#the inhuman objects? yeah those

[nerdy-hyperfixations]

Got flashbacks to when I was trying to explain that I was looking up ship art of the literal sun and moon, and when I looked it up all I could find was FNAF stuff only for my classmate with ears made out of concrete or something I guess to say "ew! Why do you ship Sun x Moon they're literally the same character!!! That's selfcest"

[nadg-ttrpg]

Controversial opinion (?)

The magnus archive role playing game (TMARPG) is a good TTRPG. But it's not a good Magnus Archive TTRPG, it's a good TTRPG that happens to be set in a Magnus Archive universe. Hear me out. It's published by Monte Cook Games, using their Cypher System. The Cypher is a good system, used in hits like Numenera or The strange, but it's not adapted to play a Magnus Archive game. They tried really hard to make it work, and they made very interesting changes to the base system. From the health tracking making you more fragile to the eponymous Cyphers being more like abilities than magic objects like in other games. And honestly, yeah, it works! It's a great investigation game, cthulhu style, allowing you to play a crew of archival assistants or a similar group, trying to survive unspeakable horrors and maybe stop rituals. But. BUT.

Magnus Archives, the podcast, isn't just about the investigation. It's an office comedy, and a tragedy, and - most important to me - a reflection on morality, mortality and humanity. It's a podcast that, to quote a tumblr post I saw once, "spend the first 100 episodes showing you irredeemable inhuman monsters... and the 100 next asking you to change your mind on them by showing the protagonist is becoming one". It's a story talking of powers beyond human understanding, but mostly of the humans stuck with them. Asking how far you'll go for a taste of power, how far you'll go to survive, how far you'll go to protect the ones you love. Showing times and times again that getting the power you crave will divorce you from humanity, and that this pull is hard to resist. And that to stay somewhat human, you need anchors, friends, connections. And frankly, there is nothing in the TMARPG to encourage this kind of story. I agree, this is mostly a me problem. My standard is that when I play a licensed RPG I want the original story to be possible with the rules as written. Maybe this is too much to ask. I genuinely don't know. But it's the rule by which I judge a game. When I play an Alien TTRPG, I want the monster horror and the PC betrayals to be encouraged by the rules. When I play a Lord of the Ring TTRPG I want mechanics for travel, honor and temptation. When I play a My Little Pony TTRPG, I want the game to help me with the magic and the friendship. And when I play TMARPG, I'd like the rules to encourage the same themes as the podcast. I could do this freestyle with the rules as is, GM my way out of this, request the help of the players with their backstory and character arcs. Or I could turn to an other TTRPG. Enter Unknown Armies (UA), an occult game about broken people conspiring to fix a broken world - sounds familiar? It wasn't made with TMA in mind, it was published before the podcast even existed. It also have it's flaws, I heard it described as "taking itself too seriously" many times. But despite this, UA drinks at the same source than TMA.

They both embrace a Jungian philosophy gosh that sounds so pedantic, the idea that the collective unconscious of the humanity create archetypes, powers, Fears. They both feature relationships as both something that needs to be cared for and link to humanity. They both have heavy use of trauma and mental breakdown, depicted as realistically as possible. Actually, UA link them directly to your stats. Witnessed violence? You can react either by being hardened and unfazed by it, or traumatised and deeply troubled by it. This will make it either easier for you to fight, or to dodge. I love it. They both have a supernatural system where you can only get those powers by acting in ways that make you an outcast, be it by being an arsonist, someone living their life through a camera lens tape recorder anyone?, or even someone fascinated by the flesh and blood. They both have weird artifacts. They both have ways to become avatars. And you can actually have a power imbalance betwen the PCs! You can have an avatar and an "antechrist's plus one" is the same party. They are made for each other. TLDR: Unknown Armies is a better Magnus Archive TTRPG than The Magnus Archives Role Playing Game. TMARPG is a good TTRPG, but not a game that actually uses the themes of the podcast. If you want to play an investigation team cthulhu-style, by all mean, play TMARPG. If you want to play a tragedy about inhumanity and power, play Unknown Armies. The Magnus Archives is a podcast written by Jonathan Sims and distributed under a CC NC-SA-BY 4.0 license. Thanks for listening.

[mike-haters-dni]

Scalding, unnecessary take that I'm going to use as an excuse to yap about my hyperfixation characters more than anything, but El's character is actually impossible to stick into coffee shop fanfiction No Supernatural Shit AUs. That's Jane you're writing about. Jane and El are not the same person. At all. And like, Jane is interesting to think about, don't get me wrong. I have thought about Jane. I love Jane. She's adorable and vaguely autistic. But Jane != Eleven.

Eleven is the way she is almost entirely because of her experience/trauma of growing up in the lab and having supernatural murder powers. Her main characters traits are being a self-sacrificing hero and not being sure who she is due to the fact she grew up in an isolated sterile inhuman environment. Unless you're directly translating those things into something unsupernatural (like growing up in a fucked up cult or something and like fighting her way out and now she'll fight to protect other people from similar experiences or something idk) you're writing about Jane the normal gorl who got to grow up with a normal personality in a normal world. And like, you can do that. It's fine it's fandom do whatever u want. But personally, the first thing I come up with when I birth an AU is what crazy powers and fucked up backstory we give Eleven here. Also how do we make her and everyone else really fucking cool but that...might be beside the point idk.

The powers have to basically ruin or have had ruined her life at one point. They have to be a curse that she either reclaims or gets rid of at the end. If she isn't tortured she isn't Eleven Stranger Things lmao

And then yeah yeah my next step is to figure out how Mike AND THE OTHERS OK but mostly Mike get involved in this. Which brings me to my next point: Jane and Mike have no real reason to talk to each other. Mike x Jane is just Normal Gorl x Normal Boy which is like, fine sure if that's what you want, but also you kinda just erased everything interesting about their dynamic. You wanna know what makes El and Mike's relationship so compelling? Objectively? I'm objectively right about everything I'm about to say here? Ok their dynamic is this: Eleven is the most important person in the world, and Mike is the only boy who will ever love her. And yeah that second one sounds really sad but 1. yeah it kinda is :) 2. its not really true that's just what El thinks which is like a major theme for her character TO ME, her underestimating how 'normal' she is esp in her later years 3. it also is kinda true because he's the only boy romantically interested in her who actually understands and experienced all the supernatural/lab trauma bullshit and is actively fighting beside her through the plot of the show, and 4. he's literally perfect and also the only boy she'll ever love and need so it all works out.

And to explain the first one, I mean, you know she's saved the world twice right? She kinda literally is the most important person in the world considering its up to her to stop the apocalypse probably in the end? But its not the being important exactly that makes Mike love her ok, that's more of a meta character thing. Like she doesn't have to literally be the key to saving the world and the most powerful being in the universe. Its more that she has to have something really special about her that draws Mike specifically to her and binds him to her permanently and inseparably and he belongs to her forever and ever and they die in each other's arms. Like she deserves. In canon I imagine objectively and correctly that it went like this: Mike is a natural outcast collector and protector due to his pervasive unconscious need to be needed and his fear of losing the few people who like him, who meets the ultimate outcast girl who literally has nothing and needs him in a very real way, and this gives him an excuse to just pour his entire self into her, fulfilling one of his deepest interpersonal needs. The best part is that she's super selfless and amazing and she loves him the same right back so its actually a beautiful thing they get going. Basically the idea of being anything less than perfect for her is so sad and horrible due to how fucked her life was that it drives the already caretaking Mike into overdrive to make her happy. Not at the cost of him still being an individual person, mind you. But that's the vibe. Also let me just say, all the self-sacrificing vibes and obsession and desperation can become toxic under certain circumstances and that is absolutely a feature not a bug. Sorry you don't like watching your faves yell at each other but we are not the same.

Anyway what the fuck was I talking about? AUs? Yeah ok so when translating Mike (AND THE OTHERS...and the others) into other stories there's more flexibility u kno because he's mostly just Some Guy. He really just needs (TO ME) an excuse to be fighting with Eleven (she has to be fighting something with the powers I know you gave her). He shouldn't be directly involved with whatever gave her the powers but he should generally know of and be somewhat affected by it. Or become aware of it/involved with it over time. Like in the show. You get it. Honestly his only real consistent character traits are being kinda moody and being the leader of the party in whatever vague or not way. And being intelligent. Like he has to be leader for a reason. I guess that's a decent base for a character right there.

oh right side note: you have to do something fun with her name. like she was basically branded Eleven by the freak that gave her the powers so u gotta take that energy and translate it into another branded name that has el in it because she needs to get the nickname ofc. unless its a cyberpunk au in which case Eleven is a pretty normal name and she can just go by that lmao.

So the point ig is Jane and Mike break up when they go away to different colleges and don't talk to each other again until their next high school reunion, while Mike and Eleven are...well you should know by now.

[hrodvitnon]

Just got out of my first viewing (spoilers so tag accordingly)

Yeah that was the most ridiculous shit ive ever seen and i had a blast lmfao.

--

To get the few negatives out of the way: Syclla and Tiamat got COOKED. That's crazy. Especially Tiamat. I had no idea she was in the movie and like choked on popcorn when they said her name. First onscreen appearance and she dies in like 3 seconds... sucks to be her. But honestly... this is probably one of those moments where Fan Content messes with the perception of a canon thing, at least for me. It hurts a lot more because of the emotional attachment from stuff like Ozymandias's story, Shamhat, and other adjacent stuff. If I had never seen those and watched her die I'd probably think "oh she had a cool design, but whatever". But yeah, my only serious complaint is her being shafted and I don't even really think I can call it objective because there was definitely an attachment there.

Ok besides that this might be my new personal favorite Monsterverse. Could be recency bias but I don't think so. Every human is at the very least entertaining. Everything Trapper did in this movie made me crack up, hearing Bernie say the words 'Discord chat' and 'Ghidorahstan64' (i stg this was a callout of some kind) onscreen gave me terminal whiplash, and although Jia and Andrew's story was sorta surface level, it was still endearing. I'd rather have a good human storyline, sure, but if we can't have that I'll settle for entertaining.

Here I thought Suko was gonna be an annoying marketing ploy to sell toys... I physically snorted in the theatre when Kong slammed him into that one ape. MVP of the film lmao. Mothra was... also there. Yeah, it really shows that she was a last minute addition. But DAMN she sent Godzilla ROLLING with a single attack. Speaking of, I don't think the Tia-Zilla form was as underutilized as I've heard people say it was. Especially that new Atomic Breath effect. Holy eargasm.

Oh man though, Shimo and Skar are fantastic. Skar hits the same beat as like a Celestial Dragon or Vladimir Harkonnen with way more grace than I would've expected from a big monkey. They go shockingly dark with his treatment of the ape-slaves and Shimo... especially with that female ape insinuation.

Holy shit poor Shimo, man. I honestly thought the Skar controlling her aspect would be kinda downplayed and just regular mind control, not genuine torture of some kind. I love that they let her have characterization by resisting him at every chance she gets, and that the pain control isn't always active (i'm assuming that's the insinuation of keeping her all chained and behind magma, it depowers and restrains her when Skar's not actively using her), further insinuating she gets merciful breaks from hellish enslavement only to be yanked back into it whenever Skar needs something turned into a popsicle. I think my favorite moment in the film is right after Suko shatters the crystal and the light blue luminescence fades to reveal her actual eyes for the first time. Eyes are used throughout the film to show subtle humanizing features, like Godzilla falling asleep in Rome, Kong's wide eyes when he sees his kin, and shock when Shimo realizes she's free. Having her eyes glowing the whole film makes her seem way more monstrous and inhuman, so when that suddenly goes away she starts getting framed as just an animal. Also her eyes are pretty. Also, I lied, that wasn't my favorite part of the film. My favorite part was Kong giving her chin scratches and that cute half-hug. This needs to be normalized. He needs to hug Godzilla next film. I will pay someone a king's ransom for this to happen. Final little detail, I like that Kong doesn't do his final roar from on her back but standing next to her, on the same level as all the other apes. He doesn't look to elevate himself over her or everyone else like Skar did, which is a great touch.

Also also also: Think it's time for a Doug solo film where he tries to steal all the Titans' food. Make it happen Legendary.

Much agreement here! I'd love for a solo Mothra MonsterVerse film to really capitalize on her lore and give her stuff to do (without dying at the end preferably); maybe establish some connection between the Chen family and Jia. Also, I need a little shot of Mothra going to visit Godzilla while he's sleeping in the Colosseum and just cuddle up to the big lug.

Andrews and Jia were a welcome breath of fresh air after GvK reversed Mark's characterization and Madison became... that. There was still some slight tension between Jia not feeling like she belongs and Andrews wanting to do right by her, even if it means possibly giving her up, only for Jia to go "you're my mom, you're my home, stop being dramatic". You love to see it.

Adding to the Doug solo film idea... Shimo adopts him because he's cute and she thinks his shenanigans are hilarious. Let us have fun wholesome times!

[sunshowersanddandelionwine]

YOU ASKED AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE

(this is going to be Long so prepare yourself XD)

Murderbot Diaries:

I have no idea if you've ever read the murderbot diaries books by martha wells (which, if you havent and have any sort of interest in science fiction PLEASE READ THEM THEYRE SO FUN) but the character of secunit is SO ghost coded its not even funny

for those unaware: secunit is short for security unit, which in the world of murderbot are partially artificial and partially human constructs created as cheap labor. secunits are considered property rather than people, despite being totally sentient. they are not, however, autonomous. secunits have a thing called a "governor module" that will essentially fry their brains if they do anything to go against the company/their client's orders. secunits can be repaired and reissued to new clients, so the whole thing is just super fucked up

anyway, back to the au. ghost, like murderbot, manages to disable his governor module somehow and is able to act completely autonomously. however, he's been so Fucked Up by you know... being a secunit, that he doesnt exactly know how to be autonomous or his own person, so he just. Doesnt. and he continues to protect clients as they come up, doing his best to hide the fact that hes able to act freely.

enter the 141 survey crew, who are his latest group of clients that hes been tasked with protecting. its a much smaller group than he's used to, only seven members compared to dozens and dozens, but that means he's the only secunit sent along which is for the better tbh. the members of the survey include laswell, price, gaz, soap, farah, alex, and roach.

for once in ghost's life, he's not treated as a looming threat or an inanimate object, but an actual person with thoughts and opinions of his own. and he Does Not Like This At All.

at least, not at first. but he finds his walls start getting eroded by these idiotic humans and their idiotic tendencies to make the worst possible choices. (especially a certain engineer with a taste for explosive materials, but thats neither here nor their)

of course, something has to go wrong, as it always does. there are two other survey teams on the planet - kortac and shadow company. and according to a message sent by one of them (not sure which yet lmao), something is hunting them.

and soon, the 141 is going to be hunted to

im trying not to directly copy the plot of all systems red (the first murderbot novella) so yeah!

Muzzled:

this is going under the read more because its getting too long lmao

cw for mild mouth trauma and general blood/violence

SO this one is fun.

ghost is still part of the 141, alongside gaz and price. he's a werewolf (obviously XD) and somehow, a mark gets the drop on him while he's shifted into his full wolf form

he wakes up in a tiny iron cage in a dank basement, with a burning pain across his snout, jaw, and neck. his captors managed to muzzle and collar him with pure silver, keeping him as weak and docile as possible. hes still fucking dangerous as shit, but this way they can at least handle him.

his captors, a group of hunter/poachers, have a shitton of other supernaturals trapped in the basement with him. they come down to gloat, and with them is a strange man. he doesnt talk smack like the others. he moreso tries to blend into the shadows and disappear. but ghost cant tear his eyes away from the bright blue eyes lurking in the darkness. or the thick iron band locked around his throat.

the man is clearly inhuman, but he cant - or wont - speak. hes tasked with taking care of the "feral wolf" (ghost) for the duration of his stay. from the precise wording of the orders, ghost knows exactly what the man in.

fair folk. something powerful, too, given the iron bands around his wrists as well.

days of ghost plotting his escape pass, and ghost and the fae start to come to some sort of wordless alliance. they take care of each other as best they can from their relative cages, finding solace in each other that they cant find anywhere else.

something happens later down the line, maybe gaz and price are getting to close to the operations, but the poachers decide that its time to cut their losses and skip town. they order the fae to "take care of the wolf". ghost's heart drops, because he knows that a fae cant disobey an order given by the keeper of their true name.

but in the poachers' haste to get things wrapped up, they made a mistake. they left the order unclear and open ended.

and the fair folk always take notice of loopholes.

the fae unlocks ghost's cage and releases him from the silver. ghost, rather than just go up and slaughter the entire organization himself, decides to be extra and lets loose every single other creature trapped down there with him. they all go and massacre the ring, but ghost doesnt. because the fae collapsed on the floor of the basement, dropping his glamour in the process. and the sight is grisly.

he's skin and bones, barely any muscle or fat on him at all. the iron ring around his neck and the iron bands around his wrists hang loose, showing the thick rings of scar tissue on pale skin. but the worst is his mouth.

coarse, rough thread seals his mouth shut, the wounds red and angry and irritated. locking the fae's strongest weapon away, keeping him firmly under the whims of his captors. he may have had the freedom of movement that ghost lacked, but he was as much a prisoner here as the rest.

ghost somehow manages to get them all out safe, and he finally gets the fae's name. his true name. not the silly little nickname he gave him in his head while watching him clean the basement day in and day out (soap).

for the first time in months, simon and johnny speak to one another.

there you go, hope you enjoyed! @bl-nk-sp-ce

[creature-wizard]

Wanted to thank you for how you handled replying to that trauma anon.

As someone who went through parental neglect and a lot of emotional abuse from my family, resulting in multiple mental conditions, but still has to share space/home with them, I'm probably one of those "folks with soft lives" that person was talking about. Lol. So I feel entitled to say that people like them who judge trauma's validity in complete strangers always seemed really pathetic to me. A part of me feels bad for them but I also can't feel sympathy for someone berating others.

There's no objectivity to measuring trauma. Saying that trauma X is valid but trauma Y is invalid and not trauma is all is, imo, the reason why so many people do not speak up about their traumatic experiences. Istg, I've had so many friends tell me about utterly horrifying events from their lifetime and how those scarred them, but then proceed to doubt they "can" call it trauma because someone has it worse.

I think it's truly inhumane to try to tell someone what they feel traumatized them is just "uncomfortable experience". Also, I have to say there's a lot of red flags about splitting people into "weak sensitive softies" and others.

It's definitely inhumane and horrible. Like, you (general you) will never, ever be the expert on another person's experience, and if you try to act like you are, you will inevitably end up doing a lot of harm; whether because you made them feel unheard and invalidated over and over, or because you convinced them that they can't trust their own minds and judgment, or because you effectively gave yourself permission to keep engaging in harmful behavior. And whoever you dismiss as a "weak sensitive softie" is a person you have given yourself permission to keep on harming with impunity.

And yeah, a lot of people will look at someone who's being emotionally neglected and think that nothing bad is happening to them because they aren't being beaten every day or something, which is messed up. Neglect is damaging as hell.

Plus like, my original post was clearly addressed at people who were suffering some kind of traumatic reaction but couldn't place the source to any one specific outstanding event, so I really dunno what anon thought they were even accomplishing here. "Oh your trauma symptoms aren't really symptoms of trauma, sweetie-" like, literally what?

[liviavanrouge]

Drago Lore pt 2

Belle: Drago, why didn't you tell us anything?

Drago: Don't wanna think about it...

Wise: I know....but, how did you escape?

Drago: ....Seraph....he was the big brother to us all

Drago: ...it happened so fast...

~~~~~

Drago(?): *Walks with the others, holding Seraph's hand*

Candace: *Sniffles, quietly sobbing as Minnie held her hand, their arms bandaged*

Minnie: *Sobs quietly* I-I want my sister...

Seraph(13): *Looks back at them all, smiling* We're all gonna go home! I swear it! Once our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins hear about what these people done to us, I'm sure they'll have our backs!

Jodie: *Rubs his eyes, sobbing* My parents sold me to them! Several of us were given away for money! We have nobody

Seraph: Then I'll have your backs! Me and whatever family I have left that must've been searching for me!

Seraph: We're gonna get out of here, you'll see- *flinches at the sound of a gunshot, his eyes wide*

Drago: *Turns around curiously*

Onyx: *Stumbles forward, a wound in her head* Se...raph...

Onyx: *Falls over, revealing the scientists and guards behind her*

Seraph: EVERYBODY, RUN!!! SCATTER!! THERE'S EXITS ALL DOWN THIS HALLWAY!!!!!

Candace: *Pulls Minnie, running in a different direction*

Jodie: *Yells in alarm, ducking his head as he bolted into a different hall*

Seraph: *Flares his wings turning them to steel, blocking bullets from hitting several of the retreating kids*

Drago: Seraph...

Seraph: *Grabs Drago's wrist, running down the hallway, his eyes wide*

???: Capture them all! If they fight back, kill them!!!!

Seraph: *Stops at a steel door, quickly turning the wheel to open it*

Drago: Seraph, there's no use...

Seraph: Drago! You may not understand what it means to live but once you find those you cherish more than anything, you'll understand!

Seraph: *Looks at him, smiling* I hope...you find those people that you love so much, you'll destroy everything for them..

Drago: What-

Seraph: *Runs past Drago towards the incoming guards, his eyes narrowed* GO DRAGO!!! DON'T LOOK BACK!!

Drago: *Turns around, his eyes wide* Seraph

Seraph: *Grabs a guard, yelling as several taser sticks zapped him from all sides, his wings turning to steel and slicing their arms off*

Drago: *Flares his wings, flying towards him* SERAPH

Seraph: *Grabs Drago's wrist, tossing him through the door* GO!!!!

Seraph: *Smiles at Drago, watching him fall* You gotta find your family, little guy...

Drago: *Stares at Seraph, his eyes wide as bullet wounds appeared along Seraph's chest, several guards tazing the winged boy down till he couldn't move*

Drago: *Flares his wings, turning away and takes off into the air, tears threatening to fall*

Drago: *Looks down, spotting the other experiments running into the city* They're all okay...except Seraph

Drago: *Closes his eyes, trembling* Seraph, I'll destroy everything...

~~~~~

Drago: *Stares out the window at the rain* Drago has only seen, Candace, Jodie and Minnie since that day....hope everyone else has found family..

Belle: Seraph...he sounded like a great big brother to you all, he sacrificed himself for everyone..

Wise: I'm sorry that you had to witness all of that....

Wise: Experimentation on kids...turning them into beings they don't wish to be, just who were these people to do such an inhumane thing...

Drago: *Shakes his head* Drago does not know but they were awful to all of us, they'd starve us, dehydrate us, poke us with weird objects all for the sake of science

Drago: *Lifts his claws, staring at them* Drago is made from ethereal corruption, they lock me in room and made me succumb to it then turned me into this...

Drago: Drago has no memories from his time as human, only from his time as Drago

Belle: Who named you? Did you name yourself or did Seraph give you all names

Drago: Seraph give names, before Drago I was called Experiment 1022, he named all experiments....

Belle: Sorry that we made you remember all of this...

Wise: Yeah, it's not a good memory to revisit

Drago: No, Drago understands what Seraph meant back then, I has found my family with you both and I wish to stay

Belle: Of course you can stay with us! We wouldn't have it any other way, Drago!

Wise: Yeah, you're family, we enjoy having you around and teaching you new things

Belle: Speaking of which....we haven't shown you hot chocolate yet! It's great for cold and rainy days!

Drago: Hot chocolate?

Wise: *Chuckles* Yeah, wanna try some?

Drago: *Nods, lifting into the air and flying away*

Belle: *Chuckles, hurrying after Drago* Wait up!

Wise: *Walks after them, smiling slightly*

~

???: *Watches from the top of a nearby roof, arms crossed over their chest*

Seraph: *Smiles as the clouds cleared out, a collar around his neck* Found you, Experiment 1022

Seraph: *Lifts a hand to his earpiece* I found him, give me some time and he'll be back in the lab...

Seraph: *Flares his wings and takes off, his eyes narrowed* Now....how do I separate him from them!

@queen-of-twisted

[kekkuda]

Part of the process of recovering from my first psychotic episode has involved revisiting all of the famous gothic horror literature i read and was fascinated by as a preteen and reading Poe has been a constant experience of yeah I’ve been there before buddy and it really does feel like he was ahead of his time in terms of presenting reality as inherently absurd in a way his peers didn’t often touch upon. People often stop their analysis at “Edgar Allan Poe utilizes unreliable narrators a lot” instead of going a bit further to put themselves in the shoes of the characters and asking what it feels like to live in an unreliable reality. Reading Poe stories feels so very melancholic at a moment in my life when I don’t know how to get care for these issues, whether or not I’m actually sound of mind or just convincing myself I’m losing touch with reality-- in other words “faking it.” Ever since the incident moments of joy and curious hobbies have gone from being seen by those around me as quirky hyperfixations to something more sinister and unwell. Others who I thought really cared for my health and safety seem to treat the revelation that I am “losing my mind, no literally. . . please let me tell you what happened” with the if i’m retelling the story of what flavor of soda i picked at the vending machine. It’s so alienating as if being terrified of your own mind and it’s capability to break apart the rules of reality isn’t alienating enough. I think Poe really captures that feeling I get when things are just a bit off until they crescendo into an event that seems massive and tiny and inconsequential all the same. I really can’t describe it because the fear I feel is unlike any other fear I’ve felt and you don’t know it until you’ve felt it and it clicks. Out of curiosity I wanted to see how well H.P. Lovecraft held up or if my distaste for his work was strictly from the knowledge of who the man was in life. The answer is no, it does not. Frankly I find it insulting that H.P. Lovecraft is put at the same level as Poe, far above the tens of Gothic writers that preceded him by decades to nearly a century. . . of whom Lovecraft would openly take influence from just to water down down everything that makes those works interesting. The “indescribable” horrors that Lovecraft describes are paradoxically comprehensible. I’ve had many discussions with my partner about why more grounded surrealist art feels far more surreal and uneasy than art that is comprised of endless “weird” imagery. To keep this topic brief, think something like David Lynch. His films are utterly bizarre compared to your average hollywood blockbuster, sure, but as far as surrealist media goes? His films are very grounded in reality, but that reality feels off and strange in a way that genuinely is indescribable. When I read Lovecraft on the other hand, it feels like he read a lot of gothic literature about the sublime, indescribably transcendent nature of the universe and replaced that with essentially. . . a big scary monster. When Lovecraft writes “indescribable” or other similar words as a descriptor for what his characters see, it feels akin to when 14 year olds discover the SCP wiki and think that the more you write REDACTED or [DATA EXPUNGED] the scarier the object of horror is. It feels lazy when you’re not given any other reason to feel afraid. When I read Dagon it feels like I’m reading an early 2010s creepypasta written by someone who hasn’t been writing long enough to analyze what makes something scary. It genuinely feels like someone trying to write what they think psychosis might be like. His stories are so inhuman (and not in the way he’s trying to achieve) and detached, and I never get the is it real or not feeling I get from older gothic stories dealing with notions of sanity and humanity’s role in the universe. I know the big spooky space creatures are real in the universe of the text, so I don’t really connect the Lovecraftian hero’s lapses of sanity. You don’t see the same tragic decay of mind and body and ill-fated social dynamics that permeate so many of Poe’s stories. I genuinely don’t know what purpose there is to be gained from the oft-quoted declaration that the core of Lovecraft is about uncovering knowledge you aren’t supposed to know. I frankly don’t know how you can separate the art from the artist for HPL when so much of his work seems to pretty clearly match up with antisemitic “secret global society” conspiracy theories that go back centuries upon centuries. Think about it for two seconds: the “terrible knowledge” that gets discovered is typically the existence of some all-powerful cosmic race that seems to hide itself at all costs and could possibly end humanity’s pitiful existence should they so choose to do so. So much of his work involves this utterly unsympathetic view of otherness as an “indescribable threat” in society whereas I think a lot of Poe’s writing really captures the terror of being othered at a time when the treatment of mentally ill and disabled people was at one of its all-time peaks. I might revisit this idea again when I’m not tired as shit but I think in all, Lovecraft feels almost boring. Nothing feels really impressive despite the scale of its horror. In some ways, Poe really feels almost shockingly similar to a lot of postmodern man-vs-reality narratives, whereas Lovecraft feels like he takes a lot of the same aesthetics of gothic literature and uses it to craft a narrative that is far more simplistic than it seems at first glance. It hardly even qualifies as a man-vs-god narrative prevalent in the time of the Illiad, but given HPL’s track record when it comes to respecting human beings it’s all just a bare bones black and white us-versus-them man-vs-man narrative. Now, art doesn’t have to be thematically complex to be good, but I find it a bit insulting when the man with the copy-paste self insert characters with the personality of soggy paper wants to profess understanding of profoundly existentialist, indescribable terror. . . and the vast majority of his work is just an allegory with a metaphor writing-hand heavier than CS Lewis’s own that gives me no insights about the world other than that he literally couldn’t get over the “indescribable” fear of “grug look different from ogg, grug bad!” dog you didn’t make a cosmic discovery you are literally the fuckin meme “men will smoke weed once and think they’re enlightened for discovering empathy” or whatever. i have more transcendental experiences railing twinks and cuddling with pretty girls talk about smth really indescribable!!!!! it’s fucking caveman shit. mf really would be writing shitty fanfic of shadow puppets if you locked him in the cave fr fr. prolly wouldn’t notice he’s in an allegory fr fr life is indescribable and that’s what makes it beautiful and tragic and precious just eat a cock like the rest of us instead ur scarin the hoes with your shitty octopus fursona!

[thelampisaflashlight]

Because I got tagged by some folks...

Relationship Status: Single and generally uninterested in dating.

Favorite Color: Yellow, but, like, school bus yellow. Yeah, I know.

Song Stuck In My Had: I had Gas Pedal by Sage The Gemini stuck in there all the way to work yesterday...

Last Song I Listened To: Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

Three Favorite Foods: Lamb with tzatziki sauce, chicken katsu ramen, and vegetable lasagna.

Last Thing I Googled: I was trying to remember what artist it was that made the original "snart" meme painting. Fernado Botero for those wondering.

Dream Trip: Hmm, hard to say, I think it would be fun to go somewhere with weird/unique attractions? I don't really have a particular destination in mind so long as I get to go with my friends to be honest.

Anything I Want: Honestly now I'm just thinking about eating chicken katsu... I'm not sure if this is asking to write/answer a question, give a fun fact, or to say what I want (object/desire), but as far as that goes, uhhh...

I have a fear of large statues?

Which is funny considering I wrote about them earlier, but, like, it's specifically large, inhuman or demi-human sculptures.

Like, it strikes me in my little monkey brain and I go into "I am but a tiny bug, I must scurry away" mode.

I occasionally try and conquer this fear by looking up images of statue parks.

It does not help.

As for tagging people, I'll give this as an open invite to do it if you haven't gotten to do it yet.

[terrazooid]

🖤⚔️🎤🦸 for honor bound, let me hear about those side characters <3

🖤 - So far I haven’t come up with a version of slash for my au, but if I did he would probably be a desert tortoise or a common snapping turtle. He’s definitely bigger than all the other turtle mutants.

⚔️ - KARAI MY BELOVED. Yes she is a key character that I really should talk more about outside of discord. She is 14 years old and under the complete control of her mother (Kitsune) and to a lesser extent her father (Shredder). She has limited contact and information about the world outside of the Foot Clan. She has no friends. She doesn’t even get to have a real relationship with her half sister (Miwa). She is severely emotionally neglected. She wants to be emo but she doesn’t really know how or what that even is. She’s probably decapitated someone. She’s supposed to be her father.

Anyways I prommy I’ll get her out of there eventually but oof 💀 it’s not fun for her.

🎤 - No reporter April here, only stem student April. I want her and Donnie to be freaks about science together.

🦸 - Not letting Casey beat people up feels inhumane so yeah he gets to be a vigilante lol. Give him a blunt object and let him loose.

[twigstarpikachutroll22]

For the three ask songs game (I see ya):

#11, #13, #30

😺

=~D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11) three favorite songs from movie or TV series soundtrack

*SCREECHING UNCONTROLLABLY AT INHUMAN VOLUMES AND PITCHES AND FREQUENCIES ENOUGH TO SHATTER FRAGILE OBJECTS AND SHAKE THE BUILDING FOR AN IMMEASURABLE AMOUNT OF TIME IN LITERALLY HOW THE ACTUAL FRICK DOES ANYCREATURE HAVE ONLY THREE FAVORITE MOVIE OR TV SHOW SONGS OUT OF EVERY MOVIE AND TV SHOW EVER THROTTLING YOU*

…Fine. I will pick three movies and a favorite song from each of those, and three TV shows and a favorite song from each of those.

And because of me actually having a stupid amount of indecision over just the fact that some movies I thought of were movie musicals and some just happened to have a song or two in them, frick it, separate sections for movies alone!

MOVIE MUSICALS

Get Back Up Again from Trolls

The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman

Welcome To The Show from Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks

MOVIES THAT HAPPEN TO CONTAIN A SONG OR TWO

Aisling’s Song from The Secret of Kells

Kaze Ni Naru from The Cat Returns

Petey’s Song from the Fantastic Mr. Fox movie adaptation

TV SHOWS

Are we counting web serieses?

…Frick it, I’m going with the Exact Wording and saying these have to be shows actually on TV. Maybe I’ll do three from web serieses separately if anycreature asks.

Our Movie’s Better Than Yours from Phineas and Ferb (this is not my number one favorite Phineas and Ferb song, if you have just one there’s a good chance you haven’t heard enough Phineas and Ferb songs, but it is one OF my favorites and it’s massively underrated.)

My Evil Dreams from Sofia the First (I don’t think I have a one favorite song from Sofia the First either, it’s another show with a LOT of good ones, but yeah this is one)

Finale from Hazbin Hotel

13) three songs you want at your funeral

Jubyphonic’s acoustic english version of Itte or Say It by Yorushika

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, though there is the slight problem of having no idea what version, especially since I haven’t heard a single rendition of it that has ALL the verses I’ve ever heard. ….maybe one day I’ll do that myself and they can play a recording of that at my funeral.

…frick it. We Ran Out Of CD Space by Psychostick

30) three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than those above)

Wicked Girls by Seanan McGuire

A Glacier Eventually Farts (And Don’t You Listen To The Song Of Life) by Chris Christodoulou

Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care by Relient K

[sebastianshaw]

TOTALLY RANDOM but I was thinking about how many folks who only read the X-Men have theorized that stories of gods/demons/monsters/etc were actually early mutants and like Yes, we have seen that, like Selene being worshipped as a goddess since birth, the Neyaphim and the Cheryarafim mutant strains being the inspiration for human conceptions of how demons and angels look, etc But also like Gods and monsters and vampires and werewolves all just literally actually exist in Marvel and always have. Literally every pantheon and a few fictional ones exist. It’s not just the Olympians and Asgardians, we’ve seen the Hindu pantheon, the Polynesian pantheon, the Finnish and Mongolian and Mayan pantheons, you name it, they have appeared, I can literally bring you citatons and images. Then there’s the OC gods, like the Elder Gods such as Cthon and Set, or the Vishanti, or Snowbird’s mom Nelvanna. Demons? Jotunn? Mythological monsters galore? Yeah, those have all shown up. Vampires and werewolves? Yeah, there’s the Russell family and like the entire Blade series, have you heard of it? Even MOSES is canonical actual fact in Marvel, the entire “Forever Yesterday” alternate history is based on his battling the Pharaoh’s sorceror’s as the point of division from the mainstream timeline, he lost in their timeline and history since was very significantly different as a result. And even when the actual beings themselves aren’t inspiring their own legends, there’s also a lot more superbeings besides mutants out there. The Eternals were frequently confused for various gods, due to their similiar names and godlike qualities. For example, Makkari and Mercury. And Sersi is indeed actually the legendary Circe, and speaking of werewolves and vampires, it’s mentioned she contributed to those herself by turning a lot of people into wolves and bats in Europe back in the day. Yes, that’s horrible, Sersi’s kind of an asshole like that. Deviants had an entire game called “playing devil” where they terrorized ancient humans and inspired a lot of tales of demons and monsters. And Inhumans used to mingle with humanity much more, hence why some humans had the latent gene to being NuHumans when exposed to Terrigen Mists. And like. . .merpeople? There’s the Atlanteans, the Lemurians, the Sirenas. . . My point isn’t “ancient mutants definitely didn’t inspire anything” but more “also these things just objectively exist in Marvel anyway and always have so probably they also inspired themselves too in addition to mutants, Inhumans, Eternals, Deviants, and a lot of other shit adding to it”

[the1975attheirverybest]

Sadly I think our fandom has hecame too big and That's why it is what it is. Before it was different because this fandom was smaller, less seen, the band and Matty wasn't as talked about. We became a little bit like other fandoms unfortunately. The more people the more problems. It became like a competition for some to know as much as you can about Matty and creating theories about Matty like he is inhumane character is new entertainment for some. This is what happens whenever artist or whatever gets really big. And those people dont care about the connections between Matty and us, and how he is sacrificing himself they dont see it, they are here for the drama and their weird fun. We just have to accept it. This won't end as long as the boys are big. Sadly, I think people will continue send you intrusive questions about Matty no matter what you say. I think it would best if you ignored it, and deleted it. Dont give it an attention, its not worth it. Some people just dont get it. I don't want you too stress over those ❤️ Sorry this is long, I am a fan of your blog and wanted to share my opinion on our fandom.

I'm afraid you're right. as the fandom gets bigger, some of it is going to be diluted with garbage. i guess the reason that it upsets me is because we have/had a very unique dynamic. Both amongst ourselves, AND between us and Matty.

Like, back in May? with all the shit that was thrown at us? truly a horrific time. But I was in awe of how mature and kind and patient everyone in this fandom was. nowhere as crazy as some others. And I've seen similar things happen in other fandoms so i have a frame of reference to compare it to. This band draws in the kindest most intelligent and thoughtful people.

Then with Matty, it's hard to explain to others who aren't in the fandom. they all say oh yes yes we get it. it used to be like that for us too. Our fave also used to be online a lot but then stopped. And it's like, no, it's not the same. I know what these people are talking about. I've been in order fandoms where the celeb pulls back as they get more famous, and it's not that. It's different with us because our relationship with Matty has been a TWO WAY STREET. He doesn't just love us because we are the people who comes to his shows and buy his merch. He's PART OF THE COMMUNITY, he loves us like we all love each other and feel like we understand each other because of our shared love for this one thing. This man literally loves his fans and talks to them like he talks to his friends, not like he's an object of our admiration. and thats so rare.

So, I guess those are the things that im sad to lose. but yeah the idiots don't stress me out. I couldn't give a fuck. I'll put a dumbass in their place if need be :)

Thanks for being here and for your message. it makes me feel better to know that its something we're all navigating and figuring out💗

[illarian-rambling]

BROWN - Which writer do you look up to most? And why?

Ok, the easy answer is Sanderson. I write fantasy and like worldbuilding - it's not the biggest twist in the universe that I like the fantasy and worldbuilding guy lol

My secondary answer is Robert Jackson Bennett. He wrote the Foundryside Trilogy, and what really struck me about those books is how in-depth he went with the mundane realities of otherwise fantastical situations. Like, yeah, the magic power to sense an object's history by touching it is useful for some things, but it probably really sucks when you're trying to sleep and your pillow keeps playing a montage of whatever factory it was made in. And, yeah, a hivemind would probably be pretty sweet once you got used to it. That's the vibe I try to capture when I write about the intricacies of Mashal or Elsind's otherwise inhuman experiences - the mundane being both terribly familiar and beautifully strange.

My third answer is Mark Danielewski. He's the nutcase (awed connotation) who wrote House of Leaves. I don't write horror, but damn if parts of that book didn't stick with me. If I can make something that sticks like Navidson's letter to Karen, I'll be a happy author.

Thanks for the ask! (And for reminding me to re-read Foundryside lol)

[scatteredcloud]

If you like it idc but I hate “”front hole”” as a term. Don’t let doctors or other people think that’s a good thing to call it. I had a nurse refer to my “frontal orifice which. Girl just say vagina it’s ok. Front hole is so…. I don’t want to say inhuman because that’s not quite what I mean but it’s somehow more clinical than the medical terminology. It feels like how aliens would try and distinguish human parts. it feels like it should be derogatory. if you don’t like “cunt” “pussy” I can totally understand that because of their connotations. But if in a clinical setting or conversation you can’t handle “vagina”…. Idk. At that point it seems like a you problem. Is it awkward to say “the vaginal canal often shrinks with HRT” yeah sure. But if I say “your front hole may shrink after starting hrt” that isn’t really any less awkward and is less clear what you’re talking about.

If you must, just say hole and it will almost certainly be clear through context which one you’re talking about. Yes it is a hole. Indeed. The body has them. You may need to distinguish between them specifically - but we already have words for that. Anus and vagina. Or ass and pussy, if that suits you better. But front hole and back hole? What about oral huh? is your mouth, your top hole? Third hole? I just don’t like defining anatomy that way.

In a sexual context it should be pretty clear what is going in what hole. “Hey I’m anal only” vs “I don’t let people use my front hole”. “Be careful my front hole is really sensitive” vs “Please be careful when you’re fingering me” You know what I mean? Front hole is a turn off. To me. You don’t need to say vag or pussy or cunt or whatever out loud if it bothers you so much. Reword your sentence if it’s that big of a deal. And yes I know you can finger ass like obvi but again. Context.

How is the dysphoria aware option more clinical than just calling it the medical word for it. Oh no that’s not my labia those are my side flaps. It’s a little bit ridiculous right? People will say “pee hole” about urethras which I still think is silly. But because sounding isn’t a mainstream sexual activity we don’t really have specific slang for it so whatever. Urethra is not a particularly sexy word fine. But front hole?? Unneeded. Unnecessary. Imo.

I’ve also heard people say boyhole which. I’m ambivalent about. If the goal is clarity many many cis gay bottoms also have boyhole. Nothing wrong with that, but could mean a completely different kind of sex in the context of another type of guy.

Transfems have girldick and not everyone likes using it which is fair! but at least it acknowledges the identity of the person attached to it. “Built in strap” is obviously a euphemism but it’s a hell of a lot better than front hole. Front hole is where I put my trash and not my recycling. I put a front hole in this birdhouse. ‘Hole’ is so impersonal and like. Object based. So much so that in a sexual context, I most often see people refer to “hole” in degradation adjacent pornography in a like “I’m just an object to be used” sort of fantasy. Which I myself may or may not be into but in a nonsexual context? Front hole is so unserious.

Trying to talk around body parts like this gives very “oohhh i don’t want to say a Sex Word” like you’re in elementary school. It gives very “TikTok is going to censor v4g!na!!!!” If we can’t talk about our parts clearly and openly, we’re regressing. If you personally don’t like using those words for yourself, that’s fine! You are entitled to have control over the language surrounding your body. I’m ranting because front hole was used in a real life medical context and I’m ornery and a hater.

[crazypossumman]

"The state has no interest in ethics... They're too much of a variable to use as a guideline."

-this is the fucking line that goes the hardest in all of FMAB (imo) and I don't even know if it's from a named character

I have been perplexed my entire life on the concept of law and ethics. Morality and ethics exist, undoubtedly, but are different to each individual. So how do we decide whose morals we will base our laws on? Choosing those the most lenient would surely lead to chaos, where as choosing those the most conservative would restrict limitless personal freedoms.

Humans seem to struggle enough with this, so the idea in FMAB that Father and the subsequent government/country he created operates complete based on logic in accordance to their goals is so fucked up. As a human being, it is so difficult to imagine having no regard for human life aside from energy. Yeah, there are horrible people in the world; there are people who see others as pawns, objects, etc. But to see humans as nothing more than fuel to achieve one's goal, to have no connection to anyone or anything in this world... it makes them seem so undeniably inhuman.

It's just insanely good writing is all. And I have normal feelings about it. Just as I have normal feelings about the philosophical dilemma presented by ethics and law.