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overthinkinglotr · 1 year

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People keep insulting the Amazon Lord of the Rings show by comparing it to fanfiction when really it's the EXACT opposite of fanfiction! It's so interesting/awful because it's like the ultimate ANTI-fanfiction! I was talking to someone the other day and wasn't aware that lots of people don't know about the insane complicated rights issues happening behind the scenes of the Amazon Show but it's wild. To give a quick summary of the Battle of the Five Rights Issues, as I currently understand it: 1. Amazon only has the rights to make a show about the pre-LOTR era as described in the Lord of the Rings books-- primarily in the appendices of Return the King, where a handful of pages give a brief timeline of some events that happened before the stories. In practice this means they are unable to use nearly all of the characters, places, and events people are familiar with when they think about Middle Earth. They have to make up everything out of whole cloth-- from characters to events to settings. This is either because of timeline reasons or for legal reasons or for both. Whenever they do manage to scrounge up the rights to something you might even vaguely remember (like Mithril) they announce it with enormous fanfare like they're a marvel movie introducing an avenger.

(Parenthetical: Another weird thing I noticed is that the series features practically zero quotes from Tolkien. I only counted about like 4 lines that were edited versions of lines from the books? While this is just a wild tinfoil hat theory, It does feel to me like there might've been some kind of limitation on the amount of Tolkien's words they were allowed to use, as well as the obvious limitations on characters and plot points and etc. The show has the rights to so few things and always REALLY wants you to know when it has the rights to something. It's desperate to remind you of the original books. You would think that, when it's unable to rely on familiar characters or places or events or plot points or music or etc, they would rely instead on Tolkien's really recognizable prose/poetry/language to form an emotional connection to the original stories. After all, language is the heart of Middle Earth, the author's love of language is the reason the world was created, and the unique prose of the story is kinda the soul of why it's memorable. And again, they theoretically have the rights to everything mentioned in the original trilogy right? Theoretically? So it's really odd that they don't use almost any of the language, unlike basically every other adaptation. It might just be a weird writing decision, but it's so strange that it really makes me feel like they were limited or at least dissuaded from including lines from the books.)

2. Amazon is legally Not Allowed to feature things that were mentioned in the Unfinished Tales or the Silmarillion, despite the fact that those are the books that contain most of the stuff about the era they're theoretically adapting. This leads to a bunch of really weird stuff where they introduce things you'd only care about if you read the Silmarillion, but can't include any of the things that would actually make you care about it. Like people who Aren't deep into the lore have literally zero emotional investment in Celebrimbor, but people who ARE deep into the lore know that you can't reference any of the reasons they care about it. 3. Amazon's series is NOT part of the same canon as the Peter Jackson/New Line Cinema films. They're not. However they obviously want to trick people into thinking they are because those movies are popular and a prequel to them would make money even if it sucked (see the Hobbit films.) But again, New Line Cinema still wants to make its own LOTR content based on the slivers of rights they've managed to grab onto, and don't want Amazon to step on their toes. So IIRC Amazon actually made a deal with New Line Cinema that they were allowed to imitate their movie franchise's aesthetic (to keep the brand popular and in the public eye)........ BUT if New Line Cinema ever felt like Amazon was infringing too much on their territory, they could step in and stop it. So the show just sorta looks and sounds like a bland knockoff of the New Line films, because that's all they're legally allowed to be XD. Like they're supposed to look/sound just enough like them to trick you, but they're not legally allowed to include the specific things from the PJ films that would actually make you feel nostalgic for them (like the famous musical leitmotifs.) 4. Part of the deal was that the Tolkien Estate could step in and change anything in the show if they felt it wasn't true to the lore-- which is ridiculous because again, Amazon basically doesn't own the rights to any of the lore so they're just making stuff up anyway. From what I can tell it seems like this basically means the Tolkien Estate can arbitrarily veto any creative decisions based on whatever they've decided “Tolkien would've wanted,” which obviously limits what Amazon is able to do (and likely prevents them from actually criticizing the awful problematic elements of Tolkien's worldbuilding)

5. Ok I don't have a fifth one. SO BASICALLY: Yes, the Amazon series is about a bunch of original characters in almost completely original settings featuring original events and original plot points that (for the most part) doesn't even include any of Tolkien's actual words, and also isn't affiliated with and doesn't include the recognizable things like musical motifs from the New Line Cinema films. But that doesn't make it fanfic. Because fanfiction is when you take another's person's characters and stories and write your own weird personal take on them, even if you don't legally own it. Who legally owns the copyright is irrelevant in fanfiction. Fanfic it's about writing a story with the characters and world you love, about transforming a story you're passionate about even if you don't legally own the rights. Amazon Rings of Power is what happens when an entire show is completely written around what you legally own the rights to. Every aspect of it only exists as an elaborate tap dance around copyright infringement. Again, I think the Amazon series is more interesting as "a study of how corporations/megafranchises can do massive harm and also weaken our ability to create good art" than it is as a tv show, alskdjfsdlf.

If fanfiction is "writing something you love regardless of whether you own the rights" then Rings of Power is "writing whatever fits within the extremely narrow box of the rights you happen to own." And that makes it....a very strange thing to exist! It’s kinda a shining example of how giant media monopolies and copyright laws designed to benefit them end up hamstringing everyone’s ability to create meaningful art, even the corporations themselves.

#anti rop #amazon #lotr #the was written under incoherent cold brain don’t @ me

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billie-black · 7 months

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Thread of odd connections between Ikora, Elsie and Eris

I was scrolling through concept art when I noticed that, despite not being so in-game, The Stranger's rifle is Branded as a Cassoid weapon. This wouldn't mean much, bungie tends to use decals at random, except-

The curse of osiris variant, The Machina Dei 4, is also branded with a slightly altered version of the Cassoid logo, which I think proves that it has been upgraded with components from the foundry.

But let's put a pin on that and talk about another Cassoid weapon, The Invective shotgun, Ikora's signature weapon. The Invective has an ornament called Iconoclast, a word which here means "Destroyer of images used in religious worship." This nomenclature is very similar to-

The Vex Mythoclast, a weapon which, thanks to its sister weapon, The Worldline Zero (which coincidentally also has a prophecy variant), we know to be made by Elsie Bray. Canonically, we earn the Mythoclast as part of-

the "Not forged in light" quest, which ends with Elsie gifting us the No time to explain. A weapon which eventually ends back up in her hands and she gifts to us again earlier in the timeline as-

The stranger's rifle, which hangs around until it becomes the Machina Dei 4 (later Adhortative). And the prophecy attached to the Machina Dei 4 desribes Eris Morn and the events of Shadowkeep, when Eris discovers stasis and starts using the darkness.

A charnel but effulgent orb.

beacon in a loathsome dark.

Fêted, fetid corpses rise.

a too-long-absent gibbous spark.

Now, it's generally accepted that No time to explain (and all it's variants by proxy) was created at some future point in a distant timeline, this is incorrect. Ghost specifically points out that "parts" of it shouldn't exist, because the rifle itself is a common suros frame.

Going back to The Invective, you're probably more familiar with its legendary sister, The Comedian, and its D2 counterpart, Deadpan Delivery. The Comedian's flavor text reads "A. A ha. A ha ha ha. A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha" In D1 the joke wasn't really clear, but with the addition of a lore tab in D2, the joke has become the vanguard's falling victim to a hive god's deceit. Now, let's take a little trip to The dark future.

In The dark future, Beyond light never happened, Eramis was allowed to grow her armies and master stasis, which led to a massive attack on the city by Cabal remnants, Savathûn, and the glorious House Salvation, all masterminded by Eris Morn, who up to that point was believed to be an ally, but had been corrupted by stasis and the darkness.

Coming back to our timeline, let's look at differences between our case exotics and their variants. Elsie's rifle has undergone many more modifications than Invective. Matter of fact, Invective has barely undergone any changes from its default. It's painted red, AND It has tape wrapped the handle and the grip, just like No time to explain. (I know I'm talking about grip tape right now but please don't go, it gets better, I promise)

It's a weak link, many weapons have grip tape, but I think many of these small details add up and point to The Iconoclast being one of Elsie's gifts. Let's review the similarities between Iconoclast and other gifts from Elsie.

>It's sourced from one of the city foundries and later received Cassoid upgrades (Invective and it's variants are nadir products)

>It has grip tape where the original does not.

>Mythoclast and Iconoclast are very similar terms and could point to a connection.

>It has a perpetual ammo function, like No time to explain and The Mythoclast.

But we should also look at Iconoclast within it's own context. Invective being her weapon, what does it mean for Ikora? She's never been been known to combat or really oppose any sort of religion, at least that I can find. And let's make it clear, the gun is not the Iconoclast. Just like the Mythoclast is not The Mythoclast. The weapons, in this case, are named for the wielder. You kill Atheon and so you become the Mythoclast, the gun is more of symbol. So, what religious figure is Ikora supposed to kill in order to become the Iconoclast?

Well, just this season, the hive have come out with a brand spanking new god, one very close to Ikora. Now I don't think Ikora is going to kill Eris. Eris would need to do something completely heinous for her to even consider that. Like, idk, bombarding the last city with House Salvation and the shadow legion... i. e., what happens in the dark timeline.

Look, I really don't believe Eris is going to turn evil all the sudden, that would be character assasination of the highest magnitude. But from Ikora's point of view? She has a supposed time traveller yelling at her that she's letting everything go sideways.

So my theory is that Elsie took Ikora's Invective from some other failed timeline (possibly the one where they smooch) and gave it to Ikora as the Iconoclast, along with the idea that alternate Ikora ruined everything because she failed to act and put Eris down when she could.

And this is where Deadpan Delivery comes in. You see, Ikora doesn't use invective anymore, and she doesn't use the Comedian. She exclusively wields Deadpan Delivery. Now, I know this was probably just the animators being faithful to her character, seeing how she prefers shotguns-

But the retroactive additions to the Comedian's lore, outside my crazed theories, implies a statement from Ikora. The Comedian's joke is the vanguard falling victim to a hive god's deceit, and in the dark timeline that god, the Savathûn figure, is Eris morn. And so-

By maining Deadpan delivery Ikora is subtextually saying "It's not funny. I'm not laughing. I don't subscribe to the narrative put forward by the comedian or Elsie. I trust Eris". And by rejecting the Comedian she's additionally disavowing it's older sister, The Invective, which is a symbol of the gung ho attitude which defined her in her youth. And wether my Iconoclast theory is correct or not, we can definitively say: Ikora is against what it represents , she is a guardian, and she will make a new fate no matter what.

#eris morn #ikora rey #elsie bray #destiny 2 #season of the witch #ikoris #ikora/eris

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sevensoulmates · 2 months

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Season 7 Press Article Buddie Analysis

Okay I don't usually write meta/spec on press runs/articles but I found these super fascinating today, especially in comparison to how the showrunners (including Tim himself) and the actors have spoken about their arcs in the past.

First I want to say that in these interviews the goal is never actually to give the audience any important information but rather to tease, and purposely be as vague as possible. So most of what they're saying will likely have double meanings and all of them are being extremely careful with the words they choose to say. Now with that out of the way in the first EW article (linked here), I found several things extremely interesting.

Calling Marisol Eddie's "Hardware store flirtation". It's so funny to me, for one, but it's also interesting that that's all she's reduced to. A flirtation. I know that was really all they were in the last season, but we know Marisol's involved (likely minorly) in at least 2 episodes out of the first 5. Natalia on the other hand is for the most part understood to not be coming back (I would honestly be surprised given the actress is in NYC). But what's even more interesting is that Marisol is not mentioned anywhere else in either of these articles, meanwhile Oliver WAS asked about Natalia. So, I want people to keep in mind that in whatever way Marisol IS a part of this season, I SEVERELY doubt she's making it past the finale.

2. This answer about Natalia is your typical non-answer but to me, it's basically a confirmation she isn't coming back, which lends a tad bit more credibility to Tommy potentially stepping in as a LI for Buck (fingers crossed).

3. Buck is apparently called in to help talk to Christopher about dating women. Do I even really have to talk about how weird this sounds? Eddie had a whole WIFE? He dated Ana for many many months. He's currently dating hardware store flirtation Marisol right now. And yet, Ryan is claiming that Eddie feels like he doesn't know how to talk to his son about women? Enough so that he calls Buck to help? Talking to your kid about dating is a new avenue yes, but why are we acting like Eddie has never been with a woman before? Like I know last season in particular emphasized that Eddie isn't the best when it comes to dating but like ??? I swear to GOD y'all it's giving such severe compulsory heterosexuality. Eddie, my man, I hope this is indicative of where your story is going this season because it's been heading this way for many many many years. Separately, I also find the lack of mention of Shannon very interesting as well.

4. Which brings me to this part. The whole family dynamic aside...Buck's romantic relationships have been severely questionable at best the entire show. Before Abby, it's canon that all Buck did was sleep around a lot, which doesn't seem like something you wanna tell a young teen dating for the first time. So what's he gonna talk about? How women flee him? As I saw someone else say on the timeline "are the successful relationships in the room with us"? This is especially odd if the spec is true and he and Natalia broke up off-screen prior to the start of the season. Eddie, you just saw Buck have yet another failed relationship with woman #4 and your thought is that HE'S the one best suited to talk to your son? These two men are so queer and so dumb, but their hearts are in the right place.

Okay, moving on to EW article #2 linked here. Here I'm shifting a little bit more to Tim Minear, and what he's said before in the past as showrunner about Buck, Eddie, the buddifer dynamic and the buddie ship.

I have a love-hate relationship with Tim. On one hand, I think he's a far better showrunner than Kristen (for OG 911, 911 Lonestar does and always will suck ass). But on the other hand, I remember some of the things he said back when season 2 was airing. It's part of the reason why I can't take things like "he's so cute. he gets that a lot" or "does this boycrush on eddie mean you're over abby" or "you two have an adorable son" or any Big Buddie fanservice line in season 2 seriously or as any definitive proof of anything. Tim has openly admitted most of those were in season 2 to throw shippers a bone. Not to be taken seriously. And that didn't sit right with me. Very obviously, there was a shift in season 3 and no longer was buddie and shippers the butt of the joke. Season 3 is when I genuinely think the writers and Tim shifted from "haha this is funny" to "oh wait, maybe there IS something here" and obviously The Powers That Be (Fox) had some control over whether or not that happened and is honestly why I think it didn't happen in season 5 or 6 where it realistically could've fit very well after s4.

So firstly, please take everything I say with a grain of salt because Tim is a Known Liar and Word Twister and is very VERY good at saying a lot while absolutely saying nothing at all.

5. So...I find what he says in this article interesting because it's not in the first article. First, his word choice is very interesting. Using both "friendship" and "coupling" in the same sentence, which have two different connotations. Secondly, he says that "at their core" their relationship is about their friendship. When something is the core of something else, that doesn't mean that's all there is. The core may be the essence, or the foundation, or the glue of something. But it is something that is BUILT UPON, something that extends past the core. To me, it means that while the core of buddie's relationship is their friendship, their relationship encompasses much more than that. It's like those successful old married couples who say the key to being married happily for 50+ years is that "we're still best friends" or that "the key to a successful romantic relationship is having that foundation of strong friendship" etc. Now, I'm not SAYING this means canon buddie, but I just find it interesting that this is how Tim chose to describe them this time around. To me, that says Tim is very much aware that there's far more to be explored in their relationship than just their friendship. Whether that means far more buddifer family arcs, or an actual real exploration of Buck and Eddie as a romantic couple, I'm very excited to see where it goes.

#911 abc #buddie #media analysis #speculation #buddie speculation #911 speculation

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sundiced · 4 months

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Quick question: does anyone know what the age differences are between the Bats? I've tried googling it but.

Fact 1: Bruce became batman at 25.

Fact 2: Dick became Robin in about Bruce's 3rd or 4th year of being Batman

Fact 3: Dick was either 9 or 12

So Bruce 28 and Dick 12 (or 9?). Apparently they met Barbara during the middle of Dick's time as Robin, and Barbara was 16 at the time. We know he leaves at 18ish so 18-9 is 9 and 18-12 is 6, so half that time is 3 to 4 years. I'll just say 4 for now. That leaves us with:

When Barbara Gordon became Batgirl: Bruce 32 Dick 12/15 Barbara 16

Dick leaving and Jason meeting Bruce is around the same time, I think, which is when Dick is 18. Or 19. whatever close enough. That's where this gets tricky because if we're basing the timeline's movement off of Dick's age then it's either been 6 or 3 years after the last point. I'm going to go with 3 because the comics are always trying to make their characters stay younger.

Fact: Dick was 18ish when he left.

Fact: Jason was 12 when he met Bruce. So:

When Dick became Nightwing and Jason met Bruce: Bruce 35 Dick 18 Barbara 19 Jason 12

This is now where it gets complicated, because Barbara Gordon was shot at the age of 19, AND Jason died at around the same point in time, at which point this would be less than a year after he met Bruce, so he'd be like 12 or 13. But on another note multiple sources said that Jason Todd died when he was 15. And on a third note multiple other sources said Jason trained to be Robin for six months and was only Robin for a year, which means by calculation that he should've been 13 and a half when he died. So there are three possibilities here.

Jason Todd dies, Barbara is shot and paralyzed by the Joker:

Bruce 36 (if following Barbara's age) or 39 (if following the fact that Jason going from 12 to 15 took 3 years)

Dick 19 or 21

Barbara 20 or 22 (But she's supposed to be 19 when shot)

Jason 13 (if following that he was Robin for a year) or 15 (since he's supposed to be 15 when he died)

Now. Fact 1: Bruce meets Tim about a year after Jason's death

Fact 2: Tim is 13 when he meets Bruce

So Bruce meets Tim:

Bruce 37 or 40 Dick 20 or 22 Barbara 21 or 23 Jason (if he'd lived) 14 or 16 Tim 13.

Then we have Jason's resurrection. This happened either 1 year or six months after he died. So he would be mentally 13 or 15--same as when he died. (And physically. Corpses don't age, presumably). That means I have no idea what the age differences are. Literally everyone in the fanbase seems to set him as like at least 3 years older than Tim, but by calculation they should be around the same age if he was Robin for only a year.

Some other people said that he was resurrected 5 years after he died (might've been in the movie?). But in that scenario, Jason's resurrection would bring him back at 13/15 when Tim has been Robin for 4 years, which means Tim would be older than Jason, which is just wildly incorrect, I've elected to ignore it.

I drew the world's ugliest timeline for reference:

Help???

#jason todd #dc #batman #batfam #tim drake #dick grayson #I googled it for a fic when I was trying to see what grades they'd be in in relation to each other #i thought it would be quick #it was not #and what about damian

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annbourbon · 6 months

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Mystic Messenger Timeline (Explained)

I'll be obviously skipping a lot of stuff in between, but this is just to make things clear. It's not the way you're supposed to play, just the timeline.

⚠️ Contains Spoilers ⚠️

⚠️⚠️ Spoilers ahead ⚠️⚠️

⚠️⚠️ You've been warned ⚠️⚠️

First Rika Behind the Story (DLC)

Then I'll start counting as Year 1, the events that lead to the RFA and Mint Eye foundation.

Year 1:

V and Rika know each other

They meet Saeyoung

Saeyoung leaves

Rika kills the Twins's mom

Rika gets engaged to V

Mika and Rika (Mina) create 1st draft of Mint Eye

V buys the department

*on that note, seems that there are 4 cameras but Saeyoung only knows of one*

**This also implies that Saeran was abused as soon as V and Saeyoung took their eyes off of him since Rika used Saeran as model to defeat Saeyoung's skills as a hacker.

***What happens because neither Saeyoung nor V know anything about Saeran whenever they reunite for RFA parties and their engagement? Why no one asked anything?

Year 2:

Rika meets Jumin

RFA begins (yes, it was Mint Eye first, and the reason why the name was Magenta first. Mika?)

RFA 1st party is held

Jaehee joins RFA

Rika kills Sally

RFA 2nd party is held

According to V and Saeyoung this is where the hacker starts attacking the RFA (first time)

Rika blinds V

Saeyoung installed the Special System. AKA: The Bomb

Plot holes: Where's Mika? Why they don't notice there's another person living there? It's not that easy to hide your presence 💀

But according to V, he knew about Mika. It's at least implied.

10. According to several chats during Yoosung route, they barely paid attention to V being blinded. This of course included Zen, Yoosung, and Jumin (who is worried and suspects something but doesn't intervene despite V having severe corneal damage from external trauma)

11. There's a point where Jumin admits barely seeing Rika after the 2nd party. Meeting with her and V for the last time 3 months before her death. Yoosung Route. Day 9. Chat room 7AM called V's eyes.

*At the same time, there's a line, I forgot where exactly, that says that both, Rika and V called off their engagement at some point. They don't say anything about coming back together after that. wtf!?*

12. "Rika commits suicide"

Another Story

1 month after her death, prologue.

Five months later

*means 4 months after they break up their engagement? Assuming they did not break up before but because of Rika behavior blinding him. Which kind of solves the plot holes from Year 1 setting Mika on the apartment and V not fully knowing but suspecting, although it would be impossible or almost impossible without his eyes do something about it. Especially since his blindness is recent. If you need to understand a bit more about blindness watch my post on Rika killing Sally. It may be a dog, unlike V lol but it's still enough information to set up the rest of the story.

Anyways, let's go back to our timeline no?

Bad ending prologue #1 (Casual & Deep) and #2 (Another) are part of the same story and unlikely that it is set into an *alternative route* like some people like to say. Bad ending prologues even from Another Story seem to fit almost too perfectly when you think about it, but only if you agree to go with Unknown after rejecting him several times.

Because it would fit into the idea that the MC's were captured by the cult and discarded after a while (or put to work under Mint Eye. But also because according to the opening on the Casual and Deep, it would mean that Saeran's been watching you, so does Saeyoung.)

As I said before, the other MC's are either dead or anything but MIA (whatever that means for Mint Eye?) and this one, the brunette, is selected and it's the only one who survives and passed the whole trial. Not at first but it doesn't matter. This MC is not dead. The others are. You think "The others" are just the player with different image? I've got news for you, each one of this has a number~ check this post ^^

Either you become the assistant of Unknown with that bad ending which is an option available for every prologue or you enter Day 1 to Day 4 of Another Story and play throughout to reach:

Day 6 and Day 10 from Ray/Saeran Route which are part of the same ending. They're not a different ending. Both however lead to the Casual Route, Day 1 (after the prologue)

Which means, if you get the bad ending in the prologue of Casual/Deep you'll be going back to Mint Eye. Yes. It's not supposed to be your first rodeo there. And if you have a Bad Ending on Mint Eye, you're brainwashed andd set on Casual/Deep (You're supposed to be an spy, but who do you work for? Are you a victim or a villainess? that's another story 😜)

My theory?

*This is where I'm still stuck, so I'll be fixing major plots here and there and editing this same post over and over until I get it right. Please bear with me 😭*

Rika DLC > 1st party > Rika gets engaged > Saeyoung leaves > Rika kills Sally > Rika kills Saeran's mom > Rika starts torturing Saeran > Mint Eye begins > 2nd party > Hacker attack > Bomb is installed > Rika blinds V > Rika dies > Another Story (prologue) > Another Story (Day 1 to 4) > Another Story (Day 6 & 10, bad relationship both of them) obviously with what causes these bad endings > Casual Route (with bad endings included) > Deep Story (with bad endings included) > Secret Endings (except for V dying, we'll get there) > Another Story again but V route happens first (no happy or normal ending) and then something weird happens:

And this part if I'm being honest, I have no idea but I'm fixing it cause my theory is that

V and Saeran's route become so intertwined that is almost impossible to know what happened.

The bomb on Mint Eye? Saeran? Although it is suggesting in the bad endings that he died, we never saw that to happen.

V dying in the secret endings?

Saeran burn?

Seven does mention a couple of numbers, associated with the other MCs, somewhere in the game. Unfortunately I can't remember if it's on a call or a chat so I'm going back all over again because I was so shocked at the time I was unable to take a screenshot.

Truth to be said I can't fully find the order rn but! I will, I definitely will. I need time. I mean, more time. I've been working on this for 6 to 7 years now, I'm posting this because it's so big I can't keep it to myself and I'm freaking out here. So I'll be editing this in the future. As many of my other posts. Sorry lol

Ironically, Saeran's AE would be indeed the Final Ending.

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fushitism · 28 days

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the chemistry in my brain is altered in unspeakable ways whenever i think about Sans.

JUST WHO EXACTLY IS THIS GUY

its so easy, almost too easy, not to take him seriously and its exactly why his character can often be, well, i wouldn't say overlooked, this guy's pretty popular, but his traits tend to be.... diluted?? simplified??? for lack of better words..?

like yeah, he likes ketchup. yeah, he's laid-back n "lazy". yeah, he's a punny guy. yeah, he goes above n beyond for his brother's happiness... but what else?

do we even know much about papyrus? that guy's whole deal deserves a whole separate post!

CAN WE PLEEAAASE RECALL HOW THIS PIECE OF LORE WAS CASUALLY (in true toby fox fashion) SENT TO OUR EMAILS ?? NEVER TO BE ELABORATED UPON EVER AGAIN

why'd sans have to pull a sock incident on us at a time like this </3

PAPYRUS DID NOT MEAN IT SO LITERALLY AND YOU KNOW THAT, SANS, YOU JUST WANTED TO BE A LITTLE SHIT!!!!!!

their life before snowdin.. oh what i'd give to hear all about it...

this got me thinking, though.

we know sans likely has an affinity for quantum physics, temporal complexities and astronomy (though the latter is irrelevant to the point i'll be making)

he can teleport for God's sake why are we so unfazed by that

aaaanywho,

so like his Workshop. the one with the broken machine, yeah. look at what toby's once said abt it

why would they (who i assume r alphys + sans ?) try so hard to fix it? it's not like its the CORE (the machine said to be the source of all power 4 the undergound)

what's so important about this rusty, clanky pile of scrap metal?

....

haha lol, remember this?

remember this (x2)?

there's an abstract them here, and its clear he's not talking abt papyrus, frisk or even the player if we were to try n reach so hard.

could it be he is refereing to those in the picture with him?

if so, they must really mean a lot to him

so let's get this straight:

- we know the skelebros were NEW additions to snowdin

- we know they had an OLD life, the picture at the workshop further proving sans also had a social circle, one beyond frisk's recognition which totally strikes me as odd, given this child has been ambushed by almost all monsters at that point

- sans knows about timelines. sans messes with time and space. it's heavily hinted sans has worked in quantum physics (the book[s] found at his place) and he apparently also has some abandoned, broken machine in his workshop (one of which he's presumably tinkered with)

- as a lost soul (but also in geno), sans demonstrates his intense defeatism and resignation saying this like,

.... is sans trying to go back somewhere? do the skelebros come from a different world? a grassy place? r the residents of said place related to the picture in any way? does sans miss them? were they family? friends? lovers?! whoooooooo!1!!1 when!!! where!!!!! what is going on, toby!!!! PLEASEHWHWUE

[inhale]

but you know what, this is fine. pssssh, we don't need any of these answered, haha! no waaay! because while the UT fandom's in up in flames about such matters, toby's probably out there drawing yet another sans x reigen art piece to dish out when we least expect it (please let it be on my biryhday please let it be on my birthd)

#undertale #toby fox #sans undertale #undertale sans #papyrus #papyrus undertale #undertale papyrus #im going crazy

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riallasheng · 16 days

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Good day, Sheng I hope you've had a lovely day!

I was curious to know if you had any information on what the TB TOS boys studied and specialized in? Were they awarded with anything?

Hello my lovely anon! I apologize for the delay, but I was out visiting friends until late yesterday. ^^ I'm home again, which means I can dig through my novels and comics to answer this as best I am able!

Of the various sources, the official bios (there's at least 3 versions there of), the TV21 comics, and the Fleetway comics are the ones that are most likely to give the answers. There are also bits and bobs scattered around the various canon sources. Overall, I'm pulling mostly from the Fleetway for this, as it actually went the most into depth for what you're asking and while Fleetway / complete Thunderbirds Story DOES have some continuity / canonicity issues the education and specializations parts overall are solid.

Going in my preferred age order (because there's actually more than one XD )

This got long, so readmore deployed! ^^

Scott:

Given the ages involved, Scott skipped grades to one degree or another, because he seems to have graduated high school at 16-17 rather than 18. (Spoiler Warning: Gordon is the only Tracy that didn't skip grades. TinTin and Brains skip grades too, although Penny did not)

Scott seemingly went to a 'normal' college / university for ~2 years (Fleetway puts it as Tracy University, where Scott specialized in astronautics and got his astronaut wings, which at minimum DOES explain where / when Scott GOT his astronaut wings, which he DOES canonically have as all his official bios mention he is a trained astronaut and he is one of Three's canon pilots with a fair amount of knowledge / skill in space) as he doesn't start Yale until 18

At 18, Scott went to Yale for 2-3 years and finished his formal education at Oxford for 1-2 years (these numbers bounce around a bit in the various bios/mentions - though it being ~4 years in total is constant across all of them) and graduated top of his class - though not valedictorian or salutatorian, simply in the top 10 / top 5 - specializing in aeronautics / aeronautic engineering, mathematics, and navigation. We know he does have SOME education / degree in engineering as he the one that helps in designing / engineering / etc alongside Virgil. We also know he was heavily involved in the design of Thunderbird 1 and 2, with some refs to him being the primary designer on One. Scott definitely has a Bachelors and might have a Masters in one / two / all of his three degrees, but there's no indication that he has a Doctorate in anything. He seems to have had aeronautics / aeronautic engineering as his primary.

All of Scott's bios state that he served in the Air Force right out of College (so he would have joined at 22 to 23 years of age, then would have served 4-6 years). He was an officer, rather than enlisted, although his stated final rank ranges between Captain (of-3) to Colonel (of-6) so you likely can go with what you please there, although Scott IS referred to as a 'commanding officer' in the Air Force, which usually means Major (of-4), Lieutenant Colonel (of-5), or Colonel (of-6) though. We've no idea what his callsign would have been, though some fanon ones I've seen are Flyboy, Ace, Scooter, Falcon and Eagle. I use Mercury myself (Mercury Seven, and it refs his speed AND 'silver tongue'/communication skills)

There's multiple references to Scott serving in 'the War', although what War that is is VERY vague and hard to pinpoint. (Oddly, Fleetway using the 2020s timeline DOES make IDing the war in question easier... With Scott serving in his 20s, that would make the war in Fleetway the Global Conflict / WW3, which took place ~2010 and was how the Global Government / World Government formed.) For the most common 2060s timeline, it's really unclear what 'war' Scott would have been fighting in in the 2050s. outside of the confusion of 'what war', Scott was at minimum an 'ace' (5 kills in aerial combat / dogfighting), might have been an 'ace ace' (25+ kills) although that one MIGHT be a misprint where the word ace was accidently doubled, and there is a passing reference in either the novels or comics (I forget which ^^;; ) to him being 'War Ace', which is a title awarded to the 'best pilot / most skilled ace' in a war. So 'War Ace' is a potential accomplishment for him

He is officially a 'test pilot', and can fly pretty much anything / everything. It's mentioned he CAN fly the Tiger Moth so he can mange bi-planes, he apparently flew a stunt plane (so propeller), he's helicopter (and apparently helijet) certified, and he's flown a wide array of jets, rocket-planes, and space craft. (He has a pilot's license, helicopter / helijet license, and astropilot license). He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, and he apparently knows how to drive a motorcycle so a Class-M license too. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license, and would have had a military license that functioned as a CBL (commercial) Class A/B/C license and might have gone through the work to get that again as a civilian. We do see Scott driving heavy equipment and the like when not 'IR' so he might have the commercial license. He has a non-commercial boating license, and miiiiight have a civilian submarine-craft license. Seems to have a diving license. Definitely has a sky-diving and paragliding license.

Scott somehow was given the Medal of Valor and quite possibly Medal of Honor as well. both are EXTREMLY difficult to achieve medals, almost always only given out in wartime, and we never are told what he did to achieve them

Scott retired in his 'late 20s' (probably around 28) 'with honors', which would mean an Honorable Discharge. That's right about when IR would be in the final set up stages / Tracy Island buildings and silos being built and the like.

It's strongly implied in the comics that Scott was a POW at some point, but nothing officially states it flat out. There's a vague refence to him having been shot down at some point in the comics as well. These have lead to the widespread fanon that Scott was a POW, usually in Bereznik. If this is the case, Scott would have a Purple Heart Medal and a Prisoner of War Medal. It also would explain why no one finds it odd that he retired as young / early as he did.

John:

Rather like Scott, John seems to have skipped grades, as he graduates High School at ~15 years of age (there's a VAGUE hint in TV21 that it might have been as low as 14. It's also implied to have been that low in Fleetway because John is only around 21 when he starts at Tracy University, AFTER finishing 6 years at Harvard).

While John has always been deeply interested in manned space flight and the heavens in general, his real passion (and career) is canonically in communications.

John starts attending Harvard University, and graduates as Valedictorian (he's top of his class, but there's a mention to him giving a speech at his graduation, which usually goes to Valedictorian) getting his degree in electronics and laser communications / communications in general. Since he wrote a thesis, he must have gotten a doctorate in ONE of these fields (likely communications)

John was HEAVILY involved in the design / building of IRs communications gear and might even have been the lead in it. both the 'listening in' and the 'communicating between each other' parts. He also seemingly was very heavily involved in the designing of TB5

He created a laser communications device that was 'revolutionary' and won him awards and accolades. (An achievement that was later stolen by Lt. Green in his bio... Spectrum bios had a VERY bad habit of stealing accomplishments of previously existing characters. In further example, Green also stole 'best communications officer / specialist WASP has ever had' from Phones, Harmony stole 'best pilot alive' from Scott, Grey stole 'back messed up and 4 months in hospital after a sub/high speed boat crash from Gordon AND 'first captain of the Stingray' from Troy, and Rhapsody stole quite a few of Penny's spy achievements)

John also located a previously unknown quasar, which became known as the Tracy Quasar System.

He's published at minimum 4 astronomy and outer-space textbooks, and at least 1 book on communications

After getting a doctorate in ~6 years at Harvard at 20-21 years of age, John then got his astronaut wings / became an astronaut. Fleetway puts him at Tracy University for this as well. (He might have been Valedictorian again, as he's referred to as being such for his astronaut training in... Countdown? I legit forget where the ref is. There's an implication that John was Valedictorian more than once, basically). All of the Tracys are genius level smart, but John seems to be the brightest star of them all

John worked on a civilian (or at least non-military) space station / space program for at least a few years. What group and station is debatable. It could be NASA, the World Space Program, etc. He further could have been on the International Space Station, Freedom Station, etc. The only things off the table are military groups, and he CAN'T have served in the World Space Patrol (Fireball XL5)

John has his pilot's license and space-pilot / astropilot license. He likely has a rocket-plane license (ie: a atmospheric craft that can escape the atmosphere and is space capable). He MIGHT have a helijet license, but he doesn't have a helicopter license. He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, and he apparently knows how to drive a motorcycle so a Class-M license too. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license. He has a non-commerical boating license, and miiiiight have a civilian submarine-craft license. Seems to have diving license. Might have a sky-diving and paragliding license.

John also is a highly skilled athlete, having achieved many awards and records. We only know about him being involved in running, but WHAT KIND of running varies between sprinting (rare), long-distance (more commonly reffed) and cross-country (most commonly reffed), or trail or obstacle course (middling)

I'm not sure how John left his space career / stopped working on the space station without attracting attention, oddly he's the ONLY one that doesn't have an easy excuse for joining IR! Scott apparently had SOMETHING happen that gave him an honorable discharge and had no one questioning him retiring from the Air Force, Virgil apparently intended to work as an engineer FOR Jeff's company once he graduated, Gordon had the hydrofoil crash and an Honorable or Medical Discharge from WASP, and Alan was only 19 and hadn't really STARTED a career. TinTin either was just finishing her University education and/or like Virgil was working for Jeff's company as an engineer. Brains started working for Jeff at his company while Brains was still in college. John's the only one with a career outside of Jeff's company that DOESN'T have a coinvent 'stop working there' excuse.

Virgil:

continuing the running theme, Virgil seems to have skipped grades - more than Scott did, but less than John, graduating High School at 15-16.

Virgil started higher education at 16 at Denver School for Advanced Technology, but he's sometimes put in Yale or another Tech school. What his degree was varies. Fleetway has it as 'Advanced Technology', but he's also had Engineering / Nuclear Engineering listed in his official bios. He usually took art classes and music classes, and sometimes he has a degree in art or music mentioned, so he likely minored in art and/or music alongside his Advanced Technology / engineering major. He seems to have graduated at 20-21 with a Masters in Tech/Engineering and a Bachelors in art/music. There's no refences at all to him having a doctorate (only John and Brains have that), and while he seems to have been 'top of his class', there's no indication he was Valedictorian or Salutatorian. So, like Scott he would have been in the top 10 or top 5, but not the number 1 or 2 slots.

Fleetway claims that Virgil was on the Denver Football team and was a good player on it, but that is the only reference to it or sports in general. Something to remember is that Virgil is actually NOT the heaviest / buffiest in build of the brothers in TOS. He's well built, but Scott and Alan are both heavier /buffer in build than he is, as is his father. Virgil isn't LEAN, but he'd be a Middleweight, built sort of like Tony or tom Cruise or the like. Muscled, but not a brick house. Scott is consistantly referred to as 'powerful' in build, and is drawn as heavier / bulkier in muscles than Virgil. Heavyweight class or something like the traditional 'superman' build like Cavill or the like. Alan and Jeff are a bit more powerful / bulky in build than Scott, so upper end of the Heavyweight. Not modern day Body builder / the Hulk bulk, but say Hulk Hogan, Dwayne Johnson, Arnold in Terminator / Predator type build. Gordon is about Virgil's build / a swimmer's build. John is lean /lithe but not lanky. Built like a runner.

Virgil HAS sold art and had it on display at galleries, possibly even at a museum or two, which is quite the accomplishment. He's also played music semi-professionally, although I can't find or recall an refences to him winning awards or contests in music.

Like John, Virgil got his astronaut wings / went to a second school after his primary (Fleetway again puts this as Tracy University) and he seems to have gone to this second school when he was ~21. Fleetway has a fun incident where, while at Tracy U, he used his advanced technology degree to service a faulty space capsule during a training space-flight.

So far as I can tell, Virgil's plan was to graduate and work for Tracy Tech / Tracy Industries / whatever version of the MULTIPLE names that Jeff's company has you'd like to use XD upon graduation. He likely DOES officially work as an engineer for his Dad's company (his brothers as well) on top of IR duties.

Given when IR got started (September of 2065) and Virgil's age AND his graduation date(s), Virgil would have been working at Jeff's company for at least a couple of years before IR got started.

He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, but no Class-M / motorcyle that we're aware of. He ABSOLUTELY has a Class-B (farming equipment) license, and has a CBL (commercial) Class A/B/C license. We know he has a pilot's license. While he has his astronaut wings, he might not have an astropilot license, but he would at least he have a 'limited' one - equivalent of a 'student driver' where he can be a co-pilot but not a solo. He has a helicopter and helijet license. Seems to have both a commerical and non-commerical boating license. Seems to have a civilian submarine craft license. Might have a diving license. Probably has a skydiving and paragliding license.

Gordon:

Only one of the brothers NOT to skip grades, as he goes straight from High School to WASP Academy at ~18.

Gordon was showing skill in swimming at only 3 years of age, and joined a professional swim team as early as possible (13 or so, though he would have been on school swim teams / training prior to that)

Gordon was one of, if not the, fastest freestyle swimmers in his prime. We know he won Gold in the Olympics for the Butterfly Stroke at 16 (Considering his birthyear, he might actually have been 17 given the years the Olympics fall on). We know he also got other awards / medals, but we can take it as fact that his only Olympic Gold was this. He might have gotten Silver and Bronze in other races. However given the 4 year gaps, this would have been the ONLY Olympics Gordon took part in - he would have been too young for the previous, and the ones after would be either after his hyrdofoil accident or IR.

Gordon went from high school straight into WASP. He probably was 18, buuuuuuuut there are hints that Gordon might have served in whatever War Scott and Phones and Troy and others in that age group fought in, so Gordon MIGHT have been able to sign up for WASP at 17 and basically before he graduated high school. To quickly explain, while you can sign up for the military at 17 with a guardian's permission for most branches… submarine service (and thus WASP) is not one of them, as it's strictly volunteer and 18+. You have to VOLUNTEER to be on a sub, and outside of wartimes you must be 18 or older. Thus IF, and only if, there was a 'War' on, Gordon could have joined WASP at 17.

Gordon was put in command of a bathyscape, which means he was an officer. You usually have to be 19 to become an officer / begin officer training BUT you can start at 18 during wartimes so... Gordon would have started his officer training at 18-19 and become an officer at 19-20. We've no mention of what rank Gordon was at his retirement, but to command a submarine, even a bathyscape, he has to have been a Lieutenant-Commander (of-3) minimum, but he can't have been more than a Captain (of-5) as he wasn't part of the admiralty. I make him a Commander (of-4) because I am an old geek woman and I love him having the rank level of 4 XD

While in WASP, Gordon came up with a revolutionary and unique underwater breathing apparatus... it's implied that the scuba gear we see used in Stingray are the ones that Gordon designed. Gordon later improved these for IR.

Gordon was in a high speed hyrdofoil crash (I know it says 400 mph, but I honestly would prefer it to have been going FAR slower... 400 km/h maybe XD ) that almost killed him, injured his back, and left him in a WASP hospital for 4 months (note that is his FULL TIME in the hospital, including his initial / in hospital Physical Therapy). The crash happened VERY recently, btw, like two years MAX before the pilot episode, but no less than a year and a half prior to the pilot, so it would have happened no earlier than Sept 2063 and no later than Mar 2064. A lot of fans give him lingering physical issues from this (heck I'm one of them), BUT it's important to remember that we see Gordon getting up to fairly normal physical activities in all canon material (even Fleetway where his accident is directly mentioned / shown), so he is not HEAVILY impacted by this. If he has chronic pain, it's mild for instance. If he throws his back out on occasion, it's rare and he recovers quickly, etc.

He has a military boating and submarine license, as well as a non-commercial boating license and civilian submarine-craft license. he miiiiiight have a commercial boating license, but he's never shown with commercial craft so *shrug emoji*. he ABSOLUTELY has a diving license. He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license, and would have had a military license that functioned as a CBL (commercial) Class A/B/C license and might have gone through the work to get that again as a civilian. Likely has a piloting license, might have a helicopter and helijet license.

Alan:

Alan was interested in both car racing and space from a young age (and unlike TaG, it looks like he actually had a stronger interest in CARS than in rockets). He seems to have skipped grades, as he was in college by 15 years of age as he was far enough into his astronaut training to be in space at 16 as one of Alan's accomplishments is that he is the youngest astronaut / lunarnaut known, having been either in space OR on the moon (or at minimum he got his astronaut wings) at only 16 years of age AND he still holds the record for highest number of passes and holds the current record for graduating in record time.

It looks like Alan went first to college for his astronaut wings (Fleetway has it as Tracy University) and likely got a Bachelors, graduating at 16 years of age.

He then went to another school (Fleetway lists Colorado Tech / Denver Tech) and got a Masters at 17 (maaaaybe 18). WHAT he got it in varies wildly across canon sources though. He's got astronatical engineering, space travel, CAR engineering / design, and communications listed. So likely pick and choose as ye please. I personally go for Vehicular (car) and astronautical engineering. To be totally honest, I'd replace the Tech school with a Racing Academy and have it where Alan got a Bachelors in astronatical engineering at Tracy University at 16, and a second Bachelors in Vehicular Engineering & Design at a Racing School at 17, then went from there to join the World Space Patrol Astopilot Academy for 1-2 years before going back to his racing career for the 1-2 years before he joins IR

Alan then joined the World Astronaut Patrol Academy... aka the military branch that Fireball XL5 is part of. Alan was in the Astropilot program, but for unknown reasons in canon, he left WSP / Astropilot program before graduating when he was still 18. To solve this issue, I replaced one of the astronovices in the Fireball comic story 'The Astronovices' with Alan, as that would have given him a General or Dishonorable Discharge. Alan DOES hold the record for youngest Astronovice as he joined at ~17 or so, and he apparently was pretty likely to be one of the few to pass the grueling requirements and graduate (seriously, out of an intake of 200 potentials, less that 25 graduate for each 2-3 year training cycle).

Alan started his racing career while still in college, likely starting driving at 16-17 as it's said he's been racing for 'a few years' when he wins Pararola at 19/20. He probably paused the racing career for the 1-2 years he was in the Astronovice program, then resumed it at 18 when he left WSP (for whatever reason he DID leave). He apparently has a few wins / medals in racing under his belt and left a successful racing career to join IR, although he WAS young enough (only 19) that him deciding to join Jeff's company as a vehicle engineer who occasionally tests the vehicles the company makes likely wouldn't draw too much attention. (Alan was a 'champion' race driver and officially a car designer by the time he joined IR at 19.)

He ABSOLUTELY has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, and seemingly has a Class-M / motorcyle, and obviously has a SCCA (racing) license. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license, but that's debatable. We know he has a pilot's license. He might have a helicopter license, but we never once see him piloting a helicopter. He's a bit more likely to have his helijet license. He ABSOLUTELY has an astropilot license, even if he didn't get the military / Fireball craft license. Seems to have a non-commerical boating license and a civilian submarine craft license. Has a diving license. Probably has a skydiving and paragliding license. Certainly has a rocket-plane (aka astmospheric craft that can escape gravitational pull and is space capable) license.

If anyone wants, I'll do these for TinTin, Brains and Penny - I'll even try it for Jeff, Kyrano, and Grandma Tracy, although we have FAR less to go on for them

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writingquestionsanswered · 10 months

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How do I make my writing less.. like I'm rambling? I speak and type in a way that is very much rambling but I want my writing (even if it's just a fanfic) to be more on topic ig?

How to Ramble Less in Your Writing

1 - Have a plan - Planning doesn't have to mean figuring out every last detail--creating scene lists, outlines, and timelines. It can mean that, and if that would help you, do it! But mainly "having a plan" in writing just means that you know the general plot. Who is this story about? What is the conflict? Why does the protagonist want to resolve the conflict? How will they go about it? What obstacles do they face along the way? Who or what placed those obstacles there? How will the character, their situation, or their world have changed by the end of the story? At the very least, having a beginning to end summary is a great way to format the answers to these questions and give you a plan to follow.

2 - Balance Exposition, Dialogue, and Action - If you find yourself rambling a lot in your story, you might be doing too much exposition, aka "explaining things." Remember that scenes (and your story in general) should be a balance of exposition, dialogue (conversation), and action (things happening). When you balance these things out in your story, you will find that you probably ramble less.

3 - Ramble First, Edit Later - Rambling in your writing isn't always a bad thing. For some writers, that's just part of the first draft process. It's sort of a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" method of writing, but it works really well for some writers. Some of the best stories in the world were written that way. The key is to go back and edit what's there so you can take out the things that "didn't stick" and clean up the things that did.

4 - Start With a Mind Map - If you find yourself having difficulty staying on topic in your story, try doing a mind map before you start writing and let all those rambling thoughts come out in an organized way. This can help you see all those seemingly random connections your brain is making between elements in your story, which is what sends you off on these rambling paths in the first place. Not only does this let your brain get all those random connections out of its system before you start writing, it also gives you the ability to look at what's there and see if there's anything worth working into something more relevant and cohesive to the story.

5 - Break It Up Into Smaller Parts - Another thing you can try is to break your writing up into smaller parts, which has the effect of putting up barriers that keep you from rambling too far off course. Try to focus on writing a scene... know what you want to accomplish in the scene before you start writing. Figure out the beginning point, the midpoint, and the end point. Then, plot the path between each point. If you still find yourself rambling, break it up by point. Write from the beginning to the midpoint. Then from the midpoint to the end point. Breaking it into smaller parts forces your brain to focus on that smaller part rather than giving it the opportunity to run off into the wild.

Happy writing! ♥

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7grandmel · 3 months

Text

Todays rip: 18/01/2024

MAGFest 2019: SiIvaGunner Presents - High Quality Ripping

Season 3 Featured on: MAGFest 2019

Presented by Nape Mango, Omknee, ShonicTH, Chaze the Chat, Harmony Friends, Trofflesby, Craz Xexe, Agent

youtube

Yeah, okay, this is cheating in a lot of ways - this is not on the SiIvaGunner channel, and its obviously not even a rip. But I felt it necessary to commemorate, as I mentioned briefly in Because I Love You, its finally time for MAGFest once again, and the SiIvaGunner team is to host their own panel there tomorrow! And in the spirit of that, I want to just...talk about SiIvaGunner and MAGFest, at least for a little bit. Because the first two panels in particular, the ones that marked the beginning and end of Season 3, are some of my all-time favorite videos associated with the SiIvaGunner channel.

A big part of the identity and gimmick of the channel itself, as you're likely well aware, is the bait-and-switch - to present it as a faceless entity simply uploading video game music, only to instead feature jokes, shitposts, edits, and so forth. Part of maintaining that kayfabe, then, is to intentionally obscure who makes what behind the scenes, to keep the real people under wraps for those who aren't going to dig deeper, in order to further sell the illusion of being an official VGM upload. The team does of course still give credit when its relevant, as any rip can be featured on an album be given full credits there, but just that degree of separation alone between casual fans and ones willing to download an album has probably led to a few too many people being unaware of who made their favorite rips. Back then, I typically fell somewhere in the middle - I wasn't actively using music listening software and thus missed out on listening to albums for a long time, but was still aware of some of the big names you'd see in comments sections, saw some shoutouts from Twitter, the works.

Yet with the two MAGFest panels of 2018 and 2019 respectively, it felt like the first time that the magnitude of what SiIvaGunner is and how much it means to people was revealed to me for the first time ever. The uploaded recording of the 2018 panel, posted by Chaze's own account, features a shot about seven minutes in that turns the camera to the crowd - and it's an absolutely packed-full room of nerds just like me. And even though I've never been able to go to any of these MAGFest panels due to travel costs and complications...just seeing how many people truly do care about SiivaGunner, in such a tangible way, something more than a number...it resonated with me, yknow?

Beyond that, these panels are just such fascinating pieces of history for the channel, such good time capsules in so many ways - and that's in a lot of ways why I chose to highlight the 2019 panel in particular. Rather than discussing the upbringings of the channel, it features members of the team reminiscing and going through Season 3's timeline of events in particular, going into surprising detail into the thought process and direction the various pieces of the year took - while also giving insights into the production of the Christmas Comeback Crisis, King for a Day Tournament, and more. I feel like with the turn from Season 3 to Season 4 Episode 1, you can really notice that the idea of "hype" for SiIvaGunner content becoming so much more prominent, so much more deliberately handled by the team, which is made all the more evident by the King for Another Day Tournament reveal live on stage.

Man, look, it's an hour-long panel, and there's so many small things that I still remember from it, despite last having seen it five years ago. The members talking about their favorite rips, giving a round of applause to all the rippers who couldn't come join them at the panel or on-stage, the very funny last-minute rips made to "celebrate" the channel being terminated a day earlier (one of which I've embedded as the Bandcamp link), and even some slight discussions on what SiIvaGunner as a channel means to the team, what it represents, and what their goals have been overtime. And, of course, the fucking incredible PowerPoint hijinx with Inspector Gadget, which I am 100% going to take as confirmed canon that Gadget's level of sentience and awareness of the real world is just the same as Woodman's and The Voice.

I have, of course, been told a number of times that I overanalyze SiIvaGunner, that I'm uncovering depth that's clearly not intentional, looking too much into a silly meme channel. And sure, I'd admit that I do overthink things to a degree, anyone who read Vote Responsibly!! should be able to tell you as much. Yet its stuff like these in-depth behind-the-scenes looks, these moments of getting a face and a voice to attach to the works, that really just felt super validating to me even back then - that the intentions and goals of the channel that I myself had picked up on were in fact some sort of direction that the team itself were steering toward. And though Nape Mango does indeed declare in this very panel that "Everything is a coincidence with SiIvaGunner", I'm forever in awe at just how good the team has been at lining those coincidences up into something genuinely incredible.

We SilvaGunner, We Rip.

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thelovelydoggycatmadi · 7 months

Text

Aphmau facts I refuse to acknowledge on principal alone

(slight nsfw)

Zane being a brony

bronies not only ruined there own show but made the worst creepypasta’s back in the day. Also I have personal beef with a few of them bitches (including myself if you know you know)

Brony Zane is cringe have him collect plushies instead

2. Zane has a flat ass

absolutely lies and slander. Katelyn does though yes I’m 100% biased. She has no ass only muscle

3. Laurence’s fashion sense

I don’t even like Laurence but for fucks sakes why does he always look somewhere between a tik tok e-boy and a freshly divorced white suburban dad about to pick up his kid from soccer.

4. Zane having a crush on aph (or any of season 3 really)

This could’ve been interesting if he acted like an actual adult. Listen sometimes I like a whiny miserable little man but I don’t like a full blown 27 year old crying like a fucking baby over a girl that is already IN A RELATIONSHIP even want him. That’s not just unattractive it’s fucking weird. It’s yet another case of an interesting concept done poorly. Just because he doesn’t have any social skills doesn’t mean decorum always needs to be thrown out the window.

let’s not forget the time he literally said he want to repopulate with her. WHILE STILL LIVING WITH AARON. No I’m not kidding. What the FUCK.

5. ghost/kim

Ghost/Emmalyn is just such a bad character. She literally attempts to SA/full blown Sa’s Zane I don’t need to say anymore. And Kim is straight up just useless she does absolutely nothing to help the cast or the plot other than be a vessel. At least characters that I dislike (as people) make me feel something. Which makes me hate her more. Her character is literally nothing without ghost.

6. Jess implying Ein is a better villain than Zane.

fuccccck off. I don’t even like MCD but at least Zane made his own plans and didn’t need plot device to the tenth degree to make him hateable.

7. Mystreet/McD are in the same universe/timeline

Every time I think about the ladder half of season 6 i have an aneurism. Like every-time I rewatch with friends I forget everything that’s told to us.

8. Jess imply Melicinda was going to be endgame

This is gonna get me in get water maybe but I- I don’t get it guys. I mean at least Garrence I can’t get even though I’m personally not a huge fan. My feelings about Melissa aside- there’s nothing here. Literally nothing. Baron. The fruit is dryer than a raisin. So why Jess bought into it or tried to set it up- I’ll never know. Baiting your queer audience is trendy I guess.

8. Zanvis.

I’ve seen things. Things that will never be scorched from my mind. No matter how much bleach I put on the stain. It will never leave me… god… is this why you won’t come back to us? Because of what we have rot on your beautiful earth?

(just to be clear guys I’m referring to the fanart and how Jess treated it like her version of septiplier)

I’ll put more down here if I think of anything else.

#aphmau #mystreet #aphblr #mcd #zane ro'meave #minecraft diaries #aphmau zane #zane ro’meave #aphmau rant #mystreet katelyn #mystreet kim #mystreet ghost #mystreet laurence #laurence zvhal #aphverse

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space-mermaid-writing · 4 months

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Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags:enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Chapter 4: “I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“I’m not messing with your head, Tony. I swear.”

It was the first thing Stephen said to him the next day.

“I know.” Tony sighed. “At least I’m about 99 percent sure.”

The sorcerer bit his tongue. But this was probably the best that he would get. And there was something else on his mind he wanted to address.

“I want to try something. Maybe you were right that I’m the problem. We can test that. I told you that my death doesn’t break the time loop. But I still don’t know if it triggers a reset.”

The engineer looks up from where he was assembling his welding tools. “You mean you want to… what? Die? Kill yourself? Me to kill you?”

Stephen nodded and Tony put his tools down. The sorcerer had said he had done it before and then woke up to see another Wednesday. Still, it didn’t bode well with Tony. Death was something final. Usually.

“You don’t seem to be concerned about it at all,” he voiced carefully. “Are you sure it’s necessary?”

Stephen knew how it must seem to outsiders that he was almost too willing at the prospect of dying. “It’s not the first time I would die in a time loop.”

“A time loop? Not particularly this one?”

Of course Tony noticed that little detail.

“I told you I’ve been in one before,” Stephen said. “But it was different. I controlled it and I used it to trap an entity in it. It was reset by my death.”

Tony was horrified. “How many times?”

“I lost count,” Stephen admitted softly. It had been too many, if he was being honest.

The engineer sighed. “I don’t think you should do this. There’s probably a healthier option.” Seeing Stephen’s facial expression, he added, “but knowing you, I can’t argue you out of it anyway. So how do you want to do this?”

He placed his hand on Stephen's shoulder; a normal gesture for him. He was always handsy with people he was comfortable with. Which – huh – when did he become comfortable around Stephen? Maybe the same time he started calling him by his first name. Still, it was a moment of realization.

Being lost in thought, he didn’t notice Stephen had winced when Tony touched him and that there was a slight blush on his face.

Whenever the two of them stood close to each other – which was more often than not these days – Stephen had to hold himself physically back to lean towards the engineer even though he was yearning for contact. All the time alone in the time loop had taken a toll on him. So much so that a harmless gesture like a hand on a shoulder felt like a tight hug.

He took a step away to get some physical space between them and focused on the topic at hand.

“A painless way would be preferred. I don’t want to use magic, because I’m not a hundred percent sure it won’t affect our bond.” Neither Stephen nor Tony wanted to risk that. “And I’d rather have it done here and not risk someone finding my body. I will record a statement in case something goes wrong, so you’re clear on the legal side, and to explain it to Wong.”

“You really thought this through, hm?”

Stephen answered with a single nod. He had. The cloak floated over from where he had been playing with one of Tony’s bots and smoothed over his shoulders. Stephen patted over the corner of the fabric and gestured to a Starkpad. “Can I use that?”

Tony made an inviting gesture. “It’s all yours.”

With the pad in hand Stephen retreated to a corner of the lab to record his statement. His voice was quiet – the message obviously a private one – and Tony tried not to eavesdrop.

Jarvis took the moment to also start a private conversation via another device.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Sir?”

Most days Jarvis was quiet when the Sorcerer was present, but he carried out every request from Tony immediately. The engineer knew that his A.I. was watching everything closely, and every now and then Jarvis raised concern, like now.

“It’s probably not, but we haven’t made a lot of progress lately. And if he insists…” It was clear from his voice that Tony didn't like the idea.

“It could be a trick.”

“It could be,” he said noncommitedly. Tony didn’t really believe it to be a trick. By now he knew Stephen quite well. The sorcerer gained nothing from dying and framing Tony; or whatever the implication had been. “Just let it slide for today.”

He had reassured Jarvis so many times before: it’s just one day. Tomorrow will be different.

It was never tomorrow and that was frustrating. He didn’t regret joining the loop – perhaps because he knew that there was a way out for him – but it still wasn’t always easy to handle.

Stephen had finished his recording and handed the Starkpad to Tony. “If anything should happen, give it to Wong. It tells you where you will find him.” The sorcerer hesitated for a second before he added, “please don’t watch it if it is not necessary.”

Now Tony was absolutely curious, but he honored the request and stored the device in a drawer.

“So?” he asked, not sure what point the sorcerer wanted to make.

“I assume you’re quite equipped,” Stephen said and if this was any other situation Tony would have made a joke about it. But now he just nodded and walked to a locker where he’d stored some weapons. He had used them to test bullet impacts on Iron Man armors’ surface structure in the past. He grabbed a gun and put it on the table next to Stephen.

“I’d prefer you don’t do this.”

Stephen was silent. What he was about to say Tony would even like less.

He waited until the engineer looked at him, before he raised his shaking fingers in front of his chest. “These are not good for anything with precision. I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you-…”

“Absolutely not!” Tony protested vehemently. He was not going down that route. Sure, he worked with the Avengers and part of his job description was to neutralize threats. Forcibly if necessary. But this was different. He wouldn’t outride murder someone. No matter what nickname the press used to give Tony Stark.

As if he had read Tony’s mind, Stephen argued, “You are a weapon manufacturer.”

“Former.” His tone was biting. He knew it was something that would stick with him forever, even if he tried to do better, to change. He had made his amends with it. Hearing it from Strange had hit him unexpectedly and it hurt more than it should. It made him become defensive.

“I don’t know what kind of impression you have of me, but I don’t take lives lightly!”

“I will survive it.”

“But first you will be dead! This isn’t a game, Stephen. Even if today starts tomorrow anew. Killing is still killing!” Tony didn't understand why that wouldn't go into the sorcerer's head. Just because there were no physical consequences didn’t mean it was okay to go out and murder people randomly. That was what psychopaths would do. And Stephen wasn’t even a random person on the street. Tony couldn’t kill him. He wasn’t even sure if he could truly hurt him in any way – which would probably become a problem after this was over and they were on different sides again.

Strange didn’t look happy about his declining, his lip almost pouting. “Jarvis can do it then.”

That suggestion upset Tony even more. “Don’t you dare to pull my child into this! I won’t teach him to kill someone just because they asked for it!” He pointed accusingly at Stephen.

They were both still standing at the table, the gun between them. Tony was so very angry that Stephen had dared to ask him such a thing. He was angry Stephen didn’t seem to care about his own life. And he was angry that he had to tilt his head and look up at the man.

The sorcerer was adamant to push through with his idea. “Well, then you either do it voluntarily or I will make you do it.”

"How are you going to do that?"

“Magic,” Stephen simply said.

Tony yanked back as if he had been slapped. “You promised you would not mess with my head!”

“I don’t need to access your head to control your arm.” It was the equivalent of a threat.

Tony was very tempted to take the gun and kill him right at this moment. And maybe that was the sorcerer’s plan.

He couldn’t believe it. He felt angry, betrayed and foremost, fear that Strange would actually make his words reality.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled. “Why risk this?”

“It’s important to know. For science,” Stephen dared to quote Tony and the engineer hated the implication he would justify anything in the name of science. “You should understand.”

“I’m sick of you! I don’t care how you proceed but I want no part in this.” Tony threw his hands in the air before he turned and left the lab.

He barely stepped out of the room when he heard a shot; right before everything went black.

_____________________

“Sir…”

Tony jumped out of bed as soon as Jarvis' voice woke him up. He was still angry. Angry and a little bit relieved that Stephen was alive. But mostly angry.

“That bastard!”

He stomped straight to the kitchen, pulling his watch into a gauntlet on the way. He pointed it right at the sorcerer who was leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Fuck you, Strange!”

Stephen froze. It had been a while since a weapon had been pointed at him when he arrived in the morning. And for a moment he wasn’t sure about the reason why. Did something go wrong?Did his death break the bond between them?

There’s panic in his eyes and the overthinking prevents him from speaking. Tony used this moment to step closer, the flashing repulsor still raised.

“You’re an absolute asshole! What were you thinking?” Standing now right in front of him, he grabbed Strange by both shoulders.

The cloak moved out of his way, probably approving the lecture Tony gave the sorcerer; and also trusting him enough not to actually hurt him. If Tony would stop and think about that, he would have an opinion about it. But right then his focus was solely on Stephen.

“What if it didn’t work? Did you even think for one second about the consequences?!”

Relieved, Stephen realized that Tony did remember and was just angry with him. He could handle that. Or so he thought. “There are no consequences. The time loop resets-…”

“I’m talking about me!” Tony cut him off, his voice raised. At this point he was almost shaking Stephen. Trying to shake some sense into him. “If the day hadn’t been reset with your death. If I had gone back into the lab, see you lying there… if… “

The image of Stephen with a bullet in his head, blood all around him was burned into his brain. He had been in the field long enough to know how a bullet to the head looked like.

Even thinking about it tightened his chest and made his heart ache. He would have blamed it on the arc reactor in his chest, but when he blinked, he noticed that his eyes were moist.

Tony knew how to mask his emotion. He had been trained in PR since the age of five. So seeing the man like this right in front of him surprised Stephen.

What surprised him even more was when Tony yanked him forward and roughly planted his lips on the sorcerer’s.

The engineer was annoyed, evidently, voice harsh and filled with authority, and yet? Yet, there was something else, a heat that had pushed the words out of his mouth. It pushed them together, lips pressing together with a firm urgency, teeth digging into Stephen’s lower lip.

Stephen gasped in surprise, grabbing onto Tony’s toned arms for support. He was overwhelmed by the man, his proximity, his familiar smell.

Tony pulled back first, not done with his rant. “I hope you’ve achieved what you wanted, because I’m not going to let you do that again. I refuse! I don’t ever want to hear you suggesting it!”

Stephen looked wrecked – his lips swollen and a blush on his cheeks – and he was too stunned to speak.

Jarvis was not. “Sir, I’m not sure if I can follow what’s happening.”

“I’ll explain it to you in a minute, J.”

It must have seemed strange to the A.I., downright crazy: the appearance of Doctor Strange in the kitchen, calmly requesting to see the engineer; Tony yelling – that part was probably understandable – and them kissing.

But Tony had already decided that they weren't going to talk about it. It had been the heat of the moment and wasn’t the main topic right now. He had let himself be tempted. The engineer sighed. “Your death restarts the loop, by the way,” he informed the sorcerer and turned to walk to the coffee machine. He needed a strong one. “You know what that means.”

Stephen followed his movements for exactly one step forward before he stopped himself. He was reluctant to change the topic and watched Tony fixing himself a cup, before actually realizing what the man had said.

“It changes nothing.”

“It changes everything”, Tony grumbled. “Don’t you see? That means it’s directly linked to your person.”

“It could still be due to the time stone I’m wearing.”

“Yeah? Well, let’s try that. Give the stone to me and kill me.”

“No!” Stephen protested so vehemently it surprised the engineer and he turned back to him, with the coffee in his hand. “I won’t risk your life.” Stephen knew he was a hypocrite for saying that but he couldn't help it.

“You risked yours,” Tony pointed out.

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“You are too important to the timeline.” Stephen shook his head. He didn’t want to explain what he had seen in the future. It wasn’t pretty, but it was inevitable. If they took the right path. And if Tony played his part.

None of that mattered if they didn’t stop the time loop.

Stephen looked down at his chest, then up at Tony. “No more deaths. But you’re going to wear the Eye of Agamotto.”

“What?” Tony thought he hadn’t heard it right.

“It’s a variable we haven’t tried yet. Just to see if it changes anything”, the sorcerer explained.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

Strange had told him before that he would never hand it to someone. And he had been pretty adamant about it. To the point that Tony didn’t suggest it anymore. And usually Tony was very persistent about his ideas.

They must be running out of options.

Tony watched Stephen pull the chain over his head. “What? Like right now?” He put the coffee aside for a second.

“You’ll wear it during the day and the reset.” Stephen stepped right into his personal space and put the necklace around his neck. Tony didn't have the ability to activate the eye in any way. "Be careful with it," he warned him anyway. “The fate of the whole universe depends on the safekeeping of the time stone. I’m trusting you with it.”

“No pressure,” Tony mumbled but his eyes were solemn. Warmth flooded him thinking about how much faith Stephen put in him.

The eye felt heavy on Tony’s chest. A chunky piece of jewelry. It lay above the arc reactor. The feared feeling of magic did not appear and Tony was both happy and disappointed about that. He didn’t know what the fuss was about, but Stephen’s words prevented him from commenting. He sensed that this was a big deal.

#ironstrange #stephen strange #doctor strange #tony stark #stephen strange x tony stark #marvel #mcu #strangeiron #spacemermaid #Wednesday #time loop #spacemermaidwriting

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the-lore-and-art-cave-go-brrrrr · 8 days

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Updated Nickel Jar

The player has saved their own world before the events of Oneshot: 2 nickels

The player has died and then not been dead: 2 nickels

The player has died, not been dead, and done it more than once (a nickel for each time it's happened now): I think we’re at like 6 now

A Niko gets shot in the shoulder: 2 nickels

A Niko gets shot in fucking head: 1 nickel (please for the love of all that might be holy do not make this one go up)

A Niko gets shot: 4 nickels

A Niko gains some form of powers and proceeds to get a secondary form, and then open a portal or something: 2 nickels (I think?)

A player is the mortal incarnation of something that basically is a godly being: 2 nickels (At least, who knows if there's more.)

A Niko has watched another version of themself die: 2 nickels

The writer has ALMOST died: 8 Nickels

The writer HAS died: 4 nickels

Lightbulb head: 2 nickels

Tv head: 3 nickels (so far?)

A Niko has become EFFECTIVELY (this does not necessarily mean they ARE one) a god: 2 nickels

Beings out there specifically to chronicle events that happen across timelines: 2 nickels

Anything I missed?

#Nickel Jar #Fuck it that’s a tag now

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himynameis4 · 1 year

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I feel like y’all are sleeping on the canonically-overlapping timeframes between It Chapter 1 & Stranger Things.

Will goes missing in early November (aka fall) of 1983. It Chapter 1 takes place 1988-1989, with Georgie going missing October 1988, and all the action taking place the subsequent summer.

The summer of 1989 would be when the Party graduates high school, you guys.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if Ted Wheeler had a sister, Maggie Tozier, perhaps? Finn Wolfhard has said that Richie and Mike wouldn’t get along, and Mike being frustrated with his dipshit little cousin is hilarious to me.

There are already crossover fics existing—ones that make Mike & Richie twins, ones that have Richie as the elder cousin, lots of ones that have Richie sent to live with/visit the Wheelers in Hawkins—but none I’ve seen that take the timeline into account, none with Mike as the elder cousin, and few that primarily take place in Derry.

What about, instead, starting post-season 4, with Karen Wheeler? The Wheelers are incredibly flawed, as parental figures go, but the end of season 4 leaves off with them seeming to pay more attention to the dangers in their children’s lives. Perhaps Karen Wheeler, newly wise to the supernatural dangers of Hawkins, sends Mike and Holly to live with their cousins in Derry for their own good? Hawkins is practically a ghost town, after all… Nancy’s over 18, Karen can’t control her—but she can protect her younger two, at least.

Perhaps it’s discovered that Mike was a target of Vecna, and the party, on edge and traumatized after Max, advocates for him to move away, where he’ll be safe, unintentionally heightening Mike’s feelings of uselessness (but he knows he could be useful, if they’d just listen this time, if they’d just let him stay… he feels sick thinking it, but also sickeningly justified in it, too: if he’d been in hawkins when they went for vecna that first time, max would be awake, and eddie would be alive. Mike could’ve done better, he just knows it, if only he’d been there to plan, he would’ve done better than the harebrained scheme nancy threw together, nearly getting max killed, and he only just made up with will, and eddie is dead, and he cant leave now—).

(It’s interesting to explore how mike sometimes simultaneously overconfident & incredibly insecure, as well as his (mis?)perception of himself, nancy, etc. Another interesting theme to explore here is the concept of usefulness, and how that does or does not factor into being loved and having value. Mike is useful, Mike is a leader… but by taking away Mike’s opportunities to express these things, it forces Mike to contend with his own self-worth and how he values himself, and his feelings on having to be “useful” in relationships relationships/to be loved (see: she doesn’t need me, mike’s van ramblings on lois lane, etc).

On top of that…what if Ted died fighting the upsidedown, protecting his children, and Karen shuffles the kids off to Derry shortly thereafter? Maybe she stays with Mike and Holly in Derry, but maybe she doesn’t stay forever—perhaps she returns to Hawkins to try and defend her wayward, rebellious eldest, Nancy, fighting at her daughters’ side and avenging her late husband. So Mike is left to grapple with the loss of his father mostly on his own, though Aunt Maggie and Uncle Went do their best. Perhaps it’s made worse by the fact that, just as his parents seemed to be doing better, to be caring, one got himself killed and the other abandoned them. In their attempts to “do better” they both—well, they don’t. Frankly, mike preferred when they didnt pay attention at all. At least they were all alive, and mike was with the people he loved. Will he have to forgive them, now? His father and his last-minute heroics, as though that makes up for a lifetime of distance; his mother and her grief, deciding that acknowledging her failures as a parent means giving up all hopes of being a better one?

(Themes? Forgiveness, parents, the impacts parents have on their children, etc.)

And on top of all of that, now he’s stuck in this shitty, homophobic town, one that isn’t all that different from his shitty, homophobic hometown, except that missing children are mundane here and most of the people he loves are miles away. Oh, and also it’s cold as fuck, because he’s in Maine, and he has to share a room with his shitty little cousin, Richie.

Mike is abruptly shoved into the same position El was—he’s dealing with a lot of shit at school, but why the hell would he tell el about it, with everything she’s dealing with in hawkins?? El had it worse in Lenora, apparently—given the way she reacted when he tried to compare their experiences with bullying.

(This isn’t entirely accurate, isn’t reflective of the intention behind El’s statement or the reason she reacted to Mike the way she did, merely a way Mike might internalize and interpret and be affected by El’s response to him talking about his experiences with bullying in season four.)

Reconstructing cerebro on the roof without dustin sucks. Being unable to communicate with the people he loves would suck more, though, and telephone lines are never private, no matter who’s listening in (nosey aunts and cousins or government agents on their side or government agents decidedly NOT on their side—it doesn’t matter. They don’t get to spy, because it’s not of their goddamn business).

(At least he and will are talking. Every other night, practically. Mike climbs out of the window of his shared bedroom, sits on the roof next to his Cerebro, and talks and talks and talks with will until the sky gets light. They discuss the latest new of the upsidedown, their friends, will’s connection to all of it, their families. Will is the only person mike tells, honestly, about what it’s like in Derry. They talk about light things too—plan campaigns they know they’ll never get to play, talk about comics and gossip about annoying siblings & cousins. When the Little Shop of Horrors movie comes out, they watch it separately & then talk about it together. Overall, they’re making a better go of it than the last time they tried long distance.)

(The cognitive disconnect for mike between what he’s experienced, what his friends have experienced, and the relatively mundane (for now) evils of derry high school might be interesting to explore, too.)

Life continues in this vein for about 2 years. The upsidedown & vecna aren’t fully resolved, but things are at a kind of stalemate, at least.

And then, in 1988, Georgie Denbrough goes missing.

(If you made it to the end of this long-ass post, congrats, man. I figure i’ll tag @wibble-wobbegong since i know he was/is v into stephen king? If you’re reading this, hi wibble! Idk this plot bunny has been dancing in my head. If anybody has thoughts, or different directions they wanna springboard off from this, i’d love to hear ab it lol. I think imma tag this on “wheeler in derry” for my own organization. If i elaborate ill probably tag it there)

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piratecaptainscaptainpirates · 6 months

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I've been trying to get an idea of the timeline in s2. Big caveat before I share my thoughts: s1 had a very loose timeline, too, and I think trying to figure out exactly how many days pass between seasons is a waste of time because this show is powered by vibes. But here's what I'm thinking!

Episode 1 is our baseline - we don't know much time has passed exactly between seasons, but it's enough for Ed to break Ned Low's record and for Stede and co. to get settled in at the republic. I think episode 1 most likely takes place over several days - Stede's section does not clearly establish anything, and Ed says "we've got a record to break" right after he shoots Izzy, meaning the record is not yet broken during that scene.

Episode 2 most likely takes place right after ep 1, at least on Stede's side of the equation - Stede acts surprised about the wake-up call on Zheng Yi Sao's ship and they're all newly assigned roles; it's clearly their first day. I would buy it, however, if Ed's story has a few days between ep 1 and ep 2 - Izzy's leg might have needed some time to start rotting, and it would give some extra time for things to get dire for Ed's crew before the Red Flag finds them if their ep 2 events took place a few days before our timelines catch up.

Episode 3 isn't clear; there's been enough time for Stede and co. to get settled in with Zheng Yi Sao and enough time for Ed's crew to need to resort to hunting seagulls. It's probably not a lot of time; it's likely they didn't have many rations to start with (given they hadn't been returning to land) and it wasn't enough time for Ed to actually die of his injuries.

Ep 4 is easy, immediately after ep 3.

Ep 5 seems like it takes place immediately after ep 4, but personally I like to think there's another day in between. That would give Stede time to talk to the crew and figure out their conditions for Ed's probation and for Stede to write and make Ed memorize that little apology speech (Ed clearly didn't come up with that, Stede is mouthing along and Ed fumbles the safe space ship line). I also like to think Ed gets a day to nap and recover from his many concussions.

Ep 6 is the hard one. Lucius and Pete tell everyone they got engaged during this episode, but I honestly think that's just because there wasn't an episode in-between. Many people have talked about how it feels like there should have been an episode between 5 and 6, and I agree - I think it probably would've started with a "time is passing" montage like s1e6 did. In any case, enough time has passed for Ed to get out of probation (which he and Stede specifically agree would take more than a day in ep 5) and make good progress towards re-earning the crew's trust. The crew are much more comfortable with him in ep 6 and we know things have been calm enough the crew are feeling kinda bored. Personally I think it makes the most sense for there to be at least a week between 5 and 6.

After that, 7 and 8 are easy; they take place immediately after 6 and directly follow each other.

So, depending on how you interpret things, s2 could all take place in about a week or it could take place over a couple weeks. I lean towards the latter; I'd believe anything under about a month.

One thing that makes me lean towards a longer timeline is Ed's makeup. He's got a bruised cheek and a split lip following the mutiny, and given that this show likes to hand-wave injuries when they're not plot-relevant and TV shows don't usually waste time on makeup just for fun, I think that serves two purposes. First, and most importantly, it's a visible reminder Ed survived a suicide attempt not long ago, he's still in a fragile place. Secondly, it lets us know time is passing.

Ed looks like warmed-over shit in ep 3:

Still has visible bruises and a scabbed lip in ep 5:

And by ep 8 he's still got a faint bruise on his cheek but his lip has healed:

Again I know this show is hand-wavey with how injuries heal but I think the healing of Ed's injuries is an intentional enough sign that at least a week has passed between ep 3 and ep 8.

#ofmd #our flag means death #thank you for indulging me in this over-long analysis of the timeline in a show where the timeline barely matters

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chutkiandchotte · 6 months

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Who Owns Sheesh Mahal; and Why?

This post is inspired by this post by @jalebi-weds-bluetooth in which she discusses with great clarity and insight the question of what exactly happened in Arnav's past, his trauma due to it, and how he finally overcomes it on his second marriage day. Do go and read it if you haven't already! It's an extremely well-detailed answer. It inspired some thoughts in me about the inheritance laws, the legal implications of Chachaji's actions, and Arnav/Anjali's motivations in that period.

One larger question I find interesting is why Chacha-ji could usurp all the property over Anjali, the eldest child and Arnav, the direct male heir. Why didn't anybody fight it? Anjali? Mamaji? Dadiji? Arnav himself? Here's some context:

1. What is the actual Indian inheritance law and how did it apply to Sheesh Mahal/Arvind's wealth? Indian law does not allow ANY child in a Hindu family to be disinherited completely in favor of another heir from ancestral property. Which is to say, if a person has accumulated wealth of his own during his lifetime (such as Arnav, for example), he may will it away as he wishes. However, any ancestral property - defined as any unified property or wealth passed down over 4 or more generations - MUST be distributed equally amongst all children. Once it's divided, that property no longer counts as "ancestral" for the next generation. So, for example if the owner of an ancestral palace dies, ownership must be legally shared between his every child or it must be sold off so that every child can get a share of the profits. But those inherited profits would not be considered "ancestral" property and the next generation could dispose of it how they wish. Arnav's dad and his grandfather might have accumulated personal wealth through various means in their own lives but at the very least, Sheesh Mahal was an ancestral property which, after 1956 (when this law was instituted), would have to be equally shared between all children upon the passing of the owner (ie Arnav's grandfather). Exceptions:

If any/all legal claimants voluntarily signed away their rights.

Daughters: they are entitled to claim an equal share of their father's property under this law, even IF it's not strictly 4 generation ancestral - they can argue 2/3 generation inherited property to be ancestral property - this is a bit of legal grey area.

2. So, what was Chachaji's actual claim to the ancestral property and why didn't he fight his brother for it sooner? Now this all depends on things we have no idea about - years in which various people died, legal agreements, and so on. If Arnav's grandfather passed away before 1956, the ancestral property would have smoothly passed on in its entirety to a very young Arvind, no problem, and Chachaji would get nothing and could claim nothing during his brother's lifetime (cue the Shakespearean jealousy and resentment motivation). But that's not likely considering ages and timelines - most probably, Arnav's grandfather passed away after 1956. Then legally, Chacha-ji could have fought for his share of Sheesh Mahal upon the death of his father. However, the family could have settled on Chacha-ji an equivalent monetary amount (from their personal coffers) in lieu of his share of Sheesh Mahal, to prevent the palace having to be sold or shared. I could guess that some amount of emotional blackmail, coercion, bribery might have been exerted by elders of the family on Chacha-ji to not claim those rights and agree to take the money instead of it - but unfortunately, I don't think they made him sign a legally enforceable declaration stating this. Another possibility is that in the 60s, 70s or whenever Arnav's grandfather passed away, the Sheesh Mahal property maybe wasn't worth all that much as an old building in need of much repair and the monetary value he received would have seemed like a much better deal to Chachaji that he happily grabbed. Properties like that in tier-B cities of India greatly increased in value between the 1950s and mid-1990s - as towns became cities and cities became prosperous and commercial, what once was a crumbling, high maintenance, old fashioned mansion on the outskirts of a small city becomes a high value piece of real estate in the middle of a prime commercial area with certified heritage value to boot.

No matter what, I simply cannot imagine a greedy character like Chachaji not finding ways to use the 1956 Hindu inheritance law to his benefit if and when he most profitably could. It's highly possible that in the wake of Arvind's death he defended his claim to the property by arguing that he was unlawfully cut off from his due share during the time of his father's death and he was legally owed at least half the property. And the remainder also got in his control as the self-proclaimed "financial guardian" of his underage nephew which he could easily prove himself as. This is a likely scenario especially if Arvind/his father didn't bother to make Chachaji sign any official documents waiving off his rights and merely trusted to their family ties and good faith that he wouldn't try to push Arnav out in the future. Here are another few lessons from his family history that Arnav took to heart - trust no one, money talks loudest, and always secure your deals, entries and exits with tight legal contracts.

3. Let's go back a bit. Why is Chachaji middle class and covetous? If Chachaji didn't get his property pay-off at all (ie if his father died before 1956) it makes sense. But if he did get his pay off, why would he still be middle class/poorer than wealthy Raizadas in the flashback? I assume because unlike his brother/father, he may have got a substantial fund to start with but lacked the talent or drive to increase or even maintain it. He also likely lived in an extremely lavish way. He probably whittled a lot away in gambling, women, stupid business ventures, bad investments. So there he was at the time of Anjali's wedding, having spent much of the money he got in lieu of his ancestral shares, also having got used to his lavish lifestyle that probably burned that money up, and loathe to let go of it. Sidenote: I can imagine that maybe a short time before Anjali's wedding he came begging to his brother/mother for more money, or made a scene about his "rightful" share as per law but could get nothing and with Anjali's wedding and dowry costs coming up, not to mention Arnav's expensive education and personal rights on the inheritance, they insisted they did not have any money to spare for him. This probably created a huge amount of resentment in him and fuelled his spiteful and excessively cruel actions in throwing out Anjali and Arnav at that critical moment in their lives.

4. So we see how he swiped the property from Arnav. Then the next question is what about Anjali's legal claim and why did she never exercise it? For all his sociopathic greediness, Chachaji can't change the laws. One thing we CAN be sure of is that the 1956 ancestral property law definitely applied to Anjali as well as Arnav, in fact, twofold: as per that law as a daughter she had a legal right to fight for not only ancestral property but also as an adult she had the right to fight for an immediate share in all of her father's property and wealth. However, and here's the kicker, she most likely could not do so because her father himself probably made her sign away all her rights to her inheritance at the time of her marriage. And THIS one, I am sure, would have been legally enforceable. This is a common practice in wealthy families. See, these laws are made to breakdown patriarchal norms but as long as the patriarchy exists, sexism finds a way. It's a widespread practice to ask your daughter to sign away all of her rights to the family property just before her marriage, to avoid her or her in-laws laying claims to it at a future date. Considering Anjali's youth at the time of her first marriage, she probably didn't even know what she was signing; or belonging as she did to a loving and conservative family, she trusted her elders to make the right decision and signed it happily knowing what it was, thinking she was merely ensuring her Chotte got his due. It's also very likely that Arvind did not leave a will naming Arnav as his heir. A legal will is extremely hard to contest or sideline, even if the beneficiary is a minor. But in the absence of a will, wealth inheritance becomes a legal nightmare that often is solved by he who gets there first and he who can afford the most expensive lawyers. Who could have imagined the nightmarish events of Anjali's first wedding that would have made a legal will extremely important? But once that happened, Chacha-ji probably didn't waste any time. He used Arvind's lack of a will, Arnav's young age, Anjali's legally enforceable disavowal of her legal rights, and his own status as the only adult heir with legal rights to first, get control of all of Arvind's wealth and properties, and subsequently use expensive lawyers to get them legally all in his name. Yet another one of his father's mistakes that Arnav vowed not to repeat: as situations changed, remember how quick he was to make a new and clever will that cuts out untrustworthy relatives like Shyam (and Khushi in that period I guess 😭😭😭) and protects his loved ones like Anjali? It's that lesson that most likely saved his life from Shyam's murderous intentions in the kidnapping period!

5. Why didn't Mami, Nani, fight this inheritance situation? Chachaji may have neatly usurped everything but I still think there is enough ambiguity in the situation here that if taken to court by efficient lawyers, Chacha-ji could have been defeated. However, it would have been an extremely stressful, years long affair (these things can last decades), and extremely time and money intensive. I think Nani/Manohar would have been willing to fight for Arnav's rights, but Dadi would NEED to be involved and make regular court appearances, sign several documents, give testimony as part of their efforts. But she disappeared off to her ashram. Maybe she didn't want to fight her own son in court; maybe she resented Nani/Mama as being Ratna's family and responsible for this whole affair; maybe she just didn't have the selflessness or courage to fight a weary legal battle for her grandchildren. I can imagine her regularly skipping court appearances or refusing to sign documents that painted her or her husband and son in a bad/negligent light. Her total lack of interest and cooperation on this matter probably scuppered their chances or petered out the case before it even started. I can also imagine a young Arnav himself asking his Nani/Mama to give this up - we know he has a HUGE ego (he would hate others fight his battle for him) and a relentless burden of responsibility for his loved ones and a strong sense of duty in terms of what he owes people (he'd feel guilty at how stressed they are getting and how much money they are spending, money they probably couldn't afford, all for him...he'd already be feeling like a burden and hating it and this would exacerbate his feelings of humiliation). And then of course that would birth in him the intense and burning desire to ONE DAY get his ancestral rights back on his own merits and efforts, and complete his revenge on his Chachaji. And he did, and pretty spectacularly at that, as we saw in the events of the first episode.

6. Why didn't Arnav just legally fight his Chachaji to get the property back instead of the expensive buyout we saw in episode 1? He definitely could have, and probably would have saved some money in the process. Young Arnav probably did aim for a legal battle as the means to get his properties back, working towards, among other things, being rich enough to afford the kind of lawyers who can win this case. But probably just as he got that level of rich, his investigations into the current state of affairs would have told him that his Chachaji was on a rapid financial decline anyway; a legal victory would have been long-winded, maddeningly bureaucratic and piece meal, ultimately unsatisfying - and the humiliating "buy-out" plan would have occurred to him as a much more fun not to mention a more direct and vicious way to snatch the properties and complete his revenge. As we saw in the show, it was a well-thought out, long-term plan: keeping tabs on Chachaji's declining financial status, doing what he could to make it worse, then waiting for the perfect moment to strike when Chachaji's helplessness, humiliation, and suffering would be devastating and complete. Arnav would always rather go for one direct and efficient hit via a business deal than pay his lawyers to fight a never ending legal battle in the background of his life. Arnav is not greedy and he does not covet money for its own sake. Neither does he care about "saving" Sheesh Mahal. It was never about the his birth "rights" or an emotional connect to an ancestral property or regaining lost wealth for him. It was always about revenge for the suffering his uncle inflicted on his sister and himself, payback for the humiliation they endured, and closure for that moment of traumatic abandonment.

P.S. -

This is basically like a fanfic, I know, and that's because we have a bit of gap in the details of what happened in the past on the show so I had to fill those out myself. A lot of it is hinted but not confirmed, maybe that was part of their intention in creating an aura of horrific trauma around that past event? I do think after a certain point on the show, they could have explored some of these past events a little more, and particularly we could have got some more development on the Chachaji front. Since we didn't get that, I guess we can enjoy writing speculative posts like this one!

Speaking of fanfics, this OS titled Sheesh Mahal (once again by the super talented @jalebi-weds-bluetooth!) beautifully captures what I too think would have been Arnav's attitude towards this much contested piece of ancestral property after he's actually got it. It's also an amazing slice of happily married Arshi life, extremely cute and awww-worthy.

#ipkknd #phew this is long and also took forever to write #if there's any people familiar with indian laws who see problems here please feel free to chime in

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