#i'll get there :DD

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[mutxnts]

don't call it a comeback, i been here for years

(flashing cw)

[another-chaotic-bisexual-vampire]

me, cheering up a crying person: there, there... don't ye dooal an' greet, my deary

[rgco413]

The Ineffable Husbands in Fairy Village were both in the bedroom today!

That doesn't happen often so I thought I'd post about it ^^

Crowley was having a wee nap (on a proper bed!) and Aziraphale was writing something on the desk. (I like to think he's drawing him 💙)

[scriv3lloirl]

Me when I dissociate a lil too hard n then there's a fresh drawin in my notebook.

Orin Scrivello, DDS, let me make you a pretty lil princess. 🦷👑💄

[characteroulette]

All the Stars in the Sky (Ace Attorney)

Jove managed to live the attack and Apollo grew up half in Khura'in, half on the road with his father. Instead of pursuing the stars, Clay ends up facing the sun. A what-if where Clay takes Apollo's place and Apollo gets to have a family.

posting all of what I have for my Jove Lives AU because fuck it, I'll get back to it eventually.... hopefully. orz in the meantime, please enjoy Ace Attorney Clay Terran and Khura'inese siblings Apollo, Nahyuta, and Rayfa

[dailydemonspotlight]

Alright we have some of her Skeleton Granddads, but what about Alice herself?

Alice - Day 67 (Request)

Race: Fiend

Arcana: Death

Alignment: Neutral

July 9th, 2024

Demons are plentiful in the series, many with bizarre origins, but Alice herself is a rare case for the series, and as such, I'll have to make this DDS a bit different as well. Based primarily off of a multitude of sources, Alice is less of a concrete character from a myth or fairy tale, nor an urban legend- no, she's a conglomerate of what can be presumed to be Kaneko's imagination. So, today's Demon Spotlight will be less of a statement of her backstory- it'll instead be a descent into the many mixed fates of this young girl.

Initially, it's easy to pick up that Alice is based primarily off of Alice in Wonderland, the famous fairy tale told by Lewis Carroll going into the story of a young woman named Alice and her slow drifting off into boredom leading her down a quite-literal rabbit hole, ending up in a surreal fever dream-esque wonderland. However, this is only the source for her appearance, being primarily based off of contemporary depictions of the Alice in the story, being a blonde girl- specifically taking inspiration from the Disney movie based on the story.

Even with this, though, it's hard to pin down where her fates throughout the series originate. The series purports her origin as being from a Scandinavian folk tale, yet I've struggled to even pinpoint what the tale in question could even be. The closest I've been able to pin it down to is an Icelandic folk-tale recounted in this blog post.

Frankly, though, this might just be coincidence. It's incredibly hard to tell, given that the story on Alice seems to change constantly from game-to-game, compendium-to-compendium- it's even stated outright, in the Persona World compendium in the first Persona game, that she is simply an original character to the series. So, case closed, right? I'd still like to dig a bit deeper.

Original demons are rare throughout the series, especially after the first Megami Tensei, however, and I've always felt that there needs to be at least some sort of original source for every character- something you can trace the influence back to. Ideas don't just spawn from the ether, after all. And I might've found the original source, outside of simple offhand mentions from various posts and blogs about a secondary source beyond Alice in Wonderland.

Really, this is just speculation, but I believe the folk tale referred to most of the time in compendiums may actually be recollections of several different myths- namely, a conflation of La Llorona, a the ghost of a woman who lost her children and her life and spends her days roaming Mexico aimlessly, looking for children to make her own, the story mentioned earlier called 'Dear Mother, in the pen, pen,' the real world death and subsequent ghost sightings revolving around one Alice Riley, a young woman who was a former slave murdered in the 1700's, and of course, Alice in Wonderland. The behavior that La Llorona is outlined in partaking in is incredibly similar to the behavior stated in the compendiums' offhand mentions, that being that the ghost girl would kill children to gain friends in her eternal afterlife, the name Alice was likely pulled from Alice Riley as well as Alice in Wonderland, and the placing of the mythology in Scandinavian regions likely comes from the icelandic myth mentioned above.

Maybe all of this is me coming to conclusions, but I'd personally state that I think I've narrowed down some of the origins pretty well. The trope of a little ghost girl is widespread, and Alice may also simply be based on that trope, and the excuse of folklore was given to simply divvy up the waters a bit, but I digress. There could be so many different explanations for Alice out there, and while the fact that none of them fully match up is somewhat frustrating, I'd say that I think it's a waste of a good idea to simply brush her off as being just an original character loosely based on Alice in Wonderland.

Even in this spotlight, I feel the need to put a nice bow on things- overall, Alice is an incredibly complicated demon to look into, especially for those who love digging into things like me, but I managed to eventually track down that wild goose, even if it really is just a mirage. I'd be remiss to not mention her weird connections to Belial and Nebiros, as in the first Shin Megami Tensei game, she was brought back to life by those two, and they became her uncles, as referenced later in the series.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

EVAN BUCK BUCKLEY IS BISEXUAL!!!!!!!

WHOOOOOOOOOOO 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎉🎉🎉🎂🎂🎂🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️🥰🥰🥰🥰!!!!

[puffin-smoke]

Bug questions??? In this economy???

1 - Your bug has died. So sorry about that. What do they want on their gravestone?

2 - Your bug is real and coming to kill you! Will you survive? (I know for most of y'all it's a no-)

3 - What is one thing they need to learn? (e.g. some kind of moral lesson)

4 - Scenario???? And its angst?? (@not-5-rats I'm coming for your brand)

Something was up with Duarte. Your Bug knew that. Just what exactly they didn't know.

It was quite late in the evening and all the bugs were downstairs, either arguing over how to cook dinner, Bodie had left for the night to go and grab some of the salt he needed for the salve, or they were going about their various hobbies. Duarte was doing none of these. She'd barely touched her latest project.

She kept looking towards the front door. She was picking at the hem of her poncho, even as her hands were shaking. Occasionally she'd disappear up to her room only to re-emerge a few minutes later. She was clearly waiting for something. Someone.

There's a knock on the door and Duarte is over there in a second. Over her shoulder, Bug sees a woman. Her hair is long and a dark auburn. Her eyes are tired, bitter. A scar runs across her neck, stretching from her collarbone to just underneath her chin.

Duarte smiles weakly. "Nat. I'm-"

The woman interrupts. "Don't call me that."

Duarte's face falls, but she continues anyway. "Oh. Alright. Natalie. I'm glad you got my letter, can we talk?"

There's a pause, and then Natalie speaks again. Her voice has an edge to it, rough and jagged like an overused dagger. "No. We can't talk. I just have a few things I need to say to you, then I'm out of here."

She doesn't give a chance to respond. Any tiredness in her eyes is gone, replaced with something else. "I can't believe you have the nerve to come back here- after all the shit you pulled. You don't get to stroll back into my life, feeling all sorry for yourself. Not after I've moved on. So I'm going to keep this short."

She digs a finger into Duarte's chest, an accusation, a threat, whatever. "Here's your fucking answer: I don't forgive you, I will never forgive you, so stay the hell out of my life."

With that she turns away, taking one unhesitating step away. Duarte grabs her wrist. Natalie doesn't turn around. Her voice is ice.

"Don't fucking touch me."

"Please just-"

Natalie turns around and slaps Duarte across the face. The sound echoes through the room and Duarte's hand goes slack. Natalie leaves.

For a moment Duarte stands there, frozen. She blinks and seems to come back to herself, even if her eyes are slightly glassy. She turns to the bugs.

"I- I need to go."

She races up the stairs. Bug hears a door slam shut.

Do they follow her?

5 - Assign a Villain song to your bug. Duarte calls dibs on Ruthlessness from Epic btw

tags:

@rozeliyawashereyall @willowve01 @asmrbrainrot @kaiamtt @iistxrmyskyii @insignificant-anarchy @stxph-artist @aspenm00n @keyaartz @fangsshadow @rustycopper4use @piffany666 @dreamyshape @idontevenknow7878 @lunaritychuwolf @littlesiren79 @castbracelet240 @strayharmony943 @proxdragon @tiefling-chaos @threeweekinsomnia

@recated @wilderrorcard @diamondzoey @fennaboysenberry @lunnats

@lightdragon789 @pinkcocopuff-aqualoid @itsargyle @not-5-rats @astralbulldragon13

@ccstiles @puffin-smoke @fruity0salad @takashishihoin @megapugman

@reefhastoomanyaccs @kaydenskiwi @greaysharkboi

[mackmp3]

MACK MACK OMG. so ok. next week I'm going to fly to see family I havent seen in forever ok. and amongst them is my aunt. she's my cool aunt TM shes awesome shes queer shes great. well she suggested we go see beetlejuice beetlejuice. i've already seen it and REALLY liked it so yay!! and then she suggested that we go in period typical outfits. and holy shit. holy shit i cannot miss this opporunity. mack. mack one week until Jordan tradgoth era. one week mack

OMG OMG OMGGGGGGG THATS SO COOL AUGAH OGRH THAT SOUNDS AMAMZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG !! JORDAN BEETLEJUICE TRADGOTH ERA !! HELL YEGAHHHHHHHHHHH

[wright-anything-agencyisms]

i will always say that we should've gotten more of the primary colour lawyer trio

[pennamepersona]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN KAZUMA'S FUCKING DEAD????

[totheidiot]

all i can think about is that i am going as L for halloween. I AM GOING AS L FOR HALLOWEEN EEE.

[thatdogmagic]

"A bird in the hand," the judge said.

Audrey has five or so combat barks making it clear she'd been not only arrested, but sentenced to die, and ever since noticing that this image has just kinda been sitting in my head.

Looked for what might pass well as a prison uniform for women, but midway thru realized the Highwayman in II is literally just wearing the old-school stripes and I'd make my life a lot easier if I just went that route, so. Stripes it is.

[carrioncider]

hiii back to drawing here's some progress ^^ look at those head sways. think we're ready to move onto lineart :D

[m1luxlov3st4rs]

any more thoughts about yandere4yandere slimeriana ? i am rotating them in my brain

Halo, i'm really sorry if I made you wait, I had a hard time finding were the asks were😭😭

Okay, to clarify, this au is based of Yandere Simulator (but I do not support yanderedev, ew), so Info-chan would be Cucurucho, and he knows that Slime and Mariana like eachother but he stays silent beacuse he wants them to find out themselves (wich would take a lot of time bc I say so)

I am still thinking about the rivals but here is a mini list of the ones I planned so far and their executions

Slime's rivals

Foolish - drowned

Roier - matched

Spreen - pushed from the rooftop

Fit - crushed by a dumbbell-filled bucket

Melissa - hit by a car

Mariana's rivals

Baghera - befriended and asked to spend less time with Slime

Cellbit - matched

BBH - kidnaped and died from starvation

Etoiles - hired assassin

In the list there's people who doesn't want romantic relationships, just like Roier and Baghera, they are just close friends that can be really annoying sometimes

But Spreen and BBH were killed beacuse Spreen bullied Mariana and Slime didn't like it, and BBH bullied Slime and Mariana didn't like it

I think this is all I have to say for now, if I add anything else I'll post it