's a pure-blood and won't face much if he chose not to fight. But he did. He fought. Now I identify with Ron's attitude a fair bit, but I am also likely to spend my day in a library without noticing. People aren't one dimensional. Stop trying to act like you're a psychologist, i know you're not. I don't even think Hermione's overbearing at all! You just insulted someone you're a big fan of. Jesus.

Both Hermione and Ron are strategic, jealous, passionate, feisty, argumentative, intellectual...

that's like 6 similarities. They aren't polar opposites in the slightest. Their differences are just: workaholic, not workaholic. Nerd, not a nerd. Like that's fucking it, man!

8)

being relaxed doesn't make you less independent or driven. A relaxed and levelheaded Hermione will think through things, not be impulsive, not panic etc. She doesn't need Ron. I don't understand your obsession with acting like we ever insinuated that. Then she doesn't need Harry either lol. Stop shipping her with Harry, then or like shut the fuck up. Being a bit relaxed won't stop her or anyone from hitting great strides. Just don't get relaxed to the point you're lazy and casual about everything, that's it.

9)

What do you mean? Ron is balanced. He does finish his work on time. And even if he does procrastinate, she could also help him not and be more driven. Of course, this is an open invitation for you to call me a sexist bitch because I said that she could help him and now you'll think her goal is to help him become better yada yada yada. Fuck off. Defeating the horcrux taught him enough. He respected her. He remembered about the elves when she didn't. He begged to be tortured instead of her. He wouldn't need it because school work and jobs are different and the same person might perceive those differently. Calmness and relaxation doesn't hinder your potential. Not caring and laziness does. You can't function if you work and are stressed 24/7 with zero breaks. Period.

10)

No i do not want (nor does anyone want) Hermione to become Ron. Being slightly calmer doesn't change up your personality. I'm sure many people dislike those sort of fanfics without a doubt. I hate OOC and I don't want Hermione to lose her intellect with Ron because that makes no sense. Ron himself is intellectual and loves arguing with her. They'd boost each other, more like it.

-------

okay thats it i am exhausted as fuck. thanks for reading, i appreciate it. notes and reblogs are appreciated, this takes work.

[bluerosesburnblue]

Hi blue! ❤️ I've been in a lot of discords where alot of the KH fandom confirms their belief in the SRT. I have a pretty decent understanding of lore so far. I got into some nice debates where fans defended the SRT soley off an existence of a different wordline. I'd ask "So if Sora was able to pull all the guardians into a different worldline... Xehanort could've just targeted the princesses of heart - why would he follow them.. if this theory was Canon??" And I'd just watch then hit silence.

To add context to my previous, I don’t understand how Riku being Sora’s light has any reason to even be included in this theory. To me, this theory should’ve had the focal point only on the idea of multiple world-lines, but having looked at all your blogging in that regard, the clear and excessive inconsistencies in their theory shows that the sleeping realm wasn’t the focal point. I follow some of the writers of the theory… And after sharing the doc they only celebrated Riku and nothing else             

Honestly, thank you for your effort in breaking it down. I knew I wasn’t crazy when I thought that something didn’t really seem right with the theory. I watch a lot of KH theory videos on YouTube from small creators with no shipping bias and they’re honestly very creative and genuine with their work. I understand how they feel about their ship, I love Kairi so much and would cry if she got her own game. I just think they should’ve left the Riku thing on its own and kept it away from this theory.             

Hey there! And thank you! I’m gonna talk a lot so to keep this from clogging up everyone’s dashboard, it’s going under the cut

I think I may have touched on it a little bit when I was explaining why even if the writers say this isn’t an “it’s all a dream” theory, I still feel like it has enough similarities to be considered one and… you’re absolutely correct. There is no reason for Xehanort to follow the Guardians into a new worldline. We don’t even know if he’s capable of it. We also don’t know if his planned universal reset just works in the worldline he’s in, or if it would erase all of them. We don’t know anything about worldlines other than that it’s a term Luxu used, like, twice

If Sora and Co. hopped worldlines, Xehanort would just grab the Princesses and win. If Sora and Co. hopped into the Sleeping Worlds… then Xehanort would also just grab the Princesses because the heroes still aren’t around to stop him if they’re in the Sleeping Worlds. It might take a little extra time, especially if we go on their assumption that Kairi is dead since now he’s gotta go find Princess #7 again. Because let’s not forget that this theory also claims that Kairi did not hop worldlines and that the Kairi we see is a Chirithy she’s piloting from the other world. That she died in

(Personally, I think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of Xehanort’s character throughout the whole theory. He’s not a master planner. If he was, none of his plans would have ever failed, and he makes very clear in DDD that the plan to use TAV was intended to succeed. He is a master opportunist who’s excellent at making sure he has just enough irons in the fire that if one plan fails, another’s already going. The issue is most prevalent in the part of the theory where they try to claim that he planned the paopu scene. And uhh… any part where they make it sound like Xehanort has big plans involving Sora. He doesn’t.

His plan in DDD was opportunistic. He never planned for Sora. Sora was this thorn in his side who was constantly messing up his plans. If you know that no matter what you do this boy is going to mess you up, then how do you remove that threat? Either kill him, which is unlikely as Sora also makes for a decent Light if need be, or bring that power onto your side. He also didn’t like… give YMX time travel powers just to get Sora. That was another opportunistic iron to add to the fire. Like, if I knew that I was going to do something that would give me time travel powers and that I could pass that on to other versions of myself, why the hell wouldn’t I go back to the earliest version of me that could make use of that? That way I have the power… literally from a very young age and continue to have it my entire life. It’s a paradox, sure, but a damn effective one. He would’ve had Ansem go back to give YMX the power regardless. Knowing where Sora was at the time was just a byproduct, and one that he later found a use for

But after the plan to force Sora to join the Darknesses fails… Xehanort doesn’t really have to do anything. He knows that Sora’s a meddler who will fight for the light and is easy to goad into emotional actions. That’s one less Light that you have to worry about getting to the battlefield, because the kid will do it himself. There’s no need to have Kairi involved at all in terms of the paopu fruit thing? There’s no need to plan literally since flinging child Kairi into the abyss out of curiosity for her to make Sora fall in love with her. Like, again... he doesn’t really have a grand plan that he’s been implementing from the start so much as he has several plans that all require roughly the same or similar pieces. Xehanort only makes extra effort for himself if he feels like it could serve multiple purposes. He doesn’t see Sora as worthy, so he’s going to expend the most minimal effort on him. That’s one of the things that I think this theory fails to understand most; Xehanort doesn’t really care about or have grand plans for Sora. So long as the boy fights for one side or another, Xehanort’s already got what he wants

So with Xehanort being such an opportunist with so many contingencies... why would he pass up the chance to do things the easy, if more time-consuming, way by just... staying in the world without the heroes and succeeding with Plan B while knowing that there’s no one around to stop you?)

But, rambling about Xehanort’s characterization aside, you bring up something that I was planning to talk about once I finished going through the theory. My plan at the end was to go over what I felt that it did right or wrong writing-wise. And one of the things it does wrong is that it’s actually several mini-theories very loosely tied together that don’t prove each other

Making a theory about what you think a worldline is is its own thing. Making a theory on KH3′s connection to the Sleeping World lore is its own thing. Making a theory that Riku is really Sora’s light is its own thing. Making a theory that Kairi’s been controlled by Xehanort this whole time is its own thing. None of them correlate

The only reason to include all of them together, and this is going to sound really jaded, is if you intend to trick people into believing that your interpretation of Riku’s and Kairi’s contributions is canon. Because if they’re presented together, then it comes with the implication that if you accept that part of their theory is true (the definition of worldlines, the connection to Sleeping Worlds), then you have to accept that all of it is (Riku is the one whose act of true love saved Sora, Kairi’s contributions were all planned by someone else and therefore less legitimate than Riku’s, etc.).

And I don’t think I’m wrong to read that intent into it. From what I’ve read of the theory so far, they’ve made their shipping bias outright clear (calling the video files soriku_sleuthers as though they’re looking for evidence supporting their ship, spending an entire section on proving that Riku’s “most important person” is Sora and that the feelings are romantic...). Spending about .2 seconds on any of the creators’ Twitter accounts also makes the fact that really all they care about KH-wise is Riku’s part in the SoRiku ship (not even Riku as a character, because they get his character so totally wrong in the theory, but just what Riku contributes to the ship)

I don’t know if it was intentionally done by them or not. It’s possible that the natural ship bias clouded how they interpreted events in the game, too, to the point where they legitimately think that their interpretation is just obviously correct because the content that they interact with most and longest leads to that idea. I’ve already talked about how confirmation bias clouds the entire theory so thickly that they unintentionally discredited everything in it by that alone. But the point remains that the only reason that I can see for having an entire section on how perfect Riku is and how pure his love for Sora is, and another on how Kairi is Xehanort’s pawn trapped in another worldline, is because the easiest way to legitimize those as “canon” is to attach them to something that you think you can prove is canon

Except there’s so many holes, so much misinterpretation, and so much... I almost want to say forged evidence because that’s the only way I can describe what they did to Xigbar’s speech on Olympus, that there’s a mountain of things that can be logically and soundly proved to be incorrect and absolutely no decisive evidence so far proving that any part of what they’re saying is true

I’ll give them some credit, though. The SoRiku stuff doesn’t take up the bulk of the theory and is apparently subtle enough that even quite a few SoRiku shippers don’t think it’s even really a part of the theory. But that ignores the fact that while they have a ton of “evidence” unrelated to the ship, the inciting incident that the whole theory revolves around is the idea that Riku’s act of true love in sacrificing himself to save Sora (attributing Kairi’s sole salvation of Sora to both Riku and all of the other Princesses of Heart) allowed Sora to transfer everyone (except Kairi) over to a new worldline and also the Sleeping Worlds. It may not harp on it, but the theory absolutely pushes SoRiku as the canon ship if you want to believe that the theory is canon because they wrote it so that the events they’re describing cannot happen if it isn’t

It’s why they couldn’t keep the Riku stuff out of this theory even if they wanted to. Even if it would’ve made for a more believable theory. He’s the only part of this damn thing that they really care about

Again, I’m going to go into everything I think this theory does wrong at some point. And I’m sorry that this got so long and ranty! Seeing old followers go in and reblog the debunk stuff right now, which is attracting new followers like you is actually really fun and heartening to watch and I’m so glad that you liked the content enough to tell me! I wish the theory hadn’t become what it is. I wish this debunk wasn’t something that was even necessary. But I am grateful that it’s given me the opportunity to chat with a lot of people, yourself included, about this fandom! Up until I started this project I was relatively unknown in the KH fandom. I really hope that the upcoming debunk stuff meets everyone’s expectations!