#it's not murder

[mangotangerine]

I saw you encouraging people to ask questions about inm and your works and i do have some, so, first! Tell us more about Maman Marie's view of Vox and the tarot reading and the spider speech?

YESSS I love when people ask me about my writing, and this is such a fascinating question!!

I modeled the tarot reading after how my own go, when I do readings—sometimes they are frighteningly accurate, even though I have no idea at the time. And sometimes there are those people who somehow seem to know things inexplicably. Whether magic or spirits or any of that is real is ultimately irrelevant in the story, because the reality of the situation is that for whatever reason, Maman Marie appears to know more than she should.

I think she finds Vox fascinating, because she sees through his mask just a little. She's been around long enough and met enough people that she understands more intuitively those things. Sort of like if you've never met a narcissist before, you don't know the signs, but once you have, it becomes a lot easier to identify.

So she senses the dissonance between Vox's public identity and who he really is (who Alastor sees), even if she can't see the complete picture, and part of that is the dissonance she sees in her own grandson. She knew Alastor before Katrina, and saw who he became after, and how the hurricane and his father's death affected him, and she has seen that kind of darkness grow inside somebody before.

She's got I think a lot of... not self-hate, but disappointment in herself, and grief, that she wasn't there to catch it, to stop its growth (assuming she'd have been able to; sometimes things hurt us so much that we are irreparably changed, things in us broken beyond mending). So she sees the way Alastor develops, the way his nature twists, his personality changes.

And then she meets Vox, and she sees that own twisted brokenness reflected back at her once again. She recognizes it as the same sort of thing Alastor has within him, and she knows it's dangerous, but the body doesn't develop thorns like that out of nowhere—it's a defense mechanism.

I think she sees, in Vox, some level of confidence and power Alastor feels he is lacking. Vox has the ability to protect himself in a way that Alastor doesn't, due to a whole host of factors, and she sees the coldness in him that allows him to do so without remorse.

So she likens him to a deadly, venomous spider, viciously defending his territory, which includes Alastor now. But spiders are vulnerable, especially if they leave their territory, and the level of confidence she sees in Vox is a little too much, a little too arrogant.

And if Alastor follows him where he goes—which he will, because Vox is the first person Alastor has met who has that same twistedness inside him, and he's attached now—then when Vox gets his little spider-self smashed, Alastor will be right there with him to receive the same punishment.

She cares about Vox because Alastor cares about him, and because she believes in the innate value of a human life, but ultimately her goal is to protect her family.

She also thinks Vox is incredibly rude and begrudgingly respects him for it, because it's a little nice to not be seen as scary by strangers. Like, "He's an asshole but he treats me like I'm normal," kind of thing, which has parallels with how Alastor feels about him.

I hope that answered your question!

[inkskinned]

it's extremely critical that you see the photo of the perp walk for luigi mangione as being propaganda. i've seen so many people wave it off and instead fawn over his looks. and trust me, i know it ended up being kind of pathetic and weird - but please don't brush it off as a "modelling opportunity" for him. it's a fucking terrifying message the police are sending.

i want to make a few comparisons here, in case you're not from the US or familiar with why the perp walk thing is something to pay attention to. just to set the groundwork for why this is a purposeful, unusual, and cruel act by the nyc police - for why this is not a common occurrence and for why that matters.

the prosecution alleges the show of force is due to the charge of "terrorism." for comparison, in june 2015, tsarnaev was found guilty for the boston marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured hundreds. his actions are considered to be an act of domestic terrorism. i have spent the last hour looking through google for pictures of similar to mangione's perp walk - and so far, i have found zero. i also just do not personally remember a moment like that, despite living in boston at the time.

they allege that luigi is a stone-cold killer who carried out a longterm plan, making him particularly dangerous. again for comparison: in nyc, recently cory martin was found guilty of the killing of brandy odom. the murder was planned and premeditated to steal insurance money. and yet no staged perp walk. why didn't her life matter enough for a "show of force"?

but mangione gets paraded by a veritable army of police officers as if he is a rabid animal. for a single citizen who allegedly killed one other single citizen, the "largest perp walk ever" occurs.

so what is the "strong message" that the mayor and the police were trying to send here? the mayor speaks as if mangione is already convicted of terrorism. there is a very thin number of people who feel threatened by the CEO's death. none of us felt like mangione needs to be under massive armed guard.

the message is that you shouldn't resist. they are trying to "make an example" of him - that if you behave badly and kill a single rich person, you'll be treated as if you killed hundreds of people. you will be treated worse than a man who was found guilty of terrorism. you will be considered guilty without trial. the message is that the rich are a protected class, and you cannot touch them without massive punishment. they are trying to prevent a revolution by showing dominance and force against you.

the message is that the police are a puppet of the wealthy and that the law is not equally applied across class disparity. it is "some are more equal than others." it is "one life is more precious than another."

the show of force wasn't for luigi. it was for us. it was a warning. they are trying to remind us who is really in control.

[noodles-07]

to be fair to Cain if nobody had ever died before and I didn't know it was possible I would probably also hit my brother over the head with a rock if he was being really annoying

[purpleminte]

God sending his silliest soldier:

[brainrotcharacters]

When irl pisses me off, I rewatch the Honda Odyssey scene to relax

[sexygaywizard]

Have not talked to my brother in 8 years because he went down a sad alt-right pipeline but he just gifted me a yaoi game on Steam for Christmas?? lol

[one-time-i-dreamt]

@pukicho was killed while wearing a Pikachu suit, and it was announced on this blog.

[raointean]

...he'll get there eventually

[nothing-impt]

Reunion :D

[rozecrest]

there are 92 days left to fulfill the last 14% of the municipality of gaza's life-saving campaign!

we have been gifted additional time to see this through!

water is life. infrastructure must be rebuilt. approximately $136,562 are left to reach this goal.

donate here! every dollar gets us closer!

if you have a clean and consistent water source that is a privilege. it always has been in this world. here is a chance to give that back to a place in dire need. take it! this goal can and must be filled!

[mangotangerine]

will vox and/or alastor ever get caught for what they’re doing in INM? 👀

What do you think will happen? 🤔 I know the answer, of course, but I can’t just give away all my secrets!

What I can tell you is that I have already written some of the final scenes of the fic (don’t worry, we still have a wedding and like 4-5 murders to get through, excluding Kevin), and I think it will be a very satisfying ending. 😁

[saelrum]

"Was I sweet once?"

[lovelymimic]

The Murder Victims Killer would come to be known for their calling card; a dead body left at the scene of each murder.

[ihateadulthood]

[gibbearish]

love when ppl defend the aggressive monetization of the internet with "what, do you just expect it to be free and them not make a profit???" like. yeah that would be really nice actually i would love that:)! thanks for asking