#i mean I can explain my theory over message if you really want to know early???

[esterigermaine]

Pick the one that fits most please

[saintobio]

OK OK OK OMG I FINALLY CAUGHT YOUR ASKBOX OPEN YAYYYY!! But also...

Ummm.... Yeah no maybe it's my fault for opening my mouth xdxdsdgadvd (also for some reason it wouldn't let me take a screenshot so enjoy these shitty pics I had to take from my phone 🤡)

It's a side tangent but since you came back with sn, one of the most fun things have been to theorize and see other people's theories hehe. I honestly read sy so long ago and it had such an impact on me, so seeing you and honestly everyone back here; talking about series and excited about updates makes me feel so giddy and at home. It's been a while since I've had so much fun in a fandom XD

Ok now back to the ANGST, I want you to know this was my reaction the whole time,

I was honestly scared of even reading the chapter but my GOSHHHH.

It was honestly so refreshing to see Satoru finally acknowledge what y/n means to him and no matter how much he tries she might still be the most important thing to him in the end. Honestly it was a cathartic moment they both needed at the lake but still 😭 my heart is hurting so much for them. To finally stand face to face and acknowledge the hurt, to hold each other 😭😭 They both really needed that. I might just be looking too much into it, but when Gojo threw his ring in the ocean y/n was able to get it back (even if geto was the one who found it) but when y/n threw the last part of Gojo; the necklace into the lake, he went after it but didn't get it back... it sounds like symbolism for something that I am not ready for

It was honestly so refreshing to see Satoru finally acknowledge what y/n means to him and no matter how much he tries she might still be the most important thing to him in the end. Honestly it was a cathartic moment they both needed at the lake but still 😭 my heart is hurting so much for them. To finally stand face to face and acknowledge the hurt, to hold each other 😭😭 They both really needed that. I might just be looking too much into it, but when Gojo threw his ring in the ocean y/n was able to get it back (even if geto was the one who found it) but when y/n threw the last part of Gojo; the necklace into the lake, he went after it but didn't get it back... it sounds like symbolism for something that I am not ready for TvT

They are both hurt, they are both suffering without each other; but they also suffer when they are with each other. TvT

Also, I understand Akemi's reaction but bitch 😭😭 Don't you realise this is exactly what y/n felt when you slept with Satoru. Her avoiding y/n to not make her angry or trouble her, I understand; but it just seems to me that she's making excuses to lessen her guilt and run away so she doesn't have to see what she did to her best friend. LIKE SHE'S SO FRICKING EAGER to play house with Satoru and when Sachi called her mama she was overjoyed. It's just so... sus. I might understand her but I lost all respect for her when she decided to betray her bff. I would never understand women who choose a man over someone who's been there for them through everything. I just think she's taking the whole "I can fix him" 🤡 thing too seriously but idk at this point.

And Satoru how THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP FUMBLING THE WOMEN YOU LOVE SO BAD. If you are gonna be an asshole atleast do it right!? I so badly wanna believe he only ran after Akemi to check on her and explain everything but... I just don't have enough faith in him now :<

I feel SO BAD for y/n. Girlll 😭, I don't even know what to say but I can only give her this message-

(My asks always get so long so quick, sorry oof. But SIDE SIDE TANGET- I ABSOLUTELY LOVED RIDE OR DIE. I ATE IT UP FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER OH GODDDD. I was a certified Sukuna!hater but you have changed my ways... you have brainwashed me into falling head over heels for that gremlin xd the brainrot rn is so bad- like MOVE ASIDE GOJO)

thanks so much for sending this ask. yayy you finally made it to the askbox on time !! :’D and this was such a fun read for me. ty for sharing <3 it’s always nice to see such long asks abt sn/sy bc the theories and analyses are all so great, like how do u guys come up with those? they’re so detailed too!! 🥹

i agree i think what makes sy11 impactful is bcos it took so long for gojoyn to be honest with each other, only for it to crumble down the next day bcos of their trauma, external relationships, and distrust with each other 💔 like so close yet so far

and ooh interesting analysis on akemi! i like how you juxtaposed her reaction to gojoyn versus yn’s reaction to catching gojokemi. there’s definitely a big difference there :> but i won’t say anything more to avoid spoilers hehe

lastly, rod! omg thanks for reading, i thoroughly enjoyed writing it i was giddy the whole time !!! but same bb same that gremlin has me on a chokehold too 😆

[asshlyyyy]

Strawberry Pie

It is time to get rid of some drafts that I have had for months at this point. Even if they have a few sentences I want to get them out. I also hope that having these one-shots thrown in people will remember me... and maybe my posts will do better then... (22 notes). It really is unmotivating sometimes. Looking at your follower count and then your notes. Like so far... the year is not going good for this account.

Masterlist

Pairing: Austin Butler x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of Death, Fluff, Mentions of Baby Talk, Perhaps Some Swearing. Spelling and Grammatical Errors. Let me know if I missed anything!

Word Count: 1.6k

You scrolled through the list of songs on your phone. Today you were in a cheerful mood. You were happy, and you felt no sense of sadness. Let’s not jinx it just yet, but you had big plans today. Austin was out with his agent talking about some upcoming deals. You wanted to surprise him with a small gift. 

Once you finally decided on the song you turned off your phone and went over to your recipe box. You only had a few recipes in there that were from you, but you had your grandmother’s as well. She always talked about how you were going to get that box when she died and well… That day came a couple of months ago. It still pained you, but you were finally in a good mood. 

Peering through all the recipes your eyes found the one you wanted, Strawberry pie. You remember eating this during the summers at your grandmother’s house. It was such a fond memory and such a wonderful pie. You pulled it out of the box and brought it over to the middle island. 

You brought out all of the ingredients needed and started to get to work. You had a few hours before Austin came in, so in theory… the pie should be cooled down when he arrives. That way you two can have a slice after dinner. Seems like today is a day you’ll be spending in the kitchen. You had no issue with that though. You loved being a housewife. 

As stereotypical as it was… it was nice. Not having to worry about working. You were able to stay home, keep the house clean, cook your husband a wonderful dinner… or order it… and tend to other matters. Hopefully one day you can add a little one to the equation. For now, that wasn’t on Austin’s list and you had to respect that. 

For dinner, you had planned a dish that would go along with your pie. You were thinking about making salmon with mashed potatoes, and then some type of veggie on the side. It just depended on what you had. That seemed like a good meal, and then you two could have some pie afterward… It sounded perfect. 

Once everything was in the oven and everything was getting cooked you decided to take a break. You untied your apron and took it off. You’ve been standing on your feet for some time now, you wanted to sit down, and that is exactly what you ended up doing. You grabbed your phone to check your notifications.

A few messages from Austin, some even from your sister. A missed call from your mother, a few emails- wait… a missed call from your mother? You went ahead and called her back. Your mother usually didn’t call. If she did, she would let you know. Plus, she didn’t leave a message either which… is even weirder. 

“Hello?” Your mother’s voice entered your ear.

“Hi momma, I was just returning your call. I didn’t know you called.” You said to her. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean to. I just accidentally hit the call button instead of something else. I tried to hang up quickly so… I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry honey.” Your mother explained. You let out an oh sound and nodded.

“It’s okay, I just thought it was weird is all. Figured I would give you a call and check-in. Make sure that everything is okay.”

“Well, now that I got you. What’s going on? Anything exciting happening today?” She asked you.

“Well, you remember that strawberry cake grandma would always make us in the summer?” You questioned her. 

“Of course I do,” she replied.

“Well, I decided to make that today for Austin. I was just feeling in a good mood and I figured to use that energy and create something with it.” You explained to her.   

“Oh, that sounds delicious. I wish you would bring us some over, but that is too long of a drive.” Your mother chuckled. You rolled your eyes playfully and shook her head.

“Well next time you guys come and visit, or we come to yours to visit I’ll be sure to make some. I know Grandma would want me to share it.” You told her. 

“Yeah, she would have.” Your mother said softly, “I miss her.”

“I miss her too… it’s been rough… I honestly hoped I would’ve had kids before she passed. She was such a wonderful lady but… You have one fall and it’s all downhill from there…” You replied back with a soft tone. Here was the sadness, that sadness you all so had to jinx yourself with earlier. 

“I know… but, she’s still around. In our hearts… in our minds… in spirit. She will always be around. We just can’t see her,” Your mother recited some type of religicall sentence. Like the father, son, and the Holy Spirit. 

“I know… well… I better get back to it then. I have to check on the Salmon and see how the pie is cooling. Bye, momma, I love you.”

“I love you too, honey.” She replied and hung up. You placed your phone down and let out a sigh. 

You pushed yourself up and walked over to the big sliding glass doors. You pushed them open and stood in the middle. You felt the cool wind brush past your skin in a soothing manner. The clear blue skies let you know that… she was here. The clear blue skies those summers you would spend with her. 

You smiled softly and went back to check your mood, leaving the doors open to let in fresh air… and maybe even your grandma. You knew spirits could do anywhere they wanted, but your grandmother was a respectful woman. She would only enter when allowed, and when it was okay. 

You pulled out the food and started to get the plates ready. You heard a ding from your phone and went to quickly check it. A text from Austin that read, Just down the street. I’ll be home soon :P 

You giggled lightly at the expression he added and shook your head. For once, you had managed your time, and everything will fall into place right when you need it to. You brought the food over to the table and went to quickly wipe your hands. You rushed over to the door and opened it just as Austin was.

“Oh, hi,” Austin chuckled lightly. You smiled and pushed yourself up on your tippy toes and kissed his cheek.

“Hi, I missed you.” You greeted him and moved out of the way. 

“I missed you too, sweetheart… but what is going on?” He looked at you confused.

“What do you mean?”

“You hardly greet me at the door.” He pointed out to you. 

“Well- you aren’t wrong, but I made dinner… and I made a special dessert. One I’ve been wanting to make you for quite some time.” You explained to him.

“Let me freshen up and I’ll meet you in the kitchen then okay?” With a nod of your head, Austin made his way upstairs to freshen up. 

You made your way back over to the kitchen and decided to get the drinks. You poured two glasses of water and brought them over to the table. You sat down and patiently waited for Austin. You looked out into your guys’ backyard and smiled. Your grandmother’s backyard was a field of memories. Easter time in the annual Y/l/n egg hunt. You always won of course. No one could ever beat your skills. 

You remember around Christmas time when you would go out with your grandparents and build snowmen with them. The snowball fights you all shared. The summer barbecue with the strawberry pie. God, you’re going to miss having those every year. 

“Oh wow,” Austin said as he entered the kitchen. You looked over at him and smiled.

“Remember how I tell you the stories about my grandma’s strawberry pie?” You asked him gently. He nodded and found his way across from you.

“Every time you tell it, it leaves my mouth watering.” He chuckled lightly. 

“Well… I made it,” you smiled.

“Is there a special occasion? I didn’t forget anything right? Cause I swear our anniversary isn’t until another two months. Your birthday isn’t until another five months… As far as I know, today is nothing.” He started to freak out a bit. You laughed gently at him. 

“I guess I just wanted to celebrate being in a good mood. It’s been rough these few months you know… and I finally wake up and I’m in a good mood. Wanted to treat my boyfriend.” You admitted to him.

“Dammit, I knew I should’ve stopped for flowers.” He swore at himself. 

‘’Austin stop,” you shook your head, “you get me flowers all the time. I wanted to treat you for once.”

“I love you,” Austin said as he reached over for your hand. You blushed gently as he gave your hand a squeeze.

“I love you too.” 

“Well, shall we dig in so we can get to that pie?” Austin suggested with a smile. You nodded early and started to eat your dinner. 

You two talked about each other's day. Though, Austin’s was much more entertaining than your baking story. Though, Austin would never say that. He always had nice things to say no matter what. When the time came to eat pie, you two went out onto the deck to enjoy it. Where you shared stories about your grandma to him.

“Maybe one day we can do that.” Austin hummed from beside you. You turned to look at him confused. What did he mean by that? “Make new memories with our kids.”

“Our kids…?”

“Yeah, I think… I think we can start trying. That is if you want to of course. Share your grandma’s pie to generations.” He smiled as he wrapped his arm around you. 

“I would like that,” you whispered and kissed him softly. 

I think you all could have noticed that I don't post as much as I used to. It's mostly because I am loosing motivation. I know I talk about the lack of notes a lot... but it really is a big factor. I used to get hundreds and now I'm barely breaking a hundred.

I know it sounds like I'm being ungrateful but I'm just lost and confused in what happened.

Thank you to everyone who voted for a time! I really appreciate it. Also, this is my first time using the queue function so… let’s see if I did it right.

Mutual Taglist: @babyhoneypresley @emmymaehereeeeee @venus-haze @austinstyles

[lilac-hecox]

Lilac I love you, you are so cool and important to this fandom and I love what you do

But would you chill the fuck out?

Like in a silly goofy joking way.

I get you like Ianthony and you’re scared. No one is allowed to police each others feelings. But like. Girl. Ur making me stressed. I love Ianthony. And the idea that we might barely see them is quite frankly crushing. But I’m doing my best to not be upset about it considering this is what they’ve wanted for years. They were delayed by defy and Anthony leaving. But this has very much always been the goal. I love them. I love their dynamic and their sketches. We cannot deny YouTubers the right to retire like every other profession just because their faces are the brand. They have done an incredibly smart and responsible thing programming the channels the way they have so that they can slip into the background more and more this past year. It hurts. Of course it does. They raised me more than my piece of shit parents ever did. They are partially the reason I am still alive today.

But they deserve their freedom, and the fans need to breathe and not be so clingy.

I’m also in the game theory fandom and have been watching Matpat for around as long as Smosh and he again did a very similar thing slowly passing over his channels and hosting duties. And his fandom reacted very differently than the Smosh fandom. And it’s making the transition harder for everyone involved I fear.

Again have all the feelings you want about it, but I feel like when you and others are anxiety spiraling about the dudes on YouTube you need to step back and take a bit of a breath. Because now I’m anxiety spiraling. Which yea my own thing to deal with. But I just. Post on your own. But when I’m not expecting it and I go into the reblogs on someone else’s post and ur in the notes reminding me that Ian and Anthony are pulling back because you’re busy moping it feels kinda catty?

All this too say everyone’s feelings are so valid and understandable but we have to actually work through them instead of panicking. Please.

If you're talking about what I just reblogged I messaged the op and told them I wasn't trying to attack their post.

I'm aware I'm having anxiety about it. Bro, I wish I could chill the fuck out about this but I'm having a really hard time.

I was talking to a couple friends and explained that Smosh and Ian and Anthony are a happy place for me so I'm scared to lose that and I get that it is mentally not healthy for me to think that way.

I'm trying to not even engage so I don't act like a brat and whiny but I know that I am being that way.

I'm sorry. My mental health is in the toilet and I just don't feel good and this is all making me feel way worse.

Have fun and love Bit City and be happy about it. I don't want people to feel bad or feel like they can't enjoy it. They absolutely can.

Idk I'm confused on your ask you tell me my feelings are valid but then tell me I'm being catty?

I don't mean to be mean or catty. I'm sorry if I've come off that way. I don't like to see a ton of posts saying "Well Angela and Chanse rightfully deserve to take the main channel from Ian and Anthony."

I put a little timer to only give myself a couple of hours on tumblr on my phone a day before it blocks it but maybe I should block it all together to find peace before I don't have any friends in smoshblr left.

[noirvette]

WE NEVER EXISTED

[band smau]

[TWELVE]

masterlist.

prev. | next.

extra.

To say you were nervous was an understatement. You genuinely had no clue how the conversation was going to go the minute Kyle arrived. Part of you feared the worst, after all he was asking to come over to discuss this.. whoever this is and IN person too.

Wild theories ran through your mind, is it the same person who hacked Kenny? What if this person is linked to your stalker? What if they're the same person? What if it's Kenny doing this? Among other what if's. You felt guilty for the last thought, Kenny wouldn't do something like this to one of his best friends. Besides, if it is the same person who hacked Kenny's twitter account, what would that imply? That Kenny faked his own hacking? The idea was just silly.

Knocks at your door is what shook you out of your thoughts and you got up to open the door; there stood Kyle. The tired look on his face managed to increase tenfold since you had last seen him just a few hours ago. Stepping out of the doorway to let him in, he enters silently but the silence speaks volumes to you as you watch him drag himself around your apartment and into your living room.

Closing the door and following him, you sit down across from him. Kyle has his head in his hands, looking down at the floor.

"Kyle?" You ask.

He doesn't respond for a few minutes and you can tell the stress of whatever has happened over the last few hours has really gotten to him.

"Kyle?" You ask again.

He deeply sighs and looks up at you, "Sorry, Y/n."

You wave him off, "it's alright, just start talking when you're ready."

You watch as he takes a few moments to compose himself and he sits up straight.

"The person has repeatedly contacted me, never called though which is great. I still can't block them, the numerous amount of times I have, the number always manages to reach me again," Kyle explains, "What gets me is that they keep talking about this thing of 'World breaking news'! but they jump around the subject whenever I try and bring it up."

"Kyle it sounds like you need to leave your phone be for a while."

"Yeah, I probably should but a part of me wonders if this is like, deadly serious and if I ignore it, someone dies or something." Kyle stresses, nervously playing with his hands.

"Okayyy," You sigh, "That kind of thinking isn't going to help you in any way and now I know you need to stop watching those drama crime shows with Stan and Clyde."

That gets Kyle to let out a huffed laugh and you can even see a small smile on his face, "BOOM! Got you to laugh," You stand up, "Want anything to drink?"

"I'll take a water, thanks Y/n." Kyle smiles awkwardly as you give him a thumbs up and head to your kitchen.

Coming back with two glasses of water, you set one down in front of Kyle and you hold the other, taking a sip as you sit down, "Now, realistically this person sounds like they're just trolling you. Hard."

Kyle nods and you continue, "And I'm not meaning to alarm you but it seems like they're well versed in well...cyber security...technology.. whatever you get my point here. So why don't you take your phone in and see if the people there know of a way to fix this phone number problem? You never know if they hack into your phone next."

Kyle's eyes widen and his mouth opens and then closes a few times, "What you think it's the same person who hacked Kenny?"

You shrug, "Good of a guess as any, I mean two technological events or, whatever this is called, happening? Within days of each other? Seems convenient and too coincidental to be two separate people, you know?"

Nodding, Kyle can't help but check his phone and for the first time in minutes, he hasn't received one text message. He lets out a sigh of relief and looks back up at you, who's looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, I know, leave my phone be." Kyle mutters out, puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Well? Did you get anything though?" You probe, curiosity causing you to be a bit nosy.

Kyle shakes his head and you also let out a sigh of relief, "You see! This is what I mean, this.." You stumble at a loss for words of what to call this person.

"Asshole?" Kyle offers.

"Yes asshole, is probably just trolling you." You finish.

He nods and the two of you now sit in silence one more, sipping on your waters.

A ding goes off and the both of you freeze. Kyle looks at you expectantly and you shake your head, your phone is on do not disturb at the moment, so you know it isn't yours.

Kyle clenches his jaw and takes his phone out of his pocket once more and you already know it's the person Kyle's been mentioning as you watch how his face contorts to one of pure exhaustion.

He turns his phone on, reading the message and you sneakily scoot closer to him, trying to catch a peak. Kyle after reading the message looks up at you and can't help himself letting out a snort at how you look before just handing you his phone.

"Go ahead, you're interested and it's the least I can do considering how you're helping me handle this, besides I have no clue what this screenshot is supposed to even be."

You look down at his phone to read the screenshot Kyle is talking about.

You hand Kyle's phone back to him with the biggest look of confusion on your face, "What the fuck? What is this supposed to be?"

Kyle shrugs, "I have genuinely no clue, if this is the 'world breaking news' this guy was talking about then I hope the world isn't dependent on a riddle, because I cannot solve the meaning behind this at all."

TAGLIST: @captivq @kimiesstuff @bwljules @the-cooler-kira @1one1person1 @kenny-the-ken @neenieweenie @n0tangeliccc @revzxn @mirophobic @gonefiishiing @musiclovebot @bootsieboo @bonez4brainz @s0l4riss @1996kj @sweetadonisbutbetter @scinclaitnoir @okarigold

[trouslinabone]

I have a controversial theory

The Papyrus QnA was in-universe staged. Now, I know that sounds weird, so let me explain.

Something's that been bothering me about the Papyrus QnA is that Papyrus is constantly smiling -- Which, yeah, he's a skeleton. So what? But the thing is, is that he's *always* smiling, even when he's supposed to be mad.

Here, when he's ranting about mayonnaise being used as a beauty item, when he chastises Sans, he's not upset like his sprite before. No, he's smiling. Like he's trying not laugh or something.

It reminds me a lot of this one Noelle sprite in Deltarune.

Here, Noelle's being playful while also being "mad" or something along those lines. And it's the exact same face Papyrus does. (I suck at describing faces smh)

And it's not just this one case, either. Otherwise we could chalk it up to Papyrus just playing in general. Here's some other points cases of him smiling despite it not being "appropriate":

(He should be mad at Sans for exposing him, yet he seems like he's having fun with this)

(Despite his brother chastising him, he's still smiling and seemingly having fun)

There's more, but I'll move onto more compelling point.

Another major red flag that makes me think the skelebrothers staged this entire thing is the fact they're bathing in front of each other. Now, assuming the Undertale fandom got the whole ectodick wrong, this isn't like bad or anything, but it's still strange to me. Why is Papyrus doing this interview inside the bathroom? You'd think he'd be doing this literally anywhere else, but no. His bathroom is the place to be.

Also, another case is the heavy hitting final question:

Now, this seems weird to some. It's led many to think that Papyrus forgot or something, but what's really weird is how okay he is with Sans taking over, despite earlier he hated the idea of Sans stealing his interview.

This tells me that he's purposely avoiding the question. Now, I previously said that it may be because he doesn't want to think about it. But I have a new suggestion this time:

If this was staged, he's purposely leading us on. We know that he knows all about time and space (by extension, probably timelines and universes), so there's no reason for him to have forgotten that he literally came from another universe.

And he can't really be avoiding the question (Despite him doing it previously with other questions) since unlike this one question:

He doesn't get nervous before avoiding the question, he just outright does it. So, if he can't be avoiding it and he couldn't have outright forgot it.

That leaves one option: He's purposely hiding it. Thus, meaning, they probably staged it. Not just the one question, but the entire interview, thanks to just how Papyrus acts. If you voiced him as always seconds away from laughing and just overall fucking around with us, it'd make more sense really! Outside of a few instances of course.

Papyrus, and Sans by extension, are purposely hiding it. But why? I mean, of course, Toby Fox wants to raise questions and build hype for Deltarune, but I mean in-universe.

My best guess is that they not only know more than they let on (which is on brand for our favorite skeleton duo), but here's where we enter purely speculation:

The main idea I have is this:

One of them, probably Papyrus, is trying to send a message to a single person in specific, that's right, the fandom's favorite scape-goat... Drumroll please! W.D. Gaster! Of course, saying the name of the Universe they came from for the interview that will be seen by millions of people is bad.

So if he gives a vague hint, before being interrupted and having Sans "finish" the question, he won't be asked why he just gave a vague hint, instead placing the blame on his brother whom is known to pull stunt like this.

But of course, if Gaster is scattered across time and space, then he should know exactly what Papyrus means by his vague hint. And for those who question further, Sans can just claim that Papyrus meant the Ruins, where all monsters used to live. Or if he had to be really specific, he could claim they actually came from the surface, where they hid for a few years after the human-monster war ended.

So, yeah, that's it. This entire interview was staged to get Gaster's attention to lead him back to Deltarune. Why? Who knows, but maybe we're not seeing Sans and Papyrus before they went to Undertale, maybe we're seeing them going back to their hometown after years of being away. Maybe they have unfinished business?

[feminerds]

Couple of pages, one from about this time last year and two from last week-ish.

Page 1. 17 Nov 2022 - Flower on Head Bunny.

Soft Sweet Naive Tender Bunny.

She's a Rider - Caroline Polachek "Bunny is a Rider"

of Montreal "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider"

Listening on OGION (my computer, all my towers have been named after famous fictional wizards, which I kinda didn't realise until I got this new one last year and was like I gotta name it!)

Page 2. 06 Dec 2023 - Billions and Billionaires.

I've been thinking about Caroline Polachek's Desire I Want to Turn Into You (DIWTTIY) a LOT, I can tell because Kits has started calling her "Caro Polo" in a funny singsong voice that implies we're talking about the -thing- again. I will try to write all the loosely assembled thoughts down a in a continue reading jump. Maybe. I dunno.

Erstwhile indie darling, goose screamer, k*yne scooper and acclaimed quirked-up vocalist Caro Polo has stopped explaining, intellectualising, labeling, making sense! I'm sure there's theory or a name for this idea or reoccurring expression(ism) ;) because of course there's always a framework, context and philosophy that one must know of and employ effectively to place their work in the culture - but good pop music doesn't make sense, or have a basis in theory, and it will not explain itself!

I think PONY by Ginuwine is the most clear example, to mind, like you get it... you get what he's on about, the vibe could not be more legible, tbh, but the song lyrics themselves are not in clear support of the thesis, nor is the odd farting bass, but nonetheless you vibe!

It’s giving C'mon stop trying to hit me and hit me. Morpheus in the Matrix, who was of course shitting on the mother toilet when he said that.

I dunno for sure, really the intentionality of it or her work generally, and it is beside the point — to be encoded or decoded merely makes it a signal, not a sign, not a message, not a meaning. Is this all in there or are you projecting? It doesn't matter so much, as it is a successful attempt at unfocussing that third mythic eye*, feeling that intangible gestalt enough that she's tuning into the desperate leitmotifs of the current moment and amplifying/refracting them through this soaring album.

OSTENSION. DéTOURNEMENT. RECUPERATION.

Par Avion

Re: The Billion____s and The Billionaires

Page 3. 06 Dec 2023 - Année du Lapin (2023) Year of Bunny

Low Pixel

Certified Top 0.1% fan of Caroline Polachek in 2023

Bunny is Hustle Culture?

Bunny is the girls on Epst*in's Private Island? This has legs but is grim and requires more thoughtful elaboration than the general rambling I’m currently on.

Is DIWTTIY about the weird, real and unreal relationship we all have with billionaires because of their inescapable influence over lives?

Is that what the Grimes feat. is about? Is that why Caro Polo did the Harambe song? I've got a Hyper-Chain-Link-Fence of Theories.

That Trace Dominguez video - You Love Billionaires?

Why Bunny?

and What makes her a Rider?

*Probbo I know!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Any ways here's my Tally Tunes playlist for 2023.

[asleepency]

Fionna & Cake Ending Theory

Alright so since this is the last night before Fionna and Cake comes to an end, I thought I would try my hand at some honest to god Media Analysis™ on the themes of F&C and what that could mean for its ending in 3 hours

My thesis statement is that the theme of F&C is that you must make happiness with what you have, and not cling to the happiness of the past. This is supported by the protagonists' motivations/stories as I'll explain below.

Fionna's wish and surface-level motivation over the course of the series is to bring back the magic to her universe, it is established very early on that her reason for wanting this is because she is depressed with her boring normal life and she wants adventure and excitement, and just to get away from mundanity in general.

Simon's wish and surface level motivation is a bit more complicated. Obviously he wants Betty back, but if I were to guess where the series is going and the overall message, I would say that this is only his surface level motivation. Not to say that his love for her is surface level or anything, but if I were to wager what his true motivation is, I think that he wants companionship and a sense of normalcy contrasting Fionna's desire for the abnormal. Especially considering the fact that the show is clearly going for the angle that Simon and Betty's relationship wasn't all that healthy, and that Betty is basically dead and Simon needs to grieve and move on.

So with Fionna, as she's starting to learn, magical adventures may not be as simple as she thought, and she will probably discover that she doesn't need to live in a magical world to find adventure and excitement, she can make both in the world she lives in. As for Simon, looking back at the original series, and even within this series, Simon is always happiest when he has someone to take care of, even as the Ice King the earliest moment we see happiness from him is the episode where he "fathers" NEPTR and sheds a tear thinking about having a son even if it's a short-lived moment. Then of course there's Simon and little Marcy. But even in F&C itself, he seems calmest when he's being a father figure to Fionna, talking to the Farmworld kids, or cradling baby Finn calmly even when Bubblegum has a knife to his throat. So much so that people have picked up on it and pointed it out. I think he will find his companionship by having a child to care for. I don't know if it'll be baby Finn or maybe Astrid, but if I were to put money on it I would guess that's the end of his arc.

Some odds and ends that I couldn't really fit into this theory includes what's up with Cake? Because like, I feel the direction the show is going is leading to F&C's universe staying normal, but that doesn't seem fair to turn Cake back into a housecat. And the other thing is Winter King. When Winter King is reminded of Betty by Simon, he recalls her as not that important. Which itself seems to be an important detail for the writers to have included. My guess is that WK, like Simon, has a need for companionship. Still, instead of obsessing over Betty and getting her back, he focused that energy on Marceline, and that led him to create ice Marcy out of his inability to move on from Marcy not being in his life, similar to how our Simon can't move on from Betty being in his life.

I could be completely wrong though, thats the fun part, I just thought I'd take a crack at some media/character analysis. I was thinking about making this into a video, but it spiraled into a whole character analysis of Simon/Ice King. If anyone is interested in watching that, maybe I'll finish making that and post it here.

[yamchaisawesome]

What the fuck is Team Rocket’s position in the force? By Team Rocket here I specifically mean Meowth’s unit comprising of himself, Jessie, and James (yes he is their direct superior).

In their debut episode ‘Pokémon Emergency’ they seem to be elite mooks at the lowest. They’re actually very competent, taking over an entire Pokémon center in a major city by themselves, and Meowth is actually called Giovanni’s personal favourite. It’s even possible that their white outfits denote something like admin status in comparison to normal grunts.

After Pikachu takes them out the first time though, it’s all downhill. At first Giovanni assumes ash’s Pikachu is some kind of super Pokémon considering it defeated his top agents, and so sends team rocket on the mission to capture the darn rat. But then it just keeps happening. After a while he gets tired of it and decides to finally replace Meowth with a Persian as his personal lap Pokémon. By the end of the Indigo League Saga, even high ranking grunts like Butch and Cassidy seem to outrank them.

Odd thing is, they keep being sent on very high level missions. My favorite example of this is in the Unova Saga where they were literally sent there to set up a new branch of Team Rocket in the region. And for some bizarre reason up until recently they’ve still been chasing after Pikachu. Now what are our options here to explain this?

Option A: Team Rocket gets special treatment for background reasons.

There’s a bit of evidence for this one. Obviously we have Meowth who as far as Giovanni’s concerned is the only Pokémon that can talk and isn’t a literal god. Then we have James who is revealed pretty early on to be from a highly wealthy family, Giovanni probably knows this and even though James has no connection to the family’s wealth he’d probably figure out that they want James back to marry him off. Keeping James around as a bargaining chip when times get rough seems like a solid option. Meanwhile you have Jessie. Not gonna lie I’m kinda stumped with her. She doesn’t seem particularly skilled nor is her family rich in any capacity, girl literally had to eat snow for crying out loud. Maybe Meowth or James just liked her enough for Giovanni to put her on the team??

Option B: They serve as an example.

While they’re technically still high ranking, Giovanni keeps them around to send a message more than anything. At this point Giovanni 100% knows they cannot beat that stupid ass mouse and yet still makes them do it on the weekly. Why? To effectively torture them. Almost every episode they are nearly killed and humiliated. Why? To show other grunts what happens when you fail him. There are holes in this theory though, like how Team Rocket are still occasionally sent on genuine high value missions sometimes.

Option C: They didn’t actually get demoted that far/ actually got promoted

Sure Meowth lost his favourite status (which is debatable anyway) but aside from that and the taunting from Butch and Cassidy there aren’t many other signs that their rank is any lower now. It’s very possible Giovanni recognises their impressive skill in mechanics and disguises and simply doesn’t hire them for Pokémon capturing jobs anymore, and now Meowth and Co are really just doing it for the sport while their real job is covert operations such as the one in Unova. All the movies? They’re reporting all those legendary sightings to Giovanni ASAP. This is the funniest one and my personal favourite explanation.

These are just my ideas but what are yours? Please tell me I need to knoww.

[acourtofthought]

I'm very sorry to bug you. But can you explain to me the thing of the E/riels and the earplugs theory? 'Cause I don't even remember the earplugs passage in the books. I know is an anti Gwynriel theory and this blog is purely a pro Elucien one theory but I don't have anybody to ask this to.

Love your content💖

Hope your having a nice day!

You're not bugging me at all and I definitely am in the Gwynriel camp even though Elucien is 100% my favorite ship (Elain and Lucien are individually my favorite characters too) 😊

Elain gave Az the earplugs as a Solstice gift in the Az POV Bonus Chapter, claiming she thought he might need them to block out sounds now that he's living with Nesta and Cassian. Which is definitely a gag gift of sorts, she's trying to be funny, just like she was with the headache powder last year.

Anti Gwynriels and E/riels have developed the theory that Elain actually gave the earplugs to Az to prevent him from being exposed to Gwyn's singing which they claim is luring Az away from his "true love, Elain". That she had a vision that Gwyn would attempt to manipulate Az and she's trying to prevent it.

There are so many problems with this theory. First, they are discrediting Elain's character if they really feel she'd handle something she considered a threat in that way. Gag gifts are rarely, if ever used (as evidenced by Az never actually using the headache powder because of the "headaches everyone always gives him"). If she truly feared for Azriel's safety, they don't think she'd sit down and have an actual conversation about it? Instead, she'd risk him being influenced on the hopes that he'd actually use the earplugs at the appropriate times, picking up on her secret message which was disguised as a joke? Something she hadn't even planned on giving to him directly since she was trying to sneak down and leave it with the rest of his presents?

Second, it doesn't change the fact that Azriel did not even hear Gwyn singing until after he left the training ring and in that time, what happened? Gwyn gave Az an out to leaving once he realized someone was in the ring, she wasn't trying to keep him there, yet Az chose to stay. Az also noted how far she's come since Sangravah. He admired her growth and noted her charming irreverence well before she sang. He felt something in him settle, BEFORE SHE EVER SANG. Nicer thoughts than any he's ever had about Elain as individual because it's about Gwyn's character and not just her physical appeal.

And finally, Gwyn is a big part of why Nesta recovered from her depression. Do they care so little about what Gwyn has come to mean to Nesta that they'd be fine with having Gwyn's character turn evil all so E/riel can reign victorious?

Could Gwyn have some sort of Siren Song powers? Sure! But is she purposely using them for evil, to break up true love and force Az to love her instead? I find it incredibly unlikely. I find it more likely that Gwyn would have a Sirens Song power and be worried about what that means, whether that makes her unworthy. Which would make her the perfect match for Az who also has a dark power, tortures people, and feels he's unworthy as a result. I think Gwyn having a dark power is another point in favor of Gwynriel being Mates.

The issue I have with E/riels is that in order for their ship to work, they have to burn bridges left and right in relation to other characters.

"Rhys is evil for trying to keep E/riel apart!" (I mean, it couldn't possibly be because he didn't want Az to use his sister in law for just sex while he can't confirm whether he's over Mor, right?)? "Forbidden Love! Let's hide the relationship from the ones who actually care for us and support us!"

"Gwyn is evil for trying to steal Az away! Let's get rid of her and take away half of Nesta's found family, leaving her to sink back into despair over having misjudged her friend!"

"Lucien is evil for forcing Elain to be with him! Let's have Az defeat him in the Blood Duel and make SJM changing his entire storyline to be Helion's heir pointless because he doesn't deserve a HEA since he's such a bad guy......unless it involves him ending up with a human!"

I think if two characters are meant to be together, it should not involve everyone else becoming the enemy and that's exactly what E/riels do. The "us against them" mentality makes no sense in an SJM book when her major theme is found families.

Thank you so much for your message! ❤️

[chirpsythismorning]

Hi! If Terry isn't El's mom, why did she show her Kali, who can literally make people see what she wants? Was it a way to trick El, a trap like Mike says in the void?

I don't know if El can trust Kali. I wonder what her role is. If she used or they made her use her powers to hide the truth or create fake memories...

Great question! And yes, you pretty much nailed it, but I'll try to explain it further because it's a little more complicated than that...

As you know, I already talked about this here, but basically for those who don't know or just want a simple refresher, I was speculating about the fact that Terry is probably not El's mom.

HEAR ME OUT!

This is not something I've always believed, nor even easily believed when evidence was presented to me. And so I completely understand not wanting to associate with this sort of claim. Instead, the instinct is to be like, What? No way!! I know, because I had that same reaction, and it took @shippingfangirl013 hammering the obvious it in my head for me to come around. It took me actually rewatching those scenes and thinking about them logically, beyond what was being presented on the surface, and now I'm fairly confident that Terry is not El's mom.

This is for the simple fact that the way they frame Terry and El's scenes and how their relationship develops over time, doesn't make sense if she is in fact her mom.

Just because El grew up in the lab and presumably wasn't raised by Terry, doesn't mean she can't be in her life at all now? Just because Terry is in a vegetative state, doesn't mean she can't be in her life at all now either? Simply being around her mother would be something that the audience would want to see so that there's closure in Terry getting to have her daughter back in her life any way she can, and vise versa for El as well.

This isn't to say El doesn't believe that Terry is her mom, or that she doesn't want a relationship with her, hence why she never visits her again, bc El's obviously a child and has been running from the government ever since. And so she can't really live the life she truly wants. I believe if given the opportunity, El would try to see her mom occasionally, even just to spend time around her and in each others company. Hell, even just to see her aunt bc that's her family, right? Terry's baby was taken away from her and I think it would make sense to keep that relationship in a way that would feel satisfying instead of sort of treated like an easter egg session speed-round, even to this day?

And yet, this is a fabricated story, which means that all the choices they make within the narrative are for a reason.

El only meets Terry once, and what she is met with is someone who is trying to send her a message.

It's not about her finding out Terry is her mom and that's that, there's something else to it.

And we know there's something else to it, because these cryptic ass visions keep coming back, with slight differences each time. El continues being bombarded with flashbacks of what Terry showed her, all the way up to 4x09 (I made a post about this recently here!), two seasons later and with her not even having seen her mother since.

Again, I understand the doubt bc the trauma and torture Terry presumably went through, and I'm not saying I understand all the ins and outs of that, but I'll get to that part later.

Please PLEASE trust me when I say, that I know this is hard to believe. I know there's probably an instinct to look away bc a big part of us even more so don't want to believe this, but TRUST ME! It makes so much sense once you look closer, so please keep reading if you want to understand!

Why I think this theory makes more sense than what the audience assumes, is because upon seeing Terry in the void, El literally says, "Mama? It's me. Jane. I'm home." And in response, Terry says, "No", followed by grabbing El's arm and showing her a series of images.

If Terry is El's mom, what would warrant that sort of response? Bc correct me if i'm wrong, but what is literally happening here is El calling Terry her mother and therefore Terry her home (her family), only for Terry to counter that with the epitome of a negative response, rejecting it essentially? And again, directly followed by her trying to send El a message?

The real kicker about this moment is that it KEEPS coming back.

They literally open 2x07 The Lost Sister with this exact moment from El meeting Terry, accompanied by a pitch black screen...

Why? Why do that? Why are we just blatantly accepting this is El's mom when Terry is arguably trying to send a message that isn't the case? And even if the truth was that Terry is El's mom, why frame it this way, as if there are missing pieces and arguably false truths and then bring it back again and again and again, while there are these other characters being hinted at subtly in the subtext as El's true family? I don't think they would keep bringing up these visions from Terry, starting with her rejecting El's claim that she is her home, if it was because she was just her mother like it was presented to us already in s2.? Why keep rehashing it at all then, and cryptically at that?

Which then brings us to the rest of 2x07, and the original subject for your ask (sorry for sidetracking, but it's important to understand for what follows).

This episode is hated by a LOT of fans, which is crazy bc it could very well be a lot more complex than everyone gives it credit for.

As you said, Kali (008) powers involve her ability to make people invisible and she can also make people see things happening that aren't actually happening in the physical world.

We even see near the end of the episode, Kali showing El a vision of Brenner, who is obviously not there with them, but bc of her powers, she could make her see that... and therefore, arguably, she could make El see anything, right (maybe even Kali herself)?

I also find this shot and Kali's blocking in the frame to be interesting, considering the opening of 2x07 and Terry's identical cryptic one line in response to El in regards to Terry being her home:

Also you mentioned an important detail, which is this episode ending with El seeing Mike in the void, saying "It's a trap! It's a trap!" Which yes, within the context of everything else weird going on here, almost makes you wonder if Mike's line had double meaning (it almost always does in ST case)?

And so what does this mean? I think there are a couple possibilities.

I think Henry/Vecna could have motivated/pushed Kali to make El see/not see certain things, and so that's why we see this repetition of Kali in flashbacks, in s2-3 with her juxtaposed with flashbacks of Terry and the rainbow room, and in s4 with her juxtaposed symbolically with the 8 ball in all the massacre flashbacks.

This essentially means memories and certain things that have happened based on flashbacks/visions, might not have happened the way we think they did because they've been tampered with.

It's also possible that Kali doesn't even exist? Or maybe she did, but just like all the other lab kids, Henry killed her and gained her powers and was able to kind of have this paradox of rewriting the events to work in his favor (especially if he got his hands on time powers...)?

The flashback El has in s3 at the cabin is actually insane because, within the context of Kali being able to make someone invisible or to make people see things that aren't actually happening in the physical world, makes me wonder what she could have perhaps made us see/not see in the rainbow room on that day...?

Hmm... I wonder...

Anything catch your eye?

Here let me help, these are the shots repeated more than once during this flashback. I don't know what all of it means, BUT there's at least two shots in particular that catch my eye...

Two shots of infant El being born + two shots of young El in rainbow room AKA WILLEL TWINS YOUR HONOR

And then you have Kali there, sporadically thrown in throughout... who can make people invisible/make someone see things that aren't actually happening in reality...

TBH, I'm still not certain about Kali at the moment. We'll have to wait to see what they do in s5 in terms of her in general. Because The Lost Sister is so over-hated, that I fear that whatever they had originally planned might have shifted? Who knows if that's for better or for worse. And so for now at least, I do feel like it's hard to guess for certain bc of other factors contributing to this outside of the show itself.

When it comes to Terry and her scenes on the show, I think there's actually evidence that she is more connected to Brenner than we realize. That picture of her walking side by side with Brenner outside of Hawkins Lab looked arguably colleague-ish? The fact that she has books on Bonsai trees beside her, like the most focused on prop near her in the scenes we get featuring her, and Brenner is notably opening s4 cutting a bonsai tree? The fact that they give her the name 'Mama', essentially the equal name to 'Papa'? Is it possible that Terry was somewhat in kahoots with Brenner, but went rogue, basically warranting the government (Brenner) to force her into a vegetative state as punishment? I mean, that seems like the kind of thing a government agency would do to punish one of their own screwing them over?

But then you add time trickery into the mix and that's when it get's really interesting. Because that's where I start to get lost and wonder if there's then a possibility Terry could actually be aware that maybe there is a time loop and so she's having to go through this same silly charade of Joyce and Hopper visiting her, asking about Jane her daughter, hence why she rolls her eyes practically at each of these moments where they woefully misunderstand the truth for the ?/? time. And this could also be why, upon meeting El (for the ?/? time), Terry tries to send her a message, only to use that precious moment to outright reject El's claim that they are family, continuing to try to tell her more beyond that comment, as if there is something else still missing (as if El still has it all wrong)...?

Lastly, I want to mention this ironic scene that closes off 2x07, which as you probably remember, the episode literally started with Terry rejecting El's claim that she is her mom/home, only to then end with this, followed by what happens in 2x09 when El returns to Hawkins...

They're obviously doing the best that they can so that this revelation stays a surprise, while also hinting all along subtly that there is still something missing in regards to El's memories tied to her mom and the lab, while also prioritizing the bond between these characters especially...

And hey, maybe that's for a reason? Who knows...

[a-student-out-of-time]

Despair Time: The Meaning of “Thematic Significance”

//Hey everyone, Mod Bubbles here again.

//Now, I’m not going to pretend like you haven’t heard me talk about Despair Time over and over at this point, as people often ask me my thoughts or challenge me on my personal theories. I still stand by much of what I’ve said, as I don’t feel the counter-arguments people have presented, while sound in many ways, are particularly strong and also rely on plenty of assumptions.

//I’m not here to talk about any of that.

//Instead, I want to talk about something else. I recently got another ask about DT, and this one wasn’t a theory question, but an entirely different one. One that actually got me thinking as soon as I read it:

//I’ll be the first to say, no, I didn’t write DT. I’m not part of the writing team and I don’t know any of the people involved. If I was, I doubt I’d be pushing any of my theories as hard as I have. Instead, this ask got me thinking about a recurring exception people have taken to my theories and I think I know exactly why.

//I don’t think I’ve properly explained what exactly I mean when I talk about themes and messages. Which is a pretty big oversight, given how much I’ve brought it up.

//I don’t blame anyone for that. After all, as impassioned as fans of any work can be, not everyone is a writer, nor are they as intimately familiar with the mechanics of writing as someone who’s spent well over a decade working toward becoming one.

//But as with many fields with multiple sub-topics to cover, and no one right way to do them all, I also don’t claim to be an expert. I’m just someone who has a passion for this stuff, and it’s what forms the cruxes of my theories. That’s what I want to share with you now, and to hopefully clear up some misunderstandings.

(Just so you know, this has been in the works for a while and I’ve already covered the points I’ve made here at some points before, but I’m sticking with what I’ve written so far.)

//There is a very common stance on writing that anything can happen. That you, as a creator, have infinite freedom to create. This is true in many aspects when it comes to creating a fictional setting and populating it with characters, but you also need to understand another important thing about writing: its limitations.

//Now, I don’t mean limitations on creativity. I mean things like themes, narratives, plot structure, the very bones of a story. These can often be changed and distorted in different and creative ways depending on the work, but you can only bend them so far before they break, and the story breaks with them.

//For example, why is it that when a protagonist dies, it’s often either very early on in the story, or at the climax? You could potentially have it work if they died at the halfway point and another took over, sure. But would it make sense for them to die 23% of the way into the story? 62%? No, because these simply don’t work.

//Take the classic Three-Act Structure. You can see the points at which the story rises and falls between different events, steadily building before arriving at a major moment and then diving back down into another. Of course, this doesn’t apply well to Danganronpa.

//DR has more in line with the five-act structure (technically six, but same logic), which takes all of this and moves it across a wider series of events. Now, you’d be forgiven for looking at this graph and thinking that Act 3′s need to be the climax or turning point, when it can really happen at any point between 3, 4 and 5. As I said, things can be bent in new ways.

//This is where I feel much of the logic for the counter-arguments to my theories comes from, how the story is building up to a turning point in Chapter 3, which means she’s more likely to double down in Chapter 2 in regards to not trusting people.

//if I were looking it purely objectively on a graph like this, I’d understand. But I have to disagree for the reasons I keep bringing up: themes.

___________________________________________________

//In its most basic form, a theme can be thought of as the underlying meaning of a story. What exactly is this piece of art trying to tell us and why? Some are much more overt than others, and DR is definitely in that category regarding its continuous and very unsubtle themes of hope and despair.

//DT, on the other hand, takes the approach and discusses the themes of trust and distrust. These are evident as early as the prologue, where Teruko asks Xander a simple question:

//Now, this is already a huge departure from the canon games, and this moment sets Teruko apart from people like Makoto, Kaede, Shuichi, Komaru, and even Hajime. Whereas most protags would be the ones keeping everyone together or directing their anger at the mastermind, Teruko already feels a sense of doubt against everyone else.

//And as we later learn, this is not for no reason. Yet at the same time, she reels back on that comment when Xander seems uncomfortable.

//Yet he actually agrees with her, up to a point:

//The prologue cements the core theme in here, and Chapter 1 goes a step further and shows us how that sense of trust can go wrong.

//Teruko, who’d spent the chapter hanging out with people she considered friends- especially Xander and Min- gets betrayed hardcore by both of them. Xander is pushed into stabbing Teruko thanks to a mysterious note he received, and his own belief that it was the right call, and Min’s decision to try and frame her for Xander’s accidental death.

//All of this, combined with the group’s unwillingness to even hear her out at first and instead forcing her to defend herself on her own, drives Teruko to give up on trusting people entirely. Come Chapter 2, we see her sticking to that.

//Chapter 1 of DT is very much an exploration of how having too much trust in others can backfire significantly. Does that mean that Chapter 2 would see more doubling down on that? Not necessarily.

//A common mistake made by both amateur writers and some readers is the idea that, because a viewpoint is held by the protagonist, that means it’s the correct one. This is called Protagonist-Centered Morality, and it’s why you get a lot of bad stories where the protag gets away with doing hypocritical things because they’re the hero.

//Now, it can be easy to fall into that with Teruko, who I’ve seen many describe as the most realistic and grounded protag because she understand the situation. Of course, we as the audience know that no amount of trusting and hoping is going to just make the killing game stop two chapters in, but the characters don’t know that.

//There’s also a common view held by many in the DR fandom that characters can be preemptively judged based entirely on their behavior; in particular how people like Eden in DT or Shion in Heartless Deceit are often slapped with the villain card. That being kind and optimistic makes them naive at best or secretly evil at worse.

//I don’t like these sorts of theories because they aren’t based on actual in-universe foreshadowing or hinting. Instead, it feels more like metagaming; using previous experiences with these archetypes and basing your expectations on that, rather than what’s actually in the text. 

//When you focus so much on the meta aspects of these fangans, especially ones that aren’t adhering to the regular DR formula, it can really undermine the experiences. With this sort of narrative metagaming, you’re not engaged with the work itself, but the tropes of the series you’re more familiar with.

//Not to mention it feels a bit disrespectful to assume all DR writers are drawing from the exact same idea book.

//We are, but we can explore those ideas in new ways, and that doesn’t always equate to “optimistic character dies/is evil.” I bring all of this up because Chapter 2 is a good source of another important piece of writing: contrast.

_______________________________________________________

//You may have heard a bit of writing advice that says you need to raise the stakes to keep an audience engaged. This is wrong for many reasons, and instead it’s more accurate to say that a story shouldn’t repeat itself too often to keep people engaged. Indeed, many people find grounded stories about characters overcoming emotional issues more compelling than plots about saving the world.

//One of the best ways to avoid repetition is to provide different challenges to your characters. Bigger threats are one option, but there’s also new and unfamiliar situations, which is where I think we’re going with this chapter.

//DT’s first chapter showed us the story of Teruko waking up, meeting a group of her peers, getting to know them, and despite the danger of their situation, offering them a sense of trust...right before all of it is shattered by Xander’s and Min’s actions. That leaves her in a very different position from when she began, now deciding not to trust anyone.

//I don’t believe Chapter 2 is doubling down because so much of it has been devoted to the exact opposite. Many of the characters have been tearing into Teruko for her unwillingness to trust, particularly how she pulls a knife on Charles and J, and how she isolates herself to the point of playing with cacti to stave off boredom.

//To put it another way that might make a bit more sense, have you ever noticed that plans, like heists or military operations, are more likely to succeed when we see less of them? When you get the full details of a plan, it seems more likely to fail in some ways when they put it into action. When you don’t, you get big dramatic reveals of how the plan actually works.

//The reason for that is simple: if you have the plan shown in full once, and it plays out exactly as described, you may as well have either not shown one of them or have them happening concurrently. Otherwise, you’re just repeating yourself unnecessarily.

//Likewise, the more a point is brought up, discussed or challenged in a story or storyline, and the more the protagonist adheres to it, the more likely it is that they’re going to either dismiss that thought by the end or see it in a new perspective. This is especially true if the point is being directly challenged at first, then seemingly not.

//I talk about Eden a lot in this regard as well, because her scene is really the big one that seals this for me. I’ve seen people talk about her optimistic attitude as being naive at best or a sign of villainy at worse, and that’s a take that actually appears in the story with Arei.

//And then she immediately turns that around and admits that, no, she doesn’t believe any of that. In fact, she wants to be like Eden.

//It still hurts to see her like this, just fyi ^^;

//But continuing on, a similar sort of situation occurs earlier with Teruko and Eden in the kitchen, where they talk about why Eden wants to be friends with her so much. Teruko admits that Eden’s the last person she wants to be friends with. Not because she doesn’t like her, but rather that it would hurt too much to lose her.

//Teruko appreciates her kindness, but she also views Eden as naive. She’s under the impression that optimism could only come from a place of ignorance or childishness. The idea that these are things you’re supposed to grow out of, and that being a pessimistic cynic is the rational response to betrayal.

//And of course, Eden tells her how it REALLY is.

//Now, it might be easy to look at this and say “Okay, but you’re still in a killing game and people are gonna die, so why does it matter?”

//It matters because she gets through to Teruko with this speech, if only for a moment.

//Teruko has spent the first three episodes of this chapter pushing people away, threatening them, telling them they’re going to die and that trust is stupid. Yet when Eden tells her this, it makes her heart stir. To the point that she has to deny it to herself that she’s actually moved by her words.

//This is how I can pretty confidently say that Teruko doubling down on her cynicism is very unlikely. She’s also unlikely to dive right back into friendship, but this might be the first taste of compassion she’s had in a long time.

//And this is also why I say DT is not this grimdark edgefest that so many theorists seem to portray it as. The metagaming with character archetypes combined with a lot of assumptions and circumstantial evidence has already lead a lot of people to conclude Eden is the killer and that’s why Teruko will double down.

//None of that is substantiated by the actual character interactions and themes. If that were true, scenes like this would either not exist or they’d exist just to prove Eden wrong. Or, as I’ve seen much more frequently in grimdark stories, Eden would have been the first victim to cement that theme home right from the start.

//And more importantly, there are always the hidden quotes with these characters, whom I refer to many times for these sorts of theories. What’s Teruko’s?

//Chapter 1 demonstrated how far her trust issues go, where two of her friends betrayed her in different ways, and she responded by trying to disconnect herself from the lives of everyone in the game. Yet Teruko cannot, and will never, be able to do that so long as this Killing Game is ongoing.

//In a killing game, either one person wins or one person loses, and Teruko needs to be on the winning side if she wants to live. She’s already made it clear she’d rather not kill or leave the site of the killing game, so that means she has to participate whether she wants to or not.

//And to participate, even from a purely self-interested perspective, she needs to be willing to trust people at their word in some respects. That, I think, can be the setup for a very interesting situation for this chapter.

//Now, you might say “Well, Bubbles, have you considered how many characters in DR aren’t who they say they are? Why are you so certain that Eden or even Teruko is being honest? What if there’s a twist reveal with them?”

//To which I say, yes, I have actually thought of that. In fact, we’ve already seen that with the fandom’s favorite motivational speaker, who is also a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

________________________________________________

//People really like David. A lot. To the point that it actually surprised the creator, who was convinced everyone would hate his guts after this chapter. And I will admit, I am one of those who do.

//I really hate David. A lot. I will, however, be as unbiased as I can in my examination of him, as he’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about. 

//The thing about twist reveal characters is that their true nature is always hinted at and foreshadowed in some manner, either in the story or their FTEs (I’d prefer if it was in the story, but maybe that’s just me).

//You see it with characters like Toko, Mukuro, the whole of Class 77-B sans Chiaki, and Korekiyo. They’re not always satisfying, admittedly, but the signs are at least there.

//Super Danganronpa Another 2 is full of these for characters like the Voids and Kanade, who all have little moments here and there, be it in the main story or their FTEs, where they let their true personalities leak through before it’s revealed what they really are.

//Any good twist reveal benefits from foreshadowing, and David is no exception. In fact, seeing DT for the first time, I was already unwilling to trust him right from the get go.

//He puts on this facade of an inspiring, upstanding dude. But as soon as he thinks he’s alone?

//Now, you’d be forgiven for seeing this as a sign that David doesn’t like his title but still wants to help people. That maybe he doesn’t like dealing with people, but nevertheless has good intentions. After all, don’t his interactions with people like Xander and Arei show that?

//I’m sorry, but it’s quite the opposite.

//As we’ve since learned, David Chiem is a manipulative bastard. He not only doesn’t give a damn about other people, he’s an raging misanthrope who looks down on everyone else.

//Not only that, he is actively cruel and malicious toward everyone in the game for no damn reason. Nobody ever actively bullied him, mocked him or did anything to make his life miserable. Yet he lashes out, calling people names, deliberately saying hateful and cruel remarks for no reason other than to hurt them.

//I’ve seen some people try to suggest that David actually does have good intentions, or that he’s doing this for a good cause.

//Pardon my French, but that’s complete bullshit. Here’s why:

//If David had good intentions, he wouldn’t have done any of what he did. He spent the better part of this chapter lying and making things up, from his supposed secret about a family history of depression to the idea that he got Xander’s secret in the trial.

//Unlike Eden, who wears her heart on her sleeve and has never shown a malicious bone in her body, David very clearly hates the people around him. Even before Episode 11, the cracks in his facade were always visible.

//This is also not brushed away with the notion that he’s only like this because Xander died. That may have exacerbated things, but this is David. This is how he really is, fully exposed. He is filled with unmitigated anger and bitterness, and Xander would probably hate his guts if he saw him like this.

//The big reason why I see no good in his actions is because he doesn’t have anyone’s best interest in mind.

//Take Nico, for example. I’m not going to get into the discourse over it, but Nico’s secret is that they’re nonbinary and received absolutely no support for it their whole life. It’s clearly not something they want to talk about, yet David keeps trying to drag it out of them until they relent.

//Likewise, Hu doesn’t want to talk about her secret, yet David keeps trying to press her on it, but then gives up when she doesn’t seem receptive. Instead, they talk about some other secrets, like how Hu used to go by the name “Julia.”

//And what happens later in the trial?

//This is evil. This is unquestionably malicious evil. David couldn’t get her to spill her secrets, so he goes out of his way to harm her with what he does know. How anyone can see this as anything less than evil is beyond me.

//But it also illustrates my point: if Eden is kind by choice, David is kind by motive. He doesn’t care about people, he care about what those people can do for him, and to him, kindness and inspiration is the best way to achieve that goal.

//The thing about manipulators is that they’re as superficial as they come. Their facade is only there to take advantage of trust, yet even when any sort of good graces are lost, they will still use what they know to try and turn things around. When they can’t do that, they just get aggressive and threaten people.

//If you want more proof, here are some lists to look up if you want:

//I’ve looked over David’s actions and attitudes many times, and he dolls out love-bombing pretty frequently, especially with Xander. Everything on these lists, he’s done at some point.

//This isn’t about whether or not I think he’s the killer, but instead reinforces my point about the themes of DT. If Eden represents kindness through choice, and Charles and Arei represent the willingness to change for the better, David represents everything Teruko fears.

//It’s very interesting to look back and see that, when David reveals himself, Teruko isn’t nearly as shocked or appalled as the others. She’d already seen he was putting on a mask, so to her, thus must’ve just felt like a “told ya so” moment. She already expects the worst out of the others, so seeing this already reaffirms what she believes.

//What sense is there in having her double down from that point on?

_________________________________________________

//So, I hope that clears up some of the misunderstandings that may have come from my previous posts. When I talk about thematic significance, this is what I’m referring to. The actual driving ideas and intentions behind a story.

//This isn’t me complaining about elements of the story I don’t like, this isn’t me trying to rewrite it because I think I know better and this isn’t meant to be an insult to anyone who’s ever made a theory I’ve disagreed with. None of that is ever my intention.

//I admit I do find it a little hypocritical that people will accuse me of wanting to rewrite the entire story to fit my desires for it, when I’ve seen theories that do everything from frame characters like Eden and Hu as the villains for incredibly petty reasons, giving them motivations that make no sense for them as characters, to trying to suggest David is the real hero of this story. He’s not. He’s a villain, you guys.

//Putting that aside, all of this is just me hardcore analyzing the story based on the evidence that we’ve been given, and from careful contemplating of the story thus far. What’s my conclusion?

//Teruko is our protagonist, and she’s in a unique position as someone who has to be the one to learn the importance of trust and friendship. This story is her character journey, and while I do think it’s possible for her to double down at some point, I have my doubts that this entire story will be about her getting worse before she gets better.

//Likewise, Eden is our support, and she’s the one who embodies a genuinely optimistic hope, meant to invoke the same sort of role as Makoto or Chiaki, but in a bit more of a side role. If she weren’t meant to serve that role, she would either have died first in this game, and she’s either poised to face a similar fate as Chiaki or she’ll be a survivor. That’s my prediction, at least.

//I think this is what makes this a part of the Danganronpa fangan universe. The overarching nature of this series is about the better angels of our nature overcoming adversity, even in the face of overwhelming despair. If you have a fangan that doesn’t really do that, I greatly hesitate to even call it “Danganronpa.”

//That journey of overcoming adversity doesn’t always equate to perpetual upward momentum, and sometimes people will stumble or not survive the journey, but that doesn’t mean any of it was pointless. It becomes pointless when the story doesn’t offer any sort of character growth or any resolution beyond “Everything is awful, we should just lay down and die.”

//That’s not what Despair Time is, and this is why I emphasize that constantly. Teruko is not our typical protagonist and this isn’t our typical story, but even through a darker and more adversarial group, that doesn’t equate to a story that’s reinforcing those points, but is instead challenging them and showing why going too far in either direction will only lead to failure.

//I have a lot to say about Teruko in particular, but I’ll save those for a proper character analysis. For now, I hope this has cleared up my points about thematic relevance and made my theories make a bit more sense.

//And if you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[aquaquadrant]

Act two, oh boy. Ughhguhegjeb ok good to go.

VOLUNTARY DECAPITATION???? AQUA??? WHAT IN THE RED KING IS THIS??????

Tango, the jig is up, everyone knows everything is NOT FINE dude

And here we go again, I am the Watchers' number one hater fr

Ooooooo, Helsknight mention, realization, yess

Grian's "that makes so much sense" is so funny for some reason

REN TOO LMAO. It was just another Tuesday on Hermitcraft.

Mmmm, explanation, tasty.

I wanna know more about Hels not having an admin, UGHG.

NOOOOO, NOT THE DREADED BLAZE FARM

Maybe if I turn off my computer rn, I can live in ignorant bliss.

Nope, continuing.

Reminder that the Watchers literally watch hels too, and probably knew about Tango, like at least one did. Ugh.

This whole conversation is just, ugh, like, everyone is just horrified. I mean, it's really putting into hindsight just how HORRIBLE it was, like omfg.

This explanation of how the farm works, UGH, Tango being so chill about it, UGGHH

When I first read the accident line of Etho's, I thought he meant the portal switching them was the accident, and not that Tango didn't mean for it to happen lol

Seriously Watchers are on my LAST NERVE

Tango talks so casually, omfg.

IMPUUULLLLSSSEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JIMMY DEFENDING TANGO, MY HEART

Hm, how did you not see that coming Grian? Lol

Ty so much for having all the DL people be on Tango's side, literally couldn't handle this otherwise. Cleo's statement about how could they not tell Tango was dealing with this? Mwah

OOOOOOO, Grian askin' about Hels..

???????? Was that???? Grian's voice/thoughts??? In Jimmy's head???? Hm??????

AHA IT WAS, WATCHER GRIAN

Oh, is this were the decapitation comes in?

I'm still so worried about Tango going back to Hels. Please, so scared.

Oop, Jimmy speaking back to the Watchers omfg, love it.

Tango trying to justify why he should be a damn farm, uggghhh. This is literally just him coping and stemming from trauma, and it's not even hurtful seeing as death has no consequence.

Sometimes the Watchers can be funny, as a treat, they still need to stfu.

NOT THE L WORD (love)

YEAH, JIMMY IS GROWIN A BACKBONE, GOD DAMN

AND HE SILENCED THEM, LETS GOOOOOOO

OOP "I don’t care if some random guy thinks you’re just the manifestation of all his evil- frankly, I think that says more about him than it does about you.” YEAAAAHHHHHHHH, GAG BRAVO WHEN HE CAN'T DEFEND HIMSELF (he couldn't even if he wanted to)

The l word :) (love <3)

Fade to black and back to the ranch afterwards

"My gloves" awwwwwww, they're Jimmy's gloves now ugghhfew

The DL ppl coming to help ugh, love DL

And Etho takes the comm to explain! Huh, why am I getting deja vu back to a certain Hels player hm

Petition for a oneshot where the DLers explain what happened after this is all over to X, I think that would be great.

Etho a portal expert, do you get deja vu?

LMAO, Patho said he'd need Tango's comm to confirm his theory, and now Etho says he'd need Bravo's comm to confirm his theory, my my how the turn tables have turned. Just sit these two in a room already damnit.

Atlas fr need to move on god damnit. All these issues is because of Atlas, god damn it.

MY MY, HOW THE TURN TABLES HAVE TURNED, USING TANGO'S DATA TO GET TO BRAVO?? OHO

Uhoh, I thought we could be happy and not mention the feather farm again :(

RESCUE MISSION ARC!!!!

Not the Watchers again 😭 I'll give em a pass, cause they're all moods.

I do wonder how everyone else outside of DL is handling all of them being on lock down. Can they still message, or is everyone just cut off from contacting them? How's X, an admin of a sanctuary world, reacting to this fiasco? How's fWhip, the admin of Empires, doing with a good chunk of his friends stuck in one server with minimal to no context?

Mmmm, please have the decapitation work, pleeaasssee

AQUUUUAAAAAA-

Jimmy talking back to the Watchers is my favorite Jimmy <3

Ha, take that Atlas, THE DLERS DID THE PORTAL SO FRICKIN QUICK AHA

I was so worried Tango was just gonna BOOKIT through that port 😭

??????? NO?????? NO???????? NO??????????

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“What are you doing here?!” TANGO YOU CAN'T BE ASKIN THAT WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WENT THROUGH THE DAMN PORTAL

UGGHHHHH IM TERRIFIED FOR THE REALIZATION OF "Tango joined the game" DON'T DO THAT TO ME, UGGGHHHHHHHH

It's done, it was a roller-coaster, htp can't hurt me (for a while)

Tysm for this incredible fic <3

-🍌

ROUND TWO HERE WE GO 🏃‍♂️

‘voluntary decapitation’ got a LOT of reactions hagsjdha i didn’t know how else to put it…

one thing about tango is that he is gonna try and insist he’s fine TIL THE BITTER END like asking for help is always the very last resort for him in all facets of life. we stan an emotionally walled-up king.

obligatory ‘the watchers suck’ blanket statement 🫡

i’ve talked abt helsknight before but it was SUCH a handy way to quickly get into the explanation, like that’s the whole reason tango ever even realized he was a doppelgänger. and ofc the other hermits who were there are like ‘OH HEY YEAH wtf was up with that…’ they’re so used to having weird shit happen and then just moving on LOL

“I wanna know more about Hels not having an admin” :3

of COURSE tango had to tell them all about the horrible blaze farm while acting like he’s completely unaffected. no way was i gonna leave out any of those tasty details.

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: IMPULSE WAS THE MVP 💪 💪💪 even if he accidentally spooked tango in this case, it’s good to know he would go FERAL to protect his friends.

the rest of the DL gang are p great too, NO WAY they’d buy all the ‘doppelgängers are evil’ bullshit 😤 and i really don’t like mischaracterizing someone just for the sake of added drama/having an antagonist. i can just MAKE a new guy for that (hence bravo and atlas HAH)

WATCHER (kinda) GRIAN MAKES AN APPEARANCE FINALLY 💃 usually he’s more careful about not using his abilities near a listener but the situation had him frazzled.

listen. the scene where jimmy finally confronts tango about the destructive nature of his self-hatred is my FAVE. sometimes love means just being there for someone and supporting them, but other times it means laying down some hard truths. it’s the culmination of jimmy’s arc and i’m SO glad you enjoyed it.

it takes a server to rebuild a ranch 💪

i am an ethogirl first and a person second so u KNO i had to have etho lay it out for us, at the same time allowing me to draw parallels between him and patho.

i’m def not qualified to discuss fwhip or empires in general (i’m a sham, i’ve never watched any of it) but x was for SURE freaking out. this is gonna make one hell of a story (hah) for the rest of the hermits when they get back.

CMONNN i couldn’t have the decapitation work, that’d be too easy ;0

i’m cryin at ur reaction going from “I was so worried Tango was gonna book it through the portal” to “NOOOOO???? NOOOOOOOO” like damn talk about foreshadowing 😂

GLAD U ENJOYED THE RIDE we’ve still got plenty of twists and turns to come 💃 thank u for being absolutely STELLAR w the feedback!!

[ridiculous-disaster]

Anyone wants to hear a rant about why Zoe should be a twist villain?, no. I don’t care I’m going to rant about it anyway.

I don’t care how nice she is, Zoe should be a twist villain.

Now I know what I’m saying might sound ludicrous, but hear me out.

So in order to explain why I think this I have to bring up a few points. Some will be familiar as I have said them before and some will be new. Let’s tackle the minors first. Most of these have already been mentioned in earlier posts.

1. She is literally vesperia, if translated from French it means wasp. What was Chloe when she was aqumatized? A wasp, if the wielder’s outfit reflects who they are then it would make sense that she is a villain, a wasp is an angry sun condensed into a insect mold. They sometimes sting for no reason, they are a pain in the skin. They will sting because the stinger doesn’t detach and they don’t die. And they don’t even have the positive of their puke being delicious. They are at most pest control. If this truly is a reflection of Zoe then she should be evil. (The pest thing kinda makes sense from a certain angle, Tomas considers Chloe as pest).

2.she is an actress who has previously been lying about who she is, she claims they she pretended to be someone else at her old school but then got bullied when she revealed herself (also can’t really blame her classmates for bullying her, imagine if one of your closest friends suddenly revealed they she was faking everything including her personality, I’d be pissed if that happened). If my theory is true then she could have just made it up to sound sympathetic, which would explain why she drops her backstory within five minutes of us meeting her. She wants the others in class to sympathize with her and having a sad backstory is a great way to get sympathy. Zoe probably knows that she is an actress after all, so she should know what a theater audience finds sympathetic. She is also that sickly sweet that only a made up character can be. Now you may be thinking what about the writing on her shoe, well she could have just written that herself, we only get to see her write numbers in the show so it could be her handwriting Also She outright lies in the show itself she also shows no remorse for Chloe, the person she lied to. Through the entire season she shows no remorse for making her sister believe that her mother cared for her when it was a lie. Taken from a script.

3. Her entrance (I know that the actual reason is that she was pulled out of the eather, but stick with me) it was sudden. She might have seen an opportunity. Her half sister just revealed every temp hero’s identity and has probably fallen so far out of ladybugs grace that she won’t ever have the bee again. So she decides to swoop in immediately afterwards in hopes of getting a miraculous. If Chloe and most of her classmates got one then it’s reasonable too assume that the person giving miraculouses out is also in that class. So she infiltrates the class and makes friends with everyone in hopes of getting a miraculous. And it works she has the bee. If the show did what I wanted it to do now then it would reveal her to be a villain somewhere in season 6. Preferably a little before the middle of the season so the ramifications of her twistiness can be felt. But season finale works too. As long as it’s continuing for the next season.

Now we get to who I think this is a good idea. Simple, the show has shown to have no kwams destroying characters to make a message (cough cough, Chloe). But unlike Chloe this actually has hints to why it would happen. Have the message be that you can’t be too trusting of people. Zoe’s marysue-ness gave her an miraculous in the second episode she was in. Marinette trusted her so quickly without even spending any time with her to get a feel who who she is. For all we know she could have been a demon waiting to take over the world we didn’t know anything about her.

This would also add drama not connected to the love square. The show has consistently shown that Mari can do no wrong, that’s just plain stupid. But if Zoe turned out to be a villain then Mari would have to face that she misjudged someone and continuously gave a miraculous to some one who outright faked who she was. Mari would have unmistakably made an error, that could have been catastrophic.

If I got more to chose then Chloe would have a redemption ark here but they’ve already ruined two (Chloe because of writer bias and Gabriel, because again writing bias, it wasn’t organic and shouldn’t have happened in the first place, because he abuses his son and never changes).

Also while we’re at it can someone can someone call whatever the French and English version of CPS is, I can assure you that it would be better for Chloe, also is it to late to request someone beat up Andre with a metal baseball bat?

[thehighfiveproject]

Round two: ready to go!

Here’s the card we’ll be using for this month’s edition of our bingo! Grab it up and get going. Remember, zero need to sign up, but if you want to share it with us so we can reblog and share the love, make sure you do so by next Wednesday, December 7.

Below the cut: a list of definitions for each of the squares in case you need help or ideas (don’t worry, those will be added to the FAQs post for easy reference), and a black & white version of the card, in case you want to get creative with it.

☆ How do I fill my card? How is each square defined?

Here’s the way we’re defining the activities associated with each card. If any of this is confusing after you read it over, send us a message and we’ll help!

- ‘leave kudos on a fic’

This is the easiest one! Just go out and find a fic you like and leave a kudos on it, if you haven’t already. It’s a small gesture but it makes an author know that someone actually read their story!

- ‘reblog/retweet an art post’

Find any art post you like and share it! Here’s the catch: you need to interact with it a little. When you reblog/retweet, please tell the creator what you thought about the piece – you can add some tags, or reply to the post, or quote-retweet or add a comment, or anything! A simple “I love this!” is nice but some details are even better (“your linework is so good!” or “that shade of blue is perfect”). One thing to think about: a lot of art on Tumblr is reposted (like when a user posts another artist’s work from Pixiv, say), so it’s nice if you make an effort to interact with posts that are actually from the creator if you can. That way the artist will see your comment!

- ‘reblog/retweet a fic post’

Same as the above, but for fic! Again, tags/replies/comments are needed, preferably with a little detail. You don’t need to be super eloquent or leave a detailed review (although if you have time/energy, that would be appreciated!); a tag as simple as “that was really cute” or “great characterization!” will do. Like with the art posts, it’s nice if you reblog directly from the writer (if you can) – some fics are posted by AO3 feed bots and the like, so the author may not even know a reblog has happened.

- ‘reblog/retweet an edit’

Same as the above, but for edits! Edits can include a gif set, or a set of screencaps, or even a fanvid. And, again, some simple tags/replies are needed. “I love that song choice!” for a vid or “great coloring!” on a gifset can let people know their work is being appreciated.

- ‘comment on a fic’

Find a fic, on any fic-hosting site you like, and leave a comment. That’s it! Again, no need to leave a novel-length comment (unless you’re inspired!) – a sentence or two is all we’re asking for this square to be considered complete. This is a great opportunity to let a writer know how their piece made you feel, or what section you particularly liked.

- ‘message a creator’

‘Creator’ here can mean anyone who makes *anything* to do with fandom: art, edits, fic, meta, knitted sweaters with character faces on them – if they’ve made anything, they’re a creator, and now’s your chance to let them know they’re appreciated. Send a message (anonymous or not!) letting them know that you enjoyed their work!

- ‘rec a curator’

You know that one blog that's just a joy to follow? They find and post all the stuff you love, whether that's art or fic or screencaps or really elaborate fan theories that just make you want to applaud. Maybe they write great tags that help you understand the fandom you're in a little better, or maybe they're in the know about what's happening in your fandom, or maybe they're just fun to see on your dashboard. This is your chance to rec a great fandom curator -- one of those people who put in the effort on tumblr to make your scroll a better place. Please make a little rec post, tag the blog and explain why they're a great follow, and show them that their work is appreciated, too!

- ‘promo a fan project’

Here's where you get to help boost the boosters. Fan projects are great: they encourage creators to get together and make more of the stuff that makes fandom fun to be in. Find any fan project you love -- this can be a brand new big bang, a kinkbingo that runs every year, an old art exchange that you loved and wish could happen again -- and then help people see it! Reblog their announcement post, their fic/art masterlist, make a little rec post for it and link to their blog/AO3 collection/Livejournal -- anything that lets people know that the project exists. Maybe you'll get more people to join in, or more people to admire the work, or maybe if it's an old or abandoned event you'll get people excited about running it again! Can't hurt to try.

And here’s the non-decorated version of the card, in case you feel like making it your own. Go hog wild! (Seriously, put hogs on it if you want.)

[hallothere]

ok so you said you wanted more Situations soooo... 18. Possession/Mind control! for whoever you find most plinko-able at the moment

18. Possession/Mind control  you guys wanna see the worst fan theory ever

I am a man of Gondor, a friend to the Elves and of all good folk. Call me Ergothorn. I see the danger growing in the East and wish to oppose it.

You stand in the copse of trees down the hill from Lhanuch. Your camp is there, the one you’ve been returning to each night between errands. The one with your Company settled securely in it. Techeron is going to start the next watch and waves to you. It’s a quiet cold night. 

Radanir hurries past him with a piece of paper clutched in his hand. He looks around the camp, probably for Halbarad if this is a message from one of the scouts- though, you wonder who would bother to write their report except maybe Corunir- until his eyes settle on you. At least, you think they do. You turn to see if there’s someone behind you. Not Mincham, who seems irritated with Radanir of late and headed off for scouting of his own. Not Candaith, who was probably asleep. You turn back to him since there’s no one behind you. He’s gotten closer, and there’s an odd gleam in his eye. 

“Oh, well-met friend,” he says, “I found this interesting note affixed to a tree and I need to make sure our leader sees this at once.”

“Halbarad is in town.” You say, “I was going to run an errand for Nona. I came back here for my whetstone, but I'm going back to Lhanuch. I can run it up to him.”

Radanir frowns, but then nods. “Ah. If you have an errand already, let me do the delivering. It’s so strange, I really ought to hurry. Halbarad will know what to do with it, of course.”

Lheu Brenin dispatched a messenger from Tûr Morva in Dunland, but the messenger was beset by foes outside Lhaid Ogo in the Lich Bluffs and was dragged within.

Lhaid Ogo is a dreadful place, and you are lucky to find anyone alive in there. Anirin looks around when you arrive alone, but Halbarad only sent you. You explain, and Anirin breathes a sigh of relief.

"I thought someone was- nevermind. Let us hurry on to Lhanuch, for I have a tale to tell from the Falcon clan."

You have to pick your way back out over puddles of ooze and corpses and corpses of kergrim. Anirin blanches at the sight- you're not sure whether in disgust or fear- and you push on all the faster. You would want to stop at the camp before going to Lhanuch, before presenting Anirin to the Brenin for his own sake- but he insists you hurry. You need to find Glynn Brenin and Halbarad and make this tale known.

I cannot reveal myself to you, but trust that I am a friend. I will contact you again when it is safe to do so.

You mourn Wadu in the way his family wants, the way they best honor him. Wadu was brave, you think, and though you knew him only a short time you still grieve. You are grateful, you think, that it was you and neither his sister or his father that came upon him in the road. Even if they had thought him a coward once, it was a terrible shock.

Radanir waits for you again, that odd gleam in his eyes. You sense it means trouble, and you are right.

"I've found another letter- that is, we have received another letter from Ergothorn. I left it on that crate there. If he speaks the truth, we have little time to waste!"

You must defend this dwarf from the uruks! He knows much that, told to the wrong person, could be hurtful to your errand.

Your legs burn as you climb the slopes to Nar's Peak, Radanir ahead of you as he sprung eagerly up the hill. You are ambushed, and only notice the uruks a second before they attack. Radanir is surprised, and does not look until a sword is swinging down at him. He is lucky his reflexes are good, and manages to best the uruk attacking him while you take care of the archer.

"That is all of them. Make your way further up the mountain and find Candaith on the way!"

You do, but that was not all of them.

To the Rangers:

Corunir and Candaith were not sorely hurt, but Corunir remained behind to reassure your new friends at Nar's Peak. Saruman is at the heart of this trouble, you just know, but now the time comes for something to be done. You and the others begin the long journey to Lhanuch. Candaith nurses bruised ribs, Calenglad broods, Golodir sits his horse ramrod straight, and Radanir mulls over the scenery.

Halbarad seems worse than you remember him. His face is haggard and there's a dullness in his eyes that you do not like. Nothing he says puts you at ease either.

"Ergothorn is dead."

That is a blow, for while you know not how, the mysterious man has warned you and helped you all this way. Unraveling the mysteries of Enedwaith, shedding light on the plans of Saruman. And he is dead, like you so nearly were this morning.

"Halbarad's wishes are my own as well. We will walk the Forsaken Road and see what lies within." Radanir gives you a small smile. Quickly, he turns and surveys the expanse of grass and hills beyond.

They who swore the oath to Isildur at Erech -- you know of them and their home beneath the Dwimorberg -- but you do not know that some number of them sought to flee their curse and came to hide in a place called the Forsaken Road, among the Lich Bluffs

You stand near Radanir in the cave, and you are not warmed. He is unusually quiet, and Halbarad is unusually loud. Your leader of course is bold. He does speak with the authority Aragorn bestowed on him... But it is a long, cold road. The Dead are all about it.

Not all remember the old ways, but I do

Candaith gives his life for yours. You scream, possibly, but you do run. You run until tears blur your eyes and you know not the names of all who fall to the shades as you make your escape. As you leave Candaith and the others behind, all to give Halbarad the intelligence he can already guess the nature of. The Dead are traitors to the last, and beyond.

Radanir is there, holding two swords, his face blank.

"What has happened? All of a sudden, the Oath-breakers fell upon us, and we have only driven them off for the moment! We have to get out of here!"

You run past him, ready to bring him out before it is too late. But your nerves are heightened. You leap out of the way before one of the twin swords cleaves your back in twain. Whirling, you see Radanir rising from the follow through. His eyes are dead.

"Where is Candaith? I have not seen him yet."

The smile is wrong now, though it's the same one you've seen all this time. You don't understand the meaning of this, but you do stand ready to fight. You are too shocked not to be prepared for combat. Not after everything you've just seen. It's senseless and nonsensical. Radanir is not himself. You will fight. You will win, and he will see reason, and you will leave this place together.

"Ah. Pity." He says, and his eyes roll back into his head. Radanir drops lifeless to the floor, and a fell shade like the puppet master of Skorgrim rises to the fore. You scream in either fury or grief and banish the thing from your sight.

And you almost leave Radanir with his fallen brothers until you hear a whimper from the floor. He is not lost. But you do not wait for him either and drag him resisting from the Forsaken Road.

Halbarad is outside waiting for you and takes Radanir off your hands. You don't yet have the breath to speak but point away from the cave. Halbarad takes your meaning and Radanir up into his arms and you run. You run to Mincham's camp and he is ready to tend you all.

To your surprise, he sets aside whatever mysterious objection he had to Radanir these last days and sees to him first. You know Mincham is kind and never turns a blind eye to suffering--

You turn. You fight your stomach in a nearby bush. Halbarad is soon there and helps you to stand, lends the only thing you think can possibly help you all now: an ear.

"He..."

You don't get that far just yet. Radanir is coming around, and he frowns blearily at Mincham. "You... supposed to go ahead...? Saeradan called you back to camp...? Where--"

You're nearly sick again as it hits you. He's back at Saeradan's camp. He's been there the whole time, on the inside. Halbarad looks to you in alarm and all you can do is gesture helplessly.

"There was- A shade, in the cave-... He had Radanir... had control of him..."

It was too horrible for words as you remembered. Remembered who found the notes, every last one. Remembered the advice, the odd looks, the handprints on the neck of the man you all thought Ergothorn.

Radanir was looking around now, his eyes wide with fear. "What happened? Where is everyone?"

Neither you nor Halbarad have the words just yet.