#and fan theory based

[atomicrebelfire]

✍️Tommy Kinard: Speculating His Rank in the LAFD (Canon + Structural Analysis) 📊📋🧵

📍TL;DR: Based on canon clues and real-world LAFD structure, Tommy Kinard is most likely a 🎖️Fire Helicopter Pilot V—the highest pilot classification. His career path is unusual: he started in suppression at the 118 before transitioning into Air Ops using his Army flight experience.

-----------------At your own risk- Lets Spiral-----------------------------

While the show hasn’t explicitly stated his rank, there are enough visual, behavioral, and contextual clues/crumbs to build a solid case for where he fits within the LAFD—especially given the real-world structure of Air Operations.

Similar to Tommy’s military-to-LAFD career timeline, this is meant to be both canon-compliant and grounded in how the real LAFD operates, in order to build a plausible theory around Tommy’s role, rank, and seniority. It’s part character study, part structural breakdown.

🔍 Canon Facts/Clues (What We Know)

Tommy is introduced in S2 as a ground firefighter at the 118, and reintroduced in S7 as a helicopter pilot at Harbour Station.

In 7x04, he tells Buck that he used to be a pilot in the Army.

He has over 20 years of service in the LAFD (stated on-screen based of begins episodes).

He has taken helicopters out without formal clearance (7x03, 8x15). While reprimanded afterward, the fact that he has the access and autonomy to do so is notable.

He is seen launching without escort, clearly trusted to operate independently and justify his decisions after the fact.

He casually offers to teach Buck how to fly (7x04), suggesting he holds—or is qualified for—a trainer or flight instructor designation.

In 7x06, Tommy arrives at the hospital in turnout gear, soot-covered, after a fire at Angeles Crest. Raising questions about whether he was working suppression or Air Ops.

In 8x15, Tommy performs evasive maneuvers while being pursued by military helicopters—diving low, climbing high, and weaving between towers—as part of an aerial diversion to buy time and deflect pursuit.

In 7x03, Tommy helps Hen bypass red tape by taking a helicopter without official approval, offering only a vague line about Central Bureau and brushing off objections from Melton.

🚁 How Most LAFD Pilots Get There

In real life, becoming a helicopter pilot in the LAFD follows a specific and highly competitive path:

Most candidates begin with military flight experience or are already civilian-rated pilots (e.g., with commercial or instructor licenses).

However, even military pilots must first complete four years of full-time suppression duty within LAFD before becoming eligible for Air Ops roles—there are no direct-entry exceptions.

That said, their military flight hours and FAA qualifications do count toward pilot certification requirements, making them strong candidates once they transition.

They are hired into pilot trainee roles (Fire Helicopter Pilot I or II) and must pass rigorous evaluations.

Air Operations is a separate track—pilots do not typically come from suppression (ground firefighting) units.

As a result, most LAFD pilots have never served on engines or trucks.

Pilots usually work 12-hour shifts (day or night), typically on a 4-on, 4-off schedule, and remain on-call at the airport rather than responding on the ground.

🧩 Real-World LAFD Air Operations Structure

LAFD helicopter pilots are classified under the following civil service ranks:

Fire Helicopter Pilot I or II - Pilot Trainee Roles

Fire Helicopter Pilot III – Entry-level pilot

Fire Helicopter Pilot IV – Senior operational pilot

Fire Helicopter Pilot V – Training/lead pilot (sometimes informally called “chief pilot”)

These ranks are lateral to suppression-side ranks like Firefighter, Engineer, or Captain. While pilots typically don’t carry the "Captain" title unless cross-trained—but senior pilots often operate with comparable authority within their unit.

🧭 Why Tommy’s Path Is Unusual

Tommy’s trajectory breaks the mold in several important ways:

He began his LAFD career in suppression, working as a firefighter at the 118.

Only later did he transition to Air Ops, requalifying based on his Army flight experience.

This kind of cross-track shift is rare—most suppression-side firefighters never move into aviation roles, especially after years on the ground.

🔄 Update (Post-Publication): As clarified by a kind commenter, all LAFD helicopter pilots must begin in suppression roles. So Tommy’s path actually aligns with departmental requirements.

What still makes him stand out, though, is how long he remained in suppression—over a decade—before switching tracks. That kind of deep dual experience is rare.

He’s probably one of the few who might have earned credibility in both areas: the fireground and the flight deck.

This dual-track background probably makes him a unique versatile asset with extensive experience to the department.

🧵 What That Tells Us About Tommy

Tommy’s military aviation experience likely included high-risk flying, tactical decision-making, and possibly training roles—skills that directly translate to LAFD Air Ops.

He entered the LAFD through standard firefighter routes—like all Air Ops pilots must—but instead of transitioning to aviation early, he stayed in suppression for over a decade before requalifying as a pilot. (But why?! 💭🤔)

That makes his path both rare and earned.

His ability to take out helicopters independently, despite the fallout, signals a level of seniority and operational trust only afforded to top-tier personnel.

His offer to teach suggests a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) license or LAFD-equivalent designation, reinforcing that he may also serve in a training or mentoring role.

Tommy might still be dual-certified (implied by full turnout gear after the Angeles Crest response. (Or the show forgot he’s a pilot?!)🫨🤐)

His evasive flying during the diversion mission —dodging military helicopters —points to tactical or combat-style flight training. Possibly special ops. (So sexy.😘)

He’s senior enough and holds enough field authority or just bold enough to fake it to casually override protocol with a “You didn’t get the call?” deflection.

🧠💥 Conclusion: Most Likely Rank 🎖️

Tommy Kinard is almost certainly a Fire Helicopter Pilot V, or at the very least, a senior Pilot IV on the cusp of promotion. He’s not formally titled “Chief Pilot,” but functionally operates as one—with over two decades in LAFD, firsthand suppression experience, and the kind of authority and autonomy that reflects a deeply trusted position and seniority to push limits.

He may not wear Captain’s bars, but between his dual-track career, leadership instincts, and ability to push protocol when it counts, he clearly stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the station’s most senior personnel. 💬 If I missed something or misread a clue, feel free to correct me (kindly)—or share your own version. Always open to digging deeper. After all… the writers clearly aren't worried about consistency. 😌

📎PS: 🤷‍♂️ All of this is, of course, pure speculation—built off canon clues/crumbs, real-world LAFD structure, and my completely healthy, not-at-all obsessive need to spiral over every background detail the show refuses to explain. I know 9-1-1 isn’t always that deep (and sometimes barely tries). Don’t worry, I’m seeking a therapist. 🙃👩‍⚕️ learning to chill.😎🪭

if you read till the end 🫡 & don't ask why we needed to know all this!

✨ Update: Added more canon evidence from 8x15 and 7x03 that reinforce Tommy’s seniority + elite training 👀🚁 (That somehow got lost in my Excel-to-Tumblr exchange. Damn. I need to stop. I’m putting myself in a time-out. Bye.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PS 2: Okay, so I did mess that up🤣—turns out all LAFD pilots need to start in suppression for 4 years, and someone kindly pointed that out (thank you!! 🙏). Just to clarify, this post isn’t absolute fact—I don’t have a firefighting background, just sharing what I could find. Also, I am not from USA. please take all of this with a grain of salt. this is just a fun exercise. I've now learned even more about fire department structures than I ever planned to.

Seriously guys, stop enabling me 😭 I should be updating my resume, not drafting municipal org charts for fictional men.

[edelgardism]

“machine connor is more deviant than deviant connor” deviant connor will literally spend the rest of his life fighting his programming and being scared to death that one day amanda will resume control of him

[cirkkaa]

Oh merciless god of time, when will you have enough?

[katyahina]

Romina, Scarlet Rot and God of Rot interpretation? What is the Abyss and what 'stagnation' has to do with Scarlet Rot?

(This is a reply for an ask I've got on my other blog) Anon I am sorry I am THIS late, I swear it was just me deliberately avoiding progressing in the DLC because I didn't want it to end + bad timing :pensive: But thank you for leaving this ask because I did want to discuss her as soon as I've met her!

What Happened:

She WAS a victim on Messmer's tyranny, and shown in the second trailer ( x )! Moreover, she originally appears to be from Belurat; not only this trailer shows Messmer specifically burning it, but also this is the exact previous scene before Romina appears:

So I am getting an impression that originally, these buds appeared in Belurat, and somehow Romina knew to relocate them somewhere else:

+ Also, if anyone here can read Japanese please let me know because I've heard that a more accurate translation would be 'she found a divinity and clung to it' or something alike! Here is the Japanese text:

全てを焼かれた教会で ロミナは異形の神性を見出し 禍々しい、朱い腐敗に縋った

焼け跡に、また蕾が芽吹くように

Abyss and Stagnation in this:

My initial interpretation was that originally, this type of buds was growing IN Belurat, and then what she saved got relocated in Rauh Ruins, but "within the scorched remains" part makes it sound as though their fate was being decided right in the moment of the tragedy! So, somehow, what later became Scarlet Rot appeared within the ruin! After all, Formless Mother is another precedent of a god originating from the tragedy:

But why would a plant-insectoid life sprout within the fire? So, basically, I'll dive into headcanons territory for this post, but hear me out! We are not sure what the 'Abyss' is, however.. what IF, when Messmer gets a bit TOO into using his powers, the power of Abyssal Serpent is capable of opening sort of a 'gateway' into somewhere else, and some kind of horror might escape that 'Abyss'?

+ I need to add that Abyss of the serpent plaguing Messmer and Abyss of the woods tormented by Frenzy are different things though; whereas serpent's Abyss is 深淵 meaning literally an abyss, Woods' Abyss is 奈落 that means Naraka (Hindu Hell)! His serpent is AKTUALY named Base Serpent, but he refers the 'Abyss' in his Stage 2 transition: '光無き、深淵の蛇が'. ( x ) In fact, his dialogue in both English and Japanese original suggests the 'Abyss' is a PLACE, where Base Serpent comes from! The mysterious space without light!

Look I can't help using this meme just deal with it fdsgfdgs So, let's say that Messmer got so unhinged that the gravity of his powers still opened up the Abyss a little, even despite the seal Marika gave to him!

The next interesting thing is that there are no traces of Scarlet Rot in Belurat, despite Romina presumably releasing/creaing it right on that spot! There ARE poisoned swamp, the illness that turns people into fly-men, and even giant Spider Scorpions that are a variant specifically developed because of Romina:

+ they likewise deal regular poison, not Scarlet Rot! Some of them developed the wings as well:

So it is more likely that what Romina allowed to live (to the worse or to the better you decide) was not yet the Scarlet Rot itself, however it developed INTO it later, together with her. But what was freed that day and what left its traces in Belurat, as well as spreading across more of the Shadow Realm with at least two villages full of man-fly sickness, was 'stagnation'!

It is a concept commonly addressed across other Fromsoft's games, specifically the stagnation of water 穢れ (kegare)! Poison and Scarlet Rot are connected through themes of poison AND stagnation of water! It is what becomes a poisonous swamp, one of the most Rot places is literally named Stillwater Cave and all that. Scarlet Rot is a 'stronger' version of the venom that becomes of stagnation!

^ (looking through this ( x ) model view video) Additionally, Romina features not only part of the scorpion but also part of the centipede, and centipedes were used as a symbol of human dregs in Sekiro and Bloodborne!

I've also noticed that Blood of Formless Mother, Scarlet Rot and Deathblight are all connected by shared themes of plantlife and spontaneoutsly sprouting winged insects! With the cursed blood, flowers quite literally grow from it and flies spawn from impurities within festering blood swamps. Deathblight are literally roots with multiple flies spawning along them + often getting to fly free too. Scarlet Rot IS associated with flowers and butterflies, and whereas Malenia herself never got insectoid wings (since wings of Goddes of Rot ARE the butterflies, like stated by Romina's incantation), her knights did:

(Close look by Zullie the Witch ( x ) as I've never took a picture)

These three scourges feel like three ugly siblings to me fsdhhfds Needless to mention that Blood Oath, Scarlet Rot and general poison incantations are crammed into the same category, and Death ones aren't here only because they're sorceries!

More interestingly, in Rauh Ruins we find not only Scarlet Rot, but also the Bloodfiends (so, the Formless Mother guys) AND Deathblight:

^ I forgot to take the picture as a proof that the Dancing Lion in Rauh uses Deathblight, so here is screenshot from this ( x ) video of battling it! There are NO Deathroots anywhere near its arena, however it summons Basylisks in the second stage and deals Deathblight damage itself! Divine beasts, additionally, are Belurat thing too!

So, we have all three of these 'affiliations' in Rauh Ruins, giving a strong impression that it is full of Belurat survivors! Whereas the man-flies sickness is found here too, Romina, Bloodfiends and death-dealing Dancing Lion all feel like they've went separate Pokemon Eevelution from the same initial 'stagnation' concept that is the sourse of fly sickness fhhsdgfds I think that either 1) it is exactly what I just joked about, and stagnation is able to naturally develop into one of these stronger "branches" over time or 2) it develops into something specific under influence of an outer god; Deathblight doesn't need 'Prince of Death' since Outer God of Death IS a thing!

Survivors of Belurat here found their affiliations, initially getting afflicted by the "clean" form of it, fly sickness Romina allowed to escape and live!

^ So yeah @ second anon, I do also think that Romina in Rauh guards what is left of her civilisation! Such as one of like, two Dancing Lions and other Hornsent that unfortunately got manfly sickness too! Except, she is not antagonistic to the Scarlet Rot or sees it as her tragedy, but on the contrary: she sympathised with it!

I know it sounds more like a fairytale than an solid theory, but my impression is that a lot of 'waste' goes into the Abyss space and supposedly should have been burnt by the Base Serpent forever! Not as something inherently evil, but just a natural part of the course of life! Eiglay is the God-Devouring serpent, too! Both of them serve as the forces that ensure everything and everybody meets their end eventually, they might even be related! Again, Dark Souls for one had ten Primordial Serpents! We know three here (Base Serpent, Winged Serpent and God-Devouring Serpent) but it could be still a throwback like Fromsoft loves doing!

I think maybe someone, at some point, believed that living forever was a better idea and might have "killed" Base Serpent and Eiglay both! As we know from Rykard's last words though, 'serpent never dies' and he probably was right!

^ Whereas Eiglay had to grow back from a tiny snake again, Base Serpent settled in Messmer's body being so tiny that it could curl behind his eye! Both needed to recover their former power, so whatever eventually slipped in the Abyss was free to persist, rot further and escape back into the living world given the chance!

+ bonus:

Trina ends up having a lot of petals and flowers as part of her body, not unlike Romina, whereas Miquella had insectoid wings at the moment of being kidnapped! The same trademarks of the 'stagnation' again!

I questioned whether it was just Crucible at first, since it also features flowers and wings! In the DLC we've learned that the Fell God himself was connected with the Crucible (Furnace Visage) and Radagon has his red hair due to the curse of his Fire Giants (Giant's Red Braid) 🤔 But.. crucibles are MANY things. It is also horns, spikes, feathered wings, scales, you name that! A LOT of aspects of organic life and not just these two! So I think the Crucible Curse is safe to stay within Morgott and Mohg, and this more likely refers to Miquella himself getting infected at some point! Whether it was having sucked Scarlet Rot out of Freya's wound, or napping in the Haligtree that was getting slowly scarlet-rotten, or both! Sure there are no traces of it left when he becomes a God, but Trina was discarded before that of course! Alternatively, he was a victim of stagnation himself due to not being able to age physically. He, himself, was a lot like Scarlet Buds that are "never to bloom". Endless child state of a body and buds that can't bloom are like eggs that can't hatch but will go terribly bad over time.. what is MORE stagnant?

Who is the God of Rot and why the pink color?

Another side of Romina is a tail of a scorpion, and the giant variant of Spider Scorpions is said to be the result of her actions! At the same time, God of Rot itself was scorpion-like!

I think this makes it... oddly coincidential, that God of Rot is a scorpion at least partially, whereas scorpions are native for the Shadow Realm AND were important animals for Belurat! Like I said before, Belurat strangely has no signs of Scarlet Rot for a place where Romina presumably created/unleashed it!

So, maybe rather than God of Rot already existing as is, it received a particular form in the 'outside' world! I'd say the same for Formless Mother, but her form is ABSENSE of form kind of fdhshdfs Maybe 'receiving the character' is a better way to describe it! Formless Blood, Scarlet Rot and most likely Deathblight didn't exist "outside" but developed from the shared source, and their gods (at least two of them) were born thanks to people! God of Rot might have manifested from a giant scorpion Romina took special care of, or a scorpion who got the 'divine' energy for another reason since giant variants are still not JUST in Rauh! Again, like how Formless Mother manifested in the shadow of a corpse of someone else! The Scarlet Rot became a thing thanks to Romina, developing within her over time!

Again, this is just my idea that Outer Gods are "born" in "our" world rather than simply exist as is, especially since 'outer' is just a type of gods meant to be discerned from Marika's family and who are like Lovecraftian mythos! I just think so because the scorpions connection is a bit too coincidential! It is not necessary!

Eiglay is a God-Devouring Serpent, not Demigod-Devouring Serpent, however, so I think in either case her purpose had more to do with not letting guys like this to ruin the world! Things just must die eventually, not endlessly exist via endless rot/rebirth cycle not allowing for any truly new life to sprout. It makes it double awesome that Base Serpent, and maybe even Eiglay herself, are connected with the fire element as fire itself is ALSO not just an evil force of destruction! It is meant to help the nature to "clean" so it doesn't rot; this power simply must be kept in check to not burn SO much that there is nothing left to be born from the ash and ruin *looks at Frenzied Flame*

Lesbian flag colors joke aside, it seems that color pink is a mark of lacking the master and/or the capacity to bloom! I do think that blooming is a thing only a Demigod is able to do! +remember that Millicent is a unique sprout of Malenia, carrying more of her signs as a Demigod than other girls!

Orange/red is the color of 'true' Scarlet Rot, and you could see even God of Rot itself was orange from Scorpion's Stinger look! It craves the buds that will bloom to grow stronger and increase, similarly to how Formless Mother craves wounds!

+ I also think that Bloodflame is the mark of more "perfect" form of the same concept similarly, as it becomes self-cleaning this way! It similarly could only be accomplished by getting a Demigod (Mohg) involved, whereas regular Bloodfiends are using just the blood itself! Then, Deathblight was not receiving the big roots as we could witness by Dancing Lion in Rauh, without getting a Demigod (Godwyn) involved! The cringe triplets........

________________________

So in the conclusion, Romina reached out for the 'twisted divinity' she witnessed somewhere in the middle of the ruin of everything she knew before, similarly to how Bloodfiends chose to revere the 'twisted deity' found in a corpse of their ancestor as they've lost everything! These two affinities have connotation with strong misery, and it is additionally confirmed by how Millicent can only bloom if she experiences the pain of betrayal! Some sinister power only appears within a lot of pain and death, but on itself it is just "flowers and wings", and a concrete God is born in the place it appears at, depending on the circumstances. It needs the miserable person as much as the miserable person needs it; a call is nothing without the receiver. Together, they define more specific purpose and affinity for it to continue existing and poisoning everything!

...not 100% sure that Deathblight is just as similar, because how do you birth death? Maybe it similarly came to be through the first person to die (Nito, you?????)

P.S.: I'll be damned if the water Dancer Fairy didn't originate from Rauh and simply freaked out upon seeing Romina telling the God of Rot "may you find your worth in the waking world" fsdhfhds

[tonguetyd]

Maybe the seize/behold and burn mark and differently spaced seals are connected?

Walk with me here.

House Veridian is established, must endure, “unvanquished branch” right? Whereas Feathered Host is breaking cycles and seizing things

What if FH is like the rebellious branch splitting off from HV? And the contribution was seized by the rebellion and that’s why it’s burned at the bottom - it wasn’t mean to be theirs. And that’s why the seal is in the corner. It’s not planned out and precise. It’s stamped at the last second.

If so, FH may be smaller in numbers but boy to people love a rebel. Might even convince people to switch sides if true

[diamondkat]

I have decided to contribute to the theories on what possibly canonically happened between Vox and Alastor that led to their relationship ending. For the sake of this theory creation, I will be taking everything said by the characters at face value. The things that I will be taking into consideration for this theory are the following: what was said in the interactions that we have seen between them so far; the creator describing what happened between them as sad and complicated; Alastor being under a contract and; Alastor being one of the main characters.

The first thing to consider will be that based on the creator saying that it is sad and complicated, they would have both been friends and the reason for their break up would not be a single person's fault. There would likely be issues outside and within the relationship that would lead to it ending. On the other hand, Alastor being a main character also means that the narrative will likely favour him in the reason for their break up. If you take all of that with the knowledge that Alastor doesn't own his soul, there is a chance that his owner was involved in why their relationship ended up falling apart.

We also have to consider Vox and Alastor's statements about each other. On Vox's side, he accuses Alastor of being in the past and of being a coward. Alastor, on the other hand, accuses Vox of being a fake whose power comes from using those around him to appear powerful and a person who can't take a "No". This should also give us a clue regarding how they see what went wrong in their relationship. Vox sees Alastor as someone who brave enough to do certain things/potentially make changes and Alastor sees Vox as someone who takes advantage of those around him and throws a fit when he doesn't get his way.

Regarding what happened during their potential last fight, we only have what is said by Vox and Valentino, which is Valentino asking, "You still pissed he almost beat you that time?," and Vox replying, "Uh, fuck you." This was followed by Vox declaring that things had changed in Alastor's absence and he was going to show who was really in charge of things now. Based on this, it can be said that Vox won their last fight, but not in a way that left him confident in his ability to take on Alastor directly at the time. Therefore, his hope was that the time that had passed had finally put him ahead of Alastor.

Taking all these points together, here is my theory. Alastor and Vox were genuinely friends. I don't know if Vox had a crush on Alastor or not but the friendship between them went both ways. Alastor's support of Vox enabled him to grow quickly in hell and allowed him to be considered a force to be reckoned with. Vox over time got used to Alastor granting him things. However, Alastor's owner wasn't quite as happy with their relationship. She decided to interfere in their relationship, probably trying to poison the relationship. She might have suggested a simple test where Alastor told Vox, "No" when next he asked him for something. After all, Alastor has a tendency to let his friends get away with asking whatever they want from him based on his relationships with Mimzy and Niffty. This coincided with Vox having big plans for them to work together to go to the next level. Alastor said no and Vox took it very poorly. He couldn't understand why Alastor would completely turn him down. Vox's reaction proved some of the things that Alastor's owner had said to him leaving him disappointed and betrayed. Vox likely also did not handle what he considered a rejection well, particularly if Valentino was involved in poisoning things on Vox's side. This would have led to an escalation that would end in a fight, in which Alastor almost seriously hurts Vox but Vox manages to gain the upper hand, likely with the help of Valentino. My headcanon is that it is this fight that damages Vox and Valentino's antennas.

The radiostatic headcanon part of this is that Rosie thought that they were romantically involved but it turned out that Vox was attracted to Alastor while Alastor thought everything they were doing was about friendship. This is part of how Rosie figured out that Alastor was asexual.

[gay-mike-wheeler]

it actually haunts me that we didn’t get more will+el sibling content in s4

[your-average-art-dealer]

Deltarune theory!!!!!

Spoilers for chapters 3 and 4!!

Okay so I don't know if people have thought of this before (hell it might even be the most obvious and most thought of theory ever and I'm being dumb by thinking its original) but I wanna get it out of my system anyway!

so here we go!

so as we've seen with Gerson, lighteners can be sort of "brought back to life" in a sense or at least some memory of them is brought back.

BUUUt there's this little detail about it:

You have to have their remains or dust.

And this fascinates me! Because why would Toby do this? I know Gerson's relationship with Susie was important to chapter 4, but there has to be sometimes more right?

someone more.

someone else you want back.

Dess.

Rudy wants Dess back. Noelle wants Dess back. Carol wants Dess back. Kris wants Dess back.

and this leads me to this theory:

Carol is the Roaring Knight

She's trying to bring Dess back, with Kris's help.

Somehow they found out that the dead come back with the dark worlds.

And they're making them everywhere.

Because they have no idea where she is, where she might be buried.

they're hoping that one of their attempts, one of their fountains, one of their worlds... will have her in it.

but she's not.

and they keep looking.

Of course, they can't let the town know about this- so they have to be careful. The back of the school nobody ever goes to, the house when everyone's asleep, the church when everyone has already left.

(admittedly Kris doing it while their mom was IN THE ROOM was kinda stupid, but maybe they had a plan idk.)

"but what about the roaring?" I hear you ask

"what about when Kris heard what all the fountains will do, wouldn't they tell Carol or be apprehensive because they know they could destroy the world??"

and I get it.

But maybe that's what they want. They want the roaring.

"when the fountains fill the sky"

this is what Ralsei says to us. to the party. to Kris.

We know that they know that dark fountains could bring Dess back, if she's indeed passed on as they suspect. But all of those fountains they've been making with Carol are confined to the rooms they are created in.

so what if they could make them at a larger scale? conquer more ground.

fill the sky.

they know stabbing blindly into random areas won't help as much as they'd like.

So they're making it happen.

So the whole world is dark.

so they can see Dess again.

anyway that's my theory. sorry to anyone who thought of this already and I'm basically ripping you off, I didn't mean to.

[screamingatthekaraokemachine]

Made of magic

———

getting back into physical art, and i thought i’d give a crack at a more “finished” piece - starring @abd-illustrates oc’s Krome and Heartless!

If you haven’t heard of these guys, go check them out on youtube! I think of them every hour of every day <3

[orcapine]

Someone requested a short comic about narumi and no.1 interacting a While ago and I finally got around to completing it and I STARTED THIS BEFORE B-SIDE REVEALED HOW NARUMI ACTUALLY GOT NO.1 so I guess this is an AU now :p

@izfaish it’s probably different from what you were expecting but I hope it’s still interesting? Thank you so much for your kind words on my previous comics! :D

[fmluder24]

This is how some of y’all Gillian stans sound when you talk about David

[youuuimeanmee]

ILY Reread Time!

*Episode 3-4*

Holy moly I underestimate how much I forget about the details in early ILY.

⚠️Spoilers. I've read ILY until the latest episode. If you are completely new to I Love Yoo or if you haven't caught up yet, please keep walking. But if you're the same as me, welcome!

Btw here's my reaction to previous episodes: 1 /

Episode 3

Never realize Maya's house is the exact same house I've seen in much further episode 🤣 The consistency impressed me.

Lmao, Maya's incest manga. I forgot it's from this ep. I really need to read Maya's character analysis in one of these days while my memory is still fresh...

I tried analyzing Maya's stuff on her display, but no luck. There's some kind of doll house(?) that reminds me of a court house(??) There's also a pegasus figure (???) And is that a trophy? In a shape of what, a bird? A person in gymnastic?? (did Maya ever got into a competition or smth? or myb its minhyuk's somehow) I have no idea what this all means. Maybe I'll look into it once it comes up again in later episodes. Or I'll just try scour fans' analysis on this.

One of my pet peeve: why didn't Maya & Rika give Shinae a full explanation/disclosure about the party they're going into before they ordered the masks and dressed up. I think the disclosure would do wonders for Shinae to prepare herself before entering this party. With the last-minute informations, it kinda seems like both of them are throwing Shinae into the sharks, esp if Shinae is unfamiliar with upper-class kind of party. It's kinda careless of them if you ask me. Maybe because they're so used to this party, they didn't consider to put themselves into Shinae's shoes?

Okay, so it's called Hirahara Convention Center. Never payed attention to that until now.

"We promise you're going to have so much fun, Shinae!" Oh. yeah. Fun. Famous last words.

The strangers who stare at Shinae, one of them has similar hairstyle as the new Nol, lol. For a second I thought it's Nol, but I remember his suit at that time was grey, not black... but fr tho, are they just random npc or should i keep an eyes on them?? or myb the detailed character design is just there to emphasize how sharp their gaze is at her...

See, my pet peeve. If you guys had warned Shinae about the party much earlier, maybe she could've prepared a better mask. Or maybe you could've helped her making a cuter one, idk. But ngl, Shinae's mask here IS iconic.

Is Rika's father Jayce?? Or not??

Oh yeah, the girls were focusing on what they want, not what she needs... even though they're the one who pushed her to join this party...

(I just read an analysis that the girls consider Shinae as a pigsty bc she eats a lot, but never consider why she eats a lot and stays thin in the first place... bc eating is such a priviledge for Shinae bc she's struggling with money... and now I'm broken T_T)

Kinda wonder if in the future Shinae will warm up to join parties because of her new forced lifestyle...

"This stupid mask though, making my face get all sweaty..." Is it a a foreshadowing that Shinae will still be uncomfortable wearing a "mask" even after 4 years learning to follow Yui's footstep? Or is it just a sign that Shinae will progress, from unable to keep her mask to being able to keep it on for so long?

Now that I'm older, I just realize those guys are straight up harassing Shinae 😪

Why is Nol & Soushi in the dance area, though. Nol doesn't seem like the type who enjoy that. Maybe Soushi wants to dance? Doesn't seem like him (or myb I barely know him). Bc if anything, Soushi would've loved the free buffet even more. Maybe Soushi wants to meet some girls on the dance floor (either for himself or for Dieter)?

Wait, is Nol nearby because he sees a woman (Shinae) in trouble? Does he already suspect it's the girl he met at the burger place based on her overall stature and her...unique mask??

Fuxk I forgot Nol has a great memory. With how memorable their first meeting on ep 2, ofc he's gonna recognize her from first glance in ep 3. Question is, is he nearby because he already recognize her from far away & he tries to approach her, or is he nearby simply because he happened to accompany Soushi to the dance floor?

Istg the reason why Nol is nearby and bumped into Shinae in this episode will determine whether their second meeting is intentional or coincidence. Whether he approaches her because he's really interested in her or because he happen to notice she's in trouble and will need Yeong-Gi's help. Whether he's approaching her as Nolan or as Yeong-Gi.

I AM STILL SALTY SHE DIDNT GET TO EAT THOSE FOODS.

WHat the Fuck, Kousuke. I know you're cranky because of Meg (iirc), but do you have to trip Shinae like that? Is that a gentleman attitude? Humiliating a poor woman who's just trying to enjoy her food? You could've just asked nicely, yknow. (Not that Shinae will give up her tiramisu easily, but at least it's much better than tripping her up?) Kou is behaving like such a child here. Is it because Yui didn't give him his usual dose or smth? 😭

Episode 4

I love Shinae's unhingedness.

Oh. My. GOD I can't believe I used to ship Shinsuke when he's being this ass??? Why did I ever consider this scene romantic 😭 (myb in my head i thought this is the start of enemies-to-lovers, but this is nastyy 🤣😭 shinae is over it prob, but now that kou's crumbling down, kinda curious how's he gonna react if he remember how they first met...)

Is Kousuke just asking for a fight??? Why is he being this classist & crankyy helpp 🤣🤣🤣 (Beside Meg, I don't remember Nol causing problem to Kou tho, so what gives?? kinda remember vaguely nol was ignoring kou, but was their problem prior to this really that serious?)

Like, Kou, I get it. You're stressed out, you need a reliever, and she happens to take away your precious sweet. Her dress looks cheap. She's not wearing any make-up or accessories to make herself prettier. She eats a lot. Sure those might irritate you because she's not up to your standard guest. But that's not an excuse to trip her and call her names. She's just minding her own business! She's innocent?? Ig in your defense, if only she dressed better or watched her manner gracefully you would've treat–

Wait. Is he lowkey jealous because she looks poor, yet, she doesn't need to keep up appereances to be happy??? He feels tired & miserable throughout the night and he still has to keep up apperances, so seeing someone poor but completely content without a care in the world pisses him off? (That does tie up with his jealousy for Nol, doesn't it... now i wonder if he sees young!nol in this moment and becomes irritated...)

I know that Kou is in the wrong here, but it bad that I actually find his attitude refreshing compared to the usual Kou who's all proper & perfect to please his father? Like, it fits his mental age (of 12) lmaoo . Still, that doesn't make me want him to treat people poorly.

omg omg omg. I know someone said NolShin's interaction at the very beginning is a premonition(?) of their future dynamic, that Shinae will be able to calm down Nol's chaotic energy. What if Shinsuke's first interaction here is also a premonition of their future dynamic: that Kou will be able to show his disheveled self—free from Yui's influence—in front of Shinae, while she will be able to keep him in check? im prob reaching here.

YEAHH GET EM SHINAE.

Kousuke, honey, I don't think $10,000 worth that much when your "brother's" alma jacket costs the same, so... myb you can get a much better & expensive suit later? Lol.

I forgot to mention it but I have a 'what-if' that this party will be a parallel of NolShin's reunion 4 years in the future. Like, Shinae will attend Hirahara party again but this time she has become Yui's "pawn," she's no longer an outsider, she will handle the party much better, she will get used to Kou's antics by now, and then a "mysterious person" aka Nol (who just got back from England) approach her and ask her to be his partner... maybe they'll even have a hot dance for a moment gyahhh. Quim no matter what tragic fate awaits them at least please grant us this moment 🙏

I cheer for Shinae to get back at Kou, but yeah, maybe throwing a steak at a random rich person is not the smartest idea...

Now that I put myself in Shinae's shoes.... myeaa idk about that, Nol, what you did IS creepy... Nana is right, Nol needs to seriously work on his first impression on strangers... But if he do this again on his reunion with Shinae 4 years later, maybr this will be hot?? idk idk im a mess lolol

Wait, Nol. Why did you follow her in the first place. Didn't you want to return her mask, or you simply want to meet her? You should've just said you want to 'return her mask because she dropped it after she bumped into you.' That'd be a much better (read: less creepy) first impression, wouldn't it?

Does he forget about her mask because he's just too hyped to see her? Is he just focusing on how to help her in some way until he forget about her mask? Or does he have no intention of returning it in the first place?? highly unlikely, but still.

(Maybe it's a foreshadowing that in their future reunion, Shinae will drop her metaphorical mask out of shock, he won't let her retreat to wear one, and yet, he's still keeping his on. Lol jk)

now my delusional stalkyoo mind is saying he doesn't return her mask because he wants to see her face for as long as possible, because she intrigues him he's curious to see the real her without any cover-up. i need help.

I wonder why Nol takes off his suit after Shinae run away. I don't think he's all hot & huffing after a little run, physique-wise he's fit as heck... Is this his attempt to appear less intimidating in front of her? So she won't run away again?

I think he hears the way her friends badmouth & ditch her, before he announces his presence.

Nol's motive for helping Shinae is... definitely interesting. I thought "oh yeah, this is his cover-up story to hide the fact that he wants to help her for his own absolution." But then I thought "waiit, he wanna help because he's bored? His eyes are open, he's not lying. Didn't he say in ep 2 he can't wait to meet Shinae because the party is getting boring? What he said to himself and what he said to her, they match. So he's being genuine here? He's not telling a cover-up story to hide his true objective??"

I know Nol said (in ep 179) he approached people with ulterior motives: because he wants to make amends for the past, to gain control over his life, for his absolution, etc. He makes it sound like he's approaching people purely to make him feel less guilty about himself, and to torture/punish himself at the same time by forcing himself to live/move even though he doesn't want to. But I don't think it applies to Shinae here. Regardless if she run into problems in the party or not, from the start, he already put an interest in her because she's interesting. If it's true that he approached Shinae in ep 3 because he recognized her and wanted to meet her, then maybe, his intention here is not entirely "selfless" afterall. He approaches her not because he anticipate her to be this damsel-in-distress who need saving, he approaches her because he likes her. Platonically ofc.

Wtf Quimchee, why do you give us a mental gymnastic like this. So the layer of Nol's intention is like this: Layer 1: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes her. Layer 2: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and he's using her distress for his own absolution. Layer 3: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes her. ??? It's like we're back to square one, but not really 🤣🤣🤣 (i guess in ep 179 he was too clouded with depression to see the original reason why he asked her out. Nol's pov screwed me overrr)

Or maybe I'm screwing myself. Just because what he said to himself (this party's getting boring) and what he said to her (I'm just bored) match, that doesn't mean his intention for absolution is any less real. Perhaps he was excited to meet her, but the moment he saw her troubled with the harassment and her girl friends, his gear shifted. It's no longer "she's so cool & chaotic I want to know more about her!", it shifts to "she needs help above all else. This is Yeong-Gi's time to shine." So maybe he IS telling a cover-up story to hide his true intention.

Istg Quimchee what the hell did u do to my brain.

oh OH. When he said he's bored in this ep, myb he meant he's depressed. He's numbed by the endless repetitive hell he faced. When he said he can't wait to meet Shinae at the party, it's bc she sparked his will to live. He wanted to create a little chaos against iniustice to feel alive again. The world turned against his back in the past because he was fighting alone. But this time, with someone who shares similar value with him, maybe he has a chance to win against the world this time. Because he's not alone anymore. but idk if nol realize all of this or not. or myb my line of thinking is too romanticized.

.

.

.

Anyway.

Shinae's rejection line. Her statement that she will treat everyone the same regardless of occupation might've made him even more impressed. Then, her comment that human (he) suck stings. Maybe he figures out she's putting up a wall as a defensive mechanism to fend for herself, which, he also relates with her. Maybe he's smiling because he empathized with her. Like "yeah, I get that, I feel like that too."

OH. This smile. I had such a hard time deciphering this smile. Maybe this is more than just him empathizing with her sentiment.

Maybe this is the smile of "Ahh gotcha. Another person similar with me who needs help. Once I help her, we can be friends, she's happy, another progress to absolve my sins. I hit a jackpot with this one."

If this is true, then it makes sense why Nol feel so guilty in ep 179. Because he treated helping Shinae as a way to fill his "good-boy stamp card" to make up for his past(?).

Ohh wait we don't know how his life went prior to this night! If my memory is correct that Nol was avoiding Kousuke prior to this, it means they had a problem, Nol was feeling shitty, he felt like the world is going against him, and he sees helping Shinae as an opportunity to gain control over his life!

If this is NOT true, then maybe the reason why he helped Shinae is simply because he likes her, he relates with her, and he wants to hang out with her more, but he doesn't realize any of this in ep 179 (even in the newest ep). Though I find this hypothesis to be more unlikely now, I won't toss it yet. Just to give it a fighting chance, lol.

"When I said I wanted to help, I meant it, so here I am!" Eyes closed. He's not lying, but he's hiding his true intention. Whether he's hiding his true intention of wanting to feel better about himself or he's hiding the fact that he likes her is still not clear to me.

Yeah, this guy is Yeong-Gi alright. The Yeong-Gi who tries to appear as harmless as possible. The bubbly guy who wants to help anyone he empathized with.

A normal person would simply help her by calling a cab, paying for it if they feel generous, and calling it a day. I think that's what Yeong-Gi would do, because as long as he can help her get home safely, it's more than enough for him. But no, I think this guy is Nolan, whether he realizes it or not. Or maybe there's a part of Nolan that's seeping through his Yeong-Gi mask. Yeong-Gi would go extra miles to help, but I think only Nolan would suggest to help her set up a prank for revenge. It's not just for her sake, I think it's also for his sake. Potential multiple reasons: 1) he's genuinely pissed at her girl friends, because they—who're supposed to be her close friends that she defended to such extent—abandoned her (just like how Kousuke abandoned him; Nol's projecting his anger at that time to her situation now). 2) Because he wants to get on her good side. 3) Because he's depressed with Hirahara's control that he wants to have fun (read: create a little chaos) with her. 4) It's a mix of all things.

Augh, I forgot he's so good at reading people. So, another possible reason why he suggested a prank: 5) Because he can sense Shinae is a natural daredevil (like him) based on how reckless she was to defend her friends, so there's a high chance she won't reject this offer.

My God, someone said the first time Shinae meet Nolan is at Minhyuk's party, and I agree, but what if the reason why Nol & Shinae hit it off so well in the beginning, is because Nol is being Nol without realizing it, and Shinae has already met Nolan since the beginning. Am I straying off or am I on the right track??

Huh, I completely forgot about Nol's intention of hooking up Shinae with Dieter. Like I said previously, is he deadass believing (in ep 231) he's approaching her because he wants to play cupid, and not because he himself is interested in her??

Or maybe i messed up; myb nol was only reminded to be dieter's cupid after he saw him again (ep 11 or smth). let's see in the next few eps

TLDR; So now, after ep 237 & rereading ep 4, Nol's intention's layer is like this. Layer 1: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes her spiciness. Layer 2: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help, and he wants to get on her good side because he wants to hook her up with Dieter. Layer 3: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and he's using her distress for his own absolution. Layer 4: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help, and he's using her distress to get on her good side so he can hook her up with Dieter because making his friend happy is his mission for absolution, to gain control over his shitty life. Layer 5: Nol helps Shinae because she genuinely need help and because he likes how she sparked his will to live & he wants to create a little chaos to fight against injustice with her, esp against close friend/relative who ignore their cry for help (Layer 4 & 5 is interchangeable/can be merged)

Maybe layer 4 is what he believed, and layer 5 is what actually happened? Lmao.

Am I crazy or is Nol in ep 237 truly that dense/in denial. Not that I'm saying he already harbored a romantic feeling from the very beginning—I don't think so, but I found it hard to believe he would think he likes her because he latches on to the first person who treat him nicely, and she can be replaced by anyone as long as they're a decent human being. (wait, with his condition it's not that hard to believe, ig...). Nol, please define "a decent person" in your book.

Nol, you... you're just too focused on how you feel for her on your birthday. You need sleep. And a lot of time to reminisce and contemplate (which I hope you can do in your jail time). Not neccesarily romantic, but your attraction towards Shinae clearly has started long before your birthday, your separation, or even the Kim party's accident, and it only got worse over time.

Myb i shouldn't have trusted his words so much, he has no idea what he's saying sometimes...

Nol always chooses his friends based on how much he relates to them, not just because they're someone who needs help. Soushi was facing injustice and was unable to fight back against his bullies. Dieter was a lonely foreigner who had a hard time adjusting to a new, unfamiliar country, which worsened his loneliness. Alyssa was a lonely person who was facing trauma and heavy guilt. Nol sees himself in them and decides to help them out as Yeong-Gi because, not just to alleviate his guilt, but also (most probably, whether he realizes it or not) because he wished they could have a "hero" he didn't have in the past. But Shinae is different. From the start, she's already a "hero." She chose to step up for other people's sake. She has this blazing fire to seek justice. She's probably a figure he wished he had in his past. She left a great impression on their first meeting. And eventually he learned that she wears a facade to appear strong to fend for herself and she's also abandoned by people close to her; just like him. Just from their first meeting, he can't just replace her with any decent person. He gravitates toward her because he immediately senses a kind of comradeship. She's already special in that way.

I'm just losing my mind. It's 5 AM already. I need to sleep.

*Edit: God, in Nol's case, it's kiinda like "love at first sight" (but not really) but he's too dense and/or in huge denial to see that. Aksjhxjskdkfhkdkdk

Edit2: The crux of my confusion with Nol as a character, is how much he acts as Yeong-Gi and how much he acts as Nolan in this party. Because. While Yeong-Gi being pushy with his help is so typical of him, the fact that he put an interest in Shinae in ep 2 and the way he suggested a rather devious plan for revenge screams Nolan to me. Is there any compiled analysis out there about Nolan vs Yeong-Gi?? I need to read more.

[meatcarnival3000]

my hot micheal take, knowing that all chapters after 1 were originally supposed to come out together and the game was scripted for that to be the case, is that mike Will be relevant, eventually. i dont think toby would write mike in the way he appears in spamtons dialogue if he was always going to be a rug pull gag character that might not even exist, but now that its evident that the releases of new chapters will continue to be staggered, and the actual mike reveal is taking years longer to come, we are getting little jokey teases about him while we wait (the fake mike fight). i trust toby to have the creative integrity to not rewrite an entire character that seems SUPER important to spamton into a gag just to spite us for theorizing so hard- i think the fake mike fight is just toby getting in on the mike frenzy a bit, for fun and laughs on all sides. its there to tide us over and soothe our souls until Real Mike shows up, since its now going to be like, 5 years between mike first being mentioned by spamton in 2021, to him (potentially) appearing in chapter 5 (if hes gonna be introduced there and not even later)

[tvlandofficiall]

Any crack theories or predictions you have for future chapters?

that's a good question — i'm not entirely sure if i have any? a lot of the ones that i feel would be considered more "out there" would be considered as such due to being a bit niche, (ie; rouxls kaard being important later on, "mike" being a gaster alias rather than a separate character, rudy only dying on the weird route and not on the normal route, ect.) not due to being all too silly or crack-y. most of my sillier thoughts are just regular old thoughts about the characters that i wouldn't categorize as "theories". alas!

[hearthomelesbian]

who would win: the devs literally saying that glados is into chell and writing that into the text of the game via multiple songs and scenes as well as deleted scenes and interviews VS 1 fan theory that glados is chell's mother based on exactly 1 easter egg and the lyrics to a song that were improv-ed by an actress in a language she doesnt speak and that doesnt line up with the canon information or timeline

[dreamsy990]

ch4 spoilers if you haven't. been there i find it really fun how in deltarune susie is the consistent like. video game rule breaker (see: not being able to equip certain armors, not being able to unequip an armor unless you're replacing it, ralsei's room, and just many other little things). and i do wonder if this will continue forth for the prophecy & such. will susie intentionally or accidentally break out of the prophecy and cause a different ending? cause i feel like deltarune is going in the direction of oh your fate is decided by these texts. but like that could be. wrong. idk.

on one hand i hate to be one of the people thats saying toby was lying about there being one ending, on the other youre so right. because the way deltarune is set up it FEELS like its meant to be a narrative about determinism and subverting fate. and susies kinda the catalyst for a lot of that. especiallyyyy w the theory shes not the monster referenced in the prophecy.

im sure someones said this before but i like the idea that the snowgrave route is the intention of the prophecy. "love finds its way to the girl" or whatever the line was being a reference to LV. the idea that the main route of deltarune would be subverting fate while the snowgrave route is doing "what youre supposed to" is really cool to me idk.

with the way the game is setting up the idea of choices not mattering, it feels like its meant to be subverted. sooo much of this game is about defiance to me like every aspect of this game is full of ideas of doing what youre not supposed to. it just feels right for the prophecy to either not come true, or come true on a technicality (like reinterpreting the vague parts, i.e. turning "love finds its way to the girl" into being about a romance instead of LV).

anyways. yeah thoughts. idk how its gonna end but ill like the ending either way so im just here for the ride