#supernatural from the outsiders' perspectives is fascinating to me

[retellingthehobbit]

Your retelling, will it be implying a Thorin/Bilbo attraction?

I ask because I just discovered that ship and when I looked it up on tumblr, it led me to your work lolol

Every time someone asks me this I feel more like I'm making a Real Adaptation! I love the idea of people following this webcomic for years while analyzing the gay subtext as if they're waiting to see if Supernatural will make Destiel canon. a powerful feeling. The short answer is yes! The long answer is that it's complicated, and that if you're not a Bilbo/Thorin Person you should still stick around because I'm going to handle it in a very funky way that is not what you're expecting (also at the rate I draw, it won't be "canon" in the comic for approximately 2039482289798334534534534534 years.) Generally Thorin's role in my version of the story is that he's a living embodiment of The Quest, and Bilbo's feelings for Thorin mirror his feelings for the Adventure. When Thorin first arrives at Bag End, Bilbo is overwhelmed and annoyed and confused-- he finds him both fascinating and horribly frustrating at turns, and has no idea how to feel about Thorin in the same way he has no idea whether he'll join the adventure. As the story continues, Bilbo's feelings on the Quest will shift, and his feelings about Thorin will shift as well. I just really love the general idea of a new take on Thorin where he has a bit more pathos and a deeper relationship with Bilbo. I also think the way LOTR retroactively reframes The Hobbit as a story written by 'unreliable narrator Bilbo Baggins' adds to the possibilities a lot! there's a lot of queer subtext in Lord of the Rings, and it's fun to bring more of that subtext into the Hobbit. Tolkien often refers to hobbit adventures as "queerness,' and makes "queerness" the name for the thing that bigoted hobbits are afraid of; the fact that Bilbo has been repressing the "queer" part of himself that he inherited from his mother is, canonically, the thing he's struggling with in the beginning of the story.

I really enjoy the bit in the Unfinished Tales where Gandalf describes Bilbo like this:

And now I found that he was 'unattached' - to jump on again for of course I did not know all this until I went back to the Shire. I learned that he had never married. I thought that odd though I guessed why it was; and the reason that I guessed was not that most of the Hobbits gave me: that he had early been left very well off and his own master. No, I guessed that he wanted to remain 'unattached' for some reason deep down which he did not understand himself - or would not acknowledge, for it alarmed him.

That feeling of not being "out to yourself" and not knowing what it is that you want out of life is just!!! It's just very compelling to me.

Thorin's still gonna die though. Don't you hate it when you have this whole elaborate coming-out-to-yourself story but then your first gay crush is so Problematic he kiiiinda nearly starts a war so you betray him by stealing the Heart of his Mountain in order to prevent that war, but then the war happens anyway and he dies horribly :/. A universal gay experience.

Thorin is also an interesting character to play with, especially because I'm diverging more from the book (compared to Bilbo or Gandalf.) The way I'm planning to handle him is that he's a character we see only "from the outside," from the perspective of other characters, and no character sees every side of him. The dwarves portray him as a noble king; the elves portray him as a haughty arrogant joke, to the point where it affects Tolkien's own "translation" of the story; Bilbo has his own complicated feelings about Thorin, but even his portrayal of Thorin is heavily biased and he never gets to see the full picture.

But yeah-- the Hobbit is originally a very lighthearted story, but I do think there are lot of darker and deeper emotions you could explore in it if you wanted to, particularly if you bring in the metatext of how it's reframed in Lord of the Rings. And I do want to explore those darker emotions! So I am XD. There already was an extremely book-accurate comic adaptation of the Hobbit that came out in the late nineties (though it's super short and the pages are cramped to fit in all the prose)-- so I don't really see the point of being obsessively close to the original novel, since an obsessively close comic adaptation already exists. This comic is for the Weird Queer Overly Emotional Metatextual Reframing of The Hobbit!! Anyway, it's fun.

[shallowseeker]

In a way, the events of 12x19 The Future kinda happened, just not for Cas.

(This is so awful, I’m sorry. ) He saw the future through Jack’s eyes, but Cas interpreted it through his own psyche, needs, motivations, and imagery:

From above (12x19):

Kelly, standing on a BEACH— in the surf— looking out at the ocean.

Sam, racing across an OPEN FIELD. Chasing something.

Dean, in tight closeup. A look of relief— of happiness on his face.

DEAN: Cas— thank you.

Castiel. Shirtless. Standing against a wall, as his WINGS FLARE. But they’re not broken anymore. They’re full and majestic.

These images are script only, but they're a fascinating window into Cas's mindset.

///

Full wings:

Jack did get his wings back, full-glory, when he ate Michael in 14x14 Ouroboros.

From above (14x14):

Jack drops his arms, opens his mouth, and inhales the grace! All that’s left of Michael. He consumes it. As Jack closes his mouth and swallows, everything goes quiet. Jack’s eyes return the normal, and Michael is finally dead.

DEAN: Jack—

JACK: Michael… he’s dead. (he turns to our guys, calm and emotionless) I’m me again.

Suddenly, he bursts in a golden, fiery glow. His eyes flare hold, and his wings flare behind him. Jack has his powers back.

The shirtless majesty in the 12x19 vision was just Cas’s perspective/reinterpretation, superimposing a psychosexual component on top of the vision— his need to be strong and protect his human family.

///

Thank you (script only):

And Dean did say, with relief, “Jack…Thank you,” in 14x17 Game Night.

From above (14x17):

On Dean. Knows how much he owes this kid, he got there in the nick of time.

DEAN: Jack, I— thank you.

Jack smiles, so happy to be needed, so loved.

Again, Cas’s 12x19 vision tightened that image into an intimate, close-up, because it’s filtered through his desire for Dean to be relieved and safe. (Remember, in 12x19, Cas comments that he didn’t mean to ignite “Dean’s distress.”) That’s why this vignette directly triggered the shirtless Cas/protector-driven imagery in the script. They’re one after another-> Kelly at peace -> Sam (supposedly) running free -> Dean intimately relieved & thankful -> Cas majestic, healed, and strong. Seeing Dean like that made Cas feel like that.

///

Open field:

Sam did run through a small field, when rushing to stop the Equalizer confrontation in 14x20 Moriah.

From above (14x20):

EXT. ROAD - DAY

The road outside the cemetery. A car rips up—

And Sam bursts out— racing for— (Through what looks like an open field, Sam enters the cemetery)

///

Beach:

As for Kelly and the beach, this is a loose allusion to Jack’s place of birth: Washaway Beach in North Cove, Washington.

///

The future vision was a tragedy. Perhaps, Jack wasn’t making promises at all.

Perhaps, it was merely Jack’s power surging, tapping into the potential of the cosmos, and Cas saw what he wanted to see because he has trouble facing his own desires.

That’s the problem with seeing the future, Missouri Moseley might say, even when you see it, it’s hard to interpret, and it can be out of order and wrong and misleading in so many heartbreaking ways. You might not even be getting your own perspective.

/////////////////////////////////

(Text Attributions// Supernatural scripts here via @spnscripthunt. Transcripts are located here via SPNWiki. Visit their Tumblr to donate.)

[ardentpoop]

Im curious so I got to ask you what do you think about the whole sam not looking for Kevin thing? Is it in character or out? Is it just poor writing? Do you hold Sam accountable for that to an extent? I personally found the writing to be contrived and that it was just put there for conflict. But I do think Sam did make mistake, and I think Sam knows it to. But it is understandable to some extent because Sam literally had no one to help take on the literal ruler of hell and it’s not like he intentionally ignored Kevin’s calls. My personal gripes with the whole not looking for Kevin is that the fandom blows it out of proportion and it’s just always endlessly brought up. But in the show it’s really no big deal. Kevin forgives Sam very easily and doesn’t seem that bothered by it. He understands and they move on quickly.

doesn’t do much for me one way or another lol. the fandom is, as usual, thoughtless, and buying dean’s biased perspective on everything uncritically. dean used sam forgetting abt kevin as one reason to berate him bc what he was actually angry at sam for was him Selfishly Running Away from hunting (read: leaving the murder cult when he thought dean was dead after he DID try looking for him but had no reason to suspect he was stuck in purgatory.)

like you’re telling me dean suddenly genuinely cares abt kevin’s well-being at the precise moment he’s furious w/ sam for returning to a version of his pre-series mindset where walking away from hunting(/dean) is a viable option that he’s actually motivated to take? DEAN???? dean “when’s that little idiot gonna stop running from us” winchester, who responded to sam’s “well you did try to kill his mother” with “she was possessed! it’s different.” and who encouraged and enabled kevin to burn himself out translating the tablets because “play through the pain”? ok fandom. whatever.

anyway I have no interest in defending sam for not helping kevin while dean was gone because it is 1) not compelling to me outside of it being used by dean - and by extension the fandom - to punish sam, and 2) it is kind of the point that anyone who gets close to these two by “joining the hunt” gets royally fucked over. like it’s an intentional part of the story. it is even outright stated through dialogue numerous times. AND 3) to be clear kevin shouldn’t have forgiven sam OR dean he would’ve been right to hate them viciously for what they did to him together. I personally am more disapproving of dean’s role than sam’s bc as usual for mid-to-late-seasons supernatural sam’s role was passive and dean’s was active. but it was all bad - this is key.

ultimately though I fucking loathed this discourse when it was popping up everywhere after the season originally aired and I fucking loathe it today given ppl are still regurgitating the same empty talking points to bash sam while praising dean. my bigger concern is with understanding sam’s mindset shift over the course of s8 because it is fascinating and heartbreaking and one of the most thoroughly misinterpreted arcs in the show.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Colin Wright

Published: Sep 13, 2023

On August 25, Texas judge Maria Cantú Hexsel temporarily blocked Senate Bill 14, which limits sex-trait modification procedures—euphemistically called “gender-affirming care”—to adults only. In her decision, Hexsel stated that the law “interferes with Texas families’ private decisions and strips Texas parents . . . of the right to seek, direct, and provide medical care for their children.” In response, the Texas attorney general’s office swiftly filed an appeal with the state’s Supreme Court to halt Hexsel’s injunction, highlighting the “unproven” nature of pediatric sex-trait modification procedures being “pushed by some activists in the medical and psychiatric professions.”

Weeks before the hearing, the Texas attorney general’s office had asked me to serve as an expert witness on the biology of sex. It invited me to respond to a series of false and perplexing assertions made by the plaintiff’s three expert witnesses—including the premise that a person’s sex is comprised of many traits, among them chromosomes, hormones, internal reproductive organs, genitalia, and secondary sexual characteristics, as well as one’s “gender identity.”

In the scientific understanding of sex, only one trait—the type of gamete (i.e., sperm or ova) that someone can, will, or would produce—defines male or female. This is true not only for humans but also for all plants and animals. The other traits mentioned by the plaintiffs’ experts, while related to one’s sex, do not define it. Moreover, the push to include “gender identity” as a defining aspect of being male or female represents an extreme departure from empirical reality in service of a pseudoscientific outlook designed to validate the feelings of people who experience discomfort with their bodies.

Traveling to Austin and appearing before a judge to explain these basic facts was a surreal experience. To my knowledge, this was the first time a biologist has been called to testify in court to defend the material existence of males and females as natural and distinct biological categories. Yet, this isn’t the first time that core principles of biology have been put on trial.

In the 2005 case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, plaintiffs contested a Pennsylvania school district’s policy that mandated teaching the religious concept of Intelligent Design (ID) alongside evolution in biology class. Biologists were summoned to defend the extensive evidence supporting evolution and explain how ID does not meet the fundamental standards of the scientific method: ID is unfalsifiable and relies on supernatural explanations that fall outside the purview of science.

The Kitzmiller case fascinated me, and I followed it closely. In fact, it inspired me to pursue a career as an evolutionary biologist. Over the years, I’ve engaged in debates with numerous creationists and ID supporters. While I didn’t realize it then, confronting these faith-based arguments against the reality of evolution equipped me to handle the current wave of popular anti-science sentiment around the denial of biological sex. Strikingly, the arguments made by sex denialists often mirror those presented by creationists and ID proponents.

In addition to being glaring instances of metaphysics parading as science, both ID and sex denialism rely on a similar “argument from complexity” designed to stun audiences into adopting their perspectives. ID advocates, for instance, contend that biological systems and features are “irreducibly complex,” meaning that they couldn’t have emerged from gradual, unguided processes like natural selection and random mutation and must therefore have been directed by a supernatural “designer” (i.e., God). In a similar vein, gender activists argue that biological sex is so complex and irreducible to any single trait that all efforts to classify individuals as male or female are futile, and people should therefore be allowed to identify as any sex they like.

While both arguments highlight genuine complexities within biology, they misconstrue the actual scientific understanding. In the Kitzmiller case, the presiding judge, a Christian appointed in 2002 by President George W. Bush, saw through the ruse and ruled against teaching ID as science, stating that “ID is a religious view . . . and not a scientific theory.” The denial of biological sex is no different, and its societal impacts are more pervasive and harmful than the denial of evolution.

However, in a twist I could not have anticipated, the same colleagues who once applauded my efforts to defend evolution against creationism and ID now condemn me for challenging the new sex pseudoscience. Evidently, scientists are not the impassive, Spock-like figures that both society and many scientists themselves perceive them to be. They, too, can get wrapped up in ideological and political trends.

Defending the binary nature of sex in court will become increasingly important as more states consider implementing age restrictions on hormonal and surgical sex-trait modification. This is because the depiction of sex as a haphazard collection of sex-related traits—instead of being tied to reproductive function—forms a central tenet of gender ideology. If one determines a person’s sex by tallying various traits, which can range from male-typical to female-typical, it follows that hormonal or surgical modifications can literally shift one’s physical sex along this perceived spectrum to align with that person’s internal “gender identity.” If, however, a person’s sex is immutable, then such interventions lack empirical justification

After I was sworn in and presented my credentials as an expert on the biology of sex, the plaintiff’s lawyers objected that they didn’t understand “the relevance of this witness.” I don’t think they were being insincere: I believe they really did not understand the relevance of natural science to the debate over how to help kids who feel alienated from their bodies. And that, of course, is exactly the problem.

Our Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to direct their lives according to their faith—whether that faith is about a revelation on Mt. Sinai or about sex as a spectrum or about the existence of gendered souls. The Constitution does not, however, immunize doctors from scientific criticism when their own beliefs clash with empirical fact and lead to medical harm. It is essential that scientists find the courage to defend the principles of rationalism and empiricism in the court of law as well as in the court of public opinion to help guide medicine, and our society, back to reality.

==

Another striking similarity is that both ID and gender ideology insist simultaneously that they are scientific - despite being unverifiable and unfalsifiable - and that science only rejects their claims due to intolerance and bigotry.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

With October just about to a close, I feel like talking about the books I read over the month as I didn't have a particularly great time. It wasn't that the books were bad, they just weren't the kind of horror I was looking for, for October reads. If I wasn't reading them for the horror thrill, then I would like them very much and did enjoy quite a bit, but it wasn't hitting the itch hardly at all that I was looking to scratch this month.

Again! This doesn't mean these books are bad! And that's particularly why I want to talk about them, because it's super fascinating to me that I can simultaneously see how they are correctly categorized as horror (well… from my perspective which is not super literate in the horror genre) and yet not invoke that thrill of books like say even The Coldest Girl in Cold Town or something as perfectly horror as A Winter Haunting (none of what I read will be gore heavy if I can help it XD)

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez Okay, this is one that I think should have been just fantasy and not horror at all. It's a book about vampires. They feed on humans, but they don't kill them. Rather, the ones we follow don't. I think the last chapter could work as horror, but it didn't like, build up to the last chapter over time in a way that I think lets the rest of the book qualify as horror when it's just a book about a vampire going through the ages. I very much liked this book! I quite enjoyed a book that was about a vampire that read a lot like just a sort of, domestic going about life story. I mean, it's obviously not just like that, but a lot of it kind of is. Managing relationships, who we let in, how we keep growing, when we trust ourselves and grow in that trust, etc. I very much enjoyed, but I actually think this would make a better Spring book.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould This worked for me! Not all of them failed to scratch the itch, and this was one of those. It is a young adult, which means that it didn't go as dark as other horror will, but it had a very good build of tension and mystery around scary supernatural stuff that had the protagonists feeling out of their depth and even, on occassion, clawing at each other (not literallly) in their distress at not being able to make sense of what is happening. Very good. Very spoopy.

Haunted Wisconsin by Beth Scott & Michael Norman I wanted to read this in October, and I'm glad I did. I never expect any sort of real thrill from nonfiction. It's a compilation of ghost stories, and as someone who enjoys ghost stories but has never been able to place myself in the feelings of real ghost presence (aka I don't have that sense of belief in ghosts which does NOT mean I do not believe others' experiences. I can't force myself to believe shit.) So there's no regret here, and they were very interesting, but no real horror thrill. If more of my fiction books had managed that aspect, it would be a disappointment to me at all that I spent so much time on this book.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Only the last like, chapter or two felt like I was reading a horror book. I did go in knowing that it would go in that direction, and it did properly build to it by the end where it tracked and felt pretty earned, but if I hadn't known, I could have missed a lot of what makes this book a thriller/horror. There was a lot of anxiety but not so much thrill. I also don't think the ending works well without looking at it through a horror lens, so I do think it's properly placed in the genre, but for about 90% of the book, it didn't Feel horror.

The Ruins by Scott Smith Yeah this one was horror. Thru and thru. Hahaha. It was a summer horror though, which was a little sad to me. In some books that aren't seasonal, I can still sort of picture it taking place during the season in which I'm reading it, but this took place primarily outside in hot, humid heat. No pretending that's taking place in any sort of autumn XD

Fledgling by Octavia Butler This one also falls into a similar situation for me as The Gilda Stories. It read more like a fantasy featuring vampires. It had more horror elements than The Gilda Stories, particularly thru the first two thirds of the book. But the last section was a trial (which was really interesting! And I enjoyed reading very much!) And that just didn't feel horror. I see why it's in the genre, and enough horror-like stuff happens that it seems it deserves it, but it didn't do much to give me that horror thrill. Very good read! Wish I'd have read it a different time of the year.

Vampire Forensics by Mark Collins Jenkins This is in the same category as Haunted Wisconsin almost down to a T. This had a little bit more going for it due to talking at length about decomposition and the way people reacted to corpses when decomposition wasn't thoroughly understood. There's something grotesque but also uncannily relatable about how people would react to the viscera they would see during the decomp process.

The Vampyre; A Tale by John Polidori Victorian novella? Okay this was pretty good with setting a gothic eerie atmosphere… at times. But it was such a short story that only really small sections could be put in those settings. Still, a good October read!

Sorrowland by Rivers Soloman I am 81% through this. This has more horror in it than Fledgling or Gilda Stories, but reads also very similiarly. Things will be mundane, and then they'll be horror! Then things will be mundane (in terms of horror stuff) for a while, and then it's horrorish again! I also fully realize it's required for the story that's being told, but they stripped the mystery away a little too much for it to have that really horror thrill instead of the sort of fantasy quest feeling. The fact that we're only seeing the horror happen to one person and we understand why and how it's happening strips a lot of the thrill away even while it definitely has strong horror elements. I suppose it could go harder from here on out, but it's ramping up to feel much more like a revenge quest from here and while that can be scary, one of the hallmarks imo to horror is the lack of ability to do anything about the horror (until perhaps like the last moment or in a very intangible way) and that just doesn't feel especially present here (unless we're talking like on systemic levels but that kind of circles right around to the fantasy/sci-fi genre WHICH ARE GOOD GENRES but yeah)

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy Listening to this on the It Will Happen Here podcast with the spouse (he's a huge fan of the Robert Evans podcasts) and that is absolutely hitting the spots. Uliksi is a fantastic monster, and Danielle is so perfectly out of her depth both in terms of what is happening with him and in terms of his history/the community that summoned him. Excited to finish this up.

This is Halloween by James Moore. A++ This is perfect. Chef's Kiss. I'm glad I'll be finishing up the month with this. I am 73% through this one. It's a series of short stories with an emphasis of occurring during October/Autumn and it's just fingerlicking good as that's EXACTLY what I love most to read this time of year. I could read a whole novel(la) about the Beldam Woods creatures. So far he did three stories in that universe or whatever, and they all super hit the spot for me. Those monsters were so neat and yet different and just yeah. Big fan.

Some of these will eventually get added to my spoopy reading list, but definitely not all of them. Not because they're not horror, but because I just don't know that I really recommend them for the season. Ah well.

[fictionfixations]

orders and gods and stuff

Everything needs order. It might not always work, but it makes people more civilized and more synchronized. It's teamwork that can have people be much more efficient in their duties because of sharing and stuff. Not to mention I guess, while a bunch of deities are cool and all, some people would prefer this one main person whose all important. Or as like, the main face, the.. I can't remember what they're called. Poster boy?

Point is, if people look at Greek mythology but are a newbie, they'll at least know of Zeus, and point out Zeus as a god. So on and so on.

Or people looking at Egyptian mythology from an outsider perspective might think of Ra first, as the big ol' important sun god.

I mean, nearly everyone, even if they don't believe in Christianity, or have even touched a bible know of God. (..and Jesus Christ)

Or Buddhism with the Buddha.

Also the family tree stuff probably made it more.. human? People being related to people. I don't really know, but since back then people would know that they were born via their parents, then it would only be logical to have that explanation be added to the gods as well, it just means that their parents might've been a whole lot more. well. more.

It likely would've made sense in their eyes (they'd literally just be blank slates otherwise, because certain parts of the body are meant for well, childbirth, or well, the chest being to feed, y'know), and not to mention their own thoughts on animals and why they do certain things, likely leading to similar explanations would explain similar supernatural creatures. Certain animals if I recall that right can actually notice certain things, like signs of danger faster then humans. There's that one I think bird that would go down to the mines with people, and I think if it died then it would tell people there was poison early, giving them enough warning to leave. Or like.. animals, like maybe dogs, I can't remember the story but it was something about them noticing like early signs of an earthquake or something and saving their owner.

Or good old coincidences that could make people think of animals as otherworldly, or something.

It just gave order to it, organizing it in a way that made sense, and like a logical thing.

On that line of thinking, I think I understand why people think of gods and all that stuff. There's a game called Detroit: Become Human, where you play as three androids who have the potential to become a deviant, or basically go against their programming. Having feelings, and wanting to be free (there's a lot of dark themes, but it's a game that is defined by your choices. Endings differ vastly.) Getting back on topic, there's this, well, 'god' they worshipped. Or some of the deviants, I mean. RA9. The story is that they were basically this android, their 'savior' that was gonna save them all or something.

Nobody knows who RA9 is, but still that idea flourished, and many deviants shared the same idea (it could be that they shared this idea with others). The first time we even see any mention of RA9 is for like some worshipping thing. As far as I'm aware, there's been no actual explanations as to how it happened.

The point is, it just ended up becoming this point of worship, something that gave them hope. That RA9 will come for them and save them (it's thought that Markus was RA9 because that's the role he can end up playing, but it's genuinely all by chance that he even stumbles on that chance to do such). And while it is just a game, it's a little fascinating, that this idea can spread and be shared, something to be believed even if there might not have actually been any proof of their existence.

I was honestly just watching a 5-year anniversary playthrough, and staring at the idea of RA9 with new eyes, or well new 'lenses', I'm understanding it a lot more (that game won't ever get old to me).

future me here. i genuinely dont remember what the question was, but for summer school the teacher gave you discussion assignments so youd be given a question to answer. i always wrote LONG answers with plenty of paragraphs.

[witchofthesouls]

I would to preface this that I'm not Japanese or of Japanese-descent, so-

Ehhhh, not gonna lie. I thought it was really strange that her established name was Miko, but there are various ways to interpret the meaning with how it's spelled in kanji.

Because I'm terrible with kanji, I used this site to check out the sets and their interpretation.

I have some thoughts about a background like that for Miko's family in my various Other!Aus because it's my takes on "what if magic was real," but without delving too deep, Japan has a very rich culture about the supernatural, and the Shinto religion reflects that. Over the course of the millennia, it really diversified with local folk-religious beliefs, Buddhism, and Confucianism (and from the attempts to separate them throughout various periods). The early Miko/female shamans in pre-modern Japan were considered part of the ruling class or at least really important social leaders.

Note: I'm not an expert in this. I just think it's really fascinating, especially since Miko/Shrine Maidens are a really popular trope in supernatural/fantasy anime.

While I am doing a fantasy take with Transformers, I'm leery of directly utilizing active religions and faiths since I would be an outsider's perspective on their beliefs and practices. But I'm also in a weird position because of my own family's blended customs from mom's Christian/Mexican folk beliefs (like the use of a curandero/a) and dad's Buddhist/Vietnamese folk beliefs (like offering food and drink to departed spirits under incense). I know this doesn't make sense, but it's a really weird headspace for me.

Bottom line, my take on the Nakadai family and their hidden customs will be more of an interpretation of sea-folk mysticism and how it could have shifted in land-dwelling kith and kin. I would really love to find more information on coastal folklore in Japan to blend it.

Back to anon's question, it can be possible. It's not as nefarious as you think, though. The miko of today are really different from those of the mystic past. Some Miko are more like shop attendants, so university students get hired as a part-job time during festivals. There are also elementary school girls at rural shrines who will perform the Miko mai.

Our girl Miko could have placed a transfer to the United States to get some adventure because she didn't want to get roped into being a shop attendant for her uncle at his shrine again.

Hey, what if Miko came from a Shrine Maiden background but had been trying to avoid it?

You have to excuse me anon, but I have no idea what a Shrine Maiden is. From what Google is telling me

But I'm not 100% sure, this comes from a culture I know nothing about and I don't want to disrespect anyone with my stupid AU ideas.

I want to first get a full background and info about this before saying something.

maybe @novafire-is-thinking @tfp-is-my-lifeblood-lol @moonshade45 @witchofthesouls @transformers-platonic @i-mean-technically @justawannabearchaeologist maybe they can help me 😆😅😓

[fandomsandfeminism]

Horror is such an interesting genre to me.

Because like, ok, I don't like horror movies. I don't enjoy the experience of watching horror movies. And I almost never read horror novels. BUT, I find them absolutely fascinating from a literary analysis stand point.

Because all horror is about is using a supernatural force as a metaphor for a real world anxiety.

Slasher films tend to focus on the very simple anxieties of personal safety. (Is it any wonder why they are so popular here in the US with the way things are?)

Invasion of the body snatchers is classic cold war/ Russian spy anxiety. Are your neighbors really who they say they are, or are they spies for the enemy?

Vampire horror is often a mix of sexual anxieties (the fangs, the penetration, the vulnerability) and, especially if it's leaning on Dracula tropes, xenophobic anxieties (outsider, stranger, not quite human), or depending on how it's handled, anxieties about class (how often are they the rich, the elite, preying on and consuming and devouring the poor)

A lot of werewolf horror is an anxiety about the self- losing control, anger or hunger that you can not longer hold back and how it will hurt those around you.

Look at something like Goosebumps- horror written for kids. The anxieties of summer camp or moving to a new house or the weird bits of your house you aren't supposed to go (under the sink, into the basement) because it *isnt safe* for some reason.

Jordan Peele movies have been so wildly successful, not just for being well made, but because they capture a rarely told perspective- the anxieties and threats faced by Black Americans filtered through a horror lens.

One of the Nebula finalists last year was Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, which looked into the horror of colonization and eugenics but, ya know, with terrifying supernatural elements as a metaphor.

And the supernatural metaphors are there to circumvent the logical, rational part of your brain- to go straight to the deep emotional lizard brain without you sitting there trying to apply all the real world nuance to the situation. These anxieties shortcut into your brain. And then it says- can we survive this? Can we overcome this? Can we make it until dawn? How?

And I think the way different stories and different writers have tackled that is really interesting.

[mittensmorgul]

Hi! What aspects of what we know about the prequel draw you to watch it? I am looking for a silver line in it that would motivate me to watch it because, as of now, I am very wary of the prequel. John and Mary as lead characters along with the final of SPN (heaven ending and they promised canon compliance) is not making me excited. This is not to rain on your parade, I am just looking for a better perspective! Robbie is a bonus but I'm a Casgirl and the prospect of Cas being in it seems dicey :(

Hi hi! I'm happy to help if I can, but I only know as much as any of us still, so I don't know how accurate some of this will be as we begin getting more information. But this is what I know:

-This will be set in the early 1970's. We'll learn more about Mary and her family, which honestly I've wanted to learn more about since 4.03, you know? She was raised hunting and was desperate to get out and live normal, but was clearly a competent and knowledgeable hunter. I would LOVE to know more about her and her family.

-we know it will incorporate the "love story" of John and Mary, and that as you pointed out, it will be canon compliant

-which means they will have to at least acknowledge what the cupid in 5.14 said about how difficult a match the two of them were to make... I am FASCINATED by what Heaven's involvement in their lives was before the events of 4.03.

-this was also the era during which John was in the Marine Corps. He fought in Vietnam. I'm super curious about whether he was protected in some way by having this "destiny" to father the fated vessels, and how that may have influenced his life in general.

-we might get more information about the state of Heaven/angels and Hell/demons prior to the beginning of the run up to the apocalypse. will there be shady stuff revealed about the goings-on there, or are they going to stick more to the mundane/normal hunter life of John and Mary? We just don't know, but this is something that I hope they do choose to explore a little bit.

-I don't know that this will have anything to do with the ending of the original Supernatural series. Unless it's stated up front that Dean is narrating this entire thing *from Heaven,* then I don't know how it would have any bearing on this series.

-I don't know that Cas *won't* ever be a character in this series, but it's not something I'm counting on, you know? He existed in that universe at the time the events will be taking place, but as far as we know outside of taking Dean back to 1973 to "stop it" in 4.03, he wasn't really involved in that era of events on Earth. Of course, he was able to time travel when he had his wings, but also he could've taken another vessel back at that time and interfered with things based on Heaven's orders (and if they were dead set on Cas looking like our Cas, they could present his vessel as Jimmy's father/Uncle/other ancestor and still use Misha as the actor... not saying that WILL happen, but that it COULD, but also i'm going into this not really expecting to see Cas at all, so any Cas we do see would feel like a bonus).

-Robbie Thompson. He's a treasure. He *cares* about canon. He knows the characters, and I trust his writing. He is NOT a John apologist (just the opposite, he has written some scathing critiques of Sam and Dean's childhood... I mean his FIRST episode of the series was Slash Fiction. Please look at his episode list and get a feel for how he sees canon...). And this time, rather than being a staff writer, he's running the show. That alone makes me eager to watch.

-Chaos Machine. A production company run by #1 Dean Stan Jensen Ackles, and #1 Cas Girl Danneel Ackles. But also a company whose first big hire was Renee Reiff, one of the founders of Out In Hollywood, and now the head of development. I'm...really not sure that any of these people are gonna side with folks that loved the series finale and thought it was perfect and a good ending for the characters... how people have gotten that impression from any of this, I just don't know. But I do not think this series is gonna be more of THAT.

-Based on the timing of everything, Jensen likely was in negotiations with WB for the rights to produce programming under the Supernatural banner before the original series was even done filming. We know he was Not A Fan of the ending, and that he has spoken diplomatically and carefully about it for the most part, but his discomfort with the ending is pretty clear. Not many people start a whole entire production company with a long game of eventually making a follow up to the original series.

-in the mean time, Jensen and Danneel are setting out to prove the SPN universe is in good hands. Because there ARE other stories in that universe I would love to hear. Not only Mary's story (because I am REALLY interested in seeing how she grew up and how Dean as narrator relates to that experience), but there are other stories in that universe that would be worth hearing too. The chances of them being able to TELL us those stories likely rest on the success of the Winchesters-- yes, even the potential for them EVER to be able to make an actual 15.20 redux, or a continuation of the original series at all, likely rests on the success of their first venture.

This is a thoughtful, creative bunch of people who WANT DESPERATELY to tell us more stories in the Supernatural Universe.

There are people who obviously will not care to watch, which is fine and good, but literally we do not know any more than what I stated above, and some of that is even speculation and guessing. I'm just exhausted by people who already believe they know what this show will be about and have decided to pre-hate it for their convenience.

Some parts of this fandom are just so fucking exhausting.

Will we love it? WHO KNOWS?! IT IS A MYSTERY! We don't even know who will be cast as Mary and John-- or anyone else in the series! We just do not know what the story is yet! Can we at least wait until then to decide to love or hate it?!

I'd love to at least give Jensen, Danneel, and Robbie the benefit of the doubt here...

[youandtom2]

can i please request a drabble for a cold dead heart to love 🥺

Of course sweetie <3 here's a little more about the adventures of ghost!tom

Read A Cold, Dead Heart to Love

MASTERLIST

"Tom," you groan. From an outside perspective, you look like you're talking to yourself, but with what you know, you're definitely not alone. "I need my book back."

Ding! Your phone demands your attention.

Tom 👻 But you said we were going to hang out :(

You quietly scoff to yourself before turning to face the open air of your cold and haunted hospital room. "Yeah I said we could hang after I finish the chapter I'm on!"

The thin metal blinds begin to rattle violently, as if the ground beneath you was shaking with an earthquake, but alas, the true explanation runs along the lines of a ghost having a temper tantrum. You've haven't quite grown accustomed to Tom's abilities yet, and although they still confuse the life out of you, you are actually still fascinated every time he demonstrates his supernatural powers.

But it doesn't mean they don't piss you off to no end when he magically makes your book disappear.

"Stop being a baby. I promise as soon as I finish the chapter, we can do whatever you want, as long as it's not pranking Nurse Sarah again, I think she might go into a cardiac arrest if we do..."

Ding!

Tom 👻 Did you just call me a baby?

"Ugh, yeah. Don't try to convince me that that wasn't you being in a huff."

Tom 👻 You just called a powerful, deadly ghost a baby...and you expect there to be no consequences?

A loud snicker emits into the room, and the sadistic side of you actually hopes he sees you rolling your eyes as you lie flat upon your hospital bed. Getting snug, you fold your arms over your chest, tugging your IV stand a little closer, and you close your eyes with a content sigh flowing through your lips.

"Sure, whatever. I'm going to take a nap. Just so you know, I won't hang out until I get my book back, so the longer you keep it from me, the longer you'll have to wait. So...y'know, why don't you use your powerful, deadly powers to magic my book back." Your soft giggle is the last sound you hear before you try to drift off to a slumber - you're not really tired, you just won't entertain Tom until he does what he's asked.

Not a second later, you feel it. A cold wash of air piercing your skin, blowing right through you until your bones wrack a violent shiver. He's near, you think. What has he got planned?

That icey feeling that you've grown all too familiar with wraps around your bare ankle, its grip a little tighter than anything you've felt before. You don't even have the chance to open your eyes before you feel yourself being whipped into the air, hanging upside down above the beige tiles of your room. Your arms start frantically waving around you to stop you swinging, terrified of being hoisted into the air by supposedly nothing, but your attempts are fruitless. Tom has never done anything like this before and honestly, you didn't think he was capable. It might even change some things now that you know he is...

"Fucking hell, Tom! Put me down!" Gravity acts against you, dragging you down as you try to pull yourself upright, but you have neither the strength nor the capacity to do so. So you remain, in the middle of your room, floating, upside down, by the invisible hand coiled around your ankle.

A piece of blank paper perches itself in front your face, deliberately tilting itself upside down for you to read. The words splayed across it are written in Tom's incredibly neat handwriting.

Or how about you hang by yourself until you agree to read the chapter later?

You so desperately want to say no, but the blood is rushing to your head, and you might even think that your IV line is ejecting..."You prick. Fine! I'll read it later!"

You swear?

"Yes I swear! Now, please, put me down before I pass out!"

You feel your stomach twisting inside you as your body rotates, still floating in mid-air. The sensation is baffling; you feel weightless and completely out of control of yourself. Your legs swing as if to walk, your arms move as if to swim, but yet you remain stationary, hovering just a couple of feet from the ground.

A chill consumes you once again, notably around your waist. You blink and suddenly you start moving, delicately floating towards your bed until Tom has you lying exactly as you were before. The chill now resides to your left, where a small breeze dances across your forehead applying a soft pressure in the centre. A kiss...

Ding!

Tom👻 That was fun, we should hang out more often :)

You want to be annoyed, you really do, but Tom does so well to make you smile and you try to hide it. In doing so, you peer over to the bedside table where your Harry Potter book has now materialised into reality, and after all that's happened, you realise that you don't actually want to read that chapter anymore. Why read about magic when you can experience it in real life?

[linkspooky]

Hi! You’re truly an interesting and fascinating person. Your meta and insights are very useful. And as others said, extremely well put and though out. You’ve mentioned before that you read extensively… Is it okay to ask for your reading recommendations? Whether it may be essays or books or manga, I’ll happily take it! Of course, it’s okay if you cannot answer that (—w—)/✨But please accept my earlier compliments and heartfelt appreciation of your time in putting your analysis together! It’s always so fun reading them. That’s all, thank you!

(ﾉ∇≦*) ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

Thank you so much. I am very bad at accepting compliments but I will try my best for your sake. I made a long list of my favorite books over here, but if you want more reccomendations here’s a few off the top of my head. 

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. 

If you like the female characters written by George RR Martin, but George’s writing makes you a little ehhhh, than I highly recommend these books. They are a deconstruction of the standard fantasy tropes, but written by a woman TM with a lot more sensitivity. FItz is one of the most toxically masculine protagonists I’ve ever head, but also he’s my baby girl and I love him. There’s just a lot of emotional intelligence written with these books, and also it’s less triggering than Game of Thrones so if you want to read a deeply thoughtful fantasy series this is it.

Prince of Thorns, the Broken Emptire Trilogy. by Mark Lawrence

I just reccomended a series as a less triggering version of Game of Thrones, but do you want to read a fantasy that’s much more explicit??? Than read this one. The strength of this series is the main character as one of the most vile, but also uniquely sympathetic main characters in fiction and I like his journey leading to redemption at theend of the last book. The world of this book is also incredibly interesting, because the twist is instead of the standard fantasy setting TM it’s post apocalyptic with society having been reset to the middle ages due to a nuclear war. 

Boogie Pop Series

My favorite light novel series of all time is Zaregoto, but if someone were to ask me to reccomend them a light novel that shows to a person who’s never read light novels before the storytelling potential of them I’d say Boogiepop. Boogiepop is a cyberpunik / fantasy series where every single installment is an episodic adventure loosely connected to this world where these normal high school kids and people brush against these supernatural phenomena and they all have strong characters and themes that make you ask questions about real life. Good light novels, use the medium of short stories and light prose to try telling really experimental stories outside of mainstream with cult appeal that ask you really hard question. 

THe first six novels are translated, and if you read those six it will give you a complete enough picture to understand the appeal of the series. 

The Queen’s Thief Series by Megan Whielan Turner

I read this recently. If you want a series that is about the difficulty of rulers ruling without like a million subplots like there is in game of thrones, this is a much more concise series with a well written ending. Also, one thing I do like about the series is from book 4 onwards it’s told from the perspective of characters who usually don’t get a narrative voice in these kinds of series, book 4 is narrated by a slave, book 5 has a long subplot about the horrors of slavery as endured by a major character, book 6 is narrated by a character who is born both defroemd and autistic and they’re a fully fleshed out human being. They are capable of mistakes and learning, they have difficutlies with things but they work hard to make up for them, they are not secretly a genius even if they have a special interest in numbers, they also start improving and recovering when everyone around them starts treating them like a human being. 

The Count of Monte Criso by Alexandre Dumas...

s one of my favorite books ever, and I totally forgot to mention it on my favorite books list. It’s not only the greatest revenge story ever written, it makes a case for why straightforward revenge stories are not only bad, but kind of boring. 

Basically even Edmond Dantes, a character falselsy imprisoned, betrayed by both his closest friend and the woman he loved who has every right to his revenge chooses to abandon revenge in the end, because not only does it spiral out of control and almost hurt a complete innocent, but also his revenge while maybe desered wasn’t helping him heal as a human being the same way the love of the woman closest to him was.

Journey under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Hashino

I’m a fan of this authors other works, especially his detective novel, but if you want to read an emotional story that will cahnge your whole life, you should read the story of the two children in this book just trying to grow up and live their lives in a world’s that horribly unfair to both of them. 

In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami

I actually reccomend a lot of Ryu Murakami’s works if you’re trying to get into japanese surrealism and horror. Fair waning though, they are all, like, incredibly graphic. I’m reccomnding them to you as a horror fan. Piercing, by Ryu Murakami is also a good one.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

This is another one that almost made my top ten list. It’s in the same vein of horror as Frankenstein and Dracula, but it is also deeply existentialist and philosophical/ The horror element of this kind of takes a backseat, to the character discussing philosophy like the benefits and drawbacks of hedonism, and the human condition. Oscar Wilde is also, a gay man, who was tried for sodomism after writing this book, so there’s a strong historical homosexual subtext to consider when reading this book too if you’re considering reading with that sort of thing in mind. 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

This is my favorite mystery novel of all time. It basically invented the unreliable narrator trope, though, saying that is kind of a spoiler to the novel so I won’t say anything further. Edgar Allan Poe may have invented the mystery genre, and Sherlock Holmes may have popularized it, but Agatha Christie made it swaggy. 

The Decagon House Murders Ayatsuji Yukito

I have to bring up this author if I bring up Agatha Christie, because their debut work was written as a response to AND THEN THERE WRE NONE (please google the original title I don’t want to talk about it) and if you’re not comfortable with Agatha Christie’s works for reasons, they are a very smart and modern take on tropes that were popularized by Christie. They’re a part of the Shinhonkaku school of detective fiction, or Neo Orthodox which is basically a throwback to the classics. 

Goth by Otsuichi

Another one of my favorite japanese Horror authors, I reccomend Goth along with Black Fairy Tale, they are both horror pieces that focus on the characters and their struggles instead of gore which really creates an effective horror as you sympathize and despirately wish for the survival of the main cast. Also, this is a dumb observation, but Goth’s ideas are very.... gothic in nature. 

Literally anything by Shirley Jackson

All of her novel length works are worth reading, I’ve read them multiple times. The haunting of Hill House is famous, but I’d amost reccomend less well known ones like Hangsman or We Have Always Lived in the Castle, because they use Shirley Jackson’s trademark surrealism to illustrate their points so clearly despite not being straightforward horror like haunting of Hill House is. 

Okay, I can’t remember any more books I like, I hope that’s a long enough list to satiate your tastes. 

[lazyyogi]

Do you fear death brother and how can one enjoy life when you know the inevitable for your dear ones and yourself, not forgetting the uncertainty?

Can it be said that you are enjoying life if you are willfully ignorant of one of its most essential and defining features?

The fear of death is what inspired my entrance into spirituality.

From the fourth grade up until the end of high school, I was enthralled by the supernatural. All things occult and esoteric captured my fascination. I practiced many different magical arts.

The summer before my senior year of high school, my father died from melanoma. And while it devastated me in many ways, one of the most profound problems with which it left me was that of mortality. My father's early death forced me to meet impermanence and mortality.

That's when I began seeking. I wasn't interested in answers; I wanted direct insight and understanding. By some grace this led me to meditation.

Even before my father died, as a child I would sometimes lay in bed at night contemplating death and feeling a great terror.

That fear continued to fuel my spiritual practice with intensity and urgency. There was no time to figure these things out later because later is death.

All of this came to a climax during a shroom trip in college. I had heard the term "unborn" used to describe awareness before yet never really thought much of it. However, it was during the shroom trip while staring at a bush for a solid three hours that I had a sudden insight into that teaching. Consciousness relates to the brain and therefore has a beginning and ending in relation to the brain--at least as far as I can tell. But awareness, that which knows consciousness and its different states, was never born. What is never born will never die.

After this experience, my fear of death dramatically decompressed.

It came as no surprise, therefore, when I later saw research articles about psilocybin being studied for its therapeutic value in providing terminally ill patients a sense of relief and ease. It is not that I recommend doing shrooms; that is for the individual to decide after careful consideration. But I can tell you that when I first did shrooms, I was quite surprised by how similar it felt to meditation. Granted, I had been a meditator for years at that time. Not all or even most people who try such substances have the same experience with it.

The fact of death is a central teaching in every spiritual tradition. Buddhism in particular emphasizes that it is by contemplating death that the mind and heart will turn towards seeking truth. This is what the Buddha experienced and what I too experienced. Death provides authentic perspective.

"In a world where death is the hunter, my friend, there is no time for regrets or doubts. There is only time for decisions." ~ Castaneda

"Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet.” ~ Castaneda

"The real does not die the unreal never lived." ~ Nisargadatta

It is when we willfully ignore death and think we have endless amounts of time that we allow pettiness, division, indolence, distraction, and entertainment to shape our daily moments. It is also how we allow the ongoing destruction of this planet.

If you feel okay about death, if it doesn't make you sad at times, then you are likely fooling yourself. The reality of death should always keep us sharp and prod our heart-minds awake. It should make us feel tender sad love for those dear to us.

I always tell someone who is lacking motivation to practice meditation that they need to visit a hospital, an old age home, and a graveyard. They need to get it through their thick heads that this is going to be them, and much sooner than they may think.

Don't wait for later. Practice now, today. Practice spirituality, practice love, practice until every profound realization spoken of by all buddhas throughout history become your own direct knowing.

LY

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

But just like generally the lobotomy arc and Cas’ selective amnesia bothers me a bit because I feel like it never reaches some kind of resolution. I feel like in a lot of ways it just sort of exists to retcon that Cas was always a special boy and while he is the specialest boy to me I don’t like that and I think there’s juicy character stuff to be had there if you just break down into it!

Like, I feel like if you’re going to reveal that a character has a past that even they aren’t aware of you have gotta use that to kick off some kind of identity crisis. Either you give Cas back his memories bc this is magic world and lobotomies can be reversible if we say so, and have him realize that he’s an entirely different person than he always thought he was and he needs to reconcile who he’s become with the memories of who he was, or you don’t but then he still has to figure out how to come to terms with the parts of his history he’ll never know and grapple with what this means for his idea of himself going forward.

Cas is kind of, arguably he’s a character who relies a lot on other people for his self-perception, like he defines himself according to how other people see him, and he can have a tendency to be self-deluding. So when you take a character like that and you tell him. Hey, your sense of identity is actually literally constructed by an outside force. Like this is how you see yourself but it’s fake and was created for you by someone else so you could better fit a role. That’s something isn’t it? Doesn’t that feel like a starting point to get him to maybe confront a whole lot of identity issues?

Like the whole “came off the line with a crack in his chassis” thing has the potential to be compelling to me, not because it actually means that Cas was special or broken from day one, but because it runs directly counter to the other narrative we have about Castiel which is the minute he lay a hand on Dean’s soul in hell he was lost/Castiel was a good soldier until he met Dean narrative. And the tension between those two opposing ideas is never really confronted or resolved!

We know which one Cas prefers, “I loved the whole world because of you” and all, he very much sees Dean as having changed him and made him better and that makes sense, because from his perspective that is very much what happened. Even if he rebelled before he can’t remember it, it doesn’t really change this version of events or make it less meaningful to him.

But! I still feel like that would be fascinating for him to confront and work through. Because I don’t think either of those narratives are fully true or that one is more accurate than the other. I think those are just two ways that angels try to explain Castiel. Either he was broken and/or special all along and is rebellion is an expression of that or he was a normal angel once before he was corrupted into what he is now.

But like Castiel, like any angel, was kind of just a person. A person who kept having their agency stripped away until he ended up in the right place at the right time and managed to escape the system that was doing that to him long enough to get solid footing and push back, and Sam and Dean helped him do that, and it had to be in that time and place with those people in order for so much to come of it, but that doesn’t mean that was the first or only time it happened, or the only way it could have happened.

And I think it would be cool for Cas to have to figure out who he is if he’s kind of always been a person, because he does kind of view himself primarily by his utility and he does kind of have a hard time separating himself out from Dean, and that’s one reason why I think that’d make a valuable character arc for him because if he was always kind of a person, and he wasn’t an automaton that first came to life when he touched Dean’s soul- for one thing if Dean didn’t create him then maybe Dean isn’t God and doesn’t have to be obeyed like he is.

Which is why I think it’s kind of cool that when Cas first breaks out of the angel brainwashing he takes the tablet and runs from everyone Including Dean, but this is Supernatural so that kind of arc isn’t allowed to happen and Cas gets punished for that obviously.

Anyway long story short this is why Meg should have lived so she and Cas could have their hot girl summer and find themselves on like a fun road trip.

[isaacthedruid]

Please allow me to tell you about one of my favourite cartoons through this informal essay I did for school a couple of months back. 

Gravity Falls and How it Did The Unimaginable

**SPOILERS... KINDA**

The 2010s saw the creation of some of the most iconic animated tv shows ever made, the likes of Adventure Time (2010), Steven Universe (2013), Over the Garden Wall (2014) and The Legend of Korra (2012). To explain why this era’s shows are so admirable is honestly rather difficult. Yet, there are many factors that can be taken into consideration when looking for an answer.

The past decade was very successful in perfecting their craft and utilizing the animated format to their favour, creating some of the wackiest and fascinating cartoons ever made. With the advancements made in both 2D and 3D animation for film, this bled into the world of TV as well.

To mention that 2010s cartoons have stunning visuals would be an understatement. Everything about the animation was beautiful; the strong colour palettes, the clean and imaginative character designs, the colourful and immersive backgrounds and especially the mesmerizing worlds that can be found within episodes that are half an hour.

This era’s cartoons also led to a massive shift in storytelling, writing longer-running stories that spread out across seasons while also swapping out episodic adventures for serialization. This heavily aided in the popularization of these shows, due to the rise of internet fandoms and dropping the taboo that cartoons were only for kids. Many shows acknowledged their older viewers by leaving clues and even puzzles to be solved by the theorists who have a large appearance on social media platforms like Reddit, Twitter and Tumblr. As the shows progressed, their fandoms created many theories for what they believed might happen within their favourite series. The top three shows from this era all utilized these changes, being at the forefront of the shift and helping guide the creative vision of 2010s cartoons.

Often regarded as many people’s favourite cartoon, Gravity Falls presented one of the best mysteries of the decade with two seasons and only 40 episodes. Inspired by Twin Peaks and The X-Files, it’s considered as the kids’ version of these two iconic shows as this cartoon acts as many people’s first introduction to horror through bright colours and fun characters.

This series follows the adventures of Dipper and Mabel Pines, twins, who are sent to spend their summer with their great-uncle or Grunkle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon. This town is full of oddities like supernatural creatures, insane and eccentric inhabitants, and many puzzles. The Pines twins must adjust to the weirdness while uncovering the mysteries and protecting their new town.

While living in Gravity Falls, the twins are forced to work in the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap created by their Grunkle Stan that overcharges unlucky tourists, teaching about fake monsters despite there being real creatures all over town. On his first day in Oregon, Dipper accidentally came across a mysterious journal written by an unknown author that explains all the oddities to be found in this strange town. This book acts like an encyclopedic of the Weird for Dipper, an inquisitive 12-year-old kid who seeks answers.

Dipper is an extremely intelligent kid, his brain being far more developed than his body. He’s rather awkward and self-conscious as he often stumbles over his words or gets embarrassed trying to talk to girls. Despite this, the boy is an adventurer at heart who just wants to grow up and skip his upcoming teenage years.

While Mabel is quite the opposite in many ways, she is loud and has an in-your-face personality. Mabel is bouncy and fun, she is so excited to start high school. She is easily excitable and for the larger part of the series, she is in her boy-crazy phase. Mabel is a girly-girl as she likes all things; glitter, unicorns, rainbows, partying and crafting. Yet, she doesn’t often compare well with many of the other girls in town, they see her as weird and “too much”.

(In all fairness through, it is not too kind to either of the characters as their personalities are more complex than just awkward nerd and artsy girl-girly.)

Dipper and Mabel’s personalities are very different but somehow, they—along with their Gravity Falls family—manage to solve mysteries and save the town, multiple times.

Gravity Falls is an honestly genius series that completely changed the way cartoons were made. Originally when writing a series, you’d create a base of your story; characters, the universe and a basic plot. Yet, when creator, Alex Hirsch (who was in his early/mid-20)s and his small team first began constructing their show, they planned out everything they could possibly think of for the first season. Additionally, outlining some answers for their biggest mysteries that would be answered at the end of the series.

Despite being rated TV-Y7, this series really pushed the boundaries of kids’ television. From the teeth being ripped out of a deer’s mouth by a demon, rearranging the functions of every hole on a man’s face to an aggressive pop-rock sock puppet show that ended in a dramatic slow-motion scene of the puppets burning. Gravity Falls wasn’t afraid to get a little weird or creepy. Or create some genuine nightmare fuel. 

From the beginning, Gravity Falls had built a mystery into its series, hiding secrets and clues all throughout the show. Most notably were the backwards-recorded message and cryptograms, using roughly nine different kinds, even creating two of their own.

The inclusion of cyphers and mysteries for fans to solve is possibly the reason why this series was so successful. As one of the first shows to do something like this, Gravity Falls used social media and internet fandoms to its advantage.

As mentioned earlier, cartoon fans have quite a presence on social media platforms like Twitter and Tumblr. They create theories and share fun ideas about their favourite shows. Viewers of Adventure Time, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe were all included in their share of theory fun.

Sometimes, fan theories end up being correct but when you’re Gravity Falls creator, Alex Hirsch, you don’t just watch from the sidelines as your viewers figure out the biggest mystery of your show. No, you create a hoax to get your viewers off your trail and that is what he did. Around 2013, only halfway through the first season of the show, viewers had started to follow the clues, theorizing who was the author is Dipper’s mysterious journal.

Unfortunately for the Gravity Falls production crew, the viewers were right— for the sake of readers who have never seen the show, I will not mention who the author was as it would be the biggest spoiler.

In 2013, a supposed leaked image of a tv showing a younger version of the show’s crazy old man character, Old Man McGucket, writing in the infamous journal was uploaded anonymously (by Alex Hirsch) to 4Chan.

Despite the image only being on up for a few hours, it spread like wildfire. Much to the team’s success, theorists stopped searching for the answer to “who is the author” and just accepted the image of McGucket as the truth.

To further push the fake-out, three words were posted to Alex’s Twitter, “fuming right now.”

The tweet was deleted a few minutes later and fans genuinely believed that someone from the Gravity Falls team had leaked the most important part of the story.

While doing research, I came across a Reddit post from April 10th, 2013, the day after ‘leak,’ Alex’s tweet was uploaded. In this post, user, TheoDW uploaded an image of Alex’s tweet with the caption, “It seems that Hirsch got mad at last night’s leak. He already deleted this tweet.”

Seeing the reactions of these Redditors in 2013 is kind of weird and crazy to look at. “He has every right to be upset. Someone internally released a plot revealing screen shot of series breaking spoiler information,” a deleted Reddit account commented.

“This is Alex Hirsch’s biggest success by far, he spent a huge amount of time carefully planning out the series, and then in a moment someone releases a major spoiler. It would make anyone upset,” the user, Time_Loop commented.

“Seriously, this is a nightmare for a storyteller, and shows a breach of trust. I feel so bad for him–honestly, I hope whoever did the leak gets caught and appropriate action is taken. You don’t f–k with someone’s story like this. It’s unprofessional.” the user, lonelybeloved angrily commented.

In 2014, this ‘leak’ was finally disproven when viewers were given an episode on McGucket’s backstory and an amazing tweet from Alex Hirsch. 

Alex had post an image of himself playfully pointing at a monitor with the supposed leaked picture with the caption, “1) Make hoax  2) Upload to 4Chan  3) Post angry tweet about "leak" 4) Delete tweet 5) Let internet do rest”

It is so interesting to look at these comments know that all of this was orchestrated by Alex.

I wish I had been old enough at the time to follow theories and fandom stuff like I do now with current cartoons but really looking at this from an outside perspective, this was insane!

The real author wasn’t revealed until 2015 and when viewers first got the answer to this biggest show on their screens, they must have freaked out!

Following the finale in 2016, a single frame of a stone version of Bill Cipher, the show’s villain, flashed in after the credits had finished.

Alex Hirsch and his team actually created a real-life statue of their villain for their viewers to find and on July 20th, 2016, the Cipher Hunt began.

By following clues, the Hunters found themselves all over the world; Russia, Japan and then travelling throughout the United States for the final 12 clues. When the hunt took them to Los Angeles, actor, Jason Ritter (voice of Dipper Pines, also a massive fan of the series) and Alex Hirsch’s twin sister, Ariel Hirsch (the inspiration for Mabel) joined in the fun helping the search.

Finally, the hunt ended on August 2nd when someone tweeted out an image of the found statue in Oregon, the same state in which the fictional town of Gravity Falls exists. The Cipher Hunt had ended but finding the statue wasn’t Alex’s goal for the scavenger hunt, it was about the journey and bringing together the viewers, more than having them actually find the statue.

Creating its own hoax, an international scavenger hunt and quite a bit of nightmare fuel, Gravity Falls was a show truly unlike any other.

The 2010s saw some of the strongest cartoons ever made, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe acting as the leaders for multiple different changes in the medium; storytelling, worldbuilding, interaction with viewers, utilizing social media, representation and further pushing music into the cartoon world. From what was created this past decade and what has already been released in 2020, I’m so excited to see what comes next.

I have another one of these which is on Steven Universe’s representation and music if you would like to see that too!! 

[jeanne-de-valois]

I don’t enjoy Text Posting my feelings outside of an ask because this is An Art Blog B U T for my own sanity I need to bring something up in regards to how I’m approaching these Supernatural comics I do (and other Destiel stuff) on a canon-compliancy level. 

I am, at my core, a Dean does not realize he has Feelings For Cas That He Can Call Love until after 15x18 kind of fan. That is the hell where I live. At least at the moment. So trying to write Reciprocal Destiel Content that isn’t just solid Castiel longing for pages on end is... difficult. Also Dean is a harder character for me to write, intrinsically, because his journeys in masculinity is a weird puzzle that I’m fascinated with. Castiel on the other hand is Pure Pining and he’s also trying to figure out the puzzle of Dean Winchester, so that’s very fun to write.  

However! I’m not done watching the whole series yet. I haven’t been super open about this I guess on Tumblr, but I am one of those fans who was super into Supernatural in the Superwholock tumblr days, got sick of the queerbaiting, and bounced. I have watched 1-5 through several times, but didn’t progress past season 8 until recently. I am having a lot of fun and I am genuinely having a blast going through the Carver and Gamble Eras- knowing how the show ends, even if I don’t agree with all the choices made, gives me a relaxed perspective on the show that I never had when I was watching it week to week. 

That being said, on the reciprocal front... I have to admit, on watching through 11, it’s the first season that someone could have pointed at the screen and said “Dean and Cas have been hooking up all season” and I would have genuinely bought it. Something was different about that season, which is why I’m feeling mildly obsessed with season 11 at the moment. 

Which is to say, I think writing Reciprocal Destiel Content during and after season 11 might be a bit easier for me.  Not that you’ll only be getting Soft Comics from me, not at all! But hopefully it’ll be a bit easier to channel Dean going forward, on my part. I still have a bunch of Mark of Cain and Demon!Dean content I want to tackle, after all.

See you with a new comic, hopefully tomorrow? Maybe? Possibly? ;D 

[nightwishesworld]

Night Light

The glow of the moon was faint, yet still predominantly illuminated the night sky. Sitting down upon the grassy hills can really put your world into a new perspective, gazing up into the night sky. Despite the moon’s hazy presence and frigid temperatures, Izabel is persistent enough to wait outside on the cold ground to watch as the transparent clouds roll by to reveal distant stars. From her perspective, she can easily spot each beautiful constellation, seeming to waltz throughout the sky. The breeze blew through her hair, tousling her blonde mane behind her. The aroma of the tall grasses was an intoxicating perfume and the starry night above was a painting more sublime than any man could create. The clarity above became reflected in Izabel's mind.

Upon the grass, there is snow, much like sprinkled sugar over cake. The frigid air has a way of keeping us in the moment, wicking away body heat faster than it is replaced. It's one of those days when normal clothes aren't enough when they feel thinner than they are. Still, she sits in nothing more than her leggings, sweatshirt-covered tanktop, and bare feet fighting against the goosebumps taking over every square inch of skin they can.

The constancy was shattered by a subtle sound behind her. The barest rustle of steps almost lost in the howling wind did not go unnoticed by the woman. From the pattern of footsteps, she could tell it was either Bela or Alcina walking up behind her, and it wouldn't make sense for it to be Bela, not at this hour. It had to be Alcina.

The vampire stopped to stand directly behind her and wrapping a nearby blanket tightly around Izabel's shivering body. Now she was certain it was her dear Alcina, the smell of her floral perfume gave it away. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Darling, you're freezing!"

It was only now that Izabel realized just how cold it was tonight. Her body was visibly shaking and the feeling in her hands was long lost to playing with the damp grass. She shrugged her shoulders and pulled the blanket closer to her body. "I got so lost in my own head I didn't even realize. How long have I been out here?"

"I'm not sure. At least an hour, though knowing you it's probably been longer."

“I just wanted to look at the stars, Alci. I’m sorry I gave you such a scare.”

“You can look at the stars from the balcony, where it’s safe.”

Izabel grimaced. “I’m tired of sitting in the castle. That’s all I ever do. I just wanted to sit in the grass for a little while; a change of scenery. Plus, the light from inside obstructs the sky.” She turned her attention back up to the night sky. Stars shone all around like pearls wrapped in black velvet. “You can’t see this inside.”

“Do you have any idea how exposed you right now? What if something else got to you before I did?”

Izabel rolled her eyes. "It's not that late, Alcina."

“It’s almost midnight!”

Shock spreads across her face. "Oh, I'm sorry Alci. I had no idea."

Alcina sighed. "It's quite alright, dear. When you didn't join me in bed at 11like usual I just assumed you fell asleep in the library. When I didn't find you there, I started looking in your other hiding spots, and then I still couldn't find you. Then I thought you might have gone down to the stables for something, and then I saw you here. I know you like your privacy dear, but when I couldn't find you this late at night I just-"

Izabel quickly turned and stood to embrace the vampire, even if she was only at thigh-height. "Hey, it's ok. I know you're just trying to protect me. I'm sorry I scared you."

Alcina looked down at her with a relieved smile. The last thing she wanted was to come off as intrusive. She cupped her partner's face in her hand and squeezed her cheek. "Don't fret about it, darling. Come inside, the stars will be here tomorrow night I promise. It's much too cold for you to be out here all by yourself." Her worry stems more from prowling creatures than the cold. If it were her sitting out in the dark by herself that's one thing; her power is unmatched compared to the pitiful creatures lurking about the forest edges. Izabel however, was rather helpless. Despite the woman's (sometimes foolish) bravery, her strength was nothing compared to the supernatural entities hiding just beyond the brush. It was a very real reminder of how fragile the human body is. How breakable Izabel is. Alcina could never live with herself if something happened to her precious human.

Izabel frowned up at the vampire. It seems she wasn't the only one getting lost in her own head tonight. "I'll come in a little bit; I promise."

Alcina pouted and made no move to retreat back to the castle. "You shouldn't be out here alone. Dangerous beasts roam freely in the night."

Izabel knew this, of course. It had been engraved into her brain since she was a little girl. People foolish enough to wander away from the village lights were often never heard from again. It always baffled her, even as a kid, how indifferent everyone was about it. "Sit with me then. Keep me company. I'll even share the blanket with you."

The vampire looked as though she was weighing her options before giving a defeated sigh. "Only for a few minutes." The matriarch concedes.

Izabel's eyes shine brighter than the stars above as she is picked up and placed carefully between Alcina's legs, bringing her knees up to shield her. The short woman nestled herself comfortable against her vampire's surprisingly taut midsection.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Alcina petting Izabel's hair, before she spoke up. "I'll never understand your fascination with the night. Nothing ever changes; it's always the same moon and stars. There's nothing new."

"There doesn't have to be. The night is fascinating enough just as it is. With all the different constellations and phases of the moon, it's ethereally magnificent. Personally, I think it does change, it's just so vast that we can't tell. When I was a kid I used to...nevermind, it's stupid."

Alcina bent down and kissed the top of her head. "Go on."

"I used to think that each star represented someone that had passed on. That every animal, person, or anything living was given a star for their families to look up at when they got sad. How dumb is that?"

"I think it's sweet, actually. No one really knows what happens to us beyond the grave, for all we know you could be right." Izabel looked up at Alcina with eyes that resembled a puppy. It actually took the matriarch back a bid as she's never seen the woman look so...vulnerable. "You think so?" "It's possible. I suppose in a way I hope you're right. A star would hardly provide me comfort after you pass, but it would be better than nothing. Knowing you're up there happy, not having a care in the world, not in any pain or emotional distress. That would be enough for me to get by."

Izabel snuggles deeper into the vampire and kisses the top of her gloved hand before wrapping it around herself. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, Alci. You've got a long time before you have to think about that."

Time passes differently for me, my sweet.

Alcina pushes her thoughts aside for the time being and gently scoops Izabel up in her arms and brings her up for a kiss before placing her down on her lap. "I love you. Do you know that?"

Izabel couldn't help but chuckle. "I do; you tell me every day."

"Good." Alcina hugs her higher against her body.

A comfortable silence washes over the women. It would be easy for Izabel to drift off like this. Alcina's fingers drew random shapes and designs across her midsection as they both kept their gazes up to the sky. She wasn't sure if it was the twinkling stars or Alcina's fingers keeping her conscious. They weren't sexual touches, more of an innocent way for Alcina to keep herself grounded amidst her spiraling thoughts. She needed to feel Izabel against her to know for certain she was there and she was safe. They were safe. Sometimes Izabel needed the same from her.

The world felt at peace here in each other's embrace. Nothing this retched world threw at them could do any harm; no hunters, supernatural predators, or even mortality could touch them. Even if it was just in this small moment amongst the stars. The constellations, who'd witnessed centuries and millennia just the same, watched over this tiny moment.