#and it is like oh god but the subcategories

[sttmh]

STTMH Lore Masterpost

The following are all lore asks. I tried to organize them into subcategories, but I'll be adding tags to each subcategory as well.

I will make this more visually pleasing tomorrow!

Classic's Dreamventures:

How to define Classic's relationships with his dream friends? How did the villagers view Classic's presence with the twins? (1)

What happens to Classic's body when he enters/exits universes in his dreams? (1)

Did Classic ever try to prolong his nightly trips? (1)

Did Classic and the twins teach each other their written languages? (1)

How did Classic bring items on his dreamventures? (1)

Is Classic careful about touch around Reaper? (1)

Nightmare and Dream:

Does Nightmare like apples? (1)

How do auras work? (1)

Error:

What is Error and Honey's relationship? (1)

Are Error's stats glitching? (1, 2)

Does Error know Classic can die and respawn? (1)

What is Error an expert on? (1)

Fluffytale:

Who are the counterparts of the cats introduced in Chapter 12: A Furry Haven? (1)

What are some STTMH headcanons for Fluffytale? (1)

Does this character have a cat counterpart? (1, 2, 3)

Can Catissic meet Classic? (1)

What is Error's relationship with Fluffytale? (1)

Other:

What does Other look like? (1, 2)

How would Other's thorns work on monsters with high HP? (1)

Is Other an OC? (1)

What is Other's objective? (1, 2)

Multiversal Mechanics:

Does killing Classic give EXP? (1, 2, 3)

How do individual timelines relate to the multiverse? (1, 2)

Who knows about scripts? (1)

How could someone tell Classic is the original? (1)

STTMH Stats:

How are stats a reflection of oneself? (1, 2)

How do stats relate to the strength of a monster? (1)

Does Classic have the karma ability? What about other AUs? (1)

The Gang:

How does Horror recognize Classic when they first meet? (1, 2)

How does STTMH!Cross differ from Underverse!Cross? (1, 2)

Will Classic visit Farmtale? (1)

Omega Timeline:

Where is Core!Frisk? (1)

How will the Omega Timeline and Core work in STTMH? (1, 2)

OG Universe:

What does Papyrus know about the resets? (1)

Will there be more details about Classic's life before the resets? (1)

How did everyone deal with the end of the resets? (1, 2, 3)

How are Classic and Flowey/Asriel on such good terms? (1)

Will the "Judge" role be mentioned? (1, 2)

What were Classic and Gaster's relationship? (1, 2)

What was Chara's role in the resets? (1)

How aware was Classic of resets? (1)

Was the Sans the one who deleted Frisk? (1)

Will others realize that Classic is the original? (1)

Could Papyrus leave the universe at some point? (1)

Who were the Anomalies? (1)

Reader-STTMH Interactions:

Who can hear asks? (1)

Is fan mail possible? (1, 2)

Could readers speak to Classic if he were in the Antivoid at some point? (1)

Classic's Bullshit:

Classic's portals (1, 2, 3)

Why is Classic so cool with the multiverse being full of alternate people he knows? (1, 2)

Does Classic drink? (1)

What is Classic's age? (1, 2)

How much have others in the multiverse heard about Classic? (1)

What happens when Classic dies? (1)

Misc.:

What is the reason behind the phrase "oh my stars?" (1)

What is Snakes on Mt. Ebott? (1)

Calendar for Chapters 1-27 (1)

Will Classic and Fresh meet? (1)

Regarding other possible AUs (1, 2)

Swap's kidnappings (1, 2)

How does Reaper's God of Death status affect the multiverse? (1)

The Chair:

Canon name (1)

[gothprentiss]

hey. hey. i cannot make any inroads on your ethics but hey. hey listen. if you nod along with posts like this one

look into how this stuff is processed sometime 👍

i mean, full disclosure: i do genuinely think “i love animal products ❤️ they’re biodegradable” is kind of antivegan cope because, you know, no one ever seems to be talking about natural plant fibers versus synthetics in these contexts— despite the fact that, on average, they comprise significantly more of your wardrobe and significantly more of your short-term, short-life garments— but also, and more importantly: i do not know what kind of beautiful little production chain is being imagined here, but the idea that you go from sheep or cow or so on to your wardrobe to the compost heap to fresh soil in 5-15 years, zero environmental impact, is really out of touch with most factors of consumption. leather for example can be biodegradable, but a lot of processed leather takes significantly longer to decompose— not as long as pvc, but longer than you use it for— due to the nature of its treatment. if you buy leather goods you are virtually never buying untreated leather; tanning is a chemical process with pretty significant environmental consequences. if you are getting for example a wool coat, the odds that you can afford a 100% wool coat as opposed to a wool-synthetic blend are pretty low; same with sweaters. so maybe you thrift a leather jacket or a vintage 100% wool sweater and get some use out of it. you buy a pair of leather shoes and feel good about it. hey, their treatment and soles probably biodegrade too right? and without any lasting impacts on the environment? and maybe you overcorrect for “vegan item!!” fast fashion greenwashing and end up with items which are pretty much exactly as non-biodegradable as their plastic equivalents, and exactly as short-lived because the quality of low-budget manufacturing these days seems to be constantly getting worse.

i don’t mean to scaremonger or whatever— there really isn’t much of a way out of this unless you have some serious cash to spend. but the idea of a totemic Ecologically Good category of material is obviously out of touch with how most people in the world get their clothes and loudly praising a product which is not actually in practice guaranteed to be better than its plastic substitute is oddly common on this website. cmon there isn’t even a character limit. there’s space to actually say something useful

[feyburner]

saw a post of yours where you were breaking down your complex feelings about Jason and violence and catharsis (great post, 10/10, also love ur jaytim fic). Anyway maybe this a weird thing to get out of that but I was wondering, since your response was so articulate and interesting, if you could tell me about your ten-book bookshelf. You know how some people have a dream ten-car garage? Well, what are the ten books -- or even five of the ten, so you have room to change things -- that you would consider as your favourite books of all time? Would love some recommendations.

Oh man this is tough. Ok let me think. Ok.

THIS IS SO HARD!!!! Im gonna think about it like “if I had to be stranded on a desert island with only 10 books for the rest of my life.” Each of these books are literary feasts which could sustain my brain for years.

1. PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke. A pandemic novel and it shows (honorary). This is a book about isolation and hope and God and science and a really weird house. It is so good. It makes you remember why you love the world. I read it for the first time in like 2 hours flat without moving or pausing and have reread it many times since.

2. REAPER MAN or NIGHT WATCH or FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett. Sorry I would pick with a gun to my head but not before. I love anything Pterry but these are the ones that have stuck with me the most so far & explore themes I find most interesting. I love Death and I love Sam Vimes. I accept that the Discworld in general cannot count as one book.

3. THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy. Incredibly bleak novel that makes you feel so bad the whole time. 10/10.

4. GIOVANNI’S ROOM by James Baldwin. This book is about being a gay/bi American expat in Europe and feeling a shame that is inextricable from white American culture/masculinity. It is about being emotionally castrated by your own culture/country and briefly experiencing a taste of something real and raw and “dirty” and frightening and having to choose between deviance and conformity except you can’t even commit to that choice bc of who you are as a person bc of the culture that made you. So you’ll just be alienated and haunted and between worlds forever. 10/10.

5. THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy by Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien. This counts as one book.

6. BELOVED by Toni Morrison. The prose in this book is without equal unless you count other Toni Morrisons. It’s one of those books that is so good and so masterful you leave it having been made anew after spending that time so wholly enmeshed in another person’s mind. I reread it a couple years ago for the first time in years and felt that same feeling all over again. It is stunning.

7. CIRCE by Madeline Miller. I know it’s cool to hate Madeline Miller on this website and everyone’s above SONG OF ACHILLES now but guess how much I give a shit. I loved this one and have reread it many times. It’s slow and internal with very little plot, mostly just a woman thinking, which is my favorite type of book.

8. THE TOMBS OF ATUAN or TEHANU or THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula K. LeGuin. If I had to pick, probably TLHOD. It hits!!!

9. A STRANGER IN OLONDRIA by Sofia Samatar. This is a recently acquired favorite, I loved it from the first page. Beautifully written, a masterclass in specific perspective and “realistic” linguistic, cultural, and religious divides in fantasy (vs. the vaguely medieval Western European setting where everyone speaks the same language).

10. THE SIRENS OF TITAN or BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS by Kurt Vonnegut. I think TSOT wins by a hair. “A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”

This was hard and I only managed it by not including any books in categories other than Books That Changed Me Fundamentally, subcategory That I Could Read Over and Over.

Otherwise, shoutout to nonfiction books THE OLD WAYS and UNDERLAND by Robert Macfarlane, BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer, OTHERLANDS by Thomas Halliday, ENTANGLED LIFE by Merlin Sheldrake; “read for a fucked up horny romantic time” fantasy books the CAPTIVE PRINCE trilogy by C.S. Pacat and TIAN GUAN CI FU by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu; poetry collections by Mary Oliver, Jane Kenyon, Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath, Tracy K. Smith, Zhai Yongming, Maggie Nelson, Fiona Benson, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge; short story collection LESSER KNOWN MONSTERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY by Kim Fu; and the epic graphic novel BONE by Jeff Smith.

Anyway, I am currently reading, among other things, JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke, DEMOCRACY by Joan Didion, and GWENHWYFAR by Mercedes Lackey. I recently picked up LAND OF MILK AND HONEY by C Pam Zhang and I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman.

If anyone has any recs based on this list please do give them especially if it’s a sad book where nothing much happens, I love those.

[sunny-mercya]

Ordinary Godly

Apollo x Male Reader

Fandom -> Percy Jackson Series

Masterlist

Percy Jackson, who has fought a variety of Monsters and argued—even battled at some point—with the Godly deities of the mighty Olympus, had expected everything—when stepping into the home of Jason and Will, with the rest of his little friends troop—but nothing like this.

Seeing you, the deity of tranquility and slumber—another brother of Hypnos—for the very first time in actuality—was a weird experience of meeting for Percy.

»THERE YOU ARE! MY TWO PRECIOUS SUMMER BOYS! OH, NICO! I GREET YOU TOO, COME HERE!«

You had emerged from the Kitchen, baggy clothes—consisted of a large tee with the print of some band name and lyrics quote and pyjama pants—covered in what seemed to be flour and cocoa powder.

Your voice was loud, filled with thrilling excitement of joyfulness. Taking Jason and Will into your arms, hugging them tightly against you and giving each of them more than just a few kisses to the cheeks and head. Nico had been pulled into this as well, suffering through much affection as well.

You're radiating more hyperactivity energy and child like behaviour off, than the emotions you're meant to send out.

Walking into a home, in which Jason and Will had grown up with their two godly parents, which looked so damn mundane humane—that Percy had to take a double check on that Cookie Tin-can, filled with sewing stuff.

It confused him. If they all had learned one thing of being Demigods—half children of godly blessings, which sometimes could be seen as a curse though—that none of the gods and goddesses—their other parentally half—live like a ordinary human.

Always exotic enormously flashy, expensive, but never dare to boring and dull—than a god whose dull and pathetic unnoticeable, could not be worthy for eternity of mighty existence.

Yet, Percy thought, both the house and you are a stark contrast to what they have been told. Simple and ordinary.

»Are we sure this is really a deity?« asked Percy in a hushed whisper, leaning down to Annabeths ear and elbowing her in the side.

»I haven't seen Demosonos personally, but I highly doubt Jason and Will wouldn't recognised their parent.« she whispered back, keeping wary glances at them—some Gods can't be trusted.

Nico who had managed to free himself from the suffocating hug of love, stepped back to them and hissed in the same hushing voice of whispers;

»Do you two have any death wishes? Don't upset them.«

I mean, Percy thought—letting his gaze wander back to you—if we do so, what would happen? Ares, Zeus, Hades, Athena and his own father—Poseidon—are much more scarily and worthy of being called merciless fighters.

You on the other hand, looked—truthfully—weak. Percy could for sure, probably, take you down in seconds.

After all, from what he could gather, you're more than just a minor god—even less than minor, a subcategory inside a subcategory—unworthy to be mention with the same breath of saying Nxy, Hypnos and all the way to Morpheus.

Still, Percy is after all confused to why their Prophecy and Quest is, to seek you out and ask for your help.

Lesser Gods aren't helpful, they're more a nuisance.

~~~

»And this must be your other friends? Right? Perseus and Annabeth?« the question was more towards your sons.

You stepped towards the two teens, Will had already pulled Nico away to the Sofa and Jason had gone to the Kitchen, greeting loudly his other dad.

Percy and Annabeth felt both a bit uncomfortable with your vacant stare and the friendly smile on your lips.

»Uhh, It's Percy actually, I don't liked to be called Perseus« Percy didn't know, why of all the things he could say, decided to say this—but he did, mouth being faster than his brain again—and Annabeth elbowed him hard in the rips, a tiny gaps of breath intake left her lips.

The friendly smile never wavered from your lips, nodding at them—they couldn't tell if you had even listen properly, vacant glint still in your eyes—head dropping a bit to the side.

»Aah! You want some tea and Sweets? C'mon, c'mon, now don't be shy you two, take a seat. Will be a dear and help me« clapping your hands, you ushered the two teens to the Sofa, skipping already to the Kitchen.

»I will explain later a bit,« with that being said, Will stood up as well.

Neither of the three said anything, looking around the living room with more interest than addressing the current situation—or more issues perhaps?

»I thought you knew what he is like Nico....I mean with you being Wills boyfriend, you are prone to meet his parents«

»Hey hey, don't come at me now Chase. I only have met Mr. [Surname] like three times and that was in the city.«

»Small tip of advice, don't be so stiff. Relax a little or Pa's gonna worry again« they hadn't noticed Jason, who have come back from the kitchen with a tray of Tea cups and Kettle.

Will following soon after with a Tray of sweets and pastries, setting it down on the coffee table. They both getting comfortable on the sofas—Jason on the main big one, while Will had sat with Nico on the right mini sofa and Percy and Annabeth on the left—again.

Nico instantly following Jasons advice, relaxing his body and sliding just a bit down.

When Apollo had entered the living room, Annabeth and Percy gasped loudly in surprise. Standing up they bow their head or more like, Annabeth forced Percy to do as well.

»Lord Apollo!«

»Since when did you become a Lord? Aren't you a God?« you asked in amused surprise, taking a seat as well.

»Apparently just now, love« Apollo shrugged, Will started to laugh and Jason sighed in disappointment, shaking his head—so much for giving advice to his friend, to not be so formally stiff and causing tension.

~~~

The hours passed and Percy and Annabeth had relaxed over the times. Coming to the conclusion that you aren't one of the tricky gods—like Ares—who likes to use them as soldiers.

You asked them various questions, be it about the quest or some daily things; like what's your favourite TV-Show.

It wasn't long till you slumped, actually passing out from something akin to exhaustion and sleep, body leaning against Apollo—who had long wrapped an arm around you in a protective manner.

Jason stood up, taking your legs and moving them onto the couch. Getting a blanket from the footstool—where are tower of them was stacked—and covering you a bit to the hips with it.

Percy couldn't help himself but to stare at the marks—he first took notice of them when you handing him a gummy-bear—which covers your arms, starting from your wrist and ending somewhere at your neck or collarbone.

He had seen these types of Marks before. Racking his brain for the information he had read about or being told from.

Oh.

Percy jumped up, snapping his fingers and pointing—accusingly—at you. Head turning to Annabeth and again his mouth had been faster than his brain.

»That's THE DEMON OF OLYMPUS!« he had shouted it so loud, that your body jerked up—stirring awake is what you begun, already mumbling something sleepily out of context.

Apollo moved you quickly into his arms, shushing you gently back to the dreamlands and humming a little tune of it.

A mess had started to erupt between them all.

»I know! It's still highly disrespectful to point that out, seaweed brain!« Annabeth slapped him hard against the shoulder.

»Do you have a death wish, Jackson? Do you want us get killed?« hissed Nico, giving a glare, sitting uptight again and body going absolutely rigid stiff.

The worst part for Percy was probably the disbelieving disappointment frown on both, Jasons and Apollos—though his frown looked more like concealed bubbling anger—face.

Apollon stood up with you in his arms, ready to walk out. Will was about to stand up as well, wanting to go with his father.

»I'll take it from here boys. I expect from you two to inform your friends properly now, to ensure that such outrageous behaviour won't happen again.«

»Wow, way to go Percy. Upsetting one of the kinder gods in just one go.« Will wanted to laugh, to make it seem that it wasn't that bad, but his laugh came more like a strangled cry out.

»How many times did we, did I, told you to keep your mouth shut in more than just one occasion?!« chastised Annabeth, giving him another shoulder slap.

»No, honestly Percy, be fucking glad Pa had another slumber episode of his or you would....I don't know, but it wouldn't be nice.«

»But he's the Demon of Olympus! Isn't he not? The marks of Zeus's banning are a clear sign of it. I don't get why we need help from an evil deity who also deceives everyone to believe he's being known as a lesser god«

»Even for you Perseus, that's a new personal low! How dare you to say such horrible things about my Pa.« Jason stomped off, the anger radiating off and his face slightly red from it.

Will had decided to inform Percy properly about his dad's complete and historical story. He didn't want his parents to be offended—or feel upset and angered—after all they need their help and support for the upcoming—already starting—quest.

You're the brother, a child from Nyx, of Hypnos. It is true, your actual deity personality, form and power is akin to one of chaos—you're a personification of weather—raging storms to be exact—and a sneer of demonic vileness petty violence.

During a darker time in history, Zeus had strikes you with lightning—sealing your actuality, banning them for a balance—and splitting you into what you are now; god of tranquility and slumber.

The splitting had also caused a turn in personality itself. Making you more childish, airhead and forgetful. Kindness from you, comes not completely naturally—feeling more forced without meaning to, though you do love and this was a genuine one.

»Yeah okay, but why is Demosonos—uh, [Name], with your father, Will?«

»They're married?«

»Why?«

»You're officially demoted from Seaweed brain to dumbweed brain.« muttered Nico, pinching the bridge of his nose.

»They married for like years and that's because out of actual love and I'm not gonna tell you their sappy love story.«

»Still I don't get how like Lord Apollo, who blends like the sun, is being married freely to someone like him, a actual demonic person«

»I–oh my fucking god, Percy. My dads are married because they love one another, completely smitten they are, how hard is that to understand?!« Will groaned in desperation, taking a handful of biscuits again—had he almost eaten the whole bowl.

And Nico thought, how a great way to upset a God and already dooming their quest in the very beginning.

~~~

Jason felt hesitant, as if he were five again and didn't wanted to disrupt his parents sleeps because he had a nightmare, to step into the bedroom.

Respectfully he knocked a few times on the door, before opening it and stepping inside.

The bedroom was almost shrouded in complete darkness, except for the dimmed nightshade next to the bed.

Apollo had acknowledged his son, didn't say anything though—to occupied to lay in bed next to you, hand supporting his head as he drove his fingers through your hair.

A cooled washcloth was placed over your face. You hadn't started to sweat, sign of upcoming fever, but Apollon didn't wanted to risk it—doing a prevention beforehand.

What most, be it his own kind or humans, didn't know is that Zeus lightning strike to you has caused more than just a split personality—created a rift in your health, leaving you vulnerable and weak and prone to sickness.

Apollo couldn't do much about it. Not even with his powers of healing, leaving him a pit of despair and self-hatred whenever you got sick.

»Do you know the actual, not that stupidly outrageous idea of us gods being unfaithful, I mean some truly are, reason, why we have decided to let you and Will and all your other siblings been born from Humans?«

»No,« Jason shook his head, debating with himself if he should sit or lay down next to you, in the end he chose a mix of both.

Jason had sometimes wonders why it always had been that way—being born from humans and a deity—even though gods and goddesses could bear children just as well.

When he had been younger, wasn't all that long ago in his early teen years—memory still fresh in mind and sometimes upsetting him—he had accused his father, they had another argument that day, he never had loved dad in the beginning and being unfaithful to him—cheating with woman's and only seeing you as some kind of trophy.

That day was the only day and time where Jason had seen Apollo with actual anger on his face. The kind of anger which bubbles in you till it turns into hatred and pettiness.

»It's because your dad wouldn't survive the procedure of giving birth and I mind you, the whole explanatory of the aspect itself of how we gods and goddesses giving birth and the many various ways to do so, is chaotic complexing on its own.«

»You mean, dad would die? But you are immortals and immortals aren't meant to die«

»Yes and no. Even though we're immortals of eternity, there are still ways—ancient barbaric ones—to kills us or at least in a sense of us being dead. No, no, Jay, the reason isn't death, he just wouldn't survive.«

Jason furrowed his brows, not understanding what his father meant or trying to tell him.

»You well aware of what happened to your dad, his history. Zeus had strike him down, leaving him in the few hours of unconsciousness—which had caused a spurt of utterly violent storms throughout the land—vulnerable and unable to defend himself against any sort of danger and hostile.«

»Are you trying to tell me that, Zeus had, you know—with dad?«

»Dear lord! Jason! Absolutely not! Don't ever think of such disgusting scenarios and manners again.«

Apollo sighed deeply, not having expected his Son to come to such conclusions. You stirred again, your hand coming up to your face and taking the washcloth off.

Bleary you opened your eyes, trying to make out where you are and who you are.

Apollo, praying silent apologies already, leaning down to you—pressing a soft kiss onto your lips and with a quick whisper of humming lullaby, brought you back into the grips of slumber. Unconscious you rolled onto your side, over to him and into his arms.

»You put him into force sleep! Didn't you told us to never use our powers of sleep in such forceful ways? It's a rule number one!«

Apollo raised a brow at his son, who looked absolutely mortified for a good minute and turned into distasteful disappointment.

»Now now, my son, don't give me such gaze. I too am not proud of what I did, but it had to be done. It's still a sensitive topic and I don't want to cause a distress, disturbance or even distrust perhaps. Now, where was I? Aah yes—«

»So like I said, during the hours of unconsciousness, a wave of sickness rolled over—custody of Pandora's box being opened—and infected painfully your dad. Leaving him, once he had woke up, in a whimpering withering anxiety filled mess.«

»And that's how you meet Dad then, right?«

»That's a story for another, but yes. Anyways, to what I'm trying to say is, your dad is still too vulnerable and weak—sickness prone, to be able to handle the whole procedure of giving birth. I mean we tried it once and only, but.....let's just say, dad still has scars from it. And thus the reason why we and perhaps most of us gods, decided to let our children been born from humans.«

Jason gulped, trying to not choke on his tighten up throat. He hadn't been aware of it, how the true story had happened, but it all makes so much sense now.

The times you got so bedridden, unable to do anything but sleep, that Will cried for days and nights thinking you're about to die from incurable illness.

Or when Will had been still a child, having gotten a nasty flu and you had to take care of Will and him—Jason himself had been in some bad mood the whole week to even consider to help you out as he was the older brother after all—all on your own, because his father had been away for business trips—and you looked so exhausted and ready to pass out any minute, that Jason hadn't even question back then why you took pills after pills and chugged cups of coffee.

Jason understands so much better now, why you never got angry—like he had been, when founding out—when Apollo had intercourse with yet another woman.

He understood why you're so prone to sudden collapse of exhaustion and slumbering sleep during the day or in the middle of doing something.

And then he felt a rush of rage through his blood.

You didn't deserve to be treated like this, to be frowned upon down or with that false kindness the other deities treated you with.

You didn't deserve to either called a demonic being or naively dumbling of airy forgetfulness.

Jason hated it. Hated them, the ones above and those below. How dare they to make you feel so unwanted and filling you with seeds of self-hatred and anxiety—when you give nothing but pure love to him and his siblings.

Jason wasn't blind, his father neither—though the man chose to completely ignore it, when you once again had puffy red rimmed eyes—when you had cried in the bathroom during nights and mumbling things to yourself, Jason didn't want to repeat.

Jason decided, this prophecy wasn't worth it to bring you once again pain and remind you of the haunting past.

If it meant to sabotage the quest, he would do. After all his loyalty and love belongs to only you and not to the greater ones above, who hadn't even the slightest fuck to give about their children.

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[Spoilers below cut]

*GASP*

....chat. wha?

(the following is my live reaction:)

Ad time? ad time.

SMG4: "You just had to call them [the girls] yucky." *wheeze* 3 really?

*helicopter explosion* ← I did tell yall I have a terrible sense of humor. ofc I would laugh at that

now we can start :)

oh Karen, what's wrong? Uh oh, don't tell me...

GODAMMIT

I knew that second teaser had to do something with Mario going after Karen and/or her kids

YEAH FUCK THE POLICE, IT'S TIME FOR A MOM TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS

PFFT the profile pic I least expected to pop up (srs, last episode she had bootleg plush 4 as pfp) when was this pic even taken???

he really is a clown 🤡 *clown horn sounds*

...huh. 3 would do that, wouldn't he?

really? "Mario waits for the bus"? you didn't even get past that starting screen

:O

WOAH WOAH ok, everyone chill out.

3, you probably could've worded that better. did you really have to go that far?

and Karen, I was wondering: where were you before this happened? Genuinely, I'm blaming you for the situation but you're usually near your kids so maybe it was just a quick errand? WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN THE LAST EPISODE AND THIS ONE?

BEEG4?! LET'S GOOOOO WE'RE SO BACK

dude, I seriously cheered. I mean, hey any chance to have the SMG4 kids for an episode is a win in my book

that's his boy!!!

🥹 he's so sweet oh my god

it's like he gave me hot chocolate and wrapped me up in a blanket, and this wasn't even directed at me

somehow my subcategory of fave characters fully has a "caring and supporting talk while getting a ride home from the airport" vibe

how can you hate 4? no, like seriously, how can you hate him? i don't get it

we gotta move on or else I'm gonna start chasing haters around with a bat

YES KAREN & 4 TEAM UP IS BACK (now with beeg4)

amazon? don't tell me the monopoly man is involved

they call him Uncle Mario? noooo don't do that to me

and the parenting episode came back for this *head in hands*

😦 we finally got a voice

Mario did it so Karen could relax from the stress? Hmm, while it would be something Mario would do, it still feels off. idk I just have a bad feeling something was done to Mario

yeah, it's not helpful, but aw 💙

GOTTA GO FAST GOTTA GO— *gets run over by a bus* OH C'MON

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT TOY WAS RELEVANT?! *facepalm* omg I should've known

LET'S GO? OK TEAM UP

finally, welcome back "We Must Kill Mario"

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED

...ngl he kinda gives me Niles vibes

Mr. WPNZ, huh? 🤔 hmmmmmm

still don't trust any of this (probably insane)

😦 IT'S THE ORGANIZATION, IT'S THEM AND YOU CAN'T TELL ME OTHERWISE

(not that I'm Mr WPNZ is the boss, just that he's part of it)

ZACK NO

CORY NOT YOU TOO

NONONONONONONNONONO

*head in hands* I was afraid this would happen

listen, I remember clips of this shitty movie (idk how long ago), that basically these child soldiers were given VR headsets by this secret organization, being told that it's just videogame for training. The twist was that the children were actually killing real people. it's basically that here

it's going to be "oh, you thought that this was fun? wait until you do the real thing" *head in hands* Karen please get there on time

oh boy

Karen Karen, ik you're desperate and trying to find your kids but there's no need to interrogate Luigi like this

save that energy for the real deal

oh. well that was a quick scene

>:(

*sigh* It's the father. Like, I was thinking about it in the back of my mind palace and didn't want to say anything until now

Still polishing the analysis but I did suspect that the father was going to come into the picture again, in three ways to be exact: The Sacrifice, The Protector, or The Lost Cause. And it's unfortunately, that last one

it makes sense why the father would be here taking the kids. The secret organization already knows about the kids and Karen not taking any of their orders. So, they would have to take drastic measures to get Karen to do what they want, and why not send out the person related to the family? After all, they can't send out the boss with the scary voice to talk with the kids. Have a friendly and charming face, one that the kids could relate to and trust

But clearly, he's the absent father

NONONO WHERE DID HE TAKE THEM?

WHAT DID I SAY? I knew they must've had advanced technology based on the walkie-talkie alone, or at least what they picked for inspiration from informants (could be the government-level or something similar???)

Now, this is going to be me full-on hating on this dude, and totally believing that this is the actual father, so if you want to skip ahead, you can. I just need to get it out of my system: Oh right, listen here you piece of shit. You better not play yourself the victim here just bc "oh the organization brainwashed me", bc guess what? you did all that willingly. You chose to stay behind instead of running away with Karen or having the guts to go against the organization. You chose to accept the mission handed to you to go after your own kids and recruit them through manipulation. You chose to see you kids only when it's convenient to you and your boss. You chose to bash Karen when never once have you been an actual father in their lives. Oh, and what's more? You're clearly insecure and jealous bc Karen was the best agent the organization had, they went for her on that hit for Marty instead of you. Count your days, you and the organization have nothing against the wrath of a mother.

*flips desk*

ok, now i'm done. let's continue

Mario, it's best if you start talking or Karen's going to get the wrong idea

OH, the walkie-talkie! it should still be here, right? near the boxes? Karen did see Mario with it on the security footage, maybe she can connect the dots!

...WHAT? the end credits?! you can't end it there! AND no end theme music either?! TEAM YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US

Let's see, Gianni Matragrano as Mr. WPNZ? Well, that confirms several of my suspicions. Though, I'm not familiar with the VA

Huh, apparently he's a VA for Glitch's Gaslight District series. Yeah, that makes sense. Still not that familiar to me tho, I'm sure other people will recognize him.

Congrats to The_StUpid_VeLL for your art being featured at the end credits! 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Ok, first off, can I say the thumbnail did not need to go this hard? Ben, you REALLY cooked.

Ben: "Drawing blood on smg4 characters is my passion :3"

Yeah, I could tell, now more so in your new AU. but I also don't like the implications we're going to get from this and no, I'll try not to bring 4's left eye into discussion.

This was a pretty cool episode, love how the Team brought back elements from the "We Must Kill Mario" and "Mario Teaches Parenting" episodes. Pacing on a few (very few) parts could've been better, like the Luigi interrogation scene felt too quick idk. But overall, pretty good! There were definitely funny parts, some were sweet. One was 3 going after Karen's neck like sheesh, that was harsh. And I know we're trying to guess who Mr. WPNZ is and how the plot's going to go, but man. The Crew cannot catch a break.

It's sad to think about Karen trying so hard to forget her past as her way to move on but that organization keeps bothering her, and now involving the kids in this. And the thing is the kids don't even know about her past, naturally they wouldn't know how bad this is going to get. Then, there's the father. From the way he's been, I'm 95% sure it's really him. I'll talk about this more in my analysis but I could tell from the captions alone. It simply makes sense. oops, all trauma!

I think the plot could lead up to the kids being used as leverage against Karen. The ultimate deal would be: the kids becoming future assassins or Karen giving herself up and returning to the organization. Them or her. Both options are bad bc either way, the organization would have the kids in their custody. Not sure how the Team's going to go with this, but I hope Karen doesn't forgive the father of her kids. Just let Karen kick their asses 😌↕️ It's all I ask.

And if I tell you this show's about all types of love, including familial?

Like I said, I'll be talking about it more in my analysis, and I'm still thinking about Marty and Karen needing a job, but this is what I have to offer for now! I'll see you all next time and remember: numbers go first!

.

.

.

.

.

.

hey Team, don't think I haven't seen that door. ever since we brought it up, it's come to haunt me every chance it gets.

fine fine, I'll work on the ref sheets. not now but soon.

[ratective]

Have you seen the new tiktok from Rebecca Sugar?? Oh My God, Pearl was NOT okay.

YEAH MAN pearl needs her own separate subcategory of toxicity in the lesbian community she’s gaining ALL the mental illness points for this

but on a more serious note like. she really did think that she can just do this and say “hey i sing just like him, i can even look like him if you want me to, just please love me” and expect rose to??? ignore how fucked up that is? ignore how messed up pearls view of her own self worth is and just ride off with her into the sunset? oh my god

pearl messed rose up more than the other way around tbh

[shadowtraveled]

what TMA entities would you assign the dungeon lords, esp mithrun? was discussing this (bc marcille is sooo End) and consulting your Seminal Mithrun Meta when i remembered you also went here!

anon i want you to know i was thinking about this nonstop like two weeks ago oh my god. i’d love to hear your thoughts on this if you’re so inclined 👁‍🗨 (and wheeze thank you i don’t know about seminal but i’m glad it passed peer review)

putting a readmore here for spoilers

to preface this, i understand the fears aren’t really separate and it’s all just fear etc but they function as distinct in the way the demons do and in the sense that they each had to mark jon to come into the world. so. distinctive facets of a unified whole. anyway i have two criteria for assigning someone a tma entity: it has to be something they deeply fear, and it has to be something they choose anyway.

and with that being said, marcille is SO end-aligned in a very gentle and chill way i think fits the end so nicely… her intense fear of death is sort of a fear of loss, which would typically be considered the desolation’s domain, especially when coupled with her aptitude for explosion/fire magic and the part of her arc where she tries to expand the dungeon, but she wasn't choosing destruction or hopelessness in either of those cases—there’s something to be said for the carnage she was willing to leave in her wake, but at the end of the day she was trying to eliminate loss. she's fundamentally incompatible with the desolation because she continually rejects it, and the loss itself doesn't form the core of her fear. the inevitability of death, though, does, and she accepts it when she gives up the dungeon and lets falin go. absolutely the end.

i think thistle is another easy designation. he clings to control to the point it corrupts him, and he creates an environment that forbids death, but his desire is not for control and his fear is not of death or loss—those are delgal's. instead, his fear that he won't be able to measure up to the too-large too-heavy responsibility placed on his shoulders is what drives him, and because we know it drives him, we know that he takes it on anyway. he even brings melini underground. extremely the buried.

laios, meanwhile. is difficult for me to assign. his fears (rejection, ostracism, that he isn't able to connect with people, that he hates people) feel very lonely, and he does withdraw from people a fair amount, but he has connections he does not and would not choose to sever. you could make an argument for the hunt (he's drawn to not only monsters but the concept of the food chain itself and his place on it as a part of the natural world, and he ends the series with the object of his fascination out of his reach), but i don't think there's enough fear there. in laios' case, the lack of strict definition between fears and the idea that they're all just muddled subcategories of a singular thing is actually really helpful, because i think i'm assigning him to the vast. it was said at some point that the vast and the lonely aren't too dissimilar—you won't realize how alone you are without distance, and that sort of mental/emotional distance and disconnect is what has haunted laios his entire life. and i think that's, in part, what makes the cosmic insignificance of seeing yourself as just another part of your environment so comforting to him. his choices... definitely make him cosmically significant lmfao but even though he chooses to be the one to go up against Infinity Itself and its endless hunger and even though he chooses to be king, he fits himself right back into the position of being a single piece of a much larger puzzle. he became lord of the dungeon to become a part of the food chain that would stand a chance to preserve it (via eating the demon's hunger). he's king because there was a gap that needed to be filled. even then, he wants his body to be scattered after death, so that he can be devoured like any other living thing would be. god i love this manga. anyway, tentative but i think the vast is the only thing i can justify at this time. actually, accepting the hunger of the infinite could itself be seen as accepting the vast into himself…….

and finally, mithrun! surprising absolutely nobody given my take on his backstory, i'd give him to the lonely, with the caveat that he does eventually sever his connection to it. prior to becoming lord of a dungeon, we know he thought the worst of people (and again i think this was intentional of him), but we also know he put up a front that was undeniably kind. milsiril says that everyone loved him for the front, but its very existence acted as a barrier between himself and others: milsiril had no idea how miserable he was, and neither did anyone else. he'd already begun choosing isolation, and he chose it ultimately when he became lord of a dungeon, literally cutting himself off from everyone in a pocket dimension where he surrounded himself with facsimiles of people he loved until... they dwindled. and they did, until he was alone again, with only the demon and the unresponsive chimera construction of the person he considered to be the one he loved. after he was eaten, we see themes of emptiness typical of the lonely coupled with his disconnection from his team—in one of the extras it says they don't really know how to approach him, and i think it shows. so in a way, he ends up back where he started: surrounded by people who care about him and who he ostensibly cares about in return, but emotionally alone. as for fear, i think a lot of his are tied up in the concept of insignificance, but that insignificance isn't cosmic—it's personal. that's why watching himself be replaced was so unbearable for him and why the thought of being left unfinished was so horrific.

as an aside, i did also consider the corruption. the idea of leftovers abandoned carries the connotation of rot and i love the concept of 'the rot within you' etc. it gets me every time, and i think there's something to be said about that with regard to the way mithrun views the person he once was. furthermore, the... eating... scene... is framed as sexual and extremely invasive (and, as a result of the combination, is very evocative of disgust) in a way we see most often with the corruption (though imo tma would never see something like this as it toes the line of jonny's "no sexual trauma horror" rule too closely), and we have to remember that for all that it terrified mithrun, he was trying to get it to happen again. but i don't think disgust is enough of a factor for him. most of his disgust is aimed at himself, and while he doesn't shy away from it, he isn't really drawn to it either. rather, i think his dialogue in the extra comic in the complete edition of the adventurer's bible ("there's nothing so kind as a demon. suddenly losing that kind of love opens a hole in your heart[...]") goes a long way in terms of defining what being eaten meant to him. the corruption focuses on a feeling of belonging and community. mithrun wanted to disappear forever knowing that in the last moment he lived he was loved. ultimately, the fear of being abandoned coupled with his attraction to being unknown and eventually entirely gone read as lonely-aligned to me.

anyway i'd LOVE to hear where you're at with this please come chat literally whenever this is the most excited i’ve ever been about anything

[hellobitchlet]

Things from the beta/early on that I wish Genshin didn't forget about or retcon:

- pretty much every mystery and plot line that the Mondstadt cast was setting up. Not just Kaeya and the male 5 stars (but definitely including them bc. There's a lot of stuff) but also the 'smaller' stuff that never left 4 star character stories like Sucrose's species, Bennett's origins, and Amber's grandpa. And that's not even going into Lisa's Akademiya connections that made her look like she'd be important in Sumeru. Or Mona and Klee lore before astrology and elves were forgotten so much that Layla is treated like just another filler 4 star.

- the concept of a 'mutant' type of electro that is the same colour as the possible light element. And the concept of elements having subcategories in general.

- dendro being this pretty, darker shade and actually having stuff to do with plants, instead of this boring, neon green light that just makes pictures that sometimes looks like plants. I really like dendro slimes and the thorn wall attacks that the dendro samachurls have. Wtf is this dendro specter and these dendro mushrooms?

- this isn't quite an established thing, but speaking of dendro: I miss when it seemed like there was a point to not having dendro characters in the beginning. I miss when it seemed like dendro would be important at all. I miss when it seemed like Baizhu and Yaoyao would be important at all. I miss when it seemed like dendro not being available pre-Sumeru would be acknowledged in-story. And this is coming from someone who was barely around before Sumeru, who barely got a taste of Genshin before the racist dendro nation.

- the Abyss Order being equally (or even more) as important as the Fatui and not being so shafted by the writers that it's delegated to short, yearly quests and rare appearances in world quests. I mean, you would think that the antagonist group closely connected to the protagonist would be more important than the one that has nothing to do with them. Right?

- oceanids!!! Oh my god Genshin why did you expand on Oceanid lore through Idiya the update before Fontaine and then retcon it as soon as possible???? Idiya I'm so sorry bbg.

- the existence and importance of the afterlife? I mean, it was briefly mentioned in some Sumeru artifact description, but otherwise the afterlife has been completely forgotten about since Hu Tao's story quest. Which doesn't make any sense to me because without it, the archon war and the Chasm is the only significant thing about Liyue in the long term. Which is more than Fontaine, but the other nations have way more notable things about them. Liyue is seriously sustaining itself on Chinese culture and adding new stuff to it alone, huh.

-speaking of Liyue lore crumbs forgotten about in favor of focusing on the Adepti way too much, what was with Chongyun's yin imbalance? Is it really just a side effect of Hoyo throwing in bits of Chinese mythology that is disconnected from the rest of the lore? Really?

[gking10]

Liveblogging TMAGP 15: Well Run

We're already halfway there! Mid season!

"Well Run". Like a machine? Or a business? Or is someone going to spend a long time literally running?

CAT1RB-6451-22062023-22032024Hunt (aristocratic) / compulsion

Ah. Literal running it is. Aristocratic is an interesting subcategory of hunt. Perhaps there will be references to the Wild Hunt? Or are a bunch of 14th century aristocrats about to go out into the woods and suddenly go The Most Dangerous Game on each other? Maybe an early (alternate dimension) form of the Everchase?

Graphic Violence/Murder- Futility- Being Hunted- Classism- Dehumanisation- Hostile work environment- Drowning-

Oh. I'm daft. Of course the aristocrats aren't just killing themselves. They're kidnapping commoners to release out into some field and then hunt down. "Hostile work environment" I assume applies to something outside the incident. But it just hit me. "Well Run". The title's not just about the incident, it's about the OIAR itself. It's well run. A well oiled machine for... churning horror and suffering?

Episode begins.

1:54 Okay, this exchange is just really cute.

2:28 - "So… is that a no to-" It's okay, Sam. I suck at detecting sarcasm sometimes too. This conversation continues to be so very cute and I am smiling so much. It's gonna suck when we jump into a recording of people being brutalized for having less money than other people.

2:38 - "Oh, er… “The Pillowman”?" "Oh nothing, very romantic choice." Looked it up. It's a play about child murder. Incredibly romantic. 10/10 choice Sam.

2:54 - "I mean sure you could both go canoodle in some stuffy old theatre-" ALICE. Alice wherever you are going with this I do not think it is a good idea. You've already made this awkward by jumping it, it is only going to get worse. Maybe wait for them to date for like... a month before you leap into their conversations. Then it won't look desperate.

3:04 - "-or you could hear one of the great up-and-coming music sensations that is currently taking the London scene by storm!" "Let me guess, Dredgerman" Ah, the new band Alice's brother is a part of! She's advertising! Okay, I take it back, I think this is the one and only way this conversation could go to not end awkwardly. This is understandable.

3:08 - "Don’t be daft, they’re taking a break before their tour!" WELL THEN WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING ALICE? If you don't have the excuse of shilling for your brother, why are you getting involved in your ex's dating plans?

3:25 - "But it is still Luke on Bass right? How many bands is that boy in?" "which may or may not also include my incredibly talented younger brother" You are sending me on a emotional rollercoaster ;-; Okay, so she is still shilling for her brother. Okay, cool. Also we have a name! Luke! I don't think we had his name before.

3:45 - "Aha! But that’s the best bit, they’re the last ones on so you can do your boring play and then just swing by afterwards!" Alice no you had the opportunity to drop it. Alice no please don't call the original date plan boring. Alice no no no no

4:06 - "No, yeah, no, of course. So… Like, a dog sitter, or…?" Alice. Why. I'm giving you the "girlfailure" stamp, this conversation has gone too awry.

4:19 - "Babies are cool." I'm reapplying the stamp. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The way she says it like she's promoting "babies" as a product in a commercial

4:50 - "What? I said babies were cool" Laugh. It's laugh.

5:07 - "Hi, you’ve reached The Sentinel tip-off hotline." Oh god. It's modern day. Could still be reanimated aristocrats from the 14th century though. Ghosts? Celia can call Georgie? Also I just remembered what I think was a tumblr post that went around a while ago from Jonny Sims himself. He was saying how people were simping for Needles (can relate) and simping for Mr. Blobby (can't relate, failure on my part, I know), but he drew the line at people simping for 16th century aristocracy? I think he said 16th century? Some century. Is this the episode that prompted that?

5:50 - "I can’t go to the police" Welp, seems like modern aristocracy is involved too. Not gonna lie, as a filthy American, a lot of this episode might be lost on me. Not helping is when I goggled "modern aristocrats", what showed up first was not the British royal family but instead Magic: the Gathering decks.

6:57 - "I worked with them for years and they didn’t deserve what happened to them…" I'm actually tearing up at this and I'm not even fully sure why. The idea of them being killed just because they're in a servile position? The guilt of watching your acquaintances die? I don't even know. I just. Don't feel good.

7:17 - "Apparently, they had a family shoot and wanted us to prepare the game" Like... as in gamey meat, right? Not to like... literally stick pheasants and partridges under silver domes on silver platters and then release them as the family shoot started, right? I'm probably overthinking this.

7:25 - "they were really explicit about it being larger game and wanting to know who’s kill they were eating." That is deeply concerning. A bit Fleshy, but I still feel like the focus is on the thrill of the Hunt.

Unrelated thought, this incident is filed under "compulsion". But how would you be able to tell the aristocrats are being compelled if they're just... already like this when ordering the catering? Are the caterers going to be compelled somehow to act as prey?

8:02 - "It wasn’t usual to be given center stage like that but I figured the client fancied themself a foodie and wanted to see the prep." Weirdly pitched noise here. Feels like they are drawing focus to this, but for what I am not sure.

8:36 - "Another hour passed with a couple more cars trickling in, but still no one had set out. Instead, I could see them through the leaded windows, just watching us work." Stalking. Sizing up their prey before they pounce.

8:57 - "He just gave me this look, told me to “prepare” and then headed back inside." Run. Run run run run run run run runrunrunrunrun

9:39 - "She had the same eyes, like they didn’t see people any more just “assets” and “resistance.”" Ugh. Yikes.

11:06 - "Then she raised her hand to silence me and it was as though she had slapped a gag in my mouth. I couldn’t even think of disobeying her, the words just died in my throat." There's compulsion. I assume this woman is the one people simped over. And well, she's no Needles, but if she can psychically force me to shut up, that is kinda... No. No simping for the aristocrat that is going to be classist and hunt and kill people. Daisy at least wasn't classist! And she had this growl and turned into a werewolf wife so-

11:12 Three notes. Can't tell the instrument. But music. Music is starting.

It's still going. The same note. Ding. Ding. Ding. It's actually making me uneasy. The longer this goes and the more I hear it the stiffer my body becomes because I am just waiting for it to crescendo.

11:54 Oh, the music faded so we can hear a description of having to stare down a gun that's about to shoot you. Neat!

12:40 - "Then I realized, she wasn't talking to the other guns, she was talking to us." First I thought the aristocrats would be hunting each other. Then I thought the aristocrats would be hunting the caterers. No. No. They're being made to hunt each other. It's like the Murder Club in thrill of the chase. Makes sense why some Slaughter is creeping in, with music and references to military service. This may be a Hunt, but it's also going to be a burst of sudden violence. It makes sense. Too much sense. Just pit people of a "lower class" against each other and eat popcorn on the sidelines or some shit.

13:49 - "Without taking my eyes from her I reached out and gently closed my hand around the handle of the clever in front of me" The drop in his voice as he says this. Like he's being overcome by the compulsion all over again even while recounting it.

And then the way he recounts what he does to Marcus... Its almost like he's slightly relishing in it... The caterer probably took to the compulsion fastest because he served in the military. I wonder, was his group specifically chosen for that? To feed on his fears of what he had to do during combat, force him to relieve being a machine of violence? Well Run. It can also apply to a military, now that I think of it.

14:52 - "The party ate well that night. All told, it didn't take long, maybe a half hour at most? None of them got far." I thought there wouldn't be cannibalism because it wasn't in the warnings, but yep, they ate the victims. A man who was in the military is forced to kill people and a bunch of aristocrats sitting at a table are eating the corpses. Almost as poignant of a metaphor as ripping someone's heart out and putting it in your wallet. He's so... casual about it. That's what makes this most disturbing. He's not even horrified with what he did, at least not in this moment. Maybe he'll snap back out of it... Or maybe he only made this call because the aristocrats turned on him... He did say they didn't deserve what happened to them. He had some humanity at the start of the call. Hopefully he'll snap back out of this.

15:51 - "Then the butler handed me a thick brown envelope. It was full of cash" Oh my god, they even paid him for his service. The military parallels, I can't. "and a note written in elegant cursive with just one word: “Run”." Fuck. Slightly funny the more I look at the line but still fuck.

16:12 - "I thought about handing myself in to the police, but that just feels like trapping myself in a dead end." Can't stop moving. Can't let the blood stop flowing. The Hunt needs the movement, the thrill, and action, the panic and fear.

16:23 - "Wait…" Right before this, I was about to note how the music notes are coming back. Then he said this. And then the notes go louder. Sharper. And that somehow feels like more of a jumpscare than the woman actually showing up.

16:27 - The car window shatters inwards from a sudden loud gunshot. The CATERER is wetly silenced. There is a deep pit in my stomach. A cavern that only continues to be excavated further and further in, leaving me empty of all but shock. I kept waiting for the notes to turn into full on music. It never did. The caterer was just shot.

16:39 - LADY MOWBRAY "Well run dearie. Well run..." Title drop! Also we have a name! The almost gentle positive affirmations after literally splitting his head open is disturbing, but also... No. I must convene with my shrine of Needles. I must not be swayed by militaristic aristocratic probably-an-embodiment-of-violence-demanded-and-perpetuated-by-authority woman built like a statue with a prim voice.

Incident ended. No one drowned. I thought someone was going to get drowned during the hunt. Someone gets drowned during the OIAR section?

16:47 - LADY MOWBRAY (too close) "Fascinating." WHAT WHAT WHAT WHA WHA WHAWHA HOW WHO HOW IN THE WHO LET YOU IN HERE? WHY ARE YOU NOT IN INCIDENT LAND CYBERSPACE? WHY ARE YOU REAL? Why are you saying "Fascinating" with such disturbing mirth and interest please I am not supposed to simp for you I have a reputation to uphold I have to not disappoint Jonny.

16:52 - LADY MOWBRAY CONT. "Sit." ... No comment.

16:56 - The dogs sit. They are not fur babies, they are what turns up when someone says “release the hounds”. nuirjklgbijekgrebguirkgregbeijngr WHAT ARE THESE SHOW NOTES

STOP SNIFFING CELIA. S T O P

17:40 - "A fine specimen… strong and… different…" Why are you talking about her like she's a purebreed dog you're judging at a show ;-;

17:48 - GWEN (cautiously) "Lady Mowbray?" WHY DO YOU KNOW HER? Okay, I know why, but WHY do you know her?

18:10 - "No, you won't." It's almost like Celia could sense Lady Mowbray was an avatar? Like even just the moment she showed up, Celia was not putting up with it. Apocalypse experience, maybe?

18:31 - "Bouchard… You wouldn’t be of the Cheshire Bouchard’s would you?" Cheshire Bouchard? An older member of Gwen's family, maybe? Maybe even older than Elias? You know, did Elias ever even become Institute Head here? The Institute burned down in 1999, and while Jonah Magnus leaped from James Wright and took over Elias in 1996, it's not unimaginable to think he delayed it 3 years in this timeline... Or just, you know, picked a whole different guy.

19:03 We're at a club. It's Alice's phone. Her brother Luke is performing. There's music. I'm having a great time. An honestly great time. I'm actually managing to decompress. And then I remember there is a drowning in this episode. That we have not gotten to yet.

20:23 Oh thank god, we left. Luke's cool, he seems chill.

20:36 - A tape recorder CLICKS, distantly a body shuffles in an alley off the main road. VICTIM "- the second time is up I try to grasp the air and fill my lungs that burn and rattle full." Oh. Well, that's disturbing. The fact it's going to be someone describing their own drowning is deeply unnerving.

20:56 Poem. It's a poem. Why is it a poem? That makes it freakier. What is this recorder thing? Is it Jon? Is this a recount of someone's experience during the apocalypse? As the poem gets spoke I feel like I can't even breathe or I'll drown.

21:26 - The VICTIM stumbles then falls to the ground, hard. They begin to writhe, clutching at their throat. Oh. Oh god. it just clicked for me. This isn't a recording planning. Victim is saying this. Something took her statement and now she is stuck endlessly repeating it.

21:46 - The VICTIM begins to choke. She got to the end of her drowning poem and then started drowning on land. Maybe it's not endless repetition. Are people being forced to live what their alternate-selves experienced in a fear domain? Is that it? Or is she just reliving a real choking she experienced, feeling every single bit of the trauma again in full? The poetic nature of the recounting makes me think apocalypse, where everything got dreamlike, but it could be either.

23:09 - The victim starts to speak again, quietly, bubbling up through the water and out of dead lips. Absolutely not.

She keeps. Whispering. Her poem. This is Fear Domain shit. This is apocalypse domain shit. Some mixture of Buried and End where you drown over and over and feel yourself die over and over and have to feel every sensation of your own corpse bloat with water as you're powerless to move.

Deeper… Deeper… Down among the dead and swollen flesh so pale within this lightless place where eyes are open cloudy white and all the water pushes down upon a lifeless form that sinks and sinks down to the bottom that is not there no sandy grave below the swell no rest among the coral and the depths I feared so much but reached up and over land to claim me still

Endless sinking. Some Vast in there too, maybe? First reminded me of Adrift, episode 195 of TMA, but here the focus is more on the drowning and the choke... But the ceaseless depths of the ocean are there... But I'm also thinking of Episode 11 of TMAGP. Marked. The sailor's tattoo. The calling of the sea as final resting place. "Reached up and over land to claim me still". Hmmm...

And it's done. How is Alice seeing this going to affect her? Is she going to start looking for answers too? Or is she going to double and triple down on her "don't ask questions, just do the job" mentality?

This one was plenty disturbing. The hunting incident was a really good metaphor, and this scene at the end? I am shivering.

[shoezuki]

Oooooooo got anything else about the classification?

hell ya i do its really fuckin interesting to me. because in a way its sort of a 'solution' to the arguments about Which fairy tale is the 'first' story. like constantly ppl talk about disney fairy tales being 'originally' from the brothers grimm but thats not true. like cinderalla-type stories have existed for a long ass time, across different cultures that when some of them hadnt interacted at the time, and we Cant know which is 'first'. like perrault's cinderella is kinda the most widely known know and was published in i think france in the late 1600s. the grimms' 'aschenputtel' was later in like 1812 and is of german origin. the oldest known/written cinderella variant was first recorded 1 AD egypt, called 'rhodopis'. but theres been ATU 510A variants across practically every culture.

one thing is when i was in the fairytale course it was often a pain in the ass to find fairytale variants outside of european cultures. cuz like oh my god eurocentricity sucks and when i did find ones like the mikmaq 'little burnt face' it tends to be recorded by european settlers and they may have gone all brothers grimm on em and modified them.

but in general its sometimes an argument about how these stories have developed. like. considering that ATU 333 (little red riding hood) is found in both European and east asian fairy tales, its sometimes argued that there is one 'first' ATU 333 and through cultural interactions it spreads and gets reinterpreted throughout cultures. But also it could be argued that people just so happen to have similar experiences and derive stories from them. like at its core 333 is a story that tells a message about 'stranger danger' and concepts that are pretty generally experienced.

but alsoalso is the ideas of which fairytale types persist. like i mentioned last time cinderalla is ATU 510A, and donkeyskin is 510B. They are the two subcategories of 510 'the persecuted heroine' and are extremely similar. but cinderella is FAR more popular and has survived modernly much more than donkeyskin, and its evident why because ATU 510B is also called 'king tries to marry his daughter.' You can kind of see societal changes in whats acceptable, cultural influences, and what taboo topics are more/become more acceptable based on what stories are made when, and which ones are more popular.

[theawkwarddeadgirl]

I’ve started playing(?) flight rising and I’m finding my favorite kinds of dragons tend to fall into two categories: “Dark Goth/Emo Kids” and “Oh God My Eyes.” The funniest part is that the “Oh God My Eyes” category has it’s own subcategories of “acid and neon bright colors that could appeal to some people but definitely will damage your retinas” and the other category which is just “that dragon is ugly as sin”

I feel like I’m about to become a collector of ugly dragons and I am content with this role that I must play in my fictional dragon society

[thewingedswine]

Can I ask what it is about this fandom you find unfriendly? I've been feeling the same a little and I've been feeling alone in this.

Long winded rant, hold onto your buttcheeks.

I’m going to put this out there for anyone who feels afraid to say it, and that’s only because this particular fandom is the ONLY fandom I’ve ever experienced this with. I’m a big fan of marvel and dc, sci-fi and fantasy, I show dogs, I train dogs, I make leather goods, and those are all cutthroat communities with their own problems but I’ve never felt uncomfortable in any of those the way I am in this one,

So here goes; I hope this helps some of the people like me, who really love Avatar, but don’t like the fandom environment.

I think the biggest problem is with the NeteyamxOC pairing niche- which seems to be the biggest subcategory in the fandom.

I’ve seen in the comments sections of several Instagram and tumblr posts(Neteyam pictured or written with oc’s, mostly) where a bunch of mean-girl antagonist harpies will emotionally body each other and the OP and claim Neteyam as if no one else has a right to pair an OC with them?

UM EW? SO WEIRD AND CULTY. thank god none of that happened on any of my posts or I would’ve had to slam my head in a door.

then there are the purists, who reprimand you if you change the traits of any of their favorite characters or portray them in a way they don’t approve of- this has happened to me several times, which, fair, I suppose. I did something heinous with a character in my story(he gets a redemption arc later but that’s not the point. I should be able to write anything I want, and while I value free speech, it’s like? Why are you getting so mad? He’s a fictional character, just DNR my fic and move on to something you like better, it’s not that serious)

There’s also people reposting artwork that I spent a lot of money on and not crediting the artists, but I feel worse for the artists because you can have all the money in the world but you will never get your time back, and I feel like it’s fucked up that they aren’t at least getting the recognition they deserve on those posts that these stupid poopybutthole assdicks are making.

That could go for any fandom, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

Lastly, both my direct and indirect interactions with a select few people who are VERY prominent in the community have just… left a slightly bad taste in my mouth…? Like nothing explicitly bad happened and if you ask all three of them they will probably go “oh no, me and that person don’t have a problem!” But just… if those three incidents were translated into equivalent in person interactions, I would’ve felt extremely bullied. You could call that me being sensitive, or a number of other things, but that’s just plain how I feel.

It’s a shame because I looooove love love all the fics people write in every aspect and pairing of the fandom, and can recommend you so many amazing fics that were written so much better than mine by such fucking nice and pleasant and humble people tbh, I legit would lick the bottom of their shoes if they asked me politely enough

It’s just those few hundred OTHER people that have made this a bad experience for me🤣

So there that is, this place and some of the hostile NPCs that inhabit it make me feel like I either need to curl into a fetal position to mourn the loss of common sense on the internet, or step into a rage room and never come out,

And the more I think about it, the more I feel like stepping away is a good decision for me.

Maybe when I come back people’s buttholes will have loosened up and I can walk around in the bountiful fields of Avatar/NeteyamxOC fanfiction again like a floppy golden retriever puppy without having to look over my shoulder for a poacher with a sledgehammer, but until THAT day,

(But not before I’ve made my last 2-3 posts by the end of the week)

I’m peacing out, buh-bye😂💕

[memoryoflife]

for the fanfic trope thing: dubious morality, body horror and came back wrong :)

Give me a fanfiction trope and I’ll grade it

"dubious morality" trope rating: A

listen... the fact that i had an entire subcategory of ocs in the past dubbed "dubiously blonde" is testament enough. oh my GOD. grey characters are my SHIT. dubious morality is a fucking a+, it's so BORING for it to be completely black and white! give me characters with complexity and dimensions, who do fucked up shit for fucked up or justified reasons! on the subject of dubious morality, i wind up thinking about the "villains" series by v.e. schwab — the vast majority of characters are extremely grey, having their own goals and motivations that are justified to them. and it makes it SUCH a wild fucking ride to get through that book. uh i can';t even say much else i jsut love it. I KNOW THIS IS A FANFIC TROPE GAME BUT I CAN'T THINK OF FANFIC EXAMPLES RN MY BRAIN IS FRIED IM SO SORRY

"body horror" trope rating: B

i! do like body horror a ton! but it's not something i usually go out of the way to get. but god, it slaps when done right. i'm a bitch ass pussy so i actually really like it in fanfic because if you SHOW me body horror in a visual medium, i scream and writhe and cry and die :') not much else to say here except i should probably give it a shot and write some someday!

"came back wrong" trope rating: A

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MAN OKAY i wish i didn't scrap came back wrong off my bthbingo because MAN. MAN. IT'S JUST!! the absolute HORROR of knowing someone for who they were, only for them to come back as not someone, but something else... i can't speak of fanfics for this but i've thrown around ideas with a friend in discord dms (blows a kiss @ lettie) about the trope and it's just. so fucking good. the absolute agony, especially if the person who brought the other character back did it because they couldn't comprehend their passing, couldn't let them go!! (excellent fodder w lilia and silver ngl)

SO YEAH A GRADE A GRADE FUCKING EXCELLENT TROPE

[faerociousbeast]

i've decided to start categorizing yaois in a more accurate manner

school: school. they go to. the same school pretty self explanatory. can have variations such as oh damn i got isekaied. oh damn we're reincarnated. but generally straight forward. can be considered a subcategory as the schools can really be for anything. transfer students, roommates, childhood best friends, yknow how it be

woman treatment: they're usually just like... omg !! the two school princes look so KYUTE together >///< and sometimes there's like love triangles but. generally they just. do not exist ? idk if we're in all boys schools or what but. often has Younger Sisters. who ship. their brothers with whoever the hell. like alright i guess

celebrities: they are celebrities and for whatever reason, their fans have decided to ship them. rpf. awesome. also has variations such as esports gamers, singers, and or actors. honestly the reincarnated slash isekaied thing can be applied to any category so i'll stop mentioning that so much. some common tropes are one guy goes online, sees the ship content, and starts Thinking

woman treatment: pretty horrible! theres always a female fanbase that ships the guys really weirdly and all they do is go kyaa and god FORBID theres an actress coworker. of course she's trying to get your man and manipulate people and stuff

ceo: also self explanatory. my least favourite kind so honestly i havent read that much. ceo and employee. great. cool. anyway

woman treatment: again they don't really seem to exist which is. bad in itself why aren't you hiring women at your job being gay isn't an excuse. but sometimes! they will be horrible people bc love rival

historical: samurais and emperors you know the drill. often Wars and has the most Tenderly Bandaging Of Wounds. has a lot more isekaing proportionately than other categories. usually some royal guy and some commoner guy but can sometimes have two royal guys

woman treatment: also kinda bad. due to the nature of. arranged marriages, theres uuusssually some poor woman who's getting forced to marry the Prince of the two. or she's like. again manipulative and trying to get his money and stuff.

Powers: this is mostly a subcategory and the broadest bc there's not a lot to distinguish here. can vary greatly, from oh i read this book and woke up as the protagonist. this guy died and i somehow got sent into a different timeline / the past and i want to change his fate. *I* died and woke up as someone else again. i like these ones bc the powers can be cool but most of the time they completely forget about the plot in favour of being gay :( like i wanna figure out the powers and how they came to be here cmon man. still, most of my personal favourites are in this category

woman treatment: varies! since again this is SUPER broad. HOWEVER yeah some of the Powers focused ones have had the best female characters i've seen. shout out to my girl shen shu.

[mey-rin-is-fabulous]

Would it kill sites to just let you look at everything in a main category instead of having to pick a bunch of sub categories.

Like take Chapters((Indigo) it's basically the Canadian equivalent of Barnes & Noble started as just a book store but now has games and home goods) for example. I figured since I was already on the site to check the price of an item that I'd go check out what they have for manga.

Unfortunately I can only shop by new & trending, series or best selling or break it down into more subcategories. I could probably view everything if I just used the search bar.

And its oh my god I just want to browse I don't want anything in particular. Just show me everything. Like how when you go into a normal store when you want something but aren't sure what you just wander until something catches your interest.

[rakunoko]

you should tell us what kind of songs you like so we can hear them and think of you!

Oh man, that is a rather tricky thing to do, hahaha. My comfort artists are Imagine Dragons (I've been listening to them since they started all that time ago—not one song they don't have, I don't know about. My favorite albums are Night Visions and Smoke and Mirrors. Both bring me comfort and yet make me sad with nostalgia) and David Bowie. Recently, Wallows has become an artist I have come to love because the feeling their music gives me is a sort of melancholic coziness/nostalgia. I literally cannot get enough of their stuff. You also cannot go wrong with Depeche Mode, but it's hard to choose a fav of theirs. As for Queen, tho, my favorite song of theirs is 'Killer Queen' and 'Good Ol' Fashion Lover Boy.' Hell, even Nickleback is a good choice (Yes, I listen to them and have since I was young. I love them and wish to see them live, but all their shows are in Canada at the moment) As for actual songs, some of my favs (since there are too many and I am on the spot, so aaa) are: -As the World Falls Down -David Bowie (I am weak for this song. You have NO idea how bad it is. If you need a song to associate with me, it is this one) -Leon's Theme -from Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (Literally ANY Castlevania tune will be repeated, especially if it's from SOTN. Castlevania is my LIFE fr)-Merry Go Round of Life -Joe Hisaishi -These Days -Wallows -Sidelines -Wallows -Witch Image -Ghost -Rats -Ghost -Dense Macabre -Ghost -Round and Round -Imagine Dragons (Or really any song off the Delux Edition of Night Visions) -Good Grief -Bastille -Surfin' USA -Beach Boys -California Dreamin' -The Mamas and the Papas -Tough to be a God -El Dorado and the cover by Johnathan Young I also have a playlist of songs that make me cry from love because they make me think of my dad/found fam, which includes: -I'm Happy -Imagine Dragons -Deus in Absentia -Ghost -Instant Sunshine -Luke Million and LAU -Family -Mother Mother -You're My best friend -Queen -Friends -Band of Skulls Lately, my earworm has been Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go and Bad Medicine cuz UGHA so fucking good. Though TBF, my music taste is ALL over the place. I love listening to music from the 50s to the early/mid-2000s and sometimes video game music/scores, though I mainly enjoy 80s music. I love the rock there and all the yummy synth sounds they have, which is no surprise if you have seen my blog aesthetic or even my art over at @wonderlandjester (Sounds such as the sounds in We Built This City by Starships). But you can't ever go wrong with someone like Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Beach Boys, or even Dean Martin. (Which fun fact: the only thing to get me to stop fussing as a baby was Dean Martin's 'That's Amore' hehe) So yes, if you care, dearest anon, if you want to know my genre(s), mainly rock and all its subcategories: classic, Indie, Pop, and Punk. Because let's face it, punk rock is everything, hahaha. And Synth/Electronic. I eat that shit UPPP and keep a synth playlist saved on Spotify for a reason yahahaha. Sorry if I rambled, but I just enjoy music so much, and it's nice to share words about the kinds I like, even if I am a bit anxious to share them irl with people. DMS are open if you ever want me to share some songs, too!