#And also a neat and creepy puppet

[gollancz]

Calling fans of Garth Nix and Creepy Puppets

To celebrate the paperback publication of SIR HEREWARD AND MISTER FITZ, we're running a giveaway on our Instagram! You can win a copy of the book and a one of a kind handmade Mister Fitz puppet!

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The deadline for entry is midnight on Sunday 26th May, T&Cs available on the link in our Instagram bio!

[cmrosens]

Creating fantasy religions: something I'm doing now so thought I would post about my process.

The mistake a lot of writers make is developing a religion from a singular event, and piling a ton of stuff on top of it that makes logical sense. Whereas, in reality, religions are self propelling systems that travel under their own steam and if there is an event that catalyses them, it is never in a socio-cultural or political and economic vacuum.

You also end up with an apparently totally random set of things attached to one figure which does make sense if you know the origins, but otherwise is just accepted even if the meaning is lost.

It is the difference between "the god of Midwinter and festivals around this originated because a cult of necromancers were banished into the frozen wastes and this <event> became the Origin Story for how we got to a midwinter festival with creepy bone puppets in my fantasy world" and a religion that feels ... Real.

Ok so firstly, this is a bit too neat. (This was my original reasoning for a midwinter god called Yarash and I changed it because it wasn't very realistic or interesting for my world.)

Why, let's say, is the god whose feast is at midwinter also the patron of puppet makers and osteopaths?

Well, we could say that this makes a lot of sense because the god's festival was originally to do with remembering the dead, and puppets were used in the festival to represent the dead, as necromancy should have been part of it but people didn't actually know how to raise the dead properly. Then as magic evolved people could actually raise the dead for short periods to deliver messages in these festivals, but this drew internal debate from the conservative priests who thought puppets were the original form and so should be maintained, and necromancy was an aberration, vs the progressives who saw necromancy as the original INTENTION and so the natural and correct progression from the puppets. The debate might rage on for years creating splinters, sects, differing traditions that sit uneasily together but find middle ground in other less controversial topics and practices, and even cults.

At some point, the secular authorities get involved for their own reasons. Maybe some rulers are pro-"The Old Bones" or anti-, or they want to outlaw necromancy or benefit from it for various political reasons, socio-cultural reasons, economic reasons, military intelligence reasons, etc. Whatever happens, happens. Times change. Official attitudes swing back and forth, while internally the religious debates continue, now informed by and perhaps as counters to, this secular intervention.

Then we end up in modern times, the times of the story. Nobody really believes in gods anymore. They do remember the old gods of the seasons and at the secular festival in winter, there are a lot of traditional puppet shows that have a whole history and life of their own. The puppets are called "the old bones" and nobody really remembers why. Osteopaths have the puppets and symbols relating to the midwinter festival on their certificates and college heraldry and nobody really remembers why, but the information is there to look up and is a fun thing to know for trivia nights.

And necromancy... is a controversial branch of science, divorced from its original religious significance for many but not for all, and more integrated as an art or practice in the public consciousness (positively or negatively depending on perspective and propaganda and actual usage).

And now, you have a ton of depth and meat to it without having to flesh out the arguments and debates themselves unless that is plot relevant.

There is a lot you can do with this society now, and by tweaking one thing you can create completely different societies and ideologies. The depth is now there to set your story at any point during this history and to develop numerous ideas. So much stuff can happen.

With the singular event version, and a static fact of a necromancy cult in the frozen wastes, things are much more limited and linear, with less depth to play with.

Also remember that your characters will not be expected to know everything about your world unless they are experts in religion and/or history, and also the 2 subjects are not mutually inclusive so a historian is not an expert theologian and vice versa. How much the average person on the street knows depends on levels of formal education, accessible knowledge beyond formal education, which may include religious instruction and folklore, and propaganda. But it means you can build in some subtle things - like the puppet symbols on the door of an osteopath or bone doctor - that never need to be explained, but have a logical in-world explanation below the surface.

Try taking a static idea and work it into a system and see where it leads!

EDIT: I'm doing a workshop on Build A Hellscape at the Devils and Justified Sinners online conference, Saturday 24th Aug 2024, 9AM UK Time. Sign up below:

[eternity-death]

Okay… 2.1 thoughts (mostly revolving around Sunday bc I am obsessed with him)… SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVENT COMPLETED THE QUEST!!!

PART 1

"You got to prove your worth to Sunday before you can speak with him." MEOOOOWWWWW

Aventurine pointing out Sunday's need for control and calling him insecure made me laugh out loud.

Also, the slipping into Sunday's collar... tee hee...

Do you guys think Yan Sunday puts you in the sand pit when he's upset with you...

It's either time-out in the sandpit or a "nice walk" through the real dreamscape. You obviously choose the pit. And now you're stuck with the creepy Oak family puppets for the foreseeable future. It's unnerving and lonely, and despite your shrunken size you start to feel a little claustrophobic.

When Sunday feels you've had enough time to... reflect on your actions... he approaches the sandpit and asks if you're ready to behave.

And yes, he does expect a sincere and lengthy apology.

"Breathtaking view" more like BREASTtaking. We know what you were really looking at, Aventurine.

These are important because in my endless list of drafts I have some hc’s of Sunday being a neat freak and I was correct!!!

Further reinforcing my hc that Sunday would like to help you get ready in the mornings.

Part of it is to satisfy himself and the other part is to make sure you look acceptable and appropriate.

SCREAMED… SUNDAY MIND CONTROL POWERS CONFIRMED…

We now know that he can take away one’s ability to lie… though this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

THIS SCENE IN PARTICULAR AIWHEGRHWHHWHWHEHAGHW… SCREAMED AGAIN… WITHOUT THE S….

THAT SMILE… WHEN HE KNOWS HE HAS AVENTURINE RIGHT WHERE HE WANTS HIM… INSANITY… MEEOOEOOOOWWOWOW….

[sepublic]

OWL HOUSE ANIMATED TEST LEAKED?!!?!

ALL RIGHT SO THE ORIGINAL ANIMATED TEST GOT LEAKED?! This is an animated test btw, a proof-of-concept of what TOH could look like, according to the person who posted this; The actual pilot still eludes us!

What we get and hear are more or less what we've already glimpsed and could guess at, just expanded a bit more; Luz wants to learn magic, Eda is skeptical, that sort of thing. What's interesting is that Luz claims King told HER he once knew magic, but based on how the final story went, this was probably one of his made-up delusions. He also has a lot more repressed, built-up anger from being coddled and patronized, which would've been interesting to see...

I wonder if that trait ended up transferring over to Proto Willow; Or rather, Paulina! I heard someone suggest the spelling is Polina since it's Slavic and TOH is based on Slavic myth, but for now, let's keep it simple. Paulina would def start off the same way as our Willow; Not doing well in magic, and messing up (this time on Luz herself, hilariously), but I presume the idea for her to shift to plant magic as her true calling was still there. Not only do we see this in earlier concept art, but a later bit with one of Paulina's plants harassing Luz. And she still has the issue of glowing green magic that she can't quite control...

We get Prince William, who shows up when Luz mentions the most 'powerful wizards', more on him later. It's generally speculated and agreed that William is a prototypical version of Hunter, so I find it neat that Paulina's name changed to Willow, as William became Hunter...

There's a glimpse of the Owl House's original design, as seen in the first proof-of-concept poster released back when the show was announced in 2018, with Eda's shop built into the front of the building! The tower doesn't have a roof, and the giant eye window blinks, which was carried over to the first episode's ending. We have some Spencer Wan concept animations he released a while back, but fully colored and animated... A Luz Doppelgänger seems to have always been an idea, so I guess the creepy puppet is Proto Vee?

THIS! We have what I suspect to be a prototype version of Emperor Belos, possibly when he was advisor to Emperor Pupa? I'm not sure, but the context, the blue eyes in darkness, the mask... Their location in what seems to be a cathedral, plus the resemblance to this concept art for Belos?

This is Proto-Belos. Him taking Eda away in what resembles a cathedral seems to indicate that his Christian extremist-leanings were a thing as early as this animated pitch, and what's more...

In the stained-glass window behind Luz, we see a portrait of Sir William, complete with that wavy-styled sword that resembles the knife Philip killed Caleb with! This raises so many questions... Is the Sir William we see here the real deal? Was he deposed and put into a slumber by Belos, the way Pupa would've been? And William is the true ruler of the isles?

Would William have been Belos' brother, his Caleb, hence the round human ears? Why does he look so young, was he de-aged, or is he a clone, a Grimwalker that was abandoned for not being sufficient, and/or discovered in an 'incubation' stage when Luz slapped him awake? I presume this concept of Hunter, who is actually referred to by this name, came later down the line;

Overall, very fascinating stuff! A better glimpse into the development of Willow, Belos, and Hunter(?) as well as an older idea for King's personality, and of course a better look at the original Owl House design shown in 2018! Brief yet wonderful and to the point, we've seen most of the stuff from this pitch as silent clips or images, but I'm glad to have it as part of a cohesive narrative this time! May we one day find the actual pilot itself...!

[sunshine-zenith]

Also while talking about the Encanto related books, here’s a neat detail from one of the books I got my niece — since these are static pictures and not moving images, the artists (credited here as Denise Shimabukuro and “the Disney storybook art team”) showed Camila’s shape shifting powers with him keeping his default outfit

Makes me wonder about if this would’ve worked in the movie with how it was animated— they’d have to modify the puppets of everyone Camilo turned into to have them wearing his outfit (or rather, have him keep his outfit), basically creating a new separate puppet for what would’ve been a brief gag, right? It also would’ve made the Camilo-as-Delores gag harder to pull off (plus it would’ve made it harder to make Camilo’s interpretation of Bruno in WDTAB come off as intimidating. Bright yellows and oranges just don��t read as creepy as greens, even in the dark), though on the other hand it would’ve been charming to see how his outfit would’ve looked on all the random people he turns into

[journalsouppe]

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call!! I actually discovered ordering the game from the UK with shipping was actually cheaper than ordering the American version of the game, there were no major differences that I could tell as they still had the original English voice actors.

I enjoyed this game!! Not my top favorite installment but I still had a great time and loved the new characters. The puzzles were well designed and had nice scaled difficulty and the mini games were really neat too. The Eternal Diva references were so blatant lmfao but I’m excited for Miracle Mask! I was also super exhausted when writing the summary so sorry there’s so many errors and I use the word fun a million times ToT

The Descole and Tea sticker are from JordyDrawsMerch! All other stickers are from Daiso. Writing typed below!

Rating: 8.3

Played: Sp 2024

Port: DS on 3DS

Favorite? Y

Replayable? Y

Recommend? Y

Series: Professor Layton

Comments

Emmy and BABY LUKE!!

OH THANK GOD IT’S CHRISTOPHER ROBIN MILLER

Ngl im so excited to watch the anime, I love the animation sm

Oh Layton is not taking Claire’s death well at all

I love how animated the background now is!!

Beautiful music as always

Does Clark have the same VA as Dmitri lol

THE WORLD WILL END? Damn Luke

The specter looks like one of those little kingdom hearts guys

Luke’s been a LaytonMobile hater since day one lmao

Luke is especially funny in this game

Layton taking Luke to the black market is so wild

THE PUPPET PLAY IS ADORABLE

I’m going to fight aunt taffy

Ooo we get to play as Emmy

Holy shit Emmy

GIRL FROG

Emmy asking if Layton always pokes lamps he sees is making me think he physically touches everything the player taps

The convo with the meowing man???

CHELMEY AND BARTON

Based anti-cop npc

THE DYNAMITE WORKS LMAO

Is Hershel gonna get a cask of amantillado’d T^T

The canals are so pretty i like the design of misthallery

Oh i do not like the police chief

I LOVE YOU EMMYYY

Grosky is very funny

Omg the cliff death police cover up reminds me of killer frequency which i just watched a playthrough of

FUCK JAKES

Where’s phoenix when you need him

JAIL BREAK JAIL BREAK!!!

I love descole’s voice

YAAA LADDER VS STEP LADDER

NESSIE???

The story book stories and animations are so CUTE!!

I wonder if Naiya was added to the game to hit at the Eternal Diva

This kinda reminds me of a pokemon movie but I don’t remember which one it was

^^ it was pokemon heroes when latias and latios were caught ^^;

AN OCARINA!!!

Creepy fucking factory music ToT

Oh dear. I seem to have stepped on a hexagonal spanner

Descole always serving massive cunt

Woah the golden garden is beautiful

Ohh so that’s why Luke was fork life certified in plvspw

ZAMN T^T

THE WAY THE SPRITES WALK KILLS ME LOL

I really like these little episodes from others POVS! ^_^

Summary

This was such a fun origin story for Luke and Layton. Very much a classic Layton game with world ending machinery and gorgeous environment design. I really liked both Emmy and Descole, there’s a more serious undertone than with Don Paolo as the main villain (even though I do love Don Paolo). Emmy is amazing!! I was afraid she would be sidelined like Flora was but I’m glad to she stands her ground and does what she wants to do. I alos like how we got to go on our own adventure as her to London, she’s a character that doesn’t need to rely on Hershel to solve everything. Meeting Luke was great, loved his blank stare. It was fun seeing his origins and how Clark and Hershel knew each other. I’m curious how the prequels will play into the New World of Steam, especially now that Luke’s family have stories and sprites (unlike in the original trilogy). Loved the ACAB story, v nice to play while I’m still so mad at what’s happening to university students currently. Descole was so fun, I am obsessed with his outfit and personality. Unfortunately I was spoiled on who he is but I’m very excited to learn more. I think similar to Ace Attorney, the fourth installment is that last game in the classic 2D style, which is sad but PLvsPW makes me very hopeful about 3D Layton. The overall story was fun, I really liked the sub plot about the Ravens - that was really fun (i was so tired writing this omfg). I wish we got a little more backstory on the rich guy who died, I feel like there’s more to the story. OO I loved the little episodes, especially the one about Chelmey. They added a lot of fun context and gave more life to the NPCs. Such a fun and classic Layton game, I can’t wait to play Miracle Mask! (And read the light novels). This wasn’t my favorite Layton game but I still really loved it and had a great time and loved the puzzles — that’s all I want from PL!

[lolotheparagon]

Who's your favourite member from each of the massive OC casts you've created (Audacious Regulars, Star Cross Warriors and Funomena)?

Star Cross Warriors: Definitely Parfait, Florabelle and Sugarcoat. I literally cannot choose between them. I love Parfait’s boundless energy and larger than life personality, whilst hiding her perfectionism and desire to make friends with everyone and wants them to be happy, cos she’s scared of being alone. Which is accentuated by her late father's abuse and having no prominent mother figure in her life, meaning she tries her best to be independent and Florabelle’s great cos I love drawing her and I like how soft-spoken and calm she is, but shes not a doormat, she's just as strong-willed as her girlfriend and once she gains a new teacher in the form of an elderly Ironite warrior named Irogun, she trains to become a swordsbunny, not to prove that she can be just as strong as her girlfriend, she just thinks its neat. And I just think that's a great motivation to have. Also Sugarcoat is just fun for me to write and draw cos I love drawing unhinged characters, especially ones with monstrous egos like him.

Audacious Regulars: Delilah, always wanted to make an ultra femme business lady who's good with numbers but also loves cheesy romance stories, contrasting the realistic and sardonic Audrey, who's terrible at forming deep relationships with anyone, let alone romance. I also like the idea of Delilah having such strong mathetical skills and business smarts that she was originally offered a job as a bank manager in the big city, but she decided to go for accounting instead, but she knows big city jobs are factories for stress and prefers a job at her pace. Also I want her to be Audrey's first gay option if AR ever becomes a game cos I love childhood friend romances. I really like Audrey herself to be a perfect twist on the typical otome game protagonist. Usually these women in these types of games are delicate wallflowers who shriek at the sight of lewd jokes, but Audrey's just a normal ass woman who's got a brain and is written like a grown woman, not a puppet written by extremely creepy men who view women as pets.

I really like Cale, cos he's written to be my ideal man. Kind, sweet, unwaveringly loyal and honest, but is very cringe. He's kinda like if Sheldon and Mozu fused into one guy, he's very snarky and aloof at first and rarely lets anyone in but he's a sweetheart once you get close to him. Also I stan a man who loves cute critters as much as I do.

Funomena is still a new concept, cos i mainly made this cos I wanted to do a fantasy story with human characters and I wanted to stick it to Genshin for being a racist, bigoted mess by writing my own story, but ive literally only gotten the characters and the basic set up for the story down so I dont have much to talk about. In terms of concept and design, I like: Pixine, for a good commentary on how teenage girls in anime are preyed on by weebs and the homogenous nature of anime girls being blank slates being marketably designed to appeal to weebs. Also its just nice to see a teenager in an anime RPG just be a normal kid and have a found family that love her dearly. Also Violance for being another good deconstruction of anime waifu culture and how needlessly dark and tortured a lot of women's backstories is and the only symptom they suffer from this trauma is just stress and workaholicism. Like, thats so boring...

I also like Holly and Janice, although they were recycled from an old story and placed here, I still love Holly's down to earth nature contrasting the lunacy she has to deal with. I like how she goes from wishing she could be in an JRPG cos she loves them so much, to now actually BEING TELEPORTED INTO ONE, she ends up very jaded to it cos of the very toxic world Funomena actually is and just wants all of its residents to be free from this. Janice is also my first trans character so I had to include her here and I want her to be happy and safe surrounded by her best friend Holly and her new RPG group of friends she's made. I love the idea that she was initially skittish about meeting the residents of Funomena out of fear of being ridiculed or any transphobic slander, but it turns out the residents of Funomena, especially the Princess, really like her and marvel at how beautiful she is. Which is something every trans woman deserves to hear, to be honest.

Sorry for late reply, had to really sit down and think about this ask. Thanks, I always love talking about my OCs.

[god-complex-12]

Cigarettes

——

Pairing: [Joker] Jack Naiper x reader

Pronouns: he/him

Fandom: DC

Quote: “Call me Joker.”

Description: Y/n gets a new housemate.

Disclaimer: Boring story, the story and Joker is just completely based on Chaz frome When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. The chapter is called The House. Great book. Recommend, but this story is almost exactly like that.Joker comes off creepy. It doesn’t really clarify if y/n really likes Joker. Joker is referred to as Jack. And cigarettes.

Master list

——

An old building, it was. An old building, but y/n found it homey. An old building, filled with crazy people, and cluttered with antiques. It was more of just a big house. Y/n has lived there for awhile, it wasn’t the best place, but he couldn’t complain. He usually kept to himself, not talking with anyone that much.

He did know the drama. For instance, he knew that a student was moving out to go to college. He also knew someone was moving in. A guy named Jack, and y/n so happened to see him in the hall. No, he wasn’t moving in, he was just renting the room. He wasn’t to stay permanently, at least, that’s what y/n thought.

“You wanna help?” He asked.

Y/n didn’t talk much to him, he kinda just examined the man. He was slender, and handsome. He looked perfect, so y/n started to try and focus on his flaws. He has freakishly pale skin. His yellow teeth. But if you asked y/n, he found those things more appealing.

“You looking for something?” Jack asked, he had a cheeky smile.

Y/n didn’t respond. He just went on talking about something else. Jack wasn’t the nicest. He was pretty rude.

“Anyways, I don’t have to chit-chat.” And then he walked away.

He liked to do that. Leave the conversation early, like he wasn’t the one to start it. It was kind of annoying, but y/n couldn’t do anything about it.

Before Jack, everything was quiet. Now, the day consists of old 90’s rock music. It’s not that bad, it’s good music, but all day? It was annoying. Sometimes, Jack would come to see y/n. Knocking on his door asking for a cigarette. Y/n would cave in, handing him one, and Jack would stand there and smoke it. Y/n had to stand at his doorway and watch. Jack would complain about y/n’s room. Y/n didn’t think anything was wrong with his room. It’s clean. It’s neat. But Jack didn’t think so.

The longer Jack lived there, the more things y/n started to notice. Jack lost his job, supposedly because he was too good for it. Y/n doesn’t really know if he got another one.

Jack began to knock on y/n’s door more often. He had no care in the world for the time. He’d always have so many stories or some stupid conversation to say. Y/n tiredly listen.

Jack wasn’t the most stable person, and they came more apparent when he’d angrily throw stuff out his window, or break something and spread all of the pieces around staring at it. Sometimes you’d see him with a beat up face, he’ll say he got in a fight and won, other’s say he got jumped.

A lot of times when y/n would open the door, Jack would drag y/n out of the wrong, by aggressively grabbing his arms. Jack would control each of his limbs as a puppet. That was when it clicked something was seriously wrong with this guy. Y/n didn’t notice as fast as he’d like, maybe he thought someone so good and clean looking could be so lost.

Jack would even go as far as shoving notes under y/n’s door. They were creepy and unsettling. “I can die and be born again on the same day.” or “You’re my favorite, I’d keep you.” The writing was if it was written from blood. The dark red ink (If it was ink) was off putting. Y/n heard he didn’t to someone else in the house too, but it wasn’t as bad. That was when the landlord told him to leave. Jack had no choice but to agree.

Someone had come by to get his stuff and had said he was put into a mental institution. Said that he was schizophrenic. y/n wasn’t shocked, in fact he felt a little sympathetic, and even went to see him one time. “I knew you loved me. That’s why you were my favorite.” He’d say.

“Yeah, yeah. Keep it to yourself, Jack.” Y/n grumbled.

“Call me Joker.” He said and it seemed more of a threat than a request.

——

[variousqueerthings]

I've just been spending the last few hours thinking about this ending that I haven't even thought about the whole rest of the episode, I've gotta. I've gotta just

oh boy I've gotta just fuckn

nothing about donna or fourteen or fifteen here just all the rest

1- at first I was thinking that the toymaker was defeated in kind of a simple way, but then on the other hand it's more a setup for some of the things we know is coming in ncuti gatwa's era, with classic!who gods. so the toymaker, yes, gives the opportunity to wrap up this past era and for DT to do those big sad wet eyes of his, but is far more for the next story's benefit in the long run from the sounds of things. also the behind-the-scenes for the game of catch is hilarious. NPH was so good, would be cool to see the toymaker make a reprise just with gatwa

2- ohhhhhhhhhh the Puppetry in this episode! PUPPETS! I am soooo into puppets, I could have spent a million episodes with these creepy fucking puppets, I hope we get more puppets

3- AND speaking of the toymaker, the master in the toymaker's tooth???? I haven't seen dhawan yet, so idk how that all ends, but I did not expect master setup, and I am very happy we did because the master is my favourite (derogatory, what a bitch)

4- RTD talking about the puppet that was broadcast on TV, I knew about that puppet (from getting a quiz answer wrong relatively recently lol), but giving that little historical Moment, now we all know a bit more, I just think it's neat

5- I am still not a fan of UNIT. every time we meet them they're a military force with weaponry that has the potential to do so much harm and... then they lose control of that weaponry. and also do weapons-related stuff that often makes the situation worse. I feel similarly of classic!UNIT who do manage to help out more on the whole, but still are fundamentally military and several times have people who do Bad Shit. dunno, still trying to figure out their place in this narrative other than convenient guns when we need guns. I want them to be more complicated if they come back for the next era, I'd be interested if shirley-ann bingham became a liz shaw type and really questions the limitations and biases that exist within UNIT

6- wait no, going back to point the first I'm soooo excited for the things they've hinted at, stories about gods are my whole damn jam, it's going to be amazing!

7- them playing the prime minister saying he doesn't care about anybody and donna goes "same as always" (or however she says it), listen, it's low-hanging fruit and I am eating it, anything dragging the british government and right wing sentiment is good and necessary for my soul personally

8- one really big Thing is no martha. will never get that closure RIP. argh though freema agyeman and ncuti gatwa could do great things together I think, cmon. one day

I'm sure more things will come up as I think about it, but off the top of my head

[jp---v]

Chapter 414

Apparently someone thought that the break was long enough to warrant a recap

Still looking like a creepy puppet just to keep moving

Imagine just casually mutilating yourself just because something gave you "the heebie jeebies" that regeneration is a fucking cheat code

The classic 'can't decay what you can't touch' method this time with an absolutely massive chunk of the ground

That's a neat little work around, too bad it's pretty limited

Hey remember when Dabi still kind of looked like a person? Good times.

I would also be confused if my 1-on-1 match (complete with inspirational speech) was interupted by the lizard man with purple hair and an obsession with swords

Get his ass, next quirk fire it off

Midoriya is the gun, the quirks are the bullets

No reloading, no missing a shot. Do or Die

[tobiasdrake]

You know, as much fun as we're all having stabbing this guy in the junk, it's going to have to come to an end at some point.

What the hell is going on here? Are they... feeding these monsters to something?

Aephorul said he was going to fuse the Acolytes with the Dweller of Strife to create a whole new thing. Maybe these Dweller minions are being... fed to or... fused to Strife as well.

Or this might have something to do with Erlina?

Whatever it is, I hate it. Also, those guys in Acolyte robes. I hate them too.

Mm. Slayings for later. Right now, Soul Curator's sensitive spots have a date with Serai's knife.

Gonna stay still and get it over with this time?

What, like some sort of grim Captain Planet of Viscera?

*gasp* Captain Viscera. THAT IS SO COOL! I love the cape, especially; The way it blows in the wind like a badass. And the fire scythe really brings the look togeth--

Wait, this is bad for us.

Now, you could defend this compound from the unruly agitators bringing war into your domain but, counterpoint, you have that big bladey weapon and the Soul Curator makes really funny noises when you--

Yeah, that's fair.

So you're a... teleporty shifty robot guy made from four combined (human?) souls fused together who can break apart into copies of itself. That's neat. Okay. Are the copies driven by different souls?

Beside the point. Loathe as I am to credit alchemy for things, my creepy stalker puppet over here has these neat tonics. Here, let me float a couple over to you.

Aren't they cool? Yeah, they're cool, huh. You know what happens when they mix?

Phase-shift that, asshole.

Yeah, that kind of thing is what radial attacks are for. Never underestimate the value of a well-placed hand grenade.

Oh, shit. Erlina next? Seriously? Will you just fucking die alrea--

Oh. Well. There we go. One last shank for the road.

I'm happy for you, Serai.

I've seen you smile several times since we began avenging your people. And I never get sick of it.

So, that just leaves the Dweller of Strife, whatever that long-ass name Erlina has now is, and Aephorul himself. I think we're just about done here.

Oh, that's probably a good idea. It won't matter where those minions were being sent to if they can't come back.

OH. OKAY.

For once in my life, I'm going to vote for "DO NOT smash the thing." In fact, let's be very, very careful what we touch.

Planet killing bomb, Zale. What do you think you're going to do? Hit it and then run away really fast and hope the explosion forgets you were there?

...

Oh, never mind. Hack away, Zale. Cut it to ribbons before it even knows it's dead. I love it when--

Well. That's just unfair, is what that is. What about you, Serai? You think you're quick enough to--

DRUMSTICKS!?

I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on "Who the fuck are you?" with a side helping of "How and why are you even here?"

Uh. Okay. Thank you and farewell, random bird stranger.

What the fuck are you implying? What, you think I'm going to jump them from behind while shouting "SNEAK ATTACK FUCKO!"

...

You know what, that does sound like me. That's a valid concern to have. I'll try to remember not to attack anybody unprovoked.

See you around, I guess?

[golvio]

I finished the Lotus-Shaped Sky Island sidequest last night.

So, a few interesting things:

Ganondorf himself is never mentioned, but he was apparently taking his creepy Zelda clone on test drives in the palace in the indeterminate time period leading up to the assassination.

The Chamberlain describes the apparition as “like something dead,” and Wortsworth translates that as “corpse-like.”

This makes me curious as to what “Shadow” actually is in the realm of TotK and how it’s different from Shadow in OOT. Gloom is energy associated with “the dead,” but it’s also associated with vitality in certain types of living things. Is “undeath” a sort of flipside of vitality?

Also, what is the Phantom here? An “artificial” ghost of its creator that thinks and acts like him? A soulless puppet-body made of Gloom that Ganon controls remotely?

Monster resurrection, or at least the possibility of resurrection, existed well before Ganondorf’s ascension. Rauru and Sonia explicitly created the Shrines of Light and the Lightroots to “seal them away” and prevent their resurrection, which I interpreted as meaning they’d naturally refresh their numbers through spontaneous resurrection no matter how many times they were killed. Baby’s First Blood Moon in the tear memories was the first time someone invoked this process on purpose since the current kingdom’s founding, but it’s not clear if it was specifically tied to Blood Moons before Ganon made it so, or if Blood Moons even existed before Sonia and Rauru built the shrines.

I sorta lost my mind over the information about monster resurrection because I was just sitting there imagining how monsterkind felt about the guy who finally gave them flesh again after years of wandering as aimless spirits unable to return to physical form. Like, everyone assumes he rose to power because he’s this big brutish warlord who proved himself to be The Strongest, when actually he made himself absolutely indispensable to the collective team comp the Rose Quartz way, so the monsters see him like this:

Are monsters spontaneously generated from Shadow? Like, in its natural unbound state, Shadow coalesces to form monster bodies or resurrects dead monsters?

This also makes the shrines needing to have a root extending into the Depths to “dispel the darkness” very interesting. It seems to suggest the Depths was the primordial birthplace of monsterkind, that they “came from the earth” and their souls are connected to the land. They may have even been one of Hyrule’s original inhabitants, existing alongside humans until the latter started expanding and encroaching upon their territories.

It’s also a neat little explanation as to why monsters are everywhere in the Zelda world, even outside of Hyrule. They’re a product of some primordial energy current running beneath the earth, and so they’re everywhere the surface of the earth exists.

[beans-and-shet]

One thing out of the many things I’m excitedly waiting for in season 2 of tmmn is their explanation of how Masaya and Deep Blue are connected. The og anime had an explanation that I didn’t think quite matched what the manga was hinting at.

Og anime said all human spirits have a part of Deep Blue’s spirit dormant inside them and Masaya’s spirit was the closest human match to Deep Blue, making him the ideal vessel for Deep Blue to awaken. That explanation makes it seem like Masaya was born by chance and happened to be the spiritual match Deep Blue was waiting for. It also implies that in and of himself, Masaya is no different from any other human.

In the manga however, Deep Blue actually admits that Masaya was a puppet or distraction he created to fool the world while he was getting ready to awaken. That implies there was nothing by chance about Masaya’s existence and that Deep Blue intentionally created him. We also have the panels where Masaya says he doesn’t know where he comes from. The earliest memories he has are of him in an orphanage and how he just has a natural drive to distrust humans and survive. He questions who he even really is. These details would be completely unnecessary to add if the manga agreed with the anime’s explanation of only a by-chance spiritual compatibility between Masaya and Deep Blue. The fact that Masaya can harness Deep Blue’s power outside of Deep Blue’s will (both in original manga and in re-turn when DB is supposedly dead) seems to also work against the argument that there is only a spiritual component that connects Masaya to Deep Blue. Even further, why would Masaya have mew aqua inside of him if his connection to Deep Blue was just some spiritual lottery that he happened to be born with? There’s just so many arguments against this imo.

Long story short, Masaya is an intentional vessel that was planted on Earth by Deep Blue and his entire personality was crafted by Deep Blue to have a deep-seated distrust for humans and an overall emotional disconnect from them that would make him easy to possess when he had grown enough for Deep Blue to take over. Masaya was meant to be a hollow shell of sorts that could easily bend to DB’s will.

I personally love the manga’s ambiguity behind Masaya’s origins because it’s honestly pretty creepy to ponder over and I think that’s neat. For example, I love the ambiguity over whether he was even “born” like humans are at all? Did he have biological parents or did he just manifest mysteriously (through the power of deep blue and mew aqua for example)? With all the sci-fi elements and advanced technology of the aliens in tmm + the existence of DB’s mothership, maybe he was made in a lab? Any of those scenarios are creepy and I love it. Also makes his “am I a monster?” comment in re-turn hit SO much better. Him being an unnatural vessel who learned about his humanity through love is my favorite interpretation of Masaya and a favorite trope of mine in general. It’s just another layer that makes him interesting to me.

Anyway, I am very curious how new will handle this explanation. Will they try to give a concrete but flawed explanation like the og did, or will they rely on ambiguity and allow the audience to theorize about his origins like the manga did? Or maybe they’ll go somewhere in between? Even if they give a more concrete explanation, I really do hope it is something different than what the og anime gave cause especially when adding re-turn to the mix I think that explanation makes even less sense.

[dailycass-cain]

Batgirls #16 makes more sense in lieu of the news the series will be ending with #19. It's a rare one & done issue, but not necessarily one.

In all honesty, prior to the news on Friday, I figured this was writers Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan paying homage to both Cassandra and Stephanie's ongoing runs by doing a one/done but really a single issue building off what came prior.

Really this issue is a culmination of seeds planted since the very beginning.  It's kind of satisfying in a way seeing story beats from the early issues paid somewhat off in creepy ways.

This puppet Jason has haunted me since I read the issue and IT SHALL HAUNT YOU NOW TOO!! 

*ahem*

Namely, the opening "salvo" of the Mad Hatter showcases what Mr. Greene was doing all the way since #1 (but really we saw all the way to #9).

Now seeing the creepy doll in #9 makes more sense with what he was commissioned with, and a bit of a payoff that yes Steph was right.  Just Greene was someone who developed something rather creepy for the supervillains of Gotham (akin to the Carpenter).

It's a neat little bit where Gotham gonna be Gotham and even working on creepy dolls for the bad guys wasn't gonna protect him from other monsters Gotham had (aka Mr. Fun).

If anything, I'm a bit surprised this wasn't further connected, but I'll base my theory anyway that Jervis targeted the Batgirls with this elaborate scheme because they took out his student. Charles Dante aka--

It is a nice way to circle things all the way back to then besides Greene. But that's my personal theory.

Suffice it to say I did enjoy Neil Googe's art for this story because of the creepiness of the dolls and his style helps bring the monstrous twist all the better.

Again, Conrad and Cloonan have been showing Hatter has been using various stuff (again making me wonder given Spellbinder's modus operandi was the same).

Taking stuff (namely Hatter’s mind tech and Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin) and warping it for his own cocktail twist. I mean the clues are all there.  Hatter used Lazarus Resin and this issue uses a Man-Bat formula on a Batgirl to make her a Girl-Bat.

I'm a bit surprised at the choice because Cass did have a history with Man-Bat (in the ye old Batman & the Outsiders by Frank Tieri). So I figured if anyone was going to be a Girl-Bat it is her this issue.

But nope the recurring theme this series has been is Steph is the one who's gonna suffer. I mean literally, she's been doused with the brew Tutor/Spellbinder had made. She got tortured and "killed" then had the Laz Resin used on her. This issue--

I mean I get it. But dang Steph's been put thru a ringer in this series. The fact that she's still willing to go after ALL this has happened to her is astonishing. It almost makes me wonder...

If the whole point of this, makes Steph retire. That this DC's way to give her this moment but step aside. I really don't want that but man there's got to be a point to put her thru ALL OF THIS. That said--

-- I loved this. Because one it harkens to something Cass has been doing throughout her career. She speaks to monsters.  Treats them fully as humans still even given their deformities and conditions.

She did it with Mr. Freeze (Batgirl Vol. 1). Man-Bat (Batman & the Outsiders). Clayface (Detective Comics). Orca (DC: Doomed & the Damned).

I think it's VERY telling this is Conrad and Cloonan having Cass relive a BAAAAD moment in her life in losing Basil here and being like, "NOPE! THIS ISN'T GOING DOWN LIKE THAT!"

It all feels waaaaaaaaaaaaay too similar in how this issue plays out to how it played out in Tec.

I mean we literally have Babs in this issue in the SAME EXACT POSE as Kate did in Tec with both having a sniper rifle. Just that this time-- Cass FOUND THE WAY.

It proves Cass was right back then and it feels justified in a way that yes she could've talked Basil out back then. Instead of you know--

I also think that's been the greatest problem DC has been skirting away from. You have these two characters with SO MUCH HISTORY. You had Basil remain good for a period even after that and turn him evil on a whim.

Not have ANY payoff with Cass seeing this? Come on DC. Break our hearts dammit!  You literally gave Tynion's Tec run an Omnibus and various trade forms. If you can revisit the overrated rubbish Hush story you can revisit this story!

Back to this one. I really did like the simplicity of this issue where it's all about the "little" things. Things we as readers picked up on and get nods to the past of prior Batgirl volumes (or issues from this) and payoffs.

But the biggest one besides the connection to Tec this issue had was again a connection to Batgirl Vol. 1 I saw NO ONE pick up on. I kept it silent until this moment.

I mean someone did catch the nods to the way Cass thought of Steph during the Andersen Gabrych run. That was a neat detail.

But here's mine I caught.  At the end, we had this mention from the narrator (and I'll fully admit it. THIS WAS THE BEST NARRATION this series has given us. It ADDED to the emotion of this issue). That Cass was by Steph's side the ENTIRE TIME.

Just like Steph stood by Cass's bedside after she had to deal with the Shiva groupie in Batgirl Vol. 1 #26.

That's a deep cut, but a nice one that had me all:

Again, this issue had LAYERS of stuff that I enjoyed.  Which is all the more reason the news this past Friday is so 💔because since #9 the series has been clicking until #14 where it just unleashed that salvo of goodness.

Yes, it's baiting us. I'll fully admit but in a way it reminds me of what creators said akin to Tim/Cass back in the mid-00s that now fully relates to Cass/Steph here.

Cass/Steph literally do act like two people in love with each other who haven't accepted it yet. Well, Cass we know did in #15 but I think this is the first real acknowledgment that Steph gives to Cass this issue.

Will we get SOMETHING in these next remaining issues? Who knows. But I really enjoyed this issue and what it gave us. Just connecting so many dots to this current run and of Batgirl stories' past.

[unsleepingtales]

The one gift daylight savings has given me is that for one week, burrow’s end comes out at 11 pm instead of midnight. Onwards!

Ooh what’s the group name gonna be

(tense yet whimsical music)

Spectacular

Ooh yay puppet show again

God they’re so creepy

OOOOOOH it’s so good it’s so good

AVA

Her charisma is SO low 😭

BABE why would you say that

Brennan and Siobhan my HEART that was beautiful

Beautifully done

Oh they’re all so insane <3

Brennan is so good at cutting right to the core of Daughter Experiences

The worldbuilding here is incredible Aabria I am in awe

Girl I saw you almost say weapons 👀

This is so fucking funny

Human remains??

Oh the rehearsed propaganda is so much

(Erika lets loose a savage battle cry)

The new yorker analogy <3

They’re all so In It

GIRL

W h a t

Babe that’s radiation poisoning

REAL

You JUST met clothes

Aabria & twins that are impossible to tell apart 2 for 2

Them <3

He’s so good at this actually

Rogues ftwwwww

I’m so excited to see how Izzy handles Arcane Trickster things bc I will be taking notes

Oh these children are going to have to go to school

I’ve never seen anything 💀

Such a ten year old asshole moment <3

That little smug flipping off

She just has an aneurysm or something

So it is some version of human language

SO GOOD SO COOL

But also how have none of them noticed the thing on the back of their clipboards

Biting the walls rn.

Couples that game together destroy erasers together <3

Saving throw??

Oh ok she’s Actually having a thing

“This is a safe space-” “Deception Check!!” The immediate cutoff 💀

What’s the point of me anymore 😭😭

OH LORD

Why I oughttaaa

Tonic immobility! Neat!

Parenting!

I too hold my collarbone when I get nervous

Oh Tula’s gonna love that…

He was so sure he wanted to keep the kids with him for the day and so quickly regretted that

They’re so good!!

Bryan Cranston

Thank you Brennan for highlighting that joke

Love the split screen moment

Girl

OK IM GLAD ITS NOT JUST ME WHO THINKS THE BRITISH GRADING SYSTEM IS BIZARRE I’m currently studying here and the idea that I could get a 50 on the essay I turned in yesterday and that would be a pretty good mark is batshit to me

Also how are we up to #42? Will there be a complete list somewhere at the end of the season?

Oh god Tula’s so real for that

The immediate emotional and physical crash after prolonged stress once there’s safety

They’ve immediately started calling it population control instead of population support lmao

You’ve been here less than a day you can chill a Bit

In neverafter we were on the road to shoeberg, now we’re on the road to hats :)

Erika has SO many werthers

The tonal shift from Tula talking to her family to Tula talking in a diplomatic sense is fascinating

Ohohohohoh girl

Babe

That’s a teenager

Sweetheart

What is Brennan planning why am I nervous

That is so not how that works

Honey oh god

Memory check <3

Oh Erika handled that so well

Why is D20 dealing so much with grief rn. I didn’t need this.

(I did need this I didn’t want it I know that’s the point but god)

I love character choices

What is happening

YES rocky horror ref and YES Brennan’s Tim Curry impression

Oh god the new student anxiety is so real

Oh ok it straight up is real world radiation I thought maybe it would be like. Fictional parallel or allegory situation but nope straight up this is nuclear radiation

My name is Normal Size Jaysohn and my sister can read

The most sidekick-y kid 😭 PLEASE

Siobhan <3

Bi jaysohn

They’re teenagers now and it SHOWS

When’re the bnei mitzvot?

I love our little fourth wall stunts

Siobhan looks so cool like legitimately I know she’s doing a bit as a student trying to look cool but she looks great

Aabria and her consequences <3

What the fuck is happening

What

Why have they started a GANG

Ok well at least he not congested anymore

Never mind

He grows up and becomes one of those guys always chewing tobacco but it’s mint

Troubling. This is incredibly troubling.

Jaysohn-

Siobhan has had her leg up this whole time <3

Thorn 😭

Jesus Christ

Aaaand the party’s back together :)

Help her out here man

She’s so seventeen years old

Keep it together-

Oh god

AVA

She’s so eldest daughter

We gotta get through the series.

BARBARA STOATSAND

Oh yeah because leaving the kids with Thorn went so incredibly well an hour ago

The emotional manipulation involved in every aspect of this

Checkitoutcheckitoutcheckitout

Real tears at the table 💜

What a rollercoaster

Plus NINETEEN

Avaaaa

BOX OF DOOM MY FRIEND

Brennan and Siobhan sitting next to each other is so fun

HELL YEAH BABE

Chill this is all chill

WHAT

He’s unfairly good looking

This is so cool Aabria oh my god

What the fuck man

YEAH NO SHIT

Horrifying. Truly? Legitimately? Horrifying.

Well maybe they know something about the blue

I don’t think anyone ever hid that from you? Maybe I’m having trouble distinguishing in game vs above game conversation but I thought that had already been brought up

Ok so they did already know this. Glad I’m not losing it

Oh shit

Clover. Like the crushed clover from the story. God.

Good for her getting the breakdown and rant she deserves

The tears at the table today

Oh that one hurt coming out huh

Terrifying! Good god!

Augh

A lie oh god oh fuck

WHAT

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

Oh the theater kid energy is palpable

hell.

next week looks insane oh god.

ANYWAY this was fun see you next week I guess <3

[walking-fnaf-encyclopedia]

That's so real- our fictives tend to influence that stuff for me too, like my danganronpa AU having influences from my Junko and Makoto (villain and hero of danganronpa) headmates, but I think Sophie (from The Walten Files which is what TWF is) is the only one who's rlly made an AU of her own.

In my swap AU, basically, the order and circumstances surrounding each death are switched, and the killer is... kind of different as well. My current thought process is that William murdered Sammy- he hadn't intended to kill him, but he more or less beat him until he died from a traumatic injury- but he didn't kill any of the other kids. Instead, Henry, desperate to bring his son back, killed all the missing children. Elizabeth was still killed by Baby, but this incident was caused by the well meaning but unaware older brother Cassidy (crying child) leaving her alone in just the wrong moment and panicking and protecting himself instead of her. He later gets springlocked in Spring Bonnie. Spring Bonnie and Fredbear were actually from a totally different sister location. Michael was kind of an. extra murder on top of everything else just to take everything away from William but idk who he'd possess. Puppet maybe? Its weird creepy design feels up his alley.

The band in this AU is fronted by Baby. Freddy is a more or less scrapped character barely used for shows if at all, and as such, Susie is stuck in the back most of the time. Chica, Bonnie and Foxy make up the rest of the band, and Gabriel takes over Chica where Jeremy is Foxy and Fritz is Bonnie.)

All of this.. disaster leaves Charlie alive, and Charlie was actually childhood friends with several of those kids, including Elizabeth. She has genuinely no idea what happened to all of her friends, and has carried that with her, hoping that one day she might be able to track down Elizabeth and figure out if she's actually still alive. Which she is not, and Baby, angry at Charlie for her father's actions, really.. rubs this in. On the other hand, Cassidy is being manipulated with his own fear into being on Henry's side.

This is one of my less developed AUs (my two main aus have a RIDICULOUS amount of lore) but here it is :D

ohhhh the walten files. ive never seen it shortened to that and havent watched anything related to it in a while so i didnt pick up on it lol

ohhh william killing sammy and then henry killing everyone else - thats good, love that!!

CASSIDY CRYING CHILD CASSIDY CRYING CHILD (<-has a cassidy crying child fictive)

the puppet being possessed by a character thats so drastly different from the original puppet is fascinating! and mike as a murdered has me curious 👀

poor susie, but baby getting to be the face of the band is cute! does her design - or the others’ designs - change to make them mesh better with each other? shed look kinda out of place with the og’s, hell even with the toys.

charlie being alive, and seemingly taking a similar role to og mike is neat!! and cassidy being manipulated UGH i love casskdy crying child it feels very. underexplored?? i feel like i never see it. i love evan crying child and his bestie cassidy but you can pry lonely cassidy crying child who blames their dad for their death more than they do michael out of my cold dead hands

LOVE this au!!! thanks for sharing!!! if there are any yall want to talk about in detail - or any of my aus you want to ask about in detail - go ahead! sorry that this answer took longer, lol

also HAPPY FNAF MOVIE BIRTHDAY!!!! hope you guys get to go see it if you want!!!