#(<—I know he had lead poisoning not scurvy but his scenes were the only ones that fit the lines)

[andrew-rannells-mustache]

Let’s get this scurvy started!!1!

(/The scurvy song P!nk sang for a SpongeBob special, Terror!edition)

(For my @theterrorbingo prompt square “there will be poems.”)

[tomjopson]

From high adventure to horror; Thomas Jopson’s descent into madness

You know, I’ve been Thinking a lot about this scene in The Terror during Episode 9, when Little suggests that they leave the infirm behind long enough for the able-bodied men to move farther south; the suggestion, naturally, framed by rational and altruistic reasons such as more chances to hunt game and higher chances of survival overall.

Which Jopson immediately rebukes with the none-too-gentle reminder that such a plan would guarantee the death of numerous men.

Namely, his own.

Now, one of the things that makes The Terror so compelling as a fan — and as someone who writes both meta and fic for the series — is the lack of answers, the deliberate ambiguity that David Kajganich planted in the show. So, there’s a lot detail that we, as viewers, can only surmise.

So, in this scene, we don’t know how ill Jopson is. I doubt many men besides Jopson himself did. I imagine that a man whose instinct is to always inquire of others’ needs is not someone who makes much fuss over himself. 

Regardless of how advanced Jopson’s scurvy/lead poisoning was, Jopson’s criticism toward Little’s plan indicates that he understood the severity of their situation. The chance of survival was slim when they were still on Terror and Erebus, and the margins were diminishing rapidly every day that they were travelling overland. He knew that they were all likely to die. At this point, it was only a question of when and how. 

(For the life of me I can’t find the original post), but Kajganich mentioned that one of the most pivotal points for each character in Terror was the turning point where their personal narrative switched from a high adventure story to horror. Some of the men, he explained, never experienced that transition.

Originally, I thought that Jopson was one of those characters. I had (arguably) thought that he either never experienced the transition or made the switch during the Crozier/feast hallucination immediately prior to his death. 

Jopson was not a man prone to panic. He handled stressful situations quickly and with a clear head. As the show progressed, his good nature, sadly, started to diminish; exacerbated by the horrid stress of the men’s circumstances. But even his moments of snarkiness or impatience were leveled out by the underlying hope of his story arc; the friendship with Crozier, the unexpected promotion to lieutenant, the brief moments of kindness (such as his being one of the first to step forward to assist with Morfin’s body). 

If Jopson was going to die, he knew that he had least had the support of the men around him. Until, that is, Little’s (and Le Vesconte’s) plan. Here was a man whom Jopson knew, respected, liked, and certainly trusted making a suggestion to Captain Crozier that would effectively kill him. 

This is the scene in which Jopson’s high adventure flips to horror.

Let’s mention the cinematography and lighting for this specific scene. The lighting is minimal, mostly from outdoors, but it is stark and blinding. It casts half of Jopson’s face into shadow, the other half uncomfortably illuminated. It’s particularly striking because of his pale eyes which catch the light with an eerie brightness. The camera angle is also skewed (as it is for the other three characters in the scene), adding to the off-balance delirium and fear gouging its way through what remains of the leaders’ fortitude. 

Lastly, look at Jopson himself. He’s pale (despite being hours in the sun), his lips dry and cracked, his hair stringy, his skin lined and rough, and scabs along his beard and hairline. Across from Little — who looks surprisingly healthy given the situation — Jopson already looks like a corpse. And he continues to look pale and sickly for the remainder of the show.

His criticism of Little’s plan speaks to much more than his concern for the crew, for the expedition, and everyone’s survival. This is a man with one foot in the grave desperately trying to crawl his way back out. And the betrayal of men he trusted was where he experienced the switch.

The only thing that protected Jopson in that scene was Crozier’s intervention. Crozier became the final defense for Jopson. So much so, in fact, that the one scene in which Jopson deviates from the sickly pallor that he has for the majority of the last two episodes is when Crozier comes to him, with a basin of water and a silly story about his attempt at riding a cow; this final, shared beacon of familial love and trust before it is cruelly extinguished by Jopson’s belief that even Crozier — the single remaining man he could trust — abandoned him.

That was the ultimate betrayal, yes, and the most tragic, given the irony that it was not Crozier’s decision to leave; knowledge that Jopson did not have. However, his narrative switched to horror long before that betrayal; it occurred when this man who had built his life around caring for others realized that the same courtesy would not be extended to him. He was going to die, and no one but himself would stand in Death’s way.

All screenshots credited to: (x)

[entwinedmoon]

John Torrington: Redshirt

(Previous posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

“I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove the situation is serious.”

–Guy Fleegman, Galaxy Quest

After the exhumations of Torrington, Hartnell, and Braine, and the subsequent publication of Frozen in Time, there was a fresh wave of literature inspired by the photographs and findings from Beechey Island. Novels, short stories, and poems either attempted to recreate what had happened to the expedition according to the latest findings or incorporated this new information in some other way. Some feature Torrington, while some just use certain aspects of the findings, such as the remarkable level of preservation or the lead poisoning theory.

I have read only a handful of the many literary works about the Franklin Expedition that have been published since the exhumations on Beechey Island, so I can’t speak for every novel, poem, or other form of literary composition that has come out since then. For the purposes of this post I decided to focus only on works that feature Torrington himself, and even then, I haven’t had a chance to read every work that does. There may be some that have a completely different take on the story and depict Torrington in a way not seen in the works that I will be discussing, but those will have to wait for another day. For this post I can only focus on the fraction of Franklin-related literature that I have been able to read so far, and if I leave out something that people think is a must-read, I apologize. But feel free to let me know what it is, because I love reading new interpretations of the expedition’s story.

(Unless you’re here to tell me about the Marvel comics character Pestilence, a supervillain who is actually Francis Crozier, preserved in ice for over a hundred years. He’s still alive but he’s gone mad and has magic for some reason. And he can possess other people. Pestilence was first introduced in 1986, and yes, him being frozen in ice was obviously inspired by the exhumation of Torrington. Now, let’s never speak of this again.)

I’m going to start with the various novels that have attempted to tell the story of the Franklin Expedition. FYI, there will be some spoilers, but mostly the spoilers will be about Torrington and other crewmembers dying, which shouldn’t really be a spoiler at this point.

Before I get into the specific books, though, I’ve noticed that there are certain themes in many of these stories, particularly involving Torrington. As his illness and death is a known point during the timeline of the expedition, he inevitably gets a mention in many of these works, but since he died so early in the expedition, he rarely has a major role in the overall story. Not only that, Torrington’s characterization is typically absent altogether. He’s generally depicted as a variant of the Victorian waif—pale and thin and doomed to die—and rarely does he get any dialogue or development. He’s first blood, a harbinger of things to come, but almost never a character on his own. He’s simply there to die, like a redshirt in Star Trek.

I have often flipped through books to see where Torrington comes in, wondering if he’ll be given something to do before he passes, and more often than not I have been disappointed. His death is always included because we know he died, and if it were left out it could be seen as callous at worst or inaccurate at best, yet his inclusion sometimes feels more like the author simply checking something off a checklist. Enters Lancaster Sound, check; winters at Beechey Island, check; Torrington dies, check. Sometimes there might be a funeral, where the main characters speak of Torrington as if he’s been there the entire time and wasn’t just first mentioned only two paragraphs ago, perhaps with Franklin orating the first of many eulogies (“We have lost one of our own today, a fine sailor named John [looks at smudged writing on his hand] Turlington…”).

But one thing that Torrington usually gets is a brief mention of his burial clothes. Since we know what he looks like in death, there’s often a description of him in his coffin, perhaps a mention of his youth, small stature, and wasted appearance. His illness usually gets a mention too—and sometimes he gets berated postmortem for going to sea while sick.

Of course, since Torrington dies only seven months into the expedition, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t have much to do in most stories, but I do wish he could at least have a little more of a role before taking his final bow. It would make his death more meaningful if he was a known character and not just a name in a long list of people who are about to die.

For a deeper dive into how Torrington is typically depicted in novels about the Franklin Expedition, I’m going to start with the most mainstream of the books I’ve read—and also the most inaccurate. That would be The Terror by Dan Simmons, a story that posits what if, rather than starvation, scurvy, illness, and lead poisoning killing off the crew, there was also an evil magical bear bent on their destruction. The book was recently adapted into a television series on AMC, and I watched the show first. I loved the show—it was very well done, despite the evil bear—so I read the book. The book…well, it had some good parts to it, but also some incredibly ridiculous parts and some incredibly offensives ones too. I won’t get into a full review of the book, though—I’m just here for Torrington.

Torrington doesn’t get mentioned until his death in The Terror. In fact, the sentence introducing him is “John Torrington, stoker on HMS Terror, died early this morning.” His slow decline from consumption is described, while also saying that he had obviously been in the advanced stages of the disease when he signed up for the expedition. There’s an aside about how ironic it is that Torrington’s doctor had told him going to sea would be good for his health, something that isn’t based on a known fact about Torrington, but getting away from Manchester and into fresh air may have been part of Torrington’s intent when signing up. Judging by the state of his lungs, he probably had difficulty breathing in the thick smoke of industrial Manchester, so it’s not so far-fetched to think he may have wanted a change of scenery to improve his health.

The dressing of his body for burial, descriptions of the clothes and bindings we know so well from the exhumation pictures, and a brief recap of his funeral get described in just a few pages. The image of him in his striped shirt sticks out in the memory of Dr. Goodsir (who is writing this down in his diary), an image that anyone who is familiar with the Franklin Expedition would know very well. But that’s about it for Torrington in this book. His name does pop up a few more times, though, because Captain Crozier has a habit of going over the names of the dead to himself, assessing how many men he has lost at different points throughout the book. Torrington as part of a list of the dead is mostly how we see him in The Terror.

In the TV adaptation, Torrington doesn’t appear at all, because the show picks up after the ships have left Beechey. The men who died at Beechey are mentioned a few times, usually as a group—referred to as “the men on Beechey” or some variation of that—with only John Hartnell being mentioned by name. Torrington, however, does get a visual sort of reference when one of the ship’s boys, David Young, dies in the first episode. During his burial, his coffin accidentally comes open, and his burial clothes look very reminiscent of the famous photos of Torrington.

Alfie Kingsnorth, the actor who plays David Young, looks a lot like Torrington, making this image extra eerie. In fact, I started watching the show because I saw a screencap of the burial and thought it was Torrington. When I realized that Torrington wasn’t in the show, I was disappointed, but I ended up loving the show anyway.

The next book I want to discuss is a novel that tried to do what The Terror did but without the monster. Robert Edric’s book The Broken Lands tells the story of the Franklin Expedition from the point of view of Commander James Fitzjames of the Erebus, third-in-command of the expedition. Fitzjames seems to be a popular point-of-view character since another book I’ll be discussing in this post is also from his perspective. Fitzjames is an interesting historical person, particularly if you’ve read Battersby’s biography of him, although that was published long after The Broken Lands came out. Being from Fitzjames’s point of view, however, means that the story focuses mostly on what happens on Erebus, which means Torrington, leading stoker on Terror, wouldn’t have had much of a role no matter what.

At least in this book Torrington does get mentioned before his death, but only just. When the ships are wintering on Beechey, it’s mentioned that two men become ill, Torrington and John Hartnell. Since Hartnell died only a few days after Torrington, they would have been ill around the same time. However, rather than showing signs of tuberculosis followed by pneumonia as the killing blow, Torrington and Hartnell suffer symptoms that get mistaken for scurvy but then are assumed to be some form of food poisoning. Torrington dies while Terror’s doctor, John Peddie, sits with him, but there’s not much to the scene. He and Hartnell get buried on the same day after a snowstorm delays their burials. Hartnell gets more attention here because of his autopsy, and there’s no mention of striped shirts and bound limbs.

But that’s not the last we hear of them. In the next chapter, it’s discovered that some crewmembers had been pilfering from the canned food supply. William Braine gets flogged for his part in the scheme, and he starts showing symptoms similar to Torrington and Hartnell. Braine then confesses that Torrington and Hartnell had also been involved in stealing canned foods, and the doctors jump to the conclusion that the canning procedure must be responsible for the illness and deaths of these three men. So instead of going with the known causes of death of tuberculosis and pneumonia, in this version of the story the Beechey Boys die of lead poisoning and only lead poisoning. That bothers me not only because it completely ignores the actual cause of death, but because it makes Torrington, Hartnell, and Braine criminals, stealing food from the ship’s stores. I guess this was Edric’s attempt at explaining why these three men had such high levels of lead so early on in the expedition, but this explanation doesn’t work for me because it ignores a lot of other things in a struggle to make certain puzzle pieces fit. I admit, I got a little overprotective when I saw Torrington being accused of something like this and started ranting about it to my sister—despite the fact that I have no idea what sort of person he was actually like, and he’s been dead for over hundred seventy years, so he doesn’t really need me to protect him from purely fictional accusations. But still…

The other novel from Fitzjames’s perspective is North with Franklin by John Wilson. This is set up as a lost journal written by Fitzjames, using some of the known letters and journals written by the real life Fitzjames as a jumping off point. In these fictional journal entries, there’s a mention of a man in sickbay with signs of consumption in August, and there’s an aside wondering why he didn’t inform anyone about his illness prior to setting sail. However, since this is the sickbay on Erebus, this must be a reference to Hartnell, not Torrington. But it’s a hint at what’s to come for both of them. An update on the consumptive man in November confirms that it’s Hartnell, his condition getting worse, and then it’s mentioned that the leading stoker on Terror is suffering the same. Again, Fitzjames wonders why Hartnell and Torrington didn’t mention their condition before setting sail, calling their weakened lungs a “death warrant” in the Arctic. There’s another update in late December about their worsening condition, until they both succumb. Out of the three books discussed so far, this is the most that Torrington has been mentioned pre-death, but he says not a single word.

Torrington’s death, taking place on New Year’s Day, brings down the happy celebrations of the crew. Again, it’s mentioned that Torrington should never have undertaken the journey with his illness, as if it hasn’t been driven home enough that he and Hartnell had probably been showing symptoms when they first boarded and should have reported it. Torrington’s burial clothes get an overview, with his short, emaciated appearance being compared to that of a child. He gets a funeral, with Franklin presiding.

The repeated mentions of how Torrington and Hartnell should have declared their illnesses before sailing on the expedition almost comes off as blaming them for their early demise. Realistically, of course, they probably had noticed some early symptoms before leaving England. But how bad were those symptoms? Were they enough to make them think they had a disease that would prove fatal? Did they realize that they wouldn’t be coming back, or did they shrug it off as just another cough? Torrington had bad lungs anyway, so maybe he didn’t notice when his black-lung-coughing changed into tuberculosis-coughing.

John Wilson wrote another book about the Franklin Expedition, this one for young adults, called Graves of Ice. This book is from the point of view of one of the ship’s boys, George Chambers. Chambers was assigned to the Erebus, so the main action happens on that ship once again, which means Torrington barely appears. Again. William Braine, however, befriends Chambers and gets far more dialogue and development than Torrington or Hartnell in any of the previous books—or this one—combined. Braine actually gets to defend his actions by saying his lungs had always been weak, and he thought the cold might do them good, explaining why he didn’t bother declaring any illness before setting sail. In real life, Torrington probably felt the same way, but he doesn’t get to stand up for himself here. In a prime example of dramatic irony, Braine calls Torrington an idiot for signing up while sick.

Torrington and his illness get mentioned the same day he dies, just shortly before Dr. Peddie informs Franklin of Torrington’s passing. His death gets called a bad omen among the crew. His burial gets a brief mention, but there’s no lingering on the image of his body in its coffin, or any mention of it even. He has no lines once again, nor does George Chambers ever meet him. At least one crewman admits that there are many men on board with lungs as bad as Torrington, as if to soften the accusation that Torrington should have known better, but it doesn’t soften it by much.

In all four of these books Torrington has had zero lines of dialogue. He gets sick, he dies. That’s it. There’s another book, a self-published one that came out this year, that I had hoped may do better by him. That would be Toward No Earthly Pole by Jonathan Schaeffer, which is from the point of view of James Thompson, the engineer on Terror. Being the engineer, Thompson would have interacted with Torrington a great deal, so I’d hoped I would get to see Torrington fleshed out more as a real character, but sadly that was not to be. Torrington does get mentioned more before his death than in other books, but it’s mostly in superficial interactions where anyone could have stood in instead, such as Torrington pointing out a polar bear.

Near the beginning of the story, Thompson gives a rundown of each stoker, giving Torrington a less-than-stellar description as a weakling, saying that, “He comes across as an old man resigned to his lot in life.” But Thompson does remark that Torrington is handsome, which isn’t really that important, but it is mentioned multiple times in the text. I guess the point was to emphasize that Torrington was cut down in the prime of his young, handsome life, but it comes off as a little awkward.

Torrington apparently has no friends in this interpretation of the story, and only Thompson seems to visit him when he gets sick. The day before he dies, Torrington, in a delirium, says some incomprehensible sentences, ending on an ominous “…do not belong here,” a phrase that Thompson initially interprets as meaning that Torrington realized he didn’t belong there, but that over the course of the expedition Thompson comes to think means the entire expedition didn’t belong there. Torrington gets the usual drawn-out illness coverage, unsurprising death, and a mention of his burial. He also becomes an omen that gets mentioned again as the situation grows worse. Even though Thompson would have been one of the crewmembers to interact with Torrington the most, Torrington still doesn’t get much development as a character.

However, there is one retelling of the Franklin Expedition that gives Torrington quite a bit of development. That would be Kristina Gehrmann’s graphic novel Im Eisland (or Icebound in the English version). I previously discussed Im Eisland in my last post about Torrington in art, but now I’d like to focus on the writing rather than the artwork. Torrington is actually introduced as if he’s going to be a major protagonist of the story, and for a time he does play a large role. We get a glimpse of a sweet little romance between him and his fiancée (we don’t know if Torrington was engaged to anyone, but there’s no evidence that he wasn’t either), and he develops a warm friendship with Thomas Evans, one of the ship’s boys, whom he teaches to read. Torrington comes alive as a real person here, and while yes, he does inevitably become too ill to work and dies, as he did in real life, he’s much more than just the first victim of a tragedy. If you’re looking for some good Torrington fiction, Im Eisland is an excellent choice.

But not all Torrington-related literature is a retelling of the expedition. There is a famous story by Margaret Atwood, “The Age of Lead,” which appears in her short story collection Wilderness Tips. I should say upfront that this story is not about Torrington himself. Atwood described her use of him as that of an extended metaphor, as his death is juxtaposed with that of another character’s in the story. But the story still delves into the pathos around Torrington’s death. In mourning for her friend, Jane, the protagonist, mourns for Torrington in a way too. As Jane remembers sitting with her dying friend, she ponders about who may have sat with Torrington in his final days. His half-open eyes are described as “the light brown of milky tea,” and they look back at Jane as she watches a program about him on television. It’s a touching story that asks some emotional questions about Torrington’s death—did he have anyone to comfort him as he passed, so far from home? Did anyone on the ship mourn him, love him? The story might not be about Torrington in the end, but he makes for a powerful centerpiece, and this story treats his humanity as far more present than many of the novels discussed above.

The last piece of literature I’d like to discuss is “Envying Owen Beattie” by Sheenagh Pugh. In a poem that gives Seamus Heaney a run for his money, Pugh lovingly describes the exhumation of Torrington’s mummified body. She compares Torrington to Snow White by describing his being cocooned in ice as “asleep in his glass case.” The reason she envies Owen Beattie is because of an anecdote Beattie had once told that Pugh recounts here, of how when Beattie lifted Torrington out of his coffin, Torrington’s head lolled onto Beattie’s shoulder, and they stared eye-to-eye at each other, Beattie holding his frail, limp body. This leads Pugh to conclude her fairy tale metaphor by saying “how could you not try to wake him with a kiss?” I have to admit that if I had been in Beattie’s place, I probably would have dropped the body, but Pugh romanticizes the moment instead.

While many of the novels that I’ve described above treat Torrington as just another milestone to get through in the story, Pugh brings far more emotion and love to his depiction in so few words. Torrington looks so very much alive, like a princess under a sleeping spell, so why can’t a kiss break that spell and bring him into the present? A sweet sentiment tinged with the sadness that we know he can’t be awakened by a kiss, because it’s no spell that’s put him asleep. He’s too far beyond fairy tale dreams to come back. The tragedy of Torrington’s death gets swallowed by the larger tragedy of the Franklin Expedition’s demise in the full-length novels, but in shorter pieces such as Pugh’s poem and Atwood’s short story, Torrington’s death is given greater thought and respect. Torrington, after all, was no redshirt on Star Trek but a human being. He wasn’t just a name, a check on a checklist, but a man who suffered and died at too young an age. But the tragedy of the individual is easily lost among the tragedy of the group.

Next: My final post, a personal reflection as I ponder just what fascinates us about him after all these years.

<<Back | Next >>

Torrington Series Masterlist

[xanthicantag]

alright bro im gonna do all the ask so. U Know You're Doin Em Too

Hot read more since there’s so maaaaaany

1. if you were to have Hanahaki disease, what flowers would you cough up?

I feel like this is entirely based on who i’m feeling the one sided love for? (I googled  Hanahaki disease and i’m all about that shit no doubt there)  But like, maybe daffodils? 

2. if someone were to catch Hanahaki disease for you, what flowers would they cough up?

Uh Roses motherfucker, you’re welcome

3. if you were any historic trope, what would you be? (i.e., the knight, the town baker, the witch of the forest, etd.)

Ok so like on the one hand I love lances, so fucking much, so I’m like big into Knights for that and like protecting people (and/or a beautiful prince cause like, you know), but I also really love the idea of just being like, a traveling fighter of some kind, leading a troupe of loveable idiots or being in a troupe as a loveable idiot.  I want to be Iron Bull is what I’m trying to say I guess????? or like, Krem? who knows

4. tell us about your ideal battle outfit.

Ok so I’m torn again.  Cause protection and ease of movement are super important, so like a breastplate and some kind of back protection, maybe a shield?  or maybe a sick gauntlet arm like Ike from Fire Emblem cause he knows what’s up, and then some minor leg armor to keep the front of my thighs and calves safe and like a shield since those fuck am I right??  On the other hand: If you look like a Thot, the enemy is distracted and an easy target.  I’m talking chainmail crop top, plate armor booty shorts, stupid looking heel shoes(?) for maximum thot energy, and of course a whip, either that i use or just have for the thot energy.

5. what would you be a god/goddess of and what would people sacrifice to you?

I think like, a minor deity that helps people make small to mediumish choices (i.e. talk the left or right path, call or don’t call this person), and then like, a cute little charm that people just kinda crush or burn before asking about the choice feels good, feels organic.

6. name five iconic quotes that make you feel things.

Now, I don’t know a lot of quote to be honest, but here’s some paraphrased stuff:

“Now that larping exists dnd is like, not the least cool thing to do”- Travis McElroy

“Yeah I have a pickle allergy, what about it *Pickle eating sounds*” -Me, often

“I fucked your dad” -Me during a quiplash game?  And often yeah I’ll admit this

I don’t remember what’s said, but the scene in the Count of Monte Cristo where he just shows off all his sick skills to be like “Yeah I’ll murder the fuck out of your homeboy if he tries to step up to me”.

“All Magicians are inherently inclined to kill” -That unraveled about Megaman robots who get sentience

7. scythe, battle axe, broad sword, spear or trident?

Ok so like, Scythe for formal occasions/when I want to just look good cause I think their a sexy as hell weapon, at me if you want to be I know I’m right.  Battle Axes are cool and like, really useful during a siege since you can easily bust stuff down with it and it lets you cut spears in half so you look dope as hell, like, Hector of Ostia if you’re out there, yes you’re correct.   Broad Swords are like, just in general really good, you can use it in a duel, a battle, a coronation, magic rituals if you’re really feeling fancy, the list is just endless, a real classic all purpose weapon.  Spears are for fucking losers, fuck you if you use a spear sword fight me like a fucking real fighter or get out of here none of this reach bullshit.  Tridents are like spears but just, inherently sexier?  You know?  Like 1 point is stupid and boring, but 3?  that’s some good shit.  But really fuck all these weapons whips are lances are where it’s at yes feel free to at me again.

8. what combination of natural scents would you use as perfume?

Now this i have like, actually no idea for, but like, just tons of flowers.  I just take like a fistful of flowers and rub them on my face.  

9. ancient scrolls or leather-bound books?

Oh you know I’m about that leather-bound book life!  Fuck A scroll, that is just a piece of paper that is going to tear and be illegible in like 5 years.  A nice bound book though?  *Chefs kiss*

10. describe yourself as if you were a storm.

A summer rain.  It comes in quickly and is gone by the turn of the hour.  A brief respite during the dry season, and gone before it can become a disaster. 

11. what type of flower (other than a rose) would you offer someone you were trying to court?

First of all op, get the fuck off my back Roses or nothing.  Secondly a big sunflower.

12. honey in milk or cinnamon in tea?

Um, neither??????????????????

13. cabin in the woods, apartment in the city or mansion in the suburbs?

Honestly an apartment in the city would be nice but like, living in the woods is the prime chance to be a local mystery.

14. curtains of beads or lace?

Probably lace?  Do beads block light?

15. vocal or instrumental music?

I am a big fan of instrumental

16. describe your ideal fantasy outfit

Step one, big cape, it doesn’t touch the ground while on my shoulders but goes about mid calf.  Step two, leather armor, it’s light and easy to move in, and provides good protection.  Step three, Mask, nothing like flashy, just a plain black mask, preferably a full mask if i’ve got some magic to see with not my eyes, other wise like a typical masquerade mask

17. of all the fantasy races to ever exist, which one would you be?

Fuck.  This is so hard.  I want to be, so many.  No you know what, fuck it.  I wanna be a Dragonborn Tiefling hybrid, I’m talking cool horns, I’m talking sweet tail, you already know I can spit literal fire out of my face.  Fucking try and get at me I dare you.

18. hard candy, fruit preserves or spice cake?

I love hard candy to just suck on, but my teeth do not.

19. show us an a picture of your ideal crown.

if you don’t think this crown fucks, get out of my face

20. tying your hair up using ribbon, yay or nay?

I’ve had my hair long enough for that like once, and I don’t really like tying my hair up tbh

21. an evening in the forest with elves, a night in the caves with vampires or a morning in the garden with fae?

Um.  Bold of you to say I’m not hitting up all these parties???  Like def vampires first since the elven party is advertised to go for like 5 hours, but we all know it goes on for like 4 months and I can’t party that long as a mortal you know.  And like you hit the fae up last since you literally are gonna be stuck there the rest of your life after one (1) round of truth or dare

22. tell us, in detail, about a curse a witch would put on you.

Like, in all honesty the biggest thing a witch could do to me via curse would just be to make my right arm like full unusable.  Not gone or broken.  Just like, it’s slow, I can’t always get it to fully hold onto something so it drops everything, there’s always a small feeling of discomfort, not pain just a minor annoyance, in the knuckles of the hand.

23. talking with sylphs or singing with nymphs?

I get kicked out of the nymph singing area after four seconds of

24. mint, rosemary, basil or sage?

I fucking go wild for the smell of basil don’t even try me

25. favorite childhood story? (doesn’t have to be a fairy tale)

I remembered Inkheart recently and like, I honestly really liked that book

26. tell us about an experience you’ve had that seemed unreal or supernatural. (doesn’t have to be scary)

Sophomore year of college, I realized that all the people around me were people I actually enjoyed spending time with, and it just felt so weird to be there after all the just nonsense that had happened up till then

27. would you rather have poison or healing ointment in your traveling pack?

healing duh?  You think I’d ever remember i have the poison one? nope not me!

28. tell us three sayings that you live by.

Try and be a little nicer, unless they really don’t deserve it.  Walk away sometimes.  Eat food and don’t think about it.

29. vials or mason jars?

Oh get me those vials baby!

30. describe your ideal masquerade ball outfit (mask included).

OH HELL YES.  Get me that suit, it’s a sweet dark red with rose colored vest underneath, the jacket and pants have flower vines on them that 100% connect to a big ass rose on the back of the jacket.  The mask is more or less this guy:

31. splashing around in a river with mermaids or flying through the sky with harpies?

I can literally swim any day so let’s fly

32. what would you end up in the dungeon for?

Ok i didn’t understand this one at first so I’m keeping my initial reply below and the real one is: You know I beat some like high ranking knight or minor noble in a duel to humiliate them and no i didn’t think it through so here i am lol.

3 things: A talking magic weapon (Probably a sword but i’m down for other options).  A certain someone is going in and I’m not letting him go in without someone to keep him safe.  There’s dragon eggs that work like the Eragon dragon eggs and I am already waist deep in dead enemies getting one of those babies.

33. if you were a fairy, what color would your wings be?

Take a wild fucking guess

34. if you could have any magical item, what would it be?

God this is so hard, but I think a magic flower that when you pluck one if its petals you can undo a recent event, up to like ten minutes or so.

35. what song would the bards sing about you when you passed by?

I’ll say the Death of Me by Meg Myers

36. would you rather be a pirate or a king/queen?

God that’s hard,  Like yeah pirates are cool but i’d love to be royalty and just get to do good shit for the people and also not have scurvy.

37. would you spend more time in the field of flowers, the tavern, the docks or the marketplace?

Hmmm, I think the Tavern as like the number 1, and then a tie for docks and field, and the marketplace in last since i hate crowded areas i need to buy things in

38. would you have a painting of yourself?

Only if I ever ride a dragon and then have a painting to immortalize the moment, and only if the dragon helps me paint it

39. what skill are you famous for?

I mean, people know I sword fight, fight fight, and program, so like, those?  and I guess my sick dnd skills

40. if you could live any fairy tale, which one would you?

Fuck if I can think of one!

41. stained glass windows or fairy lights?

Ok Stained glass windows literally slap so like, you already know

[hgfstreamchats]

The Terror finale

thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:31 PM Hello! highglossfinishYesterday at 9:31 PM Hello there! We'll dive right in because we've got a great deal of Terror to get through. thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:32 PM Oh wow, sunlight HopolitesYesterday at 9:33 PM Yes, the sun does indeed exist. highglossfinishYesterday at 9:34 PM Everyone knows the sun is a myth invented by Those Who Live Above. thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:34 PM Ha! highglossfinishYesterday at 9:38 PM "And eating English lead." thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:38 PM That, too. HopolitesYesterday at 9:38 PM Pffft Yes Sounds delicious thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:39 PM "If you know what I mean." I swear, whenever there's an outdoors scene I'm struck by how they don't quite seem to be dressed for the alleged temperatures HopolitesYesterday at 9:44 PM Also I once again have made the unwise descision of grabbing food during this show Also To be fair No one is remotely prepared thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:45 PM ...man HopolitesYesterday at 9:45 PM Whoops! You Have PTSD! thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:45 PM God, poor guy

HopolitesYesterday at 9:48 PM As he was pulling off his sock I was so worried something horrible would be revealed underneath them highglossfinishYesterday at 9:48 PM There'll be plenty of opportunities for that. thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:49 PM I bet it's something good he just saw, huh See!  Free supplies! HopolitesYesterday at 9:49 PM Oh yes Im all excited to see what weird horrors this show has in store for us, but also I would like to eat my food before anything- WHELP. thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:50 PM Ah. No bets on whether he'll end up eating those words HopolitesYesterday at 9:54 PM Ooooh yeah highglossfinishYesterday at 9:55 PM Got to love the study accumulation of things that certainly won't backfire horribly later. thenightetc2Yesterday at 9:56 PM Ohhh dear oh nooo, not the dog :< HopolitesYesterday at 10:03 PM I hope the dog reaches people before them Im reminded of a movie made of a short story done by the guy who did call of the wild that I watched in class It was about a guy trying to walk in the alaskan wilderness to a mining camp, and he literally had only a couple of shirts, and like, a dog My class cheered when the dog reached safety. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:06 PM What just happened?  The framerate has gotten super bad HopolitesYesterday at 10:07 PM Framerate is fine for me. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:07 PM Like the picture just pauses for several seconds Better, now ...well, I spoke too soon HopolitesYesterday at 10:09 PM Oh okay cannibalism is happening now. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:09 PM ~foreshadowing~ oh god :< poor dog... HopolitesYesterday at 10:10 PM This isnt even just foreshadowing, this is- oh thats wild. highglossfinishYesterday at 10:11 PM Cybertronians have cannibalism and a robust amount of things that consume us, but I have to say, it's a glorious thing not to be made of meat. This will end well for everyone involved. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:14 PM Definitely HopolitesYesterday at 10:15 PM Cant wait to see what happens. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:16 PM I feel no foreboding HopolitesYesterday at 10:16 PM Yes, this music doesn't bring up any worries at all. highglossfinishYesterday at 10:16 PM What a nice family. Only good times ahead. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:16 PM Uh oh Is that that "paradoxal undressing" or whatever it's called HopolitesYesterday at 10:18 PM Hmm Oh its stuttering thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:19 PM Oh, it's even called "horrible from supper" HopolitesYesterday at 10:19 PM Okay, I kinda love the incredibly creepy music thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:23 PM Urgh ... so you're saying you deserve to be here, huh And that other guy really IS a fake. HopolitesYesterday at 10:27 PM I would embrace a horribly punny name highglossfinishYesterday at 10:27 PM I heartily embrace mine. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:28 PM Heh. highglossfinishYesterday at 10:28 PM The Good News bell. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:28 PM It must be! HopolitesYesterday at 10:29 PM Oh always OH OF COURSE highglossfinishYesterday at 10:29 PM That's the bell that sounds when someone hasn't been stabbed. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:31 PM It doesn't get rung a lot, as you can imagine Oh, jesus SO now he's trying to frame some random people they ran into HopolitesYesterday at 10:33 PM Of course. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:36 PM yikes Ohhh no "show me exactly where you were found straddling his corpse half-naked" highglossfinishYesterday at 10:42 PM Hah! thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:42 PM oh, that's not good HopolitesYesterday at 10:43 PM Ah yes, lovely. Ah yes, a bunch of lead filled idiots have guns. thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:45 PM "whimsical tinkly music" so he's, uh, enjoying those drugs for now HopolitesYesterday at 10:46 PM I think his brain is doing a wiggle thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:48 PM dude, stop HopolitesYesterday at 10:49 PM Goodbye miss! Have a better life away from this guys! thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:49 PM "come to my country!  you can be treated like a circus animal and catch novel diseases!" highglossfinishYesterday at 10:49 PM Go with her, have a gaggle of tiny be-mutton chopped humans together. It's not going to get better. "Don't you want to die in eight months of smallpox?" HopolitesYesterday at 10:51 PM Is that the leg thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:52 PM What, uh... what's going to be in his... stomach HopolitesYesterday at 10:52 PM Please roll up your sleeves thenightetc2Yesterday at 10:52 PM Oh. HopolitesYesterday at 10:52 PM Yep thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:00 PM Well well. Oh damn it he's getting away HopolitesYesterday at 11:02 PM Amazing. thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:05 PM y'know, if the bear-thing's supposed to be some kind of revenge for all those murders, it has VERY poor timing HopolitesYesterday at 11:05 PM Actually no it has great timing I love the dichotomy of this scene compared to the previous one Its very funny Okay that zoomed in uncomfortably close to her face thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:13 PM Decent of him. highglossfinishYesterday at 11:13 PM At least spit in a few of them. thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:14 PM They're already all poisoned. Gaaaah HopolitesYesterday at 11:15 PM Whelp He is thoroughly befuckened. OOO DOUBLE SCREWED And hes the food isnt he thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:16 PM Ugh. HopolitesYesterday at 11:18 PM Whelp highglossfinishYesterday at 11:18 PM Well, then. thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:18 PM So it's the scurvy, then HopolitesYesterday at 11:20 PM Eyup thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:20 PM Yes, yes, we get it, you're laying the groundwork to eat someone soon. HopolitesYesterday at 11:21 PM Like, how obvious can they be? thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:22 PM So he's going to be first. "Good news, everyone!" highglossfinishYesterday at 11:23 PM Hah! thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:26 PM "there will be NO cannibalism on THIS trip" HopolitesYesterday at 11:28 PM Well, nice to see she got back to her people safe. thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:28 PM yeah ah highglossfinishYesterday at 11:37 PM Everything about these two hurts. thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:37 PM an albatross, perhaps? god burn poor guy HopolitesYesterday at 11:41 PM Several layers of Oof highglossfinishYesterday at 11:42 PM The oof never ends. HopolitesYesterday at 11:42 PM AN EVEN LOUDER OOF SharpwingYesterday at 11:46 PM Hi all! I am. At Walmart. So I cannot join in to watch... apparently foreshadowed cannibalism But I would like to say hi anyway HopolitesYesterday at 11:47 PM It is no longer foreshadowed highglossfinishYesterday at 11:47 PM Oh no, it's very much the opposite by this point. SharpwingYesterday at 11:47 PM agh highglossfinishYesterday at 11:47 PM But glad to have you pop in just the same. SharpwingYesterday at 11:48 PM Ok no regrets about not seeing... that. But yes! It's great to see you! How ya doing? thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:50 PM oof highglossfinishYesterday at 11:50 PM No complaints! And you? HopolitesYesterday at 11:51 PM Oh okay mr hickey has gone full weird SharpwingYesterday at 11:51 PM No complaints here either!:blush: oof, weird how? (If you feel like elaborating) HopolitesYesterday at 11:51 PM Standing int the super cold morning smiling smuggly thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:51 PM on a table HopolitesYesterday at 11:52 PM Also only wearing one layer of clothes SharpwingYesterday at 11:52 PM Yep that's Very Weird HopolitesYesterday at 11:57 PM "But what about second mutiny?" thenightetc2Yesterday at 11:57 PM pffffff highglossfinishYesterday at 11:57 PM Hah! Local man ruins everything. HopolitesToday at 12:00 AM Whoopsiedoo! highglossfinishToday at 12:04 AM Last episode. Here we go. HopolitesToday at 12:04 AM Woooo! Cant wait to see what slightly insane things will happen next! Im going to guess they will proceed to lose, at least, ten men. thenightetc2Today at 12:10 AM oof :< HopolitesToday at 12:14 AM Oh boy thenightetc2Today at 12:16 AM ...he poisoned himself in some way? highglossfinishToday at 12:16 AM Oh, this is excruciating. HopolitesToday at 12:17 AM Fascinating hallucination. thenightetc2Today at 12:18 AM ... gaaah highglossfinishToday at 12:24 AM Very gaah. HopolitesToday at 12:24 AM Sometimes I hate having pain empathy. Eesh thenightetc2Today at 12:26 AM definitely was covering himself in poison at the end there, then HopolitesToday at 12:27 AM Ooooh yeeeeeah thenightetc2Today at 12:28 AM ...I remember once someone asked you what you thought the worst thing one human could do to another would be, and you said you thought it was probably forcing someone to eat, well, this Can't imagine why I remembered that just now! HopolitesToday at 12:29 AM HAH Hopefully they dont have the lowest bidder for food. Again. HopolitesToday at 12:30 AM I mean, at that point it would be funny. Nooot really on the fur department. thenightetc2Today at 12:32 AM Called it. HopolitesToday at 12:32 AM Of course. Very inspirational. Just shoot him. thenightetc2Today at 12:36 AM I can't get over how fucked up it looks. Is this a SHAVED bear? HopolitesToday at 12:36 AM The bear has no fur Like, how will they make a coat from it? thenightetc2Today at 12:36 AM Good point. HA HopolitesToday at 12:37 AM Is the reason why the bear looks like that because- HA! HAAAA! thenightetc2Today at 12:37 AM GOOD RIDDANCE HopolitesToday at 12:38 AM But yeah, does the bear look like that because a proper polar bear would be too cute and fluffy looking? highglossfinishToday at 12:38 AM It's covered with a fine layer of fuzz and old man skin. They can make a coat of that. I think it's to emphasize that it's not an actual bear. HopolitesToday at 12:39 AM Right yeah, it had creepily human eyes. thenightetc2Today at 12:39 AM Gotta be OH NO highglossfinishToday at 12:46 AM You did the best you could, Stumpy. thenightetc2Today at 12:48 AM the camp of people who are definitely still alive HopolitesToday at 12:48 AM I once again have to say that I like the music highglossfinishToday at 12:48 AM Likewise. thenightetc2Today at 12:48 AM very eerie. okay WHAT HopolitesToday at 12:49 AM Uh what thenightetc2Today at 12:49 AM What the fuck has been going on here highglossfinishToday at 12:49 AM Apparently they really did find him like that, and absolutely no one then or now can explain why. HopolitesToday at 12:49 AM Wild! What the fuck! thenightetc2Today at 12:50 AM Maybe they all got the hypothermia madness HopolitesToday at 12:50 AM Also I love by the bend in his sleeve you can tell the actor has just, tucked his hand into it. highglossfinishToday at 12:50 AM Sensible child. thenightetc2Today at 12:51 AM dude did you not realize she has a name HopolitesToday at 12:51 AM SHE HAS A NAME YOU DIPSHIT highglossfinishToday at 12:52 AM I wonder if she ever told Goodsir. thenightetc2Today at 12:54 AM ...oh HopolitesToday at 12:54 AM Oh its because she summoned the monster highglossfinishToday at 12:54 AM It's because it died on her watch. And that's The Terror! thenightetc2Today at 12:59 AM Well. It sure was! That was a hell of a thing. HopolitesToday at 12:59 AM I do appreciate how much the show kept telling us that the British didnt belong there highglossfinishToday at 12:59 AM Wasn't it just? Awfully nice of them to let him live with them after his men killed one of their shaman and then their protector spirit. thenightetc2Today at 1:01 AM Yes SharpwingToday at 1:01 AM :eyes:like what thenightetc2Today at 1:01 AM He had some weird piercings in his face, and chains--like, jewellery chains--attached to them HopolitesToday at 1:02 AM Im sorry but I love this video making fun of the british mispronouncing a inuit word SharpwingToday at 1:02 AM Isn't getting a piercing a common occurrence during a crisis? HopolitesToday at 1:03 AM COLD BOYS thenightetc2Today at 1:03 AM ldfkjg HopolitesToday at 1:05 AM Is this a cheesy edit someone did I feel I shouldn't be giggling at this edit like I am. thenightetc2Today at 1:08 AM Sea shanty SNL? highglossfinishToday at 1:08 AM OH, YES! Perfect! thenightetc2Today at 1:12 AM FOrty-five minutes from shore! HopolitesToday at 1:13 AM Amazing. thenightetc2Today at 1:13 AM Very amazing. highglossfinishToday at 1:13 AM And that, I believe, is a good place to wrap it up! thenightetc2Today at 1:13 AM Well!  Thank you, once more, for hosting. HopolitesToday at 1:14 AM Rest well! highglossfinishToday at 1:14 AM And thank you for allowing me to subject you to this show! HopolitesToday at 1:14 AM Was fun! Always nice to make fun of the british. SharpwingToday at 1:14 AM :blush::wave: Thank you! I hope your next two weeks is good♡ highglossfinishToday at 1:14 AM And yours too! thenightetc2Today at 1:14 AM Goodnight! ...I actually have a suggestion for next time, if you're interested in something animated and a bit stupid. Latte and the magic waterstone highglossfinishToday at 1:17 AM Looks promising and delightfully stupid. Latte it is. thenightetc2Today at 1:18 AM :D