ok guys y'all gonna hate this one but i had a thought

undertale: well here's the delta rune, it's referencing a prophecy where someone will come down from the surface, the angel, and the underground will go empty. some people think this means the angel will kill everyone and some people think it means that the angel will spare everyone. the fanbase as a whole thinks that it's either chara/frisk or asriel, for the most part, although it's never confirmed. asriel is the only one to get wings, however, and in the pacifist ending is the one who actually breaks the barrier, so there's a good chance that it's him.

deltarune: lmao this one's literally called delta rune, and the prophecy in this one is about some Bad Stuff happening that a) results in the earth being destroyed, causing b) a human, monster, and prince from the dark rolling up and closing the fountain so they can "banish the angel's heaven." the angel. is also here. and also asriel is "at college" and we haven't seen him yet. they stop the angel by closing the fountain.

anyway what i'm saying here is that asriel is the angel in both stories and in this case that'd probably make him the knight as well

You know the whole hunter having scars on his hand’s theory was an interesting bit. As much as I enjoyed that theory, I feel like the symbolism behind Hunter’s hands in general is just as interesting. 

When we are properly introduced to the Golden Guard in Separate Tides - I know he’s technically in the finale of season one but whatever - we have no clue what he looks like beyond this version of him. He’s confident, bold, and incredibly dangerous. And as much as I enjoy the Golden Guard this version of Hunter it feels like there isn’t a lot to him at this point. We don’t know a lot about him, we don’t even know what he looks like. 

Then Hunting Palisman comes along, 

(I picked this screenshot because it amuses me greatly lol) To me this is Hunters actual introduction. We learn a lot about him, and most importantly that there’s clearly a lot more than what meets the eye. The reveal of his face is completely involuntary, and it throws him off his game a lot in my opinion. (haha throws like throws him off the ship- excuse me, my humor is bad ignore me)

His power at this time is heavily reliant on his persona, the Golden Guard. His age is a big part of this it seems. People aren’t taking him as seriously anymore, not even Luz if we’re being quite honest. He’s just some grumpy kid, and Luz is a huge empath and starts to understand him more and in turn we also get to. 

It doesn’t feel like a huge coincidence that when his face is shown we get to see more of him as a person as well. 

But there’s another detail about this scene that sticks out to me personally, 

Hunter just shows his wrist. Now this could very well be because his sigil is on his wrist, but it also feels very purposeful. Like nobody's supposed to see his hands. 

Hands are very telling of a lot of things. Hands are quite sensitive, hands are quite expressive, and hands can - in my opinion - tell you a lot about someone. 

Yet throughout this whole episode Hunter is quite resistant to show any part of himself other than the Golden Guard. 

But there's a clear shift when Hunter tells Luz his name. He stops threatening her, and he pulls down his mask. This time by choice. He wants to open up to her, at least a little. And this is the start of Hunters redemption in my mind.

When he starts to let down his guard. However, 

Kikimora strikes him right after he opens up.

Hunter pulls the mask right back up though. Which, wasn’t really needed? Like you could argue that it was so she wouldn’t recognize him, but she literally says, who’s there. So, it feels like the only reason he did that is because it makes him feel safe, it’s a security tool of sorts. Which makes a lot of sense, he’s a child soldier of course he feels a lack of security.

Their a lot more open with this message in Thanks to Them, 

He acts so much like the Golden Guard throughout this. He’s trying to come across as dangerous, which okay how the hell are you going to fight Belos with a rake in crocs but whatever. 

The symbolism of what the mask means to him is made quite clear. As I said before, it makes him feel secure. He’s not as reliant on it anymore, but in the moment it does make him feel better. Confident and sure of himself as Hunter seems to put it. 

Now I know, I said I going to talk about his hands and I haven’t really and I’m sorry, I’m getting there. 

One of the most pivotal parts of Hunters arc is arguably Any Sport in a Storm, it’s when he finally smiles and he’s a lot more trusting and happier. His pose is very showing of that, throughout this episode he never hides his face and in this shot he holds out his hands. 

His stance is open and welcoming because he genuinely feels that these other kids are people he can trust. He hasn’t had that up to this point other than with Flapjack. 

The way he says “I’m your friend now.” is really interesting to me. In his mind he wasn’t their friend before, they were friends with Caleb not Hunter. Which, he’s not completely wrong, he was hiding a lot. However, he was still Hunter. His personality wasn’t any different. But Hunter doesn’t really know how relationships work, he views his relationships only existing if he’s giving the other person something. In this case, it’s a job. Now their friends, because now he’s contributed something. The others don’t view it this way at all though, because it’s not supposed to be this way, 

This is a line that I feel was incredibly important. Hunter isn’t aware this is the case and even after he denies it. But Gus probably more than anyone knows this is true and I think that’s what makes Labyrinth Runners work so well. They both understand what it’s like to be as Gus puts it, stabbed in the back. (Also just like, Wittebros foreshadowing lmao)

Gus gets what Hunter been through. The things he’s dealt with are on a much smaller scale next to Hunter’s but it doesn’t take way from them. It makes perfect sense that they’re able to connect like this. That their able to later on be open with each other. 

All right lets tie all this together and bring it back to his hands cuz I’ve been getting way to excited about all these other things I keep mentioning and then I want to talk about them for way to long, 

The first time we see Hunters hands is in Thanks to Them. He’s a lot happier throughout this episode and much friendlier and more open with his friends. Of which he now has! (Other than Flapjack of course) 

Every single time, every single fucking time Hunter gets to comfortable it feels like someone rips the rug out from under him. And every single time he goes back to closing himself off from everyone. 

This is made apparently clear in For the Future, 

Hunter finally gets it in this episode. I’ve mentioned before that he’s telling everything he’s telling Willow to himself as well as her before: https://at.tumblr.com/royal-they/royal-they-i-feel-like-a-lot-of-people-misread/oyirnb6vph5u 

I feel like this is important because while this is a very Willow centric episode - well also a Luz centric episode but like that’s not relevant - Hunter also has a lot of growth in this episode. 

The fact that he literally links fingers with Willow and is actually open with his feelings to her and Gus is very telling. That’s the true symbolism of his hands, they’re not just the troubles he’s faced in the past. They’re a symbol of him, his growth, his relationships. They’re not a sign of Belo’s abuse towards him, he’s not held back by it. He’s his own person, and he’s not going to hide that anymore. 

That’s too me, why Hunters hands not having scars is actually super important. 

(note: this doesn’t mean those who want to interpret him as having scars are discounting any of his character development or saying he’s not his own person separate from his trauma. im just saying that i think his hands not having scars has just as must symbolism, if not more then his hands having scars.)

Okay, I need to know what your thoughts are on whether the Ratgrinders (and which members if it's not all of them) will be redeemed or not.

***** pre warning that brennan has bamboozled me thoroughly and I have few coherent thoughts on the mystery at hand other than looking at theories and going "well that's dumb" which I recognize is unhelpful.

I think the Ratgrinders have a large sympathetic element to them as a group that is yet to be revealed. That could be a lot of things, but starting first with the fact that we don't have a clear motivation for why exactly they were xp grinders rather than truly adventuring, what's up with that? To me, it doesn't read as a malicious act against rats, lol. To me, it reads as the 11 year olds afraid to play Minecraft off of peaceful mode, OR the people who think that highschoolers risking their lives to get grades is unfair and scary, OR maybe people who just want to game the system to prove it's unbalanced. Either way, that feels to me like a pretty big piece of the puzzle we're missing, and would give us a better idea of the group.

Additionally, I think the Rat Grinders are, or at least were, friends the way the Bad Kids are, which is another big sympathetic element. Kipperlily points out that they are a parallel to them in the way that they are/were six very different people who found their way to each other. I think their friendship is going to be revealed to be in many ways Exactly like the Bad Kids, closeness and loyalty and all. Maybe Kipperlily isn't a part of that, or she's deceiving them, but how far would the Bad Kids let Riz go down a crazy plan? How much trouble would they have put up with from Kristen if she kept going down the path she was at the start of the year? How much would they do for each other?

All this to say, I don't think we've seen a full view of what the Rat Grinders look like yet. If Lucy was friends with them for almost two years after all, surely there's something more there. That makes all of them to me, again with the arguable exception of Kipperlily, plausible to be redeemed, or revealed to have had decent intentions and turning out to be an ally.

As for more specific, kind of meta-gamey guesses (minimal evidence just vibes):

Oisin feels like a potential good guy or absolutely irredeemable, leaning towards the former. Either he's a Hans, or he doesn't know quite what's going on as exemplified by Kipperlily keeping him out of the loop on the materials smuggling w Aewlyn. I just doubt Brennan would dangle a love interest like that as a villain for Adaine, when her character has had very little romance thus far. It feels both like he knew Siobhan was too smart of a player to take that as bait, and wouldn't want to punish socially anxious Adaine opening up to someone outside of the group. OR he's evil idk this most recent ep was pretty damning.

We've barely seen any of Ivy, but she gives me big "pulling away emotionally from the disaster that is this friend group and bracing for impact" energy. wild shot is that I bet she was one of the closer people to Lucy, and is detached from everything after her death, maybe just going along with KL's plans for the hell of it. Will maybe slink away unscathed but unredeemed.

Ruben is interesting, and I think after KL one of the more involved people in the plot given his involvement in the festival. Could see him being redeemed, think it's more likely he'll go out in a Wanda Childa themed blaze of glory.

Mary Ann I think just loves her friends and is loyal to them. Whether that means she's being manipulated or doesn't even need to be, unclear.

Buddy o7

Kipperlily? No fucking clue. I think we're missing a big piece of her and doubt that Brennan would this simply villify a 16 year old girl with so many clear issues. What we're missing? Simply not a clue. She's crazy to me and I love her

cupid ye was more kyman than it was style

seeing as south park episodes aren’t gonna come until march, this gives me the time to talk about cupid ye…which i’ve wanted to after the episode came out but i figured i wouldn’t have enough time to. so i really planned this analysis to be after all the episodes were made for s26…but again seeing as they’re on break, i took my chances.

so this is the perfect time for me to talk about cupid ye and how the episode always read more kyman than style to me. this may sound absurd considering the episode phrases stan and kyle’s relationship in a romantic way, but i find that’s all it extends to. let’s review the episode for a bit so i can elaborate. sure, the phrasing implies some sort of romance between stan and kyle, and there’s even a scene where stan is stammering and love struck when kyle talks to him. But we don’t ever see stan act upon this. notice how throughout the entire episode stan NEVER confronts kyle about how he misses hanging out with him? i see people call kyle a bad friend for “ditching” him, but it’s a notion i never got. stan never said anything to kyle about it, kyle’s not a bad friend for wanting to have fun with someone else, it’s not ditching in the slightest (unless you’re going to try and actually imply kyle belongs to stan and should only be around him 24/7). how was kyle supposed to know stan felt this way? he was having fun with tolkien, kyle’s suddenly villain for having fucking fun??? i can only blame stan in this situation because all he did was avoid the problem and act like it didn’t affect him (when it did).

even at the end of the episode, he only confronts tolkien not kyle. this just signifies to me there’s a clear communication problem in stan and kyle’s friendship. for an unknown reason, stan doesn’t want to address things with kyle. with this fact in mind, that scene where stan is nervous to talk to kyle at lunch suddenly doesn’t look so cute anymore, in fact, it demonstrates a legitimately problem of stan’s.

it’s no wonder stan and kyle’s friendship is breaking off, stan can’t even discuss his feelings with kyle. he does nothing but mope around and feel sorry for himself when he could literally fix the problem if he talked to his super best friend.

but opposed that to cartman in this episode. what does cartman do in the episode when he realizes he did something wrong? he acts. he realizes he’s gone way too far with the rumor about kyle running hollywood and he actually does something about it. sure, stan can stand in front of kyle to protect him (which tolkien did too so even that’s not a style moment lol) but cartman’s the one who forced cupid ye (arguably himself) to take his meds to save kyle.

cartman got kyle in this mess but he got kyle out of it.

and let’s talk about the initial synopsis for the episode too.

the synopsis says cartman is jealous. watching the ep, it appears stan is jealous, and he is. so why would it say cartman is jealous? because cartman is projecting. cartman ordinarily doesn’t care if stan and kyle have a fallout, actually he typically relishes in them. but that’s only because he gets kyle to himself (ex: assburgers, cbaa). but this time, tolkien and kyle hang out. so cartman takes stan’s jealousy and acts like he’s doing it for stan and his friendship with kyle, but in reality he’s doing it because he’s jealousy. just as the synopsis says.

and i don’t think it’s a coincidence cupid me, cartman’s gay conscious, is in this episode about cartman being jealous of tolkien and kyle’s friendship. in their valentine’s day episode at that ;).

so to summarize, it’s incredibly surface level to say this episode was style. this episode was kyman to the core and just furthers the theory that cartman is in love with kyle.

between euronymous and varg, who's a better guitarist in your opinion? btw i love your mayhem art <3

Thank you! I'm glad you like it 🖤

I actually thought about that before lol. Well, they're really not that far from each other.

If we're talking about technique, Øystein was slightly more advanced than Varg. He composed an arguably 'good' solo (the one from Freezing Moon) and a godawful one (the one from War).. which shows that he knew a bit of music theory and wanted to have his own 'signiture' imput to the band's songs.

Also, he had a tight-handed tremolo and a seemingly 'rigid' strumming motion (it shows in the Mayhem rehearsal tape), which although can make you a bit more precise with hitting notes, the tension can decrease your speed when you're playing faster bpms. (I obviously don't know if he ever had an issue with that, but I think it's an interesting aspect about his playing ability).

If we're talking about sound quality, Varg was (is) much better. It may be the fact that Varg is the 'perfectionist' type, but Øystein was very sloppy sound-wise compared to Varg.

Although his notes were cleaner, he didn't bother with technique too much. I know that Varg is very anti-lead and that's a preferential choice, but he has a bit of a 'lazy tendency' when composing riffs.

I know that as years had passed, Burzum progressed by developing and incorporating new musical elements, but I can't help but wander where Øystein would be today as a guitarist. (Surely nowhere near playing prog metal like Ihsahn lol, but theoretically, he would've evolved too)

They were regular guitarits, nothing splendid but with potential nevertheless.

Sorry for the bad English

Hi Arcadekitten!!! I recently played ‘Sweet No Death’ and I absolutely LOVED it!!! The art was amazing, and It was like a perfect balance of cuteness and horror, and was also kinda…. Deep, in a way? Anyhow, I really enjoyed it :) and Ruuuby was my favorite <3

I have a few questions and headcanons about the game, as well! May I ask you some questions, please?

1) Does Stella like Lambchop back? Or rather… CAN she like him back? In the game it doesn’t seem that she had any sort of attraction to him whatsoever, but is the potential there? Their relationship is complicated, but it’s also really cute in a way :)

2) Where did Stella come from? We know that she arrived on a shooting star, but is there a chance that she came from the original Noisrevverse (did I spell it right? Idk) as well? If so, I have a lot of theories…

3) How did Stella obtain her god-savior complex, anyways? Was she always like this, or did some event in her past that made her this way? Also, how did she get so powerful? Stella is arguably the most powerful Noisrevian (again, did I spell it right?) by far… was she just naturally that powerful or did she have to work her way up to be?

4) Why was Lambchop the only one to gain self-awareness while the others were just… blind? I know that you said he became ‘disillusioned…’ but why was he the only one who thought “Hey, this is kinda freaky??? What the heck???” While no one else did? Is there some kind of symbolism in this, or…

5) Okay, this is technically not a question and more of an observation, but while I was playing Sweet No Death I kept drawing parallels to Venna the Witch from your other game, Crowscare. Her extreme power and controlling, manipulative nature resembling Stella’s, and her love for blood and meat resembling Lambchop’s. Also, the true ending of Sweet No Death (where Stella covers the whole town in fake blood and guts) reminds me of the Blood Moon ending in Crowscare… not to mention the whole ‘shaping the world into my own image’ thing that they both have going on… Was this intentional? If so, that’s pretty cool! :)

6) Relating to the last question, would Venna, Stella and Lambchop ever get along if they met? I personally feel that Stella and Venna would make an unlikely, but close friendship (Opposites attract, but platonicly!) trading potion recipes, talking about their plans for world domination, things like that… though Stella may have to restrain Venna from murdering her friends 😅 As for Lambchop… well, I’ll leave that up to you!

7)And finally… why DOES Lambchop still love Stella, anyways? Hmm….🤔

Thank you so much for reading my questions (even though idk if you’ll actually answer ‘em… I don’t blame you, lol. It is A LOT.) and once again, thank you for creating such an awesome game!! I look forward to playing more of your awesome games as well! :D Have a good day/night/whatever time zone you’re in rn :)

I'm so happy to hear you like it, thank you so much!! ♡ I'll try to answer these to the best of my ability!!

I'd say the potential is definitely there! She may already like him like that without even knowing it herself. I mean, look at the gifts in her room and how differently she describes Lambchop's gift from Ruuuby and Raj's. ---

I don't think she came from like any sort of "more proper Noisrev" or anything like that. She did come FROM the stars! Y'know how everyone says people are made of stardust? Well this girl is like, almost concentrated stardust, y'know? ---

Stella is naturally this powerful!! And if you have this kind of power, wouldn't you try to use it to help others? ---

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ---

Nothing intentional! Kinda just seems like natural similarities between their stories especially being the genre they are. ---

I mean, Stella might be able to get along talking about magic and whatever, but if she found out that Venna was an abusive mother I'm not sure if Stella would be able to stomach her a second longer. She already feels bad for what her friends are going through (even if she helps them after), I don't think she'd be comfortable with the idea of a child having gone through such traumatic experiences with no "out". Also I DEFINITELY wouldn't say that Stella is planning for "world domination". I think some of you villainize Stella a bit too much! Lambchop likes blood and gore. Enough said. ---

Why wouldn't he love Stella? She's a dreamboat! She's adorable! But for real, while Stella is very adorable, Lambchop loves Stella because she makes him feel alive.

Hi chaos,

I don't know if you've heard of the Ohm-Nanon fans going to Nanon's concert wearing Ohm masks but it happened? (I don't know how to end that sentence.) (Sorry, English isn't my first language.)

You have written about parasocial relationships so I wanted to ask why are people still involved in Ohm-Nanon? Bad Buddy ended so long ago and they are still doing all this. What makes Ohm-Nanon so special? We haven't see such huge bad behaviour from other pair brands.

Please never ever apologize for how you sound in English which is a dumb broken language anyway lol fr you're English is great

anyways um, what in the fucking purge?? lmao sorry the masks thing is just taking me out I'm imagining it and the image in my head is giving kdrama to the max with the discord music and everything lmaoooo

I had not heard of that b/c I don't follow actors like that at all this is very much Brand New Information.gif for me whew wow

Soft disclaimer here I am not an expert behavioral science or anything related so like, anything I say in regards to this is based only on what I've read, can link to from experts in the field, and speculation.

I don't think OhmNanon are necessarily "special" tbh like this behavior is extreme but I wouldn't call it "new".

In western fandom you had or still have fans behaving like this we just call them "tinhats".

Like, take Larries for instance, Louis just spoke about it in an interview that nothing he can say will deter the conspiracies theorists so he's kinda stuck. This article from VOX is old (2016) but it features a pretty clear cut timeline of the theories, and obsession tinhats have with Larry. Even before Larry there was J2 (Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki from Supernatural):

I want to note that One Direction stopped being an active band in 2016, almost 8 years ago. And neither Harry nor Louis have been spotted like, hanging out~~ in public for almost that entire time. Meanwhile Jared and Jensen have been been married to their wives since 2010, almost 15 years.

To play fair, Caitríona Mary Balfe (best known for Outlander) is also at the root of a tinhat conspiracy with her costar Sam Heughan. Caitriona has been married since 2019.

Western fandom likes to pretend this environment of fan entitlement, and obsessing over costars relationships is an East Asian entertainment only thing. I thoroughly disagree, and I'm sure the people involved in these various tinhat conspiracies, many who have been thoroughly and ruthlessly harassed along with their spouses, family, friends, and anyone else caught in the crossfire would also disagree.

For me the only arguable difference between like MewGulf and Larry is MewGulf played up skinship as a means of capital and for work, while Louis and Harry were just two dudes in a band.

[I even watched the old school MewGulf videos of them during Peak Fanservice Era and I gotta say it's all so obviously hilarious fake and played up I would have never taken them seriously as a true blue couple. They reminded me more of Adam Lambert making out with his bassist during his FYE tour (Tommy, who from what I remember is straight but idk 100%) for the fun and rock n roll of it all.]

I'm getting off track, I don't think OhmNanon are "special" by-the-by because I've seen this entitled and obsessive behavior with other tinhat ships. The length of time doesn't really matter, what matters is sunk cost fallacy:

"the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial."

Fans have invested time, love, and literal money into Ohm and Nanon, therefore giving them up - and thus giving up the "community" they've build with other Ohm and Nanon fans - is unthinkable and painful.

Combine that with general fan entitlement towards public figures, the para-sociality of believe you, individually, know what's "best" for this person - aka this STRANGER - and there's a belief that you can change or force an outcome that suits your needs and wants.

There's a lot of dehumanization involved in fan entitlement, ppl stop viewing public figures - especially actors and musicians - as products rather than people. And with a product if you leave a bad review, and enough bad reviews the company will fix and change the product.

But people aren't products, and you can't force them to do what you want or be who you want them to be just because it upsets YOU individually.

So at the end of the day, what's gonna happen with Ohm and Nanon? Well, they'll probably just keeping doing what they do. Filming their individual shows, maybe one of them will do another BL - I think Ohm already has one in the works? - and try to move on with their lives. They're coworkers and from what I've seen seem fine being coworkers. I'm not interested in speculating what their relationship is, or was, publicly, they've said they're fine with each other so I'm very es lo que es about it.

For fans, well they're probably slowly taper off eventually with only a core group of "true believers" or whatever like some MewGulf, BrightWin and others have. As fans I think the only thing we can do is discourage the behavior, and be empathetic towards the people being harassed.

Now I'm gonna leave you with my favorite debunk of a tinhat post:

I binged through all of Dragon Age: Absolution today and honestly I really really liked it! I was allowing myself only some very cautious optimism after watching the twitch premiere of the first episode, but freed from the need for infodumps and setting up the characters the rest of the show actually rapidly gets better from there (some pacing issues here and there excepted but hey they were given 6 episodes, I think they did pretty well considering those constraints)! If like me you HUNGER for, you YEARN for, you CRAVE more Dragon Age right the fuck now, this is not at all a bad thing to help keep some of that hunger down while we wait for the next game, and has a few loveable new characters to get into and some great action animation to boot.

More idle thoughts/reactions under the cut!

first and foremost I love Roland and Lacklon so much haha, a surprisingly well paced romance considering it mainly happens in quick background-ish moments! I'm especially interested in Roland's backstory, since he's very chill and openminded for what seems to be a decently well-trained/educated Orlesian? Lacklon being like 'I want to hold his hand and suck his dick 😔 fml' every time Roland did something cool in battle was just *chef's kiss* too, it was kind of smart to have their fight scenes double as foreplay as well on a writing level since they're arguably the least plot-important characters overall (though they and Qwydion are definitely the heart of the story as far as I'm concerned)

I understand why Miriam clung to Hira so much since she just lost literally everything in her life, good or bad, moments before and that relationship was the only time she had tasted anything like real love since her brother died, but girl... girl when people show you who they are, believe them. marry Qwydion instead you deserve so much better (Hira gave me the Bad Vibes right away from how she didn't respect anything Miriam said or expressed and kept pushing in ways that made me really uncomfortable, so I won't say I was shocked or anything lol.) There is the (??deliberate??) mirror of Hira hugging Miriam from behind in the blood magic dream and Qwydion coming up behind her in very much the same way to rest her hand on her shoulder in the real world afterwards, so I have hope maybe?

can you imagine Dorian watching shitshows like this go down every other week all around Tevinter and tearing at his perfectly sculpted hair because Andraste's tits if you motherfuckers would stop acting stereotypically for FIVE MINUTES! could any of you go take a PISS without resorting to blood magic! Dorian's job is a shit job and he's probably been doing it for a while by the time of Dreadwolf so y'know. get my son a drink

speaking of Qwydion, I am so glad for further support for my theory that vashoth born away from the Qun are actually some of the most well-adjusted people in all of Thedas. they've dodged the Qun from birth by definition, they don't seem terribly interested in the Chantry or grand politics of any kind, they don't have a caste system hanging over them, they can step on anyone who tries to mess with them even if they don't have magic... truly the only sane people running around out here

so you're telling me the Inquisition screws Fairbanks over no matter what you do, b/c either he dies or he's forced into Orlesian politics. Oh buddy I'm sorry we should've just let you frolic around in the Emerald Graves on your own you didn't deserve this

Poor Tessa. she is probably better off without him in the long run but that's a rough week

I was so excited to see Kirkwall again, I saw the horrific chain statues and went 'OH HELLHOLE MORE LIKE HELLHOME'. it's so grim and awful I miss it so much lol

meredith, huh. so uh. hawke really has failed at everything, pretty much, then. even the few people they did manage to kill to protect everyone didn't stay dead. I'm just waiting for the dragon they killed in the Bone Pit to come back and ravage the city as well now, just to top it off. celestial punching bag of thedas hawke. babyyyyyyyyy if it helps I still love you the most and so does your collection of bi weirdos found family

rezaren wasn't even that good a mage, as far as we can tell, so you have to wonder what the FUCK dorian's ancestor was pulling to have created this thing that he could barely control with half a dragon's worth of blood (and what someone like Dorian, who helped crack time like an egg in his student days sort of just to see if he could, it seems, could do with it if they didn't have like scruples or other pesky things like that. everything we see about tevinter magisters makes me more impressed with how comparatively not fundamentally shitty Dorian has managed to turn out (no wonder Bull is kind of impressed with him for having actual integrity, if this is the competition he's up against). can you tell I miss him lol)

I found it genuniely interesting how much rezaren and hira are thematic mirrors to each other and mutually cannot see it, right down to treating miriam ultimately as an object. same self-centered idiot, different hairstyles. what a scathing indictment of Tevinter high society that even Hira, who's family was notoriously progressive and trying to enact change, still treats people exactly the same way as the other magisters when push comes to shove.

thank u to Lacklon for pessimistic cynical bastard representation, he is right that that dragon is going to ravage the countryside and someone on the crew has to keep clear eyes for that sort of thing even when it's a downer

OMG hiiiiiiii @candyvoncaramell

i wrote more than expected so um under the cut ^_^ pls enjoy my 1.4k words of jane rambling LMAOOOO

i have soooo many thoughts on her. im also still on my reread so nothing is like. super solid and everything is more just like little things im picking up that when i reread again ill be able to have more coherent thoughts lol but ill list out some ideas + a little explanations that ill expand on later cause there is a Lot.

-so the first most obvious thing is the character parallels. jade and jane are Very heavy parallels personality-wise. like positive people with anger issues [dealing with repressed frustration for a variety of reasons] who are so deeply lonely because of - while they are close to their friends theres still Limits. [ie jane being left in the dark and jade knowing Too much. its a big weight on her. there is a very visible change in her personality when she Stops fufilling that role]

-and of course with the grimbark / crockertier control - little red riding hood and the big bad wolf yknow

-but Character-wise as in the role she fufils in the Game is parallel to john - which sets her up to Main Character Status <- i will get into this later. but she is john in the way that dirk is her rose - leading her to play the game, quite literally telling her hes pulling the strings while setting her up as the Leader and quoting things rose said. and the first one entered and the one you control as a Player Character.

-i will also! mention aspects at this point. i will get to classes later. but essentially - life is heavily connected with space. because of the creation and growth side of both of them and imo are key aspects as a Universal Whole. because while Time and Space are the cardinals and the most important in Homestuck Narrative. thats just because of the cherubs ie everything revolves around caliborn - homestuck is a time-centered event where every little action and detail bleeds into eachother to create the events. its very very fascinating and in the first couple acts absolutely brilliantly done. but it also brings up the fact that Homestuck Narrative and Sburb Mechanisms should be considered seperate - people put too much weight on a biased session but im getting off track.

-anyway!!!! as i was saying life is very very important [feferi and her role as a witch of life and the creation of the dreambubbles - and meenah who is also Designated Main Character is a life player <- smth smth dancestor session]

-so life is a very important aspect and its very telling that jane Never gets to fufil that role as Maid of Life because. it never comes to be. her session is dead and void. shes restricted in every aspect of her being. her most known identity is being mindcontrolled to serve plot purpose - aradia parallel - so she very much set up to Fail. just like her session

-i really got sidetracked there but i also quickly want to mention - my own personal theory of aspects - the Equality theory [name wip] - which basically states every aspect has its opposite and parallel. Life is parallel to Breath. so another john parallel And goes into how her restricted freedom affects her life being restricted and so on and so forth.

-ANYWAY! the next parallel and arguably the most important relationship to understanding Jane is her relationship with jake. there is a lot going on there and i am still working it out. but i Will say. feferi and eridan parallel. ok moving on.

-another really interesting part of her that no one ever talks about - like ever. i mean come on i dont even see theorists mention her - is Nannaquin. the sprite version of Beta Jane. and i have to say i have so so many thoughts about sprites and their roles and how they are quite literally just Ghosts. but im just gonna get into it and say.

-what we see of nanna is not her. we are Not seeing Nanna Egbert. we are seeing the Nannasprite. she looks a mimics her actions - even has memories and recounts on her past. but she is dead and we cant take any of her words or actions at face value. she is a Ghost. [ironic since shes also the Maid of Life] but she is a ghost who is being controlled by the whims of the Game - with her sprite knowledge, the only one who ever Really explains things, the most Sprite of all sprites, who we only ever Really see in glimpses. i have to wonder, she cant talk about much because shes limited by her game construction - just like jade. did that kill her inside? when all was said and done did she have that visible shift in personality? does she Ever come into her own or is she just left as it is? we never get to know because we never really see her once the betas have left the session.

-what we do know about her is that, she was left alone for most of her life under the condesces Direct parentage. the one time she actually recounts her life its about her missing jake and imagining a life with them together - specifically the idea that he never left and they would get married like they were Supposed to. an idea thats obviously been groomed into her and its just so tragic.

-do you think this idea haunted jane.

-because none of the beta kids get along with their Others. they react in different ways for different reasons - but. we never really see jane...React. yknow. to see herself from such a different and similar position. not even beginning to mention the whole thing with Dad - which as a sidenote. i dont think Nanna had a horrible life to the end. i mean she changed her name, either through marriage or legally [probably legally because we never see hints otherwise, and grandma english did the same] and she had her son. which when she fufilled her duty as a sprite she told john she was going to go look for him and well. yknow. anyway

-the very last and final thing i want to mention. jane's alice in wonderland vs jade's wizard of oz.

-jade's wizard of oz for the most part. is a one man show. she plays a lot of the parts herself - she starts as dorothy and becomes the wizard before dying as the witch. its a theme of loneliness and all the parts she plays to keep it all moving.

-jane's alice in wonderland is more about Isolation in the way of...things sort of happen. shes thrust in this new magically world where nothings as it seems and everyones acting, in her opinion, crazy! she has no idea whats going on but she just has to accept it and move on. [dirk is the queen of hearts, roxy is the cheshire cat, jake is the mad hatter, seb is the white rabbit] its a loss of control when being thrust in unfamiliar situations.

and with that im coming to a close of my Jane Thought Dumping. there is still more - some stuff i didnt mention and some other stuff i probably forgot about but basically this is a major gist of ideas. i think you can take janes story in one of two ways.

it was Bad Writing in the way that she never got closure, by the end hussie just abandoned her in favor for the others that arrived, and a variety of other things.

or

there was Some Purpose. in the way that she never got to fufill anything because its an inherent part of her world. there was Never going to be a satisfying conclusion - not there.

i think it was a mix of the two, near the end of the comic it was a lot more rushed as hussie attempted to tie up one too many loose ends and people got set aside but i can see glimmers of purpose. [i have purposefully Not mentioned the retcon arc for a variety of reasons. i have Also many thoughts on that specifically as a very big john liker. i think it was a good idea and not a suprising act to pull but at points just executed extremely poorly] however none of that really matter considering how badly homestuck2 fucked it all up. if you think hs2 jane was in character you are wrong and a loser!!!!! BOOO!!! BOO!!!!! anyway yea thats about it hope it makes sense LMAO

hey can I get some advice, if you have any? my friend is getting married and im invited, but I have no ideia what to wear. I'm afab, non binary, and pretty much closeted in all the ways that matter; I've been wearing men's clothes exclusively for a few years, but I only ever get read as female. I'm 26 and have avoided all family weddings so far in huge part because of formal wear, bc I would die if I had to wear a dress but I (so far) have not been brave enough to try wearing a suit, but this friend is the first of the friend group to get married and she actually wants me there (as opposed to getting invited by cousins and such just bc we're related) and I want to be there to support her. do you have any experience in choosing formal wear? in my place, what would you wear? is it better to go to a shop and risk them refusing to give me a mens suit or try to get something online and risk a bad fit? help!

there’s great suiting for dfab people that u can get either online or in store, depending on where u live. i don’t think you’ll get smth that fits horribly as long as you take ur measurements beforehand, plus most places have size consultants. wildfang has cool suits, they’re a little less formal (which can be great!) but easy to dress up/down & in the future wear as separates. kirrin finch is a little pricier but they make beautiful clothes for masc dfab ppl. both have a p decent size range. sharpe suiting & bindle and keep both do like GORGEOUS custom suits, but they’re expensive & u have to book in advance, so that might not be the vibe for this outing.

in store stuff, i actually rly like theory & all saints; theory is expensive but they have all kinds of different womens cuts, so u don’t actually need a mens suit, although like… no one will rly care if u go try one on? for me, either dfab specific menswear or just andro womenswear fits better, so i’ve stopped worrying abt that & just gone for fit. for less formal, cos & oak+fort have some cool co-ord options that could be fun, esp for a summer wedding. bigger department stores like nordstrom will also have a ton of options across price points

i also think an amazing option is to go to a thrift store, especially if you have a queer one in ur area (out of the closet!). they’ll have lots of options that aren’t too expensive, & will be able to help you find stuff.

& then finally, tailor it! tailoring isn’t that expensive at all (tailoring a suit will probably be under $50) & it’s so easy to make ur clothes fit the way u want them to!

also i will say — i actually hate full suits for myself, they’re way too masc for me & i just. never in my life do i rly wanna wear one lol. i like a good tuxedo pant & an expensive tee & a cashmere cardigan or smth, & i also have a few semiformal & formal kurtas to wear to stuff bc my wife is desi, so sometimes those make more sense & are fun n cute. if a full suit feels like too much, u can wear rly nice stuff that isn’t quite as masc or quite as formal, & it’s (arguably) even more in fashion rn

so just yknow whatever ur vibes are, there rly are so many options. have fun w it! clothes are supposed to be fun! definitely don’t let being scared of formalwear have u miss a wedding u wanna go to, i swear literally nothing is that deep lol

hope this isn’t pestering, but mayhaps a bit of commentary on chapter 3 of raised by wolves? Whichever bit you want really. I’ve reread it like twenty times I cannot get it out of my head, would love to hear some of your thoughts!

not pestering never pestering even if i take a short geological age to respond because i am SO tired and forgetty. owo. raised by WOLVESSSSS

["How are you calm about this?" Arum growls, gesturing towards Damien as if indicating... all of him, perhaps. Which is arguably unkind, though not unfair.]

I'll be honest Damien NOT freaking out about Rilla keeping a secret from him for as long as they've known each other..... i mean, tbh i could see a number of universes where he DID freak out, but again- in those verses, Rilla probably panicked and bailed. not the specific story i wanted to write, lol. Also? Damien isn't really.... """calm""" about this. he's resigned to it, but that's not the same as calm. He's had a number of PRIVATE but SCREAMING breakdowns about this and held himself together for the sake of not causing Rilla to bolt.

because this particular Rilla is extremely prone to bolting, freezing up, and blocking people out. safety first, when your secrets could get you slain!

["How have you not driven yourself out of your mind for worry about what could be going on behind your back? She could be sick, someone could be blackmailing her, she could be cursed."]

lol she kinda is cursed tho. anyway. poor Arum honestly. he's absolutely freaking out in his own way, too. arum voice YOU must be worried about all these things! they definitely aren't things that IM worried about!!!!! god he's so bad at being vulnerable.

[Damien sighs again, and then he pushes himself to stand from his own seat, moving closer to drop himself onto the cushion beside Arum instead, leaving a hand on the monster's shoulder and ignoring entirely when Arum growls at him.]

Damien has had a lot of time to sit with this. he knows that Arum hasn't. Arum is getting all this tension fresh. Damien is extremely sympathetic to that.

["I am calm about this," Damien says gently, "because the other option I could see, before, was to lose her. I know her," Damien says, ignoring the way that Arum startles.]

Damien is, generally speaking, terrible at holding his anxieties in check, even when the results are disastrous. His exceptions seem to be when he convinces himself of something. This Damien has, out of necessity, convinced himself to pretend like he isn't worried. He's convinced himself that she will tell him, when she's ready (this has not proven true, alas).

["I know that if I tried to push her, if I tried to interrogate her… it would only push her away. And…" Damien feels his jaw tighten, his brow furrowing, and he forces himself back to tranquility as best he can. "Well, my strongest theory for the past few years has been that her… whatever her secret, whatever causes her to hide away, I thought that perhaps it had something to do with her parents and their Exile. I would certainly never wish to press her on that particular matter, it hurts her so to discuss it."]

The thing is: He Isn't Wrong. I haven't revealed MUCH about how Rilla got where she is with the whole lycanthropy thing, but....... yeah. Her parents are a factor.

annnnnnd i've probably rambled enough for now, if there's other sections you want me to talk about just lmk i LOVE rambling 💖💖💖

i’m curious to know what ur theories are omg!! (on why ney left) but yes, we’ll truly never know it really did seem to come out of nowhere

Okay we’ll start off with my most probable theory:

1) the PSG game. Oh the Barca v. PSG comeback game. The Remontada. That game still makes me sick lol. It was a spectacular game. Arguably one of, if not, the biggest comeback in UCL history. Leo scored a penalty, but Neymar was the true genius of the game. Neymar scored an amazing free kick and penalty (which it’s so interesting that he took them too btw when normally Leo would take them). And he also provided the amazing assist to Sergio Roberto in literally the last minute to secure the win. However, that one photo of Leo went VIRALLLLL and he seemed to be getting all of the credit for the game. Part of me thinks that really pissed Neymar off, and he was literally in his prime if not getting to be there, and maybe he realized the only way to prove his greatness was to get out of a club with Lionel Messi there. So while he truly did love Leo as a person/teammate/idol, he was the one person standing in his way to achieving ultimate greatness. I think in the beginning he was truly about the team mentality and wanting to help Leo be the best (he literally said that in his debut), but Neymar isn’t the type of person to only strive to be that. He wants to the best (he’s always been quoted saying this too lol), and he wants to WIN. Him being the leader? Even better. If this was the reason, I don’t really blame him too much. I wish he never left, but underappreciation can really drive someone up a wall.

2) there is a chance that this move could’ve been prompted even earlier than when Neymar had left. Dani Alves joined PSG in 2017, and it was no surprise that he had urged Neymar to join him. He was even quoted once saying that the only way for Neymar to be the greatest was to get out of Leo’s shadow at Barca. I’m not saying he instilled the idea into his brain, but it seems like he was thinking what some other people were too.

3) the money. €222 million buy out clause is insane, and the wages PSG was paying Neymar was out of this world. Literally his move broke the market. There’s a chance that maybe that’s why he left (although I doubt it. Mans was making enough) unlesssssss his father had something to do with it.

4) the father. While Neymar’s dad said he never wanted Neymar to leave Barcelona, there’s a part of me that thinks that maybe he helped push the decision. He could’ve either wanted it for money, orrrrr there’s a chance that he could’ve pushed the idea into Neymar’s head that he needed to be the greatest. Potential constant comparisons between him and other players that made him feel like he wasn’t good enough. That he had to leave and bring a team to its first UCL to prove his worth. I’m not sure.

5) this is my delusional ass fanfic ass brain that should be taken LIGHTLY. But Neymar announcing for the first time he was thinking of leaving Barca for PSG at Leo’s wedding??? Um??? Who does that? At a wedding? At Leo’s wedding?? It’s interesting is it not? And the Instagram pictures he posted of the wedding afterwards and the caption… it was just iffy and unusual to me. Maybe the pain of staying would’ve been too much. I don’t know. (AGAIN TAKE THIS VERY LIGHTLY THERE IS A REASON WHY IT IS NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THIS LIST 😭😭 — delulu brain over here okay I am claiming absolutely nothing) Also, around this time Leo was getting REALLY close to Suarez. I wonder if Neymar felt abandoned somehow and that also made him want to leave too.

6) maybe he just didn’t believe in the team that much anymore? The 16/17 season was really bad in comparison to the prior one. Maybe he foresaw Barca’s downfall and wanted to get out before his reputation could’ve been ruined because of it.

Anyways these are all my dumb little theories. Take them with a grain of salt. I don’t know anything nor claim to know anything. But these are the best theories my brain could conjure up 🤷‍♀️

okay so more specifically

i was reading this paper that compares a few different types of "imagined persons" -- auditory verbal hallucinations, characters in dreams, tulpas (:V), and authors' fictional characters

comparing and contrasting, but it comes around to a broader theory that the more "practice" you have thinking about a particular imagined character, the more autonomous they feel -- basically a sort of "unconscious muscle memory" for thinking as someone else.

this is Literally the point of tulpamancy, so that checks out, sure; for auditory hallucinations and dream characters, the scholar comes up with the idea that thinking about "stock characters" also sorta acts as a sort of "practice" -- so the fact that a lot of voices are basically stereotypical figures might sorta suggest that the brain is basically "primed" to think in terms of these stereotypes, plus it matches some research out there that voices tend to grow more "complex" over time, sure, good.

but uh, we run into problems applying that to authors. the scholar himself even points out that it's usually stock characters who are experienced as the least autonomous and most boring, but that's not really a concern as they go on to explain that authors' characters always "begin to talk" after some way into the novel-writing process, and that it's most often the main characters who reach this level, certainly before any other characters

and that's where Serpent and i went "wait"

because like, for starters i can think of some specific instances myself where side characters turned, uh, chatty before the main ones (usually a sign that i have Chosen the wrong character to follow lol). and absolutely plenty of times where characters felt autonomous from the word "go", which the scholar says he basically has never seen before lmao.

and like, i confirmed this with another writery friend of ours that it's not like, impossible to be basically Immediately Channeling. (because it could very well have just been me and the fact that "chatty" in the past has arguably been "actually a headmate" :V)

and i'd argue that episode 17 of the diary of aliza schultz is also representing a version of this: writing that first feels like it's coming externally ("feeling alien", as some may put it), but as the first rush of discovery passes, it becomes a matter of much more mundane "process and inspiration" (which has been accurate to my experience: you can't run off of that channeling stuff forever, and it's noteworthy when a book is written all in a State like that -- like Annihilation apparently was :V)

(and previous episodes of TDoAS have indicated not wanting to view "process" as a particularly mystical or unknowable thing, that it's a technique and technology -- episode 14 in particular is what im thinking of there)

not that the paper im talking about is like, Super Bad or anything, or that authors who find their characters' voices only after putting in effort are Doing It Wrong or anything (this "long process until you hear a character's voice" seems to be what's going on for Serpent's current thing, lol) -- just that there really are counterexamples here that aren't being considered. :V

- ace

Well I got some free coins and fast passed episodes 82 and 83 and boy you weren't kidding about the lovely Gressil content! On the subject of theories though, its pretty much confirmed my theory that Gressil would have some obsession with Rayne, but remembering her presence but not her name/face is so interesting! And Glad not having powers? Another theory confirmed. And Sam? Lord im worried for him. Either he's in a reeealy bad headspace or he's infected. Your thoughts/theories? ~Theory Anon

I totally forgot to reply back to this for way longer then I intended! My bad theory anon! (You can blame baldurs gate 3 taking up more mental space then I have to give lol)

He does have some form of obsession for her absolutely. Though I’m curious in what way perhaps he is clinging to her. As a comfort? Savior? The being who he is connected to? It’s all very intriguing.

I dunno if Glad/Raven does or doesn’t have powers actually. Gressil could be just shooting the shit at him and thinking it stuck. Glad/Raven doesn’t exactly confirm or deny it when Gressil says he has no powers sooo….

As for Sam? I have no clue. I’m prone to think it’s somehow in some way shape or form connected to how Gressil is clinging onto Rayne as well in a sense? So like, as much as I adore Gressil as a character he isn’t exactly the most… high? On a list to bring back. So to bring him back as a character there has to be a good narrative reason. Obviously it’s a good oil to Raynes water of course, and to help scratch the surface of Glad/Ravens history a tiny bit also. But that doesn’t feel like a good reason to bring back a arguably hated character by the fandom.

I’m going to have to assume something about Gressil’s condition is going to be in some form useful to figuring out as a fan, or for Rayne and the characters themselves, about Sam and his condition and state of existence as well. At least that narratively gives a valid reason to use Gressil as a plot device to bring him back.

Something Bad is going (or Has) happened to Luka Couffaine

 a theory!

Listen. Few love Luka Couffaine as much as I do. And there’s been a Good Deal of foreshadowing that something Bad is going to happen to him. Or, since we already have episodes 16 and 18, something already has. It begins in season four, and I think, most accurately, his downfall begins after Wishmaker. 

My theory here is that something bad happens to him in season five, and I’m predicting it’s going down Episode 15, which is ‘Intuition’, named after Sass’s powers, iconically, the only miraculous he ever used (he should’ve gotten one in the kwami swap i will die on this hill, regardless of their reasoning). As of right now, all we have of this episode is the name and the rest is mere speculation. Could happen later, could happen not at all (doubtful), but this is what I’m predicting, and if I am wrong, well, I’ve been wrong before lol.

This ended up a Bit longer than I anticipated, with the pictures (there are pictures for evidence under the cut lol i’m not one to do a CHUNK of text) and ngl overwhelming number of ominous signs pointing towards him, so it’s under the cut. I do also acknowledge my biases- I think he’s a much more main character than the creators are allowing him to be. In my defense, I love him?

Now, when I say something bad, I’m preparing myself for them just killing him (they wouldn’t, right?) but it could be a vague injury or sending him away, just something that keeps him off my screen, which is, arguably as bad as death? The thing is, everything points to something ‘vague bad’, and from that I can’t predict more, so I’ll keep it vague.

Season 4, Episode 22- Ephemeral

Ephemeral is the First Time we get to see him after discovering their identities in Wishmaker (a moment I have written separate essays on before). As far as I interpret the episode, his initial plan is to tell Marinette he knows she’s Ladybug (eventually) and accepts he’s instead going to ‘know’ Chat Noir’s for everyone’s benefit. 

I’ve written other posts on the Importance and Luka’s positioning in Ephemeral (and how the whole thing could’ve been solved with a simple conversation or. believe it or not. the Truth), so I’m not going to say much here, but the One point to be considered is:

It’s not safe for one person to know both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities.

Which is why she can’t know his, and he can’t know hers. And Luka finds himself knowing both. From this very moment I knew something bad was doomed to happen to my favorite blueberry. He got put in a bad situation after, honestly, a very bad season for him. 

Season 5, Episode - Determination

 This one is. A Reach but someone rb and tagged one of my posts so I cannot just move on from this. We know there’s a Viperion wax figure, we see it covered and also lined up to fight (BUT THEY DOn”T aCTUALLy FIGHT HIM), and he’s just straight up not included on the poster. Seeing the wax figure it’s clear that they Know of his existence, but he’s just...not there.

Some attempt at foreshadowing? I personally, do not know, but have been, without my consent, told it might be. (don’t write bible spoilers in the tags of my posts i read them okay???????) I am simply acknowledging this.

Season 5, Episode 12- Perfection

Luka has been in two (2) episodes so far in season five (LESS THAN WAYHEM MAY I ADD), and Perfection he’s bARELY there. (in his defense if I was in his exact situation, I would Also keep my distance), but he Is playing when Adrien’s singing, and they focus on him....at an interesting point.

(first. funny bc he was silencer lol) First for real. Lukanette fans are always allowed to mourn the ridiculously short dating time on my posts- the emphasis on him and Adrien using the melody talk that’s taken verbatim from Wishmaker is also another essay for another time.

Second, he knows. Which, in general, makes most of his appearances in the show post Wishmaker (only twice in season five so far) hilarious, but in this situation, why they chose to emphasize him on the heart beating line. The silence one I get, but why would they linger so long on such a line? Foreshadowing. that’s my answer. They’re going to kill him. /j

I could also point out how far apart he stands from everyone but I’m also aware his animation budget is like $5 and half a pbj so I’m not looking too much into that, but here:

Season 5, Episode 16- Protection

This episode is the first After when I think things are going to happen, immediately following Intuition, and Luka is...very oddly not there.

It’s clear they had Every Intention of Luka being there when they planned this date, even including him in the comic, but he was replaced by Nino at last minute (Luka and Nino are the same person truthers really got a +1 on that line lol), which is...a choice but more on that never.

Luka was obviously abruptly replaced, which continues to lend to the idea that something in the immediate past (previous episode- oh! That’s Intuition!) and based on the leaked ideas I’ve stumbled across for episode 14, I really don’t think he’s in that one. 

What gets to me in this scene is that, yes, they’re uncomfortable (with every right to be), put on display by their friends, but they look at each other right when they say his name. Like they know something happened. This scene adds more fuel to my ‘vague bad’ idea than straight up killing him (they wouldn’t), where likely, Ladybug and Chat Noir know More as to what happened (as well as Juleka, but she has no reason nor desire to speak up regarding her brother).

The Tweets

I, cannot for the life of me find the tweet that this is originally mentioned in (in my defense i did screen shot it and i have over 1200 images in my miraculous folder, but it might be in my screencap folder? we’ll never know). But I do have the Gloob post regarding it:

[translation: who was that phrase for? ‘Your heart has been broken, you will never use the power of second chance again’]

Oh, he’s never gonna use the power of second chance again, that’s for certain, but I do have reason to believe it’s not because they don’t get the miraculouses back (haven’t read the bible spoilers on that I’m just assuming that’s how it all ends), it’s rather that he doesn’t get to use them.

Luka has a lot of potential built up as being so important to the plot, with the ideas of the four being foils to each other (Kagami is getting plenty of screentime for this (in a good way)), but because he knows. I can’t fathom when this is going to play out, or why they would make him know unless something important comes from it. Then again, between seasons they could’ve just changed their mind about his role in the show (*cough* the Couffaine’s always *cough*).

Then again, they also could have them find out each others identities before Luka gets/wants to tell them and then it’s just a waste but. I’ll write another essay on that if it happens.

I keep saying ‘I can’t believe they’re going to kill Luka Couffaine’ to prepare myself that something Very Terrible is going/has happened to him, but I honestly don’t believe that Fully. The people I have discussed this with have all, for the most part, agreed they’re likely going to send him away at least until the end of the season, and with this idea there’s so many different reasons they could use. Go on tour with Jagged? Sure. Let him learn more about being a luthier? I could see that. Study abroad? I’m still confused as to what type of school he actually goes to but why not. Something involving Monarch based on that last idea? God I hope not, but it’s a reason.

also, since I began working on this, this was revealed:

Which is something I personally have been saying this whole time, but also Big Yikes, I’m just worried for my favorite blueberry. I hope he’s okay.

My priorities might be skewed, but my first thought after seeing that post addressing crazy musical disk-horse was, 'oh no, i'm gonna have to stop going in the Great Comet tag for a while.' I simply refuse to perceive discourse, i will make it wash over my brain like water off a ducks back.

My second thought was that ppl really gloss over 2020 as thee tony's musical snub year. the percy jackson musical probably wasn't good (haven't listened), but like. they refused to nominate it for leading role even though it was one of two musicals that qualified that year, giving it to the other by default. They changed the definition of best original score just so they could avoid nominating it. legitimately hilarious levels of haterism.

it's Unserious to approach some media analysis (like that one musical of an awards season was the objective worthiest one for any given category, much less Best overall, the vaguest) as though one theory is the Definitively Correct one. versus that it's an argument that could be backed up and hold up to figurative peer review, and even then, it'll always have limits and not be like "objectively" all-encompassingly accurate

it's also Unserious to say some shit like "great comet should've won best musical or gotten as many awards or swept or something....because dear / evan hansen is basically trump"

imo thee tony awards? are pretty much Unserious too. it Is enjoyable when any awards institutions recognize anyone or anything in ways that seem to reflect some actual value, and that would always be arguable / subjective / up for debate, but the major awards groups especially do not seem "good" at doing this, or "trying" to be. as a deh enjoyer and deh [head in hands wishing it was different b/c xyz criticisms &/or disagreements with concepts they were trying to execute, and executions of concepts....but i'm doing it better & differently than like "deh is bad, evan is evil" or "pretty much any of the movie criticism"]er, i'm not like, mad that it was tony-acclaimed. i also would not be mad if they hadn't really won stuff, i also wasn't following the show at that time lol. i also believe great comet had to close not long afterward, didn't it? after some kind of casting shakeups that many people did not really see as It? i don't know about the show; i don't like, disagree with anyone who likes it more than deh, and/or thinks it was Better, b/c i have no info of my own, and i would not have Serious arguments in saying "no, deh is better, factually, nobody should think otherwise"

like, first of all like you're saying, to have Lost to deh in the tonys is to have been nominated at all. nothing got tlt's treatment, ever, and that was just more ridiculously out in the open than any snub in any other season could have been....but second of all, i also have to imagine some of the beef w/deh winning so many tonys instead is that the main thing the tonys do is give featured / awarded shows boosts; it's always talked about as that important Commercial event for broadway, when getting to broadway & staying on broadway is incredibly difficult, incredibly complex, incredibly expensive....reminded of it in that it seems the televised tonys getting a waiver so they could happen at all was at all for the sake of supporting the performers' careers by extension of the tonys being that commercial for broadway & a potential box office boost. probably having your show close not long after the tonys were largely about deh was unfortunate for said show & fans of it. but it's also not like winning even Best Musical has meant that that show will remain open for even another full year; afaik deh was also really buzzy Before the tonys, even if that solidified that further / was indeed another boost. and it's like....deh didn't make them make them win lol. much less did the material in deh....somehow result in a tonys win in Any Way comparable to a US presidential election candidate??? It's Fully Unserious

the only time i paid attention to a tony season while it was happening was in 2019, as a bmc enjoyer, so that was a real illuminating crash course, and ofc i have that Unamused Emoticon perspective about like. a situation in which it's very evident that that wasn't just like oh this one other musical which is its Nemesis (fr i don't even remember what all won / was nominated instead) but rather deliberately being shut out. the One nomination was, aptly, nominal, like "well you see, you've been acknowledged at all;" the off the shits unasked unwarned mitb parody that didn't give credit while the show couldn't actually do any performance is like....idk what that was, or who it was for, Everyone Hated That. again, the show having to close not long after was also not fun for anyone; even if in retrospect it's somewhat tempered by like, that was august of 2019, so they only could've had so many more months of it anyways, but that doesn't change things At The Time. i also don't need to believe bmc was inarguably thee best most successful show of the season, i can't do that, nobody can. i think it's a way stronger piece than deh, i like it more, i like the concepts & execution more. i don't need it to have won awards, i don't even need to think any given show "deserved" more than any others to have a longer run when it's all so expensive and difficult and precarious at the best of times. like, here we are, after bway phantom of the opera had to close.

which, i never saw beetlejuice in any iteration, much less the musical. i may not ever, b/c i have never been interested in other iterations lol. but it was like, nodding respectfully re: it being another show that season that the nyt (also a vastly Unserious realm of critical media analysis) hated, that evidently the tonys also barely wanted to acknowledge....that then had the added layer of like, what do you mean hugh jackman music man. great for them that they got to reopen anyways, i do not need to love the show myself or think that this is all Art Meritocracy out here re: who gets to stay open for how long, or close. i don't know anything about the lightning thief, i don't need to think "well it wasn't that good" nor "well it was amazing so this is an Objective outrage," i think that the tonys are Unserious for evidently being unwilling to ""consider"" (for as much as i think that the Consideration of various awards voting bodies is, itself, that Serious either (i don't)), much less platform, the show, even if i thought it was Bad or Disliked it. there were like 0.8 damn musicals that season. aaron tveit default win. no original scores nominated thusly. tony voters/producers and nyt criticasters going "idk i don't think i personally liked it, might've assumed going in what it was Like or About and didn't engage with it, maybe didn't bother seeing it or paying attention while i did" and that gets to be a cue for who gets money; it's about their institutional power transferring their Arbitrary stances into material impacts, versus their Supposed efforts of Arbiters Of "Taste"....while also like, broken clocks and [only so many musicals any given year], many people will Like many of the musicals up for nominations lol and be mad or glad at any winners/losers/completely ignored eligible shows

oh have to shoutout another instance of the tonys Unseriousness: bitching and moaning about how they just caaan't change their rules rn to make All categories nongendered. great stuff.

anyways just like, nothing new in people trying to posit their preferences as Objectively Superior based on an argument of morality? and it's like, i'm sure there are people who are like "wow yeah uh evan hansen is as bad as a fascist politician. he's lying and manipulating, and that is close enough" and earnest about it but like, is it close enough, and is that an Serious analysis of the actual material? No....and like, sure, have opinions and preferences based on an Ethical Stance, god i hope you do, but like, you have to be able to communicate that stance in a way that actually is based on shit and holds up at all, versus just vibes or making shit up to obfuscate what you Really think. which can just be "i'm mad that this show closed and didn't win tonys and didn't become this hypey breakout cultural phenomenon in ways that many broadway shows generally Do Not anyways" without like, legitimizing anger and even show grief by making it a stance like "and deh is basically trump >:(" lmfao like, it's already legitimate to have a preference or emotional investment in something you enjoy / has significance for you

i am not here for / don't seek out or absorb any & all rando Takes anyways, but in being here alongside [bmc bway is happening] like even peripherally i was aware of people also having preferences / feelings that had a shit basis lol like. that basically they're pissed that will roland was cast and this is because of thinking that in various ways his body was Worse than will connolly's (i honestly forget if it's one or two L's in his last name....yeah two right) and really what made this very clear is that nobody was actually willing to Say That, and instead would make up stuff about how this was a Serious And Objective Stance they were taking based on Artistic Merit. suddenly it was an urgent issue of newly saying that will roland is bad at singing (or the backhanded constant comments like "wow will r's so much better at singing now" on videos and Only re: will like, yeah his skill levels are only giving more cunt as time goes on, that's effort, increased experience, etc, applies to any & everyone else generally too...?) or suddenly bmc was stuntcasting b/c will roland was in deh (lol) or like this is the only time a role has been recast between productions, or even During....god knows that "someone who originated the role didn't stay with it forever," as is especially & often relevant w/indefinitely-running (over)demanding bway productions, is an eternal source of people who have preemptively decided that whoever replaces them is Objectively Worse, and will just make up whatever story serves that purpose. some anon once tried to hate on sky lakota-lynch to me, presumably as a will roland aficionado, b/c he was the next jared kleinman principal actor....like, what, you want Nobody in that role?? as, after Years as jared, an actor chooses to leave to be a lead in another show (that they personally like more as an audience member / preexisting fan lol)....also, they were racist about it. like absolutely you can prefer Whatever. you can be like "haha yeah i'm just always going to prefer This and it's not necessarily about like making sure i couldn't Possibly like another version as much or more" like, you don't have to. better for anyone to embrace that they just think [xyz] is neatest to them personally. i have no reason to think will connolly was "bad" as jeremy, i hear it was a different approach too in being a bit more fragile(tm) / Sad, great if you like that, i'm sure he can sing well, i heard a few pre obcr tracks, etc etc, i'm not interested lol like i've showed up via this one actor for these couple productions and That Is My Domain. i think it's shitty to be fatphobic & biased against people's bodies which does include their voices, and it's bullshitting to make up some narrative to cover for it where oh suddenly this person is just unskilled or an Unworthy Stuntcast. it's Unserious, it's also like just some real life shittiness, whereas fictional character evan hansen is not affected by "lying? an extremely broad phenomenon that is actually All 'being a lil too fashy for my tastes imo...'" and it is more difficult to imagine such a stance being relevant in ppl's lives in other applications, but that is also Unserious. if people have a serious thought out idea, they should be able to express that rather than expressing some deflection about "deh should've lost b/c that was like the 2016 US presidential election" or "will connolly should be jeremy in all iterations b/c this other guy i'm seething at now has only existed as: in deh"

anyways like point is that yeah like sure entirely possible great comet was the best musical on broadway that season (even though i don't think there can be any Definitive conclusion thusly. how do we assess that....and do we want to have to like, pit all shows in a medium/genre together? with inevitable limitations &/or restrictions on who gets to choose winners?) but you don't even have to be mad at deh or make it about being mad about something else entirely for no reason. can be mad that the tonys get to make or break shows, that putting on shows is so expensive, that [capitalism], can even just be mad b/c you really liked it and you don't have to put on some more ""legitimate"" argument; it's its own argument lol, it's also an outright subjective & individual one and we can be individuals with preferences and likes even without having studied every other possibly comparable work to make sure it's superior, and Not be like "actually any & everyone else could Also only possibly think / feel the same, so really my having a fave musical lately Transcends being the opinion of one person." we can indeed even pick any two shows or whatever else and compare them, or have a critical lens and do anything but believe something is so univerally Perfect that there's not even anything to say or even question. meanwhile it's also definitely rough that live theatre is all Ephemeral and limited in distribution, but if there's enough out there about a show to be the basis of knowing that you like it, you still have that. bmc trt loyalists can stick with the ocr / relevant boots lol.

and yeah the realest Most Wronged show is the lightning thief lol truly. not even b/c you have to feel You love it or it Deserved to run for years or make it to Broadway in the first place, but like, just evidently the tonys are some nonsense, let's make That argument together, as well as the nyt, and in my Onion the overall format of "one individual critic expounding" is also not our best most serious effort at thorough consideration of some material, nor what makes it most useful for people who want to know about that material Through you....it's mostly entertainment, and it's also bad at being entertainment. we can all enjoy a good Disrespecting The Tonys B/c They Earned That together, wherein if they really don't want to recognize your show they Will just refuse to give it nominations no matter what. you can go "i think great comet > deh" or "i think great comet's awards-worthiness in comparison to all other shows that season > deh's" and not go "deh <<<< because when characters lie that makes them like an irl fascist" b/c what?? and no it does not lol

like gotta shoutout that i definitely disagree on points w/other Deh Likers and Deh Haters b/c of course i would. i have no inherent disagreement w/great comet likers b/c of course i wouldn't. and even if i'm sure by now "can you believe that (the 2017 tonys)" is a bit old, it's like, how is that gonna be Enriching to hear discussed some more if it's not saying (a) anything at all or (b) essentially not saying anything b/c saying "characters shouldn't lie, and if they do, it's like being authoritarian in real life" is truly too Unserious to bother entertaining as a [this is why i think this other show should've won] stance here, much less absorbing