#he is about the sense of cosmic wonder as much as about cosmic horror

[kalitera-stin-erimia]

Lovecraft and Cosmic Wonder

"But the thing is, for Lovecraft, cosmic-existential horror wasn’t the whole story. Not by a cyclopean margin. In fact, a look at his overall body of fiction, and also his personal development as an author, and his various essays about life and writing, and the teeming ocean of thousands of letters that he wrote to a vast network of correspondents, shows that his focus on the cosmic horrific theme of existence-as-nightmare was balanced and complemented by a deep craving for liberation into transcendent realms of beauty and bliss. As I observed just a few days ago in my latest column for SF Signal, “Fantasy, Horror, and Infinite Longing,” this pairing of horror or terror with sehnsucht, the emotion C.S. Lewis identified as the “inconsolable longing” for “that unnamable something, desire for which pierces us like a rapier at the smell of a bonfire, the sound of wild ducks flying overhead, the title of The Well at the World’s End, the opening lines of Kubla Khan, the morning cobwebs in late summer, or the noise of falling waves,” is quite common among authors and artists, especially those working in the field of the fantastic. <...>

So Dream-Quest is fully as much about an exquisite experience of cosmic longing as it is about a wrenching experience of cosmic horror. The novel shows Carter yearning for an escape into a dreamworld and to a dream city of eternal solace and beauty, and being opposed by all of those nightmarish figures Tyson mentions. And it’s the recognition of this fact, not just in this particular novel but as it’s threaded throughout the rest of Lovecraft’s life and work, that’s missing from so much contemporary scholarship. It’s not that Lovecraft wasn’t about cosmic horror, but that he wasn’t all about it. Cosmic horror was wedded to cosmic wonder in his psyche. The one bled into the other. They were inextricably united as flipsides or complements in his affective makeup. Their paradoxical pairing was in fact the engine that drove him, since he was perpetually poised on the razor’s edge between perceiving the cosmic perspective as nightmarish and perceiving it as beautiful and liberating. This tension channeled itself into a burning desire to capture and convey both intimations in imaginative form, and the fact that the darker aspect has gotten more press than the lighter one in the popular and even the critical imagination, and has in fact become rote, is vaguely reminiscent of the smear-job perpetrated by Rufus Griswold on the memory of Edgar Allan Poe.  But in Lovecraft’s case it appears to have happened by accident, with, perhaps, some help from unsympathetic critics such as Edmund Wilson."

From Cosmic Horror and Cosmic Wonder: Revisioning Our Vision of H.P. Lovecraft by Matt Cardin.

[seraphsfire]

///ARCANE s2 finale SPOILERS ///

LONG POST

SO. THAT VIKTOR ARCANE LEAGUEOFLEGENDS GUY HUH.

some observations that are my personal opinion and/or interpretation of viktor's transformation and physical state. (my screenshots, idc if u repost them or whatever just don't say they're yours, etc)

minor edit: added a sentence i could've sworn i'd written that i hadn't and so my paragraph made no sense lol

love love love the aspects of body horror and character design going on with viktor's post-sourdough-starter cyborg body here, so i was trying to get a better look at it to maybe sort of figure out how his body was transformed, and what it's made of now (metal, magic, a third secret thing, idk)

so it looks like, in general, his skeletal structure and the metal parts in his back brace and his leg brace were fused together and then fused *into* his musculoskeletal structure, not just sort of copied by the hexcore. You can see here he has actual bolts in his spine before he got robot-ified, and to me it seems like this could have been a way for his brace to hook or snap onto his spine more securely to give him extra support.

I think the circles in the middle of the brace over his sternum might have also snapped into bolts in his chest, and you can see them better here

the cloth and leather parts of the brace have either dissolved or been turned into metal.

--I just want to take a side note here to note what im sure other ppl have mentioned but I haven't seen talked much about at least recently, is that viktor's disability wasn't just his mobility issues and bad respiratory health, that he must have been in terrible pain to have a procedure as extreme as bolts being put into his spine and/or chest deemed necessary / beneficial to his quality of life.

In the scene where he tries to destroy the hexcore, he can barely push himself up, and it takes all of his strength to lift a stool over his head that's only a few pounds :(

He later asks jayce to destroy the hexcore because he can't, and ive seen most people interpret that as him not wanting to destroy his life's work, but i always viewed it as him not physically being able to--the hexcore was too strong, and it snapped out at him and knocked him over just at the threat of him destroying it.

That circles over to another thing i thought was interesting, is that when he comes out of the goop he still seems very weak and unstable, even though he now has his back brace and leg brace fused to his skeleton. He still has to use his crutch to walk toward jayce and make effort to straighten his legs, because they're still twisted. It makes me wonder if the hexcore didn't so much heal him as dull his sense of pain so he couldn't feel it, and its energy forced him to move.

That's something i thought was interesting, and it made me think of his line about not feeling cold--he then says he feels something that is exactly how I'd describe coldness to somebody who's never felt it before, it just seems like now, his nervous system doesn't process it in the same way as he used to recognize the sensation of coldness. Interestingly, he still describes it as "unpleasant"

back to the design of viktor's body: what exactly is it made of? Here's where the body horror aspect of it comes in, because i think there's a possibility that's still mostly his body and what we're seeing here is exposed, preserved muscle fiber, because the hexcore either burned or melted off his skin or it literally rotted away while he was in the goop. There's a few artsy little flourishes from the hexcore magic peeking through, but except for the slightly darker color, it looks eerily like how muscle fiber on preserved cadavers looks, down to the way the little filamenty veins are. Granted it could just be a metallic structure the hexcore created, visually mimicking human muscle structure. Or the sourdough starter could have been something super gross like magic sentient cosmic energy formaldehyde--that also makes sense to me because of how when his hair grew out some of the tips had lost color, like they'd been bleached.

anyway the visual aspect of his resurrected hexcore appearance that makes me think of a reanimated cadaver most was how strange and unsettling i found it that he's completely gray and glowing with purple sparks, is that for some reason he's still got a bellybutton and almost a normal skin-like surace to that part of his stomach.

On the other hand, his hip socket and the rest of his pelvis is bony and skeletal. You can kind of see his pelvis not being attached with muscle fiber to his hip socket in that lower corner, it looks the same atp as when he's in his cosmic form.

the jokes about "jayce hugged him with his whole ______ out!!!!" just make me sad bc obviously any extraneous soft tissue was completely obliterated, (I say obviously but idk how many ppl literally believe they were censoring human body parts here.)

Like, he doesn't even have fingernails anymore. The only reason he has a stomach still is because abdominal muscles are a skeletal support structure.

That gives the he heebie jeebies so good, honestly, and what an fascinating choice by the design team instead of giving him idk, age of ultron steel robot shaped abs, which i've seen a lot in like human--robot transformations, he's this horrifying mix of petrified/preserved cadaver tissue, magic metal, and sentient cosmic energy. (Even more tragic and sad if you think about it that way and that jayce might have been hugging his dead friend's preserved, skinned corpse)

the "reanimated corpse" idea fits into the interpretation that viktor's emotions and thoughts are still his, but they've been very dulled by the power of the hexcore, because a reanimated cadaver body isn't going to be able to work as effeciently that way anymore.

or idk maybe the idea that he was still sort-of there, faintly is one i like because it makes me feel better, i can at least pretend some part of him felt comforted being held in such a horrific situation. had to post this screenshot bc that sad little face when hes getting hugged is destroying me

Anyway. many thoughts, many feelings, many possibilities and interpretations. Do with this what you will. I, for instance, will be walking into the sea and never returning probably

[gremlinmodetweeker]

Circles of Stars in Cosmic Waltzes

Okay this is just a feel-good fuzzy fic of dealing with self esteem. There is a lot of negative talk in the beginning, but König's always there to help remind us of our potential. He's a very good eldritch horror husband. Junji Ito would be proud of him.

Anyways!

TWs: Self esteem issues, feelings of being useless and unworthy of love, feeling like you're not worthy of your parents (even if there is a hint that they're actually a bit abusive)

Wordcount: 2K

Art from This Post

Story below the cut

Circles of Stars in Cosmic Waltzes

You looked at yourself in the mirror. What glared back at you was nothing but shameful.

You looked wrong in your summoner robes. These robes, intricately woven out of enchanted wool and cotton, were naught but circus costumes on you. The elaborate gold and silver designs that had been embroidered into the front and along the sleeves looked gaudy on the black cloak. What was meant to be clean, professional, respectable looked almost like an elaborate joke somebody had crafted out of the scraps of a crafts room.

Looking at yourself pained you. It didn’t seem fair. You, born of great and noble blood that had coursed through the veins of some of the greatest summoners to ever live, were incapable of doing so much as taking control over a weather imp that you conjured from the first layer of the other world. You were nothing but a humiliating mistake to your family’s name. Once, maybe you embraced being the black sheep, but on nights like these you couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have the shepherd’s care.

The tattoo on the back of your hand once made you proud, but lately it had only drawn ire. A high ranking officer had commented on how strange it was for a summoner to need a mark to copy, to not have their summons’ symbols firmly embedded in your mind’s eye. You had laughed it off at first, but the longer you sat with the thought the lower you delved into the depths of your mind.

You closed your eyes, shielding yourself from the horrible vision. You couldn’t bear to look any longer. The image of you playing as a summoner haunted you. You were simply a fake. You were a laughable excuse for a summoner, anyone could tell that at a glance. Your work was shoddy and unfinished, your memory was poor, your mental fortitude was as strong as a sandcastle in the face of the ocean’s tides. You would wash away, immemorable. You suspected that your name would be scrubbed from the family tree. You couldn’t blame them; you knew you were nothing but a disgrace to anyone who ever cared for you.

You opened your eyes again. You never were good at hiding from fate, were you? What a waste of space… Your parents were usually sympathetic, but you could see how they envied your cousins. They hated what you were. There was nothing but emptiness in the words they spoke to you. They could offer you kind smiles and hopeful praise, but you would never be able to reach up to greet their kindness. Instead, you’d stay on the forest floor and watch the trees grow tall and mighty above you, reaching up to grasp the clouds in the arms of their boughs. You, little ant that you were, could only watch in awe.

In some ways, what was most humiliating about your state was the only summon you had managed to make bend at the knee, and even then it wasn’t even with your force, but rather by their will. König was something beyond your comprehension, both literally and metaphorically. He’d long since made you aware that you were nothing but a speck under his foot.

What was the worst aspect about being König’s summoner was how he treated you so kindly. He was nothing but revenant with you, almost as though he actually treasured you. It was completely beyond your ability to comprehend why König was so interested in you. He’d explained once before, but it didn’t make much sense. Or, well, it did, but that didn’t help make the misery disperse. Instead, you were lost in a nebulous fog of shame, fear and guilt.

Guilt? Guilt. Guilt for wasting your parents’ resources, guilt for tricking others into thinking you were a capable summoner, and the most burning ember in your fire, guilt for chaining König to your side. You were nothing but cruel in how you bound him to you, weren’t you? But did you really decide this fate for him, or was it rather he who chose to shackle this yoke to his neck?

König was incredible. He was a light that shone within your darkest hours. He was the sun that shone down upon your skin, the moon that watched over you at night. He was with you at every moment, always at your beck and call. You’d grown used to his evening conversation, his playful banter as he helped ease you into bed, his warmth as you curled into his side at night. He was the daylight’s greeting and the night’s retreat. Ultimately, he’d become your home.

The lights flickered above. You may not have spoken his name, but he came regardless.

“You doubt yourself. Again.”

You ripped your eyes away from the mirror to look at the figure crouching under the doorway.

“You’re late,” you replied monotonously.

“Am I?” König asked as he stepped in behind you, watching you in the mirror.

“I think so,” you said.

“Then I must be,” König agreed, “I had hoped you might be able to see your light, however, even I am merely a subject of fate.”

“And fate says I’ll hate myself forever?” you scoff.

“Fate says you need a reminder of your worth,” König replied as he situated himself directly behind you.

“I don’t want it,” you spat.

“Fate does not care for your desires,” König droned.

“If fate doesn’t care about me, why should I care about it?” you argued petulantly.

“Fate is not so kind, Summoner,” König raised his hands to place them on your shoulders, “now, tell me, why does my mark cause you pain? Is it not imprinted on you to inspire comfort and hope? Does it not make you warm?”

You looked down at the intricate design on the back of your right hand. You raised it up to take a better look at the darkened skin. The pattern was truly beautiful, full of constellations and ocean waves sweeping into one another. It was one of the most intricate designs you’d seen, a testament to your summon’s strength and abilities. Everything about him exuded power and prestige. He was hammered gold, shaped into intricate arcane art. You were coal burning at the bottom of a pit.

“It’s a reminder,” you told him coldly.

“It is,” König acquiesced, “but I suspect it is more.”

“It is,” you traced the linework with your pointer finger.

“Then tell me, Summoner,” König softly ordered you.

“I shouldn't’ need it,” you said quietly.

“You value the words of the lesser far too much,” König grumbled, “what weakness is there in keeping a symbol of us with you?”

“You only gave it to me because I couldn’t draw your summoning symbol properly,” you cradled your hand to your chest.

“That was what I told you, yes,” König leaned his mask over your shoulder as he looked into your eyes in the mirror.

“You say that like there’s more to it,” you snorted.

“Summoner,” König tsked at you, “do you truly believe that I speak freely and openly?”

You smiled bitterly, “You’ve got me there.”

“Summoner, I like seeing my mark on you,” König chuckled as he leaned over you, caging you in between him and the counter, “when I see it on you, it is but a mark of my ownership of you. I own you, mind body and soul, it all belongs to me. When I put my mark on you, I was binding you to my side.”

You looked down at your hand, where the mark tingled on your skin. This mark seemed less of a reminder of your simple mind and now more a reminder of your fixture in König’s life. Strangely, the idea didn’t seem so disagreeable.

“You believe you are weak,” König drew you from your thoughts, “and there is merit to this, but you are not doomed to a life of fragile floundering. You are, rather, destined for greatness. Your blood gave you a promise on birth, and it has not lied to you. Your blood is simply dormant, but not lost on you.”

König took a taloned hand and brushed it through your hair, careful so as not to accidentally nick your skin with his hooked claws, “When I see you, I am reminded of the cosmos. There is emptiness, yet if you pull back to see the full picture, there circle planets around stars as they dance Azothoth’s maddening waltz through the universe. You are simply experiencing growing pains, of a sort.”

“You keep saying that, but how long do I have to wait?” you sighed as you matched his gaze through the looking glass, “when do I actually get to be strong?”

König shook his head, “To tell you that would be to ruin your potential.”

A frown crawled across your face. König’s prophecies sometimes seemed so far away that they sounded more like myths and legends than they did your fate. At this point, you were beginning to loathe this concept of fate. Had you a chance, you’d take their scissors and drive them through the eye those three witches shared. You had the suspicion such thoughts were thoroughly blasphemous in nature. You didn’t particularly care anymore.

“I wish I could punch fate,” you finally stated.

König laughed heartily, throat warbling with ocean currents and cosmic storms. His head kicked back with mirth, and so warm was his cold laughter that you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling. The two of you shared in the light of the laughter, a beacon in a sea of self doubt and fear. For a moment, the fates seemed to smile upon you, despite your surly nature.

“You do amuse me, Summoner,” König chuckled as he managed to wrangle himself back under control.

“I don’t get why you find it that funny. Don’t you know what I’m going to say before I say it?” you pointed out with a final laugh.

“I only see the potential of what you’ll say. Seeing what you decide upon is a constant welcome surprise,” König leaned down to brush his cheek against your own, “you may think I know everything before it occurs, but I assure you I am in awe with your choices.”

“What else would I have said?” you smirked knowingly.

“Must I tell you?” König sighed with exasperation.

“I command it,” you sniffed haughtily.

“You command! My Summoner, you are certainly growing into your role, aren’t you?” König chuckled before pressing a pinching kiss to your temple before deftly avoiding your retaliatory swat, “I believe another thought was rather depreciatory of your character, another was optimistic in nature. That response, however, was the one I expected the least. And that, dear Summoner, is what I appreciate most about you.”

“What you appreciate most?” you asked.

“You consistently amaze me,” König’s eyes crinkled with sunlight warmth, “and for that, I love you more.”

You didn’t think, and for that you paid the price of turning your head to press a kiss to König’s cheek. For once, both of you were as equally surprised as you were delighted.

König pressed a hand against his cheek briefly before bringing the hand back to circle over your chest, “You may not realize, but each and every kindness you gift me is cherished.”

You ducked your head into his forearm to avoid showing your blush, knowing full-well that König was quite aware. 

He was, thankfully, merciful in how he addressed you, “Summoner, it is late and tomorrow does not bring much in the ways of rest. Do you wish to rest?”

You thought for a moment. You knew König was right, tomorrow would be strenuous in how it played itself. Your friends mentioned something about a physical test and something about a wilderness survival trip, but in that moment, König’s hold was greater than any expense the next day brought.

“Not yet,” you told him, “can you just hold me for a bit?”

König encircled you fully in his arms, guiding you into his dark cloak to press you into his form, “Always, Summoner.”

AU Masterlist

[allwormdiet]

Thinking about Worm (Arcs 1 to 7)

I was thinking about making a post where I stop reading for just a second and think aloud about what's happened so far. I was told, while navigating around spoilers, that Arc 7 was the right place to cut it off, and looking at the cliffhanger in 7.12 and Interlude 7 I can guess why. This is the last thing we're going to have something resembling the status quo or a minute. So, let's talk.

The thing that I knew about Worm in an academic sense was that it's in a near-constant process of escalation as the story goes on, starting with one big dragon guy and upping the scale and severity of the threat from there. What I didn't realize was how this would feel during the reading; I keep begging for Taylor and everyone else to just have an arc, half an arc, where they don't have any looming threat over their heads or simmering anxiety beneath the surface, but fuck me I guess because the spaces to breathe keep feeling less and less like they're enough to cool down from the last threat. How much fluffy slice-of-life fic is there in this fandom, and how much of it is from the dire need to see these kids get a fucking break? Every time I go read something sappy or play mindless games (reinstalled 2048 on my phone, still fun), it feels like I'm coming up for air.

And Taylor... I don't think she realizes how much that story about her mom and the balding guy has already become applicable. The only person she has that could even theoretically act as an anchor for her is her dad, and the moment he put any effort into making her fess up to anything she basically ran away from home. Everyone else in her life are her literal partners in crime; they're not going to check her on her bullshit unless it is some extreme bullshit, and even then it's not guaranteed. The fact that she's horrified and outraged by Dinah's situation is evidence enough that she hasn't fully lost her grip, but "being upset by a guy who kidnapped a twelve-year-old and keeps her drugged up in his bunker" is kind of a low bar? It's taken her very little time to plunge into the villain life, to such a degree that she has nowhere else to go when she's faced with the possibility that she can't stay with it.

Now that I've read that back over, I wonder. Is it something about parahumans that pushes them to separate from their normal lives? Everything we've seen about Protectorate heroes suggests that they're basically unmoored from everything except each other and the PRT, the Wards have some semblance of a life outside their status as heroes but that's probably because it's harder to explain them dropping out of school than it is to just maintain the charade. Taylor was, briefly, the only Undersider to commit to a regular school life, and Brian is only pretending to have a normal job outside the team in order to improve his chances of becoming Aisha's guardian. The ABB capes were all full-time members with no pretense of a separate life, the closest thing we've seen to a maintained connection is Purity's apparent job as an interior decorator (I wonder how many of her former clients would get their houses redone if there wasn't about to be a fucking kaiju attack); even Kaiser, as the CEO of a pharmaceutical corporation, is using his fucking Nazi street gang to enhance his power and wealth as an extension of the company (although that's still fucking stupid for reasons I muttered about during Arc 7). Even New Wave, for all that they pride themselves on operating openly and transparently, seems to be kind of insulated, and I have to imagine that an all-parahuman family is a fucking nightmare of overlapping and incompatible traumas. Five bucks says one of the kids explicitly triggered because of their parents, honestly. If we take seriously the idea that this is a cosmic horror story that's mimicking a superhero story (which I'm pretty sure it is), it would suggest... hmm. Maybe whatever Crystal Superpower Cthulhu wants out of parahumans (if it wants anything) works more efficiently if they're unmoored from human society, or maybe there's something about suddenly being some indeterminate percent crystal alien that makes parahumans feel less connected to the rest of the species. I could be getting really far ahead of myself with this, but I'm not going to let the Crystal Superpower Cthulhu fucking slip out of my mind any time soon. That's a final boss-ass entity if I've ever seen one.

It might have been harder for Taylor to detach entirely from civilian life if there was much of a life there. Winslow High School utterly failed her at every turn, her first, oldest, only friend turned into a vicious sadist over the course of, what, a week? Less than a month? There's nothing but Danny to keep her moored to that side of her life, and the first reason he gives her to feel like he's betraying her, she lets go of that bond and leaves.

Looking at the shape of the arcs, the impression I get is that this rundown through the major gangs of Brockton Bay is going to be kind of the last time we sweat about gangs in general for a while. ABB gone, Empire in disarray, Coil acting as a boss for both the Undersiders and Travelers, and that leaves, what, the Merchants? The gang nobody likes or respects? They'll probably end up being a speed bump compared to the fact that we're about to be dealing with a fucking Endbringer (Leviathan, iirc). The Undersiders have already tangled with the most dangerous gang in the city, and although it wasn't an ironclad win or loss, things are about to get a lot more serious. All I can do is hope that the Endbringer fucking obliterates them and I never have to sweat their ongoing existence ever again.

Then that would just leave Coil, of course. Fucking Coil. Oh how I hate this man. If/when I get around to writing fanfic he's going to be taken out every single time, him and the Empire both. Utterly wretched to deal with, smarmy and grandiose but no substance, using people's dependencies to keep them under his thumb, shortsighted and cruel and letting both of those things foul up his pointless little schemes. I hope he dies screaming.

Anyway, that's the broad strokes stuff. I'm gonna make a post after this where I talk about each specific character that's given me anything to think about, so stay tuned for that.

[daresplaining]

"You're crazy, all of you. I'm real, you hear me? As real as anyone." Daredevil vol. 5 #607 by Charles Soule, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles

"I don't even know how to say this...I'm not real." Devil's Reign #5 by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto,  Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles

I touched on this topic in this post, but the thought has been gnawing on my brain since Devil's Reign #5 dropped (in March 2022? Mike has been dead for two years already?! God...) so I'm giving it its own post.

Modern Mike's existence is divided into two clearly delineated states of being: "fragment" (Reader's umbrella term for his creations) and "Real Boy" (Mike's term for himself from the 2020 Annual, though shout-out to the fans who had already been calling him that since 2018). It's a literal transformation, from one form of life to another, but it also spans Mike's character arc and psychological journey: from desperately declaring his realness in Daredevil volume 5 to begrudgingly accepting the nature of his existence at the end of his introductory arc, to taking action and making himself real in Daredevil volume 6. For me, the above scene from #607 was the gut-punch moment that first got me intensely intensely invested in modern Mike, when the depth of his fear and the horror of his situation became clear-- and the emotional resonance of that moment, for me, carried over into the bombshell scene in Devil's Reign #5 when he answered the questions that had been left dangling after he rewrote reality in the 2020 Annual: Did he still remember the previous version of the world? Did he remember what he had done to change it? Did he remember being a "fragment"?

His nervous declaration to Butch-- "I'm not real"-- hits like a truck not just because it is such a risky admission, but also because of how it contextualizes Mike's new reality and what his cosmic rewrite actually changed for him. Which, it would seem, was probably not enough.

Yes, after his trick with the Norn Stone, the gaps in his memories have been filled in. Yes, he now has a birth certificate and a social security number (presumably) and actual friends and family who share actual history with him, and I'm sure that's a tremendous relief. But how much of a solace can it really be, when he still knows that the only reason he has all of those things is because he forced the universe to give them to him? His twin might think they were born together now, but Mike still knows the truth about how he was created, and now he is the only person in the world who does. He has gone from having unique memories of a past that doesn't exist for anyone else to...having unique memories of a past that doesn't exist for anyone else.

Is this new reality that much better than the old one for Mike? If he still knows that he hasn't always been real, does he feel any less like a ghost?

It is very easy to find parallels between Mike being the only person who remembers his time as a "fragment" and Matt, following the Purple Children's mind wipe, being the only person who still knew that he was Daredevil. Matt was stuck with knowledge of a world that once was-- a world in which his identity was public-- and he couldn't handle the sudden total isolation of no one at all sharing his secret, and so decided to tell someone (but just one person; Foggy). Mike's situation was nearly the same. The fear and isolation and vulnerability he'd felt as a fragment was something he had literally bent the universe to escape, but he was still left haunted by the memory of it. We didn't get much of a sense of what was going on in Mike's head in his appearances following the Annual, but I can only imagine that, mixed in with everything else he was feeling in that scene in Devil's Reign #5, he felt some amount of relief sharing the weight of that secret with his best friend. I have to wonder if, had he lived long enough, he would have told anyone else.

[thevindicativevordan]

Your thoughts on the new All-In series announced at NYCC ?(Aquaman finally gets a series back !)

Anonymous asked: Adams taking over Aquaman. Realised his thing is apparently doing back to basics relaunches for characters who haven't gotten books in a while

Shame the solicits leaked early and spoiled a bunch of the announcements. Yes Adams does seem to be establishing a niche for himself as the guy DC asks to do "crowd-pleasing" cleanup runs for fallen franchises. It's a role Waid has played himself in the past, no wonder he likes Adams.

Truthfully Adams has yet to keep me engaged. I fell off his Flash and then his GL, but I'll be giving him another chance here. Seems like it could be dumb fun and that's all I'm looking for. At least there won't be any dumb relationship drama between Arthur and Mera like he did with Hal and Carol.

Wow where do I even begin? "John Jones" being white is not what I expected. That's twice now Camp has declined to use the racebent version of a character, instead opting for the original white appearance (the other was 6160 Nick Fury being white). Surprised me, until I remembered that Camp has said New Frontier is one of his favorite DC stories. With that in mind his approach makes more sense. Meanwhile "J'onn" being an interdimensional alien who looks like a Pablo Picasso painting and doesn't even actually hail from Mars apparently is probably the biggest swing we'll see done with the basic character concept in the AU. I'm intrigued by this approach and am eager to see what Camp does given how much I've loved his Ultimates.

Rapid fire thoughts on the other announcements:

Absolute Flash and Absolute GL both look amazing art wise. Doing Flash by way of Bendis/Bagley USM was a no-brainer buy from me, but Ewing seemingly treating the Green Lantern as an object of cosmic horror akin to the Space Odyssey Monolith is raising my hopes for his run

New Gods is going to make Cagle a household name, everything about this book is screaming that it's going to be Ram V giving New Gods the Swamp Thing treatment in a way that finally gets people to care about the Fourth World outside of Darkseid and Apokolips. Dare I hope that the child spoken of in the solicits is Osul and Ram will be acknowledging PKJ's Olgrun contribution? He and PKJ seem friendly and thus it's not outside the realm of possibility

Jace Fox Batman returns and looks like he'll be involved in a new Power Company book. Good for Jace, I thought DC had completely given up on him

Seems like Volcana is making her first mainline comics debut in BL which is neat

Ridley is the next Superstar writer on Action and doing a story about... hope. Yay. He's had more misses than hits lately, and his misses with Black Panther in particular were unbelievably awful, but I want to believe he will bring some of that Other History fire to this. If not it's only three issues. Can't believe DC is dragging this era out, are they seriously going to go to June with this Superstar bullshit? I know what I said previously but I will be mega butthurt if they're dragging this out only to announce Taylor taking over

[starsoftheeye]

TMagP 17 Reaction

Pre-Episode

I've discovered that acting disinterested literally makes the episodes show up earlier on my youtube account, so I've gotta play mindgames on this app every thursday to get to see the episodes less than half an hour after they release lol

Pre-Statement

Ah Celia is back on her bullshit

Wait did she just nearly get ran over???

I feel bad for laughing at her but her only reaction being "Oh for gods sake" is super funny to me how long has she been doing this

oh hi sam

oh god she missed their date :[

something tells me a habit is going to be made of this, especially considering she literally cannot help it

"it really wasn't" yeah no wonder you nearly became roadkill

theyre so cute i love them

ooh shes mad

Statement

"catalyst" huh, have we heard that before or is this the first time

pfft not the interviewer getting read to shreds

wild theory before i keep going, based on the title "saved copy" and the "identity crisis", "existential horror", "temporal distortion" and "captivity" tags, im going to assume that this person going to therapys having the details of their life copied somewhere for something to replicate and replace them, and the doctors gonna attempt to get rid of them but obviously it didnt work. either that or the guy outside the office does something

as someone whos never done meditation before this is not encouraging me to start

ah office spaces, the worst of cosmic horror

wait did they get teleported or something

tbf if my taxi driver started driving completely the wrong way i'd assume the worst and start "exchanging words" too

oh my god was i right

wait is this copy based on their therapy, a version of themselves with no problems whatsoever? and is this gonna be a "there can only be one" type scenario?

oh wait no i forgot siblings exist

wait nvm them having the same name is weird

"dates and times" so this is where the temporal distortion comes in ig

yup

i'm sticking with the "rich-darrien is a copy trying to assimilate into og-darriens life" theory for now

yeah because thats not normal darrien, even if youre related no-one looks completely identical apart from glasses, teeth colour and a lack of a beer-gut

do they both think the other is the copy, or does sharron just not know?

oh god what is he hiding

does he beat up a real person every time hes upset

of course it was his father that makes sense

oh my god the sound design

oh my god he's the one who assimilated thats so cool

good for sharron i hope shes doing okay

off-topic but i love the way the voices get more real as the statement goes on then go back to their more robotic tone at the end

Post-Statement

as a celia fan i am eating well this week jeez

celia my dear what do you mean by that "not exactly the same though, it is?" girlie what have you done what are you hidinggg

alice!

who was playing the music in the background there?

as someones whos computing department in school consists of keyboard with never-before-discovered types of bacteria wedged between the keys thats valid

alice dyer i love you so much

ah the dyhard is dyharding

ah yes the mutual "i'm traumatised and i know you are too but i don't like you enough to give details on mine or ask about yours so we'll just sit and suffer in silence til the ice somehow breaks" dynamic

also colin mention woohoo i love the scottish man

the computer start up noise and power down noise at the beginning and end of every episode kind of makes me think that someone is watching all of this (maybe us, or more likely someone in-universe)

anyway that was fun, i'm doing this late but this was a nice way to spend my first proper off-day since finishing all my exams

[ryuzakemo128]

Eddie Munson x Italian Classical Musician/ Artist Female Reader Headcanons

Content Warnings: Cursing/ swearing, implied sexual content, alcohol, and drug use, traumatic events, emotional distress, and violence.

Masterlist

Credit 4 Dividers: @cafekitsune + @strangergraphics

Eddie finds your Italian accent incredibly charming and often asks you to repeat words or phrases just to hear it. Even during sex, you have the habit of using it in his ear,

You started learning the Cello first when you were 4 years old, because your grandfather was a world-renowned cellist, and you wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Your art style is heavily influenced by the Renaissance period, and you often use dark, moody colours that make your work eerie yet beautiful.

You have a secret stash of your favourite Italian wine and snacks, like butterscotch pudding, in your basement that you share with only a few close friends.

You paint, sculpt, sketch and create cosmic, body, surreal and contemporary horror. Most of the time it is either one of them or all of them at once, creating images so grotesque and mesmerising. It looked like it moved the longer someone stared at them. Detailed enough to capture and hold the attention of those who weren’t the intended target audience for her art.

Eddie had the habit of pulling you further into the centre of the bed if you got too far away. He liked having you as close as possible, often with an arm or a leg thrown over you. Sometimes you would roll over and spoon him from behind. Your arms up his black shirt. Eddie in turn would jolt awake because of your cold hands sometimes. He would then wrap his arms around you and pull you closer. Whispering, "You're so cold," with a sleepy smile.

You were determined in keeping your king-sized waterbed because it helped you fall asleep quicker than any mattress with springs ever could. Eddie found out about it when he got into bed first at your place one evening. He didn’t think much of it, assuming that you were much like everyone else, had the same type. The one with springs inside of it.

When he did find out, he said, "How the hell did you get a waterbed up here?" It had become their little secret.

“Down here. Not up here.” You reminded him your bedroom was in the basement in your house. Not in a typical bedroom like his was.

Eddie replied, "Well, I guess that explains the echo."

"Eddie, you complained about it the first time, remember?" you asked him, getting the spare pillow out from your cupboard upstairs.

Eddie's eyes widened as he took in the grandeur of your basement art studio. The walls were adorned with your hauntingly beautiful paintings, their vibrant colours clashing with the shadowy lighting. He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe mixed with a hint of trepidation as he gazed upon the sculptures that seemed to watch him with lifeless eyes. The cobwebs in the corner danced in the flickering candlelight, casting eerie shadows across the floor.

You were in the shower getting ready, as Eddie, still in his pyjamas, ventured downstairs into your basement art studio, curiosity getting the better of him. He heard the faint sound of classical Italian music playing from a radio in the corner, the melody weaving through the air like a ghostly serenade. The scent of paint and turpentine filled his nostrils, a stark contrast to the usual scent of his own room—stale pot and heavy metal. He took a tentative step closer to the waterbed, his eyes widening as he realised it was indeed a king-sized waterbed. The gentle sloshing of the water beneath the mattress made him chuckle to himself, wondering how you managed to keep this a secret from everyone else.

The curtains, which were three black lace curtains sewn together to cover the basement windows. Fairy lights strung along the top of the curtains, creating a soft glow around the room.

The walls were painted an ultraviolet purple that made the green in your art pop out. The concrete floor covered in faux fur rugs in deep shades of black.

The walls were also covered on your vivid horror creations done by either charcoal, water coloured pencils, or acrylics, all framing your monstrous yet oddly fascinating creations. Each piece told a story of its own, a silent scream echoing from the canvas that seemed to resonate with Eddie's own inner turmoil. He felt a strange kinship with your art, as if it understood the chaos in his mind better than he did himself.

The sculptures, made from clay, stone, and sometimes metal, stood sentinel around the room, each one a twisted representation of a creature from a nightmare. Despite the macabre scene, there was a serene quality to the space, a sanctuary where you poured your soul into your craft.

The emerald green velvet couch across from your bookshelf was his first stop, collapsing onto it with a sigh as he looked around the room. His eyes fell on the shelf of your favourite Italian wine bottles, the labels yellowed with age, and the smell of your secret stash of butterscotch pudding wafted through the air. It was a comforting scent, one that reminded him of your late-night art sessions and the sweet treats you'd share with him as he played guitar to drown out the sound of the waterbed's waves.

The rest of your things were upstairs. Ever since your parents moved away when you turned 21. You had the entire house to yourself. Something you told Eddie about at the time. You liked the idea of your bedroom being your sanctuary. A place where you felt most alive. Most creative. It was also the place where Eddie took your virginity.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 10 H.P. Lovecraft Stories

My previous two lists covered my favorite works from my favorite author, one who is synonymous with horror and mystery: Edgar Allan Poe. In truth, very few authors over the decades have had quite the reputation Poe has, in terms of macabre literature…but if there’s one author who is considered classic to the genre and has come close, it’s Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

H.P. Lovecraft was an…unusual individual, to say the least, even in his own time. To paraphrase a video summary of his life, he was not a man with issues, but rather a bundle of issues in the shape of a man. There are MANY things that have made him a controversial figure as a person, but as a writer, one cannot deny the impact his work has had. He has become almost a genre in and of himself, with the phrase “Lovecraftian” and his favorite word, “eldritch,” being used to describe all manner of slimy and unfathomable horrors in years since his passing. Lovecraft’s work hinges on what he considered “the oldest and strongest kind of fear,” that being fear of the unknown. While there are certain aesthetic elements that are a constant throughout his work, and have their own sort of superficial iconography, the real genius behind Lovecraft’s writing is the sense of not really understanding or knowing the things that we are afraid of. He creates a world where humanity is considered small and insignificant, and our universe humble and refined. His work then pits these meager things against cosmic and ancient forces nobody is able to fully comprehend. Combine this idea with graphic descriptions of rot, decay, and body horror (and a big ol’ splash of icthyophobia) and you have the basic idea of what makes Lovecraft’s work iconic.

Since I already talked about Poe, I felt it was time to give Lovecraft some time in the spotlight. So - in continuation with my series of October countdowns - here are My Top 10 Favorite H.P. Lovecraft Stories.

10. Cool Air.

This story is actually kind of funny, when you really think about it, and especially when you realize why Lovecraft even made it. It was literally made…because H.P. Lovecraft was afraid of air conditioning. No, that is not a joke. Refrigerated air was a fairly new technology in Lovecraft’s time, and was becoming more and more in-vogue for home use, especially in more heavily urbanized areas. At the time he wrote this story, Lovecraft was living in Red Hook, Brooklyn (a place and a situation he utterly despised, for lots of reasons), and this story was him effectively venting his frustrations about his living situation, while also being concerned of how the technology and even possible medical uses it could have might be abused. (Yes, because…God forbid AIR CONDITIONING lead to the end of humanity.) Once you know this, this story becomes kind of hilarious, as his absurd paranoia is present in every page. With that said, the story itself isn’t too bad: inspired by Poe’s “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” (and the lesser-known story “The Novel of the White Powder” by Arthur Machen), the plot focuses on a writer living in Red Hook (gee, I wonder who that could be), whose upstairs neighbor is a mysterious physician named Dr. Munoz. The doctor is a kind and generous fellow, but has two noticeable eccentricities: he never leaves his apartment, and he has a HUGE air conditioning machine, which he runs at all hours, cranked up to the max, keeping himself and the room around him cold. When the machine breaks down…well…if you’ve read either of the two stories I already mentioned, you might already have an idea, but let’s just say, it ain’t pretty. While more funny than scary to me (unintentionally so), it’s still a tale I find interesting, and worthy of placement on the ranks.

9. Call of Cthulhu.

If you haven’t actually read much of Lovecraft’s body of work proper, this story being so low on the list might surprise you. And if you HAVE read a lot of Lovecraft’s work…it still may surprise you. “Call of Cthulhu” is arguably the most famous story the man ever wrote. It is widely regarded as the point where the Cthulhu Mythos (as the name of such implies) truly began, and in compilations of famous short horror stories, if there’s a Lovecraft story included anywhere, nine times out of ten it’s this one. Not to mention the title, itself: if you’re a big-time gamer, you’ll definitely recognize it. There’s a few video games, an RPG game, and a card game that ALL bear this title. However, in my opinion, the IMPACT of “Call of Cthulhu” is more noteworthy than the ACTUAL STORY itself. The plot focuses on a man named Francis Wayland Thurston, who - while going through the belongings left behind by a deceased relative - discovers the existence of a bizarre cult, which apparently spans the entire globe, with members secreted away everywhere in civilization. The cultists worship the ancient being known as Cthulhu: one of the Old Ones, the God-like creatures who are at the heart of Lovecraft’s mythos. He later learns of an encounter a group of sailors had with the monster…aaand that’s kind of it. The story doesn’t really have a solid plot, although it does escalate in its own way, which I admit I find admirable. However, that (plus the very, VERY overt racism present in it…which, frankly, is a problem with a LOT of Lovecraft’s work, and infamously so) I think is why I’m not AS into it as a lot of other people are. Still, it’s iconic enough to make the list, if only because of the impact of the titular creation. Cthulhu has arguably become just as iconic and notorious as many of the other great literary horror stars, such as Dracula, Frankenstein and His Creature, the Phantom of the Opera, and so on. There is good reason for this, and if nothing else, that earns this story some praise.

8. The Rats in the Walls.

Our protagonist for the outing is a man simply known as “Delapore,” who moves from America to England to take control of the ancestral estate of his family. He is accompanied only by his pet cats…and his favorite among them has a very awkward name, so I won’t be mentioning it here. Anyway, the spooky old place seems to be feared by the neighbors, but Delapore nevertheless decides to restore the aging manor house to its former glory. Things change when both he and his cat are plagued by the sounds of rats, scratching and burrowing within the walls of the mansion. To make matters worse, Delapore begins to have frightening dreams, in which he sees a demonic swineherd tending to a drove of “flabby beasts.” Deciding to rid himself of the pest problem, and hopefully put an end to his dreams, Delapore - with the help of a family friend and a couple of other associates - goes hunting for the rats, and in the process discovers a hidden passageway, leading deep down into the bowels of the Earth beneath the house. He soon discovers what appears to be the ruins of a hidden city…and a dark and terrible secret that has been in his family for ages. What happens when he learns the secret is shocking, to say the least. The story feels more Gothic in nature than many of Lovecraft’s other tales, while still having this sort of ambiguous grandness that his other works have, and contains subtle references to things that would, in later stories, be made part of the Cthulhu Mythos, which only adds to its unpleasant and unsettling atmosphere. This story is just plain creepy in the best possible way; whenever I hear the sound of mice or rats scurrying about now, I start thinking of this eerie tale.

7. Herbert West - Re-Animator.

If there is a singular CHARACTER that has become legendary in Lovecraft’s work - not a story, not a creature, not a concept, but a CHARACTER - it is undeniably Herbert West. Told in serialized format over the course of six separate short stories, “Re-Animator” relates the misadventures of the titular scientist, as he tries to create a chemical formula that will allow him to bring people back from the dead. The story is told from the perspective of West’s friend and assistant, who becomes increasingly afraid of West as the scientist’s experiments become more dangerous, and as his moral code continues to fray. While the story is morbid and horrific, it’s also very amusing…and this time, unlike with “Cool Air,” it’s MEANT to be amusing. Lovecraft wrote the story at the request of a friend, who wanted to publish it not in a horror or sci-fi magazine, but a comedy pamphlet! So, Lovecraft intentionally wrote the six connected stories as a sort of horror-comedy, mixing gory and gruesome morbidity with wry wit and deliberately over-the-top elements. By his own admission, he drew most heavily from “Frankenstein,” intending this to be a sort of satire of Shelley’s novel; while what West is doing isn’t PRECISELY the same, the parallels are pretty clear. The six-parter is also noteworthy for being one of the first appearances of what might be called stereotypical zombies: West’s experiments turn most of his “patients” into reanimated corpses, still in states of decay and decomposition, which animalistically feed on the flesh of the living. West himself, however, would be the story’s greatest legacy, as the mad doctor has become the subject of many adaptations and derivative works since, the most famous being the 1985 film starring Jeffrey Combs as the character. While there are several Lovecraft pieces I like more, this one still stands out, and is worthy of all the praise it gets and more.

6. The Color Out of Space.

Also called “The Colour Out of Space,” because regional spelling differences. Anyway, this story brings us to the heart of the cosmic-level types of horrors Lovecraft is so well-known for. It all begins in the rural town of Arkham, Massachusetts. (And yes, Batman fans, this is where the Asylum gets its name from.) A surveyor from Boston asks one of the few remaining locals in the run-down area about a wasteland region of Arkham referred to as “the blasted heath,” and why no one goes there. The local proceeds to tell the surveyor all about what happened there: of a mysterious meteorite that fell from the sky and landed on a farmer’s property. Of the strange globule, with a color no one can quite describe, they found inside of it. Of the farmer’s rise to fame and prosperity thanks to the strange event…and of the then rapid, horrifying decline of the farmer’s life, and the lives of all around him, as the cosmic horror begins to overwhelm them all. In a way, you can kind of consider this a horror version of “The Lorax,” of all things: a character wants to know why a mysterious wasteland is the way it is, and we learn that by messing with things that should not have been messed with, and not taking care to have the proper precautions, many lives were led to destruction, leaving nothing but gloom in the wake of the whole mess. Of course, giant space rocks containing mysterious and indescribable organisms don’t really compare to chopping down a few Truffula Trees, but you get the gist.

5. The Whisperer in Darkness.

The next two stories, starting with this one, are among Lovecraft’s most popular, as well as among the longest: they were actually published in serialized chapters before being released as novellas later on, a little bit like the Herbert West stories. “Whisperer in Darkness” begins when our main character, a literature professor named Albert Wilmarth, hears reports of the carcasses of alien lifeforms being discovered in Vermont. Wilmarth scoffs at the idea at first, disparaging the accounts of the creatures (referred to as Mi-Go), but changes his tune when an old acquaintance of his - Henry W. Akeley - begins a correspondence with him. Akeley claims to have seen the creatures, and later claims to have even killed one of them. Eventually, Akeley convinces Wilmarth to visit him, saying he’s made a breakthrough in his discoveries, and wants his friend to know. Wilmarth visits Akeley, whom he discovers apparently chair-ridden with a bizarre disease that affects his voice. Akeley tells Wilmarth that he no longer believes the Mi-Go are dangerous, claiming they actually want to help mankind…but the methods they plan to use are…unorthodox, to say the least. What’s interesting about this story and the horror it unveils is its layers of ambiguity: there’s a LOT of stuff here we don’t know. We don’t know if the aliens are genuinely evil or not; if what they plan to do is meant to be benevolent but ultimately misguided, or if it’s all some sort of horrifying scam. We also don’t know if what we find out has happened to Akeley was an act of cruelty or if he was as willing as claimed. Finally, we also don’t know what really happens to the Mi-Go at the end of the story: if they died, escaped and are still out there on Earth, or have fled back to their home base on Pluto. (Not even trying to be funny, that’s where their nearest outpost is located.) It’s a multi-layered and extremely unnerving story that really exemplifies the idea of “fear of the unknown” that Lovecraft was so hailed for.

4. At the Mountains of Madness.

While “Call of Cthulhu” and “Herbert West - Reanimator” likely have the most recognizable physical figures and titles of any Lovecraft story, I’d argue this was the most influential in terms of the actual story. “At the Mountains of Madness” is actually the inspiration for several other famous horror/sci-fi combos, including Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” It is also what might be considered the ultimate culmination of the Cthulhu mythos, where the threads of various stories connected to the lore of Lovecraft all come together. The story tells of the adventures of a group of explorers in Antarctica, led by our main character, William Dyer. While on a geological expedition near the frigid South Pole, the explorers find what appear to be the ruins of a prehistoric city, and the fossilized remains of creatures referred to as “Elder Things.” Further exploration reveals that nearly all of the Elder Things were apparently wiped out in a race-related war between themselves and other beings known as the Shoggoths…and that somewhere, deep within the city’s bowels, an unspeakable evil that even these ancient monsters feared is still lurking. As the story goes on, it soon becomes clear that this mysterious evil - the true identity of which is never really made clear - is not all that is still alive in this ancient necropolis…and that the war between these prehistoric races may not really be over. It’s surprising that this story has never gotten a cinematic treatment, since it has been the inspiration for other great films…and with all the references contained to Lovecraft’s general body of work, you could basically call a film version of this story “Lovecraft: The Movie.” There have been rumors, over the years, of Guillermo Del Toro - who is a HUGE Lovecraft fan - making a film adaptation of the story…but with Del Toro’s reputation for picking up and dropping projects faster than I do chicken eggs, I don’t think there’s much hope for that anytime soon.

3. The Shadow Over Innsmouth. This is one of Lovecraft’s most famous tales, as well as one of his most exciting, in my opinion. Initially published - as many of his longer works were - in serialized format, the story actually ended up being one of the few novellas by Lovecraft published in proper book form during his lifetime. (In fact, it might have been the only one, but I’m not entirely sure there; feel free to correct me.) The story begins with our resident narrator and protagonist - Robert Olmstead - telling us of how he helped a government purging of the seaport town of Innsmouth, and then goes on to relate why this happened, and why he’s telling us. He explains how, while going on a tour all over New England, he was more or less forced to travel through Innsmouth…despite the fact that virtually no one ever goes there. It doesn’t take long for Robert to figure out why: he learns of how many of the people in the town worship the mysterious creature known as Dagon, and how the ones who live there don’t seem quite right. They look more or less human…at first, but as they get older, they start to develop strange features more akin to giant fish than to human beings. They also don’t like nosy visitors…so, when Olmstead comes a-calling, you can be darn sure they aren’t the most welcoming. It’s a wonderfully haunting read, with some great moments of tension. The twist at the end is also deliciously disturbing, and actually reminds me a lot of another Lovecraft tale…but that’s literally another story.

2. The Dunwich Horror.

Alongside “Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “Mountains of Madness,” I would argue this is one of the most cinema-worthy entries in Lovecraft’s catalogue of creepiness, as well as one of his most interesting. It was one of Lovecraft’s last-published short stories, and is widely regarded as one of his best; if any of his works is published in a compilation that ISN’T “Call of Cthulhu,” it’s nearly always “The Dunwich Horror,” and between the two, I actually prefer this tale. Unlike all the other stories on this list, it doesn’t have a narrator-protagonist figure, but instead is related directly to the reader, so to speak, in third-person format. It tells of a series of dark happenings in the “eldritch town of Dunwich,” a quaint little New England village where lives a kooky old hermit known as “Wizard Whateley.” One night, Whateley’s albino daughter, Lavinia, gives birth to a child they name Wilbur, but no one is sure who the father is. Wilbur turns out to be a peculiar young fellow, to say the least, as he ages exponentially faster than any human being, and has repulsive, almost Satanical features that give him the appearance of a man and a goat combined. As he grows, Wilbur becomes desperate to find a copy of the fabled Necronomicon, for unknown purposes. Wilbur isn’t the only thing to worry about, as people soon become aware of a strange and seemingly invisible…SOMETHING living in the attic of the Whateley home. I won’t give away what’s going on exactly, but the unfolding horror is deliciously disturbing, and - much like the previous two stories I mentioned - it’s also very exciting. While tensions rise, the fear escalates from a looming, ominous foreboding to shocking action and intensity. If you’re only going to read one entry of Lovecraft’s famous Cthulhu-Mythos-involved stories…then you should probably read “Mountains of Madness,” but this one’s a close second there, definitely.

1. The Outsider.

Not EVERYTHING H.P. Lovecraft wrote was related to the now-so-lauded Cthulhu Mythos. He did, especially in the earlier points of his career, write stories that were completely unique and self-contained. It is likely very ironic that my favorite Lovecraft story is exactly such a case. This little story, as far as I can tell, has no connection to the famous lore at all: it’s a complete one-off, and it is a FABULOUS one. The story focuses once again on a narrator-protagonist, this time one who has no name. He tells the reader that he spent a great deal of his life trapped in the dungeon of a decrepit old castle, forever entombed in the dark, with no knowledge of the outside world, and no memory of who he really is or where he comes from. His only comfort are some antique books he’s managed to find. In desperation, eager to see light and meet other people, he creeps his way through the crumbling castle in a perilous escape attempt, till he finally reaches the outside world. His hope and joy intensify when he comes across a bright and vibrant party…but after trying to join the party, his dream-come-true quickly transforms into a nightmare. I do not DARE tell you all what happens, because the twist ending to this story is one of my favorite twists in ANY story. The twist itself is a big part of what makes this story brilliant, but it’s also just a really well-told tale. It’s tragic, it’s exciting, it’s disturbing, and it has just enough ambiguity in it to keep you guessing as to what is REALLY going on and why. On top of that, the story speaks to its own title audience: the outsiders. I think nearly everyone has had this feeling of being an outcast or just not “part of the crowd” at some point in their lives. And while we ideally try to just do our own thing, many of us have wished we could join in the party. It’s a story that is as touching and poignant as it is extremely unsettling, and for that reason, it’s undeniably my absolute favorite of his works. There’s something personal, something unique, and something deceptively simple about “The Outsider” that so many of Lovecraft’s other pieces don’t have…and it’s all done, I should add, without a lot of the things that make his work occasionally hard for others to get into. There’s no racism, no alien words that are hard to pronounce, no complete misunderstandings of math and science…just the story of a lost and lonely soul, trying to find some happiness…and the horror he inadvertently discovers instead. It may not be as famous as “Call of Cthulhu” or “The Dunwich Horror,” but there is no doubt in my mind that “The Outsider” is my favorite H.P. Lovecraft story.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Dagon.

From Beyond.

The Terrible Old Man.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

[bardic-tales]

Happy Blorbo Blursday!

Have any of your characters come from a position of privilege that they’ve never had to examine?

Happy Blorbo Blursday, Mara. Thank you for the ask. I hope you are having a wonderful day. I have one character that fits this question. So, I'm going to talk about the big bad of Fantasy Worlds Collide, Azrakiel (Asmodeus).

Content Warnings: Abuse of Power, Manipulation, Entitlement, Superiority Complex, Parental Exploitation, Lack of Consent, Themes of Lust and Desire, Familial Conflict, Betrayal, Morally Ambiguous Relationships, Existential Struggle, Internal Conflict, Cosmic Horror, Loss of Identity, Ambition, Violence, Civil War, Societal Hierarchy, Emotional Trauma, and Descent into Darkness.

Azrakiel's origins as a revered angelic watcher grants him a unique perspective on privilege. He was among the first angels to be created by the Creator Deity and was granted the motif of a 'holy dragon', which is Azrakiel's true form. He was once a celestial being of unmatched grace and considered himself the celestial race of angels' as superior to the race of man. His elevated position once provided immense respect among his peers, but it also came with a sense of entitlement that shaped his worldview. He also believed that a celestial being can do what they want with the mortals: including mating and marrying them. This was one of the reasons he sided with Lucifer in the civil war that rocked the Celestial Realm and lead to him being kicked out of the Celestial Realm with the other rebels and securing him the title of the Prince of Lust as Amodeus.

Despite his fall from Grace, his ambitions remain deeply intertwined with the remnants of his celestial origins. Rather than addressing the moral complexities that came with his previous position and power, he chooses to exploit his understanding of cosmic forces for manipulation and control. This lack of introspection leads him to see himself as a master of destiny and an aspiring demon who lusts for omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. He really is unconcerned about the impact he has on others, believing in the reason justifies the means. His refusal to confront the implications of his privilege creates a stark contrast between the angel he was and the primordial demon he became.

Azrakiel's privilege is reflected in his relationship with others, especially his daughter Bianca Moore. He views her as a pawn in his grand schemes, and he will often overlook her own autonomy and experiences. His ambitions blind him to the reality that Bianca, as a being of light and dark, possesses her own identity and power and is much more than the Harbinger of Chaos, Lady Amara, and the Duchess of Lust. Rather than nurturing their family bond, he would rather exploit her divinity to achieve his goals. I feel this dynamic emphasizes how his lack of self-examination not only continues a cycle of control but also creates a chasm in his familial relationships. By focusing on his relentless quest for supremacy and refusing to recognize the privilege that he once enjoyed as a Watcher Angel, he risks losing the very connection that could ground him, redeem him, and give him a true purpose besides getting back at his father, the Creator Deity.

Interested in joining the Creator’s Club? Please check out this post on it.

[probablyaseamonster]

I just saw the trailer for the next Cult of the Lamb update and I'm having fuuuun/devious glee.

Sidenote but it'll be coming out a few days before my b-day so that's great! (I totally didn't need anymore signs from the gods that I need irl friends before I snap hehooo)

So, regarding the alternate universe vessel character.

(so far I've seen like 5 names that I love to death but I have a feeling I know the one in particular that is gonna settle before the others get considered. I could make a list if anyone wants to debate 'cause fandoms can settle Fast and I think there's some potential for layered contrast and just settling for the easy option would be disappointing. But I'm not the biggest fan anyway so maybe I shouldn't be so arrogant about it.)

I noticed how they were wearing purple robes and were often in purple lighting, obviously, the way everyone else did, but something might be wrong with my eyes cuz their crown colour seemed like, straight-up blue to me? I do have an eye injury atm so maybe that's legit. Seemed kinda glaring tho/pos

So now I've got two diverging paths I'm *scrawling* over/pos:

1- AU where Shamura is the one bound in chains (and Narinder the role of think no evil) and the player character serves the god of War instead of Death.

Look, the animatics just write themselves. Any God of War scene? You can warp and adapt. Also, the "Warrior of the Mind" animatic for anyone who got obsessed with Fate: the Musical recently. It's just potential!

I also like the idea of instead of the dynamic being black cat x deceptively wholesome shepherd, it's intellectual spider x scruffy goat with a knife.

On the OTHER hand, hear me out,

2- Kallamar & Narinder roleswap AU. This could have the personalities swap version (something something scaredy-cat), or a fun to imagine scenario where Kallamar became jaded enough to the point of nearly paralleling Narinder in formidable vengefulness while also having been just as much of a coward in the past. Basically he grew some courage but at what cost?

This would probably mean that Narinder stayed however he was before the betrayal and imprisonment, probably being the one to lose his ears, and maybe taking the role in the narrative as the sibling to run from the Goat after the two younger gods got taken out and the middle child realized he was next? I can't imagine Narinder throwing Shamura under the bus like that, maybe it was more like a "you can't kill me, it'll fuck everything up! You have to spare me or the last fight will take place in an even more fucked-up apocalyptic hellscape!").

If Narinder was still the one to first express discontent with Death, wonder how Sickness being restrained in the afterlife affected Narinder's situation... Or what if Narinder was like Shamura, and the two were conspirators, instead of Death by War it was Death by Plague? And Death stayed free but went deaf or insane? What would Kallamar have to gain from the idea of breaking past his cosmic role, thinking "okay but what if, immortality was an option?" remixed to be uh, maybe something to do with health? Immunity? Something bordering Frankenstein as an affront to nature?

As you can see I'm putting thoughts and curiosity into both ideas, the only thing I kinda hope becomes mainstream fanon is that the Goat is a bit like Lamb's opposite - wheras one is welcoming and soft but capable of horrors at night, and of course being a badass monster fighter - contrasted with an equally small and powerful but ig more unhinged-seeming up close for the first couple interactions (probably recruited individuals with a pitch like "look I'm the one with the weapon here, so you're gonna wanna get behind me even if you don't trust me with access to things") but then shows glimpses of a heart of gold that makes followers feel safe enough to stay. As well as a sense of responsibility and like, actual leadership skills lol.

Just, Sheep / Goat religious allegories make me very sad and I think this silly little game would make me feel better about things.

I can't WAIT to see how Bamsara handles this update. We gettin' the multiverse canon? Hopefully it doesn't get too crazy, and we stick with just the two purple/blue and red characters for a little while.

I wonder what other satanic animals could be vessels? Wolf, definitely, donkey makes sense also, and pig is usually ascribed with gluttony but there's something that could be done with cleanliness or intelligence but percieved otherwise... I also think there's something that could be done with birds though, like I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that the Mourning Dove is angel coded, much like the Lamb. Could just be the Dove also, though I was kinda hoping that the Symbol of World Peace wouldn't be a drect Christian symbol, which was a wishful hope.

Um... yeah! Just wanted to get my thoughts out! And there's a certain other goatlike character who's been occupying my thoughts recently, dw, I'll get to that soon. I'll explain then.

um. I don't know if this is a function so I'm not even gonna try lol but I hope I remember to come back to see Bamsara's initial reaction to the alternate universe implicated update! Oh yeah and a daycare centre, that's a relief for everyone involved whoof! Hope there's an NPC willing to take up the job, and who would of course enjoy being around kids.

[cosmicjoke]

okay cosmic. i am back again for another analysis from you. we have talked a bit about megumi fushiguro but not in depth and as you know he’s my favorite jjk character. so i was just wondering your in depth thoughts/analysis on him. lots of people call him “boring” and “useless” which i disagree and i always love reading what you have to say about characters even if it isn’t the same as me(which it almost always is tbf). anyway it’s ok if you don’t have anything to say about him just would love to hear your thoughts if you do 🩵

It's funny, because Megumi was initially my favorite character on JJK too, before it became Gojo, and Megumi still remains my second favorite, so we have essentially the same characters in our top two spots, haha.

Overall, I never enjoyed JJK the same way I do say Attack on Titan, so I've never put as much thought into it. I only read it once through, and I admit that the fatigue of getting through so many battles, with so many pages of exposition explaining how some characters cursed technique works, made me pay less attention, so I've forgotten a LOT of the details of the story, including character names, etc.... I would have to re-read it I think to really develop a better understanding of it and its characters. So I'm afraid I won't be able to offer a great deal of insight or really thoughtful analysis the way I try to with AoT and its characters. But I'll try my best here.

I have no idea why anyone would call Megumi useless or boring. Maybe because Sukana was able to bring out the full potential of the Ten Shadows technique, and people think by comparison, Megumi is a failure. But it's an absurd comparison to begin with. Sukana is literally ancient and has been around forever, while Megumi is, what, 15 or 16 years old? He's just a kid who hasn't had any kind of chance yet to develop or reach his full potential. And even still, calling him useless is a purposefully false accusation. He's been integral in numerous battles and conflicts in JJK, essential in his friends ability to walk away with their lives.

As for calling him boring, again, I don't know why anyone would say that about him. Maybe because he generally tends not to show a great deal of emotion? But then, you and I both know how stupid it is to assume a character doesn't feel anything just because they don't engage in dramatic displays of emotion. I think it's obvious that Megumi is dealing with a lot of repressed trauma, both from the abandonment by his father, and the situation with his sister. That, on top of the horrors he and the other jujutsu students have to face daily, and I think it's just made him a very guarded person. But the devotion he feels toward his sister betrays what a caring person he really is. He never abandoned her, even when she fell into a coma. He would always make time to visit her, and did everything in his power to protect her. So while Megumi affects an attitude of detachment, I think it's pretty obvious how much he actually cares about everyone around him. Like when he first meets Itadori, he acts like he can't stand him and doesn't care what happens to him, but it's Megumi who first requests Gojo's help with Yuuji, and we see over and over again how much he actually cares for him, and all his friends, and how deeply it impacts him whenever any of them gets hurt or dies.

I actually think Megumi is probably going to be essential in some way to defeating Sukana. I haven't been reading these last, several chapters, but I've been keeping up with spoilers, and that's just the sense I'm getting. There was so much build up to Megumi's potential, with Gojo's lessons with him, with Gojo telling him he had the potential to surpass him, Sukana's taunting and then stealing his body and technique, etc... So unless Gege drops the ball on his own foreshadowing again (which is always possible, considering the shitshow that his writing has been lately), I think Megumi is likely to become the actual hero of this story. I think he's been being set up to take on that role since basically the beginning. The character that, on the surface, seems the least invested, or declaring his own detachment from people, being the one to actually save the day, would be a classic hero trope. Our main players right now in Itadori and Yuta falling to Sukana, and needing Megumi to overcome him in order to save their lives, would make a lot of sense to me. Like defeating Sukana from within, after being underestimated and after Sukana's attempts to destroy Megumi too.

Of course, I could be totally off base, and whatever happens with Megumi could just be another, underwhelming bleh moment, kind of like what just happened with Kenjaku and his story and connection to various characters going absolutely nowhere, lol. So who knows. I don't really trust Gege as a writer at this point. But maybe he'll actually manage to pull off something worthy of Megumi's character. He's due for something like that, considering the way he butchered Gojo's ending.

[starheirxero]

They've finally given us a break from the angst! :D And have given us so much lore, golly gee-

First of all👆: HELL YEAH SUN, GO OFF!!! Seeing him talk back to Eclipse and the Creator has healed me!

After these episodes, the Creator has officially gained the first place for biggest god complex- WE HAVE A LITERAL GOD ECLIPSE, AND HE SOMEHOW OUT-COMPLEXES HIM, HOW THE HELL IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?? Mfer is taking it to a whole new level! At least God Eclipse stays in his own damn dimension!

As for Ruin…he is so interesting, HELP- How does he know all this??👀 Who is he??? I am very certain now, that he lied to Bloodmoon about his creation! He did say he "suffered one", which can have a lot of implications. Of course there's the obvious, which is what he did to their dimension, but there is also the possibility, that Ruin was never a daycare attendant at all. Maybe he was created for the virus, and was kept around by his creator?🤔 Maybe their relationship was a lot more personal??

There's also the dimensions in general! We know Stitchwraith's origin now, or at least the reason for it. There are only thirteen in all the dimensions combined👀 It really makes me hope for a deeper look into the multiverse in general!

But there's also Eclipse. And then there is Lunar. Both of them actively defy fate.

Most Eclipses die, be it still in Sun, or shortly after. Yet our Eclipse keeps on dragging himself out of his grave. He dies and keeps dying, yet he won't. stay. dead. He actively laughs in death's face. And that is so intriguing!

And there's of course everything surrounding Lunar. For one, the Creator wants to use them. It's so ironic, to be honest. They were created to be used, and now that they finally want to move on, want to leave this part of their life behind, there's this giant, looming threat, wanting to use them again. And unlike other villains, this one cannot be stopped! This one is on another level, and not even Moon knows what to do about him!

There are also their powers. This wasn't supposed to happen. And the way Ruin worded it, it seems that Lunar is the first of a kind! And it makes me wonder why. What makes our Lunar different? What makes them so special? Was it really just a cosmic storm? Or was there a higher power involved? I an literally shaking in my seat about it!

Also, on a side note: the amount of angst possibilities Ruin has opened up by talking about what the creator council would do to Lunar, Jesus christ-

-Stardust

RIGHT LMAO back to your regularly scheduled external horrors!! 😁

GHOD YEA SUN JUST CAME OUT GUNS A-BLAZING THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY WILD 2 ME. My man is at his LIMIT!!!

AND GHOD YEA THE CREATOR. THIS MAN HAS SOME GALL. Honestly tho the fact that he wants to use Lunar's star power is a sign to me that Ruin probably wasn't at all lying or exaggerating about the Creator Council's motives. Honestly, he was probably the one who gave them the idea in the first place 😭

AND RUIN,,, HONESTLY YEA I'VE BEEN WONDERING THE SAME THING. If all of this is so multiversal, it raises SO many questions as to how Ruin knows about things like their plans and motives. MAN if it turns out that Ruin was basically a living weapon made to stand next to the creator, I will go INSANE. (Smth smth Lunar n Eclipse parallels too.....)

ANS AUAAGAGGHHH YEA THE WORLDS OMG. The fact that most Eclipses die is smth both insanely tragic and insanely ironic to me. Like it's so sad to think that so many of them didn't make it past our Eclipse's point and just,, died alone and bitter in a body that wasn't their own. But also it's almost unfathomable bc like u said, that man does NOT STAY DOWN.

AND LUNAR,,,, GHOD YEA LUNAR. It makes sense if they're one of a kind because honestly, if there were others who had star power literally threaded into their being, the Creators could have easily gone for that person instead, yk?? But that fact is simultaneously horrifying and intriguing tbh HDJAHAJS BUT ITS LIKE U SAID, WHAT MAKES THEM SPECIAL HERE.

THERE'S SO MICH FUN STUFF REVEALED FROM THOSE TWO EPS LIKE AOAUAGAHGHHH EXCITING!!!!

[yakool-foolio]

i really love your death knight au for yakou‼️it’s super fun to read and think about

i’m just wondering about your perspective when it comes to yakou slowly putting together everything about the homunculus stuff in chapter 5. because, god, as far as i can tell that is absolute existential crisis material (like yakou figuring out he himself is a homunculus? and that his original is probably dead? like dude)

(i also imagine that the way he initially starts putting things together is like. through the whole pink blood thing. maybe yuma somehow gets (non-lethally) injured in the beginning of the chapter and sheds red blood, which leads into yakou realizing that something’s off?? don’t mind me i’m just rambling here)

There's a lot to take in when the revelation finally hits. While venturing through the abandoned village with Yuma, Yakou is mortified by the ghastly sight. Many citizens he'd known over the years, despite their passing, are husks of their former selves, mindlessly attacking him and the rookie. He fights back against them to protect Yuma, who they seem to suspiciously target more than Yakou. There's not much room to dwell on it as Makoto fires the arrow containing the threat of homunculi feasting on human flesh to survive. A pit in his stomach begins to form. While being chased down, the two fall down a cliff, both suffering some cuts and bruises. Yakou quickly takes action to clean off their blood for fear of attracting more homunculi. He takes note of the difference in their blood color, but doesn't comment on it, assuming Yuma hasn't been in the rain long enough for it to affect his body.

In the factory, Yakou confronts the zombified Hitman Zilch, newfound anger coursing through him. He wants to get back at the hitman for all the harm he caused, killing Yakou's wife and massacring the five detectives on the Amaterasu Express. Shinigami and Yuma manage to break him from his rage-induced trance, telling him Yomi and Huesca were the ones who gave the orders; he only followed their commands. Hitman Zilch confirms this during his drawn-out speech. As they discover the remains of each of the NDA detectives, Yuma immediately begins to panic. Yakou remains skeptical, trying to calm the rookie down by telling him they could be fakes. He's too deep in denial to say why.

It doesn't take long before a portion of the truth comes crashing down on him. Hearing strange noises in the freezer, Yakou instructs Yuma to stay behind so he can check. In the bone-biting cold, Yakou feasts his eyes upon the horrors of Kanai Ward. Frozen corpses are mushed into meat buns, the main food supply for the entire city's citizens. Shinigami turns away as he vomits from pure repugnance. Despite his disgusting display, he can't cough up all the lives he consumed. Exiting the freezer, Yuma rushes to him, fearful of what his chief could've seen. Yakou tells him not to worry; the bitter cold got to him, is all.

The two detectives head down into the old facility, shocked by the near cosmic terror of all the vacant pods lining the infinite walls. Holes in the ceiling reveal cloudless skies. Yuma steps into the strips of sunlight in relief, allowing himself a faint smile as he revels in what little warmth he can gain. Yakou instinctively avoids the holes, staying in the shade as he observes Yuma with sorrowful eyes. Shinigami advises her Sir to let the fledging enjoy it while it lasts.

In the bathhouse, Yuma curiously pokes and prods at the rainmaking machine while Yakou investigates. Suddenly, the rainmaker comes to a stop. Yakou and Yuma freeze up. The thick dark clouds dissipate, the blinding sun enveloping Kanai Ward. It's far from a welcoming embrace. Yakou feels his sense of self slipping away, his thoughts colliding together as a deep forgotten impulse claws up to the surface of his weakening mind. Using as much energy as he can muster, he yells at Yuma to turn the machine back on, but Yuma's anxiety flares. As he fruitless attempts to power the rainmaker, Makoto enters the building. Yuma backs up and clutches Yakou's hand, who barely clings to consciousness. When Makoto offers to help, Yuma takes his hand, allowing the three of them to connect. The rainmaker turns on, a brewing storm surrounding the city once more. Yakou regains what he had lost of himself while Shinigami recovers from her own stupor. Taking it all in is nigh impossible.

[hell-drabbles]

Eldritch au is fun

I wonder how it will work in Whb

But I have a vivd idea of having a cambion reader(partially human partially demon)

It's been a idea I've been playing around with

-Dante Anon

Sounds like you're having fun, huh? Hmm, don't really want the Reader to have anything having to do with being a demon, that's a different kind of vibe that I'm not in the mood for. I'm all about that cosmic horror, unknowable, beyond the scope of understanding type of thing. The trouble I'm having at the moment is understanding what kind of atmosphere I want to go for, and if I want Solomon to stay the same or have him be something different in regards to his relationship with the Reader. Do I want to keep him related? Do I want them to have any ties to each other at all?

Hmm, my brain is going for a change in relationship where Reader isn't related to him in a blood sense, but in the sense that they have consumed him into their being, in a rather consensual and intimate kind of thing. So the relationship wouldn't be Grandad and Grandchild, it be something akin to... well it's intimate that's what I'll say. Time is funky inside your very being, so Solomon doesn't have to worry about death working its fingers into his soul, but that also means that he can't exit anymore but that's okay. He wanted for this.

And that would probably lead to some interesting reactions from the demons around... and possibly gain the ire of so many of them as well. Fun stuff, fun stuff. Not a devil, but Solomon very much gave his soul to you and you only. Who wouldn't be jealous of you?

That being said, I think I'll be changing the tag from eldritch descendant au to eldritch inheritor au.

[boxfullaturtles]

I have a question about your fic if its okay to ask

I was wondering what the threads and lights were about that mickey saw? What are those?

Ah yes, the worldbuilding I started for the magic system that I never went anywhere with lol

I'm gonna get kinda long here, please forgive me. I love talking about this kind of thing.

"Mortal Shell" was originally going to be a lot longer of a fic, with Mikey being outside of his body for an extended period of time, something nefarious possessing his body, and then it leading the family on a fun little chase all over New York with lots of collateral damage. It would have gone more into the mystic plane that Mikey was existing on and how mystic powers draw from it and so on and so forth.

When I changed almost everything about the fic (partly to make it shorter and partly because I had started reading Dandy's "I May Be Invisible" and got paranoid about being called a copy-cat), pretty much all of that stuff was scrapped. There was going to be a little scene at the end of the fic while Mikey was recovering where he asked Draxum about the stuff he saw on the mystic plane. I did start writing that scene, but it didn't fit the pacing anywhere so it got scrapped too. Here's the only bit of that scene I wrote:

So first off I am a massive fan of personifying things that are beyond comprehension. Sort of cosmic horror but without the horror. I love the idea of a city being alive simply because it is a city, because lives have been lived there and where there's life, there is magic. Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift and Magical Anonymous series have had a huge impact on me and remain my favorite books to this day for a reason. I highly recommend them if you're a fan of urban fantasy and kick ass women and a protag who is a pathetic little meow meow that could burn London to the ground if they so desired.

Anyway. All that to say, when Mikey describes New York City as "alive", it is in an almost literal sense. New York is living place, it is alive, it breathes, it feels, it IS. The white lines are akin to ley lines; the theory is that there are lines across the globe that important and historical landmarks and monuments fall on. I sort of localized this specifically to New York City and its major landmarks. So the ley lines connect to each other like a dot-to-dot going from places like Time's Square to the Statue of Liberty, etc.

The Threads I think I touched on a little in the fic, Draxum dropped a line about them being the connections of the universe. And that's pretty much what they are. Individual people have thousands of Threads that connect them to other people, to places, to objects--they are powerful in their own ways but can't be seen outside the mystic plane. Originally these Threads were going to be used in a ritual to pull the antagonist creature out of Mikey's body and put Mikey back in. But that ritual got scrapped really early on since I never really figured it out. Mikey was also originally going to be able to see the Threads of his family members, flowing out and tying together and attaching to him. But when I was writing the scene, they made everything wwaayyy too cluttered and would have given away what was going on far too early. So why can Mikey only see the Threads in that one specific scene? idk because mystic reasons. The mystic plane is a mysterious and virtually unknown thing, that's why.

As for the golden river of light in the sky, that is very much inspired by the river of light from Mushi-Shi, an anime I love very much which has also heavily inspired me. It represents life itself, in its purest form.

I think that basically covers everything? But please! Feel free to ask me more questions! I am always down to talk about turtles and my writing! And other people's writing. I can wax poetic about that all day, my dude. <3