#GALAXY BRAIN

[theartofmadeline]

y’all remember this one?

[allegriana]

Every time I see those godawful rings in The Rings of Power I am filled with indignation. You're telling me that the greatest living Elven smith set these chunky bizarrely cut stones into these incredibly basic bands?? Was this the wretched work of Sauron to make Celebrimbor forget everything he ever knew about lapidary???

These rings are completely out of step with the rest of the elven art nouveau aesthetic. Elrond was 100% correct; they should have been cast into the abyss before they infected Middle Earth with the desire for subpar costume jewelry.

The whole point of cutting gemstones is to make them catch the light and sparkle in a way that shows off the unique properties of the stone. Celebrimbor's grandaddy understood this perfectly when he crafted the Silmarils, which captured the light of the Two Trees of Valinor. (Then he apparently died without passing this knowledge on to his descendants and Celebrimbor was forever dragged for his questionable design choices, I guess)

Here are some examples of rings made by people who had a budget of more than $50 and more than a weekend to knock out their Jewelry 101 summer camp project

https://www.langantiques.com/lang-collection-art-nouveau-style-1-81-carat-diamond-ring-gia-j-si2.html

https://pebbleandpolish.com/products/victorian-art-nouveau-buff-cut-garnet-and-diamond-ring-in-yellow-and-white-gold

I'd be willing to entertain arguments about using larger/weirdly faceted stones, but you still have to design the ring to take this shape and style into mind

https://byangeline.com/products/partially-faceted-natural-sapphire-gemstone-raw-rough-diamond-18k-yellow-gold-engagement-multi-stone-1280

Galadriel, gazing in fascination at the first Ring Pop ever crafted by the elves. Look at how delicate the rest of her jewelry and costume are in contrast to the Temu engagement ring. The elves eventually have to take these rings off not because Sauron forged the One Ring but because theirs were turning their fingers green.

There are so many set and costume designs in this show that I love; clearly a lot of talented people worked on this show! I just wish that as much elegant craftsmanship had informed the TITULAR rings.

(I'm sure some there have been some defensive justifications for Why the Rings Look Like That but I tell you I will not be swayed by any of them)

[shaylogic]

Messy Masterpost: I don't have the words so here's a mess of links and ideas

@captainfantasticalright's Dead Boy Detectives: a breakdown of Dante's hell. This post is a masterpiece of understanding how the Hell/afterlife dynamics work in Sandman Universe and DBDA, and it's sent my mind buzzing like crazy

My post about Simon's book

Not just any book

Theory about Simon's brother/father? Being a part of Burgess' Cult ("Order of Ancient Mysteries")

Thank you @niko-sasaki-dbd

Ba'al ==> Sa'al

Seems like Simon may have gotten a demon-summoning book that worked from his brother who may have been involved on Burgess' cult from Sandman. He died with book in hand, and that's the one he's tearing apart on repeat in Hell. Tumblr user listed above identified what the book might be, based off the image.

This interview at 12:52 George Rexstrew answering that Edwin's favorite thing about Charles is his unconditional love and acceptance of him.

Post about Charles bearing his soul to the Night Nurse like Orpheus played music to Cerberus

Interviewer talking about "straight friend" Charles "rejecting" gay Edwin, only for George, Jayden, Beth, and Steve to stiffen up slightly. Asking about how Charles didn't have a gay panic reaction to Edwin's confession. This interviewer is actually gay and interviewed on a gay network later, which threw me after this question.

=>If Charles had really gay panic rejected Edwin, it really would have ended like Eurydice, thrust back to the pit of Hell to wallow in the internalized homophobia, rather than being released with the support and healthy love of Charles.

Actors have reiterated multiple times that the case is not closed on Edwin and Charles' romance, they're just getting started and figuring it out in the midst of all the chaos.

People are stuck in Hell because they believe they belong there but Edwin gets out the second time because Charles KNOWS he doesn't belong there! And reminds Edwin of this when he's getting pulled under in it all

Charles went back to his red polo after the confession and escaping Hell with @nerdytacollama's excellent addition on episode 7 specifically!!

Edwin's whole arc was about accepting loving and being loved and his attraction to men, and his love of his best friend, specifically

Steve Yockey saying the confession NEEDED to happen on the stairs out of Hell. One reason being that Edwin may have been too afraid to go through with it after, another being that he could get dragged away forever at any second and it could be his last chance.

[above article pic quote from this]

But also based on the Hell worldbuilding of the Sandman Universe where people only go to hell if they believe in it and believe they deserve to be there > Edwin believing his want for intimacy at all letalone with other men being "such a sinful life" (Night Nurse paperwork) > the upward climb of healthy love from the Dante's Inferno Post > Edwin HAD to confess on the stairs and be accepted! It freed him of Hell~!

Simon moved on from Hell with Edwin's mutual sorrow for the two of them and somewhat understanding/forgiveness? Maybe self-acceptance from the gay guilt

Edwin's form saying he would serve in Hell for living such a sinful life and then be reassigned to a more pleasant state (Hell not an eternal afterlife, just time served and then moving one)

[image posted in @reviewcreature's post with @melefim's addition]

If Edwin went back now, loved and accepted by his friends and himself, would he pass on to the better place?

My post wondering about reincarnation in the Sandman Universe, which others weighed in on in the comments about how it's indeed canon

The parallels of the Lust room in hell being a butcher shop with bloody hanging bodies to reflect the debauchery of bloody writhing lust bodies ===> compare to "Girls' Night" when Jenny was running and hiding from stalker Maxine in her butcher shop behind meat ===> compare Edwin's arc of accepting "sodomite sin" of being attracted to men (challenge to the epitome and catalyst (ha) by the Cat King) and him having been through the Lust room of hell before and him STARING AT THE RED BULL ON THE BUTCHER SHOP WALL (as compared to directly in the first linked post)

The purity of Charles and Edwin's love compared to that and the stereotypes of how male love is depicted in media, as George, Steve, and Jayden have spoken out against gently in multiple interviews

How it's partially childlike, partially deep friendship where two men can hug and cry, partially a crush, partially potentially reciprocally romantic

The juxtaposition of Edwin's archetypical confession to Charles on the stairs of Hell on the way out of the Limbo of it, with Maxine guilty and desperate just below them, not even looking toward the open door

Fans wondering why it was so easy to get out of Hell. The worldbuilding canon saying that Hell is what you make of it (Charles says this in the original Season of Mists Ch 4 comic, Edwin says it in episode 7 to Simon). People in Hell stuck because they feel they deserve it.

@podcastenthusiast's post about being glad Edwin didn't see Simon move on, because then he'd really wonder we he himself suffered so long

==>CHARLES got Edwin out because he KNEW he didn't belong there!!!!

They push and pull each other by the arms the whole way to the top!!!!!!!

Magical weight in the snake pit "nothing's meant to leave this place"

Charles literally dragging Edwin out of Hell for the love and devotion to him!!!!!!!!!!!!

Allegory of dragging him out of his self-rejection and holding him by the face saying over and over "I love you. I accept you. I'm not leaving without you."

Openly gay producer/director Steve Yockey insisting on being the one to write Episode 7 and you can feel it in every color on the screen.

There's no higher power deciding this, despite the paperwork and minders ensuring everyone is sorted. It's an internal self-decided fate, unconscious.

I'm not gonna be able to link and list every pic and organize this in the state I'm in but--

ARE YOU SEEING ALL THE THINGS I'M SEEING?

Girl help I'm getting visions!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cephalopod-celabrator]

[sundry-whovengerslocked]

so I had a Big Brain Moment...

had this been done? I don't think it has

there's so much more I couldn't fit. so much more. feel free to expand on this (or make it look better)

other things:

since avatar is based off of Asian culture technically zuko also helped save China

all could be seen as an lgbt allegory

mulan and zuko both fighting for their honor (why didn't I think of that sooner, it's so obvious!)

atla had the kyoshi warriors and mulan fought with a fan

atla and mulan both had a strong woman having men to do drag

all have fairly recognizable voices

all at some point had talking animals (mushu, aang's sleep deprivation hallucinations scene)

zuko and mulan both had pivotal hair cutting scenes

all of them being physically different than others in some way (po being the only panda at first and being made fun of for being fat, mulan being a woman warrior, zuko and his scar) (this along with other things fits into the lgbt allegory idea)

badass old men (iroh and bumi, oogway and shifu, the emperor)

po and mulan both meet flower symbolism (the peach tree vs the cherry blossom tree)

atla and kung-fu panda both have turtles/tortoises as wise figures

mulan and zuko both wear badass clothes

all underdogs who eventually earn the respect of pretty much everyone in their stories

zuko and po both being the comic relief at some point

zuko and po both joining an already well-established team and feeling left out at first (the gaang, the furious five)

shifu and iroh both essentially losing a son but in wildly different ways

lotus symbolism (po's birth name being little lotus, iroh's white lotus group, again the flower blooming quote for mulan)

mulan and po being bowed to by someone higher up than them (the emperor, shifu)

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Folks I had a Galaxy Brain moment! 👀

[abductedlawnchair]

*ranting and raving and stomping on rooftops and flailing my arms about* HUMANS ARE AMIMALS!!! WE ARE ANIMALS!!! QUIT ACTING LIKE WE'RE NOT!!!

I am so goddamn tired of society acting like we're not!!! I am so goddamn tired of us as a society acting like we are above all the other animals!!! I do not care that we are the apex!!! We are fucking ANIMALS!!! Like, just take a step back and observe us like we have our own nature documentary on Nat Geo or something. Maybe with David Attenborough or whatever, idc. Just imagine it.

We are a species of apes that just so happened to gain the ability of extremely complex and abstract thought, capability of language, an almost absurd level of self-awareness, and the type of intelligence that allowed us to discover, invent, and develop tools. A species of apes that just so happen to have such a crazy level of curiosity that we have the capability to learn about the world around us, and beyond.

The way we learn and develop is fascinating. If you observe a toddler from that standpoint, watching them interact with the world around them, you'd see how natural curiosity is to us, in our human nature. Neil deGrasse Tyson has literally said that children are beings of chaos because they're curious and learning about the world around them.

We all have children in us, just like we have our ancestors in us!!! Our brains are wired like theirs. Relatively, we have been in this state of society for an extremely short amount of time!! Our brains and nervous systems are still wired to survive and keep us safe from predators and other dangers!!

We are social creatures!! We need love and connection to survive!! We can't do things on our own. The only reason we ever got to where we are is because we work together and communicate and share knowledge. The way society is right now is too isolating!! Humans aren't meant to be fighting for a place in society!! Haven't you seen zookeepers?? Or anyone who cares for nature in any capacity?? We have an incredible capacity for compassion and caretaking, because we have the capability to know and understand the inner workings of ourselves and countless other species!! Caretaking and compassion is literally an innate human trait!! We're supposed to take care of each other and the world around us!! We literally are capable of pack bonding with ROOMBAS, for fucks sake!! Little robots that our ape brains see moving around on its own, being part of our homes, and thinks "little guy is alive... I love him"!!! Isn't that beautiful???

We were an evolution of Mother Earth, Herself, to grow Her and expand Her and care for Her!!! Whether you believe in intelligent design or just the absurdity of it all, it still happened like that. We have the capacity to care for Her in an evolved level, yet we're fucking it up so badly right now.

Indigenous cultures have always been on the right track. They've always been right about this. They have always known that we are all pieces of the same organism, just like the atoms and cells and organs and electricity in your body are all part of one body!!

And btw, culture is another HUGE part of us being social creatures!! Being expressive and creative and connected!! That's part of our nature!! We're meant to sing and dance and laugh together!! That connectivity of us being a collective is So Important!!! Making fun of people for being "sheep", or having "herd mentality" every single time is so stupid because yes!!! Yes that's EXACTLY how we are supposed to be!!! We are social creatures, remember?? The whole point is that we do things together!!!

I know how society is rn isn't the end all, be all, but it just breaks my heart that this Capitalism shit goes against some of the most beautiful parts of humanity!! We are animals!!! We are cute and curious and compassionate and social and we need warmth and sunlight and sustenance from the earth and water and sleep and shelter from the elements!! We have instincts just like everything else!! We came from the dust and we will return to the dust because we will always be part of the Earth, just like all the other animals!! And somehow, despite all odds, despite how robotic Capitalism wants us to be, our human nature seeps into everything.

Take care of yourself! You are an animal, after all! <3

*climbs off rooftop... for now*

[prismichannah]

[glorbs-dominion]

One great meme

If you know, you know. This meme made it's way into our "Funny Awards" the other day. An excellent meme, wouldn't you think?

[natgreenart]

Aesthetic Organs 💖

Instagram | Shop

[handlebarstiedtothestars]

I’m very very definitely wrong and galaxy braining too close to the sun but

BUT

We’ve all been talking about how Crowley is obviously very powerful and WAS obviously a very high up angel, given that:

- he was the one who set off the Big Bang with the phrase “let there be light”

- he was comfortable enough/high up enough in the planning process to think he wouldn’t get in THAT much trouble for asking a few questions

- his & Az’s “half a miracle” was 25 Lazuri strong and set off literal alarm bells

- he could access a classified file that only “thrones or dominions or higher” could access

- Saraqael remembers Crowley AND allows him to open said classified file without instead setting off the “there’s a traitor in heaven” alarm

- He’s the only one who recognises Metatron

Whilst I very much have zero need to know Crowley’s deadname past identity, and whilst I do rather love the idea he was Lucifer (I’m a complex hypocrite) - here’s where I start galaxy braining:

Crowley said “let there be light” and I haven’t been Christian for many years now but I would swear the Bible cites God as saying those words.

But here someone else does it, acting as the Voice of God

Crowley said words attributed to God therefore was Crowley God’s voice???

Do you see where my brain is imploding?

Was Crowley equal to/working alongside Metratron ORRRRR was Crowley Metatron BEFORE Metatron???

This cinnamon roll was in charge of so much

[planet-solux]

I'm having so much Galaxy brain rn. Wasn't bilbo influenced to join the company through a song? Like, thorin played the harp one time and bilbo decided to go on this wondrous adventure? Is that not Fate? Is that not a magic in and of itself?

The whole world of arda is a song. A never ending symphony of music

Isn't the magic of the dwarves the ability to sing to the earth and hear its song in return? Do the elves not sing to the stars and the seas?

So, to me, it makes sense that bilbo baggins an unremarkable little hobbit, son of "The Remarkable Belladonna Took", touched by Fate even from the beginning, was the one who started it all? Was the beginning of the end not the day a baby Bilbo first cried into the air and the world sang back?

I just-

GdagdaafsgxGfHfshfabfsjfahfssfjkgsgkskts

Yknow?

[humanfox030]

They lined up in my gallery looking eerily similar

[broandarrow]

[bidisastersanji]

Hear me out… Shrek ZoSan AU- waitwaitwait i swear it makes sense please don’t go this might be my worst best idea ever

Recluse grumpy green man who just wants to be left alone, fights good, has bad hygiene: check

Royal baddie with a secret, locked away for not turning out “right” who can actually fight really well with kicks and has a tougher side under their polished exterior: check

Zoro wants his swamp back after it’s flooded by magical creatures on the run from the tyrannical kingdom of Totto Land

He and an extremely talkative wooden puppet named Usopp go to Tonta Land to demand its ruler remove the magical creatures from his swamp

GIVE HIM THE CHAIR!

Zoro wins the tournament he accidentally entered and is forced by Big Mom to go retrieve the beautiful prince from the highest tower to marry to her daughter Pudding

He so gets lost, there’s a convo about onions, and Usopp and him finally get to the place and there’s lava and a lady dragon named Kaya who apparently loves Usopp’s stories

Sanji is waiting in the room patiently for true love’s kiss and Zoro just hauls him and his perfect ass over his shoulder and leaves

oh thank god they actually didn’t slay the dragon she’s actually been my friend these many years

Prince Sanji demands Zoro removes his helmet and is met with a mosshead brute

He thanks the noble knight and his squire as he’s been taught, however, trembling with concealed anger and not willing to let go of his fantasy of romantic knights saving him from his tower

Oh no they want to bring him back somewhere and night will come soon and he manages to hide himself in a cave the first night, overhearing his saviors talking about the stars during the night

He cooks them eggs and brekkie in the morning, not wanting to seem ungrateful (and he didn’t want the eggs to go to waste after accidentally killing the birds with song)

On the road he and the brute start getting along better, Zoro really appreciating how strong and fun to be around Sanji is, and Sanji feeling so happy being able to be himself authentically (almost) around someone and be appreciated for it

Cue romantic montage

They’re nearly in Tonta Land and everything crashes down around them that one night - Zoro was going to confess his feelings but overhears Sanji saying “who could love a monster” to Usopp, not knowing Sanji is talking about himself

He walks through the night to fetch Big Mom’s generals to escort them back and says goodbye to Sanji

Sanji resigns himself and pushes for a wedding to happen before nightfall lest his secret be out- even though he quickly understands that he’s a pawn for Big Mom to make ties to his sire’s kingdom of Far Far Germa

Meanwhile Zoro is sulking in his swamp

This is all happening with Hallelujah playing btw - picture the wedding cake with the toppers and everything

Zoro arrives to interrupt the wedding and say I object

But it’s too late and Sanji transforms and Pudding reacts in disgust - revealing her true feelings for the Prince and saying that she’s found him pathetic from the start

Kaya dragon comes in and eats Big Mom

Zoro and Sanji kiss and Sanji is like - but ?? I didn’t change ? I was supposed to be beautiful

You are beautiful , cook.

Cue “I’m a believer” wedding montage with the usual suspects

The end (unless Shrek 2 with germa ??)

Can you believe I wrote this whole thing from memory of the Shrek movie + did so without ever confirming that the protagonists were actually in ogre form ?