#total speculations btw

[goatyuuji]

them twink legs...you can literally wrap a hand around his thighs...

[ranbling]

What if s8 starts and we find out Buck moved in with Eddie?

[blowthemoonout]

people aren’t criticizing trent for the fun of it they’re criticizing him because he deserves it. playing like shit after not speaking on your contract and avoiding making any comments unlike salah and virgil who actually spoke and said they wanted to stay is plain weird. he played like his heads not in it and like he just wants to fuck off to madrid.

people expect their vice captain to have ambition while playing instead of jogging the entire game and playing lazily. mind you he doesn’t even bother with post match interviews he just drops a bad performance and stays quiet.

he obviously shouldn’t be abused on social media or anything but i think it gets to a point where criticism is valid especially after he dropped multiple below avg performances this season and is staying silent about his contract which warrants fans to assume he just doesn’t want to stay plus i think people are tired of some fans babying him constantly 🫤

Respectfully anon, a lot of this message is what I'm talking about.

I'm not saying that he shouldn't be criticized. He should be. He's a professional, and it was really really bad performance. But, for example, saying that he plays like he just wants to fuck off to Madrid. Does he though? Why, because he had a very bad game while his contract saga is in the news? I did not see a player who played like he didn't care or didn't have ambition to win today. What I saw was a player who played like he got deeply in his own head about not doing well and let it spiral. Why is that a less likely interpretation of what's going on?

Maybe he really doesn't give a shit about Liverpool this season, and really can't wait to get to Madrid. I don't think those things are particularly likely, but it's possible. The point is we don't know. We don't know this man or what's he's thinking. We should not create a public narrative about someone based on motivations that we've ascribed to them.

And I know that this isn't a popular take, but I don't think he's done anything wrong by not speaking about his contract. Mo and Virgil have expressed that they want to stay at Liverpool because they're (seemingly) sure that they do. I have always felt that Trent hadn't decided yet. Which may or may not be true, but what exactly is he supposed to say if it is? Either way, he said he's not going to talk about it and that's reasonable. Madrid are doing what they always do, which is trying to get a fanbase to turn on a player they're targeting. Unfortunately, it's been very successful. And I don't think it's babying him to say that. I think it's just waiting to make a judgement until we actually know what's going to happen, rather than just guessing.

Tl;dr: all I'm saying is criticize him based on his action and performance, not on what we assume is going on in his head. For example, the point about him not doing post-match interviews is a good one! And as a professional he needs to find a way to either focus better in games regardless of what's going on in his life, or not let mistakes impact him that much. All the rest of it is speculation that shouldn't be spoken about as if it's fact.

[hellomagicalsouls]

im going to be so insufferable tomorrow, I can already see it coming.

my bingo card is ready for stuff to be ticked off. god help when the actual season comes out.

i at least want to get two of my feelings right. or even one i just want to be right about something.

[cherish--these--times]

I dunno about them being ready for the lightning but I FUCKING AM.

[science-lings]

There are a lot a problems with this theory because totk is a jumbled mess, but a think the time Zelda traveled to might be before skyward sword. A few things might point to that, first is the forgotten temple, which is definitely a reference to the temple of hylia from skyward sword. The Zonai were keeping their secret stones in it, which implies that they built it, and if that’s the case then they came before sksw. Another thing is the clothing style. The ancient people of Hyrule wear obviously old style clothing and weaponry, but by skyward sword and every other games down the line, the clothing are more covered and « modern » and the weapons more refined

That's interesting and totally valid, I mostly don't personally believe it bc of the existence of the Rito and the Zora and the Gerudo which all didn't pop up until much later. Though it would be cool if Rauru and Sonia somehow were 'Hylia's' (or sksw Zelda's) ancestors, because Hylia and her bloodline are both associated with Time and Light and the mysterious 'Sealing Power' that keeps evil away, which both Rauru and Sonia do with the light magic in the shrines and what Rauru does with Ganondorf at the end. It's an interesting theory to be sure.

Maybe there was no goddess Hylia until the Zonai and the 'Humans' united. Maybe Hyrule came before Hylia.

[aaravos-answers]

wait is human trigonometry different from Xadian trigonometry?

or does Xadia just not have any of that because magic?

Starling, math and magic are not separated. They're quite intertwined at times. But yes, Xadian mathematics does differ from human mathematics, but mostly in that we found different terms to describe the same phenomena, like different languages.

[quibbs126]

Okay, that’s definitely that Okchun Cookie NPC I remember seeing before

I did like her design, so I’m glad she’s playable now

I assume this is a sequel to the Rebel and Vagabond story, which I have not seen. So I guess I’m gonna have to do that now

Curious who the other Cookie will be, hope it’s a new one though

[theflyingfeeling]

Here’s s link but I don’t know if it works 🥺

https://streamable.com/hrj4ja

it was when someone commented that 20 in 1 shampoo is so straight men of you and Aleksi read half of it before he realized what it said and I’m not 100% how but I link this to my headcanon of Aleksi living in denial but maybe he doesn’t want to address being straight either (and I don’t mesnt to speculate this is just my headcanon)

I hope you don't mind me adding it to my answer, anon! lmao that is the face of a man who's just realised he may not be as straight as he thought he was and is now questioning everything, so ummmmm yeah shampoo is great hehe uhhhh cars??

[flange5]

The inevitable forum confusion whenever a new indictment lands over which of the pending criminal suits it is this time (is it GA? No this one is DC.)

[mademoiselle-red]

I saw someone describe the three kingdoms period as a grand and bloody funeral for the Spring-Autumn-Qin-Han culture and I think it’s such a great way of thinking about the vibes of the Three Kingdoms.

Because there does seem to be a huge cultural vibe shift between Eastern Han and Wei-Jin-Northern & Southern Dynasties driven by demographic changes and the breakdown and rejection of a lot of traditional value systems that originated in the Spring-Autumn period and became codified and entrenched during the Han Dynasty. Like the Jin Dynasty removing “loyalty 忠” (!!!) from the traditional foundation ethics of “loyalty & piety 忠孝” (likely because they can’t really claim to uphold loyalty given what they did to the Cao royal house). And the emphasis on sentimentality, individualism, opulence among the upper classes accompanied by the consolidation of power among a few ruling families.

And then another huge vibe shift once the dust of the Hu Invasions have settled by the Sui-Tang Dynasties. The assimilation of new ethnic groups and the transfer of power from the hereditary nobility to the bureaucracy who came to power via imperial exams accelerated during the Song Dynasty and would be completed by the Ming Dynasty.

[girltomboy]

MY bf apparently cannot take any paid leave yet because he's been at his workplace for less than 6 months, which means our vacation is under a big question mark this year...... well, HIS vacation, because I'm not really about to have been working a year without a vacation, sorry.......sooo sorry not sorry though 🤪 though I am afraid to vacation alone. I don't think my country is very solo-trip friendly, especially when you're a woman. But I can't afford to go elsewhere, and it would be last minute planning anyway. It drives me NUTS that this is just. Normal. Like, having to work 6+ months at a workplace before the employer decides you deserve to have some time off. He works 14 hours shifts for 2 days every 2 days too, so he doesn't even have legal holidays or weekends off AND isn't EVEN allowed to SIT DOWN!! That's just fucking insane sorry I can't fault the employees for putting up with this cause everyone's gotta eat but just the principle like just the mere simple fact that this happens and no one bats an eye. Is making me rabid. Vacation plans ruined aside. And my best friend is in the same situation of not being able to go on holiday except she's been working at her desk job for like 2 years. It's even more infuriating that her employer decided she should take all of her days off in December last year. Like imagine your employer deciding when you take your vacation?? I'd shit in my chair and leave.

Anyway topic change: lately I've been going crazy over Fia, like I can't stop thinking about her all the time, and especially wondering how she's doing, how life has been treating her. I feel it's kind of unhealthy and like borderline a creepy obsession that only I know about, but I don't want to let go of her, the memory of her is such a mental crutch to me. I realized Saturn transited her Moon maybe a couple weeks or so back, and I pulled a card for the very broad and general question "How is she?". And the card was The Tower 😭 and ik the Tower isn't always automatically bad or dangerous, but it has potential to be, and anyway it represents change and upheaval and I got a bit sad/scared for her. I just hope she has a good and full support system, regardless of whatever has been going on, good or bad. I always wonder this, trying to picture her surrounded by people who love her and care about her, trying to picture her receiving that love and care. I think it's hard to picture her giving it back because I've never seen her do that, but it's easy to picture the former because I loved her for so long. Sometimes I idealize her to such an extent that it feels surreal for such a human to exist on earth, she turns fragile and tender in my vision, like a single touch would hurt her, and the urge to protect her grows even more intense, and brings with it the frustration of being incapable of doing so. It's bizarre, this has happened with almost all of my obsessions over time. I think she's my longest lasting one. OH and I was also thinking about her like fear? Of being the subject of gossip, or being talked about in Facebook groups of students and such. I do have a memory of her asking something like that, and even though she was reassured she still seemed so anxious about it. Probably why she stays off social media. And yet it was her coworker who was overheard gossiping about her irl... by my friend, who said he called her crazy. 😑 Idk, just some thoughts that kind of add to my theory of her being a Gemini rising with Pisces moon in the 10th house. I've also been watching Breaking Bad with my bf (we finished it yesterday!! He loved it and so did I, rewatching it as an adult has been such a good decision and so wild. It really is one of the best TV shows ever made) and Bryan Cranston's mannerisms, facial expressions, gestures (ofc not limited to his Breaking Bad role, I was also noticing this in Malcolm in the Middle) are so similar to hers I almost thought my bf would recognize some of them, and his "exposure" to Fia was much shorter-lived than mine, and through a screen. And he's a Gemini rising!

[pyrodolls]

I love that Bayani is so damn clingy, but I would never confess that to him.

If we were unfaithful to him, would he still be with us?

IF YOU WERE UNFAITHFUL (SUPERFAN! YANDERE BOY X POPSTAR!READER)

WARNINGS: slight nsfw, mentions of vomit, cheating, death, stalking, depression, slight worshipper yandere, established relationship, lowercase intended, reader is gender neutral

A/N: hey guys peep the new acc layout and username omgggg! anyways thanks for all the birthday messages and also update on the bsf drama: i don't know for SURE if she's dating him, cuz she posted the picture of my ex but his face wasn't showing and the caption was talking abt her bf... so maybe she just HAPPENED to use that picture of my ex and the caption was talking about a whole different dude??? idk maybe im just delusional LMAOO but yeah i'm still friends with her cuz she's a total sweetheart and i'm sure it was just a coincidence. anyways sorry for taking such a long break, heres some bayani hcs!! btw guys... just between you and me... i too, am down bad for bayani and love how clingy he is. bring back kind and clingy men instead of men texting you "wyll" on snapchat

if you were unfaithful to bayani, he would most likely find out through the internet.

bayani is obsessed with you in every single way. so if he couldn’t be with you physically, he’d stalk you through the paparazzi or fans recording your concerts.

there was one concert that bayani unfortunately couldn’t attend. so he simply watched it through a fan’s livestream online. that’s how he noticed another popstar on stage with you. the crowd went wild and started screaming. the arena shook with the vibrations of your fans. the popstar with you started to sing and dance next to you. bayani was always jealous of anyone that got to be around you when he couldn’t, but this was different. the popstar on the stage with you was rumored to be dating you. fans on the internet had been speculating about your relationship for months, claiming that you two were “soulmates” and “secretly dating.”

it made bayani’s blood boil. but he knew it was bound to happen at some point, since you would often rant to him about how suffocating fame could be. he knew it wasn’t your fault. he wasn’t mad at you at all. he knew you still cared about him.

but the song ended, and the popstar next to you wrapped their arms around your body and connected their lips to yours.

the crowd started screaming once more, and the person recording the performance dropped their phone. bayani couldn’t see what was going on.

plus, the livestream was blurry so he couldn’t tell if you were pleased with the popstar’s advances or not.

either way, bayani dropped his phone and threw up.

the minute you arrived home from the concert, bayani ran up to you and grabbed onto your waist, clutching it desperately.

“was what i saw real? are you with that popstar now? are you saying the rumors i saw online were true? i tried to ignore them because i know how your fans can be, but still…” bayani babbled, crying as he spoke and his words slowly became unintelligible.

whether you were interested in the popstar or not didn’t matter. bayani would be on his knees, pleading for an explanation. he would spiral into a pit of self-deprecation, thinking he wasn’t good enough for you, so you went off with someone more attractive and more talented than him. he wouldn’t blame you at all. he wouldn’t be mad at you at all. he’d be mad at himself for not pleasing you enough.

if you weren’t interested in the popstar and it was simply a publicity stunt, you would have to gently hold bayani in your arms to calm him down and explain. he would be SO relieved. he’d still be upset, though. he would be relieved that you’re still interested in him, but he’d also be jealous someone got to kiss and hold you in front of millions of people. bayani would never tell you that, though. he’d try to suck it up and pretend that he’s cool with it, but you can tell he’s really upset (he’s a terrible liar) and you would have to reassure him that you’ll never do it again.

if you WERE interested in the popstar… uh wtf are you doing here?? jkjk but if you were actually dating the popstar, bayani would be crushed. he would probably beg you to stay with him and forget about the popstar, but he'd ultimately fail to convince you. he’s desperate, but he isn’t stubborn. if you rejected him over and over as he begged, he’d get the hint and leave you alone. he just wants you to be happy. as much as he hated seeing you with someone else, he’d want you to live your life however you want.

if you left him, bayani would fall into a deep depression, thinking he failed you. he would never be happy again. he would hate himself for messing up what could've been his perfect life. he could’ve been with you. he could’ve lived happily ever after as your servant for the rest of his life, but he wasn't good enough for you. even though you were the unfaithful one, he’d still believe you were the one in the right. it would haunt him for the rest of his life until he died.

[lukolabrainrot]

I am going to talk about some of my thoughts about why I believe N's behavior changed as the PR tour progressed. I am also going to talk about my thoughts on if L&N ever got "jiggy with it" 😂 I'll try to get to my thoughts on Toronto and Ireland tomorrow.

Before I start though, I want to mention that I am trying to come to my theories/opinions based off of things I have been able to observe, and verified information online. Obviously though, I don't actually know any of these people irl, so I am never going to understand the full story of what is going on between L/N. All of this is just my thoughts and theories on what is going on based on what has been put out to the public. There has been a lot of speculation online about everything, but I am going to try and not give that information too much weight when coming to my conclusions here. I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts/opinions though, since this story has a lot of moving parts. Just wanted to put this disclaimer out before moving forward with more of my thoughts/theories.

Alright, on to the main course (this is going to be a LONG post btw)...

N on the PR Tour

I want to start off with the following that we know to be fact about N:

She is INCREDIBLY private about her personal life, especially her dating/romantic life (the same isn't/hasn't really been true about L). In fact, I don't believe N has ever publicly come out as being in a relationship with anyone since she entered the entertainment industry/been in the public eye (although I can't 100% confirm this, so please let me know if there are any articles/or something on her SM where she has publicly confirmed she was in a relationship at some point)

She is VERY online, and very careful about controlling her public narrative

She is a naturally touchy and affectionate person with people, but she seems to hold her true feelings a lot closer to her heart, and it seems to me, that she is kind of "on" in public (which is actually an important skillset to have as someone in the entertainment industry because you really need to know how to stay in control of your public narrative--your fans are your livelihood)

She LOVES photography/taking photos (it is one of her love languages I believe)

Now as I mentioned, L was always a lot more of an open book on the PR tour about his feelings for N (refer to my post here). N seemed to be a lot more reserved/gaurded during the tour when it first started in January, but everything shifted in like April when the world tour started. Below are my thoughts:

N started to become a LOT more obvious through her nonverbal cues about her genuine feelings for L as the tour unfolded. I will say that I believe PART of it probably had to do with getting a little "lost in the sauce" with the energy of the tour. However, I think the larger factor was that L & N were pushed together for many months (in close quarters), and were therefore forced to have conversations about their feelings for each other that I think they had been tiptoeing around for quite a while. From what we then saw from like the middle of Italy (I'm an Italy truther), there was more of a confidence, security, and contentment in how they interacted with each other that signaled to me feelings were shared and reciprocated.

Like I mentioned, she is a PR queen and very, very private about this part of her life. Therefore, why would she decide to be so obvious about her feelings on such a public stage when she knows people analyze everything? Well... I believe this is her way of publicly acknowledging their romantic feelings for each other without ACTUALLY publicly acknowledging anything more than "work besties" is going on with them. Which totally makes sense when you think about it because 1) The fandom would LOSE IT rn 2) That would put a LOT of public pressure on them, and I think these feelings they have shared with each other are very new (but had been brewing for a long time), and I don't think they are confident enough to go public. There is also, of course, the A of the whole situation, which L needs to figure out how he wants to move forward with that. TLDR, the situation is very messy, and I think there is a lot that L/N need to process in private regarding each other out of the public eye. I am pretty confident though that this tour put them in a situation to confront, clarify, and establish what their romantic feelings are for each other outside of the show (and they were reciprocated), and they are taking the space right now to explore that privately.    

Lastly, because I really like analyzing photos and N loves taking pictures, let's talk about those "boyfriend pics" of L she posted since the world tour started. Yes, she was promoting the show, but a lot of those pictures (especially recently) have a very specific vibe. She wants the world to see him the way she sees him. She loves that man, clear and simple. He shines around her, and she knows that. I think it’s also especially telling that she posted the most recent boyfriend pic of her last day of filming (which was the most obvious one in my opinion) now that A is publicly connected to L. It was a statement in my opinion, that regardless of all the drama unfolding, her and L have a really deep and meaningful connection that is special to her. I think it also served as a message that we don’t know the full story, which I think is a positive thing for us Lukola fans. Now I can’t predict the future with these two, but I am fairly certain we wouldn’t have been seeing the type of behavior we saw from them on the PR tour, and the types of photos she has been posting of him lately, if they weren’t confident in moving forward with their romantic relationship in the near future (especially since A has been in the picture for quite some time). I think these pics serve as another crumb that they are a little more than just work besties.

One last note, I think the reason our PR queen started slipping up and changing her answers to certain questions on the tour is because SHE WAS REALLY HAPPY WITH HIM. This can be a whole separate post at some point if people are interested, but I am almost certain from everything I have observed regarding N, that she is quite jaded when it comes to finding a romantic partner, and has been hurt in romantic relationships in the past.  I feel like L is the more sweet, hopeless romantic between the two. I think he allowed her to heal some of her relationship wounds. I think there is something about L and the experiences they’ve shared together that has reignited something within N to make her feel more hopeful about having a deep romantic connection while she can still be very independent and successful in her field. And I think it specifically has something to do with who L is when he is with her and how he treats her. I get the impression he has really altered the way she sees certain things related to romantic relationships. My whole point is that I think they both know what they have, and they know that if they can get on the same page, this relationship would get serious pretty quickly. Therefore, even though N is really private with this part of her life, for L, I think she would publicly acknowledge their relationship, but only when/if they are able to get to a point where they feel confident enough that their relationship would be able to withstand the pressures from the public. They just aren't there currently because of all the other confounding factors, but I don't think that necessarily signals where they will be in like 6 to 8 months imo...

Have L/N ever gotten freaky deaky irl?

From before the PR tour, I just don't have enough information to confidently say yes or no. A lot of people have different opinions on this, and some people think they casually dated near the end of filming season 3/sometime last year (but we don't have any proof of that). This is what I will say:

N still follows J (and vice versa I believe, please lmk if I'm wrong?), so I don't think there is any bad blood there. This makes me pretty certain that L/N never acted on any physical feelings for each other until after that relationship was completely over. I do think though that L/N have had a spark for a while (and tbh, I think L has kind of had a thing for N since they met, and his feelings for her have always been stronger). Therefore, this likely played a part in him emotionally distancing from his relationship with J when season 3 started filming, but at the end of the day, we will never know the specicifics of why they decided to part ways. My guess is that there were a lot of reasons that relationship did not end up working out considering how serious that relationship was.

Considering how WILD L/N's sexual chemistry is, it wouldn't surprise me if they hooked up at some point before the PR tour. But considering L was on Raya by February/March 2023 (from my understanding?), and the fact that N was SUPER busy last year and traveling a bunch, I just don't think there was any time for them to have anything more than something super casual/no commitment (if anything). Even if they did maybe hook up some, I don't think they really directly addressed the depth of their feelings for each other, which is why we saw all that behavior between them on the tour, because I don't think any clear boundaries had been put up and their feelings came flooding back.

Now I feel a lot more confident that somethingggg intimate happened at least once between them on the PR tour. Here are my theories:

I don't think things were great between them at the beginning of the tour (like January) because feelings I think started popping up again for these two during the reshoots in December 2023, and then the NYE kiss comes out, and N and L are feeling disconnected and aren't really on the same page about the tour.

I think they had some conversations in private, because by the VDay event, they seemed a lot more on the same page (and L was giving N those total heart eyes). The extra layer is that (I believe?) A accompanied L to the city the event was in (I think NYC?), but even though A was staying with him, L was STILL looking at N like THAT during the event (which I think speaks VOLUMES).

I think though there were a lot of things they still weren't talking about, and everything came to a head when they got to Italy, which is why the vibes were off at first and it seemed like there was tension between them. This also occurred soon after the Instyle stunt, so I feel like N probably had some feelingssss about that.

I have recently been converted to an Italy truther, so I believe that Italy was where L/N finally addressed/readressed some of their feelings for each other, and N was trying to get some clarity on WTH was going on with A, and making sure it wasn't going to mess anything up with the tour. But I think they "kissed and made up" 😉 and got back on the same page. Which is why there was the shift in Italy, and why we saw what we saw for the rest of the tour.

Not sure exactly what happened of course, but I get the feeling something physical happened after they started having some BIG conversations about each other that they had needed to have for a long time (and I think they continued to have these conversations with each other as the tour progressed). Let's also remember that these are two very non-confrontational people, so I feel like there must have been a LOT of pent up feelings/emotions for them to publicly show that they weren't super happy with each other/beefing during the beginning of Italy.

I also definitely think they physically acted on their feelings in Brazil (like they just had the "glow" imo 😂). And the eff me eyes, c'mon. Like Brazil continually reminded me of that New Girl quote "The stench of filth and lust is all over this room." It just seemed pretty obvious to me 😂 Especially considering the events that transpired right after that with A, and between L/N for the rest of the tour.

Lastly, I know a lot of people believe that L/N didn't physically act on their feelings because the tension would go away. However, I actually think it's a good sign that tension is still there, because I think it shows that there is a pretty deep connection between these two, and they are still feeling that pull/sexual energy after having sex. They kind of remind me of like two friends in a friend group who just admitted their true feelings for each other but aren't ready to go public, but are also having crazy good sex, so they are super obvious and can't really hide it when they are together LOL Regardless if they had ever physically acted on their feelings before the tour, I think these experiences (IF they did indeed occur), helped L/N get clarity if their strong feelings and attraction for each other went past the show and their characters. And I personally think they got that clarity 😉

Wowww okay that turned into an essay LOL, but I think the TLDR is that the situation seems very complicated right now, and I think there is a lot that L/N are needing to figure out in private. But I don't think that negates or invalidates what we saw between them on the PR tour, or that they were "faking" their feelings. Human beings are messy and imperfect, and that is okay. I think the part that still really confuses me is the whole A of the situation, because I just can't wrap my head around it. I would love to hear other people's opinions though on how she factors into all this, so if you have theories/questions you would like to add to that discussion, drop them in my asks. Because I have thoughtssss 😂

[thefirstknife]

Information about the new stuff for Destiny! I recommend reading the articles starting with this one. Some really cool and exciting possibilities. All of it is still very early so we don't know details, but we did get some images!

The next two are super exciting, I'll go wild in the speculation so it'll be under read more:

No clue what these are. They've teased that we'll be going to new places and especially leaving the solar system. The second picture even shows an unfamiliar sky with two planets/moons. But the technology on the ground is human (aside from the white floating things which is potentially human, but could also be something else) and it seems like it's been here a while so I don't think this is us freshly arriving. Or, depending how this will proceed, maybe it is. Perhaps some ships could be sent ahead of time and by the time we get there in person, they'll be in this state?

The ship in the first image feels old though, and it's in what looks like a dry water bed (sea? river? lake?). Feels alien with the weird things floating in the sky, but the actual ship looks very old.

If we're talking Golden Age colonisation projects, there aren't many options here to explore. We know they had projects, but everything we know about them is that they failed due to the Collapse. Exodus ships never made it out; the only one we know about that did is Indigo which ended up only reaching Neptune. We know Exodus Black had a target outside of the system (Kepler-186) but that ended up crashing on Nessus. It's always possible that there's some other previously unaccounted for Exodus ship that did make it out and we just didn't know about it which makes sense given the Collapse and a total loss of information.

Clovis had the ECHO project which was supposed to go to Andromeda, but one ship never launched and one was stolen by Soteria and crashed on Neptune. There's one peculiar lore tab I've really never forgotten about that mentions what appears to be some sort of a transmission around the time of the Collapse of someone attempting to escape the system and, well:

"If I rig the pod just so, I should make it to Ross 128 b before the systems die. I can rally some ships and try to make it back."

The mention of going there, "rallying ships" and coming back implies there's ships to rally at that location which further implies there's a living colony. I've always been intrigued by this lore tab and there's never been any sort of elaboration on it. Once again, it makes sense because even if people of the Golden Age settled somewhere out of the solar system, we simply wouldn't know about it unless those both survived and were able to reach back to us. Given the state of this technology in the images, perhaps the colony failed, possibly because of the loss of contact with Earth and resources before it could be properly set up. Both Kepler-186 and Ross 128b are real exoplanet locations btw.

Anyway, we have no idea what this is and as much as I like speculating, I hope it's something wild that we can't possibly guess. I just wanted to go into some of this because it's cool and exciting to think of the possibilities that have been mentioned but never explored.

There's other options as well. My first thought over the first image before I saw the second one was Panama Ravine, with the dried out water bed and the ship, but I think that feels a little too small as an exciting new "frontiers" location. Because it would just be Earth. But the second image shows an unfamiliar sky so!

There's other possible options including stuff we can't really even begin to imagine because it hinges on stuff that will be happening next two episodes. They said that the next two episodes will be hinting at what this is and where we're going.

Really intrigued about all of this as I have been since they teased Frontiers! So clear that they plan on taking us to completely new places and I can't wait to see what they have planned.

I do have some concerns about the plans with how content will be delivered. Two expansions, even smaller ones, is a lot of work, on top of free seasonal updates. My main concern is that after the layoffs and downsizing of the studio, this will be tough on the employees which might once again lead to crunch and insane demands. I want people to keep that in mind when we talk about our expectations for this content. It would feel bad not to mention this. I'm excited but also I don't want to forget everything that happened and how this might be affecting the team. I'm also not sure if it's the right way to go back to four 3-month cycles again instead of keeping three longer episodes, but since it's a different type of a cycle, who knows.

Either way I'm excited and I'm excited about all the future information they'll be sharing over the months to come.

[rey-jake-therapist]

Ok, here am I again posting another TROP/Haladriel meta... Feel free to mute me if you can't take it anymore, these are gonna be two long weeks as there are still two episodes left...

We're having a lot of discussions about what we'll get to see in Episode 8 (maybe even a bit in episode 7??), and it's really great and exciting to speculate about what will happen when our two love birds mortal enemies finally meet again.

It seems to be the general consensus that Sauron will try again to convince her to be his queen. Now I may be the dissonant voice, but I personnally don't think it will be that straightforward.

Charlie said several times that Sauron was pissed that Galadriel rejected him, but that it wasn't the end of the world, for him. Meaning: he totally believes he can make it without her.

To the Nerdist, he said :

"Speaking of your old screenmate, Sauron asked Galadriel to be his queenOpens in a new tab at the end of season one of The Rings of Power. How much, if at all, does he still want that by this point? And does he think it’s a possibility? Vickers: I think he probably does think it’s still a possibility because he has this hubris and this self-love. He thinks he’s really cool, and he thinks, “Well, she rejected me once, but next time I come back for her, she won’t reject me again because I’ll be so powerful she won’t be able to.” But I don’t think he necessarily wants that. I think his initial proposal to her was to join him, and they could be king and queen of Middle-earth, but really, he would’ve been king, and she would’ve been his righthand woman. Any kind of dreams he has involve her being number two and him being number one."

(I would love to see him try to submit Galadriel to his will, btw. I mean, c'mon man)

To Collider, he said,

"His getting rejected definitely leaves him with this sour taste in his mouth, and he goes away thinking, “I can make this right.” Whatever that means to him. That's one of his throughlines in terms of his motivation or goals for this second season is how much he's driven and how much this relationship gives him a sense of purpose."

And to Schön:

That connection will endure as long as the show endures because although they might not be together in proximity when we pick it up, he’s pissed off that she has turned his pitch down [laughter]. That drives him to think, I can make her join me, or I’ll make her pay for this.

Here, there's also an interview he gave for Total Films, where he reveals that there's a "huge amount of urgency in each of them trying to obtain what they want in that situation": https://x.com/totalfilm/status/1830244276539654595

I'm sure I've read an interview where Charlie said that Sauron would probably want to taunt Galadriel with what they could have done together had she said yes. Edit : found it! Interview for TV Insider.

Second to his lust for more rings is Sauron’s desire to get the Elven rings back. “While he didn’t directly touch them, which is a big thing this season, [Galadriel] has this ring that he put all this effort into, and he wants that back,” Vickers admits. Sauron “covets” these jewels, “and particularly hers,” he explains, “because he knows what they represented when he was making them.” Sauron feels “taunted” and “pissed off” that Galadriel rejected him. That makes getting her ring back personal, but Vickers insists that “he’s past ruling with her.” That won’t stop him from showing her “what could have been, what you could have had,” Vickers teases.

Of course Charlie can't give much away. But so far, it matches with what we saw in season 2 : he's in Eregion, forging his rings of power with Celebrimbor, he's visibly happy (just kidding, the man looks exhausted and depressed), but sometimes he can't help but think of Galadriel.

I love how the experience is completely different for him, from it is for Galadriel: while she had a bittersweet flashback of her and Halbrand in the Southlands, he gets lost in the contemplation of Mirdania's hair because she reminds her of Galadriel, and manifests images in his mind palace that also remind him of her (there are several posts about all this on Tumblr, including one of mine... I won't enter into the details again).

It would be very OOC of Sauron to display an outright nostalgia for the time he spent with Galadriel as Halbrand, imho, even if it was only for the audience to see. He's not supposed to be sad and nostalgic, but pissed at her for rejecting him, and determined to move on and to obtain what he wants without her in the picture. He's probably annoyed af to see his thoughts shifting towards Galadriel while he's in the middle of something very important. He's in his "the fuck with her" phase of the breakup, which pretty much matches what Charlie said. In his hubris, he believes that once he has his rings, he will be so powerful that Galadriel will have no other choice than joining him. She hurt his pride, so now he wants to relish the sight of her submission to him.

Regarding the mind palace scene, precisely the one where the guy tells the Galadriel look alike he wrote a poem : it probably remained unnoticed by most viewers, but I think it's very significant that this scene arrived at THIS moment. Let me explain:

To convince Celebrimbor, Sauron first assures him that when the story of this age is written, the Silmarils will be "no more than a whisper". Of course it's meant to motivate Celebrimbor who always wanted to create something that would be remembered, like the Silmarils. But it can be interpreted as a personal goal for Sauron as well :

1) Morgoth found the Silmarils so beautiful that for weeks, "he could do nothing but stare into their depth".

2) Fëanor admired Galadriel's hair so much it gave him the idea of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees, and three times requested a tress of hers (she always said 'no').

The two people he loved/admired but hurt him the most are connected to the Silmarils in a way, so he could see the creation of something "more precious" as a personal challenge. After he promises Celebrimbor that his rings of power will be "deemed the most precious creations in all Middle-Earth", and Celebrimbor returns to his workshop, his attention is caught by the sight of a couple. The man (whose face remains unseen, because he's a just a self-insert) tells the Galadriel look alike :

"I've written a poem, but I fear your beauty still overshadows anything I could possibly write."

Of course we joked about Sauron's pathetic attempt at poetry (it's terrible lol), but imho there was a deeper meaning to this scene. I think it was his subconscious manifesting what he already knows deep inside of him : that without Galadriel's light, there will ALWAYS be something missing. That what he told Celebrimbor was a lie, no matter how much Sauron wants it to be the truth. The Rings of power are his poem, but Galadriel's beauty/light will always overshadow it.

Hence why it's pretty much granted that he will try to "get Galadriel back". He'll show her how powerful he is now that he has the Nine rings, and his proposal will probably not be as charming as it was the first time. I think we should prepare ourselves to a lot of gaslighting and threatening from his part (he's still pissed off, guys). He'll surely tell her that Eregion is burning because she refused him, that kind of thing. He will definitely use her memories of Halbrand (it's pretty much confirmed by the presence of Halbrand's theme within The Temptation music, and maybe Galadriel's vision of Halbrand enters that scheme too), but will it be to show her what they could have had if she had said yes the first time, or what they could still be? It remains to be seen.

We probably shouldn't forget that in his mind, it happens like this: "she joins me, or I'm making pay for it".... It should be pretty intense.

Then we've got what Charlotte Brändström revealed about Sauron (bless her heart) :

"I think Sauron even really loves Galadriel and you will see that at the very end”

There are already several threads discussing how Sauron will show his love for Galadriel... Will he spare her? Save her in one way or another? Heal her because she's hurt? Prove her in some way that what he said he felt as Halbrand was real? Something entirely different? Anyway, it will be something that can't be confused with manipulation.

There, I said my piece. Why isn't it next Thursday yet?