#these two have consumed my brain they're rotting it they're making me run up the walls

[nerdylittleguy]

Transformers Earthspark theory - how Knockout could actually be Mr Smelt

....or ideas about it, anyway. Enjoy my observations!

So uhh here's where the neurodivergent urge to consume media and hyperfixate on it has lead me! Please, feast your eyes on my flow chart/ mind map of madness™.

I know the text is really small, if you click and zoom it could be easier to read. I did try to split the original image into quarters, hope that makes it a little easier to read. However, if anyone needs a transcript I'll do my best to sort it out, my only concern is that I have no clue how to link ideas if they're just bullet points (the idea of having a way to link ideas is what lead me to make this in this format :) )

Perhaps a bit of an explanation as to what lead to this?

A few weeks ago, I saw the Earthspark season 1 part 2 trailer and hey... Who's that?? Breakdown?? Of course, I immediately wanted to watch what existed of the series so far, and imagine my pleasant surprise when I heard Knock Out's (tfp) VA voiced a side character!

Anyway, I started watching the series, finished it in 3 days, cried tears of happiness over Nightshade's pronouns (for those of you who say representation doesn't matter, it does. You probably just feel represented), fell in love with Megatron, etc etc. But imagine my absolute, brain-rotting madness when I couldn't find episode 7 on youtube!

Meh, like that would stop my theory brain. Using various episode summaries I found on youtube (first and foremost this one, as it was short and had good attention to detail! But if anyone has any recommendations for other good summaries feel free to let me know), I started to slowly make a mindmap. That evening I found @transformers-earthspark's blog and the where-to-watch resources... Firefly I cannot thank you enough!!! You're literally amazing!! You have no idea how happy I was to find ep 7!! You do so much, give yourself a pat on the back and a nice snack :))

Anyways, armed with my new access to ALL the earthspark episodes (1 - 10, anyway, as only they are available atm), I remade some of my mindmap, added to it, made more points. Over the last few weeks (aka less than two) I polished my mindmap, did some colour-coding, added images, links, details etc until it could apparently fit on an A3 sheet?? What??? So many ideas from silly old me??

Obviously, I don't think I'm completely right. As a matter of fact, I think I made many assumptions and links that were a very big stretch (blame this overactive imagination of mine. I keep thinking of potential plot lines and then forgetting that actually, I made them up and they're not canon). However, I hope I made a few points that will inspire someone to make their own theories, or just have fun thinking!

Apologies if this all sounds garbled or if it's difficult to understand, I am tired and I have two languages running around in my head (that I'm fluent in, I've also tried to learn 5 others. Lingual hell!!!)

Have a good day/ night and enjoy the theories!

Also a quick note and thing to add: I wrote this on Monday the 27th (I draft just about everything in my notes ok), before I woke up on Tuesday and saw the new images from the episodes, including the one with Breakdown!! AHHH!! /pos So I guess I was right about something? And I mean... Breakdown and a theme of racing in one episode? If this is a coincidence and Knockout is not chilling somewhere in the background then I don't know what to say.

[nono-uwu]

I lied i do have things to post lmao (tbf inspiration only struck me after that post), anyways

Demons!! Whoa

As always, lore utc ~

So. Ancient Greece. Dark Ages. There is this homeless orphan. Gets kidnapped and put into slave trade. None other than Sika Madu buys this kid up as they're 'special' in some way (hint: it's the blue eyes :) ). This kid hasn't known anything besides violence and cruelty, so they act out and disregard any act of kidness Sika Madu shows them. They frequently disobey him which leads to them finding out about the whole reviving angel Mikaela thing. Dies thanks to humonculus Yuu going beserk and gets turned into a vampire as a 3rd progenitor. Learns a bit more about the whole thing from Urd and Rigr and decides that this whole thing ain't fot them and they make a run for it, vowing revenge against Sika Madu somehow.

Fast forward to the middle ages. The noble Bathory family has their third child and first daughter, about two years after their second son, Ferid. Ferid does his thing and kills his parents, without the knowledge of his siblings. When Ferid is 16 and his sister around 13 or 14 he kills their older brother thanks to his new goal of stopping reincarnation (how that's supposed to help is beyond anyone atp). As he returns to his home, bloodied with his brother nowhere to be seen and said brothers sword in hand, his sister obviously freaks out and makes a run for it, piecing the incidents of her parents untimely deaths and this situation together. Throughout the chase through their home, Ferid, at first ,only gets to cut off a piece of his sister's hair. After a bit, he corners her and stabs her to near death. He drags her bleeding body all the way to a nearby forest, so she can die and become one with the plants she loved oh so much. He leaves to set off his convoluted plan(s) for the future while his sister's body rots away.

Little did he know, a certain rogue vampire that was nearby that exact day, stumbled across the girls dying body. The girl had miraculously clung onto life.

The vampire made an offer:

"Wanna keep living?"

"...y...yeah..."

"Well, I can make that happen but you gotta be my friend forever!"

The girl barely had any strength left to live, let alone speak another word. She could only weakly gaze up at her savior's small frame with pure desperation in her green eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes. And if no, I can just kill you right away!"

A few minutes later, the girl had woken up once again, an all consuming thrist for blood already plaguing her. The vampire handed her a bottle of red liquid which she downed in a few seconds.

"Well, Filum's the name! Nice to properly meet you my new friend!"

"...thank you for saving my life, Filum. I'm...", the girl trailed off. Was her name really worth keeping? The one her monster of a brother would gleefully call out while dragging her dying body around? No. "... I'm Liz."

"That's not your real name, is it?"

"It is now."

"Alright then Liz, lemme introduce you to your new life as a vampire and my forever friend!"

Liz would spend the next few years catching up with knowledge she was not permitted to access earlier and enganging in general shenanigans with Filum.

She had a dying desire, which stuck with her even as a vampire: to figure out the reason for her brothers actions and to stop him. But simply going to kill him on sight wasn't the style of a cunning Bathory. She knew he had something planned and by the time she got around to realising her goal, Ferid was a vampire himself. So she hatched her own big plan: Take Ferid down at his highest, when his plans are just about to scceed, just like how he destroyed everything just when things started to look up for their family.

Buncha stuff happens but uhhhh muh brain broken lmao

A long, long time later Liz decides that in order for her plans to work (and being aware of the nature of Ferids plan), she has to become a demon. Filum, bored out of their mind, decides that they should also become a demon and find a fitting vessel to one day take down Sika Madu (now Shikama Doji). They both use a technique to retain their memories as demons (like the one Mahiru used iirc) and possess their current weapons as vessels. Filum makes their own weird little contraption for strings while Liz picks a gun (she claims they're an efficient weapon but also she just thinks they're neat).

[popontomarnie]

i don't really like making theories for two reasons: one, i like to let the creators tell me a story and consume it without interrupting first and then analyze it; two, i don't really like to make assumptions on so little data, six episodes are not enough there is soooo much room for surprises left.

however i do want to articulate my thoughts on phi and jin because my brain's been rotting about them since the trailers. and i like jin for whatever subjective reason. also, i do want to be wrong about everything because i want to be surprised!

i want to summarize everything they showed us in the trailer, flashbacks, flashbacks of the flashbacks and current timeline scenes.

we know that phi and jin used to be fwb and jin apparently does not have feelings for phi. however phi kept lurking at jin and asked him about moving to usa and just leaving everything behind. maybe he didn't mean their past relationship but their connection to non. maybe non is dead or maybe he moved, and phi and jin became close because they both were in love with non? or maybe phi and jin became close and then jin realized that phi was plotting something and broke things off? and he was easy for phi as he said himself, maybe this is why he can't stand phi now?? because he let phi use himself so phi could get closer to others? but jin does not stop him because he also wants his friends to be punished??

i believe that jin is not just a victim here and somehow behind all of this too. that smile in the end of episode 4?? he is not that simple. what if he somehow blames phi? like, he had a crush on non, then he knew that phi and non were fwb/bfs, and he wondered why phi did not protect non until it was too late?

there is also a chance that they're working together.

now let's focus on pre-release trailer, which has no plot just vibes but things like this usually have a lot of hints. it's obvious that it's phi who is beating someone behind the glass door. so, i believe this hints that phi is gonna take revenge. jin is filming this, so this might mean that he is with phi/plotting something on his own, but he won't be haunted like top, por and tee. and his smile in the end? this boi is definitely up to something!

while talking about pre-release trailer, tee is gonna suffer a lot, this is what i think. to think so, por was just an asshole, top was a bigger asshole, liar, coward and every curse word that exists. but tee? he got non involved into money laundering. he is gonna be the last to be murdered and it is gonna be painful.

i still don't know what to think about scenes with por, he is probably dead already, but maybe he is haunted/regrets his actions while in high school? (upd: was too occupied with phijin that i forgot about the moment when por sees janga in his camera! boi is gonna be haunted since hs!)

also don't know about white for sure. it's understandable why he has scenes with tee in pre-release trailer, but that scene where he hugs jin, and then they shove each other, and then white appears in the mirror near jin? white surely doesn't know a lot but what if he takes jin's side by the end of the series?

also! i do believe or at least i want to believe that it is not just a person killing them, but this janta god is haunting them. what if non sacrificed himself so his offenders are punished? what if jin did something in that temple? remember that in the first scene we saw non and jin running in the woods.

(i have some wildest guests about the teacher and possibility that jin killed him protecting non/making sacrifice; or maybe non, jin and the teacher went to that temple and something happened to the teacher and that's why non and jin were running in the first scene?)

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

peppermint, hibiscus and ceylon for the tea writing asks please!

Ooooh yes <3 <3

Peppermint: What’s your favorite way to overcome writer’s block?

Reading! Usually poetry - but poetic prose works too (think: Anne Boyer's The Undying or even Lighthouse Witches or The Killing Moon). Also doing research can help kick start the writing process - I'll read a bit about a relevant topic which helps with inspiration or at least giving me a place to start. Sometimes reading about something completely unrelated helps too - it gets me thinking laterally.

E.g., I'm writing about 15th century Italy, charismatic preaching, and possession but I'm reading about wellness con-artists in the 21st century and man the linkages! the inspiration! it's really something.

The big thing though is just sitting down and doing it. Pen to paper. There's no magic bullet for writer's block save for actually writing. If I'm in one, and it's a block versus "your brain literally just needs a break from writing" - two different things - then I'll set a timer for ten or fifteen minutes and I will write without stoping and I find that by the time the fifteen is up, I'm in the groove again and I can continue on for another hour or two or whatever. The first half might be garbage, but that's what editing is for.

Changing up how I write also helps. If I'm in a block, or stuck in a part of a story, I'll switch from typing to writing by hand. Or I'll write in a bar or a coffee shop versus at home. The change can jog something in your head and help with the block.

Hibiscus: What inspired your WIP?

The Venetians: I write a lot about consumption and hunger - people who have read my LOTR rewrite will know this, it does show up in my discworld fics to a certain degree, definitly in my poetry. And I'm rather enamoured with family history consuming the present generation, also the idea of love as a form of eating/consumption and that can be a nourisghing thing, but it can also rot a person too. Love of another person, of family, of country, of faith - the obsessions that can bring about and the ghosts left behind once that obsession, that consumptive love, has run its course.

So the Venetians has love of country/city state, love of family, love of one's work, love of duty, love of the idea of duty/doing what is right - and the good and bad of such loves and their manifold interconnections, the wreckage such things leave in their wake etc.

Miracle in Fruili: I'm just starting this one but there's something about the horror of holiness that fascinates me.

There's a scene in Cadfael that's always stuck with me, and I would call it the guiding inspiration for this work. Cadfael's brothers are being "guided" to Wales in search of the resting place of Saint Winifred, and their search is led by a Brother Columbanes who is a "visionary" and receives sights and visions from God - whether they're real or not is irrelevant, and the audience is left to make their own decision on it.

Once they find the saint, they disenter her and are going to bring her back to Shrewsbury - there's of course murder and intrigue and some fun, if rather heretical things happen.

But in one bit, Brother Jerome and Brother Columbanes are keeping vigil over the saint's bones and Brother Jerome falls asleep. It's a plot point that he does and Cadfael later asks him about that evening and this is what Jerome says:

“Was ever a man more sanctimonious in his self-denial, or more selfish? The first night of our vigil, for example, he [Brother Columbanes] brings me food and wine and yet he takes none for himself. Not one bite or drop. He just kneels in pious prayer watching me eating and drinking as if I was some sinful glutton. 

I tell you, brother, if Columbanes is touched by God, I am glad to be merely human.” 

–Brother Jerome in Cadfael: A Morbid Taste for Bones 

I've always just loved that idea "if this is what it is to be touched by God, I'm glad I'm merely human" - the horror and fear at the sight of the divine is a well trodden path, but it's one that I find interesting. I'm also curious about the horror and fear of being in the body, the head and soul of the person receiving such visitations.

Catherine of Siena, in her ecstatic moments, begins with joy and happiness. But as her visions progress, they become darker and darker. By her death, she was seeing demons and hellish things rather than angels, saints and blessed figures.

So yeah. There you go! I'll have more to say on Fruili the longer I write it. It takes me a few versions to realize what the book is and what got me there.

Ceylon: Best writing advice you’ve ever received?  

I've recieved some good nuggets over the years.

When you finish a project, put it in a drawer for a month or two before doing your first round of edits. You need that distance.

Not all feedback is going to be good or useful. Trust yourself to know what your work needs to be. That said, if people are giving similar feedback, i.e., X is too vague or I didn't follow Y very well, that should be taken into account. If you're ok with it, fine, but it is likely pointing to a structural issue in the plot.

Not everyone is going to like what you write. It doesn't detract or lessen the value of your work.

Don't read the reviews especially the Goodreads reviews (for published stuff, fanfiction is different of course)

Rules for Writing exist, sure, and they can be helpful, but also feel free to ignore. Begin sentences with 'and' and 'but' etc. etc.

---

Thank you for the ask!! :D :D

[love-aholic]

The brain rot is consuming me I have to talk about my totally canonical scott pilgri.m s/i or I will die

(!Mild comic spoilers and major anime spoilers!)

Pre-story + information (all versions)

He got alien powers he got from a random colony on Jupiter. Now he has teleportation, telekinesis, and he can breath in space and underwater

The aliens on Jupiter are chill btw

Likes swords and daggers, has an entire collection of them in his basement (please ask questions about them)

Bff's with Matthew and has a major crush on him but always chokes up on confessions

Matthew's demon girls are very aware of the crush and regularly playfully mock Daniel for it but they do help him be closer to Matthew

Hates the concept of the league and would gladly brawl with Gideon, but keeps his mouth shut for Matthew's sake

An introverted shut-in (mostly)

He/They

Biromantic transmasc

Comic version

Appears sort mid series (like about volume 4 or 5)

Literally pulled off a Knive's situation and tried to fight Ramona out of jealousy, ran off

He later admitted to the act and apologized after knowing the main crew a bit better

Made amends and bonded over the fact him and Scott share similar interests in video games

Becomes a source of information about his upcoming foes other than Ramona or Wallace

Went back to America to hang out with Matthew more instead of spending his days self loathing

Dating Matthew is not implied but the idea of confessing is

Movie version

Got Lisafied, he straight up doesn't appear due to lack of screentime

Takes off version

First appears for a solid 15 seconds in the first episode

Few episodes later it was revealed he was watching the entire fight through one of his portals and started panicking that he'd lose Matthew to Ramona (he didn't lol)

A film major, always wanted to make his own movie and become a screenwriter

Was forced to confess by the girls pre-ep 4, was it very awkward and embarrassing? Yes. Did Daniel trip over air? Yes. Did he try to run away but was put into a corner by the girls? Absolutely. But did it work and he finally got the guy? YES!!!

"Wait are you just saying this because I'm a CEO now?"

"...you're a what now?"

Genuinely didn't know about the fight, also doesn't know what to think of Gideon anymore but is still very proud of Matthew nonetheless

The only reason Neil's movie wasn't canceled earlier was because Daniel wanted a brand new screenwriter to have a chance in the industry, however he eventually agreed that the movie is going overboard

Wanted to pitch an movie while Matthew was in charge but was afraid his ideas wouldn't get pitched because of creativity and hardwork but rather relations, so he held it off

The musical's biggest supporter, helped make the merch and everything

If it weren't for the entire older Scott situation and Matthew calming him down afterwards Gideon and Julıe would've been sent to the endless vacuum of space. He was abouta to commit MURDER just for thinking about ruining something so important to Matthew

They're chill now don't worry

Post-Takes off

Turns out obtaining intergalactic powers can take a toll on your body, so now he has antennas sticking out of his head, more changes are to come but nothing harmful or tremendous

He FINALLY pitched his movie idea to g-man

Ramona worked as a stunt double in the movie, as a result he got to know the other creatives in her life, they're going to grab some coffee with Neil later

The premiere is coming very soon, everyone will be there!! Of course with Matthew by his side for emotional support

The two also been talking about marriage recently!! You didn't hear this from me but Matthew and his demon girls are looking for rings, now the question is when

Daniel also got top surgery so that's cool

Matthew and Daniel are very proud of eachother ♡

OK THANK YOU FOR READING AND LETTING THIS GET OUT OF MY SYSTEM, OK THX U BYE

[saladbroth]

i've said it before and i'll say it again, akk is being held together by immense amounts of pressure and sime kind of twisted belief that he's doing it right this way, and not much else - that was confirmed by the whole conversation on the beach and i know this is sort of the point of the show but i'm so angry that this kind, loving, goofy boy is being gaslit and manipulated into being someone he isn't

"if i can't do it, everyone will be disappointed in me" listen. LISTEN. not to have mommy issues and trauma but that shit resonates so much?! the fear that if you don't do things you might not even want to do, things that go entirely against what you want to be, will end up with people being disappointed and upset? putting immense amounts of pressure on yourself? not being able to bear it and threatening to fall apart at the slightest show of affection apart from that? that hits very close to home

it's the way akk is trying so hard and doing things that are literally illegal to uphold the stupid school's reputation, because a teacher, a grown ass man he looks up to, emotionally manipulates him to do whatever he wants. the way he doesn't acknowledge his feelings, doesn't think he's allowed to show weakness or have issues with the way things are run, because nobody showed him that he actually is allowed. that he shouold do that we still don't know much about his family but i bet his parents also put pressure on him, or have done so in the past to the point where akk never really learned to put himself first. maybe he's the first in his family to go to a prestigious school, maybe his parents love him but want him to succeed where they couldn't so much that they disregard akk's wellbeing - we'll see

but akk doesn't know how to be in a way that isn't functional in some way. he's been molded into what he thinks he has to be, and he's cracking. he's coming apart at the mere notion of someone supporting him, seeing worth in him, loving him even, entirely untethered to whether or not he's doing what he's been taught is 'right'

"you can't carry all the school's problems on your shoulders alone" "screw those people! put yourself first, akk." this is. i can't even say just how important it was for aye to tell him that. how important it was that he grabbed akk's face and forced him to look at him while he said it. there was desperation in ayan's voice and eyes and face, and fuck, khaotung and first are delivering gut punch after gut punch with their talents, because we can see just how much he needs akk to know that and believe him (side note: i'm wondering if dika mentioned similar sentiments and ayan is scared for akk because of that, or just because no kid should feel like that anyway) i just really want to know if akk has ever been told that before. judging by his reaction probably not, or at least not in a very, very long time, and ayan making sure to repeat the notion, to hug him and hold him and give him permission to cry and be weak is so so important

ayan can tell akk is cracking. he can see this beautiful, kind boy that he's absolutely fascinated with, breaking apart and becoming something he isn't and shouldn't be and you can see the absolute panicked urgency he has to make sure akk doesn't and akk. god. akk is coming apart at the seams with every bit of unconditional affection that ayan gives him. he's going to break, not because of the external pressure but because internally he'll let go of the ropes that tie him into the form he's not. he's going to shatter apart into millions of pieces once he allows himself to be who he is, and he's going to rebuild himself it's starting, this episode, and we can see it, the way his true self comes out between the cracks in his composure, bleeding into every interaction with ayan, something low and steady, dripping away at his resolve - allowing him to feel safe enough to actually feel and emote freely, letting him care for ayan, letting him take care of him and comfort him and hug him, kiss his cheek and kiss his boy, and protect him as best he can

and honestly? ayan is going to break too. he's different, but oh so similar in the pressure he puts onto himself, and the preview showed that akk is going to give him the permission he needs to break, too

akk and ayan are the forces tearing each other apart and letting themselves form again, something new and better. something tender and loving and something both of them deserve so, so much. they make me feral