#followup theory

[hlvrai2predictions]

GNOME LORE MEGAPOST

Hello all! This isn't quite a prediction, but I've recently rewatched the final act of the Gnome Series, and I thought that it may be a good idea to go over some relevant information!

Firstly, there's debate on whether or not HLVRAI and HLAGE are in the same continuity at all, or just separate stories in a long anthology of Wayneradiotv being besieged by various supernatural entities that dwell within the strange copies of games he plays. I believe that they are interconnected, and while I haven't seen hard proof of it, there is an implication. Now, both the Red Gnome and Gabe Newman (who I will be calling Newman for the sake of clarity) make occasional references to HLVRAI, with Newman even saying "Dr. Bubby was my favourite character." I don't believe this disqualifies their connection, though. HLVRAI begins with Wayne explaining the nature of this version of Half Life to his stream chat, saying that he's going to "get into character" so that the game "works" (here at about 2:45.) This is removed from the final cut, but Dr. Coomer confirms that it IS 2020, the Coomer fight confirms that Gordon is a real human being playing Half Life, and Gordon makes semi frequent jokes about 'JustinTV', which was created nearly a decade after Half Life's setting and would only really make sense to joke about if he was a streamer. Furthermore, in HLAGE, the events are EXPLICITLY live streamed, with Wayne saying "No, nah, I'm done, that's the stream guys, that's the end," (here at 55:03) when removing his headset during the ending, which was scripted and edited behind the scenes (meaning it was considered and approved as part of the narrative and not a passing remark) but presented as part of the livestream in story.

In terms of actual implication that the two are directly connected, the Red Gnome almost always refers to the protagonist as Gordon, despite Baalup calling him Wayne and the player character of the game being Alyx. This would only really make sense if Wayne was portraying the same version of himself and either conveying that by keeping the name consistent or implying the underlying strangeness of the game is connected to the strangeness of his copy of Half Life. Next, a line from Baalup (here around 40:55) could possibly connect the two:

Baalup: Y'know...my friend Wayne...won't-can't just play a game normal...he has to play a game with these stupid mods...

This could indicate other games Wayne has played in the past of this continuity have involved something similarly 'stupid' and possibly involved the characters interacting with him. This could directly tie it to HLVRAI, or could just be in reference to the general RTVS content that puts Wayne through strange experiences.

There is another reference that could strongly imply the two are connected, but that is part of something much larger I will get to later on.

Now, the Gnome Series is heavily analyzable, but to keep things brief, I will mostly be focusing on the ending, starting with the last commentary node. Up until this point, the nodes have been popping up, mostly saying nonsense that is almost certainty lying but occasionally expressing confusion about the gnome, but the final node is the most plausibly prerecorded, the longest, and the most lucid. (here at 47:00)

Gabe Newman: Congratulations! You are the first player to complete the Half Life: Alyx "Gnome Challenge." We were hoping people would be a little more enthusiastic about it. But it seems no one else has been brave enough to rise to the challenge. On behalf of all of us at Valve Software, we hope you're ready to accept the consequences of your actions.

Gabe Newman: This commentary node was triggered via completion of the "Gnome Challenge." You are the first player to access this node. You are the only player that will...hear these lines of commentary. And I advise you to heed their words well...Dear Player. Half-Life...Half-Life is not what it seems. These games, uh, should NEVER be played, by mankind. But...we here at Valve...we knew how well they would sell. We knew the success that would come. And we knew what chaos could be wrought, what...dark dreams could waken and...and we distributed Half-Life anyway. This, is my greatest regret.

Gabe Newman: We had some challenges trying to wrap up development on this bad boy. There was, uh...it's a seal, really old thing, etched out on obsidian. I won't get into the details on how we broke it, but...uh, it was worth the wait. And, the consequences. We'd used the seal before. Many times, actually. It allowed Half-Life to achieve the legacy it has today? The games, each of them...were, amazing. As I'm sure you experienced, having done this challenge. Uh...

Gabe Newman: It wasn't until we started development of Episode 2 that the dread started to overtake me. I had these...nightmares. Every single night. I-I couldn't even tell you what they were, in truth. What I saw in those dreams, what...transpired...was beyond my understanding, but...what was within the grasp of my cognition was the fear. One day the nightmares, just...uh, stopped. And when they did, I-I went into work that mornin'. And that was the day...he...appeared.

Gabe Newman: All of these commentary lines are encrypted. And will delete themselves from Steam's update depository, once a player has listened to them, removing them from all copies of Half-Life: Alyx. These messages...are a confession, of sorts. And this knowledge, dear player, is now yours to do with as you wish, it's in your hands. After completion of the Gnome Challenge the gnome should no longer appear in the game.

Gabe Newman: If you are seeing or hearing the gnome during the vault sequence, DO NOT go to the end of the game, do NOT proceed any farther. We here, at Valve, are not responsible for what happens if you ignore this message. Please. You HAVE to listen to me. Do NOT leave this room. DO NOT complete the game. Take off the headset, put it on the dirty floor and turn the game off. Uninstall it! Rid yourself of all of this.

Gordon: But...gnome...Ugh, what is he-is he pranking me? Is there more dialogue?

Gabe Newman: Please enjoy our new RPG. It's called: POOP. and the Power of PEE. We made it bad on purpose.

The most immediately jarring aspect of this speech are the wild tonal shifts, most obvious in comparing the body of the speech to the ending note and every other node, but even within the body itself. He begins with regret for whatever consequences came from releasing Half-Life, but is also deeply prideful of what he created, lamenting that fewer people seemed interested in the Gnome Challenge than he expected, calling the games amazing, and even saying that they were worth the consequences. He grows frightened as the speech continues, and stresses that if the gnome appears in the vault the game should not be played, before quickly implying that the game should not be played at all and that the player should take their headset off and delete it.

It's a small detail, but it's also notable that despite this being the most believably prerecorded node, he still notes that players weren't enthusiastic about the Gnome Challenge as he'd hoped, which either means he recorded the nodes significantly after the game's launch or is still somewhat aware of the situation around him. I personally believe that Newman is either dead and some part of him is stuck inside the game, or that the Gnome is manipulating his recordings in the same way that he silenced all other voices in the game, but that remains headcanon.

Onto the contents of the speech. Apparently, a "really old" seal etched into obsidian was involved with the development of Half-Life: Alyx, and likely the creation but at least the "legacy" of the other Half-Life games. The seal was "used" in some way, and was "broken" at some point either during the development of Alyx or Half-Life. This seemingly supernatural, ancient influence is presumably why he says "Half-Life should never be played by mankind" (with a notable, if small, pause before he says "by mankind.") After the development of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 he began feeling severe dread and was plagued by nightly terrifying dreams which he couldn't understand or explain. This is presumably the HLVRAI-universe explanation for why Half-Life 3 doesn't exist, the project was abandoned due to the heavy toll it took on Newman.

Then he says the nightmares stopped one day, and that "he appeared." This is likely referencing the gnome, as it is solidly after the development of Episode 2 which would exclude every other already conceived of character. It's not clear whether the gnome appeared physically or just on the software, but considering in another node Newman says that the Blue Gnome's voice just appeared fully formed in the code, and the fact that the Red Gnome later DOES become real, either are a possibility. Either way, this led to the development of Half-Life: Alyx, or possibly just the inclusion of the "Gnome Challenge."

The Finale could be analyzed heavily from the perspective of Gordon and the Gnomes' relationship, but currently I am looking more at what could be set up for the new installation, so we will move forward a bit. Gordon disregards the warning, partly due to its nonsensical ending, and finishes the game. The opening of the vault reveals the Gnome.

The Red Gnome: UH OH! Gordon! You never should have come here! Looks like you gonna get the bad ending! HA HE! You never figured it out, did you? This was never. Your. CHALLENGE. AND I...HAVE WON...THE CHALLENGE!

I will get to the possible importance of this line later. The Gnome rises from the G-man's body, before flying at Gordon, transporting him to a twisting hallway that seems to use Half-Life 2 textures.

The shadow of Alyx Vance's model is also visible on the ground, which is notable because there is a scene in a previous act which specifically calls attention to the fact that the Gnome has a shadow while Gordon does not, and for the fact that it is several feet ahead of Gordon. This is when Gordon decides to "end stream" and take off his headset. He begins to hear loud, antique music that isn't coming from his headset, and tries to leave his room. Opening his door returns him to the same hallway. While there is an implication that Gordon felt real pain and possibly really blacked out as a result of the soldier's ambush in HLVRAI, that the G-Man somehow compelled him to stay for the theater segments between the Commentaries, and that Balp's heat was somehow knocked out by the Gnome, this is the first time a real human being has been directly brought into an 'unreal' space, and sets up the aspect of the Gnome entering real space.

During Gordon's walk through the hallway, the Gnome (in a heavily distorted voice) sings this:

goodnight my beautiful just being with you is so beautiful and tearing away from your arms is not easy to do goodnight my wonderful

goodnight my wonderful there’s nobody who is so wonderful each moment with you is like living a dream come true so hold me close to you

parting is such sweet sorrow your love is all i have to waken for tomorrow

goodnight my beautiful the night will be lonely but beautiful when i’m alone with wonderful dreams of you

This can be inferred as the Gnome essentially saying goodbye to Gordon, as it is him basically getting ready to "wake up" with just a memory of him after they switch places. The Gnome does, to some capacity, love Gordon, but has also accepted his death/parting.

Gordon reaches the end of the hallway, where a door stands. He lights a flashlight which illuminates something immediately in front of him that isn't visible but casts Alyx's shadow. The figure was looking at him, turning around before opening the door. The hall is revealed to immediately terminate behind Gordon, and he is forced to enter the door.

The theater seems to be the same model as the one used in the Commentaries, with four small lights at the bottom of the entrance's interior wall and a dark red accent across all of the exterior walls, though I am not sure of the significance. The Gnome still speaks with his usual informality, but Gordon is less energetic, less argumentative, and audibly scared and placating, probably because any level of safety or understanding he retained while playing the game has now been lost by the fact that this is happening, to some extent, in his real life. He remarks after drinking from a cup that "that's not Mr. Pibb..." in a disgusted tone, which implies he genuinely tasted it and his surroundings are tangible.

The two watch the 'movie, titled The Peppa Pig Movie, uploaded to the WayneradioTV Youtube channel, and attributed to Gordon. The movie is several minutes of stills of Peppa Pig, a Spanish Peppa Pig creepypasta read over footage of a plush holding a knife, and a poorly made gorey Peppa Pig cartoon. The screens abruptly glitches before blacking out. It then plays the actual intro to Peppa Pig, or at least the first few second as Peppa leaps off the logo and stands in a grass field, smiling and blinking before giving a monologue.

Peppa Pig: Hello Gordon! I'm Peppa Pig! Would you like to hear about my day, Gordon? I made three friends today. I became friends with the man clothed all in blue. I became friends with the little man with white beard and red hat. And I became friends! With someone else. You will meet her very soon. Don't Worry. Do you hear the sounds of the hollows, Gordon? I hear them. The girl and I, we know them very well. Don't tell me you can't hear it, Gordon, the song they sing at the edges of the mind. It's quite beautiful. Maybe it's better that you can't hear that, lest you end up like her. Tis a shame what befell that girl, really. But I can tell you this, Gordon. The white woods call for you in dulcet tones, your name, I hear. There is so much more I'd like to talk about with you, Gordon. But alas! Every movie must come to an end and it is time for us four to part ways. But Gordon! You must not forget. Never...forget. The woods. The seeds. The girl. THE KEY! How will you fare, Gordon? When the sea of mud comes for us all? Well, I know what I will do. Splish. Splash. Splosh.

If it had to be said, this is not Peppa Pig. But that does not mean we can't glean a huge amount of information about this character from this. Firstly, it should be noted that the Blue Gnome used the phrase 'dulcet tones' earlier in the same stream, though the significance of that is unclear. The Blue Gnome and Gabe Newman also make completely unprompted references to pigs in this stream, each at least once. The Red Gnome had previously expressed a large amount of excitement and affection surrounding Peppa Pig, and it is unclear if he was actually talking about this or this thing just used that appearance for the sake of the Red Gnome.

The pig seems to speak in a very antiquated way, using "tis", "alas", and "quite", as well as having very strange grammar in some of its sentences, implying it could be very old. Its line about the "sea of mud" implies that it will be happy and dancing during the destruction of all things, though it does say when it "comes for us all" which could imply it is mortal? The lines "There is so much more I'd like to talk about with you, Gordon. But alas!" and "But I can tell you this" indicate that the pig is somewhat limited in what it can and cannot do, and it is not fully in control of the situation. This is perhaps furthered by the fact that it doesn't use 'we' or 'us' when referring to "the white woods" or "they" who sing at the edges of the mind. It also seems to be confident that at the very least, Gordon will not be killed by this experience, assuring him that he will meet the third friend "very soon" and asking about the sea of mud.

Onto nouns. The pig references "three friends" that it made "today." The second is the most easily identifiable. A little man with a white beard and a red hat is a clear description of the Red Gnome. The first is more vague, described as a man wearing all blue. The most obvious answer is the Blue Gnome, but the fact that only the second is described as little, having a beard, and having a hat leads me to dispute this. I would posit that the closest matching character to this description is Benrey.

Gordon wears an orange HEV suit. the science team wears a white labcoat and white pants. Benrey wears blue jeans and a blue button-up shirt. Benrey also appears chronologically before the Gnome, and while it wasn't a day, we also have no reason to believe that the Gnome met the pig the day of the stream, either, and its implied age could mean it wouldn't use exact units of time.

The third friend is the most interesting. We know she uses she/her and is referred to as "the girl." She is alone out of the friends as being able to hear "sounds of the hollows" which is the same as "the song they sing at the edges of the mind" and possibly the same as the "dulcet tones" with which "the white woods" call for Gordon. Something "befell" the girl that was a shame, something that is relating to the song because Gordon might "end up like her" if he could hear it. It's unclear WHAT happened to her, but it may be some variety of madness due to the focus on the mind. The pig remarks that Gordon will meet the third friend "very soon" further implying that he has met the other two before and that this character cannot be someone that Gordon has interacted with in the past.

I personally believe that the third character will be Alyx. Explicit attention is drawn to her as a character with her independent shadow moving into the theater. I am sure that this is in some way relevant to the scene in which it was commented on that the Gnome had a shadow while Gordon (while playing as Alyx) did not. The pig also says "Every movie must come to an end and it is time for us four to part ways." This group of four must include the pig, as it uses "us", and must also include Gordon, who is being spoken to directly. That leaves only two other characters, which does not fit with the three friends. I suggest that the third of the four is the Red Gnome, who sits adjacent to Gordon, and Alyx, who entered the theater. This leads me to believe that it is very possible that Alyx will take some kind of antagonist or at least a deep role in the HLVRAI-HLAGE followup.

"The white woods" is the last described location/character. Not much is said, only that they call for Gordon. It is also mentioned in the phrase "The woods. The seeds. The girl. The key." The seeds are possibly related to the woods, maybe the origin (seeds) that created the woods (trees.) This could indicate that the girl and the key are also related. It emphasizes that he should "never forget" these things, implying they could be important in the followup.

While not much is said about the white woods by the pig, we do learn a bit more. As it finishes speaking, the theater screen dissapears, revealing a forest behind it. Said forest has tall trees, sharp cliffs to each side, a dirt path going forward, and a white sky with pale fog. The fog slowly enters the theater, and a whistling wind can be heard from outside. The Gnome prompts Gordon to enter the woods. The screen seems to be replaced by glass after Gordon exits, trapping him outside. The Gnome then says this:

The Red Gnome: What's wrong, Gordon? Woken up with something of a...nightmare, have you? A foul, murky, story, quite beyond my own reckoning? Well, don't worry! In a few moments, you will wake up good as new! Like this was all just a mere bad dream. HIACKK. HI! You gonna cry about it? Bitch! Understanding comes later. One year. Seven months. Thirty days...Six hours. Twenty-two minutes. We've waited so long...Now Gordon, time to pay...THE FOREST. This was never about you...It was about me.

While the Gnome still says some of this in his usual style of speaking, a large portion of it is VERY verbose and formal. This, combined with the glitching captions, the use of "we", and speaking not out of anger when talking about the time since the challenge started but something like hunger, leads me to believe that the Gnome is still in control of his actions, but at the very least being influenced by something other, most likely the forest itself. It is unclear if the white woods simply demand payment for the challenge being started, or if it possibly has something to do with the obsidian seal that was broken. There could also be connections to how Coomer refers to Gordon's dreams and sleep when talking about the real world

The Red Gnome: I thought you'd never come back...but this was always going to happen, wasn't it?

This is said in the Gnome's normal voice, and indicates that he previously did not understand fully what was going to happen.

Bright, psychedelic images begin surrounding Gordon, the screen fades to white, and he starts screaming before cutting out.

This is when the Gnome becomes 'real', taking over Gordon's house, career as a twitch streamer, and entire life. He returns to his normal voice and cadence and begins a playthrough of Half-Life 2. Besides having God mode, the only other change seems to be that the screens have been glitched to obscure Kleiner and Breens' faces. Strangely, an individual Combine Police Officer's mask has been blurred at around 1:22:00 as well.

In a playground, he finds a gnome modeled to resemble Wayne, implying that the two have swapped places. The Gnome gets increasingly upset about the fact that Gordon no longer speaks, going from mocking him to trying to bait him into reacting and then just begging him to speak.

The Red Gnome: Alone...Al..one...Alone...Alone. This is...This isn't right.

This prompts the second song the gnome sings.

Now it's time, I fear to tell I've been holding it back so long But something strange deep inside of me is happening I feel unlike I've ever felt and it's makin' me scared That I may not be what I think I am

What of us, what do I say? Are we both from a different world? 'Cause every breath that I take I breathe it for you I couldn't face my life without you And I'm so afraid There's nothing to comfort us What am I, if I can't be yours

I don't sleep, don't feel a thing And my senses have all but gone Can't even cry from the pain Can't shed a tear now I realize we're not the same And it's makin' me sad 'Cause we can't fulfil our dream In this life

So I must, let us break free I can never be what you need If there was a way through the hurt Then I would find it I'd take the blows Yes, I would fight it But this is the one Impossible dream to live What am I, if I can't be yours

Where the previous song was the Gnome saying his goodbyes to Gordon before the switch, making his fondness for him a thing of the past and speaking like he was already gone, this song is the Gnome's realization that he can't live without Gordon, but he will also never be able to exist or function with Gordon. So, donning the VR headset, he lets Gordon free, sending him back to reality and disappearing in the process.

When Gordon seemingly wakes up, he is on a beach. It curves steeply into an endless ocean a few feet in front of him, a black bird circles above, and there is something difficult to make out behind him.

The pale sky and audible wind lead me to believe this place has some relation to the white woods.

When Gordon realizes he's in his headset, he yanks it off, finding a goodbye from the Gnome.

In conclusion, and a somewhat hasty one because I am tired, it would appear that Valve/Gabe Newman discovered a seal carved into obsidian and broke it. Something about this seal results in the creation and success of the Half-Life franchise, possibly spawning the artificial intelligences, but also comes with terrible consequences, filling Newman with dread and visions he doesn't understand. This could be the reason HL3 is never made and on more of a stretch why the copy of Half-Life Gordon plays in HLVRAI is rare/unheard of. The white woods might have a connection to this seal, being the supernatural force with the greatest power seen. The white woods have a definite connection to the Gnome and the pig, who itself has connections to the Gnome, Benrey, and maybe Alyx.

[annoyangle]

https://www.reddit.com/r/FilmTheorists/comments/1f8yj2o/addressing_the_concerns_of_the_rgravityfalls/

Film Theory apologizes for lack of credit to the GF community. Well. Good.

[anthurak]

What a lot of Helluva Boss fans have in common with Blitzo...

Something I’ve realized recently is that there is this great, fascinating irony in this fixation that much of the Helluva Boss fandom has on the idea of some simple ‘wholesome’ family dynamic between Blitzo, Stolas, Loona and Octavia. Where Blitzo and Stolas are in some happy marriage and raising Loona and Octavia and everything is sweet and wholesome.

Because you know who ELSE is super-fixated on finding some idealized ‘wholesome family dynamic’?

Blitzo.

And after watching Seeing Stars, I think we can say pretty definitively that this very fixation is one of the biggest PROBLEMS with Blitzo and one of the main reasons his relationship with Loona is so dysfunctional.

Looking back in hindsight, it’s pretty clear that Bltizo’s decision to adopt a hellhound was driven by his desperate need for emotional connection to someone. Because that’s the crux of Blitzo’s entire character: Thanks to his metric shitton of childhood trauma and baggage, he is absolutely desperate for emotional connection and validation, while simultaneous being absolutely TERRIFIED of any kind of commitment or letting himself be vulnerable. It’s why he burned down his relationship with Verosika, it’s the source of his relationship problems with Stolas, it’s why he’s so obsessed with the M&Ms (because he’s desperate for what they have) and it’s why he’s such a dysfunctional father-figure to Loona.

Because looking at the flashback in Seeing Stars, we can easily infer that Blitzo wasn’t looking to adopt some disaffected, traumatized loner just about to age out of the adoption system like Loona, but rather an actual child. Instead, the entire reason he adopted Loona was because her situation and the words of the overseer positively smashed Blitzo’s sympathetic trauma button and caused him to adopt Loona right there and then. I mean, think of it this way: Adopting Loona was effectively an impulse buy from Blitzo.

Now, this alone isn’t necessarily a sign of bad parenting from Blitzo. The problem is that it’s pretty clear Blitzo never adjusted his expectations of what a daughter like Loona actually needs. Because he seems to have been so fixated on creating some wholesome father-daughter relationship that would solve all his perceived problems, he’s therefore fixated on treating Loona like she’s some troubled child or teenager, rather than a young woman in her early twenties, something Moxie pointed out as early as the pilot. We see this in basically all of Blitzo’s interactions with Loona, particularly in how overly protective, overly affectionate and generally ‘clingy’ Blitzo gets towards Loona.

And combined with how Blitzo’s approach towards fatherhood seems to consist entirely of ‘don’t be like MY dad’, this seeming unwillingness/inability to see Loona as an adult rather than a child looks to be one of the central reasons for Blitzo being such a disaster of a parent and his generally dysfunctional relationship with Loona. Which we in turn see play out across the show and is on full display at the beginning of Seeing Stars:

Blitzo seems to be working from the idea of ‘be everything my dad wasn’t’, so his approach to parenting seems to be little more than ‘shower Loona in praise and affection and give her anything and everything he thinks she wants’. Which happens to be just about the exact OPPOSITE parenting/help someone like Loona actually needs. Because all he’s doing is basically enabling all of Loona’s unhealthy, anti-social, hyper-defensive coping mechanisms for her own trauma.

Like I’ve seen a number of people take issue with how so-called ‘abusive’ Loona is towards Blitzo with how much she physically lashes out at him, such as when she gives him a nutshot at the end of Seeing Stars. But frankly, that behavior should NOT be surprising at all, given what we’ve seen of them: As we see with both Loona and the M&Ms, Blitzo has basically zero respect for or even concept of personal boundaries and has a tendency to get super clingy and overly-affectionate. So is it any wonder that someone like Loona who is extremely defensive both emotionally and physically, after what has clearly been a VERY traumatic childhood would almost reflexively respond the way she does?*

That’s not to say that Loona’s tendency to beat the crap out of Blitzo is a good thing, but rather it’s a symptom of both their dysfunctional relationship and how Blitzo clearly has NO IDEA how to be a functional parent. Blitzo’s overly-affectionate, protective, clingy nature keeps Loona retreating into her shell, and his unwillingness to set any kind of boundaries for her and give her anything she wants simply allows Loona to stay in her hyper-defensive comfort zone.

It’s why despite Loona being 22 years old, she generally acts not much older than Octavia, someone at least 4 years her junior. Because in many respects she’s likely still much the same as she was when Blitzo adopted her. Blitzo’s parenting has enabled all of her pre-existing issues and allowed her to simply stay as she was while growing and maturing very little.**

Which of course is not to say that Blitzo doesn’t love his daughter. Far from it, in fact. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the overarching narrative point of the problems both Blitzo and Stolas have with their respective daughters, and which Loona highlighted in Seeing Stars can be summed up as: It is entirely possible for one to both genuinely, unconditionally care for and love their child and want nothing but the best for them, AND be an utter DISASTER of a parent.

Which all ties back to the grand irony I opened with: How much of the fandom is fixated on Blitzo, Stolas, Loona and Octavia being some simple, wholesome, happy family while Blitzo’s obsessive fixation on having that exact sort of family dynamic with Loona is presented as one of his biggest FLAWS as a character.

Just compare Blitzo’s fixation on being a wholesome, doting father to a clearly unreceptive Loona to how much of the fandom seems to view Blitzo and Stolas as already being married and Loona and Octavia as already being sisters.

Or just as Blitzo seems unwilling/unable to view Loona as a young adult rather than a child, look at how much of the fandom seems to want to view Loona and especially Octavia as children being raised by their two dads, rather than the two young adults that the show clearly seems to be treating them as.

I’ve spoken before at length about my issues with the fandom’s fixation on Loona and Octavia having a ‘simple and wholesome family relationship’, both with each other and their fathers. And this might be the biggest reason I simply DON’T see the show going in this direction that a lot of the fandom is thinking/hoping it will.

Because it runs counter to what is looking to be a major aspect of Blitzo’s character arc as both a father and a person in general: Learning to stop chasing the nebulous, vaguely defined idealized relationships he’s been so obsessively fixated on, and realizing that he CAN have the close, happy, validating personal connections he’s so desperate for if he simply opens up emotionally to the people around him and recognize how much they DO actually care about him. Like how Moxie may not appreciate his clingy attempts at being a family, but clearly would be happy to have Blitzo as a close friend. Or how Loona isn’t and was never the young, innocent child Blitzo wanted her to be, but she still appreciates him as a father who has helped her.

As I detailed in another post; Helluva Boss seems to be a story all about showing characters in messy, dysfunctional, dare I say… problematic relationships, yet also showing those characters that do genuinely care about each other can still work through and overcome their problems to find genuine happiness and fulfillment with each other. Not in some idealized ‘perfect’ sense, but one that works nonetheless.

--

*Which becomes rather tragically ironic when we see that Loona does recognize and appreciate the fact that Blitzo cares about her. And even recognizes how dysfunctional their relationship is, given her ‘this kind of shit gets messy’ and ‘everybody’s got issues’ lines. But while Loona might recognize this, Blitzo clearly does NOT. And given how neither of the two are any good at meaningful communication, it gives the sense that Loona’s lashing out at Blitzo is in part kind of the only way she has to enforce personal boundaries around him.

**This actually makes it all the more ironic that when Loona and Octavia actually meet, Octavia’s mere presence seems to immediately encourage Loona to start acting more mature and insightful than we’ve ever seen her. Which in turn is why I think it’s pretty clear that a friendship between these two is so significant: Loona and Octavia each represent something the other desperately needs in her life, and a clear contrast from their complicated, dysfunctional relationships with their respective fathers.

[p5x-theories]

(Originally a reply on the Haru info post, responding separately since that's kind of a long post and I don't want to reblog it again, heh)

@lolipopman416 Ah, yes, I think I listed them out for an ask in the past, but I'll just give you an updated list here! (And maybe add it to my FAQ, so the info's a bit more convenient to find, heh.)

Resist: good at targeting single enemies (Wonder (Janosik), Fleuret, Mont, Bui, Sepia, Messa, Skull, Queen). This tends to manifest as followup attacks that hit one target, or status effects/damage buffs that apply against specific targets.

Control: good at dealing with groups of enemies (Closer, Summer Motoha, Joker, Panther, Fox, Noir). This tends to manifest as lots of multi-target attacks, and bonuses for using those attacks in certain ways.

Surrender: focused around applying debuffs to gain an advantage (Key, Rin, Vino). This tends to manifest as a focus on a particular status effect, and the ability to do extra damage/effects to enemies once they're inflicted with it.

Rescue: focuses on healing companions (Cattle, Summer Tomoko, Marian, Mona). This has so far always included at least one healing skill, but often other healing abilities can be triggered as well.

Superior: good at buffing teammates and improving their effectiveness (Moko, Leon, Riddle, Chord). This has so far always manifested as unique buffs/status effects, sometimes becoming fully triggered by additional conditions.

Defense: good at protecting teammates and keeping them alive (Soy, Yuki, Cherish). This tends to manifest as shield-focused abilities, but Soy instead draws fire to himself, and buffs the team's max health temporarily.

Elucidation: the designation used for navigators (Wind, Okyann, Puppet, Phoebe, Oracle). This obviously has a wide array of specific applications, but tends to revolve around unique buffs or debuffs that the navigator can grant/inflict, and obviously each navigator has their own fights/team compositions they're most suited for.

These categories also apply to all of Wonder's Sea of Souls Personas, but I doubt you care as much about that in particular, and it'd honestly be way too time-consuming to list them all out, haha. But I hope this was what you're looking for!

For the most part, these combat roles/designations don't really matter in the game- there's no inherent penalty for having a team of three Resist characters and an Elucidation, for instance- but there are two places where you need to pay attention to them: Marthym Tasks, which often require 1-2 characters of a specific role, and certain Door to Ominous Dreams fights, where the survival-type fights require you to have at least one Rescue or Defense teammate, making the enemies much stronger if you lack one.

That said, the roles are also a bit useful for speculating what a character will be like as soon as they're announced! I remember it was interesting to first hear that Summer Tomoko was a Rescue instead of a Superior, because that implied a distinct change in skill set for her. We also had an idea of what to expect for Cherish, since we knew he was Defense before we'd even confirmed which character he actually was, haha!

It may also be a useful avenue for future theorizing- right now our story team lacks any Surrender or Superior teammates, so that may be what we're getting next! In general, we're lowest on Superior and Defense teammates (though they did just add Cherish), so we may be seeing more of them in the near future.

[chromaji]

this is something i’ve been wondering about for a while, especially since I posted about everyone on OtL having FE Epilogue-inspired endings.

Readers of Overcome the Labyrinth, do you think that Zandiel is gonna:

continue life as the Prince or King of Novaras (Kadrios is alive, Novaras is fine)

become the King of Novaras (Kadrios is dead, Novaras is fine)

no longer rule Novaras for one reason or another (vague bc there’s a lot of following scenarios you could get from this)

die before any of that happens

the hidden 5th technique

…I should note that any scenarios or drawings i’ve ever made involving Zandiel after Overcome the Labyrinth is meant to be seen as “AU’s” to yall. None of it is meant to confirm anything, though there is a canon end of course.

[sharktoraptor]

im mad bc @hydrate-or-diedrate's liveblog keeps making me go watch homestuck flashes and feel a deep and inimitable nostalgia over them >:(

and it's slowly making me, too, want to reread homestuck. which is an urge i have thus far successfully resisted every 4/13 for the better part of a decade. so there's that.

[swamp-world]

Not OP but! the five love languages are a concept developed by Baptist minister and marriage counsellor Gary Chapman with the primary goal being to keep married couples together, and then eventually to sell his book and counselling services rather than out of an actual research-informed practice. While he has since expanded to writing additional books on different environments of different love languages ("Five Love Languages of Children", "Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace", "Five Love Languages for Singles", and particularly awfully, a special "Military Edition" of the original), the original concept is designed to be a way to quickly sort the "issues" of married couples into easy boxes and to behave as if it's simply misunderstanding or miscommunication between them.

In an article from the University of Toronto:

“We were very skeptical about the love languages idea, so we decided to review the existing studies on it,” says Emily Impett, a professor in the UTM department of psychology who collaborated with UTM graduate student Gideon Park and York University Assistant Professor Amy Muise. “None of the 10 studies supported Chapman’s claims.” Their findings have been published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.  

When it comes to the number of love languages, the studies found inconsistent evidence for the five languages Chapman identifies, while other relationship research shows there are additional ways of expressing and receiving love. “One key thing to remember is that Chapman developed the five love languages by working with a sample of white, religious, mixed-gender, traditional couples,” says Impett. “There are certain things that are left out, such as affirming a partner’s personal goals outside of the relationship, which might be significant to couples with more egalitarian values.”  Most importantly, Impett and her team found no scientific evidence for Chapman’s central contention that people who choose partners that speak their love language, or learn to speak it, will have more successful relationships. “There’s no support for this matching effect,” says Impett. “People are basically happier in relationships when they receive any of these expressions of love.”  

The other problem with the model of the five love languages is that, while it's a useful communication tool, it's a terrible categorization tool that stems from a fundamentalist, heteropatriarchal worldview. Chapman's goal as a marriage counsellor seems less, in his descriptions of case studies, about actually resolving the conflicts and issues between married couples, and more about keeping them from divorcing, which is a terribly un-Christian thing to do. On multiple occasions in his book, he advises women to stay in abusive relationships and to work on adjusting their behaviour; he seems to functionally equate "physical touch" with "the husband's sexual desires needing to be fulfilled at all times"; he is the kind of minister who preaches to "hate the sin but love the sinner" of gay children. From this angle, the idea of "five love languages" which are simply mismatched between individuals becomes much more sinister: it is a deliberate attempt to paper over the structural issues and abuses which occur in interpersonal relationships, and creates an over-simplified way for people to focus on one issue of communication by attaching their identities to one of five clean-cut boxes, instead of treating these as matters of behaviour, power balances, and actual dynamic and balanced relationships.

I've seen a lot of people discuss "queering the love languages" and adding in more or different love languages, but I think that that still fails to address the core issues of it: that love languages are a convenient way to talk about needs, but have been created and used instead as personality types in a strict and formulaic way, which is not reflected in how human beings as living breathing dynamic creatures actually behave.

(Disclaimer that it's been a few years since I read the book but it was just...revolting in so many ways to hear the advice he gave.)

i am always the bitch who's like. that's actually not true :) your brain does not stop developing at 25 or ever :) love languages can be a useful vocabulary but is not real :) a lot of the personality disorders you villainize are responses to immense pain and fear :) stop trying to sort the complexity of human experience into HARRY POTTER HOUSES pleaseee think critically abt what u are being told and who's telling u this. why would someone want u to believe that u aren't fully capable of decision making until 25? psych has been a tool to oppress since it was created, don't buy into it!

[eightyonekilograms]

I turned off reblogs on this post because it was about to breach containment in a way that looked unpleasant, but I did want to provide one bit of followup for those of you fortunate enough to not be following Twitter drama. You'll want to follow this bit though, because it's really funny.

The second bit is, as Matt says, that because a lot of leading figures in tech have gotten so annoyed at their treatment in the press recently, they've conjured up this theory about how journalists attach tons of status and self-worth to their blue check marks. And Matt is saying, no, this really isn't true at all: the fact that journalists all get blue checks by default is more of an implementation quirk of Twitter and nobody really cares. I have no reason to doubt him on this. So what's sort of funny is that apparently Elon got caught up in the same hatejerk as the rest of tech, and thought that "bluechecks" really did put tons of value on their verified status and could be extorted out of money for it. Which is probably a mistake, and one that's going to cost him literally billions.

At the time I thought this might have been a little uncharitable, but it turns out it was completely correct and, if anything, did not go far enough.

Today was the day that "legacy" blue check marks got turned off, and so now only the people paying Twitter $8/month get to have one. And this is absolutely hilarious, because now suddenly the blue check mark is a strong signal that you support Elon Musk and his Twitter machinations. So it went from being something which was free and had maybe slightly positive "eh, sure, I'll take it" valence, to something which (for most former bluechecks anyway) has strongly negative associations and costs money to boot. So they are, overwhelmingly, declining to pay. In fact, Twitter can't even give them away: LeBron James said he wouldn't pay for a check, Elon offered to give him one for free, and James refused, because the association is now so toxic. ell, em, ay, oh.

And this is absolutely infuriating the Elon fan crowd, because they never understood the indented paragraph above, and really did think that people valued the status of their blue check mark, instead of it being a "eh, whatever" thing that was barely worth it when it was free and certainly isn't worth $100/year. So you're getting deranged takes like this:

You can find thousands of these I'm-not-owned corncob posts, along with even more posts in the replies of people going "no thanks", cajoling and begging them to buy a blue check.

Sociologically, it is frickin' fascinating that this symbol just overnight had a complete valence inversion (and also that, despite this flip, the word "bluecheck" still refers to somebody just as insufferable as it did before).

[shaylogic]

Season 2 Predictions: Niko, Charles & Monty in the Neitherlands ; Niko & Charles' Parents

Borrowing this shot direct from @captainfantasticalright's fantastic Niko costume design breakdown post

Aurora Borealis is often associated with folklore about spirits travelling the sky.

Highlighted excerpt above from here.

In the Toby Litt/Mark Buckingham comics, the Neitherlands are a place between life and death, shown with bird bone snow (I have a theory we will see Monty bump into Niko again in season 2 in the Neitherlands like when they first met).

There's no Niko in the comics, but the combination of Hana & Rosa proxy over to Niko in the show.

Charles saves Rosa from the Neitherlands in the comics.

Charles and Niko are both shown foreshadowed with the bear, probably an allusion to Nanuk.

Walrus = Mick => Niko's costume design parka in the last scene

Aurora Borealis => Spirits of the Dead

I also have a theory that one of Charles' parents will die in season 2 and he'll see them there, like Niko will see her dad

I have a much more in-depth post on my theories about Season 2 and Afterlife Worldbuilding here.

And here's my theory on Charles' parents in season 2, based off of comic book parallels to the show that I've picked up on.

Update 1: Here's a post on some afterlife lore I scanned from a J Non-Fic book called "An Atlas of Afterlives"

Update 2: George Rexstrew Cameo reading the last two stanzas of "Sack of the Gods" by Rudyard Kipling (the last stanza of which was read in episode 1 of season 1). He did this cameo on the last day, before people could ask followup questions (and later in the week when he would have had time to get permission from higher-ups to drop hints?)

Update 3: George posted a vid of the Collar Scene with the caption "As long as the red Earth rolls <3"

Update 4: George Rexstrew Cameo where someone asked about DBD International Cases (season 1 already was in America vs London) and GEORGE ANSWERED JAPAN (Niko family lore).

[canmom]

speaking of line rider, I decided to poke my head back into the Line Rider Review channel, which you may remember for going viral in 2017 with Rabid Squirrel's review of the top 10 tracks of the previous year on artistic grounds...

at the time, Line Rider was around ten years old; the baroque jargon and the complexity of the techniques really got people (in much the same way as pannenkoek's half a press video), so Squirrel ended up making a followup video on the jargon, a charming slice of "this person was definitely gonna transition" which serves as a good intro to what the scene was about back then...

since then there have been many developments: more complex musical sync, elaborate animation techniques, etc etc.; it's only grown. so what does line rider fandom look like in 2024?

well... everyone is trans now of course. it's gotten a lot more interested in political and emotional themes, too. the top video is an hour long feature about the author's partner's experience of figuring out they're plural, learning Japanese, as well as the grief of friends they've lost along the way, through the lens of line rider tracks they grew up with - and that's not just one person's thing either, a whooole lot of the tracks on this list are painfully sincere short film dioramas about trauma, dysphoria, abuse and similar topics. Not all of them mind - you've also got experiments that blend between line rider and stop motion, and a recreation of a classic Touhou video from the Chinese line rider scene on bilibili (there's a Chinese line rider scene on bilibili now), but it's very clear how much the taste of this subculture has shifted. I don't mean this to be too cynical - while it's easy to be a bit 'ehh' at the activist-speak of the channel, these videos are incredibly sincere and (sigh, yes, i know it's a cliche) heartfelt expressions.

i think the fascinating thing to me is that all that technical stuff in Line Rider hasn't gone away - you're still doing crazy complicated shit to fling Bosh around the screen, stop and start them, take them on and off the sled, interact with other riders, stage frame by frame animation, etc. Everything is still meticulously synced to music. But now this passes without comment for the most part! That's just the toolbox! Just as reviews of music rarely go into the specific music theory tools - chords, scales, etc. - unless they're aimed at teaching or analysing it for musicians. Line Rider videos have in a sense matured into a whole medium.

It's definitely a fascinating illustration of the ways Being Very Autistic On The Internet is changing. godspeed you guys.

[zenosanalytic]

#he was the opposite of rational and i agree that the strength of his feelings was what made alecto notice him in the first place#but they had no way to communicate & the influx of power just made it worse :3#ejg#tlt thoughts#tlt#tlt meta throwback(via @liesmyth)

Ye u_u u_u u_u

I’m interested in your thoughts RE John Gaius & the gifts given to him, and how they manifested, and how the like, situation he was defined his powers to him. By this I mean, because they had been using cadavers to experiment on, and that’s what John was around all the time, he notices that he is having an effect on the dead bodies & slowly zeroes in on thanergy. But I wonder, had John’s experiments had to do with living things, say, plant matter & figuring out decarbonisation or something, whether he might have instead zeroed in on thalergy instead. Like, it feels like, because situationally with what their project already was & then the timing of the events with the trillionaires, he just never stopped to take in the full scope of the powers given to him (like his ability to heal for example—how else could that have been applied on a macro scale?) because vengeance became the name of the game. I hope we get to hear from Alecto WHY she chose John or if everyone to give these initial powers too, providing she can remember…

Yeah!! I have been thinking about this! Like, it's not even just animal tissue; he grew flowers for C— and N—'s wedding! Yes they ended up with teeth, but practice could have fixed that.

If he can grow plants, he can grow forests. If he can grow forests, he can trap excess carbon and cool the atmosphere. This works; it has been proven to work. But it was not John's area of study. What John knew was biology and human anatomy, and he is very much not a flexible thinker.

But let's leave that aside and baselessly assume for now that the flowers were made of meat (not saying anything) and he can't actually do plants. He squishes cows around like playdoh. If he hadn't been so laser focused on human bodies he could have restored the biomes of bays and rivers. There's a bacteria being engineered in India that breaks plastics down into organic compounds.

He's worried about the next climate famine? John, you can produce animal matter without so much as a nod at the law of conservation of mass. People eat animal matter.

And yeah, most of these projects he doesn't have access to, and he doesn't have a mode of distribution. He would need help, and the world governments wouldn't give him the time of day. Maybe he did try networking, and aide organizations and so on turned him away, too. Bit funny how he never mentions trying.

I say this with love, and I don't mean it as an insult: John was not a sane and rational person at any point in this process. Before any of the magical girl transformation started, he had favourite cadavers that he talked to and felt an obligation to. He was so manic after losing his project that his closest friends thought that he was taking Class A stimulants, and he never really pulled up from that spiral.

I would love to know, too: why John? Why then? Did she reach out to other people, and only John was in a state of mind to take her up on it?

[rassicas]

I can't believe I'm asking a followup question to the salmon fucking post, but I seem to remember the lore about salmonids being that smallfry, at least specifically the basic units in salmon run and the ones piloting flyfish, *were* fully grown rather than baby cohocks/chums? Is them being juvenile new lore or am I just misremembering my splatoon facts

yeah i've seen a LOT of people spread around the idea that smallfry are actually adults and i would bet money this is people misremembering my salmonid lore video i made in early 2021, before splatoon 3 was announced. in that video i presented the theory that smallfry might be adults and not babies like everyone thinks. people en masse misinterpreted that speculation as Actual Canon Lore. Splatoon twitter confirmed a month after i dropped that video that smallfry are juvenile salmonids.

This sunken scroll also says smallfries are young, and they mature by partaking in salmon runs. I still have the thought that there could be salmonids that don't migrate, or its advantageous for them to stay small, so they still look like smallfries, but are a bit older than expected. I wouldn't think this to be commonplace though. Also to consider that since smallfry are described as "juveniles", it means theyre just not adults, not that they're literal infants. i think teenage smallfries are not out of the question. this could explain flyfish pilots. still though, smallfry being adults looks debunked to me.

[qqueenofhades]

Last anon here -- I'm sorry for sending that message through. I don't know what is and isn't true anymore.

I deleted what I presume was your first ask (the one accusing me of not condemning the Gaza genocide and calling me a "DNC shill and a liar") because it was rude, uncalled for, and I couldn't see any good to come of engaging with it. However, because you've returned and apologized and sent this followup, I am willing to answer it, because I am aware that we can all do stupid things (especially on the internet) that we regret. So there is that.

Once again: I have strictly limited my posts/reblogs on this topic because it is so inflammatory, there are reams of people willing to attack you on every side, and none of it is actually constructive (this is the blue hellsite where we have two whole jokes about Ea-Nasir and color theory in children's hospitals. We are not doing important social justice work here and expecting this to be the main/only forum in which we post the Correct Opinions is not going to work out for anyone). But I would like, for the record, to point out that I have condemned the situation in Gaza and explicitly called it a genocide and Netanyahu and co. war criminals. Often and repeatedly:

Ask from October 28, 2023:

What’s happening to the Gazans right now is no qualification or equivocation, a genocide. It should rightfully be opposed and called what it is. But unfortunately, I have spent too much time around Western Online Leftists to believe they actually care a whit about stopping genocide as a fundamental principle, and only want to be seen to loudly care about what their Ideology has told them to care about. [...] To put it bluntly, those genocides are being committed by nation-states that Online Leftists like for being “anti-Western,” and therefore their activities are actually fine and should even need to be defended.

Another post from December 2023 explicitly calling out Netanyahu and his cabinet, while also pointing out that Tumblr's response now mostly consisted of antisemitic dogwhistles and rampant political misinformation:

[...] the way Netanyahu is personally a genocidal maniac with a far-right cabinet of war criminals and is bent on continuing the war in order to escape his own criminal prosecutions (and yes, he is HIGHLY affiliated with Trump and Putin) but this somehow still does not remotely justify or excuse the rampant frothingly mindless and generalized anti-Semitism seen everywhere on leftist spaces these days [....]

An ask from January 10th, 2024 (worth probably reading in full) where I once more say that nobody wants this to be happening, but that once again, the criticism in Western leftist forums (particularly Tumblr/Twitter) is not made equally or in good faith :

Nobody of basic good sense and decency wants to see Gaza leveled while the Israeli state continues to apply a number of violently cruel collective punishments even outside the actual daily bombing of civilians. But for the love of god, let’s get rid of the idea that the continued mindless violence doesn’t benefit Hamas (because it does; unsurprisingly, sympathy for their cause has soared in Gaza) as much as it does Israel, or that Hamas is some kind of benevolent peacemaker that is being thwarted by the cruel imperialist US/West.

This post, also from January 2024, explains why the kind of stunt-trick "pro Palestinian" activism that just relies on publicly hassling Jews is a) antisemitic and b) actively harming the people of Gaza, while once again pointing out whose fault this whole mess actually is:

If these people actually wanted to advocate constructively for Palestine in a good-faith way and not just punish random Jews or people who might have once met a Jew (which they don’t), they would take a look at that, go “hmm, this isn’t really getting the right result” and listen to the people who are telling them that by generating this bad publicity, they are doing far more harm to the cause than good. They are going to make the cause look foolish, they will drive away anyone who isn’t already radicalized, they will shut down any possibility of discussion and dialogue, and their efforts will be picked up in the Israeli nationalist right-wing media/Netanyahu and his war criminal advisors to insist to left-wing or anti-zionist Jews that (one of the, you know, big fucking reasons Israel was founded in the first place) they aren’t safe in any other country in the world, and they need to support the Israeli government’s actions, no matter how heinous.

A follow-up from January 31, 2024, discussing (again) the problems with insisting that Biden personally/the American power apparatus is just giving Israel a blank check and therefore Biden Iz Bad And This is All His Fault:

Once again: I strongly disagree with the idea of just giving Israel/Netanyahu a blank check to keep committing atrocities, but I also need to repeatedly point out that Biden isn’t doing that. His initial unconditional support of Israel after October 7 (which at the time was the correct response) has shifted to a much more measured and conditional approach where he has muted the overtly pro-Israel statements and started talking about a two-state solution and the need to protect the lives of civilians and trying to keep a lid on what could become a REALLY bad situation with all kinds of war-hungry powers eager to jump into the Middle East and blow it completely to hell.

I am a historian. This does not mean that I always know The Greatest Things Ever, but it does mean that I default toward long, cautious, and qualified responses where I try to consider multiple perspectives and nuances, rather than just posting pithy soundbites or black-and-white statements. (Yes, I know; I am doomed on social media.) Thus when I do discuss the situation, I tend toward trying to put it in broader context, to push back sharply against the idea that being "pro Palestine" is just being wildly antisemitic on social media and nothing else, and to call out those bad actors who are using this situation to continue to imperil American democracy and deliberately try to get Trump (who openly hankers to be a genocidal fascist dictator for everyone, not just Israel/Palestine) back into office.

I know that this is a situation which provokes (to say the least) strong emotions from everyone. I know that it's infuriating to feel totally helpless and just to have to watch it from afar. I know that we all wish we could stop it and that leads us to create meaning or assign importance to our own actions where there actually is none. But that does not mean that people have total liberty to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, wild political misinformation, narratives designed whether unwittingly or deliberately to help Trump and other far-right fascists, and otherwise anonymously dogpile on people who haven't Posted The Correct Opinion on Tumblr (once again, Tumblr, where we get our news via Destiel meme). So I hope this has helped you, if this is what you wanted to get out of contacting me today, and hope also that you'll continue to think about what to do and how to act. It's hard, I know, and you have my sympathy. But so it is for us all.

[draw-ren-draw]

Avantris Comic Scripts #3 Often when I get ideas for comics, I break my panels into scripts first. These are less prose-y than fics but still contain dialogue and basic interactions. This is a jokey followup from the concept of my last one, be sure you're up to ep:56 to avoid spoilers!

Shaky Origins (spoilers up to ep: 56!) [A snippet exploring how Torbek may have met Carnival Lecroux based on my favorite theory: that The Duke/Gorebek is the original inhabitant of their shared body and it is Torbek who came second. A lot can happen to an cursed amnesiac. Especially around Carnival LeCroux.] * * * * *

It's a pleasant sunny day near Carnival LeCroux where a Bugbear stumbles out of the brush, blood on his hands, matted fur, drink on his lips and not a single thought in his head. In his claws he tightly grips a piece of torn parchment with chunks of it missing. He squints at it, willing the foreign characters to make sense. He can't remember a thing! Where is he? How did he get here? Who... is he?? He feels like he should be able to read this but the letters don't quite look right. They dance in front of his eyes as he desperately tries to pick out any of them. He points at each in turn, sounding them out. They almost seem to say something like… "Torr... Bek?" He murmurs it again and stares deeply at the writing. Parchment taking up all of his focus, he wanders forward into the carnival proper.

???" You there? You one of mine?"

The bugbear holds the paper, paralyzed as he tries to form one coherent thought, but all that comes out is the last thing he read. "T-T-orbek…?"

Kremy grimaces, smelling the boozy breathe on the bugbear, almost regretting his choice to interact with them at all. Kremy: "Ooh, you reek. You must be one of mine. Listen, what did you say, 'Torbek?' That your name? Whatever, look Turkbek just go use those long arms of yours and get those patrons down." With a wave of his staff, he gestures to the oval-shaped legally distinct 'herris' wheel that has clearly broken down full of riders. Kremy: "Drink break is over." Utterly stunned and still unable to get a grip on reality, the bugbear can do nothing but follow the alligator ushering him toward the broken down ride.

It doesn't take the bugbear long to fulfill the order and he tries again to collect himself as he stands amid the bustling carnival, confused once more. A Tabaxi comes jogging up Frost: "You, you're.. Torbek, was it?" The Tabaxi squints at something he has written on papers.

"Torbek.." the bugbear shakes, wide eyed, trying to cling to the one rational thought he can. So much is happening--!! Frost: "..Right, listen, Kremy just needs you to fill out these forms, I don't care if you don't have a resume, but all the new hires need to." Frost shoves the papers into his hands, continuing to hurry to the next pressing task in his clearly full day. He points one last time before he departs. Frost "Come turn them in later-!"

Hand now full of employment pages, 'Torbek' stumbles, starting to wander again. Who are all these people?? This paper says his name is Torbek, so is that his-- He walks past a goblin, who is manning a small stall. Gricko: "Oh hey! Kremy Finally hired another goblinoid! That's nice, always been waiting for that. Anyway it's me lunch break, gotta get a goblin surf n' turf if you know what I mean, ohhh I'll catch ya later!" He laughs, clapping Torbek on the back and shooting finger guns Gricko: "Thanks buddy!" Left alone at the stall, the bugbear sits down, ignoring everything but the papers in front of him. Undeterred his customers just help themselves to his game. He checks the paper again. It has Torbek on it. Is that his name? It must be, everyone else seems convinced of it! He takes a deep breathe, confirming it for himself with a nod. "…Torbek i-is. Torbek." ???: "Torbek huh? I've heard of weirder" He looks across his stall to see a tent of clowns, Chuckles shoots the bugbear a knowing look and gestures at the state of him. Chuckles: "More like 'Torn-bek', in more ways than one! Ah-hoho-hah! HEHhhheh... workshop it…" The Clown mumbles, stopping to write something down. Gideon enters from the right, we hear him before we even see him "Man, I hate walking past the clowns." Gideon: "Hey turkey or whatever!" The Bugbear jerks in place. "Come on, Kremy needs ya." With a groan, 'Torbek' follows obediently. It seems his day is not going to get any easier... * * The camera pans out * * From afar, a figure watches the once proud and ruthless Duke of Iron and Glass meandering around some shitty carnival like an absolute fool. Something had gone very wrong, or very, very right.

Bonus joke panel of Gid and Krem 'ironically' shacked up, chilling after hours: Kremy: I don't know how you pick em gid but at least you got a new hire this time. Gideon: [Internally] Huh did he? He must have, he was just that awesome.

[lucidseduction]

I did not expect a follow-up to this but....

Coming back home from my evening walk, and there he is, solicitor dude looking at me from the sidewalk a couple doors down.

Dude stops me and says hey did I talk to you earlier today?

Me: That depends, were you the solicitor who didn't read the no soliciting sign?

Solicitor laughing, slightly stoned: oh yeah that was most definitely me (laughing)

We laughed about the earlier encounter then here's the best part friends -

This dudes other job?

I kid you not-

Literally selling no soliciting signs.

Fist bumped, then on our separate ways again.

Solicitor: Rings bell disturbing my lunch

Me: Looks for Amazon package

Me: Notices he's still blabbing about killing rodents

Me: Taps no soliciting sign like a school teacher

Solicitor: "Yeah, I know." *Continues talking about managing 30 houses next door* (not even feasible, clearly lying)

Me: Jaw dropped, closes door.

If you are a contractor who can't read, why would I draw up a contract with you????

[sroloc--elbisivni]

a Red-Tailed Hawk theory of culture

These photographs are courtesy of this todaysbird post; that post identifies its source as the Macaulay Library but that page won't load for me so I can't confirm. They're here to help me illustrate my point. All of these are examples of real red-tailed hawks.

Speaking of illustrating, this is a screenshot of a duckduckgo search I did two minutes ago for 'red tailed hawk illustration.' You'll notice that most of them follow the same coloration trend, with less variety than the pictures above. In fairness I will note that looking for 'field guide red tailed hawk' promptly yielded a scan from the sibley guide to birds, which represents six varieties in coloration. The information isn't hidden; I'm not suggesting conspiracy. It just struck me as interesting to see the first series of photos when most of the pictures I've seen, and the ones most easily accessible, had a broad and consistent agreement that This Is What A Red-Tailed Hawk Looks Like. Real red-tailed hawks can look any number of ways, but the collective idea of what a red-tailed hawk looks like is fairly set.

So. Metaphor established. Let's talk culture.

I think modern culture tends to embrace the idea that the best sign of authenticity is uniformity. We want a series of markers that can be run against a checklist to confirm yes, this displays the correct signifiers. Yes, this matches our expectations. We know it's a real xyz because it does this-and-such. I don't know what this could be attributed to, though I'm sure you could find any number of things to blame it on. The scientific method requiring repeatable results to prove something. Factory mass-production and the notion of 'the Real McCoy,' the best version of something that works better than the knockoffs. Art authentication where there are often steps required to prove yes this is a real da Vinci. Proliferation of branding and trademark and copyright. The 'No True Scotsman' fallacy, and corollary of 'you're not a real fan if you don't do this.'

The thing is, authenticity in culture doesn't work like that.

There are as many ways to participate in a tradition as there are people who participate it. Got any holidays that your family celebrates in a particular way or with a certain thing, even though the holiday is also observed by a broader group of people? Got any regional traditions that are different if you go to the next town or next neighborhood over? There's no singular way to be involved in a culture. Any culture, I would argue. Even in cultural groups that value conformity, or have a single central authority dictating which things are correct, there are going to be people who approach their position in different ways.

Variety in expression is not a sign of cultural weakness. I would argue, in fact, that it's a sign of strength.

We have a great deal of data from the field of biology to demonstrate the limits of singularity. Consider the campaign the WWF ran back in 2008 that's had followup art projects since, where pictures of endangered animals are made using only one pixel per living member of that species to demonstrate how much harder it is to see that species the less data you have to work with. Consider cheetahs, which are all extremely similar in coloration because the species is suffering from genetic bottleneck. Consider the instability of monocultures, especially clonal monocultures, where entire populations can be killed with the same disease or fungus because they share vulnerabilities.

Moving back to cultural considerations: the singular of culture is too often reduced to 'stereotype.'

Maybe what the tendency to boil things down can be attributed to is simple human desire for pattern recognition. We like knowing what things look like. We like having examples to point to and emulate. There's a pleasure in playing to type, in assuming a role, in fitting oneself to a form. Nuance and variations are hard to remember, and often hard to observe in the first place. There is a very real satisfaction in concrete knowledge.

A culture adhering to a singular presentation, however, is often a culture under threat.

In the interest of not being reductive, I'm going to only offer a single example here, from a situation I'm familiar with: late 20th century efforts to revive Breton, a regional minoritized language in France. After the language underwent a period of (often enforced) decline throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, there were efforts to institute public education in Breton for children and adults, encouraging those who did not already speak the language to learn it, thereby avoiding widespread linguistic dormancy. Mari C. Jones wrote an article in 1998 called 'Death of a Language, Birth of an Identity' that called attention to a difference in traditionally Breton-speaking communities vs. people learning it to participate in cultural revival. She pointed out that cultural revivalists were interested in identifying themselves specifically as Breton, forming an association between themselves and their region as a whole. The traditional speakers, however, were far more likely to identify with their local parish, or their larger diocese, with only a faint connection to the idea of being 'Breton' as an identity. The movement that understood their culture as being under threat was the one focused on constructing a stable, singular, pan-Breton identity.

Variation and internal diversity is the sign of an active and self-sustaining cultural community that has the energy to go a lot of different directions at once.

I suppose the overall point I'm driving at is that the more people there are doing something, the more ways that something should be done, and this isn't a sign that something's gone wrong. One realization I came to after thinking about this is that queer microlabels--which I, personally, am rarely interested in engaging with--are a sign of a healthy and thriving culture. Having the time and energy and space to argue about things like this, rather than needing to appeal to a greatest common denominator of your peers in order to get time and energy and space, is a good sign. Growth is the enemy of conformity. An authentic culture is an adaptive one.

Fundamentally, culture is what people do together, and people are always going to do something different eventually. Illustrations are meant to show reality, not dictate it. There's a lot of ways to look like a red-tailed hawk and there are red-tailed hawks out there proving it every day.