#Obviously this warrants a video at some point

[dysthoepiadaily]

I saw this take the other day on twitter, and it made me kind of annoyed bc... way to miss the point, and to show that Dan was right and that it was too niche for you, LOL.

People do like Dan because of his authenticity and wit, but also... it's not that simple. Dystopia Daily, in many ways, was extremely authentic in the emotion it was trying to convey.

I think dystopia daily was more of a commentary on just youtuber culture in general, the desperate need for youtubers to remain popular at around a time when they were losing relevance. This led to a lot of them desperately collabing with one another, "exposing" more and more of their private lives in hopes that the more they give to the camera, to the audience, the audience won't abandon them (Dan and Phil finally tell the truth, Dan's grandma explains the internet).

There's a sort of "giving the people what they want" aspect to it, as well... "This kitten cured my depression", an obviously hyperbolic title, but something the audience wants from him... People want a STORY with youtubers, a sort of triumphant arc, but youtubers aren't actually able to deliver that triumphant arc in the way that the audience wants, because youtubers aren't fictional characters, they're real people.

There's just a brutality in the performer/audience relationship. If the audience doesn't get what they want, they'll just abandon the performer, and the industry is COMPETITIVE, and really unfair. Some of the shittest and laziest content will get a lot of views, while others don't get views when their content is actually interesting and creative! The "literally just reading reddit and monetizing it" and "if I laugh I instantly die" videos have a higher view count than like... "Dan and Dodie do a duet". This is literally modern art, and that's sooo good!!!

The overproduction of it all is by design... It's the point, in many ways, that this guy is being extremely overpaid for content that is objectively bad, but people fall for that kind of thing every time, LOL. It is inauthentic, but it's inauthentic because the personality of Daniel Howell, the host of Dystopia Daily is terrible for youtube views. He's just not the guy he used to be.

Was it the best execution of this concept? I don't know, and I don't really think so (but I am of the belief that art should be easy to understand and this is a VERY debatable point). But, I do think the concept is unique and interesting enough to warrant praise, plus, I think Dan is an ideal person to tell this story... I also think it's hilarious that people were confused about what the fuck it was.

[chirpsythismorning]

The Vanishing of BLANK Wheeler

I wanted to make a list, from least likely to most likely, for which Wheeler I think is going to go missing.

But I also wanted to give a little disclaimer first, that even if these titles are real, they could still be fake, or could even possibly change given how much time we still have until s5 actually premieres.

For s2-3, the Duffers literally released official promo videos announcing episode titles for their upcoming season, with some of them changing when the season finally premiered.

Like in the case of s3 for example, they dropped a s3 episode promo video only a day after they completed filming. Meaning them titling 3x06 The Birthday, made absolutely no sense. They knew they didn't film anything birthday related for that episode. So they intentionally gave that one a fake name.

In the case of s4, that was the first time they promoted an upcoming season without giving fake titles, with the s4 promo announcing them following through with what we ended up with when s4 finally dropped.

I guess I sort of assumed s5 would follow in s4's footsteps, but from a leak standpoint, it might be smart to remember that fake titles are still a possiblity regardless. Especially in this case, where it's getting to the point in production where leaks are unavoidable. And so that might even explain why they play with this idea of fake episodes, which is because they can rest easy knowing leaks will mostly consist of half fake titles they planted there.

But for the sake of this post, lets humor the title for episode 2.

For starters, it's worth noting that the person who shared this leak originally said 'BLANK wheeler'. So as far as I know, they did not give any number of letters via underscores (_) to hint at who this Wheeler could possibly be. It's when ST news accounts caught wind of the leak and started rolling out posts, replacing BLANK with 5 underscores, that led a lot of fans to assume that the Wheeler had to have 5 letters in their name, which would have obviously ruled out Ted and Mike. But since all the Wheeler's are still on the table based on the original leak, they will all be included in this list.

5. Ted Wheeler

Believe it or not, there is something that I think actually warrants considering Ted as a possiblity.

There were some posts @stranger-chichka made a while back, comparing visual parallels between Stranger Things and Chernobyl, which could be hinting at this concept of Ted being in danger.

TBH though I think Ted being in danger or ending up dead is a possiblity regardless of him actually being the missing Wheeler.

Technically speaking, quite literally no one on the show is ruled out from being in danger at this point, so that's not saying much.

And considering the show is going to need to kill off some people next season and they are insistent on not killing any of their leads, supporting characters amongst the ranks have a high risk at being taken out. The emotional connection for Ted from the audience isn't as strong as other characters, but at least him being in close relation to a few main characters is something? I mean, he's funny I guess?

Quite frankly I don't think it's likely nor do I think it would actually make sense narratively for Ted to be the one to go missing out of all of them. I think it's a lot more likely they'd just kill him off, hence the Chernobyl parallels which imply he's gonna die. And so wasting time by having him go missing, only to kill him, just doesn't track. I think they'd just get that over with without dragging it out for very long, if anything.

Can you just imagine someone on the show shouting emotionally, It's Dad (Ted). He's gone.' Like, okay... And? I have a hard time imagining the characters being in serious turmoil over this, at least not enough for it to warrant like final season stakes amongst a bunch of other crazy shit happening. At best, the characters would be indifferently guilty for getting him roped into all this.

So yeah, I really don't see it happening.

4. Nancy Wheeler

I honestly feel like Nancy is even less likely to go missing than Ted, but the un-seriousness of an episode titled The Vanishing of Ted Wheeler is so astronomical, that I really had no choice but to put him last.

The reason I think Nancy is just very unlikely to go missing is because they technically already had her go missing as a cliffhanger between Vol 1 and 2 last season. It would just fall flat if they repeated something along those lines, with that same character, 3 episodes later. Vecna could have killed her and yet he didn't. His point was to send her a message, which was why he did what he did and then released her. The choice to target Nancy and taunt her about her family's safety in the first place, felt like their attempt at foreshadowing the danger that is to come for all of them, but one specifically. One of them that is not her. Which will make this moment back in s4 feel a lot more impactful upon rewatches.

So yeah, not feeling like Nancy is very likely.

3. Karen Wheeler

Karen is sort of a hard nut to crack all around. In the case that she is somehow connected to the Creels (Alice), anything is possible in terms of not only her being targeted, but again the entire family being at risk in some capacity. Without much to go off of outside of the obvious very haphazard timeline confusion, I feel like putting her somewhere in the middle. She was given a poster for s4. If she is Alice, then yeah it would make sense to target her. The stakes are also a lot stronger in comparison to Ted, because she was the parent in the family that actually came to Mike or Nancy and told them verbally that she wanted them to open up to her and is actually shown trying on several occasions. Whereas Ted is sort of just there when he's on screen. So the characters' distress would be a lot more dire and interesting to see unfold amongst everyone.

I also remember there being a leak in relation to Karen, Holly, Mike and Nancy all being at the hospital filming. And this was also like a day or so after ST dropped a video of Cara saying she was filming that day to hype up fans. So that leak did check out on the Karen front at least. Which puts her at the hospital at some point, potentially along with the rest of the Wheelers. Now that I'm thinking about it though, this could all fit with a Ted Wheeler death...

At this point, I'm sort of like indifferent to the possiblity, but it's still more likely than Ted and Nancy to me.

2. Holly Wheeler

It all goes back to s1, when Karen was visiting the Byers to console Joyce after Will went missing, when Holly sort of ventures off to Will's room, being guided by the lights, and sees the demogorgan in the wall.

I feel like people overlook this moment too, because it's kind of crazy that Holly has seen UD shit for herself. She was young enough that she could rule it out as just imagining things. And that could be partly the case even if she is skeptical.

There is something about Holly that makes her curious and sort of open to this world that most around her have no idea exists. And yet simultaneously some of the people closest to her do know about it and could easily clue her in when the time comes to do so, and because of that, I think she would probably be able to believe it all a lot faster than others.

Maybe this is a story where things need to happen and it just always ends up this way, but she has this tendency to be included in things that feel very important. Like in s4 with her playing with the lite-brite, and how that ended up being used to communicate with the others in the UD. There's this almost clairvoyance vibe about her. Her feeling the need to follow the Christmas lights to Will's room and her noticing and then fixating on the trees in s3.

Like I said, I don't know if it's something deeper, but it very well could be in the case she is connected to the Creels.

And while that is all somewhat compelling, at the same time it also feels very convoluted. Even if the Wheelers are Creels, I don't think that means the Wheelers would have powers, given that Henry got them when he was a child, meaning none of his family could have gotten them unless they too were taken in by the lab at some point, or were born with it.

Though I'm being full serious when I say the theories about Mike having time powers or maybe just manifestations from his emotions connected to the powers of others around him is one of my favorite theories of all time. I want it to happen. It would be cool. But that just opens the door to all of the Wheelers in my opinion, assuming his time powers came from being related to Henry. And if it was done that way, I feel like it would add way too much confusion to the story, where now all the Wheelers are gonna need to have powers, and then as a result would just takes away from the uniqueness that is already associated with Henry, El and potentially Will. One person potentially having powers without us knowing until the end aka Will, is enough honestly. Adding the Wheelers to the mix might be a bit much.

I'm also not totally convinced of the Wheeler's being Creels, and yet I also can't seem to want to rule it out entirely. But the prospects of Holly having powers or some sort of ability and just going through the same thing as Will when he was young and unaware of his powers, who is just now finding out the truth about his experiences... It just feels like serious whiplash honestly, when they haven't spent much of any time on Holly up to this point.

Like what are the stakes here exactly? What makes her disappearance and what that would look like compelling, on her front specifically? Because sure, I can see it being compelling watching the perspective of those around her reacting to this, what they would do to try to save her and all that, but what does that mean for her exactly? Are we going to see what she's doing? Are they going to hide it from us like they did with Will and then have to spend even more time uncovering it later on. And what does she even gain from being alone and taunted by Vecna presumably? What does the audience gain from witnessing that sort of event? There isn't a lot of story to explore there, outside of maybe making direct parallels to Will in s1? And then wouldn't that sort of take away from the importance of Will's role in it all just now being uncovered, if it all just repeats for Holly?

Which brings me to something that I see a lot of people using as strong evidence for why it has to be Holly, which is the fact that they recast her character.

What I think people are failing to consider is the fact that the twins who were cast to play Holly originally, were like 3-4 years old while filming s1. They weren't just kid actors, they were damn near baby actors. And while I know a big part of the reason why they gave Holly such few lines over the years was because the actors were aging way faster than the character they played, I think another factor could have been the fact that their acting experience is near nothing outside of Stranger Things, which is also pretty little on its own as well given that they have very few lines on the show.

It's not at all uncommon for child actors, let alone toddler actors to leave the industry once they start getting older. It could be for personal reasons, like wanting to explore other ventures, or it could be that they just don't perform as well with all the added expectations that come with acting as a character who is a kid with a lot of lines vs. a baby with 2 lines.

The girls got cast because at the time, they were able to perform as well as a 3 year old possibly could and would be expected to be in that role. But does that skill carry forth as they grew older? When now they have to deliver full sentences and carry conversations for scenes that are longer than 5 minutes? They've never really had to do that up to this point. Is it something that they feel comfortable with doing? Is their performance believable and is it something the writers feel confident about?

Honestly, I think they might have recast Holly, not because I think she is going to be targeted and focused on as this missing person they have to find, going through a near identical situation to 11 year old Will, but because they simply want her to be more apart of the story in general. And maybe because either the twins and/or the production didn't feel that they would be able to perform it in the way that they wanted it to be done.

And I mean, even if Holly isn't the one to go missing, one of the Wheelers is going to go missing based on this leak. If it was one of her parents, she would get a lot more scenes than she has in the past. If it was one of her siblings, again it would make sense for her to be more involved with the story. No matter what she is going to have a bigger role.

So no I don't think her being recast is as strong enough of proof as some might believe. If anything I think there is much stronger evidence that, like Karen, if they are related to the Creels, Holly is as fair game as any of them. The stakes could be high because she i such s a child. And her parents and Nancy and Mike worrying about her seems like something they would obviously do because she is so innocent and completely ill-equipped to endure something like that. But like I said, I just can't picture an focus like that on her, for her character, being very compelling given that Holly isn't really someone that needs like alone time with us witnessing it...

But there is one Wheeler left, and boy oh boy would he benefit from being alone.

1. Mike Wheeler

The most simple explanation for why it makes sense for it to be Mike, is that he genuinely benefits more than anyone when it comes to being alone with his thoughts, and with the audience watching. There's a lot of stuff dude has to work through in his own head, and since they haven't really let us have a moment alone with him that isn't under ten seconds since s3, an episode or two dedicated to making that a priority would make him coming back and things building up to the end, feel a lot more earned.

The audience needs to feel confident about how Mike feels about things. It can't be a guessing game for much longer when so many different factors are involved.

And while I think Mike may be the strongest possiblity in terms of the value it would add to the overall story is compelling enough to put him at number 1, the evidence supporting it happening is even stronger.

If we want to be crazy we can go back to the beginning. Plenty of fans have already speculated about how Mike is always late at the start of every season and how that might play into the beginning of season 5 again. I made a post about this recently and speculated it would happen one last time around the 15 minute mark. And maybe I was wrong... but maybe I was also right? Because if the second episode is called The Vanishing of Mike Wheeler, it's likely Mike's fate wouldn't be confirmed by the opening of 5x01, but in fact the closing scene of 5x01.

Throughout the show Mike plays a key role in leading the others, he's even referred to as 'the key' in s3 by Hopper. You know this show and their keys, they don't joke about that sort of thing. It's likely that Mike's story and what it is leading to is going to be central to how all of this ends.

Also in s3, there is one scene in particular that I think could be hinting at Mike being targeted, along with the s4 main poster with all of the characters. In the poster, we see El at the top, with Max and Mike as near equals on each side of her. Of course their roles are central and that's a fair layout on it's own arguably, but the equal-ness provided to Mike and Max feels very intentional. While she is slightly bigger than Mike in the frame, that could be a hint in regards to her being central now in s4, with Mike joining the mix alongside her in s5. Honestly, they could have made it so these two were beside other characters that also played a huge role in s4, and yet they chose those two to give a specific focus to. I think that is interesting (and probably intentional).

But if I'm being honest, there are so many moments in s4 specifically that hint at Mike being in danger, that I will not be able to include it all in detail in this post. So I'm going to link those below and then build off of some of it with some new details I've recovered that are worth re-contextualizing again with all of this in mind.

Hints regarding Mike and Will being targets of the town, but Mike specifically being focused on after the word 'missing' is said...

I'm gonna expand on this one because I think it's important to recognize the massive curtain in the background as this is all happening. And I vaguely reference this concept here as well which is worth checking out. But not is this whole concept of the curtain pretty blatant in this episode, this scene of the town all fleeing to hunt down hellfire club, is followed directly after, by this:

Notice how Mike is nearly always central in these moments? And how what follows feels eerily similar to what is about to go down at the end of s4 aka Suzie = Mike.

Now, this has already been talked about plenty so I won't go into detail, but... based on everything else happening surrounding this, this would apply to Mike in the sense that not only is he not in love with El, he's gay and in love with Will aka a boy. A BOY!

And then this mention of 'the terrible truth'. This word has been used like 3 times in the last few minutes. First intensely during Jason's speech about a terrible truth, with Ted and Karen being focused on with the Mike and Will extra in the background.

But what is even more crazy is that what follows sort of seals the deal for me that, this IS about Mike and it's foreshadowing what is about to come in s5.

5:02... 5x02!!!!

Also peep the watch and the letter from Dustin under it... I don't want to speculate but lettergate is looking extra relevant within all of this as well...

And to close off this point, lets show the shot that follows directly after this one.

Then later in the season, after Nancy is back from being taken by Vecna, here we have this long and emotional pause before she says Mike's name, last after her mom and Holly.

If they wrote and filmed this scene, knowing Mike would be the Wheeler missing early s5, it would make sense for them to list off the characters like this.

Mike peeking in the frame at this moment is not suspicious at all...

If it wasn't enough that Jason hyped up the whole town to see the Hellfire club as their enemy responsible for all of this, here we have a focus on Mike specifically being targeted by Jason.

The Duffer's statement about the show overall in the Piggyback script, and I gotta say it fits Mike a lot more than any of the other Wheelers.

Mike is a Paladin. And when they break an oath, they might spend an all-night vigil as a sign of penitence... aka everything is going to come to a head and Mike is going to be alone dealing with this shit for a bit, until he can come back ready to face it.

And I know it's controversial, but this post explains perfectly why Mike being central to this would make the show go full circle in a really compelling way.

Mike hasn't really unpacked...

Karen lookalike standing in front of the missing persons board. Could be any one of them but still, considering the costume of this extra looks closer to what Karen was wearing when she reunited and hugged Mike... I'm gonna put it more so with him.

Mike's guilt and shame regarding the past and what it has led them to could also play a big role and why him going missing would be worthwhile to explore. Part 1 / Part 2

Mike paralleling Yuri, who eventually reveals the truth (in his pocket) after stalling. If Mike parallels him all throughout the start of that moment, what does that mean for how it ends for Mike?

An antique funeral home fan behind Mike in the s4 character promo photos in the Creel attic, how Mike is seen sitting before Will sits beside him shortly after and it involving upside down imagery, Mike's first line in the show being used to later foreshadow his fate in early s5, and also bringing it back to Suzie's house which I already went into but it might be helpful to look at it again from this lens.

The Duffers would not pass up on the opportunity to parallel Mike with Finn's other character Richie in IT, which is literally based on a book that heavily inspired ST in the first place. And how all of that plays into the queer-coding for Mike going all the way back to s1.

The Duffers revealed after posting the funko-pop shotplanning pictures (2) that they were finished with planning for 5x01-5x02.... meaning this shot of Mike all by himself, is going to occur in one of those episodes...

We could still hypothesize Holly is the one to be taken, given that she doesn't have a funko and so they couldn't include her here regardless. But the fact that Nancy is with the other seems to imply to me that they are all likely working together to get Mike back, who is alone.

This one is a little more hard to pinpoint for sure, but it comes from a BTS Ross posted recently.

We are clearly in the Wheeler's house here. And if you zoom in, it looks like someone is standing (hiding?) behind a doorway/curtain. And the only person that seems to fit it imo is Mike... But why would he be hiding in his own house...?

It just makes me think about what is going on with Mike in early s5. What would be occurring that has him in this sort of situation? And it makes me wonder if him going missing has solely to do with him being taken and gone in one single moment, or if it could involve him avoiding his family and others potentially, with him being taken after that.

Lastly, I'm going to go into more choppy territory, stuff I know only a couple of people will actually consider. But it is pretty fucking fitting of what is about to go down so I can't not mention it.

In the Puzzle Tales' most recent Hellfire Campaign, this is the title...

Like the whole chapter is just a big joke on Mike about him being scared to be alone, which is painfully ironic if this is the direction the show is about to go for the next 2 upcoming episodes.

And then we have a song WSQK posted on Twitter back in January. I know people don't believe that this account is connected with anyone in the production, which is fair because I myself rarely believe leaks from anonymous accounts as it is. But I've been keeping up with it and it genuinely doesn't seem like a fan could come up with these songs.

The song I'm about to mention is the 7th song they posted, called Army Dreamers by Kate Bush. And you might fight it sounds a lot like the situation Mike might find himself in in early s5.

And though I'm sure I didn't cover everything, I feel like all the things I've mentioned and referenced from other posts are plenty to at least consider this as opposed to rejecting it all together.

At the end of the day I think there are some valid arguments for all of them to some extent. And quite frankly all of the Wheelers and most of the characters in the show will find themselves in danger in a way that is going to probably last longer than just one single moment the entire season. So even if it's just one of them, I don't think that rules out the others playing a bigger role in what is going down.

I just think narratively, there is one person that benefits from being on-screen and alone with their thoughts. And the other 4 being confronted with what that person discovers eventually will also make all of this a lot more worthwhile than any of the other options in my opinion.

[kennysboxergf]

hello! in a video sharky said niko was allergic to girls

what do you think about writing a smut where niko and yn are super loud in the house just bc niko wants to prove them wrong?

Prove him wrong ~ Niko Omilana

⚠️smut warning⚠️ —

You sat with the boys as they watched their new video. The “weakest friend” video with Filly, Darkest, George and Harry had just come out and no one had seen it all the way through so they all decided to get together in the cinema room to watch it.

Niko obviously had brought you along and you two had gotten comfy on a loveseat. You had seen Sharky and Chunkz approach Niko when your back was turned and it was probably some quip about him being too whipped for you.

That’s what you loved about him though. 

You were comfortable, half of your body on Niko. The atmosphere was great, the team was all laughing at the right places, a few of them mentioned how much time Filly took to answer and few of them feigned offence when someone got a question about them wrong.

You jarred when Niko raised his arm to point at Filly getting his middle names wrong. You rubbed his arm to calm him down as you chuckled at the drama in the room.

You were engrossed in the video when Sharky started giggling. Genuinely giggling. He was seated next to Niko, you looked over at him and then back at the video. That’s when you noticed what part of the video you were close to. You hadn’t seen the video but you were on the set when it was being filmed.

You watch as Sharky’s face fills the screen and Harry asks the question.

“What’s Niko allergic to?”

You watch as Sharky smiles with the (incorrect) answer, “girls?”

Sharky next to Niko bursts into laughter along with Kenny and AJ. The three of them laugh (a lot) more than warranted for the joke. Chunkz was smiling next to them but not going batshit crazy like the three boys.

Niko has no reaction, simply waiting for them to calm down. Once they did he grabbed your arm and made a show of leaving the room with a smile towards Sharky. You hear them laugh again as you leave but you know Niko’s got something planned.

A couple hours later everyone’s back in their rooms and you’re in Niko’s. He sits on the end of bed and you lean against the frame. You’re talking about just everything in general when he checks his phone and smiles.

You know that smile.

He edges closer to you with the same smile on his face. When he’s close enough he cups your face and kisses you. You smile and kiss back. 

He leans back and looks into your eyes. That’s when you hear the plan he’s been cooking up.

“You wanna prove Sharky wrong?” He asks.

You look up at him confused but you know he’s going to explain.

“We’re in the room right next to him, he said I was allergic to girls right? Let’s make him hear just how allergic I am.” He says his smile widening into a grin.

You chuckle at his schemes and tendency to over dramatise things but nod nonetheless.

He looks down from your face to your chest as he leans in closer, “it’ll be easier with less clothes” he says as his hands work at your top.

The two of you make quick work of undressing each other. He kisses you once you’re both naked. He continues kissing as he lays you down, grabbing a pillow to put under your head. You lay there, waiting in anticipation.

He tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear as he asks you if you’re truly ok with this. You nod and get up to kiss him on the nose. 

He nods back as his hands make their way to your boobs. He plays with them, eliciting small gasps from you. As his mouth attaches to your neck you hear him whisper, “make as much noise as you can baby”.

His kisses and bites make their way from your neck down your body. Goosebumps rose in his path as you arched your back up to meet him.

He chuckled into your skin before straightening once more. You watch as he leans over your body and into the drawers by the bed for some condoms. (Have safe sex, kids)

He slides one on and grabs your hips to position you right, you let out a porn worthy loud moan as he slides into you. You see him smile at you at the sound. You continue with the exaggerated noises as he pounds into you.

You hear him join in, moaning and grunting making sure that the noises were going through the wall. The noises weren’t so exaggerated though as he found the right spot inside you and started going faster. Your heart sped up along with your breath as you moaned your way into tomorrow. 

You feel his hands spread your thighs apart as he speeds up and your walls close along his length. He leans down to kiss you, never stopping the pace. You can hear him panting as he keeps going. You keep making noises.

The loudest yet was as you came, you essentially screamed in pleasure as he thrusted into you through your orgasm. The second loudest noise of the night was as he followed you into his orgasm. With one last snap of his hips you feel the warmth inside you. He manages to make the most erotic, loud noise as he does so.

It was comical. So you start giggling. He joins in as he slides out of you and starts to clean up. You guys sure showed Sharky, the mind blowing sex was probably just an added bonus to your boyfriend.

Around half an hour later you heard three sharp knocks at your door, you had dressed up and were cuddling on the couch watching something when the noise rang out. Niko yelled out a “come in” from next to you.

Sharky walked in, he had headphones draped around his neck and he looked genuinely distraught. You see Niko smile at his state and you mirrored the expression.

“What’s wrong?” Your boyfriend asked with feigned innocence.

“I’m sorry, okay, I am, please just tell me whenever you two decide to do that again” he begged, his hands held together.

Niko laughed and nodded at the man as he left. He turned to you with a glint of victory in his eye. “We proved him wrong.” He said simply.

—

🤭🤭🤭

as always requests are open and please just come by and say hi <3

[myobsessionsspace]

"My last point is that I don't really see JK being a club going person."

I was going to say this a well. I quite don’t get why some people portray him as a party boy when he has shared several times that he’s more of a homebody and feels more comfortable chilling with friends or relaxing at home - which, for an introvert, isn’t surprising at all. He seems like someone who has a small close circle of friends and doesn’t really socialize outside of it. Sure we don’t know him in private and it’s not like he never goes out obviously but I’ve always felt he was pretty transparent and sincere with us. So I really don’t get the need for some fans to portray him as a person he hasn’t shown to be. It’s weird, it’s like he’s not enough for them so they have to twist his personality to make it fit the way they would like him to be. That’s not exactly what I call love, but well..

~Ask Anon is referring to~

Hi lovely!

Right?! Talk your talk 💪

Like how many times has Jungkook shown and spoken about his MTBI?! He’s an introvert through and through. From what we’ve seen he has his select few that he’s himself with and has fun with but we’ve seen him when not working like a dog, at home or working out.

Introvert in the wild

He drinks at home, due to sasaengs he works out at home, he sings karaoke at home, he cooks at home.

Of course he must do things with people that we don’t see or know about but the pervasive notion that he’s some addict fuck boy boils down to ta few things, the main ones in my mind right now, small mindedness and baseless rumours.

Small mindedness because according to the teen book, movie, tv, fanfic stereotype the dark clothes, piercings, tattoo, bike riding, quiet type can and only ever will be a ‘fuck boy’. He has a group of 97z idol friends that one outing, that made headlines, determined his character from that point forward. What else has he done that warrants such judgements? Drink at home in front of his phone? Have boxing as a hobby? Own a motorcycle alongside owning cars too?

The Wattpad f*ck boy of their dreams 😑 I’ve literally SEEN countless Wattpad covers, some actually entitled ‘f*ck boy’ or with a fuckboyjungkook! tag, no joke!!!

Rumours because his blonde foreign, dancer, idol, older actress, tattoo artist girlfriends all can attest under oath to his ways, no wait it’s the random online account holders that can attest under oath due to their inside knowledge

No matter how often he shows himself to be a homebody. No matter how often over the years the members and Jungkook talk about how Jungkook likes to stay in. Jungkook saying he’d rather join in on other people’s plans as he’s not one to do much of left to his own devices. Namjoon saying Jungkook likes to stay at home and Hobi saying ‘he’ll go for Jimin’. Jungkook saying he stays in and when given Netflix suggestions says he’s watched them all, used to stay in and play video games, draw and create etc it’s not enough to shift certain people’s mindset because his outward appearance sets it in stone for them. Oh that and his FICTIONAL music videos where he holds a woman’s hand and starts at another woman’s forehead

When the camera is rolling for the MV character, the pop idol

When the camera isn’t rolling for the MV character but to capture the man Jeon Jungkook

There are so many side to this young man who has an aesthetic expression that people will not get over.

Curteous

Kind and respectful

Loving

Tender and caring

Cute. Sorry Jungkook you are a grown man, yes, but still so damn cute!

You’re right in my opinion anon but I will say one thing…

You said: ‘It’s like he’s not enough for them […]’

I say: He’s too much for them, so they have to simplify him to a caricature because him as a whole is someone they can never appreciate, how he deserves to be appreciated. Him as a whole can’t be the person they’ve deemed their fantasy or enemy.

Thank you for your ask😊! As you can tell I needed to get that out and you gave me the opportunity 🙈

💜

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — NJ DEVILS (PART TWO)

one — two

y/ndevils00

liked by jackhughes, dawson1417, and 14,971 others

y/ndevils00 hi and welcome back to my channel! this evening we’re going to be discussing the njdevils loss against the minnesotawild so buckle in because this was a very (un)eventful night!

there was one (1) goal made tonight by our pretty boys in red, however Timo told me my skirt was ugly yesterday, so he’s been kicked off of this post! will he redeem himself by the time they play on friday? that depends on if he listens to my demands!

onto the boys who actually made it on the post: jackson tried his hardest but despite that, he did not make a goal 💔 he did however look miserable (see slide 1), spend an insane amount of time watching baby sensory videos on the ipad (see slide 6), get knocked down (see slide 8), and then finally look cool for once in his life (see slide 9)!

swiss rap god got an assist on the only goal of the night, got in a scrum (see slide 7), and looked absolutely traumatized by something on the bench (see slide 2)! i’m not sure what he’s seen in his life but i’d like for him to keep it to himself :)

the crowned king of sweden, jesper bratt, also made an assist on tonight’s goal AND looked adorable and smiled after his own failed goal <3

maraschino cherry did absolutely nothing of note tonight but that’s better than getting a penalty (*cough* tuna *cough*)! so, i took a pic of him smoldering! you look great, zoolander!

and finally, mercy me was actually a sweet little angel tonight who can do absolutely no wrong and who definitely 100% did not pay me at all ever to say any of this!

i hope you all enjoyed tonight’s game because i know i didn’t!

tagged jackhughes, nicohischier, jesperbratt, john.marino97, dawson1417 and njdevils

jackhughes why do you do this to me?

y/ndevils00 i have no idea what you’re talking about

jackhughes also what the hell are baby sensory videos?

y/ndevils00 don’t act like you don’t know, jackson

jackhughes not my name

sharangovich17 they’re videos of bright colored dancing fruits and vegetables over a black screen

jackhughes @/sharangovich17 why do you know this?

y/ndevils00 he has a baby, jackson. unlike some other people on this team 👀

jackhughes still not my name and you still shouldn’t be a mother yet

y/ndevils00 YOU SAID “YET”!

john.marino97 dear god, hughesy what have you done?

john.marino97 not only are you still calling me a cherry, but i’m zoolander now too?

y/ndevils00 this is correct

y/ndevils00 i also complimented you, what do you have to say for yourself?

john.marino97 i don’t know if this warrants a thank you

y/ndevils00 well you just said it, so i’m taking it. you’re welcome! 🤭

john.marino97 idk how he puts up with you

y/ndevils00 if you ever find out, let me know!

user54 omg 4/9 pictures being of jack, their comments about kids, marino hinting at her dating someone?! it’s so obviously jack!

user26 idk, the way she posts about him makes it seem like they’re just good friends

nicohischier i’m honestly not sure what i’m supposed to say to this

nicohischier thank you? i think?

y/ndevils00 you’re so welcome swiss cheese 🤠

nicohischier i take it back

nicohischier we’re no longer friends

y/ndevils00 it’s too late, you signed a blood oath to be my friend forever, remember?

nicohischier ahh is that what i signed when you joined the team? i thought it was the standard NDA

dawson1417 “give me 5 more bucks and i’ll make sure no one knows you paid me for a slide” WHAT IS THIS Y/N/N?!

y/ndevils00 hey! i SAID you didn’t pay me! you just exposed yourself merc-dog

dawson1417 sure, i’m the one who exposed me!

dawson1417 and did you just call me “mercy me”?

user38 her and jack are dating, for sure. barely trying to hide it at this point

jesperbratt i am not the crowned king of sweden, but i appreciate your sentiments y/n!

y/ndevils00 you are the goodest boy of all the boys

jackhughes do i mean nothing to you?

y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes shhh grownups are talking now

tmeier96 “y/n’s list of demands: bring me an iced coffee, tell me my skirt is pretty and you were lying, convince HIM to let me get a cat, tell nico that swiss cheese IS a cool nickname and that he’s wrong and stupid, get me a blanket because this stupid rink is cold and i hate it here.”

y/nonthegram you have to do them all by thursday. good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!

jackhughes she’s not getting a cat

trevorzegras @/jackhughes did you let her watch hunger games again after the fire incident?

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras it was one little fire! i hardly think it warrants the banishment of all the movies forever!

trevorzegras @/y/ndevils00 you tried to make your own fire dress and nearly burned down the lake house

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras big talk coming from the guy who helped me

jackhughes @/trevorzegras you WHAT?

user78 DID JACK JUST CONFIRM THEY’RE DATING?!

user19 AND TREVOR?!

trevorzegras hey! i know that ipad kid!

jackhughes don’t encourage her z

[sledge-in-space]

John Seed is a comfort character for some people. Folks like to ship him with their deputies or craft redemption arcs for him.

There's nothing wrong with that, obviously.

But I just can't wrap my head around it.

There's nothing comforting about the way John Seed treated Joey Hudson. I don't understand why the ordeal she went through doesn't seem to matter to fans of his.

She was bait for the rookie deputy and nothing more, because she wasn't going to give in and join the cult.

He terrorized Joey and the rest of Fall's End, stooping to the lowest, most inhumane levels to get his way. Some even theorize that he hurt the "sinners" in his care just because he wanted to, for malicious, sadistic reasons that didn't have anything to do with the cult. At worst, some people go as far as to speculate that he raped Joey.

It's easy to see why someone might come to that conclusion. The way he acts is deplorable and he makes everything feel extremely personal, sometimes in ways that can be interpreted as sexually charged. He'll do anything in order to get his way because "no" is antithetical to him. He regularly flies off the handle, so much so that Joseph is threatening to cast him out. All the touching and getting right up in the player's face is so uncomfortable and obsessive (which is the point, but I digress).

So why does he get to be redeemed and venerated by fans? Don't his actions warrant consequences?

Are people willing to let him off the hook because he's attractive? Because he had a horrible, abusive childhood? Obviously he's got a lot more lore than most of the cast. Is that something people are interested in exploring for him over other characters?

I'm not trying to come after anyone personally. There's nothing wrong with liking villains and Jacob, Faith, and Joseph have also done terrible things to innocent people.

Which is like, fine. It's a video game.

And I know that John, like Joey, is a victim of Ubisoft's choppy, inconsistent writing and storytelling. Things got changed and swapped and cut during development that got us to where we are, with the story we have. Flaws and all, not like it was ever going to be perfect.

But in my opinion, I feel like the adoration for John does a huge disservice to Joey. People make thirsty edits of him while she's literally tied up behind him. It's tasteless and makes the optics of her situation look even creepier.

Her pain has largely been ignored for as long as the game has existed. I can't for the life of me figure out why.

[vixthefantheorist]

Looking through the recent IRIS posts

Guess what time it is, my fellow theorists! That's right! It's theory crafting time! (Or brain rotting because I have no social life)

But as we all know IRIS on Twitter have been pretty active for the last few days. Posting on 10/24/2024 - 10/25/2024 and 10/26/2024

Yes it's all in order... I hope. (Nothing on the 27th, my birthday, I see how it is IRIS -squint-). And I know I haven't covered the 25th and 26th posts, I was getting ready for my birthday and then struck with a terrible migraine all day the 26th.

I'm better now, don't worry. But I had been looking at the posts when I could and figured to post some things together while I can remember them. I already covered the post on the 24th, I just have it here for convivence and in case I remember anything else for it.

The post for 10/25 is a little odd, more obviously the fact the word 'Strangely' is spelled as 'Strangeley'. Honestly not sure if its an intentional misspelling or an actual one that no one caught until too late, either way kinda gives the notice a bit of charm. Or the employee was typing too fast and misspelled it and couldn't be arsed to type onto another paper to correct it. I wouldn't blame him for that.

But it does speak about a deadzone in an area between a certain bathroom and cafeteria. Only battery powered devices seem to be affected within that zone as the lights and ventilation systems were still operational as normal. Hmm, interesting.

Where have seen a cafeteria in IRIS before? That's right the "commercial" for IRIS in 'this is my 5,000th video' shows a cafeteria like area where employees were enjoying their break.

Not the most glamorous cafeteria (IRIS seems pretty cheap on it. Though we know its because budget for AF:CB), but it is still a cafeteria. If that's the case, then the only deadzone I can think of is the red hallway that Chase was terrified of and dragged through against his will.

The bathroom could be that door next to one of the guards.

Or this one which is right outside Chase's cell.

Not sure, but it is just a guess. Literally its just a guess, as there is no evidence to back up the claim like anyone making mention of anything battery powered being sapped dry while in the area in the stream. But the employee in the post did make mention that it may be nothing dangerous and just annoyance from a certain department up to no good and just advising others to use a different bathroom on the east aside to avoid their devices being drained of power.

Why does that matter?

Well, it's an electrical interference that isn't causing damage to the facilities systems, just personal devices carried by employees, phones, watches, that sort of thing. So it never warranted further investigation I believe. And there's at least two instances in which that could cause that deadzone.

One of which is Anti's attack on Chase (where we see the shadows move towards Chase, indicating Anti reaching for him)

As Arin points out that Chase was exposed to dangerous levels of energy. (Though I wouldn't put it past IRIS to also have replicated the energy Anti uses to use on Chase to see his reaction to it. Fucking cruel if that's the case. Which then only prompted Anti to find out where he is and zero in on his location)

The second time this deadzone could happen was when Echo appears to speak to Chase.

Shit goes a little funky for the camera but the lights are fine.

It could be that the hallways between Chase's cell and the cafeteria is the deadzone. We don't know when that post the employee wrote was written, either during Chase's week long stay... or even before that. If it is indeed the same building and universe the employee speaks of. (Goddamn timey whimey shit)

But if it is at least prior to Chase's capture, could mean Echo's energy is causing it, as Echo reveals to Chase that they too have been stuck here. Just don't know if its before or after... will not be surprised if it was before to wait for Chase to appear to talk to him. Again, timey whimey shit.

Again, it's all theory, not the best kind but still fun to think on. I think there's more to this post but I... don't know what else to look for in it, aside hey, no IRIS stamp on it, so likely a private message from one employee to another to avoid that place altogether. And then what Department could the Employee be talking about?

Onwards to the post from 10/26, where obviously things for an experiment have not gone as planned. Nope, someone died in the vacuum room. There is another word, 'vacuum' is misspelled to be 'vaccum' (...I will refrain from making a joke here, it's too easy), and again, I don't know if its an intentional misspelling or someone didn't catch it when it was approved and posted online. (And if it was an accident, don't be ashamed or embarrassed, I misspell a lot of words too quite often. The fun of having your brain go faster than your fingers and autocorrect in your mind to not catch the misspelling too.)

Either case, an experiment was taking place in a vacuum room and someone died in the hands of an ALTR. Why an ALTR? Well, the clues were something in there was dangerous and the term 'designations' was used. Designations being something to identify different things quickly for a variety of reasons. Mostly to determine if one thing is dangerous or passive. Much like SCP uses designations to determine each SCP's threat level easily to prepare to encounter them more effectively.

Plus Designations are alternatives to names. Why? Because if you name something, you or the other forms an attachment to the name.

No attachment, no emotional scuff.

No emotional scuff, means easier times to conduct rather... unethical and cruel experiments without the hassle of morality.

It's SCIENCE after all, science has no time or room for morality. At least in IRIS's thought process I guess.

That thought is hammered in with the person (I'm guessing head researcher for that experiment) making a comment of having to remind everyone the reasons why they do what they do and to think of the great rewards at the end of the day!

As if the dead would have to worry about it. But it's interesting to think about what the experiment could be in a Sound Vacuum room. Is it really a vacuum of no sound entering or leaving the room? Or merely a name because they couldn't think of anything else that relates to sound and blast high decibel noises in the room but does not escape those walls.

Which obviously means they used sound to see if the ATLR is rendered helpless to it or unaffected by it. We don't know the results of that but it did cost them a researcher. And if it was to see if sounds could render an ALTR's powers useless, that failed if it was immune to such a thing, or made it useless because it doesn't need sound to burrow into your head and commit unalive.

If not that, probably understood the researcher was probably using safety gear and the ALTR removed it from the scientist to let them suffer... whatever is going on in chamber.

As for the line 'Please update [blank] to [blank] status' I can think of two things at least.

Either its "Please update [ALTR] to [Keter] status" (I think its Keter for most dangerous class of SCPs. I'm not familiar with SCP, I apologize if I got it wrong)

Or

"Please update [Mr. Daly] to [deceased] status"... I'm just using Mr.Daly since that is the only name we ever got from these posts and someone died so, might as well update their file to dead since well, they're dead.

I'm not quite sure which one, both fit in pretty well in context but I am kinda leaning towards the ALTR's status being updated to a higher tier of danger class.

Either way, the leader of this team is rather much an ass with how dismissive he was for the death of one of his own. But again, science waits for no one and mortality has no bearings in the fields of unknown discoveries.

------

I think that's about it for my current thoughts on these posts. There's probably a lot more to them that we're missing. But that's the fun of theory crafting, finding out all the little things you missed before when armed with new information.

What do you guys think? What could be hidden in these posts? And who is leaking them to the public. And if its being leaked, why on the official twitter and why hasn't IRIS removed them?

(...Be quick to screenshot and save the posts in case they do remove them in the future! We need files to look back to in the future!)

[dani-ya-dig]

THE ABIGAIL VIDEO!!! I HAVEN’T TALKED ABT MY WIFE!

Ok so like chronological order bc I have listened to the audio like a million times at this point lmao. And I WILL talk abt it bc everyone needs to be obsessed with this channel like I am it’s SO GOOD GUYS PLS I SWEAR!!! Kk

Glenwood’s magic is doing its thing, and I’m really glad that plot point keeps getting brought up. Like ofc right now most of us are definitely more focused on the romance between Abby, Wielder, and Rose (which same. Love my ladies) but also like HELLO??? Abigail, a nonwielder, was the first person to really think there was something behind how strange glenwood was! And she is actively trying to investigate it (with Wielder and maybe Rose), and now she has even more resources for that!!! Like I just love that Miss Castle is making sure we don’t forget abt this bc I think abt it all the time.

Abby knowing her mom was gonna get on her ass about buying shelves from Amazon rather than thrifting some >

Abigail apologizing every time she swears in the voicemail >>>>>

Also I wonder how far away Abby lives from her family now? She obviously misses them a whole lot regardless of how far away they are, but it makes me wonder if they are just like the next state over, or if this is an across the country situation. (Aka, Dani is desperately trying to figure out where Glenwood would be geographically so I can get more info). I think Rose mentioned something about her flying??? Unless I made that up. But if I didn’t that would mean her family is likely too far for Abby to be able to warrant driving there.

Abby telling her mom about her channel even if she doesn’t fully understand makes me wanna cry. ITS SO CUTE GUYS I SWEAR!!! imagining Abby sending pics of her streaming setup to her mom is fucking adorable and if you don’t see it idk what to tell you.

Also the audible cringe in Abby’s voice as she prepares herself for the knowledge that she would have to deal with everyone asking why she didn’t being a date to the wedding. So Harper coded lmao.

Maybe not a plus one… but a plus two???

“And they’re…. hah mom they’re really cool” IM GONNA FUCKING SCREAM!!! THE WAY HER VOICE WENT ALL SOFT IM COSBSOXSBHDKDKCJC GOD IM SO GAY HOLY SHIT

“Please don’t play this for Sammy, when he comes back home, please Ma…” makes me giggle so hard because yeah, that sums up what having older siblings is like exactly, if you slip up once they will NEVER let it go

It makes me so fucking happy to hear Abby going all soft talking about how she had made a home in Glenwood, and how she feels safe with Wielder and Rose. Especially after she has dealt with not feeling like she fits in and, no doubt, bullying for most stages of her life. I’m just really happy to see the silly little gay people talking in my headphones get to be happy.

I NEED WIELDER AND ROSE TO MEET ABBY’S FAMILY ASAP! I know that they would both just be so overwhelmed with love from Abby’s (most likely) massive family. Rose especially would be so flustered from all the attention and love, having not come from a home that gave that love freely and unconditionally. It would probably be so refreshing for her. I KNOW Abby’s mom is gonna be feeding all of them well, too!

OMG IMAGINE!! Abby’s mom doing the usual embarrassing family stuff like pulling out baby pictures, and telling embarrassing stories, and Abigail obviously red in the face but still taking it on the chin until her mom pulls out the voicemail that Abigail had sent her when she first moved to Glenwood and all of them lose their shit in very different ways. Abigail is embarrassed beyond belief, Rose is also flustered from the “going at it” bit, and Wielder can’t stop laughing hysterically.

UGH ITS A NEED! YOU DONT UNDERSTAND!!!

[xtinaangelicax]

J Being on the Chapter 2 Title Card?? Theorizing (sorta... I'm clueless ;-;)

Can we talk about the fact that J is on the chapter 2 title card rn?? Like... I see ALMOST NO ONE so far in the fandom theorizing about what this could mean. We know that her secret about Mariabella being her mom was revealed during this chapter, but... I don't really feel like that's big enough to warrant her being on the title card yet so far? I think? It's an important secret, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't rly rival the importance of the actual murders going on imo.

I mean-- Teruko and Xander were on the first chapter title card. That is a big deal. Xander died after trying to kill Teruko, and got killed by Min instead: Teruko's our protagonist. Being on the title card is obviously the most indicative clue of a character being insanely important to the narrative for that chapter, possibly even a culprit or victim, but we all just been sleepin on that clue lately and ignoring it lol wut--

Like... I mean, J tries enlisting Teruko's help getting away from Arturo for a minute in this chapter- the dressing room scene- and has a frigging knife pulled on her. She got her secret she desperately wanted to cover up, probably for a large portion of her life, exposed by some jerk in the very same, what, 24 hour period? And she's constantly now being stalked by said jerk, too. Poor gal.

I don't know if J maybe snapped from it all, and murdered Arei. I'm not sure how she WOULD have, given Arturo stalking her. So... maybe it's... something else? But like? SOMETHING is being set up with J here, and if anyone has any ideas feel free to suggest, cuz I can't figure out what it is yet. I'm thinking randomly off the top of my head of stuff we know... like...

J was the first to go to Arei's room to check for her body, after they realized she was missing? Also, J was the first to complain about Teruko possibly being in cahoots with the culprit and choosing who guards the body based on that. After which, J was then promptly chosen to guard the body as well. Important? Possibly. Maybe. Idk...

She goes on a whole spiel about how serious murder is that gains a lot of spotlight for a few minutes, when she was talking to Nico... also, she has this new sadistic grin sprite after revealing Arturo's secret. UH is that sprite gonna be used again for something?

I think there's literally no way J isn't gonna have some sort of big reveal of significance to the plot during the rest of the chapter 2 trial.

There's a bit of evidence that could point to her being the killer, but I don't wanna say I believe that for sure. Just that... SOMETHING'S up.

J being on the chapter 2 title card is definitely important.

ALSO FINALLY: J's hidden quote is "Please don't call me your daughter ever again."

????????how the frick is J going to say this quote?? So far, all the hidden quotes have been said a little while before the character dies, before/during a pivotal moment in the plot and their development... therefore, J is gonna say this line at some point. That's indisputable.

But??? How?? Will it be said during a flashback where she said it to Mariabella in the past? Or... are we gonna see J get in contact with her mom somehow? Is J the culprit, and MonoTV calls in a 'special guest viewer video call' right before her execution just to rub it in her face, and it's her mom, and... J says her hidden quote there?

Is one of the future motives gonna involve being able to communicate something with your family, maybe, and then J says it?

I'm probably gonna look back more and see if there's any other sort of hints or foreshadowing going on with J, but... I just wanted to point all this out and possibly open up discussion/theorizing about this :)

[lucirent]

what are some things you enjoy about 814 :) and maybe some fanned fiction recs if you've got em

omg anon where did u come from....

first of all everything that had to be said has already been said here + anything else i could say is also influenced by k. that's mandatory reading to understand any of this. but i will say more anyway.

i like 814 because i like oscar (which is because i rate him and find him likeable and endearing and it is fun to like people who you think are going to win in some sense!), and i like interesting tensiony team dynamics. when the season started i was so unthrilled by the landoscar Content because i was convinced oscar was boring (even though i wanted to like him) and lando both saw that he was boring and was pity-engaging with oscar, partly because he thought oscar was a nice guy and deserved the pity-engagement, and partly because he had to for the Sponsors. there was this sense... i had this sense that lando was "fun" and oscar was "straightlaced" and so they were incompatible, because lando would always think oscar was just Not his type of person, which is fine you know! at this point of the szn oscar was also getting dominated by lando in quali (see summer break stats - aside from lando making mistakes while those are somewhat reflective of your skills they're not representative of your capabilities on the average day, and lando is generally quite consistent otherwise) so there was nothing* oscar had on him besides being more booksmart (*this is an exaggeration for effect)

i think that mistaken perception (that i had and that i imagine lando had) is what set them up for an interesting dynamic where in a reversal of expectations oscar can and does call lando out on his bs instead of being a doormat. even when they're joking around they have BANTER and that's what i really love out of a pairing. there's a sense of equality there when you can both dish it out and take it, and dishing it out itself is so Satisfying to me personally, intellectually. they Like and Respect each other enough to praise each other when warranted and make fun of each other when they get the opportunity. and to top it off they both deliver in terms of performance, obviously with the caveats that oscar is less experienced and has to be given the benefit of the doubt in regards to his potential. but every weekend i scream when lando goes on team radio to remind the pit wall that he's faster than oscar even when he's behind - because there is a real fight between them with real stakes in driver image/confidence/prioritization/team long-term strategy, all based on how well they do this year relative to each other. i love it so much!

all that is that but the reason i'm actually insane about them is that transparent t-shirt moment where lando says something truly unhinged SO awkwardly because tinhat he's insane about oscar. oscar's "will you" and "that's a lie" in that video, the tone omg. the goggle games never-ending competition. lando telling oscar to shut up. oscar being able to get under his skin. lando strangely gifting oscar easy wins at the end of their mclaren tiktok games. the sponsored video, the concept of which was making lando and oscar stare at each other the entire time and Perceiving each other. lando telling the viewers of his karting vlog OSCAR HAS BEEN TESTING. OSCAR HAS BEEN A LITTLE SNAKE. why do they talk like this about each other. why does oscar look at lando like that "that's just how he is" yes but it's very deceptive!!!!! the line between fiction and interpreted reality is there but if i were to put a pathetic filter on lando it would look like this

i'm not gonna lie i haven't scoped out the 814 tag because i just wait for k to tell me if there's anything good. i haven't really resonated with anything so far because i am really particular about the believability of explicitly romantic/sexual relationships between characters when one or both of them are in a public r/s (in that i don't like it when "canon" fic ignores reality) ... but i'll link k's response here (EDIT: I SKIMMED SOME OF THESE THEY ARE WELL WRITTEN)

[zixzs-ajk]

THE INEVITABLE OPINIONATED SUSELLE RANT PIECE NO ONE ASKED FOR

hey you wanna see me speedrun losing all my followers I'm putting this here as a long-ass 1,600-word examination for why I don't ship Suselle, 'cause that's bound to go over great, lol. But yeah! Now whenever people react to me being critical of the gay doe, I can point them towards this. AHEM.

Foreword: This is the in-depth openly opinionated analysis that I often want to avoid with shipping, but for the sake of discussion and transparency, I’ve tried specifying why Suselle as a ship is not appealing to me personally. The following is not made to shame anyone for liking Suselle, or to apply broad labels, or to shill my own ship preferences or anything like that; it is a look at why Suselle is not interesting and a low-point of Toby Fox’s writing in my eyes. I do not care what other people ship one way or the other and will perpetually advocate for any constructive and creative expression that people have fun making, whether it’s fanart or fanfiction or what have you. These are the words of some random cis bi guy on the internet who’s WAY too invested in a fictional video game involving a gay anthropomorphic doe and her crush on discount bootleg Rule63!Barney, so don’t take it as a personal attack or anything like that. Okay? Okay.  

I find Suselle to be poorly written and executed, with the chief offending reason being that it is excessive and too characterizing without enough build-up. Noelle obviously does not know Susie well enough to warrant such an extreme crush on her (she asks what Susie is like and about her interests, which most people I know would cite as the prerequisites for developing attraction towards someone). When we get into the game, we’re not given any first-hand chemistry or idea of how they interact with each other prior to Susie’s arc in Chapter 1, leaving the majority of any established canon off-screen and less tangible as a result; it’s akin to being told “these two characters have good chemistry” rather than being shown that directly in any exposition or first-hand encounters. It also makes their subsequent shows of chemistry (i.e. the Ferris Wheel ride) feel a little forced; it’s cute, sure, but it doesn’t really feel earned given how little else Susie and Noelle have interacted up to that point compared to how intimate they behave during the actual sequence itself. There’s a dissonance between Noelle’s grounded behavior with Kris compared to how head-over-heels she acts around Susie, and it doesn’t mesh with her personality in a way that feels convincing. 

I define Noelle’s crush as “unhealthy” for a number of reasons; the most egregious example she's known for is for ignoring Susie tormenting Kris as seen in the Sweepstakes, but events like her falsely saying she should be behind Susie to look at her "tail" or generally fetishizing Susie's bullying come to mind as being other offenders. It’s established she doesn’t quite know a whole lot about Susie, relying on this idea of her as a “tormentor” or bully for her most memorable bits of dialogue despite Susie contradicting that idea well after (and even sometimes during) Chapter 1. Noelle’s characterization feels stunted when such a significant part of it is dedicated towards her crush on Susie, and it detracts from the depth of her that we get to see when exploring the City with just her and Kris or the mystery of her mother and Dess. I feel when you have a character who’s most remembered for fantasizing about Susie pushing her over and laughing at her, at a point in the story when it’s already established that isn’t even what Susie’s actual personality is, then it makes it hard to just see it as a “harmless teenage crush.” 

To the people saying “that’s just how teenager crushes are,” A) that’s anecdotal at best and a deflection from the fact of B) It being a “stereotypical teenager crush” does not defend it from being poor writing and actively detracting from Noelle’s depth. Explaining why a character acts the way that they do does not change how that character acts, and Toby just as easily could have given her a more nuanced and distant crush with proper development instead of the immediate fixation Noelle currently has. Her crush isn’t treated as some character flaw and is often portrayed sincerely, giving the effect that we’re narratively expected to go along with her antics and be endeared by how prominently Noelle talks about Susie. I personally don’t find this satisfying, and I would prefer the idea of Noelle learning that Susie isn’t the kind of person Noelle thinks she is and going from there (a confrontation of “why do you want me to bully you?” or an actual natural interaction where their two personalities can play off of each other would do WONDERS in this department). It is entirely possible to portray a teenage crush in a satisfying way while still making it realistic in terms of how they’re inexperienced with love; look at Lumity from The Owl House for the most immediate example. 

To the people saying her crush is a form of escapism given Noelle’s familial circumstances (Rudy in the hospital, Dess being absent, Mayor Holiday likely being neglectful), I agree that’s a good potential point, but that isn’t a theme Toby actually explores in the game despite how much I’d like it to be. There’s plenty of potential and I could see that route being explored in future chapters, but with what we have, there isn’t any tangible theme of Noelle wanting a point of stability among her personal life. Most of her crush is framed as Noelle simply adoring Susie and attempting to get closer to her without having much emotional investment or details to get invested in ourselves, and while I’m all for cute antics, the frequency of how often we’re reminded about “HEY NOELLE REALLY LIKES SUSIE AND HAS A CRUSH ON HER” makes those bits of dialogue seem more obsessive than endearing. Some dialogue from Rudy frames Kris as being the one to “look out for her,” if anything. 

This is the part that’s more difficult to navigate and has attracted the most hostile ire. I hate that I feel the need to clarify this, but obviously, I am in no way homophobic or otherwise against queer relationship representation in media. I mean, hell, She-Ra, Owl House, and Steven Universe have some of my favorite ships of all time, and they don’t get much gayer than that. I myself have been bi and out about it for the better part of my online presence, and I’m eternally grateful that I live in a space conducive to being able to express my orientation. However, I’ve seen time and again instances of people having knee-jerk reactions to accuse others of homophobia just for criticizing any part of the media that even tangentially connects to the LGBTQA+ community, and Noelle’s crush is no exception. I have stated “Noelle being male would alter people’s perceptions of her behavior towards Susie,” and more than a few reactions were quick to assume bigotry at play or it being an “attack on sapphics.” I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect something like that; based largely on what I’ve personally seen and experienced myself, it seems to be a go-to for internet communities, and doubly so for fandoms with prominent LGBTQA+ presences. 

Yes, I’m confident that the general public would be far less endeared by Noelle pretending she should be behind Susie just to look at her “tail” if it was a male doing that in the same space. I have seen people blast Berdly for his sudden and comical attraction towards Susie near the end of Chapter 2, and then see those same people turn around and praise Noelle despite being just as Susie-oriented in largely the same fashion. Often, when a male character is pining for a female character to an extent that is overtly problematic, the male is seen as a creepy individual and rarely succeeds in wooing the female character, as it has the most narrative satisfaction. Gravity Falls and Adventure Time come to mind as media rife with examples. Being a member of the queer community does not magically make Noelle’s behavior endearing, nor does it excuse Toby for writing her like that, and people being so eager to justify her crush as “just being a teenager thing” sometimes feels like a result of “having to defend a queer character.” You don’t have to defend or justify a characters’ actions just because they’re queer, and being critical of the actions of a queer character is not automatically homophobic. Ironically, criticizing and examining the actions of a queer character against generally heteronormative standards is less problematic than giving queer characters separate standards, I find. 

And that sums up my thoughts on the current state of Suselle! It’s worth reiterating that I still lightly enjoy the ship and have seen copious pieces of incredible work created as a result of it; I just don’t personally like it on a narrative, critical level. At the end of the day, I don’t care what people ship, and being the purveyor of Goats and Dragons for 3+ years I care even less about what is or isn’t canon. If you disagree with all of this and think Suselle is the cutest and most well-realized relationship in all of media, cool! I genuinely mean that; whatever makes people happy and produces some of the cutest goddamned fanart I’ve ever seen can’t be objectively bad. But if you’re going to so rigidly be against actually analyzing and being critical of a fictional gay doe, then it can be largely debilitating for actual discussion when the go-to responses are so inflammatory and missing the point of what makes a character generally interesting and well-realized. 

[golbrocklovely]

i just read your 2021 colby tweets post…

“(it's so clear to me now that this man was clearly going thru so much. this is when things really changed for him and how he interacted with us. it's sad to look back on this now)”

im so curious… what happened? - aussie anon

i'm gonna give the briefest and quickest run downs, just bc as a fan that was on twitter around this time, i full on hated this time period in the fandom and literally contemplated leaving bc of how bad it got.

so between 2020-21, colby was getting called out for a lot of shit. some of it was warranted, but a lot of it wasn't. for example, he was getting called out for mouthing the n word in a video and musically. he addressed it and apologized. and obviously hasn't done it since.

he was also called out for not doing enough for stop asian hate, which according to fans was he needed to retweet the right links, bc him retweeting whatever post he did wasn't good enough.

but then it got into a different territory. he started getting called out for the following: not immediately talking about jan 6 as it was happening, wishing happy international women's day, getting called out for mimicking brennen's weird voice in a video which apparently sounded like he was mocking asian ppl?????, the queerbaiting shit (which to this day i die on the hill that ppl cannot queerbait you, and on top of that brennen and sam never had to apologize), not calling out his fans for apparently being transphobic (even tho how was he supposed to know that was happening). there's probably plenty more as well, but these were the highlights.

and then in 2021, if i'm not mistaken, he ended up getting a terrible death threat that was posted by some """"""fan"""""". it was a really disgusting, long ass dissertation basically calling him worthless in a 1000 different ways. once that happened, he really removed himself from twitter, literally taking like a week long break, and from that point forward did not come back on the platform the same. he kept his distance from us after that, and when his journal was stolen… he really parted from the fandom in a way. bc there were ppl in the replies of that tweet celebrating him losing it. and i think that tied with the two past years of bs, it was enough for him to separate himself from the fandom.

bc before, he would tweet a lot. balcony tweets had been a thing for over a year, and then once ppl started harassing him, he stepped back. and look, i'm not here to argue that he didn't deserve to get called out for the n word clips or stop asian hate stuff. yes - those made sense. bc it's not a call out, so much as "hey, you need to address this". but everything else that followed was just straight up mean and nasty.

i mean, for fuck's sake, one of the many fans that called him out and celebrated him losing his journal, i just found out, WAS HAPPY he got cancer. that's how far some of these ppl's hate for him ran. even to this day some ppl dislike him for dumb mistakes that he shouldn't have made.

and i know i can't accept his apologies. i'm not here to do that. i'm just here to say that it's one thing to hold someone accountable, but it's another thing entirely to wish someone the worst and be glad when it occurs. bc that's demented. he's made mistakes, sure. but none of them are bad enough to wish him misery. at least i don't think so.

[irregodless]

so heres a tirade no one wanted but wont leave my mind

so coincidentally i got reccd a video debunking myths about the pink sauce and in it she recreated the sauce to try but also didnt compare it to a bottle of real sauce which seems like bad faith science to me since one of the accusations was there were ingredients she didnt list

but anyway she showed clips from some other cook and matpat for some godforsaken reason saying she ABSOLUTELY used mayonnaise and also it WILL give you botulism and others doing clickbait and she debunked all of these including the fact that apparently the emulsifying dragonfruit actually pales over days helping explain the color discrepancy which people also gave her shit for

and yeah she wasnt very forthcoming about that but thats not what i wanna talk about rn

one woman said she was going to send it to be tested to see if it was safe and apparently never published any results probably because it had been opened and she stuck her finger in it

but she and the creator wound up on a talk show at which point the one woman was like you could have reached out to me

and the creator chef pii said youre not special and she was like wooow that sure is unprofessional!

and its like this feels like such a strong case of white women protecting white women because you know what else isnt professional a thousand people literally making things up to sabotage a young black womans business venture

and anne was like i think youre special and you handled yourself well in a very biased situation

nd itss like what are you TAALKING about pii has been under fire for months at that point and shes confronting yet another person who jumped on the shit on pink sauce bandwagon for clicks very obviously saying youre not special why would i go out of my way to message you of the THOUSANDS of people shitting on me

like it pisses me off she wasnt being unprofessional at all and even if she was being unprofessional to a """customer""" like who cares shes being put under fire i think shes warranted to say something like that when others were literally saying that eating her homemade sauce will KILL YOU

the whole pink sauce debacle was very suspect and i was definitely on the wagon with

yeah this is kinda sketchy

and yeah as a new businesswoman she didnt handle it amazingly

but im just frustrated that in a video where you SHOW how many people are defaming her where you dont even try her actual product just trust that the way you made it is 100% identical and in the process i think actually show viewers how to make it thus making her business potentially even harder to get customers

and youre going to take what she said to one of her many accusers who she wound up on television with through whatever circumstances in the worst faith way possible and SIDE WITH HER ACCUSER CLAIMING SHE WAS EFFECTIVELY BEING GANGED UP ON??

okay whitey

[blubbly-pizza]

I watched - Evil Dead 2 - 1987

"A campy horror movie who knows it's camp but not in a bad way."

I like this franchise, like in the, "I've seen the original trilogy and some of the TV show". I'd recommend this movie to people, 1 is take it or leave it and Army of Darkness if you enjoy the slapstick nature. I like A Wounded Fawn for the same kind of reason I like this movie. It's just, "let's torture a guy for the majority of the runtime".

That being said, I don't have much else to say about the movie itself. But I have a lot of thoughts about what I'm doing with these and my critical lens below.

I keep plugging along on these little review things as a sort of diary I think. I'm not actually sure. I've tried diaries and it never works. But this is consistent (at least on a keeping the queue logged so I can come back to it later). If I ever choose I can compare how I view a movie one viewing to another, or just get my general viewpoint from a certain time.

The other reason is much smaller, I figure if anyone takes a longer look at the things I like to watch/read/play, and finds enough similarities they could appreciate other things I enjoyed. Also the fact I limit myself to Games, Movies, TV shows, and Books. Like, comparitively it's a fraction of what I'm doing. It doesn't cover the hours of youtube I watch. Or the games I partially play. Or the music I listen to.

Part of the reason is music, I just enjoy what I listen to and don't have much to say about it. I like it, it's good. Partially played games I can't in good conscience put out material on. Either because I didn't like them in which case there is no reason to put negativity out there without at least trying to leave good feedback. Or because it's hard to speak on only a portion of the story (which is mostly what I play for). Youtube doesn't get any blurbs not because it isn't chock full of effort. Moreso because I can't devote that much time to doing "I watched" on that many videos. And all that doesn't even touch on the small amount of multiplayer things I do. I've been playing Stardew Valley modded and Monster Hunter Rise!

Writing out my thoughts on this was useful because I'm thinking maybe I keep a monthly, "Here are a handful of things I've been interacting with that don't warrant a deeper dive." Moving forward thing I guess.

Or maybe my critical writing is just so prolific and interesting that it demands attention. Speaking of...

I have no idea what my lens looks like. Outside of the fact that 6 and 7 out of 10 media has more to talk about for me. A lot of times how I interact with media feels lacking. I've probably typed out a variation on that sentence before. There's a game I'm playing right now that I have a lot to talk about (but later). But I don't have much to say about Evil Dead.

It makes me wonder what I'm missing. What subtext. What prejudices. What influences. Regardless of whether I'm consuming media by themselves with no greater knowledge of their creators or themes. That doesn't mean they exist in the vacuum I'm consuming them. Counter to that. Games and Video involve a lot of people. There is so much of the world and people that gets distilled into these products. Obviously this is dependent. Indie things and books involve generally a much smaller number.

Back to the point, sometimes I feel that I can't pick these things up. Actually wait, another tangent. It's ok that I don't! That doesn't invalidate how I or other's have interacted with something. Even if I don't pick up on as many of the themes of like, Signalis, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy my time with it.

But there are times where it can matter. When either on purpose or on accident creators weave in themes that are detrimental. I want to see these things not just to demonize the works. Just being able to recognize them and point them out is enough! There are times where it's like I can only view the edge of the canvas of a piece of art I know is beautiful. But I can't shift my perspective enough to view the whole image.

So I think that's it. If you stuck with my rambling and get anything out of it, take this knowledge. Things are molded by people and those people are molded by the world around them. Regardless of their intent, they put themselves into what they make, the good, and the ugly.

[lazyflux]

Phoenix Chronicles E9

Eviction Notice

Episode 8 here

Most of the Cabal goes to a crafts convention! Mainly so Drakonval can meet with a blacksmithing Mage whose YouTube video he stumbled across, seeking an apprenticeship to achieve his long-standing obsession to reconstruct weapons of myth.

Our Mage in question is Diego (shadowname: Ironman), a forge master and adept in Matter. He tests Drakonval out, and then clocks him when Drak casts a spell to look over a fancy hammer presented to him -- this, this is the Mage who thought it would be a good idea to cause a big storm in Phoenix. So, Ironman ribs him over this, and Drak takes the opportunity to learn why someone would claim they're hearing "voices" as a side-effect from his storm. Now, Ironman himself is from Tucson, so this immediately triggers alarm bells for him -- did Drakonval encounter a Banisher?

[Tucson in the context of my specific chronicle has fallen to Banishers just months earlier, hence Ironman's move here.]

They chat it over a bit more and Drakonval leaves a little worried. Meanwhile, across town, Hel -- aka Allan Wake, real name still unknown* -- is trying to learn about the spectator from his dreams from the previous session. While Hel doesn't lucid dream, he was lucid just enough to pick out a peculiar spectator in his dreams just before waking up, catching really only a few lines of dialogue and tarot cards. And so, in the waking world, Hel tries to see if there are any shops within the city that specializes in producing custom made tarots. He encounters a psychic at her house and fumbles his investigation; our psychic here isn't a full-blown mage, just a Sleepwalker with a gift and said gift screamed doom. Frightened, she demanded Hel leave and so he does. He spends the rest of the afternoon hustling on the streets to rid himself of the broke condition I gave last session (beat!).

[*Even I don't know Hel's/Wake's real name yet.]

But! Not before stopping for lunch with the rest of the Cabal at their favorite diner. They talk about the Banisher problem. Chufi casts perfect recall, and they snag a badge number off the banisher-cop that attacked them. Chufi is also able to get a scry window up on our cop and watches him on-and-off throughout the rest of the afternoon. They place an order for police records that will hopefully be enlightening through the city's request system, finish lunch while talking about all sorts of zany ideas about how to handle this guy, and then leave.

Enter Sonya, our Herald of our little burgeoning Consilium.

[Phoenix in my chronicle has long been.... a sort of dry spot for Mysteries. Not enough or "big enough" Mysteries in the city to warrant a full fledge Consilium, at least not since the early 90's. With people coming alive after dying, however, and nearby Tucson having "fallen," well, times are changing.]

Crime rates have been going up, and a resonance of a ley line that straddles the informal territory that is the Cabal's and another's (the "Harbingers of Metal"), has changed. The Harbingers lodged a complaint. Hel says they didn't sign up for no HoA. Once again, the Cabal is stand-offish, and the Herald leaves. We get our first Paradox Condition of the whole Chronicle: Hel makes it so that the tires of the Herald's car slowly deflates over an hour. What a petty thing to get an abyssal imago over.

At this point, Hel goes to do some hustling as previously stated. Cherrim goes to her green house where she's served an eviction notice from a rep of the Mercer, Colville, and Mulligan law firm (little do they know, it's going to be my "Wolfram & Heart" equivalent in the setting). Obviously, she's furious. She has 5 business days to vacate.

Meanwhile, Chufi and Drak execute step 1 of the plan to banish the, erm, Banisher. They decided to point the Banisher, who they've uncovered to be obsessed with Drak, at Power (though I suspect any Seer would do). They go-to the Library and work on then print out a fancy invitation they mean to accidentally drop at this guy's house. Thanks to the "stakeout" via scrying window, Chufi lands an address.

They depart at library's close at 10pm and out in the nearly empty lot, they're assaulted. First, Chufi did some Not Great(TM) things by psychically dominating someone for the sake of having a chauffer for the evening*, and then they find that said chauffer is now dead in the driver's seat. Then, vampires attack.

[Two acts of hubris in the game, and it's actually our first go at that. One for just psychically dominating someone, then over the presumed guilt for them having died while in Chufi's... "care"]

Two vampires (revenants specifically, but the players don't know that yet) assault our Mages getting good punches in on Drak specifically who tries to retaliate by turning the parking lot's streetlights into lasers. He fails this roll, then makes it a dramatic failure so what really happens is just blinding himself. There's a third presence here in the wings, however, with the duo of Mages in their sight, but they're waiting on a phone call...

One of Cherrim's greenhouse windows is smashed by a rock demanding the "church boy." To be continued.

[Samael, our vampire-hunting man of the Church, was MIA this session, so we call it quits mid-combat and Sam will arrive next session with a hard choice to make. He's been spending several session's worth of Downtime poking the nest, and the nest is finally retaliating.]

[mercuriale]

Two Similar Endings

After watching the video “Games you can never play again.” by The Cursed Judge, it made me think further on the ending of Halo: Reach, which I then shared with a friend later on that day. After having some time to think about it a bit more, I feel ready to put my thoughts to keys and put them out there.

This post will talk about the endings of Halo: Reach and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and will continue below the fold.

Without wasting anybody’s time, I will briefly outline the endings of both games mentioned above, then further elaboate on the parts that are actually prudent to this post.

Personally, I hold both Reach and Hellblade to be excellent games and respect them both very much. Also personally, I thoroughly appreciate good endings. As time as gone on, I’ve gotten older obviously, but how I feel about media and in turn how it should be shaped has also changed. When you are younger, it is so easy to want more and expect more to always be coming for the things that you love. New and constant little flickering candles for you on a conveyor belt. I digress; this isn’t about that right now.

What I really wanted to write about was the way the endings for these two games are both similar, different, and both excellent.

In Halo: Reach, the ending has you defending the launch of the Pillar of Autumn from the invading Covenant forces on the planet of Reach, events which take place immedately before the start of the original Halo game. The rest of the elite Noble Squad of Spartans having been picked off one by one as the end drew near, the player character Noble Six makes the ultimate sacrifice to stay behind on the surface to operate an anti-aircraft gun to ensure the Pillar makes it in to space safely. In the game (and if you have played the other games in the series), it is made clear to you that no help is coming. You are left behind. You now how this goes. After the ship lauches, your visor lights up with the infamous message: “Current Objective: Survive”.  You can hold out as long as you can before ultimately succumbing to Covenant forces, which brings about the ending.

The ending of Hellblade has the titular character, Senua, finally reach the Goddess Hela in her quest to reclaim the soul of her lover Dillon from death. Despite a physically traumatic journey, and a psychological battery of voices (the Furies), she approaches the precipice of it all, and is met with an army of dark soldiers to slash though to the end. However, after a subjective period of time, it will occur to the player that these enemies are in fact never ending, and the voices telling Senua (and the player) to “give up” are not to spitefully spur you on, but are in fact instruction. You can fight and struggle forever, and given that the combat is forgiving enough (even I was able to hold my own until the penny finally dropped), but ultimately you need to “let go” to advance.

I struck an accidental chord in myself with these two endings. Functionally, they’re similar. They are both final levels in which the player is pitted against an endless horde of enemies, and their respective endings are only triggered once the player accepts the inevitable and enters a fail state of death. In this respect, they can be considered similar. However, I believe that their differences in approach warrant discussion, even if it is a pedantic one.

Firstly, they both subvert the “win state” of playing video games. Broadly, the goal of games is to survive, win, achieve, or have fun. Both of these endings tackle these concepts head on. You can’t win, because the challenge is never ending. You’re already at the end, there isn’t anything more to achieve. There are only enemies, which to some may be fun, but ultimately it is meant to only be challenging, not fun. All that is left is to survive; what is the point of surviving when it is no longer achievable, you can’t win, and it isn’t fun? in this way, surviving becomes languishing, struggling even. The point of it is taken away, as a message.

Secondly, how their respective “ends” come about differs in the wash. While they both end with the player dying, how that death comes about is different. In Reach, 4 whole Halo games up to this point have reinforced that, in the end, you have to survive and win. The Master Chief is a badass, the Covenant are the bad guys, hoo-ra! Right, guys?

...guys? Is anybody else there?

You die on Reach. End of. But you don’t go down without a fight. You shoot every shot, throw every genade, charge every bolt, fire every rocket until those gigantic cracks punch their way into your helmet visor and you fall down and you die. The enemies become tougher as time wears on. The level is designed to kill you, and funnel you into the ending. It gives you the illusion of a fighting chance, even though all the lore and all the data pertaining to the level says you never, ever had one. The fun is in the wish to change fate, the fight to make the impossible happen even though it is made so absolutely clear to you that you cannot. But every single aspect of these games has conditioned you to do everything you can to fight back. That crucial gap is where the magic is.

Hellblade takes that gap and plays with it. The entire game you have spent wading through muck, felling gods and grappling with psychological horror, all on the premise that you can resurrect a soul taken before their time. Gods and their divine powers exist here, and it might not be impossible, until you learn that actually, it is. Dillon can’t be brought back. Was this whole journey for nothing? All this struggle and suffering?

The point of the journey changes as Senua fights the endless warriors. The quest changes from one to save Dillon’s soul to one to save Senua’s soul. To alight her of her guilt and anguish. To make the fundamental change to her perspective and “let go”. The player directly invokes this by choosing to be overwhelmed by Hela’s warriors, instead of slashing at them endlessly. Senua’s anger is as endless as the enemies, and will continue infintely unless something changes. The player choice pulls her out of her doomed loop and accept the loss of Dillon, which gives that incredible “aha” moment. You have to go against all the mechanics of the game you learned to survive, by using none of them, and fight your instincts to survive as well.

Mechanically, you can bring about both endings the same way. You can put down your controller in both Reach and Hellblade as soon as these segments start and get the same functional result. The magic lies in how both of these games make their endings happen that first time you play them. The thought processes they inspire in the thick of the moment in the brain of the player, and I love them both.