#ghoulish growths

[silyabeeodess]

FusionFall Headcanons: Ghoulish Growths

According to concept art, these canopied creeps can stand up to a daunting fifteen meters, making them one of the largest fusion monsters to roam across the planet. Their description explains that fusion matter infecting the soil contributed to their rapid growth as well as their deformations. Said concept art might refer to these creatures as "Crazy Guardian Ents," but they are a far-cry from the protective forestdwellers you've heard about in stories.

Due to their massive size, these fusion monsters are the biggest threat to the KND Jungle Outpost and the main reason for the strong defenses surrounding it. The high slope and walls are necessary to help prevent the Ghoulish Growths from breaking in, with cannons doing far more damage than even a team of fusion fighters can manage against one of these foes. As such, guard duty is taken very seriously there and any soldier stationed at the Jungle Outpost is likely to have experience manning its heavy artillery. Since they will literary root themselves into the wall to keep from being forced back down, it's as difficult a task as it is an important one. If the Ghoulish Growths did reach the top of the base or actually managed to break in, the damage they'd cause would be severe. Moreover, since the base is so far out in the Wilds, it would also be harder to recover from such an attack as gathering resources would take more time.

While fusion spawns likely could've taken over some of the older, more mature, and much larger trees that exist within the Wilds, Fuse probably settled on younger ones for one simple reason: Mobility. Yes, having that kind of titan of a fusion monster in the Wilds would've been advantageous in some respects, but the original tree's roots would be so deeply burrowed into the earth that it would be a miracle if it could remove itself from the ground. Besides that, the branches of younger trees are more flexible. Taking them over at a young age would make the resulting monster naturally nimbler overall, as well as give them a better chance of warping the body into whatever shape was desired successfully prior to its accelerated growth. There might be a handful of those massive, older trees possessed by fusion spawns somewhere, existing in the same vein as mini bosses in the game do, but they'll be stationary. In extension to this, you won't really see Ghoulish Growths in colder climates for the same reason. Branches as more likely to get become brittle and take more damage, so they'll typically only stay wherever it's warm.

This is a direct contrast to the Timber Terrors, which are made from smaller and much older trees. As mentioned when covering them, their fossilized wood provided some defense against fusion matter's poisonous effects as the spawns possessed them. (It's hard to kill what's already dead.) Ghoulish Growths may have better mobility, but lack that same protection and typically have an even shorter lifespan as a result, their bodies collapsing on themselves over time even with fusion matter corrupting them more than killing them. Like the Timber Terrors, the longest lasting Ghoulish Growths are those whose makeup have been fully and successfully twisted by fusion matter, making it more like the alien flora we see in Hero's Hollow.

Other distinguishing features for these monsters are their three faces and elongated "fingers." While their heads are pressed into the trunk of the trees, meaning they have to turn their whole body to see around them, the extra sets of eyes do allow for greater visibility. If you aren't attacking them from directly behind, it can be harder to find a blind spot than you'd think. Their long, slender fingers are even more nimble than the rest of their form, and it's typical for them to completely bind their targets in a firm hold before squeezing the life out of them.

As one might imagine, literally being a tree makes their camouflage almost perfect, their ambush tactics second to none. Many a soldier have wandered through the forest only to learn of a Ghoulish Growth looming over them all too late. Wildlife has also suffered greatly, with animals sometimes approaching the still monsters unaware. Over time, as the forests' natural populations began to recognize the threat, they developed keener senses to avoid them, so keeping an eye on what trees animals act nervous around or actively avoid is a good way to keep yourself safe as well. Furthermore, it's much easier to spot these monsters at night, as the fusion matter coursing through them can't be hidden. Some of the smarter ones have tried using moss to cover this, to limited success.

The revealed sections of fusion matter warping through the wood are also their biggest weak spots. There, they have already likely taken sufficient damage from the inside-out. Turn those corroding, hollow areas into craters by attacking them directly.

While a little unorthodox and not without risk, another strategy would be if you managed to leap into a Ghoulish Growth's canopy and attack from there. It won't be an easy ride, but their topmost branches don't act as limbs and can instead be used for cover: Yes, they can still reach up to grab you, but it'll be harder with the branches shielding you and their limited visibility. For them, it would be like trying to pluck off a tick hidden in a thick mass of hair.

[bonefall]

What are your thoughts on Crowfeather's Trial? I already know how you feel about my other least favorite super editions so I'm curious about your opinions on this one lol

I think at best it's just okay. Like...it feels like they're going "see!! We're holding him accountable!!" But then they just kinda...dont?? Like I didn't feel any differently about Crowfeather by the end than I did when I started. There's parts I like about it but overall it just fell flat for me

Like how am I supposed to like this guy when he's just constantly a dick?? he can't stand Harespring for some reason, there's a moment where he's like "I wish my son was dead" and when Nightcloud goes missing he barely gives a damn and doesn't bother to even try and look for her

Anyways I'll forever be mad that they gave this guy a whole super edition and he'll probably have the most dramatic death ever while Leafpool suffered her entire life (and afterlife) and got killed off screen. Hoping he gets jumped by rats and dies from infection

I'm not a big fan of it. It's one of the better written SEs and has a clear goal in mind, but every time I have to encounter it, it feels like it's sidelining the characters who actually deserve to be explored in favor of Crowfeather Sadboy Whinging.

Breezepelt has 12 books detailing how being mistreated by Crowfeather is making him worse, and showing that social alienation is pushing him towards the Dark Forest. Nightcloud was demonized by the old team even though they wrote Crowfeather deflecting all the blame of Breeze's behavior onto her, giving the new team a great opportunity to correct the mistakes of the old writers... and they decided to focus on Crowfeather instead.

And, mind you, they conveniently leave out massive details about how BADLY Crowfeather was abusing his child.

There's this one part of the book where he learns that Breezepelt broke his leg as a kid and he feels like shit for not remembering it, and it's supposed to be a big moment where Crowfeather realizes he was apathetic and careless. But he WASN'T just apathetic and careless. We see him TEACHING his child xenophobia in order to mock and offend Leafpool, smacking Breezepaw around for being 'rude' (the way Crowf always is), and screeching at him for having basic needs like hunger or rest.

Crowfeather WASN'T just a sad, sad boy who didn't pay attention to his kid because he was too busy pining over Dead Wife. What he did to Breezepelt wasn't just neglect; it was physical and emotional abuse.

The book DOES ultimately hold him responsible for how Breezepelt turned out, yes. But it doesn't properly focus on WHAT made Breeze come out the way he did. It wasn't genes, it wasn't Daddy Not Smile At Me. I can only assume the reason why they didn't address how ghoulish Crowfeather actually was is because they knew that being honest and direct about him abusing his child would make him unsympathetic.

Which is a problem, because, y'know, you can just make it Breezepelt's Trial and NOT have to thread that needle??

And furthermore... the book is trying to show Crowfeather addressing that he's kind of an asshole and moving on from it, earning deputyship as a reward for his growth, but what the book really demonstrates to me is that Crowfeather is a dickhead who actually shouldn't have ANY power at all. I don't understand why people would trust him or want him as their leader. I don't see any reason to think that he would be responsible with the lives of an entire Clan of people.

Before I hear clown shoes; if you think that means I "just don't like" that he would be an ""interesting leader,"" pile yourself back into the car with your 30 other jesters and drive away. I mean that it feels completely wrong that any character in-universe would look at the person who exists in Crowfeather's Trial, and say, "this is a person who would help me effectively rule."

What he does, all-book-long, is show that he's an emotionally unstable loose canon borderline incapable of self-reflection. Other characters have to directly tell him "you should try being less of an asshole" and "maybe be nice to your family sometimes?" while he comes up with bullshit reasons to seethe at every character who wanders into his line of sight.

I massively resent the fact that even Leafpool has to mommy his baby ass towards the end of the book. After he spends a good part of Po3 and OotS finding roundabout ways to snipe at her for not giving him exactly what he wanted. It falls on HER to be the one he can ask for advice on how to fix the family he treated like shit his whole life.

no that's not hyperbole she literally. textually. is compared to his mother.

and he can't even be gracious about it, he's instantly all huffy and offended, completely proving her point. Why the hell would anyone make this guy a deputy? The man needs TWO motherly figures giving him the exact same basic advice and a dedicated super edition before he adjusts his behavior even slightly.

(watch him get Boring Leader Syndrome the minute he inevitably becomes Crowstar, too)

Sooo, in a nutshell;

It's one of the better SEs. unfortunately.

Crowfeather is held accountable for being the problem in his own relationships, thank god

but it doesn't fully hold the actions we SAW in the main series books accountable, seemingly purposefully leaving out the worst things he did.

Another WC book where a male character gets an insane amount of sympathy and rewarding that female characters are NEVER deigned deserving of.

Should have been Breezepelt's story. I strongly dislike how Breeze's "redemption" was based on his shitty dad saying sorry. He deserved an actual character arc struggling with ever trusting WindClan again after they took his dad's judgement about him at face value.

Absolutely awful that Leafpool is killed between books and given a trial where they consider sending her to hell when they finally DO get around to showing how she died, while Crowfeather gets an SE about the whole world holding his hand so he can fix the family he broke in 5 easy steps.

Its biggest problem is that it is about a character whose actions you can go and read about. It doesn't deliver on the setup of 12 books of Crowfeather being an absolute git; it's a good story for the version of Crowfeather the new team seems to have created in their heads.

Doesn't stop me from manifesting him getting an infection and having a Sandstorm-tier disrespectful death in the upcoming series, lmao.

[sogthewoz]

List of Dsaf Headcanons

Um this will almost constantly be updated so check frequently,,, also most of these aren't simple headcanons and might contain some graphic detail so be warned,,,

Dave smiles with all of his teeth cause Henry used to do that and he just thinks it's normal

Dave and Henry share similar shadows due to similar ideals, due to what Henry had taught Dave. Dave was often kept in the dark to Henry's plans, so the shadowing on Dave is only around his face and not his body. (ie picture below)

Legacy Jack has similar face shadows, but they cover both of his eyes.

4. Jack and Dave's eyelights stop working whenever their startled, (ie image below) and are colored, (Jack's eyelights are blue, while Dave's are yellowish orange.) Henry mostly lacks eyelights but his would be green.

5. Ironically, Dave hates slasher films, not cause he's scared, but because he thinks the characters are really stupid. Other than Friday the 13th. Dave actively watches that franchise

6. Due to Dave's lack of vital organs, and yet ability to still, Function as a human being, all of his muscle growth had came generally around before his first death, as he can no longer gain muscle.

7. Jack has similar issues but he stops having the ability to gain muscle somewhere around dsaf 3.

8. The undead in this universe do not rot quickly, it's relatively slow. Another (General) headcanon to add onto this, the also undead do not heal quickly.

9. Dave and Jack first properly met when Dave had unintentionally thrown a handcrank square into Jack's face. Dave does not remember this event, Jack on the other hand, does remember.

10. Additionally, that event had damaged Jack's face that badly mostly due to his rot making his skin weak. Thusly the stitches around his eye & non-working eyelight.If we was alive, he probably would have only gotten away with two less teeth and a broken nose.

11. The Kennedy's were a catholic household before Jack's parents died, Jack stopped believing that God was real until the real fredbear had "saved" his body from death. Jack is now generally agnostic now.

12. Blackjack is deeply philosophical, but has no one to talk to but himself. (Another universe based headcanon) Souls soon tend to speak in unintelligible ciphers as they soon don't remember what tongue they originally spoke in. Only really Jack has clear idea of how Blackjack and Dee speak, any other spirit he only has a general idea of what they’re saying.

13. Dave knows a quite a bit of medical knowledge off the top of his head due to Henry, but always follows it up with "but I might be wrong/don't quote me on that"

14. Henry out of sprite is just, incredibly sunburnt,, ie the pink. Or at least thats his assumption. He looks relatively normal other than that. Tldr he's just as oddly colored as Jack and Dave. There's no hiding his ghoulish soul, so it's only fair that he's portrayed as such.

15. Jack had always wanted to be honest to Dave, not just about his connected past but overall about his complicated feelings he has towards Dave. Jack never really had the time to do so, regardless of timeline, Dave was always too preoccupied with his plans for the two to have a proper chat about it.

[strawberry-spectre]

saw someone say Spelldon's only chara trait is being Valentine's bf so heres some Spelldon hcs >:(

his first instrument was the lyre, Apollo had taught him how to play bc he followed Hermes everywhere to hear him play again

he was born from the blood of Circe, rebirth and growth potion and the Costus spectabilis (national flower of Nigeria)

he used to braid the Aeaean nymphs hair as a child and got really good at it

he has dimples

he's insanely curious

he DIYed 80% of his clothing

he pierced all his ear piercings by himself with a sewing needle

he hates labels bc other monsters compared him to Casta growing up

he doesn't fear anything, fear fears him

he will wake up at the break of dawn every morning just to watch the sun rise then go back to sleep

he used to make dandelion wine with Casta and his mother every summer, it's one of his favourite memories of Aeaea

he used to run around Aeaea barefoot until he stepped on a sharp rock and started bleeding

he first started travelling with Casta when he was 14 and she was 16, he works backstage during shows

he likes dancing

his powers is dependent on the sun, the more sunny, the more powerful he is, thats why he loves summer

he mainly focuses on potions making though, so his natural powers are mid at best

ask him about politics and you'll be listening to him for 4+ hours

he gets sidetracked really easily

sometimes he will just stand while gazing out a window looking very pensive with his hands behind his back, and his mind would just be empty

his handwriting is lowkey sharp

he will look up to the sky and start talking about stuff, to others it seems very strange but he's just talking to his grandfather :D

he's in Environment club, MH Music Society, Mad Science club and SKRM

he's 17

he's lowkey stressing bc he doesn't know what he wwanna be in the future

one of his pet peeves are monsters who walk slowly

he's chaotic good

Circe never stopped his curiosity and encouraged him + gave him oppotunities to explore and investigate so he's become really independant, pesistent and a good problem solver

he has noise cancelling headphones with spikes

he has slit pupils cuz i think it'll be cool

he's a bit reckless bc he wants to prove himself and lowkey impatient

he hates when monsters bordeline yell when they sneeze bc it always jumpscares him

he loves collecting pretty plates and cups

he likes playing rpg games

he speaks english, greek and italian

he steals Casta's credit card all the time

constantly doodling

doomscrolls on social media when he can't sleep

when he's flustered he takes a step back and averts eye contact

his bed is full of plushies, and his walls are filled with posters

loves wearing fishnets

he's half nigerian and half greek

he tried to pierce his own snake bites at 3am but before he could Casta busted the bathroom door open and forced him to go to a professional

loves late night walks/early morning walks

professional procrastinator

he doesn't like Ghoulish Literature class bc he doesn't like writing essays

introvert

struggles with having a monotone voice, he sounds neutral even if he's excited or angry

resting bored face

[miquellah]

while cutting shanehaight’s questline is probably understandable (going out to slaughter the poor sewer omens a little too ghoulish), i do think it’s a shame for other reasons. first off ofc it actually gives much more context to the margit/morgott thing, which is actually kind of vague in base game alone if you aren’t really digging in. second of all, i think an extra emphasis to the shitty nobles of leyndell wouldve been pretty ideal; the blame of things is usually placed on the demigods or The Order itself purely as a concept, but the regular human nobles were actually pretty important in upholding such corruption. there were far more pieces than just demigods and their soldiers

kenneth is there, yeah, and you can glean a bit from him. but dude turns out to be pretty alright after his personal growth, for the most part, and ideally someone Complete shit like shanehaight would’ve been great

[daystarvoyage]

The Dana Terrace Vs Vivienne Medrano, The Great Debate of Two Female Creators

Hello Starry Knights, This is the lovely Kyoko Cane, The Brown Sugah Queen, & cosplayer who performs and visits numerous cons throughout, while making blogs/vlogs on animated media & entertainment.

as you know or are new to this page, I am an artist who also dedicated my fashion in drag, on all my platforms along my artwork & discussions (be it anime or Western) that can affect real-life even fandoms, with a variety of videos.

the title of the post is about The two proclaimed talked about animators, Dana Terrace & Vivienne Medrano, I'll be critiquing how these two women of animation tackle the industry. This will have strong opinions from recent interview videos I've watched.

(I'll be calling Vivienne VIVI FOR SHORT & letting you know, if I were to watch ones in the future affecting my post come on the comments to ask freely, AND YES ALL PROJECTS AND TOPICS ARE NOT WITHOUT THEIR CRITIQUES, FLAWS IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT, CHECK OUT THE DAYSTAR VOYAGE, DON'T HATE, APPRECIATE! )

OK LETS GET STARTED In this 3-part segment

1. The Different Artstyles That Made Us Love These Shows.

Vivis work (Helluva Boss & Hazbin Hotel)

Now We all know as fans & lovers of animation when we hear a series that's greenlit after viewing on a television screen, in a magazine, or sponsored in commercials, right? As for these two,

The first time I heard of VIVI's work was on a YouTube ad commercial in line & premiered for the pilot, I was fully captivated by its groundbreaking story, from hazbin hotel to the comedy in helluva boss, along with its ghoulish Beetlejuice-inspired art style.

(which I'm a sucker for the niche, indie projects & gothic horror.)

observing her sketchbook on YouTube, I was drawn in by the captivated humanoid shapes she sketches, along with her fluid & flowing style.

the worldbuilding version of heaven & hell drew me in, after watching hazbin hotel. The pilot had a lot to offer from its dreary horrific turns/obstacles from its character debut, story & distorted beauty that there was a lot to tune Into along my first episode of Helluva Boss,

Now we are gonna get down to lore storytelling and character growth.

(and im fully aware of how the fandom treats the rest of the main & supporting cast not letting them flesh out including the females, btw)

Vivi has so much to offer, after watching the latest episode of Helluva Boss and finishing Hazbin Hotel, I see she has the potential to make a good show on drama & sell it, however with her controversy coming through I feel she needs to learn on how to perceive herself online, so makes it hard for me not to hate her series, be it art and her work.

(its truly good when it wants to be as for the writing ima get to that later. with the stolitz & lumity discourse on part 2)

The owl House by Dana terrace

Now you all know by now, I am a full-on Owl House fan regardless of its show ending early, and my many critics on Dana Terrace drew me in with her macabre art and full-on passionate skeletal pieces after looking at her socials and sketchbook online, as a debut showrunner who made her great stance on lgbt representation she has cemented herself as an acclaimed cartoon creator.

However, she does have her flaws ever since rewatching the series, and a lot to learn about the business, after rewatching The Show and yes I have notes written to prove them,

To add I felt if alex Hirsch wasn't on the project, everyone wouldn't watch that show since yall want it to be the next GRAVITY FALLS,

I love the fandoms that discuss the errors of these creators cause it gives more insight on how to portray yourselves on in the real world, cause lemme tell you, it was all watered down I'm get to that in a minute

one problem i have with particularly since she's a good artist & creator is her depending on certain tropes to carry out her cast, cause some may be harmful, along tropes being flanderized & the writing of character being generic & stereotyped.

She needs work on being a better showrunner cause those skills need Cleaning up including writing certain characters on who gets the spotlight.

NEXT SEGMENT

2. The Good, Great, Bad & Ugly in Fandom Discourse,

Vivis Work (Wow Yall can be Wow)

Vivienne Has made her mark in the YouTube market ever since making her pilot debut on Kesha video & hazbin hotel pilot,

I'm so glad for her contributions towards the indie market cementing her way to showing great representation in the general audience for an adult show, not to mmention disablity rep, yes an adult show and that's not without its controversy,

with her grand debate, I feel everyone took this woman's artwork turning it into something ugly, which is so uncool.

and I for one will not stand for the hate trains of now popular shows flip-flopping and then float back to it cause your series is acclaimed now, let's be real she deserves her crowns and laurels, Just keeping it real, regardless cause its a fire show

The fandom has shown their love of the show cause it knocked down so many doors in many ways, but let's be real the audience is now geared toward children cause we all know, this generation can be doing some crazy things, the way they all need to tone down the language, and let characters breath in the show

which I feel viv needs to work on the jokes. I get, it's an adult show which is concerning and it's a Gen Z world where people have access to computers 247, which contributes to all the nasty discourse and crass behavior not to mention,

fandom needs to calm down her fans when it comes down to her work and the way stoliz is perceived.l can be questionable, not to mention how the females are written which I do know the key word for this below.

cause i rarely do find the females are compelling, but yet to fleshed out like the rest of the male characters so misogynist comes into mind in this show and how it sells

there some moments it only aims to the infamous ship Stolitz (and doesn't let other characters breathe (this is a problem with the owl house which ill get to right now cause the pacing is wow smh)

(next to the owl house which I'll get to cause OMG)

THE OWL HOUSE FANDOM (GRRRR) lemme calm down

If you haven't seen my posts, including the bashing and discourse there's also a list I swear lemme quote

in the words of Biggie Small - if you don't know now ya know.

The owl house fandom i was on ride or die for lumity. however we all know how that ship got it start and built up cause they expected it to be this thing to say (F you to Disney) which is good cause disney had its comuppence howver, after the show ended

fans have become the most foulest ugliest & disrespectful fandom ever since the Steven Universe, Voltron and miraculous incidents,

its sad to see how these two franchises fell into the worse cases, the two creators may come across not caring of there fandom acts cause there's a saying

The captain always goes down with his ship MEANING

A captain should not have to sacrifice their life or crew, simply because the vessel they are in control of is in distress

There’s two fandoms such as Steven universe & voltron fell from grace into toxicity down below that are prime examples

The Owl House fandom has got to be some of the most entitled, uppity if not (racist) fans!

yall clearly have not listened to other fans or can't take criticism, yes the show did make very feminist undertones and the male characters didn't shine at all in their titular episodes or moments, which doesn't help at all.

Since Dana drew inspiration from Powerpuff Girls

(which comes on and the writers being all female, might have some damaging effects)

Cause its stifled the male characters in a way where there not as prominent or impactful,

So this word MISANDRY comes to mind

The fandom has gone down to the point of no return, I mean,

one fan from a webcam interview WANTED DANA's ADDRESS EWWW! (in one disccus video0

its not that the Disney drama was too blame for the project, (to an extent) which I'm proud for the fandom for banding together on animation, but need to take off the lgbt glasses, cause boy the show's writing was pushed in favor of that.

CONGRATS You did at the cause of Harassment and bad behavior in fandoms,

NEXT TOPIC

3. Make The Business Makes Sense & epilogue

THE OWL HOUSE

Dana Terrace has the makings of doing good shows however when it comes down to an audience to kid she has some major damage control on how the fandom will come across,

i mean have we not learned from the Lilith and Camilla toxic issues, you can tell the show likes to demonize the adults which is unacceptable, and can damage storytelling and characters.

the truth i feel there needs to be proper staff on how to write POC, ethnic and cultural representation In the show, Amphibia, Molly mcgee, Haileys on it and other break-out shows did it better,

hell even Amphibia doing those cuisines food culture in Frogworld, can you imagine the boiling isles taking on Hispanic cuisine.

Which i felt could've hit a mark on luz home life and culture if written & fleshed out,

Like the staff didn't know how to write those topics, they've coulda gone so far with it but unfortunately fall flat in that area,, not to mention the fashion. UGH

sigh.

ViVI WORKS ( i try not to make this quick but i can discuss more on comments be NICE)

Vivienne Medrano has good fashion and business sense

its important to have that cause having a Cloud Nine franchise coming from nothing can do wonders for how you are perceived as an artist,

The discourse has come due to her take on the controversy on platforms talking on her many harsh topics

(in my opinions she too needs to work on controlling scenarios & damage control that can affect her

So tried but yeah

vivi is a dominant artist who takes her business seriously so I am glad to have her flourish in Spindlehorse,

but just i wish i cant help but fall outta love with her work, knowing of the problems in today's animation comesacross how you say even snowflakes can break under if heard by there favorite creators.

lets be honest these two can learn from each other. and vivi does sure know angles and promoting

very glad to get this written so I put some thought into this

i wish nothing for the best for these awesome artists and creators thank you all for coming so far and have a wonderful voyage thanks.

[be-gay-find-cryptids]

(Part 1) Film & TV Recommendations for Halloween

1. Over the Garden Wall (Miniseries, 2014)

Over the Garden Wall features two half-brothers, Wirt and Gregory, who have become lost in a mysterious wood called The Unknown and attempt to find their way back home.

...

This beautifully crafted animated miniseries is the best thing to come out of Cartoon Network even after ten years. The unique atmosphere, which blends fairytale charm with Gothic eeriness, perfectly compliments the early 20th-century Americana-styled animation. At just ten episodes, Over the Garden Wall is a short but impactful experience that lingers with you long after it ends. I highly recommend this series.

2. Coraline (Film, 2009)

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, an 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life.

...

This stop-motion animated film is a deeply unsettling and visually stunning experience. Blending a dark fairytale narrative with otherworldly imagery, it presents itself as a psychological horror for young and older audiences alike. Coraline explores the complex ideas about family, identity, and the dangers of wish fulfillment with grace. I strongly recommend this film.

3. ParaNorman (Film, 2012)

Norman Babcock, a young boy who can communicate with ghosts, is given the task of ending a 300-year-old witch's curse on his Massachusetts town.

...

This heartfelt stop-motion animated film blends humor, horror, and themes of ostracization and acceptance. While blending classic horror movie tropes with a coming-of-age story, it manages to portray strong themes of prejudice by using zombies, witches, and ghoulish imagery. If you're looking for a unique spin on classic B-movie horror, I highly recommend this film.

4. Happy Death Day (Film, 2017)

A college student must relive the day of her murder over and over again in a loop that will end only when she discovers her killer's identity.

...

Happy Death Day is an entertaining mashup of slasher horror and Groundhog Day-style time loop storytelling. This film stands out from all the rest of the horror-comedy franchise due to its emotion, mystery, and character growth. While it doesn't push boundaries for horror, it makes up for its uniqueness that balances humor and suspense. If you're looking for a horror-comedy film, I strongly recommend this one.

5. Jennifer's Body (Film, 2009)

A newly-possessed high-school cheerleader turns into a succubus who kills her male classmates and devours their flesh in order to survive.

...

Though it was sorely misunderstood when it originally came out, it has recently garnered rightful attention for its subversive take on the horror-comedy genre. This film blends teen drama and supernatural horror and uses its genre to touch upon the objectification of women in horror and in reality. Its wit, self-awareness, and social commentary have made it a standout in the horror-comedy genre, and for that, I strongly recommend this film.

6. Sinister: Recut (Film, 2012)

Ellison Oswalt is a struggling true-crime writer whose discovery of snuff films depicting gruesome murders and strange supernatural elements in his new house puts his family in danger.

...

Said to be one of the scariest films ever from a research study, Sinister is a deeply unsettling horror movie that perfectly mixes supernatural elements with psychological tension. The haunting score combined with the grainy, nightmarish footage of the murders results in an unnerving experience that sits with you long after you turn the lights out. Instead of watching the original movie, I strongly recommend this fanedit version of the film. It elevates the movie by removing some of the cheesy jumpscares and awkward dialog. If you're looking for a genuinely haunting movie this Halloween, I recommend this one.

7. 1408 (Film, 2007)

Author Michael Enslin, who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences, checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City.

...

This film excels in building suspense, using minimal special effects, and relying on our main characters' isolation and psychological unraveling to create fear. While this movie isn't as overtly terrifying as other horror films, 1408 offers an eerie, slow-burn experience, blending supernatural elements with personal trauma. The film has two different endings, the theatrical version and the director's cut. I'd suggest watching both to come to the conclusion of your favorite. It's a must-watch for fans of psychological horror, and I strongly recommend this film.

8. Midsommar (Film, 2019)

A couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

...

This is a visually stunning and disturbing horror film set against the backdrop of a bright, idyllic Swedish village. The movie stands out for its unique approach to horror, unfolding almost entirely in daylight, creating a sense of unease through its striking visuals, unnerving atmosphere, and slow-building dread. Midsommar is a polarizing piece of media, mixing folk horror with psychological drama, and is filled with symbolism and unsettling imagery. I highly recommend this film if you're looking to be disturbed this Halloween.

9. Skinamarink (Film, 2022)

A young brother and sister wake up during the night to discover that their father is missing and that the windows, doors, and other objects in their house have vanished.

...

Skinamarink is an experimental analog horror film that trades traditional narrative for a surreal, nightmarish atmosphere. Shot in grainy, low-light cinematography, the film immerses you in a disorienting and eerie world where fear of the unknown takes center stage. The film’s strength lies in its ability to evoke childhood fears, using abstract visuals and unsettling sound design to create a sense of dread. However, its unconventional approach may alienate some people who expect a clear plot or resolution. The minimal dialogue and deliberate pacing make Skinamarink more of a mood piece than a traditional horror film, relying on atmosphere over jump scares. For those willing to embrace its experimental nature, Skinamarink offers a haunting and disquieting experience that lingers long after it ends, tapping into primal fears of isolation and helplessness. For all these reasons, I highly recommend that you check out this film.

10. Heck (Short Film, 2020)

A child wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of his mom's television blaring.

...

Heck is a short film that shares a similar atmospheric approach to the creator's feature-length film Skinamarink. Like Skinamarink, it explores the feeling of being trapped in a surreal, dreamlike space. The film's minimalist aesthetic, with grainy visuals and a haunting soundscape, creates a disorienting atmosphere that leaves much to the imagination. It builds tension through its slow pacing, relying on the viewer's discomfort with the unknown rather than traditional horror tropes. For people who thought Skinamarink's runtime was excessive, Heck is a great substitute that captures the same atmosphere of the former. I highly recommend this film to people who have enjoyed Skinamarink's take on horror.

[sailorspica]

hitch is jean in a different font

i might have a new WIP or two cooking, and one of them has me vibrating and combing over canon to make this argument: hitch as jean's shadow, their parallel journeys, her growth only a few months behind his. marlowe as a kind of marco, stohess as her trost.

for me it's all toward a reijean / hitchannie agenda but pray any hitch and jean stans appreciate:

we meet hitch as an almost-jean: well-aware of what the military police actually is. pragmatic. in the anime's expansion of stohess, jean looks at the MPs scrambling and thinks, "i could've actually been one of them too, huh? just how did i end up here instead?"

the scene of marlowe and hitch cleaning up stohess is another anime addition, in the s2 premiere. marlowe is bewildered that titans were in sina to begin with, but hitch's focus is more mundane: "the worst thing about it all is that so many people died for no good reason." the hulu subtitles are more like "there's no official reason all these people died." levi echoes the sentiment in 59 when he bluntly tells them annie was the female titan: "no one knows a damn thing."

levi trusts jean to feel them out for a reason, and i think hitch impressed him way more than marlowe. he respects her disgust for loss of life, and her balls to blame the survey corps for it. she's actually a mini nile dawk there, to me, when nile realizes what erwin is up to in stohess, and it makes me think that jean's pragmatism is a necessary injection of the MPs' better traits into the suicidal SC. that it's in the same chapter as jean and armin recovering from their run-in with the interior squad is telling.

in the 125 hitch/annie date, annie is looking up at the colossals, and hitch literally grounds her. annie is struck by their height, maybe she thinks of bertolt, maybe she's thinking of her mission to prevent this from happening, but hitch doesn't give a shit about the titans themselves, only what they leave in their wake. it feels similar to jean telling eren about marco's death in 22. marco instilled in jean that a leader is honest about what they ask people to die for; hitch is disgusted by the senselessness of the death her whole career has been about cleaning up.

i think it's easy to look at hitch yawning among the jaegerists in 139 as a bit of her cockroach quality—keeping her head down and saluting along for her survival among fascists, like shadis advises the recruits who beat him (also in 125). but we have seen her demonstrate such kindness, and mourn. practically, she must be pissed that the junta she and marlowe risked themselves to install has been totally upended; she stands by her actions in the uprising arc, look at how she and armin witness zackly's assassination. but beyond that, she hates death more than anything. she could reason that marlowe's death was toward something tangible, the truth of their world, but that it snowballed into the death of most of the world? the rumbling is probably a national holiday to those freaks. it's ghoulish to her.

for my ship agenda (even if you're into these relationships only platonically):

hitch talking to annie's crystal feels like jean saving reiner in shiganshina. everyone else was ready to discard or forget about these traitors, but hitch, jean, and armin all cling to the softness they couldn't reconcile with annie and reiner's titan forms. with what he thought were his dying breaths, reiner delivered ymir's letter. on her day off, in Wall Sina, Goodbye, annie kept her word, and tried to reunite a father and daughter. hitch might have negged her for it, seen it as busy work, but it's the same kindness she bullied marlowe for, if carefully buried under annie's insistence that it was just the quid pro quo between them.

idc that armin talked to her, too, or he knew her longer. hitch fuckin mourned her!! and i think being angry with annie, questioning her for four years, is way, way more humanizing than armin basically monologuing at her while feeling sorry for himself and bertolt and titan shifters generally. (this sounds like i hate armin but swear i love him; i just think aruani is most interesting when bertolt is involved.)

hitch accurately clocks that annie seemed afraid of getting close to people. her own fellow cadets just thought of her as distant, bored; when hange asks the scouts in the 104th about RBA's interactions as cadets, they're at a loss, even armin. even her fellow warriors didn't really see her. annie's distance was a kindness, and her own armor. she sees reibert's deep cover as a waste of time, but i think she also sees they're bound to hurt themselves and their mission in the long run. even though everyone felt betrayed after stohess, reiner was a greater shock, a deeper wound. i think annie wanted to minimize hurt on all fronts. (look how she dips out of the alliance, it's because she's tired, and doesn't want to kill eren, or anyone.)

jean comes to understand reiner only after he and connie and armin have to kill their 104th classmates at the pier. hitch can't fully fathom annie's circumstances or pain, especially not annie saying she'd do it all again, but hitch listens to it all and thanks her for the vulnerability, for softening, which is more compassion than most of the paradis side of the alliance has managed so far. she has a head start on the emotional strides jean makes in between 127 and 133, maybe because she got a bit of catharsis beating her fists against annie's crystal for four years.

they're both sick of their shit

[iphigeniacomplex]

back in 2020, when roberto was apologizing and promising to do better by riverdale's black characters, i don't think "introduce a plotline which exploits the memory of a real brutalized and murdered black child for, primarily, the emotional growth of nonblack characters in a hackneyed attempt at 'realism', which is to say 'period-typical behaviors expressed, yet again, near-exclusively in terms of racism towards black characters'" was what literally anyone wanted. i do not think there is a love or even care for black people present at all in this work, because i cannot imagine this was not upsetting at best and traumatic at worst for the black actors involved in the episode, and it likely will be for black fans of riverdale as well. absolutely ghoulish and shameful.

[the-starlight-writer]

Religion in TKoM's Faerie II: Folk History and Pop Culture

Welcome back to my worldbuilding post series! Today, we're going to talk some more about the gods in Faerie and the way they interact with their followers. Click here for to find the previous entry in this series if you missed it!

Folk History As we know, Miele-Ara is what could be described as a creator goddess. She moulded the land to her liking, creating the spirits and magic deposits in the regions. She is the one who blessed the waters and the skies, who moulded the different forms of fae into existence. She is the one who created Faerie on a whim. She wanted children and more than that she wanted love in the form of worship. She was never all that concerned about the nuances of how that worship would come about.

Malaran, on the other hand, is like the loving step-parent of Faerie, there from the start but not the one who moulded all of them by hand. There are some regions that he spent more time moulding than Miele-Ara did, these regions that later became described as "void-touched" or, more negatively, "void-stained". Malaran is the god of the intangible, bigger things. He is the one who helped them develop knowledge and language, the one who held steadfast in his love of record-keeping and archival practices. Malaran is known as the Void God. He is the keeper of the darkness and one might even say they are the darkness. But they'd be wrong.

Perceptions in Faerie Pop Culture The perceptions of the gods in Faerie culture is very divided in that Miele-Ara's worship is ubiquitous but generally misunderstood by the masses and worship of Malaran is often treated as the act of those who cling to an occult sect or those who don't understand much about Malaran's character.

Their perceptions are partially based on the contrast between their appearances and their internal characters.

[Image descriptions in alt text]

Based solely on the colour palettes of their images and the way they are depicited, it is easy to imagine that the soft, feminine woman is representative of maternal love and peaceful growth while the dark horned figure with many eyes is ghoulish and macabre but you'd have it backwards.

Miele-Ara has been known to be quick to anger, with there being records of her razing heretical villages to the ground. She is not known for mercy but for burning rage, what her most devout followers would call righteous justice. Whose definition of justice she subscribes to is yet to be seen. Her rituals advocate for the use of blood, bones, herbs, flowers and crops she has bestowed upon the people. She is the guide of the economically inclined, the ones who create the home and the ones who feed it. She is known as the Goddess of Blood, Clay and Earth. Her most devout followers make up the people in a secluded sect known only as the Garden. In modern times, Miele-Ara is seen and heard from less and less as people make her festivals and worship practices into general aspects of daily life and culture instead of explicit reverence. She spends time with her most devout, followers she calls children, and only shows up to genuine displays of worship led by the people and her appointed priests. She is neither very present in malice or protection as she used to be.

Contrary to Miele-Ara, Malaran is well-known for mercy and patience, a practitioner of gentle parenting with the fae. One folk story tells a tale of how Malaran, whose hair makes up the night sky, learnt to pull back their long billowing locks to allow the sun to shine through. He adorned himself with shining jewels, stars, so that when the night fell, the fae would not be alone in the dark. Malaran is slow to anger and tender to a fault. In pop culture, not much is known of Malaran or talked of him. This is due to misguided notions about his personality and his practices, fueled by the likes of the d'Inciense family especially. As his domain is solidly found in the metaphysical and some faeries who have a strong magical bond with him develop powers related to things like necromancy and mind alteration, there is a general fear and hesitation associated with them. Malaran is only generally in frequent commune with his high-ranking nuns, priestesses that double as religious figureheads and archivists. However, he does speak to his children, the void fae, in dreams quite frequently as he is very fond of and concerned for them in general.

That's all for this installment! Thank you for making all the way to the end. See you next time!

[snwcppd]

I don't know how many of y'all are on Threads, but there is some absolutely insane discourse going on there right now about The Acolyte. Fans of the show are saying that the show's haters are exclusively right-wingerd who hate it for being 'woke' (there are unfortunately people like that, but Acolyte fans have convinced themselves that that's the only reason someone can hate the show). When people respond that they didn't like the writing, you wanna know what Acolyte fans responded with? Instead of defending the show's writing, their response was "Star Wars has never had good writing," which is obviously, blatantly false. I saw someone unironically say that Andor is the only Star Wars show that you're allowed to expect good writing in, which is perhaps the single worst take I've ever read??

So many people have also compared The Acolyte to The Clone Wars, saying that since the first season of TCW wasn't well received, they should give The Acolyte another chance. That's fair until you actually think about it; not only was TCW season one better recieved than The Acolyte, but it is significantly cheaper to produce to the point where they didn't need TCW season two to be a massive success to justify its existence. Obviously, the bar to make a CG-animated show is a lot lower than a VFX-heavy live action one.

And that's another thing; another argument people made is that The Acolyte got canceled because of poor performance, which people generally responded to with "nuh uh." The only logical argument I saw is that sometimes, some shows get more views later down the line than they did initially, which tells me that these people have no understanding how Hollywood works. Producers don't greenlight seasons that cost tens of millions of dollars to produce just because of some purely hypothetical audience growth. I guarantee you that the demand for a show that's largely world-building is extremely limited; I'd be willing to be that if it weren't for how well received Andor was, it too would've been canceled quickly afterwards.

I get that there's a lot frustration when a show you like is canceled (and some of the shit that Disney is doing like taking down all of the merch for The Acolyte is truly ghoulish behavior), but at the end of the day this doesn't happen for no reason. Maybe now is a time to reflect on why the show wasn't removed rather than fight anyone who even suggests that there's a valid reason for it.

[unkownpalette]

Seaside Viewings

Rumors of an artistic incisions surrounded Beidou's ship and latch on to the people's thoughts just like barnacles at the bottom of The legendary Crux.

From what the Traveler and children have heard, there is said to be carvings of a..... mermaid???

'Well, not very surprising, Paimon has seen multiple ships with carvings of the in-between a women and sea-creature.'

'Paimon... please just keep reading the story...'

'Alright, alright'

Located at the back of The Crux up near the edge to a point that when the ship gets docked, the carving is covered by shadows of wooden railings, but not high up enough the one the many pirates on the ship to ever be able to confirm the curiosity that latches any who listen to the elders gossiping among themselves about the growth of newer generations.

This mermaid holds a specialty not because of the security of it's guessed location but the one who put it there, Captain Beidou........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'I've crashed my ship, most of the sailors that were on board are swimming with thee fish, starvation and sickness took the others. I'm not lucky for being alive. I'm lucky for such a ghoulish beauty to have found me appealing.'

'The night my maties and were caught in such a catastrophic situation, everything was as how is usually runs on my ship. Rum being chugged, new stains appearing and old stains growing on the wooden decks, then a wicked sea monster that could eat even the biggest strongest whales for dinner'

'As soon as the fight started t'was ended just as quickly. No hero could possess a courage to be able to fight such a monster, my crew seemed to agree that drowning was a better option than to fight such magnificence.'

'My beauty and pride, Quánlì, now collects in the sea as newly formed splinters, never to set sail again. My mourning cannot withstand for long, as I am lucky to still be walking on my own two feet.'

'I was hanging on to a board of wood for time that felt like eternity and soon had given hope. Trying to join my olden and drunk friends in the skies of Celestia while my body becomes fish food. The most terrifyingly beautiful myths saved me, I don't what she may have seen a lowly pirate captain such me self but whatever it was that caused her to save me caused me a great amount of gratitude towards sea life and savior mentalities that wander our world and seas.'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Soooo, Captain Beidou had a ship before the Crux?"

"That's what you're going to focus on Paimon. Not the written word of Beidou meeting what people think are fairy tales?"

"Well Mr. Smartypants, Paimon and the traveler have seen crazier things than some fish women"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanderer and Paimon's argument was interrupted by the traveler on the fact that they need to focus on a mission which could lead them to a wise creature that may have knowledge of the travelers lost sibling.

This would end in disappointment because of the fact of never coming up with any evidence of a mermaid beside the written word of a close to death younger Beidou. Any of the pirates asked could not muster a piece of evidence due to the lack of survivors on the olden ship.

With the dampened moods, the trio sneak back into to Beidou's chambers in order to plant the notes back to where they were found and move on to a new topic that could help the hero of Teyvat.

[nurseshannansreviews]

🎃 Zelah loves doing sensory activities like this so these earthgrownkiddoughs Halloween themed KidDough gift kits from kidstuffpr are a big hit!! These Play Kits not only provide hours of fun but also support language development and cognitive growth. They're made of handmade sensory dough that's natural, washable and long lasting!

👻 Potion KidDough Play Kit - Mix ghoulish ingredients in the cauldron to customize your own magical KidDough. Includes poison apple scented KidDough and a magical assortment of potion themed charms, mushrooms, and mix.

🎃 Trick or Treat Dough to Go - Create KidDough candies and build the scene for a fun night of Trick or Treating imaginative play. Includes 3 colors of candy corn scented KidDough, 7 different classic Halloween candy charms, and a Jack-o-lantern bucket.

👻 KidDough Play Kits transform these high quality compounds from a simple sensory toy into a dynamic playset, encouraging storytelling, exploration, and boundless imaginative adventures. You can find them at earthgrownkiddoughs.com

[gxbtx]

Peter Cat Recording Co. at The Echo Lounge

Dallas, Tx, September 22nd

   This past weekend I was honored to be able to experience the Peter Cat Recording Co in the flesh, with their performance of songs from their newest album, Beta. This album was released a hefty 5 years after their last studio album, Bismillah. After the new-found success during COVID-19, the Dahli based band went on to perform for their new-found fanbase on the Good Luck Beta Tour 24. They are in the process of traveling to perform a total of 77 shows across three continents, selling out a majority of these venues to varied crowds. 

Peter Cat Recording Co. performing at The Echo Lounge in Dallas for a crowd of about 200 people 

I can best describe Peter Cat Recording Co. (PCRC) as an Indian psychedelic jazz band, taking elements of sounds transcontinental to create a movie like experience with their studio albums. Having about a decade of tenure as a band, they come to offer an evolved sense of introspection, utilizing so many different instruments to create soundtracks to the life of struggle and other complex sentiments alike. Such as seen in A Portrait of a Time: 2010-2016, they metaphorically paint pictures of a time period in their lives in which they conceptualize their feelings in regards to aspects of the human experience by making fun of their own turmoil.

PCRC displays typical traits of a band, such as guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards, but then adds flairs of color with less common instruments such as the clarinet, accordion, saxophone, and even a banana shaker! 

The show started on the song “Flowers R Blooming”, starting off the show on the foundational lessons they center their themes around; through lyrics of “For Changing Is Living/And Living is Love”, they share a valuable insight into a perspective of living far more fulfilling and redeeming in this game we call life. This song broke tears out of me, fostering an emotional connection to the band that seems rare for me to encounter. This song gave me an outlet of emotions to express that recognition in who I am is the best thing I can do to spread love to myself and others. 

 In maturing comes sacrifice, and ultimately growth in our ability to cope and humor our sensitivities in our emotions; PCRC audiolizes (I just created a new word!) these lessons such as in the leading single “People Never Change” where they renounce the power of others to impact our moods and confidence. He reverses this happier tune with a melancholy song “Heera” from their previous studio album reflecting a low point in the singer’s life, standing at a crossroads of whether it’s too late to “live a lovely life”. The hollow guitar riff being repeated with the dissonant tones of keyboard make it out to have a ghoulish feeling from this time period. As expanded upon within his band, growing up is demonstrated in coming to terms with your emotions and wearing them on full display, becoming sensible in the process, which is what Lifafa demonstrates when he lets loose and dances along to his pain in the guitar riff.

The combination of lights tastefully adds to the psychedelic feelings filling up the room, keeping the audience invested in the growth of the artistic messages

I appreciate the diversified sounds this band created, as the lead singer Lifafa has described the instrumentation to be specially tailored to the idea of what the song’s goal is.  The creative process of starting with the idea of the song, leads the band to switch around instruments to what feels right. While members progressively came and went towards the inception of the band, the 5 members we see have become comfortable together for 6 years. The versatility reeks of the experience this band has come to acquire, providing quite an alluring experience to the dedicated audience. The Echo Lounge in Dallas venue notably accommodated PCRC elegantly, having a sophisticated theater-like quality that felt appropriate to the presentation of family established in the heartfelt odes.

Guitar player Kartik Pillai went up to play “Foolmuse,” the third leading single for Beta

On my ever-prolonged journey of learning what it takes to be a man and to be the best me I can be, this band shares valuable perspectives that come from a long pipeline of experience and wisdom cross-culturally.  In Beta, their new project released earlier last month, they further their documented maturation in life coming to share feelings associated with love and connection, as well as overcoming anxious thoughts that keep us from seeing the absolute beautiful world we see around us. Although the music can sometimes seem long and heavy, I believe PCRC displays an excellent feat of music in connecting time into thoughtful reflections of their humanity - and in a way that connects us to our own. 

To read my RadioUTD finalized version, go to https://radioutd.com/blog/2024/10/peter-cat-recording-co-at-the-echo-lounge-in-dallas/

[silverhyenaart]

Here's just a little piece from my upcoming fic, Splintered Bone, the third book in my Out of the Shadows series. When Sally explains to Geoffrey, in more detail, her relationship with Dr. Finkelstein.

As they stepped over the threshold of Skellington Manor, entering the all too quiet haunted house, a pang of guilt resonated within Sally's undead heart. Subconsciously, she began stroking the threads on her wrists.

However, as Geoffrey allowed Velvet out of his jacket to let her run around, he turned to Sally and said, "But that's enough about me, what about you?"

The ragdoll snapped from her thoughts, immediately caught off guard. Naturally, Geoffrey would be curious to know how exactly a former commoner would have ended up on the arm of the Pumpkin King. (And escape the halls of her captor at the same time.) He'd heard what Dr. Finkelstein had said; that demon only amplified the thoughts he already held, after all.

"Well, I was a creation of Dr. Finkelstein's. So, I ummm... guess you could call him my father," Sally began, as she put the kettle on the stove to warm up for tea, "he made me for the purpose of tending to his needs. Cleaning the tower. Cooking his meals. Mending his clothes. That's how I became such a skilled seamstress. It was something that I always had a knack for."

Although Geoffrey listened politely and with interest, there was a hint of both suspicion and concern in his eyes. He had sensed the tension and animosity between Dr. Finkelstein and Sally from the moment he saw them in the same room together. Now he knew why. The human handed Sally the fresh batch of tea she'd picked up earlier as she explained further.

"The doctor didn't really want me to go outside, because it was dangerous and I wasn't ready for so much excitement," she said, "he said my place was in the tower with him."

But how was she to simply ignore the ghastly and ghoulish fun that took place outside of her room every night? The strange and bizarre frights always happening, her curiosity grew and grew. But every time she asked, pleaded, and begged to see it up close, the answer was always the same. "No!"

Sometimes, it was a simple "no". Other times, it came with threats of being locked in her room. Along with extra duties should she continue to ask.

"Yeah, we have a few different phrases for that in Horva," Geoffrey mentioned, as he unpacked the rest of Sally's purchases onto the kitchen table, "false imprisonment, domestic slavery, or just good ol' fashioned abuse. Take your pick."

"I know that now, Geoffrey, but at the time I only knew what my creator wanted me to know," Sally sighed, before a sneaky little smirk crossed those red lips of hers, "until I decided to teach myself."

Sally had always been clever and resourceful. One day, by pure chance, she'd gotten ahold of one of the doctor's books. A book that he would not have approved of her having, "Herbs of Halloween Town and their Uses." THAT was where she had learned of the properties of the Deadly Nightshade plant, which had since become one of her favorites.

"I found the doctor's stash and I slipped it into his tea," Sally continued, a fond smile on her face, "once he was out cold, I finally got my first taste of freedom. And... I liked it. It was sweeter than the candies Halloween Town in known for. I began to do it as often as I could get away with."

A tale as old as time itself. The tighter Dr. Finkelstein held on, the harder Sally bucked. She practically scheduled when she'd spike his drinks and meals, which became even easier when Sally discovered the small patch of wild herbs in the cemetery, which included a healthy growth of Deadly Nightshade.

Yet just as Sally got a bit too comfortable with routinely drugging her creator to enjoy the greater things that life had to offer, that was when Dr. Finkelstein began to double down. His threats had not been empty. A lesson learned the hard way. That was when Sally began learning her way around a makeshift lockpick, utilizing what she'd read in a few of the novels she enjoyed.

The ragdoll lifted her hair, just enough to show the needle that she kept behind her ear, "Of course, once I began to get to know Jack, oh was Dr. Finkelstein furious."

That day, it was one of the best yet most frightening days of her life. Being a shy, shut in, humble house servant in the presence of a regal and mighty king. Yet Jack had spoken to her so gently. He'd shown her such kindness she never knew existed in the world. Jack finally made her feel... alive!

Sally continued, after clearing he throat, "The doctor would constantly remind me that I belonged to him. That the Pumpkin King had no time for a silly, foolish girl like myself."

"Well let's hope he didn't publish a paper on that subject," Geoffrey scoffed, grabbing a couple of mugs that had the least amount of damage, "because that would have aged like milk."

Indeed, for the more Dr. Finkelstein told her "no", the stronger Sally's defiance became. What began as watching from afar, dreaming, hoping, praying, had turned into something far more that any of them could have expected. Jack had been in need of Sally for the longest time and never even knew it.

"A regular Cinderella story, huh?" Geoffrey commented, before scrunching up his face in thought, "Just with more ruffies involved."

Sally let out a little laugh at that comment; afterall, the human wasn't wrong. Upon pouring the hot water, the flowery scent of Earl Gray filled the air.

"Once Jack found out about everything that Dr. Finkelstein had been doing, oh he was absolutely furious," the ragdoll shuddered, remembering that was the first time she'd seen Jack transform on a night other than Halloween, "he sentenced Dr. Finkelstein to serve me for the same amount of time as I had served him... which had been for my entire afterlife, so..."

"Daddy dearest still has a ways to go, huh?" Geoffrey said, giving a sly smile.

Knowing this now, a part of the fiend slayer wished he'd have given Dr. Finkelstein a few good punches, just to make sure that vile shadow fiend was all the way out of him, of course. Still, much like himself, Sally had fought her way out of the gutters. She found the love of her afterlife. Geoffrey had found his sisters.

"Well Sally, here's to telling terrible father figures to get bent!" the human said, raising his mug, "One way or another."

Matching Geoffrey's smile, Sally lightly clanked her mug against his before taking a sip. With any luck, good or bad, (whatever was considered better in Halloween Town,) Dr. Finkelstein would have learned his lesson. Something that Geoffrey's own father would not have the luxury of doing. (Thank the Warrior and the Healer.)

Velvet joined them in the kitchen, enjoying a small saucer of cream while the human and ragdoll drank their tea. Honestly, it was a relief to just take things slow for a moment. Everything since arriving in the Realm of Halloween had been a nonstop rollercoaster ride.

"Jack's a good man, Sally," Geoffrey said, after some stretch of silence, "I'm glad you found him."

As the two of them finished their tea, they could hear the front door opening, and Jack's and Neo's slightly muffled voices. Looks like the Pumpkin King survived his first day back at the office afterall.

*

So, I hope you enjoyed this little bit to tide you over! Overall, it was fun writing Sally and Geoffrey together, purely platonic. Oh, for context, Velvet is the name I gave the black alley cat.

[lubotomies]

So you know the grimdark fic you were talking about where Tord gets tortured by the "black army..."

I think I may have written that back when I was an edgy 17-18 year old who was WAY too into Eddsworld angst. I saw your description and it's so familiar that I instantly started panicking sdkfjfhs

Anyway yeah I absolutely do NOT stand by that writing and I'm so sorry you and anyone else had to witness it. I'm too ashamed to come off anon and face the world. I hope to God if anyone finds out it was me who wrote it that they'll listen to me when I say I've grown so much as a person and writer since then. That shit was absolute trash and I wish I never put it out there.

this is like a church confessional. trust that its completely fine to have made weird shit in your youth especially with the state of the community At That Time. with the asks and discussions on this blog right now i think its clear to people that the community was a rancid place at that point in time and it was easy to get sucked into bad or unhealthy behaviour. i mean, moho was one of the most popular artists within the community with hundreds of people backing her up when she'd get criticised and we already went over the shit shes guilty of, so it should go without saying that the community was very much enabling and encouraging young people into doing things that are in the long run bad for their psyches and regressive coping mechanisms.

it ought to be some consolation that the reason i mentioned the black army one is because it was TAME in comparison to the far, far, far worse shit id seen, which i suppose i can just reveal were things like sex trafficking and holocaust aus. the black army fic for sure is grimdark but grimdark in the same way that cupcakes was for mlp. needlessly violent, sure, but in comparison to the literal fanfic about the eddsworld guys in auschwitz? Um. yeah youre fine dude.

im absolutely proud of you for taking accountability for something that, tbh, you shouldnt even feel obligated to take accountability for. writing overly angsty whump fic is far from being the greatest sin on earth, and being able to admit and regret making content like that is a huge sign of growth even on anon. ive made lesser mistakes that ive still not been willing to admit to STILL TO THIS DAY as a grown ass 20 year old, so you ought to be proud of yourself and the growth youve made as a person. some people get stuck in their ways and never grow out of that 2018 angst obsessed phase.

and again, with the eddsworld community being so... unhealthy, for young developing minds and vulnerable people, you seriously should not feel ashamed for making mistakes as benign as making an edgy fanfic on fanfiction.net. for real the only thing happening right now is sharing stuff that was happening around that time because the state of the fandom was ghoulish and showcasing things that were considered acceptable and wholly encouraged by the community that the modern fandom can easily recognise as being what they are, inappropriate, harmful, unhealthy, etc. youre totally fine dude!