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radiantlyrey · 6 months ago

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Ruby Sunday: Thoughts & Theories (SPOILERS)

WARNING: LONG POST. SPOILERS & SPECULATION AHEAD. MOVE ALONG TO NEXT POST IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN UNSPOILED!!!!!

The Facts Were These:

Ruby Sunday was abandoned by as a newborn baby by her birth mother. (Note A: Her birth mother's name is unknown, but has been promised to us. Note B: Her birth mother's provenance is equally unknown, and has not been promised to us.)

Ruby Sunday has been taken out of time twice--once by the goblins on the night of her birth, and once by her stepping on a prehistoric butterfly and changing history.

Despite a genetic test, Ruby Sunday apparently has no relatives on Earth who her DNA can be matched to.

The snow from the night of Ruby Sunday's birth and abandonment appears when the memory of Christmas 2004 is invoked. (Note A: It also seems to appear when she is feeling some strong emotion.)

Maestro, a child of the Toymaker and a part of the pantehon, believes Ruby Sunday is human until Christmas 2004 is invoked. They then think Ruby may be connected to "the oldest one" (another child of the Toymaker? another god?) before calling Ruby a "creature" who is "very wrong."

The events of "73 Yards" appear to show Ruby Sunday trapped in a loop of time (perhaps more a Möbius strip of time) that only breaks when she dies.

The Doctor at times is discomfited by Ruby Sunday and her existence. (Note A: He is surprised by the Butterfly Incident detailed in Point 2. Note B: He hides his concern about the snow with a hug. Note C: He runs a genetic scan of Ruby after their first adventure.)

The Doctor has been following Ruby Sunday since before they properly met. He has admitted this to her, but he has not explained why.

Ruby Sunday and the Doctor have a lot of common in their backstories--they were both abandoned as children; they were both adopted; they are both somewhat unconnected to their adopted societies. Coincidence seems to be tying them together, and to their adventures. (There have been a lot of parentless children in these stories.)

So those are the facts.

Now for some metafictional facts: There are a lot of strange things going on with Ruby Sunday. She has yet to properly, by herself, save the day. (In fact, in two of her five episodes, she has been absent for the climax entirely.) Most modern companions do this in their first couple of episodes. Despite her moment of defiance in "Boom", she has yet to make the Doctor angry with her actions, which most companions have done by now. It's almost as if she only exists as a character on a purely surface level. She has little depth, hardly any flaws; she and the Doctor get along like breezy best friends, but there's not much of substance about her. Given RTD's reputation as a character writer (especially as concerns Doctor Who), the characterization of Ruby Sunday has seemed more than a little flat. And I can't help but wonder if maybe this is all deliberate.

By this point in the season, when we've hit the halfway point, everyone has a theory about Ruby Sunday. The writing has encouraged the mass theorizing, piling on mystery after mystery with gusto. There are even theories (mostly driven by the fourth-wall breaks in "The Devil's Chord") about the whole season being some kind of misdirect or fakery. But those theories, I think, go slightly too far.

I have theories of my own, of course. My crack theory is that Ruby is either related to the Time Lords or even the Doctor's mysterious species. There is a little evidence for this--her disappearances and reappearances from the timeline, the time loop stuff from "73 Yards"--and it might be true, but I'm starting to shy away from it slightly. Another theory I've seen in this line is that Ruby is part of the pantheon, another god-like being who's been disguised as a human. This seems a little likelier, but I have another idea.

Maestro refers to Ruby Sunday as a "creature" in "The Devil's Chord"--and the word "creature" has the same Latin root as the word "create." I think it's entirely possible that Ruby was created as a trick or a trap for the Doctor, that she's merely an idea that's been given human form. The idea is this: "someone who travels with the Doctor." Fans have already pointed out the numerous parallels Ruby has with other New Who companions--she phones her mum from the future like Rose in "The End of the World"; her existence mirrors the mystery of Clara Oswald in Series 7; she has a lot of the spitfire spunk we've seen from Donna Noble; she even dies and comes back to life like Rory constantly did during his tenure!! Given the teasers we've received for the penultimate episode, "The Legend of Ruby Sunday"--an image of a monitor with the episode's title on it, and [NOTE: I cannot seem to find a source for this; please help!!!!!] a line of teaser dialogue about the Doctor's life playing out on multiple screens [AGAIN: cannot seem to find a source; if you know where teaser dialogue lines for this season were released---or if they're even real--PLEASE LET ME KNOW], it seems to me that the Doctor's life has been studied in order to create the perfect companion, a tailor-made trap for the Doctor and the Doctor alone.

I don't think RTD is stupid enough to pull a "gotcha! it was all a dream/TV show/hallucination!" trick for the whole season, which I know a lot of people are theorizing about. That is a hard needle to thread in the best of situations, and if it doesn't land effectively, then a good chunk of your audience will leave in disgust and never come back. But I think it's very possible you could pull the same trick with one character.

My theory is this: Ruby Sunday is a simulacrum, or hybrid (ha), or something else entirely! But she is not Real. She was created to be thrown away, a lure for the Doctor meant to be eaten or discarded. It might be that she's part of the Doctor's species, but caught by the pantheon (or something else) and changed into a tool or toy or something not-quite-Real. There's been talk about how Doctor Who is gaining more fantastical elements (goblins and gods and so on), and what is more fantastical than a fairy tale? I think the legend of Ruby Sunday is one such fairy tale, and I think I know how it's going to end.

Ruby will, at last, assert herself. She will break free of what she's been created (written) to be, and claim her personhood/characterhood. She will re-enter the world fully herself and fully three-dimensional. She will finally become Real, with all that that implies.

And nothing is more fairy tale than that.

#doctor who #dw spoilers #doctor who theories #doctor who theorizing #ruby sunday #millie gibson #series 14 #skye rambles about stuff #i have no idea if this is the direction RTD's going #but I will be VERY VERY SMUG if I AM right #let's just say that........

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larathia · 25 days ago

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TBHK #119 Thoughts

I'm going to say up front that this month's post is less 'theorizing' and more 'gut feelings that lead to probably-wild guesses'. I can't really say I have a whooole lot of Evidence for my take on things. Just that this is the impression I got from this chapter, and maybe it'll make sense to you and maybe it won't.

Ok? So here goes.

I feel that Amane is not entirely aware of what is going on, or what he's doing. It looks to me like he's...I think the best word here would be 'leashed'. He's leashed to the Red House, where everything else is bound to it/bound inside it. There are times when Amane is himself, and times when he's dominated by the Red House, and probably a lot of points in between, where he may do a thing in a moment and forget that he did it by the next.

I think part of the reason this continues is - he's not like the Minamotos. He's not naturally sensitive to the supernatural. In this AU where he's never been a ghost or a Wonder, I think his memory is subject to the same "tendency to forget" as any other mortal, and I think the Red House takes full advantage of that.

I think the Time Shenanigans of the Red House mean that in some timey-wimey way, Amane is actually immortal. The house may be empty and in ruins on the outside, but entering it puts you in timey-wimey space and you can walk back into his normal lifespan.

That said, since the house IS decrepit now, and abandoned, and he'd be in his 70s or so...and we only see his 'adult' form an not any kind of aged form...let's just say I have a bad feeling I don't want to know how Amane dies in this timeline ok?

Now...this is my Crack Theory of This Timeline.

I think the Clock Keepers went back in time to the six months when Tsukasa had disappeared and not yet reappeared. I think they did something at that time to bind the Red House Entity (RHE) to that location, and therefore not to Tsukasa. Tsukasa is thus purely a ghost.

I don't have any idea what happened to the parents. I'm not even going to speculate on when or how they died - but I can tell you where they died. They died in the Red House. And when they did, they became more ghosts to feed it. Bound to it.

Amane, too, is bound to the Red House. But he's different, because Tsukasa is there and I think Tsukasa really wants his brother to be happy. So for Amane, the house...probably eased his loneliness a bit, even if he couldn't sense the spirits there.

It's possible, though, that he can feel his brother's presence. They're twins, after all. And I think Tsukasa's ghost can leave the House when he's with Amane - that'd be the Entity's ticket into the school. Tsukasa can still talk to/work with the RHE - he just can't use its power. They're not unified. I think while Amane was a student, and then again as a teacher, Tsukasa's ghost influenced the students of the school and Tsukasa occasionally fed students to the RHE.

When Amane retired...that would've stopped. He wouldn't be going to the school, so Tsukasa wouldn't be going to the school, so no more students to sacrifice to the RHE.

And then Amane ...must have died. At which point his ghost has the same kind of partnership with the RHE as his brother, only he isn't four years old. And he's far more connected to the school than the other ghosts in the house, and so he becomes the yudasgoat to lead them to the RHE.

I think something like this must be what's going on, because Amane doesn't seem fully aware of what's going on - and then his personality flips and he TOTALLY knows. And the exorcists haven't had to fight a lot of supernaturals (a lot more minamotos are still alive, and not working their asses off) which is a side effect of people being sacrificed to the RHE.

I don't think Amane is Secretly Evil. I think...he genuinely is basically the same being we've seen all this time, a lot kinder than he wants to admit to.

And I also think Teru was right - growing up did not mean he was able to be happy. I suspect the kind teacher was so kind because that was the closest he could get to having friends.

That said, GODDAMNIT YOU STUPID KIDS GO FIND TSUCHIGOMORI ALREADY.

#tbhk analysis #toilet bound hanako kun

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benis-chillin · 10 months ago

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Thoughts and theories on Sonic Prime

So, Sonic Prime has ended, good fellers, and since it's a Sonic thing, I shall simply say…

My feelings are mixed.

So, let's start off with just saying that the animation and voice acting? All good. If the English game cast blew up in a mysterious gas leak, these guys would make for fine replacements. The fight scenes are fluid, though do get a bit repetitive in the final few episodes(cause I think they were running low on budget), and everyone moves better than they have in the games…Maybe ever? Music is passable, but outside of the main theme, it's fairly forgettable. I think they used some game music in those sprites scenes that suck ass, so I don't see why they couldn't use a tune or two. At least use "All Hail Shadow" once, dude.

However, I feel that the writing and premise lets it all down. The premise feels like it would be better for a game or IDW arc instead of the rare animated series, especially since this show doesn't establish what Sonic's world is SUPPOSED to be like for new audiences. Sure, the games are at a decent level of popularity recently, and the movies have boosted the brand considerably in the public consciousness, but at least one episode before we start hopping around the multiverse would've made the stakes feel a bit tighter. Just because this is the game world doesn't mean you can skip basic shit like that. A status quo needs to be established for it to be shaken up.

And yes, I did say this is the game world. Prime is, by standards I will explain in a bit, canon. Sonic fans have been arguing against this because of little details, like Green Hill being used interchangeably with Sonic's world(even though they never outright state that they're the same thing, leading me to believe this is simply a weird writing quirk), Sonic not noting other Metal Sonics exist when Chaos Sonic is introduced(even though he never says, "I have never seen a Metal Sonic before in my life!" Or anything like that), and Sonic having particularly shaky characterization(bad writing doesn't dictate canonicity, as otherwise the 2010's games wouldn't be canon either).

All of this is not good writing, to be sure, and Sega should've cracked down a bit harder on that stuff while making this show, but nothing here outright contradicts canon, if you know what a contradiction ACTUALLY is. It's an ongoing problem in the Sonic community that they don't know how to lore at all, and Prime is a good example of this. You don't have to like Prime, but if you count Colors or Lost World as canon, then you have no reason to not include Prime. Otherwise, you're just basing canon on what you do or don't like, which is an AWFUL approach to canonicity.

Personally, I slot it between Lost World and Forces for the moment, but this could change at a later date. Now, let's sit down and speculate on some things.

What are the Shatterspaces?

Long explanation short, I don’t believe the Shatterspaces to be a traditional multiverse setup. They aren’t variants of Sonic’s universe in the traditional sense, but rather partial worlds built on “fragments” of Sonic and company’s collective psyche, and this concept can explain a few things.

(Note: This is purely fan speculation, and not Objective Canon Zone. We’ve gotten past that point)

Let’s break down each Shatterspace.

New Yoke is a dimension entirely overrun by the Chaos Counsel. Nature has been weeded out, and people live by the “mercy” of the Eggmen.

However, this Space is the only one with any Eggman variants, and this is very deliberate, because New Yoke is Eggman’s dream made manifest by the Prism. Remember, his robot was holding it when Sonic shattered it, so it’s logical that at least SOME of that energy came into his control. Hey, if anyone besides Sonic could control it, it would probably be Eggman, right? And when they make a giant construct at the end of Season 2, it looks like regular Eggman, so maybe there’s something to that?

But of course, that begs the question: Why 5 Eggmen?

Well, 5 Shatterspaces.

New Yoke-Mr. Doctor Eggman

The most similar to mainline Eggman, it feels best that he represent this Shatterspace.

Boscage Maze-Dr. Deep

The more zen of the 5, who may have more of a connection to nature than the others. For the crime of possibly having touched grass, I give this Shatterspace to him. The closest to a nature side that Eggman has.

No Zone-Dr. Don’t

This one is a stretch, but bear with me.

This version of Eggman is still a youth, likely to have wanted adventure and freedom before reality set in and he chose instead to zone out to his video games and other electronic forms of entertainment as a substitute for the action he craved. Eggman’s a playful sort when he’s not trying to rule the world, so it’s JUST possible enough.

The Grim-Dr. Babble

(Where the hell did he get a doctorate as an infant?)

A Shatterspace fairly undeveloped, its potential not yet fully tapped, much like dear Babble himself. Also a representation of Eggman’s childishness, though perhaps it more links to his feelings of being neglected as a child, as hinted at in the Frontiers audio logs? Who knows?

Ghost Hill-Dr. Done-it.

A shadow of the past, barely hanging on, just waiting to die out so the new hotness can take over completely.

Also looks oddly like Eggman Nega? Idk.

However, these are merely reflections of what the Shatterspaces already represent, which are aspects of Sonic's Personality…Save for New Yoke and Ghost Hill. The former is mostly Eggman’s domain, and the latter is just what was left after the Shattering.

Also, I believe the Shattering to be an event localized to Green Hill, and not encompassing all of Sonic’s world, which would explain why they use the terms interchangeably. I can’t fully explain WHY I feel that way, just have a gut feeling this is how it works. My main basis for this is the flashback in New Yoke where Rouge and Knuckles are just in Green Hill when the Eggmen take over, suggesting that perhaps they were “localized” when the Shattering redistributed them.

Oh yeah, let’s explain that. It seems that Sonic’s friends, along with ALL of Green Hill’s residents, didn’t have much control over how they were split among the Shatterspaces, but aspects of them clearly adapted to the worlds they were placed in. For example, Rouge and Knuckles both took charge of the Resistance in New Yoke, which fits them well enough. Knuckles commanded the Resistance in Forces, and Rouge is literally a government spy in the main universe, after all. Amy likely defended nature in this world, and paid the price for it when the Eggmen turned her into a cyborg. Tails seems to have withdrawn into himself completely, becoming Nine. This universe was made by a villain, so these versions are the darkest ones we could get. The bad ending.

Anyway, back to the other ones.

Boscage Maze represents Sonic’s love of nature, and is thus dominated by it. The people who live in this Space are thus devoted to their natural world, which adapts to be a primitive society led by more primitive urges driven by the need for survival. Rouge naturally leads again, and her more devious nature shines through as a part of her survival instincts, but she’s still doing better than her New Yoke version. Knuckles leans so far into his naivete from growing up on Angel Island alone that it gets remixed into paranoia, Big is Big, Tails seems to have still been isolated to the point of going somewhat feral, but is accepted nowadays by his peers(and has a knack for technology when he finds himself somewhere that it exists), and Amy vehemently defends nature to the point of absurdity. Much like how New Yoke is an example of technology being too dominant, Boscage leans towards going too far in the other direction. The people don’t suffer as much, but they still DO suffer in the end if they don’t work together for a better tomorrow.

No Zone is Sonic’s love of adventure, and everyone in this space represents that. Tails is at his best, being very sociable and accepted by his peers with no hesitancies, clearly. Knuckles' desire for “me beauty” might be a memory of the Master Emerald, but I wouldn’t put too much money in that. Another theory is that it ties into his role as a treasure hunter, without any echidna honor to reel in any greed. This is overall the most positive Space here, tbh.

The Grim is simple possibility. The future, what lies ahead for Sonic. He rarely looks to it, never plans it out, instead choosing to just live in the moment, but it’s always there waiting for him.

And yeah, that’s it. The only remaining question is where are these Shatterspaces now that the Prism is restored, and the main universe returned to normal? Well, Sonic gave the energy back that the Prism needed and it didn’t kill anyone, so it’s likely that they exist permanently now, stable outside of the main “multiverse.” Different from a dimension like Blaze’s, and the split timeline caused by Generations. But that’s just speculation. Who knows if these concepts will ever appear again?

Idk, could make for a good fanfic.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic prime #sonic prime season 3 #sonic lore #sonic theory #sonic prime spoilers

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demodraws0606 · 1 year ago

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List of characters who I think could make for interesting culprits (+my justification for why)

I am seeing a lot of predictions for DRDT and the victims and all that but no one seems to be predicting culprits so I decided to take a crack at it. Most of these are kinda mixed between how likely I think they'd be and how interesting I think they'd be (also not including chapter 2 culprit prediction)

Rose - This one I am lowkey convinced about purely because of certain moments of her character and the likely motive for chapter 3 (if we follow them replicating DR1 motives, the next one should be money). In the FTE, Rose says how she is scared of herself and her memory. This specific line really made me enjoy the possibility of her being a culprit.

Maybe it ends up being a Gonta situation and she starts repressing her memories of her committing the crime, leading to her eventual realisation when the evidence points to her. Or even worse the idea that she might never forget how her victim looked after death.

Her having a photographic memory and intelligence could also serve very useful as the culprit, as she could notice potential evidence that some might not.

Hu - Hu's hidden quote and entire character gives me huge Kirumi vibes.

Funnily enough I don't think this quote is entirely about her being a culprit, I more so think it's about her motive secret (probably the suicidal child one).

She probably has done something in the past that made her want to atone for what she did leading to her trying to commit suicide multiple times. However what I think would be interesting for her character is that she eventually starts getting character growth and realising that she despite what she's done, she wants to live leading to her killing to survive.

Which might end up leading to her murder, maybe out of self defence or because of a motive (maybe something like dr2 where the cast is left to starve). She probably would feel extremely guilty for it but unlike how she was in the past, she doesn't want to give up living.

It would be really heartbreaking to see Hu have a Kirumi moment (it was a great moment in DRV3 but was undercut by how ridiculous Kirumi's backstory is) and have her clawing to survive.

Eden - Now here me out, I really do not like ch2 Eden culprit speculations/theories, however Eden as a culprit has so much heartbreaking potential if done right.

Have Eden commit a murder to protect Teruko or something similar to chapter 1. I could see it being an accident or something that Eden didn't even know she did but basically have her do something similar to Min.

Kinda make Eden the reverse of what Xander was to Teruko basically (instead of stabbing her in the back, she tries to protect her)

However this time instead of having Teruko push and reject Eden just like she did Min, she finally breaks down and opens up. It would be a perfect moment to showcase how Eden influenced her and how much she's grown.

This is why I can see Eden work as a chapter 4 or chapter 5 culprit

Also Eden's talent would make for a super cool execution

Ace - Now I am a support of the Ace survival agenda however I do like the idea of him being a culprit under certain circumstances.

Specifically I do like the idea of him killing either to protect someone or for the betterment of the group, again maybe something like the starving motive in DR2. Ace is often seen as a coward and in chapter 2 has mostly devolved into a spiteful, yapping mess. Having him do something as ballsy as to kill someone to protect another would show a lot of growth. It also would be awesome if it involves him possibly protecting Nico or somehow Nico ends up defending him in the trial (Nico and Ace friendship arc pls i beg).

I realised most of my culprits involve them protecting another person, I'm sorry I just live for that type of angst

Also I think Ace would have a pretty dark and messed up execution considering what we know his feelings for horseracing to be. It would also be funny (in a dark way) if what Ace says here somehow is a hint at his own execution.

Charles - I love the idea of Charles as a culprit not because of what it means for his character but purely because of the things surrounding him.

It's simple but I think it'd be very interesting to have him commit a murder that somehow dodges his fear of blood and dead bodies.

Another reason why him being a culprit would be very interesting would be Whit. Now weither you think he is the mastermind or not, Whit would make Charles being the culprit a lot more spicy.

We know he witholds information in the trial even though said information basically points to the culprit (the note in chapter 2 is the best exemple). So imagine if he knew Charles was the culprit (or was even a witness) and simply doesn't say anything.

Even spicier is if Whit knows Charles is the culprit but Charles himself doesn't know.

Now I'm not gonna get into how Whit being the mastermind could play into this speculation so weither or not you agree about the theory, I think Charles being a culprit would bring some very interesting Charwhit moments.

(Also for Charles character, I don't what his motivation could be, I'd imagine it would be an accident but I can see him not wanting to be seen as weak due to his phobia playing into him being a culprit potentially)

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #drdt rose #drdt eden #drdt ace #drdt hu #drdt charles #drdt whit #whit young #hu jing #charles cuevas #rose lacroix #eden tobisa #ace markey #drdt theory #drdt prediction

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cfr749 · 7 months ago

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What do you think of Chenford breakup reasons? Just to add drama and indicate the honeymoon phase of their relationship ended. I felt they've been building to it since the season started. Or It's season 6, and some contract are up, and they want to have options if necessary. I mean, look at other characters' arcs, too.

Hi anon,

Thanks for the ask!

I know there are a lot of theories on this, but, from my perspective, I think it was 100% a creative storytelling decision, and though I wasn't expecting a breakup, it also didn't feel like it came from out of nowhere for me.

We saw cracks in their relationship very early on with how they both approached resolving the chain of command issues and then obviously began to move into the UC conflict. I do think there was a clear through line in terms of building up to this since the beginning of the season, though of course it could have been clearer.

This is pure speculation, but for me this season so far has stylistically felt very much like Alexi taking back the reins after stepping away to work on other projects the last few seasons. These versions of Tim and Lucy feel very much like who the characters were in Seasons 1-2.

And, IMO, the emotional intensity this season is very reflective of the types of things we've seen for storylines he was more heavily involved with previously (Tim & Isabel, John's S1 shooting, DOD, Tim's dad SL, etc.).

I know people also have mixed feelings about Tim's backstory, but for me this also felt like a character-driven storytelling decision vs. something that was inserted solely to break Chenford up (though of course that was also a major driver).

Learning why Tim felt so much guilt and shame over what happened in Mosul made his backstory click into place for me. I imagine that Tim found his place in the army -- he found something he was good at, that he was valued and appreciated for. He was promoted quickly up the ranks, and for someone with his background, it must have felt like all of the validation and affirmation he was desperate for, but never received as a child. And when Ray going rogue threatened that-- the one thing in the world he had that finally made him feel worthy -- I can absolutely understand the desperation and panic Tim must have felt to prevent having that ripped away from him.

We know that Tim is a good person. I have zero doubt that making the decision that led to his two squad mates died destroyed him and all of the beliefs he had about who he was. I have zero doubt that it took everything he had to crawl out of that pit of despair and try to keep going. He shoved it into a box because he had to in order to survive. And then suddenly, years later, with no warning, he was forced to confront the one thing he's never been able to face about himself.

I have always said all I've ever wanted for Chenford (and Lucy and Tim as individuals) was a good character-driven story, told with intention, so even though I'm actually incredibly sad over the breakup, I'll be okay if that is what we get moving forward.

#chenford #the rookie #see lana ramble #tim bradford #my asks

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tonydaddingham · 1 year ago

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(1/5?)

so. the fall. both in general and crowley's specifically. i speculated about this quite a bit when i watched season 1 already and since, by and large, these speculations are still the basis for my thoughts now, that's also how i'll be structuring this. i'm going to go through the opinions/theories i formed based solely on the data available for season 1 first and then address new information from season 2 and how that's affected my conclusions.

a quick preface! i'm working off the assumption that go's god basically doesn't get involved in anything ever and the fall was consequently not her doing. nor do i think the metatron's heard anything more from her than anyone else has nor that he had even back then.

so the most frequent allegories of heaven i see are cult and abusive family and while i don't think that's wrong, my instinctive reaction was and still is dictatorship/surveillance state. heaven is literally the ultimate form of the divine right of kings. the metatron and the archangels cannot be removed from power because they were instated by god and their orders must be followed unfailingly because they are merely carrying out god's will. so angels starting to question god/the plan is threatening. immensely so, because the logical next leap is questioning the authority of the voice of the god and of the archangels. and sure enough that's exactly what happens! there's an uprising which turns into a war and the losing side are permanently exiled and branded as unforgivable traitors, pure evil, and any hint of something that could become dissent is cracked down on harder than ever because the archangels/the metatron can't risk anything like this emerging again. after all god isn't talking to them either and their power is very much not as divinely-ordained and unshakable as they would like.

now if there's one thing that season 2 did that was confirm my impression of heaven the dictatorship. the way gabriel is dealt with is deeply unsettling and looking at how isolated muriel is kept i'd wager there are no risks being taken that any angels could start sharing ideas again. before i thought there was an off-chance that the archangels assumed the fall was god's plan and that's why they did it but now i'm convinced it was purely political. (obviously they'd still think god intended it but i'm certain that was not the motive, that the motive was solely about staying in power. unsure what the metatron's view on god is. thoughts?) what's new from season 2 is the power dynamics at the top of the hierarchy. instead of the metatron and the archangels being a unified force on approximately equal footing, the metatron's more nefarious and more powerful than i assumed and is clearly the sole person at the very top, pulling all the strings and asserting himself as lone unassailable ruler and the archangels are infighting. gabriel's abusing his power michael's trying to usurp him and uriel's barely tolerating either of them. but while that makes for some interesting dynamics to play with i don't see how that changes anything about the fall.

wow 🦭 anon!!! firstly, please accept my humble apologies for the late-late answer to this!!! i got into a hyperfocus with an amv and then needed to make soooo many notes on what you've said so that i had a coherent response!!! 💃<- apology dance✨

anyway!!! by god im so excited to answer this; plot speculation is my favourite kind of analysis!!!

further asks and response under the cut!!!

okay so im basically just going to write up a train of thought without much coherency, incorporating both s1 and s2, so please do pop back if ive ignored something, or am missing something!!!

i completely agree with your assessment of god's involvement in the fall; following job, where i recently parsed out some thoughts on the conflicting interpretations of god's will where job, his family, and their suffering was concerned, im firmly of the opinion that god in GO is omniscient, but strictly amoral. whilst she might pull strings threaded through the universe (e.g. the knocking over of the candle in the bookshop fire is, to me, an example of this), she created and abides by free will. in her angels, in the fallen, and in humanity. I've gone over incarnations of this train of thought in #god is dead theory, if anyone fancies some extra reading.

but essentially, i can kinda see god's involvement in the fall being very similar to that of pontius pilate (depending on which account you read, to be fair) in the crucifixion of jesus, and leaving the fate of the angels that were 'rebelling' up to the 'people' - i'll come back to this. but i feel this could be a very fitting allegory insomuch of jesus being the scapegoat for humanity's sins, and dying for them to be absolved. the reconceptualisation of this in the context of the fallen is chilling, but apt (especially if anyone subscribes to some variant of the scapegoat theory - that being crowley, aziraphale, lucifer, or any combination of them. more in. #omelas/scapegoat theory tag).

bottom line for me on speculating about the fall, for me at the moment, is that god created angels. she created them to have free will, and free thought. this birthed angels starting to speak up about things they think could be different. some just wanted to make the stars live longer, some perhaps thought humanity were given too much importance, or god had too much power, altogether. i don't think god necessarily had an issue with any of this, because this was all according to how she wanted her creations to exist. but if she were to interfere in anything as an omniscient being, it would corrupt that very tenet - would influence free will, and render it obsolete.

so if god were to excuse herself, with very little - if anything - to say, it would stand to reason that her voice, the metatron, would take the metaphorical stage. now, i can see metatron's rationale going in two different directions (so far, and might be both or neither):

machiavellian (or dark triad) approach, in that he covets god's power and voice absolute for himself, to rule over heaven and its angels and wilfully disguise his own wants and desires as the word of god. and rebellious angels would threaten to upend his own authority in this regard

some kind of take on the divine command theory; specifically in ethics that morality is dictated by the command of god... ie. that something is good specifically because god commands it. DCT and voluntarism in general can be considered very flawed, (or so any ethics theory rooting in religion), for obvious reasons, but i could see this being what metatron genuinely believes. the absence of god renders him only with the great plan, and if the fall - because it's borne of free will - goes outside the scope of the plan, what other choice does he have but to eradicate evil from eden?

i find the second the most compelling of the two, but they're not mutually exclusive - metatron can still emulate machiavellian psychology and still think he's genuinely following the command of god, in good (?) conscience, in order to preserve a perfect heaven, without perhaps realising that his own free will could inform him otherwise. it would also, imo, bring back the conflict between the great and ineffable plans nicely - what is laid out by god, and what is entirely unknowable because it's literally dictated by every individual set apart from god?

moving onto heaven specifically... ive collected a lot of thoughts over the last 48h or so. first, mainly, that i agree with you in how to view heaven analogically; maybe it's because my experience in life has been very different to lots of others in the fandom, but my take on heaven is principally that of a police state, and what we're looking at is the institution itself. imo, there's a lot of shared characteristics between heaven and most kind of policing agencies, right down to the things that inherently open them up to corruption and resistance.

i hadn't thought to look at heaven in the view of divine right of kings, but this is very interesting. in at least one sense, yep - could view the metatron as being the defacto heavenly sovereign, and decreeing with power absolute. and given the reference to 1650 in s2 (and im personally hoping this might be a flashback in s3), this could potentially be a very powerful mirror (ie. charles I and cromwell during the english civil wars). for some reason however, this dynamic doesn't ring completely true for me - not quite sure why yet, but i'll probably come back to it.

the manner in which gabriel, and potentially muriel, have been dealt with in heaven is also unsettling. but i think personally for me, regardless of the political structure of heaven, what unnerves me is that it is potentially a facsimile of falling, but not in the way the narrative has so far posed it. hell are short-staffed - irrespective of why, we know this is an issue. but heaven seems to have a consistency in their numbers, inferred by the same problem never being mentioned in relation to angels. and then consider that gabriel at the very least is a powerful archangel; whyever would heaven allow gabriel to fall into hell, and work for them? no, it is safer to wipe his memory, and reduce him to what we can surmise is a very, very low rank of angel occupation/choir. is this the new falling? is this what happened to the fallen? i think there's something there.

now the thing is, thinking more on the fall has made me confront something. as much as their actions as thus shown to the audience so far are deplorable, the archangels are eminently empathetic in the context of the fall, and how they act afterwards. if we look at them considering that, what we consider to be, free will is in fact radical thought, is dangerous, and that acting on that will bring heaven down... well, it's actually somewhat understandable how they regard aziraphale.

let's take gabriel and how he speaks to crowley-as-aziraphale in s1: this is, to gabriel, an angel that has upset the great plan. literally stopped it in its tracks. is, to his mind, working directly against the word and will of god. a radical, gone native, and turned to rebellion. wouldn't gabriel be frightened out of his little head? of course he would! presumably he had to go through the fall too, watch as (we could hypothesise) his brothers (gn) fell to hell, and have to turn against them as traitors and dissidents. so, to watch as aziraphale presumably treads the same path must be terrifying, because of what it could precipitate. beelzebub in s1 even said it at aziraphale-as-crowley's execution, "it'll cause a riot!". and that's in hell - now imagine heaven.

we know that archangels are capable of change. we saw in job them have - if not a camaraderie - a cordial (albeit still quite condescending) relationship with aziraphale. this appears to deteriorate the longer that aziraphale is on earth, and his path diverges away from theirs. but we also see gabriel, fully as gabriel, fall in love with beelzebub. they are capable of it - and capable of free will.

all of this to say that i don't think it's conclusive at this time to implicate the archangels in what, as the hypothesis above indicates, is entirely metatron's doing. bear in mind that despite the recent trial, uriel and michael don't even recognise metatron. this could be memory wipe, or could be that despite how it's physically shown to us metatron in heaven as a floating head and metatron in human form are not recognisable... that being said, a) aziraphale doesn't recognise him either, despite seeing his head in s1, and b) metatron says, "you don't know me?!", which could either be a test, or as genuine incredulity that they don't remember the mf metatron. the whole thing, as LWA has pointed out on a couple of occasions now, reeks of the nuremberg defense ('just following orders'), and whilst it's unjustifiable, it's certainly understandable.

in any case, i think it has the potential to inform very heavily on the current inter-archangel dynamic in heaven - who trusts whom? who next will challenge god? who is hungry for power, and to bring down heaven? when you specifically consider uriel's disdain of michael assuming the post of supreme archangel, it could be jealousy or just out of pettiness, but michael doing so must suggest a degree of instability and concern too. it might not necessarily change anything about the fall retrospectively, but it does inform on how they punish angels, that step out of line, in a post-fall era.

re: the specifics of crowley's fall (and me bearing in mind the length of this answer!), i agree on pretty much every point you raised, each conclusion - ive covered similar thoughts in various tags: #AWCW spec, #the fall/the great war spec, and #scapegoat/omelas theory. one thing on whether AWCW fought in the great war; i agree, i don't think he fought. but i definitely think he was present. being fanciful, i think he might have hid, or someone 👀 attempted to help him hide, and get him out of heaven without bloodshed, or without violence ("sauntered vaguely downwards"). i don't think it succeeded, and i think potentially both were brought as traitors before heaven... and here is where i cycle back to the scapegoat/omelas theory.

and in any case - im not convinced that either of them, or indeed anyone(?) fully remembers the fall. it would make sense, from metatron's perspective, to wipe all seeds of rebellious thought (without accounting for the fact that they're born of free will, which cannot be erased) from all involved parties in heaven with a targeted memory wipe. as for the fallen - i think that's literally part of their having fallen; they can't remember specifics about their time as angels, or at least the specifics of why they fell. this would potentially be explanatory for crowley's tendency as an unreliable narrator as concerns his fall in particular. the one thing i do trust in particular as to his potential part in the fall is AWCW's line: "if i were in charge..." - take into account what ive said above, plus this kind of thinking being a very innocent but parallel to what we can assume lucifer's personal beef was, i think the origins of crowley's fall - and what his questions threatened - is relatively clear.

i know you've brought up other things too, 🦭 anon, but i wonder if this is something we can explore in further depth in another post? i feel this essay is enough to be getting on with for now, and would love to know your thoughts!!! again, really sorry for the delay, but hope this makes up for it!!!✨💕

note to self - topics left to look at! AWCW rank, and gabriel's first order archangel line, and his line as jim re: "all the morning stars..."

update: fuck it 🦭 anon, i was turning these topics over in my brain like a rotisserie chicken for most of the evening, so let's dig in anyway!!!✨

okay look, i'll admit (and as is clearly evident in my old posts), i was an advocate of the crowley is lucifer theory. obviously neil debunked this, no worries, glad to have nipped that in the bud. but i am still fairly convinced that crowley is going to own a lucifer-ish narrative as concerns his fall. if we go by hell hierarchy in GO and correlate this against influential material (scripture, and yes okay Milton), we can be fairly certain that lucifer led on the fall, fell first and became satan, beelzebub was a key part (to warrant being prince of hell), and that crowley got himself caught up with them at some point before falling himself. this is a part of crowley's recount of his fall that i do believe, but i think he massively downplays his part.

i think AWCW comes across a group of angels that do not rebuke him for having questions, and even talk to him about them, encouraging him. i think he feels safe with them, and becomes pals with them, and they end up sweeping him along in more 'dangerous', 'rebellious' thought... and right up until the moment they get caught/lucifer starts speaking out, i don't think AWCW realises the shit he's gotten himself into (or maybe he does, but it's easier to sink down rather than swim up). in any case, he's surely going to be implicated in instigated rebellion among the angels, and be punished accordingly.

now im not entirely sure on the specifics of a potential scapegoat allegory would come in here, but i do think it does (and history will potentially repeat itself in s3, given the promo images). i think perhaps lucifer and the gang start to panic, panic at the concept of falling (regardless of who is dolling out the sentence, god or metatron), and they pin the blame on AWCW. he started asking questions first, he caused all of this. i think that's potentially why metatron has such beef, and specifically refers to crowley "always asking damn-fool questions", plus throws him the Dirty Look - all of this mess, and everyone believes crowley started it, even if he didn't pull the trigger. obviously lucifer and all the fallen get similarly punished, so crowley doesn't carry the full weight of the fall, but that would potentially be a big chunk of his character core that once realised could make a lot of things about him suddenly make sense.

(as an aside, i do perhaps think that aziraphale is also implicated in here somewhere - ive explored it in the #scapegoat theory tag more - but do also equally wonder if crowley is posed as the scapegoat for the fall, and aziraphale will be posed as the scapegoat for the last judgement? interesting mirroring to hypothesise).

in terms of crowley's rank... sigh. i get the narrative and character potential of it, but... i don't think he was a Very Important Angel, however that might look. at the very least, i hope not. i got a few reasons for this, first of them being that i think it could be quite cliché, to the point of being a bit reductive. he is very obviously, in a rather on-the-nose fashion, painted as being an archangel in s2; for this reason alone, i get the feeling that this will in fact not be the case. (and im not an expert on pratchett, far from it, but my understanding is that a lot of his themes work with the concept of being "ordinary" which... this theory would arguably shoot out of the park).

we know that crowley is at least in the throne or dominion choir. the way that muriel says these ranks 'or above' suggests that they are on the same rank, not throne-above-dominion as strict christian angelology suggests. neil and terry turned this structure on its head anyway with the specific archangel structure, but i think it's far that the basic blueprint of GO!angelology follows the same outline. which suggests that crowley can only have been these ranks, or a cherub, seraph, or archangel.

i dont think he was a high archangel on the same plane as michael and uriel, let alone gabriel. i did suggest (in #AWCW spec, i think) that he might have been a lesser archangel like sandalphon or saraqael, and this still rings true for me if you cross-reference heaven hierarchy against hell hierarchy (there's obviously a lot to contradict this copy-and-paste, but im just talking in the vague sense). the other thought i have, is that i don't necessarily think that crowley's power is borne out of having been an archangel; i think it's literally borne out of having an imagination, as was intimated in s1, and i don't necessarily trust his "how did you know i didn't do it?" line to shax; we know that shax is not the sharpest of demons in this respect. as for the miracle he and aziraphale performed - i don't think the reason why it was so powerful has anything to do with either of them, and all to do with jim (#25 lazarii theory).

moving onto "first order archangel", im still not quite sure what to make of it, but... i dont think it was intimating anything beyond reasserting gabriel's rank as the top archangel. the supreme archangel position seems to be just that - a position, a role - but one that elevates already existing power (and i think that's what's indicated by the purple eyes, personally - having, to a degree, some of the power of literal god), and thus raising you to the tier (?) of first order. fundamentally, without the SA position and therefore without the FO rank, i dont think gabriel is actually any different to michael or uriel; they're all archangels, and it's just a question of promotion. in which case, i personally think gabriel was just being sarcastic and childish, and simply reinstating "hey, im the top dog here, im the only one at my level, so what i say goes'. it feels like a very gabriel thing to do and say, imo.

i'll be honest; im coming up empty on the elevator scene, but if we're talking about missing furniture - the scene before is crowley walking out of muriel's 'office' with muriel and saraqael, and then bang we're in the elevator with them all as well as michael and uriel. there's a whole, obviously interesting, conversation missing there, and i dont think that's inconsequential... potentially.

okay last bit and then i'll definitely be done!!!✨ "morning stars" - so i obviously can't say all of the above and then based on this be like 'okay yeah there were multiple lucifer-type characters' because, honestly, i think that might be a bit far-fetched. there are a lot of astronomical, mythological, and biblic references to 'morning star', and 'light/dawn-bringer' but none that, at the moment, seem to fit for me. so instead, i return to jim.

as i say in my #25 lazarii theory posts, i think when we look at jim, we're somehow looking at the shell of gabriel, but also a fragment of god. not sure how she got in there, but to me the whole fly/huge miracle/jim makes that ring true for me. so, when referencing the morning stars, i think god (who let's face it, appears to be talking at that point in ep2) is literally talking about the beginning, where on the first day, god created 'day', and specifically 'morning' and 'evening', and in wider context the heavens and the earth (genesis 1:5, KJV) - so morning stars... might just be morning stars?✨

#not proof read - pretend you do not Perceive The Errors #good omens #ask #heaven theory #metatron spec #AWCW spec #pre-fall aziraphale spec #memory wipe theory #s2 meta #s3 narrative spec #scapegoat theory #the fall/the great war spec #god is dead theory #fuck it All The Tags

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thefirstknife · 2 years ago

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Crack headcanoodle monday: the Winnower wishes to preserve the state of the game and the status quo. The Gardener is tired of one shape always winning and changes the rules to fundamentally alter the game and give other shapes a chance. Their estranged offspring, Witness, it tired of the endless, pointless cycle of life-death-life-death and wishes to raze the universe of all life so no one suffers anymore. It very much subscribes to the theory of "why live if you die anyway"/"why fight if you will lose anyway". It is soon to be taught a lesson by its creators it is rebelling against.

That's a really cool idea, omg.

I've been thinking about something similar, specifically that the Witness is maybe some sort of manifestation of the Winnower that it needed to place into the game.

Now, literally just now as I rewatched the starting cutscene I remembered something that I first thought of when I saw this scene:

Ghost Fragment: The Traveler 3:

The knife had a million blades.

This lore tab is a recounting of the Collapse from the Traveler's POV. The knife attacked with a million blades and "cut its godly flesh." It also "stole so much more than your body."

Blades would be the Pyramid ships. Their angles in that second image were always so peculiar to me, we don't usually see them like that. The look like blades, perhaps on a spear or arrow. Or a knife.

And well. In Unveiling the Winnower says:

I looked at the gardener.

I looked at my hands.

I discovered the first knife.

When they fought in the Garden, the Winnower "discovered" the first knife, possibly some sort of manifestation of the Witness that it's using to chase down the Gardener. In that sense, your theory is basically there; the Witness would be some type of progeny of the first conflict.

It's really evocative that the only time we've ever seen the Witness physically affect reality around it was when it did the slicening of the Ghost and Guardian and their ships (sliced, like with a knife). As it was passing through a beam of Light. Outside of that, it always appears through shattered glass or speaking through our Ghost. It doesn't do anything; perhaps it can't unless it's being directly affected by the Gardener. It can interact with that for which it was made; the original conflict between Gardener and Winnower. Otherwise, it needs Disciples to do its bidding.

The Witness is obsessed with bringing about the final shape and it believes it can only be done so with what it did; connected the Veil with the Traveler, opened a portal to an unknown dimension and... Currently unknown and characters are hard at work to figure it out. I am most interested in what it told the Traveler:

"The universe makes us all victim and perpetrator of its infinite cruelty. You, more than any, suffer both fates.

And:

"Be free."

I am currently obsessed with this and thinking it could mean that the way to enact the final shape would be to remove the Gardener from the game and effectively restart the universe. By "freeing" the Gardener from the body it used to enter the game (Traveler), and banishing it back to the original dimension it came from (the original metaphorical garden where the Gardener and Winnower fought), the final shape can happen. Originally, before the Gardener's change of rules, the final shape were always the Vex. Perhaps Sol Divisive know what's up. Or the Witness is simply using them and the ultimate goal is revert to a reality without the Gardener's rule and start anew.

Ghosts currently can't feel the Traveler, but the Light isn't gone. The Gardener may have been banished from its body, but its rule is still in effect in the universe. For now. In that sense, the Gardener is the victim of it all, but also the perpetrator, for enabling that rule in the first place.

This is all purely speculation ofc, but I've always wanted some really cool follow up on the Unveiling and the original conflict and possibly an explanation for a few things that are quite strange and are related to a dimension we haven't seen yet. The place outside of time and space, the original garden.

There's so much possibility here. We could be completely wrong or we could be entirely correct. Or a secret third thing (correct in wrong ways, or wrong in correct ways). I don't expect anyone to really guess what's up, but this is currently what's really interesting to think about until we get any sort of confirmation or denial.

#destiny 2 #destiny 2 spoilers #lightfall #lightfall spoilers #witness #traveler #winnower #gardener #lore vibing #long post #ask #this is super cool to ponder about #vibrating to find out the truth about the witness one day

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quarks-pussy · 1 year ago

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Lower Decks 4x09 spoiler and theorising about finale

Originally I sent an ask to someone to get a second opinion on this soon after I watched 4x09 but it doesn't look like he'll publish it in time so, considering there's less than 9 hours left as of the writing of this paragraph, I'll just post this without someone looking it over. Keep in mind I haven't watched The First Duty and this is about to be very speculative and frankly a lil crack-y

So, a lot of folks, now more than ever, have been theorising about the presence of some sort of relation between Nick Locarno and Tom Paris. But one thing I haven't seen anyone else suggest yet is the idea that one is a transporter clone.

Their backstories diverge shortly after the accident(s) they caused so perhaps they got split in two very soon after it happened and since that meant they technically both committed the crime, Starfleet ended up putting them both on trial, separately.

But of course while Tom accepted responsibility, from what I've seen (again, haven't watched The First Duty) Nick didn't. As a consequence, while Tom was given a second chance on Voyager, Nick wasn't. So that made him extra salty of course.

Especially if - and this part's truly out there, be warned! - Tom is the clone. I have no evidence for this, I just think it's the angstier option so of course I prefer it because it would mean that the thing anyone with a transporter clone is afraid of happened to Nick: The clone was better than him and took over his life. Which would mean potential stuff for him to bond over with Bradward (specifically using his first name this post because... well, you'll see)

Obviously this doesn't immediately check out since Tom and Nick have different last names and also we only have a named parent for Tom and he has Tom's last name so logically, if anything, Nick would be the clone, but I think this can be handwaved and/or retconned and I kinda hope they do because this would fuck me up for real and be one of like 0.5 ways to make me sympathise with Nick at this point.

Also, and this one's not even weird theory anymore, this is pure fanfic, I hope Nick and William Boimler team up and also run off to get gay married at the end. Brad takes this as an opportunity to realise he's not straight.

Yea anyway just some word vomit lol what do y'all think

#nick locarno #tom paris #star trek lower decks #lower decks spoilers #william boimler #the inner fight #lower decks season 4 #ld spoilers #lwd spoilers #st spoilers #star trek spoilers #lower decks theory #star trek theory #ld #lwd #original posts fresh from quark's pussy

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dailyunsolvedmysteries · 2 years ago

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The Mysterious Murder of the Beautiful Cigar Girl

The mysterious murder of Mary Rogers, known in the penny press as the “Beautiful Cigar Girl,” in the summer of 1841 remains one of New York City’s most infamous unsolved cases. Even Edgar Allan Poe took a crack at solving it, yet while her ghost is said to have visited the numerous suspects that the press circled after the beautiful young lady’s death, the truth of the grisly crime is still as murky as the Hudson River waters where her corpse was found.

In 1838, John Anderson, who owned a tobacco shop on Broadway in Lower Manhattan, hired Mary Rogers to stand at his counter purely to allure gentleman customers. It worked, and the dark haired beauty who was described as ”ethereal and hypnotically pleasing” made Anderson’s Tobacco Emporium one of the most popular in town. It had a regular clientele of notable figures like Washington Irving and, it’s stated, Poe himself, as well as a cavalcade of journalists, which would help to get her gruesome end its high profile in the press.

One day in October of 1838, Rogers went missing. Two weeks later, she suddenly reappeared, and many thought that Anderson had staged the disappearance for publicity. Rogers’ adoring fans swarmed the shop, and she soon felt overwhelmed and left to work in her mother’s boarding shop. Yet in July of 1841, she went missing again, and this time two men on the shore of New Jersey spotted her floating near Sybil’s Cave.

Built in 1832 to connect to a natural spring, Sybil’s Cave once offered cool water to visitors to the Hoboken shore. The visitors have long vanished, but in 2007 a new gate was built in front of the manmade cave. It’s here that many believe Rogers was murdered, although how is still a matter of speculation. The bruises on her body and ligature on her throat suggested gang violence or a vengeful lover (one of her many suitors, perhaps). From when her swollen remains were pulled from the water, each new clue or suspect was breathlessly reported in the tabloids, and the public loved it, buying the papers in an unprecedented frenzy.

The attention, not surprisingly, took its toll on the people involved, particularly her fiancé Daniel Payne, who had a solid alibi, but was hounded by the press nonetheless. He was discovered near Sybil’s Cave dead from an apparent suicide by poison, with a note reading: “To the World - here I am on the very spot. May God forgive me for my misspent life.”

The rampant press also inspired Edgar Allan Poe, who had his own theories about the case. In his story “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt,” he not so subtly changed the details to Paris with a murder victim named Marie Rogêt. While his detective C. Auguste Dupin speculated on many suspects, he never settled on one, although Poe studiously kept updating the story with new evidence. It’s considered to be the first work of fiction that used a real murder as its source material.

One suspect, Anderson himself, was speculated to have had his amorous advances rejected by Rogers. Although he’s buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, he died in 1881 in Paris, claiming to his last days that he was being tormented by her ghost. Payne also claimed to have seen the slender Rogers as a specter.

A later theory came from the deathbed of a tavern owner near Sybil’s Cave, who, after accidentally being shot by her son, gasped out that Rogers had actually died from a botched abortion. Some have theorized that this was done by the infamous Madame Restell, an early abortionist who practiced while it was still a felony. Restell would cut her own throat in her bathtub in 1878, and she’s now interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

It’s likely the mystery of who killed Mary Rogers that summer night will never be solved, although you can retrace her last steps yourself at the ruins of Sybil’s Cave, and wander to the final resting place of her employer in Green-Wood Cemetery, where he is perhaps resting in fitful peace with the ghost of the girl who once bewitched the city to his shop.

#mary rogers #unsolved mysteries #cold cases #true crime #crime

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bibliosauruswrecks · 2 years ago

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Now that Goncharov is finally getting the attention it deserves, I think it’s time I drag out the conspiracy board and present this theory I’ve had kicking around in my brain for a while:

I don’t think Goncharov was directed by Martin Scorsese.

Hear me out.

The film is officially billed as “Martin Scorsese Presents ‘Goncharov’ A Film by Matteo JWHJ 0715.” That format usually indicates the producer and director, respectively. If Scorsese directed the film, why is he credited in a way that implies he was a producer?

Conclusion? Matteo JWHJ 0715 is a pseudonym for the real director who allowed Scorsese, a producer, to take the credit.

Goncharov was clearly written by Matteo, because their name is the only writing credit, but I think they directed the film as well. Scorsese was probably a producer along with Domenico Procacci, hence why Procacci has producer credit. The original billing was probably something like “Martin Scorsese Presents ‘Goncharov’ A Film by Matteo JWHJ 0715; Produced by Martin Scorsese and Domenico Procacci; Written and Directed by Matteo JWHJ 0715” but something happened in post-production to cause a shakeup.

Maybe there was some bad blood between Matteo and the producers. Maybe it was a union thing. Maybe Matteo didn’t want their name attached to the film as a director for some reason. Maybe the studio didn’t want Matteo’s name attached as a director.

Which begs the question: Who was Matteo? I’ve got some theories.

James Cameron - he would’ve been just 18 at the time, so maybe the studio didn’t have faith in the film’s success and wanted a bigger name attached. Scorsese was new, to be sure, but he was already established as a filmmaker and a much safer bet.

Stephen Spielberg - he wasn’t a name yet, but his official directorial debut was just one year later, so timeline-wise it makes sense. Also, that shot of Goncharov and Katya on the bridge? Classic Spielberg.

Martin Brest - his official directorial debut was just one year earlier, he’s worked with Pacino in the past, and Goncharov tonally matches up with his filmmaking style.

Barbara Loden - her first film won the International Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1970, so I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say she was capable of a film like Goncharov.

Henri Colpi - This one’s really a deep dive, but it’s based on my suspicions that JWHJ 0715 is a code for the director’s true name. Suppose the letters are substitutions for numbers, and the numbers are a date. The most obvious is July 15, and a scroll through that day’s Wikipedia page brought me to Henri Colpi and his birthdate of July 15th, 1921. JWHJ 0715 could stand for 1921/07/15.

Like I said, there’s no concrete evidence to support this; this is purely my own crack theory, but thank you guys for coming along with me on this journey.

Feel free to speculate with your own candidates!

#goncharov #goncharov 1973 #martin scorsese #conspiracy theory of the day #tw unreality #for legal reasons this is a joke

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dailyunsolvedmysteries-movedd · 1 year ago

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The Mysterious Murder of the Beautiful Cigar Girl

#mary rogers #unsolved mysteries #cold cases #true crime #crime

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artemismoorea03 · 2 years ago

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POTENTIAL LEGO MONKIE KID SEASON 4 SPOILERS!!! PLEASE SKIP IF YOU WANT TO AVOID!

Okay, so I seriously want to talk about Season 4. Now, I will admit that I watched it untranslated, but I’m petty good at figuring out context of things. So, going off of what I was able to figure out I’m going to talk about it. That being said, none of these are set in stone - obviously - and it’s purely speculation!

SPOILERS BELOW

Okay, so first of all I want to start off by talking about the “Brotherhood” Wukong is with in the Flashbacks. Which includes a Bird (Supposedly the Roc), The Azure Lion, Demon Bull King, Macaque, Wukong and an Elephant.

All of these I can work with, because DBK and Wukong were obviously part of the seven sages and it’s been theorized that Macaque was one of the sages (though this was never confirmed in the books). There is also a Lion and a Bird, who again fit.

But the elephant?! This makes me suspect they changed the Saurian - who is meant to be a dragon creature - into an Elephant.

Which means that they mixed two different groups of demons from Journey to the West into one. Which I don’t mind, again, it helps me come up with theories.

WHICH IS WHERE THIS PART COMES IN.

THERE ARE 7 SAGES TOGETHER BUT ONLY SIX AT THE TABLE.

“WHAT IS THE 7TH SAGE SAID TO BE?” YOU MAY ASK?!

A MONKEY.

Specifically the Snub-Nosed Monkey. A Sage so powerful that it is said that they could Expel Gods!

Now, who is a monkey with ties to Wukong and Macaque?

MK.

Who we just found out in Season 4 was also born from a stone!

Now, I have a second theory that MK might also be one of the other Celestial Primates - Tongbei Yuanhou or Chikao Mahou - but I’m leaning more towards the Snub-Nose Monkey on this one. BUT why would Wukong even make another monkey or play any part in it? (Since we’re not positive it was his idea this idea is much more flowy). Well that would be because this happened RIGHT AFTER THE JOURNEY WEST.

THE SAME JOURNEY HE TOOK 500 YEARS AFTER BEING TRAPPED UNDER A ROCK WHILE THE OTHER SAGES THOUGHT HE WAS PARYING WITH THE CELESTIAL REALM INSTEAD OF HONORING THEIR BROTHERHOOD LIKE THEY HAD HOPED HE WOULD. AND THE ONLY ONE WHO TRUELY HAD HIS BACK THE WHOLE TIME IS THE SAME ONE THAT HE MURDERED DURING THE JOURNEY!

My guess is if Wukong did have any part is in MK’s creation it was because he murdered his best friend and after returning he realized just how alone he was. His best friend - Liu’er Mihou - was dead because he killed him. The others he considered his friends had betrayed or tried to kill him at different times during the Journey (confirmed with DBK at least but also plays part with the whole “mixing two stories” thing) and when he got home and was finally free he also realized being ‘free’ and being ‘truly immortal’ meant that he had to spend forever alone. So, he went to Guanyin and asked for a second chance. A chance to have a friend again. A little brother to spend the rest of his time protecting, teaching and leading.

But something happened.

Again - just a guess here.

Wukong feels something change or hear a rumor. Macaque is alive. He’s alive and he’s coming for him - some day, some how - Wukong doesn’t know if this is because he’s out for revenge or if he has other plans. But the problem gets worse when the rock cracks and he suddenly has a child on his hands. A child he has to get out of that area immediately. He doesn’t even have time to clean the kid off and flies it to the city.

I have no idea why he chose Pigsy - maybe it was because he knew that he was Zhu Bajie’s ancestor/reincarnation or if there was another reason, but whatever it was he chose him. He left MK outside of the door and of course, MK was too young - too new - to know anything. To remember anything. His first memories would be fuzzy or of the restraunt.

Of Pigsy.

Not of Wukong.

But of course he still has power. Incredible power that is going to come out one way or another. So Wukong watches him - from a distance for years. He watches the power inside MK grow more and more until he’s finally ready. He gives it that extra little boost by giving MK the staff and snapping the powers the rest of the way free.

AGAIN

these are all theories I’ve had since watching Season 4 and might change after they’re translated the rest of the way. But for now, this is what I’ve got. :3

I also have a theory about what’s going on with Wukong’s current “situation” but I think that’s enough for now :P

#Monkie Kid Season 4 #HEAVY SPOILERS #SPOILER WARNING #MONKIE KID SEASON 4 SPOILERS #DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS #HOW MANY OTHER WAYS CAN I SAY SPOILERS?!

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nostalgia-tblr · 2 years ago

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*smacks a wasp nest* Thor and loki are the most important ppl in each others lives, and thats the EXACT problem with them. And the fact marvel doesnt want to admit they're done with the characters is why their separate journeys now are so messy and inconsistent

FUCK NO NOT WASPS AGAIN!!!

Were Marvel trying to replace the incest intense sibling bond by giving them both other love interests, do we think? But then Jane SPOILER'D in that last Thor film, didn't she? So maybe not. (I haven't seen that one yet because it sounds like a tonal mess but I'll probably get round to it eventually. Some day. I expect. Hey, did you know that IRL thunder is named after IRL(...ish) Thor so that film's called "Thor: Love & Thor"? Did everyone already know that? I am quite cheap for puns though, so it cracks me up a bit.)

I saw someone somewhere speculate that Thor is gonna get killed off not too long from now and the bros will be reunited in a tearful Valhalla scene at the end of whichever film it happens in, and it does sound plausible but I generally try not to speculate about ongoing canons because that way lies inevitable disappointment. But maybe?

Their entire family is dead now and they didn't really have friends as such so they are all alone and said and possibly shagging other versions of themselves to keep the loneliness at bay 😭 Tragic. Doesn't Thor have friends, though? At least in theory? He can go to Earth and hang out with Spidersman and Arrows Hawkeye and whoever else isn't currently dead, but yeah those relationships aren't much to write home about, they lack the inTENsity of the Thor-Loki dynamic. But then would the MCU have managed to cope with the bros being on good terms again and fighting side-by-side?

This got long. What I meant to say was that yeah, these two characters are largely defined (at least in the MCU Proper) by that one relationship and without it they need to reboot a bit to keep going. Which I think the Loki show managed, but the downside of Thor-and-Loki was that Thor could get pushed into a Pure And Perfect Hero role to contrast him with that sneaky little shit (❤) who kept following him around, and it took 6 episodes to turn Loki back into someone who might actually be trusted not to stab you in the back in the big fight scene, but Thor kind of lacks a dark side because to some extent Loki was his dark side, and yeah not every hero needs to be a tiny bit bad inside but...

I dunno. I suppose they could stick Thor in an endless cycle of "Can he pick up the hammer? Will he be able to pick up the hammer by the end of this film? Oh look, it's that fucking hammer again. Are you still into the hammer, oh Cinema Audience?"

#replies #thorki #brodinsons #mcu tag

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scarletslippers · 2 years ago

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I posted 2,590 times in 2022

That's 568 more posts than 2021!

210 posts created (8%)

2,380 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@flythesail

@winterlovesong1

@scarletslippers

@nacefanfic-quotes

@aceandnancy

I tagged 2,563 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#nancy drew cw - 1,504 posts

#nace - 1,241 posts

#nancy and ace - 1,103 posts

#nace fanfiction - 586 posts

#fic rec - 332 posts

#my fic - 262 posts

#writing things - 140 posts

#nancy drew spoilers - 128 posts

#nancy drew - 83 posts

#six of crows - 79 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#‘wow she’s so amazing and strong and i love her and she’s taking on so much and she’s going to crack soon let me help you carry’ it face

My Top Posts in 2022:

The Worthwhile Fight

Pure speculation for 3x13 based on the theory that Ace might have the last piece of Charity’s soul and spiraling on this promo still with @flythesail

The Copperhead pursues its final victim. Nancy only hopes she’s not too late.

Read on AO3

“Ace! Ace, stop!” Nancy jumps from Nick’s truck while it’s still in motion, racing to catch up with Ace as he proceeds steadily toward the Copperhead. Nancy can feel her heart thundering in her chest and rising in her throat and roaring in her ears.

She skids in front of him, into his line of vision, but his eyes are horrible. Blank. Empty. This isn’t her Ace.

Not that she’s even sure he’s hers to call her own yet.

“Ace!” She takes a forced step backwards as he proceeds, reaching out instinctually into the space between them, but still afraid to close the gap. “Ace, please.”

Her voice cracks on her plea and there’s a spark of something, a glimmer, a glimpse of him in his eyes again. The flame of hope blooms hot and bright in her chest.

He’s in there. He’s fighting.

Read the rest

90 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

You know what the real tragedy is?

Coroner’s Assistant Ace having to put on his own lanyard.

106 notes - Posted January 31, 2022

Okay so. I’ve been tag ranting since ✨feelings reveal✨ about how Ace holds space for Nancy.

(I mean, I wrote a fic that’s literally 20k of Ace holding space….)

And this big ending, miscommunication, fight, protect your love, scene is even more of an extension of this, and really shows his growth and his confidence.

Ace waits. He looks at this woman that he loves and he watches her try so very hard to continually hold herself together for other people. Because other people ask things of her constantly. So Ace doesn’t. Ace waits. He gives her space.

“When you’re ready to not avoid….”

And he does it again here. Sure, it’s partially fueled by his own struggles with self-worth, but he lets her do it.

Until a point. Because he sees her struggling, and it’s breaking his heart because he knows if she just trusted him with her burden, they could be happy - “I can help you carry it.” (He doesn’t really know the half of it, but still.)

He waits for a month, until he can’t let her fear hold them back anymore, not when “there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

But the way he goes about this: “Can I tell you what I hoped the reason was?” He’s still holding space. And she shakes her head because she knows what he’s going to say, she knows that he knows her. But she’s petrified, because how can she hide that she loves him when he’s talking about it like it’s a given. Like it’s fact.

And normally her he’d stop, right? He’d accept her refusal and give her that space. Especially when he was feeling low about himself. But his personal growth? His desire to a better for person for himself, for her, for them? It gives him the confidence to act on things he’s known about her and them for a long time.

He’s fighting for them. She can’t, so he will.

And her reaction only makes him want to fight more. Because he’s the person that does hold space for her emotions, he sees them, he recognizes them, even when she’s trying to hide. He obviously thinks part of the reason she’s running is because she’s afraid, (and on some level he’s right) but he can tell there’s a layer of pain below the surface and it scares the hell out of him.

He counters every attempt she makes to put him off, because he knows that this is what she does. She deflects. And he keeps giving her opportunities to tell the truth. “I don’t believe you. There’s something else going on here.”

“Are you in trouble?” Again, he gives her the opportunity to say ‘no’, even when he knows that something is up. She leaves that apartment fast, but those tears start before the door is closed.

I mean, look. It’s no secret that I am all about the Established Nace Agenda™️, and I will be rewatching The Scene for several million years, but S4 will be yearning, pining, feral Nace fighting for each other and I am here for it.

Thoughts on how Nancy will fight for them coming up in Part 2 .

106 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

Do you ever just rewatch Whisper Box and think about how while everyone else is arguing about crash carts, and epinephrine, and supernatural vs. science, Ace is just holding Nancy’s head and neck to protect her and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself and staring at her the entire time?

Because I do.

108 notes - Posted July 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Now the other man that holds space for Nancy is Carson.

Carson knows her better than anyone, and it really shows in their last conversation. It’s a nice contrast to her conversation with Ace, because as soon as he gives her the opening, “If there’s anything else...you need to talk about”, she starts crying. Here’s the space for her to be vulnerable right now.

She’s been walking around with the knowledge that she can’t have the man she loves, fighting to keep him alive and she’s about to crack. So when her father, whom she trusts so much, gives her an opening, she’s going to take it. Because she can’t talk about it with the one person she really wants to.

There’s also a whole parallel here to Nancy choosing Ace in 2x12, compared to choosing him here and then realizing she can’t selfishly prioritize him and them over the whole town and going back on her choice. Given his reaction in 2x12, if he knew the choice she’s making, I think he would be proud. (Cut to Nancy asking more than once, how many people died in the tidal wave.)

Its so much. She’s been carrying this alone, for a month, trying to preserve this gorgeous future she got to see for everyone else, even if her own piece of it is gone. “In order to save the town I gave up control of my fate. And I lied to the man that I love to save his life. And now I have to spend the rest of mine paying this terrible price.”

Now Nancy’s still grieving. Grieving Ace, grieving her future, grieving the honesty and openness her and Ace share. Because even if she had chosen Ace, if they had survived the veil opening, she would have been wracked with guilt. And at some point Ace would have asked and she would have told him. So she made the right choice, and now it’s going to haunt her forever.

She’s not in a place to problem solve yet. And Carson meets her where she is, trying to provide comfort, but he’s also not entirely sure what’s going on. “I’d say there’s so much in life we can’t control, but there’s so much we can. And sometimes things aren’t as bad as they seem.”

Which is kind of a platitude, right? But he doesn’t have much to go on. And while Nancy’s remark is clear to the audience, it’s not super clear to Carson. He doesn’t know that this is an ongoing lie. That this is a forever lie.

Until Nancy compares it to Kate. Carson still doesn’t have the facts, but he understands the gravity. And the first thing he does is explain to Nancy that even knowing the ending - which in hindsight he does, and which, in the present, Nancy does with Ace - it was still worth it to fight. “I don’t regret trying. And I don’t regret loving her, even if it meant having to lose her.” It was still worth it to love her.

Now he probably could have been a little more explicit, but this is Nancy. And she’s being pretty darn vulnerable right now. So if he comes out swinging with a well-meant you and Ace are meant to be together, or just go talk to him, it’s probably not going to go well.

Not to mention that Carson, as a lawyer, knows he’s not in possession of the facts here, so making an argument right now isn’t in his best interests, or Nancy’s. He doesn’t really know what he should be persuading Nancy of. All he knows is how to meet her in her grief. Which he didn’t used to be able to do. But now he does.

Nancy is the one to bring it up. She’s grappling with the idea of soulmates, because that’s very much what this is, her and Ace. The writers are calling them star-crossed, and they are. But it begs the question, if you lose your soulmate, what then? Shouldn’t that be it?

But maybe it’s not? Because she has this real, personal, example of soulmates in Carson and Kate to look to, to follow. Now, maybe Carson uses the term soulmate in more of its colloquial sense, as a connection, rather than Ace/Nancy’s we’re literally fated (and now we’re doomed). But it’s simple and personal and lovely, and it’s the road map Nancy has for love.

So after Carson talks about how worth it it loving Kate was, how she was his soulmate, he has to bring up the elephant in the room. Jean. Because he’s not living life alone. He’s trying to find happiness again. Nancy doesn’t explicitly ask, but it’s implied.

So he sticks to to the question she’s really asking - what does this mean for me? What does a future look like if it’s empty of love? How do you face a future, knowing you’re going to live it alone?

And this is his answer: “I choose to believe it is possible to live a good life, even without a soulmate.” Which is really beautiful advice to give your daughter, when she’s telling you she might have to lose how you lost. To tell her that life can still be full and beautiful after loss and grief.

It’s devastating to hear as a viewer, because obviously I do not want to imagine Nancy being happy after Ace dies. But for Nancy as a character in this moment with her father? This is what she needs to hear.

And again it’s Nancy that brings it up. “Maybe we get more than one?”

Is she already looking ahead for a replacement? No, obviously not. But for the girl who has been “alone her whole life”, who has been left time and time again by people dying, often because of her, she’s terrified. She’s terrified to live a life alone without Ace, dooming him to death because she loves him, and being forced to live with that crippling grief and guilt the rest of her life.

She’s not looking for a Plan B. She’s looking for a spark of hope.

And Carson gives to her. Nancy asks “Maybe we get more than one?” and Carson says “Yeah, maybe we get more than one.” It’s a quiet reassurance passed between them. It feels very much like Nancy reassuring Bess in 3x07 that “goodbye doesn’t mean you’re going to be alone.”

And when he says it, Nancy crumbles. She’s devastated at the prospect of it. At the idea that she will lose Ace, will be forced to face the world without him, and will have to look for happiness all over again. She’s afraid. And she’s looking for something. Some kind of reassurance that her life could still be good. That it could still be happy.

But Carson ends on the call to action. He’s assuaged her fears a bit, and now he’s reminding her of who she is — Yes, Nancy, if things fall apart, your life could still be happy. But you still need to fight. You are still in control and it’s not like you to roll over and just let things happen.

It’s a call to arms, to action, that reminder that “you control your own fate. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

And she’s going to do just that. The whole ending scene in the cemetery was my girl. Blue roadster, black beanie, flashlight. She’s been knocked down, but not out. She’s going to remind herself of who she is.

And it’s going to give her strength to fight for the man she loves. To fight for his life, and to fight for their future.

See Part 1 for how Ace will fight.

Thanks @flythesail for her contributions to the soulmate thoughts.

112 notes - Posted January 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#wow I do love this #fun to see my meta and text posts getting the love #and I do love that fic #a long tag about Ace’s Nancy face?#story checks out #also check out soc sneaking into the top ten!#the power of helnik and my crows #year in review 2022

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