#I like this scene in theory but I don't like it in the grand scheme of things. do u get it

[cnl0400]

Father's unconditional love

[allpiesforourown]

Thots on cam boy shen yuan?

cam boy shen yuan would be super hot in theory, but in practice he's too rich and thin faced to ever do it.

you know who would ?? binghe. 100%, i will elaborate underneath

alright. you are luo binghe. love of your life shen yuan is obviously physically attracted to you, but you don't know if he realizes it. now how can luo binghe do that?

first, make a sexy calendar for charity or something. tell your buddy shen yuan about it and obviously he buys like 50 to support you, which is perfect because you only made 50. he will put one up and stare at your abs in 'heterosexual admiration for your physique' so this plan isn't for that: it's to give shen yuan your onlyfans account

You see, when shen yuan sees the 'about this model' section in the calander, he'll find out that binghe has his social medias listed, including one that shen yuan doesn't know about??

boom he finds binghe selling nudes or jacking off or whatever. this is all part of the plan. Now shen yuan is in a position where he thinks he knows about something that binghe didn't want him to know about. he fidgets around binghe with guilt for a while until one day he pulls him aside for a talk

He stumbles around the topic with general lines like "you can talk to me about everything" or "there's nothing wrong with asking for help with money" etc etc.

NOW THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: shyly say actually you've started trying a new way of making money because you don't want to be a burden. this is the one and only shen yuan, so obviously just to help you, he will subscribe to your cam show or whatever and shower you in money

at this point you sort of have him in a trap, because he can't make a straight excuse for paying for his bro's ball pics, but shen yuan often closes your streams halfway (probably out of shame or denial) so you have to make a scheme to make him watch the whole thing. it's easy for binghe to say some shit like "actually guys... lately it feels like no one appreciates the effort i put into jacking off on camera boohoo im so sad.. and shen yuan feels soooo guilty he starts watching the whole videos and the whole time he's blowing up your chatbox saying shit like "youre doing great!" and "wow it's really cool how long you can go"

and now, the end scene, the grand finale: you are hanging out at his place. at this point he has been pavlov'd through the cam videos so when you stub your toe and your groan sounds a little like a moan, shen yuan immediately yells out "YOUR COCK IS GREAT, BINGHE!" and you watch his soul transcend his body as he realizes what he's just done

[cursedmagician]

so. let's talk about that episode shall we?

major ii 17 spoilers under the cut, and lots of theories. read at your own risk.

divider by strangergraphics ✮⋆˙

I have no idea what to even think about that episode. I watched this at about 8 in the morning my time, and now I am in shambles and have been for the last several hours. I'm going to dump all my theories in this one blog post.

my first topic, and the elephant in the room - THIS IS NOT THE LAST ACT. NO WAY.

I've seen people asking if this is the last act and therefore the last ever episode in the series, and to that I say... obviously not. there's still so many plot points to be resolved.

like, for example, why would they add in a scene of the prime shimmers going to the contestant grounds if they weren't going to do something for it later?

yes I know that they were already used as merely a small plot device to allow the episode to progress, but when you think of it in the grand scheme of things there must be something more to it.

also, and - I may be going crazy here - but there might possibly be some sort of parallel of when cobs tells mephone to go "home" with him. we now know that all those previous theories of mephone being made with the shimmer egg are correct, because of fan. since that is the case, I feel like it would make sense for mephone's true home to be with the prime shimmer, right?

I feel like this could be a plot point in the next act. mephone feels more at home with the prime shimmer than he does with cobs (obviously). he would meet them and realise he feels strangely connected to them, and then he figures everything out which leads up to him discovering his true family. and I hope cobs rots and dies FOREVERRR

another point to add onto this is that remember how soap and mic took that photo together in the last episode?

well, soap was going through her recently deleted.

on apple (and I'm assuming meeple as well) devices, it takes 30 days for photos in the recently deleted photo to be fully erased from the device. before that, you can restore and fully erase as many photos as you like.

at the end of this episode when everything created by melife has been erased, baxter is seen walking up to soap's phone here.

in a scene where everything is gone, don't you think this is weirdly symbolic? they didn't have any other reason to show this which leads up to the next theory.

mephone is most likely going to find a way to bring everyone back through some way, and it might be through this system. I'm not saying I know how he's gonna do it, but this will totally be some sort of factor in the next act. hopefully.

second topic - what about bow and bot?

and I know what you all are thinking. I know that bow is definitely not gone, since she obviously isn't supported by melife anymore. (I'm a little curious, bow mentioned that she can't escape the confines of purgatory mansion, but since now that's been deleted, would she be able to roam free? just a thought...)

the same could be said for bot, since they were made by fan and test tube and not by melife. but there's been some speculation going around saying that since bot was made out of materials from test tube's lab, they would be deleted too right?

I actually think that's not necessarily the case.

we have no idea if test tube's materials or her lab was made out of things generated by melife. for all we know, she could have ordered the mechanical parts from overseas. she could have dug up the space she needed for the lab herself.

all we know is that the locations made for the game itself are generated by melife. however, test tube's lab has really nothing to do with the contest because it is its own thing.

so I think this entire theory is genuinely plausible. bot might still be out there somewhere, and I'm not going to say on the invitational island because we don't know if that entire thing was deleted too or just the floor's face. they genuinely might be making their way over to the season 2 grounds right now, wondering what is going on.

which could possibly make way for a bow and bot meeting, AND they might team up too to save the day!! that definitely feels like a direction that adam would be going for, and I personally would totally stand for it.

third topic - can mephone X be avoided or stopped somehow?

here's what I'm thinking.

lightbulb actually managed to dodge mephone X here, and even though yes she did get got in the end, you can at least delay the process or maybe even outrun them altogether.

there must be a reason as to why only the person who is being targeted can see mephone X, but that's a theory for another day.

now, this part is less of a theory and more of an idea - that is supported by numerous twitter posts - but what if you are able to see mephone X with another me device thingy?

think about it, what if taking a picture or just going through the camera app enables others to see them, therefore allowing the contestants to potentially disable mephone X for good?

assuming my theory is correct and they do come back somehow, I doubt that adam forgot about this plothole completely. there must be more significance to this in the future.

we all know how the main writing team writes. they think of everything, down to the small details, and the reference previous things that were thought to be insignificant before!! reminds me of bfdi in a way.

fourth topic - misc stuff/yapping

and well of course I had to dedicate an entire section to just my yapping alone. I know I'm still pretty new to blogging, I don't have many posts yet, but I think it's worth it to just leave my thoughts out here for people to cry over also.

firstly... OJ and paper's last conversation was an argument. lol!! XD!! also it was so funny as to how paper got so ticked off after salt said OJ is her boyfriend. I understand that he might have still felt pretty heated after everything that had been going on, + the argument they had earlier. and I know that OJ is very important to paper. but I still think it was really hilarious. some could say jealous. "he's not your boyfriend he was MINE!!"

ALSO!!! also also also THIS fucking scene...

this is gonna haunt me for the rest of my life man. what the fuck. imagine if slasher movies were like this... like jigsaw or something. if I saw this in a slasher movie I would be terrified for my LIFE (something these contestants don't have).

I really really liked the scene where paintbrush was crying over lightbulb btw. jazzy did an amazing job at that, and they said that they didn't even cry to be able to voice it!! she's a very talented va, I aspire to be like her someday...

another thing I wanted to mention is this tweet made by brian a while ago (screenshot I nabbed from me_phone4 on twitter) yes this is absolutely going to be for inanimate insanity. no questions asked. hope is on the horizon guys.

ok I think that is the end of this post. likes and reblogs are appreciated, and also reblog if you want to add onto my theories later!

for now, signing off!! - CURSED MAGICIAN

[theadhddimsenion]

Some theories on how the potential imp rebellion will affect the main cast.

I think a great way to tie millies family and by extention millie herself into the wider narrative is having Andy and stella fuck up the harvest moon festival. If the locals thought stolas was royal prick then they clearly haven't met Andy and his aggressively bitchy sister! Stolas was only acting like that because he didn't know any better Andy and stella on the other hand know damn well what kind of uptight snobs they are and revel in it!

We know for sure that one of stolas jobs was blessing the crops of wrath and that in vivis verison of hell at the very least needs to function for at least the hellborn. It's probably the most oppressive and cruel system that one could imagine but I has to at least function as in this setting the lower ranked demons are more physical than spiritual so they likely need to eat. My point in this being that for as big of a dummy as our favorite owl can be he most likely did his job with a fair amount of competence but Andy and stella strike me as the type what while good at scheming their way into power, aren't actually any good at wielding that power.

One of two things might happen. They will either try and force octativa to do their job for them and she will fail do to her lack of experience or they will try and do it themselves and Andy will freeze over this years harvest and they start making a scene alongside his sister when the crowd rightfully gets upset at them for undoing their years worth of hard work with their incompetence.

And with a potential invasion of hell by the dhorks in which several relatively innocent hellborn where killed by a bunch of humans and with stolas legions quitting in disgust it wasn't the supposedly almighty goetia who stopped the invasion but a band of common imps like them.

I really can see things boiling over and going off the rails due to stella her brother fucking up stolas job.

Speaking of stolas most famous duty in both the show and mythology Is prediction of stars and I really doubt stella has brains to do that or that Andy has the patience to learn. So who knows what kind of havoc could be wrought by them failing at this!

And with all this I can really see a imp revolution coming but how will our main cast react?

Blitz while was certainly trying to rise above his station I don't think he ever saw himself as a hero or a savior. I mean knowing him he likely will only going through his new role out of a sense of obligation and the need to keep his found family safe but will later embrace it as he sees he can do what he did for the rest of i.m.p and stolas for all of impkind.

Moxxie I'm sure will be more anxious then ever considering how generally scared he is to challenge authority given his upbringing.

Millie is a mystery on this topic but I think she won't really know how to react as she like blitz mainly wanted to rise above the system not be some grand movement dedicated to bring it down.

Loona is interesting in this case as the only creatures in hell more abused then imps are hounds like her so perhaps she will see the movement as hypocritical and ingenue or maybe she will follow in her fathers footsteps and become the leader of the pack when it comes to hounds.

Stolas Is also interesting here as he is a blueblood himself and while I'm sure he's far more sympathic to the under class then his kin and could care less if his wife, brother in law or father was beheaded by a guillotine by if any of those little anarchists lay a finger on his Starfire they've got another thing coming!

Fizz is a interesting case as well as I have always believed that one of his flaws as a charater is that he is far too quick to forgive people especially those of the upper class. As charile can tell you forgiveness is an important and essential virtue but like all things it has to be measured. Fizz's forgiving nature has done good as it allowed him to make up with his best friend even after being blow to pieces but it also effects him negatively like making him a prime target for exploiters like cash and mammon. And then there's that "it sounds like you just hate him cause he's a prince" line. This fascinated me because it revealed a lot about fizz's character because it shows both his emotional maturity and his overly apologetic nature in a single line.

What I mean is what fizz was doing was both inviting blitz to consider whether or not his anger towards stolas was justified but also failing to recognize that it came from somewhere you see blitz's anger towards royals while misdirected at stolas was justified and that second part is what fizz is struggling to understand due to both his like i said forgiving nature and the fact that a royal like Ozzie was not only his savior but the love of his life so it is completely reasonable and understandable that he would be hesitant to condemn the upper class. However he must eventually come to terms with the fact that on some level blitz was right and that his boyfriend is the expection and mammon is the rule.

Speaking of Ozzie I'm going to group them together on this and go on a side tangent about the infernal hierarchy and how it effects each one of the ranks. It's a belief of mine that in this setting the more spiritual and therefore magically inclined and powerful demons are ranked higher than the more physical demons with some expections.

Like for example conccubi are ranked higher than imps due to having some magical abilities or at least more than what your average imp has. But they don't seem to be all that much up on the ladder themselves so i am led to believe that conccubi tend to have a "barons ego" towards imps. What I mean is that veroskia for example was always putting out some form of anti imp micro aggressions like "nasty ass gremlins", "shrimp", "little" etc etc. And this isn't a knock against her charater this is just me trying to speculate so my point is that I think conccubi have a habit for lording what little power and autonomy they have over imps as a way of coping with their own less then enviable postion and this suits the nobles just fine. Having the lower classes squabble amongst themselves rather than going after them works out just fine and dandy.

And speaking of envy that brings me to my next point which is that both bee and Ozzie's resident demons are on the lower class of things. For bee and her hounds I believe that they were put on the bottom of the hierarchy precisely because they were the most useful to the higher ups. Think about the hounds are fast, strong, much smarter than most other forms of hellhound in media and can double as steads for imps and therefore could pose an even greater threat to the hierarchy then the imps if they were ever given even the slightest sliver of power or antomany so they where placed at the bottom of the food chain below even imps likely against bees wishes.

My point here being that if a revolution does come bee and Ozzie could be the people on the inside. They could be the ones to sabotage the war plan of the nobles and other sins as a way of supporting their power and getting back at the assholes who put them down in the first place.

[ryuseiired]

"wait, why does jackalope say mikoto is at the top of murders?"

I've seen a lot of people confused about this so I thought I'd make a post on why I personally think this comment makes sense and isn't, like I've seen a few people get worried about, implying anything new or even especially large about his murder count.

My take, heavily influenced by this post, is that Mikoto has killed three people. The post referenced points out that MeMe shows three murder scenes with discrepancies– using the images they do as reference we can see two clear and notable differences in location, and one scene where the outfit has changed and lacks the hoodie.

(As a side note, if we take that post's proposal as to who committed which murders– one by Mikoto and two afterwards by John– I wonder if this shot from Double with two mannequins next to him implies John's actual kill count? Not particularly relevant to the overall point but I thought it was interesting.)

So... three total murders would technically mean the Kayano system meets the criteria of "three or more" murders to be a serial killer. But I don't actually think it's as bad as a lot of people assumed from Jackalope's words. He's not a super prolific serial killer or anything, only just barely meeting the criteria. Three isn't that big a number in the grand scheme of things, it's just that it's large enough to put him at the top of MILGRAM.

Most other prisoners only have one victim. Haruka, excluding what's implied regarding animal death, appears to only have one human victim, that being the little girl who appears in his MVs. Meanwhile Fuuta, Muu, Mahiru, Kazui, and Amane all have made it pretty clear at this point that they have singular victims– Killcheroy, Rei, Mahiru's boyfriend, Hinako, and Amane's mother, respectively.

This leaves only a few others with unclear victim counts.

Yuno isn't clear on how many abortions she's had, only states that it's her crime and that it was the result of "lots of sugar-daddying". Whether or not she actually got pregnant and had an abortion more than once over the course of the compensated dating is left uncertain. She could be among the prisoners with one murder, or could have multiple.

Kotoko could either have one kill or two kills depending on what you believe about Deep Cover. If I remember right the guy she beats up in the alleyway during Harrow doesn't die, we only see a news article saying he's been hospitalized? I can't find the source on where I saw this though so take it with a grain of salt. The fact she did kill the guy in the hoodie, Kaneshiro, is indisputable.

The question becomes, if she was tried and found innocent for it already before being put in Milgram, was that really all she's in for? Most of Deep Cover takes place afterwards. Either believing the theory that she indirectly or accidentally got Lucky killed, or simply using the circumstantial evidence that it seemed like she was going to hunt down someone else towards the end of the MV and the prisoner card doesn't look like the warehouse she killed Kaneshiro in, I personally believe Kotoko has two victims.

Nobody seems to really know how many people Shidou killed, but it's also pretty heavily suggested that it's a lot, judging by how many people and/or organ donor cards we see in Throw Down and Triage. He is usually assumed to have the most murders out of anyone in Milgram, which I personally agree with.

This leaves us with a kill count ranking that looks something like:

Shidou (many, many victims)

Mikoto (three victims)

Kotoko/Yuno? (one or two victims?)

Everyone Else (one victim)

This puts Mikoto, assumedly with three kills, at the second-highest kill count in Milgram, but Jackalope isn't implying an unreasonably high number by pointing out how far up he is. Nothing more than what was already shown to us in MeMe, anyway.

And while I can't speak on this. the exact wording Jackalope uses in Japanese may not imply he has the most or is at the top anyway, just near it. Which would be consistent with him having second most!

[2-old-to-guard]

Andromache, Andy, The Scythian - Part 2

And so begins the sequel of Andromache of Scythia's character analysis.

The Dinner Scene:

Despite this scene serving as exposition, Andy is relativley quiet. She watches Nile in the distance and only speaks when asked a direct question.

Andy's role of introducing and getting Nile to accept her immortality was completed on the plane so she is willing to take a step back and allow the men to endear themselves to Nile.

She also seems restless, as if she is anticipating a fight. It also serves as another example of Andy's crisis. The others are content in themselves and feel comofortable to sit down and relax whilst Andy paces, desperatley searching for a fight.

Once again, like in Marrakech, Andy matches the energy of each of the men who are speaking.

She is jaded and cynical when talking with Booker whilst being subtle and affectionate with Joe and Nicky. Unlike Nicky, she is pragmatic about their situation and doesn't believe that there is any fate driven reason for them to find each other. But she clearly loves her family and doesn't regret finding them.

This scene also serves to show Nile the weight of immortality on your psyche.

Andy's jaded solider side comes out in full around Nile, possibley as a reference to Nile's time as a marine, and Andy is shown to be tired and withdrawn due to the loss she has experienced. I also love the look Joe gives her in this conversation. You can imagine that all of the immortals have asked her this question over the years and she's given them very similar answers. Also, when they show Lykon, they don't reveal Quynh just yet. It reminds of when you read a P.O.V chapter in a novel, they won't reveal certain details to the reader if the narrator doesn't know about them. You can imagine that the flashback scene is Nile imagining what happened to Lykon and because she doesn't know about Quynh, she doesn't imagine her in the scene. It also makes sense because Andy looks very similar to how she does in the present and there is no sound/dialouge because Nile doesn't know what they said to each other.

A good way to figure out the subtext in a scene is who and when the characters look at each other. In this scene, Andy does a double take when Nile walks past. Almost like she is analysisng how Nile has taken all this information. This leads to Andy revealing Nile's wish to see her family, which hints to Nile's desertion later on the movie. Already, Nile is struggling with their new life. Furthermore, when Andy reveals this, she looks to Joe. Either this hints to Joe's past, maybe having also returned to his family. It also shows that Joe is almost Andy's second in command and she relies on him for big decision.

Quynh:

This long take of Andy sat in the chair is meant to symbolise the moment she lost her immortality. Her knuckles seem sore, which wouldn't happen if she could heal still. Charlize portrays Andy as concerned by this and she might have mentioned it to the group but this is when the script reveals Quynh to the audience. I know that a lot of theories think she lost her immortality when she learnt that Quynh was still alive but I think that takes away from the (seemingly) random nature of their immortality. Obviously, this decision was done to add tension to the movie but it's also in a moment of peace with no fighting. It also, in the grand scheme of things occurs right when Quynh frees herself from the iron maiden. I cannot find it for the life of me, but there was a previous draft where Nile's dream of Quynh was the moment she broke free so if you're more a Nicky, there is your grand scheme theory.

I love the differece between Andy in the past and in the present.

Imagine this being the first person you see after dying in the desert over and over again. She really gives credence to the previous statement:

"You know, there was a time when I was worshiped as a god."

There is subtle similarities to the way that Andy is in the past and when we know her now. She uses the almost identicial ax swinging technique in this fight and in the Sudan ambush. You can almost imagine Quynh standing next to her. Throughout the movie, you can really feel the loss of Quynh (which I might discuss later 👀). I love the contrast between the scenes with Quynh and the shot of Andy following. She is more carefree and more of a presence. Then there is a hard cut to the shot of Andy hiding ebhind the glass, I didn't even see her the first time I watched the movie. This really empahsises the weight of immortality on someone when you are forced to do it 'alone'. Again, the flashbacks are silent which leads me to believe they are mostly from Joe, Nicky, and Nile's perspectives. As they were not there, they don't know what was said.

Then, when it gets to the Iron Maiden scene, this is told from Andy's memories so she knows what is said.

Even though Andy and Quynh's relationship is very ambigous (though I believe they were fully in love like they were in the comics) I don't really believe that it matters. The movie is about finding things to live for, whether that is a purpose or people. Andy loved Quynh fiercely and was devestated to lose her. Whether they were in love romantically doesn't matter. If you fall in the belief that it is only heartbreaking if they were a couple takes away from the fear Andy feels when Joe and Nicky are captured. Which brings me to the paralells between this scene and the later capture of the immortals. If you want to explore this more, there is the video that inspired this take, but to summerize: Merrick, like the preist, views the immortals as something other than human which they can do with as they wish. Whilst the preist is fearful of the immortals, Merrick seeks to profit of them. But at the end of the day, the immortals are people and therefore should be given the oppertunity to do with their life what they chose to.

I like the sudden change between these two moments. When the priest arrives, Andy looks angry and aggressive whilst Quynh appears to be fearful and confused. But when the Iron Maiden is revealed, Quynh becomes only fearful whilst Andy is confused. Once again, the immortals as aggressive and unconcerened when their lives are question but before panicked when their family is the ones threatened. It is also so tragic that Quynh figures out what's going to happen to her straight away.

Just like on the plane, Andy seeks to fix her problems with her strength. But this time, she was unable to use her physical or mental skill to free herself and this time she lost her family. I wonder if this comparrison to the plane scene was intentional as it adds another layer to that scene as Andy is trying to fight against her trauma of being restrained at the wrist.

The Goussainville Ambush:

Andy and Nile being outside during this scene serves to ensure they are not captured but also to prevent Copley from discovering Nile's existance. But Gina Prince-Bythewood uses it to draw comparrisons between Nile and Andy. Specifically, this scene is paralell to Nile's acceptance of the truth on the plane.

Both of their arguments moves from pure emotion (being scared for the future), to discussions on family, to the most logical argument. You can almost imagine that these scenes are playing at the same time as Andy is almost answering Nile's concerns. They almost act the same as well.

When Andy finds Booker, like previous scenes, she is immedietly panicked and almost leaves herself vunerable to attack.

But she manages to regain her control and ask Nile to scout the back. Whilst this is seemingly inconsequential, it is telling of Andy's fear of Booker's death. She has been fighting for over 6,000 years and this seems a fairly rookie mistake to make. Like at the beginning of the movie, Andy's jaded nature is leading her to be more sloppy.

I spoke about this in Booker's analysis but this is the first time Andy and Booker touch each other in the whole movie. From Andy's perspective, Booker is injured in a very similar manner to Lykon who is the only other immortal they know who has died. But when the emotions become too much, she resorts to violence but slapping him. As hinted at previously, Andy tends to resort to violence. But when he is revealed to be ok, she is clearly relieved and the forehead press is prevelent throughout the movie as a sign of love.

Once seeing Booker is alive, Andy resorts to the fierce warrior which you can see in her eyes.

Her adrenaline is peaked so she raring for a fight. But with Booker's dissapointing answers, she becomes more fearful. Charlize is so good with the subtle facial expressions that tell you what Andy is thinking. Also, little distance I love is the switching of Joe and Nicky's names. It is a small reminder that they are their own individual people.

As stated in Joe's analysis, Gina Prince-Bythewood seeks to display the toll of a thousand years of murder would take on your psyche. In the church scene, which serves primarily as a look at Andy at her prime before she begins to become injured, she is given two seperate moments of pause/regret over taking the lives of these soliders.

It is very easy for the audience to be turned off from Andy due to her multiple murders. Nile, who is the audience surrogate, is put off by Andy's killing so Gina clearly recognises this. So to circumvent this, she includes these two shots. Whilst Nile doesn't see this, the audience does which keeps them engaged in Andy's story.

The Mine:

These scene serves to highlight the absurdity of immortality. It reminds me slightly of the scene from Highlander where you see all that he has collected throughout history. You can imagine how many of these stores exist around the world that have either been abandoned or forgotten. Also I love the lines:

"We stumbled on it during the Baussenque Wars. Eleven-fifties, maybe? I used to keep my stuff here."

I theorise that she found this place with Quynh rather than Joe and Nicky.

Another moment of touch between Andy and Booker and it's another moment of violence.

When Andy realises that she is mortal now we are given this slow pan shot of her realising she is bleeding.

I cannot tell if this was meant to be a surprise. Andy maintains her immortality in the comics so even if you are a comic reader, you weren't expecting this. But it also seems obvious if you understand movie formats or have media literacy. But the movie gives Andy the respect of it being a surprise to her. When she puts her coat on, she faces away from the others, probally to avoid them noticing her panic. But Booker still notices but she shuts him down on the way out. The movie has already established that her disapearring for long periods of time so that in of itself isn't suspicious. The movie uses subtle moments at the beginning of the film to set up plot points later on.

Part 3

[zeravmeta]

Hey, I saw one of your posts about Babel and it got me thinking, do you think that Priestess had any hand in influencing or even controlling Pre-Amnesia Doctor’s mind?

Like, the constant back-and-forth through the event between rejecting the Originium Project (Black) or continuing as planned (White) could just represent Doctor’s inner conflict, but it could also be representing Doctor’s mind trying to resist Priestess’s influence.

There’s also these scenes with Oracle, which got me thinking too.

Oracle seems to be a different version of Doctor that had something done to them? Like they’re Doctor in their original state.

I’m kinda mixed on the theory honestly. On one hand I think it’d be a cool twist, but it might also be seen as absolving Pre-Amnesia Doctor of responsibility for what they did.

Oracle was just the Doctors old code name, same as how Priestess is also just a code name. I don't think Priestess was directly mind controlling Pre Amensia Doctor/Oracle or anything, but she was absolutely manipulating them

It's important to remember that a huge plot twist concerning both the Babel event and Chapter 14 is that the Doctor didn't know the truth about Originum. Part of the reason we see Doctor so desperate to cure Oripathy is because they did not realize what Priestess plans actually entailed, only that it was an 'ends justify the means' method of preserving their original civilization and making sure the sacrifices made up until that point weren't in vain. they didn't know the true horror of what the Assimilated Universe actually entailed, nor what Priestess had in mind for them.

Remember, Originum was Priestess invention, a last resort silver bullet that the rest of their dying civilization agreed to use in order to preserve themselves.

"I don't think Originum is supposed to hurt newborn civilizations like this" is the first thing the Doctor says when they find out about Oripathy, and we have multiple sequences of the Doctor growing increasingly desperate to cure Amiya because they wanted to make things right. The Doctor is this literal walking 'god' who perceives events at a universal timescale and yet we also see them stab themselves with Originum in frustration because they can't figure out how to cure this plague they themselves spread.

The huge tragedy concerning Babel and the dynamic between Doctor and Theresa is that the Doctor carries with them the dying wishes of their civilization and is pressured into sacrificing Theresa because they cant let the billions of years and countless lives behind them go to waste for Theresa's "brief but beautiful dream". At the rate Originum was going to spread, Terra would have only lasted a few thousand years before being consumed, and Theresa was in the way of that ultimate goal. At a universal timescale, Terra and the civilization on it would only be a blip in the grand scheme of things, with the Doctor being tasked to ensure the literal eternity of their previous civilization.

But Oracle also knows that what they've done is atrocious and unforgivable, it's why they're ready to die when confronting Theresa. Guilt was too light of a word for what this billions of years old ancient genius from a far more advanced civilization felt for backstabbing Theresa and ultimately dooming Terra.

Doctor is not blameless in what happened to Theresa, Babel, and ultimately Terra as a whole and taking away their autonomy in that choice would just be bad writing, but it's also important to remember that the Doctor did not realize the full extent of what Priestess had planned

[nalyra-dreaming]

I do suspect the eye colour changing thing was literally nothing more than a stylistic decision for the big vampire reveal and nothing more than that. Theories are fun and all but sometimes fandom gives the writers greater intentions than were ever actually there. Like I honestly don’t think Rolin Jones cares less that book Daniel has violet eyes for a start. I don’t think it’s that important.

I do also think Eric’s throwaway comment about falling for Justin Kirk/Raglan James has also been given far more weight than it actually deserves. It wasn’t a spoiler, it was just an actor talking like an actor tbh.

And finally…the whole Daniel body swap thing is such a massive change from the source material that I truly can’t see them going down that route. Changing a characters eye colour is one thing, but to body swap a character such a thing never happens to is a massive rewrite and would be very out of character for the show. Idk, it just would be a huge disrespect to the source material and to a character people love. I get people just don’t want David Talbot in the show, but in all honesty I hope the show never even adapts that particular novel as it’s just not that good.

Raglan James was a character that needed to be introduced, Daniel needed a reason to have come into possession of the trial script. The Talamasca got to edit Daniel’s book and remove anything they didn’t like. I really think that’s all there is to it.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the fans will theorise all sorts of grand schemes, but the writers inevitably come up with the simplest, most obvious explanations.

Rolin Jones is on record saying he wants to do TtotBT, and Sam and Jacob have both commented on it.

As such I see it hardly as a far reach that they will go there. And it is a logical step after Akasha, too. I personally like the book a lot, it deals with body dysmorphia, suicide, crippling depression and guilt, so I get it's not for everyone, but it has some incredible Loustat scenes, among other things.

I don't think Raglan James makes much sense if you do NOT want to go there tbh. If they'd just wanted to open the Talamasca connection up, they could have used Aaron Lightner, or even Jesse Reeves.

So. *shrugs*

For now I'm taking it as a hint.

[tonydaddingham]

what does aziraphale know?

i wanted to have another look through the pre-fall scene because there was something that wasn't feeling Quite Right to me about it, and honestly the below is just a stream of consciousness rather than any coherent theory, analysis or otherwise - so read at your own peril.

so the school of thought for many reasons has been that the Angel Who Crowley Was (AWCW) was a powerful angel, and i don't think that can be argued sufficiently given what we have seen so far from s1 and s2. but after rewatching the pre-fall scene i do wonder if crowley's importance in the Grand Scheme of Things has been overestimated, possibly by noone more than AWCW/crowley himself, and if aziraphale was actually the one with status, however quiet and modest.

when we open with the pre-fall scene, we see crowley alone, and he calls at a passing angel for some help with the map/plan. now this angel seems to rocketing past at the literal speed of light, and i cant help but feel that they were actually intending on going somewhere. and at the below specific angle, that angel looks like they were heading in a downward trajectory.

given that AWCW points up when referencing "Upstairs", we can infer that whilst heaven may not be bound by concepts like upstairs or downstairs, it does seem to have a concept of a higher placement for a higher being (ie god). this is also going on the assumption that in this scene, AWCW and the angel are even in heaven-space (which arguably, they're not), but regardless the angel seems to be heading down, indicating that they've just come down from the Up.

in any case, when aziraphale arrives, has helped AWCW with the cranking, he then says, "was that it?". and the way he says it, his body language, indicates to me that he is being polite, but in a perfunctory way. to me, it almost feels like he has things he needs to get on with - not in any frustrated or impatient manner, but just simply, 'is there anything else you need from me?', because he has things To Do.

(gif quality does not display this lmao but it's the impression i got anyway)

but AWCW puts out there that that was just the starting the ignition, and gleefully says that the next bit is where the true magic happens. which, i think is obvious, is where aziraphale actually reacts in any of the same manner - he begins to really smile, and offers up his name, even going so far as to say hi for the first time in the conversation. and i do think this is because he's just gotten a slam dunk of 'oh shit this angel is cute', but that's almost immaterial.

the part of the dialogue that struck me however is that AWCW says, "ive been waiting for this since... well, always!". it's not particularly revelatory, but to me basically says that AWCW has literally been working on this since he was formed from the firmament, having concept and design meetings with god, but this has been his entire "life"'s work, and he has never known anything else. he could just be being hyperbolic and i could be reading into it, but it would make sense for this starmaker to have only ever been a starmaker.

and heaven is certainly portrayed as being the most desolate place ever conceived, whether its in the dreaded High Rise Penthouse office building or in this vast, empty, dark space (presuming of course that the latter is in fact part of heaven, which it may well not be - and instead be in the space between planes before the universe was actually created)

regardless it gives the distinct impression of being very Lonely. so can we surmise from this that AWCW is not only a starmaker, but The Starmaker? working entirely in a team of one (thinking about the ep6 line of a "team... of the two of us") to create this nebula, possibly even most of the universe? crowley is described as being the only demon with an imagination, and his weapon of choice is literally the same instrument with which he cranked up this nebula... was his imagination in heaven also that revered and that's why he was entrusted with this project? and other similar ones? possibly.

but that spells for loneliness - single genius can be lonely. so it stands to reason that AWCW would be eager to have someone around to get dizzy with him about the wonder that is this new nebula and appreciate him for his creation. but it's not out of it being aziraphale being the one to appreciate it - we can surmise that in the way AWCW brushes him off. is this a case of self-importance? feeling he has status and should be recognised for this achievement? i feel like this is potentially a likely scenario.

in any case, AWCW seems pretty set on creating not only for himself, which he evidently finds fun and self-rewarding - going so far as to preen at the heartfelt but small praise that aziraphale gives him, but because its part of gods plan, and he's doing it for her.

he's even given perhaps one of the most famous lines from the bible, "let there be light". do we even trust that in GO it was god that originally said it - was it in fact AWCW? well either way, he completely believes in her vision, as far as he understands her vision to be.

so imagine how it must have felt then, in this instance, to have this stranger angel tell him that hes fairly certain that god is planning to destroy it in the next few millennia. AWCW, who is entrusted with creating parts if not all of her universe, isn't even clued in on the full facts, but aziraphale seems to be.

aziraphale is even seemingly part of the team (or is the whole team?) that seems to be entrusted with the plan of god's ultimate creation - earth and people built in her own image... but in kind doesn't seem to quite understand the true purpose of the nebula AWCW has built, at least according to him.

do we take this as an indication that god doesn't readily share her plans between angels, or that the nebula doesn't actually have as much importance as AWCW believed it to have? in any case, aziraphale seems to have been entrusted with god's plan, and AWCW - a creator whose creation the plan directly threatens - isn't.

aziraphale then goes on to describe the people they are currently designing; if we went with the notion (ie not sure how true this is in GO!verse) that humanity is god's ultimate creation, aziraphale has been trusted to help with that. i can't imagine just any angel would be, so there must be something in aziraphale that god sees as being fundamental in helping her with building them. from what we know of aziraphale's characteristics even this early on in his arc, he seems to be a kind and selfless person, and these may be the qualities that in building humanity god considers instrumental.

when we further consider that aziraphale then ends up being guardian of the eastern gate, and seems to have gone unpunished in giving away his sword (spelling its own implications for humanity as concerns war, cruelty, and death) and lying to her about it, this really does indicate to me that aziraphale is literally one of - if not the - favourite. given his qualities that it seems the other angels seem to lack (yes, even AWCW to a certain extent), it might just be that aziraphale was god's perfect angel. that would make sense.

the other thing that struck me is that aziraphale warns crowley against questioning god. the fall hasn't happened yet, so what gives aziraphale the foreboding sense of doom if crowley were to directly question her and her motives? "if i was the one running it all, id like it if..." strikes me as being the foreshadowing that it's this exact phraseology that AWCW puts before god and spells for disaster; that crowley intimates that if he were in charge, he would do things better. which is eerie when you again take into consideration the bookend that is aziraphale, "if im in charge, i could make a difference".

i would take the context of this being set pre-fall to indicate that there isn't any concept of actual punishment in heaven just yet (other than what a supervisory angel might order another angel to do, or a general reprimand). so what exactly is aziraphale afraid of? why is he scared for AWCW? doesn't he trust god to be understanding and kind if AWCW were to ask questions? what is it that aziraphale knows that AWCW doesn't?

so this is where i come to wondering if crowley was indeed prince of hell (okay yeah, fuck it, this is now a theory). what if it was actually aziraphale? god's perfect angel, entrusted with creating and guarding her ultimate creation? would it really be implausible that aziraphale went back to god and mused on what AWCW had said to him?

that it would perhaps be beneficial to have further input on how things were being created, especially when all the hard work, the creativity and genius, that was going into making her plans a reality, was just going to be wiped out in a snap? AWCW had 'friends' that fanned the flames of questioning god, doubled down on his resolve, and aziraphale tried to forestall the punishment that would inevitably come for him... but in doing so was punished himself?

but because aziraphale is her Favourite, instead of making him fall, she wiped his memory of it? he evidently remembers crowley as an angel, but beyond that? especially his remark that he's never killed anything (when, even if indirectly, aziraphale actually has? s1 with the french guard and the airfield soldier (perhaps not taking book canon into account here re: soldier) and the demons in s2) - does aziraphale not remember being a soldier? had a hard factory reset and is back to the unblemished, untainted angel he was before?

what if crowley did indeed bargain for aziraphale to be spared? that it was his fault that god was going to make him fall, it was his questions not aziraphale's? i think narratively it could make sense in the way that aziraphale and crowley are put as two halves of the same whole; that crowley did a selfless thing and was damned for it, whereas aziraphale wanted something selfish for crowley but was spared from the consequences. it would also go some way to explaining why crowley always has to protect aziraphale - its literally been his way since the beginning, in recompense for what happened to aziraphale?

i realise that this is completely batshit, but i do like the idea (im a huge fan of a bait and switch), and poetically speaking i think it could work - that instead of crowley being the original fallen angel, it was actually aziraphale? borne out of kindness and fondness for his new friend, the friend that actively seemed to welcome his company and wanted to show him the stars, and wanting to make heaven and the world a better place?✨

[waaow]

Warning for a lot of ranting about a specific Deltarune theory topic that will likely have next to no impact on the actual plot of the game at all.

A lot of the time in Deltarune fan content, the creators will have Kris meet a Deltarune version of Frisk, usually as one of Asriel's college buddies or something. I very much hate it (this is an exaggeration).

Kris IS the Deltarune version of Frisk. It's been pretty much told to us since Undertale launched (specifically Version 1.001) via Clamgirl.

"My neighbor's daughter looks about your age. Her name is "Suzy." I feel like you two should be friends. Not knowing where I live is no issue. Fate finds a way. In life's grand scheme, she might be why you came here in the first place..."

What does Clamgirl keep talking about? What is the purpose of her dialogue? Foreshadowing Deltarune. Talking to her is what spawns the "Don't Forget" note in Sans' basement. She's the one who went goner mode to break the 4th wall a month before Deltarune launched.

Everything she says about Frisk and Suzy foreshadows the relationship between Kris and Susie while also placing a heavy emphasis on the concept of fate, which is a big theme in Deltarune.

Suzy and Frisk are fated to meet each other. In life's grand scheme, Frisk's fall needed to happen for them to meet Suzy, just like how Kris and Susie were fated to meet and become heroes due to the prophecy.

Clamgirl says Frisk and Suzy "should be friends." Just like how Kris and Susie end up as friends extremely quickly.

Frisk "looks about" the same age as Suzy. Kris and Susie are in the same class and thus around the same age.

Frisk is just an anagram of Kris plus a single letter Kris -> Risk -> (F)risk. Suzy is phonetically identical to Susie, just with one less letter. They are the only notable characters to have changed names between universes so far. The UT names also do not have the anagrams to "Risk" and "Issue," which may be important.

We also know that "Suzy" isn't an early version of Susie's name, as Susie's name dates back to at least 2013. We can make a solid guess that Frisk's name is derivative of Kris's name due to this.

This isn't even talking about all of Kris and Frisk's numerous other similarities.

They have the EXACT same skin color and hair color.

While red eyes are commonly associated with Chara by the fandom, they only have red eyes when possessing Frisk's body in the post-genocide "I want to stay with you" variant of the True Pacifist ending. If we look at the colors of the sprites used for the scene, we can see that the sprite used in it uses Frisk's color palette. Despite it looking like Chara, it's still Frisk's body. Their hair and skin color are the same, so their eye color is also likely the same. This could mean that Frisk is actually the one with red eyes, just like Kris. Although it could also be that the red eyes are unnatural and caused by possession.

They have similar light world equipment. Both of them wear different types of bandages. Frisk has a stick, while Kris has a pencil, which is a wooden stick-like object.

Their light world item throw-away narration has them performing the same actions to items.

Kris has blue and reddish-magenta themed colors in the dark world, which is just a more vibrant version of Frisk's clothing color scheme in Undertale. Their entire dark world room that Ralsei built for them has that color scheme, and Ralsei knew about Kris and Susie's interests and desires when he made their rooms.

They're both flirtatious. Frisk is incredibly apparent with this. Kris is showcased to be the only one in the team good at flirting in the Head Hathy X-Flirt sequence during chapter 1. They seem to also playfully flirt with other characters in certain interactions, such as when giving the snowring to Ralsei. Toby has also stated that Kris would get accidentally disbarred due to flirting with a witness in an ace attorney setting:

They're both mischievous as well. Kris' past is well described by Toriel, Rudy, and Noelle. They can prank Noelle in an incredible number of ways during chapter 2 and seem to enjoy doing it. Frisk has a general implied goofy demeanor and showcases mischief in a lot of small little moments, especially during ACTs or the hangouts with Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys. You can also see an great example of this with the Hotel Door item trades, where they flatten a cinnabun and pour sea tea under the doors.

They share the "mainchara" designation. Frisk uses it in their sprites and code, while Kris uses it in the code.

They share a role as the main protagonist of the game. Even how we start the game with them is similar. You name the first fallen human ("TrueChara") or the Vessel and then seemingly begin playing as a separate character. Kris is just the natural progression of Frisk. In Undertale, during a blind player's first run, you are supposed to believe that you named Frisk, that they are your self insert into the world. That gets mirrored by Flowey, who believes Frisk to be the first fallen human. The game ends with Asriel and blind players realizing that Frisk isn't Chara/the player's self-insert. In Deltarune, Kris gets that revealed immediately at the end of the Gonermaker sequence, and they further that development by having their personality a lot more discernible without in-depth analysis.

Other theories that talk about Kris' Undertale variant don't make much sense. The only other one that even comes close is Chara, and the similarities Kris and Chara share aren't as deep as they seem.

The things that Kris and Chara share exhibit far more differently than the things Kris and Frisk share.

Chara has one comment about chocolate that is vague and seems to imply they like it, but they alao ignore the chocolate in Toriel's fridge despite their narration/dialogue already appearing at that point in the genocide route. Kris is extremely fond of chocolate and it is a much bigger part of their character than it ever was for Chara. We never get Frisk's opinion on chocolate.

The weapon that represents Chara is a knife and they seek them out during the genocide route for murder reasons. Kris doesn't use the knife they have as a weapon and seems to enjoy them as a hobby outside of murder. We never get Frisk's opinion on knives, but they are also associated with a slashing weapon.

The big one people like to point to Chara being the adopted child of the Dreemurrs. There are a lot of problems with this:

The first one is that, arguably, so is Frisk. Frisk seemingly shows interest in being Asgore's child when talking to Gerson in the TP epilogue ("Is ASGORE a goat" talk option). You can have them call Toriel mom immediately. The "I want to stay with you" ending has them adopted by Toriel.

The second is that we aren't actually sure Chara is a part of the family. They are distinctly and purposefully separated from the rest of the family every single time any of the Dreemurrs mention them. Asriel always calls them his best friend. In the winter alarm clock dialogue, Toriel talks about them starting with the phrase "a long time ago I knew someone " and, in the same conversation, talks about Asriel and calls him "my son." Asgore only mentions having a single child, a son, at the end of his battle. "I remember the day after my son died. [...] I just want to see my wife, I just want to see my child." He could have easily used the word "children" in either of these two instances, but did not. In the extended spare cutscene where Flowey does not kill Asgore, he again distinguishes Asriel as his child and Chara as someone else. "Young one, when I look at you... I'm reminded of the human that fell here long ago... [...] But I believe your freedom...... is what my son...... what ASRIEL would have wanted." It is only Gerson who calls Chara part of the family; the new home monsters only say they were 'like' family specifically.

Kris, unlike Chara, is universally treated as part of the Dreemurr family. Narration, Toriel, and other characters refer to Asriel as their brother. Narration, Asgore, and other characters refer to Toriel as their mother. Narration, Toriel, and other characters call Asgore their father.

Third is that even if Chara is part of the family, they had an entirely different dynamic with UT-Asriel than Kris does with DR-Asriel. UT-Asriel looks up to Chara, while Kris looks up to DR-Asriel. Chara and UT-Asriel are around the same age, with Chara taking the more stereotypically older sibling role. Kris is notably younger than DR-Asriel, and Asriel takes the more stereotypically older sibling role.

We can reasonably guess that Frisk is also younger than Flowey from a age standpoint. Even if Chara & Asriel were the same age as Frisk when they died, Flowey spent an unknown but long amount of time doing runs before Frisk fell and he directly positions himself as someone who's "grown up" in the winter alarm clock dialogue. Chara and Asriel are around the same age. Frisk and Kris are younger than their respective universe's Asriel.

My final point is that the relative timeline just works better if Kris is Frisk. All the monsters in DR are monsters we know exist/existed in Frisk's time. Even the Holiday family, with the daughters still notably being kids, according to WAC-Asgore and DogCasino-Sans, the youngest one (UT-Noelle) likely being Frisk's age like Suzy & MK are.

Kris can be Frisk with a bit of Chara sprinkled on, but even if they are, Clamgirl's dialogue alone confirms that the two of them are alternate universe versions of eachother.

Here's a short follow-up to this covering some goofy arguments I don't consider very convincing.

[andreal831]

Do you have any headcanons/theories on vampire biology in tvdu?

Like in season 1 of tvd Damon tells Elena that if vampires have a steady blood diet then their body functions regularly, meaning they can eat human food, but does vampirism enhance/take away the taste? We know they don’t need to sleep but when they do is it normal sleeping or more comatose? And if they eat human food would they need to go to the bathroom, are their bodies even capable of that?

I’m sorry if this is a weird ask, you don’t have to answer, on an unrelated note I love all of your posts/metas <3

I honestly try not to think too hard about it because it is so inconsistent. Anytime I try to wrap my head around vampire biology in TVDU, I just get more confused.

I do think their bodies work completely normally when they are on a blood diet. They eat, their hearts beat, they breathe, etc. I imagine all of the normal bloodily functions still work as well. They still would need to go to the bathroom, etc. I also think they taste although I don't think it's enhanced. Only their hearing and eye sight seems to be and this was specifically to give them an advantage over the wolves. Taste wouldn't really do anything for them. They still smell normally, only the hybrids/werewolves have enhanced smell.

One gripe I do have is in TVD Season 2 when Elijah "smells" that Elena is human. Was he just doing that to freak her out? How could he tell. We never see another instance of a vampire being able to sense another one. It definitely added to the tension but made no sense in the grand scheme.

I do think they sleep but it is not as required. We know Rebekah falls asleep after her night with Sage and Damon and they get in her mind while she is vulnerable. We also see Elijah watching Hayley sleep in TO or Klaus sleeping next to Cami. It appears to be relatively normal sleep. They all appear to have normal schedules due to sleeping. I don't think they need to sleep as often but I do think they will eventually get tired just not as easily as a human. They are stronger than humans but still require the essentials. Like they can drown because they need to breathe but it's only a temporary death if they don't breathe.

My biggest hang up with honestly with what exactly does "function normally mean." We know that they can't procreate because their bodies are frozen in that state, so one would think they wouldn't function regularly. The show kind of messed itself up with that one. If they can do all of the regular bodily functions, how are they not able to procreate? Why is that the one bodily function stopped by the transformation. If their bodies are frozen in time, wouldn't the rest of their organs? They wouldn't grow hungry or need to breathe because their lungs and stomach would never change.

But also, how do the Originals function? We know they can't be killed in the normal vampire ways, like decapitation or ripping a heart out. Rebekah makes a comment about ripping Klaus' heart out and waiting for it to grow back, but that just seems wild. Does that mean if they are decapitated, their head would grow back?? Could you successfully chop them up into little pieces and burry them around the world to "kill" them? Or would they grow back from one point? I can't imagine no one tried that.

It would have made sense to make them just so strong that no one could physically do it. Like when they tried to burn Elijah and he just wouldn't burn. They should have just made their skin so indestructible that no one was strong enough to pull them apart. But even Gia, a baby vamp, could stick her hand in Elijah's chest. Hayley temporarily kills Elijah with a twig in Season 4. But then when the Detective shoots Elijah, he doesn't even bleed from it. Shouldn't it still kill him temporarily if he was shot in the heart? It was a cool scene but it felt more Superman than The Originals.

So much of the show doesn't make sense and they really just gave up when it came to biology. Nearly as much as they gave up when they dealt with geography.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry that I really don't have any answers for you

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #9 v2 - LINK - Update

Behold, the grand knowledge bestowed upon me for trying to study retying of the Tied Hands and the activation of the Belt Head.

In the private room scene in episode 1, you never see Crowley's belt...except...this one time...this tiny little bit of it...right...here:

Yup, those are the silly treasures I find with thorough examination, that may or may not lead to understanding things better later.

Anyway, so here is the update for Sideburns Scheme Post #9.

I updated the following from:

There are a number of places where I think the hair is more red and hesitate. In my previous version of this post, I noted more examples than I will in this version. The main place where I think there is a streak, it actually moved to the right side of Crowley's head, like it did when he was driving. It's from the cut when he says, "So did I."

to:

There are a number of places where I think the hair is more red and hesitate, at this point thinking it is largely absent. If it is there, it may have moved to the right side of Crowley's head. Here is an image of what I mean:

Here is the image noted:

...

I updated the following from:

As stated in the last post, my initial streak theory was that the missing streak in that particular cut is a clue that part is Draft #1. It could still be, but I don't know why the streak disappears when it does in other scenes that I don't think are from Draft #1. The pieces don't line up in a way I understand.

to:

My theory goes that the streak is an after-effect of a Big Miracle performed either on Sunday at midnight or a previous timeline. So, this scene could be a mix of both Saturday and Monday or it could be that previous timeline. I still can't quite get the pieces to line up in a way I understand, but that's still my general guess from the story's clues.

And then a whole bunch of stuff was added to the Earthly Objects section.

Here is the stuff:

Edit, addition as of 09/05/2024:

As an addendum some months after making post, I have tried to study retying and the activation of the Belt Head. This scene is well beyond me in that regard, but I have picked up on a few other details I would like to add for the overall log.

Overhead Lights tend to go that left-side Overhead Lights are for demons, and right-side Overhead Lights are for angels. When Crowley and Aziraphale enter, their heads pocket the lights that reverse this understanding. The lights are to Crowley's right and Aziraphale's left. After passing these lights, Aziraphale's hand reflection can be found in the push plate of the door.

Then, during the scene, Overhead Lights for actual heads are avoided. However, there is partially open door with a push plate that sometimes gets visual touches over it during the scene, including the heads sometimes. It's not an Overhead Light, but it seems to serve some function in the mechanics with the lacking Overhead Lights, especially for Crowley's actual head.

Meanwhile, Crowley's belt is hidden for almost the entire scene. The top of the Belt Head can be found early in this one particular cut:

It's easy to miss. I only caught it because of how thorough I am being overall in my notes.

That cut is also the first of when the unlit lamp to Crowley's left is showing its pole stand that has a mildly reflective surface.

This lamp seems to act as the Belt Head's Overhead Light in a scene that very much avoids Overhead Lights for Crowley's actual head.

For the part where I said I thought Crowley's left hand and watch were up to something, I suspect that is a retying. I'm a little unsure due to how the thumb joints are managed, but various little clues still suggest that to be the case, especially with the watch and left index finger being so overt in action.

[spaceorphan18]

Not the OP but I imagine that last ask was re the fact they talked about The Box Scene in today's podcast episode and said they can understand why it was cut because it was 'lackluster'. 🙄

Nonny #2 - Sorry second nonny, I didn't realize I copied and pasted wrong, and deleted your message before adding it correctly. <3

@wowbright says : In case you didn't have this context, and the latest episode apparently they said that the box scene was probably cut because it was "lackluster" and "not very good." That has set people off. (And personally I think it's a weird opinion. Like, it was probably cut for time because of less relevance to the rest of the episode?)

I'm going to kind of hit all of this at once. Because I have some thoughts.

First of all, about the actual scene, while I understand why it was cut - in that there were time constraints and, no, it isn't pushing the story forward, it is a cute little scene that reestablishes where their relationship is in the grand scheme of things. And you know what? They made it canon at the end, so there's that.

It's not a bad scene, nor is it lackluster. It's of equal value, honestly, as the Santa Baby scene.

Secondly, that's a shame they downplayed what it did for charity. That's a huge deal, it's a shame they can't recognize the significance of a fandom movement -- especially as they raise money for things like Snixxmas and Alexandria House.

My third point is of two parts….

A) Kevin and Jenna do not know (or care) how to be objective. They just don't. They've proven time after time that they're watching things they like and do not care about the rest of it. It doesn't make me want to listen to it, and it's a shame they can't muster enough professionalism to try, but it's their podcast, and at the end of the day I can't change that.

B) You guys keep acting as if there's some big conspiracy theory as to their reasonings and at the end of the day -- more so going back to my original Nonny from earlier today -- they just do not care about Klaine. They think about Klaine in the way that I think about Jarley. They're there -- they take up screen time that I wish was given to other things -- and it's not something I particularly enjoy sitting through.

[But as an aside - I like to think I can be objective enough to admit when something is written or done well. And going back to point A, Kevin and Jenna don't know how or don't care to even put the work in on that.]

It is not about Chris. It is not about Darren. (And the speculation is a little odd there -- but we don't know them, maybe they do hate Darren (doubtful guys) but either way, I really, really do not think it has to do with this.)

And interestingly, I don't necessarily think it's solely a dislike of Blaine either. I know they praise Chris a lot, but they really skip over some great Kurt things, too, that aren't related to Klaine.

And yes, it really is about Naya and Cory and themselves. They are more personally invested in those stories and those people and that is going to color how they see the show. It just is. It's how people work.

Going back to point B - the reason it hits hard for us is that for them (like how I feel about Jarley) it's not personal and it doesn't mean much. It's just kind of there. But for us, it is personal. We do see all the good things (along with the bad) and it has meant a lot -- it's been a personal love -- it has meant very deep things to people.

And what may hit hard for people -- and what Kevin and Jenna are completely missing because they're really not good at the objectivity or the looking at the big picture -- is the fact that when you disregard the thing, it feels like a personal judgment on /you/.

And guys - it's not. They just happen to dislike/not be invested in a thing we really love, and that's kind of it. I find it unfortunate. I am kind of disappointed in their lack of understanding I really have stopped listening to the show other than interviews I want to listen to. I wish there was a way that I could explain that to them - but I don't really know how.

I don't really have any answers other than that guys. :/

It'll be interesting to see how they handle Seasons 4-6, where Artie is almost a prop, Tina goes crazy, and there is a fuckton of Blaine, Kurt, and Klaine.

Or maybe they'll end it at Season 3. Who knows. shrugs

[bewareofitalics]

I finally figured out that I can watch Wicked: The Real Story (the documentary about how it got adapted, starting with Baum) on Hoopla, so I'm doing that, and I don't want to liveblog it because that adds a whole lot of time that I should be spending doing other things, but I'm less than a minute and a half in and the narrator said that Wicked the musical is "so popular that it held its place on Broadway and West End stages while The Wizard of Oz, its predecessor, has come and gone," and I can't roll my eyes hard enough. Yes there is no direct adaptation of The Wizard of Oz currently running on Broadway, but like, The Movie. There is The Movie. People can watch it whenever they want. And they do! It is an extremely popular movie!

...was America really a "newly independent nation" when L. Frank Baum was born in 1856. I mean I guess so in the grand scheme of things? But if I heard that without knowing approximately when he was born I would've guessed, like, 1800 at the latest. Okay time to stop nitpicking the narrator's phrasing or I'll never get through this.

Father Goose, His Book wasn't "a follow-up story" to Mother Goose in Prose. Neither of those books was "a story," Mother was multiple short stories and Father was poems. "A follow-up book" would've been perfectly acceptable. Just saying.

Gregory Maguire is trying to have it both ways with the political allegory theory, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH.

Greg are you aware that Narnia, Middle Earth, and Neverland came after Oz, because it doesn't sound like you are.

They've got a Judy Garland impersonator talking (not in character) about all the directors on The Movie, and she conflates Norman Taurog and Richard Thorpe. Never even said Thorpe's name. This is not an obscure series of events!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently she thinks that MGM brought in King Vidor on purpose because Victor Fleming wasn't good at quiet scenes? Fleming left to work on Gone with the Wind! Even less obscure!

Greg thinks it's hilarious that, because all we see of the Wicked Witch of the East is her feet, she could've been "grossly fat" and we'd never know it. Ha...ha? But I guess that's where the idea for Nessarose not having arms came from. Also he says that thing I've seen him say elsewhere about how weird it is that the Wicked Witch of the West uses Glinda's first name, but... is it? It's her only name!

Stephen Schwartz is talking about how audiences didn't care if things were changed from Baum or Maguire, but they did care if things were changed from MGM. "And very early on, Winnie and I came to the conclusion that we could not do anything that contradicted the 1939 movie." There is so much in Wicked that contradicts the 1939 movie!!!!!!!! Plot aside, Glinda is blonde and makes her first appearance wearing blue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's fine! But what the heck are you talking about!

(I mean, it does seem like fans don't realize how much of the movie absolutely can't happen in the context of the musical. But I digress.)

Anyway, my kingdom for faithful adaptations of the Oz books. :(

[staceymcgillicuddy]

annual writing self-evaluation

Thanks to @astorytotellyourfriends for the tag - I didn't do this last year!

1. List of works published this year (in the order that they were posted):

If She Lived in Space, Man, I'd Build A Plane crimson & clover pulling overtime model citizen; zero discipline what you give just serves me right two jack trippers and a chrissy perception check all my kinktober fills a hollow tree

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

Gosh, that's hard. I'm proud of all of them for different reasons, and I have issues with all of them for different reasons. I guess I would say "what you give just serves me right" makes me happy, and was something I had to push myself to do, but I was pleased with how it turned out in the end.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

I hate that I have two fics out that I haven't updated in ages! I am not proud of that! And there are a few things in all of them that I'd tweak.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

Oh golly. Alright, from a hollow tree, which was my Halloween fic featuring Lilith!succubus!Chrissy:

Fog slips into the van when he opens the door. A mist so thick it’s disorienting as he drops to the ground, and the shape of a girl forms itself out of the gloom.

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

Almost every single regular commenter on Soul makes my heart sing and my panties drop, and I'm so sorry my brain is being stupid right now.

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Right goddamn now. It's like squeezing blood from a fucking stone, and I have no idea why, but everything comes out strained and blechy and I hate it, and I refuse to inflict it on anyone else so I'll just sit like a lump, churning out crap and never showing it to anyone.

7. A scene or character that you wrote that surprised you:

Genuinely did not think that I would get so into the Hopper/Chrissy/Eddie dynamic as I did when I wrote it as a crackship as part of kinktober. But, like, I could get DOWN with that shit.

Also, Hellcheerington surprised me. Oh, and writing Eddie's dad for Soul was weirdly cathartic? I was determined to make him a person and not a collection of cliches, which was easier said than done. I think I got there, in the end. Hope so, anyway!

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I didn't, I fucking regressed. Or, no, not really. I pushed myself a bit, tried to get sharper and cleaner with some prose. Read some theory books, worked on my rhetorical devices, forced myself to kill a couple darlings along the way (but not all the darlings, god damn it).

I also published a book, so yay?

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I'd like to get back to writing original fiction. I've been in a slump with that, too, because it doesn't have the instantaneous feedback that fanfic does. I want to split my time between fic and pro writing stuff, and I want to be very realistic about how much mental energy my real job takes up. When I used to write like a madwoman, I didn't have the role I currently do, which is a senior project manager leading a team, working mostly with executive-level staff. Don't get me wrong, my job pisses me off a lot, and stresses me out, too, but it pays well and we live in a shithole of a society where money matters in the grand scheme of things.

So, like, I guess I hope to grow as a writer in writing even when my brain doesn't want me to, or it doesn't feel great to do so.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Freaking Shirley Jackson, man. That bitch can write.

11. Anything in your real life show up in your writing this year:

I'm always putting kinky shit I see or experience at the bdsm club into my fic. I am as God made me.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. Stop comparing yourself to other authors. Turn off stats on your AO3. Write what you fucking want and quit worrying if other people are going to like it.

13. Any new projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I'm going to be so, so glad when Soul is done because I love it so much but it is also the millstone around my neck.

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read:

@binickandros, @pipergirl17 and @phoenixwrites please!

[infini-tree]

ok. assorted kfp4 thoughts.

i still don't think there's any reason why po can't be both oogway's successor and the dragon warrior even after watching the movie.

and here's the big fish to fry: the pacing. i know i've previously said that kfp3's pacing was rushed but kfp4 felt like it was speedrunning its own plot. by the time they got to the juniper palace i was baffled because the duo barely had a moment in the city and they were suddenly going to face the main villain?

a lot of it was left up to exposition about the characters' deal at you to try and make up for it. which made the big character twist suffer. and i do like the character twist! in theory,

so: basically zhen was initially founded/raised by thieves and criminals (and considered han her "old mentor"), and then was later raised by the chameleon after zhen showed a similar ruthlessness in her after trying to steal from her.

the underground criminals were mostly sidelined as a joke but the additional pacing issues doesn't really give you time to dwell on zhen and han's whole deal. and then suddenly you get an expository flashback later on, but there's not a lot of an emotional gutpunch to any of these reveals due to said pacing issues and han is relegated to being part of the crime comedy squad. he can do devastated dad figure! let him lean into waymond eeaao!

now for the rest of my thoughts on other minor stuff:

insert obligatory annoyance about the five being relegated to being non-speaking cameos in the credits. frankly i'm neutral about it in the grand scheme of the movie (there's bigger fish to fry as seen above), but they made me pay attention to that fact by doing that little lampshading joke in the beginning so i got a little irrationally ticked off by that line. you know i'm kind of glad they were off doing something else for this one.

li and ping were fun in this movie, don't get me wrong. but also they contributed to the weird pacing in this movie because instead of dealing with the main plot, we have to watch their sideplot of catching up to the main plot?

the staff mechanics of 'you can only use its powers if someone willingly gives you the staff'. also strange, but not in a way i can articulate. like, i guess it ties back to kfp3 and how oogway describes qi manipulation as 'giving/taking'?

chameleon's motivations re: being rejected to train in kung fu in every training hall because she was so small and feeble is... strange to me, seeing as mantis exists. who is an objectively smaller creature. maybe there's a level of her being an unreliable narrator (like how shen views that his parents never loved him), but that's not how they play that out so it just feels like a weird plot hole if you think about it too much.

surprisingly not as annoyed about po not being recognized. listen, china is a big place and news does not travel fast, i figure. i already had similar headcanons, but applied to oogway so this isn't as large of a leap of logic for me.

this is a nothingburger thought to add but: once again baffled by the concept of predation in this world. from the bunny sitting in a broth he has to stir(???) in the bar scene, to the fish living in his adopted pelican mom's mouth. its weird! i don't like thinking about how meat eaters work in this world!