#which besides experience is the reason they could connect so well in theory

[da-janela-lateral]

Terumob is an excellent ship to me for a variety of reasons, but one of my highlights is the fact that on one hand you have a blond boy with the most absurd coping mechanisms ever seen by man, who spent years being suffocated by apathy and loneliness and spite only to be absolutely obliterated by a random kid who introduced him to the concept of "You're A Human Person With Flaws", and as a consequence developed an unhealthy homoromantic obsession with him (as rivals of course) until he is obliterated again, but this time with the revelation that his dear rival also is a Human Person With Flaws and that doesn't stop blond boy from loving him even if it gets him killed.

On the other you have another boy with bad coping mechanisms, but that in the tiniest outcome he starts liking blond boy back, it is pretty normal and unrelated to all the dramatic obsessive previously mentioned things. There is no tragic flair its just that his good friend is handsome and kind with him.

[onomatopagu-et-cie]

Some other theories and observations, part 3

First impressions after re-reading DGM Some theories and observations, part 2 Notes on Link, part 1 & part 2

Again have a nice week!!

(SPOILERS UP TO CH248!!!!)

▶ Allen's curse

Will the manga elaborate more on Allen’s curse? The pentacle reappeared on volume 28’s cover again and D is an integral part of the title. (Btw, I can’t wait to read the copy I got of volume 28 as it’s now out in France! The cover is so beautiful, Hoshino outdoes herself every time with the new format, the back cover is pretty!!!)

This is the only piece of information we’ve got on it, apart from its evolving abilities. How can Komui be 100% sure a curse can only be inflicted on humans? Given how the majority of the Order didn’t know about the Noah and Apocryphos, I wouldn’t be surprised this could be false too.

▶ Allen/Neah’s (?) hidden ability

(thisoneislongsorryyyy)

Note: I wrote this BEFORE ch248 came out in July: it revealed the Allen we know was entirely remade by Apocryphos, and this could finally explain Neah, Road and Wisely’s confusion over Allen’s strange powers ; however, this doesn’t explain Apocryphos’s own confusion over Allen when he first encountered him nor exactly to what extent Allen was 'remade', so I kept these notes as is since we still don’t know more!

At the beginning of the volume 25, Wisely addresses Road as his brethren, probably because of the similarities of their powers. Wisely worries over Neah’s powers because he can’t read his mind somehow. At the end of the volume, after saying « Allen » is dangerous to Neah and them, Road states that she can’t connect her dream realm to his at will for some reason.

The two scenes mentioned sort of answer each other: both take place in Wisely/Road’s realm, one is at the beginning and the other at the end of the volume. And while Wisely thinks it’s Neah that outweighs his power, Road believes « Allen » (edit after reading ch248: Allen as he's remade by Apocryphos) the true danger instead.

Road’s inability to do as she wants might then involve a power we have not been officially introduced to when it comes to (past?)Allen besides his Innocence. And I don’t believe it’s about Neah at all, since she deems Allen dangerous (and also other people/things she refers to as ‘they’), and wants to warn Neah. If it was about Neah’s ability, this scene wouldn’t even happen and Road wouldn’t have questioned it since she knows him fairly well (while the other Noahs don’t because of the memory gap Neah caused).

In this chapter, Road also says « they’re using us », suggesting they could be the reason Allen is that threatening. She uses 奴ら (yatsura, plural) to refer to ‘them’: 奴 (yatsu, singular) is a derogatory/familiar pronoun.

EDIT: It's actually Cross, not Road, who says this specific part ('Allen is dangerous', 'They're using us.')!!!! She only speaks in the next page in her mini form, about her dream realm! This also means Cross and Road might've been communicating (and it's not only Road one-sidedly using him like I thought initially eg. manipulating him to lead Allen to the mansion), working together because they share some common goal (eg. protecting Mana and Neah)!

The only subjects triggering that pronoun and hatred from the Noahs (essentially, their memory crying out ‘I won’t forgive/I hate’) so far were:

→ Innocence (eg. Skinn Boric’s awakening as a Noah) → the exorcists (eg. the Earl when the Ark was saved by Allen) → Neah (eg. Wisely as he talks to Road) → the Pillar (eg. as Cross mentions it to Road)

Maybe Allen’s power is something close to what both Wisely and Road have since that sort of power can equal theirs to the point that both can’t stay omnipotent against that, just as they usually are eg. Wisely with supposedly all the Noahs (and also when he forced Alma’s memories with Allen and Kanda) or Road with Lavi.

And we have already seen (but without any real explanation yet) that Allen experiences « visions » (夢, yume, which we usually associate with Road, the Noah of dreams, can also mean vision):

→ Lenalee and Allen's respective apocalyptic dreams

→ Allen sensing Lenalee is drowning while facing the akuma Eshi

→ having a kind of out of body experience and seeing Krory and the ghost after being KO’ed in the Destruction of the Black Order Arc

→ his second dream in which what we now know as the Pillar talks to him ; Mana calls out to him in the original version by « ••• » (which is weird in itself since Neah is supposed to have no Noah memory??? Since Mana and Neah were two « halves » of the Earl, and we don’t know exactly what each half covers, could there have been some sort of mix-up between the two along the way?)

→ a glimpse of Kanda’s past when Marie talked about it

→ witnessing Cross’s ‘death’ through Apocryphos

→ whatever was happening when Allen and the Earl shared the same vision of Road protecting Mana in volume 24 was never explained (I put it here but it simply could be because Mana and Neah were revealed as the two halves of the Earl in the next volume)

→ seeing Johnny reaching out to him in the inn when we know it was Neah who sleep-talked after having a dream about the Campbells and woke up (idk if I should count this in bc it could just be Allen’s semi-consciousness fighting Neah)

But when Allen saw Cross’s ‘death’ through Apocryphos, he called that a consequence of the « parasitic » influence over « Allen ». According to him, it went on for many years. He then proceeded to merge with Allen in order to « erase that influence and suppress the 14th’s memory »: this might suggest that Apocryphos deemed Neah as the parasite of the exorcist Allen.

If he’s really talking about Neah, what Apocryphos says could contradict Road’s assumption that this power comes from Allen, not Neah. So, between Apocryphos and Road, who is right? ????????

Let’s consider for a moment that whatever is going on is due to Allen’s ‘long’ experience with a ‘parasitic’ Innocence and that Apocryphos never meant Neah when he talked about a parasite. But we know from Cross that Red’s arm didn’t show any sign of activating at all. Moreover, Neah wouldn’t have been shocked by the Innocence’s influence over past!Allen’s arm after awakening 35 years later if the latter synchronized with it when they knew each other, it wouldn’t make sense. So where does this long influence fit in? Are we talking about the parasitic-type Innocence or is Apocryphos referring to something entirely different?

It doesn’t help that the type of Innocence Allen has is called a ‘parasite-type’ in the original version and the English localization.

It helps even less that Apocryphos uses the same terminology as Komui when he first introduced the parasite-type: 寄生型. Except for Komui the furigana reads 型 as the loanword ‘type’ (kisei-taipu) and for Apocryphos it reads ‘kata’ (kiseigata) as the kanji should be pronounced.

Note: in French they chose to call this type of Innocence a ‘symbiotic-type’: it emphasizes the close association between the accommodator and the Innocence more and suggests the bond is mutually beneficial, but we know after all these chapters that it’s a totally one-sided control led by the Innocence over the accommodator’s body. It’s anything but mutual in retrospect. Parasite suits the Innocence more!

Interestingly, the word used for Allen’s role as a host is 宿主 (shukushu). I didn’t know the word ‘host’ could refer to the organism affected by a parasite!

Both Neah and the Innocence are parasites hosted by Allen. The imagery is also carried by the Fallen Ones’s design. When Allen witnesses Suman’s suffering, he uses the verb 蝕む, ‘mushibamu’:

What looks like giant worms pierce his body and tinier worms gnaw at his heart:

And also, I never considered it but 寄生, kisei, ‘parasite’ almost sounds like 犠牲, gisei, ‘sacrifice’ with just one letter difference: if intentional, these paronyms ironically bring out Allen’s sacrificial role even more. Ch240’s cover illustrates this dimension even more:

I might be missing something or this doesn’t really add up.

It’s also interesting to note that ch222 is titled « Hypokrisis ». Cross calls out Allen’s selflessness once again:

The noun ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis) meant 1) answer & 2) role (on the theater scene, the masked actor was called an ὑποκριτής, hypokritès, separate from the chorus) in ancient greek. But its meaning became morally (and religiously) loaded, now suggesting a duplicity in someone’s behavior (their personality, qualities, principles, opinions, …).

This chapter shows Allen in a dream staged by Road that leads him to the Campbell mansion. Facing Cross offering him to stop his search for the truth, he gives his definite answer to once again fulfill his vow to Mana and « keep walking » even at the cost of his own existence and the bond to his home. It’s also a call back to « Mana’s mask » during the Phantom Thief G arc.

Behind the scene, Road now understands she made a mistake she should have realized sooner: she’s being manipulated herself (along with Neah and perhaps the other Noahs) by someone else and Allen is dangerous, a reality that was concealed to her eyes until now.

The phrasing also parallels Cross’s late realization:

Were they making the same mistake on Allen’s true nature? After Red’s flashback, at least we know one mistake Cross made: Red didn’t say he was « Allen » (thinking Cross asked about the dog) ➾ even though he didn’t want the Innocence close to Mana (as it could 1) destroy him, being a Noah and 2) call forth the Earl, I guess), Cross didn’t monitor Red enough to see the influence of Apocryphos ➾ Red synchronized with an Innocence and the Earl was called back.

So far, Road (and the other Noah) benefits from these consequences: she wanted the Earl’s awakening to destroy the present world in order to take revenge of the Pillar. So either Cross and Road talk about two different things or there’s more to it than that to the point that even Road considers this a mistake despite the advantages at first glance.

At least, I guess it’s (kinda?) safe to assume Allen’s body = past!Allen as Neah knew him. Allen wouldn’t have been able to move the Ark otherwise:

Another lead to whoever past!Allen was might be linked to THIS in volume 27:

????? Who was this? And also what kind of situation were they in? It looks like the mystery person held past!Allen right before parting (before he lost his memory maybe?)/dying. They look as though they’re stuck in a tricky situation: their clothes look torn to shreds, and particles in the air look the same whenever there’s action in the manga? OH. Perhaps the transfer of Neah’s memory into past!Allen would be successful if and only if the memory of his past self was erased? Because two memories maybe can’t safely coexist in one body: we know even the Noahs, described as « superhumans », struggle with their memory and it threatens their sanity if they don’t suppress it. So this could be worse should a human unrelated to the Noah experiment the same thing.

But could one erase their memory in the universe of DGM? It doesn’t seem that far-fetched since:

Neah’s memory was successfully transferred in Allen,

magic is a thing in this universe,

Skulls can ‘reprogram’ a human’s brain to transform them and Apocryphos can easily rewrite memories,

in ch209, when Johnny was searching for Allen, Crows (who use sorcery) coerced him into drinking a drug that would supposedly erase his memories of the Order??? (now I know it could be a lie and it was poison instead since the Central and the Crows’ methods are rather radical):

Heck, past!Allen could even be from another timeline/from the previous/future world destroyed by the Pillar! Which could explain Allen’s recent dream of the Pillar? It could even be linked to « ••• » in this dream eg. his ‘real’ name or role (since the syllables don’t even match Neah’s even though it triggered Neah’s awakening once he woke up)??

▶ Road and Apocryphos

It’s more apparent in the original version but Apocryphos wavered, looking almost surprised/bothered to face Road as it’s accentuated with the ツ. Compared to his confidence in taking down Tyki, calling himself their Reaper and so on, this looks like Road could be a bigger threat than the other Noahs. (Perhaps it’s only random but Road stabbed Apocryphos in the left eye, just as she did to Allen in the rewinding city!)

It’s also interesting to note he recognized Road as the 9th Noah only once Tyki shouted her name. It could mean:

Road took another appearance we don’t know of 7000 years ago, and it’s confirmed in the manga: she’s stayed like this for 35+ years. We know that since Wisely awakened as a Noah and met them.

Either Apocryphos didn’t meet her since she took on this appearance (so in this 35+ year span)

Or he did meet her but didn’t recognize her as the 9th Noah

If he only recognized her after his punch, how could it have badly hurt Road? I thought you had to know her true ‘identity’ to harm her, which was why Allen couldn’t hit her with his sword.

Allen could harm Tyki but not Road, and only Apocryphos could???? Since he was present 7000 years ago and most likely was responsible in whatever happened then, it’s safe to say he should know about the Noah and the world they lived in enough to be able to harm Road.

▶ Chapter 219: Butterflies, the souls and the Earl

(thisoneisevenlongersorryyyyy)

When the Earl vanished before Katerina and split into Mana and Neah in ch219, two butterflies are seen flying above them.

My best guess would be they’re respectively male and female white cabbage butterflies (pieris rapae, or the great white butterfly, pieris brassicae, a close relative to this species), pretty common butterflies:

I also found that pieridae caterpillars often PARASITE cruciferous plants (they often eat cabbages, broccoli, kale, mustard) ie. plants with flowers that have CROSS-arranged petals (yes, it’s a detail that’s probably irrelevant but it was fun to find that randomly, I live in overthinking and reach-land haha).

In Japan, butterflies often symbolize the souls of the living and the dead. It’s also a symbol of spirituality (the cycle of life, birth, death, metamorphosis, reincarnation, immortality), as the cycle of a butterfly embodies it in its four stages (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly).

As the later part of the manga focuses on helix magic and its principles (the body, the soul and the spiral of life), the ‘death’ of the Earl makes way for Neah and Mana, a ‘rebirth’ of some sort. Which makes me believe that what we saw as the Earl against Allen in volumes 24-25 (and perhaps even the rest of his appearances in the manga with the suit) was actually his ‘body’, which takes the shape of his suit (we even see the costume ripping in half with what looks like a zipper). According to past!Allen, a body is merely a vessel that needs a soul for life to exist. The costume of the Earl might be in desperate search of its lost soul (Mana + Neah), which is why it endlessly devours human souls (through perhaps the making of akuma?): Hoshino said there’s a reason why she draws the Earl plump, it’s just a theory for posterity haha! Is this the same mechanism that turns Timcampy this big?

Note (see the end of this point for more on golems and DGM!): I read on Twitter that at the exhibition held in honor of DGM, it was explained that Adam was the name of the ’skin of the Millenium Earl’ and Adam was the first golem (just like in the Bible, Adam was made of the dust of the earth and was animated by God’s breath)! (With their poison, Akuma turn humans to dust………… Timcampy also turned to dust once touched by Cornelia’s bark…………. Innocence also turns to dust, just like Mugen when Kanda left with Alma or just like Allen’s did at the Asian branch…………)

This is pure speculation, but perhaps the Earl decided to forsake his tragic millenium role once he finally witnessed the beauty of this world (be it his meeting with Katerina and/or something else). After all, according to Neah’s words: « Seven thousand years of life… yet the Earl’s heart is stuck in that scenery. » Maybe he realized the Three days of Darkness were meaningless, that they would feed an endless cycle of atonement, hatred and vengeance? It could also be why he gave life to Neah and Mana. Neah holds the power to destroy the Noah while Mana seems to be able to devour the Noah: perhaps the Earl intended Mana to first devour all the Noah in order for Neah to finally destroy them all and put an end to this all?

However, something ruined this project: the Noahs probably disagreed, determined to see their vengeance through (by sacrificing the Earl, summoning the Earl and destroying ‘this world’ they created). It could also be the Heart, or both the Noahs and the Heart working with each other. In one way or another, they managed to persuade/compel Mana to devour Neah (perhaps that’s where Joyd played a significant role in all this?).

On the subject of the souls, since Neah describes Atuuda’s power as the opposite of Mana devouring him (and we now know the Earl feeds on human souls), it certainly works as the partial transfer of the owner’s soul to another to ‘heal’ them (or is it something like ‘rewinding’ their state to before they got injured? Does this have something to do with whatever rejuvenated past!Allen and aged up Mana’s appearance??). Before Link healed Neah in ch221, Allen’s jacket was pierced ; Atuuda mended his injury and the hole in the jacket was also gone.

Zuu only described it as Atuuda exhausting his own ‘life-force’ to transfer it to someone else, he was not specific in his explanation so it’s only guesses here.

Design-wise (and reachland-wise haha), the six spots on the female white butterfly could be a recurring motif related to the soul, like the six dots on Link’s tattoo 8D

(Also noticing just now but dude Link must have a lot of gloves in stock, he came back with a glove when he saved Neah haha)

I can’t decipher what Zuu wrote to summon Atuuda but they’re replacing the dots here. Atuuda also has three spheres on each mustache-thingy!

I found a retelling of a Japanese legend of a white butterfly (in Myths & Legends of Japan, by Frederick Hadland Davis). I found it narrated on Japanese Folktales: The Butterfly Soul – Under the influence! if you want to check it out! A white butterfly visits an old man at his deathbed. It was the soul of his beloved that died when they were young, the old man never left her alone and would keep tending to her grave. The butterfly didn't leave until his soul left with her.

The butterfly in ancient greek was ψυχή (psyche), which holds several meanings: the wind blow or breath and by extension life force or breath, life, soul, butterfly and Psyche (essentially known from the myth of her love with Eros/Cupid and its trials). Interestingly, « psyché » in French also refers to a piece of furniture with a window-frame in which a great mirror was mounted. It was a great Art Deco symbol and was a motif depicted in paintings. It reflected its owner from head to foot, just as the mirror reflected Mana, Neah and the Earl’s souls in volume 25.

It’s also a symbol of (tragic) love sometimes eg. the chinese legend of the butterfly lovers.

Final note on golems: the word ‘golem’ was used once in the Book of Psalms to refer to Adam when he was what was translated as a shapeless mass, an embryo out of clay lacking a soul. The Talmud sometimes calls Adam a ‘golem’ when referring to the first twelve hours of his life: it was still only an inanimate body without God’s breath of life.

Golems also have a mystical origin, created by magic spells. The methods of creation and destruction vary from a tale to another eg. dancing and chanting the hebrew alphabet in different combinations ; using a pure mass of dust, water, sand, earth or flour ; prayers, fasts, purifications ; engraving ‘emet’ (truth, God’s seal) on its forehead and erasing the first letter alef to call its death (met means death).

In ashkenazi hassidic traditions in the 15th century, the golem became a real creature, serving its masters and fulfilling the tasks it was given. This tradition became really popular in the 17th century, and was linked to the ancient belief in the possibility to resurrect the dead by putting in their mouth (or on their arm) a piece of parchment marked with the tetragram. Following this belief, it could turn into an evil being that had to be destroyed to prevent terror and death from spreading.

The golems embody both the figure of a protector/servant but also of a creature of destruction:

→ Golem | Jewish Museum Berlin « A golem is a creature formed out of a lifeless substance such as dust or earth that is brought to life by ritual incantations and sequences of Hebrew letters. The golem, brought into being by a human creator, becomes a helper, a companion, or a rescuer of an imperiled Jewish community. In many golem stories, the creature runs amok and the golem itself becomes a threat to its creator. (…) Originally, creating a golem was a way for medieval Jewish mystics to come closer to God. »

I don’t know why, but these two pages of ch231 comes to my mind when I read the last sentence:

I wanted to know more about golems in general, and I came across this conference of Ada Ackerman, an art history specialist that dedicated a great part of her works on the golem and its representations through time (religion, myths, books, cinema): YouTube

She quoted a yiddish play excerpt and it was really reminiscent of the creation of Akuma. The golem in the play pleads with a voice (which is unusual, since it is mainly represented without a voice and genderless) its creator to not create them. It is already conscious of its potential for destruction, and asks to remain into nothingness:

I tried to translate it very roughly: « I have a voice that is not yet a voice. I have a heart that is not yet a heart. (…) I will say it again and I warn you, please do not create me! See those stars dying! And so will the light of every eye laying on me. My footprint will only leave desolation, and from what my hand touches only ashes and dust will be left. »

Interestingly, גּוֹלֶם in modern hebrew designates both the pupa and the golem, as well as a dummy, a mould or a fool.

▶ Chapter 219: Poppies, puppets and myths

Flowers also grow at the foot of the tree Cornelia. When the Earl disappeared, Katerina was plucking those flowers. It could be poppies, that often bloom in wheat fields. These flowers are also on the chapter’s cover.

In hanakotoba, poppies can symbolize peace of mind, sympathy, presentiment of love, sorrow of parting, comfort or consolation, rest or relief. This is pure speculation, but like I said above, this could fit with Katerina and the Earl meeting and whatever he found in the mansion, making the latter realize his war against the world is meaningless.

Poppies in Japanese are 芥子, keshi. I remember seeing on her ig account that Hoshino wanted to emphasize the meaning of flowers in her story. For example, the lotus held a heartbreaking significance to Kanda and Alma’s arc. She also focuses a LOT on the puppet/staging/dramatic imagery in DGM (Lala, the exorcists controlled by the Innocence and Apocryphos and the Noahs by their memories, Crown Clown, the circus, …)

And funnily enough, poppies can be phonetically associated to a kind of japanese traditional wooden dolls, こけし, kokeshi. Kokeshi doesn’t have a kanji writing people generally agreed on: I read that before an exhibition in the 20th century, dolls were referred to by many names. Artisans and collectors agreed on ‘kokeshi’ in hiragana only.

Therefore, you could have various combinations to write kokeshi:

→ the ‘ko’ in kokeshi could refer to ‘child’, ‘small’ or ‘wood’ (then deriving from 'ki') → the ‘keshi’ in kokeshi could refer to the verb ‘chisel’ (削る, kezuru: kokeshi are wooden pieces chiseled on a lathe). It could also correspond to ‘poppy’. But most interestingly in DGM’s story, it could be linked to another verb, ‘erase’ (消す, kesu eg. an eraser is a 消しゴム, keshigomu): Neah said the Earl disappeared only once off the face of this earth, Mana ‘devoured’ Neah, and Allen is now facing the risk of disappearing himself.

Kokeshi can be made with cherry wood, japanese maple, but also dogwood. Dogwood’s variety is also known as cornus in latin, that Cornelia’s name could also originate from aside from cornix (raven).

One of the kokeshi features is sometimes the lack of limbs, just like the Innocence and the Fallen Ones.

Note: Poppies and crops (just like the Campbell mansion landscape) are also symbols of Demeter, the greek goddess of the harvest, the fertility of the earth. These flowers are also associated to Nyx, the goddess of the Night, Hypnos, the god of dreams and sleep, and Thanatos, a minor god of death, who are her sons. The abduction of Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, by Hades also involves poppies. In some tales, as the poppy was cultivated for the sleep-inducing and anesthetic properties from its sap, it is said that Hypnos gifted Demeter the flower to find sleep as she grew desperate at her daughter’s disappearance and left the earth barren. Other tales explain that poppies would grow to announce Persephone’s return to Earth, symbolizing the nature and Demeter’s rejoice.

▶ Mana or the Earl’s destruction?

I’ve been wondering about this since Allen’s escape from Apocryphos & Cross’s involvement with the plot: what real difference does it make whether Mana/the Earl is destroyed by Neah or the Heart?

Ch237 introduces these two paths clearly as opposites in Cross’s pov: « Right now, Mana has forgotten that he is the Millenium Earl. For the Innocence… The Heart, this is an opportunity like no other to destroy the Millenium Earl. Neah must be the one to destroy Mana. I have wandered this world for decades for that very reason. Searching for Neah’s host. Anything else that draws near Mana, I eliminate. And by that, I mean anything. Anything at all. »

Dude was hellbent on this mission to the point of 1) killing a kid should he come too close to Mana & 2) making a deal with Luberrier to ‘protect’ Neah (and eventually use him as a weapon)??? And THIS makes me wonder (when I read the trivia on his wikia character page):

What was his relationship with Neah? He was dragged in this mission by him. Which is interesting since Cross was introduced in the story as Neah’s supporter by outsiders ; we now get to see a more nuanced relationship. I wonder what differs from his relationship with Mana.

So, in addition to what it carries emotionally (to have Neah destroy Mana to save him from his misery), the consequences must be different depending on who (Neah or the Heart) kills who (Mana or the Earl) somehow. It must be the same consequences for Allen as overcoming Neah’s memories by himself and letting Apocryphos fuse with Allen to get rid of Neah. In ch236, Apocryphos witnesses Mana and Red embracing each other, saying Red will destroy the Earl so that the Heart will be reborn????? (First of all, it is a loophole in the Heart’s description by the Order: it is an Innocence that presumably holds an absolute power over the others, its destruction by the Noah would be fatal to the Order. Since it will be reborn, how come the rest of the Innocence still exist, eg. Cross’s Judgement and Maria were both seen, idem for the exorcists experimented on for the 2nd gen. project before that alleged rebirth?)

What if (see my theory in the previous points): → the Heart destroys the Earl (after destroying Neah) ➾ perpetuation of the cycle, the Pillar is again summoned since the end of the world is also « God’s » will: the Earl must forever be God’s sacrifice in atonement of his past sins. The manga suggests → Neah destroys Mana ➾ the end of the Noahs, set free from their vengeance and the Pillar

At this point I’m even starting to believe the Heart is a Noah haha (I was thinking about Road but what if it was Joyd 8D? He was perhaps not yet ‘reborn’ when Apocryphos changed Mana and Red’s fate because Neah killed him, and he was the only Noah seen destroying Innocence in the manga when he destroyed Allen’s)

In volume 25, we learn through Neah the Earl disappeared only once, dividing into Mana and Neah (so prior to the Heart’s rebirth). After Apocryphos mingled with Red and Mana’s fate, we see one of its direct consequences is the Earl’s awakening. And in ch202, we learn the Earl (or a piece of Mana’s consciousness) asked the Noah to protect Neah from the Heart even at the cost of their lives?????

The first time we learn of the Heart’s existence is from the Order’s point of view. With the search for the Heart from the Order's perspective, we take it for granted that the Heart is a single human being synchronizing with this special Innocence. Since the story revolves around the possibility it might be told by an unreliable narrator (the existence of Apocryphos and its ability to rewrite entire pans of memories, Innocence — a false ‘God’ the Order is fighting for, Noah’s hidden truth, the other side of the war …), who is to say the Heart comes in a shape no one expects?

In ch111, Lavi states the Heart should only be one. But should it, really? The original version of this panel puts accent on ‘one’:

For example, the Heart could be two halves forming a whole, just like … Mana and Neah form the Earl … Mana and Red were also needed for Apocryphos’s plan to succeed … I don’t believe the Heart is the Earl, at least not alone (why would it first want the awakening of the Earl and then his destruction?), there must be more to it than that.

▶ Joyd

I never paid attention to this bit in ch226:

I get the feeling that whatever made Mana ‘eat’ Neah was also urged by Joyd. Especially because Joyd appeared grinning as soon as Tyki set out on destroying Neah’s bond with the Earl, the obvious bad blood between Neah and Joyd (+ the fact he reincarnated with an uncanny resemblance to Neah, and his peculiar existence apart from other Noahs was hinted at by Road since ch93) and these panels:

Mana sounds helpless here, overwhelmed by whatever made him do this.

[sixosix]

THOUGHTS THOUGHTS THOUGHTS THOUGHTS- Akjsdhfaksljhflka Exam season ended earlier than i thought so it's time to poke for details! 

I gotta start off with me kicking my feet over my shared theories from last time. They weren’t fully right but AAAA

The fact that Thawed!Reader was a distraction to Lyney and Father leaving her alone all this time…asjkghhsgaf Her just casually mentioning, ‘oh yeah, I knew she couldn’t have gone far’... And her implying that she had already had a plan to deal with this type of situation before Aether interfered just says so much about her character. I wonder how different it was going to be, because it seemed like she was just going to leave T!Reader be until she actually interfered like now. Maybe use the potion still? Relocation? Her character both in general and here makes it seem like she wouldn’t just kill her without a second thought. 

Also, I like to imagine the research she did into Rosalie was not only to come up with a plan as to what to do now that there were new variables, but to make sure her child was at least going to be ok under Rosalie’s care. After her not-a-answer answer…. Adlkfhjasldkfjlaks Father cares in her weird way it's fine, don't worry.

I love the inclusion of the potion from her story quest by the way! I think it adds a more devastating twist than what I originally thought may have been on the line, like her life. Like, Thawed!Reader would be perfectly fine, but not only does she lose memories of all the recent (and previous) memories such as any positive moments with Aether or her familial connection with Rosalie, but also people who deeply care about her (Rosalie, our fauti trio, maybe aether and paimon?) suddenly lose their friend since her identity is so closely tied to being a part of the Fauti. From being one to becoming a runaway one, almost every action she has taken till now has been influenced by her past and if she accepts then it's all gone. I know you mentioned that Lyney would absolutely still chase after Thawed!Reader even if she took the potion and he had to start from the beginning(which absolutely see it ashdlaksh) but there is absolutely no way he wouldn’t feel any short of hurt by that. Even as he tries to woo her for a third time, he’s going to be holding on to memories he can’t tell her about for multiple reasons. Experiences he adores like sparing but she may not be able to do any more. 

(Speaking of the potion, i do have my own theories on what may happen with everyone involving that… but i’ll share that in a separate ask.)

The Knave’s and Rosalie interaction was so nice; both sets of parents really do be fighting huh. But while T!Reader’s and Lyney’s was a bit more high strung, the other parents feels a bit more like understanding each other. Not that they like it, i mean, look at Rosalie. It felt like two different parents trying to co-parent, if that makes sense? I mean, like I mentioned before, if the Knave really wanted to, she could have just killed T!Reader and even Rosalie and be done with it. But besides wanting Rosalie to act as bait; she mostly had a calm discussion, and seemed to keep Rosalie’s feelings in mind as a fellow parent of this kid. I mean, she even reined in the soldiers when they lashed out at our favorite flower shop owner in their blind loyalty. And her kinda silent approval at Rosalie’s answer about the potion? Why is the set of parents that includes a harbinger having the calmer convo? (Gotta ask as well! What flower did Father give Maman? Despite the meanings, I do think that considering her ascension materials, it may have been a rainbow rose. But if we consider other Fontaine flowers, Lumiose bells also fit well! And Romaritime flowers sadfasfasdf…) 

As for T!Reader and Lyney- akdfjalskjf THE PARENTS REALLY DO BE FIGHTING HERE! Dear god the tension rising in the situation, T!Reader is blinded by worry and anger while Lyney is partly blinded by love and his want to help. Paimon, Aether and Lynette are the audience at this point (although, gotta say, love the explanation to how they know there T!Reader lives! Despite how she’s acting now in the context of Rosalie being kidnapped, it was a perfect compromise to deliver the gift but let T!Reader keep some form of privacy. Too bad it is also working against the twins in this moment with  Arlecchino’s plans. Plus, they may have found out anyway due to the fact their crew of workers had also seen T!Reader around Fontaine in the past. All it would take was one of the workers going to Rosalie’s shop while T!Reader was working.)

Lyney almost said love!! My man had a confession moment!! Too bad that it was in the middle of a fight. That whole conversation had layers I want to poke at for more information. Lyney’s automatic confirmation of betraying Father for T!Reader, her calling Rosalie her mother to everyone, Aether’s hurt at her blaming him, T!Readers fixation on the fact that; from her point of view; Lyney is only taking and taking and taking.But it's her exit that caught my eye the most. It felt like a really cool parallel from back in chapter three when T!Reader gained her vision. 

Both times T!Reader was upset and angry, and Lyney comes in as both connected to the source of her problems as well as someone who just wants to help her. Both times she lashes out at people (the fight/freezing during the first and the cruel words plus biting cold in the second). And both times she walks away leaving behind a barrier of ice (technically it was a door covered in some ice in the second fight but shh we’re still counting it).

I wonder if Lyney also recognized the parallels as well, since his tone switched from stubborn and confident to weak pleading the moment T!Reader starting walking away! Just the echoes of it, I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in lyney’s thought process was just like ‘not again, please not again’. All the effort and care he took into trying to not scare her off again just went down the drain by Arelcchino’s actions, and just like before, he’s unable to convince her to stay and let him help. However, this time, he has a lead in the form having some knowledge on Father’s methods as well as knowing that T!Reader is going to try and go after her to get Rosalie. And I’d be willing to bet money that he’s going to latch onto that and not let go. 

Also, remember how my first ask mentioned aether being a deadman once lyney found out that he blackmailed Thawed!Reader? Yeah I think we’re at that point, we’re gonna see this man go feral like he did in the fortress. Not to mention Rosalie and (maybe) Arlecchino’s reaction. I doubt Arlecchino will actually do something since the potion is already her plan but I’m sure she’s curious about how the traveler pushed up the timeline. And I doubt Rosalie is gonna be a happy maman once she learns why her daughter started hanging out with the Outlander. 

P.S, totally for absolutely no reason in particular… how do you feel about fanfics of your fanfics?

-deadman aether anon

HHEHEHE IM SO GLAD U STOPPED APOLOGIZING FOR LONG ASKS its about time…. WE LOVE THIS SHIT!!!!!

- father does care!!!!! and it shows even in canon lore!!!!!!! ofc the children wont have it easy and they wont be spoiled rotten with affection but i think thats what makes arlecchinos way of doing things even more special and i rlly wanted to incorporate that here toooo

- yesss:( mc’s entire identity is VERY tied to her “past” as a fatuus! of course lyney wouldnt be happy about mc forgetting everything that made their relationship, because what they had was very special to him!! (and i would love to hear that potion train of thought)

- i think i didnt write it clear enough which is my fault! but the flower i was hoping to hint that arlecchino was giving to rosalie was the “Snezhnayan” flower that Arle bought from her a few chapters ago. fun fact i didnt want to assume to whatever hyv had planned for snezhnaya flowers, but i wanted it to be a flower that had originated from khaenriah but still became relevant to snezhnaya. so to rosalie, it was just an imported flower, but it was one that was unique enough to make her remember whoever bought it!

- and yes HAGSHAHA i found it hilarious to write in that rosalie and arlecchino would have a calm meeting while lyney and mc are a mess and a half. i think it shows that they both have a long way to go before they reach the same level as the other two:)))

- THE PARALLEL!!!! YUUPPPPPPP i wanted to reference it in the next chapter too in case people didnt realize it but im glad u caught it BAHAHAA

- i guess we will find out if aether truly will be a dead man next chapter…. Didnt even get the chance to reunite with his sister ohhh poor boy. this is why u dont blackmail someone! learn from aether, everyone

- ALSOHELLO??? fanfics of my fanfics? oh. PLEASE. hello. YES! i would absolutely love to see how people interpret my series and the characters within them:( that would be such a joy!!!!!! but i also just want to see how people think of thawed!lyney HAHAHHA

[shit-taster-connoisseur]

BOO!

Haha, Did I Scare Ya?

Anyways I Noticed That You’re Looking For Some Silly Questions, So Your Wish Is Granted Mate!

A Simple One Of Course, What Are Your Thoughts/Opinions About One Of The Villains Such as The Interesting Twins?

JXJDB sure did

These guys, are by far my favorite villians, also im sucker for sibling dynamics

Wished they were taken more seriously, but won't deny some of their episode were my favorites by far (especially OP T.R.I.P). Less because of the gags they thrown them in, but rather we do finally see glimpses of their own personalities cause up until then there rlly wasnt much on them besides them failing and falling out a whole damn window all the time xxbdj honestly, that calls into question how resistant these guys are holy shit

The sister(if anyone got any name suggestions for them plz tell so I can steal them too/j), is fed UP, and I love her for it, cause with the amount of shit she's face i'd go fucking insane too. I vote we should give her gun, all her problems would be solved/j but actually, i enjoy that she's a little shit, impulsive, arrogant, etc, but i think it kinda stems from a fear of failure because how else would they've been known as father's bestest spies? Sector V had knocked down a pedestal, and that fucks with her head, but then their failures began to pile up and now she's becoming increasingly desperate to prove that she's still somehow #1– in turn she because implusive, impatient, etc. Sbe 100% cares for her brother, so at the same time she feels like she's dragging him down, it all piles on. Maybe a vaca would do her some good.

The brother, I absolutely adore him – tbh I adore both of them equally. He seems more like the younger of the two in terms of personality, we seem always following his sister's lead despite how irrational it could be. His loyalty and compassion to her is something that kinda pushes him to being my fav twin spot, cuz well im a sucker for good brother characters. And despite his more "softer" attuide compared to his sister's, they're both evil and flawed equally on the same level ‐ mo manipulation or pressure(well kind), nah-da. As the brother is just as implusive, selfish, and arrogant, but he hasn't let their failure get to his head just yet – in turn, he has more clearer head than his sister, so he ends becoming a voice of reason than a leader.

(Readmore cuz this is long jdbdb)

It's pretty popular theory that they're delightful, which is something I think about a LOT when it comes to their characters. And a bit more headcanon here: their non-delightful selves are still conscious, as to me(inspired heavily by my SS au with a friend), being delightful serves as just a filter for kids. Kinda like you feel the urge to chuck a plate, but because you're delightful, it's like a parasite keeping your hands folded in your lap, controlling your behaviors and words.

And they both don't like that their delightful-selves are fighting against old comrades because they were probably ex-KND operatives. perhaps got caught during a mission in Father's mansion, and faded to obscurity in KND history. Either that, or maybe they were father's first delightful experiments? Before the DCFDTL? Maybe that's why they aren't as insync as the DCFDTL, cuz you'd think them being related by blood would strength that bond.

Honestly, i just want an AU where they're happy:))

More headcanons:

Lesbian/Gay solidarity and hostility

They are the entire Evelyn Evelyn album(or not idk, havent listen to it in awhile)

If they ever do end up being undelightfulized, they'd have vastly different asthetics out of spite. Not sure which ones yet

They'd marathon Saturday morning cartoons to get the full childhood experience!!

They consider the DCFDTL sort like cousins, a familial connection is there at least

They're presumed missing, so they live alone in a house bought by Father. They're able to split the chores usually, but the Brother is the better cook between them, so the sister just does the dishes.

Alternatively they also live in Father's mansion, but because they keep falling out of windows at comical heights, they're in bed rest planning their next schemes, therefore more out the way

If they got turned into animals, they'd probably be panthers or owls idk

(Lord save me it's nearly 1am on a school might xmsb)

[bg3-npc]

Asexual Awareness Week and BG3

Below the cut is 1,000~ words of introspection on Astarion and sex repulsion. As an asexual person who's very sex averse, I surprisingly found myself relating to many of his struggles regarding sex and intimacy. This is less about Astarion being ace, and more about how his struggles with sex and romance mirror mine. That relation has lead me to this potential insight into his character. It's obviously extremely biased, which is why I put the word count first. I have a similar post about Wyll here. So if your interested in introspection that is probably more projection, I bring you this.

Astarion has been denied his autonomy for over 200 years. He’s amassed trauma from that, and a prominent portion of it is sexual. It’s this specific form of his trauma I will be working with.

For him, there are practically zero positive associations with regards to sex. He essentially uses it to survive, mainly because it’s all he knew in his time under Cazador. Nearly every sexual situation he encounters in game, he dissociates through it. Even when he enthusiastically consents, dissociation still happens. While sex is distressing in of itself, it is even more so when romance is factored in.

While love is great in theory, it would be a nightmare for Astarion personally. One of the reasons being sex is seen as inherent to romantic relationships. It’s an unspoken fact. Even people who know they’re not entitled to sex go into every romantic relationship expecting it. It’s one of the perks of having a romantic partner. Consistent access to a free source of mutual pleasure, consistent access to a body. He's actively trying to escape a situation where he has no autonomy, why would he want to enter a situation where you’re expected to forfeit it?

As you continue to develop a relationship with him, he's put in a dilemma. He’s been a sex object for so long, he doesn’t know how to be anything else. What do you do when the inherent expression of love is also an activity integral to your trauma? You can have sex without love, but no one loves without sex. What’s the point of pursuing love if you’d be constantly making yourself do something that distresses you? Aren’t relationships supposed to make you happy? Comfortable? Safe? What’s the point of them if they don’t? Falling in love while trying to actively escape captivity never even occurred to him as something that could happen.

If you respect his boundaries, Astarion refrains from having sex with you. If Halsin propositions you later in the game, Astarion asks if his lack of participation is a factor. He knows that besides all the other drawbacks to dating him, being denied sex is the biggest blow to romancing him. When you want to remove sex from the relationship, suddenly even the strictest monogamist will want to be non-monogamous. Your partner is the one sacrificing something after all. It’s them who doesn’t get to have sex with you. They’ll always be the one going without, you’re the one denying your partner something. It’s never seen as you sacrificing your autonomy for their pleasure. Denying someone sex in a romantic relationship is viewed as worse than traumatizing yourself for the sake of your partner’s sexual pleasure. You are the one expected to compromise. You’re supposed to be the one to forfeit your wants and well-being. What’s the point of loving someone if you can’t even fuck them?

If you find the drow twins after killing Cazador, Astarion eagerly wants to have that sexual experience. This time for himself. He is free from him captor, he has his autonomy back, and he wants to reclaim the pleasure of sex. I get that! Sex is (supposedly) wonderful! Attitudes towards it vary, but the consensus is everyone enjoys it. Not only can it allow you to connect with someone, but it can also allow you to connect with yourself. When done correctly, sex is a universal pleasure.

Until it isn’t.

You try to exposure yourself enough to it, change enough variables, hoping that there’s a secret to enjoying this act you just haven’t figured out. Yet every time, no matter how many things are different, at the end of it all it’s still sex. And it makes you sick. Your skin feels like it’s trying to crawl away from your muscle, you can feel disgust roiling through your veins, and suddenly, you’re aware of your own skeleton. You feel this revulsion to your bones. Yet you push through. You go through the motions, follow the steps. Even someone you trust entirely will touch you with erotic desire and your body reacts horribly. You try to make it good for your partner while you tolerate it…at best.

“What purpose do I have other than sex?” Is one of Astarion’s main struggles throughout the game. He feels sex is all he has to offer, yet it’s a continual source of pain for him. He can discuss it, describe it, theorize and philosophize it, but the actual act distresses him. The “universal pleasure” does nothing for him but harm. Romance only compounds this issue. If the only thing he has to offer hurts him, then what’s the point of romancing him? “What is the point of being with me if you can’t fuck me?”

These are all issues constantly on your mind when you’re sex repulsed. While his problems with sex stem from trauma, they still mirror my own. I will probably never be able to enjoy sex, but he might. He can work through his issues and learn to enjoy it again. However, another recovery option coud be opting out of sex altogether.

Realizing and accepting it’s not something he wants or enjoys, and having a partner who respects would be life changing for him. I know it would be for me. Because there's never someone who views you as a whole. Never someone who looks at you and doesn’t see anything missing. There’s never someone who’s content with what you’re able to give. There’s never someone that sees a relationship with you as complete. Never someone who goes “You’re not lacking anything. You’re giving what you can. Relationships are continuous agreements of consent, not entitlement to autonomy.”

Sex repulsion has an odd way of objectifying you, similar to how Astarion has been. When you try to remove yourself from sex, it becomes the sole focus of you. Whether it’s because you’ve only ever been a sex object, or because you don’t want to partake in it. Every rejection and failed compromise continues to reinforce how vital sex is to everyone. Everyone, except you.

[everywaythatmatters]

I’m about 2/3 of the way through WaT and I’m stuck at work without my book so. Rambling stream of consciousness bullet point thoughts and theories below the cut lmao

Chana has to be shallan’s mom, I’m so excited that theory is turning out to be true (I mean. I’m assuming. Based on everything) bc it makes so much sense. Poor shallan though oh my god. There was that one death rattle about an evil twin that I feel like has to be about her too

Renarin and rlain are so cute I adore them. Shallan squealing with delight when renarin finally confessed his feelings was wonderful lmao me too girl

Adolin bonding with his plate spren is so 🥹 I love this guy so much. Him losing his leg is so rough but maybe that means he won’t die?? Is that delusional?? Either way I kinda hope that’s permanent, branderson stop healing all your disabled characters challenge

Ash and taln died?? Did not see that coming, okay so they go back to braize now I guess. That was an awesome scene though - we haven’t gotten to see any of the heralds besides nale be the skilled immortal fighters they are, and DAMN. And the wind told kal that the heralds’ connections would be important, and those are the only two with pov books later, so my guess is that all the others will lose herald status by the end of the book. Maybe them too but they’re gonna live and all of the others could possibly die after getting removed from the oathpact (?). And they’ll be spared bc they weren’t on roshar… idk I’m spitballing here

Kal is apparently gonna be a champion for the spren but I have no clue what that means. I feel like something bad might happen to the spren at the end of this book (wasn’t that foreshadowed in sunlit man? Can’t remember). We haven’t gone back to ishar’s fucked up spren experiments yet so that’s probably involved. Syl I love you please be okay at the end of this book

Kal’s so much happier this book :)))

Szeth being the first patient in kal’s therapy sessions is wonderful. His highspren too I love this

Gav keeps hearing a voice that imo is definitely not elhokar. Maybe he could still end up being odiums champion? I just like that theory. Odium hasn’t been thinking about the actual contest or his champion at all which is weird, so it would make sense if there’s some kind of reveal like that later.

The stormfather is up to no good but I don’t quite understand how yet. He was keeping quiet the fact that Honor caused the recreance. WAIT what if the stormfather killed honor holy shit

What exactly is mraize’s plan? I guess just to have control over BAM, but to what end? I wonder if he and shallan will come to an understanding

Moash is ah. Still pretty evil. Holding out hope for a final act redemption arc (or at least for the narrative to stop treating him like his hatred for the system and outrage at his injustice is inherently bad). Rip to leyten though

Still don’t know what’s up with venli’s plotline but I love it!!! The chasmfiends being their allies now is amazing. Still dying to learn more about the fourth moon. And the well of Control thing too. Dawnshard? I feel like another shard from the past doesn’t really make sense for a couple reasons. Maybe there was a fourth old god (Wind, Night, Stone, another one (Rain? Water? Crabs? Idk man)), which is why the chasmfiend sing four notes. I’m assuming the moon had to have fallen before humans got to roshar

Wait wait wait what if there is a dawnshard at the shattered plains and that’s the one that sig takes up!! If that death rattle was right then moash will kill him but maybe he gets brought back by the dawnshard somehow

Back to the stormfather killed honor theory. Ok so. The stormfather wanted a bondsmith specifically (choosing gavilar and then dalinar) so that someone could challenge odium. But why? Does he want to lose intentionally so odium leaves roshar? Does he want to kill odium (how?)? I’m definitely still missing some info

The stormfather also worked against kal a few times (not wanting syl to stay with him in wor, not saving him in row). We know he’s been plotting so that feels very intentional in hindsight

Gonna stop there lmao. So close to getting to go home and read more :)

[drawnaghht]

I saw your tags in my post!!!! AND I'M SO SURE YUI PARENTS ARE DEAD!!! But they died when he was still really young so he doesn't really remember them. I'm so curious on what other people think about his childhood. In my mind he was a chaotic child who performed tricks for his Aunty.

Oh! I'm glad to hear that bc I had a similar thought over the series ^^

The way Auntie says it in the first episode, it really does sound like... she promised his parents a long time ago, and it is something much-mentioned between the two.

I actually have a theory based on Auntie's appearances and what she says, that she decided to make a kind of larger white lie about herself to Usagi, and that she is actually his grandma and for some reason has asked to be called auntie. So many if us assume that she is literally, his aunt, but the way I understand it as a non-native speaker, auntie in english can mean an elderly woman as well, regardless of actual familial connection.

there's also how the japanese dub has translated her as obaa-chan, grandma, which can be used for any older grandma-age lady too. then also how Stan Sakai calls her Usagi's grandma in interviews.

so where I'm getting to with this is that maybe it's a painful topic for her, whether it was her sibling or her own child who died, but it seems she's gone through a lot and maybe omits details about what happened to Yuichi's parents. In any case, she had made a promise to Usagi's parents and we don't know much beyond that. If we go more into headcanon than theory territory, we could expand on what's implied in the show. What if besides looking after the boy, they also asked her to promise to look after him as her own? And so she became Auntie, instead of only Grandma.

Or it could even just be a personal preference! I have an aunt thru marriage who right-off-the-bat requested to be called by name instead of "aunt" or "auntie" because those monikers felt old to her.

Perhaps for Usagi's auntie, it was similar and she felt that because he couldn't experience having parents, at least he could experience having an auntie, and that's what she asked for him to call. Not an older grandma, but an experienced auntie. Altho that's not what those words have to mean, it is just speculation from me based on how she's written. Also, because she seems to be a war veteran (the prosthetics and experienced skill despite her old age), she might have things to hide. so perhaps she prefers something familial and close what a family member would call her, but not her full or real name, as perhaps the boy's parenrs would have called her.

Just some thoughts!

My theories on what actually happened to his parents range depending on what I take as a jumping-off point for the theory. Easiest and most extreme example; Perhaps the wars were recent and they died there? Maybe they even had more kids before Usagi? Because Usagi's name also includes Yuichi tho, with the meaning of "first-born brave son", perhaps not. Another theory I had earlier in s1, is that they went to the city, related to their farm, perhaps they needed investors or were doing business of some kind. What happens next branches off - it could have been a simple mugging or other crime that left them vulnerable or hurt enough that they couldn't get help anymore.

One of the theories I have is that it is related to some gang wars that took place over 10 years before the events of the series and Usagi's 16th birthday in ep 1. I'm going to use this one in my Neo Edo Idol fanstory because it seems to fit the best there ^^ It's implied by how the three main gangs in the series basically exist in a corrupt way where they can both tell the Shogun what to so, but are also sequestered off into their of territories, that probably things weren't so great before, but under the semi-corrupt Lord Kogane, they exist in a standstill. So maybe Usagi's parents found their ends in whatever went on with the gangs 10+ years ago.

If we tie it with the fact that a big criminal was alao going around the city causing problems, mentioned in Gen and Toshiko's flashbacks about their mom's praxis, we can get another interesting connection. Maybe Usagi's parents were victims of this black wolf. There's even the theory that maybe... this could be related to Jei, known from the comics and that this character is a nod to him. Whether a descendant or a random black wolf possessed by Jei, it is an interesting nod. So 2 things could have happened. Or any number of things really! Mainly I am thinking, maybe Usagi's parents got hurt by Okami, and died then and there; Possibly, they could have been hurt by either Okami or anyone or anything else, but then couldn't get help because the city's only working hospital was closed because of him. It's interesting to think about! I hope someone else makes these connections in their Usagi Chronicles fanstories as well :)

Anyway, this became a whole big tangent answrr lol ^^; but thanks for talking about this! lolol I love talking about this sjow and Usagi's parents and what happened to them, any details about them... they are like one of the biggest unknown mysteries to me haha and it would be really cool to get something like a FAQ or some companion piece/comic where we get more fleshed-out lore for them too ^^

Of course, since the series was made inspired by Senso and Space Usagi, it's likely we'll never find out, but it's fun to think that maybe the writers, storyboarders and showrunners all hax some small ideas about his parents, and that these ideas simply weren't used for time reasons...

Thanks and feel free to ask/talk more!

[pazodetrasalba]

One from the Heart

Dear Caroline:

I finished your book recommendation yesterday. As it usually happens, it has grown on me, although I am still of two minds about it. Even though making a review is a judgmental act at its essence, Rosenberg will have to forgive me as I give my thoughts and evaluations about its contents.

On the plus side, I feel like this is a book with a strong kernel of truth in it, and one that I am going to try to apply in my relationships. Not much can go wrong from trying to be empathetic and generous to others - my own natural inclinations point in this way anyway, although it would never have occurred to me to go along this path of detecting emotion - formulating need and request, and of trying to read others so intently.

I can also guess (there's the thinking again!) about why you would it so likeable in spite of the woo wishy-washiness it conveys at times. At the core, the book is pretty utilitarian: avoid judgements, avoid anger at the breaking of moral rules, avoid categorizing.

Phrasing the good more in NVC language: when I read this book, I feel happy and moved because I have a need of giving and being given to from the heart, empathically.

But I also have some misgivings about it. Besides the lack of non-subjective evidence presented (this is, after all, a self help book, nor a scientific paper), I think my biggest gripe is similar to yours. My intuition is that NVC probably works very well at the individual and/or small group level (modulo developing lots of empathy and patience towards others, and making conversations like x10 longer) but it probably doesn't scale up well. Once you are in a complex community beyond some numbers threshold with different time constraints and opportunity costs for efficiency, there is just going to be a significant chunk of people who you can't reasonably expect to persuade and bring over to this within a realistic framework and time-constraint. One can't do without rules. Going even deeper, I feel like I do not share the axiomatic principles about human nature that Rosenberg is building his foundations on. My unscientific take would be something like this: yes, we have some predisposition to empathy and connection (we are a social animal after all), but that frequently conflicts with a deeper-rooted instinct for self-preservation and advancement, with the whole of human history being a dialectic of these two. Some people can be really disinterested in extinguishing the fires of the ego, but most won't until human nature experiences a substantial change.

While pondering on this I was reminded a little bit of Confucianism, which has some nice bits I enjoy. One of its core tenets is a belief in de, a sort of charismatic auctoritas that arises from being really morally virtuous and others consequently following you and behaving better in your company as a result. Confucianism's political utopia is for the most virtuous to rule, and ideally, for him or her to be able to skew all forms of coercion and potestas. In practice, though, even the most Confucians have had to rely heavily on some degree or other on the stick.

There are other things you mention in passing that I also think about, like the way its seems to exonerate wrongdoers (that's the deontologist speaking in me, but you yourself touched upon this. Some actions are so violent and traumatizing that you can't really expect me to avoid establishing a necessary link between action suffered and feeling. Rosenberg is too stoic for my taste). As for conflicts in needs, the implicit corollary for me is something like 'very subtly shaming the other until one of you is willing to empathize a bit more and accept putting one of the conflicting needs (his or hers) in the waiting line'. Or a trial by exhaustion. I am sure you could illustrate some of the book's limitations through economic and game theory ideas.

Still, I don't want to end on a sour note. I genuinely liked the book and am pondering about its message. I think it's at least partially right in its advice to avoid prejudgments and on trying to force people to do the right thing, and that we can really open up to others when we feel listened to. And a take I will try to implement is changing my language a bit in these letters I write to you. I fear sometimes I might have sounded judgmental and essentialist, even when I was trying to be complimentary to you. I'll end by trying to phrase myself better:

When I read your posts, I feel elated, because I feel a need to connect with interesting, valuable and unusual thoughts and ideas and the people (and their needs) behind them, and to grow and challenge my preconceptions. So I am really grateful to you, Caroline, for making it possible.

[player-1]

While I already hopped on the bandwagon of Metta creating Byeol (either a task failed successfully attempt to create a intimidating Tyrant or mini-me angel), I also want to put my two cents on another Normal-type Tyrant that has "little to no impact" on the story: Caelesa.

Of course, the Guild knows barely anything about her motives besides running around the continent, and after Venefelis revives her (or before her death to the Guild), is basically a dick to all humans she interacts with, mostly with the "idiot human" comment she puts after nearly every sentence. Obviously she's very annoyed about being labeled a Tyrant despite doing absolutely nothing to harm or antagonize them, but the same can also be said for Byeol; they're located in Palmaya post-game (the "safest"/Tyrant-free place in the world) and does nothing but smile and stare at people, creeping anyone out that they don't bother fighting or even describing them in better detail for any unfortunate soul that might come across him in the future (also another thing that's a bit hard to notice during encounters cause of background music, Nexomon actually have noises/cries when you first battle them or switch them out in teams. and Byeol's a little twinkle/chirp noise like a bird :).

Besides that, I also came up with the semi-plausible theory that Metta also created the Abyssal Tyrants (which is a longer rant in of itself), which eventually led to the side theory that Caelesa and Byeol might have a connection with each other as siblings or even two halves of the same goal.

While it's not exactly obvious appearance-wise, their names actually have some similarities to stars and a celestial existence (Byeol being Korean for star and Caelesa is Latin for heavenly/celestial respectively) and with Metta having some phonetic connection to the angel Met(t)atron and you know...everything else about his character shows him wanting to be on top of everything like a higher being as Nexolord. And to me, I like to think that Caelesa might've broken a part of the rings that connect to the one on her neck since they also stay close to the Tyrant in question (besides Braccus most likely ripping that giant crystal out of his chest for some reason), but I also find it interesting that there's none of the crystals are imbued into her body like the other Abyssals, while Byeol (maybe?) has them on his cheeks like dimples minus the telltale purple color and red eyes. -Oh yeah, and I think the chariot-thing Byeol has was one of Caelesa's rings and the wings were part of Byeol's body (similar colors) that were somehow grafted into the metal, but who knows how that would've worked out.

Though looking back into the Abyssal story too, another glaringly obvious thing about Caelesa being overshadowed by the other Abyssals is the lack of splash art when she's first introduced (as well as Volcel, but I bet he already wasn't in a mood for introductions):

All the major players (except Helevolk) are the only ones that were willing to explain their reasons for living and their desires to see the one that created them besides basically leaving them to distract the Guild (ie. "the world's eyes") and die for their troubles, not to mention the their pictures exemplifying their strength, might, and elusiveness to the Guild's understanding of what a Tyrant should behave like. So maybe Caelesa didn’t get an artistic intro cause she’s not the only normal-type Abyssal to worry about…

Anywho, since the Nexomon series is always a sucker for foreshadowing and not leaving too many loose threads behind, I'm just hoping the Abyssals come back one way or another and we might learn more about the Valentine cherub reject if he sticks around just long enough to become relevant to the story.

And to also clear up some other tidbits about some other mystery Tyrants:

-Fane the Ghost Rider ghost moose(?) could be considered the manifestation of ultimate strength or the downward spiral some tamers might experience once they're on top with power and strength, being a ghastly skeleton and all (since dex says he only appears to those that prove themselves as warriors and defeat enough of their enemies).

-Tikala might not exactly be a Warden in the typical sense being in Ziegler's control, even if he also appears post post-game in Nexomon 1, I like to believe that he's Nara's "Warden" as a protector of the Hidden Village and is offhandedly implied to be Khan's apprentice (then runner-up King of Monsters in N:E). I also like the idea that Nara may have created Tikala before the story (accident or not), and since old habits never die, just pawned off her pseudo-kid to a third-party and goes about her own business.

-And while I also hate that there's no mention of it (and going off the Metta creating Abyssals theory), but I would like to believe that Venefelis is the first Psychic type post-N1 (and first Masquiti) and was possibly created by combining Nexomon traits/genes with a human (maybe a witch/psychic kid if the Salem persona isn't obvious enough when she was sealed). I mean, her name is literally "to want a cat" (Vene(trate/able)= worthy of, to respect, to desire and Felis= cat-like)) and she purrs when you battle her! Metta could have made a freak-of-nature cat as a one-off thing and it all went downhill from there!!

Okay, guys, you want me to go on about the most pointless things?

Let's go on about Byeol (and a bit about Fane, I suppose), because I am going insane

Alright everyone, for those unaware, this is Byeol:

This is a tyrant in Nexomon: Extinction, his name is Byeol. The problem about this, however.

He isn't a story tyrant, and this... Makes me very interested in him.

Amelie calls Tyrants super powerful Nexomon, but here's the thing. According to Coco, Jin blocked off the entrance to Fenrir's tomb so that no more Tyrants may be hatched

Lydia also says to go bother Nadine because of the egg, and keep in mind, the grass Tyrant is Tikala. A warden. Probably because Deena didn't necessarily want to add fuel to the fire

So then we are already established that Tyrants are probably always hatched.

... So then what of Fane and especially Byeol?

(And there's no Psychic Tyrants because... Solus would be too lil to bonk an egg, and nobody would ask a random kid to do so.)

Well, let's go with the easier one, in which I ask yet again, what's up with the Ghost type? I've wanted to throw hands about it for a long time.

(Ulzar says that the reason Nexomon are, well, a thing is because of the Children of Omnicron. So it makes sense, right? 7 children, 7 elements)

Psychic is a bit trickier because of the fact Mystogen exists. And if we're going of the fact Solus made the psychic type...

Putting a pin in that, rant for another day.

So... What of Ghost?

Well. That's not the point of the post and that's my motivation for writing Doubts.

But! Moving on, Fane. Well, with the assumption they come from eggs, well frick. There's no ghost primordial.

... Which is why I can't speak much of it. We can surely just blame Hilda

... Do you know who we have more of?

Byeol.

Well. Let's see then.

Byeol is a normal type in Palmaya, first and foremost.... We are back to James everyone, anyone who's talked to me isn't surprised

Hi new people, James is how we call the Nexolord on this side of the fandom, moving on.

Assuming that James isn't dead and we take into account this from Nadine:

Well, who am I to argue with Nadine? (Granted, she could mean Grunda or Deena , but.)

.. So, in today's rant. Byeol and Metta, woooo.

First of all, he is in Palmaya(and later around the Orphanage as of the Abyssals but we can put a pin in that because, Abyssals) , which, is definitely not the frozen tundra

But, Merida is in the frozen Tundra, and Atlanta's Tyrant is frosty enough to argue Merida bonked the egg there.

.. So then, Palmaya's free, ey?

Well. That's interesting, further on, I am going to need to grab Metta for a moment

Hello bowling ball, I still think you should be an Armodillo.

Moving on, see this man? Until his siblings he is, unfortunately, not an animal

My only logic conclusion, looking at this man(if we don't take my other James theory into account), is that he's supposed to be a kind of biblically accurate angel, just, ribbons not wings (Thanks for the association Azzie, your hands are red too)

... HMMMM who ELSE has wings and is a normal type...

... WELL THEN.

Additionally, I must point out, Metta has 7 ribbons. If we count the bottom pointy Byeol has he has 8.

... Well, it just happens an additional type is added this time, to bump it from 7 to 8(we already went over why I think Ghost might not count)

.. So then.

And. Well, let's look at it this way. Nivalis and Arqua, they don't look the same. Fona and Mulcimer, er. The closest we have is Ventra and Eurus.

... And, well, Solus and Nara, but surely not

... Byeol could've been a kangaroo or something, but instead-

They're both inanimate object things I can't make sense of. I know Ross said that he was just inspired to make a star thing, but-

... Hm.

What am I trying to say? Nothing really. At the end of the day these are coincidences, likely

Like, n3 protag and James both have a blue hair strand, but that doesn't mean they're like, immediately necessary related kind of thing

... Just makes you think.

(Also, this stated when I made a joking like toddler Byeol human version, and I saw the white hair and went like "...wait")

[cryo-locket]

HOLD TF UP

I was reading through random shit in genshin again as I do and I noticed something

Lore theory rant utc

These two gemstones, pay attention to their descriptions

We know that these descriptions under the gemstones, specifically these spoken words, are words of the archons themselves. Which means these two gemstones respectively contain words from both the pyro and cryo archon.

The pyro gemstone is the only one who has a censored word as if it is something that shouldn’t yet to be mentioned

What truth is it that ‘he’ should need to achieve? And furthermore who is this ‘he’ they speak of?

We can only assume this ‘he’ would probably be the traveler. Though I am unsure if for the players who picked Lumine if the description says ‘she’ but, it is logical for the mentioned ‘he’ to be the traveler as the traveler is the one trying to seek out a certain ‘truth’. Because if you remember, in the ‘we will be reunited’ quest our twin had mentioned something about us one day finding out the ‘truth’ of this world once we reach the end of our journey.

Which leads to this thought. The censored word could probably be either Teyvat, Celestia or the abyss. These three are the most likely topics we have because first of all, ‘this world’ would most likely just mean Teyvat, which what ‘truth’ is there about Teyvat? What sort of mystery could there be about this land we are roaming? If we look back to the ‘unreconciled stars’ event where Scaramouche first appeared, he mentioned something about the stars and sky being a hoax.

The stars and the sky being a hoax could mean that it is hiding something, or as others have theorized before, the sky we see is not the real sky/Teyvat is an upside down world created by Celestia. We can see what seems to be Celestia floating in the sky and how it has been tilting more and more with each update, or to my belief, every time we — The Traveler discover more and more about Teyvat with how each update brings us some new knowledge or experience in the game.

All of this then brings us to the abyss which is where our twin is supposedly ‘siding’ with. If Teyvat is truly an upside down world and Celestia be the one trying to cover it all, then what was the abyss, or what was once known as Khaenri’ah? What brings the reason for Celestia to wish to destroy it? Why is our twin so fixed on getting vengeance for Khaenri’ah? What ties could they have with that now fallen nation?

The archons have always been so reluctant to speak of Celestia or even Khaenri’ah as if they couldn’t speak of it. Venti has spoken of it in his voice lines once though quite subtly, but we can tell he dislikes Celestia. Meanwhile, the people of Teyvat all seem to not even notice Celestia’s existence while we can see it in the sky so clearly. As well as the fact that the people of Teyvat seem to know almost nothing at all about Khaenri’ah except that ‘it was a nation that fell to ruins 500 years ago’.

All of these three are connected yes, but the thing here is what exactly about these three are we going to discover in presumably Natlan where the pyro archon would be, and how will it then affect the story..? There is much we could find out about that could possibly connect many lost dots after all.

Now moving onto the cryo gemstone, nothing much on this one but look at it this way. Those words seem to be specifically said to someone. Someone who could possibly be holding a cryo vision since it says “since you can endure my bitter cold”. Then going back to the start of those words “Sorry to have you shoulder the grievances of this world”. We can guess that besides them possibly having a cryo vision, it is also someone who is suffering greatly and holds a great secret that they have to hide.

When you connect it like that, doesn’t someone specific who seems to be connected greatly to the lore we currently know come to mind? Someone, who’s life was saved quite too conveniently by getting a vision that just so happens to be a cryo vision as well...

Considering the fact that we also have many theories on how the Tsaritsa is ‘connected’ to Khaenri’ah of the such, and how Pierro appears to be Khaenri’ahn, it is a high possibility.

There’s a lot more we can connect here from pieces of lore and other theories I kinda know but yeah I’m tryna make this as simple as I possibly can while ranting so-

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Putting aside the murder mystery, do you think Chekhov’s Sicilians might be likely? Marigold acts like there’s a big problem, and besides Drago, they’re the only third party that’ve been mentioned at this point, and it feels like we’re a good way into the story.

this might be a bit of a stretch, but I got curious and looked it up. Drago is an Italian surname, but is apparently most frequent found in the country of Malta, an island close to Sicily… he seems pretty lawful good, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out some kind of connection.

i think we can have it all, i.e. i think marigold's big problem could be related to the murder mystery, since mordecai went from "well i wish i knew what marigold's big problem was" to "i am going to interrogate this guy marigold wants dead instead of killing him and hide this from my coworkers and get all stressed and say i probably shouldn't be doing this, in order to try to find out what marigold's big problem is, and bring up that i'm This Driven about it b/c of some perceived possible connection to the murder mystery"....plus how bobby arbogast said that "whatever's giving [marigold] the nervous twitch lately" is what's causing marigold to station agents to hang around / monitor / patrol the premises, which has caused the shootout on the lackadaisy triumvirate's end....which will presumably cause some direct conflict between marigold and lackadaisy, which is. a factor

anyways, that's to say it sure seems pretty centrally encompassing, and the Murder Mystery does too, and it's at least linked in that mordecai supposing it Might Be connected is making him act up and increase stakes, conflicts, possibilities, etc

to finally get around to an answer: yeah, i was kinda getting at a chekov's sicilians theory lmao, since like you say, they and drago are the only specified third or fourth parties out here, And that with any Mystery thread it doesn't hurt to be on the alert for anything that's touched on that you might go "huh, weird" or "huh, that sounds like something that Could be important" but then is kind of glossed over, or some other specific element of it is focused on instead, which in this case, is the focus on exploring a specific flashback / talking about the history between the arbogasts' funeral home and atlas / lackadaisy / viktor (& mordecai)....and it's a speculative leap to go "like, mafia?" but it's not as though that'd be so irrelevant when the general topic here is prohibition. but, whoever they are, they could still be Out There, active and relevant to the story. could've been after atlas, marigold, or both

drago's truly a mystery as well, still....his lawful goodness could sure be either "i love cops, let's keep it honorable lads ha ha" or else "i hate cops, i'm just infiltrating the treasury department, i'll help you keep cash from them / get phonecalls to potentially get out of here"....sure can't nail down naming conventions as hard evidence lol like catch us going "pretty Romantic name you've got there, horatio bruno, if you catch our drift" anti-italianly microaggressing the lackadaisy doorman, or "and they say [politicians] with [maltese-american] can't become [u.s. secretary of transportation]"....but there's the added reason to question drago of how like, gracie's saying that he never had any real info to provide, but that didn't seem to bother them, Like They Just Like Hearing Me Talk....what's the good of having informants in the periphery of marigold? setting up a really long con infiltration, having them keep checking in just so you know they're still there, and hoping it's now easier to plant people a little deeper and get Any Real Info? i'm not rhetorically asking lol, maybe there Is some high-profile treasury department raid Straightforward Explanation in it, but it's hardly guaranteed....

at this time in writing things out i went off and had an exasperating experience lmao, let's see if i can get back into the swing of things. okay, so. walking through a theory that [drago is in turn a plant at the treasury dept] it's like....for whom? so far, like you say, we don't exactly know of any non marigold / lackadaisy (or non feds) parties besides Some Sicilians. could be an as yet undisclosed fourth party. or some personal agenda of his lol. and he seems interested in marigold, and uninterested in lackadaisy....with the feds going through all this trouble with informants for no obvious benefit yet, and marigold going through all this trouble with those same informants for no obvious benefit yet, in that mordecai notes it Should Be ultimately more lucrative to keep them on & pay off some parties than kill these dues-paying people....and gracie saying he's never been able to give any useful info as that informant. if it's not about the info (or isn't it???) or not about the money (or isn't it???) then. then it would be about different things lmfao.

really have to take baby steps and go over & over some presumptions and scrutinize them....like my confusion about mordecai in the same breath seeming to be worried about "were marigold and lackadaisy at odds after all" And "does marigold know how atlas died. b/c i thought that i did" which, yknow. Might simply be interpreted, as gracie seems to interpret it, as mordecai thinking marigold killed atlas. but we know there's some other layer in whatever shared secret he has with mitzi....have to like draw out some axes here to chart like, [mordecai killed atlas: if yes, if no] and [marigold knows what happened: if yes, if no] and whether there's any fitting Explanation for each combo and what we've seen so far. going back to a thought the other day that maybe what was so [??] to mordecai is that asa warning mitzi and saying he warned atlas too implies that asa Doesn't Believe that mitzi killed atlas, even though that's the scuttlebutt, as they say. also, sidebar, shoutout to gracie's humor in duress out here lol, in times like these i guess all you can do is laugh....anyways. it's like, if mordecai's concern is "i hope nobody knows i killed atlas"....if he's worried that Marigold knows that, i'm not sure it makes sense: so prior he'd have thought marigold believed mitzi killed atlas, but he's not acting as though he also ever thought they might kill mitzi over that. and it's not like marigold's evidently suffered after atlas's death, rather than benefitted. and, what, are they just planning to kill mordecai Eventually? idk. feels quite shaky

i'm going down the murder mystery route here to be sure lol, but hey, can't really disentangle them, and It Is My Passion....the possibility mordecai is questioning The Leadup to atlas's death / whether asa Really Did Have Something To Warn Atlas About. what does that change....mordecai Could just really really care to know. or he could be like "someone might wanna kill me, and i'm only just finding out now, and i need to ascertain this"....probably not marigold? suppose it's like, maybe anyone who wants revenge for the lodge incident. but this is evidently a lot of effort for that, And when it's like....so these people start agitating marigold overall, while mordecai's kept in the dark about things, instead of marigold just tossing him overboard to deal with it? unless, of course, this is just a reignited conflict with lackadaisy And marigold from these restored third parties....in which case, not like mordecai has much to be worried about from them directly. much like: would mordecai be very worried about a federal agent going after marigold, or after him Through marigold (though a prohibition agent would surely be more focused on the bootlegging and its central agents than even a hitman, who also only has so much info to offer (does mordecai even get to know who's higher up than asa? hardly established that he totally does))

and there's the like, timeline confusion of: say that, for whatever reason, mordecai's concern is All [marigold knows what happened re: atlas's death? they shouldn't]....asa talking about Warnings is something happening After the fact, about something that would have happened Before the fact....head in hands baja blast Musing Hard, like, god how does it figure in....if mordecai killed atlas: he wouldn't question that, only question Why [these circumstances Really came about] or Who Knows About It. if he didn't: he could question who really did, and who knows about it; apparently either way he thought marigold was uninvolved and had No Info.

wait fuck there's also the fact that mitzi thought mordecai Could have told asa something. which doesn't exactly lend itself to the idea that mordecai would live in mortal fear if he thought marigold knew anything about anything; and he sure doesn't have so dramatic an immediate reaction, even if he's willing to pull a stunt like [interrogate gracie, Who's Supposed To Be Dead]

i'm really not exaggerating that i ought to like, make charts lol. visuals would only help organize some thoughts....

speaking of visuals, i'll break up some text with this next relevant point:

there's A Pause before mordecai dismisses "let gracie pin atlas's death on marigold to his contact," such as that maybe he considered it at all for real, and the cited reason that he'd be without a real answer....even though he sure might be withholding things from gracie here / Maybe outright lying about some things, but i also doubt there's much of that, if any....Is he lookin to join the loose ends club himself over a dead man? Maybe, i.e. this is all about Emotional Motivations re: atlas (besides that potential "i'm afraid someone wants me dead" re: atlas's Death)

there's also the thought i was having that like, i think having a diable thrust upon him that provides illumination, and this scene having literal And figurative illumination, does suggest that now having this drago thread is indeed Relevant to whatever mordecai wants to ascertain out here. mysterious how, as per the last panel in which mordecai asks if they meet regularly, and where, it's suggested that mordecai plans to meet him, or at least see him from afar / undetected....but probably the former, since what tf does he learn from what he looks like? he's not doing this For marigold, and even if he was, a name's surely sufficient. but what does he think he can say to, or ask of, a prohibition agent....becoming a higher up informant? asking for information about marigold? not like drago, whether he's himself a plant or not, would just provide said info for mordecai's peace of mind....of course, it being mordecai, he could try for the [interrogation like with gracie here] route. but that'd be all the riskier, surely. try to follow him home, and go through his shit later?? is it about wanting drago's information, drago Being the information....what could any of it tell mordecai about whether marigold knows things about atlas's death....

i've been keeping [and what of the sicilians, maybe] in mind while i've been going through these other thoughts, lol, just haven't found any places where it seems Obvious they'd fill in some potential missing detail. let's say they've been bearing down on marigold: mordecai talks of paltry competition, and is hypothetically bringing up [could marigold warning of competitors mean they know how atlas died??] like....how's it figure in. supposing they're bearing down by going the "we can do a federal raid, with plants," couldn't they do it just as, or more easily with just the nonplanted federal agents? how would that factor in to anyone knowing more about atlas's death than they should....the feds take him out to simplify some shit; marigold's ceo is worried about the same fate?? while the one informant mordecai's talked to is saying he never had good info for his contact, mordecai might not even know who he works for, mordecai might be on the right track by now knowing Of drago....waugh. or trying on: the sicilians are working With marigold, marigold's insulating b/c why?? lord.

mordecai shoots atlas, asa having warned atlas of anything beforehand makes him question if asa knows how atlas died....how? just b/c he doesn't assume mitzi killed atlas? mordecai didn't shoot atlas, knows mitzi was't even there when atlas died, it was a private affair, asa warned atlas of something and mordecai's questioning if that means asa knows what happened to atlas, which mordecai Thought was a private affair....

now trying to follow that latter [okay, suppose mordecai didn't shoot him either] idea further: suppose that mordecai Knows mitzi didn't kill atlas because mordecai was with mitzi at the time. and was told something by atlas such that he thought he knew what was going to happen to atlas, and didn't himself question this after atlas died....i'm embracing this idea that mordecai is all riled up on his Professionalism b/c his involvement in atlas's death is such that he did whatever he did b/c atlas asked it of him (generous phrasing on my part) as a Professional request. or order. so now mordecai's alllll about citing his Professional Approach; he does it at the end of his proper introduction, even. maybe atlas's "do it for the professionalism" directive was about mordecai protecting mitzi for him instead of atlas, as he usually did as that apparent semi bodyguard. maybe it was about That, but also about protecting mordecai, in a "i'm absolutely going to be killed; as my right hand bodyguard man you'll be caught up in that; so go protect mitzi instead. that's an order XD but really, it is :I"....whether That's what mordecai Blames mitzi for, damnit if he wasn't married to you he wouldn't have sent me to protect You from [whatever threat] instead and i would of stopped it, rip to atlas's self-defense abilities but i'm different

why would mitzi hand mordecai, gunman, a gun in that case....he probably has his own?? or maybe he doesn't, it was too short notice (unlikely....). or maybe it was mordecai handing mitzi a gun, instead, for good measure.

to be sure, atlas being like "the [threat] are after me, imminently. mordecai, go bodyguard my wife instead, as my loyal and Professionally Committed employee who's really good at that and i wouldn't trust anyone else haha get outta here" and mordecai doing so, grabbing onto that Professionalism with both hands such as to have a death grip even now, resenting mitzi for atlas's death (b/c mordecai couldn't be present, though he thinks he knows how it happened) has given me a pang....Possible, though still has weaknesses like "what would the [threat] be such that mordecai considers it to have been a private affair if he didn't shoot atlas himself (which, if he did, i'm also embracing the theory of: it was also at atlas's Professional Request / Order)" / "what would be bearing down on atlas with enough short notice / Certainty that he couldn't manage to avoid his own death despite seeing it coming at all, even if he sent his best bodyguard elsewhere"

whether atlas was slowmo diving in front of a bullet for mitzi here (figuratively), which, who would be going directly after her? doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be phrased as Mitzi's culpability/fault....and, i dunno, if it was obvious that atlas died To Save Mitzi / Lackadaisy overall, mordecai might be devoted to either party. certainly atlas didn't request it of mordecai outright; while mitzi doesn't act like "oh i have to keep lackadaisy up & running For Atlas," rather than that she knows maybe it'd be better to close, but she's kinda doing it for Possibility still / old times' sake....makes most sense that of course atlas died Because of lackadaisy, but he didn't like refuse to take some approach in which he Could've Lived to instead die to better ensure its continuation. if that makes sense.

mentally rotating everything furiously, i'm reluctant to wrap up any of these posts as if i'm bound to just suddenly Solve That Mystery, what's new scooby doo....musing on the possible chekov's sicilians again for good measure....how much changes if mordecai thinks that marigold knows who killed atlas, and he doesn't? that he wants to Know if marigold Knows? that he wants to find out and get revenge on whomsoever it was, supposing in this case, of course, it wasn't himself? that maybe atlas lied to him about who/what was threatening him, whether or not he was then like "professionally shoot me" or "professionally leave me and make sure nobody shoots my wife, who isn't even living with me at this time, things have visibly deteriorated"....

augh it's quarter to one a.m. all of a sudden and i've mostly just talked about the murder mystery some more lol. but it's a "yeah maybe" from me re: your original question lmfao. and a standing invite to any and everyone to muse on this mystery with me / send insights/ideas

[thebrokengate]

I've found more similarities between Henry and Will

They are both called sensitive kids. They are both artistic/love to draw. They are both associated with zombies. They are both called wizards (Henry the dark wizard and Will the Wise/Wizard), They both have older siblings and the age gap is almost the same (Alice and Jonathan), Henry also might be gay because why not after all the parallels. Their family dynamic is almost similar. Henry's mother was sort of abusive to him but his father loved him and Will's father was abusive to him whereas his mother (Joyce) loves him. They are both outcasts and freaks/''something is wrong with me'' thing going on. And btw we still don't know how Henry got his powers which I believe will play a big role in the next season. Maybe Will has powers or can unlock powers like Henry did? Maybe he's gonna figure it out in the next season, who knows?

Henry loves outcasts and that was one of the reasons why he approached El, well, and plus she had powers and he needed to use her but that's beside the point. They both had lab experience and had powers so essentially were outcasts. Henry, El and Kali and other lab kids represent that.

Makes me question if that's why Henry targeted Will in S1 in the first place. That he realized Will was too similar to him as well, so he reached him. Maybe he thought Will would have powers also, or might unlock them some way or other just like how Henry did.

I definitely think so, too. I think their similarities play a big part in this. For what reason, I don't know yet.. but I've been wondering if, because Henry might see himself in Will, he's doing everything he can to make Will just like him but Will won't break no matter what he does. Maybe he doesn't understand that, doesn't understand how Will stays strong and keeps fighting, or maybe he does and he's just waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger. And maybe, if our theories are correct, that could be yet another reason Mike may be targeted next season. Will says it himself that Mike is the person who gives him the courage to fight on. Take him away.. and what's going to happen? He'll most likely break. With their minds connected, it's very likely Henry knows this as well. He's trying to break him for a reason, but what reason - whether it's powers related or not - is still TBD. And targeting Mike might be the key.

[limitededitionsanderssidesblog]

Orange is Offence

I've seen several different theories floating around both prior to and post the new aside video, Working THROUGH Intrusive Thoughts. So I decided to throw my two cents in.

So my main cause for concern about Orange's identity has always been that he is never explicitly referenced by ANY of the other sides. They never once speak of him, but he has made himself known before, such as in the episode SVS Redux, when he appears briefly amid one of the videogame cutaways as an orange colored 4110.

This is the first instance we've had of a dark side choosing to attempt communication individually without aid or disguise from the other sides.

For instance, our first known hint of Remus actually comes from the episode The Sanders Sides 12 Days of Christmas, where Roman says the line:

"May visions of sugarplums dance in your head and hopefully not visions of your naked aunt Patty... Yeah, I don't know where that came from."

And later in Remus's introduction song, this image appears behind him:

For Janus, his existence was first hinted when he silences Roman from speaking in Accepting Anxiety Part 2/2. Later when he finally did reveal himself, whenever he would appear it would always be as one of the four main sides.

Then why is Orange different? Why was he able to speak to Thomas (in an albeit round about way through a videogame screen) when he has yet to show himself fully to him?

Well first lets look at what the color orange represents.

A few positive meanings of orange, of many, include balance, freedom, and expression. The most common negative associations of the color include crassness, rudeness, and frivolity.

Next, the newest big revelation in TSS since Deceit's reveal.

Logan's outburst:

Now, many people have been theorizing that Orange is a part of Logan, and that they could be either a dichotomy/set of twins such as with Roman and Remus. But I don't think that's the case.

(I'd like to give credit to @candiecards for this next portion.)

In fact, I don't think Orange has any significant relation to Logan apart from the other sides. Rather, I think Orange is using Logan as an easy target/susceptible vessel. Just like how Janus would only appear by mimicking the other sides and disguising himself as him, I think Orange manipulates the other sides through a sort of mind control. Which is why he would be able to greet Thomas through the 43110 screen, by manipulating and altering Roman's videogame example to suit his needs.

First off, Logan has always been rather short-tempered, this is nothing new. In fact, Thomas called him (and Roman) out on it in the episode Fitting In (Hogwarts Houses!). Also, remember the time in Learning New Things About Ourselves, when Logan grew so annoyed with Roman's constant berating of his character, screamed, and threw a notecard at his eye? If Orange was always a part of him, and can be presumed to appear in fits of rage, why didn't he appear then?

Because he isn't inherently connected to Logan.

But Logan is becoming an easy target for Orange.

Over the past few episodes, and even throughout the series, Logan has been feeling left out and ignored. He was benched in SVS and was skipped and tossed aside in SVS Redux. Besides Roman, I'd say Logan is the most self-engrossed and prideful, believing that he is more important to Thomas than the other sides. He even stated in Learning New Things About Ourselves that he is the one who "maintains order."

However, when we are introduced to the state of Thomas's life in the newest episode, it is clear that Thomas is completely disorganized and has lost any sense of control over minimal things such as keeping clothes off his staircase.

It's then made clear by the way Logan speaks with Thomas that he has been trying for an undetermined amount of time to convince Thomas to reorganize himself, but that Thomas has ignored him each time.

Throughout the episode we see Logan eagerly push Thomas to work on his set schedule, but then conceding several times to Thomas's more pressing needs to deal with Remus and his intrusive thoughts over Nico's lack of a reply to a text he sent the previous day. Logan does appear patient with both Thomas and Remus, trying to logic his way through each set back, telling Thomas it's okay to take a break because of his intrusive thoughts, and trying to reason with Remus to hold himself back so he can work with Thomas more efficiently. Of course, it doesn't work, and he snaps at Remus to stop ignoring him.

Interestingly enough, at the same time Logan snaps, Thomas, who had previously appeared only anxious over Nico, then appears angry that he's being ghosted.

They become offended over the same thing. Being ignored.

Before I continue, allow me to provide a clear definition of the word offence.

Offence (noun): annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult to or disregard for oneself or one's standards or principles.

As a reminder, the color orange can represent both freedom, expression, and crudeness.

When one believes that their freedom and expression of themselves and their beliefs have been insulted they take offence and often lash out in anger and become crude.

Offence can come from many places, it can come from different experiences, different expressions and emotions; but the reaction that is birthed from that offence is almost always outbursts of anger. Just think of a self-righteous Karen demanding to see a manager.

Throughout the story, Logan has been teased and ridiculed for his love and belief in strict and ridged methods and lifestyles. For him, planning and organizing and due dates are all fun things he enjoys, but to the other sides, its all just a bore and they make fun of him for it.

Logan comes off as (one of) the "angriest" side because he is constantly taking offence from others and defending himself. He is also more emotionally stifled than the other sides and does not know how to properly regulate his emotions, making him more prone to outbursts of anger. This would make it easy for Orange to take over/control him, by using his anger to blind him.

I mentioned in an old theory of mine, What is Deceit Really After?, that I believe Janus is plotting to create a power shift a from the "light" sides to the "dark" sides. And while in that theory I said I believe Janus would try to manipulate Virgil to gain power, although I still think that may be possible, I now also believe that Janus wants Orange to use Logan's offence and anger against him to control and manipulate him instead. After all, Janus was the one responsible for keeping the dark sides suppressed, only allowed to appear if Thomas wished to see them. But now they are appearing without Thomas first giving his consent to meet them.

He released Remus, promising that he would make sure that Thomas would no longer "deceive [himself] about the ugliness within [him]." Orange's sudden appearance could be the next step in Janus's plan to gain control, although I'm not sure what he could have offered Orange in exchange.

In the final moments of the episode, Janus is perched on a tree where he eats a green apple and says "Yes, everything is just fine."

As pointed out by @ethecookednoodle green apples represent matters of the mind.

The green apple at the end could very well hint at the upcoming events of the story regarding Logan and orange as the side representing Thomas's mind, and the side that performs mind-control over those who lose themselves to offence.

After all, whether he believes it or not, Logan has the most say in what Thomas does and thinks, comparable only to Patton, who Janus is in the process of seducing.

[luckyasfuck]

maybe i just wanna be yours [k. bakugou]

A CAMBOY AU SERIES - PARTS 1, 2, 3, 4, [5]

pairing // katsuki x female reader

tw // cussing, smut

warnings for this part // oral (m and f recieving), hair pulling, face-fucking, exhibitionist kink, spanking, praise, dacryphilia

theme // enemies to lovers au, camboy!katsu au, college student!katsu and reader au, no quirk au

keys // y/n

words // 1.8k

a/n // IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG I DONT DESERVE YALL. pt 6 at 250 likes and 20 reblogs btw!

previous part

y/n has been alone in the library for about an hour now. she didn’t notice katsuki’s absence until she had to change subjects to study, too indulged in the textbook to look up. no messages were given by katsuki about him being late and she grumbled, rolling her eyes. she writes the name of the textbook on top of the page in her notebook and the library door swings open. 

a calm katsuki walks towards her, ash blonde hair kinda messy and his black hoodie all over the place. with an eyeroll, y/n went back to writing on her notebook while handing the textbook she just used to him. “you’re la-”

“why’d you block me?”

the sentence made the girl look at him with a glare. her hand stops writing, her body stiffens and her hands start to sweat. “what the fuck are you talking about?” she avoids his strong gaze, looking back down on her notebook. katsuki fumes at this, pulling out his phone as she started to write again.

the notebook is closed harshly, a phone being slammed down on it as it displayed her account and the block message. she looked up at the fuming boy as he gripped his phone tight, gazing down at her. “none of your fucking business.” she replied, putting the cap on her ballpoint pen. about to glare at him again, a gasp erupts from her throat when he grips the collar of her shirt, pulling her towards him.

“why’d you block me?” katsuki’s breath fanned right on her lips, his eyes locked right into hers. she sends a death glare his way, grabbing his wrist and detaching it from her collar. “it was the right thing to do and you know it.” the blonde rolled his eyes as y/n dusted her shirt off, fixing her collar. “great, now it’s loose.”

heavy steps make the h/c turn her head to the sound, only to be grabbed by the shoulders and sat down harshly. katsuki towered over her, “unblock me now.” 

“i see no reason to.” stray students walked inside the library and y/n is quick to shove katsuki away from her, they chatter and sit on a table near the front. they don’t acknowledge the two students who were here before them as they laughed loudly. 

y/n sighs, mood completely ruined by the dumb blonde and class skippers. speaking of the dumb blonde, he eyes the students as well, dragging a chair and sitting down beside y/n right before she got up to return the textbook. vermillion eyes stare right into her ass before they’re torn away by her voice, “go get a fucking textbook.” 

the math section is where it all goes downhill.

hands show up either side of y/n as she’s reading through the contents of the math book. about to turn around, she stiffens when a warm, sculpted body presses up against her back. 

katsuki’s crotch brushes up against her rump, his pecs right against her back. “what the fuck are you doing?” the pressed up girl returns the textbook to its original place, trying to even out her breaths. the blonde moves back a little, a hand gripping y/n’s shoulders to turn her around. “will you stop pushing me around?! you- mhmp!” 

a pair of lips slams against hers mid-sentence, a tongue instantly prodding against her lips asking for entrance. the hands encaging her roam her body, one staying put on her hips. “don’t you ever shut the fuck up?” katsuki slurred against her lips as y/n put her hands on his chest, “says you.” 

the next thing the blonde knows, he’s pinned to a shelf. the shelf falters slightly but this doesn’t bother y/n, instead she presses herself against him while connecting their lips once again. 

now that was definitely unexpected. 

“you want it or nah?” katsuki pulls away, hands disappearing underneath her shirt. “i’m afraid you’ll be too loud.” he smirked, groping her left boob. “me? too loud?” y/n tilts her head to the side, her hand traveling downwards to squeeze the males evident bulge, making him whine out quietly. “says you.”

“i’ve watched enough of your stupid lives to know how loud you can be.” the students chatter loudly in the distance, making the both of them aware of their presence. for some reason, the librarian wasn’t here to check up on the shelves every now and then. perfect, y/n thought as she got on her knees, grazing her fingernails along the side of katsuki’s bulge. his cock twitches under her palm as he covers his mouth, breathing heavily. 

his cock was pretty. of course, she’d seen it on multiple lives, but seeing it right infront of her, his pink tip leaking and his veins throbbing. it hit different. without warning, her lips encage his cock head, licking at his the pre-cum dripping down his slit. a beautiful moan escapes from katsuki’s parted lips as he threw his head back onto the shelf filled with books. chatter and footsteps approach the both of them, growing louder by the second. 

“hey, sto-” katsuki warns, trying to push the girl away from his cock. the students walk to the section of shelves right behind them, laughing about getting a book named whatever that was. ignoring the statement, y/n pushes his cock deeper into his mouth, hollowing her cheeks and swirling her tongue around. the weight of it felt amazing against her tongue as she slowly fit all of him in, struggling and gagging. she pulls away, a thin string of saliva connects her to his cock. 

“oh don’t stop now.” katsuki glared, grabbing the back of her head and pushing her back. “fucking suck it, so these students right behind us knows whose cock you’re choking on, yeah? it’s my cock.” for reasons unknown, the students behind them didn’t hear a thing, probably too busy being idiots. y/n only nods, continuing her job, stroking the places she can’t reach. “poor girl, you need help?” 

a harsh grip on her hair and she gags audibly again, hoping the idiots behind katsuki didn’t hear it. slowly, he started fucking himself with her mouth, admiring the way she looked up at him, saliva drooling down her jaw and onto the floor. the tip of his cock hits the back of his throat and he groans. “did you hear that?” a slightly muffled voice asks and the laughter and noise ceases. y/n and katsuki’s hearts drop, but she can’t stop now, could she?

with a faster pace, she starts sucking again, looking up at katsuki with a smirk. “we should go check.” they hear and y/n’s heart pace picks up, licking at the prominent vein of the blonde’s cock. “fucking filthy exhibitionist.” he mouths as the group of students start to investigate. right about to catch the dirty doings of the duo, they’re called by the remnants of their friend group to go get food. “too bad,” he threw his head back, hard footsteps and chatter slowly disappearing in the distance until the library door finally closes, leaving the room silent. “they didn’t see me fill your throat with cum.” he says, finally shooting his load into your mouth. 

the library consists now of katsuki’s moans and y/n audibly gagging here and there. “your turn.” the next thing she knew, she was bent over the desk they were studying at. “we were supposed to study, weren’t we? okay.” he let out a deep chuckle, opening the textbook she used to study. “page 357, what is knowledge?” the cold breeze of the air-conditioned library made her shiver as he hoisted her skirt up, groping her ass and thumbing her clit. “i... i haven’t gotten to that page ye-”

spank.

“ow, fuck!” the slap stung, and katsuki chuckled, kneading her ass cheek with the same hand he used to spank it. a thumb grazing the wet patch in her panties. “page 17, what is psychology?” y/n gulps, legs quivering. “scientific study of... of mental process and behavior...” the tension is thick when he doesn’t speak, she tries to look back at him to see what he’s doing only to be cut off by a moan when one of his fingers dig inside her, slowly moving in and out. “the more correct answers you give, the faster i go. the more wrong answers you give, the slower i go. understood?”

“u-understood.”

“page 137, when was behaviorism introduced?” fuck, y/n didn’t like numbers. katsuki stops moving his fingers and she whines, trying to pry her brain for the answer. “1913...?” a sigh leaves her lips when he starts moving again, a little faster now. “good girl.” this went on for ten more questions, her ass stinging, legs giving up, and tears rolling down onto the table. she had already cum twice, mind becoming hazier and hazier with each question. “that’s it baby, one more question. page 270, which theory of abnormal behavior stresses the importance of current experiences and the persons view of themselves?”

y/n felt his cock prodding at her entrance and she whines, thrusting back to try and get it inside of her. katsuki puts the book down, gripping her hips and pinning her wrists above her head. “nope, answer the question first.” he teases, rubbing her slit up and down with his cock. “existential theories.” she answered proudly, a small oh, yes leaving her lips when he slowly bottoms out inside of her. “good girl, you like being fucked out here? when anyone can walk in and see you?” 

the size of his cock was amazing, it felt amazing. the females eyes lull shut, gripping down at the table with her fingers as katsuki picked up his pace, heavy balls slapping her clit with each thrust. y/n can only nod, face contorting in pleasure as skin slapping, her whines and his grunts bounced off the four walls of the library. “good girl.” he says for the millionth time, bending over to give her shoulder blade a kiss. “fuck! g-gonna cum again!” she warns, legs shaking and sobs leaving her lips. 

“so pretty when you cry,” katsuki whines out, thrusts growing sloppier and faster. “so. fucking. p-pretty.” a loud moan escapes both of their lips and his hips stutter, shooting his load inside her. he thrusts a few more times, prolonging their orgasm. soon, he pulls out and they’re both panting. with a swift movement, he spanks her ass one last time before pulling her panties up, keeping his cum inside. 

y/n is still fucked out, drool and tears all over her face as she got up from the table. katsuki grabs a chair and moves it to her, slowly sitting her down. “you hurt anywhere?” he tried to act cool while snatching her phone, offering her his jug. “fuck off, i see you taking my phone. unblock yourself if you want, i don’t plan on watching your stupid lives anyway.” she choked out, wiping the thin layer of sweat on her forehead. katsuki rolls his eyes at this, unblocking himself and unfollowing all the other camboys you had. 

“we’ll see about that, pretty face.”

next part [ not yet available! ]

taglist

@princesspeach-00 @tamakisropebunny @bakugous-mamas @ll379333 @j1-914 @gazelle-des-pres @trashpandainahat @dickinson-67 @victoriaestein @graybabyxx @apex-legends-dreams @bokuwhorez @karicho @marinwestward @fondontinta @ambi0311 @aghase-nct91312 @toxicempath @katsukichu 

[sigynappreciation]

Sigyn Meta: Who is Sigyn?

A Norse Goddess who is known for being the wife of the Trickster, Loki, and holding the bowl to protect him from the snake’s venom. 

But besides that, Who is Sigyn? What does she mean to others? 

Journey with me as we explore who she is -- not only in the mythologies, but in other forms like the Marvel Comics, Worship and through fans.

#JusticeforSigyn

Sigyn’s Origins (Mythology):

Sadly, not many stories that have Sigyn in them have survived till today. She is only attested in the following works: Poetic Edda & Prose Edda. 

In the poem, Lokasenna, the most famous of poem’s with the couple, it talks of how Loki has been bound by the gods with the guts of his son, Nari, and how his son, Vari, has been turned into a wolf. The Goddess Skadi fastens a venomous snake over Loki’s face, from which venom drips. Sigyn, stated as Loki’s wife, stays by his side and holds a basin under and catches the venom so it won’t drip onto her husband, but when the basin grows full, she pulls it away to empty it, during which time venom drops onto Loki, causing him to wither so violently that earthquakes occur that shake the entire earth.

In the poem, Gylfaginning, Sigyn is introduced in Chapter 31 as being married to Loki and that they have a son by the name of “Narfi or Nari”. She is then mentioned again in Chapter 50 where events are described differently than in Lokasenna; Vali, described as a son of Loki only, is changed into a wolf by the gods and rips apart his brother, “Narfi or Nari.” The guts of Nari are then used to tie Loki to three stones, after which the guts turn to iron, and Skadi places a snake above Loki. Sigyn of course catches the venom in a bowl. This process is repeated until he breaks free, setting Ragnarok into motion.

In the poem, Skáldskaparmál, Sigyn is introduced as a goddess, an Æsir, where the gods are holding a feast for their visitors and in kennings for Loki: “husband of Sigyn” and “cargo [Loki] of incantation-fetter’s [Sigyn’s] arms.” 

Sigyn’s name means “Victorious-Girlfriend” in Old Norse. 

Sigyn may appear on the Gosforth Cross and has been the subject of an amount of theory and cultural references.

She appears in the 9th century skaldic poem Haustlöng from pagan times, written by the skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. Due to this early connection with Loki, Sigyn has been theorized as being a goddess dating back to an older form of Germanic paganism.

Sigyn in Worship/Honor: 

I’ll be speaking on this through my personal experience of working with Sigyn while also sharing some tid bits of basic info from others on this subject. I’m someone who works with Sigyn primarily, but sometimes gets help from Loki. 

A Lokean is someone who honors Loki as their primary deity ( or at least one of their primary deities.) Most are polytheists that respect a variety of worldviews and a wide variety of gods. FOR MORE ON THIS SUBJECT, VISIT THIS BLOG: https://lokeanwelcomingcommittee.tumblr.com

For those who work with Loki, you will also find yourself working with Sigyn. And sometimes you don’t even need to work with Loki first in order to work with Sigyn (like me!)

Sigyn is usually a calming and motherly presence. Loki is protective over her, but they usually work in unison together to help. 

SMALL DEVOTIONAL ACTS TO SIGYN: 

Holding the Bowl: It is a reflective act of Sigyn holding the bowl to protect Loki from the snake’s venom. This is usually the major one. 

Helping to support mothers (especially single mothers)

Support single parents

Supporting Women’s Rights

Keep fighting through the hardships 

Wear earthy tones

Commitment in everything you do.

Help others, but remember that self-care is important too

More devotional acts

KENNINGS/HEITI FOR SIGYN:

Wife of Loki

Incantation-Fetter

Lady of Staying Power

Lady of Unyielding Gentleness

Lady of the Unconquerable Heart

Mother of Narvi and Vali

North Star

Victory Woman

Lady of Loyalty

Loki’s Treasure

Devoted Mother

Lady of Endurance

Goddess of Constancy

Goddess of the Heart

Goddess of Neglected Children

Goddess of Comfort

Healer to All

Mother to All

Beloved of Monsters

SIGYN’S VIRTUES:

Strength

Loyalty

Grace

Humility

Gentleness

Charity

Constancy

Love

Endurance

Patience

Simplicity

Mindfulness

Compassion

I’ll cover more on this subject soon in a separate post, but this is the basic. 

Sigyn in the Marvel Comics:

Sadly, Sigyn is not portrayed the best in the Marvel Comics of Thor, resulting in her being missing from the comics since 1996 and practically killed off (only being referenced to in flashbacks.) 

Loki comes across her and desires to have her. However, she is already engaged to an Asgardian named Theoric, who Loki has killed and ends up taking on the disguise of in order to take Sigyn for his own. On their wedding day once the vows are said and done, Sigyn accepts her duty as his wife, granting her the title Goddess of Fidelity by Odin. 

She doesn’t have much of an agency or personality besides being Loki’s faithful wife in this. 

Fans wish for her to make a comeback in the Comics and MCU with better characterization. Hence, much Fanfiction, Cosplay, Roleplay and Fanart has been made of others own interpretation’s of Sigyn and #JusticeforSigyn is shared around in hopes of this. 

LIST OF SIGYN COMIC APPEARANCES:

Thor Vol 1 #275 (First appearance, 1978)

Thor Vol 1 #276

Thor Vol 1 #277

Thor Vol 1 #278

Thor Vol 1 #301

Thor Vol 1 #302

Thor Vol 1 #303

Thor Vol 1 #307

Thor Annual Vol 1 (9)

Thor Vol 1 #313

Thor Vol 1 #321

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 (1)

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 2 (1)

Gamer’s Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 (1)

Thor Annual Vol 1 (14)

Thor Annual Vol 1 (19)

Thor Vol 1 #479

Thor Vol 1 #483

Thor Vol 1 #484 (1995)

Thor: The Legend Vol 1 (1) (1996, last appearance)

Avengers: Loki Unleashed #1 (2019, first & only modern day appearance since 90s. FLASHBACK ONLY)

LIST OF SIGYN MENTIONS IN COMICS:

Thor Annual Vol 1 #10 (1982)

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 1 #11 (1983)

Thor: Asgard’s Avenger Vol 1 #1 (2011)

Mighty Thor Vol 1 #12.1 (2012)

Loki Vol 3 #1 (2019 - referenced)

Sigyn and her impact with Fans:

Sigyn is still not that well known among others, but there is a small community of us fans who honor her through all forms she is displayed and her relationship with Loki. This is the reason this blog and @dailylogyn​ were created: to help unite fans and spread the word of Sigyn and her relationship with Loki through appreciation and education.

Fans also show their appreciation for Sigyn through Art forms like Fanfiction, Cosplay, Fanart & More! The cool thing is that she can be interpreted however you wish, but her love for Loki and her compassion is always her strong points. 

There is a tag #JusticeforSigyn in order to help give her the proper attention she deserves. MORE HERE. 

FANARTISTS:

I’m not going to post any of their art here in order to make others visit their blogs and give them the appropriate credit they deserve. 

Let’s support content creators! <3

@nanigram​/Nanihoo: This artist makes wonderful fanart of her own interpretation of Sigyn and her relationship with Loki (plus their children.) You can usually find most of it on Deviantart. 

@sigynart​: This artist makes lovely art of Tom Hiddelston’s Loki, but has recently come out with their own interpretation of Sigyn and has even started to draw Loki & Sigyn together. 

@dank-art​: This artist makes a lot of interesting twists to Sigyn and Loki either if it’s a modern look, an alternate universe or a certain aesthetic of the couple. They have a lot of amazing concept designs concerning Sigyn and Loki! 

COSPLAYERS:

@bubbleteycosplay​: She is known as the German Sigyn! This cosplayer has done a wide varieties of different versions/outfits of Sigyn. Besides here, you can usually find her on Instagram, Deviantart and other websites. She also helps inform others on Sigyn and her relationship with Loki.

In fact, HERE IS A LIST she has created pertaining to other Sigyn Cosplayers. I’ll list the others below though with links to their pages:

Vontrug (Instagram)

lady_laufeyson (Instagram)

Mizerious (Instagram)

Maryintothewoods (Instagram)

danni_darling (Instagram) 

I myself am planning to join these wonderful cosplayers too as I work to create my own Sigyn cosplay as well. :) They are all such an inspiration! 

CONCLUSION:

I could go on and on about the subject of Sigyn. She’s an amazing, caring and loving goddess who teaches us many helpful traits we need throughout life. Despite still not being that well known, she is greatly loved by this community -- and none other than Loki. 

Hopefully someday she will make a comeback in the Marvel world and get the proper characterization and love she deserves. Till then, us fans will continue to share the love, joy and appreciation we have for Sigyn and her relationship with Loki, welcoming anyone as Sigyn does with open arms and loving hearts. 

SOURCES:

Holding the Bowl: https://lokeanwelcomingcommittee.tumblr.com/post/102422224083/a-bowling-tutorial

Lokean Welcoming Community: https://lokeanwelcomingcommittee.tumblr.com

Small Devotional Acts to Sigyn: https://bramblevitch.wordpress.com/2020/06/23/small-devotional-acts-to-sigyn/

Sigyn on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigyn

Lokean Welcoming Community’s topics on Sigyn: https://lokeanwelcomingcommittee.tumblr.com/tagged/sigyn

Sigyn on Marvel Database: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Sigyn_(Earth-616)

Sigyn’s Shrine: Who is Sigyn?: http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/sigyn/sigyn/who-is-sigyn.html

Sigyn - Norse Mythology for Smart People: https://norse-mythology.org/sigyn/

[kj-1130]

Nothing For Me

Part 2

Main Masterlist

Part 1|Part 3

2012

     You were turning 11 this year. Natasha, as you learned she went by, was always a phone call away if you ever wanted to talk--since your sperm donor was obviously no help. You had recently had to call her due to your period starting, which you weren’t expecting to happen for at least another 2 to 3 years. Needless to say, it freaked you out and regardless of your smarts, nothing could have prepared you for that. 

     Nat took you shopping for what she called, ‘lady items’; bras, pads, tampons, anything a girl could possibly need. She also taught you how to shave if you ever wanted to. She specified that you should never feel forced to do it because ‘people need to normalize women having body hair. It grows there for a reason.’ And you totally agreed with her on that by the way. 

     There were a few times when she’d let you in on minor S.H.I.E.L.D secrets even though it was quite unnecessary seeing as you could hack your way through it all no problem. That’s how you found out about the Avengers Initiative. You couldn’t agree more with what was said about Tony. 

     Through your hacking and research of the initiative, you ‘met’ Clint. It was through a video call. He had invaded your girl-talk with Natasha. The three of you were practically best buds now. You’d go to Nat for advice or just when you needed a sister to talk to. You’d go to Clint when you just wanted to let loose and talk about absolute nonsense. 

-

     It was another lovely night in Stark Tower for you--please note the sarcasm. You were bored out of your mind. Natasha had been on an undercover mission and Clint was busy at the base; something about the Tesseract. You thought they should’ve just left the thing alone; let fate take its course. Some bad things were going to come with them messing with something they had no knowledge about. They’re joining a game without knowing any rules and are pretty much destined to lose. But, hey. What did you know?

     Pepper and Tony were probably in the common area, sucking each other's faces off. Despite how much you disliked Tony, based on your experiences, you couldn’t deny the fact that they’re pining was absolutely annoying, disgusting, and cute all at the same time. You were just glad it was over honestly.

     Pepper was an okay person to you. There was nothing you found super nice or mean about her that was prominent to you. She’d greet you on the quite rare occasion the two of you would cross paths and would start the casual small talk (“how are you?” “I’m fine, what about you” “Good, thanks for asking.”). She probably thought you were a live-in intern or something like that. With how much she tries to doctor Tony’s life, you’d think she would try to fix whatever nonexistent relationship between the pair of you, but nope. That just added to your intern theory. 

     You were reading a book on quantum physics, when your personal AI, M.I.A(miraculous intelligence assistant)--that you did in fact create yourself--notified you that someone had overridden Stark’s systems and gotten into the elevator. Just because you didn’t leave the room doesn’t mean you weren’t nosy. 

     “Who is it, M?”

     “Agent Phil Coulson, from S.H.I.E.L.D.,” M.I.A. spoke in her smooth voice. “Would you like to listen in on what they are saying?”

     “Is that even a question?”

     Jumping out of your beanbag, you went to the center of your room, where M.I.A had pulled up footage of what was happening in the common room. 

     “Security breach,” Tony turns to Pepper. “That’s on you.”

     “Mr. Stark.” 

     “Phil! Come in,” Pepper greeted. Since when were she and Agent Coulson on a first-name basis. You’d have to look into that. 

     “Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.”

     “Come on in, we’re celebrating,” the red head invites. This was getting more interesting to you by the second!

     “I can’t stay.”

     “Which is why he can’t stay.”

     Phil ignores Tony and starts to hand him a file.

     “He doesn’t like being handed things,” you muttered. 

     “I don't like being handed things.” Called it.

     “That’s alright, ‘cause I love being handed things, So, let’s trade,” Pepper says. She hands Coulson her glass of champagne, takes the file, hands Tony the file, in return taking his drink.

     “Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday,” the billionaire said. 

     It was quite obvious Phil was over his jokes and that he was here for a much important matter.

     “Is this about the Avengers? Which I...I know nothing about.”

     Both men ignored Pepper. “The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn’t even qualify.” 

    That was a nice day. Finding out what they said about Tony had been nothing less than amusing in your opinion.

     “I didn’t know that either,” the CEO said. She sure does have the best cover-ups, doesn’t she? 

     “Yeah, apparently I’m volatile, self-obsessed, don’t play well with others.”

     “That I did know.”

     This whole thing was odd to you. Why were they trying to put together the Avengers when the whole idea was tossed?

     “M, pull up the most recent S.H.I.E.L.D files on the tesseract and the Avengers Initiative.”

     The AI did as told, and you scrolled through all of them. You saw things on Thor, Clint, Natasha, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and lastly your sperm donor. Looking at Thor’s file, you found something about his brother Loki. And looking at his name, you saw his connections to the tesseract and everything had clicked. Loki had the thing and was definitely going to do something evil with it. 

-

     Both adults in the house were gone. Such responsible ones they are. Tony left earlier the next day and you honestly couldn’t remember when Pepper left. Now, here you were in your safe haven, trying to figure out what in the world Loki would want with the tesseract. There’s probably no way for you to figure it out since you weren’t where all the info was, actively investigating. But what you didn’t understand is why would they leave you here when such a threat was hanging in the air. 

     You knew Tony didn’t necessarily care for you, but he couldn’t forget about you, right? Natasha wouldn’t forget about you. Clint wouldn’t forget you. Right?

-

     It’s been two days. Two fucking days, and no one had come in or out of this building. 

     You were currently pacing in your room, while your AI--not even a fucking person--was trying to comfort you. 

     “Does no one answer their fucking phone anymore?”

     “I’m pretty sure there is a reasonable explanation as to why no one is answering.”

     Out of nowhere, you heard commotion from outside. Rushing over to the window and moving the curtains, you saw these alien things coming out of the sky. You ran out of your room and made your way to the nearest set of stairs as quickly as you could. 

     “Ah, the little Stark.”

     His voice sent chills up your spine. It was deep and quite terrifying. 

     “Come over, no need to be scared.”

     You followed his orders, having a feeling that if you didn’t things would end up ten times worse for you. He looked at you before basically yeeting you out of the window. It hurt; it felt like every bone in your body screamed for peace and anything in the background just became white noise. 

     You landed on the roof, writhing in pain and groaning. Everything hurt.

     Attempting to get up was hard and painful, but you knew that you had to leave or you’d die. 

     Looking up, you see that doctor. He was mentioned in the files but everything was just so fuzzy, you couldn’t remember properly. Finally being able to get up after numerous attempts, you limp your way down the stairs and out to the streets in the middle of all the chaos. 

     You were so scared. You knew you probably wouldn’t be able to contact Nat or Clint unless you somehow hacked into their coms system. You continued to walk down the streets, hoping to find some type of shelter, but it felt like you were about to collapse at any second. Sitting down in the nearest alley, you looked around. Looking left, there was a face right in front of yours.

     “Fuck! What the hell man?”

     The other person wasn’t fazed. Looking them over, you saw their frizzy, somewhat curly hair pulled back in a low ponytail. Her brown skin was covered in dirt and a little blood. 

     “Hey, you’re (y/n) Stark, right?” She asked a little breathlessly. 

     “I refuse to be acknowledged as such.”

     “I’m Michelle. But don't call me that or I’ll have to hurt you.”

     “Are you really trying to converse with me in the middle of an alien invasion? And acting like we’re both not hurt?”

     Michelle shrugs her shoulders when you both look over due to some yelling that you heard. 

     “MJ! Michelle where are you? Michelle Jones!”

     MJ looks back over and starts to get up but she trips and falls. You decide to help her up and take her over to the people calling her name. You both struggle but eventually get over to the adults with some time. 

     Before you could get away from the Jones family, the mother gripped your shoulder. 

     “C’mon, stay with us. We’ll find somewhere to lay low.“

     You were too tired and in too much pain to argue, so you let Michelle’s mother help you keep your balance while the young girl’s father did the same for her. 

     It was at least a good ten minutes until the four of you found a decent place to take a break. It looked like a gas station, but you really couldn’t tell due to how much damage there was. You and the Jones’ took cover behind a somewhat stable looking wall and tried to stay as quiet as possible. 

     It was quiet besides the distant screams of people and the yells of the aliens. You wondered if Nat and Clint were okay. You wondered if Tony was okay. You wondered if anyone was safe from this. This seemed like something no one could recover from.  

     “What’s your name, sweetheart?” The older woman asked. 

     “(Y/n).”

     “Where are your parents?”

     “My sperm donor is fighting I guess.”

     To say the adults were appalled by your bluntness  was an understatement. You’ve had a potty mouth for quite a while. There was no one to really correct you on what to and not to say--not that you really needed help with that being a genius and all; well a genius with common sense because your father didn’t have any of that. Without anyone to really monitor what you did,  you kind of just roamed free in a sense. 

- 

     The fight had died down eventually. The aliens were still coming, but a substantial amount of them had been killed. How a group of 6 people/gods/supersoldiers/or whatever amazed you. Maybe you could work behind the scenes one day; even though you already do. Just without anyone knowing. 

     Before you knew it, there was a nuke flying across the sky. ‘Leave it to the government to find an excuse to hurt civilians,’ you thought. But before it could hit anything, you saw a red and gold figure carry it to the portal.  

     You knew who it was. He was going to sacrifice himself for the safety of these people. If he didn’t make it, you would miss him even though there wouldn’t be much to miss. When that portal closed, your heart dropped to your stomach. You would never be able to make amends with him. You would never have a single conversation with him. Yeah he was a total douche bag for forgetting all about you, but you had at least expected to be able to see and maybe talk to him. Sort things out. 

     Without thinking, you ran as fast as you could towards where the newly assembled Avengers were; well at least where you last saw them. You ignored the calls of the Jones family, telling you to come back. Their protests telling you not to go so you can stay safe. You ignored the pain. The aching of your ribs. The dull throbbing in your head and on your lips. There was no doubt that your steps were uneven; limping down the street at your speed probably made you look like a crackhead.

     You kept running; not stopping. Not when your breaths got shorter and turned into wheezes. Not when you heard rattling in your chest. Not when you felt like you were going to collapse. Not when your joints popped and begged for rest. You didn’t stop. You couldn’t. Not until you found someone; anyone you knew. 

     You stopped after what felt like hours. It most likely was considering the sun was going down. You heard a little commotion inside a surprisingly intact building which turned out to be a Shawarma. Tony always talked about this place for some reason. 

     When you looked inside, the Avengers were there. At least, you guessed they were still called that. But that didn’t matter. They were relaxing after the battle. They looked quite relaxed considering they had just fought aliens. 

     But that was what kind of hurt. They weren’t worried about you. At all. Of course only 3--well not really 3. Only two really knew you and knew you were in that tower when the attack happened. Sure you weren’t expecting Clint or Nat to be running around the streets of this huge city, but a little effort or at least the thought of it would’ve been nice. You could’ve been dead and they sure as hell didn’t seem super worried about it. Maybe you were overthinking it. Or maybe you were just as forgettable and insignificant as you thought.

-

     You limped away from the establishment, trying to find somewhere to stay seeing as your home--if you could even call it that--was most likely destroyed. And you were in your feelings and nothing was a better cure than isolating yourself even more. You also wanted to see if you could get M.I.A running on a computer or something. Maybe update yourself on what was going on over the world at the moment. Or look up your frizzy-haired friend you met while you were running for your life. 

     You managed to find a computer near a dumpster. You leaned back against the wall and slid down slowly, not wanting to aggravate your injuries too much. You were able to get M.I.A running on the laptop and then looked up any news. The headlines were crazy. All you saw was the fight that just happened and the death count rising and rising…

     You didn’t want to be focused on anything dealing with your father, S.H.I.E.L.D., or any current events, so you decided to give M.I.A. the task of figuring out who Michelle and her family was. It sounded very creepy, but you were her age. What harm could you do with her info. Well you could cause harm to her and her family with any info you found but that was besides the point. The most you were going to do was send them a message or something like that. 

-

     You ended up sleeping in that alley. Deciding that you should head back to your place of residence, you got up and started walking back much to the process of your bones and joints. The tower seemed like it was so far away. Especially with your injuries and supposedly no one around to tend to them.  After what felt like hours, you made it to the entrance of the establishment and, surprise surprise, it’s already being rebuilt. You honestly didn’t know what time it was. You just wanted to get in your bed and sleep forever. 

-

     It had been about a month since the Battle of New York. Your injuries weren’t treated until about a week after the fact. Not because someone noticed you were hurt, but because it was getting hard to breathe and that didn’t seem like a fun way to go to you. 

     You’d been healing nicely so far, but your emotions and mental health were on the opposite side of the spectrum. Every time you close your eyes, you had this dream, vision, whatever it was, that when Loki threw you out the window, there was no balcony or landing area to stop on. You just kept falling, and falling until you hit the ground. Then you woke up.

      You had been isolating yourself as well. There had been plenty of missed calls from the pair, but you just couldn’t find the energy to move and pick up the phone. They were probably just doing it out of obligation anyway. 

       Seeing everyone, especially Nat and Clint, just made you rethink anything you’ve ever done. Were you too clingy when it came to Natasha? Did she really like you or did she just feel bad? You were probably just overreacting, but you can’t help but think these thoughts. 

    Everything was just spiraling out of control for you. And you couldn’t get help; well you at least felt like you couldn’t. If you told Tony--not that you would, but hypothetically-- he’d probably wave you off and laugh. If you tried to get a therapist, someone would probably leak that shit to the press; confidentiality be damned. 

     You felt like you were drowning and you didn’t know how much longer it would be until you fully sank.