#they dont know about the ancient horrors

[mayspicer]

Girl help I really need to do the test tasks for a new job or else my life is gonna get very bad real soon, but all I want to do is draw ttrpg characters.

[a-little-monotonous]

the horus battle music makes me go insane

[dear-ao3]

You can't hide the bit about starting a cult in the tags. We demand the story.

once upon a time i was a menace of a 15 year old taking high school chemistry. and this was not a particularly advanced chemistry class. we had ancient bunsen burners, occasionally we lit things on fire, sometimes there were chemicals involved, but for the most part, it was standard run of the mill shit.

the class was divided into two groups of people:

The Trouble Makers and the People Who Didnt Cause (many) Problems

as a mostly straight a and usually honors (when it wasnt science) student, i fell into the second category.

this class was 8th period, last period of the day, and the teacher was new that year. we will call him mr a.

mr a was on the younger side and seemed like a dude who wanted to have fun with us (essential for a science class). unfortunately he was teaching a batch of idiots (myself included).

its been several years so i dont remember the exact politics of this class, but i do know that it was populated by the two guys who stuck a pop tart still in the foil in the band room microwave and nearly lit the entire building on fire, a few class clowns, some very stereotypical football players, two guys who were positively dumb as bricks and constantly acted like they were on the verge or breaking up or getting back together (they were not dating at all. they were both and still are very straight), and then there was me and a few other girls who mostly just minded our business and watched the chaos unfold.

mr a's mistake was that he engaged with the insanity caused by The Trouble Makers. which resulted in even more insanity. he only lasted one year. he hated all of us but he might have hated himself more.

he did like me and my friends tho because again, we did not cause problems.

you might be wondering what kind of problems could be caused in a high school chemistry class. well lots. for starters one of the outlets in the room was taped over with NO JUSTIN! BAD JUSTIN! written on it because one kid thought it would be funny to stick scissors in the outlet in a different class (true story). there were broken beakers, smashed glass, general insanity. again, not an honors class so most of us didnt really care about it as long as we passed. there was one time he told us (jokingly) that we should only drink pepsi because his wife worked for the company and it would help fund his kids college career or something. two days later five guys came in with coke bottles. that was the kind of class this was.

but we still learned chemistry. probably. i dont actually know.

this guy taught lessons like he was reading a tumblr text post. like full on "so the guy hated that guy cause xyz and smited him in the science journals for this that and the other thing" it was entertaining.

i remember learning two things in this class. one was that salt is NaCl. which mr a called "our good friend nackle" the second we will get to in a minute.

one of the things we had to do in class relatively early on was decorate a periodic table that we would be allowed to use for tests. like color code and all that. we were allowed to use it for tests because there was a Giant periodic table hanging in the room and mr a was "too short to cover that up"

well, that periodic table proved to become his worst nightmare.

now. remember that i am 15. i am a sophomore in high school. i have not yet had to consider the horrors of college. i am at peace. aside from this chemistry class i am also taking a dance class (that i didnt like), ap english language (which was terrifying because im really bad at deeper meaning in texts), honors algebra 2 (which i Barely passed), latin III (another class i was pretty shit at, but it was fun), crafts 2 (which was wonderful), gym (thats a totally Other story) and honors united states history (which i loved). i was also dancing about 20 hours a week outside of school. but most of my schedule required me to be a good little honors student and mind my business. i was also, by all accounts, an absolute loser and a nobody and had very few friends and was totally unknown to most popular kids. however, you all know me on this blog and know im a little shit and it was only a matter of time before i caused problems Somewhere.

and that somewhere came one blissful day during 8th period chemistry when mr a asked me something about the number of electrons on carbon.

and i (to my credit) was entirely zoned out because again it was 8th period. but i gave him an answer. it was the right answer. what the answer is now i have no idea because i went on to get a ba degree in history and my eyes have not graced the periodic table since this class.

and then he asked me "how do you know thats the right answer"

and i said, in all my zoned out, infinite wisdom "it says so on the periodic chart"

isnt a periodic table? you might be asking.

well you are correct.

but you see. the giant periodic table above the front of the board at the front of the room was from the 70s. and it didnt say periodic table. it said "periodic chart of the elements"

and i, being zoned out, just read the damn name off of the thing because what the fuck else is a girl to do.

and mr a says "its a table. the periodic table."

and i, who have now zoned back in and realized my mistake, refuse to admit that i was just zoned out in class so i say, like any reasonable person, "then why does it say periodic chart up there?"

and mr a said "i dont know, its old."

and i said "well it says chart. so why cant we call it chart?"

and mr a said "because its a table."

and me, because im a little shit and also 15 and there were probably also 10 minutes left in the school day said "i think we should be allowed to call it a chart. it says so right there."

and well. that was all the go ahead the trouble makers in the class needed to hear.

from then on, it was the periodic chart. we all called it that. all of 8th period. and mr a HATED it. if you wrote chart on your test you got points taken off (which i never did because i wasnt an idiot but i would put little smiley faces next to my answer and he would draw a frown face when he graded my paper next to it). if you said it when you answered a question he would pretend he hadn't heard you.

it was such a phenomenon that it spread to his other classes. everyone called it the periodic chart. the scissors in the outlet kid. the pop tart kids. the football players. everyone. it was a chart. not a table. to this day i still call it a chart.

though, i think he was just mad that my cult (which he did call a cult, the periodic chart cult) was more successful than his stoichiometry cult. which was basically that we all had to repeat stoichiometry back to him every time he said it. that is the second thing i learned in this class. dont ask me what it is though, i just remember the name.

at the end of the year we parted ways, mr a silently glaring at me for my chart crimes, never to return to our school (probably because he got fired, unrelated to my chart crimes). despite this, he did still like me as a student, and i did get an a in his class, though it probably pained him to give it to me.

the following year i had physics in the same classroom, periodic chart overlooking me.

i used my iPhone 5c to take a photo of a white board and accidentally dropped it six inches onto the lab bench. the screen grayed out and it never turned on again.

the chart had cursed me for my hubris.

[kaidatheghostdragon]

Dani x Jason Prompt

(Because i dont see enough of these two together. Also, this is another prompt i found in my fic files that i never did anything with.)

While Danny is in Amity Park protecting the ghost portal, Dani explores the world. Danny might be powerful enough to put down any threat, even Ancients, but she isn't as lucky. Her best defense against Vlad or the GIW is to never be in the same place two days in a row. Not to say she isn't powerful in her own right - she's yet to meet a ghost in her travels that she couldn't utterly crush, and even if she had, she's got the most loyal dog in both this world and the next to have her six.

Dani has discovered a great deal of beauty throughout the world in her few short years of life, but also unfathomable evil and undescribable corruption. She does what she can in every place she passes through, her ghost powers the ultimate cheat code for investigation and subterfuge, bringing to light the things that once hid in the dark.

But while scoping out yet another child trafficking ring, she crosses paths with a spirit of vengeance. At least, that's the only explanation she can come up with for how he's able to turn his shock and horror into pure rage at the flip of a dime.

Until she realizes that he's a baby halfa. If he doesn't learn how to mediate his emotions, he's going to burn out one of his halves.

Maybe she can help him stabilize into a proper spirit of justice and keep him from following the path that Vlad went down - oh shit, he doesn't even know that he's undead. Well, this is going to be a project and a half. But Dani is nothing if not resourceful - she's more than willing to put in the work if it means making an ally of the fourth known halfa.

Featuring:

Dani and jason are about the same age (16-17ish)

They run into each other during jason's LoA-sponsored world tour, investigating the same trafficking ring

Cujo is there too

Dani totally helps with the crime lord grand plan, but also wrestles jason down from the more messed up family drama stuff he did, like attacking tim, and knocks some sense into him and finds a better solution for dealing with the joker

[davrinsleftpectoral]

A Word With Friends/Wip Wednesday

Thank you @jenn2d2 for the word of the week, and @hedwigoprah for making a tag game that makes me really stretch my brain muscles. Not gonna lie, this one hurt lol.

This week's word is Perspicacious

Definition:

Quick in noticing, understanding, or judging things accurately or of acute mental vision or discernment.

I took the easy way out this week. I won’t do it every week (probably). Also put it in this WIP of my Chuck E. Cheese AU. So enjoy a snippet of Welcome to Nug E Cheese. This is still part of the first chapter. If you’d like to read the beginning, you can find it here

Some people like to torture Lucanis with angst and feelings. I like to torture him with bad coffee and the horrors of a minimum wage job.

==

“Sorry, don’t mind me.  I’m just gonna get old Joe going,” he explained.

“Good idea. I need some coffee after that meeting,’ Neve agreed.

Turvi approached old Joe. The machine was ancient. 15? 20? Years old. No one was really sure. They suspected it had been left behind by the original construction crew when then store was built.  He took a deep breath and began The Routine.

“Good morning Old Joe,” he began.

Lucanis looked up from his papers and didn’t say anything, simply raised one eyebrow.

Neve smirked at him, “Trust the process. Old Joe likes Rook the best.”

Turvi then turned on the machine. Turned off the machine. Unplugged it, counted to 15, and plugged it back in. He filled the water reservoir, put in a new filter, and grabbed the budget sized can of store brand ground coffee. When Lucanis spotted the giant can, Turvi thought he heard a small sound of distress. Once the coffee was in, he closed the the lid and wrapped a big rubber band around it to keep it shut. 

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Lucanis finally chimed in. “What is the rubber band for?”

Turvi grinned. “It’s like a seat belt, you gotta strap in, it’s for everyone’s safety.” Next he hit the start button, and after that he banged on the top 3 times. “You see Neve, the reason that Harding’s coffee isn’t as good, is that she only hits Joe twice because she feels bad. He needs 3 to really get going.”

Old joe wheezed and started to gurgle and bubble. “When you hear the wheeze, you know it’s going to be a good pot.” He turned around, hands on his hips with satisfaction, grinning at Neve. Lucanis didn’t say anything for a moment. The man’s eyebrows were furrowed deeply though.

Lucanis handed his completed paperwork over to Neve. She flipped through the pages, skimming over his writing. “Well, this looks good. I���ll go see if we have any spare polos in storage, but I’ll have to order you more. We weren’t expecting to get anyone new today,” Neve said by way of apology. 

“If you can’t find one, he can wear mine,” Turvi offered. “I can just wear the Gus suit for the day, instead of switching in and out.”

Lucanis’ eyes widened, but he stayed silent. Neve must have clocked the face he made, because she chuckled. “Keep your clothes on Rook. He can wear his own shirt if we dont have one for him.” 

Old Joe started beeping. Turvi stepped to the side and dramatically bowed and swept his arm out towards Neve. “Ladies first.”

Neve rolled her eyes at him as she got up to grab a mug. She poured the steaming liquid and made a little hum of displeasure. “Seems this batch is a little thick. Oh well. Better luck next time Rook.”

“Thick?” Lucanis squeaked, visibly paling. “And you guys actually drink that?” He asked incredulously, as Neve took a sip. 

“Yes, very perspicacious of you,” Turvi replied. 

Neve chuckled hand on hip, “Well look who’s putting that word of the day calendar in the break room to good use,” Neve said with a laugh. 

“I try,” he confirmed with an answering smirk. 

Turning to Lucanis she shrugged, “It tastes fine, and it does the job. We work in a Nug E Cheese. We can’t afford to be picky,” she shrugged. “Now let me go see about that shirt.”

==

The Routine is based on actual ancient food service machinery. Not the exact routine. But my sister works at an ice cream stand that has very very old machines. You do need to do weird stuff to make them work properly, and there is an actual rubber band holding parts together. Also there is way too much smirking going on. It’s still a wip okay?

Thank you @serensama for the tag. No pressure tagging @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @biowaredisasterbisexual @seaglassmelody @thedissonantverses @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai @woundedsoul12

[jules-makes-stuff]

Been seeing ppl on reddit argue about magic in fantasy for a while and I don't want to lose 3 hours bickering over there but I have *thoughts*

By now hard and soft systems are pretty well known but people ague againt hard systems because it "takes away the, well, MAGIC of magic". I think people aren't considering tone and the overall goals of a work and are conflating personal taste with truth again.

In my mind it really depends on the above though. Say you are Hoffman writing The Golden Pot. You want your work to be dreamlike, ethereal, like a half remembered song. Everything operates on dream/fairytale logic and emotion is reality. You should absolutelt NOT explain magic. It should be a strange force adhering only to narrative and emotional forces.

If you are writing a magical realism piece, like One Hundred Years of Solitude, the magic again is there to emphasize the absurdity of reality people at the time faced. Explaining anything takes that away. Same with horror or something like Metamorphosis. You don't know why this is happening and that means you cannot stop it or it doesn't matter how it happened, only the consequences.

Then there are more classical fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings. Magic is something ancient and grand and mysterious.... and none of the hobbits have it besides stray magic items. That is what people miss, I believe, when using this example. Gandalf isn't our pov character. Most characters there do not have magic or only have limited magic w very specific limitations, tools essentially. So we can follow along and anticipate how these will be used. There is big, scary, unknown magic, but it is usually something used by the opponents or characters that come in and out of the narrative. And I think that's a good balance! Its fine that we dont know the science of magic, because we understand enough when we need to, we can make predictions and there is enough wiggle room for something like Gandalf the White to happen. A looot of fantasy had followed this setup: the mc has only a few well defined spells and magic items, the world has more deep magic.

But, I personally do like harder magic, if the mc is supposed to be a wizard (or the equivalent). I would call most battle shonen hard magic (I think this is where ppl might want to kill me) becauss in a good battle shonen we know what everyone can do and we can plan along with the characters and predict how the fight will go. When a problem is solved in an interesting way we can go "I should have seen that comming!"

In BAD versions people yell really loud and whoever yells loudest about friendship (once we wasted enough screentime to call the third act done) wins. And this here is my problem. Because I have seen stories where characters do the same with magic and it breaks my immersion. When magic used by the mc can suddenly do anything and everything what is the point? I'm no longer following a story w interesting twists and turns, Im waiting for the author to say "ok thats enough we can push the win button now". And listen, obviously its a made up story, none of this is real or matters, but its the authors job to keep the illusion alive that it isnt.

This is different from creating a mcguffin that can do anything once and having a quest about it, there getting the item is the challenge, not using it.

And a system being hard doesnt mean we need to know the science behind it, just that we need to know what it can do and the limits. In avatar they can manipulate the elements w martial arts. Period. Why? How? The spirits said so. Most ppl fuck up hard magic imo by starting to write a thesis about magical physics or overcomplicating it instead of taking 1 simple idea and exploring all the cool things that it can do. Witch Hat feels super magical and yet all there is to magic is drawing magic circles and we actively learn how to draw them in the series and the way the characters problem solve w magic and their try-fail cycles are super fun!

The point of this ramble is that I need structure that fits the narrative goals of the work. If we're doing a dream like narrative throw away explanations. If Im a wizard playing mind chess w other wizards you better tell me what chess pieces we have.

[abigailovesz]

CHAPTER 4 BLOODLINES AND ASHES

pairing: cowboy!jj x cowgirl!reader

summary: preparations deepen as you and jj fortify the ranch, training ranch hands and coordinating with elias’s men. In the early morning, jj reflects on his love for you and how much she’s changed his life and goes out to speak to blackwell.

warnings: suggestive language, not much!

chapters recent chapter. next chapter

the fire was out, but the damage lingered.

jj stood alone in the blackened shell of the barn, boots crunching over cinders. smoke still clung to the air like a ghost refusing to leave. he ran a hand over the scorched frame of the door he’d kicked open the night before and felt the dull ache in his arm from where a beam had clipped him.

but he didn’t care about any of that.

all he could see was you - how you'd screamed when you saw the fire, the way your eyes had gone wide with horror. and how it broke him. not the barn, not the colts. you.

jj had never loved anything with the kind of ache he loved you with. It was fierce. deep. a little terrifying. some mornings he woke up with you curled against his chest and didn’t move for an hour just in case the spell broke.

you were a woman, a real one at that - beautiful and stubborn. you didn’t let yourself be loved easily. but when you gave yourself to someone, you didn’t hold anything back.

and jj would die before he let silas thatcher take that light out of you.

THE BLACKWELL woman lived in a crooked shack that clung to the edge of a cliff like a stubborn weed. the air out here tasted different - old, wild, untouched. jj tied his horse to a bare tree and approached the house with caution. he wasn’t scared. but he respected stories. and the stories about this woman were strange.

she opened the door before he could knock.

“you’re a maybank,” she said flatly.

jj blinked. “yes, ma’am.”

“ah' can smell it on you. and ya boots are too loud.”

she was small - birdlike - with a crown of gray-white braids and sharp yellow eyes. she looked ancient but not fragile. there was steel in her spine. “you want to know why Silas Thatcher’s got a taste for your land,” she said, stepping aside. “Come in.”

jj followed.

the inside was cluttered, every surface stacked with jars, bones, maps, and faded newspaper clippings. a fire crackled low in the hearth, and a wolf hide hung from the ceiling like a curtain.

“you love her,” the woman said without turning around.

jj stiffened. “I didn’t say nothin bout my woman.”

“you didn’t need to.” she dropped a bundle of herbs into a pot. “It’s in your eyes. I’ve seen that look before. her father had it too - only it was for the wrong woman.” jj stepped closer. “you knew her parents?”

“knew of them. everyone around here did, before it all went to hell.”

“what happened?”

she sat slowly, pouring a thick black tea into two chipped cups. “they were land-strong, like your folks. proud. bloodline older than the railroad. but silas - he wanted everything they had. the land, the cattle, the water rights. and when her grandfather refused to sell, silas made sure the title went missing.”

jj clenched his jaw.

“the boy - her daddy - tried to fight back. married a woman with just as much fire, thinking they could stand against it. But silas... silas dont play fair.” the woman looked jj dead in the eye and continued. “he killed her father. took the land. ran off the rest.”

jj’s voice was quiet when he spoke. “and y/n?”

“she was just a baby. her mama took her and ran. west, I think. changed her name. hid her from Silas.”

jj sat in stunned silence. every piece clicked together.

that letter. that look in silas’s eyes.

“he didn’t recognize her,” he said slowly, “not until he saw her face up close.”

“no. but he does now. and that means he’ll come harder. because she’s proof of what he did. proof that that family never really died out.”

jj stood. “thank you.”

“you’re not going to win this in court,” the woman said quietly. “ya know that, don’t you?” jj looked back at her, face hard and determined. “I’m not trying to win in court. I’m trying to survive.”

the woman gave a small smile. “then stay close to her. because that girl’s going to be the fire that saves you. or the one that burns everything down.”

"dont worry, ma'am we dont go to long away from each other."

YOU WERE STANDING at the split-rail fence, staring at the charred wreck of the barn when you heard hoofbeats. jj dismounted and walked straight toward you. his shirt was dusty, his jaw tense - but his eyes never wavered. you turned to him, brow furrowed.

“what'd she tell ya?” he didn’t answer at first. Instead, he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “that you were born from a bloodline meant to fight.” you swallowed hard. “and?”

“and that silas killed your grandfather.”

you nodded slowly, jaw clenched. “so we stop him.”

jj's hands slid up your neck, cupping your face. “sweethear-”

“no. don’t tell me to just..run.”

“I wasn’t gonna tell ya to run doll,” he said softly. “I was gonna tell you… that- that I love you and i dont wantcha to get hurt.” then, he continued-

“i’ve loved you since you told me I ride like a drunk fuckin outlaw,” he added with a shaky smile. “since the first time you patched up my busted hand and didn’t flinch when I bled all over ya floor.”

tears prickled your eyes, a familiar lump forming in your throat. “jj…”

“I don’t care if it’s you against the world. I’ll be right there beside you, m'kay?” you kissed him - hard and sure, fingers buried in his hair - and whispered a small "okay," against his mouth.

SILAS STOOD at the window of his mansion, staring down at the valley. his shadow stretched long in the amber light. “she knows who she is now,” the deputy said behind him.

silas smiled coldly.

“good,” he said. “It’ll make destroying her that much sweeter.”

taglist: @bbyg4rl - @baocean - @loveharlow - @mytaping - @kittykatinc comment user to be in taglist !

[creatorbiaze]

im p tired bc it's past midnight but i had an idea. Honestly just gonna type out my entire thought process so it makes somewhat more sense

So I remembered the 1960 something singing robot & that people have said it was creepy, tbh i think it's partially bc it's Just Off Enough from human speech & in Just The Right pitch to just seem inexplicably odd. Dare I say almost an uncanny effect.

The uncanny valley is my favorite phenomenon in which humans just get Inexplicably Creeped Out by things that're Almost human but Just Wrong Enough that it's obvious there's something wrong. Probably developed as a way to keep humans away from sick or dead things so We don't get sick too.

currently the most common uncanny valley phenomenon is robots & androids.

which reminded me of Ortho. The pretty-close-to-human android. Now I don't know which is scarier; Idia being so insanely good at making androids & robots that Ortho just. doesn't. uncanny valley. despite not having many visibly robotic parts. Or if in-universe everyone's just mildly creeped out by him due to Uncanny.

But , i wonder if Twst even HAS uncanny valley. I mean, there's several Almost Human specieses. Faes, Mers, Beastmen, etc etc. And cursed humans like Idia. So would twst have even developed the uncanny valley effect to the degree we do? I mean, if it was developed to keep us away from Sick Things it definitely still developed, but maybe less so. the oddities are Not Sickness.

Or what if it DID develop the same for various reasons, including an ancient reason TO fear the Almost Humans? Faes in most mythology are dangerous tricksters, Mers & Sirens kill, Beastmen are Visibly not human too, Cursed People could possibly get us targeted, etc.

Maybe being consistently surrounded by the Almost Humans makes it lessen a ton, so 2nd+ years at universities like NRC or just societies where the species interact a lot in general just. dont get creeped out anymore.

Or maybe only Yuu/the MC gets Uncanny Valley'd bc Not From Here. The fear of the Unknown, which the Almost Humans most certainly are, AND the uncanny valley effect is.. not fun to deal with.

Faes are Too Perfect, too elegant, too beautiful, too Flawless. there's something wrong.

Beastmen are just human enough that their animal features are wrong. There's something Not Human in their appearance and Instinctive actions and yet they look so close to humans and act so human. It's not right.

Potions aren't always perfect. The octa trio still act like mers yet they look perfectly human, or maybe they still have slight imperfections; the Tweels have way too sharp teeth, after all. Are they safe?

Idia's... wrong. He's off. He looks Visibly Wrong and he's been around death and Blot for so long that his behavior is subtly wrong too. You're not making it up, right?

and what the hell is Ortho? He's not human but he's none of the Almost Humans either. He acts too human but he still reverts back to code. he doesn't make sense.

And yet even with this instinctive distrust and fear of the others, Yuu still goes out of their way to save them, to help them, to Know them. Yet the feeling of wrongness never goes away.

And maybe it goes both ways. Yuu is not right, they're just off enough from even the normal humans of NRC that everyone can tell they aren't from here at all. An imposter, a false thing, wrong.

of course, twst wouldn't go into uncanny valley territory in canon bc Disney and Its Not Horror; sure plenty of characters have dark or sad back stories but its fun and humorous. But damn the uncanny valley is fun to think about

[cosmic-aquila]

DP X DC/Marvel Prompt 1#

sooo I've had this mind obsession about giant fluffy monsters so why not jam Danny and DC/Marvel into this mess to make a cool prompt?

Summary: Danny's been sealed away in an ancient temple. someone (could be a hero or a scientist that deals with ancient stuff, i forgot what they're called) finds the entrance but cant go past that. they call Batman/Tony and/or Constanaine/Dr.strange for help(probably along with one of the batkids or Spiderman). Chaos ensues.

What exactly happened to Danny: Danny's been sealed away in an ancient temple during a a time mission from CW that caused him to go in his eldritch horror form and getting sealed away in a temple using chains and of course: Blood blossoms but not to the extent that they continually hurt him, just enough to keep him sealed away, after all: if you hurt a baby ghost, it probably wont end well.

Note: this can be ghost king danny if you want.

and i know i got the characters wrong but im trying, its been a while since i watched marvel

onto the somewhat detailed prompt:

DP/Marvel(or DC, just change who the characters are):

Wang (i think that was his name? the guy that always doubts dr.strange but helps him anyways) has picked up a strange magic signature somewhere around Egypt, after he decided to go and investigate himself, he found an entrance to a sealed ancient temple with a few dead bodies nearly hidden by sand. When he tried to enter, he felt death magic pulse through him and he quickly moved his hand away, whatever was in there, whoever put the seal on this temple wanted to either keep whatever's outside out... or whatever's inside in. he didnt like this not one bit, he does the one thing that would make sense (kinda in his deep opinion): he goes to Steven Strange.

"So your telling me, that you found an ancient temple that's radiating 'infinite realm' kind of death magic and tried to enter it ON.YOUR.OWN?" Strange said rubbing his nose bridge with a sigh. "I dont get whats wrong with that? Death magic's still magic and you two are wizards." Tony said raising a judgemental eyebrow at Strange.

"yes thats true, BUT, infinite realm magic's not like normal magic, not even normal death magic." Wang explained raising a finger at the 'but'. "so? its still magic? or does it have diffrent properties?" Peter, tired of only listening decided to start asking some questions to understand the situation better.

"to understand infinite realm magic, first you need to know what are the infinite realms" Strange countered with a heavy tone, looking at Tony and Peter.

"Strange, we are not to speak of the dead so openly" Wang hissed turning to look at Steven. "oh come on, they're gonna find out eventually and you know it, better they know or one of them gets killed trying to find out." Strange said furrowing his brows glancing around him as if expecting something to attack him. Wang only grumbled sitting on a chair that was not there before.

"the infinite realms is a realm between worlds, like a pocket dimension. it is also known as the realm of the dead, the realm of ghosts, souls, and spirits. it is neither heaven or hell, it is were the dead go when they have too strong obsessions that keep them going, it is where the dead go when they don't want to let go of their life. it has its culture, rulers, ghost types, Gods and Goddesses called Ancients, islands of different shapes and sizes. it also has: A Ghost King, one who rules all the kingdoms, tribes and all ghosts in the infinite realms. they have the title of High King. They run on a substance called ectoplasm, which can be considered the main source of infinite realm magic.

Do not mess with the dead and they will not mess with you. Don't engage with infinite realm inhabitants because the risks are far too high. The last high king was Piriah Dark, he went mad and devoured worlds, not much is known about the new High King, all we know is that he was only around 2 death years old which in on its own baffling." Strange said crossing his arm, his voice was heavy with danger and seriousness.

"so we DON'T mess with the temple?" Peter asked curiously. "..." Wang and Strange didn't know how to answer that.

i cant help but imagine this scene happening:

Danny: *giant chained eldritch horror* *narrows eyes and hisses*

Bruce/Tony, Constantane/dr.Strange and Zatanna/Wang: "..." *intimidated and are ready to fight if needed*

one of the batkids/Peter: "...omg its like a giant kitten!" *proceeds to pet said giant eldritch horror*

the adults: "..." *horrified

Danny: "..." *purrs*

if someone uses this please tag me and maybe send the link please?

[eatdawalls]

I love rimworld, especially the anomaly dlc.

Regarding shamblers, those are dead individuals (animals, people, monsters etc.) Who came back due to archotechnology (ultra sci-fi tech in rimworld for those who dont play). What I love about it is the way these "zombies" are reanimated, usually in movies or games its a virus, magic or a ancient curse. But here, it is the remnants of an ancient nanotechnology that implants itself in the corpses and forcibly regenerate their bodies, and moves them around like a puppet.

It mixes the ideas of various genres I am already in love with.

Sci-fi, with the ancient technology that surpasses ours by far, we cannot understand it by any means, we just know it works.

Body horror, the way the technology forces your (dead) body to move and regenerate lost limbs and organs, using you as a puppet for reasons unknown.

Cosmic horror (spoilers for anomaly dlc) , The way we the players soon learn more about this technology and the ways to use it, we delve deeper and deeper into the terrible truth. That there is an "abstract" being with such power to even bend reality, behind all of the nonesense we explore in the dlc, and we soon realize that the shamblers are just the start of something much more horrifying.

[lyss-sketchbox]

(To start, I've been enjoying reading your and folks' various perspectives on Natlan, it's interesting to see different breakdowns/thoughts)

I do have a theory on the flippancy though, and I may very well be horribly wrong, but I suspect it's intentional. The whole nation is being taught, more or less, that this war they're fighting is a game. It's fine if you die, we'll bring you back. It's fine if you fight the Abyss, we do it all the time. And yet. We see that folks' Ancient Names can be lost and not recovered, that you can't fully recover from Abyssal corrosion, and that hey, actually, Kachina is a terrified kid when we see that projection of her. It may even be part of why the nation is struggling so much with creating their Contending Fire. I also think Mavuika plays into this narrative.

Primarily, I think (or maybe just hope) her overconfidence is going to be her hubris. Traveller expresses concern about the time she has to gather the warriors and she's non-plussed, "eh, I trust the Wyob". She's got A Plan and it's going to work, according to her. But I dunno about that ma'am. She also says weirdly definitive statements that I don't think are fully accurate like "humans can't know their fate" and "the only thing that unites the Fatui are collecting the gnoses" that lead me to believe she puts full stock in her conclusions as soon as she feels she has an answer and doesn't exactly question any further.

Honestly? It would be nice if they set up this whole thing of the nation being so casual and Traveler buying into it only to tear it, crashing down, around everyone. How long can the nation avoid taking things seriously before everything comes to a head? (Perhaps why Capitano isn't interested in brute-forcing things overall? Or maybe I'm giving him too much credit, lol)

What an interesting take, genuinely

So Mavuika

It would definitely play the part of being a pyro archon and how pyro vision holders are often extremely confident and high spirited. It would make sense if the pyro archon embodies that kind of value.

This also lines up with what the previous anon said about how she wanted to be reincarnated because its HER plan and she wanted to see it through even if it means offing herself early.

(I dont remember the ending dialogue was i did it all at like 4 am so yeah please fight me on my takes)

She also seems very quick to make MASSIVE decisions like using a good chunk of her power to keep the Contending Flame alive right then and there even with the concerns of some people. Then she was just as quick to burn all the mementos gathered for centuries when the group sent to find Kachina didnt make it.

I feel like maybe she couldve waited before keeping the Contending Flame alive. And while the Contending Flame IS more importang than a single girl, based on the time we spent in the Night Kingdom. It doesnt... feel all that long. She couldve waited. Use her power to save us. Rest for a while then fan the Contending Flame. Saving us from the Night Kingdom didnt feel like a permanent loss of power while keeping the Contending Flame alive does.

To be honest, she IS human, WAS human before archonhood. Shes been human TWICE now due to her reincarnation. I can understand humans wanting to prove to higher powers and beings such as fate that they CAN hold power over themselves. But being human, being NATLANIAN means she has worshipped to Wayob as well at some point. Hence putting her faith more into them and their ancient names.

The Plot of Natlan

I will admit here that i am biased and there is only 2 acts so far. For all i know theyre still setting up the chekovs guns and they may pop oh so beautifully in late acts and i am too harsh on the set up acts.

But i can understand if the people of natlan has been trained their entire life to numb themselves of the true horrors of war. Because they live constantly in it, if they are in constant fear, it is not good for morales or the ancient name holders either.

And if they were written to be so chill so that hoyoverse can pull the rug under us even harder then well good on them because i will be COMPLETELY honest.

I cannot see them pulling this without making it cliche or shallow.

Because we all already know SOMETHING is gonna go wrong. The abyss will reach natlan. The contending flame will die. The 6 heroes will reawaken and help Mavuika fight off the abyss for good. We know it will happen. The only issue is how to get there and how to not make it cliche as fuck.

Because for one they pulled the anime training montage for Kachina where we get told she is actually really good, she has been training so hard with Mualani but we literally dont get to see or feel it. But oop she defeated mualani.

They pulled the power of friendship when Mualani talked back to lector in the night kingdom.

They already spoiled how Ororon was the traitor because HE WAS STANDING NEXT TO CAPITANO IN THE TRAILER.

It feels way too messy for me, way too unserious and uncoordinated both in game and advertisement materials. I almost feel like capitano, 1st of the fatui harbinger, probably shouldnt have been responsible for natlan because dude can out espionage them (or maybe natlan and capitano are both as equally uncoordinated who knows).

Well for NOW i think they have a generic base plot. I would be very willing to declare how wrong i was about natlan if act 3-5 managed to fucking mindblow me. But yeah as you can see i am not hopeful that hyv have half the brain you have about the plot.

[yunxinshan]

I absolutely adore the active Xie Lian.

I just wanted to share my opinion. /Disclaimer: you may not agree with me/

Forgive me, everyone, but I can’t stand it when someone talk about him as a fragile uke with hysterics because of his difficult past.

Xie Lian worked through his acceptance so much that he overcame all his traumas, came out of depression and continued to do what he liked no matter what for 800 years. He's insanely strong. AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, I ADORE HIM!!! I want to be like him. This is a man with nerves of steel. The scars from his old wounds still hurt, but hey, it's okay for him to use the sword that killed him over 100 damn times, carry around the Ruoye that his parents and himself committed suicide on. Remained sane after 100 years in a nailed-up coffin underground; did not despair when he was trampled by his own allies on the battlefield. And after all this he managed to ascend for the third time. He is a monster of peace of mind. So crazy cool. I can't..😫🤲💘

I won’t remind you as usual that Xie Lian is the god of war. I will say that he is an ancient legend who can wipe Jianghu into powder, but he simply doesn’t want it. (After what happened to him, he still doesn’t want it! Oh.My.God.)

Have you seen Bai Wuxian-the-horror-of-all-worlds-and-times? Xie Lian is stronger than Bai Wuxian. Imagine this terrible hell, this apocalypse that would happen everywhere if he really retreated from the light side! But Xie Lian is still a cute bun. Dont you think this is an incredible feat to stay true to your ideals no matter what happens? Only a strongest people are capable of this.

(Even though I'm crazy about the fit Dianxia) Yes, Xie Lian is canonically short, graceful in places, so feminine in others that he can hide in a crowd of brides and no one will notice. But he's still a great top. He can take excellent care of Hua Cheng, easily carry him in his arms and love him tenderly on the marital bed. Yes, it may seem strange, but it's true. Xie Lian shows us that you can't judge a person by their appearance. Behind the face of the young man hides an 800-year-old sage who has truly known life.

It's great that he can relax and be weak or sad in front of Hua Cheng. But Hua Cheng can also afford it. Xie Lian always has the strength to listen to him, support him and protect him.

Has someone already said all this? I don't know. But I think this needs to be said as many times as possible. (Because I love the active Xie Lian)

Sorry🥲 I got a little emotional

[theladyoracle]

I really like your au :D. So feel free to use this ask as an opportunity to lore / Headcanon dump.

AHHHHH! BEST. ASK. EVER!!!! This means so much because like I feel I have barely even scratched the surface of my au on this blog (I have an entire Obsidian dedicated to it and yet I can never figure out how to put it out in text post form ^^")

So basically the entire "plot" of my AU revolves around this idea that every Proxy/resident of the manor are unknowingly committing murder for this ancient sort of like eldritch God. They assume they do the things they do because of the Slenderman, but what they dont know is that Slenderman isn't at the top of the arrangement!

Slenderman is actually an Acolyte for this ancient being, known as the Seer. And the Seer exists within all the land that is the Slender Woods (and beyond)

So far I like to think that Jane and Eyeless Jack are the only two residents of the manor that have somewhat of an idea of what's going on. Like...they don't have a GREAT idea...but somewhat of an idea!

Like Jane is Slenderman's 'right hand man.' They have an interesting relationship, and she doesn't have a lot of time to herself with how busy she is in the mansion. But with what little free time she has, she's trying to unravel the mysteries of this weird reality she's found herself in.

Eyeless Jack is an academic. He's trying to learn all he can about his demonic attributes, and why exactly he is the way that he is. He also feels like the Slenderman is not being honest about his or Lazari's origins. While he does have to tend to the wounds of various residents, he's also noticed the weird nature of the woods, and how sometimes new residents will show up to the manor with odd purple scars... I like to think he has a little lab where he experiments on the weird plants he finds, and where he's compiling all the weird information he finds.

Obviously all the other characters have their little motives and arcs! Like the Proxies (Tim, Brian, Toby, Kate....) are their own separate thing most of the time since they don't live in the manor. They have to face the horrors and reality of the woods with their own eyes!

Honestly I could go on and on about every character! I have so many ideas about Slenderman and Zalgo and their relationship as well, but I dont want this post to be a zillion pages long hehe. I hope this small dump was at least somewhat interesting! :') ahaha

[darkseed-two]

Oh about the feederisation explosion moment death.

I think. Personaly. Dark Seed could have leaned more into the sexual and Giger (thematic) horror. It's the first thing DS1 shows. But then it is kind of Over apart from the bad ending. Sad.

It would be comically out of place with DS2's general tone but idk. Guy probably has some kind of alien brain impregnation trauma, but we don't get to see that facet explicitly iirc.

I suppose I mean that it ends up just being the catalyst, then Mike is just like "damn……… anyway. the battery still works! also I didn't kill anybody."

I'm thinking too much about this stupid funny game and it wouldn't have been the done thing at the time but…… I continue to think anyway.

Unrelated. Have you noted how the dream sequence that in baby head -> mike head -> scargy head -> sküll dream, his head is on the same mount design as the heads on the generator in the sequel. I thought that was mildly interesting.

gonna say this two things real quick before anything else 1) honestly if i had the chance to go back in time and change anything about the darkseed games i probably wouldn't as theyre so perfect in their own garbage way / doing anything to them would give them a different energy. and 2) i am probably going to get SO dark(seed) with what im about to say so please forgive me. that being said lets get down to business (to Defeat. The huns)

read more divider put here because this shit is gonna be looooong

I agree with you 100% about the missed opportunity of the sexual thematics of gigers art being implemented more into the game; as much as i wouldnt want to actually change anything about the game, if somebody told me to go nuts with a remake or something i would absolutely get a little freakier with it

yes! literally 80% of gigers works are abstracted visuals of sexual penetration so its a mystery to me as well that it didn't get more of a focus. They already borrowed the whole forced male pregnancy thing from the Alien movies, so why not just go apeshit? All of the deaths in ds1 dont really have anything to do with those themes (unless you count the library drekketh guard/weird vagina-looking skull creature impaling him in the chest) so. missed opportunity. i think the main reason why they never leaned into that is because they didnt want an X rating. it wouldve killed any chances of making money as pornographic games got hidden behind the counter back then

This next part is long and probably a bit tedious to read so i apologize, but i just.🤷i gotta get my thought process out about this whole thing- mainly the two main takes, the chad "ancients are real" vs the bitchass "mike is just crazy" theories.

If you go with the whole "its all in his head" bullshit, I feel like the first game would imply that he was orally sexually assaulted the first night he moved into the house. & him being like this plain boring straight cis man who does nothing but ad work all day, that shit clearly fucked up his mental health SO bad. Even with the ancients being real, being forcibly impregnated would be just as traumatizing. I know that in the beginning of the game Mike writes it off as a nightmare, but by the time he sets foot in the dark world he HAS to know that somethings wrong. i feel like it left him dumbfounded and unable to grasp the whole situation at the time with how little he says about his fetus "ailment" (mentioning NOTHING about the weird infant doll), especially going off of his final line where he says hes "only beginning to understand". After the events of Ds1, it would only make sense in Ds2 that he would finally process what just happened to him and have a completely and utterly massive mental breakdown right before the start of the game. the question that plagues me about this is who even did that to him if not the ancients? i feel like if it was a person then they did it to him in his own fucking house. Having someone break into your new home to sexually assault you would probably destroy any and all feelings of security Forever. This would also explain his belongings being missing (the movers ""never showing up"") as they could steal his stuff as well. Also, with how they emphasize his sleepiness in the booklet, it feels like the symptoms of rohypnol to me. Did he get drugged somehow & got set up to be assaulted because of the real estate agents "obligation" to the previous owners?

I don't know where he could have been drugged, though, because on that fateful day the last person he interacts with is an old cab driver named Andy, who seems to be plagued with either the ancients energy or the horrors present in town. Mike does not appear to eat or drink anything either in his travel from the airport to the house. Also, Beverly does not show up at the house, and is never mentioned again. If I had to take a guess, I'd say Beverly did show up, and that hes blocking it out of his memory.

He also forgets her name when this happens. I feel like that would further cement that he's blocking out the events of that night + this entire narrative is in the past tense + him forgetting her name at the time could be taken as symbolism of trauma response. I don't think being roofied makes you forget peoples names. but yet again idk maybe. fuck if i know. i feel like what they're actually implying is that beverly was merely a pawn (and the "family" is the ancients), which would blow Ds2's insisting that its all in mikes head completely out of the water. (I noticed that ds1 treats it more like the ancients are actually real - ill elaborate on this later). What this all means for the role of the pills at the end of the game, I don't know. Maybe Mike was secretly FtM all along and sue got him abortion pills or something idfk

I know that 1) john mckeegan is said to be the previous owner, 2) his journals in the game depict that he went through a similar torment to mike (but not impregnated), 3) ultimately ended up dying of a stroke, but this does not explain the weirdness of the real estate agent and the whole transaction if the ancients arent real. Who the fuck inherited the house when mckeegan died? are they actually out of state or is she lying through her teeth? I feel like every little bit of info from this beverly character is complete bullshit lies. the house isnt even in good structual health as players were supposed to fix the staircase in the hallway or mike would eat shit and die from falling (never implemented though). so i wouldn't doubt if she was the one who set him up to get assaulted. was mckeegans family fucking with him too if the ancients dont exist? is mckeegans family actually like this evil fucked up group of nefarious serial killers that hide out somewhere in town pillaging and raping people at night? The ds1 hintbook all make the characters drone on about how its "sooooo SCARY out here from all the MURDERS" but like no one is ever directly mentioned being murdered as far as im aware.

all of them talking up a storm about how its sooooo dangerous in town and how people keep getting murdered makes me feel like they were going for a completely different route with the game initally. I feel they were trying to make it plainly obvious that the ancients are real (more on that in a bit), but with how Ds2 changed everything this could all easily be supporting evidence that there are a lot of nefarious types roaming the streets of this town.

All of this is grounds for very sick and sadistic things you could do to this poor man or the others. texas chainsaw / motel hell / children of the corn type of shit with how vicious these mysterious killers seem to be.

Now, for the opposite "ancients are real" theory; They mention Sue having dreams of Mike asking for help- something thats barely touched upon until right at the very end of the game. Delbert vaguely implies he knows about the ancients when he says "those things" when referring to whatever mckeegan was dealing with. I can't remember where I read this but the cops in ds1 are supposedly under control of the ancients. Also, the whole Beverly situation. As much as I am a major fan of media that has an unreliable narrator angle to it (case in point: one of my favorite films ever is Total Recall 1990), I feel like Ds2 trying to insist that Mike is crazy is a direct spit in not only the players face, but on the original game as well, as Ds1 was very clearly making it out that the ancients were real. In fact, I argue that they opened up the game with that scene and had mike proclaim it as a nightmare to make the players be like Heh. Little Silly Funny Man. That Was Real! and honestly with how much everyone shits all over mike in ds2 (the writers included) it feels meanspirited and frankly ableist to give him a serious mental condition as hes framed as an annoying and pathetic nutjob + gives a completely wrong hollywood-type view of DID & the schizospectrum. Although I cannot deny that it clearly makes Ds1 a lot more interesting. Trying to figure out what would have happened in ""reality"" to him spawns a lot of ground for Nefarious and Evil brainstorming as shown above. I also kind of can't help but project schizoaffective disorder onto him. so. 🤷

For me, I have no lack of imagination for all the possible deaths mike (and co) could experience with these horrific thematics. It would probably not be wise to get into detail on that, though; when i talk about those topics it comes from a fucked up place of lustfully intense hatred and trauma-related suffering & id want to bash anyones head in who would use it as their own masturbation material. Also, just based off of that hilariously random feederism death, you could basically turn any extreme fetish into a death sentence for him. some real tom and jerry slapstick shit. like whatever the fuck was going on when moe howard got inflated and the other two stooges had to shoot him down. use mike as a clay pigeon for a giant harpoon made to look like a schlong or something idk the possibilities are endless 🌈 you can also imagine one of the big biomechanical women getting REALLY mad at mike and stomping him to death with a comically large high heel shoe

for the generator- it is pretty neat to see that reused for it. They also reused it on the far left here on the wall in the DW pool hall -

Im assuming that the Ds2 devs got the idea for the generator from this specific nightmare Mike had in Ds1. What this could mean in symbolic terms, I'm at a loss for right now. My brain juices are sapped up. Its been 3 hours writing this since I sat down and checked my notifications before I was going to watch the tooth fairy staring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and settle in for the night. It is now 1:54 Am and i want french fries from the air fryer. I will post this dangerously without proofreading and leave it for me tomorrow afternoon to fix any mistakes

edit:it fine

[shannonsketches]

hi, im new. do you have any headcanons about ganondorf and dark link. dont worry if not i was just curious

HELLO AND WELCOME

So!! I don't have art for this but I'm so glad you asked, because I love Dark Link but I'm of the unpopular opinion that he is one of the few enemies in the game that Ganondorf really didn't have anything to do with.

I personally love the idea that the magic that formed a reflection of the self is magic that already existed as a security measure within the Water Temple, like an ancient magic of the Zora people. I love 'That's My Reflection But It's Wrong' water/mirror horror, and there's some very interesting philosophy to be had about you having to go back, look closer, and confront one's inner darkness in order to move forward.

In my humble headcanon, Ganondorf doesn't know anything about Dark Link, because my thought process is that the room itself is enchanted to create a dark mirror of you to fight (not unlike the sacred realm reflecting the intentions of its entrant), and that is an ancient defense that predates his traps, so he never would've seen Link's mirror, only his own...which I like to think may have inspired him to create Phantom Ganon.

[saltlickmp3]

wait what is the x files actually about. one time i tried to watch it on a plane but disney plus is a bitch and wouldn't let me download it to my computer and it was the last time i ever used disney plus.

okay so. there's this guy called mulder who's sister got (he thinks) abducted by aliens when they were little & has since then devoted his life to trying to solve the various unexplained phenomena by becoming an fbi agent - the x files in questions are the us governments top secret stuff they dont want the general public knowing about because without fail in the x files universe all of that stuff is, in fact, aliens or mind powers or ancient viruses & shit. everyone else in the fbi thinks he's completely lost it because he believe in All That Stuff even when it seems ridiculous. they assign agent scully, whose a logical rational very intelligent woman & an actual medical doctor, to work with him to try & get him to like. not claim that every unexplained thing was in fact ghosts. unfortunately for them that shit is all real & mulder & scully very quickly get psychosexually obsessed with each other & go through The Horrors every single week. theres like 11 seasons that are all like 25 episodes long & as far as i can tell they just keeping having shit happen to them while they steadfastly dont resolve their sexual tension 😁 yippee