#those fans: WHY ARE THOSE FANS COMING UP WITH THEIR OWN THEORIES AND HAVING FUN IN ISOLATION

[bougiebutchbinch]

Any time I see the words 'canyon' being used derogatorily, I am forcibly reminded that many people wilfully choose to ignore that the 'canyon' started because of the massive block walls fans who dared even so much as voice appreciation for Izzy as a character had to put up so they weren't relentlessly harassed or doxxed and could enjoy the tags without being told they were evil for liking a morally grey character who dared (the horror!!!!) get in the way of the fan favorite ship.

If anyone who hates on Izzy Appreciators complains about canyon attitudes and how they seclude themselves from the main fandom, you have to ask yourself...... well, and whose fault is that? why were they forced to do that in the first place? hmm? :)

[alittlelessalone]

Fun Scum Villain fic concept:

So Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua are sent back to their original world temporarily due to system shenanigans and need to wait x number of days until they can go back. They wake up at the times of their deaths and get to use this time to do some final things in the world before returning back.

So Shen Yuan of course wants to spend the time with his family and getting to see them again and say goodbye in a less depressing way. But Shang Qinghua doesn’t have that and he’s just finished PIDW.

Shen Yuan makes sure he has enough money to get him through the timeframe (after learning about Shang Qinghua’s financial situation), so he doesn’t need to work to keep himself alive, so he decides he wants to write something a little more heartfelt as a sort of last hurrah.

He decides in honor of the two lives he and Shen Yuan stole, he’s going to share the backstory of Shen Jiu and write a story about Shang Qinghua.

Shen Jiu comes first and it’s mainly just a tale about him and Yue Qingyuan using his unposted backstory, but in the end he decides to make some minor changes so it’s not as depressing. Namely, that when they died, their souls were both sucked into Xuan Su. The pair ended up trapped there, but they were trapped there together in a world that couldn’t hurt them anymore and allowed them to finally be together.

It’s a poignant and bittersweet story that doesn’t excuse Shen Jiu’s behavior, but it does a lot to explain it and expand his character. And while it of course has its detractors, people generally like it and Peerless Cucumber is there in the comments singing its praises for all to see (and there in Shang Qinghua’s apartment smacking him over the head with a rolled up magazine and scolding him for being by such a good writer and selling out on PIDW).

The Original Shang Qinghua story doesn’t really have any old notes to go off. He was never meant to be a fleshed out character and was always just a plot device villain. But Shang Qinghua feels bad for PIDW’s Mobei-Jun, so he decides to write something for his sake too.

In this story, it’s revealed that Mobei-Jun didn’t actually kill the Original Shang Qinghua, but instead worked with him to fake his death after Lou Binghe ordered him dead. Shang Qinghua reveals that the pair were actually lovers and maintained their secret relationship over the years and that was why Mobei-Jun never seemed interested in romance.

And most readers are like wtf except for the bl fans who love it. And even Peerless Cucumber is a little more hesitant to praise it since it sort of came out of nowhere, but he can admit that it’s clever and well written. And Shen Yuan can tease Shang Qinghua relentlessly for it, even if he also approves and finds it very sweet.

Depending on how much more time they’re stuck there, maybe the pair can also write one more story, giving the original Lou Binghe a happier ending too.

Eventually, it’s time for them to go back. Shen Yuan says goodbye to has family and Shang Qinghua says goodbye to PIDW and hopes that his changes and additions can bring people some peace, even if it’s probably too late for those who need them most.

Shen Yuan realizes that Shang Qinghua was trying to alter the canon in hidden ways so that the system could silently incorporate them into the world without breaking anything. He figures it’s mainly for Bing-ge’s universe that’s still more or less PIDW, but being the mega-fan that he is, he decides to put a theory to the test.

It takes a lot less time with the help of the sect, but he manages to grow another plant body like his own. And then with Yue Qingyuan’s permission, he uses some of Shang Qinghua’s new hand-wavy canon to reach out to Xuan Su. And the next thing he knows, Shen Jiu is waking back up in the plant body after years trapped inside the sword.

And of course there’s a lot of questions and Binghe tears, but Yue Qingyuan gets his Xiao Jiu back and Shang Qinghua realizes that his changes must have taken in the other universe too, now meaning there’s less suffering there as well. He gets to curl back up in his king’s arms that night and rest assured that no matter what universe he’s in, both his king and that universe’s Shang Qinghua are well and truly loved.

[suffermaze]

play pretend | joseph quinn

summary: Stranger Things comes to its last season and Joseph is your co-star. It's the last scene of the day, you were doing fine until now. But it was a pretty intense moment and it's hard to keep focus when the boy's lips are close to your neck. 2k.

It was the last scene of the day. And you were pretty exhausted. Even though it was easy and actually fun to share the screen with Joseph, who turned everything lighter and enjoyable, all you wanted to do was go home and get some sleep. But you needed to hold on just a little bit more.

It was pretty intense, this last scene, and you needed to stay focused just a little more, but it started to get harder and harder due to your tiredness and Eddie characterization. At this point, he “came back to life” as Kaz, confirming all the fan theories and headcanons. That meant he was like some kind of vampire. Everytime he smiled you could see his fangs and scars covering his chest.

You couldn’t help thinking it was... hot. Like, so, so hot.

You needed to act scared, and thank god you were a really good actress, because you couldn’t think of anything else other than how stunning he was. Your eyes travelling through his whole body.

“Hey… you ok?” his raspy voice takes you out of your own thoughts, and only then you notice how long you've been staring at him with a stupid face.

“What? nothing.” you swallow hard, giggling out of nervousness, and he doesn't believe you, not even for a second “I’m just… trying to remember my part.”

“oh, don't worry, you're doing amazing darling.” he says with a warm smile and a soft voice that almost feels like it's hugging you, and all you can do is nod as you smile back, your cheeks getting warm too, not sure if he was just being nice, cause he was actually a gentleman, or if there was something… more.

You don't have much time to think deeply about it, though. Or saty anything back to him. Because the director gets back to his seat and shouts to everyone to get to their places.

You were ready to go on your own when Joseph takes your hand and guides you to your marks, and suddenly you get embarrassed of the camera, because you feel everyone was looking at the way your hands were intertwined. And he notices how you seemed away, that's why he squeezes your palm as an attempt to reassure you one more time, before you hear the directors voice's loudly again.

“And ACTION! Whenever you’re ready.” 

You take a deep breath and look into those big chocolate puppy eyes. And you feel safe. He’s waiting for you to be prepared, waiting for you to lead the scene, he wouldn't start until you said so, and you nod as a sign. 

It’s almost scary the way he turns so fast to something else. You knew he was good at his job, for real, but witnessing it so close was completely different. His eyes getting darker. You weren’t aware that was something actually real, that someone could actually do that kind of thing, and it seems so easy for him to do so.

Then it’s just easy to get along, to get into character and go with him, following his pace now, like you were someone else too. 

“Eddie? W-what are you doing?” Your voice cracks a little, and you take a step back, frightened. He looked just like your best friend but something was off. 

“Don’t call me that, princess. You know I’m not that freak.” He growls back at you, with a sick smirk on his lips.

A step closer to you, and even though your instincts beg for you to run, you feel frozen, paralyzed. He looks at you up and down, almost like he’s enjoying seeing you so afraid, so vulnerable. 

“That’s not funny Eddie, stop. Please.” You beg one more time, your eyes getting cloudy due the tears. 

“You know what? You’re starting to piss me off…” He’s close enough now, his breathe against your own, and he looks at you, at every detail of your face, every mole that draws your skin, and he hushs. “Too bad I have to do this to such a pretty, pretty girl…”

He caresses your cheek, tracing his fingers down to your neck and getting your hair out of the way. 

And for a second, his eyes slipper to yours and turn soft again, a glance of your sweet boy there once more, a shred of hope. 

“Eddie?” you ask one more time, agonizing, praying he could hear you.

“Run.” He says, with his last glance of consciousness, but it’s too late. 

His fingers dive into the waves of your hair and he holds tight, pulling it back so your neck gets more exposed. 

“Who... who a-are you?” You don’t have any strength to scream or try to escape. You’re horrified, your eyes bursting desperate tears. He smiles, his fangs actually shining when the light hits them, and he dives his teeth to your skin.

And you giggle. 

Automatically flinching, you try to hide your neck, and it takes a second for you to notice what just happened. Your eyes get wide open and your cheeks burst into flames.

“CUT! What the heck was that?” You hear the scream, and Joseph lays his forehead on your shoulder as you cover your mouth out of embarrassment. You were so tired you couldn’t control yourself as his touch tickled your skin. And now your swearing every bad word you could think of inside your head, wanting to desapear to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” you repeated that over and over but when you hear Joseph chuckle, all you can do is laugh too. 

“You got to be kidding me…” he shushes, nodding as he raises his eyebrows and looks at you with some joy on his face. He thought it was cute, because, to be honest, what could you do?

“I’m extremely sorry. I… I don’t know what happened to me… can we… can we take five? Please?” 

You don’t even wait for a confirmation and just run to your dressing room, praying that you could turn invisible for a moment.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” you repeat uninterruptedly, taking deep breaths and opening your restroom sink, throwing some water to your face with the hope that could wake you up and get you to your senses again. And it seems to be working until you hear the knock at your door. 

“I’m almost done, give me just a sec!” You shout through the room, looking your reflex at the mirror as you recompose yourself, but the knock doesn’t go away, and this time it comes accompanied with a sweet voice.

“It’s me, can I come inside?” he asks, seeming a little worried, and you just couldn't say no to him, so you shush a “yes” almost inaudible and he opens the door slowly, entering the room, and immediately closing it behind him. 

It takes a sec to any of you to say something. He just stares at you, concerned.

“… you ok?” his voice is so warm that it feels like a cloud envolves your body. Even though you weren't actually ok, he makes you feel better just by saying that.

“Oh, yes, it’s just… I can’t believe myself, we really had it and I ruined it all…” you sigh, disappointed, and pinch the bridge of your nose with your two fingers.

“Hey, hey! Don’t say that. everyone is tired and we understand... you were doing amazing and, you know, we can shoot it over and over again… you don’t have any idea of how many bloopers of me we’re gonna have to watch after the season releases” he laughs, leaning in your direction and looking at you with those big chocolate orbes. You know he’s only saying this to reassure you, to make you feel better, and it works. Actually, he didn’t even need to say anything to make you feel better, but he could always manage to do more.

You felt like you could run away and jump over the highest cliff, because he would catch you, you would be safe. It’s the first time someone made you feel like this in your entire life. You always knew there was something special about that boy. 

And the way he was looking at you now, getting closer and closer, just to caress your hair and make you relax, was really… really special… 

“It’s ok, really…” he says one more time, and you smile softly, starting to believe him. “I have an idea… we could practice, you know, rehearse that scene so you’ll be prepared to shoot it. what do you think?” For a moment, just a second, he seems shy, vulnerable, and then you are finally sure of what that meant. The way he said it faltering, and looked at you with those big wondering eyes.

All those months shooting together, getting to know each other. The way he looked at you, without hesitation, without looking away not even a single time. And the way he smiled when you always looked back. How he was always close, always joking with you, just to make you laugh, just so he could see your smile.

“yeah, that’s a… that’s a pretty good idea.” you chuckle shyly too, your face heating up, the butterflies dancing inside you. Because you felt the same way.

He smiles, wide open, his face almost shining, and he gets even closer, getting his hand to your neck again, now with a really soft touch, making you shiver, feeling so electric that it seemed like a lightning had just hit you within his skin, through his fingertips.

“Whenever you’re ready.” he jokes, trying the best imitation he could do of the director’s voice, and you roll your eyes at his stupidity. you know he was trying to make you relax, but the way every inch of your body is desiring him make it almost ache. 

“Eddie?” you say, your voice sounding a little raspy and aerated because you couldn’t breathe normally, your eyes looking at his under your lashes.

“Don’t run.” Joseph answers, and he smiles at you, his orbes pulling you to him like magnets.

You can’t even say your line back, you just couldn’t breathe properly to your voice to come out. You feel his body getting closer, his face getting closer and closer to yours, the almost nonexistent between you two evaporating.

You stare at him for how long you could, analyzing every single detail that made him himself, just so you could mark the way he was looking at you forever in your head until his lips get to your neck with a gentle kiss. It’s a shock, and you flinch a bit, just because it confirms to you this is real.

You don’t want to laugh this time. On the contrary, you let out a tiny gasp and close your eyes, feeling his warm skin touching yours. His lips tracing its way up your neck, to your jaw, and he stops, just so he could stare at you again, cause he wanted to fix this moment in his mind too.

He holds your face, so carefully you feel you were made of porcelain. Like someone holding the most beautiful flower to ever exist, too afraid to damage its fragile petals. And he kisses you, finally. His lips fit yours so perfectly it almost feels surreal, because it felt like you were designed for each other, like you couldn’t belong to anybody else. It is so soft, the perfect texture, pressure, warmth… Everything was just… perfect. 

You’ve waited for this for so long, and you feel so light, almost flying. It sounds cliche, but you’re pretty sure you could hear the fireworks, the ones that you feel exploding inside your chest, like they were actually around you, almost too close… too real…

“Guys? are you there? we need to keep recording!” you hear a muffled voice behind the door, and someone knocking again and again, louder and louder. “guys?”

It takes you two out of that trance, back to reality, and you look into each other’s eyes with such joy you could see the sparkles.

Joseph laughs through the kiss, and hides his face into your neck again. When he looks at you, his face is red like a tomato, and it’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, making you giggle as you bite your lower lip, attempting to hide your smile. 

“We’re coming!” You answer, looking away when you start to blush, trying to recompose yourself as you fix your hair and your clothes, even though they remained intact.

“We can do it.” He says, holding your chin with his thumb and making you look at him, raising his eyebrows to emphasize his words. “You can do it. And I’ll be with you the whole time.”

You nod, holding his hand and squeezing it a little, just to make sure that was real, that it actually happened. 

And you knew, no matter what, from that day on, he would be with you the whole time. 

hello! this is my first time writing in another language and posting something here, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes and I hope you guys understand... anyway, it would be awesome to hear your opnions and I really hope you've enjoyed it!! <3

[sgiandubh]

Bcac and gotraveltheworldluv are stalkers and so defensive if you doubt them. The shenanigans are getting too old and predictable. I’m not even a shipper and I think something is wrong.  it just doesn’t make sense. These fake dates are really strange. I mean it’s just not normal so it is questionable. The credibility is not there and these other bloggers are just a bunch of strange women.  I actually believe he has a relationship more with his costar then any of these fake dates it just seems so forced  and on public display. If it was real, why innuendos and why post it knowing fans will seek out? I’m not talking about relationships I mean seriously how can he have been with six women in two months and made sure that everybody knew about it. I’ve come to the conclusion he’s definitely hiding something, I’m not sure what. Even being married secretly I know you guys don’t think he’s gay, but I definitely don’t think that he is with all of these women that he claims to be.  I don’t think you’ve had any girlfriends.

Dear Hiding Something Anon,

BCAC, who? As for the other Pearl of Great Price, well... religious hypocrisy at its finest, really. I wonder what her congregation would think about her dirty, dirty little secret. Online stalking all those women, even those remotely purported to have breathed around S, surely won't get her extra brownie points, or whatever they are called, back in her red neck of the woods.

Funny you are not a shipper, but still found a way to ask yourself all the right questions. According to the Anti Gospel, you are just one step shy of apostasy 😱.

Gay, he is not. That is a lazy theory based on next to nothing, spare a questionable blogger's speculations (and the 'evidence' singlehandedly fabricated on Wikipedia, long debunked by me) and Data Lounge's almost desperate merry go round of three inconclusive pics and my dog's aunt recollections (Lola's aunt probably hails from Carmarthen and I think she has an excellent pedigree, but that's just about it). Whoever came up with this bullshit has no real knowledge of the gay world's dynamics, either and probably a very superficial, second hand exposure to it.

Speculating he fornicated with a half dozen of women in less than three months (and under public, even obsessed, scrutiny) is borderline demented. Sure, he does not need the consent of the King for such leisure activities, but come on: do they hear themselves? From me to you, Anon - I know still waters run deep, but he never stroke me as the randy devil type. I've seen way worse, including in my own backyard (and you'd give Someone your first born to babysit, without even blinking - such a mistake).

So yes, he does hide something. Once you enter this rabbit hole and provided you take a long, critical look around, you're bound to discover many interesting bits and bobs that add up and paint a credible theory.

What do I think he hides? A love story of our times, Anon. With slammed doors, pillow talk, terms of endearment and deep feelings. And yes, your assumption is correct.

And gee, thanks for your words, too. Much appreciated - why be a hypocrite?

I also strive to be informative, Anon. You can seat by my side, at the back of the bus. This is where the most fun is happening and we even have the finest Gunpowder tea, freshly brewed.

[olderthannetfic]

This is partly a vent and partly hoping someone reading this can offer some advice or at least insight into wtf the person/people doing this are hoping to accomplish.

Over the past few months, someone(s) has been sending purity policing “concerned” anon asks to people in my fandom, mostly about supposed untagged triggering content. Which sounds like standard anti bullshit at first glance, but there are some really weird aspects to this situation, and I don’t know what to make of it.

First, in both of the cases I’ve seen, the “untagged” content Concerned Anon complained about was comprehensively tagged, way beyond fandom norms. Concerned Anon is complaining about something that isn’t even true.

Second, the people who received these asks seem to me like really weird targets for anon harassment. From what I’ve seen, they’re both really nice people. Not in the Cult of Nice way, but in the welcoming to newcomers, supporting all shippers even the people who ship things they’re not into, willing to chat about even the most wild theory or headcanon you might have without judgment kind of nice. Good stewards of fandom, I guess is what I’m trying to say. So I don’t get why anyone would want to target them. Especially since one of them wasn’t even being harassed about their own work, but about a fic someone else wrote that they happen to like!

Third, if the source material for this fandom were a fic on AO3, it would easily meet the threshold for all archive warnings. This isn’t about Stephen King fandom, but it’s got that level of things antis lose their shit over. Why is Concerned Anon even in this fandom? Why are they ~*so concerned*~ over fic when canon is like that?

Since the first Concerned Anon ask, I’ve noticed a sharp drop-off not just in ~*problematic*~ fic, but in fic in the fandom in general. I know fandom engagement comes and goes and there could be a lot of reasons for that unrelated to Concerned Anon. I can even think of a couple specific reasons it would be happening in this fandom. But the timing rubs me the wrong way, especially since it doesn’t seem like there’s as much a of a drop-off in general fandom activity, and I’m worried the latest set of Concerned Anon asks will have an even more chilling effect on fic writers.

I hate that this is happening. I hate that people who are just out here making fandom fun are being targeted. I hate that it might be discouraging people who haven’t been targeted from writing. I hate the possibility that Concerned Anon is out there harassing other people in the fandom who haven’t responded to them or that I just haven’t seen. I hate that, as a complete fandom nobody, I probably have no power to do anything about this. I hate that the person or people behind Concerned Anon probably aren’t even going to have to face up to being this kind of shitty, because it’s all anonymous.

--

People pop up in the inboxes where the owner can get their comments in front of more eyeballs.

Of course they want to poison the blogs of the welcoming fans who get the newbies writing fic.

The way to combat them is for those bigger blogs to either ignore them entirely or to politely but firmly tell them where they can shove it while pointing out that they're a liar.

They're a toxic blight on other people's inspiration, and the "nice" blogs should tell them so. The failure to do so is going to have at least as much of a chilling effect as their shitty comments themselves.

[mellohd]

EMH Marble Hornets AU!!

ok i know im not creative when it comes to aus but i thought itd be interesting to tell the story of MH through EMH’s story? IF YOU GUYS HAVE THOUGHTS OR QUESTIONS PLS LEAVE SOME IN MY INBOX!!! :-]( or even questions for the MH!EMH characters heh)1

Basically its just marble hornets told through EMH, for example instead of “tapes i found” story telling theyd open a youtube channel for tips and tricks on making your own movie while they make their own called Marble Hornets! EMH/MLA spoilersish up ahead

Heres the character correspondences:

Alex-> Jeff

Jay-> Vinnie

Tim-> Evan

Brian-> Michael!MLA

Jess-> Alex!EMH

Amy ->Jeffs GF(so sorry i forgot her name 😭)

“Masky”->Habit(which makes sense depending on the theories you go with for either series)

“Hoody”->Patrick (same as the last one)

Characters in cant figure out an association with:

Steph, Jess(Evans bestfriend) Shaun So they might just not have a place in this story idk

Since Mlanderson and EMH are in the same universe i thought id make Brian the Michael/Patrick of this story, except more involved. Instead of their being a shaun i think id like Brian to just go to MH crew, if ykwim. I did this cause the only other character i thought could fit Brian was Alex!EMH and I didnt like that.

My take on Masky is that hes just a more aware Tim, not a separate being (tho i do like to think of it that way for fun sometimes ha ha). Masky in my mind was in a battle against the operators control and was ultimately trying to help Jay. I think Masky would br Habit in this series cause of the theory that Habit is one of the first few iterations of Evan, thats why theyre similar and so compatible etc if you know the theory you know. That does mean that Tim isnt gonna act all ha ity, just more erratic i think, i havent gone tooooooo far into a characterization(or even a name) for Emh!MH Habit yet

“Hoody” I see as just brian and he was just disguising himself. in this au “Hoody” would be patrick. Let me explain,

Frim what i gathetef through my second watch of EMH and, my first of MLA , patrick is just Michael but remembers every single iteration, hes a similar being to Habit, thats why he has powers ig? Look i havent gotten too far into theories fir MLA the fandom is so dead i never see any 😭😭. I dont want to get to far into theories on other series anyways cause rhis is about my AU so ANYYYYWAYS i think brian would fit that its just brians story doesnt fit entirely with Michael, actually Tim would probably fit more now that i think about it. Oh god now im thinking of switching them again uhm wtv

I think the rest of the correspondences make sense if you think about it a bit. Jay as Vinnie makes sense to me because of boths compulsive need for answers even though its destructive to those around them. Jay wouldnt be as much as a villain in this like vinnie is (or maybe i havent decided muahaha). I also thought they fit cause they both do that weird thing where they constatly have to document everything.

I thought tim eould fit Evan just cause of the whole habit arc.

Alex as Jeff was more of a fill a role thing that eventually made sense to me. I did think of making him Evan and Tim Jeff, and im still thinking of doing this, but i thought the whole finding the gf arc would fit alex more. Alex would still be one of the villains i think. Like i said this would be marble hornets told through EMH lol. I might even switch it up and assign a habit type role to Alex instead and there be two patrick characters who knows!

As you can tell im still thinking this through so maybe mext post i make about this will be more solid. if youre interested to talk about this kore with me(obv my inbox) or i have a slenderverse discord i made with my friend heh tik tok smug emoji. come join if youre looking for more slenderverse friends(and if youre interested in darkharvest and mla especially cause i need more people to talk about that to 😭😭)

[intermittent-showers]

My opinion of the sOciAl mEdiA hAbiTs oF ThE cAsT aNd cReW oF 911 - using "logic."

Kenny and Co. posted a controversial video joking about casting couches and clearly shows Ryan "getting the role" for his "performance." This was coming off of that podcast Ryan did for Lab & Lecture.

Now, I think it's important to mention the podcast, seeing as a big portion of the interview discussed Ryan's role in The Boy Next Door, which Ryan starred in with Jennifer Lopez and there were rumors about the two of them being together. [X]

And I'm sure the cast and even the crew poked at him (friendly) about it, thus it being fresh in their minds. (I am not defending them just stating my thought process regarding their thought process).

I also want to shift towards the actual podcast itself. It was done now, meaning Ryan is well into his role as Eddie, and yet Ryan was never asked that million dollar Buddie question. And that's strange because this podcast is new, Ryan's episode was only S1e8 for the podcast. Now I ask you, if you're an up and coming podcast looking for traction, why wouldn't you gear it towards those fans? Why wouldn't you bait when a majority of the twitter journalists live to bait.

Could be because Ryan is friends with the guy. The interview was very "bro-y." But it could also be that the Podcaster wasn't allowed to ask about it. Cause 911 was discussed. Instead of talking and the one topic that would guarantee clicks and views, instead they talked about Ryan's boundaries and how he won't do certain things.

Inch resting... yet, moving on.

Then Ryan suddenly gets on twitter the same day that the casting couch video was posted. Which really made no sense to me except for obviously a distraction from that video, but then I thought about it for a few days and I think I might have a reason for it.

I don't think any of the cast really pay attention to comments. I hope they don't for their own mental health. But I do think the comments on that casting couch video were brought to their attention. And I think it started a discussion amongst the trio.

Kenny isn't really a social media expert (lol) so I'm assuming he doesn't even know wtf twitter is.

Oliver will never set foot on that app ever again so he wasn't about to go look.

But Ryan... well, Ryan's been on a heterosexual Eddie Campaign since the 5th episode of season 7. So I believe he wanted to see what was happening.

Type in "Ryan Guzman" on Twitter, and all you'll see is "Buddie this" "Buddie that" Eddie Diaz is unfrosting" etc etc. Nothing about the character of Eddie, that Ryan is happy to portray mind you, is being discussed.

And that has to be annoying. It has to be upsetting and even a bit gross.

I feel as if this discovery sparked a conversation. Not that they haven't discussed the Buddie of it all before but I think Ryan probably asked, "Am I not being clear enough?" "Am I leading people on?"

What do you do when your talent genuinely has these questions?

You contact the people who know statistics for the show. The PR team.

And they look into it, seeing all the weird ass takes and Wizard of Oz theories. That combined with the Olympics, they posted this to the 911 on ABC page:

1. They could have used any variations of the award ceremony for this post but they chose to include all of them.

2. The busy bees they are referring to are the fans... not the characters. They're saying the fans have been busy making theories of S8. They've seen them so they added the tornado emoji to say, "we see your theories and they're fun but completely off track." They have to be poking fun because if those fan theories were remotely close, they'd post something to distract from them, not shed more light.

So I believe the cast and crew enjoy reading the crazy theories. I think it's something they've started doing in between takes to pass the time.

So when Ryan posted that tiktok to his Instagram story, it was another example of him having a laugh at the completely wrong theories.

Only positive for these things is that thanks to most of fandom going off the rails, I'm confident we're going to see something this week that will be Tevan related.

So, thank you! Keep the delusional takes coming!

[stormblessed95]

So I just had some thoughts about the minimoni exchange that I really needed to share - their relationship is so cute. There was one thing that I'm confused about and I wanted to know if it was just me lol, and that's the narrative Jimin was telling about how Muse came about. That Pdogg asked him what his thoughts are, and Jimin said he's been feeling a lot of apathy lately (I'm paraphrasing here cause I can't remember the words!).

Then he went straight into talking about how the album is about having a crush, but he said he can't remember the last time he had a crush. And he had to have help from a younger producer to talk about what a crush was like. He didn't really go into why he wrote an album about having a crush when he said he can't remember the last time, just that he's been feeling not much excitement lately. He even explained this albums emotions as "vague." If I could go into depth about it, my interpretation (could be completely wrong) is that it's an explanation of coming to terms with his sexuality, that the expectation that he fall in love with women but no matter how many relationships with women he's had he just can't find the one. Until JK comes along....

Sorry my thoughts are all over the place 😂😂. I just wanted to know if someone also found it confusing or it's just my ADHD brain!

Hello my love! I'm probably going to use your ask to talk about Muse as a whole I think. Hope that's okay ❤️ I'll make other posts for the songs individually if I have more I want to say in depth about specific songs.... Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and theories too! I love them!

My thoughts and feelings about Muse as a whole below the photo 💜 disclaimer that these are just my thoughts and opinions. I am in no way claiming this as fact or truth and unless I'm quoting something, these are all my own words. Everyone is entitled to agree or disagree as they see fit.

This will be a longer post.... So strap in I guess!

SO! To start, Pdogg shared with us that Jimins album/SMGB was in part inspired by the Beatles conceptual album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." He said, and I quote:

"It was inspired by a conceptual album like the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' And I tried to incorporate the excitement I felt when thinking of Muse into the songs. The flow of emotions is directly reflected in the track order, so it will be more fun if you focus on that."

Intro: Rebirth and Interlude: Showtime is what gives that connection and crossover from FACE, with its sound and chorus use, into the new concept and album I believe. Which Jimin has explicitly stated that Muse is not connected with FACE really at all. But that does give its connection and crossover from those first 2 songs. So you could EASILY listen to them back to back and find it flows smoothly from one sound into another!

Face is clearly about introspection, facing oneself, that vulnerability and overcoming that pain. It's about freeing yourself. Muse seems to be conceptually about finally feeling free enough to pursue that prospect of love and being open to those feelings. It was brought up by Minseong Kim, his performance director, in VMagazine that (I'm paraphrasing) they basically were focusing more on his masculine side and expressions for Who and in Muse. While in Face, Jimin showcased more of his vulnerabilities and his more feminine side and expressions. Specifically seeking out that contrast. Full interview here:

Now I don't know about you ... But it's giving gender. And I love that. It's not something new for Jimin, he leans into that contrast within himself alot. It's really giving gender fluidity. And I think that's on purpose. Jimin doesn't do things by accident. He thinks through everything and Jimin is in charge at the end for his projects. And considering how OFTEN this concept of *both*, of feminine and masculine, comes up in Jimins personal projects/stages, it's clearly something important to him that he wants to be highlighted.

Jimin absolutely had full control over the stories he wanted to tell in each song, even Who, where he didn't have full writing credits. He explained the thoughts, feelings and ideas he was wanting to express. We saw him in the behind scenes of things having direct input on his songs, the MV, and creating his own choreo. The Talent 😍 we were specifically told that Jimin "directly explained to them what he wanted to convey and the direction he wanted to take for this album and each song. This allowed us to put together tracks that are more musically diverse, but still feel right for him." Quote comes from an interview article from the Clash here

Similarly shared in another article, Pdogg said "We made it with Jon Bellion in New York. I remember Jimin personally explaining to him what story he wanted to tell, and he was really embarrassed/shy. I met Jimmy Fallon by chance in the studio next door. We played the song for him for the first time after we finished working on it. In fact After finishing work on the 'FACE' album, we went straight into the production of 'MUSE' and I thought, 'He's working this hard before his military enlistment?' Thanks to Jimin's hard work, you'll be able to see his musical journey, which has grown even more." From here

Okay, now that we got all those interview snippets out of the way from Jimins team.... We can get into more of Jimins words and my own thoughts/theories here too.... 😏🥰 But we like to work theories off facts, so we gotta get our base line!

Jimin finished recording his album in June of 2023.

Jimin stated in MMM that the first 5 songs in his album were basically the emotions related to having a crush and confessing your feelings. That would be:

Intro: Rebirth

Interlude: Showtime

SGMB

Slow Dance

Be Mine

And then the 6th track, Who, he takes it all back and is like no, that's not really true. Where he also lets us know that there really isn't a connection to FACE in the grand scheme of things.

To start with the title too.... Who are the Muses? The Greek Goddesses of artistic inspiration. Jimin has been drawing from Greek Mythology a lot recently, with Apollo and Artemis featuring in his photofolio too. Now while the basics premise of a Muse is and can be very romantic in nature, it isn't always. Jimins album Muse is inherently full of romantic songs, but I also think it's clear from his talk on MMM that this album is not JUST about looking for your run of the mill, romantic relationship and love.... But being in search of your passion, your heart and your desires. It's the expression of yearning. Yearning for love, for life, for his music, his work, his Identity as a person and an artist, to feel excited over something and look forward to something. He specially says to RM during MMM that he isn't sure if he will ever be satisfied with himself as an artist or find a version of himself that he is fully satisfied with (I'm paraphrasing). It's the idea that this search for his Muse (that satisfaction in himself and as an artist) is ongoing and probably will FOREVER be ongoing. Hence why in the end of the Who MV, after all that back and forth with so many people.... He is still alone. That search is still happening. Hence also why this desperate search of who his heart is waiting for is at the end of the album, not opening it up. He still hasn't found her, the Muses. His satisfaction. The yearning that is driving him forward to grow and learn and adapt and dig deeper into his art, is still there.

Jimin has a lot of control over his projects. His albums, songs, and performances. As he should. But it's important for everyone to remember that this album starts and finishes with JIMIN. And what he wants to say and express, this is his art, his emotions and his ideas, regardless of if he has help writing lyrics or not. To bring this back to my last paragraph above.... Passion as an artist is something plenty of people can relate to, but not everyone. Romance on the other hand is something *almost* everyone CAN relate to. And bringing those feelings of yearning and desire for passion and excitement and translating that into feelings of crushes, first love, romantic connect. Brings that full circle and is the outward Expression he chose to help represent the emotions and feelings he was trying to express through this album. I think it's also important to note that while Jimin expressed his desire for excitement and passion and how he is still looking for that.... He made sure to make it clear that he is happy and content with where he is at and who he is currently. These things can coexist!

Who in general could have some takes and theories about sexuality and what not, like anon said, I've definitely seen a variety of theories out there. I do think Jimin has long since come to terms with his sexuality though, but that doesn't mean that the inspiration from that couldn't still be drawn on. I can talk about that more in a post I make specifically only for Who. Soooo many things could be said for Who! Lol and if you've read this far, look forward to my post for Who and thank you for making it through my ramblings!!

[verosikastrikerstellaexcuser]

Prior Anon again.

Viv admitted that she didn't have any real plan for HB and that she changed Stolas' character in one of those Live Q & A panels.

The whole not having a plan for HB was in I believe 2 tweets, where she didn't know how long she planned for HB to go on and that she only had some rough outlines.

Put that all together and with how Stolas really seems so different compared to S1 to S2, among other things....yeah it's all just winging it.

There was nothing ever to suggest in S1 it was arranged, in fact as the song implies it really wasn't. The only thing people latch onto in that it was 'arranged' is when Stolas is trying to explain to Via the situation.

....But this is not realizing that these were all incomplete statements and even if they were? That doesn't nessecarily mean it was an arranged marriage, because you know....parents can fall out of love, parents can later on realize that they never really loved eachother etc.

Which you know, fits with what S1 was seeming to hint at in dialogue and song within EP 2?

Or they just assume because they are Royals so they MUST be arranged marriage...which again isn't an argument.

Just because they are Royals, doesn't mean it has to be arranged. Was it a thing? Yeah it was, but we aren't in this show, in this setting....given any reason that it's a thing. Them being Royalty isn't enough evidence. It was usually due to land, money or what have you, status and so forth. A mutual benefit of sorts between Families.

....But Stolas already has everything, he has the house, he has the servants, he has the power both figuratively and literally, he has the money. Nothing in S1(other than....her phone) is Stella's, she doesn't have claim to anything or have anything property wise. Stella doesn't even have any innate powers from what we see, if anything S1 comes across as making Stella not giving anything of value to him.

In fact given the implication of Stolas being extremely old in S1, this means he's an immortal which we know is still true, he's still an immortal. He has all the time in forever to gain his own land, to gain his own money and status. He's not going to die from old age.

The only thing of value between them is Octavia, but she's not an indication of an Arranged Marriage in S1 either, it's just as likely that they could have had her without all that nonsense. Which again fits with...

"I used to think that I was bold. I used to think love would be fun."

and

"I want that CHEATING PRICK DEAD!"

Why call him a cheating prick Stella? You weren't hurt by anything right? Why'd you use these specific words Stella, hrmm? You don't like him right, why does this whole thing piss you off if you like to torment him?

Why did Bryce say "She has a lot of pain inside of her" (Insta Reel with him and co-star, but unfortunately deleted)

Why did Georgina like a tweet saying she was heartbroken and doesn't think clearly?

Baffling really, when S2 tells us the complete opposite of...all this stuff.

They don't lean into the Arranged Marriage thing until S2 rolls around, which thus starts making S1 look a little weird as a whole as the episodes go on.

S1 at least from where I'm sitting, was written in such a way that...many fan theories cropped up and honestly that's where I feel things took a wrong turn.

I feel as if Viv, took a lot of the more popular fan theories and just made them Canon, so writing wouldn't have to be such a chore. So she's using fans to basically write things for her show, that she can't be bothered to actually write out other avenues to the story. She'll just pick something that is popular or something she likes and that's that.

So then fans could say "AH HA! SEE WHAT DID I TELL YOU!"

Or

"IT WAS SO OBVIOUS!"

So their headcanons/fan theories can be fine, but others can't if they don't conform to what many others are saying?

Now I'm not saying writers can't take things from fans and made stuff Canon, but doing so constantly? Or writing in such a way, where you could then just 'farm' for ideas later on?

It just seems then like there isn't real creativity there. Especially when taking such ideas in the first place, but then it kinda ruins what story was already being told.

Anyway this is getting very long winded, so apologies.

No genuinely I appreciate the long windedness, I really do, because these are all valid points.

"That doesn't necessarily mean it was an arranged marriage, because you know....parents can fall out of love, parents can later on realize that they never really loved each other etc. Which you know, fits with what S1 was seeming to hint at in dialogue and song within EP 2?" You're right. This is one of those retcons where I took them at their word but you're right - the arranged marriage is a retcon. And that makes sense, because I always thought the way it operated was just bizarre. Why do royal Goetia women have 0 power/property rights and are things to be shoved into arranged marriages to make heirs when the rest of hell's society does not seem to work that way at all? It seems to mostly just be about power as in physical abilities, combined with wealth. There are plenty of female overlords and Beel's female, and the sins have massive power, being above overlords and goetias. When they revealed that the house was all Stolas' and that Stella owns nothing it always felt just extremely bizzare given the rest of the show and its women? It seems to operate mostly like an Earth society in 2024, aka women have rights even if misogynist attitudes are still a thing. Why would the Goetia women have less rights than all other women in hell and why are they still able to force arranged marriages on each other? I'm not saying that couldn't maybe be interesting, like the monarchy had exceptions written into law for themselves, but I would have liked to see that properly actually established. I'm so sick of this show's inconsistent lore and things not being shown properly. Stuff like the different rings each ruled by a different sin, those concepts are really fun and powerful. But they're so messily executed and no proper rules are really ever established, making it feel clunky and confusing. Lmao guess they wouldn't bother though since that would make it harder to go back on things all the time since they really do appear to be just winging it as they go and sweeping any "mistakes" that are no longer convenient under the rug.

Its ridiculous to me that they had no plan going into this show. I mean seriously, what a fucking joke? NOTHING? How can Viv say "Stolitz is the heart of this show" This shows heart is whatever is convenient that writing week and whatever fans gush over the most, don't lie. Unmake it the heart, because deciding thats what this shows about on the fly has been an absolute disaster, dear God. You are right about leaning too much into fan theories and appeasing fans etc... thats part of how we got into the Stolitz mess, because people liked it so much. But leaning into solely what FANDOM likes, given that fandom regularly ships anything and everything (which isn't bad however the point of fandom is to be creative not to make a coherent show) it leads to characters lore etc becoming muddied as dozens of people input different ideas that don't work coherently with each other and other plans you as the creator have etc. Imo creators should avoid theory content and stick to supporting fanartists, song makers etc only, and minimally too. In general I feel like staying a healthy distance away from fandom is best, especially as your show is ongoing, for a multitude of reasons tbh but that would be veering off topic.

Anyway, thanks for making me realize all this, seriously. Most other retcons I spotted, but this is one I didn't spot for being what it is.

[bunniehoneys]

track limits - WIP

In honour of coanda effect hitting 100K hits on ao3 today (how) here's a wip from the sequel! thank you everyone, love you all so much.

Any future wips will be posted to my ko-fi, just select the early access + wips tier to see them :3

March 2026

They get into Bahrain in the early hours of the morning, via AirGojo. Quite a few drivers plus Haibara end up on the flight, and most of them sleep through it. Megumi is mostly unable to, letting his leg bounce up and down as he scrolls through his phone whilst Yuuji lies with his cheek pressed to his thigh and snores lightly. It's sort of awkward because the only other person awake on the flight is Gojo, sitting cross-legged on one of the sofas, not really doing much at all apart from listening to music with one of those stupid sleep masks pulled over his eyes. For the light, he says. Despite knowing Gojo's pretty much blind, Megumi still feels painfully observed. 

That might be part of the problem. At the end of last season all the drivers and team principals had been notified that there'd be a film crew at most of the races, starting at the testing in Bahrain, filming-- something. Megumi's asked a good few drivers, now, and he still can't figure out what it is: a one-off documentary, or a series, or something else entirely. What they have managed to parse is that the producer worked on something for football in the UK last year and all the players complained about how it dug into their personal lives a little too much, opening them up to criticism. Megumi's been losing sleep over it. 

Nothing too bad would happen if it came out that he was with Yuuji, in theory. The team knows. Getou knows, too, so Keicho must have some sort of contingency plan should things go awry, but being looked at by TV crews the entire way through the season is still putting him on edge. Like they're looking for cracks, for reasons he still doesn't have a championship in his pocket despite having the fastest car for the first half of last season. He'll happily blame himself to the press, but the balance is hard to find. If he's too self-deprecating, he's not capable, and if he's not critical enough, he's a loser who can't get out of his own ass. 

Fun. It's super fun. 

Gojo had come out last year. He did it in a super controlled way, right when rumours about Megumi and Yuuji had been seriously picking up. Megumi suspects that it had something to do with it, but he can't be sure, so. He hasn't asked. It created the most insane media whirlwind in the lead-up to the season that the journalists pretty much forgot to ask him about the car, about his championship prospects, about the sport. He lost count of how many times he was asked Gojo is like a mentor to you, how does this affect your relationship? Does this change things? Did you know? 

Someone, later on, insinuated that Gojo had been sleeping with him and that’s why Megumi was chosen for a JTR seat, and then he’d really had enough, walking out on a written media session because of it. PR had sat him down and told him he needed to attempt to do damage control when this kind of stuff came up, but Megumi had snorted and told them that they could answer instead. 

Here’s the thing. Gojo is the greatest driver of all time, if the fans are willing to disregard Sukuna. His stats are better. He has two-thirds of a triple crown, he’s racing in other series. He lost his seat for Le Mans, in the whirlwind. He’d immediately gained one in Keicho, set until JTR decide to field an entry, but–

He’d lost his seat. 

It’s not like he needs the money. He’s racing for fun. He’s absolutely filthy rich. He knows firsthand that the wedding band he bought for Getou cost a fortune. But he’s the greatest, and enough people still decided it was enough of an issue to not want him on their team. 

Gojo had ruffled his hair at the time, said brightly, “it’s okay, they’ll lose because they don’t have me,” and they did, Keicho won and Gojo made the difference, but it didn’t feel like enough.

Megumi doesn’t think anyone blames him for being secretive, in the grand scheme of things. There’s– he’s not told Yuuji anything about the car. It’s good, being together with someone who understands. Who knows when to push and when to back off. Who knows that legally, Megumi can’t speak much about his job. 

He presses a hand to Yuuji’s hair, and watches where Nobara has collapsed on a different couch. Inumaki and Yuuta are around, somewhere, too. Haibara has woken up half an hour before they’re due to land, and is talking to Gojo quietly, who looks thoughtful, a hand pressed over his mouth. 

Gojo’s technically going as a pundit. As a presenter. Megumi thinks he might be in the comms box for a bit. Really, he’s there because he can’t get away. When he stepped in for some early races last season, Yuuji had been convinced he’d take an offer to come back to the sport, but Gojo had laughed when Megumi asked. Said he was happy not having to travel a million miles every weekend. Happy living in Italy. 

It’s not like Getou wouldn’t have given him a seat. There was talk about it for a while. But Megumi knows the entire grid breathed a sigh of relief when Gojo ruled out a full-time return. 

Equally, though, he’s always around. Mostly in their garage. He used to float around Keicho a lot, before he came out and people started speculating about him and Getou, so he stopped. He knows a few drivers will seek him out for track walks, or advice, or just to talk. Megumi doesn’t have to. 

“You might wanna wake him up,” Gojo says, nodding at Yuuji, and Megumi nods, tapping his shoulder a few times. 

--

Not quite the opening scene, but a very early one. Definitely sets the tone. Enjoy all :3

[daisyswift3]

Jumping in the Deep End 🐇🕳️💛

So there’s sth else I noticed related to the Gracie rabbit hole I’ve fallen down that I haven’t mentioned yet bc I feel crazy saying it but I’ve already said a lot of insane stuff lately so fuck it. But before u read this post I do recommend reading this other analysis I wrote as well as this post first bc it’ll make everything make more sense. Ok continuing….

Not long after The Secret of Us was released on June 21, I watched this interview that was uploaded the day the album was released where Gracie texts her fans. One of the first things I noticed was how Gracie suspiciously looks straight at the camera as she makes a typo which I mentioned in the analysis I just linked, but another thing that caught my attention was that one of the fans is named Aimee (3:06 mark in the vid). I thought this was a little strange bc Aimee isn’t really the typical spelling of that name, it’s usually spelled like this instead, Amy. But even more strange was that the day after this interview was uploaded, June 22, Taylor just so happened to play thanK you aIMee as one of the surprise songs in London. What an interesting coincidence!

June 22 was a big deal bc it was Midsummer Day which celebrates daylight. This is likely why Gracie made yellow 💛 the main color of the album and chose to release it on June 21, Midsummer Eve—bc this album is abt a coming out journey (see these posts for more on that: x, x, x, x, x, x, x). And if you look at the text “Aimee” sends, it sounds like sth an artist would ask another artist rather than a typical fan question. Aimee specifically asks abt her creative process which is a very artist thing to do. So basically all that to say I wouldn’t be surprised if Aimee was actually Taylor and this text was also an easter egg for us to find just like the intentional glitches and typos.

If this text was in fact from Taylor, I believe the purpose of it may have been to lead us down the Gracie rabbit hole where we could find endless cross references between Gracie’s music and Taylor’s music. If you watch the music videos for those 3 songs Aimee mentions and listen to the lyrics, they could easily be interpreted as being abt Taylor’s secret relationship w this korner of the internet that is almost like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon bc there’s no tangible proof it ever existed but there is a lot of folklore surrounding it and the story has been passed down and become a myth. “Wonder if you regret the secret of us.” I believe these 3 songs could be from Taylor’s perspective. And to go even further w it (fair warning, this is where we really go off the deep end), I think it’s very possible that not just these songs are abt this secret relationship, but most of Gracie’s songs bc all of them reference each other and have lyrical and visual parallels to each other much like Taylor’s songs (see this post).

Now I want to make it very clear: Gracie is her own person w her own talents outside of Taylor. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea or think I’m trying to undermine Gracie’s artistry or give all the credit to Taylor. And I also don’t think this secret relationship was the only inspiration for these songs since it’s very clear Gracie uses her own personal experiences and feelings, and I believe she could be writing abt more than one muse or from more than one person’s perspective in each song, similar to how in hoax Taylor sings abt 3 different relationships simultaneously. I am simply trying to point out the insane amount of parallels between Gracie and Taylor’s music that I think are too abundant to simply chalk up to coincidence. And I’m not saying that my interpretations are for sure the right ones, I could definitely be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time. This is just a fun clown theory that I think is worth considering.

So going back to those 3 songs in the text—Mess It Up, I know it won’t work, The Bottom—I wanted to do an analysis on them and the mvs bc I think the reason why “Aimee” might’ve been pointing us to those specific songs and mvs is bc they are an important part of this coming out story. Plus the specific symbolism and imagery used in the songs can be cross referenced w pretty much every other song in Gracie’s discography (and w many Taylor songs) making them all connected.

For instance, the main themes in Mess It Up are:

Not growing up -> minor, tehe, Wishful Thinking, Older, Better, Augusta, Alright, Difficult // Peter, The Archer, cardigan, betty, peace

Groundhog Day (This is related to the next theme) -> Under/Over, Risk mv, I Love You, I’m Sorry, us // The Prophecy

Making the same mistake over and over/Bad habits -> Long Sleeves, Rockland, The Bottom, Best, Will you cry?, Difficult, This is what the drugs are for, Fault line, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, I Love You, I’m Sorry, us, Let It Happen // Anti-Hero, coney island, Florida!!!, Fresh Out The Slammer, The Black Dog

Not being able to sleep at night -> Rockland, Hard to Sleep, Camden, Painkillers, Difficult, This is what the drugs are for, The blue, 405, Risk, Blowing Smoke, Let It Happen, Tough Love // Midnights the stories of 13 sleepless nights, hoax

The birthday cakes -> 21, Stay mv, Mean It mv, Risk mv // All Too Well short film, coney island

“Let it happen” -> The song Let It Happen on TSOU, Better

Lying -> For Real This Time, Best, Full machine, Where do we go now?, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, Let It Happen // Getaway Car, illicit affairs, the lavender haze/bearding/red herrings

Phone calls -> 21, Rockland, Full machine, I should hate you, This is what the drugs are for, The blue, Block me out, us, Let It Happen // cowboy like me, Anti-Hero mv, Fortnight mv

Going onto a porch in order to apologize to someone -> Risk mv (technically not to apologize but it’s still related to coming out and making things right) // betty, cardigan, this is me trying, long story short, Fresh Out the Slammer

The main themes in I know it won’t work are:

Closets -> Peter, seven, cowboy like me, I Know Places

Drawing the line in the sand and putting up boundaries or crossing boundaries -> Mess It Up, Long Sleeves, For Real This Time, Best, Felt Good About You, Let It Happen, Gave You I Gave You I

Cutting ties w someone -> Friend, Blowing Smoke, Free Now

Being someone’s ghost/haunting someone -> I miss you, I’m sorry, us, Block me out // Basically all of TTPD and much of folkmore and Midnights (Anti-Hero mv)

The main themes in The Bottom are:

“I told you I was down bad, you hate to see me like that” -> Down Bad

Making the same mistake over and over/Bad habits -> Long Sleeves, Rockland, The Bottom, Best, Will you cry?, Difficult, This is what the drugs are for, Fault line, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, I Love You, I’m Sorry, us, Let It Happen // Anti-Hero, coney island, Florida!!!, Fresh Out The Slammer, The Black Dog

Opening up the door and letting someone into your house, closing the door, or going into someone’s house uninvited -> Mess It Up mv, Under/Over, tehe, I should hate you, us, Let It Happen, I Love You, I’m Sorry, Gave You I Gave You I // cardigan, hoax, Anti-Hero mv

Dragging someone down/Hitting rock bottom/Coming down after a high or being high (drug metaphor; becoming more famous=“getting higher”) -> Long Sleeves, Rockland, Wishful Thinking, Painkillers, Alright, This is what the drugs are for, Fault line, Right now, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, I Knew It, I Know You, Gave You I Gave You I, Free Now // Many songs on TTPD use the drug metaphor, gold rush, long story short, Anti-Hero mv (pushed from balcony), seven, this is me trying, illicit affairs

Being the problem -> 21, minor, Rockland, Wishful Thinking, Older, Painkillers, Best, Difficult, Block me out, Unsteady, I Love You, I’m Sorry mv // Anti-Hero

Mess It Up

So as I stated before this song is all abt making the same mistakes over and over and reliving the same day like it’s Groundhog Day. Gracie, the narrator, keeps trying to make things right and apologize to the person she’s hurt, but every time she tries she messes it up which is represented by her dropping the cake repeatedly. But finally at the end of the mv, she is able to get it right and properly apologize. She knocks on someone’s door and they open it which symbolizes this person opening their heart to Gracie and forgiving her. If you go to the 2:12 mark in the mv when the letters and numbers on the fridge fall, you’ll see that they spell out a secret message “Hi (13, 31) Peter Pan - T” (the “I” doubles as a 1, the “3” doubles as an E, and the “L” doubles as an R/r if flipped on its side). Taylor was 31 yrs old when the Mess It Up mv was released on May 6, 2021. Peter Pan is the boy who never grew up. This means that it’s likely the narrator’s inability to grow up that is causing issues in the relationship. This is why the song starts w “Opened two double doors, typical, pretty sure I could grow up.”

“Did I fall out of like when I called you” -> Did I cross a boundary and make things worse when I called you? Boundaries are one of the main themes in I know it won’t work. I believe that Gracie and Taylor could be using “phone calls/texts/letters” as a metaphor for the anon messages and riddles we’ve received over the years. As a result of trying to solve these messages and riddles, kaylors have gotten a ton of hate and many have had to leave the fandom bc the environment is so toxic. This song could be Taylor acknowledging these issues and apologizing for how we’ve been treated.

“'Cause every time I get too close, I just go mess it up” -> It’s possible Taylor has tried many times over the years to properly apologize to us by giving us more cryptic messages containing these apologies, but the problem is that these anon messages and riddles are the main reason why we get bullied so this only makes the issue worse in the end.

“Funny that (Funny that) didn't work (Didn't work), I could be anywhere, I'm on your block” -> I believe this could be related to I Love You, I’m Sorry. “The way life goes, Joyriding down our road, Lay on the horn to prove that it haunts me, (I'm wrong again, wrong again) I love you, I'm sorry.” This song also has the lyrics “I wanna speak in code” which makes me think of the anon messages and queer flagging.

“I keep thinking, maybe if you let me back in, we can make it better, breaking every habit” -> Taylor talks abt breaking bad habits in The Black Dog which I believe represents putting an end to the bearding/lavender haze/red herrings/smokescreen/blowing smoke/not growing up.

It’s very interesting that Gracie uses a birthday cake to apologize. Birthday cakes are a common symbol that shows up in Gracie’s music. They also appear in 21, another apology song, and the Risk mv which is likely abt the mass coming out (see this post). In the All Too Well mv, Sadie’s character receives a birthday cake at the same time that Taylor sings, “But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willin' you to come, And he said, ‘It's supposed to be fun turning 21.’” In both 21 and ATW 10 min version, the older person in the relationship misses their significant other’s 21st birthday which greatly hurts them. These songs could be 2 sides of the same coin from opposite perspectives like dorothea and TTDS. With how many connections there are between Gracie and Taylor’s music, I’m inclined to believe this isn’t a coincidence.

(From the Mean It mv. When the 21 candles are thrown in the box they almost look like a backward "t" and "s")

“If it doesn't go away by the time I turn 30, I made a mistake and I'll tell you I'm sorry, ‘Sorry.’” The narrator is saying once she turns 30 she’ll apologize to the 21 yr old if her feelings haven’t changed by then. This is immediately followed by a “sorry” meaning the narrator has actually already turned 30 yrs old which is another indicator that Gracie is in fact speaking from someone else’s perspective bc Gracie was only 20 at the time of this song’s release in 2020. Plus just a few tracks later in the same album, the narrator says "I miss you, I'm sorry" which she said she wouldn’t say until after she turned 30. Taylor was 30 yrs old when the album minor was released in July 2020 and when 21 was released as a single on Feb 20, 2020. If this song is from Taylor’s perspective at 30 yrs old, then the significant other/ex being 21 indicates it (along w all the other cross-referenceable songs) is likely not abt a literal romantic relationship; rather, the song is an allegory or metaphor. The 21 (acoustic) mv has "I miss you" on the piano and "I'm sorry" in the notebook which indicates that 21 is directly related to I miss you, I'm sorry. The emphasis on birthdays and age in 21 fits well w the Peter Pan metaphor that shows up in many of Gracie’s songs. Even though the narrator is getting physically older, she is not getting metaphorically older. To add even more credibility to this theory, the song minor has the line “Hit me 3-1-0” which could represent both Taylor turning 31 in 2020 and a backwards 13. 13s show up several times in Gracie’s mvs and songs. The Secret of Us is a 13-track album that was released on June 21. Additionally, the first 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 message was sent July 21 and the second to last message, which I’m now pretty certain is abt Gracie’s album TSOU, was sent May 21 (x).

Look at the numbers on the houses ⬇️ Going column-wise there’s 226(1), 226(3) which is a 13 and there’s also ✌️✌️ which Taylor has used a ton for TTPD (Taylor said in Nov 2021 she wanted to try to plan sth 3 yrs in advance); 2267 -> 6+7=13. Adding up 2+2+6+3 also gives u 13 while 2+2+6+1=11=K. And 6+6 from the 2261, 2263 (again going column-wise) is 12 which is 21 backwards. The 13 showing up in the Risk mv just confirms these choices in the Mess It Up mv were completely intentional.

Gracie and Taylor performed I miss you, I’m sorry together at eras which was Taylor’s suggestion since Gracie’s set was canceled that day (x)(x). I just think it’s very interesting that Taylor wore a yellow dress when they sang this song and then a yr later she just so happened to be featured on the title track of Gracie’s very yellow album 💛 which they (allegedly) didn’t start writing until Nov 13 a few months later (x). This indicates that this performance was likely planned ahead of time and not a last minute decision like they said. I think much of the timeline we’ve been given for Gracie and Taylor’s friendship might be a red herring to prevent ppl from figuring out what these songs are really abt. Gracie and Taylor (allegedly) wrote us together on Nov 13, 2023 spontaneously; but Taylor wearing yellow during IMYIS along w the pap walk w the Cassandra handbag, almost burning down the house 🕯️🧯, and and the fact that all this happened on Nov 13, the day Karlie and Taylor met, indicates that us was actually written much earlier and that the Nov 13 story was just a red herring.

I know it won’t work

This song is all abt boundaries. There are different types of boundaries that show up in the mv: A shoreline, a line in the sand, a fence. It’s clear the narrator doesn’t want to end this relationship and put up walls but she believes she has no other choice bc of her circumstances (not being able to grow up -> Peter, closets).

“I left you here, Heard you keep the extra closet empty, In case this year I come back and stay throughout my twenties” -> The narrator knows there’s no guarantee she’ll actually “grow up” and come out of the closet so her ex keeps the closet empty just in case she wants to move back in and stay in the closet.

“What if I won't? How am I supposed to put that gently? And down the road you will love me until you resent me” -> Since these lines directly follow the ones I just mentioned, you might be inclined to think that “What if I won’t?” is the narrator asking “What if I won’t move back in and rekindle our relationship?” BUT I believe the wording was intentionally ambiguous bc that way it could also mean “What if I won’t grow up and leave the closet? Will you eventually come to resent me if I can’t be the hero you want?”

“But it's a lot, All the shine of half a decade fadin', The whole facade seemed to fall apart, it's complicated” -> This perfectly parallels the 11/09/2019 ♠️ message. The narrator is saying her ex is asking a lot of her by wanting her to come out and destroy the facade. I believe decade might’ve been changed to half a decade so as to not make it obvious Gracie is singing from Taylor’s perspective. The “shine” symbolizes the love and support from fans that has come w being such a famous and successful artist. That’s not an easy thing to give up.

“Why won't you try movin' on for once? That might make it easy, I know we cut all the ties, but you're never really leavin'” -> Taylor knows that even if us kaylors walk away from her we will always eventually come back bc we can’t help but be invested and this puts a lot of pressure on Taylor that she doesn’t want.

“I'll open up, I'm thinkin' everythin' you wish I wasn't, The call was tough but you're better off, I'm bein' honest, So, won't you stop holdin' out for me when I don't want it? Just brush me off 'cause I'm your ghost right now, your house is haunted” -> This entire 3rd verse is extremely telling and fits perfectly w the 2019 failed coming out. The call to not come out was tough bc she was conflicted abt it but she thinks she ultimately made the right decision. Taylor is asking us to stop holding out for a coming out bc it’s not what she wants. Of course I don’t think this is how Taylor currently feels bc I think she’s getting ready to burn down the closet but I think this song shows how she felt at one point. I think the ghost imagery is supposed to connect this song w I miss you, I’m sorry and us as well as all the ghost imagery Taylor has used.

The Bottom

This song is abt hitting rock bottom and being worried that you will drag the ppl you love down w you. It’s kind of a more scathing version of Anti-Hero. I think this song could be directly related to the Mess It Up mv. Someone opens up the door to let Gracie in bc she wants to apologize by giving them a cake. But the narrator warns this person that they should keep their guard up bc she will always be doomed to repeat the same mistakes and drag ppl down w her. Since this song is kind of self explanatory, I’ll instead focus on the mv.

The first thing I noticed when watching this mv is the striking similarities to the Bejeweled mv. Both seem to be inspired by Disney movies/fairytales and even the bells during the title card parts sound similar. PLUS 🎃 anon told us to watch out for things that “ring a belle” -> there are bells in both mvs and one also shows up during the burning castle scene at the end and it is literally ringing; and Bejeweled should look and sound familiar if u have watched The Bottom mv; AND Belle is a Disney princess which is another indicator that 🎃 was referring to these mvs (Taylor wears a yellow dress just like Belle at the end of Bejeweled). Gracie said that The Bottom is supposed to be a satirical mv (see description of vid) and this parallels the Bejeweled mv being satire.

Another thing that’s interesting is that The Bottom mv is kind of the opposite of the Bejeweled mv. In The Bottom, Gracie is dragging a body down the stairs and burying it (descending) while in Bejeweled, Taylor is using an elevator to get higher and higher until she reaches the top floor (ascending). Ascending and descending are things that 🫚 emphasized in this message. Ascending and descending are also things a plane does when flying from one place to another -> “I thought the plane was going down how’d you turn it right around” and all the plane imagery lately. I think 🫚 could have been trying to get us to realize that the beginning stages of this coming out plan (the “ascent,” PR stunts w MH and 🏈, red herrings, 2023-early 2024 🛫) aren’t what we should focus on, it’s the end stages of the journey (the “descent,” cracks in the facade, getting louder w queer flagging, mid 2024-Dec 2024(?) 🛬) that are important.

Yellow shows up a few times in this mv, and I think it’s significant that the room in which the murder happens is a bright one w yellow chairs. Yellow is commonly used to symbolize happiness; Taylor and Gracie use this color in a very similar way to represent daylight/sunshine/summer/being out of the closet/not hiding your real self 💛🌼☀️🏝️ So putting these things together, this scene is symbolically similar to the yellow closet in the Lover house where Taylor has had to put away her sunshine and happiness bc she wasn’t able to come out during Lover era. What was supposed to be a joyous celebration ended w death and destruction.

It’s also interesting that throughout the mv, Gracie is dancing and performing (showmanship/PR) while in a literal spotlight. This ties in perfectly w the very last scene where Gracie is smoking a cigarette which represents bearding/red herrings/lavender haze/smokescreen/smoke and mirrors magic/Blowing Smoke/bad habits. In The Black Dog, Taylor uses smoking as an example of a bad habit/self-destructive behavior she is trying to quit.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you w a few things that I think are very interesting and that could tie in w this theory:

[exileisover]

Here’s a fun little thought exercise to all the toxic tumblr users who seek out accounts they disagree with (e.g. #gaylor accounts such as mine) for the sole purpose of harassing the account owner — why do you care so much about what I write on my blog? Why does it bother you so much that someone else has an opinion/belief that is different from yours — so much so that you choose to spend your precious time anonymously antagonizing people with shitty little comments and hateful direct messages?

Are you truly so arrogant as to believe that your personal opinion is the only possible way to think? Or are you just bored with your sad little life so you try to bully people (again, anonymously, like a coward) on the internet?

And are you really going to pretend that you have a leg to stand on when you have your own ridiculous fan theory accounts? Really?

I mean, at least I can admit my account is silly. It’s not something I take seriously. It’s for fun. I don’t really care that much if my #gaylor theories are real or not. I just like to occasionally take short breaks from my extremely demanding and stressful job to piece together the intentionally vague + delightfully cryptic “Easter Eggs” into alternative possibilities vs what the mainstream hivemind believes about this pop culture phenomenon we are all bearing witness to.

That’s it. I like puzzles. I like tswizzle, and I’ve been following her music since her first album waaaaaay back in the day. I was there, it was rare, when we were all teenagers growing up with Taylor as she debuted and grew her music career and I noticed that some of her lyrics and her little booklet clues and her MySpace posts were a little gay sometimes. And then kissgate happened in real time (I followed the whole thing as it went down, alllll those years ago), and I was like “oh yeah that tracks, she’s probably bi” , and when she was singing “you can want who you want — boys and boys and girls and girls”, and I was there following along for the Big Sur trip and so on with all the other events that have occurred over nearly 20 years. It’s interesting to me. It’s not serious, it’s just fun.

But you sad, pathetic and pathologically poisonous internet trolls who apparently live to spread negative energy and try to bring that bad juju onto my happy little blog… I don’t get you people, and I don’t give a damn if you think I’m wrong. I do give a damn if you come onto my page and try to harass me, because wtf. I don’t come and harass you on your dumb pages.

So with that being said, leave me alone and take a hearty “go fuck yourself” on the way out.

Byeeeeee.

Ps - Karma is real, and it’s gonna bite your virulent hater asses for the way you treat people (anonymously or otherwise).

[lightofraye]

do you ever think just for a little bit, that you might be wrong?

having so many angry people come and tell you that you're wrong, doesn't that make you doubt yourself?

if you were a little bit more humble and a little less entitled, you would consider that you are human too, therefore you're just as prone to making mistakes as anyone else.

maybe you should research better your sources, some of the people you've been talking to have said before that they just like to rile people up, they've admited to making up stuff just for fun.

you also have a dignosed sociopath among your sources, which means they cannot understand emotions.

there's also a troll in disguise, who brags about making people like you believe anything, and then laughs their ass of when you people start making theories based on their bs.

seriously, is it that crazy to believe that Jensen really loves the woman he married?

Hello anon.

You asked a lot here, and I first want to thank you for actually being respectful and polite about it. I don't think I'm being attacked for sharing speculation so much as these particular fans took offense that I'm pointing out that Jensen is, well, an imperfect human. And they didn't have to read my posts--that's just it. Why does it matter if a lone, small-time blogger, is saying something opposite of what they think and feel? I'm not hunting them down, am I? No. I stick to my little corner here.

Okay. Now that's out of the way... let's address what you said.

do you ever think just for a little bit, that you might be wrong?

All the time. It's called being an imperfect human. Not just about Jensen, about everything. Hell, in one screenplay I've been writing on and off (based in the late 1800s) I actually consult my historian daughter-in-law. I'm not joking either.

having so many angry people come and tell you that you're wrong, doesn't that make you doubt yourself?

A dozen--and this is me being generous because their identity is protected through the anonymous feature--of people being pissed at me is not "many" and no... it wouldn't.

Now, if they had concrete proof of anything that I said was wrong, I would actually retract what I said. When it was already pointed out to me that I got an Austin property and the Colorado condo incorrect, I apologized right in the open! When I get a piece of fact wrong, I do apologize. Even if it killed me.

So far, I haven't really seen anything concrete that says I'm wrong. And no, sadly, "Jensen said so!" is not enough. Not when a lot of what he's said is contradictory or an outright lie. (Example: Prequelgate.)

if you were a little bit more humble and a little less entitled, you would consider that you are human too, therefore you're just as prone to making mistakes as anyone else.

Please point out where I arrogantly stated that I knew better than anyone. That I alone knew better than anyone. Please. I beg you. And "entitled" is a strong word, but I'll roll with it. Because... I am entitled to share my opinion on just about anything. Just as you and others are entitled to feel pissed off about it. (Though you are not entitled to the protection of anonymous responses.)

The vast majority of what I've shared and written has been agreed upon by other Jensen Ackles fans and even non-fans! You think I came to some observations on my own?? Or that I didn't wrestle with it for months?

maybe you should research better your sources, some of the people you've been talking to have said before that they just like to rile people up, they've admited to making up stuff just for fun.

You mean like... oh... AustinAmy? Or Abi? Jensen Ackles fans who lied? Them?

And, um. Who do you think I've been getting information from? @walker-girl? @its-sassyboots? Or @hologramcowboy? Or @neecy83? Or @jarpadswalker? Or @supernaturalconvert? (My sincerest apologies to those I tagged. Ahem.)

In actuality? None of them.

Most of what I've mentioned, brought up, were through my own two eyes and ears. I read articles. I watched con panels. I observed pictures that I found through public media. Some, sure, were screenshots that were preserved, thankfully, when Danneel went on a deletion spree to hide her hideous behavior, but most... public. Social media. I didn't 'talk' to anyone.

I did it myself. Why do you think it takes a while for new posts? Because I vet them as much as possible!

And who is making stuff up? Please. I'd love to know.

you also have a dignosed sociopath among your sources, which means they cannot understand emotions.

Er. Who? Because again... I'm not getting anything from just one person. I vet as much as possible or ask for videos. For proof.

there's also a troll in disguise, who brags about making people like you believe anything, and then laughs their ass of when you people start making theories based on their bs.

Again: You mean like AustinAmy and/or Abi? Or Cynifer? Or Dot? Because those so-called members of the Ackles Army are the ones spreading lies.

No one I've spoken to. Because again--I ask for proof. Why do you think I asked about the videos that were sent to me? So I could see for myself.

And I'm still waiting for anyone to point out whatever I wrote is wrong... and back it up.

(Opinions, however, will always be opinions. I guess I do need to state in plain English that some of what I've stated is speculation and I have every right to write my speculations.)

seriously, is it that crazy to believe that Jensen really loves the woman he married?

Yes.

Because he himself stated that his marriage works better when they're apart. That he himself said that when Danneel was on the set of Supernatural, he couldn't be himself. That he himself said that more than once when he came home, she'd hand him the keys and take off herself.

Because a lot of his stories read very generic. There's nothing specific. Just "Danneel likes French food and French music." Okay? When a con or two ago, it was Italian food. Or he'd go sit outside and watch the kids run around. Where's the heart? Where's the specific thing that would stand out in a memory--like maybe while he was moving furniture upon Danneel's direction, he snagged his pants against something and she had to free him while laughing her ass off?

Not to mention, in a lot of photos, there's no genuine affection. It reads like a business arrangement more than a love story. Their kisses in public? And no, I'm not saying they need to be tongue deep to show a kiss. I'm saying their kisses read like cold fish, with his lips so closed and desperately pulling away all the time.

Even Danneel has more open affection and warmth with a family friend than she does her own husband!

So... yes. It is hard to believe.

I've not seen any genuine love or warmth from Danneel--not in anything she's said to do, or done to him. And Jensen... same for him, from him, about her.

Look, anon, I get it.

As hard as it sounds, I am passionate about Jensen. I've been a big fan since his time on Days of Our Lives. I've seen him grow and then stagnate as an actor. I've seen him go from this open, slightly shy and reserved young man to... to this. I could show you, nearly, a timeline of seeing him being bright and full of energy to someone who looks like he's dying inside. This isn't an attack, I promise you.

It's an observation. No, it's not a projection (as I've been accused). It's someone who grew up in an abusive household (like Jensen with his father; his own words) and learned how to read people in order to survive. As a result, I could tell when someone was devastated even before they were ready to talk about it. I was the person people turned to for a shoulder because they knew I'd listen and actually care.

It's how I made my own family.

It's how I came into having a daughter.

I'm not sharing this to toot my horn, anon.

Because isn't it possible... that maybe I'm the one who is right? And it's shattering a vision of an actor who should be seen as an imperfect human being as opposed to the perfect man with the perfect marriage and the perfect career?

[hroscek]

Hello ! I have been following your account for a while and totally in love with your theories and headcannons <3 I’m wondering if it’s possible to make a few headcannons about Dottore working out at the gym ?

Omg thank you so much!! It really means a lot <33 I love feeding fellow Dottore fans with whatever they desire. Here you go pookie, just for you.

🤍Il Dottore workout headcanons🤍

Slightly ooc and silly btw! Also I'm not that into fitness so excuse any awkward wording or mistakes (I run a Dottore fanblog, it's shocking if I leave the house more than once a week).

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Despite being mostly known for his intellectual abilities, Dottore also prides himself on his combat abilities. He is well educated on the topic of human anatomy and fitness. Being The Doctor he is responsible for creating the Fatui soldiers' training guide, maximizing each new recruit's progress toward becoming a worthy soldier. He is also likely behind creating and guiding the harbingers' workouts and combat training, focusing on each of their strengths and weaknesses to create truly powerful beings.

While he does spend most of his time on his research, Dottore is aware he can't skip out on his physical form. That's why he created a specialized workout schedule. His main focus was making sure it doesn't eat up too much of his time (he is a VERY busy man) while getting him ready for a variety of situations. I believe his main goal would be building strength and cardio with a healthy mix of flexibility.

If the leaks are to be believed he wields a claymore, which requires some intense core and arm strength so he'd put in some effort to be able to maneuver it effectively. This would include the standard combat training (most likely with specialized dummies, robots or unlucky segments) but also working with weights and agility training. From the in-game model we can tell he works most on his arms, shoulders, core and chest.

Another important component would be cardio. This helps him keep in shape and monitor his physical well being. It also helps him gtfo if a situation becomes too risky even for him. Most of this is realized with him just running on a treadmill or a similar exercise.

Lastly, he would likely practice some form of flexibility training to aid in his combat (and keep away the back pain). He definitely does some form of yoga, which doubles as an opportunity to do some meditation or pondering™ on his latest experiment.

He prefers to do these workouts alone, likely having a specialized gym in his lab. If he is away or can't access a private spot he will have his guards empty a room for it. He even designed a portable gym setup with the essentials that he brings on missions so he doesn't fall behind.

One time Childe suggested the Doctor show him how to do an exercise on his plan (believing that he'd be able to get a sparring match with a 2nd harbinger out of it) and he hit him with a death stare that could kill a man trough the mask. The poor kid decided to avoid him from then on.

He wouldn't be caught dead working out with other people if he can help it. He sees his body as sacred and it's upkeep is a very private matter to him. If he went to a modern gymbro type gym he'd most likely fake his own death and flee the country (or planet).

He is also one of those psychopaths that workout without headphones or music.

In contrast the segments don't adhere to a strict workout schedule, seeing as their bodies are constructed with combat in mind. Nevertheless they use working out as a way to relax after a mentally taxing period or as bonding with other segments. The younger segments have occasional fights and bets between each other in who's better at a certain sport or activity, usually settled by dropping everything to go measure just who's best.

The segments also have a more fun approach when it comes to taking care of their "bodies". Depending on their personality, some are very open to trying different disciplines and games. One of the teenage segments is actually surprisingly good at horseback riding (one time had a silent hour long race with Kaeya while riding around Mondstadt. They never learned who the other was, but will continue to praise their abilities when reminiscing). Some older segments find never ending joy in exercise tapes and even filmed their own (strictly controlled to make sure it never leaks).

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Thank you for reading and a HUGE thank you to whoever sent the ask <3 It really does mean a lot to see support for my content and I love receiving ideas on what I should cover. I hope this satisfies your Dottore gym urges well enough and sorry it took a while. I didn't post for a bit these days because I'm working on something kinda big but I'm not sure if I'll post it so don't get your hopes up please (a bit of a perfectionist so if it's not perfect it'll never see the light of day). In conclusion, I love getting asks so if there's ANYTHING you wanna share or suggest please do so. I really don't judge.

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[dreamchasernina]

you’re so real for that post bc i really feel that some ppl dont get atla at all. Like this show is a masterpiece and you look at the fandom and it’s just a shipping war??? And ppl hating on aang and it’s like. damn. and I feel like the bad netflix remake just exacerbated this feeling bc of how it’s unequivocally worse than the original, yet people defend it as if small changes don’t have huge consequences for the narrative. and yeah i completely see where you’re coming from. This show means a lot to me and it’s weird seeing people treat it like a flash fandom on the week without putting much thought into its themes and characters

Yup, you got it. The discourse is filled with “this character is bad” or “this character should’ve done that” or “this character is weak” and it’s so disheartening. Is this all you took away from this amazing show?

All the character bashing, like Katara or Aang…If all you can say about the main character of the show is how bad they are, why do you even like the show? People say Katara sucks because she’s still traumatized from her mom’s death, or Aang sucks because he’s childish and not aggressive enough. That’s who they are! If you don’t like it, just say it wasn’t for you and move on. Seriously, if I hated the main character so much I would not consider myself a fan of the show (LoK for instance. I’m not a fan of Korra so I don’t like that show but I would also never ever go out of the way to tell everyone how bad Korra is, just let people enjoy things!).

Especially when people feel the need to hate on Aang to make their own ship justified. Like, ship whoever you want, who cares, but why do you need to hate on a character just because he’s not your taste and you want the girl to end up with someone you like more? Just say - Aang is not my cup of tea and I’d like Katara to end up with Zuko. That’s great, have fun. I ship Kataang with all my heart but I love Zuko and you will never ever see me go into a Zutara tag and hate all over their ship…like, get a life people!

But that’s not even the worst I’ve seen in this fandom, people miss character arcs completely, rewrite them to fit their own narratives, focus on all the mistakes those characters made, instead of looking at how those characters learned from them, and it’s just exhausting. I love being a part of a fandom and sharing my thoughts and theories but this is just straight up missing the point of the show completely.

People want to see everything in black and white when the show is the complete opposite of that. People say - Roku didn’t kill his best friend so he’s the worst Avatar. Or Korra lost her past lives so she the worst Avatar. Or Aang is selfish for not killing Ozai so he’s the worst avatar. If you want to watch a show with perfect characters that don’t have any depth, flaws or desires of their own, maybe this isn’t the show for you.

Go watch the Netflix version, I guess, no one has any depth there, you’ll forget all about it in like a month but that’s probably for the best.

[selene-lunette]

Comparison between Shadow of the Colossus and Dororo

I've been a Dororo fan for years now and I just recently played Team Ico's games for the first time. So, here I'll try to list things that Shadow of the Colossus and Dororo have in common. My theory is that Fumito Ueda was inspired by Osamu Tezuka's work and, vice versa, Ueda's works inspired the 2019 anime adaptation of Dororo. Now, if this was common knowledge, then my bad! If that's not the case, these will be just lots of comparisons. Spoilers ahead!

First of all, both Wander and Hyakkimaru have a goal, and they are determined to reach it, no matter what. Wander wants to bring Mono back to life, while Hyakkimaru wants to collect his bodyparts, that were taken by evil spirits at birth due to a contract his father made to gain power. The demons in Dororo are 48, which is the number of Colossi Ueda initially planned to have in his game.

Now, we know that within the colossi lie severed segments of Dormin's body. As Hyakkimaru defeats a demon, he collects a body part back. So, both the fiends in Dororo and the Colossi in Shadow of the Colossus hold a piece of body. But while in Dororo once these creatures are slayed the body part goes back to its original owner, in Shadow of the Colossus Wander is the vessel of Dormin's body, which is collected through those dark trails that pierce him after each battle.

At the beginning of Dororo's original manga from 1967, Lord Daigo, Hyakkimaru's dad, enters a shrine and finds various devil statues. Here, he makes a contract with the evil spirits, the 48 devil gods. He seeks power, but the price to pay is the body of his own child. Doesn't that sound familiar? Wander also enters a shrine adorned with various idols, where he asks Dormin, the being that controls the souls of the dead, for Mono to be revived. But Dormin warns him that the price he'll pay would be heavy. Both the evil gods and Dormin, while promising what the human desires, ask for something important in return. They are also kind of making fun of the mortals for their requests.

I'd also like to add that, as the Dororo manga continues and picks up with Hyakkimaru now being 14 years old, his lover, Mio, is already dead. We just see her through flashbacks, as the boy tells his story to Dororo. We don't know what's the relationship between Mono and Wander, but it's clear that he deeply cares about her, either as a lover, friend or sister.

(While I'm not sure if this is simply fan speculation or not, wasn't an alternative ending gonna feature Mono come back to life but blind, and she would've slowly regained her eyesight? If this was an actual scrapped ending, it would literally reference a core theme in Hyakkimaru's journey).

As for the rest, the two stories are completely different, but the beginning is pretty similar, at least in my opinion. I feel like Ueda could've been influenced by Osamu Tezuka's work. Back in 2019 a Dororo anime remake aired, a retelling of the story. Just like all the other Dororo adaptations, a lot of things were changed from the original manga. The 48 demons were cut to 12, and another major change is the additional grey morality that envelops the entirety of the show. In the original manga, Daigo wanted to be a powerful ruler and gave his son away without regret. Here, he seeks help from the demons to archieve that, yes, but his lands are being destroyed by famines and epidemics. While he has egoistical ambitions, he's also helping his people. As you watch the anime, you start to question: who is right and who is wrong? Who is truly evil here? Which are questions we all asked ourselves while playing Shadow of the Colossus. While you play, you know why you're slaying the Colossi, but you do start to wonder if you're really doing the right thing. They are just giant creatures, some peaceful if not attacked, and are the only inhabitants of the Forbidden Lands. Is Wander the true villain, is it Dormin, or is it Emon? Is there even a true villain at all, or just characters at cross purpouses?

In Dororo, you root for Hyakkimaru, deprived of his own body. But, as he kills more and more demons, the lands are yet again subjected to droughts and floods. And, on his first encounter with Lord Daigo, his father asks him to stop collecting his body for the sake of the lands. The morally grey character of Hyakkimaru, I feel like, could be inspired by Fumito Ueda's work. There's a major difference in the ending though. As Wander's journey makes him loose his humanity, Hyakkimaru's is the opposite. Withing him, he also has bits of evil spirits enbedded into his soul, much like Wander.

But while Hyakkimaru is plagued by doubts, and sometimes lets the demonic part of him loose, he ultimately reaches his goal to be whole again. With the death of all the demons, the natural disasters stop, starting a period of peace. He gets his humanity back, something that Wander only archieves after being reborn.

Also, this is totally just speculation, but the thing about Hyakkimaru's demon slaying causing illnesses and epidemics might be a reference to ICO. In the PS2 manual (at least in the italian one I own) it is stated that the horned children are believed to be cursed, bringing misfortunes to befall the villages. Another thing added to the 2019 anime adaptation of Dororo is the fact that with each evil spirit Hyakkimaru kills, the idol that represents it at the shrine (where Daigo made the contract) breaks. Which is literally what happens in Shadow of the Colossus.

I'd also like to add that Dororo also has a videogame adaptation for the PS2 called Blood will tell, that contains 48 fiends to defeat in order to retrieve Hyakkimaru's body parts. It came out just a year before Shadow of the Colossus did, and it's such a fun game. It has some amazing looking fiends and, fun fact, Blood will tell's japanese cover art is also a beautiful drawing (made by Hiroaki Samura), while the western box art is a 3D rendition of the main character, much like ICO. Though, not as ugly ;)

I can't tell if this game actually influenced Shadow of the Colossus or not, but it's pretty fun to spot the similarities between the two. The final boss, Behemoth, is the biggest out of the 48 fiends, and its fight is divided in various sections. In one of these, you have to stand on Behemoth's hand so that it can bring you close to its face to attack. It reminded me of the Malus fight.

In another section, you have to climb the fiend's back to destroy its weak spots, which are horns with a very familiar blue tint that shoot lightings. This reminded me a lot of Pelagia (but also of Basaran and Quadratus).

And the last section features Behemoth charging at you while it flies, which of course reminded me of the Avion fight.

Thank you for reading all my yapping about pieces of media I love deeply! After not being able to find many comparison between Dororo and Shadow of the Colossus online, I just had to make one myself. This is my first time making a post like this, so I hope this isn't worded too badly—