#i know theres a lot more lore on the mean girl moments that has a lot to do with the climate fans created back in its earliest seasons

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

[lesboygamzee]

beta troll headcanons but i have headcanons on how alternian gender works ( its not that complex dw )

aradia - fully agender . seperate from everything . didnt really care until it godtiered and then was like ohhh i dont have to do anything anymore im free now ok ^_^ and was pretty chill with it forever tavros - Fairy Girl and transfem . i imagine that Fairy Genders are like completely caste nonconforming I HAVE LORE I HAVE LORE LISTEN TO ME NOW BOY anyway . has known for like .. Awhile but shes in proximity to vriska and vriska is like your average reddit transfem and tavros is like ok maybe i should just repress this and pretend its not something i think and dream about extensively . and it works for awhile and then she lives as a girl on her own on earth c but it still takes forever for her to actually Come Out but it happens .. eventually ... ok im getting sad my girl has problems SHES ALSO BUTCH sollux - gold bigender what the fuck else . very repressed transfem who fits all the gamer trasnfem stereotypes hes kind of real . again Very Repressed and like halfway an egg halfway Aware ( haha duality ) . starts being herself after prolongued proximity to godtier aradia she stole its fucking girl ness #thetransagenda . doesnt really like the association he has with her caste but accepts it as part of his identity nontheless karkat - agender cis guy no assigned caste but identifies with his assigned gender on the technical level . he has a weird relationship with it but like its chill overall nepeta - olive trans guy . nondysphoric and is fine being a girl but one day he was like hey somethings off and he ripped his tits clean off and started living as a he and went about his life as normal <- joke but probably not far off . i dont think he was unhappy as a girl hes just chill with whatever feels right in the moment i think and right now its Boy kanaya - jade trans girl but in a gnc way because female jadebloods are meant to be very cold i think people forget that but kanaya genuinely cares about motherhood and wants to nurture the matriorb because she cares about the next generation of her race and like thats a significant part of her character guys you know that right . i think her both being badass AND having a desire for motherhood is good writing actually guys .g . anyway . has known since she was very young and would be relatively normal about it if it wasnt for her Proximity To Vriska ( see Reddit Transfem ) terezi - teal trans guy whos also nonbinary whos also a dyke . ill be honest i dont have anything super in depth for this one sorry terezi fans vriska - cerulean trans girl . i think nows the time to clarify what i mean by reddit transfem umm . she will not shut the fuck up about how horrible and mannish she looks and acts forever and like its not her fault she feels like this but shes saying this in direct proximity of other transfems namely kanaya and tavros . i also think shes a transmed . umm has known from a young age but only becomes fully comfortable in her identity like .. a loooong time from canon equius - indigo transfem . i dont have a lot of thoughts on this but i think shes very repressed for a long time but Nepeta Proximity helps her a little . doesnt really transition shes just A Girl Now gamzee - Dyke . incredibly strange relationship with everything but like .. i think hes identifying as a trans guy at 13 if only because he thinks its the easiest to explain i dont think hed care . Until It Does . has a crisis about it for exactly a week before getting normal . hard to explain more for multiple reasons rips arm off eridan - violet cis guy but like theres gender fuckery going on . thought he was transfem for awhile and went on e and was like this is awesome but i think im a guy still . does drag as a fuschia woman feferi - fuschia multigender . another one that is hard to explain sigh but i think hes an egg at 13 but he doesnt have a whole thing about it hes like oh im more than just Girl cool ^_^

[mediocre-noodle]

SONG OF THE DAY + 1 bc ehehshjddb

abnormality dancing girl by guchiry… my beloved… it has lore but i interpret it for dallas in the way that “did i get it? that brand new me?” PUFHH. also the character in the video is highly implied to go insane and also implied to kill herself or something. she at least goes insane with the obsession of being perfect. dallas isnt like it so i took the lyrics and twisted them iykwim. its in JP so i gave the video w the eng subs :D

https://youtu.be/DK56dOxLxPY?si=k0yatpQT4bSD0Tiu

and then the +1,,, oughhh probabky my fav or one of my fav kikuo songs: dance of the frogs. ITS ABOUT REINCARNATION!!!! YEAHH. theres a really sick part at 2:52 and onwards like OMIGOD i fucking love the animation like HHSJSHODBSJ frogs??? skeletons??? buddhism elements?? qi xuan is such an amazing voice bank????!:!/&!:8 yes its also a dallas song, especially bc its about reincarnation which can be tied into the lore of dallas never dying like oughh especially when the dance at 3:09,, and then it gets less lighthearted with the frogs looking like theyre in pain (3:27) WITH THE FROG HANDS STRUGGLING TO TRY AND GRASP EACH OTHER AND THE LYRICS?? ‘SUFFERANCE’?? ‘JAIL’?? ‘PRISON CELL’? YEAH NOT DYING WOULD BE HELL FR!!! AND THEN THE SICK SKELETON DANCE INSTRUMENTAL AT 3:59?? AND THEN THE SICK ASS INSTRUMENTAL WITH THE IMPLIED TRANSITION FROM ONE REINCARNATION LIFE TO THE NEXT AT 4:25??? THE WAY IT SLOWLY GETS FASTER?? OH MY GOD. and then the end of that scene with a frame of a lotus im deceased (lotuses mean rebirth).

https://youtu.be/8aS1DiEKAsI?si=QAYK7B9LnuRftNNs

flashing colors warning but it’s so worth it (unless you get a seizure). kikuo’s videos always have captions and theyre STYLIZED!! glamified!! oughhh i fucking love this song and the hidden meanings

OOOOOO those sound sick as FUCK!!!!! i really wanna see whats up with dance of the frogs because from your description it sounds absolutely INSANE

last time i checked i dont usually get seizures so i should be good to go!! tomorrow tho. its my self imposed bed time right now

i!! also have a song of the day!!!! +1!!!!!!! really its more like whatever song is stuck in my head at the moment but! thats ok

1. Drella by Pierce the Veil (shocking i know)

oughhhhhh this song is in my BRAINNNN its in my NEURONSSSSS my freaking UAGH

its????? idk its like. the way he sings is so AUGH and idrk how to interpret lyrics so im not sure what this song is about but its FIRE SO YIPPEE!!!!!!!! the freaking BEAT oiygahhsjshsh dude the way he sings is. gwoahghr cause like he has a rlly distinct voice n he sings pretty high and it ITCHES my BRAIN (also theres a lot of screaming. but as a will wood fan i feel like that wouldnt phase you by now)

+1. Tangled in the Great Escape by Pierce the Veil

DUDE. DUDE THIS SONG. DUDE THIS FREAKING SONG. DUDE GSUAHAGSHDHEHND

i love this album so much cause its got some really sad songs (AND EVERG SINGLE ONE IS A BANGERRR) and this one is one of them and honestly i dont know why its not more popular because its SO GOODDDDDDDDD GRAH

a lot of people saw the song as being about losing a friend to drug addiction when you start to see theyre too far gone but another interpretation i saw was about suicide, which me personally i thought of it as initially but im not really sure. all i know is that its SAD (but its pretty fire on the beat n g l)

tbh i think tangled in the great escape would make a really good song for the villain au? like if alibi was singing it about dallas (who became so obsessed with the idea of revenge that it was basically like losing the person you loved which. wowie i made myself sad)

[rubyneo]

so (claps my hands together) they 100% misused neo here. they shouldve shown her and what she was doing in EA more. what screen time they did give her was often underwhelming. i had a complete lack of reaction to a certain kiss (& the whole scene honestly). it literally did nothing for me. just like. Ok. finally. it was dumb as fuck that yang was more concerned about defending blake from rubys outburst than she was about her sister clearly being in SEVERE distress?!? ruby the girl who's never lashed out like this ever, the sister she raised and would do anything for. okk... i liked jaune's arc though i thought that was well done + i love that he got to keep the white hair after being younged. the wk moments were... interesting. curious to see where they go with that. i LOVED the brothers lore it literally made me jaw drop. the baby brothers were so cute... really love that they were FROM EA rather than having created it. also the implication that they can come and go from there as they pleased? not really plausible imo but it couldve been interesting to. see them. umm. the neo illusion scene i loved everything about roman ofc. his final line made me cry really hard. clover was funny as hell to me. that man did fucking NOTHING. he only did things as part of the group and then during the fight he literally just stood there holding kingfisher. presumably bc neo had no idea how he fought. he was just there to be a number in the group + to turn into qrow. lionheart at least used his weapon in the fight. neo's backstory shouldve been more explored beyond a couple paintings and a couple lines from roman. not everyone has read roman holiday. ozpin using his cane in the fight like roman (hitting and bludgeoning rather than the fencing style) was a good detail. i've seen people get all up in arms about penny and ironwood being there but like. it is not unreasonable for neo to have made an educated guess as to what happened with them. the summer scenes were fantastic i love her axe-gun. yes ruby stop putting your mom on a pedestal she was a person too! though interesting that it took her so long to be like GASP my mom LIED?!? when in v7 qrow literally tells her that summer had a lot of secrets. meaning she lied a lot. ALSO very interested in who raven portaled to. if qrow knows more than hes been telling or if theres another person we havent met that raven found important enough to have immediate access to. weiss being made into the comedy character was.. annoying to say the least. neo's ending was unsatisfying in a lot of ways. i think this volume couldve done with another couple of episodes to fully flesh out ideas. sorry this was long lmao but it think this is a decent summary of my thoughts

YEAH!!!! honestly so many of my issues with it definitely could have been fixed with just like 2 extra episodes to fit in more of the build up (especially to the ruby and neo plot). bees were fine but they were like meant to be a d-plot to me. i figured it would be like primary plot is trying to get home interspersed with the ruby and neo dramatic build up and ruby's mental state deteriorating, b plot was what was goin on with jaune, c plot is The Penny Thing, and then bees could be doing their thang in the bg.

still mad ruby and neo's Whole Deal was like an episode and 4 lines of dialogue outside of that.

summer and raven's little adventure makes me so fucking crazy. i fully expect the person raven portalled to to be the spring maiden, and lowkey i think its possible it could be gretchen. the timeline would certainly line up.

neo's ending...i was able to be okay with it until i saw that the writers were literally like well she's a fan favourite so we knew we couldnt just off her so we had to give her a more gentle send off like KILL YOURSELVES!!!!!! sniffle. they rly just dropped at the last second "neo is jealous of the love ruby gets from her friends 🥺🥺 now she's gonna kill herself" LIKE SHUT UPPPPP.

the highs for me were VERY high (ruby snapping! neo's dialogue as an echo of salem's! jaune being a crazy hermit to parallel to ozpin! the brothers bg! summer and raven! the horror elements!!!) and the lows were very low. but if theyd had like literally just 2 more episodes i think it would have flowed a lot better and not felt quite so...rushed near the end.

[red-dyed-sarumane]

having been here from the very beginning i think my fave aru sekai series lore is that

• despite it very clearly being a series (it is. it IS i can prove it to u) hiiragi magnetite has never addressed it as such. the fan art tag on twitter is aru sekai bijutsuten However it was chosen via poll and was a listener created tag. hiiragima themself has yet to say anything about it being a series. if u ask them a question (for example when i asked if the charas have names) they wont correct u & know what ur talking about but nope. they dont talk about the content of the songs outside of the songs at all

• possibly not aru sekai but we'll see eventually- they decided to make a song thats one second for every like they got. theyre currently making a song thats 70,000 seconds long (like 19 &1/2 hours). they have the file name saved so that "seconds" is replaced with "illness" which sounds the same in jpn

• the content is so fucking specific every time i see other people try to translate it theyre like "this was so confusing". they are so right but also i promise u it gets 2% easier when u know the songs are related

• sena yuta does the art for the main aru sekai series songs. asa is the other illust. even tho asa tends to do art for nonseries songs (nadenna, uni, rasshaina) marshall maximizer & canon are absolutely part of the series & i cant believe i keep seeing people over look this. the motif is RIGHT THERE. canon says aru sekai de in THE FIRST LINE whats not clicking

• many songs have context as text flashed for a frame in the video background! as of right now aru sekai soushitsu, kyuuyaku hankagai, shuuen touhikou, unplanned apoptosis, marshall maximizer, canon (this ones in code) have text. oumen mokushiroku, kugutsu ashura, laboratory do not. (if u want to get technical oumen has the ou kanji to say its part of the aru sekai shoushitsu order but theres no new information in it)

• all of the songs except for kugutsu ashura & laboratory have the "nami no ne no yume wo miyou" melody from aru sekai shoushitsu worked in somewhere. if u dont believe me ill get u time stamps if u ask. those two songs dont have it but im telling u its thematic, they ARE part of the series, but i cant only really theorize on what it means until we get more songs & content

• hiiragima once said "if u dont know how to read the title of kugutsu ashura you can just call it ashura" this is especially funny bc they always put furigana for their titles in their descriptions.

• they actually do a good job of getting characterization across once u get past the technical language they use. some of them are a lot more obvious than others (unplanned apoptosis. i think this girls so funny bc its so different from everything else) but theres a lot u can get from the word choice/play once ur used to all the weird science (?) terms. sena yuta's art also does an AMAZING job of getting their characters down in a single drawing. u can tell so much from the art for real. this is a whole essay in itself im stopping here for now

• all the characters have names!!!!!! i would know i asked directly & they responded they said yes the characters have names but theyre waiting for the right moment to reveal them. every day this torments me both bc i would like to call her by name instead of saying tenshi everyday and also bc i know this means they have plot significance & im not ready to handle that

• so far all the charas in the songs are girls but if i remember correct the bg text in some songs (shoushitsu & maximzier i think? id have to double check) refers to there being at least one guy in there somewhere.

• this is just a personal note but none of these people have basic lab safety i mean look at their outfits. if the world wasnt ending they die anyway wearing that esp the laboratory chara but i digress

• in general the series is ur "the world is ending and we need to find a way to stop it from ending"typical story i guess. not only plays on destruction of the world but also destruction of the self. its not ur lighthearted easy to handle voca series if u want that may i suggest honeyworks or perhaps last notes mikagura school suite instead

• we dont have a timeline. i can tell u from context the songs arent being posted in chronological order. i have no idea what the order is ive made a guess before but its just a guess.

• theres a paragraph in shoushitsu about a swampman & hilarious as it sounds it actually describes exactly whats going on. both about how the world functions in that no two attempts are the same but also that people who lose their "self" are also The Same But Not. which is interesting to know its so thought out considering the time between songs & how hiiragima claims to just be doing whatever they want. its very cohesive. somehow.

• i have no idea why the english titles of the songs are like that on youtube. i dont know if they did that themself or not but i for one refuse to acknowledge that shuuen touhikou is called "blade" over there. girl what how did we get there u just lost soo much connotation doing that. i want to say the swords arent even a main part of the song but i dont think i can actually. anyway the "eng" titles on yt dont exist to me

• the theme used to be 5 kanji title songs were the main songs and katakana with the first repeating (ex MArshall MAximizer) were more like. sub or context songs. and then we have like canon & laboratory so idk if those are just another type of song along with the others or if they decided they didnt want to follow that anymore. i need more info but still something to note. the kanji songs also used to be sections of shoushitsu (kyuu, shuu, ou, fuu, mei, juu, mou, ei) but then, again, kugutsu ashura threw me off so [vague confused gesturing]

• rain. thats all i need to say really. very few songs that dont have rain or the color blue in it somewhere & that's absolutely intentional.

• i saw sena yuta say something about flower language in regards to the laboratory art but i never saw if they elaborated and my friend whos into flower language was having a time trying to pin point what flower it was so for now another mystery unsolved

[horrorgay]

what do ur tags on the gay bar post mean

it means. that jackles was a little bit mean. back in the day. i don't think it was on purpose but there were moments, intentional or not, where he came off as stand offish about anything gay brought up (mostly in-show stuff) and as a baby gay it could be very upsetting. so. jensen hitting up a bar on its gay week day. is envoking some kind of emotion in me. and to summarize i am generally unwell and have hinged way too much on all this and now i cant stop

[meteorherd]

top 5 sonic characters?

OOOH OKAY this list changes pretty frequently i think! just based on who im thinking about the most at the moment. the only one thats consistent is 1 <3

1) KNUCKLES obviously like if no one knows that at this point…i have failed. but like ughhhh i am obsessed with his lore and implications of it and how he gradually warms up to the other characters. i also LOVE when his interest in archaeology is brought up. i actually DO like that he's gullible, i think its an important part of his character and an indicator of how he grew up and sonic x is probably the best portrayal of him that shows he can be too trusting but that doesnt mean hes stupid at ALL. i love how so much of his character has to do with overcoming miscommunication and letting himself be vulnerable and finally realizing that he deserves to have friends. sa2 knuckles is probably one of my favorite knuckles because he's in that awkward stage of not quite being friends with the others yet and not knowing what to do about it and its so so interesting to me how he's trying so hard to fit in yet act like he doesn't care about fitting in. i feel like theres so much complexity to his character thats often overlooked. i also think knuckles and amy is one of the most underrated friendships in the franchise but thats a whole other thing <3

2) UM i have been thinking about tails a lot recently actually so him <3 i am a very team sonic kinda guy/gal so i love thinking about how different/similar they all are. i think idw tails might be one of my favorite portrayals of him tbh, i love when he isnt just shoved to the side in plotlines. some things i really love whenever theyre brought up in portrayals of him is when its mentioned that he was bullied for his two tails growing up and thats why hes initially pretty shy and unsure of himself, and when his hero worship of sonic kinda falters over the years once he becomes more comfortable with being his brother and realizes Oh actually this is just some guy. and i also love when his patience clashes with sonic's impatience i think its so fun when they butt heads a little. also hes only 8 and he fucking airplane. thats so awesome.

3) TANGLE. she is just. absolutely everything i could want in a girl sonic character which there are a sore lack of in canon and i am sooo so glad she exists. i tend to love characters who are silly and screw up a lot and are aware they screw up a lot but still keep on going no matter what so she means everything to me i love her so so so much. <3 i love that jewel and whisper both ground her in separate ways, but shes not stupid because she needs grounding. shes patient when it comes to people she cares about. i hate when people call her an attempt to make a "girl sonic" because shes sooo much more than that. also [points] lesbian

4) HMMM shadow but i am so incredibly picky with his characterization. shadow from sa2 through 06 was the best shadow (i also liked him in archie sonic and sonic x ohh my god the part in the sa2 arc in sonic x where he teared up while talking about how everything he loved was taken from him destroyed me </3). im not a fan of anything post 06 for him really especially since sega's so adamant that "team dark arent friends" its so stupid like shut up i hate you. his identity + memory issues in particular always fascinated me and i think its really cool whenever he tries to define who he is in a world that doesnt have any clear answers for him (its a really cool parallel to knuckles as well since hes also given the role of guardian but learns he can have other things to define his life by. too bad sega hates making them interact properly)

5) amy perhaps…she is so important. in my head there's a lot more focus given to how she feels like she's not good enough/cant keep up with the others because she's the only Normal character surrounded by her friends who all have powers. and i think thats why she goes out of her way to help as many people as she can even when it gets her in trouble. it couldve been suuuch an interesting thing to explore tbh…it was introuced in sa1 and then it just kinda flip flops from there depending on her portrayal. honestly the easiest way to characterize amy is to just pick and choose what you like from each portrayal of her because sega is juuust. so notoriously inconsistent with writing her because shes just the "token girl." that being said she has some pretty awesome moments in the comics <3

OKAY im putting tikal in her own section also because. i am just embarrassed putting her in the top 5 even though i adore her and shes genuinely one of my favorite characters in general HDKJFHJKGJK because she barely has any canon content. im just absolutely obsessed with the potential of her and also shes a tragic 14 year old ghost girl with a link to an all powerful god im kind of obsessed with that. i think tikal couldve been such an interesting antagonist in sa1 because her backstory + her link with chaos who IS an antagonist for sa1 was the perfect setup. maybe i'll explain my idea/rewrite for that another day heehee but yes i love tikal im her number one fan forever and always <3 unless someone else is too in which case we are both her number one fan forever and always

[dannyphantom-rewrite]

Character ref for; Jack, Maddie and Jazz,

Art by @gally-hin / @gally-hin-phantom

Okay so first off; in terms of Actual redesign, I didn't change a whole lot. I'm actually very fond of Jack and Maddie's design's, my only real issue was with their proportions. Like...look as a lady person who is also thiCC I do not have a fucking wasp thin waist and I'm sure I'm not the only one, lmao. As for Jack? Godamnit he looked like a brick on toothpicks. Just Let him be a fucking Bara man! Anyway of course I asked Gally to do this one bc they're fucking great at drawing different body types

I also cannot and will not take credit for Jazz's outfit. I didn't have any issue with her canon clothes aside from them being a bit plain, so what she's wearing here was literally pulled straight off of her original concept art, which I will link here.

Anyway, getting to the Actual character lore now, let's start with

Maddie Fenton

-Full name is Madeline (I haven't decided on a maiden name yet)

-Born and raised on a farm in Arkansas, had a southern accent that she trained herself out of in college bc it was just one more reason for people not to take her seriously. Still sometimes uses "y'all" completely unironically bc old habits die hard.

-She has a really big family, and they're proud of her accomplishments but feel like she's wasting her talent studying ghosts, because really, up until the Fenton portal was up and running there wasn't even any solid proof they existed. Her sister Alicia is the one outlier there, and even if she doesn't understand, it she completely supports her.

-She majored in engineering and minored in psychology at Wisconsin EDU. Her, Jack and Vlad were all in the same engineering class, and that's where they met.

-Maddie is particularly interested in how ghosts think, analysing their behavior, their motives. Not only that, but they aren't just dead people with unfinished business, they've built an entire culture in the Ghost Zone that is completely seperate from humanity, and she wants to understand all of it.

-skilled marksman and 9th degree black belt, (which is. The highest fucking level there is holy shit? I looked it up after I saw it on her wiki page.)

Jack Fenton

-He's from Minnesota (Amity park is in Illinois and him and Maddie didn't move there until after they got married) 

-okay, "but why minnesota specifically" you ask? Because. I crave. Foot ball discourse. 

-minnesota vikings vs green bay packers guys do you UNDERSTAND WHERE IM GOING WITH THIS 

-The funny thing is that Jack only watches football casually while Vlad is a fucking die hard so when these two got together to see a game it was like....

-Jack: Here to chill and have a good time.

-Vlad: Primed and ready to start a fist fight at any given moment.

-I am never not going to be salty about how Canon Jack was portrayed like a complete moron 99% percent of the time. Like no...theres a difference between Actual Stupid and ADHD induced dumbass-ery.

-Am I saying Jack Fenton has ADHD? Yes. why? Because I also have ADHD and I have always vibed So Hard with his Character.

-Jack is loud and easily excited about things that interest him. He's impulsive and fidgety and yeah, a bit absent minded. He has a mouth that clearly runs so much faster than his head. His train of thought doesn't get derailed so much as it stops and takes several different detours on the way to it's final destination.

-and that's only the tip of the iceberg, really, I'd need an entire essay to get into this completely, but I just really relate.

-Jacks skill-set / interests regarding ghosts vary a bit from Maddie's, most notably in the sense that he doesn't believe that they're static entities already set in their ways, completely incapable of change.

-Jack majored in engineering and minored in Biology at Wisconsin EDU.

-Jack's work with tech is a bit hit or miss. He definitely HAS the engineering skills, but the intrest isn't always there and he's constantly jumping back and forth between different projects. He tends to focus on the concept work and schematics and leave most of the assembly to Maddie as a result. It's an arrangement that works well for them, and has drastically decreased the number of unintentional explosions in the lab.

-A lot of Jack's work tends to revolve around ghostly biology and Ectoplasm, figuring out how ghosts are made, what makes them tick, what the hell Ectoplasm Actually Is, how it's used as an energy source, ect.

-and yes, that does also mean he handles the dissections.

-See that facial scar? Yeah, that's not actually there at the start of the series rewrite but it's very important for plot reasons so I had to include it. Can't say much more on the subject because SPOILERs owo.

Jasmine Fenton

-Jazz is a 18 years old, and a senior at Casper high.

-Which means she prepping to go away to college and won't be around to keep an eye on Danny.

-Obviously that doesn't mean I'm just writing her out of the story, oh no. Know why? Because she's also gonna go to Wisconsin EDU. ya know who else is in Wisconsin? Fuckin' Vlad.

-Jazz is autistic, Although she passes for neurotypical in part due to symptoms being completely over looked in girls due to gender stereotyping and also the fact that she doesn't have any special interests that are considered " "too weird.""

- Her hyperfixation with psychology started at a young age in an effort to better understand people, and social/emotional cues and all that.

-Jazz is well liked at school but she's not popular or apart of any specific group or clique. She's very kind and compassionate to people, and just about everyone knows her, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who actually Considered her a friend. Except maybe Spike.

-I'm gonna have to give spike his own Character ref at some point, but he's this scary looking goth kid that's been held back twice. He's actually super sweet, just really fuckin' quiet and anxious. Him and jazz kinda ended up gravitating towards each other. She might do most of the talking, but they look out for each other.

-its not like jazz doesn't try to socialize, but it's difficult and she's found it much easier and less stressful to just. Keep to herself and let her interactions with her peers stay shallow and superficial. Sure, it's lonely sometimes but it's better than constantly worrying about saying the wrong thing or making some other misstep.

-One of Jazz's other special interests is football, and it's not so much the players or the game as it is the strategy of it? Started out as one of those things you do to bond with your dad, and she ended up getting really into it.

-She absolutley winds up getting into stupidly intense discussions with Vlad about it, too, lmao.

-Her and Danny probably bonded over SBNation bc that shit has both sentient satellites and ridiculously complex football mechanics.

-She's completely oblivious to the fact, but Dash has a massive crush on her bc holy shit this girl understands football (hey bud your toxic masculinity is showing put that shit away)

-I mentioned that Danny was in Cheer for a bit in middle school so it makes sense that she'd also be pushed into doing some kind of extracurricular activity.....so.....she was in a martial arts class for a bit thanks to Maddie and has a good grasp on self defense.

I think that's everything? I feel like I'm leaving things out tho? Idk if I did I'll come back and add on to this later and also pls don't hesitate to ask questions bc it really helps me flesh things out better.

[mousehole5000]

wow i made this draft on november 1st i really took a break from this huh anyway tgcf chapters 121 - 142

i realize now this coffin scene was inevitable. feel kinda weird about hua cheng  back and forth from Teen to Big Man but it is very funny that theyre having their “dude dont look at my boner” moment while in the jaws of a water dragon

pei ming: why didnt you guys make a bigger coffin so you didnt have to squish together like that? xie lian: haha yep!! anyways what brings you here?

“In the grand, spacious centre of the entrance hall sat a person. And this person, dressed in all black, its face snow-white—was a corpse! Instantly Xie Lian shut the doors soundly.” - king of minding his own business.

okay this is where i stopped putting notes here for a while but i did save some in my e-reader so here’s some of the highlights

“Guzi used to have a good sleeping form, but perhaps with his cheap dad’s bad influence, now he was also spread out on top of Qi Rong’s stomach like a dead fish. Lang Ying himself was curled neatly in the corner, and was covered by a few shirts. Xie Lian lifted the blanket covering Qi Rong, suppressed the urge to smother his face, and covered the two small children.” - xie lian funny moments. also it would be really funny if qi rong redeems himself by learning love through these misfit chiildren and it might actually endear me to him but i hope that doesnt happen

Every heavenly official was yelling, and even Ling Wen was throwing a fit. “DON’T THROW EVERY BIT OF USELESS INFORMATION MY WAY, HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK I HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERY DAY? DON’T YOU ALL KNOW TO USE YOUR BRAINS A LITTLE BEFORE ASKING ME?!” - ling wen marry me right now

“An expression like “seen a ghost” that only mortals experienced was now showing on his face for the first time. Shi Wudu’s pupils shrank to the smallest they could, and he blurted, “You’re still alive?!” “I’m dead!” He Xuan said coldly.” - okay everythings going tits up rn but i did laugh

i did see spoilers re: ming yi/he xuan reveal + shi wudu’s fate beforehand so i dont have a genuine reaction other than oh shit

“He slowly enunciated each word. “I won’t touch your fate. But, here in this place, chop off your brother’s head for me.”  CLANG! He threw a rusty blade onto the ground. Shi Qingxuan stared at that blade, his eyes wide. He Xuan continued, “Then, never show yourself before me again, and I will pretend you’ve never existed in this world.” - okay idk what else is going to happen but rn im concerned that this is like the 2nd biggest ship. i guess we’ll see?? i mean i am really curious whats going to happen to them. shi qingxuan keeps calling he xuan “ming-xiong” and i... sad

shi wudu im not really invested in you as a character but these next two bits... interesting

“If I don’t die but have nothing, then that’s truly a fate worse than death. If I’m not the Water God, I can’t take care of you. I won’t even be able to protect myself. I’m scared that we won’t even last two days…TAKE IT!” - damn. something about the wealthy losing everything and not knowing how to live without it bc thats their entire life and identity

“EVERYTHING I HAVE TODAY, I FOUGHT FOR MYSELF. I WILL FIGHT FOR WHAT I DON’T HAVE. I WILL CHANGE FATE I DON’T POSSESS. MY FATE IS UP TO ME AND NOT THE HEAVENS!” - okay so the whole committing spiritual fraud by tormenting a man and his family to get your brother a cushy title thing aside this was kind of badass. heretical? possibly. but still. also is he intentionally riling up he xuan so sqx doesnt have to kill him? if so damn...

also okay as long as im here im just gonna say it. the choice that he xuan gives shi qingxuan is fucking brutal but i actually think its probably as fair as it could be. sqx didnt know about or participate in what happened to hx but they did benefit from it greatly while hx lost EVERYTHING and i can understand he xuan’s thinking of “if you really feel bad for what happened to me then you have to make a sacrifice and understand the suffering and this is as clean as its going to get” and theres a bit where sqx is trying to beg for mercy but cant get the words out which im guessing is bc theres no good argument!! what happened was fucked up!!

“When Pei Ming saw that reinforcements had arrived, he didn’t appear particularly delighted; instead he threw the sword into the ground, then rubbed his nose and said, sounding grim, “You all just had to come just as I finished making these, what the heck.” - pei ming making coffins chopping down trees with his sword i love it #wastehistime2k17

“Xie Lian brought that basket of eggs along, and gave them away as souvenirs from the mortal realm. Many who received the eggs were overjoyed; some deciding to eat it along with their own blood, and some proclaiming they would hatch an eight-foot monster.” - GHOST CITY GHOST CITY

“Placing the brush down, he blew lightly at the ink and smiled. “If I like something, then my heart will not have room for any other, and I’ll always treasure it. A thousand times, a million times, no matter how many years, this will not change. This poem is the same." - thats nice and all but king... get therapy. i actually have further thoughts but tbh i dont want to put them into words bc they are simply too personal! moving on

didnt take any notes but somewhere in here was the bit with mount tong’lu opening and hua cheng losing it and kind of um. hm. that scene. thats another trope i really hate tbh i dont care for it as a way of including physical intimacy between characters and idk if it really ever adds anything but whatever moving on

The Half-Maquillage Woman - kind of interesting monster idea bc women and aging…. yeah. however i think this would be a lot stronger if there were a) more girls and this was b) discussed or illustrated at all prior to this moment. still interesting that its included knowing the author is a woman tho and there’s been comments on how ling wen is perceived vs pei ming. this book does keep giving me hope for interesting female character arcs i really want it to deliver something

quan yizhen..... i get u

lmao i have a note on a bit with lang ying that says “please dont be hc in disguise” and..... my clown nose was on but at least i knew that. for real this is bothering me how much he’s just. always. there. i know he’s a lead but we didn’t really need him around for a lot of this. oh well.  okay now to my current notes

“Yet it was precisely because it wasn’t cooked that it had to be eaten quickly. Once Xie Lian cooked it, it wouldn’t be edible anymore” - fucking fantastic

“Xie Lian hugged his belly. “Of course! Only after having met you did I rediscover that it’s such a simple thing to be happy, hahaha…” Hearing this, Hua Cheng blinked. Xie Lian’s laughter quieted a bit, realizing what he just said was a little too revealing.” - okay i know i said what i said about being tired of hua cheng being everywhere but... the line…. the fact that theyre laughing together…. :pleading:

“It’s not,” Ling Wen said. “At least, I believe, there will definitely not be another in history who can create a dish called ‘Incorruptible Chastity Meatballs’” - and truer words were never spoken

“I, DO NOT WORSHIP GODS. “I, AM GOD!” - this was every bit as badass as i hoped but no one told me it was immediately followed up by a little bit of the ol dinner theater fjalkdsfjsd. also puqi shrine noooooooooo

“Xie Lian sighed as he thought, “Qi Rong has taken Guzi away, who knows if the poor child was eaten or abandoned. Wind Master...... ..... who knows if Black Water took him away. Pray they’re both safe.” yeah hey are we going to fucknig. find out what happened to the child???

and yeah i dooooont really care for the age regression? thing thats going on. i just dont like that trope tbh. but tiny hua cheng whipping out his fat ghost king wallet in the store was funny tho. it is really funny that hualian are just like wandering around some random towns while the heavens are in an uproar. i guess theres not much else to do but its funny

“Me too, me too. You all know of my shixiong, right? Talented, with an infinite future! He only had one small vice: he loved playing women. Decades ago, a little prostitute ghost seduced my shixiong and sucked him dry into human jerky, and that Hua, Hua, Hua, that ghost king dared shelter her.” - yes omg give me the forbidden hua cheng lore i love this for him for real it goes along nicely with xie lian’s principles about giving another cup. god i love shared values

“Hua Cheng poked again, and a small hole appeared on the wall, as if the wall was made of tofu.” - how’d he do that. why is this a ghost king power. its useful tho

*me shaking qi rong when he pops up* WHERE IS THE CHILD

mu qing fu yao is here okay im happy now. once again no one has a good grasp on their secret identity and i love that. this inn has descended into chaos and im delighted and im glad lan chang is back

“The good ol’ kitchen was suddenly squished and crowded, loud and noisy. Fu Yao was chasing that fetus spirit leaping up and down, Lan Chang was chasing after Fu Yao like she had gone mad. Half of Qi Rong’s face changed shape by the way Xie Lian was pressing him down on the chopping board, his back turning into a target for those yellow talismans Fu Yao hurled while being observed by a crowd, and Lan Chang would step on him from time to time.” - this is pure chaos. i love that mu qing was in that room when the mob checked and he didnt say a word didnt open the door just sent out a talisman as a warning. king your disguise is transparent

“Xie Lian remembered the way Feng Xin laughed until he was hoarse when he first heard that verbal password all those years back, and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, even though it wasn’t the right time.” - awwwww omg im emotional about this... faithful friend feng xin laughing at xie lian’s stupid joke password and remembering it!!! ;_;

“They have, but they’re not effective,” Feng Xin said. “Usually they’re the most diligent in scorning the Palace of Ling Wen, like they could do the job way better if they had the position. Now that we need them to take up the task, not a single one can do even half of what she does.” - typical... typical typical typical

also emotional about the fact that feng xin contacted xie lian at all.....

also!! emotional about lan chang as a mom and wanting to help out sick lil guzi.....

xie lian forcing “fu yao” to let him help “his general” is making me.... what is friendship if not playing along with your buddies little shenanigans while also making them accept your help

“Someone like Mu Qing, even though he’s narrow-minded, petty, sensitive and skeptical, has a bad personality, constantly guessing, doesn’t say nice things, likes to nag, always offending people and has a lot of people who dislike him, has no friends, can remember small, unimportant details for a long period of time…” ”Xie Lian went on in one breath with a straight face, but in the end he concluded with, “...But I’ve known him since we were kids, after all, he’s still got principles.” - XIE LIAN PLEASE AFJDLKSFJDL omg ive seen this quote before but i figured he was talking to someone else not actually to mu qing himself fgjasdkfjsl. god thats amazing. hey im gonna help you out because i care but i will roast you first <3

waaaaaait so is lan chang aka jian lan that girl from book 2 we took a page to talk about and then disappeared? that has to be it why else would we have stopped to discuss her

“Jian Lan spat on his face, then choking his neck, she slapped him twice again. “WHAT SHITTY SUPREME! YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO BLOW YOURSELF UP! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, THINK YOU’RE EVEN WORTH TO BE THOUGHT OF AS EQUALS WITH THE OTHER THREE SUPREMES? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN GOOD AT? YOUR THICK SKIN? OF COURSE I DARE HIT YOU!” - oh this feels so good i cant lie. YES GET HIM!! CHOMPING AND VIOLENCE YES!!!!

okay this description of cuocuo.... im... that sure the hell is a creature

this book is so entertaining bc i already saw spoilers for the feng xin/jian lan/cuo cuo reveal and yet i could never have predicted the circumstances that brought it about. imagine being feng xin. the heavens are in an uproar and your only friend/enemy has been jailed for possible fetus spirit-related crimes but he escapes along with this female ghost who keeps causing problems. you figure “fuck it lets see if dianxia kept his old phone number” and he has but then he hangs up on you. you’ve got fuckall else to do so you go find him. mu qing is there but he’s in his disguise the two of you were using so you could watch over his highness while staying aloof. you think you see hua cheng only he’s a chiild for some goddamn reason but who knows at this point. the female ghost is also there and theres a fetus spirit climbing trees and biting your arrows in half. you realize the female ghost is your ex and the little demon is your son. it bites you. what do you do

amazing that despite everything going on everyone is still playing along with the “fu yao” persona when it would probably be easier to drop pretenses at this point. then again tbh if i could explain my actions to my friends while pretending to be a third party.... i probably would so.. carry on

“With all his devotees gone, only Feng Xin still treated him like the Flower-Crowned Martial God and His Highness the Crown Prince. ” “...his protection charms were all seen as trash. However, Feng Xin was still determined and tireless in handing them out; telling Xie Lian, look, you still have devotees.” “After all, he was the darling of the heavens since birth, high and mighty. Feng Xin so naturally spun around him like he was the world, so how could he possibly have his own life, his own heart” “Whether or not that fetus spirit was Feng Xin’s son, if it was that period of poverty that made Feng Xin lose the girl he loved, Xie Lian wouldn’t be able to forgive himself no matter what." ohhhh my god this relationship i. im...

oh my god i still have 30 more chapters until book 4............ its naptime now i think

[floralkittygambler]

Reposting for reasons

Response to Honest’s post here: Doing this to spread this awareness more as I know theres a bit of a rift in the critical community - plus I really fucking go on. Im PISSED and I do apologise however it NEEDS urgent addressing. I know people will hate me for it but Im used to hate and honestly? Hating rather than helping to solve the issue only furthers my fucking point here. So yeah this is so more people are aware (no offense to any of those involved in said rift either, but this is an important message. Thank you for understanding and if I can do anything to make all sides comfortable, then please message me and I’ll do my upmost.) “ More awareness of this is needed. Even if it’s your favourite, you can’t justify their shit but rally against another’s shit. Have people tell you you’re experiences arent real or invalid because, like Husk, people have - in real life - shipped you with someone you are far from comfortable with but you still treat them like a person. Because you have basic respect. And people force you to accept harassment, touching, stalking, advances for THEIR satisfaction. People use you for their fantasies. But you’re just a ‘tsundere’ for it. Or you have addiction issues but people think being with another addict will ‘save’ you because you’re apparently too incompetent to save yourself. Love isnt some magic fuckin cure so stop romanticising it as a fuckin saviour. It’s gross and fuckin creepy. Get stalked and have someone NEVER accept your no just because you show youre still decent enough to not treat them shitty or any different from anyone else. Try having someone way older or way younger (both in morally fucked up ways) advance on you and people encourage that. People you’re supposed to feel safe around.

People touch you when you pull away or show discomfort. Follow you home. Have pictures of you and wont accept you dont like them like that and it’s not ‘playing hard to get’ or ‘the thrill of the chase’. Fuck. OFF. In fact, Im not only disappointed in the fandom. Im disappointed in the entire team who some should know better from their OWN personal experiences - or at least the bare minimal of being a fucking adult. Im disappointed in especially females (sorry idk whether girl or woman is more appropriate here-) who statistically are more likely to have experienced something similar at some point in their lives think this is a cute gay moment. No. Angel is made out as a fucking predator - Im not saying he is, Im saying that his persistence is very fucking unwelcome like one. People like Husk dont need that fucking invasiveness. They/We need patience and someone on our level. Angel’s I know are the fuckin polar opposite - and some of them I know are very sexually harassing, including unwanted touching. It’s a shitty way to present gay people. Gays are fuckin people. Some are cunts and some arent. It’s a HUMAN thing. But considering the shit theyve been subjected to, presenting a gay as a victim only to also show them as a perpetrator is insulting! And for those Ive seen argue this about how people like AD wouldnt know how to express their love normally and whatnot? His pig. His best friend. He’s in his fucking 30s. There are literal real life criminals who get molested as kids and then go on to molest kids. Not all who grow up like that turn into nonces. Stop just fucking STOP justifying and romanticising this bullshit! I used to see the good in AD but now he makes me fucking sick. Especially with my verrrrrry fucking real traumas and connections. But fuck me, eh? Because this fictional guy matters so much more. Fuck real victims. And whilst we’re at it, fuck AD too when it suits your fetishes! Sarcasm aside, the fans and the team need to straighten up their abhorrent behaviour. Stolas. Fucking clearly having an affair, knowingly fucking up his daughter’s mental health and bribing a guy into sex who only wants the book and nothing more. He even has a fucking warning button over Stolas- Guys, how do you think any of this is cute? Even the team gross me out- I genuinely see potential and talent and it’s all gone to shit to satisfy horny teens, horny adults, and literally everyone who doesnt for the life of them understand being an adult is more than sex, drugs, violence and swears! I REALLY want to keep enjoying HB/HH but it’s getting harder and harder with such ignorant and bordering lazy creators (note: lazy as in wont do the fucking research or actually listen to real criticism and victims), such despicable fans (yeah, some HDers fuckin mocked that they triggered my ED, yet they had the fucking NERVE to support Angel’s potential ED AND laugh and blame me for me getting treated so badly for actually having the balls to call Angel and the teams hypocrisy. I got told to kill myself, that my problems arent real - oh but Angels apparently is! Which... They *are* but AD isnt real so technically only onlookers will suffer and not a drawing  - and they just excused their toxic behaviours. These people are like “aww poor angie babey!” yet fuckin INSULT sex workers. All this red in Hazbin yet it feels everyone and they mama colour blind. The issues are getting worse and fans are outright becoming EVIL, VILE, Vindictive little bullies - from kids to adults. You SHOULD be ashamed of yourself if you conduct yourself in such a manner. And you need to readjust your attitudes and behaviours because the only fuckers getting hurt are actual fucking victims. Ever been violated and been gaslit so much you STILL fucking question it’s reality? So you drown that shit out yet somehow it’s effects still hit you? Fetishise it. Make it your uwu gae couple goals, you’re no better than people believing Harley and the Joker werent toxic af. If this shit happened to you, most of you would actually SEE where we’re all coming from. Also, stop making gay a fetish - you’re like those creepy old men in the alley heckling lesbians to make out so they can wank off. Gays, no ALL the LGBT+ are fucking people too. So dont give me that bullshit then start turning everything just gay or just straight to mentally wank off to. It’s degrading and dehumanising. And yes, fiction does effect reality. You crush on a fictional character? Mourn one? Support one? Hell, fuckin jerk off to one - that’s affecting reality. Remember how in fiction all blacks were treated as villians? Look how theyre treated IRL. JAWS, great classic unfortunately their was a spike in shark killings over a fucking movie - the shark in the movie wasnt even real for the most part because they dont behave like that! (Also the animatronic was so shit they genuinely had so many issues - I think they even took to naming each one! Some fun trivia there!). Tiger sharks are more nasty than great whites as tiger sharks will hunt and eat a human. Great whites prefer seals and dislike human flesh, they just mistake us for seals. Hell, theres the toothless basking shark - theyre often SWAM WITH by divers for being so friendly. Yet Jaws made people think all sharks are bloodlusting over humans. Slenderman was created for a fucking contest and that influenced a stabbing (NOT Victor’s fault). Watch a horror movie that isnt based on a real life event and tell me that at least ONE has left you peaking over your shoulder. Stella may be a bitch - we dont know for certain - but try getting cheated on. Y’know what? Try growing up in such a broken home like Octavia. Yeah reaaaaaal fucking cute now, huh? Funny how as well y’all petition for male victims to be taken seriously then laugh when fictional males experience this abuse, further adding to stigma. You can be hit on by the hottest mf on the planet but if you arent interested, that should be respected! Also we’ve all been inspired by at least one fictional character so yeah. Yknow, since I was little Ive been fighting for sex worker and homeless rights. But HH/HB treatment of both leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I’ll still fully support sex workers and the homeless, but that’s the fucking effect this show is having. Bearing in mind I wont ever share everything Ive been through - and I shouldnt fucking have to in order to be believed and validated (obvs proof is required in a legal case but that’s a whole other topic). Why should I share MY fucking pain especially when you fuckers have belittled and triggered it more so? We have our rights to our secrets but fuck ME you lot NEED to start acting appropriately and like decent fucking humans. ‘iTs HeLl’ yeah and welcome to Earth- the team and yourselves live HERE. You obide by THESE rules. And as someone with beliefs (and a LOT of ancient fucking texts and studies on this shit) their Hell isnt even a proper Hell! It’s closer to purgatory and even then it’s not. Regardless, it’s a poorly built world with the lore consistently changing per episode and tweet, with many plot holes, and is apparently easy to get into - even via accidentally watching porn according to a stream. If youre gonna parade youre a fucking expert and research into demonology and use real believed figures, at least get THAT right. In fact, Lucifer and Lilith (and Stolas tbf) are ESPECIALLY risky as theyre a lot more complex than most easy access texts will tell you. Likewise, Stolas’s first introduction and main focus is sex. He’s one of the FEW Goetia demons that dont have some involvement in relationship issues at ALL. He’s known for astrology, crystals and herbs but hes also known to aid MONEY troubles (it’s lesser known but it’s true! HB Stolas is an insult to the Prince). Turning Vodou into something evil is vile considering it’s powerful and liberated slaves. Pentagrams are nothing to do with Satan, they’re magic based sigils. Upside down cross is the symbol of a SAINT. It’s just some edgy attempt to trick people into believing they know more than they do. Also you should NEVER dabble and doodle sigils without knowing the meanings or respecting what they behold. Vox and Val, real fuckin cute way to make them look like a stupid fucking highschool drama instead of a fucking SEX TRAFFICKER (note: real pimps often target YOUNG folks too - aka minors - and groom them into sex work. Theres different types of pimp. Viv has shown barely any understanding of ‘the game’ and its a fucking insult to injury. Yes we KNOW what a fucking pimp and prozzie are! We dont need to see it. We need REAL AWARENESS.) and a fucking scheming bastard of a CEO salesman botman. And yet even THEN lets go a step further and make some yandere wuv on boyfweind aboose! Fuck off- Now I love a good anime but these tropes are getting fucking dangerous now. And unrealistic to real love and relationships. Kids nowadays know fuck all on a healthy relationship (neither did the fuckin 50s tbf) and Im seeing more romaticism and glorifying abusive situations. Like the show ‘You’. Ok, there’s a fuckin bloke online who slaughtered innocents and kidnapped yet people commented how cute he is on his IG and that they want to be kidnapped or killed by him next. Dont believe me? Look up Peter Manfredonia Connecticut and the comments people left him and then tell me why shit like whats being presented in HH/HB ISNT fucking concerning - because it is. For a series about redemption, it’s brilliant at the opposite (Quote from the creator herself, Viv has posted that it’s influencing her bad choices. Even as a joke, proof’s in the pudding). And the overall focus on sex in the way Viv does is so immature and really creepy, and this is from an ADULTS perspective. From one adult to another, Im concerned as to why any of them think this is a normal fixation. Then again they’ve hired quite a large amount of dodgy folks and even a child. Most of this shit gets avoided with a basic background check like most companies run. I DO like Hazbin. Or the premise. I love some of the cast and spite the others. In Helluva, I just like a tiny portion of the cast. And I critique it so harshly because Viv DOES need a wakeup slap, grounding to reality, people who arent going to big her up or kiss her arse for once and shape her up to be the best she can be. The actually reach and even surpass her potential. And to reach where you need to be, there’s a lot of harsh lessons youll face. That’s life. Shes chosen one of the most HEARTLESS industries and if she blocks out critique as ‘hate’ then she’s not strong enough and wont last. It’s just another unprepped YanDev again (except I dont believe Viv to be a nonce. Even with her dodgy past and dodgy present, I think her perspective on sex and relationship with sexuality is FAR from healthy BUT I dont believe she’s a pedophile. Ive bled my fair share and so far, I just think her sex perspective isnt healthy or mature for her age. But there’s little to nothing to suggest actual noncery - dont worry about accusations there. But YanDev is totally a dirty predator. Just clearing that up). Viv NEEDS some harshness and stability if she wants to do things right. And it’ll make her fucking cry but if she loves these projects as much as she claims to, then you’ll sacrifice blood, sweat and tears for that shit. Even the strongest points are mediocre at best when properly observed. She CAN do more, but she’ll have to face the harsh music. Viv wont see this, but if she does, I dont care if it upsets her. Why? Because this is that much of an issue - something she’s cultivated - that she needs to take action and not ignore it or be secretive about it. She needs to grow up and get tougher skin. Im not saying this to cause her pain. In fact, I wouldnt waste my fucking limited time if I DIDNT care. Trust me, I have duties to be met at a certain quota every single day. I say this shit only because I give a shit and care. If we met, she’d fucking hate me. But people like me are good for shaping people up to their potential. And we arent always this ‘tough love’ either. But when someone needs that level of harshness to help themselves, we’re not afraid to lose people or cause upset if the results end up being the best for them. If she ever saw this, she needs to re fucking evaluate her message, her story, and those she’s choosing to welcome into her circle. And all Im seeing is one rookie mistake after the other. Her paid patreon discord. Just like the messages Honest has posted on her side of being harassed (not in Vivs fyi), Ive experienced shit and bullying and even stay silent on their for being attacked for a group I fuckin paid to be in and yet I feel isolated. It’s all arsekissing and ‘thank you viv’ (thats an actual channel-) and it feels like a place of borderline worship and people trying to appease her 24/7 whilst kicking others with different opinions down. There’s so many I love but I aint kissin yer fuckin arse. Ask the closest friend I have - we’re fucking raw and wont just side with each other just because. We’ll call each other out if we think they’ve fucked up and then help each other build themselves up better. Because real fuckin people who actually care wont just want to be adored by you. They’ll care enough to point out your bullshit and help you, even if they upset you at the time. They’re real and upfront with you. People like us arent always the easiest to be close to either because we arent afraid of upsetting someone if it’s in their best interest and to help them. Likewise, we dont go out looking for fights either. Most times, we’re fuckin soft bastards- All this shit listed is the fuckin surface level of the real life hell of this fandom. And unsurprisingly, those who experience little to no toxicity have always been higher on that popularity ‘food chain’ - enough admirers and shared opinions that people wanna arse kiss regardless of their OWN feelings as well as neutral perspectives. I’d say you’re the lucky fans, but you’re not. You’re sheltered, and that isnt always the best way to be sadly. As for the fans. If Ive upset you. Well... I dont care. Because many of you have actively sought me out and weaponised my traumas against me. You never cared about my feelings then. Why should I care about yours? Im not doing this out of malice. Im fed up of humans behaving so pathetically yet claiming to be high and mighty. Most of you have been arseholes to those in and out of the community. The victims and non-victims alike. Hardly any of you considered once my real suffering. You put a drawing over a life. Many lives. You had the audacity to tell me Im full of shit. Some even using my real traumas to make a mockery of me and those Im around with a very similar history. Some with traumatic histories that differ from my own. You hardly ever considered the real lives of those effected. So no, Im not sorry for having the fucking balls to this day to still stand up for our rights and give us a voice that’s long been stolen. Im not sorry for being a fucking victim. Im not sorry for saying what desperately NEEDS voicing. And Im not sorry for not conforming to you or any fandom just to belong. We deserve better than to constantly be your fuckin arse monkeys (well... the trope is butt monkey but yknow-) and to be mistreated, misrepresented and harmed by you. You’re no different to the school bullies who give speeches on anti-bullying day. And I hope every single one of you starts looking into yourselves and improving. PS: Depending on the texts you read, Lucifer is said to have been redeemed or to be redeemed. Fun fact to haunt yalls with~ “

[lavellane]

ok so heres an obligatory twc/detective oc infodump since i was up til 2am last night feverishly thinking abt Her

(tho um disclaimer i literally have just started so i know less than nothing abt anything lol)

her name is beatrice maddox ! but her friends/the whole town just calls her triss. hearing her full name just makes her feel like shes in trouble Unless its ava saying it and then shes 😳😳😳😳

shes bi ! aaaaand nobody is surprised in the slightest lmao ! she dated bobby and im ..... considering doing the n/a love triangle route tho i kno nothing abt it. definitely going to end up w ava tho bc i cannae resist

tattoos. EVERYWHERE. a couple are meaningful, but for the most part??? absolutely nonesensical 🥰 her tattoos were very carefully chosen to represent and Symbolize that she is Cool and Bisexual and Hot. thats it ✊

her personality is.... ok im not gonna try with the whole canon stats thing but she's very cheerful ! in a sort of Cool and casual and lighthearted way. maybe a little too lighthearted, almost as if it maybe.... it was a little forced 👀

shes a realist as opposed to an optimist/pessimist , but she tends have an ironic/lighthearted sense of humour that makes her seem a lot more silly than she is i guess? in truth, outside of like surface level warmth and extroversion for the sake of saving face, shes actually very reserved and awkward. i mean, she IS genuinely a very warm person, but theres a lot of darkness she tends to keep very deep inside herself, that virtually nobody has ever rly seen from her. shes the type of person who's GREAT at like, first impressions and having dozens and dozens of amicable aquaintances, but she rly struggles to form close friendships bc shes quite aloof and eccentric, sometimes says stuff that makes her sound callous, keeps a LOT of secrets and... hates opening up to ppl authentically lol! for reasons i'll get into!

she progressed thru her education and career stuff really quickly mostly due to being a gifted child ! obviously tho that means she also has gifted child syndrome lol. while she still excels professionally and on the surface she seems very functional and cheery and put together, her personal life has rly suffered bc of burnout and anxiety nd whatnot. emotionally shes not at the same place as others her age and shes just. very caught up inside her own head i guess and has a LOT of trouble relating to others, tho she's aquaintances/friendly with most everyone in the town. longterm relationships are VERY hard for her.

so. im already editing canon lol which is very on brand for me and it might not work idk !!!! but my lore for her rn is when she was a child, like 8 or 9, she um witnessed a murder/a body being discarded in the woods. it REALLY fucked her up.obviously. she was a kid and alone at the time and when she got home she was so ????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ abt it that she didnt tell her parents or let anybody know. at the time she still didnt rly understand what she saw, or at least didnt know how to handle situations like that bc literally Who would, but it still keeps her up at night, and shes still plagued by guilt and fear over it. the murder was never reported and nobody ever discovered anything, so sometimes she convinces herself that what she thinks she saw didnt actually happen ..... she rly doesnt know ! and it scared tf out of her !

that whole deal lead to her becoming uh quite morbid ! she was still a bright happy kid, but death sort of became like.... a n interest of hers, as well as criminals and finding out stuff. im still not sure if her focus is gonna be on detective work primarily or on science, ill maybe decide after my first playthru. anyway she never did anything that was like an actual red flag or anything xbxjsksms but she was just a Weird Girl growing up after that. she'd watch a LOT of true crime and read everything she could get her hands on and absolutely would have annoyed the shit out of all the detectives at the station.

speaking of annoying cops, shes also a reformed Rascal teenager. she was VERY rebellious as a kid, again mostly bc of Trauma, and was basically the loveable bane of wayhaven's existence for a good four years. again, she was mischievous but not in a malicious/dangerous way, but she definitely would have seen the inside of the station's jail cell a few times for like..idk. egging houses, graffiti, maybe weed idk ! just girly things! she ended up mellowing out soon afer highschool but shes still cool enough to have arm sleeve tattoos so u kno she still absolutely passes the vibe check

last point abt the murder but ! that event basically got repressed pretty quickly after it happened, she does not talk about it EVER, not to anybody. literally not a single person on earth knows what happened that day except her and the possibly-not-real-killer. and, while its sort of filed under the "Dont Consciously Think About This Ever" section of her brain, she obviously is haunted by it and has nightmares consistently, and its basically what inspired her to become a detective in the first place. bc its not so much about Seeing it that affected her so much as... not knowing who did it, not knowing what happened, and not being able to stop it. so much of her life after that was spent of Figuring Everything Out as like a coping mechanism, which obviously put a lot of pressure on her and strain on relationships, but it makes for great detectives lmao !

she is a hugely active person and needs constant mental simulation bc she genuinely hates quiet, and being left alone with her thoughts and memories. living alone sucks for her, so she usually has to play music as soon as she gets home, needs to go to sleep w music, needs to drive with music.... and driving is the worst. she sort of.... goes thru life feeling very ghostlike ! like shes living in a verh different world to everyone else. like shes waiting for something terrible to happen in every waking moment - its mostly practice that allows her to hide it with lightheartedness and jokes and deflective warmth, bc otherwise she'd go crazy !

i'll add more to this when i know more but if u read all of this i love you so much and you deserve a medal. im actually shocked im getting so into this already like i RLY didnt think i would

(ps her pinterest is a work in progress but it's here if anyones interested!)

[doctah-plagued]

uwu all the fe3h asks pls!!

• Hresvelg: Favorite lord character?

EDIE EDIE EDIE!!!! Claude is a big second, but goddamn is he too reckless.

• Blaiddyd: Most OP character?

Shamir. Shamir kills everything, hunters volley and her EARLY A tier bow skill is fucking dumb, Felix is my second pick cause Wo Dao + Fraldarius is MAD stupid. 

• Riegan: Favorite piece of Three Houses lore?

Mmmm. BIG BIG BIG Spoilers here but in BE Edie tells you to call her Ed, since thats what her family called her when she was little and that there was no one around anymore that still called her that and that she said you were like the last family she had. And at Dimitris fight... the last thing he calls Edelgard is Ed... And when you play BL you find out that they’re step siblings, and that the dagger she kills him with is the dagger he’s taunted about giving to a girl he liked, theres so much more to get into with this but it’s really dense with symbolism and meaning and god i love this game.

• Aegir: Favorite moments in the game?

Everytime there’s unique dialogue between units, the subtle dynamics of your actions really sink in in these routes and i genuinely adore it. I am the worst kind of scum, as Hubert once put it, as I always force units two fight when I know they’ll have something to say to eachother.

• Varley: Most emotional scene?

Mmmmm spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler                      The immaculate one’s demiseMmmmm spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler

• Hevring: Favorite magic based character?

Me :)

• Bergliez: Favorite physical based character?

Definitely Felix or Edelgard, they fuck shit up.

• Arnault: Favorite piece of music?

The Holy Tomb’s theme and the final stage themes for sure, they’re fantastic, the brass of the BE is for sure my #1 though.

• Goneril: Favorite route?

I 100% believe Edelgard’s is the best route. It’s quite literally the classist/religious revolt I admire, but that doesn’t mean the other routes are any lesser. They perfectly pick eachother apart and allign themselves in places that make an amazing moral and ethic conflict. Peace only feels so far away when you see what everyone strives for.

• Gautier: Favorite supports?

Hubert and Bernadetta is honestly my favourite... that’s the only time I’ve ever actually lold over something. The rest can go home.

• Vestra: Most difficult chapters?

BE 17 was the hardest because I skipped auxillary battles and ruined my units chances and im so mad.

• Bartels: Favorite boss character?

Well.. there’s one I heard that’s a boss... but I’m not saying until then.

• Fraldarius: Units you used the most?

Linhardt’s the best healer don’t @ me

• Victor: Units you used the least?

I had no use for caspar or ferdinand so.. oops

• Galatea: Preferred classes to use?

I always run any swordie type because every goddamn avatar is a fucking swordie and im giving up on them 

• Kirsten: Favorite activities that happen around the monastery?

GET 👏 FLAYN 👏 THE 👏 FISH 👏 SHE 👏 CRAVES 👏

• Edmund: Hardest characters to recruit?

Fucking raphael, who the fuck goes into heavy armor with byleth, are you shitting me? are you fucking kidding me? fuck you, go fuck yourself, you’re stupid, fuck off.

• Molinaro: Favorite paralogue?

So far it’s been Bernadetta and Petra’s, their friendship is really cute and sweet and they vibe real fucking well.

• Pinelli: Least favorite paralogue?

I slept through Ingrid and Dorothea’s.

• Gloucester: Favorite timeskip character designs?

Linhardt and Hubert make me sweat, Dedue and Edelgard get me fucking pumped, and Felix and Lysithea’s are so aesthetic.

• Ubert: Favorite character to invite to teatime?

Claude won’t stop playing That’s What I Like when we’re hanging out and I don’t understand what he means by this.

• Macneary: Favorite paired endings?

BERNADETTA AND HUBERTS IS REALLY WHOLESOME AND FELIX AND LYSITHEAS GOT ME FUCKED UP

• Ordelia: Most unnerving moments in the game?

BE/BL Chapter 11 for equal reasons between two different characters.

• Dominic: Most wholesome moments in the game?

Shamir and Alois’ supports were really nice to watch, Linhardt and Petra’s were also really cute to watch. There’s a lot.

• Martritz: Favorite house?

MY LIFE FOR THE EMPIRE, MY SWORD FOR THE EMPRESS!

• Eisner: Any headcanons you have?

Shamir definitely has a lot of breakdowns/episodes no one gets to see, Alois absolutely has survivors guilt (more than one occasion), I really like to think that 3h takes the same universe as Genealogy for.. very obvious reasons, and not to mention the fact that Ferdinand looks EXACTLY like Ares, and not to mention Brigid and Dagda, but geologically it makes no sense... but it’s not impossible. Fates is the predecessor to the first game, and geologically... :)

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

FIC: Past and To Come

She had a pounding headache.

Her table in the study did not have the space for the books upon books upon books she had to keep cross referencing between, and had moved down to the coffee table and across the entirety of the couch for this task, sat crosslegged and spinning about between the tomes laid upon the coffee table, propped up against the back of the couch and across the seat cushions of the couches themselves as she worked back and forth between them all.

This was a nightmare.

Half the books were in other languages - French, Latin, German or that freaking horrific precursor to modern English where the F’s were S’s and half the words ended in E that shouldn’t. Canterbury Tales her fucking ass. Which required over four different translation dictionaries, ont top of the books themselves. The other half were just so contrasting in their work that she found herself rubbing at the aching throb in her forehead.

Jo had her head resting on the coffee table when she heard the noise, brows furrowed in pain at the sounds as four heavy dog footfalls and two lighter human ones entered the room.

Nana barked happily, rushing past the other to bound up to her mom - wet dog nose pushed in against the back of Jo’s neck between her hair as she huffed a warm puff of moist dog breath.

“Hey girl, yes yes, good girl, Mommy loves you, yes now shhh.” Jo murmured as she leant up from the coffee table, leaning back into the couch as the giant dog pushed it’s way into her lap, sitting taller than the blonde woman as it yipped twice before quieting down.

She could hear the other moving about the room, and the flicking of some pages that she couldn’t see over the fluffy dog to follow as Grey moved to look over what she was doing.

“Demon case, Jo?”

“Kinda..” She shrugged a shoulder even though the movement was lost in the size of the animal curling up atop her. “Bobby called me into research duty before we decide to call for Sam’nDean.”

“Anything I can help with?” Grey asked, she thought he sounded earnest but she couldn’t be sure as Jo pushed at the fluffy fur covering her face. When she tried to turn to look at him, Nana moved her head and practically smothered her, getting a quiet huff of a laugh. She could hear his own laugh as well, smiling softly at it while she waved a hand from under the furry mass.

“Nana..Nana, bubba, gerroff Mommy, c’mon up girl. Go to Daddy, gerroff, go, go to Daddy, baby.”

Grey whistled sharply when Jo’s pleas didn’t work, and the dog leapt out of her lap with another happy bark, running about his legs as Jo pushed herself up to her feet again to avoid another smothering. “Go on, Nana, go check your food bowl. Dinner? Go look for dinner.” His tone was sweet as he babied the dog, rubbing her head as she looked between him and the doorway before bounding off towards the kitchen; while Grey moved to hold a hand out to help Jo up. “So, what demon you looking for?”

“Some yellow-eyed dickbag seemingly.” Jo brushed off the dog fur from her shirt, waving it a bit before tucking the ends back into her skirt as she looked up at the other. “I know Sam’nDean’s family got wrecked by one; but this is the first heard of one since so Bobby’s wantin’ to be sure what’s goin’ on before we let the boys know.”

“Ah..” Grey picked up one of her books, flipping through the pages and reading a few passages despite it being one of the Latin ones. “Any luck working it out?”

“There’s too many fuckin’ demons!” She practically cried, staring at him angrilly at how easy he was reading the book but most of it being misplaced from just how many different versions and lore and stories of demonology there were. Half of them disagreed, and there were some names listed in some and not in others. Jo had found Azazel, the last one that had tormented the Winchester’s, burnt down the Roadhouse and killed Ash all those years ago, in one of the books but not all the others. “Fuckin’ lyin’ assholes the lot of them, I’m sure. Fake names and bullshittery in half these goddamn books.”

Grey paused in his flicking, reaching out the hand that had been turning the pages to tuck her hair behind her ear and press a kiss to her throbbing temple. If she didn’t know better, she’d think that the pain vanished for a second at his lips on it, before coming back as he pulled back and sat the book back down where he’d picked it up from.

“Well, if you’re having trouble, maybe you could ask Amon for some help.”

“What? I can’t ask the wolf-”

“Demon.”

“Fine, I can’t ask him for help, I don’t speak wolf!”

Grey laughed at her words, fingers stroking through her hair again as he pulled her in for a hug as her stomping her foot in frustration.

“Well, maybe you don’t but I’m sure he can help. I mean, he’s listed in that book, and possibly some of the other’s too.” He murmured into her hair as he stroked the strands, Jo leaning into the feeling and resting her pounding head against his chest. It was so warm and soothing. “I bet you can work out...someway to talk to him, if I can’t be there to translate for some reason.”

“Why are you so smart?” She mumbled the words, burrowing into him with a smile. Theres a full three minutes before Jo unwraps herself from him, smiling up at his encouraging look before nodding. “Okay, okay fine. Could you get me some painkillers and a drink while I finish some readin’?”

“Sure thing,” Grey smiled back at her, planting another kiss on her temple as he let go of her. “Fajitas for dinner in an hour?”

“I fucking love you.” Jo grinned so widely it almost hurt as she shuffled to position herself back where she had been, hands wrapping around the book he had been reading and fingers sliding into place to keep the page open where he’d left it as she sank into her spot again.

She found herself smiling even wider as the look on Grey’s face as she looked at him over the top of the book as he returned the sentiment likewise and headed out of the room for the medicine cabinet.

Jo waited to start reading again, picking up her phone and playing a few rounds of Tetris until after Grey had stopped in with her pills and a glass of water before heading back to the kitchen - the sound of Nana’s quiet huffing and shuffling about the food bowl where she was fed making a metallic ringing sound on top of the quiet voice she could hear singing and the sounds of cooking starting up - and waited for the throbbing to die down before opening the book up again.

It didn’t take her long to find the entry for her boyfriend’s friendly demon pal’s entry. She’d thought she may have to go digging for it, what with the first page of that section saying there were seventy-fucking-two demons in that part of the classification. But there he was... number seven. Lucky number seven.

What did take her some time was to believe what she was reading.

That the giant wolf that would appear and disappear at random, checking up on the pair of them, trying to avoid but never reacting with more than a snarl to their now grown fluffy puppy, that had worked with her years back when Grey had been in so many different dark, troubled spots, that had let her scratch behind his ears and occasionally participated in the odd game of fetch when she was trying to train Nana; that that giant wolf was a fucking Marquis of Hell.

She found herself reading the passage over and over and over again, not really paying any attention to anything around her as her own pup entered the room and clambered into the free arm chair, brown eyes watching her for any sign of acknowledgement and getting now. Jo was absorbed in it, brows furrowed as she tried to shake the feeling that she’d just been completely and utterly fooled by a fluffy exterior.

A fucking Marquis of Hell if The Lesser Key was to be believed. The strongest of the princes above all others if Johann Weir was to be believed. Able to see the past and the future, to procure love, to smooth and mend friendships or break them apart. Harl even added some rot about answering excorism calls and drowned souls.

Flicking back and forth between the different texts, Jo’s headache was back with a vengence by the time Grey called her for dinner, and even spicy chicken fajitas that they each compiled for themselves where she could practically put as much meat and cheese and sour cream and guacamole as she wanted didn’t help much.

“So, uh... Marquis of Hell?” Jo asked quietly after swallowing her latest mouthful, looking across the small kitchen table expectantly. “Were you ever goin’ to mention that?”

“Is it really that important?” Grey asked in reply, biting into his own wrap and swallowing after a minute before adding quietly. “He’d said he didn’t want it broadcast about the place. Something about it being dangerous for me, and now us, to have that news out. I just didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Yeah, yeah, I can see how that might not be a big deal to you!” Jo scrunched up her face at the shrill, high pitched tone that came out, a sharp throb in her temple that she tried to get rid of with a sip of water. He’d finally gotten her to break her soda addiction, but damn if she didn’t think she needed a Coke and Jack right now. “But alright, I believe you. Do you think he’ll know anythin’ about which yellow-eyed demon might be about causin’ trouble? Or which demon has yellow eyes these days since Dean killed Azazel?”

Grey shrugs a shoulder at that, chewing thoughtfully at his own fajita before nodding his head. “Perhaps. He’s usually pretty good at knowing what’s going on in Hell these days.”

“Do you know if he’s ‘round at the moment?”

“Jo... You can’t wait until after dinner?” Grey’s look as he raised a brow at her made Jo flush, looking down at her own plate and starting to compile another wrap without another word on the topic. He worked so hard to make a nice meal, and here she was talking demons over the dinner table. “Other than this, what are you up to this week?”

Jo laughed at his query and the pair broke off onto other topics as they slowly finished their meal, Nana crawing about under the table waiting for the odd dropped scrap to reach the floor for her. After dinner and a movie, and quite a bit of kissing and groping and cuddling, the pair headed off to sleep without the topic coming up again.

The next morning as Grey kissed her goodbye on his way off to follow up on a skinwalker in a small town nearby, Jo spotted the dark black wolf curled up under the shade of the shed out back when she remembered the revellation from the night before.

Pouring herself a coffee, throwing back a few painkillers to ward off the relooming headache at the concept, Jo grabbed up the Latin book and translation book before heading out the back door. Nana barked happily as the pair headed into the sunshine, and the lively dog ran about the back yard, frollicking in the sunshine and chasing butterflies as they floated up from the overgrown grass.

The blonde could see the demon’s head lift up from where it rested on his front paws, and Jo found herself blinking at the bright yellow eyes staring her down as she approached.

Amon appeared to sit up a little, raising into a seated position on his back legs as Jo moved to pull one of the old wooden deck chair nearby and sat down herself before turning the front of the book to the other’s perusal.

“So, uh... Amon.. Hi.”

The wolf tilted it’s head to one side, then the other, before appearing to nod to her. Jo bit back a laugh as she shuffled forward to perch on the edge of the chair, flipping the pages open to the old designed sketch under his title.

“Is this supposed to be you?” She asked, pointing to a detailed drawing of a half wolf-half snake with sharp teeth. There was a pause as the wolf raised itself to it’s feet fully, padding towards her before sitting again. He seemed to pin the drawing and the book with a careful look before his wolfish head nodded again.

Jo nodded in response, turning the book to flick through a few pages before turning the section describing the context of the demons listed throughout that part of the book. Turning the page back to the other, she waits as he appears to read - a fucking reading, goddamn demon wolf! - the page before turning his attention back to her face with what she’d almost think was boredom before he let out a huff of a growl.

She shrugged a shoulder at the growl, figuring it to be his asking her ‘So?’. “So, you great lug - why the fuck did none of you tell me?”

That got a growl, deep from within the demon’s throat as he tilted his head at her again, ears flat against his skull and teeth bared a little bit.

“Oh no, don’t you go gettin’ pissy with me! I am a fuckin’ hunter for godsake! I’ve had friends over to this house wit’ you around, and not once did you or Grey think it important to tell me one of the fuckin’-” Jo’s rant was cut off where she was just getting started as a large black paw came out of nowhere, pressing hard onto the book and pushing her backwards without warning into the back of the chair. Squeaking at the force, she blinked back at him as the teeth came dangerously close to her face before the demon-wolf stepped back off of her. Clearly her tone and anger weren’t appreciated.

“God dammit, fine!” Jo hissed back as the wolf remained close, his breath hot and sticky where it hit her cheek before she got control of her tone and pitch again. “Fine, I’m not.. Like, just why on earth didn’t I get told about this?”

The demon-wolf seemed to pause over the question, before he let out a huff and wagged his head back and forth non-commitally. This was not going well, but that could be a question for another time.

“Okay, movin’ on from that - then could you tell me do you know any demons with yellow eyes that are still active?”

There was another huff. Louder, and the tone seemed a lot more amused than angry or frustrated like the other. Jo frowned in response as Amon pinned her with a look, the jowl of his lips curled up almost in amusement as he blinked at her. Blinked those big yellow unnatural eyes.

Jo swallowed a lump in her throat that came from a laugh that died in it. “Huh.. I... are yours the same in a human body?” There was a nod, and she found herself shifting backwards further into her chair as the demon shuffled in it’s position. “Are..you the only one?” This time there was a shake of the big dark head, which helped let her breath out. “Do you know how many there are?”

That got a wet, wolfish nose pushed forward against her hand that was flattened upon the book. Frowing, Jo opened it and held a page open. “Is one listed on here got them?” There was a huffed noise, a slight shake and then the nose was against her hand again. “What the fuck does that mean?” Groaning, she turned the book towards him, and flicked a few pages, raising a brow at him. “How ‘bout you stop me when I get to the right page?”

After a few pages, the nose was on her hand again, and turning to look at it, she saw that it was back on the first page, that page that outlined the contents of the Ars Goetia. “What the fuck does tha-” Jo’s eyes blew wide, staring at the demon as it gave another huff and pressed his nose back to her hand. “I... do you mean...that all seventy-two are...yellow?” This time there was that non-commital noise again, but also a nod of the bark head.

Groaning, Jo rubbed her free hand over her face before staring back at the bemused looking demon-wolf. Rubbing her face again, she pinched at the bridge of her nose. “Okay... Can you help me figure out which demon..if any of these, it is that we’re lookin’ out for?” The wolf gave another huff before nodding once, settling back down into a seated position a few paces back from her as Jo collected herself.

“Well, Bobby’s said it’s somethin’ like a siren with people fallin’ in love like idiots for the one person; but that it’s not the yellow-eyed fu- uh demon.” Jo corrected herself at the slight snarl that started forming on the demon’s wolfish face, shrugging her shoulder apologetically at him before the other resettled and nodded for her to continue.

“Also, supposedly there have been summonin’... triangles? Not circles, involved. And there’s been a few, uh, people torn apart by-” Jo shuddered a little, tripping over the words and pressing her free hand against her stomach where her own tears were etched upon her skin. “-by hellhounds with rings and sticks on them?”

Amon stood up from his sitting position for a moment, pacing back and forth as if considering her words before letting out a loud howl. She pressed her hands to her ears as the sound reverberated in the small shed, and she could hear Nana’s own barking responding from outside before the wolf sank back down. He appeared to nod again, one large paw jerking out and patting twice upon her book before looking back up at her. “You...think you know who it is?” The wolf nodded, and Jo fumbled with the book to open back up to the page of the opening descriptions, before turning the page back to the other.

“So, is it, uh Bael?” There was a shake of his head, and as Jo flipped the page, she looked down at him with a from. “This could take a while, couldn’t it?”

All she got in return was a huff and a lick of the wolfish lips, her own mouth pulling into a self-depricating smile before they both turned their attention back to the book. It might take a while with the communication issues, but she knew she would get the help she needed eventually.

[vinylackles]

family history

word count: 3,000

requested by: anonymous

summary: when two random kids find the bunker and come asking for help, Dean’s ready to kick them to the curb until he learns their last name... Winchester

to avoid having lots of abbreviations for names, I’m gonna go ahead and name the kids!! Kai is 15 and Charlie is 5! Also sorry about switching POVs so much, I just wanted to tell different aspects of the story!

all my works || request imagines here

It was quiet in the bunker besides the hum of the air conditioning and the sound of Dean’s pen scratching notes into his journal. Sam was out on a supply run - your stash of summoning ingredients was running dangerously low, which left you and Dean in the library for the afternoon. In between hunts you often enjoyed peaceful days like this, reading through the newspapers looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. 

That was interrupted harshly by two rather loud knocks on the door. You and Dean exchanged a look across the table. Sam had a key, and you weren’t expecting any visitors. You both stood up, pulling your guns from your back waistbands and heading for the door. 

KAI’S POV:

“Now remember, it’s 20 years ago. Aka, they have no idea who we are. So don’t say anything to them, okay?” He warned his younger sister. 

“I just want mommy and daddy back,” Charlie crossed her arms, half in annoyance and half to cover her shiver. 

“Okay, but just don’t say anything. They’re here, Dad always talked about this place. He took me once before you were born,” Kai said. As if on cue, the door opened slowly and out stepped Dean. He looked much younger than the Dean that he knew, but it was the same man alright. 

And behind him, no doubt with another gun was his mother, Y/N. She was looking at him in confusion.

“Hi. Um, were lost and we need a little bit of help. Could we come in?” Kai put on his best innocent face, but he knew his dad, and he knew he wasn’t going to let anybody into the bunker, no matter what.

“Sorry, no can do, but if you’ll just let me get my car I can take you kids to the nearest police station and get you some help.”

“Oh. It’s just that we came all the way from Poughkeepsie, we dropped everything and ran and I was hoping that you could help us.” Kai gave the code-word a shot, just to see if it would ring a bell. Before he could move there was a gun pointed directly at him.

“How the hell do you know what that means? Who are you?” Dean demanded.

“Ease up,” Y/N’s voice came from behind him.

“You use it with Uncle Sammy sometimes when you go hunting. It’s a secret code,” Charlie chimed in from beside Kai, proud of herself for remembering the word. Kai groaned, thinking that she blew the whole thing.

“Uncle Sammy?” Y/N asked, stepping forward. She was still staring at Kai as if he was the most peculiar thing that she’d ever seen. 

“Yeah, Daddy’s brother Sam.”

“What’s your name sweetheart?” Y/N bent down, looking at the girl very closely. She had the same color hair as her mother, and many of the same features too. 

“Charlie. Charlie Jo Winchester.” She said proudly. 

Y/N froze, and it took her a few moments to compose herself before she stood back up and looked at Kai.

“And your name?”

“Kai. Well, technically I’m Samuel Kai Winchester, but I go by Kai. Having two Sam’s would have been confusing I guess.” He scratched the back of his head a bit, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“Nice try. Who sent you here? Who told you about this place?” Dean wasn’t letting up, though he had lowered his gun a bit.

“You did. I’m your son. You know it’s possible, you went back twice in time to help Grandma Mary,” Kai said.

Dean’s gun dropped down fully now, and Kai breathed a sigh of relief.

“C’mon, lets get you guys inside, it’s cold.” Y/N murmured, taking Charlie’s hand and leading them into the bunker.

READER’S POV:

“What’s your favorite cartoon?” You asked, still unsure of how to handle the whole situation.

“Scooby-Doo is cool! Daddy watches that one with me sometimes,” Charlie beamed up at her from underneath her blanket. You found an episode for her and clicked it on. She was curled up in a ball in Dean’s “man-cave” recliner, totally content.

“You can leave her there, she’s actually pretty low maintenance,” Kai reassured you. He still looked nervous, probably because of the death stare that Dean was still giving him. 

“So... you’re my kid?” Dean finally broke his silence, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

“Well, technically I’m both of your all’s kid, but yes.”

“Prove it. Where was I born?”

“Lawrence, Kansas.”

“What car do I drive?”

“67′ Chevy Impala. Black. And you call it baby all the time, which I still find super weird, by the way,” Kai said, quirking an eyebrow. 

“Dean, he’s telling the truth. How else would he have even found us here, this place is totally off the map. What happened? How did you end up in our year?” You interrupted before Dean could ask anything else. 

“I think it was some spell. My parents... well, you guys I guess... had to go out to help Uncle Sam on a hunt. Charlie was messing around in stuff she wasn’t supposed to, and my best guess is she got into one of the curse boxes downstairs. Next thing I knew we were here, and I begged for some money for a bus ticket to get as close as we could to the bunker. We walked the rest of the way. I figured if there was any chance of finding you guys, it’d be here,” Kai explained. 

“You were smart to come, if there’s anywhere that would have an answer it’s probably the library. We’ll start looking, Dean call Sam to get him back here to help. We’ll figure it out,” you reassured him, patting his shoulder. When he looked up at you, it was like you were looking right into Dean’s eyes. You could see pieces of yourself in his features too - not as much as his sister, but your DNA was definitely there. You couldn’t help but trust him. 

“Thank you. I know this has got to be really weird for you all,” Kai said.

“How many years back are you anyways?” Dean asked.

“20. You all look a lot younger, that’s for sure,” he smiled.

“Alright, easy kid,” Dean rolled his eyes, turning and heading for the library. Kai turned the opposite way, walking over to find his sister fast asleep in her chair. 

“Is there somewhere closer to the library I can lay her down? We traveled for two days, she’s exhausted.”

“You can put her in Dean and I’s room.” 

Kai scooped her up, carrying her very carefully down the hall and tucking her into bed. You could see how much he cared for her in just those few moments, and it warmed your heart. You had an odd sensation within you to care for these children, even though they technically weren’t yours... yet?

You left her to sleep, leading Kai to the library instead of dwelling on the oddity of the whole situation. Dean was finishing his call with Sam, phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled books off the shelf that he thought would be useful. 

“Well, I hope you like reading.” Dean gave a half-hearted smile, dropping the books on the long table. 

“Lore I can deal with. English class, not so much,” Kai chuckled, picking a book out of the stack and sitting down in one of the chairs.

“You read lore?” Dean’s expression changed ever-so slightly, and if you didn’t know him so well you probably wouldn’t have caught it. But you did know him, and you knew that little slip was because the one question he hadn’t asked yet was seemingly answered - Kai was a hunter, just like his father. The one thing Dean never wanted for his kids.

“In my free time sometimes. The journals are more interesting than the books though. You brought all the important ones from the bunker to the house,” Kai shrugged, leaning back and propping his feet up on the table - just like Dean did when he read. 

“So, what’re we all hunting these days?” You asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit as you picked a book as well.

“Last one you two were on was a wraith in Nevada I think.”

“Where were you and Charlie?” You couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t seem uncomfortable any more, so you didn’t mind to push the envelope a bit.

“Oh, we were home. I don’t hunt. You two don’t hunt much either unless it’s within a few states or Uncle Sam needs help. I just read about all your all’s cases incase something were to happen. I used to not care as much, but Charlie doesn’t know how to shoot yet so I starting reading up a bit more once she was born.” 

“I never thought we would hunt if we had kids,” Dean mumbled. You were surprised at his honesty.

“You didn’t, for a long time actually. Not until I was about 8, and then I found your journal cause I’m a nosy little shit. You had to explain it to me then, everything, and I wanted you out hunting monsters because if you weren’t hunting them, I figured they were hunting us. Seemed to be enough for you all. You stopped again when Mom was pregnant with Charlie, and you only got back into it last year,” he explained.

“Well, I’m sorry you have to deal with all this,” Dean said. You kept your mouth shut.

“Don’t be sorry. I think it’s badass. So does Charlie,” Kai offered a smile, sighing a bit as he opened the book and began to read. 

Dean watched him for a moment, smiling at the young man in front of him. He could see a lot of himself, not just in his features, but in the way he carried himself. It gave him an odd sense of pride. 

The next three hours were spent sifting through book pages, to no avail. It was hard to look for a solution when you didn’t even know what the problem was. 

“Kai, let’s go check the archives, theres a bunch of hunter’s journals down there,” you suggested. He stretched back in his chair before getting up to follow you down the hall.

DEAN’S POV:

It was odd, seeing essentially a younger version of himself walk down the hallway after his girlfriend. He shook his head, trying to focus on the book in front of him. It probably wasn’t going to have anything - hell he wasn’t even sure that the book was on the right thing. Where was his nerd brother when he needed him? 

He believed Kai. He really did - he knew how frustrating it was to be back in time talking to his own mother and trying to convince her of who he was. But he still wasn’t sure how exactly he was going to help the kid.  

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of small footsteps coming down the bunker hallway. With her hair in a disarray and one hand rubbing her eye, Charlie came down the hallway rather slowly, obviously disoriented. 

“Daddy?” Her voice was small, and it wasn’t until he heard the tremble in it that he realized she was crying.

Something squeezed at Dean’s heart - he couldn’t explain it. This wasn’t his kid, not really. But he was still her Dad. She didn’t know any better, and he could see in her eyes that all she needed was him right now. 

“Hey sweetheart,” Dean stood up, coming to meet her. He was about to crouch down to her when her arms went up in the air, reaching for him. Of course, he obliged, lifting her up into his arms.

She rested her head on his shoulder, her soft hair tickling at his neck. Her tiny arm was wrapped around his neck, little fingers playing with the collar of his shirt. She was a spitting image of Y/N, the most precious little girl he’d ever seen.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, rubbing a hand along her back. 

“Bad dweam,” she said, hugging Dean a bit tighter. 

“Tell me what happened,” he encouraged, going over and sitting down in one of the chairs.

“There was a bad monster in my room, and I woke up and didn’t know where I was.” She hugged him a little tighter, and he wrapped his arm around her protectively.

“You’re safe now, it’s okay,” he soothed her as best he could, but her little body was still tense. 

“Daddy, are you mad at me?” She asked quietly.

He took her underneath her arms, leaning her back so he could look at her. Taking his thumbs, he wiped the tears from her cheeks. She looked up at him with bright green eyes that matched his perfectly.

“Now why would I be mad at you?” 

“I found a box in the basement, and I took it to show Kai, but I opened it and then we were in a field all of a sudden. I didn’t mean to!” Her bottom lip quivered as she spoke. Dean could remember the few times that Sam had admitted to doing something wrong when he was this age, and how mad he had gotten. He took it as a bit of a second chance.

“You didn’t do it on purpose?” He asked.

She shook her head back and forth quickly.

“Then I’m not mad. Can you tell me what the box looked like?” 

“It was purple, with gold stuff I think,” she said, rubbing at her eyes again.

“Okay, that’s good! That’s really good. Are you still tired?” Dean asked.

She shook her head again, yawning in the middle of it.

“Uh-huh, sure you’re not,” Dean chuckled, standing back up with her in his arms. She laid her head back down and he began to pace, lulling her back to sleep. She stirred for a bit, but she got heavier against him as she finally gave in a went back to sleep. 

As if on cue, Sam came through the door.

“Shhh!!” Dean cautioned, reaching up to cover Charlie’s ear as he came down the stairs. Sam’s eyes grew wide as he dropped the summoning ingredients off on the table. 

“Is that.. her?” He asked.

“No, it’s some random girl I found in the basement, yes it’s her,” Dean rolled his eyes, continuing to bounce her a bit. 

“She looks exactly like Y/N...” Sam seemed a bit mesmerized, looking at her as if she was a doll as she slept on his brother’s shoulder.

“Got my eyes though,” Dean smiled a bit at the thought.

“So that’s my niece..... that’s so weird man.”

“Congrats Uncle Sammy,” Dean teased. “She did tell me how she got her and her brother sent back to our time though. Said she opened some purple box with gold writing that we had in the house. Ring any bells?” 

“Oh shit, we have that curse box here!”

“Language,” Dean warned, earning an eye roll from his brother.

“If it sent them 20 years back, we could do a reversal spell on the box and open it again and it should send them 20 years ahead again.”

“Should? I’m gonna need a little more than that Sam, these are my future kids were talking about here.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. I’ll make some calls. You wanna find the box?”  

“Little occupied,” Dean murmured quietly, nodding towards Charlie.

“Right, I’ll go find Y/N and Kai,” he said, heading down the hallway and out of sight.

After a few presumed phone calls and another hour, Sam, Y/N and Kai returned from the archives with the box and a few spell ingredients. 

“Triple checked, it’ll send them back to their year. Kai, you ready?” Sam asked. The young boy nodded, walking over to Dean and his sister.

“I can take her. Don’t want her to get left behind, that’s for sure. You’d kill me,” he chuckled. Dean passed the little girl off to her brother, surprised at how sad it made him.

“Bye guys. I guess we’ll be seeing you very soon,” Y/N smiled, though she seemed unsure of what to say.

“Thanks for helping us, and for believing me,” Kai said, moving in front of the box.

“Anytime kid. You take care of your sister, okay?” Dean said, patting him on the back. He nodded, looking towards Sam.

“Alright, well unless we all wanna get blasted to the future we should probably go to the other room. Safe travels,” Sam said, leading the way down the hall. Dean gave one last look at Kai and Charlie before ducking into the room and closing the door. The three of them stood there, hearing Kai’s muffled incantation followed by an odd whizzing sound.

Y/N opened the first door, and sure enough the pair were gone.

20 YEARS LATER

Kai landed hard on his feet, the jolt waking Charlie up. He dared to peek an eye open, relaxing completely as he recognized the living room of his house. 

“We made it home! Thanks bubba!” Charlie cheered, hugging her brother again. 

“Anytime. Just, no more pretty boxes okay?” He chuckled, hugging her back. He was so relieved he barely even heard the thudding of the footsteps down the hall until they were in the room. 

Dean and Y/N came stumbling in, their eyes wide in panic.

“Oh thank god!” Y/N exclaimed, running over and pulling both of them into a hug. Dean was next, wrapping his arms around all of them the best he could, so thankful to have his kids back in his arms.

“Where were you all?” Dean asked.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story....”

[saints-row-2]

film watch day 19: Halloween (2018)

ill keep this as spoiler-free as possible since the film just came out like eight seconds ago

Halloween follows on directly from Halloween, ignoring all the other movies also called Halloween that had the decency to differentiate themselves slightly. forty years after Michael Myers tried to kill Laurie Strode he returns to Haddonfield to wreak havoc again. 

Halloween is a Halloween movie. it does what a Halloween movie should do. its the purest one of the sequels; theres no attempt to reinvent the concept. this isnt Michael but in a hospital or Michael but in a school or Michael but on a reality tv show. this is Michael Myers, in Haddonfield, trying to kill Laurie Strode. 

the film isnt a perfect movie or a perfect Halloween movie -- only the original is -- this one meanders with a few sideplots that i felt had more potential but in truth i appreciate that instead of trying to reinvent the concept of Halloween it just took the core concept and expanded on it. it embedded the lore and feeling of the original in this new movie and grew out from that, pursuing questions that the original raised.

Halloween is largely about two things: it is about how people see Michael Myers, and it is about trauma.

i would have to view the movie a dozen more times before i feel comfortable really talking about how effective either of these themes are explored, but my gut reaction is that i like what there is, and i want more of it. 

theres a layer of metatextual understanding in this movie that it is part of a huge legacy, that people dont just have opinions on it, it means something to people. they care about how this story is told. it understands what people expect. and unlike a million other Scream knock-offs that have the characters just mocking the stale tropes while repeating them exactly, it just plays with our expectations in meaningful ways. this isnt a film that just read the tv tropes page for Halloween, it actually understands Halloween. 

the callbacks to the originals are also subtle and varied in a way thats interesting to watch, or adds some kind of intertextual meaning, rather than just being a parade of “i got that reference”. 

the themes of trauma, especially inherited trauma, are what this movie is built on. Jamie Lee Curtis carries this fucking movie. dont get me wrong, Andi Matichak who plays Laurie’s granddaughter Alison is extremely good also, and all the actors and characters are compelling (even a few very minor ones), but Jamie Lee Curtis is fucking transcendent in this movie. maybe im “biased” because i was prepared to die on the cross for Laurie Strode long before this movie came out, but shes amazing. having heard her talk about Laurie and what this movie meant to her, to play a woman who confronts the man who traumatised her, was something that hung heavy in my mind watching this film and it really made all of it so much more fucking beautiful to see.

i dont know if this counts as spoilers when its something i made up but one of my greatest fears about this film was that in some twist, Laurie would become the next monster, that her trauma would make her “evil” and have her become a killer too. but theres not even a fucking hint of that, and im glad, because it allows the film to be a genuinely powerful movie in some ways. maybe it wont feel that way for you, but it did for me. 

and also, yeah. Michael Myers. Michael Myers is right in this film. he is correct. he is intelligent and cold and driven by some nearly otherworldly need to destroy that people try and fail to dissect and understand. he is scary. he is brutal. surprisingly, the film has more scenes than any other in the franchise where Michael is maskless. im absolutely fucking fascinated with the way those scenes are shot and what it says about his character. he feels like a human being in this movie, and thats the highest fucking compliment i can pay a portrayal of Myers.

Laurie and Michael’s relationship is the thing i cared most about and every fucking scene with the two of them is incredible. again, Jamie Lee Curtis is unbelievable in this movie. but Laurie’s relationships with her daughter and granddaughter are huge, incredibly important parts of this film. while Laurie and Alison are more the starts of the film, when Karen (the daughter) has her moments she fucking shines. seeing her deal with the inherited trauma shes left with touches again on that theme and i actually found myself at the end of the film wanting to see a sequel so i can see the story of the Strodes continue. i said a few weeks ago that people watch slasher movies for the villains, but Halloween 2018 is a slasher movie where the final girl is the most powerful force and the biggest draw.

the movie is also beautifully filmed. every fucking shot is so well composed and theres some moments that... i wanted to print a screenshot and wallpaper my room with them. i dont know how else to express my love. the film has moments that rival the iconic background scares that Carpenter made into an art form in the original.

also yeah the film is scary and has some great kills and is surprisingly restrained on the blood and gore? it has its moments and its a lot gorier than the original, but the film utilises the power of the unseen kill really well. 

Halloween 2018... Halloween H40... gives me genuine optimism that this series could come back and mean something. i loved this movie. i cant tell you if itll be as effective for people who arent fans of the original, because i obviously fucking cant separate myself out and make myself not someone who the original means a lot to. but as a fan i feel pretty fucking good about this film. 

[gammija]

The Hollow review/summary/rant/explanation of why i hate the ending I wasn’t sure whether I should post this, but I did enjoy reading others experiences watching this show, so here’s mine under the cut. Edited from a convo with a friend.

(Obviously, spoilers!)

Me: Okay so to properly express my disappointment i gotta take you through the major beats

The show starts with three teens waking up in an almost empty room, finding out they all have amnesia. They quickly solve a puzzle to escape the room, and just as quickly Adam and Mira realize they have superpowers (superstrength/agility and some weird 'speak to animals/know all languages' hybrid, respectively. also she can breathe underwater and swim really fast. its kind of vague)

Kai is already clearly a comic relief, discount Ron (from HP, the movies, no idea about the books) so me and sister correctly predict he'll get jealous of adam and miras relationship (even if there is none), gets pissy and jealous that he has no powers, but then finds out he has powers anyway he does, hes a fire bender. cant say im not bitter about that cause id put my money on invulnerability but eh its alright he has red hair after all hes still fun

Friend: Of course he is

I just feel bad is all aldjs

Me: adam gets a throwaway line of 'maybe were dead' and kai never lets it go

this food might be poisoned but im starving and hey were dead anyway! right, adam

Friend: I love him??

Me: i loved him as soon as he spoke his first dumb words also he puns but basically hes the only interesting char; adam and mira are just cookie cutter 'male lead 1' and 'female lead 1' i mean, he’s cookie cutter ‘jealous 3rd wheel’ but that has more going on than the first two still servicable though

anyway so the jokes are sometimes fun, and superpowers are always my jam. but the REAL reason to keep watching is just, whats going on? ARE they dead? or in some kind of weird gvnmt experiment? some weird magical vampire guide (dont ask) hints they wanted this themselves ooh, intrigue. and the world is very very quirky they start in a gravity falls-y woods and then get teleported to a desert with minotaurs and witches, then get invited for tea by the Grim Reaper and the rest of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse

tbh Grim is the best part of the show but thats neither here nor there

anyway they have a magic map that updates once theyve been somewhere, and it shows them that the hot dry desert and the swampy wood bunker are like right next to each other

so you start thinking, how are they gonna explain that? this is too weird to be handwaved away. theyve gotta be going somewhere

they visit some other exotic locals, like what appears to be the set of Alien (complete with alien) and an abandoned old fair and a floating island with japanese inspired evildoers on it

the weird magic guide keeps showing up and being vague, dropping hints that there are other kids there etc

at some point Mira says "This is no time for games!" Weirdy: "Thats where youd be wrong~" me and sister: Aha! videogame! that connects all the dots, and also makes the tropes clear: small world with all kinds of different areas, quests, fights, superpowers, an updating map, fast travel Adam, a few eps later: guis i think we might be in a videogame me and sister: [high five]

Anyway in the meantime also the second predictable Kai (discount Ron) plot happens: they meet three other kids (boy boy girl) and they act shady but the girl takes an immediate and obvious interest in Kai so obviously theyre gonna manipulate him and have him betray his friends but in the end he'll see through their facade and kick their ass that more or less happens. The other teens also confirm that this is a game, and theyre trying to win. winning is done by bringing the MacGuffin to a tree fights over macguffin ensue situations are dire but our characters persevere

(also Mira kisses Adam and he acts very weird about it, almost as if hes gay and the only reason they didnt make it canon is censors) (no lingering gaze, just him going 'hehe yeah no thanks, its not you, its me', but in a very... he doesnt seem to be saying it with shall we say burning desire in his soul. hes literally just like 'eh youre a good friend.' Cool move, cartoon that made the two main boys have arguments over nothing cause of course the two main guys have constant dick measuring matches)

this all is not the offensive part btw it was all fun and games, its just a flash cartoon i wasnt expecting Shakespeare

anyway so theyre in a videogame, and apparently thats the answer to all the weirdness. A bit of a cop-out, cause thats a very easy answer, but eh, it works. it wasnt immediately obvious.

also something i hadnt mentioned yet: thisd be ideal for making (self-insert) OCs. Unique powers for each person, there are clearly more characters than shown, the world is your playground

and maybe the video game thing could be interesting on its own in the last few eps the game seems to be glitching out a lot they say its breaking apart so they really gotta hurry now maybe they were beta testers for a vr game gone wrong maybe this is part of it but its like a huge experience that you tell all your friends about anyway there are ways it could be cool, could be expanded to a season 2 despite having solved the mystery

but. last episode. our heroes get the MacGuffin, go to a final stage, and fight the Boss Battle (its a dragon). they enter the Castle....

...and the screen zooms out, into a sudden live action stage, where we see the cartoon (literally what you were just watching) on screen. there are 6 chairs, 3 with our heroes, 3 with the other teens, presumably. theres a host and hes dressed exactly like the weird guy (and that was already kind of a clashy outfit in the cartoon). it was all just a game show. but. the worst part is the live action

you. dont. go. from. animated. to. live. action.

other way around? fine, can work. But now? WHY itd still be dumb and dissapointing but if itd been animated too itd at least have been.... nice to look at but the acting.. oh god they didnt even say anything and it was all wrong clearly theyd just picked the first random teens that vaguely looked like the chars and put them in there cause they had no lines so who needs acting?!

the enemy teams girl had, in the cartoon, pink hair. Purple with pink highlights instead of stylizing that into something more realistic or painting the actual hair, they gave some 30-year old woman a wig and called it a day

keep in mind i binged this show in one go

purposely stayed up late to watch the last ep with my sis even tho we shouldve gone to bed and were disobeying our dad cause we Had to Know

and theres more i said they had no lines but i was lying. Kai did have a line. well, his voice actor did they dubbed him also the line was about him having to pee which is already not the most hilarious in animated version but a live action kid whose supposed to be this character you spent 3 hours with but looks nothing like him saying that in a voice that doesnt belong to his throat, as he stands bashfully in front of a live audience, the only words spoken by your main characters in the last moments...

*its actual hell*

oh oh one more thing at the end the six kids stand in a line and kai is next to other girl they glance at each other and as the eyes of this teen and 30 year old in wig cross, her eye glitches for a moment

dun dun duuun

bUT i dont care anymore, The Hollow. You overestimated your own premise. this wont be forgiven. your most interesting part was the mystery, and the answer  to that was "just a normal game show" (which also doesnt make sense on another level smh) soo if you think that im interested in what these two-dimensional (ha) characters will do now about the glitch in the eye of a bitch then i have news for u

i dont

...if they get a second season ill probably check it out though as long as its animated

Friend: Gammi I'm getting the real sinking suspicious feeling that what you saw isn't the real end but bad on purpose because there's more to it

Me: the show didnt seem good enough to be bad on purpose

and yet im still not done, if youll still hear me out

i mean, im an animation fan so ill still watch but if theyd wanted to be bad on purpose they really shouldve done a better job fleshing out the characters thats what people come back for that was a bit of a sidetrack BUT so i said why the live action itself was just terrible in overal quality

but the resolution that 'oh it was all in a game show' doesnt work on multiple levels

first of all, they show a short flashback of "About 5 hours earlier". The kids stand on the stage and are instructed to take their seats in the vr-chairs, and pick their superpower

2 things i dislike about that

1) there goes all the self-insert/oc potential. they werent teens in over their heads, they werent gvnmt experiments, or just some kids who wanted to play a game -they were in it to win it, from the start. thats very specific and not the most appealing to all kinds of characters (goodbye, all the 'im just an average girl whod never step into the spotlight like that' characters).

Also, all the expansion on lore is gone. maybe there were other games simultaneously? eh, maybe, but theyd be all gameshows. Maybe someone ended uo trapped there for way longer? nah its just a gameshow theyre not gonna let anything actually bad happen. Maybe there are other worlds, other areas, other weird creatures? unlikely, they finished the map and familiarity seemed to be a thing for the audience. Now every new idea has to be put not through a 'whats interesting for a player' but a 'whats interesting for a viewer' lens, and whats a selfinsert if not a player in another universe

2) HOW IS THIS A SUCCESSFUL GAME SHOW

who the hell watches a game show for 5 consecutive hours, some of which mustve been just them walking. also, we zoom out of the screen were watching, so implication is that everything up until then has been what the audience has seen. but... we only followed the one team. there were two? why didnt the audience want to see what they were up to? ~reality tv usually thrives on showinf the worst assholes so realistically they wouldve been the focus~

There are also way too many times *both* teams couldve failed, from early on till late in the game. Not a single game i can think of thats played for an audience is set up like that, and especially not a televised one (okay tbf idk if this was televised, i dont remember if i saw cameras, but. it mustve. monetary reasons.)

What r u gonna do if they all 'died' from the monsters in the first ep? Call it a day? boring for the audience. let them restart from scratch? boring for the audience. the existence of an audience messes with everything

AND THEN ANOTHER THING what do you mean, "5 hours ago?" you never get a time stamp to show how long theyve been in there but there are some cuts, when they travel and such. The actual show is a lil over 3 hours runtime. You mean to tell me you sat through 2 hours of the characters just walking?

okay last thing. so. they were clearly second season teasing with the glitching eye thing. i already said this but. theres nowhere to go from here that isnt worse that the first season. your mystery is dead. you clearly know your live action teens cant act so youd have to go back into the game - but why would they do that? how would that be in any way interesting? you explored all there was to explore.

The other, more out there option, is that as you said the 'real world' was a fake-out and theyre still in a game. but. how would- how would you even make that remotely convincing? if youd just left the 'real world' gameshow as animated too this wouldnt have been a problem. but there is absolutely no conceivable reason to justify, in universe, why another meta-level up is 2D animation again unless they were in a game, in a game, in a game. and thats just dumb. yall aint inception

Friend: HONESTLY if they just kept the whole deal animated it'd probably be okay. Not good, but better,

Me: ye me and my sister came to the same conclusion

i couldve lived with that. at least, i couldve just acknowledged the finales existence but chose to ignore it. now however im full phantom planet levels of denial. in fact i dont even know how the show ended anymore, suddenly

Friend: what finale? what show?

Me: also at least now we know why its called The Hollow

it leaves you feeling empty inside