#losing my goddamn mind is what's happening.

[littlebigmouse]

TMA MAG52 round 2 and also so many theories.

I would have put this in the reblog of the previous post but it uh, got away from me, and the cork board needs its own post.

As I was listening to the story of Robert Montauk, murdered in the dark, it occured to me that this reminded me of the case were a girl's roommate joined a cult - I don't think any lightbulbs blew in that episode, but I think the roommate kept screwing them out, so maybe they would have? Either way. Darkness cult. Robert Montauk got murdered after a visit of a supposed old colleague (if I remember right, Robert's daughter said the guy claimed to be a detective, no?). Montauk somehow got away with 40 murders and didn't have a job for months, if not years, during his killing spree. Which sounds to me like he had help. The episode about his daughter made it sound like the Rayner guy was the boss telling him to kill people, so I assumed Robert was more or less coerced into committing the murders. Which he could have still been, but also given that there was this weird pendant that showed up with his missing wife(?), I feel confident in assuming that Robert was also part of a cult, telling him to kill people, and helping him hide the deeds, either by financial support or cover ups or both.

Then he stabbed an unidentified heart and was probably dropped by the cult, if Rayner's "Did you think you could kill it for long?" (which also, uhm, helllooo???) was any indication.

How he managed to keep his daughter out of the cult is anyone's guess, but that's probably why they had leverage over him in the first place.

So there's this cult. And it commits murders in the dark. And it has showed up in multiple episdoes.

And suddenly I realized how deep that stupid rabbit hole goes. I think I remarked in the middle of season 1 how I'm surprised how many stories ended up connected or relevant to the current plot, but I am only now realizing that it's probably FUCKING ALL OF THEM.

I can probably assume that all the fear factions have their own subplots, but I am unsure how easily seperable/how entertwined these are. I have attempted to name and assign the fear factions to different episodes, usually failing, until now, where we have a clear motive of "getting murdered in the dark", or probably just, "the dark", which is a common fear, so I feel confident with this one (well, and serial killers and cults I guess, but hence the overlapping part, and by inability to assign episodes to categories).

What I can do, however, is group episodes that seem (clearly?) connected, and I will do this properly, with references and all, some other time, but until then, my random stabs in the dark: Robert Montauk's death, his daughter, the darkness cult that that one roommate girl once joined. Potentially related to the girl who got lost in a non-existent graveyard following the rudest encounter with a family at a funeral, mostly because I got cult vibes from the family and both supposed cults met at a chapel, if memory serves right.

Graham and his stalker, the table, Not-Sascha (who seemed to relate to Graham's replacement, so, you know, that's practically confirmed), also the ornamented weird vase that one antiquities dealer tried to get rid of? (the pattern descriptions were similar to the table, I think), which may connect to Salesa, who's also showed up in several more episodes, so he's probably the middle piece there. Or all these subplots genuinely end up forming one giant interconnected story by the end in which case I will scream and seek to buy the board that founded that plot, because it's juggling more pieces than the FMAB finale, my god.

The house on Hill Top Road (?) with the worker who tore down the tree, the priest who ate people and I think the nurse who experienced hospital heat and met Gerard Key Gerard Key and the Leitner books and all cases relating to those Jared the bone-melter(?) who had an encounter with a Leitner and proceeded to melt people's bones, possibly related to other meat-y, gore-y or otherwise body horror related stories, like the one with the guy who kept finding boxes with body parts he then lost, who I think also encountered Salesa?

I swear I remember Jon and Martin had a conversation about the delivery man from episode 2 (feat still my fav survivor through sheer apathy, never change bro), going along the lines of "Can you describe the delivery man" - "looked like delivery man" - "Why does everyone say that" but I cannot remember what they delivered and in which episde, but yeah, these guys.

SImon Fairchild and the guy who almost drowned, Simon Fairchild and the guy who was eaten by the sky, the story of the ship with the antisocial crew that had a member go missing when a sailor discovered their cargo as emtpy, which did not mention Simon Fairchild but I'll go out on a limp here and just assume he has something to do with that one too. I mean, how many ship-related horrors *are there*, really.

Jane Prentiss and everything related to her, potentially tangentially related to Mikey Scissorhands, who helped Sasha that one time, but is probably a more seperate thing, since he made a Real Estate Agent disappear and also Jon got trapped in similar tunnels beneath the archive. Also potentially related to that one cave diver that got lost in a cave system for days and lost her sister? I'm very wonky on that episode, but you know, the difference between total darkness and a tunnel is the light at the end of it, so.

Potentially related to Michael, since her body was found in the tunnels - Gertrude Robbinson, and ... yeah I'm gonna be real I have no idea what she has to do with anything except that one guy who prophecized her death in early season 1 and made Jon freak out about it.

I realize there are many more statements I haven't connected yet (the murder piano, the homeless vampire hunter (miss him!), etc pp, but I'll rest my case for now.

Happy to note that aside from the obvious attack on the institute and the unsolved Gertrude murder, none of the main characters (besides Not Sascha) are clearly involved in one of the subplots. Yet.

[hjemne]

I could go on for years and years about Knives in Trimax, but THIS makes me physically unwell. Knives was the one who was constantly worrying that humans weren't going to accept him or Vash, and he was the one who first raised the question of becoming friends with humans, not Vash. When he asks Conrad (the second human he's ever met) what he thinks of him and Vash, there is a genuine fear of being rejected and is so relieved by Conrad's answer he cries. Knives is the sensitive, emotional child who needs the support of Vash, Rem and other humans to feel like he has a place in the world.

Conrad says if they can love someone with their whole heart, they'll be able to work and live together, but then what happens immediately after?

Knives and Vash discover Tesla. She is the only other Independent like them, and humans treated her like a science specimen and experimented on her body fell apart and she died horribly. Knives is 1 year old, and he's having to process THIS, knowing he can no longer trust any adult around him. Knives - again, remember he's the sensitive one - faints and Vash says he wishes he had also been able to cut himself off from the agony of the realisation too.

I absolutely adore that bottom panel of Knives' hope that they can coexist being stripped away. The boy he was just is not compatible with the world he finds himself in and this is the foundation of his adult self we see throughout the rest of Trimax.

With Knives unconscious, the focus then shifts to Vash who has the chance to confront Rem. It's incredibly significant that Knives is not part of that conversation and never lets himself be emotionally vulnerable around Rem again to have a similar talk with her where he might have been able to process his feelings like Vash did.

Vash actually tries to stab himself with a knife (and there's metaphors in that for someone else to unpack) and Rem prevents him, injuring herself in the process. Vash then turns against Rem and tries to kill her, severely wounding her and saying he won't shed a single tear for her before suddenly becoming overwhelmed by remorse and rushing to save her. Vash, who had been refusing food, then finally starts to eat as Rem tells him he's got a blank ticket to the future and not to throw his life away because there are good people out there. Only after Rem and Vash have come to this truce / understanding does Knives wake up.

He has realised that Rem not only knew about Tesla, not only kept her a secret, but was also involved in her abuse. He goes from having a heart absolutely bursting with love and hope, to learning that even the person he loved was capable of unspeakable violence against his kind. His childhood, his dreams, his support is all taken from him, and when Vash seems to forgive and forget, he's also cut off from the one person who could fully understand him. He either genuinely forgets or (what I think is more likely) pretends to have no memory of the discovery. This is where Knives is separated from both Vash and humans, and this is the point where he starts on his path of no return.

KNIVES was the one who loved humans, who was deeply deeply upset at the thought of not being accepted by them. When he finds Tesla, he realises he and Vash can never be fully accepted or fully safe, and his actions are driven from this (justified) fear of what people will do to him if they find him. But he knows he is stronger and smarter than humans, he knows that he has the power and ability to protect himself, Vash and future Independents from suffering Tesla's fate. Knives was and is right about humans posing an existential threat to Plants, both dependent and independent, and his decision to crash the ships was not done out of malice but terror. Knives NEVER took the first shot. If Tesla hadn't been murdered, I really, really doubt he would have turned out the way he did.

[pardonmydelays]

also i need to stop being mentally insane in the tags cause my friends think i only listen to twenty one pilots because tyler joseph is hot

[youngpettyqueen]

there is something very sad about Peg just wanting to tell BJ about her day to day life, the mundane things in the house that need to be fixed and the funny things that happen to her, all things he would've enjoyed hearing about or would've handled with her if he'd been there, and having absolutely no idea what effect these letters actually have on him

[animnightmare]

"Id die for you" this "Id live for you" that

What about "I would die for an unconfirmed chance to make you happy. I would not only risk my life, but the only thing I enjoy about it and myself. I would risk turning my already miserable existence worse and destroy who I am on the off chance it will help you. I would risk ruining everything that I am to save a person I hate because I know you love her. I will do this, and I will continue to love you even when you dont acknowledge my sacrifice."

[hella1975]

you ever have a fic get you in such a chokehold you start pacing your room and talking to yourself

[pinktrashgoblin]

Sorry for not answering any asks today! Tryna get the next chapter of the comic done. Have some Cube doodles in the meantime (+ lore teasers :0)

[zombolouge]

AA Investigations 2 came out in 2011. That means that The Inherited Turnabout was written BEFORE the existence of Chocolate Guy IRL. It is conceivable that the Ace Attorney series has prophesied both the rise and potential fall of Chocolate Guy, and should Chocolate Guy be accused of murder in the near future, we can extrapolate that other predictions may exist within the text of this series. In this essay I will...

[workingforitallthetime]

The ‘missing adam day’ is really, truly something. 🫢

luca's scratchy little voice telling adam "there's no one more proud in the entire world than me"? luca planning out exactly what he's going to whisper into adam's ear and then captioning only that part of his video? this??????

[attractthecrows]

urge to force a character to deconstruct how they view the world and themselves in a NON-destroy-everything way via parenting VS fear of being annoying and cringe. FIGHT

[ween-kitchens]

I can't tell you how frustrated I am right now. it's so ironic too—i’m trying to write elven trio struggling with doing normal everyday things for various reasons because I thought hey if i'm gonna project my problems onto the sillies it may as well be in disability pride month! they can get the Things Are Hard disorder that I have!

you will not believe what i’m struggling to do because of the Things Are Hard disorder.

[magpiesbones]

.

[mosspapi]

In similar news, I just finished Ted Nivison's almost 2-hour all-Barbie-movies deep dive and my brain is entirely fried but not for the reasons you would expect. I think I need a drink.

[werewolf4vampire]

i swear to god if i call my derm tomorrow and they tell me they haven't heard from dupixent and don't know what i'm talking about i'm going to fucking THROTTLE SOMEBODY!!!!

[intern-seraph]

one of the most awful parts abt the Situation for me is seeing how many ppl that i like and trust are just out and out spouting antisemitic rhetoric without any question. i understand some of you are young and super attracted to Really Radical Violent Politics but please consider reading abt this rhetoric and actively avoiding it.

and accusing jews of "pulling the antisemitism card" to avoid culpability for your antisemitic rhetoric is not actually a progressive move. you are just being antisemitic.

[orcelito]

genuinely tho me jumping right into reading volume 9 of trimax and then volume 10 (and then most of the rest of the manga) on the night before i had a presentation at 9:30 am (that was entirely not prepared) was literally one of the most unhinged decisions ive ever made

this is what a hyperfixation does to a person