#Also for the record I do like her design it's just one of the weaker ones I've received for this bingo whoops

[homestuckreplay]

radiation poisoning from my libertarian grandpa :(

(page 779-791)

A few days of updates here! I was kinda mad about the Fruit Update on the 18th. I like captchalogue mechanics, it’s fun to see how all the different modi work and the different situations characters can get into when the modi go wrong. But a five page update of just picking up fruit was too much for me. I simply could not find an interesting thing to say about that.

But now we’ve seen more of Jade’s house, and it’s… a lot. Her atrium having four wings might be relevant later, but doesn’t mean much yet – same with the beautiful pink and yellow clouds outside. Her real instrument looks like a bass guitar (due to its four strings). A trend I noticed before of the kids’ rooms getting messier and houses and lives getting weirder with each successive introduction definitely peaks here. Jade’s room is littered with plushies, plants, guns and uranium, and her grandfather might be the strangest of the four guardians, stranger than a business clown, a ventriloquist rapper, or a woman who builds a cat mausoleum with a secret passage.

Jade’s grandfather is a ‘WORLD RENOWNED EXPLORER-NATURALIST-TREASURE HUNTER-ARCHEOLOGIST-SCIENTIST-ADVENTURER-BIG GAME HUNTER-BILLIONAIRE EXTRAORDINAIRE’ (p.790) which doesn’t paint a great picture to me. That description suggests a man whose quest for personal glory eclipses any regard for other cultures, the environment, health and safety guidelines, or anyone ‘weaker’ than he is. He probably ‘discovered’ the frog statue island we see in WV: Ascend and took it as a trophy, raising his family there even if that’s not the best thing for the island ecosystem or his granddaughter’s life and health.

Jade’s bed and her two closets (below and inside her room) are all topped with strange reddish orbs on spires. It could be coincidence – there’s only so many shapes – but they remind me of the orb spires the kernelsprites land in after hatching (p.424), and as such, could have some connection to her strange powers. Jade’s other contraptions, gadgets and gizmos are a mystery to me – I know the window is a Problem Sleuth reference, but for the photoshopped in devices, I can barely begin to speculate. I do think that given the sciences of appearification, transportalization, alchemy, sylladices and strife specibi, these probably don’t have the same in-universe applications as their real world references. Physics simply works differently in the world of Homestuck, and I’m trying to make fewer assumptions about the world’s fundamentals (beyond gravity, which we’ve witnessed often).

Jade has been so associated with prognostication and esoteric knowledge that finding out she is also a nuclear physicist, a very different type of knowledge, was such a moment of characterization whiplash that puts her at both extremes of the science-religion dichotomy.

The uranium nuggets in Jade’s room, and recurring atomic symbol on her contraptions matching the bunker’s fuel gauge, are more connections between her and WV. But her room contains nods to all her friends, too. Her Slimer poster and magic chest are obvious John references. Her Squiddles poster and plushes are something Rose likes enough to put on a shirt, really hurting her dark eldritch aesthetic, and the anthropomorphic Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff art is signed TO: GG FROM: TG (he even drew his stupid record symbol). Worse, the Manthro Chaps Jade collects are definitely part of the Smuppets line of products; their design is so similar.

A becquerel is the standard unit of radioactive decay per second, and luckily for Jade, one becquerel is not harmful to human health – in fact, human bodies are constantly undergoing several thousand Bq of radioactive decay (even the skeleton has its own radioactive isotopes). I wonder if this is Jade’s cute name for her pet because she loves science, or if this creature has been mutated by Jade or her grandfather’s experimentation, and got the name that way. It could explain why Dave calls Bec a ‘devilbeast’ (p.382) and thinks he should be shot. (Seeing Jade’s gun collection also makes this line feel way too real).

JADE SHIRT DESIGNS TALLY: Atom, Leaf, Pumpkin, Slimer, Spirograph, Squiddle, Creature

> Jade: Engineer a glass case for your URANIUM and store it outside.

[hyperray]

Hazbin Hotel episode 1 Review

Now that the first two episodes have been released, I intend to make a review post pointing out what I find negative and positive about them. Now, truth be told, I'm kinda expecting the show to flip because of how Viv is mismaneging the whole thing with the prodution to her socials, but I don't want to be biased and have my perspective completely be compromised by my dissapointment and rage, so I hope this review will shine a new perspective on the episodes for critics like me to enjoy them more, and by the time of this writing I haven't watched episode two yet so to not base my judgement of future context, but I'll bring up context from past episodes to future ones, let's begin. Negatives: -Sooo, does God exist, or are there just these Elders who I'm assuming are the equivalent of archangels? Even if this is a book with left out parts Charlie might be reading, I don't see why discluding God from the story would change anything, though I have a theory on that later. -In the shot where the sad Lucifer looks at the angels surrounding Earth only Sera has her own stand out design. I think this implies that we won't be given focus on any other angels of her level besides Emily, so that's a bummer. -"Equals as the first of mankind, but despite this, Adam demanded control and Lilith refused to submit to his will" Okay so I'm getting this; If Lilith is fabricating a lot through this book, or maybe written by someone else who isn't including the 'whole' story, then Lilith might have been the victim of this situation and Adam is a typical male bigot and the female the hero against the male's tyranny and she did nothing wrong, which is tiring to accept. -If Lucifer did give Eve the apple of knowlege purely out of good will, then he and Lilith are dumb. Surely he must've forseen the consequences of what Heaven might do to him and Lilith for this rebellion as well the dangerous road humanity would take from that point, right? -Also, Lucifer isn't an angel the level of Michael here, he is just some random middling angel? Well that makes it all really dissapointing. He is supposed to be the peak of Hell's might, and if he is that weak by default then he and Hell shouldn't be that of a threat, logically, but also they'll likely be a threat which doesn't make much sense. He is much weaker than the higher up angels yet somehow accumilated power to rival them, through what? Aren't Heaven's and Hell's magic basically the only source of power anyone can siphon from in this universe, or is there another power system to draw from? -"Never allowed to see the good from humanity" okay that's highly unbelievable. Lower demons can access the human realm, so wouldn't he at least hear or see some recordings about what humanity has achieved? And it's extremely hypocritical since Hell and it's demons largely contribute to the human's pain and suffering, which fuels my willingness to believe this story isn't entirely written truthful.

[ideahat-universe]

Surreal, but not incomprehensible.

A lot of people are getting into ENA and seem to really enjoy it, which is GREAT. But what I don't like to see from people is the Single Core processing that takes place with understanding ENA.

I can't even tell you which one is worse, so I'll just list all the bad takes.

How many drugs did the artist take?: None, for the artistic process. This is a correlation fallacy. Artists are sometimes suffering with mental illness or stressors due to a variety of different factors, and take drugs to cope with those factors.

But they typically do not use these drugs to tap into the creative part of their mind.

Really think about it. Imagine you spent years honing your craft and seriously creating a unique style for yourself, only for people to think that the key to your success isn't hard work. It's narcotic usage.

I need to observe this high: This is as bad as the previous one. For starters. We have a drug addiction problem. Please stop passively promoting it by suggesting that what you or anyone else should be doing is consuming mind-altering drugs for the sake of watching a cartoon.

Weed smokers, I'm looking you straight in the eyes with this one. Smoking weed impairs cognitive functions. It slows your ability to process things and shortens your memory capability.

Humor is often dependent on the element of surprise as well as sharp timing with gags. If you are constantly high on cannabis, you are processing at an extremely slow speed, which means comedy at a moderate pace is much funnier and absurdist jokes hit harder because your comprehension is weaker.

If you need to be high to enjoy something, you're basically insulting it because when high, you have lower standards.

ENA makes no sense. It just vibes: NO, NO NO, Common mistake, but sad mistake. Just because you can't understand everything in ENA doesn't mean that the ENA series is entirely incomprehensible. We can't speak about the full plot of Dream BBQ because we have to see the future chapters, but the story of all the other ENA episodes are straight forward.

Auction Day: ENA visits an auction, and it's a real auction (also the auction day shows up at the end of Dream BBQ with much of the same characters).

Extinction Party: is ENA going to a party (that she technically wasn't invited to) just so she can give a compliment to her friend Moony.

Temptation Stairway: Moony and ENA race to get a seemingly magical wish granted.

Power of Potluck: ENA misunderstands the directive of ding-dong ditching as a way of having fun, with the idea of just having fun in general.

None of that required Matpat to make a three parter video essay or a Video Essayist to make a 5-hour break-down, and it didn't require a content creator sitting down to dissect every musical note used in every scene in ENA to figure out what the plot of a given ENA episode is.

It's all the little things that don't make sense. We don't know if it's taking place in a digital world or in some afterlife/purgatory or some strange combination of those two. We don't understand the design ethos of most if not all characters. Furthermore, we don't understand why they talk the way that they do, and we don't understand various little things like doors, genies, blood IDs, Mannequins, or even ENA as an entity.

Or do we?

ENA's universe just is. There is no bread crumb trail, there is no lore dump in the form of various audio recordings. (well, there are audio recordings, but it's not exactly a lore dump) there is no fish out of water or a newbie to have the world explained to them. Everyone in the ENA series understands their universe to such an extent that nothing needs to be explained, even though so much of it doesn't make clear sense.

It is like going to a foreign country and trying to figure out what people are doing when you don't understand anything about them. Which is funny because half the cast of ENA speak a variety of different languages that are all understood by every other character but is not understood by the audience across the board.

There is consistency in the madness of ENA's world (or worlds, as the case may be)

For instance;

Blood ID, seems like a strange thing. Is it actual blood? Not sure, but blood can be used to identify people in real life, and it functions that way in game as well. In Extinction Party, ENA is expected to offer a blood sample to enter the party. In Temptation Stairway The Shepard gives ENA a blood ID to pass inspection in a future area and sure enough Mariya checks the ID and recognizes that it's not ENA's blood. It's someone else's identification. Blood is needed to attend the Purge event, and bus stops in Uncanny Streets require a blood ID to use.

It really is just identification.

Doors have been a consistent feature since Extinction Party. Light blue buildings or objects that can take a person to a different realm.

Doors require an owner to govern it. Temptation Stairway explicitly shows off the realm of the Great Runas who governs their door, Ulysses says that the door is fully closed. What is the door? The light blue mannequin that Runas, ENA, and apparently Moony traveled through.

At the end of Dream BBQ, the Uncanny Streets takes on a very pale and gray aesthetic with most characters and creatures replaced with talking gravestones. This environment matches the look and has a similar sound to Auction Day.

In the grayed out, Uncanny Streets, you can find the phone number of the Auctioneer who was selling the Hourglass dog in Auction Day.

With this it can be assumed that Auction Day is not a singular realm but the result of a realm being sold off.

The currency? Chocolates. Chocolate coins have been the currency of this universe since the Auction Day video, and comes up again in Dream BBQ.

Speaking of something not being singular.

There are many, many mannequins in the worlds of ENA, and they vary between moving around and seemingly having sentience to being lifeless dolls littering the environment.

Temptation Stairway shows that there's a link between the mannequins and ENA, and Dream BBQ shows ENA becoming a mannequin to escape the remnants of Uncanny Streets and warps to the mannequin seemingly placed in the hub world strategically.

Season 1 ENA and Season 2 ENA are seemingly different people, with the witches referring to the motherboard item as a gift another ENA gave her and Kane referring to a group of ENA's.

Additionally, in Temptation Stairway, the Shepard refers to ENA as if they were a group and the NO ENA sign at the crowd door is there to forbid any iteration of ENA from entering the realm.

There are multiple ENA's? Where are they? If the Shaman is anything to go by, they are inactive. Multiple instances of the same person can create a disorientating effect, where the thoughts of one are transferred into another person. A theory that ENA asserts as true by saying it along with him in synch as if it was common knowledge, even though the Shaman's words and actions are treated as spurious and bizarre.

The Shaman uses the pool to duplicate a perfect clone of himself and ENA can do the same or alter the form based on a variable we haven't discovered quite yet, but we know that all ENA's are essentially Mannequins possessed by whatever ENA truly is.

There are many mysteries to ENA's worlds, but it's worth considering that most things are just visual and auditory gags, and that a lot of designs are based on mythology, culture, and occasionally random internet references. Sometimes very obscure ones.

This lends to the absurd and surreal nature of the series design, but it's not incoherent. This is not Dadaism.

What baffles me the most is how pervasive this idea that ENA is untouchable when it comes to being understood, that most people don't even try. Where is the Night mind videos breaking down the world of Joel G? Why is there only a GT Live of ENA, even though far less popular games and shows have earned a game theory (or film theory) spotlight?

Why are there channels dedicated to dissecting the plot of Deltarune, even though Deltarune is not a mystery and will not have multiple endings to dissect?

Why are there still people trying to figure out the plot of FNaF even though it's been demonstrably thrown together and ret conned seven hundred thousand times and in all iterations of the story it's just bad man kills children?

ENA is way more consistent than FNaF. And maybe this is like asking for the Monkey's Paw to curl, but again, I think it's insulting to look at ENA and just shrug at how weird it is and only define it as "that crazy weird series that no one understands." But then turn around and make a multitude of videos covering a random ARG where the plot is that a demon is killing people and treat something very straight forward as if it were a complex mystery waiting to be thoroughly solved?

This is exactly what drove David Lynch crazy when he was making Twin Peaks. Make something that requires effort to understand. Everyone writes it off as a quirky, drug infused nightmare that you need to watch while high. Meanwhile, the bland, straight forward serial murder mystery is slurped up like so much creamed corn in a can.

I'm not asking people to roll around in cold sweats at 2:00 AM, wondering who Unforgiven Frank is. I just think something this well put together series deserves actual reverence and shouldn't be mined for Wacky Zacky internet thumbnails.

[hiyapandanurse]

Heres a tier list of the Beatles' american albums, followed by reviews of each:

Introducing the Beatles/The Early Beatles

- Just abridged versions of a solid, vital album (Please Please Me).

- The former has a gay ass cover (good). The latter is not interesting.

Meet the Beatles

- Have a soft spot for this, have had a copy of it since I was 9. A lot of their best 1963 material, especially on side 1.

- The placement of I Want to Hold Your Hand as the first track, with two UK album openers also on side 1 is an awkward choice that deprives the album of balance. I Want To Hold Your Hand feels like a side 2 opener. But it was a their mega hit at the time, I see how it happened that way.

- The inclusion of I Saw Her Standing There as the only Please Please Me track feels awkward, but I don't know if I would've noticed much of a difference in style if I wasn't familiar with the U.K. albums.

- Cover is a less tasteful downgrade of With the Beatles'. But it is interesting to see as a comparison between countries in terms of marketing, and a product of its time.

The Beatles Second Album

-No it wasn't.

- Definitely one of the most disjointed albums in terms of sources, but the emphasis on covers/rockers works if ur into that Beatles style.

- Track listing isnt terrible but misguided in places (Money should close one of the sides, but You Can't Do That does work as a closer; if anything theres too many closer-worthy tracks, the opposite of Meet the Beatles).

- Cover is honestly pretty cool.

A Hard Day's Night

- Who wants the orchestral music? I'm sorry George Martin but no one needs this.

- Track listing doesn't flow well with or without the orchestral songs. At least each side ends with one of them so you can easily skip them if you like.

- Only of use to collectors, total nerds, and those who grew up with it. All respect to them.

- Cover is so boring compared to its U.K. counterpart.

Something New

- Has a significant portion of the A Hard Day's Night soundtrack's songs, which was released by United Artists and not Capitol. This LP is preferable in terms of overall content. Yet it doesn't have all of the songs from the soundttack, so American fans needed to buy both if they wanted to hear all of their output. Terrible bang for your buck.

- Track listing is not good. I'll Cry Instead is the ALBUM OPENER? If I Fell feels weird as a penultimate track.

- Honestly I have no issue with Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand. I think its a fun bonus track of sorts.

- Cover is fine I guess. Its mostly text on a black background.

Beatles '65

- This was recorded and released in 1964. What is this, a car?

- Mostly Beatles for Sale material, with some of its sequencing intact. Less heavy on covers than its U.K. counterpart. I might say its better track per track.

- Mostly good sequencing. I'll Be Back feels more appropriate as either the final track on side 1 or the penultimate track on side 2. Otherwise no issues.

- I Feel Fine is probably the most notorious remastering or remix of the Beatles for the American market. Its still enjoyable but is a downgrade.

- No redundancy on this one.

- The cover shouldve just been the main picture, the random four panel design is weird.

Beatles VI

- Again, stop doing the numberical naming, its messy.

- I like the sequencing on side 1. Side 2's is terrible. You're ending the fucking album with Every Little Thing?? Dizzy Miss Lizzy is RIGHT THERE in the MIDDLE of the side.

- There are some brillant songs here but the overall selection leans towards their weaker material at the time.

- Never thought too much of Bad Boy. Interesting that it was a U.S. exclusive.

- Cover sucks. The cropped out the knife and cake, which still looks corny as hell but isnt as confusing as the final product. It just looks like theyre doing a gay (derogatory) little hand hold.

Help!

- A fucking soundtrack album again.

- Starting the album off with the James Bond theme isnt necessary.

- The fact that Another Hard Day's Night wouldve been the first exposure to Hindustani classical music for many young people is pretty cool. I am also under the impression that George Harrison's fascination began on the set of Help!

- Track listing excluding the instrumentals isn't bad.

- Much like Meet the Beatles, the cover is a tacky version of its counterpart's.

Rubber Soul

- Widely considered one of if not the best U.S. album because of its stylistic cohesion.

- Mostly material, as one may expect, from Rubber Soul, a great album. Retains most of its sequencing, though I've Just Seen a Face isn't the most natural opener. Really doesn't have a strong opener amongst the track listing.

- Cover is as great as the U.K. counterpart's.

Yesterday and Today

- A lot of Lennon's best songs.

- Two Ringo songs! I am neutral about this.

- Overall great set of songs. The Revolver tracks stick out a bit in terms of style. Not an especially cohesive album.

- The cluster of Lennon songs on side 1 isnt a detriment to the listening experience, but could be spread out more.

- Some misguided sequencing in general. Doctor Robert could work better on side 2, We Can Work It Out could've closed side 1. If I Needed Someone and What Goes On could be switched.

- Original cover is a favorite of mine. Not surprised it got backlash. New cover is bland and kinda sad looking.

Revolver

- The U.K. version is one of my favorite albums ever. The material here is incredibly strong. It is a downgrade because of the tracks we're missing.

- A very McCartney and Harrison dominated experience. Not a a bad thing, even if I think Lennon is an especially considerable force on the U.K. counterpart.

- Sequencing is pretty great even the omissions.

- The cover is one of my favorites ever.

Magical Mystery Tour

- Rightfully became a part of the official cannon. A very convinent release for album-centric listeners.

- Some of their best material, especially side 2.

- Sequencing is great, no complaints. Side 1 is a big improvement on the U.K. double EP.

- Big gatefold booklet on the original vinyl issue.

- I may be more of a fan of this cover than the double EP. I like the orange.

Hey Jude

- What a wildly lopsided set of tracks.

- The inclusion of some old tracks but exlusion of others is baffling. Could've made more sense with more tracks from different eras. The two pre-66 cuts were available on the UA A Hard Day's Night soundtrack, while some other songs (I'm Down, for example) had yet to be released on an American LP by any record company.

- Despite the disjointed nature, every song here slaps.

- The chronological sequencing helps the 64 tracks feel less jarring. It also produces a generally great flow. I do think Hey Jude could have better served as an album closer (though it does deserve the superior bass frequencies of the outer grooves moreso than other tracks). Revolution wouldve been a great side 2 opener.

- Cover is good, aesthetically pleasing, simple. Reasonable composition and framing.

[ultraericthered]

If you want to make a good point, don't lead with fighting words.

And this is not a bad or entirely inaccurate post, but there are points in it where I find the statements and sentiments to be a bit fallacious.

The film even introduces a facet of Magnifico’s backstory that implies he has personal experience with the grief of losing a dream (in the destruction of his home), but that thread is never touched on again.

It actually is touched on again briefly in the scene where he's tempted to open the cursed dark magic tome but his wife talks him out of doing so. The fact that he goes and opens it up later when his wife's not looking I think suggests that Magnifico's tragic past never really meant as much to him as he tried to rationalize to himself and to others that it did. Magnifico was shaped by his past, but does not really dwell on it or even on his future - only his present and how to keep its status quo upheld. He's a man who lives only in the moment and has limited perception of anything greater or worth more than what he has and always gets in his comfy, luxurious royal lifestyle.

When this request is denied and she loses the opportunity to be his apprentice, she deems Magnifico’s judgement unfair & thus begins her journey to free the dreams of Rosas’ people.

This leaves out a crucial part of what really set Magnifico off at Asha and made him act so cruel and spiteful towards her afterwards: Asha questioned his decision to keep all the wishes stored away, including those he knows damn well he will never grant, and never simply return them to the people who entrusted him with them to start with. She believed that even if not everyone can have their wishes granted by magic, everyone deserves to have wishes to try and realize on their own, without any one person being the decider of that. Since Magnifico is defined by his God Complex that permeates his inflated self-image, this questioning pissed him off and so he marked Asha as a foe rather than a friend. What followed was entirely his own fault.

He's not a good guy, but I'd argue he's not outright evil. He's just got the makings of a good villain, and those spikes of volatility do give us a foundation to work off of as he spirals, but as we’ll discuss in a bit, the foreshadowing established here isn’t used to the ends it implies.

I do agree here and believe this was the intention. I've made the Gaston comparison before and all that. And I will also agree that yes, what's established for the character in Act 1 was NOT used to the ends that were implied, and that's one of the notable weaknesses in the film and the character of King Magnifico that we ended up with.

While I was watching this film, I was sure Magnifico was going to be a redeemable villain

Because this dichotomy isn’t present, and Magnifico—who should be redeemable—isn’t, the film is so much weaker than it could’ve been.

All in all, Magnifico's introduction paved a road to redemption that the rest of the film aggressively refused to deliver on, instead doubling down on weaker motivations that seem to appear out of thin air.

OK, you mention Magnifico's supposed redeemability in all these sentences and I have to make this known: the filmmakers have gone on record that at no point of production and in no draft of the script was there ever any redemption set for Magnifico. He was designed specifically to be the villain through and through. The issue is that the initial vision of him was more akin to Ramses from Dreamworks' The Prince of Egypt; a sympathetic, humanized character who devolves into a proud, wrathful tyrant and ultimately an irredeemable monster who brings his tragic fate upon himself (and he also had a villainous partner in marriage like the Ramses in The Ten Commandments). But this vision changed into a more traditionally maniacal, silly, hammy, power-hungry Disney villain who, while still fairly humanized, had little to no redeemable qualities. Which is fine except for the fact that Act 1 still has signs of the sympathetic depiction of earlier drafts.

but the way Magnifico becomes the “true” villain and his motivations for doing so are strangely divorced from what we’re shown in Act I.  

Unfortunately very true. Many have said it, and I cannot deny it. And had his earlier character beliefs, motivations, and relationships been better developed and executed, it would not have been the case.

I think feeling under-appreciated is actually a very strong motivation for Magnifico as a character-turning-villain, and it works very well. It’s justified based on what we’ve seen on screen so far: he feels under-appreciated (even though he’s decidedly not—the town adores him), he snaps and acts irrationally under stress (as seen with his outburst with Asha), and he’s frustrated that people seem to want more from him (again, as seen with his conversation with Asha in Act I).

And this is where the Lysandre comparisons start to come to me. Looks at others as thieves, parasites, and ingrateful brats who are bad for the place he wants to protect, but with the extremes he goes to, he becomes all of those things far more than anyone else.

But what does it stand for in the context of the narrative's structure? A quick path to power?

Yeah. It's a magical steroid or bottle of alcohol. It will empower you but also curse you and drive you into unfiltered madness with urges to do darker deeds than you might normally do, but it holds no power to do that on its own when its shut. Its user has the choice whether or not to utilize it, and Magnifico willfully makes the choice to do so.

This decision could make sense; it contains powerful magic, and if it were framed in such a way that the people of Rosas were losing faith in Magnifico’s magic, as if what he can do might not be enough anymore after what they felt from Star, going for the book that we know contains spells that go above and beyond what he can already do would be logical. Along the lines of, “If they’re not happy with what I do for them, fine. I, ever the “martyr”, will do the unthinkable for you, because you want more.” It would keeps with the idea that Magnifico believes he's still trying to help people, but his motivation has taken his self-imposed pity party and turned it into resentment and spite.

See, my thoughts on this turn was that it would make the most sense if Magnifico rationalized that he'd been too soft on his subjects for all these years and might've unwittingly spoiled them to the point of making them more entitled, demanding, and ungrateful to him. So he opens the book knowing that it will harden his heart and make him act uninhibited in addition to bestowing to him greater power, meaning any such "softness" will no longer be an impediment for him and he can get things back under control his preferred way. If at some point he'd briefly stopped singing and said aloud something along these lines, him going for the book would make more sense.

Again, it’s meant to paint him as a vain control freak, but… he hasn’t lost any power.

But he has lost the complacency of his people, which makes him fear he will lose their reverence, respect, and dependence on him next. He wants everyone in Rosas to worship him as a god among mortal men forevermore, and what he's witnessing is a direct threat to that.

It’s played for laughs, but there’s something unsettling about a character who’s clearly and explicitly under the influence of a malevolent entity being left… unsaved. If you follow the idea of Magnifico being disconnected from community being a driving force behind his arc, the end of the film sees him in a worse situation he was in at the start: truly, fully alone.

While I get this, I will also argue that not everyone who falls under an influence and then clings to that influence as they continue to make wrong decisions can be saved, especially if they explicitly don't want to be saved in the first place. Like, why do you think Hunter Biden's a thing? Or from another Disney-based fantasy, Rumpelstiltskin the Dark One: the curse ceases to be such when the afflicted wants it.

and I believe if Magnifico had been more consistent, the film would’ve greatly improved across the board.

OK, very much agreed. The film and the villain could've been truly great, but the finished product settles for just good or alright instead.

Once the audience thinks, hey, that bad guy might have a point, the protagonist has to do a little more heavy lifting to convince us they're wrong.

Not so. If the bad guy loses the valid point they had due to following through on it with irrational thinking and/or deplorable actions, then it's easy to see them as being in the wrong and want them stopped.

What do they all have in common? Their motivation is simple, their goal is clear, and they don't care who they hurt in pursuit of what they want.

I'd argue Magnifico did become that after opening the evil magic spellbook. Once he broke and absorbed a wish and at the same time saw the Star, he became motivated purely by his ravenous desire to further feed his power that he'd put to the end of subjugating the disspirited masses under his heel as he establishes a new order in Rosas where there'd be "no more hope, no more dreams, no escape, no chance to rise up, no one to tell any tales, no one to challenge him ever again!" Simple and effective enough for a fairy tale villain.

Magnifico simply doesn't fall into that category. He's motivated by the idea of losing power, which is never a clear or impactful threat. His goal at the start seems to be to protect Rosas, then it turns into protecting his own power, and then-- once he's corrupted-- he wants to capture Star. The problem is, there's no objective to put this power toward. Power for power's sake is useless. Scar craves power because he feels robbed of status. Ursula believes the throne is rightfully hers. Maleficent wanted to make a statement. Magnifico... well, I'm not really sure.

And this gets one last "unfortunately true" from me, but also that the thing about "no objective to put this power toward" is false given what I described above. Plain and simple, Magnifico wanted to feel like God, and so he'd go to whatever lengths he could to do so.

Disney's Wish

Look, Disney's Wish has been universally panned across the internet, and for good reason.

It’s just…kind of okay.

 When we sit down to watch a Disney film—you know, from the company that dominated the animation industry from 1989 to (arguably) the mid 2010’s and defined the medium of animation for decades—we expect something magnificent. Now, I could sit here and tell you everything that I thought was wrong with Wish, but if you’re reading this review, then I imagine that you’ve already heard the most popular gripes from other users across the web. So, let me focus in:

The biggest problem with Wish—in fact, the only problem with Wish—is Magnifico.

Whoa, that’s crazy! There’re so many things about Wish that could’ve been better! The original concept was stronger! The music was bad--

I hear you, I do. But stay with me here, okay? Take my hand. I studied under artists from the Disney renaissance. I teach an adapted model of Disney’s story pipeline at a University level. I spent a ridiculous amount of time getting degrees in this, and I am about to dissect this character and the narrative to a stupid degree.

First, we need to understand that a good story doesn’t start and end with what we see on the screen. Characters aren’t just fictional people; when used well, characters are tools the author uses (or in this case, the director) to convey their message to the audience. Each character’s struggle should in some way engage with the story’s message, and consequently, the story’s theme. Similarly, when we look at our protagonist and our antagonist, we should see their characters and their journeys reflected in one-another.

So, what went wrong between Asha & Magnifico in terms of narrative structure?

Act I

In Wish, we’re introduced to our hero not long into the runtime—Asha. She’s ambitious, caring, and community-oriented; in fact, Asha is truly introduced to the audience through her love of Rosas (in “Welcome to Rosas”).  She’s surrounded by a colorful cast of friends who act as servants in the palace, furthering her connection with the idea of community but also telling us that she’s not of status, and then she makes her way to meet Magnifico for her chance to become his next apprentice.

Quick aside: I'm not going to harp on Asha as a character in the context of Disney's overall canon. Almost every review I've seen covers her as a new addition to Disney's ever-growing repertoire of "Cute Quirky Heroines", and I think to be fair to Asha as an actor in the narrative, it serves her best to be weighed within the context of the story she's part of.

As Asha heads upstairs for her interview, we're introduced to the man of the hour: Magnifico. He lives in a tower high above the population of Rosas, immediately showing us how he differs from Asha; he’s disconnected from his community. He lives above them. He has status. While the broader context of the narrative wants us to believe that this also represents a sense of superiority, I would argue that isn’t what Magnifico’s introduction conveys; he's isolated.

Despite this distance, he does connect with Asha in “At All Costs”. For a moment, their goals and values align. In fact, they align so well that Magnifico sees Asha as someone who cares as much about Rosas as he does, and almost offers her the position.

… Until she asks him to grant Saba’s wish.

This is framed by the narrative as a misstep. The resonance between their ideals snaps immediately, and Magnifico says something along the line of “Wow. Most people wait at least a year before asking for something.”

This disappointment isn't played as coming from a place of power or superiority. He was excited by the idea of working with someone who had the same values as he did, who viewed Rosas in the same way he does, and then learns that Asha’s motivations at least partially stem from a place of personal gain.

Well, wait, is that really Asha's goal?

While it's not wholistically her goal, it's very explicitly stated & implied that getting Saba's wish granted is at least a part of it. The audience learns (through Asha's conversation with her friends before the interview) that every apprentice Magnifico has ever had gets not only their wish granted, but the wishes of their family, too!  Asha doesn’t deny that this is a perk that she’s interested in, and I don't think this is a bad thing.

So, Is Asha’s commitment to Saba selfless, or selfish? I’m sure the director wanted it to seem selfless, wherein she believes her family member has waited long enough and deserves his wish granted, but we can’t ignore the broader context of Asha essentially trying to… skip the line.

Then, we get our first point of tension. Magnifico reveals his “true colors” in snapping at Asha, telling her that he “decides what people deserve”. This is supposed to be the great motivator, it’s meant to incite anger in the audience—after all, no one gets to decide what you deserve, right? But unfortunately for the integrity of the film and the audience's suspension of disbelief, at least part of Magnifico’s argument is a little too sound to ignore:

Some wishes are too vague and dangerous to grant. Now, there’s visual irony here; he says this after looking at a 100 old man playing the lute. The idea that something so innocuous could be dangerous is absurd, and the audience is meant to agree.

... But we’ve also seen plenty of other wishes that might be chaotic—flying on a rocket to space, anyone? The use of the word vague is important, too—this implies wording matters, and that a wish can be misinterpreted or evolve into something that is dangerous even if the original intent was innocuous. His reasoning for people forgetting their wish (protecting them from the sadness of being unable to attain their dreams) is much weaker, but still justifiable (in the way an antagonist’s flawed views can be justified). The film even introduces a facet of Magnifico’s backstory that implies he has personal experience with the grief of losing a dream (in the destruction of his home), but that thread is never touched on again.

              What is the audience supposed to take from this encounter? If we’re looking at the director’s intent, I’d argue that we’ve been introduced to a well-meaning young girl and a king who’s locked away everyone’s greatest aspiration because he believes he deserves to have the power to decide who gets to be happy.

              But what are we shown? Our heroine, backed by her friends, strives to be Magnifico’s apprentice because she loves the city but also would really like to see her family's wishes granted. When this request is denied and she loses the opportunity to be his apprentice, she deems Magnifico’s judgement unfair & thus begins her journey to free the dreams of Rosas’ people.

              In fairness, Magnifico doesn’t exhibit sound judgement or kindness through this act of the film. He’s shown to be fickle, and once his composure cracks, he can be vindictive and sharp. He's not a good guy, but I'd argue he's not outright evil. He's just got the makings of a good villain, and those spikes of volatility do give us a foundation to work off of as he spirals, but as we’ll discuss in a bit, the foreshadowing established here isn’t used to the ends it implies.

              While I was watching this film, I was sure Magnifico was going to be a redeemable villain. He can’t connect with people because he's sure they value what he provides more than they value him (as seen in “At All Costs” and the aftermath), and Asha’s asking for more was going to be framed as a mistake. His flaw was keeping his people too safe and never giving them the chance to sink or swim, and he's too far removed from his citizens to see that he is appreciated. Asha does identify this, and the culmination of her journey is giving people the right to choose their path, but the way Magnifico becomes the “true” villain and his motivations for doing so are strangely divorced from what we’re shown in Act I.  

Act II:

His song, “This is the Thanks I Get!?” furthers the idea that Magnifico’s ire—and tipping point—is the fact that he thinks the people he’s built a kingdom for still want more. Over the course of this 3:14 song, we suddenly learn that Magnifico sends other people to help his community and doesn’t personally get involved (we never see this outside of this song), and that he’s incredibly vain/narcissistic (he's definitely a narcissist). I think feeling under-appreciated is actually a very strong motivation for Magnifico as a character-turning-villain, and it works very well. It’s justified based on what we’ve seen on screen so far: he feels under-appreciated (even though he’s decidedly not—the town adores him), he snaps and acts irrationally under stress (as seen with his outburst with Asha), and he’s frustrated that people seem to want more from him (again, as seen with his conversation with Asha in Act I).

              But then… he opens the book.

Ah, the book. As an object on screen, we know that it's filled with ancient and evil magic, well-known to be cursed by every relevant character in the film, and kept well-secured under lock and key. But what does it stand for in the context of the narrative's structure? A quick path to power? We're never told that it has any redeeming qualities; Magnifico himself doesn't seem to know what he's looking for when he opens it. It feels... convenient.

I think it's also worth noting that he only turns to the book when he's alone; once again, the idea of connection and community rears it's ugly head! Earlier in the film, Amaya-- his wife-- is present and turns him away from taking that path. In her absence, he makes the wrong choice.

This decision could make sense; it contains powerful magic, and if it were framed in such a way that the people of Rosas were losing faith in Magnifico’s magic, as if what he can do might not be enough anymore after what they felt from Star, going for the book that we know contains spells that go above and beyond what he can already do would be logical. Along the lines of, “If they’re not happy with what I do for them, fine. I, ever the “martyr”, will do the unthinkable for you, because you want more.”

            It would keeps with the idea that Magnifico believes he's still trying to help people, but his motivation has taken his self-imposed pity party and turned it into resentment and spite.

 But, that’s not the case. Instead he talks about reversing that “light”, which has had no real negative or tangible consequences on Rosas. Everyone had a warm feeling for a few seconds. Again, it’s meant to paint him as a vain control freak, but… he hasn’t lost any power. The citizens of Rosas even assume the great showing of magic was Magnifico.

Act III

              Then, we get to the consequences of opening the book (and perhaps my biggest qualm with this film). The book is established as being cursed. Magnifico knows it, Asha knows it, and Amaya—who is introduced as loyal-- knows it. The characters understand his behavior is a direct result of the book, and search for a way to save him. This is only the focus of the film for a few seconds, but if you think about it, the fact that his own wife cannot find a way to free him of the curse he’s been put under is unbelievably tragic. Worse still, upon discovering there is no way to reverse the curse, Magnifico—the king who built the city & “protected it” in his own flawed way for what seems to be centuries—is thrown out by his wife. You know, the wife who's stood loyal at his side for years?

              It’s played for laughs, but there’s something unsettling about a character who’s clearly and explicitly under the influence of a malevolent entity being left… unsaved. If you follow the idea of Magnifico being disconnected from community being a driving force behind his arc, the end of the film sees him in a worse situation he was in at the start: truly, fully alone.

              They bring in so many opportunities for Magnifico to be sympathetic and act as a foil for Asha; he’s jaded, she’s not. He’s overly cautious (even paranoid), she’s a risk-taker. He turns to power/magic at his lowest point, Asha turns to her friends at her lowest point. Because this dichotomy isn’t present, and Magnifico—who should be redeemable—isn’t, the film is so much weaker than it could’ve been. The lack of a strong core dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist echoes through every facet of the film from the music to the characterization to the pacing, and I believe if Magnifico had been more consistent, the film would’ve greatly improved across the board.

I mean, come on! Imagine if at the end of the film, Asha—who, if you remember, did resonate with Magnifico’s values at the start of the film—recognizes that he's twisted his original ideals and urges him to see the value in the people he’s helped, in their ingenuity, in their gratitude, & that what he was able to do before was enough. Going further, asking what his wish is or was—likely something he’s never been asked— and showing empathy! We’d come full circle to the start of the film where Asha asks him to grant her wish.

Pushing that further, if Magnifico’s wish is to see Rosas flourish or to be a good/beloved king, he'd have the the opportunity to see the value in failing and how pursuing the dream is its own complex and valuable journey, and how not even he is perfect.

 The curse and the book (which, for the purposes of this adjustment, would need to be established as representing the idea of stepping on others to further your own goals/the fast way to success), then serve as the final antagonist, that same curse taking root in the people of Rosas who’ve had their dreams destroyed, and Asha works with the community to quell it. Asha’s learned her lesson, so has Magnifico, and the true source of evil in the film—the book—is handled independently. Magnifico steps back from his role as King, Amaya still ends up as Queen, and Asha takes her place as the new wish-granter.

This route could even give us the true “Disney villain” everyone’s craving; giving the book sentience and having it lure Magnifico in during “This is the Thanks I Get!?” leaves it as its own chaotic evil entity.

All in all, Magnifico's introduction paved a road to redemption that the rest of the film aggressively refused to deliver on, instead doubling down on weaker motivations that seem to appear out of thin air. Once the audience thinks, hey, that bad guy might have a point, the protagonist has to do a little more heavy lifting to convince us they're wrong.

Look at the big-bad-greats from Disney's library. There isn't a point in the Lion King where we pause and think, "Wait a second, maybe Scar should be the guy who rules the Pridelands." Ursula from the Little Mermaid, though motivated by her banishment from King Triton's Seas, never seems to be the right gal for the throne. Maybe Maleficent doesn't get invited to the princess's birthday party, but we don't watch her curse a baby and think, Yeah, go curse that baby, that's a reasonable response to getting left out.

What do they all have in common? Their motivation is simple, their goal is clear, and they don't care who they hurt in pursuit of what they want.

Magnifico simply doesn't fall into that category. He's motivated by the idea of losing power, which is never a clear or impactful threat. His goal at the start seems to be to protect Rosas, then it turns into protecting his own power, and then-- once he's corrupted-- he wants to capture Star. The problem is, there's no objective to put this power toward. Power for power's sake is useless. Scar craves power because he feels robbed of status. Ursula believes the throne is rightfully hers. Maleficent wanted to make a statement. Magnifico... well, I'm not really sure.

[cak3iscake]

thoughts on annika for the character opinion bingo 🎤

My favorite barbie character ever personally.

[roxineedstosleep]

Hello how are you? Can i ask for headcannons of yandere batman/bruce wayne (romantic) with a sickly darling? Not bed ridden but their health is kinda on the weaker side? I always kinda wondered about that

Darling doesn't really have a fucking chance of living independently again.

The mansion also becomes a mess every time the weather changes and the seasons change, so much so that even the city's cleaning companies offer him promotions for all the disinfecting work they do at Wayne Manor. The entire old mansion is refurbished so that there is always a medicine cabinet or something to rest in case you are exhausted.

Not to mention that the medical room in the Batcave is always well stocked and the telephone for an ambulance with a direct line is in every room.

Bruce, in the first place, would set up a whole room for his special someone.

Have you ever seen, either personally or in photographs and videos, those hospice rooms? You know, those permanent patient rooms? A room that is always clean, in neutral colours, with good lighting and ventilation; no overdone decorations and extremely comfortable sofas, beds and furniture. The kind that has handrails and facilitators on all sides, so that the individual can have support without the need or urgency of someone to be by his or her side.

Well, that's what the room Bruce designed for his beloved looks like.

Of course, he prefers to surgically clean his room every day so that his precious loved one is not far from him. But you can imagine what I mean.

Always, whether in his character of Brucie, Bruce CEO, Batman, or Bruce father and husband, he has in one of his pockets medicines and other things he feels you might need in case of a relapse.

He would always be at his beloved's side, offering his arm firmly, he would give you hugs when he feels you're a little cold, he wouldn't let you get overwhelmed by actions that could easily be skipped (why go to the shop and cross several blocks carrying terribly heavy bags, if you can order a delivery?) Going into a controlled panic when you notice that you've simply caught a cold again.

He would keep a medical calendar with all your medical records, he would take you to the doctors himself for your annual check-ups, he would ask his children to help him create a peaceful and calm atmosphere inside the mansion so that he wouldn't have to stress you out during your treatments.

Not that the dear one is bedridden. No.

Darling has allergies, like anyone else; occasionally gets the occasional muscle ache from overdoing things, like most of us; sure, they gets colds, but nothing that a nice hot cup of tea and an electric blanket won't fix. Yes, they also get allergies, migraines and cramps from extreme temperatures, but you're not going to die from them.

Even if it's really all down to a genetic factor that makes his Darling have to be much more careful than other people (like having a screwed up family genetics).

But Bruce doesn't get it.

Simple as if.

Of course, Dear, you must take a significant number (4) pills a day in order to remain stable. They're not even sick pills, just vitamins and iron supplements.

But for Bruce it's as if those four little pills implied one more nail in your coffin. He would have whole crises when he sees a used handkerchief near you, or when Alfred or one of his children notifies him that that day his special person lost his appetite or the food made them sick.

So pending, everything that could put a minimum of your bodily integrity at will be completely prohibited.

So, you should be lucky if it falls into their hands.

[theoutcastedartist]

Shadows & Lights AU

Page 3 of designs for my Sonic Boom AU. This time with Sonic and Shadow.

They basically look the same, but I instead give them both funky fur patterns and Sonic is cursed with eye bags.

.......

Sonic = Project Light (Ver. 17)

Shadow = Project Shadow (The Ultimate Lifeform)

Project Light is built to be smaller, lighter, and more streamlined than Project Shadow. They are faster in speed, but physically weaker in pure strength as a result.

Project Shadow is built to be larger, heavier, and have a greater muscle density than Project Light. He is slower in speed than Light, but is able to pack more of a punch in strength compared to Light.

Both projects require special bracelets that keep the energies from leaking out of their bodies. The energy is necessary to keep their bodies stable and functioning, though after losing their bracelets after the incident with G.U.N over 50 years ago... Light has unfortumately gotten accustomed to the depleted energy in their body. Always tired and in pain.

....

In the AU,

Project Light is an organic replica of Iblis the Flame, while Project Shadow is an organic replica of Mephiles the Dark. Iblis and Mephiles are the two halves of the deity the Ancients worshipped, Solaris.

Sonic has amnesia. They don't remember their childhood at all. No A.R.K Facility, no Project Light. They only have the vague phantom sensation of being prodded and experimented on, but nothing concrete comes to mind. They don't remember why they're so scared of the water, but they're sure they've nearly drowned in it on multiple occasions... not that they can actually recall an instance of such before they woke up. Since the moment they "woke up", Sonic has only really known battles with Dr. Eggman and other baddies. They don't really know what to do with themselves when there's no fight to win and hardly anyone has the patience to deal with Sonic when they're like this.

Despite not knowing their own origins, despite the evils and wrongs they've witnessed, Sonic still sees the good in everyone and everything, including Shadow. Which is why they won't stop trying to reach out to him.

Shadow, on the other hand, has most of his memories from the A.R.K Facility in tact. Though few of his memories seemed to have been tampered with. He doesn't ever recall the existence of Project Light nor what the original intent of his creation (one of the Eclipse Projects meant to replicate the abilities of the Two Halves of Solaris) was. He does recall being hailed as "The Ultimate Lifeform" by Gerald and the other scientists who played a hand in his creation. He remembers Maria and her kindness, her positivity, and ability to see the good in everyone around her (in a way, Sonic reminds him of her. And he resents them for it.)

Shadow also recalls a Dr. Chris Thorndyke, a man he never really like to begin with. Always so secretive and cold, especially to him and Maria... He doesn't really know why he was at the A.R.K Facility in the first place. The Ultimate Lifeform also recalls the painful memories of when he lost Maria and Gerald to the G.U.N soldiers over 50 years ago and feels resentment towards the entire world because of it. After all, why should everyone else get to live their lives when Maria couldn't?

Shadow is a bounty hunter with a flawless track record, who also happens to be friends with Rouge the Bat, a very skilled treasure hunter.

Tags for AU on this blog are:

#shadows&lightsau

#ShadowLightAU

(Sonic and Shadow's dyanmic CAN be read as Sonadow, but I intend for their relationship to be open and up to personal interpretations. Doesn't necessarily have to be romantic. The two just happen to quite literally the other half of the other.)

[chialattea]

I know this ask is super old and this post is completely out of the blue but last night it appeared to me in a dream and now I’m obligated to answer it. Apologies for the science ramblings ahead! Also these are very broad strokes so if anyone goes “um akshually” I KNOW OKAY but we’re not going to go through the entire concept of immunology, lymphocytes and active vs passive immunity.

Basically the quickest response would be: it’d definitely taste bad, but nah it wouldn’t be poisonous, no you wouldn’t get drunk because the amount of alcohol in them is near negligible and unless it was a vaccine specifically designed to be taken orally it’d just get obliterated by the enzymes in your mouth or your gastric acid.

Now onto the kind of in-depth response,

While we call all of them vaccines, there are different types depending on the mechanism they use and what they actually contain. One of the oldest cases of quote unquote vaccination was recorded in ancient China, where people realized that if you made kids snort a powder made from the skin lesions of smallpox patients some of them tended to gain a resistance to it. The first recorded case of a mass immunization campaign happened in the Ottoman Empire; Lady Montagu, an aristocrat who served alongside her husband as a British ambassador in Constantinople in the 18th century, made friends amongst the local women. While visiting them she observed them do what she’d later describe as “engrafting”: the local women would use some sort of needle and use it to take some pus out of the smallpox lesions of a patient and scratch the skin of the child they were immunizing. That’d make the kid grow sick but with a way weaker variant of smallpox, and they’d then be safe from suffering the life-endangering version. They had to repeat the immunization every year, but given that smallpox would eat children alive in that century being scratched once a year wasn’t a bad trade-off.

So Lady Montagu, whose brother had died from smallpox, was like “hey this is insanely good” and eagerly inoculated her children. Then she went back to England and raved about the Ottoman medicine but the English medic community dismissed it as “folk healing” and “not based in science”. Lol. Lmao.

So, despite the huge controversy (a lot of people were Very against it), English people started getting inoculated— but since this was a vaccine where the virus was still alive it, you know, actually made people sick with smallpox and they could then infect other people or die from complications. Rare, but it did happen. So then Jenner perfected the smallpox vaccine, which was based on the same principle the Ottoman used, and a few centuries later we even have plant factories of this bad boys.

BUT I DIGRESS, let’s actually talk about the different kinds of vaccines and what’s actually in them:

The oldest kind of vaccines are inactivated vaccines (where the pathogen is dead so there’s no chance of you getting sick from it, but they give you a weaker immunity that has to be renovated every year, ie. Flu vaccines or rabies) or live-attenuated vaccines (you beat the shit out of the pathogen but it’s still technically alive, so you just get a weaker version of the disease at the benefit of a higher immunity, ie measles or chickenpox). They’re done by growing the pathogens in a culture medium (basically gelatin with stuff), then you disinfect them with antibiotics or an alcohol so there’s no chance they carry bacteria— IMPORTANT TO NOTE, the final product has NEAR UNTRACEABLE amounts of these substances, they’re purified in the process so no, that bullshit that you can get formaldehyde poisoning/aluminum poisoning from vaccines is bullshit! It’s like saying you shouldn’t eat bananas because they have radioactive components!!

The more recent types are based on genetical engineering (HELL YEAH). Most COVID vaccines used mRNA because it’s cheaper and faster, and since they don’t have the actual virus you don’t get sick. mRNA vaccines are FUCKING AMAZING. mRNA is like a list of instructions that cells use to build their proteins. By injecting the mRNA you make your own cells produce the protein the pathogen would use, then they kill it and go “oh okay I get it” and the second they meet a similar protein they’ll murder it on sight. mRNA however, is kind of an asshole— anyone who’s had to work with extracted mRNA will tell you that they love DYING. They’re HIGHLY volatile, and they’re waiting for any chance they get to go “ok I’m out” and by the time you’re running the sample you’re like “wait where the hell is my RNA” girl it shot itself in the head because you left it out of the icebox for 0.00034 seconds. mRNA vaccines are cool because they can be used for some types of cancer, too.

You can also use a subunit vaccine, where if the pathogen is a person you just. Take an arm then mail it to your body. Your immune system will go “wtf is this” and beat the shit out of it, and the next time they see an asshole with a similar arm they’ll kill them. This is what we use for HepB.

If the pathogen is known for producing a specific toxic molecule then, haha! Just give your body the isolated molecule and they’ll learn to focus on the toxin if the pathogen ever visits them! You need to renew your membership every certain amount of years because your body forgets.

So, in other words, if you were to drink a vaccine (that wasn’t an oral vaccine or the newly developing cases of vaccine food) then either: a) nothing happens, the molecules degrade in your mouthand nothing gets absorbed into the blood system b) somehow they reach the stomach and they get obliterated there c) somehow SOMEHOW they manage to get absorbed and pass onto the bloodstream, but it’s very likely they’ll be in rough shape or in insufficient amounts to do their job, so they’d be kinda inefficient. By injecting them you make sure 100% reaches the bloodstream, where they’ll be automatically ambushed by the lymphocytes. Oral vaccines have specific mechanisms so they get picked up by the mucosa, and even then they’re kinda ehhhhh.

And they’d either taste a bit sweet (because of the sugar) or like bland gelatin, or a bit musty. They won’t be great

Sources:

Langer, W.L. Sci. Am. 234, 112–117 (1976).

(Hey don’t judge me I doubt you want to read the collection of correspondence of this woman, but if you do Penguin Books actually published them and they’re very interesting!

Xu, S., Yang, K., Li, R., & Zhang, L. (2020). mRNA Vaccine Era-Mechanisms, Drug Platform and Clinical Prospection. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(18), 6582. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21186582

What would happen if someone drank the covid vaccine? What would it taste like. It is poisonous if ingested instead of injected. Could someone get drunk on covid vaccine. Would it have any vaccinating effect but probably not but would it

These are things I have wondered for years

im sorry im not a science person and ive been lucky to never rly have been very sick so i havent had lots of meds to drink except cough medecine so the first thing that came to mind was like . 90c alchol . which would come with a whole lot of problem on its own lol . also itd obviously need to be reworked so u could get "vaccinated" while ingesting it bc i dont think thats possible <3 idk <3 i havent had human sciences since i was 15 <3

[killmebythebeach]

A bunch of head cannons (Maybe too much). Also in talking about the characters.

I think Dream is that one design where his skin is just the static tv screen. He just constantly emits that fuzzy noise, Sam crafted him the smile mask that he can see through so he doesn't scare people.

George is just kind of the server itself. He's the same species as Hannah, but a mushroom and more powerful. If he stays awake too long, the server just kind of freezes. This is also a reason XD keeps him sleeping, it's his way of talking to George and he thinks the server is like his soap opera of mortals.

Callahan is sort of like the person who makes sure George doesn't get killed or dies while asleep, making sure he's surrounded by mushrooms and such. Deer hybrid <3

Alyssa joined the server because she knew all her friends were idiots and didn't want them to die immediately. But once the elections rolled around, she felt the pressure of choosing sides and ran away to the desert, only keeping contact with Ponk. She actually lives just a couple miles from Foolish's summer home. Her communicator actually died after a couple months and she had no way of charging it, so she lost contact with everyone.

Sapnap is a magma cube hybrid and can jump higher than most, his natural temperature runs hotter, and is fire proof. Bad found him in the nether when he was maybe 10-15 years old.

Sam was actually a normal creeper, but gained player like sentience from being struck by lightning. Instead of becoming charged, he gained intelligence and met the others on the server. Callahan taught him some Redstone, but from there he figured out a lot on his own. He's also a creeper centaur.

Ponk is actually a descendant of a fairy, a lemon tree. Their mask was also a gift from Sam because after the second or third time their tree was burnt, their immune system was weakened a considerable amount. Alyssa also wore her mask for them.

Bad is a size shifting demon from the nether, more specifically soul sand desert. He uses soul fire to gain strength, so because the egg died when near it, he was just a little weaker than normal. Because he's a demon he needs a tie to the overworld to stay there, he tied his soul and lives to Skeppy.

Tommy was grown in a lab to be a hero, project: THESEUS. The lab gave him small enhancements, like slightly stronger and just a bit more resilient, to make the Above Average Boy (TM). He then ran away to meet Wilbur. When Dream asked Wilbur if he wanted to come to the server, he asked if Tommy could go first to see what it was like. He also actually really likes gardening and making up funny songs to Wilbur playing guitar. He also made funny lyrics for his discs, but he's still a bit scared to take them out of his ender chest. Other than bringing attachment, Dream also exiled Tommy to see what his lab enhancements could do.

Tubbo is an adaptive hybrid! His hair was blond, shifting to brown when Wilbur found him, getting blue eyes from Tommy, growing small horns under Schlatt, parts of his skin being static when Dream was "helping" him with his presidency, and parts of his scars tinging black and green from Ranboo and Micheal. Tubbo also helped Wilbur write part of the anthem. He likes living in the snow because the Manberg flag had magma blocks on it, casting a heatwave over the country, and after L'Manburg blew up it got really hot from the exposed stone in direct sun.

Fundy can actually hold his breath for a very long time and swim very well because of Sally teaching him and his salmon genes. The yellow things on his hat are actually shells, and the stripes on his jacket are trans colors. Also with his dreams, he saw Eret was going to betray them but didn't think it was real, or didn't want to. He also saw Wilbur blow up L'Manburg but chose not to believe it, thinking his father could still be saved. He actually saw pretty much everything, but didn't quite understand what they were until after doomsday.

The necklace Punz wears is one of those picture lockets, but he lost the picture and can't remember what it was. The first time Dream paid him was when Dream asked for help and Punz made an off hand joke about getting money, and then Dream thought he was being serious. Him, Dream, and Sapnap were like brothers, and Punz got sadder every time he saw Dream pushing people away and diving deeper into darkness.

Purpled is an aliensent to see if the planet was colonizable, but then crashed and was stranded, all his communications down and his ship barely able to hover fifty feet off the ground. When Quackity blew it up, he essentially got rid of his chance of ever going home. Purpled's species can shapeshift, so he turned himself into the first person he saw, Punz. Eventually before trying to communicate with the native life forms, he edited his form a little so they weren't identical, keeping purple eyes and antennae, changing the colors slightly, and changing the voice up. When he moves away from the main SMP, Ponk makes sure to check up on him and that he has a way to check his communicator.

Wilbur came a month after sending Tommy. His father being a patron of life and his mother the goddess of death, he met in the middle being born as a human. The only reason Ghostbur was as active and present as he was was because he was so connected to both life and death. Since his corpse was decaying for as long as it was, Wilbur is now super weak, his flesh is thin and his eyes are rotted and gone. Much like Ghostbur, Wilbur in limbo saw what people said about him, and Ghostbur could hear that from the back of his head. Now Wilbur can hear what people say about Ghostbur and he hates it, not wanting to be connected to what he thinks like a shell of himself.

Schlatt is a ram (duh) and actually does the fainting goat thing. So when he died of a heart attack, no one knew at first if he was actually dead or not. His alcoholism stems from the revive book, as the possibility of tampering with death made him existential and scared, so to cope he drank. There are also a ton of other stuff other than revival in the book, but it's in galactic.

Skeppy was just a normal human, but after making the pact with Bad, Bad put a spell on him. Parts of him turned into diamond, protecting both his and Bad's lives. He however, is unaware of this. With the egg, he would just sit on it, the diamonds chipping away to make room for the vines.

Eret was cursed by the Wither Cult, giving them white eyes and a slowly deteriorating memory. Not sure what to do, Foolish dropped them off at the SMP. Sometimes they would dream about old memories from before the curse, but it was just glimpses so he could never tell what they meant. Once they were king, they made the Herobrine shrine subconsciously, not really sure what it was after. They also had a strange affinity of beacons and resurrection, some of their memories resurfacing when they tried to help Phil and Ghostbur revive Wilbur after doomsday. The reason people are more scared of their eyes than any other wierd eyes was because he generally looks like a normal human, but the wither along with their Herobrine origins creates an uncanny valley that people are shocked by.

Jack had red and blue irises before crawling out of hell, but after coming back the whites of his eyes also turned red and blue. He always wears 3d glasses so no one noticed, but he just thought no one cared enough to mention it. He also has a bunch of scars and burn marks that no one but him can see, therefore no one asks about them or thinks something is wrong, cementing the idea that no one cares about him.

Niki is a blaze hybrid (stole this from @/420technoblazeit) whose fire hair color changes based on strong emotion, something she bond with Tubbo for as a fellow shifter. A soft yellow in L'Manburg, brighter orange in Manburg, hot pink on Doomsday, a soul fire blue with the syndicate (which Techno hates), and a dead grey when she found out Wilbur was alive. She was also old child hood friends with Ranboo and Eret, leaving Ranboo for the SMP. Ranboo, unfortunatly, doesn't remember much more than her name. She also knows galactic from Ranboo, so she talks about her troubles to Shy the Enderman. She doesn't really know how to talk to Puffy anymore after Doomsday or finding out how she wants to protect Tommy.

Quackity can perfectly replicate someone's voice and, with a lot of effort, can completely change his form to another player. He also has very small yellow wings, too small to fly, so he almost always hides them. He used to constantly change his voice for jokes with Karl, Sapnap, and George, but he doesn't like doing it now in Las Nevadas, as he sees it as unprofessional. However, sometimes he uses when he visits Dream, changing his voice to people like George and Sapnap to make torture more effective.

In the In Between and Other Side, Karl actually looks like his old skin, or his natural state (the big purple one that inspired his sweater). But most of the time in the normal world, he looks human. With effort he can bring out the interdemential being thing, something only Quackity and Sapnap know about. The more he time travels, the easier it becomes to change, and he's even started defaulting to the other form.

HBomb is actually just a normal news reporter, sent to interview and record what's going on in the server, his first big story being the election. Upon Doomsday, the stress of seeing everyone alone, fighting, and disconnected, he ran away from the world, essentially becoming a cat lady. His undercover reporter persona is actually the cat maid. He eventually came back to the server to see how he could help after Doomsday, befriending Niki again and living with her in the underground city.

Techno is a piglin, so he's scared of soul fire. He forgot to tell Phil before he decorated the syndicate room, so he just suffers in silence. He also does better when around a lot of gold, like in the nether, and he feels drained and slightly weaker without it. Instead of just putting gold around the area (it would ruin his property value), he just hibernates. He has an emerald earing, like all of the syndicate, but his is a locket that unfolds into pictures of the syndicate.

Ant always wears a red hoodie, now ruined by the egg, that used to be Red's. On Red's death anniversary, him, Bad, Skeppy, and Sam would make cake and put flowers on his grave. He missed the last one because it was during the egg, but for a brief moment after Puffy killed him he saw Red. Red then promptly and bluntly told him to stop being a pussy (haha, cat) and that he shouldn't do all this just to get him back, one of Ant's motivators to make amends with the people he hurt while with the egg. Ant is also a shapeshifter, but can only turn into a cat.

Phil actually used to work under Foolish as a patron of life but then he had a son with the goddess of death, so his title was removed so he could be with her and he became an Angel of Death. Kristin noticed how sad he was after being released, so she gifted him wings. They were however, destroyed on November 16th. His chat also serves as messenger pigeons, which were used to send letters to Wilbur.

Connor is actually just a hedgehog who somehow befriended Schlatt. Even before the haunted mansion, Karl vented to him about his time travel troubles, not knowing he was a sentient player. As a hedgehog, no one really cares where he goes, so he goes outside the server limits to meet his friends from the haunted mansion.

Puffy is a distant relative of Schlatt, but instead of politics she went into piracy. With her mom, she went travelling the seas. One say, a storm came and wiped out her ship, her crew, her mom, everything but her. The reason she survived was because Foolish saw her and saved her. Unfortunately, Puffy hit hee head in the crash and doesn't remember anything.

Vikkstar is the equivalent of a big time celebrity, so of course his endorsement of POG2020 was a big deal.

Lazarbeam is literally just a ginger bread cookie.

Ranboo has actually met a lot of the smp before actually joining. He's met Niki, Fundy, Eret, Punz, and Dream at least. He also sees the inverted colors Enderman see. His suit was actually a gift from Eret before they forgot how to tailor. He got the crown from Techno after joining the syndicate, claiming he didn't want any syndicate members to look like trash.

Foolish came to the server most recently to check up on Eret, but he couldn't bring himself to leave again. When Puffy adopts him, he can't say no because he remembers saving her. His initial goal was to kill an ender dragon to claim the XD title and become a full god like DreamXD, but after realising someone already killed it he went into his totem if death phase. Upon meeting Eret, he got over it and they went on some silly adventures, Foolish now taking a more peaceful route.

Hannah is essentially a weaker George, as her power is tied to the plants themselves and not the entire server. She however has a lot more physical power because rose dryads like to fight because they have thorns. Since roses can be taken out a lot easier, she is essentially a glass canon. Also when around any plant, she can make it grow faster than normal.

Any guest on the server? Corpse, Pokimane, Lil Nas? They were all Slimecicle. That's how he knows where everyone is from, even outside of Las Nevadas. No one else knows this. He's also ancient, if he met Phil they would probably recognise eachother. There was an actual Charlie Slimecicle who was not a slime, but after being launched into orbit this Slimecicle decided to impersonate him.

Michael Mcchill is a sort of bounty hunter. He came to the server after hearing of all the crime, assuming there'd be a lot of bounties to collect. However, he soon learned that no one really cares if you commit a crime. He then took to reading news articles made by HBomb to see if there were any past open bounties. But after reading for a while about the server's wronguns, mostly Dream, he began to sympathise with them. And he's also a speedrunner, so maybe he could help with some bounties across other servers!

This was a very long post and i apologize, but it was so fun to finally write all these thoughts down! I hope you liked them! I can't even fit all the tags I want.

[digital-heart]

So before solmare can give any official archangel designs, I figure I'd finally show my archangel oc designs. Some I've had for months, others are newer.

Some of these might be more obscure archangels lmao, but I saw them on a list and got ideas

My council of archangels:

Michael

He is the golden boy, with a thousand watt smile to draw in people and put them at ease; he's charismatic with a loud presence. But, he's like a politician. He specifically keeps up this act to bring himself loyalty and support, to make people think he's got their back and is capable of no wrong. There's cruelty behind those eyes, masked by his brilliant radiance, he's selfish, truthfully. He wants people to follow him and listen to what he says; he'd say it's in father's name, but it's for himself. He can't stand disobedience, and likes his fellow archangels like they're collectable porcelain dolls he keeps.

The eye patch comes from the rebellion, in my own version of it where lucifer and Michael were fighting, lucifer's wings were torn off (I like to imagine sometimes Michael cutting or tearing then off lucifer's back for effect), and from behind Michael Satan emerged from the wing's pool of blood and jumped on his back full feral mode and clawed out his eye before being shaken off.

Raphael

The healer. He holds himself highly, in that smug way you can tell someone finds you less than their equal and more just amusing to watch. He does care, just more like someone cares for someone weaker than them. Like he'd see a person struggling with a thing and be like, awe, you poor fool, of course you can't do it right, here, let me guide you. Has an appreciation for music that seems intellectual, and he holds himself as such; in his own eyes, no other compares to him. He thinks nothing of letting others know this and what he perceives as what they get wrong and their flaws and points them out. Bitch.

Camael

The celestial judge. He is justice and righteousness in humanoid form, he's a good himbo who wants peace and to protect everybody. He decides the sentence of all crimes in the celestial realm, and that includes angels who are judged to deserve to fall or be executed. He values justice above all, but there are times where he can't help but feel for those he judges. He's too much of a good boy, too soft on the inside to be the calculating judge who only sees the facts like he presumably should be, and sometimes he thinks he's weaker and broken for it. He holds himself up as a warrior, but he can actually get startled easily; fire scares him most.

(His eyes are golden, not white; this picrew hadn't had yellow options lmao)

Ariel

The lioness. She is a lover of and protector of nature. Less in the tree hugger way, more the, if you step on that flower she is going to shoot you with her arrow. She's very rough along the edges and intimidating, preferring plants to people or angels or demons, but anyone who is nice to nature she likes. She is in charge of the celestial lions, a flock of golden, winged lions she rides in battle, and leads other angels who also ride them.

(The physical traits shared with cam started accidentally, but now I keep thinking of them as twins possibly)

Pravuil

The record keeper. Nearly always annoyed at something, he writes the records for important meetings and acts as the celestial librarian, managing every book and scroll and note in a grand library containing all the knowledge in the realm. His memory records everything, and he's the actual smartest of the archangels. He acts like he dislikes everybody, but he actually sincerely cares about and would protect his angelic family if it came to it, even putting them above his library he cares for. Secret softy under a crunchy shell.

Jophiel

The understanding one. She is seen as one of the most beautiful angels, and she always has a gentle hand. She's always trying to help with issues and be there for everyone with a cute smile. The only time she's upset, is when others are upset and she's unable or unsure how to help. Never has anything mean to say or harsh actions, only kindness. She loves humans, and thinks even demons can be taught better, she adores all. She's delicate, but she's been known to roll up her sleeves to help with physical work if someone needs it, and she's a great solver and logical, which people underestimate a ton. A sweet, sweet baby.

Gabriel

The messenger. She delivers messages not just in her realm, but between realms. She also delivers prophecies to humans, and alerts her fellow archangels of possible futures as well. She can see hazy branching futures while it is undecided, but if something is set then a clear vision can cause her to feel faint with its weight. Clear futures are rare, and often only comes from eventful things, but it's common to see her distracted as she flicks around possible small futures, and a lot of the time bumps into things if no one is steering her while she walks and does this. She can turn it off, but she's fascinated by it and chooses not to unless she needs to put her full attention on something, and even then she can feel the prophecies itching at her mind all around trying to get back in, so it's also for comfort she keeps the visions in her mind.

Sandalphon

The director of prayers. He closely monitors the human realm and makes reports often on the realm and how it's doing. He can be soft spoken and often reserved, but he's very nice and loving. He adores kids so much. He likes it when his siblings are enjoying them selves, and often rather watches than gets involved unless he's dragged to join. He enjoys art a lot, and can't play any sports with any skill even if you payed him.

He and metatron are twins.

Metatron

Scribe of the book of life. He keeps meticulous records of the human realm and the lives of most beings who reside there. He is rather shy, but with his looks and the way he talks in trying to act not shy, he sometimes accidentally seems flirtatious, he's mostly unaware of his effect, though. He often gets distracted observing things, as he likes to write journals on things unrelated to his job as well, and can sit for hours so he can write a vivid description of something, like water or trees or stones. A secret poet, but he rarely let's anyone see those books.

He and sandalphon are twins.

Uriel

The light. He's a teacher amongst angels and sometimes humans, bringing literal light and the light of wisdom. He's pretty laid back and prefers to achieve what he wants and needs with only the amount of energy absolutely needed. He has a calm energy, and is generally unbothered. He's curious about humans, but in the way researchers are curious about a discovery. They're more like funny little curiosities to him than anything equal to his fellow angels. He's not likely to be involved in matters that won't effect him, and would rather sit and keep watch with a small, unbothered smile. He's surprisingly stern under that calm smile, though, and is capable of being a bit harsh occasionally, but he acts more like it's a joke to him.

Part 2 with more angels coming soonish !

Also gonna add links to the picrews in a reblog.

[five-rivers]

Doctor

The final continuation of Science and Stuck!

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.

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Jack and Maddie had never been in the Ghost Zone before, and they watched with fascination as the camera they had attached to Phantom dipped and bobbed, weaving through a complex maze of impossible and decaying architecture. Really, this whole endeavor would be worth it just for this.

But they'd already learned so much more. The interaction between Phantom and the box-obsessed ghost had been enlightening, giving insight to why Phantom did not simply destroy weaker ghosts who trespassed on his territory. They hadn't believed that ghosts could make deals like that.

It put Phantom's fights in a very different perspective. He might be coordinating with the ghosts he 'fought' to make himself look good. After all, if he could bargain with that ghost, why not others?

Admittedly, that theory was a bit out there, but it was plausible.

They had also been interested to see that Phantom was aware of the camera and its function. They had designed it to bond with the ghost's body, to trick it into accepting it as part of itself. They had assumed that the ghost's mind (such as it was) would be similarly fooled. But, it wasn't. Phantom appeared to have understood the camera almost immediately and had attempted to remove it.

Phantom swooped around another twisted staircase. Maddie tapped on the glass screen.

"I wonder what he's trying to hide," she said.

"Well, we'll see it sooner or later," said Jack, cutting off a corner of his emergency fudge. "There's no way he'll be able to get the camera off." He snorted. "Even if there was a ghost intelligent enough, they don't have the equipment."

Maddie nodded. "I suppose it's just frustrating. All this time, trying to figure him out, and now we have to wait even longer." She sighed. "Him knowing it's a camera is going to skew our results, too. He'll be on his best behavior while people are watching. We already know that from his whole hero routine."

On the screen, Phantom turned a corner, and the Fentons were treated to a view of a vast, open expanse. Floating islands charted their own paths against a green and swirling sky. Clouds of ectoplasmic mist scudded along the not-horizon. Disembodied doors flew by without rhyme or reason.

The picture shifted from side to side as Phantom took in his surroundings. It stopped, lingering on an oddly skull-shaped island for several long seconds before Phantom turned away.

.

Danny had known the portal the Box Ghost had shown him was close to Skulker's island, but he hadn't quite realized how close. It was a good landmark, he knew exactly how to get to the Far Frozen from here, but he didn't really want to run into Skulker.

He didn't want to deal with any of the ghosts he usually fought with his parents watching, and maybe listening, through the camera. They might not actively try to expose him, but a number of them were too comfortable with shouting out things like-

"I'll wrap Ember's gifts with your pelt, halfa whelp!"

Ugh. Like that.

Danny twisted and froze a tracking missile, not watching as it began to arc to his left, caught in the orbit of the staircase maze Danny had just left. He sent a few blasts at Skulker.

"I think you should find something to put in the gifts first!" he shouted. "Unlike last year. I heard you were begging MP3 players off of Technus minutes-" he cut off to dodge a net. He hated nets. Why did Skulker even bother with them, when he was trying to kill Danny, anyway? "Minutes before the party!"

"Like you're one to talk! You completely destroyed the party!"

"Hey, blame Ghostwriter for that one!"

"And you don't understand! You don't even have a girlfriend!"

"Well, neither will you for much longer if you don't come up with better present ideas!"

The fight had wound down into the two ghosts just yelling at each other. For all the violence Skulker regularly subjected him to, Danny sometimes wondered if Skulker actually wanted to skin him, or mount his head on a wall, or any of the other threats he belted out, or if he just wanted the thrill of the chase.

"Can't you just give me a break for once? I don't have time for this!"

"Oh, please, you have all the time in the world, whelp!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, what with you being a hal-"

Danny flew over and clamped a hand over Skulker's mouth. "Not another word," he hissed. "We're being watched."

"What do you-?"

Danny cut him off, pointing significantly at the camera. Skulker immediately started laughing.

"Oh, yeah, laugh it up. Wait 'til it happens to you."

"Ha! That is why I, with my modifications, am superior! Something as ridiculous as that could never happen to me!" He started laughing again.

"Whatever," grumbled Danny. "Are you going to keep attacking me, or can I go to the Far Frozen in peace?"

Skulker waved him off. "Consider it an early truce present!" he said. "But don't forget! I'll get your pelt eventually!"

"Sure," said Danny, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He floated backwards for a ways before turning, wary of being stabbed in the back. Or shot in the back. Or blasted in the back. Or whatever having missiles or nets launched at him from behind would be called.

But, once again, he was on his way to the Far Frozen. With his luck, he'd only be interrupted a dozen more times before he actually got there.

He sighed, thinking of ways he could block the camera in an emergency. Ice, perhaps? He could always put his hand over it, too. Maybe he should have done that from the beginning, but a part of him, the part that had argued with them before, wanted to show them the truth about ghosts. Part of him wanted them to see.

So, even though he kept fiddling with the camera as he flew, even though he definitely wanted it off, and quickly, he couldn't quite bring himself to cover it.

"Hey! Phantom!"

Danny turned, trying to place the voice. "Sydney?" he asked, surprised, spotting the sepia-toned specter. "What's up?" He slowed so that the other ghost could catch up to him. Sydney didn't often leave his lair on his own.

"Wow! It's lucky you came out here! I thought I'd have to go through your portal to find you." Sydney shuddered. He caught up to Danny. "I'm throwing a truce party this year!" he said, happily. "I'm inviting everyone." He handed Danny a small envelope. "It's a bit early, because I wanted to make sure that it didn't overlap with anyone else's party."

"Thanks, Sydney," said Danny, both surprised and touched. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it, you know what my l- my afterlife is like." His smile turned into a grimace at the awkwardness of his phrasing.

"Afterlife? But you-"

"I have a camera strapped to my chest right now. I'm pretty sure it's broadcasting. I don't really want to talk about it."

Sydney blinked at him. "Your existence is very difficult, isn't it? I'm glad I didn't manage to steal it from you when we first met."

"That's both of us. The shades in your lair still behaving?"

"Oh, yes. It's all fine. Thanks for asking! I've got to go deliver the rest of these! Good luck with your camera situation!"

"Yeah, stay safe, okay, Sydney?" called Danny, as they sped away from each other.

"You betcha!"

Danny tucked the invitation into a pocket. He'd have to check out the details later, when he wouldn't have to hold it at a weird angle to keep the camera from seeing it.

Now, if there were no more interruptions, he could get to the Far Frozen before- He stopped. That forest had not been there before, and, usually, the floating islands didn't move like-

Not a floating island Undergrowth oh Ancients he looked mad run run run.

It was a good thing Danny was faster than Undergrowth. He didn't want to fight the plant ghost on his home turf... if there even was any turf underneath all those plants.

The chase (not to mention dodging and fighting off the seed bombs that Undergrowth had lobbed his way) had drained Danny, and he was flying significantly slower. The hope that he'd get back home before dawn looked distinctly forlorn. He sighed. That was just his life, though, wasn't it?

.

Maddie had filled half a notebook with questions.

Ghosts appeared to be much more complex than previously believed, even if it was clear that what rudimentary social structure they had was founded entirely on violence. The three encounters Phantom had had in the Ghost Zone thus far illustrated that perfectly.

The first, with Skulker, served as a sort of average. The ghosts had fought, demonstrated that they were more-or-less equals, and then parted, apparently not wanting a more definitive contest. The second had been with a smaller ghost who was obviously submissive towards Phantom. The third, with the plant ghost was more along the lines of what she and Jack had expected: Strong ghosts attempting to defeat and consume weaker ones.

"I wonder what this 'truce' they keep talking about is," said Maddie, tapping her pencil on her notebook.

"I wonder what that sound is," said Jack. "The microphone shouldn't be picking up this kind of interference."

"I think it's core noise," said Maddie. "We can analyze the sound later and compare it to his ectosignature, after we find out where he's going." She glanced at the clock. "And after we get some sleep. Everything is being recorded."

"I'll have to double check all the connections before we do this again. I bet it's a loose wire." Jack pouted.

Maddie nodded. "Where do you think he's going? You don't suppose he thinks he has some way to get it off?"

Jack shrugged. "His lair, maybe? The distance might be why he stays in Amity Park."

"Lairs are still pure speculation, though," said Maddie. "Although, one hypothesis is that they help ghosts reform and heal, so he might think it'll get rid of the camera."

Jack grunted in acknowledgement. "What do you think that white dot is?" he asked, pointing at the screen.

"I think it's one of those floating islands," she said. "It's a different color than the others."

They watched as it grew larger on the screen. "I think Phantom is heading towards it."

"Maybe it's his lair," she said. "He does have ice powers. Ice and snow could be what gives it its color."

"It does look like that could be," said Jack.

The island grew larger and larger, and eventually the picture showed that they had been right. The island was covered with snow and more.

"I think those are buildings," said Maddie, pointing out little mounds. "Crude, but still buildings. Perhaps Phantom is trying to replicate features of Amity Park in his lair?"

"You don't think it could be some kind of," Jack waved his hand vaguely, "rudimentary ghost settlement?"

Maddie wrinkled her nose. "What would they have to gain? Why would you say that?"

"Because I think I see some ghosts moving around down there."

Sure enough, Maddie could see movement where he pointed. The ghosts were white-furred, and difficult to see against the snow, but they were there. They looked fierce. Animal ghosts of some kind, Maddie assumed, but warped over the years.

"They all look so much alike," said Maddie, fascinated. "I wonder what could have caused that."

"Well, they say form follows function!" said Jack. "Or the 'native' theory could be correct, and they formed that way, without human consciousness involved!"

"Hm," said Maddie, making a note. "We'll have to look into that again."

Phantom's hand flashed in the camera's peripheral vision. "He's waving to them," said Jack.

"Great one!" shouted one of the ghosts on the island, voice made small by distance.

"Frostbite!" yelled Phantom in return, voice much louder. He swooped down, and was embraced by the other ghost, who was much, much larger.

The other white-furred ghosts cheered. Maddie frowned.

"If he has this sort of reception here, why come to Amity Park?" she asked. "If his Obsession is attention..."

"Maybe it's human attention he wants," said Jack, rubbing his chin. "Either way, they're... enthusiastic, aren't they?"

"I can't believe they've banded together like this," said Maddie. "It doesn't make sense. The structures... they don't make sense, either. Ghosts shouldn't need things like that, especially not in the Ghost Zone."

"Maybe they're a different species of ghost that does need things like this," said Jack, most of his attention on the ghosts greeting Phantom. "We've never seen any like them here. They might only be able to exist in cold. Or they could have Obsessions related to, uh... igloos?"

"They aren't really shaped like igloos, though," said Maddie. "I think there's stone under there."

"The ice could just be dirty."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

.

Getting to the Far Frozen was a relief. Danny felt a the tension he'd been carrying within him relax as soon as he spotted Frostbit.

It was replaced with embarrassment once everyone started fussing over him. Technically, this was in front of his parents. Still, he'd take embarrassment over what he was feeling earlier. His core was singing that he was safe safe safe among allies and friends, and the cold felt wonderful against his skin.

"What brings you to the Far Frozen today, great one?"

Danny chuckled nervously and reached back to rub his neck. The motion was stopped when he encountered the collar around his neck. "I'm actually here to see a doctor. I've got a bit of a medical problem. At least, I think it's a medical problem." Danny touched down on the surface of the snow, wilting slightly as he tugged fruitlessly on the collar. "I don't really know. Can you help?"

Frostbite's eyes went wide for a moment before shifting into pure concern. "Of course, great one. We'll take a look at you right away. Unless you need to rest? We know we are far from your home."

Danny shook his head. "I want to get this fixed right away," he said.

When Frostbite scooped Danny up and put him on his shoulder, it wasn't a surprise. Neither was the short flight to the Far Frozen's medical 'cave.'

Oh, to be sure, it was a cave, but Danny always felt like calling it something like that, something so crude, was a disservice. For one, the entrance chamber was gorgeous. A huge, underground atrium with an intricately grown and carved ice ceiling, geometric patterns spiraling down the walls; ghost writing above graceful arches, indicating what each space was used for. Shining, high-tech devices that made even Tucker salivate. Some people might judge them on what lay above ground in their village, but appearances were often deceiving in the Ghost Zone, and the Far Frozen was one of the most advanced societies around.

Only an idiot would mistake the tribe of the Far Frozen for savages.

Frostbite carried Danny into the diagnosis area, set him down in a chair, and began going through the routine of cleaning his hands and putting on medical equipment.

"Oh," said Danny, leaning forward, "Frostbite, you don't have to, I know you're busy."

"Nonsense, great one! You deserve the best of care, and I am here to provide." He sat down on a stool across from Danny. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

Danny began to explain.

.

Jack and Maddie weren't talking. This is because they were in shock.

The ruins at the beginning had been one thing... Those were expected, the ghosts of buildings, so to speak, ectoplasmic echos. But this place? This level of technology- It shouldn't be possible!

"I know," said Jack, and Maddie realized she had spoken out loud. "But... it's here, isn't it? We're seeing it."

"It could be a trick," said Maddie. "A facade. There's no way any of this is actually functional."

"But if it is... Jazz and Danny, they might be right," said Jack. He sounded troubled. "If ghosts can form societies, and create technology and art like this, even if the societies are based on violence, that indicates some form of sapience, of intelligence, even if it isn't human intelligence."

Maddie nodded. "I think we should withhold judgement until we actually see results," she said.

"Yeah," said Jack. "Just... I feel sort of like the bad guy in a sci-fi movie, you know? The one who insists the aliens or people with superpowers aren't really human."

"It isn't the same, Jack. These are ghosts."

"But what does that even mean anymore?"

Maddie sighed. "We'll have to change our theories," she said.

"Ah," said the ghost known as 'Frostbite' on the screen, scanning Phantom with some kind of unknown device, "yes. I see what the problem is. I'll take the camera out, now, and then we can work on the other bits."

The screen went blank.

.

Getting the collar removed was both easier and harder than Danny had expected. Easier, because all he had to do was take a drug and let Frostbite peel it off, harder because he had to come down off the drug before he went home, lest he get into a fight and wind up with semi-permanent injuries. At least he was able to send a message to Jazz to ask her to cover for his absence.

He didn't get home until four in the afternoon. Nothing remarkable happened on the way back, because the Far Frozen decided to send some warriors along with him to make sure he got back safely. He was a bit surprised, however, to find his parents passed out at their desks in the lab, apparently reviewing recordings from the camera they had stuck to him.

Recordings like that could be dangerous to him. Should he delete them?

No, he hadn't said anything incriminating, and they were unlikely to be able to use the footage to attack the Far Frozen. The floating islands moved, after all, and he had entered the Zone from a random portal. It should be fine to leave it like that.

He let himself turn human. The air down here was chilly. He should get them blankets or something and let Jazz know he was back, then he'd pass out himself.

While he was draping a quilt over Maddie's shoulders, he caught sight of her notebook and the last line she had written.

The kids are right. We'll have to revise our theories concerning Phantom and the other ghosts.

[anothermoirafan]

You know what? It could make sense, if u have other Carmilla hcs ok hear me out-

I think Carmilla's turning was bad. Like not just traumatic but downright physically painful and dangerous. Even more than what it should be.

Now, none of what im about to say needs to or is canon except tidbits for backup, this is all just speculation; the man who sired Carmilla was too weak to do so properly. Evidence no.1: he looks pretty old by the time Carmilla kills him

Like this is an old old man, which you usually (ideally) shouldn't notice in vampires. Now either Carmilla killed an extra extra old vampire who even showed signgs of aging, or he was also turned pretty late in life. Now this is just my personal belief but I think that being turned whem you're older is not only just more dangerous but also kunda makes you weaker. Vampires themselves even if they've been turned young but are now older, like the generals for example, can still get weaker with age. Now picture this, Carmilla is still human, around 11th cdntury probably, and she is with this dude who might not even be that old for his kind but fate simply found him pretty late, and now he's convinced Carmilla that she too can be just as eternal as him. Now we do not know mhch about her human life, how this guy was before, but she did not have any kind words for him so we can safely assume that by this point he was already a bit mentally lost.

Carmilla is now put through the process of being turned by a guy who plainly shouldn't be trusted with a toothbrush probably and he's here chaninging her life. Maybe his blood is weaker, maybe he's weaker, maybe he forgot how turning goes, but it goes badly. Notice how strikingly white Carmillas' hair is? Now yes thus is is Austria in the middle ages, but still, exceptionally white hair is very rare, even there. And it as a design choice actually makes Carmilla very eerily looking, it just doesn't look natural. My headcanon is that it wasn't always like that. Hair going white from strees and traumais actually a real thing, called Canities subita or the Marie Antoinette syndrome. There are lots of stories of people's hair going gray from wars, overwork and other concerns. I think Carmilla's situation at the time was perfect for it. Here is a village girl, amrried to an old crazy vampire, being turned into a vamoire by the hands of the before mantioned crazy one, probably suffering torture before and after her turning. Now ofcourse, hair can always grow back and I'm assuming that vampires can grow theirs pretty quickly, but we also kniw from Lenore that Carmilla, even centuries later, has nightmares from the man. So for her, he is like the eternal punishment, constantly making her hair stay as white as the night she first drank blood. And I think he wanted it like that. See this image also from Carmilla's backstory?

Considering the man she murderd was hung naked, I can imagine she was seducing or pleasing him in some way. See how she is dressed in pure white? I think he liked her like that. Maybe he made her turning worse when he saw just some of the hair go white, so her whole head of hair was also turned. If you think about it Carmilla refuses to wear white in the whole show. Except for one screne and one scene only. The nighr gown scene. Now I couldn't find any good pictures or recording but it's this scene:

She wears a red cape over her white night dress. Even when she sleeps, she needs some red. I think it' s an identity saver for her. She always wears red, she needs to wear red. But the bare, simple part of her is white. She cannot heal. She fails in her gretest life plan because she isn't healed. At all.

Idk jzst something to think abt.

Okay but...

Carmilla has human ears.

Is... is this an animation error? What are we suppose to do with this information? 😆

[sanseru]

Tell me more about the poly demons! They look cool

I'm sorry, it takes me too long to draw stuff so I'm gonna go ahead and just do a small info dump. These will be relatively minor things but some of them do hint to some backstory.

(Also yes, all my characters are somehow a part of the LGBT+ community. However, I will say, it isn't the main focus of the overall story.)

Melisende

- Is pansexual but incredibly socially awkward and has never been in a romantic relationship with someone before

- Hates when anyone that isn't close to her calls her Meli. Instead, she tells them to call her Mel or her full name, Melisende

- Absolutely refuses to cut her hair

- Is the kind of person to come off as very aggressive and mean at first, but once she realizes you actually like her, she does a complete switch and refuses to do anything that might make you leave

- Loves making dresses with her sewing machine but is too nervous to actually wear one of her outfits in public

- Definitely has ASD based off my own personal experiences

- Primary abilities are explosives and spear magic. She can summon a spear from thin air and cause them to explode at her command.

Zed

Btw, his design will be undergoing some changes because I've only recently gotten some new backstory ideas that'll affect his physical appearance. Zed also doesn't have as many details yet so I apologize. He's a work in progress.

- Is a bisexual trans masc and has had multiple relationships. However, he's never been in a polycule before

- Has multiple adopted siblings but no biological ones, nor does he know his biological parents

- Protects his heart earring with his life

- Has ADHD because of course he does

- Primary ability is shield magic. His powers used to be stronger in the past but due to some events, they're a bit weaker now. Despite that, he's incredibly good with his magic

Stryker

- Is an agender demisexual. They have never been in a romantic relationship before

- Has a pretty significant criminal record but powerful connections have kept them out of prison for most of their life

- Hates being confined or immobilized

- Specializes in using firearms as their magic isn't useful in combat

- When they enter someone else's mind, Stryker falls unconscious but the other person is still fully aware

- Demon's minds look like the insides of houses. I don't know why but I thought it was a neat idea so it stuck

- They don't have any living family at the time of the main story

[katewaliss]

! write with me or fight with me!

you either die by my sword or the most painful head canons imaginable! *merida vc* choose yer fate

just kidding!

 hey there gaymers, i am crissy! i am 22, live in pst, go by she/her pronouns and honestly would very much like a distraction from life -- preferably in the form of 1x1 and rp in general. i am currently doing online school plus trying/failing at adulting, being a crazy pink haired college student living on microwave dimsum with my crazy fluffy demon cat, but that still leaves me with a lot of time and what better way to spend that time then crying and dying, am i right, boys? 

so without further ado ( adieu? idk gusundheit ) here are a list of discomboblulated plot things that have been floating around in my head that i might be fun to do ( plot fragments, ideas, ocs, fcs i like, settings, genres etc )! i’d prefer a message if u liked any of these in the inbox or dm form, my tumblr ims are open and my discord user is mr. worldwide#2918 ( pitbull supremacy ) but if ur shy i will message u and be annoying! 

lastly: i prefer hcing in the dms to replies, however i will do replies/ask memes slowly, i don’t really like making blogs and prefer google docs/discord and i ask ( gently and respectfully ) that minors do not interact.

thank u and happy hunger games! xx

COLLEGE TOTALLY SPIES -- i was really obsessed with this picture right here and i thought that the picture would be a good premise for a little four person group based on totally spies. i was thinking that these three college students/young adults some friends maybe not some enemies or just on completely different ends of the social agenda get bonded together when they accidentally end up roped in a top secret spy organization that is fronted by a record store. the details and flesh of the plot i think would be cute to figure out all together maybe in a google doc or a big discord so we can make the rp to perfect world building specifications. right now i have two spots open! 

my friend lexi over at comradc has taken the cool goth asian girl and is using lyrica okano

i am playing the freckly backwards hat lesbian in the red polo named aj mccallis and i think im using diana silvers ( not sure might switch to tati rodriguez )

we also have the cute blond girl w the dyed hair who is giving me kind of like sydney sweeney energies, blonde girl maybe like lalisa manoban/jinsoul,

and we have the rad black girl with the bandids who i would only accept black fcs for for such as diamond white, ryan destiny, salem mitchell, 

i’d prefer if this stayed kind of sapphic and female and enby friendly. we can def make make npcs and characters but i’d prefer if the characters looked like they do in the picture ( minus the white girls who can be racebent as long as there are vibes ) mostly bc i want the poc people to stay the correct poc! but yeah! if u like this message me specifically!!!!! seperately and hit me w a role ud like maybe an fc an idea anything < 3 im working on a google doc and discord sever

- i really want to play a himbo skater boy evan mock like its my dream i know nothing abt him other than he probably goes by something like mouth or juice or tris or dex or dante but !!!! he has buzzed hair he buzzes designs into, does stick n pokes, hates cops, will kiss anyone, likes to mosh at house shows, smokes a lot and sounds like crush from finding nemo, probably ur parents worst nightmare if im honest rodrick heffley energy -- adopt him for any plot

- i also really am obsessed with simay barlas who is my mascot rn -- i want to play her in some sort of dark academia setting with like gossip girl blair waldorf energies lu from elite and have her be really mean and cold and pretentious and play the cello and probably have secrets and be uptight idk the name mallory is resonating hard w me ( we could even do a gossip girl the secret history type group if people liked that ) 

-ok i also really really want to play streak aka silas montgomery who is like very like sidekick best friend to the golden boy main character, does a kick ass goat impression, class clown, relentlessly hits on like the most difficult person in school, does crazy things for laughs and attention, just wants to make people happy, only wears hawaiian shirts, finger guns, is going nowhere in life, his dad is probably the dean at whatever prestigious school also he is very very depressed and drinks often! love u! a I Feel Like Im The Worst So I Always Act Like Im The Best electra heart baby PINTEREST

also yes his hair is pink reg verse he did it on a dare but hp verse he did a potion wrong and it never came out

SOMEONE DO A LADY HANNIBAL WILL GRAHAM RP KILLING EVE RP W ME! i made this will graham adjacent gal for a genderbent hannigram rp her name is bisexual disaster enida johnson and sometimes goes by needy or will bc her middle name is willamena! has basically all the will things wears flannels is a mess but has a bunch of cats instead of dogs in her woods log cabin and im using crystal reed bc it fits perfect in my head idk if u like her hmu hit me w a lady hannibal PINTEREST

other stuff

ok i really want to do a princess and knight plot but with knight zendaya and princess anya taylor joy ???? ALKHALKSHALK LITERALLY HELLO literally modern or like dnd style i do not care but know i love dnd! we could make it like them goin on some skyrim quests like hi

speaking of dnd and skyrim if anyone wants to do like anything based in dnd stuff or skyrim stuff i am DOWN

jennifers body plot!!!! maybe set in college!!!!! sounds spicy i will do a f/f or m/m version leggo leggo 

UNTIL DAWN UNTIL DAWN!!!! i wanted to do a little like 6 person or mumu until dawn thing where everyone either makes new characters or characters based on the existing six! i made a girl adjacent josh character named riley PINTEREST who i love very much ( fc might change im thinking maybe medallion rahimi ) pls hmu if ur down

i looooooove breakfast at tiffanys!!!! like i really love breakfast at tiffanys we love a call girl broody author ship and i want to play a mishti rahman holly golightly type character so so bad 

pygmalion plot!!! basically like an author and the main character of their book comes to life and the book character is probably from a different period of time or realm so doesnt know how to do modern 2020 stuff like microwaves and the tv! and then maybe they get sucked into the characters book world thats written by the author and have to navigate that! enchanted! w the kdrama! energy!

GOSSIP GIRL PLOT ENERGIES

any sort of the secret history murder society until dawn ahs horror type setting i am on a kick rn 

i still really want a deaf sailor and siren plot bc that is so spicy or even like anything involving sirens like maybe one thats like vegetarian and doesnt like to eat humans so it ariel rescues one and keeps it safe!! or like only men are susceptible to the sirens song but aha! i am a woman! Romance!

anything in the realm of percy jackson i love mythology lets go i kind of want a echo narcisuss plot and i want it to hurt me so bad 

i will do harry potter stuff but only if its completely removed from the current canon like years in the future no existing families also maybe beauxbatons salem and drumstrang plots bc thats what matters

iiiiiiiii really like anime so i will do anything kakegurui, soul eater, ohshc

i kind of like grew up on the hunger games so i will gladly take any hunger games plots like young effie and haymitch is spicy or like a career tribute and one of the weaker poorer distracts enemies to lovers leggo

i have a kind of oc that had their parents die in a factory gas leak that was the governments fault and it turned them into a vigilante assasin that is slowly picking off bootlicker government people one by one pretending to be one of them until bam! gets attached to the rich asshole son or daughter of the head hauncho or one of the higher ups ... drama

rich little celebrity fussy wussy being held captive by the mafia and the tired stoic mafia guard but they fall in love 

i kind of like any plot that involves one person that is really loud or angry or dramatic or whiny and the other one is kind of sweet and gentle or does not talk much idk make brain happy 

speaking of!

no nonsense law student studying abroad in a european country and an artist there falls in love w them and is all romantic and gush and is like ur my muse!!! and they are like Go awAy and they explore the city together and themelseves its nice!

i want to be an avan jogia super villain idk why i need to but i do 

not to be a disney adult bc i am not but anastasia princesses dont kiss kitchen boys 

rival cheer captians? best friends brother? pop princess celebrity singer and like antiestablishment really angry rockstar in a publicity relationship? broody detective and sunshiney diner person that works at the diner they eat at everyday?

idk i will think of more hmu these can all be made f/f or m/m if they arent 

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 6x10 - Handle With Care

How did everyone like Fear? I have to admit, the first time I watched it, I didn’t’ see much. But that’s probably when I first watched, I was SUPER tired. When I re-watched, I found much more. Amazing how that works. ;D

***As always, spoilers abound for Fear 6x10 below. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

This episode centers mostly around Daniel. Grace starts having contractions, and they don’t know if they’re Braxton Hicks or if she’s really in labor. Morgan wants to go get a fetal monitor he left at the water tower. Since Sherry is there, she lets him use the MWRAP so he can get there and back quickly. He leaves Daniel in charge.

When everyone first comes in, they make everyone lock their weapons in the armory. Only Daniel and Morgan have the keys. After Morgan leaves, Daniel gathers everyone to talk about the situation with this other group, but they just all end up fighting and not trusting one another. Then something explodes.

They run over and there was some dynamite that went off. No one was hurt, and Daniel says it was probably an accident. But everyone starts getting really suspicious of one another. The sound of the explosion brings walkers. A lot of them. Daniel decides to get into the gun locker, just in case, but when he goes in, all the guns are gone. Someone has taken them. No one knows who, or at least they aren’t telling.

Afraid the walkers will breach the walls, Daniel sends Grace to a *fishing shack* (not only symbolism but remember that) just in case. He later sends Charlie to be with her.

Some of the walkers get in and it’s revealed that Strand has a gun he didn’t turn in. So Daniel thinks he took the guns and puts him in jail. Just as it seems the walkers might get in, and Daniel is ready to shoot Strand, Morgan returns and the guns on the MWRAP take care of the walker problem.

Then Morgan goes to find Grace and Daniel still doesn’t believe Strand didn’t take the guns. But Morgan radios when he gets to the shack and says Grace isn’t there. She radios them later and is fine and they go get her.

Daniel asks why she didn’t go to the shack and she says he told her to go to the caverns. Charlie confirms that, and he even marked it on the map for them. The caverns.

Couple of things here before I go on.

1) There’s a major hallucination/delusion theme going on here. Given the Leah episode, that caught my attention. Let me say that it doesn’t LOOK anything like the Leah episode. No colors, no haziness, nothing. (I don’t think I’ve actually posted about that, but the more we see the color saturation and haziness of that episode as evidence of the hallucination.) For the record, we don’t see anything like that in this episode. I think there’s a specific reason for that, which I’ll get to in a minute.

2) They chose a fishing shack and caverns. Obviously, we can tie the fishing shack to Beth in 12 different ways. But “caverns” are also where Connie went missing. And while they found her very quickly, for a short time, Grace, Morgan’s love interest, was a missing girl. And in this pic, she’s…um…wearing a bright yellow sweater?

Okay, moving on.

So, it seems that Daniel isn’t entirely in his right mind. Right after that, they find all the guns hidden in his person shed. He says he has no memory of putting them there.

It’s actually very sad. He first says someone is framing him, but then says he’s confused and isn’t sure if he’s okay. It then reveals that he’s talking to June. She does some neurological tests and says the condition isn’t neurological. It’s probably psychological.

At the end, Dakoka tells them about Dallas. Luciana says Alicia and Al are probably halfway there. So, Luciana are going to go meet up with them and they’ll all go to Dallas. (That may happen next episode).

And Daniel decides to leave. He gets teary-eyed, saying he put Grace and Charlie in danger without knowing it, and it’s not safe for him to be in the community. He said the last time weirdo things started happening in his mind, he burnt a building down (S3).

So, he plans to go back to the warehouse he was living in before. But then Strand invites him to come to Lawton. So, he does.

That’s pretty much what happens. But let’s talk about this in more detail. The first time through, I thought it was very sad for Daniel. But by itself, it’s kind of a bottleneck story, designed to bridge the time between John and Virginia’s deaths and when they go to Dallas. So, perhaps not the most interesting episode, even if it was interesting to watch.

Watching it a second time…I think there’s a good chance Daniel is faking it. That may be why it doesn’t feel as ethereal as Leah’s episode. We, the audience, still hear him tell Grace to go to the shack. But that may have just been a bait and switch to trick the audience. If Daniel is faking, it’s not REALLY a hallucination.

And I’ll say up front that I’m not certain he’s faking it. I just suspect he might be.

So why do I suspect that?

When they’re all talking before the explosion, Luciana says the “end is the beginning” group took down Tank Town because they infiltrated her group without her even knowing. And they all start wondering if one of that group could already be among them. (Trust issues.) I’m wondering if, somehow, it’s Daniel. The mention the idea so many times, it makes me think it’s a hint. And there’s really no one else it could be.

And I will say that if it is him, and if he was faking, I have no idea why he would do that. I mean, clearly, he’s trying to sow discord, but to what end? I have no idea.

There’s also a lot of tension between him and Strand. They talk about how Daniel’s fake memory problems at Lawton was him playing Virginia. Strand says, “we were both playing our own game. The better man won.”

When Daniel thought Strand took the guns and imprisoned him, he talked about how Strand shot him in the face (I barely remember that) and how much pain Strand caused him. He really comes very close to shooting Strand.

I also noticed that in the “inside the episode” at the end, the showrunner said that Strand inviting Daniel to Lawton was part unselfish (he says it’s for Ofelia) and partly selfish because it means Daniel is weaker than Strand is. The showrunner says Strand, “outfoxed him.” And the fox reference is what caught my ear there originally. But there’s definitely a rivalry between these two.

I also noticed that Daniel offered to go get the fetal monitor early on, but Morgan said he’d get it. The place would be too hard for anyone else to find. So I’m wondering if Daniel was looking for a reason to leave. I don’t think he could have known that Strand would invite him to Lawton. But maybe he just wanted to get outside the walls.

So yeah. I could certainly be wrong about him faking it. Let’s put it this way. If I’m right, it’s a very intriguing episode. If I’m wrong, it’s kinda bland. So, I lean toward the conspiracy theory. ;D

Other symbols. Sarah in lots of pink is interesting. (Pink Theory.) I think it’s probably because she’s June’s assistant. So, she’s Beth to June’s Dr. Edwards.

There’s a blond walker that gets in. And this is pretty interesting. I didn’t think much about her at first except that she’s blond and therefore kinda Beth-ish. But I noticed this time that she’s also wearing a pink shirt under her denim jacket. She ends up wrestling with Dwight and getting a saw in her mouth (ew). 

So it could be a “speak no evil” sort of theme. Then Strand shoots her to help Dwight, and when Dwight looks up, he has almost a perfect circle of blood around one eye. Sirius anyone?

The other thing from what I mentioned above is that the fishing shack Daniel told her to go to ended up being part of the delusion (if it was real). So, it definitely feeds into the hallucination imagery.

I think most of the rest of it is just run-of-the-mill imagery. We see tomatoes.

It starts with Daniel saying three words, which we later learn June told him to remember because she’s running the neurological tests. He says beach ball, elephant, grape.

Beach ball I tie to Sasha because Negan told her she had “beach ball sized” lady nuts. And of course there was all the beach talk around her and Abraham.

Grapes can tie to Beth in Inmates. And we have seen a few elephant symbols. So all of this is inline with the symbolism.

So how does this all tie into the grand scheme of things? Not entirely sure yet, but there’s definitely hallucination symbolism going on. 

The other thing is that memory issues could possibly be a foreshadow of Beth having memory issues. After all, Daniel has had more than one death fake out and then returned. Plus he specifically referenced burning down a building here. So there’s that. 

Mostly, this felt like a bit of bottleneck episode with some fun TD symbolism thrown in. I have no complaints, but I’m excited to see what happens in Dallas. 

So yeah. I think that’s all I’ve got for Fear. How did everyone else like it?