#post-isolation

[littlest-bugz]

On Self Isolation, and the fear of being vulnerable

[no images or poetry belong to me. credit help is always appreciated!]

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Hot take maybe but I think Bertie would be FAR more likely to survive the first two months of Dracula than Jeeves would be. Bertie has a healthy sense of self-preservation. Jeeves consistently underestimates how dangerous a situation might get (Steeple Bumpleigh, the club book) because he’s overconfident about his level of control over any given situation. He'd handle Dracula masterfully if they faced off in England, but on Dracula's home turf? Much more doubtful.

I realize this might be a tough sell, so I will explain further (or it's not a tough sell, and I'm going to explain further because I want to). (criteria taken from @canyourfavesurvivecastledracula) Without further ado.

Would Jeeves and Wooster survive Castle Dracula?

Jeeves

Jeeves' survival will depend on how long Dracula finds him more entertaining than irritating. On that basis, I don't think he's long for this world. On the one hand, he has a huge wealth of knowledge about English society and culture that he can recite perfectly from memory. That should buy him at least a little time with noted teaboo Dracula.

On the other hand, he would be absolutely no fun as a vampire plaything. Jeeves cannot be got. Sneaking up on him while he's shaving will yield zero reaction (though that's at least good for his short-term survival--given that, although he DID take the crucifix from the old woman out of politeness, he certainly isn't going to wear it. The rules of fashion don't go out the window just because you're in a spooky castle). Then, although managing the whims of rich jerks is not an insignificant part of a valet's job, Jeeves usually does this by bending his employers to his will. Dracula is not the sort of employer this will work on. It'll just add insult to injury when on top of being impossible to scare, NOW Jeeves is telling Dracula that his favorite cloak is several centuries out of fashion and he's not allowed to wear it anymore.

Jeeves will 100% go exploring in the areas he was told not to go-- though to be fair, he MIGHT actually get away with this, what with his superpower of appearing in rooms without being seen or heard. Said superpower might save him from the brides as well (though this is by no means guaranteed). Since I find it doubtful that Dracula would come to rescue his annoying ass, not being noticed is his best defense.

There are a couple other things working in Jeeves's favor; the question is just whether they'll be enough to save him.

He DOES know shorthand, and could try to send coded letters. He might even have the foresight to squirrel away some extra stationary where Dracula can't find it. But could he get them posted? Would it even do him any good?

He certainly has enough cultural literacy to figure out what his new boss is pretty quickly. If he didn't chuck the crucifix out the carriage window, he might start carrying it around in his pocket.

Psychology of the individual, sure, but the individual in question is a 400-year-old vampire who lives in an isolated castle in a foreign country and is regarded as a terrifying mythological figure in the surrounding villages. Jeeves has never come up against anything this alien before, he's cut off from his normal resources, and opportunities to play people against each other are limited.

He probably has enough upper body strength from all that shrimping and fishing to climb the wall, so he COULD escape if he wanted to, if he survived long enough. It's just, again, that overconfidence, and also Dracula has a vast library full of rare old books that are entirely at his disposal. He's keeping his eyes and ears alert for potential escape strategies, of course, but I don't see him being as desperate to get out as Jonathan was.

There are just a lot of "depends on"s here, and I'm not convinced that luck would shake out in Jeeves's favor, all things considered.

Bertie

Bertie is so perfect for the job of Castle Dracula Prisoner it's like it was made for him. Think about it. Being held against his will in big manor houses comes more naturally to him than breathing. He's afraid of things that are scary. A lifetime of dealing with Aunt Agatha has made him the world's preeminent expert in "curl[ing] up in a ball in the hope that a meek subservience [will] enable [him] to get off lightly." He will NEVER go exploring in places he's been warned away from if nobody is forcing him to (Rev. Aubrey Upjohn's office notwithstanding. There were biscuits in there). He's both fun to talk to and easy to toy with (and extremely English). A+ prisoner. Dracula adores him.

In my opinion, Bertie is at Castle Dracula either because Aunt Agatha got some wires seriously crossed and thinks he’s going to meet an eligible potential bride (I mean, there are certainly brides there), or because Dracula has something Aunt Dahlia wants him to steal (far less likely, given that one of Dracula’s THINGS is famously not owning anything silver). Either way, he's shown himself entirely willing and able to escape down drainpipes if a sitch gets too scaly.

He DOES take the crucifix, and DOES wear it (which is what will save him during the shaving scene, because you KNOW he's going to jump a foot and cut himself like the dickens). He's read enough supernatural goosefleshers to be genre savvy about terrified old women cryptically pushing crucifixes into one's hands. I also think his sunny disposish endeared him to the villagers, and they were particularly vehement about urging him not to go. He doesn't speak German or Romanian, but he's empathetic enough to recognize Pure Terror. So by the time he actually gets to the castle, his imagination is already running wild and he's plenty aware that he is in imminent danger.

I think the biggest risk to Bertie will be the brides; whether or not he's susceptible to trances, if he thinks they're trying to marry him, it's against the code of the Woosters to turn them down. But that only becomes an issue if he comes face to face with them, which, luckily, I think is unlikely on account of the aforementioned "won't go exploring" (and if he did, Dracula would definitely rescue him).

I'm inclined to say due to his drainpipe-escape habits that he WOULD be able to climb the wall and MAY attempt to sneak into Dracula's room to look for the keys if his desperation grows to outweigh his fear. Whether he does or not, though, he does NOT have the stomach to attempt shovel murder, and therefore won't get magic brain fever, and may very well simply walk out the front doors when the people come to take the boxes away. OR he climbs his way out like Jonathan did. Either way.

When Bertie tells this story at the Drones later, Tuppy will say that no doubt it's been greatly exaggerated and all that probably happened was that he spent a couple months in an oldish house entertaining a weird loner.

[insanekatlady]

I just had this little idea that @mari-lair ‘s Researcher!siffrin is a lil cheat that uses wish craft to make super OP skills with INSANE cooldowns as a balance

Or- I was bored on my lunch break

Meant to save this as a draft not post it but here we are whoops

[meteortrails]

one thing I will say about dick grayson’s canonically like, potentially Olympic level gymnastic capabilities, is he truly never could’ve pursued either that or being a professional trapeze artist without quitting his vigilante life. like it’s fun to joke about but also if he kept on being nightwing while making athleticism like that his job, especially given the kinds of injuries he gets, it would’ve absolutely destroyed his body so thoroughly even the plausible deniability of comics couldn’t save him. dick can’t even make a living out of one of his passions, one of the things he’s best at, the legacy his parents left him, bc of what being a vigilante demands of him. are you picking up what I’m putting down. the things being a vigilante takes from him, the doors it closes, are so numerous and diffuse that it’s easy to lose track of them all, forget they’re even closed at all, forget the way it shapes him. grabbing your shoulders Do You Get It????

[palomalexa]

Always inside your mind.

[ratsoupee]

Accepting isolation, craving belonging

[the-nothing-maker]

"Her mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation      Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of her name:           Her ineffable effable           Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular name."

My piece for the free Curse of Strahd zine, Memento Mori, depicting Stella Wachter! Do not hesitate to check out the zine over at @mementomoristrahdzine for more wonderful CoS art, you will not regret it!

[biblically-accurate-dca]

painting test with a limited color palette

here's the moon equivalent!

[michaela-o]

Not really transformers art (hope u don't mind :3)

But fun fact: Xenomorphs have always been my number one favourite aliens what comes to design :3

Even from when i was younger i was obsessed with drawing them but wasn't so good at it but man sketching and drawing Xeno after a long time felt really good and fun :DD i even played Alien isolation and Alien vs predator games and i highly recomend both ! :3

I also had this fun silly thought when i was drawing like- why is it always humans that get into shit with deadly aliens😭 wether it's transformers or xenomorphs it's always Earth and humans getting the "shortest stick" and i think it's pretty funny :P

Imagine like a Xenomorph somehow gets into the Lost Light, the poor bots catch it and lock it up because it's very aggresive so they call over their human liaison to come and take a look if they can indentify it by any chance and as soon as they see it they just jump back in fear and scream like "WOAH !!" to get rid of that thing, kill it or anything and not let it go anywhere near them and the bots are just confused like what why?? And then they proceed to show the bots all the movies and feel sorry and very disturbed for the human liaison😭

[restlessgem]

Am I the only one who thinks The Secret History would be way more interesting as a stage play than a movie? It could be put on in the same style as a Greek tragedy, taking inspiration from ancient performances. Or there could be constant rotating sets and backgrounds, but the mountains and the cliffs always being present onstage, reminding us that what no matter what Richard is telling us, and no matter how much Richard and the Greek class try to rationalize it, they will always be haunted by what they have done. THINK ABOUT HOW THE BACCHANAL COULD BE SHOWN

[mychapel-004]

FNAF SPOILERS! SCROLL! TALKING ABOUT THE SPRINGLOCK SCENE!

i’ve seen so many people discussing the springlock scene in both negative and positive ways and i think it brings up really cool points about how matthew played that scene and balanced fan expectations with his own characterisation.

i think the discussions around this movie have rlly exposed the disconnect between fanon and canon in fnaf, especially talking abt the core games in isolation, bc frankly in the game universe (ignoring the books) we get Very Little characterisation for William other than the obvious, but Matthew managed to add so much in the way he talks and his body language.

in the reveal scene, we see afton at arguably his peak. in his first scene, he comes off as somewhat demeaning and judgemental until he recognises mike’s name, at which point he seems to have this nervous energy, rushing to cover it up but stumbling slightly, his reaction to the tables being turned even slightly is massive.

this is a man who committed multiple mrdrs in essentially broad daylight, hid the bodies in the most obvious place, and still got away with it, and then kept the crime scene as a trophy of his actions, and an ongoing prison sentence for his victims. he has been in complete control for decades, and is confident that he can deal with any kind of threat quickly. his confidence in his reveal is palpable

it changes when vanessa shoots him. the whole parallel with vanessa and the animatronics is hugely interesting too- how william refers to the animatronics almost endearingly as “kids” when he wants them to obey, how both vanny and the animatronics have an unearned loyalty to him, almost a pseudo-adoption through what he did to them, taking them from their parents and keeping them under his thumb, forever stuck as naive, forgiving, obedient children. vanessa breaking from that control shakes him, but the mask slips back into place almost immediately.

then, he’s outsmarted by the brother of one of his victims, and the child he planned to end next. his pseudo-children turn on him and he can no longer manipulate his appearance or shed his skin to escape. he explodes on them, and his language is incredibly telling that he is being dishonest.

he calls them small, trying to belittle them into submission, even though they are ten feet tall metal animatronics powered by rage. he is grasping at straws to regain control, and failing miserably.

finally, the springlocks go off. the locks in the movie look more like a ribcage, so the first two likely puncture his lungs. they’re slow, and painful, but he doesn’t scream or beg or sob. he grunts and groans, gritting his teeth and only letting out sounds of pain that sound almost involuntary. there is no way in hell he would visibly let himself show weakness or pain in front of these creatures that he believes he has control over. he isn’t brought to his knees until there are eight metal spikes embedded in his abdomen. he doesn’t let the mask fall for even a second, until he literally PUTS THE ACTUAL MASK ON and finally collapses. even then, he’s fighting for consciousness, twitching and writhing with no control over his body. william afton thrives on control, and his soul will not rest until he gets it back.

it’s why he keeps the pizzeria- he always comes back. he can’t help but return to the scene of the crime, putting on his old costume, continuing his killings. he revels in being a constant threat on the horizon. and now, he knows he is going to die, and he knows the suit will bring him back, and noone will be able to get rid of him then. so he puts the mask back on, and waits.

in terms of the sfx- they’re pretty accurate. with stab wounds, you need to leave the knife in the wound as long as possible for best chance of survival, as it stops the blood from escaping. in terms of the springlocks, there wouldn’t be copious amounts of blood as the locks are keeping the wounds filled- which is good because it means a slower, more painful death.

[redha-reading-hood]

it’s too bad Nesta drank wine in taverns every night because she wanted to and not because she was force fed wine by her mate to make her memories hazy so he could do horrifying things to her in public because that would’ve been totally ok

[heartsfortwotpot]

one and ONE

[unmaskingdisability]

Cars are a form of mobility aid! Your solarpunk future has to include space for people who still need cars.

Who need to arrive to a parking spot right outside the building ,and not have an alternative of walking a mile if that One Spot is full. Who need safe places to decompress or change medical equipment, who are immunocompromised and risk major health complications from the wrong crowded bus. Who get so overstimulated/in pain/exhausted walking around town that they can't attend the actual event otherwise. Who need space for their medical equipment/backup mobility aids/service dog.

We absolutely need a world where Public transit and walkable cities are the default! And!! There has to be room for disabled people and our needs in your revolution!

[tls12lessthan3]

kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk are both so fucking lonely at the beginning of orv it's actually driving me a little crazy. they both see themselves as the only real people in the world in a way that is so incredibly isolating and so clearly bad for them. it makes me want to hit them with hammers.

kim dokja is already such lonely person when we first meet him. like he pretty clearly already had a barrier up between himself and the rest of the world. he sees himself as a 'reader' aka an outside observer whos unable to truly interact with the 'characters' of the world (e.g. yoo sangah). and then that dynamic gets turned literal as twsa comes to life (and suddenly kim dokjas survival depends on his ability to disassociate from others). the dehumanization he hits yoo sangah with ('oh what a perfect protagonist, so distant from me') suddenly extends to like, the entire world, as everyone becomes characters. forget it being just a coping mechanim now hes grappling with real questions about the personhood of everyone around him in a way that is so isolating. combine that with the way his future knowledge keeps him apart from everyone, putting him in a position of power that only increases the distance between him and his companions as he manipulates them like pieces on a chessboard rather than like, friends and you get this overwhelming feeling that kim dokja is the only real person in the world, yknow? the 'reader' has become the 'only son' as the world becomes a novel. and now hes stuck questioning the personhood of everyone around them, forced into situations that either allow or encourage him to discard it - to think of them as characters and little more. which is so isolating!!!

and yoo joonghyuk is in almost the exact same boat! yoo joonghyuk's loneliness comes from his status as a regressor - this is the third turn, and he's starting to realise just how lonely it is to stay the same and keep his memories as everything else regresses and everyone else forgets. life becomes an optimized speedrun rather than, yknow, a life, and everyone is either an obstacle or something to be used. he stops bothering to save people anymore because thanks to the regressions he's losing the ability to even see them as people, in a way that parallels kim dokja's similar inability to see them as more than characters. he's settling uncomfortably into the role of lone pilgrim of the apocalypse, and everyone around him becomes less real as a result. this sense of isolation is compounded, just like with kim dokja, by his knowledge of the future and the lonely position it puts him in, although tbh kim dokja fucks up his plans so bad it's significantly less severe.

so both of them have this incredibly desolate feeling of being the one real person in the world - and they don't know each other well enough to help each other combat that. instead they both move through the world - making plans, manipulating others, even working with each other - as though theyre the only ones in it. which culminates in giving early orv this very lonely feeling, where the two main characters are both incredibly isolated and actively perpetuating that very isolation by centering their identities on being the only real person in the world. and it gives early orv this very eery feeling which i am both discomfited by and enjoying.

[babacontainsmultitudes]

HEH.

IT'S HERE. THANK YOU FOR WAITING. THANK YOU FOR VOTING. IT'S. IT'S HERE.

*Excluding episodes 43,45, and 46 of S2 since their transcripts are not yet out. ;) Dw, I'll make an updated version of this once season 2 is over. Also some bonus "heh"s if the players were imitating Freddie.

Heh, now go vote for Glenn.

EDIT: COMPLETE VERSION HERE