#and things that lurk in the dark

[lighthouseas]

will holding mike's face when they kiss and mike holding will's neck when they kiss. that is all

[theinsomniacindian]

In theory, I'm dark academia. In practice, I'm chaotic academia

[2hoothoots]

Revisiting P2 since the docu epilogue dropped and your AMV (<3) popped up as a sign for me to ask something that hopefully you haven't already spoken about years ago: What did you think of the in-game psych explanation for Maligula, that she's the primitive savage part of the mind? P2 is a weird mix of sketchy Freud/Jung concepts that Tim likes meshed with modern psych, and Maligula's deal seems like something they probably wrote a lot of different versions of but never quite solved elegantly

yeah, i think you totally hit the nail on the head - it's always felt like one of the parts of the story that they couldn't quite give enough polish to before they had to finalize it and move on with development. like - i went to go get my artbook to see if it had any insight into the writing process, and did you know that Nona and Maligula being the same person was apparently added way later in development? that's wild! i didn't know that until literally right now! i may or may not have skipped straight to my favourite characters when my artbook arrived and then put it on my shelf without reading the whole thing

ANYWAY, retrospectively i think it being a twist that was added later actually makes a lot of sense in the context of everything you mentioned. the Maligula problem, to me, is the fact that they're trying to juggle a bunch of different things that she has to be in the story. there's Maligula, the ruthless big bad, and Nona, the beloved grandma, and if you suddenly have to also make them both the same person... well, it ends up being kind of a thorny writing problem to make that work, haha.

here's some art i made so this isn't just a wall of text, rest of the answer under the cut

i think one thing they could have done when they needed to rehabilitate a mass-murderer into a lovable old lady was pull back on either end of the spectrum. make your villain softer and more sympathetic, or give grandma a mean streak like she's one bad day away from a tragedy at the crochet club. and to give the story credit, i'm really glad they didn't. Nona is relentlessly sweet and endearing - and that's great! she needs to be in order to make the audience care about her, otherwise the emotional beats are never going to land. likewise, Maligula is a great villain, she's vicious and ruthless and at the culmination of her arc we see she simply does not give a shit about murdering hundreds of people. i love that for her, honestly, you go girl

but then, like - how do you connect the dots? how do you frame grandma having a violently murderous streak in a way that doesn't make the ending of "but she's over it now" feel kinda weird and hollow? and how do you do that while also being sympathetic to the game's themes around mental health? Maligula's informed by the traumatic things that happened to Lucrecia during the war, but she can't just be a manifestation of trauma, because the moral of the story being that trauma makes you a mass-murderer (until you beat up your trauma and shove it in a giant pit) would feel... really tonally dissonant!

so i think you're totally right that the sprinkling of pop-psych concepts we get ends up feeling a little bit like an awkward band-aid. Maligula's story is about how the horrors of war can shape you into a terrible person, who does terrible things - ...but there's also, like, special circumstances, so it doesn't feel weird that she goes back to being Raz's sweet grandma afterwards. special psychic circumstances! she's not just any war criminal, she's the fight or flight response gone out of control!

which - i dunno, i think that line in particular always stood out to me, because that's not really what the fight or flight (or freeze or fawn) response is, right? it's a temporary boost of adrenaline to the system to rev you up for getting out of a dangerous situation. an overactive fight or flight response is called chronic stress and anxiety. i know the games are pop-psych and not actual science, but it always stood out to me as a little awkward.

if it were me in the writer's seat - with the benefit of all the time in the world to workshop it, and no looming deadlines, and the hindsight of having a full completed game in front of me to think about - i might have tried to frame it around connection. i think you could swing the lens to instead focus on how violence, stress, trauma etc., make it harder to understand and empathise with the people around you. the tragedy of Lucrecia's story is that she came home to try and help her countrymen, the people she cared so dearly about. but the more time passed, the less she cared, the less she was able to see them as people. after Marona's death, the Maligula that remains is one who's unable to even care about killing her own sister. the alternative is too raw, too painful - instead, she sheds her last vestiges of remorse, and throws herself into the easy relief of violence. (we see this again, when Nona "awakens" as Maligula - when confronted with the baggage of her past, she chooses to wash it all away with force, unable and unwilling to care about the people she used to call friends.)

and i think shifting the focus like that ties it in thematically, too. a big theme (of both games, but especially the sequel) is how important connection is, how being able to understand and reach out to and rely on other people is a lifeline during hard times. PN2 touches on how there aren't really "good people" and "bad people" - everyone has the capacity to do wonderful or terrible things, and i think Raz's line to Maligula about how "everybody's got something like you" works. Lucrecia was never a monster, no matter how everyone tried to pretend she was. she was just a person, the same as everyone else - and just like everyone else, she could be pushed to extremes under the right circumstances. it just feels kind of odd when the implicit context is "everybody's got a mass-murderer hidden in the primal recesses of their brain", hahaha.

but like, again, that's the privilege of hindsight, right? i've definitely also been on the other side of the creative process, stuck with something i suddenly need to make work in a story and having to come up with a solution that feels like a band-aid. sometimes you just gotta call it good enough, and move on. and i think the game is overall much stronger for having Nona and Maligula be the same person - it plays into the wider themes, it sets up some great emotional beats, and i think it's overall well-executed, even if there are one or two hiccups in the writing.

anyway, great ask! thank you for the invitation to ramble, this is something that stuck out to me on my first playthrough of the game and it was fun to sit down and get my thoughts in order

[cerame]

Any idea when the next “A Guide To Endings” update will be? No pressure and no rush; I just want to know when to sort of expect it :>

(Also if you don’t think you’re gonna keep updating it that’s cool too! I loved “A Guide To Living (Again)” so much and I’m so happy we get to see any epilogues at all.)

😰 oh god I totally forgot about that.

Uhhhhh honestly I can’t promise I’ll put anything out there. I really do want to, but my brain dies every time I do much as think about opening that document. Tbh I think once I got the “important” ones (being Abyss and Dark) published, my drive to write for it checked out entirely.

I do have plans for the others, though. I’ll put them below for those who do want to know.

Ok so. As with the other epilogues, obviously, death warning. This entire thing is about dying, albeit usually dying happily…….. I am carefully not looking at Time and Dark as I say that.

Midnight: You were raised by wolves and voices

Midnight goes on a roadtrip with Twilight, bonding and bickering in equal measure, with Midnight bitching the whole time about it even though he’s the one who wanted this roadtrip in the first time place.

They get to the arbiter’s grounds, at which point, they have a nasty argument over Midna. Midnight remembers Midna vividly, and he disagrees with her actions and thinks of her as a hypocrite and a liar. Twilight, naturally, does not like this.

Midnight storms off and wanders on his own for a while. He meets the Hero’s Shade in the woods and learns of Dark’s fate and realizes that, despite the whole thing about lone wolves, the idea of being alone is terrifying. So he goes back and finds where his light has gotten to.

Twilight has refounded the ranch in Hyrule Field, and he accepts Midnight back into his life, and Midnight shows vulnerability in return.

Legends say that even long after Twilight passed, a wolf might be spotted roaming the fields, both as a terrifying specter and a guardian of travelers and children.

Secret: What you see is not the dark, it’s the just gods upturning inkpots

Secret moves in with Legend and Ravio and falls into a rhythm with them. They end up doing TFH together, and it’s a chaotic mess. This is a good chunk of the chapter

Something occurs to Secret in a dream, and he brings it up to Legend. They follow the dream memory and go to the Palace of the Four Sword. Cue a repeat of my other fic Fuck It, Refounds Your Family but with both Four and Shadow being recovered

They got stuck in there by accident. I would have come up with a much more reasonable series of events leading up to it if I actually wrote it

Secret realizes this era is home :)

Shadow goes with Four when he passes, but Secret decides to stick around a bit longer after Legend and Ravio pass. From the shadows, he watches the collapse of Hyrule. He narrowly escapes the wrath of Aurora’s brother, and as time passes, he realizes that sometimes, disguising himself as a monster makes things easier. And then, one day, a kid stumbles into his cave and startles him. Surprise, he’s Secret The Moblin, and that kid is Hyrule

He decides to wait to see Gloam again

Gloam: the dark things that wait

Hyrule and Gloam get along surprisingly well. Hyrule usually prefers to adventure alone, but he got used to company during LU, and Gloam is pretty quiet anyway, so they vibe. Hyrule explains everything to his Zeldas.

They leave the castle sometimes to help the people of Hyrule, meaning that Hyrule helps while Gloam hovers behind him. At some point, Secret shows up and accidentally jumpscares them, but he then joins the party. He has been touchstarved for a while

Secret’s personality is quite different by now, much closer to Legend and Ravio, and his “I want to let you learn it for yourself” attitude about the world adding to the dynamic makes the traveling funny at times

Interlude: I’ll stand here with you

Least developed chapter, thrown into my notes after the original note draft

Basically, it happens during the timeline merge. Secret got a princess to unweave him at some point, peaceful and content with his life. Gloam has been left behind then, and with the triforce sealed away again after so long, he no longer really has a job to fulfill. He wastes his time watching nature now, and one night as he’s stargazing, a certain mask salesman stops by and has an unnerving conversation before handing off a mask that Gloam finds too familiar

Abyss manages to speak with Gloam from inside the mask. They both really miss everyone. They get to confide that they had fun while it lasted, that they learned to love, and now, it’s just them. If any of the others are still around, they wouldn’t know.

They come to an agreement. They talk through the night, and when dawn comes, as the sun rises, all soft and sweet, Gloam destroys the mask, and the power backlash annihilates them both.

Civil: Tomorrow I’ll be brave

So, Civil learns that Wild is a fucking liar and won’t kill him yet. And no, Flora is still faultless in his eyes, so it’s definitely Wild’s fault.

They deny him immediate unweaving because they want to give him a last meal and take him wherever he wants to go. They’ve got a couple weeks until the next full moon anyway, so they’ve got time to spare.

They end up going on a little trip to find somewhere pretty to die.

It’s awfully sweet, and if Civil were an emotional person, he might have cried. He takes their kindness to heart, and one sunset, when he is content, Flora unweaves him. It is a gentle, painless death, and it would be the only unweaving I’d write in detail.

At some point, I wanted Civil to tell Flora “I love you. I do not know the nature of this love, but I know it is written into my very being. All I have ever been has been for you. I failed you, and for that, I’m sorry.” It’s the most she will ever hear from the hylian champion of the past

[getosugurusbangs]

what if i said i actually love too weird to live, too rare to die and think it’s underrated. what then.

[darrengrave]

One thing about sh2 and 3 is that I am literally still finding new things in it over a decade after first playing them and I haven't encountered an industry made game from the past decade that had a team that cared to and had the time to put half that amount love and effort into what's intended and budgeted to be a straightforward short narrative experience. Literally this past week I encountered something brand new to me in both 2 and 3.

[bleedingfromtheclosetdoor]

Playing the From The Fog mod to simulate what playing Minecraft was like without my meds

[doonarose]

And now I am at my parents house. A bit at sea. Like it has been go-go-go and lots of booze and lots of social battery and also I had to present my own talk on the last day, but also carrell a couple of dinners and an AGM and a bunch of presentations by my staff and students and also just meet people and talk to them...

And now it's done and I kind of want to hibernate but cannot because tomorrow is sportsball day in Australia and I have zero interest (unaustralian) but both sisters and their partners and my niece are coming to my parents so it would be a dick move to go home and just sleep/do nothing. So I'm here until Sunday...

And then back at work on Monday.

I am also Enraged that I've now had it confirmed there was a meeting last week that I missed (because I was single-handedly running a symposium) where I was raked over the coals for being shit at my job... which.... everyone knows I am good at my job. I am factually the best at my job in the entire department I work in. They just keep changing the reporting structure and I refuse to sink a week every three months into manufacturing bullshit to appease... they're not even the powers that be, it's a bloody advisory committee.

But shit I Cannot handle people thinking I'm doing a bad job. And I would like to burn it all down.

I'd also fucking like to find a few hours to get back into fandom. And the enjoyment I need to push myself back in...

We shall see.

[mezimraky]

i'm such a fan of mangrove swamps & pale gardens but i am not a fan of the way the amount of trees makes it all so spawnable and things come to spook me while im just out there admiring the minecraftian naturescape

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Valicer In The Dark -- Fun With Special Abilities

We're back with my beloved Blades In The Dark trio again today, this time to discuss the fun special abilities they pick up during their time as scoundrels! I've touched upon this topic before, when I did the initial post on the group's playbooks, but I wanted to explore it in more detail now that I'm actually posting fic for the verse. Because there are a LOT of fun special abilities that these three can snag, both from their own playbooks and others. :D Here are the ones I've gotten locked down so far:

-->Alice: Alice, as per previous posts, actually starts with two special abilities -- Not To Be Trifled With, which allows her to perform superhuman feats of strength or take on a gang of up to six people on equal footing (like, say, a certain Bluecoat squad), and The Devil's Footsteps, which allows her to perform superhuman feats of agility (like a real-life double jump onto a carriage roof) or dance around her enemies so they attack each other. These two I think cover her Wonderland abilities in AMA and A:MR very well, and given that she starts with a trauma, Haunted, it felt only fair. As for the abilities she'll pick up as a member of the Three Pillars, we have --

A) Vigorous -- she heals faster from harm! In game-mechanical terms, this means she permanently fills in one quarter of her "healing clock" (a four-segment clock where you have to fill in all the segments to reduce all your accumulated harm down a level) and takes an extra die on healing rolls. This goes well with my headcanon that Alice heals exceptionally well (to explain how she survived a massive house fire with no visible burns on her character model) and just makes the whole process of healing easier for the person most likely to get in a fight (because it's fucking TOUGH in this game).

B) Bodyguard -- she's better at protecting her teammates from threats! She gets an extra die on resistance rolls (which allow her to avoid or reduce the consequences of an action) to protect Victor or Smiler from something or someone, and gets extra effect (aka better quality info) when she researches potential threats beforehand. This felt like a good one for Alice because I imagine she wants to make very sure that nothing horrible happens to Victor or Smiler during their time as scoundrels -- they're her new family, and she doesn't want to lose them! And it goes very well with a trauma I want to give her in the future -- but that's another post...

C) Ghost Fighter -- she can imbue her hands, melee weapons, or tools with electroplasmic power, giving her an edge against supernatural foes! Specifically, she gains potency against them (which improves the effect of her rolls against them) and can actually physically grapple with ghosts and other electroplasmic creatures to restrain them. This is just cool, and I think it would be something Alice would want, especially if and when they tangle against more supernatural creatures -- but this one actually comes with a prerequisite: Victor's gotta know the Ritual special ability first (see his section below the read-more). Because as Victor is the "magic guy" of the group, I feel like this is something they'd work on together. (Maybe after they turn Alice's knife into a electroplasmically-charged weapon by tying it to his lightning hook during their fight against the Jabberwock?)

D) Savage -- she is fucking scary when she unleashes the physical violence. Meaning she can frighten anyone who sees it, and gets a bonus die on rolls to then Command a terrified target. I see this as just a natural consequence of her getting better at real-world violence and the gang's reputation as a trio not to be messed with growing as time passes. Think of it as Alice basically entering real-life Ragebox Mode or Hysteria Mode -- that'd be pretty scary, wouldn't it? (And it also ties in well with that trauma I'll be talking about later...)

-->Victor: Victor starts with the Ghost Mind special ability -- he is always aware of any ghosts or other electroplasmic entities in his vicinity, and he also gets an extra die when he researches the supernatural. This felt the most appropriate for him given that I had him get dragged into the ghost field -- the supernatural echo of the city where ghosts actually live -- for an entire day as part of the process of adapting Corpse Bride for this setting. I mean, that would have to have some sort of side effect, right? As for what he gets as time goes on, we have --

A) Strange Methods -- he's better at inventing and making stuff that is a little arcane (like magical potions and odd spirit-related gadgets)! Game-mechanically, he gets a better result when he makes these kinds of things, and he automatically learns how to make one particular thing for free (instead of having to learn about it and figure out the process for making it during play). This special ability is going to cover Victor learning how to infuse insects (specifically moths and butterflies) with electroplasm to turn them into little radiant energy generators (radiant energy being the closest thing this setting gets to sunlight -- as you might imagine, it's pretty important for growing crops and thus important for making sure their greenhouse actually works!). It felt like the closest match for that project! Plus it might be fun to figure out what else he can make going forward...

B) Ritual -- he knows how to do ritual sorcery and can study or even invent his own rituals to call upon arcane powers! Much like Strange Methods above, he also gets one ritual that he knows for free when he takes this ability. This was another contender for the whole "how Victor figures out how to make radiant energy butterflies" thing above (though I obviously decided Strange Methods fit better), and I knew I wanted him to get this one regardless because come on, it's cool and dangerous magic. Who doesn't want cool and dangerous magic? XD And, as indicated above, it feels like a good prerequisite to some of the abilities he and his friends get, both as individuals and as a team -- I mean, Ghost Fighter feels like something you would need a ritual for, right? That being said, I'm not planning for every magical spell Victor gets through this ability being a straight-up ritual -- instead, this will also cover him learning the demonic language of sorcery, a concept briefly mentioned in the book that I found very cool and wanted to use more. Victor will still have to pay a stress cost to speak things into existence using the language, of course, and learn what various words mean and how to pronounce them, but he just has to say them to trigger the effect. I'm not sure what his first ritual or spell will actually be, mind, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

C) Warded -- he has special armor that allows him to deal better with supernatural nonsense! Specifically, he can "expend" the armor (check off the box on his playsheet) during a score to avoid supernatural consequences coming his way as a result of something he did, or to push himself (generally means picking up an extra die for your roll) when dealing with arcane forces, without having to take stress. I think this is a cool thing that Victor would very much like to have while dealing with the supernatural beasties he might encounter inside the city (as he can already tell that they're there) -- I picture his "special armor" as a coat he enchants with Elder Gutknecht's help, covering it in strange glyphs and suchlike to imbue it with arcane-busting power. (...actually, maybe he's inspired to make the coat after his ghost-busting score with Bonejangles. Must keep that in mind.)

D) Ghost Veil -- he can shift himself back into the ghost field for a few moments, becoming as shadowy and insubstantial as a ghost! In game terms, he takes two stress to do this, plus one extra stress if he wants to make it last longer, make himself fully invisible, and/or give himself the ability to float It's very cool, and it felt like the sort of thing that Victor would be able to do after his little trip into the ghost field courtesy of Emily -- it just takes him a bit to properly "unlock" the power. I was originally thinking that Ritual would have to be a prerequisite for it as a result (as Victor wouldn't figure it out until he got deeper into studying spellcraft and sorcery), but if it's something that's another side effect of his "ghost bride" adventures, maybe it's just something he stumbles on accidentally -- like, he does it on reflex during a fight, and the trick is figuring out how he triggered the effect so he can do it deliberately. I mean, it's probably still going to come after Ritual, simply because I plan for him to take that early, but -- yeah.

E) Tempest -- he can push himself to unleash a bolt of lighting as a weapon, or summon a storm (rain, fog, high winds, heavy snow) in his immediate area! Costs him two stress in game terms, but I think it's worth. This is just downright cool, and I love the idea of Victor being able to do something so powerful. He is more dangerous than he looks with this! This one definitely does have Ritual as a prerequisite, though, because I picture this ability as being tied to the demonic language of sorcery (hell, the book itself implies that it is). So Victor has to be able to use said language before he can fry people with lightning. Small price to pay!

-->Smiler: Smiler starts with the Alchemist special ability -- they're good at brewing up anything with alchemical features (drugs, non-magical potions, things like that), and get one formula that they already know for free. Since my concept for them in this verse is "cultist drug dealer," and I've always pictured them as an excellent chemist regardless of the universe they're currently occupying, this was a no-brainer as their starting ability. And as you might expect, their free formula is their signature Joy Serum -- after all, you can't be a drug dealer if you don't know how to make the drug. XD Anyway, as for what they get while running around with Victor and Alice, we have --

A) Physicker -- they gain enough medical knowledge to serve as the team doctor! Specifically, in game terms, this lets them Tinker with people's bodies to treat wounds and stabilize the gravely injured; Study maladies to see how to treat them and corpses to see how they died; and gives everyone in the crew an extra die when it comes to healing rolls. This is something that I think Smiler would like to pick up just to help keep their partners safe and healthy -- being a scoundrel is a dangerous job, after all, and hurt or sick friends are unhappy friends! Plus it's just good in practical terms, because, as I mentioned before, healing is tough in this game, and any advantage you can get is a good one!

B) A Little Something On The Side -- they get extra money after every score! In game terms, this means that at the end of every "downtime" phase (time after scores when characters work on projects and acquire assets and relieve stress and suchlike), they get two extra "stash" (how the game tracks each scoundrel's personal finances -- how much stash you have determines how good your character's lifestyle is and if your character ends up destitute on the street or in a halfway-decent home when they retire). I think this is a good one for Smiler simply because it feels like a good way to represent mechanically them still continuing to sell Joy Serum when they're not doing scores with Victor and Alice. They may not be living with the Advocates anymore, but that does not absolve them of their responsibility to bring chemical joy to the masses! Though, given that Smiler canonically sells their Joy Serum for cheap, maybe I'd reduce this to one extra stash. We'll see.

C) Mesmerism -- they have the ability to not only talk someone into something, but also make them forget that they were ever talked into it! Specifically, when they successfully Sway someone, they can also choose to have the person forget that it happened -- at least, until they next time they see Smiler, at which point they are like "HEY!" XD This one just feels like an appropriate one to me because it fits well with the actual rollercoaster's theme of hypnosis and mind control. And I did give Smiler a little hypno-wheel as one of their starting gadgets -- maybe they use that when they're using this ability? Or maybe this is an additional blessing from Mar-Mal that they get for helping the Advocates out with something...hmmm. I'll have to think about it. Point is, it's thematically appropriate, and could make for some interesting scenes.

D) Functioning Vice -- they're better at indulging their vice in a way that does not cause them to overindulge -- and can help Victor and Alice do the same! In game terms, this means whenever Smiler indulges their vice (which is how you reduce stress after scores -- you roll dice equal to your lowest attribute score and remove the highest number from your stress tracker), they can adjust the roll up or down by one or two to prevent overindulgence -- and any allies who indulge with them can do the same. I saw this in action in Oxventure Presents: Blades In The Dark with Johnny's character Kasimir in the second season, and holy fuck is it useful. Like, this is the ability to get if you want to make sure your scoundrels can reduce their stress quickly and safely. And Johnny was using it on a character whose vice was Obligation and involved Kasimir tending his busted knee -- Smiler's vice is Pleasure! Do you know how much easier that is to pair with another vice? Alice has an Obligation to keep an eye on the children of Houndsditch? Take 'em on a picnic! Victor has a taste for the Weird? Go on a shopping trip to a bookstore to look for occult books! Want to do something all together? Take the kids out and have Victor demonstrate some of the safer magic tricks he's learned! :D Seriously, this is going to be like their best special ability --

Which is why it's kind of a shame that I've already come up with a score revolving around them overindulging their vice at the Golden Plum restaurant and then having to help Chef Roselle there get ingredients for a new dish. XD So yeah, Smiler can only get this ability after that happens. Probably inspires them to be more careful when indulging their desires!

E) Trust In Me -- they're better at anything they may choose to do against a target who they already have an intimate relationship with! Basically, in any roll against someone whom they already know well, they get an extra die -- and no, it doesn't have to be a social roll, nor does the relationship have to be that kind of intimate -- they just have to be close. I think this one fits Smiler simply because they're the most extroverted of the three, and probably have all sorts of friends scattered around the city that could be convinced to help the Three Pillars on their various scores. I do picture them using this mainly to help Sway friends to their various causes -- Smiler's a lover, not a fighter, and wouldn't want to damage the friendship by doing something mean. Though if someone they like decides to be an ass to them first -- well, all bets are off. Smiler may not be good at throwing a punch, and not want to hit a friend, but if they have to...

Whew! Quite the lists, huh? And this isn't even getting into the special abilities the trio can pick up as a crew! Not to mention the upgrades I have planned for their lair... I think telling you all about that will have to be a separate post, though. This one's long enough already. XD

[whatisthisnonsense]

Hello Welcome Home community, can we talk about how not only when you put the new secret audios together we hear Wally crack for the first time, not only the first time we got Wally's dialogue briefly sounding more natural, but that said crack isn't some sort of mania or anger (discounting the last "let me in" which is a natural build up from the rest of what he was saying) but desperation?

[storm-of-feathers]

Jaw on the floor at this. Ethnic cleansing is fine bc there might be valid reasons??????

[paramounticebound]

@learnedlucidity from here!

One of them might have to lock him away if it proves true. Optimism isn't his color.

With a job like this, it never really bodes well.

"We do, though you are a close second," the slightest hint of upcurved lips, though his gaze remains focuses on the files. Even in the basement, hidden away like a filthy secret, Khan pores himself over the case, as he always does. No matter how tedious; he always prefers the field work. Skinner keeps them all locked up lately, until some dust settles (a whirlwind of Alkaev conspiracies-proven-correct, once again).

"I am always tired."

Lies aren't his color either.

That dead teenager in Swindon, New Hampshire wouldn't care for his fatigue. It's been creating a pause in him, going over the same crime photos over and over again. Mutilation's been tattooed in his skull for a week straight.

"Eighty-seven people have vanished within a two-hundred mile radius of Swindon over the past half-century," leaves him like an unfinished thought, "Fox believes a cult is behind it."

[eriecanal]

actually i will let you in my mind. this doesn't mean anything it's simply the connections is all

[vigilante-scourge]

I’ve seen Scourge drawn maniacally and like the stone cold cat he is, but I honestly think we don’t draw scourge as viscerally horrifying enough as we should tbh.

Cause like, think from the clans perspective -

This cat came from out of nowhere, brought forth by Tigerstar like the Dark tabby summoned him out from some dark beyond, he is void dark but for one white paw with eyes an unsettling shade of ice blue and he wears your greatest monsters’ claws and teeth upon his form, melded to him like they are his own and then you watch as he - alone by himself! - kills your greatest enemy, gifted with nine lives, in. One. Stroke.

And then he tells you with his legion of demons behind him, in a voice cold and unemotional - that he will be back and he will take your forest for his own.

You basically just met a demon, the nightmares of kit tales, the dragon of every story with the claws and teeth to match - and you just watched him end what you thought was the devil himself.

Idk I just don’t think we lean into the horror of bloodclan and scourge as much as we could.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

it wasn’t my thing but now it might be holy FUCK that was amazing and i’m cherishing it forever

THANK YOU NONNY I appreciate you justifying my. uh. worse-than-usual moment of insanity. I don't know where that came from and I'm not sure I want it to appear again but here we are. Gotta follow the muse and all that.