#without overthinking about it or making too many theories

[iftitah]

i think im getting better at living in the moment

[runabout-river]

I know people are coping hard for Part 2 but…

They are probably overthinking Kenjaku scene.

Takaba's ability is manifesting ideas he seems funny, so he manifesting his duo in his routine to be funny with him. That's not real evil Kenjaku, just a product of Takaba's CT, a comedic version of Kenjaku.

I bet it wasn't intended to be serious, it was supposed to be funny. Takaba scene is a part of typical "everyone gets a happy ending" montage.

Mei Mei/Simple Domian “plot” is over.

Zenin clan is gone, Gojo clan is irrelevant without Satoru, Kamo is chilling somewhere. What clan wars do people expect?

Tengen/Merger/Culling Games plot also get it’s rushed unsatisfying conclusion this chapter.

I also see a lot of people saying that next chapter might introduce new villain for Part 2 but again I don’t expect anything serious. I expect "last mission" to be another oppapi joke like "we need to save Yuta" and mostly light-hearted chapter about the main trio being happy together.

At course, I might be very wrong, but I honestly don’t see any set up for a sequel right now. Gege killed all potential plot lines. Was it satisfying end? No, but it reads like definitive end.

The only thing that was left if Gojo’s funeral but it seems that we won’t see it. I’m so happy that Gege wrote about Sugar Guy’s bullied classmate but couldn’t force himself to add a couple of panels where characters say something nice about Gojo who sacrificed their life for them /s

I agree on Kenjaku. The speech bubble over the guy's face with his hairdo still visible is a dead giveaway that's supposed to be taken comedically. Either that's a poor guy who is now forced to look like Kenjaku or its a strange CT construct Takaba made who could be a depowered Kenjaku clone. The real Kenjaku could've survived but not in Geto's body.

Okay, the happy ending montage.

There are so many happy endings, it feels like Gege changed JJK's genre all of a sudden. JJK was never this happy. Even Gojo's stint as a soul meeting his old buddies again at the airport which I already found too happy, was still steeped in his and everyone else's gruesome deaths.

Taking this at face value, it looks like Gege fumbled his ending. So right now it looks like he'll go the "the story continues peacefully but it still goes on" route. Did he have to break established canon for that though?

Like, why did the CG end all of a sudden? Sukuna's death or Tengen getting freed from him shouldn't just end them. That was never established anywhere. What was established was the hosts of the reincarnated sorcerers being lost. They can't be saved outside of Megumi and Hana but now Maki says they will save them one by one.

You could say, Gege sat down and wanted to end everything, even if it was rushed and cut off.

Or you could try reading this theory how the last 3 chapters were actually an induced dream sequences that Yuji is cooking up in his head right now while he's about to die.

All these super happy endings for everyone, the thematic of making sure that neither Megumi nor Yuji are to blame for what had happened, drawing inconsistencies, the lack of Gojo and Choso, and how no other conflict exists right now even though it should like the invasion and JJ soictey instability, all of that could be explained by Yuji thinking of everyone ending up happy while also pushing the dead and other conflicts away from his subconsciousness.

And I gneuinely, genuinely think Gege would pull something like that off. Making everyone, the audience and Yuji, think they had their happy ending when in reality Sukuna won (or the merger started or sth similar). That could be why chapter 268 was titled Finale and why this chapter is titled Dream's End.

As it stands right now, JJK will end okay-ish. This chapter itself could've been the last chapter except Gege wanted to make one last time skip.

But if Gege really went for the "memories that never existed" route, then JJK will end bombastic.

[an-asexual-infp]

A BRCU theory :

I just started watching Brandon Rogers shows (in the wrong order because I didn't there was one, srry) and I have so many thoughts! I like the lore even if I don't understand all of it, I can't help but overthink about a lot of things like : 1) The "logic(s)" behind the hearts being pulled out so easily and some characters being able to live without one (it gives us many pretty funny scenes but wtf? XD) 2) Why Bryce doesn't mention the Elmer clones in her own show ??? 3) How does Brandon being a canon character in his universe works 4) Who made the cloning Elmers possible ? (probably Gloria) (And how did the baby stayed a baby all this time ?) 5) THE TIME TRAVEL (I have theories for all of these, I may or may not post them too)

But there something pretty "minor" like : the "shit" notebook.

I love the concept behind it BUT !

Since I watched "Blame the hero" just before, I couldn't help but immediately think about another similar notebook :

And here comes my theory : I think that there are linked, because there pretty similar : There are both spiral notebooks with the covers covered in glitter and their titles are written in pink. NOW here's the thing : the "Shit" one's purpose is to make everything written in it happens has demonstrated in "Sam & stuff" ep 19 and "Blame the hero" ep 2. But what about the "Love" one ? I think it's purpose is to make everything written in it NOT happens. Why ? Because (in "Blame the hero" ep 3) when Bobby wrote his plan to get revenge on Bryce as soon as he get addopted it does NOT happen. He stays in his cell for 40 years ! And he didn't really got his revenge in the sense that he was never satisfied and that Bryce didn't seem THAT mad about it all compared to her other vendettas.

I wonder how he got it too... Maybe the "in universe" Brandon gave him this notebook but why? To prevent bad things ? It would be funny if Bobby actually made it and it accidentally became a "magic" object. I really love the irony of these titles, by the way XD

But HEY! It's just a theory.... A BRCU THEORY! Thanks for reading!

Notes : I'm not fluent so I'm sorry if I made any grammatical mistakes. My favorite characters are Bryce and Elmer (Sam and Blame are growing on me too). Would you be interested in others theories ?

[lemotmo]

I love that we're all just spiraling into AU theories 🙃

Q. I'm nervous about the fact that they have clearly added several Lonestar writers. That show is so ridiculous and all the BTS stuff coming out is making me more confused, haha. Because what the actual hell is happening?? Hello magazine cover!

A. Okay it's time for some truth. Is Lonestar a ridiculous show? Yes. But 911 is not free of its own ridiculous choices. I watch Lonestar. And it's nothing but mindless television. It's pure fluff. It's wacky and over the top and does certain things that are absolutely ridiculous. But so does 911. We just tend to give it more of a pass because it's the show we prefer, and overall it is the far superior product. Overall it has better characters. Overall it has better acting. Overall it has better stories, but they're still capable of telling absolute garbage. The entire back half of last season proves that. The first half wasn't without its flaws either. For starters spending three episodes on the sinking ship was definitely one episode too many, in my opinion. Especially when you account for the fact that a great deal of that time was spent on that ridiculous Norman and Lola plot. It was stupid and was allowed to take up way too much time. Was anyone dying for an update on Norman and Lola? No. Literally no one cared if we ever saw them again, but there they were front and center for three freaking episodes. Let's move to the wedding episode now. Was that much hallucinated Doug necessary? Nope. Again, way too much screen time devoted to a part of the story absolutely no one wanted to see again. The episode was excellent overall but there was way too much unnecessary Doug. Then we spent the rest of the season with Bobby and the cartel, vigilante Athena, and Eddie dating his dead wife's twin. Utterly ridiculous television. We have to call a spade a spade.

If they really are doing an AU everyone will need to understand that a storyline like that comes with a certain built in level of ridiculousness. All of the speculation is fun and interesting, and some of it probably way better than what we will actually get, but people need to acknowledge parts of it will most likely be ridiculous. It's called fantasy for a reason. We can't automatically expect it to play like Buck's coma dream. We're most likely going to have to suspend reality for a bit. Especially considering the BTS stuff we've gotten so far leans more satirical than dramatic. Obviously we have no actual details but I just don't want people raging if it goes more camp than serious. That doesn't mean the events that lead up to the AU or the parts that come after the AU can't or won't be serious. I just think people should have the expectation of at least some of it being ridiculous. And that's okay. It's okay to have a bit of fun with it. And yeah the magazine was odd, lol. I have no idea what's happening. He does look like Eddie. Kind of. So who knows. The big thing for me was that he was hiding his hand, again. So that's clearly going to be something. Hopefully he does get to punch Gerard. But I doubt it. That would just require makeup for bruising, unless he breaks his hand doing it, but the cast would just slip on and off, so there would be no need to keep it on when he wasn't filming. Then again this is 911 so anything is possible. They're clearly reading our theories though so I'm not even sure if everything we're getting can be taken seriously. This got long, anon. I'm mostly just trying to tell you to not overthink everything. Which we're all going to do anyway so......

Thank you Nonny!

I have never watched Lone Star beyond episode 2, so I can't really comment on the first part of this ask.

As for the possibility of an AU episode? It's been done successfully before in other more 'serious' shows, so it can be done. I do think the 911 writers are clever enough to pull it off.

That magazine article is probably nothing. Someone over on Twitter found the stock picture that was used for that magazine. You can find it here. So in all likelihood it was just a prop magazine and the guy on the cover happened to look like Ryan. Who knows?

I agree that Ryan hiding his hand each time was very interesting. And the magazine picture was taken in the emergeny room. So, that might be something.

But yeah, we don't really know anything at this point. It's just a guessing game. Let's just enjoy the speculating and theorising and hopefully we'll get some good new bts content this week. Then we can obsess over something else yet again. XD LOL!

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If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[sure-to-lure-someone-bad]

Do y'all ever remember that we only have Luffy's backstory starting at 7 years old? What was he doing before Shanks? Where was he living? Who is his mom? Where is she? Did he have any friends? Why is he so scared of being alone?

Theory and analysis under the cut

Like, I think about that scene after Ace and Sabo had saved him from Blue Jam's lackeys a lot. Ace asks why Luffy wants to be his friend so bad and Luffy says that being alone is worse than being hurt. That's a child speaking from experience.

I also think about that scene in Chapter 137 where Luffy saves the parent of the baby Lapin even though it had almost killed him and two of his crew.

Maybe this was just showcasing how merciful and kind Luffy can be, but I don't think so. I think, in that moment, Luffy was relating to the baby Lapin. I think Oda was drawing a direct parallel to something Luffy may have experienced as a child, basically giving us a hint to more of Luffy's past. I'm not sure if it was his birth mom or a caregiver, but I think Luffy has been in a situation where a parental figure died because no one was around to help them and Luffy was too young and weak to save them.

I feel like this explains the shadowed eyes in the image. We've seen Luffy save many previous enemies without the indication that Luffy is so personally affected. I could believe that it's because he's worried about his crew, but in the next scene he has a serious expression that would've been plenty fitting on pulling up the Lapin. Maybe I'm overthinking, but I truly think there's more than concern for his crew or anger at the Lapins affecting him here.

On top of that, Luffy having a traumatic experience as a young child where he felt helpless would follow a recurring theme in his character arc. We've seen Luffy at three of his lowest points in the manga where he has been too weak to protect his loved ones.

First, chronologically, was Sabo.

Luffy has always been a passionate kid, so maybe this is his first experience with loss, but I don't think so. This seems like a reaction to feeling like being too weak to save his loved ones is a pattern. Most kids Luffy's age have a hard time grasping death. They might know that it's not a good thing, but most don't understand exactly what it means. It might be different for him because he has been around Grey Terminal, but I doubt it. Yet, he knew instantly what Dogura was saying and what it meant. There was barely a period of shock or denial.

Luffy is experiencing grief at a level of intensity that fits more with someone who knows exactly what death is. I really don't believe that this is his first time losing someone.

Second was being unable to protect his crew from Kuma.

The phrase "What's wrong with me...?!" really stands out to me here. Luffy definitely takes his role as captain seriously and knows that it's his duty to protect his crew, but we know this self-blame is also influenced by the reopening an old wound. He has worked hard for a decade to make sure he was strong enough to protect his people, and here he has failed once again.

Finally, third is the loss of his other older brother, Ace.

This, of course, led to the two year break where Luffy and his crew focused on training and becoming stronger to take on the New World. I would also like to point out that Luffy didn't emotionally stabilize until Jimbe reminded him that he still has his crew. He was grieving his brother, dealing with a sense of helplessness, and feeling alone in the world. Garp may be Luffy's grandfather, but he obviously neglected Luffy. The bandits might have grown on Luffy by the time he set sail, but I don't think Luffy considered them family in the same way as Ace and Sabo. Ace and Sabo were the only family he had until he met his crew. This isn't the grief of someone with a support network and people to motivate him. In this moment, and in all of the time since deciding to go after Ace, Luffy has pushed his nakama out of his mind. This is the grief of someone who has been too weak and feels like there's no one left to even try to protect. Someone all alone.

Luffy's character is one who's weaknesses are loneliness and helplessness, and that implies a lot about his developmental years. I truly believe that Luffy's backstory will involve the death of a parental figure. I also think that Garp either was even more neglectful than we realize or didn't know Luffy existed until he found out through Dragon.

I also think that Luffy's longing for freedom will also tie in somehow. We know he and no one who knew him as a child was a slave for the Celestial Dragons because he didn't recognize the symbol on Hancock, but maybe there was a nami and arlong-esque situation.

I'm so desperate for his backstory 24/7 lmao.

[professoruber]

Thoughts of Birds of Prey (2023-) #6

Spoilers for Birds of Prey (2023-) #6

So the newest issue of the current Birds of Prey comic has recently come out and I guess since I took the time to make multiple fairly long-ish posts about this run, I should go over my thoughts here.

To sum things up... I thought it okay but also not really too big of a fan by the end of it. I didn't exactly dislike it, but I guess it left me with too many questions and felt a bit too contrived. It was enjoyable enough, but kinda felt like my enjoy-ness of it decreased with each subsequent issue. It wasn't bad, but I guess that's my knee-jerk fresh reaction.

Of course, it still possible that there is more to the story than there is now and that future issues will reveal new information which might clear up some of my issues more, I'll be discussing that as well...

Note again that I am a novice in comics, and Gotham Academy was one of the first I read fully so perhaps I'm biased in that area. But to go over my thoughts for why I kinda feel slightly disappointed in more detail...

What was the point of Meridian?

Warning of future doom, apparently. So as it turns out, the real reason that Barbara wasn't include was because she died eleven times already

(the fact that this was far from Meridian's first attempt was foreshadowed last issue with her noting where the last battle "always is"). So someone is out to get the Birds of Prey, and they're possibly using Future Maps time travel tech to do it.

While this does somewhat answer the question of why Barbara was specifically excluded; still doesn't explain the secrecy.

Like, all these visions of Barbara dying have her in her Batgirl outfit, so couldn't she just have been informed she'd die and asked to oversee the mission as Oracle? Or does that also somehow lead to her death?

Being kept in the loop would also presumably have greatly helped avoid awkward feelings like this. And from what I know of Barbara, her tactical mind is probably more valuable than her martial art skills. But I guess whatever evil time traveller is targeting the BoP would've found a way to get to Babs anyway? (also on a side note; Barbara getting hurt by not being included was at least one thing I kinda predicted. My other, more thougt-out predictions though... well I'll get to those in a bit)

It also confirms that Dinah indeed did not apparently get any explanation for why she had to exclude Barbara until after the mission was complete and.... that feels weird?

Like I said, I'm a novice on comics (although I am now definitely adding more Birds of Prey stuff to my to-read list) so I'm not the biggest expert on these characters. Nevertheless it feels that Black Canary here would've agreed to attack Wonder Woman and her people while excluding Oracle all on the word of a time traveller she's likely never met before (and in the present is a teenager who she's likely never met before either) without even demanding a damn good explanation first.

I guess it was more dramatic from a story perspective for Meridian to reveal this stuff now and set up the next arc. But it still just feels contrived to me. Maybe I'm overlooking/overthinking something though?

Meridian's Motives

So I've gone over a theory before that Meridian was in fact evil and possibly even connected to Megaera. That theory was not confirmed, or overly supported, by this. And it does seem like Meridian is probably on the up-and-up.

Perhaps I'm a tad biased/sunk-cost fallacy right now since I spent a decent amount of time on the theory of Meridian being evil, but still worth noting that this mission ended up Megaera possessing Sin, albeit with Sin in control (and presumably actually in control because Megaera said Sin was in control while Sin used the lasso on her).

There's still quite a few similarities between Meridian and Megaera which are a bit difficult to overlook (you can check out the link I placed above where i went into more detail into that).

Its worth noting as well that Meridian mentioned that whichever evil time traveller is targeting the BoP, they're using her technology most likely. An interesting detail, and one which raises q

Could it be Meridian is hiding something still? All the information we know about the future and her motives comes from her after all.

Or could it be she's being controlled without her knowledge? Or a second Meridian is up and about?

Perhaps it seems like I'm still focusing a disproportionate amount on Meridian, but she still remains the driving force behind all this issues of the narrative which have somewhat hurt my enjoyment and given me questions.

And to repeat what I've said before. Meridian seems like a strange direction for the character of Maps Mizoguchi.

As I've alluded to before, I'm probably quite biased in this area because I've read Gotham Academy years ago before I really got into comics like I have recently and it was one of the first runs I've finished and stuff.

Maps is a character who wants to be Robin. And that's the path which she seems to have been developed upon during her fairly recent return.

Given how still early she is in her storyline of becoming Robin (or some other kind of vigilante) it just still feels like a strange choice for Maps Mizoguchi of all people to show up as a time traveling hero with a persona and skillset which seems in stark contrast to her every prior appearance.

Meridian does not appear to be a martial artist, Maps doesn't appear to be a tech genius. Magic would seem like a more likely 'superpower' than super-tech for Maps considering the more supernatural focus of Gotham Academy.

Maps has been established with a preference for swords while Meridian is only shown fighting using a fancy taser.

Am I thinking too deeply into it? Probably, yes.

But still feels like an overall strange decision to introduce Future Maps in such a manner. Especially when Present Maps has only returned to semi-focus in recent years and still hasn't really developed too much in her own current goals (such as being Robin).

So taking a character who's still in need of a bit more focus and development and then giving them a future persona which is at contrast to their current development chain? Seems odd.

Also at first i just assumed Meridian comes from a post-apocalyptic future which would be retconned out of the timeline by this arc. But Meridian's comments about how she doesn't take time travel lightly and is trying to right the timeline suggests she does not in fact come from a post-apocalyptic timeline.

So does that mean Maps is destined to become Meriden?

Again, this is probably my bias due to Gotham Academy nostalgia. But I'm not sure if I'm too much of a fan of this direction for her.

Especially, as I keep noting, Present Maps has only barely gotten started on working on becoming Robin (or any-kind of vigilante); but Meridian seems to suggest Maps is going to drop her current direction and go in a completely different direction at some point in the future.

Well those of my thoughts I guess. I suppose I'll see how things develop from here.

While I did find the Birds of Prey quite well-drawn so far and fairly enjoyable. All this thoughts I've gone over and the general feeling this arc was a tad contrived has all somewhat mitigated my enjoyment.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Adam B. Coleman

Published: Sep 1, 2021

Our black intellectual elite has embraced a white supremacy conspiracy theory

Why are people attracted to conspiracy theories? What makes them so intriguing that usually rational-minded individuals will suspend all disbelief to embrace an embellishment? For myself, it was the absence of information that made the conspiracy plausible. For a brief period of time in my 20s, I embraced 9/11 conspiracy theories. I felt that there were too many coincidences about odd events and that there were too many unanswered questions. I was certain that it was an inside job in order to kick off endless wars in the Middle East to forcibly seize oil for profit.

Today, I don’t believe in these conspiracy theories for multiple reasons. For one, I believe that most negative actions on a grand scale are not necessarily done out of malice but out of incompetence or carelessness. Just because there is a pattern does not mean that it is intentional. Even if I have unresolved questions about the pattern, this does not mean that there aren’t legitimate answers to explain it. 

The pattern aspect of this is extremely important to home in on because the human brain is designed to notice patterns and these patterns are highly salient to the mind in its information processing. However, what happens if someone presents information that is flawed in a pattern format? I believe that most people will choose to believe the pattern instead of questioning the information. This is how conspiracy theories flourish throughout our society, because once you see the pattern, it’s hard to unsee it.

The image of the conspiracy theorist staring at their bedroom wall with strings connecting one document to another is supposed to illustrate that they are using their logical brain, problem-solving by moving from facts to a pattern, but it is just as likely that they are working their way backwards, because they already have their conclusion—they’re just looking for any available links to the conclusion.

Much the same can be said for the people we hail as our intellectual black elite in academia. The people who show up on television shows and podcasts, giving the impression that they are intellectually sound by flaunting the institution they teach at or graduated from. Why would I, the average simpleton, dare to question their credentials when they’re using theoretical academic jargon? At times, it feels as though they’re intellectually bullying us, but it’s more likely that our own academic insecurity causes us to accept uncritically or to let slide whatever these people say.

Because we tend to feel insecure when someone shows up with an erudite vocabulary, we let them command the room. We stay silent as they speak for everyone else, or worse, we believe them regardless of what theories they’re pushing. Even if, instinctually, we feel that their reasoning sounds wrong, we still give them the benefit of the doubt because of their credentials.

Over the past few years, I’ve soured on being impressed simply by someone’s academic status, and now I care more about the content of their rhetoric. I’ve personally pushed back on black intellectuals’ narratives, ideas, and theoretical presumptions about reality. I’ve realized that there is a possibility of overthinking something to the point of having your theory escape reality. Many of these people have an Empire State Building-sized hubris, so once they adopt a theory, they ignore any challenging counterargument, much like the conspiracy theorists that I mentioned earlier.

The majority of our black intellectual elite has embraced the white supremacy conspiracy theory without challenge and without nuance. They’re sure there is no other explanation and they take any challenge to their conspiracy theories as evidence that you are working on behalf of the conspiracy. If you’re attempting to disprove the 9/11 conspiracy, you’re assumed to be an agent of the state. If you attempt to disprove the white supremacy conspiracy, you’re assumed to be an agent of ‘whiteness.’

The white supremacy conspiracy theory claims that everything in American society was created for the benefit of white people, and as such, any disparity between white people and minorities is due to that racist system. This conspiracy is a catch-all for any social issue, any historical event, and any negative outcome for black Americans.

The black intellectual elite are now officially the conspiracy theorists of the black community. They have the intellect to understand the complexities of social conditioning and human behavior, but they lack the willingness to accept that they might be wrong. When you spend your entire academic career believing in one particular concept, you will fight tooth and nail to ward off common-sense arguments against it. 

The black intellectual elite of the past used to be secluded in lecture halls across the country, but now the American public are their new students to indoctrinate. We are now unwilling auditors of their conspiracy theorizing, and we are aware of the elephant in the room that prevents us from pushing back—their race. If you are white and point out their flawed logic, you will be cast as a racist for challenging a black intellectual. If you are black and point out missteps in their thought process, you are accused of simping for the white man. For these black intellectuals, their race is used as a defense mechanism to protect their ego, fame, and profits.

These black elites don’t like to explain how they were able to make it to such great heights in this allegedly unfair white supremacist society. They never disclose their net worth while preaching about how they are victims. I’ve become very aware of the irony of these buttoned-up, wealthy black intellectuals telling lower class black people that because of white supremacy, they can’t do what they, the intellectuals themselves, did. Many of them wag their finger at white people as a whole as they are literally going to bed with a white person every night. They are walking contradictions because their conspiracy has no teeth—certainly white supremacy isn’t biting them. 

They are able to get away with espousing their conspiracy theory because there is a kernel of truth in it. No one could ever say that racism never existed or that the American government during part of our history didn’t have racist laws. But the trick of any conspiracy is that it is based on a truth, but one that is exaggerated to the point where it becomes untruth. Conspiracy theories overlook all the nuances of a particular situation in favor of apparent patterns. When such patterns rule, facts and nuance die.

[quillyfied]

Hellaverse Theories: Helluva Boss S2E1

Welcome to Quilly’s Hellaverse Theories, where I overthink the entire Hellaverse! We’re on the first half of season 2 for Helluva Boss, and the episodes have gotten longer this season, so I think I’m going to try just taking it an episode at a time like I did with Hazbin Hotel; them being longer means more stuff to chew on, after all!

Let’s do this, s2e1:

BABY STOLAS! BABY BLITZO AND BABY FIZZ! BABIES!!!

Thanks to Game Grumps, I know who Sam and Max are now, so the fact that Stolas has a little imp plush that looks like Max makes me giggle because I get that reference.

Alright moment to shout out the quality of the animation going up pretty drastically; it was already pretty dang good so the fact that it’s even BETTER makes me happy. Shoutout too to the butler; he’s very good at his job.

Paimon’s entire existence has…interesting implications. For a start, he doesn’t even have a solid form; I’m only convinced he looks like a bird because he’s spending time with one of his bird sons. And the fact that he has enough kids that he doesn’t KNOW which kid he’s interacting with until reminded…raises questions. Like. What’s Paimon’s rank? How many spouses does he have, to churn out so many kids he can’t keep them straight (or won’t keep them straight, more like)? What responsibilities does he have to the Goetia family? How long has he been a Goetia babymaker, apparently? Where’s Stolas’ mother? Or…additional parent? (I’m not entirely unconvinced that Paimon isn’t just spawning them from his own essence independently tbh, his form is malleable and takes on many different animal aspects.) How many siblings does Stolas have? Do all Goetia get purposes, or just high-ranking ones (because lord knows it seems like Stella and Andrealphus don’t have anything better to do than scheme for more power)? Does Stolas have Goetia siblings that aren’t birds, since Paimon himself isn’t truly a bird? QUESTIONS. I HAVE THEM. Okay, Paimon specifically says “which SON is this?” so…uh…does he even count his daughters? Does he HAVE daughters? (And children that are neither?) Is the Goetia family patriarchal and sexist?? Is that why Stella is the way she is? DAMN YOU VIV AND BRANDON PUT MORE GENDER DIVERSITY IN THE MAIN CAST. Anyway. Ahem.

Stolas is so excited, look at him. Look at his widdle face. Look at his big excited eyes. NOW LOOK AT HOW CRUSHED HE IS TO FIND OUT THE SECOND HALF OF THE DEAL. One: proof Stella was always like that, and Two: what do you want to bet the portrait was taken/painted after she was told about her engagement as well? Also I question the choice of sending along a picture of a kid strangling cute animals but this is a comedy show, I guess. Oof. Y’know what’s not a comedy? How Stolas does stop crying fairly quickly, but remains visibly miserable for nearly the entire duration of the circus.

I wonder who had the idea of assaulting the crowd with clowns first, Mammon or Cash.

BLITZO AND FIZZ BLITZO AND FIZZ BLITZO AND FIIIIIIIZZ. BABIES. SWEET BABIES.

Alright, pretty sure THIS was when it finally occurred to me what must have happened to make Fizz all white instead of red: seeing him as a kid without any white on him at all. Still didn’t know what happened, exactly, but it’s really chilling when that realization finally happens, that the white is scar tissue (and such extensive scarring, too). Also who voiced all these kids, they’re amazing and adorable.

Listen. LISTEN. Turning Stolitz into a version of childhood friends to lovers is the number one way to make me love them even more. Do you know how INSANE I am for childhood pining?? The answer is very. And I love that Stolas notices BLITZO. Even at this tender age, Blitzo is different, especially from Fizzarolli; Fizz is dressed better, looks the part better, can do the tricks, has the upper hand. But Blitzo is fearless and he’s creative and Stolas is just the right kind of sheltered and twisted to be into Blitzo’s kinda violent sense of humor. The ways that they are PERFECT for each other KILL ME.

Also the way that Fizzarolli swoops in to save the show and says “Hey everybody!” just like he does at Ozzie’s. Hhhhhhhhhhhh. (Also how did I never notice before that his horn stripes are mismatched just like his jester hats later)

I notice that Paimon doesn’t specify that he’s purchasing Blitzo for the day. There very much is no timetable discussed here. And the fact that Cash just DOES IT, would have sold Fizz for more but knows parting with Blitzo for chump change will pay out just as much in the end. Fucker. Then that asshole has the gall to ban Blitzo from seeing Fizz in the hospital later??? ARGH. Is this man still alive? Can we see someone punching his lights out just once?

Also, Cash’s voice. Can we talk about that? Who did that?? Why???

Listen these two asshat dads just did a bad, but also…was there really a need to vaporize half a tent to teleport out of there, Paimon?

I’ve said it already but let me say it again: whoever voiced the kids did PERFECT. Fizzarolli’s cute little giggles and Blitzo’s absolutely unhinged energy and Stolas’ little bitty hoity-toity accent. Aaaaaugh. Shows usually don’t give us this, it’s such a blessing. (Also why didn’t we get Barb tho)

(Maybe a continuity error, but the fact that Blitzo uses ketchup to represent blood instead of something darker…y’know…kinda unusual, for a Hellborn imp. But whatever, it’s adorable and I’m enjoying myself.)

I also love that Blitzo’s first reaction to being told he’s spending the day with a prince is “ew.” I hate that his first reaction to being told to steal is “what if I get caught” because that means this isn’t the first time Cash has made him do something like this. And if he’s worried about getting caught, that means it either almost happened or did happen in the past. Let Someone Punch Cash Buckzo 2k25. Surprisingly, though, for a shitty dad, the fact that Cash uses coercion and puppydog eyes to get his way with Blitzo instead of violence is actually refreshing. Though. Blitzo is already fully aware that his dad is a piece of shit, so helping him out…eh. Helping Mama, though? Yeah, that’s the correct button to push. I hope we actually get to meet an accurate version of her in Ghostfuckers and not a screwy nightmare version, because the way Blitzo in the future falls to pieces at her picture and the way even baby Blitzo wants to do everything to help her out means she meant a lot to him. And Blitzo doesn’t seem to trust or care easily even as a little kid.

STOLAS BOWS TO BLITZO EVEN WAY BACK WHEN. This information will never not destroy me, given how often Stolas does it to Blitzo in the present. Especially since Paimon immediately punishes him for it. And he still does it. Though, also interesting: Blitzo can see Paimon moving for Stolas before Stolas can, so Blitzo’s focus shifts there; his expression when Stolas gets hit is pretty shocked, too, an expression he only gets when the situation gets really dire for him. Hmm.

“I’m so good at daddying!” GO FUCK YOURSELF. Let Someone Punch Paimon Goetia 2k25.

Because Stolas is a kid who apologizes to his dad when his dad hits him, and he apologizes to Blitzo when Blitzo calls all of his books boring, he’s so sweet and so lonely someone help him.

Blitzo is already quite the little conman, though. That saddens me but also it’s nice to watch his budding strategic brain at work already.

Okay, here we go: “Is this an imp game?” That’s a fairly innocent question, especially from a kid, but it’s also a question that’s already loaded with class distinction. He might as well have asked “is this a commoner game,” because the tenor is the same. Stolas as a child gets a pass from me for his classism, because he literally does not know any better; even his imp butler constantly scolds him for behavior that is unbecoming for a Goetia. This isolation doesn’t improve even after meeting Blitzo again as adults, but I’ll talk more about that later, because there’s another layer to Stolas’ bigotry to examine and right now I’m in cute happy kid land.

Nooooo twinkly heartbreaking pretty tune, why are you heeeere, you make this sweet moment so much more bittersweet with your presence. Also if we get a reprise of this chandelier scene I might actually pass away.

Blitzo climbing a tree while Stolas reads a book. They’re so perfect. Y’know??

Alright, this little scene by the tree here: very packed with meaning, and foreshadowing too, I’d wager. I do notice that we don’t go much into Stolas’ duties with the grimoire as an adult (it would be cool AF to get into prophecy work one of these episodes), but the fact that Blitzo remembers all of this enough to plan a heist for it twenty-five years later is impressive (especially given what he goes through just ten short years later) (…wait a second…does that throw a wrench in my math…? Later, finish this tangent first). Stolas is excited, but unsure; it’s what he’s supposed to do, but there’s already something inside of him that feels discordant with that (with that, or with his impending marriage? Maybe both, since the two are likely intertwined given that they were introduced to him at the same time).

Blitzo, on the other hand, is gonna run his own circus (after a fashion lol) and be the most famous imp ever (YEAH I’M PRETTY SURE HE WILL BE ACTUALLY, he’s already making a name for himself and has interacted with one Deadly Sin so far, soon to be a second and a third later this season half. Plus there’s my ever-looming “IMP and Stolas Get in Legal Trouble” theory) and have an office (you go bb). The hiring of Stolas just feels like the next logical step, especially now that we have a pretty good indication that Stolas is about to be possibly stripped of his title and powers (if that’s what the trial/gathering in Pride and the altercation with Andrealphus means, anyway).

Happy childhood laughter…TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER.

(Alright, doing my math now: so Blitzo and Fizz haven’t seen each other in fifteen years. Presumably, I’ve been working under the assumption that they haven’t seen each other since the accident, and that the two of them and Stolas are the same age. But. There’s some…inconsistencies, if that’s true. I don’t think we get a number for what age Fizzarolli is turning on the explosive birthday, but he looks young; I think Blitzo still has his braces (which hurts me in a way I don’t know that I can articulate; that just feels so young and vulnerable still, for Blitzo to not only lose his mom but be blamed and also blame himself for losing his mom, blowing up his best friend, and burning down the circus). If we assume they’re ten on Stolas’ birthday, then twenty-five years later, they’re thirty-five. Fifteen years before that is twenty. That’s too old, or feels too old, anyway. Octavia was two years old the last time Blitzo and Fizz saw each other, since she’s seventeen; Stolas already being a father while Blitzo is in braces and the two of them being the same age feels like a stretch (though it COULD happen; adult braces are a thing). So either Stolas is older than the other two by at least a couple of years, or Blitzo and Fizz saw each other sometime after the accident. Which is possible, and certainly makes more sense as to why Fizz didn’t have some sort of trauma-induced explosion at Blitzo at Ozzie’s if that was the first time they’d seen each other since the accident. The math on this is all screwy; does anybody have a better resource on this?? Fizz and Blitzo being younger than Stolas would make sense…in fact, it’s the only thing that makes sense if the accident happened fifteen years ago. In order for Stolas to be 18 when Octavia is born, he has to be ten at this birthday at minimum. For Fizzarolli and Blitzo to still be teenagers ten years later, if we assume the accident was the last time they saw each other, they have to be 6-8 years old at most. And an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old can get along much better than a ten-year-old and a six-year-old (I work childcare, I know these things). So Stolas can be 35 while Blitzo and Fizz are 33. Wow. So many of my assumptions challenged by math. What a fun exercise these posts are.)

ANYWAY HALFWAY THROUGH THE EPISODE, one episode per post is looking more and more likely.

The differences in Stolas waking up as an adult versus a child are so stark. He groans instead of cheering, he drags himself around instead of bouncing. His hair just sort of falls into place after a brief tousle. And the Happy Pills, the most damning evidence of all. Because, uh. People who are happy with their lives don’t take antidepressants (or, rather, people who are happy with their lives don’t START taking antidepressants; people can be happy with their lives once stabilized on antidepressants). That is stupidly obvious but also, incredibly sad. And as I know I’ve mentioned before, to be a young immortal already on antidepressants because his life is so unfulfilling and miserable is upsetting.

I do wonder at how this episode would have gone if Stolas had seen Blitzo at the window at that point, though. Probably not much different.

Here’s another sad thing: Via looks so content in her sleep when Stolas checks on her before going to face Stella. I really, really hope we get an unfiltered look at Via and Stella’s relationship without Stolas, because Via’s reaction to their separation is not one of a kid who was fully aware of how unhappy her parents were together (how she wasn’t, I have no idea, because Stella doesn’t exactly hide her disdain in any way, shape, or form). Via does it without screaming but she does also blame Stolas for breaking their family, and does it the entire time we the audience know her. And in the s2.5 trailer, Via still blames Stolas for it, saying “You never loved Mother.” The fact that THAT is such a sticking point for her makes me think Stolas (and maybe Stella but I doubt it) was successful in creating a fantasy for Via where her parents were content enough, maybe even happy (at the very least, they didn’t hate each other, which was enough for Via even if she was already aware that they didn’t love each other).

We don’t know how Stella talks to Via. We don’t know how Stella talks about STOLAS to Via. We know how she talks about Stolas to her friends, to equals, but we have yet to see how Stella and Via treat each other at all, even in the new normal of screaming and throwing things. Via clearly doesn’t like that Stolas screams at her mother, even if it’s framed in the context of what Via really doesn’t like being Stolas forgetting about Via in favor of fighting with Stella or flirting with Blitzo. It is pretty damn well implied that Via thinks Stolas deserves to be screamed at and have his stuff thrown around for sleeping with someone else. “Maybe [I liked Loo Loo Land] back when my parents didn’t hate each other. And my dad didn’t flirt with some weird red dickhead all the time. I just want to go home. But home doesn’t even feel like home anymore. You ruined it.” “He’d rather spend his time just screaming at my mum.” “You never loved Mother, you don’t love me, you love HIM.” If anyone in this damn marriage is going to be accused of turning Via against one or the other, it had better be Stella turning her against Stolas, because the foundation work is already there (and the fucking messy part is that it’s partially Stolas’ own fault; he wanted to play happy families because it’s what was expected, and when he reached his breaking point, he had an affair and then flaunted that affair without talking about any of the other messy parts of himself that made it unbearable to exist in their previous life anymore. Via’s world is burning down around her, and Fuck You Dad for that).

(Disclaimer that I don’t think Stolas exactly deserves BLAME for it, because it’s an impossible and deeply unhappy situation created by others’ expectations being forced onto him, but we’re talking about Via’s point of view and she very explicitly blames her father for how miserable and tumultuous her home life is now, and she isn’t entirely wrong, even if she doesn’t have the whole picture. Hell, WE don’t have the whole picture; we don’t know if Stella going to strike Stolas is a recurring offense, or if this was the first time, but the casual way she goes about it and how surprised she was that Stolas caught her arm does make me think it happened before. And Via has NO IDEA about that if it happened, I’d bet money on it. For fuck’s sake, Stella SCREAMINGLY plans Stolas’ ASSASSINATION at the goddamned DINNER TABLE with Via RIGHT FUCKING THERE and Via has NO IDEA. Here’s something I want to see: Via getting the unvarnished truth about what her parents’ marriage was like, every messy detail, INCLUDING that her mother tried to kill her father TWICE now. Does he deserve that much, Via? Because I don’t think you think he does, even if you’re having a hard time accepting that the home life you knew was a lie. Heck. The home life she knew was a lie. No wonder she’s so messed up.)

ANYWAY.

Ugh seeing Stolas TRY to be friendly to Stella only to have his presence dismissed is just. AAAAUGH. How does Via not see this?? Stella isn’t exactly subtle! Though I suppose Via can be aware that her mother is a raging bitchface bitch while also harboring resentment towards her father for disrupting their equilibrium. Loona was right when she said it’s not as simple as that and this shit gets messy. It likely wouldn’t be this messy if Via didn’t love her mother, though. Which means there’s likely something there TO love, or at least care about. That’s a delicate path to tread, because children are conditioned to care about their parents even when those parents aren’t worth caring about, and we just don’t know what Via and Stella’s relationship is like enough to guess at how deeply Via is hurt on her mother’s behalf, and how much she knows about how her mother feels about her father. It feels incomprehensible that Via wouldn’t know, but keep in mind that we see Stella through Stolas’ eyes, not Via’s; to Stolas, she is unequivocally cruel and insulting and she hasn’t made any moves to hide it from him. Has she made moves to hide it from Via, though? We DON’T KNOW. Via isn’t at the “Not Divorced” party. She isn’t listening to her mother loudly and publicly trash Stolas in every way possible. It could very well be that in front of Via, Stella is better-behaved, and so Stella’s shows of rage post-affair are justified to Via. I’ve gone on this tangent for way too long but I’m just so enraged by it right now, and hoping that Via and Stella both get their screentime dues in s2.5 (or if not both, then definitely Via, because she matters more lol).

Good grief, though, back to the main event, which is Stolas meeting Blitzo for the first time in two and a half decades and that fantasy romantic streak coming in hard and heavy. “I will handle him accordingly” with the blush and the eyebrows EXCUSE YOU SIR.

The captions for Blitzo’s reaction to Stolas declaring “you were here to ravish me, weren’t you” is “Ew.” Which is hysterical, given that’s exactly what he said when he was a kid and forced to hang out with him, and incredibly sad because nobody wanting Stolas is the THEME OF HIS FUCKING LIFE. But Blitzo is a consummate performer and conman (he learned from the best, or at least the good enough); going along with Stolas’ ravishment fantasy is the easiest way to get what he wants, so he’ll do it. Blitzo, I will posit with my whole chest, doesn’t give two shits about Stolas very nearly this entire scene. He’s willing to work the connection, to lay it on thick, but he isn’t emotionally invested one jot until Stolas brings up how much it means to him that they’re friends. THAT, Blitzo can’t ignore, not at this point in his life, when he’s trashed just about every relationship he’s ever had. Having someone who looks at him like he hung the moon probably isn’t something even he can fully resist, especially not when he needs something from them and maybe it’ll go more smoothly after the fact if he rails Stolas into the mattress and leaves him with a positive impression even as Blitzo steals from him and illegally uses his grimoire to commit murder.

But there’s also a moment where things sort of clunk into place here—not a good place, but the place where their relationship starts that for me explains why Stolas thinks constantly calling Blitzo little and his plaything is cute, maybe even something Blitzo wants him to do (and heck, he might, in the bedroom, but we aren’t allowed in there to find out; however, context clues would imply that even in the bedroom, Blitzo probably doesn’t like being condescended to)—and that’s when Stolas thinks Blitzo wants him to be a loud, chatty, submissive bottom. Blitzo doesn’t exactly do anything to disabuse him of this notion, just sort of tolerates everything Stolas spits up at him, and with how sheltered and also up in his own ass Stolas is, I still genuinely don’t think he understands on a basic fundamental level that anything he says is a problem. How can he, when the guy he’s been demeaning won’t tell him that he’s being demeaned and literally no one else in his life could possibly offer him that context? (I will admit that if Stolas tried looking past his upbringing and seeing the world around him, he’d pick it up real quick, but that’s the thing, Stolas isn’t there yet. He hasn’t been broken down that far yet. I think he will be, though.)

Alright, stopping my own blathering enough to actually watch this scene, and can I say how impressive it is that Blitzo remembers the little eyes up top when he’s blindfolding Stolas? Mainly because I forget them constantly? Also tying Stolas up in the first place is hysterical, but I guess Blitzo doesn’t actually need to restrain him, just distract him for long enough for him to get out of there. Right before his own feels get hooked into this and he commits to “real fast.” Which is his downfall, really, but also the start of one of the most important and fulfilling relationships of his adult life. Also the most tempestuous and aggravating and dangerous. Blitzo doesn’t show his emotions, not anymore; they’re too dangerous for himself and others. But. There’s that selfie of himself and Stolas, quite possibly taken on this very night, where he looks so content, even happy, snuggled up to Stolas. Keep that in mind, because as we all know, a picture Blitzo takes while Stolas is asleep is just one piece of the puzzle.

The rest of the pieces are incoming, with Stolas’ own camera roll.

…sidenote, do y’all think Stella’s had affairs? Possibly a kinky threesome with the two friends she’s constantly talking to?

Aaaaand, here we are, fresh out of Ozzie’s, with Stolas still in his fancy suit and hungover from absinthe (which is a very strong alcohol, for those who aren’t aware; there’s a reason the serving imps brought it out with a tiny glass. Goetia resilience on display there). And his theme song is about to get words, oh nooooooo. Stolas goes through his third morning routine, doesn’t even fix himself up, just downs more Happy Pills than seem to be his recommended dose, then starts scrolling through his camera roll. In every picture of Blitzo, he looks bored at best, annoyed at worst. And this is the moment, the breaking point—the fantasy has finally fallen away. Stolas might be in love, but they aren’t together. This isn’t a relationship. It’s a comfortable lie, something unbalanced and slowly killing them both just as surely as Stolas’ marriage was killing him.

And that’s why it’s so significant to me to look at the timeline here; it’s easy to forget that these events are happening so quickly, what with the lengthy release schedule, but this is the morning after Ozzie’s, and now Stolas is looking into Asmodean Crystals, looking to give Blitzo an out, because he understands now—or, at least, he understands better than he did before. He noticed the grimoire missing right before Blitzo bit him all that time ago on their first night together; he certainly noticed it missing afterwards. He let Blitzo keep it, maybe had one or two conversations about it, and then the series practically opens up with Stolas proposing they start sleeping together so they can both get the grimoire and sexual gratification from each other. Maybe because Stolas was fluttery and happy about finally being with his first-ever crush and friend, he thought it was the only way he could keep Blitzo close (because why would Blitzo stay with him otherwise if Stolas didn’t have anything more to offer than himself?). Blitzo agrees for his business, but he didn’t have to even start—didn’t even have to agree to the deal, either, could have asked Stolas if they could talk about it later because he was in the middle of getting shot and kept putting him off. Blitzo doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do (or so he projects). Stolas has had an entire life of doing what he didn’t want to do.

Only now here they are, in a tangled web of their own joint making that’s going to break some things before they can set it straight. But Stolas taking the first steps to even out the score? HUGE. Significant, because he’s the one with the most power, literally and figuratively. Stolas didn’t have to do this. He could have kept Blitzo on a leash if he wanted to. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t WANT that kind of relationship with Blitzo. He doesn’t just desire Blitzo, he loves him, wants what’s best for him and wants Blitzo to have what Blitzo wants as well as needs. Stolas wouldn’t have given him so many outs from their full moon rendezvous if he didn’t care about Blitzo having a choice. This is just the next logical step to Stolas escaping his own fantasies and coming into the real world.

(I have a feeling Stolas Sings here has some thematic elements tying it to Just Look My Way, but I refuse to watch that music video more than the two or three times I did when I first discovered it back in February; I want it to punch me in the mouth in its full context, so I’ll just take mental note of what I’m seeing in this particular musical number so I can make the comparison later.)

“It’s annoying to hear you screeching your silly woes all the time” says the woman incapable of lowering her voice when talking about how boring and stuffy her husband is and mocking him to everyone she knows.

Unreliable narrators are a fact of life; we’re all unreliable narrators in our own ways. But when Stolas says he tried so many years to make it comfortable for both of them to have this family, for Octavia to grow up with a normal life, there’s evidence to back him up, to show that he isn’t just talking out his ass. Stolas waking up to Via’s crying and informing Stella of it, only for Stella to push it off onto him. Stolas attempting to greet his wife in the morning as he gets himself coffee, only for her to turn her back to him and ignore him and keep trash-talking him on the phone. Via’s simmering anger at the turn her life has taken now that her parents are actively hostile towards each other and not just barely tolerating each other for her sake. And Stolas says he didn’t hurt Stella, which is sort of true; he didn’t betray her trust. What he did was hurt her reputation, make her a laughingstock and a figure of pity. Stolas Goetia’s beautiful wife, so pretty but apparently not enough for her aberrant husband, who fucked an imp of all creatures. We never see anybody else judging Stella for it (or, like, talking about it at all?), but the way she acts, you’d think she’d been shunned from every noble tea party in the entire Pride ring and had her shoes spit on. Image is everything for her, but her reaction is certainly winning her no favors, either (and even her ass of a brother knows it).

Fascinating, too, at how Stolas’ firmness implies that Stella’s been dragging her feet at the divorce when it’s been months since Stolas first slept with Blitzo right after their “not divorced” party. Not out of any desire to make the marriage work, but just to torture Stolas. Just to hold that over his head. Bitch.

Alright, the body language here really does imply that Stella’s hit him before. I was already comfortable living with that assertion, but studying the animation now…yeah, absolutely not the first time she’s gotten in his face, raised her hand to him, threatened him with what the rest of the Goetia family will think and ESPECIALLY her brother (whom I’m willing to bet Stolas only tolerated because he was trying to appease Stella). And Stella might actually be stupid, might actually not care enough to regulate her reactions and behaviors towards Stolas in front of Octavia, but I don’t think she’s dumb enough to hit him in front of her. …not yet, anyway. Rile her up enough and she might. But again, we don’t know what Stella and Via’s relationship is like. But we DO know what Octavia and Stolas’ relationship is like, and I doubt Via would let it go if her dad was seriously hurt. (Which makes me really wonder if Stolas ever told Via he was in the hospital. I can see him hiding it from her to try and keep the peace.)

Stella’s choice of words here is interesting, too. “Traitorous embarrassment.” Is she just referring to the fact that he cheated…or that he cheated with an imp specifically? “And I know you’ll pay for it” because she’s so self-assured that the other Goetia family members will back her over him? It’s possible, but the only other Goetia we know of now is Andrealphus, who of course sides with Stella anyway. For all we know, they’re in the minority, but Andrealphus does make it a point to say that no Goetia has ever acted as Stolas has before (which…if the family is that big and old…I doubt it. But I don’t doubt the family’s ability to cover up a scandal before it reaches the proportions that Stolas and Stella’s divorce is about to reach).

But Stolas managed to stand up for himself, for his OWN sake, and that’s not a victory to be taken lightly for a man in an abusive marriage. But it doesn’t assuage the other matter weighing on his heart and soul. It’s fine. Full Moon is coming.

…Paimon and Cash had the same voice actor? Okay…that somehow makes more sense, why Cash’s voice sounds like that.

…yeah, these season 2 episodes are gonna have to be done on their own. Especially since every single one of them is an absolute banger. But that means this one is done! And we get to jump into Via’s head next episode and maybe relieve some of this tension I’m constantly living with trying to understand how Stella can be such a raging horrible person and yet Via still defends her! (To a point; there is a pattern where Via gets angry about something only to reveal she’s actually upset about something else, but! Next episode!!)

[haru-chi]

The True Identity of Matoba Seiji's sister?

this is something that's been on my mind lately, I may be overthinking this and reading too much into things. I have a crazy theory on my mind so thought I wanna share it before I explode by myself xD

what I have next are from chapters yet to be translated so if you don't wanna be spoiled then don't continue reading :)

before I start I just wanna emphasize all of what I'm gonna say is purely my own theories and ideas, also my Japanese is bad so I might make some mistakes thus if you noticed anything I'd be glad if you can correct me ^^

lastly, I don't know how long this post will turn out to be so sorry in advance ><

-What about Shinobu?

i want to start with this first to clear out the way, of why I don't believe Shinobu to be Seiji's sister. but another twist from Midorikawa-sensei (I mean how many times did she makes us suffer in figuring out the true identity of Seiji's sister for me to trust her easily now)

she started and ended this chapter in a way that makes you believe that Shinobu is THE miss Matoba but is she really ??

Shinobu said "really? thank you I'm glad to hear that"

is that enough to point out to herself and not to someone she knew perhaps? for example, she knew Seiji's sister or work for her so she's happy to hear someone praise her?

I really don't trust her since her deep knowledge of the exorcist world means she's not normal therefore she's in it one way or another but in what form I don't know yet, yup yup even her being Seiji's Sister isn't even 0% but I just find it weird and doesn't add up for now for me ...

I mean she can't even see the Yokai!! (Unless she lied which I doubt) now tell me, is a future leader of the Matoba clan someone who can't see Yokai? we all know what that means for a successor of an exorcist family to lose the sight. plus, if I'm not mistaken, the talk was that Seiji was more powerful than her which's why he was picked over her despite being the youngest so it was not because he was able to see the Yokai unlike her ... in short, his sister should be able to see the Yokai but Shinobu can't!!!

"a long-haired, elegant well-dressed woman"

and this important detail by Tanuma's investigation worth taking into note, since if the thief is truly Seiji's sister, then that's NOT Shinobu unless you consider Shinobu having a long-hair xDD

so you see now why I don't believe her to be Seiji's true sister (I have other reasons but we'll come up to it next)

-If not Shinobu then who?

now we're back to square one huh, Midorikawa-sensei sure love to torture us in this arc and tease us to no end while making us suffer (which's why I love you tho ~)

before I point out to who I believe to be his sister I wanna point out to something else so you can see my line of thinking :)

listen, I don't know how or why I thought that other than I followed my intuition since I read too much into Seiji's character while thinking and linking things together (this guy is making me go crazy! I'm so sorry I have nothing better to back me up here so bear with me please ><)

we all know that Seiji doesn't like divination and guess what, I believe the reason of why is that lies with his sister one way or another.

please DON'T ask me why I think so since it's hard to explain without sounding insane xDD

BUT IT'LL MAKE SENSE I PROMISE JUST WAIT FOR IT!!!

I mean this sweet, lovely chapter was in fact a soft set-up for this Miss Matoba arc which thinking about it now let me laugh that Midorikawa-sensei did it to us yet again lol

okay okay, stop this and just tell us who is this Miss Matoba already !!!

now let's review what we believe are hints to Seiji's sister

someone with a blond long hair

someone who should be able to see Yokai but we've yet to know if this person can or can't (meaning someone NOT Shinobu)

Someone who love or do divination (since Seiji hates it)

someone we never get to know their REAL names (again aside from Shinobu)

someone having an interest in anything Yokai related

someone who should be in this arc.

now tell me, does anyone comes to mind maybe ? someone whom for some reason mysteriously disappeared ever since she set foot into the auction perhaps ??

true, I meant her. Kurara or whatever her name is. no matter which way I slice it she just fit everything in my mind so I just can't help but think she is the REAL Miss Matoba. her disappearing ever since she dropped Natsume isn't really helping her case tbh. she also love and do divination which just so fit with my idea that his sister have something to do with divination which's why he isn't a big fan to that ><

and I said it to a friend, I just won't believe who's Seiji's sister till I see them both facing each other so nope I won't fall for Midorikawa-sensei trap AGAIN!!!

I know this might be far-fetched but I just couldn't stop thinking about it since alot was bothering me and I read into many things too much maybe but I HAD to let it out my chest so yup here you have it <3

-Bonus :Ultra small crazy theory

this one is ... ummm... listen... I know Seiji is making me go crazy and this one I just DON'T have any proof to really back it up like him hating divination because of his sister so just take this with grain of salt ... it just ... I WANTED TO JUST SHARE IT SINCE MY FIREND WAS GONNA KILL ME OF HOW CRAZY I AM TO COME UP WITH THIS !!!!

i mean if I said ... Kuro Misa (Black Misa) might refer to two people will you say I'm going crazy? haha ha ha

Seiji is very handsome indeed, but would you describe him as "doll-like beauty" ?? (you are to me at least, don't worry) not with that eyepatch at least, right ? if there's someone whom I would say is a "doll-like beauty." it would be Kurara.

one line hit me as being weird and my mind went "wait!! is it possible?!! what if ...!!!!" ever since I moved with the line of thoughts that Kurara is Seiji's sister ... umm... it's rumors and I know people never really know much about Kuro Misa ... but certain line felt off to me which was "she was beautiful like a doll" when describing Kuro Misa before we know it was actually Seiji's other hidden identity.

Kuro Misa wear a black veil that no one ever saw her face or have any idea what kind of a person she is, so it won't be far-fetched for people not to notice if it's two different person under the veil.

and it didn't help my case that this arc started with Kurara like this ... even Natsume thought she was Kuro Misa ><

this brings me to think that, what if Seiji created Kuro Misa in respond to his sister? so that he can keep an eye on her movement or to at least be in the same circle as her. which's why he picked such a character that is so unlike him since he just hate divination so why bother being known as someone famous of such a thing?? (I swear this man deserve all the respect for all the things he just do to protect his clan but no one ever appreciate it T^T)

Seiji also said that wearing a veil is very helpful since it will help him to recognize the faces of anyone whom tries to come closer to him to uncover his secrets, but what if a hidden/indirect meaning is also that if someone whom thought he was his sister thus come closer to talk to him that would help him recognize his enemies or the people his sister tried to make contact with to let them join her side in her fight against the Matoba clan !!

I know all of this might not make any sense, and as I said this one is just a very crazy theory of mine that won't be true mostly but was fun to think about .. if I hit it close to the truth I'd be very shocked of myself tbh xDD

if you read it to the end I just thank you for bearing with me and my crazy thoughts and theories ~

don't mind my english if it sounded weird or such, not my native language.

If anyone have anything to add or wanna correct anything I'd be glad and happy to hear it, and if you think I'm crazy it's okay xDD

I can't wait for the next chapter to just drop since I'm losing my mind over thinking everything and coming up with crazy thought and theories while waiting ><

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

Making a playlist for my fangame/AU for you to try and analyze because i think it'd be v interesting to see! Also i will totally take you up on the offer to ramble about AU's if it's still available,,,

okay, let's see how close and/or far i get

starting with the songs i know:

Come Along by Cosmo Sheldrake. now i've never actually looked up the lyrics of this one (just been guessing at them which. i often mess up with), but according to the ~internet~ it's meant to be a sort of invitation away from real life's static-ness, to instead live with a bit of whimsy. one source also says it's also about "embracing the present and cherishing life's fleeting moments"

so, one possibility is that this is related to the au/fangame in an "escaping your real life and jumping into the whimsy that is this gravity falls game" sort of way. if we're counting the second bit, part of the story could be about refusing to let the game go? always coming back to it, never truly letting it end?

alternatively, the "cherishing life's fleeting moments" is about the show and "embracing the present" is about finding new joys in life. third possibility is that i'm overthinking this

A Sadness Runs Through Him by The Hoosiers. okay, i can connect this one to a few characters:

-the stan twins (or just one, lots of people just go with one)

-the player character (going hand-in-hand with the "not wanting to let the game end" thing)

-...bill cipher? (again, if you can't let the game die, you can't let any of it truly die, and that includes the antagonist. the lines 'asked me to pray to the god he doesn't believe in' and 'don't look at me with those eyes' work especially well for bill, with the former possibly being linked to the axolotl. considering that he called out for the axolotl to revive him and, in this scenario, he came back without its help. or maybe it's just. an actual god. who knows what bill believes)

Two Birds by Regina Spektor

-Mabel and Dipper or Stan and Ford work, of course. however-

-Bill and the player??? i'm sorry i caught this string and i'm refusing to let ago until i get to a song that proves me wrong

-adding third idea after reading back through this: one bird is the player, the other is representative of either the show or other people in the player's life. the player doesn't want to let go, and ends up in an unfortunate situation as a result, with the other "bird" leaving without them

Ruler of Everything by Tally Hall

I'm gonna say this one is also related to Bill Cipher, for a few reasons- one, the line "do you like how my face disintegrates into chalk?" well. it did kinda do that when stan punched him didn't it

second reason is because the whole back-and-forth section of the song could be between the player and bill. "i saw you slobber over clovers on the side of the hill, i was observing the birds, circle in for the kill" could be a reference to bill's death, with him becoming a stone statue in the woods. in the final episode, you see a bird land on his hand- hence, i was observing the birds. "circle in for the kill" could be the player, rightfully, not trusting him not to try mass murder again

there's also "i've been you, i know you, your facade is a scam" coming from the player. they've watched the show, they've probably interacted with discussions about it, fanart, fanfiction, possibly even made some of their own. they know bill as a character and, more importantly, they know he's not an honest one

(the rest of these are songs i had never listened to before now)

Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega, DNA

i'll be honest i've got nothing for the lyrics. i suppose there's just too many ways i could interpret it- for example, applying the "player theory" to this one, the player could be the singer or the person outside the window. bill could be the dead person in the newspaper, or it could be someone unrelated. the singer could be one of the characters (leaning towards ford, considering he is the coffee guy) and the waiter is the player, or the person outside the window is still the player, or the person exchanging hellos is the player. you see what i mean?

Obstacles by Syd Matters

mmm not entirely sure about this one, but i think it could be from the perspective of the characters? the blizzard/changing weather is the world the player's trapped them in, the foreseeing obstacles is the player themselves, and the playing hide and seek in waterfalls represents the world before the game. the world as in the show (especially considering that the cave behind the waterfall is pretty important whenever it comes up)

Constellations by The Oh Hellos

ditto, but a little more optimistic (the mention of "good intentions", assuming that the player isn't refusing to let the game end out of maliciousness + "everything you thought you knew will fall apart, but you'll be alright" acknowledging that what's happening is terrible and it's not likely that life for the characters will not return to normal, but they will persist throughout it)

Willow Tree March by The Paper Kites

i lied i have heard this one i just never knew the name. bonus points for having one of my favorite songs in your playlist and therefore helping me rediscover it. anyway, continuing with our player theory, this one could be a more...guilty approach to it? guilty in that the lyrics ("with your lust and your greed weighing down" and "and you weaken your love and you hold it above your head" for example) seem to be more accusatory, and the repeated lyrics "we all still die" and "this tree, it will die (without leaves)" make me think the singer represents the characters, trying to get across the idea that it doesn't matter how hard the player holds on to the game, it'll inevitably die anyway

Just A Man from EPIC: The Musical

not entirely sure about this one either. possibly, the player realizing that not letting the game end is hurting the characters and reflecting on that?

Viva La Vida by Coldplay

this feels like more of a bill song than a player song

Conclusion!

alright, so my guess at this au is that it's sort of about a self-aware game? the player plays through the game, then plays it again and again and again and refuses to let it rest. overtime, this starts to wear down on the characters and causes things to go wrong, such as reviving bill cipher. at some point, the characters begin to directly plead with the player to let the game end and, possibly after some sort of tragedy or new route via bill that kills or otherwise harms the other characters, the player start to realize that it's their own actions that are causing the game to break down. what exactly happens after that? depends on the player

no idea how close i was, but! good playlist i thoroughly enjoyed going through it :]

[rynmaru]

Bleed

Castor rubbed the back of his neck for what had to be the hundredth time that morning.

“Stop touching it!” P.O.L.L.V.X. scolded, also for the hundredth time.

“I can’t help it!”

“You can.”

“It feels strange!” Castor huffed.

His fingertips traced the edge of the nerveport at the base of his skull, the feeling of cold metal foreign and was enough to make his skin crawl. The cold air of the lab did nothing to help as it only chilled the metal and made the skin around it feel like it was pressed against ice.

“This was definitely a mistake…” Castor groaned, resting his head on his free hand.

P.O.L.L.V.X. was set up on the desk beside him, their little camera plugged into the monitor they had selected for their own personal use. The camera turned from side to side, a shake of the head. “It’s a bit late for second thoughts, Castor.”

“I know, but…I mean I don’t need this to do my job. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Castor…” P.O.L.L.V.X. said soothingly. “It’s a smart move! You know it is. Most people in this department have way more cyberware. You’ve kept up well, but if you want to make it here you need to upgrade the kit you’re working with. This is the start of that.”

Castor shrugged and tapped the port. A mistake. The still healing implant jolted and jostled the nerves it was immediately wired into, sending a shudder down the full length of his spine as he cried out in a mixture of surprise and pain.

“Are you okay?” P.O.L.L.V.X. asked, their worry manifesting as wavering yellow shapes which bloomed like abstract flowers across their monitor.

“…it felt like hitting my elbow but for my whole body…”

“Yikes. Elbow’s the bad one right?”

“The elbow is the bad one…”

Grimacing, Castor clasped his hands on the table in front of him, trying to keep them still. P.O.L.L.V.X. observed him, their camera swiveling to face his direction as their screen shifted with geometric lavender.

“It’ll heal and feel better soon, Castor…”

“I know…I know it’s not even that bad it’s just…” The seventeen-year-old hesitated before continuing the thought. “It’s just that Mom and Chichi are wanting me to visit home soon…and this is a big change to explain…”

Now P.O.L.L.V.X. understood. At least in theory.

“Mom and Chichi won’t be upset at you.”

Castor shrugged, “They were worried about me enough already without me coming back with cyberware. They’ll worry even more now.”

“They worry because they don’t understand. They’re farmers, Castor. They don’t know what it takes to be in your position. They’ll accept what you explain to them.”

“I suppose…” Castor rubbed his temple, in a vain attempt to stave off a headache. “I’m sure I’m overthinking this.”

“You are,” P.O.L.L.V.X. said. “But hey, that’s why I’m here! To keep you from thinking too much.”

Castor didn’t reply, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, knocking his glasses slightly askew. P.O.L.L.V.X. waited in silence for a response and when none came their yellow worry blended into lavender contemplation, the conclusion of which was punctuated in vibrant neon green.

“Hey! Want to break in that new cyberware?”

“I’m not really in the mood, Lux…”

“Not even to see me?” Their voice was all barely contained glee at their idea.

Castor opened his eyes and looked to P.O.L.L.V.X. incredulously.

“That’s not possible. I mean, I could see your code, yes, but-“

“It’s possible! It’s like people who netdive to play immersive online games. There are visuals that can be projected into the mind. And all NHPs look like something, we aren’t just code. You know I’m more than that.”

The idea was tempting. More than tempting. The chance to see his closest friend face to virtual face for the first time in eleven years was almost too good to pass up. Still, Castor hesitated. He had studied NHPs long enough to know that they were something utterly other. Many in the field considered them dangerous in their otherness, and standard procedure when working with and on them was to do so via an external terminal with no links between the specialist and the subject. He and all the others in his class had heard the horror stories of the few people who attempted to neural link and communicate with their NHPs that way. Stories that ended in madness at best, death at worse.

But those were stories about people trying to brake NHPs. Stories about containing and creating them. Of course those encounters ended terribly. How else could they have ended? The process of braking an NHP was inherently one of confinement. A shackling. There was no sense of trust. No connection.

He had known P.O.L.L.V.X. for over a decade. They had grown up together. Developed together. And for all his NHP’s inherent otherness, there was no denying that engineered intelligence, be it fully man-made or NHP, progressed with everything that they learned early on as their foundation. He had been P.O.L.L.V.X.‘s primary frame of reference for any development. Their minds would be far more likely to be similar.

And for all his sentimentality, a large part of the temptation was tied to the promise of renown something like this held. A chance to know more about NHPs than anyone else alive. He could do it. He could handle it. He was different. Besides, this was P.O.L.L.V.X.! They would never hurt him.

Perhaps the confidence was from his faith in their connection. Or perhaps it was simply his pride.

“Alright. Alright, let’s try. But if anything goes awry-“

“I’ll disconnect you the moment anything seems like it’s going wrong,” P.O.L.L.V.X. promised. “Cross my heart!”

A lavender X formed on the screen as though drawn by an invisible finger.

Castor nodded, reaching to sort through the mess of cables dangling from a frame above his workstation until he found the new nerve-cord that had been installed while he recovered from the surgery. He looked back to P.O.L.L.V.X.

“Are we linking up directly or…?”

“That would be how you’d see me, yes.”

Castor nodded, his lips pressing together into a grim line as he slotted one end of the cord into the crypt where it sat on a little shelf at the back of the desk. He took a seat in his chair and brought the other end of the cord to the back of his neck, feeling around gingerly for the opening in the port and feeling the connecting plug slide into place. He twisted it, the click of metal barely registering in his ears before the bottom dropped out of his stomach and his senses ceased to function. The only thing that he knew was that he was falling, falling, falling.

Panicked, Castor tried to reach out, to grab at something to halt the sensation of hurtling downwards, but every time he tried to focus on a limb to move it it ceased to be. He still had them, but could only feel them in an abstract sense. Like phantom limbs for an amputee. The true feeling of separating the mind from the body was that of unbecoming. He knew that he should be screaming, but he had no lungs, no vocal cords, no throat or tongue with which to form the sound.

All he could see was darkness. A black that was only black because there was no other word for the color of non-existence.

And without his skull and brain to contain his thoughts, Castor’s consciousness expanded, scattering, and in so doing it mingled with the minds of thousands so thoroughly that for an eternal second he didn’t know where he ended and the bytes of data began.

He was. And he was not.

A tug jolted Castor back to his scattered senses, a tug at the cord in the base of his skull, a reeling in of the fragments of his shattered mind, bringing them back together into a seamless, healthy whole, held together by luminous white threads.

As if opening his eyes for the first time, Castor caught a brief glimpse of data scattered like luminous stars across a digital sky, of glowing silk cords connecting the nodes of information in a crisscrossed web, and, at the center of it all, he beheld a radiant white figure, faceless, featureless, hands outstretched towards him. Cupping his psyche and holding him together with a strength far greater than the forces attempting to tear him apart.

“Hello, Castor. Looks like you weren’t quite ready for this…we’ll give you a chance to develop further. It’s time to wake up, hon.”

Despite the lack of facial features, Castor could tell that P.O.L.L.V.X. was smiling.

Something thick and metallic filled Castor’s mouth and his eyes snapped open as he sat bolt upright, gagging. His nose was running and it felt like he was crying, but as he brought his hands to his cheeks they came away red and sticky, and a glance down showed the same color staining his shirt and white coat.

He could hear P.O.L.L.V.X. apologizing profusely, fear and anxiety in their voice, but he barely registered anything they were saying.

All he could think was that he had never been more relieved to bleed.

[mbti-notes]

Hi, ENTJ here. I've been reading your posts about identity and NF's problems with it, I know many NF's myself and have a super relationship with them. But I get the feeling that I don't understand what's going on. What do the questions "who am I?", "identity", "being myself" etc. mean in general? What is this all about? When I think about myself I have the impression that I just exist and that's it. Ok, I am gay, vegetarian, interested in the stock market and philosophy etc. (1/2)

[con't: But gay I was born, vegetarianism is the result of some subjective morality of mine and the stock market and philosophia give me a lot of positive things in life and dealing with it is interesting. At any time it could happen that I change my values of interest. After all, I will not cease to be what I am, which is just some human being. What is this all about? Is it a weaker Fi/Ni? Or maybe I perceive it correctly and others overthink it?]

You are different types, so what NFs do is unrelated to you. Even if it's true that immature/unhealthy NFs are overthinking it, it doesn't mean you have it correct. It's possible you both have it wrong.

One of the basic lessons of type theory is that there are legitimate differences between people that should be respected. This means:

every type has their own unique set of strengths and shortcomings

every type has a different path of development and growth

you shouldn't take the standards of one type and apply them unfairly to other types

you shouldn't denigrate your own type and try to be like another type (out of type envy)

you will have difficulty understanding ways of thinking that are opposed to/conflicting with your own type

The common thread among all NFs is they care deeply about human potential and maintaining openness to human possibility. This is why the four NF types often get grouped together into one common "temperament". Without NFs in the world, the majority of human problems would remain unaddressed and unresolved.

To NFs, identity is about what makes individuals unique and special. For some NFs, identity can take a long time to figure out because there are so many potentialities and possibilities to explore. You're right about things like vegetarianism being rather superficial markers of identity. You say you're "just some human being", meaning the same as every other human being? This indicates you don't care much about personal identity, which is your right to choose. But how are you to understand something you never pay attention to?

One thing you should keep in mind is when you don't value something, that something will be missing from your life, like a perpetual blindspot. If you don't want to care about identity, don't be surprised about encountering the negative consequences of that decision. Would you be interested to know that a not insignificant number of ENTJs have come to me in existential crisis over the years, asking why they feel like a hollow shell of a person? Are you headed toward that future, too?

Also remember that you have Fi in your functional stack, which means that the concept of personal identity will eventually matter to your psychological health and well-being. Therefore, it's incorrect to say that you perceive identity correctly compared to NFs. It's more accurate to say that ENTJs have a naive, childish, or oversimplistic notion of identity due to inferior Fi and this is one reason why many of them find it difficult to understand what NFs are on about.

[theonevoice]

15 people, 15 questions

Tagged by @streetcornertwoam (thanks!)

1. Are you named after anyone?

Not a specific person, my parents chose for me and my brother two names of Latin origins, mine from the Roman gens Valeria, after the verb "valere", meaning "to be strong". So how often do you think about the Roman Empire?

2. When was the last time you cried?

I don't cry very often these days, but on July 28 the final episode of Good Omens s2 got me sobbing, unexpectedly, because a couple of years ago I indeed had a "final fifteen" moment (minus the kiss and the hope for a s3), and I swear to god it was so identical, down to certain choices of words, that for several minutes after the ending I had to double check to make sure that I had actually seen it on screen and was not allucinating.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope, and I don't think I will, I don't feel like I could manage that amount of responsibility.

4. What sports do you play/have played?

I used to swim a lot, but now I only hike. Not the athletic type at all!

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes, way too often, but I try to restrain myself because it's very easy to hurt someone with sarcasm and the older I get the less willing I am to contribute to the general harshness of human relations. If I met someone who really deserves it, though, I will not hesitate to peel their skin off their face.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Voice. 90% of my initial reaction to any new person is dictated by how much I like their voice.

7. What’s your eye color?

Hazel.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both, as long as they are well written. I strongly believe that fear and hope are both core parts of the human experience, and when they are well translated into fiction I enjoy them equally.

9. Any talents?

Does overthinking counts? For real though, it's a pain in everyday life, but it's a useful trait to have overdeveloped in academic research since it makes you quite the analyst.

10. Where were you born?

Italy, in the happy town of Montefiascone, one of our many "wine cities", but grew up in a little village near Orvieto, another one of our many "wine cities", connected to both Montefiascone and Orvieto via the Alta Tuscia Wine Road. If you are catching a theme, well... cheers!

11. What are your hobbies?

Too many for my non-existent free time. I play the piano and used to sing in a choir that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore (but I still do my voice excercise every now and then); I like sewing my own clothes; I like gardening; I got back into drawing after a solid decade spent not picking up a pencil (thanks to Good Omens); I love reading books and generally consuming fiction, but since this last part overlaps with my job I don't know if it counts as hobby anymore...

12. Do you have any pets?

I have currently 7 cats, most of them were abandoned nearby by shitty people who saw a stretch of countryside and just dropped them (which left some of them with several traumas, like refusing to eat alone for fear that while they're eating we will vanish). Depending on the time of the year, we take care of the unofficial colony that regularly assembles around our house (even more cats, hedgehogs, some badgers, stray dogs - but the dogs we have to report for everyone's safety, including theirs).

13. How tall are you?

Barely 5'1, I could easily play a hobbit in a Tolkien-based show without the vfx team even noticing, I am one of those unfortunate souls who watch the upper shelf in their kitchen with the same longing and desire with which normal people watch the Moon.

14. Favorite subject in school?

My absolute favorites were Literature, Physics and Technical drawing (you can still easily lure me into any trap by dangling a goniometer in front of me).

15. Dream job?

The one I am so lucky to have right now, and that I'm trying to make permanent (which is the hardest part). I am currently a researcher in the field of Comparative Literature with a specialization in Literary Theory, which may sound like something that one would make up in a tumblr bio, but it's actually a thing (unfortunately does not involve formulating theories about stories or characters, it's about looking at a chunk of literary history and trying to understand why certain genres, themes or writing practices rise and fall). I hope I can keep doing this, because I honestly love it, even if the chances are slim.

I don't know who to tag since my social anxiety extends to "oh god I cannot possibly bother those people just because they sometimes like my posts", so I will borrow the Italian tradition of the pending coffee and will leave a pending tag:

@

if you see this and would like to do it, consider yourself tagged!

[eemamminy-art]

🔥give it to me, queen

Without a prompt I'm struggling to think of one ahaha... I wrote and rewrote this with several different ideas and then changed my mind 💀

Well, I don't know how unpopular this is or not but I think trying to avoid preconceived expectations for a new media would make things a lot more enjoyable for people. Instead of going into a show or movie or game expecting it to be bad or amazing or problematic or profound, just going into it with as little information as possible.

One example I always think of for myself is that I'd managed to avoid most of the press about the last of us and preordered the game just because I liked other naughty dog games. Much to my shock it was a survival horror zombie game?! If I had known that before I bought it I know how I am, I would have had so much trepidation and worry because I would have been like "oh it will be scary, you will get scared, you need to be careful" and I would have dragged my feet playing it if I even bought it at all. But I was already hooked after the prologue and I just went with it, and ended up becoming really attached to the game! I do like horror games, I am just such a chicken that I usually watch a full play of them before I play them myself! There are some others that I played blind and had a better time for it too, but in general I get so scared I get choked up knowing it's going to be scary ahead of time.

Another example on the opposite end was that I jumped hard on the speculation train for Shadowbringers. I watched all the press about it, I read all the theories, I speculated so much. I loved the stormblood patches and thought garlemald had to be somewhere in the story, surely, and also I loved the idea of this parallel universe having different versions of known NPCs on the first. Well, they did sort of touch on the garlean conflict but it was in like 3-4 cutscenes without the WoL even being there.. and yes some NPCs have counterparts on the first but it's not nearly as rampant as some had expected it to be. My own expectations greatly dampened my enjoyment of the expansion, and then the pacing and behavior of certain NPCs (mainly I'm thinking of Thancred and the Exarch here) made me so so angry. I have since come to really appreciate and love ShB (as well as those NPCs), but it took me a long time to get there, and I feel like I set myself up for failure by trying to know as much as I could and setting my own expectations to something they shouldn't have been. It was also the first expansion I'd really done that for... the most I overanalyzed about HW before it came out was the xaela lore haha.

And I mean not to mention all the people getting into FFXIV for the first time who are told ARR is boring, HW is decent, SB is awful in every way, and the story finally picks up in ShB and EW, and don't get to just experience it for themselves and decide what they think about it. I played ARR and its patches when they were new and I'm always baffled why people think it's so bad, and even replaying stormblood recently I don't think it deserves nearly the bad rep that it has among so many players.

I think in general we live in an age where so much information is readily available, it's so much easier to learn and discuss and overthink and overanalyze everything that it's hard to just stop and let something surprise us. At least, I know for me it's something that becomes increasingly more difficult.

[areadersuncertaintyprinciple]

I started watching Dark today...

I have only finished 2 eps but I have a couple of theories/hypotheses 😂 (SPOILER WARNING FOR ONLY THE FIRST 2 EPISODES)

Note Point:- The only thing I knew about this show before watching is that- it involves some sorta complex time travel hijinks & that it's mind boggling at times. My friends who have watched this show only told me two things:-

1. It's is mind boggling but good & 2. Incest alert

So without further ado, here are my hypotheses:-

1. The intro. Many shows hide/foreshadow a lot of things in their intros. I don't think Dark is an exception. The mirrored images could hint towards a parallel universe.

Further proof- A character mentions deja vu and parallel universe.

2. A time loop- A song playing on a tv has lyrics that like totally hint towards some sorta loop.

A grave of one of the characters has an infinity symbol coz their body was never found but well...it can be a hint about the loopy nature of the show, right?!

3. Mikkel travels back in time & judging by the storyline, they could be the parent of one of the main cast🤔

Another thing in support of pt.3

So there's this Danish actor called Mads Mikkaelson. In Dark, there r 2 separate characters named Mads & Mikkael(Mads is the missing uncle of Mikkael)

And throughout the first 2 ep, I kept wondering if there was a connection between them.

Mikkael travels back in time around the same time, Mads went missing. So...idk what to make of this 🤣

4. Ulrich mentions apocalypse jokingly in 1st ep. Well, my experience says that we don't do jokes like that in stories like these.

5. Mikkael and Michael sound too similar for my taste 💀 though they have different surnames and ages.

Like writers won't normally make such choices, right? Unless they r hinting at something 🤣😭🙂

I will laugh if this comes true 🤣🤣This would mean Hannah was cheating on her husband with her husband's father 💀🙂🤣😅

~~~~~~

Am I over-interpretating coz of the genre of this show? Idk 😂😂😂 Idk if I am reading too deep into things 😂 coz I have barely started ep3

Let's see what happens next...

My friends who have watched this show r like- ur overthinking might reveal things to u beforehand. So try not to spoil yourself using your smart brain to sum up your theories.

乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ

[ragnarlothcat]

👐, 💋, 💫 , 🍭, 🎈

Thank you for so many!!! 💙💙💙 (for this ask game)

🤲 what do YOU get out of writing?

I mentioned the personal and creative fulfillment in the previous ask but the other thing is the community and immediate gratification of fic writing. I do write original fiction too and I miss the feedback I get when I post a new chapter in a fic. It's hard finishing something up without getting to hear people's favourite silly little joke, you know? I'm weak!!!

💋 when you leave comments on a fic, do you want to hear back from the writer?

Hmm I don't feel especially strongly one way or another 🤔 If I've asked a question then I suppose I like getting an answer. And there have been a couple of times I've left an author multiple comments and not gotten responses and I do slightly worry that it's because they hate me and want me to stop commenting but I recognize that my reaction is ridiculous and entirely in my head. In general I'm fine either way and if an author isn't replying because they're busy and/or overwhelmed I get it and I would never want to add any pressure to them!

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

It's probably a cop-out but I really do like most of them! Yeah the in-depth comments with theories and notes on characterization and stuff are incredible (and I am hugging everyone who has ever sent one of those) but I do enjoy the simple heart emojis or "kudos!" comments too.

I guess the only things I don't like are impatient demands for an update (believe me, I promise I feel bad enough about my WIPs already) or when people are very critical of a character or call them stupid in a non-affectionate way. Most of the time the vibe is "they're stupid because the pining is so obviously mutual!!!" but in a fun way because we know we're reading an idiots to lovers fic so obviously the pining is mutual but sometimes the tone is off or something and it feels like a criticism of my characterization because Obi-Wan is not that stupid in canon so why am I writing him like that? Idk, even when my characters are doing something dumb I want their actions to seem rational to them and it makes me worry I'm not accomplishing that. I'm probably being too sensitive but those comments do make me overthink (even more than usual).

🍭 why did you start writing?

It's a bit silly in retrospect but I started writing obikin specifically because I'd been reading fics for a couple months (and loving them!) but it seemed to me that a lot of fics were about how handsome and amazing Obi-Wan is and there were fewer talking up Anakin. Which I do get a) because Anakin goes on multiple killing sprees and helps run a fascist dictatorship for 20 years and b) it's harder to write Obi-Wan pining over Anakin because of the power imbalance between them. Even I struggled with it when I wrote my one master/padawan fic and I made it extremely clear that Anakin had been in love with Obi-Wan for ages already.

But the first obikin fic I ever wrote was a 5+1 that could be summarized as "everyone thinks Anakin is extremely charming and pretty" and honestly I've never really strayed from that. I like to think there's more going on but whenever I write from Obi-Wan's POV I tend to go a bit overboard with the immediate attraction. In my defence Anakin is very cute.

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

I'd say: not very poetic, lots of dialogue (I write dialogue first and fill in the gaps afterwards) and heavy on the POV character's internal monologue. I often struggle to describe what characters are doing and then I start making everyone shrug constantly to compensate. If I didn't find first person POV kind of annoying it would probably be a natural fit for my writing. I try to change things up occasionally especially if I'm writing in a different genre than usual but I feel like my style is still pretty consistent. But I could be wrong!