#it got like. anime adjacent and i don't know why or how

[warlordfelwinter]

delphi's fireteam is..... trying their best

--

started by @chasing-kitsune telling me mirei was leaving gifts at delphi's door post lightfall, which made me ask if there was any indication of who they were from, which led to ransom note condolences that delphi assumed were somehow from the witness for one fury filled second

[hollowed-theory-hall]

what would tom riddle's patronus?

Okay, it took me some time to answer this ask since I needed to spend some time thinking. I didn't really have an answer in mind until your question. It's just something I apparently never thought about. So I was interested in finding the most canon-adjacent answer I can for if Tom Riddle/Voldemort could cast a patronus, what would it be.

So, my approach to finding the right animal was based on a few factors, the first of which:

How exactly is the form your Patronus takes determined?

Because we don't actually get a straight answer in the books. We know Patroni can change with a person, but we don't exactly get an answer on what their form represents and why some couples have matching Patroni.

Basically, I don't know what you expected, Anon, but what you're getting is some rambling about the magical theory behind the Patronus charm followed by why that means Tom gets a certain animal over another.

So, let's start with the basics, the incantation:

"Expecto Patronum"

This is in Latin and literally translates to: "I await/expect a defender"

And Remus Lupin explains what the Patronus charm is as:

“Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus,” said Lupin, “which is a kind of anti-dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor.” ... “The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.”

(POA, page 237)

We also know the patronus is cast by thinking of a happy memory — well, not really. The memory isn't really important; the emotion is. The memory is to help you have the right happy feelings that can fuel a Patronus. "You got to mean it" just like with an unforgivable.

So, what does it tell us about the Patronus:

We have a defender made out of happiness, literally.

This already sounds like something Tom Riddle would struggle with. I don't really see canon Tom Riddle/Voldemort being capable of producing one, but let's assume he can in some hypothetical AU. Let's take a look at a few patroni to see how their form is chosen and why.

Obviously, we have Harry's (and James') stag. A stag symbolizes many things in different cultures, but deer (both Stags and Does, like Lily and Snape) in general symbolize:

The cycle of life and death

Agility and grace

Bravery

Nobility

All this fits the Potters quite well. The nobility and bravery of Gryffindor and the cycle between life and death. Stags actually represent regeneration, as in a return from death, which fits with the Potters' connection to the Paverells and death perfectly.

Stags also symbolize authority, strength, leadership, and fatherhood, while does symbolize femininity, grace, intuition, and devotion. All in all, both animals fit James and Lily well. And while the stag does fit Harry (to a degree), I don't think his Patronus represents him.

I think Harry's patronus is a stag because James' patronus was a stag. Harry was actually convinced his father cast the Patronus when he first saw it in POA. And it makes sense.

I don't remember where I saw this theory, but it essentially was that your patrons would represent a person or an idea that you feel will defend you. It's why certain couples have matching Patroni, why a Patronus can change when you or your feelings about people change.

And Harry, when he casts his Patronus, the idea of his father who he never knew but would have protected him is the idea represented in Harry's Patronus. It's a stag like James' not because Harry and James are so similar (they have very different personalities actually) but because Harry's Patronus is James. It's a stag because James was a stag, and Harry is calling the concept of his father to defend him.

Following this logic, Lily's Patronus is a doe, because she is the doe. Lily's defender is herself. Courageous, noble, graceful and devoted. Lily's devotion to her son is what literally sets the series into motion. The reason she and James match is that they always have. He was always represented by the stag and she was always represented by the doe. Their Patroni aren't matching because of their relationship with each other, but because they are so compatible their Patroni matched from the get-go.

Snape's Patronus is a doe because of Lily. Lily is represented by the doe. As she was Snape's first friend and defender, whenever he calls for a protector, it's Lily.

Let's look at a few other Patroni, like Hermione's otter:

Playfulness

Joy

Family and close-knit friendships

Loyalty

All of this doesn't really sound like Hermione. Ron's Jack Russell Terrier on the other hand:

Loyalty

Courage

Playfulness

Cleverness

Protectiveness

Tanasity

Does sound very in line with who Ron is.

But then who does Hermione's otter represent? Well, an otter is from the weasel family and the list of characteristics looks closer to Ron's list of traits than Hermione's. I think Hermione's otter represents Ron who did step in to defend her since the troll incident in their first year multiple times.

So, where does that leave Tom Riddle?

Well, we established the Patronus becomes your defender, and in Tom's case, it'll be himself. Tom is distrustful and sees himself as more capable than anyone else. Not to mention he never had a real connection or person in his life he could call upon to defend him. So, whatever animal his Patronus is would represent himself as his own defender.

So, which animal represents Tom best?

The first animal I thought of, is of course: the serpent. Snakes are heavily associated with Tom (for obvious reasons) and is an animal we know he has a soft spot for. When looking at what snakes represent, you can see why he is associated with them:

Deceit

Transformation

Power

Regeneration and rebirth (shedding their skin)

Healing (Cadcadeus)

For the most part, the list seems to fit him well. Specifically their association with rebirth and the cycle of life and death by shedding their skin. Deceit and power are also right up Tom's alley. And even transformation considering he rewrote his entire identity to become Voldemort.

But, just "snake" wasn't good enough for me, I wanted to know which kind. And as I wanted his Patronus to be as rare as Harry's stag, I went to the list of official Pottermore possible Patroni to find a snake that is as hard to get in the test as the stag while not being magical.

(Magical Patroni are incredibly rare and to have yourself represented by a magical creature in your Patronus you need to be incredibly unique or incredibly full of yourself. At least, that's how I see it)

And low and behold, there was one on the aforementioned list:

The King Cobra

So I looked up if this snake has any interesting additional unique symbolism that would fit Tom. And, well, there was:

Authority and Leadership

Aggression and Fearlessness

Destruction and Creation

Intelligence and Cunning

Which all in all sounds fitting for Tom Riddle.

I also continued reading and apparently, snakes are associated with lightning by some Native American tribes. And when I saw that I was sold on the idea. Considering how the killing curse is represented by lightning (Harry's scar and the lightning-struck tower being the name of the chapter Dumbledore dies in). It feels appropriate with Tom's connection with snakes.

The King Cobra is actually not really a Cobra and is considered a unique breed of snake, which Tom would approve of. It's also the longest venomous snake and its venom can result in a rapid fatality, as soon as 30 minutes following a bite. It's also a cannibal snake that eats other snakes, including its own kind.

Overall it just fits perfectly, both in traits, symbolism, and how rare and dangerous it is. So, for your question, I think Tom Riddle's Patronus, if he could cast one, would be a King Cobra.

[softgrungeprophet]

Radiant Black Rundown

(aka: Nadia is going to make a rec post for something that isn't Spider-Man or Spider-Man adjacent for once)

(aka "Please read Radiant Black")

(Radiant Black #10)

This is all subjective, obviously, but for me...

Positives:

All the characters are adults, ranging from their 20s (Eva), to 30s (Nathan, Marshall, Satomi), to 50s or 60s (Wendell)

The characters are specific. They have specific personalities, backgrounds, priorities and expertise. They are people with emotions and flaws and lives.

The main characters (Nathan and Marshall) are codependent vaguely homoerotic best friends with a slightly imbalanced dedication to one another (unrequited love?), plus some jealousy (drama!)

Despite occasional clunkiness, does a decent job at mixing humor and seriousness, angst, drama, etc. "Are you an angel?" "No, ma'am, I'm a millennial" did make me laugh.

Diverse characters and creators: Some co-writers include (but are not limited to) Cherish Chen, Melissa Flores, streamer Meghan Camarena, and Chicago local Laurence Holmes, and they're all very skilled at collaborating with each other and with Kyle to breathe life into the characters and their motivations.

And all of the Radiants are brunettes! (lol)

Not a lot of crossovers (basically none) despite being part of a larger universe (the Massive-verse), and not a ton of issue hopscotch (still some).

The stakes are often very personal (most of the time). These characters may have to save the world but they're also all kind of fuck-ups in some way, and are still mostly dealing with their personal and private lives and loved ones, which grounds it.

"Officially," only Eva is queer (afaik) but to me, Marshall also reads as pretty strongly gay or bi-coded, and Satomi gives off some kind of gender thing (to me). With a mix of actual queer WLW/lesbian romance in Radiant Pink and some interesting subtext in the main Radiant Black comics, plus whatever Radiant Red's got going on, I think there's a lot to sink your teeth into in that regard, or at least to go "AUGH" about LOL

Also there's real cool art—

(Radiant Black #17)

(Radiant Black #10)

(RB #10 again — issue 10 whips ass, okay? I have the UV-reactive fluorescent ink printing of this issue... and I don't own a blacklight, unfortunately 😂)

(Costa is the main artist for all of the above panels, with colors by Triona Farrell (#17) and Igor Monti (#10), but I'm a big fan of Ferigato's pencils on the Marshall-focused issues too, plus Lafuente and Muerto's work in Radiant Red is killerrrrrr)

Neutrals:

All the Radiants' eye markings are animated/emotive (except Yellow). Personally, I'm mixed on expressive masks and helmets. (Big shock, I know 😂) I don't dislike the animated eyes, and I get why they're useful, but I prefer the less animated helmet "faces" so far.

Cosmic world-saving stuff — If you know me, you know I tend to prefer street-level superhero stuff, but I think the high-stakes action works in Radiant Black because it's still grounded in the personal and still has that street-level element, so I'm not too bothered by this. (I also like sci-fi, which helps)

Negatives:

Some people over-emphasize just how groundbreaking and different Radiant Black actually is. Like I get it, hype it up, but sometimes it is a little funny to be like "this has never been done before!" and it's like, idk about that 😂

Occasionally it does lean a little into referential humor and quips, but it's got plenty of actually funny jokes, and the dialogue flows naturally most of the time and isn't just a vessel for snappy one-liners, thank God. But if you're like me, sometimes you may roll your eyes.

It takes some time to find its feet (imo), but even then it's still generally engaging. To me, issues 9 and 10 are where it really hits its stride and not long after that is where it takes off running.

There is some issue/series hopping — While there's not a ton of issue hopping, there are some minor details that make more sense if you have read some of the auxiliary issues/miniseries. Luckily, it's not a huge amount of reading.

Prison is where you go to atone 🤡 I didn't like it in Spider-Man: Redemption and I don't like it here lol but Eva seemed unimpressed in volume 4, so I'm hoping it'll have some nuance as I catch up.

Wonky numbering. It's not too bad (and if you read the trade paperbacks, it's a non-issue) but there is a plot thing that happens that means all the issues after #24 (until #30 and #30.5, afaik) have special numbering

(Radiant Black #11)

Radiant Reading List:

Note: here is a really great, in-depth, incredibly precise Massive-verse reading list put together by a fan — It has issue-by-issue and page-by-page instructions for the real chronology sickos out there, and is just a generally fantastic resource/timeline reference.

But here is my personal (way less precise) reading list for Radiant Black plus its auxiliaries, minus all the other stuff:

Radiant Black v. 1 (#1-6)

Radiant Black v. 2 (#7-12)*

Shift #1-4 (not #5)*

Radiant Red (#1-5)*

Supermassive (2022)**

Radiant Black v. 3 (#13-18)

Radiant Black v. 4 (#19-24)

Radiant Pink (#1-5)***

Supermassive (2023)

Radiant Black v. 5 (#25-27.5)

Radiant Black v. 6 (#28-30.5) (issues #30 and #30.5 will be out in October 2024, so volume 6 tpb probably not until the holidays if I had to guess... unfortunately for me 😂)

Shift #5****

Supermassive (2024)****

Notes:

*Okay, so.... parts of Shift and Radiant Red technically occur simultaneously w/ each other and also overlap some w/ Radiant Black #9 and #10, so you probably actually want to stop at Radiant Black #9, then do Shift and Radiant Red, and then return to Radiant Black at #10, but in my opinion, all that really matters is you read Shift before Radiant Red, whether you slot them between Radiant Black issues 9 and 10, or just read whole trades at a time, whichever you find more practical or convenient. I... did both lol

That being said: don't read Shift #5 until… later, as it was a very recent addition for the Shift collected edition and takes place significantly later in the main plot.

**Supermassive 2022 is a pretty simple single issue crossover mini-event/annual with Inferno Girl Red and Rogue Sun, and doesn't really require reading the others' stories nor does it really affect any real plot, but it does offer a tiny bit of context to Radiant Black's main storyline that I found kind of crucial lol — like is it Necessary? No. Does it clarify one (1) little detail? Yes.

***Radiant Pink can probably be read at any point after Radiant Black issue #12, but I happen to be reading it in this order lol

****The in-depth Massive-verse reading guide I linked earlier says to read Shift #5 in the middle of Radiant Black #28.5 and Supermassive 2024 between Radiant Black #29.5 and #30, so ideally... during volume 6, but since 30 and 30.5 aren't even out yet... well. Good luck!

After 30.5 is out I believe the Radiant Black team will be taking a hiatus iirc, which is reasonable.

There is not yet a Radiant Yellow mini, and idk when one will be released. There have been a couple of delays in the Massive-verse over the past year or so, for a variety of reasons (it's massive!), and I'm guessing Yellow's solo got pushed back. Hopefully it will be out sooner rather than later but we'll see! Obviously the teams creating all of this have been working their asses off so, you know, it happens LOL

Personally I'm subscribed to Kyle's newsletter, which is probably one of the best ways to get updates. It can and often does contain spoilers, but you can do what I do and just scroll really fast past them lol

In practice you can just mainline Radiant Black and ignore everything else and be fine, but I think the other Radiants, Shift and Supermassive offer useful context as far as character motivation and juicy stuff like that goes— Especially since Shift deals with the origins of multiple antagonists, and Radiant Red has some main plot implications for Satomi. Useful to know, etc.

Anyway. That got long, but hopefully not too long to be useful.

Stay Radiant ⦵

(Radiant Red #3)

[hiskillingjar]

Strade with an autistic mc?

One of my characters has low functioning autism. She’s really sensitive to bright, noisy light and cold air. (It could trigger a meltdown). Her special interests are stuffed animals, especially if they’re big and cuddly, and apple slices.

She’s not really great at verbal communication especially when she scared or nervous. She’s good at physical communication tho? Expressions?

Also she’s part tanuki soooo do whatever you want with that.

autism gang rise up

i'm gonna make this a headcanon post cus i've written something adjacent to this for strade before (cw for. strade lol)

ren 🦊

suddenly he is the sweetest boy in the world

like so kind, so patient, so sweet

you're out in public and get triggered by bright lights, loud noises, you have a meltdown? ren is literally dragging you out and making sure you're okay

he's speaking to you so sweetly, so gently, he won't touch you if you don't want him to

he's just so patient with you

kind of like...he's the only person who really understands you? the world is so cruel and mean to people like you...and you're so sweet and gentle, you shouldn't be out there...you should be with me, you should let me take care of you...nobody else will

manipulating king. gaslighting king

to be fair he does win your affection with stuffed animals and like. good sensory stuff. blankets, pillows. got a whole autism nest goin

he'll replace all the lights in the house too

doesn't mind when you stim by touching his tail or ears. it just makes him curl into you that much more <3

and like obviously he's doing this cus he's a horny monster that wants you to depend on him

but he does genuinely just want someone to care for

like even if you can't make eye contact all the time, or if you don't understand what he says or tells you sometimes, he'd still be so patient

he knows you struggle with that stuff, and you're doing your best. that's all he asks for <3

law 🥀

autism 4 autism

law is so autistic, are you kidding.

granted their autism manifests kind of differently though. they got the liveleaks autism, the monotone drawl autism, the twin peaks autism (me too)

but like. providing that you survived the first night (cus they might not be able to stop themselves from just watching you wilt)

they'd be reasonably patient and gentle with you

i mean there's like no prolonged eye contact between you

but you'd communicate remarkably well (with what little you did actually talk)

they know how it feels to be misunderstood after all...and you're so delicate and need to be cared for

they wouldn't. totally understand your special interests (cus they like bones and taxidermy and roadkill) but they wouldn't be able to stop themselves from buying a few soft toys

you just look so sweet and comfortable when they leave you for work, why would they deprive you of that?

they might panic if you started having a meltdown, but they'd eventually clue in and. get you settled down (give them a break, they have meltdowns too)

and like. autism 4 autism...you know there's some sadomasochism happening. good for you! good for you...

strade 🔨

i mean. i've written it so. lol

strade would be such an asshole i'm so sorry

like come on you've come preloaded with triggers and buttons he could push to make you panic and freak out. he couldn't NOT fuck around with you

he might get a little overwhelmed himself by how much he likes fucking around with you. it's just so easy

keep a few bright lights on, play some music too loud, put on the air conditioning, that's all it takes? buddy you are NOT surviving this one

but okay okay. on the concept that you DO survive past the first night (lol)

strade would still be pretty shitty about everything

like he wouldn't yell or be mad at you for meltdowns but he would not understand in the slightest (and you know his ass is not looking anything up to make it easier)

it would kind of be on ren to make adjustments (changing lights, reminding him about your sensitivities) and like. maybe then he'd pay attention to some shit

he's better with your special interests and sensory needs tbh. he might even think it's kind of cute that you infodump when you're excited or curl up with blankets and soft toys

that doesn't mean he's not gonna fuck with you though lol.

also. full german stare at all times. will trigger your conversation sensitivity at all time. he loves it.

[toskarin]

Rant - I somehow found the comic adaptation of Saya No Uta online and wow it was not good!! I think turning Saya into a government experiment was the worst to me, especially when the protagonist is like “She’s not the monster, you guys are!” bleh!! I know there were some themes in the original that they were probably skittish about, but then I don’t understand why they even wanted to adapt it at all?

the saya no uta comic is really funny to me because you'd assume it was part of that wave of unauthorised bootlegs where a comic writer gambled that copyright couldn't cross the sea, but it was actually (as far as I understand) just nitro+ being nitro+

on one hand I don't really respect it as it exists, but on the other, the interviews about its production that I've read from liatowitsch and ocvirk indicate that it wasn't coming from a bad place or anything

they were working on it before there was an english translation available, so ocvirk's wife read through the entire thing and translated it for them as she did. it explains why the adaptation was so loose (they literally couldn't go back to reference the story and weren't even the ones reading it), but I can't help appreciating how sweet that anecdote is

they over-edited it (even accounting for what they realistically needed to edit) and changed the plot around in really questionable ways, but nitro+ apparently outright encouraged them to focus on the love story and build the rest of the story out from it, which is how it got to where it ended up

we still get things like that every now and again, but at least publishers seem to have gotten much less jumpy around the idea of something being anime-adjacent

it's just such a weird product from such a weird time

and it sucks of course. it's important to clarify after being so sympathetic towards it that I also do still think it sucks and isn't worth reading

[kiisaes]

tell us about vld 👁️

(only if u want to)

i'll spare you a truly unhinged ranting for perhaps another time (even though this is gonna be long anyway) but tldr: vld is a show that could have been really good if it just stuck to its direction from the first two seasons!!! and also if its crew didn't accidentally breed the worst possible fandom ever!!!

it had a really good identity at the start— its characters were entertaining, its art and animation were charming if anything, the VAs were genuinely excellent picks and in terms of story it was simple (considering it's a kids show) but effective. the first two seasons focused on one-off, character-driven episodes that gave room for a lot of character writing, team bonding, and tone establishment. i believe that the reason why vld shipping was already so aggressive since s1 — without crew interference — was because the character writing was like, actually good. good enough where people could take their starting characterizations + team dynamic and run wild with it

vld was never going to be an enlightening, mature, groundbreaking show about anything super deep; it's a Y7 show about robot lions in space. but i'm sure most ppl going into vld didn't expect a piece of art, they just wanted to have fun with an atla-adjacent show, or they watched previous voltron iterations. and for what it was, it was very successful at the start! and one of the more popular netflix originals at its time!

but then vld tried taking itself more seriously in s3, and changed its primary storytelling method. now the episodes weren't usually problem-of-the-week, but each episode's plot had to feed into the next episode in line. which would've been fine, if the crew planned ahead and kept track of its characters and plot

but since the lion switch was also conveniently during this season (which inevitably implied switches in character arcs), keeping track of everything suddenly got way harder. also, the lion switch was ass. breaking my silence: that shit made no sense. why didn't they make allura the black paladin??? why do all those mental gymnastics with moving keith from red to black and lance from blue to red just to give allura blue, which was a lion that didn't even really fit her??? (i know the reason was cuz dotf did this lion placement, but is vld dotf? are the characters archetypes the same? no? i didn't think so!!!)

anyway because of the new serialized storytelling format, vld had to follow this really serious, high-stakes, even occasionally dark narrative to keep viewers engaged, and it just .. wasn't the same? like not only are characters' arcs dropping like flies, we're introducing new characters with barely any development or even personality, and it's not even that fun to watch anymore. what happened to my silly guys. what happened to goofin off in the castle. what happened to episode-long missions. this is not avatar. if i wanted to watch avatar i would just watch avatar.

and! in later seasons i think the crew caught on to how fans loveddd the episodic narratives in s1 and 2, so they tried bringing back one-off lighthearted episodes (dnd episode, game show episode, clear day episode, etc.) in an attempt to relive the old glory— and they were fun to watch on their own, sure, but were completely detached from the rest of the story atp. literally the only reason why i even remember these episodes is because they weren't a part of the narrative's incomprehensible sludge

don't even get me started on how the crew hated its audience. don't get me started on the ship bait, the weird canon queerbait situation(s), the irresponsible encouragement of parasocial fan relationships with VAs, artists, creators, you name it. it's how we got one of The worst fandoms in recent history. it's how vld was one of the newer fandoms that started an whole new era of fandom etiquette — namely, disregarding all previous fandom norms in favor of the most childish, pearl-clutching, moral-panicky discourse you'd find daily, and consequently you wouldn't EVER dare bring up to a normal person who exists in the real world.

the crew hated its audience so much, it essentially punished its fans by shutting down all fan theories, purposefully writing AROUND plot twists THEY SET UP, leaving a really messy and plot-hole-filled final script. they especially hated the shippers so much that they shut down BOTH main camps — klance and sheith — for canon allurance, a truly horrible way to end both their character arcs since neither character gets all that satisfying of a conclusion (lance becomes a farmer, allura fucking dies)

this is already long enough but i hope this gives you a general idea :') i have so many emotions about vld. someday i'll make the retrospective video essay of my dreams. this was my nonstop fixation for two straight years. i wasted two years on this shit.

also this show's 8 seasons were released all in a span of 2 and a half years.

[thelampisaflashlight]

Swiss, cuddling with Dew: "...You want a dumb frog fact?"

Dew, yawning: "Sure."

Swiss: "Okay, so, frogs are, like, kinda not super great at discerning physical sex, cause, like, frog is frog, ya know? Obviously they still manage to make babies, but still... Anyway, the way they do the mate is, it's called Amplexus, I think? The way they mate doesn't involve external genatalia, yeah?"

Dew, confused: "Uh-huh..."

Swiss, nuzzling the top of Dew's head with his chin: "Sometimes a male frog will latch onto another male frog, and, like, the other dude, the one of the bottom, will make a noise, like a chirp, to be like, 'Bro, I'm a dude'... Or, probably more like, 'I don't make eggs, man', cause that's why they latch on like that..."

Dew, turning his head to look at him: "Why are you thinking about this exactly?"

Swiss, humming: "Well, I was trying to assign the pack animals based on their personalities, right?"

Dew: "Okayyy...?"

Swiss: "Well, I was trying to figure out what animal you would be, and I was thinking about how Rain is, like, Rain's a frog for sure, maybe a fish, but definitely frog adjacent..." -he moves and presses his cheek to the back of Dew's head- "So, by that logic, you're more like a toad? And then I started imagining you digging around in the dirt and..."

Dew: "...I'm not sure I'm following."

Swiss: "To make a long story short... I don't know how I got here either, but I think it has to do with the position we're in."

Dew: "...I think it's time for bed."

Swiss: "Yeah."

[thatsparrow]

watched twister (1996) for the first time (thoughts)

wasn't expecting the opening credits to feel as ominous as they did, very horror-adjacent (when the tornado lands, there's this growling sound effect that feels very monstrous. from what I remember, this is really the only time that happens, which could be a cool, like—given that this is the tornado that killed her dad, to jo, it was a monster)

between toby getting (briefly) locked out of the storm shelter in the beginning and bill paxton having to carry aunt meg's dog out of the house before it collapses, this movie puts animals in danger much more than I anticipated (I guess that one cow didn't have such a good time, either)

still in the opening, but when her dad got yoinked, all those nighttime shots of the lightning and tornado felt very supernatural, ufo-ish (this big transcendent thing in the sky, abducting her father, so large you can only see bits and pieces of it) which does play into the mystery/unknowability aspect

we cut to the present, and there's this jaunty, western-style music playing, which I also didn't expect! I think that was one of my main takeaways—that I thought this movie was more a straight-up natural disaster action movie, when it's really more of an adventure story (and a love story, which bookends the whole thing.) but like, if you think of the tornadoes as some rare treasure, the storm signs (and bill's ability to read them) as the map, chasing against rivals after the same goal, all the beats are there. (not to say it isn't also a natural disaster movie, but it is interesting watching how/when the movie shifts between tornadoes as an object of pursuit, stirring excitement, the majesty of nature, and when they're a threat, a point of fear, dangerous in their unpredictability and impassivity)

we see helen hunt, and my first thought was, "why would he ever divorce helen hunt"

(more under the break)

but also I wasn't actually ever clear on why he was divorcing helen hunt? or more, why they had separated in the first place. the closest I could figure was that conversation when he says something to jo about her not wanting a house, and maybe that it was him wanting to settle down and she wanted a life on the road (see: his current job as a weatherman now that he's with melissa) but also, does he really want to settle down? the whole movie is us seeing how he's clearly happiest and most alive when he's chasing (and with helen hunt), but he can't or won't let himself accept that until melissa ends the relationship for him

didn't expect carey elwes to be here, doing his absolute best effort at a southern accent

i love human barometer bill paxton. "he's better at reading storms than anyone else" "why" "don't worry about it" (genuinely though, it's such a fun detail, and I'm glad they include it in twisters, too)

jo's storm chasing team is bigger than I thought it would be (granted, I had no concept of anyone else being in this movie other than helen hunt, bill paxton, and philip seymour hoffman) and I love that sequence of all the vibes of the different cars as they take off, the music they put on, the interiors—we are running the gamut of personalities here, but they are all equally excited and motivated by storm chasing (then compared to the deeply corporate and uniform energy of jonas's team)

"have you lost your nerve?" "tighten your seatbelt" we all know their chemistry is good, but their chemistry is SO good ("let's get you wired" LET'S GO)

melissa is interesting, like — she's the audience surrogate, she's the excuse to explain things about storm chasing and tornadoes that everyone else would already know (but the audience likely doesn't), she's insightful and compassionate when she's talking to her clients (are we meant to take the reproductive therapy or something as a joke job?), and she does clearly love bill, and he loves her, too. but she's so out of her element, she complements this entirely different side of him, and now that he's in this place where he's most himself, she's completely at sea. she's understandably afraid and overwhelmed. she's watching her fiance fall back in love (or, realize he was always still in love) with his ex, who's accomplished and capable in all the ways she isn't. and there's some friction between them, like melissa telling jo not to try to win bill back, and some jockeying from jo at the diner counter, but then you also have jo checking on melissa after the first tornado hits. I like that her story ends with her deciding to leave bill, but then adding the line about not being that sad about it, her recognizing that they weren't really what the other needed (it is weird though that she's suddenly gone from the group and no one remarks on it)

very into bill starting the movie all buttoned-up, then gradually shedding those layers, getting less kempt, his shiny new truck converted into their chase vehicle (later when the other chasers refer to bill as "the extreme," the push-pull between who he is in his life before the movie starts, and who he clearly is at heart)

it is wild that a divorce is the undercurrent of this whole thing (but wild in a fun way! like it's fun how much this is a love story that also has tornadoes. bill paxton is here to get the divorce papers signed. the movie ends with them kissing. rebuilding relationships via natural disasters)

that shot of the flying cow happens so much earlier than I expected

just between us, it took me way too long to realize jo was the little girl from the beginning ("how long?" don't worry about it)

jo as ahab, her trying to look into the tornado and bill turning her away, the obsessive need to understand, pushing forward beyond what's reasonable

the cars! cars as their primary instruments, reflective of their personalities, this is a western and their cars are their horses, but also cars won't protect them when a tornado hits, and in fact add to the danger, they're at the drive-in when the surprise tornado comes, they hide out in the floor of the garage, cars as homes, cars getting trashed, I've lost the point but you see it

there's something about the disconnect between the threat messages, both "they had no warning" when a tornado hits unexpectedly, vs. an f-5 that you can see and follow the trail of, but it's still going to destroy whatever is in its path (also after wakita gets hit and jo's aunt meg tells her that jo needs to stop it—like the data they collect is vital, but also them getting dorothy to fly won't have any immediate consequences on the tornado itself)

I do love all the "bill's back" "I'm not back" from the beginning, him saying he's only going to stay a day, and then he's immediately so back

spoilers but I did not expect carey elwes and his driver to die. this movie has a pretty low onscreen body count, and that one was a surprise

that near-kiss in the cornfield! so good!!

the whole sequence of them sprinting from the tornado toward the barn, the fence posts getting pulled up just behind them, the horses running—so, so good

but also what's the deal with the murder barn? like they run into the barn and it looks like a murder barn and then they run out because everything in the murder barn would murder them when the tornado hits, and then we never address it again. was this just to keep them running from the tornado a little longer?

they're a battle couple but for storm chasers, and it slaps

the movie ends with them kissing! this is their love story!!

all in all, I had a hell of a time, a blast from start to finish

[raayllum]

stop the episode is making me lose my mind ok

it will never not be funny to me the way rayllum has literally taken on a life of its own. like between aaron being like "we didn't want this they just made it happen somehow idk" and the writers being like "we don't even ship them they're teenagers" despite the fact that they are the ones writing them (or so you think) to be digustingly in love. i'm fully convinced that the spirit of rayllum has possessed the entire cast and crew and it's amazing

"he needs to be murdered, she needs to learn how to murder someone, they're perfect." HUHU HUH HUHA WHAT MR EHASZ SIR HUH REPEAT THAT WHAHT

terry arc + pure of heart trope??? consider me gagged

you mentioning ez/runaan conflict and aaron just being "THATS A VERY INTERESTING QUESTION 😈😈"

aaron ehasz fanboying over you???? as he should. as he should

Listen it was so fun and I've always wondered that about Rayllum for a Long time (like 4+ years) so getting to finally know (within reason, who knows about the story boarders / animators sneaking stuff in) is immensely satisfying.

Between "he needs to be murdered, she needs to learn how to murder someone" & "we'll see [Rayla's conflict between love & duty" manifest again" from another interview it's like. yeah dark magic + possession plot line in s7 let's goo

"True Heart" is super intriguing as an episode title since we've seen pure of heart be referenced (hi s3 Amaya) and I could see any of the trio having it, but I'm Pumped for the Terry focus and confirmation he's gonna have a bit more outright inner turmoil next season over his relationship to Claudia vs what he thinks is Right. Makes me nervous it's spell ingredient adjacent but maybe not (TDP loves its "hearts as ingredients/symbols" in particular after all, I wonder if we'll see why Laurelion got his heart stabbed/pierced)

And listen I was not prepared aah!! Aaron has always been gracious/appreciative over twitter and we'd talked a bit in DMs where he'd been very kind (stuff like character analysis from this video being "spot on") but I was of course floored and very flustered, it was incredibly kind and like getting to write/analyze stuff is its own reward, but knowing that my love/appreciation for the show is also seen and appreciated in turn is a very positive feedback loop that is very validating/affirming too of course! ("I was a little bit intimidated" will always live in my head rent free bc What The Fuck truly aaah from the bottom of my heart forever & ever)

[ambroziadelphine]

My Personal Addiction (Geto Suguru x Reader) Chapter 3

Masterlist

The dining hall held laughter, muffled talking inside before Geto slid the door open to reveal the few people I did know from the anime in this time. Haibara, Nanami, Gojo, and Shoko all sat there with two empty seats beside each other. Geto walked in first, his tall frame concealing my figure.

"Hey, where's the girl you were carrying before?" Shoko asked as she looked at Geto, everyone's attention turning to him.

"What girl?" Haibara asked, his tone sounded excited, god that guy was a true golden retriever boy. Gotta make sure the puppy doesn't die in 2 years I guess. I hesitantly stepped out from behind Geto, blushing at so many eyes on me and the news Geto had indeed carried me in as I gave a small wave and looked down.

"I think she's talking about me." I said meekly, Geto chuckling.

"This is Evee, she'll be staying at Jujutsu high for the time being." He said making Nanami and Shoko look at me in confusion.

"A non-curse user staying here? Do the higher ups know she's here?" Nanami asked as I scratched the back of my head.

"They know I'm here.. I get it's weird I'm here, but its not every day you fall from the sky and suddenly are in a complete different place then before." I said, Geto leading me to sit down, taking his seat beside me.

"She also saved Geto's life on our mission." Gojo casually says, the group looking at me in confusion and surprise making me blush. Why did people keep mentioning that? I didn't do anything special besides throw a damn rock.

"I just threw a rock at the curse." I said quietly, shrugging a bit before Geto chuckled.

"Then managed to run away as it chased her, and then ran straight back through it's legs to get behind it when I got back up." He said, my face flushing darker as Shoko looked surprised.

"Didn't you say the curse you guys fought was like 80 feet tall, Satoru?" Shoko asked, looking over at the white haired madman in training.

"Yep. Don't know how she ran that fast but she did." He said, before Nanami raised an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you help him?" He asked, Gojo put his hands behind his head and sighed.

"Second curse came out of nowhere so I was dealing with that. I didn't even notice her until she was already yelling at it." He said, before turning to me with a cheeky grin. "What was it you called it?" He asked making me shrink back in my seat, my head down as my face burned.

"I think I called it an ugly lizard." I mumbled, he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I think I remember hearing a few more words then that. Do you remember, Suguru?" Gojo asked him, though Geto rolled his eyes and sighed, glancing at me with a slight chuckle.

"If I remember correctly, you called it a 'fat ugly lizard bitch'." He said, Haibara spitting out the water he had taken a sip of, Shoko putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. I assume she was more so picturing me, a 5'1 girl, yelling at an 80 foot curse and insulting it.

"It was big, and it was ugly, okay?" I asked, looking up at Geto with a huff. "Not my fault it looked like a chubby baby fused with fucking Godzilla." I muttered, trying to defend myself as most laughed, Nanami sweatdropping as he probably thought I was an idiot like Gojo.

"Well, you aren't wrong there. It really was gross." Gojo said, making a face before turning to Nanami who had gotten up. "Need any help?" He asked, Nanami scoffing as he rolled his eyes.

"You would be anything but help in the kitchen, Satoru." He said, walking into the adjacent room.

"Ooo, burn Yoyo. You just got rejected by a moody Ken doll." I teased, poor Haibara had just taken another sip of water too and ended up spitting it out too, laughing hysterically as he coughed. "Sorry." I said, he shook his head as he coughed.

"No, your funny, I like it." He said as he composed himself. "I never thought I'd hear someone call Kento a Ken doll." He said, Gojo laughing at that too.

"He does kind of look like it." He said, before he walked back in looking irritated, carrying a large pot and setting it on the middle of the table.

"I'm not a doll." He said, sitting down as everyone got their food, Geto handing me mind which I thanked him for. "Though I would like to know, did you call Satoru.. Yoyo?" He asked, Shoko pausing before she chuckled.

"You did." She laughed while I shrugged with a smile.

"Hey, there's a lot of other things along those lines I could call him. You didn't even hear the first few nicknames I suggested." I said, seeing her and Haibara look at me with interest.

"Tell us." They said as Gojo grumbled, shoving some food into his mouth.

"I'm feeling very attacked right now." He said making me look at him with a fake pout.

"Aww, is Frosty mad he's not the only mouthy one now?" I asked, he looked at me offended as Shoko laughed.

"Frosty? Like the snowman?" She asked making me chuckle.

"I was thinking more like Jack Frost cause of the hair and blue eyes, but hey, he looks paler then Casper so I think it'd still fit." I said, he sulked at his corner of the table beside Haibara. "Hey, I could've called you JoJo from JoJo's Bizarre adventure." I said, internally complaining I couldn't say JoJo Siwa instead. 

"I don't like you." He said, looking at me as he made a face but I only smiled brightly.

"The feeling's mutual." I said, scrunching my nose at him as he gapped at me

"I will have you know, everyone likes me!" He said, the room going so silent even crickets could be heard causing him to deflate. "Thanks a lot guys." He muttered before Haibara patted his back.

"I like you Satoru!" He said, giving a closed eye smile as Gojo acted like he was about to cry.

"Finally! Someone appreciates me!" He said, sticking his tongue out at me but I just chuckled.

"I'm still calling you Yoyo." I said making him squint at me before huffing.

"At least I'm not named after a Pokémon." He shot back but I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, your mother buys you Mega Blok's instead of Lego." I said, his face falling as Nanami actually chuckled at that, Geto turning away as he contained his laughter.

"I'll have you know I'm rich!" He said, though I merely chuckled.

"Rich or wealthy?" I asked, his face turning to confusion.

"What's the difference?" He asked making me facepalm.

"I think that gave me the answer." I mumbled. "Rich is usually known as new money, the people who have become successful and gained money through working hard, or its people that don't fully understand proper wealth. Wealthy people, also known as old money, are normally from generations of wealth, not just a single generation." I said, his face turning to confusion.

"Guess that means I'm wealthy then?" He mused making me grin.

"Then it's not your money." I said, he abruptly turned to me with a slight sneer, though he just looked goofy with those glasses. Kinda reminds me of DJ Music Man from Security Breach.

"What the hell do you mean?!" He asked but I just chuckled.

"It's not yours because it's your parents money. You're just lucky they let you use that wealth." I said, taking a bite of my food. "I knew a lot of people whose parents could afford to give their kids the world and didn't give them a dime for one reason or another. Be happy your one of the lucky kids in that case." I said, he was quiet after that, clearly any comebacks had died on his tongue when I called him lucky as he looked down at his food in thought. The dinner returned to normal conversation after that, mostly about Haibara asking me questions with Shoko or Geto occasionally asking something.

"Do you live in igloos in Canada?!" Haibara asked after they found out I was Canadian. I paused mid bite and looked at him with furrowed brows, looking at him like he had two heads because that was genuinely the first time I had ever been asked that.

"And where would we live in the summer?" I asked him, his face turning to confusion.

"Canada has summer?" He asked, the table going quiet as everyone stared at Haibara in disbelief, Nanami facepalming as he shook his head. I looked at him, honestly just speechless at what he's just asked.

"I think I just found my 13th reason." I said, putting my hand on my forehead as I stared at the table. 

"13th reason for what?" Geto asked, I opened my mouth then closed it immediately.

"A very dark joke." I said, figuring it would be the simplest and quickest explanation. 

"How dark?" Shoko asked, I looked at her hesitantly.

"I feel it would be a little too dark for you guys. Where I'm from, kids are a lot more humorous about very dark topics.. mostly about mental health." I said, Haibara looked at me for a moment before tilting his head.

"I don't get it." He said making me laugh.

"Don't worry about it. I don't expect millennials to understand Gen z humor." I said, Nanami looking at me with narrow eyes at that.

"Isn't Gen z the next generation?" He asked making me realize my slip up as I bite my lip.

"Yep." I said, looking down at my food as he furrowed his brows, same with Shoko.

"Aren't they all still kids though?" She asked making Geto sigh.

"When she fell from the sky she didn't just fall from nowhere. According to her, she's from the year 2024." He said, everyone besides Gojo at the table had their jaw dropped or wide eyes, looking at me like I was an alien as I shrunk back in my chair.

"When's your birthday!?" Haibara asked loudly, leaning over the table as he looked at me eagerly. I chuckled nervously, leaning away from him before Nanami pulled him back by his collar.

"Uh, May 14th... 2005." I said, looking away as my cheeks burned at the knowledge I was somehow the oldest and youngest one here at the same time, it felt embarrassing to have everyone staring at me like this not knowing what they were thinking. Though, I don't think I'd want to know based on how disturbed Nanami looked at that information.

"You were born, this year?" He asked and I nodded, he clearly didn't believe me making me sigh, pulling out my Driver's license and handing it to him along with the health card I had in there.

"Two pieces of ID, different issue dates with the same birthday." I told him, Shoko and Haibara moving to look at them over his shoulder, their faced turning to disbelief as they stared at the tiny numbers.

"Holy shit, you really are from the future!" Haibara said, grinning widely as he stared at me, Nanami handing me back the two cards as I put them away in my phone case.

"Yea, its pretty weird to think I'm not even technically born yet." I said, before shrugging. "I don't even know if this is my world anymore to be honest. Who even knows if my parents exist here." I said, sighing as Geto laid a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sure they'll be here somewhere." He said making me huff.

"Even if they are, I'd rather not be born into that family again." I said, looking down as everyone shared a slightly concerned look before turning back to me.

"Why wouldn't you wanna be born? That would mean you wouldn't exist!" Haibara said, clearly not understanding I meant specifically my parents as the reason for me saying that.

"Well, uh, being a child of divorce isn't exactly, a happy life.." I said, looking down as he seemed to get it a little better now.

"Ohh.. Oh." He said, realizing he must have sounded a bit like an ass. "I'm sorry.." He said, but I just waved him off.

"It's fine. I came to terms with my family situation a long time ago." I said, looking down at my hands. "Honestly, I'm glad I'm here.. even if I don't know what happened, this has already been a better experience then I can say I've had in a long time. Even if I did almost get killed twice." I said, looking back up at everyone to see some sad smiles and some pity, but Geto just gave me a kind smile, putting a hand on my back as he closed his eyes.

"Well, then I hope the higher ups have you stay. I personally would like to see where this all leads." He mused, a slight flush coming to my cheeks at his words. "I mean, there must be a reason you were brought here." He said, some of the others nodding.

"This does seem to be more then just chance. A non-curse user brought to the past, possibly a different version of the same world. The higher ups would be fools to simply ignore this like nothing." Nanami said, a thoughtful expression on his face with a hand on his chin. We had all basically finished eating so now it was seeming to be time for questions, not that I really minded.

"She also can't speak Japanese." Gojo said, everyone looking at him and I in confusion as I shrugged.

"Tis true. I'm hearing English from me and you guys. I literally suck at learning languages. I literally used google translate for all my French classes in school." I said, earning more confused looks.

"Google translate? I didn't know google had something like that." Shoko said making me pause.

"Hang on a minute. Let me check my phone for when it came out, cause I might have mentioned that a bit early." I said sheepishly, pulling out my phone and turning it on when Geto leaned in to look as I tapped the screen.

"That's your phone?" He asked, staring at the screen in surprise as Gojo came over to look.

"Hey, what kind of phone is that?" He asked and I chuckled, smirking at him.

"A better one then yours." I said making him roll his eyes.

"Ha ha, you're from the future, of course it'd be better. Unless technology has gone backwards." He said and I chuckled, shaking my head.

"If you count self driving cars going backwards, then I guess you could be right." I said as Haibara grinned.

"That sounds so cool! Can they actually drive on their own?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Kinda. It's more so for on highways and when you're going one direction for a long time. You still need to be awake and the car will actually beep if you need to put your hands back on the wheel for something." I said, amused by the amazement on his face.

"Wow, the future sounds awesome!" He said making me chuckle and sigh.

"Sometimes it is." I said, Shoko tilting her head at me.

"'Sometimes'? What does that mean?" She asked making me pause, my smile fading a bit.

"Well, here you all have curses that can be exorcised, where I come from we don't have that. I mean, I can see and hear them now, but I've never once seen one of them before today, ever. The future isn't all good, in fact, after 2016 I'd say it goes pretty downhill from there; though mainly for America. 2020 was a year that fucked over the whole world though, so I'm glad I'm not there anymore." I said, Gojo letting out a scoff as he leaned back in his chair.

"I'm sure it's not that bad." He said, my face turning to him as I glared at him.

"2020, the year when a virus from China makes its first move to infect a human, thus causing a worldwide pandemic for almost 3 years. The whole planet was on lockdown, kids were doing school from home online, businesses were closing due to no one leaving their houses, suicide rates went up due to the isolation the pandemic caused, millions of people died because of that virus; it was literal hell on earth." I said, seeing their faces drop at that. "I was 14 when it started. I was 17 when it finally stopped. You didn't see the pandemic, so please don't dismiss it like that when you didn't live through it like I did." I said, the table went quiet and I cursed myself for making this so depressing.

"Sorry, I just get kinda snippy about it.." I said, looking down as I hung my head in shame, missing the scolding glares everyone was giving Gojo.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you so much." He muttered, looking down as I sighed, quiet for a moment as I picked at my fingers.

"It's alright. I shouldn't have snapped like that." I said, my voice quiet as I spoke when Shoko came over and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, we understand. Everyone has their sensitive topics." She said making me give a small sigh of relief.

"Thank you." I said, she gave a small smile and nodded.

"No problem."

[lucabyte]

HOWDY! *slams pile of papers on the desk* i have Inquiries. OKAY SO-

1.) i know the bridge between infurno and purrgatorio is Ali realizing they cant leave, so like, whats pawradisio???

2.) wtf happens ta Ali durin the 'age ???' section of their design timeline. what type cult stuff do they get involved w and how. its haunting me i needa know

3.) whats with the 3 year memory erasing thing in that one ali purrgatorio relationship chart. Really funny chart ive shared it w a few friends but also im staring intently at it like Huh What O_O

4.) what is mymk's final form? is it gonna be written, a comic, etc?

5.) got any music you associate w any mymk characters/ali? besides like, in canon reasons like Chrome more like any songs/artists/lyrics that remind u of anya em :0??

anyway yeah huge fan! also hope ur vacation's fun!

Hehe hi :)

1. We shall get there when we get there <3 my lips are sealed. Though I will say, there are further books by Dante one can animal-pun the titles of... Though they aren't part of the divine comedy..... (Alludes vaguely to plans that will inevitably take me years)

2. Okay so spoilers for Creature Feature, Ali's home setting (and @samhainian's thing) (because this is all a bit of an open secret) but Ali is, as I've alluded to previously, an Antagonist.

Creature Feature is a real world adjacent setting, set in our modern day, only with all manner of monsters and cryptids living secretly alongside humans. Ali lives in Wraithbrook, a hidden town populated primarily by monsters (albeit, most everyone still upholds a disguise, just in case). Being a (very) small town with an effectively captive population.... The post-high-school ennui tends to set in bad for people. Hope you enjoy the family businesses, kids.

So... This leaves the listless vulnerable. And boy is Ali a bit malleable. A trusted figure in their life takes advantage of this, part of an accellerationist group looking to break these confines, having singled them out as candidate for their most recent attempt to mold a magic user into a weapon to shatter the veil. And, well, if you've got a self-hating isolated guy who is predisposed to a bit of Catholicism already... Why not utilise the concept of the antichrist? They will be bringing a world together, in a way... And when you've been around as long as some immortal librarians have, doing a little bit of time dilation in the later stages of indoctrination isn't thaaaaat hard... Sooooo....

(But don't worry. They get better. Eventually. At least they look it. Everything is A-OK!!!)

(as for if purrgatorio is canon to this timeline....? Yes! But in a fucked up way! Can't make it too easy for the little guy....)

3. Okay so I was coy literally a sentence ago but yeah purrgatorio is set dead on like.. at the exact same time MYMK proper *should* start. Thus, it cannot exist at the same time as the main story... Ali's narrative powers keep them from being subsumed by the universe and just becoming a funny animal themselves.

But should a time come where Ali is *gone*, and the world is similar enough to the moments before they arrived? Well, the narrative can just pretend the time hasn't passed! Just, don't think too hard about your count of how many Halloweens and Christmasses you've had doesn't really line up....

(A normal person would simply name Purrgatorio noncanon, but hey, if Ali's whole thing is that they manipulate reality like a Narrative... Well. May as well use it! So once canon is over for both parties, things can start creeping back in. It's needlessly overcomplicated but I'm having fun)

4. Written with illustrations! An Online picture book, I suppose. I was initially damning myself to a comic, but after playing in the space with Purrgatorio, I realised I prefer prose. I'll probably write the thing in whole and then release it bit by bit as I work on the illustrations? I have a working outline as of right now and it's not a super long story lol. But its likely going to come after some practice with smaller projects like my reworking of Hazeclan and maybe Damonquest (name pending) (the latter featuring a cut main character of mymk lol)

So! ETA: a while. But we stay silly

5. OKAY.... so I can't link character playlists sadly since they don't exist (..... Yet.) and I'll stick primarily to our at present Purrgatorio cast.

I am like. Famously bad with identifying songs (<- usb stick full of songs on shuffle in the car as a kid) but I have been trying to put thought into this recently (my gold standard for this being my friend @teddymedley who's so good with character songs I did ask him for some vibe checks for this even)

So these are messy and some are like, inherited from earlier drafts of the characters so can be a bit off but I'll give a handful and their reasonings. (No links or embeds though I'm on mobile and Tumblr might eat my visibility if I do. I'll reply with some though)

[Ali Alighieri]

1. "Here comes the flood" by the Divine Comedy (self explanatory really, that animatic will exist someday I promise. This is THE big one to me, but @samhainian may have a different top spot opinion lol) Bonus: it has a demo version that also fucks supremely

2. "All the angels (demo)" by MCR. (Ali is not the MCR sibling, they're the P!ATD sibling. But I don't listen to panic lol)

3. "If you could save yourself you'd save us all" by Ween (peak "sorry what was that line just there?" song)

4. "In the meantime" by Spacehog (I like Spacehog. Everyone gets a spacehog song yaaay)

5. "Here comes the sun" cover by Ghost (not their style of music at ALL and you KNOW they're contrarian about the Beatles, but grim irony is such a vibe here)

[Chromium Mono]

1. "Manicure" by Lady Gaga (this is such a flippant "because I said so" choice lol)

2. "Let it grow" by Renaissance (this is such a nice cheesy song. I like to think of this as speaking to the actual nice loving guy chrome can be when he's not being a prickly bitch)

3. Kissing Ancaps by Patricia Taxxon (... GOD this song is way too cool or smart for chrome lol. It's a chrometab song to me because of the big words and cynicism. It's too modern and online for them but I'm attached to it... Also it contains a sample from let it grow)

4. "Run away with me" by Carly Rae Jepsen (more vibes based! Love some ms jepsen. But at least has a coherent theme wrt to eloping lol)

Bonus: oh god I really have to finish the voiceclaim video I was making. Premiere kept melting on me but I should probably let the world know chrome sounds like Donald Glover huh. The marshall lee to live action Simba pipeline.....

Bonus 2: @teddymedley suggested "Ratchet" by Bloc Party, with the phrasing "subject matter younger chrome sound older chrome" which I like!

[Tabitha Boss]

1. "Cable Rat King" by Gem Milsom (this one genuinely feels like a solid choice to me. It's polite and tentative and about depressive spirals, and is from the same album as the Number One Main Labyrinthine song, Pipes. That animatic will exist someday too I promise)

2. "This too shall pass" by OK GO (Preferably the brass band version. I think Tabitha would adore their videos, he'd be delighted by the moving parts and generally light tone. Also, Labyrinthine has a different "this too shall pass", being by Danny Schmidt)

3. "When will you die?" By TMBG (goofy song. But you get it.)

4. "Zeroes" by Spacehog (Spacehog again 👍)

Bonus: Jimmy buffet discography. He is living on island time baby

Bonus 2: @teddymedley assigned "Happy Hour" by Eels and I think the strange upbeat lethargic energy fits

[Lavender Wafeu]

Lavender is really funny because I honest to god don't think she listens to much music. This means I barely associate music with her apparently.

However @teddymedley did suggest "Black Rainbows" from Hawaii: Part 2, and I think that's better than any of my previous notes. Those previous notes being entirely the words "Little shop of horrors". She, Knives and Mafioso do also share an association with "Panda Hero" by Hachi but that's more visual to me?

I have however begun associating some Zelda OST tracks with her though... Hmmm....!

[Markus Felidae]

This poor bastard has shed and gained characterisation recently enough to have shook the MCR out of their system.... I don't have all that much for them.

Now. Hm. I think I'd have to go with some very on the nose musical tracks? My mind immediately goes to the opening track to Disney's Notre Dame, and maybe like, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from Cats? These are such dreadful picks lol. Sorry buddy, characterisation overhaul syndrome. They probably also would listen to P!ATD same as Ali though so do with that what you will.

Bonus: in Markus' earliest iteration over 10 years ago..hrm. long story short, 121 guns is so fucking unfitting but it's lodged there forever lol

[Lupus Felidae]

Lupus is associated in my head with the kind of dub anime opening best codified by 4kids era Pokémon. Like the ideal song here is that one from Yugioh. "No matter what"? That kind of cheese and boyish power of friendship. "OK!!" From the JP endings of anipoke goes here too it's cute to me.

"I can go the distance" from Disney's Hercules is also up there for the same vibes. She's just silly and having fun!

Bonus: "Don't let's start" by TMBG is a Miao song to me, but in relation to her family. So it's also Lupus and Markus' by association.

[Ess Somil]

The idea of an ess playlist is hysterical to me. I feel like it's a Mother 3 battle theme in that man's head all the time. What's your time signature boy.

Anyway, "Numbers" by Neil Cicierega. Since it is overwhelming enough of a soundscape. Or just "Doctor Worm" by TMBG. For that they live in the soil.

.... And that's probably enough!!! This ask is very long now! Sorry it took a while to answer lmaooo. I've been very busy but it's been nice to chip away at during my downtime! Thank you so much for the questions :)

[wrens-versus-the-world]

A Demon's Promise (Demon!Fyodor x reader)

Crossposted on wattpad under @dontjudgemepels

Hellow BSD Fandom!!! 

I'm finally doing something for one of my favorite animes! 

demon fyodor x reader

It was a normal night, it always was. I got home from my part time job, bathed, ate dinner and worked on my homework for the remainder of the evening.

I guess i should have gotten the hint that something was up when my alarm clock was frozen, or when the lightbulb in my bathroom suddenly exploded, but no, I decided to ignore it. Big mistake.

after the light exploded i made my way to bed, a bit shaken from the fiasco in the bathroom I decided to read some.

and by some i meant three hours... because I couldn't seem to fall asleep.

I get ahead of myself.

after some time had passed I decided that i should just lay down. I set my book down on my bedside table and leaned over to turn the light off. That was my second mistake, because when I leaned back into my bed I was met with a pair of violet eyes, that seemed to be almost glowing from the moonlight.

'okay... this is... new' i thought to myself, 'maybe this is what people mean by a sleep paralysis demon?' i pause, the eyes blinked.

"maybe i'm hallucinating?"i wonder aloud

in response i am met with a deep chuckle, causing me to jolt slightly in surprise, inwardly cursing

'how could i show a reaction? now whatever, who rather, knows i am aware of their presence'

the eyes shut and i feel a dip in the bed

'okay, maybe this is a sleep paralysis demon... no wait i can move'

i turn my eyes to where the movement came from and became very aware of a tall man with semi-long hair sitting on the edge of my bed (not facing me, thankfully).

i pondered on what i should do for what felt like an eternity, before i was (rudely) interrupted by the man shifting. In my sudden surprise i attempted to slowly sit up and try to shift away from him.

it all happened to quickly, one moment i was trying to quietly move myself to the other side of the bed, adjacent from the male who had made himself so comfortable on the edge of my bed. and the next i was suddenly pushed down into the mattress of my bed, immobile.

"you're interesting" he says, looking down to me, allowing his deep voice to fill the room (a/n im sorry he has a hot voice in the english dub (*≧∀≦*)), "perhaps i should strike a deal with you", he says allowing one of his hands to find its way to my face.

a small gasp leaves my lips at his proposal, 'who is this guy!?... no wait, better question: how did he get in my room?'

"is my cute little mouse not going to answer me?" he asked, mock confusion lacing his tone, causing heat to rise to my cheeks, "I can promise you that the proposal i speak of will benefit you greatly."

curiosity getting the better of me i asked, "what do you mean?"

a smirk found its way to his lips

'this bastard is enjoying himself!?'

"you are going to die," he spoke, the smirk leaving his face momentarily, now replaced with a more serious expression.

"... excuse me..?"

"I am a demon, we can tell when someone is not long for this world." he paused, watching my features morph into confusion, " however, we demons, also have the power to prevent such things. hence why i brought up my proposal."

'this guy has to be nuts' i quietly thought to myself, pausing, 'well he did somehow appear here, and there have been some weird things happening tonight... so maybe he is a demon.'

My eyes wondered back to the 'demon' in question, "this seems like too great a bargain, don't you think? What exactly will you get in return for my not dying?" i asked, inwardly wondering where my sudden confidence came from.

" and in return? hah, you're quite smart to think to ask. In return I will have you." He answered, a smile appearing upon his lips.

"-me?" I managed to get out, shock painting my features.

"yes, you dear. In return for helping you to live, I want you.

I want you in all ways possible. I want you to love me and only me, And someday I want you to be my wife." He said he leaned into my neck and tightened his grip around me, not too tight, it was actually rather comfortable to be in his arms-, wait‽ what am i thinking‽ This guy is something inhuman, I cannot simply say yes because he gives good hugs.

Sending my discomfort he lifted his head from my neck and stared into my eyes, trying to find the source of it. "if you are worried about what will become of your freedom, don't be. I may be a demon, but I do make sure to give fair deals. In return for helping you to survive, and changing your fate. I want you. and in this deal you will still have your freedom to pursue your hopes and dreams, however you must adapt them because shall you take this deal, I will be in them as well." He finished.

'as much as I don't know the guy, he makes a good point if i don't take this deal I'm dead, and if i do then i have freedom and... a demon' i thought to myself before returning my gaze to the man above me.

"fine, I accept your conditions, only under the circumstances that you will refrain from interfering in my decisions." I said, hoping that I sounded confident.

The man above me looked rather amused, "You're cute." he said, the sudden compliment causing heat to rush to my face, "but you must understand that if you accept my deal that you are allowing me some interference into your life." he continued, his voice turning darker and more threatening as he went on, "if you accept a deal with a demon like me I'll be sure to make it worth your while, I'll be one hell of a husband." he finished, a dangerous glint dancing in his eyes as he did so.

(a/n: !! if you get the reference, your hand in marriage, rn!)

a gasp left my lips at his seriousness, "ok, fine. I accept your conditions, where do I sign?" I asked, assuming that he would have a contract.

"oh there won't be a need for any signatures of such a nature, I'll be using a rather different method." he said, looking down at me, his eyes flickering from my eyes to my neck.

"huh?" I breathed out.

"Not all demons use signatures to signify agreements. Especially one of such importance, instead of using a signature I will be leaving my mark on you." He said pausing, taking a chance to gauge my reaction, "I will be leaving it here." he said darkly while pressing two of his fingers against where my shoulders met my neck.

I stayed silent, waiting for him to make his move, almost every part of me was telling me to run from the man above me, but as always I ignored it and opted to stay still as a statue when he leaned down, peppering my neck in kisses, stopping only when he reached where he said he would place the mark and bit down, hard.

A groan of pain left my lips. I wanted to push him off of me, pain coursed through me, my neck felt like it was on fire.

"a little more lyubov moya." he breathed out, hugging me close to his body as I thrashed around in pain, a small part of me grateful that i didn't have a roommate yet, who knows what they would have thought if they heard this.

after what seemed like an eternity the pain finally became bearable. I attempted to remove myself from the demon's arms only for him to tighten his grip.

"you ought naught forget who you belong to so soon, lyubov moya." he said, adamant about not letting me go for the time being.

I sighed into his arms, 'i'm too tired for this' I thought to myself as a wave of drowsiness washed over me.

"sleep well, lyubov moya." was the last thing i heard before everything turned quiet and i entered a dreamless slumber.

a/n: They always call fyodor a demon, so i just thought i'd make it a reality! I have been wanting to write about this for so long!

(also I figured now was the best time because... of events that happen in the anime)

On another note, school is kicking my ass, one of my teachers is a major bitch, and it makes it really hard to want to actually try in her class. 

*lyubov' moya- my love in russian 

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Obsessed by the Joker-Benimaru team up and the things we learn about Benimaru in the process.

He thinks Amaterasu feels "bloody"? That's not good intuition that's straight-up supernatural senses what the hell. I wonder if he can see ghosts.

He's apparently extremely immune to poison? Given that his body steamed it feels reasonable to assume that he evaporated the poison from his body but it's very interesting that he did that while apparently unconscious. Also extremely funny that he had no idea that he was immune to poison and discovered it with the readers. To be fair how would he have known, you don't get poisoned everyday. And being immune to poison isn't that useful a ability when everyone and everything you fight has fire-adjacent abilities.

Wait if he's immune to poison how come he gets drunk so easily??

Loved when he questioned Joker about how he knew so much about the church and Joker gave him the most cryptic and dramatic answer and Beni's just like. Alright. But now you're gonna actually answer my question right? He Wants His Answers Dammit

The absolute lack of thoughts in the whole process. A highly suspect individual asked him to come wreck an extremely important establishment without giving any actual reason as to why and he just went sure ok why not. Benimaru my love this is not how you act when you're in charge of what's essentially a small city. I mean I feel like he's not actually in charge of Asakusa for things other than fire-related issues but still!

The fact that Joker brought a hallucinogenic cigarette to a fire fight is already hilarious but then you remember that he brought it without knowing Benimaru was immune to those things. In fact Benimaru being immune to poison did not necessarily guarantee he'd be immune to hallucinogens. Did you think of what would happen if the God of Destruction of Asakusa started hallucinating while in a closed and hostile environment, Joker? Did you ?

The Shadow's uniforms are killing me. What even is this. On today's news, we see people whose job is being invisible choosing literally the weirdest creepiest most suspicious work uniform ever. Who authorized this. Wait nevermind mystery solved it was probably the shape-shifting weirdo from the cult.

I really liked how in the anime they really showed that he used martial arts as much as his flame powers. That's part of what makes him so strong!!

Burns just doing a complete 180% when Benimaru gets there. Yeah actually he's not there to fight. No, that's got nothing to do with Benimaru. It was really funny.

Joker's ultimate goal being to understand why the world is shitty........ It's because the government is corrupt baby! It's not that deep! It's because your society is based on deception and destruction but mostly because sometimes people are just shitty!

Burns and Joker discussing World-Altering Secrets™ with gravity while Benimaru just stands there, clearly not understanding it all and clearly not caring about it. What an icon.

Love how he's the only one to doubt the notebook tho. You're so right darling! People lie!

Just about died when there seemed to be absolutely no consequences for fucking. Everything. Like you're telling me that the fucking government didn't even try to arrest or punish Benimaru after that? Deer lord, no wonder he feels like he can do whatever he wants.

[accessible-tumbling]

At source, the thread continues:

I follow/am followed by a lot of trans or trans-adjacent folks, but I have no idea how many people who follow me don't really know any trans people, and who, on seeing the rising hysteria about trans people, feel that maybe there really is something to worry about.

Maybe they feel no hostility to trans people, but have been led to believe that there are 'reasonable concerns' to be addressed, or that they are 'just asking questions'. At least one of my followers follows Cambridge Radical Feminists network, an openly trans-hostile group.

So if you're trans, or an ally, CW for transphobia and sadness here, maybe don't read this. But if you are feeling a bit 'on the fence' I'm begging you, listen to those of us telling you things are really bad here, and getting worse.

Neither my niece or my nephew were brought up with 'traditional gender roles'. My husband is the virtuoso cook in our household, and we have loads of pictures of both 'nephews' cooking with him. My niece wore her hair long, because she liked it long, and hated haircuts.

Her favourite colour is purple, so it featured a lot in her wardrobe, but I think because no fixed ideas of what it meant to 'be a boy' were imposed on her or her self-expression, gender was just a shrug to her. Until puberty hit, and suddenly she was very uncomfortable.

She was a bit grouchy and withdrawn, and began to act out at school. Not surprising for a kid in their early teens to be moody and challenging, not the stuff of newspaper headlines. We just took it in stride. Then a few months later it all came together - she was a girl.

We swapped pronouns, and once she decided on a new name, adopted that (it's a lovely choice!). My happy, goofy, animated little weirdo came back out of her shell. Her school friends are wonderful and supportive (we had a 'Gender Repeal' party where they brought hand made cards!

But getting healthcare, counselling and support for her was another story. Obviously we all had questions around whether this was a phase, or perhaps a stepping stone to something else - nonbinary identity, or just life as a boy who was quite gender-nonconforming.

These aren't things we are qualified to help her work through! Also, if in time and with a good counsellor it is established with certainty that yes, she is a trans girl, then we want her to have a therapist to help her with her feelings around that.

It's not an easy path through life, and it would be reasonable to have some anger, some 'why me' feelings, or some fears about that. We really want her to have that support.

We also wanted to have puberty blockers for her. She had expressed a desire for them, and it would buy her some time to think about what she wants from her future and her body without the pressure of a body that is changing in ways that are deeply distressing to her.

Since the Tavistock closed, there is no Gender Identity service on the NHS to refer her into. The new system is expected to open with a three year wait list. Her friends won't get their first appt until they are around 17 or 18.

We got her blockers privately. It's challenging because not all GPs will agree to share care with private services, so you're always hopping between two systems. It's not cheap either. Just over £100 a month. Not a lot of families have that going spare right now.

She had a fantastic youth club for LGBT+ kids that has been such a fantastic source of support. Their windows have been smashed more than once. Newspapers regularly talk about the threat trans women pose to us. There was even a debate about it in Parliament. It's hostile here.

At the beginning of the year, when Gary Lineker was being hauled over the coals for suggesting our government's narrative around targets of hatred was akin to 1930s Germany, the kids' parents offered them to move to Canada. Their dad texted us to say they seemed keen.

Canada has a better healthcare system for trans people, and there, my niece can change her gender officially with a minor bit of paperwork. Nowhere right now is perfect, but it's better.

So today, my niece and nephew left their home, their friends, their school, and most of their family to seek a better life away from the UK, which has become intolerably hostile.

I'm relieved. Canada is lovely. Travel broadens the mind. They are charismatic, kind, engaging kids. They will make new friends.

But we won't get their formative teenage years back, with them living ten minutes' cycle away. They won't get homework on my couch after school.

They won't get time with their dad or their grandparents, except for holidays. They won't play frisbee with their uncle, or go kayaking with me after school. We will be half a world away, hoping for the best.

This is the cost of the rising tide of transphobia. Lineker was right. Having a chunk of your family uproot for their safety and wellbeing while being victimised by your government probably does feel reminiscent of 1930s Germany.

I encourage you to scratch a little deeper at the 'just asking questions' brigade, at JK Rowling's desire to just 'protect women and girls'. That protection doesn't extend to my niece. The questions about her personhood left her without counselling, support or healthcare.

And one day, when she is not a trans child but a trans woman, I don't want her living somewhere that her identity is constantly sharing space with 'just asking questions about rapists', 'dangerous men in dresses', or discourse around whether she is allowed to pee outside her home.

The anti-trans brigade shares space, and a great deal of its ideals with fascism. Nazis attend their rallies. They quote Hitler. The policing of identity, the reinforcement of gender norms, the intense focus on fertility - all straight out of the fash playbook.

And those pressing for the marginalisation of a minority, squeezing them out of public life, pillorying them in the press, ruining their public standing - they don't stop there. Other targets for hate *will* emerge, if left unchecked.

One of the most famous images of Nazi book burning is from the looting of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexology, which was leading research in trans and gay identities/sexualities at the time.

And fascist powers don't start with laws that say things like 'kill all the Jews'. They are worded as positives. The first anti-Jewish law was 'Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service' barring Jewish and 'politically unreliable' people from service.

(You can read more about anti-Jewish legislation here)

So when you see things framed as 'protecting women and girls' and 'defending women's sex-based rights' (surely things *no one* reasonable can disagree with!) ask yourself protect *from who* and *at whose expense*.

As we are left behind in a nation that is increasingly demonising foreigners and turning on its own, I am left with the thought experiment we were all given at school, 'What would *you* have done if you had lived in that place, at that time?'

Now is the place and the time.

Please, do something.

[bonefall]

this may seem silly, but i’m running a warriors themed dnd campaign and I was reading your epilepsy post, and read about cannabis. I was wondering if there’s any way off the top of your head that the cat could smoke it? I have a player who runs a cat called weedsmoke, and I want to know if that’s possible in any way for comedic effect! thank you :3

THIS is why I keep my ask box open thank you. I put my whole back into my research and dive through studies to learn about cat biology, but still bend over backwards to justify things that are Fun like Shrewpaw's pheasent being in cat hell

(Content warning, of course, for discussion of cat medicine and weed smoking)

-Smoke: Why is it bad?

So the big thing about smoke that bars it from kitties is how sensitive cats are to smoke particles, and how they groom. For one, they have a waaay stronger sense of smell, which means they have more receptors for air particles in their nose, and a more sensitive respiratory system in general.

Not to mention, if the cat is smoking a blunt, the secondhand smoke is going to get weed particles everywhere. Cats lick themselves clean; so it may make the rest of the party sick to be around that.

That's why it's not even good to light candles or burn incense in a house with a cat. Humans really don't know how hardy we are to poisons and air quality compared to the rest of the animal kingdom.

-THC and CBD: What about it?

THC is the chemical that gets you high from cannabis use. CBD is the medicinal compound present in cannabis that can help treat epilepsy.

For my Epilepsy guide, I specifically recommended wild ditchweed exactly because it got a really high CBD content and a really low THC one. Human cultivars of cannabis select for raising the THC content, and this is what makes it so toxic to felines. They're very, very sensitive to THC but not CBD.

So how can we do this?

Portable bong.

We'll have to just accept the problems with smoke and cats, because there's no way we can truly fix that besides saying that Clan cats have stronger lungs than normal cats.

If you would like SOME sort of explanation though, you could say that Weedsmoke is descended from RiverClan cats and they just naturally have stronger lungs, or WindClan tunnelers.

We're also accepting that THC affects the cats more strongly than it does a human, and the small amount of THC present in ditchweed can get this warrior high.

But we CAN reduce the problem of getting smoke particles all over the party, by giving the character a small, portable bong. This'll give Weedsmoke better control over their weed, so that the smoke doesn't settle all over the other cats.

A bong can be made out of simple terracotta or wood, since glassmaking may be above the ability of canon-adjacent Warrior Cats.

I hope that helps!!

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s1 episode 19 thoughts

my evening scully and mulder time has arrived!!! i read the synopsis of the episode- that they investigate a shapeshifting Indigenous creature- and (correctly) made the guess that things would be. well. appropriation-y.

the first thing i wrote was "roarrrrr a bear", this is because we see a taxidermy bear. hope that clears up any confusion.

the old man looks like mark twain. which is a normal thing to notice about a guy.

the son of mark twain guy- who shot a creature that turned out to be a man- pulls our duo aside and mentions how he knows their story doesn't make sense. i admired this self-aware move. most of the people who give mulder and scully their evidence are less willing to admit that it's kinda unlikely they really got abducted by aliens or saw bigfoot or whatever. so he won me over in this way.

scully's annoyed because she thinks it's just a homicide and says there's NOTHING unusual about this... and at that very moment mulder rolls up with a big piece of skin like "nope. nothing weird at all". count on him to find that. seems just like the thing he'd do. spooky mulder and all.

they go to a bar on the reservation to try and find the sheriff and learn more, but are met with a chilly reception due to the fact that they are working for the US government. but we see the dead guy's sister and she is very pretty as well as an old man that mulder talks to about shapeshifting.

"i want to believe" <- HE SAID THE LINE!!!!!

when they go to check the guy's body, mulder gets on the ground and opens the deceased's mouth to reveal: he has fangs!!!!!!!! which is probably the first time mulder looking in a dead guy's mouth has found anything useful! but certainly not the last.

at this point scully is weirded tf out because like. he knew to look for the skin AND jumped straight to the dead guy's teeth and she says mulder, you had best tell me what is going on right NOW. and we get a lore reveal!!! he knows all this because a similar case was the... drumroll please...

VERY! FIRST! X-FILE!!!!!

everyone cheered and clapped and pointed at the screen.

everyone EXCEPT scully, that is. because she is pissed that he would propose people can turn into animals. she got so mad that she got out of the car and left. this reaction is likely why mulder did not tell her about his hunch in the first place, but really can you blame her? she is a doctor. that profession is too busy to deal with werewolves.

they had giant umbrellas in almost every scene of this episode. oh, to be tromping around the pacific northwest adjacent era, hunting for clues in the rain... how atmospheric!

scully says she's very sorry to the murdered man's sister. not much to note here beyond that it was a kind thing to do.

there's a scene where someone turns into a wolf creature and pummels mark twain man and it looked remarkably similar to the attack my werewolf character in skyrim performs, which made me laugh. the "lunge and rip the person apart" technique must be universal to werewolf media across the land.

scully finds mark twain guy's son hurt in a field and takes him to the hospital! that was very kind of her but: i don't like it when our duo splits up. i enjoy their codependency.

but oh no!! things are not looking good for our murdered man's sister, who has since gone missing. did she do it....? (spoilers: nah she's innocent)

i felt very bad for the scraggly guy scully found in the middle of a field, who seem to thought that he somehow triggered his father's death. scully says she knows how it feels because she just lost her dad and holds his hand as he cries. scully :(((((((((

so then mulder and the sheriff visit an elder who explains the myth of the shapeshifter to them as one who is attacked and then attacks others, and cannot remember the trance they fall into. they refer to this as an Algonquin legend, and at first i was confused because the Algonquin live on the opposite side of north america, but the term can also refer to the entire language family that stretches across the continent. the more you know!

(regardless, the appropriation of Indigenous imagery as a form of horror entertainment by white folks is always gonna be Problematic and i do not excuse them of this crime)

but this is a sad kind of monster, in the x-files universe at least- one who doesn't know they are attacking others, which is a very compelling trope imo...

and we learn the kid had his father's blood in him, which can only happen if he ate his dad... which means...

OH NO! HE'S GONNA EAT SCULLY!

(actually i will copy my notes verbatim here, which i wrote while she drove him home, then continued writing as she tried to help him out while he was acting weird and locked himself in the bathroom)

"NOOO THE KID IS THE EVIL FELLOW AND SCULLY IS DRIVING HIM HOME this is what being a doctor gets you ohhh poor kid and poor scully she just wants to do her doctor duties and she'll pick the damn lock if she needs to that's doctorly dedication NOOOO HE'S GONNA EAT HER NOOOO NOT IN SEASON ONE WE HAVE SO MANY MORE TO GET TO"

wow, i think that says a lot. feel free to unpack that at a later time.

anyway, mulder realizes what is going on and he shows up with the sheriff guns blazing. like seriously, he SHOOTS the taxidermied bear i had earlier said "roaaaaar" to. the head is blown clean off. he was NOT going to let scully get eaten.

finally during his search of the ranch, he opens a door and she's hiding in there. they fall on top of each other and she says "it's okay, it's me, it's okay" and. man. the whispering. the need to be at each other's side in the face of imminent danger. the relief of those hushed words. it's okay. it's me. they're together again and they can face this Thing as a united front. ohhhhhhh hold me tight.

the sheriff shoots the mysterious creature and surprise! it turns into the guy who had been previously found naked in a field and accused of eating his father.

scully is deeply perplexed by all of this. she does not know what to think, for a mere 24-ish hours ago she was talking about how a human cannot become an animal! another instance of her central beliefs being shaken to the core.

before they leave, the old man yells to mulder "see you in about 8 years" referring to the cyclical nature of the attacks. and he says "i hope not"... how very ominous... i will certainly keep this in mind for future seasons

i thought the suspense in this episode was really good and i knew deep down she wasn't really going to be eaten, but i was still scared, so it certainly did its job in that regard. overall, not my fave episode though for cultural appropriation reasons- hint to those reading: Don't profit off of bastardizing Indigenous belief systems.

they did serve with those goth black umbrellas, though, i'll give them that.