#i thought i could trick everyone into thinking i'm still young and cool and super hip

[mercymaker]

taking psychic damage from everyone reblogging that 'younger/older than me' poll and realizing that i am truly the 'older people' now

[paullovescomics]

First, an aside. I still did not get Absolute Superman #1. I got to the comic shop around 17:30, and the second printing was sold out again. There was a just a blank spot with at card that said "one per customer". I'd thought about emailing the store that morning, but then work got busy and i forgot. So i made sure to put in an order for the 3rd printing, but that doesn't come out for like a month. Oh well.

***SPOILERS***

Absolute Batman #2 -- The significance of the thing with the bats that opens this issue escaped me until we see a bit more of it later in the issue. They are covering him, protecting him. They're his armor, and he makes his literal armor in their image. That's cool. Also, those first two panels where young Bruce is calling for his dad, and his dad's body is slumped against the other side of (what i'm assuming is) the door, having put himself between his son and the shooter; and there are bullet holes in the door -- that is some heartbreaking stuff. If this is ever adapted to film, the director would be stupid not to steal that.

The narration by Alfred works well. This idea of Batman continually charging forward, never relenting, is compelling. It's true to the character. It's an effect of his trauma and it's enabled by his drive and abilities. It's a strength and a weakness. Of course we know it's going to eventually go wrong. He'll meet some foe that he can't bowl over, an opposing force that makes him stop; or, his body will inevitably falter and a canny villain will be there to take advantage of it. Either way, he'll be caught off his game, and then we'll see how clever he can get when things are desperate. That might be more exciting with this iteration of the character, since we haven't seen it with him before.

This version of Alfred is growing on me. Normally, I don't like the super spy version of Alfred. I just think that a superhero's world gets more shallow when everyone in it is some type of badass. You need different kinds of people to add more life and variety, and to let normal people contribute in relatable ways. But I guess because this is a fresh start, and we're not learning that he was secretly a badass all along, even though he didn't act that way for decades, etc., but he's just still a super spy, it's working for me. It definitely helps that he's tired and suspicious of his controllers, and that he sees in Bruce someone he can put some hope in.

We get a little time with Gordon, Barbara, and Bullock. Barbara being a cop is interesting. The Batman Beyond show had an older Barbara as chief of police, but I don't remember seeing her as a regular officer before. She's sympathetic to Batman here, so I assume she's become some version of Batgirl, but who knows. Bullock certainly looks different, but I can imagine the familiar Bullock becoming this guy if he were born later, or at least going through this phase before he becomes the deeply disillusioned guy that he is in his classic version. I also like the interaction between Gordon and Martha. If Jim becomes Batman's ally here, and Martha learns what Bruce is doing, there could be some very interesting conversations between them in the future.

The poker game is fun. I hope that the journey to villainhood for these guys takes a while. If we really get to know them, and their turns to the dark side are well told, we could be in for some very emotional tragedy.

I've said before that I wasn't all that hyped for the Absolute series, because there was a chance that they'd just be gritty and no fun. I'm glad that's not the case. There is a tone here that is different from the regular universe, though I'm not sure what to call it yet. But the inclusion of things like the Bat-axe, and this issue's "Batman AF" and the fact that Bruce not only somehow stole and hid a massive, multi-million-dollar construction vehicle (the owners of which are definitely searching for in manic fashion) but also tricked it out with bat-themed armor enhancements reassures me that we are far from po-faced grimness.

And that last page! I can't wait to see young Bruce and Selina getting into trouble. That Bruce is good friends with criminals is so interesting. Where will that go in the long run? Is he sympathetic to "petty" criminals because he knows first hand that some of them come from places where there aren't many options? So only the murderers and the capital V villains need to have their heads bashed in? It would make sense if this version of Bruce was very conflicted about that stuff, and constantly found it difficult to draw that line. So much to mine in this set-up!

[vazaez]

let's say someone in the wk fandom used to ship kcest at an age where they didn't know any better and mostly did it to look cool or something, but soon they realize it's wrong and deeply regret their actions so they stop shipping it entirely. would the fandom still kick them out? (I'm very sorry if this sounds rude! I really am genuinely asking)

Short answer: Personally? I think not, specially if it's something they grew out of

Long answer: I understand the situation they couldve found themselves at of they were exposed to the internet since a young age and most of the fanbase is older people doing that kind of stuff that could lead newer and younger people to think it's alright, or maybe they follow their lead to fit in, tricked into thinking thats a good thing to support and that would be the only way to connect with the rest of the community, by following them in what everyone else does

If they grew up and realized that it isnt actually okay, and dropped it completely, that already makes them do better than all the other people that, at the time, lead them to think it was, and had them do stuff against their morals just to fit in on what was "normal and common" in the fanbase

Like to put a silly and exaggerated example, if you connect with a group of people where they seem as normal to randomly punch ppl, and you decide to also go around randomly punching people to show the group that youre one of them, and you follow their steps because you're younger and more influenceable, maybe eventually you'll grow and go "hold up-" as you realize it wasnt as correct as they wanted to let you think, and sure you did punch some faces but you didn't know better so you cant really be blamed imo

I think it's just a matter of owning up to stuff and admiting that you did messed up stuff at the time

Early unsupervised acces to internet is super harmful for people, it twists your perception on a lot of stuff before you find out your own thoughts about it without going along with the current in some sort of hivemind that tricks you into thinking stuff is right when it actually isnt, specially if it's adults giving you that mindset, because as i already said, unlike them, you didnt know better and you were just doing what you thought was correct according to the people that have been there the longest

in any case, if someone wants to be a dick over something that you have very clearly stated to be against of already, theyre being unreasonable, why would we judge and kick out someone for past choices they regret?

anyways, good on you for asking! i know this kind of stuff can be scary since the internet reactions are so unpredictable, but the best thing we can do is just admit the stuff we used to do or think and show that we've grown and we do better now

i know i've done fucked up stuff, or maybe supported the wrong shit in the past, like waaaay back even before i was active in any media but was still an active viewer of content that i thought was so normal i didnt realize it was wrong until i grew up and thought ''what the hell was i on, and why the hell was that content so normalized?''

I think its an important part of growth to come to terms with that and learn from it

[maraeffect]

Hi hello, I would like to hear many things about inoculation theory…. 🥺

OMG I'M SO EXCITED. i'm gonna add a read-more bc i'm about to info dump the FATTEST mini-essay anyone has ever seen. THANK YOU for taking interest 😭💖👉👈

okay so, inoculation theory in social psychology sort of piggybacks off the idea of inoculations in medicine.

if you've ever gotten a vaccine, you've experienced an inoculation! the way vaccines work is to expose your body to a harmless variant of or piece of a pathogen (something that causes illness) (this is also a very generalized statement so please understand that i'm not a doctor or anything 😭). this tricks your body into thinking you are fully infected with the pathogen, and then your body creates antibodies! the antibodies help recognize future contact with the pathogen in order to more quickly and effectively squash it out.

inoculation theory in psychology is super similar to this! it is often used to create plans for fighting propaganda and misinformation. specifically, it is great for keeping opinions one already has, and preventing persuasion away from those opinions.

in research, this is generally achieved in the following way: the participant has their set stance on a topic. the researcher then presents to the participant a weak counterargument to the stance. the counterargument should be strong enough for the participant to become defensive, but weak enough so as not to change the opinion of the participant. the participant will then think of a refute to the counterargument. since the counterargument was weak, it should be fairly simple for the participant to come up with their refutation. however, it lays the foundation for the participant to defend against stronger counterarguments in the future.

as an example, imagine someone has the stance that vaccines help to prevent infections. a weak counterargument to this would be "well, but people still get sick after getting vaccinated. this means vaccines don't work." this counterargument is fairly easy to refute, especially because it doesn't even play by science's definition of what a vaccine is. the participant may think, "well, they don't prevent ALL sickness. they just decrease the likelihood of infection after exposure. you can still get sick; it is just less likely with a vaccine." now the participant has defended their stance once, and they know better how to defend their stance in the future.

in the future, they may be presented with a stronger argument, but the participant is more likely to stick with their original stance, as they have practiced defending it.

inoculation theory has GREAT potential to help limit the spread of misinformation and to protect people from logical fallacies. a huge use of inoculation theory has been in schools, with programs against smoking, vaping, drugs (NOT the DARE program), etc. students are exposed to lots of weak arguments FOR the consumption of the dangerous substances (it makes you feel good, we're young so we don't get damaged as much from this, everyone who is cool is doing this, you're a pussy if you DON'T do this, etc). they're taught how to defend against those weak arguments. and, if the program is good, it succeeds in its end goal, which is to keep kids from using the said substance.

in the end, the goal of inoculation theory is strengthen someone against being persuaded; and this can mean persuasion in general! the more comfortable someone is synthesizing critical thought to defend their stances, the more they use those thought processes. over time this strengthens the person's ability to critically think about their own opinions. in most PRACTICAL uses however, the inoculation is only meant to prevent persuasion regarding a specific topic.

in my personal, non-researcher opinion, i think inoculation theory could also be bastardized in order to PUSH minsinfo and propaganda. i think it's a similar thought process the ways in which propaganda is spread. with a cursory glance, i can't find anything to back that up, so i'll just say that i'm probably talking out of my own ass for that bit LOL.

i do hope you enjoyed this little info-dump and that it was at least slightly interesting!!! social psychology is SO fucking cool and has a lot to offer. i think almost anyone could find something they were really interested in in this field (:

OH LAST THING. there is a game that was used to showcase inoculation theory, and it's called Bad News. it's been praised to hell and back since it's release, so if you're further interested, i sincerely recommend trying it out!!

thanks again for asking !!! srsly means so much 😭💖

[crazyworldofemmamarie]

do you like any other older horror movies? That's a very dumb question but I'm unashamed about such things. I've rewatched some of the movies that really scared me when I was younger, and if anything they're even more scary now. I only watched 3 or 4 of the Saw films, but your blog is making me feel like looking again.

I love the entire genre, please yell at me if I mess up a reblog, or if my extensive experience in the field can help with your endeavors. I'm a John Carpenter fan from Way back; sometimes I don't know who directed what has become my favorite movie of the week and it turns out to be his...some of em aren't horror, like Starman, but it's heavy sci fi, and 80's Jeff Bridges is such a great actor...rambling with the lunatics. I like your blog! Don't fall for any of those HP Lovecraft movies; there's no sex in the books or stories so that Reanimator fool can go...sex was the selling point in the 80's though, guess it couldn't be avoided. I've read a ton; it's gotta be good for something. The way folks are saying manifest; that's made it back around after 24, 25 years. I'm tryna track something, for the good of everyone, but I'm no psychic medium, not even a small. If you think I made even a little bit of sense, I thank you for your time.

Okay! what's One movie you Won't watch, or Can't? I couldn't watch more than probably 10 minutes of High Tension, probably because I have kids, but I think that's the only one that keeps me from looking at it. Tobyn Bell should get a fun, dancing man role huh? He's pleasant to see if you ask me;) my kid's a huge Leatherface fan but they remember his name and everything. I "got" to see all the Faces of Death tapes as a teenager, we're fine, we're fine(just smile and nod)...I'm not sure how much longer I have on this earth, so I'm making it weird, and keeping it positive and spooky is challenging! But this Halloween will be my first single Halloween since lots of years ago and I am not going to let it slip past another year. My parent's were wed on Halloween, they forgot the 31st was already special, and I've always liked that memory of them making out on the couch between the trick or treat visits...anyway, have a great day, forgive me for going off on Every tangent, still looking for my pack y'know? Idk if covens advertise openings and I'm still learning to behave lmao...if intent is truly key, I am so good. My intentions are good. I'm never surprised that we get to know the "bad guys", monsters in the movies and stories that I personally can't really hate, or judge, but those are the fictional ones. Unfortunately the bad guys out here are really bad, and boringly bad. Yell at me any time, but y'know I won't hear it, lmao

Holy Moly, I am so sorry, my dumb ass basically took forever to figure out how to reply but hey I got it now, haha!

And no, don't worry about rambling I totally enjoy your stories and thoughts and I find it amazingly sweet that you even took the time to write to me, really and I am always open to chat! (And in all honesty, I am still learning to behave as it, but there's nothing wrong with having a little fun, wink wink.)

I do wanna ay I think it's super cool you're parents got married on Halloween, that's totally badass! Halloween is my favourite holiday, my Mom was super big on it because she never got to celebrate it when she was young cause she grew up super religious and it was to make up for lost time.

If I ever got married and I could convince my partner on a date, I probably pick October 1st, but in all honesty, as long as I can get married in Autumn I am totally happy. Though that's a rant for another time, haha.

Now to answer both of your questions:

I really like a lot of horror and I usually go from 1920s German Expressionism horror to present day. Though I am not gonna lie to you, I get really stuck with that late 60s/70s horror, especially that Art house horror like The Last House on the Left or I Spit On Your Grave cause I really enjoy realistic, could really happen horror, plus as a film manic, the 60s/70s had a lot of freedom with things like art and film and I just feel we get more out of that and I'm just like you where it's dirty, raw and full of sex, haha.

Though the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 is my all time favourite horror film of all time, but I do really enjoy Last House, Spit on Your Grave, Black Christmas, The Wicker Man and all that.

80s is a hit miss for me, I'm really not a big fan of those popular slashers like Elm Street, or Child's Play or Friday the 13th, but love those somewhat terrible b movies like Sleepaway Camp or Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2.

B Movies are another big thing for me, anything from Puppet Master to Basket Case to Evil Dead.

Now to you second question, the one film I can't watch and it's one of the very few films I've seen once and it's Cannibal Holocaust. I don't know what it was, I love cannibalistic films like The Hills Have Eyes or Cannibal! The Musical; but for some reason, this film didn't sit right with me, I can't tell you if it was cause it was too realistic, too bloody or the fact that they killed real animals on camera or that in reality you don't really know who the villain's really are (that's another rant for another time, I gotta whole essay on that, yeah, I'm a loser haha). In all honesty, I think it was all of the above for me, either way I can't do it, I look away if I see even clips of it or something, though I am trying to hyper myself up and try to watch again in the future as a future film study since I believe it's on both Tubi and/or Shudder.

Either way, I thank you very much for message and posting ask! Don't be afraid to send more, I am always willing to chat, (now that I figured out how to reply) and I hope you don't mind that i post this if ya do, just shoot a me a message, but either way, thank you so much for your time!

[frankmillerturnonyourlocation]

all the even numbers from the halloween game too :3 (kittyandco)

KITTYYYY thank you so much!!!! I'm gonna do this with a friend, if that's cool– everyone say hello to Mr. Snicket :D

2. is your f/o from a horror movie/game/series? if not, would you make an AU where they were (like a vampire AU or something similar)?

...could A Series of Unfortunate Events be considered horror? there are certainly implications that inspire horror in me. Multiple settings have a gothic vibe to them– Olaf's house, most notably. I think All the Wrong Questions is close to the mark also– dried-up town getting worse by the day, drugging children, multiple shades of abusive authority, literal monsters, steady unease creeping towards an upsetting climax (both in the sense that it flips everything preceding it, the entire series, on its head, and also that I'm still thinking about it years after I read it). "Those weren't my parents," still makes my heart fucking DROP into my stomach that's how the FIRST CHAPTER ends they DID THAT they set that TONE AUGH

anyway. Lemony Snicket is a ghost. The only supernatural element I could ascribe to this series is haunting because all of the books are already permeated with the sense of it. It's all ghosts.

4. what would be your f/o's favorite horror/halloween themed film?

Oh god this is going to be really hard because he totally knows and watches more movies than I've ever heard of. We watched Onibaba together recently, and while I don't think he was as into it as I was by the end, we had a fun conversation about the familial dynamics and wartime setting and folklore and all that jazz. (I thought the movie was super cool btw.)

I can't remember what the conversation was, but he mentioned off-handedly something about a movie where the young heroine shared her name with the villain (as well as blood), and I've read some interesting things about it, so I think we'll be watching Shadow of a Doubt together soon. Hitchcock makes him miserable, but in a way I think he enjoys? It's the knowing-the-bad-thing-is-going-to-happen of it all. He can't keep away from it.

6. do you and your f/o attend any parties/festivals/other events? this can be either for halloween or just for celebrating the fall season!!

Lem's not the type of guy you would take as a party person, but he has a surprisingly wide social circle. He's met a number of wonderful, eccentric, creative people, and a number of them haven't died yet. A subsection of those have the good sense to distrust the reputation that has been built up for him, and when they find out that the rumors of his death have also been vastly exaggerated, he gets invited to a number of events! Autumn is a pretty busy time for observances and holidays and that sort of thing. He introduces me to plenty of interesting people and customs, and I buy him pumpkin rolls and make him come with me to take bad pictures in the woods. It's a good time to spend together.

8. if your f/o is from a series that has a special halloween episode, please tell us about it and how your s/i fits into it!

...the third ATWQ book might be vaguely fall-adjacent. It's certainly a back-to-school story. And there is a hayride.

All grown up, I could see he and little Bea doing something sweet for Halloween. He takes her trick-or-treating in a costume she made herself and they retire early to eat candy and put on some old black-and-white screamers. It's very mundane in a way that does in fact have him blinking back tears for the entire night until Bea heads to bed. He sits down to pen me a letter late that night. Next year, I get to tag along with them.

(thank you so much!!! <3)

[sxrrandomfanfics]

OK here was my original draft of the post since no one else is really wanting to talk about this despite the idea being super duper cool and I'd love to see everyone else hop in with their own interpretations.

I call this outline "We Were Always Meant to Find Each Other, the Crossroads Just Weren't as Kind this Time"

Well, most likely during the war, Lucy, Marona, Lazarus, and Augustus would all leave Grulovia. And... you know let's throw Otto Mentallis in there too. I think he's a family friend given the fact that he knew Lucy and reported to Ford "her husband died in the war so I'm getting her out of Grulovia."

Lazarus, still carrying the name of "The Aquato's Aquatic Family Circus," sets out with the Circus and begins to perform along with his wife (who performs water acts, but her powers are herbophony as I really like that idea pioneered by @portalcartoon), son, and sister-in-law, with Otto taking care of finances.

Along comes Donatella, and after a few years, Donatella and Augustus start their own family consisting of the Aquato siblings we know and... tolerate. Dion, Frazie, Razputin, Mirtala, and Queepie in that order.

Some Aquato siblings are psychic (Frazie, Raz, and Queepie), while others are not (Dion and Mirtala). The circus begins to get bigger and bigger and while Raz is searching around one of the festivals, he starts to come across different people with different, unexplainable powers, but minds similar to his.

A girl who doesn't have wheels on her skateboard, but instead two things she equates to highly focused thought bubbles, named Gisu Neruman.

Twin sisters who are opposites with cryo and pyrokinesis, Lizzie and Norma Natividad.

A young man who did yo-yo tricks for extra pay and seemingly had them endless if they were destroyed, named Adam Joseph-Gette.

A boy who was stuck to a wheelchair but could make his own trampolines and thought bubbles to help him get to places, named Morris Martinez.

A girl who loves talking with Frazie and her horse also sharing about how her brother suffers and makes things explode, her name is Sam and her little brother is named Dogen Boole.

Raz is... excited to meet these people. Even covering tickets for them so they can see the show. And let them know- "you aren't the only ones."

They're allowed to meet the family after the show, bringing their own parents along and making bonds and showing "there's more of them. More of us."

Otto starts trying to write down and research these different powers, starting down a rabbit hole where he, along with Razputin and Adam start to rediscover things in journals written by older psychics.

There are long lineages of families who are psychics, such as the "Dooms," known for their precognition that have many different journals and incident reports.

The traveling circus starts to move in ways where they can meet up with other psychics. They start networking, expanding, and by the time Raz turns 18, he's already gotten an idea of how to network and run things.

He and Lucrecia go to find the Green Needle Gulch, while his siblings investigate whatever the heck "Whispering Rock" is. That's when they refind the fallen comet that amplifies their powers. Both in the Gulch and at Lake Oblongata.

Raz starts up a small... reservation or town for psychics to come to. Help understand their powers and learn more.

"Whispering Rock" is set up as a research facility to study the biggest chunk of the comet.

Over time, The Aquatos become people that need to be called in if there are things going on with Psychics, or they'll randomly show up if they have hunches about someone being a psychic.

An older man, around Augustus's age, being found by Otto Mentallis while working in a factory.

An older woman running a hospital after climbing up the ranks and succeeding after her mentor fell into some kind of madness, being approached by Donatella.

A young woman around Raz's age found after a bar fire being bailed out by Marona Aquato.

A woman traveling around South America in a state of madness being informed of this group and trying to seek them out.

A man who has been struggling to find any sense of valor finding himself meeting an older woman as they both went to mourn those lost in the Grulovian wars.

Sometimes, my sister gives me ideas. Sometimes, I REALLY like the ideas.

"What if the psychics never met one another? There was no organization for them and they thought they were the only ones out there. And it's Raz who finds other psychics."

[ziracona]

so can u tell us a little about ur characterization of Lisa?? What's she like inside and outside of trials? Does she have a lot of lucidity, what were her relationships with others like, would she ever get better, do you think? ( im SAD.) Just. What's she like!! Also, same for Sally? Oh! And I'm rly enjoying two songs by Meg Myers which maybe you'll like? Running up that hill (Cover) and Desire. Maybe check em out? :3 - Sleepy

Sure!

My Lisa is from a bit before the archives for her placed her (early 1970s), because I wrote ILM back when there was no date given for many killers or survivors, so I just hoped they were historically accurate with the things they did mention & went through a fairly exhaustive list of drained swamps in the Southern US & paddleboat makes & placed her according to that data (it’s been a bit so I don’t remember the exact date without looking up my notes) in the 1920s-1930s, I believe? And in her early 20s, since she’s described as a girl & young woman, which DbD usually does only for characters in their early 20s. (Which I’d still assume is her age, bc even though her archives, if you go by them, have her in her teens, they’re not connected to the events of her disappearance/definitely happened before them.)

In trials, Lisa has like 0 lucidity. I talk about this some in chapter notes, so I’ll try to give a quick overview instead but sry if I restart myself. She’s so starved that any time she sees a living being, she is just completely overcome with hunger and can’t do anything but operate on it. Very scary. Feral. Like being attacked by a starving animal. She’s super out of it, and is completely wild and violent and has no control, only the need to eat. Outside of trials, if no one is around, she’s lucid again, but will remember trials and what she did to people, and spends that time in horror and despair. She’s tried to kill herself before, because the last thing she ever wanted was to become the thing she swore vengeance on (the Entity’s a real cruel motherfucker. Did the same to Rin, to Philip, to everyone it could. Likes to really twist decent people into what they would most despair to be), but in the realm, she’s stuck as it. She’s not really aware for trials, but remembers them with decent clarity, and is in constant agony over what she’s done. Unfortunately, suicide does not take in the realm, and every one of her attempts failed, just like her attempts to maim or tie herself up so she wouldn’t be able to hurt people did. She’s horribly alone and despairing, and also in physical agony. She’s at the worst end of what a human can be at as far as emaciation and starvation while still being alive goes, and that’s physically awful. It fucks up your brain chemistry too, and everything is just really fucking miserable all the time. It hurts to move, it hurts to breathe, your breath smells tastes like rotten fruit but in a way that’s so much worth than that can sound. She’s so hungry, her addons are things like dragonfly wings consumed to give her extra stamina. That’s the kind of bare sliver of relief she ever gets. God, poor Lisa’s life is hell. She’s completely heartbroken and isolated and almost dead. As far as relationships go, she didn’t have any for a long time. No one can really interact with her, because she goes feral at the sight of food. She’s kinda utterly alone. But briefly, when Alex, Philip, Vigo, Benedict, and Sally were a group, she kind of got stumbled into, and after a kind of nasty first encounter, was able to regain lucidity around other people, and had a truly sweet and memorable and invaluable bit of time with love and friends and other people. She was kind of in love with Sally, who did her hair for her and was really kind to her, and Sally liked her too. They were close. Lisa was close with all of them. But when things ended the way they did, the Entity took that away. Lisa remembers it, but she could never get them or it back, and was cast aside and left behind until the end of ILM, when she finally got peace and found happiness in finally getting to be at rest in the arms of a friend. Overal, she’s a fairly young and wide-eyed, bright, cautious, fun and sweet girl by nature, now massively traumatized and hopeless and broken, but still with a truly incredible amount of that kind nature retained. She would have really loved reading fantasy novels aloud and exploring the worlds of lore and history, travelling, seeing other cultures and geographic features and animals. Enjoys fashion too, and has a heart for designing and making cool, personal and cultural and symbolic tied designs, and would have been both great at that and loved it if she’d lived long enough. (Shoutout to @artianaiolanthe who inspired the fashion take & it is so suited to her I love it). A little shy, but an extrovert at heart under it, just a nervous one. Loved people. Liked climbing trees and fording brooks and baking bread and throwing rocks and baseballs to knock a target out of a tree and win a prize at little town fairs. Didn’t get the length or quality of life she was owed, and it’s just not fair or okay at all. Liked to watch the stars.

As far as getting better goes, mentally, totally. If they could get her out of the realm or break the Entity’s connection, she’d immediately stop killing. She has never done it of her own free will. She’s a sweet small town kid who was just trying to live her life. As far as physically goes though, Lisa is in one of the worst possible spots. Unlike say Amanda, who was on death’s door but healed by the Entity, or the Legion, who weren’t injured at all, Lisa was on death’s door and like Adiris, did not get healed. Just preserved in that near-death state and forced to work in it. Honestly, it’s possible she could survive long enough to get to a hospital and be saved, but at best, she’d probably live another year. When you starve, your body begins to catabolize/eat your own tissue to save itself, starting with fat, and ending with muscles and organs, which, when it reaches the heart, kills you. Lisa was so close to dead, the organ damage was probably awful, and would leave her with complications that would take her very young. The most likely thing, since she was saved literally seconds before death, would be for her to step outside the realm and immediately die. However, it’s possible she got lucky on body damage and could be saved—kinda up to interpretation—and if say, she was around for Quentin’s Vigil going healing batshit, and got some organs repaired that way, she’d have a real shot. (I also am sad. Lisa was actually the only determinate character in ILM to me/that I wasn’t sure the ending for, and while I am very happy with what ended up being her closure, I also would like to see her live for even more love and peace TuT. Lol, if I ever end up doing my goddamn four fate route fics like I’ve joked now a truly dangerous number of times about doing [>.> me @ me] then maybe she will get a variety of lives in the end). I’m glad you wanted to know! I really like and pity her. This poor kid really did nothing wrong, much like Rin, and just got eternally tortured for asking for help and justice against the monsters who took her life so violently. Fuck Brittany. (Read: the Entity.)

Ahhhh Sally. My sweet, sweet girl. Uhhh, not sure which of the Lisa questions you meant for her too, so I’ll try to speed-answer them all? Sally’s intelligent and understanding and thoughtful, patient, polite, almost elegant despite how impoverished she spent most of her life—she just tries to act like a lady and treat people with as much respect and esteem as she can (unless they suck lol). She’s also very mentally damaged and not there though, and has extremely unstable mood swings, especially into despair. Her relationships with the other killers were limited. She talked to & was on polite terms with any who would talk to her and not be condescending or a dick so openly she’d pick up on it (so like, on cordial terms with Evan, Herman, Caleb if she’d been there that long, but not like, Kenneth or Freddy or someone who wouldn’t bother to put up an act). But mostly, after figuring out she wasn’t really of any use to them, they quit communicating with her. Sally has been extremely isolated since shortly after being taken. She believes that the survivors are innocent and suffering and knows that they don’t deserve the hunt, but has no way to stop the whole system, and has been convinced by the Entity that if she does a good job and earns moris, the ones she strangles to death get to stay dead instead of coming back after death to suffer endlessly again, so she works very dedicatedly and slowly trying to earn kills to save them. It took her physical eyes when it got her and lets her see through it’s powers, and uses that to randomize what survivors look like in her memory so she doesn’t catch wise it’s the same people over and over and she’s not saving them at all. It’s extremely tragic. God it’s one of the most cruel Entity tricks, which is saying a lot. Poor gentle woman is Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill day after day year after year and she doesn’t even know how hopeless and meaningless it all is. : (

When the Vigo-Philip-Alex-Benedict team was going, though, she met and attacked, then was convinced to instead befriend them, and quickly became very attached and well liked by them. Met Lisa while with the group, and became extremely fond of her and loving towards her and was truly, truly happy for a brief period of time. Still remembers her, even as lost as all her memories are. Not her name, but what she looked like to Sally, and how her hair felt, and how nice it was. Sally would have considered everyone in that group a dear friend, and in ILM, Philip most definitely becomes her deepest, closest, and best friend, just like she does to him. She’s a very faithful woman to her soul. Loved her family, loved her husband and mourned him, worked as hard as she could. Cared for her patients, and did her best in that hell until the Entity slowly whittled away at her sanity until it broke her mind and left her convinced the only way to end their pain would be to give them death, and she had to do it to save them. Sally loves little pretty things and neatness and collections. Flowers, bows and ribbons, china and colored glass. She would have treasured gifts like decorative holiday cards and carved animal figures and left them on her mantle or carefully tucked in lovingly organized and decorated books she could open to revisit the memory. Likes dresses and skirts and the way the wind feels. Hopeful and very enduring. Loving. Had a mom heart, and will never really get entirely over the loss of her children, but is strong and kind and will find new love that makes life still worth living in other people. Will remember both kindness and cruelty a long, long time. Loved Quentin from the second he gave her flowers (Dwight: Quentin, why did the entity let you have three moms? Quentin: Because I fucking earned it >:[“ [author’s note: he did. God that poor kid...]). Loved Kate from the day she sat with her in a hospital and held her hand. Is like that. Remembers small kindness and treasures them.

Sally could definitely recover. Not all the way probably, physically or mentally, but by far enough to be complete and happy and realized and who she wants. She never meant to hurt people, so she really just needs some stability, and I think she finds that with her new family. I mean, it is a lot to adjust to. It’s been like nearly 100 years. The Entiry broke her mind, and she’s got some damage that just probably can’t ever be fixed, but a lot can be, with drugs and treatments and therapy and kindness and a good support system, and honestly, the biggest things she needs are people to keep her memories together and herself present, and influences to protect her from being manipulated and controlled now that she’s so suggestible and easy to hurt, and she’s got that. I am 100% certain that while some things—the scatteredness, the ease of slipping into other moods especially deep sadness, the different way of thinking altogether—never leave her, she gets better in the most important ways and is truly happy and quite functional and what she wants to be. While there’s no way (yet anyway lol. Cybernetics that good when?) to give her new eyes since the Entity ripped hers out, and she’s blind now, and can’t be changed, her seeing eye dog does a great job for her, and she’s very happy and adjusts well. She has a lot of friends to be her eyes, and learns to lean into what she can do and has a quite fulfilling and blissful life outside the realm in ILM.

Also: thanks for the recs! I’m going on a run soon, and I’ll add those to my iPod and give ‘em a listen if I can. Hope this answered what you wanted to know! ^u^

[pixs-pinings]

Me? Interested in Persona 5? No wayyy...

Warning for long post!

I had this written differently before I accidentally closed this tab, but I recovered the infodump well!

So... Yeah, Ribbon! My Persona 5 SI, my Phantom Thief SI. Still want to work on a possible real name- I wanted to go with a continuation of the plot threads I thought of with my P4 si, but... nah. Two separate SIs. Even if P5 si was also from the real world, I want them to be different for. Reasons.

She would awaken in the same place as Makoto- Kaneshiro's palace. I want to slip her in somewhere, and I feel like that case would feel the most... Natural? After futaba, a lot of shit picks up, and, as seen with Haru, can be a bit awkward. (And... Yes. I'm going to try to make that arc...... Not Suck? Maybe keep Morgana self loathing but...)

As for her awakening itself... She and Makoto have similar reasons! Both of them were previously known as prim and proper students, but then awaken to a sense of Justice, and are able to go all out. After looking a bit into myself, I was like "wow Makoto really is sorta like how I would awaken maybe" because like... I want to fight against injustice and hatred in society, but I'm scared because of the law- and, like Makoto, in p5, I could snap past that. Fuck the law, I want to stop people from being HURT by society's ineptitude. Haha...

Also, a reason for the involvement in the first place- Kaneshiro's reach is... far. Its very possible that people in Kosei were affected- and, in fact, judging by Yusuke being able to gather information, they were. So... Say that one of Ribbon's friends were being used... selling her body, perhaps... Hmmm...

Yes, both Makoto and my p5 SI- can I call her just Ribbon for now?- are third year students at their school. Yes, for Ribbon's backstory, I think I want her to be a Kosei student! Maybe there because of an art scholarship- writing??- or maybe a financial education scholarship, or maybe just that whoever her guardians are, biological or not, they sent her to that school with the money they had. But... Third year. I am 19 irl- and she would be 18 during the majority of the story, turning 19 in that february because surprise I'm a February baby.

Oh, yes, and her costume! She's a magical girl. Supposed to be based off of one- I gave her ribbons and feathers and a poofy dress and high boots with thick soles and gloves... Also, her mask is simple, but... I had the base form of a butterfly, and added on some mask details and also feathers. The ribbons on the lower part of her dress are more noticeable, though. Hence, her name of Ribbon. Unless y'all can think of any better...

As for WHY magical girls? Well, she thought magical girls were cool! Yes, this reflects on me! Ribbon watched magical girl shows ever since she was a young child, and always got this idea of fighting off evil by using bright magic! And punches. And kicks. When Ribbon grew older, while she never grew out of it, she tried to keep it to the back of her mind. She always still kept an eye on one of the magical girl shows- hmm... Beauty Cure? Beaucure? (Yes. Based on Precure.) And it was pulled back to the front with her awakening, because that's always the type of stuff she liked believing in- a magical force of good fighting against forces of evil... OUTSIDE OF THE NORMAL FIGHT AGAINST EVIL SOCIETY TRIES TO DO... Yeah. Mhm. Doesn't that seem familiar.

Oh, yes, I'm going to call the SI by the name of Ribbon- still unsure of if I should use Pix or if I should make up a japanese name that fits a bit closer to my real one, haha.

Her role of the team is... Well, sorta like a magical girl? She has light attacks, which does include the instant kill ones later (points @ magical girls and the series having magical attacks be the magical girl's finishing move), but she also can serve another role... Providing Buffs and giving Debuffs. I mean, magical girl power ups over the season is like a buff... And their attacks debuff the enemy... I would be tempted to also give her some healing things... Maybe later. After all, there are buff moves that are like "gain all three buffs at once!" And she'll get those! So maybe she can also be the status healer...? Dunno. Haven't really watched battle gameplay of p5- even if it's fancy, its... Boring to watch. Oops. Battle dynamics...

As for who her Persona is... I haven't thought of it. I haven't even looked into it either. I was thinking... Her first Persona would be probably an ancient magical girl? Pfft. Funny to say it like that. Maybe a fictional magical girl who was definitely outside the bounds of rules. Maybe villain, maybe hero. Her second persona would... be a goddess. Not the goddess of Magic, since. (stares at Ann.) But. A goddess of something important. Light? Hmm.

Her weapon is... A staff. Kinda a stick, but also it IS something to hurt with. Swing it around, smack someone in the side or head... Use it to adjust your position... Twirling it around... A magical girl doesn't use conventional weapons.

Oh, yeah! Here's where I closed out of the tab by accident. I went to go look at something and my phone pulled a trick on me... Anyway, moving on...

Futaba Sakura is 4'11. Ribbon is 5'. Short squad! Ribbon is irritated about getting teased for it, but is indeed 18- during the story, anyway- and just... Hasn't. Grown. Makoto is 5 inches taller. Interesting.

Ribbon's (outside of battle) role is... well, data gathering, and plan pulling. Makoto thinks of the plans, and can, indeed, push them out to the team... But for group planning sessions, Ribbon is the one listening to everyone's suggestions, and then addressing them... and giving them to the leader to mull over, as well. Make sure everyone is heard.

Oh, idea there... Ribbon also, like me, used to be a theater kid! It helped her grow more used to people around her, more used to speaking, and also technical details on things. Even if she isn't all outgoing, she still shows influences of it with analogies she makes sometimes.

(Spoilers for P5... Brief Warning. Skip to next parantheses for past that spoiler gone.)

During the Phantom Thieves' plans to decieve Akechi into believing he is totally fooling them, Ribbon could easily be very important with that acting experience. While coming up with the plan, Ribbon will definitely state theater terms, backstage, actors, scene changes... And she will definitely help the others get more into character. Staring at you, Ann... For a more believable lie... pull forth a truth similar to this situation and keep that tucked next to your heart... say your lines... and then, when that's over, let it go.

(Spoilers over! Yayyy)

So. Have you guessed who i want to f/o yet? If the answer is yes, congrats, you ain't blind to subtext!

Ribbon's costume is definitely on the lighter side! And... Yes, its definitely pink based. Solid pink ribbons... Light, soft pink dress... A mainly pink mask... I do think the feathers are another color, with those little x marker things that most of the feathers belonging to sharing a similar color, though maybe a different shade. I am... Not good with costume design, though. The accents on her mask would be similar colors to it...

Her hair is black. Darker than Makoto's, yes. She is light skinned, with barely a tan forming on her. Her mask actually covers up her obvious freckles on her face! Her arms, however, still have their freckles showing. (Not in the picture, because i forget about my arm freckles a lot...) (Also not in the picture is the frills on her dress but shhhh)

As for her Confidant? Uh... Hmm... To get to know her... Oh! She can show you her art and writing, sort of brush off her achievements with it because haha not as good as Yusuke Kitagawa's more official art... And her confidant would be helping her tap more into her confident side, whether it be for her own personal projects, or even for her just in society in general! While not as bad as Futaba, she still doesn't like approaching other people... And when that happens, and maybe culminates in her verbally cussing at someone who's been pressing her down for a while now and getting them to lay off her thanks to that newfound confidence. Not a Mementos Target, though she does bring that up but brushes it off as 'just a petty bully thing', but something she deals with herself!

.... Oh, Arcana... Uh. I think... you know how the Jester arcana was like... Another version of the Fool? Wait, the Thoth deck doesn't have an alt Priestess...? Fuck. Uh. Congrats, Akira! You get SUPER DUPER PRIESTESS BONUS. ... Please help

For her Confidant Ability.... Probably something to do with her Magical Girl influnces? The first idea I thought of was like... being able to be a temporary "safe" zone- while in the palace, she could... extend her magical girl light out and create a Barrier that prevents the shadows from noticing her. It will always stay a temporary ability, of course, since otherwise would pribably negate difficulty? But the period would become longer as her confidant goes up. The period of time would be extremly cut down during the times of actually stealing a treasure- after all, the palace ruler is EXPECTING the phantom thieves. No amount of magical girl protecting light would hide that expectation... Or. Something like that.

Also, her last skill. Instead of being like... Making the ability of protecting/anti detecting light last practically forever, its a SUPER STRONG BATTLE ABILITY. What is it? Well... uh... Still have to decide. My current idea has to do with a magical girl blast. Like, activate her light ability right as you get into a battle, and that actually does something- fires a big blast as the battle starts and inflicts damage on the enemy... Hmm. That, or she gets a special version of the all out attack that always kills? Has to be her leading the all out attack, though. What do y'all think...?

Oh, speaking of all out attacks! Hers (or her normal one if I go with the second idea in the above paragraph) would have her landing, spinning around, and doing a sharp "v" pose with her fingers, standing tall and with a grin. Think... Uh... Sailor Moon? I looked up some images and a few I found, with the peace sign arm outstretched, fit that mental image. The other hand would be on her hip, and, of course, she would be winking. Ah, girl vibes.

Yes. I am aware that could be similar to Ann. When i thought of it, i was like "hmmm" but then was like "I do that! and also there's a different between a lean and a wink with the peace sign to your chin rather than a stand/slight slouch and a wink and a peace sign held upward rather than close to the body"

Also, her little line in the background would be "light has prevailed!" In like... Bubbly letters? And it looks like light is shining from behind the letters.

Sure, Ribbon would have a romance route with Akira... but I don't consider that canon. It would make sense that he could POSSIBLY fit my type? But. Nah. Not SUPER attached. Pal at most. Speaking from outside here... In game, with the friendship forming? Maybe so. Anyway, not canon.

Oh my god i just realized Queen and Ribbon have like... Opposite sorta aesthetics. Dark Biker to Light Mage.

Anything else I can think of... Oh, a spoilerly thing.

(I don't believe I can think of anything else to say, so for those who want to be unspoiled on certain things in p5, end of post is the next paranthesis. For others...)

For her reaction to the announcement of Akira's "suicide", it would be something like... Well... A hand to her mouth, and a furrow to her brow... but she doesn't sound like she is going to cry. Instead, she goes, "Ah...", like... Realizing. Like a "hmmm" tone instead of one trying to hold back tears. And then like... Ryuji's scene is after that. And those of you who have seen the scene know what the scene is. So like, if the player was confused by Ribbon, Ryuji smacks them with a direct confirmation.

(And... That's it! Sorry for the long post, I am both unsure of if the read more code trick works on mobile anymore and also am unsure of, if it does work, which version of the trick is the correct one. Because i remember two different versions. Fuck.)

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E2; Chapter Two, Trick or Treat, Freak - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

After Will sees something terrible on trick-or-treat night, Mike wonders whether Eleven’s still out there. Tensions grow between Y/n and Mike as does their concern for Will.

||3rd Person POV||

The smell of french toast wafted through the cabin as it sizzled on the frying pan. Hopper glances over his shoulder to see a small figure standing stiff with a white sheet draped over it and two eye holes cut out. The unexpected sight had startled the man.

"Oh, Jesus!"

"Ghost." El stated from under the sheet.

"Yeah, I see that." He said.

Hopper brought the frying pan of french toast over to the counter to serve.

"Halloween."

"Sure is. But now, it's breakfast, okay? Come on, let's eat."

"They wouldn't see me." She said softly, grabbing the man's attention as he brought the food to the table.

"Who wouldn't see you?"

"The bad men."

"What are you talking about?" He said, taking a seat.

"Trick or treat."

He turned to look at her. "You want to go trick-or-treating?"

She stood in silence, confirming his fears.

He frowned and stood up. "You know the rules."

"Yes, but-"

"Yeah, so you know the answer." Hopper softly grabbed her by the shoulders and guided her backwards as he spoke.

"No, but they wouldn't see me." El protested.

"No. Hey. I don't care."

"But they wouldn't see me."

"I don't care, alright?" His voice rose slightly as he bent down to her level. "You go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks. All right? They're stupid, and..."

"We're not stupid!" She growled.

"Exactly."

"Now, you take that off, sit down and eat. You're food's getting cold."

With a pout on her face, El ripped the sheet off her head, letting it fall to the ground. She let her small body collapse in the chair across from Hopper and she stared at the floor sadly.

Hopper noticed the longing in El, and he felt the remorse and guilt creeping in. He finished pouring syrup on both of their plates and sighed, head leaning against his palm as he rubbed his face.

"All right, look... how about I get off early tonight, and I buy us a bunch of candy, and we can sit around and get fat, and we watch a scary movie together."

"How's that for a compromise?"

The young girl gave him a puzzled look and the foreign word.

"Co-Compromise?"

"C-O-M-promise. Compromise. How about that's your word for the day? Yeah? It's something that's in-between. It's like halfway happy."

"By, 5-1-5?" She asked hopefully.

He nodded his head. "5:15. Yeah, sure."

She looked down at her lap and then back at him. "Promise?"

He leaned forward, looking her in the eye and nodding his head firmly. "Yes. I promise.

She lightly shrugged her shoulders. "Halfway happy."

She grabbed her fork and began eating. Hopper smiled at her softly and leaned forward and ruffled her curly hair, bringing out a light chuckle from El.

The two fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the morning. El tried desperately to enjoy the company while it lasted, knowing in just a few short hours she would be left alone with her thoughts once more.

+++

"Will? Come on, honey, up and at 'em." Joyce Byers stops at the end of the hall and she can feel her stomach plunge as she see finds her youngest son's room empty.

"Will?"

The dreaded sense of dejavu creeps in and she rushes to the end of the hall where Jonathan is making breakfast.

"Jonathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Will?"

"What?"

"Where's Will?"

"He's not in his room?"

"No."

Suddenly there was a small clank that came from the bathroom.

Joyce rushed to the door in a panic, her heart pounding. She threw the door open to find Will standing in front of an open toilet.

"Will?"

"What are you doing?" Her voice came out in a shaky matter as she tried to calm her racing heart.

Will stood there in confusion and he gestured to the toilet. "Peeing?"

"Okay." She breathed out a chuckle and a sigh of relief as she left and closed the door behind her, hearing the sound of the toilet flushing.

***

"Okay..." Joyce had just helped Will into his Ghostbusters jumpsuit.

She reached for the homemade proton pack that rested on his bed, and helped the device onto his back. "Let's get this...on."

"Oh! You need some tape. Hold on." She let go of the loose wire that hung lazily from his pack and walked quickly towards his desk.

Grabbing a piece of tape, she couldn't help but notice a drawing that stuck out to her. It was barely peeking out from under piles of other drawings but she grabbed in and fears began returning.

It was unlike the others. It was extremely detailed, and black white which she noted he almost never did. The landscape was familiar, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it. The most unsettling part of course, was the large looming figure that took center stage. It reminded her of spider the way it stood and everything in it's path was shadowed, although she could tell, it wasn't from the swarm of thunder clouds but the monster itself.

It chilled her. She turned to Will. "What's this?"

Will seemed taken aback, but he quickly recovered.

"Nothing." He started to shift on his feet.

"Did you have another episode?"

"No, it's just, um... a sketch for a story I'm writing."

Joyce sighed, discarding the drawing wanting so badly for that to be true, so did believed it.

+++

"Three, two, one..."

"Great. Hold up the photo blaster."

Jonathan snapped another picture of his brother, Will gleaming in his suit as Jonathan continued to instruct him. Their mother was watching giddily as she smiled at her youngest son. The question she'd been dying to ask on the tip of her tongue.

"All right, now turn to light."

Will did just that, aiming his proton blaster towards a spot on the wall across the room.

"So," Joyce drawled. "[Y/N]'s coming over tonight before hand so we can grab some pictures of you two, right?"

Will felt a blush creep up.

"Mom," Will protested, his smile betraying him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she threw her hands up in surrender but persisted in asking more questions. "So, she is going as...?"

"Janine," Will mumbled, as Jonathan snapped another picture.

"Right, right..." Joyce winced. "And she is...?"

"The receptionist and confidant-"

"Spengler's girlfriend..." Jonathan answered, the mischievous grin of an older brother plastered on his face.

Will felt a blush creep all the way up from his neck, Jonathan took this opportunity to "accidentally" get a picture of his flustered younger brother.

"Jonathan!" Laughed Will.

"What? It's so obvious, and hey, you guys are the ones who chose the costumes."

"It's a coincidence..." He mumbled.

Jonathan and Joyce smirked as Will tried to regain his composure, acting as if the exchange hadn't completely flustered him.

Which it did.

||Reader's POV||

"Oh! Let me see those pearls! Yeah! [Y/N], you almost ready?"

"Coming mom!"

I adjusted the big pair of glasses on my head and slipped on the red sweater vest, completing the outfit. On my way out of my room, I grabbed my first piece of gum out of my pocket stash and popping it in my mouth. The plaid shirt we found worked perfectly for Janine, I was so glad we were able to find everything in time.

I ran back out the hall and my mom greeted me with a squeal.

"Oh! You two look so good, get in there with your brother, honey."

We got a few nice pictures in, Dustin had his ghost trap, it it quite impressive, I must admit.

The last photo consisted of Dustin proudly holding up his ghost trap, while I chose to be in character. I had my back turned to him, my arms folded and in the middle of blowing a bubble as I casually roll my eyes.

***

"Na na na Na na Na"

We had just pulled into school on our bikes, and we all parked them on the bike rack. I silently counted myself lucky that I didn't have to lug a giant proton pack on my shoulders all day.

We all finished the anthem with "Who you gonna call?". It was then that I heard q familiar voice call "Ghostbusters!"

I turned around to see Will in his costume, it looked great.

"Hey, Spengler!"

"Egon! Looking sharp!" I beamed, greeting him with a quick hug.

"Janine! Venkman!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mike frowned, gesturing to Lucas's name tag.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Why are you Venkman?"

"Because I'm Venkman." Lucas shrugged.

"No, I'm Venkman."

"Why can't there just be two Venkmans?" Will asked, and I nodded looking to the boys.

"Because there's only one Venkman in real life. We planned this months ago." Mike snapped.

"Mike, calm down. It's alright,"

"I'm Venkman, Dustin's Stantz, Will is Egon, you're obviously Janine, and you're Winston." He finished, pointing at Lucas.

"I specifically didn't agree to Winston." Lucas said.

"Yes, you did!"

"I don't think he did." I said gently.

"No one wants to be Winston, man."

"What's wrong with Winston?"

"What's wrong with Winston? He joined the team super late, he's not funny, and he's not even a scientist!"

"Yeah, but he's still cool." Mike argued.

"If he's cool, then you be Winston."

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

Mike started to stutter, "Because..."

We all fell quiet as the argument got bad quickly.

"Because you're not black?" Lucas finished.

"I didn't say that!"

"You thought it."

I took a deep breath as they continued fighting. However, something clicked in my head as I looked around the school.

"Oh, no."

I nudged Dustin as I continued to look around, dread and regret creeping in.

Dustin looked to me and then around, realizing the same awful fact.

"Guys..." Dustin mumbled.

"Guys!" I finally snapped, grabbing their attention.

The other three fell silent and we all watched in horror as everyone got off the bus. In regular clothes.

"Why is no else wearing costumes?"

"Well, shit."

+++

Tag List: @dickkwad @aimee-lucass @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa @miscellaneoustoasts @acexattorney

DM me if you want to be added!

[damnthatnoise]

Darko The Super | Of Dogs & Devils | An Interview

Hip Hop has long been about bravado, skill, and how your personality can capture and pull the listener in even further than just your skillset. There have been many an MC who’s personality sometimes outshined the lyrical prowess for better or worse, but when I sit back and think of some of my favorite MC’s growing up (Redman, Slick Rick, Kool Keith, E-40, and Del to name a few) the personality often was near cartoonish with no real effort from the MC to make it appear that way. Enter MC Darko The Super who since first coming across his music via Already Dead Tapes has oozed oddball personality, and ever evolving skills as an MC. Darko is no joke rapper though, instead he is adept at delivering some stark reality raps littered with glints of humor we often use to cope with the pain of existence. 

Fresh off delivering one of my personal favorites last year in the form of Card Tricks For Dogs, he returns with his friend Steel Tipped Dove to give us The Devil Defeated, and makes a claim as one of the indie hiphop scenes freshest, most colorful, and promising voices making music. 

You can order the digital, cassette and SUPER vinyl copies of The Devil Defeated here, as well as all Darko The Super Items. 

The Devil Defeated by Darko The Super & steel tipped dove

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Damn That Noise: Darko The Super. What’s the origin of that name and what’s it come to mean to you now? 

Darko: I think Darko The Super was my gamertag on Xbox Live before it was my official artist alias. I did two albums as Evan Darko after I seen Donnie Darko in high school. It had a big impact on adolescent me. The Super comes from another big influence on me at the time, MF Doom. My favorite song my senior year was "Dead Bent". I thought the ending of Operation Doomsday was really cool. The way it let you decide between hero or villain. I was big into vigilante justice at the time. I wanted to be like my favorite superheroes. So that's where the name came from. Nowadays it's just a name. More people know me as Darko than my real name these days, so it'd be silly to change it. Name's don't define you. It doesn't matter much to me. Though I like it. 

DTN: You’ve had a pretty prolific young career given that you’ve dropped 10+ projects since 2011, but when we were taking recently you said you’ve just now started to feel like you now know your voice. What’s changed in the last couple of years to get you to that place? 

Darko: Since 2011 I may have done nearly 100 albums. Most haven't lasted. I've deleted and erased most of my material pre 2014 from the face of the internet. (If anyone has a Loser CD, please destroy it.) I put out 10 albums in 2018 alone. All better than the previous. "Watered Down Demon Fuzz" from 2017 is the album I truly found my voice on. I listened back to "Oh, No! It's Darko" for nostalgic purposes and it seems more like a comedy album than anything, and not that good of a comedy album either. I was 18 when I made the first album I put on cd and gave to everyone at shows when I was starting to go out and perform. It was called Loser, inspired by Beck. Next cd I made was a compilation, also terrible, but somehow it's going for $75 on Discogs. I personally don't like anything prior to 2016. "Carve a Happy Face  on my Tombstone" had a few good songs. Those were transformative years. My perspective on life has changed severely. It's hard to be happy with things you create when you're not even happy with who you are. I think in finding myself, I found my voice too. Life will always be a mystery. But at least I'm more comfortable in my own skin at the moment. Therefore more comfortable in my art. 

DTN: Why erase the evidence of growth though? If anything that could show folks the rapid progression of Darko? 

Darko: I'd prefer to leave a better first impression. Maybe I'm too insecure to show people my progression. It's also just a matter of that not being the way I feel anymore as far as the way I wrote back then. 

DTN: Your style is a bit unorthodox in that you kind of dance all over the pocket of the beats, and your inflections seem to change at the drop of a hat. I know E-40 and DOOM are a couple favorites of yours but who else’s impressed a young Darko and helped give us the man we have now? Who made you say “I think this is something I want to do!!”?

Darko: Murdoc and MyGrane McNastee from Orlando, Florida were a couple of the first independent rappers I got into from watching the Wake Up Show freestyles on Youtube. They were big influences on me. From there I got into MF Doom, Madlib, and J Dilla. During the datpiff era, I got really into Charles Hamilton's mixtapes. I was a big fan of a web series around that time called Internet Celebrities. Through them I found out about Das Racist. I remember listening to them for the first time on MySpace. I saw Big Baby Gandhi in a video with them. Later on his Debut would become one of my favorite albums. I was really into going on hip hop blogs. I remember watching Open Mike Eagle rap "Qualifiers" in a laundromat and having my mind blown. He told me Serengeti was his favorite rapper which had me watching every Kenny Dennis video I could find. Dennehy became my favorite album. I got into Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire from seeing the Last Huzzah video with Das Racist, El-P, Despot, and Danny Brown. That's still my favorite posse cut. From checking out rap battles I got into Soul Khan who I remember posting about Homeboy Sandman's album The Good Sun. Blogs also got me listening to every Blu song. Her Favorite Color was something special to me. All those artists were huge in developing my approach. Nowadays my favorite rappers of all time are E-40, Serengeti, and Kool Keith

DTN: Card Tricks for Dogs feels like your most fully formed artistic statement yet and The Devil Defeated feels like the exclamation point showing folks you’re a real force. What helped bring those two records to life?

Darko: Both albums took a long time to come together, which usually isn't the case for me. I remember writing some of those Card Tricks for Dogs tracks while on vacation with my girlfriend and her family. I had tons of beats from my good friend and longtime collaborator Phil Ford aka BLKrKRT (Blacker Karat) loaded on my phone for those trips. I started it shortly after meeting Steel Tipped Dove for the first time. I released an album of his on my label and he offered to mix and master some tracks for me. So this was the first solo album of mine I let someone else do all the mixing for. I took my time with it and let it come together naturally. I believe everything happens at it's own time. As for The Devil Defeated, that album started out as a project called Contemplating Lonely Stuff, inspired by a Serengeti lyric. It was for the most part produced by Height Keech and Steel Tipped Dove. Eventually I decided to do albums with each of them separately. The album with Dove was pretty far along in the process and originally I wanted to call it "Playing Skee-Ball With Zev Love X" but we both agreed that was kinda corny and not many people would get what we were referencing. Then I heard the news of Daniel Johnston passing away, who is a hero of mine. I listened to nothing but Daniel for a few days straight and a few lyrics in particular stuck out to me. The one that landed was "The Devil Defeated" another possibility was My Yolk is Heavy. Me and Dove made over 20 songs for this album and eventually narrowed it down to the most cohesive project we could. We'll be doing a follow up of course. That's in the works now. I'm very proud of this album. My favorite track is a story I wrote based on a song called "Suzy's Face" by my favorite punk band, The Spits. I had to convince Dove on that one. There's another track I tried to convince him about too, but that will never see the light of day since I ended up agreeing with him. 

DTN: You’ve has a chance to work with a lot of interesting and well loved folks. How the hell did the tracks with Lil’B, Charles Hamilton, Denmark Vessey and others come about? 

Darko: I did an album called “Thank You BasedGod” dedicated to Lil B. I produced a track for him way back in 2014. He reached out to me after TYBG and offered to do a track together. So I sent him a couple  Steel Tipped Dove beats and he chose the one that ended up on the album. Later I saw Charles Hamilton posting about doing features. I sent him the Lil B track since that’s a dream collaboration of mine. Lil B is a big Charles Hamilton fan, and they’re both internet gurus of their eras. Charles conquered the blog era by releasing tons of free albums on his own blog, landing on all the mixtape sites. Lil B mastered social media and became a marketing genius, even transpiring music. I’m proud to say the first time they worked together was with me. As for getting Denmark Vessey on the album, he had already worked with Dove and toured with my good friends, The Difference Machine. I was the one who showed them his album Buy Muy Drugs while I was out in Atlanta for a week. That album’s my favorite of the decade. He had posted about doing features so I sent him an email and made it happen. 

DTN: You’ve released a lot of projects via Already Dead Tapes as well as starting UDDTBA. What is the connection with ADT and why start your own label? What have you learned from ADT and how has the played into how you run your label?

Darko: Already Dead Tapes taught me everything I need to know about running a record label. I met them in 2014 when I sent over my latest at the time “Oh, No! It’s Darko.” They were nice enough to release that on cassette. Soon after they invited me to play their weekend long festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I brought along ialive and we booked our first tour. Staying in Kalamazoo at the Knights Inn we recorded an album together and formed the now infamous duo The Hell Hole Store. From there we’ve played the Already Dead fest every year and I’ve released quite a few albums on Already Dead Tapes. U Don’t Deserve This Beautiful Art was grown out of wanting to support my friends and artists I admire. I brought on my best buds Steel Tipped Dove and Harvey Cliff to help me run things. Now the sky’s the limit. 

DTN: “Suzy” is life a very interesting record as is “lo-fi princess” off of The Devil Defeated. You mentioned the influence for “Suzy” came from another artists song...how’d this end up on your record and why? Also what’s the idea behind “Lo-Fi..”? 

Darko: During my commute one day I listened to The Spits first self titled album. I hadn’t played it in a while and instantly remembered why they’re the best. One song in particular stuck with me throughout that ride, “Suzy’s Face”. I decided to write a song building off of their track. Almost like taking a short story and creating a movie. I tried to describe in detail about why someone would shoot Suzy in the face at a high school dance. So that’s what I came up with. Lo-fi princess 2 is a sequel to the original from “Watered Down Demon Fuzz” both love songs to my girlfriend, Alora. I liked the phrase cos it reminded me of “Bow-tie Daddy” by Frank Zappa. Now that I think of it, an actual Lo-fi princess would be an anime babe trapped in the track art of a SoundCloud beat. We’d have to defeat the chill hop brigade to save her. 

DTN: You and iAlive have a really dope chemistry and have two very different styles but similar energies that work so well off of each other. What makes that partnership work and why’d you guys want to keep it going after the one hotel infused brainstorming session?

Card Tricks For Dogs by Darko The Super & BLKrKRT

Darko: We kept it going cos there were more hotel sessions to be had. On tour you’re on the highway with a lot of time on your hands. That’s where most of our songs and ideas come from. We set up shop where ever we’re staying and start to bring these ideas to life. The people seem to like us and we enjoy performing together. That’s what keeps the hell hole going. We survive off friendship and fun times. 

DTN: Okay sir Darko. You can only eat at two fast food places for the next year because you lost a bet. Where you going??

Darko: Obviously Taco Bell is numero uno, I’m a big Taco Bell enthusiast. Next would be Wendy’s, best fast food burgers by me, and they got those spicy nuggets. Plus I heard their salads are good too, which I would need a salad every now and then. I don’t think this is too far off from my normal diet. Worst thing that could happen is I have a heart attack. But I’m on that path anyway. Maybe I’ll start exercising. Maybe. 

DTN: What are you picking if you only have Thor and Spider-Man as costumes for Halloween?!

Darko: Spider-Man of course. I could pull off a husky Spider-Man. Family Guy made it look good. I’d need the fake muscles for Thor. Fake muscles never look good. I don’t have the luxurious hair either. 

DTN: What’s the writing process like for you?! Do you let the beat decide the direction? Do you have an idea or some lyrics written and you locate a beat that fits?

Darko: Either or. Writing always comes to me. It’s second nature. If it doesn’t come to me, I don’t write. That’s all there is to it. I only write when I’m inspired. That’s an easy way to go about it. My number one thing is creativity, I don’t wanna be complex or even an intellectual. I want my lyrics to be universally understood. 

DTN: So what’s next on the horizon for Darko The Super?

Darko: Next up I’m working on an album with skits from a comedian friend of mine. He does tons of great characters and videos as Hot Talent Buffet. I think he’s a comedic genius. I’m also working on an album sampling nothing but my favorite band 10cc, titled “Strawberry Studios Jam ‘72” and another album sampling one of my favorite songwriters, Dean Friedman. The Dean and I have a 7” record on the way with my remix of his classic “McDonald’s Girl” on the B side with the original on the A side. I have a couple other collaborative albums coming along. The artist they’re with wants me to hold off announcing it until they’re ready, but I will say it’s a dream collaboration and I’m very excited for it. 

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[beingatoaster]

Elaborations, since where would I record my notes BUT the public venue of my Tumblr:

First off, I got "Glarhyk" from a random name generator and I've mixed it up with another character's name twice already, so I played around with goblin-ish sounds at work today and the bugbear's name is Heggluk now.

She's definitely soldier background, and was captured as a prisoner of war. I don't know much about the conflict, and I don't think she did either, but her side was mixed-race--goblinoids integrated with other races, I think possibly a legion that allied with neighbors and combined forces so they could more effectively spread out their greater expertise. In any case, they weren't the original aggressors, but their enemies, Caolinn's country, got a lot of mileage out of the "goblin threat."

In any case, Heggluk was one of only a few bugbears in her integrated unit, and she thought herself good friends with the non-bugbears. She was protecting them, helping them, doing good, she felt valued and important.... But when she was badly wounded in an ambush while defending them, they left her to die. She remembers, vaguely, someone trying to lift her, and someone else snarling, "the brute can take care of itself," before she was dropped back into the mud. Not a good feeling.

She was the first live bugbear taken prisoner by these guys, and she ended up at this weird little hill fort where they seemed to be hiding some wizards working on experimental magic. Nasty experiments. On the physical end, none of her torturers measured up to what she's seen a hobgoblin inquisitor pull off, but once they realized they weren't getting any info out of her, they let the wizards at her, and also used her to intimidate other prisoners until she realized that's why they kept provoking her and stopped responding.

If I go Wild Soul, that's where that comes from! But Berserker's mechanics also fit bugbear lore really well, so I'm still undecided. (Leaning towards Wild Soul just because I love the idea of her being super blase about it, ngl.)

Caolinn is Entertainer background, not sailor--she grew up on the docks, and many of her relatives were dockside merchants or fisherfolk living under the radar (sailors are a mixed bunch themselves and won't judge a little fur), but from a young age she was tumbling and doing tricks to entertain sailors and earn some coin. (Since she has Acrobatics as a racial trait, I'm subbing in Sleight-of-hand.)

Shifters need to fly under the radar in this country, because there's a whole thing about half-breeds and mongrels that everyone gets hung up on, there. E.g., humans and elves are both respectable things to be, but half-elves have it rough. And people who are arguably part-animal... learn to he discreet.

She's definitely an Inquisitive rogue, and was straight-up a spy for a group of anti-government idealists who was sent to steal some info from the same isolated hill fort. They weren't sure what was happening there, but they knew it wasn't good. Which she had confirmed for her when they caught her at it.

Probably she would've been pipelined to the wizards after thorough questioning about her activist friends, too--they already had some shifters, but it's still good to have a wide range of subjects. (Though the existing shifters meant the wizards were brought in to help question her from the start.) However, Heggluk threw a wrench in that, as mentioned above, and they ended up liberating the whole place.

Also, at some point Caolinn gets to introduce Heggluk to her family as someone who rescued her, and Heggluk is adopted with breathtaking speed. (I realize this ends up sounding a little Grog-and-Pike, but since Heggluk is in her thirties, at the least, she ends up being the Cool Aunt.)

(Caolinn, by comparison, is 14. Which is adult by shifter standards, but still, Heggluk definitely has the "if we were friends back then, I would've been hanging out with a BABY" reaction st some point.)

Glarhyk and Caolinn, a couple of characters who ate my brain today after some discussion of Wild Soul Barbarians (including Coyote’s new one, who, while she did not go in that direction, sparked some trope association for me). Glarhyk is a Soldier-background hobgoblin barbarian and probably Wild Soul herself, though Totem or Berserker would also work for her, and Caolinn is a probably-Sailor-background wiftstride shifter rogue, either Inquisitive or Scout (probably Inquisitive). I have not been thinking about the mechanics rn so much as noodling on to myself about how they meet, as captives of some rather unpleasant people who have no qualms about torture. Glarhyk has an apathy problem (being left to die by the people you thought were your friends tends to do that to you) and hasn’t bothered to bust herself out despite, y’know, the torture, but when they dump a soft little sneak-thief in her cell, all full of false bravado and bad jokes, and then haul her back out and start in on her… well, Glarhyk still has some rage left in her after all.

(Despite the way their respective screenshots end up showing here on Tumblr, Glarhyk is the Tol and Caolinn is the Smol, with at least a two-foot height difference and enough weight difference that Caolinn can very easily sit on Glarhyk’s shoulder, and often does. Caolinn is arguably fiercer than Glarhyk in the day-to-day, but Glarhyk is significantly more intimidating.)