#we all agree that was definitely an allegory right?

[iseathegalaxy]

ryan saw people still argue that deadpool is straight and said "lemme do this one car scene with wolverine real quick" and it was great

[anachronisticcrab]

Disclaimer: Don't like? don't read, don't engage. More in an edited section at the bottom of the post.

Tell me why my roommate is kinda aphobic and started crying when I call them out on it ONCE

So we had a stupid argument (so dumb. But also not cause it's based in him being aphobic) over him shipping Jayvik in arcane.

My issues with this (I have not seen arcane nor will I watched it cause one of the characters has my dead name and it makes me uncomfy to hear it seen and spelled the same way, this is just what I have learned through ppl who have seen it)

Viktor is asexual canonically. Like from the creators mouth, he has been ace and possibly aro since the beginning. Everyone that I see that ships them draws Jayce and Viktor fucking. Leave him alone, he's an ace guy, I have like 3 and u gays have 5 million twinks to draw getting railed

Jayvik shippers often draw art in ways that comes across as ableist, pedophilic and infantalizing of Viktor. It's always big huge Jayce carrying around a teeny tiny Viktor and it bothers me. (Lots of ships do this, it's always weird and gross. I'm not pretending I've never enjoyed that art, cause it's sometimes really well drawn, but it's still a little creepy and ableist) ((Edit: not calling Jayvik pedophilic in canon, I'm saying the way that I've seen shippers treat them as 'Big strong man and tiny fragile uwu boy' comes across as pedophilic to me))

This is the big one: Jayce is Viktors allegorical rapist. The scene where Viktor does, Jayce throws him into a void and forever changes Viktors body and life without his consent because Jayce thought it would fix him. Very powerful as a disabled plot line of able bodied people doing things to a disabled body in order to 'fix' them, but gets even more powerful with Viktor being ace. An allo character does something to an ace characters body without their consent, forever changing their life, because they thought it would 'fix' them is an allegory for corrective rape. It's corrective rape. Don't ship Viktor with his allegorical rapist.

So those are my issues. I've talked to a few ppl about it, my roommate included. They know my opinion on it, just not the details cause he has a habit of crying his eyes out whenever he's criticized and I don't have the energy to deal with a grown man bawling his eyes out all the time.

The only thing I've ever said to him was an argument we got in where he said that making Viktor ace was infantalizing disabled bodies and I got pissed at him and he cried

Today, my roommate decided to show me and 2 friends of ours fanart of Jayvik, with the weird size dynamic and Jayce carrying Viktor around and I said 'how is that not infantalizing but him being ace is?'

My roommate agreed, and then I started talking about how that, and the allegorical rape, made it awful to ship Jayce and Viktor and I said 'leave the aces alone, we don't ask a lot'.

Tell me why he shut down and then began crying, so I left the room cause I'm not apologizing for telling him to keep his aphobia in check, and when I came back he left and hasn't said a word since.

Tell me why I have to shut up when he says it's funny to see attractive characters as sexless cause its an inherently humiliating quality, that making someone disabled asexual is infantalizing and gross, that the few ace characters there are are definitely fucking each other cause they're human, when he says aphobic things 10 times a day, but he gets to cry when I call him out on that?

Plus now I feel guilty cause my friends keep shooting me looks since I'm not apologizing, and when they started trying to placate him I was quiet other than to say 'not just about you, but like. Yeah' l

Why are allo people the way they are?

Edit: I've updated the tags to remove arcane and anti Jayvik, ppl were right that I shouldn't have added them to begin with. In my defense for anti Jayvik, I didn't know u needed hyphens in tags now for it to work properly, I'm not really active on tumblr these days. Secondly, Just so y'all know. I don't feel like arguing with allo people anymore cause I spend so much of my time catering to allo people. If you're upset, don't read. If u comment upset about me being pissed at allo people for an opinion that I'm objectively correct on, I will be blocking you immediately cause that's how the internet works. Don't like, don't engage. Leave me alone, this is a vent post cause I'm sick of allo people being stupid Third, not claiming that this is my roommate being aphobic. Of all the things he's done, this is one of the least aphobic, it's just still frustrating. This post is mostly because he can't take any criticism on anything without crying and it's irritating, especially when I call him out on questionable behaviour. Fourth, do NOT try to educate me, a fucking aroace person, on aroace terminology and realities. I am aware that not all ace ppl are aro and that not all aro ppl are ace and that ace ppl and aro ppl both can date and fuck. I know that shit. That's not what this is about. Fuck off. Fifthly, no I have not watched arcane, I say that so early on in the original part of this post. I will not watch arcane, this post isn't really about arcane. It's a vent post about my roommate not being able to handle me pointing out that their mindset and the way they view things is aphobic. This is not an attack of arcane, it's an attack of people refusing to listen to aroace ppl when we raise concerns. Such as a number of ppl in the comments did within an hour of me posting this. Lastly, I'm not saying you can't ship JayVik, do whatever you fucking want. I'm saying that I have issues with it as a ship, and I am irritated at my roommate for immediately crying and running off when I tried to raise my concerns and opinions on the relationship, the concerns I have coming from the place of an aroace person who is fed up with them being blatantly aphobic in other contexts and things that they say. Update TL;DR: Don't like? Don't read, don't engage. Not for you. If you try to argue with me, you will be blocked cause I don't have time for that shit. This is a vent post, not an attack on fucking anyone and the opinion of one random tumblr user has no affect on you or your favourite show. There are more important things to yell at ppl for.

[britcision]

Alright, it’s time to talk about Lycion and dysmorphia and being a trans allegory

Because… yeah, I think a lot of people can really relate to being scared of mirrors because you hate everything you see in them, and going to extreme lengths to get a body you love

It’s not a complicated allegory

But, and I think this is pretty important and possibly more useful to the trans community than declaring him ours and trans… dysmorphia and dysphoria are not exclusive to trans people

They’re not even particularly related to any part of the body; it can be any part of it

And like 15 years ago when I was learning about trans issues and shit, I went and did a little research, because I eat knowledge. And y’know what fully settled any questions I had?

Found a case about a lady with what is currently being called body integrity/identity disorder, which is basically dysmorphia so severe that people have otherwise healthy limbs amputated to be able to live life in a body they can stand

This lady got both legs fully amputated, got a wheelchair, and became a pillar of her community where before she was almost bed bound

And y’know what, if that’s a thing that can happen and we can all agree that removing her legs was integral to her health, y’know what seems completely trivial by comparison?

Every gender affirming surgery ever

And y’know what is even more trivial?

All the other transition measures that have nothing to do with surgery, like hormones, puberty blockers, and social transitioning

Being trans has become a super political idea for basically no reason whatsoever, but it’s harder to maintain that ideology if you learn about things like dysphoria and dysmorphia as just medical conditions that absolutely anyone can get, and then look at what that means for gender dysphoria

Cuz if peoples’ brains can decide an entire limb has Got To Go then yeah, they’re probably also capable of deciding “that pronoun is Wrong” and we can take that just as seriously; it’s a much easier fix and also free

Basically I’m saying Lycion is our gateway drug cuz if you can understand this elf hates his body so hard he became a werewolf about it, are you really gonna throw a fit over someone getting a packer?

None of this to say you can’t or shouldn’t headcanon him as trans (and unless it comes directly and unambiguously from Ryoko Kui it’s a headcanon, nothing wrong with that it’s what fanon is for)

Just, y’know. Sound folks out on him without mentioning that part right away for your own safety and possibly entertainment 😁👉👉

Oh and super important: he’s not canonically cis either. Pretty sure it was just never specified. Enjoy and apply this knowledge across every character ever whose assigned birth gender isn’t brought up in canon

The thing Lycion definitely is in canon is a goddamn furry and an otherkin allegory, and arrested for awoo crimes. He’s one of only 5 characters in the Adventurer’s Bible with a stated gender (the others being Otta, Kaka, Kiki, and Inutade - everyone else has pronouns but no gendered nouns in English at least)

(Lycion’s “definitely a man” - or “definitely male” in the official translation, which technically excludes him from the gendered committee altogether)

You are, of course, welcome to disregard canon in all things you do - I personally encourage it, it’s much more fun to play in the space and do your own thing, and Dunmeshi has deliciously efficient story telling; there is so much empty space to play in

[daeneryscel]

“laena/rhaenyra wasn’t even a paragraph why are you so mad that they were scrapped for the show?”

oh i don’t know janice maybe because it being in a historical text written 200 years after the fact by ultra religious MEN who despise women and queerness all together IS noteworthy? ‘more than fond of’ is an allegory used multiple times in the asoiaf main timeline to describe romantic feelings and you’re mad that people read that phrase the way it was intended? not to mention it’s used in conjunction with ‘while the princess misliked her stepmother’ like COME ON at this point you’re being deliberately stupid. i’m sorry they weren’t scissoring each other for 200 pages but in actuality what did you expect? acting like rhaenyra and alicent were so so in love when we were only shown a couple scenes of them getting along max during a six month period. the only way that ship will ever be canon is through the actors. the show leaves crumbs for asshats like you because they know you’ll bend over backwards to defend them. apparently it’s still okay to queerbait in the year of our lord 2k24; along with sidelining a woman of color because diversity was important until it came to fleshing out a black woman and her canon sapphicness.

laena, for the limited time we had her character, was fiery, bold, and adventurous. she claimed the largest and oldest dragon alive at 12! the show choosing to racebend her only to mitigate her affect on the plot is gross! they did it to keep the ‘what if they were in love’ guessing game and gift it to a white woman. a white woman who vehemently HATED rhaenyra. we just wanted the story to have complex and multilayered characters rhaenyra has NO FRIENDS besides the first *two* episodes that is the definition of shitty storytelling. a targaryen princess at the height of her families power the literal protagonist of the dance and you all want her to be a lonely spinster boy mom who’s not like the other girls so bad when she was literally surrounded by women all of whom she cared about dearly. multiple relationships with others helps bring a story to life and would’ve helped tremendously with making the dumb as rocks audience understand rhaenyra’s character and how she was a girls girl in a time where you really couldn’t afford to be one which is why it’s so tragic when she starts turning on them during the dance but nooo the ONLY relationship that matters is a busted up friendship that the writers have in a chokehold for no good reason and fuck everyone else that these women might care about right? fuck rhaenyra fuck laena fuck alicent fuck their kids fuck their GRANDKIDS they’re all just mostly blank slates anyway what impact is their death going to have on the narrative? next to nothing because of these fuckass decisions. let’s just all agree to throw stones at glass houses THAT would be more fulfilling for the show than half of the shit they gave us.

[faerghusfucker]

For the ask game how's about 4, 25, and/or 26 for Hubert?

4: If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

i think in general i would love to consume 3H in book form because so much of it plays out like literature that it would be amazing to see the whole story retold with language instead of visuals and gameplay. i think that, put in the hands of the right author, a lot of the beautiful symbolism and allegory and all that would play sooooo nicely on a page and it would be quite beautiful.

for hubert specifically i think a book about him would be awesome. like i said in the one ask abt dedue i think that extreme loyalty is a rlly interesting character trait and to rlly get inside his head and see how that comes about would be super cool, esp in first person.

25: What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

i thought he was fucking hilarious lol i was like WHAT is this gerard way son of a bitch doing at anime boarding school. and that opinion still stands lol i think hes silly. obviously his role in the story is actually insane and very understated when ppl talk abt edelgard/ the war/ crimson flower but. in the back of my mind he's always just the dumbass goth lol

26: What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

the letter that he writes in vw/ss is FASCINATING!!! i think it's a crazy deviation from his normal character for him to entertain the possibility of edelgard losing even a little bit, and i think it's super interesting to speculate on just. why he did that!!!! did edelgard ask him to????? did he do it behind her back???? what's up with that!!!!! it also makes me wonder just. how much he agrees with edelgard's doctrine and how much he's doing behind the scenes. because obviously we know that the church are not the real villains of fodlan and that those who slither in the dark are the ones ACTUALLY responsible for the evil that takes place there. we as viewers know this, edelgard knows this, hubert definitely knows this, yet edelgard focuses all her attentions on the church WITH THE HELP of those who slither. and i dont think hubert is very okay with that!!!!!!! i think he gives more of a fuck abt seeing those who slither stamped out than doing conquest n shit, and that letter was probably his last resort for having SOMETHING done abt them since edelgard prob wasnt budging on their collab lol

[timetravellingtelepath]

Preserve history and historical buildings even if we don't necessarily agree with them... It's the theme of memory again and a faint, perhaps unintentional, reference to the cultural revolution and destruction of the 4 olds (culture, religion etc).

While I don't know enough about Japanese history to comment on what the fighting was exactly over and Google isn't being particularly helpful (there is a murakami city in Japan, but not China, and no linjue temple... So perhaps allegories to real places. Judging by the clothing, it's at least 20th century and since these are the impacts of more recent events, something similar to the cultural revolution though more local scale occurred). The timelines don't perfectly add up (depends on the architects ages), but for the purpose of the post, let's pretend they do.

If I'm reading the subtext right and this is an allegory to that chaotic time, then the manhua is telling us preservation of culture is important but revitalisation is even more so. It sounds obvious, but deliberate destruction happens all the time to show a society is moving forward and is overcoming the past. Sometimes it's necessary (think Berlin wall) other times it's detrimental to historical understanding and acceptance of the past. Many times the architectural and societal upheaval incorporate the old but in a dehumanising and disrespectful way - - such as the crusades damaging (or if it's too beautiful to, sticking beliefs over) pre-existing Islamic architecture.

This shift in attitude is progressive for these characters at a time when China was rapidly transforming (70s+) and soon to expand it's trade to the world (90s). China saw modernist construction on a rapid pace in the Greater Bay Area, so 'transforming' rather than brown-fielding redundant buildings is forward thinking and creates points of interest that draws people in. After a time of destruction is reconstruction, and here we are being told not to neglect the past, that it still influences us today (well we definitely know that's the case with CXS waiting for his parents and LG diving back for Xiaoshi). But further than that, it's rebuilding and repurposing what we had to make a new present to live in. It's another way of saying; we'll always remember, but it's time to move on.

[figayda-rights]

Hey. I know you're probably getting a lot of hate for your mismag opinions, and I don't want to be one of those voices or be dismissive of your concerns. I'm Jewish and trans (though admittedly transmasc. I will say, that though JK's virulent transphobia has mostly been centered around victimizing trans men, it's important to remember that the entire community is affected. Her claims that transmasc folks are just confused little girls is dehumanizing and patronizing. We should stand with our trans sisters who are being endangered first and foremost, but also acknowledge that there is no part of the community that is unhurt by her bigotry.) Anyways, that said... I personally disagree with your mismag takes. I think you're well within your right not to support a series platforming the Terf book, and I do agree with many of your takes. But one of the distinctions I don't see a lot of people making is the difference between criticizing the Harry Potter series and criticizing JK Rowling herself. I'm not advocating for the Harry Potter books, or claiming death of the author. Those books are filled with prejudice.

But, though JK has made her current platform off of horrible transphobia, the books themselves weren't as preoccupied with trans people as she's become. Yes, there are definite transphobic elements. But to me, the biggest glaring issues of the book come from the racism and the worldbuilding (specifically the "fantasy racism" of muggles/mud bloods and all that shoddy allegory entails) --- both aspects that are directly critiqued and centered in mismag.

Saying that Mismag isn't a satire because it doesn't center a takedown of the transphobia of Jk Rowling is a misunderstanding of how it functions as a satire. Not criticizing JK (aside from Fuck Terfs) so much as criticizing the book and the world itself. I think there are issues with it, no doubt! And I certainly wish a transfemme individual had been given a seat at the table, not as a token, but because their insight into the world would add an extra dimension to the intended criticism.

But I also think that saying it doesn't qualify as a Parody is sorta... ignoring the racial components. It's unfair to Aabria and unfair to the show as a whole.

thanks for your opinion. I don't agree that transphobia (transmisogyny specifically) isn't baked into every aspect of her books.

Remember Pansy Parkinson? Remember how she was described as pig faced, square jawed, short haired and mannish? Remember how she was a villain who did awful things and ultimately aided the in world version of "fantasy Nazis"?

Remember umbridge? Another woman characterized as wide, mannish, square jawed and shouldered, someone who would LITERALLY transform to spy on people, get into kids bedrooms, "invade spaces".

Remember the staircases to the dorm rooms? The ones that wouldn't let boys into the girls rooms but would let girls into the boys rooms? This isn't even all of it.

I'm absolutely in no way saying the books and Rowling currently aren't FILLED with racism. I am indigenous, her use of "spirit animals" as patronuses is despicable. Rowling isn't currently spending thousands of dollars pushing laws against black, Asian, or indigenous people though. She IS currently funding politicians who are pushing holocaust denial AND spending direct money advocating for laws targeted at specifically trans women.

It is irresponsible and incredibly tone deaf to release a season based on her books when violence and trans people, trans women specifically, is at an all time high.

[hero-villian-blog]

A Problem With Magento

Oh look another X-Men related post, yes I know I've been making a lot of posts about the X-Men recently. Anyways I wanted to throw my thoughts out about the character of Magneto and the dynamic he and Charles Xavier have.

So Magneto is often depicted as a sympathetic villain who has good points, but at the same time falls into the whole oh but they do bad things like kill. Many sympathetic villains bug me in how they are depicted, and how they create unsympathetic heroes in turn. But That's not what this post is about, just remember Nimona is a great movie fight me!

Okay back on track, Magneto and Xavier are often said to represent or be depicted like 2 individuals from the Civil Rights Movement. I don't like this because it basically plays into this old pitting of 2 individuals against each other post one of their deaths by a certain garbage nation leader. But also the person Magneto is often used to represent never tried to wipe all of the opposing side or rule over them. Something we see in the movies, comics, and tv shows. Like how in X2 Magneto basically tries to wipe out all non mutants. Which also ties into my previous post about the lack of mutant supporters and groups of people who have suffered in very similar ways mutants, and would definitely exist in such a world. That basically Magneto would wipe out those people as well, and the group that he shares an identity with as well.

Speaking of that identity, does anyone else find it odd that Magneto adopts the ideology of the people who did that to him and others because of that identity? You have him referring to non mutants as bugs, lesser, etc. While referring to mutants as superior, gods, and goddesses with other characters adopting such language as well. With Magneto either trying to wipe out all non mutants all out like in X2, or like in rule over them like he plans to do in X-Men: First Class.

Speaking of first class you have Magneto literally saying he agrees with everything that Sebastian Shaw says. It almost a bit worse given Magneto and other mutants associated with him like the Brotherhood of Mutants are an allegory for specific groups, and someone like Magneto adopting the ideology of the oppressors of said groups is just too similar to fear of said oppressors that said groups will do back to the oppressors what was done to them. It also falls into that same issue I made a post about where characters in the X-Men world act like mutants aren't humans. In the end I just find it weird an oppressed character would adopt the views of their oppressor, I don't think many would do something like that. The whole thing seems like there's almost an intent to make him a hypocrite.

Small spoiler for X-Men 97 here.

Side note, while I get in X-Men 97 is having Magneto be better, and he is much better than many of his other depictions. But he still spits out some nonsense. Not saying everything he says in nonsense, he has some pretty good lines like the one in Episode 5.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Rubkawat

Here are the results to this week's bestiaryposting -- still only a few people on board for this one, really hoping this is just because people are sick of Birds. As usual, if you are confused by what I'm talking about, you can find out about it at: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry our artists are working from is here:

Results below the cut, in roughly chronological order:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has again given us a realistic-looking creature drawn in an impressive naturalistic style. It is distinctly skinny as the entry suggests, with a pointy beak for its stabbing behavior. The explanation linked in the above post notes that this design takes inspiration from the kiwi and the bittern, which makes sense and I think works well here. Cute little bastard, too -- look at him. I think it can hiding in reeds very well. (This one is in reeds currently. Or grass at least.)

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) notes that the blood thing is almost certainly a Biblical allegory, but she likes the idea that it's just a reinterpretation of natural red coloration. I agree -- it definitely is an allegory, as the Aberdeen Bestiary makes clear in the "interpretation" section I usually leave out of these:

Thus after three days, it revives its young with its blood, as Christ saves us, whom he has redeemed with his own blood.

... but I think I much prefer it as a fanciful interpretation of a natural feather pattern. Also, check out those Stylized Plants. I know I'm kind of a broken record about this, but over the course of this project, one thing I have learned about myself is that I am unaccountably delighted by Stylized Plants every time. These are thematically appropriate for a bird said to live in Egypt -- they look like they would fit right in with ancient Egyptian depictions of papyrus reeds or lotus flowers. Apologies to anyone who is tired of me pointing out the Stylized Plants at every opportunity; it will happen again.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) is clearly having some fun with these, based on the tone of their (detailed and interesting) post about the design and artistic process, please go read that. (Also thank you for including alt text.) Apparently they were informed by @coolest-capybara that their Rubkawat chicks resemble Woodstock from Peanuts, and... you know what? I see it. What I particularly like here is the decision to fill the nest with a cartoonishly large amount of blood -- I just find it charming in a way I can't articulate. Just... just hose those chicks down, that'll fix them.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) never disappoints with her medieval stylization. I am delighted with the decision to make the Rubkawat a flamingo -- the linked post explains that this is inspired by flamingos having red crop milk, which is not something I know about because I am not a Bird Expert. I also really like the sequential-art style of the chicks at the bottom, so we can see them being resurrected by the blood. The one on the right makes me smile, because it looks very much like it's contemplating the blood on it and thinking, like, "...ew."

@pomrania (link to post here) is Tired of Birds, so they decided this one could be a dinosaur -- technically a bird, just not a modern one. I like it; dinosaurs are great. They've also taken the route of deciding the story about resurrecting chicks with blood is just a fanciful interpretation of red feathers, which I still like. (In the linked post, they explain their design decision and artistic process in detail, go look at it.) Also look at that little chick -- it's darling.

Pretty much everyone involved here said something along the lines of "I absolutely know what bird this is supposed to be because I've heard this myth before", which I suppose shouldn't be surprising. I don't know how widespread that particular bit of trivia is in the general population, but in the demographics of "people who follow this blog about medieval stuff" and/or "people who like playing with bestiary entries", I figure it's probably pretty well-known. So here's the Aberdeen Bestiary version:

Yes, this is the pelican.

The birds in the illumination don't particularly look like pelicans, though apparently one doesn't really find them in Western Europe, so I suppose that's to be expected. (Particularly since the entry doesn't describe their most identifiable physical feature, the beak / throat pouch arrangement.) The fact that pelicans are associated with Egypt and apparently don't really show up in most of Europe is surprising to me -- I grew up on the east coast of the U.S. and saw pelicans all the time, so I kind of just assumed they were common to other Atlantic coasts. But you know what they say about assuming.

Anyway, for anyone who didn't know about the story with the pelican and the blood, versions of this were pretty widespread in the medieval period. It was a sufficiently popular symbol that it found its way into heraldry -- the pelican in her piety is a heraldic device that shows the pelican wounding its own breast while standing over its young. (In some versions of the story, it feeds its young with the blood rather than using it to resurrect them.) Not only is it still present in surviving heraldry, but it also occasionally appears in more modern contexts, like the Louisiana state flag:

You can decide yourself whether this information changes your opinion on whether, as this post claims, a pelican mouth is a good place for a baby: (link to post).

That's about all the pelican material I have, but allow me to leave you with a song (which is itself part of an old Edward Lear poem set to music):

[tonydaddingham]

Just whacking this out there, but I mean, much as I do think the "past exploits" comment serves as a warning about Heaven's rules/standards, and reach, and the fact that they've exposed Aziraphale's 'crimes' - sort of a 'you know what we expect from your conduct, and you've been continually stepping way out of line, and we're choosing to overlook it for now, but know that we know, and that we will know about future missteps as well, that we don't approve and could still intervene' flung out there for no immediate particular purpose, just to serve as a reminder - by and large, I find the whole restoration offer thing much more bribe than threat, and, well, frankly, personally, I'd consider a bribe of such proportions more concerning than any threat could have been, no?

hello lovely!!!💕 i think ive shared my thoughts on this in dribs and drabs over multiple posts but no harm in going over it again, fuck it-

essentially, i completely agree with you. splitting those two parts of the conversation into two, i definitely see the first part as a warning, and simultaneously an unspoken threat:

what particularly speaks to me is how the metatron hesitates over both 'previous exploits' and 'partnership', as if he's specifically searching for the right turns of phrase. trying to make light of it, keep it friendly and unassuming. but the small, smirky, private smiles, compared to aziraphale's reaction of flitting eyes and tight lips - it feels like metatron is playing a cat-and-mouse game... the guise of it being that it's all a great opportunity, but truthfully they both recognise the unspoken threat is there

(but - to clarify - i don't think the metatron realises that aziraphale has seen it as a threat. ie the metatron thinks he's being slicker than he actually is, when aziraphale is very much able to read between the lines).

i remember making the comparison in a meta somewhere but it just simply strikes me that - if we're continuing with the 'sleeper/secret agent in the height of the cold war' allegory - the metatron is playing the part of the seedy villain that is doing the 'i've been watching you all along, i know precisely what your pressure point is and why' bit that we all know and love from any kind of dramatised espionage story.

essentially, as you said, "we could still intervene" - ie. 'dont think that i haven't seen every single thing, because i have. i know how deep this 'partnership' runs'. there doesn't even need to be an allusion to what metatron could do with this breadth of knowledge - just simply that he has the knowledge is enough, and aziraphale can draw his own horrific conclusions quite easily, even if they never come to fruition.

(on an intertextual level, metatron kinda reminds me of how i'd imagine karla to be - from the john le carré novels... a little bit, idk.)

now as for the second part; the restoration thing:

i completely agree - this absolutely feels like a bribe. 'i know crowley is your pressure point, and you'll fight tooth and nail coming back without him in tow, so im going to offer it to you - this amazing opportunity that you can graciously bestow upon him! "go tell your friend the good news!"'

the metatron may well be disguising a threat in the exchange, but i do think that he believes aziraphale to have taken the offer to return to heaven at face value, in earnest, and therefore he believes that he has aziraphale squarely under his thumb (and none the wiser for it). however, i personally think aziraphale may be constructing his own hasty game - ie. using the offer as an opportunity to "make a difference" as he and crowley would see fit... but the spanner in the works was that crowley refuses to come with him to play on 'their side' in this little counter-game he's trying to devise.

in terms of functionality of bribe vs. threat - absolutely, a bribe promises a greater yield. threats only work so long as it's a) inescapable enough, b) serious enough, and c) the threatened person is sufficiently scared enough that they won't toe out of line. which may well be effective in getting someone to comply, but the problem with making people scared of you or hate you, is that then they all secretly want to see you ruined or destroyed.

bribe someone, however... give them something that they might have always wanted (or, as i think is the case for aziraphale - gives them the opportunity to give another what they've always wanted), and you have a greater chance of having an ally in them forever, someone forever indebted to you.

i definitely think this is where the metatron's reasoning lies. instead of threatening crowley's life, so to speak, he's offering him the chance essentially to defect - and that's way more appealing to aziraphale and likely to get him to fall in line.

for me though, it's all a gross underestimation of aziraphale on the metatron's part. i will die on the hill where aziraphale sees through what the metatron is saying - has indeed read between the lines where he doesn't have a choice one way or another - but chooses to play the part that the metatron expected him to play (of marginalised-angel who is actually the-very-kind-of-angel-heaven-needs, and therefore very-grateful-to-given-the-top-job-thank-you) so that the metatron will keep underestimating him. bribe or not, aziraphale did not want to go back to heaven... but if he doesn't have much of a choice regardless, he's going to make it work for him.

now this ask has led me to another thought: i do wonder if the restoration is actually a thing? ie. the metatron wasn't bluffing, it's actually possible.

the metatron is putting an awful lot of bank on crowley saying no, when by all accounts - even if the metatron was directly involved in crowley's fall - the metatron doesn't actually know him... right? he likely knows that crowley is resentful and angry still at having fallen, and the unfairness of the whole shebang, but does that guarantee that crowley wouldn't want to take the restoration offer? id hazard no - so the metatron has to have a failsafe for either eventuality.

either crowley says no, and aziraphale is left broken-hearted/rejected, and that suits metatron fine because then he has aziraphale ridden of crowley's influence. alternatively, crowley returns, and is restored!

...but is restored to the same position as he was when he fell - essentially like restoring a backed-up file where the last save point was ~millions of~ years ago... and that would suit metatron fine also, because then crowley is simply not crowley anymore. plausible deniability on the metatron's part too, for the latter option - 'restoration has never happened before, didn't know what to expect, but you've gotten what i promised you!' idk, interesting thought

[silvermeww]

The other day I had to go out shopping with my family, and while I usually hated shopping for once, I have found some pretty funny Pokémon merch (or rather, bootlegs).

(Under a read more because it is very picture heavy)

I mean, nice try but I know that’s a Mimikyu lol /j

Wait… Lego Brock? What’s next to him? What is happening—

Literally the first thing I see after DP Brock is OG Gary. Nice.

JAMES??? Are you okay?? Please speak to me!! Also is that supposed to be a rose? I actually thought it was a sceptre right until I started posting this lol.

IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE DAISY?? SHE ISNT EVEN IN THE ANIME??? HELP???

Anyways, after this fun run I realised that there was the back of the box that shows all of the characters available and I’m just here to say that I wish I never saw it.

Ash: My brother called him bold and yeah, I’ve got to agree

Pikachu: Not his Pokédex number but I’ll let it slide.

Misty: #notmymisty (Why is her hair like that???)

Bulbasaur: Could’ve put this guy first. Also okay, this seems to be an OG thing here…

Brock: Still stuck in Hisui I see. It happens to the best of us.

Daisy(?): Had to get some girl rep I guess

Squirtle: #notmysquirtle Get the sunglasses if you’re going to be bootleg

Eevee: It’s crying out in pain, I can just hear it. How did they massacre your design that badly???

(Me: Okay, who is this rando??? …Wait, it couldn’t be…)

It’s Leon. Yeah. He lost his cap and ended up in this strange dimension with the rest of everyone. Also his hair may be cut down to shoulder length, I can’t tell.

Professor Oak: Yeah his hair went disco, he’s still in the 1970s having the time of his life or something. My sister thought he was a girl lol.

Charmander and Pichu aren’t bad ig, but the latter is a bit unexpected at this point.

James and Gary are There. Gary at least got the canon family so I can’t be too mad. James, however, is stuck with the last two of the pack imo, Gengar and Snorlax (Gen 1 who get GMax and a Mega/Z Crystal respectively… also just very well known mons) and now I’m scared if it’s an allegory for Meowth as a big cat and Jessie being dead or something. Or maybe I’m just reaching.

ALSO. Each part they have works into making a Dialga and Palkia, so there’s that. Maybe that’s the reason why they are all badly made and have been summoned to the White Space. Someone make a fanfic about it.

Further on my quest to find a small gift token for some people in a class I teach, I came upon this curious thing.

Me: Oh boy, I can’t wait to see what stickers they would make out of the XY series! Hopefully there would be some good ones out here.

(My sister: That keyhole is for the Master Class)

The stickers:

Wow, I totally remember May being there! Also I’m pretty sure it was DP that had the 10th anniversary but idk (Advanceshipping real?). Anyways I love how there is so much AG and then we get Togepi and Piplup coming in. And OG Ash. And Cyndaquil. And Phione. And my personal favourite Pokémon Rumble Charmander.

But

But perhaps the next page will give me what I want, right?

Wrong! Deoxys movie sticker be upon you!!! No, seriously, how did they get that as a sticker? I love the rep though, just wished we had all of the other characters too ngl to complete the pic. My brother loved the second Ash on the bottom pic, said it looked very smug, and honestly imagine using that sticker. For what occasion would it be most useful?? Also miscoloured OG Ash on the third row from the bottom my beloved, more 3D pics, Skitty in a Contest stage, DP Ash?? And Birch merchandise (we need that around here). Now there is one more sticker page left (it repeats the same pages afterwards), and I honestly gave up hope. And I was right to, but still, look at this lol:

The only Lucario you will ever get. That Croagunk one with Chimchar at the back. That one Ranger from that one Ranger’s special (I think the Deoxys one???). And of course, we can’t forget Shedinja.

So yeah, it was definitely a pretty eventful shopping day. I couldn’t get a picture of it, but there was this holographic picture in a frame that had Pikachu changing into different Kanto Starters, and another frame from another shop that flashed with Ash and the gang from multiple series (got jumpscared by XY help). Idk but that existed lol.

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day 4 - Prompt: Evoke @pandalilymicrofics

February Daily Series - 963 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

Lily eyed the four blokes blocking her way suspiciously. This impasse started about ten minutes ago and three aisles over with Remus distracting her from reshelving the returns with a long-winded story about a pair of “lost ships.” He clearly thought that it was the perfect allegory for missed opportunities, but it sounded particularly absurd to hear from his lips.

Then, Sirius appeared from nowhere and steered the conversation toward social media stalkers, which was apparently a little too on the nose for Remus. When she’d finally slipped past them, James stopped her in the next aisle to ask if she was attending the Yule Festival tonight, and when she said “yes,” he proceeded to incorporate her into their collective plans. Lily managed to duck into the last aisle and reshelve the remaining four biographies in her hands, only to find all four of them blocking her exit afterwards.

“What‘s this then?” she demanded, propping her hands on her hips. “I haven’t seen you here in weeks,” Lily pointed out to Remus before eyeing Sirius and James, “and the two of you are rarely indoors for more than twenty minutes.”

She gestured vaguely at the small stack of books in Regulus’s hand. “He’s the only one who seems to know what a bookshop’s purpose is.”

“I don’t know why they’re here, but I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to buy books,” Regulus admitted with a shrug. He glanced between Sirius and Remus curiously. “Why are you here?”

“We,” Sirius said, gesturing between himself and Remus, “are here to visit with Lily. Since I’m only in town for a few more days, I thought it would be nice to spend some time together. Evoke a little friendly comradery.”

James nodded avidly, which wasn’t at all suspicious. “Right, and I’m here to buy Regulus books for the ride home. I just figured you might want to join all of us tonight.”

“All of you? And how many is that meant to be?” she checked.

“My parents, Sirius, Remus, Regulus, me, Peter, and Pandora,” James replied, ticking the names off of his fingers. “Yeah, I think that’s it.”

Lily frowned as she went through the list internally. “So, is that four couples? And me?”

“Oh, no! Pandora is my flatmate from London, and she’s coming to meet James,” Regulus assured her. “I haven’t even met Peter yet.”

“He’s a friend from uni,” Sirius replied quickly. A little too quickly.

“Remus? What’s going on here?”

Remus rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “A coincidence?”

“If you say so.” Lily flailed her hands at the blockade until Regulus ducked behind James and Remus stepped out of her way. “I have work to do. Can whatever you’re plotting wait until tonight?”

“So, you will join us?” James asked, rocking on his heels like a small child.

“I’ll be at the festival. If I run into the lot of you, so be it, but I’m not committing to wasting my whole night following you idiots around,” she said, rolling her eyes at Sirius’s scoff. Spinning on her heel, she glared at Remus pointedly. “If I find out you’re trying to set me up again, and I will find out, you will not like the consequences, Remus John Lupin.”

“Definitely not,” he agreed.

Sirius looked gobsmacked. “John? Remus John?”

Lily strode away with her head held high and her arms swinging at her sides. She was confident in two things after that confrontation: Remus wouldn’t dare attempt to replicate the Gideon and Fabian incident from uni and the combination of James and Sirius was asking for trouble. As if she didn’t already know those two were as brilliant as they were foolish. She just wished that they didn’t drag Remus into their nonsense.

And me. Leave me out of this. Whatever “this” is.

She busied herself straightening the display tables out front until the quartet of chaos left. The last thing she needed was to be caught up in one of their “incidents.” The Potters may be dear friends of Mr. Lupin, but their son and his friends set off her red flag alarm. Individually, they were fine, but together? Pure chaos.

“Lily? Phone call for you!” Alice called, waving from the back office.

She waved back as she reached for the handset at the register. “Thank you, Alice!”

“Hello, this is Lily, can I help you?”

A long silence followed. It wasn’t one of those creepers that breathe into the receiver, or even the empty mechanical silence of a telemarketer who hadn’t connected yet. This was…shy.

Lily toyed with the old, misshapen cord that connected the phone to the wall. Mr. Lupin refused to replace it with a cordless or headset because he was afraid they’d lose it. The man could be such a dinosaur for only being fifty-five.

“Hello?”

“Oh, sorry. I wasn’t expecting…I mean, you caught me off-guard, that’s all.” The voice was both timid and defensive, but slowly lifting in volume.

“Alright, what can I do for you?” she repeated, keeping her tone as professional as possible.

“I was looking for a book about…never mind, you probably don’t have it.”

The call ended abruptly and left Lily staring at the archaic device in confusion. It stung a little to be dismissed so quickly, which was stupid. She hung up the phone and shook her head clear.

Leave it. Just a weird one, that’s all.

Except it nagged at the back of her mind the rest of the day. The woman’s voice was strong, but she’d rambled as though her thoughts were scattered on the floor and puzzling them together was too much effort. The hang-up was likely from her own embarrassment for being caught daydreaming, and yet…she couldn’t help wondering who she was.

Next Part>>>

[pajulammas]

For the fanfic ask game:

H: How would you describe your style?

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to Impactful Skip. (Really interested how the concept could've gone if Tails didn't do All That)

O: How do you begin a story—with the plot, or the characters?

Q: How do you feel about collaborations?

S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

H: How would you describe your style?

Tbh I don't know how to describe writing styles, or at least like... As well as I could describe my drawing style 😭 But uhhh... I guess my writing style is full of imagery, foreshadowing, and I like allegories. And silly jokes. And I'm obsessed with writing dialog. And uhhh... If anyone else would like to explain my writing style to me I'd genuinely love to hear it khdskghdsgl

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to Impactful Skip.

I can't write an alternative ending to the actual ending since that would be SPOILERS but here's an alternate ending to chapter one- I wrote this in like 15 minutes and it's not beta read but I had fun HFLKHFSKLH

It was a… Portal? At least it looked like one. Just at the bottom of the hill, there was a purplish blue, swirling vortex floating in the air. The inside of it resembled a tunnel, but it was unclear where it could even lead to. Several specks that reminded him of stars were swirling around at the entrance. But when he tried to look inside it, it was only filled with bright, blinding light. He circled around the portal, keeping some distance just in case. The other side didn’t make it any clearer where it led to, nor where it had even come from. Sonic huffed and reached to his quills, pulling out his communication device and calling Tails. “What is it? Did Shadow cancel?” Tails asked as he picked up. “Nope! I’m still on my way. I just came across this weird portal thingy, and I think ya should come and check it out,” Sonic explained. “A portal? Where?” Tails replied, sounding surprised. “You know that park close to the city?” Sonic asked, imagining Tails nodding despite not seeing him. “It’s right next to that big hill. Should I step inside?” “NO!” Tails screamed. “Sonic, whatever you do, do NOT touch it! Wormholes are impossible to escape from!” Sonic rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, I won’t. But we gotta do something about this, I think Egghead’s planning something!” “Definitely, seems pretty serious. I’ll go get Amy and we’ll be on our way,” Tails agreed. Sonic grinned. “I’ll be waiting right here for you guys!” “Don’t you have that date with Shadow?” Tails asked with a hint of both teasing and annoyance in his tone. “Hey, I can’t just leave this big old wormhole here!” “Yes, you can, Amy and I can handle it! Just go on that date, Sonic. Shadow’s not gonna be happy if you just leave him waiting. You know how he is.” “Well, true. But we’ll both come help if it starts getting too serious,” Sonic huffed. “Good luck, buddy!” “You too,” Tails said before hanging up. Sonic glanced at the portal one more time, before dashing away. He ran through the park, finally spotting Shadow in the distance. He sat on a picnic blanket with his arms crossed and gave Sonic an angry glare when he got closer. “I told you not to be late,” he grunted. “I’m not that late, am I?” Sonic shrugged. “You are seven minutes late. That’s a lot for someone who insists they’re the fastest thing alive.” “Whoops,” Sonic chuckled and sat down on the blanket. “I got distracted by a portal. Probably Eggman’s plan or something.” Shadow narrowed his eyes. “The Doctor is here?” “Didn’t see him. But Amy and Tails are gonna handle it,” Sonic hummed as he grabbed a sandwich from Shadow’s picnic basket. “They’ll call us if they need backup.” Shadow nodded, picking up a sandwich for himself as well. “Knowing you, I’m surprised you didn’t stick your nose inside the portal,” Shadow said. Sonic laughed. “I know, buddy. I know.”

O: How do you begin a story—with the plot, or the characters?

(I answered this previously so I'm just copypasting my answer here gdkhlgsdhg) Well, in case of fanfiction, the characters are already there- But even with original characters, I always start with the story, or at least the premise. The characters do affect the story and vice versa, but I personally feel like it's easier to first build the world, then the story, and then put the characters in their roles! Especially if it's an AU, such as Prophecy of Chaos or Chivalrous Devotion.

Q: How do you feel about collaborations?

I LOVE collabs!! I wanna do more of them :3 I like collabs where someone else illustrates my writing. I do also like bigger collabs, like making AUs together. Prophecy of Chaos is a collaboration between me and @tillytilli after all! But I feel like I can only do big collabs like that with close friends, since those are a lot of work and I'm VERY timid XD

S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

Hurt/comfort is always so good, I can never get enough. And angst. I also love historical AUs and medieval fantasy AUs. Also anything to do with monsters is so good. Teehee.

FanFic Ask Game

[asherlockstudy]

They dug a hole

Okay so, hmmm, what if, what IF the video is an allegory. (The "what if" is rhetoric in order to not seem like I feel as strongly about this as I do.)

Rhett and Link said they have never dug a hole. However, they have dug several physical holes in old videos, something that's going around tumblr right now. All these holes were parts of a story though. Rhett and Link are notoriously silly but even they aren't silly enough to come up with the idea to dig an actual hole (or many holes), take all the pains this includes and write a song about it for absolutely no reason. I am also not sure they target views with this video. I mean, they always target views but I am not sure this is their priority with this one.

Also, I am gonna address the elephant in the room (I always have the feeling that almost all fans in this fandom avoid the elephants like the plague) but I am pretty sure Rhett and Link know the metaphorical meaning of "digging a hole".

But, again, let's consider what happens in this video while entertaining the possibility that it is an allegory. I am not gonna tell you what I think the allegory is but I am going to analyze what's going on in this video in detail and, maybe, when analyzed in text, the video will stop being so... incoherent.

We Dug A Medium-Sized Hole

The video starts with Rhett and Link speaking to the viewers in full, documentary voices. Rhett starts, and Link cuts the take, not being totally ready for it. They start again, this time both ready. Anyway, they announce that in their whole entertainment career they had never dug a hole and it was about time they did it. Rhett corrects Link, clarifying the hole is already dug and this video only discusses it. So I suppose that if Rhett and Link weren't willing to make a video about it, it would have totally escaped their fans that they had dug a hole already. Link then invites the viewers to follow them in this explanatory journey of the hole-digging.

The take is interrupted by Rhett's massive stomach rumble. Link turns this into a sex joke, where he clearly equates the vague hole with a body orifice. Rhett responds with a low groan.

Then the explanatory journey begins.

Rhett and Link explain how hard it was to find where to dig a hole. In their words, they had to drive as far as 90 minutes outside LA and into the desert in order to not be disturbed / interrupted while digging the hole.

Link makes a comparison that this is where people would choose to hide evil actions, like burying dead bodies. They both agree that on the contrary they don't hide anything, they don't bury anything at all.

Rhett has questions. He has questions about how they will dig the hole, how big the hole will be, what to expect from the hole-digging. Link urges him to not think about it a lot and just enjoy the hole-digging. Rhett acknowleges that they are both on the same page, wishing to just enjoy the hole-digging but he is concerned about what happens afterwards, in the future. What expectations they set and how they will know they met them. How to not be worried or disappointed the next day.

Link gives a hard answer in a very natural fashion. Simply, they should go for the biggest hole they can dig. All in. No thoughts.

Rhett raises his objections to this. If their expectations are huge and they go all in, this could turn into a huge fiasco that would leave them very disappointed. Rhett doesn't want this to be a fiasco, he wants this to be a pleasant experience. In Rhett's words, he wanted to feel good "now, then (after the hole-digging) and in the future". Link sees the reason in this and agrees to set medium expectations. Not too high but definitely not too low either.

Once out there, they try to find the spot that feels JUST right, although many places seem good for the hole-digging to them. Rhett suggests they try to connect spiritually and find the right place with sentiment (a hand on their heart), only to see at some point Link in all fours. They make sex jokes about this and Link says he thought he was making Rhett happy, while it's implied Rhett was amused by it (besides happy). Anyway, with Rhett's lead, they fiddle about a little, with closed eyes and the hands over their hearts, and with Rhett, as ever, teasing Link a little, making him feel like he's chasing Rhett. He soon offers his hand though and where they meet, it's the spot they choose.

There is a cut there for Link to explain how he saw all this situation as an exercise in being open to new situations and experiences, becoming much more agreeable and saying yes to everything.

So they finally make their first attempt to dig the bloody hole. It doesn't go exactly as dreamed imagined. Rhett's attempt falls comically flat, with his shovel not making it through the earth. Link watches him condescendingly and makes remarks as Rhett struggles to push the shovel in. It almost reminds me of all the times Link has screamed first and / or good sex needs to be slow or that strange certainty with which he often jokes about Rhett’s sexual performance. At this point Rhett explains he then realised that this effort to dig the hole could prove to not be easy or fun.

As they very slowly start digging the hole together, Link wonders whether they should throw the dirt in a different or the same pile. Rhett suggests they should throw it in the same pile. Then they wonder why they focus on, no, why they identify with the "digging a hole" part (shame?) and not in the "making a pile" part (as in, an accomplishment?).

As the hole slowly becomes bigger and they now throw the dirt in the same pile, Link becomes more talkative. He starts to tell Rhett openly that this is the thing he enjoys doing the most and that he would not want to do it with anyone else more than with Rhett. Rhett does not reciprocate satisfyingly, except with jokes and teases or he says the same things but you have to squeeze them out of him. A little annoyed, Link stresses that he's being serious and as Rhett does not say anything to this, Link stops digging and looks him in the eye. This whole situation may or may not remind me of all this year(s) Link was complaining publicly that Rhett doesn’t open up to him about his feelings.

I am kind of missing the concept of the next part, but my guess is Rhett tries to avoid answering by saying some totally non-realistic ideal scenario involving dead (grandfathers?) coming back to life could be even better. Then Link intecepts to lowkey threaten him that he could be gone one day and then Rhett would realise digging the hole with him was indeed the best thing instead of getting back dead (grandfathers?) and digging holes with them...? Rhett concedes that he will dig Link’s grave hole (probably meaning all the way up to Link’s death?) and then Link makes some jokes like “nah hun you ain’t that good at it” to which Rhett replies that it wouldn’t be taking much at that point anyway.

The hole grows larger still and they slowly get the hang of this, starting coming up with rhymes and melodies as they enjoy themselves more. The song they come up with describes the pains it takes to dig a hole initially and there is also a mention for a pill to maintain focus 👀 Once each has come up with their part, they improve and they start singing in harmony. Soon the video becomes a video clip and it blasts the finished version of the song, refined.

Meanwhile, we see Link driving an excavator as the hole grows dangerously large for their expectations. Link is totally absorbed in the digging, having the time of his life, almost as much as uncontrollably he seemed to enjoy himself during the Year of the Twink, ha, just something that coincidentally came to my mind. Rhett (who is still mostly shovelling) dances along initially but he gradually panics and stops Link.

Rhett explains that he didn’t want to pull Link from his enjoyment but he was getting very alarmed by the size the hole was getting. Link acknowledged that the hole had indeed become too large but asks if he could be blamed to have so much fun. Rhett agrees that they both had too much fun but it was time to regulate the size of the hole. Rhett then suggests to return the hole to its medium size. Link refuses, they can't do that anymore.

Rhett explains that there is a way to make a large hole medium again with the proper adjustments. That point in time when they had revealed they agreed on some “guidelines” on how to put some limits to their friendship just popped up in my mind randomly, although if so the time frame is a little messed up so it might be a different point in time actually. Link firmly argues that once a hole has become too big, that means it wasn’t meant to stay medium anyway or that that moment of medium size is long gone. (However, if we go back to Link’s original suggestion to make as big a hole as possible, it is almost certain that Link then suggested a medium-size only to not scare Rhett away from the project but it was a massive hole he was dreaming about from the beginning.)

Rhett was convinced.

Rhett explains that he was convinced by Link because he too realised and admitted that originally planning to only dig a medium hole was very different from spontaneously digging a large hole and then trying to shrink it. Link added that they had failed to maintain a medium hole, simply because they were very successful at making a large one.

They tried to trace the root of the problem. According to them, when they agreed on medium-size expectations, they didn't analyze what exactly this meant for each of them. They had a problem to establish new expectations between them and they didn't know how to cover the large hole they had made.

So they asked professional help. From the crew. Whether Twinkle Fingers symbolizes the whole Mythical crew, one crew member, a few or Twinkle Fingers himself, I can not tell. Rhett and Link ask from a Mythical member to cover their large hole and the poor fellow clarifies he can find the dimensions for a new one (but not cover the large one). While he keeps data of their hole, it's clear Link still doesn't consider it as large as it should be, to Rhett's mild annoyance. The crew member's tools are giving Rhett and Link easily the information they need in order to know how large the dimensions of their hole actually are.

The mythical member adds naked images of Rhett and Link in the digital reconstruction of the hole. Then Rhett and Link ask from the crew member to help them make a medium-sized hole, as they couldn't on their own. Rhett makes clear that the crew member has no say in the size of the hole, he will only follow the directions Rhett and Link will give him. Rhett suggests they repeat the whole placing the hand over their heart in order to know where truly medium size is for them.

Interestingly, this time, it's Rhett who opts for a larger medium hole while Link opts for the smaller medium, even though he was the one to make it huge in the first place. Rhett criticizes the tininess of Link's hole, almost, almost like the unusual neediness he expressed during the pandemic quarantines and his criticising of Link's distance, almost I say, but they compromise into making the median hole of their two holes, where Link has to open up a little more again and Rhett has to lower his expectations a little.

This time though, they feel done with all the turmoil of finding all these spots to dig a hole. So they buy... ehm so they decide to dig the medium hole in the Creative House. They start very small all over again, by making a tiny medium hole in a recreation in the yard. Yet, once again, Rhett is concerned that the excavator they are using goes by default for large holes. So once out in the field again for the proper work, this time it's Rhett driving the excavator and it has half the power of the original excavator.

Rhett is focused, he has taken the lead to keep this thing precise. However, Link soon interrupts Rhett, thinking they should at least go back in this with their own hands, doing all the work themselves. One thing they mention is that they should take into account the depth of the hole as well, and they both agree to keep the hole shallow. Much different from the huge and gaping hole that is still right behind them.

In a shovel to perfect the hole, Rhett accidentally kills a mole. In his last moments, the mole reveals he is a fan, a fan of Rhett and Link's medium-sized hole digging. He is also scornful of other people who might not get the appeal of this hole digging. He is also so pleased with it that even his death is worth it, in a way. Link expresses guilt, saying perhaps they should try to shrink the large hole a bit after all, instead of creating another medium, shallow hole. The mole disagrees though, insisting that many people dig themselves large holes but to dig yourself a medium one with such precision and fidelity to the plan is admirable.

The mole dies and Rhett throws him listlessly in the large hole.

In the end, Rhett and Link look at each other proudly for making a medium sized hole.

After making a large hole.

And then going back to determine what medium is.

And then instead of filling the large hole to reach medium size, they just made another hole next to the massive one gaping right behind them.

So the holes are two now.

As the drone flies farther away from them, we see the mole as a cloud winking at us. Clearly, the mole-fan is at a good place, he's probably become an angel.

[relaxxattack]

hwy so i saw ur poll ab arasol and f they were matesprits or not and ive been into homestuck for about 7 years and its a special interest and im autistic and thwy are my first and tbh only otp anf so if this is ok i wld like to infodump my opinion/hcs ab them bc i just 🥰 i love them sm 🥰 (def not frothing at the mouth at the idea of an audience for my opinions bc everyone irl is sikc of me lmao /lh)

ok so i deffo think they ar e matesprits BUT i think they never liie. clearly confirmwd it while aradia was alive. and once she became ghost aradia i think she got so distant and aloof (i think thats the right word?) about everytuing that it made sollux feel like she disnt love him anymore, and he eventually just had to move on, even thouvh it hurt. and feferi was there, not necessarily as a "rebound" but as a shoulder to cry on. someone for sollux to confide in, and to listen to him because he didnt have anyonw else he felt like woild. and i feel like feferi was def nto him and wanted to be his matesprit but i think sollux wasnt really. and i think they developed a kind of mixed/blurred lines relationship and the whole ghost and aradiabot phases pushed him and aradia furhter apart because aradia was dealinf wth so so much and in turn sollux was dealinf with the loss of his presumed (unofficial, wtv) matesprit, because that wasnt the aradia he knew and had fallen in love with. the ghost thing wasnt a bother - he loved her, not her physical form - it was the personality shift, i think.

and so when she reached god tier and regained her body nd her sense of identity, ithink they started to rekindle what they had nefore, if that makes sense? like aradia was his aradia again, an aradia interested in life and adventuee and archaeology and not this stupid, stupid game and suddenly not everything felt like it was collapsing around him and he felt like things could be okay again. and she helped him and he helped her and together they did make thinfs okay again. with each other.

and i think aradia's living>ghost>aradiabot>godtier timeline is a good allegory for depression and how it can absolutely shatter your sense of self and strip your world of colour and how that can make you push people away and self isolate and whatnot. idk thats just how i see it but :3 yea

i havet checkwd out the epilogues or homestuck^2 btw so this is based solely off of andrew hussie's homestuck bc i love it sososo much anyways yea !!!! tysm if anybody took the time to read this i love u all!! and ty for letting me drop this in ur askbox lolz and yea :3 srry if this isnt v comprehensive i just got off an 8hr closing shift at work lmao <3

this is a REALLY good analysis and i really love it, thank you for sharing! this makes complete sense to me.

aradia's depression being the catalyst for their split is very true! especially since she then sort of broke his trust with the whole sgrub thing-- and before that interacting with her was hard because sollux felt so guilty about what he did to her. it's just sad on all accounts, and i'm glad they both got better

honestly my poll was more to ask the question; "so we all agree that aradia and sollux were matesprits right because they do NOT act like moirails lol but it's funny because if they're matesprits that makes the feferi business weirder", but i don't think it came across in the post correctly, pfft

yes i definitely agree that they were matesprits, and also the idea that feferi was more into sollux than he was her is a really interesting one-- i also wonder if maybe feferi was maybe less into sollux than she thought, herself-- it's possible she threw herself into that relationship because she was just so relieved to be finally cut off from eridan and "allowed" to have relationships like that. but that's just my thought!

at the end of the day they're all just kids trying stuff out and it's kind of adorable and not that serious. i'm an arasoler at heart but there's nothing wrong with solfef either

[kaeyachi]

If I may respond to what the previous anon brought up, I do actually agree with them on their original premise. Finding the “betraying your archon gets you turned into a hilichurl” ridiculous, I mean. That’s just my personal opinion, and I think it largely stems from my own bias (I don’t like when fantasy media has belief or lack thereof in gods actually have a tangible effect on the world or the individual, I prefer when it’s caused by magical stuff, preferably one already established in the lore), but there is another factor to it which I think has maybe more weight? At the very least, it’s something I want to ask you about because I think you’re a more knowledgeable person on all things Kaeya lore than myself:

Up until Perinheri came out, it seemed, at least to me based on what Genshin theorists I was following, that all the information was pointing to hilihcurls (and potentially the immortality of the pureblood Khaenri’ahns) being created simply through exposure to abyssal energy. And I think we do know at this point that abyssal energy was a factor in the collapse of Sol Vindagnyr and the fall of Gurrabad. IIRC it is theorized that both of those nations had some hilihcurl-ification going on at their fall. I can’t cite any sources her right now because I’m just typing this as I go, but there is a lawachurl Dragonspine named Ukko, which was the name of a friend of the princess of Sol Vindagnyr, so that’s probably a massive hint that the denizens of Sol Vindagnyr, including Ukko, were being turned into hilihcurls. I think there was mention somewhere that there was abyssal energy involved at the fall of that nation and that’s why a celestial nail was yeeted down on the mountain, to try to cleanse it, but it terraformed the place into an inhospitable mountain rather than make things better, but please correct me if I’m wrong. As for Gurrabad, I’m almost certain that there was a mention somewhere (I don’t remember where) of Liloupar or someone unleashing abyssal or dark energies and at least someone getting turned into a monster, implying that it was the contact with abyssal energies which turned someone (probably a ton of people) into hilihcurls. And IIRC there are writings from someone who turned into a hilichurl more gradually, but I think that the abyssal energies explanation could maybe explain this gradual turning as well, as maybe getting away from abyssal energy exposure slowed down the transformation. I’m not sire how this explanation covers the way that non-pureblood Khaenri’ahns only started turning into hilihcurls during the Cataclysm after they set foot outside of Khaenri’ah. Maybe Khaenri’ah itself had/has some kind of barrier against abyssal energies (we do know that Khaenri’ah was fighting the abyss after all)? Maybe it’s only in Teyvat’s atmosphere that the abyssal energies’ negative effects can have the most tangible effect?

All of this is more speculative, but I have another point to bring up in defence on my still clinging to the abyssal energies explanation: that being that this information of hilichurlification being caused by betraying one’s archon is revealed in a book. A story. And we have gotten confirmation that information can be altered by Irminsul tampering UNLESS they are written as allegories and metaphors. That’s why we had the whole thing about Wanderer’s memory being preserved inside a fable. It wasn’t describing what he is and what happened to him factually, it was an (admittedly very close) allegory. So, basically, I’m having an issue with how this information from Perinheri about hilichurlification is being taken seemingly at face value? When we have reason to at least suspect that the books in Teyvat with the most interesting lore tidbits conceal that lore from a face value reading through allegory or metaphor or something in order to preserve it from Irminsul tampering. Why is this not being considered with Perinheri too? I’m not saying that we definitely shouldn’t believe any of the information given in Perinheri at face value or that all of it is allegory, but I do think it’s at least worth considering?

I don’t know, I feel like Genshin’s lore is encouraging us to apply this sort of thinking to at least some of the books in Teyvat, and it just makes me sad when theorists don’t? Because it feels evident to me? Although, again, I will acknowledge that I am particularly biased in this regard because, as stated, I just personally don’t like the “betraying your archon results in hilichurl-ification” explanation and I felt like the lore was pointing to the abyssal energy explanation.

Also, on an unrelated note, could you please confirm where it is stated that the Alberichs were obsessed with maintaining their blood purity? Is it because of their opposition to Chlothar’s Mondstadtian lover? Maybe it’s just me, but I just got the sense that they just didn’t want him marrying a commoner, which…is a normal trope in aristocracy? Maybe I just wasn’t reading enough into it, or maybe I just like simple explanations too much?

Also also, can we acknowledge that, if the Alberichs were obsessed with blood purity, isn’t it weird then for them to attribute Kaeya, who is VERY HEAVILY IMPLIED TO NOT BE PUREBLOOD (it feels so obvious to me and I am trying not to be annoyed that it’s not being brought up more), as their last hope? Like, what would make them change their mind over the past 500 years and make Kaeya’s father decide that shacking up with a Teyvatian woman (I will die on the hill that Kaeya’s mom is sumeran) was okay actually? I have some possibilities in mind, but I’m sure you do too and they’re more thought out than mine, and also this ask has already gone on way too long as it is, I’m so sorry.

I hope this ask is least somewhat interesting for you. Also, I’m really sorry if this came off as a rant just because I don’t like that particular Perinheri lore drop!

Hello! This was a very lengthy, but interesting read, so thank you for taking the time to do so! Let me expand on my answers to anon from the previous ask:

I actually do agree with the facts you have stated about the abyss exposure because it had been repeatedly mentioned that abyssal energy is involved. This means that even if someone wasn't Khaenri'ahn, as long as you come across this form of energy and found out "certain information" that makes one actively want to go against Celestia, then it would spark a transformation.

I think what wasn't quite obvious to many is that the abyssal source is near Khaenri'ah. The entirety of Khaenri'ah is already poisoned land in itself.

(Lemme sneak in a theory: Something about Khaenri'ah may have actually prevented the transformation from occuring...like...let's say... a certain flower that can only be found in Khaenri'ah? The same flower that hardens in outside of Khaenri'ah, but turns to dust when brought back home?

Also, I think the people of Teyvat are easier to taint with abyssal energy and thus are the ones who turn into hilichurls. Outlanders, on the other hand, are able to handle said energies or are generally not affected at all)

As for the "going against Gods" thing for what happened to Khaenri'ah, what we actually needed to consider that this wasn't simply peoples disbelief in them (as I have stated, Archons can come and go, so this really isn't the actual basis), but was instead the active participation of going against Celestia (or again the alternative of knowing something against Celestia that you weren't supposed to know if you are a regular human being of Teyvat). Khaenri'ah would not have existed if belief was a prerequisite, but we know that Khaenri'ah lasted for centuries, so Celestia doesn't exactly punish nonbelievers...but you know what they were actually doing? Plotting to bring down Celestia.

You see, the higher ups in Khaenri'ah know more of the truth ( Perinheri and a certain namecard had long predicted an arrival of someone with the power to topple down Celestia), and unfortunately, as what many would agree is a harsh punishment, the actions of the leaders of Khaenri'ah led to a curse that also affected the very people they were trying to protect. We can assume that not only did they use Khaenri'ah as a lesson/horror story for other nations, they also did this in an attempt of preventing Khaenri'ah of ever rebuilding to try bringing them down again in the future (this part might have actually been implied in Kaeya's hangout quest in the Tale of Prince Qubad)

With Perinheri, that book is simply a tale told thru research, so the actual contents could have been mistranslated or misunderstood by the scholars that compiled them. Additionally, we need to consider the fact that Perinheri does not know the full extent of what it entailed to turn into a hilichurl. We can instead use the story to connect the dots on the previous lore instead. Definitely do not take what was mentioned in that book as the new lore explanation or retcon from Hoyo because our bro Perinheri spent nearly the entire time confused af lmao. He is... quite the unreliable narrator.

Finally, my commentary on the Alberich clan being focused on blood purity is actually just a hypothesis based on the information we got! This was my thought process:

-> If pureblood Khaenri'ahns are the ones who can safely leave, then they need to ensure blood purity for the sake of the military. The Alberich clan and other noble clans probably did this (thus, all soldiers of Khaenri'ah that were named are probably purebloods as well unless they figured out how to keep the ex-Teyvatian soldiers from turning while on missions. Maybe thru their military machinery)

-> The Alberich Clan is a family of people destined to be leaders, and having a weakness such as the possibility of turning into a hilichurl is not ideal.

-> Either the actual reason was lost through the years, or Clothar was just optimistic af about being able to protect and care for his lover and child, but as nobles, they had to marry people of the same class, and failure to follow this is a cause of shame.

-> Post cataclysm, there's quite literally nobody left of the Alberich clan ( as far as we know because we're not sure about Pierro, and we aren't sure if Kaeya's father is really dead). Kaeya, for some odd reason, is not cursed. Half Teyvatian or not (I strongly believe he's half-Sumerian too btw), this is a miracle to them. As I theorized before, this may be because Kaeya had never stepped foot into Khaenri'ah...however, there could also be other reasons, such as the barely touched topic of the Loom of Fate (the same Loom of Fate that involves some other Alberich clansmen)

Did anyone notice the lengths his father went just to ensure that Kaeya would survive? Mondstadt is literally the furthest location we have so far from Khaenri'ah, and the archon who rules it gladly opens their arms to anyone, so it is also the safest. Additionally, his father deliberately kept crucial information away from Kaeya based on what Kaeya has been doing in the background, which is information gathering.

They're keeping him alive for something. (I have a theory post on hold regarding this topic)

Btw, I have actually had previous theories on Kaeya's ancestry before, as well as the topic of the Loom of Fate, but it has been such a long time ago (I posted them pre-3.5) so I really don't blame anyone for not knowing it lmao. Should I revisit those old theories and revise them with the current lore drops?