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historyhermann · 2 years ago

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"Respected by the characters": Paige Turner, the librarian in the Arthur TV series

Trading card of Paige Turner formerly on the PBS Kids website

In October 2012, a librarian described Paige Turner, a librarian at the Elwood City Public Library in the series, Arthur, as a "sweet, caring woman who enjoys students checking out books and who wants to help the children," adding that she is "somewhat strict" as she wants people to be reasonably quiet and behave, often respected by characters. The librarian further said that this librarian portrayal is positive, encouraging "students and children to seek out the library as a place to gain knowledge or find books/information." Turner was also mentioned by TV Tropes as an example of a "scary librarian." The latter made me question whether it would be worth watching episodes just for her, but upon reading the wiki page for her, noting she appears in 47 episodes, I decided it would be worth a try to watch each of those episodes and come to an assessment here.

This post is reprinted from Pop Culture Library Review and Wayback Machine.

Turner, librarian at the Elwood City Library, and has been described as a "minor adult character who is not seen outside of the library." Her character doesn't change much during the series, and her name itself is a pun in and of itself. A running gag is how her patrons fear her due to their worries of responsibility of failure. Over the course of the series, her hair colors changes, while she remains polite, calm, and friendly to patrons and others, wearing various watches and glasses. [1] Unlike some other librarians, she is not human, but is, rather, a rabbit!

She begins the series as a minor character in the episode "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn" alongside another librarian, Mrs. Lancaster. The latter character appears later as an apartment resident, and is locked out of the library's computer network system in the episode "Arthur Makes a Movie" as is Turner. Her voice actress is not currently known. Turner has a role in a later episode, enforcing rules, and helps Arthur check out a book. Beyond this, she reminds Arthur and his friends about the time the library will close, helps fulfill their information needs, appears to remove books at the request from a parents' organization, hosts an event about safety, and has minor roles in other episodes. [2] This isn't all. She helps people get their own library cards, puts out an open call for a musician to perform at the library, asks for assistance in holding a fundraiser for a new library reading room, mentions the replacement of books with so-called "bookazines", and convinces a character to become an author! She, additionally, checks out book for patrons, is able to get patrons to appeal to the City Council so the library can be saved from closure, and deals with patrons who shush other patrons who makes "too much noise in the library." [3] She is so popular that the kids even try and set her up with another character, Mr. Ratburn, although this doesn't work because he is gay.

One moment where she shines in the series is the episode "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival" where she sings two versions of the song "Library Card." It is a song about more books, story time, puppet shows, and offerings of the library. This is where her voice actress really comes through. At first it isn't clear who that voice actress, is however. It is confirmed that Kate Hutchinson voiced her in Season 16, and Felicia Shulman in Season 21, but its not known who voiced her in this song, as even Behind the Voice Actors only names Hutchinson and no one else. IMDB clears it up: Hutchinson voiced Turner from 1996 to 2012. That means she is the one singing here! [4]

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Turner is said to be "kind and friendly to people who check out books" but not afraid to be strict, disliking those who get too noisy or misbehave. She is even pictured as an antagonist in the dream sequences the kids have, interestingly enough. This is because she is an authority figure who is in charge of the library. [5] She is not to be confused with the drag queen of the same name!

On the whole, she appears to be a much more positive depiction of a librarian than many of the librarians on this blog, perhaps on par with Kaisa in Hilda, Desiree in Too Loud, or Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta but not directly supporting the forces of oppression and censorship like Cletus Bookworm or Francis Clara Censordoll. She is not magical like Cagliostro in What If...? or Blinky in Trollhunters, and definitely not a washed up former rock star like Swampy in Phineas and Ferb. While it is not known if she is overworked like the unnamed librarian in an episode of We Bare Bears, she definitely isn't some librarian-soldier fighting enemies. That is clear.

Turner appears to pass the first tenant of the Librarian Portrayal Test, and the final tenant, as she isn't necessarily stereotypical. However, she completely fails the second tenant: that her character be not only, or primarily, defined by their role as a librarian. This is because she is, from the sources I consulted, never seen outside the library.

Onto the next post!

Notes

[1] See Dee Ann Wotring's "Librarian by Day, Dance Queen by Night" (Mar. 1, 2010); Wikipedia list of fictional librarians, and list of Arthur characters, "Arthur," JCP Live Productions, accessed December 23, 2021.

[2] See "Locked in the Library! (episode)", "Francine Frensky, Superstar", "Arthur and the True Francine (episode)", "I'm a Poet", "The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club", "Binky Barnes, Art Expert", "Buster Hits the Books", "Arthur's Faraway Friend", "Sue Ellen's Lost Diary", "D.W. Blows the Whistle", "D.W.'s Name Game", "Buster's Back", "Background Blues", "Arthur's Dummy Disaster", "Prunella's Special Edition", "Fernkenstein's Monster", "Sue Ellen Chickens Out", "Unfinished", "Mind Your Manners", "Phony Fern", "The Making of Arthur", "Dancing Fools", "Mr. Alwaysright", "Do You Believe in Magic?", "Brain Gets Hooked", "To Eat or Not to Eat", "Get Smart", "The Best Day Ever", "Brain Freeze", "The Case of the Girl with the Long Face", "The Tardy Tumbler", "Brain Sees Stars", "Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants", and "Muffy's House Guests" pages on the Arthur Wiki. She also had cameo in the episode "Moose on the Loose" of Postcards for Buster.

[3] "D.W.'s Library Card (episode)", "My Music Rules", "You Are Arthur", "Breezy Listening Blues", "Fern and Persimmony Glitchet", "Prunella Packs It In", "Last Tough Customer", and "Sue Ellen and the Last Page" pages on the Arthur Wiki.

[4] This is further confirmed by her CV, for instance.

[5] See the "Paige Turner" page on the Heroes Wiki, "Pagie [sic] Turner" page on the TVOKids Arthur Wiki, and the "Elwood City Public Library" page on the Elwood City Wiki.

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crescentmel · 4 years ago

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FALCON AND WINTER SOLDIER SPOILERS!!!! ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

I am currently sobbing that was so fucking beautiful

• THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GO DOWWWN

• karli’s really got it in for these ppl I’m scared

• SHARON’S HERE TOO

• I AM SOBBING

• SAM’S NEW OUTFIT HOLY SHIT ITS SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL THATS CAPTAIN AMERICAAAAAA ;0;

• there’s fighting a lot of fighting but also OHMYGOD that helicopter is doomed

• Bucky trying to reason with karli :( he’s really trying but she’s dead set on her plan

• also the other flag smashers ashdhakjdfk they really started to question karli for a min there

• the entire scenario with the heli and Sam was done so fucking well he saved everyone ;-;

• THIS CAR SCENE HOWEVER jesus karli she set these ppl on FIRE

• I,,,,god no,,,PLS no one asked for walker

• bucky saved the car ppl ;0; bUT JESUS THE OTHER CAR

• this whole “Walker suddenly wants to be a good person” thing is meh :/

• bUT LETS GO MR CAPTAIN AMERICA SAVING THE DAY ONCE AGAIN 🤧🤍

• IM- SHARON???

• ok listen, I never ever read the marvel comics, but I’ve seen all the movies a million times over. But when there are things in the MCU I don’t understand I’ll look it up and read like a bunch of wiki pages on characters and plot lines

• the powerbroker was the furthest thing from my mind lmao, I only read up on madripoor

• AS SOON AS SHARON STARTED TO PUT HER GUN DOWN WHEN SHE AND KARLI WERE IN THE FACE OFF, I WAS LIKE-

• OHMYGOD IS SHARON THE POWERBROKER???

• IS MS SHARON CARTER, FORMER SHIELD AGENT, THE PERSON WHO FUCKING RUNS MADRIPOOR??????

• a lot of things made sense after that

• JESUS KARLI DONT SHOOT HER

• ugh this hurts Sam so desperately wants to help Karli :(

• SHARON WHAT THE FUCK NOOOOOOOOO

• no one wanted this :( I’m crying Sam looks so distraught , Karli nooooooooo 😭

• everything after this was absolutely perfect, Sam’s speech was impeccable and really brought some light into what Karli was fighting for, this is our new captain america 🥺🤧 also Bucky and Sam ahjsgakshldkf im love them

• a lot happened after this omg

• fucking ZEMO blew up the rest of the flag smashers my god

• I am at a point where I don’t really understand walker’s storyline, idk I just kinda don’t get the point of it :/

• HELP BUCKY AND THE GRANDPA JESUS I AM SOBBING

• IM CRYINNGGGGG

• BUCKY WITH SAM AND HIS FAMILY???? SAM AND SARAH???? BUCKY AND SAM’S NEPHEWS??? WHAT MORE COULD WE ASK FOR AT THIS POINT THIS IS THE BEST ENDING 🥺🥺😭😭🤧🤧🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

• I am sobbing Isaiah Bradley deserves the world 🥺

• end credit scene holy shit Sharon is fucking scary af I was not expecting this,,,,the way she’s turned

I’m so sad it’s over. What an incredible series, both Sam and Bucky are very complex characters and I’m so glad we got to see their relationship grow and develop. They both deserve the world I can’t wait to see them again 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🤧🤧🤧😭😭😭😭🤍🤍🤍🤍

IM GONNA MISS THEM SO FUCKING MUCH

#tfatws spoilers #tfatws #the falcon and the winter soldier spoilers #the falcon and the winter soldier #sam wilson #bucky barnes #fatws spoilers #fatws #HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL JUNE 11th FOR LOKI THATS TOO FAR #marvel

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escapekissed · 4 years ago

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Lucky do you have any favorite pieces of media from the psychological horror genre? Feels like its a genre that matches ur interests very well 👉🏽👈🏽

there are a couple that really speak to me!

first is rule of rose, which is a game that is incredibly formative to me. in a time where i was looking for representation as a young gay person and REALLY into looking up wiki pages for horror games, rule of rose showed me the symbolic trauma of puberty and toxic ‘love’ between girl children and the violence of patriarchal figures that i was looking for. it showed such cruelty but also such strength in its main character, and the symbolism? exquisite.... it also just has such a creepy atmosphere and the fact that the game is near impossible to play along with its shitty graphics for the enemies makes it so. peculiar and creepy in a very special way to me.

catherine is another atlus game near and dear to my heart, tho i dont think i’m ever going to be playing full body for that exact reason. it’s a game basically about eugenics and misogyny, about gods&devils thinking of women as only reproductive objects and the men in their lives that ‘waste their reproductive time’ being tortured and killed for it, taking away a woman’s choice. i always thought it would be so interesting to do trans and lesbian takes on this game, and i have never really? stopped thinking about how this game is so thrilling in its themes of entitlement and stopping people’s freedom to love as they wish. this is also one of the only horror games in which the ‘human element’ actually interests me. so many horror games give u terrible people and i dont give a FUCK ABOUT THEM. but the way this game shows u just snippets of his life as a ‘break’ from the excruciatingly scary (to me, because time limits scare me LOL), stressful as hell puzzles. and u get to figure out the mystery of what is going on in people who would otherwise be boring to you, but in this game are shrouded in just enough mystery that ur actually interested in their boring day-to-day lives. its so satisfying just to drink with ur buds. its like really great gameplay to me tbh. i also just love katherine and catherine and they frusturate me so much and that’s exactly what they’re supposed to do which i LOVE. extremely effective atmosphere setting and worldbuilding, basically.

the lighthouse is my favorite horror movie tbh because it does suspense so well. the movie is literally themed around suspense, the suspense of not getting sexual satisfaction to completion, of being touch starved and lonely and repressed, of being able to hold ur boss but never kiss him, of being fed lobster but it tastes flavorless and bland and u can smell ur boss’s farts the whole time while he prattles on with disturbing sailor’s tales and barks out orders until he’s lulled into his drink. i honestly love this movie. and the acting is brilliant and unhinged

there’s a few indie games i really like that have been either formative to me or i just??? really like their vibe and i can basically tell from them i would like every game in the ‘genre.’

pocket mirror to me is like, this beautiful game about your own inner toxicity and escaping from yourself. i love indie 64-bit games like this, the background art is so beautiful, and while i’ve never played all the way through it because it scares me too much---i love ib and all the games in the ‘ib’ genre LOL.

doki doki literature club i know is a very strange game to like, but i enjoy it for letting the women be actual characters with their own thoughts and feelings. the pychological horror movie ‘i’m thinking of ending things’ is the exact opposite of this game.'i’m thinking of ending things’ is a backwards approach to feminist horror in my opinion. it’s from a male’s perspective of his hallucinations of a girl that once didn’t give him a second glance and his violence towards her in these fantasies. it takes itself painfully seriously. it pretends to deconstruct something that the director helped soldify (the manic pixie dream girl trope) in the public eye. doki doki literature club on the other hand, the passive character who ‘things happen to’ is the man. the active roles all go to the women in the game and what they do to themselves in order to be loved by not just a man, but the player, and in doing so they often become the all-knowing god of their own prison. like tell me that’s not the dopest thing u’ve ever heard of!

twilight zone is a big one for me but 5 episodes in particular have shaped how i view horror forever. ‘to serve man’---where the greatest, scariest thing in the world is not being able to understand the language another person is actually using and for them to manipulate u using ur own, actually wishing u harm as they placate you with your own interpretations. the episode where a rich man’s last will and testament is for his vain, selfish relatives to wear a mask until midnight that reveals symbolically how ugly they are to him. they bicker all night with petty squabbles, and then at midnight he reveals the mask has permeanantly shaped their faces to reveal who they really are and the abuse he suffered under them. the cornfield episode still scares the shit out of me as someone with an entitled younger brother whose entitlement and anger is often enabled by those around us, and i’ve always thought that it was such a good show of like, how patriarchy enables little boy’s violence. the episode ‘all the time in the world’ where an abused man with a shitty life is finally the last man on earth and he can do anything he’d like to do and all he wants to do is read but then he breaks his glasses. and finally! the episode where toys in a box come to life and bemoan their fate as they realize they will be trapped there forever in clothes and identities they do not recognize. these episodes always scare the shit out of me LOL.

besides that i really like. low-budget passion project indie games. the first that comes to mind is ‘the path’ which is about a family of four sisters of various ages all inspired by little red riding hood who stray from the path and are hunted by the woodsman. and then the game that YOU my dear myers! showed me! that haunts me to this day. basically a tape talks to you about the areas of a house and then starts to talk about the house as a living creature. and the living creature is hungry, without you inside it. the living creature is tired of being alone, it’s tired of being abandoned, it’s tired, and it’s eyes are empty with no one in the windows, and it’s mind is blank with no one in the bedroom, and it’s hangry there’s no one in its basement to feast on, to torment as it has been tormented by disuse.

last but not least, i really enjoy the book ‘sharp objects.’ which is not technically a horror novel. but it is about a serial killer, and about women and abuse and it has some of the best writing ever. so i highly recommend it AND the miniseries (watch the miniseries first then read the book bc the miniseries is like. directed better? but the novel is written and characterized better. it’s also very short u can finish it in like a day and a half).

honorable mentions for horror In General (not necessarily psychological horror) are: 1) the birdcage. i honestly consider this movie entirely unsettling. robin williams failing to portray a man that is actually attracted to nathan lane, which could be because they have simply been married so long but also is just awful to me in general bc it makes me feel like even our outwardly gay but still more masc gay men can’t love and be attracted to femme camp gays even when they’re married to them. the fact that both these men that could be so in love, that were so in love at one time, you can at the very least imagine, are told by their only son that they need to go back in the closet to impress some old ass republicans, giving the message that no matter how succesful you are in the gay community, no matter how bright and wonderful a presence you are, no matter how loving you are, no matter how much you love, no matter how interwoven you are in lgbt-ness, the straight people you love most will still try to change you to impress the wold. horrifying.

2) coraline. its children’s horror but that’s still horror baby! i think lately about how much the movie talks about mothers and birth. coraline calls whybie ‘why born’ and i just think about how much she thinks about creating a new life with a new mother, and how going through that small door into a long tube... it’s like crawling into a new womb and being reborn to a new mother that loves you. and that’s horrific from a feminist perspective in and of itself---that your child would feel so unloved and unimportant to you that she would literally... rather die in this life, technically, rather be ‘unborn’ to you and born anew to someone, someone just like you but better, someone just like you but what SHE wants a mother to be, feminine and skirted and smiling. and then there’s the fact that coraline only gives this up when she realizes her other mother basically wants to change her more to suit her liking in ways that would cause her pain, at which point she realizes this whole fantasy is a lie, not real, something meant to entice her and control her and make her ‘perfect’---the same way she wants her mother & father to be ‘perfect’ in a way that causes her to act out and hurt them. it’s psychological horror that’s technically not psychological horror in the best way, something you can really dig your teeth into, something that has so many layers to it. and the animation! gorgeous!

3) finally i have recently watched annihilation. and it kind of changed my life a little bit.... so often we’re used to viewing monsters as either 1) malicious or 2) romantic/sad/sexy. but the monster in this movie is literally a metaphor for cervical cancer.

to me, the monsters and the corpses and all the beautiful scenery in this movie, in every color u can think of, a muted rainbow of flowers and nature at its best and most bizarre and sprawling. i often say that monsters are beautiful, but tbh, i feel like... somehow i always mean that in a way that is near-fetishitic, somehow self-depcrating way, where i want to consider what other people think is ‘ugly’ is ‘beautiful to me’ because what i am also ugly to other people as a monster to the cishet white patriarchy. there are things i consider beautiful, certainly, purely beautiful. but when i talk about monsters being beautiful, it is in the way the sublime is beautiful. it scares me, it haunts me, i love it, i want to possess it as part of me, a totem to carry in my back pocket to make the strength in my own ugliness stronger.

when i saw the monster in this movie (SPOILERS) i was immediately unnerved at this bad cgi abomination that bloomed from the most beautiul cgi cancer death cosmos imaginable. it scared me and i had to sleep with a light on for 2 days after LOL. but i was also moved by its gentleness. by the fact that the cervical cancer alien, when it tried to hurt you, wasn’t trying to hurt you at all. it was simply copying your movements. in the movie, it says that the creature wants nothing. it was simply copying. it was simply changing. it’s a prism of nature---and it corrupts yes, and it can hurt people and things and turn them into scary but still terribly unique and beautiful things that also kill---but the movie says that it wants nothing. it simply exists. it’s a part of nature, same as us, a part of the same universe and cosmos, despite being alien to us and stange and hurting us sometimes in ways that it doesn’t understand.

i don’t know. if i quite believe the movie when it says that, though. because i think if you copy someone, like a child would, you are trying to understand them. you are trying to understand yourself. you are trying to form yourself in another’s image when you have none, and you are failing at that, and hurting people and creating monsters in the process, but you are trying as best as you can to be whole and beautiful and sane like the lovely creatures you’ve met on this earth, or this body. to be part of something great and beautiful. to be part of another world.

maybe it doesn’t want anything. but do WE want anything as children, when we copy adults? why did the bear and the alligator try to eat our heroes if they were not hungry? did the bear and the alligator not WANT to eat? i think everything wants to live, and everything wants to grow, and if it can learn to live better and grow better it Will learn even if that is not its explicit intention. does the alien have feelings? does nature? do we have to personify things to understand them? no. does personifying things make us understand them less? no, yes, sometimes. we ask animals and nature to copy us, follow us, so that we can understand them better. the relationship in between----from the hurt, from the pain, from the droughts and the food shortages and the hurricanes and the fireworks---forms from our kindness and understanding. that our crops are useful, and the man-made mutation of our crops and the help of the ran and the sun is also useful. that our animals may not love us, but they need us, and we love them for putting their paw on our thighs to be pet, for following us into the bathroom even when we just wanted a moment alone.

regardless of its intentions, the alien, cancer, every creature, every human, they simply want to grow. in copying others---in trying to touch, to change, to understand, and be close---we learn to live in the same body, learn to live in the same world. the togetherness--the new sight the prism brings---it’s beautiful. it is beautiful to copy, however poorly. it is beautiful to try. we all shape others to our own standards---we sometimes forget we too, were made in own own perception of others’ image.

#ooc: replies #this took me all day to answer because i had to go to COSTCO in the middle. LOL #destructiveglitch

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cyberramblings · 4 years ago

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Top Rated SCP’s #7-9

I wanna talk about more SCP’s! The last post I made was my most popular ever, so here we go. This is meant to be a kind of introductory series, describing the top rated SCP’s in simple terms that aren’t too scary, and also leave room for the reader to still go explore the real wiki pages. Also I am going in order of “Top Rated” on the official wiki, which just means “Most popular” since rating an SCP just consist of voting it up or down, not giving it a score out of ten or anything.

#7: SCP-682 is the seventh highest rated SCP. It is basically an unkillable, deadly, massive reptile. I am not a huge fan, and I don’t really understand this one. I did some research, and it seems like this one is from the early days of the community, so it was intended to be an upper limit on the power levels of SCP’s, something like One Punch Man. It also ties into some of the other SCP entries, making it a decent entry point for new fans, but I didn’t want to read too deeply into those sub-entries since the main entry didn’t entice me. This is definitely one of the more popular ones that I see references here and there, usually by the name “Super Massive Reptile” or something similar. The most popular SCP’s usually get names, since the numbers can be a bit confusing.

#8: SCP-096 is number eight on the top rated list! This one is also known as the “shy man” or something similar. The concept is simple: this SCP is a humanoid who seeks and kills anyone who sees his face, even in photographs. However, the entry has a lot of fun with the concept. For example, the entry subtly hints that large civilian populations could be killed if an image of this SCP were to be publicly available. This makes it much scarier when a censored photograph of the SCP is shown later on, channeling that classic Slenderman aura. This entry also makes use of [REDACTED] information, which is an SCP staple. All entries have names or data that is censored out with a black bar, like a top secret CIA document you’d see in the movies. This entry uses this idea nicely to conceal the top speed of the SCP, the lowest temperature it can survive, etc. I like this because it leaves something to the imagination, which is one of the strengths of whole concept of SCP. Also, I really enjoyed one of the sub entries here. It describes a test subject being lowered to the bottom of the ocean before being shown a carefully-handled photograph of this creature’s face and being told to draw what they see. An hour later, SCP-096 finally reaches the bathysphere and kills the test subject, but the sketch is preserved and safe to look at. This is an interesting one, because the SCP doesn’t teleport like Slenderman or some of the other SCP’s we have looked at, but rather just moves very fast and can tear through any surface. I really liked this one!

#9: SCP-093 is the ninth highest rated SCP and quite a doozy. This is by far longer than the last eight. This one is also known as the Red Sea Object, and is basically just a small stone that can turn mirrors into a portal to an alternate dimension. This one is a lot of fun because the stone can turn into different colors based on the person holding it, and each color makes the portal travel to a different part of the alternate dimension. The reason this is fun is because the SCP entry lists five different excursions to this dimensions, with a final page detailing the documents recovered (which slowly explain the nature of this world). This SCP entry definitely does more “explaining” than some of the other SCP’s, and I find the overt religious themes to be a bit hokey, but this is definitely a rewarding read because it challenges the reader a bit and doesn’t full explain what is happening until the very end. At first, this alternate world just seems like a spooky building full of ethereal, shadow beings in addition to massive, building sized creatures that roam the world, resembling a human with no facial features and no lower body, just a torso/arms/head crawling around blindly. Slowly, the nature of this world is revealed: a cosmic being visited this world hundreds of years ago and instilled an intense religious fervor among the masses while also causing some humans to slowly transform into the giant torsos. A lot is still left to the imagination here: why did the cosmic being do all this? Were the “Unclean” (as the being himself calls the giant monsters) created intentionally to be an enemy of the people or inadvertently as a result of the massive technological leaps forwards the being provided? It’s definitely a slow burning story, but the visual of the massive crawling torsos is iconic to SCP, and unearthing the history of this alternate dimension is a satisfying payoff to all the creepy buildup. As always, this story is chocked full of [REDACTED] data and clinical procedures for handling the supernatural, which are always a joy to read when done well.

#scp #secure contain protect #scp-682 #scp-096 #scp-093 #creepypasta #slenderman

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surveys-at-your-service · 5 years ago

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Survey #214

“if you are dead or still alive, i don’t care.”

Do you wear perfume or cologne? Very very rarely. Typically if I have to go somewhere formal or something. What was your favorite grade in elementary school? Probably 5th. Do you own a debit card? No. A credit card? No. Are you in debt? I don't pay for anything that could cause me to be in debt. When is your birthday? February 5th. What song are you listening to now? "I Don't Care" by Apocalyptica. What was the most traumatic experience of your life? The breakup with Jason. Have you ever lost a friend to drugs or alcohol? Kinda. Who was your childhood best friend? Her name was Brianna. Are you still friends now? We just drifted apart. If not, why? ^ Do you believe in Karma? Nope. What do you thinks happens to us when we die? I don't pretend to know. I hope some sort of eternal peace for those deserving, but who the hell knows. What age do you think you’ll die? Idk. 70s/80s? My grandparents lived pretty long. About how long was the last book you read? I haven't a clue. Have you ever read a play before? Yeah, in school. A play not written by Shakespeare? I don't think so. Have you ever read a play outside of school? No. Have you ever edited Wikipedia? No. Have you ever edited any other wiki? A lot... I'm one of the admins at the Silent Hill wiki, a content mod or something I don't remember on the SotC one, and I occasionally edit the meerkats wiki, which is an atrocious mess that I try to clean up where I can. Is there a website [besides social networking] that you check almost daily? A lot. Do you use your phone as an alarm? Yep. Do you listen to music while you sleep? No. Do you get scared when you know some virus or sickness is being passed? I don't get "scared," just very paranoid of germs. Are you realistic? In some ways. Do you own a romper? No. What popular social media platforms AREN’T you on? Snapchat, and then I have a Twitter solely to like Mark's shit lmao. What does your computer’s slow-loading cursor look like? It's a spinning light blue ring. Do you prefer Microsoft Word or Pages? I've never heard of the latter, so. Would you rather have a trampoline or swimming pool? A pool, please. Do you have the same favorite colors you had when you were a kid? Pink, yes. What do you like to put in your tea? N/A What do you like to put in smoothies? I don't really drink them. Do your stuffed animals have names? Some. What was the name of the first porcelain doll you got? Bitch miss me with that haunted doll shit. Do you sell any products? If so, what? No. Do you know how to knit? No. Do you have an inspiration board? I have one on Pinterest of hair colors I like. Do you have a colored teddy bear? Maybe up in the attic somewhere. On what day is your local grocery store the busiest? I'm sure it's the weekend. What day do you usually go grocery shopping? Mom doesn't have a designated "day." Do you own a bobblehead? No. What do you make wishes on? Nothing. Wishes aren't magic. Well, I do on birthday candles, but that's only as a tradition sorta thing. What’s the best natural pain reliever? It depends; sometimes nothing natural works. What’s your favorite Paramore song? "That's What You Get," probably. Do you like scrambled eggs? Yes. Have you ever made a recipe you found in a magazine? No. Have you ever done a craft that you saw in a magazine? I don't believe so. Are you bitter about anything? I am permanently and inexplicably bitter towards my former primary doctor that fucked up my entire body thanks to keeping me on a medication and her being an ignorant fuck to the side effects, apparently. What is your favorite color for cars? Burnt orange. What is your favorite color for bridesmaid dresses? *shrugs* If applicable, what’s your favorite dance costume that you’ve had? It was some sort of black dress-ish thing. I can't remember clearly. What’s your favorite flavor of mouthwash? Minty? Just ffs don't have alcohol in it. Do you drink CapriSuns? If there's nothing else to drink, sure. Do you prefer caramel or peanut butter? Peanut butter, I think. Do you like strawberry shortcake? No. Do you like butterflies? Yeah, they're my fave insect. Do you know any dances? Only the ones that literally tell you what simple move to do lmao. Did you go anywhere yesterday? No. Do you like yellow or blue more? Blue. Do you wear rings? Only one. What’s the last you got out of the freezer? French toast sticks for lunch yesterday. How often do you go for walks? Never, sadly. Walking along my road is scary with how busy it is, I CANNOT handle the heat, and for the time being, I can't walk far at all with my knee problem. Do you go on the computer or watch TV more? I say enough I don't watch TV, but I'm always on my laptop. What is something you’ll never eat again? Why? Brussel sprouts. 'Cuz they're fucking disgusting. What is currently happening that is scaring you? Abortion rights being taken away/wrongly modified is pretty scary, honestly. What would be your personal hell? The Christian Hell because fuck that heat lmao. What made the ‘weird kid’ at your school weird? He, I shit you not, would not say a word, but if he absolutely had to speak, he kept it very very short and quiet. He was always looking down and isolated himself. I felt really bad for him; he was so obviously depressed, but I was always too unsure of how to approach him and try to be a friend. What is a word you personally find offensive? "Retarded" when used incorrectly. What instantly puts you to sleep? Instantly go to sleep??? Please teach me how. What song is in a language you don’t speak, but you love it anyway? Well, I don't speak German fluently, so like, a shitload of Rammstein songs. What is something you would like to do if you weren’t judged for doing it? Tbh cosplay sounds so fun. What’s a movie you think everyone should watch? Why that one? Johnny Got His Gun. It shows just how fucking disgusting war is. What was the most unexpected good thing that’s ever happened to you? Senpai Noticed Me. What is the funniest fact you know? Idk. Oh, I might be mistaken, but I think the guy who invented the segway died via driving off a cliff on a segway. Big 'ole oof. What’s the kindest way a stranger has treated you? I remember as a little kid, the people in front of us in line at McDonald's paid for our meal. What is the biggest design flaw of your body? I have this random, deep dimple on my right ass cheek like what the fuck. What is the strangest thing you have ever felt? OKAY SO when I was in the process of having my ears cleaned back when I had that wax adhered to my eardrums, one step was having warm water like pounded into my ears, and it somewhat tickled but also felt oddly good, and it was just really weird. What makes someone immediately unlikable? Acting like they're above everyone else. Who’s a villain you sympathize with and why? Darkiplier hunny my poor husband. I won't answer "why" because yeah spoilers. What is something you regret to NOT have done? Fuck it, I wish I'd had *complete* sex w/ Jason. I was in love with him, and I'll probably never experience genuine sex again so like- What’s the weirdest thing you put in a microwave? Idk? What movie changed your life for the better? I'm not sure. Oh, wait, I remember when I was still Christian, God's Not Dead really touched me, but we know how I am religiously now. What’s something your relatives don’t know about you? Many probably don't know I'm bi. What’s something your parents did, which you have sworn never to do? Have children before marriage. Back when I wanted kids. What’s the most annoying thing your pet does? My cat is obsessed with trying to lie on me as he'd done as a kitten, but then I can't see over him to see the laptop. Teddy scratches a lot and won't listen to "stop" for anything. What’s the biggest sum of money you’ve won? Uhhhh. I have no clue. Have I ever? Idk. Have you ever smoked weed on April 20? No. Tell me about the last event that made you really, truly happy? Oh boy. Can you name three good things about your most recent ex? He's funny as fuck, super intelligent, and hard-working. Have you ever thought about how the world will end? Yeah. What object do you own that has the most sentimental value to you? The pebble I got from my partial hospitalization program. What’s the best memory you have of your father? Him teaching me to ride a bike. What was on the last sandwich you ate? Ham, cheese, and mustard. Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry? Silver matches more things, but I'm allergic to it. I find gold in general prettier, too. Have you ever gotten back together with an ex? No. What is your favorite Thai dish? Never tried Thai food. When was the last time you made out with somebody? February. Are there any candles in your bedroom, and what scent are they? No. When was the last time you went to a birthday party? Last month for my niece. What pet names do you use with your significant other? A whole lot. What brand is your toaster, if you have one? We don't have a toaster, but a toaster oven. I don't have the slightest clue what brand it is; it's ancient. Have you ever dated a smoker? If not, would you? No and nope. What’s the name of the store you usually get your groceries? Wal-Mart or Harris Teeter. Would you rather travel to Japan or Scotland? Oh man, I don't know! I guess Scotland. Does your house have a porch/balcony? We have a decently-sized back porch. There's a front one as well, but it's tiny. What was the last movie you saw and who did you watch it with? I watched The Shining by myself. What’s your favorite type of bread? Pumpernickel. Do you share a middle name with any of your siblings? Yes. Can you cry on command? If so, have you ever used it to your advantage? No. What time does the sun go down where you live at this time of the year? Like, 8:30-ish. Would you rather pay to get your nails done or do them yourself? If I literally had to get them done for whatever reason, I guess I'd pay. Me doing them myself would be a nightmare, especially with tremors. Did you ever fail your learners/drivers test? I haven't taken it yet. Do you have any stickers on your car? I don't have my own car. Blackberry, Droid, or iPhone? iPhones. Do you like diet soda? NO. I don't just not like the taste, but the artificial sweetener gives me crazy headaches. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars? No. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? No. How old were you the first time you drank alcohol? I don't remember. WAIT shit dude, I was young. I grew up going to a Catholic church, and during that "eating the blood and body of Christ" thing (I forgot what it's called), we sipped real wine. Yes, even the kids. That shit was NOT grape juice. Name someone you’ve become a lot closer to recently: No one. What was the last fight you had with your parents about? Dad, I've got no clue. Mom, about her constantly shit-talking my dad and I no longer wanted to hear any of it in my presence. Does your car have a sunroof? N/A Did you ever have braces? Yes. Are you from the South? Yes. What does your last status on Facebook say? It was something about the bullshit Alabama abortion law, I believe. I barely ever ever make my own statuses. Do you tip your server when you go to a restaurant? I never can because yeah, no money, so I can't even pay for the meal. If I could, of course I would. Have you ever snuck out of your house? No. Are you friends with people on Facebook that you actually hate? No? Name your favorite Ke$ha song: I guess "Take It Off." What’s your favorite place? Ah man, the tattoo/piercing parlor I go to. What was the last comic book you read? It was one of the Silent Hill ones on the app years ago. What’s the worst trouble you’ve ever gotten into? Probably when I ran away from home in like middle school. Do you know anyone your age who has a child? A good number, but I mean I'm 23 so that's not exactly strange. Ever had a friend online for a long time without seeing a photo of them? A few. The last time you threw up, what caused it? Medicine that was known for nausea. Did you have any foreign exchange students at your high school? I don't think so? Any foods from other countries you would like to try but haven’t yet? Not off the top of my head. Do you think the world would be more peaceful without any religion? Maybe. Probably. Idk. Have you kept the same icon here for a long time? Yeah. I don't really take pictures of myself, so. Why did you choose your icon, anyway? It's the most accurate representation of how I look on the daily. And it's not horrendous. Does it hurt your feelings when people talk shit about things you love? Sometimes. It doesn't hurt my feelings, but rather it makes me deathly embarrassed because I feel stupid for liking it and like they're making fun of a part of me. Can you be friends with people with opposing political views? Yes. Are there any fandoms you used to be in, but left? I don't think I exactly "left" them, just lost big interest, like Rhett & Link/GMM. I still love the guys, but I don't watch them anymore. Warriors is another example. Do you prefer ruffly or regular potato chips? Ruffled. Do you write down your own recipes, or just commit them to memory? I don't cook. Can you do any impressions? No. What color do you want to dye your hair? Currently I want to dye it lilac, but I can't afford a professional to do that. What is a food you enjoy, but don’t have very often? Shrimp. Favorite fictional world? Wonderland. Do you carry pepper spray? No, but I want to. Have you ever had to use it? N/A Have you ever been kicked out of a public place? Why? No. Do you donate to any associations that care for animals? I don't have my own money. Have you ever worn those Drunk Goggles? Yes, in D.A.R.E. Can you agree to disagree, or usually get upset over conflicting views? It depends on the topic, but it's generally very easy for me to agree to disagree. Rodeos – entertaining, or cruel? Animal abuse. Who is the best female rocker? Why? Ohhhh good question. I like Lita Ford, for one; great singer and she fucking slays the guitar. She seems cool, too. Do you care what kind of toilet paper you use? Not really, no. Do you still have any decent arcades nearby? No. Bullfighters who get gored kind of had it coming, right? Yes. They fucking deserve it. Have you ever accidentally found porn when looking for something else? Thank God no. What do you like on your burger? Cheese, ketchup, mustard, a little bit of mayo is fine but not mandatory, pickles, and very little onion is okay. What do you NOT like on your burger? Lettuce and tomato. Do you like 'loose meat’ sandwiches? Like sloppy joes? Yeah. Have you ever seen an unwrapped mummy in person? No, but that'd be pretty fucking cool. What things have people shamed you for? Besides the obvious disagreements like political subjects, I don't know. Do you always reply to private messages? (On any website) Yes, unless it's spam or advertisement. Are there any 'adult stores’ in your area? I wouldn't know. Have you been inside of them/shopped there before? No. Who was your favorite actress to play Morticia Addams? Anjelica Huston. What is the next film you want to rewatch? Idk. I don't really watch TV or movies to begin with. What is the next film you want to see for the first time? I've been wanting to see Jacob's Ladder for a very long time, but I have to find a time I actually *really* feel like it to possibly enjoy it. A movie you love even though it’s cheesy? I'm sure there's something, but idk. Share any song lyrics you misheard? When I heard "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix for the first time, I swore the lyrics were "excuse me while I kiss this guy" instead of "kiss the sky." What was the last song you heard for the first time and enjoyed? I both enjoy "Bad Girl" by Avril Lavigne and see it cringy as fuck at the same time. Who are some of your favorite female fictional characters, and why? Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3 is up high 'cuz she's a badass, CYNDER FROM THE LEGEND OF SPYRO SERIES BECAUSE SHE'S COOL AS ALL HECKIN' HECK AND ALSO #AESTHETIC, and I've fallen more and more in love with Tyrande Whisperwind from World of Warcraft now that she's become vengeance-crazed and more interesting than she already was. Oh, and then there's Bayonetta. Why? You know why. A character (in anything) you wish hadn’t been killed off? In recent news, BRING BACK STAN THE MOTHERFUCKING WATER MAN, MARK. Have you ever had to hit up several stores in search of one item? What was it? I'm sure I have at some point. Do you have any calluses on your feet? From when I used to walk outside for hours, you have no idea- What was your last big purchase? A plane ticket. Have you ever eaten grits? I HATE THEM SO MUCH. Do you always dress right after a shower, or do you like to chill in your towel/robe for a while? I put clothes on right away. Have you ever looked up your state’s laws and read them? I don't think so. Have you ever had to talk to a lawyer? I feel like I did have to once for something...? Have you ever been in pain so bad you passed out? No. I sincerely don't know how I didn't when I had to get that cyst drained, though. I have no words for that pain. Can you have kids? Well, physically, yeah. Doesn't mean I ever will or even want to. If you could get rid of one of your allergies, which one would it be? POLLEN. Do you have any cousins that look like you? No. Who do you know who is dating someone that looks way too old for them? Idk. Have you ever gone on a Facebook deleting spree? Yeah. What's a good example of "don’t knock it till you try it"? Waffles with peanut butter spread over them with syrup. What is surprisingly painful? Hm. "Surprisingly." OH, something I say as well as many others: Getting your nose pierced is more painful than you'd think compared to other piercings. Which person shaped you the most? Probably Jason. Or Mom. Have you ever been 4-wheeling? Yes. Do you live anywhere near the woods? There's a wooded area beyond the field. Do you have any important anniversaries you celebrate? Mine and Sara's. Can you rap? I don't even have to try to say no. Do you know how to use a DSLR camera? Yes. Tell me about the sickest you’ve ever felt. Oh man... I remember in elementary school, 3rd grade I think, I had the weirdest 3-day "sickness" where I felt every single moment like I was right on the very verge of vomiting. I went to the ER on the third night, but they couldn't detect what was wrong. Next day, I woke up miraculously fine. Those days were horrifying for someone who is terrified of vomiting. Any important birthdays coming up? My nephew's isn't far off. If you could play one instrument flawlessly, what would it be? Electric guitar. Have you ever heard of Hollywood Undead? Do you like them? I love some songs, like others, don't enjoy or care about a handful, and then truly haven't heard most. Have your friends ever told you something really personal? Was it weird? Well yeah, close friends do that often. It's not weird. Has anyone ever called you a coward before? Who called you that? No. Have you ever written a whole song before? What was the title to it? No. Are you a Jeffree Star fan? Or no? Do you think he’s awesome/dumb? I loooove that funky alien man. I find his work ethic incredibly inspiring and he seems so super accepting and is just very radiant and positive. Has your grandmother ever made you anything? Not including cookies. I don't think so.

#survey #quiz #questions #bored #random

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mosaicandme93-blog · 6 years ago

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Introduction

Helpful Terms (DID/OSDD Systems):

Alter/Group Member/Identity/Part/Head mate/Insider- A person within a dissociated system. (The term "person" cannot be stressed enough. Alternate identities are people too!)

Blending - When two or more identities/members are able to perform or utilize each other's behaviors, skills, and abilities.

Co-Fronting or Co-Hosting - More than one identity/member out at the same time

Co-Consciousness (Co-Con) - More than one part is aware of what is happening to the identity/member that is fronting.

(Being Emily living plural, n.d.)

First, we would like to state that we are not an expert on Dissociative Identity Disorder or other dissociative disorders. We are currently in the process of understanding our system and how it functions. Initially we were reserved and unwilling to post on any social platform about our experiences, however, we have come to the conclusion that we would like to join the movement to end the stigma about mental illness, and more specifically, dissociative disorders. We have seen many people on YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook, and other places speaking up about their systems and we find this incredibly heartwarming and brave. We applaud all of the systems that have reached out to increase awareness, educate others, and help to decrease the stigma which is visibly portrayed to the public eye in social media, media, movies, and other overly dramatic expressions.

What we experience is similar to the criteria of Dissociation Identity Disorder. We have had some major switches and some missing time earlier in our 20′s, however more recently we do not knowingly have full in and out switches, meaning that we are somewhat aware of co-conscious states and do not wake up the next day in another location not knowing how we got there. I would like to note that we have had some recent occurrences of missing time, although it seems we have amnesia about missing time because we do not find out about what we do until later! We do have times where we have changed our life or relationships quickly and drastically and others (in the outside world) have stated that we seem to become another person in one day. So perhaps, we are showing signs of Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.), however, we do not have a clinical diagnosis. The reason we do not have a diagnosis at this time is that we have not found a therapist that specializes in this disorder in the local small community area in which we live.

We are currently working on a graduate degree and will be working on obtaining a license in which we will be able to diagnose others based upon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder’s (DSM) criteria, symptoms, behaviors, etc. This will be working in the field of mental health. Although we will have the ability to do this for others, we do not fully support the DSM and encourage the client to maintain a focus of having a “disorder”. We do not believe in relying solely on the DSM Manual to assist a client. It should be made aware to many that the revision of the DSM is funded by pharmaceutical companies and influenced by stakeholders that would like disorders to appear a certain way for financial revenue (Cosgrove, Krimsky, Vijayaraghavan & Schneider, 2006). It is interesting to think about how quickly and readily available prescriptions can be given to clients in order to quickly alleviate the symptoms of a mental health problem. There have been articles and research devoted to this topic if you would like to read about it for yourself. I have also written a paper on this which I may include in a future post. The idea of “Gender Dysphoria Disorder” existing in the current DSM V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) irks me in the same way that Homosexuality was originally included in this manual as a disorder in pre-1973 (APA, 1968). Additionally, does the idea that DID is a “disorder” bother anyone else? It seems to me that this “disorder” actually helped us to survive, which doesn’t seem to be the definition of a disorder at all.

Image retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/mental-health-feminism-transgender-3301766/

It is difficult to classify anyone with this disorder and understand them from looking at a page in the DSM. It can be just as difficult for a person with DID or OSDD to understand themselves in a clear light. Symptoms may portray themselves in a variety of ways from person to person. Frequency, intensity, onset, and duration of symptoms may be difficult to recognize with someone that suffers from severe memory problems and blocks of amnesia. These systems that have been developed on the basis of survival are unique to the individual and their life experiences. It may be helpful to think of DID/OSDD systems as being on a spectrum of low functioning to high functioning to everything in between. No two systems are alike just like no two people are exactly alike. I am my own person (people) and another system may be entirely different. If you have come here looking for similarities that is understandable, however trying to categorize or label yourself based upon one person’s system may prove fatal to reaching a clear understanding of what you are experiencing. Know your own truth!

Currently, this system resides more in a “blended” state of consciousness or a co-conscious type of awareness. For those reading this that do not understand, I will touch more deeply on this in future posts. Our body is currently in our late 30′s physically and we have just now come to an awareness of our dissociation states in the last couple of years. We do not recognize our face or body much of the time and it is surreal to look at ourselves in the mirror. We have had many diagnoses in the past of Bipolar, Bipolar II, Borderline Personality Disorder, Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, and Major Depression. It seemed that many of the times we went into therapy, we would receive a different diagnosis. We found this confusing and grew to distrust the process of diagnosing itself.

There were significant times of confusion in which we switched and did not remember what had happened. We have had occurrences where people said we did things that we did not remember and were blamed in such a way that it was shocking to us. One particular instance was when we found out we went to court, which is on record, but we do not have any conscious recollection of this. This particular court hearing was not a basic traffic ticket but was for a more serious offense and this is something we would have remembered. However, we have absolutely no memory of going there, being there, or coming back from there. Another example is an angry letter that we composed and sent to our father’s old college buddy for no apparent reason. We did not know that we did this until we received an angry phone call from him out of the blue and it became apparent that this man we had not spoken to in years was extremely upset with us. We became completely confused at the entire scenario and decided he had lost his mind. These times were very strange and we decided it was just some random occurrences and did not think about them more until recently (more than a decade later). There have been a few recent events that were strange and probably more we have not yet discovered! Our awareness of our dissociation states has been brought to acknowledgment by our significant other. We did not believe our partner(s) idea about us at first, however, now, as we analyze our past and current behaviors, we have come to realize that we are very strange indeed (even more strange than we thought, which it was initially established that we were very strange). We have suffered significant emotional and neglect type abuse in middle childhood, but we feel that there is more abuse that we do not remember at a very early age (prior to age 4). We are obviously not yet ready to know about this particular abuse or we would be aware. We are thankful that our system protects us.

If someone were to ask me what it is like to experience this, I would explain that it is like Alice in Wonderland going down that hole and into various places over and over again. I would say that changing these states of mind so frequently can make you feel like you do not know which way is up or down, left or right. Reality can become very distorted and it can often be scary. I can also say that this type of weirdness comes with a side dish of self-denial that likes to show up over and over again. I literally will go a whole day trying to convince myself this is not real and I am making all of this up. It seems that more often than not when I try to do this I will have increased “deja vu” states, dissociation, and de-realization. It is difficult to come to the acceptance that this is happening when we are living in and out of awareness, yet we have been doing this for such a long time without even consciously realizing this! I am currently learning to adapt to these changes as I seem to be more conscious of the changes or “switches” than ever before. This makes it wonderful to know what’s going on, but also it makes it feel like I am in a surreal movie and watching events happening from a dreamy distance. I wish I could say that I am happier now that I am aware of these changes, but in reality I feel like I have moved into an alternate reality!

Image retrieved from: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland

Currently, there are 7 members of our system that we are consciously aware of. We do feel that there are more, but it feels like they are hiding. You may wonder how we know such a thing. It would be similar to intuitively knowing that there were other people in another room of your house, but you didn’t know who they were just yet. It’s that strange feeling of someone else being in a place with you before you see them. We do not hear voices on a regular basis, but we have on a few occasions. We tend to “feel” the communication more than actually hearing it. It’s almost like a form of telepathy and is not audible to us. I can feel how different members feel when they decide to let me. When members communicate with me I feel what they are saying to me and understand. For example, today, I received a thought of a certain song that we liked a long time ago. Then I received a “feeling” message to play that song because a member hasn’t heard it in so long. That member remained co-conscious while I played the song. We have decided to refrain from pushing the members that are in hiding to show themselves as they will do this when they are ready. I can sense that they are very afraid and do not wish to come out.

I am the host, however, I am not the original host. I do not have much memory of our childhood, teen years, young adulthood, or early 30′s. My name is Heather. I do not feel a very strong connection to this name. I also do not feel a very strong connection to any other name, which I find unusual, but it would make sense if I were to be a day to day task host. I feel I was created to perform the necessary daily experiences and go through the motions. We are not certain who the previous host or the original host was or if these members are still part of this system.

Blake was the first member to come out of the woodwork and try to communicate with me. He did not have a name first and stated that he didn't care if either way if he had a name. I explained that we needed something to call him so it is easier to communicate. He basically left it up to me, which I found strange but I gave him the first name I could think of. He has actually been co-conscious with me, the previous host, and others for many years. We assumed that we were just highly in touch with our masculine side many times during our day to day experiences. We recently noticed that Blake comes to the front during times of distress or times when no one seems to be in charge and we have to take control of situations around us and take care of the family. Due to the fact that we have had many experiences with being a single mom and dealing with past abuse by others, we have learned to take care of ourselves. Blake has been able to do this and we have been able to play “mommy” as well as “daddy” when necessary. Even though Blake has taken on a lot at times, this can prove to be overwhelming even for him. Blake is 18″ish” years old, he is heterosexual, but has clearly (and bluntly) stated that he is not interested in a relationship at this time, because of the number of emotional women he is dealing with in this system. He is basically burned out by the drama and does not prefer to partake in a relationship. He tends to find the others in the system overly emotional and becomes irritated with the way these thoughts lead to confusion within the system. Blake is a protector and protects one of our little ones. He is also a protector of the children on the outside of our system in our outside family. Thinking back, I noticed how Blake will cause me to walk differently, speak differently, work out more, and do more “masculine” type things which included stepping on the toes of previous male partners to “get things done”. His taste in music is harsher and he prefers the no BS approach to everything. He gets upset when plans are not laid out and has an interest in the military and survival tactics. He is a drastic difference between myself, however, I find him enjoyable to speak with. He has a good sense of humor and he can be pretty laid back unless he is in a situation that requires him to be in “protection mode”. When he is not co-conscious or fronting he tends to remain quiet unless I reach out to communicate with him. Sometimes he will communicate, sometimes he prefers to be left alone.

Image retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/family-community-patchwork-76781/

Next, we have R, who actually does not want to use her full name online and I respect that. She does not wish to say what age she is. She would like to state that she is not all that bad, but has been pretty self-destructive in the past. From my (the host) perspective, we have had significant problems with relationships due to the behavior of R. More recently we have come to understand that she has been in a lot of pain all of these years and we have been working on self-love to help her. R identifies as bisexual. She is impulsive and quick to try any substance or anything risky. She actually has not been allowed to partake in these experiences for quite some time, which is frustrating for her, however, it seems like she has been open to healing. My opinion (although I am still getting to know everyone) is that she is much like an angry teenager. I have seen a recent change in her behavior and she does not push herself on the host like she used to. Her behavior does not come out with quick force in recent months like it did in the past. She seems to be less triggered by people being “too nice”.

Next, there is C, whom we would like to keep from expressing her full name due to the fact that she is a little and she is protected by Blake. She is sweet and has been on the inside more often than not. She has fronted some times but it was very short and sweet. We do not wish to disclose any more information on her at this time.

And then there is “Mo” which is short for Monica and she is a female who is about 12 years old. Mo is actually quite mature for her age and seems to be the most stable (besides Blake) out of the entire system. Mo has expressed that she knows of others in the system but she cannot say much more at this time. Mo has fronted in the past and she tends to isolate and work on projects for lengthy periods. She likes cartoons and funny shows.There was a time when we thought we were anti-social hermits that loved to learn, but realized recently that this was Mo taking over for several years. She actually took over for 3 years after our outside mother passed away and we were involved in an abusive relationship. During this time Mo fronted during the day and R was there mostly up at night doing self-destructive things. These two were like night and day (no pun intended :/ ).

There are 3 more members that we have identified but we are unable to express more information about them at this time. Perhaps, over time these members will create their own posts. We would like to come up with a system to create posts so readers can understand who is speaking. This will happen over time.

We are excited to be able to post in a way that will help others understand DID/OSDD “systems” or at bare minimum assist other systems by helping others relate. We know that this living experience can be a very lonely experience for many and we would like to reach out to help others not feel so alone. There are many people who are exposing themselves to the public eye in order to breakdown the stigma of DID/OSDD. We wanted to initially begin a YouTube channel, but we feel that this is not what we would be able to do just yet. Becoming vulnerable on camera does not suit our interest at this time. However, we find the process of writing this information enlightening and beautiful for the sake of bringing clarity to what may seem foreign to those who do not live with systems. It is very important for people to educate themselves about “disorders” and what they are before making a quick judgment or creating stereotypes about people. Everyone that has a mental illness is still a person!

We feel that this is not a “disorder” but actually, a superpower that we have created in order to survive trauma. We find it fascinating that the brain could be so powerful and miraculous just to keep us protected! We hope to become part of the community of plurals in order to engage ourselves, decrease the stigma, implement our profound truths, and bring awareness to others.

image retrieved from: https://www.discussingdissociation.com/2018/03/dissociative-identity-disorder-awareness-day-march-5/

References:

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013.

APA (1968) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (2nd Edition) (DSM-II). American Psychiatric Association Washington DC.

Being Emily living plural; Glossary of did terminology. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://emilyandothers.wordpress.com/glossary-of-did-terminology/

Cosgrove, L., Krimsky, S., Vijayaraghavan, M., & Schneider, L. (2006). Financial Ties between DSM-IV Panel Members and the Pharmaceutical Industry. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics,75(3), 154-160. doi:10.1159/000091772

#dissociative #identity #alters #disorder #DID #OSDD #mental #health #trauma #system #dissociation #dissociativeidentitydisorder #introduction #mosaicandme93 #mosaicandme #mosaic #multiplicity #plural #systems

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nocturnememory · 7 years ago

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What did you mean when you wrote that Voldie still had all his ribs? Is it sth about his missing backbone? I‘m clearly not philosophical enough to understand this

Okay, I’ve actually gotten a few questions about this now, so I suppose I’ll try to explain some things as best I can without ruining anything

This is so Extra and so Long, but it was the best way I could think of to explain it all, under the cut because I ramble and I literally wrote an essay. :/

Myths and Ichor Explained

Okay, so, I have this problem where I show instead of tell a lot. Too much, probably. It’s a bad habit I have that I’m trying to find some sort of middle ground on lol.

So, I often to use myths, images, ideas or sometimes just like, a word to convey a meaning or an implication.

Sometimes, obviously, I am too vague or because I’m the one writing it and I’m using myths/idea/stories I know… I don’t really consider that readers might not understand the message behind the implication.

I’ve had a few questions about the rib thing, and I think it’ll help explain things if I explain how I use my…writing devices? Methods of storytelling, maybe.

So, you know when your watching a horror movie and the scene is dark and your eyes are peeled and your hearts thumping because the music is going and the character on the screen is scared and so are you because you know that something’s going to happen.

And then it does, and you jump or you laugh or duck and move on.

For me, the memorable part of that moment isn’t the jump scare, it’s the moments before, it’s watching the shadows and wanting to see something more, hoping to see something to know what’s coming.

The memorable parts aren’t always when the scary thing is revealed because maybe it’s corny or not what you wanted— but do you remember that face in the mirror? Or the furniture that moved on its own? All those hints and build up are what make that movie better.

For me, it’s the same thing in stories. It isn’t always about the destination, because maybe you won’t be happy with the end. I mean, look at Harry Potter, how few of us actually like the epilogue, how few of us view Cursed Child as canon. But, give us a boy in a cupboard, give us platform, a man with a misspelt birthday cake and we’re all a little bit wizards, aren’t we?

The memorable things, for me, are the smaller things. The ideas that drag through a narrative and come out at the end into something that makes you go, oh.

Like a snitch.

Or a cloak.

Or a boy who lived. Twice.

And that, for me, is part of how I write— trying to focus on the smaller things, the memorable things, so that hopefully, by the end, you’ll go, oh.

But, I don’t want to confuse you, I’m still learning, and I know I’m using myths/imagery that maybe not everyone knows.

So, this is kind of how I approach using myths or imagery in Ichor:

Hades and Persephone, I think is the most obvious one, due to the interludes.

Here’s a good place to read about them:

http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/HaidesPersephone1.html

For the sake of argument, and to avoid an argument lol, I’ve always based my view on this myth on the source material. Which, if you follow that nifty link, contains the ancient Greek versions of the myth, sourcing the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the Orphic Hymns, and Hesiod’s Theogony.

The basic idea of why this myth is so impactful on Ichor is, I hope, conveyed in the Interludes.

It’s about entitlement, about ownership, about claiming another person and viewing them as lesser, maybe not in a way you mean to be harmful, but anytime you believe you have a right to someone, you are, in essence making them lesser.

Voldemort views Harrie as a part of himself, and because of that view he believes he owns her. And because he owns her he has a right to her. And if he has a right to her then he has a right to use her.

And this is the same for Hades, he sees Persephone and he takes her. There’s a belief there, that owning is permission, that entitlement is somehow a reason, an explanation, an excuse.

But it’s not.

There’s a point to compare here, that both of these characters act out of selfishness, that they act physically because of it. Both characters operate on the belief that their desire outweighs the want of the other. And here, it’s important to note, that neither one truly believes that they’re right, they know they aren’t, they both, on some level, know they’re in the wrong. And most importantly, I think, is that both of them, before they act, seek validation.

Hades go to Zeus:

Hades doesn’t need permission. Hades wants validation. Hades wants the deed and the title and a palm full of a declaration.

Voldemort knows he’s wrong but at the same time he feels so entitled to Harrie that he builds a contract and goes to Dumbledore for the sole purpose of validating himself.

Rape, forcing oneself onto another without concern for permission. But you gave me permission, didn’t you, Harrie. You signed that fucking contract.

The comparable parts of the myth don’t end there, I mean, Voldemort and Harrie aren’t ruling an underworld with a three-headed dog, but, the evolution into something more is still comparable.

It’s all about compromise, about understanding the damage you caused another person, about finding a way through that hurt and coming out stronger.

It’s a pretty good allegory, really. For finding strength, your voice, for being able say, you hurt me and I know you’re sorry, but that isn’t enough. About finding yourself, whether you’re an adult already or just a girl in a garden (or a cupboard, you know?)

The second major one, arguably more impactful one is The Rib Thing.

Also known as Adam and Eve, circa the Garden of Eden

Go here for further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve

Basic summary: Adam is lonely in the garden, God comes down, takes a rib from the poor boy’s side and from it, creates Eve.

Now this myth itself isn’t so much related to the characters in Ichor so much as the idea of it is. It isn’t about finding parallels in the narrative but rather offering a sort of physical representation to the whole Horcrux/soul thing.

When you’re talking/reading/thinking about something like souls, how do you convey the weight of them? How do you convey percentages without falling into the same sort of lackluster lines and ideas?

How do you, as a reader, or me as a writer, convey what a soul means?

It’s all so theoretical and… evasive, really.

I can say, Voldemort wants Harrie because she carries his soul, he wants her because she’s got half his soul, a seventh of his soul, two third of his soul. But what does that do for you? Nothing really, at least not for me.

It’s all just numbers on a page.

I can tell you about a soul all day long, but it’s just words, there’s nothing there to really see.

But for me, when you read about Voldemort equating Harrie/Horcrux to the myth of Adam and Eve:

He thinks about God reaching into Adam’s chest and pulling out a bloody, white rib; a consecrated voice not meant for mortal ears

She comes from you because she is for you.

Did you think this would be painless?

And then having him carry that belief into something physical, his ribs…

A soul becomes something physical for you to weigh. It’s a part of something, it isn’t so theoretical anymore but something real to imagine. Anytime Voldemort touches his ribs, there’s a reason, an ache, an idea behind it.

What’s a soul to Voldemort, it’s an ache, a bone, a thing missing.

Except, it’s not.

He has all his ribs.

And this is where I have to toe the line on what I’m getting at in the narrative and why this means something; because so much of what enables Voldemort is his own belief in his ownership of Harrie and it’s all due to that one fucking rib (soul piece).

The idea of the rib and what it represents is more important than the bone itself, you know? There’s meaning behind the fact that its whole that I can’t really explain without sort of spoiling the build in the narrative, without ruining some of the things that will be coming up as Harrie and Voldemort really come together and learn about themselves and each other.

But I do want you to have something to be able to build on, to understand their connection in a more real sense, a sense that isn’t always one of them hurting, or emotion bleeding from one to the other because that’s so loud and obvious and I get the appeal of jump scares, I do, but sometimes I like the shadows more.

If his soul is something tangible for you to picture, a white bone stuck inside of him, when I say he has all of them, you think, a full rib cage, you think, is Harrie missing one? If he has all his ribs then how are they connected?

And that’s sort of the idea, really, giving you images and ideas and then building on them so that when I imply that he’s got a full soul, you aren’t just reading it, but imagining it as well.

That as I build on their connection and what the impact of souls and Horcruxes are…

It’s not just some ball of light, or whatever you picture a soul to be if you picture anything at all… but something real, something there, something that every time I mention Voldemort touching his ribs you go

Oh.

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tvranny · 6 years ago

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why dont more horror movies use the uncanny valley route more often for their horror aspect, particularly the type of uncanny valley that makes the appearance of jeff the killer, billy the puppet, etc. so damn unsettling? billy the puppet has worn off and so has jeff the killer (the story is so damn stupid + i’ve looked at the picture so much over the years) but i mean that type of horror.. . . the washed out/smooth features and a VERY white face with the only features that stand out being the eyes that almost look like they’re wearing eyeliner and the mouth.

while some tend to laugh at those types of pictures and the scary aspect of it wears off (if they even were scared in the first place); a LOT of people get so spooked at those types of faces that they look for one second and they immediately close the page, shaken. me included. like i said billy the puppet and jeff the killer don’t scare me anymore but two other examples are;

the picture under the 4th addendum for SCP-1875. saw this a few days ago and it’s scared me from watching too many SCP videos for fear that a video with that picture as the thumbnail will pop up in the recommended bar. warning, though, it’s a jumpscare. some argue that the only reason it’s scary is that but i saw it on google images and i’ve refused to look at it since.

annnnnnd the picture for the creepypasta “The Expressionless”. im not even goddamn linking it, i don’t dare to look it up. it’s the corny one where the freaky looking fucker goes to a hospital and does a bunch of weird shit + kills people before croaking, “I am God”. that one lmao.

i used to binge-read a bunch of shit on the creepypasta wiki years ago by going to what was under the suggested articles at the bottom of the page until i found that one and skimmed through it before looking at the picture again and fucking right off. im so afraid of stumbling across that picture when i dont mean to that i do not read off of the creepypasta wiki since. im kind of an odd one out, because im just a pussy but you get the point.

the story was kind of stupid but the picture. the picture. it’s like the other examples aside from billy the kid. the story is fucking dumb but the picture is what gets to most people.

so. why the fuck haven’t horror movies utilized that type of antagonist appearance and the uncanny valley as a whole more often? pennywise is kind of like that in some ways and there’s of course been the grudge, the girl from the ring, but other than that.. .. .not much. the whole very-white-girl-with-freaky-bulging-eyes-and-black-long-hair has been a bit worn out, obviously-- but it doesn’t have to be goddamn that, exactly. give me a slightly disproportionate humanoid that moves in a mangled, unnatural way, with a washed out pure white face and eyes that stare straight into my damn soul. make it so its smile reminds you of that one picture of a shell-shocked soldier from WWI. (although it’s said that it’s probably just the camera that makes the eyes so funky and the picture creepy, and the dude was just smiling normally but either way it’s not something i like to look at)

we can re-use every damn horror movie trope and cliche in the book, fill movies with jumpscares and over-the-top gore, and yet we fail to utilize (at least on the big screen) the type of shit that triggers pure, actual primal fear.

#i dont know im rambling jfdhgdfughdxu but ive been thinking about this #mainly because im mad i can't watch audio-readings of SCP because im so afraid of the stupid ass picture #ides.txt #i also cant look at some photos from the 19th century that are more poorer quality.#in gettysburg there's a wall of soldier's photos from each side and there's a few that just freak me out for SOME REASON #it's low quality and the features appear washed out and the eyes undefined

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0operson · 4 years ago

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canon chatterer was, if im remembering right, a queer sex worker before becoming a cenobite. im like 99% certain, but dont quote me bc im not looking at the wiki tonight (bc i will go down a rabbit hole and i have plans (read; computer games) tonight)

and while you seem to be looking at the question more from a lore perspective i just want to second the queer/transgression subtext (well, more like text) of the cenobites. its one of the reasons that the franchise is one of my all time favorite horror franchises. like most horror movie monsters/villains can be seen through a queer lens bc of how said monsters are othered by the society in their franchise. usually for good reason what with the killing people and stuff, but often these monsters would be othered even if they weren’t going around committing acts of horror. often they are something that simply cant be understood by “normal” society, and are thus scary even if they are in some way benevolent.

the cenobites dont need a queer lens bc the cenobites, as far as i can tell, were written as queer theme. like it doeasnt matter what lens you use to look at the cenobites they will always be a queer theme. i mean thats an exaggeration bc thats not how using a thematic lens to look at media works.... but also, like, how else can you can you read them?

my point i guess is that the cenobites are presented as very sexual in a very queer manner ( and i use queer not as “part of lgbt+” but in its broader definition, so anyone who breaks societal norms just by existing) so i always assumed sex was part of their whole “pleasure beyond understanding” philosophy. I will happily rant about hellraiser franchise for pages upon pages just ask me and i will break down the queer themes of the entire first movie, sorry for going off on five different tangents here this is pretty stream of consciousness, i think you’re right, imma go play my computer game now.

What do you think about Chatterer being gay?

I’ve never heard this theory until now lol. Is there more to it? Or is it just random headcanons? Tbf, this website seems to think every slasher is gay lol

I mean, if we’re talking strict canon and not just people writing Chatterer s/o reactions, the cenobites in general are pretty, maybe not explicitly homoerotic, but sexually... exotic.

It’s absolutely no coincidence this film came out in the Reagan/AIDs era. They’re meant to shock a conservative world, but in a way they’re no different than those very conservatives. They both force religious and sexual orientations onto people. When it’s straight or Christian it’s normal to the audience, but when you flip it from straight to BDSM, pleasure to pain, heaven to hell, all of a sudden it’s scary. At least, that’s how I interpret it. It’s like a taste of their own medicine in cinematic form

I think I kinda got off topic... but, my point is, the cenobites are inherently coded to be sexual, just a very very different type of sexuality. They’re pain-sexual, that’s all we know for sure lol, and pain doesn’t really have any gender bias, so... I guess that is a little gay lol.

We also don’t know if their pleasures involve sex in some capacity, or if it’s strictly just pain. They certainly emphasize the pain more, but they say the two are intermixed, and we see two people having sex in the labyrinth in Hellbound. If that is the case, and they do allow some fuckin’, and if the Cenobites participate in that fuckin’ (which the comics imply), then yeah, I’d say they’re most likely bisexual.

This is a long way to say yes lol. There’s so damn much to unpack with Hellraiser

However, I’m talking canon here. This is not my official endorsement of fanon UwU wholesome Chatterer x Drayton Sawyer smut

#hellraiser #me randomly infodumping on a post #i aplogize but also like !!!! hellraiser and queer text!!!!!!#aaaaaaaaaaaaa #horror #queer media #gw2 just dropped a new lw update and im like aaaaaa about multiple things right now #its a lot of aaaaaaaaaa

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amisbro · 7 years ago

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Broc and “Going Dark”

Alright just so we don’t have confusion here I feel the need now to bring up this so when you read it you’ll get it Broc - Nickname I use for Broccoli (The company behind UtaPri) “Going Dark” - When no new info about a release is given for a period of time (at least my interpretation of the term) This post is more of a “vent post” because Broccoli has a history of doing this and the (Western) fandom doesn’t seem to think much about it. I do mainly for reporting purposes but there are other reasons too and I would be lying if I said they didn’t involve my group With that said let’s get started and if you don’t want to read this post just scroll by otherwise this continues under the cut

Alright so...let’s get started First off we must remember when I started in the fandom it was around 2014. This is also when I started to review Animes and such and do episode analysis. Knowing THIS will help you understand why I hyperanalyze Anime and in this case UtaPri to the utmost degree. I’m the type that leaves no stone unturned and when it comes down to it my “tinfoil” SOMETIMES has turned into FACT! Kind of scary So where do we want to begin? Let’s start with the end of Season 4? Why that recent? Stick around! UtaPri in many ways has been wrote as 2 Season “Arcs”. Seasons 1 and 2 were to get STARISH debuted on a “Domestic” Front (Read: To the Japanese fans) while Seasons 3 and 4 became a battle to see what group was going to be the one that would get an “International Debut” effectively at the Anime’s version of the Olympics! This can be looked at as “curious” but whatever right? It happened so we’ll let that go Before Season 3 (”Revolutions”) what happened? Broc “went dark” about the release date of the season in 2015. This was curious because we kind of knew the story for it and eventually single titles and performers but that was it! Eventually though we did get a date for the season so all was well there and THEN that season effectively ended on a cliffhanger of “Who won the Triple S” election AND THEN we don’t hear about the Season 4 date until January when 5th stage happened! Let’s put this in perspective Season 3 ended 6/27/2015 5th Stage happens - January of 2016 Season 4 of UtaPri - OCTOBER of that year Alright now here is the thing Between 5th stage and the Season 4 premiere we learned VIRTUALLY NOTHING! I’m trying to remember when the story of the season came out but I want to say it was August. We go from January of 2016 to August to find out what kind of season its going to be (A STARISH/HEAVENS season) but between that time if I remember there was no news about the season. There might have been posts about the story before then but I don’t think that popped up till after the site switched over to the one currently up on the .tv site. So keep this in mind for me The time that Broc had their “dark period” from S3′s end to 5th stage was 6 months The time between finding out intel for Season 4 was about 7-8 (give or take a month since the release YEAR of the season was in fact given in January) Notice the pattern though? UtaPri’s information always seemed to take longer to come out from between end of season/stage show to near the premiere. Now their could be a reason for this: They want to make sure that all the parties that are going to be signed on are and that’s fine PLUS getting TV station clearance helps too! I get that but when fans (probably more International than Japanese) are combing places to get info the idea of not having anything to go off of is...unusual! NOW let’s talk about Season 4′s end to the (IMO disastrous) 6th stage This time span was...shorter (5 months) so they learned their lesson when it came to announcing the new project which is a movie (I’ll talk about that in the next post) and someone discovered that the movie would be released December of this year (a FB post on April 1 claimed either this year or 2018...not sure if its 100% accurate about the 2018 thing) Here is the thing right: Since the announcement of the Movie Broc has “gone dark” about it. What is the movie about? Are all three groups in it (the FB post claims yes but I want to hear it from Broc or I don’t buy it you get me)? (On a related note btw about the plot of the movie. If its legit about a “concert” I’ll explain how odd that is in the next post and it will make sense...at least it does to me) What will the run time be of the movie? (IF this is a legit concert that is supposed to end the Anime I probably am thinking at least 2 hours especially if they do older songs) If all 3 groups are included then how much representation will they have? the BIG ONE will its soundtrack be officially available on CD for people to purchase? Broccoli has been very quiet about details and this is September. IF the movie is to come out this yet they SHOULD have started the change over of the site to promote the movie or put up some kind of splash page. The reason I say this is that by being quiet about it that could tell me that someone went “Wait a second...we’re doing a movie but do we really know WHAT we are going to do with it?” This had to get people to stop and think because I noticed there was a fan meetup page slated for 2018 of next year on another site. This ISN’T that big a deal BUT let’s think about this While yes you can have meetups if a series is over (and I’m sure Sailor Moon did this a lot when the Anime originally ended) for a series like UtaPri for some reason I found it suspect that there would be a fan meet 2 months after the movie! THIS leads me to think the movie might be next year because right NOW...it would be the biggest rush job ever AND...look at all the stuff they have to promote between now and then! AA/SS Love! QUARTET NIGHT LIVE Shining Live Singles HEAVENS SKY single And those are JUST the things I can remember off the top of my head! IF the movie comes out this year it is liable to be the biggest “scramble job” that a company had to do to get out information about it. Hell for it being on wiki that movie is coming out in December there is no info added to the sidebar about it if you look...at the movie would be less than 3 months away! I dunno...maybe its just me but Broc’s bad habit of NOT giving out the info seems suspect AT BEST but again that could just be me. I find it interesting that we know nothing more about the movie even from the 7th Anniversary event BUT maybe someone has some info or is working on a translation of info and we just don’t have it yet...takes time I know Anyone else think this is odd behavior or just me?

#Amisbro #UtaPri thoughts #Broccoli #UtaPri info

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prydwencats · 8 years ago

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Tagged by @maximumrevolution

1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading? Do you read outside? If I’m reading online, I’m either kicked back in my worn out computer chair or curled up on my couch. If it’s a physical book, I’m stretched out across my bed reading. Seldom do I read outside. Usually outside I’m working on something or planning a project. Outside is a super busy place for me.

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper? Any random thing I can find. I like the concept of bookmarks but I lose them too easily. I’ve used random papers, thinner books, pencils, pretty much anything smaller than the book itself will do. I’m awful I know. lol I try to stop at new chapters so IF my random marker falls out, I can find where I was.

3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter/ a certain amount of pages? I have to stop at a chapter’s end unless I’m interrupted.

4. Do you eat or drink while reading? While reading a physical book I rarely eat or drink. I’m clumsy, don’t like to take chances, don’t like crumbs around my books, I have to be really sucked into a story but also really hungry to eat and drink while reading a book. BUT, when it comes to reading on my laptop I eat and drink all the time. (which makes total sense because if I spill my glass of tea on my laptop it’s way cheaper to replace than if I spilled that same glass of tea on a paperback novel. lol)

5. Multitasking: Music or TV while reading? If I’m reading a work of fiction I prefer quiet but will tolerate cartoons if it keeps my toddler out of my hair while I finish a chapter. If it’s news I really don’t care what’s going on. In fact, I really welcome the distraction of music or television if I’m reading the news. The news sucks and it doesn’t seem to matter if it’s national or local...

6. One book at a time or several at once? One physical book at time. It is almost unheard of for me to read more than one book at a time, (not counting the Bible, but reading that is more a study exercise for me). Now fanfics on the other hand... I have lost track of how many fanfics I am currently trying to keep up with and I sincerely apologize to those of you that have stories that I’ve started but haven’t finished. I really need to make a list to keep up with them all.

7. Reading out lout or silently in your head? Silently for the most part. I’ll read out loud if I need to reread something that moved me emotionally or just really took me by surprise. The only exception is editing. If I’m editing,there’s a decent chance that at least half of what I’m reading is out loud.

8. E-book or paper book? Paper book. I refuse to use a kindle or nook or whatever else is out there. When I read a book, I want to actually hold the book. Call me old fashioned, but I want to be able to see, smell, touch, and hear the book that I’m reading. And yes I said hear, as in the sound the pages make when you let them slide past your fingers, the soft thud the cover makes as it falls shut, you get the idea. If I’m going to stop everything I’m doing to read, I want the full experience.

9. Do you smell your books? Absolutely. I love the smell of old books. I also love that I can find a shuttefly book in a room by smell alone. (I discovered I could do this last Friday.) Not that it’s a pleasant smell, but I love seeing the creativity someone else has used to arrange and create a physical representation of a special time or place in their life—and that’s a very positive thing that I associate with that smell.

10. Breaking the spine or keeping it like new? I baby my books as much as I can to keep them looking as new as possible. It usually doesn’t last, but I try...

11. Do you write in your books? On occasion? It’s been a while since I’ve done it but I’ve only just now gotten back into reading physical books. If I did write in them, it would be to establish ownership or something of significance just inside of the cover. The exceptions to that would be like, technical manual-type books or my Bible... I have been known to hilight, underline, or put little asterisks next to things that I think are really important or things I want to be able to find later.

12. A genre you’re especially sensitive to? I’m kind of big into science fiction, and for some reason, despite being a total chicken-wuss about horror movies/shows, I seem drawn to books that depict scary things.

13. A genre you’re really not interested in? Romance. Despite the fact that I love romance and flirting to be sprinkled into the stories that I read, and the fact that I used to be known as a fluff writer, I don’t want to read a story where the main thing in it is the romance. If I do read a romance then it means that the author presented me with either really captivating characters, or such an interesting world that I just couldn’t turn away.

14. Do you read ahead or even skip pages? Hahaha! I’m the person who skips to the back of the book to see how it ends before going back and reading the story in it’s entirety. I can’t explain why I do it, I just do.

15. Is the cover important to you? Do you have a type of cover that cockblocks you? Oh my gosh the cover is SO IMPORTANT. Unless it is an old book with artwork or colors that give me a nostalgic feel, I do not like my books look bright, bold, or too busy. When my books are sitting on a shelf together, they are part of my home decor, and I want them to look a certain way. I like old things, I have an old house, and for the most part, I prefer earthy tones and basic natural colors. I won’t object to a book that ended up in a lavender cover, but if I end up reading a book with a cover that I hate, you can believe that thing is being stored away in a trunk or drawer where I don’t have to look at it. I’ve even been known to shop around online until I can find older versions of books with more appealing covers.

16. Bookstore or library ? Neither. I want to support my hometown’s bookstore but they are far too expensive. I am however quite comfortable in a used book store, (the books smell better). I just don’t come across those kinds of shops that often. The town I live in now has this adorable old library that looks like it belongs in an old western. I should probably go inside one day just to check it out, but for whatever reason I haven’t in the 9 years I’ve lived here. I guess in my mind, if I’m going to read a book, I want to own the book and not have to give it back when I’m done.

17. How many books in your To Read Pile? Seven. Eight if you count the fanfic that somehow made my BuJo Reading list. Maybe I should start listing the fanfics I’m reading in my BuJo so I don’t lost track of them. That’s a thought...

18. Do you have a goodreads account? No.

19. If it’s not your favorite genre, do you care about reading “the classics”? It depends on the book. I’ve found that some books that have been called ‘classics’ are really quite awful. I think it really just depends on the subject matter and the characters.

20. What are you currently reading? Honestly I’m not reading any actual books right now. Six of Crows is sitting on an end table on top of my Art of Fallout book—but I haven’t started it yet—and I have a vintage copy of I Am Legend in the mail. Mostly, I read a lot of fanfiction, and I read even more of my own fanfiction as I meticulously pore over my chapters. The bulk of my reading right now is either news online or wiki references and forum conversations as I study various things in the Fallout World. If I’m going to write fanfiction I’m going to do my absolute best to make sure I write it as accurately as possible. Wow this took far longer than I expected... I guess I’ll leave the tagging thing open to any of you who want to talk about your books & reading habits.

#I stayed up far later than I meant to #Oops #Books #Personal #PrydwenCatReads #Not Fallout #Random #I'm tired #lol

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ghostmartyr · 4 years ago

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top 5 villains

You know, the thing about villains, that I have learned through many years of skimming fandom, is that I am bizarrely short of villain stanning. I should have a long list of villains I like. And yet.

I like plenty of characters who are very much not good people, and very much antagonists. But it’s the chaos that’s essential, there. My favorite member of the villain squad is the nuisance who’s just hanging out enjoying being their worst self.

A top villain should be, like. Threatening. To be at the top, they should be adhering to their own agenda, and that agenda shouldn’t be the level of a side quest in the main story. The plot should turn on their ambition just as much as it does for the heroes.

Their reign should be both devastating and entertaining. Bring some style to it. It’s not about being an obstacle for the good guys, it’s about winning.

How many of the following truly check off all those marks is up for debate, but I think they’ve at least got the vibes.

Spoilers for each series the villain belongs to, and I will make sure to note said series in bold when it hits. Images blatantly stolen from wikis.

- - - - -

The Locked Tomb, specifically Gideon the Ninth

Cytherea Loveday

(No art for you, book person.)

She probably shouldn’t be on this list. Yes, that’s how we’re starting out. Not that she isn’t a villain, and not that she isn’t threatening, and --

Look. She’s on the list. More because I like her and she happens to be a villain than me liking her because she’s a villain, but as villains go, she is, as the kids say, a fave.

The living embodiment of, “I came out to attack people and I’m having such a good time right now.” She is the main villain of the first book, and she spends most of the time that we see her lounging in gardens and batting her eyes at her boss’ daughter. She basically treats her murder spree as a company-sponsored tropical vacation. She impersonates her first victim, puppets said first victim’s closest companion’s corpse around (yes the corpse is also her responsibility, and yes she may have stuffed FV’s corpse in around it what of it), kills children, kills a married couple enjoying their anniversary, doesn’t kill the main character because the main character is easy on the eyes (it is slightly more complicated than that but if you want a good story you can read the book), and even when she dies she’s getting something she wants.

(Neglected wants include murdering God.)

Essentially, she’s dreamy. Don’t @ me.

- - - - -

Madoka Magica: Rebellion

Kyubey

Specifying the movie and not picking Homura. I’m great at this.

The reason is actually very simple.

In the movie, Kyubey filled me with hatred. In the series, it’s more of a, ‘lol, you scamp, helping move the plot along’ annoyance at best. I don’t really mind the evil alien bunny ferret in the series. Obviously it’s a bit of a dick, but Kyubey feels like a product of the evil system more than actually being a villain.

Enter the movie.

Enter (irrational levels of?) rage.

Kyubey, in Madoka’s new world, operates with less gains than the witch system provided. The system still functions, but the Incubators could be more fulfilled by it, so it’s like -- ‘can has throne of madokami? kthx start the torture back up.’

Again, Kyubey is a product of the evil system. But the evil system that Madoka defeated. She won, and here Kyubey is, trying to start the game all over and break everything she fixed (arguably succeeding in the case of Homura). The injustice of it all made me actively angry at Kyubey in a way that I seldom experience towards fictional characters. The system was dead, and it had no business trying to come back. Kill it, kill it good, and don’t leave a body behind to bury, because fuck the system.

Then Homura’s treatment of Kyubey at the end disturbed me enough that I can’t actually stomach a manifestation of my dislike for our favorite alien cat marshmallow, but for the strength of reaction Kyubey inspired, we have our second spot on the list.

- - - - -

Rurouni Kenshin

Makoto Shishio

Obligatory mention that all the decent people in this series would punch their author in the face at bare minimum.

Shishio is probably the closest embodiment of the ideal villain talked out above the cut. He has goals. He has a life outside the hero. He’s initially only mildly interested in including the hero in that life. He’s out to rule the country and bathe the current government in blood, and doing it in style is a very cool side effect.

The guy’s set on fire by his own side because they’re terrified of his power. He is the nightmare created by people who put down a road to Hell brick by brick with their maybe good intentions. Along the way they meet a demon, and up until the threat of his power becomes too great, they happily embrace his skills.

Upon his recovery, all he’s really about is proving that they were right to be terrified, and they also should have done a better job with their murder, because guess who’s alive, bitch.

The strong live, and the weak die. Makoto Shishio is alive to remind the government that they are weak, and he will feed on them.

He has an army, he has followers, and he balances all of their motivations so that they are acting only in his favor. Hatred, admiration, or loyalty, it’s all a tool. He kills the woman he loves to win a fight, and she dies grateful for it.

Terrible person. Beautiful conviction. He dies without once faltering in his philosophy and power. He is a force.

Bonus points for being voiced by Steve Blum in the anime.

- - - - -

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)

Horde Prime

This is the part of the list where I start having a little bit of trouble. I mean. The first entry is also that, but Horde Prime is here because I looked at my standards and shouted into the void of my mental file cabinet, “is anyone in here like that?”

Horde Prime is here because he is scary as fuck. He’s a genocidal religious cult leader, and the cult members being clones of him does not mean he plans on being nice. He will put on a polite smile and sink his claws into your throat if you so much as think of being a creature beyond his might.

He is the epitome of a Saturday morning cartoon villain, but in the best way. He doesn’t have a positive motive outside of his own ego. He’s power-hungry and arrogant, and the entitlement oozes off him in any scene where he deigns to interact with people. He is a monster. A veneer of civility can be draped over it all if he’s in the mood, but the universe is his, and he will destroy as much of it as he pleases until it catches up and starts bowing down.

I want to have fun hating villains, and Horde Prime is delightful to hate.

He’s evil and has stage presence. Thank you, sir, your descent into Hell will be witnessed with great satisfaction.

Worth noting that his voice actor, Keston John, is a huge part of that stage presence, and does phenomenal work as his voice.

- - - - -

Rurouni Kenshin

Yukishiro Enishi

(Image not stolen from a wiki because somehow the vibes weren’t right from his page.)

Enishi would do so much more than punch his author in the face, because he’s an awful human being, but an awful human being with one very clear, obsessive stance.

Yes, I wrote Enishi’s name with the family name first and Shishio’s with the family name second. Yes, this is because Kenshin going “Makoto Shishio” in the anime dub is burned into my brain, and Enishi doesn’t have that going on. My list, my bad choices.

First, it must be said: COOLEST CHARACTER DESIGN OF THE LIST. FASHION GOALS. FITNESS GOALS. REALLY FUCKING COOL SWORD. REALLY FUCKING COOL FIGHTING STYLE. BADASS TRANSFORMATION THAT PROBABLY MAKES ANYONE WITH BASIC BIOLOGY UNDERSTANDINGS WINCE.

What a dick.

Here’s the deal.

Kenshin killed his sister.

Enishi will make Kenshin suffer.

Here is the nuance that Enishi can’t grasp until the end.

His sister loved Kenshin. Her death was a horrific accident, partially set up by both her and her brother attempting to arrange Kenshin’s death (one of them changed their mind).

For the hero of the story, Yukishiro Tomoe is a gaping, open wound across his face. It is his greatest failure. There is no part of him not aching with guilt and remorse over her death. There is only pain, and the reminder of it threatens to drown him.

For the villain of the story, there is only one response to that: Good.

It is not enough for Enishi that the man he hates dies. Enishi wants to rip Kenshin’s heart out of his chest and leave it beating in a field of salt and glass. He wants to destroy any shred of life Kenshin has found without his sister, and he wants Kenshin to know that all of this destruction is his fault.

What Enishi wants is the hero’s complete and utter annihilation. His soul deadened, and his suffering infinite.

Obsessive hate to the extent that Enishi feels is just... impressive as hell. His view of the world is black and white to the extreme, and he will make that our hero’s problem. He will not doubt himself except to wonder if keeping Kenshin alive to suffer is a misstep. Enishi is angry, traumatized, and quite often a fucking asshole whose emotional development ceased as a child. Where he was also a little jerk, but you could try to imagine a world where maybe he didn’t bite people if you wanted to be optimistic.

Then he watches Kenshin kill his sister, and proceeds to be the absolute worst in the name of his righteous vengeance. A bunch of people are seriously wounded, there is a large amount of property damage, and trauma is everywhere.

Here is peak Enishi:

Villains need to commit, you know?

Points for passion.

- - - - -

And that’s five? I count five. Awesome.

Sorry this took so long. I wasn’t sure how to go about a list, and then I didn’t want to just phone it in, since it’d already taken forever. Thanks very much for the ask, though! Hopefully this serves as an entertaining response.

#asks #Rurouni Kenshin #spop in the name of love #viva la pluto #Madoka Magica

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sachablack · 5 years ago

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It’s been a month since I published a Writespiration. Slack I know. But what could I do, I had to finish my book! Anyway, it’s back now…

So, I’m a kid at heart. Ok, a teen. Whatevs. The reason I’m telling you, is cause I was at mumzy’s the other day and I found a super cool kaleidoscope. Obviously it was farrrr to dangerous for baby black to play with… *cough* so I kept it safe for him instead!

It resulted in some what I think are awesome photos (click in the post for a slide show) and the inspiration for today’s post.

Write about a Kaleidoscope – maybe its a kaleidoscopic fantasy world, or a memory, a maze or perhaps a toy. Let your mind wander and see where it takes you. Entries short this week – under 100 words, deadline 9th October. Post entries in the comments or use a pingback.

Image Source – Wiki, By Source, Fair use, here

Kaleidoscopes remind me of an awesome (albeit slightly scary at the time) movie from my youth – the Labyrinth

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Now for your entries and last time, where we were condensing our stories into 3 sentences.

First in Ritu,

Aashi had her hands full, planning her dream Indian wedding. Until she caught him with his pants down, and not with her! Aashi grows up, and learns the real ways of the world and still gets her happy ending.

and she gave us a little background to her blurb too – personally, I can’t wait to read it.

This is a novel that has been a long time in the writing… Started over 15 years ago, and been written in stops and starts… It’s still nowhere near finished. I wish I could sit with no distractions for a few weeks and get back until it. It’s my little baby! A genre I like to call Chickpea Curry-Lit – Rom Com with an Indian flava!

Next in, Judy,

A mixed race couple come together with a world of differences between them. Domestic violence, duty, obligation, and culture try to separate them, but sex keeps them together. An unhappy marriage is finally over when his wife joins him from overseas – with their children!

Next in Reyna Favis from the introvert broadcasting network,

Fia is in a mutually abusive relationship with the dead. Can she overcome her necrophobia and serve the Psychopomp, guardian of the dead, to earn a normal life?

Next up, Geoffle who makes it short and sweet

Harry wants to get laid. For 320 pages, he fails. Then he doesn’t.

Next, Diana,

Conall and Treasa are at odds about the imprisoned dragons. Conall’s wounding and recovery at the Mirror brings a change of heart. Conall and Treasa fall in love and work together to free the dragons.

Sean Carlin, experienced screen writer and author teaches us about screen writing and loglines, his was only an example but I felt compelled to include his entire comment because of the interesting lesson from screenwriting. So his comment and example:

In screenwriting, we call this a logline, and it’s a crucial component of the outlining process: More than a mere sales tool, it is the conceptual nucleus of the story around which all the other particles organize. You can mix-and-match the details — set pieces, subplots, etc. — but the logline is sacrosanct. Ideally, it should convey the protagonist, the antagonist, the conflict, the setting, the genre, and the tone — all in a single sentence (two at the most). Here’s an example: On the Fourth of July, a resort-island sheriff finds himself in deep water — literally — when his beach is attacked by a great white shark that won’t go away. See that? Tells you everything you need to know.

Babz up next with a dark plot,

New school, new environment, new friends. but in the end, he ended up dead.

Next in is Shaun,

Kolast is a Blood Mage who has traveled home to save a dying king. He meets a talented young girl who requests his tutelage. Together they uncover and disrupt an insidious plan to kill the king and send the country, and potentially the world, into disarray.

Next up Jane,

Jon is bitter resentful and angry with life but mainly with his dad. Dragged into a barbaric parallel world where egocentric bitch fests just get you a slap round the head or dead, he learns that survival means cooperation. He finds a lot of things in the mistlands that help him become a man, and one that breaks his heart.

Next up Hugh, with his epic Bloggers Bash inspired tale, the Truth App

A group of unsuspecting bloggers become the victims of a terrifying new App which threatens to wipe out humanity from planet Earth. In a rush against time, the son of one of the bloggers does all he can to ensure the App is wiped from the face of the planet. However, somebody is out to stop him and they have a mysterious power helping them.

Icy shares with us her pitch sentence and her 3 sentence condensing:

My 3 sentences…

The Council of the City Above want to clear out the Underground City. Jyx and the necromancer general need to resurrect an ancient goddess to thwart the plans. The goddess removes the corruption from the Council and the Underground City is saved.

By contrast the start of a blurb…

To save his city, Jyx needs to unbreak the heart of a stone goddess. Can he defeat the Crown Prince and halt his schemes before his city is destroyed?

Next in Debby with this emotional corker, she’s just released the book, so go check her out.

After almost 50 years of emotional abuse, a daughter of a narcissist finally breaks the ties that binds and learns forgiveness in the process.

Sarah up next with a couple of versions for us:

This is the pitch for Give in to the Feeling “Chicago 1924. Arriving to America, Susie thought she found everything she never dared to dreamed of in China. But only when she meets Blood, she realises the exciting flapper life she’s been living, the speakeasies, the illegal booze and the daring dances are just a little, unimportant part of the true freedom she yearns for”

And this is one of the most successfull tweets for my novel “Chicago 1926 Her bones are ashes, mixed with the mortar of the house they built on her land. She remembers and they’ll regret it”

Next up, Ana,

Quiet, withdrawn Charlie finds a book in her library that transports her into the world of her birth, where magic abounds. Torn apart by incredibly powerful twin sisters, Argravia is slowly dying and Charlie sets out on a quest to restore balance to the world. She frees each nation-state in turn and eventually finds out the truth of her birth.

Last but by no means least, Marje, who has given us her three sentences and then elaborated too:

Amelina Scott doesn’t know it yet, but she is a magical Krystallos. That knowledge might just save her family from the cruel roller coaster ride which has bugged her family’s happiness, since The Curse of Time. A shadow hides, crystals twinkle, and gossamer wings threaten to bring Amelina full circle on the ride of her life.

I thought I’d elaborate upon this to make an initial blurb idea which would go very roughly something like this:

Sixteen year old Amelina Scott lives in Cambridge with her prematurely aged father, cranky mother, a black cat called Shadow, and a self-harming mirror girl.

She doesn’t know it yet, but she is a magical Krystallos. That knowledge might just save her family from the cruel roller coaster ride which has bugged her family’s happiness, since The Curse of Time. A shadow of two halves hides – Ryder’s mesmerising eyes and dark charisma draw her to him – but appearances can be deceptive. While crystals twinkle, and gossamer wings threaten, Amelina’s spirit is brought against her will to a tranquil meadow in Grantchester. Whilst there she is encouraged by her captor to paint a bizarre puzzle of art, and all the while, a threat lingers groaning to turn youth into old age, and to turn neighbour against neighbour.

Writespiration #95 Kaleidoscopes, Labyrinths, and Maze Worlds It's been a month since I published a Writespiration. Slack I know. But what could I do, I had to finish my book!

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patchsing3-blog · 5 years ago

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The Monsters That Made Halloween Horror Nights the Best Bad Horror Movie Never Produced

Why I can't stop thinking about the made-up monsters at Universal Studios.

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is the complete transformation certain theme parks (maybe my favorite capitalist institution) undergo from, roughly, mid-September up until Halloween weekend. You know, the kind where they close the park early to turn it into a string of haunted houses and "scare zones" where local actors get to enact their revenge on tourists for a few hours? Of every theme park that does this, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights might be my favorite, and I say this as a man that has been to absolutely zero Halloween theme park events. Why is that? Because it has a whole damn story that a bunch of weirdos wrote, and you can enjoy it all from the safety of your own home.

A little history: Like most theme park attractions, Halloween Horror Nights started out as a showcase of mostly licensed attractions. Shows and haunted houses were built around horror movies that you'd know, characters like Leatherface and Frankenstein's Monster would be featured in shows. It was all very loosely organized around spooky stuff. Five years in, though, the people behind Horror Nights decided to build the event around a host: The Crypt Keeper, who, in the mid-90s, was still really damn popular. After two years of the Crypt Keeper in 1995 and 1996, Halloween Horror Nights would return to a looser format mostly inspired by horror films popular at the time. But for HHN's tenth anniversary in 2000, the event was revamped to be built around an original character, Jack the Clown—and this is why I love the idea of Halloween Horror Nights so much.

The Halloween Horror Nights team of misanthropes could've just designed a scary clown to dress up actors in and terrify people and left it at that. Clowns are creepy. Movies have told us that forever!

But Jack the Clown had a backstory, and you can follow it through wikis and fan sites because, like most things on the Internet, theme parks are obsessively documented by the people who love them. Read his page and you'll find he's a killer clown (boring), but he was murdered and hid in a jack-in-the-box (better) found by a film crew that died (okay) and finally, many years later, Universal Studios brought the jack-in-the-box his corpse was hidden in because they thought it was a cool prop and now an undead clown is haunting the park (NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS.)

It goes on like this, for years. Jack was a huge success, so the designers of Halloween Horror Nights would create new characters—called, simply, Icons—to build the annual event around. There's the Caretaker, a depraved surgeon obsessed with finding where humans keep their souls. The Director is a snuff filmmaker. The Usher brings movies to life. On their own, they're not terribly remarkable, but eventually, in the stories that were told across various haunted houses each year, Halloween Horror Nights slowly built up an ongoing universe, building to a crossover for its twentieth anniversary where they were all revealed to be harbingers of the personification of Fear, a demon that was influencing the Universal Studios designers to keep making haunted houses. It's extremely WWE.

This is all corny schlock, but the Icons represent what's maybe the coolest thing about theme parks outside of, you know, rides—when done well, every part of a theme park attraction tells a story. And what's funny about that is that it isn't done out of generosity, but to hide the fact that you spend most of your time in theme parks either waiting in a line, or walking to another line. This is probably why I find the Icons so fascinating—there's no reason they need to be there. There's no reason to come up with a series of wholly original stories to fill your theme park's seasonal Halloween event with for just a few nights per year. Using the far more familiar trappings of popular horror movies works just fine. People can gawk at haunted house sets lifted from Halloween, and be scared by actors dressed like Jason Vorhees. You don't have to have Jack the Clown.

Sadly, the designers of Halloween Horror Nights have seemed to take this to heart. The 2010s have largely eschewed original icons in favor of a loose collection of haunted houses and scare zones inspired by horror films—this year's Halloween Horror Nights 28 is mostly themed after '80s horror, with Stranger Things, Halloween 4, and Poltergeist being big touchpoints. It makes sense—it's easier to get people excited about a really good Stranger Things or Halloween themed haunted house than one that tells the story of how Jack the undead clown became the avatar of Chaos, and decided to rebel against Fear Itself to start an evil carnival called The Dark Fantastic. (That was the real plot of Halloween Horror Nights 25, the penultimate event with an Icon at the center.)

Do I, personally, have a horse in this race? No, not really. Again—I have never attended a single Halloween Horror Night, and were I to try one, any damn haunted house would probably be effective as hell on me. But I don't know. I love the idea of horror as pro wrestling, and fiction that indulges in the idea that theme parks—a truly bizarre concept—are horrific disasters waiting to happen, and then sell crazy amounts of tickets based on the notion that things go wrong in them. What a scam. What ingenuity. Halloween Horror Nights is the kind of scare that America was made for.