#i like the fact that hes a deeply complex and twisted person because of his trauma and sorrow

[soapyghostie]

Hey! Absolutely random request, but imagine reader being a tired person that out of wounds and stress they just fall asleep when they're being carried, about to go on a hook. How would the dbd killers(any, really) react?

Like, imagine. Being carried, without anything under legs can already make someone sleepy if they don't have adrenaline pumped through their veins. Plus, i know that having wounds(aka blood loss) can make people very tired.

Since this request it a little vague, I decided to get a little creative with it and wrote some angst because I’m a sucker for angst with dad slashers (except Frank is your big brother in this request). 😭 Hope you enjoy!

The Ghost Face/Danny Johnson

Danny would be confused at first, bloodlust still kicking through his veins even after killing all our teammates as he carries you, his injured daughter, to the hook (Sorry (Y/N), he’s just doing his job. No hard feelings). He’ll pause for a moment, trying to process the fact that you feel asleep on his shoulder.

As he realizes that you fell asleep due to exhaustion and stress from your wounds, Danny’s demeanor would soften and his parental instincts within him kicks in. He’ll gently adjust you in his arms from being thrown over his shoulder to being carried bridal style, ensuring that you’re comfortable even as he still proceeds to hook you. 

Seeing you in such a vulnerable state would stir up a lot of internal conflict in Danny. He’s torn between his role as a merciless killer and his love for you as his daughter as he hesitates to sacrifice you to the Entity. Danny’s had a lot of bad performances in trials lately and he really needs the 4K. However, to get the 4K he needs to sacrifice you. Of course it has to be you: the Entity is so cruel. 

As to not get punished by the Entity, sadly, Danny will throw you onto the hook. Danny would feel a pang of remorse and sadness. He knows that he’s the cause of your pain and exhaustion, and seeing you in such a vulnerable state serves as a painful reminder of the life he’s subjected you to. He silently reflects on his actions and their consequences. He’ll gaze at your sleeping form dangling from the hook, grappling with the complexities of his emotions and the choices he made. 

Despite his conflicted emotions, Danny remains committed to his role in the Entity’s twisted game. However, Danny’s determination to protect you remains unwavering. He’ll play the Entity’s game and continue this dark path as a killer if it means to ensure your safety as he doesn’t want you to be harmed as a result of his shortcomings… 

The Legion/Frank Morrison

Frank would be initially shocked and panicked to see you, his younger sister, in such a vulnerable state. Despite his tough ‘bad boy’ exterior, he deeply cares about you and seeing you hurt triggers his protective instincts. 

The sight of you falling asleep from exhaustion and stress while carrying you to the hook fills Frank with anger and frustration. He’ll curse under his breath, feeling powerless to protect you and frustrated with the situation at hand. First off, your god damn heavy after going unconscious and, secondly, he has no choice but to hook you due to the amount of failed trials he’s had lately to try and please the Entity. 

Despite his anger, Frank, also like Danny, would feel a sense of inner conflict. On one hand, he wants to lash out at the Entity for throwing her into a trial with him, but on the other hand, he knows he has to get the 4K by hooking you so you end up safe and sound at the survivor camp instead of the agony the Entity threatened to put you through if he didn’t start stepping it up in trials. You’re the reason he has the strength to keep going in this awful, twisted game of cat and mouse. 

Frank would grapple with the feeling of guilt and responsibility for your condition. As your older brother, he feels entitled to preventing you from getting hurt in the first place and blames himself for everything that has happened to you. Despite his conflicting emotions, he would carefully and gently place you on the hook, making sure you're as comfortable as possible given the circumstances. As he watches you sleep on the hook, Frank would have a quiet moment of reflection. He reminisces about y’all’s childhood together and vows silently to himself to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. 

Seeing you vulnerable would only fuel Frank’s determination to perform better in trials. He would be even more relentless in his pursuit of survivors, driven by the desire to protect you from the Entity’s hungry claws. 

The Shape/Michael Myers

Michael would pause, a flicker of confusion crossing his expressionless face. The sight of you, his daughter, falling asleep despite the dire circumstances briefly disrupts his usual relentless pursuit to satisfy his murderous desires. 

Deep within his obscured psyche, a conflict brews. While Michael is driven by an insatiable urge to kill, his parental instincts stir, conflicting with his murderous impulses. This momentary hesitation leads to a brief internal struggle, the likes of which observers of Michael would never perceive. 

Despite the task at hand and the chaos of the trial, Michael momentarily freezes, holding your unconscious body with an eerie stillness. His iconic breathing momentarily ceases, as if he too, like Danny and Frank, were contemplating the peculiar situation. 

In a rare display of tenderness, Michael gingerly adjusts your position, ensuring that you're comfortable even as he prepares to hook you. His movements would be precise, almost caring, as if he’s trying to shield you from further harm, even in your unconscious state. As he gazes upon your sleeping form, fragments of memories flicker through Michael’s mind. Images of you as a child, innocent and untouched by the darkness that now envelopes you both, momentarily soften his gaze, perhaps even cause a subtle twitch at the corners of his mouth – a long-forgotten smile. You are his world. 

Ultimately, the weight of his desire to kill and the futility of his attempts to connect with you wash over Michael. With a heavy heart hidden beneath his iconic mask, he proceeds with the task at hand – sacrificing you to the Entity. With a solemn determination, Michael carries you to the hook, his obsession with killing eclipsing any semblance of any paternal sentiment.

#slashers #slasher x reader #slashers x reader #dead by daylight x reader #dead by deadlight #dead by daylight #dbd killer #danny johnson #danny johnson x reader #danny jed olsen johnson #ghostface #the ghostface #ghostface x reader #ghostface dead by daylight #ghostface dbd #frank morrison #frank morrison x reader #frank (legion) #the legion #the legion x reader #the legion (dbd) #michael myers x reader #michael myers #the shape #halloween 1978 #sophi ghostie writes

[hachinanakomatsu]

Kiruko/Haruki Heavenly Delusion's complex trans character

Thread explaining Kiruko/Haruki's character as of Chapter 54 of Heavenly Delusion.

I’ve seen many be confused over the intended way to view Kiruko’s character because of the many complexities of her arc. One of the biggest important aspects of her character and the narrative as a whole is identity and how our desires shape us.

To start with simplifying her ‘love’ for her sister as ‘siscon love’ is heavily missing the point and intention of her character. Yes, Haruki does have an unhealthy complex for Kiriko but it’s less of sexual/romantic love and more a deep pining and desire to be her body and all.

This is shown further when she outright does wake up in Kiriko's body post surgery. Her first thought after the sadness of losing her sister was a dark pleasure over having the body of her sister. She feels heavy guilt over liking the situation which is a big part of her complex.

Another aspect of Kiruko's character people overlook is the extreme admiration/idolization and possible love she has over Robin. This extends to Kiruko when she was still Haruki as shown by her overreliance in needing Robin to save her, needing to be useful to Robin and so on.

Her perfect image of Robin is shattered however when they reunite after 5 years and he takes advantage of her and sexually assaults her. With the way her identity is heavily formed around others Haruki (Robin), Kiriko (Kiruko) this completely shatters her self image.

The way she dissociated her mind (Haruki) from her body (Kiruko) during the assault plus the feeling of being trapped in the mirror implies a deeper desire of Haruki's from before the accident. Which is that she wanted to swap places with Kiriko while she and Robin were together.

Her love/admiration for Robin is as vital to her identity as her attachment with Kiriko as it shapes her identity as much as Kiriko does. This is shown by how she carries on wearing the jacket Robin handed to her all this time since she lost Kiriko and started her life as Kiruko.

It isn't until her talk with Maru after the assault she can finally let go of her past identity of Haruki and move on from her lingering attachments. From here on she's accepted herself as a woman as Kiruko and is trying to find worth and a goal in the aimless world with Maru.

Her feelings for Maru and her gender identity also go hand in hand. She first confesses to Maru she used to be a guy 'Haruki' when he first confesses to her on the boat because she feels guilty about idea of him liking her as she used to be a guy but she trusts him enough by then.

The scene where she asks Maru if he's fine with him touching her breasts after the promise he could do so is important in mentioning since she's fine with him doing that as long as he's fine with the fact she used to be a boy and her past identity of Haruki.

Her feelings for Maru primarily start to come to surface more outright when she started moving on from Robin. She's also a lot softer and more comfortable in her skin in more recent chapters.

In summary Haruki likely had gender identity issues and envy for his sister which was rationalized in his head as a sort of twisted love. And her identity is shackled around others too strongly due to her low self worth and self deprecation.

I think it's vital to understanding her character and while she's heavily flawed it's very realistic. I think this quote from Masakazu Ishiguro explains the idea behind her character well, the extreme end of a love a brother has for his sister to the point he wants to become her.

There's also this interview where instead of using the manga genderbending genre tags TS or TSF, the full katakana "トランスセクシュアル" , the official term for Transsexual/Transgender people, is used instead.

I'll update this thread whenever new chapters drop or i notice more. Kiruko is a deeply personal character for me so wanted more to be able to understand her mindset and struggles.

#heavenly delusion #tengoku daimakyou #kiruko #transgender #trans women #transfem #transsexual #Haruki Takehaya

[iravaid]

🎮🩹🩸💯🎄---for Mr Tommy Riley (yes, I consider him your oc) (yes, I picked the Christmas tree on purpose mwah 🫰)

(from this meme)

Heehee hii womby!! Snatching Thomas E. Riley from Lapham's cold, dead hands after Szilvi's oviraptor attack squad is done with him. I'm so happy you asked heehee

(and oh, so you're evil? You're evil, now? you're sick and twisted and evil?)

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your oc's favorite hobbies?

Being a munch Although it was initially going to be his career (tattoo artist Tommy-truthers make some noise), I can see Tommy enjoying art as a hobby and way to relax/clear his head. He never used to draw a lot of people before, focusing instead on other popular subjects for tattoo designs such as ships and snakes and tigers. But his newer sketchbooks feature a lot more of Beth and Joseph, with a few of Simon and his mum interspersed between his studies of household items and appliances.

Tommy is a Man U fan, as is family tradition. I count football fanaticism as a hobby because have you seen these people. Do you understand the dedication to know so much about all those balls and points and such? Dear god. Tommy, Simon, and Beth on footie nights out were terrifying concepts, many Chelsea fans mauled. Sad!

It mightn't be strictly a hobby, but I can see Tommy redirecting any pent up energy towards making small renovations in his home/his mum's home, or even woodworking and making things like a jewellery box for Beth, or little carved nativity scene for Joseph's nursery class. Man works with his hands and his thoughts can get a bit much at times, so may as well redirect towards something productive, as he's been taught (even if this does encroach into dysfunction territor when he's working to exhaustion so he doesn't dream when he finally sleeps).

🩹 ADHESIVE BANDAGE — does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

I can see Tommy having chronic pain from his back injury and the resultant muscle strain and poor healing that came of it. Nothing a couple heat pads and, uh, working a labour intensive job can't fix...

Between drug addiction and childhood trauma, it's not out of the picture for Tommy to also have developed PTSD/CPTSD from his experiences. For a myriad of reasons (potential access to counselling, access to familial support, not being autistic, not being in the military) it's not as extreme as Simon's, and so his emotional intelligence isn't as stunted, but he's still very much living with the effects of being physically and verbally abused as a child, as well as being addicted to opiates in the past, far into adulthood. Again, has better tools to cope with it, but Tommy isn't perfect, and I can see most of his symptoms manifesting in fawning responses than Simon's fight.

Tommy also has leanings towards depression, and there are times when his mental health declines to the point of it being disabling. I don't see him being diagnosed with depression, nor complex PTSD, as the NHS mental health services are in fucking shambles and some doctors mightn't even recognise the latter in his time.

🩸 DROP OF BLOOD — what is your oc's blood type?

So. I don't have a clear answer to this, because I need to know what Simon's blood type is, and it's not listed anywhere. I think there is a fun off-stage/underlying tragedy in Simon and Tommy having incompatible blood types, in that even if Simon had gotten to the flat in time, he wouldn't have been able to 'save' Tommy via donating blood. Something something, the nature of tragedy so deeply set in Ghost's being that it's biological.

Perhaps it's campy, perhaps it's too much, but whatever‼️my oc now.

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

TOMMY IS THE YOUNGER BROTHER! The wiki is LYING the comics confirm so here:

Tommy is 6'2" and lanky as anything, and unless his brother is on leave, he tends to be the tallest person in the room, bless. Additionally, I can see Tommy having insane forearm and grip strength just from being a tradesman for the better guts of a decade.

Some people have noticed, but Tommy doesn't drink alcohol at all in 'I Wait For You', which is on purpose. He's chosen not to drink, in spite of Britain's heavy drinking culture, as a means of preventing any reliance/gateways, as well as the fact that he doesn't like getting drunk, anyways, primarily because of bad memories of his father after one too many drinks.

🎄 CHRISTMAS TREE — what is your oc's favorite holiday?

Of course it's christmghjgkfgwlisfhdn-

(jokes aside I can see Tommy not having a favourite holiday until he's an adult and meets Beth and falls in love with her, and they eventually have a family together. Then his favourite holiday becomes Mother's Day.)

Augh thank you for the ask :'D It reminded me i have very big feelings about Tommy Riley and his everything, and now my chest hurts heehee

#tommy riley #call of duty #cod mw2 #ask #codposting #riley brothers save me... save me riley brothers... #gif warning #dunno if it's needed but that thang moves fast lmao #addiction

[rise-my-angel]

I’m such a big Targ fan but I can not stand most Targ fans because they don’t get it. The valyrians are interesting and cool because they are fucked up. I love the Targaryens because I am a horror and sci-fi fan. Like yeah dragons are cool too but they wouldn’t be nearly as cool if everything surrounding them weren’t horrifying and twisted. I love Dany because she is a flawed and complex character and it is so easy to draw lines through her narrative to understand why she is the way she is and what led her to make different mistakes and how she got to her self delusions. But most Dany fans will call me a Dany hater for being like hey let’s analyze why Dany has never second guessed her decision to kill Mirri even though every other act of violence she’s been directly or indirectly responsible for (ie the crucifixions or Viserys’s death) has weighed on her conscience to some extent despite the fact that Mirri was a slave who was punished for rising up against her master, Drogo. The cognitive dissonance is so interesting and ripe for analysis but I have been accused of only pretending to be a Dany fan for recognizing this. A lot of actual Dany haters churn out way more meaningful Dany metas because most Dany fans are just oh she’s an unambiguous good hero who will be queen and I think that’s so boring

(note I got off my couch in the middle of writing a new chapter to go to my main computer to answer this that's how much you caught my attention)

The thing is, I totally get what you mean. Theres a Targaryean I am sort of like this for in a way. The character himself has been soured by such a deluded and hostile fan base about what is allowed to be said or thought about him, but if it weren't for the way most targ stans are, I would be 1000% more into Rhaegar as a character.

It would never change I think he's a bad person who did monstrous things for questionable if not quite selfish means who I would never support, but I also love Euron Greyjoy who is 100% an irredeemable monster. Rhaegar's entire existence is fasnicating. From the Ghost of High Hart being the reason his parents were married, to his life defining birth right in the middle of the fiery tragedy of Summerhall which effected his life. How such a terrible place was the only place he was every described as being happy in, likely because his existence is tied with great tragedy. How that likely deeply influenced him into buying into the Ghost of High Harts words of the prince that was promised being born from his father and mothers blood line which led to his delusions which ended up negatively impacting every person in his life leading to their deaths including his own. He should be a fascinating character study for me, but the way targ stans talk about him has ruined any chance of discussion because any nuance I could provide is going to be taken as pro Rhaegar talking points.

Same with Valyria in general. The Valyrian people were delusional and terrifying and the world is better off without them, but I love exploring why. I don't hate Targaryeans to hate them, I hate them because they are interesting to hate. They are facsinating because of what makes them horrible. And liking them as characters isn't at all wrong.

Its the lack of willingness to engage with their favourite charatcers greatest flaws and realistic motivations. It's a disconnect. They will push back against every single argument that Dany is a horrible, selfish tyrant possible, and then cite her atrocities as why I'm wrong and it's like..they have bought so much into the propoganda that they have created a false image of this character they supposedly love. Why love a version of a character that you need to bend over backwards to justify is the real version against the facts of the actual story?

They are desperate to look as if their favourite characters make them morally righteous. When liking a morally honourable character does not say anything about you other then what particular character you enjoy more then another. I am not claiming to be better then Rhaegar stans because I love Ned Stark, but they will slander Ned Stark as much as they can to justify why they prefer Rhaegar instead of just admitting they have a preference.

I get accused of being a Sansa hater, because I am both very against jonsa (ship and shippers) and I am very critical of her post season 4 character. But in the books and the first 4 seasons, shes not my favourite but I love her. But because I go against the popular ship and I am critical of her various actions over the course of the different versions of her character, I am seen as a hater. Its the same with Dany and many Targaryeans.

Its either toe the public opinion, or keep them out of your mouth which is insane for a fandom of a story literally built upon the varying complexities of a characters grey areas.

They want asoiaf/got to be way more black and white then it ever has been. Which is such a poor way of interacting with a story you are passionate about.

Dany can be a tyrant and an interesting character. She can be a cruel and selfishly bloodthristy woman and your favourite character. But these stans are allergic to those ideas not being mutually exclusive.

I dont hate targ stans because they are targ stans, I hate targ stans because they will attack any dissenting opinons that do not fall into their perfect protagonist hero image they've conjured up.

But they got nothing on me. I love Euron Greyjoy. The most disgusting monster in the whole series who I also would rather slingshot him into the sun then let him walk around alive in the world. I will never defend his bad choices, and never condemn someone for calling him an immoral monster. His lack of humanity is what makes his choices so interesting.

These targ stans though, could not possibly be strong enough to be the same for even a minute for their favourite Targaryean.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #anti targ stans #anti targaryen #anti daenerys targaryen #anti daenerys stans #anti dany stans #anti jonerys #anti jonsa #anti jonsa stans #anti targ restoration #anti rhaegar targaryen #anti rhaegar stans #anti rhaegar x lyanna #look at the tags i gotta add cus my own personal opinon upsets all of these different stans #doesnt that tell you they have a massive problem with interacting with any critisism on its own?

[team7-headquarter]

I was thinking about Rin, Sakura and Karin and oh Sage, Karin really took a chidori to the chest just like Rin, but Sakura was able to heal her. Which it's complex enough, but then —in a twist of irony— Sasuke almost killed Sakura the same way.

The layers of that.

Kakashi killed Rin by accident. He killed her 'cause at the moment they need to stop the three tails from breaking free, and maybe Rin would die anyway, but at least that way they'd stop her from hurting her loved ones. Yet Rin knew, she knew that Kakashi wouldn't do it, didn't want to do it. He was crying, just a kid.

While Sasuke's psychological situation at the moment of his fight with Danzo was precarious, he did what he did because he chose to. Karin and Sakura were (in two different senses) on his way, but he wouldn't stop for them. Their lives weren't the most important thing at the moment.

Rin died at war after being kidnapped. She was the medic nin of her team. Her sensei, the fastest man maybe in the world, didn't arrive on time. And she died knowing she was loved, that her teammate deeply cared about her. She didn't see Obito mourning over her dead body, but there was someone there, they were both there. She was a good kunoichi until the end, the perfect teammate, a beloved friend.

Karin almost died because she wanted to help Sasuke. She went with him willingly. She didn't have a sensei to defend her and Sasuke told her to don't move to trick Danzo. He used her and then used her again to test Sakura. She was the medic nin of her team too. And the person who came to hold together was an enemy. In fact, was her rival in terms of love for Sasuke. The team of the boy that almost killed her. She almost die because she believed in her team. She thought he cared.

Sakura almost died because she was desperate to take the burden and get rid of it— she couldn't stand to see Sasuke losing himself, becoming someone he said he'd never be, or the thought of leaving the hurt to Naruto, because it pained her to see her teammates fighting to death. She went there lying to herself. She failed at being a good kunoichi, she couldn't be that cruel. And Sasuke had no problem with it, he was not naive, seeing her tears wouldn't stop him from completing his mission. But she —of the three of them— and a sensei that arrived always late except when she was in danger. She had a teammate that would anything to protect her. She was the medic nin of her team.

Thinking about it, medic nins do get chidoris to the chest all the time. Rin, Sakura, Karin, Haku. Kakashi's kills were an accident, but Sasuke's wouldn't have that excuse. Kakashi's kills were both kids giving their lives in exchange to protect the people they loved. Sasuke's kills were both girls that loved him, his teammates who had protect him and bring him company, but girls that he'd have no problem sacrificing in exchange of reaching his goals.

This is scratching my brain like crazy.

#naruto #Rin Nohara #Karin Uzumaki #sakura haruno #kakashi hatake #Sasuke uchiha #haku naruto

[shifuto]

the plot thickens, oh boy..

so come here with me while I psychoanalyze the Ignis and the Lost Incident children a little bit

I'm misremembering this, I thought it was Ai 😆

hmmm some questions: does this has to do with Jin? Or Lightning himself?

because Lightning is the only Ignis that would remain disconnected from humans by design

and it also brings me into those Ignis theories I want to explore deeply at some point, about the Ignis development being proportional to the amount of emotional damage their originators have gone through, the amount of support and psychological buffers, too.. but it also makes me question if this is even something accurate to measure? Since trauma is not something that can measured. Trauma is trauma

if they were not damaged by the Lost Incident, the have suffered prior to it - and that was literally Spectre, and how he was the only one who have not had a damaging experience during those 6 months.. but he also had.. nothing. That gave him something

Windy's partner was "killed", but from the little it was shown, he had friends and he was smiling so.. I don't know what to take from a few frames in one episode but the matter of fact is that, apparently, Windy was not that way, but he became twisted due to Lightning's influence

Miyu was put on a coma something during Cyberse World's destruction(?), so we don't also get to see much from her - and I think Aqua's case is quite interesting because of Aoi

Takeru got An Attitude as a response to both the trauma from the incident and also his parents' loss (which he attributes to the incident, too)

Yusaku lost a lot of things that we have no idea about because it was not showed. His life prior to the incident is pretty much a mystery. Then it happens.. and he hardens, and get stuck on a cycle of vengeance and wanting to take back what he's lost. Fair

we know nothing about Jin other than he is Shoichi's little brother and the Lost Incident completely broke his mind Lightning tortured him. I suspect his "improvement" after the Hanoi's fall/Kogami's death was mostly a reflection of Shoichi's own relief, and probably not so much about himself. Shoichi and Jin's relationship is not a healthy one and that's exactly how and why Lightning was able to exploit it

with all that said..

I thought a lot about the Ignis personalities and traits and if/how that was a reflection of their human originators. Sure it might seem like they "complement" each other? But then we have Lightning and Jin, and that theory goes down the drain a little..

they look nothing like each other

they're not even opposites

I have not the slightest clue about what was used, what was that human factor that linked them together

well, now I'm thinking about it again and a few things do come up..... Spectre's devotion looks very transparent for me in Earth, they're both also naturally solitary

again we don't know much about Windy's partner or how Windy was before he changed, maybe susceptible? Maybe one to go with the flow?

Miyu had built that relationship of trust and love with Aoi, and we do see that a lot in Aqua. I believe the relationship Aqua builds with Aoi has centered Miyu, and it would be similar if it was Miyu, centering Aoi

Takeru was a tough one because he and Flame do look like opposites. Where Takeru is impulsive and feeling, Flame is cautious and logical. Their relationship is pretty harmonious and it shows on how they coexist

Yusaku and Ai also feel a little like opposites? It's hard to get a read on them this earlier since there's still a lot of episodes to go (and the last arc being Yusaku/Ai focused) so......... stay tuned to more on this post

Jin is "absent" for most of the show, he was also absent after the incident and that guilt Shoichi carries makes me wonder if he was also absent prior to it? Lightning lacks.. everything. He has nothing, he belongs nowhere, he's a blank slate.. much like Jin. And that pisses him off - it's the cause of his complex after all - there was no possibility of him evolving any further because Jin was not there, because the incident broke him

...

there's also something interesting about the link between the Ignis and the Victims - we saw that happen with Spectre first. Just how much of the AI is in the humans, and how much of the humans is in the AI? Edit: apparently he was the only one able to feel it.. hmm..

I'll write more as I get to watch more episodes and remember more things 😆

#ygo #vrains #shif writes #vra2024

[argentumcor]

Jurassic World Dominion and the Failure to Understand the Themes of Jurassic Park

That's right. Jurassic Park has themes. Crichton has been accused of constantly rewriting Frankenstein, which isn't quite true- State of Fear is not that; I recommend that book if you're in the mood for something that makes fun of the spirit of our age in a delightfully mean way. The movies changed a lot but they maintained his core themes pretty well- until Dominion, Fallen Kingdom's, uh, narrative incoherence aside (should have been about Owen, not Claire again).

What are the themes of Jurassic Park? In no particular order and probably not exhaustive:

Science cannot solve every problem.

Man is very bad at being God and when we try, people die horribly.

Humanity is not capable of understanding, let alone controlling, complex systems, and needs to respect these facts.

Nature is mean.

Materialism has made for a really shitty ethics system, to say the least.

You can quibble, but Crichton and the JP movies aren't subtle. It was brilliant to make Ian Malcom so much to take personally, and someone who likes to say "I told you so" too much to take action, because he is right a lot but is clearly not an author's pet and has the moral flaw of not acting before bad things happen.

Jurassic World has a lot of flaws as a follow-up, but it imperfectly maintains these themes until Dominion, where it precedes to blow them up. The owners of Jurassic World can't help to keep dabbling in forces they can't understand and the raptors are still dangerous and smart and not something to toy with. It doesn't take a lot for the park to go to hell really fast.

The first part of Fallen Kingdom is dumb. Claire is not the sort of character who would go off to care about "dinosaur rights", which was deeply stupid, and all her big and pretty well executed character development happened in the first movie. It should have been Owen's story, with them being together and him getting talked into going back to get the dinosaur he has an emotional connection with.

The part with the little girl, Maisie, is more interesting and fits the themes better. It comes to light she is a clone of old man Lockwood's daughter, who passed away young, and that Hammond split off from Lockwood (no relation to the young handsome ghost hunter hero) because he saw this as an abomination. Which it is. Maisie herself is not an abomination- she's a person- but her conception was.

Maisie was created as an object. Her 'grandfather' wanted to defy death and bring his daughter back to life. He did not want Maisie; he wanted his daughter. That he might have grown to love Maisie as herself does not negate what his goal was. It's twisted. From the moment of her conception, she was treated as an object- the same as the dinosaurs, hence her sympathy for them (Owen and Claire still should have told her letting them out was really stupid and wrong, because it was; people died). The process to create Maisie and the Indoraptor showed no respect for the natural order.

Now we come to Dominion.

Humanity has been mucking around with forces beyond its ken again, using a materialistic ethical framework that has gone badly wrong again and is going to get worse. Locusts, you imbeciles...the people who advised the use of fucking locusts must have been the products of a post-modern educational system.

Of course, Dr. Wu in his newfound and much, much belated ethical torment concludes he can fix this mistake of genetic manipulation with even more genetic manipulation. Super easy, barely an inconvenience (seriously, it was harder to flip the circuit breakers in Jurassic Park than sort out this locust mess).

Do you know how they sorted out Jurassic Park's mistakes of genetic manipulation in the book? They firebombed it. Because its creation was hubris of the highest order and its hazard was incalculable. It needed to be eradicated. And it still didn't solve the problem, because the raptors got off the island (and started spreading a mysterious disease). Science cannot solve every problem. Indeed, humanity cannot solve every problem. Some things are beyond our control, no matter how much we try.

My theory is that in 2022, the themes of Jurassic Park were...disallowed by the Hollywood zeitgeist for multiple reasons. The very big one, occurring during filming, was the pandemic. To say that something like a plague of locusts could not be solved by science would be...a message that would not be allowed. I have no idea if there were rewrites. Also it is long disallowed to find materialistic ethics systems wanting, though these days I feel entertainment dares to dabble in the shallow end of that.

The thing that really gets me about Dominion is the retcon of Maisie's origin, or rather the motives for her origin. Her mother (genetic twin sister) had her made...to be able to give herself a second try after her genetic disease killed her? To experience being pregnant before she died? To claim she was a mother (notice no man at all in the picture, so the kid would have no parents)? As a genetic experiment about super extra special gene modification?

None of this is better than the original version of Maisie's conception, but it is framed in an intensely sentimental fashion. Maisie is the product of something twisted, she was made as an object for someone and not a person, a child, and this should bother her. Her learning to live with that being the reason people had her made is more interesting than her learning oh, the woman she is the clone of was her mother and wanted her to go out and truly live and now she's just okay with this.

I think Crichton would have really enjoyed exploring a character with this problem. It's common in super soldier narratives and such, so it isn't wholly unexplored. Dominion just opted skip out on the...casual cruelty of Maisie's conception. The fact that it was mankind acting like it was God, with the best of intentions, and treating a human being as an object to be used for its own ends (legacy, betterment of mankind, vague and unfulfillable desire to be a mother because she would be dead, pick your motive) from the moment she was conceived is just glossed over with weepy girl-power sentiment.

This all neglects the bad pacing and other issues with Dominion. It's just such a post-modern movie, where before the franchise hewed to a pre-modern morality. It makes me mad because Jurassic Park said something important about science and humanity's role in the world. Dominion offers sentimental "mankind can do anything" mush that isn't true and hurts more than it helps.

As a species, we are capable of amazing things. But we are not God. Life and death are not ours to command. We cannot fix all problems we face. These are not simply moral opinions, these are laws of the universe with perhaps greater rigidity than that of gravity. Humility in the face of this benefits us far more than charging in to muck about with nature as if we can control it utterly- or to batter other about as if- if they would just do x, y, and z- everything would be perfect. It also prepares us for the bitter shocks of life, because we understand that we simply cannot control or even understand so many things.

#jurassic world #moral imagination #jurassic park #materialistic ethics fail

[theelastofthem]

So I've got some thoughts on who's 'good' vs. who's 'bad' in tlou...

I feel this could all be applied to the game as well, especially tlou 2.

The thing about The Last of Us when compared to other post-apocalyptic shows, is that the characters are so well developed and interesting and juicy and exciting to watch. In most shows that revolve around death and civilization crumbling, the main characters always feel nothing but shame when it comes to the act of killing, be it zombies/infected or other people, but in The Last of Us, that’s completely not the case.

The main characters are equally as flawed as the ‘bad guys’. Joel is the perfect example of this. In the last episode that came out (episode 8), he liked hurting those men when he was trying to find out where they’d taken Ellie. There's a bit in the scene where Joel smirks that really demonstrates how complex these characters are. This post is what made me really understand how layered of a character Joel is. As @swol-bear pointed out, Joel has been holding back his violent tendencies because he doesn’t want Ellie to see him like that. This is exactly where you can begin to see that he’s not a completely 'good' guy. These men took his daughter away from him, and he’s hurting them for it, and he fucking likes it. He’s enjoying it. It satisfies him to see the fear and pain in their eyes because he’d do anything for Ellie and he’s going to put everything he has into finding her, even the ugly bits of himself because those parts of him get. the job. done. And to a certain degree, Ellie is the same. She liked it when Joel beat the shit out of that soldier in episode 1 to protect her. She didn’t cower away from it, she enjoyed the feeling it gave her. Of having someone protect her with such violent passion. Sure, that passion came from Joel reliving his trauma, but Ellie doesn’t know that. In those moments, Joel is just a guy who’s killed someone with his bare hands and she doesn’t flinch away from it in the slightest; in fact, she physically leans into it when we see her in the shot set over Joel’s shoulder. 

Now, these aren’t exactly qualities of 'good' people, are they? Because, in a way, Joel and Ellie are enjoying something as violent as killing a person. But then, there’s a twist because, on some occasions, we also see the regret of what they’ve done after the fact. But that regret doesn’t always stem from innocents either. Like Bella Ramsey said in creator on creator pt. 2, in a previous episode when she shoots the young man to save Joel, the regret she had isn’t because she played a hand in killing someone. The regret is this idea that she failed at it. But in contrast to that, we see a real, deeply rooted regret in Joel when Ellie asked if he’s ever killed innocent people. In large, we see that in these moments of violence, Ellie and Joel might feel one way in the face of it, but afterward, they often feel differently, be it better or worse. And they give this exact same complexity to their 'villains' as well, and that’s what’s so fucking fantastic about the show. 

In The Last of Us, there really are no 'good guys' and 'bad guys' (aside from David, he just fuckin sucked and deserved what he got). The lines are so blurred that we’re rooting for these main characters who perform the same terrible acts that the 'villains' often do. Acts filled with revenge and anger, and hatred. And we’re rooting for these acts that, if they were to be inflicted on Joel or Ellie, we’d be calling terrible and horrific and the acts of 'bad' people. Yet we don’t see Ellie and Joel the same way. And it’s just so interesting. 

The show really leans on perspective. We’re seeing this journey from (mostly) Ellie and Joel’s experiences. We’re rooting for them because we love these characters. We’re willing to look past these horrible traits and accept them as 'good' people anyway. We make excuses for them, and we choose to look deeper into the person in order to justify their behaviour. And if that isn’t a fantastic example of how The Last of Us is a show about love and all the warped ways love can manifest itself in a person and their thoughts and actions, I don’t know what is. 

#the last of us #the last of us spoilers #episode/character analysis #tlou analysis #tlou spoilers #joel tlou #ellie tlou #bella ramsey #pedro pascal

[yanderefairyangel]

Some Sombron rambles? Could really use some talking about an actually good FE villain 🔥🔥

OOOH

Despicable evil Yander daddy Papabron

So

Sombron was really a breath of fresh air, I missed a good villain. I already pin a lot of meta I did about him but I think Sombron isn't that much of an interesting character as a character compared to how much he brings thematically speaking.

I do think his backstory gives him more complexity then might appears and makes him a great foil for Alear and Veyle. While not knowing who exactly is 0 Emblem is frustrating, I think it at the end doesn't really matter. It's in the name, 0 Emblem. The anonymity of the Emblem is on purpose : it's to put the emphasis on the fundamental vanity and futitliy of Sombron's quest for something that was lost long ago. He canno retrieve what he lost. Like a lot of things in Engage I mainly read the Emblem as metaphorical for Sombron being unable to overcome the loss of his family and home world and bearing survivor guilt. After all, let's not forget he used to be a victim too and losing you entire kin as a child is an inhumane experience that is deeply breaking. And this happen when he was still very young, an age where you are still developping so that sort of trauma is deeply engraved in your mind and then your brain developped around it. So losing 0 Emblem, his "light/hope" resulting in him falling so deep in despair and hatred he became what inspires despair and hatred is so damn freaking well though. I know people poke fun of Sombron's name as being generic because "it's just dark in another languag" but this makes so much sense just for the thematic alone since Sombron himself unded up sinking into despair. That's what makes him so interesting especially as he is an irredeemable monster, seriously he is absolutely monstrous and I am no just speaking about his design who imo reflects largely how Alear perceives him, I mean... have you seen what happened to Alear and how broken they were ? Just imagining what Sombron did to all his children for the surviving one to end up in such a state makes me shiver. But also the fact that he and Alear and Veyle and Zephia and Lumera are all foil to each other makes the narrative endlessly fascinating. Both Sombron and Lumera experienced the loss of their entire tribe yet Lumera choose to still fight and even forgive someone who whas kin to the one who killed her own family while Sombron clearly never forgive the people who killed his family and sent him there which once again show that Lumera encompasses hope whereas Sombron is despair.

The notion of forgiveness is intrasically linked to hope : hope that the one who wronged you wan improve and become a better person, hope that you yourself can become a better person and that there is still a chance even slight tiny bit snoflake chance to fix something. So giving up on forgiviness and on forgiving other is another demonstration of despair and anger, which Sombron encompasses. Zephia on that regard joins Sombron as a female counterpart where she emulated what she saw Sombron do because she is soooo twisted she came to envy his relationship with his children... why ?

Now interestingly enough, is that Sombron, despite not caring about anything still decided to spare Alear and Veyle and use them. Since Alear has a physicial body I guess they can travel to another world and be useful to Sombron but that he still brought Veyle with him in the bad ending ? I find that interesting as it's showing that in reality Sombron's pretention of not needing anyone is proven false. He knows in truth he does need other but rather then building a significant bond with them, he chooses to reduce them to mere tools. I think 0 Emblem was the only creature he didn't felt that way. Sure the power of a Fell dragon deprive the Emblems from speaking, but in chapter 22 Marth was able to show sign of emotions. So who knows.

Another example of symbolism is when he kills Alear in chapter 22, the cutscene in the past shows them being pierced by Obscurité. Alear's name refering to Lueur, a light much less intense then Lumière, this is heavy and full of symbolism, it's Sombron killing the gleam of hope that had so much hard time surving up to this point, like the symbolism of the one child being named after the symbol of hope surviving (aaaaahhhhh). Even the death of chapter 21 is despair winning over hope which is why this moment felt so tense I remember when that happened I was so involved and worrying about what would happened now that Alear is dead

And finally, while we know 0 sheet about him, thinking about his counterpart does put some highlights on Sombron's own traits. I did sooo many meta about the Fell Xenologue but now I think it's kinda obvious I don't consider it to be an extension of the main story but a real mirror. Cause like, while I was kinda sleeping when Nel dropped the nuke that the version of Sombron she descend from could potentially be a long lost cousin of Corrin and Anankos, I remember that I was immediately struct out by the fact in this world Xenobron call his children "failure" rather then "defect" (which MG does) and I kep trying to find the meaning of this one change. And thus I noticed some little bits such as the fact that Sombron's lack of attention regarding his children becomes emphasized when contrasted with how Xenobron watches over his children in the dark. For example, Veyle is often shown wondering about and we know through her speech with Griss it's an habit of hers and the reason why she doesn't know about the ... you know. Well Sombron's lack of reaction is typicall of him, he is letting the Hounds take care of that because partly of his state and partly because he doesn't care. While in the Xenologue, Xenobron is shown constantly watching over both Nel and Rafal which reinforced this thematic of the gaze that is surrouding Rafal's own narrative. Xenobron is even able to recognize that Rafal was impersonnating Nil. While out Sombron can't even remember the name or the face of his many children. Just to give an example of how different that this.

But also, something I noticed after a friend and I chatted about Veyle's helmet. In the Xenologue, Xenobron is shown aknowledging both Nel and Rafal's power. Sombron never does that. When he was trying to replace Veyle with her other self he was confident that Zephia's brainwash/spell mixed with his power would be enough but it's only by chapter 18 that he will give her an actual helmet he did himself and only then recognizing that Veyle is harder to "kill" then he hoped too, heck I would even say it's only in chapter 26 when Veyle fight him that Sombron "seems" to acknowledge her. Likewise with Alear, he never recognized their value, not even a word of praise, he really view them as a tool, the one who does praise Alear is Zephia (calling them the best of Sombron's child) and when Alear defeated him in the past he even then refused to admit his loss. Because that's how Sombron is, he refused to accept he is wrong and try to grow and move on, he is frozen in the past and stuck in his childhood trauma and wanting to find the same confort that guided him long ago : 0Emblem/light/hope. While people love to theorize that Alear is 0 Emblem I don't really subscribe, however I do think that at the end of the journey Alear ends up becoming what Sombron was seeking withing 0 Emblem : hope/light. Again, Alear's journey is all about going from being a glow/gleam to the bright light of hope, what Lumera was to Alear and what 0 Emblem was to Sombron.

Interestingly enough in the jpn version the incantation to call 0 Emblem is "kogase" which is usually associated to the word "tomoshibii" meaning glow/gleam so it does link and I think that 0 Emblem being invisible also ties with this notion of nothingness in this emblem to show that Sombron is literaly searching after nothing, an empty shadow

I think this backstory of his ties so well in his motivations and makes him into such a complete character. That's also what I think might explain the reason of the existence of the some subtle differences he has with his FX counterpart. I remember a japanese fan saying that unlike in the MG where he became this obsessive psychopath, Xenobron seemed to be more focused on the survival of his clan. And while I struggled to understand his motivation since without his trauma he really is a different character, that made me think. About Sombron's home world. We know next to nothing except that in the Main universe Fell dragon as a whole are not native to Elyos but to another world which doesn't apply to the FXElyos where both Divine and Fell tribe are natives (and possibly Corrin's cousins). However, according to Sombron his tribe and another one were fighting for the control of the rings of his world and universal constant only dragons from Royal family has the power to summon the Emblem rings. Then I wondered, why did they do it in the first place ? Considering Sombron's own family (and tribe as a whole ) was slaugthered and that Sombron could sneak a ring and that he is so attached to 0 Emblem, I think this means it was Sombron's family that used to keep the ring of his world, or possibly the 2 family shared them and then one decided to keep them all for themselves. So why wouldn't Xenobron try to reproduce that scenario ? Like in the MG, Sombron's comment seems to infer that Divine dragon didn't existed in his world the same way that there were no fell dragons in Elyos (which is confirmed by how Veyle immediately assumed that Nel and Rafal were part of Sombron's children when she learned they were fell dragon) but considering some event of the main universe happened albeit in different way in the FX that could be it : Xenobron attacked the Divine dragon tribe for the same reason that Sombron's own tribe got involved into a conflict and that's it.

Now I'd love to know more about Sombron's original dimension but I think that might solve it. Though Xenobron's is kinda disappointed when MG Sombron is that good mainly because he works less well as a vehicle for Nel and Rafal's backstory then MG Sombron does and I think Nel and Rafal's narrative would be more powerful if they were the children of MG Sombron and Rafal and Nel are already excellent character so that's saying a lot (or if Xenobron had a more solid reason to have this philosphoy of strengh then conquering)

People have speculated that he might need the bracelets to open a portal to other world like MG Sombron, which again, thinking about his home world, considering we have 2 cases of Emblem having this power, I do think that the rings of Sombron's world would also be able to grant someone's wish and open a portal to another world and that this would be the reason why everyting began, possibly that the portal used to send Sombron in Elyos was open using those rings

Now I'd also like to say that while I agree Sombron's isn't a fascinating character in himself, he sure is when it comes to be an arrogant heartless monster. But I do disagree with him being underutilisez, like yeah he doesn't appear a lot but you can't say he isn't present in the story cause he is the main objective and not for any reason, Engage as a whole is in reality about Alear finally overcoming their childhood trauma by taking the soruce of it down and each time he appears on screen, things managed to take a turn for the worst, like prologue ? You learn what happened in reality (Alear died) then Chapter 10 ? You lose the ring. Chapter 21 ? Alear dies and you lose the rings. Chapter 26 ? YOU CAN CANONICALLY FAIL TO SAVE THE WORLD!!! And add to that the Hounds and Other Veyle, cause Sombron is even more threatining when you have those 5 because they work very well as an antagonistic group. And I also remember people that said they were surprised Sombron was still the antagonist (sorta not really) in the FX world but again, it make sense thematically speaking. Like yeah, I did wanted to see Evil Lumera because... well... I live for angst family (just the idea of Alear learning that there is a world where Lumera isn't their mother and then you get to chapter 20 AAAAAh). But yeah thematically speaking it makes sense, Sombron is the epitome of darkness and despair and while Xenobron is mainly a vehicle for Nel and Rafal's storyline, it does align with their own story of overcoming, Nel accepting the loss of her twin and her lover while Rafal is trapped in a circle of never ending inner suffering with the whole DLC being about him finally succombing to the despair he was trying to resist for 1 000 years (people don't get Rafal's character guy was having a mental breakdown in the Xenologue, this isn't how he behaves) and ending up becoming "Sombron", the one being he wanted the approval of and wanted to surpass. Because again, Sombron is the one who enshade thing, that deforms them, that Corrupt them, in both literal and metaphorical sense though the way the story present being revived as a Corrupted as unnatural and horrible fate vs how we learn people who die in Elyos are believed to turn into star (hoshi sora no hate made kof kof) also ties in this "light vs darkness" thematic the game is full off and this does show how despair is something so dangerous that corrupt people into becoming shells of themselves = the Corrupted/the Fell Emblems's behaviour and even Past Alear's state

Wow... It ended up being a very long reply sorry, once I am talking about something I can't help myself but yeah Sombron is an excellent antagonist and I think he deserves more love for how wonderfull he is written and more hatred for how much of a loathsome piece of **** he is

#fire emblem #fe engage #fire emblem engage #fire emblem engage spoilers #sombron my beloathed

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

i have finally found the time to watch through the entirety of a court of fey and flowers and it has left me clawing the walls

a few thoughts, here and below the cut:

aabria is honestly one of my favorite gms to watch work. like, literally watch, i am 95% podcasts for my actual play media, but the visual elements of her games (esp. her npc facial expressions & acting choices) are so compelling. every damn time wuvvy looked at rue i died.

never not gonna be impressed with how smoothly this team integrated dnd combat & magic & skill checks with the good society framework to make a compelling, weighty, primarily social game. the unique tokens! (the significance to burning them!) the many pvp insight/deception checks over sighs and glances!!

brennan being an eternal gm is a crime, hob is The Most Character

like, picture me taking that character art of hob, printing it out, folding it up, and eating it. love him.

he’s a self-loathing emotionally obtuse plothound who claims to be bad with words but gives The Most Austen-style heart-wrenchingly vulnerable speeches. who else is doing it like him.

(seriously, if you’ve got regency media recs with hob-alike MCs I Want Them)

i am imagining some bonkers child creation magic — like, cabbage patch If You Want One It Will Grow stuff, genetics and gametes need not be involved stuff — that gives hob and rue an enormous passel of kids to love on and Treat Right, including at least one Owl With Bug Wings and two or three Literal Bears.

also picturing atla level confusion when the first one of those bears comes along. “just a bear?” “not a bugbear, not an owlbear, not a bugowlbear. just a bear.” “…this kid is weird.” “yeah, but we’re gonna love them like mad anyway right?” “oh yeah, of course, i’m just saying!”

deeply shocked andhera was able to sit through that detect thoughts at the tailor shop scene without blurting out SOMETHING, given his tendencies towards blurting out everything in other moments.

but like. imagine.

hob: the k stands for knickolas!!

rue: i love him.

andhera: oh shit, for real?! you love him for real??

disastrous. andhera fails to keep his mouth shut, four wounded two dead. (rip buddy, you were a real one)

otoh. now i’m imagining a fun little trivia game at rue’s nearlywed shower with questions like “where did they meet” and “who asked whom” that give them an excuse to retell all of these cute stories about their relationship, and one question is “when did rue first realize they loved hob?”

the answer is supposed to be after they danced all night at the masquerade, because rue thinks it’s fine to lie a little for the Romance of it all, but andhera’s like “oh, i remember that! it was when hob told them what the k in k.p. stands for!”

and he’s very :D satisfied with himself for winning his team a point! not noticing rue and hob’s very complex face journeys as they silently have a Conversation about this.

most shocking moment for me, a person who saw a fair number of acofaf gifs on my dash last fall: chirp marriage & child reveal, no question. the cast around her reacting is also very good, but the twist in itself was honestly so unexpected! and it works fantastically to give the lords of the wing motivation to join the larger plot on Our Heroes’ Side, i thought that was very smartly done.

and last but not least, a fun fact!

I did not realize this until the ap episode where omar confirmed ace andhera, but my first dnd character was basically a mash-up of andhera and rue.

like. they were an ace paladin poorly faking charm and coolness, using a normative appearance (“imagine a combination of chris hemsworth and chris evans”) as a facade a scared, nonnormative creature hid behind— unfortunately my BINX-alike PC friend died early in the campaign, and the plot took priority over character exploration. but still: same hat!

also: me now, looking back at that character: [miranda cosgrove ‘interesting’ meme with the nonbinary flag superimposed]

#a court of fey and flowers #dimension 20 #brb off to sort the hob/rue tag by kudos and then by bookmarks and then by word count #i want a thousand different canon divergence alternate love confessions… #mundane and/or human AUs where the Duty vs Love tensions are shifted a little but still MATTER #BINX found family-ing every damn person she likes even a little into a room of their own in her house… #pls send fic recs #and asks! send me your thoughts!! if anyone is still out there thinking acofaf thoughts this many months after that season ended #i realize i am Late to the Game but that’s just how i am with stuff #dropout

[purposefully-lost]

Prey Animal: Alexander Prescott's daring memoir changes all understanding of the Jack Rabbit murders.

In the 1970's, the nation was rocked by the story of a 15-year-old boy slaughtering his family before disappearing, seemingly never to be found. Over a decade later, Jonathan Stone would resurface only to be dubbed the Jack Rabbit, a real-life bogeyman to loom over the trails and campgrounds of a small town in the Eastern United States. After a lengthy trial, a stint in prison, an escape, and time spent on the run, his story came to a close at the hands of his one living victim-- Alexander Prescott.

At least, we thought it did. Today marks the highly-anticipated release of Alexander's memoir, Prey Animal. Detailing a shaky childhood, a rough set of teen years, and life as a transsexual in 80's America, this memoir also comes with a shocking series of revelations concerning the time Alex spent wrapped up in one of the nation's most notorious murder cases.

The opening line reveals the first twist of many in a story we thought we knew:

"The day he died was the day Jack told me he loved me."

Between these pages, readers will find a tale they surely don't expect. Where the mass media has spent years picking apart the gruesome details of the deaths of victims like Casey Lancaster and Darren Lowe- two hikers once found displayed as a warning on a secluded trail- Alex wastes no time in cutting right down to the bone. Through a strangely charming and nostalgic prose, he writes a story not about Jack Rabbit, or even Jonathan Stone: this is the story of Jack Stone, a man with bloody hands and, according to Alex, a "deeply endearing smile." The heart of this story isn't just found in a mailbox in the lobby of an apartment complex- it's found between two men in a secluded cabin on a snowy winter night.

Unmasking the Jack Rabbit is, it now seems, a task only Alexander ever managed to succeed in. Interspersed between the chapters of his own life, Alex writes of the stories Jack told him of childhood and young adulthood, all the way up until the two stories meet on a fateful day on the Shady Grove trails. Though perhaps "coincidental" is a better word for it. "Fate," Alex writes in an early chapter, "Isn't something I believe in. But I knew, the second I made my choice, where it all was going to end."

Prey Animal may not hold up to the reader's personal morals. In fact, it may take them between it's teeth and rip them to bloody shreds. It will apall you, and it will force you to question what defines the "psycho" label we tend to give to the likes of Jack Rabbit and his infamous peers. It will, to your own surprise, break your heart. A romance to make even the Manson girls jealous, Alex holds nothing back when it comes to revealing the love he felt for a monster.

It should be noted that this is also the first time Alex has spoken out publicly about the case. After Jack Rabbit's first arrest, he kept himself well-hidden from the media frenzy, and did so again after he himself fired the shot that killed Jack after his escape. When asked for comment on the book's release, he didn't respond, but that may be because the book holds everything he has been keeping to himself in past years.

Prey Animal is a daring, disturbing exploration of a life led by desire. It is a peek into the calm, quiet days that bookended Jack Rabbit's horrific crimes, and it is a love letter from a man we believed a victim to someone who was, in truth, his lover. And ultimately, it asks the same question of its reader that Alexander Prescott once had to pose to himself: will you face the truth, or will you go back outside and let yourself be blinded by the storm?

#drabble #hunted // rabbit #i felt a little bad for the manson girls line but also it sounds like exactly the thing #a schlocky boom review of a true crime memoir would include dhdbDHDJ #prey animal

[carbonateddelusion]

thinkin' about. 80s Eli and Edgar..

the reason I don't talk about them as a pair as much as the lovebirds (aside from the fact that I also own Jack) is because there's.. really not much there. Eddie had a huge, huge crush on Elijah while he was married to his sister, but I don't think much of that romantic love is still there anymore. Eli very much treats him like a caregiver- a superior instead of an equal- because of how similar he is to his mom personality-wise; it's kind of. hard. to consider someone partner material when THAT'S how they see you. the crush has waned away into more of an obligation to care for Elijah in Eddie's mind. Eli's off the grid and the only (living) person that he has regular contact with is Edgar, and even then it's mostly to belittle him. but Edgar stresses out over taking care of this manchild anyway because, alongside his hero complex, Maddie cares deeply for him.

there's still a deeply twisted obsession there, but there's no remnants of romantic affection or sex or anything of the sort. Edgar is the stand in Mother Figure.

#which yk i dont think eddie would particularly appreciate the fact that everybody calls him a mother figure instead of a father figure #but thats just how it is #oc ramblings #oc #my oc #oc: edgar #beanie elijah

[sealer-of-wenkamui]

I CAN understand why Mohg's character would make people uncomfortable. I admit to being a bit hesitant on the character myself.

But in the end, the design drew me in. I tried to like the character without acknowledging that particular aspect.

"... You know what, it's a part of his character. If I am to enjoy this character, I'm gonna have to acknowledge the good and the bad. I've done it with Eddie Gluskin, and I've done it with Ramsey Snow."

And it DOES make him an interesting character! Doesn't make it right with what he did.

But the thing that buggers me is that Mohg gets a ton more hatred than Seluvis or Dung Eater -- and those two, imo, are worse...!

I'll give Seluvis credit for having that really fancy Sombrero though.

I don't blame people for being uncomfortable, even if objectively speaking he's not necessarily worse than any of the other demigods (all the murder, torture, grafting, etc.) sexual violence on a whole tends to make people more uncomfortable to talk about, and that's pretty heavily implied to be a part of what he's doing to Miquella (between his one-sided, possessive "love" for him, being inside of his body, the overtly sexual wording of the remembrance, wanting to start a dynasty with him, etc- even if you take a more generous reading of the situation and think there's no actual sexual contact, his violation of Miq is still very much framed as a parallel to sexual assault. Bedchamber is a very specific choice of words and JP even refers to the bedchamber of a married couple, and there's some level of violation of his body going on, even if the specifics of how much are up to interpretation.) People who are fine with depictions of murder and body horror often still find the topic upsetting, and on top of it, its also incest and Miq's initial appearance being childlike definitely doesn't help the situation either.

And I too think his design (and theme!) are some of the best in the game! I don't think anyone that's genuinely upset by these darker aspects of his story should explore them or anything, its most important to take care of yourself after all, I'm more just bothered by people that try to deny them completely or say how dare GRRM "ruin" his character like this! Because it IS part of his canon character and part of what makes him interesting.

It's as you say, if you want to fully appreciate his canon character, its an unavoidable part of it. And it's fiction after all, liking a character that has done truly creepy and atrocious things doesn't make you a bad person, its a place where you can explore these darker topics safely. I find Mohg in particular interesting because of the fact that he's doing everything from his idea of "love", and its likely his own rough childhood that influenced how he behaves now. It's fun to think about how someone could hurt the object of their affection so deeply because of "love". The FM's influence is a gift in his eyes! He is pleasuring his lover! He constantly is by his side, why wouldn't Miq come to appreciate that? It's really twisted, and yes, he's tragic but it doesn't excuse his actions in the least, but it does make for a very complex and interesting character! That's why I hate to see him demonized as PURE EVIL or his atrocities ignored (if we're talking about his canon character)

Oh yeah for sure they're just as bad if not worse, and they even both have the creepy sexual violence implications in their story too, so it can't be people just thinking Mohg worse for that?? Making living people into your own personal puppets and intentionally trying to curse everyone by doing things so unspeakable that a hardened criminal is deeply afraid of what's gonna happen to him you would think would get more hate (and its not just with one person but multiple people they're doing this too) but I dunno! The only thing I can think of is I guess Mohg is a more important character? Or more charismatic and appealing so he gets more attention in the first place?? Or else people are bothered by the incest/underage (though Miq doesn't seem to actually be a child so that's not even true) thing specifically?

#asks #anon #er tag #elden ring #ehh i spent too long typing this not to tag it whatever #i dont care if people want to do their own thing with mohg that's not canon or whatever #its specifically the trying to deny what he did to miquella or else saying it ruins his character that irritates me #its such a fundamental part of his character and adds a lot of depth to him #i love how at first glance he just seems like stereotypical evil demon but he's actually the most emotionally complex character imo

[wearethekat]

June Book Reviews: The Virtu by Sarah Monette

Heyyy did everyone know that Katherine Addison (author of The Goblin Emperor) also writes as Sarah Monette? She’s just as good as Monette, and her worldbuilding is precisely as byzantine as in The Goblin Emperor. Although take note-- I absolutely understand why she writes under different pen names. The Virtu is much more Spicy Trauma than cozy and uplifting found family. Very spicy trauma, as both main characters were sexually groomed as kids and are correspondingly messed up because of that. And that’s only the start.

Felix is a fascinating character but deeply unpleasant: charming, but cruel and sharp enough to cut. This tendency is moderated by the fact that Monette is fully aware that he’s not a good person, and so is Felix to a degree. His complex entanglement with his half-brother Mildmay. I liked Mildmay, much more than I liked Felix. The way his voice is absolutely distinct from Felix’s is a work of art, and it’s not just based on his lower-class accent and diction (which is done with a light hand). It’s based on the things he observes, and which dynamics he picks up on compared to what Felix notices. 

Oh, and one more note-- this was book 2 of a series. I was mildly confused, but the complexity of the worldbuilding was enough that I probably would have been even if I had read book 1. The plot is based around their wandering journey back to the city where Felix was disgraced, to right the wrongs done when he was under the influence of his evil wizard mentor. Meanwhile, Mildmay is haunted by nightmares of his lover who was murdered, as well as fears that his twisted leg will keep him from returning to his profession as a cat burglar. Likewise, Felix is haunted by recurring dreams of sinister labyrinths and also of the time when he was mad, which he cannot remember. 

Recommended with reservations-- I meant what I said about the spicy trauma. It still has fantastically original and clever worldbuilding on top of some excellent character work. 

#my book reviews #june book reviews #the virtu #sarah monette #katherine addison

[adonis-koo]

Book Review: Folk of Air

I cannot believe it’s taken me this long to write this but I felt like I’m order to review the books, I wanted to read all of them before I gave a review! (Mind you I’ve read the main trilogy but I’m aware there are two complimentary novella books that I’ve yet to read, so I will not be touching on them.)

There was definitely aspects to this book that I absolutely adored, one of those things are surprisingly the first person POV, I feel like anyone who’s been on my blog for awhile probably knows by now that I’m not a fan of first person stories (particularly in the YA genre for many reasons) but I adored Jude’s narration.

Her grapple with feeling powerless and wanting power had me right there with her, on the edge of my seat rooting for her even in her worst moments, her powerful declaration of becoming worse then her enemies if she couldn’t be better. Willingly positioning herself to make herself stronger. But more then anything, I personally enjoyed the fact that Jude doesn’t try to justify her actions.

She’s very aware of what she’s doing, she knows her actions are heinous from the very moment she joins the Court of Shadows. It was such a slow trickling water fall of disaster honestly, I loved the slow build up in the series of Jude’s lust for power, first starting with the gias to not be charmed, twisting into grappling for the crown and eventually taking Cardan under her control.

Not only this but her sheer determination to do something was thoroughly enjoyable to read and watch unfold, even when she lost the battles or took the hits, watching her grit her teeth and her back up was easily one of my favorite aspects of her character (also her pure spiteful nature deeply resonates with me so maybe I’m biased)

I was also highly enjoyed her complex relationship with Madoc which was tainted from the very moment the book started. Him murdering her parents and fostering her and her sisters. The constant push and pull of their relationship and going from family to enemies.

Cardan was also a very fun character to read! While he was indeed cruel in the first book. There was just something so charming about his delivery, the longing stares that are filled with both yearning and anger. Not only that but the way he transitioned into enjoying his position as the king in the second book.

‘kiss me again, kiss me until I’m sick of it’ 😵‍💫

There’s so many things I enjoyed about this series, but out of all of them, I somehow really enjoyed the first book the best, watching Cardan and Jude continuously attempt to one up each other on pranks, and it eventually leading to her killing his best friend was just…🤣 horrendous but somehow amusing (granted she didn’t kill him to spite Cardan but you get my point)

But while I enjoyed this book, now that I’ve read the main trilogy I can’t help but wish there was more too it. Holly did an amazing job on some aspects of this book, but there were others I felt that severely lacked.

(I would also just like to state that these are my feelings and opinions and that while I feel it’s shame, I still believe it’s a great series to read!)

A lot of the characters felt very one demisonal to me, and maybe it’s because I’m a writer and reader who enjoys character relationships, I feel like they really make the story great, a great plot helps, I feel like strong we’ll rounded characters count the most. There’s more then plenty of examples.

The first being Jude’s sisters, Taryn and Vivi. We know them but at the same time we really don’t. Vivi was the one who swore to never forgive Madoc and so I assumed she would play a much bigger role in the series then she did, she’s a typical eldest rebel child who is, at most, a minor annoyance to the dad. I was really hoping we would see more of her pain and anguish against Madoc for murdering their parents (as she was the oldest and probably remembers it the best). But the most we see is a lack luster character who kinda remains me of a sassy Y/n from a draco x reader fanfic on wattpad.

(I’m writing this at 2 in the morning with only four hours of sleep so please bare with me)

We do get to see more of Taryn’s side of things during the first book, but once Jude decided to join the court of shadows, all bets are off, and so I felt like that would’ve been a good jumping off point to dive into the riff and feelings of alienation from her sister. But alas, that wasn’t really there either.

We also have Orianna, she first read as “the ugly step mother” trope but turns out she is just a very mild version of it and only to Jude due to how rebellious she is, and I once again would have loved to have seen their relationship played out in more detail.

The last character is unfortunately Cardan, and listen I LOVE him, I truly do, but I feel like we as the reader, don’t know much about him. I find it a bit odd that despite having two books titled after him, there really isn’t many scenes in the story with him in it, not only this but at the end of book one, he becomes the pentacle of the whole plot.

So I feel as though he should’ve been more included in scenes or had more then he did, and furthermore, their relationship. I went into the book knowing the romance was a subplot, but when the feelings are that conflicted by book two…😭 I’m sorry but it felt like it really should have been more at the forefront of the plot.

My policy with writing is “show don’t tell” so while I know Jude was conflicted with her feelings for Cardan is was shown so little that it felt only a little forced, especially given their lack of scenes together. And listen I’m not advocating for more romance. But moreso advocating for better tension, it the conflict is brought up during narration a lot but we don’t see it in action during the scenes except for a few times throughout the whole series. I feel like telling that side of the plot rather then showing it really didn’t help it’s case.

Cardan has some very memorable lines he says to her but it was difficult to really feel into it because they really only have about four scenes in the whole trilogy where there is tension of feelings involved. And if Cardan was a side character this would have gotten a pass, but he isn’t, he’s the main supporting male in the series that is at the center of the plot. Objectively, it all would’ve felt a lot more seamless to me if the conflict was more present in the plot then it was. This wouldn’t have required a lot of changes imo, just more dialogue between them with the right wording in any scenes and it wouldn’t just have to be them.

My point being it could have been worked better into the main plot that takes center stage.

I don’t want to be too harsh on the series of course! I still enjoyed reading it! But there was definitely some unmistakable flaws in the story that are difficult to forget. Publishing houses can be picky with word count so maybe a lot of things had to be edited out to fit a word count. It really seems that way because there’s so many characters and so little time to go into depth about all of them.

That isn’t to say it’s neccasary to go into depths with all of the characters but a heart to heart conversation between some and Jude would’ve done them a lot of favor in making them more fleshed out. That’s really my biggest let down with the story, so many characters have potential but a lot of them fell very flat. Another example being the gang at the Court of Shadows. We were introduced to Roach, Ghost and Bomb but hardly got any screen time with any of them during book 1.

But I wanted to wait for judgment on that because I thought we’ll maybe this is just setting the stage for book 2, and while in a way it very much was. We still didn’t get to see much of their side of things or really see them build any relationship with Jude.

In closing I definitely see the appeal of the Folk of Air series, it was very captivating and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of Jude’s rise to power, the grapple to control it and her fall from grace. The ending was very nice! I was really curious to see how Madoc’s ending would play out as he is an integral character to the series but up until the moment I couldn’t see any other ending for him aside from dying by Jude in someway. I really enjoyed the plot twist of exiling him to the mortal world!

Even more so I loved that the series started in the mortal world and it ended in the mortal world with the final toast to scheming good schemes. All in total I’d rate the series a

⭐️ 3 out of 5 ⭐️

If you have any book recommendations you’d like to give or her my thoughts on please let me know down below! 👇

#missy book review #inbox is open temporary for discussions of the series id love to hear your guys opinions on it!

[emiliasilverova]

MI6 Cafe Creators Tag Game

(Thank you for tagging me, @3nigm4art!)

We’d love for people to keep getting to know each other after this year’s 007 Fest, so we’re starting this tag game!

Rules: Answer the questions, then tag 3 new people to complete this. Also, tag the person who tagged you and @mi6-cafe so we can reblog your response.

Note that when we say ‘fanwork’ in the questions below, that could mean a fanfic, gif, fanart, headcanon, cosplay, crocheted work---any kind of fancreation counts!

(IMPORTANT NOTICE: in this post I'll be talking about my works/my inspirations in general, not just stuff that has been done for this Fest!)

(Also sorry in advance for the very long post 🙇)

1. What work of yours challenged you when you were creating it? 

To be fair a lot of the recent stuff I did, each time for different reasons. Some examples:

The Good, the Bad and the Quartermaster (Q dealing with the shenanigans of various 00 agents): writing a fic in the Craig!Bond verse, based on something existing (Comms Chatter) and with a hard deadline (because of the Riverhouse Remix event)

The God is Dead (Janus reforms): managing to write a 100-word story, no more, no less. The point behind that is that I have the annoying habit of making fics way longer that they need to be—the most notorious example of that being a “short atmospheric experiment” that ended up as a 8K-word fic. You’ll find that one further down this list, btw.

Some Solace in the Void (and kinda Straight Up, With a Twist too—both spicy Alec/Xenia action): writing smut. Smut is stupidly hard to write, and I learnt it the hard way. No puns intended. Let’s say that I’m happier with my second attempt than my first…

Shadow Crossing (Bond confronts the ghosts of the Janus gang): coming up with consistent rules of the universe. Can’t tell you much more because spoilers… except that yes, this was the “short atmospheric experiment”.

My series of "Queering the Bond Characters" posts (see my Fest 2022 masterpost for the links): sexuality and LGBT topics are still things I'm learning to get comfortable with talking about, so that was quite a big thing for me to do.

2. What is a fanwork you’ve seen which gave you a new headcanon about a character?   

I guess my answers all will be lists, won’t they? 😅

From the top of my head, I can say…

Tastes Like Strawberries: Boris is in fact very gay, and he acts so obnoxiously/cluelessly around women in an attempt to hide it (the next entry helped refine that, actually)

The Queer Review of GoldenEye (does this count as fanwork? I’d say it does, as meta): DRASTICALLY changed my views on Alec and his relationship with Bond. Basically he went from “fiercely aromantic straight and can’t even imagine anything else” to “confused, clueless, deeply closeted bi and Bond is the love of his life. Also desperate for love and praise”. I’m not going to complain—all those new layers add even more delicious complexity to his character (though I reckon, I have to thank @prismatic-bell for pushing me further down that path 🥲)

The Land of No Surrender: if Alec was a bit more confident in his sexuality but still had intense spite against Bond, that's what would happen. Believe it or not, this fic made me question a lot of things.

These headcanons, especially those describing Lazenby!Bond as having “urges” for queerness and Dalton!Bond as aroace—a post that directly influenced this one btw.

3. Is there a fanwork that you really want to make, but you haven’t started yet?

There are mainly three right now:

an atmospheric/eerie piece revolving around Alec wandering in the streets of Moscow pre-GoldenEye, strongly inspired by the song Спокойная ночь (Calm Night) by Kino

for a completely different atmosphere, a sitcom-ish piece involving Boris playing Doom instead of working... and getting caught red-handed by the rest of the Janus gang

one final chapter for Missing Connection, because I'll be damned if this one doesn't deserve closure.

For those that I'm less sure about, I'd say Janus’ ghost trial (inspired by Pink Floyd’s The Trial, and a “sequel” to Væ Victori), some Bond/Alec/Xenia, maaaaybe some 00Q00... and honestly, a ton of other ideas 🥲

4. What fanwork of yours surprised you, and how?

I was about to say that it was hard to choose, then I just remembered one fic in particular—Let It All Out. While it isn’t the first fic I did in just one day, it’s by far the longest and most intensely emotional in that category. Basically I needed to scream in the dark that day, and it just… happened, you know. Q is just me in this—even the title makes no secret of it.

That being said, there’s for honourable mentions:

The Good, the Bad and the Quartermaster (again): I didn’t expect Q to be so easy for me to write. I should have known though: nerd, check. Working in IT, check. Cat lover, check. Not very comfortable with people, check. Tea drinker, check.

A Momentary Glimpse of Reason: if anyone told 2021 me I’d do a sweet, fluffy, unambiguous Bond/Alec drabble, I’d have laughed at their faces and said it was bloody impossible. Then it just happened all smoothly and naturally. How times have changed. In the same vein, these and these chibis.

5. What themes/styles/subjects are common across many of your fanworks?

Alec. Silverova's inexhaustible source of inspiration since 2007.

Okay, other than him. Time to get all serious and pedant, because I'd say...

choices and consequences

dealing with emotions you don't always understand (both of these first two are very big ones. My depiction of Alec (and of my main OC before he took her place in my writing) is almost all about them)

death and the afterlife (don't get me wrong, I hate killing off characters. Yet I have a growing number of ghost stories under my belt. And also other stories dealing with the fear of dying or metaphorical death)

Russia (consequence of GoldenEye making me fall in love with this country's history)

6. What other fandoms do you create for, if any?

None, but I’m a huge fan of Half Life and Miami Vice. And Berserk. And Ghost in the Shell. And… crap, a lot of stuff. But somehow none of these can take over GoldenEye (Alec, really) as the centre of my creative world. Two words: special interest.

… okay, maybe I should mention GoldenEye Rogue Agent. But is it really a different fandom? 🤔

7. Is there an artist that you like to listen to while you create? Or one whose work always inspires you?

To be fair, to create I need absolute silence—otherwise my mind will wander right off. That being said, music is always a huge inspiration of mine, as it pretty much is the best way for me to immerse myself in the ambiance/mood/emotion of what I’m writing. I listen to music as I do something else, and I immerse myself in my imaginary world. Then I get the vibe and put it on paper, if this makes sense.

So to answer the question, three big names: Perturbator, Pink Floyd, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. And then, a good metric ton of 1980s rock/new wave songs, synthwave(ish) stuff and miscellaneous soundtracks, because that’s just what makes me vibe.

As for writers/visual artists… I think it’s probably obvious by now that PennyFifer and I feed off each other’s more or less chaotic ideas. Best example of that has to be me writing Life’s Little Ironies within hours of him publishing Ghost Riders in the Sky. Then there’s 3NIGM4, who just stirs my urge for both drawing and (heavy) angst. I can’t really think of other people, to be fair… everything I like influences me, one way or another. It’s not really linked to who makes the stuff.

8. Share a fanwork that you’ve found yourself thinking about weeks after reading/seeing it.

Oof, hard one. I have to confess, I am not a very big fanfic reader (or reader in general, in fact) 😱

I guess I’ll just list the stuff I randomly remembered one day and had to search hard to find them again?

The Hanging Wood: very old fic, but whose premise stuck with me. Eventually I did Shadow Crossing, and I was like “oh wait, wasn’t there a fic I’ve read long ago with that vibe?” Yep, there was.

The fanart in Welcome Home, You’re No Longer Alone: spicy. Very spicy. But somehow, when the idea of maybe doing 00Q00 stuff made its way into my mind, it was pretty much the first thing I thought about.

Scars: a Chinese fic I randomly put in Google Translate and... ooboi, what a ride. Again, spicy (and frankly quite disquieting), but at the same time the take on Alec was so interesting.

Touch It, Stroke It, and Undress It (chapter 4 specifically): again, the portrayal of Alec here is. So. STELLAR.

007 Rogue Agent: thinking about it, I can’t not mention this one. Missing Connection, my very first fic (and incidentally the one I’ve written for 9. Friggin. Years), began as an answer to it. So if not for it, I probably wouldn’t have got into fanfiction. Wild, I know.

Real Fear: oh look, another Rogue Agent fic (I mean, there aren’t many of them in the first place). Sometimes I just have to revisit it, the vibe really hits something in me.

Strangeness on a Train: okay, I might have included this one because of a private joke I have with Fifer. It’s uh… probably the first explicit Bond/Alec fic I’ve read in my life? Let’s say I wasn’t quite ready the first time, but I have made my peace with it since then 🥲

9. Finally, share where you post your works!

AO3: Emilia_Silverova

DeviantArt (LOL): S1ilverEye there still is some stuff there though

That aside, just my Tumblr.

Tagging: @lowkeynostalgic @tentacletenshi @reallyneedsalife

#emiliasilverova #mi6cafe community #mi6 cafe tag game #mi6cafe