#it's just such a specific intersection of two things i'm very into right now

[thedressagedraft]

The collector gremlin in my brain *really* wants me to buy the Neopets tarot deck. I am trying not to give in right now but...we'll see 🙈

[rockethorse]

I've been shaping the suburban area of Calcinidae Bay recently and allowing myself to plonk down empty lots just to get a better sense of how I might lay things out in the future. It also made me go searching for specific shells to fill the gaps I had left over, which was a lot of fun & very gratifying.

Most of the houses here are ones I've posted about before (Cadillac Flats, Desert's Welcome & Blue Suburban on the right side of the rightmost street, with Mid-Century Burst and the Lewis House opposite them; then Potter's Paradise way in the bottom left corner) so here's a brief rundown of the new additions and the unique ways they intersect (warning - long post/many images):

I already shared some screencaps from these houses in this post about hallways/vestibules; this is the house with the little mudroom at the front that I really like. It's teeny tiny. As you can see, the original TS4 shell by ReneeMwangi had no flooring in the triangular room on the bottom floor, like so:

Was this an unintentional accident because of how TS4 sometimes doesn't recognise enclosed rooms? Most likely! Did I think it was a cool additional challenge to try and work around anyway? I sure did.

I kept it floorless as a sort of greenhouse room - enclosed enough that the parents don't get cold going to their bedroom, but outdoors enough to encourage plants and grass to grow.

There's a funky little kid's room upstairs. Since it's a bit small, they get their own balcony area too. In my head I've decided that the non-diagonal rooms were originally the entirety of an old two-storey cottage, which the owners renovated, and the diagonal part is an addition that had to go in at an angle to avoid an already-existing pool.

The next house is my go at "Shell Challenge Oliver" by TS4 Gallery ID FridaMay. It has a little fish pond out the front like its neighbour Potter's Paradise. I was looking for something that could accommodate the L-shaped space I had and this was perfect because it already came with the gazebo, which I placed at the same distance from the house shell as in the original TS4 shell.

The master bedroom has a subdued but neat colour scheme and I had some fun in this teen's bedroom using wallpapers I don't normally look at.

Rough floorplan. Lots of spaces for entertaining. The little conservatory area is my favourite, I bet it's so nice to curl up and read in there. I originally had the upstairs study area an open landing but decided to close it off so that it could be an extra/guest bedroom if necessary, because this house really didn't have "3 bedroom" vibes.

I also finally realised that if you rotate those outdoor tiles randomly they don't look so horribly repetitive and now I actually really like them & will probably get lots more use out of them!

The aforementioned gazebo, which was a part of the shell challenge, so I take little credit for how cute it is. It fits so perfectly in this little back yard and is yet ANOTHER entertaining/conversation area, lol. I figure that teenager is a photographer so she has her vintage camera set up here to take some nature shots.

As you may have picked up, this lot and the first lot overlap using the Lot Adjuster, like so:

Normally, the issue here would be Z-fighting on any terrain that isn't covered by floor tiles, with the added issue that the ground from the gazebo lot completely covered the pool from the other lot. These are only visual glitches and don't affect gameplay at all but they're really annoying and distracting.

But I figured out a solution that's obvious in hindsight; I simply lowered the terrain on the gazebo lot wherever it overlapped with the other lot. The other lot's LOD ground covers the hole when I'm playing the gazebo lot, and I don't get any Z-fighting on either lot!

This only works because I don't need/want to be able to access the other lot's backyard from the gazebo house. If I were trying to make, say, two houses with a shared park area between them, I'd still have to cover the entire area in floor tiles or get Z-fighting. And the downside of the "hole" method is that the trick is obvious from neighbourhood view:

Sometimes the pool looks like this and sometimes it looks a bit different but still glitchy. For what it's worth, I went back and terrain-painted over those ugly cliff squares in the lowered area and now I can barely tell from hood view. I will always prioritise how my houses look in lot-view/during gameplay VS how they look from hood view, but this is probably a dealbreaker for some.

This lot doesn't overlap with Potter's Paradise, but it does kind of accommodate it visually, with this little divot carved out to make it look like next door's kiln has more space.

Anyway - onto the final lot:

I needed something pretty long but also not super-narrow to fill the space left over and found the perfect TS4 shell from the Gallery ID "feouirtsutnrusl". I liked the turret shape at the front and since it was absolutely MASSIVE inside I decided to turn it into some rowhouse apartments, taking just a pinch of inspiration from New Orleans shotgun houses.

Since the bottom two apartments don't have as many windows (especially in the middle), I took advantage of the roofing situation to throw in some skylights, as you can see in the image at the top of this post.

The middle apartment has two skylights - one over the kitchen/dining area and one over the master bedroom - and the right apartment has one over the twins' shared bedroom.

I had a lot of fun with the floorplan of these ones. It was really interesting trying to figure out how to make the most of the spaces without things looking too gloomy without windows, especially the living room in the middle apartment (since the windows at the front and back needed to attach to bedrooms, and it didn't even have any privacy windows). I couldn't even borrow too much space from the leftmost apartment because it had to attach to the back/side door (which was actually a quirk of the original shell).

The entire top floor is one apartment (with a little extra hallway on the bottom floor that serves as an office space). The angsty musician kid doesn't get the cool turret bedroom but they do get their own little balcony. Originally I had the back wall entirely filled with windows before I realised it would give them a birds-eye-view down into the skylights, LOL. But I don't think it really needed any extra windows and the wall space ended up being more versatile anyway.

I really liked this space. It's somehow retro/nostalgic and kinda fresh at the same time.

I love the master bedroom. It's so over-the-top. It's like they won a house makeover on a mid-2000s reality TV show and the only input the producers heard was "we like the beach". But they LOVE IT.

This lot doesn't overlap with any of the other lots, but I did make this minor tweak to the Lewis House for a bit of privacy. Now the upstairs neighbours don't have to worry about staring directly into their back yard and they get a bit of shade cover as an added bonus without blocking the sun completely.

If any of you read this far then I hope you got some interesting ideas! I like being able to make lots feel connected/integrated, like they flow from one to the other instead of being entirely separate entities, and I feel like I achieved that here. And I'm looking forward to expanding into those empty lots in the first pic!

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

Kaveh is like this close to committing a sin with Mehrak, like he's playing a really dangerous game. It's just a matter of time Mehrak gets even more sentient when it's already this far. I know Kaveh keeps it in check, but man... I hope they'll talk about this one day. Either that or Kaveh will always brush it off, as if he didn't get some ancient core to build it??? Also, I always love your thoughts, thanks for loving these two so much!

hiya! thank you for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my posts :") <3 Mehrak’s existence is so ??? funny to me. we have tighnari’s story quest detailing the akademiya’s ban on research into mechanical lifeforms, directly alongside kaveh building his own mechanical lifeform and parading it around, sending it on solo coffee retrieving missions whilst everyone in sumeru looks on smiling <3

Mehrak’s legality hasn’t been mentioned at all in-game as of now, and as it’s been used consistently, both in kaveh’s hangout, a parade of providence, and now nahida’s birthday event, with not one mention of legality or potential trespasses, makes it seem that that’s how things will stay - especially since Cyno has met/is aware of mehrak’s existence during the battle scene during a parade of providence (then again, cyno did meet the wanderer during this event, and yet in nahida’s birthday event it seems he’s only HEARD of the wanderer through sethos??) but even then, since Cyno trusts Tighnari with karkata’s continued existence, it’s likely not a stretch to say that to Cyno, Kaveh can be trusted with Mehrak’s existence (it’s all very iffy)

Mehrak’s existence, overall, has had little focus other than its usage in battle, its official introduction in a parade of providence, where kaveh stipulates it has low intelligence, and was built to assist him, as well as being incapable of talking back and giving him ‘attitude’ (implicitly comparing mehrak to alhaitham), and in kaveh’s hangout when he works on designing a building. It’s only in recent events, such as cyno’s second story quest, and now in nahida’s birthday event, that mehrak has gotten more mentions, and now a spotlight, which is all in relation to coffee, tying back to alhaitham and kaveh’s improved relationship (the coffee analysis will be in the updated essay finally!!). as of right now, overall, mehrak doesn’t appear to be a major focus

It might be strange for the game to mention now that mehrak has been an illegal creation all this time, unless it’s a significant plot point that has to be resolved, but if mehrak is further explored, like in the temple of silence for example (hoyoverse I am once again asking), then perhaps this collective ignoring of a crime occurring will be explained away, if mentioned at all? It’s interesting that tighnari says it might be possible that this ban is reversed in the future, but as for whether that will actually happen, and the implications of this, aren’t clear

Mehrak’s accepted existence in general poses so many questions. I’m interested in the specifics of the ban, like does it depend on the autonomy of the machine in question? Abattouy aimed to make Karkata essentially human, capable of individual thought, processing, emotion, and conversation, which definitively broaches on the intersection of mechanical and biological life which caused the Akademiya to ban this type of research in the first place. So if a machine is able to act on its own, irrespective of human interference, then this is what the akademiya would want to prevent

In mehrak’s case, it’s unclear as to what its limits are, but from what has been shown so far, it seems that mehrak can only act on kaveh’s commands and when held in battle – it’s uncertain rn whether mehrak can act independently of this, but as kaveh invented it to only assist in certain matters, it’s doubtful. But then again, we don’t have a great scope of whether it can experience emotions, as it has shown signs of being distressed in a parade of providence when kaveh states that it can’t talk back, and when being scolded by kaveh in nahida’s birthday event

if mehrak has limited intelligence, it's interesting to compare mehrak with karkata. abattouy was attempting to make karkata understand human language, and be able to respond in order to have conversation, which was proved impossible, whereas although mehrak only speaks in beeps, kaveh is shown to have a thorough understanding of what it’s saying? Mehrak can be programmed to recognise people’s voices, but seemingly also language, as mehrak can obey spoken command, which is what abattouy tried to accomplish but was unable to with modern technology.

Mehrak, on the other hand, understands kaveh’s basic requests – which is made even funnier in kaveh’s old sketchbook, where he says that more than anything he really wants mehrak to understand what he’s saying. he got his wish but at what cost???

Mehrak being made from ancient technology, belonging to that of king deshret’s civilisation, offers many interesting paths that could be explored in future events, as besides the primal constructs roaming around, the puzzles in the desert, and now the temple of silence, no technology really exists from that time. Someone commented that mehrak’s presence in nahida’s birthday event, in conjunction with the event being based around ancient technology with the wedjat eye, could be highlighting mehrak’s irregularity in modern day sumeru – potentially foreshadowing for a future event that could further expand upon mehrak? If this is the case, I am all for it, there are so many questions concerning kaveh’s little light <3

[mellxncollie]

Temporary pause from working on a Charles' cricket bat gifset to talk about this shot:

It's such a well composed shot! It's the most badass cricket bat moment and this is like the anime-styled, matrix-level, critical hit, crescendo moment for Charles after all of his anger in episodes 3-5, and now he's redirecting it in a way that is no longer terrifying to his friends but supportive (though i would argue most of his anger in eps 3-5 was still very justified).

The negative space here is just *chefs kiss* and gives space for Charles to be focused on. It's simple and uncomplicated, making it easy for us to digest just how badass Charles is.

But like, look at it overlaid with some common composition 'rules'

Rule of Thirds

We've got him fairly well-aligned with the rule of thirds, his body and arm mostly along the lines with the cricket bat ending around that intersection

Then, similar to the rule of thirds, it fits even better with the Golden Ratio

This gets more along his center of gravity, and all that empty space on the sides just makes him even more important in the frame

These two rules, and the next one, are what makes it feel kind of "matrix"-like to me.

Golden Triangles

So maybe this doesn't look like it matches, and you'd be right. It doesn't match the lines of the composition exactly, but the golden triangles shows us that the shot is angled to somewhat align with this composition. Charles is parallel to those shorter lines, and the whole shot guides our eye along that long, downwards line.

If it was angled a little more or less dramatically, then it might not have had as much of an effect. This specific angle makes it feel so dynamic.

You can even use the Diagonal Composition that photoshop has (basically 2 square crosses that align with the 4 corners--with a smaller aspect ratio they'd overlap more)

Here the thing to note is the cricket bat's edge fitting almost too perfectly with that one line.

Golden Spiral (the one where i'm definitely stretching it a bit but whatever)

So this doesn't work as much in the full frame aspect ratio (2.2:1) but if we cut out the negative space, Charles fits along the larger part of the swooping arc. Not as much of a thing to focus on at the center of the spiral, but if we flip the spiral:

The cricket bat is in that spot. I know this is a bit of a stretch of the golden spiral, but all this to say, it's still really fucking cool.

All of these 'rules' aligning like this make it such a satisfying scene to watch. For me, when he catches that cricket bat it's like when a difficult math equation comes out to a whole number, or when a poem finds the perfect rhyme for the very last line, or when you're at the end of a whodunit and the detective lays out how the crime was committed. It's the best conclusion for an already amazing moment, everything falling perfectly into place.

[zahri-melitor]

Some more coherent thoughts about Gotham War, now it's settled on me.

(Spoilers below cut, for length and as it's still only Wednesday)

It's not a huge surprise, but Selina's whole 'train henches to steal from the rich non-violently!' ended up being a complete side issue that only existed to get the plot moving. Nobody's conception of this plot, in two years time, will really include this detail, despite the thousands of words spent arguing how ridiculous it was.

Yes it remains a poorly thought out plan on Selina's part (she's never heard of earning money legally) but the narrative also frames it as long term ineffective from the very first issue and knocks it down on multiple occasions.

DC editorial definitely tried to dress this up as a full family event, but realistically it was a Bruce, Selina and Jason event, written by their three current writers, with solid bit parts played by Tim and Dick.

Vandal Savage remains ridiculous and ready to sacrifice anyone and I appreciate that about him. As a villain he was just the right level of stakes for this event.

I enjoyed getting to see Scandal, even if her fans would say she got done dirty here. Scandal usually has enough sense not to believe anything Vandal says, and I admit I was somewhat waiting for some level of twist here as to why Scandal was all for immortality at this point in time, but it never came.

I still agree it felt a lot like three separate plotlines intersecting, but I think they managed to land the event successfully (while leaving some nice loose threads). I actually appreciate they didn't overreach in their goals.

It still finished out with two separate plotlines: Bruce and Selina and Jason; and Dick and Tim and the rest of the family. Structurally this again reminded me as much of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul as Batman #138 did; the main plot and then the far more interesting Dick & Tim sideplot which is what I go back to reread. (Chip Zdarsky is clearly also a fan)

Also promisingly for an event yes, it did actually shake up the status quo and push the participants off in new directions.

So Bruce is now doing the Loner Batman thing (in that he's locked out of the fam computers/comm lines), Selina is officially 'dead' (what is with all these fake dead people with titles, Penguin is too right now), and Jason has what's effectively permanent fear toxin response to stressful situations. Also, apparently, we are getting Dick and Barbara back 'running' the Batfam while Bruce is on the outs.

As far as Bruce goes, what has been really notable in this event is how much Chip Zdarsky loves early 2000s Bat comics and their dynamics, and particularly Joker's Last Laugh. There's a lot of structural things about how this event was shaped, what specific characters did, and emotional beats that feel very JLL as someone who's read it at least half a dozen times. It's not the only influence, but it's a pretty prominent one.

Bruce ending the event in a position where he's effectively not working with most of the other Bats actually tracks reasonably well over to Batman & Robin, to my surprise. It makes sense that it's just Bruce and Damian and they're focusing on homelife and domestic relationship details between the two. It gives Bruce an excuse for why he's closely focused on Damian there.

I will admit I have not been reading Catwoman, but from the event it seems they're spinning her off to keep moving her back into a more antihero position. Tini Howard clearly has a direction she wants to take Selina.

I actually think this has pretty interesting storytelling potential for Jason. It means that he has to stay calm, or has to overcome his own fear to achieve things. It gives him a goal? Matthew Rosenberg clearly seems interested in using it for his Jason storytelling and he's got Jason right now, so...

I'm personally delighted by how much Tim Zdarsky wrote into this storyline. He used the space more to show off Dick and Tim's brotherhood and what Tim is good at, rather than push the Tim side of the Zur story we're all expecting to occur (there's that waiting Zur-Robin costume). Means he's planning it for Batman as a title itself rather than getting it tangled up here.

"It was the only way to become the second-best Robin". Yes, this is Tim getting to show off his core competencies - he probably is the only Bat other than Bruce who would have extensively studied all the trophies. Dick would remember a lot of them simply because a lot of the trophies are from old adventures, but pretty much all the others are not particularly retrospective, respect the past sort of members of the group, while Tim has always been surrounded by the shadows of the past. I loved this note.

I haven't talked about Babs yet! She's in green, in glasses, sitting down at her computers with a novelty mug, directing everyone, answering to Oracle. That's her! That's my Oracle!

I do think Bruce expecting Dick to take over running the Batfam right now is a big ask, given he's also running the Titans as the main superhero team on the planet and handling Bludhaven, but Tom Taylor's writing both those books so I don't expect to see the stress catching up with Dick there. Benefits of writer choice right now, I guess. Also personally 'Babs and Dick organise everyone while Bruce has a breakdown elsewhere' is one of my favourite Batfam dynamics so you know, I'm pretty excited if we actually get to see this play out.

New Lazarus Pit in Gotham! This won't be a problem at all.

[wanderingbleats]

At the time of this post, Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 are a few days away from releasing. With that being the case, I'd like to post my own speculation about what might happen in the coming chapters. The first few observations are ones I made back in 2018, and more of them were made after Chapter 2 released.

I call this Ark Theory.

A few things to say before I post this, though: 1) I am not actively involved in the Deltarune theory scene, or very active online in general. I haven't seen anyone post anything like this, but for all I know this is old news. (Though, if that's the case, maybe it will be interesting that someone else came to this conclusion?) 2) This is speculation. I'm not 100% certain about any of this, obviously. That… that should go without saying, but even from what little exposure I have, I've seen people get weird about theory crafting…

Anyway, I think it will be fun to have this on record, regardless of if it's completely right or completely wrong. Or, just as likely, some parts could be right and some parts could be wrong.

So, I will start with my observations.

OBSERVATION: The prophecy only says one world will be saved.

My first observation was one I made shortly after Chapter 1 came out. In the "Legend" prophecy, there are two lines that come very close together.

"Three HEROES appear at WORLDS' edge."

Please note the placement of the apostrophe in "WORLDS' edge". This is a plural-- the intersecting edge of multiple worlds. But just a few lines later…

…"the WORLD saved from destruction." That's singular.

It seems very suspect that these two lines come so close together. Especially with WORLD in all capital letters in both cases, it draws comparison, and the fact that it goes from plural to singular is unnerving. Looking at the phrasing literally, this prophecy involves multiple worlds, but only explicitly says that one world will be saved. This does not necessarily mean that only one world will be saved, but it is all the prophecy definitively promises.

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OBSERVATION: Ralsei believes the prophecy is infallible, but that Kris's choices still matter.

Just before Kris and Ralsei go through the Great Door, Ralsei says something a little odd. He says that the journey has been foretold exactly by the prophecy, but that Kris's choices still matter. That's a contradiction, right?

Ah, not necessarily! Things can still matter even if they don't change anything. What "matters" and doesn't matter isn't necessarily based in a purely utilitarian or consequentialist sense. It is possible for actions to matter even if they are in some sense "futile".

…except…

Ralsei specifically says the result will or won't be favorable depending on Kris's actions! Even more specifically, he says he fears the story won't have a happy ending if they FIGHT!

This does appear to be a contradiction. Perhaps the big events of the prophecy are bound to happen, but there is some possibility to change smaller details? We've already seen that in Chapters 1 and 2. The endings of each Chapter appear to be "the same" no matter what you do, but the context of what these endings mean can be drastically different depending on the details.

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OBSERVATION: Ralsei insists on pacifism even though killing is (usually) impossible in Deltarune.

Regarding Ralsei's above insistence that Kris's choices matter, he says that it is specifically Kris's choice to use violence or not that will determine whether the ending is happy or not. And that's a little strange given how Deltarune's story doesn't seem to change much whether you're violent or not. In fact, until the Weird Route was discovered, killing was impossible.

I had noticed this in Chapter 1, but figuring it out fully was impossible at that time. It was only with Chapter 2's release that practicing nonviolence had a tangible effect: Now you recruit enemies by sparing them. This is a pretty major gameplay mechanic that anyone who's played Chapter 2 is familiar with, so I don't think I need to belabor this one.

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OBSERVATION: Ralsei seems to be planning something, but is selective about who he reveals the information to.

Speaking of things I don't need to belabor, it's incredibly obvious that Ralsei is up to something. We all know this. We've all seen the line over and over since Chapter 1's release. But for the sake of completeness:

When Ralsei and Kris are locked up in the Card Castle dungeon, Ralsei waits until the player is focusing on Susie before talking to Kris. When we return, he's saying "So that's why, OK, Kris?" The common interpretation that he intentionally shooed the player out so he could say something to Kris privately feels so likely that I'd be surprised if it weren't the case.

(I would also like to note, however, that Ralsei seems to be actively trying to get the player's attention in ways the other characters won't necessarily notice? If he's the one who named the Castle Town after the player-- which is likely, since he's the prince-- there doesn't seem any reason to do that except to say "Hey, I know you're there, and I want you to know I know you're there!" This isn't particularly related to this specific theory, but does point to a recurring pattern of Ralsei revealing information selectively to different people.)

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OBSERVATION: There has been foreshadowing regarding rain stretching back to Undertale, and continuing into Deltarune.

There have been recurring references to rain in both Undertale and Deltarune, but none of the proposed reasons for these references have been satisfying to me. In Undertale, during the dinner scene with Sans where he reflects on the possible futility of Frisk's adventure, the track "It's Raining Somewhere Else" plays. It also plays inside Sans's secret lab. Note that both of these scenes have themes of the futility of trying to return to something from the past.

The name "It's Raining Somewhere Else" is never fully explained. One of the most common interpretations back in the day was that it was either referring to the surface (because, although it is "raining" in Waterfall, it's explicitly noted that the Underground does not have true weather (and besides, it doesn't make sense to name the song after that?)) or the theorized "original timeline" Sans came from. I don't quite ascribe to either of those, but the latter is closer to what I think may have happened, which I will get into later.

Also in Undertale, if you encounter Goner Kid, you can bring them an umbrella. If you do this, they note that it's not raining, and then say that it does make them feel better about all this. I can't recall ever seeing a theory that really explained this dialogue.

The rain-related lines continued into Deltarune, becoming at this point what I strongly suspect to be foreshadowing. At the beginning of Chapter 1, Toriel notes that the weather is lovely, and says…

"I hope it stays this way when ASRIEL visits next week."

This doesn't explicitly say anything about rain, but people usually equate the lack of rain to "nice weather". She's hoping it won't be raining when Asriel comes home. This line is fairly innocuous on its own, but stands out if you're already primed to wonder what the deal with "rain" is, as I've been doing since 2015…

And of course, one of the preview screenshots for Chapter 3 or 4 depicts it raining in Hometown.

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OBSERVATION: Ralsei's Dark World is the only world we know of where everyone can survive.

As Lancer dramatically demonstrates in Chapter 2, not every world is suitable for everyone. Not only do Darkners appear to be inanimate objects in the Light World (although they may still "exist" in some sense? This is yet unclear.), but also Darkners cannot exist in Dark Worlds where they "don't belong". We're shown the effect of this when Lancer turns to stone in the Cyber World.

Lightners do not appear to have any such restrictions. They can come and go from Dark Worlds as they please. It appears they can survive in Dark Worlds and Light Worlds alike.

What this means is that there is only one world where everyone can survive: Ralsei's Dark World, thanks to its Grand Fountain. This world can hold everyone: native inhabitants (of whom Ralsei appears to be the only one), Darkners from other Dark Worlds, and Lightners. In fact, Ralsei is actively in the process of preparing space for all of these groups.

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OBSERVATION: Ralsei is building rooms not only for Darkners from Dark Worlds whose fountains are closing, but also for Lightners.

Because of the above, it is clear why Ralsei is building rooms in his Dark World for the other Darkners. But why is he building rooms for Lightners, like Kris and Susie? Yes, they're his friends, and he is a prince with a big castle. That would be reason enough. But supposing he did have some other reason, what would it be?

The reason he gives is that he wants them to have "a place [they] can go… no matter what's happening outside." This seems to parallel the common theory that the Dark Worlds represent fantasy and escapism. But also, Ralsei has been shown to have knowledge of events yet to come, through prophecy. It could be that he has reason to believe they will need a place to go, when the "what's happening outside" comes.

…In fact, this has an odd parallel with Queen's Mansion. She has rooms for Lightners, too, but she's planning to conquer the world. So…?

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…So. With all of the above in mind, here is my conclusion:

CONCLUSION: The true nature of the prophecy is that all worlds except one will be destroyed. The Light World specifically will be destroyed in a flood.

I do not know if the flood will be literal rain or a "Rain of Darkness". I also do not know if this is the same thing as The Roaring. But with the above observations, it seems to me that one potential thing that could connect all of them is the destruction of the Light World in a flood. And, since Ralsei's is only world where everyone can go to take shelter from the rain, it would make sense that he would prepare space for everyone there.

If the Light World is destroyed, it may become impossible to create new Dark Worlds, given the nature of Darkners as manifestations of physical objects from the Light World. So, it would be essential to recruit as many Darkners as possible before the flood in order to save them. In short: One world saved, with violence or non-violence making a tangible difference in the context of what it actually means for that world to be saved. And Ralsei?

He is building an ark.

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…some additional speculation arising from this theory is below. These are things that rely perhaps on less solid reasoning, but could potentially work with this theory:

SUB-CONCLUSION: Ralsei may be orchestrating things to ensure that his world is the one that survives.

Perhaps the prophecy is unclear about which world survives? If that's the case, Ralsei might be doing everything in his power to make sure his is the surviving world. This would explain the selective revelation of information. He knows that meddling in this way makes him responsible for what happens to the other worlds, and that he could be seen as the villain because of this.

Worse, someone could throw a wrench in his plan if they're not totally onboard. But Kris, being the one who seals the fountains, is critical to enacting it. It would make sense for Ralsei to explain his reasoning to them. ("So that's why, okay, Kris?")

With all of this said, I do not believe this is out of malice but out of wholehearted belief in the prophecy and that this is the only way to save as many people as possible. Please do not mistake this for me casting Ralsei in a harsh light. I love him, even if I think he may be up to something questionable.

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SUB-CONCLUSION: Not all characters will be saved.

…an ark is a shelter. It does not guarantee salvation for everyone. And there are certain characters who I feel are particularly vulnerable to destruction from the flood: in particular, the Deltarune equivalents of the Gaster Followers and Monster Kid.

I know people are tired of Gaster-related theories at this point, but I really do think Goner Kid's lines point to this as a possibility. Why does Goner Kid feel better when you bring them an umbrella? Well, they were just talking about watching the world moving on with no one having any memory of them. Providing them "shelter from the rain", even though it's not raining, is proof that you remember them, right? Or at least that's how they see it.

…Admittedly, it would be rather weird for a dramatic apocalyptic event to have the destruction of extremely minor NPCs like the Deltarune Gaster Followers as part of it, but I dunno what to say about that.

-----

SUB-CONCLUSION: Sans might flee to the Undertale universe during the rain.

There are some theories pointing to Sans being from the Deltarune universe originally that I really don't have the time or inclination to go over here. But briefly: it's theorized the broken machine in his lab was an attempt to get back to where he originally came from, and his lab also has a picture of three smiling people with the words "don't forget". Since "It's Raining Somewhere Else" plays both in the lab and in the scene where Sans is talking about how it's not so bad in the Underground, this could match. (This conclusion is one I haven't given much thought to and am not particularly convinced of. But it did cross my mind, so I wanted to note it.)

-----

Now, with that all said, there are a few issues with this theory that I know of. As I said at the beginning, this is speculation. I'm not making definitive claims, and I'm not trying to "convince" anyone of anything. There may well be more issues with the theory than this, but here are a few that come to mind for me:

POTENTIAL ISSUES

1) There's a pretty solid case that the Dark Worlds represent fantasy and possibly escapism. It seems a little weird to me that the story would set that up, and then go on to have the plot involve escaping to the Dark World to get shelter from a literal apocalypse? It's not impossible for that to happen, but at this time I'm finding it hard to think of a resolution to this that fits the way Toby seems to tell stories.

2) You might notice that I did not mention The Knight even once in the course of this theory. That's because I did not see a way it could connect! And that's kind of weird, considering how critical The Knight appears to be, I think. Maybe it would be the one that starts the rain? Also, what the heck is the Angel's Heaven? That's another major part of the prophecy, and I've got nothing on that either.

3) I made an assumption that Lightners can survive in the Dark Worlds, but can they actually? They don't turn to stone, but Susie mentions that nothing she eats seems to "count" in the Dark Worlds. Do Lightners get sustenance from Dark World food? Would they all starve if the Light World was destroyed?

4) Ralsei reveres Lightners as something akin to gods, right? If he's building an ark and willing to sacrifice the Light World, wouldn't that mean sacrificing untold numbers of Lightners beyond the borders of Hometown? That seems odd to the point that it's difficult to reconcile with what we know about him. (Although, he does mention in his speech about The Roaring that he considers Darkners to be indispensable to Lightners' wellbeing… Maybe he thinks it's critical that both exist, no matter the numerical cost?)

-----

That's all. I'm looking forward to seeing if any of my questions get answered in the coming chapters, and if my speculation is on base. (Also, I am terrified for Asriel's life if I am right about this!)

Thanks for reading!

[chevelleneech]

First things first thank you for saying that something indeed happened between jikook and that they seemed to have it sorted out. Because there are not many who acknowledge that. tho i get if some don't wanna assume About their friendship and have it based on a few things we get to see but at the same time it feels like gaslighting and lying because life ain't always rainbows and Sunshine.

As you said when did it happen? we don't know but something did happen. Two people who have spent a decade being attached at the hips suddenly not being seen anywhere together and not even private (not saying they never met privately but definitely not as much as they're used to). That's kinda hard to believe. something has to gone between them for it to happen. tho idt it was like any sort of fight or anything i just feel like (as you said) jm putting some distance between them. did he put it because he was angry with jk or something? idts. i feel it's more about his own minset and him wanting to be in the company of others. you don't always want to be in the company of same people if you're going through something you might want to be in a environment that will be suitable for your condition something that would make what you feel a little better or heard or something like that.

Given how jk said(complained) that they were supposed to meet for drink but it didn't happen, and jm goes "Well that's how life is sometimes" so looks like things have gotten cancelled more times than usual and that is why jk was complaining. if it was just once or twice idt he'd mention it. Plus we have seen jk inviting jm over more than once so again seems like jk was always free for jm but jm didn't want it at that time. so jk might have been like "If that's how you want it then let it be this way" and then later jm tried reaching out again. maybe he was ready then, maybe he thought that it's time to get back and complete his promises (because he has indeed told jk multiple times that he'd meet jk once his promotions are over).

Now it's hard to pinpoint when things weren't as they used to be because as you said they're actually very private and never let's anything slip off and if it's park jimin Best believe you're not getting anything out of him that he doesn't want you to know. he's very calculated with his actions and what he speaks. he thinks alot About how and what he's presenting to fans. he doens't like being mess in front of them. he doens't like "sudden" things. he likes knowing things in advance and what he wants to say/do. he's not impulsive. because he knows ppl pick up things and TALK (like I'm doing right now lol) and he doesn't like his private life being talk of anyone's discussion. He's too private. I'm talking about jm more because he's my bias and i feel like i know him more than I know others. It's hard because whenever you have seen them intersecting their interactions have been fine, jimin has commented on jk's lives multiple times while as jk done "jimin jimin" more than he's done for others. so it's hard to pinpoint when it wasn't going right but again as u said we'll never know Unless they say so.

Point of the ask was to thak you because many have said there's nothing wrong and it feels like people are lying when there's nothing wrong to say things as what you say. tho it's also not right to assume things about other's rs but i think as long as you know the limit it's ok ig.

Yeah, I’m not gonna condemn people for choosing to think nothing happened, but I do personally think there’s no reason not to. It seems pretty laid out to us that it did, but again, we just don’t know what or specifically when.

And like in your ask, there are so many maybes and possibilities as to what exactly happened, but at the end of the day, everything we come up with will always be a biased theory based on who we bias, who we feel is more at fault (even if it’s not bad), and so on.

For me, I’m trying to keep all that out of it. Neither Jimin nor JK are my bias, so it is a little easier, and I’m also just trying to go off the small pieces of info they did offer or showcase prior to AYS airing. I think adding up all those factors gives us a pretty clear picture, but if other people see something different, that’s their right more or less.

[librarycards]

i hope it's okay to ask you questions about pursuing a masters / phd ! im hoping to do my masters in a field completely unrelated to my degree ( studying graphic design but aiming for english masters ) and im just wondering the steps i'd take to ensure i'm a good masters candidate??? idk if i worded that right LOL but the last thing i wanna do is pay for my masters n that's the general consensus i see from others ty!

it's always okay, i'm happy to help as much as i can!

first - i'm not sure if i misunderstood, but do want to mention that i very rarely see someone going for a terminal master's in english. typically, people interested will either take a master's in, for example, english education, or an MFA in creative writing, or go for a phd in english. particularly if you (correctly) don't want to pay, i recommend considering a phd/fully-funded MFA which will allow you to teach as part of your funding package.

alas, now that a master's degree has become the new bachelors/less valuable in terms of prestige, most universities that offer phds consider masters degrees to be easy cash, leaving you with less advising attention, fewer teaching and research opportunities, and often, a lot of debt. i think you'd be much better positioned in an MFA (if you're a creative writer) or a PhD (if specifically interested in literary studies). so take that for what you will!

as for advice: given that you're pursuing a field separate from your undergrad field, take this time to do a couple things. first, try to hone an area of focus. it doesn't need to be perfect or exactly what you'll write a dissertation on, but admissions committees are going to be judging you more harshly than those with an english-focused undergraduate education. a specific genre, period of time, author/author group, and/or disciplinary intersection, this helps a lot, especially if you can readily reference particular authors and theorists whose work you're interested in thinking with. consider name dropping one or two in a statement of purpose, especially if you're asked explicitly to summarize your research interests. also, consider looking into schools that take GRE scores into account, and study for your essay/english GRE portion. it's not difficult, and a good score will help them know that you're ready for grad level coursework.

check out conferences (MLA, regional MLAs [these are very cozy and approachable], CCC if you're into rhetoric/comp, American Studies Association (ASA) literary-related panels) and journals open for submissions, especially those that take book reviews/criticism. what you're trying to do here is build out the portion of your CV focused on panel presentations and publications -- while these are not always required to get into grad school, they are really helpful when you're coming from a separate discipline. make no mistake, though, a website/links/portfolio of your graphic design work is also valuable here - it's a testament to your discipline, professionalism, and ability to learn. other jobs are the same way: no, your time as a barista or cashier might not be directly related to your degree, but it is still illustrative of patience, reliability, and adaptability that is necessary to success in grad school.

lastly, talk to your old professors! talk to english/humanities professors you had at some point in college, even if they weren't part of your major! depending on your closeness with them, they'll be able to write you recommendations (necessary) and offer you other tips specific to english grad programs. usually, if programs want at least 2 of 3 references to be academic; one can be an employer. professors testifying to your abilities makes a world of difference. oh, and talk to professors in the schools you're applying to, too, especially if someone works in the same fields you want to work in. read a couple of their papers and ask them about it. tell them about your situation and your goals. sometimes it takes a while for them to respond, but my responses have been overall very positive when i've done this.

i hope this helps!!

[route66magdalena]

05.27.25

I have not really made time for journaling in the past couple months or so, my emotions have honestly been too confusing for the page and every time I sit down and start to write something I get annoyed at myself and stop. Why do I feel the need to be witty and sexy to my journal? The plight of a woman I guess.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the day my heart was broken into a million pieces. I still remember the day crystal clear. I remember sitting in the car, I remember the street we were on, the intersection. I remember feeling my heart splinter in my chest like glass. That's the only way I can describe the feeling. I could hear it crack and crumble and fall into a pit in my stomach. I'm okay now, I've had to build my persona and my life from the ground up and I'm relatively happy with what I've achieved. It's hard to completely remodel your self esteem, to figure out who you actually are after you devoted so much of your time and life to a person. It's hard to reconcile the past image of you, and of them, with new surroundings. Newness has helped. New job, starting university, it's helped to have things of my own that are there just for me. I've filled the lonely void. The reason it's stuck with me so long I think is that after a while I stopped grieving the heartbreak and the person, and instead began grieving the version of me I feel is now lost forever. It's the memories of myself that bother me, it's the pictures of me smiling, it's the clothes I used to wear all the time that now feel like they belong to someone else. Someone dead, to be specific. Wearing them feels like tribute.

I feel eternally grateful to my friends for that period afterwards, and still to this day, for putting up with me through my shortcomings and my despair, through my delusions and my heartache and just sheer anger. They have lifted me up more than anything. I've found new life and new meaning in the conversations we share and the adventures we have. I'd forgotten how much I value platonic connection. It's difficult when you're in an all-consuming relationship like that, you can't see past your arms and who's in them. You don't see the people that are standing behind you, holding you up. I'll never stop being grateful.

I'm very proud of myself for the person I've pulled from the ashes, and the person I feel I have become. I've become a person I like, even love on some days. I found confidence in myself because of myself, rather than from the validation of another person.

As for dating, I can't say I'm over it because the truth is I'm a person who hates to be alone and desires that connection. But I've felt like I've been a fantasy my entire life to whoever was interested in me at the time. I've been the 'goth girl fantasy,' I've been the 'weird girl fantasy,' I've been a manic pixie dream girl (even aspired to be one at one time), I've been the dumb blonde. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being viewed as a caricature rather than a person who is alive with feelings and thoughts of her own. That's partially why I think I was abandoned a year ago. I thought we were two people who could confide in each other but he wanted someone to comfort him and never share any problems of my own. OCD symptoms and panic attacks did not align with his fantasy. Is that all I ever will be as a woman? A fantasy to some man? I've yet to meet a romantic interest that's any different.

Maybe this is how it is, and I'm simply not used to it. I was the 'ugly girl' for most of my life, then suddenly I was desired, it's a bit of a mind fuck to come to terms with. I could say I'm not used to the objectification, but I was still objectified when I was not considered conventionally attractive, it was just more rude. That's a thought for another day.

The sun is shining and the world is wide. And I'm okay with right here and right now! And that's what matters.

[jemeryl]

Playing D&D helped me realize: other people think they can fuck with my boundaries for kicks.

In two totally separate D&D groups, another player had their character coerce and steal from my character. This made me uncomfortable, but I let it slide because it's just a game? What's the big deal, right?

In the first game, my character fell into a spike pit. The other player (K) sat on the edge and said he''d help me out if I gave hima valuable jewel I had. I thought, this is so fucking stupid, I will do whatever it takes to get out of this dumb fucking interaction right this moment.

In the second game, the other player (S) tried to persuade me to take The MacGuffin (the jewel from Critical Role: Netherdeep, if you know), because she doesn't feel worthy of the responsibility. So I said no a few times, but she insisted, and we were stuck arguing, so I thought, whatever, it's just a game, I'm bored, let's move on and sort it out later. But in the next session, S stole the amulet back off me for reasons known only to her?? It's a part of her character's story.

The fact that this happened twice, in completely separate groups, made me feel really unsettled. I didn't like what that said about me: that I attract people who'll violate my boundaries. And if I can't keep my boundaries during something as seemingly trivial as a D&D game, how can I keep my boundaries ANYwhere?

To answer this, I broke the question into three parts:

Why them?

Why me?

How do I stop this?

Why them?

There are other similarities that made it extra unsettling. K and S are both white, older than me, and less emotionally mature than me. They're both deeply insecure, anxious, neurodivergent people. (just like my mom! HMMM)

They both DMed for me for a long time, but they refused to take feedback about how to make their games more fun, so I dropped out of their games. They both felt very rejected by that, and both got kind of weird about it in different ways.

They're both A LOT as players: playing characters who act out and are annoying, taking up a lot of spotlight. Other players put up with their characters behaving badly because it's just a game and no one wants to raise a fuss.

They're really hard to communicate with. They ostensibly welcome feedback, thank you profusely for it, and tell you how much they value you as a player and a friend. However, they're actually shutting down because they feel so uncomfortable and rejected, so no further communication or growth can take place. Then, they shut down more and more over time in order to protect themselves from further discomfort (which they bring on themselves as they double down on what they were doing wrong, and I progressively lose my saint-like reservoir of patience).

I don't play ANY games with K any more because it's intolerable. I'm only playing with S now because the GM invited both of us, I'm invested in that game, and I hoped we wouldn't have an issue. Surprise, now we have an issue, and I need to nip it in the bud because the campaign I'm in with S is going long term.

Why Me?

In both cases, as a TWoC, I was the one in the room with the least social power.

I have experienced a lot of exclusion in the intersection of transphobia and racism - even in LGBT spaces. So I've been conditioned to people please and let things slide in order to avoid exclusion.

I'm giving out subconscious signals that they can get away with this kind of shit with me (signals I learned in order to survive my parents). And they're picking up on it and subconsciously doing it. I mean, I bet they never even CONSIDERED doing this to another player.

This shows they ARE capable of listening and respecting boundaries, but they know on some level there are no CONSEQUENCES for ignoring me and breaking my boundaries.

The good thing is: my signals were learned. I can unlearn them!

How can I stop this? (A Work in Progress)

So I'm going to be paying very, very close attention to what behaviors and signals I give in my interactions, specifically with strangers, because I REALLY, REALLY want to ensure I don't pick up a THIRD K or S. How can I weed these behaviours out?

And I'll be paying attention to signals OTHERS give. What SPECIFICALLY are their behaviors that tell me they are unsafe (which I was conditioned by my parents to disregard or even gravitate towards). What are the behaviours that I didn't realize I needed to say no to in the first place?

And, how can I PRE-EMPTIVELY put up a boundary with them? Let them know they can't target me, WHILE they're still working out who they can target?

Then, the next level: Pre-emptively put up a boundary that says, you can't mess with me OR any of my ACTUAL friends. So fuck off and don't even try.

[hopechip]

GET TO KNOW YOUR MUTUALS | TAG GAME

Hi, so i saw Kiki (@jungkoode) do it and i felt targeted by the "you already have an OC in your notes app" comment so here I am.

What’s the origin of your blog title?

I read Kiki's "Off-Labels" right after spending days looking for new Hobi fanfics (specifically, mafia AU). Off-labels shook me so bad it ended up giving me the last push i needed to publish fanfiction again, which i hadnt done since like, 2021. "Chip" is the nickname Hoseok gives Y/N in this fic.

Favorite fandoms: ARMYs, Marvel's Loki, the Phandom ?? It's been a while.

OTP(s)/shipname: Gotta be Phan. I have a weakness for Sope too. Ngl, everyone who is ARMY and Phan OTPs those two ships. Something about grumpy and depressed X Sunshine.

Favorite color:

Sky blue, Wine Red and gold. I just think it explains my vibes pretty well lol.

Favorite game:

I dont play much, but i love watchinf Five Nights at Freddys, Outer Wilds and What Remains of Edith Finch. I love narrative games with a shitton of lore and a community to back it up.

Song stuck in your head:

Currently, my brain is mixing multiple Hozier sounds so i can't tell. I listen to a wide variety of music though.

Weirdest habit/trait?

I have ADHD, and a part of that ADHD is echolalia. I repeat sounds, end of sentences, phrases from movies and cartoons, sing all the fucking time. My most recent is "Le poisson Steve. IL EST ORAAAAANGE-EUH" from FrenchTok.

Hobbies:

Dancing, music, writing, mixology too !

If you work, what’s your profession?

I'm about to graduate and currently interning somewhere. My work is kinda specific so ill just say, IT.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

I am currently working towards it so i'll keep it secret for now ;)

Something you’re good at:

Dancing, teaching, making people feel good about themself and proud of themselves.

Something you’re bad at:

Not taking needless burdens upon myself. I am hard on myself in a lot of ways and i'm learning to let go.

Something you love:

My friends, my partner, stories, social analyses.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

Intersectional feminism. Black women and their work. Community work. The intersection of arts and politics.

Something you hate:

Cruelty. Idiots. People who would rather lash out than take a look at themself and take responsibility for their actions.

Something you collect:

Friends lmao. i have two ways of making friends which is picking up strays or getting picked up by an extrovert. or maybe photocards since my SIL/roommate just offered me a binder full of BTS photocards she used to collect for my birthday.

Something you forget:

That i'm good enough. That i'm okay. That i'm awesome and I deserve better things. That it's not because something is not right now in my life that I dont deserve it. That i cant control everything.

What’s your love language?

Everything. I love surprising people in their love languages. I'd say the mot prominent one is food though, feed me and i'm yours. Also in general I love smart people so make me a puzzle and i'm following you like a puppy until the next one.

Favorite movie/show:

Last good one i watched was G20. Else, i would say Inside Out 2. I only cried like, 4 times.

Favorite food:

Currently i'd say sushi. I have been craving it for a while now.

Favorite animal:

CATS. I love pseudo independent tsundere motherfuckers who casually sleep on me when i go to bed then get offended when i have to get up to go to work in the morning. What ?

Are you musical?

Yes, very. Played the flute since childhood. Always had a piano in the house. Ballet for 12 years, K-pop for 5, Hip-hop for 3. I'm a hip-hop dance teacher actually.

What were you like as a child?

Extremely, dangerously curious. Kind, cried easily. Very early into books and music. Started writing stories and poems in primary school. Because of many things, I ended up hiding this side of myself and most of my younger work was deleted or thrown into the bin. Heh, life.

Favorite subject at school?

Heavily depended on my teachers that year. I'd say Philosophy though. Was exceptionally stimulating.

Least favorite subject?

Sports. I hated it, never been good, never managed to become good despite everyone telling me it was impossible not to. German too, hate this fuckin language. Entschuligung, meinen freunden.

What’s your best character trait?

I care and I take action. I am honestly, truthfully, damn near unstoppable once I want something a certain way, I always find a way wether everyone else likes it or not. I exhaust myself reaching goals and expectations noone but me put on myself and accomplishing thins people were impossible while berating myself because i was aiming for even higher than impossible.

What’s your worst character trait?

As you might have guessed from the previous answer, I am incredibly stubborn. I dont stop until I decided I stop, i dont change path until I decided i change paths, I dont take action until I decided i take actions. You push me, I push back, and i dont more an centimeter towards where you pushed me.

If you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be?

It's a holiday today but i wish I could get paid despite not working today lol.

If you could travel in time who would you like to meet?

My future self, in like 3 to 5 years. Just like Billie Eilish "my future", I'm just so excited to meet them. I'm at a turning point of my life and i wanna enjoy where I currently am, but i'm also I'm so excited for what is next.

Recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love):

I'm just going to list writers tbh:

@jungkoode @chemicalpink @alpacaparkaseok @xjoonchildx and newly @hobi-side for the incredible job on "might just blow it" have fun exploring their masterlists

i dont tag anyone specific, if the aforementioned writers want to give it a go go for it :)

[teawitch]

Friday the 13th and Freya (or Frigga)s Day

Why not being wrong doesn't exactly mean it's right.

So, the idea that Friday the 13th was associated with Freya (or Frigga) and therefore sacred for women is circulating again.

What if we take this apart for a kernel of truth. I'm going to leave the Patriarchy, the Catholic Church and the unlucky part out for a moment and just look at the Freya/Frigga part. (Even amoung the Norse crown, there doesn't seem to be full agreement about which goddess this refers to with some speculating it may have varied regionally. I'll leave it up to the Norse crowd to sort that out. For right now - we just need a goddess starting with F)

First, we're going to start with the Norse calendar. Because to have a Friday the 13th, you need a calendar with a Friday and a 13th. And we may be in luck!

See the Norse followed a lunar calendar with each month starting with the new moon and sacred to the sun. So, if we count that as 1 and follow the current days of the week - every month will have a Friday the 13th. (I haven't been able to completely verify that this was exactly how the Norse counted their days. In fact, they may have worried about counting less than we do because - hey, just look up at the moon.)

But this means - every Friday would have been sacred to Freya/Frigga. Even Friday the 13th. And Friday the 6th. Friday the 20th. Friday the 27th.

You aren't going to deprive a goddess of her due acknowledgement on her day.

So, yes, Friday the 13th would have been sacred to Freya/Frigga

And then the Patriarchy (Darth Vader Music)

Look, the Julian and Gregorian calendars were solar calendars that don't match the Norse lunar calendar so it looks more like we've just got two myths intersecting with a specific, reoccuring day in the Norse calendar.

Except - in Latin it's Veneris (Viernes for Spanish speakers) and in Rome was associated with the planet Venus. (Yes the goddess but the Romans had an odd thing going on with planets).

We've still got our usual set of Fridays. So, why not make all Fridays unlucky?

The usual thought is that 13 was associated Judas and the Last Supper. Which is why we have superstitions around the number 13. And, well, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. So possibly over time, those two came together to make Friday the 13th very unlucky.

But it is unlikely that either Freya or Frigga were involved in the matter. But you may still celebrate your favorite goddess on a Friday.

[fadran]

There are a lot of different kinds of stupid people; right now, I'm going to talk about two of them.

They're categorically connected, in the sense that their views are directly perpendicular, intersecting at a single point of Ultimate Stupidity: the idea that Religion can disprove Science, and the idea that Science can disprove Religion.

Now, I should note that I'm not religious. I was raised LDS, but have ultimately landed somewhere between Atheist and Agnostic now that I'm older and have a mind of my own. I should also note that this is Tumblr, the gayest site in the universe (by volume), and that I see a lot of religious trauma and persecution translate into hatred; and, frankly, I have nothing to say against that. I'm a straight white male, so I've never really been attacked for who I am or what I believe, and I certainly don't have any direct religious trauma - I only want to clarify that nothing I'm trying to say here is meant to attack anyone in particular or any specific institutions.

So, onto the first Stupid Person Archetype: "Religion Disproves Science."

I doubt I have to describe what I mean here. You see it all the time on Twitter (previously known as X); conspiracy theories and far-right extremists who reply to NASA or Bill Nye or whoever else is saying whatever really simple scientific facts happens to be relevant at the time. Climate Change, Vaccines, Evolution, etc. Things like "What you're ignoring is the simple TRUTH that JESUS LOVES YOU and GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE IN HIS IMAGE" or whatever the fuck it is people think actively disproves... well, anything.

It's always completely circular logic. Why is this proven fact false, you say? It's because the Bible said so. What makes you think the Bible is a source of reliable fact and logic? Because it disproves these facts that I don't want to believe. If I'm going to try to debate someone's opinion on a particular subject and they try to cite The Bible, a hodgepodge of dozens of metaphors and traditional stories, then there's no debate to be had. They claim that it's the "truth," that it's "reason," that it's "logic," but it's just not because the Bible is not a scientific journal. It was not peer-reviewed. None of the experiments have clearly-defined parameters, and they certainly haven't been repeated in separate studies. If you're claiming that The Bible is the ultimate truth, then we're playing on two separate fields, and there's no point in even trying. If you claim that The Bible provides empirical or otherwise reliable evidence, then I can easily disprove you.

Now - allow me to turn your focus to the other Stupid Person Archetype: Science Disproves Religion.

When people claim that their religion is a greater truth than putting actual effort into trying to learn more about the world, they're just getting what they think from an echo chamber; they're just deluded. But when people claim that Empirical Evidence and cold, hard rigour can somehow... disprove something entirely inobservable, like God or Faith or the Soul? I'll sometimes tell people that this second archetype is even dumber than just believing God is real and Science is anti-truth propaganda, because you cannot claim to have a focus on the scientific method - hypothesis, observation, cross-references, peer-review - and say that you know for a fact that something strictly unknowable is true or untrue.

I would also like to point out that people will turn to Philosophy for answers, which is... still not great, but better. A lot of people will cite the Epicurean Paradox (God cannot be Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omnibenevolent all at once) or maybe the Ontological Argument (which I dare not utter here); and this is fine, I guess. At the very least, you're drawing your own conclusions from something well-regarded by educated individuals the world over; but I would urge you again to not regard this as the One and Only Truth.

God cannot be proven or disproven. The is the point. There is no Faith without Uncertainty, there is no Doubt without Uncertainty. That is the singular point that these two utterly foolish views cross through, the Interception of their Folly. What you believe is based on your experience and the conclusions you arrive to in your own mind, and thus limited to you and you alone. To claim a "Truth" is to claim to assert your own Belief over someone else's, and that is something no one can ever Truly do.

[swamp-world]

i think i have experienced few moments of a meme taking off that made me quite as uncomfortable and full of rage as "very demure, very mindful". i do not mind or care that someone made a tiktok saying such, good for her, etc., but walking around and having people constantly referring to myself and other people as "demure" made and makes me want to start throwing things. that we have been fighting for so long to have the right to not be demure, the right to not be expected and shamed for not being demure—for not being quiet and well-behaved. And yes I know I'm a buzzkill and I know it's just a joke but I am an angry ftm butch and I have spent my whole life being told in other words to be demure, to be quiet, to be well-dressed and well-mannered and polite and quiet even when it doesn't benefit me, especially when it doesn't benefit me, and I don't care if someone wants to take that word and apply it to themselves, but it's legitimately upsetting to me that even as a joke, it was fun and fine to call people and things "demure". yes, even when it was sarcastic about something that is perhaps decidedly not demure. had many people refer to myself and my style as such like it was some kind of substitute for "cool" and it's fucking not, maybe think about it or ask people before picking up the recent meme word which is extremely misogynistically loaded.

actually i am also going to say this: I hadn't said anything on it until now because I hadn't seen the original video. and this isn't directed at the creator of the video but at the fact that people latched uncritically onto a video explicitly about adhering to Modest Feminine Standards And Expectations In The Workplace and decided it would be fun to bring into everyone else's daily life? actually kind of nauseating. the fact that people have taken a word that has been traditionally a gendered expectation of subservience, silence, and invisibility is now just a general positively-connotated word that also just kind of means...being kind? being polite? those two things are not the same and I am uncomfortable with people using them as borderline-synonyms. i am uncomfortable not just with this, it would be one thing on its own, but with how this is intersecting with the undoing of feminist social changes. how this is intersecting with barbie feminism. with "for the girls" and "girl math" and "girl dinner" and such.

women and people assumed to be women have been expected to be a grab bag of demure and mindful and polite and even cutesey to be out of the way, not a problem, not causing a fuss, not being unladylike, not being threatening, not being "inconsiderate" to others by standing up for yourself or transitioning or speaking out. to be "respectful" not just of other people as people but other people as authority, as gatekeepers, traditionalists, exclusionists, misogynists, etc.

im glad that the creator of the original tiktok has experienced positive changes in her life from this meme. and i recognize that expectations of gender presentation are different and more strictly policed for trans women. but i also in many ways that it had never taken off at all, specifically and especially in the broader world.

[deeisace]

Thinking again about how to go about approaching publishers with my grandma Millie's first book

There's no clear thing of, like she didn't leave all her writing specifically to anyone in writing - because she couldn't, because he was nominally disowned, she just made sure my grandad, her middle son, got her writing box, made sure of it before she died, you see, and then I'm the one that's typing everything and actually working on it - very slowly, mind, there's all sorts of short stories I haven't got to, and a whole handwritten second novel, tho I think I've finished all the poetry

But erm like

How do you say to a publisher, here is a book, it's not mine, it's my dead great-grandma's and she wrote it at least 30 years ago, d'you want to publish it?

I spose that, really, in more fancier words

I spose, they publish things posthumously all the time, even tho those are usually already famous authors like, rather than some random schoolteacher from the Wirral, y'know

Or, I'd've thought self-publishing is a thing, but I wouldn't the first how to go about that, and besides back to my first point, if I did that then surely the money ought to go to someone closer related to her than me, tho her eldest son has died, her middle son (my grandad) is disinherited so far as I know (tho I don't know if that was in writing or just by social/religious pressure), and I've never met her youngest son - but it's grandad that got the box, and me that's done the work

I just think other people should see this, I'm sure it's not family bias, it is really actually good - and there's 60+ years of short stories, for kids and for adults, and reams of poetry, and two (one and a half, maybe, I've not read the second one yet, cs her handwriting can be tricky and I've not had the time besides) novels

The first one is a good 500 pages, following all the different people living in one house in London in the early 1950s, all their lives and how they intersect and differ - some of it's autobiographical, I know, taken from her early married life, and my grandad said that she said it was the sort of idea that wouldn't leave her alone, she'd put it down and pick it up again for years and years, but it was typed up, and my copy is one we found on a floppy disk, so she kept at the same story for years and years - there's bits in there referencing her life in the 50s-60s, and I'm sure some bits that are about my mum if you know to look at it sideways, and that all happened in the 90s - but besides all the bits that mean a lot to me cs I sort of get to know her through them, it really is just a good read, honestly

Oh I don't know, I haven't got the time or brain to do anything about it right now anyway, I don't even have the wherewithal to get my fucking dishes done, so

I just looked in a bookshop on my way home, and it always makes me think, to go in a bookshop, her name should be up on the shelves too, with all these others

I don't know how to get that done by myself tho

[chickensoup1025]

I'm just gonna answer all of these rn even tho that's not the point

1. Comfort character? Leslie Knope, Kirishima Eijirou, Adrien Agreste, Iko from tlc, Kyle Broflovski, Tweek Tweak, Willow Park... and a lot more lol

2. If I had to pick between a lighter and matches I guess I'd say matches

3. No I don't leave the window open at night cause of the AC

4. I don't believe any cryptid exist/I don't really care about that stuff

5. Brown 🤎

6. Why what

7. Hair ties over scrunchies. Tighter.

8. Zero water bottles in my room right now. I have one metal one I keep on me all the time (that I've painted on) and I'm at work rn so

9. I don't drink coffee. Couple reasons. Arfid said no to trying new things, smells weird, and if I got into caffeine I'm positive I'd get addicted so. Stopping that at the source thank you.

10. I wouldn't slaughter anyone. If I was in a very specific position and situation, there's a chance I'd KILL someone maybe but slaughter is much too much. Also I don't care about the rich part

11. I like reading a lot!!

12. It's a tired, cloudy, woke up late but I have stuff to do kind of day.

13. I ate a chocolate chip muffin this morning (at noon)

14. I guess I like the smell of after it rains. Doesn't rain a lot at ALL where I live so it is a luxury

15. No, I'm not a parent

16. Yes, I can drive! Got my license around 4 years ago

17. I have pretty damn great vision. Not far or near sighted.

18. Uh. I use Costco brand stuff in the shower

19. Of COURSE I'd paint your nails! I'm gonna get paint all over your skin though, that's a promise

20. I say "soda"

21. I still have a lot of things from childhood as I still live with my parents but I'd say the main thing is a ladybug pillow pet I got in 2010 I still sleep with

22. I'm an awesome person, thank you very much.

23. Chilly weather is alright I guess

24. If we were together on a rooftop... well. I might stand up and start belting show tunes so watch out.

25. Shower soap bar lol

26. A scenario I've replayed multiple times would have to be... leaving my first job

27. All in one go hours of sleep? 3 average :(

28. I don't regularly wear a mask, no

29. Hot water!! Very hot!!

30. I don't think there are dishes in my room

31. Pretty lyrics and a soft guitar- think "Victory" by the Avett Brothers

32. Nah, I don't have a favorite towel

33. I went on a mini adventure last night where I just kept driving till there was no "forward" at an intersection and then took a right. Kept doing this for almost two hours.

34. Oh course! I know a LOT of songs' every lyric by heart. Example off the top of my head: Anthem Of Mr Dark by the Arcadian Wild

35. PDT zone

36. I only changed my url once I think. Can't remember exactly what it was before this

37. Yeah, I've known my friend Nikki for maybe 14 years

38. Scent-free please

39. No, I don't use lip balm

40. Nah, I haven't had any snacks today

41. I don't drink coffee

42. Google for ao3 and miscellaneous, Pinterest for fan art, ibis Paint x for art and editing, YouTube, Spotify, Google maps, DROPOUT, Discord, gmail. In no particular order

43. Can't really handle any spice

44. A free pass to kill anyone? I guess Donald Trump idk

45. Yeah yesterday was a waste

46. My favorite holiday film is... uh. Well I really like Elf.

47. Last message I sent was a discord server emoji of demon Kokichi sprite lol

48. I accidentally had a sip of my granddad's wine which I thought was my apple juice. But I don't drink as I am 20. I don't plan on drinking when I'm of age either. See^ I'm sure I'll get addicted among many other reasons to not start

49. I've never tried skipping rocks, I don't think!

50. Please do tag me in random stuff!!

here’s weirder asks

who is/are your comfort character(s)?

lighter or matches?

do you leave the window open at night?

which cryptyd being do you believe in?

what color are your eyes?

why did you do that?

hair-ties or scrunchies?

how many water bottles are in your room right now?

which do you prefer, hot coffee or cold coffee?

would you slaughter the rich?

favorite extracurricular activity?

what kind of day is it?

when was the last time you ate?

do you love the smell of earth after it rains?

are you a parent? (all answers qualify)

can you drive?

are you farsighted or nearsighted?

what hair products do you use?

imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

do you say soda or pop?

something you’ve kept since childhood?

what type of person are you?

how do you feel about chilly weather?

if we were together on a rooftop, what would we be doing?

perfume/body spray or lotion?

a scenario that you’ve replayed multiple times?

about how many hours of sleep did you get?

do you wear a mask?

how do you like your shower water?

is there dishes in your room?

what type of music keeps you grounded?

do you have a favorite towel?

the last adventure you’ve been on?

is there a song you know every word to by heart?

what’s your timezone?

how many times have you changed your url?

someone in your life, other than a relative, you’ve known for 10+ years?

a soap bar that smells good?

do you use lip balm?

did you have any snacks today?

how do you take your coffee?

an app you frequently use besides this godforsaken site?

what’s your take on spicy foods?

you get a free pass to kill anyone, who is it?

can you remember what happened yesterday?

favorite holiday film?

what was the last message you sent?

when did you first try an alcohol beverage?

can you skip rocks?

can i tag you in random stuff?