#so that makes me a bad theory crafter

[gensnix]

You know totk is filled with a lot of missed opportunities cause if you’re gonna bring back the concept of sages why not do anything with this 

[yes-asil]

Loved the badger comic and Tazzy art~ In your opinion, from a shape shifter standpoint would it be better for an injured Kratt to stay in animal form in order to heal? Depending on how thorough the transformation is, changing back could make things worse.

There are people 100 percent smarter about this topic than me, theory crafters with the most eloquent way of explaining what would happen, so my humble opinion when changing back while the suit is malfunctioning/the person in question is injured?

Muscle tissue and bones go ouchie real, real bad, not recommended, better stay the animal indeed.

[kekeartzworld]

Personal Theory

I really, REALLY need an excuse to explain an FPE related theory that came to my mind recently

I get the feeling that Oliver/Katie was likely raised by goats

This is most evident in this artwork (which is official from Kaaatie btw) where Oliver/Katie is seen with Baphomet (the black goat on the left) as well as an unnamed white female goat character to the right (which I’d assume would be Baphomet’s wife)

Undeterred, the lore for FPE/Kaaatie’s universe is pretty confusing to put together as whole but I feel that this makes a lot of sense considering how Baphomet and this other female goat seem to act like parents to Oliver/Katie

I can further back this with a fan comic I found on Pinterest

Though I’ve found the original artist credit through a reverse image search on Google and the comic was made by twowo9 on Twitter/X

The short comic shows Oliver/Katie being sad that she doesn’t have horns like her adoptive parents do

Upon seeing this, Baphomet and the unnamed female goat feel bad and the white female goat gives Oliver/Katie the headband she is always seen wearing in official art that has the horns on it

There is also another drawing from the same fanartist as the previously shown comic depicting the white female goat brushing out Oliver/Katie’s hair while she’s talking about Alice, Aiden, and Conner

I don’t personally think it’s as much of an Undertale reference as it is perhaps simply taking inspiration

This doesn’t seem to be the first time Kaaatie’s taken inspiration from a popular piece of media as it could also be inferred that Lana’s design could’ve been inspired by Arts and Crafters from Baldi’s Basics

Screenshot from Lana’s page from the FPE wiki shown as proof

Please PLEASE hear me out on this theory cuz this makes a lot of sense to me personally

This is all I needed to talk about here

So YEAH

That’s all!

GOOD BYE!!!

[dissvicious]

… I like to think that there is one thing that both Rory and Blaze absolutely agree on and can bond over, even if Rory will only hesistantly admit to it:

They are both huge “Sora, Warrior if the sea” nerds. Don’t get me wrong, they both understand the comic is marine propaganda and they don’t fall for that, but as soon as their father is done going trough the world economic journal they can’t wait to snatch it out of his hands to see how Sora survived last weeks cliffhanger. If they ever sat down with Law for whatever reason they would take HOURS discussing the plot and characters. Blaze is a fan of the general action and the characters and may or may not have bawled his eyes out at emotional moments in the story more than once. Rory is more of a story analyzer and theory crafter. He’d be the type of person who would do powerscaling and pitting characters against each other all the time, but it would be increasingly obvious that he massively favors Sora, because he wins in every argument he makes. He also may or may not have written fanfic, but you can’t prove anything. If you could he would make sure you’re wearing a fashionable pair of concrete shoes at the bottom of the ocean and destroy all the evidence.

Skye in turn has taken one look at it and… doesn’t get the enthusiasm. This is clearly marine propaganda and it’s also just not that well written and - “Well actually Skye if you’d bother to look just a bit closer you’d realize that Sora is actually a heavily intriguing character that-“ “BUT HE HAS A SEAGULL FRIEND!!! AND A ROBOT!” “And also the way he attacks is a heavy subversion on the usual tropes you’d usually encounter in a story like this-“ “AND HE PUNCHES THE BAD GUYS!!” Skye no longer argues about Sora, Warrior of the sea with these two chucklefucks

Ohhhhh I love this!! Thank you so much!

The boys would TOTALLY bond over nerdy things. They would... Be reluctant to admit it but you could find them be in awe seing their uncle Franky doing SUPER cyborg things.

Also the idea of Law meeting the twins and bonding with them made me kick my feet and giggle so loud I HAD to drew it. This could totally happen aside current redbomb episode since it takes place in Sabaody... So for me it's canon in the AU 🤧

I think Law and Rory would get along pretty well. Mayyyybe Law would be the one to give Rory the idea of getting hand / knuckles tattoos, later... Maybe Law would a bit recognize himself in this grumpy nerdy ass with a soft spot for cute things... SO MANY POTENTIAL.

have a nice day anon!

[chirpovs]

episode 7 uh…. truly fantastic episode but worst fucking choice made by the writers, I’m so fuckin pissed

The Good

- Annatar the manipulative bastard that you are. like every scene where he’s manipulating reality and fucking with everyone’s head just had me on the edge of my seat

- Elrond and Durin my beloved

- I wasn’t sure about the Sauron’s blood to make the rings thing at first, but I’ve decided I like it and it makes the corruption and Nazgûlification of the nine fun

- okay so like I clocked what Celebrimbor was gonna do the moment he started messing with his chains but oh boy the poeticness of a crafter cutting off a finger to escape is so good (also reference to Maedhros my beloved?)

- for once there was a good speech in this series that was not lifted from the movies (I’m talking about Celebrimbor saying how only light can defeat darkness)

- Adar comparing Elrond to Melian? same bro, same

- I will not wax poetic about how good Elrond was in this episode but I want everyone to know I’m thinking it (also thank u to whoever let his hair go this season, I’m living for it)

- siege of eregion battle overall, no notes tbh. surprisingly only felt a little like the siege of minas tirith and like I mean that in a good way because it didn’t feel like a copy

- yet again, this episode benefits so, so much by there just being effectively one storyline going on. it all ties together much, much more smoothly and it allows you to actually immerse yourself in the story instead of getting taken out of it when the storyline changes

The Bad

- the cut when Gil-galad has just joined up with Elrond to the sunrise was really weird imo because it made it seem like no time had passed and it was just like sudden light change?

- I’m not sure if this is actually bad because it kinda makes sense, but Arondir really made the Eregion archers look pathetic. like maybe it was intentional cause they’re not really supposed to be warriors but it was definitely noticeable if it wasn’t

The Ugly

- as taylor swift said “it was unnecessary, should’ve let it stay buried.” you know what I’m gonna say, you know. the amount of unnecessary it was. the way it makes for weird implications. like yes, it was a distraction, yes Galadriel’s confused af face afterwards matched my confused af face, but also I will personally just be pretending it didn’t happen, because you cannot fucking tell me that they couldn’t think of any other way for the pin to be passed to her. honestly I cannot think of a single reason those writers would have sat in a room, discussed this, and then come to the conclusion that it was the right choice (and I wonder slightly if it reeks of executive meddling to create drama a la the whole Tauriel debacle back during the hobbit)

Other thoughts

- ngl guys I did not think that Mirdania would die like that??? rip to the Mirdania is Celebrian theory but I guess rip to that one anyway given the writers fucking choices

- Rían dead too????

- so I don’t think Arondir is dead at all btw guys, he was still moving and to me that means he’s alive

- I did truly think that the orcs were gonna turn on Adar because he’s leading them to death and they’re not convinced, so was surprised when they all join him at the end of the episode, but maybe that’s leading up to them choosing to join Sauron instead

- Elrond’s really goin through it this episode. like friends are either dead or seemingly abandoned him, ring he’s supposed to keep safe stolen, he had to fight a troll, give my boy a break (the way he will continue to go through it next episode when Celebrimbor gets Celebrimbannered 🥲)

- y’all should have seen my face throughout this episode, I was unwell, there are nail marks on my arm, jesus actual christ

[imaginespazzi]

Sorry for the late review I got the email from AO3 ( I love tumblr but I was an AO3 gal first and foremost) right as I leaving my house and I knew this story needed my full undivided attention for awhile for me to be able to rlly soak it in

This chapter rlly showed how much of a menace stephie is bc first with the car convo that made azzi tell Colleen that she did indeed do the opposite of her plan but also the other car convo with Paige tattling on azzis words

one thing I love about Pazzi is the known passenger princess so making them switch it up and the lil memory was so cutieeee

Stephie and azzis relationship on their own is also so adorable bc like their lil fun time just to the icecream time was so cute

reading how azzi has always felt alone with protecting steohie until this moment I knew that I should feel bad for azzi but rlly I was just making up more theories on where the heck baby daddy is and why he’s not helping miss gurl

The golden state might only be a pit stop makes me sad now so I can only imagine how it’s gonna make me feel whenever the plot develops and it bc a much larger issues between them

Paige with bb Stephie and Tim was awesome I love the fluff you right even thou I come for the angst and even the fluff with azzi while they were still being cordial

Honestly ur flashbacks are what make ur stories the way they are so perfectly crafter and tie in and let me know just the right amount of information and feels like a puzzle is why I love ur writing and truly shows how talented you are but now I’m done praising you bc u r asking for trouble leaving me on a kinda cliff hanger ig but like YOU DIDNT WANT TO MARRY ME excuse me marriage was an option?!? I need like the five ws and h rn When? Where? Who? What? Why? How? Like I reread that sentence so many times jsut to be followed up by YOUR RIGHT I DIDNT WNAT TO SO GO FUND THE WOMEN WHO DID Literlly silenced like what why not I need to know the entire lore and it’s ridiculous your gonna leave me high and dry like this like I’m genuinky so confused but also sooooo excited

anyways love you so much Nivi and am so proud of you for sticking to your schedule I hope you stay sticking to it bc if not I might actually die

-💜💜

You're actually the sweetest person ever my love and I will try to stay on my deadlines just so you don't die because that would make sad.

Stephie just doesn't have a filter, especially around people she's comfortable with and she's definitely comfortable with Paige so trust her to make sure Paige will always know what's happening.

I have a lot of little tradition ideas for Stephie and Azzi in my head and Paige is slowly going to end up being added to a lot of them.

Ah Azzi's baby daddy is a mystery but we'll get to him one day eventually (I think)

I love writing flashbacks and they're gonna be a big part of the story because to move forward in the present, they're gonna have to unravel what happened in the past. I'm also really excited to write it and have y'all read it even though I know y'all are gonna be yelling in my inbox about how evil I am after a few of them.

LMAO everyone's reactions to the last scene are killing me and I'm ngl it's been very amusing but TRUST!! There's always a method to my menacing madness!

Always happy to see you in my inbox babes and I'm so glad you're along for this ride <3

[catt-nuevenor]

It seems that there are a lot of different opinions on the changes to Myrk Mire, but of the asks you have answered it seems the change that people are the most talking about is the changes to the RO's. Let me just say that I REALLY like the decision to have the non-romanced RO's to enter into relationships with each other. To me it seems like a very natural thing to happen, and I personally think it would make the story more immersive if that makes sense. It makes it clear that these characters have their own feelings and interests outside of being a romance option for the MC.

I am also excited for the new characters! I liked the idea of MC being a lone wanderer in the world, just them and their kid, but having them be part of a group gives the opportunity for more varied character dynamics/interactions.

(The one concern I have is the fact that I, as a Peyton-romancer, have to get used to the name Plehtin. It's not bad, just different, and I've gotten so attached to Peyton that it will probably take a while to come to terms with the new name 😞)

As a closing statement, I would like to say that when I saw that there would be changes to the story, I got very worried very quickly. I really like Myrk Mire and it is, to this day, one of my favorite IFs. I often come back and re-read even though there hasn't been any updates in a while (I hope this doesn't sound accusatory, I know you've been working on other stuff and I'm a very patient person). But reading through the posts you made and all the asks you have answered, I have gotten only reassurances that you are putting a lot of work into a story you enjoy telling. I am looking forward to reading it. :)

P.S. Thanks for not taking down the (now) old demo, I will probably definitely re-read a couple times between now and when the new demo gets released.

Another long ask that completely flips my ideas about character limits on these things.

I appreciate the feedback on the changes, and your thoughts on the MCs travelling companions. It will be a lot of fun for me to plot out scenes with the whole gang, Aldmirham residents included. They're going to be quite the crew to get to grips with, but hopefully they'll come to be as cosy and familiar as the old group (Celda and Cwylla not so much on the cosy front).

Yeah, changing character's names always runs the risk of snagging the reader's attention, especially when it's as much a change as Plehtin's. If it's any help, the pronunciation of the two names is actually quite similar.

Let me break out the old IPA a moment here...

Plɛ-tɪn

Modern British English equivalence (ish):

Pl-ay-h (as in hay) - tin

The old demo will stay up as long as I can keep it up, and if for any reason I am forced to take it down, I'll give folks as much warning as I can.

We're so close to submitting a fixed narrative story to literary agents now, weeks close. And I've had my first full read through feedback! It was very positive, and I'm reliably informed it's a good story for theory crafters, lots to 'sink your teeth into'.

I can't wait for the day I get to share it with you folks!

[emeryleewho]

I don't know if everybody has this, but I know a lot of us have this "I could do this" mentality where, if we see something and think, "I could do this", it inherently undermines the quality of that thing. Like if someone builds a bookcase and I watch the process video and think "I could do that!", suddenly it feels like building that bookcase wasn't a particularly great feat. I'm not a craftsman. I don't build furniture. If I could do it, it must not be hard or impressive or cool.

The problem is, 1. I probably couldn't do it. Things always seem easier in theory than in practice. And 2. even if I *could* do it, that doesn't actually mean the thing is bad. It means that the process video was good or that I'm actually a better crafter than I realized. It doesn't undermine the usability or visual quality or anything else of the bookcase itself. It says more about me and my ability to follow instruction videos than it does about the bookcase or even the crafter.

The "I could do this" mentality isn't actually insightful or informative, and it can really ruin the way you see the world or interact with things others create. The fact that *I* have the ability to do something doesn't make that thing unskilled work or cheap or unimpressive. If anything, it just means that I *also* have skill in this thing, and I should use those skills to provide what I can for other people who can't. That's how humanity is supposed to work. So I'm trying to be nicer to myself and anybody else who makes things and not disregard their work because I have a similar skillset. Instead, I'd rather use this kind of thinking to strengthen some skills I otherwise wouldn't have realized I had.

[kurisus]

Noragami reread: Volume 19 & 20 thoughts

On to the next batch of pain.

But really, ouchies. First we have the resolution of the covenant (or trial by pledge)--and if you weren't around for that month-long wait, it was AWFUL. A month of speculating about Daikoku's odds because how good could his luck be if he belongs to someone with notoriously bad luck? Also a month of speculating about Yukine's fate, and his past, and generally being miserable. It was a TIME.

Anyway, the trial resolves with no one dying on either side, and since the rules weren't super clearly outlined, I'm relying heavily on what the official translation states to draw my conclusion. Basically, Amaterasu says the trial judges the actions of Bishamon, Yato, and Yukine. Assuming respectiveness, I think the order is key. The first trial, for Bishamon, found her in the wrong. This is in line with what everyone else says about her decision to name Nana--it's objectively risky to brand herself a traitor to hunt the crafter, and treasonous to attack a bunch of gods simply for being in the way. Even though her motivations make perfect sense.

Contrast this outcome to Yato and Yukine, both of whom were dragged into this mess and did what they could. So my personal theory is that's why the trial panned out the way it did. I could be totally misinterpreting it! But since we'll likely never get an explanation, that's what I'll go with.

I know there were some complaints that no one did die, but on a reread I kinda disagree. Tsuyu isn't a super plot relevant character, but that's my point. Noragami rarely kills off its characters, and each death has huge ramifications. Tsuyu's permanent death would accomplish...what, exactly? Plus she's a plum spirit, not a proper shinki. She shouldn't die in the same way as them.

Furthermore, Yato says "your shinki are not a set of dice," aka something to be gambled with. In gambling, you don't lose your dice, you lose your money or chips.

Anyway Yukine's reaction to being freed makes me want to blow up. He's suffering from mad PTSD, but still takes the time to let Yato know how grateful he is that he was there. Crying and sobbing.

The Kunimi chapter is a fun time. Except for the part where he talks about death being the end of memories. That was not fun.

The birthday chapter is everything to me but it also makes me want to wither away. I'm forever upset about Bishamon and Kazuma not being there, although Take and Kiun is the funniest possible replacement.

And then we get to chapter 75, which always makes me want to blow up. Adachitoka returned from hiatus and dropped this absolute banger of a chapter on us-- it's all about the ways in which love ruins the dynamics of near and far shore, tied up with Yato finally deciding to go after his dad. Sobbing etc.

In the following volume, we see a flashback of Yato explaining Father's origins to Amaterasu, followed by his vow to defeat him. He's thinking, as he says this, that it's the end for them both, and he will fade away too. In general Yato does a lot of musing on his own mortality in this volume, since just after this he sadly realizes he won't make it till spring. Blowing up once more.

Hiyori also does some musing on her own mortality this volume, after Tenjin talks to her about what Kazuma said. Kazuma wants to be loved in a human way, and it has ruined him. Tenjin again chides Hiyori for being too involved with the gods, and she wonders what would be better--if she forgets Yato whether she lives or dies, it'll be like they never met at all. SO SHE HAS TO REMEMBER HIM, RIGHT?! RIGHT?!?!?!?! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING

Still don't entirely remember what trash dad was doing at her house, but fuck him.

Yato naming Kazuma is just really sad on all levels. Neither of them wanted to do it but they're left with no choice, so they nip at each other the whole time. Despite this, Yato empathizes with Kazuma's tragic life, and notes that it's similar to Yukine's. Because they've been two different types of hafuri this whole story, but they have a lot in common too. Is anyone else clawing at the walls?

Discord reactions:

[phdmama]

Hellooooo my friend!! 2, 40, 81, or any other three that spark joy!

Thank youuuuuu my darling friend!! xox

2. talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

OMG it happens all the time. Not to keep talking about Fixer-Upper, , but that fic was literally supposed to be like, 5K of Draco the rock star in leather trousers and music festival boning. Like, that was it. Instead, it turned into grief and trauma and depression and love and how healing isn't linear and sometimes people make bad choices. AND Draco in leather trousers and festival boning!

40. best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten.

One of the things I love about working with @realitybetterthanfiction , who is my trusted beta and dear dear friend, is that she gives me amazing feedback that's such wonderful constructive criticism. When I was working on Unveiled which has what is, for me, a very intricate plot, we spent so much time working on the details to make sure it all was consistent and made sense. Same for The Privilege of Being Yours, which was literally SUPPOSED to be "Hey what if Draco and Harry have to have Ritual Sex for Reasons™?" and turned into this whole magical theory thing.

In terms of like, comments or praise, I'm so grateful for each and every one - your comments, for example, bring me joy and life and I love them! I think just knowing that something I wrote and crafter and put out into the world has impacted someone in some small way, it's really special.

81. if you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of writing advice specific to you, what would it be?

I think it would be to relax into my own voice earlier and trust that (I know some of my earlier stuff definitely uses language and cliches that I don't love now). I say this all the time (I feel like anyway) - I know my writing isn't for everyone, and that's okay, because it's *mine* - my voice, my stories. And those matter - neither more nor less than any other writer's. It matters.

I would also remind myself to slow down, work on pacing, and just... breathe a little.

xox

ask game for fanfic writers

[mitzvahmelting]

this was a good post on its own, but the fact that it showed up on my dash under the "liked by @neil-gaiman" header definitely made me sit up straight and scrutinize it a bit more

like, okay, to be honest, i still have no idea what the hell happened in season 2, i still don't understand what it was trying to tell me, and i still don't know if i liked the way that it did that. i'm still having a very hard time evaluating how i feel about season 2 as a piece of media, because i just don't know how far i can trust the story crafters (like, i'm not ready to go full "metatron/book of life theory" tinhat as an explanation for some of the plainly bad writing... yet).

but the reminder/reassurance that the oddness and awkwardness of the romcom narrative was intentional is... good. that's good. and i mean, i'm still thinking about good omens very much after however long it's been since i finished watching it, so that's bound to mean something about the intentionality of it too.

(although, i'm still thinking a lot about law & order's nolan price, and law & order is utter dogshit in terms of craft, so.... maybe i'm just invested in pieces of media that ensnare my brain with all the little things that don't make sense, regardless of whether those things were put there on purpose.)

thinking about Good Omens 2. and stories, and the shape of them, and Terry Pratchett and his themes. and something clicked.

Aziraphale is cackling.

it's not just the ball. he spends the entire season trying to force the story into a shape it's not, and everyone suffers for it.

i've seen some less than charitable takes on Crowley's actions and they all ignore how much Crowley did try to talk to Aziraphale, did try to ask Aziraphale questions, did try to help, only to be ignored or brushed off. because his questions, his offers, they didn’t fit with the story Aziraphale was telling himself.

quiet, gentle, and romantic. it was, if you're our favorite Angel - right up until the end, at least. because he decided that's the story he was in. from the very beginning, he's off in la-la land, living out this romcom with a cute little mystery wrapped up in it, completely ignoring what's actually going on around him. i'll set Nina and Maggie up! (completely ignoring that Nina tells him she has a partner, and at that point, he has no reason to think she's anything less than happy.) i'll take ~our~ car to go do investigate this silly little mystery (he's not taking it even a little bit seriously!) while you stay here and run the bookshop and it will be so quaint and domestic! soon we'll dance and confess our feelings that we obviously share because we're already so clearly a couple we just need to finally say it!

Crowley knows the entire time that they're in a horror story but Aziraphale ignores every attempt he makes to point that out because it doesn't fit the story he decided he's in the middle of.

he brushes off Crowley's concerns and questions - his QUESTIONS! - like they're nothing. he doesn't want to see it, so he doesn't. and Crowley should have told him more?

why would he?

when you are CLEARLY in distress and it's being BLATANTLY AND WILLFULLY IGNORED, what the fuck are you supposed to do? "Crowley didn't comminicate" well okay if I were having a panic attack about something and my husband completely ignored it, chattering on about our dinner plans or whatever, that wouldn’t exactly make me want to open up about what was wrong! that would send the very fucking clear signal that he didn't want to know!

words aren't the only way we communicate and Crowley's body language, the entire season, is that of someone who is living in a horror story, knows he's living in a horror story, and is fucking terrified. if Aziraphale were paying any attention to Crowley instead of focusing all his energy trying to set things up just so for the big climax of his love story, he would know something major was wrong.

why would Crowley have told him how cruel Gabriel was about the execution when Aziraphale's already so thoroughly convinced that heaven is pure and good and has shown over and over through the millennia that he's not really open to considering that it can be cruel!

just look at them at the dance. Crowley freaking out because there's a horde of demons out there and Aziraphale giggling as they go to dance. that's the whole season!

you know who Crowley reminds me of this season?

he's watching helplessly and with increasing levels of distress as Aziraphale shoves every plot point into the romcom hole even though it's obviously not remotely romcom shaped! and i'm sick of people saying he was abusive because he raises his voice about it a few times!

[grimrester]

Theory: What Happened to Dess?

(major Deltarune spoilers)

I've seen a lot of speculation floating around about what happened to Noelle's sister Dess. I've seen these theories so far:

1. Noelle accidentally killed Dess with her ice powers. It traumatized her and that's why she choked during the spelling bee and stares into the freezer at the grocery store.

2. Asgore accidentally ran over Dess and this is why he doesn't use his car and why Undyne is so preoccupied with traffic.

3. Dess ran away to escape their overbearing mom, leaving Noelle in a worse situation. Asgore couldn't find her and that's why he was dismissed from the force.

I like bits and pieces of all these theories so I've combined parts of them into one theory I haven't seen yet: Dess's body is in the bunker in the woods.

Let me cover some ground info and evidence for my theory. I'll be going over some stuff that others have put together already (like Dess's full name) so I couldn't have come to this conclusion without the work of other theory crafters.

1. Dess's full name is December. We can assume this because the buttons spell out "December" when Noelle is talking about Dess for the first time. The room Queen puts Noelle in has clothes that don't look like they belong to Noelle and a calendar that only has the last month of the year, implying it's her sister's room and her name is December.

2. Noelle speaks about Dess in the past tense, as though she has died.

3. Noelle chokes during the spelling bee when asked to spell December, implying that when she was a kid, the thought of her sister was traumatic or upsetting enough to make her go quiet.

4. Noelle also stands and stares into the freezer at Sans's grocery store, as if frozen in place, similar to her reaction during the spelling bee. This implies that her trauma has something to do with the cold, doors, or both.

5. There is no grave for Dess in the town's graveyard. If she is dead, it's likely her body was not found. Given her family attends the church next to the graveyard, it's unlikely they would choose to cremate her or bury her elsewhere.

6. Catti in the cafe says that she, Noelle, and Kris were all interested in the occult when they were younger. The way she talks about it, it doesn't sound like casting magic spells, but more like practicing wicca or doing rituals. I don't think magic as it exists in the dark world is a thing in the real world, judging by how surprised Susie seems by all of it. So I don't think that Noelle can do ice magic in the real world, and her association with the cold and trauma comes from something else.

7. Noelle seems to black out when she does or sees something upsetting. She blacks out and doesn't remember what happened when you force her to "proceed" or "get" the ring.

8. When Noelle talks about the night that she, Dess, Kris, and Asriel went to the woods as kids, she says she doesn't remember how that night ended. She only remembers the beginning and feeling nostalgic.

9. If you take her to Spamton's area in the dump - a quiet, creepy, abandoned hole in the wall - she says it feels nostalgic somehow.

10. Post-game, you can see two of Kris's classmates at the bunker contemplating going inside, implying there's some sort of negative rumors about it and that Kris is "a weenie" who is scared of it.

11. The newspaper clipping in the police station says Asgore was dismissed from the force for unstated reasons. This implies he did something bad, but not bad enough to go to jail himself. If he killed Dess (even accidentally), I don't think Rudy would speak so fondly of him.

Given all this, here is my final conclusion on what happened to Dess:

Dess, Noelle, Kris, and Asriel were out in the woods together, having fun and exploring. They found the bunker at some point - a creepy, isolated door in the middle of the quiet woods, just like Spamton's area that Noelle also describes "nostalgic." Kris and Noelle were probably interested in it, because they both were into creepy, occult things. When they opened the door, trapped air in a bunker like that tends to be chilly and it rushed out when released, not unlike the freezer door that Noelle stares blankly into.

The kids went into the cold, abandoned bunker in the woods and something happened down there. Perhaps it was something occult, or just a traumatic accident. Noelle either witnessed what happened to Dess or found Dess's cold, frozen body after she died, but has blacked out the memory and now freezes up when reminded of it. Kris may not have seen everything, but knows enough to be scared of the bunker.

Asgore, a police officer at the time, was never able to find Dess. Maybe the kids sealed the bunker after they left and Asgore couldn't get in. Or perhaps something happened with all the kids down there that caused Dess to get hurt, and Asgore was worried his kids would get in trouble and kept it a secret to protect them. Since he never found Dess, Asgore was dismissed from the force by Noelle's mom, the mayor.

Since Dess's body was never found and buried, Dess's corpse could still be in the bunker during the events of Deltarune.

[inquisitorhierarch]

Ghilan'nain's Gambit (Dragon Age Theory)

oh shit... now that Dread Wolf is actually for sure happening i guess i’d better actually get this theory out there so that i can either be totally vindicated or everyone can be upset that i wasn’t right because i’m a fucking genius and it would be really cool when it comes out...

this will be a little lengthy, mostly because i occasionally discuss some. evidence and things. apologies!

so, lots of people have already floated the theory that the person who created the “Skin that Stalks” etc. armour that was left in the Vir Dirthara in Trespasser was Ghilan’nain (backed up by whomever it was signing their letters with two stamped halla horns). that’s not new ground as far as fan theories goes, and i hope it turns out to be true! it would make things more interesting, especially because it seems like Solas doesn’t know about their presence (he only knew the Qunari were there because his spies found their spies in the Inquisition, after all). Ghilan’nain being active would be a nice big curveball to throw at him… and is a more fun explanation than it just being some sadistic mage or something.

i like to think that the Viddasala could have unearthed her somehow, while searching for all the ruins and artefacts that the Qunari collected - and that Ghilan’nain was possibly influencing the Viddasala, which would explain why the Viddasala seems to be operating outside the orders of the Triumvirate, who apparently didn’t know about Dragon’s Breath when Josephine wrote to them. again, it’s a much more compelling explanation than just “Viddasala Bad.” though, you might ask why Ghilan’nain would want Dragon’s Breath, and the Viddasala’s plan to strengthen the Veil enough that no magic can be used, to go through… but i think the prospect of being the only evanuris who could ever possibly escape, being free while the others are trapped for good, would be an enticing idea. there’s so much power to be scooped up in a situation like that, after all.

this so far has all been decently supported by canon evidence. from here on out is where it gets a bit more speculative.

if we just Roll with the widely accepted supposition that Solas is a spirit of Wisdom/Pride demon (for the sake of this post’s wordcount) then it follows that other evanuris could also be spirits/at the very least have spirit- or demon-like powers... and purely for the sake of Cool Plot Stuff i’d like to propose that Ghilan’nain is Envy, with a “positive” aspect of something like… Ambition. she did just decide one day to make herself so important and un-overlookable as to force the other evanuris to accept her as one of their own, after all. 

there are a couple of other tidbits back me up here - when the Templars talk about what the Envy demon is during Champions of the Just, they say:

“[It’s] A coward, brother!”

“It studies, makes less mistakes… but most of all, it hides.”

the behaviour demonstrated by the notes on creating the enchantments from the Vir Dirthara certainly seem to demonstrate both the “studying” and “making less mistakes” part of that particular description. if you want to get philosophical about it, the belt from the set created by (provisionally, we’ll just call the crafter this from here on out for ease of description) Ghilan'nain is described as perfectly fitting the wearer no matter what their size is (the armour itself does this too, being one of the few unique armour pieces that fits all four playable races), almost as if it’s… changing to fit a particular desired shape. wonder if there’s anything else that does that…  🤔

additionally, the rhyme in the Darvaarad (“One sees the hunter, one flees from it, one hunts the hunter in turn, one outwits them all”) specifically lists Ghilan’nain as the one who flees, and that particular inscription should be fairly contemporary to the evanuris’ lifetime given that it is connected to a Fen’harel gift statue.

so. if you can accept that Ghilan’nain is perhaps a spirit of Envy/Ambition, the question next becomes “well… so?” it might be a big leap to assume that Ghilan’nain would have the form-stealing abilities of the regular Envy demon from Therinfal Redoubt, but i did mention that a lot of this was speculative and mostly about Cool Plot Stuff

anyway, here’s just a few fun facts about Empress Celene to consider:

has white hair, just as Dalish legends describe Ghilan’nain as having

has a fascination with magical things, including eluvians (enough to keep one at Halamshiral; one that connects to a part of the Vir Dirthara where the person most commonly thought to be Ghilan’nain was at some point, no less)

has a great deal of power (“Whoever rules Orlais will impact all of Thedas”)

recently renovated the royal wing of the Winter Palace for an unconfirmed reason (there are in-universe theories, but to date I’ve never seen it actually confirmed if any of them - such as Gaspard damaging the Royal Wing during his rebellion attempt - are true)

dug up all of her uncle’s halla statuettes to use as magical keys

having recently driven away Briala by being evil, she would be more alone and possibly vulnerable to the wiles of an Envy demon than at any previous point in her reign

Celene would no doubt be a prime target for any Envy demon, even aside from all the little personal reasons that Ghilan’nain might be interested in her. when i first thought of the idea, i was so taken by it that i originally thought Celene might already have been dead and that it was the Ghilan’nain/Envy version of her in Inquisition, but i actually highly doubt that the story would allow you to have Ghilan’nain herself foiled by a human assassin. 

but… Envy demons like to study their prospective prey before taking their bodies, do they not? there are notes from Champions of the Just and Promise of Destruction indicating that the Envy demon at Therinfal studied Lord Seeker Lucius in order to be able to impersonate him. maybe Ghilan’nain was in that stage with Celene, hidden in the wings, when the Breach happened (only to retreat to safety when she heard that the Inquisition was coming). she wouldn’t even necessarily have to trick Celene; i’m sure any Empress could be convinced that having a doppelganger could work in their favour, particularly, as i said, while alone and vulnerable. it would require Ghilan’nain to hide her existence from Morrigan, but the presence of Mythal’s daughter (and potentially Urthemiel-Kieran) would likely be even more of a draw to someone like Ghilan’nain - and Morrigan’s interference could also explain why Ghilan’nain hadn’t quite had the time to make the swap already by the time Inquisition rolls around.

at any rate, the outcome of Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts would no doubt affect what Ghilan’nain might end up doing in the future. if Celene rules alone by the end of Inquisition, i could 100% believe that Ghilan’nain will replace her by DA4, if not Trespasser. Gaspard ruling alone might make things harder for Ghilan’nain, but i believe she could do it still (though whether she would go with the old favourite “married him and then he died mysteriously and now she’s left in charge” or just take his form would remain to be seen). the safer endings to choose would therefore be the ones where power is spread among at least two people, with “Briala rules through Gaspard” having the advantage of not even having the favoured shape for Ghilan’nain to steal remaining. presumably the benefit of “Celene and Briala reconciled” is that Briala would be so close to Celene the switch would be very difficult for Ghilan’nain to make, while “Made peace in Orlais” has the advantage of having two people able to watch Celene to see if she acts differently, and also of dividing the power base to make the Empress position less desirable.

on the other hand, when it comes to a Briala +1 ending, there’s also the fact to consider that both Gaspard and Celene are inevitably going to run up against some issue regarding elf rights that they don’t want to budge on (what with being evil imperialists and racists and all)... so it’s possible that Ghilan’nain could leverage that, and the fact that she is technically an elven god, to win Briala over to her side, and use her to help get rid of Celene/Gaspard, using the promise of bringing rights and lands back to the elves as a motivator. which could definitely lead to… interesting outcomes…

if any of this is correct, “Made peace in Orlais” would be the safest choice, technically. this isn’t super surprising; in general, Bioware tends to reward most the outcomes that took the most work to make happen… but it does kind of suck since it involves keeping Celene on the throne. but this is all speculation anyway. 

so yeah. i’m not saying that DA4 might have Envy demon Ghilan’nain as the Empress of Orlais. i’m just saying that if it happens, i called it. (it probably won’t XD)

[leam1983]

Placing D&D's Failures In-Context

TL;DR: it isn't because Tolkien and Lewis followed in the footsteps of Chaucer and Snorri Sturlesson that you also need to play out stories involving clean-cut Good and Evil forces.

Y'ain't writing a Narnia redux, so go nuts and do workshop that trusting, gentlemanly and wise Beholder with a wee little top hat. It's your game, and yours alone.

I might be a Marketing-related writer by trade, I still primarily identify as a world-builder. As such, I have to credit Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder and other similar roleplaying avenues for helping me come up with my interest in specificity.

I've noticed a few people making note of the inconstant delivery of lore in D&D as of the 5th Edition, and especially of certain bad stereotypes that are being bandied about. I'm not looking to excuse them, so much as to make sure any other theory or lore-crafters understand why some concepts are so deliberately slapdash or offensive.

As with a lot of other things, it all goes back to Tolkien and Lewis, and to the myths and legends they themselves drew from.

You have to remember that The Lord of the Rings and Narnia are both serving as in-fiction national epics of a sort, the storied tale of the Good Guys thwarting the Bad Guys in your usual bout of identity-forging on a national level. You're effectively looking at Middle-Earth justifying its own existence, and at Narnia effectively setting up its main antagonist as someone who's not so much as deserving of nuance.

Nuance isn't foundational, after all. It isn't Biblical. It doesn't inform an etiological project for a greater Society. For the same reason, reading old Natural Science encyclopedias dating back to the late seventeen-hundreds would show us an outdated view of what constitutes an optimal ecosystem. Poke around for old news briefs dating back to the werewolf panic in France (yes, this is a thing) and you'll find no mention whatsoever of what primarily caused said panic, which was a combination of superstition, ergotism and excessive hunting of the local deer population. Wolves won't naturally attack humans, but a starving wolf who's had nothing to eat for days on end might be desperate enough to think otherwise.

Once Gygax realized there'd be more potential in his pen-and-paper jousting model if he freed it from the constraints of History, he felt the need to evoke that specific feel of classic Fantasy. The need to classify distaff character classes as protagonists likely initially edged them towards the Good side of the prototypical Alignment system, while fishing for antagonists obviously called for the opposite approach.

The rest sort of followed. If you're going after a Tolkien-esque propagandistic take on heroic deeds, then you don't need to give much nuance to orc, gnolls, trolls, goblins or what have you; you're entirely free to go as cartoonishly evil as you want. The apex of that approach was probably reached once the concept for Mind Flayers was pitched in 1977: when you're walking in H.P. Lovecraft's footsteps - as the man made it easy to misconstrue unknowable as being a synonym for evil - it's not exactly hard to start pitching the concept that some races are always Evil-aligned, no holds barred. That sort of talk unsurprisingly gives rise to purists.

Enter our contemporary era, wherein what isn't dissected or cancelled is revised for the good of Progressive gamers everywhere. You're a DM, you know the later editions pack resources for players wanting to play monsters, but D&D is so rigid in its presentation it might seem difficult to reason out of certain established canons.

What I do for my own campaigns is as follows.

I start by acting as if the Alignment system didn't exist. Githzerai, Aboleth, Bugbear, Illithid, whatever it is you're looking to play, it's just a stat block and a pretty picture. Then, I revisit the background info for your selected species and voluntarily ignore everything that involves agency-stripping "evil forces" shaping your character's native culture. Instead, you're born of a culture that is, as any decent Sociology teacher would tell you, the product of its environment.

Let's pick the Illithids. Canon-wise, they're extra-planar invaders long-since established in your setting of choice, to the point of usually forming a good chunk of your Underdark-esque setting's sociopolitical tensions. Having supposedly escaped annihilation, they're looking to rebuild at any cost and see all outsiders as tools to be put to use. This utilitarian concept goes so far as to inform how they reproduce, and also exposes a society where terminal sociopathy is the norm.

Okay. Let's break that down and keep only what I need to build upon or what I find interesting:

Extra-planar invaders? That's on-the-nose to the point of parody. Seeing as there's an element of survival involved, extra-planar refugees seems like a more cogent starting point. That angle gives me interesting societal hooks to play with, starting with various forms of PTSD, trauma, survivor's guilt, isolationism - or even more positive aspects, like the survivors seeing themselves as messengers warning the natives of a greater incoming threat, and deciding to arm both themselves and their new neighbours - at any cost. That gives the culture a large enough moral range to allow for both Good and Evil-aligned characters.

It doesn't make sense for shell-shocked survivors to effectively take over their new home. You're not looking at a civilization's worth of warriors, especially not with the Illithid - they're effectively betentacled bookworms that might be lucky if they had a few hardened soldiers left. Considering, they could either survive by ingratiating themselves with the local Drow or Dark Dwarf populations - as advisors, strategists, court scientists or sponsored researchers. Warriors in their ranks could make for an interesting spin on the concept of the wandering mercenary...

Ceremorphosis as a concept inspires no possibility for mutual exchange. Purists could argue that Flayers don't need to exchange what they can assimilate, but we're trying to avoid pejorative notions, here. Let's imagine, instead, that ceremorphosis is something they reserve for mutants derived out of the animal kingdom as a point of absolute bare necessity, and that they generally copulate in ways that are either closer to an actual cephalopod's or that follow the usual bipedal body plan. That implies some degree of sexual dimorphism that might go against the visual canons for Flayers, but the Internet's more than amply proved how much the community doesn't really mind that concept. If ceremorphosis has to be used, an easy workaround is to accept that the victim's original consciousness remains, but finds itself altered at the identitarian level. You'd die Bert the Barbarian and wake up still as Bert the Barbarian, except you'd feel a sense of distance from your former comrades and countrymen and would find it difficult not to imprint with your new "parents" or keepers.

Eating brains is an obvious issue. Let's stick with the Mother Nature-approved status of opportunistic carnivores, and leave the usefulness of learning through osmosis as a concept to the DM. If you really need to play up their intellectual capabilities, you can infer that Flayers have species-based total recall, which should make them fearsome or versatile enough in any context.

The end-result is a basic framework that's compatible with the notion of a "good" Illithid, without the need for some hackneyed messianic framework like the Adversary being involved - and that allows the idea of Mind Flayers being individuals in their own right to take shape. If the Elder Brain matters that much, you can retool it to be less a gestalt than a pool of shared knowledge, accessible depending on the subject's proximity to it - sort of like your Illithid colony's own flesh-based Intranet.

Remember that D&D is only a massive collection of suggestions. You're the creator of your own stories, so if you're looking to follow the trials and tribulations of a Gnoll Bard from a setting where the hyenafolk coexist with your distaff Rangers across forests and fields, go for it!

More importantly, if purists tell you the Monster Manual says X or that Mordenkainen's says Y, tell them you're running your own campaign.

It's all that matters.

[unoisveimved-un-proffesional]

I'm not going to engage with this. (Lying)

Simply put I hate your guts because you don't advocate for change and growth. You're all regressive and stagnant right-wingers and centrists. I have plenty of contempt for the left, believe me, but I'd rather take a shot in the dark into a new future than fight against it. I loathe your kind because I think maybe some day you'll understand, and if I was christian I'd say "I'll pray for you." But I'm not, so instead I'll say, "I'm sorry." There is no hope for a future for you, because there is no hope for a future in you. I understand it very well. I don't want to believe in what you do, because it is unhelpful and unhopeful, and of all the things I am Un, Uncivil, Unfunny, Unhinged, Unkempt, Unearthed, Unfazed, Unleashed, Unusual, Undying, Unprofessional, there are three things I will never stand to be, unhappy, unhelpful, or unhopeful.

There's a lot of beautiful things in this world, a lot to love. I shook the hand of a twitchy and smelly homeless man without hesitation and while smiling, before taking him down to split my $10 into two 5's, one for 5 him and one 5 for milk, but halfway through our walk to the convenience store, he was hit with overwhelming guilt, and profusely apologized before biking away. I think about that man a lot, in many ways I was once like that man, poor, destitute, sad, and guilty of being poor. I feel proud knowing I was going to help him, but sad I never could. I wonder where he is now, poor bastard child of the earth and sidewalk, a brother of the destitution family. That experience is permanently ingrained in my psyche.

You don't help, and it's what I dislike most about some leftists. They all just talk about theories and logistics and I understand the importance of discussion, more than most. Most anarchists I respect for their action, but they don't really build, they're more interested in destroying the world, which is a valiant effort, the world we live in is so bad parts of it do need to be destroyed, but they're still not builders.

I'm a working person, who spent time in construction, grew up on construction sites, with a good feel of my muscles and tendons, blood and bones, and all I ever want to ask whenever someone asks me anything, is; "So when are we going to start building?"

"Oh we're almost out of milk." "So when are we going to start building?"

"Damn it my computer broke." "So when are we going to start building?"

"I don't want to be homeless again." "So when are we going to start building?"

"I can't believe the shit capitalism is pulling society through, I want to destroy it." Says the justifiably angry anarchist, respectable in their passion, not in their maturity. "So, when are we going to start building?" Says I, always, the builder.

You're a kind of buyer. You want to buy a house. You lazy younger generation <- (says me, 19). Me though? I want to build a home, after building so many homesand never getting to stay in them for longer than a year, I just want to build another one. My heart aches and I want to be pulled to a pile of nails and wood and ropes. And not just any disgusting square home mind you, I want it be round, beautiful, covered not in plaster or concrete, but tarps and fabrics, tapestries and skins, just like the one I was born in, with enough air flow to let my true rival and love the wind in. A ger.

You want to buy a car? A nice fancy car? I want to build a car! Ferrari's and Tesla's, disgust me, wastes they are. But the old man riding in the wooden buggie with an exposed engine and neon green mohawk bike helmet? Coolest motherfucker alive as far as I'm concerned! Built that damn thing himself, let my little brother sit in it. That guy is so fucking cool, and you wanna know why? Because he's a goddamn builder! A maker, a crafter, and those are always the people I want to see succeed. People, with something to make. Hey I've shocked myself with lightning spells and bent the wind, but writing? Art? Poetry? That's the real magic, whatever ungodly things I was doing with my hands and soul does not compare to the incredible sorcery people have done with far less mystic practices.

Artists, poets, writers, they're all builders. My heart goes out to all laborers like I. Sculptors to masons. I'm a communist not because I don't want to work, I'm a communist because I love to work! Work is beautiful. And I'm a communist because of what my grandmother taught me. Kindness, compassion, taking in every schizophrenic junkie and helping them get up on there feet, even when it took time out of our day and money out of our pockets when we already had berry foragingly little, and the value good damn labor. Labor over a page, labor over wood, labor in a hospital, labor in the gym, labor in the mind. The acceptance of pain and discomfort, and the willingness to burden the pain and discomfort of others, and put yourself through difficulty to come out the other side holding something true and beautiful, which isn't money, no, something far more valuable than money.

This isn't just about politics pay and production, this is fucking personal. You have no idea who you're fucking dealing with bozo. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? IM THE ANTI-CHRIST BITCH! IM THE MOTHERFUCKER WHOS GOING TO BUILD THE NEW WORLD! IM SOMEONE WITH BLOOD ON MY FUCKING HANDS, SOMEONE I LOVE DEAD IN MY ARMS, AND A DRAGON IN MY FUCKING SOUL. I CARRY ON THE DEAD FUCKING DREAMS AND A FAILED FUCKING PLANS BETWEEN TWO HARD DREAMERS AND WORKERS. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS BOOTS ON THE GROUND. It's a full time job carrying a dead persons fallen dreams.

Yeah, I know I'm being mocked. I've been nothing but mocked. Mocked by the people, mocked by all the bastards for being a bastard, mocked for my identity, conditions, and upbringing. My mother was hideously mocked, and so was my grandmother, I know mockery, and it don't do a damn thing to me, I've just been waiting for an excuse to yell at someone, and guess what fellow bastard child of the earth? You're it.

The future doesn't belong to you, you gave it up. And god and government be damned, I will paint my face in the ashes of my old homes and carry forward into the future. I know when I die I will be the one who won in life, not you, or anyone like you. I have hope on my heart, memories in my mind, and building in my bastard blood. I'm from the present, the past holding tightly to my back like a scared child, and people like you trying to hold me back, but I'm coming into the future, my future, where I don't expect to find you.

And for the record, there is no correct ideology, I know this, but I don't need to be correct, I need to be true, strong, loving, and crazy, that's why I'm a pro-communist, anti-capitalist, and uncommunitarian.

"Why isn't food and housing a guaranteed right?"

They require the labor of others, which can never be guaranteed without forced labor (i.e. slavery).

"What do you mean I have to tie myself to wage slavery to house myself, etc?"

You don't. You are more than welcome to grow/gather/hunt your own food and build a house using your own materials. In contrast, what you are actually complaining about is that you do not feel it is fair that you must provide sufficient value to others to fulfill your needs and the only way that you perceive being able to do that is through what you describe as "wage slavery".

"The phrase "earn a living" says everything you need to know about end stage capitalism"

Yes, that capitalism believes people should have to earn the fruits of others' labors to fulfill their living needs, opposed to alternatives of taking the fruits of others' labors through force.

INB4: "Then why does my boss take the fruits of my labor?"

They don't. They "earn" it through providing you compensation. If it does not meet your own determined threshold, then you wouldn't continue providing your labor willingly.

[restnowyourhardshipisover]

Sam as egg host/herald theory

This is a hypothesis/analysis/prediction for upcoming events of the Dream SMP based on established in story events. 

It���s mostly for reference a collection of reasons this could be where the story heads rather than conclusive evidence this is where it will head. 

Also: This is messy. I’m not a theory crafter or lore master. I’m a recap-er/details my background is in explaining why a thing happened after it happened. 

 That said: this took me a long time I hope you like it. 

Part 1: unexplained things about Sam

Sam has a lot of weird moments I could be overthinking on some of these but I want to put them out there. As together they paint a picture.  

Sam is exceptionally good at keeping secrets. He apparently has multiple bodies or some form of fast travel access, as implied by Boomer but Sam never speaks to it directly, even the audience would not know if Boomer wasn’t significantly less tight lipped. His for capacity and value of privacy are further supported by his actions around the prison. To the extent the core personality of a person remains unchanged under the egg (they still have their strengths/knowledge) Sam would be very well equipped to keep egg possession a secret. 

During Quackity’s effort to convince Sam to kill Dream in the prison, Sam suddenly stops and has a dramatic emotional change when he reaches the interior of the prison (which is full obsidian) shaking off Quakity’s manipulation. If he is either experiencing egg influance when outside or when inside the prison, this would be explained.

Sam seems (as of the prison break out) to be experiencing some memory issues. When Dream breaks out Sam gives Tommy a set of guard’s armor enchanted netherite and specifically tells Tommy to stay in the main areas such as around the holy land. During Tommy’s following stream however, Sam is very confused why Tommy would possibly be in the exact area he had recommended and why Tommy is wearing armor. This could just be creator shift, but it feels so precise that it comes off as potentially weird. 

Sam’s isolation. Sam has, through gaslighting, blame and aggression isolated himself from nearly all his closer allies. 

Sam’s speech in his post prison break stream about “freedom” from the prison. While it stands alone, it would also read in the context of the egg. 

Part 2: Egg mechanics

People do not necessarily know that they are infected, (confirmed in Tales)

When the egg isn’t in control it can leave memory gaps 

Partially successful attacks on the egg generally results in the egg evolving tools to deal with the setback it experiences. 

People possessed by the egg can not sense if or to what extent others are infected beyond through statements (Ponk’s egg lore, their use of red contacts).Sometimes but not always the egg will speak to multiple people at once, that’s about it.

The egg wants to be fed, it wants to be cared for,  

Part 3: Brining it together

When or how could Sam have been infected? Well, when Sam was captured he was set beside the egg for an extended period  While he was freed by the power of Tommy’s immunity and went through some precautionary purification we know from Hannah that that is not always successful and we know from many different cases that becoming reinfected is possible. 

Sam is also not wearing protective gear when speaking to Ranboo about the events of the banquet. Instead he’s wearing netherite which also worked (historically) but isn’t specific to the use case.

During that same conversation he is a little bit weird about what’s good news and what’s bad news. 

During that same conversation Sam expresses he doesn’t yet know how he’ll contain the egg and that he plans to experiment upon it. 

Why now? Well, the egg makes offers, it makes deals. One of the most proven ways to resist the egg is to not want/care about what it offers. With the complete loss of the prison and estrangement with nearly all of his allies Sam is likely comparatively very vulnerable to the egg’s promises.

Part 4: implications

Sam has a continent, absurd quantities of resources and nearly unmatched technical skill to supply the egg. 

Redstone skill is especially dangerous on the SMP because of how few people have it.

Sam is still to some extent widely trusted, some characters even going so far as to completely ignore any red flags from him. 

The only character who would specifically see Egg!Sam coming is Ranboo who is dead. (Ranboo is a professional at walking in on Sam being a red flag) 

part 5: holes

Foolish and Foolish’s builds seem to be a specific target of where the egg is growing. This does not hint to Sam in any way, and would be an odd choice if Sam has control. 

This has some risk of creating the implication that Sam wasn’t in control or aware of his actions towards Dream in the prison depending on where it started. Sam has stated out of character that’s not the case and is something he’d like to avoid. Sam starved, he abused, he authorized tortue, he killed for the prison. I don’t think we’d get an egg Sam that erases that.