#this is a theory that is technically possible that i choose to believe in

[geraskier]

"you got some pretty toes"

"my nail tech knows how to keep a lil secret"

yeah sorry jack harlow you have a thing for feet. "i'm vanilla baby" my ass

[achaotichuman]

Okay you guys know what time it is.

Acotar Rant Time.

Okay, I know, I know, the idea that Tamlin will step down or otherwise hand the Spring Court over to Lucien and Elain and go to live his life as a travelling musician is one of the most popular theories (it most of the time involves Tam dying but I don't like that at all so we're going with him stepping down)

And whilst I see it as a possibility for canon, I cannot get on board with it, specifically because of the way the High lord's power chooses the next High lord.

Tamlin knew he was most likely the next heir since he was young, he was experiencing the power when he was a child and knew his brothers would kill him if they ever found out. He hoped that one of them could take the throne and he would serve in their armies and simply keep his head down low.

But what he wanted didn't change the fact that he was in fact the Heir.

The magic had already chosen him as its next High lord, despite him being the youngest and on the surface, the least worthy of the role.

This happens again within the books. Tarquin was chosen as the High lord of Summer, despite being Norstrus' cousin, and Varian technically being the next viable Heir. Tarquin would have hardly been trained for the position but would have been trained to be some kind of advisor or courtier for whoever the next High lord may be, assuming it would be Varian.

He even admits to Feyre that is young and considered inexperienced yet he tries his best and look, he ends up doing the same sort of thing Tamlin wanted to achieve. Which was taking in refugees, fighting for people's freedom, and trying to establish equality. I love Varian but he fell in love with a monster that wants Rhysand to take over Prythian, so I do not believe he would have tried to implement these changes. Possibly would not have even thought of them.

I say this to show that the magic chooses who will benefit the Court best, even skipping to other bloodlines if need be.

I believe this is the same for Tamlin.

When you read book 1, he is incredibly similar to Tarquin. He was not trained for the position but was trained to act as a kind of second, in assuming the form of a General. Same kind of thing as Tarquin.

He admits he is considered inexperienced but is trying his best. He fought for people's freedom, he took in refugees and post acomaf had a pretty equal Court.

My personal theory with what happened during Acomaf was a combination of many factors.

1- Amarantha most likely raped Tamlin under the mountain. Considering how she was lusting after him, she finally got him for weeks and he could do nothing but let her do what she wanted.

2- Being under the mountain brought up suppressed trauma from his childhood, most of which would have revolved around Amarantha, but also not being able to protect Feyre would have brought up not being able to protect his mother. Being tormented by his brothers. Being abused by his father. Then when they came out from Under the mountain, he wasn't able to suppress his trauma so well anymore, and become erratic and unpredictable.

3- Having the High lord's powers shoved back into him so suddenly caused him to lose control, and because he, unlike literally everyone else. Had no one to help him manage his magic, or help him control it properly. As Rhysand and Morrigan have stated multiple times throughout the series, especially in Silver Flames, uncontrolled magic will lead to madness. It can drive a person to literal insanity, which is what I think happened in the case of Tamlin (It was retconning but I am looking at the ways of which to bring back book-1 Tam within canon rules)

All of this to say, these are all outside factors things that could not be predicted. By looking at the factors of who would be best fit for Spring, Tamlin is the obvious choice.

He is empathetic. Connects well with the people. Fights for what is right and for freedom. He is kind and caring.

Post-Under the Mountain, and presumably post-curse Tamlin was one of the best High lords, his Court was thriving, his people were happy and even gladly went to their deaths for him and his Court.

The magic didn't chose wrong. It chose Tamlin for a reason. He was the best choice to bring about good change within the Spring Court.

I believe all of the outside factors are what led to Tamlin relying on his father's way of ruling, because he was unable to dig out a whole new path in the state he was in. Tamlin was living in fight or flight mode from Acomaf and onward and it shows.

I think Lucien would be a great High lord, but we also underestimate how the power is connected to the land itself and like it or not Lucien is not of Spring.

He is of Day and Autumn. It shows in his mannerisms, his personality, his way of thinking. And it will show in his power.

He will not be able to connect to the people the way Tamlin will, because Tamlin's magic comes the heart of Spring itself. He was literally forged for it. The Spring magic will be alien to Lucien, and Lucien will be alien to it.

We see how uncontrolled magic can affect the person it was built for. Now imagine that magic also not being built for the person using it. Lucien has no reason to even be able to control it, it would drive him insane as well.

If Tamlin was given someone to help train his magic, like Rhysand had Amren, Tarquin had Varian and Cressedia, Eris will have his mother and brothers, and Lucien will have Helion. He would be in full control.

Like a quote from an SJM interview stated, the characters find who they need, not what they want. Tamlin may have started out not wanting the throne, but he may very well find what he needs to control his magic and bring back his Court.

Tamlin was forged for Spring. Like Lucien was forged for Day.

Unless Sjm kills Tamlin, I highly doubt he will cease being High lord any day.

And if she does kill him, I am disappearing from this fandom because Tamlin is the only one keeping me here.

[gdn019283]

“The Death Song of Uther Pendragon,” 05x03, has to be one of my favourite Merlin episodes (it opens the gate to so many theories)

I rewatched it today, and a lot of things and questions came to my mind:

1) What would have happened if Arthur had summoned Ygraine, instead of Uther?

Following the rules, Arthur should have been able to summon every spirit he wanted. If Ygraine had been able to respond to Arthur, I believe things would have been very different. She would have been proud of Arthur, who would have changed things for the better, and therefore the plot line of the entire show. Ygraine has only ever been the one to make Arthur see what was right in front of him, even more than Merlin, like when Arthur had tried to kill Uther in the second season, and accused him of his hypocrisy, once he knew of how his mother had died, and since the second person Arthur trusted the most, Merlin, told him that what Morgause had shown him was a lie, Arthur believed him, reinforcing the idea that Uther was a good man.

2) If it would have been possible to summon anyone, then why did Arthur choose Uther, of all people?

Even if the answer seems obvious, I don’t think it actually is. Arthur had always known one person that was meant to be family and who technically didn’t betray him. He still felt guilty for choosing magic to save Uther, and it was actually what brought his father away from him, the only parental and father figure (as horrible as he was) who Arthur had ever had. His choice was also influenced by the date, since it was the day after the celebration of his coronation, and the same day Uther died. The moment Arthur meets Uther in the Spirit World, he tells him, even as he fights with him, that he has so much more to say to him. I think Arthur wanted nothing more than validation, something he had never had, and hoped he could find in the same man who had told him, seconds before he died, while being held in his son’s arms, that he knew Arthur would make him proud. The last moment Arthur had with Uther was the only one in his entire life where Uther had actually rewarded him and his duty with kindness and sincerity. Which means, at least in my opinion, that Arthur had hoped that that was the man he was about to meet in the Spirit World. That rare man who had sacrificed himself to save his only son and who had called him Arthie and to whom he had said he was proud of. But it wasn’t that man, and Arthur left the Spirit World feeling disappointed.

3) But what if it wasn’t possible to actually summon Ygraine, or certain, specific people?

When they go back to Camelot, Arthur and Merlin ask Gaius about the Horn of Cathbhadh and they found out that summoning spirits has always been a ceremony, a tradition, even one that Gaius had multiple times attended, held by High Priestesses, meaning that many different people could have been able to participate, which explains while even a commoner or someone without magic or practice could use the Horn, like Arthur did. Later on, after Arthur meets Uther and Merlin confesses what they had gone to do to Gaius, telling him of his fear that Uther may have left the Spirit World, Gaius tells Merlin that those same High Priestesses trained for years before using the Horn, which makes me believe there were so many rules to follow and accept, which brings us to the question. What if one of these rules was to know in your heart who you’d believe had passed away and went into another realm, and who got stuck into the Spirit World?

4) Therefore, what if the Spirit World is actually a place where spirits, who have either undone/unfinished things in life, or are bitter, cruel, and with many grudges and anger inside, or had died in an unjust manner, get stuck there forever?

We have no explanation of it or of how it works, and no one else tried to blow the Horn, but that would explain why Arthur didn’t think of his mother first, Ygraine, instead of Uther. He thought it more simple and less dangerous, since he had no knowledge of magic and didn’t want to ask anyone, not even Gaius, about it (not knowing Merlin had magic, and still, even he had no knowledge of these practices) to summon someone, who deep inside his heart, he knew was still stuck, somehow, in the between of the Worlds, of the Dead and of the Living. This means that Arthur somehow knew that Uther had something he thought was unfinished, or even going more far, we might think Arthur sort of hoped it, and not only to see Uther again because he was his father, but to be right about his character and himself, as a sort of bitter sweet victory, as if Arthur wanted to say to Uther: “If you’re still here, if I’m able to see you, talk to you, you might have done something terribly wrong, which makes me right, because you have never actually been a good and just man, like you painted yourself to be.” It opens a great theory about where Arthur actually went to after his death, since he was burned and mourned by Merlin and sent into the Lake of Avalon.

Another thing I believe further proves my theory, is that all the people in the show that we see dying, are buried in a boat and burned in a lake. Now, I have no idea if it would have been unusual or even disrespectful to burn Uther and send him on a lake, but even Elyan, and Lancelot, two honourable knights with high status, who before were simple commoners, were burned and sent on a boat in the lake when they died.

All, except Uther.

I want to believe that it was a sign to show Uther the disrespect he deserved.

Others may think that it’s the opposite, that Uther was the king and had to be held on an higher position, and therefore buried in the same castle he had conquered, but it wouldn’t make sense, since Merlin buried and said goodbye to Arthur in the same way as the others.

It makes me think that all who had died in the show are free of the Spirit World, unlike Uther.

It also opens so much theory about where did Morgana, or Mordred go.

6) Did people’s beliefs matter?

If the majority of people had supported Morgana and Mordred in their conquest to kill King Arthur, maybe their support would have been enough to make Morgana and Mordred free, to be free in the after life. We also have to remember Mordred was buried, much like Balinor, under rocks, because it was illegal to do otherwise for sorcerers, to be buried in another way.

7) All these people, buried in another way, in an unjust way, like for sorceres, who didn’t even get a burial, but were killed unjustly, where did they go?

I like to imagine they are stuck in the Spirit World too, and take revenge on Uther in any way the can, knowing none of them will ever die again. Uther’s punishment is to live in an endless loop of what he had put magical beings, humans and non, under, while he, a tyrant, reigned.

5) If this is the case, this must mean, in order for the summoning and the ceremony to work in the Living World, there had to be rules in the Spirit World. Did Uther know these rules?

As soon as Arthur entered the Spirit World, taking in consideration the theory that is just a layer of another world, slightly pulled away from the Living one, where some can see the progress of humanity but not so clearly, as if looking through a damp glass, Uther was able to not only spit everything he hated about his son to him, but he also warned Arthur that he had seen the kingdom he had built and that he disagreed on, which is another proof to my theory that those who are like Uther, or simply left to death in an unfair way, without an inch of respect, are somewhat stuck in the Spirit World and damned to see what happens outside of it, but without the ability to stop or intervene in anything they witness (it would explain why Uther hadn’t discovered Merlin’s magic before, since his goal has always been the one to watch Arthur and how the kingdom progressed, in order to protect his legacy, as he puts it in the episode). Not only Uther told Arthur he had watched him, but he warned him that he had to go, otherwise he would have been stuck into the Spirit World forever. This means that Uther knew that there were bounds and rules and that summoning someone with the Horn of Cathbhadh could be dangerous, if a person didn’t know the exact rules.

8) Has Uther seen someone else being summoned?

In this episode, Gaius says the Horn has been saved before the Purge and never been used since. But someone else could have used it, even a simple person, who longed to see their dead lover and blew the Horn. Because of the Purge, many traditions had been forgotten and the use of the Horn could have been forgotten too, used only by simple people who found it or hid it, and who didn’t know what they were doing, but later found out about what it could do, once one of them, out of curiosity, blew it, and summoned a spirit. If the High priestess were people who were born as magic did, and had held these traditions for centuries, it would also explain why ghosts existed. Many people had been left out wandering without a chance to go back into their Spirit World. Uther may have seen, in a world where he wandered endlessly too, someone else being summoned before him, or met someone else who knew all of these things before him.

Which only means one thing:

The last thing Uther Pendragon did before Arthur would disappear from the Spirit World, was to manipulate him until the last moment, and hurt him in doing so:

With the knowledge Uther had, he may have understood that the person who summoned a spirit could have freed it by looking back at it. Uther was a tyrant, a bitter and cruel and murderous man, who without doubts, tried to kill Arthur in the same episode, in the name of his legacy and of “his” kingdom. Uther cared more about something that he couldn’t even rule anymore than his own and only son, manipulating Arthur to no end, so that he would do what Uther wanted him to. His last words to Arthur, that irremediably made the latter turn around, were: “I will always love you, Arthur.” It sounds as if Uther grasped at the little thing he had, knowing that those words would have made Arthur turn. Uther wanted to get out of there, and did not mean a single word he said to Arthur. To Uther, in that precise moment, Arthur was a mean to escape.

9) But what if the Spirits had some saying in being summoned, and refused to appear?

Arthur simply sounded the Horn and Uther appeared, which opens the door to so many possibilities. Uther had agreed to meeting him, but some other Spirit could have also refused to meet the people who had summoned it, and the Horn basically wouldn’t have worked.

10) What if the spirits simply got more bitter with ages of being stuck into the Spirit World and without nothing to do then relive their deaths, or past mistakes, and getting tired of it?

The spirits got stuck in their world for centuries and forgot why they were there or what they did, while they had lived, and just got so much anger inside themselves, they didn’t know anything else except that feeling, like those who believe the theory that every ghost is bad, and does bad things, because it wants to protect their surroundings, or does it because it doesn’t know anything else. Uther may have being fuled with even more hatred than ever and his true feelings actually came out once he got out of the Spirit World, showing himself to Arthur for who he truly was (Uther has always showed Arthur his tyrant personality, but it feels as if we had been the only ones to see it, until Arthur finally did too)

What if Merlin, at the end of the episode, smuggled the Horn into his satchel, promising Arthur he would have put it into a safe space, and went to the Stones of Nemethon instead.

Suspicious, Arthur followed him, and frightened of another Spirit wandering into the Living World again, he jumped into the light with Merlin, who had summoned Balinor,

and Arthur watched everything unfold.

And Merlin, after 1500 years of waiting, found the Horn again, under rubble and rubble of the Camelot castle, as he had desperately searched for it, and decided, in the last attempt to meet Arthur again, to blow the Horn.

But as Merlin had suspected, the Horn didn’t work, and no one, not even a light, appeared in his way. Merlin blamed it on so many factors, on the fact that Arthur had been dead for too long, or because he was in Avalon, and with an heavy heart, and a weary sigh, Merlin turned around and walked away from the dried up Lake.

But the sound of the Horn had been loud enough to disturb the Once and Future King.

And Arthur woke up from his old sleep.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Let's Talk Peter B

@iwasbored777 (Since you ask to be tagged)

Okay! I was on the fence about writing this post, but after doing this response and some encouragement, I decided that fuck it, let’s do this.

While I had seen multiple things about Gwen being a bad friend, a bad person, and other things I don’t want to say because I will start ranting- Peter B for the most part, has come out scotch free.

Don’t get me wrong, I had seen some people address his issues, but it has been a few posts in a sea of him with Mayday and people shipping with Miguel. Which hey, is okay with me, but when you see you a character you love be given the short end of the stick despite the circumstances yet another character that has much less to lose has their mistakes largely been ignored and basically be woobify.

Is not just Gwen, I had also seen people take beef with Jess as a mentor yet somehow leave Peter out of that conversation. Don’t get me wrong Jess is far from perfect (which is something I discussed before,) but again, Peter is far from perfect too.

Does this has to do with Peter being a beloved main character in the first movie? Yes. Does it also has to do with misogynoir and misogyny? Oh I don’t doubt it.

I don’t hate Peter B, far from it, I think he is a great adaptation of our spidey, and while I am not the biggest spiderman fan out there, I did grew up with Peter Parker in movies and cartoons so I do have love for this characters as well as his incarnation in Sony movies.

I will do my best to remain as unbiased and neutral as possible, but not gonna lie this entire thing is annoying me enough that I will say when I am aware of my own biases, as I always try to do.

But if you think liking a character stops me from calling them on their bullshit you are wrong.

I know this post is more about how Peter is with Miles and his role as a mentor, but I decided to address some other things I had seen people talk about because there is a reason I choose "Let's talk Peter B Parker" as a title.

Believe it or not, I am fine with this. Seriously.

Peter wasn’t here when Miles arrived, and considering they did a small tour and got an empanada on the way, I think wouldn’t be odd to say he wasn’t around when Miles arrived. My theory is that he was taking care of his own stuff, and once he knew that Miles was around, went to get Mayday to present her to Miles.

I think that’s pretty normal all things consider, he loves Miles and wouldn’t had fixed things with MJ and had his daughter without her, of course he would want the two of to met.

The enthusiasm is all things consider pretty sweet, and while I don’t approve of some things he does (like giving her a web shooter while being just a few months old?) Is one of those things that are part of superhero writing that has the children technically doing things that they shouldn’t be doing for their age, so I just let it slide because if I get hung up every time I see something like this, it would not end.

I’m the only one who is actually mad about this comment?

Yes, is a joke, I get that, and Peter is trying to take as much as steam off Miles by trying to frame him on the light that he messes up, but is just who he is.

It doesn’t make me any less annoyed.

For starters, I feel like I am rereading Percy Jackson again (No I will not explain that reference.) Because despite everyone more or less knowing what’s going on (Hobie said before he didn’t know what Miguel was hiding so how much he knows is unsure,) no one has attempted to explain the situation to Miles.

This is a trope I had seen enough (including WAY too many times in the books I mentioned,) and I really resent when characters act as if the protagonist or someone else is stupid just because they are unaware of something. ESPECIALLY if the characters saying so are aware they don’t know.

They are also letting him believe is a good thing he is in HQ, but that is actually not Peter’s fault. I am mad with Gwen on this one, but also Jessica, and Hobie well, he should have known enough to be able to tell him seeing Miguel is not good news. At least Hobie tries to warn him as subtly as possible.

Sure, Peter just got here, but the fact that he is already accusing Miles of just messing up with the universe carelessly is not something that doesn’t sit well with me. Either he knows that Miles doesn’t know and is making an insulting comment, or thinks Miles is aware of the situation and just acted recklessly. The second one is the best scenario, but I feel Peter is presuming way too much for someone that just came around and should have known better than believe Miles knew all of these details while Miguel basically has a giant banner of “Not Earth-1610 Anomalies allowed.”

Also, sidetrack but what exactly does Miles do that isn’t just your typical spidey behaviour? Yes he doesn’t always have full-formed plans before acting but you can say that about EVERYONE in the room at that moment.

“He wasn’t thinking, is not like he works!” My ass.

Want my two cents about this moment? Peter has zero business telling this to Miles.

When Miles asks Gwen about her dad, she is crestfallen, she doesn’t like to believe this more than he does; but unlike anyone else in this room, Gwen cannot return to her home dimension. The best case scenario is if she isn’t there, her dad may not die; but that’s the best case scenario, and that involves again, not stepping again in her home dimension ever again. Her best bet is never to see her home, or anyone she knows including her dad, because not only she may end up in prison, her presence may lead to the death of her dad.

And who knows, it may happen regardless; he may be dead already because he is a police officer and she couldn’t be there to give a hand or save him (As she said she did in Into the Spider-verse, by the way.)

Yet at least, she is coming to this with the idea that her life is going to have to SUCK for a few years, things happening or not happening depending on where she is but none of this is pretty or fair.

Peter? As far as we know, he is done.

Considering the age range of the Spidey-characters, chances are Peter already lived the canon events he needed to live, at best they don’t know what’s next, which means he can operate as he feels is the best course of action.

Miles asked him if he would have let his uncle die, but Peter lost his uncle over twenty years ago, he had enough time to grieve, to accept the outcome, and find happiness after it. And to top it all off, HE DIDN’T HAVE THAT MORAL DILEMMA PLACED IN FRONT OF HIM BEFORE IT HAPPENED.

I find Peter’s words hollow because unlike Miles, he was never asked to not intervene in a canon event, he hasn’t needed to deal with someone from his universe dying while he let it play out.

I am not saying he didn't suffer, he did, and a lot; yet he was unaware that this would happen, is way different having someone tell you “Oh those tragedies you lived? It’s the destiny that keeps everything together, it’s rough but it is what it is,” than someone telling you “Oh you are going to live a bunch of different personal tragedies, and you need to suffer with the burden of this knowledge because is this or everyone in every universe dies.”

(How much do you guys bet someone will use this as an example of the trolley problem in a philosophy class.)

Since we are going in kind of a chronological order, let’s go to something a tad lighter both because it deserves mention, and so I can cool down before I start ranting in Spanish (which is not going to be saying pretty things about B precisely.)

Yes, Peter recognizes this is bad parenting, which is good because it certainly isn’t good; I also have trouble believing he didn’t know AT LEAST ONE spider that could stay behind and watch Mayday while he went to the chase.

However, I do think the chase was never going to be dangerous, nor Peter thought it would be. He has been Spider-man for a quarter of a century, he has been swinging around for so long is second nature to him, I bet he has taken Mayday on “strolls” which is him swinging around.

There is also another screenshot that really encapsulates that Peter didn’t realize how dire the situation is, but that’s for later.

There is also the possibility that he asked Miguel to do this as a way to distract him, but considering this is the only time he does this and is going around him being obsessed with Mayday (Which I think is a bit too much, but I blame more the writers than Peter for that.) I am inclined to believe this is not the case.

(Sigh) I promise to try to be neutral, so I need to bring this up.

What they were talking about earlier can be lumped to a bit later on, and I decided to bring this instead of talking about it when Miles and Peter saw each other (which is I didn’t bring because what I could say would be the same as this.) Because this is something really beautiful that I didn’t want to leave out.

I think that’s what angers me the most about this, because in a vacuum? I love this.

I am a sucker for found family tropes, I love the idea that Miles would grow to see people like Peter B, Noir, and so forth as a family. I love how Peter says how much Miles means to him and meeting him changed his life for the better.

Peter B loves Miles, he said that in the last movie; I can’t just erase that.

However, is exactly because of this scene, that what happens next makes me so sad.

Oh, Miles.

I didn’t mention it in the previous image nor did I took detailed screenshots for the sake of my sanity and to not turn this way too long. (Though I may do it in another moment- Ok I need to focus.)

Miles was obviously affected by what Peter said to him, it obviously means a lot because Miles also loves Peter; of all the spiders in the gang he was the one who he spent the most time initially; he wouldn’t be the Spider-man he is today without him.

And it breaks my heart how Miles says this.

Look at the angle, at his posture; Miles can’t even turn to say this to Peter’s face because it hurts so much. He looks so small in that shot, trying to emphasize how he is just a teen, how he really loves them so much, and it breaks his heart to know that they could visit him, and they didn’t.

Let’s remember what he was doing at the beginning of the movie; he was trying to study physics. He is great at it, and he was since the first movie, however, this is clearly not his passion; he loves his art and even if he didn’t know what he wanted to do yet in the first movie, you can see how much he loves what he does.

And he was willing to leave all of that aside, just to see Gwen, Peter and the others again; because as far as he knew there wasn’t any other way. Remember, he was aiming at Princeton; he would need to bleed and work hard to get there, and even after, being in this field it was not going to be a walk in the park; getting to make the dimensional travel work (At least without seeing Miguel’s technology like Hobie seemed to do;) was also going to be hard.

Miles wanted to do all of that for them, and them? They didn’t.

Now; I don’t blame Gwen in this scenario.

I had said this much in this post before, and a bunch of others too. Gwen was stuck with the Spider Society; and yet she risked losing everything, from homelessness to prison, to spend an afternoon with Miles the second she had an excuse.

What is Peter’s excuse?

He couldn't, he couldn't.

That's what he had to say for himself.

Here is the thing: I am not sure I buy it.

Gwen makes sense to me, Miguel didn't want Gwen to be involved since the beginning and obviously doesn't trust her when is about Miles; Gwen wasn't exactly wrong to fear she would get kicked out if she acted out of line.

Peter? I have my doubts.

We don't know Miguel's and Peter B's relationship (I know some shippers have some ideas, not my cup of tea but I have no problem if people like it.) However, we know that Peter B was there when Miguel's dimension collapsed, later in the movie we saw what Miguel did to Gwen for what happened (believe me, we will get there.)

Even if that was the case; Peter’s situation is much less dire than Gwen’s. Even if Peter could be kicked out of the organization for disobeying Miguel; he would still have his wife, his house, his daughter. He would had been in the same spot he was at the end of the first movie, if not better because now he would had a chance to know both him and Miles would be okay.

I am getting ahead of the post here, but I honestly don’t know how much of Canon BS Peter believes; he clearly doesn’t think Miles is bad for being an anomaly, nor his daughter (technically because Peter wasn’t supposed to meet Miles, he wouldn’t have his daughter. Is certainly a NO in the comics.) Miguel is convinced that Miles’ presence is enough to create more holes in the multiverse; Gwen obviously doesn’t share that view. Peter? I don’t know if he thinks there is actually something to lose for visiting him.

One way or another, he doesn’t really give me a reason here; who knows, maybe when Beyond comes there would be enough information for me to admit Peter did the right thing. For now? No.

Here, we have Miles telling Peter he wanted to meet them so badly, and even if Peter doesn't have a clue of how literal Miles is; you can hear it in his voice, in his posture, how he still cannot look at Peter because to that point it hurts.

And what's Peter's response to this?

(Deep breath,) Boy at moments like this I really wish I didn't think so hard about media.

It hurts me, and it angers me, because it is a pretty sweet moment, but when you think hard about it, it just becomes messy.

I could make an entire discussion about how Peter literally ignored Miles’ feelings about not being there, about how he and others (Gwen not really, the others eehhh hard to say;) didn’t try too reach him, which obviously makes him feel like they don’t care about him as he does. And Peter decide to ignored it.

But! I will try to give him the benefit that this is a tense situation, there is hundreds of spiders looking for them, and there only have so much time. I am going to believe, Peter couldn’t address that at the moment because they had other issues.

Yet even if we omit that point, do you guys realize this is literally no different that his entire spiel about Uncle Ben, right?

Because that’s what he is trying to say, “Spider-man has to suffer, but hey sometimes good things can happen anyways.” This entire conversation is about trying to make Miles follow him, do whatever Miguel is trying to do to avoid having Miles go to his dimension (or at least stop him from saving his dad,) and basically let her dad die.

Look, there is nuance to this situation; Peter isn’t saying this to manipulate Miles, he believes this. He truly believes bad things had to happen to keep the universe from falling apart; I am convinced Miguel’s second universe didn’t fall for his Canon theory, yet Peter B was there, I can’t blame the guy for drinking the kool-aid a bit more than the others.

This doesn’t change the fact that this scene has Peter ignoring Miles’ pain, and try to tell him he needs to suffer some more because “is just how the universe works!”

(Sidenote but anyone can’t help to see this and think of a random Christian telling someone after they lived a personal tragedy “Is just G-d’s plan”? Because I saw that a lot.)

Now, I guess the next question someone may be wondering is, do I believe Peter was being honest with Miles here?

...I don’t know, I really, don’t know.

I had seen this scene multiple times, and I lost count how many times when I was in the theatre, seeing this scene, and thinking “he knew” just for the next moment thinking “he didn’t know.”

If you want my two cents, the part that keeps tripping me over is how he looks at his watch, then Miles, then the watch, it makes me wonder if he is screaming that he doesn’t have his location to Miguel, or to Miles.

I don’t want to believe Peter purposefully drive Miles away so he could get trapped, when he says to Miles “I didn’t know, I promise;” I want to believe him.

The thing is, the outcome he hoped wasn’t that much different, now was it?

He wanted it to be Miles decision, yet again, he was trying to get Miles to not just abandon his morals (as well as the ones every Spider-person should have,) but also try to tell him he needs to suffer for the good of the world.

(I am having SO many flashbacks to things I read about cults, I need to continue working on that post about the Spider Society ffs.)

This is a small detail, but I gotta say; Peter do you really have nothing on your defense?

Look, feel free to believe I am playing favourites, but unlike many people who had a problem with Gwen, I don't blame her for hiding this.

No, I don't think what she did was right. Let’s not get things twisted. I definitely think Gwen shouldn’t had hide this stuff, yet she in general NEVER, had a good idea of how much to say and how much to keep with anyone she talks to; from her dad to Jess to Miles. Once again this is an aspect I can’t get mad at her because she is sixteen and traumatized with a minimal support network and irresponsible guardians.

Now Peter, what’s YOUR excuse?

Not just for not telling something to Miles earlier, I could believe he would have done it if the situation has calmed down. No, Miles asked them about it, and even a bit later says “That’s why you guys never came to see me;” (Which I think is kind of BS but let’s not get ahead of myself on this one.) The thing is that when he has the teen he mentored being manhandled by his ‘friend,’ and said thing asks them to answer him; Peter just ducks.

Like he cannot even see Miles and admit he shouldn’t have done that.

Gwen’s excuse isn’t much better but at least she is answering and you can see in her face how much she knows she fucked up.

I am going to be honest, this little detail wouldn’t bother me as much if what has happened before and what’s yet to happened didn’t exist, yet it does.

There is a difference in “Well you did a little mistake but I can let slide” vs “There are so many things wrong here that I will call you out even for the tiny ones.” Granted Peter isn’t that bad, but is a nuance I think a lot of people don’t think of.

Could Peter haven't said anything because the scene is trying to focus on Miles and Gwen for this part? Yes; it doesn't stop me from getting annoying.

Okay, Miles says this, do I believe it? Ehh not sure.

Gwen definitely not the case, if she truly thought him being an anomaly was a problem, she wouldn't have gone to see him directly.

Peter? Again, I have no idea how much of the kool-aid he has been drinking, the fact that he speaks highly of him and his daughter as good things that has happened makes me inclined to believe he doesn't.

We don't have an answer either way, right?

Not that Peter does much to help him feel better here. Yes yes trying to keep focus on certain characters I know.

(Looks at the camera like is the office.) And now THIS is the time where I wish I wasn’t aware of how writing works.

Okay, I know what the purpose of Peter is, aside of being here as a mentor, he is here kind of as a comic relief. He doesn’t have the same narrative weight as he had in the last movie, and he is here to be cute with his baby for the most part. That’s his purpose at this moment.

It-doesn’t-change-anything.

He has this recurring joke on the third act about if he is or not a good mentor, and it kind of has to do with the last movie, specially this joke, since at the end he was also talking how he taught him something he definitely didn’t do. Last movie I found it cute, here? Not so much.

I am trying not to be hard here and why I would not address the “son of a mother” moment (which I honestly really hate,) because this is not even Peter B’s fault at this point; the writers were trying very hard to have a way to make the situation a tad lighter while also having an important character be in character. I can’t say is truly out of character, but I’m not appreciating it.

Especially having him insist on being a good mentor after letting down his protege MULTIPLE TIMES.

Don't you guys love when you see a grown-ass adult go apeshit on a teen, and his friends aren't doing anything to stop him?

Sorry, yeah I understand that for narrative purposes, they have to be stuck to the ground, but after someone pointed this out a few weeks ago, I can't stop thinking of this shot so I needed to bring it out.

(BIG sidenote but, Margo is the biggest MVP here; girl met Miles once and probably has little to no context, yet she is helping him out. Queen behavior.)

Now let's talk about some bullshit.

I know this is technically not about Peter, considering this is Miguel talking to Gwen, yet I find LAUGHABLE this response.

I will give this to the spider//dad shippers, I would also be inclined to believe Miguel has a thing for Peter B if between the guy who had the "fugitive" in close quarters for a few minutes yet did not attempt to trap him, vs the teen girl who tries to help out her mentor to catch the dude (even if she didn't try too hard,) you decide the teen girl is the problem.

Is funny because really all this scene needs is Miguel saying "If it wasn't for you, he wouldn't have come here, he wouldn't had know and the Spot wouldn't have escaped," at least that much couldn't have been said for Peter B.

I think the writers were trying to make Miguel just look less and less reasonable the more we saw on screen; which is why he would go with route.

It doesn't change the fact that Mighel accusing Gwen of not capturing him is laughable.

YOU 👏 ARE 👏 A 👏 TERRIBLE 👏 MENTOR.

(This moment could be addressed individually, but they are basically the same thing and this post is DEFINITELY too long; seriously I had written fics shorter than this wtf.)

Here is my problem with this: He just decides that oh well, what can he do.

SERIOUSLY?!

Forget the "Oh but he doesn't do this the story-" for a moment; are you seriously telling me that not only this guy knows Miles is in a PRETTY fucked up situation, but also that Gwen is in her home universe where she will be homeless (because there is no way in hell Peter B doesn't know what happened to her,) and you decide to just, go brooding in your dimension?

You know is absolutely amazing how I had heard people grill Miguel and Jess for their behavior with Gwen (which I agree with for the most part,) yet I haven't seen anyone say "Isn't it a bit fucked up that Peter B should have known what would happen to Gwen if she went home and didn't decide to help her?"

Miguel is on Earth 1610 and hellbent on finding Miles, you cannot tell me if Peter B left his daughter with his wife, and then went to fetch Gwen, Miguel would have noticed. At the very least Peter could had try to check on her.

Peter B has known Gwen for longer than Jess and Miguel, even if he couldn't be a proper guardian for her because he was busy with his life, he could have been more present. He definitely could have attempted to defend her better when Miguel was screaming at her, or to look after her when she was kicked to her universe.

Jess is determined to act as if Gwen is more of an employee than a teen, but Peter B should be known better.

But is not his idea to help Miles, is Gwen's; because right now he is too focused on his life and his duty as spiderman to think of the younger generations that are hurting. Just like Miguel and Jess.

Yet not the narrative, nor the fandom, truly recognizes that.

Let’s wrap this up, you guys have no idea the amount of hours I had spend on this and I would be surprised if someone got this far.

As a small detail, Peter is seen with Mayday, and this time I DO have a problem with it.

I honestly hope Peter isn’t with Mayday in Beyond, I will pretend Peter doesn’t have Mayday during the events on Beyond in my fics for as long as I can; because this is the moment where I feel the joke is being pushed too far.

They don’t know what would happen next, they don’t know in what type of situation they are in, they know whatever universe ended was one with no spiderman so it has to be dangerous; yet he brings the baby because that’s his recurring theme for this movie.

And truly, that’s really the problem with his character here: He was given a small role to do with very limited things to do.

I am not saying this is bad writing; I may not like Peter’s decisions in this movie, and I am really hoping beyond gives a big ass cup of “Adults need to start protecting the younger generations instead of insist they need to toughen up” to all of them. Because more than his role, I am annoyed that neither the movie nor the fandom is addressing the failings of Peter B.

He is not a bad character, I don’t even think he is a bad character in this movie. I like him, and even if writing all of this down made realize I am more bitter about it than I would had liked; I just don’t think is fair.

I want Peter to be better, as a mentor, as a father; and I am really hoping the next movie shows him grow that way too. I do believe the writers can pull it off.

Now, the fandom addressing that?...That I have MUCH less confidence. But not gonna lie this post was made mostly to get this out of my chest rather than expect a reaction out of it.

If anyone made this far, first of, wow; I know some people were interesting in reading this, but even I think I went for a while I put a lot of things that are small details but you guys now me, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do that.

Be thankful I don’t talk about micro-expressions in frames or this would truly would had ended up as a novelette.

Second, thank you for reading! Give a like and your opinion if you want; because I am pretty sure this post is doing to have fewer notes.

[cruyuu]

I love that theory! I like to think yuji and Sukuna will coexist like Angel and Hana! Maybe yuji will become a fire fighter and summon Sukuna to help him from time to time

I unironically think the only way sukuna can be saved is if he loses.

Sorry for a late answer anon. My answer got lengthier considering 268.

Angel/Hana and Yuta/Rika coexist. If they can, why can't Sukuna/Yuuji? Especially considering now that we know killing one is killing the other, that they share practically everything and that– despite not being able to share memories (which is alright because to Yuuji people exist outside of that)– it still works for them.

They are an anomaly when it comes to what we know. Despite being polar opposites, literally "hating" each other, Yuuji and Sukuna had coexisted quite successfully. Unlike Hana/Angel, they do not worry nor warn each other over anything yet they still survive, and unlike Yuta/Rika, even if separated, they are still able to use each other's techniques (Sukuna can still go through other people's memories and talk with them which we know is Yuuji's thing and Yuuji can use Dismantle and is practically like Sukuna– his soul, and by extension Sukuna's, dwells in his fingers.)

They're still tied to each other totally and Yuuji had reached great heights despite the narrative telling us (with Maki/Mai) that twins never do so, unless one of them dies. Also, the whole Gojo and Geto thing, too. Basically opposites are meant to kill each other, never to coexist. Either one must live or they should both die. That is a curse. If Yuuji is to be the breaker of that, then he shouldn't kill off or consume Sukuna (because that would be literally Sukuna's route all over again), but instead coexist with him.

Also, Sukuna disappearing goes against Yuuji's own words. If humans aren't good or bad, and if Sukuna and Yuuji do not represent 'bad versus good', then them dying together, or one living instead of the other, falls flat. jjk never followed what is right or wrong so... Sukuna choosing to live might be a possibility. (Also... considering these two are technically tied together and that death of one is death of the other... maybe Sukuna is still alive.)

And– I almost forgot to mention– Kenjaku and Takaba died together. Considering we didn't get the dying together end with the main villain but rather a second villain, and the fact that these two are forced to coexist via a soul bond (basically), that again gives me hope that Sukuna isn't really, truly dead and that they might actually start anew right now, and not in another life.

The fact that Yuta/Rika's bond was shaken and that his fate is up to chance leaves a lot to imagination, however. As you know, Yuta's a direct parallel of Yuuji whose story got told before his (while Rika, as the Queen of Curses, parallels Sukuna, the King of Curses). He chose to embrace Rika, told us their love was pure, only for him to end up abandoning her in favor of wearing Gojo's body. That panel of her crying over him means that she didn't even realize that Yuta was in Gojo's body, and that because of that (Yuta not wearing the ring which is proof of their love and their coexistence), she believes that he truly died.

I believe what might happen (don't be surprised if it doesn't) is that Sukuna might get reincarnated into Rika, and by extension, wake up in Yuta's body. Call me crazy and delusional but it's a strong possibility. I know the majority will not like this (Yuta fans pls do not start) but it's there and it would be such a Gege thing to do.

Keep in mind that the finger Rika swallowed is apparently Yuuji's own but that could always turn out to be a lie. Still, a more probable explanation is the fact that Yuuji and Sukuna are technically one and the same and hence hurting Yuuji's soul equals to hurting Sukuna's own. By extension, if Yuuji is carrying but a tiny piece of Sukuna within him (the residual in his hands which instead of disappearing might've been eaten by Yuuji wink wink) , it would still be enough for him to awaken in his finger and overpower a curse.

Now, there's also the fact that Sukuna cannot reincarnate (via his finger) into cursed spirits. Rika, however, is no longer a cursed spirit, but merely a curse which Yuta embraces via putting the ring on his finger. The ending of jjk 0 had Gojo explaining that and we also get Yuta and human Rika parting ways.

So! Rika is left without Yuta's connection, Yuta is trapped in Gojo's body (or is just dead) while his own remains an empty husk, and Rika swallowed Yuuji's finger. Sukuna is dead. Or is he? Big plot twist! Sukuna reincarnates via Rika directly into Yuta's body.

If this ends up being true I'm going to laugh lmfao but it's the only open possibility outside of them dying right now and reincarnating later on (plus might be why the cheeky "whats going on with Yuta?" comment is there).

That song one anon pointed out to me (called Why Haven't I Fallen In Love Before?) has these lyrics:

Yes, to compensate for the time I wasn't in love Lately I've been doubly excited After all, it's such a happy love story This is no time for watching TV drama I should have realized sooner That romance is going to be the protagonist My heart is racing, fluttering, pounding…

The music video of this song got shot in the same place where Sukuna's finger is located at so we can assume that it is, by placement, his song.

If you check out the lyrics, it lowkey fits this ending lol. If anything, it's so sappy and romantic that it's making me tear up lmfao. And yes! It is the reversal of the ending of jjk 0, where Yuta parted ways with Rika and stayed with what remained of her, not her (which is literally 268), only to continue living with her as a curse. That's technically the curse/vessel situation Yuuji had with Sukuna.

The way Yuuji's parting words read like a proposal (just like Rika proposed to Yuta) isn't lost to little old me.

Considering they had always been specialz, sukuita could easily own this approach. Considering Yuuji's rather strange words to Sukuna (that he- a curse- is, in fact, a human) and is the one asking Sukuna to live (paralleling Rika) and he got his own body (unlike Rika), it is more than fitting for Sukuna to get his own as a human. It's basically a whole inversion of everything because real love conquers all, doesn't it? It never dies. It has no ending.

Yuuji is the main protagonist but Yuta was considered a main protagonist before Yuuji so it fits that. Also, Sukuna's cleverness could shine again here, with the way he swiftly avoided death via his parallel (the Queen of Curses) and reincarnated into Yuta (effectively ending up in the same spot that Yuuji is now). Two main protagonists. Yuuji is no longer a side character and neither will Sukuna be. They'd be more than just a vessel/curse and wouldn't just repeat history. Instead of hate, they'd be awfully in love. Surviving despite the odds and breaking the cycle.

I should have realized sooner That romance is going to be the protagonist

That is to say: Setting an example and giving real meaning to Yuta's own (wrongfully put) "This is pure love." (because you embrace someone no matter what and if it was pure love, Rika wouldn't part ways with him, would she?)

Ofc Gege could debunk this entire thing. There are 3 chapters till the end after all. Maybe they'll simply let Yuuji consume what remains of Sukuna and let them RIP together.

[chevelleneech]

Both Buck/Tommy and Buddie shippers are being so dramatic about everything.

On one hand, you have people acting like Buck and Tommy is written in the stars and anyone who dislikes them are being unjust and hateful. On the other, you have people acting as if Buck can’t possibly be in a relationship with a man who isn’t Eddie, and claiming he can is somehow based in racism and hatred of Eddie.

Neither is true! The problem is that prior to 7x04, Evan Buckley was not a canon queer character. He was viewed that way by fans and Oliver Stark was all for it, but that does not change the actual canon history of the character. Therefore, the writers can only fix what they feel fits the current story. They can retcon a few things and so on, but both sides are acting like they’re right, and it makes no sense.

Yes, Buddie shippers have Oliver and Ryan on their side for the most part. Yes, Oliver believes Buck has been queer all along and he thinks a lot of the headcanons about his character’s reaction to things make sense, but he is NOT saying it’s all true. He agrees Buck was likely experiencing some jealousy when Eddie first showed up, but that does not mean Tim Minear is going to make that theory canon. It’s fans and Oliver who think it, but that does not equal canon.

As well, with things being slightly retconned or adjusted to fit the story… Tommy is obviously no longer an asshole by proximity. He was rude to Hen and Chim, but we’ve seen he him interact with the two of them since in civil ways. We know Chim thinks he’s cool. Continuing to demand he apologize on screen is a waste of time. It was five seasons ago, and the story had to change to fit Tim bringing his character back. It happens.

As for Buck/Tommy shippers, y’all have got to get off the high horse of Possibility. At the moment, there are so many ways their relationship can go, and the only reason you all are so high and mighty about it, is because you’re technically never going to be wrong until you’re wrong. Which is annoying.

Yes, Tim could choose to have Tommy stick around for another season. Yeah, Buck and Tommy could be endgame. Yeah, Buck and Tommy could… any and everything is possible, but acting as if Tommy is the love of Buck’s life and deserves fan devotion is crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I like the character. He seems nice if a little cocky, but I like that. I like that he’s written as a grown man who, even though he’s changed, still has a little bit of asshole in him.

Because yes, what he did to Buck on their first date was rude. He didn’t explain anything and left him standing outside the restaurant as if he hadn’t just told him he’s never dated a man before, and as if they hadn’t just run into his best friend. It was a dick move. However, it’s also kinda realistic. So I dug it, but that’s also all we really know about him.

Tommy is an army vet, flies helicopters, was a firefighter, and is gay. Which he struggled to come to terms with, and can be a dick. The way y’all treating him like a savior is insane. Y’all are trying to rub it in people’s face that his relationship with Buck is canon while Buddie isn’t, and I don’t understand that. Buck wasn’t even bisexual three episodes ago, so where is this higher than thou attitude even coming from?

The only thing people should be focused on is the fact that Buck is now canonically bisexual. Tim liked the idea and Oliver loved it, so they finally made it happen. Now, his story has even more potential. I’d even go so far as to say season 7 is going to be a cleaning and re-establishing of all the characters, because so many of them feel a little different.

We’ve got bi!Buck, meaning we’ll get to see him in one or more relationships that he isn’t used to being in. We’ve got a new actor playing Harry, and he’s older, meaning they’re going to have to write to his strengths and build a storyline there that is more mature. Bobby and Athena almost died together for real for real, thus hopefully we’ll get to see their relationship evolve and what if it changes them in any way. Chim and Maddie are finally getting married, so we get to see them kickstart a new chapter together. Hen and Karen have a new child, which will hopefully bring them more storylines and hijinks as a family. And Eddie is dealing with forcing himself to accept a relationship he may not even want to be in. And he’s aware this time, which could result in him ignoring his fears or bowing out, then having to face what bowing out means.

Point is, there is no reason for all this drama.

Buddie is not guaranteed just because it is a popular want for fans, and an accepted theory by the actors and showrunner. They’ve all said it has to fit the overall story without forcibly gearing the writing in that direction. Which means it could happen two episodes from now or two seasons from now. We just have to wait and see.

At the same time, Buck and Tommy are not an established couple yet. They’re going on their second date, and it’s been said Tommy isn’t in the last few episodes of the season. So it’s possible he and Buck are still together, but Lou isn’t a series regular nor regular recurring, so he’s just not contracted to be on set. Which is fine, but acting like a quick breakup is also bad storytelling is ridiculous.

Fans have hated Buck’s relationships with women from the jump, and him breaking up fast isn’t exactly new. So if it happens with the first man he dates… okay. Tommy can become more than a stepping stone, but the writers aren’t obligated to make his first experience with a man something deep and profound. It can be fun and eye-opening and still have mattered, even if it ends fast.

Y’all have got to let the stories play out, and not scream bloody murder if your headcanon doesn’t become canon. Because truth be told, Buck being canon bi is the biggest flex of fan service I’ve ever seen, even if I think it adds to the depth of him. So I can’t imagine how difficult it is to be sure not to continue giving that same group of fans everything they want outright, when there’s so much more story to unfold.

Which means they can’t just make Tommy the love of Buck’s life because Buck/Tommy fans have ditched Buddie or were never Buddie shippers, and want to be right. But they also can’t have Eddie come out and he and Buck start dating, because Buddie shippers have waited five seasons. Just wait to see what happens, and in the meantime, enjoy watching Buck discover more of himself. With Tommy as his current love interest, and Eddie as his best friend.

[sergeifyodorov]

Predicting the Playoffs Results

Right before the playoffs started, I asked many of you to make a bunch of predictions as to the result, and assigned points based on the questions. Here is the final writeup on that, but first, congratulations to the winners:

@jonassiegenthaler with 21 points

@elizaiwillbe with 19 points, 9 correct answers, and 7:12 off from the longest game

@seedlessmuffins with 19 points, 9 correct answers, and 18:54 off from the longest game

More info on how the whole thing went down under the cut:

Here are the individual question results:

Hopefully the way I phrased each question in the chart makes sense. Let’s discuss some interesting trivia from the chart.

After seeing the results of last years’ game, one thing I wanted to do was to make it easier: have more opportunities to gain points, so we would have a wider distribution of results and higher scores. I would say I was fairly successful in the attempt, with the exception of one question, near the end of the quiz. It was phrased “by the end of the playoffs, which goalie will have the best win%? They do not need to have played in the Cup Final.” Adhering to the rules of the question, the correct answer is Joseph Woll, who played 2 games in the first round and won them both. However, no one guessed this; I assume it is not because people are unaware of Joseph Woll, who is widely beloved as A Sweetie, but rather because a large win percentage generally assumes a team that goes far in the playoffs and, well, Woll is a Leaf. I think when writing this question I also had this in mind, probably being distantly aware of the off-chance something like this might occur but not believing it likely enough to include. That being said, while it’s technically the correct answer to the question, it feels wrong, so in future quizzes that question’s going to be changed.

The answer the most people picked correctly was the winner of the CAR-NYI series, which 114 people -- 87% -- picked correctly. The second-most correctly-answered q was the newbie who would make it the furthest, with a clean 100 (76%) picking Vancouver. 

I think the most impressive answer was the Conn Smythe pick: 35 people picked McDavid, which is not in and of itself a large percent (only 27%) but has a much larger pool of candidates: the first two above-mentioned questions were multiple choice, with 2 or 3 answers, while people picked 3 out of literally hundreds of possible choices, and still fully a quarter of people managed to choose correctly. Additionally, eight people picked both McDavid as a Conn Smythe candidate and Florida to win the Cup.

Here’s the top ten (well, eleven) Conn Smythe picks. While in theory, there were 393 total votes available (131 responses and each responder was encouraged to pick 3 players) not everyone did -- a few people only put in one name, and one person just wrote in “No idea,” who as far as I’m aware was not eligible as a Conn Smythe candidate.

Quinn Hughes mania really swept the nation. Last year, the most-voted-for Conn Smythe winner was Connor McDavid, who got 43 votes. This year, Quinn Hughes got 52! (Caveat: there were about 25 more voters this year than last year, which means that the proportion is actually pretty similar -- about 40% both years.)

Thank you so much for participating! Hope to see you all again next year.

[v-toast]

Please explain your Nailmaster Oro and Lost Kin headcanon, I would like to hear it very very much.

GLADLY !!!!!! (thank u sm for this ask :]]] )

so, assuming the vessels all have the same base experience when they escape the abyss and head into hallownest, Lost Kin in theory starts off with the same base abilities that you have at the start of a playthrough. no nail arts, charms, etc.

i bring up nail arts specifically, because one of the attacks that LK does in the boss fights: the dash attack

which. to me, personally, looks like the dash slash !! which is the nail art that you can only learn from Nailmaster Oro (in-universe, maybe you could also learn it from Sly, or one of the other Nailmasters despite it not being their speciality? but this is just going off what i think would be most likely rather than all the possibilities ever)

it has the same moment of charging up, and then the overall appearance of the attack just looks like the dash slash. it has further range, but LK is bigger than Ghost, so that could be one explanation for that

also, relatively to the rest of hallownest, the two of them aren't actually that far from one another ! and the path isnt too complicated. Oro is definitely the easiest nailmaster to get to from LK's room, so i dont think it'd be a stretch to say that they could've made the distance while not infected

the final 'evidence' point (and the weakest) is that LK does the same bow the nailmasters do, when they are beaten in the dream realm

i say that this point is a bit weak, because other characters also do a bow, like grimm and the mantis lords, so it may be more widely known in Hallownest's society to bow after a fight/duel/whatever. however, LK's room's closest (least complicated to get to might be more accurate?) character that canonically bows in respect after a fight is... oro ! so i choose to believe this is where they got it from

AND NOW... THE SPECULATION

this part comes second to the previous stuff i provided and is more just things i think about now that im committed to the hc

Oro is very reluctant to take Ghost on as a pupil, and remains very distant emotionally, especially when compared to his brother Mato. this could, technically, be explained by the feud between him and Mato leading to his isolation, and some other stuff going on in his past. which i do believe contributes to it !

but another thing that may also contribute to specifically having an aversion to accepting students and getting close to them... well... what if he previously had a student that left, or he got separated with for whatever reason ? and that student never came back ? the only company anywhere near his isolated hut, and theyre gone and he doesn't know where they went or what happened to them

final and strongest propaganda point: reluctant mentor figure that eventually has to admit that he does enjoy the company of his mentee, and mischievous mentee that incessantly bothers the mentor trope dynamic. that is all

[nofomogirl]

Before the Beginning (part 2.3.)

Part 1.1. | Part 1.2. | Part 1.3. | Part 1.4. | Part 1.5. |

Part 2.1. | Part 2.2. | Part 2.4. |

Hello, it's been a while.

If you're jumping in the middle, hi, this is a series of posts where I discuss things I've noticed in the Before the Beginning scene and suggest how they might shed new light on other scenes from both seasons.

Today let's do our favourite thing, shall we?

Let's revisit the Bandstand Breakup again.

Right after Aziraphale and Crowley argue over the possibility of killing Adam, and Crowley turns to leave, there's this memorable exchange:

A: You can't leave, Crowley. There isn't anywhere to go. C: It's a big universe. Even if this all ends up in a puddle of burning goo, we can go off together. A: Go off together? Listen to yourself.

and ever since S1, we've been arguing about exactly what was stopping Aziraphale from taking Crowley's offer. Why, despite clearly finding the idea appealing, it just as clearly wasn't an option he would seriously consider. Was it more because he wasn't able to choose Crowley or because he wasn't able to abandon Earth?

There are many sound arguments to support both and, like most people, I used to believe the truth to lay somewhere in between.

But then S2 happened, the Before the Beginning scene happened, and the bomb was dropped that it might actually be the entire universe that was on a 6000-year deadline, not just Earth.

True, we don't know for sure which is it, and more importantly, which Aziraphale believes, but if we assume that to the best of his knowledge, the end of the world means the end of all material creation, then you have to admit it changes the scene quite a bit.

It means that running away with Crowley wasn't something the angel could technically do but just wouldn't, it was objectively not an option. If it was just like Death said - if Armageddon happens anywhere, it happens everywhere - Aziraphale was right - there wasn't anywhere to go - and Crowley was wrong - the size of the universe made no difference.

Now the big questions are (1) why Crowley would propose running away, and (2) why Aziraphale hasn't called him out.

Regarding the first one, I've offered some theories in part 2.2:

Crowley may actually be right, and it's Aziraphale who's misinformed

Crowley's knowledge of the universe's fate might have been erased from his mind

Crowley could have repressed the knowledge himself due to trauma

Please feel free to take your pick.

I've already confessed my personal HC is the last one, and I stand by it. There's just something about Crowley consistently refusing to consider the worst-case scenario and behaving like it isn't an option. Book canon explicitly called him an optimist but I don't think that's the reason in the show.

Back to question (2) then. If running away was objectively impossible, why haven't Aziraphale simply pointed it out?

If we look at just that one scene, it's not hard to explain.

A: Go off together? Listen to yourself. C: How long we have been friends? Six thousand years! A: Friends? We're not friends! We are an angel and a demon.

You know how it goes.

My point is, like most of us after S1, Crowley assumed it was the "together" part that was the issue and addressed it. In other words, Aziraphale got distracted by another touchy topic.

Easy.

But I'd like to offer another explanation: Aziraphale doesn't have it in him to break Crowley's bubble.

This is my HC right now and here's why:

Aziraphale did give Crowley the bad news once, the very same exact piece of bad news, before the beginning, and he saw what it triggered and where it eventually ended

Aziraphale generally isn't the kind of person who easily delivers hard truths

Aziraphale is uncomfortable with confrontations

Aziraphale understands the absolute horror that is his and Crowley's situation and understands that not thinking about it is often the only way not to lose their mind

That's it for today, thank you for reading! I know I'm posting less frequently right now - for some reason putting my thoughts into ordered words has become harder recently... But the thoughts are still there and so is the desire to share.

[cybercasket]

What is the Behavioral Event Network?

I just went through the last arc of the ARG (finally), and when paired with the full context of the rest of the ARG, it actually answers a lot of questions regarding what BEN is, its abilities, and its past. However, I feel like it's not very clear to people what exactly "Behavioral Event Network" means and what it does, especially if they don't interact with the BEN Drowned ARG much.

(Forewarning: While I will be trying to write as accurately to the ARG as possible, at the end of the day this is my own interpretation. Many things in it are not only left unclear but are made open for interpretation on purpose, allowing a range of theories to technically be true.

Additionally, content warnings for cults, human sacrifice, and a little bit of talk about general death and violence. Largely average Creepypasta stuff.)

What a character involved with the creation of the Network has to say about it:

The Behavioral Event Network was created by The Moon Children cult, who later renamed themselves to The Eternity Project sometime after 2012 (or the events of the second arc). This statement from Abel implies that the Behavioral Event Network isn't necessarily a single entity or a group of entities that act in sync with each other, but instead a collection of the ascended/digitized people who exist in Majora's Mask.

The purpose of ascension is to supposedly allow the ascendant to free themselves from the fear and struggles of everyday life so that they can live on forever in the digital realm, where they can supposedly go anywhere and be anything that they can dream of and enjoy it, traveling between The Eternity Project's several digital realms for the rest of eternity. After their subject is sufficiently manipulated into wholeheartedly sharing the Moon Children's beliefs, they do this by utilizing a mysterious process that seems to turn them into ghosts and trap them inside a digital AI in a digital realm that the ascendant chooses before they die.

However, this doesn't typically go as planned. For Ben in particular, he allegedly (according to Matt, an ascended member of the Moon Children) wanted to become Link in Majora's Mask. However, the ascended don't always have complete control of what happens to them--leading to things like Ben being trapped inside of The Elegy of Emptiness instead of getting to be Link (at least while the game was being played by someone else, as two people can't use the same model at the same time). Most people who ascend are seen lamenting having done so in some way. There's a theme of betrayal throughout the entire ARG, with phrases like "THEY LIED TO US" being used throughout.

The Father and Absorption

Despite Ben's death being the one that sparked the creation of the Majora's Mask world, Ben was not the first to ascend. Rather, that accolade goes to The Father (also known as Kelbris).

In life, Kelbris was known as a prophet who was the only one who could hear the voice of Luna, the Moon Children's diety. He believed that the world would end soon and that the moon would consume everything--and this influenced the developing cult significantly. In 1998, the Moon Children discovered his electrocuted corpse next to a power outlet. Despite not knowing whether it was foul play or suicide, Kelbris was hailed as the first one to ascend and the cult began to sacrifice its own members, experimenting with ways of having others achieve the same "spiritual release" that Kelbris had.

According to The Moon Children, Kelbris had managed to inhabit a vessel that was "archaic" and they described his ascension process as "unrefined", possibly referencing how Kelbris feels less human than the ascended that came after him. While he is a prevalent force in the cartridge (self-identifying as a god) and the ARG as a whole, he appears to only respond to "stimuli" and react based off of what his code tells him.

When Kelbris/The Father appears in the ARG, he's typically tormenting, threatening, or killing someone--most kills in the ARG are implied to be The Father. However, this behavior may have been coerced by other characters in the ARG.

When The Father kills someone, they are absorbed into the Behavioral Event Network. The most obvious example of this is when it happens to Jadusable (the ARG's first protagonist) after going too far into the cartridge in "THE FATHER.wmv", a video from the 3rd arc. This is implied to happen to a few other characters as well, such as Matt (who appears in the cartridge in the 3rd arc after Kelbris is presumed to have killed him in the 2nd).

Additionally, one of the videos uploaded on Jadusable's YouTube account before the first arc started (the "Creepypasta story" that most people in the fandom know,) a video called "Prototype: All Consume Kills (Warning: Extremely Graphic)" was uploaded, which was confirmed by Jadusable to be a "vague metaphor" for how BEN operates. (So canonically, the Behavioral Event Network kind of works like Alex Mercer in Prototype 😭😭 have fun with that one...) This alludes to the fact that as more characters in the ARG die, more souls get added to the BEN or Majora's Mask world.

Who is in the Behavioral Event Network?

The short answer to this question is... A lot. A lot of people. Pretty much every dead Moon Child is in it, as well as every participant in The Eternity Project after the Moon Children rebranded--most people who have successfully ascended besides from Sarah are in the BEN. Not all of them were absorbed by The Father, a lot of them are implied to have been ascended through other means and somehow ended up in Majora's Mask instead of their intended world.

I might make a longer post about people who are or are likely in the BEN, though I do want to touch on the dominant forces in BEN briefly. This is who I think is largely responsible for BEN's actions as a collective in the ARG as a whole:

The Father: See the above section. He's very powerful and sometimes even breaches the outside world, and some people interpret him as a type of overseer of the BEN. He could have been easily manipulated due to his simplistic and poorly developed AI.

Ben: Typically represented via the Elegy of Emptiness statue. It's not entirely clear the role Ben (the kid who drowned) plays in BEN, though he is confirmed to be involved in terrorizing Jadusable in the first arc (aka the "original Creepypasta story"). Additionally, the Elegy of Emptiness statue is a common motif throughout the ARG--the "canon BEN" image is an AI-generated image with the Elegy of Emptiness likely being used as a source, and in the second arc, dead or missing characters would often have the Elegy of Emptiness statue pasted on their page. While in the 3rd arc, Ben is treated as the innocent, tortured soul who inhabits the Elegy of Emptiness, (eg. Matt says that he was trapped but conscious in the statue unable to do anything, and Circle also refers to him as innocent,) he may have (or previously had) more influence over the game than it seems on the surface. However, it is notable that in The Last Hero.wmv, Matt appears to be able to summon an Elegy statue to a location on his own seemingly without any input from Ben, and that Ben is frequently seen terrified of The Father.

The Masked Children (Goht, Odolwa, Gyorg, Twinmold, and Majora): They use the models of the Moon Children seen on the moon in the original Majora's Mask, and are implied to be inhabited by different spirits. When they're in agreement (or "consensus"), they speak like The Three Witches in Macbeth, but when they're not, there's often a lot of bickering/infighting between each other. Their participation in the events of the first and second arcs is hinted at several times (the dream that Jadusable has in the first arc where a mask is being forced onto his face is connected to (and may have even been induced by) them, one of the first arc's entries is updated in 2020 which includes an added dialogue sequence similar to the way we see the Maksed Children talk to each other in the videos, Goht in particular is connected to DROWNED, the largely silent admin of the Moon Children website in the second arc,) though the third arc is when their actions are more directly connected to them. In the third arc, a few of them are seen fighting Sarah as their respective bosses so they can appease The Father. They're credited with posting signs that have messages like "GET OUT" written on them (which are similar messages seen when something didn't want players to see a webpage, video, or document in earlier parts of the ARG), and they're regularly hostile to Sarah and call her a monster.

This is most of them together, though Odolwa is missing after their encounter with Sarah. You can see better images of their in-game models here.

Rosa: Rosa is another character I find a bit vague and confusing, because she seems to be dead and inhabiting a non-Majora game in the prologue, but appeared to be alive in the second arc. I don't believe Matt makes any comments about his "sister" being dead, though she also disappeared when players used The Song of Healing, so I'm really not sure... Maybe Matt was dead too? Was everyone on that forum dead when the players discovered it? However, she claims to have previously had power in Majora's Mask, though this ended up being heavily diminished by 2020. Another reason why Rosa is notable is because depictions of BEN as a more uniform collective (such as in iseeyou) often contain feminity to some degree, which is usually credited to her by people trying to make sense of it.

Rosa talking about her previous power over Majora's Mask.

A more feminine image of BEN from end.wmv.

An image of a feminine person (assumed by the Jadusable Wiki editors to be Rosa) used in conjunction with the "canon BEN" image and Kelbris/The Father.

TL;DR: BEN can absorb people and makes them Majora's Mask NPCs (like Alex Mercer!), the BEN page on Jadusable Wiki could probably be renamed to World Alpha, and no, you can't fuck it.

Feel free to ask me any questions about this, the ARG, or Creepypasta in general, and I'll do my best to respond!

[daes0]

Author's Note on "liar liar lover"

it's the end! you made it!!! feel free to skip this monstrous author's note lol (462 words damn), but it does give more of my perspective on this fic.

while i've written dark stuff before, this is my first attempt at dark romance and i… i kinda feel like i failed. Rafayel's murders not being revealed until the Endings doesn't fit the typical "dark romance" trope of having an upfront villain. but i'm hoping this is scarier. he's still Rafayel here, characterized as the one we love. he's your best friend, your lover, your one and only. except he's also a ruthless killer, so lost in a quest for vengeance that he can't see the mistake he's making

i want to revisit Rafayel x Dark Romance in the future but we'll see.

now *slams fist on table* about that ending! i was originally going to write two endings, one where MC stays with Raf and one where MC escapes and/or kills him. technically, neither of those predicted endings happened.

so, what did happen? here's some possibilities:

If only Ending One happens, Rafayel has hurt MC and broken how she views him. this almost definitely leads to an escape/kill scenario

If only Ending Two happens, Rafayel has maintained his persona and successfully manipulated MC. this almost definitely leads to MC staying

If both Endings happen, MC has the memory of Ending One but chooses to believe that Ending Two is reality

If YOU, the reader, don't believe in either of the Endings because "liar liar lover" Rafayel wouldn't act like this… then you are falling into a meta narrative of Ending Two. you want to believe the delusion

Alternative to option 4, both Endings happen and you as the reader still find yourself wanting to believe the delusion

hopefully that's not too confusing lol. and hey, i welcome any other interpretation of this work. personally, i lean on option 5. even as the creator of this fic, i find myself wanting to believe the delusion that Rafayel wouldn't hurt me/MC, even if i know that he did.

also, yes, Rafayel was going to drink your blood and stop your soul from reincarnating before he stopped. take that as you will and run wild with theories heheh

this fic took me two weeks to make, and that's the fastest i've ever worked AND finished a writing project. it's sitting on 92 pages in gdocs and i'm so proud. i know that there's faster writers and these numbers mean nothing to most readers, but i'm really proud of myself for what i've accomplished.

anyway, i hope you enjoyed this fic! leave a kudos if you liked it, or leave a comment with your thoughts! they make me want to write more <3

[not-goldy]

They think so because of his choices in chapter 2. I remember them being so defensive when anons asked them about why JK had songs with female protagonist and mocked antis for thinking that he's het, said female subject is for the technicality. But the same person is saying his chapter 2 decisions looks like he's preparing Fandom for a dating reveal with a woman just so he can show a partner of opposite gender to the society, for convenience. They said he will never ever reveal a male partner, understandable. We all know both of them are not gonna explicitly come out but they can always keep quiet and decide not to have any public relationship... there are many korean actors who are 40+ but have no public gf or relationship till now. They say Jikook may remain as Tony and Jaeduck ? Idk.. that couple but also says he will leave Jimin for a better future.. because that's what his social status in korea is.

Previously they said even his antis in kside don't believe that leaked video as it was blurry and even if it's real it doesn't mean they are dating. Now she's saying his video with that woman didn't made any noise in kside because they are already prepared for a dating news and kinda know about it.. just like taennie. They have a side blog where they stan other kpop groups and ship some of duos, there they said none of kpop ships comes close to what Jikook has. Recently they said no one in their right mind in Kside even cares about Jimin Daeun rumor as it's BS... but I bet in next week they are gonna say Jimin is also preparing Fandom for a dating reveal with her 🤡🤡🤡🤡 coz that opposite r their answers from one to another ask lol.

This is the same person who thinks JK didn't had any extra push from company, it's all his power and he deserves a grammy for seven when we all know how much scooter pushed seven to be top. This is the same person who thinks Jimin wasn't even sabogated or how everyone is living in lalaland at hybe.

This is not making followers insecure but straight up maniacs. Every Jikooker in right mind will always keep it in mind that maybe we could be wrong about them. But straight up mocking them saying Jikook are in love but also JK is getting ready for a dating reveal with a girl is so ???? 🤯🤯🤯🤯

Oooooohhh I see. Thanks for the explanation.

I see what they are saying here and in part I understand what they mean or where they are coming from.

It's not so crazy a theory to be honest. It's nothing that hasn't happened before. People fake date, spread relationship rumors or even marry to cover up their gayness. And if you are dating a closeted person who tend to develop that insecurity cos there's always that possibility they will burrow further into the closet than stand in their truth and claim you choose you or fight for you and with you.

I think Lil Nas X has a video that explores this much prevalent and painful queer experience you can check it. It's I want. Troye Sivan too. Blue Neighborhood watch/listen to the entire song series. Particularly Talk me down. Those are just my favorite queer artists but there's more who touch on this aspect of queer experience.

Partner abandonment is a huge challenge that faces the community especially as not everyone has the strength or luxury to stand and live their truth.

Hearing you say these things about Jikool actually makes me sad 😔

I don't want yet another "friend" to abandon Jimin😔

He already complained of friends betraying him and all and how he does so much for their love and I think he deserves love he deserves happiness he deserves someone who's interactions with him will heal him and nourish him and I think Jungkook- whatever you think their relationship status is- does that for him😔

People are so cruel when they say I wish Jikook break up, or that Vmin is crap and Jimin needs to cut Tae loose, like yall are wishing for Jimin to be abandoned 😔

You are wishing for him to experience the pain and trauma of partner separation or disconnecting from his primary sources of connection be it friendship or romance. All because you hate Tae and JK. They wish Tae Kook with develop a connection and "free" Jimin. And these are his fans yall. His own "fans."

For Jikook this is not something new to them either, all these "tattoo girl scandal" and Paris club scandal and rumor has it they have a gf and thus and that- they are all just ploys to cleanse their queer image by fans and to some extent the company who plays complacent in these situations neither refuting those rumors or refuting them too late whether advertently or inadvertently.

There's a queer idol who said his management would deliberately leak rumors about him dating girls or would ask him to build his body and become hyper masculine just so he appears "straight" to the public.

So perhaps you an disagree with her takes on these. I certainly do- unless Jungkook has done something really controversially gay I don't see why they would want to stage a queer cleanse for him this time around.

I mean he even said he wasn't dating no girl. If he wanted to queer cleanse he would have kept absolutely quite about it- at least for a while just as Hybe asked the tattoo girl to keep quiet about those rumors. Later she had to come out and throw hybe under the bus because the rumors were harming her- until she of course switched up and played it up.

It's messy. Kpop is messy.

Everyone is entitled to their views. Time will tell which views are more accurate than not is what I always say.

[arcane-abomination]

I recommend reading my piece on Eldritch Witchcraft before this blog.

Its hard to find resources on this practice yet quite a few pagans seem to flock to it like a hidden gem. Getting started on this path can be a little difficult for some, as there are some books out there that have been published but they can be somewhat obscure, and let’s be honest, cost a pretty penny. I remember seeing one for $52 online and that’s not including shipping.

In this blog I have compiled some basics of the practice just to get those who fancy this craft started on their journey. For the most part, this path isn’t set in stone, and can be manipulated to the casters will as they see fit. Most of the modern witches that delve into it are chaos practitioners or already practice Eldritch witchcraft. So this information is very basic but will serve as the foundation for one to build and discover their connection with the gods.

What is it?

A branch of Eldritch Witchcraft, It’s the practice of worship generally centered around the creatures created by the author HP Lovecraft. Originally he wanted to go with the term Yog Sothothary, however others would dub the mythos after Cthulhu, and later after the late author himself. As such, It isn’t uncommon to hear the practice referred to as Cthulhuism or Lovecraftian Paganism as well.

Are The God’s Real?

Well, technically yes but it also depends on how you look at things. Most people fall into one of 3 main categories on the subject.

⚜️ Egragores - This is a type thoughtform creation, a being of pure energy given life and sentience by the belief of multiple individuals. Those of Yog Sothothary can sometimes believe that the gods were created in this way, and it’s the belief and worship in them that satiates and feeds them. They are sentient, and have developed over the years into powerful gods.

⚜️ Alien-like Deities - This system is a little different from the first. It generally holds the belief that Lovecraft had a connection through his subconscious to the astral realm. In some retellings he didn’t even know it. When he slept he unconsciously connected with other worlds and dimensions, but didn’t understand them for what they were and so wrote them the way he did.

⚜️ Real Forms Of Historic Gods - This theory states that the beings Lovecraft saw and created were actually the real forms of other well known deity. The forms we see them as are either epithets or avatars. (An example would be Pan being an extent of Shub Niggurath) This makes it easier to work with us since our mortal minds can’t completely comprehend what lies on the other side and can go mad when seeing a god in its true form.

How to work with them

They work very much like other deity would. They command some sort of respect, and offerings. Typically they will tell you what kinds of things they prefer from you, this is not limited to offerings alone but also other correspondence as well. One thing to make note of though is that it is very common for them to greet you with an avatar of some sort. That way they can choose a form that best connects with you. These avatars can look like animals, humans, or other monstrous creatures. The possibilities are limitless. Sometimes they may even choose one that resembles their true form although not entirely because mortal minds can’t fathom it.

The last thing I have to stress is that while Lovecraft was a racist nihilist, those qualities did NOT pass into the deity of his mythos. Racism is a human trait, concocted through human concepts of bigotry. Deity don’t have the same concepts. They do not view race the way we do. To them, a human is a human. Their skin color doesn’t matter. This practice will never be one that works in a racist manner.

Types of Magick

For the most part people tend to gravitate a lot towards ceremonial magick. This is in part due to the fact that most of the stories involved with summoning the gods have a ceremony motif to them. However, if you’re not into this type of Magick you needn’t worry. Calling a deity can be worth more casual Magick. Personally this is the way I do it for the most part. It’s the intention the gods really care about not whether it’s a whole lengthy ceremony or not.

Symbolism

Each deity’s Symbolism can be derived from their respected texts. It’s important to remember that while the bigotry isn’t apart of their actual makeup some of the symbolism in the writing is. It’s not as cut and dry as the story presents though. Which has lead to many processing the information in various ways. For the sake of this blog I will list some of the more favored gods as well as what’s typically associated with them. However, you are free to draw your own conclusions, as much of this practice operates this way.

⚜️ Azathoth ⚜️

Known as the blind idiot god, he is said to be in an internal slumber dreaming up our universe. While the last part is often seen as just apart of the story for lots of practitioners the slumber of the great god isn’t always. Those who work with Azathoth work with dream magick. Believing it’s one of the only ways he can communicate with his followers. The other by using the messenger god to relay information.

⚜️ Yog Sothoth ⚜️

Son of Azathoth, he is typically regarded as the main god of the mythos by most of his followers. It is said he is called the key and the gate, the keeper of dimensions. Existing outside space and time. Because of this he knows all and is often called upon as a god of knowledge, divination, and dimensional travel. In the mythos he’s also associated with bringing back the dead, thus many practitioners view him as a god of necromancy as well.

⚜️ Shub Niggurath ⚜️

The wife of Yog Sothoth she’s a motherly deity that is said to appear deep in forestry areas, almost constantly creating life from opening mouths on her body. She’s seen as a benevolent goddess, one that stands mainly for fertility. In the story she creates milk to feed her followers. Those that drink it become known as Dark Young. From a realistic stand point, the dark young can simply represent her followers, some even view it as a title like priest or priestess. A lesser known association, however, is the belief that the dark young are the dead souls of those that worshipped her in life. They are said to appear on her behalf when she can not be present. Regardless of which one you hold to be true, milk is often used as an offering. She’s called to bless it with protection and fruitfulness, before it’s drank my the witch.

⚜️ Nyarlathotep ⚜️

Known as one of the most malevolent gods of the mythos, he’s said to wander the earth causing havoc. It’s also stated that he’s the messenger of the gods, talking word back to even Azathoth himself. Now, in reality he’s not seen as evil but rather a trickster god. Trickster gods often walk a grey area between light and dark, and can be known to teach in very unconventional ways. This matches what Nyarlathotep is about. Those that work with him can describe him as protective or even stern one minute then care free the next.

⚜️ Cthulhu ⚜️

Arguably the most popular of the mythos, this deity is another dream worker. The story says that the great one slumbers and reaches out to his followers through their dreams. Cthulhu is described by practitioners to be very knowledgeable and protective of those who follow him dutifully. He’s often seen to give gifts to those he feels worthy.

⚜️ Hastur ⚜️

Hastur isn’t always considered part of the pantheon because his creation is a little different from the others. He was only mentioned briefly in one of Lovecraft’s stories. He was later reimagined by Ambrose Bierce, in his short story “Haïta the Shepherd” in which Hastur was described as a the god of shepherds. He was later fleshed out again as a malicious god called the yellow king. Like Nyarlathotep, he isn’t seen as actually evil but rather a chaos or darkness deity. In practice he’s seen as a king, but this doesn’t mean he’s no longer a shepherd. On the contrary. A fair king is seen as both a ruler and a shepherd. He governs and lays down rules, while also protecting and guiding his people. That being said, those who have worked with Hastur often mention that he can be strict, and demanding of offering more profusely then any other deity. But when the castor complies he will be very protective and loyal.

Resources

I will add to this list as more become available, so feel free to link yours in the bottom so I can create a nice Hub. Also please remember that any symbol, regardless of whether it’s words, numbers, or sigils, has power when put down with intention. Even if it’s a symbol taken from a game. It may not have been created with real spirituality in mind but that doesn’t mean someone else can’t use it that way. Everything is just lines, squiggles, and circles until meaning is given to them.

⚜️ R’lyehian Text ⚜️

This is a text said to be given by Cthulhu in the story. While, in the story it’s only vaguely described, there are many people who have created their own versions. These ones I feel the most accurate to me. These are a free download that also comes with a free translator on site for those who just want to try it. The text comes in 2 variations.

• Dark R’lyehain Font Translator & Download

• Minor R’lyehain Font Translator & Download

⚜️ Eldritch Hand Signs ⚜️

These are hand signs often used by those who practice Yog Sothothery

• The Sacred Signs

⚜️ Magick Circles ⚜️

These are in no way meant to be the only circles you use. You can most definitely make your own. These are just some of the more popular ones people have uploaded online that are currently in circulation.

• Generic Magick Circle

• Chaos Star Magick Circle

• Azathoth Magick Circle

• Hastur Magick Circle

• Cthulhu Magick Circle

• Nyarlathotep Magick Circle

⚜️ Bestiary ⚜️

This was originally a tabletop game but it showcases seals & symbols for each deity and creature from the entire mythos along with where their placement is on the hierarchy. It’s a good starting point.

• Lovecraftian Bestiary

⚜️ The Elder Sign ⚜️

The sign is said to protect one against the outer gods. Although it’s not always used for this purpose in the modern craft. Sometimes it’s used as protection, not against the deity but bad energies as a whole. Again it all depends on the witch. Now there are technically 3 variations on this. One created by Lovecraft, another created by August Derleth, and a third depicted as a combination of the two.

• Lovecraft’s Sign

• August Derleth Sign

• Combination Sign

⚜️ Yog Sothothary Sefirot ⚜️

Originally the Sefirot, also called a Sephiroth, was a diagram in the Jewish Kabbala, that showcased the 10 powers, by which God would manifest. Since then their have been multiple variations created by practices, and this practice is no different.

• Lovecraftian Sefirot

⚜️ Links For Further Reading ⚜️

These are links that can help with further reading and understanding of this mythos. Remember though, each one of us works with the mythos in our own unique way. Take from the sources what calls to you and leave what doesn’t.

• Deep Cuts In A Lovecraftian Vein

• Cults Of Lovecraft

• The Influence Of HP Lovecraft On Occultism

• A Practical Guide To Lovecraft’s Lore

• Egragores & The Cthulhu Mythos

• Egragore Wiki

• Excerpts From Liber Yog Sothoth

• The Azatu Gate

• Rite To Call Yogge Sothoth

• Black Book of Azathoth

• Necronomicon Gnosis

• Chthon

• Working Worth The Cthulhu Mythos

[lucius-morningstar]

Personal Headcanons/Theories

These are personal headcanon's I have on Hazbin Hotel (Yes I am taking into account that Lucius is apart of this) I head canon that Hell has a book of sinners just as heaven has a book of winners. It claims some of their final moments before dying and ultimately going to hell or some of the actions that could have had them sent. (Rules getting more strict as the years went on) Lucius had his theories about Vaggie being "Different" but did he assume angel, no. He tends to check the book every few weeks to keep an eye on new comers or people who could be a danger to Charlie as a whole and couldn't find anything on Vaggie despite looking. He eventually does let it go while keeping a close eye on her for the next two years. (Note: He only lets it go because Charlie does eventually get annoyed and snaps at him for pushing his redirect on Charlie. Even though she knows it's out of fear for her safety, she insists she can handle herself) Vaggie and Lute had flings, the "Vile and blasphemous" comment I feel could be from two different junctions. One being on the fact that Vaggie is screwing around with a demon/nephilim and maybe becoming bigotted and hostile due to the possibility that Vaggie dumped her. I also theorize that in Lute's comment "What is SHE doing here." was more towards Vaggie and not Charlie. I will die on this fucking hill! Royals view sinners as garbage/left overs. So dating one is considered the lowest form to them. (Lower then dating an imp or hell hound) as in dating someone that even earth itself doesn't want. I also theorize that Lucifer and Sera we're once pretty close. (Whether you guys view it as siblings or friends is up to you. I am choosing to be open for many reasons until we're told they're family) I am open to them being best friends or maybe even Sera having feelings for Lucifer at one point which is why she's a bit more bitter towards sinners then most elders. (Yes I am taking the Lin and Pema approach to this because I was right once and that's all I need lol jk jk) Exorcists are okay to date each other (And Adam) but aren't permitted to go after Winners or Seraphim's (Seraphim's being a big no no) due to their "life style" and the possibility of them turning or revealing information to those they love out of guilt is far higher. I headcanon that Nephilim magic has the power to overwrite heavenly and hellish laws, they just don't know it. Hence meaning that Charlie herself is able to prove others wrong. I.E. Sir Pentious being redeemed proved sinners can be "fixed" and be better. I honestly do believe Charlie being a nephilim is a big reason as to why. Does it make sense, no but when does shit ever make sense. This also means Charlie (And By Proxy Lucius) have the ability to break deals if using enough power. Note that forcing a deal to break can take an immense amount of energy and be painful to both parties (The one breaking the deal and the one who holds said soul) Charlie (and Lucius in my verse) are technically one of the strongest but are also viewed rather lowly because their mother is a sinner. First created sinner but still a sinner none the less. I may have more but this is all I got right now.

[valictini]

Came up with possibly the most tinfoil hat theory about Antoine and the Cucuruchos yesterday but I kinda love it? It honestly reads like fanfiction though so dont take it too seriously lmao

(As I wrote this theory, I kept believing less and less in it but I still wanted to post it for myself to reference later if needed)

It all starts from this comic

In it, we see 4 people looking at a black sphere. But only one remains after it seemingly shatters. I believe the one remaining is actually a fusion of all four.

We see that person talking to four white figures: I think it’s actually a representation of inside the fusions’ head. The four arguing about what to do. But interestingly, the yellow figure, the fusion, seems to be a separate, fifth person: I think this is Antoine. A fifth conscience created from the fusion of the four researchers. He's the one controlling the body, choosing who to listen to among the four.

Except Antoine has a really hard time dealing with them all constantly bickering in his head. He decides that their goal is to separate them all again.

Antoine makes a deal with a mysterious entity of the dark to do just that, but the bodies of the four reserchers were never recovered. Their minds are still there, wandering around, and they end up having to find substitutes to actually exist physical. Only Antoine still has a functioning body, but damaged in a way that he'd rather hide under a human costume.

After harrassing Antoine for him to DO something, the cucuruchos are born. Robotic bodies that only serve as imperfect hosts for the deteriorated consciences of the four initial researchers. (The three white +the one black?)

Being the culmination of the four cucuruchos, and having saved their asses, Antoine kinda becomes their unofficial leader, but they still all have their own opinions about things and don’t hesitate to argue.

Before all that, the four researchers were from the Federation, looking into ancient ruins and trying to discover the secrets of dark matter. Basically, they fucked around and found out.

As they went through this tragedy, three of the Cucurucho’s objectives changed: they want their bodies back. Badly.

So they stopped all research related to the nether/dark matter and started searching for ways to get their bodies back for years… experimenting on ways to create good hosts for their minds (respawning, cloning, animal hybrids, eggs, minimes…) They are the secret higher sphere of the Federation.

The fourth Cucurucho is also in this sphere, somewhat, but he doesn’t care about their bodies and just wants to continue the research on dark matter in his own corner (the maze) Eventually, it physically changes him, making him all black, modifying his robotic voice, and maybe finding a way in (the roulette/dice). He still has a direct contact with the others through the main channel, tho.

Meanwhile Antoine decided to travel the world, far from Quesadilla island. Being the culmination of four scientists, he himself is cosntantly seeking knowledge and conducts experiments too. To learn more about the world and himself. And maybe get a proper body too. But that's not a priority.

(He IS still haunted by the event though. I want to point out how he made a white moon, kind of the opposite of the dark sphere that started it all… is it gonna be important later?)

Only recently did the Cucuruchos recontact Antoine to ask for his help on a couple of subjects (Aypierre’s critical condition, Baghera’s disappearance) and he came back to help more directly. He’s never technically been part of the Federation and doesn’t really want to either. Honestly, he’s not all that fond of the four researchers that shaped his mind, but he goes along with what they’re trying to do because as they said, some of their goals align.

THE BIGGEST HOLES IN THIS THEORY ARE:

1) what did the dark entity even get from the deal aside from fucking them all up? Could the dark hand actually belong to Antoine, completely flipping the script? Like he's an entity that was summoned into this world in exchange of knowledge, for example?

2) Cucurucho 1 asked Jaiden some help to fix Osito’s behaviour. At the time, it really felt like they were both clones of the same initial entity and Osito became too different from the original. This wouldn’t make sense if all Cucuruchos had their own identities from the beginning. And everyone talks about Cucurucho 1 as the Perfect Employee, kind of giving off the vibe that he was literally engineered and created specifically for this job. Not JUST a really good employee.

3) Antoine getting a crush on Cucurucho seems uh... odd in this context lmao

Overall, not looking too good for my theory, but hey, until it's disproven, i'll keep it in the back of my mind for my own amusement :]

[im-the-j-in-anthony-j-crowley]

Are angels and demons really different from humans?

All angels (and here I am including those who are now demons) were created for a purpose to carry out god's plan. Their existence was dictated by that ultimate goal, and there was absolutely no other choice. Because there was nothing else they could be. There is no way out. Before the demons separated, there was no alternative.

We commonly talk about the idea of free choice, and sometimes whether it applies to angels or not. But I feel like we focus too much on the tangible part of free choice, on the: Am I capable of choosing something different?

And not enough on the: Am I able to conceive of a different choice?

Before the demons were created, it was not possible to conceive of another option. It was either fulfill your predisposed function as an angel, or nothing. Because there was nothing outside of that.

So from my perspective, in technical terms, before the concept of demon was created, angels had no free choice. Because from their position, from the way they saw their environment, from something completely unconscious, there were no other choices.

And then all the angels who dared to go beyond what was established, in even the smallest variation (yes, ask questions) were cast out.

They were... demonized. When God speaks of angels dancing on the head of a pin, he clearly says they are the same. Or that in practical terms, they are. Now demons have that label surrounded by all the things that angels don't do (dancing, tempting humans, and so on) but in terms of capabilities... they're the same.

Whenever I think about this, I can't help but think that angels and demons are basically an extrapolation of humanity itself. You have the humans who "choose" to do good, the humans who "choose" to continue that path... and the ones who don't, who end up in hell. Along with the demons who also chose not to follow the plan that had been created for them.

I put the word choose in quotation marks because I am a firm believer that many times you don't have a choice, and that you are not always able to reach the same level of "good person" that others are able to reach. I feel this is exemplified very well in the mini-episode on resurrectionists.

I feel like we all know that the word "demonize" has a negative connotation, and that it's something you shouldn't do to a person.

Now we have a series that goes into grayscale, about how the demon we see is actually... not completely evil, but has a scale of shades of dark gray. In the same way that humans have them

The only difference I feel there is between humans and angels/demons is the way it is presented. Because it's relatively easier to notice that gray scale when (at least in theory) we don't have any characteristics associated with being evil or good.

Instead angels and demons have such a well marked line. Down is the bad guys, up is the good guys, black clothes the bad guys, white clothes the good guys, physical characteristics of animals the bad guys, completely human appearance the good guys.

This is why I feel that what really needs to be deconstructed in the series, is the concept that heaven is all the good in existence, and hell is all the bad in existence

Angels and demons have free choice in the same way that humans have, the only difference is that over there they successfully managed to throw overboard everyone who didn't want to live in the society that had been built.

Something that we as humanity have tried a lot of times, and I am happy to say, we have not achieved 100% yet.

So one of the things I most want to see in the show, is more of that grayscale in them. The story of angels and demons could easily be the story of humanity, with the only difference being that now it's easier to understand because there's visual aids differentiating the dark grays from the light grays