#I have yet another theory | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yournextflame · 2 years

Text

Elden Ring Sigils and Color Theory

Elden Ring magic sigils sorted by color. Long post about their lore, meanings of certain colors and what it can reveal about the story of Elden Ring under the cut.

In this post, I will be going over why it is important to have a good understanding of color and meanings associated with color in the context of lore. In a game, color is used by developers for more than just drawing the world, it’s about creating visual language, a bridge between writers and players. There are countless articles about usage of colors in videogames, but in this post I will try to reverse-engineer the process and find out the meaning behind visual symbolism and combine it with game’s equivalent of heraldic symbols - magic sigils.

In Elden Ring magic sigils have been used to represent origin of sorceries and power sources of incantations, usually they give us hints what kind of deity is worshipped by people or who created the spell. They are an invaluable source of information on history on the Lands Between. I’ve been already playing with idea of color sorting when I did the same thing with remembrances, but sigils revealed even more secrets about story and lore. How about origin of life on the Lands Between? Origin of the outer gods? But let’s not rush.

The first category, Blue Sorcery as I called it, already shows how color sorting method is supported by the game itself. With a help of descriptions we can place the sigils in the chronological order and track the change in design over the course of story such as replacement of flowing weapon in the sigil of Eternal Cities to Carian sword. Their sigils are incredibly similar to each other, solidifying connection between Nox and Carian royal family; both factions are associated with silver, sorcery, artifical life, moons and stars.

This talisman represents the lost black moon. The moon of Nokstella was the guide of countless stars (Memory Stone)

The young astrologer gazed at the night sky as she walked. She had always chased the stars every step of her journey. Then she met the full moon—and, in time, the astrologer became a queen (Stargaizer Heirloom)

Moons played a central role in Nox and Carian culture, the circle is a base shape for both crests, however, while Raya Lucaria sigil shares similar elements with Eternal Cities and Carian emblems (glintstone sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers, a fact that the Carians remain aware of, - Preceptor's Long Gown), this part was drastically redused in size and moved on top; the central place is taken by the star and framed by a pair of cuckoos. The hue of sigil is also significantly different from cold blue tones of Nox and Carians emblems, the warm greenish tint is close to the color of primeval current spells, which were banished once Rennala became rector of the Academy.

These scholars, who sought to master Carian sorcery, instead learned to see the moon as equal to the stars. This robe, in the hue of the full moon, signifies their heresy (Lazuli Robe)

(Cuckoo Greatshield) Boasting high magic damage negation, this shield is used to hunt down mages. "Our enemy is none other than Caria itself."

So far I’m not going to delve deeper in the roots of the conflict between Carian royal family and Academy of Raya Lucaria, it’s a mere demonstration of a method and how it works. But in next paragraphs I will use it as evidence for a few theories about worldbuilding.

(thanks for clarification about Malenia’s Crest, I rewatched fight on youtube and, yes, it’s a normal Raya Lucaria sigil)

Golden incantations is the biggest group on the list, in a way I can say that history of the Lands Between is a history of gold. Here we can see a symbolical depiction of the Erdtree, the central piece of the game both in a metaphorical and literal sense; we can track how portrayl of the Erdtree changed during Marika’s age until it was replaced altogether by the abstract emblem of the Golden Order Fundamentalism. I have a lot of to say about this group and currently working on post with a more detailed investigation, so far I will touch only basics: such as origin of life gold.

Gold in Elden Ring is more than than shine metal or a color, it’s prima materia of the Greater Will, a force of unknown origin (it’s never called 神 god or an 外なる神 outer god anywhere in EN or JP script and before jumping to conclusion wait until I’m going to observe confirmed outer gods) which is responsible for the creation of Elden Ring. From the description of Elden Stars, the most ancient incantation in this category, and Elden Remembrance we can figure out keywords associated with the Greater Will:

It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring/It was the vassal beast of the Greater Will and living incarnation of the concept of Order (I’d like to point that it’s “Order”, not “The Golden Order”).

(I believe we still can see remnants of the golden star in a form of meteorite ore in Divine Towers and Sealed Tunnel near Erdtree)

In other words, the Greater Will is about gold, Order and everything Elden. However, a common mistake is to tie the Greater Will to the Golden Order, despite the name the latter is not representative of it, even more so... original gold from the golden star wasn’t yellow.

From dialogue with Sellen we can learn that stars are containing amber, but golden stars are kind of special:

Golden amber contains the remnants of ancient life, and houses its vitality (Sellen)

And Hyetta’s speech supports futher that the Greater Will is responsible for creation of life in one way or another:

…すべては、大きなひとつから、分かたれた分かたれ、産まれ、心を持った

けれどそれは、大いなる意志の過ちだっただから、戻さなくてはならない

All that there was divided from the One Great. Divided, born and given heart. But it was a mistake of the Greater Will (Hyetta)

So, Miyazaki pretty much unitied theories about meteorites being consensually considered to be involved in the origin of life and primordial soup:

Meteorites could have been responsible for delivering the basis of life's genetic code. Analyses of three meteorites suggest that nucleobases, the crucial components of DNA, could have formed in space and then fallen to Earth to provide the raw material for the origin of life itself

For nearly nine decades, science's favorite explanation for the origin of life has been the “primordial soup”. This is the idea that life began from a series of chemical reactions in a warm pond on Earth's surface, triggered by an external energy source such as lightning strike or ultraviolet (UV) ligh

Now if we check descriptions of Crucible Aspects and Crucible Knights items we can find out that original gold had rent tint.

Holds the power of the crucible of life, the primordial form of the Erdtree. Strengthens Aspects of the Crucible incantations (Crucible aspects incantations)

This sword is imbued with an ancient holy essence. Its red tint exemplifies the nature of primordial gold, said to be close in nature to life itself (Ordovis Greatsword, the name itself is a reference to Ordovician Period, part of the Paleozoic era, a rich variety of marine life flourished in the vast seas and the first primitive plants began to appear on land)

Ancient Erdtree/Crucible emblem is slightly reddish too, however, the modern gold is more pure and yellow, the gold of the Golden Order. The sigil changed the color too and lost the root part just like the Elden Ring itself if we compare modern depiction with Farum Azula mural:

The Golden Order was created by confining Destined Death. Thus, this new Order will be one of Death restored

But a gold is a gold, even though it’s different, but as Turtle Pope said heresy is not native to this world and everything can be cojoined:

The worship of the ancient dragons does not conflict with belief in the Erdtree. After all, this seal, and lighting itself, are both imbued with gold

Yes, the Greater Will governs everything what is golden.

And yet, the young Miquella abandoned fundamentalism, for it could do nothing to treat Malenia's accursed rot. This was the beginning of unalloyed gold

I can already hear the raise of pitchforks from certain kind of Miquella fans, so let’s talk about outer gods and what exactly they are.

With a surprising exception of emblem from the Scepter of the All-Knowing (Gideon, I have a few questions for you) all sigils in Red Group are assigned to the deities: outer/ancient god of Rot, outer god Formless Mother, Rykard’s immortal serpent and Fell God, who is bit tricky, it’s ambitious if 古い火の悪神 “ancient” is applied to the god or fire. The only confirmed outer gods, who didn’t made it here is an outer god of Deathbirds and Frienzied Flame. Considering theory that removal of the Destined Death from Elden Ring drained color from the god-slaying Black Flame and eclipsed sun of outer god of Deathbirds, I can suggest that original color of their sigils was red too.

Long story short: sigil of the outer gods and other unwelcomed deities are represented by red color and they are all related to the death, Formless Mother is about bleed, fell flame is burning, rot is decay, etc.

However, as stated in the description of Ordovis Greatsword, primordial gold of the Crucible had a red tint that was lost when Marika estabilished Golden Order by sealing away red Rune of Death; and this knowledge eventually leads to conclusion that...

Outer gods aren’t aliens. What a surprise.

They are natural powers that were screwed by the removal of Destined Death, when they got outed from the Golden Order. They are red tint of the primordial gold.

Once the concept of Death was banished from the Lands Between the elements and effects linked to it - death, decay, combustion, bleed became outer to the newly estabilished Order. There is a clear thematic difference between celestial Greater Will, who isn’t even presented on the Lands Between, and actual outer gods, who can be sealed or banished, more over there are no outer god of water, sunshine or happiness, they are all linked to the side-effects of death. When death was excluded from the Order, they were affected as well.

The thing is that gold in Elden Ring is a magical substance and changes the tint depends on the currently running Order, which is shown in the endings when Golden Tree (黄金樹 that’s how Erdtree is called in JP) acquires different hue. It’s another overlooked element of visual storytelling.

This Golden Order is something that the Elden Ring may have once represented, but not directly. It’s more about how you apply those rules and how you enforce them on the physical world and what effects they have on it, - Miyazaki in interview to gamesradar

(Golden Order isn’t direct representation of the Greater Will/Elden Ring as it was said by Miyazaki himself, it’s only one temporary set of rules)

Elden Ring consists of runes and even newly discovered mending runes (concepts) can be added to the system (regression is the pull of meaning; that all things yearn eternally to converge) ot removed and the gold will respond to it by changing the color and reshaping reality according to the Order (causality is the pull between meanings; it is the connections that form the relationships of all things). Elden Ring - Rune of Death = yellow gold and banishment of ancient gods, who were associated with death, Elden Ring+mending rune of a choice=see example aboive.

For futher evidence that gold changes metaphysical properties and in the current state (Golden Order) preserves things from not only from dying, but decomposing too, I want to bring a few descriptions:

Fresh beast blood, glinting with gold. Material used for crafting items. Found by hunting carnivorous beasts.This glimmering blood never rots or decays ( Beast Blood)

Someone's excrement. It has a golden tinge. Material used for crafting items. Gold-tinged excrement is a highly stable substance; it doesn't dry out, nor does it lose its customary warmth or scent. For better or for worse, it remains as it is (Golden Dung; I can’t believe I’m using description of literal sh/t to prove my point)

However, from what we know only Rune of Death was sealed, and while outer gods’ influence was seriously weakened, it still existed. This is why Miquella abandoned Golden Order and was working on development of his own gold, even more pure and untainted, before he got mohgged:

Unalloyed Gold Needle: An intricately crafted needle of unalloyed gold. A ritual implement crafted to ward away the meddling of outer gods, it is thought capable of forestalling the incurable rotting sickness.

Now let me clarify: community’s favorite boogieman “influence of the evil alien outer gods/the Greater Will” isn’t a thing in a sense that there is a group of invaders from the outer space trying to enslave the Lands Between. Even thought 外なる神 is used in Japanese media culture for lovecraftian beings, we should remember that history is fabricated by the Golden Order in Marika’s favor; "outer gods” are alien to the current Order”. Same goes for the influence of the Greater Will, it was never about mind-control or whatever was projected onto it, the influence of the Greater Will is simply how Order and gold are changing course of the nature.

Last thing I want to add is that influence of the outer gods isn’t always about destructive powers (Order of Rot is about decay and rebirth), but I’ll leave it for a dedicated post.

In Mixed Group I put sigils with unique or unknown colors.

In my first draft Dragon Communion was placed in the Red Group for the intense hue of sigil, but upon futher research I decided to move it here. The power of Dragon Communion incantations doesn’t stem from any patron god or the assigned star (unless I missed something); they are scaling from arcane, an inner force of the caster.

Violet is an interesting choice for Gravity sigil because this color, albeit with the less intence hue, is used for sleep status and associated items.

I like how yellow color of Frenzied Flame is similar to the gold of the Greater Will, carrying the theme of duality, yet the shape of the sigil is distorted and assymetrical. In fact, designs of the ancient sigils usually is far less complex than intricate shapes of newer ones (with a few exceptions). Just to be clear, even though influence of the Flame of Frenzy can be cleared by Miquella’s needle, the game never calls it an outer god. It’s a matter of semantics, but I guess that unlike crew from the Red Group it was never booted from the Order since Chaos and Order can’t naturally coexist, but there are a lot ot of to speculate about, considering drastic changes in Frenzied Flame quest and lore.

Golden star in the centre of Bestial sigil reminds of Cinquedea dagger (Short sword given to high ranking clergymen of Farum Azula. The design celebrates a beast's five fingers, symbolic of the intelligence once granted upon their kind), which shows beast’s arm holding golden slab.

So, Death spells. I believe that both Black Flame incantations and Death Sorcery of Deathbird outer god were affected by confining of Destined Death.

The black flame could once slay gods. But when Maliketh sealed Destined Death, the true power of the black flame was lost

Storied sword and treasure of Castle Sol that depicts an eclipsed sun drained of color.The eclipsed sun, drained of color, is the protective star of soulless demigods. It aids the mausoleum knights by keeping Destined Death at bay. Mausoleum Knight Armor: The wing-shaped ornaments on its back evoke the Deathbird

And, as I’ve been already pointing in a different post, death of Godwyn brought back forgotten death sorcery that almost ceased from existance during age of immortality, but was rediscovered

Death in the Lands Between is incredibly complex subject and deserves a series of posts, even though I believe there should be DLC because so far all lore related to it seems to be incomprehensible.

Unmarkered sorceries don’t have background sigil, but they all share something in common. They originated from the Mountaintops of Giants:

Zamor Ice Storm: Ice sorcery of the Town of Zamor.Strike the ground with the staff to create a freezing tornado. Charging enhances potency. Cloaked in icy tempests, the knights of Zamor have challenged the Fire Giants since ancient times.

Briars of Sin : An aberrant sorcery, discovered along with red glintstone by those exiled to the north for their crimes.The Academy reviles this sorcery, which draws its power from faith

Founding Rain of Stars: The eldest primeval sorcery, said to have been discovered by an ancient astrologer. A sorcery of legendary status.The glimpse of the primeval current that the astrologer saw became real, and the stars' amber rained down on this land. Sword of Night and Flame: Astrologers, who preceded the sorcerers, established themselves in mountaintops that nearly touched the sky, and considered the Fire Giants their neighbors.

Another interesting details to consider is that they are all in some ways are unwelcomed or straight up heretical. It reminds me of relationships between Golden Order and remnanats of the Crucible. Aberrant sorcery is a mark of sin, primeval current was banished and cold sorcery is veiled in occult mystery:

The snowy crone taught the young Ranni to fear the dark moon as she imparted her cold sorcery.

I guess Ranni’s secret mentor is called snowy crone for a reason.

That’s being said, everything I wrote is a subject to change as DLC may reveal more details or I will reconsider some parts under futher research. But overall I think it was an interesting experiment.

読んでくれてありがと

5K notes · View notes

berternies · 10 months

Text

so obsessed with the fact that every single person at this wedding was up to something absolutely unhinged. like we started off with aniq planning to propose at someone else’s wedding and i was like well that doesn’t seem like a good idea. and then it turns out that was actually easily the least insane plan that anyone had.

#speak again bright angel #the afterparty #the afterparty spoilers #aniq adjaye #spoilers in the following tags btw #me when i secretly put adderall in my husband’s drink. me when i try to stop a wedding for either gay reasons or conspiracy theory reasons.#me when i orchestrate a full heist to get a baseball card. me when i try to collect my niece’s dna to see if she’s actually my daughter.#like the s1 characters were up to some wacky stuff but these guys are on another level #no wonder some of them are cagey about being interviewed 😭#they were literally all doing something they shouldn’t have been doing even if it wasn’t murder #i mean the parents and zoë haven’t had their eps yet so maybe they were being normal but like. probably not

396 notes · View notes

o-uncle-newt · 4 months

Text

We don't talk enough about the Petherbridge/Walter adaptations of the Wimsey/Vane novels.

(Well, we probably talk EXACTLY enough about Gaudy Night, which is really pretty bad, but besides for that...)

(Sorry, just a warning, Richard Morant as Bunter is fine but I won't have much to say about him here. I just really like this picture.)

The casting is basically perfect, especially Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. I no longer see the book character in any other way- the only notable difference is that in the book she's noted as having a deep voice, but Walter's has a distinctive enough tone that I think it works regardless. She is just so, so, so good- captures the character beautifully, sells everything she does whether mundane or ridiculous (probably the best/most realistic reaction of someone finding a body I have EVER seen in Have His Carcase), makes the most of every limited minute she's on screen in Strong Poison and leaves her mark every minute that she isn't... and she looks AMAZING doing all of it. Just perfect, could not imagine better casting.

Edward Petherbridge I don't hold up to that level of perfection- I think that, try as he might, he's not really able to capture Wimsey's dynamism (possibly because he's a bit too old for the role) and is a bit overly caricatured in many of his mannerisms. But overall he does a pretty good job, in addition to looking quite a lot like how I'd imagined Wimsey- but in particular, I think he does a really lovely job of selling a lot of the emotion that he has to convey in some scenes that feel like they SHOULDN'T be adaptable from the book- specifically the scenes of him and Harriet. Him proposing to Harriet, him being disappointed when she (completely reasonably) turns him down... those shouldn't work on screen with real humans rather than in Sayers's calculated prose, but it DOES work and in no small part because he's great at selling Wimsey's feelings as being genuine even when his actions seem over the top. And, of course, Harriet Walter sells her end of the scenes right back. All in all, I think I have mixed feelings about Petherbridge as Lord Peter Wimsey the detective, but I'm a fan of him as Peter, the man who has feelings for Harriet.

Overall, though, both are, I think, very successful in capturing these characters- the fact that they take these people who even in the book can sometimes push the boundaries of likeability (which to be clear, is part of what I love about reading them) and make them eminently watchable is a great achievement. And also, in addition to their really looking like their characters individually, they're very well matched as a pair in the way that one pictures them from the book. They're even of very similar height and build, which we know is canonically true from Gaudy Night, and thus at least a somewhat relevant element of their dynamic.

Now, the adaptations are very uneven, and that's even without talking about Gaudy Night because, while it has about as good a rendition of the punting scene as I think we were ever going to get, most of the rest of it is crap and massively expands on what I think are serious problems to Peter and Harriet's relationship that the series as a whole had (not to mention cutting the character of St George, which is a travesty). None of the adaptations are perfect, and mess with aspects of their relationship in negative ways- for example, the ending of Strong Poison is exactly backward in a really awful way. I'll get back to this.

But when the show gets the two of them right, it gets them RIGHT, even when it's adapting Sayers's text/creating new dialogue. There are scenes in this one that I love almost as much as the canon text, like this one:

I don't think any of this is in the book, and there are things that happen here that I don't think Sayers would have ever written. But at the same time, a combination of the dialogue and the actors makes it COMPLETELY believable as these two people, and it captures a moment that is just really key for Peter as he faces his limitations and his feelings- something that in the book is conveyed through a lot of internal narrative on Peter's part that would be impossible to adapt as is, but that in the world of the show needed to happen in a much more visual and narrative way. Not all of the dialogue that this series chooses to fill in those gaps works, but even when it doesn't the actors do their best to sell the heck out of it, and when the dialogue DOES work it is seriously brilliant.

Probably my favorite of the adaptations is Have His Carcase, and scenes like this one are a big part of the reason why:

They change the location, but otherwise it's EXTRAORDINARILY faithful to the equivalent scene in the book, and honestly it shouldn't have worked with real people doing it and yet it does. It's just acted perfectly, given just enough arch and silly humor (particularly with the spinning door) that we don't attempt to take it too seriously, while also conveying the relevant emotions so well. The actors in the scene through only their faces and ways of speaking convey subtext that Sayers, in the book, conveyed a lot later on as actual text in the characters' thoughts, and there's something pretty great about that.

Other Have His Carcase scenes are less good (the dance scene is mediocre at best, I think), but if there's another Have His Carcase scene that I think illustrates how great Walter and Petherbridge are at selling the human sides of their characters, it's That Argument- seen here:

The Argument is a pale imitation of that in the book- the one in the book is, in fact, probably unadaptable as is- but it is still just so good because the actors are so good at selling it. Walter is just brilliant in the role and utterly inhabits it while also imbuing it with her own spin, and makes us feel Harriet's pain- and Petherbridge, through some relatively subtle facial expressions and reactions, is able just as well to make US understand what all of this means to him and how he feels. It's actually really remarkable that, just like how Sayers writes a relationship dynamic that only feels like it works because she's the one who wrote it that very specific way, this scene feels like it only works because these two actors play it in this specific way. Could two other actors do it? Very possibly, but it would feel super different and I wonder if it would feel this authentic. (I do want to note though that this scene made me really wish that we'd seen a Frasier-era David Hyde Pierce in the role of a younger and spryer, but equally posh, witty, and vulnerable, Wimsey. It just gave me vibes of something that he'd do beautifully.)

Now, as I said above, this doesn't get EVERYTHING right. In fact, quite a lot of their relationship ends up going pretty wrong- as I think a major mistake is their throughline which emphasizes Peter's continued pursuit of Harriet as not just reiterating his interest to make it clear that he hasn't changed his mind, but actively taking advantage of moments and situations in a romantic sense, taking a much more specific role in engaging with her physically, commenting on her appearance, saying how difficult it is for him to NOT pursue her more, etc. It makes the whole thing feel a lot more cat-and-mouse rather than a budding relationship of equals, and one where Peter acknowledges the whole time that they HAVE to be equals for a) Harriet to feel comfortable with him and b) them to be good together. In fact, however good the Argument above is, it's kind of undercut by this very pattern- he makes the book's point about him treating his feelings like something out of a comic opera, but he also at that point in the story has had a few much more oppressively serious scenes with her that clearly make her uncomfortable- nothing like anything in a comic opera. It's like the show misses the point a little.

I think the place where this really starts is at the end of Strong Poison. (I could see an argument to be made that it starts earlier, in a few smaller nuances of their jailhouse scenes, but I like those enough that I choose not to read into them too much lol.) After what I think is a great addition to the final jailhouse scene (one that I loved so much I repurposed it for a fic)- "it's supposed to be about love, isn't it" and some excellent reactions from Petherbridge- Harriet goes to court, her charges are dismissed, and unlike in the book, when it's Wimsey who leaves first (which Eiluned and Sylvia point out is a sign of his decency in not waiting for Harriet to thank him), here Wimsey is the one who watches as Harriet rejects him and walks away from him- the beginning of the chase. But nothing about their relationship is meant to be a chase! It's so frustrating to watch as that proceeds to be a continuing issue to a limited degree in Have His Carcase (where it's at least balanced by enough good moments that it doesn't matter so much) and to a MASSIVE, genuinely uncomfortable degree in Gaudy Night.

The only praise I will give it is that while the punt scene in the book is unfilmable, I think this adaptation did its best here and it's pretty good.

I'm not going to spend much time talking about Gaudy Night otherwise, because I'd need all day for it and also I'd probably need to rewatch it to make sure I get the details right and I have zero interest in doing that, but the way that it has Wimsey imposing himself and his feelings/hopes on Harriet to a really ridiculous degree, in a way that he never, ever does in the book, is just so so discomfiting and makes me feel terrible for Harriet. She doesn't deserve that. If I recall correctly, in that scene at the dance at the beginning, she's so happy just being with him and then he's all "oh so this means you want to marry me" and she just droops. He's so aggressive!

And that's what makes the worst part so bad, because not only does this miniseries not depict Wimsey's apology as the book does- one of the best scenes in a book full of brilliant scenes- it would actually be weird if it did, because this show doesn't imply that there's ANYTHING for Wimsey to be apologizing for! In fact, unlike in the books where we see Wimsey growing and deconstructing the parts of himself that had been demanding of Harriet, in the series we only see him get more demanding- until finally he wins. It's honestly infuriating and I hate it- the actors do their best to sell it (and apparently they were given bad enough material that they actually had to rewrite some of it themselves, though I have mixed feelings about the results) but it is just massively disappointing. Basically the whole emotional journey between the two of them is not just neutered but twisted.

For all of my criticisms of the adaptations' all around approach to their relationship, I do have to reiterate- Walter and Petherbridge do a wonderful, wonderful job. (Especially Walter.) When they're given good material to work with, and even often when they aren't, they are able to sell it so well- and particularly in the case of Walter, I genuinely can't think of the character as anyone but her rendition now. She IS Harriet Vane for me. And, for all the flaws that the series has, that's something pretty dang special.

Anyway, for anyone who read through this whole thing and hasn't seen these adaptations, I DO recommend Strong Poison and Have His Carcase- but not Gaudy Night unless you're either really curious or a glutton for punishment. The first two, though, have very good supporting casts, are quite faithful plot wise (sometimes to a fault- another flaw is that they are really devoted to conveying the whole mystery with all its clues sometimes to the point of dragginess, but will drop sideplots like, for example, Parker and Mary- which is totally reasonable, but still vaguely disappointing as those sideplots tend to add some levity/characterization), and just generally are an overall good time. (Some standout characters for me are Miss Climpson in Strong Poison and Mrs Lefranc in Have His Carcase.) And, of course, the best part is seeing the little snippets of Peter and Harriet that come through- less so their journey, vs in the book where that's central, but so many scenes where we just see the two of them together as they are in that moment and it's so satisfying.

#peter wimsey series #peter wimsey #lord peter wimsey #harriet vane #dorothy l sayers #edward petherbridge #harriet walter #a dorothy l sayers mystery #as was apparently the official title of the petherbridge/walter series #my thanks to the as my wimsey takes me podcast people #for a) coming back and finishing have his carcase #which was very enjoyable plane listening #but also for mentioning the adaptation in one of the episodes and inspiring the rewatch that led to this post #also this blog is basically now a sayers blog just as it is a finnemore one i guess #which as i note is fitting due to my Dog Collar Theory #which is YET ANOTHER THING THAT THE GAUDY NIGHT ADAPTATION LEAVES OUT GRRRRRR #strong poison #have his carcase #gaudy night

96 notes · View notes

wbswag · 2 months

Text

Pretty sure this is one of my most Hardcore Delusional takes yet, but it’s something that’s been in the back of my mind ever since chapter 312 where it was shown that All For One was in direct proximity to a defenseless Chisaki… and didn’t steal his quirk. I remember when the chapter was more recent, there was a bunch of people theorizing that AFO stole the Overhaul quirk, but over the last 100+ chapters, it’s become apparent that he probably didn’t.

And I thought to myself, “Why not steal that quirk? It would help you and your whole plan greatly. Why on earth would you pass up that opportunity?” And these feelings were thrown back in my face by chapter 419, where it got confirmed Chisaki was in one of AFO’s facilities as a kid (He had a previous, even better opportunity to steal the quirk, which challenged my original idea that AFO let Chisaki keep the quirk to maintain his manipulation of Shigaraki).

So the question is: Why, for the sake of everything holy and unholy, did AFO not steal Chisaki’s quirk despite having every chance, reason, and more to?

But I was reading quirkwizard’s post about their opinion on the 419 Overhaul-Decay reveal, and it came to me, kinda baselessly but still—what if he literally can’t? What if there’s something about the quirk or Chisaki that makes it so that AFO literally can’t take the quirk somehow?

Because like quirkwizard said, it makes no sense for AFO to have just not stolen the quirk? Like, I can semi-see what he was going for with stripping the reconstruction part when he gave it to Shigaraki to promote pure destruction or whatever, but why not make the copy and then take the original for himself or Garaki? Especially back then, before anyone but AFO knew about Chisaki?? And also, yeah, how DID Chisaki get out of the orphanage? Did he just breakout and run away like Touya did? Or was it something deeper? I’ll probably brainstorm it and make another post, BUT if anyone has any personal theories about it, PLEASE tell me, I love reading Chisaki theories!!

But anyway, yeah. Is it that maybe he actually can’t? Is that why he had to resort to merely making a, in his own words, subpar copy? Because why was stealing Chisaki’s quirk never even on the table, for anyone, in either of the blatant two different situations it could’ve easily been stolen??

I feel like the Overhaul being the origins of the Decay quirk thing is to deepen the parallels between Chisaki and Shigaraki (obviously), but the real question is why. Why deepen the parallels between them to that extent, in that context? Unless there’s still more to be revealed about Chisaki and his past (like @ikamigami ‘s theory that Chisaki is AFO’s kid, which is a theory I cannot stop thinking about btw) that’ll further connect him and Shigaraki.

52 notes · View notes

chirpsythismorning · 5 months

Text

Season 5 Opener: Out of Context

Bonus:

#stranger things #mike wheeler #*mike running late*#*mike and stairs*#labyrinth teas #no but the theory that they already filmed the opening of s5 during s4 filming is looking pretty interesting rn...#bc this interview was during s4 press aka after they filmed for s4...#finn... try not to subtly spoil the show challenge? failed part 16 #'you mean the end?'#'what do you mean you don't know yet?'#'hey no running--'#'you're late. again'#'we're gonna miss the opening'#'what are you doing? it's ten after!'#'you have thirty seconds or i'm leaving without you. THIRTY SECONDS!'#'jesus. how am i gonna survive a whole week without you guys'#*s5 opening at the end of said week...*#another detail i noticed is that these moments all happen later and later in the opening of each season #s1 it's around 3 minutes #s2 it's around 6 minutes #season 3 it's around 8 minutes #and season 4 it's around 13 minutes #yall. i think mike is gonna be late 15 minutes into s5...#aka #15 after...#no i dont think mike will die #i just think he might go on a side quest 'labyrinth/paladin absolution after breaking an oath' style #hence mike by himself isolated from the others in that one funkopop shot-listing ross posted (they only completed ep 1-2 for that...)#crack theory i guess

45 notes · View notes

capybaraonabicycle · 5 months

Text

Anne: I want to be like you: Unmarried because I don't give a shit about romance.

Josephine: Anne, I'm a lesbian. And my wife just died.

#I don't think this is supposed to be funny but it really is #*Anne talking about kindred spirits proclaiming her undying love to Diana* Josephine: thank god she gets it #*Anne saying how she will ignore her romantic feelings for a boy because she is following in Josephine's footsteps*#Josephine: I have spoken too soon #Don't worry aunt Josephine: Anne will figure out she is bi sooner or later I am sure <3 #I have the theory that all of Anne's kindred spirits are simply fellow queer people #Aunt Josephine and her 'friend' Gertrude are clear and so is Diana #That teacher (that I haven't seen in the series yet but I am sure she'll show up) I expect will be another open and shut case #Matthew in the audio book was very aroace coded and now there's his lady friend in town #But honestly it does make sense that he would be nervous around her when he cares for her a great deal platonically but knows she is #expecting something else #anne of green gables #anne with an e #I am kinda watching the series and listening to the audio book at the same time #I have to say much as I like the series Marilla she will always be Whitney Avalon to me #I am not set on anyone else as much but Marilla is her that's just the way it is

34 notes · View notes

orionsangel86 · 3 months

Text

So in a moment of madness last November I decided to try out having a boyfriend for a short while. 2/10 don't recommend. 4 months putting up with a needy CisHetMan has almost pushed me to a full 6 on the Kinsey Scale. I'm gonna have to put "no Joe Rogan Fans" on my dating profile going forward. Sigh.

Anyway I'm back on Tumblr and I dont recognise this place. 4 months and everything has changed. Who are you people? What are these shows? I do not know these blorbos!

What on earth did I miss? Anyway I'm back and feeling chatty. Come talk to me.

#personal #my return to tumblr #much anticipated i hope lol #do we know who was cast as delirium yet?#has neil gaiman said anything controversial?#have gomens fans destroyed one another over coffee theory yet?#come catch me up!

19 notes · View notes

chaos-has-theories · 1 year

Text

Canaan House Lab Notes

Second House Lab

Trial Transference/Winnowing

Key Claimed by the Ninth through completion of the trial.

Lab Includes a laboratory , a training floor, guns, and a comfy sitting area with two beds, "separated only by a nightstand". Even so Gideon calls it "more lab than living space".

Theorem "Transference" according to Harrow is "the utilisation of a living soul". Not quite reading someone's mind, but "borrowing perceptions". I believe it's necessary for step two of the Eightfold Word: "analyse [the soul]- understand its structure, its shape".

Third House Lab

Trial Unclear

Key Claimed by the Sixth

Lab Presumably similar to Ianthe's room on the Mithraeum

Theorem All things considered, probably "step six: consume the flesh".

Fourth House Lab

Trial Unclear

Key claimed by the Sixth

Lab Wish we knew enough about Ulysses and Titania to jump to conclusions on what was inside.

Theorem ?

Fifth House Lab

Trial Unclear

Key claimed by the Sixth

Lab WHAT kind of room did Alfred and Augustine have? Is it similar to his room on the Mithraeum, i.e. classy, elegant, and full of books and 'ancient' artefacts?

Theorem ?

Sixth House Lab

Trial Psychometric; the molar leading to one of the skeleton servitors.

Key Completed by Cytherea, some time before the Avulsion trial. Key later given to Silas Octakiseron; copy made by Palamedes Sextus and Harrowhark Nonagesimus.

Lab Looks like "an open-plan bomb wreck... as though somebody had left the place in a hurry or simply been an unbelievable slob". (I'll leave it to you whether you think that's likely for Cassie and Nigella.) Tools, papers, a chin-up bar, and sleeping bags; no beds.

Theorem Theorem appears to be related to Teacher and the skeletons, and the necessity of maintaining an energy source to do necromancy. I believe it's step one of the Eightfold Word: "preserve the soul, with intellect and memory intact" - since that's exactly what makes a "hideous corpses" so special.

Seventh House Lab

Trial Unclear.

Key Claimed by trial by the Fifth, and killed over it. Key hidden in Abigail, where Cytherea presumably had access to it; later retrieved by the third House.

Lab Sparsely furnished, but lovingly decorated and painted. Rolled-up mattresses and embroidered quilts.

Theorem According to Ianthe, the theorem corresponds to step four of the lyctoral process: "fix [the soul] in place so it can't deteriorate". I would like to note here that I have no idea when the message was left on the wall. I don't think Cytherea would have had time for it before the Fifth were found... did she take the key out and put it back in at some point?

Eighth House Lab

Trial Avulsion

Key Completed by the Ninth, key passed on as per the agreement to Cytherea. Key passed on later to Silas Octakiseron, "for safekeeping".

Lab Lab remains undescribed. But it's not like I'm salty or anything.

Theorem Relatively safe to assume that it's "Step Three, remove and absorb [the soul]: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process." Almost confirmed by Ianthe to be the final step, "hook up the cables and get the power flowing." (thanks, @fire-swift!)

Ninth House Lab

Trial Unclear - but we can probably assume it's related to bones, so it's utterly fascinating to me that Silas even decided to attempt it.

Key Claimed by the Eighth.

Lab Never once seen by anyone, because Silas is an intellectual cretin and a dog in a manger.

Theorem Could it be related to Harrow's conception or the tomb somehow?

For the record: I'm relatively certain of the theorems and how they correspond to the Eighthfold Word, but we only know the one Ianthe mentions for sure.

The parts I haven's assigned:

"Step five, incorporate it: find a way to make the soul part of yourself without being overwhelmed."

"Step seven is reconstruction - making spirit and flesh work together the way they used to, in the new body."

"Step Three, remove and absorb [the soul]: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process."

Which would have to go to the Fourth, the Fifth, or the Ninth respectively. Is Incorporation how Abigail manages to deal with the "savage" dead? Is Reconstruction how the Reverend Parents managed to modify an ovum on the chromosomal level? Does "absorption" refer to Isaac's blue-green sodium explosion?

Did John have his own lab, somewhere in there?

#I 'had some thoughts' that I wanted to 'quickly jot down' and now it's at least three hours later #ah well. at least now I have a reference sheet that isn't yet another sloppily drawn table with nine columns #tell me if you think I got anything wrong!#the locked tomb #chaos has theories #once again returning to these old questions:#what did teacher know? why is that basement so very haunted? why the hell did Cytherea use bone constructs anyway?#gideon the ninth #tlt meta #the locked tomb meta

157 notes · View notes

fuckmeyer · 10 months

Note

Wiggins!) the bizarre thing about the vampire men in the cullen family all seem to be at least subconsciously what Smeyer wants Bella to have but can’t seem to get over her initial vision of what she saw in her drafts or whatever. It’s odd that every single one of the Cullen men are like strongly devoted (but mostly devoid of personality because it’s so Bella centric) but when you compare them to Edward they seem interesting in some ways. Like Narratively we’re supposed to have this threat that Edward is constantly holding back from killer her but I don’t feel like we see that. Conversely, Jasper is constantly the one who is suffering about human smells and is the more vampire-like. But he’s also a glorified lap dog. So it’s like ‘oh he’s a monster but he’ll never hurt me” (things Alice has said out loud. Man even psychics slip up. I swear her powers weren’t so accurate until Smeyer needed an excuse for plot reasons)

Emmett feels like when some women say they like waifish guys because they don’t want to seem like they’re vapid for liking “big dudes with muscles” so of course you pair Emmett with the “shallow blonde”

Carlisle, I swear only exists so Edward has someone to model but I would also argue that he’s proto-Edward before whatever reworking she had to do when writing Twilight for a YA audience and brought him back as a different character.

Yeah a rant

hello again bestie Wiglet! (note to self: learn Photoshop so i can shop Jacob's bad wig onto a pic of Piglet)

this is such an interesting take! thanks for sharing. i totally see what you're saying. in all the Cullen men we see both a blend of softness & devotion *and*, interestingly enough, a patchwork of patriarchal ideas of what a man "should" be. & this idea comes to the forefront with the depiction of the love interests

smeyer wants us to see Edward as the chivalric gentlemen from the Days of Yore. we see this in the opening doors, the cutsey little romance taglines ("you are my life now," "look after my heart; i've left it with you," "so the lion fell in love" etc), the knight saving the damsel in distress, the expensive tokens of his affection, etc.

at the same time, in both Edward & Jacob we see the crude traits of the Patriarchy Dreamboat kinda guy. if i had to sum it up, it's like the guy you see in 80s movies. "bad boy." "opposites attract." he's a jerk. he's a hunk. he's domineering. he's allowed to show emotion only & especially if that emotion is anger. he's persistent in his efforts to get the girl, going so far as to kiss her without her consent if it's For a Good Cause (Edward in New Moon post-Volterra, Jacob in Eclipse). he's a cool guy who's In Control 👉😎👉

perhaps that's why the Twilight saga appealed so such a large swath of women & girls. the women, who grew up with the notion that they could have the true love of their dreams so long as they submitted to the patriarchal social contract, saw the contract being fulfilled in Edward. (i.e., "you can be the king if you treat me like a princess.")

on the other hand, the 90s/00s girlies who grew up in the midst of a feminist revolution & who could see the glimmer of a dismantled patriarchy on the horizon were attracted to Edward for the flashes of radical feminist love they saw: the unapologetic expressions of emotion, the honesty of him sharing his vulnerabilities & weaknesses, Bella's ability to override Edward's will when necessary, etc.

sorry, i know this isn't really the crux of the rant you submitted, but it is extremely interesting to see these contradictions playing out in all the male characters of the saga. it's almost like smeyer is having this internal debate with herself without even realizing it...

#twilight meta #twilight renaissance #the twilight saga #i have been reading too much bells hooks (jk that's impossible) and have been thinking about radical feminist theory &#how it actually both applies and does not apply to twilight #i've been wanting to write a meta about it but fuck it #fuckmeyer 2.0 only takes meta requests i guess #anyway you brought up a really good point about how the cullen men are all a mix of what smeyer wanted Edward to be #and yet she was too afraid to realize the vision to its fullest extent #like yes she wants the muscles but she wants Edward to be soft and loving and delicate #and she wants Edward to have an Unforgivable Past but not SO unforgivable that he's completely damaged goods #and she wants him to be Devoted but not SO devoted that he's 'pussywhipped'#and she wants the devout religiosity and Goodness of Carlisle but she recognizes at the same time that women & readers want conflict #my response was getting long and frankly i didn't want to derail or dtract any further from the facts you were spitting but #i see what you're saying and i think you touch on something very incisive about the vision versus the execution of twilight #if we imagine a saga in which Edward WAS balls-to-the-wall Edward...what kind of character would we see?#that is another meta for another time but WOW am i thinking about this Intently and how different the saga would be if smeyer were to Commi #thanks for sending this my way!!!#cheers <3

50 notes · View notes