#uh. speculation

[captaindeinony]

Pokemas canon but

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[deerspherestudios]

will we ever get to find out where mychael came from? i have this idea but if it turns out my idea isnt close to canon i kinda wanna....use it for my own story LOL

Of course! Based off the amount of asks I get asking what Mychael is it's definitely one of the bigger questions people wanna know. Feel free to drop your theory if you'd like! (I'll neither confirm or deny <3)

[bunnieswithknives]

hey in ur peri animatic: (https://youtu.be/OCqlRuDaXYU?si=K52WDu_vw9rg7chz) that I have been permanently obsessed over since today and have watched about 20 times by now so much that I have drawn & posted stuff based on it what was that partial bug form peri had?

I haven’t watched either of the show btw so if it’s explained in the show please tell me plsssss

OK, SO the bug thing is not technically canon to the series. It's based on my own headcanons for fairy biology, but i do have justifications for it!! Fairies have very strong shape-shifting abilities, so it would make sense that the form they show to humans isn't necessarily their true form(not to mention extreme that mimicry is very common in insects). And you want to know the visible traits almost every fairy has in common? Being very small with Insect-like wings.

The fact that their humanoid form isn't their true form in actually confirmed in the show! Cosmo and Wanda are revealed to look like biblically accurate pseudo-angels in the museum episode. (I say pseudo angels because the Flaming Sword of Eden is only debatably sentient and I don't think is considered an angel. Ophanim are also debatably not angels because they don't have wings (sorry for the angel tangent I like angels))

So wouldn't their true forms be angelic then? Well, yes. But I like bugs so. Also I have more headcanons to justify myself. I like to think that they have both a true-true form (incomprehensible to the human brain, probably exists mostly in a dimension invisible to us, that looks how we imagine biblically accurate angels), and a fairy form (which is visible to humans but is naturally very insect like and tends to scare people). So, in order to interact with humans, they have to learn to shapeshift into a humanoid form but will occasionally slip if they get too relaxed/aren't careful, hence the mandibles coming out when he yawns!

The reason they struggle so much more with human forms than the animals or objects they typically turn into is that, well, they aren't trying to convince those animals or objects. The more human they try to look, the harder it is to keep up convincingly. If you turn into a really uncanny squirrel, only other squirrels will notice. If you turn into a really uncanny human, they form a lynch mob and burn you at the stake.

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

I think if Soos got a glimpse of the kind of home life Pacifica has he would be like "Nope!" And do his best to yoink her right out of there. Cue chase sequence starring attack peacocks!

I would like to present for your consideration- The Mystery Shack Crew: Fall, Winter, and Spring Edition!

Soos Ramirez!

Mr. Mystery himself! Owner, tour guide, salesman, chief handyman, and proud boyfriend of Melody! He's living his best life. He takes the crew out on adventures every once in a while to find inspiration for new attractions, and often they come back with evidence of actual cryptids. Not that the average tourist can tell the difference. There's a lot of classic Stan-isms around the Shack, but he's running it all in his own Soos-y way. The place has become a lot more popular with kids since he took over.

Melody Lastname!

Cashier, bookkeeper, and proud girlfriend of Mr. Mystery! Soos insists that she fits right in with this place because she's "literally too awesome to not be magical, dude". It's a weird job, probably the weirdest she's had, but she has fun and she likes the people there. She adapts to the supernatural incredibly fast, and she and Soos are working on making an updated version of the journals based on Ford and Dippers notes. This time it's more in the vein of an instructional guide to safely interacting with the various phenomena in Gravity Falls. (Candy has insisted that they make pamphlet versions as well as guidebooks.)

Wendy Corduroy!

Same as always. She stays working at the Shack through her last years of high school, and is having a blast working for Soos. Her job performance has gone way up since he took over lol. Stan totally isn't bitter about it. She and Melody both man the cash register, but mostly Wendy works on operating and managing the attractions and shows. She and the Multibear have a whole deal where they pretend to wrestle to the death in a bimonthly performance. The Multibear doesn't really want or need money, so Wendy pays him back by playing bodyguard whenever the Manotaurs send a newbie to go and kill him. She has tons of deals like this set up.

Pacifica Northwest!

Pacifica is doing both better and worse. Her parents have gotten more strict and tense since they lost their fortune, and Pacifica has looked for more ways to stay out of the house. She worked at Greasy's for a while with Susan, but that really pissed off her parents (they're even more stringent with their public image now, and are offended that their daughter would be working at all, let alone at a diner like some common townsperson.) It stopped being a safe space for her after they found out about it. Luckily, Soos was there! He offered to let her hang out at the Mystery Shack, explaining how crucial it was in his own childhood. She was reluctant at first, but agreed. Turns out the environment cultivated at the Shack by the other three is exactly what she needed. She hangs out with Wendy a lot, she's basically her "being a normal kid" tutor. Soos and Melody also insist on giving Pacifica the full dumb kid stuff experience, everything from tacky animatronic restaurants to Lazer tag. She's not the best at expressing it, but she's super grateful for everything. Also turns out she's a natural with numbers, so she helps Melody with the books sometimes. It feels good to be good at something beyond the surface.

[creativitysloyalservant]

i have decided to break my lack of original posting on this blog to bring you my Thoughts on Rot in Paradise. because i played it as soon as i got up this morning and i have scoured for some opinions after finishing it, and now i have my own!!

(and also i posted this on twitter but twitter has such a Shit wordcount that i'm also posting my things here with More Detail)

so! spoilers under the cut, please go and play the game if you haven't. it takes literally an hour (it only took nearly 2 hours for me because i like voice acting by myself and exploring every nook and cranny) and it's also free. so maybe come back into the tag once you're done.

okay, so i noticed quite a number of people being confused and disappointed on the lack of an explanation for the monster. it's brought up in the story as the central thing driving the plot, but it's never explained on what "she" is, why she's compelling people to eat a ton of fish-related food or hell, metal, and why this doesn't impact June at all.

but you know what I think?

i think that that's the point. the focus of rot in paradise isn't supposed to be on the monster.

yeah, it's the thing that pushes the plot along besides June and the gang going on vacation in this island. it's what's causing that uneasiness from the moment that guy grabs June's arm at the drinks, to the sheer unnerving feeling of witnessing people going to the ocean to get Raptured basically. i know i personally felt a chill when i saw that one dude literally eating chains and the other hauling an anchor, as if they're trying to make themselves heavier so they get taken by whatever She is.

but that's not the main point! the main conflict is about June and her friends.

as people have pointed out, this game is about toxic friendships and relationships! it's foreshadowed in the conversation that June has with the gang about her cousin (which i will also get into), and it carries it through the way her friends are horribly warped by this ocean Creature. June goes on a silly little vacation trip with her friends only for them to become so so different from themselves that they lash out at her and even hit her in McCoy's case.

but she still sticks it out with them. through the whole game, even despite their verbal abuse, despite being slapped, despite them being people that she can hardly recognise. she stays with them for the whole game, up until the point where you are given the two options at the very end. and she could still stay with them.

because they're still her friends. she cares about them even if they still hurt her. from the way June still tells Carmen to tell June if she needs anything after Carmen literally tells her to shut up and leave, the way June worries about Vonnie eating seafood even though she continues to stuff herself despite being implied to either hate or make an active choice to not eat seafood, to the way June still trudges out to sea screaming for McCoy to come back to the shore as he wades further in even after he slapped her until her nose bled.

it mirrors the conversation about her cousin, the reason for why June was looking forward to the vacation. that while she did comfort her cousin through all of it, June clearly says that "they were dickheads, and she should have ditched them a long time ago".

but it's funny, isn't it? that June, an outsider to her cousin's friend group, easily sees the pain that her cousin's friends are causing her, and immediately calls it as it is. that her cousin should have left the second they hurt her.

and yet now, when her friends hurt her, even though this was a quick and sudden change that happened in a span of three days, June still sticks around. her friends are dickheads right now, and we can see that in the way they interact with June, but she still stays.

because they're her friends. and how could she just leave them like this if it's something that's causing them to be this way?

so no, i don't think the monster is supposed to be the main picture. we don't need to know what it looks like, or why it needs to do this to the islanders, or how it's even doing it in the first place. it adds to the scariness of the game, as per the Spooktober Game Jam, sure, but that's not the point. might be a bit disappointing to some, but that's not the point.

the point is about June, and the choice that she needs to make at the end of the game.

it's a choice on whether she chooses to be pulled deeper into the tides and be with the friends who hurt her and will continue to hurt her in this way,

or to leave them to their fates, whether deserved or not, and resurface to a world where she's alone without her friends.

and even though the first choice hurts much more in the long run, doesn't the second hurt even more in the moment? knowing that you're alone at the end of all of this?

even if it is the right choice, i'm sure the pain must be unbearable in the moment.

[dunmeshistash]

Fav detail about elves I didn't fully register until I saw that one summer colour page - elves look rosy when they're light-skinned, but get slightly greyer as their skin darkens.

It looks like a creative decision that was made a little later, though, around the time of introducing the black-skinned elves, which makes sense - in order for them to be pure black, something other than melanin had to be happening there.

Idk if that's really an active choice or just bad coloring on Kui's part ngl.... unfortunately making darker skin ashy is a common mistake by artists, especially if they tend to draw light skinned characters more often, they might pick a light skin tone and just make it darker which turns them ashy. Dark skin is often neglected when people study painting skin color (you know how it is with racism and colorism being ingrained in society and the reflections of it showing up where you wouldn't expect)

Kui also wildly changes the colors she uses so it's hard to take any of it meaningfully in small details, If you look at art of Thistle or Kabru you can see their skin colors change both hue and darkness between art. Even his hair keeps changing how intense the yellow is and sometimes is fully white.

In this case there's also the scan differences but you can see how much Cithis skin changes art to art too

It really doesn't have much consistency in undertones, I imagine some of it might be traditional art (copic markers or watercolor?) but even between her digital art the undertones keep changing, sometimes she's greyish sometimes yellowish sometimes more redish and in the swimsuit one she even looks kinda purple to me

Kui is a great artist but based on how she has also painted Kabru and the twins greyish (the worst one under this paragraph) I can't say the greyish tone of the darker elves is any sort of intentional choice but rather mistakes.

She does it to some extent to her lighter skinned characters too, but I think it's especially obvious in the darker skinned ones (here's Senshi getting slightly paler/grayer between different art)

At least now we have the anime with more set on stone colors/darkness, and I'm overall happy that the dark skinned characters got officially darker overall (although some of the skin tones still look a little off to me)

Anyway, other than the obsidian skin elves I don't think there's any indication the greyish tone was intentional.

Sorry for the long winded response, it's just something I wanted to acknowledge since sometimes I see people discussing skin colors in my notes

[conflictofthemind]

holly wheeler - who/what are you? an informal post about all of the holly oddities I've discovered so far.

where do I even begin with this one? I'm just going to jump into it and show you all the weird connections I've found that mostly relate to holly-el/jane, holly-alice and holly-sarah. I have no real conclusions so far so I invite everyone to take a look and share their thoughts.

oddity one: the hair

All four are blonde girls, and three have pigtails or twin braids, reminiscent of rabbit ears.

oddity two: the rabbits

terry ives' home, inside what should have been jane ives' room:

holly wheeler and her rabbit lite-brite:

alice creel and the dead rabbit:

And why the rabbits? Well, they're all a reference to Alice in Wonderland. The first rabbit in the painting in Jane's room is just literally the rabbit from AIW, fitted with a pocketwatch.

Alice in Wonderland:

Just check out #whiterabbitgate for more on the two above, the song 'White Rabbit' is also connected to El and just general HNL activities.

The Rainbows:

(above is the Terry Ives flashback from season two)

Holly's outfit in Season 5 is incredibly colourful and there are at least 3 different rainbow items inside her room.

The Flowers:

^ Holly even has yellow red and blue flowers on her bicycle basket.

My questions have already been: why is Vecna/Henry seemingly interested in her enough to not only lure her but continue 'playing' with her for multiple scenes? Why is Holly suddenly relevant?

I'm also a BTVS fan, and the idea of a younger sister suddenly introduced had me thinking of Dawn. Dawn was Buffy's younger sister introduced suddenly in Season 5 (literally out of nowhere) - until it turned out that she wasn't a fully real person, but a powerful energy turned into a human that was sent to the Summers' house where they would protect her. She never existed until she was fourteen, but they all believed she had with false memories. Furthermore, she becomes the target of that season's villain which Buffy has to protect.

So then we get to Holly's room:

Most notably for this post are ALF and the 'A Royal Pain' book. Let me just show you the plot summaries for both, starting with ALF:

I initially thought the ALF reference was just a reference to El (and it very much could be a dual thing). But considering the strangeness.... and the parallels that are coming to light between them.

A Royal Pain:

There has already been baby-switch precedent in the show. In fact it's a major theory about Jane Ives and El - that they aren't the same child. But when it's been specifically brought up, it's been in relation to the Wheelers. Karen, was your other daughter swapped in the hospital? Or something even crazier?

I'll get to more when my ideas are less of a mess. But there's also something interesting @bylerposting has brought up - the way that Mike has this whole interesting out of place dialogue with El.

But what if it wasn't about El - what if it was also subtext for Holly? She came into the family even though she wasn't a biological daughter. The Wheelers were like her new parents, and Nancy was like her new sister.

And there's so much more I'm thinking of but can't get to right now, like Holly with the lights and her perception of the supernatural before others sense it. I just want to get this ball rolling for real.

[beforeastorm]

This is from the IMDb listing for 8.06 Confessions.

Hello?! Who is Hot Waiter? Miceli's scene in 8.06 confirmed?!

[butterflysonnets]

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

[lukewarmbreadatamoderatepace]

I already forget where I heard this, but it's really sparkly to think about:

Which do you think is greater:

1. the combined number of jumps all humans throughout all of human existence have performed

or

2. the combined number of jumps all video game characters (specifically ones piloted directly by the player) have performed

?

--

(and

if you think it's the latter-- when did 2 overtake 1?)

[mazeyphaedra]

brennan is so intentional about the things he lets slip about the ratgrinders that i refuse to believe ruben’s in space no one can feel you dying is about him being a bad boyfriend. it’s about lucy frostblade

heads up this is gonna be a very surface level assessment lol i hate making definitive statements if there's the slightest chance im wrong. oops! also none of this takes into account the devil’s honey, ruben’s dream, or ivy’s reaction to seeing “lucy”. (lyrics from FHJY ep3, Not All Who Wanda Are Lost)

Your boundaries slit my veins

this makes me think lucy really didn’t want to change her deity to ankarna, that she was pressured into it (still can't pinpoint a reason but probably has smth to do with the ratgrinders wanting a big bad to resurrect and fight). they fought about it and ruben got cut.

Your no thanks killed my family

in her defiance, and probably the fight and death that ensued, the high-5 heroes broke up. (raises an interesting point re: mollykiggins wanting to protect oisín. was she always like that or was it something that came up bc nothing must go wrong. she lucked out that the debacle with lucy happened after finals, but what if something happens within the year? the strength of the hero is the strength of the party. she needs to protect her party.)

And when you asked for space the space you made was outer space

lucy, lucy, lucy. principled, noble, 'she stuck to her guns' lucy. i think she asked out of the high-5 heroes and little miss overachiever was like you know too much that cannot happen i would rather you die. and in the fight, some portal or other was opened, allowing her allies or co-conspirators to do the unholy last rites. if you push a soul back past the point of raising, they can't rat you out! duh!

Can you hear me screaming

yeah ruben it's kind of embarrassing. everyone at the bus stop is staring at you and now none of them are gonna mob you for autographs

crossing my fingers for ruben on the complicated women podcast next ep!!! i need to know what happened to this made up group of high-schoolers like i need my next breath. like a normal person. see u at basrar's! <333

[cirrus-grey]

How're y'all's "the fears are desires now" theories holding up after this episode?

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

The Fourteen Hidden or "Bug" Audios In Order, With Reasoning

(i think! I'm fairly confident in this! I'm willing to Debate!)

12-14 / Howdy & Barnaby

[we know that Barnaby and Wally go to Howdy's every morning]

8-14 / Eddie & Frank

[the post office is right across from Howdy's]

6-14 / Julie & Frank

[Wally isn't scared of bugs, so he could be recruited to help with Frank's gardening problem]

1-14 / Howdy & Poppy

[Howdy mentions that he has a shipment waiting for his signature]

3-14 / Howdy & Sally

[it's possible that Wally went to Howdy's to get something for the beetles]

13-14 / Howdy & Eddie

[it looks like Wally just bought a box of apples, or something similar. Howdy signs for the shipment]

4-14 / Barnaby & Frank

[behind the pins, it looks like there's an apple or two on the ground. the shape and color is wrong for it to be tomatoes. an offering for the beetles?]

9-14 / Frank & Poppy

[the table is clear of yarn, and Frank references the damage done to his garden]

2-14 / Sally & Poppy

[there are cookies - Poppy mentioned to Frank that she might have a non-seed recipe for his butterflies]

10-14 / Julie & Sally

[Wally could have gone with Sally to help with the script reading]

5-14 / Barnaby & Eddie

[Eddie mentions that it's late in the day, and he already delivered the bowling balls]

7-14 / Eddie & Julie

[Barnaby calls, asking after Wally]

11-14 / Julie & Barnaby

[the lighting through the trees looks like afternoon/evening]

14-14 / Barnaby & Home

[the end deterioration is very final, and Barnaby references things that happened throughout his other audios]

[objecthusbandry]

keeping objects as pets #5: smartphones and kin!

hi there! in this series, i’ll be going over basic descriptions of commonly-kept object species (and some rare ones too!), facts about them, why you might want one as a pet, their basic needs and necessities provided you want to house one, and things you should NEVER do. for the fifth post in this series, we’ll be going over smartphones and their closely related family!

note that while i primarily use the term smartphone in this post, it also applies to devices such as tablets.

description

smartphones, as the name implies, are typically square or rectangular and have quite flat bodies. they have thin, segmented, insectoid limbs, sharp teeth for cracking through exoskeletons, and no fur anywhere on their bodies. their hands have three fingers each, one acting as a "thumb", and have two toes per foot. these fingers are quite dexterous and adept at grabbing and holding onto their main source of food: insects. their 'screens' are made of a compound similar yet distinct from glass that is soft when they're first born and gradually hardens over the first few weeks of their lives. while normally able to protect their delicate organs from the elements, these 'screens' are very prone to becoming cracked and even shattered over time.

the backlighting on their screens may seem to come from LED lights, but it's actually a very bright form of bioluminescence that stems from chemical reactions in their bodies. if damaged, the structures that produce these chemicals will not grow back.

facts about smartphones

smartphones are a very social object species that tend to be more common near human settlements. they communicate primarily via pheromones that are impossible to sense to humans, but also have a wide language of clicks, chirps and other sounds to "speak" with each other through. unlike most objects, smartphones tend to gather around groups of unrelated object species - it's rare to see a group of smartphones together that aren't a family. they separate quite young from their family groups, at only around four weeks, but it is absolutely crucial that these objects are properly socialized. this is usually the case in the wild, but it can be hard to tell in shelters.

despite both mimicking human telecommunication devices, these objects are not closely related to flip phone objects. this is a case of convergent evolution.

why as a pet?

smartphones are very intelligent; in fact, most specialists will tell you that they're smarter than dogs. while i believe this is true to an extent, they are still animals and you shouldn't expect them to be all-knowing. that said, smartphones are very easy to train, and they are very compatible with most every other object type. these little guys love attention* and will stay by your side almost all the time. they're friendly, cute, and have lots of personality! they tend to be playful, curious animals. however, due to their diet, you may do better with a non-insectivorous species if you have a fear of insects.

basic needs + do's and dont's

these objects are insectivores: they need a steady supply of insects, specifically mealworms, to stay healthy. feeding larger things such as crickets, roaches and hornworms is okay for treats. i highly recommend using supplements to make sure their dietary needs are met. as "digital" objects, you may expect these to need recharging; DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PLUG ANYTHING INTO THEM. these are PURELY BIOLOGICAL CREATURES.

*it's important to note that these objects, while being naturally social and friendly, are prone to overstimulation. they have a bodily response that causes them to faint from extreme stress and must be handled appropriately to avoid overstimulating them. DO NOT USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO NOT INTERACT WITH YOUR PET. THESE ARE SOCIAL ANIMALS AND REQUIRE AT LEAST THREE HOURS OF INTERACTION PER DAY.

housing

due to their fragile anatomy, these objects MUST be kept indoors at all times. you should make it a priority to avoid letting your smartphone climb as even a short fall can cause shattered screens, especially in younger ones. also, because of their body shape, they can be prone to getting stuck in cracks and crevices, so you should minimize the amount of spaces where this can happen. i recommend having a dedicated area for their living space and allowing them supervised free roam time every day.

that’s all! hopefully this helps educate anyone who is considering this species!

[wolfsbaneandthistle]

Evolution of the sapient species from Enith!

I have no clue when sapience would have actually evolved for any of these guys. At least for the Kielni and Taysya it’s easy to say ‘sometime after their last common ancestor.’ That guy isn’t really to scale either, the species would have been mayyybe turkey sized?

But either way, Enith first invented space travel in the first Age of Enlightenment- and it’s been enough time since then that there are noticeable differences in the social corldaxian species.