#such a long post but totally worth it

[felassan]

.

[gingermintpepper]

As usual I read your tags always and so you said Apollo did not ask for resurrection of Asclepius and Hyacinthus so i just wanted to share this. About Asclepius death I read it on theoi.com, that earlier authors don't make him resurrect as a god but that's a later development mentioned only by Roman authors like Cicero, Hyginus and Ovid. But still Apollo has a role in Ovid's version

Ovid, Fasti 6. 735 ff (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : Clymenus [Haides] and Clotho resent the threads of life respun and death's royal rights diminished. Jove [Zeus] feared the precedent and aimed his thunderbolt at the man who employed excessive art. Phoebus [Apollon], you whined. He is a god; smile at your father, who, for your sake, undoes his prohibitions [i.e. when he obtains immortality for Asklepios].

So here it is actually because of Apollo the decision was taken to resurrect him as god. And with Hyacinthus, I don't think I've read about Artemis playing the primary role. I know in Sparta there was a picture of Artemis, Athena and Aphrodite carrying Hyacinthus and his sister to heaven.

This is not on theoi.com but I saw on Tumblr it's from Dionysiaca by Nonnus

Second, my lord Oiagros wove a winding lay, as the father of Orpheus who has the Muse his boon companion. Only a couple of verses he sang, a ditty of Phoibos, clearspoken in few words after some Amyclaian style: Apollo brought to life again his longhaired Hyacinthos: Staphylos will be made to live for aye by Dionysos.

So since he is singing inspired by amyclean stories it probably means in that place it was believed Apollo was the one to bring back his lover to life.

Apollo as god of order was very important so i think it shows how special these people (and admetus too) were to him that he decided to go against the order for them 🥺

ANON!! Shakes you like a bottle of ramune!! BELOVED ANON!!!!! I'm littering your face with kisses, I'm anointing you with olive oil and honey - you absolutely made my night with this because, not only did I get the pure serotonin shot of having someone interact with my tags (yippee, wahoo!!) I also got to have that wonderful feeling of "oh wow, have I misunderstood something that was integral to my understanding of this myth/figure this whole time or is this a case of interpretational differences?" which is imo vital for my aims and interests as someone who enjoys mythological content and literature.

I'll preface my response with this: Hyacinthus is by far the hardest of these to get accounts for because his revival itself, as you very astutely point out, is generally accounted for in painting/ritual format which muddies the waters on who interceded for what. I wasn't actually familiar with that passage from the Argonautica - and certainly didn't remember it so thank you very much for bringing it to my attention!

That said, what I've come to understand, both about Hyacinthus and about Asclepius is that in the accounts of their deaths, Apollo's position is startlingly clear.

For Hyacinthus, it is established time and again that Apollo would have sacrificed everything for him - his status, his power, his very own immortality and divinity. Ovid writes that Apollo would have installed him as a god if only he had the time:

(Ovid. Metamorphoses. Book X. trans. Johnston)

Many other writers too speak of how Apollo abandoned his lyre and his seat at Delphi to spend his days with Hyacinthus, but they also all agree that when it came to his death - he was powerless. Ovid gives that graphic account of Apollo's desperation as he tries all his healing arts to save him to no avail:

(Ovid, Metamorphoses Book X. Apollo me boy, methinks him dead. trans Johnston)

Bion, in one of his fragments, writes that Apollo was "dumb" upon seeing Hyacinthus' agony:

(Bion, The Bucolic Poets. Fragment XI. trans Edmonds)

Even Nonnus in the Dionysiaca speaks constantly of Apollo's helplessness in the face of Hyacinthus' fate where he writes that the god still shivers if a westward wind blows upon an iris:

and when Zephyros breathed through the flowery garden, Apollo turned a quick eye upon his young darling, his yearning never satisfied; if he saw the plant beaten by the breezes, he remembered the quoit, and trembled for fear the wind, so jealous once about the boy, might hate him even in a leaf...

(Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Book 3. trans Rouse)

And the point here is just that - Apollo, at least as far as I've read, cannot avert someone's death. He simply can't. Once they're already dead - once Fate has cut their string - all Apollo's power is gone and he can do nothing no matter how much he wants to. And this is, as far as I know, supported with the accounts of Asclepius as well!

Since you specifically brought up Ovid's account, I'll also stick only to Ovid's account but in Metamorphoses when we get Ovid's version of Coronis' demise, he writes that Apollo intensely and immediately regrets slaughtering Coronis. He regrets it so intensely that he, like he does with Hyacinthus, does his best to resuscitate her:

(Ovid, Metamorphoses Book Two. Apollo's regret)

And like Hyacinthus, when it becomes clear that what has happened cannot be undone, Apollo wails:

(Ovid, Metamorphoses Book Two. Apollo wept.)

Unlike his mother, Asclepius in her womb had not yet died and so, with the last of Apollo's strength, he does manage, at least, to save him.

(Ovid, Metamorphoses Book Two. Apollo puts the 'tearing out' in Asclepius.)

But it goes further than even that because Ocyrhoe, Chiron's daughter, a prophetess who unduly gained the ability to directly proclaim the secrets of the Fates, upon seeing the baby Asclepius, immediately prophesies his glory, his inevitable death and then his fated ascension:

(Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book Two. Ocyrhoe's prophecy. trans Johnston)

Before she too succumbs to her hubris and is transformed by the Fates into a horse so she can no longer speak secrets that aren't hers to share.

These things ultimately are important because it establishes two very important things: 1) Apollo can't do anything in the face of the ultimate Fate of mortals, which is, of course, death and 2) even when Apollo is Actively Devastated, regretful, yearning, mournful, guilty or some unholy combination of all of the above, when someone is dead, he accepts that they are gone. Even if he is devastated by it, even if he'll cry all the rest of his days about it - if they're dead? Apollo lets them go. In Fasti, when Zeus brings Asclepius back, he does not say Apollo asked him to - Zeus, or well, in this case Jove, brings Asclepius back because he wants Apollo to stop being mad at him.

(Ovid, Fasti VI. Apollo please come home your father misses you. trans. A.S Kline)

Even Boyle's translation which you used above in your findings hints that Zeus made Asclepius a god because he wanted Apollo to stop grieving. (i.e 'smile at your father', 'for your sake [he] undoes his prohibitions')

And like, Apollo was deeply upset by Asclepius' death - apart from killing the Cyclops in anger, in book 4 of the Argonautica, Apollonius writes that the Celts believe the stream of Eridanus to be the tears Apollo shed over the death of Asclepius when he left for Hyperborea after being chastised by Zeus for killing his Cyclops:

But the Celts have attached this story to them, that these are the tears of Leto's son, Apollo, that are borne along by the eddies, the countless tears that he shed aforetime when he came to the sacred race of the Hyperboreans and left shining heaven at the chiding of his father, being in wrath concerning his son whom divine Coronis bare in bright Lacereia at the mouth of Amyrus.

It all paints a very clear picture to me. Apollo did not ask for either of them to be brought back. Though bringing them back certainly pleased and delighted him, they are actions of other gods who are moved by Apollo's grief and mourning and seek to mollify him. Him not asking doesn't mean he didn't want them back which I think is a very important distinction by the by, but it simply means that Apollo knows the natural order of things and, even if it hurts, he isn't going to press his luck about it.

Which, of course, brings us to Admetus. And I'm really not going to overcomplicate this, Admetus is different because, very vitally, Admetus is not dead. Apollo can't do a thing once Fate has been carried out and Death has claimed a mortal but you know what he absolutely can do? Bargain like hell with the Fates before that point of inevitability. And that's what he does, ultimately for Admetus and Alcestis. He sought to prolong Admetus' life, not revive him from death or absolve him from death altogether and even after getting the Fates drunk, he's still only able to organise a sacrifice - a life for a life - something completely contingent on whether some other mortal would be willing to die in Admetus' place and not at all controllable by Apollo's own power.

All of these things, I think come back to that point you made - that Apollo's place as a god of order is very important and therefore these people are very special to him if it means he's willing to go against that order but, I also wish to challenge that opinion if you'd let me. Apollo's place as a god of order is very important and therefore, I would argue, that it is even more important that it is shown that he does not break the divine order, especially for the people that mean the most to him. The original context of my comments which started this conversation were on this lovely, lovely post by @hyacinthusmemorial which contemplated upon Asclepius from the perspective of an Emergency Medical personnel and included, in their tags, the very poignant lines "there's something about Apollo letting go when Asclepius couldn't that eats my heart away" and "you do what you can, you do your best, but you don't ever reach too far" and I think that's perfectly embodied with the Apollo-Asclepius dichotomy. Apollo grieves. He wails, he cries, he does his best each and every time to save that which is precious to him but he does not curse their nature, he does not resent that they are human and ultimately, he accepts that that which is mortal must inevitably die. There is nothing that so saliently proves that those who uphold rules are also their most staunch followers - if Apollo wants to delight in his place as Fate's mouthpiece, he cannot undo Fate. And, if even the god of healing and order himself cannot undo death, what right does Asclepius, mortal as he is, talented as he is, have to disrespect it?

The beauty of these stories isn't that Apollo loved them enough to bring them back. The beauty is that Apollo loved them enough to let them go.

[ryuubff]

when your first impression on the carpenter's hot son goes wrong just yell "plot twist!" and move on ✩

yeah no jia didn't really give seb a good impression upon first meeting eachother ... it took sebastian a good while to warm up to them because of this (ill draw it... evnetually)

this is based off my gameplay when first encountering sebastian 😭😭 i didnt know you need 2 hearts w a villager to enter ur room (he wasn't there atp) and when i tried to leave he was blocking the way so i just stood there... until he had the "..." speech bubble and ran past me it was SO EMBARRASSING

this is their current impressions of eachother! maybe when i post more comics i'll update it !!

close ups below the cut as always sorry for a super duper long post LOL

face cards......

this is so can we pretend airplanes in the night sky are shooting stars i could really use a wish right now wish right now wish right now

[froggyfriend27]

I’m actually unironically really proud of how this patch turned out. (Ignore the box, I needed something to paint on and the string is for friendship bracelets and embroidery) :>

[vildo]

In this scene, when they’re about to throw spears, together they say Down Eros, Up Mars

which at first glance could simply mean love is nothing, and war everything, indicative of how their friendship is likely to fall apart.

As far as it goes in the book, Messala is quite upfront about his intentions, leaving Judah to choose between a future for their love, or a potential free one for his people

Here in the following scene, things are pretty much the same, on the surface at least. Yet if you pay close attention to the positioning of certain elements, the spears high up there on that cross/crucifix, and the two of them holding hands beneath it, you’ll begin to see the clever choice made to suggest this is a lover’s quarrel, for up there reigns Mars, and Eros is down where they are

[imflyingfish]

This isnt a crazy statement but i still think that there should be better diversity on the life series. I mean specifically there should be more woman creators and creators who are poc.

Like 3rd life had ONE woman!!! WHAT THE FUCK?

Theres only ever been TWO non-white members of the life series! What????

Only 4/17 of the secret life members are women! Thats like 4 and a bit men for every woman! THIS IS THE SEASON WITH THE MOST WOMEN????

Like i know the gaming space is a bit messed up on this front but like cmon....

I dont think that the life series is like. Intrinsically bad or anything, but it would be cool if Grian/the team and such could take notice of these facts and help to change the server just a bit more.

[lonesomenecromancer]

dear god i dont know if i can even do this

[comixandco]

i think something people forget about pink diamond is that she had compassion for life long before she went to earth

the pebbles assume steven is pink not because of his gem or aura but just because he says ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ to them, a basic common courtesy that nobody else has given them in thousands of years

in steven’s pink visions, blue is yelling at pink about the little bugs she let loose on homeworld. when one of them is found in her cell, she is quick to check it’s okay before helping it out of the room. even before encountering humans she valued organic life.

even the garden, the setting of pink’s cruellest moment, is proof of her care for organic life. Unlike every other part of homeworld, the garden is teeming with plant-life, which was kept healthy enough that it continued to grow even after pink abandoned it. the only other homeworld structure that tends to organic life is the human zoo. who’s to say the garden wasn’t another attempt by the other diamonds to placate pink after she expressed concern for the life on one of their colonies? or maybe pink picked the plants herself from the many different colonies she visited and grew them there.

pink wasn’t perfect. she had a bad habit of acting on her emotions and impulses without considering the consequences of her actions, and she hurt a lot of people because of it. but she considered all life precious and worth protecting, it just wasn’t until she had a colony of her own that she fully understood that the expansion of homeworld was intrinsically linked to the destruction of life, and the moment she realised that is the moment she stood against it.

[dirtytransmasc]

still bitter that SKMD wasn't made into another season/partner series to TLK and was instead made into a rushed movie that had endless potential but just kinda flipped cause it didn't have the time it needed to truly flourish.

[crimsonkenjii-writes]

Two idiots finally realizing they’re crushing (selfship art)

The both of us: “what? I don’t have a crush on them! It’s not like I lay awake at night thinking about them….. oh no.”

[sixofravens-reads]

Comic Expo haul!

As usual I went in with a whole list of recs and tbr books to find and found basically zero of them. The expo was smaller again this year, due to our convention hall being under renovations, which meant fewer booths and fewer book options (alas!). Ah well, I improvised and found a bunch of cool new stuff anyway! Mostly manga this year, bc the manga booth by far had the best selection. There were tons of comics booths, but as usual older Marvel/DC stuff dominated and I couldn't really find anything that interested me.

Anyway, I found:

1. whole bunch of manga! Box of Light was a cover buy (it's gorgeous), Blue Morning looks interesting and was selling like hotcakes so I nabbed the first 3 volumes while I could. Peach Girl and Hyper Dolls were at a random booth for 5 for $20 so I couldn't resist them lol. Princess Jellyfish I finally picked up after years of going "hmmm maybe..." and it's an absolute delight (it's the only one I've read so far), my only regret is not grabbing a couple more volumes. And finally Evangelion vol 1, which I owned years ago, but for some reason got rid of when I moved. I do want to finish the series someday, though!

2. DEATH NOTE BOX SEEEEEEET AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. I'm SO excited, i always wanted to read the whole series but I'm very bad at keeping up with manga and didn't buy all the volumes before they went out of print. My hometown library had it when I was a teenager, but someone (presumably an extremely religious, scandalized parent of some other unfortunate emo teen) had ripped out all the pages with violence, sexuality, or satanic/goth imagery....so yeah, I didn't get to read very much of them after all. I'm sooooo excited to have my own copies with ALL the pages that NO ONE can deface!!!!

3. The only comic I actually bought at the comic expo lol: Sex Criminals vol 4. been lowkey meaning to finish that series for a while, though this was kind of a pity buy bc I spent 45 mins hiding from the crowds in the Redd Skull Comics booth (they put down nice plush carpet, and have tall bookshelves, so it makes it a good booth to decompress in) and felt like I should buy something in return for the hiding spot.

4. DRAGONLANCE ART BOOK!!!! YES, A BOOK FULL OF MY FAVOURITE 80s BOOK COVER PAINTINGS!!!! I love it so much. So, so much. It was expensive as hell, but WORTH IT. I usually don't bother with art books bc I never remember to look at them, but I've opened this multiple times to stare at the gorgeous paintings of Raistlin, so it was a good buy. (also I know WOTC is in hot water again, so disclaimer: I bought this from a secondhand comics booth, it's just in extraordinary condition. WOTC got 0 of my dollars this weekend).

[localrobotlover]

Them. I have so many emotions about them and those two episodes are just some of my favorite episodes in general. It's just sad in all honesty, they're not perfect episodes by any means, but the writers did the best they could with the time they had and for that, I salute them.

This episode starting with a happy, positive tone before turning into a really dark and sad episode as we see a character have the demons of the past come back into his life.

Kira doesn’t want anything to do with them, he wants to be free from this grip, but he agrees to help them one more time with the promise that they will leave him alone once and for all. He takes on his old identity and begins terrorizing the city by putting people in their worst nightmares by using one of his poisons(not physically harming them and we learn that they do eventually stop dreaming these nightmares and will wake up on their own. Kira doesn’t want to hurt them probably because of all the people he’s killed in the past, but it’s still interesting how he still acts antagonistic with how he words stuff and what he says, like he’s done similar things, like this is somewhat of a habit).

The Miniforce show up and while in a battle the yellow ranger(Max) and Killer Bee(Kira) figure out who each other are. Their friend. And, from what I remember I could be wrong, after Kira fully figures that he’s fighting Max, he retreats.

Max eventually goes to confront his friend and Kira does, eventually, admit who he is and his past as an assassin for Zenos, but, after exterminating all life on a planet by order of Zenos(yes, this is canon), he leaves Zenos, realizing the error of his ways. It’s also said that Zenos manipulated and exploited this, we’re not shown, but it adds up with how Zenos acts(I’ll talk about Zenos in another thing, I’m working on it I swear).

Max asks aggressively if he has gone back to working for Zenos. Kira quickly says that he hasn’t but, he’s interrupted by someone saying that he has gone back to working for Zenos. Zord.

I can’t remember what happens exactly after that, but I do remember Kira saying no and stands up to this treatment, but that obviously doesn’t work as Zord uses dark magic to enlargen and mind control him to become what they want and need, a controllable monster. With the help of Max he does breakout of the mind control, but only for a second as Zord uses more dark magic to get him under the mind control again and when Max breaks him out of the mind control and he’s fully free Kira almost blames himself for what happened by saying that he allowed himself to get exploited again by Zenos.

And then Kira gets killed by the rest of the heroes as they don’t realize that he’s snapped out of the mind control, all they see is him being on top of Max, so they kill him. Kira shrinks down back to his normal size and goes into his human form(it’s not his original form, but it’s the form he reverts into as if that’s Kira’s preferred and chosen form. The person he wants to be, who he chooses to be, who he wants to be seen as).

Kira dies in Max’s arms, but admits that he’s glad he went to Earth because he got to meet Max. Then he becomes light and goes into the sky.

And that’s all I’m motivated to write for now, so sorry lol, so let’s just get into why I chose those flowers!

Meaning of the flowers and why I chose them, starting with Max Max: White Lillies(purity) because of well himself. Max has a strong sense of justice and angers easily when he thinks someone has done something wrong, but he’s matured since Miniforce and allows Killer Bee to explain himself after he confronts him. He’s not perfect by any means, but he tries. I’m not explaining well lol, so I’ll stop

Kira: Purple Hyacinth(guilt and remorse) for the guilt and remorse of all the people he’s killed and the actions of his past self and White Roses(starting a new) for him making himself a new identity in Kira to start a new life away from Zenos and his corps, to try and escape the demons of the past.

There was also an attempted thing of blue violets in the background(but, I made them more purple as that blue was killing my eyes to look at for long periods of time) because it's the symbol of their relationship

This was technically the 2/3’s of the original idea as after I was finished with these two I was going to combine them together and add Forget-Me-Nots and well the Blue Violets, but I just wanted to finish it, so yeah, you got this

I’m gonna go cry about these two again, so bye for now!

[splashink-games]

A Year of Gaming, 2022

it's that time of year again! last year I posted a 2021 Top Games list. this year is going to be bigger. way bigger because I played so many games. this also means less rambling from me because there's a ton to get through

WARNING that this post is full of images! and because I've made everything into images, the text version of all this will be in the ALT of every picture

at last, enjoy gaming!

And now it's time for my top 5 games I played this year!

And that was my year!

As always, enjoy gaming, friends!

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

The worst thing about my brain being an autopilot grammar nazi is that every single time I see people misuse “it’s” and “its” as well as apostrophe placements is that I don’t want to be rude and correct people... but my brain still is like UGH THIS IS THE WORST.

“It’s” and “Its” are more just my brain going weeo weeo on me when that’s a more understandable one bc “its” is literally the exception to a rule (because “it’s” actually means “it is”, so to avoid it being used for two meanings the apostrophe is removed for ownership cases), but when I see apostrophes before an S for plural wording and I know they speak English properly I’m just like. ugh. damn. bruh. please. go back to school.

Less severe cases of incorrect apostrophe use tends to be like, when people are playing Heroes and have duplicates of units and are like “my Ike’s” instead of “my Ikes”, because I think people are trying to... make it more clear that it’s referring to more than one? I think? Maybe? Or they literally just don’t realize it’s incorrect grammar, idk lol. Still can’t get past my weeo weeo autopilot brain though sadly.

LIKE. IT’S NOT ANYONE’S FAULT THAT MY BRAIN IS WEEO WEEO, IT JUST IS.

Which speaking of Heroes, FE in general seems to have its script in every single game ever coded to always use apostrophes for ownership cases even when the word ends in S, so don’t worry folks. IntSys isn’t getting off scot free from my brain either LOL. No amount of “princess’s” is ever gonna fly with my weeo weeo brain.

this has been a psa

mainly a psa of my brain weeo weeos

[businesstiramisu]

yeah, in A Tale of Two Stans, Stanley isn't wearing glasses in any of the flashbacks. This contradicts the flashback sequences from Dreamscapers in the OP, which throws doubt on a lot of the Twin Theory evidence if you ask me

Stan's Twin Theory

Hey, this is a new blog dedicated to Gravity Falls, and specifically to theories about Gravity Falls. We have some interesting (possibly far-fetched) theories. This is one of them.

Stan’s Twin Theory:

Stan has to have a brother (although not necessarily a twin), because he’s Dipper and Mabel’s Great-Uncle, and they all share the same last name, therefore he must have a brother. However, we believe he has a twin. Here’s why:

twins are genetic (and the gene can skip generations) 

There are some pieces of evidence found in the show that supports our claim

We also believe that Stan’s twin may be the Author. Here’s why:                            

1. The Hiding Spot

Look, a hole in the ground

In Tourist Trapped, Dipper found the 3rd book in the forest near the Mystery Shack. This may seem like a stretch, but think about it! where would you hide something important that you might want to access easily? By your house.                                        

Gideon’s factory

In The Hand that Rocks the Mabel it is shown that Gideon’s family factory is located on Gopher Road, the same street as the Mystery Shack. 

The Mystery Shack’s address via the Deed is 618 Gopher Road.

This could explain how Gideon found the 2nd Journal. 

And it’s interesting to note that Gideon was searching for the 1st Journal at the Mystery Shack. 

Possible hiding spots

There are possible hiding spots listed in the 2nd Journal, they seem to be located around a building similar to the Mystery Shack.

2. The Bunker

The Bunker is located underground, in the forest near the Mystery Shack.

There is a sign on the wall of the bunker that says that it is a nuclear fallout shelter. Now, where would you build a fallout shelter? Near your house of course! During times of bomb scares people would build fallout shelters in their backyard.

And since the Author did experiments in the bunker and was observing a shapeshifter, it would be more convenient for him to have the bunker close to the place where he lived. 

3. The Glasses              

In Carpet Diem, a secret room is discovered in the Mystery Shack, and Stan finds a pair of glasses.                                                                  

Stan finds the glasses

Later he is seen staring at the glasses, and he frowns at them in both scenes.

Stan contemplating the glasses

This could possibly represent an old memory of a friend or *cough* brother. It is obvious that someone lived in that room at some point, so why would Stan want to cover it up?

!!!

In Dreamscapers, it is shown in the 2nd Journal that the Author was surprised to see glasses on the Bill Cipher wheel, possibly because those are his glasses.Take a look at the glasses, they are similar to the ones found in the secret room.

We don’t think these are Stan’s glasses because his glasses are square with rims at the bottom, while the glasses found in the room and on the wheel don’t have rims at the bottom and are rounded.

Also in Dreamscapers, is a flash back of Stan when he was just a wee lad.

Notice his glasses are square and have rims at the bottom.

Here is Stan a little bit older. Notice that he still has square rimmed glasses.

But, in The Time Traveler's Pig, a younger “Stan” is shown with round glasses without rims at the bottom. His glasses look exactly like the one’s found in the secret room. 

Is this really Stan?

Also, this “Stan” has a cleft chin, whereas we have never ever once seen Stan with a cleft chin (not even in flashbacks). 

4. The Calender

Another small point: the calendar in the secret room has the date July 4, 1982 circled. It can be assumed that 1982 is the year the room was abandoned.

The room definitely looks like it hasn’t been touched since the 80’s

However, in the Author’s bunker, there is a calendar on the wall. Guess what year is on the calendar. 1982.

The calendar in the Mystery Shack and the calendar in the Author’s Bunker are from the same year, 1982. 

This suggests that both the room in the Shack and the Bunker were abandoned around the same time. 

5. Wrestling Match Flashback

In a brief scene in Stan’s flashback in Dreamscapers, we see young Stan at a wrestling match. There is a kid reading a book in the stands that looks very similar to child Stan, he even seems to be wearing the same clothing.

Could this be Stan’s twin?

6. The Swing-set 

In Dreamscapers, Stan’s mindscape is very creepy. One notable object in Stan’s mind is a dilapidated swing-set. This is the stuff of horror movies. 

Good times

Since we can assume everything in the mind is a symbol of a significant part of Stan’s life, then this swing-set is very telling. It likely symbolizes a broken childhood. Since it is a two swing swing-set, it could symbolize another person, likely from Stan’s childhood. A close friend… or sibling…

The fact that only one of the swings is broken is also interesting. In Into the Bunker, the Shapeshifter states that the Author “hasn’t been himself in 30 years” suggesting that he probably went crazy. 

…

Are all these merely coincidences? Maybe… But this is Gravity Falls we’re talking about. This show is filled with foreshadowing, plot twists, and secrets. There is just no way that all of this could be a coincidence. 

So, what do you think? Is this a stretch? Or are we on to something? Feel free to comment with your own theories. The more the merrier! :)

[vole-mon-amour]

tags by prev

the way s2 whitewashes vander is kind of vile, actually.

young vander's hands were just as bloody as silco's. he did not bring his gauntlets to a peaceful protest. he came to fight. then, at least, he understood that things would never improve if they simply waited around for their oppressors to give them rights and protections out of the goodness of their hearts.

even years later, his reputation precedes him. he runs a protection racket. he keeps his gauntlets hung above his bar as a reminder and a threat; he gets more than one situation to go his way through the not-so-subtle implication of violence.

but, arcane tells us, vander is a Good Man now. he has stopped directing his violence towards his oppressors, and now merely uses the threat of it to keep his own people in line. to make sure that topside is not disturbed.

i've seen people on the Social Medias crow about how vander gets a statue and how half of s2 is devoted to eulogising him, while silco is mourned by exactly 2 people for 5 minutes and then forgotten, and therefore, vander good, silco bad.

and you know what?

silco made the decision to engage in a ruthless gambit, using the only currency available to him: the lives of his own people. he dragged zaun behind him on a cruel climb on an ugly path towards a better destination, and he did not give a single shit about winning hearts and minds or mitigating harm while he did it... and he almost got there. he had an independence treaty for zaun on the table. and nobody in zaun ever knows this. topside keep it to themselves when it turns out to be more convenient to simply gas zaun into submission instead. silco got them the closest they had ever gotten - and the closest they are ever likely to get for the forseeable future - to true independence, and he did it without softness or kindness, and without thanks or glory or acknowledgement, and nobody will ever know. he dies in ignominy. he gets no statue.

vander won hearts and minds. vander was your friendly local gang leader & barman. vander said, "hey, let's all help each other out." vander said, "hey, let's just try to get by. just focus on one another, and not the big picture." vander was ashamed of what he saw as his complicity in the massacre on the day of ash, and decided he did not want to be responsible for something like that again. vander was available and approachable and personable and charismatic, and he used it to convince everyone that it was in their best interests to simply lay down, and stop resisting. vander gets a statue.

arcane says: he was a Good Man.

arcane says: be more like vander.

arcane says: hey. chill out. spend time with your family. try to just focus on getting from one day to the next. don't worry about the system.

stop resisting.