#I'm sort of in love w/ it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrdrhenwardhykle · 1 year

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So basically, if you ask me if I like creepypastas (specifically the game-related ones) my honest answer would be mostly no-but kind of yes? 'No' as in pushing away all the usual gunk (mostly based around Sonic and Sonic influence) that repeats the formula of protagonist is now the bad guy- you play as a cast of three usually made up of player 2's and 3's, minor characters, and/or antagonists; going to the right of the screen until they inevitably die. The rare instance of 'yes' extends out to the non-humorous parodies of older franchises that becomes much more than 'recoloring Sonic.exe by picking another franchise from a hat' or 'angry dead sibling of the player haunts the game' plot; and rather works as a twisted character study of the original plot or gameplay.

eugg so basically this is my study and perspective on the right way to twist a protagonist into a compelling and threatening antagonist/villain

I've got three examples of what I think working character studies look like, and I'll list them off from least violent to the most. Just a warning, the last one gets pretty bad. The first one only has one instance of gore that I know of, and it's not in your face at all.

*Spoilers and gameplay links for all. Feel free to play any of them before reading*

1.(Maybe FW? Slight gore and violence, disturbing) To begin, we'll talk about "Q*Bert Arcade" by Tarkan809 on Gamejolt. The game itself is fairly simple and not too far from home from the original arcade game (As the title might allude to and accidently trick you with). There are noticeable differences that will likely throw the player off, such as the fact that you're playing as one of the enemy Coilies(the snake), and the lack of enemies or atmospheric sound effects in the first stage. It's off and isolated, but not a blaring sign of danger. What really throws the game off is the completion of stage 1, as both the music and screen distort in an unsettling matter. Nonetheless, nothing at this point is added, as the majority of what is seen is edited-or enhanced, if you will, from the original material. There's no blaring red flags like unfitting music from another franchise, or the villain being revealed in the first impression of the title sequence. You are given this atmosphere that is built to remain close to 'normal'- allowing for the small differences to be twice as effective in the creep factor.

From the second level onward, we're introduced to the one new element to the narrative; Q*bert. To my knowledge, the game is just called 'Q*bert Arcade' and not something like Q*bert.exe-as every let's play YouTuber calls it; Q*bert's design isn't the typical addition of predatory features. There's no pitch black eyes with red pupils, there's no sharp teeth or claws (although idk how that would work on Q*bert in the first place). Instead, Q*bert's typical look is enhanced with humanoid-like features, with a soulless expression. You can't really tell it off the bat however, as the same glitch effect does fairly well at hiding his design-whether or not you decide to hide away. While I don't believe that hiding the monster's appearance is a mandatory move, but playing with the fear of the unknown is always unique and effective nonetheless. What I really like about this game is that there's no text appearing out of nowhere and explaining the personality and motives of the character right away.

Despite the presence of the character, it's still staying fairly true to the original material. All you hear from the character is his typical jumbled up text-to-speech voice; not being too off from the original use, but being an affective spook-factor in a different setting.

I also just noticed this, but there's a subtle detail between the first level and when Q*bert shows up; as you may notice that the Coily's expression changes from neutral to worried as soon as the stage turns orange (I think. I don't think I'm seeing things. But if it's not, it's doing its job in making me think I'm seeing things)

The death scenes in the gameplay aren't overly violent or out of character, as the voice and screen just distort severely and restart. There's room for gameplay, and nothing (to my knowledge) is removed in the controls for the sake of the enemy magically catching up. The game ends on a level mostly without Q*bert- only showing up when the player completes their part.

What I like most about the antagonist character is that the writing isn't afraid to show it expression emotions. Though it might sound like I'm constantly bashing on the Sonic.exe character, I'm not- but the tropes the character is always associated with often don't leave much room for anything but what he-and others like him- are usually associated with. By most X is shown to have two emotions; Soulless happy/pleased/amused or soulless angry. Either way, the character more often than not gets his way in the end- so it doesn't effect his choices and mannerisms. Q*bert's emotions-however-effect the plot greatly. There's no overpowered god-like presence- as much as there is a theme of human-like emotion and pettiness. While in his somber mood, Q*bert plays fair with the player- even to the point of jumping off if they manage to hide away in time. He's fast, but works by foot and not random supernatural tendencies.

His human-like nature gets to him by the end of the demo, causing him to angrily throw the Coily in a rage-fit- smashing them against the ground and chewing off the tip of their tail. There's no cheap jump-scares and loud noises. There's also no need for fourth-wall breaks to make sure the player feels threatened. The blood and violence is minimized to just one stroke of action. It's not about cramming in the shock factor- its goal is to simulate a fear of what this arcade game is, what has has happened to it, and what it can become.

To my knowledge, there isn't much of an explanation behind this other than the player is likely a kid in an old arcade that sneaks into the backroom while everyone else is on their phones. Someone said it's based on a creepypasta with a cabinet-man-like premise, but idk if that's true.

I think it's neat nonetheless.

2. (Slight gore, loud scares, and FW) The next example is more of a character study of an alternate universe/route than it is a creepypasta attempting to convince you it's a real thing. Gimmick! (Window's 98 Edition) or 'YUME.EXE' by Diplocaule on Gamejolt appears to be a startling but effective route in making the audience fear the original. Taken side-by-side, YUME.EXE and Gimmick! go alongside similar plotlines. Both introduce the premise beginning on a young girl's birthday, opening the gift of a strange and small creature as her special surprise. In the original route, the girl is thrilled with the gift of Yumetaro-likely favoring them over her old toys and making them jealous.

However, YUME.EXE displays an AU in which the young girl isn't pleased with her special gift- and just places it on her cabinet to catch dust. The once magical abilities and origins of the character are turned against the girl- making it clear that she has made a terrible fiend. The other toys are removed, and she is taken to an unfamiliar world twisted from the original material. The traits of the original protagonist being an attention-loving creature with magical powers allowing it to travel between worlds is an excellent trait to be elaborated further upon in another light. The logic makes sense with the established world, and the motives become clear in perspective.

This time, you play as the girl; trapped in a bleak 3-D void-unsure of what is to happen next. The jealous creature catches up eventually. Text and jump scares are used in this one, but tastefully. The theme is brash and intense- simulating a fear of resentment and anger. A aggressive feeling is established and exposed- like a wound rotting terribly the more the player attempts to search around. While it's 3-D and likely an attempt to simulate realism in the player, the environment isn't pulled out of character at all- as the textures are pixelated. The text urges the girl to go back to where she started, revealing a waiting 'YUMI' crawling out of the darkness to lunge at her. It likely impales her somehow, causing her to fall down while slowly dying. The background changes to its usual happy-theme, simulating a feeling of joy in her death as she slowly bleeds out. After a quick jumpscare, the protagonist role swapes back to 'YUMI' and its usual gameplay style. Going forward, the character stumbles upon the poor girl's body, and slowly begins to smile.

To my knowledge; there's no 'real-life' name drops that set this up as another 'real victim stuck in a game' scenario, but simulating the same fear by implying the hidden pettiness and ironic villainy in an already established character if choices are made differently. In that way, the original route is seen as the best choice, as her original toys are now seen as the far-lesser two evils.

3. (Very violent, loud jumpscares, FW, disturbing) Alright, so Adventure Island.exe by Anomalocalis on Gamejolt is a gory, but great example both adding a themes and setting an AU to the original story, without being too crowded (albeit it is very overwhelming, but intentionally). Both games start of just about the same- not changing until you approach the enemies. For context (to what I understand) the original Adventure Island is a basic platform game, allowing for the player to occasionally pick up random-but-wacky powerups from eggs, such as skateboard gear-or maybe even Fairies. The spoof removes the cartoonish theme and logic, weighing in on the reality of man becoming a destructive menace in nature -possessed or not. Beginning the game, the narrative establishes personality points by showing the enemies fleeing as soon as the player comes to the screen. The gameplay is slower, and almost simulating a destructive weight that the original Higgins didn't have before. The first red flags aren't scares or glitches, but rather just key detail changes in the enemies behavior. Also another detail is that the points do nothing, but I'm not sure what that could mean other than maybe a theme of gluttony?...

Again, the realistic behaviors in the character set in an expectedly unrealistic environment brings a subtle unsettling feeling, even if when the scares aren't happening.

The level comes to an end, and the mechanism of the egg is finally teased. Going further and collecting the egg, a spirit emerges and potentially possesses Higgins. Themes of Higgins playing along with long awaited tribal rituals and sacrifices is brought to the narrative, as an unnamed narration encourages him to explore it further. This could symbolize man's nature to destroy, establish, and obtain power over the value of life. We often have a natural habit to find gods to praise, or even go as far to attempt to become one. This theme seems very prominent in this character study- as seeing how the original material works off of a semi-implied civilized man (assuming from the ballcap) fighting off wildlife in the jungle.

The game restarts, beginning the second act. The title shows once again, but with the subtle animation of Higgin's face changing and smiling upon the player. The cult-like affirmations towards Higgins are seen again just before the level starts. The level doesn't require anything more than to go forward. Higgins is slow and silently fuming behind the shadows. Enemies flee, but are destroyed by the touch. Likely because of his choice, life is easier- lessening the need for platforms and jumping. However, because of this, he begins to lose his humanity.

A sacrifice is demanded, and he does so by capturing and violently smashing to death one of the fairies. Furthering the power requires no love or remorse, likely being something replaced by asserting authority.

This act likely ends with the 'power' killing him with no pay-off, despite what is promised. He's no longer in the menu. Heaven no longer has its goal or purpose, and is described as something he personally has to obtain-likely through his violent means. The game resumes normally until it ends in a jumpscare. Perhaps displaying that his standards of killing have no exception on another human.

Rather than a playful spoof, or alternate set of choices queuing in the butterfly effect; Higgin's personality is fleshed out by inserting some new elements; displaying a semi-accurate depiction of the narrative, and showing the protagonist submitting to the natural human urge to indulge and assert power over those below them.

Summary: When writing your spook spoof, remember to play with elements that compliment and explore each character; rather than just resorting to what everybody else did, or what's going to create the most shock factor.

(Also, keep this in mind; Sonic.exe is going to work for Sonic because it's often a play on 'what if the fastest thing alive wasn't on the good side'. Doing the exact same thing to, eh-idk, Kirby isn't going to work because speed isn't an element that makes Kirby threatening...) (That I know of. You would go with the fact that he eats people and gains their power, I assume....)

K. Hope my ramblings help out somebody at some point. Anyways, have a great day/night!

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gncrezan · 8 months

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thoroughly enjoying @infamous-if so here's sketchdump of my post-read doodles before i run through it once again!!!!!!!!!

#p2 seven and aki are singing simple season h/ippo campus :)#slash is only in there so i dont clog the main band tag up !! i love them dearly i listened to lp3 drawing these #esp bc boys. is such a song for him .#infamous #infamous if #akihiro yasumi #seven lawless #there are more people here but i am not strong enough to tag everyone. sorry #also please don't be fooled by what looks like me leaning towards seven. aki is about to pipebomb all his relationships #mostly by flirting w anything that moves and being the most sagittarius man of ALL TIME!!!!!#also im enjoying his stage name w regards to his backstory #akihiro wanting to keep his private life as private as possible bc he believes there is like #a persona that he has to project as a singer. and it should be his love for the craft that his fans see #also akihiro: and i will make my stage name quite literally mean empty house in japanese #'somebody FOLLOW ME i'm DISTRAUGHT' sort of energy #my art #edit: adjusted the picture just slightly cause i realised exported it odd...

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sergle · 1 month

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I noticed you weren't posting much for a while, you seem more active now adays and I hope you're doing okay! Say hi to Hugo!

omg... I appreciate the concern!! I'm not great but I am feeling better rn than I have been, and do not currently have a gun in my hand. also Hugo says hi back.

#that picture is from just today btw this is how he Gazes at me #I love this man. more than any man or dog I have ever met in my life #but yeah no it's been really bad for a really long time #I actually went off my meds like. not tapering just cold turkey quit them #a couple weeks ago or so and have been feeling better since then. so.#don't know what that means. but I'm not on suicide watch atm so it's whatever #sergle answers #that's more info than you probably needed but I'm just very impressed w the observation about me being sort of Back At It Again

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catzgam3rz · 1 year

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I would like to thank the Witch Craft SMP for gifting me a reason to draw Ihascupquake fanart in the year of our lord 2023

#rambles #my art #mcyt #witchcraft smp #wcsmp #ihascupquake #ihascupquake fanart #*points gun* ALL OF YOU APPRECIATE TIFFANY QUAKE THIS INSTANT ITS AN ORDER #THAT RIGHT THERE IS MY MINECRAFT MOM AND ON OF THE REASONS I DRAW TO THIS DAY I LOVE HER #anyways omg hiii blockmen art? from aj catzgam3rz? who'da thunk!#i love her outfit and ALL OF THE WITCHES OUTFITS??? THEY ALL LOOK SO COOL???#i wanna watch peoples intros and then draw more of them because it makes my brain go brrrr :)#oh also colours subject to change! but I enjoy this as like a starting point :D also the flowers are inspired by Peonies!#idk if I got close enough to call them peonies but thats what I was looking at!#also accidentally maybe implied a starborne!Tiff with this design? In my Heart of Hearts she's some sort of Fae creature but maybe both :0?#okay okay ranting over but i am serious if you are interested please consider ihascupquakes pov :D #she is probably one of the most fundamentally influential content creators I engaged with as a kid #and she is still so entertaining and sweet ;w;#I'm suddenly really worried that the ref I was using was too dark for the teal?? because the thumbnail looks brighter >:/?

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queenlucythevaliant · 1 year

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Once, Always

(Edmund has an abundance of birthdays)

“I say,” murmured Edmund sleepily as the fire burned low. “When do you suppose it is here? I mean—what time of year? Do you think it’s the beginning of September, the same as it was in England?”

“Summer,” said Lucy. “Certainly summer.”

Peter agreed. “I think it must be Highgrass, if I had to guess. Perhaps later. Greenroof?”

“If it’s Greenroof, then Edmund gets another birthday,” Lucy sighed. “Eleven or twelve, Ed?”

“Neither,” put in Susan. “A thousand, if you’re going to rationalize it that way. Now everyone hush, please, and get some sleep.”

Edmund’s birthday was the fifteenth day of Greenroof by the Narnian reckoning. Greenroof, late summer, when all the leaves were dark and broad. Narnian summers were long, but Greenroof was the last and best of the summer months. Greenroof was hunts through the dense foliage, blackberries heavy with juice, lazy afternoons, bonfires, wild romps, and the pleasant kind of sweat. Edmund’s birthday celebrations were always held on Dancing Lawn in the old days: the sort of long, laughter-bright nights that summer was made for.

The second time Edmund celebrated his eleventh birthday, it was just past three months since he and his siblings had returned home from the country. Their house was glass-strewn and battered, but still standing when they arrived home. By August it was beginning to feel really safe again, but sometimes Edmund still woke in the night to find his mother standing silent in the doorway, drinking in the sight of her two sons returned to her.

The professor sent one of Ivy’s famous spice cakes for Edmund’s birthday. It arrived tied in red string, which made Lucy reminisce fondly about dear Mr. Tumnus. Edmund’s siblings pooled their allowances to buy him the new Nero Wolfe detective novel, and his mother gave him a new cap and an electric torch.

“How do you feel?” his mother asked over dinner.

“I don’t feel any older, if that’s what you mean,” he said. “Eleven feels just the same as ten did yesterday.”

All four of them missed their birthdays the first year in Narnia. Too much else was going on at the time, and none of them was quite sure when their birthdays were supposed to be besides. The measurement of time was a thoroughly tangled issue.

The Narnian year had four hundred days even, divided into fourteen months of inconsistent lengths. Furthermore, the kingdom had only known winter for the last hundred years. The Narnians themselves were still remembering how the calendar worked in a world where the seasons changed. They didn’t have the words yet to explain it to their sovereigns.

“Eustace,” said Edmund, “your journal is wrong.”

“Give me that,” Eustace scowled at once. “I know it’s wrong, but there’s no need to rub my face in it. Aren’t I trying to make up for how I was?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. The month is wrong. You’ve got September written here, but time works differently in Narnia than it does in the Other Place. Haven’t you noticed that it’s summer, not autumn?”

“Oh.” Eustace shrugged. “I followed Occam’s Razor and assumed that the climate here was different rather than time itself.”

“Occam’s what?” This was Lucy.

“Occam’s Razor: the simplest solution to a problem is the most likely—never mind. Well, go on, what month is it?”

“Highgrass,” said Lucy.

“July,” said Edmund at the same moment. “More or less.”

They worked it all out one afternoon as the second spring of their reign was ending. Peter and Susan wrote out the English calendar on one stack of parchment while Edmund and Lucy sat down with the Narnian calendar and penciled in seasonal markers as best they could manage.

“The first crocuses came up right at the end of Cleardome, yes?”

“Yes, I think so. And the snowdrops were in their full glory that month too.”

“How do you want to deal with leap year?”

“Just forget about it. Narnia doesn’t have anything similar, so I think twenty-eight days for February is fine for our purposes.”

“Magnolia in Laceveil, yes?”

“Laceveil is a good marker in general. We ought to set that as May and go from there.”

Birthdays were guesses, no matter how much counting they did. Yet as memories of England receded and Narnia’s world blossomed into everything they knew, those guesses solidified into fact. Edmund turned eleven for the first time on the fifteenth day of Greenroof. He was the first of his siblings to celebrate a proper birthday in Narnia.

The fourth time Edmund turned twelve, he received another electric torch to replace the one he’d lost. He laughed for half a minute, holding that gift in his hand.

“Really, you should have expected it,” said Susan primly.

"I did."

Their mother tsked and added something about keeping track of one’s belongings, but that was alright. His siblings understood.

Edmund flicked on the light and watched the beam land on the far wall across the living room. Bright at the edges and dark towards the center where the bulb was. He moved his wrist sideways and watched the spot of light follow.

Edmund might have forgotten about his birthday aboard the Dawn Treader if Lucy hadn’t remembered. She conspired with the cook to have a spread of Edmund’s favorite foods at supper (such as could be managed at sea) and coerced Rynelf into playing jigs on his fiddle afterwards. While they were dancing, Caspian called for a cask of his best wine, and soon the ship’s whole company was making merry like only Narnians could.

“Didn’t you have a twelfth birthday the last time you were in Narnia?” Caspian asked curiously as the party was dying down.

“Yes,” Edmund replied, “and the time before that too. Confused yet?”

“Ed has all the luck,” Lucy pouted playfully. “We always seem to return to Narnia in the summer, so he gets all the extra birthdays.”

Caspian's face lit up. “How extraordinary! When’s yours then?”

“Cleardome. There’s a year and a half between Ed and me, and he never lets me forget it.”

“It’s really not as exciting as all that,” Edmund added. “We’re not living our lives backwards, or unstuck in time, or any such nonsense. It’s more like—our lives are folded in on themselves, you see? But never the same way twice.”

“I think it’s more like music than anything else,” Lucy said, a kind of fond wistfulness in her voice.

“Yes,” said Edmund. “I know what you mean.”

On the thirteenth of Greenroof, the Telmarines laid down their arms and surrendered to Old Narnia. The next day, messengers were sent forth across the land with news of the surrender and with terms for the Telmarines. Caspian’s coronation followed, and then Edmund woke and it was his birthday again.

Breakfast that morning was long and languid, for Peter and Susan knew that they must say farewell to Narnia, even if the younger ones did not. They lingered round the table with Caspian and Trumpkin and the rest, and presently Peter offered a toast.

“To my brother King Edmund, who is eleven and twelve and sixty-three and thirteen hundred years old today.”

Everyone raised their cups and repeated, “King Edmund.” Caspian nodded and added, “Long live the king,” with an almost ironic tilt to his head.

Naturally, Edmund nodded back. “And to you, King Caspian. Long may you reign.”

Another round of assent followed, and then Lucy cleared her throat. “But also,” she said, “To late summer and the rebirth of Our Narnia. And to the land, the sea, the hills, the trees, the sky, Cair Paravel-by-the-sea and Dancing Lawn and all the flowers that are still in bloom. And to the color green. To all of us here today, and to those who are gone. And to Aslan.”

“Here, here.”

There were tears in Susan’s eyes now. “Happy birthday,” she whispered, and squeezed Edmund’s hand tight. Edmund looked down at his plate, fiercely overcome with love for this place and these people. In a strict, chronological sense, it had been less than a month since his last birthday, but how did the saying go? Time was just a tangled string, or falling snow, or whatever else Aslan told it to be.

“Bother,” said Edmund, “I’ve left my new torch in Narnia.”

Everyone chuckled at this, but Susan said, “Wait a year. We’ll get you a new one for your next birthday.”

#Edmund has a late August birthday #which means that Lucy's must be early in the year if 'really there was only a year between them' holds #AND we still choose to go with the birth years from Jack's timeline #and idk i just really love the idea of the Pevensies repeating their birthdays and just kinda reflecting on it #not in an angsty 'adults in kids bodies' way (ugh)#but just in a sort of 'huh. what a neat opportunity to think about #who i am and who i've been and who i'm becoming' kind of way #that pulls out the growing up themes from the series and examines them #idk i hope that's what i've done here #this is a veeeeerrrrry loose re-write of a really old middle school piece about Lucy having multiple eleventh birthdays #it just makes more sense if it's Edmund given the setup with Prince Caspian #anyway #narnia #the traitor who mended #leah stories #pontifications and creations #working on crossposting to ao3 (hopefully w/i the hour)

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sparky-is-spiders · 9 months

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I can accept basically any trans/nb reading of Jon however my personal favorites are transmasc Jon who transitioned physically and socially as early as possible and just never mentioned it to anyone cause it wasn't any of their business OR Jon being the most repressed transfem/nb in existence. They'll be talking about gender or whatever and Jon will be like "it's normal to feel totally disconnected from your gender all the time and also vaguely want boobs. That's just a guy thing I think." only for whoever they're all talking to to go "wtf no?? It's not????"

#please don't make this about j//mart or martin #only jon reading I can't accept is cis #sorry I just don't see it #idk might just be projection #but I think jon has really complicated feelings about gender that they don't know how to articulate #and they're also super private so they just. never mention it.#actually love literally any depiction of jon where they had a super wild personal life (band/mechs!jon punk!jon w/e) that they don't think #is important to mention ever. but occasionally they'll drop some random detail completely casually and then not understand why everyone els #is confused #like. I think jon's childhood probably wasn't super wild beyond the mr spider stuff #and once they started working at the institute I think they tried to lean really really hard into the boring respectable academic aesthetic #but I think uni jon was either the most dull shut-in workaholic OR doing really weird shit between classes with no inbetween #look I have a lot of jonthoughts ok?#anyway I think it's plausible that uni!jon was briefly non-repressed #actually adding to that: jon likes to break in to places to Investigate Them is practically canon to me.#ok anyway sorting tags. yeah I'm maintagging my jon mental illness #jon sims #jonathan sims #tma #the magnus archives #trans jon sims #trans jonathan sims #edit to add my new jon gender tag #jonder

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brittlebutch · 7 months

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finding a character that grates against your nerves and eventually thinking, well, that's not fair, you haven't done anything; why do i dislike you? and then you dwell on this for a while and discover 'oh! you are like me when i was younger' and decide well, i'll simply learn how to love the both of you. power in this.

#N posts stuff #'what are you talking about?' fuck if i know.#but also i'm talking about penny from 'the 7' -- nosy little control freak determined to find Some foothold into Every conversation #it's interesting bc sometimes when i watch i'm like 'this character is played on the Border of metagaming' but the more i think abuot it #the less it Feels like metagaming bc penny Genuinely seems Exactly like the kind of person who just Is That Determined to be #some level of involved in Every situation; 'yeah i know that show you were in' 'Yeah i was listening into this scene from a different hall'#equal parts her being a Rogue character to her core AND her borderline pathological need for control in Every situation #w/ None of the social grace needed to temper this impulse into something more broadly 'palatable' -> very autistic to me in a way #'i don't Get It but if i'm Always Right then that's good bc it's Bad to be Wrong so i just have to Know Everything so that i'm Never Wrong'#or like 'no i don't understand the Rules right but if i can just Be In Charge of the Situation at all times then i'm the one domineering #where this is going and how it unfolds; like if i'm in charge i understand That at least so i will just Always be in charge'#and sometimes this starts fights with your friends and they call you a freak for it and you're like 'hm. i don't know what's going on #but if You said it and You Get People then you must be right so. i will alter this immediately' but penny doesn't have that interaction #because her friends are just like 'yeah i love you And that batshit way of interacting with the world that you embody' and there is a #temptation of sorts to be like 'penny you HAVE to stop that; you NEED to learn that lesson please' but then like. hm. does she?#much to think about. i don't interact w/ people enough anymore for this to impact my interactions with real people lol #but it Is interesting to peel apart a fictional character and find a Younger You in there. i can change how i think about Them at least

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ectonurites · 6 months

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SUPER DARK TIMES (2017) DIR KEVIN PHILLIPS

#tragically had to skip the 'are you afraid of me' exchange i love at the start bc. this scene is Long #super dark times #josh templeton #zach taylor #sam edits #btw i'm firmly in the 'Josh didn't kill John' camp. bc to me THIS scene is the point that... makes the most sense as Josh's breaking point/#'villain turn' if that's what you'd want to call it. because this is really when Josh... sort of 'officially' loses Zach. from early on in #the movie it becomes clear how much Zach is like... an anchor for him—the way Josh is just fucking *chanting* his name in distress during #the Daryl accident. The way Josh begs Zach to believe him that it was an accident. The way Josh turns to Zach for answers/clarity/direction #Like even if we want to take a cynical approach and think of it as Josh just latching onto Zach in the Daryl situation because he was There #rather than that being an established thing w/ them... in the aftermath of that same incident Josh is still looking to/depending on him!#Josh self isolates at first... but after they talk & Zach tells him they shouldn't act weird Josh goes back to school. (yes #he lashes out there because He's Dealing With The Crushing Guilt but *all* of 'em are acting off then—Charlie specifically calls attention #to the idea they all probably are) Josh goes to the party just like Zach said they should and is *visibly confused* when Zach seems mad to #see him there. He goes to Zach's house to talk and you can SEE how caught off guard he is by what Zach says. Even though the script version #of this scene is VERY different from the final version I do think this one bit of description from it is... insightful: 'Josh seems sincere #almost vulnerable. But Zach is too focused to see it.' LIKE in this scene Zach is already convinced Josh has lost it! He's trying to act #more neutral about it (claiming they could just 'draw a line') but we saw his phone call with Charlie. Because of his own guilt-fueled #paranoia—something shown pretty clearly through the assorted dream sequences and like tht scene of him walking in the hall hearing people #gossip about Daryl—it seems like everything lines up too well! that '*of course* it's Josh and what if it's *been* Josh all along and well #then the role *I* played in the situation really isn't *my* fault because it was all *Josh* and...' etc. even if that's more subconscious #But like... this scene is really when it hits Josh! from the moment he asks if Zach's afraid of him now like... there's a shift. although #Zach says he isn't... i mean he fucking stumbles on the word 'afraid' (like... he hangs on the 'f' sound a moment too long to sound natural #its very subtle but like Noticeable). But Josh sees right through him. Zach doesn't trust him anymore. Zach thinks he's the bad guy. the #monster. Josh feeling like he lost the last person he had in his corner feels like the most realistic thing to... push him over the #edge. like that's a compelling tragedy to me—the idea that these two poorly coping with the Daryl situation in these separated ways where #they *aren't* talking/communicating ends up CREATING the feedback loop that makes everything get worse and worse.#But for that to be the case... it wouldn't make sense for Josh to have just randomly killed John before this scene. I think it's a more #interesting story if certain things really ARE just coincidences but it's that Zach's paranoia won't let him see that 🤷

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moe-broey · 1 year

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I'm SO obsessed with them.

After this I believe they are both equally as unhinged as the other, just opposite ends of a spectrum about it HAHAHAHAHA

Also...

More micro organisms.............. (FAVE PANEL TBH LOOK AT THEM)

#fire emblem #feh #I LOVE THEM BOTH. SO MUCH. SO DEARLY #i'm SO obsessed w how alfonse just. really did go 'i'm not doing that.' and made sharena deal w it HAHAHAHA #little exchanges like these really makes them shine as siblings i think! they're both so funny LMFAO 🥺#AND SHARENA. HER UNMATCHED WLW SWAG. SHE'S TOO POWERFUL #also if you haven't played the recent chapter don't let my comic deceive you.#it does sort of look like al is telling sharena what to do in that panel where they're whispering to each other #but no. al was just reminding her of some advice. essentially a riddle. sharena did that all on her own.#THE POTENTIAL THOUGH.... of goofy sibling antics..... deploy the more outgoing and conventionally cutesy one to achieve A Goal #i really do love how it feels like sharena has been playing bigger roles/has more agency lately 🥺🥺#it absolutely feels more like she and alfonse are a team now. instead of just tagging along.#not to mention it feels shari really has been growing into her own!#carefully considering her position and what she wants for herself... seeming more focused and resolved....#ough. finally. intsys is being nice to her 🫡🥲#sharena #fe alfonse #fe nerthuz #my art

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welcometoteyvat · 1 year

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need xiao and kujou sara to meet asap btw.

- golden winged peng vs winged tengu (whose wings, incidentally, were damaged when she received her vision...)

- both dedicate their lives to their archons

- separated from the society (mortals, Inazuman troops/Tengou Commission) they were brought up in because of certain factors (karma, status as adopted child and tengu)

perhaps they’d understand each other. maybe they’d know what it’s like—an existence as a god’s right hand, and everything it entails. their eyes meet, gold on gold; they know: this person might only understand half of me but that's half more than anyone else. what’s it like to serve a god so deeply—what do you sacrifice and how does it remake you? sara believes that her vision was granted by the raiden shogun, saving her, and thus dedicates herself to carrying out the will of thunder across the land. xiao receives his new name from morax, and in return, agrees to protect liyue for however long it will need. sara’s wings, injured, as she falls off the mountain—alatus, lacking his golden wings, the bloodhound of that unknown god.

#theyre also really attached to rex lapis/raiden shogun merch btw xiao definitely has enough dragon plushies to match sara's collection of St #Statues of Her Excellency，the Almighty Narukami Ogosho， God of Thunder #anyways what i'm saying is that they should talk and maybe sort out their traumas bc they can see themselves in the other person #btw theyre also both cold/indifferent on the outside but gentle/passionate on the inside. i love characters who are mirrors #also the diff between x and ks is that liyue didn't have shitty archon q writing am i right or am i right #that was a half joke but god... unsure how i feel about sara's characterization wrt agency and what went down in inazuma in general rip #xiao #kujou sara #genshin impact #teyvat thoughts #genshin xiao #sara is one of the three 4* i still don't have so i didn't know she got fucking scolded for just playing w the soldiers as a kid until i sea #searched it up and #bro what the fuck. what the fuck. kujou takayuki im going to kill you

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keeps-ache · 7 months

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trying to get my creative gears running again !!

#art #my art #artists on tumblr #digital art #oc #doodles #pink space #blue space #not a zip file #blagh blagh! hello it's me :D #i think i'm in some sort of rut rn.. workin on it though >:3 #//i REALLY love this shading method!!#solid cell-shading is vv nice but this feels so much more fun to me lol :>#//i keep waking up w/ like headaches and if i don't wake up with a headache then i get it only a couple hours waking up which kinda sucks ?#no idea what's up with that man. and it's just a Liiiittle bit annoying ykno what i mean #and it's screwing with my focus !! not cool dude. not cool #this has been going on for. some days now but i dunno i dunno lol #//also i wanna work on these three projects but i!! keep getting overwhelmed with How Much i absolutely WANT to do #system overload! so i end up sitting around with nothing to do for like. a thousand hours hfbsh #//BY THE WAY i helped make tartar sauce the other day and i'm v pleased with that feat :DD #it tasted good!#i did something else the second day after that but i forget loll #//okay now i'm going to try to do. something hsbfvhsb #/8 posts to 2000 !! >:33

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drainbangle · 10 months

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wait omg i’m curious about your unpopular thoughts about temenos writing wise.. i love when people discuss octopath writing it’s really enriching to see what we all have to say about certain story elements. plus you’re like a temenos representative to me. your thoughts about temenos make me go “so true!”

Aw, thank you! It took a while for me to decide on what to write here, since honestly I could go on for… frankly any aspect of this guy, especially in regards to treatment in fanon. But for now, I'll focus on my thoughts regarding how people treat tragedy in Temenos' story— namely, Crick's death— and why I personally dislike it as a writing decision and why I disagree with the idea that it is necessary.

Note: Goes without saying, but this is my personal opinion. If you believe otherwise, then that's all good. I'm not writing this to say that any one person is wrong, just to talk about an issue I have with the game's writing itself.

To start, I'll say that my main reason for disliking Crick's death in SH route is a matter of practicality. Killing him off causes Temenos to lose the main person that he had a fantastic relationship and banter with, and in my opinion, Temenos works best when he's bouncing off another person; not unlike most under the Sherlock-archetype.

Also, genuinely? It works wonders to keep Crick alive, if just because it provides a fantastic avenue to explore Temenos' institutional trauma. Having a character that's lived a different experience but within the same harmful institution opens up ways to explore the scope of its harm. And yes, this is for Crick specifically; not Ort, not the travelers, but Crick.

I think it really adds something that Temenos was raised by the church while Crick converted as a teenager during a really difficult time in his life. These two are good for each other. Crick sure as hell makes it a lot easier to write Temenos in fic.

(If you have a different experience, again, that's cool. I'm glad for you. I, however, will never fail to take the easy way out.)

(This is a lie, I'm over here making up fantasy church law for fic stuff but that's not related to this answer.)

I won't pretend that disliking Crick's death is an unpopular opinion. I mean, "Stormhail Fix-it" is an entire genre of fic on the OT2 Ao3 tag. What I do feel tends to go unaddressed though, is the fact that the idea that Crick's death is canon, therefore it is necessary, therefore it is the best decision; an idea that I wholeheartedly disagree with.

Within the text itself, Crick is killed off in order to give Temenos a personal reason to pursue Kaldena, thus putting him at odds with Kaldena's motivations being driven by her ideology and worldview that, "because humans committed the massacre, it was the gods' mistake to put us here". I also won't pretend that Kaldena's writing here isn't fucking awful, because Crick's death is also a device to make the player want Kaldena defeated even though she is just as much as a victim of the church; and that's to say nothing of her portrayal as an indigenous and dark-skinned woman.

These decisions are ones I disagree with. Killing Crick off was unnecessary to give Temenos reason to pursue the culprit, because Temenos already had someone close to him killed; and that's Pontiff Jörg. He raised Temenos from infancy, but due to the lack of focus on him outside of banter conversations, it's never relevant to his motivations outside of the desire for truth because a crime was committed.

We also didn't need to kill Crick off to show that the church was a terrible institution, because Roi already went missing in action. The Sacred Guard is the main body of law within Eastern Solistia, it's not unreasonable to think that the reason why Temenos dislikes them is because they clearly didn't do shit to investigate his disappearance.

However, one thing I really don't agree with is the idea that Crick's death is necessary because Temenos' story is a tragedy. And if you asked me why, I'd ask this in turn: why is death the only form of tragedy? Furthermore, why must a tragedy contain only tragic events? That in mind, what gives anything value in a tragedy, then?

Pretend we cannot completely rewrite Temenos' story. Even then, changing Crick's death to a permanent injury, a coma, or whatever is still a tragic event; and that's nothing to say of living with the consequences. Isn't losing your faith a tragedy? Isn't losing something you worked for years to do a tragedy?

Similarly, I'd still argue that it's more valuable to make Stormhail a near-death experience because not only does it show Temenos succeeding in making someone question the church but also the terror that is feeling like you're doomed to repeat tragedy. Even if you really aren't, it's hard to dismiss that feeling; especially when it has to do with being victimized by institutions.

And before someone says, "but bad things happen to good people in real life", I'm not treating these characters as living, breathing people who are subject to things like gravity, hunger, and exhaustion. I'm treating them as choices, and choices made that I disagree with.

It's why I make different choices. I choose to make Crick have to deal with chronic pain onwards. I choose to make Temenos realize change is still possible. I choose to let them both leave Stormhail alive. Are these better choices? I don't know. But I'll never stop questioning the ones made by the writers regardless; much less stop disagreeing with them.

So, in summary: I dislike Crick's death. I dislike Temenos having to spend the rest of the story without someone he can talk to so easily because Crick's absence weakens a lot of his scenes in Temenos 4. But more than that, I dislike the idea that tragedy is necessary on top of the idea that it is superior. Tragedy's good, I adore the genre; but written in mindful doses and all that.

#ty sm for the ask!! i'm sorry it took so long to get to but i really wanted to like. get my thoughts sorted since there's sm i'd talk abt #i had fun writing this out. it also really helped to get my feelings on SH down on paper bc *man* i got thoughts on the last half of #temenos' story. along w/ how it does hurt his writing that it's not even fully resolved till endgame #um. again if anyone disagrees then cool. but this is just my thoughts on the matter and all that #also i did get kinda... harsh towards the game near the end but it goes w/o saying i say all that bc i love the game sm #i absolutely would not dedicate this much energy to smth i didn't care about and i'm glad for the opportunity to talk abt it haha #bestomato #telegram #8path tag #octopath 2 spoilers #also i def have more to say abt dena but again we'd be here Forever if i did. head full of thoughts on temenos' story OTL

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outismm · 3 months

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OUTIS send help, Doctor Who is the gift that keeps on giving 😭😭😭 i thought the Toymaker would be the end of it but folks in my Toymaker server made a few jokes about Six. and i had -no idea- about what kind of character Six is. holy FUCK i am in LOVE with this pompous, arrogant asshole 😖💖💖💖💖 he's so cute!!!!! so abrasive!!!! so......PASSIONATE!!!!!! i didn't know he was such a freak!!!! yes yes yes please do rewatch his era because i'm doing it for the first time and having a blast 😂💖

yes,,,, YYYYEEESSSSS. This is perhaps the best development that could have happened. I need you to know how quickly I scrambled downstairs like some sort of Ghoul to try and find the old boxsets and AUGHE!!!!

I FORGOT WHAT AN ABSOLUTE CHARACTER HE IS!!!

He's got such an incredible amount of drama and charisma and wild-eyed charm inside of him, I can't believe how this man has slipped to the back of my mind for so long. Even outside of his borderline regeneration-induced-mania during his first storyline, he's just. such a delight. Colin Baker is having the time of his life delivering every line, and you can TELL

Look at him - what's not to love?

Also, this isn't directly related to our dear multicoloured man, but - thank you for giving me an excuse to Stare Affectionately at Classic Who! There are so many of those delightful quirks and silly set-pieces you can only really find in early 70s-80s sci-fi, sprinkled all throughout, I just,,, ah <3333 it has been so long

OKIE IM RAMBLING BUT >:) EHEHE I cannot wait to see you slip further and further into Doctor Who Fevers. Come yell with/at me anytime, I love seeing ppl experience Classic Who and all the wonderfully wild things it has to offer

#I FORGOT HOW SNIPPY AND SARCASTIC HE WAS POST-REGEN #I MEAN HE ALWAYS IS TO SOME DEGREE BUT ESPECIALLY SO RIGHT AFTER....#“that's three 'I's in one breath - makes you sound a rather /egotistical/ young lady” SIXXXXXX <3333 #I do also love Peri being like '>:( god-DAMN you're ugly and old and mean' RIGHT OFF THE /BAT/ AMSDNASMND #AND HIM BEING LIKE 'clearly im having some sort of breakdown. I need to become. a hermit'#STAR I AM SPINNING AROUND W/ U IN A FIELD. HAPPY DAYS ALL AROUND.#I know 6's run is controversial bc he's a lot more arrogant but tbh. so far I'm having a lot of fun. Batting my lashes at him.#call him a showpony because I'm going to ride h- <- outis is forcefully dragged away #I think I only really watched 6 w/ my nan so the memories are more sparse than some of the other docs #a bit more familiar w/ 4th bc he was around for 17234823 billion years (affectionate)#but AUGH <3!!! SIX!!! HE IS SUCH A GOOD TIME!! I'M ENJOYING RE-DISCOVERING HIM SO VERY MUCH!!#also the background music is so good??? like the music in The Twin Dilemma is amazing?? that little musical sting??#I can't remember if it's like that all throughout this season but AUGH <33 Classic Who you never let me down #I also love his little gestural quirks. whenever he fiddles behind his ear I feel my heart go <333333 MANSDMSAN #ANYWAYS ANYWAYS. outis rambles in the tags. an extremely expected development MNASDMAN #OKIES GOOBIE. STAR HAVE SO MUCH FUN.#doctor who #sixth doctor

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