#where it’s not like a confirmed thing unless you interpret it that way

[squuote]

we need to go back to when people treated stanarrator as a small fun aspect of the game and not the fandom’s main focus please. yes the narrator is gay or whatever, cool, let’s talk about him possibly being a skull now

[skeletonh0e]

"You write Sans as too nice!"

"You write Sans as too mean!"

Guys imma remind ya'll of a very important thing when it comes to my husband. Which is,

Sans is an extremely mysterious and furthermore extremely flawed character. Toby Fox literally said he wanted Sans to feel real so like most people there's a lot of layers and complexity to him

Not to mention similar to most people we know, we just don't have the full context behind a lot of what they do. This is especially the case with Sans.

Also should go without saying but this is about Vanilla undertale Sans, not his AU counterparts where their entire gimmick is that they are nicer or more evil than bis default self.

The first one "you write Sans as too nice", Sans is not a character known for cruelty

He's friendly if cheeky toward the player / Frisk, strictly talking within the pacifist route. While we'll talk about that whole promise to protect later but this isn't something exclusive to just the player or player character

Sans is established to be fairly popular and openly friendly within the underground, he has a decent amount of friends and people seem to like him. While I wouldn't call Sans a goodie two shoes that goes out of his way to constantly help others clearly he's established to a friendly and chill dude

Also while clearly he loves to play pranks and goof around, he's also down to go alone with the players antics as well to a certain extent

All this indicates that Sans is a good natured guy for the most part, plus it's worth nothing it's very implied that the reason Sans has so many jobs is to afford the place he and Papyrus live at

Sans sounds pretty nice, there's a lot of basis that allows you to interpet his character in a very positive light

Onto the next one "you write Sans as too mean"

Sans can do some shady shit

Granted he immediately attempts to play it as a joke and it's unclear how serious Sans is actually being here, not to mention his motivation behind saying this. The dramatic timing with the music stopping and everything certainly IMPLIES he wasn't joking but there's some room for interpretation. Besides I wouldn't be surprised if he was serious but wouldn't have followed through when the time came but more on that later

Also a friend pointed out while he jokes with everyone, he only plays pranks on Frisk, while we can assume he does it to other monsters we only witness it done to Frisk

Pranks can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on your relationship with the person doing them, and whether or not you find the pranks funny. I found Sans to be funny and most did but, not everyone will

Trying to sell snow to a little kid (even if he doesn't follow through on the extremely high price), asking you to foot the extremely pricey bill at Grillby's (though again he doesn't follow through) the telescope prank or volunteering to stack hotdogs on someone's head without asking...all of this could be seen as passive aggressive forms of bullying. Not saying I think it is or at least if it was, that it likely wasn't all intentional on Sans' part.

At the end of the "dead where you stand" speech, this can casts his past actions in a negative light, he tells you he was, "Just kidding." Where is the humor in a "joke" like that? And then for the bonus round, he'll make a smart alecky comment that goes something like, "I've done a good job looking out for you. You haven't died a single time!"

But anyone who isn't a master at undertale gameplay (most players especially first time ones) has died at least once upon leaving the ruins if not SEVERAL times by this point

And Sans knows of resets, so this is him being a bit of a dick here tbh. Unless you go the route of assuming that Sans is truly completely 100% oblivious which the game doesn't support even if it's amusing to think about

Now on the trust pacifist ending at least we get solid confirmation, that Sans likes Frisk and is their friend but there's a lot of ambiguity about where this starts in game. Did he straight up not like Frisk at the start but kept his promise reluctantly? Did he only change his views at the end of true pacifist? Did it change in-between the journey? Or were all these pranks really just good natured and Sans never meant ill will to begin with? Up to you, which brings us to the next point

The genocide route

Though obviously the context for the genocide route vs the pacifist route are entirely different, I do think the information we're given reframes some of his actions in the pacifist route. We all wanna rag on Sans for threatening a literal child but-

We have the ability to reset. Which need I remind you the only other character we know for a fact had this ability was Flowey. Who uh, is not a good dude need I remind you and he did his own genocide routes in the past. The difference between us the player doing a genocide route is that we followed through until the end, Flowey didn't.

It can be a bit harsh but idk about you, if I found out someone, even if that someone WAS a kid had the ability to control time like that....would you trust them? Would you like them right off the bat regardless of how good of a person they seemed?

Of course how much Sans remembers different timelines is unclear and again entirely up to interpretation, for the most part he is aware of resets but doesn't remember them. But I have seen theories arguing he does so again depending on the context here this can reframe Sans' actions.

Also worth noting that he does mention that he did want to befriend the anomaly (the player/frisk), thinking they just needed a good laugh or something akin to that. Which certainly could indicate his pranks were truly good natured and not an attempt at bullying, but also he could just be saying this to throw the player off. Sans is not above using manipulation to get the player to stop, i.e him pretending to spare us for example

You're quickly noticing a trend here.

Sans may be doing something with the best of intentions, Sans may be just being a straight up dick. Sans does not wear his heart let alone his true intentions on his sleeve. Which is why he's such a compelling character to begin with.

That's not to say we know NOTHING about him, he cares about Papyrus clearly, he cares about Toriel (I will come back to this too dw), he's shown to be extremely clever, observant and he definitely does like jokes. The takeaway should not be that Sans is some unknowable character, the takeaway should be a lot of things are simply unclear about him. Much like people we know irl.

Think of Sans like a puzzle, we have some pieces but some are missing and while we can actively do our best to fill in the blanks we'll likely just never know the complete picture

However, a common theme with Undertale is there are no bad people simply people put in difficult situations with no right answer. Which brings me to the neutral routes which given the sheer number of neutral endings there are it'd be impossible to cover them all ESPECIALLY since this post is already super long

But

I will address a few things

The first one being "why doesn't Sans intervene when the human starts killing?" well the reason can vary depending on the extremity of the players actions here, however we have to address the main thing here.

We can debate how much Sans actually remembers about different timelines and previous resets all day, but he is aware of them. To quote the man himself if YOU lived everyday of your life knowing you'll just start over like your previous actions just didn't happen....what would you do?

The man is DEPRESSED as a result, he keeps through the motions but he has given up and doesn't believe his actions matter. Does that justify not doing anything up until the VERY end of the genocide route and straight up not doing anything in more brutal neutral routes?

Hard to say. Would you do though?

Sans knows who he's dealing with. It does not matter what he does he can't stop you. The only reason he trys in the genocide route is BECAUSE YOU'RE ABOUT TO END THE FREAKIN WORLD

Plus someone pointed out in a weird way waiting that long to see if you ever change your ways or show even an ounce of mercy by sparing a single monster is in a way holding true to his brother mentality of even the WORST person can change

Also remember he doesn't just NOT give a fuck if you kill everyone he cares for, Sans doesn't take action against you because he knows there's no point but Sans never goes "okay lol" he is very much upset at you ESPECIALLY if you kill Papyrus or Toriel

I couldn't find the screenshot of it but I believe in one of the neutral endings where you do kill toriel and papyrus he basically goes "you better watch yourself kid," implying he might actually hunt you down. Not 100% clear if the threat is meant to be interpreted that way, it could be more of a "stay away" than a "I'm coming for you" but still

Plus in some neutral endings he shows legit regret over not doing more

Now I've established Sans can be nice, Sans can be cruel or just kinda mean, Sans does a lot of things that pretty ambiguous in terms of intent, but Sans is also extremely flawed. Which brings me to the finale conclusion of this character analysis (?) (whatever you wanna call it?)

His promise to Toriel

Now, this is not a Soriel post even if I do admit I like the ship. However, people who act like he doesn't care about her are legit smoking crack, his promise to her was legit to comfort her, he gets along with her, in one neutral ending becomes her roommate and is actively upset by her death

Regardless of how you wish to interpret that relationship, clearly he cares about her and the two have a strong bond.

But as many people have pointed out....Sans actually does break this promise, he doesn't really do anything to protect Frisk throughout the entire game unless you count not trying to kill them on sight. Now granted with resets being a thing this creates something of a loophole

Cuz yeah Frisk did die but didn't die ya know? They can come back. There's no perma-death

But while we all want to hold Sans up to the standard of being this ultimate protector, here's something to point out that I feel like a lot of people tend to forget

Sans has 1 HP, think about that. What does that mean for him as a monster? One hit and he dies, literally, one hit. I've seen some people make the argument that HP doesn't stand for Hit Points, it's stands for HoPE

What happens to monsters when they lose enough hope? They fall down. They die. So not only is Sans physically weak but honestly I think my human standards he'd be chronically ill as if he has one hope could he literally die at any moment?

Now. Granted there is a theory that the characters choose to display their stats and that they say so this could again be Sans trolling or straight up lying but if we're going to take the "you'd be dead where you stand" line at 100% face value then we take this at 100% face value

Can Sans really be that good of a protector or would doing so actually get himself killed?

Everyone talks about how hard the genocide fight is because THATS him acting as the games last defense to stop you. There is no one else. There will be nothing else if you continue. It's why he try so hard because he has to. There will be no more world. No more him. No more anything. He's pulling out all the brakes because otherwise he's just fuuuuuucked

If Sans followed Frisk around it'd take him getting barely hit for him to die, which while Frisk can reset imagine how tiring that would be. Sans is good at dodging yes, but he gets tired pretty easily. Now you can find workarounds sure but regardless it's a lot of hassle isn't it?

This also brings me to the reason why I don't think Sans would follow through if he did attack us right outside the ruins. How long would this man actually last in a pacifist fight? Especially if the human hasn't done any harm? I feel like he'd tire easily or quickly be talked out of it, Sans isn't a ruthless killer unless he's pushed to be one

How much can Sans actually do? Does he not act in the neutral routes not JUST because of extreme depression and a defeatist attitude but because he knows that he can't do much in a fair fight? Hell, even in genocide Sans has to actively fight dirty to be such a challenge

You can argue him not at least trying anyway is cowardly or bad, but idk man. If you were chronically ill and you knew for a fact this kid can just reset then come back life would you really bother? I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the kid is fine and it's better to risk it

Frisk can reset sure, Sans can't. And Sans doesn't have any reason to trust Frisk would being him back to life if need be.

There's a lot of difficult questions to be asked here and decisions good or bad have been made, Sans is a good guy sure at least I think so but even good guys don't always know what to do or make the right decisions.

[laora-ryn]

Just in case anyone was wondering, I am in fact a federal employee and I am in fact having A Fucking Time Of It

In roughly chronological order, here's all the things that have fucked us over the last two weeks:

Hiring freeze effective immediately, which involved rescinding final offers to people who were about to start their job. A final offer is something you can get a mortgage with btw. It's what you get after months of paperwork. It's something you move cross country for. Eighteen people just at our hospital had a final offer rescinded

A demand for a return to in person work, with no explanation given for why they want this so badly. No explanation on people who have teleworking written into their contracts, or people who have teleworking as a reasonable accommodation

Related to the hiring freeze: no creation of any new jobs in even a preliminary way, even to prep to fill existing vacancies after the 90 days are over

Closing of all DEIA teams groups, webinar series, webpages, department gatherings... Anything you can think of. This included the queer teams based communities that were just a place for people to chat

Related to this: our acting secretary sending out an email that sounds straight out of the fucking Gestapo, where "we are aware of efforts by some in government to deliberately redefine DEIA positions in an attempt to keep their jobs. If you know of this happening, here's an email line we've set up for tips. There won't be adverse consequences for reporting, however, failure to report may have adverse consequences"

What appears to have been trying to be a total freeze on federal spending, which threw literally everything into chaos, I was not able to follow it at all, but the hospital is still running so I'm assuming money is happening somewhere

Two strange emails from OPM.gov, marked EXTERNAL, saying they're testing a new distribution list and to please reply yes. These were considered so universally sus by employees that they had to come down from central office and confirm that yes, these are legit, please reply

A day later, an email from that same external address offering voluntary resignation, which I'm pretty sure is the bit that's been all over the news for (checks notes) being word for word the same email musk sent to Twitter before proceeding to Not Pay Them

A restriction on communication and travel. "No speaking engagements or attendance at public facing events, seminars, or conferences (unless approved by chief of staff) for 6 months. VA only events are excluded." Which was later clarified to mean "well if you're going for continuing Ed, as long as you aren't presenting, it's ok" but then backtracked to "it's probably ok but you still need approval which can take upwards of a month." Why are they restricting speaking at conferences? It's not a money thing because traveling for VA events still costs money. It's like they're looking to prevent staff from interacting with anyone external, for some reason

And today, an email this morning that "leadership has received guidance from the office of personnel management [regarding the EO about "gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth"] and is working to execute the EO fully, faithfully, and thoughtfully."

This afternoon at 4:30, this began with an all employee email saying that all personal pronouns are being removed from Outlook display names by IT, which was a system implemented several years ago and broadly popular! But nope, we'll need to go back to guessing what genders new coworkers named Quinn, Alex, Morgan, and Taylor are.

(oh I forgot! I can't use the word gender at work anymore. Using Proper Terminology (as interpreted by our ~~~Illustrious President~~~) in all communications at work is now required)

It's been a fucking week and a half and I am so goddamn tired guys. Sorry I haven't been on again but I'm spending most of my energy on Not McFucking Losing It rn

[wispstalk]

Some writing advice for hunting, bc I see a lot of hunting scenes in fantasy that make me itch. More under the cut. Don't read if you're sensitive to blood-and-guts discussion or animal death.

Finding game:

- I don't hunt much these days bc I don't feel like getting my ass out of bed at shitfuck o'clock every weekend during the season. Which you have to do, because much of the time you come home empty-handed. Successful hunts come about when you're out there often.

- You don't really have to be a good tracker to hunt, but you do have to know the basics of your prey and you have to be able to interpret the landscape even if it's unfamiliar. It's less likely a tracker is looking for "bent blades of grass" or whatever and more likely they are noticing game trails, sheltered areas where nests and burrows are, a spot of thick vegetation which would indicate a water source.

- Scat and footprints are useful too ofc but to varying degrees. If I'm hunting deer it's just confirmation that they're in the area; more often I use knowledge of their habits to actually find them. If I were hunting something elusive and solitary like a cougar I would pay more attention to the tracks but that's also a reason people hunt with dogs!

Actually hunting:

- Bows are not the only hunting weapons, though would be most common in ur typical medieval fantasy type setting. Spears and lances, slings with stones, and clubs would also be used. And knives and swords but in this hunter's opinion, FUUUUCK that.

- Lung shot is a quick death. Heart shot and head shot too but that is much harder. Other shots might mean tracking a wounded animal as it runs away. This is where things like broken twigs/bent grass are especially telling, and ofc blood. Small game bleed out faster and won't get as far but you might spend quite a while running after an elk shot in the flank.

- This highly depends on the prey but hunting often involves more sitting around than people realize. I bring a small pad for my booty ass bc sometimes you'll spend hours in a strategic spot waiting for the game to pass by. Also hides (the shelter, not the skins) are a thing and most hunters would consider shelter-building an essential skill.

- Hunting seasons are not entirely a modern convention -- there are better times of year to find different animals. But there would be less concern, historically, about killing animals during the breeding season than we have today.

- Even when I was hunting regularly and more confident, I got a huge adrenaline spike EVERY time I had an animal in my sights.

Big game:

- A deer has a lot of meat on it and though it's not a bad thing to leave a carcass for scavengers, your party of two or three adventurers probably will not go to the trouble of hunting deer unless they have some nearby place to cache, preserve, or trade what they can't eat before it spoils. Are they leaving it behind or do they have some way to take full advantage of such a large kill?

- If your character gets a large game animal they're probably going to field dress it: deal with all the blood and guts on site, then quarter it so it can be packed back to the campsite or whatever. My dad is a big burly mutant man and he cannot carry a deer by himself. You can carry game on poles or horseback too but field dressing is pretty typical in a situation where u can't just fling it in the back of the truck and hang it at home.

- I grew up eating bear and when it comes up I'm often surprised how many people don't know that people hunt bear for meat. It's tasty imo, especially makes a good sausage

- I can hunt deer alone, though company is nice. I wouldn't attempt hunting something more dangerous by myself. Large animals especially are better taken down as a group effort. In the TES context for example it would be kind of insane to hunt horker alone. Not that some folks wouldn't try.

Small game:

- A character who subsists mostly on hunting is going to be eating a lot of small game. They are probably going to use traps and snares in addition to actually going out on hunts.

- Look up "rabbit starvation." Small game is often (but not always) lean and going without fat for a long time can cause serious health issues.

- I joke that you don't hunt turkey, you just go get one. Game birds are kind of stupid. I plan a deer hunt, but I have gone out and shot grouse on a whim.

Processing:

- Draining blood, skinning, plucking, butchering, dealing with all the bones and guts, storage and preservation: pretty time consuming and involved. It's a good excuse for social activity.

- The moneyed classes likely would not process their kills themselves, unless they're doing some kinda randyll tarly masculinity flex for the symbolism. Kitchen staff or a local butcher would handle it.

- A good skinning knife is kinda wide and short. Some game knives have a rounded tip which keeps it from puncturing the skin in case of accidental slippage.

- Skinning is done with a light hand bc puncturing the digestive system means you've poisoned the meat. I will say it is less difficult than I expected it to be the first time I tried it.

- We don't eat a lot of offal in the US but a deer liver, for example, would be considered prime meat by many and eaten first. Bear, walrus, and seal liver contain toxic amounts of vitamin A and would be thrown away.

- I've been told every animal has enough brains to tan its own hide, but I think there are some exceptions. It's definitely true of deer and elk. With small animals like rabbits it's hardly worth the effort of getting the brains out and other things can be used but brain tanned leather is soooo soft and nice.

- Hides and pelts are useful and valuable and would be kept or traded if circumstances allowed. You can tightly roll a hide to keep it from drying out before tanning, or you can freeze it, basically indefinitely. You can also air dry it once scraped clean and soften it later, which is what fur hunters would most likely do for efficiency's sake. Tanning is also so so so fucking gross imo. Really slimy process, and tanneries REEK.

That's all I can think of for now and this is already hella long but the takeaway is that it is generally a pretty involved activity and more impactful on lifestyle than I usually see depicted. So there ya have it

[lilirot]

As far the whole "Homicipher isn't romantic (enough)" debate- Like I'd definitely say it's romance lite but it's definitely got romance especially if you read between the lines. It doesn't have a lot of the "dating" aspects you'd expect from a otome but considering the setting is that really surprising? Hard to go on a date in a constantly shifting labyrinth where the closet thing to a restaurant (a random ghostly painting) is serving unknown meat and blood "tea". (Spoilers)

Like, barring Mr. Silvair, who outright says he's not interested in you, and Mr.Machete barely acknowledges your existence in general in his route. All the other boys pretty obviously (to me) are attracted to MC romantically. Mr. Crawling is the most obvious with his route him outright saying it, and like, the other Mr.Crawling focused ending is literally called "Blissful Love Life". Mr.Scarletella is the same. He says he likes/love you, he says you like/love him (even if you don't agree obsessive love is still love). Honestly, I'm pretty sure that Scarlet Rain is the actual canon ending too. Mr.Hood you could absolutely interpret as more parental in his route for MC, but I think we need to use Otome's Razor (It's an Otome game so assume all the characters are into MC unless stated otherwise), here that it very much still equally possible he likes you too. Mr.Chopped is the most interesting because you definitely have to extrapolate based on information over the whole game and not just like his route. In fact Mr.Silvair's route, the explicitly non-romance route, pretty much confirms that Mr.Chopped is interested in MC. The monster that Mr.Silvair kills is Mr.Chopped, he ended up that way because MC mentioned that it would be for the best if he had a body, if he wasn't interested in MC he probably wouldn't have bothered to convinced Silvair to help him get his body back and ultimately turn into a mindless beast. Which is fucked up honestly. Bro just wanted to impress MC but ended up getting actually killed (seriously, he's one of the few characters that actually dies in this game what the fuck lmao)

[pippin-katz]

How Long Did It Take For Charles To Find Edwin In Hell?

I did warn you people that you'd start seeing my name in this tag a lot, so hello again! I'm having more thoughts! Something that has been poking me in the back of my mind is the shift in Edwin's behavior in Hell.

First, we see him running around in a state of obvious distress. He's panicked, and he doesn't seem to know where he's going, or rather can't remember the layout (that's why he wrote it down in first place).

He is running though, and manages to find the room Simon is in to briefly hide from the monster. He's not okay, but he's definitely trying.

Then Edwin talks to Simon, and he tells him with confidence that he is going to escape Hell again, asking him to come with him.

The important part is that Edwin literally says, "I'm going to get out of here again." He says it like he believes it. He's determined, even if he's still terrified. He's going to keep trying, and must feel pretty confident in his willpower to invite Simon to come with him. It would be a death sentence to take Simon just for him to give up. Edwin wouldn't do that to him, so he must really believe that he's going to get out somehow. He asks him twice to come with him.

Edwin, despite claiming to not be good with people, is actually incredibly compassionate. This is the boy who got him killed as a teenager and sentenced to 70 years in Hell all because he wanted to prank him. Someone hurting you on accident doesn't erase the pain they caused; like Jenny, who acknowledges that there was no way for Niko to know that Maxine was violent and deranged, but still can't forgive her yet. Edwin gets angry for all of a few minutes, then immediately catches himself while talking to Despair. He not only calms down from his anger, he tries to defend Simon to Despair; when she sends him back, he's in the middle of saying "he didn't realize-"

The fact that Edwin is that quick to forgive Simon, even before he learned he fancied him, shows incredible empathy. He's not going to drag Simon through the Dollhouse unless he's absolutely sure he can, eventually, get them out.

So Edwin is determined and motivated to escape again. At least, that's how he acts here.

The very next time we see him is when Charles finds him. All of that determination, confidence, willpower, or whatever motivates him to try and escape is completely gone.

Edwin is sitting completely out in the open in the hallway, at intersection that has three different directions things can come from. Hell, there's light falling through the roof on him like a spotlight. He's curled up and crying.

Could he be any easier for the demon to kill right now? Hell, the Spider snatches him up effortlessly a few moments later to prove the point.

Why was he curled up, out in the open, crying? He has to know without a doubt that it'll get him caught and killed easily. The only thing he could do to make this worse would be to start screaming loudly so it locate him even faster.

The only reason he would be doing that would be if he'd given up on escaping. And that's then confirmed when Charles finds him in the cell. Despite being confident enough in his ability to escape that he invited Simon, he's now completely lost all hope entirely, even with Charles' presence. It takes Charles basically forcing him into action with the bomb he rolls at the Spider for him to move from being curled up into a ball in the corner.

How did Edwin go from having enough confidence in his ability to escape again to invite Simon, to completely hopeless, in what appears to us like a few hours?

Edwin is stubborn as fuck, and went through this shit for 70+ years. I find it a bit difficult to believe that he would go from being that determined to utterly defeated in a couple hours; this made me think of a common headcannon/theory/interpretation of time in Hell moving differently.

We get very little of Hell when you take a step back. There's a large map of Hell in the Lost & Found Department, the same as the one Charles shows the others when he's explains Edwin wrote about his experience. The Night Nurse says there are "entire worlds" in Hell.

I actually already intended to bring this up at some point, but Edwin tells Charles: "I spent 70 years, in the worst place, with worst people."

We don't see anyone else in the Dollhouse; Simon is in an attached room, but Edwin clearly didn't find it the first time. There's people in the Lust and Gluttony rooms, as well as Limbo, but it's not like Edwin could've talked to them to find out why they were sent to Hell. We can see that it's possible that people who don't fully deserve to be there can end up there. Simon was there for sacrificing Edwin, but we see he has immense amounts of guilt and did it on accident. After talking to Edwin, the blue light appears, so it seems that people can be redeemed/find salvation. We also know that Edwin was passed around to three demons. Sa'al, the first one, a demon in the middle, and the Spider.

So, my curiosity lies in how and where in Hell Edwin ended up interacting with "bad guys who do not worry about being bad guys". It's definitely not in the Dollhouse.

Back to the main point, we know very little about Hell, so the concept of time passing differently is definitely possible. Seeing the massive swift in Edwin's behavior/emotional state, I think it's worth thinking about.

Maybe it's similar to the Cat King's room, but in reverse, where one minute stretches into one hour in Hell. Maybe it depends on where you are. The 70 year time period that Edwin says he experienced lines up with the years in the mortal plane, so maybe it doesn't. Maybe I'm just assuming too much of Edwin's personality. I don't know, just thought I'd throw the thought out there! 🙃

(ko-fi)

[sgiandubh]

I love your style, intelligent, down to earth, very practical, not in the 5-10 children in 7 years part of the fandom. Guess that’s why I’m very intrigued by your take on recent events. I feel a massive shift in their public behavior, very different from the last 6-7 years where they tried very hard to separate themselves from their characters and each other. Why do you think that is?

Dear @i-ship,

Thank you very much for the kind words. I try to keep things in check and base my opinions on solid facts. Not 'FACTS', mind you, but as much as possible publicly available documents and data. The not so public things (meaning you have to pay for those, which indicates a different confidentiality level) I keep for myself, because I am not an idiot: in no way, however, do they contradict the rest, in which case I would immediately recalibrate my analysis. I also know very well that confirmation bias has often been mentioned as a sad excuse across the street, when things didn't look good for them. That is wishful bullshit, because no legal professional would prostitute their skill in order to shoehorn reality into a given scenario. Papers speak by themselves - there is no need to stretch the information they contain, but yes, you can (and you should) interpret them. Therefore, all I did was to translate in everyday English what is often not accessible to everyone and wrap it in a bit of context. This is, apparently, a mortal sin and I know it is the main reason I am being hated with a passion, by many.

All of the above just to stress the fact that I am not easily swayed by sensational pics, tidbits and gifs. I may sound like a damned party pooper to you, but I prefer to patiently follow what I think is interesting, rather than childishly bounce on my chair every single time people see what they really saw a thousand times before, in eleven years of saga. Nor do I need to have confirmation four times a day of something that simply exists, irrespective of the fact I know about it or not.

I will say only this: C definitely looks as she DGAF about the whole circus anymore. It started with the piggyback pics, on March 25, continued with the Taylor Swift concert (the only time I allowed myself to oooh and awww at 4 AM) and is now seemingly confirmed by these new promo pics and interviews. Yes, they screeched 'it's fan service', but as far as I know nobody forced C to behave the way she clearly intends to show everyone. It's Season 7B, for Christ's sake, the script is hogwash and the acting is not so good (yes, I will need a rewatch to write something decently balanced about it), the audience numbers are dwindling and OL is on its way out. Hard truths, no matter how you turn it: why would she open again the door to 'speculation' (ah, but what's in a word?), especially considering this cesspool of a fandom's obsessive-compulsive collective behavior?

Unless...

Unless, @i-ship. Let's not write the script, but you got me. I hope this answers your question - at any rate, it was a pleasure trying to.

[your-ne1ghbor]

Official redesign of

the one...

the only...

Queen Agatha !!!

(Design Update) (FW: Missing Eye)

So here is my new design of our Queen, Agatha!

Now you may be wondering:

What was wrong with the old design? Why did I change it?

Well, I have a few reasons why I wanted to change it.

(FW lots of words lol)

NUMERO I

First of all, her old design was very bland to me. It followed really only 2 main colors and didn't have any patterns as I would have liked it too.

At the time that I was making this dress, I wanted it to be a blend of european and greek dresses, but I later went on full greek because I honestly thought it would just fit her better, plus lowkey greek dresses are cool af.

Not only that, I'm not very good with patterns. Patterns for me don't come as easily-

So my goal with this new dress is to not only make it look visually better, but also allow me to experiment with patterns that I pretty much easily came up on my own with some ideas from my friends like @xesnox for helping me with the color pallet.

detailed top ^

Better look at bottom ^

I like to think that the bottom of her new dress is to represent petals, however has a close up flower and thorn embroidery throughout to make it look like there could be something wrong, or that she is hiding something (there is more of that but that's for you to interpret for yourself :DD).

I stuck with the gold since I overall liked it on her originally, and used a cooler color like green to counter act with the warm colors. I did have green in her original design, but it was only as a ear piece, so I really wouldn't call it very present.

Also for a random design detail mention (probs not important but thought it would be fun to mention) since in my AU, she is technically also a archer, I do imagine her to be a bit bulky. I think it overall makes sense since she is a archer, she will probably be very fit lmao

NUMERO II

2nd of all, is for lore reasons. I changed the placement of the scar since how she got her eye removed is very different from how it originally was. It still sucks for her, but it still generally looks better.

(forgot her hair streak here lmao)

So in my version of the story, Agatha is not only a alchemist, but she is a archer as well. It's to follow the design themes of the sun and moon dyamic I have for both Agatha and Magnus that lacked in the original design.

Agatha more so listens to her enemies, to learn more about them, before striking. However I'm mixed if she is more in the public eye than Magnus since they both fr do weird things in the basement 😭

I also wanted to weaponise this in a more fun way that represents how she acts, and the bow fits way to well for her. Not only that, but she can use the arrows to attach her potions to so when they land on her opponent, they're in for a nasty surprise. It's also kind of scary when you don't know where she is. Especially when she uses a specific potion that produces fog.

In my anniversary post, although I did say she was a great archer, I would want to just confirm that she on here yk?

I did show art of her younger self holding bows before too lmao. Tid bit of foreshadowing heheh 👹

^younger self with bow n arrow

HOWEVER, she does indeed have flaws with her bow. During the war and before the incident, she has been able to shoot her targets very well. The way she held it then is different from how she holds it now. Her left arm held the bow, and her right arm held the arrow and string, and used her right eye for the aim. When she lost it, she had to switch to her left eye to become her dominant eye in archery, including changing her positioning (although I was reading somewhere that they don't have to change it but Im not sure if that will be in the overall cannon unless otherwise mentioned).

Ofc when when reducing your vision to one eye, you tend to have a problem with aim and depth of field. Not only that for some people it can be very disorienting or uncomfortable, especially when not using their dominant eye for aim. During some parts of the story, (maybe a introduction?) she is shooting arrows at the targets missing just by a few centimeters. It still would show she is a good archer, but needs practice. Or maybe that is for when she started picking it up again after the incident and she started doing a lot better on that. I do want some struggle, even if it is a little bit.

And no, she didn't learn it for the sake of warfare, she learned it because she wanted too and is one of her hobbies. Agatha was able to combined both her favorite things that she is passionate about into something that is quite deadly. One of the other things she did learn for warfare is a sword, but it is really incase she ends in a close combat fight (which is more on Magnus' fighting style than hers).

Also I feel like Magnus and Agatha would train together! Its cute tbh they do it often to be genuinely be more prepared in case anything bad happened (they have a serious case of starnoia) or for fun lol

For the type of bow that she should use I'm SUPER mixed on. I've been learning and researching a bit on weaponry especially on bows and arrows, so I'm not super knowledgeable on what bow + arrows would accurately fit her design at the moment or what type it should be appropriate for. If someone randomly on here has suggestions on what type of bow she should have, let me know :D

I just know how most of them should be shaped 💔

^ btw this is a horse bow which is genuinely used more for fast reloading. There is a variety of different shapes, some that work differently than the one I showed above, I just wanted to show a example of a bow for an idea.

Extra

Thats all my main reasons for why I changed her outfit.

Though I how I came up with it was honestly really fast. It was like I knew what I wanted to fix and did it ykyk

Anyways-

These were my original sketches of her new design. I went with a combo of the first and 2nd one since the cape was there for like potions, but then I thought it would just be better for a utility belt for her potions instead of a cloak for it.

The utility belt will be for occasions for when she is in a battle. She doesn't wear it often, though her reg belt has attachments for her stuff in case she needs it.

And as I said before I wanted the outfit to have more patterns and have a better shape, and I think this design does better capture how I wanted her to look ✨️

Character Sheet

Here's her Character Ref for anyone who wants to draw her :D

also one of my friends said that she reminded them of Artemis from Greek Mythology, and lowkey that fits her too well soo yeah✨

Hairstyles

I wanted to do this for Asha in her character sheet but I'll add that later for her.

Just know that Agatha and Asha does have multiple hairstyles that would vary on what they are doing or as character development.

I had said in her original character design sheet that in the past she always put her hair in a braid to show how put together she is as her hair not being in a braid shows her how not well she is doing mentally.

This is still somewhat cannon, just that it is slightly different. It's just was more in a tight ponytail instead of a braid for her past self since thats how she always styled it in war.

Between Agatha's current self and her past self, I would say that her hair back then was put up nice and tight, as her current self keeps it more loose.

Agatha would put her hair up though, but for special occasions:

Making potions

Going out in public

Gathering materials

Hunting a certain...someone

Just saying that her hair really depends on the situation, it's just more loose than how it was back then.

Updated lore

Not much was very updated from my old ref sheet on Agatha, just some added things.

Agatha saved Magnus from the incident (given how he got his scar on his face, it's safe to say that he was knocked out afterwards so that's nice 😀)

She did indeed go to War (probably had said it a lot but I just wanted to confirm it)

She is from Greece ✨️

Agatha sometimes has to hide animals from Asha that she needs for potion making since Asha will free them (annoyingly)

She self taught herself alchemy (said it in my anniversary post, but wanted it here too)

Certified Star and heretic hater 👹

Around 6'0 tall (always has been taller than Magnus lmao)

^incident Agatha and Magnus

Thats all I can say without spoiling more. There is definitely a lot more negatives, but that is just VERY spoilery.

if you want to read more on her lore, heres what you can read on my old ref sheet here.

Anyways uhhh yeah.

Concluding Thoughts

I don't really have anything else to add lol

uhhh anyways yeah thats her new design, hope you guys like it as much as I do 😀👍

Btw Magnus and Agatha don't hate each other or anything, they love each other passionately if you're curious to know on how their dyamic is presented in my au.

And Asha can confirm it, she lives with them 💀

(I think my post on Game Night really hammers it home...)

(Ooo spooky glimpse of Magnus' updated design crazyy)

Uhm yeah

@jojo-ker06 @spectator-zee @rascalentertainments @oh-shtars

@thesafireartist @snackara @pinkninja0708 @cielos-pintados

@chillwildwave @starss-artss @evestarsart @a-storytellers-wish

[luckycharms1701]

*leans over well, and whispers over it* Have you ever thought about mikey during mating season?? I would love to hear your thoughts on it… (I’m very normal about the thought of it)

who, me??? think about mikey during mating season? i would never

so anyway, here are some thoughts about how bay mikey is during mating season

needless to say this is a little (a lot) spicy 🌶️ , reader beware. seriously, i did not hold back

Mikey is a little unpredictable during his season. Sometimes he’s whiny and needy. Sometimes he’s a smooth motherfucker who gets you where he wants you without you even noticing. Sometimes he can’t think about anything but sex. Sometimes he just wants to cuddle. Mostly it's a little of everything.

The number one thing for Mikey during his season is you. Before you were in the picture, mating season was a miserable time for Mikey. Now that he has you, he can’t believe how much better it is. He even looks forward to it! Because it means you will be with him as often as you possibly can. So he is Super Clingy, to the point where he often just has to be touching you in some way, sexual or not.

He spends hours trying to prepare you for what is to come when you agree to this the first time. (He still asks. Every year.) Leo and Donnie help him with a presentation and everything. Raph doesn't help with the presentation, but he's there when it happens, to help you interpret when Mikey goes a little off script. It's the most serious you've ever seen Mikey be.

Mikey does NOT like to share when it’s his season, unless it’s with you. You need to take him somewhere private because he suddenly decides that everything, including his brother’s belongings, is his. One of the earliest indicators that he’s in season is when he snarls at someone for picking up a slice of pizza. It’s always a slice of pizza, the first time. And when you’re involved it’s all bets off. No one can even look at you without him staring them down.

Okay. Okay. This mans? Has stamina like you've never seen before. ALL of his energy? Is focused on you. You will never be as satisfied as you are when it’s mating season. Mikey loves giving oral, and when he’s lucid he will spend as much time as you’ll let him between your thighs. He especially enjoys the noises you make when he fucks you with his tongue.

When he’s not lucid? Well. Sometimes, especially when it’s early in his season, Mikey enjoys the chase. He’ll stalk you through wherever the two of you have holed up, calling for you with a smirk. He catches you, divests you of one piece of clothing, then lets you go to continue the chase. You’ll occasionally put on a lot of layers to tease him. The longer the chase, the more excited he gets, the better the sex is.

Mikey will let you know he’s ready by lightly biting your shoulder. He’ll just kind of hold his teeth there, waiting for you to give a signal that you’re ready. He’ll take a verbal confirmation, but Mikey likes it best when you start stripping him as an answer. If he’s already naked, he wants you writhing and pulling him close, showing him that you’re desperate for him. Your neck and shoulders are always covered in mottled bruises when mating season is over.

He starts slow. Mikey wants to be gentle with you, wants to make sure you enjoy this. But every time, his hormones take over, and he can get a little rough. As time goes on, the gentle periods get smaller and farther between. However, he never draws blood, never actually hurts you. (Leo worked with him relentlessly until even when he’s working on nothing but instinct he won’t hurt you. Mikey asked him to do this.) Unless you ask him to, that is. Then all bets are off.

Mikey is the king of nicknames, but not when it’s mating season. Then he always, always uses your name. Sometimes it’s as if he can’t believe you’re here. Sometimes he’s desperate for you, only you. Your name is whispered in your ear and shouted to the heavens. The only other thing he calls you? “Mine.” He’s unsurprisingly quite loud when he fucks you, churrs and chirps and growls and moans echoing around you.

He’ll take you wherever and whenever. Up against a wall, bent over a table, you kneeling on the couch while he stands behind you. Hell, if nothing convenient is nearby he’ll pick you up and hold you against him while he fucks into you. But Mikey is sweet (and vanilla) at heart. His favorite position is always with you laying in bed so that he can stare into your eyes and watch when you come.

When mating season is over, you won’t have to lift a finger. Mikey cleans the area and very gently cleans you. He takes care of your bruises. He makes sure you’re fed and hydrated. He airs the place out. If you even look like you might want something, he’s there asking what you need. “You took such good care of me angel, let me take care of you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

head bonks: @yorshie @avery73 @justalotoffanfiction @thejudiciousneurotic

[pupmkincake2000]

“I’m with him — I mean, not like that.”

Have been replaying this part. Just look at Connor's face when Hank asks him what to do with the android. He's fucking smirking!

Also, I have a lot of thoughts about that scene.

This line may sound throwaway at first, but it speaks volumes. To think that I have never looked at this scene and phrase from such a perspective!

No one accused Hank of being there “like that” with Connor. No one asked. No one implied. He brought it up on his own. And that’s the point.

The phrase is a classic Freudian slip 🤣— the kind people make when their brain jumps ahead to a possibility they don’t want voiced. It’s overcompensation, a sudden urge to distance oneself from something that hadn’t even been suggested.

That makes it less of a denial… and more of an unconscious admission.

I mean... his face and reaction

I think, Hank has considered the possibility that someone could interpret his dynamic with Connor as something more.

His phrasing is awkward, rushed, and overly defensive — not angry, not disgusted, but uncomfortable. That’s not the reaction of someone who’s secure and unaffected. It implies internal conflict, not external pressure.

And it matters, because... well. At this point in the story, Hank has grown closer to Connor — they’ve shared tension, respect, banter, and moments of concern. This small, spontaneous comment shows that he’s aware of how it might look. And more importantly — it shows that he cares.

You don’t clarify something unless it’s already been on your mind.

It’s not proof of attraction. But it’s proof of thought. And in storytelling, that’s where feelings start. If Hank didn’t see Connor that way, the line would never have happened. He wouldn’t have said it. He wouldn’t have needed to.

Also, why reacting like that at all? It's just Traci. The club staff isn’t paying attention to their dynamic. Connor certainly says nothing. Yet Hank volunteers this clarification — immediately and awkwardly.

He’s not reacting to others. He’s reacting to himself.

And let’s not forget — Traci is not a deviant. She’s not judging. She’s not even listening that way.

So Hank probably isn’t clarifying to her. He’s not worried about how she interprets things. He’s speaking into a void — and that makes the line more revealing, not less.

He’s trying to neutralize a thought before it settles. And he says it to a character who won’t even process it.

Which means this isn’t a social defense. It’s a burst of personal discomfort.

This isn’t a joke. It’s not comic relief. It’s a man who’s suddenly self-aware of how close he stands to someone — emotionally or physically — and doesn’t know what to do with that feeling.

He panics. He jokes. He fumbles.

And the camera keeps rolling.

The devs could’ve cut that line. They didn’t. Which means they wanted it there. They saw what it implied — and they let it stay.

Once again, this line doesn’t prove romantic intent. But it absolutely proves perceived closeness, internal tension, and subconscious discomfort about what it might look like — or what it might already feel like.

People don’t deny what they’ve never considered.

Hank says, “not like that,” because at some level — for a second — he did imagine what “like that” might look like🤣

And that’s why the moment matters. Not because it confirms anything explicitly, but because it shows that something unspoken has started to surface.

[zipzapfrogboy]

BYLER DOUBT BE DAMNED (An analysis on blocking and it’s significance)

Read this if you’re having doubt because I promise it will help at least a little.

(This might be sort of long and a bit unorganized because it’s my first analysis of sorts but just stick with me.)

The main thing that confirms Byler for me (and helps with doubt) is the final shots of season 4.

You know. Those.

I’m definitely not the first person to point it out but I want to talk about it a little more in depth. Specifically the blocking. It is so clearly a deliberate choice to place Mike and Will between two other canon couples (Joyce and Hopper and Nancy and Jonathan respectively). It’s most definitely foreshadowing both to romance and possibly s5 teams.

I’m a theatre kid, I’ve been acting since I was seven, I have experience and know some stuff. If directors don’t like what you’re doing or don’t think it works then they’ll tell you stop. The improv you see in shows and movies are things that were approved and stayed in because the directors wanted it to (in like 90% of cases). Same goes with blocking. Actors can’t just stand where they want unless explicitly told to do so.

Placement has purpose and meaning. It is so unbelievably specific and thought out. I have a director/theatre teacher who gave us at least a 30 minute explanation about how important stage placement is and the what it can convey. On numerous occasions she’s made us take two small steps forward, a large step back, stand a bit further from xyz, etc.

I was in a show that started rehearsing in June and the director had been planning and working on it since March or maybe even before then. Blocking (and choreography in the context of musicals) is planned for weeks to months ahead of time. Directors have visions and the reasons behind how they set scenes is to execute that vision perfectly and convey the right message and emotions.

I’m sorry if that all seemed random I’m just trying to emphasize my point.

Obviously it’s a bit different for filmed content but I don’t doubt that the same logic is applicable. You don’t place two characters who hate each other together because it doesn’t make sense story wise or character wise.

It’s thought out, planned, and so purposeful. It’s not just random placement and it’s certainly not foreshadowing just team pairings. Two characters who are a part of a complex love triangle standing between two already existing couples? Right…

And so now my question is, why?

Why else would they set it up and block it like that? Give me an answer that explains the reasoning behind that choice; the choice of having El stand alone in front of them and having her boyfriend stand next to the person who’s in love with him. What else would that mean? That’s simply not how you do blocking.

When you as a director look at something from the outsider/audience perspective you need to see it with their eyes. What else could that convey? I’m being genuine when I say I don’t see anything else. If there is another way to interpret it (that makes sense and isn’t plagued by bias) then please tell me.

It’s a perfect example of foreshadowing. El standing alone symbolizes her arc of becoming an independent person outside of romance and Hopper. Her whole story has been about learning how to be a person and be herself. Her standing out alone in the field in front of her burning hometown isn’t supposed to mean nothing.

Just like Mike and Will standing together isn’t supposed to mean nothing.

We know Jopper is endgame, I can’t see why they wouldn’t be, and I’m 90% sure that Jancy will be endgame (or if they break up it will be on good terms). So, again, why would they place Mike and Will between those people. If it was supposed to be showing how close they are and how wonderfully strong their friendship is then why did they choose those other characters? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. IT’S THE DEFINITION OF A PARALLEL.

If I end up being wrong then idk.

Thank you for reading :)

Also there’s this so like

[starlightshadowsworld]

Hey so this is quite random but remember when akutagawa thought he'd finally killed/beaten atsushi in their battle on that cargo ship in s1? In the manga after Akutagawa's anger has finally calmed down he, with a sorrowful expression on his face, wonders, "what killing him does anything good for me?"

Later in the guild arc we see him making killing atsushi his final goal though he does say killing him a hundred times won't give him any satisfaction in rage

In 55 minutes ( we can assume it happens after the guild arc and before the cannibalism arc) akutagawa confirms that he doesn't hate Atsushi but he just can't simply move forward unless he tears him apart. Which is made more complicated when Atsushi realizes akutagawa had a sorrowful expression when he (aku) cut his (atsu's) throat. Showing the duality of Akutagawa's words and heart.

This duality becomes more prominent when Fukuchi asks akutagawa if atsu's life is that much important to him. You can literally see the expression of shock and realization on his face. Also point to be noted he didn't answer the question.

So my question to you is, when did his feelings start to change? when did he start to associate atsu's death as his primary goal? When did he realize he didn't actually want that? I'd love to hear your interpretation!

( asking the same question to my other fav bloggers too )

First of all thank you for including me in this ☺️ and second of all what an interesting question.

So the way I see it is that Akutagawa has wanted Atsushi dead from the beginning. The moment Dazai opened his big ol mouth with his "my new protege is better then you" speech.

But I feel the reasons for Akutagawa wanting him dead changed after the cargo ship fight.

At first it’s simply rage and jealously. Someone he wants the approval of more than anything else in this life has given it so freely to a weak wretched thing. So I’m going to kill the weretiger to prove I’m better than him to attain Dazai’s approval.

But it was never going to be that simple because these feelings elicit a need for understanding. Akutagawa can’t simply accept that Dazai would approve of someone like this.

So he needs to understand why, what makes Atsushi so special, why is he deserving and not me.

The cargo ship fight is that first step they both take in understanding each other. We get this moment where Atsushi says "people can’t live unless someone tells them it’s okay too" and he questions how Akutagawa can’t understand this.

And then later on we see Akutagawa reminiscing about this moment with a saddened expression because he understands. Of course he does, he’s seeking one man’s approval so that he can live his life feeling worthy and accomplished.

I think that understanding is why the reason to kill Atsushi changes to Akutagawa wanting to kill Atsushi because he reminds him of himself. And that is also exactly why he doesn’t want to kill Atsushi.

It’s that duality as you mentioned.

Akutagawa cares about Atsushi. He tells him that his past has nothing to do with who he is now. Despite himself being tied by his own. He calls him a coward. He tells him his life’s goal is to kill him. But that killing him with give him nothing. He despises him. But it’s not hate. Akutagawa who values strength and yet intentionally depowers himself to aid Atsushi.

The way Akutagawa so often projects his own issues onto Atsushi as if he was talking about himself. How he tells Atsushi to tell Kyouka what it’s like to be looked down upon while he’s reminiscing about his past in the slums.

His first meeting with Atsushi is after he badly injuries Junichiro and Naomi in a way that could parallel his meeting with Dazai after being too weak to save his own friends. Something he berated and mocks Atsushi for being unable to do.

And how he continuously berating Atsushi to get up everything time he knocks him down like Dazai did to him in the warehouse.

It comes from a place of malice and to hurt Atsushi but it’s also Akuagawa re-enacting situations he’s has to overcome to become stronger for Atsushi to also have to overcome. Which would then make Atsushi stronger which is something Akutagawa takes pride in while also being annoyed by.

I feel that in the same way Atsushi views the tiger as all the things he can’t hide. His shame, his vulnerability, his weaknesses and his fears, that’s what Akutagawa sees when he looks at Atsushi.

His flaws, his shame and his weakness that he needs to eradicate because this is a world where the weak must fall to give way to the strong.

I feel that the more Akutagwa grows to understand and learn more about Atsushi and who he is. The more he grows to care about him the stronger his goal to kill him becomes. Because Atsushi reminds him of himself. Because Atsushi reminds him of everything he was, everything he is and he can’t move on from the past unless he kills him.

He cares about Atsushi and that’s why he has to kill him.

So I feel the moment Akutagawa realised he needed to kill him because of that was also the moment he realised it was the last thing he wanted to do. But even now Akutagawa can’t admit it so he won’t say it with words but actions.

Also you mentioned that sorrowful expression on Akutagawa’s face when he had to cut Atsushi’s throat during 55 minutes. He wears a similar look of sorrow when he realises the flames are going to engulf him.

For in the same way Atsushi can’t outrun the tiger no matter how hard he tries. Akutagawa can’t kill Atsushi because it’s akin to killing himself. And yet even then he still chooses to sacrifice himself without hesitation.

I hope that made sense thanks for the question.

[onredrouge]

skk hate each other, and no one's actually surprised.

Everyone seems to be losing their shit over what Asagiri has said. And when I said everyone, it's mostly those skk haters celebrating their imagined downfall of Soukoku. To be honest, what Asagiri said doesn't surprise me anymore. 

I don't really get people saying Dazai and Chuuya don't hate each other when that has been the foundation of their relationship ever since their first meeting. They're both strong in their own ways, and they showcase that by never concealing what they feel about each other. Both of them have never been passively aggressive about that. They show it with their words and their actions; their entire dynamic is built on the fact that they hate each other's guts. Sometimes (or most of the time), it is that "oh, I hate you so much and you should pay attention to me so I could show you how much I hate you" kind of hatred. At some point, it was a childish exchange between two teenagers finally finding a sort of escape from their toxic environment in the form of annoying the hell out of each other. They spent time together, blah, blah, blah, and then it turned to an unexplainable visceral kind of hatred that allows them to work so well with each other like one soul in two bodies. Is it toxic? Maybe it is, just like all the other things they experienced and would never deserve. They're not some high school friends meeting up in a park after class. They're both morally gray individuals who find a sort of familiarity between their shared hatred towards each other. I can't really explain, and I don't even want to try putting into words the kind of connection they have. That's mostly the reason why they're so interesting. Soukoku have this kind of connection that will make you want to rip your hair out just trying to find the right words to describe them.

Hating someone doesn't mean you can't feel other things for them. I think Asagiri just meant to say that hatred is not a mask for anything, mainly because they've always been upfront with their feelings for each other. Whatever other emotions they feel for each other have always been hinted at. I don't know about what Asagiri wants to say about that but it's there. I'd love to see more exploration of their dynamics because I'm genuinely crazy about them, but I've accepted it a long time ago that there's a slim chance Asagiri's going to do any of that. Dazai's still so heavily connected to the mafia, the whole agency is; however, there are so many other connections Asagiri would choose to discuss when it comes to Dazai, and his relationship with Chuuya's most definitely not going to be the first choice no matter how interesting it is for the majority. (I'm going to still dream about that every day though.) It doesn't mean their relationship is suddenly unimportant; that would be contrary to what has been brewing in the manga. It doesn't mean their connection is a thing of the past as their lives are still very much intertwined with each other. However, a deep exploration of their connection is probably only possible once all the major issues in the manga are settled. That's where the derivative works enter the scene. Asagiri's not really going to give us any deeper insight on the other dynamics of their relationship, so fans are free to interpret them in any way they like (just not in a way that trashes their individual characters, like what some skk fans do). Who knows?  Maybe someday we'll learn something more about them. Right now, one thing we're sure about is their hatred for each other (as confirmed by the author himself) and the countless different possibilities fan works can explore. They hate each other? Wow, would you look at that? Another added spice to many series of fics that are sure to come. Soukoku's not ending. Unless Chuuya's going to weirdly disappear in mersault arc, then I don't think this downfall you all are wishing for is going to happen.

[sunderingstars]

hello~ I really like reading your theories on Sampo because I also have been deep diving the strangeness of his (and Aha's) existence. I'm not done reading all your theories but here are some random thoughs I wanted to drop

As a little note - I find it interesting that he has themes of love while Aha is one of the only aeons to have an explicit romantic interest (Xipe/Ena).

i also have a hard time believing the interpretations about Aha. Much of what we know about the Aeon's is second-hand. Simulations in themself are from recorded pieces of information. The records of the XL are very biased imo just due to the nature of interpretting divinity as well as the bias shown towards some dieties and against others. From what it seems like, Aha likes jokes, but almost all of his actions and the actions of his followers in the down-stream have prevent atrocities -

Rubert -

For example, during Emperor Rubert's campaign, Aha's believers kicked off another riot after the Philosopher Union was reduced to the domain of inorganic life, infecting the conqueror's computer systems with another troll virus called the "Philosopher's Poison" and overthrowing the local robot army.

Aha laughing at his death. Literally a riot, which may not have had huge impact but overthrew a whole army at a point in time when it was most important.

Soul Glad & Penacony

-Masked fools at one point released soul glad to wake up members of penacony. was said to be a joke but we all know how penacony ended. Sparkle was also in penacony with aventurine to help uncover what was going on with the family.

The Worm

-People claim aha is nonsensical because of the worm but this was in response to a spider being in the genius society.

there is also an SU occurrence that comes up every so often and when SU!Aha helps against polka where you adopt a sentient worm and try to take care of it.

I swear I saw something else about this darned worm and the genius society member #29 i believe.

-The Unshackled ( i don't remeber this event but dlkfjsd)

Another person on the XL who was a masked fool was messing with individuals who released creatures of abundance into the wild.

even the masked fools have a lot of strange details about them from outside sources, but their actions have been helpful it seems? Not to mention Sampo's eerie premonition about something horrible about to happen with Jarilo-IV.

idk to me Aha doesn't seem as nonsensical as the records make him out to be. it's like his "pranks" are taken at surface level but it's even acknowledge that he works in a butterfly-effect type of way.

hi !! 🪐 thank you for taking interest in my theories — i always love when i can encourage sampo / aha brainrot!

i definitely agree with the weird quality of how aha is perceived by others; back when i had more aha!sampo theories, one of the things i thought about the most was how… different aha!sampo seemed to be than how aha is usually depicted by groups like the masked fools!

even though my theories have shifted a bit, i still think the way “mortals” in hsr view “immortals” (aeons) may not be entirely accurate unless you’re talking to an emanator or an aeon themself. (for example, i’m not super inclined to assume the parable of aha’s rise to aeonhood is based on fact since it was created and spread by the masked fools, and seems to confirm their pre-existing beliefs!)

while it’s entirely possible that aha acts exactly like others expect them to, i think it’s also just as likely that they don’t. like you said at the end, aha very much seems to operate in a “butterfly effect” way, meaning their plans may seem incomprehensible or “surface-level” to others, when in reality they are operating with the higher machinations of a god! i feel like the only way to know for sure is to actually meet them — or at least speak to an emanator, which i’m hoping sampo is / was.

i also agree that the masked fools (and especially sampo) have helped us out quite a bit, despite their proclivity for fanaticism. as with aha, i think it can be easy to assume they are only invested in surface-level chaos, but with penacony shaking out the way it did, i think they aren’t quite as bad as a lot of people in-universe make them out to be. they’re chaotic, sure, and i absolutely believe they are capable of doing messed up things in the name of their cause, but they’re also just as likely to end up helping someone in the process.

basically, wild cards are wild cards — they can be good and bad, and just as capable of planning things out meticulously as not!

also, i haven’t run across that worm occurrence but man i really want to now !! it sounds super interesting — especially the adoption part! honestly, i think the worm is a great example of how complex aha as a character and aeon is. it’s difficult to wade through the different perspectives of aha (as mentioned earlier) to reach an objective course of events, but it seems that aha had both intent and knowledge when creating the worm.

for a while, i too considered the worm to be completely random and surface-level, probably because of how absurd the idea is. however, me being me and analyzing literally everything into pieces, i eventually realized that it was different than i’d originally thought.

i feel like there’s a layer of plausible deniability when thinking of the worm as a random, chaotic joke; aha isn’t really seen as an aeon so much as a glorified cosmic child, unaware of the consequences of their actions. but again, as we’ve been talking about, that’s not really how they operate. it’s a lot more unsettling to think about the fact that the worm was premeditated — aha created a sentient being knowing it couldn’t survive without them, and once that being failed to accomplish what they wanted, they tossed it aside to die. they knew, and they did it anyways.

to me, aha seems to have a striking amount of thought put into some of the “jokes” they do. i have no doubt they do things on impulse as well, but especially considering doll!sampo and how the elation seems to be “guiding” the trailblazer in a way, it also seems like aha has a complex understanding of how events will play out. very interesting stuff !!

anyways, thanks for theorizing with me & thanks for letting me ramble LOL, i have a lot of thoughts about mr. sampo and aha !!

[dearweirdme]

Hi 👋

First, I wanna thank you for being honest with me. I'm not the best at reading social cues so unless you are direct with me I'll be thinking "I think we're getting along!" and go on completely oblivious to any implications lol So your honesty is greatly appreciated, I'll keep everything you said in mind in the future.

On a second note, I'm really sorry for how my words came off 🙏, that really wasn't my intention. But now I see exactly what you mean, it really wasn't my place to tell you how to run your blog, it came off really bad. I sincerely apologize for that.

Now, to be real with you, I don't see you as delusional or wrong, or to be more accurate, both our opinions are based on pure speculation and personal interpretation, so I don't see you as any more delusional than I see myself.

In my perspective, I don't see Jikook as a real couple because they have never confirmed themselves to be one. And as long as that question lies unanswered, I'll only truly believe what they have described their relationship as, which is close friends. There's a part of me that suspects they're a couple but I don't see it as a fact.

So, keeping that in mind, I'll only believe you are actually delusional if there's not a single fiber of your being that believes you could be wrong, you are 100% sure Taekook are a couple. But that wouldn't be because you're a Taekooker, it'll be because you, a complete outsider to their life, believe your speculations to be a fact. And that's just a dangerous mentality to have in general, and unfortunately, I see it frequently in both jikook and taekook circles.

I don't come here to try to change your mind about Taekook, I come here cause I like reading your takes. You give very grounded opinions and debunk many biased assumptions I have of jikook, showing me different perspectives I couldn't see in my little bubble.

Moving on, I wanted to ask you: what really sold you on taekook, that made you go "they're dating"?

One thing I see as suspicious is the weird tension they have with each other, I don't see any other members having that same tension.

I think it's this very tension they have that makes Taekookers believe that taekook prioritize hiding their relationship to protect themselves, and Jikookers believe that taekook really did grow distant and got closer after In the soop.

Taekookers: tension = sexual tension and hiding relationship

Jikookers: tension = distance and awkwardness

I understand both of these takes, but I have some different interpretations of it, but ain't nobody reading all that. This shits WAY too long already lol.

Borahae 💜

(the more you look at him the more beautiful he gets, we can't blame Jungkook for getting a little lost in him kkkkk)

Hi @moo-mood!

I’m glad you understand.

As for your question about Tae and Jk, I think your ask really shows how people outside of tkk fandom don’t really understand where we are coming from.

We don’t generally focus much on sexual tension I believe. I’m sure there corners in our fandom that do, but in general sexual tension between Tae and Jk is not that often a point of discussion. There are moments that I feel classify as that, or at least as strong attraction.. but we don’t really get to see much of those. We also don’t expect to, because the last thing we would be privy to see between a closeted couple is obvious sexual tension. They hide that, and I think they hide it well. We see flirting, we see tenderness, and we did get some more loaded moments.. but imo not as much to be able to say Tkkrs generally explain the tension between Tae and Jk as it being sexual.

Sexual tension is only one part that might clue us into wether two people are in a romantic relationship though. What clued me in was how Tae and Jk are just a level up in closeness when compared to the other members. Imo they are closest physically and emotionally. There’s a reason why despite efforts to show Jk and Tae as less close (and yes, imo it’s been efforts) there are still soo many who never believed that. It’s because all throughout the period that Tae and Jk were deemed to be distant, their bodies and their interactions showed us differently. We often get laughed at because of our words on stares, looks, touches.. but those things are actually the hardest for people to consistently fake and to consistently hide. No other duo is as aware of each other as Tae and Jk are. No other duo gets each other as easily as Tae and Jk do… and that is actually something I am quite sure of… regardless of wether that means they are in a romantic relationship.

So it started with me believing Tae and Jk are closest. And what made me believe they are more than friends is basically everything else around them. The way they are the biggest ship, and yet Hybe does not commercialize them. The way they get jealous and/or annoyed because of the other. The way they are at times possessive of the other. The way the other members react to them (wether in a good way or in a way that they’re afraid of discovery). It’s all supported by my belief that individually speaking I feel Tae and Jk are possibly queer.

All in all, when I think of how I feel a closeted idol couple within the same band would be dealt with in SK.. it’s just basically what I see happened with Tae and Jk.

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

Something Something Animaniacs Headcanons

--Yakko is omnilingual, although he's better at speaking some languages than others (for example his Japanese is better than his Spanish).

--Whatever species the Warners are can breathe both underwater and in space. Any segment where they are shown in scuba gear or space helmets or anything like that is done for show, for S&P, or just because the Warners are goofing around.

--Clearly Jürgen was not feeding the Warner Clones well, but if he did I think Ditto's favourite food would be strawberries and cream (given that she's already confirmed to like strawberries), Ratto's would be leafy salads, and Saffo's would be sushi.

--Dot's favourite type of flowers are buttercups.

--The Warners consider Scratchansniff, Slappy, and Skippy the closest thing to an extended family they have (their father yes Scratchy being their dad should mean he's part of the nuclear family, but...shut up, aunt, and cousin respectively):

I was gonna save this for the tags, but nah, you CANNOT convince me they didn't choose to have these three specific characters play the Warners out for what was (for all the staff knew) their final full segment ever for a reason. This is the last shot of the original show (unless you count The Animaniacs Suite, but...come on. That's a clip show.)

The Warners went from only having each other to the size of their family doubling! I won't interpret this shot any other way 😤