#Alex wrote and taped it

[faceless-q]

@8-rae-rae-8 humbly tagging u

[pleasantlyinsincere]

How he acts so innocently... 🫣

[vague-humanoid]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/05/10/mlk-malcolm-x-playboy-alex-haley/

Jonathan Eig was deep in the Duke University archives researching his new biography of Martin Luther King Jr. when he made an alarming discovery: King’s harshest and most famous criticism of Malcolm X, in which he accused his fellow civil rights leader of “fiery, demagogic oratory,” appears to have been fabricated.

“I think its historic reverberations are huge,” Eig told The Washington Post. “We’ve been teaching people for decades, for generations, that King had this harsh criticism of Malcolm X, and it’s just not true.”

The quote came from a January 1965 Playboy interview with author Alex Haley, a then-43-year-old Black journalist, and was the longest published interview King ever did. Because of the severity of King’s criticism, it has been repeated countless times, cast as a dividing line between King and Malcolm X. The new revelation “shows that King was much more open-minded about Malcolm than we’ve tended to portray him,” Eig said.

Haley’s legacy has been tarnished by accusations of plagiarism and historical inaccuracy in his most famous book, “Roots,” but this latest finding could open up more of his work to criticism, especially “The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley” — released nine months after Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965.

Malcolm X, a member of the Nation of Islam, had frequently attacked King and his commitment to nonviolence, going so far as to call King a “modern Uncle Tom.” But his criticism often had “strategic purposes,” Eig said.

In acting as “a foil” to King, his message had more value to the media. “King saw value in being a foil to Malcolm sometimes, too. But I think at their core they had a lot in common. They certainly shared a lot of the same goals,” Eig said.

Eig, who previously wrote acclaimed biographies of Muhammad Ali and Lou Gehrig, said he found the fabrication in the course of his standard book research for “King: A Life,” due out May 16. When a subject has given a long interview, he’ll look through the archives of the journalist who conducted it, hoping to find notes or tapes with previously unpublished anecdotes.

He did not find a recording of Haley’s interview with King in the Haley archives at Duke, but he did find what appears to be an unedited transcript of the full interview, likely typed by a secretary straight from a recording, Eig said. Eig provided The Post with a copy of the transcript.

On page 60 of the 84-pagedocument, Haley asks, “Dr. King, would you care to comment upon the articulate former Black Muslim, Malcolm X?”

King responds: “I have met Malcolm X, but circumstances didn’t enable me to talk with him for more than a minute. I totally disagree with many of his political and philosophical views, as I understand them. He is very articulate, as you say. I don’t want to seem to sound as if I feel so self-righteous, or absolutist, that I think I have the only truth, the only way. Maybe he does have some of the answer. But I know that I have so often felt that I wished that he would talk less of violence, because I don’t think that violence can solve our problem. And in his litany of expressing the despair of the Negro, without offering a positive, creative approach, I think that he falls into a rut sometimes.”

That is not how King’s response appeared in the published interview. While the top part is nearly identical with the transcript, it ended in Playboy like this: “And in his litany of articulating the despair of the Negro without offering any positive, creative alternative,I feel that Malcolm has done himself and our people a great disservice. Fiery, demagogic oratory in the black ghettos, urging Negroes to arm themselves and prepare to engage in violence, as he has done, can reap nothing but grief.”

Some of the phrases added to King’s answer appear to be taken significantly out of context, while others appear to be fabricated:

@meanmisscharles @russianspacegeckosexparty @ubernegro @that-biracial-geek-girl @redstarovermoundcity

Eig has shared this discovery with a number of King scholars, and the changes “jumped out” to them as “a real fraud,” Eig said. “They’re like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been teaching that to my students for years,’ and now they have to rethink it,” Eig said.

[spirkkock]

Queer Text/Subtext in Shallow Grave (1994)

CW: BLOOD, STABBING, MURDER, NON-SEXUAL NUDITY, DRUG USE

I guess I wrote a rough essay... about the queer subtext in Shallow Grave... Here... have the rough draft if you'd like...

Overt references to queerness:

When we look at contemporary movies, we often have a knee-jerk reaction to dismiss any “funny” references to queerness or sexuality to be taken as jokes and nothing further than that.  Unfortunately, this has become all too common, and does a disservice to the films we watch. So I will be taking every moment of referenced or implied queerness as serious, even if it is delivered in a humorous way. Especially because this movie is not meant to be a comedy (despite some humorous moments).

Furthermore, references to queerness in movies should be taken seriously because they establish not only the existence of queerness (in universe, as one might say), but can also demonstrate the character’s attitudes towards queerness.  Its important to notice that at no point in this movie are any references to queerness played for a laugh – they might be humorous, but we are not meant to laugh at the character for being queer, which indicates that queerness is taken seriously within the universe of the movie (or at least between the characters).

The first overt reference to queerness is when Juliet asks an interviewee if he is having an affair with a man or a woman and the man is not given screen time to answer. This same man bursts into tears after Alex, a man, says, “When did anyone last say to you these exact words, ‘you are the sunshine of my life’?” (this is a reference to the Stevie Wonder song of the same name). While it is technically (according to the script) said by Alex to a different interviewee, the arrangement of the shots does not indicate that, as it cuts directly from Alex asking the question to the man crying. This could imply a number of things.

The second overt reference to queerness comes at the charity ball, where a Scotsman says, “ladies and gentlemen, and those of you who are neither or both,” which is then met with a drumroll. Alex immediately responds, offended, “where did they dig him up?” implying that Alex finds the joke to be outdated and, perhaps, distasteful.

The third overt reference is when Alex dresses in drag. He also appears in the same scene, on the tape recording wearing some rather flamboyant costumes.  The fact that Alex is in drag is not addressed by any of the other characters, nor by Alex, indicates that this is either a usual occurrence, or, for some reason, entirely unremarkable to the characters.  Specifically, it is interesting that David does not comment on it, as he walks into the scene unsuspecting.

The fourth, and final, overt reference to queerness is when, upon being told of Juliet and David’s relationship, Alex says to Juliet, “I’d do exactly the same thing except I don’t think I’m his type.” If the line is interpreted sarcastically (which I think most viewers will) then we can assume that he is jealous of David for being with Juliet. If it is interpreted as earnest, then we can assume that he is jealous of Juliet for being with David. It also could be an ambiguous combination of both.

Queer Subtext:

Now let us dig into the subtext, which I actually find to be much juicier....

The Squash Scene and the Car

Directly after the interviews have concluded, we are given a scene which helps frame the relationship between the three characters as one built on dynamics of domination and submission and gives us a baseline to understand each of the character’s roles within this dynamic. This scene takes place on the Squash court.

There is a deviation here between the script and the film, as several lines have been cut, but I will include them as they add some context to the scene.

In the above text, Alex indicates that he sees this game of squash as a struggle for dominance. In this case, the game between Alex and David is won by Alex, who then, despite having called David a “bad loser,” demonstrates that he is a sore winner when he gloats over David by saying, “defeat, defeat, defeat – sporting, personal, financial, professional, sexual, and everything.”

David is clearly annoyed by this and storms off. This scene sets up the ongoing power dynamic between Alex and David in which Alex is the dominant one in the relationship. It also is the first time that we see David being emasculated by Alex, which will continue occurring for the first half of the movie.

Immediately after David leaves the court, Juliet takes his place to play a match against Alex.  In this scene she is wearing a rather masculine outfit which is similar to that of the two male characters. She also sports short hair throughout the movie, but this is the scene in which she appears the most “boyish.”  When she enters the court to play, Alex begins to make the same statement (“Did you know squash is-”) that he made (in the script) earlier, to David. Thus he is using this exercise as a way to exert dominance, not only over David, his male sexual rival, but also over Juliet, thus implying that she is on equal footing – therefore also a sexual rival. However, Juliet cuts him off and tells him, “Alex, just serve.”

The action of cutting off Alex denies him domination in that moment, thus establishing that the two of them are on much more equal footing, or possibly that Juliet is in fact the dominant one between the two of them.  This scene serves to establish that typical gendered dynamics are somewhat blurred between these three individuals, and that David, instead of Juliet, takes on the most feminine/passive role in the group.

The next scene once again highlights the complicated gender and power dynamics within the group.  Juliet drives the car (masculine) while Alex and David bicker with one another from the back seat and passenger seat, respectively.

In this scene, addressing Alex’s win, David says, “Victory is the same as defeat – it’s giving into destructive competitive urges,” which distances him from competition, and could be interpreted as him rejecting the masculine urge to dominate.  Alex, in return, emasculates him by belittling his reliance on a “discussion group,” (implied to be therapy). During this scene, Alex and David are looking at one another, however, the rear-view mirror blocks both of their eyes. This symbolizes their unwillingness to see “eye-to-eye and perhaps a certain level of repression between the two of them.  Also in this scene, Juliet physically dominates Alex by elbowing him in the chest, and attempts to emasculate him verbally by implying that a woman that he is interested in hates him. She does this specifically in response to Alex’s emasculation of David, thus establishing that while Alex might be dominant over David, she is dominant over him. ��During this exchange, however, in her attempt to protect David from Alex, David is further emasculated because he relies on someone else to defend him.

Discovering the Body / Three Friends, Three Bodies

When the trio discovers Hugo’s body we see some more of this interesting dynamic.

David stands by shocked while Alex ransacks the room searching for paraphernalia, while Juliet (the doctor among them) attends to the body.

Hugo’s nude corpse in this scene represents male vulnerability. He is prone and exposed on the bed, having overdosed on heroin, and can do nothing while his privacy is violated (by the dominant, Alex).  The injection of drugs into the body, in this case, could also be said to symbolize emasculation - the breaking of the body barrier through penetration of a syringe (phallus). This exemplifies a significant cultural fear at the time – death of the male body via penetration, which had become a major concern due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. (If I was writing this essay for real, this is where I would insert articles that demonstrate horror’s preoccupation with AIDS and gay stuff during the 80s and 90s, but this is just for fun)

David, of course, is enamored by this display of the fragility of the male body. I would suggest that he identifies with Hugo’s vulnerability in death, and that the treatment of Hugo’s body by Alex and Juliet mirrors the way that they treat David. While Alex takes advantage of Hugo’s vulnerability in death by violating his privacy (thus dominating it), Juliet emasculates Hugo’s corpse by tending to it.  In one shot, we also see Juliet’s fingers dangerously close to penetrating Hugo’s mouth.

We can also expand upon this by recognizing that the two male characters that are pursuing Hugo and the trio in search of the money, are parallels to Juliet and David.  The two men are able to dominate Juliet and Alex through violence, only then to be killed by David. Thus, the three bodies that the trio end up burying are parallels to the trio themselves.

David Overcomes Emasculation, Alex Becomes Emasculated.

Alex’s emasculation of David continues throughout the first half of the movie, culminating in David being forced to dismember Hugo’s body (the very body that he identifies with).  When this occurs, he becomes the violator/aggressor/dominator.

This occurrence proceeds the change in the group dynamic. Around the midpoint of the movie (during the charity ball) we see David transition into a dominant role in the trio, while Alex becomes submissive.

This is demonstrated first by Juliet dominating Alex while they dance. Alex falls to the floor, drunk, and Juliet takes that moment to step on Alex’s mouth, forcing him to lick the bottom of her shoe.  He then willingly kisses her ankle, meeting her eye contact submissively. It is made clear through his facial expressions and laughter, that he finds joy in this act, thus embracing the emasculation (whereas David had always responded poorly, rejecting it).

Alex then attempts to re-exert control over David by forcing him to toast when he doesn’t want to. David eventually concedes after Alex yells at him, demanding that he toast to “love and happiness forever.”  (Alex also humiliates and emasculates Cameron in this scene).

David finally exerts control when Brian McKenly (a man keen on pursuing Juliet) interrupts their conversation. David responds by standing on level with Brian and stating, “If you want to talk to my girlfriend, you talk to me first. If you want to dance with her, you apply in writing three weeks in advance or you end up inside of a fucking bin bag. You didn’t apply – so you don’t dance!”

While David shrinks a bit afterwards, admitting that he found the interaction stressful, both Juliet and Alex embrace him, in high spirits (one might say… aroused…). Alex exclaims, “He [David] was really good – fucking bin bag – I really liked that. You really explored your maleness to the full there! You were magnificent.” This statement indicates that Alex, who has rarely had an encouraging word for David over the course of the movie, is invigorated upon seeing that David has stepped into a dominant role, exerting his masculinity onto others. Immediately following this, Alex is assaulted in the bathroom by Cameron (who he had emasculated twice prior) and two other men, who beat him quite badly, thus emasculating Alex.

The following day, Alex’s emasculation is made complete when he dresses in drag and spends the day in debauchery with Juliet. The framing of his and Juliet’s bodies during this scene is also worth noting, as they are often visually indistinguishable from one another – with Alex being noticeably more feminine than Juliet in several shots due to his makeup, jewelry, dress, and rather delicate shoulders.

(Notably, during the entirety of the ball scene and much of the drag/video scene, Alex is often pictured smoking a cigar instead of his usual cigarette, which could be said to stand in for a phallus.)

From this point on, David is almost always dominant over Alex. (One notable exception is one moment where Alex leans in close to David during dinner and orders, “now swallow,” while making very intense eye contact. David regains control by reminding Alex that David was the one who dismembered Hugo’s body.)

After this point it is clear that David is undergoing some extreme psychological stress, and has become paranoid and aggressive.  His shift in demeanor is most clearly symbolized by this shot, where he calls out of work so that he can begin making plans to protect the cash.

The Wickerman

During one scene, an injured Alex lays on the couch and watches the final scene of The Wickerman (1973). 

The Wickerman tells the tale of a conservative Christian police officer who goes to a Scottish isle to investigate the disappearance of a girl, only to discover that the locals are practicing a form of paganism that involves human sacrifice. The police officer discovers that he is in fact the sacrifice.  It is implied that he is the sacrifice because he is a virgin and a heterosexual, and he is unwilling to have sex with Christopher Lee’s character.  Christopher Lee was most well known at the time for playing the lead in Dracula (1958) – another movie with extremely well documented queer subtext. The audience of The Wickerman would have been aware of this.

During this scene, the drumbeats of the pagan ritual, where the police officer is being marched to his execution/sacrifice, synchronizes with David’s steps overhead, a sound that the characters and the audience come to associate with surveillance and dread.

Honestly this scene has me a bit stumped. Who does Alex identify with in this situation? The heterosexual victim? – is the ending subverted because his submission culminates in… the penetration of Alex's body… thus making him queer? Idk it's been a long day.

Surveillance

During the second half of the movie, David moves into the Attic and rarely comes down when his housemates are home.  He is protecting the money, both from his housemates and from the men who eventually come looking for it. While Alex and Juliet are brutalized by the men, David is the one who has set a trap for them, and is able to kill them. He also leads the trio to dispose of the bodies, and drives the van (whereas Alex had driven the van the first time they disposed of the bodies, when he had been the dominant one in the relationship).

During his time in the attic, David drills holes in the ceiling so that he can spy on his housemates. He is literally in a dominant position over them, looking down on them while they go about their daily tasks. In one scene, he spies on Alex and Juliet while they are sleeping. In this scene, he is shown first to be watching Alex. David is also in a state of undress that we have not seen before, implying a certain sensuality to the observation. We do not get to see Alex in a state of undress, but the scene finishes with Alex putting his shoes on, the camera looking down from above, implying David’s Point of view, and that he had watched the whole time. After Alex leaves, David moves to watch Juliet, in a scene that is much longer and more explicitly inappropriate and sexualized, especially because we come to understand that David’s temporary attic bed is located directly over her bed. However, before she begins undressing, he looks away and holds his head in his hands.

This scene simultaneously offers us a leveling effect between the two objects of David’s gaze (Alex and Juliet), while simultaneously prioritizing the heterosexual coupling. However, the implication that there is shame associated with the heterosexual gaze, complicates the situation.

Penetration with the Drill (Phallus)

When Alex goes into the attic to look for the money (and finds it in the water tank), he climbs back down the ladder only to be confronted by David, who is holding a drill (phallus) as a weapon.  Alex’s hands are wet from the water, and he frantically wipes them on the seat of his pants, behind his back, visually placing his hands as a barrier to his anus. The Drill makes contact with Alex's head and breaks the skin in an act of penetration (the body barrier is broken). This is the first scene in which David directly engages in domination (and penetration) of Alex.

David’s Glasses and Alex’s Photo

Lenses, mirrors, and portals/doorways are deeply significant visual aids in this movie, but I want to highlight the one that stood out to me the most. When Juliet and David have (implied) sex, at which point they solidify their status as a couple, David removes his glasses, and places them on Juliet’s bedside table.  Underneath the glasses is a photo of Alex in costume, a cigar in his mouth, framed through the lens of the glasses.  The photo was taken on the day in which we see Alex at his most feminine, at a point where he had been thoroughly emasculated (beaten in a bathroom by a man that he had emasculated multiple times). The framing of the photo, through the lens of David’s glasses implies that this is how David sees Alex – costumed, emasculated, and with a phallus in his mouth.

This photo is also shown once more in the film; David holds the photo of Alex as he lies in his attic bed, and he pins it above his head so he can look at it. The scene cuts to Alex, also in bed, who then gets up. It once again cuts back to David, who also gets up, and we see that Juliet lies asleep next to him. This follows a pattern of shots that we’ve seen before in the film (see the Surveillance section), where we see David watching Alex in what could be interpreted as a sexual or romantic way, before the camera reveals Juliet and lingers significantly. The implication is that whatever there is between David and Alex always gives way to the relationship between David and Juliet.

Returning to the glasses - the final time that we see them is during the climax of the movie. The three characters are struggling against one another, and David’s head is forced into the refrigerator so that Alex can try and smash him with the door.  He manages to throw Alex off, but not before his glasses are caught on the shelf of the refrigerator, thus knocking them off his face.  Having David’s glasses be knocked off would not typically be significant in a fight scene such as this, however the camera goes out of its way to linger on this shot, indicating that the symbolism here is important.  The other time that we have seen David remove his glasses has been before he has (implied) sex with Juliet. In this case, the removal of the glasses occurs just before David pins Alex in his final act of domination, which then culminates in the ultimate symbolic act of sexual penetration – David stabbing Alex with a knife (phallus).

NOTE: David is also pictured without glasses at the beginning of the film, where he is lying on his back, and halfway through the film, after he has dismembered Hugo in a symbolic act of violence against his own vulnerability.  In the first scene we hear his monologue; “I’m not ashamed, I’ve known love, I’ve known rejection. I’m not afraid to declare my feelings. Take trust for instance, or friendship. These are the important things in life. These are the things that matter, that help you on your way. If you can’t trust your friends well, then what then? What then? This could have been any city, but all the same.” It is unclear until the end, but it seems that the first time that we see David, right at the beginning, we are actually seeing him postmortem in the morgue. Meaning that the monologue is a lament on his life... (You're not ashamed of what, David? Being a bit gay, perhaps?)

Penetration with the Knife (Phallus)

At the climax of the movie, after David’s glasses have been removed, we arrive at David’s final act of domination over Alex.  David pins Alex to the floor by sitting on his stomach, with Alex’s legs pinned underneath his knees in a position that could be interpreted as sexual.  He then holds Alex by the throat, and stabs him in the shoulder, slicing clean through and penetrating the floor.  The act of stabbing (penetrating) a victim with a knife (phallus) is one often noted in analysis of horror films, as having sexual implications (again – I’d find some article about it here if I was a serious writer lol).

Before David can stab Alex again with a second knife, David is stabbed with a knife through the throat from behind by Juliet.  Thus Juliet, who has been a dominant character throughout the movie, is symbolically penetrating David with a phallus. Furthermore, the location of the stabbing in the throat and from behind, implies that David has now suffered, once again, an emasculation, just as he had just preformed on Alex.

David collapses and dies, just as Hugo did, from emasculation through the body barrier being broken from penetration. Thus, David’s identification with Hugo’s corpse and the vulnerability that it represented, is complete in this moment.

Juliet then kneels over Alex, taking up the same position that David had just occupied, and places her hand on the knife in Alex’s shoulder, pressing on it, thus taking David’s place as the one to dominate Alex.  She then removes her shoe, and in an act that mirrors the scene from the charity ball in which she dominated Alex by having him lick her shoe/foot, she uses her shoe to hit the knife three times, driving it deeper into his shoulder, further penetrating him.  Thus, in her final interaction with both David, and Alex, she has penetrated them.

As she puts her shoe back on, we can see inside of the refrigerator, where we once again see David’s glasses, recalling once again that this scene is coded as sexual in nature through the movie's visual language.

As the movie closes, we discover that Alex is alive (probably), and that he has hidden the money underneath the floorboard. In the ultimate irony of the movie, the character that spent the second half of the movie being coded as the submissive (homosexual receiving) partner, has come out on top, despite the other two character’s attempt to dominate (and kill) him.

Uhhh the credits roll, and they're all shown as they were in the first scene of the movie, smiling, laughing, and the love song "Happy Heart" plays...

[secret-spirit]

Something something- "Statement of Tommy Merrick, regarding tapes they had found in their old family home, statement given June 6th, 2006. Statement begins"

I don't know how to write this down I've been wanting to do it but i can't find the correct way to explain what happens in it, basically: This statement was written before Tommy went to Eastridge county after finishing the foundation tapes, so after they wrote their statement they went to Eastridge in case they'd likely go missing because of it.

The tapes are brought to the Magnus Institute, attempting to view them causes great hallucinations and wild dreams and bad headaches, Jon finds out about Alex specifically being the one who made a few of them and revealing they onced worked under Lankmann but can't otherwise view the foundation tapes himself, sometime before ep79.

At this point i imagine Tommy to be the last person that gave a statement with ties to Eastridge, the others being Kenneth, Rick and Sean that given theres before Tommys. Also finding out Alex does infact have connections to this weird nowhere town called Eastridge.

Been wanting to give the idea that Eastridge, basically, is a town that none of the magnus institute can even locate and all those who mentioned it in their statements never get to follow up because they also cannot be located anywhere, only thing of them existing is their statement.

I have a lot of thoughts about this au and everytime i think about it i fall deeper into TMA separately.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The "Israel" X account tweeted on Tuesday night what it said was evidence of PIJ culpability in the attack, saying that “from the analysis of the operational systems of the IDF, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed through the vicinity of the hospital when it was hit”. However, the original version of the post included a video of rockets fired from the vicinity of Gaza City. The video was later deleted by the account, while analysts noted that the first public mentions of the bombing were at 7.20pm local time, whereas the video shared by Israel as evidence was time-stamped at between 7.59 and 8pm local time. That same account shared audio on Wednesday from the Israeli army claiming to be a conversation between Hamas operatives, in which they discuss the destruction of the hospital and pin it on PIJ. But Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza-based civil rights activist who has reported on Hamas for a decade, posted that the quote had been mistranslated from "they're saying" to "we're saying". "He's describing a rumour, not evidence," Shehada wrote, before going on to list other reasons for believing the audio was part of a campaign of misinformation. Alex Thomson, a correspondent for Channel 4 News, said "several experts" had told him the "audio tape of 'Hamas' operatives talking about the missile malfunction is a fake. They say the tone, syntax, accent and idiom are absurd." "They shot it from the cemetary behind the hospital," one of them can be heard saying. Francesco Sebregondi, an architect and researcher currently with the investigative NGO Index, told Middle East Eye that Israel was keen to provide material quickly for analysts to pin their conclusions on. "By quickly providing a number of poorly substantiated 'evidence' in the form of, for example, drone footage of the site, the Israeli army may also be counting on the eagerness of some Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) actors to use any image/material/data to quickly publish new content, or 'analysis' and thereby more or less directly support its version of the events," he said.

[markerofthemidnight]

I made a list of all the DoaI characters we know of so far and any information on them that might be relevant, use this for theory-crafting (and correct me if you think there’s anything I should add):

Dreams of an Insomniac - Characters

Volume 0 - Haunted Halloween PSA

Tommy Merrick

Overarching story’s protagonist

Visiting old family home, vaguely recognises the things on the tapes and even knows a Veldigun (possibly either Winfrey or Simon) personally

Has to do something in Lankmann’s Asylum (post-collapse)

Owen Grady

Reporter who wrote the OG Bizzare Break-In article

Rick Graham

Owner of Grimmso’s

Sean Grim

Listed as “Sceptical Civillian” in Volume 0, but his segment of the report was shown to be scripted in In Loving Memory

“To think they said our small-town representative was corrupt…” <- possibly Lankmann?

(see Volume 1 segment for Alex Williams)

Officer Kenneth Krueger

Father of Klaus Krueger

Attacked by Clyde in 1986/7(?), became riddled with Veldigun cooties, and was experimented on by Lankmann until his death in 1996

Death was faked in 1987, claiming he had hung himself in his son’s closet (complete with a forged suicide note, which may possibly be a real note twisted to look like one due to the heavy distortion and blurring of the final paragraph?)

Mortimer Grey

In-house animator for the Lankmann Foundation

Most famous for work on cartoon series Candy Mouse

Possibly riddled with Veldigun cooties?

Mr. Wilson

Father of Sam Wilson, one of the children “eaten” by Clyde on Halloween ‘86

Got “eaten” by Clyde the following January

Wife still alive by the time Family Photo Album takes place, or at least wasn’t “eaten” by Clyde

Clyde, or “The Smiling Snatcher”

The first(?) Veldigun to make itself known in Eastridge County

“Infant” (by Veldigun standards) during the events of Halloween ‘86

Used to hunt children, now has a preference for adults

Uses taunting and psychological manipulation to get to its victims

Can wear the skin of its victims, though wether this is literal or just an extension of its hallucinations is unknown

Volume 1 - Foundation Archives

Alex Williams

Lives on 66 Elk Crescent

Partial witness to Halloween ‘86, was interviewed by ECN shortly afterwards on the same night(?)

Was put under “witness protection” by the Lankmann Foundation, borderline forced to join the asylum shortly after its founding

Going to meeting with someone “very dangerous” after the events of the recording of Volume 1

Someone that they care about has been “hurt” by the Lankmann Foundation, in a mysterious incident that will probably be touched on in the mini-volumes

Doctor Herbert Lankmann

Founded the Lankmann Foundation in 1990(?) with money inherited from his late father (who he probably murdered)

Pays the police to hide all the unethical things he does

Has mechanical hands and screens fitted into/replacing his eyes (likely a more accurate and trustworthy version of the goggles?)

Became more aggressive, alongside the Caretakers, after an unknown “incident” (likely the aforementioned one that hurt one of Alex’s friends)

Patient 66

Lived on 45 Elk Crescent

Abducted from her home by the Caretakers for unknown reasons

Described as “about in her 30s” by Alex, shows no obvious sign of mental illness and is physically fine

Went into Room 66, encountered Winfrey and didn’t die???? (the first time at least)

Probably died the second time (and got her voice stolen)

The Caretakers

Silent, stoic henchmen of Lankmann

Wear masks and goggles at all times

Winfrey, or “Specimen 02”

14-foot tall Veldigun, kept within Room 66 in the Lankmann Foundation

Auditory hallucinations come in the form of distant music, the knocking of doors and windows, the voices of people who aren’t actually there, etc

Took the voice of (and probably killed) Patient 66 the second time it encountered her

All things in mind might actually be pretty passive for a Veldigun? (didn’t kill Alex when they first entered either)

[fandomfuntimem]

Disgusting creatures.

(A/N: apologies for any bad Grammer or writing. I wrote this pretty fast)

Alex liked to think they were a nice person. Well, maybe not nice. Nice isn't the right descriptor. More, neutral. Never exactly one to judge. They always preffered to go with the flow and see what happens. Recently though, things haven't exactly flowed like it should. Inbetween the loss of loved ones and the injustices of the foundation, Alex couldn't just "go with the flow" anymore. They had to go against it

Hence the giant demon currently snoring on their couch. All the curtains were closed, the TV was off, and they just sat there in silence. Pretending as if a man eating beast twice their size wasn't currently splayed across their lap. Honestly, the silence was comforting. Everything has been tape recorders, screams, and sirens lately. The silence was welcomed.

It allowed Alex to think...

They hated Clyde. The eastridge demon. The very demon they welcomed into their home no less than a month ago, the very demon quietly snoring on their lap. It ate their cousin and his friends, it brought chaos upon Eastridge allowing Lankmann to take power, innocent people were twisted and mutilated by it's power, and it felt no remorse.

The day Alex met the thing face to face, they didn't scream. No. They only felt anger. Watching the creature eat the sandwich with some sort of child like joy, then it demanded more, like a toddler who just discovered their favorite snack. From then on, it kept coming back. Eventually making Alex's home it's own.

The fucking audacity of the thing. It ate innocent people, threw Alex's life into a hellish spiral, and now, as if to mock them, it treats everything Alex has like it's own.

Alex hated the creature. A fucking disgusting, selfish, unrelenting beast.

And yet... Alex couldn't help it but feel... joy at the prospect of coming home to it. Alex found it so fascinating, and sometimes, no matter how many times they tell themself it's not real, they almost see some semblance of remorse in it's eyes. Always so brief, just out the corner of their eye. The creature would watch them, and for a few fleeting moments there was emotion. Then it would be gone as quick as Alex thought they saw it.

Oh well. Alex knows that, at the end of it all, they will die. When they hold no more use to the demon, it will eat them, and they're fine with that. Really, they are.

***

Clyde lifted it's head, slowly waking from it's sleep. It looked around the dark living room. Curtains drawn, TV off, and the human, Alex, slept slumped over on the arm rest of the couch. Slowly, it stood up. Careful not to wake the sleeping human, it made it's way to the kitchen. It could easily just eat Alex. They were defenseless, asleep, and just another human.

Humans. Selfish creatures. Taking what they want, when they want it, no remorse. Not once stopping to ask how it may effect others. Maybe alone they weren't that bad, but in groups they are almost as deadly as Veldiguns, especially against themselves. Clyde hated them, and it's pretty sure no one would notice if this one whent missing.

But, as Clyde glanced down at a stack of well plated sandwiches, it found itself conflicted. If humans were so selfish, why did this one take the time to feed it? To feed the monster who ate their loved ones? Did they know it was the same one?

Clyde gripped it's chest, a tight feeling came over it. It's siliva felt thick, it's throat ached, and it's tail shivered. It never felt this feeling before. Clyde felt... it felt as if, if could go back, it would go back and just change things. Pick anyone other than that one little boy.

After finishing it's meal it gently made it's way back to the living room. Softly, it shifted Alex down into a far more comfortible position. Sneaking upstairs, it grabs a few blankets and pillows, then back down it goes. Slowly laying the blankets across their body, and proping their head up with a pillow.

Stepping back, Clyde admired it's work. OK. Maybe it hated Alex a little less than most humans. Maybe.

[midasslave1]

DISTURB RA AT YOUR PERIL.

PART 1

“Come on, guys, are you keen or not?” asked Caleb, the boisterous 22-year-old American college student, as he and his two friends downed the strong local Egyptian ale on a sultry, steamy late spring evening in Cairo. “Dude, you’ve had way too much of this stuff!” Alex replied—at least, he tried to say, as the ale and the hot night combined to ensure that this would be their last drink for the night on their Ancient Egypt Spring Break booze trip. Caleb waved around an old, rolled-up map, trying to convince his mates to share the spoils from the tomb of some obscure Egyptian god. Ricky, the third student in the group, looked totally disinterested and half asleep. "It's an easy walk from the old town we visited yesterday. I spent nearly all my vacation money on this map," Caleb explained. "This creepy, weird dude sold it to me and guaranteed I would be dripping gold by the end of tomorrow."

Alex spoke again, a little more coherently this time. “Egypt is bad for scammers and beggars. Didn't you say the entrance is under a whole lot of danger tape?” “Yeah,” Caleb replied abruptly. “Well, if there is danger tape, it's highly likely that this so-called fortune inside hasn’t been looted way back last century. Come on, man, just take the loss and let’s have a great day at the Sphinx tomorrow after a good sleep. Ricky's got the right idea.” Alex pointed to Ricky, whose face was flat on the table, with a pile of pretzels stuck to his sweaty cheek.

"Well, I'm going to keep it all to myself if you guys aren't coming!" Caleb said angrily as he stormed out of the bar, leaving a concerned Alex and a sleeping Ricky behind.

It was 5 hours later and as Ricky snored away on top of the bed, wearing only shorts and with broken pretzels still stuck to his sweaty face, Caleb put on a fresh white T-shirt, his 3/4-length shorts, and his NY Yankees cap—something he never went anywhere without—and was sneaking out of the room, unaware that Alex was pretending to be asleep while still concerned about him. Five minutes later, Alex put on a fresh khaki green polo and was ready to secretly follow Caleb. Before he left, he wrote a note for Ricky, who was in no condition to come with him or visit the Sphinx that day.

After managing to tail Caleb past the small town they had visited, Alex saw Caleb reach a mound of rocks in the middle of the desert through his binoculars

Caleb disappeared from view, so Alex made his way over there himself, determined to take care of his oldest and best friend, despite their supporting the two most bitterly rival teams in all of American sports. They had stuck together to make sure they went to the same college—NYU. Caleb made his way to the entrance with the danger tape across it. As he entered, he noticed a lot of torn and worn backpacks and sports shoes buried in the ever-shifting sand pile. “Maybe Alex is right. It looks like I’m not the only one who knows about this place,” he mused, spotting American college sports logos from all over, from the East Coast to the West Coast.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have a look now that I’m here, and Alex will be here soon enough,” he told himself, indicating he knew Alex had been tailing him all day. The stupid idiot forgot they had each other's location on their phone GPS just in case.

Caleb had walked for about five minutes and seemed to be going deeper underground. As he rounded a corner, he saw a golden glow illuminating the wall. “GOLD!” he yelled, starting to run, excited that maybe he would be covered in gold that day. When he finally entered the room from which the glow was originating, he kicked a medium-sized piece of rock halfway across the vast room. The rock clattered away until it suddenly stopped. Caleb, tending to a sore toe and keeping his head down, was suddenly engulfed by darkness as a dark shadow cast itself over him, blocking out some of the glowing light. He slowly lifted his head and saw a truly unbelievable and surreal sight: a man—no, a god—towering over him. The god was adorned with many golden decorations, including a glimmering golden mask of the sun covering his face.

“Who are you?” he asked nervously and softly, eyeing the god before him.

“YOU DARE DISTURB MY PLACE OF REST? YOU ARE ADDRESSING A GOD, MORTAL! BE MORE RESPECTFUL! I AM RA,” bellowed the god Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun—the most powerful god of them all, with the power to control the rays of the sun and manipulate the fiery star to his bidding.

“I’m so sorry, Sir! I don’t mean you any harm or disrespect!” Caleb replied, standing up, which only angered Ra even more.

“YOU ARE NOT TALKING TO A SIR! YOU ARE ADDRESSING A GOD! AND WHY ARE YOU NOT ON YOUR KNEES? MAYBE YOU NEED TO LEARN A LESSON ON HOW TO BE OF SERVICE TO ME FOR ETERNITY!” Ra roared at the now-knelt, scared, trembling Caleb, but it was too late for him to do anything to change the god's mind.

END OF PART 1.....

[mad3lyncline]

𝒀𝑶𝑼'𝑳𝑳 𝑩𝑬 𝑨𝑳𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑲𝑰𝑫 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺 – 𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 . starters taken from the 2024 album 'you'll be alright, kid' by alex warren . adjust pronouns as necessary !

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔

i'm homesick for somewhere that doesn't exist .

it's like you've been replaced by home video tapes .

sun goes up then the sun goes down .

your shadow gets longer on the ground .

and it's all for what , 'cause you're not around .

but i still hope i make you proud .

i'm running after something .

i'm trying to catch your ghost .

i'm holding onto pictures and the smell of your clothes .

feel you slipping through my fingers .

i know i'll never reach you but you're part of me , i can't let you go .

i just keep on chasing shadows of you .

i'm homesick for conversations i would avoid .

i miss the sound of your voice .

it's like you've been replaced by a tattoo of your name .

said goodbye , wasn't ready yet .

i only see you in this silhouette .

now there's nothing but a shadow left .

𝒚𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆

i put a sign on a telephone pole with the address below .

i wrote the time and i circled in bold 'everything must go' .

every perfect memory , stacked in boxes on the street .

take what's left of you and me .

all the love is gone .

i tried to call but you didn't call back .

come and get your things .

i thought about just striking a match .

it's hard to burn a memory .

i don't want them anymore 'cause it's just too hard .

let it all fall down .

every empty picture frame , all the shit that i tried to save .

name your price , you can have my pain .

i wish that i could wish you well .

i got no sympathy to sell .

i hope you're happy with yourself .

it's time to empty out the place i used to love – but now i hate .

𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒅

i wish i had the number to my younger self .

you've lost more than most people do .

you don't know it now , but there's still more to lose .

friends move away and people get older .

your heart's gonna break over and over .

you're not to blame , so don't blame yourself .

i hope this helps .

you're gonna ask why , you're gonna want answers .

you're gonna feel like no one ever understands .

hate to be the one to tell you this , but you'll be alright , kid .

i wish you knew the feeling wasn't permanent .

i wish you knew your brother would come back again .

time does heal , but don't heal everything .

you might care less about what they think .

stop trying to impress the people who leave .

it scares you to death , but don't take it hard .

growing up's not easy , but it's gonna get better .

you'll be alright , kid .

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 4 "sleepless" thoughts

i thought this episode sounded interesting! the plot was kinda: wasn't it fucked up when the vietnam war happened? and i was sitting here like, yeah, quite famously it was pretty fucked up. still, an interesting exploration into trauma and the american role of imperialism

the first thing i wrote was "a lot of people in this show fall asleep watching the tv but personally i have never done that". am i immune to the Curse or something?

so this guy who is a sleep doctor sees a fire and he calls the fire department right away, and everyone is evacuating, and we see a dude in the hallway with a suspicious smile and an even more suspicious scar across his neck. i am used to the episode structure by now, so i knew this was our mystery man of the week.

but the firemen get to the burning fellow's house and there is no fire! despite it looking so real to him that he actually burned to death... it's not there! well huh! must be our mystery man can psychically project fire

cutscene to mulder's place and it again looks like an entirely new set for his apartment. again, i ask, i'm not crazy, right?? can someone else confirm that this is an entirely different space than what we saw before?

(i hope we don't see scully in a new space as well- i thought her apartment was so cute in s1)

he gets a newspaper and a tape of the call dropped off at his door so he runs to skinner and begs with his big sad wet eyes to please let him take the case. and skinner is like maybe. but go transcribe a bunch of wiretaps first. so THAT is why he's always listening to weird stuff!

BUT WAIT! who enters our fair scene...? but a NEW CHARACTER? he is a guy who looks like he crawled out of a frat house where he majored in lacrosse and business... he introduces himself as alex and says that this is HIS case... mulder is PISSED he's all "i work alone >:(" but he can't shake the dude off... hmm.

(i recall seeing a post about people slash shipping mulder with a character in s2- i saw this post way before i started watching the show, so i only noted it in my passing interest of fandom history- and i'm wondering if this is the fellow they were referring to. in the same post i saw mulder in a speedo which i guess we'll get to in time)

scully's back at the academy!!! teaching another autopsy class! boy they must have a steady stream of bodies coming in for this. but an urgent call is coming from a "george hale" and she leaves class to go answer...

and it's mulder!!!!! he has a code name!!! he asks her to fly up to new york and do an autopsy and she's like "i'm in class til 4:30" and he's like "that's fine, we'll wrap it up for you and you can come up at 5!" and she sighs and. agrees.

now. again. this was shocking to me. mulder cannot have anyone else draw his blood or do an autopsy it HAS to be his friend scully. and she WILL get on a flight and do it. this is SICK and TWISTED how she will do anything for him.

mulder was being a real jerk to alex and alex said "i don't appreciate being ditched like a bad date" and to my shock and dismay i found myself agreeing with this new character... mulder WAS being unreasonable... i mean we knew he's been moody lately but this was downright hostile

(mulder walks in while scully puts an organ into a scale) "spleen or pancreas?" "stomach" <- LMAO his ass did NOT pass anatomy!

and they're all so smiley and happy to see each other when. scully sees this man behind him. and her smile fades SO fast.

(he tries to shake her hand but given that her hands are covered in stomach she wisely brushes him by. it may have seemed like a diss but i assume he doesn't want gore on his hands)

alex is GAGGING over the body (me too) so mulder gets realllllll close to scully to block out his amateur hour buffoonery...

(y'all need to not be that close and looking at each other in such a manner in front of a dead guy... or do it more for my sake)

she's whispering that it seems his body believed he burned to death despite there being no burns on him!

we see another guy with a same scar on his neck as the first!!! he knows the first guy and it seems initially that their reunion is wholesome... until preacher (scar man one) admits to killing the sleep doctor... and then things get... wild

"holy fuck", i mumbled to myself while also writing down the same phrase in my notes, as a blood soaked family appeared in the room, shooting the character we just met for his crimes. that escalated with an extreme quickness. it was clear that whatever traumas he had inflicted upon others in vietnam were being returned in equal measure via the psychic force of this preacher character

then we go back to mulder and alex, who i thought was handling mulder's hater energy quite well, all things considered. but little did i know what was to come...

so sleep doctor, the guy who just died, and preacher all knew each other... interesting... they were stationed at basic training together...

we get a visual on mulder's new source after deep throat's passing! he says he has no desire to be there, and that their mutual friend deep throat died for what he believed in, which he does not want to do. which is of course totally fair. at the end of the day the FBI is just a paycheck for some of these folks.

the sleep doctor was revealed to be doing experiments to make super advanced soldiers who don't need sleep so maybe that gives you the power to kill people magically. we can't really rule it out.

preacher then makes two cops kill EACH OTHER with his sorcery

back to scully cam <3 she's got her glasses on at the computer <3 she's got little yellow earrings in that look like flowers <3 and she thinks its so cool that they cut part of this guy's brain out and now he hasn't slept in 24 years... nerd

they're on the phone with each other and it is SO SAD because why. why can't they just be together! it's not fair. she says it sounds like his new partner is working out and he's like yeah he's okay...

"must be nice to not have someone poking holes in all your theories" "yeah, no idea how i put up with you for so long" and they're smiling into the phone while saying this

now, i won't lie. this scene, of all the scenes, was the first to bring tears to my eyes in the course of my streaming this show. because now we have seen what they'll do for each other and they're TAUNTING me by dangling it in front of my face. and i cannot stand it. i feel sick at the thought.

anyway back to mulder and his new partner. who i feel is too good to be true because he's willing to believe spooky mulder's theories. but they found another guy who also had the sleep surgery and he tells them that they went on a rampage committing atrocities in vietnam which was. very heavy for the alien show. but it is something that americans often pretend just didn't happen so i thought it was interesting that the idea of accountability was being explored in fiction.

so there's one more guy involved with the sleep surgery, and he's coming into town, so alex and mulder have to sprint down to the station and try and find him. they're really giving it a sprint, too. mulder is a track star. don't think i've forgotten

and mulder does see the guy they're looking for but preacher is behind him and shoots mulder! he falls to the ground! no, i yelled to my screen! not another bullet in mulder!

... but he gets up. the whole thing was a trick of preacher! it never actually happened!

alex is like dude wtf. and this is where he says "i want to believe" and this where i made the very astute note "i don't trust this guy, sorry"

so finally they find preacher still alive, and mulder tells alex to help out his victim, while mulder runs off to find him. mulder sees how much pain he is in, and tells him that maybe his pain can lessen if he testifies about what was done to him, and it seems they've come to an understanding...

until alex enters, pulls his gun up, so preacher also pulls his gun up, and alex and shoots him! preacher is dead

mulder looks deeply upset by this. he tells alex that he did the right thing, but you can tell he doesn't believe it in the slightest. i would venture to guess that this is when all the trust he had begun to place in alex vanishes. he seems entirely deflated at the unnecessary loss of life.

he goes back to the car and notices someone stole the secret files that his informant gave him, and he punches the car. this is simply too many L's for one day, and i sympathize.

but scully's freaking out too, because her office was broken into and all her stuff looked through! so what in the name of hell is going on here?!?!? ah, i realize, it is this alex fool... "i know ur related somehow" i wrote ominously in my quotes

and boy, i was right! the narrative the writers were going for was not lost on me! because remember skinner's old sidekick the cigarette guy? and how they had a sort of breakup moment? well, alex is reporting to him, and they have the file he stole from mulder!!!!!

alex says that scully is a "big problem" to which i say: keep talking like that, you overgrown varsity jock, and you're gonna have a big problem with my fucking hands catching your throat

anyway, interesting episode. i didn't want to like alex and then i did because i felt bad for him for being subjected to mulder's attitude and then i hated his guts by the end and reluctantly admitted to myself that mulder's crankiness was justified. i hope he won't stick around for long but i have a feeling he will.

also, they need to stop taunting me by dangling a real mulder and scully reunion in front of my head and then ripping it away. i had TEARS! in my eyeballs! i was sighing wistfully! it was sick!!!!!! this is my free time i'm spending here pining after these fools! it's me, the fan, asking for fan service!!!

[mystery-airhead]

Thoughts about the first episode of Project Ghostlight, in no particular order (Wrote them down as I was watching)

Spoilers below the cut!

-like I said before, it was very fast paced and chaotic in the beginning, bit understandable considering what they were doing

-not Eddie cosplaying as a security guard

-the gas station snacks they can't eat aww

-"is he hot?" When they are delivering the briefcase to Robert is so real lmao

-Jade is so cute

-So they're all thinbloods? That's so cool :D

-I loved the way Alex described the view of the night sky in the point of view of the characters, and the melancholic feeling of everything being different because they're dead but still conscious

-"Bring Moisterizer for Robert!" LMAO

-The running gag of Jade's "special eyes" was so funny

-I'm glad they've all decided to give Jade a chance despite their misgivings

- Jade is so so cute btw omg

-"You can't psycho-babble me" "but she is" clocked

-Katie the den mother, okay

-Was Eddie implying he could teach Katie to use TB Alchemy so she can drink her >sugar-free< Red Bull?

-Does Jade have Twilight Presence or is she just Like That?

-"If you dent my car I'll shoot you" so real

-"Katie's getting groceries" why are these characters so funny bro

-I'm wondering if all of them have the discipline affinity merit? And at least two have the thin-blood alchemy one, interesting!

-Jade is so insane I love her

-The scene when they go back to recover the tape- so tense!

- Eddie forgetting that he had ski masks... Bro

-Who gave this child a gun?

- Alex mixing up the old and new powers of Obfuscate is so me

-Assault of a police officer :0 at least he's not dead?

-ANOTHER COP NO

-Eddie trying to use his Beautiful merit on the cop 😭

- "PARKOUR!!!"

-Why does the guy playing Eddie always have something bad happen to him immediately lmao

-At least it seems that they've recovered the tape and covered their asses? Maybe?

-This was such a fun and wild watch, I can't wait to see the next episode!!

[forgottenporkbun]

my mh OC('s?)

so im gonna start off explaining more about Kai before i get into his masked version because it'll make more sense :) @doorknobhater

So Kai is just a silly guy, pretty typical life, until in college he started having these strange vivid dreams including people he had never met. Eventually one takes place in the classroom where Alex Kralie is doing tryouts. After class the next day he goes there and ends up trying out and making it into the student film (uh oh). Kai acts in the film until eventually Kralie disappears. He still has these vivid dreams that all happen to come true- visions in a way. He graduates college and tries to move on, still feeling as if something more sinister is going on behind the scenes. He runs into Jay years later- not realising who he was but noting he looked familiar. Kai ends up talking to him and Jay asks if he happened to have any old tapes from Alex (which totally wasn't suspicious in the slightest). Kai does in fact have some and the series progresses from there (these tapes were just most of the footage Kai was in. Some of them were unwatchable due to problems with the footage). In those years after Alex's disappearance (before Kai reunited with Jay) Kai wrote down all his dreams in a journal, kept under lock and key (hence why he wears a key necklace). As the series goes on he writes more down and gets increasingly paranoid about them- seeing his friends get hurt or even die in these dreams/visions. However, because he has this information he is able to change the course of events (i do have an AU that's basically a bad ending where Kai fails to change anything and he ends up moving far from Alabama, changes numbers, and destroys his camera and any tapes that were left). Does no one die? Yeah, other than Kralie but I haven't really thought much on that.

Now we get to his masked version. Originally he wasnt meant to have one- but i caved. His masked version is a completely different AU version of him that isn't connected to my 'main au' i just talked about. In this universe, instead of getting directly involved and talking to Jay, Kai lets his social anxiety get the best of him (this is a joke btw- that's not actually the reason) and walks past him before later having a dream telling him he fucked up. What ACTUALLY happened was him finding the Marble Hornets Youtube channel and realising "oh fuck that's what my dreams are about i need to do something about this" but he doesn't get directly involved. Instead, he puts on a mask for the sake of anonymity and does everything he can to make sure Jay doesn't get his ass killed and that Alex doesn't kill anyone. Also, Kai's masked persona is nicknames Dahlia because of the black dahlia flower and what it symbolises (idk i came up with it on 2 hours of sleep). Also in this AU Dahlia communicates in ASL (part of me just did it as an excuse to learn asl). Dahlia is just selectively mute or something- i never really thought much about it. It's also just kind of a problem because i don't think Jay or Tim would know ASL (maybe a little bit but not much), so if Dahlia were to try and communicate it would just be a whole mess. Giving Dahlie all the struggles and angst ever because why not? Dahlia does not work with Totheark btw, he just kinda does his own thing and avoids coming in direct contact with Jay or Tim (would and has probably jumped Alex before). Ends up running into them though and they think Dahlia's trying to screw everything up for them when really he's trying to help. He probably eventually starts working with them and then series ends or something. He either disappears and then contacts them as Kai asking to catch up, or reveals himself and then yippee happy ending. Somewhere in this all Jay breaks into his house (which Dahlia pretty much abandoned due to the situation) and probably finds some hints that let him know that Kai and Dahlia are the same person OR maybe Jay finds his locked notebook (which Dahlia has to steal back).

but just so you know, i could go on another whole ass rant about the BAD endings to these Aus (the multiple bad endings more like) because i love torturing my oc's /aff. If you have any questions ask away! I'll post Dahlia's design soon because he's fun to draw :3

[loveofmyknife]

D20:NSBU Finale liveblog (all in one post for your convenience)

Spoilers. Obviously

Love that the bomb is just on the table

What the fuck would have happened if Liv had eaten the bomb?

The fact that they need it to explode is very on brand for this season

Yes Izzy Nat 20! Everyone gets to do something they want and also nut!

So Alex had the opportunity to do anything and have it work, and just chose to get their avatar a job in politics. No notes, I love it

Wendell is canonically a pleasure dom??? Wendell??? That boy literally just learned to stand up for himself

Rehkha was PREPARED for that nat 20, and she was extremely effective

Hell yeah Doug Meat for president!

Brennan is just throwing shit now, the chaos is palpable

Everyone on the post-production team rules, from the captions people who wrote (grunts like a hard motherfucker) to the graphics people who actually rolled the tape back and kept it on theme

I like the movie budget running out as a way to canonize how wild this all is

Telling the whole world they’re in a movie is wild and probably detrimental to the story. It is, however, very entertaining

So excited to see Wildcard in action

All the wildcards in a row, just absolutely nuts

Not Doug! He just became president!

Yes! Wendell and Liv are finally kissing while they’re not both in the bodies of extremely buff bald men!

I love the range of happy endings from finding love and familial acceptance to reasonable secondary education opportunities

It was actually under his chair?!?? God that’s great!

[restlesschilled]

TMagP 15 Reaction

Note: As Always, I am a backer so this was written 7 May, 2024 and scheduled to be posted on 9 May, 2024

PRE STATEMENT: BREAK ROOM

Sam you absolute dork

this is exactly the kinda charm I dig

the pillowman hmm iom not familiar

i looked up the summary AND JESUS FUCK SAM

why did Alice sound like Alex for a minute

"its a good place to canoodel"

ALICE PLUGGING HER BROTHERS BAND AHAHAHA

ALICE FORGETTING BABIES EXIST

" a baby. human."

"babies are cool"

"what? i said babies are cool"

STATEMENT

"wanting to know whos kill they were eating" uh oh

its giving most dangerous game

oh no are they gonna hunt the caterers?

maybe its just because the woman on the voicemail had a welsh accent but im getting daisy vibes

"When you're lookin' down the barrel of a gun (Down the gun) And the barrel looks right back at you demurely (Demurely)"

oh fuck

OH FUCK

LADY MOWBRAY??????

POST STATEMENT (HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT)

WHAT WHAT WHAT????

WHAT IS HAPPENING

WAS THAT A THREAT?

CELIA GET OUT OF THERE BABE

LUKES BAND

okay but this does kinda slap though

oooo i like the club music

SHIT LUKE IS HOT??

WEEDY GIT LOL

ALLEYWAY (OH NO OH NO OH NOO)

WHY IS IT A TAPE RECORDER, WHY IS IT A TAPE RECORDER??

WHAT IS HAPPENING

WHO IS THIS

do pick up the tape recorder

WHAT

THE

FUCK

WAS

THAT

credits

oh course fucking alex wrote this episode

...what the fuck am i supposed to do with that

[robertfripp]

"In June 1972, [Robert] Fripp finished an album with Wiccan journalist Walli Elmlark. Very little is known about Elmlark - known as the White Witch of New York - who taught at the New York School of Occult Arts and Science and wrote for Circus magazine."

"The album with Elmlark was called The Cosmic Children... On side two, she talks to DJ Jeff Dexter about cosmic children - spirits from other places who take physical forms such as Hendrix, Bolan, Bowie and Mike Gibbons, drummer with Badfinger. Talking to NME's Simon Stable, Fripp said: "The function of the album is to reach out to the children like the drummer from Badfinger, I want to say: 'You're not nutty, you're not a freak because you can't relate to what's around you.'"

"To date, not only does The Cosmic Children remain unreleased but, in his extensive rummaging through the boxes of tapes at DGM, Alex Munday has yet to turn up anything remotely resembling the album."

~ From In the Court of King Crimson by Sid Smith

Photograph by Jeff Goodman - Fripp is with Tim Beckley, a UFO conspiracy theorist, during a skywatch for UFOs on the roof of Walli Elmlark's apartment building in Central Park.