#snatcher has common sense

[theoneandonlylobster]

My Big Damn Ashes of the Academy Thoughts

Okay so honestly I just need to take this panel by panel because frankly my overall impression of the comic is that everyone got replaced Invasion of the Body Snatchers style with people that look the same as they do and have the same name, but have zero idea of the backgrounds or motivations of said characters, and so they were just making shit up as they went along. Like, I write fanfic, I read fanfic. I have, in general, a pretty high regard for fanfic. And of course one of the more common Dangerous Ladies childhood type fics is how did they meet, why are these three very different individuals friends, etc etc.

And this was not even approaching the worst, crappiest, least coherent of that type of fiction I've read over the last nearly two decades.

Ashes of the Academy is a giant nothing burger comic, a fart in an elevator you're trapped with until you can make your escape.

So, without further ado, let's begin:

So right here on the second page of the comic, and the first page with dialogue, we have Ursa letting us know that, apparently, contrary to what we know, the Academy made Azula a bad person. Not her parents, definitely definitely not Ursa. You got that? It was all the Academy's fault. And we will continue beating that ostrich horse the entire rest of the comic, make no mistake!

Ah yes, Ursa, noted Not Ever An Imperialist At All, Not Even Once, Nuh-Uh.

Skipping several pages that would be me saying these two things multiple times...

Credit where credit is due, I like these two panels. I like this tiny glimpse into the friendship of Kiyi and Lihua or whatever here. One, because I imagine this is more like how Azula probably actually was, based on what we see in Zuko Alone. And two, that means Kiyi is unconsciously mirroring her sister and I like that interpretation of her character. It seems that Hicks does too, on a subconscious level. Look at that devious little look on her face! Little shit. Yeah, you cause a ruckus! Adorable.

I'd be lying if I said this didn't get a chuckle out of me. Is Katara on Zuko's Ministry of Education? Lol wtf. Still funny though.

More Kiyi being a little shit that I can get behind. This time in a Little Miss Know-It-All superiority complex sense that I'm sure would get real old real fast for anyone around her.

I've pointed this out on another post but Kiyi isn't a princess? Wtf? Come on, Hicks. Like it's not hard to figure this shit out. I think giving her a character trait of literally running to her big brother the Firelord anytime she feels slighted is pretty good, but of course it's never explored, because that's not a heroic trait and Kiyi has to be a hero for some reason unlike that irredeemable monster Azula who was born bad.

So nice of you to ask her first Zuko! Fuck's sake! Being Firelord has really gotten to this boy's head, like I know he has absolute power and all that shit but damn, if I was Mai, I would be wanting to get back with him less after this, not more, regardless of whether or not I liked the job in the end. Fucking consent, bro! (Previous page has him telling the headmistress she'll do it.) Unfortunately, this is actually not ooc for what we've seen of Zuko, honestly, imo. Mai, you can do so much better. Like, I ship Maiko. I love their dynamic etc etc. But girl. Respect yourself. This boy is NOT it at this point.

This is our continuing indication that they'll be rewriting the past in this comic, and we'd all better get on board. Zuko certainly thinks Azula treated him badly and has a very, "Zuko did nothing wrong!" approach to it all, but Mai was there for the vast majority of it, witnessed it with her own two eyes, so she would not react to that sentence with, "True." She just wouldn't. At least not the Mai we know. So let the assassination of Mai’s character commence!

Like, was this comic so half-assed nobody could be bothered to look up the spelling of Ukano's name? Yes. Yes it was.

Can I be made to believe Ukano said this to Mai when she was smol? Absolutely, yes. He's portrayed as a social climber and willing to utilize basically any route he can access to gain clout and influence. That's a man who is not above using his daughter in this way. I think it's somewhat implied by Mai’s dialogue in The Beach, even. Dude was a shitty father, Caldera was rife with them. Do I believe for one second Mai became friends with Azula because of this counsel? Absolutely not. The Mai we know thinks for herself 100% of the time, it's basically her thing.

Oh, cool, there's a 10 image per post limit. Well. I'll keep going in reblogs and indicate when I'm done. Bear with me, friends.

[cyborgartalchemist2]

I'm seeing people complain about the quality of tiktok now, and yeah it's arguably worse and lives are not as frequent. And it feels mildly off now.

That's the point.

This is a common horror trope known as 'came back wrong' which is often used in stories where someone brings back the dead like Pet Semetary or where someone gets infected/corrupted/controlled/replaced by something sinister like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The trope relies on subtly showcasing the afflicted subject behaving or speaking in a manner they didn't before. It often builds, the longer we see the subject the more off they feel. Characters around may notice and voice this observation only to be told they are paranoid or trying to discredit the success of whoever brought them back. Eventually it becomes obvious the subject has come back evil or intent on causing harm and by then it's too late.

If you're noticing this vibe change on tiktok, good! It means you're aware that the app changed in the 12 hours it was down here in the U.S. I'm already seeing content violations roll out for creators with rainbows in their pfps... The quality is different likely because there's more eyes looking for content to censor. It's going to be slow at first, but don't be surprised if you stop seeing certain creators altogether as the days go by. Don't dismiss people warning about being forced to follow pages you would never interact with. Tiktok has indeed 'come back wrong' and we can sense it. Do not trust the app.

The old tiktok is dead, it's best to continue to move on to other platforms. Use this time to make sure you're following everyone in their other chosen spaces. Don't pretend there's nothing weird there... and conisder deleting your account while you have the chance. This isn't a coincidence, this is intentional and you should fear what other changes the app goes through.

[brucewaynehater101]

Ok but Tim finally getting to mess around with his son a bit now that Bruce is finally doing better and so he absolutely gives him shit. ‘Yeah I told Damian to grab all the birds. Don’t your remember when you wanted a contingency plan for scarecrow so you might me catch a bunch of crows and put them in the cave for weeks? Damian can do the same’. Tim just doubles down on whatever the other bats said.

Tim puts strict rules on Bruce cause that man used to pummel purse snatchers. The other Bats? Absolutely not.

Just Tim leaning in full throttle to the others' shenanigans because he finds it funny.

I also think it would be hilarious if Tim straight up does unhinged things with certain batfam members for the hell of it.

Jason? The man has watched Tim cause a body to disappear. It was on purpose. When the man confronted Tim, the teen looked him dead in the eyes, grinned, and said, "No one would believe you."

He was right. No one did.

Duke keeps finding food on patrol when he swears there wasn't any food there a second ago. He'll eat it (despite common sense saying he shouldn't accept food in Gotham on random rooftops from strangers [cause he doesn't know it's Tim]), but it's definitely weird.

Tim let's Steph know whenever another batfam member hasn't slept in a while. No one else knows how she knows, but she'll find out herself their location so she can pull pranks on the tired person.

Tim lies straight to Bruce's face and dares his son to tell him otherwise when it comes to Damian. Whatever shenanigan the kid pulls that resemble something closer to a kid doing dumb shit than the traumatized baby assassin he was raised as, Tim supports full heartedly (he consulted a few textbooks on age level activities). It's fun seeing Bruce struggle internally on whether to tell Tim to knock it off or to fall back on years of Tim acting like his father.

[tumblingxelian]

The "real" Batman

I see people complain about the emphasis some people put on Batmans more negative character traits a lot.

"That's not the real Batman, that's flanderiztion, fanon, a few bad but popular adaptions, the 90's only" and the like are common refrains and it really gets to me. Cos see, while I am aware no incarnation of Batman is totally one note, I emphasize the more negative sides of Batman for reasons that aren't "Edgy, badass, GRRR, Toxic masculinity woooh" bullshit and I hate being dismissed as such.

So, here's why I do it:

First is because of general frustration at the dismissal of any incarnation of Batman, regardless of popularity, or ongoing presence in the main-line comics and timelines, being invalid. IE, the "HE's not the real Batman so he doesn't count" when he canonically is, & as done stuff like that.

60s/80s Batman smiles after sending a purse snatcher away in an Ambulance, kidnaps & others relies on torture style interrogations. Just like 90s/2000's Batman threatens people with assault in prison & looms over a Mugger he slammed so hard into a wall it left a giant blood splatter.

It is fair to ague that brutality is not all of what he is, that's valid. But that side of him is not something I feel one can just handwaved away as "not canon" & people doing so frustrate me in large part because it feels intellectually dishonest. Its refusing to engage with a metric ton of the canonical lore of a character they are discussing.

Secondly is the fact that a lot of the lore, history, character development, derailment, treatment, tone, framing and more for characters OTHER than Batman relies on him having a history of problematic behavior.

Cassandra basically living in a Bat-Cave with no civilian life or identity because Bruce is giving her what HE wants for himself even though its bad for both of them is just an example of a huge part of their dynamic. One that can be deeply damaging, self destructive and messy, but also makes perfect sense given the characters involved.

How Jason's entire shift in character and framing was done largely to insulate Bruce from criticism over his death, IE, Jason being characterized post death as violent, arrogant, not particularly bright and then coming back as a villain also ties into 20 something years of smearing his name to protect Bruce's.

Stephanie's entire character history begins falling apart if Batman doesn't treat her like the trash he did in canonical mainline comics, and leaves her with only a couple of borderline cameos at best. Hell, even 'new' stuff where he's "nicer" still has him do things like fake therapy appointments to trick her.

Hell, even Dick in a lot of incarnations as well as mainline comics at different times has a lot of issues that came from being raised/trained by Bruce. No, it isn't universal, but it is far too common & recurring of an element to just say "doesn't count!" & declare the discussion over.

& the thing is, when people say they want the "Real" batman or the "Good" Batman, they not only erase these characters histories. They don't replace it with anything worthwhile for anyone but Bruce himself.

If ignoring all that meant replacing it with stuff like Jason never died & or never became Red Hood & is a totally different character. Or Cassandra and Bruce having arcs about their obsessions with vigilantism at the expense of their personal lives, or Stephanie actually getting to be ROBIN. Then it would be something at least somewhat interesting to engage with. But they don't, instead Jason still became a supervillain & is the Red Hood, Stephanie still got fired if she was Robin at all.

They are either forgotten (Cass & Steph) or end up being warped (Jason) so their characters history, everything is different and all to better serve making Bruce look good. I really find it vexing that even in "Batman is not a jerk" stuff, he still warps the narrative to everyone else's detriments.

[pink-koi-lovejoy]

ooc message (CW- mentions of SH and SA)

so…

hey

I’m going to be adding onto the whole Jack train again

let me preface this by saying I’m not a victim of anything and was not involved with the Circe blog until now, where I’ve looked for more details

ever since the issue, Jack and HIS PARTNER (Can confirm: Real. Stop calling him manipulative, stop calling him fake. Yes, he is NOT using his real name. Neither is Jack.) have stopped using tumblr, and may be for a while due to extensive hate.

There are concerns about Jack never mentioning SH outside of jokes. Keep in mind this is a roleplay blog. He doesn’t have to share his personal life. Also, if the idea of the blog being an escape was true, than he HAS mentioned it. It’s how I found the blog- an rp scenario (with warnings, if I remember) involving sh in the starter.

ther are Concerns about Jack never before mentioning having a boyfriend and/or claiming to be single. Again, it’s a roleplay blog. Maybe he was talking about his character. Maybe he wasn’t comfortable sharing his personal life online. Is that so crazy?

I have contact to Jack outside of Tumblr, and my main focus is to help him any way I can, keep him updated, and prevent this from happening again. Jack has given me permission to share any messages that occur, weather or not it’s answering a question because it was asked and I carried it over for him, or if it was a message from normal communication that would explain something.

Please do not message me concerning HATE towards him, please. He’s a teen who’s made a mistake.

As to concerning his health and mental state, it’s also being worked on. Jack has reached out to a professional today, weather or not it’ll continue is unknown to me. But he’s trying to get help. He is.

I’m going to be tagging Jack’s tag list, but some boundaries first:

I am a minor. I am uneducated. Everything I know is either common sense, what I’ve been taught through life, or Google. If I get something wrong, please POLITELY correct me.

No hate. Please. I hate seeing so much discourse already, and I can’t handle any more. I will NOT be playing messenger when it comes to hate messages.

I am simply a messenger. Please remember this.

if you would like screenshots or evidence of anything, please ask politely, don’t demand.

More may be added as needed.

jacks tag list- @zariahthewitch @thegroovydaughterofhestia @if-chaos-was-a-boy @the-gods-strange-children @silena-daughterofaphrodite

@fabulousdaughterofhecate @weakest-son-of-sun @chaos-pers0nified @neoptolemus-achilles-son

@bast-the-best26 @goddess-of-bubblegum @gaygirldoodles @luck-is-crucial

@reyna4ever @vicious-daughter-of-zeus @feral-hermes-child @oopsies-i-did-a-thing @unfortunate-daughter-of-hestia

@that-girl-cupid @ariathemortal @love-lightning-forethought @emdabitchass

@kaiaalwayswins @champion-of-revenge @i-was-never-sane @clown-energy-skyrocketing @zoe-aura-of-d3ath

@itsyourboyezra @lunar-eklipso-r @pink-koi-lovejoy @that-daughter-of-athena

@sleepy-as-a-song @smileyalater @thedaughter-of-death @gellyhelio @daughter-ofthe-moontitan

@demeters-daughter-is-done @the-smart-and-the-dumb-one @trinket-snatcher @southerndaughterofeos

@creature-under-ur-bed @burnt-out-bitxhes

[frankendykes-monster]

“Matthew, I've lived in this city all my life, but somehow today I felt everything had changed. People were different. Not just Geoffrey, but everybody. Yesterday it all seemed normal. Today everything seemed the same, but it wasn't. It was a nightmare. It really became frightening.”

I’ve always loved that Invasion of the Body Snatchers begins with the infectious spores raining down on San Francisco.

After all, that was the city where flower power failed to take root at the end of the sixties, which fits with the movie’s larger themes. California is generally regarded as one of the liberal spaces in America, and yet its response to the cultural revolution was to unleash two novel forms of conservatism on the nation. (Matthew is just barely joking when he suggests that Geoffrey has possibly become “a Republican.”) One of the great ironies of California is that, despite its liberal reputation, it gave the nation both Reaganism and Trumpism. Philip Kaufman’s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released just when Ronald Reagan was on the cusp of taking his Californian Republicanism national, exporting it like so many pods.

“Geoffrey.”

“What?”

“I'm reading.”

“OK! I'll put the earphones on. There, see? Happy?”

“Never mind. I'll go downstairs.”

Invasion of the Body Snatchers belongs to that genre of seventies horrors that are ultimately about the breakdown of society, the erosion of social norms. The idea that the individual is surrounded by aliens who operate according to an entirely different set of values and principles to the ones that have held society together.

It’s one of the common themes of the antecedents of what we now call (sigh) “elevated horror”, classic films like The Exorcist and The Shining. This horror is anchored in the idea that the bonds that hold us all together are illusory and unravelling in a world where we can’t count on the people closest to us to be who we presumed them to be. It’s at once an intimate fear, but one that extrapolates outwards quite organically.

After all, so much of the opening act of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is given to characters failing to notice really unsettling things in the background of the frame, implying that the invasion has actually been in progress for quite a long time before anybody noticed anything was wrong. It reminds me a lot of a more serious Shaun of the Dead. The grim joke being how disconnected we are from each other and the world we inhabit.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers does that thing that many great horrors do, skillfully building a sense of mounting dread and anxiety without foregrounding it. It’s something that is hard to do effectively, landing at just obvious enough to unsettle without veering into camp. Somehow, Robert Duvall playing a priest on a swing set surrounded by children captures that incongruity perfectly.

“He was weird not the way he usually is.”

“That can only be an improvement.”

Invasion of the Body Snatchers plays well as a metaphor for the end of the sixties, and the way in which so many members of that generation changed so suddenly once the new order of things revealed itself - like Jerry Rudin reinventing himself from “yippie” to “yuppie.” It seems fair to ask to what extent the people who did this “sold out.”

After all, Geoffrey seems to reinvent himself from a football-loving layabout to a suited gentleman who tidies his bedroom and attends late night business meetings. Geoffrey’s transformation plays in many ways as a commentary on the counterculture generation that settled down and cashed in, that stopped being the protestors and campaigners (or layabouts) that the establishment failed against, and began committing themselves to the very systems they’d rejected or opposed.

“Kibner wants people to fit the world. I want the world to fit people.”

Like The Exorcist and se7en, Invasion of the Body Snatchers suggests the irony that people have built environments that are inherently and fundamentally hostile to humanity. This is not a new concept; Emile Durkheim coined the term “anomie” to describe the particulars of this disconnect.

Cities are millions and millions of strangers living on top of one another in a tightly confined space. Packed in, tripping over each other. As cities became the hub of American life after the end of the Second World War, they came to be treated with suspicion and mistrust. Indeed, you arguably see that reflected in the way that pop culture valorises the fantasy of small town life; while that fantasy is frequently deconstructed, there’s no comparable stereotype of big city life.

“This has nothing to do with the man I live with.”

“It has everything to do with it. Don't you see? People step in and out of relationships because they don't want responsibility.”

Like many horrors of the period, like The Exorcist, Don’t Look Now, Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining, Invasion of the Body Snatchers taps into fears about the conventional heteronormative family unit.

There’s a palpable anxiety that runs through seventies horror about the dissolution of the conventional family unit, and the question of what happens when those bonds aren’t as solid as they once were. More than that, though, a lot of horror of the era raises the question of what happens if those same ties that are supposed to support us become toxic, corrosive and suffocating.

After all, it’s notable that the character blaming this shift of identity on the breakdown of the traditional family unit is Kibner, the self-help psychologist arguing for conformity and for ignoring any sense of unease or discomfort. He’s the guy churning out self-help books, who is revealed to have been replaced quite early in the process, and is played by Leonard Nimoy - himself best known for playing an alien whose defining psychological feature is his ability to repress his emotions.

“David, you're not listening to her.”

Indeed, the emphasis that Invasion of the Body Snatchers places on listening to women, and the ease with which the men around them ignore or belittle these concerns, has aged well. After all, it’s notable that the pod people weaponise emotion, and that Kibner frequently dismisses the heightened emotional reactions of the women who come to him as something close to hysteria. Part of how the pod people are able to get as far as they do is down to the extent to which they present themselves as rational and the people trying to expose them as hyper-emotional.

Kibner is skillfully able to send Katherine home with her husband while surrounded by people, able to talk over her and calm her down, and convince her that she needs to leave this public space with an alien impersonating her husband without anybody but Elizabeth even trying to stop him. It’s a deeply unsettling scene for reasons that have nothing to do with aliens or body snatchers, and everything to do with how society tends to react to women asking for help or protection or safety.

“Oh, of course! This is the same as, those rockets landed years ago, so those spacemen could mate with monkeys and create the human race. It's happening now!”

A subtle touch in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, is that the movie gives the closest thing to exposition to Nancy.

Just when it looks like Nancy has explained what is happening, she then blurts out complete nonsense about how aliens mating with monkeys to create mankind. This suggests that all of her exposition is just insane nonsense, even if the dialogue leading up to that swerve had fit what the audience was seeing.

It’s a nice way of letting the film have its cake and eat it, delivering a possible account of what is happening while also suggesting that what is happening is fundamentally unknowable and the only explanation that people have is insane speculation. It is a healthy reminder that, ultimately, nobody knows anything. Somehow, that is more terrifying.

“You don't have to leave the city. Nothing changes. You can have the same life, the same clothes, the same car.”

There’s a beautiful irony in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake.

The original had been an anti-communist parable. The remake is a metaphor for conformity. That’s one of those great recurring motifs in American horror, for all that American society is built on the ideal of freedom and individualism, a lot of it is held together by the idea of conformity. It’s the idea that everybody needs to fit in, to be what is expected of them.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers understands this. Geoffrey the layabout becomes Geoffrey the go-getter. Jack the beat poet is subsumed by Kibner the conformist self-help guru. Most barbed of all, you have Amazing Grace playing as a siren call in the film’s final act, leading to false hope. It then gets a warped and distorted reprise in the final scenes, as if to reinforce the idea that this is still recognisably America. One Nation Under Pod.

Along those lines, it’s notable that the parasitic pod people aren’t absurdly, monstrously evil. Indeed, there’s a sense that they have no goal beyond self-perpetuation and so will settle into (more efficient, if hollow) versions of their hosts’ old lives. Perhaps the biggest difference between the pre- and post-conversion selves is that the pod people will just be boring dinner party guests.

“I love you, Matthew.”

I love that glorious seventies cynicism, where even love isn’t enough to fight back the end of the world, and keep the suffocating weight of conformity at bay.

Love doesn’t conquer all.

It gets conquered, quite ruthlessly.

[hannahwatcheshorror]

JIGSAW (2017)

One of the most satisfying of the SAW movies. Cruel, ironic, puzzling, and intricate. I was concerned going in that this would be the beating of a dead horse but it was instead a song of triumph for the series. Heart Pounding, intoxicating, and sexy, this film is a worthy addition to an amazing series. The games and deaths felt deserved and purposeful but also fair and satisfying. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Jigsaw is back with five unsuspecting villains who need to work their way to confessing their crimes. Starting with chains leading them to saws, the first victim was unconscious and missed the rules thus "disqualifying" him. The rag tag team of misfits (brought together more by chance than common theme) meet a purse snatcher who is presented with an obvious solution to her poison problem but instead tries to leave the group hanging (ha). Acid in the blood frees the gang up but leaves them with three.

 An attempt to leave through a "no exit" door costs one hapless male his leg as he must choose not to let the other two people left drown in grain. The nephew killing conman is sent into a blender of sorts which leaves us with a daring duo who come face to face with John himself. The gun fires backwards, taking out our child killer while the drunken male is left for dead. Flash forward to the future where Logan, our doting protege of Jigsaw is getting jiggy with Halloran, the man who let criminals roam free, like the one that killed Logan’s wife. A stunning twist with a fake death reminiscent of the first film, what an amazing ode. "I speak for the dead."

JIGSAW REWATCH

I knew this movie had a version of grain suffocation in it but it made more sense to me because they were being buried in grains, I didn’t know until A QUIET PLACE that you can sink in from the top which is somehow more terrifying and stressful. And, I love that Logan stood up for Eleanor, but he totally almost got her shot by Halloran and that was also stressful.

This movie did a really fun version of the whole time jump thing without making a big show about it like in SAW II. It was very clever to have this be one of (if not the first) Jigsaw trap and yet also still be the 8th movie in line. Bringing back Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, not so much as flashbacks, but presently because we didn’t know how long ago the game was being played and the cult of Jigsaw was making it seem like John Kramer was still alive out there. Really a fun film that I am still impressed with. Wish it had a few more familiar faces but we got a bit spoiled by that from SAW 3D.

-----------------------HANNAH WATCHES HORROR--------------------

[markerofthemidnight]

who are the members of OO? Are any of them connected to the other characters in Doai?

Okay, it’s really rough so far but to give you the basic rundown (under cut cause this gets looooong):

Blaire

Blaire is the founder-but-not-leader of the Oneiric Observers. Well, she was the leader at some point when it was basically just her, but as she slowly began to add to the group, she went from being the leader to just the founder.

She’s the basic archetypical ‘hyperactive girl who may or may not have ADHD’, armed with nothing but an interest in murder-mysteries and a dream. A dream to, one day, be regarded as one of the greatest investigators of all time.

To be regarded as a hero to all those plagued by unsolved mysteries: and for a while, she settled simply for local disappearances and unsolved crimes from long ago. She was especially plagued by the mystery of the late, the great detective champion, Russel Hawke’s untimely death…

…until she realised that all those mysteries might be more connected than she thought. So now, she’s decided to stop going for small fry, and start shooting for the stars… unaware that, if she’s not careful, the stars might just shoot back.

She was named after Blaire Lily, the main protagonist of Unfriended, which you may recognise as being listed as the main inspiration for Myke and how he functions. Basically, to make naming them easier on me, every OO member is associated with a Veldigun and named after characters in/people who worked on their inspired movies.

Tyler

Tyler is kind of the main protagonist, in a sense.

I don’t have much of a personality for him down yet other than “loser who does not want to be a loser”. Unskilled in… more or less everything, but he’s got drive, and that’s what counts!… kind of.

Tired of living in his stupid-ass older sister’s shadow his whole life, the story properly begins when Tyler finally decides to take Blaire up on her constant offers to literally everyone in school to join the OO, or the “Paranormal Investigation Club”, as all the lame people who are out of the loop know it as.

He’s easily one of the most dedicated to their cause, desperate to finally prove his worth to a world that has forgotten him… and also, kind of to prove his worth to himself.

He was named after Tyler Ledford from The Menu, henceforth making his associated Veldigun Julian. A bit of a weird character to pull inspiration from, considering- other than being a member of the OO, which immediately makes you a bad person- he’s significantly nicer than the Tyler in that movie, but just roll with me here.

Miles

Miles is the first person to join the OO after its founding, who ascended to the rank of official leader due to his great skills and dedication to their cause.

No one really knows why he’s there. He’s regarded as fairly popular- or at least, was before he joined a club occupied solely by losers. In fact, joining the OO might’ve made his popularity even worse than it already was, so what gives?

Well, apparently he thinks all the attention he’s gotten so far is nowhere near enough. He wants more, and he thinks the OO and their investigation of the town’s surprisingly common disappearances might be key to that.

Out of all the main cast, Miles is the one who best sums up what it’s like to be a member of the Oneiric Observers- fitting, since he is the leader- in that he… is an asshole. Just a total douchebag who happens to be really good at hiding that.

He was named after Dr. Miles Bennell from (the 1916 version of) Invasion of the Body Snatchers, making his associated Veldigun Victor.

Oh, and just so you know, when not at school he keeps his uniform on but only keeps the top button done, so that way his cardigan looks like a cape. That’s how self-absorbed he is.

Akela

Akela is the second member to join after its founding, and probably the only one to join (besides technically Blaire?) out of a genuine interest in the paranormal and nothing else.

She’s the archetypical quiet, well-behaved girl with good grades who basically everyone else is really jealous of. She joined because she wanted to see what the Paranormal Investigation Club had to offer… only to be deeply shocked when it was not a bunch of professionals like she was expecting, but just a bunch of random losers grasping at straws in order to get popular.

The only reason why Akela sticks around is because she wants to see what will happen next… and also because, she may or may not genuinely believe that the OO might be key to getting more respect, rather than just jealous stares.

She’s also the kind of person who occasionally asks things like “hey by the way do you know which area you should target if you want to effectively torture information out of someone?” to people with no warning, just to freak them out.

She was named after Akela Cooper, who wrote M3GAN, making her associated Veldigun Candice.

Evelyn

The third member to join after its founding, Evelyn is… shy. She’s real shy. Easily the one starting member of the OO who’s the closest to being a good person.

She joins after being promised by Miles that she could be a hero to the people of her town if she joined, and she’d do anything to get her confidence up, so she accepted… not knowing what she’d be dragged into as a result.

There’s honestly not much else to say about her at this point in time. She was named after Evelyn Abbott, the mother from A Quiet Place, making her associated Veldigun Beau.

Doreen

Doreen is the fifth and final member to join the OO post-founding, which actually doesn’t happen until about halfway through the main story. She is also Tyler’s aforementioned stupid-ass older sister.

She’s regarded as pretty popular, in fact even more popular than Miles was, at least before he joined the OO. Both pretty smart and pretty pretty, everyone knows her, and everyone’s interested on getting her on their good side.

And she… is interested in absolutely none of them.

There are two main reasons why she joins: firstly, she knows her brother’s been roped into a really dangerous situation and she wants to help out in any way she can. Secondly, she would sell her goddamn soul if it meant getting all the admirers desperate for superficial relationships off her.

She’s the only one who knows that popularity does not equal happiness, a lesson that, unfortunately, not many of them listen to even after she joins. Still, she’s grateful to get all those eyes off her… even if it means getting other, far more dangerous eyes watching her wherever she goes.

She is unique amongst the entire cast- minus her associated Veldigun- in that she was not named after a character from a horror movie. Well, said Veldigun was vaguely inspired by The Black Phone, but that wasn’t his main inspiration.

His main inspiration was actually the real life disappearance of the Jack family in Canada, 1989, as described in Real Horror’s video, The Family That Vanished.

Specifically, one specific moment in that video detailing a strange event during the investigation in which an anonymous person called the police, told them the supposed area in which the Jack family’s corpses were buried- though it was too garbled and deep for them to figure out the exact location, to the point where to this day, no signs of bodies have ever been found.

I watched that video a while back, got to that absolutely chilling moment, and thought to myself, “Hey, I wanna make a character who calls people investigating mysteries, gives them a genuinely ground-breaking piece of information, and then immediately hangs up!”

Which then eventually resulted in Doreen being named after the late mother of the family of four, and Russel being named after the family’s first-born. Russel… he’s a pretty special guy. Even by Veldigun standards.

The video was really great, the mystery really enticing, and the case really… tragic, so I named them after two of the four total victims. It’s a shame that, after death, people are reduced to their method of dying and nothing more, but… I suppose there’s really nothing we can do about that. The least I could do was pay my respects, and naming OCs after them was the first thing I came up with to do so.

(Oh, and to answer your second question: whilst it’s both too early in the writing process and too spoilery to say if they’re connected to any canon characters, I think I can at least mention this:

The way DOAI: OO and canon DOAI are connected to each other is kinda similar to Jumanji and its two sequels in which they take place in the same universe, but have little connection to each other due to taking place in two completely different times with different casts.

There ARE a few connections here and there- and Six probably will show up, or at least get mentioned at some point- but other than that, it’s its own story.)

[snakarscrolls]

*hold up microphone* mustache girl headcanons?

lived with her grandpa (coffee clerk) before invasion, hes doing okay still but only visits him nowadays because she doesn't want the goons to harass him over associating with her

more under the cut!

since a ton of timepieces had to be smashed to undo the finale, nobody remembers it aside from aside from hatbow, mu and the undead (as suggested by snatcher remembering her in a deathwish, although only vaguely, for time piece or personal reasons). the barrier to that memory is however very flimsy and as such the memories can be reaccessed if someone is made to specifically recall the events of that re-rewritten timeline, meaning it has to be more specific that a vague sense of deja vu

that means that the mafia wouldn't try to persecute mu any more than they usually do, meaning nobody is trying to hunt her down and hurt her for what shes done. and that if mu wants to, she can confess what she did to individual people, i think cookingcat could be the first person she confesses to because i think cc helped her get food a lot pre game events. cc is very far from as mad as mu thought he would be, in fact he really regrets getting heated and swayed by the mob and yelling for her to get lost with them.

I think post finale she first wanted to isolate but faced with the fact that she doesnt want to be alone (got scared when everyone started killing themselves) and gaining meaningful support from cc she decides to travel around and get to know the world. this leads to her developing a positive relationship with pretty much every major hatgame character!

I think she and snatcher have a lot in common and given snatcher makes certain realizations about herself she could become a very good source of support for mu. maybe those realizations come from talking with her. snatcher pretty much acts as a guardian of the forgotten or otherwise lost children and mu fits the definition quite well. I think given he recognizes her as in need of support, and that his words can make a difference, hed really like to tell her she shouldnt give up on herself. shes still allowed to live a life

I think at the same time as arctic cruise happens grooves hangs out with mu, i think hed be very kind to her and theyd grow pretty close!

shed also have a great time in alpine skyline :)

either has some very very distant relatives in subcon or is at least partially a descendant of subconians (or just one) who went to live on the island and integrated into its community with no issues

in finale she prevented the mafia from ever entering the island but that way the lava faucets were never installed and it like. ended up flooding the planet. thru video game logic. I dont stand by this as much as I used to but its fun so im writing it down

likes to have her hair done, and doing other peoples hair! its a great way to bond with her

[studentofetherium]

The Ark in Space is a classic serial, and one of the few serials from the old run of Doctor Who that i'd already seen before this. everything about it, from the costumes to the plot, is quintessentially Doctor Who

the costumes are the highlight of this arc, both the fantastic bug creatures as well as the bubble-wrap slime monsters. in the production department, as well, the sets for this arc were fantastic— a good thing, considering just how many of them were being reused constantly. both the main room and the hallway set set the tone wonderfully for what this serial is meant to be

the story, on the other hand, is the definite weak point, although it was still all-around solid. the idea of an ark meant to save humanity after a global disaster has a sense of Cold War-era anxieties to it, and the Invasion of the Body Snatchers-esque plot reflects that as well. however, all of this feels pretty indirect, and the central plot is more of a mystery or a thriller than anything political. the eugenics angle is the most unfortunate aspect of the plot, although it's common for stories of this type, and it seems that the show isn't especially interested in lingering on or examining what it's really saying here

also maybe it's just because i've seen Moonraker but i kept expecting them to blow up the space station miniature

[majormeilani]

8,10 or 16 ?

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

snatcher being suave and having any amount of swag. he's so lame and pathetic he has no pull. (half joking) BUT for real. i feel like some people treat him as though he's like a huge romantic that understands how it all works or some kind of, pardon my phrasing, 'sex god' like.

i understand people wanting to ship and that's totally chill you do you, but to me he seems more the type to 'swoon' over flirtatious stuff rather than being the one who makes others feel that way.

but then again i dislike a lot of interpretations of him in romantic relationships so maybe i'm a little biased 😔

10. worst part of fanon

people leaving out grooves in fanworks. that or people completely disregarding his character as a whole and not using him for anything interesting when they explore stuff in hattytime stuff. i especially see a lot of people neglect the importance of his character dynamic with conductor, especially if it's done in romantic settings, and his feelings often hinge on conductor's. that's to say i think people often forget that grooves is a character and don't end up treating him as such so he ends up a 'background' character almost to everyone else.

basically, i wish people treated grooves' feelings the same way people treat conductor's.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

i don't really understand people giving hat kid an extremely angsty backstory. i know people tend to project onto protagonists and i totally get that but i just don't see it making that much logical sense to hat kid's character. i always thought of it more as her having a HOME to go to that's mostly good to her (not perfect of course!) because to ME it works better as a parallel to mustache girl, who lost her home. plus i just feel bad when i see a lot of unnecessary angst placed onto hat kid on top of what she goes through on the planet. i would hate to think of her suffering even more when she goes home; i would like to think there's still hope.

again tho, people are allowed to explore stuff like that but i just can't vibe with it and heaven knows i have tried.

[theoretically-questionable]

From this post alone, I think you might enjoy reading Stephen King's Danse Macabre, if you haven't already done so.

It's one of his non-fiction ones—in it, he pokes and prods at his recollections of horror media from his childhood and early life, and draws a lot of interesting through-lines between horror/sci-fi trends and the influence of capitalism and conservative/reactionary aesthetics of that era.

Specifically talking about the aesthetics of sci-fi/horror movies of the time, such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, he says:

"[It] suggests that the most horrible thing about [the aliens] is that they lack even the most common and easily attainable sense of aesthetics… they don't mow their lawns or replace the pane of garage glass that got broken… they don't repaint their houses when they get flaky. The roads leading into Santa Mira, we're told, are so full of potholes and washouts that pretty soon the salesmen who service the town — who aerate its municipal lungs with the air of capitalism, you might say — will soon no longer bother to come."

He doesn't dig in that deep with his analyses, but he's almost incidentally certain of how this sort of media has provided, often less-than-deliberately, an insight into the psychological hangups of the culture it comes from.

The book talks about the thin justifications for the existence of monsters in any of a dozen B-tier horror movies, specifically lingering on the fear of mutation (almost always from nuclear waste):

"What the producers decided upon was nuclear waste, leaking from those dumped canisters. I'm sure it was one of the least important points in their preproduction discussions, and for that very reason it becomes very important to our discussions here.

And he does very specifically cite some of the tendencies of movies to idealise the 'common people' as eugenicist in and of itself.

"The setting for most of these films was small-town America… but all of these Our Towns looked eerily as if the eugenics squad had gone by the day before production began, removing everyone with a lisp, birthmark, limp, or potbelly."

I think this post of yours very much welds those two ideas together in a really pleasing way, in a way Danse doesn't quite take the time to do (very much worth a read, though).

I own a collection of science fiction from the 70s called Mutants, which is full of short stories about mutants. Very loose operating definition of that term. I think the only thing in there you'd recognize is It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby. Anyway, the first story in there is about a couple surviving government officials in the aftermath of a nuclear war putting together a census and realizing that the number of nonfatal congenital mutations in new births is basically 100 percent and humanity as was once-recognizable is basically done, to which the only response they can muster is, ah well. Better that then nothing, guess we'll learn to live with it. And I thought this was a decent story on its own merits, but having now picked up a second piece of atomic age science fiction nearly at random, I'm beginning to strongly suspect that this story was actually a backhanded shut-the-fuck-up-already-with-the-histrionics directed at what must have been many, many postnuclear stories that were wringing their hands eugenicistly about the possibility of the depicted outcome.

[talesofsonicasura]

Fallen Royalty

*warning: contains vivid curses and slight gore*

Trust is a very fragile thing. It can easily be shattered by misdirection, lies but the most devastating were secrets. And something very important is kept from someone by those they consider family, it can make a soul fall unto a very different path.

The Snatcher, a legendary and powerful spirit who ruled the Fallen Kingdom known as Subcon. He used to be a human prince married to a princess of a different kingdom named Vanessa. Before the prince and Vanessa lived happily ruling their kingdom but this wasn't a happy story. A misunderstanding had brought out a dark side within the princess. Her love unknown to the prince was actually toxic.

Anything that stood in her way of the prince had met brutal ends. Not even the young man himself wasn't safe. He purchased flowers for his sweetheart only to be accused of cheating by the insane princess now Queen. She locked the prince in the dungeon and unleashed dark magic all over Subcon freezing the land solid. The residents were cursed to live as spirits and the dark magic gave birth to the Snatcher from what was left of Subcon's prince.

Snatcher reigned over his fallen domain that became consumed by the forest around it. His magic kept Vanessa's frost contained in her castle and locked the witch away. Through his magic, the cursed citizens were given new bodies in the form of wooden puppets Snatcher crafted. Subcon Forest was created and its denizens lived in peaceful solitude. Then came the Demon King Satan.

Subcon brewed with so much magic that powerful demons sought it out. Demons dwelled in Gehenna and could only reach Assiah, the realm of man, through possessing an item there. However Subcon Forest's powerful magic could grant demons easy access to Assiah by harvesting its mystical energy. Something Satan wanted and wished to discuss with Snatcher himself. The discussion didn't turn out good for Satan.

The powerful specter had immediately been ready to refuse the Demon King access to Subcon's magic. Even though Snatcher hated outsiders, he understood the balance between their worlds and saw Satan as a threat! Being devious, Snatcher had the Demon King signed a contract. Before realizing what it read, Satan had already signed the paper. The demon began screaming in pain unaware of his own folly.

Snatcher could create powerful magical contracts that become true once signed. He had tricked Satan into hurting himself and his schemes greatly. The first was Satan could never possess any nonhuman for his power will burn it to ashes and humans will die from his possession. Second was the Demon Lord couldn't touch or set foot in Subcon for eternity and neither could his servants. And finally, a chunk of Satan's power became Snatcher's own along with a particular possession the Demon King would acquire in the future.

Satan cursed Snatcher before being banished back to Gehenna while the King of Subcon laughed. Though the spirit knew it wouldn't be the last time he'll see the demon or his schemes. The ghost didn't know what this key possession the Demon King would seek but he had enough time to prepare so he could eliminate it. However, he didn't suspect this.

A small boy ran through the busy crowd of Kyoto, Japan. He had dark blue hair and the brightest blue eyes leaking tears down his cheeks staining his white shirt and black shorts. His name was Rin Okumura and today wasn't a good day. The boy knew he was always different from everyone else. He was much stronger than what a 7 year old should be also he was more aggressive and easy to lash out at those who anger him.

People from kids to adults would look at him like a monster and call him a demon. He thought he could trust his foster father Shiro Fujimoto and his twin brother Yukio but clearly it was a lie. Rin had come back home a bit earlier than he usually did to see his Father and brother talking. What he heard broke his heart. Demons were real, Fujimoto and Yukio were exorcists that killed demons and Rin…was the bastard son of the Demon King Satan.

Rin had Satan's flames and they were sealed in a sword along with half of his soul, his demon half. Yukio being trained to kill demons by Shiro himself. His mother killed by exorcists the day they were born. A whole basket of lies and secrets hidden under his nose. It didn't take long for Rin to slip out of the monastery that served as home his whole life and run away. The boy didn't care where he was going but he had to get away.

Tears blinded his sight and sorrow messing with his rationality, Rin ran into the woods specifically a section banned from the public. A part of the forest where people disappeared and never came back, the Snatching Woods. After a few minutes of nonstop running, Rin sat on the ground and cried. He didn't notice how the forest around him had transformed into something otherworldly.

Glowing mushrooms of yellow, pink and red shining in a garden around him, a large picket fence with spikes lit in flame, a large marsh like pool surrounded by pumpkins, wisps of blue, green and orange floated about and finally the large tower shaped mushroom house that the boy currently sat on the front doorstep. Something large and dark purple began to slither through the home, no doubt searching for the crying source.

The dark purple thing was a large ghost. He had a noodle like body with thin arms each carrying two large claws, a mane of fluffy fur around his head, bright yellow childish looking eyes and a jack o' lantern smile with two small fangs. The towering ghost looked at the small crying child in utter confusion. "Hey kiddo? How the peck did you get all the way here?" The ghost questioned with his raspy and light static echoing voice.

Rin looked up from crying to see the ghost hovering above his head. "I don't know and I don't care! Rather die lost in a forest than live a lie." Rin cried. That clearly got the ghost's unwanted attention. "Why the peck do you want to die because of a lie? What kind of lie would get a kid this depressed?" The ghost asked as Rin looked back at the spirit. He definitely had to know the kid's story.

"I lived in a monastery with my twin brother since I could remember. I never knew that Father Fujimoto and my brother were keeping secrets from me. I walked in to hear their conversation about me. Demons are real and evil. Father Fujimoto teaching my brother to be an exorcist and...I'm the bastard son of Satan! My mother was killed because of it and I learned half of my soul was stripped out then sealed away." Silence carried through the woods once Rin spoke that last sentence.

The ghost figured Satan would find a new way into Assiah but...this was going too far even for him. And he was Snatcher, a spirit that ate unlucky souls and toss their husks away like a banana peel! However, he would never use his own child, even though he didn't have one, for a sick game like this. A particular girl and a purple hat flashed through his mind. He was going to regret this but he didn't care. No way in hell was this kid going to suffer from his bastard old man.

"Then to hell with them!" Snatcher exclaimed grabbing the boy's attention. "Kid, I ain't a good person but even I know common sense. Just because you are the son of an idiotic peckneck demon doesn't make you him! The fact that your own foster father not only kept important information like this from you but now your brother is wrapped around his finger. Not all demons are evil. Some of us are mischievous or just want to be left alone." The ghost began.

"You have the right to know your origin and your own mother. Plus, that peckneck doesn't know the damage he has done sealing half your soul away! Your power even though suppressed is unstable without your demon half. It messes with your mind making you aggressive as it fights to the surface. You are a walking infernal bomb capable of wiping out half the continent and yourself by reaching a major mental meltdown! You are a person, a child for pecking sake! YOU ARE NOT SATAN!!!" Snatcher exclaimed voice roaring with irritation at the cause of the boy's misery.

Rin stood shellshocked at what he witnessed. Other than Father Fujimoto and his brother, no one ever helped or cared about him. To see a ghost he just met get so angry at his mistreatment made the pain in his heart fade. "Thank you." Rin said as Snatcher looked at the boy. "Boy, what's your name?" Snatcher asked as Rin wiped his tears. "Rin Okumura." The boy replied. "Rin Okumura? You can call me Snatcher, boy. How would you like to stay with me in Subcon Forest?" Snatcher asked as Rin had a look of surprise.

"You aren't safe staying with an exorcist who sees you only as the Son of Satan and potential threat but also filling your brother's head with half baked truths. That kind of person can turn your own sibling into your potential murderer even as an unwanted consequence. I can teach you how to forge your own path and control the power within you. You see, I met your blood father and suckered him into giving up part of his power and any potential of escaping Gehenna." Snatcher explained conjuring a ball of blue flame in his hand.

"Pretty." Rin said looking at the glowing blue flame. "This pretty flame can also be used to craft some powerful spells as well. Along with fixing your unstable power, I'll be teaching you magic and the ways of Subcon. This place will be your safe haven and no secrets will be kept from you here. A clone crafted from my magic will take your place so no one will suspect a thing. What do you say kiddo? Want to live with me in Subcon Forest?" Snatcher asked offering the boy his hand.

Rin looked at the hand and remembered all the years living with Father Fujimoto and his twin brother. What glittered gold slowly rotted away to faded gold paint old wood. The boy reached his hand towards Snatcher's and took it. The deal was struck as blue light surged throughout Subcon forest. Many unaware of the single act that sent ripples throughout the world and it's future. 9 years later…

A 16 year old Rin Okumura was being attacked in the home of True Cross Monastery. A powerful demon hunting him had attacked the boy out in public forcing to realize he wasn't normal or human. Father Fujimoto had taken him back to the momastery fending off hordes of undead demons coming after them. However, one demon possessing a teenager had crashed a truck into the monastery giving it and other demons easy access to the sanctuary.

Rotten dogs, growing demonic fungi and any other unholy creature bridled with maggots, rot and decayed flesh were creeping towards the young man, head priest and his follow exorcists. Father Fujimoto faced Rin who wielded a blue scabbard sword in hand. Running a hand through his short gray hair and dark eyes was prepared to shove Rin into the hidden basement for safety only for the boy to push him down.

"Rin! What's the meaning of this?! You have to run!" The man shouted only to be confused when the boy began chuckling. "Why should I listen to the words of a liar? I'll handle these pecknecks myself." Rin spoke earning confusion from Fujimoto and the monastery men. "Pecknecks? What kind of insult is that?!" The possessed boy laughed only to jump back as a burst of blue flames erupted from under him.

"If I knew you guys were going to attack me earlier than I would have put on my best clothes already! Oh well! A quick costume change won't hurt. Ain Soph Aur!" Rin said before snapping his fingers. He ignited into blue flames to the group's horror and absolute confusion before it died down. The young man was completely changed from head to toe. His suit was replaced with a dark violet long coat with azure flame, a dark blue tunic bearing a peculiar symbol that looked like a spirit surrounding a burning tree, black tights often seem worn by royalty, fancy black Italian shoes, white gloves and a violet top hat with a yellow ribbon.

His ears were pointed as he had small vampirish like fangs and hints of yellow in his blue eyes. He was also much taller having 5 inches more than Fujimoto's 6'5 height. In his hand was a long dark blue umbrella with dark violet flame like flares on the fabric and a yellow handle. The air Rin now carried was of royal but very ominous and eerie compared to his cheerful street punk one. "Rin?" Fujimoto questioned.

He was caught off guard by Rin's sudden change but the boy merely ignored. "I'm giving you demons a chance to leave with your souls intact. I can't guarantee you'll even survive the trip to Gehenna if I slay you instead of the exorcists." Rin said with a wicked glint in his eyes despite his jovial smile. "You think we are afraid of your clothes change and a dumb umbrella? Sorry brat but you're going back to Gehenna to your father Satan!" The possessed boy laughed only to suddenly flinch.

The air was flooding with instant killing intent that leaked from Rin as he looked at the demons with a disturbing malice filled smile. "I gave you a chance but you spat on it. Prepare to die because your contract has just expired!" The young man laughed as his voice sounded distorted saying the last few words. Rin suddenly vanished from sight only for a group of demonic fungus to explode in blue flames!

Rin burst out from the burning blue mass almost as if he teleported from underneath them. He faced his umbrella at the demons he hovered above as blue flame spheres manifested at the tip before firing them like a gun. Multiple ghoulish corpses and vile living fungus ignited which crashing sphere burning in pure anguish. The horrifying part to the child possessing demon was the flames were actually destroying the demons instead of sending them back to Gehenna!

Demons possessing objects or people couldn't die in Assiah since their real bodies existed in Gehenna but Rin's fire was burning both through their souls! The chilling part was Rin was singing with the carnage. "Run along this forest trail. Now you'll find you'll failed. Never gonna reach that goal, now give me your soul! Some advice, don't think twice! Should have known I wasn't nice! Off with your head! Tata, your dead!" The boy sang as he continued his carnage. However the next few lines was when the demon truly realized that initiated a fight with someone that Satan himself couldn't win against.

"Got no more use for you! When you sign that dotted line you should've thought it through! Your subconscious holding on clinging to your fear. Every haunt just moved along but now the SNATCHER'S HERE!!!" The demon's face along with Fujimoto's grew dramatically pale. "You?!! You know the Snatcher?!" The demon questioned shivering in terror within his host's body. Rin merely laughed at the demon's frightened words.

"Know him? More than just that little peckneck! He's my true father! Not your dumbass king or this lying priest bastard that kept so many secrets from me! He treated me like his own son and taught me all I know. He was honest with me and actually gave a crap about me for being myself, Rin Okumura, not Satan's bastard son!" Rin roared as Fujimoto looked a bit hurt. "And don't think Satan will pop up here either. My father's magic will immediately expel him upon possession. It was listed in the contract the Demon King was tricked into signing." That had gotten the demon to literally piss itself in its host body.

"Enough talk! Time for the finish!" The young man shouted as he began waving his umbrella and danced as if he was on Broadway. "And the weird and the wild should have left you all beguiled. That is that, you little bastard child. Rid my jobs that took time and bask! Now it's time to take you to task!" A ring of blue flames surrounded the remaining demons preventing any chance of escape.

"As the ink is slowly drying, it's time you get dying! Your contract has expired, sleep now in the fire! You gonna meet your match! Your soul belongs to Snatcher! Now let's sing higher!" The flaming ring grew smaller as the flames burned brighter and more intense. It was so bright that Rin's face was shadowed revealing a terrifying jack o' lantern eyes and mouth smiling at the torture.

"AND THE WEIRD AND THE WILD SHOULD'VE LEFT YOU ALL BEGUILED. THAT IS THAT, YOU LITTLE BASTARD CHILD. RIP MY JOBS THAT TOOK TIME AND BASK! NOW IT'S TIME TO TAKE YOU TO TASK. THE INK IS SLOWLY DRYING AND IT'S TIME THAT YOU GET DYING! YOUR CONTRACT HAS EXPIRED! SLEEP NOW IN THE FIRE! YOU HAVE MET YOUR MATCH! FOR YOUR SOUL BELONGS TO SNATCHER! BURN TO ASH IN MY MELODIC BONFIRE!!" With those last lines, the ring of fire exploded into a large burning blaze.

Every demon and their host burned away until their screams became silent and bodies turn to ash. The young man snapped his fingers as the blazing blue flames extinguish themselves before Rin glared down at Father Fujimoto. "Rin…" Fujimoto spoke only for Rin to interrupt him. "Don't say a word. I learned about the truth coming home 9 years ago. I watched you through a clone crafted by my father's magic and gave you multiple chances to tell the truth." The boy started.

"Did you know that sealing my soul's demon half made my power so unstable that I was a walking timebomb? Not only did you kept secrets and lie to me but you put everyone in danger. You didn't see as a child or son but a potential threat because of my damned sperm donor. If you did, you would have told me and trained me to be an exorcist than just Yukio. I wanted to die that day but Snatcher saved me from potentially killing myself." Fujimoto flinched and looked truly hurt once realizing what he had done.

"I won't kill you or get revenge for keeping secrets because you spared my life instead of killing me or my brother on the spot when we were babies. However, you, Yukio and everyone in this room are no longer my family. A true family would see me for me, not some bastard son of Satan or a potential threat. And if you go after me, I won't protect you from the full might of the Subcon Kingdom! You have been warned." Rin explained as he took the sword that contained his power before stuffing it in his hat like a magician.

"Rin! Please don't go! I'm sorry! It was for your own good!" Fujimoto cried out but Rin merely ignored him. "Goodbye Shiro Fujimoto." And with those last words, Rin Okumura disappeared in a flash of blue fire. Shiro Fujimoto fell to the floor and weeped. Secrets were a dangerous thing and he didn't listen to his friend's warning. The price he paid was his own son's trust now in the hands of the infamous Snatcher. Yukio came home to his weeping father and the approaching pike of mistrust that crucified his father's heart. It wasn't anyone's day at the True Cross Monastery.

And that's it! This was written last year so if the writing style looks different then that's why. Blue Exorcist was one of the first Mature mangas I ever bought, I got Volumes One to Three.

And honestly, I feel really bad for Rin. His brother tried to kill him, his foster father kept TONS of secrets, his friends immediately turned on him for his heritage despite him saving their asses and trying to regain their trust, or just being marked as a target for existing. I mean WTF?!

Poor boy needs better friends and a hug because I don't think Kuro or Ukobach(from the anime) could help for so long. This was also one of my early attempts into writing Snatcher before I got the game myself.

I did watch someone play it quite a few times but limited my experiences to the first three end chapter bosses and Snatcher's area being Subcon Forest. This was something I usually do before deciding to buy a game.

Snatcher honestly felt perfect for this especially taking the dad role. When you take his experiences in the ghost's past life to now, betrayal and mistrust are two big factors.

Even if Snatcher is an antagonist character, he does have some morals and personality than just the common soul eating specter with a grudge. This also takes place after the events in a Hat In Time.

And yes. Rin was singing 'Your Contract Has Expired' cover by Man On The Internet although the last bit was abridged on purpose. If this Rin had a theme, it would be the Phase Two Version theme of Your Contract Has Expired.

Anyways, until next time folks! Smell ya later.

This is an Phase Two Version of Man on the Internet's Your Contract Has Expired, done by Ben Newsome. Please read the description because they cited this song belongs to their original owner and not stole it. Poor guy doesn't need anymore accusations involving copyright.

[nasubeenwithcat]

⚠️warning inspired:Phantom of the Opera (original by Gaston Leroux) contents:blood, swearing, yandere discotrain, mental illness, mind control, death, serious bullying, machine translation

🎬In the original work, Subcon Forest is the stimulating world and the Mafia is Persia. The Forest gives the Phantom different values. Having studied in the forest, he completed the Labyrinth of Mirrors for the Mafia.

🎬Next to the bird city is Subcon Forest. It is a place of artistic community and frozen time concepts. There are flowers and ice everywhere, and music is playing.

🎬Snatcher lives in Subcon Forest with his many friends. Of course he offers contracts to intruders, but his goal is friends, not souls.

🎬He is very jovial and lonely. He hates loneliness and loves art. He will try anything that interests him, but basically he paints.

🎬Subcon Forest has many residents. Minicons, spirits, Moonjumper, florist, Vanessa, cats, shapeshifter, birds, and more. They all hone their own art and appreciate others.

🎬Vanessa is good at ice sculpting and Moonjumper is the only doctor in the forest. Anyway, there are many dwellers. There are many forms of art. This means that the forest is not a completely safe zone. Snatcher does not demand that the dwellers follow common sense. No matter how good the rules are, conflicts due to cultural differences are inevitable.

🎬Subcon Forest regularly hosts an art presentation. It is a very big festival, and only on that day intruders are allowed to enter the forest without a contract. Naturally, food is also served. One must check for hallucinogenic drugs, though.

🎬Phantom was a dweller in the forest at one time. This means he is a friend of Snatcher's so he has free access to the forest. He is basically in the cellar of the cinema, but if he needs someone's help, he will turn to the forest dwellers.

🎬He learned more advanced magic there. At the freak circus, he could only learn very basic magic. But he was able to acquire enough knowledge and skills in the forest.

🎬Snatcher was originally a prince. But stress caused him to cut his ears and the ensuing infection took his life. That was the birth of Subcon Forest. Vanessa was the princess of a neighboring kingdom, but she is still alive. Importantly, vast tracts of time corrupted in an instant.

🎬The incident resulted in many deaths. They have become minicons and they are now living a new life in the forest, forgetting their painful previous lives. Snatcher feels very guilty about it, but all he can do for them is offer them a playground.

🎬Snatcher has tried everything that interests him, but he hates literature. Literature, both in writing and reading, requires errors of meaning in translation and an understanding of its background culture. But even with that much effort, it would be difficult to read the full artistic message of literature. It pains him that he has to dare to leave areas he does not understand untouched.

🎬Snatcher paints only for himself, but Bow writes for others. Their perspectives on art are quite different. Written expression? Snatcher believes that direct words should be expressed in their original form. Bow believes that words should be used with the reader in mind.

🎬The idea that art is only as good as its audience. From Snatcher's point of view, that is laziness. There is no freedom. The idea that art is about ego. From Bow's point of view, it is arrogance. There is no effort to communicate one's ideas to more people.

🎬Phantom also holds the view that art and audience are inseparable. What is the best thing of art? This idea has the best answer to this question. It is the deliberate manipulation and fixing of the audience's mindset. It is lazy without freedom. But it will make everyone happy.

🎬From time to time Mafia Boss comes to Subcon Forest. He is not interested in art in the slightest, but he comes once a month with various goods for the forest dwellers.

🎬He is an economic genius. He indirectly dominates about half of the planet through commerce. He has a small kingdom on an island and would rather be called "king" than "boss". Anyway, he has a keen interest in entertainment.

🎬He helped freak circus and built a huge amusement park. He likes to have fun. He found out Phantom through a sales visit to Subcon Forest and invited him to come to his kingdom.

🎬Well, I must say that ...... rosy times have come. He enjoyed Phantom's magic tricks every day, but after a year he grew bored with them. On a whim, he ordered Phantom to show him something gruesome and had Phantom build him the labyrinth of mirrors.

🎬I won't go into the details of the mechanism. Anyway, very cruel torture is possible there, and the owner of the palace could easily torment visitors with the flick of a switch. The boss found a new entertainment value in the immorality.

🎬He had Phantom build another castle palace in exchange for a beautiful hourglass he had recently found. It has a special wall structure and many hidden passages. The owner of the palace can hear gossip wherever he is.

🎬The boss liked the palace very much, but at the same time he began to fear the presence of Phantom. As long as he was there, the palace's security would not be perfect. He had to kill the yellow owl.

🎬The rest is simple. Phantom knows what the boss is up to, thanks to the special structure of the palace. The hourglass helped it and triggered a split in Phantom's time.

🎬The boss is a wayward person and likes children. He especially likes Timmy, who suddenly appeared and trusted him with the cinema. Yes, Timmy is an alien and a mafia.

🎬He didn't believe the " Phantom of the Cinema" rumors, and Timmy didn't believe them either. But if the little managers were actually in danger, he could always help them.

🎬He is involved in the management of the cinema in the form of a board member. Phantom does not take too kindly to him. To Phantom, Boss is an outsider who pollutes the bird city. The increase in the number of mafia stores has caused the loss of several traditional bird stores. He hates to see it.

🎬Timmy is very smart and likes to joke and prank. He doesn't know much about movies at all, so he had to have a movie specialist as his sidekick when he was running the cinema.

🎬Timmy and the Mustache Girl did not believe Phantom's rumors at first. Rather, they made fun of his warnings. They ignored Phantom's request not to sit in Box 5, but stopped doing so after the chandelier incident.

🎬They suspect that the identity of Phantom is one of the directors. They believe that someone created the " Phantom" in order to get out of work and that it is getting bigger.

🎬To them the boxkeeper is an insider, and to the boxkeeper they are the hated enemy. The boxkeeper demands that they accept the existence of Phantom. If they do not, his daughter will not be able to rise in the company.

🎬Boxkeepers receive many letters every day. The very first letter he received was the beginning of it all.

🎬Should I tell the story of the safety pin incident? It's a long story, read the original for the details! Phantom demands an "administrative fee" from them. A salary for managing the cinema's iconic abundance of water. And the right to use box 5 seats. Timmy refuses, but reluctantly pretends to comply after the chandelier incident. But the act did not go well, and all the pay was paid to the ghost.

🎬Importantly, they do not believe in the existence of Phantom. Timmy gradually begins to suspect that the mustache girl is stealing the envelope containing his paycheck. And indeed, the envelope is found in her pocket. Soon it is explained by the boxkeeper himself that it was the work of the boxkeeper, but which leads to the two of them keeping a close eye on each other. A safety pin was needed to remedy the situation.

[return-of-the-queen-au]

AHHH YES! it's why enjoy those versions, because it's not uncommon for people to be harsher on themselves in the past. Often people get softer on others but harsher on themselves, it's more likely you'll see people bash on their child version over mistakes that the child couldn't possibly know about than instead understanding that the kid doesn't have the same common sense or knowledge as the present self.

But for snatcher? For me he has different views of things.

He, not only thinks he's totally a victim of Vanessa, that he has done nothing wrong, he's convinced Vanessa is just the unreasonable one.

And while it's true, his is more of a "ugh I got you flowers and this is what I get?? Smh smh" rather than feeling sad that this was his fate, that he was always a victim.

But aside from that,

It's just like you said! "I've always been like this, just been hiding it."

Of course snatcher and the prince's view of "I've always been like this" changes, going from a flaw to a genuine twisted version of it but they're not that different as it may seems.

when it comes to royalty, you have expectations and duties, you're constantly told to be in a certain way. You make yourself act and appear in a certain way to please the rest and act "perfect" as a prince or generally a royal should, but inside? You could be anything.

and that's the case for both Vanessa and the prince, at least for me.

While yeah, Vanessa shows it through her diary, the prince didn't have it. He truly hid it to the point only he was aware of what was going on in his head.

and when you cannot find anyone similar to you, you begin to question..am I in the wrong? Am I weird? You feel alienated, you begin to mimic others to feel less alone, to feel like you're standing out less.

Especially when you get told multiple times that what you're doing is unprofessional, not adequate for a prince. When you're told you're supposed to keep a reputation up, a specific reputation at that, you feel pressured.

This doesn't mean the prince was always the sadistic evil noodle we know, but he had his things.

Sure, it is true a person can drastically change with trauma, but what if certain things never changed? Or are simply doubled, they're made to be worse than they originally were.

His lack of empathy? His morbid sense of humor? His laugh? What if they were all there but he hid them because he was too aware of the fact that they were wrong, that he knew he was broken already?

Sure, his morals were never that low, but he certainly had difficulties attaching himself to others, he just couldn't put himself in others shoes.

He wasn't a bad guy, he was odd. That's all!

He had interests and fascinations that were never the usual, like hunting or riding a horse like the usual prince, but he never meant harm!

He was still passionate, romantic, sweet, modest and charming.

Just..add that little hidden side of him that made him petty, snarky, spiteful and sassy. That little side nobody wants to look at because it's not a pretty face.

..but when you're dead, what's the point of hiding it? You're a scary looking ghost, in a scary looking forest that was once your home and is now filled with the agonizing souls of your kingdom, what's the point of being nice?

Why not just do whatever? I mean..who cares anyway? No one's there to see it. No one he cares about is there to see it.

Andddd.. that's where his downfall began. the ugly side that was merely a bunch of flaws of his turned into twisted pleasures and sadistic tendencies, he did in the end became worse than he truly was and he would hate it, because that's not who he is.

But snatcher? Oh he'd embrace it, he'd twist it. He'd say how he's alwaysss been like that and the prince is simply in denial. One fully accepts his fate and his downfall, treating it as a way of being "reborn" into a new life, and the other.. would likely be ashamed of himself for that, because he personally "would never let that happen."

So it's a play of "yes we've always been like that, but not entirely."

The interpretation of snatcher hating his past self is one I'll always enjoy seeing, I'm just really weird with my visions HEHE

Thinking, thinking.

While I adore when people make snatcher disgusted, embarrassed or ashamed of who he was before (the prince), in my head it plays differently.

He seems rather indifferent of what has happened. he jokes about his death, he references songs to Vanessa, he even calls her a soulmate still.

He is past the incident, he is to the point he doesn't care anymore.

In my head, the prince would be way, way more terrified and disgusted with what he became, not the other way around.

For me snatcher doesn't put much of a difference between him and the prince, to him they're the same person (in which, they are, but are completely different at the same time.), one simply has changed.

Because it's the course of time, right? Things change, nothing stays the same.

he and the prince never drifted, there's no line that says "oh this is the prince and this is snatcher."

For him he is both, he has never stopped being the prince, he just goes by another name.

but the prince? He'd be the one who would try his best to not associate himself from snatcher, he'd be the one who would deny that's him, the one ashamed of what has happened and what he became and is doing now.

the prince would hate the snatcher, but the snatcher still values his identity as the prince.

[mxlfoydraco]

Do you also follow some Drarry WIPs? Its very hard to find stories like that on recs. I am reading Tales from the Special Branch /by femmequixotic) and its amazing and very worth it and feels as satisfaying as reading a complete fic: do you have any recs of other uncompleted stories?

I would say Tales from the Special Branch first, you took it from my mouth! I’m new to reading WIPs but I know a few,

The Same Sweet Shock by @xiaq (20k, WIP)

One day, Draco Malfoy is going to get his life together. One day, he will be a respectable citizen. He will have a respectable job and his last name will no longer be a scarlet letter and people will no longer try to hex him in the street. One day, he is going to live a good, honest, ordinary life.Today, however, is not that day. Because today, he is driving a stolen police car and will likely be responsible for murdering Harry Potter.

survival is a talent by ShanaStoryteller (471k, WIP)

In the middle of their second year, Draco and Harry discover they’re soulmates and do their best to keep it a secret from everyone. Their best isn’t perfect.

In The Dark by @bixgirl1 (102k, WIP)

In the aftermath of an apocalypse, Harry receives an order to find and bring Draco Malfoy nearly a thousand miles, to the tenuous safety of Hogwarts. But more than distance separates them from their goal. The world has fallen, and death is hungry.

Close Behind by @oflights (91k, WIP)

To rescue Draco from the Underworld, Harry has to look forward. Unfortunately, Draco has to look back.

Leo Inter Serpentes series by Aeternum (902k, WIP)

Just one conversation between two eleven year old boys goes slightly differently, and the world changes. Just how much will be different with Harry being sorted into Slytherin, and how much will stay the same?

The Dementor's Child by @xx-thedarklord-xx (119k, WIP)

Curiosity—the kind that got him here—was the reason his mouth opened and out came, “What is it you get out of stealing life from people?” The creature floated closer and all common sense that should have told him to step back was non-existent. Instead, Harry took a step closer. It was obvious what the creature wanted. He only stared for a moment, no hesitance before his eyes slipped closed and he took. Or the one where Harry encounters a Dementor as a child and doesn't flee, no he sticks around and mimics what he sees.

A Knife to the Throat by deluminatormischiefmaker (127k, WIP)

Draco Malfoy has always been the boy without a choice. When he finally gets the chance to switch sides, he picks The Chosen One. Set in Deathly Hallows. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione get caught by Snatchers and brought to Malfoy Manor, Draco decides to join their cause. The usual camping trip, but with a few tag-alongs, several detours, and quite a bit more romance.

Most Favourite Bedtime Story by SasuNarufan13 (42k, WIP)

Scorpius' most favourite bedtime story? The story of how his parents fell in love. And his grandmother tells it the best!

At the End of All Things by @quicksilvermaid (91k, WIP)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are real and Harry starts dreaming of them.

Mutatum series by Vichan (298k, WIP)

In the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry is drawn to a room in Grimmauld Place. Like the Gryffindor he is, he enters the room without fear. The room is a library, and Harry is surprised to find that he’s eager to learn. Then he gets the bad news: he’s been accidentally expelled from Hogwarts, and he needs to be sorted again. Everyone is confident that he’ll go straight back to Gryffindor, but with what he's been learning, Harry’s not so sure.

Whatever You Want, Draco Malfoy by DorothyAnn (92k, WIP)

Draco lost his home and the only society he knew after the war. He ended up living in the muggle world, making new friends and new connections and maybe some sort of peace. Even if that peace was usually found at the bottom of a bottle. It was enough for him. He was content to just exist. Then Harry Potter decided to ruin everything.

I’m sure I’m missing a lot of great on going fics. Open for call any Drarry writers to add on their WIPs!