#you can probably kind of see where I had to distort them a bit to fit the model base but it's fine right

[jays-therapist]

So much of who Yukio is stems from his self-hatred.

He wants to be an exorcist because he hates how weak he is. A lot of the contempt he holds for his brother derives from a desire to be like Rin, and not like himself. The way he remembers his own childhood is distorted by his self-hatred, as he struggles to focus on memories where he isn't inadequate.

I think the reason he hates who he was as a child is because he’s associated all of his worst traits to "Pre-Exorcist Training" Yukio, where he felt truly helpless and unable to do anything about his fear. Becoming an exorcist kind of gave him a sense of power? By learning about what he’s afraid of and how to deal with it, he now has control. At least, I think that was the idea behind it. What he doesn’t understand (and what Shirou probably didn’t consider when he gave his baby a gun) is that he’s not really overcoming his fear of demons. He’s just compensating for it, and clinging tight to any source of control he can get. Deep down, the fear remains; he still feels helpless, with a whole bunch of terrible coping mechanisms as a bonus.

(I also think this is one of the reasons he has such violent reactions to losing control, specifically towards his own body, like when he stabbed his arm to prevent himself from panicking in the Kyoto Arc.)

And he gets worse, because as he reasses the goals he had when he was a child (partly due to Toudou’s influence), he can only focus on all the ways they are selfish. A seven year old becoming an exorcist because he wants to be stronger only reinforces Yukio’s self-hatred, because it’s a self-oriented goal. Rin wants to be an exorcist so no one has to die for him like Shirou did. Shiemi wants to be an exorcist so she can protect others the way they’ve protected her. Bon wants revenge for the Blue Night and how it affected his family, and on and on and on. Yukio is surrounded by people who have experienced incredible pain, but focus on those around them. More and more, Yukio is seeing himself as the outlier, whose selfishness only serves to build upon itself. As he says, “I’m so obsessed with myself I can’t see anyone else!”

And like, that’s why I think the line “I’m strong because I had you!” holds so much weight, for both Rin and Yukio. For Yukio, it’s a realization that he loves his brother more than he hates himself, you know? He didn’t just want to be strong so he could surpass his brother. He wanted to be strong for his brother, and was inspired by him. It was that love that pushed him forward, and it’s that love that allows him to heal, a little bit.

This is best shown in the flashback he has later in Chapter 130 when they’re getting ready to square up with Satan. Earlier, I said that Yukio’s memories are distorted by self-hatred. Here, in this scene, we see a memory free of that bias, where Yukio, once shaking in fear, takes Rin’s hand. Yukio is brave, and able to overcome his fears with support, it just took him awhile to realize this.

Therefore, even though so much of Yukio is built upon hatred, he’s slowly recognizing just how much he loves and has loved.

#al yells #anyway. yeah #It's been so long since I've written an obscenely long Yukio post #blue exorcist #ao no exorcist #yukio okumura #UPDATE: I SCANNED MY BOOK SO THE PHOTOS ARE NO LONGER COMPLETE SHIT

[stomach-bugg09]

heya, lovely! can you do a big sis y/n sully and fali after the battle at the three brothers when all the kids (the sullys + tsireya, ao'nung) are huddled together during a bad storm and the parents cannot return from the hunt till it passes so tuk starts crying since they've been gone for half a week. y/n and fali being the eldest comfort their siblings/pseudo siblings. maybe even show a bit of tsireya and ao'nung's dynamic with fali?

summary: a rumor of treasure sends the sully kids + co. out into a storm they weren’t quite aware of.

a/n: okay so , i kind of took some creative liberties with this. hopefully you don’t mind !! but , that being said , the first half is like really well written and i’m super proud and then the second half . . . let’s just say i wasn’t prepared to write so much. i think it’s still good , of course , but i’m also desperate to get requests and works out. it’s still a very fun read , though , so i hope you enjoy. feedbacks + reblogs are always appreciated !!

tags: @rafeslovergirl @wxnderingthoughts @liyahsocorro @bonnibuckets @hjkshshjkhklhkl @itssiaaax @grierpilots @fleurbeass @23victoria @nyotamalfoy @gcldtom

warnings: sibling vibes, getting lost, a dangerous storm, a very bad ending (whoopsies), me slowly giving up writing well nearing the end

words: 3.6k

stuck

[y/n] had to admit, this was probably the stupidest idea she’d ever taken part in. unfortunately, the repercussions for such an act made the idiocy of it all even more obvious.

it’d been a perfectly fine day. wonderful, actually! [y/n] was busy with fali, the two of them bonding over some unbearable chores ( a punishment after they’d been caught past curfew ) as the beautiful weather kept them warm, even if the sun was leaving her skin sizzling.

to make it even better, when fali noticed the way she tensed under the beaming sun, he immediately grabbed ronal’s lotion and lathered some on her back. at that, [y/n] fought the urge to absolutely melt beneath his touch.

but, of course, as it always went, it had to be their younger siblings that ruined everything.

after the new layer of sun protectant had been applied, the two continued to unload the traps, hissing everytime a crab grabbed ahold of their sensitive fingers.

“bitch,” fali cursed loudly, flinging the crustacean back into the water to keep its pinchers from drawing any blood.

as [y/n] guffawed at the action, she immediately tensed feeling the change in atmosphere. from behind her, the ominous shadow of her brother sent her repeating the words, “uh oh,” in her head.

[y/n] turned slowly, eyes wide as she looked up from where she crouched on the dock. “can i help you?”

of course, the answer was always “yes.”

and so, that’s how [y/n] and fali found themselves aboard ilus that shot through the water. the sunlight burst through the surface, each wave distorting the reflection in the slightest. the magic of the sea always sent [y/n] into a phase of absolute awe.

apparently, tsireya and lo’ak had found some weird treasure-like thing out in the distance, just past the three brothers, and upon telling the rest of their siblings ( plus rotxo, although he was an honorary sibling at that point ), they all wanted to see. all they needed was a responsible young adult to chaperone them!

at first, [y/n] wanted to say no. they were already in enough trouble from the night before, and she definitely did not need neytiri and jake any farther up her ass. but, of course, fali had a way with words ( more like giving her the cutest eyes ever that instantly made her fold ) and off they went.

fali was a seeker of adventure. that in itself was more than clear. so, it was natural for him to bite when he heard of the journey that awaited him and the kids. plus, treasure? that sounded pretty sick, even if it ended up being something completely worthless.

despite the fact that he’d already been reprimanded just hours before, fali decided to take into account that his parents could only kill him once. a little more rules broken didn’t mean anything! that’d just be a problem for his future self.

fali felt a smile form on his face at the feeling of [y/n]’s arms wrapping around his waist from where she sat behind him. his own hand traveled back, resting softly against her thigh as they sped through the waters atop their shared ilu.

lo’ak and tsireya led the way through the reef, an event that caused [y/n] major second-hand embarrassment for everytime that lo’ak tried to impress the girl who rode beside him.

behind [y/n] and fali, ao’nung and rotxo caused quite the ruckus. it was often that fali found himself turning around to gesture for them to stop after they would push each other into some boulders that sat on the sea floor.

following dumb and dumber, kiri and tuk sailed gracefully. they watched the scenary pass by in peace, their gazes always stuck staring in awe thanks to the nature that paved the way.

neteyam, of course, brought up the caboose. he kept his eyes open for anyone straggling, often having his ilu bump into ao’nung or rotxo to keep them moving. they were lucky they even got along nowadays, otherwise the interaction would not be treated so dully.

but, alas, there was no more bad blood between any of them. not after a month ago, not after fali risked his life for neteyam. not after the sets of siblings joined forces for the first time to save payakan, a beautiful beast that kept the rest of the sully family from dying mid-battle.

it was a miracle that they all still lived after that traumatic night. even though it still haunted all of them day and night through physical scars and mental memories. it would never be forgotten, and maybe it was a blessing. or, it was a curse.

either way, they were alive and, for the most part, happy. that part was clear based on the way each of them smiled as they ventured through the reef, each of their eyes flickering towards the new scenery they had never seen before.

it was only when tsireya and lo’ak slowed down in front of them that they all regained full attention, suddenly remembering why they were even out there in the first place.

[y/n] tensed in the slightest, eyes narrowing as she scanned their surroundings. she took in every minute detail, a habit picked up by her upbringing as the eldest sibling. [y/n] knew that neteyam was doing just the same from the back.

“this way,” tsireya signed, an action that was then passed down along the line so that everyone was caught up.

[y/n]’s hands gripped fali’s biceps as the ilu made its way forward, the pace slow and steady. it was only when they entered the cave of complete black that she began to truly panic.

fali’s own worry was only triggered by the girl that clung to him, his thumb rolling softly overtop her skin to provide comfort. when they entered the dark cave, their bioluminescent freckles were the only sources of light beneath the dark surface.

[y/n] whipped her head around quickly, checking that everyone was there. after a quick head count, she felt a tad better, although she still used her hands to usher and corral them into a tightly packed herd.

“leave the ilus,” tsireya ordered quickly, eyes widening in concern when she noticed how tightly packed the cave was. “it is deeper within, and we can only fit one by one.”

“sounds joyous,” [y/n] responded just before she allowed fali to help her off.

once everyone was free from the confines of their ilus, they began to progress within the shelter. the farther they went, the tighter it seemed to get, an unfortunate reality due to the shoving that went on between the boys. [y/n] even had to give fali a look when he began to push around ao’nung and rotxo. he immediately stopped, of course, because he knew better to listen to her than get in trouble.

“just ahead,” tsireya offered quickly, eyes flaring at the way each other their movements got slower due to the lack of oxygen. “there’s an air pocket.”

“and treasure,” lo’ak added very quickly, an action that had tsireya slapping him on the back of his head.

he bristled, grumpily rubbing the location in which she hit him. his grumbling did not stop, not until they finally each swam through the small tunnel and resurfaced in the even smaller cave that, thankfully, had oxygen.

“oh, thank eywa,” [y/n] gasped once she found her way up, flopping down against the gravel. “i thought you guys were trying to kill us for a moment there.”

“ha ha,” lo’ak said with a roll of his eyes. “you are just so funny, [y/n].”

at that, the older sister was quickly on her feet and preparing to tackle him to the ground when neteyam gave them each an unimpressed stare.

deciding to stay cool and mature, [y/n] chose to instead stick her tongue out. of course, as a result, lo’ak hissed back.

“shut up,” ao’nung groaned from where he leaned against the walls of the cave. kiri nodded in agreement, eyes widened to only emphasize her point.

after a few moments of silence, tuk cleared her throat. “so, are we gonna just wait here or…?”

“right,” lo’ak trailed, not missing the chance to roll his eyes. “if i hadn’t been distracted—” he stared at [y/n]— “i would’ve showed you that—”

tsireya groaned, shoving him softly. “it’s down this way.” her nimble hand gestured down what seemed to be a gruesomely long and dark tunnel. at the sight, the entire group went silent.

rotxo was the first one to break the silence. “yeah, i’m good.”

“are you trying to kill us?”

“i have claustrophobia.”

lo’ak groaned, dropping his head back in annoyance. “come on, guys. there’s literal treasure back there.” [y/n] watched warily as he stepped toward the tunnel, his tanhì reflecting colorful light against the black walls.

“and what if there isn’t?” fali prompted, eyebrow muscles raised with his arms crossed across his chest.

tsireya blinked, jaw dropping as she tried to answer. instead, lo’ak stepped forward and assumed the task for her ( an action that had all the girls in the room unimpressed ).

“we saw it.” he sounded very sure of himself, but that confidence soon crumpled to nothing once the rest of the group just stared, then blinked, and then burst into laughter. “wha—guys!” he protested with a groan.

“sorry, bro,” neteyam attempted, dropping a hand on his shoulder to which lo’ak quickly shoved off as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “but, we will never trust your judgement of sight alone.”

“yeah!” tuk cried. “remember when you said that you saw that thanator creeping into camp.”

“oh, yes,” kiri agreed with a devious grin. “and after causing quite the scene, it was just tsukin dressed in his hunting gear.”

[y/n] bit her lip, trying to keep a smile off of her face. normally, she would be all for the teasing, but based on the expression that lo’ak wore, she was all too familiar with the jokes hitting a certain point. so, she kept her cool.

stepping forward, one hand raised, she offered in a cool tone, “okay, so, let us ponder.” silence settled in the cave, eight pairs of eyes resting on her frame. “if there is treasure, what would we do with it?”

tsireya stepped forward, a hand pressing to lo’ak’s chest before he could ruin their campaign once again. “well, from what lo’ak and i saw just the other day, it isn’t simply… treasure.” [y/n] narrowed her eyes, not quite understanding what she was getting at. “i mean to say, it is like a, uh, how did you describe it?” she turned to lo’ak.

“it is a statue, i suppose,” lo’ak answered with a shrug.

“yes, statue.” tsireya bit her bottom lip, the corners of her mouth up turning into a small grin. “so it is not as if it has any value since we are fully unable to haul it out of here, but it is beautiful and worth the look.” she blinked before smirking. “if you are brave enough, that is.”

oh, how tsireya knew exactly how to tempt that crowd. so, it was absolutely no surprise at all that [y/n] then found herself clinging onto fali’s shoulders as they swam through the dark, twisting, thin tunnel.

the textured ledges that jutted out caused many sputters and groans of pain down the line and back. at one point, [y/n] found her hair tangled on an edge and she was yoinked backwards, a burst of bubbles leaving her mouth as she let out a sound of pain and annoyance mixed into one.

luckily, the tunnel was no nearly as long as they thought, and soon enough, they were pouring into yet another cave. this time, however, each of them froze in their tracks as they stared in adoration at the gorgeous artwork that sat in front of them.

bioluminescent plants climbed up and down the walls, spilling onto the ground and growing up the figure that sat in the middle of the room. the statue, worn down by time, was a little dull on the edges, and it was a beautiful white marble. streaks of gray and black wrapped around its curves, adding a mark of nature on the na’vi made form.

thanks to the familiar shape of long pointed ears and a tail that wrapped around its waist, the figure was very clearly based on one of their ancestors.

[y/n] furrowed her eyebrows, swimming around it to catch every angle. her supple fingers gently trailed overtop what used to be a face, the only thing left after years of underwater living being small dimples of where the eyes and mouth used to reside. she softly petted the nose of the figure, a smile drawing on her face.

and that’s when it finally settled within her bones that something was wrong.

chills pricked on [y/n]’s arms as she looked around the dark cave, eyes flickering over the kids who were each grouped up and conversing with each other. kiri was busy admiring the work with tuk at her tail, lo’ak and tsireya were most likely flirting, and ao’nung, rotxo, and neteyam were arguing about something. panic settled in [y/n]’s gut when she noticed the words “storm” and “rising water” being exchanged between the trio of boys.

she swam up quickly, fali at her heels, and she stopped at the top of the cave. [y/n] pressed her hands desperately against the rocks, feeling for anywhere the water might escape, feeling for anywhere she could try and take a peek at the outside world. she cursed at herself when she found no luck.

by then, eyes were cast upon the older girl, worry settling on each and every one of their expressions. a hand on her shoulder caused her to whip around, sending fali floating back in alarm.

“what is wrong?” he questioned carefully, eyes filled with concern.

“i do not know,” [y/n] admitted truthfully. “but something feels… off.”

that’s when ao’nung decided to finally step up. “the water is warmer,” he offered. “it feels as if the tide is moving north, and that usually means—”

“a storm,” tsireya finished for him, worry evident on her face.

[y/n] turned to fali with a tight swallow. his face was frozen, clearly trying to figure out a plan. he was always good at on the spot thinking, but something about his closest friends and family members being the ones in danger sent him spiraling in the wrong direction.

“we must leave now,” ao’nung took charge quickly, spinning around and ushering tuk and kiri towards the place in which they entered from.

[y/n] felt as if time seemed to travel far too fast. before she knew it, she and fali were bringing up the back of the line to make sure everyone swam out quickly, not leaving any stragglers behind. tsireya and rotxo led the way, tuk padded by kiri and neteyam for safety.

the reality of the situation truly sat in when the air bubble in which they’d previously conversed in turned out to be half way full. they all silently decided that stopping wasn’t worth it, and instead gulped one last big breath of oxygen before exiting the cave once again.

by the time they resurfaced outside of all of the caves, finally back in the open sea, [y/n] felt her stomach rise to her throat at the sight of the storm. wind blew far too aggressively, and the tides were coming in strong. screams left their throats as they narrowly avoided a wave that almost crashed directly on their heads.

quick thinking resulted in their ilus left behind — although, there was also a possibility that the creatures already left them at the feeling of the storm coming in — and the group of kids climbing onto the boulders.

the cave they had previously swam in also had another layer on top, this time with oxygen and safe shelter provided. at least, enough to keep them from ( hopefully ) dying in the storm.

they now huddled, backs pressed against the rock walls as wind burst outside, an occasional very large wave absolutely drenching the boulder and sending screams echoing across the shelter.

[y/n] and fali sat closest to the entrance, but in their arms they held practically every single kid. faces pressed into their chests, the two young adults sharing looks of concern, worry, and pure prayers to eywa.

[y/n] clenched her eyes shut at the feeling of tuk trembling beneath her hands, sprinkles of sea spray causing her to feel sticky and wet. when fali pressed his head against her’s, she whimpered softly. she would remain strong for as long as the children needed it, but deep down, she was terrified.

they sat, huddled together, throughout the entire storm. from beginning to end. beneath every harsh wave, between every strike of lightning. instead of letting their fear best them, they only decided to just hold each tighter and tighter.

by the time the storm finally settled down, they were each soaked with cold water, the wind whistling through holes in the cave. each kid was shaking, although some held it together better than others.

[y/n]’s heart ached as she held tuk to her chest, quiet sobs wracking her small body. [y/n] rubbed her back with a soft touch, pressing an occasional kiss to the top of the young girl’s head. “it is okay, tuk tuk,” she whispered, eyes flickering up to watch fali and the rest of the boys wander back and forth across the cave, voices hushed and serious as they discussed how to approach their problem.

“i want mom and dad,” tuk cried into her shoulder, face leaned into the crook of her older sister’s neck.

[y/n] frowned. “i know, darling, and we will see them as soon as we can. but, we need to figure out how to get home first.” she pulled tuk away from her body for a moment, forcing her to lock eyes. “i promise you, mom and dad are okay, and they will be looking for us as soon as it is safe.”

meanwhile, tsireya and kiri were busy under the water, looking for any source of help. food, a safer shelter, maybe their ilus… but, no such luck.

as the girls busied themselves with a search, the boys wandered from one side of the cave to other, jumping into the water as they tried to track down exactly where they were. curses were exchanged as lo’ak and neteyam’s necklace intercoms didn’t seem to work thanks to the wreckage left by the storm.

the first sign of hope came from kiri and tsireya when the two girls resurfaced, smiles highlighting their features as they sputtered for breath after a long swim. “guys!”

at that, everyone gathered around, even [y/n] and tuk after the older girl quickly cradled her baby sister and brought her over to the group. “what is it?”

“i think we found a better place to sit and wait.”

luckily for them, the beach they found was unoccupied and quite helpful. the storm sure left a mark, but that also meant firewood that was much more easily accessible. 

it didn’t take long for the group to set up an actual camp. sticks and leaves, gathered by the younger girls, helped create small tent-like structures. [y/n], rotxo, and lo’ak dealt with fishing and food, and neteyam, ao’nung, and fali were busy dragging large pieces of driftwood to support their shelters as well as make an actual bonfire.

“ao’nung, would you please be cooperative for once?” fali grunted, the trio dropping the piece of wood for the eighth time in just a few feet.

ao’nung shot him a look. “i’m trying my hardest, but you keep stepping on my toes.”

“i am not!” the older boy argued, eyes narrowed. neteyam rolled his eyes at the sibling-like banter.

“lo’ak, do you lack braincells?” another argument took place just a few paces away.

“[y/n], do not act as if you are so much better than me!” the younger brother threw a piece of mulch at her, an action that she did not respond kindly to.

it was only when rotxo shouted in delight at the feeling of a fish tugging at his line that they suddenly forgot all of their previous issues.

across the beach, tuk was squat carefully as she organized sticks and leaves into two different piles, even going as far as to stack the leaves from largest to smallest. “woah!” she cried at one point, staring at a very large leaf with a gaped jaw. “it’s as tall as me.”

tsireya laughed, picking the greenery up and holding it next to the girl. “i think you have a few inches on it.”

hours passed by, but progress was made. so much progress that they each had their own tent by the end of the night.

of course, they still chose to stay up quite late, gathered around the warm fire as they exchanged different stories. a lot of personal sibling attacks were made, of course, especially towards lo’ak who seemed to be a permanent indigo shade after his older siblings told tsireya of every single one of his embarrassing childhood tales.

the later it got, the more they yawned, and soon it was spreading like a disease. [y/n] smiled at the sleeping figure of tuk.

but, of course, the light in the distance kept any more of them from drifting off.

"looks like it's time to go home."

“looks like it’s time to go home.”

#avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #neteyam sully #sully family x reader #loak sully #sully family x y/n #tuk sully #tuktirey #sully family #kiri sully #metkayina #ao'nung #tsireya #rotxo #atwow #sully!reader #fali x reader

[murderandcoffee]

I'm sorry I sent the ask too early-

Can i get some of your tma character design hcs

👉👈

well of course you can! sorry it's taken me a bit to get to this ask, I'm uh. bad at keeping up with messages lmao

okay so quick disclaimer: I didn't have solid visual ideas of all the tma characters--details would change or shift or whatever, so I'll only list some major ones/the ones I really imagined well

jon:

I see jon as a japanese-british guy who's like 5'6"/5'7" (168-170cm) with a bit of a dad bod. stern-looking, with short black hair that's graying around the temples, and some well-kept facial hair. I imagine him growing his hair out over the course of the show. he's also got glasses. I've drawn my interpretation of jon a couple of times--check out my bs.art tag if you wanna see it!

martin:

uh oh this is the one that could get me in trouble with the fandom. now listen: I had NO contact with fandom interpretations of the characters when I listened, so there was no influence from fanon designs. the martin in my head is a very tall, very lanky, awkward trans guy with blue eyes, shaggy blond hair, and a crooked smile. he's got freckles and glasses, and moves kind of like he's still a teenager getting used to how long his limbs are after a growth spurt.

sasha:

okay so the way I imagined sasha is actually pretty close to a lot of fan interpretations! I see her as a tall-ish, well-put-together, academic-looking black woman with glasses and a natural hair. I picture her wearing a lot of skirts and sweater vests. she's definitely the most professional-looking of the archival staff in my mind.

tim:

I'm not gonna lie I really pictured tim for longest time as tim wright from marble hornets. I kinda still do. tall white guy with dark hair, sideburns, and expressive eyebrows. goofy and expressive. not much else I can say for him lmao.

michael distortion:

this is another one where the picture in my mind is waaaaay different from popular fanon. the distortion, to me, was not psychedelic-eyestrain-tie-dye-colorful. it was more of a black and white, reality but a little to the left, slenderman-/cryptid-esque vibe. definitely inspired by the visual auras I get from migraines. the distortion looks completely normal until you see its reflection/see it through a warped pane of glass, then it's all sorts of fucked up! but fucked up in a take too much nyquil and see the hat man sort of way, instead of a take too much acid and see god sort of way.

gerry:

I believe in natural redhead gerry

basira:

okay okay another one that people are gonna disagree with. the basira in my head does not wear a hijab. she's got her hair slicked back into a tight, military-style bun. brown hair, brown eyes, brown skin, some moles and freckles, some scars, no-nonsense, take-no-shit attitude.

daisy:

the daisy I picture is a small firecracker of a woman. she's dangerous the way brass knuckles are dangerous--sure they fit in the palm of your hand, but they will deliver blows that you won't ever recover from, if you're lucky enough to survive. she's covered in scars, muscular, very pale (I see her mostly as a redhead), and with some tattoos, too. sometimes I picture her as blonde, but I like ginger daisy.

melanie:

I've drawn my version of melanie! I see her as desi/south asian, with wavy brown hair and brown-green eyes. I hc that she dyes her hair red, but once she's infected with the slaughter it starts staying that way (un)naturally. she's short in my mind, probably a few inches shorter than jon.

I don't have much for elias, georgie, or helen, really. their designs kind of shift around in my head. I feel like I'm forgetting characters, but oh well!

I've drawn a few not listed here (annabelle, agnes)

if there are any characters in particular that you're curious to see how I envision them, lemme know!

#tma #the magnus archives #jon sims #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #sasha james #tim stoker #timothy stoker #gerry keay #gerard keay #michael distortion #michael shelley #basira hussain #daisy tonner #alice daisy tonner #melanie king #bs.txt #ask murderandcoffee #long post #anonymous

[leggerefiore]

Back in your inbox to discuss Cyrus bullshit again lmfao. I am normal. Totally normal.

So media literacy decline aside (no really, the reports are scary, less people can interpret nuance and hints), I blame 1) how young most of us were when we first played the games, 2) the OG Diamond and Pearl characterization (because it was a little different than Platinum's) and 3) the Pokemon Anime.

Largely skipping over the age thing because it speaks for itself. A good number of players were probably too young to catch all of the hints or grasp how irrational and emotionally driven Cyrus really was. Like, a legit Trauma Meter for our age group (20s) would be to ask if Cyrus freaked them out, or if they thought he had a point. Whatever the collective's first impression was would've colored YEARS of discussion and content. And I'm pretty sure I remember his reception being negative. Of course, the theory that he wrote the old notebook and that the old man was his Grandpa (meaning Cyrus was an abuse/neglect survivor) always existed. But before USUM and PokeMas added more implications, they were treated as "Just Theories" or after Platinum, retcons. Likewise, I think a good number of the older players WANTED Cyrus to be evil, so they kinda ignored it. Though there was an equal faction WISHING for a well written Sympathetic Villian. They missed Giovanni and had little hope GameFreak could write a worthwhile sympathetic villian because while Maxie and Archie weren't evil, their plan was just so stupid? Maybe it's because I grew up in a rural area at the start of the Going Green era, but I can remember being taught basic ecosystems in like 3rd or 4th Grade Science and learning that major changes to the environment were bad? And they were supposed to be super smart scientists?

On to game characterization, D/P Cyrus and Platinum Cyrus were portrayed slightly differently and I don't know if it was intentional or not, given how subtle the changes in the overall story were. But it boils down to a matter of A Means to an End, where D/P Cyrus seemed like he was changing the world to become a God, while Platinum Cyrus wanted to change the world and has to become a God to do so. Likewise, I don't think the implications that Cyrus was the abused/neglected grandson of that Old Man and the author of the old notebook were as strong. Also every scene with Cyrus in the Distortion World didn't exist in D/P so you didn't witness his breakdown or him admitting to his own faults. Charon/Pluto also wasn't in D/P, nor was the Rotom Room which was the first thing to give the "Cyrus wrote the Old Notebook Theory" any credibility.

My last reason was the Poke Anime and I talked a bit about it in a comment the other day. I have since looked it up and the D/P Anime aired the same day as the D/P Game Release, in Japan at least. So the 2nd most prevalent and remembered version of Cyrus is an ASS. The Anime did a great job of showing us the double life he was living, smiling and dressing/acting normal, albiet hammy, in front of Cynthia and that one old lady. But for a cold, stoic villian, he was super agressive, loud, short-tempered and dismissive in the anime. In that clip you shared, he wasn't calmly explaining why fighting was useless, he was about to snap on his admins. He yelled at someone else to (Ash I think). So it didn't even do a good job of portraying him as the kind of villian he was supposed to be, though this may have been because the series ended in 2011, so it may have been affected by the Platinum retcons.

But yeah, I'm also kinda sad about how people see Cyrus, but it isn't surprising. For everyone who "grew out of" pokemon or just never played Platinum, USUM, PokeMas or BDSP, they have to go back and relearn everything and not everyone does that. Nor will everyone want to because again, some people wanted Cyrus to be genuinely evil. And even if they do want to learn what changed and are open to it, they have to sift through years of content saying he was actually that bad.

It was a nightmare explaining to two of my homies why I was suddenly trying to write fanfic and draw fanart of him because they didn't get the memo.

Quick correction - It is not a theory that the old man is Cyrus's grandpa. It's confirmed from my understanding. Which it means Cyrus is likely an abuse victim (though, what Cyrus was going through was never entirely specified. Just that it was bad enough to concern his grandfather.)

I will note that his characterisation did change between Diamond-Pearl and Platinum (and now BDSP has introduced younger people to the pre-Platinum story), so I will give them that. But specifically, I was on the USUM battle theme still seeing it. (Interestingly, not at all on the BDSP rendition, though. Maybe because it's just Sinnoh fans who already know everything.) One of the top comments was ironically a joke about him seeing the Rotom Dex and wanting to kill everyone.

I think his character is really just generally misunderstood because of how subtle everything was is what I was originally trying to say. Like you said, some of it is general literacy issues. It just makes me sad to see him so misunderstood... I think Game Freak did a really good job writing him. Though, he does clearly read as emotional in both Diamond-Pearl and Platinum. At least, seeing his little chibi march up to you in BDSP after you ruin his plans really shows how emotional he truly is. While the Rotom Room journal is clearly only a theory, I do truly think he is the only logical character who fills that role so well. (Charon 100% would use Cyrus's childhood trauma journal for its precious Rotom research without a doubt seeing how quick he was to try to take over Team Galactic.)

I am glad that they gave him depth rather than just making him a generic bad guy... Actually, considering that Platinum was just before BW (well, a few years but development wise, I mean), I think it might have been their first steps into more character driven plots. I do hope people end up looking more into Cyrus, but I know he isn't the most popular villain at all. (I believe that crown goes to either Archie or Guzma. Or. Well. Lusamine, actually, probably.)

I convinced my friend by telling her about the Rotom Room stuff, actually. She already liked Cyrus since she is super into Sinnoh, but apparently, learning that he was besties with Rotom when he was a child sold her. Now she bravely helps me write for him sometimes lmao. My other friend, however... She still doesn't believe that he's actually 27.

Granted. Youtube comment section opinions should probably always be discarded.

Except maybe... This one. This is the only good and acceptable one lmao

#cyrus.ima #long post

[steamberrystudio]

Hello! I finally managed to play GS and wanted to thank you for the dedication to making and releasing your games. I cannot express how much joy they brought me in a difficult time. You are amazing.

And if you still answer asks, could you tell us how do Veli and Brenin perceive psi? Also, how do knights normally teleport if not by folding space? Thank you!

Awww thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed Gilded Shadows!

To answer your questions:

I never specifically decided on ways that Veli and Brenin perceive psi but initially I had the idea that not all queen ranks even *see* it necessarily. I had the idea that some perceive it as sounds or even smells.

I feel like there are a lot of different ways it could work. Even visually, it could work quite different from how it works for Morgan (such as actually seeing some sort of wave form or other pattern instead of her coloured light/smoke). And since Veli had such a hard time teaching Morgan, I imagine it's something quite different from her visual representation.

As far as knights - in my head, I always imagined that a lot of other knights essentially do a much weaker and more limited version of what Ari does. Ari can fold space in such an extreme way that he connects point A to point B and then essentially "steps" across that fold almost instantaneously. And he can do it over extreme distances - so extreme he doesn't even know his upper range, honestly.

Many other knights can bend or distort space similarly to that, but to a much lesser degree or with very heavy limitations. So instead of completely connecting point A to point B like a wormhole, they simply bend space and shorten the distance, then travel quickly along the curve. They may not even travel that fast - but if they create a time contraction for themselves by bending space, maybe it just seems like they did it super fast to any observers. 🤔

I can come up with a lot of different variations honestly - but some of them would never make logical sense if you wanted a 'sciencey' explanation. One really early idea I had was that the same way Morgan can see psychometric threads, some knights could essentially see 'psionic threads' leading to people they had met (like their comrades, friends, etc). And could then 'pull' themselves along those threads to essentially 'teleport' to where they were.

How does that actually work though? I guess it seems like some sort of space distortion ability. But the specifics are a bit...wibbly. 🤔

I also had the idea that some knights are probably doing much more complicated things like distorting reality or even doing some kind of molecular construction/deconstruction - like Star Trek transporters. But that because these are very complex processes, they probably are limited in scope and range. So someone might only be able to teleport line of sight with that ability, etc.

But like every unique skill in the game, the idea is that with F-class becoming more and more common, there probably are other knights out there who are folding space similar to Ari. They just aren't registered or on record yet.

#gilded shadows #queens #veli #brenin #ari #knights #teleporting

[tawaifeddiediaz]

hi can you make a tutorial on how you sharpen your gifs? i especially love the black and white ones you make

Hi Nonnie! Sorry you've had to wait a little bit, I've just been really insanely busy with a thousand things 😅 Anyway, I'm not sure how exactly to do this, but hopefully this makes sense!

We'll be doing this scene, to go from the top gif to the bottom gif:

(This tutorial assumes basic knowledge of gif-making and smart filters, and is probably long-winded because I haven't been making gifs for very long, but this is the way I do mine.)

Tutorial under the cut:

Couple things to note that make a huge difference before you even start:

Use high-quality videos! I try not to go below 1080p for anything, and sometimes that means downloading bigger files.

Make sure that whatever application you use to get your frames isn't distorting them, or skipping frames. I use MPV player.

Make sure your gif size is correct when you crop it, if you're posting it somewhere). For example, if you're making a single gif on a row, Tumblr's optimum width is 540px. If you make it 500px, or 550px or whatever, it's going to look super crunchy and weird after you post it, so stick to their sizes.

We're gonna begin at this page (if you need a tutorial on how to get here, let me know, but I'm assuming you know!)

First, make sure your gif is a smart object! If your gif isn't a smart object, you won't be able to apply the smart filters. If it is, you'll see this symbol next to it. To convert all your layers to a smart object, select them all, right-click, and select "convert to smart object."

Next, duplicate your gif layer so you have two. Hide the top layer and select the bottom layer. Your layers should look like this:

Remember we're working on the bottom layer first! Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. Use these settings, depending on what looks best for your gif/video quality:

The radius can be set to 0.2px to 0.5px depending on your quality/preference. You can also choose to remove Lens Blur instead of Gaussian Blur but these are my preferred settings. (I don't do anything with the Shadows and Highlights section)

Next, do another Smart Sharpen, but this time, use these settings:

(a popular choice for this second smart sharpen is 10%-10px, but I like the clarity 20% gives just a little bit more.)

This is what my layers look like right now:

And this is what my gif looks like. I removed the sharpening from the right side of the image, and while it's not super obvious like this, I think you can see the difference best in Buck's eyes. The eye on our left has much more detail and depth, while the one on our right isn't as clear:

You can stop right here if you want to, if you're happy with the way your gif looks. However, my preference is always to soften the crisp edges just a little so it doesn't look over-sharp, and also give it some clarity, which is where that second layer comes in.

Select that top layer and un-hide it. Remember that there are no filters on this layer so far. Go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Choose a radius of 0.4-0.7px, and click enter. The gif will look like this:

Next, change the opacity of this top layer to 20-25%. You should have your sharpened gif back, but it will look just a little softer and less harsh along the edges. You can change this opacity depending on your scene, so it's really like a slider you can control to go back and forth.

Your layers will look like this:

Then, one more optional step that I like to do is add a noise layer. This seems counter-intuitive, but when you have big blocks of color, the noise helps disperse them just a little bit.

Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Use these settings:

Then, in your Layers pane, right-click where it says Add Noise, and in the menu, click Edit Smart Filter Blending Options. You should get this dialogue box, where you can change the opacity of that filter to 50%.

I know it kind of seems like "what's the point?" when this particular layer is already low-opacity, but it does make a difference (to me, at least) in some gifs where there's a lot of color/light, especially after you color the gif in!

This is what your layers should look like:

And this is what my gif looks like after I run it through the frame animation, all sharpened!

Here it is colored the way I color my gifs xD (and also slightly slowed down):

And here it is in black and white (I love black and white, too xD):

I hope this helps, Nonnie! Feel free to drop me an ask if something here doesn't make sense.

Last tips:

Don't be afraid to play around with multiple settings until you find the one that works best for you.

Make. An. Action. I can't tell you how much actions save time when I'm working because then I don't have to remember every last detail. The first few times, just get in practice of doing it yourself, but after that, actions are amazing. Some people on tumblr have actions you can download and use, too.

Different scenes/lighting will result in different outcomes of your sharpening, so you might have to play around with it. Sometimes, I add an extra Smart Sharpen layer to that bottom layer to help clarify some of the details, and other times, I just change the existing settings to fit the scenes.

Sharpening tends to be a personal preference thing, so just play around with all the settings until you find one that works best for you.

Happy giffing!

#zee's tutorials #tutorials #gif tutorial #sharpening #photoshop tutorial #resources #ps help #dailyresources #userkosmos #userrin #tuserkay #usermarsy #userphotoshop #completeresources #usermare

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

Here is the third of the posts I'm making that detail my thoughts on every episode of The Magnus Archives. This post details my thoughts on episodes 31-40, the last episodes of Season 1. I've absolutely loved this final quarter, and documenting it has been a really fun (and kind of traumatizing but I'll get to that) experience.

Please keep in mind a few things before you read this.

1: This post is LONG. Like I mean LOOOOOONNNGG. If you read this all in one sitting, I will be both humbled and concerned for your wellbeing, so just...keep that in mind.

2: Obviously there will be spoilers for all of the first season, so if you haven't listened to that, steer clear. If you have listened ahead of Season 1, which I'm assuming most people reading this have, please don't spoil any future episodes for me :).

3: I recommend reading my posts on previous episodes before this one, as I will make reference to them a few times. There is a link to my masterpost of them above the cut. With that, enjoy! :)

- Episode 31, First Hunt 🦌

Statement of Lawrence Mortimer, regarding his hunting trip to Blue Ridge, Virginia.

Jonathan Sims is the only guy ever. The man walks into his office, probably sleep deprived and without any caffeine in his bloodstream, does the best impression of a jolly old English man he can muster for twenty minutes straight, sings his little heart out at one point, and then proceeds to call the story about someone being hunted bullshit while he stares at the ceiling in dread of the evil sex worms hunting him. Btw, I will admit that last bit was a little annoying. Usually I’m fine with Jon calling statements dumb, as I think it adds to the loser old man twink vibe I get from him, but when he straight up sees a similarity between one paranormal occurrence and another, and one or said occurrences is haunting him in real time, his denial just came off as kind of frustrating, especially considering how he usually does pick up on connections between statements. Ok enough about Jon (I just love/affectionately hate him so much I’m sorry), more about the actual story. Well firstly, the portrayal of America was genuinely kind of perfect. I’m glad that more people around the world are able to learn about the horrors of The Appalachian Trail. (These specific horrors don’t get the sparkles, they’re just that fucked up.) I did also really like the whole role reversal with animals hunting humans, it oddly reminds me of some of the themes in Episode 30, but the flavor and execution is very different. I do also wonder if the presence of a lycanthrope somehow connects to the vampires in Episode 10, since I usually group those two monsters specifically. And much like the vampires, I actually really liked how the lycanthrope was portrayed here, it had a lot more intelligence than the average werewolf, where the human and animal forms are usually entirely different minds. Also, it not being able to die was…genuinely really fucking scary with the way it was described. And while I do have a distaste for hunting, I did genuinely feel pretty bad for Lawrence and Arden, neither of them deserved what happened to them. Finally, there’s the ending of the episode, which was…yikes. It’s genuinely quite shaking to see Jon this terrified, like he’s really started to realize how bad things are getting. I always love seeing him outside of when he’s reading statements, and I just UGH I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOOOOUUU. Honestly that’s probably my only kind of big frustration with the podcast. I mean, I still love the statements obviously, and they’re clearly working hard in the world-building and foreshadowing department, so it’s hardly affecting my enjoyment, but episodes like Colony and A Distortion are some of my favorites in the show so far, and it just makes me want to see more of what’s going on at the institute, and what the people who work there are like. Hopefully more episodes like those ones will show up soon, as I’d like the season to end on a special note. Well, aside from that, this was a very solid episode, and given the title of the next episode…well, I think my wishes will be granted soon. (JANE PRENTISS STATEMENT SAVE ME!!!)

I just realized that I’m basically writing my own statements here whoa.

- Episode 32, Hive 🐝

Statement of Jane Prentiss, regarding a wasps’ nest in her attic.

….The Jane Prentiss statement saved me, but NOT IN THE WAY I WANTED IT TO. (LIKE, IT WAS PHENOMENAL, MIGHT JUST BE MY NEW FAVORITE, BUT FUUUUUCCCKK.) Firstly, I think part of what made this statement so amazing was how it was framed. This is definitely the most cryptic story so far, valuing symbolism over a concise structure, but I actually felt like that worked perfectly here. Since Jane is practically deteriorating while writing this, it feels like she’s contemplating things we couldn’t even imagine. While also being aware of the true horrors she has now become witness and host to. And mentioning the symbolism, MY GOD IS IT GOOD. The Flesh Hive (and no, I’m not calling it the sex worms anymore, that ship has sailed) in particular is such an interesting concept, I mean, it’s more of a concept incarnate than any other horror so far. The way it reflects the metaphorical hive, the insect ecosystem that exists all around us, which in turn reflects a sort of toxic codependency and need to be loved, which is also reflected through Jane, and it all ends up as a combination between the concept of love and disgusting insects, it’s just, UGH I LOVE IT SO MUCH. On top of that, this is absolutely my favorite of Jonny Sims’ performances so far. He captured Jane, along with her shift into becoming a part of The Flesh Hive extremely well, but also mixes it with the genuine terror that Jon is feeling. Speaking of which, while it was certainly cathartic to see Jon admit that what’s happening is very real and very paranormal, it was also very terrifying in its own right. Either something very weird is happening in the archives (I mean, obviously SOMETHING is weird but Jon could be…well, he certainly isn’t normal, but, like, he doesn’t have to be PARAnormal, you know?), or, Jon has had some VERY weird experiences in his past, which I think is more likely. What they are, I don’t know, but I think they’re something similar to this, considering how he said that something in the statement had gotten to him. (Stay safe my poor little meow meow babygirl-) As for the story outside of just themes, I don’t have much to say honestly, it was still fantastic, just very simple due to the abstract nature of the episode. All I’ll say is that it was obviously terrifying, and I feel really bad for Jane. I don’t care if she was canonically “toxic” or whatever, she still deserved better than what happened to her, and the level of emotional distress she was in was absolutely chilling. (On the bright side though she kind of slays as an evil worm lady but I digress.) Anyways, the last thing I have to talk about is theories, because MY GOD, this gave me quite a bit to work with. (This is becoming a massive wall of text so I’m going to make a cut.)

Firstly, I think it’s time to go back to my theory about cults and higher powers. There’s been at least one instance of a cult via The People’s Church of The Divine Host, but due to characters like Gerard Keay, the other guy in the hospital, Sarah Baldwin, potentially The Lukas Family, potentially Jurgen Leitner, likely The Circus of The Other, and more, I feel like there are multiple cults and multiple higher powers, potentially at odds with each other given what happens in Episode 12. And I think this applies to this episode, as Jane was a practicing witch, and The Flesh Hive seems to be some kind of higher power as well. I think other higher powers might be The Anglerfish, the growing darkness, something associated with eyes, maybe “Micheal”, and some other potential candidates. Overall it does feel like the podcast is leaning towards the eldritch kind of horror (which is my absolute jam btw), so I hope I’m right in my assumptions. As for what these higher powers may want, I feel like maybe they’re…punishing humanity for their hubris? Like, I know that assumption might sound like it’s coming from someone who can only view these sorts of things from a religious perspective, but hear me out, because you have episodes like Do Not Open, Alone, Lost Johns’ Cave, Confession and Desecrated Host, Freefall, Skintight, First Hunt, and even this one with how Jane is practicing witchcraft, where characters who are comfortable in situations that many would find scary, and are then scared while in that situation. The only possible exception is in Arachnophobia, where Carlos is already scared of what he’s haunted by, but you could argue that he was being punished for a potential curiosity with spiders he had when he was younger. So yeah, those are some small thoughts I had about how some of this all ties together, but I had a couple of other small observations as well. Firstly, the presence of spiders in Jane’s attic. She implies that they exist separately from The Flesh Hive, so I do wonder if they tie into what happened in Episode 16 at all, especially considering that the worms were in fact mentioned there. Secondly, there’s her mention of “fools chasing fractals”. If that doesn’t tie into Episode 8 with Ivo’s father, I don’t know what does. Thirdly, her landlord was smoking a cigarette, which just reminds me of everything involving The Anglerfish (although I checked to see if he was mentioned in Ep. 1 like Sarah and no, he wasn’t.) And fourthly, one that was mentioned in the YouTube comments, Antonio from Ep. 11 was said to be working at a Crystal shop, had a somewhat similar experience where his mind was directly connected to ✨the horrors✨over a long period of time, and was also under a fake name. They said that maybe this would explain why that one guy looked at her sadly, maybe he was “Antonio” and knew what was going on, and while I’m not 100% sold on the idea, I thought it was interesting.

So…yeah. That was…an experience. Suffice to say, I am terrified. I’m terrified of Jane, for Jane, for Jon, for The Institute, and for my sanity as I delve deeper into the never ending rabbit hole that is The Magnus Archives. (I have 168 episodes left, Christ.) This episode is phenomenal, and there’s probably a lot I didn’t even talk about but…I think I’m going to lie down now, maybe get an exterminator contact ready just in case…auuughhhh.

- Episode 33, Boatswain’s Call ⛴️

Statement of Carlita Sloane, regarding her work on a container ship traveling from Porto do Itaqui to Southampton.

Oh thank god some time to breathe after last episode. I mean…not really, but you know what I mean. I’ll start off with what is the obvious highlight of the episode: TIM!!! I said earlier that I feel like he has bastard energy, and I was…kind of right about that? He’s nicer than I expected though. As for whether I love or hate him…yeah I’m leaning towards loving him, he’s fun :). Also, I absolutely love how they retconned errors in previous episodes at the beginning, that’s super funny and a really clever workaround to discrepancies. But how about the statement? Well, I will start with my one slight critique, that being that this is one of the least scary episodes for me so far. Which like, I feel like Rusty Quill knows that, since Jon outright says there’s nothing really paranormal here, but it’s ultimately whatever. Still though, the atmosphere here was really well done, the whole vibe of a creepy boat was captured very well through the writing, no outright big scares in the episode, but it did a very good job keeping me on edge. One of the moments that did genuinely make me pretty damn scared was when Carlita was digging through the shipping containers, and was then called out to the lifeboat by the rest of the crew. As someone with a very deep fear of being caught doing something people don’t want me to do, (even though my cowardly ass would never even bother), that certainly made me feel really uneasy, even though she was fine in the end. There’s not a whole lot to say here honestly, other than a few observations and theories. Firstly, I’m really glad we got some more insight into The Lukas Family! Episode 13 is still a favorite for me, so it’s nice to see connections to it showing up. This episode didn’t really reveal that much, other than that they help fund the institute, which like, is good way to keep them from investigating the weird shit the family seems to get up to honestly. And given the presence of the fog, as well as the overarching theme of isolation present with them, if I didn’t think they were responsible for what happened in Episode 13 already, I absolutely think so now. I also do really think that Evan was a family traitor of some kind, since he was very social, which opposes what the family seems to stand for. Lastly, I’ll mention my thoughts on Sean Kelly. I definitely believe that the crew of The Tundra killed him, but I also wonder if he was responsible for what was making the crew so antisocial, as that would explain why they started acting social after his death. It also makes me wonder whether or not I’m supposed to believe that the captain was involved or not….hm. Overall a good episode, I liked it, but there’s not much more to say on it.

Ok there is actually one other thing I did actually notice in retrospect. It’s very interesting to me that despite this being arguably the LEAST paranormal statement so far, despite the connections to The Lukas Family, Jon still seems very certain that something is weird here, more than he usually is. It really feels like everything with Jane has given him a new perspective…I’m scared…

- Episode 34, Anatomy Class 🍎

Statement of Dr. Lionel Elliot, regarding a series of events that took place during his class, ‘Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology’ at King’s College, London. Statement taken direct from subject.

So, fun fact, before I really got into TMA, this was one of the episodes I had heard mentioned here and there, and I knew nothing about it, other than the fact that people really seemed to like it. And now that I’ve finally listened to it myself, I can absolutely see why. Firstly, I’ll start off a bit by talking about Dr. Elliot, as I thought he was a pretty interesting character. I just kind of liked his general vibe, and his voice actor did a fantastic job at selling how distraught he was by the experience, although it does make me hope he’ll be ok after everything that happened to him. I also loved his conversation with Jon at the beginning (he’s awesome for respecting the tape recorder btw), and while it is a bit of a shame to see Jon go back to not really believing a case that much, I still felt like it was decently justifiable here, as the evidence admittedly isn’t the best. (Also his reaction to the apple was fantastic lmao.) But as for the actual statement, I agree with the common sentiment that it was…kind of cute? Like, don’t get me wrong, it is still a damn scary scenario. The weird shit the students get up to, the fact they are very clearly not human, their general vibe, and the implication that they killed a professor who failed to teach them are all horrifying, but…I don’t know, there’s some very real charm to this one as well. Like, even though their motives for wanting to seem more human are probably more sinister than this, I do like to imagine that they’re just wanting to relate to humans, so they decided to…enroll in college I guess. Like, if Dr. Elliot vibed with them more, this could have spun off into a very fun, slightly morbid college comedy. I do also love how genuinely polite they were as well, like, all of this considered, I absolutely get why people love this episode, it’s just genuinely very creative and a lot of fun. As for theories, honestly I don’t have that many, although someone in the YouTube comments (which by the way, I REALLY need to thank everyone there for being very resistant to spoiling, it means a whole lot for new listeners like myself), stated that there were some odd similarities between certain things that happened in this episode, and some of the stuff found in the bags in Episode 5. It makes me wonder if all of the bin bags contained discarded research materials being used by the students (which actually makes the art student jokes people were making in the comments even funnier in retrospect), and if the “him” Alan Parfitt came across was one of the students. Oh, and all of the bone imagery kind of reminds me of Episode 17 as well, and the teeth stuff kind of reminds me of Episode 10 (maybe the anatomy students are vampires…hm.) Outside of that, this was just a really fun and great episode, and I hope that Dr. Elliot comes back in the future just to see where this potential plot line could go.

- Episode 35, Old Passages 🔨

Statement of Harold Silvana, regarding discoveries made during the renovation of the Reform Club, Pall Mall.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH I’M SCARED!!!!!!! Man, this final quarter has been REALLY solid so far, like, the fact that Hive, Anatomy Class, and now this are so close together is genuinely stunning. Once again, there is QUITE a bit to unpack here, so I’ll take it one step at a time. I’ll start by talking about the elements of the episode that are…less brainrot inducing, as that’s easiest to discuss. Firstly, I remember that Sasha mentioned a “Harold Silvana” case back in Episode 24, so it’s really cool to see that brought back here! But moving on from that neat little tidbit, I’ll start talking about the actual statement. Yeah this one was just really creepy. The story itself was a bit shorter than other statements, but it still did a good job at creating dread. The hallways underneath the club were genuinely very unnerving, and it was also sad to see Alfred die, I thought that Harold’s comment about there being little to no one to remember him was pretty depressing. I also do wonder if the reason the members of The Reform Club didn’t want the architects to get involved with it any further was because they were aware of the hallways, and maybe making use of the strange forces down there. I mean, it just feels kind of fitting to have a high society like faction be involved in some shady business, you know? Also, I noticed that Jon’s vocal delivery of Harold was quite in line with his usual voice, which just makes me feel like they would get along if they met, idk. But honestly, while I think that the basic plot of this episode is still good, it PALES in comparison to the amount of connections it provides. Firstly, Jurgen Leitner. This fucking guy. You know what, I think the guy who made the rant about him was right, why DOES he have so many fucked up books? I…genuinely don’t know what to think of this guy. On one hand, his irritable nature that’s displayed here, and his desire to have all of this dangerous literature do raise some red flags, but it’s also possible that he only wishes to keep these books safe from those who would use them from bad purposes, as there’s no real record of him doing anything bad with them. Still though…he unnerves me, but it was cool to finally have him actually appear in a statement. Secondly, GERARD KEAY LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOO. I don’t even KNOW where this guy stands morally, but I just get happy whenever this weird little emo man shows up and I don’t know why. Anyways, I…think that this helps piece the timeline surrounding him together…a bit. What I can say for certain is that the Leitner he got here is the same one Mary Keay uses in Episode 4 (which might also be The Boneturner’s Tale, but I doubt it since that one revolves around bending already existing bones, while this one is about creating new ones), so it must have come into her hands some time after this episode. But outside of that, all of the things this episode did that surrounded him was just make me more intrigued, honestly. After Episode 12, I started to think that he was against some evil forces, like his mother and the other guy in the hospital, but that he probably still served his own forces (given the creepy eye symbolism, which I do believe is evil given the church in Episode 20 and the crypt in Episode 23), so he comes off as kind of an anti-villain to me. And this episode didn’t really change that, although I do question his motives for grabbing the Leitner. He’s seemingly been established to have a negative relationship with his mother as an adult, but given that he was younger here, I wonder if they were on better terms in the past, and he actually gave the Leitner to her out of his own will before a potential fall out. Eh, food for thought, I just think he’s really neat. (Making a cut because this is very long now.)

Thirdly, we have Robert Smirke. Firstly, I checked and he was indeed a real person! I’m very glad to see the podcast slightly demonize a British Museum architect, that feels deserved honestly. Ok, I say demonize because this guy built a bunch of terrifying hallways, but granted he could be good idk. Assigning characters strict moral alignments at this point is pretty hard tbh. Anyways, I don’t have that much to say about Smirke himself, other than that I think he was definitely involved with at least one of the major cults we’ve seen, and that he might have ties to some of the recurring creepy churches we’ve seen so far. …I might have to check if the real person actually worked on Hither Green Chapel or not, just in case. What does concern me is the hallways. Obviously, thirteen is a bad sign (I know it’s technically fourteen but like you get the idea, it’s framed as thirteen in the script when the architects enter the central room), but someone in the comments pointed out odd similarities between the hallways and previous episodes. Ones that stood out to me was one that was described as entirely dark, another with cobwebs in it, and the first corridor, which was described in an EERILY similar manner to Lost Johns’ Cave. I don’t know, it very well might just be me going insane, but I feel like the passages here are meant to reprisent certain…feelings throughout the series. Maybe not more sentient entities like, for example, The Anglerfish, but like, I could see a corridor similar to the weird foggy graveyard from Episode 13, or the dreams from Episode 11. Basically I think the passages are meant to connect to the more environmental horrors we’ve seen so far. It’s just…AGH THIS PODCAST IS DRIVING ME INSANE AND I’M BARELY COHERENT ANYMORE. Ok, I’ll wrap things up with some brief comments on the ending. Oh dear god the ending. Firstly, is it wrong that Jon’s surprise at the worms in his office made me jump more than anything else in the show so far? Like, considering how terrifying these statements are…that just feels like a disservice from me to the writers and directors, Idk. But secondly (ignoring the worms because I’ve gone on long enough about them)…Breekon and Hope…hi….oh no. They…they were very creepy…I’m guessing they’re twins because they’re very Shining-core to me….and considering that they are the same men who showed up in Episode 2 (or at least prominent to the delivery company those men were a part of)….I do not like the idea of them giving a package to Jon. Needless to say I do not want Jon to open that package. I think that is a bad idea. And I do not like how they encouraged Martin to turn off the recording. I…I think I’m going to go to bed now…

Speaking of bed, I’m sorry if this one wasn’t very coherent lmao. I’m just really tired right now and…yeah this podcast is pulling me into a very deep rabbit hole that I do not think I was prepared for as I thought I would be. Well, anyways, hopefully my incoherency at the very least makes it clear how insane I am about this episode. (Oh also I checked and no, Robert Smirke did not work on Hither Green Chapel, but I still find his work on churches interesting…)

- Episode 36, Taken Ill ✋

Statement of Nicole Baxter, regarding visits culminating in the fire that consumed Ivy Meadows Care Home in Woodley, Greater Manchester.

Unlike last episode, which is just making my brain spiral until it turns to goo, this one was definitely a bit more digestible. That being said…AAAAGUHFGHHGGHHHHHJJJJKKKKKKKKKNGDFGHHJJBFFHHJJNN!!!! I am in LOVE with how everything is coming together, it’s just, UGH it’s so satisfying! The amount of recurring elements, the fact that so many theories and bits of foreshadowing are being validated, it’s just…YES! I LOVE THIS PODCAST SO FUCKING MUCH AND I’M BOTH EXCITED AND TERRIFIED FOR THE END OF THE SEASON! JANE IS COMING HOME BITCHES!!!! Ok…sorry I just needed to get that out of my system, now I’ll talk about this depressing ass statement. Because yes, this one was really messed up! Seeing such a lovely sweet place where the people were able to find community even in their somewhat dire circumstances get absolutely torn apart by an even more terrifying version of death from rot and illness, which already majorly affects the elderly in real life….yeah it was upsetting! I mean, it was good, fantastic storytelling as always but DAMN. Also as someone who does have quite a notable fear of just…generally gross shit, this one did hit home quite a bit. The part where it’s implied Nicole cut off her own hand due to the constant pestilence coming back to haunt her (which did actually remind me of the history of the house on Hill Top Road, as well as the ghost spider…hm…), was genuinely kind of hard to stomach. Honestly the only thing about this episode that WASN’T terrifying was the humor of Nicole’s uncle keeping his estranged partner’s name in his business out of spite. That was actually very funny. So yeah, overall a very terrifying statement, but what about…✨the connections✨ (yeah they get the sparkles as well, who are you to judge). So starting with the obvious, the similarities to The Flesh Hive and Jane Prentiss. I do indeed think that the mysterious force here is either the same thing or something VERY adjacent to The Flesh Hive (but also the yellow shit in Episode 18), and that this episode 100% confirms that Jane isn’t being controlled or anything, but is dead, and the hive is just controlling her body now (which like, was already pretty obvious, but this just confirms it to me.) However, one thing that concerns me about these similarities more than anything else is John Amherst. From my point of view, it was implied that Mr. Amherst was consciously responsible for the spread of the illness, which is in stark contrast to Jane, who only started spreading her worms due to her infection and loss of sanity. This makes me thing that maybe John was somehow involved in getting the hive to absorb Jane, but really who knows? I do admittedly think it would be more interesting if Jane was chosen by the hive itself, but still, I think it would be interesting if her apotheosis was a part of some greater plot. Another thing that ties to Jane that I’m kind of curious about is Nicole’s opening words about fear, which Jon compares to Jane’s statement. It just got me thinking about some other theories which then made me think…what if the eldritch horrors that seem to be behind everything, the things that all of the cults worship, are meant to represent different fears. What if that’s what the different passages in Episode 35 represent (so like, claustrophobia for the first passage, and then stuff like the dark, falling and spiders for other ones.) This theory still needs a LOT of time to flesh itself out, but I’ll put a list of what I think some of the eldritch forces are after I write about the rest of the episode. I might be crazy, but given how “fear” is reoccurring throughout as a theme, more so than a lot of other horror, I have to wonder about this.

Ok, another thing that rattled my brain was…TREVOR THE FUCKING TRAMP? I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD? At first I thought he and his companion might be The Fairchilds from Episode 21, but the reveal of his actual identity was a complete shock. Not that I’m complaining though, he’s one of my favorite statement givers so far. Either way, I’m very curious about his presence here, as well as the identity of his companion, and what role they might serve in the plot. Considering that it’s implied they burnt down the care home, and that Trevor hunts vampires for a living, I feel like these guys are probably trying to combat the horrors, but much like Gerard, I wonder if it’s for entirely moral purposes. And finally we have the ending. Oh boy the ending. I know I’m always saying “this is terrifying” or “the archives are in deep shit now” or something along those lines like…whenever ANYTHING relevant happens at the institute, but like, can you blame me? This is mortifying, I do not want my favorite workplace comedy cast to end up in grave danger, and yet I have to cope with the fact that they probably already are. So, the lighter isn’t the most concerning thing ever, I mean, the spider web pattern is interesting, and given the prominence of cigarettes (as well as Gerard’s lighter in Episode 12), I know I should be suspicious about it. But honestly? I’m more concerned about the table. Because…of course I am. I don’t know what this table does, I just know that it is creepy, that anything Breekon and Hope deliver is bad news, that the implication they gave it to Graham Folger is also terrifying, and that I do not like it’s presence in the artifact storage. Why I am I even saying this, of course I’m scared, you should already know that I am not prepared for whatever comes up in these last four episodes, and beyond. End recording or whatever the fuck.

Ok, so as promised here’s what I think some of ✨the horrors✨ are, and what episodes I think they might appear in

- The Anglerfish (1, 28)

- The Sky, I Guess (4, 21)

- The Flesh Hive (6, 22, 26, 32, 36, maybe 18)

- The War Incarnate? (7)

- Heat aligned entity, called Asag? (8, 12, 18, 20)

- The darkness (9, 15, 25)

- Eyes (4, 12, 20, 23)

- Something aligned with isolation (13, 33)

- Bone Thing (4, 14, 17, 35) (This could be the same thing as the sky due to their connection with Leitners)

- Spiders (16, 22, 32, 35, 36 via the lighter)

- MEAT (18, 30)

- Whatever The Circus of The Other serves (24)

- “Micheal” (26, maybe 8?)

- And then probably something I’m missing due to the 14 corridors

I excluded some things like shapeshifters and vampires, since they seem to be species, Breekon and Hope, The Keay and Lukas Familes, Jurgen Leitner, etc., because they all seem to be servants of ✨the horrors✨ rather than horrors themselves (although I do think “Micheal” is an exception based on vibes alone), stuff like the table and the coffin, which are more like creepy artifacts than anything else, and then other stuff like whatever was trying to get inside Paul McKenzie’s room, which I just don’t know enough about. But…yeah! The ideas are very scattered right now, but I feel like I’m slowly piercing together what the horrific forces of this world might be (on the assumption that’s what we’re dealing with here, which I see no reason not to honestly)

UPDATE: Ok so after some thought I’m not too sure about the idea of ✨the horrors✨ literally representing different types of fear. I think that could still be the case with the passages, but the things I presume to be eldritch beings (like whatever is behind all the bones), while obviously not devoid of themes, are just a bit too specific for this to work. I still think the things I listed are likely to be big bad eldritch horrors, I just think I was a little bit off with what I think they represent, and I need to rethink my steps. Also, this is all on the assumption that there is more than one big evil here. I think it’s likely due to a lot of Gerard’s dialogue in Episode 12, but yeah…this theory only works if another theory is also true. Either way, I do think that the podcast will really delve into fear as a concept, and the psychology behind it, as time goes on, based on themes alone. Ok I’ve talked long enough, on to episode 37.

- Episode 37, Burnt Offering 🍼

Statement of Jason North, regarding the discovery of an alleged ritual site found near Loch Glass in Scotland.

If there was any episode that proves a shorter one isn’t necessarily a worse one, it was absolutely this. Because while the statement is short, and comparatively simple compared to a lot of others, DAMN. I really liked this one. However, I’ll start simple with the stuff that happened outside the statement. Firstly, man…poor Jon. It’s been really interesting but also…really sad seeing his mental state deteriorate over the course of the season, and I hope that he’ll at least be able to get some rest at some point in the near future, although it does feel like a storm is going to come soon. I also found Martin’s scene here interesting as well, as you can tell that he’s still feeling nervous after what happened in Episode 22, and that things haven’t exactly gotten better. The other thing of note is the table, which…yeah, it’s still worrying. I don’t know WHAT this thing does, although I do think it’s interesting that it shows up in an episode that seems to involve the heat related entity from Episode 12 and the Hill Top Road statements. This is because I strongly suspect that the box Ivo found beneath the tree belonged was actually the missing piece of the table, so I feel as if maybe it connects to the heat entity. This might also mean that Graham’s stress could’ve been due to the heat, as well as the monster that stole his identity, although I do have to question where exactly this would fit in with Episode 12. Still though, this does all intrigue me. I also find it curious that the box Ivo found contained an apple with spiders inside (which also kind of brings back thoughts about Episode 34), and that the other thing Breekon and Hope brought to Jon was a lighter with a spiderweb design on it. I’m connecting the dots! (I’m not connecting shit, am I.) But as for the statement…yikes. This is up there with Jane’s statement as being one of the most visceral, one where you really understand the mental state of the author. Like, you can FEEL Jason’s pain here, and having him get genuinely angry with the institute at the beginning was kind of chilling. Obviously it’s not the first time that’s happened, but usually the people who got angry with the institute were ones giving statements live, while here, you hear that anger coming from Jon’s mouth and it’s…off. Also, can I just say that this guy got screwed over so badly? He literally just dropped a bottle of old milk on the ground, and then as punishment he had his entire life literally set ablaze, and had to kill himself to protect his 4-year old son. That’s genuinely like…so fucked up and it’s not even something I can joke about! Really the only thing I can joke about is the mention of Pine Martins being tiny and adorable, which to me is meant to say that Martin Blackwood is tiny and adorable (if that wasn’t already obvious to me.) God I love Martin so much….What was I talking about? Oh yeah,✨the horrors✨. So I guess the only thing left to talk about now is connections.

Well, as I stated earlier, I think the eldritch entity associated with heat that has likely appeared multiple times before appears here as well, obviously. And if Ep. 12 didn’t already give me suspicions, this one absolutely solidified that there is a cult serving this entity. It doesn’t say much about the history of the house on Hill Top Road or what was going on with the man in the hospital, but it’s interesting nonetheless. But of course, the most interesting thing here is the bottles with pictures of Gertrude Robinson in them. …Oh dear. Firstly, I learned that this scene was actually inspired by the experiences of a real person on an old Rusty Quill forum, which is really cool! But aside from that, I’m wondering…is this meant to tell us how Gertrude died? I initially thought her presence here was meant to tell me that she might have been more evil than I initially thought, but now I’m kind of wondering if she was against the cult that serves the heat, and they killed, or at the very least attempted to kill her via a ritual in the woods. And if that’s the case, why not do the same with Gerard, who also seemed to be against this cult? Unless the brain tumor was somehow caused by the cult? I. HAVE. SO. MANY. QUESTIONS!!!! There are three episodes of this season left….aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAA-

Unrelated side note: A thought that popped into my head earlier was that maybe Breekon and Hope were the people who stole the calliope organ in Episode 24. I mean, it seems in character based on what we know of them, and it did end up in artifact storage like the table…Also, I found Martin’s description of them really weird? Like, what do you MEAN they were normal, mother fuckers spoke like the twins from The Shining! AND WHO THE HELL IS ROSIE??!! Ok goodnight :).

- Episode 38, Lost and Found 🏺

Statement of André Ramao, regarding a series of misplaced objects lost over the course of three months.

Ok yes, the vase was absolutely a gaslighting homophobe, there, I SAID IT, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! (Ok but in all seriousness I think the fact everyone agrees this is the vase’s motivation is absolutely hilarious, if it ends up being canon I will laugh my ass off.) Anyways, enough humor, because things are SERIOUS now. I’ll give my overall thoughts on the statement first. Honestly, when you remove the absurd nature of what’s going on, this one was genuinely very visceral and heartbreaking. I’ve seen people say that this one is a commentary on the fear of losing things, and while I absolutely agree, the main takeaway I got was the commentary on materialism, and how if you place too much value on material possessions you will lose the things you truly cherish. I think you can really tell that through the way André treats his husband through the story. Like, he talks about getting into a fight with him, and being angry when he started trying to contact doctors, and while I’m sure there was obviously love there, I don’t think André realized how much his husband mattered to him until it was too late. It’s not the most subversive or complex metaphor of all time, but I still think it really works and that it’s pretty damn powerful. It hurts even more with how he does eventually get all of those material possessions back, but still loses his husband. And while I COULD complain about the show’s first somewhat prominent gay couple being buried, I know that’s it’s not because of their sexuality, but because it’s the fucking Magnus Archives, where no happiness is allowed. I also find it concerning that André knows the vase is still stealing things (…writing that down really puts into perspective how nutty this podcast can be), it makes me wonder if it might be in the artifact storage somewhere…oh no. Mentioning artifact storage, what about Mikaele Salesa? So, I checked to see if he appeared in any previous episodes, and he did, back in Episode 14! Unfortunately, that doesn’t really give us much information on him outside of his appearance, but it does prove to me that he’s at least somewhat important. I will say that he really did remind me a lot of Breekon and Hope, which does make me wonder if there’s a connection between them. The only thing that I found to be a very notable difference is that Mikaele has some level of fear towards ✨the horrors✨, while Breekon and Hope seem do be in direct service of them. That doesn’t necessarily make Mikaele a good person, I mean, I definitely think that he knew about the vase, but just pretended not to to save his own skin, but he might not be like…an evil mastermind that wants to spread ✨the horrors✨ wherever he goes, which I get the vibe of from a lot of other characters. But outside of that, there were a good few odd similarities to other episodes. I found it interesting that the war-related items in Mikaele’s warehouse were from The American Revolution and World War 1 respectively, as those are the wars that the only war-related episodes so far have taken place in (those being 7 and 29.) I also definitely think that Mikaele had Leitners in his possession, and I felt like the description of the vase’s pattern was very similar to that of the table, which should be more relevant than ever. Some other things that the vase reminded me of was the impersonator from Episode 3, what with the way that it successfully gaslights everyone aside from the statement giver and…debatably the archival staff, although I don’t think they count since as far as I’m concerned none of them were directly involved with the events of these statements. I initially thought that the creepy hand was supposed to be David, but someone in the YouTube comments said that it could be the same hand from Episode 15, which is….concerning, given how scary that one was. I do wonder if that means this statement connects back to The People’s Church of The Divine Host though, since I felt like that was involved with Episode 15. But with all of that out of the way, there’s the end of the episode. I am hyperventilating so bad.

So yeah….Jane came home I guess. I’m…very interested to see whatever happens in the next episode. All I know is that I’m absolutely in what you’d consider the season finale now. I do have a couple of thoughts here, outside of just being terrified. Because obviously, the way that Jon just smashed that spider is very similar to the events of Episode 16, which brings multiple concerns. Firstly, I initially thought that Jon’s decision to kill it was a bit stupid given his knowledge of that statement, but then I remembered that it was almost as if an external force was compelling Carlos Vittery to kill that spider, so I assume the same thing happened to Jon. And if so….please don’t wrap my boy’s corpse up in webs :(. Secondly, since the killing of the spider causes the worms to conveniently burst in, I wonder if that was why the mysterious force was compelling Carlos to kill the spider. I mean, the worms WERE in his apartment, so maybe killing the ghost spider (which I assume is the same one we see here) is somehow capable of summoning the worms, meaning that….Carlos Vittery could be a part of The Flesh Hive?! Or at least there was an attempt to make that happen like with Harriet Lee? …Sometimes the connections really make my brain melt. And finally, I’m now wondering if the reason as to why the spider even showed up was due to the lighter Jon received from Breekon and Hope, since it had a spiderweb design on it. I mean, they obviously have a knack for giving people things that lures ✨the horrors✨ to them, so I would not be that surprised if this theory ends up being correct. (Also, if Jon was to set the worms on fire with the very same lighter that might have summoned them to him…that would be a massive power move that would make me very happy.) But more than anything, this just gets me thinking even more about that damn table. WHY IS IT HERE? IS IT GOING TO SUMMON THE HEAT TO GET RID OF THE WORMS? DOES THAT MAKE BREEKON AND HOPE A NEUTRAL PARTY IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS? AM I EVER GOING TO GET ANSWERS?! …..I’m not prepared for this season finale.

do you think this is what the vase looked like

- Episode 39, Infestation 🧯

Original recording of Jane Prentiss’ attack upon The Magnus Institute, London.

WHAT?! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT FUCKING MINDS DECIDED THAT YOU CAN JUST END THE EPISODE LIKE THAT?! LIKE, IN RETROSPECT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS THAT THE SEASON FINALE WOULD BE A TWO-PARTER BUT GOOOOOOOODD!!!! So fun fact, I was so scared going in to this episode that I took two days off listening to mentally prepare myself, and even after that…THIS ONE SCARED ME MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE!!! Did I like it? Absolutely! It’s at the very least in my top 4 episodes, in fact, I think it might only be barely beaten by Episode 32, and it’s very close competition. As someone who’s really liked all of the stuff that happens in the institute, and with the institute staff, this episode was a dream come true, and with the way things are being set up, I’m really excited by the prospect of there being more episodes like this in the future seasons. But…jfc. This is….a LOT. Now, due to the fact that this episode is structured very differently than anything else before it, and because I have so much to say, I’m just going to dedicate different paragraphs to a specific recording each, so I can make my thoughts clear and concise. Starting with…

The second recording. Look, the first one is basically a bunch of chaotic screaming and worms, I don’t know what else you would expect me to say. So the first thing I want to address is that we finally get to see members of the archival staff interacting as a group. I already did feel like their comments on one another give a good look at their dynamic, but it was nice to see it in person, despite the horrific and perilous situation they’re in :). But what are some other things. Well, even though this is shown in later recordings in the episode, I’ll just put it here that I really like how Martin is characterized here. The scene with him in Episode 37, as well as most of his scenes here really do show a new level of confidence and just flesh him out really nicely. There’s some morbid humor in him carrying around a corkscrew to get rid of the worms, and…yeah! I just really like him, he’s definitely one of my favorite characters so far. The main beef of this recording however is the stuff we get from Jon. Not only is the overarching theme of the episode, that being the desire to be remembered, conveyed really well through his dialogue here, but it felt like this scene came with some…nice closure, I guess. We’ve seen Jon become less and less skeptical as time goes on, especially in this final fourth of the season, but it felt really gratifying for him to just straight up admit that what’s happening is real. But there were also quite a couple of intriguing things that he said. Firstly is his comments about Gertrude. He makes the suggestion that she could potentially be alive, and while I doubt that due to her presence in Antonio’s dreams, and the fact that her supposed date of death was when The People’s Church of The Divine Host did a creepy ritual, it does just make me more curious about what truly happened to her. All things considered, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that ghosts exist in this universe so…I don’t know, maybe we’ll see her come back in a way, but I don’t think she’s…entirely alive. The other curious thing was the reveal about the statements. We already knew that something prevented them from being uploaded to computers, but now we know that this only applies to statements that are real. This not only means that Jon has…basically no excuse at this point to be a skeptic, but that I am getting VERY curious about the tapes and the statements on a fundamental level. I’ll touch on it a bit more later, but it does feel like there’s more to the framing device of the podcast itself here than meets the eye, and it is EXCITING me. Anyways, on to the next recording. (I’m still just contemplating that THIS episode came after the homophobic vase one. Holy shit.)

Tim….please never die. I mean, I know it’s funny that I say that since he was VERY close to death here (and could still die in the next one but like…I doubt it because of the fact we already probably have one major death…I’ll touch on that later…), and also because I’ve only known him for two episodes but like…he’s so cool man I can’t help it. “Statement of Joe Spooky regarding sinister happenings” is by far the funniest line in the podcast so far, perfect for the season finale, and…I WAS SO WORRIED FOR HIM UAAAAAGGGHHH!!! Like, the death flags were hoisted HIGH, so I’m glad he survived this episode….even if it probably came at the expense of another character, unfortunately. Ok, I’ll get to that when I get to that. Really not much more to say here other than “Tim is funny and I’m scared”, although hey! It’s Jane! I mean it’s really cool to finally hear her voice but she had one line so I don’t know what else to add. Regardless, time for the kind of wholesome but also ominous as shit recording!

Look, while they are obviously still in peril, while there are certainly some very concerning implications here, while they are still arguing…this one was kind of nice. Obviously Jon and Martin are very different people, and are still quite a ways off from sorting out all of their differences, but…this was very nice. Considering how much Jon belittles Martin in early S1, having him talk to him like this, in a situation where they are both equals, it’s genuinely very gratifying, and probably the most earnest Jon has ever been, as well as the most confident Martin has ever been. Obviously I love it when Jon is a mean asshole and when Martin is just a little guy, but this felt like really good character development for both of them. But outside of that, the most interesting thing here is a look into Jon’s psyche, and why he acts a skeptical as he does. Firstly, the fact that he actually joined the institute due to a genuine belief in the paranormal does make me wonder…what the hell happened to him. I mean, the institute doesn’t seem like the most fun place to work at in the world, nor the most mainstream, so like…I’m getting a lot more curious about Jon’s past now, and the same goes for Martin’s, maybe even more since we learn even less about his reasons for joining the institute than with Jon, and more about his reasons for staying there after Jane forced him into hiding. But obviously, the most ominous thing to me here was how Jon said he felt like he was being…watched. This could mean…genuinely so many things, but to me, I felt like the meaning was a PERSONAL ATTACK. Like, it doesn’t HAVE to be, but given that the podcast already has some decent potential for meta elements, are…are they trying to say that I’M the one tormenting Jon?! Because, like…yeah, I have wanted to see him start admitting that the statements are real! And I have been watching him! (or I guess listening, but…shut up…) In fact, it’s especially damning for someone like me, because I don’t listen to TMA in the background or anything, I sit my ass down, stare at the screen and start taking notes. I…I don’t know where this whole thing will go but for now I’m offended. (But like, if this metaphor ends up being true that I must say…that is some BRILLIANT writing.) There was also Jane’s weird actions here, with how she was seemingly destroying statements and papers. This isn’t exactly surprising, after all, she did suggest that the reason The Flesh Hive wants Jon dead is because as an archivist, his job is to understand things, which the hive seemingly doesn’t want unless it opens its arms to someone directly (very finally fitting if I might add), but still…it’s curious to me. Considering how this whole recording gets you to think about what’s up with the statements, I feel like maybe The Flesh Hive knows a bit more than others do… Finally, we have the ghost conversation, which is really funny and a great character moment for Jon and especially Martin, but like…what if though…what if…

ELIAS BOUCHARD IS A SKETCHY ASS MAN. This guy has only shown up ONCE before this episode, and when he finally returns he is…unnervingly chill about the whole situation. Like, he is just…NOT concerned about the attack, he seems a tad bit too comfortable with the prospect of Jon and Martin dying via C02, and he’s just…he’s just really fucking sketchy. I can’t remember if I’ve stated it before, but from what we’ve seen and heard of him, I’ve always gotten the vibes that Elias knows a lot more than he lets on. Like, in the way that he’s been working at the institute long enough to know that there’s something really weird about it, (which btw, thinking about how weird the institute is does really get me thinking about it’s founding a lot more…my brain is melting…) and he wants to stay away from the weird shit as far as possible. Some suspicious things with him are his reluctance to antagonize The Lukas Family which is…understandable, I guess, if they help keep the institute around, but then there’s the fact that he clearly knows more about Gertrude than everyone else, but is being REALLY quiet about it, exemplified via what Jon says about him in Episode 11. And then there’s the fact that later on, Sasha mentions how he has a tendency to change the subject and…yeah…I don’t know how to feel about him. Honestly all I have to say about this recording corresponds with Elias, so I’ll just move on to the next one.

Ok, so since these recordings are pretty short, and Sasha’s last one is….woah…I’m just going to cover the last two that have Jon and Tim in them briefly here. As expected, Tim continues to be comedy gold. Him bursting through the wall and being super chill (and not in the creepy Elias way) was honestly just want I needed. I did NOT need him pulling…something off though, but…whatever. Also the reveal of Martin recording poetry was fantastic, I need that to be a spin-off ASAP. Magnus Protocol? Never heard of it. The men of the archives are the only men to ever exist and they all deserve their own show. Anyways, after Tim completes his re-enactment of The Shining, they head into the tunnels (which I did not know were a thing), and I get scared yet again. I…am very concerned for Martin, I do not like how he ran off, and I do not like the noises that play at the end of the episode. That is all I have to say here. This is an absolutely terrifying way to end the episode, but it is frustrating in the best way, and if I wasn’t shaking as I write this I would have immediately jumped to the next episode. But…there is one other scene, one that honestly, would’ve worked just as well, if not BETTER, as an ending to the episode. That is, of course, the one scene that has terrified me more than anything else in the podcast so far. The scene that stars:

That. Mother. Fucking. Table. I thought it was at least…somewhat safe. I thought that it would tie into…Hill Top Road, or something, that it would just be something for Jon to glean some information from later on! But I was a fool. I should’ve known that the Anatomy Class shenanigans were (probably) foreshadowing. I should’ve known that the GOD DAMN IMPERSONATOR WAS COMING BACK. JON! WHY DIDN’T YOU DESTROY IT YOU VICTORIAN BUFFOON?! I’m…I’m fucking shook man. I might have been fearful for Tim but…for a split second there, I thought everyone would make it out alive. I mean, we’ve seen Sasha in like, what, three episodes before this, and she only starred in one? She had to live so that we’d see more of her! But no…I got completely blindsided. Sasha James, this really cool character who I wanted to see succeed after her encounter with Bonyhands McGee, is most likely dead. It might sound like I’m genuinely upset with the decision, and while I’m absolutely sad and terrified, I do think they can go really interesting places with this. I mean, I’m going on the assumption that what happened to her is what happened to Graham Folger in Episode 3, meaning that we know have something impersonating her, meaning that she could be explored even after her presumed death. On top of that, like…what if the effect of no one recognizing a difference between the OG Graham and the “Not Graham” applies to Sasha! Because if so, this could be a genius example of having characters figure out something long after the audience being done really well! But overall…I’m mortified. As cool as these prospects are, there’s still a glimmer of hope in me that Sasha survives, that the archival team can deal with that fucking table as soon as possible. Which, by the way, I’m genuinely mad at myself for not catching on to that at first. I initially thought that the table had nothing to do with the main plot of Episode 3, outside of maybe increasing Graham’s paranoia, and that it was meant to foreshadow future events that tied into…idk, the house on Hill Top Road, given the box inside the tree. But nope! Apparently wherever the table goes, the impersonator follows! And if she is dead…man, I don’t know whether or not it’s a good thing that the thing she was afraid of dying from was not the one that killed her in the end… Outside of that, I mean, yeah, artifact storage was creepy as all hell, Sasha’s monologue made me go through five different emotions in the span of like…two minutes, and that one part, holy shit that one part. Hearing that weird noise, Sasha’s scream, and then a new voice repeating her last words it’s…uggghjhehehehjejejejjewjjekekwkekkdkwkekek. Wow, I hate this! I mean, I love it, but wow, I hate this! I mean, I love it, but wow, I hate this! I mean, I love it, but wow, I hate this! I mean, I love it, but wow, I hate this! I mean, I-

So..yeah. Good episode…I guess. I’m really scared. For everyone, Sasha especially. For everything, my sanity especially. I do not like the name of that season finale, it’s looking at me funny. I….I…I think I’m just going to go saw my foot off or something, maybe that’ll take my mind off of things. See you for the season finale! :,)

- Episode 40, Human Remains 🩹

Statements of Elias Bouchard, Tim Stoker, Sasha James, Martin Blackwood and Jonathan Sims, regarding the infestation of the Magnus Institute by the entity formerly known as Jane Prentiss. Statements taken direct from subjects.

*Sigh*. I have listened to 40 episodes of this god-forsaken, trauma inducing podcast. I have stayed up at night wildly speculating about the connections between episodes, trying to solve the greater mystery. And for what? Well, I regret to inform you that, in the end, it was all for…A FANTASTIC SEASON FINALE. HOLY SHIT I’M SO EXCITED TO LISTEN TO SEASON 2 YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I mean, I’m obviously terrified, what with the amount of setup here, the cold realization that ✨the horrors✨ are somehow just going to affect the main cast more and more in the future, and…so much more, but WOW. This finale absolutely delivered and if I wasn’t already on board to see how the rest of the podcast plays out, I absolutely NEED to know now. So, like with last time, I’m going to divide my thoughts via the multiple parts this episode is divided into, so I’ll be going over each person’s statement. And let me tell you…there is some stuff to discuss. Starting off with my favorite(?) enigmatic CEO, Elias Bouchard!

So yeah, Elias is still sketchy as fuck. Oddly enough, despite this being the most time spent with him so far, which don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy about, but…yeah, I still don’t trust him all that much. I guess I’ll start off by talking about some of the general information revealed here. So firstly, no one’s really doing all that well! I mean, it’s expected, but still, I feel really bad for everyone here. You can tell in the opening how scarred Jon is by what happened (both mentally and physically)…which makes Elias’ relative chillness all the more strange. Also, while it is once again pretty obvious, I would just like to pay some respects to the absolute queen that was Jane Prentiss. Rest in relative peace Jane, I hope you’re getting people to join the hive in…well not heaven, she’s probably gone to superhell, but…yeah. Still kind of sad she only got one line from her own mouth. But back to Elias, there are two things he said that really came off as…like, especially odd. Firstly is how he said he got tired of what Jon was saying about the statements. This is weird because like…that’s his job? That Elias hires him to do? It really does add to the vibe that he knows of ✨the horrors✨, but is actively trying to avoid them as much as possible. It feels like they’re setting up an interesting parallel between him and Jon, who looks like he’s going to really start connecting the dots in Season 2. It also just kind of made me think about the implications of something…watching Jon, and it wanting him to admit the statements are real, since Elias seems to specifically be annoyed by Jon’s recent lack of doubt, at least in my eyes. But the other thing that really unnerved me here was what he had to say about Gertrude. His reluctance to talk about her death is one thing, but the fact that he says he found the blood-covered office on March 15, when in Episode 25 Jon says she was declared dead on May 15, is…just really strange. It could be a discrepancy on the writer’s part but…I don’t know, it feels like one of them has to be wrong here. And either way, since they retconned past discrepancies in the opening of Episode 33, they could absolutely work with that here. So yeah, not much more to add other than that I don’t trust Elias.

Poor Tim :(. The guy has been so funny and chipper in all of his past appearances, but here you could feel how beat down he was. After getting worms in his skin and having to spend more time in quarantine simply for being funny, this guy just can’t catch a break! I mean, I’m happy he’s alive, because I was genuinely very scared for his life in the last episode but…man, his last words in this episode really did sting. Anyways, the main takeaway from this statement is the info on the tunnels. This is…really creepy and I’m sure we’ll get a deeper look into it in Season 2, as this whole episode feels full of setup for what’s to come very soon, but for now they are just a very strange place. The way their ancient architecture is described, the worms’ behavior down there, and the…door they were trying to form? What else is even in there? Hell, is this why The Flesh Hive really wanted to attack the institute? To discover some secret in the tunnels? I don’t know, but I care a LOT.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no NO! THE WORST HAS COME TO PASS! The chances of her survival was slim, but I had the smallest sliver of hope that she would survive, but NO! Sasha’s gone UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!! What makes it so much worse is that WE KNOW, we’ve heard Sasha’s original voice, we’ve gotten a sense of her general vibe, the new her has creepy music in the background whenever she speaks, HER NAME IS LITERALLY “NOT!SASHA” IN THE FUCKING CREDITS. But Jon, Tim, Martin, they don’t! They don’t know, and I’ll be stuck having to watch them hang out with a monster that killed their friend for who knows how long! It’s excellent storytelling but GOOOOOD I’M SO SAD. And Not!Sasha herself, I mean…holy shit. She’s absolutely uncanny and terrifying, the fact that her tone and vibe are so noticeably different from the real Sasha, how she always responds with a “yes” to Jon, how she points out extremely obvious things, how she just…seems unfamiliar with things she should know about, just everything, it’s just so fucking scary! She’s just so..matter of fact, she’s like a robot in comparison to the real person. Honestly, her manner of speech is very in line with how I imagined the anatomy students sounding. But there are a lot of other weird things about this scene. Firstly, I think it’s curious that when “Micheal” is mentioned, Not!Sasha refers to him (and yes, I noticed she uses he/him, unlike OG Sasha who used it/its) as the one with “all the bones in his hands” which…almost perfectly lines up with what Ivo’s father said. I had my doubts about that theory, but now I feel pretty convinced by it. That just leaves me thinking about what connection he might have to the fractals. Now that I think about it, fractals kind of line up with the descriptions of strange patterns that have shown up, like the one on the table. And…well, given what happened, I can’t help but wonder if “Micheal” and Not!Sasha have a deeper connection to each other, especially since this is the first time he’s been brought up since Episode 26. (Maybe he’s impersonating the real Micheal…oh no that’s a whole new can of worms, pun not intended). Another thing is how Not!Sasha says Elias gave her a strange look. …THE MOTHERFUCKER KNOWS!!! WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM?! WHY?! Lastly, there’s some of the discrepancies that Not!Sasha has failed to avoid. Firstly, she should’ve been scarred by the worms like Jon and Tim but just…isn’t. Secondly, even though Jon doesn’t remember the original Sasha (which is…even more depressing when I put it into words…), he’s astute enough to realize that something is off with her. And finally, there’s the matter of the missing tapes. I checked, and they are indeed all of the tapes that Sasha appeared on. I think it’s likely Not!Sasha took them to learn about the role she has to play, but since there’s certainly something weird about the tapes, and this theme of truth being recorded on them…I have to wonder if she maybe stole them because the original Sasha’s voice is still on them, and you can straight up hear Sasha dying and being replaced on the one from Episode 39. With the logic presented in Episode 3, Sasha’s voice on the tapes should be replaced by that of Not!Sasha, but when you consider the framing device of the audience being people listening to these tapes, and the general weird things at play…I’m concerned. I think…I think Jon needs to get those tapes back as soon as possible. In short, I am very scared of the new archival assistant, and her mysterious connections.

MARTIN MY BELOVED!!! How is it legal for someone to be this sweet, he was genuinely so worried for Jon and I just want to give him a hug he’s so nice :(. But ultimately, as much as I feel for him, Martin is not the main focus here. The strange objects in the tunnels are not the main focus. The main focus here is the human remains. The remains of Gertrude Robinson. Wow. I…honestly thought it was going to take longer for her fate to come to light. I mean, there is still a lot that is obviously unknown, but to have her down here, confirmed to be dead, confirmed to be MURDERED…it’s making my brain go in so many directions. I guess I’ll start with the room she was found in. It’s…very concerning how similar it is to the archives. I don’t even know what it’s supposed to mean? Does it signify that the institute was built upon an older institute somehow? Are we not even going to bother checking out the tapes she left down there? I NEED TO KNOW. And, then, I mean, god the way she died. I was so convinced by all of the clues that she died some sort of gruesome eldritch fate, but hearing that she was simply shot…why is that so much more haunting. I mean, I have to assume there were still some weird circumstances surrounding her death as a whole, given clues in Episode 11 and Episode 25, but…it’s very concerning. And then there’s Jon’s words about this. Does that…DOES THAT MEAN THAT SEASON 2 IS A FUCKING MURDER MYSTERY?! BECAUSE I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT! Look, assuming that the murderer is indeed someone in the institute (which I say because Gertrude does seem to have made a good few enemies in her lifetime), then my fingers are already pointed at Elias due to how sketchy he is, but honestly…I’m afraid this is just another mystery that I don’t have to energy to fully crack right now. And Jon’s words at the end…please tell me he doesn’t resort to doing very stupid things that endanger his own life for the sake of the truth. Oh who am I kidding he probably will. But…wow, I’m just…I’m just so excited for Season 2.

So yeah…that’s Season 1 of The Magnus Archives. The fact that I already feel changed by this series, both for better and for worse, within the first season…it just gets me so excited and mortified all at once. There’s still so much story potential, so many mysteries to be solved, and I can’t wait to hear it all for myself. Honestly, the fact that there’s so many plot lines, and the only one to be kind of resolved The Flesh Hive and Jane Prentiss arc…that’s insane. So, I’m just going to leave a list of things I want answers on down here.

- The Anglerfish

- Breekon and Hope

- The Table and The Impersenator

- The Keay Family

- Micheal Crew

- Jurgen Leitner and his fucked up books

- The house on Hill Top Road

- The Heat Entity and its cult

- The People’s Church of The Divine Host

- Trevor Herbert and his companion

- Antonio Blake

- The Eyes

- The Lukas Family

- Mikaele Salesa

- The Meat

- The Spiders and The Lighter

- The Fairchilds

- Jonah Magnus and the founding of The Institute

- The Circus of The Other

- “Micheal” and The Fractals

- The true nature of The Flesh Hive

- Robert Smirke and his passages

- John Amherst and the infection

- The backstories of the main cast

- The death of Gertrude Robinson

- And finally, what the hell is going to happen next?

So, there’s a wrap on Season 1? Do I expect all of these questions to be answered in the next season? Absolutely not. Do I want all of them to be answered eventually? Yeah probably. If you’ve made it this far, thank you so, SO much. Like, you genuinely deserve an award for reading all of my insane rambling. I’ll be back with my thoughts on the first 10 episodes of Season 2 in due time, but for now, thank you and bye :).

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #lawrence mortimer #jane prentiss #the flesh hive #tim stoker #carlita sloane #sean kelly #dr. lionel elliot #sasha james #harold silvana #jurgen leitner #gerard keay #mary keay #robert smirke #breekon and hope #nicole baxter #john amherst #trevor herbert #martin blackwood #gertrude robinson #andré ramao #mikaele salesa #carlos vittery #elias bouchard #graham folger #not!sasha #micheal mcweirdhands

[distortionswife]

Dream lore continued, as there was a new dream last night continuing it.

( Very spoilery info, not directly spoiling the podcast, but gives away some info surrounding the web, the stranger and the spiral, )

First of all, I was having tea with Annabelle Cane, I don't remember why exactly, but I was.

She was aware of the circuses preparations for the Unknowing and asked if I had any part in it. I only told her I had given that ancient bit of skin in the very beginning, to which Annabelle sighed and told me that wasn't really smart.

I said I was aware of it, but I thought I'd be killed if I didn't so, I had no choice.

Annabelle was thinking of what to do and had put down options on paper;

Get a good spot for the end of the world

Try talking to Elias or Jon about it, but I wouldn't like how it would end.

Burn the skin so Nikola can't complete the outfit and miss an essential part of her ritual.

She told me it was smart to choose one of the last two, figuring I wouldn't exactly want a world where the stranger succeeded. But in no way could I tell them I got the information from her. I agreed to it and decided the third would be best.

Annabelle showed me how to exactly 'burn' said skin, or any skin for that matter. She gave me a vial with a fluid to make it easier.

I nodded and planned to do it when she'd be away from the circus, which could be soon if there's a distraction or reason to do so.

Then that day came, I waited patiently for her to be far enough to not see or hear it. I got to the skin, poured the contents of the vial onto it and grabbed the lighter from my pocket, watching it slowly go up in flames.

Suddenly I heard an unholy scream from somewhere within this circus.

Helen was apparently watching with a big grin and laughed maniacally, telling me "Oh you better run. She's fast when she's pissed."

I ( stupidly ) ran through the door she had made, blindly trusting someone who's inevitably going to stab me in the back. And I ran for a long time through those hallways, those corridors with the many doors.

Until Helen stopped me, opened a door and shoved me through it, simply saying "Good luck~ She knows where you are!"

And then the door simply closed and I was in the forest, I thought about where to go.

( This is where the first dream ends, in the waking world I thought I'd be going to Hill Top road, for some reason. So, with that info; into last night's dream we go! )

And so, I was indeed running to Hill Top Road, and in my opinion, it was pretty smart.

It took a while because I had been dropped off somewhere in a big ass forest and there was a subtle path with more spiderwebs in trees than normal leading me to hill top road, but I had to find that first. And that was kind of difficult because there seemed to be more than one power at play. I was imagining that the spiral or the vast was having it's fun there too. The forest was a little too long.

Either way, eventually I heard THUMPING behind me, like an animal dashing it's way towards you with big steps. You can guess who this was. Just imagine that one monstrous form, that one definitely meant to absolutely terrify you. That but with the ringleader clothing, it was actually quite horrific to see, besides the voice being a little more distorted due what I assumed to be the rage.

Then I suddenly saw the path, I took it and seemed to somehow be faster. I reached Hill Top Road and there Annabelle stood in the doorway, looking at me confused, she asked why I had willingly come to this place. I simply answered I was escaping something she probably knew was chasing me.

Annabelle did know and asked what I expected out of coming here, since she has no reason to necessarily protect me.

I simply told her it was also her idea so she's responsible and Nikola wouldn't kill her because it'd be stupid to kill the mother of puppet's favorite.

Annabelle laughed at that and let me in, while Nikola was IN SIGHT. Although, she said she'd try her best but I shouldn't expect anything. She also admitted she enjoyed watching the chase, Especially when Helen added to the entire mess.

I was told Helen told Nikola where I was going like a betrayal of some kind. She liked it. She adores Helen's trickery at times.

The door would soon be slammed open, Annabelle had left it open a bit. She somehow fit in the entire house and Annabelle even tried to compliment the more spider esc monster form, but Nikola was NOT having it. Simply screaming to get me out of hiding.

Annabelle told her "There's no need to scream, I'm sure you can see them behind that cabinet from that height."

So I stepped out and hid behind Annabelle, being glared at and mocked. It was technically the first time I was scared of her, more on that later

Either way, Annabelle simply stepped aside and told me to deal with the issue I caused, to which I said "you told me to do it, so you're at fault too."

To which Nikola just snapped her head to Annabelle and asked if it was true. I don't know how I did it but I tried to basically give a pleading look, because either she could throw me under the bus and probably see me torn apart or she could save my ass.

queue the "well, technically it was my idea."

And the way too long pause.

"But they didn't exactly do it consciously, I was the one making them do it. Just wanted to see what would happen… So you can't be mad at them for it, they didn't know."

Nikola simply just scoffed and left, and once she was gone I just let out a breath I'd been holding in.

And now I owed Annabelle a favor.

Helen made her appearance as well, clapping with an uncanny big grin, telling me it was quite the show.

I just glared at her and turned my back to her, wanting to know what the favor was, and well Annabelle simply told me;

You'll know when the time's right.

˚ ₊ 𓆩 ༺ 🕷 ༻ 𓆪 ₊ ˚

#tma #the magnus archives #the magnus institute #tma jon #jonathan sims #elias bouchard #distortionswife #tma elias #Arwen's dream lore #Arwens dream lore #tma dreams #annabelle cane #tma annabelle #tma helen #helen #helen richardson #tma helen richardson #tma nikola #nikola orsinov #tma nikola orsinov #tma spoilers

[davinci-103]

Murder Drone Theories

Murder Drones is a series on YouTube made by Glitch productions and Liam Vickers and is currently my favorite series. With the new episode, Cabin Fever, I want to talk about my theories over murder drones. I've got my inspiration from the YouTubers Unhelpful Commentary, Tyromaniac and RemGames.

Many different systems are used to identify drones, murder drones, etc... here are the ones I know of:

Names. The most obvious one is that worker drones have given names to themselves (like Nori Doorman and Thad). I don't think that they had names when the humans were still alive on Copper 9, they probably started using names when quick communication was needed to escape from the disassembly drones and ideas of individuality started to form.

Planet naming. It is known that the planet where the worker drones live is called Copper 9. This name has two parts: "Copper", which refers to a metal and "9", which is a counting number. The full name, Copper 9, might refer to the ninth planet marked for mining copper. A less likely theory is that this is the ninth planet visited by the Copper team.

Worker Drone ID. At the time-stamp 9:19 of Heartbeat, you can see Uzi's teacher playing solitaire. If you look at the bottom-left corner you can see WDID: #2342. This is probably the name that is used for these drones before they were naming themselves. 2342 seems like a low number of worker drones given that at least nine planets have been visited and mined by drones before him. It is more likely to me that this is the 2342th worker drone on the planet Copper 9.

Designation. A murder drones designation consists of two parts: a single letter which is used for communication and a string of 1's and 0's with an x somewhere in the middle which is used for identification. Example are N-0X0010010 and S-010011X01.

Group ID. Each Murder drones group has their own group ID. These are written with the name of the administrator of the group first (like CYN and ISA) and then with four letters for which I don't know the meaning of. Examples of this are CYN-MYKX (with N, J and V) and ISA-MMAC (with S and others I don't know about).

Absolute Solver. The Absolute Solver program uses its own IDs for identifying its host. There are three-digit numbers. Known examples are 676 for J, 048 for Yeva (Doll's mother) and 002 for Nori (Uzi's mother). If Liam Vickers uses the same system as he used for his series Design, then that means that the first digit is used to identify the class. J and possibly all murder drones are then in sixth class, who are drones that are capable of producing poisonous substances, like nanite acid. The drones Yeva and Nori are in the zeroth class, who are known for matter distortion on the molecular level, we can see Doll doing this in episode three where she teleports and makes exact copies of knifes, which she probably got from her mother, Yeva. In episode four it is shown that the bugs also use this method of identifying drones and thus we can conclude that these bugs, or at least some of them, were made for the drones infected with absolute solver.

I think that these were all of them. If I missed one, please tell me.

I want to talk about the bugs a bit because no-one else will. There are robotic bugs that you can see frequently crawling around in various places in the series. Most of them are not cleaned, meaning that removing bugs from a place is part of cleaning a place. As shown in episode four, Cabin Fever, the purpose of some of these bugs are to help drones infected with the absolute solver virus. We can see some kind of emotion from these bugs like being afraid when Doll comes home, being surprised though I can't remember when and being grateful when Uzi repairs one. Further evidence for these emotions is the third option that a bug in episode four gave to Uzi, who was mistaken for 002 (Nori). The choice was to "end my suffering (promo discount expired)". The fact that it mentioned suffering means that the bug is at least capable of that emotion. What we so far know that the bugs can do is crawl on walls floors and ceilings and being able to chat with people. I can't make a good guess for what the purpose is for these bugs or why they exist in the first place.

My second theory is that Cyn has infected N, J and V with Absolute Solver while they were still in the haunted mansion. They were close to humans when becoming AS infected. These humans didn't execute them or used their normal method of getting rid of this infection, but they instead send them to Copper 9 after hearing that humans were wiped from that planet and that there is now no-one there to stop AS from spreading, possibly upon request from JC Jenson in spaaaaacee!!!!

This post is getting too long. Bye!

#murder drones #murder drones theory #glitch productions #liam vickers animation

[charliechaotic]

hii this is smth for me but i hope anyone would like- I have zero clue how to write batfam or gotham stuff, so please dear gods give me advice if possible <3 (my only reference is tumblr writing prompts, reaction videos, and the Dark Matter fic lmao- this is uh. basically the concept is my oc ending up in Gotham- So far thats all this is gonna be, but I hope you enjoy <:):

When Wren awakes, it is in pain. Agony agony agony agoNY AGONY AGONY-

It feels like he's drowning. Burning? Both? His memory feels so fuzzy. Where is he? ..What happened?

Everything goes dark again.

When Wren awakes again, he finds himself laying on a rooftop, staring up at the night sky- cast over with a deep pollution unfamiliar to him. It was a rare night in Relsia to not be able to see the stars.

He is quick to sit up, coughing up nothing but his own breath, tears welling in his eyes as he takes back in the memory of the feeling.

That color. So vivid in his mind, surrounding him- it matched that of his eyes, should he not have had the flakes of gold in them. It unsettles him to think about.

His body aches as he pushes himself up, hugging his well worn hoodie close- when had it gotten so torn up? It looked like he'd been in some big fight while wearing it, but he cant quite pull the memory up. He tries to keep himself steady, shortening his staff to use as a support. He has to work out where he is, despite the pain gnawing at him. Had he used his power too much? It felt like he'd been torn apart and pit together a million times.

He brushes his hair back with his hands, fixing his glasses on his face. "Id almost kill to see Merc right now."

He finds himself speaking aloud, discomforted by the silence around him. Maybe he could get himself to the Northeast end of the city and stop by. He had promised to stop by sometime soon. He made no promises he wouldn't be in incredible pain. If he could make it that far across the city, anyway. He manages to get himself to about two rooftops away from his starting point before the aching starts to bring him down. He needs to rest, unfortunately. Maybe he can find somewhere alright in the streets below- he can't seem to recognize the area. It looks worse than the worst part of Relsia he's seen in his life. He studies the streets below, trying to work out a normal way to climb down and get a look around- maybe he could sneak a ride on a bus or something. He's willing to risk getting attacked on one today. He sways ever slightly as he thinks, before a voice startles him out of it.

"Hey, buddy. Could you step away from the edge for me?"

He flinches at the sound, immediately turning his gaze to the voice, glaring with distrust at the source- making eye contact with a man around his height, but with a lot more muscle. He appears to be wearing a costume- some kind of 'super suit' probably. His outfit is mostly black, he exception being the streaks of blue- one being centered on his chest. If he were able to think any clearer, he'd say it looked like the way you add birds in the background of paintings in fourth grade. He'd find it a little amusing if he couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest, still glaring.

The man raises his arms a bit, giving a reassuring smile.

"Hey, its okay. My name is Nightwing. Are you alright?"

Wren feels the mans gaze flick between his hair and eyes, taking a slight step back- further towards the ledge.

"Your name means nothing. I dont know who you are."

His voice comes out in a sharper tone than he intends, his words distorted in a way that almost sounds like a glitchy phone call, on top of the buzz of a voice modulator. He seems a bit surprised by his own voice, a hand reaching up to his throat out of confusion.

uhhhh thats the end lmao- i genuinely Just wrote this so uhm. hope someone sees it? and enjoys? <:) you can probably see some obvious inspiration from Dark Matter, which I completely accept drbrh- I really liked the concept! though how Wren got in the pit water is VERY different heheh

#wren sonnet #dcu #batfam #nightwing #dick grayson #oc in dc #relsia to gotham au #maybe ill call it: #fallen stars and rising dust #oc writing #dc writing #dark matter au #dark matter inspired #asking for advice #please gods help me this sounds really fun but I have no clue what im doing

[icarus-suraki]

Hi Issy, How are you? Did you watch the Furiosa trailer? If so, what do you think about it?

Oooooh... So I've actually been avoiding the trailer...

I just have mixed feelings about whether the movie should have been made at all? I know George Miller had mentioned wanting a Furiosa prequel, sequel, backstory, something several many years ago, but here's the thing: does it need to exist? Like, as a full-on movie, does it need to exist?

I know I'm in the minority here, but I really prefer it if there aren't answers to every question in a piece of media. Yes, answer the important ones, tie up the loose ends (maybe), but let at least some of the answers stay secret.

Like, I know George Miller got all the actors, even the extras, to create backstories for why their costumes/makeup/hair/whatever are the way they are. But we don't need to know all those details. It's texture. We've learned bits and pieces (like the giant mall under the desert) and I feel like that's enough. I like the uncertainty. I like the room for speculation or imagination. I don't want all the answers.

I feel the same way about all the (cash grab) prequels and sequels for Star Wars. I like 4, 5, and 6 without anything around them. There are all these references to things (spice traders? Kessel run? Clone wars?) that you'll probably never know about but it's texture. It's jargon. It adds to the worldbuilding--and it doesn't need explanation. Let it just exist as a thing that can be or would be understood by the characters but that doesn't need full explanations to the audience. We can adapt.

So re: Furiosa: do we really need a canon backstory with all the details in four-part harmony with feeling? I don't feel like we do.

MMFR attaches the audience to Max (more or less). We have to sort out the rules of the Citadel along with him, what the relationships between the characters are, where the hell we're going, and how the fuck to survive. And I liked that. I like getting dropped in head first, in medias res, and having to sort it out. (I was watching it in the theater for the nth time and right when Angharad is crawling up into the cab of the War Rig, the guy in front of me goes "Now who the hell is this???" and I loved that for him. (You also don't see her face clearly in that entire scene, which I also love.)

I don't know. It just feels like it's going to establish a lot of stuff as Officially Canon and I don't want official answers to things. Miller said Furiosa lost her arm "in a battle." So now I can imagine 27 different scenarios, and they can all be possible. I don't want an official answer because I know I'll be disappointed.

I also need to say that, by way of full disclosure, I did see a teaser trailer (which I watched out of the corner of my eye, through my fingers) and it looked like all the "story beats" were basically the same as MMFR, just "this time, Max is a girl!!!!" Come up with something original, damn.

And this may also sound bitchy, idk, but I don't feel like Anya Taylor-Joy is quite right as Furiosa. She's an very fine actress, don't get my wrong. But she doesn't seem like Furiosa? She's too...delicate, I guess? She's beloved of the Girl Bloggers, so maybe I've got a distorted view.

I'm also feeling weird about the chariot-car? Like, that seems a bit de trop? Even for a Mad Max movie? It's sliding into Marvel territory and I Do Not Like That.

tl;dr: I got some mixed feelings on this. And I haven't even seen the trailer. But I just feel like...we don't need this many answers. I don't want this much backstory. I want to stay in the nebulous realm of possibility.

Anyway, I'm also avoiding the trailer for the reboot of The Crow. It just feels like sacrilege. I can't do it. It's like they saw Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in a black and white photo and were like "Oh, that makeup looks kind of like Eric Draven ha ha" and the rest is cinema history.

On the other hand, at least it's not Timmy Chardonnay playing Eric. That would have literally killed me, resurrected me, and then sent me on a Crow-style revenge quest on behalf of Brandon Lee.

[amethystina]

42, 49

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

Yes, many. Too many to mention, to be honest. I've been writing fanfics for over ten years now and I'm continuously amazed by how kind and loving my readers are.

Though I would like to highlight a certain type of comment that I've been getting more and more lately, more specifically since I started writing Who Holds the Devil. Because that fic, more than any of my others, seems to evoke a lot of emotions, reflection, and self-discovery in my readers. Never have I gotten so many comments telling me that reading a fic has fundamentally changed something within them.

It's been everything from realising how abusive their relationships have been to when to stand up for themselves to finally having a name for the panic attacks they've been experiencing.

Who Holds the Devil has made it completely impossible for me to ever doubt the impact my writing can have on people. Because, not going to lie, sometimes I do. Sometimes I feel like an introverted little weirdo, just sitting here, writing about people I want to see kiss. But it's so, so much more than that and nothing has made that more clear to me than the comments I get on Who Holds the Devil.

I'm both humbled and grateful every time I'm told that my writing has made someone realise something about themselves, especially when it involves their mental health, trauma, or just overall well-being. I'm not a therapist and I obviously can't offer any concrete help as such, but to help someone realise or admit to themselves that Something Is Wrong? That's still a very, very big thing. And the fact that I can? It will never not blow my mind.

So that's definitely a kind of comment that stands out to me and probably always will. The fact that I'm able to change people's lives with my fics is beyond astounding to me (and also a little bit intimidating, not going to lie, but not necessarily in a bad way?). And I'm truly grateful to every single one of you who has sent me comments like these. Not only is your bravery and willingness to share inspiring, but it gives me so much joy to know I've been able to help or make a difference. Thank you 💜

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

Here's an excerpt from chapter 34 of Who Holds the Devil (though I might edit it slightly before it's posted xD):

Ga On looked down at the tumbler cradled between his hands, his thumb sliding along the smooth, curved edge. He could see his reflection, slightly distorted, in the surface of its content.

"Don't ever do that to me again."

A beat passed, tense and loaded, before Ga On looked up at Yo Han. The silence within the study was deafening — unwieldy — and Ga On could see the slight hint of hesitation on Yo Han's face. It was subtle, barely there, mingled with something that could be regret.

Ga On realized why Yo Han didn't answer right away.

"Intentionally," he added. "Don't intentionally do something like that to me again."

It would be just like Yo Han to make a difference between the two which, in all honesty, was beyond tragic. Yo Han didn't trust himself to not accidentally manipulate the people around him, to the point where an agreement had to be formulated with that in mind. He didn't want to give anyone false hope or make promises he couldn't keep.

It was moments like these that made it obvious that, somewhere deep down, Yo Han still saw himself as a monster. Someone who couldn't be trusted to be around people. Someone who might end up hurting those he cared about, without even meaning to.

Someone dangerous, vicious, and hurtful.

And for the first time in a long while, as much as he hated himself for it, Ga On almost agreed.

Yo Han didn't hesitate this time.

"I promise."

Questions for fic writers

#Amethystina Does Ask Memes #Anonymous #Who Holds the Devil #I do genuinely mean it about the comments #It blows me away just how important Who Holds the Devil has become to people #I never expected that #I don't feel qualified for this x'D #But I am happy to help #And I'm glad that fic can give so many people hope and comfort #I love you all 💜

[logicpng]

(Oh, I didn’t know Aldebaran was also a star!)

Does being Aldebaran make Vega and/or Rigel uncomfortable? Do they like it, dislike it, or are they indifferent to it? (It being as Aldebaran.) Do they remember time as Aldebaran?

What about a VR experience, instead of the camera thing? Like if Urs hooked up a VR headset and there was some sort of pre installed program that lets Urs interact with Aster that way?

Speaking of Urs, I don’t know if I’ve heard much about them! What are some fun tidbits about Urs you can share?

yeh, aldebaran is a star in the Taurus constellation!

they would probably describe the experience to you as "a vague blur". the memories are there, sometimes a notch distorted, but it's almost difficult to associate it with themselves. there's a level of detachment from the memories, despite clearly having been there, and it's hard to recall the exact emotions felt at the time. no telling apart who exactly is responsible for what either. it's like being deeply intoxicated, but also with the bonus of your mind merging with someone else's.

to them, the experience is probably a little emotionally rattling in retrospect, as the two aren't supposed to be able to merge (Al's entire existence is a bug on its own). at least after the first couple times it's a little difficult to manage, but they have a friend with one foot on stable ground, in a sense.

as for Urs' immersion in the system, I think I'll keep the specifics to myself for a little bit! at the moment it's not too different from what it was in the AU phase, but I still consider the possibility i may think of something that works better in the future

Urs themselves aren't yet developed as deep as Aster, But that will not stop me from making shit up as I go and see what sticks in the long run:

I don't know why his skin is DeviantArt green but I honestly kind of dig that. maybe all humans are just various shades of green /wheeze. U/N from the AU phase was also green in skin tint. I think I just prefer it to the lifeless gray the Y/N characters tend to have

urs related but also more of a world at large thing: the city they live and work at will most likely be called Emerald City. still pending! their exact place of work is also under question at the moment, but at the moment they work as a small-time admin/engineer at an organisation called TerraByte.

during university they had a small part-time job at a bowling alley. likely either quit or got fired thanks to his social troubles. lucky for them though, student loans aren't a burden on their shoulders.

their rented apartment tends to be in a disarray quite often. not terribly so, but sometimes an hour has to be dedicated to put small things where they belong.

the money situation doesn't allow them to go all out, but they Love buying up random teddy bear plushies every once in a while

Urs has no family in the city, and making friends is rather difficult when you're struggling with being socially awkward on top of figuring yourself out. maybe aster can provide some support, and in return have someone to help them grapple with the burden of being a person

#not art #ask post

[jess-moloney]

Note: The following is taken from several anons it seemed easier to just address them all at once.

Hi Anon! 1st sorry in advance for the next few messages, it might look like a eff**g essay. I'm new to tumblr and I wish I could dm you lol. 2nd english is not my first language. 3 Feel free to edit or use bits of it if you think it fits one of your posts. I'll end the different parts with 🖤 By the way, thanks for your blog

My DMs are open to everyone if they want to chat, are you just too new to Tumblr to figure out how to send a DM? Or do you want to stay anonymous and that's why you don't? Either way, I'm glad you enjoy my blog. Thank you for reading.

In the end, I think she is the reflexion of a lot of young women who started botox a bit too young, had most probably been ill advised about surgery - a good surgeon would also make sure their patient don't have body dismorphia. Everyone should feel confident in their own body, with or without modifications. Just be sure to be well advised and surrounded. Body dismorphic disorder can be a dangerous mental health condition. 🖤

It's debatable if she was ill-advised about surgery or if she just shopped around until she found a surgeon who would do it despite what she was told. It's possible to go to one surgeon who will tell you absolutely not and another who will take your money and do whatever you tell them. If Jess is a narcissist (and it does appear that she is one) then I can't see her taking no for an answer even if she's advised against it. There is an interview with her where she says as much (not in those exact words but you can tell that she doesn't let anyone tell her what to do and she's always "right").

Surgery in the case of dysmorphia is not a solution, nor is it therapy. If she has this distorted view of herself and she's trying to make it perfect then that would explain a lot. Her face was much more round and full before all of this and I do think that her intent is to look as skeletal as humanly possible. After reading her blog posts about her relationship with food I can't believe she doesn't have some form of disordered eating or a distorted image of herself. I think that there's nothing inherently wrong with plastic surgery but there are cases where it's genuinely overdone and gone too far and Jess happens to be one of them.

I don't know her , I won't make a diagnosis or mean here Jess is a victim of her work industry . She is an adult who chose this path and might be happy with it. I hope that she and many others won't regret this when this type of surgery trend will stop and they aged enough to see the damage that this kind of modifications can bring within time. As much as her career and personality are shady, Jess still evolves in fashion industry where everyone have to look young and thin to say the least 🖤

What work industry do you think she's in? She's not a model or an actress. She's...well no one knows what she is. She never was a model or actress either. Had she been, then it would make sense that she would want to modify her face to "keep up" with trends but she's a nobody and she was never in the entertainment industry to begin with. That's what makes her choice to outright mutilate her face all the more confusing. I'm sure she will regret this (if she doesn't already) when she has to pay thousands upon thousands to maintain some resemblance to looking basically human and when she looks 50 even though she's 40. Jess isn't really in the fashion industry, she's not part of that, she pretends to be but she's not. Her entire career is being Jamie's girlfriend.

This is also  apllies to Jamie.  I don't think it is the healthiest thing to have in common in a relationship.  Talking about being thin, this explains the way her hands look. She can totally be 35, there is just no body fat left in her hands and not much in her cheeks either... Whatever their relationship is about lately, let's hope that they are aware and well surrounded concerning their respective mental and physical health issues. 🖤

With his sobriety issues and whatever is obviously wrong with her (anything from narcissism to HPD, to eating disorders or dysmorphia and obviously uncontrolled at that) they are a perfect storm of a relationship and definitely will not last. I think with her controlling nature, pathological lying, and manipulation there's no way she's gotten any sort of actual help to work on anything wrong with her. She may deny there is anything wrong with her (she certainly did that enough on her old blog). If you have one person in treatment and another person actively undoing that treatment with their own behaviour then it's not a relationship built on a solid foundation. Not that it ever was anyway since it seems she's been stalking him much longer than she's been with him.

As for the rest of what you asked, my blog isn't about that and I've already addressed this possible eating disorder thing in another post (a while back) that's as much as I intend to discuss the topic since this blog isn't about that and eating disorders aren't what make people bad. It's everything else about her that's bad, her possibly having a disorder or not is very much not part of the problem (other than in the way it may affect Jamie).

#jess moloney #jamie campbell bower #jamie bower #mail

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder Review

Quick question, Russel T. Davies: where the fuck did THIS come from? I only ask because this is a genuinely brilliant, exciting, well-written episode of Doctor Who that feels like the best of your original run, whereas- no offence- The Star Beast was a confused, underwhelming mess. Seriously, if I was a teacher who had to grade both pieces of work, I’d assume you’d gotten illegal help with one of them. I mean, seriously Russ: what did you do between writing Exhibit A (the mess) and Exhibit B (the fucking masterpiece)? Did you just neck a fuckload of hallucinogens? Did you finally get laid? Did you allow yourself to be beaten over the head with a big, rubber hammer? Whatever it was that made the difference, please, please keep doing it.

And now to address my actual readers: Wild Blue Yonder is very, very good and I recommend you watch it with a fucking colostomy bag in, because it is shit-yourself scary. The Doctor and Donna get stranded on a spaceship at the literal edge of the universe (she spilled some tea on the TARDIS console, because of course she fucking did) and there are things aboard from the darkness beyond that edge. Lacking shape or form or mass- being entities of pure, malignant consciousness in fact- they assume the forms of Donna and the Doctor and proceed, forthwith, to fuck with them in the most unsettling and horrific manner possible. It’s creepy as fuck to see the copied bodies of our leads distort and warp in horrendous, Kronenberg-ish ways as the entities from the dark beyond existence seek to elicit their fear, but the real-headfuck comes from their refusal to give up the pretence, remaining in-character even while waxing loquacious on their evil plans (which I won’t spoil). There’s an element of psychological warfare- even torture- at play here, as they gradually tease out bits of buried darkness and it’s deeply, deeply affecting. It’s strikes a delicate balance, being the kind of thing that you can get away with on prime-time TV without pulling its punches one fucking iota.

Of course, this being a Doctor Who episode, the horror is tempered with humour and quite a bit of silliness. There’s a line about how someone “Got a very old robot out of storage to walk, very slowly, down a very long corridor” that, in context is giggle-worthy (particularly with the additional knowledge that the Doctor has named the robot ‘Jimbo’) and a bit where the leads meet Isaac Newton and then discuss how hot was (with the Doctor being surprised to realise that recent experiences have turned him just a tiny bit gay).

The Doctor also gets to be the Doctor in this episode- running around, solving mysteries and finding ways to fight monsters. Not fucking victims of a ‘psychedelic sun’ or insect blokes who eventually turn out to be good guys: actual, no-holes-barred, proper Doctor Who monsters! I won’t spoil the solution he eventually hits on, but it’s bombastic and clever and entertaining in a way that literally nothing in The Star Beast was.

Oh, and no spoilers, but the final scene nearly made me cry. In a good way.

Obviously, I have gripes. Well, one gripe. Namely: Sir Isaac ‘Mr. Gravity’, Fuck You Newton was not a mixed-race individual and while colour-blind casting is fine (great, actually) for fictional characters, you can’t just race-swap actual people who actually lived and had identities of their own. The past isn’t just a big dustbin of fun characters and events to be pilfered for content: it’s a series of lives and experiences lived by real, sentient people who, if they had any say in the matter, would probably like to be accurately represented after their deaths. Even in an upbeat work of fiction, the past ought to be treated with a modicum of tact and delicacy; its tropes and ways of being preserved with all their flaws rather than suborned to suit modern audiences. Irreverence is fine: wild inaccuracy isn’t. I’d also like to point out that, if they wanted a non-white physicist in the episode, there are fucking loads of real ones who just aren’t taught in the Western scientific canon. This could have been a good time to introduce wider audiences to, say, Robert Bragg or Arthur B.C. Walker, Jr (who is the only reason we today can observe the sun’s corona accurately enough to get a sense of what it’s fucking doing, by the way). I mean, surely drawing attention to real non-white scientists is much more meaningful than pretending a dude with skin like fucking Savlon wasn’t Caucasian. It’s less attention-grabbing, of course, and it doesn’t virtue-signal as hard, but it’s more meaningfully progressive and actually serves to enlighten and inform viewers.

Okay, that’s out my system now. I would like to stress that I’ve only devoted so much time to that because it’s important to clarify where my objection comes from, lest some cretin completely miss the point and set up a chant of ‘bigot’ (probably misspelled as bigfoot because of the autocorrect on their cunting smartphone) right outside my blog. I often find that the people who object to these false representations publicly are just bigots because decent, progressive people are too bloody scared to point out the real flaws. It’s therefore important, as a progressive, anti-racist person, to raise objections that are actually sane, lest our entire cultural debate descend into a slap-fight between hateful, ill-read fascist micrococks and sanctimonious, reality-denying nutbars. All that being said, not-really-Isaac-Newton is only in Wild Blue Yonder for, like, three minutes, so in terms of the episode itself, it really is a teeny-tiny gripe and shouldn’t in any way ruin anyone’s enjoyment thereof. (EDIT: I actually considered deleting this whole bit, but that felt obscurely like cowardice, so I settled for a rewrite that shortened my original rant considerably).

A more immediately relevant discussion might be why Wild Blue Yonder worked where The Star Beast failed. And no, I don’t think it’s just that Our Russ got laid between script-writing sessions. Have you seen his face nowadays? He looks like a potato receiving an unexpected suppository. Nobody’s into that. No, I suspect the reason Wild Blue Yonder works is the tight focus and small scale. Essentially, its four characters- the protagonists plus two antagonists- on a spaceship, trying to out-think each other. There’s mystery, conflict and an interesting setting to provide context, and that’s all any story really needs. I often find that mistakes and poor writing creep into telly shows and films in proportion to the amount of superfluous shit they give themselves to juggle. I think there needs to be a term for that, so I’m going to coin one: ‘Concept Bloat’. The more extra characters and ideas and elements an individual episode of a TV show has, the more likely one of them is to go wrong, and when one thing goes wrong, a lot of other less-than-optimal stuff is allowed to slide by unchallenged because it looks fine next to the thing that actually went properly, fully wrong. The Star Beast is actually a perfect study of how this happens. The ‘Roth Warriors’ (I have no idea if I’m spelling that correctly, nor do I care) looked rubbish, but their rubbishness was less obvious than it should have been compared to the overall look of the episode’s fictitious London. Meanwhile, the plastic-y version of London probably seemed acceptable in the context of a plot where reversing a star-ship engine can magically heal streets. The magically-healing streets probably seemed fine because they were sharing plot-space with a wheelchair containing a hidden rocket-launcher (to clarify, I have no problem with a wheelchair that can shoot rockets- I just don’t think there’s any way you could make it look like a regular wheelchair). The sheer absurdity of this might well have gone unnoticed because, next to phrases like ‘Male Presenting Time Lord’, stupid tech probably seemed fine. And phrases like ‘Male Presenting Time Lord’ probably seemed acceptable when spoken two minutes after an encounter with a crappy-looking Roth Warrior, bringing us full circle. With a more streamlined set of ideas, it would have been easier to prune out the bad ones, or retool them until they worked. Each individual nugget of crap, however, allowed the crap on either side of it to pass unnoticed and what you ended up with was, well, The Star Beast. In contrast, Wild Blue Yonder is as tight as an XS rubber gimp suit and genuinely brilliant. It does more with less because there was time to hone and polish the less.

So what does this say about the future of the show? In my last review, I implied that the best thing that could happen to Who would be cancellation- a chance for the show to end on a satisfying note rather than change into something it was never designed to be. As much as I love Who, I’ve arrived at that the conclusion that quality alone isn’t the issue. Even if every episode of the next few series ends up being as good as Wild Blue Yonder, it still can’t go on indefinitely- not with any integrity. The best stories in the world are still only truly satisfying in the moment you close the book, having experienced the full, majestic sweep of the narrative and understood what it was saying creatively and philosophically. TV shows aren’t exactly the same, since they’re less singular efforts and don’t have a single story to tell, but even they eventually have to shit or get off the pot, which means actually ending at some point. So yes, I’m glad showrunner RTD has hit his stride with Wild Blue Yonder, but trying to bottle lightning is never going to work reliably and it doesn’t change the fact that, sooner or later, something is going to have to give. So yeah: I’m still at ‘Let Gatwa have his time and then call an end to it’. One good episode- one really fucking good episode- isn’t enough to fix the show’s underlying problem. I mean, it can be a hiatus rather than fullblown cancellation, but Who still needs some kind of break. Sorry.

#doctor who #DW #Tardis #Wild Blue Yonder #The Doctor #10th doctor #14th doctor #secret diary of a fat admirer #secret diary of an fa

[fantastic-wizards]

( cont from xoxo ) || @fallencrowns

And he could understand that in his own way. There were times when the view at Hogwarts did not affect him as deeply as it used to although these days, he one could say he felt even more of an attachment to the place. He supposed it was primarily out of fear of losing his place entirely. If the Ministry wanted, they could have him removed completely from his post. That was probably the next step should he keep making excuses about fighting Gellert. However, he told himself that if they removed him from Hogwarts entirely then it would be more than enough motivation for him to become the new Minister. He'd hate to give up what little privacy he had left, but it would be worth it to make certain people's lives a living hell. He'd start with Travers who was acting particularly peculiar as of late and go down the list of those who kept making this process of dealing with Gellert difficult.

"I can relate. Sometimes Hogwarts doesn't hit the way that it used to, but… after the incident with the Ministry, I think I have found myself feeling a bit clingy and sentimental over the place. There are still a few spots about the castle that fill me with joy. The threat of being removed from it entirely has reignited an old love for the school. The view doesn't hold a candle to this one, but I am certain I would miss it if I left for good."

Or rather was forced to leave for good. Should Albus ever find himself in a place where something other than Hogwarts consumed him completely, maybe it wouldn't feel so bad --- the idea of leaving it behind. But with his family life in shams and his personal life still filled with many questions, he couldn't imagine leaving the only permanent, sure thing in his life right now. That stability was much needed at this juncture in his life.

They both stood in silence for a spell, each of them consumed by their own thoughts. Albus was not one for prying too much so while curious, he knew Corvinus had his own reasons for retreating here --- and not just because it was his ancestorial home. Albus knew bits and pieces, but it wasn't his place to keep digging. After all, he too had his fair share of personal demons he wasn't quite able to place into words for sharing. Either way, he knew this place and this view held a different kind of comfort for them both, but it was still nice to have someone to share such a moment. It only added to the growing ease he felt for a change.

"I did not know any better. When you are young and discover your talents for whatever they might be, there's an arrogance inside of you that makes you feel invincible. I think… I enjoyed the attention for a while. It was truly nice being recognized as a great wizard. I had worked so hard you see, but my vision was… distorted. I was living for the moment with little regard as to how it might affect my future. I was… also running away from the routine at home. I wanted… something more."

That something wasn't JUST Gellert and the bravery to love him out in the open. It was… freedom. And it was very selfish of him too. He knew that regardless of how hard he worked to change the world, Aberforth was never going to forgive him for being a selfish bastard. It was Albus who allowed Gellert to believe his own hype; who loved him despite the red flags he overlooked. And maybe he would NEVER deserve Aberforth's forgiveness; goodness he knew Ariana's death was not something he could just go back in time and fix. He just missed the companionship; the feeling of family. It was lonely out here in the world --- cold and unforgiving. It was one thing for strangers to ignore him but another thing entirely for his brother to pretend he didn't even exist anymore.

His own peaceful expression faltered briefly into one reminiscent of despair yet just as quickly he resumed the mask. The words of his partner broke through the despairing musings causing him to turn and look, biting back a bashful smile. Corvinus' words took him back to the very first time a bit of banter broke out between them. The professor's words were just as effective then as they were now. It still amazed Albus how he managed to be so oblivious to the man's interest. He thought… Well, he wasn't entirely certain anymore what he thought of the banter. Harmless fun maybe? In any event, he couldn't have been more wrong and finally had the kiss to prove it.

"I… I do not blush!" he protested, although even as he said the words he found himself having to break eye contact briefly. The smile Corvinus tore from him had cheeks hurting. So long has it been since anyone was able to pull such a smile from him yet Corvinus did so with little trouble. His charm was just too much. "This other view lives to torment me. I certainly hope he goes easy on me in the coming days or I fear I may not be long for this world. I would hope he'd have me at my best for sparring rather than a weakened puddle of water at his feet."

Because the idea of sparring Corvinus gave him two minds. On one hand, it was going to be a little strange trying to seriously duel someone he was growing ever so fond of. The temptation, at least on Albus' end, to hold back would be there and that would do him no good. Furthermore, it was far easier to duel a friend when emotions were involved. He wasn't angry with Corvinus nor did he wish to be. And he knew this was the heart of the issue with dueling Gellert too. The temptation to hold back would surely be at the forefront of his mind because it was unlike Albus to hurt anyone. Despite all of the killing Gellert had done, Albus had no knowledge of ever killing anyone. That is to say, IF he had killed someone in the past then that person was his sister and it was the not knowing for certain part that had him petrified of pushing himself anymore.

Ah, but he needed to calm his mind. His anxiety was building all over again and he certainly didn't need that right now. He was here now and while able, he wished to enjoy the serenity before reality set in again.

Blue eyes looked to his companion and after a moment he nodded. While it was true that he would not have minded standing here for a few moments more, there was still much to see here. "I would love to see the library and yes, I've always been rather fascinated with the Founders. I think anyone who truly cares about Hogwarts should at least be a little curious about them. After all, there have been many stories told over the years, but we know how word of mouth can be. The more people pass a story along, the more fabricated the stories become. I think it would be interesting to read everyone's first accounts of Hogwarts and truly delve into how they wished to mold their ideal students."

Albus found himself chuckling softly. "I think Helga had the right idea. I simply can't imagine having to pen my life and thoughts for the world to see someday. If they truly knew me, I doubt they would have much good to say about me. Not that I care about being loved anymore, but… there are some things best kept close to my heart. They wouldn't understand and I've a feeling that there's more to Salazar than we've been led to believe too. He may have taken all of his things, but perhaps clues were left behind that reveal more of the picture."

There's a pause as he moves closer to Corvinus, reaching out to take his hand. "It's fine. I wouldn't expect anyone to have too much information on the two most powerful of the founders, but admittedly, I would enjoy spending time reading the accounts over time while I am here. Just for fun to sate my curiosity. Whatever you have is more than enough. It is simply an honor to be allowed to handle such delicacies in the first place. I shall hardly complain, Ophiucus."

#fallencrowns #﹂ ʾ . ⭒ ❝ dumbledore — in character . #﹂ ʾ . ⭒ ❝ albus vs2 — chained by fate . #long post tw #// lmao i laughed a bit while typing this #cos he's just so casually stating his interest in salazar and godric #and then there's me going 😬 #the man you shared a kiss with once is... yeah about sal... #but you know i think he's gonna struggling in their first spar #he's scared to push himself