#but were finally getting into the meat of the actual series itself

[nowandevermore]

Life has been lifing itself up recently, and wow, new fandom brainrot is so real. And so once again I'm at a point of where I said with the last chapter of AWH that it wouldn't take me two months to get the next chapter out. Welllll, you see... we're past that.

But I've appreciated everyone who has read and continues to read my series -- both Into the Future, Out of the Past, and the Ranger series. I promise I have not forgotten about them (yes, including God in the Midst -- I will return to you again, I promise)

So, as a show of thanks and as a promise for my return soon, have a sneaky of chapter five of You Are Always Welcome Here.

[bitchfitch]

After years and years of having a schedule that was more a halfhearted shrug than a neat itinerary, there was a certain peace to finally having a dinner time routine.

Rice in the cooker, wild game cuts in the oven with whatever vegetables hadn't gone off since his last trip into town. The timer set for ten minutes longer than the meal ever actually needed. His stomach couldn't handle meat still pink with a memory of life anymore.

While it cooked he'd place a tarp before the back door. The blue plastic wrinkled along the lines by which he always found it folded.

Then he'd step out into the cool evening to where his freshest trophy would be hanging just beyond the edge of the creaky porch. It a was a deer today, it's back hooves tied to the rafter so it's blood could drain from the dainty gash across it's throat. This wasn't a necessity, it just lessened the mess he would eventually have to deal with.

He untied it, and carried it to rest it in the center of the tarp before pulling the corners up to encase it in crinkly darkness. The bright green climbing rope being used to bind the package closed while he made a note to himself to dig out the hank of rope again so he could cut a new, less gnawed on, piece for tomorrow's meal time.

He could hear the thing coming up the staircase from the basement. Stairs were difficult for it, always had to crawl up them on its hands and knees. Stopping every few steps to gather itself against vertigo.

"What's cooking?" it called in a chipper voice, its bruise darkened fingers scrabling at the lower edge of the door. Its cracked nails adding to the deep gouges in the old wood. "What's cooking?" it repeated like a scratched record. Its clawing growing more frenzied as it got more and more excited at the prospect of meal time.

"Deer." he responded, dragging the bundle to the locked door.

"Einer!" it said, its voice being stolen from a long gone day at the lake, "Home," it whined with defeat borrowed from a day it never saw, then a garbled growl as it's limited repertoire of echos ran up against a concept it didn't have the words to express.

"You know that's not how it works," Einer sighs with some glimmer of fondness. "Who am I?"

"Einer!" a perfect echo of what it had said before.

"Where are we?"

"Home."

"Who are you?"

The growl came on its cue, exactly as it had every miserable day since Einer managed to trap it and establish this little test of whether or not it might be able to be reasoned with today.

"Good, good. To your spot please."

It scrambled back down the stairs, heavy thunks sounding as its excited crawling turned into more of a controlled series of falls.

Then a loud metallic racket bounded forth from the vent slats in the floor as it slapped at the ancient pipe that connected the furnace to the rest of the cabin's mostly defunct air ducts. Their way of signaling when it was well and clear away from the stairs where it might damn them both by attacking its caretaker.

He undid the bolts on the door quickly yanking it open before kicking the plastic wrapped deer down the stairs and slamming the door shut again. The unspoken race between them commencing as he rushed to get the bolts and locks latched once more before it could get up the stairs in an opportunity fueled bout of blood frenzy.

Einer won today. He's won every day so far.

Its fingers appear under the edge of the door again, its breath ragged and sounding wet with too much spit as it uselessly dug into the steel toe of his boot.

"You know where your dinner is," he took a step and waited to see if he'd be granted one moment of clarity as it came down from it's frenzy.

It churred, a soft animal sound he didn't think something so human looking should be able to make. Its fingers stilled, then disappeared back into the darkness beyond the door before returning. Its hand palm side up this time.

He was quick to crouch, carefully curling his fingers against it's. Its skin porcelain, smooth and cold against the callouses he had earned in his time caring for it.

"Einer," it said, this echo being taken from a gentle memory of two lovers in their wedding bed, before its touch disappeared and it began its clumzy trek back down the stairs.

He always stayed knelt there a little too long, wondering if it knew he lingered there. If it cared. Before standing and checking to see if his meal was over done to his liking.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Apparently when Aang was depressed and suggested that maybe they should abandon hope, he was actually ordering/Forcing The pregnant Couple to accept air nomad beliefs.

Also Aang apparently Regularly disrespects and refuses to learn from other cultures and Aang actually isn’t even a good airbender because somehow even though he regularly airbends, we don’t see him practicing at all.

Finally even though Aang allowed Katara to take Appa and acknowledged that she believes that she needs to go on the journey to Yon rha, Aang was forcing Katara to murder Yon Rha.

What show were Aang’s detractors watching?

I love the implication that somethings as simple as "having hope" is considered "Air-nomad exclusive belief", when that's a big theme throught the whole show and we have IROH telling Zuko not to give into despair, and explaining to the crew on "The Storm" that Zuko is so obsessed with capturing the Avatar because that mission allows him to hope he can come home and fix things with his dad.

They REALLY think that "pacifist" (which IS an air-nomad thing) MUST mean "hopeful, optimistic and cheery" like Aang - like we didn't see the air-nomads clearly freaking out so bad that they tell Aang he is the Avatar four years ahead of time, getting pissed whenever he is having any fun, and even want to separate him from his "father" because they knew something bad was gonna happen. Aka, they gave into despair.

As for him "forcing" the couple to give that name to their child

Husband: What should we name her?

Wife: I want our daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something.

Aang:  I've been going through a really hard time lately. But you've made me ... hopeful again.

Wife: I know what I want to name our baby now. Hope.

Husband: That's a perfect name. Hope.

That was a suggestion at most. Not an order, not intimidating them into doing what he wanted them to, and surely not forcing them to accept "air-nomad beliefs."

"The guy who spent the whole series traveling around to learn from different people, and was so understanding he was even sympathetic to the nation that killed everyone he knew and loved, did not respect other cultures" Bruh.

Literally the only two "disrespectful" things I remember Aang doing were:

1 - That bitter comment about "dead animals" towards Bato - which he only made because he was feeling left out of the conversation since his friends were so excited about being with someone from their tribe that they were completely ignoring him. Not cool, but totally understanding considering he's 12.

2 - Snapping at Pakku for not wanting to train Katara/trying to teach her what he was taught behind his back (even though the second one is on shaky ground since, even though that was a bit of a "cheat code" to make Pakku train Katara indirectly, he doesn't have the right to demand Aang never share his knowledge with someone he doesn't approve of)

And both of these, on top of being understandable, also have the disclaimer of "You can disagree with someone's beliefs/cultural habits without looking down on them" - hell, Katara full on says Gran-Gran left because she wouldn't let the Northern Water Tribes stupid customs ruin her life. Not to mention, the Fire Nation's culture for at least 100 years has been "fuck everyone else, only our way of living is the correct one" and the whole point of the show is "This belief is not only wrong and hurting the other nation, it is harming the Fire Nation itself"

"It's my culture" is a neutral statement. It does not shield said culture from criticism, and Aang disagreeing with someone's beliefs - be it that hunting/eating meat is okay, or that women can't be fighters, or that not all life is sacred - is not the same as him being disrespectful. He owes people basic human decency, not blind agreement with anything and everything they believe in.

So yeah, these people need to keep. Aang's. Name. OUT. THEIR. FUCKING. MOUTH.

[mostlyihyperfixate]

Okay. I gotta write 750 words a day to fill my quota, and I don't feel like journaling about my day today, so I'm going to do a quick-and-dirty discussion of my thoughts on "Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice" before I really get into the meat of the final case. I'll see if my thoughts change once I finish it.

I'm gonna be real honest: I don't think I like this game as much as the others. And I feel really bad about it! I didn't want to be the person that waltzed in and just was mad at everything because waaah it's not Phoenix. I went in here with the mindset that I was gonna like Apollo, and I was going to give him a fair shot.

Frankly, I think this game would be better if Phoenix was just, like, not in it. He could just be some legendary defense attorney who retired a while back and no one is quite sure he went (and it's certainly not to Europe to be with his husband or anything like that). Phoenix kind of weighs it down for me, because I am sad that he the way he is, and I'm mad that he's kind of being an asshole to Apollo who literally has done NOTHING WRONG, and I'm also mad that he doesn't really even seem to care much about Trucy. Maybe that's developed more in other games? I expected more out of that relationship. And so I am torn between wanting to know what Phoenix is up to, because I love him, and then being like, "Get out of here and quit being mean to Apollo with a smile on your face" every time Phoenix does show up.

And I like Apollo, but I feel he's…wanting. I don't feel like I know Apollo. Don't get me wrong; I know Phoenix was just kind of the generic every dude over his head in the first game. The most we really got out of him was one thing that happened to him when he was a kid. But he had enough of a personal connection or personal stakes in his cases (at the very least, his past relationship with Edgeworth was there because Edgeworth was the prosecutor) that I felt like I had SOMETHING to go off. And it's not like I need Apollo to have a tragic backstory or some deep reason to be an attorney. But I have zero! Zilp! Zilch!

He literally hasn't gotten to know a single one of his clients for one reason or another the entire game, so I don't feel like I have a grasp on them either! And Apollo doesn't even get the benefit of playing off the prosecutor like Phoenix did in every game. I don't dislike Klavier; his being a genuinely nice guy isn't bad. But he sure doesn't add anything to the story for me, and I don't think he adds much (if anything) to Apollo's character either.

And at the same time, I feel like this game is trying to be much deeper. It's trying to tell me something about the legal system, and corruption, and broken dreams. But at the same time, it's so much more cartoony than the previous entries. The first game was always the one that took itself the most seriously, I feel (and it's my favorite of the original trilogy), and I did say when I finished Trials and Tribulations that I felt it hit maximum soap opera in Bridge to Turnabout. I also said I loved it for that soapy-ness. But this isn't soapy. This is a cartoon. What's with all these characters suddenly changing appearances? What's with every single witness being an over-the-top weirdo? WHY is Spark Brushel????

Let's not even get into how much I loathed Turnabout Serenade. It gave me a much greater appreciation for Turnabout Big Top. I mean, sure, all those adult men were hitting on Regina, but at the very least I feel like Moe wasn't going to let anyone actually lay a finger on her afterward. She's in good hands. And Moe was self-aware that I wanted him to go to Clown Hell for all those massive penalties…

Now that I think about it, the tutorial case was probably my second favorite in the series, after the opening trial to Trials and Tribulations. But the other two…were not that interesting. I haven't been in a huge rush to finish this one. Which…I guess I started it two weeks ago, so it's not like I've been dragging my feet. But I'm perfectly capable of going a day or two without picking up my Switch Light to find out what happens next. I'm not staying up until, like, midnight to get to the next chapter.

I've tried hard to avoid spoilers, but I'm not sure I have any massive theories for how this is going to wrap up. I have been really suspicious of Trucy's uncle ever since he showed up. Now that he's in the flashback, I note that I have not, in fact, seen Trucy's uncle and Phoenix in the same place at the same time. So I wonder if he had something to do with…….something. And obviously Kristoph has something to do with….something. And Trucy's dad has the same first name as the guy that got killed in the first case, so clearly he came back to do…..something. I just don't know what those somethings are.

I will also say: No way did Phoenix ever have $100,000 to his name to pay someone to forge evidence for him, considering this (apparently???) happened two months after the end of the last game, and the only client that for sure ever paid him was probably Miles. Not sure if the game is going to try to red herring me on that or not. But I had a good chuckle at that.

Honestly, I'd love to see more of Apollo and Klavier (separately and together) because I think they COULD be interesting. So far, this game just has failed to develop them at all. Again, I think part of the issue is that Phoenix's presence casts such a long shadow. I understand the plan was not to include him in the game originally, and I'm a little torn because, again, I love him, and I want to see more of him…just not like this. And I think it's kind unfair to Apollo both in and out of universe that he has to share his debut game with Phoenix.

Someone reblogged my Klavier post to say that the last case in Apollo Justice was their favorite. I have read on other parts of the internet that it's generally considered the worst final case in the series. We'll see what happens.

[buzzdixonwriter]

Tie Me Dingo Down, Sport [FICTOID]

The dingo floated into the butcher shop.

“Gawddamn dingos!” Sidney shouted.  Actually all of Sydney shouted, “Gawddamn dingoes!” several times a day, but this particular Sidney owned Sidney’s Sydney Butcher Shop – “We specialize in kidneys.”

This led to a lot of confusion regarding black market surgery procurers but that has nothing to do with our story.

The dingo floated a good seven feet above the floor (a little more than twp meters for those of you anal about such things).  Its big, bloated body gave it the impression of a filthy, furry, feces stained blimp swarming with fleas.

The dingo sniffed the delicious carnal smells of Sidney's butcher shop and did whatever the hell it is that dingoes do when they do the equivalent of smiling.  

“Shoo! Get out! Beat it!” Sydney shouted, flapping his apron in the general direction of the dingo.

The dingo ignored him, propelling itself along with a series of short, sharp farts in the direction of the meat counter.  

Sydney's wife, Bidney, came out.  Bidney is an old Irish name but Bidney was only middle-aged Irish.  “Sure, and what be the ruckus going on out here -- oh, for the sweet love of Mary and all the saints!  Get that dingo out of here!”  

“I'm trying, woman!” Sidney said, still impotently flapping his apron at the floating dingo.  “Useless,” Bidney said.  “How typical.”  This is a profound insight into the contentious nature of their relationship and how they were trapped with each other due to their strict conservative Catholic upbringing, but again, but again has nothing to do with our story about a floating dingo -- focus, people!  Focus!

Bidney ducked in back and emerged a split second later wielding a broom.

“Out!” she said.  “Out!  Out!  Out”

She started swinging wildly at the dingo, missing the first two times, hitting Sidney in the face the third time (accidentally?  Hard to say; resentment can run deep and subtly influence our behavior), finally swatting the floating carnivore on the side of its head, spinning it like a top in midair.

Now at this point we shall pause our narrative to explain how dingoes came to float.  The official explanation is that the e. coli bacteria in their gut mutated to produce hydrogen instead of methane, causing them to bloat up and float.  According to current theory, dingoes had been doing this for centuries but only recently learned how to regulate the expulsion of hydrogen to give them neutral buoyancy and provide direction, earlier victims of the mutation simply floating off into the upper atmosphere where they exploded.

That, or leprechauns did it.  Take your pick.

Back to our narrative:  The spinning dingo began slinging saliva and parasites in all directions.

“Woman, stop what you're doing!” Sidney shouted, but Bidney refused to listen and administered another blow to the dingo's head that would have earned her a tryout for the New York Yankees.  

Dizzy from spinning rapidly, the dingo exploded from both ends:  Vomit and feces, spraying the interior of Sidney’s Sydney butcher shop as well as Sidney and Bidney themselves. 

Bidney shrieked an outrage, swinging her broom overhead and down on the floating dingo, bouncing it off the floor and ricocheting it off all the walls, thoroughly contaminating Sidney’s Sydney Butcher Shop.

“What's all this then?” the state health inspector asked, pulling out his violations book as he entered the shop.

The dingo took this diversion to snatch a long string of sausages in its jaws before propelling itself out the door in a series of derisive farts aimed in Bidney's direction.

Sidney and Bidney looked at the health inspector, literally pointing their fingers at each other.  “It's his / her fault,” they said.

“I don't care whose fault it is,” said the health inspector, writing up a citation.  “This shop is ordered closed until you clean it up and it's reinspected.”

Sidney gloomily took the citation.  “We can clean this up in a day,” he said.  “How soon can we schedule a reinspection?”

“My current docket is booked through next February,” said the health inspector.  “However, for a small surcharge, I can put you on my expedited list and schedule you for next week.”

Sidney sighed.  It would put a massive dent on their credit card -- no vacation in Tasmania that year -- but a necessity to stay in business.  “Very well, we'll pay.”  

The health inspector handed him a card, eager to get out on the street to follow the floating dingo to the next catastrophic health violation.  “Send the payment to this address, I'll see you next week.”  

As the health inspector dashed out the door, Bidney said, “That does it, we're going vegan.”

 © Buzz Dixon

[ursinedyke]

hi teddy <3 arctic sundogs and franklin for the terror ask game :)

hiii ellie!! :D thank you for the ask!! <3 this got kind of long so answers under the cut

arctic - how would you cope on a victorian ship?

honestly a life at sea sounds equal parts ideal and terrifying to me, so any time not spent staring aimlessly into the ocean would DEF be filled with keeping a very detailed diary … i’d be writing down everything. mate i don’t like made a joke today i actually found funny. disgruntled about this. if i were some doomed explorer and they found my journal hundreds of years later with my remains they would be like my god this guy just never shut the hell up did they. reading and writing both i think is what would distract me the most

sundogs - talk about a moment in the show that interests you most

ohh gosh i could talk about SO many but the first one that comes to mind is hodgson’s papist church monologue in ep9. he’s been on my mind a lot lately and i paid quite close attention to him my recent watch through and he stands out to me more so than some of the other characters because he’s a character who doesn’t speak an incredible amount throughout the series (despite being terror’s certified yapper) but almost everything he says is actually really telling about his character. we learn he plays an instrument at home, in his final scene he speaks some french, and just about every instance in which he talks it’s almost like he’s doing so through a direct window to and from his humanity (asking hickey “who” the meat he offers him is, visibly upset to learn what became of neptune). then we get to this scene that comes after he’s partaken in cannibalism, a scene that (to me at least) seems kind of out of nowhere especially being not directly at the end of the episode, but somehow it still fits in perfectly. we come to the crux of hodgson’s characterization here because he finally gets the chance to speak with no holds barred and he’s very particular with every minute he has to do so. the way he delivers this speech, the slow cadence and tone of his voice and even the subject of it, is just as much for goodsir as it is for himself i think. even when goodsir is pretty much as good as unresponsive he carries on anyway which in and of itself is yet another tell for him. we get an idea of his own sense of self here too (“i was frightened for them. i was told they were doing some great, unforgivable thing” “i felt forgiven of every poor, weak, or selfish thing within my soul” “i pretended to be ill. they knew i was pretending. to this day i don’t know why i did it” “if i were a braver man… i would kill mr. hickey, though it would mean my death, too” and of COURSE “i am hungry and i want to live”) like this is just such a RICH source of characterization for a character we’ve really only seen glimpses of up until this point when it all comes to a head when he gets his own little arc re: his involvement with the mutineers (which is a whole other can of worms i could talk about forever LOL). ntm the monologue itself is just so beautifully written, the delivery is of course on point but the words themselves and the picture they paint are so visceral and moving. sorry for the essay HAHA i’m just very very interested in hodgson as a character and this fleeting moment we have alone with him is just so endlessly compelling to me. especially when you factor in that he’s been steadily consuming lead for years now and has ended up on the wrong side of what remains of their crew but still he takes this moment to be so unashamedly human regardless. anyway ……..

franklin - who’s an underrated character in your opinion?

SILNA. NO QUESTION i do feel obligated to give a cold boy answer as well though in which case i will say dundy. not only is he criminally underrated but also criminally underUSED being that he’s a very close friend to fitzjames from the beginning and is quickly the only remaining lieutenant on erebus i just feel like there’s so much there they could have explored in terms of his and even fitzjames’ characterization were it not for his curse as a minor side character … whatever. i’ll write The Dundy Show if nobody else will

[amplesalty]

Halloween 2024 - Day 6 - Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

If you die in the game, you die in real life...

If this wasn't at all obvious with movies 6 and 7, we're definitely into the 'sunk cost' stage of this franchise. The first four all had their charms despite tapering off and I'm on record as a fan of Inferno but Hellseeker and Deader felt like a bit of a chore. But, as much as my lack of keeping to a schedule might dispute this, I am a creature of habit and the end is in sight. And, if anything, we're really due to go off a cliff next year so all the more reason to stick it out and see what depths we can plumb with this series. Hellworld was filmed back to back with Deader all the way back in 2002 but sat largely unused, saved for a few showings over the years, until the pair were released direct to DVD in 2005. It's always stood out on the horizon for me as I've worked my way through the franchise given the plot ties into the world of online gaming. A strange turn for the franchise, sure, but given we're 8 movies in now I think any subject matter is fair game in order to freshen things up. Plus, this would have been right around the time of a boom in online gaming and, given the film pitches Hellraiser as an MMO, you would have had things like Ultima Online, Everquest, Runescape and even Final Fantasy XI (World of Warcraft wouldn't have existed at the time of filming but would have been out by the time the films actually released) so I can sort of see the potential in touching upon the dangers of addiction, both as an analogue to the pleasure seeking that is so prevalent in Hellraiser but also to tie in to the hot topic parent scaremongering of the day.

Nevermind all those other games though, who remembers Graal?!

The video game stuff though is largely glossed over. A friend of our main characters is said to have killed himself following his addiction to the game but it's all very vague and skimmed over during an exposition dump during his funeral.

Even the game itself is shown only briefly and I was going to compare it to a Flash game from the time but I'm pretty sure I was playing Flash games on the school computers at the time that had more gameplay than this. The Lament Configuration doesn't exactly feel like the kind of thing you would adapt into a video game either, it strips away that tactile feeling of handiling the cube, twisting and prodding to try and open it up.

What little we do see of the game is little more than a means to shuttle our main characters off to the meat and potatoes of the movie, an exclusive Hellraiser themed party taking place at Leviathan house. This is something that irked me early on with the movie, it's often said that these later movies are just a case of slapping the Cenobites onto someone else's screenplay and that they barely even show up but these fet a bit tryhard in trying to shoehorn a bunch of references in early as if to say 'See, we're a REAL Hellraiser movie'. Very quickly you get mentions of Hellraiser, Hellworld, Pinhead, Leviathan, LeMarchand, the Engineer…it's like the other extreme of not showing them at all but just trying to cram mentions in within the first few minutes.

Among our crew of party goers is none other than Superman himself (well, one of them at least) Henry Cavill.

Plus Lance Henriksen as the party host, a man with a storied past in the horror genre and notable for me at least for his role in Pumpkinhead, though I think that may have gone undocumented on this here blog.

Our friends are shown around the house but all start to experience strange visions, usually very brief and sometimes involving Pinhead making thinly veiled threats.

Spoiler alert, the twist of the movie is that Lance Henriksen's Host character is actually the father of the friend that commited suicide and he's out for revenge for what he percieves as their actions in enabling his addiction that resulted in his death. It's revealed that upon their arrival to the party, the Host drugged them with a very strong psychodelic drug and buried them in shallow graves outside with an airtube to keep them alive and prolong their suffering. The events of the movie have been playing out in their heads with cell phones left in their coffins through which the Host has been using suggestion to influence their visions. Now, this actually does bring some degree of interest to the film which had been largely boring up to this point and I did appreciate the idea of how this could play into the overarching story of addiction. If these kids are so immersed in this game then these monsters from within it could be making their way into their visions in a very violent way. The problem is that because they made pretty much zero attempt to re-contextualize this film's world and to potray the Cenobites as characters within this game, plus the fact that this movie does the exact same drive by Pinhead scenes (to borrow my own phrase from last year), these interactions just feel like more shoehorned references to justify the film bearing the Hellraiser name. If they had actually taken the time to show these kids playing the game and some digital versions of the Cenobites from which they would have formed these assocations, the whole idea might have worked better.

It would have been all moot anyway though as it's revealed at the end that the Cenobites are in fact actually real when they show up and tear the Host to shreds. Thanks for ruining my shades of grey for me, lads. Whilst I can appreciate the efforts to make the series a little more contemporary by taking this video game angle, it does also strip away a small aspect I've always liked in that all of these movies felt like they took place in the same universe. It's always come across as an anthology piece to me, the Lament Configuration managing to find it's way into someone elses hands who have these delusions of how this is going to lead them to pleasure undivisible whilst we get to sit back and watch as several hooks and chains promptly tear those delusions asunder. Ultimately, it's one of those films where I can see the genesis of a decent idea that goes unfufilled. And whilst I'm all for taking wild departures this deep into a franchise, it does feel like too big of a disconnect from the series to have ever been successful.

And so, given that this is the last appreance of Doug Bradley in this famous role, it's a run that ends in a whimper rather than a bang. Somehow I doubt his successors have much chance of living up to his mantle, especially when our next stop, Revelations, is the film that drew Clive Barker's ire and led to that very infamous tweet I have been mentioning all these years…

[devouraes]

if it were not for the sequel's final act, six's devouring of a nome ── one of the skittish little creatures she's had an otherwise mutually friendly relationship with, up until this point ── would easily be her most divisive action over the course of the series. and i by no means intend to downplay the horror of it, it's a disturbing scene that does exactly what it intended to, but i also feel like it's lead to many bad faith readings of six as a character and my intentions here are to try and dig past the surface level of it ; the consumption of the nome is framed as a bait and switch of sorts, with it offering her a sausage most likely smuggled from a guest's plate, unaware that it will be the target of her hunger instead. so first things first, why not eat the sausage ?

initially i read this as her hunger becoming more ravenous as it progresses, and this does seem to fit thematically with all that she eats over the course of the first game. first bread, then meat, then a rat, then the nome ; a sapient creature, and finally, the lady of the maw. however, this interpretation as a more literal reading of her actions has been debunked by tarsier in a post we'll get to in a second. i'm only bringing it up despite this because i believe that, while not being the actual textual events of the story, it still symbolically fits the narrative. now, for tarsier's post:

this tweet frames what many have interpreted as an act of senseless violence to actually be an attempt on six's part to escape the food chain the maw has built itself on. but that being said, the secrets of the maw chapters the hideaway and the residence come with the reveal that nomes are children under a spell. this is a piece of the story often used to further paint six in a malicious light, but the dlc put an emphasis on secrets ── it's in the title ── and the lady, the one responsible for the nomes, is defined by her mystery. nomes are one of the many little lost things in the nowhere, and six has no way of knowing of this. meaning, upon recognizing the food to be made from human meat, six made an ultimately futile attempt to keep herself separated from the guests and workers of the maw. to me, this strikes a balance between her nature as a survivalist and the fact that she is still a child, far from a normal one, but still one that refused to eat another to live, even if it was all for naught.

what follows this is six literally eating from the lady and also eating from the maw's guests in a more vampiric way as well. how does this fit into her previously trying to avoid consuming what she knows to be human meat ?

there's a lot of ways you can spin it, but my personal interpretation is that while her encounter with the lady is ── again ── a literal act, it's also invoking a lot of symbolism commonly tied to cannibalism in writing. cannibalism is often used to represent power over another, and when six takes a bite straight from her neck, she is imbued with the lady's magic. she's no longer just another runaway, now holding all of the strength and ability of the maw's ruler. but that said, i do not subscribe to the theory that she becomes the lady or even a lady, as stated in my rules page. when i say this, i don't mean she in any way gains power aboard the maw, personally i believe she leaves it behind, but she does sit at the top of that food chain now. this is one of the many ways the world of the nowhere is cyclical in nature, and it's worth noting how it fits into real world concepts such as the cycles of violence and abuse ; six devouring the lady was, to me, a defiant act, but one that showcases how children can often not escape these cycles on their own. six can ascend through the maw and leave it to rust, but not without taking a bite, not without shifting the power dynamic in place of escaping it. after all, what can she do to escape it ? she's only a child, one with a deeply supernatural hunger that's left her sick. she doesn't even begin to show signs of such hunger until the broadcaster, an adult, ripped something vital out of her ; violence left her empty, and she has to enact violence of her own to not only fill that void but to ensure she won't be abused again.

the feeding off of the guest's lifeforce further compounds this, reading less as an act driven by hunger and more of an eye for an eye, something displayed in LN2 as well, with her clobbering one of the bullies. these same guests previously tried to devour her, and so, she does the same to them. an unloved child will burn down the village to feel it's warmth, or however that quote goes. or as an achievementin the sequel asks, is it murder if they're bad people ? i'm not here to answer that, only to say that six is not the villain of this story, the adults who created this cycle she falls prey to are.

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Disney TVA, who is your favorite character from the cartoons in the second half of the Disney Afternoon era (1993-96): Marsupilami, Aladdin the Series, Gargoyles, The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show, Timon & Pumbaa, Quack Pack, and Mighty Ducks the Animated Series? Skipped Bonkers since you said in the last ask that you haven't seen it yet.

Okay so getting this out of the way again (And yup haven't seen bonkers) So in addition to bonkers Marsupliami (though ti looks good and snookums and meat . Aladdin the Animated Series: No faviorite as I've only seen maybe one episode in recent years , but I do hear it's a fun adventure show and remmeber it being okay as a kid. never realized as a kid the two dtv movies werne't their own movies but the pilot for the show and it's finale respectivley (both still stand find on their own and return has if nothing else I can remmeber your only second rate)

Gargoyles: I LIVE AGAIN! I really need to watch this series in full at some point.. honestly reviewing it might not be a terrible idea as it'd at least get me around to it. I'll figure it out. Faviorite is Xanatos. Even just READING about him I loved the guy, a villian so damn good at gambits tv tropes named it after him and whose clever as he is self serving. The show itself is again one I BADLY need to watch as i've only seen a few scattered episode but the one that sticks in my mind I Had on vhs in high school, Deadly Force sticks out. It handles gun saftey.. in a way that dosen't feel hackned or over the top. Elsa gets shot.. but she made the mistake of leaving her gun unmprotected and apparently the show is consitent in making sure she never does again. IT's a show with a deep intretsing mythos, voice acting royalty, and is worth a look. Again I wouldn't mind doing a retrospective at some point (Splitting season 2 up a bit ) covering the first two seasons, the slave labor graphics comics and the recent revivial comics following up on those. Not plugging there either I just think gargoyles is neat. It's disney's equilvent to batman the aniamted series in my mind and it's a shame they never really captlized on it

Timon and Pummba: Only seen some of this for a review, it seems.. okay. Not terrible by any means but nothing I really want to watch despite loving these two characters.

Quack Pack: Daisy whose redesign while attractive is also fun and is that nice sweet spot of being fed up with donalds shit sometimes but not you know cheating on him, abusing him or everything three cabs daisy did. Don't be three cabs daisy folks. The show itself i've only seen a few eps of, some for reviews some on my own time but honestly.. it's okay. It has a reptuation for being awful, for being garbage that brought down the whole disney afternoon.... but really.. it's fine. I think a lot of people raging against it forget that donald getting into domestic scraps is just as much a par tof his dientity as donald duck the greatest adventuerer who ever lived. most of his shorts come from some small incident such as his car breaking down, a raido cooking show or his cousin showing up to eat everything he has. So going back to that with a bit of advneture weirdness ocasionally thrown in seems fine. Some plots do sound.. insane but the show seems okay. The versions of the boys.. are a bit weaker but it's less for characterization (thier about the same as they were in ducktales just older) , and more for trying to make them sound cool and that despite giving them unique va's.. they didn't do much in the ones i've seen to actually defenrtaite them. And honestly the redesigns are solid

Daisy and Donalds are great an dth eboys are fine. Their hair and Louie's backwards hat are 90s as hell but honetsly they aren't half bad and now I think about it dewey's would perfectly fit the 2017's dewey's love of attention and need to be seen as a jock. The show is far from perfect and some episodes seem nuts again like Huey's dental surgery turning him into a super villian.. but overall it's just fine. Not super mediocre, but not as bad as it gets a rep for. Also the humans thing... eh why not. I prefer an all furry universe, but I get Donald has interacted with humans before.

Mighty Ducks: One I haven't revisited and don't really.. intend to. It's a weird piece of the duckverse, with aliens, 90's super powers and hockey. I might check it out for the novelty as I have gained a love of hockey due to certain canadian television series

But otherwise it's just kinda.. there. There are other 90's action shows to visit. Gargoyles is just down the block. BTAS exists. I just really.. dont' care.

[bolton-buried]

First episode of the new series is live on YouTube.

[[Video ID:

We open with a talking head of Charlotte, a black woman with rectangular glasses, and her hair pulled back into a tight bun. She has ditched the silvery backpack. Finally.

“Every series you find will tell you this, but we at the new Hunting Hauntings team are proud to brand ourselves as the only series to only investigate the truly paranormal. Today, we’re in Manchester, looking into reports of abnormalities in the meat section at a particular corner store.”

A shot of Dez, Charlotte, and Angie, walking into the corner store. They look an eclectic bunch.

Angie, a white woman with blonde curls under a bandanna and more crystal jewelry than anyone would are to count, speaks. The camera zooms in on her.

“My senses are tingling… there are restless spirits here.”

“Angie. We agreed, none of the psychic stuff.” The camera pans to Charlotte. “Stick to what is actually real.”

Dez, a pale redhead in pink with cat-eared headphones around his neck giggles, making a beeline for the refrigerated section.

A talking head of Dez.

“I was the first one to find the meats! They were in great shape if you didn’t actually want meat and were hoping to get mold instead.”

Back to Desmond in the store, bent over and looking at a refrigerated shelf of deli meats. They’re covered in various colors of fuzzy mold. Dez pulls a small pack of sliced turkey from his sleeve.

“Did you bring that with you?” Harold’s voice comes from behind the camera.

“I always have sandwich meat on me.”

“You… what?”

Desmond laughs, pulling a single slice from the pack. “The look on your face! Oh, no. I just thought it would be helpful for experimentation here.”

He drops the slice onto the shelf with the other meats. It’s immediately overcome by grey, green, and white mold.

“Well, that eliminates this just being a case of poor management.”

Harold snorts at Desmond’s joke.

Cut to

A talking head of Angie.

“We brought a pack of sliced ham back to London with us to perform a seance, through which we determined—”

Desmond shouts from off screen. “Angie! Script.”

Angie sighs and lifts up a sheet of paper.

“The mysterious mold issue is not to do with the meat itself, though it did stay moldy. When not on the shelf in this particular store, the mold did not spread to other food products. Experimentation in the store, headed by Mr. Parfit, yielded that the mold was not exclusive to meats, but was able to spread to breads, cheeses, various fruits, pasta, and a bic lighter.”

As she lists items, she is used as a voice over footage of Dez setting them down on the affected shelf and watching excitedly as they succumbed to the mold.

A talking head of Charlotte.

“But one thing was still bothering me. Two things, really. Firstly, the original tip off we received claimed that the first time she was in the store, there was no mold on the meats. She didn’t examine them closely, but she’s sure she would have noticed if they were as molded as they are.

“The second is the camera trouble we had with recording. According to Harold, our cameraman, footage he attempted to take with any modern camera showed the food pristine in its packaging, and only his camcorder was able to capture the mold.”

Cut to: Desmond talking head.

“And so, I got to thinking. And then I got to more testing. Roll the footage!”

Back inside the corner store, Desmond approaches a random shopper.

“Ma’am, hiya, we’re doing a documentary, would you mind telling me what you see over there?”

He points to the molded over shelf.

“Kid, it’s just a shelf of meats. I’m trying to shop, and I don’t need you or the meats today.”

Dez looks to the camera with a huge grin on his face.

Footage plays of a similar scene occurring with three other customers. Only one of them shows an appropriate level of revulsion, and only after Desmond points something out to them. Desmond’s voice plays over the recordings, sounding much more excited than his words imply.

“So, we figured out that unless you’re actively looking for mold on the products, they appear to be pristine and fresh, which fits perfectly with our original tip, where the woman grabbed something without checking for mold, then realized it was moldy when she gave it a proper look at home.

“It’s a fear, deliberate and specific, even though most people don’t feel it very strongly, that you’ll accidentally consume something unsafe due to a lack of diligence on the part of yourself or a seller. And what’s so interesting to me, is the real fear isn’t from the shelf itself—though that would give a strong sense of revulsion. Just think. Years down the road, people exposed to this might still be obsessively checking their food for signs of mold growth, terrified that they’ll miss something and fall ill. Isn’t it fascinating?”

At the last sentence, it cuts to Desmond’s talking head. Harold speaks from behind the camera.

“Dez, you’re at a 12. We need you closer to a 5. You sound insane.”

Desmond laughs.

Cut to Charlotte, in the store, speaking with the owner.

“Sir, my team and I have reason to believe that your meats shelf is an active danger to your community. We’d recommend its removal as soon as possible.”

The owner, a large, meaty man wearing a baseball cap and a seemingly permanent scowl, rubs the back of his head.

“Looks alright to me.”

“Sir, I think you’ll find if you look a little closer, there’s quite a bit of—”

“I said there’s not an issue.”

The owner scratches his collar as he raises his voice. It’s difficult to see, but a tiny bit of that dark grey mold is sprouting just under his shirt.

Desmond steps in front of Charlotte.

“So sorry, sir. My friend gets a little paranoid about expired food. The shelf is fine, we’ll just get going.”

“But—” Charlotte starts to protest.

“We’ll just get going.” Dez repeats.

The owner crosses his arms. “Probably for the best.”

Cut to:

A talking head of Charlotte.

“We were unable to get the owners to remove the affected shelf, but I did leave a Yelp review warning future customers of the danger. And now we’re making this as well. If you know of any other phenomena we should do an exposé on, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or reach out. Stay safe out there. You never know what’s just out of sight.”

Just when it seems the video is over, it cuts to Desmond, filming himself in a room lit with LED lights.

“Okay listen, nobody on the team is going to watch this after it gets posted, and I didn’t want to ruin their fun. But there’s something wrong in that Al-Ghizawi house the other day. I can feel it. I won’t be back investigating, and I don’t know what it was I felt, but there’s something there. I just wish I could put a finger on it… Parfit out.”

End video.]]

[stoportotouch]

okay so I finally finished the terror and I don't understand why I was so surprised with everyone's death. they've been dead since the beginning ect and it's a historical event and it's been known. also for some reason I was convicted there was second season and kept wondering what it'll be about since everything was pretty much resolved.

I wish I could see what happened after the men left the camp. why did Little have all this shit in his face? did he do that to himself? did someone? it was heartbreaking hearing Francis talk about how he knew Edward and that he would come to rescue him. turns out he really did know him but he didn't understand the crew. and now he will never know how he wanted to but couldn't.

my man Goodsir kept class to the very end and however I was sad to see him go I'm glad it was that way. probably one of, if not the best death in the whole series.

Hickey's arrogance astonished me. did he seriously think that tongue offering would spare him or make him develop a relationship with it like it had with Silna, girl prophet, brought into the world with intention of being its keeper? I also don't understand why and how he got so many men chained up. they could've easily overthrown him and the monster probably didn't need as much helpless victims to attack. it's not a critique of terror, more of a curious question. was that his wit? charisma? manipulation?

I wonder if being alive is the best option for Francis. living with the weight of the whole world on your shoulders and body count lurking in the background, hundred men dead because of him, at least partly.

in my last message I should've been more precise. I was thinking if eating meat riddled with every known disease and some extra ones was better than not eating at all. all the possible puking and shitting considered, it could have went even worse than starving.

also, I really haven't considered it like that. that they can't ever go home back to civilized society because of the things they've done. probably because if my husband came home from arctic expedition and said "I had to eat human meat to survive but they were dead already I prommy" I would be like that's nice honey i don't mind. I find it kind of tragic that the most suicidal of them was the only one who survived. "I survived Franklin's doomed expedition and all I got was this stupid fucking seal fur".

okay, that's all. also fun fact, Silna means strong in polish though i doubt it has any connection. thank you for indulging me for the past couple of days.

MAN i get that though. i watched it the first time like, "hmm, maybe somebody other than just the one guy will survive". and somehow every subsequent watch i still manage to be surprised when only one person survives, in spite of the fact that... they are in fact dead and gone. but somehow that is the appeal of Foregone Conclusion Media, thinking "but maybe THIS TIME! they will survive their ordeal!"

with little specifically the... slightly boring historical answer was actually that the local inuktitut people said when they were interviewed that there were bodies that were Like That at the uh. they euphemistically called them "hospital camps" (and there were several of them along the way south to back's inlet). in the show i feel like it's a reference back to little saying that if they get out then the men deserve all the gold there is. and then in his completely addled half-dead mind, that turns itself into "if i do this to myself then that will summon rescue. somehow. because it's gold."

with hickey... he really just knows how to pick people. i think that's all it is; everybody in his little Crew are in some way the most vulnerable people there. either that or he Has Something on them. apart from des voeux, i have no idea what he's doing there but he doesn't always look like he knows why he's there either. just there like "well it would be awkward to leave now."

with the chains specifically i think there's the crab bucket mentality/just "we're at the depths of desperation so why bother trying to find a ladder?" but also hickey has shown himself repeatedly to be capable of absolutely dreadful things so there's probably a little concern about being trapped out there with him. like he killed irving and stole his coat and was about to torture hodgson when goodsir wouldn't butcher the man that he killed.

and, as hodgson explains it, "i'm hungry. i'm hungry, and i want to live." which, in conjunction with the fact that hodgson says that he isn't a brave man... really gets to me. since he's a lieutenant that makes him basically the one who has sunk down the furthest in the eyes of Polite Society back home. he would, if he somehow made it back home, be both utterly traumatised and faced with absolutely no sympathy. because he abandoned his men, his captain, his first lieutenant, for a mutineer. and then did cannibalism. but he still wants to live. right until the end. [rending my clothes and wailing]

billy was so utterly blinded by whatever the hell it was he felt for hickey that he would not have been able to look away from him. like even though he basically hated him by the time they set off they did... have something for each other in some really weird way. hickey has tears in his eyes when he kills him but he still kills him. :(

manson is extremely suggestible and also hickey had basically saved him from getting executed earlier in the show (when manson wouldn't go into the dead room -- he raised his hand to hit irving and irving would have been... not necessarily within his rights but within the letter of the law to have him executed). armitage he also has something on because him not shopping armitage out about kidnapping silna saved him from getting beaten up.

hodgson is... kind of a more complicated one because his situation more relies on The Cowardice Of It. all three of crozier's lieutenants are very close, and then hickey bumps off one of them. and then at his trial they're interrupted by The Monster (which could happen to any of us really). hodgson, instead of staying to fight, runs the other way and the person that picks him up is the mutineer who killed his friend. and at that point you, uh, you can't really go Back. (and the cannibalism cements that; you're bound to each other now because you've done That.)

and tozer. man that guy has been through it and hickey identified it... really early on (just after heather got his skull ripped off). the marines were essentially in a position where they would only be friends with each other and the officers because that was who they were there to protect. you don't get too pally with the men because if they mutiny then you might have to shoot them. but then when there aren't any marines left then there aren't really many other options open to him. add to that what happened to heather at the carnival and uh. trauma bonding innit.

and thank you so much for sending me Your Thoughts! i have thoroughly enjoyed it and your perspectives on The World's Worst Cruise. (and thank you for the Silna Fact; i love that.)

[dr-lizortecho]

Podsquad masterlist

in chronological order <3

within series

the future’s in the hand that you hold (Teen, 1.285 words)

summary: a look into how Max and Isobel’s psychic link could have been created, and their first ever meeting

content warnings: child abuse

left the worst unsaid (Mature, 3.882 words)

summary: Her heart beats in her ears as she peers around the corner, chest tight as she breathes shallowly. Fear and anxiety crashing over each other in her chest, cold and cruel as it grips tight at her heart, making breathing all the more difficult.

But Isobel only balls her fists to keep her hands from shaking, nails biting into her palms and the smooth glass of her sword pinching at her skin. If she lets the emotions get too big they’ll fracture out from her, sending a signal to everyone within the temple. And then her mother will know she’s not where she’s supposed to be. The exact opposite actually.

————————————————————————

or a look at what could have caused the Golden Triad to wipe the podsquad’s memories and pod them before heading off to Earth

content warnings: child abuse

suddenly everything changed (Teen, 1.455 words)

summary: Michael is worried about Max. He has been acting strange and he finally decides to confront him. Leading to a revelation he wasn’t prepared to face (canon divergent 3x01)

content warnings: fatal illness reveal

Three Becomes Four (General Audiences, 1.194 words)

summary: Canon Divergent from 3x10, in which Michael and Isobel reach out to Dallas without excluding Max from the story. Inviting him to join their modge podge of a family.

Dallas confides in Kyle, trying to find a way to tell his new friends that their parents were darker than they imagined…

content warnings: none

Decisions Not Temptations (General Audiences, 924 words)

summary: Max calls Kyle after his siblings don’t pick up, the after effects of a panic attack making Kyle check on him. While Dallas does his best to work with Max on his feelings about Jones (3x10 canon divergent)

content warnings: panic attack

Pod People (Teen, 1.067 words)

summary: His presence always felt like a soft white light at the back of her mind, a fuzzy warm feeling she could lean back on when everything else felt wrong. Even with their new found space and ability to exist not just co-exist. It felt like walking through a room with her eyes closed. Finding his emotions and latching onto them from a distance, feeling them along with him. Like they were two cogs in a clock, interlocking and moving in tandem.

Not one in the traditional sense. But pushing each other forward and pulling each other along. Growing together and apart, for better or for worse.

content warnings: none

come back and haunt me (Teen, 744 words)

summary: The sand gives way, swallowing them whole. It’s almost some metaphor for the desert itself, how the dry heat of it held so many secrets, ate away the meat off bones and saw more than its fair share of disappearances.

Then there was the irony of it.

Max and Isobel had come into this world holding hands walking through an unforgiving desert and now they left the same way.

content warnings: implied/refrenced child abuse

au

Hygge (Teen, 1.073 words)

summary: Jim Valenti finds a way for Michael to not float around the system without putting him in Jesse’s line of fire

content warnings: none

søskende (General Audiences, 1.412 words)

summary: Michael Ramos gets to meet his siblings for the first time in years

Max and Isobel are both thrilled in their own way, while Eduardo worries he might be failing his son

content warnings: none

[rhonddaandallaneuro]

Moved on through the Cornwall region today and it is stunning. Narrow roads are the norm but everyone seems to respect each other and we all take turns of driving through one lane roads in an orderly manner

We stopped at a fishing village, the home of St Mawes Castle and took a very windy walk around. This place is a time lost. No two way streets at all. Steps are the main way one gets from one street to another. Here we also took the time to sit and enjoy a “Cornish” pasty. They are something to believe.

From here we took the Brodinnick ferry (still main transport) to “Edens Project” where the future lies. A massive acreage facility that covers all good about a sustainable planet and the foods we should grow. No talk of meat here. Did not do the walk as it was getting late and you need to spend a full day at least to take it all in.

On our travels we stopped in to walk around Truro and here we found a church not so well known but with character some of its bigger brothers lack. Great reading the plaques and history.

The day ended at the “Stag” hotel in Falmouth and here we have had the greatest mix with the locals. The pub is old and I mean old but character abounds. Just wish the manager was a little more organised. Story goes his cooks mother had died so when we arrived (4pm) he still did not have our room ready and advised us no meals tonight. That was easily fixed with more liquid chops (beer) consumed. Haha Final joke on us though as he slept in so no breakfast.

Today however we have seen some of the greatest back tracks one could hope for. Did so many one lane roads and at times worried we had actually driven into a farm or two. Tried to go the “Hidden Valley” in Launceston however it was shut so back into the back roads we went as we drove through rain to Padstow. Then to Mecca, for Rhondda, the original “Rick Stein” Seaford restaurant. Great seafood with five star service. Will make the effort to visit other such establishments around the world after this. Foods was divine money well spent.

From here a short country drive through to Port Isaac where the television series Doc Martin is filmed. It is a huge walk down to the town itself as no cars are allowed due to the streets being so narrow. It is an even bigger climb back but the locally made mint chip ice cream was worth it. Here the seagulls are as fat as an over fed cat and the tide heights, requiring man made walls, to control are at least 20 metre in variance.

We had planned to visit a lot of sea towns along the coast but with wind and rain decided to cut a few and drove to St Ives. Now this place has character and charm and the smallest streets in the world. Our car is smallish but at one time we had three inches to spare on drivers side and scrapped the passenger mirror as we drove between two houses. Reversing is the norm here with one closest to “pull in” having to reverse. Rhondda even had to move a rubbish bin so we could drive down one lane. Delivery drivers must hate this place.

One thing that has caused a great deal of pain and created several divorce’s are the round abouts here. In more then one scenario there were six unnamed exits causing us to drive around and around until we could decide which was the one we wanted. Total bedlam at times.

Done for the day we drove to Penzance where we are staying for the night. The local rugby team is playing so car parking obscene. We have had to park away from our motel a fair distance and this place is only a B & B so no bar. The walk should do us well though. Found a local hotel for drinks and watched the six nations rugby match between England and Ireland. For company we has a rugby team from London who were staying at the hotel to play the local team the next day.

[iviarellereads]

Wheel of Time full series spoiler thoughts on EOTW 9-13

A probably semi-regular weekly bonus to my reread blog, since sometimes you realize things on reread that just make you need to yell in a full spoiler space. (Check out my project explainers here and here)

Seeing Shayol Ghul, where Lews Therin's Hundred Companions struck, and then Dragonmount and Tar Valon and the White Tower itself, whose shadow Rand will be trying to escape until book 13… what a dream sequence. And Ishy throughout, demanding Rand SERVE HIM. Well, given some of his outfits in the show, I think he's served plenty.

He slept with the sword digging into his side, giving him a sore spot on his ribs. Sweetie, I'm sorry, but you don't know what a sore spot on your side could begin to mean yet. I swear, the foreshadowing in this series.

Let's just take a minute to swim in Ba'alzamon and Beelzebub. The latter, of course, being a name that was taken from a god of a conquered religion, and turned into a demon prince's name, but often mistaken for the Christian Devil. RJ was telling us as early as chapter 9 that this isn't actually The Guy, it's just The Guy's lieutenant, if you know the name enough to look it up past your first assumption.

And, hinting at the Warder bond between Eldrene and Aemon, the consequences of it, and the parallel to Egwene's finale. (Yes I know RJ planned for her to live and raise Gawyn's child with Galad, shhh, the end she got was better for her arc and this parallel even if it fucked over the White Tower reformation, it's fine.)

I really do have complicated feelings about the Manetheren speech. I think it was SO much better handled in the show, honestly. They still have their song, even if they don't know what it means anymore, just like us cultural Christians who celebrate Christmas and all, but barely understand the references in the old carols, and they're only a few hundred years on. It's a more relatable balance than the complete loss of the book version. And, the parallels between Eldrene and Egwene are nothing to sniff at, but only the TV show gave my girl her due foreshadowing, because they had the ending to work toward.

Baby's First Weaving, keeping Bela up with the other horses. "His skin prickled, and his bones felt as if they were freezing, ready to split open." I know most people who have read the series a few times already know it, but in case we have any first-rereaders, hi, yes, this is when he channels, and then the channeling sickness fevers start sometime around Baerlon and culminate on the road to Caemlyn when he channels again with the lightning.

Lan making reference to Hightower with "I believe he might sell his mother to Trollocs for stew meat if the price was right." The fact that Asmodean threw his mother to the Fades on his way into the Dark hoping for immortality to develop his music. Do you think Lan knew it really happened once, or is it one of those figures of speech that gets passed down in the world?

And, the extraordinarily shoehorned Egg as Amyrlin Seat mention. RJ really did have his characters just… say what was going to happen, so much. Only, the statement implies that you need to be strong to be Amyrlin, but you really don't: it's political and personal strength you need, not the Power, even if the White Tower isn't very well equipped to tell the difference all the time.

Do you think Perrin insisted the farmhouse was no different than the ones back home, because his eyes were starting to change? We don't get any indication they go yellow until they split up, but who's to say what order things happen in. I like the idea that the journey's beginning starts them all along their paths.

Colander, the bowl that is not a bowl. I mean, Callandor, of course, what did you think I meant? 😉 The Karaethon Cycle and all that spins out from it... gosh. We've got so much fun ahead of us, don't we?

[benpaddon]

The thing is - and don't get me wrong, there are some good points made up there - but Picard Season 3 isn't trying to be TNG. It's trying to be the imagined fifth-and-final-TNG-movie.

It's not even subtle about that, either. Just look at the opening and closing titles. Plus, y'know, Terry Matalas has essentially said that's what they were trying to make.

And once you look at it through that lens, the decision to make it a continuity-heavy dark action thriller makes absolute sense. Because that's more or less what the TNG movies were:

Generations is about grief, death, anxiety, and the inescapable gravity of putting Kirk and Picard in the same place at the same time.

First Contact was simultaneously "Die Hard in space with zombies" and a sequel to one of the most memorable TNG series ever made, all while "What if humanity fucks up the one thing that gives us purpose in the future?" plays out in the background (which is, haha, itself a continuity deep-cut).

Insurrection is essentially an action-thriller remake of that one episode with Worf's human brother with some of the elements (the holodeck, the forced resettlement) shuffled around and a Fountain of Youth-obsessed villain glued onto the sides, complete with occasional references to the Dominion War.

Nemesis is aping as many as six separate episodes of TNG at once, while also trying to kill Data (which Brent Spiner had spent most of the TNG movies trying to make happen).

So it makes absolute sense for the production to make what is ostensibly the TNG crew's Undiscovered Country basically a continuation of those themes and ideas, albeit with more money and time thrown at it. The show isn't trying to reproduce the high philosophy of "The Measure of a Man". It's trying to be First Contact 2, only instead of referring a single two-part story from the early 90s, it's trying to refer to, y'know, most of it. More or less.

I actually think that's fine. I could do with less "Ooh, i'nt secretly Starfleet awful?" in an era with two other shows actively trying to present a career in Starfleet as a noble endeavor, but then the TNG movies also did that (at least twice, by my count), and it was the spine upon which much of the meat of the Dominion War arc in DS9 was built. So, yeah. Sure. I'll deal with that.

I kind of think that Star Trek has come down with that issue that all long-running franchises run into, whereby they get taken over by people who grew up with them and are convinced that the version that existed when they were kids is the Real version, and so promising new plotlines and characters get shelved in favour of continuing arcs from decades ago. You see this all the time in comics.

That said, I think that the supporting cast of 'Picard' were always in kind of an awkward position, whereby the major draw of the series was always tied up with nostalgia, and so a large chunk of the audience would never be satisfied with just seeing Picard interact with new characters.

[360iris]

Orchard House, Chapter 2: Mango

Pairing: BTS, POLY!OT7 x Bunny Hybrid!Reader

Series Status: Ongoing, as of 01.07.22

Summary: Squad Kim advertises for a roommate.

Warnings: She/her pronouns for reader insert, reader discretion is always advised.

BTS Masterlist / Chapter 1, Fig + Cherry

YEAR: August 2012

Jin: 20 / Namjoon: 19 / Y/n: 18 / Jung Hoseok: 19

“20yo male seeking clean and hybrid-friendly roommate. $1350/month [bills included] with $300 security deposit for four bedroom- two bath condominium located in Central Seoul” read the posting on the app.

And while Hoseok was highly aware that the amount asked for exceeded his budget by a whopping $650, the pictures of the unit immediately had him sold.

The room that would be his was bigger than the entirety of his current studio apartment, he’d even get his own bathroom! Of which looked newly built and filled to the brim with modern furnishings.

Not to mention the view he would have of the city- plus the additional protection that came from moving into a gated community?

If anything, the listing was strangely a steal. Most people in the landlord’s position would focus on appealing to unknowing foreigners and charge twice the amount this guy was asking for.

He must be loaded, or just off his rocker if he isn’t starting the rent off at $2300 at the very least for a spot like that. Hoseok thinks amazed, but nonetheless grateful.

Looking over his accounting book, he would definitely have to carve a large chunk out of his savings to even afford the place for a month. But he’d make it work.

He could pick up extra shifts at the bar. And then see if any of his regular clients from the studio wanted to schedule additional sessions. He could make it work.

Sure- he’d have to settle for surviving on rice, ramen, cheap meat and vegetables for who knows how long, but he’d been meaning to go on a diet for a while now. This could work.

With a single tap of the screen, he’d been able to send over all the necessary, upfront information to the lister.

Clicking the sleep button, he sets the phone down with a sigh, nearly jumping out of his skin as it gives a sudden jolt and buzz.

[🏡] EASYFIND

(uarmyhope): thekimzzz replied to your inquiry. 3:54AM

Sliding open the notification, the message offers a humble thanks for considering their listing. As well as, directions to the complex, along with a wide assortment of dates and times for an in-person interview and showing.

Having the day off later today, he chooses an after lunch slot and collapses into bed, too tired to shower for the time being.

Hoseok thanked his lucky stars that he’d decided to give himself extra time, from the train being 15 minutes late, to him wandering the neighborhood confused on where the entrance was- he finally made it past the gate with 30 minutes to spare.

Now he just had to figure out how to get past the keypad and actually into the building itself.

He hadn’t realized how much trouble rich people went through just to lay down. How many restaurants even bothered delivering to a maze like this?

Opening the EasyFind app, he rereads the directions for what feels like the millionth time, racking his brain over the procedure of steps.

“Do I use the QR code first? If so, how do I even-“ He wonders aloud, shifting his weight from foot to foot in mild desperation.

“Did you forget your keycard?” He hears a soft voice ask from behind him, turning to find two pairs of eyes… and ears?

“Um-“ He stutters, not sure where he should look exactly.

He’d had minimal experience with hybrids, seeing as they were often reserved for those who had deep enough pockets. The few he had encountered over the years usually acted as mute assistants to the rich guests that frequented his places of work.

Though he supposed he would become more accustomed to seeing them during everyday life if he was to start frequenting higher budget areas of the city.

“I don’t live here- um, yet? I’m here for an appointment, but I can’t seem to figure out the guest keypad…” Upon hearing the first half, the bigger hybrid shifts in front of his companion.

Blocking the girl from view with his towering figure, his eyes are cool and analytical. Was he what they called an alpha?

“An appointment. With what unit, if you don’t mind me asking?” He speaks calmly, voice thick and oddly soothing?

Here he was, being stared down by a giant wolf, and all he could find himself thinking about was how handsome this stranger is.

This was the big, bad wolf Red Riding Hood’s story was about, yet he wasn’t afraid. There was no fear or uneasy feelings- just an alluring air drifting about them.

“Um. I don’t mind actually. I’ve been walking around aimlessly for half an hour now, so help would be greatly appreciated. 9294 was the number I was given.” Hoseok answers, looking back at the app and then flipping his hand to show the boy the screen.

The hybrid reads the words briefly, his expression remaining stoic as he nods. “We can guide you there. It’s on the 17th floor.”

Redirecting his attention away from Hoseok, he turns around. Seemingly only to offer his available hand to the girl wordlessly- the other preoccupied with grasping a plastic bag full of convenience store snacks.

Hoseok watches as she quickly accepts his invitation, tugging him along with her over to the sensor by the door. Waving her wrist past it with an eager, but elegant swipe, the glass gives a sharp click before it pushes open inwardly.

A sleek, rose gold charm bracelet glints in the sunlight as her hand returns to her side.

In hopes of appearing more sophisticated than he currently felt, he holds back a deep noise of amazement. Obediently following behind as the bunny hybrid sweetly beckons him forward with a simple tilt of her head and gentle, “This way, please.”

She happily leads them to the elevators, pressing the hall call button and stepping aside so he could enter first.

Maybe if he wasn’t so flustered by the wolf’s silent charm and the demure way she looked up at him all doe-eyed when she spoke- he probably would have noticed that number 17 was the only button pressed.

Instead he misses the second wave of her wrist over the touch screen inside the lift, admittedly captivated by the pair.

“It’s a really nice building, I think you’ll like it.” She smiles, eyes drifting from his apparel to his face, seemingly appraising his appearance.

Namjoon subtly smirks, his gaze fixed on the doors but still clocking how Y/n managed to have the poor guy wrapped around her finger in a matter of minutes.

“Well, I.. I think so too.” He simultaneously coughs and laughs nervously, kicking himself mentally for suddenly acting like such a dork.

It’s not like he was a stranger to women flirting, or even sex for that matter- so what had him so flustered? Every ounce of game he had in his body suddenly vanished into thin air.

Before he can think on it any longer however, the elevator dings. The contraption coming to a smooth halt and the metal doors glide open. Though instead of displaying a typical apartment hallway, it reveals a single entrance.

The numbers 9294 are unmistakable on the plaque next to the front door.

He gapes, stunned silent and feet stuck to the floor.

Feeling fingers ghost across his hand, he looks down. The girl- he still didn’t know their names, was looking at him expectantly.

“This is it.” She speaks in her usual dulcet tone, the pads of her fingers just barely brushing against his skin and even in a state of shock, he registers how good it feels.

You have to get laid soon because this is pathetic, Jung Hoseok. He groans mentally. Are you fifteen again?

He follows them into the foyer mindlessly, his brain still not quite working until the wolf hybrid presses his thumb against a black screen and the door to the unit unlocks.

Hoseok watches as they push inside and begin slipping off their shoes, tucking them into cubbies in the hallway before turning to him in question.

“Wait. So you two-“ He starts just as the pieces were beginning to fall into place, only to be interrupted by a raised voice from further inside.

“Yah! You two are going to get it! I've been calling you nonstop for the past 5 minutes! And don’t say your phone died, I know you ignored me on purpose. I told you we have an interview coming up- where have you been!” Jin shouts as he rounds the corner. His phone in one hand, house slipper in the other, meanwhile one foot is bare against the cool flooring.

Both human men pause at seeing the other, Jin dropping the shoe and quietly slipping it back on while maintaining eye contact like a deer in headlights.

Joon shakes his head, walking past him and into the living room. “We found your interviewee outside clueless on how to even get past the main door. I told you to simplify the instructions but you wouldn’t listen.”

“Mhm.” Y/n confirms, still patiently waiting for Hoseok at the door.

Walking in apprehensively, she closes the door behind him before practically skipping over to the man. Lacing her fingers with his and it clicks yet again that this must be their owner and his potential landlord.

“They offered to show me to my destination. I wasn’t aware they belonged to you though.” He finally speaks up, giving an apologetic ninety degree bow. “My name is Jung Hoseok. I placed my application last night.”

“Ah, it’s okay! No need for all that!” Jin waves his hands anxiously. “Come inside, Hoseok-ssi. We can talk more once we’re seated.”

As he follows, the bunny hybrid hangs behind to walk in step with him, a guilty look settling over her delicate features.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything once we realized who you were. Joon likes to be cautious around strangers- especially when we aren't with Jin, so it’s usually better if I go along with him. He just wants to make sure we're safe.” She explains wringing her hands.

Taking a moment, he smiles. “Water under the bridge.” The response was so simple and yet the decisiveness of it caused her face to glow with delight.

“My name is Y/n.”

Biting her bottom lip, she attempts to conceal a pleased grin as he repeats it faintly before offering a gentle, “It was a pleasure making your acquaintance, Y/n.”

Basking in his kindness, she happily slips away from his side as they make it to the next room. Tenderly brushing the pads of her fingers against his hand as she passes.

“Hoseok.” Y/n whines droozily, her fingers tightly clasping the tail-end of his shirt as he sat on the bed packing his work bag. “You promised I could go to the dance studio with you today.”

“That was before you slept past all four of your alarms and my attempts to get you up sooner. I can’t be late for my appointments and you’re still in your pajamas. It’s already 9:05am, meaning I leave in fifteen minutes.”

She rolled out from under the covers clumsily, her hair a wild mess and sleep still in her eyes.

“I can be ready!” She exclaimed excitedly, rushing out of his room hurriedly before haphazardly bolting back- “I can be ready! Don’t leave me, okay!?”

“That makes it fourteen minutes.” He announces teasingly, throwing a glance to his watch and laughing heartily as she gives a squeak before darting back out.

A loud “I can do it, Hobi!” resounding from down the hall.

Though she and Namjoon had their own rooms, they hardly slept in them alone, if at all.

Happy and well-attended hybrids often preferred being as close to their owner/s as possible. So it had become a nightly tradition years ago for the both of them to snuggle up amongst themselves and Jin, limbs sprawled out and entangled comfortably.

Personal space quickly dissolved into a foreign concept between the trio.

Over the span of the six months that Hoseok had been existing amongst them, he adjusted rather rapidly to their way of living. They found that he suited them perfectly.

Being the same age as Namjoon offered a special bond for the two boys, a new brand of connection that the hybrid hadn’t been able to experience before.

Jin felt the same- with Hoseok things were just easy.

During his life, he was so accustomed to putting on an act in front of others. His birthright demanded absolute perfection, but this was the first time he felt seen for who he truly was by another human and he cherished every moment.

A subtle rattle and sharp, metal scrap came from the walk-in closet, coaxing him awake. Opening his eyes to find the door ajar and a shadow darting frantically about.

In favor of inspecting the mostly silent commotion, Jin slips out of bed and paddles toward the opening. The sight of Y/n scurrying around and almost falling face first while in the process of pulling a pair of white track pants over her underwear caused him to abruptly chuckle.

The girl’s head whipped around in alarm, furred ears darting upwards before abruptly relaxing once she’d registered it was him.

“Jin- You’re supposed to be asleep, you scared me!” She whispered, shrugging on the matching jacket and zipping it over a lace pink bralette.

“I was, before someone rudely woke me up by deciding to ransack the closet.” He hummed, walking forward and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

He’d been trying to break her habit of nibbling on her bottom lip, but had had very little improvement so far. Brushing his thumb over it, he gently coaxes it from her teeth, watching carefully as her breath hitches.

A little attention was all it took for her eyes to glaze over with expectation. And admittedly he found it adorable, but it was yet another habit he’d been trying to discourage.

Pulling away, he tries to ignore the disappointment that washes over her features before she forces it down and shifts her attention off of him.

Slipping past him, she subconsciously sinks her teeth back into the plush softness of her lip. Her brows furrowed as she subtly worried the flesh.

“Hoseok’s taking me to work with him today so tell Joon not to wait up?” She asks quietly over her shoulder, clasping the door frame.

“Of course.” He answers mirroring her volume as a regrettably tense air settles between them. She nods once, lingering for just a second at the threshold before exiting the room.

His chest feeling strangely heavy even as he lets out a sigh.

For the entirety of their commute to the studio, Hoseok paws over whether or not he should address the blanket of melancholy that had come to rest over Y/n.

The moment she came back all dressed and ready to go, he’d noticed her shift in moods.

During the short amount of time he’d known her, she tended to be very good at communicating when things bothered her. Always relaying her honest opinions, asking others theirs and eager to find solutions that would make everyone happy with the outcome.

When he looked closer, it seemed to be something she worked very hard at. But when put into practice, her conflict resolution skills never failed to appear effortless. She could deescalate even the pettiest of arguments between the boys with only a handful of words.

She’d say something when she was ready. And with this in mind, he settled on doing what he did best- being attentive and present until she decided she wanted his help.

The work day was as taxing as always, flitting from one private session to the next- taking a short break for lunch and getting right back to it again.

Y/n helped when she could, lending a hand here and there, but she mostly just offered moral support.

The older women, no matter their backgrounds, would often coo over her- lightly pinching her cheeks and patting her head affectionately as their scheduled times with Hoseok concluded.

She delighted in their attention and praise of what “a diligent worker and quick learner” she was when it came to memorizing the procedures and steps.

She particularly excelled during “Mommy/Toddler Time”, which was a fun portion of the afternoon where new mothers got to socialize with others like themselves, while encouraging their children to learn basic stretches and movements.

Under the guiding hand of their mothers, she allowed them to gently pet her ears. The simple wonder that sparked in their eyes as their tiny fingers caressed the snowy fur incited pure joy and warmth in her heart.

Once everyone had said their goodbyes for the day, leaving the spare dance room a quiet oasis for the first time since early that morning, she laughed as Hoseok sank to the floor with an over-exaggerated sigh of relief.

Plopping down next to him, they shared a smile. The day was done, all they needed to do was clean up the loose ends and head home.

At the thought of going home, her smile falters. Remembering how things had been left with Jin made her uneasy.

Cupping her hand, Hoseok doesn’t speak, instead offering a subtle invitation.

Looking down at where they touch, she sighs, the initial sadness refreshing in her brain.

“Have you heard? That bunnies tend to take rejection pretty hard?” Voice soft and eyes downcast, she rests her head against the mirrored wall. “I don’t know what it is about us specifically, but we’re affected so deeply by social bonds that even our physical health can diminish as a result.”

“Did something happen before we left the house?” He asks worriedly, leaning closer to better gauge her reaction.

Biting down on her bottom lip, she squeezes her eyes shut tightly, a few tears streaking across her cheeks as they flutter closed.

“No.” She answers shakily. “I know in actuality it was nothing, but because of who- what I am, it felt like everything.

I’ve never been ashamed of my species. I’m proud to be a bunny, but we feel things so intensely. Sometimes I feel like the smallest thing could wash me away. Every strong emotion racks through me, it’s frightening. Debilitating almost.

I wish-“

“That things could be different?” He finishes her sentence. Eyes so clear and resolute that it felt like she could pour anything into them. Any amount of fear, worry or doubt and there would still be room for more of her.

“You must think I sound whiny.” She sniffs, weakly attempting to laugh dryly, but it comes out as just a puff of air.

“I don’t.” He replies without even having to think about it. “I think that you’re strong, kind and full of so much love that at times, that feeling morphs into pain.

I won’t pretend to fully know the depth of your struggle, but I do believe that what you see as weakness- is also one of your greatest strengths.

Your intensity is admirable, and there are so many people out in the world who would benefit from getting to experience even a second of that love. Just like I have. And how I’m sure Namjoon and Seokjin-hyung have as well.”

She gives a broken whimper, before fully launching into his arms. Burying her face into his neck and nosing at the base of it.

Wrapping her arms around him, her fingers curl into his shirt. Soft and muffled words reverberating against his shoulder as he held her.

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