#worth mentioning he posts ~inspirational quotes~ all the time

[merp-blerp]

Gaylor/Kaylor and Oz: Parallels and Theories 🌼🌈❇️

CW: Light Spoilers for L. Frank Baum's Oz book series (books 1-15) and major spoilers for Return to Oz (1985). And this post is very late-stage-Kaylor-specific, so if that's not up your alley, that's chill.

Overblown Analysis Under the Cut ↓

As a huge Oz nerd, I and many others have noticed many Oz media parallels in Taylor's music. I wanted to piece together some I've seen mentioned and some I've noticed myself. More things could pop up as time goes on, so I could imagine me editing or making a second part to this post if necessary.

Part 1: Rainbows 🌈

In the 1939 film, Dorothy's home, Kansas, is portrayed as a dreary sepia or greige color, that way the contrast to the gorgeous technicolor of the land of Oz could be even more effective on the audience. Somewhat surprisingly I guess, this sepia color is reflected in the book, with Kansas being described as "the great grey prairie" and even W. W. Denslow's original illustrations of Kansas being colored in greige; the pages don't include more color until Dorothy is swept into the cyclone on her way to Oz.

So many of Taylor's lyrics describe events turning her world from colorless to colorful or vice versa. "The rest of the world was black and white // But we were in screaming color" from "OOTW", "You showed me colors you know I can't see with anyone else" from "Illicit Affairs", "If all you want is gray for me // Then it's just white noise, and it's my choice" from "BDILH", "Like a rainbow with all of the colors" from "ME!" turning into "I'm just... in shades of greige" from "The Prophecy", etc.

For TTPD, from a gaylor perspective, the sepia and greige theme of the album is supposed to reflect that for Taylor the closet is colorless and sad. It also invokes old Hollywood and how closeting is an old-fashioned practice figuratively and literally. Closeting is a practice based on outdated mindsets and fears and it's been a practice since Hollywood as we know it today was beginning to be established. MGM Dorothy actress Judy Garland was in at least one lavender marriage and might've been queer herself, but the latter isn't as confirmed as other victims of closeting of the time like, say, her husband Vincente Minnelli. Taylor often utilizes vintage imagery in her music, romanticizing it, but the song "TTPD" (and other points in the album) calls her out for it with her lover having to remind Taylor that they are living in modern times despite being held down by old-fashioned ideals. The Wizard of Oz (1939) film is arguably the epitome of old Hollywood nostalgia, so it makes sense for Taylor to use it as a way to tell the story she wants to tell, especially if it's a queer one since Oz is very special to a lot of queer people.

For what it's worth, Ashley Park performed the film's song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on The Drew Barrymore Show in what looks to be the Christian Siriano rainbow dress. Fun! Curiously, I can't find a video of this performance, I just happened to stumble upon this GIF on giphy.com and an article talking about the performance.

As an extra tidbit, in the Oz books, the rainbow is personified in the character Polychrome, the youngest daughter of the rainbow. She happens to be featured in one half of a certain famous quote from The Road to Oz. Polychrome comments, "You have some queer friends, Dorothy," to which Dorothy responds, "The queerness doesn’t matter, so long as they’re friends." This quote is theorized to be the inspiration for the phrase "friend(s) of Dorothy" in queer slang. And it's nice to have a friend like Dorothea, of course. Speaking of which...

Part 2: Dorothy and Ozma 🌪️🌺

Dorothy Gale needs no introduction, but I will give Princess/Queen Ozma one since she's a more niche character. Ozma is the rightful ruler of Oz. The "Wizard", Oscar Diggs, was not meant to rule over Oz. He went to great lengths to usurp the throne from Ozma's father, Pastoria, and hide Ozma away as a baby, dumping her on a witch named Mombi, who enslaves her and disguises her as a boy named Tip so she and others won't know her identity. She learns the truth about who she is and takes back her throne in book 2, The Marvelous Land of Oz (This backstory is why Ozma is a trans icon, along with a sapphic one). Ozma and Dorothy meet each other in book 3, Ozma of Oz, and are inseparable from there on. A common queer interpretation of Oz sees Kansas as like the closet and Oz as being out and free. A part of why the queer interpretations of Oz work particularly well in the books is because in The Emerald City of Oz, Dorothy and her Kansas family move to Oz permanently when Kansas stops being liveable for them. So Dorothy becomes the second ruler of Oz and Ozma's "constant companion" at Ozma's "proposal", as L. Frank Baum describes it. Dorothy is the only person allowed in Ozma's bedroom unannounced, which is cutely domestic. Baum's story and John R. Neil's illustrations of the two often depict them as being very close, holding hands, and kissing. It's not really knowable if Baum intended for it to be seen this way, but many modern Oz book fans see them as a couple.

Naturally, there's the theory that Taylor's song "Dorothea" is about Karlie, as well as the fact that Karlie dressed up as Dorothy for Halloween 2023 and did a partly-Oz-inspired photoshoot in 2010, among other Oz-themed things. Also, after the first book, Baum had a falling out with Denslow and appointed a new illustrator, John R. Neil; Neil's design of Dorothy sports a blonde bob, which reminds me of the "Karlie Kut" a bit, even if that's coincidental. Since the Karlie as Dorothy theory is pretty well established, I want to forward a theory about Taylor taking on the role of Ozma.

For starters, Taylor wears a gingham green dress in her music video for "Karma (ft. Ice Spice)" as she skips and sweeps down a yellow brick road in red shoes, looped braids, and lemon beret. This outfit is a bit perplexing, as while it seems very Dorothy-inspired, it actively makes itself just different enough from how Dorothy is illustrated in the first Oz book and seen in pop culture. It could be suggested that this is for copyright reasons since 1939 Dorothy is not in the public domain yet and using that likeness would require making a payment. However, thanks to the book specifically describing/illustrating Dorothy as wearing blue and white gingham and pigtail braids, these features can still be used, as all of Baum's Oz novels are in the public domain. Oddly, the only potentially copyright-able aspect of Dorothy's costume is the one that Taylor kept, the ruby slippers exclusive to MGM's '39 film, since in the book Dorothy's shoes are silver. So why were all these unnecessary changes here?

My main theory is that Taylor is subtly invoking Ozma in a way that would still be recognizably Oz-ian, as I don't think most people would catch on to the Oz reference if Taylor dressed as a more accurate-looking Ozma. Hence why the gingham and red shoes are present even though Ozma is never described as wearing anything like that. Ozma is often depicted in long flowing white or green dresses. And while Ozma's hair is usually free in Neil's illustrations, her hair is sometimes tied into a bun, and Taylor's looped braids seem to be in the same family as a bun (I don't know how else to say that, I hope you get what I mean...). The lemon beret is hard to explain. As far as I know/can recall, lemons have never played a major role in any Oz media, so my guess is that the hat is meant to match the yellow brick road or maybe slightly invoke the fighting trees from the film and book. Since Taylor's outfit is similar but not the same as Dorothy's, it could be interpreted as Taylor dressing as someone adjacent to Dorothy, or a friend of Dorothy's, and Ozma would definitely fit that title. Ozma is also a fairy, so this also lines up with my Taylor is the beast to Karlie's beauty theory, since a fairy is a creature. And as the small, coincidental cherry on top, Ozma was originally described as blonde like Taylor in the story's text, despite the fact that Neil always drew her as a brunette. Dorothy's appearance outside of her clothes is rarely if ever given, that way anyone could see themselves in Dorothy, her design not mattering too greatly. The only clue to her physical looks is in the illustrations, but the consistency changes over the Oz series when it comes to Dorothy's design, so again it doesn't matter. Kind of like how, whether a song has male pronouns or not, it’s always describing Karlie, the "design" of the muse not mattering. And it actually does make some sense for Ozma to have the ruby slippers, even though she never had them in the books, but more on that in the next part. If Karlie is Dorothy, Taylor is Ozma.

An alternate, more flimsy idea is that Taylor is dressed as Dorothy in her green dress returning to the Wizard with the wicked witch's broom as proof that she melted her. However, this doesn't quite work for me personally, as in the film, Dorothy never got a green dress from the Emerald City. And while book Dorothy did get a "green" dress, she never had to bring the witch's broom to the Wizard and her dress wasn't actually green but white; it only appeared green in the Emerald City due to the green spectacles everyone was tricked into wearing by the shamming Wizard. And of course, book Dorothy's slippers weren't red like Taylor's, but silver. Maybe I'm being too particular, but to me, the details of the two titular versions of Oz make this idea weak.

Another idea is that Taylor is dressed as an amalgamation of Dorothy and the witch, which is definitely an interesting thought. In the 1st book, both Dorothy and the witch have no magic of their own and need to obtain magical items, like the silver shoes or the golden cap. But the difference is that the witch uses her power to do evil while Dorothy doesn't know the power she has, even by the time the shoes get her to Kansas again, as they presumably could do way more than that. The idea of Taylor combining the two is interesting, but again the red shoes put me off.

I think the Ozma theory works the best (and I think it's the cutest).

The story of Ozma being unrightfully taken from her throne and hidden away from everyone and herself reminds me of many stories told through Taylor's music. Lyrics like "I (I) don't (don't) like your kingdom keys (keys) // They (they) once belonged to me (me) // You (you) asked me for a place to sleep // Locked me out and threw a feast (what?)" from "LWYMMD" and trapped imagery in MVs like "Willow" feel somewhat reminiscent of that story.

Taylor isn't any kind of genderqueer as far as anyone publicly knows for sure, but Taylor definitely seems to have no problem with aligning herself with masculinity and taking on male roles. Take things like the wonderland photoshoot (Lordy! 🤭), Taylor semi-confirming she's Folklore's JaMEs, "The Man", "Peter", and maybe etc. Ozma being a girl but forced to present as a guy for years could be seen as similar to Taylor having to paint some of her songs about women as being from a male perspective, or some songs never being officially said to be from a male perspective being assumed to be so anyway, like "Question...?"

One more small parallel between Taylor and Ozma: Ozma is often pictured as wearing two poppies, one on each side of her head, seemingly in her hair or connected to her crown. Reminds me of "Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair" from "The Great War".

Part 3: Return to Oz 👠

Return to Oz (1985) is an unofficial sequel to The Wizard of Oz (1939) made by Disney. It takes the stories of The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz and combines them into an original story. At least in America, this is the only feature-length film to feature Ozma and attempt to vaguely adapt the novels more closely. (Context for RTO photos in the image descriptions, which is the case for every image and GIF on this post because why the hell not)

Return to Oz adds a setting that wasn't featured in any of the Oz books: a mental hospital. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, concerned that Dorothy isn't sleeping and won't stop insisting Oz is real, send Dorothy to a mental hospital in an attempt to get her help (not out of malice). As we know, TTPD features the theme of asylums prevalently. The treatment chosen to help Dorothy is electroshock therapy, similar to Taylor receiving electroshock therapy in the MV for "Fortnight". In "Down Bad", Taylor says, "They'll say I'm nuts if I talk about the existence of you", just like how Em and Henry thought Dorothy needed psychiatric help when she talked about Oz being real.

When Dorothy stays over at the hospital for treatment, a character named Nurse Wilson (Kansas doppelganger of Mombi) escorts her to her room; Nurse Wilson wears a black dress very similar in style to Taylor's black dress from "Fortnight".

When the power goes out and the electroshock therapy isn't given a chance to begin, a fellow patient revealed later to be Ozma helps Dorothy escape the asylum by freeing her from the bed she's strapped to and bolting with her. Ozma and Dorothy slip into a river while running away, in which Ozma finds an abandoned chicken coop for Dorothy to ride through said river to Oz, Dorothy fearing Ozma drowned during the process until the end of the film. This is similar to Taylor and Post Malone's character escaping the asylum after Post cuts the power in "Fortnight". Ozma unstrapping Dorothy from her bed is similar to the nurse who unchains Taylor from the bed in "Fortnight", theorized to be played by Karlie herself. And Ozma finding the coop for Dorothy to ride away on is reminiscent of Taylor clinging to her piano in "Cardigan". Clinging to something when in rough water is common imagery, so it could definitely be coincidental, but I thought I'd mention it.

In this film, Ozma is trapped in a mirror by the witch Mombi, reminiscent of Taylor depicting herself as trapped behind glass closets in numerous MVs. After Dorothy saves Oz, she is the one to free Ozma from her glass prison by touching her hand and guiding her out of the glass, similar to Post and Taylor in the last scene in the "Fortnight" MV. Ozma in the mirror behaves like Dorothy's reflection, which reminds me of Taylor having Post's tattoos when she wipes her face in the mirror as if to say she's a reflection of his character.

Dorothy gives Ozma the ruby slippers before leaving Oz (Disney paid for the right to use them). That could help to explain why Taylor wears the ruby slippers that Ozma never had in the books if she's truly dressed as Ozma. And notably, when dressing up as Dorothy for Halloween, Karlie wore a full Dorothy costume, except for the ruby/silver slippers, arguably the most important part. As if Karlie was in "Kansas" and gave Taylor her shoes.

Dorothy chooses to return home in the end, but Ozma gifts her a way for them to communicate: through her mirror. This way Ozma can watch over her and when Dorothy wants to return to Oz, Ozma will make it happen. I've mentioned the parallels with the glass closets, but this also reminds me of "A tiny screen's the only place I see you now" from "Dorothea". In the book and '39 film, Dorothy uses her shoes to get back to Kansas, but in RTO, they are presumably going to be used to get Dorothy back to Oz when the time is right. So maybe after Taylor potentially comes out she will use Karlie's ruby slippers to sweep into the rescue and save Karlie from Kansas/the closet and back to Oz/freedom with her. Outside of RTO, it could also work the other way, with Taylor using the shoes to go home, especially with all the lyrics Taylor's had about returning home to/with her lover. Kansas doesn't represent anything bad in the original story, so it's possible that Kansas isn't a debilitating cage/closet, just home where you feel safe with the ones you love. Ozma also encourages Dorothy to keep their communication secret. Dorothy wants Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to know of Ozma, as she calls for Em to come and look as soon as she summons Ozma. But Ozma seems to see it as best kept quiet, no exact reason given to the audience from what I can tell, but it's understood by Dorothy and Ozma themselves. Pretty similar to Kar and Tay maintaining their closet for reasons we gaylors don't fully get to know, at least not yet.

(I didn't know where to put this little factoid, but in this film, the only times Ozma really smiles is at Dorothy. It's not important, just a bit cute and sad.)

And as a bonus for you Spade riddle fans out there, when Dorothy meets Ozma in the hospital, Ozma gifts Dorothy a pumpkin because "it's Halloween soon". The pumpkin is a Kansas doppelganger to an Oz character called Jack Pumpkinhead, who calls both Ozma and Dorothy "Mom" because Dorothy saved him from Mombi and Ozma built him and brought him to life. A bit reminiscent of Karlie and Taylor having Levi and Elijah if you ask me. I'm admittedly not a huge riddles person because it goes a bit over my talents, but I think they're intriguing and I'm curious if the riddles and Oz/RTO together would mean anything.

There's debate on whether Post's character is supposed to represent Taylor working with herself to get free or Karlie. I think it could be either or even both in a convoluted way. I like both theories. If "Fortnight" is based on RTO, the roles of Ozma and Dorthy seem switched, with Dorothy rescuing Ozma from the asylum. However, the tattoo mirror scene suggests that Taylor is mirroring Post's character, or playing him, and if that's Karlie, maybe the MV could be seen as Taylor playing Karlie in a sense since they're "twins" whose pasts are "parallel lines", while Post is either playing Taylor or Karlie; they are one and the same. The MV is really interesting to ponder in general.

Part 4: Miscellaneous Oz Connections ❇️

Lightning round (filled with tons of reaches)! ⚡️

In the "ME!" MV, Taylor and Brandon running up to the green building with a rainbow beam on it whilst in green marching band outfits looks similar to Dorothy and her friends running toward the Emerald City in the '39 film.

The all-pink soldiers in the marching band scene of "ME!" remind me of Glinda's all-female red army in the books.

In "loml", Taylor sings "The coward claimed he was a lion", a reference to the cowardly lion.

The men in the "ME!" MV falling from the sky with umbrellas reminds me of Dorothy and her cousin Zeb falling through the sky with an umbrella down to Oz in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

Taylor might've been in a Wizard of Oz play at her school in 2006. The linked post doesn't give too much evidence admittedly, but I think it's worth saying that the play at least happened at her school.

I wasn't sure where to put this mini-analysis, but I think it's interesting that Taylor associates Dianna Agron with Wonderland and Karlie with Oz and the differences that could suggest. Alice and Dorothy go through similar adventures, but the two go about them very differently. Dorothy adapts to Oz very quickly and loves it there, enough for it to be her second home. Meanwhile, Alice certainly doesn't enjoy Wonderland as much as Dorothy loves Oz, itching to get out and stay out. Dorothy is very active in her role, making friends and changing Oz forever, while Alice passively goes through the motions and lets things happen before escaping to the next thing. It seems like Baum wrote the Oz books to give children lessons on friendship, feminism, and more, while Lewis Carroll wrote the Alice books with the exact purpose of saying nothing and giving birth to the genre of "nonsense writing". And Wonderland is definitely a dream in the original two novels while Oz is a very real place in the books. I know the associations seemingly have to do with the muses’ actual taste in fairytales, but I wonder how the differences speak to the story Taylor’s spun in her music about them. Assuming both Oz and Wonderland are freedom to some degree, does Wonderland being temporary speak to Taylor and Dianna as a couple, while Taylor and Karlie are still ongoing IMO, just like the Oz book series to this day (Canonical Oz books are still being written by different authors. There’s 40+ of them)? Is there something in the fact that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is an English fairytale and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is considered the first American fairytale, and Karlie convinced Taylor to stay in America and live in New York rather than London where Dianna was? Do Alice and Dorothy’s different reactions to their discovered worlds speak to how both Karlie and Dianna feel about closeting vs being out or maybe how they feel toward Taylor in some way? I genuinely have no clue, but it's some interesting food for thought. (This isn't Dianna, Swiftgron, or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland slander btw, I don't know enough about Swiftgron besides the basics to do that.)

In Conclusion 🌼

I have no way of knowing if Taylor has even read the Oz books, seen Return to Oz, and knows all this information, but I think it's fun that these connections are there. If there are more connections you thought of or ones that you think I missed, let me know!

Thanks for reading!

[fayoftheforest]

human kite & antisemitism

In the notes of my recent meta on Vampire Kyle AUs, a user reflected on how similar antisemitic stereotypes might overlap with his TFBW character as well. Since I also have some thoughts on this and enjoyed putting together the last lil post I thought I’d do another on this subject too :) 

South Park Fandom Wiki states that Human Kite is heavily inspired by Superman, “being a faraway alien with the ability to fly and to shoot lasers out of his eyes, even wearing a costume with the color red, yellow, and blue and a symbol in his chest to match.”  I think this is pretty cool! Superman was created by Jewish immigrants and is very Jewish-coded in his origin story, being “a refugee with the Hebrew-inspired name ‘Kal-El’ who escaped a dying world and fought Nazis during World War II” (JewishUnpacked). I don’t know if Tratt were aware of these roots, but either way, I think it’s pretty neat :)

South Park Fandom Wiki also claims that Kyle playing an alien character “may be a reference to how Adolf Hitler did not consider Jews ‘human.’" This is. Uh. Less neat.

Similarly upsetting is the name itself, Human Kite, which is a play on words with the horrific ethnic slur “kike.” American Jewish Committee posits that the term “is derived from the Yiddish word for circle, ‘kikel,’ a reference to how Jewish immigrants at Ellis Island signed their entry forms: a circle as opposed to an X, which Jews associated with the cross of Christianity. Immigration officers described those who signed forms with a circle as ‘kikel,’ eventually being shortened to ‘kike.’”

Did Matt and Trey really create his entire character just so that Cartman could call him Human Kike that one time? I can’t say for certain, just in the same way I don’t have a direct quote from them confirming the reasoning behind their selections of names for Kyle and Ike. But I can tell you that if you put ‘em together and you get… yeah. Yep. “Kike” again. Thank you, Tratt, very cool 👍Get a new joke maybe :/

Now, let’s talk specifically about his laser powers. Up until researching for this meta, I had presumed that Kyle’s ability to shoot lasers from his eyes was a direct reference to the Jewish Space Laser conspiracy popularised to the public by terrifyingly influential political figure Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2018, Greene wrote a Facebook rant speculating that the California wildfires were caused by a giant laser floating in space, owned by the Jews. Very normal thing to believe :|

However, during my research, I realised that these timelines did not match up. As mentioned, Greene’s rant was shared in 2018, but didn’t go viral until 2021. Meanwhile, South Park’s The Fractured But Whole was released way back in 2017! What I had initially assumed was another antisemitic reference is in fact just a dreadful and ridiculous coincidence. Nonetheless, It’s still a commonality that’s worth pointing out, I think.

Just as an aside, I’d like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to cousin Kyle’s version of Human Kite. Everything about him is an egregious Jewish caricature, from his irritating, snivelling voice to his long list of health issues. It’s not my fault that the limited Jewish gene pool has fucked me over, Tratt! Leave me alone! A meta about antisemitism within Cousin’s Kyle characterisation would be a mile long, so I’ll spare you that for now.

Anyway, what does this all mean when we’re creating fan content around TFBW? Must we just chuck the Human Kite persona into a blender and never speak of it again? Not necessarily. Speaking as a Jewish fandom member, I quite enjoy reading and writing Human Kite. It’s a fun character to play around with! Despite his unfortunate roots, I don’t believe including him is innately antisemitic. It just depends on how you go about doing it! If he’s not secretly running the world, controlling the banks and Hollywood, or consuming the blood of innocent Christians, you’re on the right track. 

You could even go for a little meta-commentary and acknowledge the antisemitic coding within the text! Here’s an example of how I did that in my upcoming TFBW reality swap fic (don’t question why there’s two of everyone, it makes sense within the text lmao)

“Wait, you’re telling me in an alternate reality we’re all aliens?” Kyle gawks at this funhouse-mirror version of himself, who’s busy gawking right back. “No, Kyle, just—just you,” Kenny says. “Oh.” Kyle narrows his eyes. “You know, it’s difficult not to interpret this with antisemitic undertones.” “What, like the Jewish Space Laser conspiracy?” Cartman asks. Mysterion frowns. “Jewish people have space lasers in your universe?” “No,” Cartman sighs and shakes his head forlornly, before muttering, “it’s a made-up rumour to perpetuate mistrust and hatred towards the Jewish community.” “Alright, don’t sound so disappointed,” Kyle huffs. “Guys!” Stan says. “Can we not start this argument again?” “I never said it was a cool rumour, Kyle!” Cartman snaps defensively. “Obviously it’s super harmful and whatever. All I meant was that it would have been cool if it were real. Because, like, space lasers are awesome! Right?” He looks to Kite, apparently presuming that they’re an authority on the matter. “Um.” Kite blinks, then says hesitantly, “I can shoot lasers… from my eyes. And once I did sort of fly up into space and magnify the lasers to destroy Chaos’s tin foil factory. So, uh. Does that help?” Cartman’s face lights up and is split in half by an enthusiastic grin. “It helps a lot, actually.” Kyle groans and pinches his nose. “You have no idea how much education you’ve just undone, dude.” He opens his eyes to glower at Kite. Kenny glances at Chaos. “Tin foil factory?” Chaos waves a hand dismissively. “Outsourcing proved more efficient.”

There we go! A lighthearted little nod, which acknowledges potential antisemitic readings of Human Kite, without justifying or excusing it. It’s not at all necessary when creating fan content around Human Kite, but just know that that’s an option to you, if you so choose. Just make sure antisemites are the butt of your joke, and not Jewish people, lmao.

I’ll finish up by returning to my general sentiment that I held in my Vamp!Kyle post. If you conduct your creations with a basic level of awareness and self-reflection, you’ll probably be alright. Just stay in the know, and you’re all good to go 😎

[dykewallpaper]

i want to talk about how armand hunts (this post is inspired by something i saw on twitter by @danielarmands about armand lulling daniel (season 2.05 spoilers obviously)):

when daniel asks louis how armand hunts louis says he looks for criminals and then seeks out those “half in love with easeful death”

this is actually a quote from “Ode to a Nightingale” by Keats, and it’s such an ingenious reference oh my god

now i’m going to preface this by saying i have not thoroughly analyzed the full poem. I had the in love with easeful death part memorized so when louis said it i got very excited

the poem is about a person musing about his wish for death that was started when he heard a nightingale singing in the trees (nightingales are usually used as symbols of love and beauty)

now the full quote louis references is:

“for many a time/ I have been half in love with easeful Death,/ Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,/ To take into the air my quiet breath;/ Now more than ever seems it rich to die,/ To cease upon the midnight with no pain,/ While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad/ In such an ecstasy!”

if you don’t want to read all that, basically he’s saying “i think about death all the time, now I think it’d be great to die while you’re [the nightingale] singing so lovely”

by choosing those in love with easeful death, armand is putting himself in the position of the nightingale. by becoming this comforting presence, symbolic of love and beauty while leading his victims gently by the hand, he finally feels like he’s doing some good in the world, not because he chose someone who was suicidal, but because he’s loved and made the process easier with his siren’s call

but also, the narrator mentions that he had attempted suicide and he expresses this via sound “called [death] by many a mused rhyme.” by associating the wish for death with sound, it also implicates the nightingale who does nothing but sing in the poem.

the victim is not alone in wanting that embrace of death, armand is also enchanted by the idea of slowly fading away into a painless sleep. this is why he hunts the way he does, it brings him such a thrill to know that he could possibly live in this moment forever, loved and painless and beautiful and worth something

[cloudysonder]

On "Daddy Issues"

Ok, I know I'm a bit late to the game here, but I was gathering my thoughts after experiencing episode 5 and 6

Let me preface this with the fact that I am a Hazbin Hotel fan; it's cringe and it's not the best writing in the world, but I love the characters and the concept and the art. I know a lot of people disagree and completely despise it and hey, you do you, but this is a silly little thing I enjoy and think is fun

but oof. episode 5 and 6 were rough, execution-wise. Also worth mentioning that episode 5 followed on the heels of episode 4, which was dealing with a lot of heavy topics and gave Angel a lot of character development very quickly and had a wonderful song and a budding relationship between Husk and Angel that was fantastic, so to get a confusing and overwhelming yet completely inefficient episode (ep 5) and then an episode with SO MUCH HAPPENING that it absolutely bowled you over with plot points and world building that weren't given a single second to breathe was really disappointing. I'll put the meat under a read more, but that's the thesis

this post is just gonna be on episode 5, and I'll make another one on episode 6 bc christ almighty both of them are gonna be long

Episode 5 was something I was really looking forward to-- Of the main cast, Charlie and Vaggie seemed the least intriguing to me (oh, did I say "seemed" past tense? haha! they still most definitely are the least interesting!), and I wanted to see how they would introduce something they've been building up to for a while: Charlie's famed "Daddy issues"!

Turns out, instead of actually keeping it as a point of intrigue for Charlie's character and using it as a point of tension to show that hey, Charlie isn't actually a perfect person, and she's also in pain with the rest of the sinners because her own family relationships are falling apart, they solve it in a single episode. That's right! The long-awaited, complicated, divorced parent and child relationship that twisted Charlie into a validation seeking, people pleasing princess that "wants to fix other people so she doesn't have to deal with her own daddy issues" (quote by Husk) is solved with a charming performance by Jeremy Jordan and a song!

Look, it's no secret I'm a huge fan of Loser, Baby-- I clearly have no qualms with storytelling through song. But you cannot song-plain this one away. We've established over 4 episodes that Charlie and her father have kept in minimal contact for seven years. That's a Long time (don't go trying to be like, oh time to charlie works differently, bc that shit's not established, and everyone in the show still treats seven years like a long time). We know that the last time they called each other was 5 months ago.

"More than Anything," solves basically everything by making the following points

Charlie was inspired by her Dad's dreaming

Lucifer was ashamed of his failures and hid away from her

Lucifer does, however, want so so deeply to know Charlie

Charlie wants to know Lucifer

They love each other <3

these are fine endgame points. Dare I say... good endgame points to arrive at?? But you can't stuff ALL these revelations into a single song and call it a finished relationship arc when they haven't spoken for real in 7 YEARS. Also, making Lucifer so goofy and silly and fun and charming is Not helping the establishment of his character as a self-hating former dreamer who doesn't want his daughter to make the same mistakes he did. It just turns him to tumblr sexyman cute quirky sympathetic never did anything wrong and loves his daughter, completely downplaying his absentee parenting.

You can't have him turn from "I do not care about your life. I do not care about your project. I will not ask about your passions and your dreams. I am already ashamed of my own." to "ur so right bestie!!! dreaming is so slay mama!!! I love you so much you're my little baby girl I love you so much, you're right and I will support you!!!" in the course of a single episode without like.... at least 3 real, in depth conversations happening. The song is beautiful, but you can't poetry your way out of an actual relationship arc.

BUT! But, but but! The fault does not lie completely with Lucifer, but also with Charlie. girl just forgave him??? For everything????? Despite having been so scared to call him at the beginning of the episode? It's very unrealistic for a kid to just accept that a parent loves them apparently so so deeply when they've never seen proof of it in the last idk just spitballing a number here SEVEN YEARS. If you want to make the crux of a failed parent-child relationship miscommunication, you're gonna have to get into the ugly--- the grieving of what you could've had earlier, the wondering why you didn't reach out earlier, the anger at why they've suddenly changed now--- and you're gonna have to explain why the miscommunication went on so long.

sometimes, if you have a pair of completely uncommunicative people, seven years may be reasonable. But Charlie is open about her passions! She's public! She constantly reads about "The Story of Hell" and paints Lucifer in a positive light! And Lucifer is quick to reciprocate any interest Charlie shows in him! He's quick to offer help, to spoil Charlie and show love! (Lucifer's points are two points that make SEVEN YEARS of MINIMAL CONTACT and MISCOMMUNICATION make ZERO SENSE).

additionally, Charlie's lowkey only point of intrigue that was set up (her relationship to Lucifer, the King of Hell) is now just... kapoot. solved. pish posh. now she's a done character.

THEN EXPLAIN WHY I STILL DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT HER???? I haven't seen her actually struggle in a way that's not played off as a bit, we don't get a real charlie breakdown monologue, there are no stakes for me as a hazbin hotel viewer to want everything to go well for charlie besides my acab rad leftist ass being like redemption and forgiveness is good and ultimately benefits society

she's fun, she's bubbly, she's kind! but those are all basic things we knew from minute 1 she was on screen. I need to see her struggle. For a main character, she sure as hell doesn't feel main. And I expected better female characters from female writers (feat. in my next post, Vaggie????? What the hell?).

goodnight new york city, you've been great!

[puppy-phum]

Every month of 2023 ✨

Post your most popular and/or favorite edit/gifset for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

thank you so much for tagging me zey [x] @smileytharn, mj [x] @forcebook, jessi [x] @daymork, and antania [x] @raypakorn ♥ it was so lovely to look through all of your creations! you've all worked hard during the past year and i hope i get to see more creations from all of you throughout this year ^^

-

i'm collecting my creations for each month under the cut but let's look at some fun statistics at first! (inspired by antania's post ♥)

i created 68 edits

additionally, there were 5 photo collabs (jimmysea photoshoots)

and 4 text post meme posts (for last twilight)

the most edits i made in may (due to our skyy 2 episodes)

most of my edits were related to vice versa (13 in total)

the second most popular ones were bad buddy (8 edits) and last twilight (10 edits)

most of my edits were either lovely/warm or angsty

i got deep into episode edits this year

and also took inspiration from other than poetry and lyrics

thank you so much for being part of all this!

January

my most popular edit was this vegaspete set i made for @spicyvampire ♥ i actually like it a ton! but my personal favorite from this month is my bad buddy characters + the real 5 love languages set. i like the meme a ton and i loved how the set turned out (+ for me, it's super funny).

February

my most popular edit this month was the toddblack differences edit i made for @i-got-the-feels ♥ it was a very different type of edit and i'm very happy ppl liked it this much. personal favorite is this jimmy(sea) set for the varitda mv he/they appeared in. i loved the aesthetic of the mv and i feel like i captured that very well.

March

the most popular edit in march was my akkayan + one direction piece dedicated to @fitfmybeloved ♥ i think i need to make something else with a similar style sometime. my favorites would be the puen & talay's top 10 outfits edits which technically happened in february and march. i had a ton of fun with them and i honestly adore looking at the results.

April

my birthday month! the most popular creation was my beyond evil edit which was interesting to make according to @nongnaos's request ♥ i had never edited this show (or any kdrama) before and i also struggled a bit with figuring out the layout. it's a very simple set but felt fitting. my favorite this month would be this puentalay set made for you antania ♥ it took a lot of time, especially all the coloring, but it was worth every second! (special mention for my sea bday set which i still cannot believe the bday boy actually saw and liked on twt ;; i love him so much!)

May

i think it's very deserved that my most popular edit in may was this puentalay one for my our skyy 2 episode edits series. it's for the first vice versa episode and tbh also my personal favorite out of all those episode edits i made ^^ the coloring just worked super well there. my true favorite of the month was the pran's life anthem edit i made for @pransobrave ♥

June

as is fitting for pride month, my most popular edit and also my personal favorite was my our skyy 2 couples edit where i tried to describe all of their different loves through the colors of a rainbow. it was a lot of fun to do!

July

the most popular edit this month was the pran set i made for @punpunsutatta ♥ i had a lot of fun with this one bc i got to try some new things with it. personal faves and my peak as an editor (in my own opinion) were the two puentalay edits i made this month. this sam smith song inspired one i made for you zey ♥ i adore the layout and the colors, it makes me think about vintage images and letters. and this other one was born bc the quote haunted me. i love the pink in it a lot, it's so soft.

August

for august, i felt like i was making a ton of things even if i didn't have the energy or the time. in reality, i didn't make that many but i made a couple of very big sets. one of them and the most popular one this month was my winteam set made for @jimmysea ♥ making it took some research and then i had to go through the episodes a little while i searched for the fitting scenes. personal favorite was this akktheo set bc it turned out looking very cute. i think it captures their feeling as a couple and their story well. special mention for my jimmy bday set bc i poured my heart into it ♥ i love this man so much (and i currently wish he is fine and gets well soon, he's apparently in the hospital ;;)

September

things got hectic in september as i started my internship and had to travel around a lot. i was too tired to do much else but work and study and watch dramas without any brain. that's why i only made two edits. my most popular set was my last request edit for my event. it was patpran with the lyrics from ford arun's song come closer and made for @celestial-sapphicss ♥ i love the colors in this so much. personal favorite, only barely, is still my puentalay + 8 types of love set. i had a blast making it as a kind of collab with @dimpledpran who made the patpran version!

October

made only two edits (or well, one cut into two parts) in october too due to being very busy and tired. they were quite big tho bc i used a long while gathering material for them. it was its own type of research project when i wrote down all the times puentalay told each other 'i love you' without saying those exact words to each other. i struggled with the layout too as mimi can probably remember :'D but i love these sets a lot so they're both my favorite and most popular ♥

November

finally in november last twilight came to save all of us and so it's no wonder i created a lot for that during this month :'D i honestly wished to make more but i was still mostly busy with my internship and with starting my thesis. my most popular one was this last twilight trailer edit. i think it was fun to kind of make it similar to my mock trailer edit all that time ago. my personal favorite is the mork + linkin park edit that probably caters to only myself lol. am honestly obsessed with each song mentioned in this bc i can see it with mork so well. it was a relief to get that one out.

December

haven't really had the time to dive as deep into last twilight and make as many edits for it as i'd wanted due to using most of december to catch up on sleep and all the studying i couldn't do during my internship, but hopefully now i'll have more time to devastate yall ♥ the most popular post was this last twilight + random tweets thing and my personal favorite is the only morkday quote edit i've managed so far. i love the colors and the whole concept to bits, and cannot wait to make more ^^

-

thank you if you read this far! i'm not sure who hasn't been tagged yet bc i'm a bit late with this one but if you have done this already, you can always send it my way! i almost demand you do. i love appreciating all your art ♥

tagging: @dimpledpran @jimmysea @moonkhao @chinzillas @khaotunqs @pranink @dengswei @taeminie @psychic-waffles (i'd love to see your art!) @yilinglaozu @eohachu @difanghua @mooninagust @namchyoon ♥

[mcl38]

"the fact that lando has done a couple factory debriefs that oscar wasnt there for"

don't quote me on this bc i have no insider information obviously but i'm pretty sure this has to do with the whole new work-life balance initiative mclaren started focusing on last year and has been even more set on improving this year? because i have definitely noticed a few different occasions since the end-ish of last year where it seemed like one was present for meetings/debriefs and the other wasn't. it's been the case with oscar being present but not lando a few times too. and i say all the more for it if it gives the drivers more time to just refresh themselves for the next race by spending time with loved ones or whatever. (not to mention that lando's dad has been like really good about being at nearly every race weekend since the beginning of last year whereas oscar has discussed hardly ever seeing his family while racing, he can go to the mtc anytime he wants let him have some family time!!!) like they may not publicize it, but i am 100% sure they'll (they likely already did in australia) go over the data with oscar and debrief and discuss where he can continue developing and whatnot. like lmao they've been saying since sainz left that they want 2 relatively equal drivers again, trust me nobody is interested in favoring lando at oscar's expense when he has the pace to either be ahead of or keep up with him

literally what i was talking abt w the worklife balance initiative earlier yes!!! i didnt even spot it but ur right thats deffo gotta be it. this year the first time it happened we found out the next day that oscar was in imola doing a tyre test (it benefits him way more than lando to drive the old mclaren chassis) and this second time its pretty clear they did it to let oscar be with his family. and then on the other hand, oscar lives in the uk and lando doesnt so sometimes when oscars the one at the mtc thats probably why. its also worth pointing out (u mention that u feel sure the engineers do go over the data w oscar even if it doesnt end up on insta / the mclaren app) that this is a FACTORY debrief not a team debrief. both drivers participate in the mandatory post race debriefs (headphones on looking at telemetry vibes), but this is more of a holding-a-mic inspirational public speaking kind of thing, where some of the factory employees get to have a little bit of face to face time w the guy theyre building the car for & get their well-deserved thanks handed to them. oscar is a fascinating man who seems to have absolutely zero anxiety driving a car at 300kph but looks like a scared baby deer who barely knows how to walk when hes surrounded by any sort of crowd. my point is he is NOT missing out id b willing to bet at least a tenner that he actively does not want to be there

[bidisaster-peanut-romano]

Hi there! You’re the person who made me love Peanut/Tad. How exactly did your journey start with these two? Thanks in advance! <3

nonnie!! dear!!

first of all, thank you so much for this answer!! i'm so happy i inspired you into loving them, they're special to me in ways i can hardly express <3

i'll admit, it started... quite by chance, actually?? i was just listening (again!!) to the compilation of all tad's quotes and i realized that. he mentioned peanut twice. which isn't a lot but if you consider that most characters really don't mention other characters more than once unless it's important. it was odd. (it probably wasn't but i Like to Overanalyze Things). also bc one of them haas him outright planning to plot against peanut, so it was intriguing to think about it.

then, exactly about that post, a tumblr user (that has now been deactivated, but i still think of them very fondly) texted me in the dms to suggest some motivations. we started talking from there about tad and peanut and really went on analyzing a lot of interesting perspective and aspects, of their characters and everything surrounding each of them. we found ourselves discussing the motifs, the themes and so forth.

then i guess these aspects of their characters kept going around in my head like screensaver icons and well. that one post i made in june 2022 is the first recorded memory that i have of imagining them as a ship (mentioned it in the tags).

i think i started planning cockroaches will inherit the earth in september, in a very… particular time of my life. then it went through some changes and it became the story that is up on ao3 now. i'm currently planning more, of course!!

i think that the thing is. there are many of their themes, of their personality maybe, that i kind of… relate a lot to?? and they are so similar on a fundamental level. they both have these expectations of what they're supposed to be; but they do not know what those are- it's just. high expectations. in tad's case, reaching the top of the preps hierarchy; in peanut's case, being loves totally and univocally by johnny. but what they feel they have to be to reach those goals is so uncertain, so undefined, that they will only ever know they aren't good enough. that they are the problem; the exception.

but finding each other, realizing this perpetual feeling, only makes each of them realize that both of them can't be the exception- meaning the rule didn't exist in the first place. that they couldn't reach that impossible goal because it didn't exist; that they couldn't find happiness because they were looking in the wrong direction.

at the end of the day, i think, they're a tale about getting better. about realizing one's inherent worth as a human being. about realizing that they were stuck in a grave of their own making; they just needed a hand to grip to drag them up. and they found each other- because they understand each other.

it's also that- that they don't need long, tiring explanations to figure out each other's needs, because they find each other in themselves. something something finding solace in the unsaid so that what is said can only have a wondrous and heavy meaning, learning to love oneself through the mirror of the other.

they're all about healing after all. i think that is something i feel so deeply about them tbh

[the-good-spartan]

Sources on the Krypteia

Below are all of the primary sources that mention the Krypteia from antiquity. These are taken from Ducat's 'Spartan Education,' and it is worth noting that he discards all but Plato, Aristotle and the scholion from consideration.

[This is a companion post to Stalkers in the Night: The Krypteia.]

Plato (Athenian, Late 5th C BCE):

Plato alludes to the Krypteia in his dialogue, The Laws:

‘There is also something called the Krypteia, which is an extraordinarily harsh form of training: in winter, neither footgear nor bedding; no slaves, so that each one looks after himself; and wandering all over the territory, night and day.’

Aristotle (Athenian, 4th C BCE):

Aristotle later mentions the institution also:

‘It is said that [Lykourgos] also set up the Krypteia, whereby, even to this day, men go out of the city to hide by day, and by night in arms… slaughter helots as they think necessary.’

Plutarch (1st C CE. Roman period, Boeotian):

Plutarch in his Lykourgos 28.1]

1. In none of this is there any trace of the equitable spirit and desire to dominate, for which people censure Lykourgos’ Laws, saying that while they may be admirably suited to whipping up courage, they lack anything that might foster the practicing of justice. 2. It is the so-called Krypteia (if indeed that really is one of Lykourgos’ institutions as Aristotle states) that may have inspired Plato in his opinion of the Spartan institution and its author. 3. This is how it worked: from time to time, the authorities would send out into the countryside though with no specific objective, those of the neon whom they judged most intelligent, supplied only with daggers and essential rations, nothing else. 4. By day, dispersed in concealed positions, they stayed hidden and rested; at night they came down onto the roads and cut the throat of any helot they could lay hands on. 5. Often, too, they would range through the fields, killing the strongest and most influential of them.

Phylarchos (Hellenistic, 3rd C BCE. Birthplace contested - Athens, Naucratis in Egypt or Sikyon.):

Phylarkhos is quoted in Plutarch, Kleomenes 28: 

‘2. Phylarkhos, on the other hand, claims that treason was the chief cause of Kleomenes’ defeat… 4. He summoned Damoteles, the commander of the Krypteia, and despatched him with orders to observe and investigate what was going on at the rear of, and around, the lines.’

The Scholion of Plato (Unknown. C. 9th C AD):

A scholion is an explanatory note added to an ancient text to explain that text to a (at the time) modern reader. Scholions may be useful to us as the author of these notes may have had access to sources now lost to us; however, as the sources they used are not sited, they could be completely unreliable; they might be much later even than Plutarch. In this instance, it seems clear that the scholar was summarising two different text with two different versions of what the Krypteia may have been.

‘A young man would be sent out of the city, with orders to avoid detection for a certain length of time. He was therefore forced to live wandering the mountains, sleeping with one eye open so as not to be caught, and without being able to use slaves or carry provisions. This was also a form of training for war, since each young man was sent out naked, having been ordered to spend an entire year wandering outside the city, up in the mountains, and to keep himself alive by stealing and other shifts of that kind, and to do it in such a way as to avoid being seen by anybody. This is why it was called the Krypteia: because those who had been seen, wherever that might occur, would be punished.

[wahlpaper]

In the Lives of Puppets Review

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

CW: Discussion of Sex, Described Panic Attacks, Genocide, Described Killing of an Animal, Violence, Murder, Blood, Xenophobia, Kidnapping and Imprisonment, Suicide, Betrayal of Trust, Classism, Totalitarianism, Arson, Grief, Dementia

5/5

If TJ Klune's other books have taught me anything, it's that I don't have to read the description before putting his work on my TBR list. In the Lives of Puppets was my first experiment with this. I put it on hold at the library as fast as I could. I only picked up from others what it would be about. All I got was that it had something to do with Pinocchio. That was plenty for me, I knew Klune would make his own magical and moving story from the material. I know the library hold lines for this book are long, but the wait was worth it.

In the Lives of Puppets is about Victor Lawson, human son of the robot named Giovanni Lawson. These two live in the forest with two other robots named Rambo and Nurse Ratched. Everything starts to change when they bring back a decommissioned robot from the local scrap yard. They give this robot the name Hap and a mechanical heart. Soon, the outside world catches up with Giovanni and takes him from his family and home. Victor, Rambo, Nurse Ratched, and Hap set out into a world they know nothing about, determined to get their father and friend back.

This is a highly emotional tale with a lot of twists and turns. Some ideas were predictable, like the idea that it would all work out in the end, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat. I was just as clueless about the world of this story as the main characters were. It's a rescue mission, a romance, a found family story, and a mystery all wrapped into one. The elements of Pinocchio are pretty obvious, but this book was moreso inspired by its source material than adapted from it. There are characters with familiar names, such as The Blue Fairy and The Coachman. Quotes from the original book are used at the start of each section. There are overarching themes of free will and what makes someone human. I have not read Carlo Collodi's book, so perhaps there is more pulled, but the story Klune wrote was magnificent and unique!

I was ecstatic to discover that the main character, Victor, is asexual! I have mentioned in previous posts (on my website) that we desperately need more representation in books and other media for asexuality. I was able to see some of myself in Victor, and that's why representation is important. Victor found romance and wanted kisses, cuddles, the feeling of knowing another person extremely well, and to share his life with someone. He was shown to be uncomfortable with sex jokes and discussion of what he does in the bathroom. Proven through his love interest, he also experiences aesthetic attraction, something I've found allosexuals confuse with sexual attraction. Although this book takes place hundreds of years after when we readers are alive, it takes the time to address modern misconceptions about asexuality. I hope we will get to a point where these aren't happening, but I am immensely grateful for this sort of representation while we still need it.

In The Lives of Puppets also has great representation of several different disabilities, both mental and physical. Hap has a stutter and needs wooden prosthetics, but he and his family never see it as a problem. These things are just a part of who he is. Victor's mental health issues are never labeled, but it is clear that he has anxiety and gets panic attacks. He also does not strike me as neurotypical, but if he knows no other humans, perhaps that term becomes irrelevant. These are not the only disabilities that Klune has included. Each one is written well, handled with care, and contributes to the beauty of the book.

The top complaint I hear about Klune's books is that the pacing is too slow. The sub-genre Klune is working in, emotional fantasy that focuses on person-stakes, is meant to be like that. I have always enjoyed the pacing, preferring these books to take their time. It's possible that this story goes a little faster than The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. The stakes for In the Lives of Puppets go beyond the main characters, it affects the whole world, but that's more of a side goal. Getting Gio back is what matters most to the main characters. I found myself with a few questions about the world state at the end of the novel, but realized they were things that did not matter to Victor and co. They didn't need answers. If you need your books to be fast-paced, this won't be the book for you, and that's okay.

If you're looking for a story about love of all kinds, humanity, and accepting yourself for all that you are, In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is the book you should read. It has robots, butterflies, jazz music, and more. This story is much more than a new version of Pinocchio, but you'll have to find that out for yourself!

[yanderefairyangel]

That's amazing how come I didn't see that post sooner ?!

Anyway, if you don't mind some additions on my part

On Alear's dependency to people, I think it's worth noting that Heroes out of all game managed to respect that and while I take it not only with a grain of salt but with the whole salt cellar, credit to what is due when it does something good.

Lu-chan base build was released during the time Engage barely did since she appeared with Lumera, the Firenese royals and Etie and Chloé on banner of january 2023 and she is supposed to come from a universe where she just meets with Marth and where Lumera is apparently still alive or where she lost her recently enough (I might have to check that)

Her foreign bounds with Marth are showing she still isn't used to fight without him and it's used as a cute comic where out of habits she keeps mistaking our Marmar for Emblem Marmar. But if F!Alear is defeated she will screams "Mo-ther"

Lu-kun is also missing Marth and he is from a universe where King Morion and therefore Lumera are dead, meaning he also just lost Marth and begining to recover from that. His quote when defeated is "too... strong"

Legendary Lu-chan is from a universe where she became an Emblem and as she mentions, she solved her conflic since she mentions how she wants to honnor her promise to Lumera that she will protect any beautiful sky which only happens at chapter 25 as Corrupted Lumera dies and vanishes. I made a post about it but it is pretty much showing she finally finished her own personal journey. Her quotes parralel that of the games : "Guided by the Emblems "become "Guided by the Divine dragon" and "I am the Divine dragon" became " I am an Emblem !" and if she is defeated she will say "you are... strong" and... she doesn't mention Marth again.

Don't we love it when for ONCE they manage to not screw up and even took into account the whole, I can't turn into a dragon thing

In the main game I saw people complaining that aside from Marth Emblem didn't had a much important role and that Marth lost his once he got... kidnapped let's say. But in reality, it's showing how dependant and relying on Marth Alear was back then and how they came to slowly become less and less dependant of Emblems. In chapter 1, it's thanks to Marth they become braver when they struggled at fighting to save Framme and Clanne and in chapter 3 too without Alfred they wouldn't have been able to defeat the Elusian army. In chapter 10, they get more confident because of their friends and said it's thanks to Marth they are much more confident right ? And when they lost Marth, they weren't only devastated because Sombron got closer to his goal but also because they lost their Angel guardian, their mentor and their friend, the thing that helped them being braver.

Their dependence of Lumera is shown in chapter 5 when they are still very sad and haunted by her memory to the point Queen Eve had to confort them (but in all fairness they had to rush a funeral for their mother when they just wake up).

They become less and less dependant little by little and in the main story they are the one who become protective : they are the one who take a hit for Veyle and in the same manner as Lumera may I add. They are also the one inspiring Veyle to become a virtuous dragon, much like Lumera did with them in the past.

And also speaking of how Alear fall into one of the 3 big nonos of Buddhism, I'd like to add that in the jpn version, when they realized Hyacinth trapped them they sounds more ... angry let's say as they tells him to prepare himself and are just as angry as the Brodian siblings while the english version sorta made it so that it seems like Alear resolved themselves into fighting Hyacinth because they had no other choice (idk if I make sense about this) but the idea is that in the jpn text it seems more like Alear and the Brodian decide to fight Hyacinth instead of finding a way out (by using the dragonic crystal whom they still possesed or breaking the door) while the english version seems to treat as "oh no we are locked so we have no other choice to fight" thing ... (i think I sound like I trash a lot the eng version but I am not, I just think the translation kind of made Alear less angry ? idk how to explain it properly but more on this)

ANYWAY, so about Alear really stepping on the role later on chapter 25, i'd like to point something I realized only NOW because my brain is a bit slow and needs a lot of sugar to work but I think the 12 Emblems are supposed to be remniscent of the greek Pantheon. 12 deities, 12 Emblems. We learn from Pandreo that Emblem are legendary beings godlike in the conext of the Elyos right ? Well, I think it's because Emblem are all heroes who have reached the apotheosis, deification. All of the Emblems comes from their game after having completing said game and are therefore legends, they have reached the apotheosis. Alear goes throught the same thing : the Miracle that turns them into the Fire Emblem is them reaching the Apotheosis as their journey to become a hero is finally reaching to end. A lot like Heracles (I speak both of mythology and Disney Herakles) as they are the 13thEmblem to join the Pantheon of Emblems like Heracles being the 13th deity joining the greek Pantheon of Olympian gods. While their journey isn't over yet, they went through this phase of Apotheosis on chapter 22.

And also, about Alear's weapon. Their first sword is named "Libération" which means freeing while the sword they acquire when defeating Lumera is Wille Glanz meaning Shining will. I think it's also reflecting Alear's developpement : during the entire game they try to free themselves, from Sombron, from dependancy towards their allies etc. And inspire Veyle to free herself since Veyle is the one liberating herself by breaking her helmet. Once Alear reached their freedom after defeating their mother, they gain a sword whose name is reflecting their shining undying will as someone who simply refuses to give up which is echoed in Fiery Bounds

Another thing about Alear is that their name Lueur is likely due to how they and Lumera/Lumière are supposed to be the incarnation of hope in Elyos, but Alear learns to become this symbol as the more they progress and become more independant, brave etc. the more they become inspiring to people. That's the main point I made here being that compared to Lumera, Alear let themselves being seen when they are weak and admit to being weak compared to Lumera who had to put up with a lot of pressure and since their allies are allowed to watch them grow and help them growing, they can actually keep on having faith/hope in Alear, that they will become better, keep their promise etc; while with Lumera the people of Elyos had this very nocive vision that she is perfect flawless and absolute even though she can makes mistakes too and correct them but due to the distorted vision, at the first sign of Lumera being unable to grant their wish, they lost faith in her and choose Sombron instead : this is the case of Mauvier's mother. I wonder if the writers knew it but it's pretty much the relationship believers, especially of abrahamic faith have with God. Described as perfect and all absolute, and all Merciful, believers are always encourage to never lose hope nor abandon it and hope is for them a source of inspiration to become a better person. As opposite to people who let themselves despair as they end up commiting misdeeds which is actually echoed in the myth of Pandora's box : it is when hopes was nowhere to be found that people ended up becoming evil. Most of the people following Sombron are themselves trapped in the past or deseparate, much like Sombron is himself and a fact is that compared to Alear and Lumera, Sombron is a little like the Devil of Elyos as aside from his dark aesthetic he corrupts everything he touches and inspire people in the sense of making them commiting evil deeds (as I point out here too) and long story short but notably in Islam it is believed that the Devil/Shaitan inspire the soul with what is called waswas which causes despair, anguish, troubling the soul and depression. While the intepretation of this element is also found in other faith, one thing about the quranic exegesis is that it links Shaytan with Iblis, which means among other (due to semtic language being overly polysemic) "the desperate one".

I think that to an exten Alear becoming the light is them becoming the hope and incarnating this idea while Sombron is more of the symbol of despair in which he himself his drowned into (man will never stop ripping off Grima). And while I don't adhere to the "Alear is 0th Emblem" theory, I think that Alear becoming the Fire Emblem/light/Hope allowed them to become what Sombron was seeking in Emblem of Foundations : hope, light, salvation.

However, I'd like to point out something : the bad ending. The dragonic time crystal is to an extent also reflecting Alear's will to never give up. This is even more obvious in chapter 26. If you, the player lose but refuse to use the crystal, therefore giving up, it means hope died, despair won, that Alear failed the world and that Sombron won. And it's also something the Fell Xenologue shows to some extent too : to think that there is 2 occurance of Alear failing to save the world and therefore seeing their dreams being unfufilled... is unsettling.

And now on to Alear's memory !!

While in the main story they aren't eager at the idea of seeking to remember, I think it's because Alear doesn't want to remember but doesn't even know it. Let me explain.

Sometimes to protect themselves from trauma as a cope/protective mechanism, victims have memory loss and despite their best efforts or the fact that things feels familiar, there is some sort of screen or protection that prevents their mind from actually recalling what happened to them.

There is several instance showing that Alear have subconsious memory. The game opens on their memory of them fighting Sombron, but it is portrayed as a dream where they don't fight alone and where they actually defeat him and save the world as they used to dream off 1 000 years ago. Marth's ring and the evocation of the battle of 1 000 years ago is familiar, they have a sense of deja vu seeing the dragonic time crystal and other things linked to the Fell dragon universe. When Lumera greets them home in Lythos castle, they answer by a shy "yes... I am home..." with the animation indicating they feel awkward since Lythos castle doesn't ring a bell and it's not their home... their actual home is Gradlon. Lythos is the place they almost died. In both of Lumera's death, Alear ends up talking in hiragana at some point, and it's their past selves who used to talk with this alphabet. In chapter 3, at Lumera's first death, it's the first time they call her mother but in reality, in the jpn dub they call her 母さん/ka-san a much more casual way in jpn to say mother, and comparing to how past Alear calls Sombron, their dead siblings and biological mother using the honorific "sama" which is immediately more formal, it translates Alear's affection for Lumera, their closeness but also that Alear's body and subconsicous DOES remember even if their mind don't allow it to come back because 1 000 ago that's how they used to refer Lumera as and when she meets Alear in chapter 1, Lumera calls herself 母さん because of this, and the fact that this is how Alear ends up calling her as she died when at the begining of the game, they called her 母親, which is much much more formal then 母さん.

And of course the dreams and the Corrupted. In chapter 3, when Alear believes in a most ignorant state that Lumera was always there since their birth, this dream of the past/memory comes back and when played in this scene, this version of chapter 22 cutscene isn't like the prologue where it plays in a romantized manner, in this scene Alear sees themselves in a negative light showing that in their memories they still beared inconsiously guilt for the sins they had commited during their Fell child days and that they will echoes to in the PR support with Rafal although they still admit to Veyle that they don't remember anything from 1 000 so the only memory they end up recorvering is... when they got nearly killed by Sombron (since PR takes place after chapter 22) but that they do have a sense of their own sins regardless. This is also present in the bad ending when they realize they look like how they used to be 1 000 years. But it's not so much because of them despising their fell nature contrary to Veyle ut much more like Rafal what it represents : that they can't be the hero they wished to become and reminind them of their sins. And Alear talking with Tiki mentions how each time they encounter the Corrupted they make nightmare. And since at least 2 of Alear's dream are actually memories, we can deduce that when the Corrupted are there, it triggers Alear's memories and their PTSD, while their consciousness to preserves them as you pointed out, doesn't allow their brain/memory to make the connection until very recently, when Griss drops the nukes. And even then their memories are limited to their first "death" and the sense of them wanting to atone for their fault that were still present to that day.

And I think the dialogue Alear has about turning into a dragon shows that :

そういえば私、竜になれませんね。

母さんは白くて大きな竜に変身していましたが。

竜になる方法も、

忘れているせいなんでしょうか

Come to think of it, I cannot turn into a dragon. Mother had turned into a great white dragon. Is it that I forgot how to turn into a dragon myself ?

The Eng version kind of changed this dialogue, imo because Alear already explained in the early game the only thing they recall is their name means that de facto is implied they don't remember how (though the english version still has them question or not whether they can but it's a bit bizarre), I think it goes along with this whole arc of both Veyle and Alear not being able to turn into dragon due to self loathe. I think Lumera's form doesn't ring a bell to Alear but also that their mind won't allow them to remember their own dragonic form because it's what they associate with having being a bad person. Veyle hates being a Fell dragon as in her nature as Sombron point it out in chapter 18 hence why she got rid of her own dragonstone, and hates everything that reminds her of that which is to say : human loathing her and fell worshipper worshipping her.

Alear doesn't have this rejection of being a fell dragon as is : they perfectly accept Veyle and if you unlock the pact ring with either Nel and Rafal, they are shown to be pretty chill about it. It's even that that allows Nel to feel pround of being a fell dragon since she says how much she feels pround that they are both being of fell blood. Which actually follows with chapter 20 where Alear main preocupation was that their fell nature made them an impostor and useless to save the world, an hindrance to their dream, like how it was 1 000 ago as they whispered dying "it must be the fate of Fell dragons to die... I will not become a virtuous dragon after all" and once Sigurd told them they could still fufill that dream, they resolves to stay. This is made more obvious in chapter 22 as when they vanish after having summoned all the Emblems, they talk about how they wished they could save the world with their friends and you can hear them on the verge of crying

And another element of Alear' suboncious memory is the music. Emblem Engage! and Fiery bounds are all about Alear but a peculiar part of Emblem Engage is often comming back linked to Alear

The end of the opening :

That part of the track is played with piano in the opening, this version is a slight remix. I like it very much since the compostion is trying to emulate the movement of the light, growing slowly in intensity and dancing in the air. This part of the tracks plays as a direct quotations often remixed or with a different instrumental in several track : in the Somniel map, in Memory of Red days, in Dragon' s dream even in the Fell Xenologue, but reversed.

The Corrupted's theme also happen to have slightly remniscent note to that song. The Corrupted theme is here to convey musically Alear's fear. The use of electronic and the rythme creates an unsettling vibes, attempting to deliver the impression delivered by the Corrupted, as Alfred described them " They are things are like people, but cracked, almost crumbling", a cacophonic melody that attempts to recreate the way the Corrupted walks in the game. The mechanical song confered by the use of dubsteps shows how Alear perceived them : as killing machine, which echoes to how they end up in chapter 24 admitting being like them, a tool, a machine, thinking and speaking like a robot.

But another evidence of this is Veyle's theme reusing the bridge of the main theme, the part saying "the red memory burning bright" as Veyle being Alears sister that they meet once still evoked a sense of familiarity and is played for foreshadowing.

And finally one of the thing about Alear that is very similar to Veyle is that they craved affections but hates being treated in a particular way due to their status. Veyle hates being a dragon because of hatred she receives, however she also dislike being worshipped and is very humble, much like Alear who feel very uneasy when they ally treats them this way rather then caring for them and as you pointed out, I think that like Veyle craving for frienship due to loneliness and often forming a sibling bound with character notably Nel and Clanne by the end of their A support, Alear might try to find a friendship similar with their allies to the one they wished they had with their siblings as they express it if they fight Veyle in chapter 24, hence why they feel so awkward when put on a pedestal and also due how they think they don't deserves it, much like how they had decline Lumera's gift in chapter 3. I think it's even more obvious when Alear, polite as they are, speaks very casually with Lumera calling her "ka-san".

I think it's also telling how the only way they could shoehorn give us two other Fell dragon that actually weren't too youg or amnesiac and capable of transforming was by giving us two dragon from another world and unrelated to Alear, with no possiblity to trigger any memory not hint at the past, especially since the Twins don't have any dialogue with AkaLu. There is a real will of wanting to preserve Alear's memory and past to be a secret.

They have one of the best written arc I have seen.

Eh ? what happened ? what did I just wrote ??

A rando's pondering corner about Alear's story and journey

Spoilers for the entire game under the read more.

I don't think Alear ever gets their memory back by the end of the game. and I don't think it should matter either way after really thinking about it.

From the start I've thought of Alear as this person who was really struggling with the reality that they're a divine dragon or something more than an average person. It's because people around them and a woman claiming to their mother put so much faith and care in to them during their 1000 year sleep that Alear feels maybe obliged to at least try and step up to the title after Lumera's death.

I interpreted Alear taking up the mantle not completely because they are a kindhearted person, but because they are weak-willed as a result of complete amnesia. They need to depend on others.

It's kind of like a chick imprinting onto creatures around them, Alear needed others to be their guide as they journeyed around to get the rings back.

I say this because Alfred is suspiciously always close to Alear in seemingly every step of the way. Alfred is special in the story in that he's the only person who has been there from nearly the very beginning of their waking, who seems to have a stronger desire for friendship than servitude towards Alear. Starting from the first big incident in Alear's waking moment, he's there:

Framme, Clanne, and Vander aren't even close to wanting to be platonic with them. And I think it gets even more suspicious when I dig through Alfred's supports. He understands wanting to hide unpleasant things and needing unconditional unquestioning support. Beginning with his C support I can see that he could be trying to help them up in his subtle, aware and conscious Alfred way:

Alfred: But look, isn’t there anything I can do for you? You’ve been awake a while, but it must be hard. Alfred: There’s bound to be a lot you’re still adjusting to. Tell your friend Alfred all about it! Alear: Let me think… Hmm. No, there’s nothing bothering me at the moment. Alfred: Good. Great. But if there is something, well, I want to be the first to know. Alfred: Before you left Lythos, you asked me as a friend to teach you things─to help you adjust. Alfred: And knowing you wanted to be friends just tickled me. Alear: Our friendship makes me happy too, Alfred.

Needless to say he's there and given a few lines in some of the serious scenes as well, like when Alear dies twice in that one chapter. But this ofc extends to a lot of other characters as well, though in Alfred's case their it's about a dude and his dragon deity figuring out how to go forwards with a working friendship.

So, that being the most explicit example out of the way, the other problem with Alear is just... their terrible heroic core for nearly half of the game.

And this is intentional. According to the interview with the devs, they actually overdid this aspect of Alear and Nintendo had to tell them to cut it down:

Though they do get better over the course of the game, they don't learn fast enough to avoid succumbing to their hatred and falling into an obvious trap at Destinea Cathedral.

Marth warns them about charging in blindly, Alear says ok and will keep it in mind even before they stepped foot in. But then their rings gets swiped. Obvious trap is obvious. At this time Alear, lets out a very childish, "Give... Give them back!"

Then Sombron taunts them, turns their emblem evil one by one, and guess what, Alear. Succumbs. To. Hate. (one of the 3 big nonos in buddhism wooooo!!!)

Vander even tells them to retreat, taking a leaf from Marth's wisdom. But Alear doesn't, and tries to claw them back, putting everyone at risk. They escape of course, but this is how weak in mental strength Alear really is up until chapter 11.

Alear at chapter 11 wasn't ready. Heck, Alear at no point prior to 11 was even capable of filling the shoes of the Divine Dragon. It's clear even in their class. They're a Dragon Child.

In fact, I never thought they were really ready until after chapter... I think 25? Yes, I do mean after reaching Solm, after getting all Emblems back, after dying twice and being revived, after being an Emblem, after traveling to the past and only just after Lumera's second death.

In fact about the time travel thing: I humbly think, and argue, that there was no need to time travel at all if the writers intended to have Alear recover their memory in the first place.

Now, Marth's stance on Alear's memory seems to be 'ignorance is bliss', and it is. When the past is revealed by their past self, it sounds horrible. From the sounds of it, past Alear was messed up from watching countless of their siblings die in many terrible ways, including being fed to the Corrupted, and themself being nothing more than a tool for mass slaughter. So messed up that when past Alear expresses how they really don't want to kill Lumera, they just... break.

Their "Defect. Defect. Defect. Defect." line is very telling that if current Alear regains their memory, the trauma might come back with a vengeance that not even Veyle might be able to help.

Alear doesn't seem too keen in recovering that part of their memory either, and they have gotten enough information out of the people around them who has kept history alive.

In fact, speaking to any units after it's revealed that Alear was originally a Fell Dragon, many of them outright say that they do not care for Alear's past as a Fell Dragon, that only their present self matters. That their current efforts matters more than their past.

Which, if the writers then said Alear regained their memories, this whole segment would really be rendered moot, wouldn't it?

This is also fun in that it's about interdependence if you think about it. Alear has given his former enemies (All Elusians, Mauvier, Veyle Lindon! Lesser extent: Alcryst, Yunaka) forgiveness, and chose to judge them base on their actions after working together. They... pretty much returns this sentiment in kind!

Amazing! Wow! Beautiful!

(also guess what, interdependence is a big thing in buddhism whoooo)

About Lumera's Second Death

To recap: Veyle attempted to stop Alear from meeting Corrupted Lumera. I mentioned that Alear was not ready for the longest time, even after getting revived as an Emblem, but was the trial Alear had to face. They cry about it as the fight begins, recognizing that there's no path but forwards with a sword through Corrupted Lumera's chest or something.

They do say hope is defiant and marred with scars and pain and all that. I think it's really at this point that I start to think, ah yes, Alear is now really gritting their teeth and walking forward no matter how much it hurts. Alear is ready.

It's only by finally being mentally strong enough, by finally being heroic enough, that Alear could get the closure they needed.

And again, this is another reason why I don't think regaining their memory is a service to Alear's character. There just isn't a need from a writing pov, or from a characterization pov at this point.

And so, Alear & co returns to the Somniel, to face Sombron

I rambled this in another post, but Sombron is really the complete opposite of Alear.

Sombron, when I take a step back and think about it, is just about the most pathetic character I've seen in any video game, and I mean it in terms of his character.

When people attempted to lend a helping hand after he arrives in Elyos, Sombron rejects it and even kills them.

When his followers worshiped him, he actively takes advantage of them if it benefited, and does not seem to care for them. He never helps anyone at all, only ever using everyone as tools. Others may have supported him, but he never supports them back.

In the end, there was only one humanistic about him, which is his longing for the one friend dead in the past. He doesn't move on, and he doesn't even have some egotistical grand ideology like 99% villains out there worth rallying behind.

Sombron even argues that letting him go off into space would be beneficial to Elyos, because he's actually not interested in ruling. He just wants to find a copy of his long dead idol, who won't even be the same, having not experienced the same thing as his emblem.

And Sombron still wants to do it regardless! From the sounds of it, it seems like he didn't even understand or formed a proper connection with that Emblem either. Alear had to highlight the possibility that the Foundation Emblem was protecting him rather than just showing off how strong they were just to drive this point home.

And even then... It looks like Sombron learns nothing in the end. Doesn't even bother.

Truly, the most pathetic villain.

And it's... great! Because it mirrors off Alear so well that I have to clap my hands and go 'eee!' at how good the good dragon is.

Sombron craves and strives for true independence, whereas Alear has achieved interdependence.

And I think that is just about the neatest thing from Fire Emblem Engage's simple yet enjoyable storytelling. I really like Alear's hero journey and the whole premise of it, and the performance that their VA in both JP and EN brings in. Also Alfred, who is just good.

Imo, Engage hits everything for me. I think I'll come back to this one a lot in the future. Everyone who worked on this game has my love and appreciation.

[synthetic-ultramarine]

Why You Need To Stop Sharing Twitter Threads By Twitter User “The Cultural Tutor”

Point One: Twitter User “The Cultural Tutor” Is A Fascist. Aside from the dogwhistles that are all over the way he speaks and presents himself, if you look at his following list, mixed in among accounts like “Pretty Architecture Photos Daily” are a bunch of conservative christian accounts and people who openly identify as “reactionary” and “traditionalist”. People like this.

I guess some people haven’t recognized him as a fascist because his tone is never overtly vicious or vitriolic. He makes no open calls for violence or repression. The tone he affects is not mad, it’s just disappointed. You need to realize: he’s doing this on purpose, to win people over and convince them to believe these reactionary “old good, new bad” ideas. I have no idea what’s in that newsletter he keeps telling people to sign up for, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it contained more overt fascist ideas. This post is absolutely right in saying the purpose of this account is “sanitizing reactionary views on art and culture.“

Recently he made a “great architecture of history” thread. I don’t want to platform him by linking to him - that’s also why i blocked out the handles of those guys up there -  so I’ll just summarize; It’s entirely composed of pretty, clickable photos of famous pre-20th-century architecture from around the world. I think it’s worth noting, however, that he doesn’t use any synagogues as examples of beautiful architecture in this thread, and based on my searches he’s never done so anywhere else. Look at the kind of people he follows and tell me that’s an accident.

Said searches did, however, show him take a page from Pewdiepie’s book and recommend Yukio Mishima without any context about the guy’s life and politics. 

I think the fact that this guy is a conservative is pretty obvious, but I still see his “old good, new bad” threads reposted on my dashboard. Right now, fascism is even more ascendant in the USA than it was in 2016. Why is your guard down at a time like this, when we are in such serious danger? Do better.

Point Two: Because Twitter User “The Cultural Tutor” Is A Fascist, The Information He Is Distributing About The History Of Art And Design Is Incomplete And Incorrect.  He makes informational threads about renaissance artists and designers, but never “modern” ones. I put modern in quotes here because he makes no distinction between modern, postmodern, and contemporary. That’s important! He perpetuates myths about art and design; sometimes he even tells outright lies about the subjects he’s discussing. He writes about “modern” art and design as if it has no history, philosophy, intent, or humanity, as if it just manifested one day. He never mentions Frank Lloyd Wright or Le Corbusier, and certainly never mentions the Bauhaus and what the nazis did to them. Acknowledging Wright would mean acknowledging his nature-inspired buildings and his stained glass designs, and those facts are rather inconvenient when you’re trying to claim that “modern architecture doesn’t care about beautiful things like stained glass or nature.”

He never acknowledges the existence of Art Deco, because as a distinctively 20th century design movement that many people find beautiful, it doesn’t fit the “old good, new bad” narrative he’s trying to sell.

He won’t shut up about classical music, but he never talks about jazz.

He never acknowledges Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia cathedral because if he did he couldn’t keep claiming that nobody builds beautiful churches anymore.

In one thread, he made the false claim that skyscrapers have no philosophy. That’s a lie, and it erases decades of 20th century design history.

people seem to mistake his threads for anti-capitalist critique, but there is no critique of capitalism in them, just “old good, new bad” over and over again. He often decries the kind of ugly cheap buildings that gentrifiers build, but as I previously noted, he never acknowledges that gentrification is responsible. 

He also perpetuates the myth that all old buildings are well-made; I know that’s not true. I live in an area where there are a lot of 18th and 19th century buildings. A person I know very well works in one of the blue-collar trades that keeps buildings livable - for privacy I won’t say specifically whether its plumbing or heating or HVAC or electrical, but it’s that type of thing. This person has decades of experience working on historic buildings, and on many occasions they’ve worked on buildings that have wikipedia pages. I asked them for a quote on this myth and what they said was “absolutely, a lot of historical buildings are very poorly made, and it’s a huge financial decision to decide to maintain them anyway.” There can be a million problems with a beautiful old building that can make its continued use too dangerous, too expensive, or both. It might be falling apart because the people who designed it didn’t know physics, it might be difficult to adapt to modern heating and cooling systems. it might have a floor plan that would make it a death trap in the event of a fire. The list goes on. The Cultural Tutor would have you believe that every time an old building gets replaced it’s an attack on truth and beauty, but the reality is there are dozens of legitimate and necessary reasons that can happen.

There are more flaws I could point out in this guy’s warped, cherry-picked version of art history. Suffice to say: don’t believe or share anything he says.

[bad-hellaverse-ideas]

I’m trying to take a break from interacting with the fandom but I really had to get this theory out.

Another user was talking about how long “Hell years” could possibly be, and it’s an interesting question. However, they came to a VERY different conclusion than I did. They took evidence from king Solomon that it had to be 118 earth years.

Personally I don’t like using old texts as my main evidence since we’ve seen multiple times that Vizie changes things from them. I don’t find it to reliable enough to use. I use it for inspiration at most. Just because something happened in mythology, doesn’t mean it happened in this universe. Every adaptation is like that. Not saying others can’t use that stuff, it’s just not my style. So I will strictly be looking at the show itself and the Hazbin Hotel pilot.

First up, let’s make a few things clear:

Many cultures have their own calendars systems. It is possible that Hell years might be something similar to that since the original inhabitants probably had their own system before sinners started appearing.

Sinners probably still use their old system, and as such, both Earth and Hell years are common and valid forms of keeping track of dates in this world.

I believe Hell’s technology growth mimics Earth’s. While the other theory countered this with the fact that it could be the other way around, it’s just headcanon based and I will be following my own headcanons until proven otherwise. I also have a counter to this in one of my upcoming points. Besides, with all the sinners coming down, especially with their spot on the higherarchy, it just makes sense to me that they have an influence on Hell’s culture.

This isn’t me trying to go “grrr other theory bad!” No, I just got the idea from it, and I like discussing theories. I actually really enjoy that person’s blog and if anything this is mostly me having fun and wanting to spark discussion.

Alright, let’s get to it!

The clock tower

While pilots are often changed, I don’t think the lore will change that much so I still think it’s worth bringing up.

Either this shows that Earth years are a common system down there. I don’t think exterminations would be following Hell years if they are longer. With population control, they don’t wanna wait too long otherwise that would give them more work. However, IF, by the chance that they are following Hell years…this just confirms it’s the same as ours and “Hell Years” is just a title that refers to what marks a year in Hell since it ain’t rotation around the sun…which would mark this post as completely useless. Still, it is the only thing we see referencing a year, and thus, it’s worth noting either way.

Loona’s adoption

Two points come from this one: her age, and the photo. Let’s talk about her age first, since her age was referred to as “hell years” outside of the show.

Loona mentions she was almost 18 or something when Blitzo adopted her. Meaning this picture would be set a few hell years back. Now, notice how this picture has color. If he’ll years lasted an exceedingly long time, it would either be in black and white or there would be no picture at all. Meaning, Loona had to grow up in modern times.

Alastor’s manifestation and influence

To quote Vaggie: “Decades ago, Alastor manifested in Hell”

It’s unknown if she’s using Earth time or Hell time, BUT we do get evidence that Hell’s tech mimics ours.

Alastor was a radio host in the 1920s-early 30’s. When he came down, that radio trend was still alive and very popular. Like Vox, he took over the radio. The point of reflection to our world comes in once you consider their rivalry. Alastor is old school technology, he had his day, but Vox came around once TV hit and radio was left in the dust. I mean it’s all about video killed the radio star with them.

If Hell’s technically was ahead of us, why would this happen? Why is it that radio was popular down there at the same time it was on earth? Why would TV blow radio out of the water when going on that logic, it would probably already exist? That would really throw a wrench into their plot line and narrative.

A glimpse into the 1950’s

In Alastor’s official comic, it’s the earliest we’ve seen of Pentagram City. One thing I wanna note, I believe that some sinners like to hold onto the past, so no matter what year it is, there will be people with old fashioned clothing, objects, etc. But we do know this comic AT LEAST takes place in the 1950s because that’s when Vox came to Hell and to power.

If Hell’s tech didn’t mimic ours, I find it odd how things that fit the 50’s, and nothing like cell phones and crap that we see throughout the show. Even the only car we see is an old model

I don’t think this is a 50’s car. I don’t know shit about cars but the wheels don’t look 50s to me, it look more 40’s or 30’s, maybe earlier. BUT, this car isn’t modern, and in a society that advances way before ours…it’s just odd that we don’t see any of it.

Young Charlie picture

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the look and aesthetic of Stolas’s childhood. It looked the same way it does in the show, as to be expected from the childhood of someone in their 30’s.

Charlie is over 100, I think 200?? While there are what looks like to be paintings, there is what looks like a photograph.

All dressed up and ready for the titanic. This is clearly a very old picture, based on both the Edwardian clothing and colors. This makes sense considering how old Charlie is, she would’ve been a kid back in these days. That, and we know for fact she’s older than Stolas. Her aging is clearly slower than his (though I have no doubt Stolas could live to be very old. He just ages faster)

And honestly I’d just be repeating my previous points I made in the last two sections.

So, what do I think?

I still think Hell Years are different than Earth years. There’s no way I can narrow down to an exact length, BUT I don’t think Hell years are absurdly long or short. They’re different, but not completely unfamiliar, much like calendars in other cultures, or years on planets like Mars or Venus.

So, really this post is just me speculating and talking about things that caught my interest. I hope Vizie tells us eventually. I also hope this inspires everyone to come up with their own takes and headcanons.

[delicrieux]

☆ﾐ 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢 “𝚘𝚑”

PART 10: BIG DICK IS BACK IN TOWN

y/n is back in brooklyn for the holidays. thinking that a stream will make her feel less homesick for cali, she starts working on her famously titled hentai.free.srv. what was supposed to be a relaxing stream turns into a special delivery about two hours in.

─── corpse husband x reader ─── soc. media + written fiction! ─── word count: 2.2k ─── ❥ req: Here's one... You know those apps for delivery like Domino's or whatnot... What if reader is streaming Among Us with Corpse, and reader mentions they're hungry and Corpse offers to order them food, and readers like no no it's fine... Then there's delivery at the door (Corpse ordered beforehand) 

author’s note: fucky format is also back in town baby!!! also if you find any mistakes - no u didnt <3 thank u everyone for enjoying this story sm i literally cant believe how feral yall going strawberry cow was a nuclear explosion im still recovering tbh. got an ask a while ago and decided to incorporate it into myso. happy holidays everyone! myso will continue on monday!

ultimate masterlist.  ҉  myso masterlist   ҉   previous.  ҉   next.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

Indeed, being soft on any social media platform was the biggest disgrace and needed to be eliminated post haste. Moreover, it was a slippery slope - once you start flooding your timeline with cute imagery and heart emojis, what will stop you from posting inspirational Facebook quotes? Disgusting. If Rae were here, she would chide you (not you thinking about her as if she’s dead or something). For once in your life, you feel like you deserve it. 

Alas, you hope this little chaos you’ve caused is enough to throw everyone off. The stans, especially. You know the hashtags, you’ve seen ARMY scourging for info online with the same fervor and ruthlessness 1 Direction fans hacked airport security cameras just to spy on the boys. If you had any dirty secrets online, they are out to the public now - thankfully, besides the Harry Styles stan account (with edits and all), you have nothing. Though, now that you think about it, exposed nudes would have been better than your Punk!Harry edit receiving almost a million views. God, your life’s a fucking mess.

Your fans aren’t the only ones out for info - you, too, are trying to decipher Rae’s message. Code: Barbecue Sauce. The two of you had come up with it roughly two years ago, around the same time when you promised that if you didn’t find significant others by the time you’re 40, you’ll just marry each other. It was one of the many rules found in your friendship codex. Barbecue Sauce signifies information - an exchange of information. And depending on how it ends or begins (”So I’m sitting there” alludes to Rae, “On my titties” alludes to you), secret data on that person is given away, usually free of charge. 

But why? And to whom did Rae give away what? You had pestered her mercilessly and even sent some voice messages where you were crying. You were only crying because of a video of a grandpa smiling you saw on TikTok, but you are a snake, and so you put those tears to good use. If streaming doesn’t work out, you’ll just become an actress. Hollywood would love you. Your PR firm sure as fuck wouldn’t, though.

Rae was having none of it. She said you’ll figure it out eventually. Told you to channel your superior puzzle skills. You were quick to remind her that you can barely count to ten without having an aneurysm. Oddly serious, she admitted that she worries for you sometimes. Why only sometimes?! you demanded. She merely sighed. uttering under her breath something that sounded closely to “Boke.”

You leave her for barely a week and she’s already neck deep in the gay volleyball anime, hoodie and cardboard cutout and everything. Your life is falling apart.

But Brooklyn is nice. It had snowed when you stepped off of the plane. Thousands of snowflakes sprinkling into your hair, dotting your cheeks and nose. You missed this sight back in Cali. You missed your parents, too. 

Home cooked meals, old sweaters, your old room and about 40GB worth of old high school pictures on your computer. You went through them all one night. Some were stomach churning, cringe inducing nightmares. You were especially fond of those. Texted some of your friends that were still in Brooklyn, met up, decided to bake. Bad idea, Rae was the resident chef back in Cali. Besides laughing till your stomach hurt, and almost burning down your kitchen, nothing all that significant happened. Somewhere down the line, at about 3 am, half-way through a cheesy rom-com you had the overwhelming urge to text Corpse.

That’s where the problems really started. God, you missed California, missed being in the same timezone with a guy you hadn’t even met yet, how embarrassing is that?! You missed skating around and taking pictures of the beach in the setting sun, sending it to him, silently wishing he was with you to admire the view. 

You really want to call him. And to hang out with him. But for some reason, the thought of that springs up immediate anxiety and you shy away from asking. Him sending you cute good morning texts doesn’t help, either. Maybe it’s better he doesn’t know that you’re a blushing, stuttering mess each time you read “baby”. 

Late evening. Your stream is already set up, people are slowly trickling in and you greet them with a grin and a soft “Hello! Hi hi!”. You did your best to make your room a perfectly chaotic backdrop - led lights, an embarrassing amount of anime merch and plushies. You always try to balance out your weeb side by dressing hot as fuck for your streams - today’s inspiration just so happens to be egirls. Mostly because you watched one too many egirl make-up tutorials on TikTok, and also because you’ve been listening to Corpse’s song all day.

Yeah, no, who are you kidding, you dressed up this way because you were hoping Corpse was watching your stream. You didn’t forget your cat headphones, either. You know he likes them. You want to make him suffer. Perhaps then, finally, he will ask you out, so you wouldn’t have to.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

“I feel like,” You start when you put away your phone, staring idly at the chat, “I feel like I need a new name for you guys. Calling you guys after two years of streaming is just... weird, no? I also don’t respect men so I don’t want to call you guys. Like, so many creator’s have, like, a name for their fans. Uhm, Cody Ko has the chodesters, Kurtis Conner has, uh, folks? Kurtis Town? Citizens! Markiplier has mommy issues--” You can’t help snorting, “So, I’ve been, like, thinking - I know, shocking! - so I was thinking I’m gonna name you cockroaches. Because you’re grimy little shits impossible to kill. And also then I can use the legendary Minaj meme ROACHES!”

Your stream enthusiastically echoes ROACHES, making the chat swim. Yes, if anyone would enjoy such a name, it would be your audience. You’re as equally proud as you are disturbed.

“Well, anyway.” Leaning back into your chair, you throw your arms out with a bright grin, “Big dick is back in town, baby! If you noticed the backdrops different, it’s cuz I’m in Brooklyn now. Don’t ask me when I will return to Always Sunny, I don’t plan that far ahead.”

While Minecraft boots up, you decide to answer a few questions.

r u dating sykkuno?

You want to smack your head into the keyboard, but as it is, you can’t exactly afford a new one, so you refrain, “No, Sykkuno and I are not dating, we are just good friends. Uhm, I’m not sure how much I’ll have to repeat this, but, we really aren’t, so if the roaches could chill - Oh my God, that sounds so stupid, I love it - uh, yeah, if the roaches could chill that’d be great.”

the roaches lmao sounds like we’re a sports team

“Oh shit, yeah it does, uh-- maybe I can make like, jerseys or something. That’d be cool, I think.”

how disappointed are your parents with the way your life turned out?

“My parents are actually not disappointed at all!” You say with a cute little smile, “Uhm, they’re both really proud, actually. They’re glad I found something I love doing and made a job outta it. Dad finds my Youtube videos endearing. Yes, they watch pretty much all of my videos, unless I explicitly tell them not to. And yeah, with all the fucks and thirsting for anime characters. Uhm, it was very embarrassing at first, but I mean, after a while, shame just...doesn’t exist anymore, I guess? Funny thing about my parents, actually, when they watch my videos-” You eye catches a comment, “Oh! No, they only watch my Youtube videos. They don’t know how to use Twitter, thank God. Uhm, anyway-- when they hear a name they don’t know, like, I dunno, Dabi, or something, they google--” You’re grinning by now, eyes crinkling, giggling softly, “--who that is, and buy me like, merch and stuff. It’s really cute. 

can i be adopted by ur parents plz

will you and corpse ever collab?!

You were about to answer, though the man of the hour himself decides to do it for you.

Corpse_Husband: yes.

Okay, not to say your heart skipped a beat, but it totally did. With a pleased smile, you nod, like one of those bobble head toys sold at the dollar store. The motion is oddly reminiscent of Sykkuno’s own nod. Perhaps you had picked it up from him. The chat seems to notice.

pack it up, sykkuno

More questions pile about this mysterious collab you and Corpse are planning. Yeah, you’d like to hear more about it, too, since he single highhandedly decided one was happening right now. Corpse remains silent. Fine, keep your secrets. 

“Okay, guys, oh, I mean, roaches, Oh my God--” You’re covering your mouth, giggling, “-calling all roaches, calling all roaches, calm down. Everyone grab a snack and a blanket I’m turning up the music volume so we can all chill. Entering chill zone. Entering chill zone. Roaches, prepare.”

we are prepared

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

An hour or so passes and you grow hungry. It shows with the amount of cakes you had baked in your server. Currently, you find yourself throwing eggs at the wall of one of the renovated houses, your face scrunched in concentration and slight frustration. 24 of the 50 eggs have been wasted. “What’s a girl gotta do to get some chicks around here?” you had uttered under your breath, until, finally, a screech - the egg finally spawns a mob. Your mouth falls open, “Aww, look!” You approach it, so small, walking in zigzags beside you, “It’s a baby chicken! Die, bitch.” The baby chicken is no more as you swing your bedazzled (you have mods) diamond sword. You’re cackling by the time the dust settles.

y/n is a child murderer

“Roaches,” You address your fan-base, spurring another fit of laughter - you can’t get over the name, “I think I’m like, forgetting that eating in Minecraft won’t actually make less hungry in real life.”

take a break and go eat queen <3

“Fuck no, we starve and die like men. Now I actually really need another chicken.”

Another twenty minutes trickle by and you’re trying to lure back a panda from the jungle when there’s a knock on your bedroom’s door. Whipping your head to the side, you slide down your headphones. At the same time, your mom pokes her head through the ajar door, “MOM!” You scream, “Get OUT of my room I’m playing Minecraft!” But your yell has no actual bite to it, as you don’t manage to hide your smile. Your mom laughs, doing some sort of sign language and motioning for you to follow her with her head. That or it’s some sort of performative dance. 

“I’m live right now,” You tell her, pointing at your screen. She knows this already, though, “do you want to say hi?” 

The roaches spam the chat with friendly hellos. You mom, quite impatient now, waves you over. 

“Sorry, roaches, mom needs something. Be back in a bit!”

Stopping the stream, you rush out of your seat and pleased she slinks into the hallway. “What’s this about?”

“Your pizza came.”

“My what now?” You echo, confused.

“Domino’s. You ordered pizza?”

“What? No? I was busy with the stream, I never--”

Thankfully, you had managed to grab your phone from your room before you exited. You almost choke on spit once you read the messages.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

You decide that it’ll be impossible to stream after experiencing what you had just experienced. You tweet out a quick apology to the roaches (God, that fucking name) and say that you had a breakdown but you’re okay. That is as a close to the truth as you managed to muster. It’s a sad sight, chewing and crying; your mom winced when she saw your state - disheveled hair and rundown eyeliner and everything. “D’aww,” She had muttered, caressing the top of your head, “don’t cry my little raccoon.”

If anyone was ever to ask you where did your chaotic nature come from, you’d answer with my mom. To make yourself feel better, you took a selfie - duck face and peace sign and the horrible 2000′s angle. Sent it to Rae. 

looking hot, her message read. 

thanks, was all you replied with.

You couldn’t just leave things as they were. Once you calmed down, you wanted to text Corpse, but how would you follow up the ungodly caps lock and screeching? Impossible. An idea sprung to mind, one that was brave. Taking the first step.

Instead of sending a text, you sent a voice memo.

“Thank you for the pizza, it was delicious.”

You voice still sounded a bit raspy. His reply was instant. Your heart skipped a beat. He sent a voice memo back.

“Glad you liked it, baby.”

He was going to be the death of you.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

tags (in italics is those i couldn’t tag! make sure all’s ok w your settings!) : @littlebabysandboxburritos - @fairywriter-oracle - @tsukishimawh0re - @ofstarsanddreams - @bbecc-a - @annshit - @leahh19 - @letsloveimagines - @bellomi-clarke - @wineandionysus - @guiltydols - @onephootinfrontoftheother - @liamakorn - @thirstyfangirl - @lilysdaydreams - @pan-ini - @mxqicshxp - @tanchosanke - @yoshinorecommends - @flightsandfantasy - @liljennyx3 - @slashersdream - @unknown-and-invisible - @sinister-sleep - @fivedicksinatrenchcoat - @mercury–moon - @peterparkerspjsuit - @unstableye - @simonsbluee - @shinyshimaagain - @ppopty - @siriuslystupid - @crapimahuman - @ofthedewthesunlight - @mythicalamphitrite - @artsyally - @corpsesimpp - @corpsewhitetee - @corpse-husbandsimp - @hyp-oh-critical - @roses-and-grasses - @rhyrhy462 - @sparklylandflaplawyer - @charbkgo - @airwaveee - @creativedogs - @kaitlyn2907 - @loxbbg - @afuckingunicornn - @fleurmoon - @yeolliedokai - @truly-dionysus - @multi-fandom-central707

more tags are in the comments bcs tumblr only allows me to tag 50 people max 💙

[gracedcoup]

quick meta post bc i am Thinking about the new characters I said “quick” when I started writing this but it’s gotten way too long to qualify as that anymore. Anyway here’s a look at the figures that inspired/may have inspired the new students + some predictions about what they’ll be like. I’m excited dude

(slight spoilers but nothing major)

THIRTEEN

✧ Solomon mentions that he’s known her for a long time, and that she makes some “interesting traps” – it’s possible she’s attempted to use said traps on him. It’s unknown what sort of relationship the two of them have. Seeing as Solomon competes in various ‘games’ for his soul with the only other Reaper we’ve seen thus far, they may have something akin to a rivalry going on.

✧ Based on her pose and what we can see of her expression, Thirteen seems like she’ll have an upbeat or otherwise energetic personality.

✧ Since Obey Me! is a Japanese game, it’s possible that Thirteen may be based more on shinigami than on the Western concept of the Grim Reaper.

Thirteen may also wind up bearing similarities to Izanami, a major figure in Shinto (and wider Japanese) mythology who is heavily linked to death. Despite pursuing her to the land of the dead (Yomi-no-Kuni) to bring her back, Izanami’s husband Izanagi abandoned her and sealed off the entrance to the land of the living after he saw that she had become a uhhhh rotting corpse. Screaming at him from behind the barrier, Izanami swore to take the lives of a thousand people every day.

tl;dr i don’t really expect it to go this way but also i am not above the cheesy “learning to love again after a lousy ex” trope

✧ Unfortunately there’s only so much analysis I can do here in comparison to the others, since “Grim Reaper” isn’t exactly a specific literary or mythological figure.

MEPHISTOPHELES

the man LIVES

✧ His currently-known ‘crimes’ consist of falsifying ballots in the popularity contest to put himself at 10th place (and Mammon at 1st), helping design the Prince Lucifer and Princess Diavolo chat stickers, and iirc using the official RAD Newspaper Club account to message said stickers to students.

✧ Diavolo mentions that Mephistopheles has a younger brother whom he dotes on. Considering that the character of Mephistopheles is most frequently associated with that of Faust when it comes to popular media, the younger brother could very well be based on Faust. (That is, assuming we get any info about the little brother other than that he exists.)

✧ In Faustian legend, Mephistopheles acts as the middleman between Faust and the Devil when Faust goes to trade his soul for knowledge. Working for the Devil is, in fact, Mephistopheles’ personal hell. He warns Faust against going through with the trade, lamenting that he himself will never again experience the comforts and joys of heaven. Mephistopheles is noted as not looking to corrupt humans, but instead appears to people who are already corrupt.

✧ In Goethe’s version of the legend, Mephistopheles displays a tendency for dark humor. Faust asks if God only wants his soul to stay out of hell for the sake of adding it to His kingdom; Mephistopheles replies that misery loves company (Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris, “It is a comfort to the wretched to have companions in misery”). Mephistopheles also states that if he weren’t already a devil, he’d give himself up to the Devil without a second thought.

(Other hit lines include variations of “I think you’ll find that most people would rather not die” and “humans cause so many problems for themselves that I almost feel bad about making things worse for them”)

✧ Something worth pointing out is that although Mephistopheles is quoted as serving Lucifer in the legend, Lucifer in the legend is meant to be the Devil, ruler of hell, top of the hierarchy, all that jazz. There’s some disconnect between the legend and the game on that front, since the Demon King and Diavolo are the rulers of the Devildom, not Lucifer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucifer tries to keep Mephistopheles on a short leash tho, especially considering Mephisto’s apparent mischievous streak.

✧ Whether or not his cane serves as a mobility device or if it’s just for aesthetic is unclear. I would LIKE it to be a mobility device and for it to be actually acknowledged as such, but I’m not about to get my hopes up bc uhhhh y’know. My personal experience witnessing disability be treated as taboo in media.

✧ long story short i cannot wait to help this man raise lucifer’s blood pressure by an unhealthy amount

(Raphael’s segment is under the cut – featuring in three different religions means there’s a lot to say about the dude, and this post is already pretty long)

RAPHAEL

✧ Belphegor states that Raphael is a meticulous, methodical angel who takes care of Michael’s requests regardless of how unreasonable they are. Raphael frequently appears sullen, to the point that he gets referred to as being like a demon in disguise; this may very well be a result of working for Michael, who even Simeon has expressed exasperation with.

✧ Raphael was, and likely still is, on bad terms with the 6 demon bros who were formerly angels. Whether or not he’ll get along with Satan is up for debate, but it’s unlikely considering the apparent state of anti-demon bias in the Celestial Realm (read: hating demons on principle).

✧ In both Judaism and Christianity, Raphael is associated with healing.

In the Book of Tobit (Judaism), Raphael used a fish to bind Asmodeus (who was a demon by then) and heal Tobit’s eyes. This probably won’t be referenced, but I’m interested in how the writers would explain it lmao. His name comes from a Hebrew root word meaning “to heal.”

In the New Testament (Christianity), Raphael is identified as the (unnamed) angel in John 5:1-4 who is tasked with periodically stirring the Pool of Bethesda. He is considered the patron saint of multiple things, including (but not limited to) healing, medical workers, pharmacists, happy meetings, eye disease/blindness, and travelers. Though he’s invoked to protect travelers in general, in Catholic Europe he was most frequently invoked to protect sailors.

Raphael is often depicted with a staff or walking stick in Catholic art. Iirc, someone (I think Leviathan?) said that he had his spear with him when he went looking to scold Asmodeus for sneaking out to go to a party; the spear may be a reference to this.

✧ In Islam, Raphael (or Israfil, rather) is heavily linked to music. Israfil is meant to sound the trumpet that signals the Day of Resurrection. He is considered a master of music, and as such sings praise to God in a thousand different languages. It’s possible that he is the technically highest-ranked amongst angels, as he acts as mediator between God and the other archangels.

Also in Islam, Israfil is cited as having four wings and being tall enough to reach from earth to heaven. Thus far Lucifer is the only Obey Me! character to be shown as having wings in his angel form, so we probably won’t get to see Raphael’s wings even if he supposedly has them. Raphael is also noticeably shorter than Mephistopheles in the new student lineup.

✧ Given his apparent attitude, work ethic, and possible predilection for music, he may wind up being very similar to Lucifer. He appears to have white or light-gray hair, which combined with skintone means he may physically resemble Mammon. Considering his association with sailors, it could be interesting to see how he interacts with Leviathan, since Levi is Grand Admiral of Hell’s Navy.

✧ Judging by his silhouette and the small bit that’s been revealed, he appears to be wearing a half-turban or similar head wrap. In Japanese media, this is apparently a popular accessory to use on characters with Arabic or pseudo-Arabic origins – a couple examples are Kalim Al-Asim (Twisted Wonderland) and Claude/Khalid von Riegan (Fire Emblem: Three Houses).

[maxwell-grant]

You have done an (excelent) post on how to reinvent Batman as a Pulp Hero. Do you think you could do one to Superman as well? Or do you think it is impossible to do this with the progenitor of the Super Hero genre without transforming him in a totaly diferent character?

Well, you saying it as impossible only makes it seem ever more tempting of a challenge, but yes, it is a bit harder. I'm gonna link my Batman post here as a reference point.

Partially because Batman's a franchise I've thought extensively about for a long time in regards to what I like about it or how I'd like to approach if given the opportunity, which is not something I can really say for Superman until more recently the Big Blue to start orbiting my brain. I don't have years worth of redesigns or fan concepts saved on my galleries and files to comb through to pick and choose here, and my experience with Superman as a character is considerably different, in some aspects more deeply personal, and not really something I'd like to go into in this blog, at least not now.

Part of the reason why it's harder is also because Batman and Superman have very different relationships with their pulp inspirations. Batman was, ostensibly, a pulp character adapted to comics, a dime-a-dozen Shadow knock-off who picked up and played up diverging traits from other characters and gradually ran with them to gradually forge a unique identity. Superman right from the start was rooted in a much stronger conceptual underpinning: the Sci-Fi Superman and Alien Menace who, instead of being a tragic monster or a tyrannical villain, becomes a costumed adventurer and social crusader. Even the name Super-Man was taken from an early story of Siegel and Shuster about a telepathic villain who ends the story lamenting that he should have used his powers for the good of mankind instead of selfishness. I hesitate to call what Siegel and Shuster were doing “subversive” because that term's picked up a real negative connotation, and it's not like Siegel and Shuster were out to upend their influences (they were pulp aficionados themselves), but rather putting a more positive, new spin on them.

Which is why it also becomes a bit harder to do what I did with Batman and align Superman with some of his pulp-esque inspirations, like John Carter, Flash Gordon or Hugo Danner, without just making it "Superman but he's John Carter", "Superman but it's Flash Gordon", and "Iron Munro / Superman but everything sucks" respectively. It's harder to create a character that wouldn't feel reduntant and derivative at best, and actively contradictory to Superman at worst.

I guess if I had to come up with a "Pulp Hero Superman" take I liked, well first of all I'd have to take steps to distance it from the likes of Tom Strong or Al Ewing's Doc Thunder, those two are as good as it gets in regards to Pulp Supermen. I stipulated for Batman a "No Guns, No Murder, No Service" policy partially to distance my takes on Batman from all the "Pulp Batmen" that just add guns and murder and take Batman back to the barest of basics. Likewise, I'm adding a "No Depowered Science Hero" rule here, which means it's a take that's likely going to veer off a lot more into fantasy and probably enough tampering with Clark's character that it does risk becoming a different character.

Frankly I don't think I'm gonna succeed at doing these without just making it a new character entirely, because with Batman you can get away with just upending the character's aesthetic and setting and even origin and still keep it recognizably Bruce Wayne (in fact Batman does that all the time), which isn't really the case with Superman, who needs those to remain recognizably Superman as he goes through internal changes and character shifts. I guess what I'm gonna do here is more taking the building blocks of Superman/Clark Kent and see a couple new ways I can rearrange them to create a Pulp Superman

Perhaps something we can do is to scale back or recontextualize the "superhero" parts without diminishing Superman's role as a superpowered fantasy character.

One way we can start is by picking on that connection between Superman and the sci-fi supermen/alien monsters of pulps I mentioned earlier and play it up further, to create a Superman who's deeply, deeply alien in a way that no mild-mannered disguise or colorful outfit can really disguise, something so dramatically powerful and alien, that instead you could get tales about the kinds of ensuing changes and ripple effects this has on the world upon the The Super-Man's arrival. And for that I'm gonna have to quote @davidmann95's concept for Joshua Viers' absolutely stunning Superman redesign on the left side of the image above

The red, the goldish-orange and white, the alienness, the angelic, sculpted feeling, the halo, that innocently curious expression: it’s genuinely beautiful. Superman as a redeeming science-angel from beyond our understanding, as much past the uncanny valley of limited human comprehension as a Lovecraftian monster but tuned to the opposite key - you could spend an endless procession of human lifetimes trying and failing to understand this being, but all you’ll ever know for sure is that it is beyond you, and it knows you, and it loves you.

Superdoomsday from Earth 45, healed and transformed into the savior it was originally envisioned as? Some descendant of his, or a future of the man himself? An alien who picked up on a broadcast of Superman from Earth, and so inspired reshaped itself in his image to spread his ‘gospel’ to the stars?

Alternatively, to come back to Earth a little, many, many pulp characters and series were built off the antics and personalities of real people, celebrities getting their own magazines or serials or fictionalized takes on them, so perhaps one way to make a "pulp" take on Superman would be to emphasize a bit more of Superman's real-world roots, trends that inspired his creation directly or indirectly at the time. The Jewish strongman Sigmund Breibart and Shuster's interest in fitness culture, Harold Lloyd's comic persona, the rising "strongman" film genre in the early 20th century, actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor that supposedly named his secret identity, Clark Kent being a socially-awkward journalist based of Siegel's own school experiences.

Maybe one start to an authentic Pulp Superman, who would still be Superman, would be to just ask the question "What if Superman was a real person and/or a celebrity, and they started making pulp magazines and serials dedicated to him? What would those look like?". You wouldn't even have to restrict it to just a story set in the 1930s, in fact you could even play around with the rise of new mediums over the decades.

This third one is a little closer to some plans I have for my own take on a Superman character, not necessarily what I would do with Superman proper but one of my ideas for a Superman analogue. Superman's a character I'll always associate strongly with childhood and childhood fantasy, and to tap into that I would emphasize the other end of the fiction that influenced Siegel and Shuster: comic strips, in their case specifically Little Nemo and Popeye.

In my case I would bring additional influences from some of the comic strips I personally grew up reading like Monica's Gang and Calvin and Hobbes, and I already talked a bit about Captain Fray in terms of how he’s a Superman character despite being a villain. I guess you could call this one "What if Superman was a public domain comic strip character, stripped of the importance of being the founding figure of a super popular genre or extended universe, and also was kind of ugly?".

He's not "Sloth from the Goonies" ugly, I swear I didn't actually have Sloth in mind when typing out this idea, I've never watched that film nor did I know until now that he actually spends the film in a Superman shirt. That's not really what I'm going for. Visually I was thinking of modeling my take on Superman heavily after Hugo from Street Fighter and his inspiration Andre the Giant, to really emphasize the “circus strongman / freak wrestler” aspect of Superman’s inspiration, particularly in regards to how Hugo’s SFIII version strikes a really great balance in making Hugo ugly and both comedic and fearsome in battle, as well as lovable and even a little dopey (without being outright stupid, like his IV self) in his victory animations and endings.

He's still Superman, he still goes on fantastical adventures to help people, he's still a deeply loving and compassionate soul whose face beams with joy and affection and who's got wonderful eyes and a great smile. It's just that this smile has a couple of mismatched stick-out teeth or some missing ones, and he's got a crooked smile some people take as smug or malicious, he’s got a strongman’s gut instead of a bodybuilder’s abs, his nose is a little busted (maybe he’s had too many crash landings), and his hair is a little wild or greasy, and he doesn't exactly have very good people skills because of how others usually react to him and, y'know, he doesn't get the kind of publicity Superman would get despite doing ostensibly the same things. He’s not deformed, he’s incredibly intelligent and capable, but in comparison to how superheroes are usually allowed to look, he might as well be Bizarro in the public eye.

It becomes a running gag that people tend to assume some nearby fireman or cop was the one who rescued the hundred orphans out of a burning building single-handedly, meanwhile he's getting accosted off-panel by police officers who think he set the building on fire, or think they can bully this weird man dressed funny. He goes to rescue old people in peril and occasionally they yell at him that they don't have any money. He doesn't get asked to lead superhero meetings or teams even though many in the community advocate for just how much he does for the world, he gets censored out of tv broadcasts or group shots (even his face is sometimes pixelated when they do show him), people invite him on talk shows and don't really let him talk or assume they got the wrong guy. He goes to rescue a woman dangling off a building, and then he gets attacked by like three different superhero teams who assume he must have kidnapped the poor damsel. He was the first superhero, he is the strongest of them all still, but he never really gets credit for it, it nor does he even want to. None of this at all stops him or deters him, except for some occasionally funny reactions.

This never really changes for him, he doesn't really earn people's approval nor does he have to, instead the stories, outside of the gags and adventures you’d expect from a comic strip, veer more towards others learning to be less judgmental and him learning ways to better approach people. He isn't any lesser than Superman just because he doesn't look like most people would want him to look and he doesn't have to look like Superman. Really I think we could use more superheroes that don’t look all so uniformly pretty.

Again, probably not a take that would work for Clark proper, but it’s one way I would take a shot at doing Superman with my own

I have other stuff in the works for this character but I'd like to keep them to better work on them for now, but yeah, these are three of my shots at developing a Pulp Superman.

Alternatively here's a fourth idea that's more pulp than all of these: Join up Nicholas Cage with Panos Cosmatos again, or whatever weird indie director he decides to pair up with next, and let them do whatever the hell they want with Superman. Give us Mandy Superman. Superman vs The Color Out of Space. Superman vs Five Nights at Freddy's. Superman’s quest to find THE LAST PIG OF KRYPTON. Anything goes.

[arr-jim-lad]

If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me about DIO and how he became your favourite? I'm curious!

you know what that's a really good question and i wish i had a clear answer but it kinda just happened lmfao. there was some process to it that i can easily narrow down though and i will gladly dive into it and try to explain it because you KNOW i'll take any chance to talk about god damned DIO lmao

im gonna try to make this as coherent as possible but please bear with me, i'm pulling an allnighter and am currently in the 24th hour of awakedness so lmao

ok first; initially kakyoin was actually my favourite for a while, and after a while i'd say i like them the same, but we all knew. we all knew i was a dirty little liar. i have 4 kakyoin figures. i have a DIO shrine. i wrote several analyses of DIO. my god damned phone background is DIO. idk who i was trying to fool lmao

the funny thing is that before i watched jojo i actually fucking hated DIO lmfao, there was a blog here that posted undertale quotes and i really enjoyed it, but then one day the blog decided to just start posting 'you expected x but it was me, dio' memes and it was extremely unfunny and annoying and i hated it and i hated him lmfao

then i watched jojo with my friend and i just thought DIO was funny in like a fucked up way, mind you i watched the dub which made him extra funny with the british accent

i "liked" him but more like as a joke. i did really enjoy just the sheer extent of how vile he was though, making a mom eat her own baby is still one of my favourite fucked up things i've ever seen a villain do. it's the way he had fun with being absolutely reprehensible that made him so much fun to watch. i love when villains are fun.

having seen him in parts 1 and 3 i still kinda liked him as a meme and eventually as like, "i hate that i like him lol"

but like, then i've seen the OVA, and DIO spoke with andrew chaikin's voice in the dub and i was just kinda uh 😳

because like andew chaikin's freaking DIO voice???? hi hello??

also just in general how DIO is in the ova... his design and animation are fucking stellar and he was just a freaking delight to watch, but his voice made him particularly comforting to me.

so yeah it was the ova. the ova is to blame for all of this.

i do feel a need to mention because this is something that would make me super uncomfortable if people misunderstood it, but as i am aro/ace, my love for DIO is not of a romantic or sexual nature at all. i'd describe it more as like.. adoration? i see him as a muse and a comfort character.

the reason i actually really started liking DIO so much and why i consider him a comfort character is because he turned out to be just.. amazingly, delightfully comfortable to draw. i enjoy drawing him so much. i've drawn him 128 times and plan to draw him many more times. i think my art has improved immensely just from how much i've drawn him, especially when it comes to more muscular bodies, which i really didn't enjoy drawing before.

he's so incredibly fun to draw because he combines this macho huge body with fashion and elegance and beauty, and drama and evil and danger and egypt and vampires. there's always something about him that's gonna inspire me to draw another piece of him. i haven't had an art block since i started drawing him (though worth noting is that my mascot Luv has also been a top notch fighter against art block; him and DIO are my main muses to always keep me drawing and experimenting and creating new approaches)

I also think DIO is a hugely interesting character, as it's apparent by how much i've written about him in the past. i think his motivation is so messed up and convoluted and interesting because yeah a fucked up vampire who's been isolated underwater for 100 years would probably not exactly be a stable and rational person lmao

to me as someone with social anxiety, the fact that his main goal is to achieve peace of mind is also really interesting. uh, spoiler for stone ocean here so im gonna cross it through so people won't accidentally catch a glimpse of it but, ok firstly i think DIO's plan was absolutely batshit and definitely not the right thing to do LMAO, but i love that he literally wants to change reality to know what's gonna happen next, because not knowing things in advance is preventing him from achieving his peace. like im not saying i relate to DIO because i really don't, but as someone who's been very familiar with anxiety, it's really interesting to see that as a villain's motivation (also might as well mention i don't think DIO has anxiety, i think it's more like frustration over lack of control with him, also he's a huge paranoic)

i want to also talk about his philosophy that i genuinely love so much, and that is the concept of gravity as he means it on that famous panel. DIO's idea of gravity is a very zen concept, it's the idea that fate will bring you where you need to be, fate will make you meet the people you need to meet, etc. as someone who struggles with anxiety, that is a really compelling idea to me, which helped me overcome stressful situations long before i got into jojo. of course i do understand that to some people the idea of a predetermined fate can be terrifying and tbh i totally get it, but for me, when it comes to anxiety-inducing situations, the idea of "gravity" has helped me be less stressed. it's a very interesting concept and i love that it's something that's so deeply ingrained in DIO's philosophy. (PS just so you know whenever i say DIO's plan was a good idea i am joking 100% of the time, i would not want to live in the world he wanted to create. however, it's funny to say DIO was thinking of us socially anxious folks so im gonna keep saying it lmao)

you know, it's also really funny that like.. DIO ended up being such a massive beloved comfort character of mine, because like up until him, i generally got attached to characters who were very Good and Wholesome lmao. tfw the two characters that served as the most important comfort characters for me in my life were DIO and......... Papyrus from Undertale LMAO

they are almost polar opposites, but what they both have in common is that they are both very confident, and i'd say that while characters who doubt themselves are generally those i personally relate to, characters who are confident are the ones i gravitate towards for "support". Papyrus has been a character who i honestly hold single-handedly responsible for helping me turn my life around and just.. had an amazing impact on my mental health. i dont want to know who i'd be today if i never got into undertale.

with DIO, i feel like part of the reason why im so joyous and loud about how much i love him and why im so open about how much fun im having enjoying his character so much is because if i were to meet this character back then, when i was in college or in high school, i would never allow myself to enjoy this. i think that to me, DIO being such a huge comfort character represents like... something? i can't quite put my finger on it, but i feel a certain kind of pride and freedom about it because i know i overcame something in these past few years, and that i am much better and happier for it in every aspect.

i am very much a person who gets deeply attached to things or characters that i associate with positive changes in my life. because i've been at such a low point once in my life, i cling to things that remind me of how far i've come.

im just like.. really happy to be here as i am and DIO somehow became a deeply ingrained part of that.