#also i'm glad one of the theories i believed in turned out to be true

[oceanwithinsblog]

oh my .... i've just watched ep8 and i've never screamed so loud and so many times in the span of 40 minutes for a wide number of reasons. WHAT A RIDE I'M SO EMO RN

[whateversawesome]

Spy x Family Chapter 103: Peace and Family

How nice it was to see the Forgers go on an outing again!

A few things to notice...

I'll start with Twiyor hehehe:

This is easily my favorite panel in the chapter. They're getting closer and closer!! Loid sits first, Yor follows. She's not shy about siting next to him. Good for you, Yor! 👏

See how comfortable they are with each other? She has a soft smile and he's not pretending anything; he's just there, existing. By the way, observe their body language: Both of Yor's knees are pointing at her husband, she's also leaning slightly towards him. Twilight, on the other hand, sits at a more neutral position, still it's an open position. Notice how one of his knees is pointing at her too. And their hands are mirroring each other.

It's worth mentioning that Yor is such a good influence on Twilight. This man suffers from anxiety and it's hard for him to turn his brain off and just relax. Yor reminds him of this. She is his peace 😌

And look at Twilight being honest with his wife and admitting something very true about himself (that it's hard for him to stay still). I believe that every time Twilight is honest with Yor, they get closer. In this chapter there wasn't even a fake twiyor moment for this to happen. We're making progress!

Also, did you notice Yor teased Loid?

It is the sacred duty of a wife to tease her husband and call him old every once in a while 🤣 I'm glad Yor is finally fulfilling this fun wifely obligation 😆

All joking aside, it's pretty obvious Yor feels much more comfortable with Loid now. When they are with other people, she still gets nervous, probably because she thinks she could mess up and blow their cover. However, when they are alone, she seems much more relaxed and able to make comments like this that show that she trusts Loid enough to joke with him, to tell him in between lines that she notices things about him (just as he notices everything about her) and that she worries about him too.

Endo is a master of "show, don't tell" and he's been showing us how Twilight and Yor are getting closer little by little. It's in every detail: their body language, the way they talk to each other, the words they use, how they see each other.

Another example in this chapter? Twilight is incapable of saying "no" to his wife hehehe.

Yup, he still has that shoujo filter attached to his eyes when it comes to Yor.

Now that we have overanalyzed Twiyor, it's time for some crazy theories.

This could be important!

Don't you find it funny that each gave a different answer according to their experience?

Yor feels lonely, because she doesn't feel like she's normal enough to belong to society and it's hard for her to make friends.

Twilight got separated from his his herd. His family and friends died and he had to go to a different country, where he is scared and feels in constant danger just like Belle.

AND ANYA?! I'm wondering if this is a clue. I'm wondering if Anya is a missing person, meaning someone is looking for her, whether it's Project Apple or her biological family.

Talking about Project Apple, we seem to get crumbs every once in a while. I believe it's still too early to get an arc that will actually involve Anya and Project Apple together, but we'll know more as the story moves forward. It's a good sign that Project Apple is in Twilight's mind; he has good instincts for this. We may see him or Yor get involved with it in one of their missions before we learn Anya's past. OR either of her parents may discover what Project Apple is really about without knowing one of the test subjects is their own daughter.

Something that Anya has said several times is that her parents are dangerous people. It's easy to forget about this, but it's true. Twilight and Yor are very dangerous, but not for Anya. The day they find out someone hurt their little girl, it'll be a very bad day for all the people who participated in Project Apple.

[pharawee]

I can't believe that all of my theories for The Hidden Moon turned out to be true. Finally! My love for ghost stories is paying off!

Khen and his friends were dead all along, and Mas was the one seeing ghosts. And just by being with Mas Khen is draining him of his life (because he's got to sustain himself somehow).

All that's missing now is the reincarnated lovers ending but it looks like we'll be getting that next week as well.

Also, I didn't expect the scene with Bing and Toh finding their own bodies to hit me this hard. It's not even so much about them holding hands in death*, it's about To grieving for what they were and what they lost (and never got to have in the first place - but I'd like to believe that reincarnation will solve that too 🙏).

*There was something so sad and so human about it, though. It reminded me of Pompeii and the dozens of other places where humans sought shelter in each other in their moment of death.

The only plot twist that kind of surprised me was Kamphuan's ghost actually turning out to be Somphon but in hindsight it makes so much sense, and it was such a sad and bitter and beautiful set of flashbacks. I'm glad they gave them so much screen time.

And I know I've said this about a million times already but I'd really really love to read the novel - for the foreshadowing and symbology alone. I Feel You Linger in the Air was such a beautifully intricate and insightful novel (and so was the series - although lots of Jom's inner voice was of course lost in the transition) and I'm pretty sure that the Hidden Moon novel has a lot of the same ingredients because you can catch glimpses of it in the series too.

I'm not even disappointed anymore in some of the acting and editing choices because 1. I'm sentimental and easy to excite and 2. it's so obvious to me that everyone was really committed to creating the best series they could under the circumstances. And, really, if we listened to all the cynical twitter and mdl comments demanding that only the most perfect and high-budget and mainstream BL productions be made, then this (and a lot of other BLs) wouldn't exist and we'd be missing out on so many interesting and entertaining stories. 🙏

[zu-is-here]

Why does Cross need to sleep on the couch?! What did he do to deserve it?! I mean, specifically! XD

But really, now I'm curious. In your canon, Dream also is aro/ace? (I forgot which one is he in OG, but he got a partner and a child, so points stands--)

I mean, there are people who even having different orientation, stays with someone they are 'not supposed to', and it is pretty clear Cross and Dream likes each other, but is it love? After all, love is upgraded friendship--

Dream is demiromantic ace, canonically and here too! ☆

Actually, Cross did nothing wrong (ówò) He just mistakes Dream's orientation for not wanting to share a bed with him (since for Cross, no attraction meant no love, while Dream loves without it), and asks if he's doomed to sleep on the couch from now on :')

You're right, friendship is important part of love (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) And this part means more to Dream than the other ones <3

Hii! <3 It's alright, I'm happy to explainヽ(´▽｀)

The Peppermint song itself has no clear meaning: it may be either a discord between lovers/spouses or even a cute, humorous conversation instead (since you can hear laughter at the end) (*´∀｀*) You can also find many different theories in the comments there! ☆

In this case, a "peppermint" is what Dream asks for since he doesn't have it and doesn't know about, he's simply curious about it, and Cross can satisfy his curiosity.

But turns out that it's too hot much for Dream, he's not ready, so he spits the candy out (rejects him). That's what may be unexpected and even insulting — a shattered candy is a moment of misunderstanding.

A wrapper with no candy is Dream's asexuality he doesn't know about, and he can't explain himself better (ending up with a "No" pillow), that's what confuses Cross and makes him feel unloved by his own husband ("ó3ò)

So Dream's "I don't know" (not answering) is literal: yes, a peppermint sounded nice, but it tastes bad to me, so why should I like it anyway? It's not your fault, so why are you upset if I still love you?

This story is just the answer to what Dream loves more, and the answer is obvious (⸝⸝´���`⸝⸝) The other question is what he's willing to do for his beloved one, whether he puts the happiness of others above his own like Dream, or chooses himself and his own comfort like Shattered.

There's an open ending here, but I can assure you that there's nothing bad here╰(*´︶`*)╯The pillow says that they will most likely be "punished" to sleep on the couch together XD ;)

It's so nice to hear it, thank you guys a looot! (〃ω〃) I really enjoyed telling through the symbols, these lovebirds deserve to be happy together despite their differences ♡

The interesting thing I learned while working on it is that the type of the ace cards matters as well, so Dream's would be the ace of diamonds *^*

Plus, his flag's colors are really close to Cross' "favorite" ones (monochrome & violet), but it's just a cute coincidence (*´꒳`*)♪

UPD:

OH Gayfish! (*ﾟ∀ﾟ*) Thank you so much for your addition, this is very much appreciated from a true representative of the community *^*

This is Dream's position we speak about, but of course, this is a much wider spectrum, though it wouldn't be possible to touch on them all (ówò)

I'm really glad to know that your enjoyed it! <3 That's right, and that's what Joku told about Dream in the first place, with him not really knowing about all these things yet just feeling like it╰(*´︶`*)╯I believe it wasn't an easy way for them, but they made it ♡

[kaija-rayne-author]

Ugh I can’t not theorize. I’ve been at it non stop. Once a story catches my interest my brain just going into hyper speed trying to figure out how the writers (if they do a good job) will bring all of their themes, hints, etc to fruition. All I’m missing is a cork board, pins, and miles of red string.

What’s super exciting this time is I’m actually dealing with a property where the writers are….good? I’m so used to being disappointed when fan theories (often my own) turn out to be much better than the canon, but I don’t see that happening here. Weekes is clearly a masterful writer and knows how to build up to a satisfying twist.

Because you just know another twist is coming. Solas, despite everything, is just too soft hearted to make a convincing final boss. It couldn’t be more obvious that being The Dreadwolf and putting aside his own conscience takes every ounce of energy he has. Eventually he’ll have his breaking point and that’s when we’ll find out who our true villain is.

It’s Mythal. I’ll eat my damn hat if it isn’t. She’s either not the person Solas remembers, or maybe she never was. In either case, there’s been plenty of clues both in DAI and in subsequent materials (specifically Tevinter Knights) to imply that there’s something else going on here.

We keep seeing imagery of the Dreadwolf as a mutant abomination that is part wolf and part dragon. It’s easy to point to the end credit scene of DAI and say “well yeah he fused with Mythal who is a dragon” and sure it looked that way…but is that actually what happened?

We saw Flemeth part with some form of magical energy before Solas arrived. We also know that she’d taken the soul of Uthemiel from Kieran. Uthemiel happens to be a dragon, or was until he was tainted and became an Archdemon.

Archdemons can control Darkspawn. And taking a Darkspawn army past the Veil to enact vengeance upon the Evanuris sees like something Flemeth would do. But that doesn’t seem like something Solas would want. His agenda has always been to fix his past mistakes and tear down the Veil for the greater good. He doesn’t seem that fond of Darkspawn, in fact he was pretty pissed at the Wardens for screwing around with them.

Where I’m going with this, is I think it’s entirely possible Solas is being used. He may have unwittingly fused himself with an Archdemon, assuming it was the essence of Mythal. The real plan, now that plan A failed, might be turning him into an Archdemon so Flemeth/Mythal can use him to start another blight and wield the darkspawn. Corypheus managed to mind control an Archdemon, so clearly it can be done.

And if that’s the case, then ooooooh boy.

Poor Solas.

OMG. I missed this one and I'm so glad I finally found it!

What a fascinating idea. Holy shitballs.

Okay, so I just restarted DAO, I'll be on the lookout through these playthroughs (I'm doing DA2 next, then probably DAI again, because I'm an utter sucker for lore) for hints about all that!

I thought the whole point of the dark ritual w/Morrigan was to purify Urthemiel's 'soul' through being born as an innocent child. But what if that didn't work?

But then, wouldn't Kieran have shown signs of taint? Hmmm. Maybe not, given it's just the soul?

I'm still not convinced that Flemythal parted with any kind of energy in that scene. BUT if she did... well, she's pulled the whole 'soul piece recovery schtick' before. So if it was energy or a soul, it could've been hers. Leaving just Urthemiel. Which would very possibly warp Solas into a dragon/wolf thing. And Mythal is very used to Solas going along with what she wants. So it feels like something she wouldn't think twice about. She uses Morrigan too, and Kieran, so it’s definitely something she's used to doing.

I have a strong feeling Solas is indeed being used. And has been since he was 'born' from the fade. There's a lot of hints to his resignation, nay, even belief that it's right that Mythal used him. (This is... common, in abuse survivors, FWIW.)

But I believe it's canon that his forehead scar came from when he burnt off Mythal's Vallaslin? I have to see if I can find that again. I can't remember where I read it.

I think Mythal will be rather unpleasantly surprised in the spine Solas has developed since her 'murder'. He doesn't seem at all likely to me to be all 'hey! My enslaver is back! Let me just get my slave brands again'. Now, if he were still truly alone, he might just cave into it because man, does Solas have some pretty massive Mythal issues. Not sure if he regards her as his mom or something else or a mix of things, urk.

BUT he's not actually truly alone anymore is he? No matter how hard he tries to be. A Romanced Lavellan can tell him "Var lath vir suledin" which translates sorta, into "Our - love - way/path - endure/strength to withstand loss."

So he knows he's not alone. That inky will absolutely go to the mat for him. He has actual friends, too. He said Bull has him, if you don't betray Bull w/the Chargers. Solas doesn't strike me as someone to say that lightly.

So, he also knows he has friends, too.

I think, if Mythal actually is the big bad (kinda hoping for this tbh) she's gonna have a rather rude awakening when it comes to Solas. Who, from all I can tell, has always willingly served her whims. Because she was 'the best of them' doesn't mean she was actually good.

I talked about how he's heavily neurodivergent coded before, and we're generally loyal to a fault, which Solas very much shows.

But we do also often, eventually, reach a 'no more' point. After which, we'll absolutely close all those doors we'd previously left open.

If Solas acts the way I suspect he might, he'd then use everything he knows about Mythal and the Evanuris to help the game protag (I still wish I could just carry my inky over) defeat the buggers.

But what would it take for him to finally reach that point with Mythal? Mommy issues are soooo hard to deal with in therapy because it's so damned easy to backslide.

Hurting Inky? Doing something that will destroy the fade (like marching a darkspawn army into it)? Making him betray all of his followers who truly believe in him and his goals of freeing enslaved elves?

Solas deeply believes that slavery is wrong. In a way that makes me think he was actually enslaved at one point. Obviously to Mythal.

Oh, fuck me. What an amazing story they could tell about the whole 'but there were good slave owners' bullshit nonsense some people like to spout.

Of course, I still really wish Bioware would tell a story with a disabled protag. Which the end of Inquisition really would set up nicely. But given their shit disability rep, I know not to hold my breath over that.

[finisnihil]

god, I love your luocha posts.

I know, and I KNOW that hyv thinks that i would get luocha off my mind if they released a whole new planet n new quests...but it's not true. I'm so intrigued by that man and deep down I pray he doesn't turn out like otto. I love otto's character by all means, but at the same time I hope he's not just a rip-off, the story would be too repetitive. his relationship with the one in his coffin isn't exactly a close bond, his signature lightcone story confirms it, but the way the coffin responds to his caresses quite raises questions for me. he also made a "deal" about the coffin with someone, most likely in exchange of something, perhaps true immortality without the consequence of mara...or, even better, a cure for an illness. considering that his name isn't actually "luocha", and his name as we know it is only used by him inside of the xianzhou, it translates to "rakshasa/raksha" just like ggz otto's on his trip to the shenzhou. as far as I'm aware, the name raksha was given to otto by the characters because they weren't very familiar with europeans (?), correct me if I'm wrong. so, luocha might have some sort of illness, perhaps he's an emanator or a demon (reference to christianity perhaps) since the translation of his name "rakshasa" is a flesh eating demon from buddhist mythology.

jingliu said that they plan to "put the abundance in their grave" and i believe luocha's coffin plays a role in this. however, there's surely something alive inside his coffin already, which contradicts my theory.

personally, just like you said in your previous posts about that one relic set "knight of purity peace" or something similar if I'm not mistaken, he has ties to christianity, just like sunday, except that aspect of sunday isn't very subtle. I believe luocha might be motivated to achieve his goal of ending yaoshi by the destruction of his home planet. honestly, I hope it isn't like this, there are already characters driven by the desire of getting revenge, like nanook.

I'll be very glad if you responded to this, I want to know your opinion. I'm desperate to learn more about him, absolutely desperate. I may not know his lore, but I know for a reason that we luocha lovers share one braincell.

HELLO HI I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!

First off I also hope he isn’t just Otto 2.0. I’ve said it before but I personally think what makes Luocha stand out to me is that he doesn’t seem to have as many strong ties to Kallen and as such so much of his character isn’t reliant on her. I really hope this is maintained because I like him and the independent traits he exhibits. He’s sus, yes, but he also goes out of his way to be kind in small ways with no intention of being repaid or recognized. Everyone calls him a villain because he’s an Otto Expy which I don’t care for because yes he is presented as possibly antagonistic but he isn’t villainous. Most of the other Expy’s got deviating characterizations and fates without compromising their foundational traits, I hope he does too.

Second off I don’t play HI3 but I know a little lore from research and I know Otto’s wiki noted that when he was a child he was kinda under house arrest because he was really sickly and his first meeting with Kallen was because she kinda climbed over the wall of the estate’s yard while he was being belittled by his brother for being outside instead of in bed resting and for being “weakly” and “fragile”. He does have an interest in immortality but we also see him condemn it somewhat because he has voicelines like this:

His stance on immortality is a bit murky but yeah.

Anyways onto analysis because bestie you have asked the question I’ve been hoping somebody would. Luocha definitely has a bunch of Christian allusions and symbolism and it leads me to believe he’s an Emanator. One of my first posts on this site was the theory that he’s an Emanator and I’ve yet to make a post fully analyzing his allusions BUT he has a ton and what’s most specific is that he has Jesus allusions. For example, one of his Eidolons is a literal reference to the crown of thorns. He uses his rosary to heal implying a connection to a higher power is where he gets this power which he confirms. Yaoshi hates death, pain, and suffering and Luocha emphasizes he isn’t a fighter even though he can hold his own. Even his sword shows it, it’s an Épée, a kind only really good for small-scale conflicts as it’s primarily used for fencing. The artifact set I noted might be connected to him also fuels this.

If you asked me I suspect he grew up in a church setting like Otto did but instead of everything in HI3 happening again, the church caught the attention of Yaoshi. Yaoshi’s blessing brought Mara as it does and in the process Yaoshi took a liking to Luocha, probably due to his sickly nature as Yaoshi hates suffering. The Maiden and her knight destroyed everything to stop the spread and Luocha was forced to watch as a final witness, no longer having a home and doomed to be hunted like his god who brought devastation through salvation. Of course I have more in-depth thoughts but that’s for a post.

As for who’s in the coffin… I’ve actually spent hours collecting everything we know about the coffin entity and I plan to make that a post too lol I have a lot of posts I need to make but! You’re right! A lot of people keep saying it’s the Stellaron, Kallen, etc but none of those things align with what information we have about it. Mihoyo’s done a good job of keeping it under wraps and I’m excited to see what it is. Whatever it is, Luocha is delivering it for somebody else and he intends to take it straight to the Ten Lords. I suspect it may be another entity of the Abundance like Shuhu, but I don’t think it’s Yaoshi. Whoever it is, they are able to kill Yaoshi or be used for it.

I also believe Luocha is the one stabilizing Jingliu’s Mara like how Kafka stabilizes Blade’s but I’m pretty sure that’s basically canon.

Anyways thank you for the ask!!!! I love Luocha dearly and I’m currently trying to get as many Eidolons as I can so the brainrot is strong. Rest assured I have more Luocha analysis for the future rattling around.

[callmegaith]

I'm glad it seems you're still into rusty lake because idk who else to dump all my theories on.

I went through your theory tag and I have to admit I'm now a firm believer that the twist will be that David never killed Dale's parents and it was all manipulation by Mr. Owl. If you think about it, it makes sense. We know from the past within that both Dale and Laura survived Paradox and are going up the elevator (presumably to start the ceremony for the day of the lake)

The Cave is a very important game to this theory, me thinks.

Paradox was all in Dale's head while he was strapped down to the memory machine we saw him in, in The Cave. What if David was there to stop Dale from going forward with the ceremony? Isn't it likely? We see the fisherman who looks oddly like David on a boat during the Cave (again, same time as Paradox takes place) so David would be on the scene. As you also mentioned, it could be that David is the one who left the letter to Dale about not drinking the vial, since it was signed "D." And the one person referred to as D. During paradox IS David.

This wouldn't be the first time we see David being a rebel and conducting his own schemes, right?

What if David is there to sabotage the day of the lake? Ruin things for Mr. Owl as he did in Hotel by escaping?

What if David is actually the good guy?

I think Mr. Owl and Mr. Crow manipulated both Laura and Dale so they could use them to create the golden cube. They fed Dale the memories that would get them the best results for making the cube. For all we know, Birthday might have never even really happened, or if it did, we don't know the real version of it (again, as you mentioned. Both recouns of Birthday are through Dale's already screwed up and made up memories, one having Mr. Crow in it as Dale's "grandpa" and one in Paradox. Both have contradicting information such as Grandpa not being in the Paradox retelling (I believe because he was never there to begin with) and one where it says Dale was 11 and not 9 like the original game) I don't think that was a mistake. I think that was deliberate by the developers to let us know that Dale's memories can't be trusted. The fact is, we don't know what happened in Birthday. For all we know it could have been Harvey who killed Dale's parents and Mr. Owl just changed replaced Harvey with Mr. Rabbit in Dale's memories.

So I'm gonna put down my bet right now and say that David is innocent and he's being framed!

PLEASE DONT GET MY HOPES UP IM FRAGILE AND ILL BREAK EASILY

FR THE FISHERMAN

He wears the same hat as David as well as the same suit as Mr. Rabbit he seems to be covering his face, or at least, won't show it to Crow probably cuz Mr. Crow would obviously recognize him so he keeps his back turned the whole time. Same as Mr. Rabbit who is one of the only characters we never see unmasked

We know Jakob, we know Aldous, we even see Elizabeth. But David is never revealed to us which I always found interesting and it really makes me wanna believe cuz yea, the twist is gonna be that it isn't David who killed Dale's parents. As another anon pointed out, after Mr. Rabbit '""dies""" you see Harvey on the tree could be nothing. Could be a hint. Who fuckin knows.

Totally forgot about the whole golden cube thing so thanks for bringing it up. Wish we had more information about what the golden cube actually is.

I wouldn't go as far to say as David is the good guy, I don't think Rusty Lake is a game that has "good" guys and "bad" guys. Just people with their own plans and motives trying to achieve said plans through any means.

If all this is true we still don't know why they decided to frame David? Could be cuz he always gets in the way of their plans and LISTEN---

REBEL DAVID IS SOMETHING IM VERY INTO OKAY? DONT PLAY AROUND WITH ME WITH THAT IDEA CUZ THE THOUGHT THAT HE COULD BE GOING AGAINST THE LAKE AND ITS PLANS AND THATS WHY HES DENIED RESURRECTION AND AND AND JUST... FBLAKCKSCHALXKS I LOVE IT, OKAY?! HELL YA, DAVID! YOU GO BE A LIL REBEL

But yeah, generally I agree. We don't know how birthday REALLY went down and what the twist is gonna be but I just know there's gonna be some twist to it

It's so funny yesterday I was talking to my friends about how I feel like the presence of the fisherman+the warning signed D. Seems like very vague hints that David is on his own journey in the background and that he might still have some more tricks up his sleeve but since nothing is concrete and it's all just "what if" and "maybe" I really don't wanna get my hopes up but I think it would be such a cool twist 😭😭😭

Also anon, I'm always into RL. Please feel free to write to me any time 🥰 even if it seems like I'm doing other things or focusing on other stuff, RL is the one brainrot I have that never goes away and I'm always happy to talk about it

[gillianthecat]

Kind of Like Liveblogging: Pit Babe

* Thank you for listening to me, Pit Babe, and giving at least a hint of Charlie and Babe conspiring. I still have no idea what their plot is, but I feel more confident we'll find out in a timely manner (and what little they say could arguably fit my revenge-on-Tony theory).

* Pete & Way!! I'm so excited.

* yes. This interaction was so good. So sexy. I love all of Way's smiles, including his melancholy ones. I love how they hardly even look at each other. I feel like good scenes of hitting on someone in bars are rare in BL. I like how grown up this one feels. (Subtitles were slightly confusing though, was Pete trying to imply that he was or that he wasn't hitting on Way?) I can't wait to see where these two go.

* Oh there's more of them!

* Oh, I am all in on PeteWay. That's it, cancel everything else, I just want to follow their story. I was excited about this pairing, but I didn't expect it to be this good. The way Pete just looks at him. They way he leaned his head on the sofa as Way clutched at his hand. The note! "If you need a drinking buddy..." This is melancholy and grownup in a way that is catnip for me. And the actors are adult enough to handle it.

* Kim! *happy little wiggle dance* So far this episode is tailer-made for me. He's so effortlessly powerful. Winner keeps getting brattier and brattier, hoping each time he can finally push Kim into holding him down and fucking him into submission.

* Plot tidbits revealed. I guess Tony is trying to kidnap or otherwise possess Babe so he can sell him to someone? I'm assuming for his special alpha senses? And it looks like he just fired Kim, although the subtitles were confusing.

* Someone in the tags mentioned a possible KimKenta pairing and god I hope we get it. When Tony mentioned punishing Kenta I had a beautiful vision of him whipping Kenta in front of Ken, setting off their omegaverse darkfic journey to love and healing through BDSM.

* Omg, it's the second coming of Kimlock Holmes! Bless.

* This show is starting to give me answers. It's like they read my wishlist. So Charlie is another of Tony's kids (as I guessed), Tony raises them to sell (not surprising), Charlie keeps secrets from Tony about Jeff (good, and could fit my theory). And that's all we learn cause Babe is too busy yelling and Charlie too busy gaping like a fish. Babe's reaction makes sense for the character, but since I already knew I want to move on and get some more information about the why of it all.

* But also Babe you are kinda dumb and have to get better at subterfuge. And uh oh, Tony sees them.

* And now a toothpaste commercial :-/ The product placement is often jarring. At least it's mainly a chance to stare at Way.

* Oh Babe, I'm so sorry. I think I find him the least interesting character, just because he's the most transparent and obvious about who he is and what he wants, but I sympathize with his heartbreak. You finally fell in love and it turns out (it seems like) it was all fake.

* Way used his special persuasive powers again, looking heartbroken and ambivalent about it all. It seems like he can't tolerate the man he loves hurting, and will resort to mind control to "fix" the feeling bad, instead of just holding his pain with him. Nut is really conveying that he believes he's helping Babe by manipulating his mind.

* When Babe grabbed Way's hand I was really expecting a rebound hookup that would simultaneously make Way's wildest dreams come true and ruin his life. And Babe's life too. At least for a few episodes. (But also it would be extremely hot.)

* I'm glad that now Charlie's secret is out we'll get to see more of his real self, whoever that is. Less creepy smiling for now (of which I approve).

* I'm not sure what I think of the use of the these distorting wide angle lenses. Part of it is I can't always tell if they're an artistic choice or just a practical solution to filming in close spaces. But they're also using lots of hand held camerawork and Dutch angles to create moods, so maybe it's intentional.

* The parallels to Pete and Way in the same exact positions on this sofa, with Way now in Pete's spot, looking at the beautiful, heartbroken boy!

* And now Charlie reveals what his plot had been! Apparently he found out that this unknown Alpha was in danger and decided to insinuate himself into his life in order to be a sort of bodyguard, and then genuinely falling in love with him. Which is fine, that's good, it fits all of Charlie's actions we've seen before, and makes their love story as easy as possible. It's minimum levels of betrayal. But it's kinda boring, no? It turns Charlie into a player in Babe's life, without his own goals. I would have preferred my theory of Charlie using Babe to somehow get revenge on Tony. It would make Charlie and his love much richer and more complicated.

* Unless of course Charlie is lying again about his intentions but I really don't think so. It's not that sort of show (I'm pretty sure), and I don't think think their relationship could survive that.

* Along with that reveal we also get more Tony's Alpha Farm lore. A breeding program! Details about enigmas that get confused by the subtitles. (I'm still unclear whether Babe or the enigma would be the one getting mpregnant. And since this is the mpreg racing car BL, that is the most crucial detail of all.) Alphas whose powers never develop, left abandoned in solitary confinement. And we finally learn Charlie's special skill, or rather that he doesn't have one. (Although I would not be at all surprised to find he develops a power just in time to save Babe from Tony in the big climactic showdown.)

* Who is the enigma Tony wants to breed with Babe? Is it someone we know (Winner perhaps? or Jeff? Jeff would make the most sense, for the emotionality and drama) or someone irrelevant offstage. I've decided my money is on Jeff.

* I'm not entirely clear why Tony didn't just kidnap Babe already. His airbnb mansion seems to have minimal security. I'm also unclear on what Charlie thought his presence was doing in terms of protection but either the answers will be revealed in time (I'm not holding my breath) or it's because It Makes the Plot Go (I'll accept it).

* Hmm, and Kenta is (almost definitely) lying to Tony about Charlie. That's good, I like Kenta (and still dream of KimKenta).

* So what's Way's deal? Is he also a runaway from Tony, or did he develop his powers on his own? I don't remember hearing anything either way. (I just had a horrible thought—what if he's Tony's mole and manipulating Babe because of that. But it doesn't fit the evidence so far so I'm hopeful this thought is wrong.)

* Ooohhhhhh. Charlie does have a secret special power after all, and it's Absorption, and he absorbed Babe's heightened senses through all that touching they did. (I appreciate the sex scene montage to remind us about all the touching they did.) AND the only way to transfer the power back is for Charlie to die! "I'm willing to die for you if you want, Babe," he claims! This is a complicated enough twist to satisfy me. Did Charlie do it on purpose? Did he know it was happening? He definitely never tried to stop touching Babe. Does he feel guilty? He doesn't look like he feels guilty. Is he really telling the complete truth? Is he evil after all, even if he's not working for Tony? Maybe he really is the Talented Mr. Ripley. I am Intrigued.

* I was worried when Charlie first arrived and was pleading for Babe's forgiveness, that his old submissive persona wasn't just a persona but who he actually was. Boring. But I should know by now to trust the show more about these sort of things. As soon as Babe accepted him, and settled enough to listen. Dominant Charlie came out, and submissive Babe fell right into line, without even realizing it. The casual authority in the way he told Babe to give him the whiskey glass, and Babe's instant compliance. Delicious. This is so obviously what their dynamic naturally is, and I'm glad the show isn't pretending otherwise.

* And the man who has staked his whole identity on being champion has lost the special powers that got him there. He says he doesn't need them, he can do without, but can he? Some beautiful angst is coming my way.

* The way Charlie slides his arms around Babe's waist is so... just slightly disturbing and I love it. I guess now that he's won he's rewarding(?) Babe by pretending to be all cute and submissive again, but you can't fool me, Charlie Dom.

* I do believe that Charlie genuinely loves Babe. Just that there are a lot of other things going on.

* Oh 😢 I got distracted and forgot about way, and now he's showing up to his dinner with Babe with red roses looking so hopeful. Oh sweetheart.

* Babe riding Charlie in his tiny convertible -> hot.

* But he forgot all about Way, who sat at that table with his roses for hours. The heartbreak on his face at Babe's text. You know what you need, Way? A drinking buddy.

* Of course Alan is the first one to say, we need to bring this evil man to justice and save all the kidnapped children. I love you Alan, you beautiful, kind hearted leader.

* Mostly the bad subtitles are annoying but inconsequential, but WHAT IS BABE SAYING ABOUT KIM?! Does he thing Kim is a danger to him and his crew, or does he think Kim is in danger from Tony? Because it makes a difference. I had assumed Babe realized Kim was on their side, but the translation is off and sometimes Babe's an idiot.

* Dumb and dumber are so oblivious. Who in their garage thinks Tony's a kindhearted guy? I thought they all hated him already. That was weird. (When are these two going to finally hook up? My bet is in the last half of the final episode, right before the coda with the main couples.)

* And as we all knew, it was Kim in danger from Tony. I had seen this screenshot in a post tagged Kim and Kenta, but I didn't look closely, and in my previous imaginings I was picturing Kenta as the one on his knees. But a captured Kim makes more sense plot wise. Kenta holds a knife to a kneeling Kim's throat, which is our second breadcrumb of the day, but this one has some weight to it. (And is delicious, though obviously in their actual dynamic Kim will be the dom. But this is a good starting point :-))

* And it ends! Noooo. I want to know what's next. Way needs to find his beautiful drinking buddy again!

* I'm not going to watch the previews because I like seeing each moment unfold as the happen. Although I'll probably end up spoiled by tumblr anyway. But I'm doing my best to minimize it.

* I like how this show devotes several scenes at a time to each relationship or event, rather than cutting back and forth between characters.

* Well that's it. I've officially fallen for this show. Especially now that all sorts of interesting things are getting revealed and complicated. I am actually a reader of omegaverse fanfic, because I love how the good ones explore gender roles and power dynamics in fascinating ways. And I think this show is doing at least a little of that.

* Oh no, we haven't seen Jeff since the opening scene! I'm worried about him. I think it's only been two and a half days in universe, but I feel like every other episode we got more of Jeff which is making me suspicious that something happened to him. He gave his ambiguous warning and then disappeared. Stay safe, Alan's nu.

[anyoldfandom]

Why are you anti-Israel as a Jew? genuine question, I'm just curious as a non-Jewish person bc all my irl Jewish friends are pro-Israel

Okay so normally I don't really,,check my inbox so sorry for the late response anon, but thank you for the genuine curiosity! I'm glad you're coming to the table with an open mind.

I am going to put a disclaimer here, however: Jewish people are not the only people impacted by Israel's actions. We're not even the most impacted. I am going to give my perspective because it was asked for, but my biggest suggestion is to listen to Palestinian voices the most before you draw any conclusions, as they are the real victims in the center of Israel's actions.

As for my opinion, however - quite frankly, my dislike of the Israeli state comes from a few places. Yes, it is true that Jewish people lived in Israel in the past, and yes, it is a holy land - but I genuinely do not believe that the Israeli government has Jewish interests in heart. The common narrative that I've heard in a lot of spaces is that Israel is a safe place should the world turn against us again, but quite frankly...it's unrealistic. Not every Jew in the world can move to Israel. Only the wealthy Jews (and I can tell you, many Jews are not wealthy at all) would be able to flee, and the rest of us would be stuck where we are.

And that would be if Israel was not already filled with Palestinians. A phrase I and other Jews have used is "Not in our name".

The Israeli state is breaking international laws - yes, Hamas has also been condemned for breaking international laws, but the Israeli government is also a state. It is a government. A government that has a history of committing genocide - so much that South Africa is trying to sue them for war crimes.

And, to be frank, and I will admit my language is about to be very harsh - please know my anger is directed at the Israeli government, anon, and not you - but I do not want a fucking genocide in my name. I do not want other peoples to suffer because my people have in the past - Israel is not the answer, fighting real, actual antisemitism is. Making the entire world safe is the answer. I also hate that the government is claiming any criticism of Israel is antisemitic - I've spoken out against antisemitism in the past, consistently. I've written in concerns that people will use criticism of Israel in a way where they simply attack Jewish people, which is absolutely antisemitism, but holding a state responsible for their actions is not bigotry.

And, one more point - I do not think the allies of Israel are the allies of Jews. I can only speak as a US citizen, and not for any other country - but I do not, and have never, believed that my country is an ally of the Jewish people. I am constantly hearing antisemitic conspiracy theories being spread by politicians, and I heard the president claim that Israel would be the only safe place for Jews - supporting another genocidal country over the citizens he's supposed to be protecting, by suggesting the only place we will be safe is far away from America.

So, I don't support Israel. I don't support the murder of innocent Palestinians, the killing of journalists and children. I don't support the removal of people from their homes - and I'm frankly disgusted at those who would imply that I must run from my own home to be safe, because they refuse to be the change to keep my people safe.

I hope I explained my position well, anon. I really appreciate it when people, especially people not in the groups centered in a conversation, try to speak to both sides to at least understand all of the issue - though, don't just listen to me. As I said at the beginning, listen to Palestinian voices, as well - listen to the people living through these horrors. While Jews are centered in the conversation, it's important to remember that there are other victims here, who deserve to be listened to a whole hell of a lot more than me.

[triphimi]

So a lot of people really dislike Dittophobia for messing with their theories. So let me tell you all the things that Dittophobia actually confirmed for my theories.

1. Fnaf SL happened after fnaf 1. The book pretty much confirmed my timeline of games order which I'm happy about since there was really not a lot of evidence for either side and I'm glad we finally have an answer for that.

2. Experiment theory. Self explanatory. Even though it was pretty known a lot of people still belived we play as CC in a coma (and I wad really surprised by how many since I haven't seen that theory being popular since the logbook came out)

3. Nightmare animatronics weren't real or at least not in their in game forms. Among experiment theory believers there were still arguments whenever nightmare animatronics were actually real. My theory was that yes but no. In short there was something either plushies or mannequins (which actually turned out to be correct!) That were moved around and the whole illusion was made with factor of darkness. Well that is true however I never really considered the whole nightmare gas thing so I'd say I was like 80% correct on that one.

4. William was already a killer before CC died. I've even had a post about how I think MCI happened in 1983 bc there's already rumors about haunted robots while CC is still alive. And people are mad about that one because it supposedly "ruins his motivation" which for them was death of his son but I always found that theory unbelievably stupid. William's motivation isn't really covered in games. Sure he wanted to experiment on fear and agony. But the most motivation on why he would do this is in book trilogy where after killing Charlie he's scared of what awaits him in the afterlife so he tries to find the key to immortality. And it doesn't have to be the exact same reason in games since the trilogy is different continuity from games. However I could see that be the case but it's just speculations.

5. Since Fredbear plush is just William talking through it finally is a nail in the coffin for "William was actually a good father and wanted to protect his family" theory. I've also had and entire post about why I don't think he was a good father before Dittophobia came out just based on games so no trilogy evidence there. I honestly don't know why would someone think that William wasn't all that bad and why would he be somehow redeemable.

6. There were maaaaaany victims. Yeah William is a psychopath and a serial killer. People are still to this day arguing whenever toy animatronics are haunted and some say he only killed 6 children. So it makes so much sense to me that there were many victims beside them and even more beside toy animatronics kids bc William was monster who would do anything for his own gain. "He always comes back" but not just from the dead but to commit another murder.

So yeah these were the things that I've already belived before Dittophobia came out and said book just confirmed them. Did it confirm literally every and each one of my theories? No, like 70% of them. But am I gonna claim other 30% that were disproved are a retcon because I'm never wrong? No lmao and I don't get why people are like that since all the things I listed above are conclusions to which I came to some years ago (most recent being probably Midnight Motorist one). So it was possible to form these theories without Dittophobia and yes I'm happy we finally have fnaf 4 explained and I still would be even if it disproved all of my theories as long as we have a consistent story.

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

First thoughts from just one watch under shitty circumstances with bad internet and worse sound:

RAMBLING FRANK vs RUSSIA THOUGHTS

I was very worried about this episode with how sacred the S5 DENNIS System episode is to us all. Didn't want a Thunder Gun 4 situation on our hands and thankfully they avoided it so hard! I think having the plot with Charlie, Frank, the mums, Uncle Jack and chess really helped out to make it feel more than a direct sequel.

SINNED -> DENNIS -> SINNED -> DENNIS — I'm so impressed with this. How did I, a wholeass Sunny fan, miss this for so long?! Three cheers to whoever came up with that inversion, really! Definitely something that happened in the writer's room and made everyone lose their shit for sure. I wonder who it was, could be Meg or another writer too, given how collaborative they all are!

And can I just say, Dennis the Restaurant Manager... oh how I love you so much! The Waitress is Getting Married is a personal favourite of mine and I wasn't expecting a bit of a redux of that whole situation.

I was so worried about all the "Mac getting a boyfriend and it being Ryan Reynolds" theories and I absolutely wanted none of that. Everyone had speculated it to death and it wouldn't have been fun anymore (not to mention I do not care for RR in my Sunny, I'm sure he's fine, but I don't need his and Rob's PR relationship filtering through into my dickandball show no I don't "find them cute" and I won't elaborate here anymore).

I know we'd guessed that Johnny could've been Dennis catfishing Mac, but it definitely felt like we were doing an Insane Fan Speculation more than anything — and for it to turn out to be correct! And in the best way, because we never could've seen the vibrating anal beads coming!! That's the best kind of "called it but it's still unpredictable".

It really broke my mind, this episode did. And don't even get me started on the Macdennis and queer Dennis of it all! As a longtime believer in Bisexual Dennis, I won so hard! All of us Queer Dennis Truthers won so fucking hard!

[Unpopular Take incoming] This is the first Sunny episode credited to Meg for writing that has felt so wholly "Classic Sunny" and super fuckin hilarious to me. I always appreciated her understanding of the characters and she's always a very solid writer, but this is the first time where I felt myself thinking ok, you she write RCG/Hornsby/Marder-Rosell/Chernins-level of an insane chaotic Sunny episode with multiple belly laughs and not just slightly Community-fied versions of the gang.

The closest her writing has felt like true Sunny to me before this was Dee Day, so I'm glad to see her grow and improve too, and I wonder if the podcast rewatch has helped in that regard! Must also help to have a classic S5 structure to play off in The D.E.N.N.I.S. System! (And ofc writing is collaborative, so well done to RCG and all the writers who pitched ideas and rewrites that ended up shaping this episode!)

I knew Heath Cullens directing meant a good chance of some interesting camerawork (and I've gotta say that even The Gang Inflates had some more dynamic shots than we've been getting in some of the later years and it's got to be the Cullens directing), but I wasn't expecting a whole visual callback to Being Frank! Loved it.

And the editing! The DENNIS System has always been great for cutaway gags and fun little inserts, so I loved seeing that carried out here with the cuts to Mac and Dee fucking up their dates and then finally pulling out the Magic Tissue of Mummy Issues (oh the potential for meta especially with the twins!). The pacing was so good!

Sunny pacing needs to feel like Mac crashing Dee's car into a wall while we are all Charlie watching it in real time and screaming when it's over.

Random strings of words because I'm too excited to be coherent:

Glenn's acting. His faces. His eyes. His range in this episode. Glacting. Juilliard. All the hits. All the big ones.

Mac and Dennis have canonically had sex in two different ways now, and yes, I'm including their sex tape/porn viewing sessions where they both masturbate together

Did Dennis pull out Mac's anal beads when he was asleep?

Vibrating fucking anal beads what the ACTUAL FUCK!

How many people did the gang drug again?

Danny DeVito with a vibrating asshole comedy acting 12/10 he's an international treasure for a reason

Dee stealing people's phones she's so stupid and bad at men. Never change Dee.

Uncle Jack though, pls change plz, I'm an IASIP loving degenerate so I laughed in horror at his creepiness ofc as I have since 1x7 but fucking hell man, can he be in his jail era already! Poor Charlie!

Hey, Charlie's got new America's just as we were promised on the pod

Oh I should make a post about everything we saw in this episode and that episode of the pod where they gave us all those hints, especially Meg talking about struggling with this cold open — added to the never-ending list of drafts and posts that will hopefully one day make it onto the blog yeah I'm lying to myself now

Parental issues everywhere this season, especially with the mums. Reynolds kids, I can't wait to lovingly put you under my microscope. Once I've rewatched this episode with good sound.

Also just in general, the SINNED system just says SO much about our babygirl's psychology, does it not? Why did so much of it sound like self-insert speeches, like he's been doing this to Mac or smt? Don't even talk to me about The Gang Chokes!

What does r/iasip have to say about— no, I'm in my happy place, I'm not even gonna go there.

Mrs Mac and Mrs Kelly watching TV together like that, they really are lesbian life partners.

Dennis blue shirt with top-stick between those buttons, my beloved. I am looking, respectfully.

And can we talk about the "opening the ketchup bottle" scene? We have to take about that scene! Dennis... he's ruining me... need to gnaw on him and suck on his fingers wait I'm browning out...

Sidenote: I love whenever the show references news stories which were super fucking big at a very specific time in a very specific niche, especially with my whole family being so chess-obsessed. The cheating scandals and anal bead… never thought I'd see a Sunny crossover but can't say I'm not loving the shit out of it!

[nightswithkookmin]

The belief that tae and Jungkook could be together romantically is always something I found hilarious, esp when the narrative that jungkook broke up with Jimin and is now dating tae. It doesn’t add up simply because tae and koo are so adamant on not even shipping themselves with each other.

If Jungkook or Jimin ever broke up I doubt either one of them could date another member, let alone anyone for a long time. I love tae and kook’s friendship and we see how they’re both working on mending that, and this narrative that they’re dating simply because they’re spending time together is wild because we praise jimin for being a good friend and devoting time to those whom he loves and strengthening his friendships, but we can’t praise Tae for doing the same thing without there being that insecurity that tae and koo hanging out means they’re dating 🙃.

Even if jikook are going through a rough patch of whatever I highly doubt Jungkook would turn to tae for anything more than emotional support.

Also, goldy did you get the anchor for the minimoni ship, I got the sails and the motor!. The jikook captains have suddenly stopped steering and are nowhere in sight lol 🙃

Imagine that.

Jimin is allowed to have a soulmate in Tae but God forbid Jungkook has a partner in crime in Tae- even though they knew eachother first.

Glad to see them in a place that if I wasn't so petty I would describe as resembling a healthy dynamic.

It's been a conscious effort on both part to heal and nurture their bond- something that I feel was very necessary giving how the band was coming to- wherever they are now.

Would have been nasty messy to leave things the way that it was, in the state that it was. Sope Season one was everything we theorized it was wasn't it- a moment of healing the cracks.

And just as JM had been instrumental in brokering that peace and facilitating that heart to heart conversation, I believe he's been very much instrumental in whatever dynamic we see play out.

It's what any decent human being would do.

I mean, I think I mentioned a couple times how i felt the band and members had failed Tae- Kook as it seemed none had intervened to mitigate the break down of their relationship and had just stood there and watched their relationship decend down the firery steps of hell.

I'm always of the view- just because two people don't interact don't mean there's something wrong with their relationship.

For Jikook, other than a few moments of pettiness and passive aggressiveness on both sides, I dont think there relationship on a path to the level of breakdown we saw with Tuktuk.

A prevailing theory among tuktukkers during the times their ship was going through droughts was that Tuktuk were dating and were hiding their relationship thus chose not to interact with eachother.

Of course I and many others thought that was BS because Kpop has always been the best place to hide any relationship due to the prevalence of fan service.

Two gay men walking hand in hand down the streets is unacceptable. Two gay idols walking hand in hand down the street is fanservice.

How many times have Jikook or even tuktuk used Army as an excuse for taking private pictures?

It's asinine thus for anyone to claim kpop is unsafe a space to hide a gay relationship.

Granted, whenever such gay couple hiding in plain sight and under the guise of fanservice go over board so as to create suspicions, they recoil and must do so to protect themselves and their careers.

The opposite is true for those with Solo careers. Unless they were actively coming out to let others know of their sexuality, it would be difficult for anyone to clock that they were gay in the first place and the only way one could tell is if they assumed their sexuality, stereotyped them, or stalked them-

Without the evidence of the history of BTS as a band that lived together and did everything together, a person who just entered the Fandom say in 2023 wouldn't know what JM means to JK and vice versa.

Nor should it be easy for them to ascertain the level of intimacy between Tuktuk merely by looking at their interaction on social media.

From such a person's perspective, they probably are going to assume Tae and Kook just seem much closer than say Tae and JM or JM and JK and thus might conclude- erroneously- that Tuktuk are the besties of the group or worse that Tuktuk are real.

And one might take a look at JM's account and in the surface if it assume he's closest to RM, Jin, Hobi, or Suga more so than Tae and Jungkook.

It is what it is.

But none of that is true now is it?

This phenomenon is something that i always felt most newer Jikookers didn't seem to grasp- they weren't there to see the build up of Tae kook's relationship and friendship- they only met its breakdown in in medias res and so arrogantly believed Jikook were the best friends compared to those two.

And I had to explain constantly that that just wasn't the case.

Do I think we are seeing a break down of Jikook's friendship and relationship- absolutely not. Not in the way Tuktuk broke down.

But if in deed they are real, which I believe they are, then now really is the time for them to be cautious in the way they go about things.

We are not the only ones watching them and army are not the only ones hanging around blogs like mine💀

And I don't think Jungkook or JM can hide one gay ship with another gay ship by feeding and latching on to other people and ships.

JK cannot be"hiding" jikook with Tae Kook when Tae is also entangled in another dating rumor with another popular female idol.

Like I said, I just wish those two would behave normal for once💀

By those two I mean Jikook.

They make everything weird before they make it normal🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

First they hug like Jesus is watching them, act shook when the other says anything harmless as if they gave some secret away, drop jaws when they walk into a room with hidden cameras, now they can't even like each other's posts on IG like normal human beings

You can post on the internet you fell for a man because he is cool.

But try not to overreact over Jungkook performing at the world cup💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

Dude, like that was the world cup!!!

I would be gyrating on the floor😭😭😭😭😭

Same person you claim his sweat tastes like holy water💀

the restraints they exercise when it comes to eachother just gives them away for real💀

But as I said supra, such restraint is necessary post their Solo's.

Hobi recently posted a member and said he was trying to get fans jealous. I think they all know where the hate and vitriol stems from.

And personally, as someone who has had to read countless submissions from antis and sometimes PJMs who claim Jungkook's interaction with JM is what leads to the hate and misogyny JM faces in the Fandom- i don't blame him if he decides on exercising restraint.

We've seen them exercise restraint prior to and after whenever Hybe releases any Jikook related content or content that features mostly Jikook moments like memories 💀

And when we say JM is a private person people just don't seem to understand this concept. He really is a private individual. He loves people, supports whom he needs to support and can openly love on and dote on his friends. That's his personality.

But being private equally means being autonomous in deciding what he wants to do with his account. And this is how he is choosing to interact with Tae, Jk, and the others.

I can imagine how much it hurts them to receive hate from the fans of the people he loves. How much it hurts them to censor themselves in what they say and what they do.

There's a clip from an award show where someone tries to take a picture of Hobi and JM was in the way. He quietly moved to the side to let them have a better view of Hobi- forgetting he is a celebrity too and there were people with cameras trying to film him too or even him and Hobi as well because they ship them.

It's great that JHope is the type of person to support everybody, like everyone's post and try to comment. I think it's just the decent thing to do given the circumstances.

He tries not to let the haters of a member dictate for him how he has to interact with that member which is great.

It ties into the love all seven campaign they embarked on right before their Solos. They know they aren't loved equally.

And I think we've discussed this at length, you and I

These are men with too much free time on their hands. And for Jungkook who used to burrow his head into the sand and shun friends- he seemed to have found the value in relating to others.

Bet the phone rings once these days and he runs to picks up🤣🤣🤣

I mean he wanted to go out with friends during lock downs and all

He's been out and about reaching for humans rather than his phone- it's a good thing.

How available is JM in all this?

Dude is busy supporting his friends, fan boying over Namjoon, and coloring his hair🥺

No seriously, he's busy with his album preparation

And it's so like Jm to immerse himself in whatever thing he does. Nows just not the time to film drunken dance challenges for tiktok🙂

And by the way, if Jhope hadn't forgotten to add his dance to his compilation - I digress.

Jk is being forced to occupy his time one way or the other and I know it kills him on the down low that JM is just unavailable

He and Tae should keep bonding over their JM withdrawal symptoms 🙂

Just like old times.

Jk: I miss Jimin do you think I should text him?

Tae: no we need to prove our worth. Stay strong. Let him come to us.

JK: but it's been two months bro

I'm just gonna send him a thirstrap on his bday to let him know just what he is missing.

Tae: 👁👄👁

I'll remember them both in my prayers tonight🤧

Forget tuktukkers they stopped making sense in 1800

[maskedjolo]

Classic/Withered Animatronics Continuity Error Theory

Hi!

Now with the pleasantries out of the way, I would like to put forward a theory I have that I'm not sure if people have been talking about as much as they should. This theory is surrounding the Withered Animatronics and why they look so DIFFERENT from the Classic Animatronics even though they are intended to be the same animatronics in the lore. Especially since the 'un-withered' designs of the animatronics are implied to have never existed by sources such as the recently released interactive novel 'The Week Before.' Like many, I have found this error in visual continuity to be REALLY hard to just ignore as someone who really cares about the tiniest of details. But I believe I may have found a theory that addresses this continuity error while NOT RETCONNING ANYTHING! (And you'll also notice a lot of the so-called 'EVIDENCE' for this theory is also based on TINY DETAILS)

So - let's clear one thing up immediately. As suggested in The Week Before, when Phone Guy (Ralph) comments on how he's glad they restored the animatronics back to their classic designs, it is heavily implied that these CLASSIC designs are the ORIGINAL designs of the animatronics, meaning that the 'un-withered' version of the Withered Animatronics NEVER EXISTED.

These animatronics (models courtesy of UFMP & TaddyDudstare, render by me), for a while and by a fair few people, were considered to be what the band originally looked like when Freddy's first opened in (presumably) 1983 and would later become the Withered Animatronics in FNAF 2. But these animatronics? They NEVER EXISTED. Because we now know that the Classic Animatronics were their original designs before FNAF 2.

We have even more evidence to back this claim that the Classic Animatronics were their original iterations from even OUTSIDE the recently released book. Most notably in the CELEBRATE poster in FNAF 1's office and the FNAF 1 trailer.

We can see that the wall behind them is made of bricks.

While the wall behind them in FNAF 1 is a solid, smooth wall.

And if these posters and the shot from the trailer weren't taken in this location, then where? Well, it's not really WHERE, it's more about WHEN. This stage difference is clearly implying that these are at least 2 different points in time. These posters were made BEFORE FNAF 2 in the ORIGINAL Freddy's locaiton. These are shots of them BEFORE we see them in FNAF 2. If we follow the logic made in this tiny detail, then that confirms that these designs existed way before the Withereds ever did.

That also means that the shot of them performing in the trailer is us seeing them work in their hayday before everything turned bad... haunting.

But then that brings up a very noticeable visual design continuity issue. Because, let's be honest, the Withereds and the Classics look WAY too different to be the same designs and I'm not just talking about their withering. They're bulkier, squarer, they have more teeth, their heads are different proportions, Chica and Foxy have 3 toes instead of 2 and Freddy and Bonnie have buttons where they didn't before. Those are just some changes that can be immediately noticed when compared side-by-side.

Naturally, this led people to create these un-withered designs of the Withered Animatronics and say that these were the first iterations of them and that they got redesigned when Fazbear Entertainment attempted to reopen the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in FNAF 1. Unfortunately... this isn't true as it has now been basically confirmed that the Classics ARE the ORIGINALS and the Withereds are still supposed to be the same set of animatronics...

Many people have just decided to roll with it and say 'Oh, it's just a retcon, it doesn't really matter.' But, uh, NO. It DOES matter. Especially to someone like me who just CAN'T IGNORE these things! So naturally it got me pondering for a good few days over how I could rationally explain why the Withereds look the way they do when the designs that came before them were the Classic designs as implied in The Week Before.

After much pondering, I think I've finally cracked it! I think I have finally come up with a reason why the Withereds look so different compared to their Classic designs that were supposedly their iterations before them. (And, looking on Redit, I can see many other people have noticed this as well)

So those UN-WITHERED animatronics up there? They NEVER existed. But that doesn't mean they weren't GOING too. Yes, the Classics were their original designs. But I think people forget a detail mentioned in FNAF 2 that easily explains away all of our problems!

In FNAF 2, Night 2 - Phone Guy (or Ralph) comments on the animatronics in the Parts & Services room. He says, "Those are from the previous location and we just use them for parts now. The idea at first was to repair them. Uh, they even started retrofitting them with some of the newer technology. But they were just so ugly, you know? And the smell... uh... So the company just decided to go in a whole new direction and make them super kid-friendly!"

This is something that I think goes overlooked, but Phone Guy implies that those animatronics from the original location were getting some work done on them before the events of FNAF 2. He says they were being fixed up and fitted with newer technology to help them rebrand. He then goes on to mention that they just looked too ugly and the smell of them wasn't great, making the company decide to invest in completely new animatronics.

THIS ONE PART IN THE CALL EXPLAINS EVERYTHING.

Basically, the Classic Animatronics were RE-DESIGNED to look like they do in FNAF 2. They were RE-BUILDING them, CHANGING them. Fazbear Entertainment was trying to change how the original animatronics looked to seperate them from the Classic looking animatronics that were present during the MCI and that were reportedly oozing bodily substances. They wanted them to look different. So they started trying to upgrade them and change their outer appearance so they could pass off as new animatronics. These new upgrades would also include advanced mobility so they could walk around better during the day which is why all the animatronic endoskeletons now have 3 toes so they can walk around better.

A design choice that now all of the Toy Animatronics inherited instead.

(Render by zueiroooooooooooo on DeviantArt which I downloaded with low quality for some reason)

But, of course, this didn't really work. As Phone Guy says, the newer designs of the animatronics just didn't look as appealing as they did before. They were ugly, even off-putting. Creepy. And they couldn't use their original designs since the smell of rot and decay was still very much there. And so, as Phone Guy again says, they just decided to go in a whole new direction and completely ditch those animatronics to begin with, spending a small fortune in creating the Toy Animatronics that were updated with newer technology and could be advertised as being part of their security to make Freddy's a lot safer and kid-friendly in the eyes of the public.

And the original animatronics? They were left backstage to rot. Left uncared for and forgotten to gather dust, their only use now being the occaisional spare part. That also explains some of the withering on these Withered Animatronics such as Bonnie missing his face and arm or Chica missing her hands and her jaw hanging off her head or even why so much of Foxy's casing is missing. It's because these animatronics were abandoned before they finished retrofitting them. They are missing pieces of themselves because they were never even installed in the first place. So those fan-made UN-WITHERED versions of the Withered Animatronics are most likely what they were GOING to look like if they were actually finished.

But, of course, the Toy Animatronics failed. They had to be scrapped because they were just too broken and Fazbear Entertainment probably didn't have enough money to repair or maintain them, as Phone Guy says, "They've spent a small fortune on these new animatronics." With the grand reopening failing, they couldn't earn back the money they spent on the Toys to make them better or win back their reputation with the public. So it was better to scrap them and sell them for parts to earn back just a little money.

With nowhere else to turn to, they have to now work under a much smaller budget. So they take the animatronics they already had, the ones they already know that works, and decided to restore them back to their original designs since they already had the spare parts needed to do so.

And so, as we see in FNAF 1, the animatronics have been reverted back to their original designs and put back up on stage. This could even explain why Foxy still looks withered in FNAF 1 and why he's Out Of Order. It's because they didn't have any other parts for Foxy. We can see in the backstage in FNAF 1 that there are parts for Freddy, Bonnie and Chica. But nothing for Foxy. They restored him back to his classic design, but his classic design was already withered and broken while the others already had spare parts that they could be fitted with. Foxy, sadly, didn't and remained Out Of Order just because they had no spare parts for his classic design, back to having 2 toes instead of 3.

Poor Foxy ):

Unfortunately, the nostalgia of these classic designs wasn't enough to bring people back. People had an even worse view of the company and those animatronics were just too closely associated to the MCI. Business was not working which would lead to Fazbear's closing its doors... and leaving the animatronics locked up in there with it.

So, to summarise:

When Freddy's first opened, these Classic designs for the animatronics were their first iteration. After the MCI, there is about a year and a half gap between 1985 (presumably when the MCI happened) and 1987 in November when Freddy's reopens.

In between this time, Fazbear Entertainment attempted to redesign and refit the Classic Animatronics with a new look and new technology. However, they gave up half-way through as they were deemed to be too ugly, the new technology did not work well with their old technology, and there was too much of a negative stigma surrounding those particular animatronics. Especially since that smell didn't seem to fully disappear...

So they made the Toys instead, spending a small fortune on them, and leaving the original animatronics backstage to rot and decay, their newer designs unfinished and never to see the light of day. But then, of course, the Toys failed and Fazbear Entertainment had to scrap them in order to get back some of their money.

With no money coming into the books after their failed reopening and the Toys just taking too much to maintain and repair, the Toys are scrapped and Fazbear Entertainment uses the last of their money to restore the original animatronics back to their Classic designs. Removing all the technology they tried to implement and giving them back their old parts (except for Foxy who doesn't appear to have any spare parts, so he is stuck with his original casing that is now old and withered itself).

And that's how we find them in FNAF 1.

So! That's my proposal for why the Withereds look so different even though the Classic designs are supposed to predate them! There is little-to-no retconning involved to explain this notable design change! I'll admit, this theory ISN'T FLAWLESS. There are a few holes in it and is built off of a lot of assumptions. But I will have you know that they are mostly LOGICAL assumptions that are built off of already existing information and details!

Thanks for reading and have a nice day! :D

[ladymorghul]

Hi! First of all, I want to say that this is one of my favourite hotd related blogs and I really enjoy reading your analysis on characters and storylines. Keep up the good work and don't pay attention to hateful anons:)

I have one question. Since we barely got any Helaena content in the promos and the trailer, do you think that she will die at the end of like some people speculate? Or if she doesn't, that she will have like 10 min of screentime being depressed and catatonic after B&C. I would hate both scenarios even though the second one is very likely and "book accurate" . The thing is, they already have deviated from the book and if certain theories turn out to be true (e. g. Rhaena getting Nettles storyline, Baela at RR, Rhaenyra fighting in the war ) they at least could give something to Helaena. I have very little hope that Helaemond will become canon, but aside from the ship, can she at least have something more to her than "poor depressed victim" ? Ofc, she doesn't need to be a warrior queen or "girlboss", but there are other options as well to ampliate her story. They introduced her as a dragon dreamer, but I fear that she will mostly be ignored and misunderstood by everyone around her, even Phia said something similar in one interview. Idk, I'm probably being too dramatic and pessimistic about the whole thing, but nevertheless, would like to read your opinion.

hey there! thank you so much, i'm glad you enjoy my blog!

well, i'm late to the question and we have half an answered confirmed. that being said, i have trust issues with ryan so you decide how you take his words.

i'm not sure if you saw but he said we will spend more time with helaena this season and that some people ARE paying closer attention to her. the obvious answer here seems to be aemond for me, but there could be someone else too.

i also kind of don't believe she'll die in season 2. it feels early still and i feel like there's no need to kill her character just yet. she's beloved by the fandom and she's a dragon dreamer. no need to rush to her death just yet.

my hope is that her presence at the riot in kl means she wont'spend the rest of of the season post b&c in her room.

personally i think it'd be a bad look for ryan to say he cares about the female pov of the dotd and then ignore helaena.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi! Do you remember Sam saying that "lestat needs to understand it's his fault all people he turned into vampire left him" including Gabrielle and Nicki. Do you agree with him? Because unless they'll majorly change dynamics between Lestat and Gabrielle and Nickistat it's not his fault? Gabrielle and Lestat couldn't stay together because they ultimately needed different things and I always felt they understood that, and Nicki was mentally ill... I'm honestly scared how they'll spin those relationship because they changed a lot from loustat dynamic in IWTV (book), while they added more romance, they added more physical abuse too and outcome turned out completely different (in book there's grey area concerning Claudia murdering Lestat, in show he deserved everything and way more etc) I just really hope they know what they're doing. I saw too many takes and theories how bad Lestat was to Nicki and Gabrielle, and if those turned out to be true I don't know what to do. I get that Rolin wants character redemption arc, but the way lestat's character morally made way worse for that is not a good thing IMO. Lestats antagonistic role in first book was more because of Louis general misunderstanding of lestats character, who he truly see in the end of the book. In the show Louis knows way more about Lestats past already AND lestats way more awful to Louis and Claudia. It can't be simple miscommunication (in simplifying terms). So I truly trust Sam with lestats character but I don't trust writers and unfortunately Sam can't influence them (at least majorly) Basically I'm afraid of them making Lestat even MORE removed from book!canon for the sake of future arc when there's no need for that

Sorry for the rant, but you're one of my favorite blogs in fandom, and your answers always do thoughtful, I thought I'd share my concerns with you

Glad you like my blog!

Tbh, I differ a bit with the judgement of Lestat being removed from the books... The show pulled all the subtext up (*ducks away from Sam*), not just the implied sexual components, but also in regards to the abuse. The abuse is in the books, it's text, it's good to remember that.

And Lestat can be quite capricious, and an ass, and he is a killer. They all are. I don't think he is that much removed from book!canon actually, especially when you consider that... we haven't even seen the real Lestat yet.

The only(!!!) "real" Lestat we get in season 1... is "Come To Me". And if you look at the text there, it is surprisingly insightful, I've written about it here (and I'll go over it in today's chapter of 'Laden').

Louis is telling us his story, for an effect. He wanted to omit Lestat in Paris, and for that he had to be dead, and it had to be inevitable for him to be dead. The reason for this interview is still unclear at this point, though I believe it has a lot more to do with Daniel and Armand than the need for an actual second interview^^.

I'd be very careful with theories and metas taking only what is the "first level" of it all at face value, namely what Louis is telling to Daniel. That is a tale, and that tale has already been broken apart at the end of episode 7. Was it all a lie? No, most certainly not.

But it was not the (whole) truth either and told for an effect.

So, I'd... suggest not to fret just yet.

From what I've seen and what I've heard... there is literally no reason to worry. 😅

None.

For all the characters btw, not just Lestat.

I think they did their homework, and magnificently so, too. That will show in all the relationships, in the one to Gabrielle and Nicolas, too, but... remember we are likely on Lestat's POV then... and that will be massively different.

The writers are playwrights, let's let them tell their tale :), and then we can judge after.

But I'm not worried at all tbh. Just giddy.

[haru-chi]

The True Identity of Matoba Seiji's sister?

this is something that's been on my mind lately, I may be overthinking this and reading too much into things. I have a crazy theory on my mind so thought I wanna share it before I explode by myself xD

what I have next are from chapters yet to be translated so if you don't wanna be spoiled then don't continue reading :)

before I start I just wanna emphasize all of what I'm gonna say is purely my own theories and ideas, also my Japanese is bad so I might make some mistakes thus if you noticed anything I'd be glad if you can correct me ^^

lastly, I don't know how long this post will turn out to be so sorry in advance ><

-What about Shinobu?

i want to start with this first to clear out the way, of why I don't believe Shinobu to be Seiji's sister. but another twist from Midorikawa-sensei (I mean how many times did she makes us suffer in figuring out the true identity of Seiji's sister for me to trust her easily now)

she started and ended this chapter in a way that makes you believe that Shinobu is THE miss Matoba but is she really ??

Shinobu said "really? thank you I'm glad to hear that"

is that enough to point out to herself and not to someone she knew perhaps? for example, she knew Seiji's sister or work for her so she's happy to hear someone praise her?

I really don't trust her since her deep knowledge of the exorcist world means she's not normal therefore she's in it one way or another but in what form I don't know yet, yup yup even her being Seiji's Sister isn't even 0% but I just find it weird and doesn't add up for now for me ...

I mean she can't even see the Yokai!! (Unless she lied which I doubt) now tell me, is a future leader of the Matoba clan someone who can't see Yokai? we all know what that means for a successor of an exorcist family to lose the sight. plus, if I'm not mistaken, the talk was that Seiji was more powerful than her which's why he was picked over her despite being the youngest so it was not because he was able to see the Yokai unlike her ... in short, his sister should be able to see the Yokai but Shinobu can't!!!

"a long-haired, elegant well-dressed woman"

and this important detail by Tanuma's investigation worth taking into note, since if the thief is truly Seiji's sister, then that's NOT Shinobu unless you consider Shinobu having a long-hair xDD

so you see now why I don't believe her to be Seiji's true sister (I have other reasons but we'll come up to it next)

-If not Shinobu then who?

now we're back to square one huh, Midorikawa-sensei sure love to torture us in this arc and tease us to no end while making us suffer (which's why I love you tho ~)

before I point out to who I believe to be his sister I wanna point out to something else so you can see my line of thinking :)

listen, I don't know how or why I thought that other than I followed my intuition since I read too much into Seiji's character while thinking and linking things together (this guy is making me go crazy! I'm so sorry I have nothing better to back me up here so bear with me please ><)

we all know that Seiji doesn't like divination and guess what, I believe the reason of why is that lies with his sister one way or another.

please DON'T ask me why I think so since it's hard to explain without sounding insane xDD

BUT IT'LL MAKE SENSE I PROMISE JUST WAIT FOR IT!!!

I mean this sweet, lovely chapter was in fact a soft set-up for this Miss Matoba arc which thinking about it now let me laugh that Midorikawa-sensei did it to us yet again lol

okay okay, stop this and just tell us who is this Miss Matoba already !!!

now let's review what we believe are hints to Seiji's sister

someone with a blond long hair

someone who should be able to see Yokai but we've yet to know if this person can or can't (meaning someone NOT Shinobu)

Someone who love or do divination (since Seiji hates it)

someone we never get to know their REAL names (again aside from Shinobu)

someone having an interest in anything Yokai related

someone who should be in this arc.

now tell me, does anyone comes to mind maybe ? someone whom for some reason mysteriously disappeared ever since she set foot into the auction perhaps ??

true, I meant her. Kurara or whatever her name is. no matter which way I slice it she just fit everything in my mind so I just can't help but think she is the REAL Miss Matoba. her disappearing ever since she dropped Natsume isn't really helping her case tbh. she also love and do divination which just so fit with my idea that his sister have something to do with divination which's why he isn't a big fan to that ><

and I said it to a friend, I just won't believe who's Seiji's sister till I see them both facing each other so nope I won't fall for Midorikawa-sensei trap AGAIN!!!

I know this might be far-fetched but I just couldn't stop thinking about it since alot was bothering me and I read into many things too much maybe but I HAD to let it out my chest so yup here you have it <3

-Bonus :Ultra small crazy theory

this one is ... ummm... listen... I know Seiji is making me go crazy and this one I just DON'T have any proof to really back it up like him hating divination because of his sister so just take this with grain of salt ... it just ... I WANTED TO JUST SHARE IT SINCE MY FIREND WAS GONNA KILL ME OF HOW CRAZY I AM TO COME UP WITH THIS !!!!

i mean if I said ... Kuro Misa (Black Misa) might refer to two people will you say I'm going crazy? haha ha ha

Seiji is very handsome indeed, but would you describe him as "doll-like beauty" ?? (you are to me at least, don't worry) not with that eyepatch at least, right ? if there's someone whom I would say is a "doll-like beauty." it would be Kurara.

one line hit me as being weird and my mind went "wait!! is it possible?!! what if ...!!!!" ever since I moved with the line of thoughts that Kurara is Seiji's sister ... umm... it's rumors and I know people never really know much about Kuro Misa ... but certain line felt off to me which was "she was beautiful like a doll" when describing Kuro Misa before we know it was actually Seiji's other hidden identity.

Kuro Misa wear a black veil that no one ever saw her face or have any idea what kind of a person she is, so it won't be far-fetched for people not to notice if it's two different person under the veil.

and it didn't help my case that this arc started with Kurara like this ... even Natsume thought she was Kuro Misa ><

this brings me to think that, what if Seiji created Kuro Misa in respond to his sister? so that he can keep an eye on her movement or to at least be in the same circle as her. which's why he picked such a character that is so unlike him since he just hate divination so why bother being known as someone famous of such a thing?? (I swear this man deserve all the respect for all the things he just do to protect his clan but no one ever appreciate it T^T)

Seiji also said that wearing a veil is very helpful since it will help him to recognize the faces of anyone whom tries to come closer to him to uncover his secrets, but what if a hidden/indirect meaning is also that if someone whom thought he was his sister thus come closer to talk to him that would help him recognize his enemies or the people his sister tried to make contact with to let them join her side in her fight against the Matoba clan !!

I know all of this might not make any sense, and as I said this one is just a very crazy theory of mine that won't be true mostly but was fun to think about .. if I hit it close to the truth I'd be very shocked of myself tbh xDD

if you read it to the end I just thank you for bearing with me and my crazy thoughts and theories ~

don't mind my english if it sounded weird or such, not my native language.

If anyone have anything to add or wanna correct anything I'd be glad and happy to hear it, and if you think I'm crazy it's okay xDD

I can't wait for the next chapter to just drop since I'm losing my mind over thinking everything and coming up with crazy thought and theories while waiting ><