#rate a fear

[wolfeyedwitch]

bailey what if everything was just an elaborate ploy from your whumper to get back at you. the heroes were all contracted. none of it is real

(rate this fear :)) )

Bailey shakes their head almost before you finish speaking.

"No." Their smile is bitter-bright. "Any other team, I might believe that, but not this one. Not here. Not... not Icarus."

That's why they'd come to these heroes in particular, after all. Would it have been less risky to go to another team? Absolutely. Picking the team of heroes that not only included the hero they'd most often fought, but the one they had hospitalized, felt much like handing them a scalpel and drawing a line to show them where exactly to cut. But this, this question, hit right on the reason they'd chosen to come to these heroes.

Bailey can't trust their own judgment. They have done so much wrong, things they can't even begin to make amends for. Who better to trust than the people who fought the hardest against them?

(And anyway. Icarus is owed his pound of flesh.)

---

5/10. Scary but manageable.

Taglist:

@heathenville @nonbinary-disaster @kim-poce @whump-world 

@dolls-circus @pickleking8 @ghostfacepepper @cupcakes-and-pain @badluck990 

@mylifeisonthebookshelf @pumpkin-spice-whump @deluxewhump @extemporary-whump @whumpwillow 

@multiple-characters1-acct @sunflower1000 @fleur-alise @equestrianwritingsstuff @scp-1296 

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@heart4brains @myhusbandsasemni @how-to-be-a-hero @kixngiggles @kurochan 

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@elrysdoesstuff @whumperflies-and-roses @ha-ha-one @whatwhumpcomments @ramadiiiisme 

@towerlesskey @emmanemanemm @pigeonwhumps @whumpycries

[ominous-signs]

idk if you've gotten this before, but the european game content rating system has a sign specifically for 'fear' and. well.

it looks like that

Official ominous rating system

[speakofshinee]

"I'm in this orange-themed room. It's supposed to represent an underground tunnel. I play a recluse in this story. Someone building their own world, digging tunnels, and staying hidden inside them. Going outside can feel a bit scary. Being out in society can give you anxiety and fear, but in your own space you can feel secure and at ease. I've reflected on those feeling, which inspired this song. Nevertheless, society isn't as scary as it seems. There are a lot of amazing things out there and lots of ways to help tackle challenges. That's the message behind this video. Through this music video, i hope to inspire you to step out bravely [into the world]. Don't forget, mansae ('yay')!" - Onew [from '만세' MV behind]

[eterniravioli]

do you ever remember that max picked charles as the one person on the grid he believed would become a world champion and have to sit down for a little

[yuttikkele]

(miraculous s5 spoilers)

I do find it really funny how miraculous s5 goes from 0 to 100 like, REAL fast. The season starts off all, “Monarch may be powerful, but Ladybug and Chat Noir are finally gonna KICK HIS BUTT!” and by the end it’s like, “GABRIEL AND TSURUGI HAVE LOCKED UP ADRIEN AND KAGAMI. ADRIEN AND FELIX ARE SENTIMONSTERS. GABE IS FORCING HIS OWN “PERFECTION” DRUG ON EVERYONE. NATHALIE IS DYING. CHLOE’S BEEN HUMBLED. LILA HAS THE BUTTERFLY MIRACULOUS. GABE GOT THE LADYBUG AND BLACK CAT MIRACULOUS AND THE WORLD EXPLODED AND HE’S REVERED AS A HERO AND ADRIEN KNOWS NOTHING.”

[nightmarearian]

yk, I want Bludhaven’s Nightwing and Gotham’s Nightwing to be different.

In Gotham, obviously there are. A lot more people. There, he is “the nice one” (compared to the others).

In Bludhaven? Blud-worse crime rate than Gotham-Haven, managed only by Nightwing? There’s no fuckin way.

Personally I don’t think it’s. Mainly a conscious decision or smth? Just he does more in Bludhaven and maybe ends up being generally less cheery? Or smth. He’s more willing to be (externally) tired with Bludhaven than he would be with Gotham.

Idk, smth for him to really embody the Terror of Bludhaven title yk? Nightwing is Bludhaven’s Batman; you know like, before robin and everything. He works too hard and he’s something to be scared of. He is Bludhaven’s Batman - just a bit more flippy & quippy (and a lot more friends).

[batsplat]

like the motogp unlimited moment where joan is kinda terrified of him and marc looks like he's trying to figure out whether he can muster the energy to eat him

😂😂😂😂😂😂

This one is going to carry me through the day. Picturing cat marc contemplating with his tail swishing if he wants to raise his paw and squish this thing or go back to nap.

(extremely belated follow up to this)

referring to this clip from motogp unlimited, on the off chance anyone hasn't seen that masterpiece yet - in which we get to see mir on camera criticising marc for his towing addiction, mir panicking about the media reporting how he criticised marc for his towing addiction, and then mir telling first the honda guys and then marc himself how the media had made up that he had criticised marc for his towing addiction

say what you will about that show, but this clip is just absolute perfection. it has been living rent free in my head from the first time I saw it. the editing is on point... how it completely stitches up joan with the juxtaposition between him literally criticising marc and him insisting he totally hadn't been criticising marc... the way it cuts to a random clip of marc entering a building with the air of a trigger happy warlord, as if he's about to order joan's execution... joan talking to the honda guy - the "you'd better say to his face" line, mir visibly deeply unhappy at this response... hard cut to mir's tremulous explanation to marc. mir's gaze wandering somewhere bottom right while marc is serving full cannibal realness and is staring right at mir with a wide grin and dead eyes. the painfully obvious relief on mir's face when marc accepts his explanation. if you told me marc was sky high on painkillers during this whole conversation, I would not question it for a moment

this is not a grin I would want levelled at me. it's the kind of grin where I'd start worrying if I might find myself chopped up in pieces in the other guy's freezer in the immediate future. at this point in his life and his career, marc had bigger things to worry about than being criticised for something he had been repeatedly criticised for already and would be criticised for again countless times. this whole episode does matter in the vague sense that mir was the defending world champion who had replaced marc, but realistically it's just not the sort of thing marc will have spent more than two minutes thinking about. which was really mir's best hope - that marc simply could not be bothered to make space in the freezer for him

I compared this moment in the mind games post to casey suffering a mild case of headloss because he thought valentino had deliberately hidden his tyre compound from the competition (bridgestone had run out of paint) - and there is something to how your reputation for mind games can become so strong that eventually you don't really have to be doing any work because your competition will freak anyway. marc isn't actually doing anything in this clip... he's just vibing. admittedly he's doing so in that uncanny valley ever so slightly inhuman way he has about him, like he's currently hashing out the logistics of sauteing your liver, but he is just vibing

[yunmeng-jiang]

every day i wish there had been a better solution for the qin su marriage problem.

in my fix-it fics i either have some other sect leader claim that he was actually madly in love with her this whole time and sweep her away for jgy's sake, have her mom confess earlier, make jgy decide to tell her for her own good and have them work together, or not give them a chance to meet and fall in love in the first place (i guess i could also make qin su have a miscarriage, but that's really sad and awful and not my preferred option at all), but all of those require tweaks to the circumstances, sometimes early on so they don't meet or jgy feels safe enough to talk with her or another confidant, or sometimes later like madam qin finding out they're pregnant before the marriage prep is too far along and telling one or both of them right away so they can make other arrangements.

with the situation being what it was, jgy didn't find out soon enough to do anything that wouldn't involve either marrying her anyway (and he didn't think telling her about it would do anything except make her upset and depressed) or leaving her essentially a ruined woman with no prospects and an illegitimate child who would inevitably grow up fatherless, which is pretty much exactly what his dad did to meng shi. this would be a crueler option than pretty much anything else, and given that he clearly still cares about her, he couldn't do that in good conscience. jgy tries his best to protect the people he loves, unless there is literally no other way for him to survive.

it's one more example of jgy being faced with a situation where the only choices are bad ones, and making the decision that he thinks will hurt the fewest number of people. metatextually, it's one more example of women in fiction being shoved aside and not given agency in their own lives, and getting killed off instead of surviving and growing as people like the male characters are allowed to do. it's just a tragic situation all around and i wish there had been something they could have done.

[ropebunnykant]

finding out at the beginning of this episode that ai is a glass child really puts everything about their familial relationship into perspective tbh, and the scene where the grandmother comes over and comforts only oom is such a perfect example of what ai's entire childhood must have looked like

i was mad at the grandmother for only comforting oom (still am), but looking at the context of the scene, it makes sense why she did that. if we're to assume that the girls at the beginning of the scene are correct, and that their parents were on the way to the hospital for oom, it makes perfect sense for the grandmother to comfort oom first - she's not only likely still sick, but the grandmother knows she likely feels guilty for her parents's death. not to mention, ai was comforting her, too. yes, she was crying, but she was being strong for her little sister, and the grandmother was taking that off her little shoulders.

this isn't me saying it's okay that the grandmother pulled oom away from ai and only comforted her, but it makes sense why she did. and i can only imagine how it must have felt for ai, growing up with oom needing constant care and attention and her being left to the sidelines because she's supposed to be the strong one. and it puts even more into perspective why may was the person she ran to when she was breaking down - because she doesn't have to be the strong one with someone that never thought her to be in the first place

[johnslittlespoon]

Tough And Sweet (Like You And Me)

Ch. 1/? – 'Sweet Taste Of Kerosene'

[WC: 9K | Gale Cleven/John Egan, College AU, The Bikeriders AU, Age Gap, Emotional Slowburn, But Fast Smut, Set in 2005ish]

College student John Egan ends up in an old pub on the other side of his small town, where he has a chance encounter with biker and mechanic Gale Cleven. Unconventional circumstances be damned, John is a lovesick fool.

[AO3 LINK]

[evilghostwizard]

Rating TMA Fears

Rating Criteria:

how many shivers i get (shivers)

amount of icks i get (icks)

if i audibly react to it (reactions)

is it cool as fuck (intrigue)

notes deconstructing the fear cus I like to talk about it

These are based off of personal opinion and not factual. Fears definitely effect different people differently.

1.) Buried

Shivers: 5/5

Icks: 3/5

Reactions: 5/5

Intrigue: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 5

Notes: Before witnessing TMA I did not know I had a fear of being buried alive. TMA taught me the earth can be devious and hungry. When before I viewed it as lovely and protecting. The buried doesn't mean to be deceptive which I think is the most terrifying part. It's alluring petrichor and earth scents are meant to be warnings. Warnings I saw through rose tinted glasses. I used to visit local caves a lot around my local area. I no longer wish to do that anymore. It freaked me out so bad it has irreparably changed my life. Very good writing. It is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite. Well done rusty quill.

2.) Corruption

Shivers: 3/5

Icks: 5/5

Reactions: 4/5

Intrigue: 2/5

TOTAL SCORE: 3.5

Notes: Ew ew ew ew ew ew... Bugs are cool but not in me or my house thanks. Horrible, disgusting, terrible little creatures. Do not touch my skin, thank you. Wonderfully done to put it in the focus of the first season to draw in all the horror fans and cortisol addicts. The corruption puts much emphasis on emotional responses that should not be had in the context they are had in. Love replaces repulsion. Comfort stands while disgust falls. All while it digs in your skin and tears through your life. The desolation destroys your life out of anger while the corruption festers in your bones because of its affection for its victims.

3.) Dark

Shivers: 2/5

Icks: 1/5

Reactions: 2/5

Intrigue: 1/5

TOTAL SCORE: 1.5

Notes: The dark in TMA has only ever spooked me when there was fleshy or stranger bits involved. I do however enjoy the idea that there is something in the dark that's desires are beyond my knowledge. Beyond even the knowledge of the Eye. Not a favorite that I am rather indifferent too. However, there is the interesting theme TMA uses when utilizing the dark. It touches on the concept of what hides in the dark. As well as how it claims those writhing with despairing as it's own and desperately asks them to worship. It begs them to work in it's name. It grasps for control that only the web can have by manipulating hopeless people.

4.) Desolation

Shivers: 2/5

Icks: 2/5

Reactions: 3/5

Intrigue: 3/5

TOTAL SCORE: 2.5

Notes: The desolation comes off as almost helpful in some cases. It causes truths to be revealed but comes with a hint of destructive mystery as well. The fact that it assists the Eye is a fascinating choice of writing that left me wanting more. We have all lost important things to the lightless flame so it is a very relatable entity. The combination of terror and power is a lovely touch drawn by the writers. I do enjoy the gasps I get when skin melts or when the beloved are ignited. Interesting. Almost liberating to be destroyed beyond recognition. Not the spookiest of the lot but still good.

5.) End

Shivers: 4/5

Icks: 1/5

Reactions: 3/5

Intrigue: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 3.5

Notes: One of my favorites despite its score. I love the motifs of chance and gambling. I love the tendrils. I enjoy that it is a passive entity. It does not need to chase you because you will always run to it regardless of where you go. I enjoy the dream themes as well but I have always enjoyed to concept of dreams. To think when we dream we are grazing the finger tips of the end is delicious to think of. Very mysterious yet so finite and sure. The duality is written perfectly and I honestly wish there were more episodes of this entity. But maybe the mystery of it is what makes it so tantalizing and alluring.

6.) Extinction

Shivers: 4/5

Icks: 1/5

Reactions: 3/5

Intrigue: 4/5

TOTAL SCORE: 3.5

Notes: Very close to home for this one. My parents were dooms-day preppers so I'm very familiar with the feeling of mass extinction. I enjoy this one because it comments on how humans have terribly effected our world/civilization. It is a fear we have placed upon ourselves, much like the slaughter. It is not natural for a great change like in TMA to happen without human intervention. Interesting and compelling writing overall but unfortunately does not spook me that much because of my background. I am desensitized to it. Although it is still on the horizon always. Peaking it's head to make us pay for what we have done.

7.) Eye

Shivers: 2/5

Icks: 1/5

Reactions: 4/5

Intrigue: 4/5

TOTAL SCORE: 3

Notes: The eye is stimulating. The eye takes a role no other fear takes in TMA. This entity is prideful and almost appears to have a hero complex. It knows all, it sees all. But it doesn't understand all. That is clear whenever the eye interacts with other fears. Particularly the dark or the corruption. It isn't scary because it is watching me. It is terrifying because it thinks it knows what is best for me. Even when it clearly doesn't. The eye and the web sometimes work together for this commonality. It doesn't ick me out to be watched like it once did. The eye may see me. It may know me, but it does not know how I experience things. And despite its seeming all-knowingness. It'll never know everyone's experiences. It just sees them.

8.) Flesh

Shivers: 5/5

Icks: 5/5

Reactions: 4/5

Intrigue: 3/5

TOTAL SCORE: 4.5

Notes: I think this one got me bad for two reasons. The first reason being, body horror. It is intriguing and horrible. The flesh is a reminder that despite our intellect that we are piles of biomass. We can face disfigurement at any turn that can forever change our experiences. The second reason taps into our primal roots of fear. Most animals don't want to be someones lunch and the flesh reminds us of that fear. You are made of the same material as the meat you have on your dinner plate. Our biology is fragile and easily torn. It genuinely makes my stomach sick every time a flesh episode comes up. The only reason this one isn't a 5/5 is because the more I think about it, the less I desire to think about it. Fantastic writing. I will stop thinking about it now.

9.) Hunt

Shivers: 3/5

Icks: 1/5

Reactions: 4/5

Intrigue: 2/5

TOTAL SCORE: 2.5

Notes: The hunt is interesting. It makes me feel similarly to how the desolation makes me feel. It is terror but it is also power. Like the flesh, it sinks into our primate brains and reminds us what it is like to experience being prey. It doesn't often feel great to be somethings food. However, the hunt doesn't just rule the prey. There is horrible panic and dread in being the hunted but there is pleasure and satisfaction from being the hunter. It embodies what it feels like to be the predator. The thill of hunting is truly exciting when you aren't the prey. The power dynamic of being the predator makes you feel sadistic gratification.

10.) Lonely

Shivers: 3/5

Icks: 5/5

Reactions: 2/5

Intrigue: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 4

Notes: Another fear that calls to my life experiences. To be lonely is to be numb. Apathy is a roadblock for drive. To block drive is to exist adrift to no where with nothing to do. What is the purpose? There isn't one. It is bitter and dissatisfactory entity. The lonely does not scare you until you are in it. Forced to face the fact that without others you are nothing. You are surrounded by people but they care not for your existence. So much to the point where you feel alone despite the people around you. This fear lightly draws from our fundamental human need for companionship. It seems harmless but you won't know it's true horror until you've experienced it yourself.

11.) Slaughter

Shivers: 5/5

Icks: 4/5

Reactions: 5/5

Intrigue: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 5

Notes: The slaughter has to be my favorite of the entities. It is another fear conjured by humanity. Its existence is evoked by meaningless carnage just for the sake of violence. The imagery of war instruments like drums and pipes give an incredibly cool and eerie vibe. There are NOT enough slaughter themed episodes in TMA. In spite of the minimal amount of time put into this entity the few episodes focused on it are so gorily and beautifully written. The Piper episode is my favorite episode. The imagery that captures "The War" is perfect. The wrath, terror and determined stoicism descriptions will stick with me for years. The slaughter is meaningless and yet it must happen. It must continue. It must bleed.

12.) Spiral

Shivers: 5/5

Icks: 2/5

Reactions: 3/5

Intrigue: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 4

Notes: I enjoy the spiral for its concepts of unreality. What is, isn't. Insanity has always been a captivating idea. Fractal patterns and impossible realms are fantastical enough to draw me in to engage. Mystery with no answer is alluring to puzzle solvers. The parts of the spiral that infect me with horror are the deceptive friendships. It is a terrible thought to think those who are closest to you are lying to you. It hits very close to home. Gaslighting is terrifying. What are you meant to do besides trust the people you have invited into your circle. Betrayal is a parasite. It feeds off of love and trust. Who can you trust now?

13.) Stranger

Shivers: 5/5

Icks: 3/5

Reactions: 3/5

Intrigue: 4/5

TOTAL SCORE: 4.5

Notes: The unknown is the most universally feared entity I think. The stranger is something we have all experienced fear for at least a little bit. Many of us were warned about the stranger as children. The unknown makes us wary and confused. It doesn't gaslight us as much as the spiral but it does lie. It does tell us to ignore the uncanny valley reaction you get when you see it. It is human but isn't. The unfamiliar familiarity in them is the most terrifying. Especially because I don't experience uncanny valley often. Even when I should.

14.) Vast

Shivers: 5/5

Icks: 1/5

Reactions: 3/5

Intrigue: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 4

Notes: I am already written a paper about the vast. I adore the concept of the void. It does not ick me as much as the other fears because of my massive interest in the concept. It is scary to feel small, it can cause hopelessness. I have found in some people, like myself, it causes euphoria. It relieves the pressures of human life by letting us know those worries that seem so important are actually not really that big of a deal. I think the episodes exploring the concept are beautiful and anxiety ridden. I still think there should be more of the vast in TMA.

15.) Web

Shivers: 4/5

Icks: 3/5

Reactions: 4/5

Intrigue: 4/5

TOTAL SCORE: 4

Notes: The web is an entity that easily draws you in with a false sense of security. It allows you to be free of the need to make decisions. It is peaceful to be controlled. Although we are often blinded when we are controlled to the motives of the controller. We are deceived into believing the puppet master means us no harm. You lose who you are as you perform the spiders assignments. You drift away into peaceful sleep. Just to be eaten when you are at your most vulnerable.

[lupiinist]

a marauders!encanto au, but instead of the children getting magical powers at a certain age, the 'powers' (curses or blessings, depending on who's talking) are a product of inbreeding.

[spaciebabie]

at first getting diagnosed with cptsd was like, "yay my trauma has been validated (it always was valid)!" and i really thought that was going to be it, but then i started to do research as i do whenever i realize i have something and learned that!! the way i experience socialization is!! quite horrid actually!!

[breakingthefourtthwall]

All this hype for nosferatu is roman Godfrey erasure 😔

Why must we put down one vampire to compliment another? Have we learnt nothing?

In all seriousness, Bill unfortunately will never again be as hot as he was on his knees in a grimey high school bathroom eating that pussy raw and bloody.

[vivitalks]

i am watching these crown of candy episodes holding my goddamn breath. i inhale at minute one and then do not breathe for two hours

[wardensantoineandevka]

you're really annoying but in, like, a refreshing way?

I'm sincerely flattered, anon. I worked very hard to become really annoying. 💞✌️