#I'm so normal about this theory guys i promise

[jade-gemstone]

Why I think Eden is probably definitely the Mastermind of drdt

Spoilers for everything up to Chapter 2 Episode 11 in DRDT and all of the cannon games (especially V3)

So, I've made quite a few fangan concepts in my time and think I know how to make pretty good mastermind characters. There are a lot of general patterns I've noticed with Eden that make me think that she's a mastermind.

I'm going to start with my weakest evidence and work up to my strongest evidence.

Weakest Evidence (basically just minorly suspicious shit that might have no basis)

She is the first person Teruko meets besides Xander

This one may seem random, but if I recall correctly, in V3, Tsumugi is the first character besides Shuichi that Kaede meets in the prologue. If Eden were to be the Mastermind, it would be an interesting parallel.

Her ultimate is based in proficiency with complex machinery and attention to detail

When building a mastermind character, giving them these traits through their Ultimate makes it easier to explain the construction and maintenance of the monobots and how to game happens without that much going wrong.

The Game and in universe show is called 'Despair Time'

A game called Despair Time with an ultimate clockmaker mastermind just sounds right to me. Also could be clever foreshadowing.

Medium Strength Evidence

Starting drama with Arei in chapter 1

Not 'inviting' Arei to the baking thing in chapter 1, while presented as an accident, also brought out the worst in Arei. It also started the chain of events that led to Arei wanting to be nicer to Eden. This eventually led her to being the victim in chapter 2. As a mastermind, Eden could have planned this in order to keep the game interesting and moving quickly.

Strongest Evidence

She is the ONLY one to actively defend Teruko in the chapter 1 trial

While this could be seen as a demonstration of her kind and naive nature, it is strange that she only brought it up during the trial.

This line from Hu implies that a full group discussion took place, and that everyone was fully in agreement. Why would Eden only begin voicing her concerns about Teruko's side of the story during the trial? And while she does do the same for Min later on in the trial, this is after much more evidence has been stacked against Min, and is done much less insistently.

A mastermind would want to keep their game going, and the participants voting the wrong culprit in the first trial would completely ruin it. Her defending Teruko is not outside the realm of believability for the persona she puts on, making it not suspicious for her to do so.

The chapter 2 opening

The opening of chapter 2 is literally Eden monologuing to the camera. None of her dialogue is internal, as it is shown through white text, and we are likely seeing this from the canonical audience's point of view. I think it's weird that this is an outward monologue instead of an internal one. Unless you consider that someone needs to open this new segment of the show in context. And who would be best at it and know exactly what to say? The Mastermind.

Possible Detractions

Her emotional arc and heavy involvement in chapter 2

Masterminds are not usually heavily involved in cases or possible culprits, nor are they likely to have emotional arcs. Her involvement in chapter 2 does go against this trend. However, this is simply a trend and not a rule. It's entirely possible that Eden is an exception.

The Entire Literature Girl Insane mv

At this point, David is such an obvious mastermind red herring that I feel kind of sad for people who think he's the Mastermind. No one has their mastermind go batshit before they're revealed as the Mastermind. I do have a different theory about his role in the story that I think is more likely that I might share one day that I believe is supported by the LGI mv.

The Personal Reason I think Eden should be the Mastermind

Autistic Lesbians deserve to be a little bit evil. As a treat.

I am tired of getting all of my insane character representation in characters like David. I want to be able to tell people that I kin Eden and have them completely grasp that I am fun and nice but also a little crazy.

These are just my personal opinion and observations. Watch the Mastermind be like Arturo or something.

[beargregor]

wait i'm curious, what makes you say that gregor doesn't like everyone else (if i read that post right)? just curious since i've never seen anyone else say that

i don't necessarily think gregor dislikes everyone else at lcb but i do think that gregor is an incredibly petty person that isn't nearly as close to the rest of the sinners and even outright dislikes some of them cough cough rodya cough cough which a lot of people just Refuse to see because he's as much of a doormat as he is. there's several examples i could get into to try and prove my point however i'll just focus on what i personally think to be the biggest ones.

additionally, this is going to be kind of long, so i'm adding a read more. read more! read it. sorry for being so wordy. i have several diseases.

Pt1. gregor is the type to try and get along at least decently with everyone, especially if he gets a good first impression from them.

this is less a point in favor of gregor's distance w/ the rest of the sinners and more just a contributing factor to it. once again there's several examples i could point to here but i think the most in your face one happened in canto I with yuri, as several people have pointed out. even before gregor comes clean about growing attached to her as quickly as he did because she reminds him of his sister, we get this interaction.

i'll go ahead and make the disclaimer now that i don't necessarily think gregor is the most reliable of narrators, especially when it comes to his feelings and interactions with most people, but from the way he acts when the topic of yuri comes up (and the way we still see him act even all the way up to c7, nearly a whole year after yuri's death) i don't see reason to question his sentiment here. gregor immediately got that aya and yuri were close, potentially even taking note of their traded belts, and went out of his way to get something nice for yuri despite hardly knowing her.

i feel like a lot of people have forgotten as much, especially since it's been so long since c1, but gregor actually spent a good bit of season 1 doing the exact same thing with the other sinners! gregor reads a connection between him and ishmael pretty quickly despite getting off to a rocky start

mostly because gregor can tell that ishmael is pretty sardonic in a very similar way to him. there's been multiple instances where ishmael and gregor have essentially expressed the same sentiment at different moments, most notably gregor's little argument after ishmael got shot with a decay ampule in c4

and ishmael's response to pilot talking about self-sacrifice in c5

i could go ahead and pull up more examples, but in general pm has gone out of their way to show us that gregor and ishmael are pretty similar, so it makes sense for gregor to assume that they're friends, right?

this will be pushpin 1. keep note of this for Later.

ishmael's only the first sinner we see gregor trying to do this with in s1, we also see him try it out with heathcliff, sinclair, and ryoushuu

he's tried to get along with charon, being one of very few sinners that we've seen actually try to establish a connection with her at all

even rodya, despite my insistence that gregor doesn't like her nearly as much as the fandom thinks he does

all of these seem pretty fine and dandy, right? sure it frequently leans towards self-degradation, micromanaging, and commiseration, but gregor can at least be pretty chummy with most of the sinners, can't he?

Pt2. hell's chicken was more than just comic relief guys please

i'm fully aware that this is quite the hot take, but i think hell's chicken deserves a lot more credit for character writing than the fandom gives it. hell's chicken gave us foreshadowing for several events, such as the donqui bloodfiend reveal

heathcliff's distortion in c6 (as well as hong lu's highly speculated distortion at some point in the future)

and ryoushuu and sinclair's continued connection by making him the odd one out on her team

which, hey! that implies something about gregor's odd one out, don quixote, too, doesn't it? yes. yes it does. that's pushpin 2. keep note of that for later.

speaking of pushpins, hey! that's pushpin 1!

splitting into teams is one of the major events in hell's chicken, and most of the sinner's choices are either motivated by very little, backhanded, or motivated primarily by not wanting to be on the opposite leader's side. i didn't include all of the picks, just because i feel like including most of them already gets this across, but i think gregor took one major thing from this: most of the sinners, when push comes to shove, will only side with gregor when they refuse to or can't take his opponent's side.

now, don't get me wrong, i'm fully aware that this is primarily intended to be comedic relief, but when gregor is being described as having his trust broken by ishmael or nearly crying because no one on his team properly sided with him for him, i feel like it's pretty fair to read into this.

something that i think is pretty important to remember in conjunction with this is that we know that gregor is the type to hold a grudge, both from his general attitude towards the G corp soldiers in c1 as well as his continued distaste for vergilius

even beyond the splitting into teams of hell's chicken, the sinners have given gregor plenty of reasons to feel bitter. i feel like this is something people have noticed but haven't really put a finger on, but it's kind of wild just how often the rest of the sinners make gregor the butt of the joke

and sure, we could argue that a fair few of these aren't really made with any ill intent. quite a bit of it could have been meant as harmless teasing, but with gregor being more sensitive than most, it coming from nearly all sides, and as often as it does? yeah, i think he's prone to taking it a bit personally.

Pt3. yes i do still think gregor was the third most important character in canto VII you guys gotta hear me out okay

of course, all of this leads up to the bit of the story i highlighted, doesn't it? c7? i totally get why people haven't really picked up on all the gregor things i did in it, seeing as they were mostly not *directly* said about him or by him.

personally, i think that gregor's distaste for talking about himself on any serious level and thus leading to him getting sort of "sidelined" narratively (which i take issue with that claim, but still. it's effective for getting what i mean across atm) is supposed to lead players to take a deeper look at the times gregor gets held up to other characters and compare and contrast what's being said about them by the matchup. as i showed earlier with his immediate latching onto ishmael, i think this is something gregor himself is at least partially aware of too.

so, that begs the question, who was gregor compared to in canto VII that makes me think it's one of the most critical pieces in understanding his character?

really, i'd like to avoid getting too lost in the analysis of this canto specifically, since i'd like to do a proper post about this later, but i figure i can bury the lede a little before doing it properly.

c7 features several characters being made to perform in sansón's play, acting out the relevant backstory for this segment of the plot. a lot of these characters have rather direct, degrading reasons for playing the roles they do.

outis, a character with an inflated ego who wants her journey to have a purpose, is made to play an aimlessly wandering villager with a single line.

hong lu and ryoushuu, two characters for whom families and the expectations placed upon them are likely going to play a major role, are made to play bloodfiends.

rodya, a character who resents her lot in life and is constantly shown to be eager to leave her destitution behind her and become someone special, is made to play a helpless villager that's too poor to even offer any money to the hero that saves her.

heathcliff, a character that has spent most of his life getting dehumanized by comparing him to beastly animals, is made to play a literal bear whose sole purpose in the plot is to get beat up and then quickly left by the wayside.

sinclair, a character that has two opposed parties essentially treating him as a macguffin to procure for their side, is made to play the character who was arguably the catalyst for this entire canto, not to mention playing a decently major role in ruina.

our star don quixote is made to play her father, the first kindred, but there's someone by their side the entire time, isn't there? don quixote's dear, steadfastly loyal companion. a character which don quixote has tasked themself with getting to come out of their shell?

hello again, pushpin 2.

gregor has been made to play our unreachable star, sancho. someone had to, of course. you can't really tell a story without it's main character, now can you?

now, i should once again give a disclaimer. i am not trying to say that i think adapting what happens to donqui/sancho in c7 to gregor is the road pm is going to take here, not only would that toe a bit past the line of foreshadowing, but it'd also just amount to rehashing that plotline again, which i don't think would make for a particularly exciting story.

what i DO think is that we can take a lot of the things that are said to either directly be the case for sancho and use them to inform how we see gregor.

and god, does playing sancho have some fucking implications for our favorite ossan archetype.

starting off, the earliest moment we get to see of sancho is quite literally her just waiting for death to take her in a pile of ashes.

which, i should remind everyone, is actually pretty damn close to what happens to gregor's literary counterpart at the end of the metamorphosis. gregor samsa experiences one final breaking point that pushes him over the edge and makes him decide to just wait for starvation to take him.

gregor and sancho both consider themselves to no longer be human, something which sancho goes out of her way to highlight repeatedly throughout the canto and gregor is quick to get defensive on her behalf for when outis starts really tearing into her

sancho spends quite a lot of this story denying herself the joys of community and friendship, despite knowing that, even with the rest of the sinners frequently making jokes at her expense and outright insulting her, they were things that she desperately craved.

and, while this is getting into my "outis is a red herring meant to distract us from gregor's eventual betrayal" theorizing, i also think it's worth noting for this discussion that sancho's fellow kindreds, her family, all seem to be under the impression that she dislikes them and ultimately her departure was an act of betrayal

and that, despite gregor being one of LCB's resident mood makers and attempted conflict de-escalators, one of the sinners that's most prone to making appeals to the bonds they've all forged together, only him and faust remained silent during everyone's speech

so yeah, i think there's quite a lot of little details and hints building up to the reveal that gregor's not quite as fond of everyone as he presents himself to be. i do think a lot of this ultimately comes down to gregor getting in the way of his own happiness, similarly to donqui, particularly because he's been frequently portrayed as something of a self fulfilling prophecy, especially by giving him as many christ allegories as they have by way of priest and garden of thorns. gregor is convinced that the rest of the sinners don't like him because he's not convinced anyone could like him, so he convinces himself that he hates them because why should he care if someone that he hates hates him too?

a lot of this ultimately ties back to my personal interpretation of what happens in the metamorphosis as well as my own theories regarding all the times gregor has made weird callbacks and references to lobcorp and ruina, but yeah. i think about this guy and his deeper characterization a fairly normal amount, i think.

to end this off i'll highlight one of my favorite little "gregor is fucking seething and trying so hard to keep it cool" moments, in the credits CG for c7 we see rodya teasing him by drawing a little horse on his window and actively pointing and laughing at it, which gregor really doesn't seem all too pleased about.

i personally think this ties into the other cruel part of sansón forcing gregor to play rocinante, which is the more literal "he's actually just straight up playing rocinante" side of things. gregor was quite literally made to play something less than human, less than even animal really, as he was reduced to nothing more than the shoes don quixote wore as she got to play the leading role. sansón directly makes jokes about gregor being nothing more than shoes in the play twice, which adds to this reading, i think.

this, imo, really plays into the adaptation of the metamorphosis! i've seen a lot of readings for the book that posit that, despite being the protagonist, gregor samsa can't really be considered the main character due to nearly everything he experiences in it being used to further his family's character development at his expense, which i think fits nicely with limbus gregor seemingly having the most said about him through indirect means by holding him up to other characters. also it's rodya carelessly making fun of His Big Major Insecurities™ again like she did in c1 which i always find fun. rodya i love you but god you're the worst.

[jamiepaige]

Constant Companions Closeup #3: ROT FOR CLOUT

(also on bandcamp and spotify!)

WHAT'S going on guys, welcome back to another Constant Companions Closeup, the show where we take a DEEP DIVE into what makes these tunes tick! Last episode, we went aaaaaall the way there on Not Quite There, and today, we're making that liggity-line go up up up up up with ROT FOR CLOUT featuring VISUALEYES!! Before we get started, remember to SMASH that like button, SLAM subscribe, and FUCK the bell icon. This week's community challenge: leave your credit card info in the comments! Bet you won't!

(*cough*)

---

I check my notifications way too fucking much. It's a habit I'm trying to curb, and to my credit, I am doing better lately, but being chemically predisposed to dopamine deficiencies has done a number on my ability to go five minutes without checking the funny glowing numbers on my phone. Naturally, I also very much seek more validation than I should from the opinions of strangers yadayadayada yeah that's what the song is about but none of that actually has to do with why I started writing this song in the first place.

Have you ever taken a flight with American Airlines?

This was after waking up at 4 in the morning to fly out of Houston thinking I'd be napping on a couch in Ohio by 2 pm at the latest.

I want to make one thing clear here, and that's that I made this bed for myself. Tucked the sheets in and all. You see, on the rare occasions I fly, I normally take Southwest. Southwest does not overbook flights like a lot of other airlines do, so it's a practice I am mostly unfamiliar with. So, when I received a notification on my phone promising genuinely ridiculous amounts of flight credit money in exchange for taking a slightly later flight, I thought - well, shit! That sounds nice!

This is how they trick you. I didn't really realize I'd been tricked until I was on my second flight of the day, sitting in a middle seat at the very back of the plane, heading from Dallas, a city I don't live in, to Washington, DC, a city I was not trying to get to, staring down the barrel of another flight I was destined to get on that had been delayed like two fucking hours.

I became the Joker. All I could do to remain sane was write a song about it. This is how ROT FOR CLOUT came to be.

I guess the moral of the story is this: Don't go to Ohio. And to answer your question,

Yes I am

Not really

No

---

This is a complete sidenote but I want to mention it here: I'm genuinely overjoyed at the amount of people excitedly talking about my songwriting or the intention behind my lyrics. For a long time, it really felt like lyricism was the last thing people cared about from me, while it was always the thing I wanted to take pride in the most... So genuinely, thank you everyone for caring!! Every single fire emoji people have put next to a line I've written has extended my lifespan by multiple years

There's a brief little moment where the song's chords leave the key, doing a really stereotypically jazzy 2-5 movement, and it's one of my favorite parts of the entire song. I'm not really a music theory buff or anything, and I'm certainly not formally trained, but I've always been very passionate about more complicated harmony in otherwise poppy and accessible contexts - bo en's album pale machine really rewrote my brain when I first heard it.

On that note, there are microtones in the vocal melody - During the chorus, some of the rapidly repeated words move up in quarter tones! Possibly the simplest way I could've included microtonality, but I'm genuinely afraid if I learn more than what I already know about it I'll be lost to the darkness.

Obviously, the work of Sasuke Haraguchi was a massive influence on this song, particularly the song Igaku. I think basically everyone on the entire planet has picked up on that at this point, but I do also wanna point out some other songs that were on my mind at the time! (two for three on these posts mentioning louis cole now)

I'd also like to take a moment to spotlight the vocal samples on this! They previously appeared on エビチャーハン!, and they've honestly become some of my favorite samples to throw in things. They're also just a fucking goldmine sincerely

Finally, HUGE thanks to Visualeyes for the delightful synth solo on this!! I had put out a call on Twitter looking for instrumentalists, genuinely originally envisioning a super jazzy piano solo, but their synth playing genuinely brought the whole song together perfectly!

That's about it for this song - though again, if there are any more questions people have, I'd be happy to answer them in the replies to this post or elsewhere!! (*ahem*) THAT'S gonna do it for today's video, folks! Feel free to leave a like, comment, hit the subscribe button for more and click the bell so you don't miss any new videos. Tomorrow? I Wish That I Could Fall. it hurts.

[mcflymemes]

NATIONAL TREASURE (2004) PROMPTS *  assorted dialogue from the film, adjust as necessary

i'm gonna steal it.

who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?

if it's any consolation, you had me convinced.

you're not hurt, are you?

i am so getting fired for this.

is there a question in there?

we have no money.

how about a bribe?

it was cool. you should try it sometime.

we can't go back there.

i've never been so happy to be proven wrong.

you handled that well.

are you trying to steal that?

it's thirty-five dollars.

you know the key to running a convincing bluff? every once in a while you've got to be holding all the cards.

stop talking. start the van.

you're treasure hunters, aren't you?

i'm still working on it.

why don't you just come back down here and we can talk through this together.

don't speak again.

is that the hot girl?

are you with me?

what do you think? i'm a hostage.

do you trust me?

once we catch them, what do we do?

is this real?

i made something for you.

tell me what i need to know.

just another clue.

i can explain, but i don't have time.

i wasted 20 years of my life, and now you've destroyed yours.

what was the secret?

i found something!

i broke a shoelace this morning.

it can't be done.

i understand your bitterness. i really do.

i want you to have a chance to do that.

i've got some duct tape in the back.

promise you won't be any trouble.

i finally figured it out.

the treasure is a myth.

we need more juice.

you're all lunatics!

still a little on edge from being shot at, but i'll be okay. thanks for asking.

see? okay? now could you please stop shouting?

give me that!

you would do well, [name], to be a little more civilized in this instance.

who were those men?

we did the only thing we could do to keep it safe.

we probably deserved that.

i was thinking, what if we go public? plaster the story all over the internet.

it's not like we have our reputations to worry about.

people don't talk that way anymore.

beautiful, huh?

i have no idea what you said.

if there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

what do you see?

what time is it now?

we missed it.

i know something about history that you don't.

i'd be very excited to learn about it.

hold on one second. let me just take in this moment.

this is cool. is this how you feel all the time?

[name], you're a genius.

how do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?

the aliens helped them.

i volunteered.

it's invisible.

i'm sorry for your suffering.

when are we gonna get there?

i'm hungry. this car smells weird.

i'm so sorry i dropped you.

i would have done exactly the same to you.

why can't they just say "go to this place, here's the treasure, spend it wisely?"

anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't gonna want to help.

we don't need someone crazy.

[name], are you crying?

look. stairs.

i'm guessing that's significant.

i'm just trying to hide from my ex-husband.

stay as long as you like.

you want something?

i see what you left him.

this isn't a day for "um."

we didn't find the information credible.

well, this might be possible.

i leveled with you one hundred percent.

everything i told you was the truth.

it's not a conspiracy theory.

you know what? i take it back.

i'm in a little trouble.

this... is huge.

you are gonna go to prison. you know that, right?

that would bother most people.

you know what you have to do.

i'm just trying to think if there's anything else we could do.

i'm not letting it out of my sight.

how do you look?

a toast to high treason.

here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right.

why do you need them?

look... this is a waste of time.

i'm still not against you.

i really couldn't accept something like this normally.

we don't actually have it.

did bigfoot take it?

is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?

get out of there. get out of there now!

[name], can you hear me?

can i marry your brain?

our evil plan is working.

why does that never happen to me?

meet me at the car. call me if you have any problems.

no broken bones?

a jump like that could kill a man.

[canadaxed]

Lucy is an Ancient!.... theory.

you might like this if you: really like the idea of eldritch beings falling in love with some normal ass dude who is totally unaware.

I also posted this all on the Klei forums, which might be easier to read for some people. Click here for that version.

A while ago I posted: "someone remind me to make a post on my theory about Lucy being an Ancient" and I finally got around to it! Feel free to read. It's a long one, but the main timeline for the idea is in the last paragraphs if you want to skip ahead.

Here's the theory now:

Hey gang, I figured I'd post this theory I have. I dunno if anyone else has picked up on it, I didn't find anything myself. I'm gonna try my best to explain why I believe Lucy the Axe could be..... an Ancient!! Like the spirit of the Shadow Maul or Reaper. 

First things first, lets start with Woodie, the scraps of lore we have for him, and what Lucy means to him.

We know that the survivors entering the Constant (at least in the DS era) have a pattern of wanting something, or being emotionally vulnerable- and this is typically what Maxwell preyed on to get them into the Constant. 

In Walter's short, we get a glimpse of Woodie's cabin. He has references to his family being from Scotland in it, various stereotypical Canadian British Columbian Guy decor, two very conspicuous chairs in the main room.... and "Lucy's" outside.

That's right... Woodie never took the physical "Lucy" with him. I put Lucy in quotation marks because we don't know if Lucy was always his axe... or if she was the person that second chair in his home belonged to.

The guy went deep into an uninhabited forest to get away from people, why would he have two chairs in his home right next to each other? Pair this with with how he leaves his red "Lucy" axe outside, rather than having left her on the chair or something like one might if they were romantically invested in something.

Keep this in mind too when considering whether Lucy could’ve been a real person or was always an axe.

Now, putting the pieces we have so far together, one could follow this story pretty easily:  Woodie lost his wife and was reminiscing on memories of her while listening to the radio, which was the prime moment for Maxwell to swoop in with the promise of reuniting them.

Don't Starve fans might be skeptical for a few reasons: DS fans are split pretty evenly between wanting Woodie to be "just some funny guy" and also desperately wanting more information on this mysterious Lumberjack. When you put this theory into perspective, it all feels too easy; or it just feels wrong to completely blow open a huge point in Woodie's lore that is otherwise kept close to Klei's chest. 

Secondly, somewhat related to the first point: Klei's got plans in motion for their lore. The idea of even the gameplay of the world is that you start out knowing nothing, and slowly, SLOWLY, you gain more information. Even then, though, the game becomes more complex and deep. Essentially the team's been doing the same thing with their lore. Whether they only had a loose idea at the beginning and are now really hitting the road running with the direction they want to go in terms of lore, or if they always had an idea for it: they've been giving us glimpses of it over the past... 12 years? We've never gotten the full picture even after all this time, all these shorts and expansions. And each new bit of lore that gets revealed, there's another complexity added to it. Again, people might be thinking "this is just too easy a conclusion to come to, I could've thought of that." 

They might just really be banking on Woodie's general obscurity in relation to the main story as a way to give him a lot of interesting tidbits that people won't immediately dissect.

Thirdly: I'm just one person posting something on the internet. I could just be way too much of a fan of Woodie and reading too much into all this. And I could totally be wrong or be wrong about some things and right about others. Either way, I don't anticipate getting any answers from Klei for a long time if at all, which only adds to skepticism. 

(If you ask me, Don't Starve and its short animations/puzzles/lore drops are begging to be nitpicked.)

So lets back-track a little and talk about why Klei might've decided to drop so much potential, very vital Woodie lore in this one short. (AKA: the Woodie Tangent part of this theory thread, cus I love him)

If you've seen the short animations on Youtube, you might go to the comment sections here and there to get a general community consensus on them or the character. The comments are overwhelmingly positive and a lot praise how the lore is being handled. 

Then you get to Woodie's very own animated short.... 

If you've seen it, you know it's a silly animation where Woodie , in the Constant (unlike other shorts til then), is chopping trees and gets attacked by a tree guard. He uses his three wereforms to fight it, and overall its a pretty fun time. The comments are mostly positive, but a lot expressed disappointment in not getting any more lore about Woodie. He's a very mysterious character, even despite having one of the longer character bios in the game. 

So, eventually Walter comes along. A young boy from Canada, part of a boy scouts troop, really into monsters. If the developers didn't have Woodie in mind when making Walter, they ended up becoming very intertwined character and story-wise anyway. Klei being the cheeky devils they are, decided that if people wanted Woodie lore so bad, they'd get it.... via Walter's short. We only get a few glimpses at background things (we might've even got a hint that Woodie lives on vancouver island) but to Klei, that's enough. Clearly we've gotta do something with what we got. 

But even Walter's short didn't give us enough for full answers to anything.

Let's move on and get to the real stuff: Lucy, Maxwell, and the Ancients.

The Ancients in Don't Starve lore refers to a powerful society of bug people that existed in the Constant long, long ago. They went extinct because of their over-reliance on nightmare fuel, which brought them from famine and gave them great magic and technology that allowed them to live in a bustling utopia, for a while.

We see an ancient in the metaphysical "flesh" in Hamlet as the Ancient Herald. We also know that the spirits that embody such weapons as the Shadow Maul or Shadow Reaper were once ancients, and their souls were probably in the pure horror/dark tatters used to create those items. 

Anyway, the reason why they matter in this instance is because the only other living, talking tools we know about in the game are the Shadow Maul and Shadow Reaper, who both happen to have special dialogue for Woodie. They’re possessive over him, and jealous of and particularly spiteful towards Lucy. They’re also made with dark magic, unsurprisingly, and that’ll come into play later in terms of my theory for Lucy’s existence. I’m noting now that the Shadow Reaper/Maul and Lucy all have a nonchalance about them and are eager to be used. Also, that they all feature red prominently in their designs.

As fun as I find all these personality similarities though, we won’t talk about them much. Here are these comparisons for the hell of it:

Shadow Reaper quote:   "We make a good team, no matter how you ssssslice it." Lucy quote:   “We make a good team!"

Shadow Maul quote:   "Ch- cho- chop. CHOP!"   "Ch- chop tree... CHOP TREE!"   "CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!" Lucy quote:   "Chop chop chop. Heh."   "Chop, c-c-chop!"

Also on this point of Lucy being a magical item, remember how she will always disappear in the world if Woodie’s gone too long and be replaced by a normal axe. If Woodie tries to use any normal axe that isn’t her, she immediately disappears from where she was last dropped and poofs right into Woodie’s hands in place of that axe.

Alongside this, typically you can only carry/have one Lucy at a time, and she does have special dialogue if you can somehow hold another one.

So, we’ve established the similarity between the talking items. Keep in mind that its established now that inhabitants of the Constant can summon the souls of the Ancients to be used as objects with dark magic.

Moving on…

Its safe to say Maxwell couldn’t manipulate too much beyond the confines of the Constant and his portals and the radios, like we see with him needing Willow and Wilson’s help.

He also can’t seem to drag anyone into the Constant whose name doesnt start with W. Also, whenever Maxwell “fulfills a wish” in order to get a survivor into the Constant, it always comes with a twist. (If Woodie didnt want anything new or different from his current life, he wouldn’t have been lured in. If Woodie just wanted his axe to actually talk to him, he wouldn’t just be given that no strings attached. If Woodie wanted someone back and was promised they’d be in the Constant, why not turn them into his axe, which as a lumberjack he’s metaphorically married to?)

The possibility of Maxwell dragging Lucy’s spirit into the world alongside Woodie is feasible, considering Wendy and Abigail’s situation. But if that were the case, then why not let her stay as a spirit attached to Woodie, rather than having to construct an entirely new form of axe? Because remember, Woodie didn’t bring his real axe into the Constant with him.

You could argue: “because he’s bored. Lol.” and to that i say….. Yeah true lol. Work with me here! 

Here’s another potential point towards Lucy’s spirit being brought in with Woodie: Wendy’s quotes for Woodie often refer to Lucy, and how Abigail favours her. 

But keep in mind that this (Wendy/Abigail recognising a spirit in Lucy) only tells us that there IS a presence in Lucy. Also, considering Winona’s short, I think it’s safe to assume that Abigail might only be able to exist in the Constant because of her flower somehow being tethered to its magic. Lucy wouldn’t have had that.

Alongside that, Maxwell’s quote for examining Lucy:   "Ah. How have you been, Lucy?"

EDIT FEB 2025: And his quote for the wooden waking stick: "Lucy does fine work"

He knows there IS something in the axe and appears familiar with her

So…

Let’s rule out a few other ideas for Lucy’s existence real quick (just in terms of this theory… because i still love these interpretations): 

Lucy being purely in woodie’s mind: then other characters wouldn’t think much about her, Maxwell wouldn’t speak to her so familiarly or as a real person. Even if the magic going into the DST world made her able to speak, Maxwell would be more likely to show surprise at her sentience (its something new that happened after his reign) 

Lucy only existing because Woodie willed her into existence on arrival into the Constant: See above, Maxwell wouldn’t be so familiar with her. Plus, putting together the pieces of woodie having left his real-world fire axe outside his house while he was spending his down time inside, we can assume that woodie in the real world didnt have the same deep connection to his axe. If he could will something into existence, why not have it be the real person he was missing that he wouldve shared that chair with?

Lets start wrapping this up.. Cus I’m no good at writing coherently in long-form.

Here’s what I think could be the potential timeline of events for this theory, putting all the pieces together: 

Maxwell needs to lure a depressed, possibly mourning Woodie into the Constant and promises him he’ll reunite him with his partner, Lucy. Her spirit’s not tethered to the real world anymore (because unlike Abigail, she didn’t have that odd flower) and Maxwell can’t manipulate the world outside of the Constant to that degree- but he has a lot of power inside of the Constant. He calls upon the spirit of an Ancient, seemingly the only spirits that can be returned to a level of sapience, with dark magic of which he’s especially adept, and forges its spirit into that of a special axe.

Then, either he imbues the axe with Woodie’s memories or the axe/eldritch powers-that-be gain them in their own way (think Maria from Silent Hill,) and upon Woodie’s passage to The Constant, he receives her. 

As far as Woodie’s concerned, he’s gotten everything he needs, and takes his existence in The Constant without much disdain. As for Lucy, her old Ancient spirit is happy to be alive again and feeding off living beings (trees). It takes getting used-to to be an entirely new “person”, but she gets the hang of it. She’s clingy and codependent because he’s her source of fuel, but quickly forms a bond with him and ends up caring about his wellbeing, to the point of helping his survival in the DST era. Woodie is blissfully unaware and thriving.

....

Alright, thanks for reading! I know it was a lot. Feel free to discuss. I love Woodie and Lucy. I'm sure I missed a few things, like maybe how Lucy knows about Woodie's wereform cycle with the moons and when his beaverness gets low (the moon thing could be a reference to how the Ancients worshipped "Alter"/Them, and the beaverness thing could just be her dark magic picking up on his curse) ... or how Lucy is very picky with other survivors and very sure of herself/forward/brash like the other sentient items, but those are more of a stretch.

[dragoncoven]

Dumb Transformers One Headcanons That I Thought Of Instead Of Being A Normal Person

Warnings: Language. Talks of death and murder, but nothing worse than what has already happened in the movie. Sentinel "Prime" deserves his own Trigger Warning.

This one is mainly for if they ever go to Earth/can be applied to other versions of Transformers: the one vehicle that no transformer can take after as an alt form is the Tesla Cybertruck. That vehicle is so much of a mechanical failure that it's physically impossible for any of them to even scan it. If anyone tried to transform into one, they would get contorted into a metal cube- like the ones that Wall-e makes- and it would take several medics to undo the damage. That's how bad it is and IRL I'm convinced that the so-called "truck" is made of garbage cans and fancy duck tape. They're better for being used as flying projectiles to hit Decepticons with. The owners can just get a new one.

Like the Bumblebee movie, TF One Bee would get his name from a human he befriends during a visit to Earth. The friend would still call him Badassatron every now and then when in a joking mood.

Pompeii by Bastille, especially the MMXXIII version, would make Optimus Prime cry like a baby.

I've been thinking and reading theories on why Bee was sent to Sublevel 50 since I first saw the movie. From the simple "probably pissed off Darkwing" to "accidentally uncovered something related to Sentinel Prime's treachery", but guys what if it's both? Like Bee loading the "trash" crates onto the trains like we see in the movie, but somehow bumps into Darkwing and a bunch of energon spills out from the crate. He is taken in and reported to Sentinel, who tells Darkwing to yeet Bee down the trash chute. The Blue Bastard joyfully agrees to do so since Bee has pissed him off multiple times on other jobs. He even plays a cruel joke by telling the optimistic bot that he's got a new job for him. The whole energon debacle was forgotten over time by Bee until he goes to the surface and uncovers the truth.

Speaking of Darkwing, he runs away from both Autobots and Decepticons fearing punishment from both leaders (Optimus would put him in jail for abuse to minors and aiding and abetting Sentinel like in the headcanon above, Megatron would just give him the old Kit-Kat treatment) and would end up being spotted by the Quintessons. He's the first Cybertronian they have seen since Sentinel promised them more energon so they kidnap and question him about why they haven't received any shipment since then. They kill him after Optimus sends them that message at the end of the film saying that they won't be receiving any more energon and leave his scrapped body on Iacon's doorstep as their war declaration. Sorry that was a little dark, but I just hate the dude. Not as much as I hate Sentinel, but it's pretty close.

Speaking of Blue Bastards, Sentinel's wings are add-on upgrades that were mainly for cosmetic purposes and that's why they seemed to come off so easily when D-16 was fighting him and they both crashed to the ground.

D-16 would have mained King Dedede in Smash Bros. Dont ask me why. I just like the way "dee" sounds.

Referring to the second Bee headcanon, Sentinel did tell Darkwing verbatim to "yeet B-127 to Sublevel 50 or something, I don't care just make sure he doesn't leave". I hate them so much I hope they both die in agonizing ways (Thank you Megs for taking out the trash).

Sometimes, in order to convince D-16 to get involved in his shenanigans, Orion Pax would bring out the puppy-dog eyes and Dee is helpless against it. He does manage to build up an immunity against it and that's why Orion didn't use it to convince him to participate in the race.

Optimus would later regret that part of his life because Bee uses his own puppy-dog eyes to convince him to give him extra missions or a cookie or something.

Elita trained Badassatron in fighting and also helps him realize when someone is being mean or taking advantage of him, that boi is naive even after the movie.

Anyone caught, tried, and convicted of knowingly helping Sentinel Prime with his evil acts (so Airachnid and those golden drones if they were sentient) during his reign is sentenced to 2 eons (or whatever is considered a very long time for transformers) of jail time with community service, stuff like building new housing quarters for the newly cogged former miners and tearing down whatever Sentinel statues weren't blasted off by Megatron and the High Guard and cleaning up after the ones that did. Optimus Prime may be trying to be peaceful and forgiving but he ain't a wuss.

Those who managed to slip through the cracks of the Iacon's new Justice system still become social pariahs and even if they join the Autobots in the coming wars, no one ever fully forgives them.

Because depending on how Cybertronians are born, I find it hard to believe that Sentinel managed to be there to take every t-cog out of every bot before they onlined. He probably paid off some nurses or something to do his dirty work for him.

Elita destresses after every day by doing something completely unrelated to kicking ass and taking names- writing crack fanfic of the Primes. She keeps it private and publishes under a pen name- especially when her former-worst-employee-in-the-world becomes a Prime. No one can ever know.

Bee finds out when using her computer because she forgot to close the Cybertronian equivalent to Microsoft Word. Everyone in Iacon knows who writes the funniest Prima×Megatronus fics by the end of the day.

Orion is a semi-constant reader, but once recognized a scene from one of her stories because he and D pulled that exact same stunt once and Solus reacts the same exact way that Elita did to them. As Optimus Prime, he now knows why he got deja vu.

No one makes fun of Elita for it, but she gets hounded by fans of her writing so much that she threatens to knock out the next person who brings it up to her in person. Despite this she keeps her Cybertronian A03 account alive and even still makes posts. Though she borrows less from her private life now.

She also absolutely refuses to write anything about Optimus Prime because that's her friend.

Bee learns better control of his knife hands over time and cooks with them now. Wait. Do Transformers even cook meals like us humans do? They have energon cubes in all sizes but that's the only thing we've seen them eat so far. Do they try anything with the plants and animals that they find on the surface? Cyber-deer venison, anyone?

I'm gonna cut my ramblings off now. Maybe there'll be a next time. Idk.

[bluemooniegif]

Let's talk about Coats in Bungou Stray Dogs, and what they mean

[i.e. a repost of perhaps my most famous BSD analysis ever]

Mild spoilers for Beast, Dark Era, and Dazai, Chuuya, 15 ahead! (I'm thinking of posting an explanation of how the Beast Universe works soon anyway... lmk if that's something you'd like!)

If you've come across this theory before (uve most likely seen me talk about it on tiktok or youtube), you've probably heard already that the coat or outerwear a character is wearing (especially if it's different from the rest of their outfit) is indicative of the persona that they're trying to project.

You may have noticed, for example, that the colour and the way that Dazai wears his coat changes depending on the organisation and universe he's in. Let's start by taking a look at his Port Mafia outfit from the Canon universe:

As you look, remember that Dazai joined the Port Mafia against his will. He only joins because Mori promises that if he's useful to him, he'll provide Dazai with a quick and painless way to die:

And now I want to get into why Dazai doesn't actually want to die, but that's a whole other post for a later time.

So, Dazai joins the Mafia, rather begrudgingly, and dons the relevant 'uniform' as he does. This is necessary to show Mori and he other members of the PM that he is committing to the role; it is necessary for survival.

The important thing to note here, however, is that he wears his coat off-the-shoulder. Of course, this could just be chalked up to the questionable fashion standards of teenage boys, but when we consider that the coat is like a representation of the Mafia's values... it becomes an indication that Dazai is putting on a persona; one that he's ready to throw away at the drop of a hat. The are three reasons I know this is how he feels for sure:

we saw the exact moment Mori recruited him, and how reluctant he was to join;

he actually did throw it all away the second he had the chance;

Beast. let me explain.

Have a look at Dazai's outfit in Beast, where he takes on the role of Mafia Boss:

There are several notable differences here, but for a moment I just want to focus on the fact that he's wearing his coat properly. That was the one thing that really struck me as significant the first time I read BEAST: in the world where Dazai has to fully commit to the role if he wants his plans to work out, he pushes himself to play the part, regardless of how he feels.

The next huge difference lies in the bandages: here, his left eye is covered, whereas in the Canon manga his right eye is covered. There are several theories we could derive from this: a popular one is that each eye represents light and dark, respectively. In the Canon universe, Dazai covered the eye that saw the light, so he could more easily resign himself to living in darkness. Then, Oda pulled the bandages away, and he found himself running towards the light. I could talk about this for hours, but for the sake of brevity... ouchies.

Moving on. Another thing to note is that, duh, there's a bigass scarf around his neck here. Why? How? It looks an awful lot like Mori's... which could mean nothing. Just like how his ADA coat looking like Oda's could mean nothing. Haha so normal guys don't even worry about it!!

ANYWAY. Coats. Isn't it interesting that Akutagawa also properly wears his coat (a hand-me-down from Dazai, nonetheless) and spends a vast majority of his time trying to prove that he is worthy of being in such a high position within the PM? Isn't it interesting that his ability, the entire reason he became the Mafia's guard dog, relies on that very coat? His entire personality and reason for living becomes so entrapped within Rashoumon that the two are practically inseparable.

In Beast, when he's given a coat that echoes that of Oda's, he still uses it (via Rashoumon) like a shield, and like a weapon... but he tries to learn how to be more gentle. The beginnings and intentions are almost the same, but the outcomes are totally different. Which is very telling. I'll let you connect the remaining dots on that one.

Now, there is one more Mafioso character who wears his coat off-the-shoulder in Canon. But for some reason, in BEAST, he doesn't wear a coat at all... Strange, right?

I am, of course, talking about Chuuya. And the thing about Chuuya is that defining the representative idea of his coat is much more difficult than it was with Dazai, purely because there was so much going on at the time he joined the Mafia. He was betrayed by his closest family, while simultaneously feeling like he betrayed them. He had no choice but to accept Dazai's offer, which was actually Mori's offer. He'd been backed into this corner by Dazai, but also by the Sheep, and he'd lost everything, but was being offered all the things he used to pine after: answers, protection, relative safety. Maybe even family, something he could devote himself to- but all this lay in the hands of the organisation he'd promised to eradicate. He was going through it, as the poets say.

Personally, if I were to assign his coat with a specific ideal/persona, it would be this: acceptance of the Mafia, and hatred towards Dazai. Just like Dazai, wearing his coat off-the-shoulder indicates that he doesn't fully prescribe to their ideals... but in this instance, it also means that he doesn't truly hate Dazai like he claims.

I know, fork in the kitchen. But I also want to point out something that helps drive this perspective home for me: whenever they fight together, as Soukoku, Chuuya takes his coat off. He has a lot of fighting quirks, actually- he always keeps his hands in his pockets (something that is echoed by Dazai ohmygod I cry whenever I think about it), takes his hat off for Corruption (this is discussed in-depth in Storm Bringer), takes off his gloves when he wants to ramp up Tainted Sorrow. But, just like the coat, this only happens whenever Dazai is around. Chuuya literally and figuratively bares himself to Dazai, which can be read as something necessary for him to be saved by No Longer Human, yes, but it would be remis of anyone to ignore the fact of their trust in one another.

There's one more reason that I think these two ideals are so intertwined: it is, you guessed it, Beast!

The interesting thing is that here, where you'd almost expect him to wear something similar, Chuuya simply doesn't have a coat at all. Why is that?

If we follow the same logic that we did for Dazai, we can assume immediately that Chuuya doesn't want to hide behind a facade here. He has no facade to consider hiding behind. He's honest about his work with the PM, and open about his complex feelings towards Dazai- mostly his hatred, though that manifests purely because he's frustrated; a part of him knows Dazai can be doing better, or working differently, but he can't understand why. Or maybe he does understand why, and this frustrates him even more.

It's extremely complicated, and I feel like the way I've said things makes no sense, but I hope it's at least got you thinking. What does this truly mean for Chuuya? What does it mean for Atsushi, who doesn't wear a coat in canon, but does in Beast?

(I already have a post delving into Atsushi's character design, which I think is genuinely one of the coolest things ever!! I don't discuss Beast in it, but it's a great starting point if you're interested <3)

I feel like I've rambled on too much, but I'm fighting brain fog rn so this is as coherent as it gets. I hope this has helped you learn something, or made you interested in delving deeper into costume design in BSD as a whole. I kiss you mwah!!!

[punkinspice]

Rouge headcanons, go!

Oohohohoho yes!!! I love my girl so much and she deserves so much so LETS DO THIS!!!!

(disclaimers: Again like with my Shadow one, I go with the two world theory of Earth and Sonic's planet being different dimensions and have been brought together by chaos energy making the bridge to cross between them very easy. Also, this is mostly inspired and from the future au and fanfic I'm writing where I delve into Rouge's backstory and where she is the main character but hey... THAT'S THE POINT OF HEADCANONS!! mwahahaha let the angst BEGIN)

-Rouge doesn't know her parents are. Her mom was a show-girl at a casino and her dad manipulated her with a lot of empty promises, but quickly proceeded to dump her. Her mom then proceeded to abandon Rouge as a baby with a group of people promising they would take care of her, thinking it would give her a better life than she could offer... it didn't.

-Rouge grew up with said group underground, and they taught her how to fight, stealth and hone in on her abilities. She escaped said group when she was 12 after a lot of things went down (spoilers) and lived the first few months out homeless and stealing things in order to survive.

-A gang of orphan, kid thieves noticed her tenacity of theft and figured they'd take her in as a part of their group. They were the first thing of a family that Rouge had ever known.

-Rouge and the other kids consisted of a cat, (Crystal) dog (Butch) and a pigeon (Simon). They were all themed as a suit of cards due to the fact that they work for a rat who at the time owned Club Rouge.

-Rouge doesn't own Club Rouge, she just lives there. It's a coincidence that she happens to share the same name with it.

-Crystal is the diamond and the oldest and the leader/planner, Butch club and was the brute strength of the group. Simon was spade and was the tech/guy in the chair. Rouge is of course became the heart and was the cute/flirty distraction while everyone else to stole in the background. They taught her a lot about life, and she really loved them.

-The rat who they worked for took them in cause he felt bad for them. He wasn't a necessarily a good person, but cared for them in his own way. While they were a gang, they lived above the casino in a secret room.

-The group split up going their separate ways due to disagreements and changes of leadership with Club Rouge. It left Rouge feeling very abandoned and angry. She is still allowed to live at the club, and uses it as a hideout and a secret gem stash. She has not seen her old gang since.

-Rouge is uncannily able to sense chaos energy and emeralds as naturally as super speed is to Sonic. She is and has always been drawn to chaos energy.

-It is so natural to her that she thinks its normal and everyone else is just as sensitive to chaos energy as she is. Knuckles figured she must have spent the majority of her life in intense meditation like he did in order to have such a mastery over it. It made him very angry and shook to find out that she had in fact not done that. 😂

-Her ability to sense chaos energy so well is partially what leads her to the Master Emerald and Knuckles and then also Shadow.

-Rouge was "hired" by GUN because she got caught trying to steal something from them. GUN recognizing her abilities figured that hey! She's also an alien like these other little weirdos invading our planet, and is used to the same chaos shenanigans that was being messed with on the Ark so it's probably safest to send her into the Ark instead of us humans! Under threat of course...

-Rouge expects everyone to abandon and mistrust her regardless of the help she gives... so she puts a mask on pretending that she doesn't really care. She cares a lot.

-Rouge is actually an incredibly loyal person but due to life events she doesn't allow herself to trust easily, and she has so much love to give... but she's never really been given much opportunity or people to love.

-Shadow was the first person who immediately saw right through her facade and called her out for who she actually was, which shook her to say the least.

-Rouge is so desperate to help Shadow because maybe in a way it can give her hope that if he can find happiness, then maybe she can too.

-Rouge is the only other person alive who knows how to take off Shadow's inhibitors.

-Rouge compensates for deep feelings of worthlessness with being obsessed with "precious" things like gems and treasure. But don't be fooled, she does also genuinely love how beautiful they are.

-Rouge is smart enough and has the chemical and mechanical knowledge to make bombs and grenades. You could say that she's on the same level as Tails, but she doesn't take her genius as seriously. She can't risk being seen as an actual threat and would rather mislead and manipulate in order to get herself out of things.

And once again that's all I can think of at the moment, but man, I just love Rouge so much. She's such a fascinating and underrated character that I need to see more of in the future. There's a lot of depth and pain there underneath the flirty, uncaring nonchalant exterior and I want to see it explored more, especially with her interactions with Team Dark, and everyone else, just to help flesh out further who she is as a person.

Thank you so much for asking bestie!!!

[1007xf]

Hallucinations

Ever since EP3 first came out and I found out that the hallucinations during the Translation Core fight change depending on your team and that each member has a corresponding one, I've been, well, very normal about this fact. I've been ruminating over theories in my brain ever since then and now with EP4 behind me I think it's about time I laid down my thoughts about each one in written form for whoever has the patience to humor me.

DISCLAIMER this entire post could be me overthinking some cool designs. But overthinking is like my thing so. Can't help it☆☆

Now, I'm going in with the assumption that each hallucination represents some sort of deep seated fear within each character. Maybe not necessarily their biggest fear ever, but definitely something that eats away at them from the inside. So, let's begin with looking at each of them in alphabetical order!

Akizet

Starting off strong here with I Have No Idea. Seriously. For all of these, I have some pretty robust interpretations, but Akizet's the only one that fully stumps me.

I can make out some elements, the receptors on it seem to be tir, but they hardly match any character we know of. The shape kind of fits Miltza, but her receptors have 5 "fingers", not 4, and Kazki doesn't fit at all either. So either this is someone from her past we haven't met yet (Rouzesche? Unlikely), not any specific person at all, or I'm missing something.

Obviously something that sets this hallucination apart is the pink "strings" coming out of it. This is the only one that has them. Looks like parasites to me, probably secri since we know what zuzucri infection looks in quite great detail and it's not like this. This is not particularly surprising, we know Akizet dealt with things like this as a surface runner, though I suppose this could hint to how her larval death went. Also to be noted, this hallucination lacks the hole in the chest multiple other hallucinations which depict someone "infected" have. This leads me to believe this is a larval obesk, as opposed to a qou, who can't even get infected by secri.

Last thing I'd like to add is that this thing kind of looks like... a weird amalgamation of multiple obesk. The 3 legs all look like they were taken from different bodies, and also it kind of looks like it had a second head that got decapitated? So like I said when I was talking about the mystery tir receptors, maybe this isn't a specific individual, but a mixed representation of a parasitic infection? Like the multiple victims, all having fallen prey to the same hivemind, now are fused and melted together into one monster. But I'm actually really unsure about this. I promise I'm more confident with the other ones, this one is just really confusing to me for some reason!

Bozko

Okay, this one is quite interesting. I'll first get out of the way what I think this is not.

This guy clearly has jut receptors. But I don't belive it's Cavik or Tozik, since it doesn't look like either of them beyond anything extremely superficial.

As for I do think it is... this is Vekoa. Appearance wise, I'd say she fits.

The receptors are the same, the one eye, and the cape (?) thing behing the hallucination isn't too far from Vekoa's clothing. Also, this hallucination is a qou, since it has a hole in the chest, denoting the destroyed mindcore and hijacked body.

Though beyond just looks I do believe it also makes sense from a character standpoint. Everyone at this point would be scared of Vekoa, since all clues lead to her spearheading the collapse, however Bozko seems to dread her the most out of anybody. He multiple times mentions how he thinks she's to blame for the entire tragedy. He zeroes in on eliminating Vekoa being the solution to everything, to the point he starts sounding somewhat sinister, definitely concerning. Obviously the situation was much more complicated, however Bozko is unstable and needs to anchor himself to anything in order to stay present, and burdened by his past as he is, that anchor seems to be protecting the team and culling the infection. To him, Vekoa is the root of it, and technically he isn't wrong, but his way of thinking and processing the situation is very dangerous. He has tunnel vision on the idea that he is alone, alone with the monster, with the predator, with Vekoa, that it's him and him only that needs to bear the responsibility of taking her on, because he fucked that up in his life, so now he needs to set the record straight in his death.

Overall, what at first seems like a twisted representation of Vekoa slowly becomes a representation of Bozko's self destructive, self punishing spiral.

(I could talk about this guy for so long but it's so hard because his story touches on some real personal stuff for me. He just like me frfr but honestly it's not even funny anymore why are the pixels on the screen stealing words from my mouth)

Cavik

Do I. Do I need to say anything. Seriously.

I think the fact that this is so obvious fits Cavik. He's always been so open about himself and his ideas, to the point it can become... problematic.

Seeing how important Akizet is to him like this is quite sad. Losing her could very well be his greatest fear, especially losing her in such a violent, terrible (haha get it. Because terrible life. Parasites?) manner.

What I would like to point out is that while Cavik's hallucination is clearly Akizet, Cavik is nowhere near close to being Akizet's hallucination. Just something to think about. Their dynamic is healthy and will definitely not degrade in time because of Events that have transpired.

IK Golem

(Or well, Karik, since Itzil is asleep at this point) (right) (they're asleep right) (I'm not misremembering this no? 0_0)

Well, this is Gakvu! Funny thing, girl is featured in a whopping 3 hallucinations. Congratulations?? I think???

Now, I will not give this one too much thought. It's just a Gakvu turned into a husk. The "real" hallucination of Karik appears only after the Pale Halls are unlocked.

Hey girl.

This is Telyu! The fact that the hallucination changes is so cool. Yeah, but I don't have much to say here either. Karik is scared of losing a close friend. Painfully normal fear for a painfully normal kiv. What is interesting is that Telyu retains Gakvu's melted leg. I don't think that means anything, but I thought I'd mention it.

Gakvu

Huh. Looks like she couldn't be bothered to even come up with a hallucination for herself. I'm joking.

Now, here, this is less based on actual clues and more just me interpreting something. I think this creature represents the Conflict as a whole. Gakvu always thinks of the bigger picture, so her fear being this Conflict itself fits. And, even visually, I'd say it fits. It's a ambiguous mass, with many eyes, many claws, a great thing that only works because so many minds are dedicated to senseless fighting, stuck in their ways of thinking, a ball that in it's own stubbornness throws itself down the hill, only to inevitably get hurt, only for inevitably tragedy to strike. This stubbornness to stay in your old ways, this closed off way of thinking, is what Gakvu resents, is what she ultimately fears, because she knows how destructive they can be. From the trauma of how she was raised (yes, trauma, she may act cool, but it clearly greatly affects her) in the structurist way, to the imminent threat of her execution (I do hope she doesn't die that way. She'll definitely die, I just hope she gets to do it on her own terms) she's always lived with the fear of a much greater entity out to get her.

An interesting thing, her hallucination and Bozko's kind of parallel eachother? Or are moreso foils? Bozko's is the immediate problem, Vekoa, the person propagating this infection, but Gakvu's is the Conflict itself, the bigger picture. It's cool to see how they view their situation in such different ways, both of their ways of thinking being both useful, but also potentially dangerous. I generally tend to think of Bozko and Gakvu as foils to eachother in one way or another, but that's another discussion entirely.

Miltza

Miltza. MiltzaMiltzaMiltza. Sigh.

Again, this is one of the very obvious ones. Though it's cool that you can cross reference this with another hallucination of Gakvu, the one IK has. It really shows how Miltza sees Gakvu, even if she tries to be reasonable, not as a qou, as an individual, but as a saboteur, as an instrument for mayhem and strife. Instead of the hole in the chest, the hand symbol is shown, a mark of Gakvu's alliance. Miltza literally doesn't see her heart.

Obviously I don't think Miltza is that vile. She clearly was... trying. And Gakvu herself seems to recognize as much, unfortunately by then it's too late and she's gone. But the hallucinations are the worst a mind can conceive, so I don't think she's really to blame for this.

Miltza you certainly were a character. Bon voyage girl you were kinda crazy for believing in allat <3

Tozik

Last but definitely, definitely not least.

This is. Okay. It's not okay.

Obviously the figure in the left is Bozko, the one on the right is Gakvu, the one in the middle could be Cavik, but it could also be Tozik himself. The receptors could literally be either of them. Yes, they have a curve, which would be Cavik, but the style in which the hallucinations are present seems to kinda hate the straight lines and angles of the Ekivik style sooo... it's a bit hard to tell? Either way, I think both interpretations carry similar enough meaning.

Tozik cares. A lot. He always did, Akizet was just terrible at reading him (to nobody's surprise). When his fear gets extracted out of him and made manifest, it's a corrupted, lost version of his closest friends. While he seems to keep everyone at an arm's length, his friendship with Bozko gets outright stated and it's clear he was closer to Gakvu too. (As for Cavik, if that is indeed him, I guess they shared a caste and had similar duties so maybe they worked together more?? I don't know. Their tie doesn't seem as personal as the other 2 so that's another reason I tend to lean into that being Tozik himself)

And now? Now, beyond everything else happening, he has to witness these 2 friends deteriorate more and more, Bozko's struggle being obvious, and the cracks starting to show in Gakvu's façade too. Ironically, he is the first to start physically deteriorating, and at a much faster pace, a little later on. Maybe because this hallucination doesn't have the chest hole, this isn't the fear of them becoming husks, but rather the fear of them succumbing to their own internal struggles and losing it?

Another interesting detail, this hallucination seems to have blood on its hands. This is the only one with such a detail. It obviously means something. I don't know what, but it must mean something.

Conclusion??

Hi are you still with me. No. Ok :)

But really, if you somehow read this far I really appreciate you <3<3<3

I would like to add something. I'm not on the discord (too scared :( ) and I've never really participated in online discussions yet. I've never seen anybody else speak so in depth about this topic specifically yet, however obviously I could have missed something. So if I just stated a bunch of obvious shit everyone knew already I'm soooorryyy. I tried to give it my own flare okay☆☆☆

Overall I'm glad to finally get all this info off my chest and into the void of tumblr. I definitely have more to say about other things and maybe I will in the future!! I was thinking about writing some of my thoughts on each character respectively, maybe.

And once again thank you for reading and good night is 3 in the morning for me and I need to get up in 3 hours <3

[tommyssupercoolblog]

Wait I thought the "I'm scared" posts were jokes, like "OOOH what are these silly little guys up to now haha you never know". I just realized they weren't??

People are actually worried about the Dan and Phil conspiracy theory idea??? Why??? They've talked about fan stuff before and this is user-submitted so they aren't taking things without permission. They don't have to address anything they don't want to, and we don't have to submit anything we don't want them addressing. They're just chilling???

Also seeing some posts about hard launch and soft launch and wether or not it's okay to wonder if they're dating and I'm like... they're pro-RPF in general and none of these hard launching posts are actually harassing the YouTubers directly (@ ing them, sending them things), it's just people talking about what this video might (Or might not) be, like amongst themselves on tumblr??? And how is that different from what we normally do in this phandom????

"guys this could have IMPLICATIONS" bro...how. if they address it or not, and if they're together or not, that doesn't change anything about how their videos will come out or how the fandom will operate, or their interactions with the fans. If they clarify things then all that changes is their Wikipedia pages. It's okay.

Tldr; if you're genuinely stressed about this then take a deep breath and relax. The biggest conspiracy theory of all is the idea that we should be worried about this! It's going to be okay, promise :3

[i-love-your-mom-kys5snwj]

Helluva Boss Season 2: Apology Tour SPOILERS ⚠️❗

(TW!: OPINION AND BAD ENGLISH)

...

I'm so tired of that bird.

I can't stand his victimizing ass anymore, seriously.

"I don't look down on you, How many times do I?, When have I ever? 🥺🥺"

Bro you literally called him "tty bitty little imp's like you😇" LIKE BRO.?

"You speak just like that vile Striker friend of yours.The one who tried to kill me and you couldn't be bothered to come help me"

OMG, was it because Blitz was busy taking care of his daughter like a normal father would? 😱

Something that Stolas should also do with his daughter, instead of being in his "heartbreak story 🥺🥺🥺🥺"

I can't stand it anymore, I want that bird dead now 💀

Honestly, the episode should have focused more on Verosika than on Stolas (this series always let women belittled and without as much focus ☹️)

I liked Verosika in this episode, and her conversation with Blitz (should have lasted longer than the whole stupid conversation between Blitz and Stolas) And I'm glad to see her throwing a party for the people Blitz hurt, I think it's sweet (But I really feel that this will be her last appearance and we will have to wait a long time to see her again 💀)

I also think that the episode gave emotional development to Blitz and I think that's good 🧍

Now I'll throw shit at Vivzie

Literally first you say that Stolas and Blitz are equally to blame for their relationship, but the entire episode is making Stolas out to be someone who has done nothing wrong, and Blitz being a monster.

And the Blitz hate merch... How the hell do you want us to see that Stolas is also wrong if literally even in the merch they show us Blitz as a son of a bitch who deserves to die? 💀

(and I don't give a shit about that guy who kissed Stolas, I bet he'll just show up there and it won't be anything important)

And the Yuri, that was one of the good things about the episode 🦾

(I would talk more about how I hate Stolas more than usual but I'm tired and I'm sick so that will be for another time ☹️😷)

The good thing is that I won't have this series frustrating its fandom until October 🦾, although there are the promised shorts after this episode but as long as it's not from Stolas (or Stolitz) it's all good 👍

But I really want to see Octavia telling Stolas that he is shit, please 🙏

(nothing to do with Helluva Boss or the episode but If I dare maybe I will share my Vaggie theories/au's? 🦾😋)

[gwydionmisha]

Personal: This Physio Pamphlet aka I am so sick of Ableist blame the victim shit.

In home physio re-started Monday and I've been exhausted ever since. The theory makes sense and so do the exercises, but I have to do them all the time I'm up, basically in small portions, on top of me still trying to do bare minimum regular physio, which also wears me up. I had to flat out give up on a lot of the exercises since Covid last September. I can't come close do doing them all and perform basic tasks like feeding myself and beasts and deal with the endless laundry the Emperor now generates.

The physio is good. At the same time, a bunch of the things that she said last time are clearly for people who are not me. And there's this booklet I promised to read and return. I finally finished it Thursday. It wasn't long, but it was endless experientially.

I get it. Most Americans did not have a descent science education because Republican school reforms always attack science and social studies for obvious reasons. I did have one and spend a lot of time with new medical any specialist trying to prove they can stop dumbing things way down for me. No, I don't have specialist training, but I actually do have descent general knowledge. It goes much faster if they bump me up to educated layman, if you see what I mean. So explanations of anything directly from her are slow, but this book is molasses, which is really what they need if they are giving it to people who may know little to nothing about how bodies work.

This I could tolerate.

I actually applaud the large type and the explanation of how to do housework with a disability. I had to work that out myself decades ago, but a lot of people don't understand the short form of the advise when they hear it, so I usually do a long explanation with concrete examples, which is a useful thing to hand people with new disabilities.

The problem is that there is a lot of stuff that assumes average neurotypical brain and a person who has had trouble recovering from one or even a few injuries or surgeries.

It assumes I'm not naturally day-night flipped on sleep cycles. (Supposedly this is a disorder, but it sure looks like useful alternative brain design to have some percentage of the population alert at night against predators or later fire or invasion or later still third shift jobs like emergency response. It's a problem because society isn't structured for nocturnal types and is judgey about it, not because somethings inherently wrong).

It assumes I have a strong fear response. Which I don't. (I suspect Toxoplasmosis contracted as a child from our cats. I remember still being able to feel fear properly when I was small. Then at some point I stopped. I can startle; I can worry; I don't fear. I have learned to use reason to assess risk because otherwise I'd do really dangerous stuff). I am legitimately struggling to figure out how to translate the fear stuff into anything I can use.

There is no fucking way I'm kicking my cats out of my bedroom, and doing that would not improve my sleep. Less pain improves my sleep. The cats are not the problem.

They didn't seem to understand functional limits caused by disabilities at all. The Author seemed to assume everyone can get better and resume normal activities from before, which is bullshit.

They waited until the end to trot out the inevitable ableist shit, the assumption that everything can be solved by willpower and taking rehabilitation slowly enough. The physio herself has carefully not crossed this line, and I've been watching her warily because she skates close to it on occasion.

I read the thing anyway. I gave my word. It was like shifting through shit to find specks of gold and finding hardly any.

I hate this fucking book.

I'm doing the exercises she gave me anyway, because the exercises are clearly correct.

Reading that last section though, I kept thinking of a paraplegic guy I used to know whose relatives took him to a faith healer a couple years after the motorcycle accident. They made him transfer out of the chair and sit at the end of a middle row. There were people in wheelchairs down front who were "healed." That they were plants was obvious to my friend. Otherwise, why wasn't he down front too? Why else take his chair away and hide his disability.

It did not work, of course, and the people who took him their blamed him. He'd be healed if he just believed harder. I had the same thing happen to a friend on the spectrum when she was a teen, which is offensive on so many levels.

It's gross when the right wing fundamentalist do it; it's gross here when it's packaged as left wing holistic power of positive thinking crap.

Yes, some people get better. Maybe the injuries are temporary. Maybe new and improved treatments alleviate or heal things.

I want people to get better. I'm happy for people who get better.

There are two general types of problems going on in my body: the big permanent damage ones, and the things that can be mitigated. I do think a more whole body approach to physio will help me recover from all the damage hospital fatphobic PT did and help me recover from a shoulder replacement. I don't think thinking about pain in a new way will remove two degenerative genetic diseases and the actual physical damage they do over time. I don't see how dealing with fear I don't have will grow back cartilage or until damage to the bones of my spine or the bone around my joints.

[midesastremanifiesto]

I have a theory. The reason why some people don’t like Carlos or hate Carlos is because in this day and age there’s a certain entitlement that fans have towards drivers. They feel entitled to knowing about their personal lives and they feel entitled to knowing every aspect of the driver so if a driver is more reserved or more private like Carlos is, they feel that they don’t have access to his personal life that they feel “entitled” to. Therefore leading to the dislike. However, people that do like Carlos appreciate that he is more reserved or more private and they respect him for it. They typically have more empathy and are nicer to others because they don’t feel entitled to knowing every single aspect of Carlos’ life.

I hate to write essays in english because I promise I am much more eloquent in my mother tongue (duh) and also sometimes I don't want to spend half of the time searching on Google because I don't know what correct preposition I should use or if that word really exists in the english language (a bitch, if you ask me), but I have so much to say about this topic *cracks knuckles*

-First of all, I don't think Carlos is generally hated (not that you said that), in fact, I think he is quite appreciated by actual fans of the sport. Usually when he wins most of the people who are not rabid lecfosi are happy for him, and they see him as a valuable driver and a good person (if we take what people say in social media as a measure, that is)

-For the people who actually "hate" Carlos, I think it mostly comes from being paired with Charles. Charles has an insane amount of fans of only him, not the sport, not Ferrari, just him. I'm sure some of his most insufferable fans don't even like F1, they don't even watch the races (as they prove again and again with their stupid takes). Before him (Carlos) being in Ferrari, he wasn't as hated as now (also because Ferrari is huge so you naturally get more attention, for good things but also bad). One thing that bothers me, actually, is how some of said fans have convinced some people that Carlos is this evil teammate that only wants to ruin Charles' career. But that hate I don't take it seriously, even if it makes me rage sometimes and I like to bitch about it on my blog, because that kind of people treat the drivers as TV characters, and they like to categorize them as such instead of seeing them as real human beings. They love to have a heroe (Charles) and they love to have a villain (Carlos).

-Coming back to your ask especifically... about the privacy, one thing people have to understand is Carlos' dad is very very famous in Spain, and Carlos has been surrounded by cameras since he was a baby, so it's only normal he wants to protect his privacy now (and yes, he has done PR before but I think that's more about getting it done because he is going to get papped anyway so better do it his way, or more... his family way. Also I have a very solid opinion on his relationship with Rebecca and how some people think is PR but I won't elaborate so anyway). I don't know if this makes people hate him, but maybe he is seen a less approachable because of this and people looove to invent stories about things they don't actually know (they do that with everyone, tbf).

-One of the main reasons I think Carlos gets hate (or not even hate, but bad comments from time to time) is that people doesn't really understand his character (I obviously don't know him personally but yk, observation). Carlos is a very introspective guy who likes details and to explain things, and people often see this as him making excuses when in fact he just.likes.to.explain.things.in.detail (a lot). People see this as whining and see him as a loser or as a weak person, and for some that's a very bad trait in F1 (which it is, but Carlos is neither of that).

-Every driver it's PR driven to an extent (every public persona is), but Carlos, for me, is a little less in some aspects. Sometimes I wish he would shut up so he would stop giving fuel to haters, because the more someone says, the more the people (and the press) will take it as an amunition to go against them, but he is who he is, and I also like him for it. He is not going to pretend to be someone he is not, even if he gets hate for that. Some drivers do, I am not going to give names, but I don't think Carlos is that type of person.

[ju-vondy]

Headcanon Gwynriel Scene PART 1

Hey guys. I'm brazilian and this is the first time I'm translating my writing from portuguese to english so please take it easy on me 😅 I hope you all enjoy it! This scene is a part of my fanfiction (which I'm posting currently on Wattpad only in portuguese, but if any of you show interest I may post it in english as well) Good reading... ~*~ Some context before u start reading: The last chapter wass Nesta and Cassian's cerimony and she offered Gwyn to move to the House of Wind because when Cassian leaves for missions she feels way too lonly. ~*~ It was in that last conversation that Gwyn was thinking about when she woke up that weekend. It had been two weeks since Nesta had been away. Gwyn arrived earlier at the training ring each day and spent the afternoons working in the library. In her free time, she read Nesta's improper romances - which she was particularly enjoying.

But in that particular week, Merril was incredibly demanding with the research content, so much so that Gwyn took her manuscripts to her room. She rolled over in bed, thoughtful. What would a normal citizen of Velaris do at the end of the week?

Take a stroll around the city.

And that's what she should do too. But there she was, locked in her room. She had promised herself that she would give it a chance.

But the other part, the one that screamed that everything would go wrong... It was still stronger. Besides, there were the nights when she woke up screaming and crying from a bad nightmare. The fateful day in Sangravah haunted her constantly. The disfigured ghost of her sister, Catrin, used to make the nightmares much worse. She didn't want do bother Nestha with that.

Gwyn huffed at Merrill's research papers and decided she had had enough. She had spent the last twelve hours working on the translation of two ancient tomes and was not seeing any progress. Besides... Weekend meant resting. Gwyn sighed loudly and dropped the pen on the desk.

"By the Mother..." she stretched her arms before getting up from the chair. "I wonder what Merril's next obsession will be after she finally proves her theory of connection between the realms."

Gwyn took a deep breath again as she stopped in front of the window. She put her hands on her waist, thoughtful. The research could wait. And the romance was getting so interesting when she had to stop to focus on the new content for Merril...

The priestess sighed and picked up the book, lying down on her bed. But she couldn't read. Not there. Then she felt tempted to go up to Nesta's private library. The one they had had so much fun making silly requests to the House.

Gwyneth had a better idea: to read outdoors. The sky must be beautiful out there. She could lie down on the training ring that would be empty and...

Yes, that's what she would do.

Without thinking twice, she put on something that would protect her from any possible cold, grabbed what was necessary, and went to the House. The lights were on, but there was no one there. Gwyn vaguely remembered hearing Nesta telling Cassian that while they were away, Azriel would teach in the mornings on weekdays, but on weekends he would cross over to Vallahan to accompany Mor in whatever they were doing.

Gwyn hummed as she headed towards the large arch that led to the roof of the House, but then... He was there.

Gwyn halted her movements before crossing the arch and held her breath as she saw those muscular backs without a shirt to hide the tanned skin. Azriel stopped his blows on the makeshift punching bag and turned his body to look at who was present, even though he already knew to whom that voice and scent belonged.

Gwyn cleared her throat before starting to explain herself:

"Sorry, I... I thought there was no one in the House, and I had this desire to read outdoors, so I thought it wouldn't be a problem if I came up here, but..." she stopped abruptly to catch her breath and continue: "If this is a problem for you, I can go back and..."

"Gwyneth," Azriel interrupted her, holding back a laugh. "You can stay."

The priestess widened her eyes.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Gwyn quietly celebrated.

"Thank you," she smiled, walking towards the covered area. "I'll remember this before cursing you in training tomorrow, Shadowsinger."

Azriel chuckled softly.

"Good reading," he said and, after a brief nod, turned to go to the nearest rock where his shirt was thrown. No Illyrian leather, just casual clothing. Azriel put it on and then focused on the punching bag again.

Gwyn sighed, grateful for the small gesture. She opened her mouth to say that he didn't need to put on the shirt, and that she felt comfortable in his presence — even without knowing the reason — and that furthermore she didn't need anyone's pity, but changed her mind at the last moment.

"I don't bite, you know," Azriel said over his shoulder, offering only a half-smile to the Valkyrie.

Gwyn wanted to smack herself. She was there, busy enough — standing, observing those dressed backs and concluding that she preferred the previous sight — to remember to move and choose a place to settle.

The priestess took a step forward, eyebrows raised.

"For your luck, Shadowsinger, I don't bite either," Gwyn replied, keeping her tone calm and serious. "Unless if it is absolutely necessary."

Azriel chuckled. Of course Gwyn would have a smart-ass reply ready. Since the day they didn't win an award for completing the qualifying circuit for the Rite, Gwyn was determined to wipe the smug and presumptuous smiles off his and Cassian's faces whenever she could.

And he kind of liked that.

The priestess started humming softly and cheerfully to herself as she prepared a comfortable place to sit on the icy surface. She had brought a cushion and a sheet to line the floor, not wanting to bother the House with it.

Before she could sit, however, a comfortable mat appeared on top of the sheet and more cushions joined the one Gwyn had strategically positioned against the wall. Additionally, there was a pile with a comfortable blanket, scarf, and gloves. Gwyn rolled her eyes.

Seriously? I can do this myself. I'm not a child, you know.

In response, a mug of hot chocolate appeared next to the blanket. Gwyn chuckled quietly and stuck her tongue out at the House. The mug disappeared.

Hey, I was joking. Sorry.

The mug reappeared, along with a plate full of warm cookies, how fragrant. Gwyn smiled. Thank you.

The redhead settled into a cozy position while humming some soft "humming" sounds. She felt a warm breeze caress her cheeks. Gwyn shrugged, stopped vocalizing, and opened the book while whispering to herself that the House was too dramatic.

On the other side, Azriel, who was absolutely tense and with clenched jaw, relaxed. The shadows were incredibly out of control that night. It was true that Gwyn's presence caused some movement among them. Not agitation, but a small... Commotion.

Even a simple breath exercise from the redhead seemed to stir the shadows. However, it was Gwyneth's voice, her laugh in particular, that seemed to be the real call.

And the shadows... They were happy with a mere murmured singing from Gwyn. That was undeniable. But how was that possible? At that very moment, they were spying on her from afar: crazy to dance with her. They only awaited the master's permission, who, to his discontent, kept a firm hand.

Azriel rolled his eyes. He would have to do something about it, and soon. Gwyn laughed, causing the shadows to threaten to approach again. Azriel gave a scathing look to the shadows over his shoulder, to reprimand them.

"Sorry," Gwyn widened her eyes at Azriel and raised the book. "Funny scene."

Azriel tilted his head, wanting to beat himself up. Obviously, Gwyn would think that the unfriendly look was directed at her.

"It wasn't..." Azriel clicked his tongue. How to explain that he wasn't angry with her without sounding like a lunatic? "No problem."

"Okay." Gwyn shrugged and returned her attention to reading. She tried to laugh quietly to herself, with little success. Azriel smiled. At least she was trying. The shadows whispered to him.

Listen. Closer. Approach.

The Illyrian rolled his eyes: No.

The shadows hissed stubbornly: You're such a brat. Listen to us.

Azriel exhaled in response: Leave her alone.

Azriel swallowed a grunt. Should he leave? No, that would seem too rude. Gwyn had already presumed that he wouldn't like her presence there. Leaving would leave her, at the very least, intrigued. And if there was one thing the master spy didn't feel like dealing with right now, it was Gwyneth Berdara's curious and dangerously sharp inquiries.

So he was left with only one thing: ignore.

Ignore. Ignore. And ignore.

[hcfiles]

You may not like it, you may not agree with it, you may not read it and just scroll, jumping to the next page on your feed. It's a free will. But, if you read it and you don't feel, at least, uncomfortable with it, that means you are not, in any way, seeing this circus Henry Cavill put up, with discontentment and awkwardness.

It means everything he has shown you for the last four years is just part of his real life following its normal flow and who he actually is, just a hypocrite. And, bestiality is, now, normalized. It means we lost the capacity to be shocked with lack of honesty and ethics, we lost the capacity to have reasonable thinking. Perhaps, I should start writing fanfics about Henry as a husband and father, who is thrilled with the newborn baby, in the best professional and personal moment of his life.

Oh! But he looks so destroyed and has been in low profile movies! No! I'm wrong! His dropped appearance is due to makeup and filters. Maybe heavy work, or to alcohol he uses as entertainment and relief. And, the low profile movies are because he's the top celeb and wants to help friends in their projects, not to fill in blank periods. He's pretending to be miserable, because he, actually,is in love with Natalie Viscuso, the promiscuous bitch, happy in life, full of joy for his first born child and very pleased with the job his team has done for the past four years to boost his image and career.

You guys have to decide what you really want to believe. Because, if I'm a lunatic, who creates absurd theories and needs to be discredited, it means these four years were all true and this circus is actually, the reality of his life. But if you think I need to be discredited, something about my content may have some base. Because, if just some lunatic, all you need to do is ignore my content, scroll to the next page or block me.

But, you can't. Something about this circus bothers you and it will continue bothering, even if I disappear from Tumblr. My page, somehow, entertains you and gives you hope I might bring some real fact to clarify your doubts. Because, you also see this circus as a mathematical problem that has no solution. When this shenanigan gets to an end - maybe, when they launch a show for teens or of the truth about PRs in Hollywood, having his m*str*ss as the hostess - you might start realizing what these years meant and start understanding how manipulated you were.

But, then, you will be in love with this promiscuous, too and will be watching her show. This, in case there is one. For, my guess is the idea this shit show was initially put up for her, is a misunderstanding. But, beliefs apart, don't give me credit. Continue following pages that promise and bring tea supposedly released by informants close to the couple. Put your faith in fanfics about Henry's girlfriend/lover/wife.

Continue believing Natalie is a bipolar bitch who abuses Henry Cavill even in public. Believe they, initially, put up the circus so she could become a celeb (intention he wasn't aware of when signing this deal). Believe he is happy in love and in life and that he's in the best personal and professional moment of his life, enjoying his newborn baby of 6 to 8 months old. And, mostly, believe he hasn't been boycotted by the industry nor that he's been trapped by someone who wanted to discredit him as a man. And, doubt when I say this shenanigan has to do with someone who got advantage of his ingenuity. He's a smart ass, right?

[kit-williams]

Barn Anon. In my defence, it's not yet Feb. I promise I have a happier one after this one. Wanted to explore the Warp fuckery or rather those that are "immune" to it. :)

You wanted to scream, want to grab your aunt and yell at her that she's crazy. That... thing that she's brought to the family reunion... It doesn't belong here! It's not even human, nor is it a pet like a dog or a cat. Why is everyone so calm? why is everyone smiling? Don't they see how it's armed to the teeth? Don't they see that chainsaw sword thing that it carries around with it? Doesn't anyone notice how it's sharp edges have some dried bloodstains?

You politely excuse yourself and rush out of the house to stand at the back porch. Deep breaths. In. Out. You look out at the single tree that grows at the back, the stars that dot the sky. You manage to come back down from the emotions that threatened to overwhelm you. Laughter creeps out from the house, you see that…thing acting all shy and bashful and you feel like throwing up. Does no one else see that thing for the danger it is? The majority of the world seems to be the same regardless of location or culture. You've seen the pictures and videos of people around the globe with their Space Marines and how everyone else would comment how they wish they had a Space Marine of their own. Just last week your friend was excitedly showing you a video of a guy and his Space Marine summitting some mountain together, with the guy excitedly hugging his Space Marine.

The only comfort you have is that you aren't alone. There's others that see the true danger of these Space Marines. It's a small minority and there are few spaces online that you can talk about it. This small community has a theory that Space Marines must have some form of mind control or that they plan to overthrow humanity. It didn't matter to you if you agreed to those theories, you're just relieved to find others that understand. You know you can't tell your parents, oh god no. They'll think you're crazy or worse, some sort of conspiracy theorist or extremist. You're not crazy! I-It's them that's insane, they're the ones that need help.

You open the chatroom start typing away, venting to like-minded sane individuals. You know you're right. Your family is in danger, they just can't see it yet but you can save them. They'll thank you in the end. You'll find a way to get rid of that Space Marine, somehow.

Thank you for feeding into my weird idea about how it is just a bit of warp fuckery cuz lets be honest no one would just do what the husbandry tag does unless it's some sort of warp fuckery.

Besides I'm always a lover of the Eldritch (Also you cannot tell me as a Catholic that biblically accurate angels aren't some sort of eldritch abominations straight out of Lovecraft just with more fire and feathers motif vs oceanic) and to imply something is just wrong under the surface is my jam

How can people not see that these things aren't normal?!

You do your research finding old and you mean old newspapers from the 20's and there is nothing about Astartes at all. Up until the 40's where suddenly there are pictures of them... some of them being seen in old war videos.

Some theorize that that Nazi Occultism brought them here but they are all beyond our petty conflicts as seen with the futile attempt there was to bring them into the Korean war. They only cared about their "companions". There use to be so much more uproar in papers about them but once the baby boomers were born that's suddenly when everyone was okay with them. Only the people in the Silent Generation and the GI generation were complaining about the Astartes and then suddenly their children or grandchildren were okay with them.

You continue to read as the generations went on... Gen X and Millennials saw the least amount of pushback... Millennials it was considered weird to have the opinion you have now. You run your fingers through your hair looking at the newspaper articles as you now realize that Gen z and Gen Alpha will only grow up with "positive" connotations.

Gone were the idea that only Loyalist astartes were safe to own and then it moved to include renegades and unaligned. You shudder at the thought of your cousin with a Khornite living with them. They're going to die you've tried to warn them but you worry their Astarte might know what's up... they are so much smarter. You pale seeing an old guide about a Blood Angel going into a rage... you shutter at the article.

Your parents are talking about getting one but you managed to convince them that they can get one once you move out. You read the chat and how someone's posted about how a kid was recently abducted by one... or another about how some Gen Alpha kids can even speak their language... and then the theory about bonding that seems to come up when the kids explain their space marine... oh great a wild idea that you get chosen and have no choice in the matter.

You look behind you as you make your way home late trying to desperately avoid the dark alleyways and crossing the road when you see people walking with their Astartes. You've already found out nice communities that don't allow Astartes to live there so you can get away from the madness.