#Anyone has a theory?

[n3xus-apparatus]

Also I haven't seen anybody talk about this yet- but in the amazing digital circus (obvious spoilers ahead)

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In episode 3 it's revealed by kinger that darkness calmed down his abstracted wife, and in the pilot we saw caine put abstracted kaufmo into "the cellar with a whole crowd of other abstracted people, *a very obviously dark room with no visible light sources*

Just saying that seems, interesting, and implies caine somehow figured out darkness potentially calms them, maybe after the incident with his wife kinger told caine about it and he adjusted their holding area? but it's nice to see he's trying to be accommodating for them, plus it looks like there's water in there? Maybe water is also calming for abstracted individuals?

[hawkinasock]

My personal take on the Abundance Yanqing theory.

[pinkseas]

thinking about. the sovereign of elegance battle.

how initially nikki seems pretty caught off guard by being puppeted around, and almost like she's in a trance? she definitely doesn't feel fully there, her movements are a lot more limp and being VERY distinctly controlled. she feels more distant, more hazy.

but then there's the point about halfway into the battle where the banshee has her hand over nikki's face, like she's still trying to control her, and nikki looks away. meets the banshee's eyes instead.

and the banshee's own expression shifts, there, too. nikki looks almost defiant, and the banshee isn't quite taken aback or surprised by that, but she doesnt seem to have anticipated it? it seems like she's curious, intrigued. seeing nikki look at her so fearlessly, even after being puppeted by her. almost like a challenge of her own.

and after that, nikki's movements shift. they feel more fluid, graceful, more like nikki is the one in control. matching the banshee's motions and her energy, no longer enthralled but choosing herself to continue the dance. they circle each other and nikki is smiling, like she's genuinely enjoying herself.

if you fail the battle, the banshee and nikki reach out to each other, but the banshee pushes forward as nikki pulls her own hand away, looking more hesitant, almost afraid again. and if you perfect it, nikki pulls away, but not out of fear. she spins again, smiling, taking a bow. enjoying herself, still. regarding the banshee as an equal, even though the banshee had been trying to subdue her.

after that perfect score, nikki, recognizing the melody. upset that the banshee is leaving. wanting to at least know her name. reaching out to her even as she disappears.

[copper-ice-cube]

of fucking course the sugar plum fairy's lair is the FREEZER

the rest of calorum is the fridge and when people die its food getting eaten by the hungry one

but the sugar plum fairy steals spirits away to her mountain lair so they don't get eaten!

aka putting them in the freezer so they're dead but not eaten yet!!

and when she dies lapin says all the spirits have to go to the hungry one!!!

and there is imagery of the heat of the old dragon's lair melting lapin and all the sugar plum fairy's treasures away!!!!

aka frozen food being defrosted/reheated to be eaten!!!!!

fuck fuck fuck of fucking COURSE!!!!!!

[happyvoltz]

big ben doodle

[nellasbookplanet]

Here’s the thing:

I want Predathos to get out.

Not because I hate the gods or want to see them killed or driven off (in fact, I find the 'the gods are tyrants' arguments to be laughably incorrect and deeply hope c3 ends with the pantheon still present) but because ending the campaign without facing Predathos would be a huge anticlimax. If Bells Hells simply kill Ludinus and go back home, it will feel like killing the minion but never actually getting to the big bad. What if c1 had ended with killing the Briarwoods but never getting around to Vecna. What if the m9 had actually managed to kill Lucien with their trap in Aeor before he made it into the Astral Sea to set off his plan. We wouldn’t have gotten to see the nature of the somnovem, the horrific flesh city or the peace of putting it to rest, the wild creativity that was the final battle of imagination. If c3 ends without showing us what the fuck Predathos actually is I will go lie facedown on the floor for a week wondering what we missed out on.

Now, this doesn't mean I want the hells to purposefully let the beast out of its cage. I would prefer the campaign not end with the heroes finalizing the villain's plan and setting off calamity 2.0, thank you very much. But if Ludinus still has an ace up his sleeve that makes Predathos' release all but inevitable (which I honestly expect)? Maybe even if there’s a party split and one or a couple of the hells take the decision into their own hands (looking at you, Ashton)?

I'd love that shit. Show us what Predathos truly is. Let it eat Ludinus maybe. Give us a glimpse of the true end if it’s let loose on Exandria. Have there be a horrific realization of oh, this is what the Vanguard was arguing in favor of. And then kill it.

[autumnblooms]

I’m still not over this

I found some new Procreate brushes today~

[redr0sewrites]

i will forever defend these two- NOT to start discourse but they are both so heavily mischaracterized by the fandom its INSANE like omg yes they are flawed but they are also trying their best PLEASE leave them alone 🙏🙏🙏

as usual im yapping in the tags if anyone cares

[swan2swan]

I had an epiphany about ships today.

[burningfunobject]

S2 arcane spoilers!!

Anyone else notice how dim viktors eyes look in the new season like

And it's like this for nearly every other shot

Compared to his eyes in s1

And he's rlly out of character too

And sure that could be the trauma of EVERYTHING that's happened

But I feel like it's more than that

The hexcore is controlling him obviously so maybe we'll see him try to fight against it??

I really hope he does bc I don't think the whole magic arcane Jesus thing is really working for me tbh

OR if he doesn't manage to get free of the hexcore maybe he decides to lean into it by baking himself even more robotic buy powered by hextech or whatever the new equivalent would be

I've also been thinking maybe he'll start upsetting the chem barrens?? But it seems kinda unlikely

[unnecessary-dinosaurs]

the fandom at the end of season one

[stellas-and-tonitruses]

⚠ SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 93 AHEAD! ⚠

now that we have finally met demetrius, it seems like a great time to dissect his first scene and proper conversation! :]

his wide, unfocused stare hides ✨unexpected complexity✨, as expected of a desmond

he's impatient (common desmond trait at this point)

he's nonchalantly exceptional, as we expected and have been repeatedly told thus far

...but most importantly, amidst a sea of accomplishments, he is burdened with a lack of people skills and visibly frustrated by it, as evidenced by his conversation with damian in this chapter.

the analysis and speculation continues under the cut!!

so, a breakdown of the main meat of his introduction

similarly to every single time there's an interaction between damian and another desmond, damian is the one who reaches out first by calling out to demetrius, who immediately asks him what he wants. damian tries to begin with small talk, congratulating him on his accomplishments of the day

demetrius is brief and to the point, but it doesn't feel to me like he is annoyed here. perhaps curious, perhaps indifferent, we don't know -- demetrius is a boy of few explanatory thoughts, after all

merely in the next page, demetrius is revealed to have a blank mind for most of this conversation.

i don't believe this is a sign that demetrius was experimented on or anything. obviously, this does not rule out that he has been experimented on, but i don't think his lack of thoughts are indicative of that, nor do i believe anya was too far away (in previous chapters, she has read the thoughts of people at greater distances than this with ease!). i think this has something to do with his upbringing, but also very importantly his state of mind at the moment

his eyes are wide open, but his stare is unfocused. i think this is an intentional choice to hammer in that he's not really here at this moment, listening to what is undoubtedly to him pointless praise. he has likely tuned all of it out completely.

(as a side note, if we wanna involve anya in this situation more, we could assume that he is intentionally cloaking his thoughts from anya or any other potential mind-readers, but while i do think donovan is very likely involved in project apple, i severely doubt the financial benefactors of project apple would spend likely a lot of money to figure out a way to shield the thoughts of a middle schooler, regardless of who his dad is, from potential telepaths. as far as we know, anya is the only one with this specific power and demetrius is unlikely to have any information that would incriminate the operation. if that was an issue, i don't see why they wouldn't spend their money to protect melinda's mind, since she likely has way more info than demetrius ever could.)

moving on from that side note though,

we do not see demetrius' face as he says this! this is important to me

we are left unaware to whether or not he is disappointed or just trying to abscond to take a nap (he really needs one)

but then, he says this:

this, to me, is a direct attempt at connecting!! he's trying to reciprocate the small talk, the praise, trying to continue the conversation. his thought, "i don't understand him," may feel contradictory but to me, it only underlines his frustration about this, because he knows what damian is going to say next:

even though it was expected, this is not what demetrius was hoping to get out of this. his downturned eyebrows give a feeling of discontent. he is not blank, he is visibly frustrated, visibly annoyed.

and we are thus made aware of a boundary demetrius and melinda both share:

never mention donovan.

for one reason or another, this is the boundary damian has overstepped with both his mother AND his brother now, without ever being informed that it IS a boundary in the first place

so demetrius, upset, turns around to leave and throws this at damian:

this is important, because damian has shared a very similar sentiment to anya before, albeit in a mournful tone.

demetrius likely feels similarly neglected by his parents, but is long past feeling sad about it. he has moved straight to anger, understandably!

but the bigger reason for his frustration, imo, relates to a problem damian once again ALSO has: people treating them as a gateway to their father and nothing more.

demetrius has more than likely also been treated like this, and probably still is unless his peers have learned not to engage because of his brief, snippy responses, so he is familiar with the feeling of being used.

...and damian unknowingly treated him the exact same way, even though he's also grown to hate it.

of course, he's 6 years old and he meant no harm by this -- he's just a lonely boy trying to be noticed by his neglectful parents, after all, what else could he possibly do?

but for demetrius, this is the end of the conversation. he is not his father's manager, he's not even that close to him, so why does his brother only ever talk to him when it relates to their father?

as he said before: he doesn't understand him, and why he keeps doing this. does he not know there is little info to be gained?

he doesn't understand their father either, with his impossibly high expectations, never pleased, never happy, never available

and lastly, as ewen and emile try to introduce themselves

demetrius has one final thought.

and he casts aside this entire conversation, leaving the scene as empty as he entered it.

of course, the chapter doesn't end here, but this is where demetrius' involvement in it does, leaving us with a newfound understanding that while to damian, demetrius represents everything he can only strive to become... to demetrius? his accomplishments ring hollow in the face of everything he wishes he could understand.

we do get an extra flashback that hearkens back to a better yesterday, but while donovan is lacking some very important details (those scars, that dead disinterest that follows his every move -- he seems mirthful somehow here), we don't know if this scene represents a time when they were closer or if it's simply evidence that as far back as everyone can remember, demetrius has been doing nothing but studying all the time

could this be evidence of something nefarious relating to project apple? eh, not particularly, not to me. the boy's just studying hard, any relation to project apple would have to be more recent in the timeline imo

TL;DR:

demetrius has been built up throughout the past 92 chapters as a figure larger-than-life, and this has been thanks to most of our knowledge of him being directly affected by damian's perception of him, as the younger brother living under his shadow

however, he has now been humanized by his flaws: a short temper and a lack of social skills that comes paired with a clear want to connect, to understand, to converse. he seems to be a very lonely kid, everyone around him either jealous, putting him on a pedestal or actively seeking to use him under the false impression that he has important connections, and although he doesn't mean to, damian has unknowingly been treating demetrius in the same way, only seeking him out when he wants to know something about donovan.

interestingly, him and melinda share the same trigger, that being donovan himself, though we do not yet know if their reason for this is also shared.

CLOSING THOUGHTSSS

it has been so exciting finally meeting this little goober-- i thought i might never see the day 😭😭😭

thank you to whoever read this far, i literally made this blog just now so! HOPE I DID WELL!

💖

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Does anyone have theories on how Jarl Brum survived the shipwreck when Nina and Matthias washed up in Fjerda? I can’t stop thinking about it

[cornflowersandspoons]

"Shiny and stupid doll! MIKE MORTON!" ✨️✨️✨️ (LOVE HIM SOO MUCH😭💕)

Kinda a wip, couse I want to add like a circus postery background to him, and probably do some for the other circus members too, couse I literally adore all of them!!! But idk when I'll have the time for that. 🥺

[markhellyna]

okay more severance theorizing based on the last few shots from the trailers we haven’t seen in the show yet!

i think jame is going to attempt to finish cold harbor HIMSELF. e9 begins with jame and everyone else under the impression that mark will complete cold harbor that day and how momentous that will be and obviously that doesn’t happen. jame coming down to MDR and telling helly she tricked him could be him referring to the fact that he and helena thought cold harbor would be finished that day? regardless of his exact meaning there, there is a clip we haven’t seen yet of someone who looks like jame working on a computer

and the next shot is of one of the cold harbor buckets reaching 100% completion

despite mark’s connection to gemma making him so good at refining, if they need to finish cold harbor before the file expires for whatever reason, i could definitely see jame using his power as ceo/the fact that he’s an eagan and well-versed in the four tempers to take on the task of getting the file past the finish line himself if none of the refiners are left to work on it

based on the trailer clip voiceover of cobel saying “she’s still alive!” and just…the direction the entire season has been going it’s safe to say the finale will be a gemma breakout attempt. it’s gonna be mark and probably helly racing against the clock to save gemma before jame completes cold harbor himself…potentially aided by a fed up milchick? maybe he’ll just help them deal with drummond idk if he would go so far as to get gemma out…but these clips seem related

idk who knows but i love trying to piece this together even when my theories turn out to be 10000% wrong

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

IT'S NOT A COINCIDENCE THAT JUNG-BAE IS IN THE GAMES. At first that was my one reservation about Season 2's setup, because, come on, you really expect me to believe that out of all the people in Korea, three guys from the same little village are getting selected? And Gi-hun's friends get selected both times he plays, despite it being years later? It seemed a little contrived.

But then the director stated that in his view, the recruiters had actually first selected Sang-woo, because he had a lot of debt. They then looked at his friends, and selected Gi-hun--not primarily because of his debt, although that was necessary, but because of his close connection to Sang-woo. They deliberately sought to pit people with close, existing relationships up against each other.

Knowing that the entirety of the games in this season are centered around and designed for Gi-hun (even down to the recruitment phone number being 456-010), it makes perfect sense that this is the year Jung-bae gets recruited.

Because Gi-hun would have to watch him die.