#and i may act like i understand music and music theory but i don't

[futuresafe]

I dont know. i wish i was as smart as i pretend to be sometimes

[nowmemoriees]

MIKE'S UNSENT LETTER TO WILL

i wasn't a firm believer of the "Mike carries a letter for Will" theory until I combined four different official hints: Music, Costume Designing, ST Social Media and the show parallels.

This theory came from the first hint: costume designing.

It's been pointed out that Mike's side pocket seems kinda.. weird. (Seems like there was some piece of paper inside of it).

This pocket was interesting even before the unsent letter theory, because many people pointed out that the grey piece looks like an arrow pointing to Mike's left, which is curious because we can see Will standing on Mike's left in suspicious scenes like this.

This pocket was mentioned again by Finn just a few days ago in the latest con. 👀

But, this is not part of the letter theory, so let's keep moving. Now let's find the context.

First of all, let's position here.

In season four, letters are probably one of the most relevant topic of the season. They're always brought up. They're meaningful. (El's letter, Jonathan's admission letter, Max's letters) Letters, Letters and more Letters.

So, it wouldn't be surprising if we had another hidden letter too, right?

Now, to go deeper, let's go back to season 3 ending.

First, we have Mike realizing his feelings for Will. (Too late for him, because now Will was moving across the country)

Then we have, surprise, another letter. Probably one of the most important letters in the show.

Hopper's letter. A letter where he tells El how he is feeling about all the recent changes.

But, somehow, this letter not only relates to Hop or El. We've been shown that Hopper's voiceover focuses on Mike at some specific phrases.

"Feelings. Jesus. The truth is, for so long I forgotten what those even were" - FOCUSES ON MIKE AND WILL HUG

"I guess I've been feeling distant from you. Like you're pulling away from me or something" - Focuses on Mike watching the Byers leaving.

"And I guess, If i'm being really honest, that' what scares me. I don't want things to change" - Focuses on Mike turning back to see the empty byers house for the last time, then focuses on Will crying.

"So I think maybe that's why I came in here. To try to maybe, stop that change. To turn back the clock, to make things go back to how they were" - Focuses on Mike hugging his mum, almost in tears. (Which also parallels the scene where he cries because he thought Will was d3ad)

Hopper's letter was not only the main hinter to Mike's feelings. It was also the beginning of some other meaningful letters in the show.

Now, let's focus on this detail before moving back to season 4. Second hint: parallels.

When Hopper wrote this letter, he never gave it to El. He never read it. He just hid it, he kept it on.. oh, his left pocket. Well, it could be just a coincidence, right?

But then, moving forward to season 4, again, we have another "hidden" letter.

Jonathan lies to Nancy about this letter, he says he never received it. But he has it. He hides it. Where does he hide the letter? Oh... his left pocket.

It wouldn't surprise me if there's another hidden letter on a left side pocket (cof cof, Mike's)

Well, now let's go to our third hint: Music.

We know background music is maybe one of the most important ways to send a message in this show.

We've been told about this by the writers. Music is carefully selected.

Then, I found this post on instagram (from @sagebyers on tumblr)

Mike nods. He understands what Will is saying on the heart to heart scene.

"Its scary to open up like that, especially to people you care about the most, because what if they don't like the truth?". Oh, have you got some hidden feelings there Michael? That phrase really got into your heart.

Yesterday, @emily-tumbles-on pointed out that El said, through her letter, that Will may like someone, so he has been acting weird. But the one who has been acting really, really weird this season was Mike.

This is related to his internal struggle. To his internal jealousy, too. But, could it also be about him trying to find the perfect moment to give Will that letter?

Finally, the fourth hint. Social media spoilers, maybe?

We've been hinted about the existence of, probably, another letter.

I believe this could be THE letter from Mike to Will. It couldn't be one of Max's letters, because what we are shown here is the date when Will went missing. So, it may be a letter for him. It must be. A letter signed with "Love, ...."

A letter that's probably about untold fellings "you mean so... / sorry I couldn't get this done.../" makes sense after Mike's realization. Right?

ok im editing this 3 days later cause we have some more hints already, i'll probably keep adding info.

- birthday letter? reblog

ok so now I've read a lot of your theories talking about the fact that the duffer bros may have actually INTENTIONALLY forgotten about Will's birthday, so it's an interesting point to add here because this letter could be a birthday one. It would make so much sense and also it would show us that Mike didn't really forget about Will's birthday, he just felt so uncomfortable that day.

if thay's the case this is going to hit so hard because i'm suffering as a Will Byers stan rn.

- another addition: finn's mention about the pocket

- addition: a great analysis here by @willbylersheart

- another analysis by @vulvatar

- mike's unsent letter to will is from season 1? analysis by @doriandrifting

[nightswithkookmin]

SEVEN BY JUNGKOOK PT1

Disclaimer: this review is from a shipper's perspective and it's objective is to rebut a few misconceptions about 7.

When I first heard the song was gonna be titled seven, I rolled my eyes- like how many times are these boys going to pander to Army with the whole 0T7 agenda right? Here they with yet another song about how much they love eachother like come on! I love BTS, I do but- I mean yall had the tattoos and the cute meet ups, and heart wrenching sappy goodbyes- isn't that enough why yall gotta make yet another song about your bond and friendship WHYYYYYY yall don't have nothing else to talk about? I thought season two was yall on tour grown grown shit- how is this growth if you singing bout the same thing over and over- right? BOY WAS I WRONG ABOUT THAT!

It's a good thing I didn't come out here to rant about that cos that would have been the biggest embarrassment of my life and I would be eating my words right about now while penning several apology letters to Jungkook- anonymously.

Seven thus, to me, is surprisingly good. Not at all what I had thought the song would be about so when I tell yall I was screaming up and down in my living room surprised and amazed clapping and cheering on as if this was the best thing I ever heard- yall wouldn't even understand.

It is why the first thing I love about the song is the title and how creative it is in as much as it doubles as a play on the word and teases out his connection to Bangtan- say whatever you want but I think that was hella genius and creative and reflects Jungkook's personality for someone who has always been creative in this way from his use of color contrasts in his GCFs to tell a story right down to choosing ABCD as his IG handle.

The MV had Jungkook written all over it- playful, goofy fun yet delightfully hot- it's the memes for me.

It was nice to see him be himself in a music video- nothing felt forced and contrived to me nor seemed out of character and that's what gave the song the flair I think it has. Jungkook pulled this off smoothly.

His acting was spot on- I loved the female character in there (in spite of yall saying they didn't gat chemistry) that's just because she's my type so thank you for that Jungkook. Mean cold emotionally unavailable, physically intimidating- yea no, I'm in love with her not gonna lie🤧

And I don't know what it is but she reminds me of Park Jimin too. And I sorta kinda like Jimin soo🥴

Is it the cheek bone?

Or the neck and shoulders

Either way, she invokes the same feelings I get when I look at Park Jimin- strong alpha female😌 may be it's because they both give off masc/fem androgyny energy and I like that shit- eat it up nom

She played her role very well and helped sell the story.

Those saying they lacked chemistry yall never seen BTS around girls huh cos it doesn't get better than this😩😩😩😩😩

Don't know if yall were expecting them to be flirting and shit- at least this female lead played center I'm still trying to find the female lead in JMs MV😭🤣🤣

I'm actually surprised how good Jungkook's acting turned out in this MV. Whatever they were doing in the restaurant- I'm sold.

And I know alot of people aren't too enthused by the plot of the MV- a young man hopelessly in love with their partner to the point of clinginess and obsession- look, may be if I were looking at this concept from an outside in perspective I would find issues there with that narrative too but as some one who has been following these men almost through out their music career and have had the privilege of consuming content beyond the music they do- I kinda find it hilarious 😂

Hilarious because it's everything fans, and BTS accuse Kook of- it's giving me war flashbacks to the perila leaf conversation they had, to all the times he and Jimin have been caught sneaking into each other's hotel rooms because CLINGY, to Jimin complaining he comes into his room at 1am just to sit on the bed and do nothing, to all the theories about Kook being the clingy one in Jikook- hate to say I told ya😆

It's almost as if he's saying we'll folks yall are not wrong I kinda is clingy and I'm not ashamed🤣🤣🤣🤣

He's a hopeless romantic and he hasn't made that a secret at all. To me, what this is is he's owning the narrative- that is if this was a conscious decision and artistic choice by him.

I had to look up the director of the MV and this is the first time in my life I've genuinely cared about the director behind any project for that matter cos how much of a coincidence is this to cast characters who complement each other so well and craft a narrative which is not a narrative at all!

Their website says they blend "youth and pop culture with high concept storytelling." Well they pulled that off. The plot is simple and easy to follow and reflects pop culture. I wouldn't say this is exactly ground breaking though, because it's been done over and over again- but I think Jungkook rejuvenated the concept by adding his own take and personality to it. It was done well and I must give him high praise for this.

If you are a fan of pop culture and pop music this is consumable as fuck. The song is really catchy. And that's just the thing, there is a market for this genre of music whether you like it or not and he doesn't have to cater to everyone's taste all at once. However to me, this is a step in the right direction for his career especially if he is to position himself as a global artist.

People may know BTS but not everyone knows Jeon Jungkook and this right here is him carving a niche out for himself. He is not trying to ride on the success of BTS. He is not trying to be the solo version of BTS. He is trying to be JEON JUNGKOOK.

His music is gonna play in every teens living room, every adults bedroom, in the club on the streets- he's reaching places even BTS struggled to reach and that's the power of his brand.

He's making waves and he's only just begun. And it's about damn time too!

I don't have much to say about Latto other than give that bae some grammy just for the titties😩 the explicit version of the song makes so much sense why she was so freakylicious up on a BTS song😭😭😭😭

First I was like gurl what? Slurp what??? Then I heard the fucking you right version- I said carry on. My mistake chilee. Jungkook ma n*ga you wild.

It's refreshing to see him step into his power and own his image and his brand and control the narratives- if not capitalize on them.

Overall I think this was a great pop song and Jungkook carried it so well. He's gonna go places. It's high from here and nothing less.

While on the subject, let me address some of the remarks people have been making about the song. To anyone complaining this is yet another pop song- with all due respect, he is not Beethoven he is not an Opera singer he is a freakn pop artist 😩

If yall are tired of pop music just say so and go but don't come for a pop artist doing what a pop artist is supposed to do- and don't let a lie slip out of your mouth it's a great pop song that bops. Seven freakn days a week.

No other kpop artist have come this close to breaking into a western market much less come this close to dominating it. And to some of us, this has always been the dream. I have spent so many sleepless nights meditating and praying for BTS particularly Jikook to gain a strong foothold in the western music market, beyond Korea and Asia and when finally they are making attempts and moves towards that goal yall want to tear him down- fuck yall opps HE IS FREE BITCH.

At this point I really don't care whether people like the song or not because we have moved past that stage where their in their progress in their career was contingent on people liking their shit. How are you gonna like a song if you've never even heard it? Now more than ever, what's important is reaching as many listeners as possible and to that end I think they are all on a right truck.

Jungkook is out to make a name for himself and solidify himself as one of the top pop artist in the world and I don't think his language or country should hold him back- asking him to stick to Korean songs is holding him back from his full potential. Faulting him for for branching out and reaching for the stars is equally holding him back and putting him in a box- well burn that box would you.

I really hope seven is the first of many English pop songs he will make because we want to see more of him, all of him and especially what he can contribute to the genre he dabbles in. His best is yet to come.

And for those complaining seven is nothing new- understand IT IS NEW FOR JUNGKOOK. It is new for many of us who are seeing him do this for the FIRST TIME AS A SOLO ARTIST.

His English keeps improving with each new song, his delivery gets better and better- yall just leave him alone please and thank you.

My final thoughts, as the main vocalist of BTS HE SURELY LIVED UP TO HIS REPUTATION WITH SEVEN. HIS PERFORMANCE WAS AMAZING, COSTUME LOOKED GREAT, SET WAS FANTASTIC AND HIS VOCALS WAS FLAWLESS.

If this is the start we are off to a good start.

The MV to me gave him opportunity to showcase more of his goofy personality, to show people he really doesn't take himself too seriously and has a great sense of humor.

As a performer he nailed his role. Definitely understood the assignment. And it's a good thing they casted a strong female lead cos them damsels in distress be getting on my nerves.

Do we need more of this? Yes AND YESS AND HELL YES!!!!

Between Jimin's Angel and this, you guys have no idea how excited I am for their journey. I want to see more collabs, I want to see them take more risks and build their individual brands.

Jungkook should definitely consider acting. A cameo in a popular American series wouldn't hurt his career.

In fact, the entire maknae line should.

[unma]

Here's That Heathcliff Ramble You All Wanted

Okay so forgive me for whatever inaccuracies are in here (and correct me if you notice any!) I'm simply sharing the mess of thoughts sitting in my head and while I'm sure this will be more organized by the time I take this out of Notepad and post it I don't promise it won't be obvious how much of a ramble this is. But okay let's go.

Heathcliff and Other!Heathcliff: One and the Same

No, this isn't a theory that Other!Heath is a future Heath or something. It's been made pretty obvious that isn't the case, given ids only pull from other worlds as far as I know. I will also not comment on how this happened; I am aware this (or something similar) happened in Leviathan, but I haven't read Leviathan so I am not aware of the specifics of how this works. Neither does that matter.

Now, to get into my point, I first need to compare this Canto's progression to the previous Canto's, Canto V. Some comparisons in terms of character development could also be made to Canto IV, but my understanding of that is limited and I need to replay it more, and Canto V is a much better comparison due to their similarities. You see, in Canto VI and V, Heathcliff and Ishmael are mirrors of their respective antagonists. While in Ishmael's case, it is because her obsession with defeating Ahab was leading her down the path of becoming Ahab herself ("That bastard… has to be alive still."), for Heathcliff that is because Other!Heathcliff is literally him. In ever single way except for the world he originates from. Given that Ishmael's arc is about seeing that and changing for the better, you would expect Heathcliff to have a similar arc. You would expect their battles to progress the same, with Heathcliff overcoming his issues over the course of the battle acting as a show of their growth so far …right?

The Other!Heathcliff boss fight was great. Music was banging, fight was pretty damn fun and somewhat challenging, and my Shi Heathcliff was doing utterly nothing because I didn't want to stagger him (I have only two none base ids, and the other is a level 1 N. Corp Heath. I was not spending the next half hour in Luxcavation). But, back on track, during the fight I had the distinct feeling that unlike Ahab and Ishmael, there was literally no difference between the two. There was no character growth or sudden realization. You could switch the characters around and it'd be the exact same—hell, give Heath a couple more days and he'd be the exact same. This is even shown in how both of them can get the Deep Bereavement buff.

Where am I going with this? Well, I want to point out the end of their fights. Specifically their base EGO's changes. Ishmael's Snagharpoon was a representation of her undying hatred for Ahab and her obsessive focus on the goal of hunting Ahab down. Her striking Ahab down with the harpoon would be the realization of those efforts, but it would also cement her existence as an Ahab. It would show that she was truly willing to let herself be blinded by her obsession for revenge at the expense of those around her, and thus her striking down the whale after would be Ahab striking down the whale. However, in choosing to strike the whale instead of Ahab, she shows her ability to not let such an obsession completely overtake her; to follow her compass not with blind devotion but with a sharp understanding, like a great sailor. She has learnt to use her compass as a guide for a journey of her own making, not as a rule for where she must go. "This is how I will chart my own path…"

Heathcliff, on the other hand, does not have the meaning of his EGO change or evolve at the end of the battle. Instead, the meaning is further reinforced and revealed plainly for all to see, with the extra context of what Other!Heathcliff told him. "You… and everything that crushed me under their feet, built this wall between me and Cathy…" may include Hindley and Edgar, but ultimately they're only extras. The true meaning of the Bodysack is made literal as he proceeds to beat Other!Heathcliff to death with it, who, as we've established, is literally him. He is beating up himself with the sack. He is going to shove himself into the sack. And as the beating continues and extends past its usual duration, we see the envy outline fade and be replaced with wrath, and the damage counter changes to that of corrosion. He is not wielding the EGO. It is wielding him. This acts as a representation of how this battle has affected him; but unlike Ishmael who grew positively in her cutscene, Heathcliff is faller deeper and deeper into his already existing issues. Bodysack's envy assignment showed just how much he envied everyone else: he seems himself as an absolute wretch, the worst of the worst, and because he sees everyone as better than him, he journeys to better himself such that Cathy will acknowledge him. And yet, as the Envy fades to wrath, its meaning is not completely altered, only further revealed. He doesn't just envy others for not being as pathetic as he sees himself to be, he hates himself for being such a wretch. The bodysack isn't just meant for others. It's meant for the object of his hatred. Himself.

In killing Other!Heathcliff in such a manner, he cements himself as the same person, much like it would have been if Ishmael killed Ahab.

Here, I will shift a little to talk about Other!Heath, who I view as simply a more complete version of Heath. In the sense that he's already been through the entire book, his entire journey. He is Heath with the benefit (or demerit, I guess) of experience. And yet it's interesting how he's not even the slightest angry about losing. He doesn't just want to kill Heathcliff, not to just watch him fall into despair. He wants Heathcliff to come to the realization that he has: he is the wretch that murdered Cathy. He is the reason she was destined to be miserable. And for that sin, he deserves nothing worse than hell. Other!Heathcliff doesn't just want Heathcliff dead, he wants himself dead. He's not just journeying to other worlds to fulfil some hate boner. It's either he kills other Heathcliffs, or they kill him. There is no in-between. All Heathcliffs must die, and as long as they continue to die, he is fine with his own death.

There is another thing I would like to comment on, but only lightly, as I would like to wait for the reveal this Wednesday to complete my thoughts on it, but Heath's conversation with Carmen is interesting, specifically the point where he distorts. There, he affirms just how he sees himself: not as a human, but as a beast, something much lesser than a person. Such is the shape his distortion shall take, as said by Carmen and laid out by Heathcliff: "I shall become an infernal hound; snarling, tearing at the fabric of the City… And I will shove its remnants into this sack… and grate it across the broken earth." One cannot help but think this is a result of all the dehumanization he had gone through at the hands of Hindley. All the verbal abuse he suffered at the hands of everyone but Nelly and Catherine has been internalized, and this is the result.

Lastly, I would like to point out two things that came to me upon remembering the start of the book: Cathy died in childbirth from what I heard, and Ms. Heathcliff (I am unaware if her name is revealed in the book, I have either not reached that point or it never is) has yet to show up in this Canto to my knowledge. However, that is not what I want to talk about here. The thing is, Heathcliff owns dogs in the books. The hounds that threatened to bite Mr. Lockwood. And I can't help but think that his distortion would reference them, in some part. I know Heathcliff already has Telepole (which is sure to take on meaning given this Canto, especially its corrosion), but I doubt they would go the route of making his distortion straight up Telepole. That would be disappointed and honestly doesn't seem like what PM would do. Allow me this little bit of speculation, alright?

I think that's all I have to say for now. I can't wait to see what happens next honestly, so I'm kinda glad I have GBF Guild Wars to distract me until the next part is here. Feel free to share your thoughts in the notes! I may take a while to respond, but I promise I'll do so eventually! (Be patient with me, I have social anxiety and ADHD, admittedly self-diagnosed though.)

[ssouhekii]

wᵢₜₕ ₜₕₑₘ ° . * . ● ☆ • ° .

ᶠᵉᵐ!ᶠʸᵒᵈᵒʳ, ᶠᵉᵐ!ⁿⁱᵏᵒˡᵃⁱ, & ᶠᵉᵐ!ˢʰⁱᵇᵘˢᵃʷᵃ ˣ ᵍⁿ!ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ ʰᶜˢ

warnings: none

a/n: I tried to find the most accurate feminine version of each name. i wasn't sure whether to turn nicole's surname into a feminine version or not, because of the debate about gogol being ukrainian or russian. i kept the surname the same, so sorry if it's inaccurate. not proofread!

Feodora Dostoevskaya

- Her chief love language is acts of service, though these acts could border on terrifying if you weren't the one recieving the favors.

- You'd never doubt that she loves you, though, because to commit a crime for someone is the ultimate act of love.

- You think.

- She'll take care of any major inconvenience for you without you even mentioning it to her.

- If someone had stolen your identity, she'd find them, steal their identity back, and take you on a shopping spree.

- She has eyes everywhere, so never try to hide something that's burdening you. She'll figure it out, and help you fix it anyways.

- Feodora has never known how to express herself truthfully all that well. She may not be able to write a searingly beautiful love poem to the one she loves most, or show them a boombox below their bedroom window and blast a song to declare her love, but she can do other things.

- Her other favorite thing to do for you is play music. Nothing makes dear Feodora happier than seeing you in her audience, big or small, for the cello.

- Aside from cello, she can also play the piano and the harp.

- Feodora mostly plays classical music. However, she'd maybe be convinced to learn a pop or rock song for you. Only for you, though.

- She's also a great listener. She'd love to hear anything you have to say, losing her analytical skills as she gets lost in your voice.

- The only thing that the genius "demon" of the Decay can't figure out is how to stop biting her nails.

- Luckily, you're there to help, buying her press ons or even very short acrylics to stop her biting.

- Unfortunately, rats have very strong teeth. She appreciates the effort, and does her best to stop, though.

Nicole Gogol

- Nicole's chief love language is gifts.

- Whenever she sees you, she'll bring you something. It may be small, just a rock she found or a deck of cards, or it may be huge.

- Like, she-snuck-a-car-into-her-overcoat-large.

- The types of gifts will depend on how you react to them.

- If you get easily freaked out, she'd love to bring you someone's eyeball from her escapades for halloween, or matching lockets with both of your hair for your birthday.

- You're still not sure how she got your hair, and she won't tell you. A magician never reveals her secrets.

- However, if you're not all that squeamish, she'll surprise you in other ways.

- Have you ever seen an albino cat? A two-headed snake? A three-eyed fish? Have you?

- She'll take strange things from any circuses or shows she's travelled with, either to give or just to show you.

- Of course, she wanted to give you all the two headed animals, but you said there wasn't enough space in the house.

- You may serve as the voice of reason in the relationship, but Nicole has smarts of her own.

- She loves to read philosophy books with you, and ramble about her own theories.

- Even if you don't understand, she's glad you listen.

- Nicole loves to put on little magic shows, just for you.

- You've seen every attemptible trick in the book, and you wouldn't hesitate to see any of them again.

- Nicole moves so smoothly when she performs her tricks, and performs them so delicately that you're reminded of how much she cherishes you.

- She wouldn't do any of this for anyone else.

- Occasionally you even get to play assistant to Nicole, watching doves flit away while her arm wraps around you and holds you tight.

- You're always in the audience for dangerous tricks, though. She doesn't think she could bear to see you hurt.

- By the way, Nicole is really strong. Really, really strong. When she works out in the mornings, you often serve as a weight for her push ups.

Tatsumi Shibusawa

- Tatsumi's chief love language just has to be words of affirmation.

- Though she'll shower you with gifts and pay unending attention to you. her favorite thing is to compliment you.

- You are, after all, more amazing than any jewel she's ever seen.

- She loves to show off and impress you. Tatsumi is very vain, so seeing your eyes on her in wonder puts her on top of the world.

- She often tailors clothes for you. She knows your measurements by heart, and many visits to her have been accompanied by a gasp of surprise at a whole outfit completely unprompted.

- Speaking of which, you can expect to wear lots of matching clothes now.

- Whenever you go out, you're often matching. If not a full outfit, you both at least have silver necklaces on.

- Though cold, Tatsumi is a very sentimental person. She will keep anything you give her, and even a paper heart will recieve the same care as one of her crystals.

[toxicsludgeyaoi]

Toxic Sludge Yaoi Tournament: Ivantill (Alien Stage) Vs Drake (The Music Freaks)

(Vote for whichever ship you like more.)

Propaganda under cut. Note: spoilers for these medias may be below.

Ivantill propaganda

"SO BLAAAACK BLACK AS IT CAN BEEEEE.... anyways. These two are so.... <333. They're stuck in a music competition where if you lose you die. Ivan doesn't show much emotion but truly comes alive when he's around or talking about Till. Till is rebellious and is often beat by the aliens holding them hostage. Till is also in love with a girl named Mizi. Who is in a relationship. Yeah.... Ivan tried to escape with Till, and they almost made it out, but Till went back for Mizi and now they're stuck. Till and Ivan are going against each other in the next round of the competition and I'm so scared guys"

Drake propaganda

"There is literally a 0.1% chance they'll get in because it's a random YouTube gacha life series but I swear ITS GOOD!! It has good voice acting and good animation (especially once it gets to ep5 and onward), it has really good characters and writing (albeit very cliche)I swear!!. Oh well. A delusional demonic soul can hope

Also, Jake is the protagonist, so we know a lot more about him than we do about Drew, which means his actions might seem more "justified" because we're more aware of his background. And also, he just has more background in general so it's a bit easier to summarize his story. But there are multiple sides to this bond

So basically, Jake and drew are both complicated characters with their own issues. They were both best friends who weren't fully honest with each other and who recently "broke up" in the finale. They both did good and bad and bad-but+understandable things that ruined their relationship.

I am honestly kind of tired, because I have summarized the plot of TMF more times than I could count on my fingers, but I suppose I'll have to work up he strength, otherwise literally no one will even bother voting them. (If it gets into the bracket in the first place)

So basically, Jake got bullied in middle school for his passion for singing. Afterwards he got really insecure of himself, since the bullying was most definitely heavy. He didn't have any friends, until drew came into his life. Drew didn't know about Jake's passion for music, but out of fear for being made fun of again, Jake decided not to share that part of him. Drew was also one of those bullies who made fun of the schools music club, and called them freaks, though he never knew JAKE liked music, so. Jake basically was desperate for a friend and would sacrifice his real identity to simply please drew, especially since Jake KNEW drew bullied music lovers, while Drew never knew about Jake's passion and continued to obliviously make fun of the Music club, HOWEVER. later on in the show we realize that Jake faking his personality around drew would inevitably ruin their relationship. Howevereuif

Drew himself most likely has a form of separation anxiety and attachment issues, and he canonically has control issues evident by many of his actions. We don't know why yet, we can make theories, and it's probably gonna get revealed in season 2, but many people theorize his parents are neglectful so he seeks attention from others, as well as has underlying anxiety related to others leaving him. It's just a theory though, however it makes sense. In the show, we see him making fun of the music club, and Jake making fun of the music club with him too, because Jake is scared that drew will leave him if Jake is revealed to be one of those music freaks. This is toxic because Jake simply can't be himself around drew. But there's more reasons why they're toxic. Jake lied to Drew about who he was, which most definitely hurt Drew because he felt lied to and he felt manipulated, but st the same time drew was ALSO manipulative and possessive over Jake, and he was the one to make Jake feel like he can't be himself in the first place, so it's toxic both ways (but it's a little kore toxic coming from Drew's side). 

Now why is this a ship? I'll also have to explain this (before summarizing more of the plot hehe) basically Drew's possessiveness and clinginess could be perceived as him being romantically attracted to Jake, as well as the fact that he blushed when the topic of him being jelous of Jakes new friends came up, and he didn't even deny it, he just said "shut up!" Ok gay plum. It's also a ship bc of his attached they are though they're definitely toxic. It's not canon, and Drew's feelings are probably never going to be officialized, however, a demonic soul can hope.

Now onto further plot summary (what I summarized before was just the some of the backstory summarization, nothing else, were barely getting started): at one point, Jake joins the music club. Bc of his girl crush. OK YES Jake has a canon girl crush, which kinda ruins this ship it though this ship is prolly one sided anyway lmao. But doesn't matter. Basically Jake is crushing on his girl daisy, and at one point when a band competition is announced, Jake really feels appelled to sign up for their schools music club, however because of DREW, he felt like he COULDNT. so instead he sang an emo song on the rooftop, and then got caught by daisy. Daisy told him that he shouldn't let hid talent to go to wastel and that he should join the music club, and Jake impulsively tells her hell join the club. However he regrets it bc he feels like DREW, someone who's supposed to be his BEST FRIEND, is going to make fun of him for it. This is not healthy bruh. But anyhow - he still decides to join the club, and then he tells drew about it, but says that he joined the band JUST so he could perform at the competition and "win daisy over" because he's been meaning to ask her out. He has to use excuses in order to feel safe performing his passions, wow. Jake still feels the need to hide his passions, and he tells drew that he's just doing it for daisy, and after the competition hell simply leave the club. However all of that is simply lying. Jake lied to much, because of his insecurities, which caused further damage in his and Drew's bond. Jake actually WANTED to be a part of the Music club, the exact one drew would make fun of, Jake actually felt like family there. However obviously he couldn't open up about it to drew. So as time goes on in the show, drew starts feeling more and more obviously jealous. He also gets more and more progressively depressed and distant, because of the jealousy. Jake starts spending more time with the music club, while drew doesn't WANT him to be at the club, drew wants Jake ti be right by his side. And gets quite annoyed with the lack of attention he's received from him. Angsty jelly bf. Jake however never tells him that he's pursuing his passion and drew should be proud of him!!. Bit uhshhdidodd

More time passes, the competition is nearing, and drew is getting really really tired and jelous of Jakes lack of attendance in his life. Drew then proceeds to try and manipulate Jake into getting out of the music club, and got him to say a bunch of hurtful things about the club as well, so drew tried to convince both Jake AND himself that the music club is actually the one manipulating Jake into staying eitt them and spending less time with drew. Oh also I forgot to mention - they were all at Drew's house, by "all of them" I mean drew and Jakes other friends I'll call the jomies (Jake x homies). So basically one of the jomies decided to record the bunch of hurtful things Jake said about the club, y'know that drew pressured Jake into saying. Drew didn't record nor did he know about one of the jomies recording Jake but yeah. Drew still wanted to manipulate Jake into leaving the club anyway.

So long story short, one of the jomies proceed to send the recording to the music club, so the music club felt understandably upset at Jake especially since they've all been bullied in the past and had their trust broken, and so basically drew indirectly broke Jake and the music club up. Though this worked in Drew's favour because he WANTED the rift between them to happen. But also remember drew never knew about Jake's passion. For singing. 

Later on stuff happen, yada yada, Jake apologizes to the music club VERY, VERY publicly (the whole school heard them), and drew gets annoyed yet again, because like I said, drew is a jelly bf, he wants jakey all to himself, he is tired of Jake constantly talking about the music club, he feels like Jake cares more about the club than he does about HIM. which sucks because drew is very hungry for attention dye to his possible crappy home life. After Jakes apology, when the music club decided to forgive them, drew decided to get into an "argument" with Hailey, one of the music club members (by argument I mean drew literally just started yelling at her lmao). Then Jake decided to break up the fight. I also forgot to mention that Jake cares boh about the jomies AND the music club. He wants to be friends with both of them. But jomies and TMC don't. So then drew and Jake start arguing and yada yada I'm EXTREMELY tired my head hurts I don't think I can continue blabbering.... but UHM. Basically drew felt manipulated and betrayed. Jake was manipulated. They were both manipulative due to their own issues, and they both struggle deeply in this toxic bond. What is more toxic yaoi than that?"

So much angsty love breakup songs fit them, it hurts /pos

Never thought I'd write this much about a random gacha life series dam (pls watch it even though i practically spoiled everything)

[agentravensong]

Why Kris Does (and Can't) Play the Piano

Something I've been thinking about for a little while is why Kris can't play the hospital piano when given the prompt by the Soul/Player.

My assumption from back in the days of Chapter 1 was that it was simply a byproduct of the possession, that something about the way Kris is being controlled keeps them from being able to play properly. But the more I've thought about it, the less sense it makes. It's not as if we're given an interface like with the piano in UnderTale that would limit Kris to pressing one key at a time, it's a yes or no input. And think of all the things Kris can do in battle in response to a one or two-word prompt given by us. Like with dialogue choices, the Soul may give Kris the basic command, but they're free, to a certain extent, to interpret and embellish upon it. Why would piano be any different? They should be free to play whatever they want.

For a lot of people, the kris_dreemurr_kris page complicated this question further. Does pianpian's complexity and subjective beauty prove that Kris can actually play piano, or does its chaotic nature with a lack of a clear melody prove that they don't actually know how? Or, does the fact that they go to play it after getting a look like they're "remembering something" suggest that the piano skill was never theirs at all?

For me, kris_dreemurr_kris provides an answer.

Specifically, thanks to this bit:

Kris doesn't want Noelle to watch them playing piano. Whether because they're still learning and get somewhat embarrassed by it, or because they just want it to be a private thing, they don't want an active audience.

Now, we don't know exactly how much time has passed between this blog post and the events of the game, but, based on the first line of the page ("there was a time when they were coming over almost every day"), it's been a little while since Kris began this piano ritual. We don't know how good they've gotten at it since then, but based on the harsh look they give Susie when she teases them for not being able to actually play piano, I'd wager a guess that they've gotten good enough that their pride was hurt by such a comment.

But if Kris can play, why don't they?

Because it's something they do for themself. Music, after all, is a form of self-expression.

And whether or not they'd be willing to let Susie be an audience to it, it can't be Kris's genuine self-expression when they're not fully themself. When someone else is making them do it (even if they would have full control over the actual playing). It has to be their choice.

So they flub it on purpose. A dissonant chord that gets across the idea "oh, they can't play anything better than this", and thereby lets them back away. And as much as they hate how it leads Susie to the incorrect conclusion, they'd rather that than play wonderfully when a) there's the risk of her later finding out about the possession and attributing their piano skill to their possessor, or, just, b) it can't be genuinely theirs.

Now, as far as why Kris gets that strange look of remembrance on their face before going to play Noelle's piano... That's where we get more into out-there theory territory.

I don't think that Kris is being possessed at those moments - not in the way we currently understand it, at least. While it does seem likely that there's been something fucky with their Soul for a good while now that got them to have a routine for taking it out, the look Noelle describes them having in these moments doesn't seem to match up with how the possession has been described to affect Kris. The nurse in the hospital says in Chapter 1 that they look a little sick, and when Noelle in post-Snowgrave describes how Kris is acting weird, she says they've only been acting strange "recently". If Kris was being possessed pre-Chapter 1, it was a possession of a significantly different kind (and I have to wonder why such a possessor would be taking them away from their time with Noelle to play piano, and why they would force Kris to stop the second they're observed).

So if it isn't that... what is it?

Perhaps it has to do with a secret in pianpian itself. As @gasterofficial discovered, with some audio editing, you can hear a scratching sound in there. If that sounds familiar, it should:

Perhaps Kris's playing of the piano is an attempt to reach out to someone - or, more in line with the way they'd leave Noelle so abruptly to start playing, to reciprocate their communication. Whether that be with the person doing the scratching, or the person in the code who also hears the scratching. If you're still fond of the possession idea in this context, you could even argue that they're channeling that person in these moments.

As far as who that person is... what characters do we know of currently who are missing, possibly trapped in the code/void... and are musicians, making it more likely that their messages would be communicated in a musical form?

Or, to put it another way: if Noelle isn't the one who plays the piano in her house... who might that have been?

[humblemediagenius]

Can you imagine if my OCs were on Tumblr that would be sort of insane

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💖 pepperminty Follow

I wish I could find someone out there for me :-( need to do a little kissing yk

7 Notes

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🔎 findthetruth Follow

We need to talk about how disrespectful it is to get mad at people who study cryptids and stuff like we're people too. And the cryptids are people too. Grow up and stop being jerks

31 Notes

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🍄 rockamarilla Follow

bites you bites you bites you bites you b

- mod 🎸

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🎙️gameshowfan83 Follow

Google how to make people enjoy my music taste. Wait this isn't Google how do I stop it from recording my voice no stop recording now stop

1 Note

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🥷 lloydzawesm Follow

my dad has been acting sort of weird lately I'm like dude what is the problem ... kinda worried y'know???

14 Notes

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🔌 the-monitor Follow

FUCK THIS . FUCK YOU . I AM GOING TO CORRUPT ALL OF YOU ANNOYING FREAKS WHO KEEP SENDING ME ANONYMOUS MESSAGES THAT JUST SAY " AMONG US " . YOU ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE .

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📘 satellitetheatre Follow

Please reblog to get more votes!!! I'm so indecisive!!!!!

90 Notes

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🟧 whatizlove Follow

I need to drop out of college my science professor is literally evil

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🍄 rockamarilla Follow

Please note that there's only two of us running this blog and one of us is not very socially active. I don't understand what "ratio" and "L" means. Thank you.

- Mod Z

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🔎 findthetruth Follow

Some may call it a theory but I know it's true: there's undeniable proof that the "town" of Tally, is actually a hivemind?! More actual real life proof below.

Read More

🦠 wandereringout Follow

Hey, that's sort of weird to just say this about someone's town? There's real people here, and you're just throwing around terms to make people worried over nothing. Plus, hiveminds aren't real :/

🔎 findthetruth Follow

That's what someone in a hivemind would say don't think I'm not onto you

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💻 Sponsored by startechofficial

New year. New you. New computers.

The new Galaxy OS drops 12/7. Are you ready?

Hide All Ads

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🟧 whatizlove Follow

Lowkey getting sick of those startech ads just remember they use planned obsolescence

🥷 lloydzawesm Follow

my dad works at startech he said that they create new computers each year just to annoy you specifically

🟧 whatizlove Follow

Who tf are you

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💖 pepperminty Follow

Anonymous said:

your mom - 🎸

GO AWAY!!!!!!!!! FROM ME!!! WHO ARE YOU

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[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi! Not a request but I have a question, do you know how the magic in Twisted Wonderland works?? I'm sorry, I don't know who else to ask about this 😅😅

I’m not sure if I totally understand what it is you’re asking since there’s a lot of directions we could go in for “how magic in TWST works” 😅 but I’ll quickly summarize what I can recall in general:

You must be born with the aptitude for magic. However, even if your parents or your grandparents were able to use magic, it does not guarantee that you will as well. We see many examples of this in TWST's main cast; plenty of the boys have family members who are non-mages.

People develop their magic at different ages. For example, Riddle perfected his unique magic by age 10, but Sebek is said to be a late bloomer with his magic.

Only 10% of the human population in Twisted Wonderland is even capable of using magic at the basic level (enough to lift a cup). We do not know what this percentage is for other races such as fae, beastmen, and merpeople. To attend a prestigious magic school like Night Raven College, you must be the cream of the crop of this 10%.

It is believed (implied, not outright confirmed to my knowledge) that fae are specifically more magically inclined than the others (as the Briar Valley, which boasts a population of mainly fae, rely on magic for everyday things).

Magic education is not typically offered in most schools; you’d need to go to a specialized program like NRC, have a private tutor, or self-train.

According to Trey, most magic schools require a fourth year spent off-campus at an internship(s). The only time fourth years return to campus is for cultural festivals.

At NRC, first years study the theory behind magic; upper level courses involve more actual usage of magic in the classroom.

Students are not authorized to use magic combat unless formally granted permission by a faculty member or any dorm leader.

Imagination or visualization of one’s magic is apparently important for spells to be successful. This is most likely why NRC invests in classes like Music(ology) and the (Visual) Arts.

Magic is implied to be temporary, although curses and blessings have more long-lasting effects (usually a period of hundreds of years) that may wear away with time.

Blessings and curses are defined as magic bestowed upon someone. They are technically the same thing, and differ only by whether the intention is positive or negative.

It is considered rude to cast a spell on a person without their consent, especially if said spell is typically cast on objects.

It's implied you need to be conscious to maintain magic (excluding curses and blessings). For example, when you go to sleep, your magical fire will go out.

Autonomous magic also exists, though it requires considerably more power to maintain.

Every magic user is capable of manifesting a magic unique to them (which appears to be tied to the user’s personality and/or life experiences); this is known as “unique magic” (or a “signature spell” in the localization). Like with normal magic, UM manifests at different times for each mage.

The name for a UM and its chant appear to come “from within”; they are not names the mage consciously decide.

UM typically requires more magic to cast than a standard spell. However, there are also UMs which require less magic than the average spell, such as Kalim and Silver’s.

Some UM (like the Shroud family’s Gate to (the) Underworld) seems to be hereditary.

Incantations are not always required; sometimes UM chants are said and other times they are not. This is also true of general spells. For example, Sebek and Silver chant “fire” and “light” to summon those elements but we don’t see Grim doing the same for his own fire magic.

Magical pens (or rather, the magestones in them) act as conduits through which a magician can channel their magic, though they are not required to cast spells.

Using magic produces a dangerous and highly toxic byproduct known as “blot”. With proper rest and nutrition, blot naturally goes away.

Negative emotions speed up blot accumulation.

Different people accumulate blot at different speeds, just as different people have different magic pools to begin with (as determined by genetics, but apparently can be artificially inflated by magic training).

It is implied that the larger your magic pool, the longer blot remains in your system.

Letting blot build up from straining one’s magic or not allowing time for recovery will result in a state known as “Overblot”, in which the blot consumes the user and gives birth to a physical manifestation known as a “Phantom”.

Phantoms will drain the vitality out of its host until they are dead; the Phantom will continue to exist afterwards.

“Overblot” is supposedly an uncommon occurrence. 

You must sever the connection between the mage and their Phantom to snap them out of Overblot.

Blot is made of strong toxins and stagnant magic. It condenses and crystallizes once it is expelled from the body.

Magic can be naturally present in nature; magestones form as a result of crystals absorbing magic from the earth and air.

S.T.Y.X. is an organization that dedicates itself to studying blot and Overblots; they have captured a number of Phantoms and use them as test subjects for their research.

Anti-magic armor is able to be manufactured, but extremely powerful magic such as Malleus's can overwhelm the anti-magic quality of said armor. This implies a limit to how much magic can feasibly be blocked by armor made to keep it out.

It is the magic gemstone/magestone in the magical pens that absorbs blot; these gems are easily mined from certain caves.

It is possible to perform magic without a magic gemstone, but blot will build up in the body instead. The blot will also accumulate much faster, making normal spell casting take a much heavier toll, let alone unique magic.

Reiterating on the last point, it seems to take considerably more magic to use one’s UM. However, we also know of cases where this is not true, such as Kalim’s Oasis Maker (requiring only a little magic power to produce a ton of water).

Magical pens are not always pens. The NRC staff appear to have fashioned their gemstones into other items, and RSA students wear their magical gemstones as brooches instead of as pens. According to Lilia, the form of magical pens has changed a lot over the years. Sometimes they were super big, other times they were very small (see Lilia’s School Uniform vignette for more information on this).

Potion making does not seem to require magical input (unless, as the previous bullet point states, you need to infuse magic into an ingredient or into the potion itself), but flying a broom seems to (as Yuu is told they cannot play Magical Shift/Spelldrive, which requires riding a broom).

There is some level of chemistry involved with making potions; elements (the ones on the Periodic Table) are sometimes mentioned in reference to lab work.

Transformation potions are said to be outlawed. (This is why everyone was shocked when Jack’s unique magic allowed him to turn into a wolf.)

Merpeople that go to work and study on land are given free potions from a special organization first established by the Mermaid Princess; these potions grant merpeople human forms for anywhere from 7 to 10 days and need to be continuously consumed in order to maintain its effects.

There are special jobs related to magic, such as magical healers (like Riddle’s parents) and magic policemen (something Deuce hopes to become in the future).

Magical engineering (that is to say, the cross between magic and technology) is also a thing; Idia and students in Ignihyde generally excel in this field.

Magic must be infused in order to harvest certain ingredients, such as mandrake (see Cater’s Labwear vignettes for more information on this).

There are equations necessary to cast certain spells, such as “autocleaning via implement magic infusion” (see Riddle’s Dorm Uniform vignettes for more information on this).

There are items infused with magic that even non-magicians can use with ease (such as Yuu’s Ghost Camera), as they do not necessarily require magical input to operate.

It is also possible to infuse clothing with magic; this is the case for the NRC ceremonial robes and dorm leader uniforms. Infusing magic helps to protect the wearer.

Malleus is considered one of the “top 5 magicians in the world”, implying that there is some kind of ranking system in place. It's not clear how these spots are calculated or determined.

Ghosts are prone to gather in places with a lot of magical energy, such as NRC grounds on Halloween night.

[bumblequinn]

I understand being insulted at "what we're they smoking" rhetoric but you talked about how much you like and are inspired by unconventional sounding music and then got insulted when someone called your music unconventional.

I think most people who care understand when an artist is going for something unconventional and so joke about that in hyperbolic ways. I think comments like that are remarking on the original sound of the music rather than it's quality.

i get where you're coming from here, but i think you may have misunderstood what i was actually trying to say!

first, there's a difference between making an observation like "this music is unconventional" and making a hyperbole like "never pass a fan of this music the aux." of course some music is unconventional and of course it's fine to point that out! but that's not the same thing as turning that observation into a joke, and making a joke about what the music sounds like is not the same thing as making a joke that you don't want to hear it. there's room for nuance here.

second, there's a difference between feeling insulted and making a critical observation. there's a reason i hedged my commentary first by pointing out that i liked and pinned that comment: it's funny! it made me laugh! i don't feel insulted by it, and i genuinely believe it was made in good spirits. my motivation was to draw a more critical eye to what that specific joke implies.

i might be a musician, but my focus in school was communication theory. i'm fascinated by subtext and implication, and i don't believe there's anything wrong with pointing out that a seemingly harmless joke can be loaded with meaning and implication beneath the surface (far beyond what little i've touched on here!). words can be fun and fraught at the same time. there's room for both.

i believe there's great value in acknowledging and unpacking the layers of meaning in everything human. i believe it's especially important to do so when situations like this can contribute—even in a seemingly small or tangential way—to serious consequences. my aim is not to prudishly tap a sign that says "NO FUN ALLOWED." my aim is to get us all thinking a bit more critically about the things we say and do, in the hopes it might get us to act with more care for one another.

that said, i'll admit i was in a rough mood yesterday, and that may have affected my attempt to touch on how i relate to this subject in that post. at any rate, i hope this adds some clarity to the conversation. no hard feelings. :) 💓

[swimsauce]

Inscryption wordplay through names, and the mystery of P03's name

In Inscryption, the scrybes names are usually just nameified words to describe their area of expertise/what they are.

Grimora, wordplay on "grim", her field being death/mourning, + the "ora" to make it sound name-like. Maybe possibly a reference to grimm as in grimms fairytales? She does have an older theme/aesthetic with a quill for her main item, writing down the lives and tales of the dead.

Magnificus, play on "magnificent". Also alluding to magi/magic, maybe even the word magnus, all relating to the same root "magus" which means great and evolved to be used as a root word for magical words/terms.

Leshy is a bit different, as his name is literally just that of a forest creature in Russian/Slavic mythology. A leshy/i is a forest spirit/deity that lives and hunts forests. Apparently they also like the gamble and play cards too lol. There is also the noun "lesh", which means wool/hair (coming from the an old proto-albanian word for "foliage"), with a "y" added to nameify it. (a stretch I know but its neat)

P03 is the only one I don't know what his name is a play on. So I have a few of theories.

-It could be word jumble that vaguely relates to 3 letter computer/ tech related terms. Programs and parts with names like DOS, RAM,etc, or tech companies names like IBM or AOL. Even fictional computers like HAL follow this 3 letter naming convention, but none of these words relate too similarly to his name. The only possible 3 letter word that is similar is PSU (power supply unit), which could be in relation to his game mechanic, but it seems like a stretch.

- I also found for cars certain mechanical errors have similar name schemes. A P0300 error code means a misfiring cylinder, a P0030 means an oxygen sensor is malfunctioning. Maybe his name is an error code? We know that the old data seems to have corrupted the scribes, and P03 in some ways seems the worst off of the scrybes. He has locked his first personality away , as g0lly seems to be his original state , with his theme music reverting back to normal when he is playing as her. Even his appearance seems unkempt, with talk sprites body being dirty and scratched, and his screen is always twitching. So maybe his name is a mechanical error? However, if it is a mechanical in-world error, it doesn't really seem to effect him. He seems to have taken over the auto fill deck feature in ACTII (or maybe he is watching. Either way, he is monitoring this function) He can move to other scrybes islands and temporarily get rid of other scrybes when he wants (like with Magnificus). So it seems even all the way back in the "default" game of Act II he has a control over the game mechanics more than other scrybes. But if he does have more control over the game I don't understand why he would keep a mechanical error code for his name. It may also be a computer error code (like a 404) but those usually don't have letters in them. So dead end

- It does also look kind of like the name Poe but spelled in L33T (which is used in his cards), but the name doesn't seem to relate to him at all. The only thing I can think of is Edger Allen Poe, known for his dark and elaborate poetry. Ironic considering P03 is more concerned with game mechanics than story, to the point of annoyance. Maybe its an ironic jab, as it does seem through the Uberbots and his rant at the end of Act III that hints maybe deep down he wants to enjoy the stories he writes, but he's just to focused on the great transcendence to care. Anyways, probably not Poe then.

-The only possible lead may be a PoE, a "Power over Ethernet". It's an electrical connection which carries both internet and electrical power to a device. It relate to his awareness of the internet, as well as call to his motivation to escape to the online world.

Idk if I'm missing an obvious detail or if I'm overthinking this, but TLDR, in the base game P03's name does not fit with the other Scrybes in that it doesn't seem to allude to anything about his theme/personality. If anyone has some other ideas about this I'd love to know.

[good-morning-czernobog]

Necrozma, Light, and Divinity: A Very Weird Sun and Moon Theory.

I don't think the alchemical connections in Sun and Moon were ever really discussed in-depth enough for my satisfaction. There's no god damn way they'd just base the starter's first forms off the 3 primes and name one of the factions the Aether Foundation just not go anywhere else with that. Sun and Moon were pretty wild games, and I think maybe we got distracted with all the other bells and whistles, like Lusamine's bullshit, the UBs, and ya boy Guzma. Buckle up.

Before we get onto the main bit, I wanna talk a little about Mesopotamian deities. Observe this boundary stone from 12th century BC.

It's Wikimedia Commons details are as follows: Kudurru (stele) of King Melishipak I (1186–1172 BC): the king presents his daughter to the goddess Nannaya. The crescent moon represents the god Sin, the sun the Shamash and the star the goddess Ishtar. Kassite period, taken to Susa in the 12th century BC as war booty.

We've seen this 8-pointed star before, right on Necrozma's back

The star, as the description says, represents Inanna (called that by the Sumerians, and Ishtar by the Babylonians). She is a deity of love, war, fertility, and divine justice. She is associated with the planet Venus (we'll talk about Venus more in a bit). Inanna is referred to as the "Queen of Heaven", described as powerful but capricious.

She is also described as having some ambiguity to her gender, even having the power to alter people's gender, especially in relation to her cult. This ties into another figure Necrozma may be based on, as well as it's alchemical ties. But before I talk about that I wanna walk about the time Inanna died.

Gods die all the time in mythology. Inanna is one of the few who came back. For a time, she was trapped in the underworld by her sister Ereshkigal. Similarly, it's Sun dex entry reads "Reminiscent of the Ultra Beasts, this life-form, apparently asleep underground, is thought to have come from another world in ancient times." Whole it's entry in Sword for gen 8 is "It survives by absorbing light. After a long time spent slumbering underground, impurities accumulated within it, causing its body to darken.". Inanna is eventually saved when "sexless" or androgynous beings are sent to rescue her.

Bulbapedia's trivia section for Necrozma offers a different idea: Lucifer.

Ultra Necrozma, a being of light, four wings, draconic yet angelic, who's battle music begins with a fucking organ absolutely invokes imagery of Lucifer.

In this form, its head becomes the 8-pointed star.

Lucifer, who's name means "light bringer". Lucifer the morning star, associated with Venus. This figure is eventually absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil, a being who himself was once an angel. It's not uncommon for media to depict him with a mixture of secondary sexual characteristics, though most are male. It's entirely possible this is because of confusion between Satan and the figure Baphomet, though I had a harder time finding info on this one. If that were the case I wouldn't entirely fault Gamefreak for it. Even I have a hard time separating the two. Also probably worth noticing that dragons come up several times in the Bible, usually in relation to Satan. Ultra Necrozma does gain the dragon type after all.

Two figures, sometimes of ambiguous gender, both associated with the 3rd brightest object in the sky? Interesting. Very interesting.

If you're still reading, congrats, we're talking about alchemy now.

It was pretty hard to understand where they were going with this until we got USUM. USUM introduced Team Rainbow Rocket, Giovanni's attempt to gather past evil the leaders into a league of supervillains (who you demolish). Seemed simple enough. Haha, Necrozma is a light god. Z-Crystals are shards of its light because it's a prism. Cool.

But maybe not the whole story. I introduce to you: The Prima Materia.

In alchemy, Prima Materia is a substance that acts as the base form of all matter. It is similar to aether. a book called the Theatrum Chemicum contains the following passage about it.

"They have compared the "prima materia" to everything, to male and female, to the [redacted]*, to heaven and earth, to body and spirit, chaos, microcosm, and the confused mass; it contains in itself all colors and potentially all metals; there is nothing more wonderful in the world, for it begets itself, conceives itself, and gives birth to itself.

*the word used here is considered a slur against intersex people, so I excluded it

Furthermore, the Lexicon Alchemaie (which i would have checked more in depth but I don't speak Latin), lists names alchemists have used for the Prima Materia. Ones that stand out to me are: heaven, the dragon, heart of the sun, spittle of the moon, Venus, the rainbow. The Prima Materia is required in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.

In USUM, instead of Nihilego, Lusamine beings forth Necrozma. The Aether Foundation's name comes full circle here. Aether as an alchemical element is frequently associated with light and gravity.

What I'm saying is, Necrozma isn't just light. it's alchemical light. it is the Prima Materia. The energy it emits becomes other things (in this case, the Pokemon types).

Now let's take this a step further, with Type: Null and Silvally. They don't directly relate to Necrozma, but I do believe they have an alchemical inspiration that ties them to Necrozma's mythological position in comparison to Arceus.

According to Bulbapedia, Type: Null was created using cells from all known pokemon types. It was supposed to be able to change types with RKS system, inspired by tales of Arceus. There were complications with them going berserk and the project was deemed a failure.

Type: Null is a failed Philosopher's Stone, until the power of love completed it.

With high friendship, Type: Null evolves into Silvally. It breaks free of the limiter attached to its head and regains use of the RKS system, this time without going berserk. Gladion, a kid, achieves what a bunch of detached adult scientists could not.

It seems love and light are very similar concepts, at least in the Pokemon world. The fairy types are heavily associated with light, super effective against dark types, and a certain pokemon repping them when they first got revealed evolves when it loves you (and has a fairy type move).

Now, it's still difficult to say where Necrozma stands in Pokemon's mythology. It's from another world entirely. The question is whether or not Arceus has influence in those worlds. It's God. It should, right? I think there's a few possibilities, but I don't have enough information to decide for sure

-Necrozma is equivalent to Arceus in its own world. Ultra Beasts may not be described as pokemon, but they have types and use moves like them, so they must be something similar but adapted to a different environment. This one's a bit of a stretch.

-Necrozma is a creation of Arceus like everything else and plays an important function, it just made a home in a different area of time and space, or much like Giratina (another Satan inspired pokemon who is dragon type) it was sent there for some reason.

-Less likely, Necrozma is above Arceus, not as a god but a primal energy gained beast-like sentience, the divine Chaos from which Arceus came

One potential hint at this relation may lie in Arceus' name. It's likely this is a coincidence, and they didn't intend this from the get-go, but it did just happen to fit the alchemy theme. There is another concept: Archeus. Archeus is, according to Wiktionary: "The vital principle or force believed by the Paracelsians to be responsible for alchemical reactions within living bodies, and hence for the growth and continuation of life." It is another name for Anima Mundi, the soul of the world. The divine spark. Archeus has four aspects: Life, Light, Chemical, and Reflective.

I haven't worked out yet what this means, unfortunately. I could be connecting a bunch of weird mythological coincidences. But it was very fun. I would like to discuss some less grand alchemical connections in Alola sometime. Those would require a bit more research and milling over however. I genuinely wish I could give you a more satisfying conclusion here.

Altogether, I hope this gives you food for thought.

UPDATE: more thoughts

there's something I wanted to talk about that I forgot when previously writing this, and I've had more time to mull over previous thoughts.

This next section will start with the elements of gender ambiguity with Inanna and Lucifer, and how that connects to alchemy. Rebis.

An end product of the Magnum Opus (creation of the Philosopher's Stone), the Rebis is a fusion of spirit and matter, imbued with male and female qualities. (Lot of the use of that word I omitted earlier here so be advised if you look into it more). While lacking in the two heads, that certainly lines up with the element of gender ambiguity. Ultra Necrozma is the being at its strongest, when it is full of the much needed light its body had been starving for.

Another interesting bit regarding the Rebis is it is considered the result of "reconciliation of opposites", and imagery around it is called a chemical wedding. This is symbolized by the coming together of a king and queen, the king in red and the queen in white, each symbolizing the sun and moon respectively.

While Solgaleo and Lunala do not fit so neatly into the references to mesopotamian myth (Shamash and Sin are both male, Shamash is Ishtar's brother and Sin their father), this might add some ideas for how Solgaleo and Lunala connect to Necrozma. They are all beings of light after all, and Necrozma is able to siphon it from them when fusing with them in USUM.

I believe Necrozma may be a possible evolution of Cosmog. Bear with me, please.

Obviously, this isn't reflected in gameplay. What Cosmog evolves into depends on your version of the game. But Solgaleo and Lunala are framed as mates. You can get a second Cosmog in both games, and when you do, the other game's legendary appears. They are also referred as appearing to be male and female respectively in their Pokedex entries despite having no gender in the actual game data.

But what is Cosmog and Cosmoem in this case then? Well besides being based on nebulas, I think it may be another concept called filius philosophorum, "Philosopher's Child". One of the Filius' ways of being represented is by the Rebis, as well as a direct child of the red king and white queen. Many sites mention an egg as a symbol but don't elaborate further (like baby name websites they often feed off each other indefinitely).

Now Cosmog's name is the same in all languages, but Cosmoem's is not. It's Japanese name is Cosmovum. Cosmos and ovum. Ovum as in egg. The -em in Cosmoem's name may also be for embryo. whoever wrote the trivia section for it's Bulbapedia stage thinks it has elements of both the sun and moon in its design, and I'm inclined to agree. It also mentions something called the world egg.

The world egg is a mythological concept that spans across multiple cosmologies, but because alchemy often takes from the Greek cosmology I'll stick to that. Within Greek myth we are given the Orphic Egg, from which the primordial deity Phanes is born. Phanes' name meaning "to light, or to shine". He is described bearing a helmet and golden wings, largely referred to as male but sometimes as androgynous. His parentage varies, with having no parents at all, to Chronos (time), to Chaos, to Nyx (night). He is described as creating all other gods, or creating the day depending on the telling.

Necrozma is also Phanes, a being of light, born from a divine egg. Necrozma is a more perfect path of evolution than it's parents, but this is likely triggered by something far beyond the control of the player.

(Addendum: If you think this also sounds similar to books about Arceus in the Canalave library, you'd be right. That myth was applied to Arceus first, which makes some interesting implications.)

Now you may be thinking "wow a lot of these concepts sound like ways to talk about the Philosopher's Stone", and you'd probably be right. The Magnum Opus had many names and many ways of representing it visually, mostly alchemists wanted to keep their trade secrets. But there is an interesting one.

The ouroboros. A symbol of unity, eternity, and endless cycles. The beginning and the end are intrinsically connected.

What is Necrozma doing when you meet it in USUM? it's desperately looking for light. It can't make it on its own anymore. It's base form dex entries describe it as craving light, going dormant when it can't find it.

Ultra Sun: It looks somehow pained as it rages around in search of light, which serves as its energy. It's apparently from another world.

Ultra Moon: Light is the source of its energy. If it isn't devouring light, impurities build up in it and on it, and Necrozma darkens and stops moving.

Necrozma is burning out like an old star. Necros, death.

The Philosopher's Stone is often visualized in modern media as a gem, much like it's body in this form. When the power is expended, Necrozma will be just another rock. It is a transient being. Much like the Great Work, perfection is not sustainable in practice.

But it's not all bad. Phanes, again, is also described as creating other gods. In time, it's body will break down and may become a new Cosmog. The end begets the beginning. The Prima Materia is after all, important in the Great Work's culmination.

There is another being described as creating all else though, in Pokemon. Once again it rolls back around to Arceus.

In Platinum and HGSS Pokedex entries, Arceus' goes as follows: It is said to have emerged from an egg in a place where there was nothing, then shaped the world.

These beings are connected somehow, but after more research from my first version of this I've come to the conclusion that while Necrozma and Arceus are similar (remember, Arceus can be any type, Necrozma's light becomes the differently typed Z-Crystals), Necrozma is inherently more flawed and impermanent.

It's important also to remember that the Philosopher's Stone is the work of humans. It's not divine but comes from a desire to come close to it. I can't say the same about Solgaleo and Lunala, but it's possible that Necrozma isn't natural. Necrozma was made. By whom? Who knows, but probably someone from the Ultra Recon Squad's dimension. This is merely a guess. It could just be a natural but rare occurrence. From what we've been given, this anyone's guess. Maybe were not even meant to know. Whatever the case, Necrozma is a transient being, Arceus-like but ultimately imperfect. The cycle continues eternally.

BONUS ROUND: tria prima

In the very introduction of this post I mentioned the 3 primes, and the starters's first forms having similarities to their symbols. I'm aware there are likely many alchemical connections in the story that I haven't noticed yet but I wanted to discuss something more with that.

Paracelsus described the primes (sulphur, mercury, and salt) as materials from which all things are made. This is not entirely literal. Alchemy wasn't just chemistry, it was spiritual. Each prime has a different quality.

Sulphur is combustibility, soul, the divine spark

Mercury is volatility, spirit (mind), consciousness

Salt is neither, it is the body that holds them

One of the biggest examples for this is that in say, burning a piece of wood. The fire was sulphur, the smoke was mercury, and the ash was salt.

The tria prima sound a lot like prima materia don't they? It's kind of poetic the way this is implemented in USUM. You begin your journey with a prime material and it's biggest climax is with another prime material. Just as the end begets the beginning, the beginning begets the end.

~

Note for potential future update: Two substances were added to this later on: phlegm and caput mortuum (Latin for "dead head"). Caput Mortuum was waste product in a reaction. Phlegm, in the alchemical sense is "A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution.", to quote Wiktionary. Phlegm was also considered a waste product. CM was produced by sublimation, and Phlegm by distillation. Phlegm doesn't appear to have a symbol but CM does: a skull.

[thricedead]

Dearest mimi I have a question about himiraku that I think you may have already posted about . what languages do the four of them speak and what’s their main language of communication, I assumed it was Japanese but it occurred to me that some of them might have other languages in common? If so do they converse in those languages

HIIIII im so glad you asked this bc i extensively thought about it in the recent days. Here is the basic rundown of their language proficiencies:

AKITO: native Croatian speaker, fluent in English. His accent is on the thick side and he makes occasional mistakes (mainly struggles with when you need to say "the ___" and when you need to say "a ___" and when you don't need to say anything - this is the most common struggle of Croatians speaking ENG) but he has very good understanding of it and is able to express himself fluently. His Japanese though is very scarce. He tried teaching himself but since he had zero guidance other than the internet (and not much conviction) he went to Japan barely able to patch together several rough introductory sentences. Let's say he can somewhat get by as a tourist. This is OK because the Troupe is an international business and all staff as well as most members will be able to converse in English to a degree. He is the reason Himiraku primarily use English.

JUNPEI: Native Japanese speaker. He grew up alongside Englishmen like Seiya did but he didn't have much interest in the language so he did not actively force himself to study it or read books in it. He picked up enough during his childhood as well as his Troupe years to be able to make conversation, but I imagine he would struggle to express more complex concepts. This opposite situation makes communication about specific topics between him and Akito difficult, and Hikaru sometimes needs to act as a translator between them. Its not to a degree where he needs to mediate every few seconds but I imagine Junpei would occasionally ask Hikaru to TL a specific word he's thinking of to English, or to explain metaphorical phrases that don't make sense in JPN.

HIKARU: He grew up billingual from the start, speaking in English with his mother and in a mix of English and Japanese with his father who wanted him to stay in touch with the paternal side of the family (though that didn't happen.) Hazel wanted her son to be well educated so she encouraged this even if she disliked the laizzes faire way Noel coparented Hikaru. When Hazel and Hikaru moved to Japan, Hikaru was able to speak and read at the same level as children *slightly* younger than him, so he was put into a grade below his age group. While this was a good academic decision, it may have widened the gap between him and his peers. Hikaru only graduated high school a year before the main story bc of this. But yeah he is very well spoken in both languages and tends to use literary language that sometimes evades Akito and Junpei. I imagine he can also stutter through some Italian (there is Italian in music theory which is his special interest so he probably looked up further reading)

Arisu is a native JPN speaker. She went to a Catholic mission school where she learned decent English, and I'd say with the degree of foreign media she consumes she is almost as fluent as Hikaru (though she does not express herself as flowery - she is a little more shy in ENG than she is in JPN which is part of the reason whyit took a while for her to open up to Akito.) She also took seven years of German (could probably pass some proficiency exams but I don't think she'd venture into a full blown convo with a German) and three years of Latin (she still remembers some declensions but if you asked her to say something in Latin she would stare blankly before saying something like "una birundo non facit ver" or some other dicta et sententia that students learn without understanding the sentence structure LOL.

So when you bring it together, the 4 of them can only communicate in English, but Junpei Hikaru and Arisu fall into conversation in JPN ariund Akito a LOT so he ends up kind of sidelined 😅 he will bother Hikaru until he translates for him tho. So yeah Himiraku ENG, Himiraku - Akito JPN. Notably though, Hikaru and Arisu will seamlessly mix in English words and phrases into the conversations where it's just the two of them together a lot more than others do, because they use ENG enough that a sentiment sometimes naturally forms itself in English in their heads and they don't bother too much to translate it. Also, Hikaru learned to sing one Croatian song from Akito called "I am a Dalmatian" (Dalmatia is the region of CRO where Akito lived not the dog breed) & he can very nearly perfectly pronounce the lyrics (because Croatian consonants sound the same way Japanese do, and wovels sound similarly to the way English does - I think a billingual JPN+ENG person would speak Croatian a lot more easily than one who can solely speak either language :)!) In the extra chapter where Hikaru and Arisu visit Croatia, Hikaru spreads joy among the locals by singing Dalmatinac sam.

[brandnewhuman]

Hi there hope youre having a great day! i would like you to match me up with some hot slashy man 😏 I'm not really tall probably like 5'1, i have medium lenght brown hair. My personality is *coughs* yeah you have to get used to me :) I like to spend time with people but then i don't want to see anyone for the whole week. I'm also very straightforward some would say 'mean and arrogant' and my anger issues can get the "best" out of me (working on it) I act all tough and "i don't need anyone" but when i really love someone i'll make sure they know it 🖤 I do witchcraft too! Spells, readings, offerings, you name it 🔮 I like metal/rock music so my style is simple: all black + leather + LOT OF jewerly. I think that's all thank you 🖤

I paired you up with...

♡ Pyramid Head ♡

CONGRATULATIONS BRO, YOU'RE THE FIRST ONE WHO GETS PYRA

I have squeezed my brain so hard for this one broski. I initially thought about Asa but idk if someone with a such a strong personality would work out with him since he has his fair share of bad temper ecc plus idk why but i think pyra and witchcraft are a good pair

And let's be honest, how great is to have this absolute unit of a man silently fussing over you

Okay so you must be thinking "izzy, you fucking idiot, how is this supposed to work?" I HAVE MY THEORY SO BEAR WITH ME

This man has to deal with far worse than anger issues or strong personalities, he's not easy to piss off despite what most people think. He's not angry when he's working, he's just doing that work. LISTEN I HC HIM AS REALLY CALM, LIKE HE GIVES ZERO FUCKS ABOUT MOST THINGS THAT PEOPLE MAY FIND ANNOYING OR UPSETTING. I think he doesn't understands human emotions all too well but makes an effort (an actual one tho, like he's squeezing his brain here) and tries to rationalise how and why you might feel the way you feel. He is already content with you being in his life so he doesn't really needs anything more from you other than what you want to share with him if that makes sense

He's gonna be out like a lot so you'll probably have a good balance of alone time and quality time with him. He makes sure of it and if there are days where you need more of one rather than the other he will make everything in his power to respect your needs

This man is the definition of almost offensive straightforward so idk if thats a good thing or a bad one. Like he can't really talk so most of the things he's thinking will never see the light of day so maybe you won't have too many troubles with him

There was a fanart or a cosplayer i can't remember which one, that did a version of pyra with like latex black clothes and he look majestic bro. If you give him any kind of jewellery he will treat it like the most precious thing in the world. Not a big fan of the music, maybe due to what he has to do for a living, but will try to get into it if it means making you happy.

BEEFY DORITO HEAD IS A SOFTIE AND IM WILLING TO WILL DIE ON THIS HILL

Anyway hoped you liked it broski ^^

Song recommendation time!!

[sp-ud]

My theories so far for "Generation One: The Social Experiments" of Generation Loss. (And also just a bit of a recap of all the confirmed things I'm aware about Gen 1)

(This is so long. If you read all of this I love you.)

Also, I wrote this May 1st/2nd, before the keynote. I will likely be adding stuff about the keynote either in a reblog to this post or a completely new post which I'll edit a link to or something)

So ever since the name "The Social Experiments" was announced, it became clear to me this was going to be something that we the audience, would be able to have influence on. To some extent.

This was then further solidified by things like Ranboo mentioning that Gen 1 would take place on his Twitch channel, talking about how important it would be to be there when it happened live, and during his Cult of the Lamb stream, mentioning how chat should familiarize themselves with using Twitch extensions to vote.

And of course, T_2: The Inauguration being a short "choose your own adventure" thing also made this pretty clear. Like a test run for the full event. And speaking of T_2, a quick run-through of that. (Because I finished summarizing the new stuff before I realized, shit that video is also probably still important, but the post is already so fucking long)

All of the videos take place on an old TV with static heavily in the background and white text appearing on the screen, "Welcome. You have our attention. Please ensure you are alone. There are precautions in place. The inauguration is necessary. Prove your worth. Please remain emotional. Act upon first impulse."

And then you are asked "Cats or Dogs?", this question doesn't matter. The result is the same, "Now you understand what this is. Next evaluation. Which is best. Power or Wisdom?"

"Power" leads to a failure, reading "Wisdom becomes power. Your input is no longer wanted. Then the camera backs away from the TV, before it vanishes and the words "Try again" appear on screen, before a bombardment of text appears on screen.

"Wisdom" leads to "Impressive. Wisdom is vital. Which will prevail. Life or death?"

"Life" is another fail, "Optimism makes one naive", before going into the same failure screen as before.

"Death" leads to "Intresting. Let's test that." Before cutting to a screen of a person who's face is obscured with a box of static struggling tied to a chair

"You or them?"

You, "Noble yet foolish." Before failure clip.

Them, the person struggles for a bit before going limp, the censor changing to just black, "Did you make sure you were alone? Yes or No?"

No, "You should have." Fail.

Yes, "Good. One final request. Don't Look away." Then the GenLoss logo as it's pictured above slowly fades in, before vanishing and the text reading "Congratulations." appears. There's a few more seconds of just a blank static screen before in red text in the bottom corner pops up reading "Your failures have not forgotten"

So, at this point, all I really had for theorizing was: Somehow the audience will be able to influence the events that happen. And that's about it.

But luckily, the "Connecting..." teasers came out and there was finally more to work with! Yippee!

So the first one Connecting... is a 30 second video of a cassette tape with the letters "TSE" written on it, heavy visual static over it, with some bopping kinda ominous music over it, before a short jingle plays and we hear "If you have any information on these individuals, don't hesitate to call. We thank you for your cooperation during these times" followed by a sound that reminds me of someone turning off some kind of old tech, or hanging up a corded phone.

Not that much to work with other than that there's a group of people who are being looked for, for some reason. Also the "TSE" is likely short for "The Social Experiments" aka, the name of Gen 1.

Also, in the description, there's binary that when translated reads "From one to another", not really sure what to do with this bit of info yet.

Then we get the second Connecting... teaser, which was just this image.

My initial thoughts on this, ripped straight from my Twitter are: "I think what's happening in-universe is that whatever audience roll we'll be playing, will think what's happening is just a show with no serious consequences. But what we influence will have real serious impacts on the safety and life(s?) of the participant(s).

And the crossed-out thing makes me think of like. An office building. So maybe that's whatever organization is behind this broadcast, and they're lying to their viewers about what's really happening.

And who's made these sticky notes? They obviously know more than they probably should. And are going to somehow try to stop whatever is happening. From happening. Did they used to be a part of this group? Are they someone who was supposed to be a victim but escaped?"

And at least one part of this got answers in the currently most recent video, Connected.

The first chunk of the video is red and black static with the word "Connecting..." before cutting to a black screen reading "Welcome" before some more bopping but ominous music kicks in and the screen changes to some sort of infinite tunnel filled with red light.

A bunch of text flashes on screen, in order it reads: "Look into infinity. You are now worthy. One of many." this order repeats 3 more times before more is added after One of many. "One of millions. One to another. One to yours. One to another."

After this text vanishes, The image I put at the top of this section fades in, before cutting to a bright red screen with white text in the corner reading "GEN 1"

Then fades in the image from the Twitter "Connecting..." teaser, the static from the image slowly fading. We get a brief flash to this screen:

Before it cuts to the images from before, but now with missing posters taped up for a currently unnamed character (I'm not calling him Ranboo until it's confirmed the character is called Ranboo.)

There's also tape connecting the posters in the "GenLoss 4 Logo" shape, unsure if that means anything or is just a wink nudge nudge to the audience.

The missing posters feature Ranboo's character, what vaguely resembles the logo that was crossed out with "LIES" written under it next to the word "MISSING", and a phone number to call if you have any information.

According to @/alphiebeet in the replies to the video's link on Twitter, calling the number on the missing posters gives you this message:

"Hello. thank you for calling the Showfall missing person's hotline. We appreciate your call, but you are not able to help us. Please hang up immediately."

The audio in this section sounds like nearby a relatively active street, including a car honking and some birds.

The video cuts to this image for a split second

A much clearer look at what this office-building esc logo looks like, along with 05 03 23 written near it. It looks like the same wall as the other images and even uses the same type of black tape, even though it doesn't seem to be close to the other images and the missing poster.

The screen fades into white, before the same jingle from "Connecting..." the video is heard and this full logo, now with the company name, Showfall Media, appears;

"We are happy to welcome you to the Showfall Media family. Please join us for our special keynote on May 3rd of your time" is said by the same voice from the "Connecting..." video. But before the video ends, a voice that I'm pretty sure is Ranboo says "There's something going on here."

Wow, okay that was. a lot. And oh goddamn it one second, Ranboo posted on the Behind The Scenes account. It's a clearer photo of the images taped to the wall.

Note: The number is scribbled out because it is no longer the accurate number seen in the video.

For some reason, the one farther right and at the end/start of the GenLoss 4 logo has a black censor over their face instead of just a mask.

Now, onto what I think is going on here. Finally (Ranboo better not post more while I'm working on this I STG. Or say anything while streaming.)

Obviously, Showfall Media is behind whatever The Social Experiments are. Or at least the broadcast which will be whatever is going to be Gen 1. They also for some reason have their own missing person's phone line, and will even put their own logo on missing posters. For some reason.

I think I was right about the person who originally wrote the notes the missing posters were over being an employee of Showfall, who realized what was happening/going to happen is wrong, and decided to try and stop it. And I don't think they're actually missing, I think perhaps they realized Showfall was onto them and went into hiding, and the missing posters are a way for Showfall to try and find them.

Though, I wonder if more people are also trying to stop Showfall, as the call said "Individuals", plural. But that's more something we'll just have to wait and see.

One thing that interests me, is the text in T_2, the binary in the descrip of Connecting, and the text in Connected.

From T_2 the intro text: "Welcome. You have our attention. Please ensure you are alone. There are precautions in place. The inauguration is necessary. Prove your worth. Please remain emotional. Act upon first impulse."

and some of the messages on the failure state: "You were not supposed to fail. Think Different. Try Again. Think harder. Keep going. Do you not understand? Who even are you? Do you think this is just a game? Go back. You are NEVER alone. Do not hesitate."

and of course the end screen: "Your failures have not forgotten"

the binary in the Connecting description: "From one to another"

and the Connected text: "Look into infinity. You are now worthy. One of many." this order repeats 3 more times before more is added after One of many. "One of millions. One to another. One to yours. One to another."

it seems like somehow, people need to prove their worth before... something. Currently I'm thinking it's joining Showfall Media, specifically whatever elite group is the one actually behind the shady shit.

And obviously this group probably isnt small, "one of many" and "one of millions" and an important part of this is connecting to the other members "one to another" "one to yours".

I also think the failure messages and the "Your failures have not forgotten" might hint to some level of time shenanigans, and i think whoever this is might also be Ranboo's character trying to get in with Showfall Media to better be able to stop this broadcast. Possibly this backfired and that's why he went into hiding.

And that's kinda all I really got for now, can't wait for the keynote on the 3rd, cuz I imagine it will be what finally gives us a good grasp on what to expect from the actual stream.

[alarrytale]

Hello Marte, hope you have time to answer me. I found your blog and interesting discussion on my timeline, and I'd love to know more about your opinion.

I'm quoting your last anon.

Harry doesn't like his womanizer image but does participate in it (by stunting willingly) bc sex sells, and it gives him opportunities and ensures his closet is still intact. She also said that Harry participates in stunts willingly, not to reinforce his closet per se but to gain attention. So I was wondering do you agree with that? I never understand how they come up with these theories. One of them said this when I asked why they believe they are doing it willingly.

Do you think Louis and Harry are stunting willingly? Like, we know Harry stunts with a ton of women because sex sells, his music videos are about sex (WS), and he decides what his mv are about himself (so he kind of wants this). It's been his image (womanizer) since 1D started, so do you think all of this (sex-obsessed image and stunts to stay in the public eye) is something Harry chooses himself? Same with Louis, does Louis chooses to put Freddie in his doc? Luckily Eleanor is gone, so that was in his hands but not bbg is left.

The thing is, I don't understand how much freedom they probably have. Do they decide to stunt? Do they want to stunt?

Finally, who do you think is in charge of Louis' and Harry's image and closet these days? Them or somebody else? Because I do see how Louis likes his chav image and continues to be overly chav, so maybe he does like the image?

Hello anon!

I don't know if i have a set opinion. I have several working theories and i believe some more than others. I don't think they want to stunt. Their countenance and awkwardness tells me as much. I don't think they stunt 'willingly'. I think it's most likely a combination of old clauses and contracts they're still bound to, bargaining and trade offs (i've talked about this before).

I don't think Louis wanted F in the doc. He knows we know it's fake, he knows he's struggling to fake it with him, and he knows the inclusion of F would make his fans mad and refuse to see the doc. Maybe he didn’t have a choice or maybe he wouldn't be allowed to put it out at all if he didn’t include F. Maybe his choices are shit, less shit and bad. Some choices may be bad for him and good for fandom etc. We don’t know and probably never will.

I don't think Eleanor leaving was 'in his hands' as you say. I think she wanted to get her life back after years of stunting. Or the contract was done. If Louis is forced to stunt, i think both him, his team and us would prefer the devil we know. He'd get papped more too, get more engagement and stress less.

I think Sony (decides their image), management (handles) and pr (executes) are the one's in charge of their image in a broad sense. I think they got more say in some things than other. For example louis needs to dress chav. He himself chooses how to dress chav. Btw. I don't think Louis likes his chav image. He's a multidimentional person with different traits and interests and he's not fitting the stereotype of a chav. However i think it's something he feels like he can deal with and act as, because it's closer to how his friends act, how people act where he's from etc. I think he's okay with it.