#(or split the sequences up a bit but this will work for now!!!)

[koushirouizumi]

AAA I'm glad you appreciated the stageplay inclusion, because at first I wasn't sure if it or Kizuna's moment were fitting EnoughTM {Kizuna's moment is more like "the timeframe of daylight left before sunset sets [more fully] in"} but I'm glad if you appreciate seeing it!!!

(YES I've also noticed re how Koushiro's name is often autotranslated, I've also seen "Hikaru" come up more recently+more randomly at points which cracks me up every single time, {not just because I've had an OC dear to me with the name for a while now, and it used to be my own old penname for that reason!!} but also since "Hikaru" leans more specifically towards "Shining" than just "Light"/{Hikari})...

I've watched the Tri stageplay numerous (more than 10~15+!!) times by now, so I do have a lot of the script memorized, but I think by this point I got a little confused if the red light was signifying just "flashing red lights" {indicating technological 'Error!!' emphasis} at every instance it was used or "{sunrise??}"-esque effects after they "got out of" the darker area (back into the initial natureesque scenery?), since that scene was much more {calmer to a degree??} for Koushiro and Taichi, and the scene right before it was MetalGreymon's evolution so yes they were mainly using that lighting for MetalGreymon['s fire-like effects] (but then Koushiro emphasized, "{this [domain] is} still {very} full of 'Error'", and then the lighting went more of a calmer yellow so) but either way it feels SymbolicTM to me (and yes the scenes before it were very dark/with glitch-like effects, and we know for a fact ""night"" did pass at least once!) {The sleepover/camping-like scenes, etc!}

"And in general {Koushiro} is made for the LIGHT side"

= HEAVY AGREED!!!!!

(Thank you very much for kind commentary!!)

{D I G I M O N} Adventure (F r a n c h i s e) ~ Adventure, 02, tri., tri. S t a g e-p l a y, L a s t E v o l u t i o n: Kizuna, & Adventure: [2020 R e b o o t] + KOUSHIRO I z u m i + {F R A M E D In} S U N S E T {S}/{C O L O R S} + {KOUTAI} / {Taishiro} / {TaiKou} (Koushiro{u} I z u m i & Taichi Y a g a m i) {As S H I P} + Koushiro & M e n o a Bellucci

+ {L O O K I N G}/A i m i n g Towards the F U T U R E {F O R W A R D}

Originally I wanted to make this for @taikouvember 2 k 2 4! (It could have fit for "L i g h t"!) {Though I made it a bit e a r l y!}

[arcanetoymakerau]

*read right to left*

*reminder that tm!Jinx has Viktor's accent.

[THIS VERSION IS OUTDATED, PLEASE CHECK THE NEWER VERSION]

FINALLY! Sorry for the waiting, real life happens...and backgrounds are my weakness.

Let's go with this comic already! It's in manga format, so read right to left (for those who aren't used to, I've numbered the speech balloons in horizontal sequence).

This short comic will show some of the rework I did on Toymaker Jinx; it's mostly how her powers works and a bit of lore related to it, everything else you'll see it here about her was already in the previous version.

If you're not into League of Legends' lore: the beings following Jinx are Kindred. They are a single entity split in two: Lamb and Wolf. Their "duty" is of a reaper of some sorts or even death itself (depending on how you interpret). While Lamb hunts those who accepted their death, Wolf hunts those who didn't.

In theory, material living beings shouldn't be able to see them unless they are at the very edge of dying (and that's still a "maybe" from what I gathered). But Jinx messed up with things she shouldn't have, and now she's able to see them even though she's not dying/dead.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Theory: LX intended for CXS to dive to save LG

Preface and disclaimer: this is kind of an out-there theory; more a few loose thoughts that I found interesting to think on - I fully expect that some or all of this will turn out to be totally wrong. Link Click loves showing us scenes only to later have them be revealed as either a) shown out of order, or b) recontextualized by further info we weren't initially privy to. I fully expect this will be the case in s3.

For now though, concerning Cheng Xiaoshi's death, Yingdu arc is what we have to work with. And there's a particular scene that really, really bothers me: the very opening confrontation against Vein.

(Actually, there's a lot that bothers me. There are multiple timeline inconsistencies that can't simply be explained by animation error - the most egregious is CXS figuring out his powers by diving alone when he had to figure that out in s1, well after the point many timeline changes had already occurred that would directly lead to the events of s2, our current timeline. It makes my head hurt. That's why this post is not about the inconsistencies, even though it bothers me that I cannot come up with a good explanation for this atm. My best guess is that multiple possibilities or potentials are collapsing in on a singular timeline due to LX, SYY and/or LG's actions but I really don't know. Whatever. On with the theory.)

Let's start with a key assumption. If this assumption is proven to be wrong later, then the theory very much falls apart, but I feel fairly confident about this for now.

Assumption: CXS's death scene from Yingdu episode 1 is the original timeline, as is the dive back to the basketball court.

The reason I think this is from both a narrative standpoint and a character one. From a narrative standpoint, it makes sense to show us either the first timeline or the most recent one after s2's cliffhanger ending. These are the timelines that actually have consequences for our story. Here, we see a lot of focus given to the transfer of Cheng Xiaoshi's power, and his dying request of Lu Guang. This dying request, to save everyone, is referenced in a later nightmare sequence, where Lu Guang is reminded that everyone has died. I don't think it makes much sense to focus on Cheng Xiaoshi's final words in a repeated timeline, unless they were framed as something Lu Guang has clearly heard before, which, they weren't.

Which brings me to the main reason I believe this is the original timeline: Lu Guang's reaction.

He's in shock for much of the events here - doesn't look at all like he knows or knew what was about to happen. If this wasn't the original timeline, I would expect him to look more desperate and sad than shocked. His reaction after diving also doesn't make much sense to me if this isn't the first dive he's attempted. Again, I'd expect him to look more haunted and sullen if this is a repeat. Instead, he looks around at his clothes and at his surroundings for a bit before getting hit by the ball, sees Cheng Xiaoshi, gasps and immediately tears up. <- Not the reaction I'd expect from a man used to diving.

Hopefully, you either agree with me or can at least suspend your disbelief enough to hear me out.

Let's go over what's odd about the initial Vein confrontation, yes?

Vein never actually shoots or even aims at Cheng Xiaoshi

"This is the punishment for you changing the past."

Vein doesn't finish off Lu Guang afterwards

Point 1: Vein knocks Cheng Xiaoshi back and twirls his gun. A few seconds pass in which Vein does not aim at Cheng Xiaoshi at all, just stands there, maybe to make sure he stays down. Lu Guang rounds the corner and Vein immediately fires a shot at him.

If Vein wanted to kill Cheng Xiaoshi, he could've already done it here. He's fast. He fired that shot at Lu Guang in a split second. The implication here is that Cheng Xiaoshi was not the target - the target was Lu Guang.

Point 2: Vein tells Lu Guang that his actions are punishment for changing the past. If we go by the assumption that this is the original timeline, this... doesn't make much sense. Lu Guang doesn't have the power to change the past without Cheng Xiaoshi's ability. It suggests that Vein is not after them here because of Lu Guang's attempt(s) to save Cheng Xiaoshi, but for some other deviation.

Conclusion? This is a shared punishment. In the original timeline, it seems very likely that Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi made some kind of change, or changes, to the past. <- This may actually explain why Lu Guang in the current timeline is so adamant about Cheng Xiaoshi not changing anything.

It is possible that the combination of their powers resulted in some kind of significant deviation, or else that they were mistaken for or had the blame pinned on them for someone else's actions. Either way, Vein seems to only gun for one of them, but it's not the one I'd expect.

After all, if this is a punishment for changing the timeline (and presumably, you wouldn't want them changing anything else), why wouldn't you shoot the guy who actually... makes the changes? Why try to shoot Lu Guang?

Well... maybe you would if you actually wanted the exact opposite outcome.

Vein misses Lu Guang several times in this scene. It's a little strange, given that he's been backed into a corner and his attempt to fight back does him no good at all. You can see in his fight against Shao Yuanyuan/Wang Qing in episode 6 that he does have good aim and is actually fairly efficient with his objectives. You could say he's toying with him, and maybe so! Vein clearly loves a good fight. Much like Liu Xiao, he has the vibe of a "hunter". But Vein also is stated to have a certain set of principles. To me, it feels like he's putting on a show.

This brings me back to the main question: why didn't he try to shoot Cheng Xiaoshi? Why kill everyone connected with them and attempt to kill Lu Guang, ostensibly as "punishment", when Cheng Xiaoshi is the one who can actually dive?

Point 3: Lu Guang helps Cheng Xiaoshi into the darkroom and locks the door. Vein fires a shot but then just kind of... stands there, grimacing. He doesn't even try to break the door down, which I'm sure he easily could. <-This is the weirdest part of the scene.

I don't think this was supposed to happen. I don't think Cheng Xiaoshi was intended to take that bullet.

I think Vein put on that show, wanting Cheng Xiaoshi to see him shoot Lu Guang. I don't think Vein expected Cheng Xiaoshi to dive in front and die.

You could say that Vein just decided to wait outside for Lu Guang to come out instead of exerting energy, but that's strange because in the time afterwards, from 23:11 on September 12th when they stumbled into the darkroom to just a little before 00:05 on September 13th when he leaves, Lu Guang gets injured, but is left alive, and Vein is nowhere to be seen. There is absolutely no way Lu Guang was able to fend off Vein, and the only other possible sign of a continued skirmish is more blood on the photo and its positioning (this could be an animation error, truthfully - everything else in the scene is the same as before - but if it is an error then that helps my point even more - there are no further signs of struggle).

The police didn't arrive and force Vein to leave. The implication is Vein left Lu Guang alive after waiting patiently outside the door for him to come out. Why? Why wait?

Well, one possible explanation: he didn't want to interrupt the power transfer.

Think about it. Why leave one alive, but kill everyone else? If it was to avoid them making changes, only one of the pair with the actual powers needs to die. Not everyone connected to them. This situation seems explicitly orchestrated to make it so Cheng Xiaoshi cannot resist diving back. I suspect he was already intending to - if you look at the scene where Lu Guang glances down at the shattered photo, his breath hitches - I suspect Qiao Ling is already dead and they know that.

Cheng Xiaoshi's last request is to save everyone, since he is now unable to - he cannot take the shot himself, so he passes the ball to the person he trusts most. And I think this was the goal all along. In a situation like this, how could he not try to save them? Especially if, as I suspect, the rules regarding past and future weren't made quite as strict in this timeline as they are in the current one.

Except this didn't go quite according to plan, because in epic Cheng Xiaoshi fashion, he did something that wasn't anticipated and died in Lu Guang's stead. Not ideal, clearly, from Vein's reaction, but it doesn't actually matter.

All that matters is that one of them dives back. The outcome is the same.

Why kill everyone, but leave one alive, and with a power that will allow them and inevitably tempt them to try to save their loved ones? The most obvious answer is if this is exactly the outcome you wanted.

--

Now, why do I say Liu Xiao intended this if the main actor here was Vein? Well, for one, Vein doesn't seem aware in Yingdu arc of changes to the timeline, except in this scene. Needless to say, he is definitely not privy to Lu Guang having future knowledge - Lu Guang is suspicious to him, but it does not seem to occur to Vein that he could be from the future. This information likely comes from Liu Xiao, who Vein works with during the arc to obtain Cheng Weimin's book and who unzips his body bag at the end of the season. Out of anyone who could've orchestrated this, our favourite puppeteer manipulator is the most likely candidate.

I won't claim to know what's going on with Liu Xiao, nor what his goals actually are, but I suspect he has at least some future knowledge or is somehow able to catch glimpses of parallel lines. He comes across as much older in the flashbacks with him and Li Tianchen as children. There is an odd bit in Yingdu episode 2 during the roulette scene where there is a flash to the gun killing him. Metaphor or vision? It's hard to say.

Interestingly, in the Bridon pv, Liu Xiao looks back at Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang in the airport and smiles but does not approach them. Lu Guang even mentions that they didn't run into Liu Xiao in the past timeline.

At the end of episode 1, in the current timeline, Liu Xiao says "Finally, we can start the game." It implies that all the pieces are finally in place. This may be why he approaches Cheng Xiaoshi in the airport and asked Xia Fei to trail him, expecting him to have dived back from the future.

I suspect his knowledge isn't perfect. Liu Xiao is a gambler. He's not like Lu Guang, who needs to have perfect control and anticipate every outcome. He wasn't really paying much attention to Lu Guang at all until he noticed something strange - ostensibly his heartbeat. Again, I suspect the person he intended to have dive was Cheng Xiaoshi. Lu Guang was not expected - but he can still work with this, and clearly does, because at no point does it seem like any of Lu Guang's actions or knowledge disrupted his plans. Instead, it seems like everything is going smoothly because of his actions.

Everything Lu Guang does, including his decision to stall Vein and try to get him killed, seems to work out in Liu Xiao's favour. I suspect, inadvertently, that Lu Guang is doing exactly what he wants him to. Lu Guang's only real moment of "masterminding" is therefore implied to have been anticipated. Liu Xiao smiles when Xia Fei receives the call about Vein's "death", as if he knew.

"You might have seen something interesting."

It checks out. This frame from Train Trail during his verse says "the puppets are standing" over everyone's silhouettes - including Lu Guang. Lu Guang is also frequently shown as either trapped or drowning in official art and in Yingdu - if he was intended to be a mastermind on equal footing with Liu Xiao, I really don't think we'd see so much of his feelings of helplessness, nor his repeated assertions that he essentially has no idea what he's doing and doesn't actually expect the outcome to change. Liu Xiao doesn't seem to have any such compunctions or concerns in this sense.

If Lu Guang does turn out to have been essentially manipulated into this situation, it would follow a particular pattern seen in Link Click. There are characters who enact control over others but are ultimately being puppeteered or manipulated (Liu Min trying to control what is said about him comes to mind, as does Li Tianchen's literal control, to an extent), as well as characters who, through desperation and/or love, and the limited options available to them in their shitty situations, become complicit in something immoral and suffer for it (Emma taking the money from Zhu, Li Tianxi being the other half of the remote control, Vivian becoming a scammer). If Liu Xiao really did orchestrate Lu Guang's dive, then Lu Guang would follow both these patterns, as a puppet with the power of future knowledge that can (and perhaps has) hurt others, and as a victim who made a desperate choice and is now trapped by its consequences.

One last bit of evidence - this time explicitly about Liu Xiao.

^Everyone is familiar with 091305 by now. September 13th at 12:05 am. The date and time Lu Guang dived back from. However, something interesting here: the year is blurred out.

Moreover, I see people say sometimes that this is Cheng Xiaoshi's death date - it isn't. Remember the time from when they were in the darkroom? Cheng Xiaoshi's death occurred on September 12th, just a little past 11:11 pm.

Here's one last fun thing before I close out this post:

Liu Xiao, why does the date on your Tetris game-over say September 12th, 2024 when Yingdu arc takes place in 2019? I wonder whose game-over this could be?

[echolynn13]

SFTH Chaotic Highlights (Long Johns - STRIKE!)

The 5th longform commentary

Tom deciding 'yeah let's go for rhyming names, why not? I'm sure there will be no chance of future confusion!'

"We've been through a lot together" *coughs up blood* Such a funny 'that escalated quickly' moment because it's played so fucking casually too, just 'this is where you die' AJ characters stop not giving a shit challenge

"The hardest strike we've ever done, straight into the heart of London.. to take out the cops" "Jesus fucking hell- YEP THAT'S WHAT WE DID" Tom was so underprepared for this turn of events but fuck it's too late now

"You unfortunately got shot" "I'm aware" Yeah bro I think the dying man is well aware of the shitty situation at hand

Not the spit in AJ's face followed by an eyebrow raise, Tom I thought you were the exception to the spitting bit-

"Whatever happens from here" "I know what's gonna happen" Not to bring emotion into this comedic death sequence, but I'm getting adjacent vibes to that one scene from Falsettos. No I will not be clarifying, watch it if you haven't, it's available on youtube for free

"Cause I wanna hear about you right now, yeah" EVER HEARD OF FEMINISM- Oh wait he's a guy this time, nevermind

"Listen.. About your wife?" "What?? Wait a minute-" Tom 100% thought Jerry and Terry were lovers, he's like 'where did this heterosexuality come from??'

"Followed the blood all the way to Dagenham" "Where is he?" Constable, he just fucking told you

The fact it's canon DI Constable is butt ass naked from the waist down until the very end of the story is honestly more disturbing to me than the recent nymph sex scene

"Which one's left alive, is it Jerry or Terry?" "...." Oh no, name confusion! What an unforeseen turn of events for two character names one letter apart-

You know how fucking hilarious it would've been if AJ/Officer Exposition said the wrong name in this scene?

Somewhat off-topic, but I love the nonsensical police names they come up with. Officer Exposition is currently high in my rankings, but nothing's ever gonna beat Doohickey for giving Luke my current favorite insulting nickname to call people

Ah yes, 'tidilly-dee' the universal onomatopoeia for two school children running around

Imagining two 7 year olds walking into a bar, climbing onto the bar stools to order some alcohol, and the bartender just looks at them for a second before deciding 'fuck it I'm not paid enough anyway' and serves them

"I've been in discussions with the Czech-onon-vla-slovakians" The who?

"The French and the Czechoslovakians are really good at striking. Put those two together and no one will get any work done again. Because France is famous for strikes and Czechoslovakia I don't think exists anymore" I didn't know my geography and had to google it to be sure, but nope it definitely doesn't exist anymore, good job AJ

Love that it became a rule for all the characters to have names that also rhyme with Jerry and Terry

"Oui. I am sexy" Once again, we know Tom. You remind us in every play you're in

"You take a roasted pig, you butter it up, haha!" Yeah. Yeah alright, I'm sure that phrase exists somewhere. Probably not Czechoslovakia-

I genuinely forgot they were at a bar and for a split second I thought Harry just stepped into the bartender's pants Tony/Meth Wife style

"I'll just check with Officer Exposition" I wish they got a chance to use that joke more, that's good shit

"Ahh, A stand-off" *facepalms* "Ugh the other one had half a brain" I've said it before, but the boys taking a chance to call AJ stupid while in character will never not be funny

Okay but actually, the mistake of Tom/Larry getting shot turning into Terry having people on the inside was pretty good- Love when AJ gets to salvage a scene instead of fuck shit up lmao

"I was a rich and deep character!" Then they proceeded to ignore his please for help smh #larrydeservedbetter

You were the only one that could never get in my long johns" Is. Is this an innuendo- "As much as I tried, even when we were little kids" AJ WAIT-

"Now you do this by the book-" "AAaeEEhhH!" I don't think that's gonna hold up in a court of law, Constable

"Why don't you keep the law out of it then?" If I've been keeping up, sir, you are the law so I don't think that's an option

"He's killed 5 of our men, 6 if you include Larry from this morning!" #JUSTICEFORLARRY OFC WE'RE COUNTING HIM

"Alright, what if I make a promise, but wink at you" Bro really wants to beat the shit out of Terry

"Pinky swear.. The most sacred bond a Met officer can do" Damn right

Did Luke intentionally choose a name similar to his own or did he just say 'DI Mannering' without thinking-

"Do I make you nervous?" "I'm pissing my fucking pants" "Jesus, no need to be weird about it" How many times have you spit in Sam's face and/or mouth you hypocritical fuck (/lh)

Putting gibberish into Google Maps just to make sure the long johns aren't in a place called 'bahbababahbah'

"You know where I'm gonna hit so hard? Your heart" Made me briefly question whether AJ was about to turn this into a gay love story and come full circle from that bit in the beginning

Hey this was Sam's first 'What a twist!'

Another visualization I'd love to see is gradeschool Terry chasing Jerry and Mannering around with a pair of long johns

HE FUCKING BROKE THE PINKY SWEAR, THE MOST SACRED BOND A MET OFFICER CAN DO

And AJ saying "Do it" like he always does was funny too

Terry: "Any officer who loses control in the interrogation room is immediately relieved of their duty" The Actual Cop: "what..?"

"Actually you have two choices" No no, you were right the first time. he has one choice, PUT ON SOME FUCKING PANTS MANNERING

"I can feel it now, the power of the long john" Apparently the power of the long john is turning its wearer French

"Dark ending" "I'm happy with it though" Ending off with deja vu from the Meringue Haberdashery

Final Thoughts: Honestly the only final thought I have is that the man had no reason to be pantsless that whole time, that is not okay-

[phoenotopia]

Star Iliad DevLog # 02: The Importance of Pacing

When it comes to making commercial video games, let's just say it's not our first rodeo 😎

(It's our second)

Steam automatically compiles various play data from gamers. From Phoenotopia, I know that we have a roughly even split of keyboard users and gamepad users. From achievements, I can tell which bosses were defeated and how far the player got (although our implementation of achievements requires the user manually unlock it, so it's less useful data). Today, I want to focus on one specific data point—the median playtime for Phoenotopia.

Unfortunately, the median playtime clocks in at 4 hours.

I think that's right when the player reaches Atai.

(Atai - the death place of so many playthroughs)

A working theory has been forming:

Atai is the first real "slog" where players are stuck in one place for a long time. It’s a big town with 70+ NPCs to chat with. It’s easy to get lost, feel like you're not making progress, and then tap out.

Two major quest lines must be completed before reaching the second dungeon: getting the bombs and getting the flute.

Get BOMBS

Meet Lisa and learn of her plight

Find the bomb maker’s house—it's locked.

Tell Lisa you need to unlock a door.

Lisa refers you to Garnet, who gives you a “watch the kids” quest.

Play hide-and-seek with the kids.

Comb through the entire town looking for the kids

Go to the bomb maker's house and claim bombs

Get FLUTE

Meet Lisa and learn of her plight

Find the jailed Ouroboros man—he wants wine.

Go to the tavern—no ID, no wine.

Talk with Lisa and get her ID

Dye your hair to look like Lisa

Buy wine with fake ID

Go to the Ouroboros bandit and exchange it for the flute

Phew. Looking back, that is a LOT. And we don't even have a quest tracker >_>

I love romping through towns and chatting with NPCs—it’s my favorite part of JRPGs (the genre I’d be making if I weren’t making this). But maybe I let that influence the design a bit too much 🤔

During these quests, there’s very little action—unless players explore optional caves (which don’t quite scratch the itch). So after 1-2 hours of town questing, many players drop off. That’s why so many runs end at 4 hours. That's my theory anyway.

That brings us to today’s blog topic: PACING

Long story sequences should generally be avoided—it's a sign of poor pacing. If a long sequence can’t be trimmed down, it should at least be broken up with action. Think of it like making a burger—it needs balance.

(Atai is like the burger on the left—only meaty "story" sequences. A well-paced game is like the burger on the right — it utilizes crucial tomato and lettuce "action" set pieces to mix things up)

Now, one of our new core design goals for Star Iliad is that if you take any 90 minute slice of gameplay from anywhere in the game's campaign, you’ll experience all of the following:

Exploration

Combat

Puzzles

Boss Fight

New Upgrade

Story Progression

That's the core "game loop". Of course, to stay balanced presents its own challenges because we can only control so much. Players set their own pace, and some will inevitably get lost. As designers, we can mitigate this by packing the game with so much content that there's always something new around the corner - make getting lost fun!

(It's going to be a lot of work though...)

It does raise some challenging design questions. For example, how can you deliver "story" sequences when you're deep in the whale's intestines, far away from town?

Our answer is to employ something akin to Metal Gear Solid's codec calls. It's the future and people have "cell phones" (or holographic communicators in our case). You can call NPCs and they can call you (Players can also ignore calls if they'd prefer less story)

To conclude —pacing is important! No more hour+ long story sequences! Excepting a couple scenarios - say at a crucial turning point in the game. Long exposition dumps need to be earned. Pacing is something we’re going to be vigilant about through all of development.

(Steve Ballmer understands how important Pacing is)

Thanks for reading!

(Next update will be in two months, at May’s end)

[rin-and-jade]

Torn Apart or Stitched Back: A Guide on Identifying Splits and Fuses

Halved, merged, halved again, and merged again.. a never ending sequence of our system life. Will it ever stop?--Sadly no, as it is a natural process of our adaptation.

But can we atleast know how to identify, be able to anticipate the first signs, and know what to do accordingly? Yes! We do, and being educated will make a huge difference on how you'd handle a situation, for example, like today's topic.

This is what the guide is all about: Making your life a little bit easier.

TLDR FAST PASS: AVAILABLE!

Can you recap us first?

So you've caught the drill!

In general context, a split means: "to (cause to) divide into two or more parts" - Cambridge Dictionary

And, in general context, a fuse means: "join or blend to form a single entity" - Oxford

In system context, this would be to a more specific split/fuse when it comes to identity, memories, and feelings. As to how dissociative disorder works, sometimes, other things can be compartmentalized, such as senses or physical pain, that can be split apart or fused.

Dissociation and integration are the main players in this topic, these two will be used to explain everything related about splits and fuses!

Why does this happen?

Both splitting and fusing actually serve a very important role in how we adapt and navigate certain situations.

This is to how splits can be a great shortcut to disconnect and detach from overwhelming elements in order to continue and stay functional within the current stressful moment. Although, splitting do have their own cons too,, and usually cause some problems--though some alters got split for the better, containing painful experiences within fragments in a way that it would not disturb daily functioning,, until the right moments to assess them arrives. They're not meant to be floating around and waiting, you know?

When a split happens, it is better to counter it with a fuse, because when you are too fragmented, this often leads to a small scope of awareness, or harder time accessing knowledge, or separated qualities that hinders performing a skill that requires multiple aspects of experience. Fusing can be very beneficial and is a natural process when it comes to healing--because it is all about integrating and demolishing the walls of dissociation.

If you fuse, you will be able to combine and utilize various knowledge that was once compartmentalized, creating a more flexible and creative way to navigate life. I will help you with this, too.

Ah.. How does it work though?

Splits? oh, actually;

This process exists outside of system context too, its where you detach and intentionally deny or separate your experiences, in order to keep our identity going and update our sense of time, or memories, or situations that happened is by accepting them and consider them as a part you have went through.

If you do not accept and deny that you went through, or experience such,, this detachment would be strong to create something equivalent to a fragment (for us, system) which holds and identifies with the things you denied at the first place.

Remember, your body records everything, splitting doesn't mean you fully eradicate the painful elements or memories. You only create distance between it, but it isn't going anywhere.

Fuse is basically about undoing all these walls of dissociation, it would be understanding, as if its on a telepathic level, or closest to like a best friend,, where you can integrate these different views to conclude a singular answer. Who says you're gone or mashed up into something different? Fusing is just the same as how you'd treat your best friend, appreciating those different pov and insights, but not let it blindly take the wheel without your cooperation!

To the main topic of the post:

Now that you've been told the basics and the mechanics, it is more than enough to start identifying, taking action, and handle an aftermath!

All about splits!

When it attacks you: - Often, in times of stress - Moments of denial - Periods where specific qualities needed got separated to maintain functionality, solving a situation.

These are the 3 main circumstances that creates a higher chance to split. There's more, though it happens seldom. --

Signs of pre-splits: - Noticeable mood swings - Stabbing head pains - More disoriented than usual - Becoming more forgetful - Think in 2 (or more) opposite views back and forth--unable to integrate as one conclusion

Sometimes, a split can cause severe headaches or pain around other areas. Splits are often companied by an increased amount of dissociation or brainfog which can be very uncomfortable and disruptive. --

What to do when a split happens: 1. Gather intel and find the cause of a split 2. Understand and accept the new split alter/frag They're oftentimes scared/confused/emotional, tend to them. If they are not, explain or ask what had happened 3. Identify what the split part holds 4. depending from number 3, you can: let the split exist and complete a certain task / learn to re-integrate back / heal it's hurt and address it's problems --

Ways to prevent a pre-split from completing: - Accept and feel your feelings--do not push them away - Trust yourself you can make it through, practice stress control - Understand and acknowledge every facets you have, do not deny - Assure yourself you want to keep these memories and experiences integrated, that your brain doesn't have to detach it for you

These tips above will lessen the chance of your stress and friction causing your brain to split a part of yourself into a new alter/fragment. --

How a split can manifest: - Creates a new alter/fragment This is when the part who is stressed intends to separate a quality, or a painful element out from its awareness. - Creates a subsystem This is when the part cannot fully detach a quality as it still retains a cohesive sense of connection, rather creating a less dissociative result of only detaching facets. Though still a part of the alter.

and - Amnesia-present split This is when the split was intended to create a barrier between memories, or other qualities it deems needed to be compartmentalized. Usually this type creates EPs - Amnesia-absent split This is when the split was intended for integration issues--though not done out of a need to separate or compartmentalize a quality. Usually this type create ANPs

All about fuse!

When it does the magic: - Bonding with other alters, understanding their views and emotions (Lvl 1) - Doing activities together, co-fronting together and have a seamless experience (Lvl 2) - Perceive them as a part of you and your identity, both still feel separately yet one (Pre-fuse)

When it comes to fuse, different levels of integration can be noticed, everything exists in a continuum ofcourse, just like how you can find different kinds of parts such as shards, fragments, and alters!

Detecting levels of Integration:

Level one: lowest form of integration, dissociative barriers still stands tall, but you are starting to learn and hear more insights and pov outside of your own. You can also start to recognize which alter who you are talking to without fail.

level two: Moderately getting there, you start to understand and feel other part's favorite activities and foods--and start to find joy and like them too! Thoughts and feelings flow much better, and you can vaguely understand what the others are feeling intuitively.

Pre-fuse/functional multiplicity: You can understand the in-and-out of a part or multiple, as in, you can understand why they feel, or do something. Oftentimes leaks of behavior, likes and dislikes, or thoughts got into you,, being a sign of achieving the lowest dissociation barrier. You still can choose to be multiple, but this is an effective moment to prune some member count or pursuing final fusion.

What to do when a fuse happen: - Integrate by accepting these aspects to further solidify and steady your new, fused self - Explore how you feel, learn to navigate your life again in a new state - Accept that fuse is part of a natural process, to lessen the chances of splitting (yes, you can split-relapse)

Sometimes, fuse is not as seamless either, it would take some time and practice in order to be one without popping off accidentally. If it doesn't work first time, don't worry! Keep practicing.

Takeaway: A Paper, Scissor, and Glue

So basically, your brain has a habit to snip up these paper to pieces, its up to you to let these pieces live or glue it back together,, there are no right or wrong ways to function!

May this guide, and the rest of the unplanned bonuses written along the way, be able to prepare you to when the next scissors will be picked up, and how to protect your integrity of the paper--or glue it back. Go attempt to freestyle. If you want my devious advice, it would be glueing the scissors, slam shut. All your problems would disappear aint it?

Happy paper-crafting, ciao.

--

TLDR SECTION

General Definitions

Split: To divide into parts (identity, memories, feelings).

Fuse: To join parts into a single entity (integrate dissociated parts).

Why Splits and Fuses Happen

Splits: A mechanism to handle overwhelming situations, detaching parts to maintain functionality.

Fuses: Integrating split parts to reduce fragmentation, enhancing awareness and skills.

Identifying Splits

Triggers: Stress, denial, need to separate qualities for functionality.

Pre-Split Signs: Mood swings, head pains, disorientation, forgetfulness, conflicting thoughts.

Handling Splits

Identify the cause.

Accept and support the new split part.

Determine what the split part holds.

Decide to let it complete a task, reintegrate, or heal.

Preventing Splits

Accept and process emotions.

Trust in handling stress.

Recognize and integrate all facets of yourself.

Reassure yourself to keep memories and experiences integrated.

Manifestations of Splits

New alter/fragment

Subsystem

Amnesia-present split (creates barriers for memories)

Amnesia-absent split (for integration issues)

Identifying Fuses

Levels of Integration:

Hearing and understanding other parts.

Enjoying activities and foods together, intuitive understanding.

Pre-fuse: Feeling as part of one identity with minimal barriers.

Handling Fuses

Accept and solidify the new fused self.

Explore feelings and navigate life anew.

Practice and embrace the process.

- j

[generalluxun]

thoughts on sabrina’s new design?

okay, split answer!

I think her super design is brilliant! I love her transformation sequence. I love that she does hacky sack with her ball (a headcanon of mine confirmed!) It's cute from top to bottom. It also exudes a kind of spunky energy I feel works for Sabrina (She's a hugger, did you notice? She pounce hugged Marinette from behind in this episode! *Marinette*! Physically affectionate Sabrina headcanon confirmed!)

Her new Civilian look ... eeeeeehhh... It's so similar to her old, but feels like a downgrade. She's not the only one who suffers this but you asked about her ^^

Cutting her hair... okay fine, but why does it look like she forgot how to comb and care for it? She's got random bits sticking out in directions. She never had that before, and her hair isn't inherently curly or wavy. We have her old look in S6 animation to compare and it looks like she straight up stopped conditioning?

To make matters worse- She still has her old haircut when she's in Superform! So like... why?

New glasses and... I think I like the darker full frames more. They seem t think half frames=future since Nathalie gets some too now. I don't hate them or anything just... a change for change sake.

Her top is fine, its not much of a change. Her bow is less pronounced. She's got that gold thingy now.

Why is she wearing BELL BOTTOMS? Is this a thing in France? Nothing about the rest of her outfit seems to go with it. I don't get it.

Taken all together It feels like she raided my (now deceased) grandmother's closet for her new look and I don't understand it.

Maybe it'll grow on me?

I think it would have been easier if we didn't have her old look in the new animation (which was FIRE) to compare it to.

I don't hate the new animation style- Let me be clear on that. There are definitely good looks in it.

[mister-qi]

Mr. Qi Friendship and Romance Mod: 4/19 Progress Update

It's a working title, I'm trying to come up with something less wordy that still will pop up in Nexus searches.

I wanted to be able to track my progress, mainly for myself, but if you're curious, this is the state of the mod right now:

Writing:

Heart Events - the 2 heart event is fully written (with blocking directions), and the 6, 8, and 10 heart events are outlined. The 4 heart cutscene currently has me a bit stumped; I have ideas, but nothing concrete yet. I definitely now understand why Sam's 4 heart cutscene is him dropping an egg. 14 hearts is on the back-burner as a little treat to myself once I get further into things.

Generic Daily Dialogues - about 1/3 done, probably the highest priority for writing. I'm leaving his vanilla casino dialogue as the two heart dialogue, and the vanilla Walnut Room dialogue as his four heart dialogue, with a few small changes. And, since it's me, I have more marriage dialogue written than anything else...

Day-Specific Dialogues - very few written, lower priority. Hoping to have a lot of these made eventually, and I have plenty of ideas, but they aren't necessary for the core of the mod so they're on the back-burner for now.

Gift Dialogues - all 5 generic gift response dialogues are written, with an additional 22 dialogue lines for specific items/groups of items. I'm also up to around item 530 in figuring out what item corresponds to which dialogue/whether or not he likes it. Certain item groups, like cooked food, still need more lines, however. This is definitely something that should be low priority, but also something I'm really enjoying working on. Some personal favorites so far are-

[if given a fish (hated)]: "Eugh, it's all slimy..."

[if given a legendary fish (disliked)]: "If you must give me one of the rarest fish in the valley, can you at least wrap it so I don't have to touch it with my bare hands?"

And I think that's pretty funny.

Art

Portraits - 3 new portraits finished: "deep frown" "glint" and "glasses-less". I'll probably be messing with "glasses-less" for a looong while; it's first shown at a dramatic moment so it needs to look good. Blushing portraits are next on the docket.

Here's "glint" btw, with a background thrown on so I can have a custom icon. You know I gotta make him do the anime glasses thing a few times.

Sprites - no progress yet. Walk cycle is up next after I finish the blushing portraits. Did you know he doesn't have a walk cycle at all? [1.6 spoilers] in the cheated Summit cutscene where he attacks(?) you, he literally just slides at you very fast. Anyways, I may also change his map sprite a bit as well, since it was drawn to match his old portrait and doesn't actually have the same color scheme as his sprites. Note to self: is it possible to make the sparkles on his outfit prismatic?

Maps - no progress yet. The 6 heart and 10 heart cutscenes both require custom maps, with the 6 heart one being a fully custom asset. 10 heart recycles some existing assets but will still need some custom stuff done as well.

Misc Sprites - in my head, there's a dream version of the 8 heart cutscene that has so, so many unique sprites. Like an incredible amount of stuff. I think it'll kick ass, but also that sequence could be done with a few lines of text. So, for now, it's low priority. But maybe in a few months I'll put out a request for help.

Implementation

Not totally sure how to split this into sections yet, as I'm very much still in the preliminary stages so far. To say that I'm feeling overwhelmed is an understatement; documentation on the wiki swings wildly between "an asset is a file in a video game" and "this is an advanced tutorial. Read these 4 other pages first before continuing."

I've started using Ms. Coriel's NPC Creator which has been good for setting up the basic file structure, but ultimately doesn't cover some of the more complex stuff I want to do. EDIT: Turns out it's completely outdated for 1.6! Had to throw out a bit of work, but I still learned from it so it's fiiine.

I think setting up his "schedule" will be a challenge, in that I don't actually want him to have a real schedule like most NPCs. Not to pull back the curtain too much here, but I want him to "exist" in both the Casino and the Walnut Room simultaneously, which is to say, he does not exist in two places at once in the narrative, just in the code. This will change after marriage, however.

My next goal is to set up placeholder cutscenes for each of the heart events, and then to implement the generic daily dialogues once those are finished.

Final Notes

God, this will be a work in progress for a while, but I'm enjoying it! Definitely enjoying the writing more than anything else, but hey, that's how it be. I've got around 70 lines of dialogue written, a bit of art done, and I've started learning how to actually get stuff in game. I've always been more of a designer than a coder, but it's getting there!

ADDITIONALLY I've decided that if I abandon this project for more than 8 months, anyone is welcome to request my work so far and use it for their own mod. If this blog hasn't posted in a long while, feel free to send me an ask or message! I may say no, however.

Ultimately, I want this mod to exist in some fashion. While there is an existing one, I have a pretty different take on the character and I want to share it with you all! Every line of dialogue, every heart event, every little detail needs to share something interesting about a character and their world. Yet, Mr. Qi is a mysterious guy, and I think some things should be left up to player interpretation. And I think it's crucial to be able to match his tone and voice to the vanilla game, while also expanding on his characterization. It's a fun challenge to write, and I hope the finished product, uh, well I hope it gets finished mostly, but I think it'll be pretty good.

Thanks for reading all this. This is largely just a stream of consciousness for myself, but I hope it's...interesting, or something?

[tlbodine]

Overthinking: Night of the Living Dummy III

Night of the Living Dummy III is Goosebumps #40, and the third and final Dummy book in the original series. After the last two books, this one felt like a pleasant return to form, with writing and storytelling that felt a bit more classic Stine even if the plot itself feels like a bit of a rehash of earlier dummy books. There's enough different to it to make it feel distinctive, though...

First, the Plot: Trina and her brother Dan like to joke around and spend time with their dad's old dummy collection. Their dad is a talented ventriloquist but a lousy comedian, which is why he eventually got out of performing and opened up a camera shop instead -- but he still stores the dummies up in the attic, his so-called museum. His newest acquisition came from the trash, where he was found with a split-open head, but that's nothing some wood glue can't fix.

For spring break, some family is visiting, including cousin Zane, a scaredy-cat who they successfully convinced last time that the house was haunted. They've been warned not to scare him this time. Unfortunately, as soon as Zane arrives, all sorts of weird stuff starts happening, the usual dummies-in-unusual-places, stuff-going-missing, stuff-getting-destroyed type mischief. The siblings get in trouble and are warned if they keep it up, they'll be grounded and miss camp this summer, even though they insist they're innocent.

Desperate to figure out what's going on, they hold a stake-out in the attic and discover that the culprit is Zane himself, who's been staging everything to get them in trouble as revenge for last time. They agree to a truce and call off pranks on both sides. But weird stuff keeps happening, escalating now to a pretty ugly pitch, and still nobody will believe the kids that they're innocent.

This calls for another stake-out, and this time they catch the culprit. It is, of course, Slappy, head newly repaired, and he wants them to do his bidding. They try to dump him down a well, but it doesn't work. They try to put him back to sleep with the words that woke him up, but still no dice. However, all the rest of the dummy collection do rise up and subdue Slappy.

The terror is ended! Or is it? As a parting gift, Trina gives Slappy to Zane to take home. Slappy winks at her on the way out the door.

Overthinking It: The dummy books are all rooted in themes of gaslighting and the isolation of going through something that nobody will believe you about, the frightening unfairness of being accused of something you didn't do. But they're made distinct by the character conflict at the heart of each story. Weirdly, the Dummy books are some of the most human of Stine's stories, and some of the better character studies.

The first two books deal a lot with sibling rivalry. The first book's horror comes more from the cringe and secondhand embarrassment; the second leans even harder into gaslighting and questioning your own sanity. This third installment does something interesting by giving us a three-way intrigue. At various points, Trina suspects her brother Dan, but the two of them also ally against Zane. There's a real sense of cat-and-mouse and some who-can-I-trust paranoia that still manages to mostly work even when you know from experience the game that Slappy is playing.

The sequence where the dummies rise up and brutalize Slappy is memorably vicious. The worst of the dummy-on-dummy violence is offscreened, but you can pretty clearly imagine them basically attempting to rip him apart. It's kind of shockingly gruesome, and also the only real scare in the book after a hundred plus pages of mounting paranoia and uncertainty.

I'm glad this is the last of the Dummy books because there isn't much more for them to do at this point, I think, but I'll kind of miss them at the same time.

If You Liked This, THESE Will Really Give You Goosebumps:

The dummies coming to life and attacking was, for me, very reminiscent of the haunting climax to Freaks, which you should also just watch in general because it is excellent 1930s cinema.

As always, any of the Child's Play movies work well here. I also think you might enjoy The Perfect Host, which strikes a similar balance of paranoia and twisty-turny delights in a story about a dinner party gone very wrong. Just...read the book, watch the movie, and tell me if you think I'm crazy pairing them off.

[moon-ursidae]

TLOU SEASON 2 EPISODE 2 LIVE WATCH

spoilers for both games (tlou part i and part ii) and season 1 of the show below the cut!

guys… i’m so fucking scared. it’s happening tonight i fear..

they’re gonna take my man on easter sunday AND 4/20….

got my huge ass water bottle FULL because i know i’m gonna cry

ANYWAY: HERE WE GO!!

-over an hour episode!

-guys.

-starting with abby finding her dad???

-OHHHHHH FUCK.

-YEA WE ARE

-OH SHIT?? IT’S DIFFERENT??

-older abby to younger abby????

-THE CRYING IN THE DISTANCE??

-WAKING UP IN THE LODGE OH FUCK YEA IT’S HAPPENING THIS EPISODE.

-kaitlyn dever is sooo good already

-abby being cold but grabbing something for owen to warm him up even though he’s wearing a coat? showing that relationship already? i like it

-THE GOLF CLUBS IN THE BACKGROUND FUCK OFF

-oh god. this is when she peels off from everyone and goes for joel..

-the plan is to convince her to go back?? good idea owen!

-OHHHHHHHH FUCK JESSE WAKING UP ELLIE FOR PATROL

-SHE’S WEARING THE GRAY HOODIE

-DIALOGUE FROM THE GAME YIPPIE

-GONNA DO MY PATROL WITH JOEL

-WE’RE BETTER NOW???

-SO THEY ARE SAVING THAT SCENE

-NOTHING’S EVER GONNA CHANGE THAT EVER😭😭😭😭

-LIKE FUCKING DADDY-DAUGHTER DAY😭😭

-JOEL WANTED TO GO WITH ELLIE BUT WANTED TO LET ELLIE SLEEP😭😭

-HE’S OUT WITH DINA INSTEAD OF TOMMY OH GOOOODDDDDDDD

-I’M ALREADY TEARING UP

-GOD

-preparing town for the infected i’m so scared…

-aw tommy’s so good with kids😭

-please tell me it’s bigot sandwiches

-lemme hear it

-IS SHE NOT GONNA SAY IT????

-man..

-GODDAMN ABBY HAS H I K E D

-NO YOU DIDN’T HEAR HORSES ABBY

-call the patrols back… one won’t make it..

-i’m so scared dude.

-this whole episode feels so fucking tense

-EUGENE’S HIDEOUT

-ELLIE’S FACE WHEN HE MENTIONED EUGENE??? she has to know what Joel did dude

-found his firefly pendant…

-oh so everyone knows Joel did that??

-did he get bit? he couldn’t be saved? ellie’s reaction to that?? definitely bit bro

-WHO IS ABBY TRAILING????

-WHO THE FUCK IS ABBY TRAILING???

-fuck i think it’s joel and dina..

-FROZEN INFECTED SEQUENCE FROM THE GAME

-this is fuckin spooky

-OHHHHHHHHHH IT’S MOVING THEY’RE MOVING THE GROUND’S MOVING

-ohhhhhhh my god. there’s so fucking many….

-that’s fucking horrifying oh my god

-OH NO THE FENCE PART OH CHRIST

-are they about to fucking world war z up that wall…

-OH FUCK SHE’S CRAWLING THROUGH THE FENCE

-THIS IS HORRIFYING

-OH MY GOD HE SAVED HER LIKE THE GAME

-THAT WAS LIKE SHOT FOR SHOT

-SHOWING THE WATCH OHHHH MY GOD

-JOEL MY SHAYLA😭😭

-DINA. WHY. WHY DID YOU SAY HIS NAME😭😭😭

-THE LODGE….

-I’M GONNA SCREAM AND CRY

-EXCEPT JOEL AND DINA… TOMMY’S FACE….

-TOMMY’S SO SCARED

-ellie wearing the gas mask haha

-i’m scared.

-i’m still scared.

-HAVEN’T HEARD FROM JOEL OR DINA😭😭

-WHY ARE THEY STILL WORKING ON THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW????

-SHIMMER’S STILL EATING ELLIE LMAO

-AAUUUUGGGHHHHHHH THEY’RE SPLITTING UP TO FIND THEM

-FUCK.

-OH FUCK THE CORDYCEPS ALERTING IN JACKSON FUCK

-THEY’RE ALL TURNING TO GO TO JACKSON….

-SO TOMMY CAN’T GO OUT TO GET JOEL…

-OH FUCK.

-THIS IS SO SCARY

-JACKSON MY SHAYLA😭😭

-I’M GONNA CRY

-EVERYONE HUNKERING DOWN I’M SO SCARED

-FLAMETHROWERS

-THIS FEELS LIKE GAME OF THRONES WHEN THE WILDLINGS AND WHITE WALKERS ATTACKED CASTLE BLACK

-TOMMY MY GOAT YOU’RE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE

-THIS IS SO FUCKING INTENSE

-ARE THEY GONNA WORLD WAR Z UP THE FUCKING WALL

-DO NOT CUT TO JOEL RIGHT NOW.

-JOEL IS SO SCARED HE WANTS TO GO TO JACKSON SO BAD BC HE KNOWS EVERYONE HE LOVES IS IN THERE EXCEPT ELLIE

-BLOATER ROAR??? DID I HEAR THAT SHIT???

-YES I FUCKING DID.

-TOMMY RUN MY GOAT RUN

-OH MY GOD THIS IS INSANE.

-OH MY GOD.

-THEY’RE ON THE ROOFS?

-OH FUCK NOW SHIT’S GONNA CATCH FIRE

-BLOATER SPOTTING MARIA

-TOMMY PANICKING

-LURING IT??? OHHHH MAY THIS LOVE FIND ME

-MARIA MY GOAT

-PLEASE LIVE.

-FUCK TOMMY’S CORNERED.

-TOMMY MY GOAT

-ONE ON ONE WITH A BLOATER.

-MY GOAT.

-TOMMY NOW IT’S WEAKENED THAT’S WHEN YOU SHOOT TOMMY

-TOMMY SHOOT THE DAMN THING.

-OH IT DIED THANK GOD.

-TOMMY MILLER MY GOAT.

-HE’S GONNA WREAK HELL ON SEATTLE LATER MY GOAT

-DO NOT SHOW ME DOGS GETTING RIPPED APART BY INFECTED I’LL SCREAM AND CRY

-NO NOT THE LODGE. NOT THE LODGE PLEASE.

-NO NO NO NO NO

-PLEASE.

-JOEL GRABBING ONTO DINA AND HELPING HER IMMEDIATELY

-DINA SPOTTING THE WLF PATCHES MY GOAT

-NO. NO NO NO NO.

-NONONONONONONONONO

-I’M GONNA BE FUCKING SICK.

-PUTTING DINA OUT. THE GUILT SHE’S GONNA FEEL.

-OH FUCK.

-SHOT HIS LEG. OH FUCK. OHHH FUCK.

-HIM SCREAMING I CAN’T.

-HER TELLING HIM THAT WAS HER DAD???

-KAITLYN DEVER IS PHENOMENAL.

-NOT THE CLUBS NO NO NO.

-MY SHAYLA ON THE FLOOR HOLDING HIS LEG😭😭

-SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DO IT ALREADY????

-YOU STUPID OLD MAN. YOU DON’T GET TO RUSH THIS. AUUUUGGGHHHHHH

-FUCK HIS SCREAMING????? HIS SCREAMING???!!!!!!!

-I’M KILLING MYSELF LATER WHAT THE FUCK

-OH ELLIE MY SHAYLA😭

-THE CLOSE UP OF HIS FACE???

-HER RAGE????

-OHHHH MY GOD.

-MEL SOBBING ME TOO GIRL

-OH FUCK ELLIE PLEASE

-FAINT SHOUTING OH MY GOD

-OH FUCK.

-JOEL FUCKING GET UP😭

-HE’S TRYING SO HARD TO GET UP

-BROKEN GOLF CLUB STAB TO THE NECK???

-JUST LEAVING IMMEDIATELY????

-ELLIE CRAWLING TO HIM????

-LAYING WITH HIM????

-i’m sobbing. i feel sick. i feel fucking sick. i’m crying genuinely. her fucking fingers interlaced with his.

-ASHLEY JOHNSON????? THROUGH THE VALLEY????

-ashley johnson please save me.

-tommy doesn’t fucking know.

-ELLIE😭

-DRAGGING JOEL BACK😭😭😭😭

-THAT’S HOW THE EPISODE ENDS????

-NO TOMMY FINDING OUT YET???

-they fucking killed my man on easter sunday. they fucking killed my man on 4/20.

-i still have a fucking essay to revise.

-COMING EPISODES:

-THE WALKTHROUGH OF HIS FUCKING HOUSE

-THE BOX WITH HIS WATCH

-THE JACKET

-THE HEADSTONE

-ELLIE SCREAMING

-BEHIND THE EPISODE AAAUUUUGGGHHHH:

-CRAIG MAZIN SHUT THE HELL UP I’M STILL CRYING

-abby’s a force of nature, not to be stopped. i like how they keep reinterating that abby is literally just like ellie

-god. i just needed to like sit for a minute and take that in. how pedro said that everyone was looking at him with heartbreak as he walked onto set in the makeup

-god.

-that was somehow worse than the game.

-i think it was because how ellie literally CRAWLED. DRUG HERSELF OVER TO HIM. AND LAY ALMOST ON TOP OF HIM.

-and hearing him fucking SCREAMING oh my god that’s gonna fucking haunt me.

-i can’t. i can’t i’m fuckin- oh my god

see ya’ll next week i need to go cry.

[mjonthetrack]

**disc: this fic contains graphic material such as rape,assault,homicide,explicit language,etc. It is a work of fiction based on the show Criminal Minds, It will be an alternate universe meaning it will NOT follow the time sequence or character plots exact to the show. I do not own these characters aside from my own oc and do not own the images used.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Devil at the Door

Quantico – BAU Headquarters, 3:43 PM

The day started like any other.

A new case file sat unopened on the round table. Garcia had just cracked a joke that made JJ roll her eyes. Reid had a coffee in hand but hadn’t taken a sip. Hunter hadn’t arrived yet. She’d texted she was stopping by her old apartment to grab a few things before coming in.

Morgan was about to call her when the security alert hit.

Red Level Breach. Armed Intruder.

The sound blared through the halls.

Hotch snapped to attention.

“Lock down the floor. Find out who the hell got past security.”

Before Garcia could get to the mainframe, the feed cut. Static.

And then, he walked in.

Eli.

Dressed like he still belonged in special ops—black tactical gear, body armor, and cold, clinical rage in his eyes.

He had a gun in one hand.

And his other hand gripped Hunter.

Her face was bloodied, lip split. One arm pinned behind her back.

Reid’s body went rigid.

Morgan rose without hesitation, taking a step forward until Eli cocked the gun.

“Ah-ah. Not this time,” Eli hissed. “You move, I shoot. You think I don’t know your tactics, Morgan? Please.”

Hunter's voice was low, but calm.

“Let me go, Eli.”

He laughed, almost breathlessly.

“You ran. You bled. You begged. You think I’m gonna let you disappear into this little family of saviors and suits?”

Garcia’s hands hovered over the keyboard at her station, trying not to breathe too loud.

Reid stepped forward. His voice was thin but firm.

“You don’t want this to end here. Not like this.”

Eli’s eyes slid over to him.

“You. Wonder Boy. You think you understand her? You think she wants someone like you?”

Reid flinched. But didn’t stop.

“This isn’t about me. This is about control. And fear. And the fact that she finally walked away from you—and you couldn’t take it.”

Eli’s jaw twitched.

“She’s mine.”

“No,” Reid said, voice shaking now. “She never was.”

Then Hunter moved.

One second, she was still. The next, her elbow slammed into Eli’s ribs. He grunted, doubled forward.

The gun fired—once—

Everyone ducked.

And when they looked up, Hunter had the gun.

Eli was on the floor, gasping, blood blooming from his shoulder.

Morgan rushed forward, kicking the weapon away.

“You okay, Hot Shot?”

—————

Chapter Twenty-Five: What’s Left Behind

Hours Later – Interrogation Room

Eli sat cuffed to the table, silent. Bloody. Defeated.

Rossi watched him through the glass.

“Monsters always end up in cages.”

“And sometimes, it’s someone you once called brother,” Morgan said quietly.

———

Back in the Break Room

Hunter sat alone, wrapping her knuckles. They’d split open when she disarmed him.

Reid entered quietly, holding something wrapped in a napkin—ice and a bit of honey.

“It’s for your lip,” he said.

She took it, brushing her fingers against his.

“Thanks, Doctor.”

He lingered.

“You were incredible today.”

“I was terrified,” she admitted.

He looked at her, really looked.

“So was I.”

A beat.

“You don’t have to pretend anymore,” he said.

“Pretend what?”

“That you're alone.”

She looked up at him—eyes tired, still unsure.

But for the first time, maybe, she believed him.

—————

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Ones Who Twist the Knife

Quantico – Two Days Later

Hunter had been ordered to stay home.

Hotch didn’t ask—he told her. Time off. A reset. A breather after disarming and nearly killing a man she once loved. A man still legally tied to her.

She didn’t argue.

She spent the first morning walking.

No music. No noise. Just her boots on the pavement and the thoughts she couldn’t stop replaying.

What hurt more: what he did… or what she allowed.

———

BAU – Interview Room A

The tension in the bullpen had been a low hum since Eli’s capture. Now it boiled beneath the surface.

“Why would he ask for Reid?” Morgan asked flatly, arms crossed as he stared at the request slip.

Garcia leaned in, whispering, “Because he’s the only one he thinks he can rattle.”

“He’s not wrong,” Prentiss added quietly, glancing toward Reid’s office.

Reid stood in the doorway, sleeve rolled halfway up, the smallest tremble in his hand.

But he nodded.

“I’ll go.”

Interview Room A – Five Minutes Later

Eli looked smug.

Stitched, bruised, but sitting straight. The room buzzed with fluorescent lights and poison.

Reid walked in with that blank face of his—the one he wore in front of unsubs and in front of grief.

Eli smiled.

“There he is. Wonder Boy.”

Reid didn’t sit. He just stared.

“You asked for me. I assume this isn’t a confession.”

Eli chuckled darkly.

“No, no. I just wanted to see the man who’s been sniffing around my fiancée.”

Reid flinched—but barely. Eli caught it.

“That’s what this is, right? You’re one of those men who just... waits. Watches. You think books and long stares get you the girl?”

Reid blinked once, still silent.

Eli leaned forward, voice low and venomous.

“While you were dreaming about her, I was fucking her.”

The air sucked out of the room.

Reid's jaw locked. His fingers twitched.

Eli smirked wider.

“You think she’d ever pick you? She likes power. Protection. You think she wants someone who hides in the back of the room solving equations?”

Reid stepped forward—just one inch—but his voice never rose.

“She wants peace. And you were the opposite of that.”

Eli leaned back, still smiling.

“She’s still mine. Ring’s still on. And when I get out, I’ll remind her what she belongs to. Maybe knock her up. Make sure she doesn’t go back to playing dress-up with you people. She’ll quit. Raise my kids. Learn to behave again.”

Reid’s breath hitched.

Then Eli whispered:

“And every time she flinched for you, every time she pulled back... it’s because she remembered the way I made her scream.”

Reid moved faster than the guards expected.

He didn’t hit him—he didn't even touch him.

But he got right to Eli’s ear and said, through clenched teeth:

“You’re wrong. About all of it. And that’s why you’re in a cage now. She chose not to die for you. She’ll never look back.”

Eli's smirk cracked, just for a second.

And Reid left the room.

———

Outside the Interview Room

Morgan was waiting. So was Rossi. Reid didn’t say a word as he walked past them.

But Garcia saw it—the redness in his eyes, the war in his chest.

“What did he say?” she asked quietly.

Reid didn’t answer.

He just whispered, “I need air.”

And left.

—————

Chapter Twenty-Seven: What They Heard

BAU – Security Room Feed

4:17 PM

When the audio crackled back on, no one noticed at first.

Then Garcia, halfway through tapping her monitor, froze mid-keystroke. Her eyes locked on the feed from Interview Room A.

The room was silent—until Eli’s voice came through.

“…every time she flinched for you, every time she pulled back... it’s because she remembered the way I made her scream.”

JJ dropped her pen.

Prentiss’s jaw clenched, hands balling at her sides.

Morgan’s voice was low, dark, nearly a growl: “Turn it off.”

But Garcia didn’t. She couldn’t.

Not until they heard Reid’s reply—sharp, shaken, and cutting in its control:

“She chose not to die for you. She’ll never look back.”

And then footsteps.

Silence.

The team sat in that silence for a long, long moment.

JJ turned to Hotch. “Are we going to pretend we didn’t hear that?”

Hotch didn’t look away from the screen. “No. We’re not.”

[cannibal-wings]

WIP Wed for You Pay the Cost.

Been a while huh? Sorry about that, I've been furiously rewriting this section. (this is my third full rewrite of this sequence). It's been gnawing at me, it wasn't quite right before. But now I think it is.

Ok, this is a bit of the Water Room/Hall section. Just a bit. The sequence is long and I don't want to share the whole thing.

Trigger warning for my namesake. Leon eats a guy. (It was bound to happen eventually)

He yanked enough control back for himself to leap back to the pillar and then across to the overlook next to him. He made short work of those archers too. His knife was just as deadly as his claws and felt better to use, like the haze was lifting slightly from his mind. His heart had stopped roaring in his ears and he felt like for just a moment, he was going to be ok. Then he heard Ashley scream and all semblance of humanity fled him in an instant.

Leon jumped from the railing and landed hard on the back of a cultist, if he didn’t die on impact the foot claw to his throat finished the job. He looked from the various cultists that were gathered around him. Reinforcements from deeper within the castle. They all brandished weapons, spiked flails and shields, long, curved scythes, and a couple daggers.

Leon ignored them all and searched for Ashley, he spotted her running along the perimeter of the room, someone was chasing her. He bellowed out another roar. It was enough to make the cultists flinch. Leon started to move, he felt different, he felt predatory, his hands weren’t reaching for the guns strapped to his back, nor the knife that was missing from its sheath.

A blade dug into his side, one of the scythes. A cultist had managed to get a hold of herself and struck him, she managed to hit a spot that was still soft, the carapace underneath his shirt hadn’t fully moved in and hardened over that spot. It was luck. The last bit of luck her life held. Leon spun on her, grabbed the blade and yanked it free from his body with a hiss. Then with another hand he grabbed the shaft of the weapon and pulled. For a second, she tried to fight back, her hands gripped her weapon instead of letting go. This got her within striking range. Leon stepped on the scythe, snapping the shaft in half and raised his own scythe like claws. She was dead before she even realized she was in danger. One claw sliced across her throat while the other spilled her guts to the floor.

Leon looked away from the gore and back to the edge of the room. He spotted Ashley, she had lifted her bolt thrower and shot at the person pursuing her. He growled low in his throat, deep, and started to stalk over to her side. But he stopped when the person went down and Ashley again ducked behind the safety of a pillar. He felt a smile break across his lips. She didn’t need him, not right now at least. That meant he had all the time in the world to finish up what he was doing.

He spun on the cultists who had started to advance. That grin only grew wider, he could feel his jaws split and his mandibles pull away from his face. Leon moved much faster now, almost too fast for his mind to catch up, instead he started to rely on instinct, and let his body move without his input. He was able to dodge another scythe, he turned out of its reach and one of his secondary arms lifted itself to block a dagger, he heard the sound of metal and sharp claw clash. He kept his momentum and jumped straight over the heads of two of the shield wielding cultists. From behind he raked his claws across their back, he could feel them snag on bone from the spinal column and he ripped.

Humans, he was quickly learning, were very, very soft. Even infected humans. They were soft and weak and so easy to play with. Now that he was stronger, now that he couldn’t be hurt easily, it was the perfect time to begin to test his own abilities. He licked his lips and swallowed. The sweetness of the water still lingered, he wanted to replace it.

A cultist with a dagger tried to stab him in the back, the blade bounced harmlessly off and Leon turned. The cultist took a step back, his eyes full of fear. Leon could see that he was fighting with himself, trying to decide if he should hold his ground or run. Leon made the choice for him. He disarmed him with a quick slash to the wrist, his claw carving straight through the man’s arm, detaching the hand completely. It fell to the floor but Leon could hardly hear it over the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears. He flared his jaws and advanced on the man. The cultist had a hand over his stump, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. He looked back at Leon and screamed.

The scream was cut short when Leon’s outer mandibles covered part of his face, neck, and shoulder as he bit down. He opened his inner set of jaws, feeling them spread wide too as he chewed through the skin and muscle. The strength in the cultist’s legs fled and he tried to drop to the ground. Leon felt the weight shift and shoved his two clawed fingers into the torso of the man to hold him up. That sickly sweet taste was finally covered up with an addicting salty wash of blood. The cultist under his jaws had died, the last weak pumps of blood faded. He had likely been choked out, either by Leon’s jaws or his own blood.

Leon didn’t mind, the body was still warm, and he was hungry. So hungry. He hadn’t realized just how so until just now. Suddenly all that mattered was filling his gut. He wondered if just one cultist was going to be enough? He had his face buried in the man and didn’t see the other cultists backing up, giving him space. He also wasn’t aware of the archers as they all took aim. If they hadn’t begun to fire upon him, there’s no telling how long Leon would have stayed and feasted.

The arrows peppered his back, and a few of them wormed their way in between his plates. Lucky shots that finally pulled his attention away from the corpse he was eating. It was the smell of singed fabric that got him to look up. The pain from the arrows he hardly felt. Leon dropped the body; it landed in a crumpled heap by his feet. A large portion of the man’s neck, shoulder, and chest were missing. Leon’s jaws dripped with red instead of black this time. He licked his lips but there was too much to clean off, it was just spread around his face. He shook his head and sent droplets flying. More arrows rained down him, he noticed several cultists picked up shields and held them up. Leon simply raised his arms while he looked for a perfect angle of attack.

While he still couldn’t reach their level in one jump, he could grab hold of a decorative banner that was strung up between two of the balconies. It held his weight as he climbed it, his claws leaving tears in the luxurious fabric. Arrows continued to zip past him. Some bounced harmlessly off of his back plates, others caught the fabric, but most missed and hit the wall in front of him. Leon ignored them, they weren’t a threat to him, not a real one, but they could hurt her and that was unacceptable.

He made his way up to the stone railing and hauled himself up and over. At close range the archers were nearly useless. They couldn’t get an accurate shot off, and Leon’s carapace deflected most of the energy in the bolts if they did hit. He growled low under his breath when one did strike him in the chest, but the tip didn’t penetrate, it didn’t even crack his shell. Leon quickly cut them both down. With a loud roar he put one leg up on the railing and looked out over the water hall. He could feel that the cultists were regretting attacking them. He saw the way they shrunk back, how they flinched when he roared.

The stone under his feet cracked as he pushed off and leapt to the next balcony. He felt invincible. He felt good. As he tore apart more archers, he wondered why he ever resisted in the first place? It was a gift and he had been foolish to squander it. He was confident he could protect her now, and forever.

Ashley kept moving along the perimeter of the room. She kept herself out of the line of fire of the archers up top, but she also got the feeling that she wasn’t their target. A loud roar reverberated through the room. She clutched her ears at the sound. It wasn’t like anything she had ever heard before; no animal came close. It was like something out of a science fiction or horror movie. One-part velociraptor screech and one-part big cat roar. After the initial roar it would taper off into a vibrating growl.

She couldn’t spot Leon, he had vanished from view, and she only hoped that whatever it was that made that sound hadn’t torn him apart. There were bodies everywhere. She could still hear the sounds of combat, they were still after something, and the couple cultists that tailed her, told her all she needed to know about the situation. It wasn’t over. Worry was starting to creep over her when another horrible growling roar overtook the chanting of the cultists. She hadn’t heard a gunshot in what felt like ages.

Ashley was moving quickly, away from the edge of the room that dropped off to the second floor. She didn’t like the idea of accidentally going over the edge. But when she rounded the corner to the other side she stopped. There was a cultist with a shield, he was backing up himself, taking cover from something. Then he spotted her and began to hurry towards her. He was speaking something in Spanish to her, that she couldn’t understand. It wasn’t chanted, it almost seemed normal. He was afraid of something and kept pointing up to the balconies above them.

“Leon?” Ashley called out and moved back. In the back of her head, she had considered the thought that it was Leon who was responsible for the state of the room. But she also reasoned that if it was him, then this level of brutality was necessary. The man was still walking towards her, he was still trying to say something to her. By this point another had joined him. This woman wasn’t trying to speak to her though, she was just interested in doing her job.

Ashley hefted her bolt thrower up, it was loaded. She had already taken someone down and retrieved her used bolt. Later she could sort through her thoughts on that action. But right now, she needed to make sure she survived long enough to make it that far. She was confident she could take out the one without the shield, but there was no way her bolts were getting through that thick wood.

Wordlessly she aimed and fired. Her first shot went high and to the side, it dug into the cultist’s arm and she howled in pain. She gripped the shaft of the arrow with one hand and started to pull. Ashley quickly readied another shot and fired. This one missed completely and she took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if she’d have time to reload, she had to make this last one count. Leon’s words ran through her head and she tried to imitate what he did, how he fired. Strong through her core, through her upper body. Don’t hold your breath, have steady arms. When the woman looked up Ashley shot. This time the bolt went straight into her chest. She dropped to the ground.

Ashley had made it to the opposite wall, she was still wary of the archers above her, but her main focus was on the man with the shield who was still moving towards her. “Leon!” She called his name hoping he could hear her over his own fighting. She would need help with this one, she knew it. Ashley dug bolts out of her bag and began to feed them into the bolt thrower. Maybe she’d talk to the Merchant next time they met about that extended magazine, because three shots were not cutting it. “Leon!” she tried calling out again, a bit of panic creeping into her voice. “Leon I need help!”

The man was too close for comfort now, she debated running straight across to the room to the other side, to put real distance between them while she figured out another plan. She was going to call Leon’s name again but as the words left her mouth something rammed into the man with the shield and pinned him against the wall.

The man had only moments to adjust the shield in a way that let him turtle up behind it, hiding all of his appendages while he sank lower to the ground. Leon snarled and began to tear at the shield with his claws, they left deep gouge marks in the wood. Ashley watched, stunned, as Leon threw himself at the shield, jaws snapping, as the man pleaded.

Leon managed to tear a hole in the shield and he shoved his hand inside to make it bigger. He wanted to be able to rip the shield in two, split it, but his hand was too large to fit inside. He growled in frustration, the motion vibrating his whole throat and chest. The strong wood of the shield was preventing him from getting his kill and he was getting beyond frustrated. He shoved his body weight against the shield, pressing the man into the wall. Then he backed off and heaved himself against the shield again, and again. Then went back at it with his claws. Each one tearing chunks of wood away.

Ashley watched him work at it. She shook her heard. “No,” she whispered. “No that’s not Leon, that’s not… that’s not Leon.” The creature in front of her wasn’t a man, it was a monster. If it wasn’t for the guns still strapped to his back, he would have been unrecognizable to her. He was covered in blood, it dripped from his jaws, it ran down his arms, and coated his hands. That roar she heard earlier was him. The thing that ripped apart the bodies around this room was him. “Leon stop!”

Immediately he froze and turned to look at Ashley. She gasped and ducked back behind the pillar. Her heart was hammering in her chest. The way he looked at her, for just a moment, like she was something to be hunted. Again, she thought, that isn’t Leon. She tried to steady her breathing, calm herself down. When she poked her head around the pillar he was still standing there. He was still looking her direction, only now he seemed thoroughly confused. He tilted his head slightly, his pedipalps raising a bit. The glow in his eyes dulled. “Leon?”

She watched as he opened his mouth, but no words came out, just a warbling sound, and a soft growl. Then the man with the shield decided to act and shattered the brief moment of peace. He pushed off the wall and rammed Leon with the shield. The movement caught Leon off guard and his feet slipped on the wet tile. He could feel himself hit the railing and lean back over it. But he didn’t go in. Two of his hands gripped the rail and his head whipped back to face the cultist. He let out another roar and spread his mandibles wide.

Ashley moved back behind the pillar and put her hands to her ears to block out the sound of screaming and flesh tearing. The wooden shield had snapped loudly, Leon had gotten through, and she wasn’t brave enough to look at what he was doing to that poor man.

---

Hopefully I don't rewrite this bit again. I really wanna nail this feral side of him, and I keep going back and changing things slightly, and redoing parts.

oh ho ho what could have caused this????? Why is he acting like that?? Will he come back to his senses??? I know these answers and soon you will too!

The estimate of getting an update done by tomorrow was uh, hopeful. It's not going to happen. I'm hosting some friends tonight, and I have DnD tomorrow. I still have to rewrite the whole fight with the Garrador after I lost it two weeks ago (I was so mad I just skipped it and started to rewrite Water Room), and I have to do the treasure puzzle room too. Then it's just the last scene after Water Hall. I'm like, 70% done with the chapter, but I don't think I can pump it out tomorrow. So it'll be a few more days.

[chirpingfromthebox]

A frame-by-frame look at the controversial call in the 12/4/2024 BOS v. MIN PWHL game

I'm gonna go ahead and put this under a break so as not to cause pain to the scrollers, because I've attached so many images onto this thing.

Okay, first of all, don't come after me for this. I don't know enough about hockey to have an educated opinion on what the ruling should or shouldn't have been. I'm merely showing this for clarification, because it is actually weirder than it seems.

So according to Courtney Kessel in the post-game interview, the Flaherty-Müller incident was downgraded from a major because it was ruled that Müller's own stick is what hit her in the head.

I was confused by that because I was only able to quickly see a quick replay on my phone while at work and it looked pretty gnarly. And even now that I'm at my computer and can see it on a much bigger screen it still looks wild. But if blow it up and go frame by frame I can see what the refs were talking about.

I'll screenshot how it plays out, but feel free to check out the footage that I was looking at.

My apologies to any mobile readers because this sequence will probably be really hard to see on a phone screen unless you click on every image and zoom in

Okay, so let's start here. Müller has the puck and Flaherty has started coming at her.

As they get a bit closer, Müller's stick starts to come up and you can see the puck.

Eagle-eyed viewers will note that all these pictures are from the same second on the timestamp, so this is what I'm talking about when I say it happens fast.

But this is where things get confusing. It's blurry because it isn't the most hi-def camera around and everything is moving fast, but in the above picture Müller's stick is up at about Flaherty's shoulder level and they have yet to make contact.

You might have to click on the photo here and zoom in a little, but this is approximately where some contact first occurs. We can see Müller's stick is really high here, I can't tell from this angle, but it's potentially touching Flaherty's cage, and Flaherty's forearm looks like it is touching Müller's shoulder (but I can't really tell where Müller's chin is from this angle). The stick is currently in between them and that is what makes everything that's about to happen really messy.

Okay, so in that series of split seconds, we can see that the hit was made, but because of where the stick was it took part of that blow.

And let's stop the tape there.

So now the refs suddenly have a lot to figure out. Was Flaherty's arm up because she was trying to protect herself from the raised stick or because she was trying to go for a hit? Was she aiming for the head or did the stick interfere? Did she hit Müller's head at all or was the blow caused from the momentum the stick took from the impact forcing it upwards afterwards?

Luckily I'm not a ref, so I don't have to make calls like this! Having thousands of people watching me trying to figure this out would 100% give me a panic attack.

If I had to pick I'd probably just say 5 minute major penalty for sure. But I probably wouldn't go for expulsion just because the stick being positioned so high makes things way too muddy.

But what they decided on was a 2min minor "Check to the Head (Accidental)" saying that the blow wasn't a major penalty because it was caused by the stick and not directly from Flaherty.

And what I've learned is that a hit I already thought was a mess, was actually an even bigger mess. At the end of the day though all I really care about is that Müller is alright after that. So hopefully we get word on that soon!

[all-souls-matinee]

A Ghost Story for Christmas, Part 2

Making my way through the rest of these! I had twelve episodes left so decided to split the count in half with a final 'part 3' to follow next year. I went the random number generator route again, nervous now that the reboot episodes outnumbered the classics. And I was right to be worried.

The Tractate Middoth (2013), story by M.R. James, written and dir. by Mark Gatiss

A university librarian helps a man search for a book that held significance for him some twenty years before, and begins to wonder what the title might mean for him. Or what curse it might carry.

Solid, serviceable episode. Directing isn't great but there are experimental camera tricks that land, and acting and intrigue make up for those that don't. It was also fun as a later watch because I'm now familiar with the Ghost Story character archetypes; 'old man who causes problems' is back in plural to create more of a fairy tale than is usual for James, and while that isn't super my thing I like that there's a suitable concluding twist* and that the protagonist randomly gets a girlfriend.

*was wary of keeping the detail that the evil book is written in Hebrew, but trust the ride, even if it is obsessed with dust motes and mouth close-ups

Martin's Close (2019), story by M.R. James, written and dir. by Mark Gatiss

Squire John Martin is confident that his social standing will grant him impunity from a murder charge, until the victim's ghost has something to say about it.

I love trials as a framing device and I love trials played for camp, but it's a weird call for this story- short and not one of James' better ones- about a man killing a disabled woman. Like, we've been telling some variation of 'a rich person is divinely punished for hurting a poor innocent' for thousands of years, it's very much a Tales from the Crypt and/or The Bible-type beat that shouldn't be taken seriously, but then why adapt it in the most patronizingly offensive, confusing, and boring way possible? The silver lining if you decide to watch is that you get to see Peter Capaldi in an insane wig.

-

A Warning to the Curious (1973), story by M.R. James, written and dir. by Lawrence Gordon Clark

An unemployed Archeology hobbyist goes looking for buried treasure and finds more than he bargained for.

I really liked the aesthetics of this one. Part of that's simply on the age of the film, but it's beautifully dingy in the way of an old library book with audio that's a mix of synths and cold wind. The story is hitting every square on the James bingo card, which means not my favorite plot but incredible sense of place and concept. Strangely subversive about who sees the ghost and how the ghost gets you, with the conclusion realizing something that's scared me in horror since childhood. This is all bolstered by good acting and clever details (e.g., a vicar is allowed to pass on the story of the treasure because he's an outsider who's 'only' lived in town for 20 years.) Having heard the original story there are some deviations that are disappointing, but most of them work much better- including a sequence that looks laughably like Slender: The Eight Pages and is all the scarier for it.

Lot No. 249 (2023), story by Arthur Conan Doyle, written and dir. by Mark Gatiss

A medical student meets an Egyptology student through a mutual friend, and quickly becomes wary of his erratic and vengeful personality.

I hate Mark Gatiss. I was actually looking forward to this one because I know the story and the kind of camp he'd failed to pull off with Martin's Close is perfectly suited for it, so was interested to see what he'd do with the plot and the creature design. The answer is uhh nothing. The effects look like garbage and making the villain a flamboyant gay guy goes absolutely nowhere. ALSO there's a whole running bit where the protagonist goes to tell the story to an unnamed friend who looks like this

and they keep cheekily being like 'he's moving to a place called baker street, and he likes doctors ;-)' at the expense of the story currently being told. Mark go back to the goddamn mummy I have had enough Shlock Brain Hurt from you to last a lifetime. Some of the acting is decent but the whole thing pissed me off to no end, so weigh that how you will.

Number 13 (2006), story by M.R. James, written by Justin Hopper, dir. Pier Wilkie

A professor is called to authenticate strange documents at another college, and finds himself frustrated by his backwards rural surroundings, staying at an inn without a room number 13 but plenty of irritating guests.

I loved this one. The early 00s editing looks laughably bad, but that style is endearing to me and it's still more competently filmed than any of the misplaced flashiness of Gatiss' directing. The "creature" design being of a piece with the no-budget Doctor Whos airing at the time makes it a million times more interesting than anything else in the modern bloc of episodes. It's also the perfect case study of my relationship with James: I don't like the plot in concept, but occult horror is a means to an end that the writing and imagery sell you on. Who among us doesn't love a good hidden room, and a Planes, Trains & Automobiles relationship between a vain know-it-all and his loutish neighbor? (I wish we'd gotten more of them. Room 13 ao3 page when.)

The Dead Room (2018), story by Mark Gatiss, written and dir. Mark Gatiss

An aging radio host gives his young producer a quick lesson in classic horror stories, only to experience one of his own.

I did laugh when I saw who was responsible for the ep that would be closing out the year of 'how I learned to hate Mark Gatiss.' The directing was as god-awful as I've come to expect (why are the dust motes back??), and it had the worst ending I think I've seen for TV since Sherlock, but my expectations were so low that other than that it was.. fine? The meta-ness didn't bother me because I think he's a decent writer in quip-laden isolation, and with full control we get less action sequences and shot transitions and more 'actors who know what they're doing just reading the words,' so most scenes aren't half bad. I'm sure he'd be touched by my praise.

[hockybish]

Turning

l Brock Faber l Brock Faber x Dancer l masterlist l

"Five, six, seven, eight." Maggie Walker counted out loud to herself as she spun around.

"Knock, Knock" A voice called into the studio she was renting. Brock popped his head in. "Hey Mags" he smiled.

Maggie ignored that man standing in doorway, continuing to work on the big turn sequence, it needed to be perfect. She needed to be perfect. She wasn't going to be the one that messed up by falling out of a turn or hesitating on the aerial. The dance team had a legacy to uphold.

"Hello? Maggie? I brought dinner, you want some?" Brock interrupted her concentration by holding up a bag full of their favorite foods from Chipotle.

"What you and Sammy not want to cook again?" She chirped noticing what he had brought along to share with her.

"Something like that or maybe we don't have any clean dishes." He joked along with her. He started to unpack the bag. Setting up a makeshift picnic on the side of the room. He looked up at her when he was finished expecting her to come eat.

"You go ahead start eating. Gotta keep working on this." Maggie began again.

She pliéed deep, pushing off the floor, going into the same turn she been working on. She went into that side aerial. She must have place her foot in the wrong spot because instead of flipping over she slipped and fell.

It was whatever. Maggie got back up, prepping to do the sequence one more time. The result same as before. She hesitated before the flip and help. Slamming her fist on the ground in frustration.

"Take a break Margret Walker. Eat something, you can try again afterwards" The rookie defenseman rushed over to help the dancer up.

Maggie nodded letting Brock guide her to the food that for sure had cold by now. Nonetheless she still began to eat the chicken, rice, bean, cheese and salsa burrito bowl. She used a chip to scoop up a chunk of the mixture for a bit of added crunch.

"Feel better?" Maggie nodded with a toothy smile. She made sure not to eat too much of the filling meal, she had to get back to work and she had a late night class to teach.

The elite dancer got into place. She taking a deep breath, she pliéed and began to spin but it was short lived. She started felling the nerves again. Getting into her head, Maggie lost count and fell out.

"Do you think you could count for me?" Brock agreed and Maggie instructed him on the tempo.

Maggie got back into her starting position as Brock started to count. "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight" Split jump down to a roll, formation change, roll again, pirouette á la seconde times 10, aerial into three more pirouette á la secondes, and finishing off with two regular pirouettes.

"I got it!" "You did it!" The two friends cheered jumping towards each other in excitement. They ended closer than they thought with their noses practically touching and his hands on her waist.

Brock's eyes were focused on her lips. He felt as though he should kiss her. It's not like her hasn't ever thought about it before. It was more that, her brother's one of his good friends and teammates. And you don't date your teammates sisters. But she was so pretty and funny, kind and -

"Oh my god, is that the time? I'm gonna be late for class." Maggie slipped away, hurriedly collecting her things. Her feet were out the door before she turn back to him. Standing on her tip toes she kissed him.

Pulling back she grinned at him "We'll finish this later"

[rmorde]

Trigun Manga Reaction

Now back with Volume 1 - Chapter 3

I like this. Simple pose but very interesting with the "imbalance" I guess with the tilted head, shadowed face, and slightly lower slope of one shoulder. It's not "stiff" and it's easy to imagine the wind blowing through Vash's coat and hair.

A thought occurs tho, Did Trigun predate Tetsuya Nomura's obsessive belts, belts, and more belts design quirk? Did Nightow and Vash started that anime fashion trend?

Uhuh. Says the people who tried to shoot a GRENADE at that same one guy.

I kinda put these three panels in a sequence because... we know Vash is a good guy. Of course, he's going to save the women but the emphasis on the Nebraskas reaction to his rescue is really interesting.

Vash gives them a side-eye. He's either gauging their capacity for mercy or already clocked in that they are capable of mercy and silently hints for them to wait just a moment.

Father Nebraska understanding and just waits as he smokes. Then confirms first if Vash is ready to rumble again.

Idk. It's a moment of humanity not only for Vash but for the Nebraskas too imo.

AND IT'S WEIRD! In '98, Father Nebraska tried to get a cheap shot on Vash while he was still carrying someone to safety.

Yeah, assholes. Vash is doing his best to keep the women in the clear while you guys just throws grenades willy-nilly into buildings who have people in them. Smh.

Ngl. This sequence confuses me a bit. But, going with what happened earlier, the Nebraskas were not targeting the women. The punch was intended for Vash - which he dodged easily. However, instead of running further away, he shielded the women from the flying debris that the punch caused.

WHICH AGAIN, I REITERATE, IS REALLY WEIRD FOR '98 TO DEVIATE FROM!

In the '98, they are bonafide bad guys but in the manga they're still bad but not "Muwahahaha I'll shoot the injured women Hahahaha!" bad . The Nebraskas have some semblance of honor here.

I guess this is why TriStamp has a much more nuanced presentation of these characters. It's closer to the manga.

Oof... Owww... Vash... 😢

Another gorgeous art. I like how Nightow's way of using perspective here!

Junior is established to be huge - a giant. He always take up so much space in the panels/pages like below:

However, when Vash finally "duelled" them seriously. Doesn't Junior suddenly "feels" smaller and Vash really big?

It's really cool how it instantly shows that Vash isn't goofing off anymore and the Nebraskas stand no chance in winning this.

Ragey Baby Girl no longer smiling.

Sigh. Gotta admire their one track mind.

Ngl. The line work here gave me Junji Ito vides for some reason. Vash's eye look haunting, cold, and really old.

Linework carrying hard on this page. Vash is obviously quicker with how much lines are there in his entire arm - convincingly too fast of a blur. Meanwhile Junior has less lines which makes his fist less blurry and, therefore, slower.

Clever use of the sound effects in the first panel.

I don't know what the fuck is going on in the second panel. I've been staring at it too long already and I still can't understand except it has something to do with Junior's arm?

Third panel is the crazy detail on Vash's eye. His glasses seem like he is looking at the side. However, on closer inspection, Vash is actually not looking away from the incoming attack.

The following pages is really great at building the tension on how would this duel end. The '98 anime captured it very well!

Looking cool, Vash!

Also, is it just me or does he always look for opportunities to show off his flexibility and long long legs. Must he really split here?

...

...

YES. YES HE MUST.

Oh. Ooooh! So that's what happened!

In '98, this conclusion was given to the bandit in Episode 1. His own enhancements crunching his body until he passed out and lost to Vash. However, they can't exactly rehash this in Episode 5. So, we have the "LOVE AND PEACE!" scene instead.

Admittedly, I prefer the "LOVE AND PEACE" conclusion more.

I like how, so far imo, Nightow just gives no fucks about anatomy in his art. I mean... Look at this! Even if we reason that it's because his coat is dramatically billowing with the wind, Vash's body is not proportionate. However, it doesn't matter! It looks cool and it evokes the right emotions just fine: fear and awe.

OMFG?!!! The trials these two are going through! These poor insurance ladies! Milly hanging on for dear life to that pillar. Meryl just screaming her lungs out EVEN WITH A MEGAPHONE!

AND IT WAS FOR NOTHING!!!! OML

Being considered as someone equivalent to a natural disaster shouldn't bring joy, but damn it... LOOK AT HOW HAPPY VASH IS!!! AWWW BABY GIRL!!!

Wow. They blame HER!!! How dare- Meryl beat them up! No, Milly. LET MERYL HAVE THEM!!! THEY DESERVE TO BE CRUMPLED LIKE TISSUE PAPER AFTER THROWING OFF GRENADES LIKE CONFETTI EARLIER AT VASH!!!

Awww. Their first interaction is SO CUTE!!!

In '98, it's funny and amusing. Ditto on TriStamp. But this one is sweet since Meryl and Milly kinda saved Vash in here.

I mean. Yeah, the townspeople are scared because Vash just beat the Nebraskas, but they are desperate for money. Desperation can override fear given enough time. Vash would've been hunted all over again.

I take it back. The insurance ladies climbing up to that bell tower was not for nothing. It was enough to allow Vash a moment to breathe and, as he rejoices, be free (even just for a while).

Wonder what exactly went through Vash's head here. Confusion? Fear? Dread?

HELL YEAH!!! BADASS LADIES IN LONG COATS! STRIKE FEAR TO THE HEARTS OF EVERYONE!!!

Oh. Some responses to the a couple of tags:

@alena-reblobs

Thanks! Glad you're having fun too because I sure am. I appreciate the warning and I'm kinda nervous because the action this chapter was kinda confusing to understand. Hopefully, it won't get worse (will it?) I agree that they are very cool nonetheless!

@eldritchneuro

Thanks for explaining! Paneling is always fun to study in mangas because they usually follow a 3 or 4 panels which mangakas creatively breakdown to evoke a feeling among readers.

Trigun is interesting because its from the 90's! So, some of the paneling are probably "prototypes" of the crazy ones we'd see in modern mangas.

I guess, Nightow's aiming to make the page very "cinematic" with slo-mo (sparse panels) and hyper focus on details (graphic weight). It draws us readers in to the story more effectively as if we are there too with the townspeople looking at the Humanoid Typhoon.