#and it uses analog but what makes analog horror /ANALOG/ horror is how it focuses on stuff from that time period in terms of-

[disruptivevoib]

sometimes I do wanna just build an online horror genre taxonomy

[kates-dump]

My experience with Analog Horror/ARGs and why you should check them out

Marble Hornets: the classic, and a big favorite of mine for obvious reasons. I cannot stress enough how good and spooky that series is, and the ToTheArk videos gave me nightmares, love it! <3

If you're into Slenderman stories, you should definitely check it out. The acting is very well done and the story is awesome overall :)

The Sun Vanished: the ARG that started my interest for ARGs, and especially enigmas/internet puzzles. Unfortunately I was not smart enough to figure the stuff out by myself, so I just watched explanations on it. Highly recommended if you like post-apocalyptic settings and subtle horror.

The Mandela Catalogue: possibly the series that brought back my interest for these things. I have only watched the first two seasons of it, as I sadly lost interest after a while, but from what I have watched, I would recommend it to those of you who like horror with religious themes (which is a big thing for me) and most importantly, trust issues. Do keep in mind this series deals with more serious and dark topics, though you have probably heard it already.

Local58: the analog horror of all analog horrors, Local58 barged in before TMC took the spotlight. There is so much going on and all of it is very interesting and scary. America's pride leads to its doom, the moon can control electronic devices, and weird creatures spread through the world. If you like stories that leave you not understanding what the hell just happened but loving it anyway, you will love Local58.

Rocket Archives: A single-video series that has unfortunately been taken down for reasons I am not certain of. But if you're curious what it was about, the video presented a reality where us humans were forced to leave Earth with how hot it was getting, and moved to contained bubbles in space. Suddenly, uh oh! The sun's getting closer! Outer Wilds moment! Everything is melting! Humans are gone and the sun is... alive???

Analog Archives: made by the creator of Rocket Archives, has also been taken down but can still be found re-uploaded. The series is slightly similar to Local58, as in it also focuses on broadcast hijacking used for ending off humans. The series also includes a few religious topics that can get very dark. I love it. "Nature Show" makes me tear up with fear every time.

Gemini Home Entertainment: ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOMENT!!! I don't think I need to explain why I love this one so much. GHE leaves a lot to your imagination/speculation, while also twisting your head directly into the direction of the threat and forcing you to look at it while you squirm in fear. GHE is subtle in the most obvious way, obvious in the most subtle way, and most importantly, IT'S COSMIC HORROR, BABY!!! THERE IS A PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM THAT GOT HERE UNINVITED AND NOW IT WANTS TO EAT US!!! UGHHHH I can't put in words why I think it's so good, it just is. Watch it. The Gardeners are cute, I swear. There's even a plush of them.

Monument Mythos: something something alternate realities, something something time loops. I have not watched all of it, barely even half, but I deemed it a little bit too confusing for my brain. BUT! If you're into things that boogle your mind, you might really like this series! I mean, world monuments are alive, what could be scarier?

Vita Carnis: EW. (affectionate)

But, seriously, if you like gross, you are certainly going to like this series. It's meat, and it's alive. Although, I did stop watching it because it got a tad too graphic and violent for my taste, but if that doesn't bother you, then I recommend it a lot! The editing is soooo good, and some of the creatures are very likable and cute ^v^ (the others are gross and I do not want them near me I do not WANT FUCK OFF)

Don't Look at the Moon: Minecraft spooky. Do I need to say more?

[kadextra]

Imagine you have managed to lure & successfully capture a special, and dangerous animal in a cage. You brought it to your facility for a reason, to use it for something important that it can provide you, or that it’s capable of doing… and to run some tests.

You know this animal has a history of being extremely vicious, and that it’s really intelligent. You knew what you were getting into beforehand… you’ve heard the hundreds of horror stories, about it being capable of causing terrifying harm- and it hates being in a cage. it’s crafty and will attempt to escape, so you need to treat it nicely, with utmost respect. You have to pacify its temper while you run the tests, so you give it something to care for, other test subjects for company, and objects that it likes. enrichment to make it all more bearable to manage.

It works, and the animal has gotten attached to the things you provided for it! you see how much it cares for them every day, and that’s good because now it doesn’t bite back as much at the keepers you send in to monitor. All the tests are going smoothly. Sometimes, there are unfortunate accidents (it was in a particularly bad mood the other day and someone lost a few fingers) but that’s okay, things like this can be excused in the long run. It’s unwise to punish the animal, as it’s scary, and special, and you aren’t sure if doing that will make it become completely uncontrollable or ruin the tests/any of the benefits. Just continue using more enrichment and hope that works! there is nothing more important than having it be calmed in the cage.

Everything goes well for a while… until one day, when what you had given it to care for disappears. you don’t know where they went (or maybe you do) and the animal falls into a deep depression. you observe as it begins exhibiting stress-related self destructive behaviors like biting its own fur off. but those soon switch to threatening behavior. it starts slamming and tearing into the cage, openly attacking with fangs and claws at the employees, causing a ton of problems- it was only a matter of time until this happened. It has nothing to lose anymore, and you now understand the murderous rage that all those stories talked about. In the dead of night, you walk by and can’t see anything in the darkness but you can feel its sharp eyes watching your movements…. plotting.

If it got out it would certainly try to kill you.

One of the employees goes missing one day, on top of the animal being way more unstable and hard to deal with. While you try to solve this new problem, you tell everyone to halt their work and warn them to not make any sudden, startling movements around the animal + not go near the cage at all for the time being, in fear of it lashing out more. They are all following your orders to stay away. But unbeknownst to you, the missing keeper had actually fallen into the cage with the animal, who is now very focused on toying with its new prey...

When you find out about this, there will need to be a choice: face the threat directly, rescue the employee and risk punishing this already unstable animal for its actions in an attempt to get it under control (you have never done this before) or, cut your losses like previous times and just allow it to play with its toy…?

———

fun little analogy & speculation of the federation’s pov related to q!bad, with a sprinkling of special guest theory. the reveal that they’re scared of him & treat him kinda like a dangerous wild animal gave me thoughts :3

[licncourt]

Is there a specific way to read the vampire chronicles or some books you should skip (I’ve just heard that some aren’t that good but like I’m up for anything)? And what books are focused on Louis and Lestat?

Okay I hope you weren't looking for a short answer to this because there isn't one 😭 Rather than just give my uncontextualized opinion, I'm going to try to explain what makes some (most) of VC so unbelievably terrible in so many people's eyes. There are going to be spoilers for pretty much all the books, but most of it is either incredibly stupid or information that you might want relating to content warnings. I'll list what applies to each book as I go.

I'm assuming you're here from my VC primer post, but if not, I'll link it right here! It gives a bit more detail on my short answer to your main question which is: if you value your sanity, only read the first three. Also a note to read the post I linked at the bottom of it about Anne Rice for context. It will help with understanding the tone this post takes re: the author.

To quickly answer your second question, I am sad to report that Interview with the Vampire is the only book focused on Loustat because after that Anne Rice decided that she hated Louis. Their relationship is on and off in the (very, VERY distant) background until they finally get together permanently towards the end of the series, but it's never the focal point again. She just kept us all on the hook by having one absolutely brain chemistry altering ship moment in a majority of the books (my compilation of those moments here).

Okay, on to specifics:

Interview with the Vampire: a literary classic with incredible character building. I'm assuming we can all agree that IWTV is fantastic and anyone who is reading this because of the show is probably already sold on it. If that's where you're coming from, you might be a bit disappointed by how unsympathetic Lestat can be, but that'll be remedied(ish) later. Lestat is the main character in the series going forward. Enjoy this Louis content because this is pretty much the end of it.

CW: keep in mind that the beginning of the book takes place on a plantation with all that entails; there are some occasional pedophilic and incestuous undertones, but nothing out of place with Gothic horror (it gets so much worse); domestic violence

The Vampire Lestat: this is widely considered to be excellent popular fiction rather than something as elevated as IWTV, but it's a 5-star read according to most fans. Lestat is such a vibrant, exciting character and so much more than the charismatic villain he was in IWTV (the AMC show incorporates a lot of his characterization from this book, as IWTV was originally a stand-alone novel without any real idea of what Lestat would become).

Aside from a (delightful) cameo at the end of the book, Louis is now in Anne Rice Jail and will not be allowed to do anything for the next nine books except be tortured once like a bug for no reason.

CW: a non-consensual turning that is directly analogous to sexual assault; descriptions of child abuse; Lestat, unfortunately, tongue kisses his mom

Queen of the Damned: this is the last book that most fans like. I personally consider it a step down from the first two, but I strongly prefer intimate, character driven stories and QotD is very plotty. It's a fun book, but some cracks start to show in AR's writing that will become a big problem later. Still, it's enjoyable and the ending is very satisfying for the story arc and for the characters. It also contains a fan favorite chapter that follows Daniel, the interviewer, and his insane romance with the vampire Armand.

If you want to be a happy person, turn back now.

CW: non-con blood drinking/vampiric SA; casual racism and pro-imperialism

***CATEGORY 5 EVENT: ANNE RICE FIRES HER EDITOR PERMANENTLY***

The Tale of the Body Thief: this is considered by most fans (obligatory not ALL) to be the worst book in the series simply for how the subject matter is handled. This is the beginning of AR transforming Lestat into something very existentially disturbing without even meaning to. The sympathetic, charming, evil-but-not-really theater kid Lestat is gone without a trace in a way that could be a very insightful look at the aftermath of trauma but is instead deeply insensitive and really upsetting.

Lestat from here on out becomes a hypermasculine caricature that can do no wrong according to the narrative and this has some pretty awful results. There are a few funny moments (like Lestat describing the sensation of peeing for two full pages) and a very cute arc where he adopts a dog, but he also commits two explicit rapes and emotionally abuses/threatens Louis on several occasions with the authorial justification that "men can't help themselves", abuse victims have it coming for setting boundaries, and people who have suffered abuse become abusers. This will be a recurring theme going forward.

Not related to Lestat, but also an Indian man is killed and has his body stolen and inhabited by a white British man in what would be a great metaphor for colonialism if the author thought that was a bad thing.

I am on the last chapter of a 140,000 word fic that I wrote just because I hate TotBT so much and wanted to create a world where it doesn't have to exist. It's one of the most popular VC fics on ao3, and that's not a testament to my writing ability, but rather to how much people hate this book.

CW: graphic SA; domestic violence; insensitivity to the point of racism; the author thinking these things are okay

Memnoch the Devil: not much to say about this. It's AR's ripoff of Dante's Inferno. Lestat meets the devil, goes to hell, drinks the blood of Jesus Christ, loses an eye, vacuum sucks period blood out of a woman's uterus and pad, and then falls into a five year semi-coma on a church floor. Somehow it's still boring. Best I can say is that the Lestat characterization is a bit less heinous than it is in the previous book.

CW: not much here unless you have an issue with period blood guzzling

The Vampire Armand: truly a notorious book in the series, beloved by some, hated by many. There's some good backstory for the character Armand (he first appears in IWTV, likely in season two of the show) and some fun historical fiction, however. Armand begins his story as a twelve year old human child who is rescued from sex slavery by an ancient vampire, Marius (he was namedropped in AMC ep 2).

Over the course of the book, he's physically, mentally, sexually abused by Marius, his teacher and father figure who is, like David, presented as a wise and moral authorit figure. In addition, Armand carries on a sexual relationship with an adult man as a minor. The sex is graphic (it's erotica) and it's really the peak of the pedophilia in VC. Keep in mind that this is coming from an author who publicly defended a child predator and thought that 14 year old kids could consent and should be allowed to have sex with adults.

Of all the later books, this one is the most widely enjoyed because Marius/Armand is a fairly popular ship.

CW: CSA/grooming; statutory rape; explicit adult/minor content; child abuse; cult abuse

Merrick: evil, evil book. AR's giant fuck you to Louis and anyone who likes his character. Lestat is in his devil coma for most of this book, so it's narrated by his newest fledgling and rape victim, David (who I and most others despise. This is the white guy who has an Indian body now). By this point, AR had openly admitted that she didn't like Louis, and she kind of spends this book tormenting and mocking him for no reason.

The titular Merrick (a mixed-race witch drowned in awful racial connotations) mind controls Louis with magic, then forces him to turn her (again, AR has confirmed that this is vampire rape) and be in a relationship. After this, she conjures a "ghost" that may or may not be Louis and Lestat’s dead daughter who tells Louis she always hated him and blamed him for her death. Completely overcome by grief, without Lestat (coma), and having been raped, Louis attempts suicide.

This event and all his mental health issues up to this point are framed by David as being stupid and weak, the sign of a lesser person who should just go and die because they deserve it. It is worth mentioning yet again that David is framed as being in the right and AR had expressed these opinions herself in the past (ie that mental illness is just weakness and you should be able to get over it).

Another fun thing is that Merrick was groomed by David as a child and he spends most of the book wanting her back and also admitting to other acts of pedophilia. So that's fun and great for a character who's supposed to be a voice of reason and moral center.

0/10, despise this book.

CW: sexual assault; grooming; attempted suicide

Blood & Gold: this is Marius' backstory. It is a completely pointless book because we've already heard it twice by this point in the series (and if you read the companion book Pandora, you'll hear it again). The whole thing reads like a Wikipedia page about ancient Rome. Read it if you want I guess.

CW: Marius

Blackwood Farm: this book had...potential? None of that was ever achieved, but I'll at least say that the concept could be worse. Lestat acquires his FIFTH brunette sadboi love interest of the series in this book, so that's kind of funny. Overall though, any positive qualities are overshadowed by weird prose, a really transphobic caricature, and the fact that the main character has shower sex with the ghost of his dead twin brother

CW: transphobia; sibling incest

Blood Canticle: Miss Rice decided to. Get creative with this book. It is a fandom joke. It is the worst prose in existence. It is a literary manic episode. It is truly indescribable. I'm just going to leave this excerpt from ch 1 here and let you imagine an entire book of this

Yes, chapter one is Anne Rice using Lestat as a proxy to berate her readers for not liking Memnoch the Devil. It's also important to me that you know Lestat calls himself "omnisensual" in this book, tries to become a saint, and tells a woman to put some clothes on because men can't control themselves. The word "chuckle" is also written out in the prose in italics like this is ff.net in 2010. The best thing that came of this book is the famous AR Amazon reviews rant (now a beloved VC fandom copypasta). Please read it. It's transcendent.

CW: psychologically devastating prose

Prince Lestat: this is AR's comeback book, published 12 years after Blood Canticle. It's an improvement, but it's still terrible and very, VERY dumb. Lestat has completed his transformation into a macho man male power fantasy for AR and we end with the establishment of a vampire monarchy with Lestat in charge because he slurped and then puked up the brains of the vampire who had the Special Vampire Essence.

Mostly this was an excuse for AR to kill off a bunch of her weird NPCs that she didn't know what to do with. The good news is we get a very cute, official Loustat love confession and for the first time since the first book in the entire series, we get a chapter that's Louis' POV!! It's like 7 pages long but it's the best we're ever going to get.

Other fun thing that happens: Lestat is hooked up to a hormone IV that allows him to fuck (book vampires can't) and the resident scientist vampire steals his cum and creates a petri dish clone of Lestat that is raised in secret for 18 years before being given to Lestat as his son. No, I'm not joking.

CW: uh, brain eating? Insanely unethical human experimentation?

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis: batshit crazy book. Truly bonkers. There are aliens, Atlantis is real, Lestat has a sentient brain parasite that controls all vampires and talks to him in his mind like the PS5, vampire brain surgery occurs, a choir of child vampires is there, an alien named Derek breastfeeds a disembodied hand until it grows into his clone named Derek Two, and so much more.

The one positive is that after decades of harassment, AR finally lets Louis be a main character again. By this point he has been completely stripped of his personality (I call it the Louis Lobotomy) and exists solely as Lestat's sexy lamp, but whatever. He's there and they're cute together. How they managed to become a healthy, functional couple overnight after two hundred years of drama is never explained.

Lestat makes out with his rapist and talks about how he was asking for it in a particularly nauseating scene, but otherwise it's pretty tame trigger-wise

CW: rape apologia/victim blaming

Blood Communion: we are finally being put out of our misery. The end of the series. This is such a boring book and Lestat’s characterization is completely nonsensical by now. Several main characters are presumed dead for a while and by this point you don't even care. Not even the other characters in the book seem to care. Its only use is to get that sweet sweet Loustat happy ending.

CW: temporary character death

-

Alright, that was a lot of shit-talking a book series I literally run a fandom blog and write hundreds of thousands of words of fic for, but the truth is, fans are here for the characters as they were originally created. The first three books are wonderful, the first two completely masterful and case studies in how character building should be done. There's a reason they've been read and analyzed and fawned over for forty years. What happened to the series is heartbreaking, but it doesn't negate the impact of how it started.

AR may have started spelling her own characters' names wrong and writing a baffling combination of disgusting hot takes and total absurdity, but she created something special in the beginning and I'll always love it and be grateful for what it once was.

I hope that was helpful!

[manyworldsofdarkness]

What is CURSEBORNE?

This might be of interest to any World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness fans or any fans of Onyx Path Publishing and White Wolf in general. We could be getting a new urban fantasy horror game series soon.

On April 10th, 2023 Onyx Path publishing’s blog brought up a hypothetical of making their own urban fantasy game series. Of course this was in response to their lack of any new WoD or CofD products as they do not own the rights to those IPs and must have approval by Paradox before working on anything. Currently Paradox is more focused on supporting their v5 products with their in house studio, Renegade Games and are no longer contracting other studios to right supplements for them for the foreseeable future. Because of this, the 20th Anniversary World of Darkness games and Chronicles of Darkness lines aren’t getting any new releases and what has already been announced and put into production are the only things to release in the near future. The only way for Onyx Path to make more urban fantasy horror games is to make their own and while they only mentioned this as a possibility, the comments section of this blog post exploded into discussions over this new potential game.

The next few blog posts afterwards continued the discussions asking people what they would like to see in a new potential horror game, such as a Masquerade system or signature characters as the comments sections only further spawned more discussion over this new world. Around this time too, Onyx Path announced their new unified version of their in-house system called Storypath Ultra, which should go without saying but will definitely be the system this potential game will be using. Then about a month later, on May 19th, on the official Onyx Path YouTube channel, this video was released https://youtu.be/fL1VPUzoB_Y?si=cR4ZPeb0wf9Kt6mM

A short seven second long animation of a murder of crows flying against a snowy tree line and the word “CURSEBORNE” forming as they all fly away. A short, mysterious teaser? Well for the next eight months Onyx Path would release a total of 30 videos of similar nature as of writing this post. Strange and short vignettes of classic horror tropes such as fog, spiders and recordings of monsters. Some would even be rereleased with minor differences and even text. I recommend watching some for yourself, there is a really eerie vibe to some. These capture more “modern” horror vibes when compared to WoD or CofD, some even feel inspired by analog horror or urban legends, the “Train” short particular reminds me of Japanese urban legends. Blog posts more or less stopped mentioning this potential game as time went on and mentions were then replaced with a strange picture of a moth, the same one at the top of this post.

On January 31st, 2024, 7:00 EST this website appeared https://www.curseborne.com/

CURSEBORNE, the title in all of those videos. The website has no text, just images of the same moth from the blog just posted all over a black background. Some will slowly fade in. Clicking on them will lead to a new page featuring one of the many teaser videos playing in your browser. Going back to the homepage, you’ll see a moth that appears to be glowing when compared to the others. Clicking it sends you to a Typeform quiz asking “Who are you?”. Answering it gives you a strange title such as “Raptor”, “Gaki”, “Archivist” etc. with a description of how you act. If I’d have to guess, these titles could be the names to new monsters or factions in CURSEBORNE. I’d like everyone who’s interested to please take this quiz and post your results on this post to see how many titles, or “paths” are found.

In short, it looks like Onyx Path is gearing up to make a new urban fantasy game using their own system. It’s not going to be World of Darkness with different names, but its own unique take on the concept.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

I request infection au stuff

People turn into literal analog horror creatures within a week. There is no known cure yet.

It affects all humans and monsters, including the skeletons.

Nowhere is safe. These things are everywhere. They are not sane and will actively hunt others.

Killing them is the only way to stop them. This is hard to do, as they regenerate unless their souls themselves are destroyed.

They can't go back home, there are too many infected there due to the boss monsters being the first ones that were infected.

The few of their friends they have found were already infected. All others are missing.

Their brother has gone missing. They have found confirmation that he is alive. They do not know if their brother has been infected yet.

Undertale Sans - He's not sure how he's still going. Maybe the hope to see his brother again. He built himself a little shelf in the mountains and he tries to use his sci-fi knowledge to survive, one day after the other. He knows he's hard to reach, so he's not too worried about the infected one, but at the same time, he's scared no one will find him and he will stay all alone his whole life. For now, he tries to stay positive, even though it's not easy.

Undertale Papyrus - He's on the road with Undyne and Alphys. They're good at protecting each other. Well, they were good until Alphys got infected, and it's clear she's doing worse and worse, but that's fine, they still have some time. Undyne is not ready to let go yet and Papyrus respects that as long as Undyne respects him not sleeping at night because he's scared Alphys might attack and infect Undyne and he just can't lose her. He doesn't know if he's selfish, but he's not sure what he would do all alone. At this point, he's pretty sure his brother didn't survive, so Undyne is the last one he can rely on to keep some hope. He's optimistic things will be better eventually. Or maybe he's lying to himself. Either way, he's not giving up now.

Underswap Sans - He used his leadership skills to build a small community of monsters and humans he's protecting. He's good at that, thanks to his experience as a police officer. He terribly misses his family and friends. Even though he made new friends along the way, it will never be the same. He tries not to think about his brother, it hurts too much. In an ideal world, he would be alive, but he knows Honey is not exactly a survivor. Just imagining him like those creatures is making him sick. He focuses on protecting his people, hoping they can maybe rebuild some kind of civilization eventually.

Underswap Papyrus - He never thought watching so many zombie films would save his life someday. Sure, he lost his brother, and everyone really, but he still has Asgore. They're living together in his house, which they upgraded as time passed to avoid horrible creatures to intrude. And so far it's working! They even grow some vegetables. He could never be thankful enough to find himself locked with someone who knows how to grow vegetables from literally scratch. They're keeping company with each other and trying to stay optimistic, even though some days are more difficult than others.

Underfell Sans - He's back to his old habits, trying to survive the best he can. He's glad he grew up weak in a shitty Underground. It's almost the same. Well, except he has to take care of Frisk and he never realized how hard it is to be a dad. The kid is scaring the hell out of him, randomly disappearing from time to time and he swears he can't continue like this. But at least he's not alone. He would do terribly on his own. Keeping Frisk alive is kinda the only thing that keeps him going. He promised Toriel he would watch over them, he's not giving her up. Plus it's fun to teach them new things!

Underfell Papyrus - He's living with Undyne in a small house they upgraded to resist the apocalypse. And Doomfanger. Living with Undyne is hard, not because of the apocalypse, but because they can't agree on anything and constantly bicker. They keep saying they will kill the other eventually, but the truth is that both of them are ready to die if it means the other will survive. They're not too worried though. Both of them are good fighters, and they want to survive until things get better. They know they can do it!

Horrortale Sans - He adopted a wolf-like style, living in the forest and hunting what he could find, animals or humans. He's fine on his own, back to a feral state, and it's best to not crossways with him. He's very dangerous. He stopped counting the scars, he's just survival instincts now. He'll be fine. He keeps searching for his brother.

Horrortale Papyrus - He's with Toriel and Grillby, on his farm. He refused to leave. The three of them already survived together, it's simply like the Underground, except there are more chances to find food. Since his farm is already producing vegetables and fruits, they're fine, and almost living normally, except they had to build barriers all around the farm to protect themselves. Willow still hopes Oak will come home someday, but he knows he's alive. The rare survivors that come and go all warned him about a weird monster roaming in the woods, hunting them. He knows it's Oak. He's not too worried. It's not the first time Oak ends in this state, but at least in this feral state, he's almost unbeatable. He's confident they will see each other again.

Swapfell Sans - He's terribly upset. Because the Queen forced him to follow her and separated him from his brother when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Then the Queen got infected and killed all of his soldiers, leaving him the only survivor and the one who has to deal with the consequences. Even if he's finally free, Nox can't celebrate. He's terrified his brother thought he gave up on him AGAIN and that he simply gave up somewhere, or got killed, or infected or... Nox is on his own on the road, desperately tracking his brother. He knows he's alive, or was alive a week ago. He just needs to find him. He refuses to give up.

Swapfell Papyrus - He's not doing well. He's not a survivor, he never was, and each day is a new hell. He's on the road, trying to flee the horrible creatures that are following him, and he can't rest anymore. He doesn't know where is his brother. He waited for him for as long as he could and just accepted he was probably dead, until a human told him they met a skeleton a few days ago. Rus still hopes his brother will find him before he gets infected. He's not sure how long he can still hold on. He's tired.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He has no limits since he lost his brother. He feels guilty he wasn't there when their camp got attacked and now his brother is probably dead. He's on a killing rampage. If someone ends on his way, they die. He doesn't trust anyone anymore and he's going to make the whole world pay for the loss of his brother. That is until he spotted some hints that Coffee might actually be alive, and focused only on this. He will find his brother.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He had to flee when some creatures ambushed him while he was waiting for his brother, and since then, his existence has been a nightmare. Coffee is starving, dehydrated and he didn't sleep for days. Maybe it's luck or destiny, but some random children saved him from agony. He's following them around now, hoping they can make it until Wine finds them. He knows Wine is coming. Wine can't die, he's the strongest monster he knows. He just has to be patient.

[jacobsbadwig]

I have this long standing analysis of YA media dropping the ball on themes and consequences for its main characters giving them huge plot armor. What I realize the frustrating part about them is that often they are fantasy or fantasy adjacent, the authors accidentally create these huge worlds and severe problems and implications, but ironically, their main characters are separate from the world they inhabit via tone or their characteristics or mindset not aligning with the world (aka 21 century American mindset in a fantasy that takes place in 18th Russian analog iykyk)

Like Bella’s story being a romance while everyone else in a horror or gothic novel or pseudo vampire thriller or fantasy series is like odd as @panlight often points out mentioning SMeyers unwillingness to really lean into the vampire of it all. Honestly in a non first person story, this could be played for laughs to even be interesting.

(Never mind Smeyers surface understanding of the novels and plays, that she references as Bella’s favorite stories. As a former English teacher, her understanding and Bella’s understanding is in fact of someone who read some classics in high school but didn’t necessarily delve into the commentary and themes of the works focusing on the aesthetics of the romance rather than understanding what said purpose romance actually serves in the narrative as a critic or other wise. Insert ‘Smeyer doesn’t know what star crossed lovers means and refuses to learn rant)

Ironically, Bella having a romance in her world is portrayed as the exception when we look at other characters, even the uncivilized vampires, she is in fact the norm.

What makes Bella special other than her shield she gets at the end? She isn’t even the only one with great control. There are other hybrids. She is special because the text tells us she is. I’m not going to compare her to other female protagonists because my point isn’t about Bella as a character but rather how her narrative allows her to be special without really, really setting her apart from everyone else.

Just about everything the narrative says is specific to Bella’s story can be found in other characters backstories (that honestly don’t matter but do matter as a comparison that Bella is the exception to the rule rather than the example as I stated above.)

I think a lot of people cling to the Twilight saga (and other YA novels) but simultaneously desire more from the narrative because we want to feel special without doing the work, which isn’t wrong especially at a young age when you are finding yourself, but once we reach a level of maturity, we want our gifts and specialness to allow us to love ourselves and move in society as it drives our lives.

It’s why we cling to characters like Carlisle who doesn’t have known powers and has had series of trauma and has to actively rise above it. Or Jacob who is beaten by the narrative and should have been a symbol of how fate is myth and bullshit and circumstances may forge your path but choices and perseverance can alter it or make the path better.

I wanted to discuss @fuckmeyer Come Nightfall along with other Twilight reimaginings and how I feel as though, hers is the best damn thing we have. But while trying to write out my thoughts and why I feel as though I could never accomplish something like that, I ended writing this post after many posts about Star Wars. Honestly, I am reminded about two ideas: we are protagonist in our own stories and we are also side characters in others. Meaning we are chosen ones chosen for something greater but that doesn’t mean no one else is a chosen one.

Maybe that’s why I have out grown YA novels. Adulthood is in fact learning that you are hot shit but not always hot shit but other people also make sure your shit stays hot and you also make sure theirs stays hot too.

At the end of this thought process, I am left asking what was Bella actually chosen for. To be born a vampire? A Cullen vampire? A vampire in general? Edward’s wife and Renegades mother? Did she actually take the Volturi down (no but I’m posing the question) Or did she deny the call to what her purpose was.

If the last thing is true, then someone must rise to take her place.

I think Come Nightfall and other ideas answer this question and make it clearer that Bella chose her path rather than it being forced upon in a way the OG Twilight didn’t convince me. At the same time, fics and musing that pose other answers are just as compelling.

As for me, I believe Bella Swan denied her call arguably the call was declined for her the moment Edward entered the picture or maybe when she went to the Volturi (the Volturi of it all is for a other post but they should have killed her or turned her like WTF? Dumb). But also Bella Cullen’s only purpose in the narrative was to be Edward’s wife and Renesemes’s mother regardless of her earlier apprehensions.

[proselfshipsafespace]

(I love how friendly and responsive you are to every ask, it makes this blog feel fun and interactive ^v^)

Anyways, I'm a soulbonder who both selfships with and is soulbonded to my fav characters from my fav shows and I love them all SO! MUCH! 💖 These characters are my partners, my family, my friends, and it's been amazing having all of them come into my life (I have ~25 now!). We play games together, we kiss and cuddle, they make sure I'm never alone, they take care of me, support me, I support them and help them through griefs they have leftover from their canon sources, and of course, we have kinky, sexy fun too 😉 I also love the rich worlds they live in and I love seeing what they're up to and how they interact with each other (polyselfshipping for the win, we are just a big love nest of interconnected relationships!) I would love to share the wonders of soulbonds/thoughtforms to the selfship community and have more of us be soulbonders so we can all smoochy smooch and be there for the autonomous/living character versions of our F/Os and have them hang out with us in our daily lives as much as we imagine scenarios of us and them together in various AUs. If any selfshippers are curious about soulbonding, what it is, how to do it, why would you/the benefits, etc. I would love to answer questions about it! (I also hope to very soon make a lot of thorough how-to and essay posts too) Also, it's possible many of us are already soulbonders (interacting with a character that has "come to life" in our minds) without even knowing it!

(thank you!! i really do try my best to give my responses or perspective or advice because ive seen other blogs in the past that use the same responses for things and i want to stray from that as much as i can and give my actual thoughts or responses so i appreciate it ^^)

soulbonding is interesting to me, and while i have tried to read about it, i got too busy or distracted so i just ended up squinting at my screen like an old person LOL but from my basic understanding of thoughtforms (NOT FROM ANALOG HORROR I PROMISE (LYING THROUGH MY TEETH)) and soulbonding, i feel like my adhd distracts me too much to be a soulbonder because i am WAY too focused on a million things that sometimes im just like "OH SHIT OH SHIT- oh hi blorbo :) i love that guy. OH SHIT OH SHIT-"

maybe if i make a thoughtform of my f/os theyll do my work for me /lhj

[deviiancetv]

The Misconception of Doja Cat (Controversy & Era Analysis)

Heyyoo, so this post is going to be a smaller version of a bigger analysis video I plan to make in the near future about Doja Cat’s Scarlet album. I’ll be sharing my thoughts when it comes to Doja Cat, her recent Scarlet era, the controversies that have followed, as well as how I think she could’ve been conceptualized this era.

There will be a video that comes along with this post some time in the future on my channel, so follow me on YouTube ≫ deViianceTV

In the meantime, let’s talk briefly about this Scarlet era. The themes, concept, and messaging + what I would’ve fixed if I was in the room with her

Scarlet is an album that thematically is about Doja creating this alter ego to be used as a way to lash out at her haters and people who wanted her to fit in a box that critics placed her in. A scarred starlet rebelling against the public eye and people’s perceptions of her.

The concept is a bloodied version of Doja’s alter ego, Scarlet, who symbolizes the bruised and broken version of her that is being reborn into someone confident, tapping into her inner creativity, esoteric intrigue, and embracing her natural beauty.

There are MANY things from this era that I would fix such as making this era a dynamic story of self-discovery through visual and sonic versatility. One example I would’ve loved is, if she had split this album into two separate pieces of art that bounce off one another in themes and symbolic representation. The first side of the album having dark horror Punk/Rave Rap elements, odes to video games and horror movies she likes. The other side having sultry R&B elements with a lighter tone of inner peace as she accepts her more melodic and jazz roots.

I don’t take Doja as much of a lyricist all the time. She has instances when she can be very witty with fun bars that have pop culture references, and double entendres, but she’s not overly lyrical in her songs. She should’ve taken more time on this project to better compile and write her songs with formatting structures and great analogies that have you think… instead, we essentially got her venting about how rich she is and how she was being attacked online. And then there’s the butter toast line which was just not good lol.

Honestly, another thing that ruined this era is the fact that there were too many controversies involving the time she dissed her fans, her romantic relationship with J Cyrus, and her self-identity issues that have plagued her career since she became mainstream. A lot of these things could’ve been handled better, had she not lashed out on social media, and showcased the cracks within her character. She is to blame for the many times she’s been canceled, by not growing and evolving or even holding herself accountable for her transgressions.

I may be overly critical of her, but that’s because I KNOW she can do so much better, than what she’s given us. I’m hopeful that the next era will be more developed, thought-out, and less drama-filled, focusing on just the music, with standalone videos. Doja IS meant a bonafide star, but Scarlet is a bloodstain on her discographic career… an aesthetically pleasing bloodstain, but still a bloodstain nonetheless.

[starfayy]

Writeblr Intro (cuz i forgot about this)

AYUP everyone my name's Fleur, i'm a 19 years old woman, im cishet and painfully neurodivergent (AuDHD and MADD). Im also brazilian and christian so there's that! (Trilingual beast coming at ya!)

I've been a writer since who knows when, started to write fanfiction in the worst fandom i could've started (...the beatles), went to an amazing fandom -that turned out to not be that amazing but my writing and storytelling evolved exponentially so im grateful- to now being more focused in original works

I'm currently writing a book with my friend (@serenity-of-waffles)*, and i might probably work in scripts for comics, animations and maybe games????? Let's see-

yeah im an artist too hehehe

Genres i enjoy reading/writing: Fantasy, Scifi, Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Horror, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Here comes the lists of things i like to see in a book and that i tend to write it in my own stuff:

FOUND FAMILY!

A good well written romance sometimes doesn't kill ^.^ (im a cliché beast, careful)

Tragic Backstory? Sign me in

NEURODIVERSITY

Supernatural ocurrences and creatures. Analog Horror, Psychological Horror as well

Super heroes? Yes

Mythological metaphores

I write for both Youth and Adult (im a sucker for children's books they can get so dark suddenly and is amazing)

Mystery elements yesyesyes a good suspense

Deep relationships

Consequences. I love consequences.

Historical plots and period inspired fiction

Super powers, creatures, magic, a whole well made worldbuilding (Tolkien wannabe)

SOOOO what am i looking for??

FRIENDS! People to rant about my silly stories and worlds!

More writers to follow and engage and and- ykwim

Current WIPS? hmmmmm

• Eden Fables: The Inkweaver's Diary - (*NOT WRITING ALONE) So this one i won't give much detail, just know that me and my friends we're going absolutely insane over this book and the entire possible series and is our child, you're not fucking ready. The best fantasy book i ever written in my life TRUST ME. Blame Tolkien and C.S Lewis for inspiring us so much- (sorry for the vague synopsis muahahahah) A story of a boy displaced in time and space as he finds his heart and returns to his throne, finding a family along the way while dealing with the craziest adventures.

• Boreal City (future comic :O) - A retrofuturistic cyberpunk super-hero universe about many different points ot view and adventures that are actually connected (like the Marvel Comics universe or DC comics). Its being one of my favorites so far im having so much fun doing it hehe

Its very inspired by many superhero and retro-cyberpunk media, i cant count here how many hehe Synopsis (for at least one of the stories): From a family of superheroes, turned into a villain by his own demise, and disappearing for 5 years, GlitchWave makes his stupendous comeback in an unexpected redemption arc, and it all starts when he meets his brother again.....

• Gritia's Great Mystery - An amazing story about a corrupt kingdom trying to hide all evidence that god exists, aside from other...cruel crimes against certain groups of people. The aesthetic is a mix of enlightnment era, renassaice and victorian age, all together mixed with elements of thriller, romance, mystery and BIG drama. Maybe one of my most serious stories, since i wont hold back in the critics n shit

The Crown Family of Gritia, for centuries, tries to make the existence of the Mighty King, aka god, a tabboo, or even erase him from all existence, alongside his followers. Anything that goes astray the status quo is suscetible of punishment (or worse....)

That makes Spencer's life a bit complicated, even if he doesnt know abt the Mighty King's existence, he's part of a secret society...lets see where this goes right?

OOF DAMMT I SPOKE A LOT HUH SORRY IM A TALKER! Hope to find more writer friends along the way ^.^

[steampunkforever]

In the video game world there's an argument that looks at Indie productions that push the limits of the medium through text based or walking sim mechanics and goes something like "this isn't a game this is a book" or "this is more of a theme park ride than an actual game" while still acknowledging the ambition/quality of said production. Obviously there will be people on one side or the other, but I like the fact that there can exist a solid consensus that says "this really isn't a good game if you're setting out to play one, but has merit outside this that should be acknowledged anyway. Applying this idea to film, we get Skinamarink.

Analog horror itself is an oddity. It's a horror genre stemming from millennial and gen z nostalgia for when things used to be shot on VHS mixed with a culture of SCP adjacent horror games, reddit creepypasta threads, slenderman youtube videos, and the early 2000s found footage boom. Though I think it's definitely an interesting offshoot of horror and currently underground enough to feel fresh, Analog horror largely lacks the tenets of a good scare, and the fact that most of it stems from the youtube content mill doesn't help the genre's quality either. That said, there is potential for some good horror cinema there. It just isn't Skinamarink.

Which isn't to say Skinamarink isn't a good film, it's just not a *good film*. I think it's very artistic in its experimentation and deserves its flowers, but it struck me more as a horror audioplay with supplemental imagery than a film. Read: most of this film is shots of odd angles of the directors childhood home with occasional shots of people legs or the back of peoples heads. You get a grainy jumpscare every now and then too, but the entirety of the film happens offscreen, and what partial shots we get are obscured by the dark and overly grainy film overlays to the point of being unintelligible in ways that cant more toward eyestrain than lovecraftian fear of the unknown.

This sounds like I'm hating on Skinamarink, but I'm really not. This is a no budget experimental horror feature and I respect it for that. But experiments sometimes fail, and I think it's important to note that. Just like how the Exorcist is two hours of nothing followed by the best 30 minute short film you've ever seen in your life, Skinamarink really only started working for me at about 3/4th through the film. Some of this is due to the experimental nature of the film, but I've seen my share of experimental films that are more cohesive and artful about it too.

Part of this comes from the movie's insistence on telling a cohesive story rather than leaning into the abstract, leaving you attempting to make sense of things in less of a "fun puzzle" way and more of a "lost an allenhead screw integral to the construction of this ikea couch" way (I eventually broke down and pulled up the wikipedia page for a plot summary just to figure out what was happening offscreen). Which is to say this film lives in the limbo between the conventional and the ambiguous, too focused on a tangible story to fully dive into the fully experimental vibe and leave the concrete behind.

Skinamarink is a film you may like if you appreciate those movies that are just one-takes of a guy taking phone calls in his car inasmuch as neither sort of film really uses the medium to its greatest extent, but are interesting for how they play with the restrictions, even if the execution doesn't 100% land.

While Skinamarink isn't necessarily scary (though unsettling in some sections) many conventional horror films aren't either, and those don't even try anything different. That said, this film still isn't a modern Blair Witch by any means.

[trickstarbrave]

actually setting aside the controversy for urbanspook/the painter. i saw some people trying to defend the story's goals as "he's inspired by slasher flicks, and slashers are horror. why does every analog horror series HAVE to be psychological? we just arbitrarily decided that"

and i dont think that's fair. we didnt arbitrarily decide all analog horror has to be psychological. there are other genres in analog horror--it can be social commentary, focused on disease, focused on technology. there are mysteries in some, some also function as ARGs, and some where there simply isnt anything to focus on. some are more psychological and narrative focused and some have pretty gratuitous violence or showcase some absolutely stunning technical skill be it in art, programming, or film making.

but the reason there is no slasher genre is because analog horror is a long form story telling medium. it is primarily shown in analog style visuals in piecemeal 'episodes' on youtube. slasher flicks are a valid horror medium and they have their strengths and weaknesses, but i don't think any slasher fan has ever gone "man i wish this movie was actually in 15 parts online". im not the biggest slasher film fan, but the biggest things i seen when people who ARE talk about it is the sense of build up and release--a catharsis. it is much harder to do that in a long form video series without appealing to speculation. its hard to just say "wow someone got brutally murdered in this graphic description and heres the portrait the killer made of their victim based on how they died! wish we could catch the killer" for 15 videos.

like maybe if you were very skilled you could make a slasher style analog horror. the painter definitely isnt that despite the inspiration. shock value is just ONE part of slashers and still needs to be utilized appropriately. showing people disturbing things because said disturbing things Exist is not the only thing that makes up slasher films and is stupid to try and reduce it to that. he didn't utilize the shock horror well. he isn't taking into account how good slasher films are made and what their strengths and weaknesses are compared to the strengths and weaknesses of long form storytelling like analog horror. instead it feels like he just used analog horror because analog horror was popular, which isn't a good reason to pick a particular genre or medium.

[nice-to-meet-you-im-a-crytid]

How To Be a Magical Girl (Introduction)

This is an introduction to my original story as the title states. This will not be a comprehensive lore dump just a ramble of what the story is like and the many (many inspirations behind it

Disclaimers: This is a story in EXTREMELY EARLY production, This is mostly for fun and for me as a writer to both build a fanbase around my work and get used to jotting down ideas.

Inspirations: I'm staring with my inspirations for the story since they heavily explain where I was heading for pretty much the rest of the story.

First really big one is the anime Madoka Magica, so there's a lot of cutesy-ness mixed with body horror and some darker themes too in my writing. This also effects my art style quite a bit if you've seen any of my work on my tumblr page. Of course there's the magical girl aspect and an obvious school setting. Speaking of school settings my other inspiration would have to be My Hero Academia. I'm mostly referring to the slice of life/school aspects and the earlier class focused episodes. I think the world building in My Hero is really cool and I think it shows quite a bit in my own world. Also the technical aspects of becoming a hero in the earlier episodes have given me a good idea of how I'd like my own story's made up profession to work on it's own technical scale.

Setting/Plot:

How To Be a Magical Girl is a novel in the works centered around the coming of age stories of a large cast of girls (15-16 yr olds) who go to a magical school and as the title states learn how to be a magical girl both as a job and as people. One really big theme is light academia which includes love of learning, friendship, and overall loving life. Another is also perspective as many of the mini stories are written is different POVs and hopefully if I can get a book or two into the world each one would also be in a different POV. This does lead to a large cast of characters all of which have different backgrounds, cultures, and unique dynamics with each other along with different places in each others stories. This is also one big coming of age story which is very dear to me as I, myself am coming of age as a young author, so this story is a huge reflection on my own experiences. The biggest most prevalent theme besides light academia is trauma and more importantly healing! The main monsters that these magical girls fight in fact come from trauma and each of the girls have their own troubles to work through along the course of the story. The literal setting of the book is of course the school: St. Amia's International School for girls! Pretty much think Hogwarts but made of quartz. Legit though lots inspiration came from European design and architecture (Scottish castles, French Chateaus, etc.) in alignment with the book's theme. Here is link to the Pinterest mood board Worldbuilding: Obviously there is magic in this world. It takes place a couple hundred years into the future, magic is very well integrated into the modern world, i.e it's used as an energy source, magical creatures are common place across the world, it's even a normal and often required course in schools. Magic itself is a learned skill that all people can have the ability to advance in and excel at. My best analogy for it is it's like sports, if you run everyday you gradually get better and you could even make it a profession with enough training. And also like sports there are certain skills and abilities that are better for each one, flexibility and strength are both good for all sports but would be best used and trained in particular ones. This also translates over to types of magic and skills. (These are not the best comprehensive notes of my story's world so I might make an in depth post for the whole thing, tell me in the comments if this gets enough attraction!)

If this post somehow reaches you and maybe you even like it give it a reblog so others can have the chance to find it too in mess of an algorithm. And maybe even leave a comment if you'd like to see more from me!

☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

[thesunshineriptide]

OMG I love love love yr fics!!!!! Could i request smthn for Vil, Idia, Malleus, and Lilia with an autistic s/o with a horror movie special interest?? I played through some of the Halloween event and Idia was soooooo based and real talking ab his fav horror franchise.

Horror really isn’t my thing which is why this took so long, HOWEVER it is my friends thing so I put in effort. I focused on specific things for each character because…I know like 4 things

Scary Movie

Characters: Malleus, Lilia, Idia, Vil

CW// horror, horror elements, mentions of Dissociative Identity Disorder in relation to horror (to critique Split), discussion of gore and blood, spoilers for certain movies including US, Jennifer’s Body, and I Am Sophie, mentions of analog horror and horror games, overall creepy horror stuff

Malleus

* Malleus is content to listen to you ramble about horror films from Nosferatu to The Conjuring, but he finds it particularly adorable when you try and explain the Halloween franchise to him

* “Okay, so, it’s really complicated but basically there’s like five movies in between the first Halloween and the new Halloween, and half of them get discounted by the new Halloween because that it splits into a new timeline, and also the Rob Zombie Halloween movies are hilariously bad because he remade the first one and then made a sequel to his remake that is NOT a remake of the second Halloween film[…]”

* He doesn’t watch movies. The last movie he watched was a silent film many, many moons ago. He has no idea what you’re talking about, but it’s fine because you seem so enthused by it

* When you invite him to watch Horror films, he’s not sure what to expect, but…it wasn’t this

* Perhaps he had anticipated something more Hitchcockian, maybe more jump scares and less gore, but maybe….maybe SAW wasn’t the right one to start him with.

* He’s a bit apprehensive when you say you wanna show him a different film, but he’s actually quite delighted to watch the Shining instead. He read this one when it first came out! He is quick to point out the discrepancies between film and novel, though, but hey, it’s a talking point!

* He ends up asking Lilia for recommendations, then comes back to you asking if those are good recommendations because Lilia can be kinda cruel sometimes.

* He doesn’t enjoy silence of the lambs. He also really, really doesn’t like SAW or other gore based films, and much prefers psychological horror because he likes to figure out what’s really going on.

* Actually introduced YOU to a few films, namely The Cabinet of Dr Calagari, the 1923 Hunchback of Norte Dame, and Gaslight. He likes to tell stories about everyone’s reactions to the films at the time, and how cutting edge they were.

Lilia

* Lilia is 100% a horror lover. Doesn’t like psychological horror as much as thriller horror, or comedy horror. Also not a big fan of gore.

* When you bring up your opinions on “US” he gladly joins the discussion

* “The twist at the end was honestly kind of a mind fuck for me. Like it was laid out clearly and makes sense and I kinda guessed it, but the concept of being so easily swapped out nobody noticed because, honestly, we’re the same as our own demons? It’s so interesting. Not to mention the acting was on spot, Lupita Nyong'o was so good in it, she did a great job. Acting double is so insanely difficult and making sure they’re so distinct? Wild.”

* Like Malleus, Lilia is happy to indulge this. He’s content to listen to you talk about how the fake blood is made (and how much fake blood is used) and whether or not a death was realistic or not.

* You two watch the lovely B film of The Banana Splits, and despite it being a bit more gore-y, there’s no way to take is seriously. You both laugh at someone dying via Lolipop

* He’s a gamer too, so he sees exactly what this is in a second. Five Nights at Freddie’s rip-off? Oh, because of behind the scenes drama? My, my, do tell the tea.

* Movie buddy. Will go to the theater with you (and pay!) and watch literally any horror film. Most of the time the movies aren’t nearly as bad as the things he’s seen in his long life, plus it adds to his aesthetic

* He loves Halloween. The holiday, though he likes the film too, and he’s ESPECIALLY excited to go to a haunted house or a horror con with you because he FINALLY gets to be scary!! That’s his favorite!!

* Like Malleus he might share some horror stuff with you, but instead of it being movies, it’s centuries old manuscripts to unfinished, unpublished, or lost horror stories that he’s storing under his bed in plastic bags. And Jesus god is there some horrifying shit…huh, it seems like the villain is all described pretty similarly….wonder what that’s about…

Idia

* Horror movies are one thing, but some of the best horror nowadays is coming straight out of online content creators. You know this, and Idia also knows this. Idia runs his own horror ARG, so he’s familiar with a lot of stuff.

* The magnus archives, Walton Files, backrooms, the Mandela catalogue, hi I’m mary Mary, don’t hug me I’m scared… He’s seen it all

* What he doesn’t expect is for someone else to know about these too. But when he sees your comment on an analysis of “I Am Sophie” he’s instantly committing a few…unethical things to figure out your watch history.

* He sees letplays for various horror games, reviews and analysis videos for various ARGs and Analog Horror series, and even a few watches of his own mysterious series

* Next time he sees you, or hears you’re nearby, he is RUNNING up to you to talk about all of this, and boy is he excited.

* “It’s so trippy that Sophie got replaced by that other girl. And the game reveal? So fucking weird! Hey- wait, Prefect, do you think you’d wanna come…u-uh…do you wanna come play Doki Doki Literature Club with me? I-I think you’re kinda…um…I think you’re SSR tier cool. We should level up our buddy power bonus…”

* Congrats, you summoned the gamer! He badly wants to hang out with someone 5 star tier and you managed to catch his attention

* Now you randomly send each other updates, theory videos, and new releases for games. He even lets you help him out on his little project, since you seem to have great ideas, and sometimes you play horror competitively, timing how long the other can last in Little Nightmares.

Vil

* A film intellectual, Vil knows everything about everything. He’s seen every pretentious film major movie - Clockwork Orange, Eraserhead, We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Mother!, blah blah blah

* But yknow what he hasn’t seen? Classic horror films from the mid 2000s. Yknow, the ones, the usually slightly problematic movies with terrible cgi but a whole lot of heart, sometimes ahead of their time, and generally kinda emo and homoerotic?

* Like, for instance, cult classic film Jennifer’s Body.

* “I think there’s a lot to unpack with it. Cause on one hand, I love the revenge of the girl who…well, she had bad shit happen to her, and she’s getting back as a whole because of this whole bullshit concept of virginity causing her to become a concubus. And then there’s the side of, like, maybe don’t villainize her for getting revenge? Because Jennifer isn’t good either, she’s straight up abusive to Needy, so it’s like. Hmm. It’s a lot to think about I guess. I love the girl bossing and the gay but hhhhh maybe not so much how complicated it to think about. But art is supposed to make you feel that! So I think it achieved a goal.”

* Vil loved hearing analyses of movies, and is content to let you talk about whatever movie caught your attention. He usually has a hot take as well - “Jennifer being a complicated character furthers Needy, who’s the real main character, in her own journey and shows how clearly the cycle of abuse can effect someone[…]”

* Vil wants to show you his pretentious movies. He really wants to know what you think of them, as someone of a target audience for his own films, which leads to critiques about acting rather than set design or story structure.

* “Split sucked from…so many angles. Especially the villianizing of mental illness and he misrepresentation of it n stuff, but, yeah, James McAvoy did a great job I guess. Please don’t do a film like this though, at the very least without talking to a system about how to best represent them…”

[macksmediadiary]

Chuck Tingle - Camp Damascus 6/6

#book #horror #queer fiction #autistic fiction

I sit in my bed finishing this book. My boyfriend is right beside me masturbating. I can't imagine a more "us" scene.

We are an autistic gay couple. I am questioning-gray-ace, and he is as far from the ace spectrum as one gets. There is a lot of danger in this scene; just as his christian upbringing has tied his natural urges to shame, so too is shame tied to my moments of not getting into the mood when my partners do. But we are navigating it well, in our practiced way. When he finishes, I lean over, contented, and kiss his forehead. He smiles up at me, eyes clear and sparkling. We our being ourselves with each other to the fullest, and receiving nothing but love and acceptance back.

My first thought is of Willow holding Rose's hand, tapping out her counts with her. It's almost too perfect an analogy; I can't believe I'm not making this up. Autistic gay love has the power to take physiological facts about us that others' misguided love and imperfect expressions of other emotions have tethered to deep feelings of shame and guilt, and recontextualize them as normal, acceptable, and good. In my relationships, in my wider community, I am accepted, I can take off the mask, I can explore who I really am at the core.

Camp Damascus is a very well-crafted journey through a few connected concepts. Chuck Tingle is not playing coy with any of them. From the language he uses on his blog, I had started to guess that the villains of the story would be demon worshipers, or perhaps devils themselves, wearing the coat of the righteous; a warning that those who claim to be on God's side may be against Him. One of the ways the book surprised me was what it says instead of this. The people who will use demonic methods to achieve their ends believe they are on the side of the righteous, and this makes them all the more dangerous. For the most part, though, the book wears its symbolism on its sleeve, and is not afraid of being very explicit with its messaging. Kingdom of the Pine is not special in its thinking, only its practices.

The craft of this book was also at the level I needed to learn about writing from it. The way it jumps between scenes and expresses the passage of time is very natural, and very focused. I struggle a lot with plotting out my books, worrying a lot about structure and how to get characters from one place to another. My TTRPG background has me focus a lot on journeys, but I can struggle to allow myself to focus in on what matters. Camp Damascus gives you all the logistics that matter, like how Rose achieves her most important successes, and the plot-relevant mechanics of the universe and specific machines. It is also a lesson in having the perfect protagonist for your story. It is very natural that Rose succeeds because of the things that are most core to her, because those things are what the story demands of her, and at the same time the story works around the journey she needs to have as a character. The way these elements work together is something I will consider in my own writing. There are smaller things, too, in the writing that I am thinking about but would take too long to explain

A lot of thematic content in the book is not new to me, and a lot of the religious trauma content does not really connect to my life. However, some of the ideas are making a big impact. In particular, the expression of what love can do and what it is worth is impacting how I think about love in my own life. This book makes me appreciate the love I have with my boyfriend in a slightly new way. It also reminds me that I have a large accepting family that enhances my life in many ways. I will never again be at risk of ending up in a place like Rose at the start of the book. Just as surely as she is free from her nightmare at the end, I know my community has me for life.

At the same time, this is certainly a horror novel. There are scenes in this book so grotesque that they will have me shuddering for weeks. I don't have much to say on the topic, but could not leave out that the fear and discomfort are very real in this book. At the very same time, there's something else that this book very much makes me feel:

Love is real.

[clickbliss]

Trepang 2 is FEAR for the creepypasta generation

by Amr (@siegarettes)

Trepang2

Developers - Trepang Studios

Publisher - Team 17

PC, PS5, Xbox

When Monolith’s FEAR hit the scene in 2005, it astounded with its sharp AI opponents, technical achievements and blend of slow motion gunplay and J-Horror atmosphere. Even now there’s a particular appeal to that first game, with the two sequels tossing away its unique atmosphere and gunplay for something more conventional. And with Monolith stuck working on whatever license Warner Bros. assigns them, it seemed that nothing would even attempt to achieve the same alchemy that defined the first FEAR entry.

That is, until Trepang 2. Trepang immediately makes it clear where its influences lie. From the way bullets tear through scenery, to the oversharpened look of the slow motion, the enemies’ ragdoll reactions to melee attacks, and the way shotguns instantly pulp bodies, Trepang’s entire aesthetic is directly pulled from the first FEAR game. Even mechanical choices, like the lack of aiming down the sights and the particular feedback of the guns, reflect the very specific gunplay dynamics of the original game and the era it was made in. Some modern conveniences keep Trepang from becoming a complete throwback, but its modern influences are most felt in the works of horror it draws from. 

Where FEAR drew on the J-Horror wave sparked by movies like RING and Ju-On, Trepang is rooted firmly in the halls of internet horror. Cryptids and creepypasta lurk in the world of Trepang, and find yourself unlucky enough and you may even take a trip to the Backrooms. By far the strongest influence here is the SCP Foundation’s wiki based meta fiction, which chronicles attempts by a shadowy foundation to contain and document various anomalies causing a wide range of bizarre effects. Different documents across the world reflect the typical format various authors use across the SCP wiki, going as far as using the term “anomaly” in a directly analogous way, with the Syndicate your character works for having similar stated goals and a formidable paramilitary force.

SCP entries and creepypasta are known for being deeply variable in their quality thanks to the open format, and this is something that Trepang unfortunately inherits. The wide well of influences it draws on ends with a scattershot atmosphere. It opens with you fighting cryptids and bioweapons, before focusing in on the wider corporate conspiracy, leaving only side missions to explore the horror side. Even then it’s sporadic, with some missions being little more than combat arenas, and some laying on everything from cheap jumpscares and bad stealth, to genuinely unnerving and atmospheric moments. 

It’s in the commitment to the alchemy of horror and action that Trepang 2 most disappoints. It simply can’t make up its mind on what it’s trying to achieve, and shoots in too many directions to make an impact. Given more breathing room, it might have had time to explore all of these, but its main campaign is comprised of only a few missions, over in a compact few hours, with many threads left underexplored. Side missions and combat simulator leave plenty of action to return to, but the story leaves a hurried impression, especially with its last hour revelations and sudden conclusion. It’s a world that’s sketched out more than suggested, and even with all the supplementary material you never get a real sense of the how or why. And not in the classic horror ambiguity way. 

Thankfully, a lot of Trepang 2’s narrative failings are easy to forget when engaged in its sharp combat. Trepang keeps surprisingly faithful to the original FEAR and its era specific quirks, meaning there’s no aiming down the sights to slow down the action, with only scoped weapons allowing you to zoom in. Combined with the gunfire, smoke and debris tearing up the battlefield, every engagement is chaotic and blisteringly fast. The stimulation is borderline excessive, made manageable by the ability to slip into slow motion to track enemy positions and line up precision shots. Quick melee attacks supplement the gunplay, with the most crucial move being the slide, which acts as both a method to escape and knock down enemies for a quick execution.

The stealth mechanics are underbaked, but mostly serve as a way to silently take down a few enemies for an advantage before a fight, or escape under fire. My favorite addition has to be the ability to take unaware or stunned enemies hostage, using them as a shield, instantly killing them, or tossing them into a crowd while pulling the pin on their explosives, turning them into a free grenade. 

Combined, the moveset allows an explosive hit and run play style, weaving in and out of gunfire, then sneaking out with your cloak to appear at your next victim’s flank. Damage is high enough that even at full health and armor it only takes a few seconds under fire to get yourself killed, so even with this massive advantage you’ll need to make smart tactical decisions to survive. 

With a massive suite of arena missions and a recently added survival mode that strings multiple arenas together, there’s a huge amount of challenges to keep digging into in the post-game. I’d definitely like to see more full sized, directed level designs, since that’s where the combat shines best, but what’s here provides plenty until the inevitable future DLC. 

Trepang 2 isn’t quite the FEAR successor that I envisioned, never hitting the same highs of combat or atmosphere as the original game, but even Monolith couldn’t pull it off twice. Instead Trepang 2 forges its own identity, taking those ideas that inspired it, and bringing them forward for a new generation to enjoy.