#if anyone wants to theorise on my post I'm all for it

[art-is-kayos]

Checking up on his commission

[nias-nook]

Bill Cipher and The Unicorn in Captivity

Soooo, I haven't been looking at Bill related posts much since the book dropped as I have mixed feelings on what TBOB and the subsequent site have revealed about him, his motives, his backstory etc., but (and maybe someone beat me to this) one thing I haven't seen anyone talk about yet is this,

So maybe I'm stating the obvious here, but this is The Unicorn Rests in a Garden, also known as The Unicorn in Captivity. This piece was a part of The Unicorn Tapestries. Its origins are shrouded in mystery and super interesting but I'm not really gonna touch on that here.

Now there is something to be said about how this one piece, and the rest of the tapestries tie to Bill. I'll briefly go over what the tapestry meant when it was made then dive into what contemporary interpretations of the piece say about Bill and his fundamental inability to redeem himself.

Also just want to establish before we get into this that I am...Not a scholar when it comes to this stuff. I just happened to recognise this tapestry and its symbolism when it dropped on the website and had to put my thoughts somewhere. I might add more later if I've forgotten anything, which I probably have.

Given this was a piece made in Europe in the Middle Ages, it's perhaps unsurprising that a lot of interpretations of it are biblical, but we can (mostly) safely assume Hirsch isn't going for a Christ allegory here. Then again, maybe he's going for nothing and all of this is pointless.

What is a little interesting in the wake of TBOB is its ties to marriage.

These tapestries are heavily theorised to have been made to celebrate a wedding, and their comparisons of love and marriage to a hunt that inevitably leads to the imprisonment and taming of your lover. Of course, Bill quite literally suggests this method in the book with The Love Cage that he uses in Weirdmageddon, but there's a million 'Billford is canon' posts (though I think that's reductive at BEST) out there so let's table that as it's pretty self-explanatory. Bill and Ford have been hunting each other for decades and Bill imprisons him in a so-called 'Love Cage' to try and convince Ford to be his 'partner' (be it platonic or romantic). This is what a victory in a relationship is to him.

What I'd like to focus on is the modern interpretation of The Unicorn in Captivity as a self-imposed prison.

"Look at that little unicorn! The beatific smile. He's happy now. He gets to live in a beautiful garden."

"Yeah, in a cage."

"A protective barrier. No one's hunting him anymore. Nor can he hurt anyone with that horn of his."

This summary of the piece is taken from the aptly titled Unicorn in Captivity from another animated series, The Venture Bros. (which, by the way, if you're looking for another show that's a whimsical and fun riff on 80s pop culture with a big mystery element, highly recommend), but this of course isn't the first piece of media to portray it this way. the most notable being The Unicorn in Captivity poem by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

The unicorn is, on the surface, a prisoner. The Theraprism that Bill is now trapped in is a place he longs to escape, but that's the thing, isn't it?

He could escape any time he wanted to.

Bill, like the unicorn, is trapping himself more than the Theraprism is trapping him, but his situation isn't to be pitied, it's karmic justice. What's so satisfying about Bill's eventual comeuppance is that he's the one making himself suffer. The only thing Bill needs to do to escape is to admit he was wrong, to stop revelling in the suffering of others, but...Well, he chooses not to.

He could slip his head

From the jewelled noose

So lightly tied -

If he tried,

As a maid could loose

The belt from her side;

He could slip the bond

So lightly tied -

If he tried.

For all of his guilt about his parents and his so-called 'dark and troubled past', Bill has never regretted a single person he's hurt since. He didn't regret taking over the world, he regretted being caught. He didn't regret hurting Ford, he regretted losing him. Bill will probably be doomed to wallow in the Theraprism for all eternity, cursing his situation and blaming everyone else for his inevitable downfall. An overgrown child who once had too much power and lost it all throwing a tantrum for the ages.

But now he can't hurt anyone with that horn of his.

[sophsiaaa]

I've been wanting to make this post for a while so now that I'm on mid-sem break, I will. Let's talk Shigaraki and sex.

NSFW warning??

So, let's get the big question out of the way. Is Shigaraki a virgin?

I think, yes. 100%

However, that is not to say that he is an innocent, oblivious, 'omg what is sex? uwu' baby villain. This guy literally lives in a bar, in a seedy part of the city, and hangs around with criminals. He knows about sex - I daresay he knows quite a bit about it. Besides which, we see in-canon that he has a phone and a PC and access to the internet, so he's hardly sheltered (though, he's definitely sheltered in regard to actual real-life socialisation, but that's another story).

Regardless, I stand by my assertion that he is a virgin.

Exhibit A: Shigaraki is shown very overtly to hate 'basically everything'. Correct me if I'm wrong, but everything encompasses sex/romance/intimacy. His character, especially at the beginning of the story, is prickly, quick-to-frustration, and sort of single-minded. He is driven to complete one narrow goal set by AFO that he believes he wants: to kill All Might. I believe prior to our introduction to Shigaraki, he was much the same, and thus did not seek out sex. Given his hostile and loner-guy nature at the start of the series, I doubt he would have had much in the way of propositions on his occasional solo trip to the mall.

Exhibit B: whilst I have seen it theorised that AFO introduced Shigaraki to sex via getting him a sex worker to 'satisfy his natural urges', personally, I think this theory is unlikely. This is because everything AFO does is to create discomfort and frustration in Shigaraki's life in order to stoke his rage (the guy literally has him wearing dead hands despite the fact that they make Shigaraki simultaneously feel calm and like throwing up). Thus, I doubt AFO would have encouraged Shigaraki to indulge in sexual relief - or any kind of relief - at all. I doubt he would have even explained the birds and the bees and likely pawned that job off onto the doctor or the internet if Shigaraki asked any questions.

So, we've established that Shigaraki's a virgin, and an ultimate hasn't-even-kissed-anyone virgin at that. But does he want to have sex? That big question number 2.

Honestly, I don't think he much cares for it.

It's odd to say given the multitude of what is essentially sex-addict-Shiagraki headcanons out there, but I truly think he doesn't really think about sex. Shigaraki's sex drive is probably quite low. Now, since I'm taking an evidence based approach here, lets go for the obvious evidence that points to him not having much interest in sex and that is the fact that if he was interested in it, Horikoshi would not shy away from showing it. My Hero Academia is not a manga that shies away from the odd bit of fan service or the pervy character. Mineta is - unfortunately - living proof of this. And he's not the only one. Horikoshi writes many of his characters displaying sexual attraction/interest/engagement/awareness at one point or another. So, logically, if Shigaraki was a character who was interested in sex, Horikoshi would show that. Since he doesn't, I can only conclude that sex isn't really a big deal to Shigaraki, or at the very least, not something he thinks about enough for it to show up on-screen.

Now, do I believe that Shigaraki has zero sexual interest? No. I think he's watched porn before, and probably even jerks it every now and then. But do I think he would actively seek out sex? Nah. Honestly, I don't even think he'd go along with sex unless it's with someone he's got a pre-established emotional connection to that's been building for a long time.

Like everything with Shigaraki, I think sex would be intense. By this I mean, he wouldn't be the type to have a casual one-night-stand or a friends-with-benefits fling. If he's in it, his heart's in it. Because he is so angry and destructive, Shiagraki often gets mischaracterised as heartless and deliberately cruel (this is a conversation for a separate post), but in reality, he cares a lot about certain things and puts his all into them. With sex, he would have to care about the who for the what to matter.

In conclusion - Shigaraki's well aware that BDSM doesn't stand for Bible Discussion/Study Meeting, but he's also a virgin loser who would not pin you up against the wall and have his way with you in a dark alley.

[moonsceptre]

What is your opinion on the Beetlejuice 2 Dream Theory?

This theory?

My opinion is that it's very likely to be true. I walked away from the cinema extremely happy with all of the shippy moments—so happy I hadn't even considered theorising anything yet, however my first thought about the ending was, So it was all Lydia's dream?

I read through the post and was blown away by how much sense it made, but I think it helped push me to believe it when my friend sent me this

My friend is not interested in theorising or shipping, and has no connection to the BJ fandom, he's just a horror fan. Yet his interpretation of the movie's ending was a summarised version of the whole dream theory. Isn't it far more romantic to imagine Lydia having spent her life with Betelgeuse, and he's indulging her with a dream of her own child? Considering they both have a 'psychic connection', I'm not convinced that Lydia hasn't been thinking about BJ just as much as he's been thinking about her.

This user pointed out both of Betelgeuse's love songs are by artists named Richard, conveniently the name of Lydia's previous partner. The same partner who was described as a horror fan that loved playing pranks, and dressed as a Beetlejuice lookalike for Halloween.

Looks like Beetlejuice, acts like Beetlejuice—either Lydia is equally obsessed, or it's BJ projecting himself onto Lydia's human lover within the dream. Watching the movie with new eyes, I noticed in the "Later, fucker" scene that BJ is sitting in the same place Richard sat while working at the border control. "Astrid" herself has a name related to the celestial bodies, much like "Betelgeuse". You can either take this as a romantic parallel, or Tim is trying to show us that Richard's creation is based on Lydia's fixation with Beetlejuice.

Dream sequences often use characters to represent something within the dreamer's psyche. It's like an abstract analysis of the way that character thinks and feels. Astrid's sequence within the dream shows Lydia's material desires—it confirms everything was based off of what Lydia wanted, which included getting married to a 'monster' (in the sequence of events, Astrid marries a guy dressed as a vampire), and then gives birth to the Beetlebaby. I know in the first movie there is a reference to the horror movie "The Fly", so I imagine this was too.

Did anyone notice the dream sequence watching Astrid didn't actually have a clear indication for when it began? It transitioned from the movie as if everything was a dream right from the start.

Let's not forget BJ straight up looking into the camera and saying "I love a good dream sequence". Lol.

My other reasoning for believing the dream theory is what Winona said about Lydia. Winona and Tim are close friends. Winona pitched the idea of having Betelgeuse and Lydia be the endgame ship in her words, and she happily took part in this movie. If Tim had rejected the idea, why would Winona reprise her role for a story she didn't agree with? Winona knows that Lydia is Tim's self insert (Tim has said many times he relates the most to Lydia), so why would Tim approve of all the shippy moments if he opposed Winona's pitch? No one knows Lydia like him!

Winona said in this interview that she hadn't imagined Lydia ever becoming a mother, but that after a while it started to make sense. She does not elaborate on that, but explains her idea for Lydia was that she would end up a spinster in the attic. If you read the dream theory, it highlights how the movie begins with Lydia in the attic, and then transitions to Lydia's TV show, but the background is still the attic. I found the whole film very dreamlike in this way, and I think the fact that Tim has said Wizard of Oz (a movie where the girl wakes up after a dream, in which those she knew acted as characters within the sequence) is one of his favourite movies helps to put it into effect.

And finally...

It's Lydia Deetz. Lydia loves the strange and unusual.. do you really think she wasn't curious enough to contact Beej again?

[aarcanechaoss]

Theory time with Higuchi!

For anyone who wants a good read and some info on Ichiyo (Natsu) Higuchi this Reddit Post was really interesting

I first want to say I have zero evidence or reasoning behind most of this shit specifically the two abilities I’m pulling out of my ass (I do still love my Flowers at Dusk theory don’t get me wrong and a lot of the Growing Pains / Child’s Play theories are beautiful). Again these are for entertainment only I have no bets on these being real LOL

1. Draining / Absorbing

2. Her word is law

Now before I get into these (1,2) I want to bring up an interesting point seen in the Reddit Post I shared.

Specifically the Mori does not punish Higuchi part- and remembering the episodes in particular he really doesn’t. At most he is disappointed in her failure and asks if “she is suited for this job.”

Now this also made me realise (again the Reddit Post mentioned this too I found after reading further) the Command Unit is in direct line to Mori just after Executives.

Meaning she is high ranked overall in the Mafia not just amongst the Black Lizard.

She is Akutagawa’s equal - role wise in the mafia.

Why?

We know she is an ability user (not what the ability is) so is she simply well connected to Mori or is she a Secret Weapon? Or both.

Somehow she had to make it to Commander level even with the lack of respect she receives (until rescuing Akutagawa but even then they still don’t treat her like a leader).

I propose an option that also has no standing or reasoning.

She’s related to the previous boss.

Someone who didn’t have a choice to have anything but a mafioso lifestyle.

A granddaughter or a great niece etc. but let’s go with grandchild for this post- a favoured one at that- which I will get to.

Yes, this would technically mean she’s been in the mafia the longest compared to many characters (Dazai, Chuuya, Akutagawa etc).

I hear your “Wouldn’t Hirotsu know then?” It’s entirely possible if she is a favoured grandchild the Boss would have only wanted certain people to know about her when she was so young plus it’s not like every grandparent shares a last name with their grandchild (he could be her mother’s father).

It’s also possible if he knew the boss had a grandkid she would have been known as Natsu not Ichiyo at the time (since that is the authors real name).

And we all know I head-cannon that our girl is naturally brunette / raven haired so of course I'm adding in more plot with the name thing. Could be just for fun, maybe it was ordered, maybe it's so the people who did know about Natsu wouldn't point her out (Mori just hiding the nepotism).

In any case if this was how Mori knew her- after digging and of course killing him it’s entirely plausible that he’d 1. Look at it as an opportunity to fuck over the guy even when he’s dead 2. She’s a valuable asset because of it.

By that I mean her family name would hold power eg. she goes by Natsu (boss last name) when Mori needs something that only her family could get him.

Or she’s incredibly powerful and he’d be an idiot to not keep her. Perhaps she hates her power and he keeps that in check- she does what he says and then she doesn’t need to use it / she doesn’t have control - because less control over that means more control over her.

It’s not like she’d be his heir or anything (though that would be a funny fic idea- people trying to fight for the next in line and Mori is just like no I have a replacement it's Higuchi).

Anyway onto my not at all reasonable Ability theories.

1. Draining / Absorbing

This one was originally a "takes abilities" theory- which has absolutely no merit being a theory at all unless for whatever reason Asagiri decides that she and Dazai have been secretly related the whole time.

In the Reddit Post OP theorises that she could paralyse her opponents using her novella Takekurabe (Comparing Heights) with the English titles Growing Up and Child’s Play as the forefront. Though I’ve seen the use of the title Growing Pains instead of Up as well.

Using OP's word's, I don't think Higuchi will have a name-based ability (eg. Beast Beneath the Moonlight or Thou Shalt Not Die) and so for this crack theory I'm also using Growing Pains / Childs Play.

I suggest that she can drain or absorb abilities instead- leaving her opponents with a dull aching because a part of them is practically gone should she drain an ability to its dredges. She could probably kill someone if she wasn’t careful and took too much.

Think Rogue from X-Men.

That would make her a formidable enemy to have and an even better secret weapon.

It would also make her just another tool like Dazai was- instead of halting an ability she practically takes it away (which is plausible if we really dug into it, but this is more she takes the power or energy involved in using the ability).

Where did this idea even come from you ask?

Honestly no clue but I was trying really hard to figure out what possible ability she could have, and I have landed on it must be powerful and this would absolutely be an ability that she would hide until necessary. It would also be a play on the novella titles instead of simply going Child's play= dolls= voodoo doll ability for example (mostly because that's kind of Q's ability) but more a play on how for some people transitioning into adulthood is draining and not as fun as when the world was too big for us.

2. Her word is Law

Okay this is also a stretch just so we are clear BUT I think it's more plausible than draining / absorbing. I don't really know which title I'd give this one because I'm leaning again to a more a non-name-based ability (eg. No Longer Human or Plum Blossom in the Snow) so for the fun of it lets call this Flowers at Dusk (Yamizakura- yes, the one I usually use in Fics).

When I say her word is law I don't mean legally speaking- think Jessica / Paul Atreides or the Reverend Mother from Dune and how they use 'the voice'.

This ability came to mind since Ichiyo Higuchi is an important figure in Japan, though it wasn't like she would be able to sway politics or anything of the like. Her works are important, the words in the stories are significant. Key word, words.

This would be a valuable power worth keeping hidden and close to the chest, she would make her way up the ranks fast with such an ability and more than likely she'd be a great asset in regard to interrogations.

Mori would absolutely keep this ability a secret and keep her close because of it. Let's play into the idea that she hates or is afraid of her ability, a power that takes away others free will or control would be hard to deal with depending on your mental fortitude or upbringing.

If she said jump you would jump, if she said kill you would kill.

She'd be the perfect secret weapon with an ability like this especially if no one else knew and she got kidnapped- whoops they didn't put on ability suppressors ...oh hey where did she go?

I feel like this is a plausible option- only because we know nothing but that she is an ability user. It would make sense for her to be closer to Mori- he'd ensure she would never use the ability on him and considering people underestimate her already it would be an uppercut of a power to have and no one (but Dazai or those who are deaf I suppose) would be able to get away from it.

We'd really have to get into the meat of this ability and flesh out weaknesses par her voice box and No Longer Human. Is it the vibrations in her voice? Does she need a key word? Can she only use it on a certain number of people at a time? Could she pinpoint who isn't going to be affected if it were with a large group.

For example- The Black Lizard get cornered, and she needs to use her ability would her yelling STOP, MOVE BACK or FREEZE (any key words really) affect Gin, Hirotsu, Tachihara or Akutagawa?

Can you tell I like this idea for an ability lol.

Well, I think this post has been long enough. Let me know your thoughts as well, which one do you like better? Do you have any theories for what Higuchi's ability could be? Which book title do you think Asagiri will choose when we get to finally see what her ability is?

[amarayys]

DRDT CHP 2 EPISODE 15 REACTIONS - SO OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS

disclaimer - this post is quite long. like 12 doc pages long. so yeah

in this post, i predicted that the culprit would be ace. and, well....yeah! IT WAS!!! AND I FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT THAT!!!! AND IM REALLY HOPING THAT THE FACT THAT AREI'S MISSING GLOVE AND THE MISSING SCRUM DEBATE DONT MEAN ANYTHING!!!

....i got it right.

I ACTUALLY GOT IT RIGHT??? NO FUCKING WAY???

Anyway, I'm gonna make a short post (post editing amari here - this post is in no way short. why did i think it would be???) of my reactions to the episode. And trust me, there were reactions.

Ace: You're going to call me the murderer just because Eden said so?! That's so inane I don't even know where to start!

...I feel ashamed to admit I had to google what "inane" means. Basically, it means "Lacking sense or meaning," which, true, actually! I can't deny suspecting Ace JUST because of Eden's crying is a little weird. Not to say that Eden is malicious or something, though.

J: I'm not saying Eden did it, but are you sure the killer is Ace?

This line isn't insanely relevant or something, I just wanted to point out that I was pretty confused here. Why is J defending Ace??? Uh???

Eden: It was him! (Ace) He was the one stalking me!

Aha, I thought so! I've seen a few people theorise that the person "stalking" Eden was the culprit, and I agree. It just makes the most sense - so I'm glad we were right!

Teruko: Could it be that Ace switched targets from Eden to Arei? (paraphrased)

Oh, I didn't even consider that! We see later in the trial this isn't true, but I'm surprised that nobody (to my knowledge) brought this theory up. Though I don't really see why he would switch targets.

Ace: S-so?! Nico could have taken it or lied about the fish disappearing. (paraphrased)

100% True! But Ace seems to be using this argument solely to accuse Nico...which he sure does a lot. While screaming. A lot.

*discussion about ace making a murder plan after nearly being murdered*

Teruko makes a good point here - He could have made the plan the day following his near-murder.

Teruko: Most people wouldn't like going back to the scene of their almost-murder. (paraphrased)

...Teruko, you're projecting. Hard. Like, really hard.

Ace: ...

Ace: Y-yeah! Exactly! There's no reason for me to take the tape unless I made a plan to kill her in a few seconds. (paraphrased)

Hesitation spotted! And a stutter! I freaked out over this on call for no reason, but that is VERY suspicious, dude.

Arturo: Who uses non-medical tape for first aid? That's sickening.

Teruko: It's not that weird, I do it all the time.

...AUWVGGHHHHH. Teruko you make me ILL. This is probably referencing how she didn't have money for medical supplies in the regular world so she had to use regular tape for wounds, since her luck hurts her often, which cannot be good/safe for injuries. I nearly cried here, because I'm very dramatic when it comes to Teruko. YOU DESERVE BETTER.

Ace: What is this, some sort of Devil's Pubes?

...What the fuck?? What??? I am not kidding when I tell you I was drinking water during this line and fucking choked. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??? HELLO?? CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT HE MEANT??

Ace: Everyone is always attacking me for stupid reasons. (paraphrased)

He's not wrong, actually. Everyone is always attacking him - Though not always for stupid reasons.

Ace: Do you even hear yourself right now? I'm a murderer because of my "personality"?!

I've got to agree with him here - that's a pretty stupid argument to make. As much as I don't want to slander Min, did her personality seem like the type to murder?

Teruko: Show me your neck scars.

...That's a little invasive, no?

*discussion about scratched neck*

I also believe some people pointed out Ace's bloody fingers, but I haven't seen anyone mention scratches on his neck! To be fair, that is a VERY small detail that's quite easy to miss.

Teruko: But you probably never forgot. After all, you have to live with your scars every day. Even if you've been pretending it's fine, it still hurts, right? (paraphrased)

...Ohmygod she's projecting again. Is she insecure about her scars?? Or do they just remind her of bad situations? Teruko, I love you so so much you make me SOB.

Ace: I thought I was supposed to be the stupidest one here! What the fuck is this?!

...He just called himself stupid. He is NOT beating the idiot allegations.

the whole veronika spiel**

Well, yeah, I'd imagine being almost murdered is somewhat traumatising.

turpentine, jockey and strangling arguements:

This post is going to get VERY long soon, so sorry for the massive skip lmao.

Turpentine: Correct - How would have Ace kept Arei unharmed apart from her neck wounds without her being unconscious due to turpentine? I really don't have any clue.

Strangling: Strangling her?? I didn't see THAT coming. But yeah, I suppose it works. I really don't have much to say here, tbh.

Jockey: Basically, Ace is stronger than Eden and can therefore knock her out. True, I suppose, but it's a shaky argument based off assumptions.

Charles: Ace was trying to imitate Nico's murder.

I can see this being the case - Ace using that to frame Nico. Ace HAS been blaming Nico quite a bit, huh?

Ace's injury argument*

Good points made by both Eden (for some reason??) and Teruko. Yes, Ace was bleeding out and in a lot of pain, but the wound was not severe enough to limit either his speech or his movement. The murder might have hurt, but he'd be able to do it.

J: Isn't Ace...too stupid?

I burst out laughing...that's quite direct, J! But also mean. Ace is literally right there. Also, that is not a proper argument!

Ace's whole dignity thing*

Jeez, I used to despise Ace, but I'm liking him more and more. He has some really funny lines, and his development is REALLY good.

I think it's super interesting that ACE, who everyone believes is dumb and rude and unable to take criticism, is letting himself be called stupid for the sake of being declared innocent. It really shows how his character is more than just "I'm rude and I hate you all!" DRDTDev, your writing is so good.

Charles' explanation*

Now, I'm split on this part.

For one, I agree that his IQ would not have much to do with how Ace carried out the murder and is irrelevant. However, the whole argument of "Ace rides horses, he is strong!" thing isn't really accurate - in chapter 1, he describes how he never actually practices jockeying.

**also, the acevi fans are in pain. i see you looking at how levi said ace wasnt dumb. I SEE YOU

Non-stop debate with ball of clothes as bullet*

I was WONDERING WHEN THE CLOTHES WOULD COME IN!! Again, I'm not original, so I've seen theories regarding the ball being thrown over the railing. But...the railings pretty high. I don't think you could just throw it.

Bullet is used*

Oh, so Teruko is using the "ball of clothes was thrown" argument? It still seems very high up..

Ace: How could I have thrown it up that high?

Aha, so they are addressing that issue! I'm glad.

Ace tangent*

Again, I'm sorry for having to reduce this AMAZING character development down to a "tangent", but this post is already WAYYY too long.

He definitely has a point, though. Just because he's a jockey doesn't automatically make him the murderer. Just because he's somewhat athletic doesn't mean he could've thrown the ball of clothes.

And, as much as I REALLY don't want to admit this...Teruko's reasoning for siding with Eden was a little shaky. At first, Teruko believed Eden because Eden believed her in the first trial. Adorable, yes, but you could argue that was unfair towards Ace. However, there is definitely concrete evidence against Ace at this point and Teruko is valid for siding with Eden at this point in the trial.

Not to say I don't understand why Teruko sided with her - I totally understand. And she did say she'd keep an open mind. I still love how this was all done - Teruko siding with Eden was a nice touch.

Argument Armament or however the fuck its spelt.*

Wait what?? I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING\??? that AA came out of absolutely nowhere but i am here for it! The art is fantastic as always - i especially love the horse!

Final blow; using a sling shot*

...I'm sorry? What??

OH! THE FITNESS BAND!

I knew it must've come in somewhere! This trial has been so satisfying so far...God I love this fangan.

So, Ace tied the fitness band around the...bar things in the playgroud and flung the ball of clothes up. ...I still don't really get it, but it's definitely better than just yanking it up there!

Teruko, interrupting Ace: SHUT UP, ACE!

...eh? EH??? TERUKO??

Teruko: Do you even understand what this class trial is? Tell me, how do we decide who's the murderer? We determine who lives and dies by a majority vote. YTTD REF?? In other words, the opinion of everyone who *isn't* you.

I...woah. I didn't see that coming. Like, at all. Let's see what else she has to say.

Teruko: Who cares where you stored the water jugs? That doesn't matter. (paraphrased)

Um...I'm pretty sure it matters, Teruko. Though I can see where she's coming from - she wants this trial over with and she thinks discussing minor details is a waste of time.

This line makes you seem like the culprit, but she has protag privileges, so yeah. Just Teruko going off again.

Teruko: The point of the trial is to determine who the killer is, not to determine every single little detail of what happened.

Aha, so I'm correct. She doesn't want to discuss "minor details".

Teruko: It doesn't matter that you're not convinced. It's not going to help you, nor change your fate. No matter how you feel or what you think, nothing will change.

You think that your whining and screaming is going to change our minds? That if you call us all stupid and wrong, we're going to magically decide to not vote for you out of the goodwill of our hearts?

...Okay, so. I think she's projecting here. Again. She knows that screaming wont do anything for him - It never did anything for her. She knows that people vote stop deciding the culprit's you out of the goodwill of her heart - They didn't do that for her.

Maybe I'm reaching, who knows.

Teruko: Come on Ace! Don't you want to live?! Defend yourself!

Oh, she's desperate. She really wants to be wrong here, huh? She doesn't really want him to be a culprit.

Ace: I'm such a piece of shit.

...is that a confession?? IS IT??

Ace: Yeah, you're right. There's no way I'm making it out this trial alive.

Okay this could still be interpreted as him just giving up on trying to find the actual culprit but-

Ace: I killed Arei. That's exactly right.

....OH. I...WHAT??

That...wow. I don't even know what to say! Before this point in the trial, I was kind of suspicious he was an accomplice, but hey...that's a confession for sure!

Ace: I was scared of dying. That's all.

Yeah, I've definitely seen a theory on that somewhere. And it fits his character - But jeez. I'm gonna be sad to see him go.

Ace: I'm fucking terrified of dying! I can't sleep at night because I keep thinking about how I'm going to die young in this goddamn killing game! I didn't want to die!

Ace: Live, and escape this killing game, and go back to my shitty life where I can't do anything on my own because I can't control myself.

Ace: Back to that life where I can't do anything but a sport that I hate because I suck shit at everything else.

Wow, it sounds like he really didn't think he had any way of enjoying life, whether in the killing game or not. I feel so bad...We knew from Chp. 1 that he was quite the scaredy-cat, but to make that a motive into killing? Like...I'm not sure what to say. /pos The character development is SO good though I am HERE FOR THIS!!

J: So what? Get over yourself.

...J?

J: Murder is unacceptable, no matter what.

Oh! I see what's happening! This is a super interesting way for a character to think. This makes me think that sometime later on, a murder will be done on accident in some way, (maybe by herself - THAT would be a twist for sure) but she still refuses to forgive the culprit. I really love J getting character development!

Ace: Arei…she was a piece of shit too. Just like me. Eden if she said all that nice bs to Eden, there was no guarantee she was actually going to change. (paraphrased)

…Ow. “Piece of shit” really is becoming the new “Good person”, huh? /hj

And, I suppose Ace is right in that there wasn’t any way to tell if Arei  *was* going to change for certain - But I think she was genuine!

Ace: But at least she (arei) was trying. And I can’t change even one thing about myself. Not my shitty job, nor my shitty personality, nor my shitty life.

OH OKAY OUCH AUGH. This…is painful. Here’s my (not very good) interpretation of this:

Ace doesn’t trust that people will be able to change. Sure, there’s a chance - but no guarantee. However, he applauds Arei because at least she was trying to be better. He thinks it’s pointless for him to try to be better - everything bad in his life, he cannot change. And that scared him, and that is what led him to murder.

“...” said by Levi and Nico*

Wow, going to the two people who have the most to do with his character right after he says that is crazy. /lh 

But yeah, I can’t even imagine what was going through their heads… The person who reprimanded them for killing others (and in Nico’s case - trying to kill him) actually ended up being the killer of Arei - and intended to kill everyone in order to escape the killing game. It sure must be a lot to process, huh?

Ace: Just vote me already! Put me out of my damn misery!

…Damn. This really hurts… 

He’s obviously terrified of dying. He probably wants it over with. He doesn’t want to wait in anticipation for his death. He just wants it over with…I feel SO bad.

Teruko: Before we do that, allow me to go over the case one more time, to confirm we all understand this murder.

Ace: Why? Why do you have to remind me of the fucked-up shit I did? I already feel like crap. I don't... I don't want to think about what I've done. Not now, nor ever.

Ah, so there’s also guilt involved. I mean, of course he’d feel guilt - but he probably felt killing Arei and escaping the killing game was his only option, excluding death.

Teruko: …

Teruko: Sorry, but it has to be done.

AGH. Teruko feels bad for having to make him relive his murder…dangit this cast makes me ILL /pos

Teruko: Confront the mistakes you've made. Then accept death. That's the fate of everyone who chooses to participate in this killing game.

I meannn…she isn’t wrong. But I still feel horrible for Ace.

**Closing argument**

Oh cool!!! Here we go - I can’t wait!

GIRLKISSERS!!! oh, and ace ig. /j

This is probably my favourite cg from the closing argument. It’s just….Idk. Arei’s expression is sort of funny to me.

The way Arei’s hanging body appeared in the middle and lifted up slowly…that was disturbing. But in a really, really good way. DRDTdev is super creative with these closing arguments!

Cut her free…with what, exactly??

Also, Teruko calling the carousel a spinner is hilarious to me. Not even a spinny thing anymore - just a spinner.

I burst out laughing at this cg…because I DIDN’T EXPECT HIM TO BE UPSIDE DOWN??? I giggled a lot at this, it’s really not that funny - but I didn’t expect him to go full monkey style in order to tie the rope.

And…there it is. Sorry folks, but I really doubt Ace isn’t killer after getting the “trial close” screen and the…end of closing argument cg??? Thing??? I have no clue what it’s called. 

Wow, this episode was a rollercoaster ride. I love love love love LOVED it. I can’t wait for the next one!

Before this episode, I really didn’t like Ace. At all. I just found him annoying. But DRDTdev did his character arc SO well - he’s really grown on me! Now time to see him get executed…oh.

Also, I realise I forgot to comment on the new cgs,,, whoops. They’re all super good though - I LOVED Teruko’s.

Anyway, I think that’s all….this took SO incredibly long lol. I don't really know what to say in order to end this post. So. Yeah.

[starlightseraph]

final (long) thoughts about the rpf debacle, as i’ve finally blocked all the major accounts involved

regarding david and michael: they seem like two great guys with great chemistry, and they appear to really care for each other. the nature of their connection, their happiness in their relationships, the details of their personal lives, etc are not for any of us to say. we certainly don't need to analyse every thing they do and every flick of their eyes or use 20 year old tabloid bits to create a story about them being trapped and potentially abused and "clearly" wanting to leave their partners so they can fuck. no one dislikes the theorising because it's m/m, anyone who does has issues to work through. 99% of us dislike it because it's invasive, done without any knowledge of the boundaries or comfort of the people it's about.

regarding georgia: idc what other people say, i think she can actually act. i think it's unlikely that my opinion is biased, given that i actually became aware of her before i even knew who david was (merlin, i was 11). do i think she's the greatest actress who's ever lived? no. do i want to fall at her feet to praise every word she types on her ig? no. to me, her public personality is pretty cool and likeable, and she certainly uses her platform for good things. i don't see evidence that david has an issue with the social media stuff that georgia does, maybe a bit of playful annoyance, but nothing too serious. she does actually say good things about him, quite often. when she says things that could be deemed insulting, it’s nothing unique to david, she does that with practically everyone she posts about. i see absolutely no reason to believe that she's abusive, a baby trapper, that her children dislike her, or that david is miserable with her. i genuinely feel that her "stalker" comments were jokes. based on what she and david have said, it sounds like she was acting like anyone with a crush would, texting the object of her affections and wanting to hang out. in my community, completely normal behaviour is called stalkery, just to poke fun at someone for having a crush, sometimes done in a self-deprecating way. as for the peter davison story and its inconsistencies, idk what to make of that. the claims that she got her "david" tattoo right after they met and that she changed ty's name without input from david are completely unfounded. I've seen no evidence for the name bit, and i've actually found evidence against the tattoo story. i'm not proud of it, but i did go digging through paparazzi photos, and she doesn't actually have the tattoo until later. no one, not even the tabloids, seems to have anything about an open relationship or them not going steady before getting married. the first actual records of those rumours is in the blogs that say the rumours have been around for nearly 20 years. all the "evidence" for these last few things that i've seen cited (or even very boldly linked) is from the trashiest of trashy blog sites with 2004-level web design. i take them with a grain of salt, given that not even the daily mail repeats their stories.

regarding anna: i'm ambivalent towards her. i don't see any obvious great talent as an actress or model, but she also hasn't really done anything that has the opportunity to showcase ability in those fields. i also don’t think she has never before seen levels chemistry with the others, but, again, we’ve hardly seen anything. the claims that she got pregnant through a one night stand seem more widely acknowledged, so maybe that was the case. if that is what happened, i have a few things to say. firstly, did neither of these grown adults have birth control? the baby trapping claims imply that she deliberately sabotaged it, which is an incredibly serious claim that we are in no position to make. within this story, michael apparently met her at an acting school graduation and they hooked up. she would've been in her early-mid 20s and he would have been almost 50… the rpf blogs say that they have no personal bias against georgia and anna, and that they're perfectly willing to call david and michael out on their bullshit, yet (to my knowledge) they haven't said anything about this. if they're really so concerned with the truth, and they believe the graduation hookup story, why not call michael out for it?? they were both adults and while i do believe that healthy relationships with a large age gap are possible, it’s still a bit weird given how they would’ve met. also, there are have been lots of (unconfirmed and contested) allegations that michael is a serial cheater, so what makes these blogs think that he wouldn't also cheat on david in this fantasy world view of theirs? i know that at least 2 of the major blogs believe the cheating stories. i believe that people can be bettered no matter what they've done and that they should get chances, but assuming that he wouldn't cheat in this singular situation seems pretty biased to me.

bottom line, we don't know! this is exactly what i’ve said since the beginning, that we have absolutely no place in these people's lives outside of admiring their accomplishments and supporting their work. please, everyone, chill. by all means, write fun stories on ao3 using the likenesses of david and georgia and michael and anna! i find it uncomfortable, but i don't have real moral objections to fiction that is only intended as fiction. i’ve previously said that we don't have a problem with the georgia/anna shipping jokes because they're jokes, and one of the pf blogs said that it was serious because of an ao3 slash fanfic and that we were only fine with it because it was f/f. correction, we were fine with that because it was purely and entirely fictional. not being presented was an investigation into real life.

i've seen lots of these blogs saying that a video of david and michael having sex could be released and the we'd find a way to brush it off or discount it. flipping this and applying it back, i think that david and michael could hold a press conference declaring that they're not in a relationship, and the blogs would work around it, claiming beards and façades.

quick warning to everyone, digital footprint exists. one blog in particular very casually displays her identity, and someone could easily send her graphic sex stories and claims of abuse about real strangers to potential employers or event hosts. this isn't a threat, i really can't be arsed, but it's something to be aware of, that these things can have real life repercussions.

i want to clarify that the only reason i would be bummed if the theories were true is because it would mean that all four of them would have lived in unhappiness. i don’t dislike the theories, while they do claim a variety of disturbing things that i certainly hope aren’t true, because i want to pretend that everything is perfect. it’s the extreme parasocial obsession and complete lack of any boundaries that i object to.

the conspiracy story had been told many times, every single group of devotees to a public figure or piece of media weaves and incredible web of false evidence and imagined narratives. maybe you think that you're actually right this time, that you've become privy to a truth. maybe you are right. but to believe undeterred that this time it’s different and your theories are true is just wishful thinking. if everything is true, great for you, i guess, your favs have been miserable for years, but at least you were right, yeah? it’s a fucking insane mindset to have. until they confirm or deny, you don't get to tell their story for them.

[borninwinter81]

William Blake and Good Omens - an intertextual analysis

Please note: I did another version of this and posted it, but it was quite hurried, way too short, and was incorrect in a number of ways so I deleted it. However it had already been reblogged by the time i did so. If you happen to see another version of this meta that's not the right one, this is the version I'm happy with!

After my previous post re William Blake and Good Omens did so well, and so many people showed an interest I've decided to do a more in depth piece. This is focused upon the TV version of Good Omens, not the book.

Please don't tag Neil in this - although it's mostly textual analysis I do a very small amount of S3 theorising, and I know he doesn't want to see that.

I am in no way suggesting that Neil and Terry specifically wrote Good Omens with Blake in mind, I honestly just wanted an excuse to write more about Blake because I love his work so much, and I thought it would be interesting to try and apply some intertexuality since the works will contain similar themes, both being about God, religion, humanity, and angels and demons.

I also should stress that I am not an expert on Blake, there are people far more qualified to comment on him than I. I'm just a former literature student who loves his work.

There have been many different interpretations of Blake's work over the years, so it's completely fine to disagree with someone else's ideas about it, as with any work of art or literature. And although this piece is likely to be long, I'll barely be able to scratch the surface of all the possible meanings that could be ascribed to it.

Much like the old adage that if someone claims to understand quantum physics they're lying, I'm not sure anyone can truly fathom the full meaning of Blake's philosophy (especially in his later prophetic works, fuuuuuuck those beasts....), so if you're confused by him don't be discouraged, that's perfectly normal!

That being said, I wish to discuss the parallels between Good Omens and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, my personal favourite and probably the most accessible of his longer works.

"Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence. From these contraries spring what the religious call Good & Evil. Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy. Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell."

This excerpt is from near the opening and sets out the central idea of the work - that there is an essential duality to humanity, and each person is a combination of extremes. These extremes are not at war with each other, but rather are equally necessary, hence the "marriage" of the title. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" is a metaphor for the human experience.

Consistently throughout The Marriage... Blake refers to the two extremes as Reason and Energy. These terms could be construed in a number of different ways: thought versus emotion, mental versus physical, restraint versus desire, temperance versus excess, caution versus impulsiveness, and following the rules versus free will.

Blake's use of the word "Reason" in this context may be somewhat confusing, however he likely chose it because of his negative feelings towards science and the Age of Enlightenment. Blake saw literal visions of angels and prophets and the divinity of all creation, and hated that science reduced everything to formulas, calculations, and materialism, leaving the world bereft of wonder. "Art is the Tree of Life. Science is the Tree of Death" as he put it.

His ideas about "reason" are best expressed by his painting "Newton". Though inspired by the scientist, it is not a portrait - instead it depicts a figure deeply engrossed in scientific drawings and calculations, totally ignoring the beauty all around him - see below.

In the context of The Marriage... Reason is "passive" because it involves thought, caution, self-restraint, and doing what you are told, all states which block action. Energy is "active" because it is physical, emotional, impulsive and allows you to act based on your own choices and desires. It's quite clear that Blake feels "energy" is the preferable state - he tells us as much in the next section:

"The Voice of the Devil

All Bibles or sacred codes, have been the causes of the following Errors. 1. That Man has two real existing principles Viz: a Body & a Soul. 2. That Energy, call'd Evil, is alone from the Body, & that Reason, call'd Good, is alone from the Soul. 3. That God will torment Man in Eternity for following his Energies. But the following Contraries to these are True. 1. Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call'd Body is a portion of Soul discern'd by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age. 2. Energy is the only life and is from the Body and Reason is the bound or outward circumference of Energy. 3. Energy is Eternal Delight."

So the body is an aspect of the soul, not separate from it, Energy comes from the body, it is Reason which places limits upon Energy, but Energy is eternal delight. Physicality, desire, impulsiveness, emotion, sensual pleasure and free will are not wrong or evil, they are aspects of the human soul and it is from them that we derive our enjoyment of life.

This does not necessarily mean that Reason is always bad. After all, Blake tells us that both are necessary for human existence. Sometimes temperance, caution and thought before action are required. But Reason becomes negative when it "usurps its place and governs the unwilling", i.e. when it completely supplants Energy and becomes the sole guiding factor, forcing passivity.

The Angels of The Marriage... are governed by "systematic reasoning", therefore they are wholly creatures of Reason. They are also "all religious" meaning they believe the "errors" stated above. His Devils by contrast "hate religion" meaning they believe the "contraries", which are the true statements according to Blake. It does not necessarily follow that they are wholly governed by Energy, merely that they believe Energy is "eternal delight".

It is worth noting at this point that Blake saw God and religion as totally separate. For Blake, "God" is that connection with divine wonder which was integral to his life; he tells us plainly that "all deities reside in the human breast" and that "the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God". In other words all humans have a direct and intuitive link with God and don't require the church, Priests, or a religious framework and adherence to a set of rules in order to reach moral decisions. These rules exist only to "enslave the vulgar".

The importance of this ability to make one's own choices about a moral course of action is shown by one of the "Memorable Fancy" sections of The Marriage...

Blake relates how a Devil is able to use an Angel's "systematic reasoning" against them:

"if Jesus Christ is the greatest man, you ought to love him in the greatest degree; now hear how he has given his sanction to the law of ten commandments: did he not mock at the sabbath, and so mock the sabbaths God? Murder those who were murder'd because of him? Turn away the law from the woman taken in adultery? Steal the labor of others to support him? Bear false witness when he omitted making a defence before Pilate? Covet when he pray'd for his disciples, and when he bid them shake off the dust of their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments; Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules."

The Angel has no way to refute the "reasoning" that Jesus was governed by Energy and "impulse", i.e. his own morality, the "voice of righteous indignation", not reasoning and the rules laid down by Heaven. And because Jesus is the Messiah he must be virtuous, therefore Energy is virtuous. The Angel immediately allows himself to be consumed by fire and is resurrected as a Devil.

How can these concepts apply to the world of Good Omens?  This was where my first draft was totally incorrect, as I tried to transfer Blake's ideas about Angels and Demons and Heaven and Hell wholesale, applying "reason" to Aziraphale and Heaven and "energy" to Crowley and Hell.  In fact the divide is slightly different in the GO-verse: Crowley and Aziraphale *both* represent Energy, and it is Heaven and Hell that act according to Reason.

At first glance Aziraphale may appear to toe the line - he needs creative application of the rules to make him comfortable with trying to avert the apocalypse, and when he doesn't like the way matters are being handled by the Archangels he seeks a higher authority and goes straight to God. He'd clearly prefer someone to be confirming the rightness of his actions for him. However this doesn't mean that he won't act on his own.

Immediately upon his introduction to the story he has given away his flaming sword, an action that he took impulsively because he felt it was right, not because someone told him to. It bothers him, but he does it anyway.

In the Job storyline, though he initially looks for some loophole within the rules that will allow him to save Job's children, in the end he directly goes against Heaven to do it, even though he believes he is going to Fall and become a Demon for having done so.

Though he resists it and exhausts all other possible avenues first, he eventually does take an active role in averting the apocalypse in S1.

He hides Jim at great personal risk to himself and against the will of both Heaven and Hell, again because he feels it is the right thing to do.

He is therefore perfectly capable of independent action from a position of "righteous indignation".

On a more basic level, he enjoys worldly pleasures, which all come from "energy" according to Blake's philosophy. Food and drink most obviously, but also books, music, dancing, theatre, art and so on.

Crowley is more easy to place as acting from Energy - in spite of the obvious aesthetic differences between them, he also loves worldly pleasures. Alcohol and coffee, snazzy clothing, driving his car with Queen blaring on the stereo, going to lunch with Aziraphale, Shakespearean comedies. All things he isn't supposed to want or need, and which baffle other Demons, in the same way that Aziraphale's desire for food baffles the Angels.

And he's absolutely willing to act according to his own moral impulses when they conflict with Hell's orders (or Heaven's), be it saving Job's children, ensuring that Elspeth doesn't die by suicide, or averting the apocalypse. Yes, he'll try to hide his "good" actions in order to avoid punishment by Hell, but he's firmly "on his own side".

Conversely, Heaven and Hell are both part of the structure of religion in this story, are strictly adherent to a set of rules, and their inhabitants appear to have no real desires of their own, other than possible advancement within the systems they uphold. They are "passive" in that their functions allow the status quo to continue and the "great plan" to unfold as they believe it is meant to, even though each side expects a different outcome.

Again, applying Blake's philosophy, I would say the reason for this is that "energy is from the body". Crowley and Aziraphale have both been given bodies in order that they can exist on earth, and *have* existed on earth for 6000 years, therefore "energy" - physical pleasures and free thinking - have become a part of who they are.

On a more fundamental level, possession of a body can be equated to humanity, and humanity has been shown as the most powerful force of all in this story, its influence having led to Adam becoming "human incarnate", and thus acting according to what he feels is right, instead of fulfilling the function he was destined for.

Heaven and Hell contain no material objects, and the Angels and Demons are spiritual beings, having no bodies, so they are not open to energy, and therefore are wholly governed by Reason, and the preservation of the religious structures within which they exist. Structures which, as for Blake, may not actually have anything to do with God herself. In S1 she is a distant observer, clearly aware through her narration of all that is going on, but not interceding in any way. In S2 she is barely present save for her voice being heard briefly in Job, and overlaid with Gabriel's on two occasions.

Bearing all this in mind, what predictions can we make regarding S3 by applying Blake's philosophy?

"The ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the end of six thousand years is true, as I have heard from Hell.

For the cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his guard at [the] tree of life, and when he does, the whole creation will be consumed and appear infinite and holy, whereas it now appears finite and corrupt.

This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment."

The parallels of the cherub with his flaming sword, and the passage of 6000 years should be obvious to anyone reading this - they have of course been lifted directly from the Bible as they are in GO.

I have read some metas which speculated that Aziraphale's bookshop, or perhaps Earth itself, is a metaphorical stand-in for Eden or The Tree of Life. Aziraphale has been commanded to leave his "Eden" and will now be instrumental in causing the whole of creation to become infinite and holy, but Blake tells us this will be done by an improvement of sensual enjoyment, which arises from Energy not Reason.

Sensual enjoyment is something which is intrinsic to Aziraphale's character, and this could make his placement in Heaven very important.

Putting aside all the "final fifteen" theories and taking matters at face value, Aziraphale tells us that if he's in charge he can make a difference - he needs to subvert the system from the inside out. The most subversive thing of all could be that a sensualist who acts according to "the voice of moral indignation" and "Energy" has become the supreme Archangel. We have seen in Blake how a realisation that Energy could be virtuous was enough to convert an Angel into a Devil (incidentally, does the image of an Angel being consumed by fire and emerging as a Devil seem familiar at all...)

We may have seen the beginnings of this already. Gabriel and Beelzebub became open to Energy from such little things as visiting earth, spending time in one another's company, and their mutual enjoyment of a song, which has given them wants and desires beyond those dictated by Heaven and Hell. This is enough to make them wish to leave their roles behind.

It's possible that the same may happen with Muriel. They haven't yet imbibed food or drink, but they have shown an enjoyment of books, which are an earthly pleasure, and open the reader up to new ideas and ways of thinking.

Of course, this would lead to questions regarding the Metatron's statement that he has "ingested things", and whether this means he is acting from reason or energy. Of course the simplest explanation is that it is a manipulation tactic, and he is lying about having done so, but if true that statement has some interesting implications. However, this is now super-long and I'm out of juice, so will leave others to speculate. I may return to this in the future!

There we go, hope you enjoyed. I doubt this will reach nearly as many people as my first Blake post, but if a few find it of interest then my work is done!

[space-blue]

Hi! I like your Arcane anaylses :) I wanted to ask for your opinion on why Sevika is celebrated and Marcus gets shamed? I mean, they basically did the same thing. Both betrayed their "friend(s)" - Vander and Grayson - for their personal beliefs.

Heya Anon, thanks, I'm glad you enjoy my meta! Hope you enjoy me disagreeing with your premise x'D

Sevika and Marcus have nothing in common imo. At no point in the show is it established that Sevika and Vander are friends. There are no outward signs of friendship. The person standing next to Vander and joking with Vander, and left in charge in episode 2 is Benzo.

We meet Sevika in a confrontational scene where she's against Vander. Vander doesn't meet her or anyone else's needs in that scene. He puts them all down and enforces, as he's been doing for years, The Status Quo. He doesn't listen, he's doing this meeting to reinforce that nothing should be done and enforcers left alone. Vander is ruling. He's the leader of the Lanes.

Sevika and Vander in that moment have conflicting interests. Sevika wants change. Sevika wants to lash back while Vander wants everyone to stay under the heel of Piltover, hoping that if they don't fight back the boot won't squeeze.

You can't blame Sevika for thinking that's crappy. She's making a life choice informed by her analysis of the situation. We don't know when she made her decision either, or for how long she's been hostile to Vander.

I'd argue too that there's a strong argument that Silco already has Sevika as an ally at that time :

He's famously untrusting.

The chemist I nicknamed Syd is at Vander's place riling people up with Sevika, and next scene he's manufacturing Shimmer for Silco, which can't be an easy process.

Silco has people spying on Vander AND his kids.

I think this telegraphs that Sevika has potentially been on his side for a while and was at the Last Drop to undermine Vander.

That's rough life politics. What can you do? You can't blame Sevika for having dreams of her own and seeing Vander as a massive obstacle on the way. Again, she's never shown to be one of his cronies and we have no clue about the nature of their relationship besides the fact she used to respect him. But we know so did Silco, and Vander has changed a lot.

On the other hand, Marcus has a very bad start…

He's an enforcer with a chip on his shoulder. I made this post theorising as to why… And it's whack and may be totally wrong, but it's clear Marcus is shown as going above and beyond in his hate of "trenchers". He uses slurs, is violent towards even children, and is happy to take bribes and underhanded deals in his goal of dragging said trenchers to jail.

He's also a doofus who doesn't realise what he's getting into. Blinded by his hatred and wading into dangerous waters. He's not smart enough to come on top and ends up being a tool.

Also… he's a COP. He's part of a system. He has a boss who he's NOT friend's with as far as we see, but he's her explicit subordinate and gets thrown around the office after disobeying her.

He put Grayson in a bad spot and led her to her death, failing his entire organisation by then not coming clean. He keeps dirty secrets that weigh him down, while Sevika is shown to be blunt and entirely truthful to Vi, Jinx, and even Silco.

He goes behind people's back, and sure, Sevika goes behind Vander's too. But Marcus is paid in literal blood money and never comes clean. Sevika is fine being open with her allegiences once shit hits the fan, and she's there for ideology, not self interest.

We don't know the details of Sevika's dream, but we know she keeps Silco on his toes. Silco's dream is the Nation of Zaun. Independance. Not the erradication of Piltovans.

Meanwhile Marcus just wants to throw children in jail, and DOES, again behind everyone's back.

Sevika is a bull. Marcus is a snake.

Sevika is making life choices and chosing who will serve her interests. She chose the anti hero who wants freedom for her oppressed people. Marcus is THE OPPRESSOR and a shitty one to boot who disobeys the very order he serves.

Funniest of all, I don't think Marcus was betraying Grayson. Her death was not part of "the deal". That asshole truly just wanted to arrest a kid and glean the recompense of a job well done. But there's no hint that he was trying to unseat Grayson.

In a way he's just as zealous as Sevika. He follows his hate and prejudices and she follows her principles. She doesn't mind bashing her own people to get to her goals, but Vander is literally doing Grayson's job for her. He's a freelancing cop and an enemy of any Zaunites dreaming of independence.

Vander has a stance, and Sevika has the opposite one.

The only person who perceives betrayal is Vi. But Vi is a child and doesn't understand politics at all. She's completely blinded by her love for Vander and her mindset of 'everybody is my enemy'. If she slowed down a bit, she might notice she and Silco want the exact same thing. Literally. A better world for Powder, and everyone like her. Vi is poisoned against Silco by Silco and Vander's fateful clash. It's perfectly understandable! I don't think it'd be easy to have her not be rightfully prejudiced against Silco.

But she IS our eyes for a lot of the story. We perceive Vander a lot through her extremely rose tinted view.

Sevika probably doesn't couch her own siding with Silco as a betrayal…

That being said, we don't know their backstory. Maybe Sevika was friends with Vander when they were younger? We have a picture of young Silco at the bar with Vander… did she know them both? Because then we can do anything you want.

My favourite take being that she took Silco's side after Vander's betrayal, but stayed out and public and was careful not be 'seen' with Silco. She's a true believer. I think if she had hesitations, learning Vander was sucking Grayson's toes most likely fully turned her away. That's just my prefered fanon, but if you have a fanon theory of her being Vander's friend, of course it'd colour your view. I just don't think the canon reactions of both characters really compare.

[innerchorus]

Chapter 127 of Arslan is ahead… Forgive me for the cruel thought, but… Will anyone from Arslan’s squad die? This is the denouement. It will be strange if they all survive.

Well, as I mentioned in my initial thoughts on the chapter, I'm not convinced this is the final confrontation against Zahhak (I feel like the purpose here is to establish that 'oh fuck the Snake King is back' and the final fight will happen at a later point).

So in terms of what we might see in Chapter 127, I'm not actually expecting any major character deaths there! Perhaps we might see some of the Zot get eaten? But the snakes are already pretty well-fed, and if as I've theorised Zahhak isn't fully resurrected and conscious yet, the snakes are what's in the driving seat. (Consider the fact that from the views we've had of the snakes alone, it strikes me that Zahhak's body might actually be lying down/underground? Which gives more support to the idea that Zahhak's actions right now are solely the instinctive ones of the shoulder snakes. Hopefully they're full for now, and hopefully they'll sense Rukhnabad and be repelled by it once more. Quick, everyone in Team Arslan group hug Don Ricardo right now!)

But to leave that aside for the moment, do I think anyone will die during the final fight against Zahhak, whenever that happens to be? Honestly, it's possible. Those of us who are familiar with novel spoilers will know that many characters met their end this way, but I do think Arakawa will go about things a little differently.

It could be that, having now had warning that the Snake King is free, Team Arslan manage to disrupt whatever ritual the Master is brewing with those head jars that are probably beneath Ecbatana (my current working theory as that this is something necessary for Zahhak's true resurrection) and they kill Zahhak off at that moment. Or even though I don't think it's likely, because to me a resolution right now would feel rushed, perhaps they really will kill Zahhak now and get to throw that fact in the Master's face whenever they encounter him (because he surely has to die before the end, too). But if there is a dramatic battle against Zahhak at a later point, how will that go down? Who will face him in combat? Who, if anyone, will fall, and who will survive?

I keep wondering whether any of the other characters will be on the scene at that point. If it's post-whatever happens with Andragoras and Hilmes, maybe all of Team Arslan will be united once more. My main hope is that Kubard is around to tell them that the notion of fighting the Snake King one on one in an honourable duel is a really fucking stupid idea.

As should be obvious by now, this post covers some novel spoilers, and these are about to get more graphic because I want to talk about the characters who canonically died against Zahhak in the novels and what I think might happen to them in the manga. As such, I'll place this and some other thoughts about who else might die under a Read More.

Okay, I'll go through these in chronological order.

Don Ricardo (okay, known as Parahuda in the novels whereas in the manga he's not exactly a member of Team Arslan) — it feels a bit mean to kill him off now? He's so traumatised there's no way he'd be able to bring himself to fight against Zahhak in the near future anyway so I feel he's going to live, and maybe he'll go back to Lusitania with Estelle.

Merlaine — I don't think so. If he dies right now then there's more pressure on Alfarid to become Zot chieftain, and actually what I think we might see is a begrudging agreement by Merlaine at the end of the series that he'll shoulder this role, leaving things open for a relationship to develop between Narsus and Alfarid.

Kishward — slightly more likely than the previous two but again I really don't get that feeling like he's going to die? Arakawa's shown us his family, I think he'll get to live to see stability restored to the country where he can have an easier time of things and continue balancing his roles as Marzban and family man.

Daryun — it's hard to imagine him not fighting Zahhak, isn't it? He's Pars's strongest fighter, after all. I want him to do it while wielding a ji like he does in the novels! But I don't want him to die. I think he's more likely to receive a grave injury, and we've all seen how Arslan reacts when he thinks Daryun might die...

Arslan — I just don't think he's going to die. It doesn't seem like a possibility in my mind. As I mentioned I think in many ways Arakawa is steering us towards a brighter future than Tanaka, in terms of Pars becoming stable under Arslan's rule rather than falling into a dark age after his death, plus I really do believe she'll allow Hilmes and Irina to live happily in Maryam. (Maybe Daryun will even be able to visit Serica again!) Arslan dying at this point will not allow for a fitting resolution to the plot or his character arc, in my opinion. So I'm going to say he's safe!

Okay, those are the characters who were killed off in combat against Zahhak in the novels. Now let's look at some of the other casualties of Team Arslan and what I think their fates might be in the manga if they are involved in a fight against the Snake King.

Jaswant — this would be devastating but I could see him giving his life to protect Arslan. If it happens, I'll cry buckets. He's possible the most likely member of Team Arslan to die in Chapter 127 because he doesn't have the innate cultural fear of Zahhak that the Parsians do, so if they are paralysed for an instant he might react faster and do what it takes to save Arslan's life.

Kubard — before Book 16 was released I thought he was likely to die in it, and sure enough he did, but not against Zahhak. But honestly, I could see him dying here in a reversal of his point of view at Atropatene; rather than leaving a chaotic battlefield after an unworthy king has fled, he'll stand and fight alongside Arslan, someone he views as worthy. Kubard is undeniably brave but also not foolish so if someone does choose to fight Zahhak alone maybe he'll give them a helping hand. If he does die it had better be badass. His death in the novels was one that Tanaka got right, in my opinion.

Isfan — I don't think this is going to happen but if it did I'd never get over it, it's too unfair. I do worry about his reaction if he sees those head jars because if Zahhak or the Master happens to be there, he's not going to stop and think, he's just going to attack. (Please keep on looking out for him, Kubard. I say this because the thought of it is something I love, we've seen it in the manga already, and in the novels Kubard does intervene when he's going up against 'demon general' Ilterish in a highly emotional state after one of his wolves was killed). Again it's a situation where it just doesn't feel fair to think of him dying here. His death really fucked me up in the novels.

Hm, thinking about the others who died before Book 16 now.

Tus — not getting any strong feelings but how neat would it be to see him immobilise a shoulder snake with his chains?

Zaravant — honestly, if I had to pick one member of Team Arslan who didn't die fighting Zahhak in the novels but who might in the manga, it's Zaravant. Sorry to say it but I'm pinning the 'most likely to die' sticker on him. Especially because his death in the novels was Team Zahhak-related.

Jimsa — maybe, if he's around for the final fight then he might go for glory/reward, but I don't have a strong feeling that he'll die.

Narsus — now, if any of the 'main/central' members of Team Arslan were to die, I think it'd be Narsus. Yes, this would be devastating, and it would come with the shadow of Pars having lost its best tactician who has made so much possible for Team Arslan, but what final battle is without cost? If Elam were older and more experienced he'd be in a place to become his successor and it would be a pupil replacing teacher moment where the torch is handed to him, but realistically we're not at that point yet. My gut feeling is that Narsus will survive.

Alfarid — just can't see her dying, to be honest. Her and Narsus both get to live, maybe we'll get teased with the possibility of something developing between them when she's older, but I'm not sure it'll be confirmed in the manga.

Estelle — as I said, I think she'll return to Lusitania in the end. I'd love to see her grab a bow and shoot a snake, though. (Her snatching a petrified Parizad's bow to shoot a winged ape despite her horrible leg injury is my favourite Estelle moment in the novels!)

Now for the characters who survived the final battle and died later of unrelated causes.

Farangis — she'll live, I just feel it.

Gieve — yeah I don't think he'll die either.

Elam — also going to survive.

This post is super long but it was actually pretty fun to write! We'll see how wrong I am in the next few months, I guess. And if anyone else has thoughts of their own on whether we'll see any of Team Arslan meet their end in the manga, please share!

[tadpolesonalgae]

read cbmthy, eat sleep and breath it rn. I LOVE IT.

And no because why so I genuinely despise Azriel "You think you deserve me?" Shadowsinger. I saw an earlier post saying you just saw Eris and reader as siblings, and while I'm sad Eris "Where's your claws" Vanserra is not a love interest, I think that makes sense.

oml wait wait, what if cbmthy reader ends up with Helion?? He's the happiness and flirty she needs, she needs to feel adored. And I feel like Helion would love to just watch her talk and talk about the planets like; "She's so smart 🤗"

They could be good friends at least, I see potential. From one nationally recognized scholar to a small one. She could tame him and he could help her see her worth.

(also, please do not think I'm nagging or influencing your story, I just thought it would be cute :) )

‘read cbmthy, eat sleep and breath it rn. I LOVE IT.’

Thank you so much!!!!! 😭🧡💛

‘And no because why so I genuinely despise Azriel "You think you deserve me?" Shadowsinger’

I really love it whenever this line is brought up 😭 it’s really stuck with some of you, huh? 🤭

‘I saw an earlier post saying you just saw Eris and reader as siblings, and while I'm sad Eris "Where's your claws" Vanserra is not a love interest, I think that makes sense.’

Oh my gosh I forgot about that 🫢 I want Eris to taunt her like that more but I can’t think of a way to have it naturally appear in the story? And thank you, it’s nice to have someone on my side in this—I feel like I’m fighting an uphill battle 😭 (I’m not being serious of course, it’s funny to see people saying her and Eris should get together and screw the IC)

‘oml wait wait, what if cbmthy reader ends up with Helion??’

NOT ANOTHER ONE 🫣😭 Helion hasn’t even appeared in cbmthy 😭 just anyone other than Az at this point 😭

‘He's the happiness and flirty she needs, she needs to feel adored. And I feel like Helion would love to just watch her talk and talk about the planets like; "She's so smart 🤗"

This is so adorable oh my goodness 😭

Imagining Helion visits later on to help the IC with some affairs and after he’s left they’re like “oh wait, where’s [reader] gone?” Only to realise he took her with him to show her all the books they have on the solar system? Particularly since Day is one of the solar courts, too. I imagine Helion would be kind of fascinated(?) by finding this person who adores learning/knowledge as much as he does?

‘She could tame him and he could help her see her worth.’

A non-feral Helion???? That’s like wanting a dilf without kids, no facial hair, and a sunny disposition 🤨

I think if they ever were to get together (why am I even entertaining this? 🤦) it would be like what she has with Bas—they see each other but there would be no romantic feelings involved so reader could have fun again and Helion…we’ll stop right there 🫢

‘(also, please do not think I'm nagging or influencing your story, I just thought it would be cute :) )’

Oh don’t worry at all! I love hearing these (slightly wild, occasionally unhinged) ideas!!! Either they’ll end up being used in cbmthy or if not, they’re enjoyable to theorise about in a what-if scenario 🤭🧡💛 thank you so much for chatting to me about your own ideas!!

[marsantiquity]

WARNING: EYE CONTACT

I wanted to look into what Wally has stated about being able to see US on the website. I left out anything Clown has said because they're wonderful and have given us so much to look through about the characters that I genuinely dont know if I could look through it all comfortably in one sitting so instead we are going over what I CAN find in one sitting. I'll prolly so a more thorough post once I've looked through everything (Though I'd appreciate if yall could send me all Wally related asks you have found from Clown or if you guys have a mention I missed.)

Now I'll summarise what I've found here for anyone who don't wanna read through a larger post.

What I've found is that Wally just can't see us. He feels our presence but doesn't actually SEE us. He just knows when we are there.

Now into the deeper end. The only times he ever mentions SEEING us is in the Voice Demo Reel (which I'm 99% sure isn't canon) where he states that he sees us when we look in his eyes.

The other time is here.

Which I don't think counts. However i won't rule it out.

Other than these two moments it's stated he CAN'T see us. Example on one of those spooky URLs.

He straight up states he can't see us. (And that if we can see him, to stay quiet. A contradiction to the Demo Reel I mentioned where he tells us basically to not talk until we see him again. Interesting change.)

Instead of seeing us he seems to FEEL us instead as I stated earlier. He feels our presence.

In this Frank GIF (its from the About Us page of the Website) the books read: "HELLO" "It's you know who" "I'm your neighbour" "Do you think about me? You do" "I've felt you"

FELT. In the Secret URL text, he states he knows we are there but he can't see us. I assume then he means he can feel us there.

My running theory is rather than wanting to eat us with them BIG OL EYES, he is staring because he is desperately trying to see us. Because he can feel us there.

People have already theorised that he can't stop smiling because home is always watching him. My theory is that Home is also why he asks us not to speak when we see him, so that HOME doesn't hear us. Home is always watching everyone from its little spot in the middle of town. As seen on the Neighbourhood page on the Website.

Me thinks at the very least, Wally can't see us, but when we look at him, he can feel our eyes on him. He looks at us because he can feel us there. He's so adamant about staring because he can't see us despite knowing we are there.

I hope any of this made sense to yall. Idk

[bnhaobservation]

What did Enji mean when he said he had to put on airs to keep that ugly heart of his from falling to pieces? Idk if it's just me or the translation, but I really struggled to understand what he meant exactly 😭

Well, I'm not Horikoshi but I can try to help here...

The scene you're talking about is this one...

The exact quote is:

'Kojishite inakereba tamotenu teido no minikui kokoro wo’ 「誇示していなければ保てぬ程度の醜い心を」 “If you're not showing off/making a display (of strenght)/putting on airs you can’t keep/preserve/sustain your ugly/unsightly heart/mind/core whole”

Let's now put the sentence into its context.

The sentence is said in the contest of discussing of Enji's weakness.

I've theorised in another post that Enji's problem/weakness, which put him in stark contrast with All Might and Midoriya is that he doesn't have an instinct that spurred him to action when a Hero was needed.

Midoriya, weak and helpless, jumped in action when he saw Bakugo being captured by the sludge Villain and All Might basically said this was the sign he could become a Hero.

We know All Might too, despite being Quirkless, at the beginning went around trying to deal with Villains.

Enji instead is shown watching the scene when his father get killed as the text complains about him being indecisive.

'Omae no seirai no yowasa wo abaki dashi miru ni taenai guzu e to hikizuri oroshita’ 「おまえの生来の弱さを曝き出し見るに堪えない愚図へと引きずり下ろした」 “Your innate/natural weaknesses was exposed and I can’t bear to look at how you were dragged down into an indecisive person.”

So, I think the idea is that Enji view his heart ('kokoro' 心 which can also mean "mind/core") is ugly because he's undecisive (and therefore didn't jump into action showing he didn't have an inborn Hero spirit), he's envious of who has it, and feels inferior.

He basically had the same fear Kirishima had, only he never truly overcome it in a healthy positive way like instead Kirishima was able to make (see chap 144). Kirishima decides to live a life in which he will have no regrets. He accepts he felt fear, that he might feel fear again but works on continuing to act in such a way that won't make him feel regrets because feeling regrets is worse than dying.

Enji just rages against himself. He can't accept he didn't act, that he felt fear, he hides it to himself and the others and therefore, put on airs, and therefore never truly overcomes his own weakness and continue to be plagued by it.

There's to say Kirishima's indeciveness didn't lead anyone to die and he could apologize to the people he didn't help, never mentioning hearing Crimson Riot, his idol, speaking about how he too fails, how he too feels fear but overcame it, helped him to realize things, while Enji lost his father and the girl his father was trying to save died as well and might not have had anyone helping him to cope with such feelings so he might have never overcome that whole thing.

Enji reached his position through effort (Endeavor) not natural born talent/Hero instinct and tried to excuse his own weakness by saying it was a matter of physical strength, that who's strong wouldn't be indecisive, hence his pursuit of strength.

So why he has to show off/make a display/put on airs?

Psychologically speaking that's a mechanism many people who feel inferior use. By putting on a mask and acting as if they feel superior of others, they think they hide how they feel indeed inferior.

A confident person doesn't need to put on airs, they know they are strong, brave, whatever or, anyway, think they're right the way they are. They're okay with themselves.

But who feels inferior and hates it might not want others (and, in a way, himself) to realize and so he tries to hide it by acting as if they weren't.

So basically the sentence you're asking about, in my opinion means that he's putting on airs to hide from others the fact he doesn't perceive himself as strong and brave as All Might.

Of course I might be wrong, I'm not Horikoshi and my knowledge of Japanese is risible so take all this with a huge grain of salt.

Still I hope it'll help! Thank you for your ask!

[th3b4dk1dzz]

Just Dance Theory: Jack Rose's sibling

I'm so glad Littlsiha brought up the Kid of the Swan because I've been theorising this for a while and have just a few days before, made a huge break in the case that I would like to share with everyone and my supporting evidence to why I think Dahlia the coach for Don't Start Now and Flowers is Jack's sister.

Exibit A) Naming Convention

The most obvious connection between these two is that they both have flowers as part of their names.

Exibit B) Costuming

Now, although both the Flower siblings wear suits, with blacks, golds, and pinks prevalent in their designs, that's not the comparison I want to make. I want to compare Dahlia's suit to her mother's costume for Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This.

Both coaches wear black pantsuits over a brighter low cut, brighter top/leotard. Given that Flowers is a song about moving on, self-care and healing, perhaps she has decided to accept her past and better herself from it. Hence why her suit is adorned with her own floral motif.

But this is not the first time we have met Dahlia. The first time we see her is in Don't Start Now, where she wears a blue and gold dress, I will say, though, her top, her shoes and her glove are purple and red, colours that are worn by Jack Rose. I like to think this was shortly after leaving Eternyx as a form of rebellion against her mother and is doing everything to distance herself from Night Swan.

Exibit C) Map Colour Palates

Flowers, Don't Start Now,and Treasure all have backgrounds, which have pale gold and light pink tones to them.

Not only that, but in the later two, they both have sections within the routine where that background shifts to a stronger gold and deep purple, the colour of Jack Rose's glove.

Exibit D) Purple Glove Theory

Before I get into this section, for clarification, when I say signature glove, I'm referring to the glove that all coaches wear that the player matches the controller to.

So, as previously stated, Jack has two gloves. Typically, his gold glove is his signature glove, but in Treasure, the illusion is flipped, using the purple glove as his signature, specifically in this idealic dream under Night Swan's control.

Now, what's fascinating about this Sweet Dreams, Night Swan's glove is pink. However, the trailer for the upcoming Y2K event has an emote where she her glove has now changed to purple, so why would they change it for the emote?

I think this represents a familial bond between the three and by showing the real Jack himself, wearing it in a world associated with Dahlia's colours. Night Swan might be tempting him with the prospect of being a complete family again, as well as his "narcissism."

Exhibit D) Ice Cream

So this is just an interesting detail I picked up on. If anyone has a better explanation, please let me know.

So, the JD Twitter account posted a thread about what the 2023 coaches' favourite foods are. While most of the answers were jokes and references. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what Jack's favourite food being vanilla ice cream is a reference to.

For the JD 2024 Edition celebration event, one of the rewards was an avatar for Dahlia with the quote, "Art is more comforting than ice cream. It helps me break free!" There's nothing in either of her maps or Jack's maps that reference ice cream, so it seems a bit weird and out of left field. Unless this is a comfort food between the two that reminds them of the other.

So what happened between these two siblings and what had to Dahlia after she left?

Well that is a theory and a post for another day as this one is pretty long as is. But I do have some ideas and let's just say their interesting to say the least.

[thecrow-king]

ETHICS TOWN SPOILERS UP TO EPISODE "History is written By...Who?"

Turned out longer than I intended and I didn't even add everything I wanted to say.

Romulus (love that choice of name), once he travelled back in time, is just a copy of the Romulus of his current present, placed in the past. So, a clone, you could say.

In his original future, Ethics Town was founded by a Richard, and he waited for a Richard to turn up and do it in the past he placed himself in. There's none. So he, Romulus (now Ryan), founds Ethics Town.

Is this the point were he changed the story or was it once he arrived in that time? Is this past a copy of the other one? Like when you have a word document, which we now call "History" and you save a copy of that document, you have "History Copy 1". Now, on your computer, tablet, phone, whatever, you can change "History Copy 1" into anything you want without altering "History". You all know how word and file saving works. I am sure.

My point is, did Romulus create a copy of the history? He said it himself, Ryan is not Romulus. They aren't one "continued consciousness." Is this what happened to the others? Is this the reason why Ian and Artemis have memories that they seemingly just made up? Because they have the memories and desires of Ian and Artemis from the other history. Is this why they are doomed by the narrative - because it's already written?

I'm pretty sure I am wrong because there are more things worth analysing, like the parallels between Ryan and January (I've read the tags on my other post - they are based on the same guy! That's so cool).

(Is Ian the Remus to Ryan being Romulus? Ian is from a neighbouring town, and Remus hopped over the small wall when they first started building Rome).

Is it ethical to jump back in time to change something? Even if you just want to experience life there, you change history.

Does anything of this post make sense to anyone else besides me?

I love media that lets me analyse and theorise. I know I have a tendency to see clues where there aren't any ("turning it into a mystery that needed solving"), but it's fun nonetheless to see what I can come up with and if anything is true in the end. Anyway, I look forward to more of Ethics Town.

Wait, does that mean the town will be flooded at the end of this podcast?

This is how I feel:

Good gods, I just googled something and found out something else. Why can't I stop?

I should probably reblog this post and continue there.

[eddiemelrose]

Yo, hit me with all your Bloodlines ramblings - I too have the BL brain rotation and a strong desire to punch TRC until its the ending we deserved and not... whatever that was

maybe it's taken me four months to answer this. maybe i forgot about the ask. but i will answer now anyway.

As much as I'd love to ramble about my next gen headcanons I've come up with I'll stick to complaints I have about stuff that is actually in canon:

(spoilers for the whole series obviously)

The whole series started because Jill was being targeted and Lissa wanted to change the family law. At the end of the series there was no update on that. In fact, Jill was rescued and just brought back to Court IIRC. I haven't read TRC for a long time and... I don't plan on reading it again for a while so someone else will have to confirm that for me.

And on that note of overarching world plots beyond Sydney... the vaccine?? Massive running plot but it was just left hanging. This series doesn't do "the reader can decide" so why are we left to theorise the outcome of the vaccine???

Now onto Declan... okay so I know a lot of people are angry that he ended up with Adrian and Sydney. I get it. But let's just talk about the long term implications of them raising him:

The trio (+ Eddie + Daniella) are living in human society in Maine. To the Moroi world, Declan is six months younger than he actually is - is this true for the humans too??

I have problems with Neil's abandoning Declan I've complained about before...

Will Adrian and Sydney tell Declan about who he really is? Will he become a guardian? These are very important questions to me that hold a lot of weight in planning my next gen world!!!!!

Think about it. You tell a child that he is adopted. Fine. But if you told Declan that he is adopted? That has problems if he mentions that to other people. Because why would they have adopted a child, they weren't exactly in the best situation for it? Alternatively if Declan knows he's adopted but he's also told he can't tell anyone or something like that he'd definitely be confused about why and again probably end up telling someone.

So the question is then when does he get told about who he really is??? I do have my own theories about when that happens but I'll leave them out of this post since they're related to other characters I'm not talking about right now lol.

Still on Declan: is he going to a Moroi academy? Immediate response would be yes if it wasn't for his situation?? Like whether people know the truth or not, his birth will still be controversial - son of two dhampirs or son of a Moroi and a human. I like to think that growing up with Eddie made Declan super determined to become a guardian himself so he begs his parents to go to a Moroi academy even though they weren't too keen on that.

Also Daniella. Is she just going to live with her son forever? Get the woman a job or a sugar daddy.

And finally.... as I have said a million times before.... WHERE DOES ADRIAN GET BLOOD IN MAINE?

no seriously. you can NOT make this a major plot point in vampire academy with Rose and Lissa and then just FORGET about it with Sydney and Adrian.

That is all.