#maybe that's what you're supposed to use for theories? because i can't REMEMBER most of the actual details/clues presented in the actual te

[burinazar]

(Umineko spoilers maybe idk)

i forget if i've posted it here but I've been reading Umineko for a really long time

I've just finished episode 5, the first "answer" arc, believing it would finally reveal what "really" happened in some of the earlier episodes (actually for some reason I thought it would be a retelling of episode 1 from a different POV, but it became clear it wasn't lol), and...it was really confusing and the whole ending was a huge slog and I still feel like I'm waiting for it to 'pay off'. I'm very willing to be patient with fiction but at this point the amount of time invested versus amount of enjoyment/portions where I actively felt like reading onwards instead of a sunk cost thing is getting ridiculously unbalanced. I've never spent this much time working through a single a piece of entertainment in my entire life, I think, not counting things that I dropped or put on hold.

The thing is, I watched the episode one stage play recently and relly enjoyed it. That I feel capable to theorize about, et cetera. Having full visuals of everything happening, even if we couldn't take the visuals as exact reality, really helped. f the whole thing was available as plays I wouldn't be having this problem, both the format and the length are far more appealing to me. I know there's a manga, but I've never heard anyone say to read that instead of the VNs or a suggestion that's the way to do it, and it's probably late to switch. I feel really frustrated. If I keep reading, it's throwing more time at somethingI've already spent so much time on with little reward, but if I don't keep reading, I'll never know what is really happening and unfortunately I do want to know.

And...I just...don't get why it isn't working for me. It's obviously true not every person will click with every piece of entertainment -- but everyone says this is good fiction for people who like to get meta, who like to interrogate the narrative, who like to form their own theories. If you've followed me for any length of time you know I love overanalyzing shit, I love reading much farther into things than the author intended, I'm enamored with 'stories about stories' and the idea of pulling out characters in the middle to talk to them and see what they think of their fate and whether they might fight against it and against the conventions of narrative is all catnip to me.

I just don't get why none of that is happening with this story for me. Could it be because I don't feel a strong enough connection to the characters and story to analyze it THAT much? It's true I'm not fixated, and that's usually what leads to me super-analyzing a series --but obviously that's not a requirement for me to watch/read/enjoy something, and I don't *dislike* the characters. Surely a lot of people were just reading this VN the way one reads a mystery novel normally, with a "normal" amount of interest in what's going on and thinking about it... I really like sherlock holmes and agatha christie (at least i used to a lot growing up), and the fact of 'i'm not that obsessed with whoever holmes is helping this time because why would i be' was not at all a barrier to following along with the mystery or applying reasoning to it...that really can't be it...

It feels impossible to theorize because I understand the format so little, and having it explained to me doesn't help -- it's just way too hard for me to tell what narration is from the point of view of a character (who may be unreliable) and what is from the point of view of a story and 'actually happening' and thus can be used as a clue to deduce off of, and the red and blue truths are supposedly to help with this but like, I'm trying to look at the story and theorize off *that* and those aren't meant to be the entire story on their own (one can use them to falsify theories but to come up with theories you're supposed to use the story itself as told in the white text...and I don't know what in the white text can "really be used", and also there's so MUCH of it and I forget half of what happened by the end of an arc).

......I've been trying to finish this VN for over a year and a half at this point. The entire experience has been so defeating to be honest. If I heard someone tell me this about LOGH when they were seventy episodes in I'd tell them they shouldn't force themselves to keep watching and that it's very likely the series just isn't their thing, but the difference is in Umineko I feel like all the time I've spent so far will be hugely wasted if I never get to find out what happened, and i DO WANT to know, it's not just a sunk cost fallacy, I don't want to miss out on knowing -- whereas someone who watched 70 episodes of LOGH would at least fucking know what happened in those episodes and quit with some comprehension of the portion of the narrative that they've covered already...

I guess I'm particularly dejected right now because I thought the ending of the fifth arc was going to have, uh, answers. Since it's an "answer" arc. But unless we're meant to believe that the culprit named at the end is the real one (it seems like no? Unless we can't even rely on her internal monologue about not being guilty. After all, her internal monologue isn't in red, so It can't be relied upon to be her real thoughts...or something...?!) I would have called myself a fan of mystery, but none of this makes me want to "think" at all because it's so confusing and so long and there's so much. I've finally hit the "answer" arcs and there are still no answers.

[wtpyrofreak]

The "best thing to happen to Kinger's lower half" is not foreshadowing, but a hint to his past in the circus. Hear me out.

So we all remember "Kinger's Special Place" and how those Checkmates socks (Plus Kinger "wearing" one of them) caused a lot of fans to worry over the fate of our beloved chess piece?

Yeah. The more I think about it, the more I feel like we're viewing all this from the completely wrong angle. This isn't telling us what WILL happen to Kinger...

It's telling us what ALREADY happened to Kinger and WHY he's the way he is now.

Gangle's supposed "Near-abstraction" moment in EP 4 made me think back to Kinger's core memory with his abstracted wife. He couldn't recall the exact string of events that lead up to it, but that moment in the fort where she calmed down enough for him to caress her was forever ingrained into his mind.

Maybe it's because said moment was what saved him from immediately following Queenie into abstraction--

"Erm, eckshualeeeee, when Gangle snapped back from abstracting, she didn't go insane like Kinger. Theory debunked along with your Stupid sauce scandal idea."

Well, yeah. Because she was just starting to abstract before Pomni offered to switch shifts with her. Meanwhile, I think Kinger was already deep into abstracting before ending up in the pillow fort with Queenie.

This silly image of Keychain!Kinger wearing the Queenie sock? It represents HOW CLOSE he was to completely breaking. He still managed to snap back, the absolute chad, but having been so near the brink of no return, the mental damage was already done and couldn't be reversed (much like how you can't come back from fully abstracting).

That's why Kinger's mind is so scrambled/fragmented present day.

Upon this recontextualization, so many things start adding up (at least for me).

Both his and Abstracted!Queenie's behavior follow the same patterns. Erratic and unpredictable in the light. Lucid and calm in the dark. This can most likely be applied to anyone else who abstracted too.

He can't recall the events between after Queenie abstracting and before he ended up in the pillow fort because he was probably HARDCORE dissociating.

He was more paranoid and unstable than usual after the Gloinks took apart his fortress because they robbed him of his ANCHOR.

And of course, all this can further explain how Kinger has managed to last in the circus longer than anyone else. DOI\I'T FORGET. YOU'RE HERE FOREVER.

...Orrrrr maybe I'm just on extreme hopium + copium over my favorite character and the checkmates socks are just comfy socks and nothing more. I AM the same person who concocted the crack-ass "Spudsy's Signature Special Sauce Scandal" theory, after all. XP

We'll just have to wait and se

(EP 4 Gangle gifs ripped by @fleshgerm)

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

It looks like the rewind Theory might be coming true

There are many variations of that theory, but yes.

Honestly, it is badly needed in the story if what Horikoshi is aiming for is an ending where the kids and the villains survive.

Introducing a character that can undone damage is always insurance for the author. You have to be careful to not overuse it to the point it loses its impact. If no one ever dies and everyone keeps on resurrecting, the predictability becomes boring.

The good thing is that bnha doesn't overuse Eri. They don't use it to rewind the damage done to the characters when they lose an extremity, for example. It didn't work on Nighteye. They didn't try to use it on All Might—and if they did, I can't remember when it happened.

The point is that I liked that Horikoshi left Eri's quirk to the end of the manga. That way he could make the characters give their 100% without it meaning sure death. It scares the readers, like it should, it creates tension. Knowing that Eri's quirk might not work is another good decision. Even if she shows up after the big showdown, the public doesn't know who is going to survive.

Now, when I say there are many variations...

I'm against the version of it where the villains are turned into kids. Where is the fun of it, uh?

It erases the complexity of each character and all they fought for. What was the point of fighting so much if you're gonna erase what happened? If there's no consequences, no accountability? Any story should grow from the risks of the actions taken. We want to know there's something to be lost, that's where the adrenaline comes from. That's the entertaining part!

The version that completely heals their wounds is also kinda... bland. I'm a fan of bnha because the story doesn't solve most disabilities with magic.

If a pro-hero loses a leg or an eye, they'd have to learn to fight with the cards they were dealt with. Like I said before, those wounds tell a story of the risks they took. Aizawa cut his leg to survive and see another day with Eri and his students. Mirko lost most of her limbs giving her absolute all!!!!

It's the same for villains. It moves you, the way those villains would sacrifice themselves for their goals. Compress' lost arm tells the story of how they lost Magne. Giran lost his fingers when he refused to sell the League, so their absence is the evidence of his loyalty.

I want irreversibility. I want permanece. I want to see the growth that comes with accepting what we do in our lives and how we have to keep going.

My favorite version is the one that heals enough for the person to survive, but not much more. It is not going to take you to step one, it can't erase all you did and all that was done to you.

A second chance, but you have to make it from where you were left. No shortcuts, no easy way out. Either you commit to it or you're over.

I don't want to see Touya without his burns. That is boring! I don't want squeaky clean Touya, all perfect and smooth skinned and whatever. That is not him. He's the boy who burned in the flames of his passion, right or wrong. He's the boy who is supposed to be dead, but survived because he was a stubborn bastard.

The story can lessen them, of course. At this point Touya is more scrap put together by metal than anything else. He cannot possibly survive like that, so he needs to be healed enough to live. The burns can even lessen with time, fading as Touya heals, but I want the memory to last. I don't care if he forgives Enji, I want him to be forced to look at the burns every day knowing how they're there.

Another example?

Tomura's scars tell a story. You cannot resurrect his family, so don't go erasing the scar in his eye or in his lip. Don't go erasing the evidence of his struggle.

To be fair, Tomura has changed a lot since his first appearance. I remember him with yellow teeth, all skinny to the bone. It shows that no one cared for him. Well, maybe enough to keep him breathing, but there was no delicacy involved. It's funny to think how he got better and better the more time he spent far from AFO. That and the surgery he had to undergo...

Which is a wonderful terrible concept. It's about the cleansing, how AFO was preparing Tomura's body to be his. Body modifications to assert ownership, that's a horror favorite. The idea of being "cured" to the point you can't recognize your own body. You know what I mean.

I'm glad that when rewind was used on Mirio, it cost him something. He lost his quirk for a while and he had to make an effort to go back to who he was. I'd say that the nature of the story helped him bounce and that's a chance we didn't see his struggle a bit more.

Anyway, that's my opinion on the matter. I hope it'll be a variation I like and not something that's gonna leave me sweating cold every time I dare to remember it.

[slashthrashandcrash]

Okay, I had to go see what JedMEg was for myself and now I'm hooked. Can you talk more about them? Like does Meg ever find out the truth and how she reacts, for example?

I had to go digging for the last ask (here) about them just to remember where I left off in my insane ramblings lmao

So my original idea for this AU was that there is no fog, meaning once the Jed Olsen cover is purposely blown as per the lore, then it's totally game over, there's no Entity to whisk Danny away from the fall out. But that's part of the problem, isn't it? He's gone and gotten himself a little too attached to what was supposed to be a fake girlfriend, a girlfriend who's in love with a man that doesn't exist rather than the actor playing him.

Normally when he would snag himself a partner to accompany whatever persona he was putting on, Danny would kill them just before he skipped down. That satisfying moment of betrayal in their eyes, the soul crushing realization that everything was a facade, a convenience, that he never even liked them enough to give them a quick death no matter how many sweet "I love you"s he told them prior. As well as just another "fuck you" to the cops and community for how close under their noses he had been all along.

But he can't do that with Meg. He has no idea why, it was never this difficult before, but he's also never felt this way about any partner in general either. Fucking hell, he's really gone and gotten a crush on a pretty little redhead, huh? It doesn't matter, Jed Olsen was never someone who was meant to be around long term, and it's about high time he moves on since eyes are starting to shift towards him a bit. As much as it weirdly twists his heart to abandon Meg and leave her behind with the awful truth of who he really is to come out to the public afterwards, he knows it's for the best. Well...best for himself, anyways. And maybe for her, too, so that she's not entirely caught up in the shitstorm (of course, being the very public girlfriend of the now most wanted suspect in an ongoing murder case isn't going to be an easy ride...)

And Meg is beyond horrified to say the least. She still can't comprehend the entirety of the betrayal, that not only would her boyfriend leave her without a word, but that he would leave her because he was the very same murderer who had been harassing her for weeks! The one he was closely reporting on, the one whose ass Meg would try to kick every time he broke into her home, the one who used to threaten her "boyfriend" when they were in fact the same person. Everything she ever knew about him was a lie while she unfairly shared her whole heart to him. Not only that, but it's near impossible for her to try and imagine sweet, dorky, shy Jed being anything remotely close to a coldhearted killer. He couldn't even open a sauce jar half the time!! And you're telling her he can easily overpower multiple victims and haul their bodies around for sick poses???

Now Jed (?) is still out there, still on the loose, and Meg has no idea what to do. Reporters are hounding her for a statement. Police want to wring her dry for any clues or information that might help. People stare and spread rumors about just how "involved" she might have been from the start. And what if he decides to come back in the end, to tie up the loose end he left behind for whatever reason, is she even safe here anymore? Well, not for long, because that stupid ache in Danny's chest still hasn't subsided...it almost feels like it's gotten worse. It's not remorse or guilt, it's longing. He wants his bunny back, he liked how she felt sleeping in his bed and holding his hand and smiling so perfectly for a candid shot when she wasn't looking.

The dirty laundry has already been aired. They could start fresh, in theory. Whether she wanted to or not.

Although again, this was only the original idea I had when I first started making brainrot. There are so so so many new paths I've ended up concocting for them...if Meg found out Jed was a killer right before he left by catching him in the act or fitting in too many pieces herself...if Meg refused to believe Jed was the killer and was instead framed by Ghostface who she now has to hunt down for answers about Jed's real whereabouts...if they got taken into the fog shortly after that anyways per canon with Meg either not knowing or not believing that Jed is Danny/Ghostface while he keeps up the ruse to avoid her truly hating him (plus the outcome for when Meg does find out the truth while they're stuck in this hellhole)...if they were taken into the fog while he was still Jed and then him having to painfully confess why he was put into the killer camp and having to live with the heartbreak he's trapped her with...

[askdread]

How did you end up getting the job as Lemongrab's butler?

Ask one! Transcript for convenience! : Dread: Wow! That's a good first question, and by GOOD, I mean I still don't really get it. Bare with me, I'll try to explain it as best I can... even though you might be MORE confused after. I don't know the specifics, but it seems like he was pondering on the thought of a butler for a minute. He'd apparently tried to make his own, and they didn't really satisfy his expectations (I like them all). The earl tried hiring a few people, but from what I know it did NOT go well (sounds about right). I was in the Candy Kingdom, and pretty down on my luck. Sure, there were a LOT of jobs, but you had to travel super far for even a chance. and not to mention one look at me was enough of a reason to turn me away. I noticed at one point, this guy was EYEING me, I'm talking HARD. I was used to candy people staring, I stood out y'know? But this was just different. It didn't come off as scared, judgmental, or anything like that. To my shock, he actually approached me, and not only that but he had paperwork in his hand. OFFICIAL looking, fancy royal paperwork, seal and all. I haven't ever seen anything like that, never thought I'd even consider something so out of reach... but he was already going on about the expectations, the schedule, all that like I'd walked up to HIM, like I'd already said YES. I can't even remember exact words, I was too taken aback by it all. Maybe what I said next was because of his confident, insistent attitude. or the idea of being "chosen" by someone... or maybe it was SO out of left field that saying no would eat at my thoughts... but I said the first reply on my mind."Ok" Honestly did I have a lot of choice? I mean technically, yeah, but where else did I have? Soooo yeah, that's pretty much it. Kinda weird. I guess. If you're wondering why this happened ummm... I don't know still. My friends have theories. Most of them think it's because I'm threatening, I guess that one makes a lot of sense. Some of them think it's because how miserable I looked spoke to him, or something. I kind of want to believe it was some sort of wacky cosmic fate junk, like it was supposed to happen... but that's REALLY corny and everyone would make fun of me... You can ask, send trinkets, or send whatever you like here! Thanks for reading! :3 @askdread on Tumblr

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

I wanna talk about this today.

Mostly I want to talk about objective truth versus subjective truth. But let me start with what's happening in this scene. (Spoilers for Original Sin and Loki: Agent of Asgard)

So in this moment from Original Sin: Thor and Loki in the Tenth Realm, Loki is talking to the queen of the Angels about what happened in the previous issue of Agent of Asgard. Loki has been working for the All-Mothers in an attempt to erase his past crimes and start anew, but discovered that they were taking cues from Old Loki in order to ensure the future he said would come about, a future in which there was (mostly) peace in Asgard, Thor was king and All-Father, but Loki was still the villain. It was a price they were willing to pay for peace. So Loki's grappling with this in this issue, along with having to deal with Thor's reckless attempts at recovering their long-lost sister (not Hela).

So then the queen says, "[The Asgardians will] never understand you, god of what works. Go ahead, use your truth-sword. Tell me you don't know I'm right."

The sword she is referring to is Gram, the sword that Loki stole from Asgard's most famous hero, Sigurd, which was forged at Old Loki's bidding when he went further back in time to ensure it would exist for the current Loki to claim (the timeline gets confusing in AoA). The sword forces those it wounds to face the truth of themselves and their actions.

But truth comes in different forms, objective truth and subjective truth. Objective truth is indisputable fact, and if you say something otherwise it would simply not be true. "Earth orbits the sun" is an objective truth. We can and have proven it. Subjective truth is something that may be true for you but is not necessarily objectively true. This is why the testimony of innocent bystanders is sometimes not permitted in court. For whatever reason, you may be completely convinced that the person you saw stealing a tv from Best Buy at 2:16PM three weeks ago was wearing a blue shirt, so convinced you'd be willing to say so under oath. They could attach you to a lie detector, and the results would say you were telling the truth. However, when they get the CCTV footage, the person was wearing a red shirt. You weren't lying; your memory had you convinced it was a blue shirt. You believed it was the truth, so you believed you were telling the truth. This is how lie detectors work (theoretically; there's also the part that it only detects physical changes that only sometimes mean someone's lying anyway), and how truth serums (in various media or CIA conspiracy theories your subjective truth may or may not have you believe) are supposed to function.

Now, it could be argued that Gram functions as a detector of objective truth. Previously in AoA, it forced Thor to come to terms with the influence an infection of evil had on him (I don't remember exactly what happened, but essentially Old Loki more or less invaded Thor like a virus and forced him to act rather nastily). He didn't seem to realize what was happening until Loki stabbed him with Gram. This is a valid argument, and honestly I don't understand this scene enough (I think a lot of background for it came from other comics if I remember correctly) to make an authentic counterargument.

However Gram acts with Thor, though, I do believe in the above panel, Gram functions like a lie detector or truth serum. The "truth" Loki speaks is subjective truth. He believes it's true, so Gram is essentially like, "Sure, yep, sounds about right."

But because Gram doesn't do whatever it does when someone lies (or maybe because it functions like Wonder Woman's lasso, and you simply can't lie when you're wounded by it), it just further convinces Loki that his beliefs about his inability to be loved are true. Or he's aware that this may merely be a subjective truth, but because he knows how the sword works and he's banking on the queen not understanding the difference between types of truth, he's using it to gain her trust. He still can't lie while holding Gram, so either what he says is 100% indisputably true in an absolute sense, or he wholeheartedly believes it to be true with such certainty that it doesn't matter that it isn't objective. He may be saying it to gain her trust, but he also still believes it.

And I'm in pain.

[withahappyrefrain]

I wish you would write a fic where...Bob leaves Reader flowers at her work but due to a miscommunication, she thinks they are from Hangman or Rooster (much to her disappointment since she only has eyes for a certain WSO). 😘

AHHHHHHH MY HEART!!!!

Bob would be so damn nervous, his hands are visibly shaking when he walks into the training room, whispering to Phoenix that he finally did it.

"Are you serious?" Natasha asks, eyes wide because Bob has chickened out on this like three previous times.

And Mickey, who was only trying to help, tells you that they're from "someone you know but wouldn't expect." Because in his defense, most wouldn't expect Bob to be the type to leave someone flowers at their work place.

And in most cases, Mickey would be right!

But for you, it's obvious Bob likes you. He has no business to stop by your office EVERY DAY, especially as it's on the opposite side of the base. Also no reason to bring you coffee either. Every day.

So if it's not someone you'd expect, it had to be Hangman, right? Because he doesn't strike anyone as the "romantic" type (more like the use em and lose em type). So when Bob brings it up, you try to shrug it off, to let him know it means nothing.

"It was just an ordinary day yesterday. Besides this weird thing that happened this morning. Like, it was nice in theory but in reality was just like, odd. Someone left me flowers on my desk, I gave them to my coworker."

Bob would be so heartbroken!!! He can't bring himself to bring you coffee (the first day, Mickey agrees to drop off the coffee to you, the 2nd day he cuts off Bob). So he just stops coming by.

And you notice immediately!! You miss your bespectacled WSO who always remembered you prefer oatmilk and asks how you're doing in your latest playthrough of Stardew Valley!

It's those darn flowers! He thinks you like someone else, which couldn't be the furthest from the truth!

So the next time you hear someone talk about dropping off some papers over by where the aviators debrief, you jump at the chance. Do you go through some doors you weren't supposed to? Maybe. What Uncle Sam won't know can't hurt him.

You run into Bob while he's still in his flight suit, the smell of gasoline and sage driving you wild.

"I....hadn't seen you. Wanted to make sure you were okay," you tell him, nervously wringing your hands.

"Oh, I figured you....would prefer that after what happened," he says softly, wishing a black hole would swallow him.

"Are you talking about the flowers? Bobby, I told you they didn't mean anything!"

"And that's exactly the problem! If it doesn't mean anything, what's the point? Why torture myself knowing you don't feel the same way?"

And that's when your eyes go bug-wide as you softly ask Bob to explain what the fuck he's talking about.

[vesora]

hi!

MASSIVE question thats been rlly heavy on my mind and i hope i can type it out to the point where u can understand bc im awful w words lol 😭

so, most ppl think that when you manifest you shift to a reality where u have it (i believe this too) bc ur shifting ur conciousness bc thats what we all are. pure conciousness.

but if we, or I, are all the god of our own reality, how are other people simultaneously living in it aswell? and ik eiypo but how does that work for other manifestors that live in this reality with us?

bc they are the gods of their reality too, but we share a reality, how does it work?? there cant be multiple gods in one reality. but how do we all live together here ?

also! when people go into the void and affirm for other people to go to the void, how does that work? because theve shifted to a reality where those people have entered the void, but that also means theyve shifted away from the original people who havent entered the void, isnt it impossible?

very sorry fir the long ask, justs so curious!! thank u <33

ahhh it depends which school of thought you prefer! (also you are not awful with words)

in one theory, it says that there is no one here except you, meaning everyone is you and you are everyone so there is no other, there is no duality. therefore there is no other god in your reality except you (regardless no one else has power over you in either case). you just are God. This is all your creation and it's a play and you're living in it. They're all forms of consciousness stemming from you.

in another pov, if you believe in the statement that everyone is a god then my assumption is that you all shift to a reality where that thing is possible. i have switched timelines accidentally where someone i was with did not recall something that happened (not because of faulty human memory, it is like that day just never happened). so if you don't wish to undermine someone else's free will but also maintain your own sovereignty as the ultimate creator of your reality, I would go with this. remember that no matter what you believe, you have full control of your circumstance as you are the Creator.

If you believe in a more spiritual side, your soul and their souls may have signed a contract in order for you to help them grow and vice versa. So the soul is real but the form is unreal.

well! i don't believe people can manifest for others in the void. the person in the void just has their 3d change to what they prefer. if you are someone who got help from someone in the void, you did not receive the help, you created it. it is all you.

im not gonna lie there are* a lot of things that don't make sense and fuck it, maybe they're not supposed to. i wasted a lot of "time" thinking about logic in a place where it doesn't exist. forget about all these questions and just focus on the end and let everything go even if it's hard or you will be stuck in a cycle that will be hard to get out of as there is NO answer thats clearcut. you can't really find an answer through reading, apply what you've learned and find out for yourself

[taylortruther]

In the midst of all these deeply controversial and infamous lyrics of Taylor's, I've always wondered about Question, one of her most confusing songs till date for so many reasons.

First of all, for a song so obviously inspired by one of her exes, Taylor is very bold for including lyrics like "You painted all my nights a color I've searched for since" And "Does it feel like everything's just like second best after that meteor strike"???

I mean firstly I can't for the life of me pinpoint WHEN Question was written, or atleast supposed to be written. It's obviously looking back at a relationship in retrospect (hence the first lyric being "I remember") so like...was this written DURING Joe? Is she seriously saying that the two month situationship that happened more than a decade ago screwed her up that much?

Also speaking of Question, it also reminds me of the insane "star crossed lovers" and "soulmates" narrative she was hinting towards during the OG 1989 era. She was going HARD on the superlatives; We NEVER go out of style// You know for me, it's ALWAYS you// I'll NEVER forget you as long as I live// I would stay FOREVER if you say don't go etc...like it confuses me SO MUCH you have no idea.

What do you think? I really wanna hear the theories on Question. Midnights, atleast as per Taylor's own words, is a purely autobiographical album. I don't think she has ever alluded to anyone else being "the one that got away" this bad in all her other songs. It's a pretty popular theory that The 1 is also about Harry.

Anyways what do you think?

well, i think harry makes sense, given the ootw references with color and ootw intro.

as for writing those things in her present: i don't really find it strange that a writer would write about previous relationships and how they affected her. even if they affected her in a good way. i think if you look into your own past you'll find that you're still hurt, or fond, or whatever, of people in your past and they informed who you are now. and if you're an artist, maybe they still find their way into your work.

i don't pearl clutch about how joe might've felt about her writing about exes. idk. if he had an issue, they presumably talked about it.

also, this logic is funny (not laughing at you anon, but just this idea, which i've heard many times before) because it implies that taylor is unique in that she reflects on the past. but she's not. she's unique in that she puts out albums, but the rest of us still deal with our regrets, memories, the ones who got away, the what-ifs, we just suffer in silence LMAO. however, this is something i learned as i got older, because, well, regrets take time to pile up.

[paradoxicalpaldeann]

hear me out. cenobite!stan (cause he's a pinhead main). (tw: gore, general grossness. cenobites are like that man)

he's honestly a completely normal guy once you get past the fact that he's an extradimensional entity who's job is torturing people.

he's more neutral like the cenobites used to be before they got made evil in the later movies cause i really prefer the neutral cenobites to the evil ones.

SR jokingly summons him via lament configuration after it's mysteriously sent to their PO box in the office he goes "oh you guys don't want to be tortured? alright thats fine, consent is important and all. bye"

he gets fired from his job because "dude no you're not supposed to leave, if they open the box they've gotta go with you"

he ends up completely stranded on earth. he's still a cenobite with all his fucked up powers he's just. stuck

ends up tracking down sr via the lament configuration and goes "yeah can i crash with you guys i got fired"

he does pay rent lol

he has a human form/disguise since most cenobites are... yeah.

his cenobite form is definitely a bit gross cause there's a lot of exposed muscles and missing skin. his teeth are fully exposed because the skin on his cheeks and chin has been completely removed in a way that almost looks like a mask until he speaks and you can see each individual part of his face move. there's several patches/'windows' of removed skin on his arms, legs and torso exposing his ribs, and the largest patch is almost his entire back. had an idea where the skin from his back is still attached and it's pinned/connected to his arms in such a way that it looks like wings when he raises his arms

i was thinking that MAYBE he had some pieces of super sharp metal lodged in his skull that look like horns because even though cenobites really aren't traditional 'demons'

he doesn't really feel pain. it's more like constant pressure being applied to those areas, like a weighted blanket.

has to take off his human form semi-regularly cause it itchy :(

he gets taller as a cenobite because 1. he's just. taller like that. more leg 2. Holy Fuck He Is Floating

his height really pisses kaif off because what the hell man stop going upwards get down from there

he's a very curious boy. hasn't been on earth for quite some time and now he's stuck here, might as well take a look around

most cenobites used to be human and he is no exception, he just can't remember anything of his human life and he's pretty curious as a result.

Human!Stan was not a good person. complete opposite of how pinhead's original human form was kind of okay

Human!Stan was a Baron (noble) who lived around the start of the nineteenth century (1800s) who killed... a lot of people, is considered one of the UK's most prolific serial killers even though he lived a long time ago, especially with more recent evidence showing he killed more people than was previously thought. He had a pretty long run before being caught, and mysteriously vanished the day before his execution. To this day, nobody knows what happened to the Butcher of the Hollow.

In reality, Human!Stan came into possession of the Lament Configuration through his status in the aristocracy (specifically LeMarchand's box) and his mysterious disappearance was him solving the box and becoming a Cenobite.

i just thought it'd be really funny if cenobite!stan was completely normal. he went so downhill he came out the other side as Tolerable and not a serial killer.

cenobite!stan is interested in who he was before... and then he's not because oh nooooo i sucked massively

he does get a kick out of watching all the crazy conspiracy theories about what the Fuck happened to him. nobody is right.

all in all he's a pretty chill dude once you get past the Everything

[sugar-grigri]

i love your theory but the only thing i have an issue with is how makima directly calls out “death, war, hunger… with chainsaw man’s power, i’ll blot them all out” which i suppose could be a red herring but it would be super shitty of fujimoto to do that, i just don’t think chainsaw man’s #1 fan would confuse him, especially if she hates death to the point of wanting to “blot them out” and she identifies devils by smell, you know?? i dunno, maybe i’m reading too much into things, i wanted ur take on things !

I'd just like to point out that it's a theory, although I like the fact that it's very poetic, that has 50% of working in reality.

You're absolutely right that Makima has an excellent sense of smell, but I think the key to understanding was held by Pochita and not by her.

In chapter 84, to which you refer, she mentions the fact that there are names she can't remember, a sign that she herself is sensitive to Chainsaw Man's power.

Makima's plan was simple: defeat Chainsaw Man in order to control him.

Makima knew that terrifying concepts had been erased by Pochita, so what she surely wanted to do was to use her power to attack not demons specifically, but concepts that terrified the most of mankind

Death, war, famine and control are empirically the greatest fears today, and the concept of the Knights of the Apocalypse remains unclear, but some information was given in part 2.

Yoru is indifferent to demons that are not her family, but rather demons of her own rank, whereas Makima had been willing to subjugate them. Fami represents a third option, as she sees them as possible allies, although she also seeks to subdue them with or without their consent.

That's why, even if I can say that Makima was informed, I still can't say that she met the other Knights of the Apocalypse, she simply saw them as obstacles to humanity through their concepts, it wasn't personal/individual revenge.

I agree that she's Chainsaw Man's #1 fan, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't be completely wrong about his essence.

Pochita remains shrouded in mystery while the control demon has also been drained of his essence, of her own feelings by the government

Makima saw Pochita first and foremost as a means to achieve the goals humanity had assigned her; she was so instrumentalized by her mission that this ultimate means was also the only way to be happy.

The demon of control was not a free demon, especially mentally, so she saw other knights only through the eyes of humanity.

What is the most common trait that defines these four demons? The fact of not having forgotten the demons erased by Chainsaw Man.

Why this particularity? Only demons of the same rank could have it.

Makima wanted to destroy the other demons of the apocalypse and has an excellent sense of smell. But why are the Knights of the Apocalypse the only ones to remember Chainsaw Man's deeds? Why couldn't Makima consider herself above Chainsaw Man? Was she necessarily inferior? Or was she of the same rank ?

Especially as part 1 ends with Pochita having grasped Makima perfectly, and not having communicated with her once during their fight, surely because he knew that the control demon was not acting according to her own will.

Chainsaw Man had a better grasp of the control demon than she had of him.

[justali-anne]

So... How do you think Sans handles anger?

Look, I see two options. He either bottles it up until it leaks out for a few seconds, then it's immediately back to hiding it... Or he really is that apathetic and he's slow to anger, but when he does get angry, he can't STAY angry for very long.

Either way, I don't think getting caught in arguments suits him.

And either way, he's emotionally challenged.

Actually, he's either emotionally challenged or he just expresses his feelings in a confusing and more subdued way. He's very hard to read.

Ironic. He's so good at reading people yet he's really hard to read himself.

Are you sure YOU'RE not the anomaly, Mr. Funny Bone?

Anyway, moving on from that, The Amazing World of Gumball is a GOLDMINE for stories and ideas. I have almost 100 stories that are inspired from Gumball.

Most of them are Undertale fanfiction, but hey! That's something!

That aside, WHAT THE HECK SANS?! Why. Are. You. The. Way. That. You. Are.

Seriously, he might as well be an anomaly or something. Him and his brother both. Papyrus casually breaks the laws of physics and acts like it's normal.

Imagine those two just casually going about their day, breaking the laws of physics, even though one enjoys that kind of thing yet he messes with it all the time...

Hmm... Maybe that's why Sans has those powers. HE'S MASTERED THE ART OF QUANTUM THEORY AND USES IT TO HIS ADVANTAGE.

Also, I feel bad for Sans somewhat mainly because he can't remember resets like Frisk or Flowey can. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF PRANKS HE MISSED OUT ON?!

Although, I suppose remembering your friends and family dying over and over again would be pretty lame. Never mind.

I'm just practicing typing my thoughts out as I go along. I have a lot of insight on things and my brain goes a million miles per hour so I lose it really quickly... And now I'm rambling.

So, have a good day, a good week, and a relatively good life.

[duhragonball]

Mega Man Ecch

I decided to ruin my weekend by playing Mega Man X7, and yeah, it was terrible. I was kind of fascinated by the decline of the Mega Man X series, and the videos I've watched about it never quite seemed to give me the full picture. Reviewers and analysts can give me a lot of technical and critical explanations, but at the end of the day, they're just really bad games. At best, they're boring, and at worst they're really frustrating from a UI standpoint.

The word "broken" gets thrown around a lot, but that almost gives X6 and X7 too much credit. "Broken" sounds kind of cool or funny, like "Big Rigs". X6 and X7 are just tired and annoying. This is what happens when you've done thirteen iterations of a game and no one cares anymore. What sucks the most about X6 and X7 is that both games put a lot of emphasis on replay value without making the first playthrough compelling enough to make you want to try it again. Like you're supposed to go back through all the other stages and find new items and stuff, and then have fun using those items on the same levels you beat before, but the levels suck, so why would anyone bother?

One video I watched made the point that you can't call these the "worst games ever", because they're not "Superman 64" levels of bad. This is true, and I suppose that's what I find so frustrating about X6 and X7. They're reviled, but they're not so terrible that there's any juicy details about their failure. I went out of my way to play these things just to see what their deal was, and I don't have much to show for it.

The thing is, I really don't enjoy the good Mega Man X games either. X4 is supposed to be one of the best ones, and I found it annoying. The big problem with these games is their over-reliance on story. They keep putting cutscenes and voice acting and long, unskippable dialogue boxes in these games, like this is Resident Evil and not a bunch of bug-eyed cartoon robots shooting at each other. I've played seven of these things and I still don't understand what the fuck is going on, or what Sigma wants, or why I'm supposed to care about any of the characters when their allegiances can literally be changed by flipping a switch. All the dialogue is stuff like "According to this data, if the DNA from the Reploid Virus interacts with the Maverick Virus, it could infect all Reploids who used to be Mavericks with a new type of virus, called the Virus Reploid DNA Maverick Virus."

I feel like somewhere I heard there was a fan theory that Sigma is basically the remnants of Dr. Wily digitized intelligence. Like, Zero was established to be Dr. Wily's ultimate creation, making him an evil version of X. But then Sigma tracked him down and tried to turn him good, only to get infected with bad guy juice or something, so that's why Zero is good and Sigma is bad in the games. So maybe the evil influence within Sigma is just Dr. Wily living on as a computer program. Which sounds kind of compelling, until you realize this would mean it all boils down to Dr. Wily being the final boss of all the games, which got old in 1992. It also undermines all of the cutscenes and handwringing in the X games, because "Dr. Wily is a jerk and we have to stop him" is a pretty elementary. All of these games are just repeating Mega Man 1 and trying to turn it into some elaborate moral dilemma. No, Dr. Wily is a jerk and we have to stop him. He decorates his castle with skulls. This isn't complicated.

At least the worst is over, and I have X8 to look "forward" to. People seem to look back generously on this one, mainly for offering the series a hint of redemption before it ended once and for all. From my perspective though, I mostly remember seeing X8 at Wal-Mart in 2004 and thinking "They're still making these things?"

[the-rockstar-lestat]

Good Morning Prince. How does the whole prince thing work when you're away from court with sad boi? And what did sad boi do to get you away from a place as cool as a vampire court????

Good morning dear. Sorry for taking so long to reply, but your ask came at a very appropriate time: I just got back from a visit to court.

So when we set up the court I suppose I thought I'd live there full time. But even a rockstar can't be on stage 24/7, and, I imagine like many kings and queens have, I found the environment stifling.

Look, I've always wanted to be a hero, I've always wanted to be seen and loved and wanted, guilty as charged, but I've never been good at dealing with pomp and circumstance and ritual and the Court seemed to positively BREED that sort of thing. Maybe vampires are pompous by nature. Maybe too many of them were born in a world of royalty and divine right. But I'm a creature of chaos, as Louis will be glad to tell you. The brat prince, remember? I've never been good at falling in line. I'm also a child of the enlightenment; I was no fan of the revolution when it happened (it did kill most of my family...) but I've always been a little skeptical of titles, despite being born with one. Or maybe because of it. Our title didn't keep us warm during the winter, it just made it impossible to ask for the help of our neighbors because as aristocrats we were above such weakness.

Maybe we shouldn't have structured it in such a regal fashion, but it was a busy time. I was trying to figure out how to put out Roshamendes' fires (quite literally) , and then they wanted me to be leader and then they were calling me prince. Not sure how it all escalated that quickly either. Better than a new religion, which seems to be the OTHER thing vampires like to do.

Anyway, court was uncomfortable, at least to be at full time, and I longed for a backstage area. Louis and I were also repairing our relationship, trying again, and while Louis loves the court in theory and what it stands for, he finds it overwhelming. When I held the core we didn't have much choice in the matter, I had to be protected, and my understandably paranoid subjects insisted I be somwhere safe and accessible, for THEIR safety. But after it's removal and our serverencr from the core, there was no reason to keep me in my gilded cage, so an idea was reached. Louis and I would live our private lives in whatever city we chose, and would both be in attendance a few days out of the month to run business. I usually average about a week out of the month, sometimes less or more if things ar happening. We also have a Season now, a month or so when court is officially opened, we have a series of balls and parties, announcements are made, major business is attended to, and all vampire kind is invited to attend. THAT'S when I'm most busy, and tend to live there full time while the court is teeming with people, both for business and pleasure. I don't mind it so much! The show must go on, and most of this prince stuff is being a pretty figurehead that people can identify with.

Honestly, I'm a pretty hands off ruler. Could never stand being told what to do, don't really like to tell others, but I'm happy to step in to settle disputes and mediate. That I can do. Sometimes big things come up and require my presence, like the vampire Nazi incident that brought Louis and me to Thessaloniki, then Rome, then England, then back to Thessaloniki (more for a vacation...) slightly before the pandemic.

Anyway, other than that, I live privately with Louis in New York, and very happily. I like being the vampire prince, don't get me wrong, love the attention and the adoration, and yes, the ability to do something for my people and my kind that helps them cope with eternity, and gives them the pride in their culture and nature that so many of us lacked for so long.

I hope my service there somehow makes up for what I did to Louis and Claudia. All this started because I separated two vampires from their community, and what is Louis' story, immortalized in his book, but a search for community? I hope I have finally brought him that.

[48610]

you're the closest to heaven that i'll ever be.

240810 — 04:59

looks like i went from not writing anything at all to writing three letters within the span of one month. if you were here right now, you'd go 'you wrote another one?! i haven't even read the other two...', but what can i say — i could go on and on when it comes to you (which is funny considering most times my mind goes blank the moment i start a post, despite having some vague ideas of what i wanted to write about beforehand). i guess our kids will really have to sit through hours of stories if they ever asked about you. but it's a good thing, isn't it? they'll see how much we love each other.

it just dawned on me that that last line sounds so much like you... they say lovers start to resemble each other after some time so it shouldn't have been a surprise to me, yet it is. there are a lot of different theories out there: it's said that opposites attract, but i also heard about being attracted to a person who's like oneself. i suppose in this situation it's the latter. the very first time that we met, i thought that well, this person has the nickname 'happy virus' so maybe i can use that to get closer to him since i was called that too. then, once i started talking to you, i really liked how friendly you were. before i knew it, we were close and we had multiple interests that connected us.

i can't recall how much i'd told you back then about my life but it was a difficult year for me. if it wasn't that apparent, then it must've been because my days were a little brighter with you by my side — i do know that i mentioned that in the first letter i wrote to you. there was something about you that was different. whenever i talked to you, no matter the topic, i felt safe and like nothing else mattered. i knew then that we'd be together forever, but never in my life could i have guessed that we'd be romantically involved, despite me hoping to have someone like you as my boyfriend.

the past crushes don't bother me anymore now as i barely remember them. in the past, i even counted how many times i had my heart broken. i felt discouraged. i thought that love wasn't for me, that i would never find someone who truly loved me, who would love as hard as i do and who would stay with me. i didn't like hearing positive things like 'you'll find the one for you', they seemed more and more untrue with each heartbreak i felt and i envied my friends who were more successful at love. it always looked like i was too much for everyone, until you became mine. during our date, i'd asked if you liked clinginess, and you said yes. it's not the first time i'd heard that, but somehow i was inclined to believe you. perhaps it's because you yourself were clingy towards me before the date even happened. it wasn't all talk. you don't know how surprised i was each time you, out of nowhere, told me that you missed me and wanted to see me. the things that i'd longed to hear, you said them so easily without me having to ask for them. you still say these things to this day. the past me didn't have such thing, she was supposed to presume that her partner always missed her. i agree that that should be the case, but to some extent. i could only hear an 'i miss you too' each time i said it first then.

the smallest things that you deem as nothing much mean a tremendous amount to me, which is why i'm often moved by them. without knowing, you're healing the damaged parts of my heart caused by other people. i for one, wished that you didn't have to do it — that i could be the best version of myself for you because with a heart like yours, you deserve that much. but i've come to realize that i can't do it alone. it's probably because i haven't reached a point where i can confidently say that i love myself that the past no longer affects me. i'm thankful towards you, for treating me with so much softness that i'm slowly able to trust love again, after thinking that i'd forever be shackled to the fears of my past.

now, i have someone who worries about me when i hurt myself, who wants me to wake him up when my heart starts beating weird, who picks me up when i'm drunk and stays through the night to take care of me, who sings me to sleep, who randomly kisses my face and hands just because he wants to, who misses me when we're apart for only days, who tells me he loves me more and means it, who spoils me a lot with whatever i ask of him, who makes sure that i've eaten every day, who offers to take my nightmares so i can sleep well, who clings to me and wants my affection, who looks at me like i hold his world, who adores everything i do and say, who reads my letters with so much care that he has to sit down to take in every word and rereads from time to time. the list is endless. the road i took to get to you was rocky and full of twists and turns, but it's worth it. if i had to do it all again to have this in our next life, i would bear all the hardships. you're worth it.

it was a little scary going into this, right? not knowing what the future holds for us, with our friendship at stake (though i personally believe that regardless of what happens, i would still be friends with you). it could be that i never directly said this but even when we were friends, i thought that you were the one person that i couldn't bear to lose, because then i feel i'd truly be alone in this life and i don't know how i'd live with that. now that you've become someone who's the dearest to my heart, i feel it even more. in the romantic sense too, i don't think that there can be anyone else in my heart after you. with how much i love you - and this love is only growing more every day - perhaps this will truly be my last love. i, who have become accustomed to expecting the worst in everything, now think that this might just work out. we'll still be together when we're older. because it's you, i think that it's okay to harbor such hopes.

going back to the old nickname we talked about earlier, it's honestly ironic to think that i haven't felt like the word happiness and me fit well in years, only temporary bursts of it that last a short time when i do something i like. however, with you, i can say that i smile and laugh much more than i do normally. you seem to bring that side out of me with ease. i can only hope that i bring you the same amount of happiness, especially during your busy, exhausting days. i know that there's not a need to remind you to ask me if you need anything as you often do it... well, mainly the head rubs so far, but just keep in mind that i'll do it if it's within my means. i'd even do your work for you so you can get some rest.

i didn't plan on this letter to be this emotional, and i also didn't plan on talking about all that, it just so happened to be this way. well, i guess you got a deeper insight into what goes on in my heart, even though you didn't ask for it. it's getting quite late now (or early if you really look at the time). you may have noticed that my mind is slowly ceasing to work, the letter dropping in quality the longer it goes on. so i think i'll simply stop here, i can't think of anything else to add anyway. i'll come again in the future if i have more to say. thank you for reading this earnestly, and that goes to all of my letters.

i love you. i love you. i love you. i'll always love you.

[obsessivefangirl]

!!! Okay so I actually have a half theory half headcanon for this!!!

So, Papyrus' defense changes in the pacifist and genocide route, and mercy killing usually oneshots, but either way it does much more damage. And going on to his brother, there should be no reason you inflict that much damage to Sans in the fight. Yes, you are strong, but LV 18 -> LV 19 shouldn't have that colossal of a difference.

But maybe that's me just pointing out things not meant to be thought of. Still, I want you to think of Mettaton's line if you kill 39 monsters and not 40 before going to him (I actually got this line first and immediately rebooted afraid I fucked up the route because i thought Mettaton would count as a monster. He might! I'm not sure if that aborts the run) I can not get it rn but this is the gist.

"I can tell from that strike, darling." Huh. Curious.

But why am I rambling about the genocide route? Let's go to other routes.

In your Undyne playdate, she tells you to hit her. You do so, and even with all your might...

You only do 1 hp.

This, to me, is the biggest clue. Why didn't she get hurt? Fake hit makes sense, but no matter what you do, you never hurt her more than that. But why?

Because Frisk didn't want to hurt her.

Think about it. The only time this happens is after you learned about her, and since to get there you can't kill anyone and not only gives her water, but also went to her house, then had a heart to heart talk, seeing her softer side. Frisk has no reason to want to hurt her. If they held a grudge, they wouldn't have gone to her house, and in the route you're going, they're peaceful and doesn't resort to violence.

So finally, going back to the question on hand. Can monsters hurt monsters? My answer is yes.

Monsters can use bullet patterns harmless on each other, but that's only one side of the story.

It is my belief that since they are made mostly of magic, the attack physically doesn't matter nearly as much as emotionally. This makes a lot of sense for a lot of stuff.

It makes sense why Sans gets hit so badly. At that point Frisk is numb to death and pain of others, and they felt entitled as they went through. They feel unstoppable. Everyone since the ruins fell to them in one swoop except for Undyne, but that was a while ago. Even a human eradication robot couldn't do anything! Even Flowey is afraid of them!

But then Sans, the comedian, the monster seems to hold the least threat, who they probably forgot about, comes back and defies them, and kicks their ass.

And what is even more infuriating is he's not strong at all. He has the weakest stats, he should be nothing but a couple second delay!

And if that's not enough, he's using their tricks against them! They're the one meant to start the fight! They're the only one supposed to dodge! And they're the only one meant to mercy kill!

With the entitlement, LV, and how he mocks them, they (with the help of Chara but that's a whole other thing) strike him down, with the worst intentions and most twisted thoughts.

Also with this in mind, it's likely HP and DEF are also not mainly/only physical. Papyrus lowered his defense to give you a chance, which lowered his DEF, which leads him to be a one hit. This also makes sense for mercy killing! They trust you and are off guard, and you take advantage of that.

In the 39 + Mettaton, you weren't cruel enough to find the last one you can find then killing Mettaton, maximizing your killing. This leads him to realize that you aren't truly evil (Although pretty close) and he assumes you will not hurt humanity with that shred.

This also makes sense why Frisk can be killed by Toriel. Humans are physical creatures that don't care about anything emotional.

I personally move this hc to food as well (monsters prefer small local shops because it's usually not automated and made with care, while machine made things aren't harmful per se, but it's bland and just medicore.

Wait I remembered a crucial part that proves my point but I don't want to go back and change my ramblings!

Monsters canonically have their soul linked to their body and it mentions intentions.