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its-jaytothemee · 27 days

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Until I Met You - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Cure

Pairings: Halsin x Tav

Word count: 4,915

Rating: Currently M, will be Explicit in later chapters.

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Summary: The party decides what path they want to take to rid themselves of the tadpole. Introducing Withers too because I might have forgotten him earlier...... Part 5 of the slow burn fic. Halsin and Tav POVs

Tags: Slow burn, hurt/comfort, fluff, love confessions, eventual smut, light angst, implied past rape/non-con, graphic description of injuries.

A/N: The tadfools learn about the share bear. I struggled with this chapter at first, but now I'm kinda in love with how it ends.

Someone take these idiots away from me...I can't stop writing about them.

With her wounds healed, Tav could easily change back into her normal casual outfit. It took multiple passes with a comb, but she was finally able to tame her long hair back into a sleek braid. She grabbed Clive and the shirt Wyll had given her before she joined the rest of the group. When she arrived, there was already a heated argument in process.

“Our priority should be purification. We cannot afford further distractions and detours.” Lae’zel’s gruff voice cut through the air.

“Our priority should be finding the cult and ridding Faerûn of this evil for good.” Wyll countered.

“The Creche will have the means of ridding us of this tadpole. Even if we defeat this Absolute, there’s no guarantee that we will be cured.” Lae’zel had been insisting they find the Creche from the moment they met.

“And the cult has my father!” Wyll yelled back.

“You guys want to fill me in on what you found today?” Tav walked up into the center of their small camp.

All their heads turned to face her, they looked flustered and exhausted.

“Nice to see you back on your feet.” Wyll smiled lightly. She tossed the shirt she had been wearing to him.

“So…what did I miss?” Tav asked.

Everyone immediately started talking over one another, trying to explain their version of the events of the day. Out of all the yelling, she was able to piece together that a Duke from Baldur’s Gate had been captured, they killed an entire enclave of Zhentarim, and they had potentially found the location of the Creche that Lae’zel had been searching for after taking out a githyanki patrol. The recap of their activities quickly devolved into fighting about their next steps. Tav pinched the bridge of her nose trying to ward off the headache that was already forming.

“Everybody shut up!” Tav shouted to be heard over everyone. Her sudden outburst seemed to at least startle everyone into giving her their attention. “If you want to sit here and fight like children, I’ll treat you like children. Here…” Tav held Clive up for everyone to see.

“New rule – unless you’re holding Clive, you don’t get to talk.” She received plenty of glares and pursed lips, but they did remain quiet. Halsin was off to the side, fighting to hide a smile.

“I do not understand this ritual. Is this customary for your planning of battle strategies?” Lae’zel asked, obviously confused.

“It is now.” Tav decided.

Wyll held up his hand, and she tossed the stuffed bear to him.

“The path forward is clear. We must head to Moonrise towers and chase after this Absolute. Not only is there a chance we can be cured, but we can strike at the heart of the cult and rescue my father.” So, the Duke who was taken was Wyll’s father, interesting. Lae’zel snatched Clive out of Wyll’s hands.

“Our path should lead to purification. Moonrise Towers does not offer a certain cure for our affliction, the Creche does. We cannot help anyone if we turn into mind flayers ourselves.” Lae’zel countered. Tav was surprised to hear her say ‘we’ in her statement, does that mean she would want to chase down the cult even if they were cured?

Shadowheart was the next to request the bear, Lae’zel begrudgingly handed him over.

“With all due respect Lae’zel, what assurance do we have that this purification would be extended to us as well? We are not githyanki.” An understandable question. One that Tav had wondered about since Lae’zel mentioned the Creche. Shadowheart handed Clive back to Lae’zel.

“This is a very inefficient form of communication.” Lae’zel grumbled. “You will be granted purification for aiding me. It is Vlaakith’s will that her faithful be purified. I can plead your case to the Ghustil, you have proven worthy in battle against these abominations and they will not want to waste your skills.” She made a convincing argument, but Tav wasn’t sure how much they could trust the hospitality of a githyanki creche. Lae’zel had proven to be a valuable ally, but her people were not known for their generosity.

Karlach held her arms out and Lae’zel flung Clive over to her. She hugged the bear close to her chest as they all looked at her expectantly.

“What?” She looked up at all of them.

“You requested the stuffed creature. It is your turn to talk if I am not mistaken.” Lae’zel said, taking this process very seriously.

“Oh, I don’t have anything to add. I just wanted Clive back.” She tucked him under her arm, apparently not wanting to share any longer.

I’m surrounded by toddlers.

“Look…” Tav started, looking between all her companions. “Whatever we do next, we have to do it together. We don’t stand a chance if we split up or fight each other the entire way. The Underdark has already proven perilous. I will not force us to continue on down here if we cannot agree to do so.” She spared a look at Halsin, who averted his gaze towards the ground.

“We set out together to find a cure for the tadpoles. If Lae’zel can give us her word that the Creche will remove them I’m not opposed to following that lead. But we must have a majority in favor of doing so.”

They all exchanged uncertain glances, each person scared to cast the first vote.

“I vote that we take the Mountain Pass and search for this Creche. I have enough unwanted guests lurking in my body.” Gale was the first to speak up.

Lae’zel and Karlach quickly agreed with him.

“I still think we should continue searching for the path to Moonrise. We have a duty to the people of Faerûn to purge this cult.” Wyll held his ground.

“I’m inclined to agree with Wyll.” Halsin spoke up.

“Ah yes, let’s listen to the one person here not hosting a wriggly little parasite.” Astarion snipped. Tav shot him a glare.

“He’s agreed to travel with us, Astarion. He gets a say too.” She said.

“Ugh, fine. I agree with Wyll as well. I think we have a better chance of infiltrating Moonrise if we can pose as one of their own.” He conceded.

“I want this tadpole out of my head. I have a mission of my own to complete. As much as it pains me to admit, I think Lae’zel may be right.” Shadowheart finally chimed in.

Tav would be the deciding vote. She had no idea what to do if they were evenly split. All eyes were on her, waiting for her choice to be made.

“Then it sounds like we should head to the Mountain Pass.” She decided. There were a few grumbles, but otherwise everyone simply split up to go pack up their things. Tav was about to walk away as well when a strange voice called out to her.

“Ah, thou art moving again? I had much difficulty in finding you.”

Every member of the camp whipped around at the sound, weapons drawn.

“There is no need for such measures.” The strange undead figure waved his hand nonchalantly.

“Wait…we’ve met before.” Tav slowly lowered the rock she had picked up to throw.

“And now we meet again, as predicted. I shall remain in thy camp, for whenever thou hast need of my services.” The skeletal figure, who she now remembered was introduced as Withers, said this as a statement rather than a request.

“Just when I think our little adventuring party can’t get any more bizarre.” Gale muttered.

The rest of the party seemed content to let her deal with their new visitor. Even Lunari didn’t seem concerned by him. She sat next to Tav, tail wagging lazily.

“And what services are those?” Tav stepped closer to him.

Withers launched into a long-winded explanation of his strange talents. His ability to call souls forth from the dead, allowing them to fight at their side, for a price. The low, deliberate sound of his voice started to make Tav a little tired. Blinking her eyes rapidly to stay awake, she tried to give him her full attention.

“Should thou or any of thy compatriots perish, I will cleave soul to body once more.” Useful. He seemed to be finished talking now.

“Not to be rude, but what are you?” Tav couldn’t help but ask.

“There are many answers to that question. None are important.” His tone was still calm.

“Okay, then.” The past week had been such a rush of strange revelations, why not add an undead necromancer to their camp? Withers walked away from her without another word.

“It seems your little group is growing each day.” Halsin had come to stand next to her.

“At this rate we should have an army to rival the cult’s by the time we do reach Moonrise.” She turned to smile at him, but his expression seemed sad.

“Will you still come with us to the Creche?” She asked, suddenly anxious.

“Of course. I promised you my aid and counsel, and you shall have it.” He smiled, but it looked forced.

“I’m sorry that we aren’t heading directly to Moonrise Towers. It seemed important to you that we make it there soon.” She was trying to judge his reaction and intentions.

“Do not apologize, my friend. You made a swift decision after taking careful considerations from your companions. I could scarcely ask more of a leader in your position.” Regardless of his personal feelings, Halsin seemed supportive enough of her decision.

“In fact, I should thank you. I shall have to remember that little trick with the stuffed bear for the future.” His smile shifted, becoming genuine.

“What can I say? I’m an inspiration to all.” She winked and clicked her tongue before heading off to find her things, ready to pack up and move their camp again.

***

Halsin walked towards the back of the group as they marched their way across the wilderness, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his skin again. He took the time to observe his new travelling party some more. Even after the argument this morning, everyone seemed in high enough spirits. Perhaps it was the newfound hope that they could be rid of their tadpoles sooner than they thought. As he kept pace with the adventurers, his gaze kept wandering back to Tav. He watched as she laughed along with Karlach and Gale, the three of them practically skipping along the trail together. Her new armor suited her well, it looked to be drow craft armor of some kind. The others had brought it back for her this morning after they cut her last set to pieces. Lost in his thoughts about Tav that were growing increasingly indelicate, he failed to notice that Astarion had snuck up to his side.

“Enjoying the view, druid?” He always seemed to have a sultry undertone to his voice.

“Of course, I’d be a poor druid indeed if I couldn’t enjoy a long walk on such a lovely day as this.” He smiled at the pale elf, his bouncy white curls blowing softly in the breeze. Astarion giggled softly in response.

“Oh Halsin, I’m not talking about that view.” His eyes followed Halsin’s gaze back to Tav. “Don’t get me wrong, I love your disastrous flirting with one another. I’d just hate if you did anything to lead her on though, she’s such a kind and trusting soul.” He examined his fingernails, picking at imaginary dirt there. Halsin felt a slight blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Believe me, Astarion, I have no such intentions of toying with her. Can you say the same?” He thought back to all their flirty quips.

“Ha, you’re good. Believe me when I say all our banter is perfectly harmless. Beautiful people like us can’t help but be delightful and charming together. Well, speaking for myself at least.” He patted Halsin on the arm and pranced up to Tav’s side.

He leaned into her a bit and said something in her ear that Halsin couldn’t quite make out. Whatever it was though, it caused Tav to throw her hips into his – knocking him into a nearby bush. She and Karlach doubled over laughing as she helped him back up out of the thicket, a pout now clouding his face. Their other companions stopped to see the cause of the noise causing them to laugh as well. He was unable to hide a smile at the interaction, amazed at the happiness exuding from a group of people who constantly stood on the precipice of a horrifying death.

They came across a small collection of buildings, which he believed was Waukeen’s Rest. But it was burnt almost completely to the ground. This must have been where Duke Ravengard was captured. A short walk away from Waukeen’s Rest, they found another scorched sight. Burned bodies and a collapsed bridge told him that this is where their friends had found the githyanki dragon rider.

By the time sunset had come, they were making their way towards a beautiful cliffside. The warm dusk light danced on layers of rock and trees, an incredible display of nature’s gifts. To think this was so close to him all these years, and he had never seen it.

“Now that’s not a bad view for the evening, eh soldier?” Karlach yelled at Tav.

“Seems as good a place as any to rest up. We’ll head for the Creche first thing in the morning.” Tav announced, setting her pack on the ground.

They all worked together to set up tents and build a camp. There were plenty of logs and large rocks that they could roll over to sit around the fire. Lae’zel had found a map on one of the githyanki soldiers they had fought earlier in the day, and they had determined that the Creche had likely taken up in the nearby abandoned monastery. The strange undead, Withers, had appeared once they settled in camp again.

Tonight, Halsin was able to actually share a campfire with everyone. Their first night together, he was still recovering from his time with the goblins and his decision to resign his position as Archdruid. Last night, he opted to stay with Tav, making sure she recovered from her injuries. Just as it was during the day, the mood of his new companions seemed to stay joyful. He had been surprised to find out that they had known each other for such a short time. Sitting here with them tonight he would have guessed they were old friends.

I suppose being in their predicament would speed up their friendships a bit.

One by one, everyone retired for the night eventually leaving him alone by the fire. It was hard to explain to them that he was content without a tent, even though they kept insisting that they could find more materials for one. They were kind to offer of course, but for the first time in decades, he was able to freely enjoy all that nature had to offer. Resting by a fire in the open air was his ideal night. The cool evening air helped to focus his mind after the events of the past few days, allowing him to drift easily into his nightly meditation.

When he opened his eyes a few hours later, he was surprised to see that he wasn’t alone. Tav had wandered back out to the fire.

“Hopefully I didn’t disturb you.” She said quietly, adding a few sticks to the dying fire.

“Not at all. How long have you been up?” He sat up a little straighter, stretching his arms out.

“Just a few minutes. I’m not used to having someone else up at this time in the morning. Even Astarion stays hidden away in his tent until the sun is up.” She smiled lightly, the growing flames casting playful shadows across her face.

“The curse of most elves, I suppose.” He continued stretching, shaking off the past few hours of rest.

They sat and watched the flames in silence for a while. Tav had leaned back against one of the logs, staring at the stars that still dotted the sky.

“So, you’ve had a couple of nights with our group.” She started, still stargazing. “How are you faring out here at our little camp?”

“With such stimulating company?” He chuckled to himself. “Never better.”

“I suppose stimulating is one word for it.” She laughed quietly.

“Truly, I’m just glad to be out here amidst the Oak Father’s creations.” He breathed in the scent of his surroundings, leaning his head back to look up at the stars as well.

“I never got a chance to ask you once you joined us…” She trailed off. “How will the grove fare without you? You said your absence had a greater impact than you had expected.”

“Hopefully. I chose a replacement and sent word to her in the High Forest before I left the grove. A wise druid named Francesca.” He tensed slightly, suddenly worried what Tav would think of him for this decision. Why did he care so much about what she thought? She had no knowledge of the needs of the grove outside of what little she saw before coming to his rescue.

“Who?” She asked, leaning up slightly to look at him.

“Exactly…the grove needs to move on from the mistakes of the past.” He turned his head slightly towards her. “Having a fresh set of eyes can help accomplish that. Or so I hope.”

“Very shrewd of you.” She grabbed another nearby stick and lazily poked at the fire with it.

“Contrary to popular belief, we druids can play politics when necessary.” He smiled as he leaned back to look at the night sky again.

“So, is Francesca a temporary replacement? Will you return to the grove once we’ve cured these tadpoles and saved the world?”

It was a question that had plagued his mind since he joined her. Given the harsh division that occurred under his leadership, he wasn’t sure it would be wise for him to return. Even if he was no longer Archdruid.

“I…I’m not sure.” He said quietly, not wanting to look her in the eyes. “I can’t help but feel that I failed them. To return after leaving them twice would seem a disservice to the druids there.”

Tav didn’t say anything in response, she just continued lightly prodding at the fire. He went to sit up, but his hair had gotten caught on a chunk of bark on the log behind him.

“Ow!” He hissed as his head was pulled back down by the force of it. His hands fumbled in the dark, trying to find the grooves holding him in place. Tav snickered a little and walked over to release him. Her fingers made quick work of the tangle, freeing him from the log’s grasp.

“Thank you.” He said as he reached up to fix the piece of hair that had been pulled free. The tie he had holding half of his hair had gotten twisted into a knot from the snag. Once again, his hands fumbled behind him, trying to relieve the pulling on his scalp from the tangled mess.

“Here, let me.” She laughed again as she moved to sit behind him. Carefully, she pulled pieces of his hair free from the small tie. Her fingers ran through his hair each time she pulled a new piece free, loosening any remaining snags in the strands and sending shivers down his neck. Each time her fingers would brush against his scalp, he would relax just a little more. Eventually he realized that he had leaned back against her legs.

“Could I ask you something?” He asked quietly, watching the flames dance in front of him.

“Is the question ‘can I borrow your comb?’ Because the answer is yes. I mean gods above, Halsin when was the last time you brushed this? There are actual leaves stuck in your hair my friend.” She laughed as she continued to pull small chunks of hair free from the knot on the back of his head. To prove her point, she dropped the leaves she found over his shoulder and into his lap.

“Ah yes, what was I thinking? I should have asked my goblin captors if they would provide that for me during my visit.” He teased back, causing her to laugh more. “As for the leaves, I happen to think they add another layer of authenticity to my druidic charm.” What he wouldn’t do to keep hearing that laugh.

“But no, I had something different in mind.”

“Go ahead.” She said as she smoothed another few strands on his head.

“Who is Tev?” It was a name that Halsin had heard her mutter over and over while she was unconscious.

Tav froze, her hands still tangled in his hair.

“Where did you hear that name?” She asked quietly.

“You said it a lot while you slept yesterday.” He explained.

“Tev’aron...my older brother.” Her voice was quiet.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about him.” Halsin suddenly felt guilty for prying.

“It’s okay. He uh…he’s been gone for quite a while.” She resumed her work on his hair.

“What happened?” As he asked the question, he realized he already knew the answer from their past conversations.

“The shadow curse. I was there that day too, Halsin.” She whispered.

Hearing her mention it again brought his own grief bubbling to the surface, threatening to boil over. Faces of those he fought with all those years ago flashed before him. From what she had said before, he had gathered that she had at least experienced the curse. It didn't occur to him that she could have been there, fighting as an ally. His mind wandered momentarily, wondering if they had somehow crossed paths before.

“I am so sorry. I know all too well what it’s like to lose those you love to that wretched curse.” He looked down at his hands in his lap.

“It’s not something one soon forgets.”

Her voice had grown distant. He slowly turned to face her, half of his hair still knotted in an impossible pile on his head. The pull in his chest returned, he wanted so badly to tell her of his plan, to let her know there was still a chance to make things right. She gave him a puzzled look, waiting for him to say something.

Careful, Halsin. You still don’t know if that is possible. Do not give her false hope…

Astarion’s earlier words rang in his ears. He truly didn’t have any intention of toying with her emotions. It had just been so long since he had someone who understood the horror that was unleashed that day.

“I’m sorry, Tav. I didn’t mean to dampen your spirits.” He turned back around to let her continue working on his hair.

“Don’t apologize. It’s…nice to have someone else who understands.” She sighed. That was a sentiment he understood well.

“So, what will you do if you are able to seek a cure at the Creche in the morning?” Halsin tried to change the subject.

“What do you mean?” She ran her fingers through his hair again, his eyelids fluttered slightly at the touch.

“Will you all go your separate ways?”

“Huh. I suppose I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” She paused for a moment. “I can’t speak for everyone else, but even if we are able to get a cure tomorrow, I’m not sure that I can just turn my back on what we’ve learned.”

“Oh?” Halsin asked, his heart skipped a beat.

“I mean, it’s like Wyll said. We have a responsibility to help if we can, don’t we?” She was able to work a large chunk of hair out of the tangled mess, it fell over his eyes. “If you’d like, I could still accompany you to Moonrise. It wouldn’t seem right to abandon you after you left your life at the grove to help us. I’m sure at least a couple of the others will want to see this through as well.”

The combination of her words and gentle touches brought tears to his eyes. For years, the thought of facing the shadow curse alone had been a daunting and a near impossible goal. But now, the thought of Tav joining him filled him with hope.

“I’d be honored to have you.” He said before quickly adding, “Happy to have you with me, I mean.”

She giggled as she pulled the tie that had been holding his hair free.

“Here, this is broken. Give me just a moment and I’ll be back.” She handed the mangled string to him and patted his head before getting up to walk away.

Despite the fire burning in front of him, he suddenly felt cold after she left. He could feel phantom touches of her fingertips smoothing his hair down his head and neck. Not a minute later he heard her soft footsteps bringing her back to join him.

She sat back down, and he felt a comb run across his scalp. The feeling was soothing, something he couldn’t remember anyone ever doing for him. At least not since he was a child.

“I can take it from here, if you’d like.” He immediately regretted the words as soon as he said them. Truth be told, he could sit here with her hands in his hair for hours.

“Oh, of course. Sorry…force of habit.” Tav handed the comb to him over his shoulder, sounding uncomfortable. He was sure that her face was turning a deep red. She started to move out from behind him.

Damn it.

“I only meant I don’t want you to feel obligated.” The words rushed out of his mouth. “I don’t mind it at all, it’s…comforting. Especially after the week I’ve had. Plus, you’ve made short work of those knots so far…” He was starting to ramble. His heart was pounding in his chest, worried that he’d upset her.

She sat still for a moment; he couldn’t see her face to judge her reaction. He looked down, slightly embarrassed. Her hand appeared next to his head, open and waiting for him to hand her the comb. Releasing his held breath, he handed it back to her.

They sat there the rest of the time in silence. Tav quietly and carefully working the comb through the tangled web on his head. Elves don’t often sleep, but he really thought at one point he could have entered a deep slumber from how relaxed he felt under her touch. Halsin felt as an eternity had passed and yet he felt he could take another eternity more when she finally spoke again.

“Okay.” She said quietly. “All done, I think.” Her fingers ran through his hair one last time, checking for any straggling knots.

“Thank you.” He kept his voice as quiet as hers, already missing her touch.

He opened his eyes to see Tav moving back down to the ground, her hand held out next to him. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and held it for a moment. She gave him a puzzled look and he could now feel that she had a small tie in the palm of her hand she had been offering him.

He immediately dropped her hand and felt all the blood in his body rush to his face and chest. Tav burst out laughing, covering her face to muffle the sound. The sky was just now starting to lighten, and the others in camp probably wouldn’t be awake for a couple more hours. Halsin buried his head into his hands, trying to hide the wave of embarrassment washing over him. His freshly combed hair hung down helping to cover his blushing cheeks.

“Halsin, it’s okay.” She was still laughing a little bit. “At least now we’re even.”

He thought back to when they first met a few days ago and she had done the same thing with the small flute they had used to resurrect Gale. He peeked out between the strands of hair covering his face to see her smiling fondly at him. She looked away quickly when she met his gaze.

“I uh…I think I’ll go get us some more wood for the fire. I’m sure everyone will want to eat before you head out.” He stood up slowly, his legs now feeling a little wobbly after being so relaxed. She held the small tie for his hair up in her fingers, which he gladly accepted.

“No matter what happens at the Creche, we’ll make our way back to Moonrise, Halsin.” She assured him with a smile.

He nodded his thanks and pushed the hair from his eyes as he made his way into the tree line. His heart was still racing from their time together, he couldn’t stop thinking about the feeling of her fingers running through his hair. It had been so long since someone had taken care of him in any way, let alone something as gentle as this. He took a few deep breaths, reminding himself that they still had a long way to go until Moonrise Towers. There was still much for him to do to prepare. Despite his years of waiting though, his mind lingered on Tav, already trying to figure out how he could steal more moments like this in the future.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #bg3 halsin #halsin x tav #halsin fanfic #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fluff #bg3 fic

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chemicallywrit · 6 months

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Happy Audio Drama Sunday! What a delightful and spooky Halloween week. As usual, this list is not comprehensive, but this is what stood out to me this week. Some spoilers ahead, in the shape of vibes~

🩸Hemophobia did NOT disappoint. My word. The strange disconnected way the story was told; the fact that the sermons were more coherent and clear than the action; the Extremely Teenage Teens. Man. I cannot wait to listen to this next episode.

🦀 THE SILT VERSES. Every day I think about Faulkner. The person he is. The apostle and the fool. Jeez louise. I can’t tell if he’ll save the faith or obliterate it and take everyone down with him. @thesiltverses

🌊 Modes of Thought In Anterran Literature - is that Felix Trench??? On the one hand, hearing a familiar voice does break the immersion a little, like the most unnerving part of this show is how real it feels; on the other hand, Felix did such a good job, the immersion break didn’t last long. This new character sucks, i love him.

👻 Palimpsest!!!! New palimpsest!!!! Easily one of my favorite single-narrator shows, and this one is set in the 1920s, which is one of my favorite historical periods. They’re also very good at a horrible subtle twist, so I can’t wait to hear more about this ghost.

😈 Kakos Industries is literally always good, but I really feel for Corin being like “PLEASE leave me alone on Halloween.” Man, this show is funny. Why isn’t it more popular. Please listen to Kakos Industries. They’re on hiatus, there’s no better time to catch up. @kakosindustries

🍔 Mayfair Watcher’s Society always knows how to get to me. It’s like, the absolute corruption of the Normal into something horrific and wretched is the point of the show, especially when it’s something you always suspected was messed up. Like a fast food job. I shudder.

🌲HALLOWOODS JEEZ. Mx Wellman did in fact try to kill me. I survived. I WISH SOME OTHER FOLKS HAD. @hellofromthehallowoods

❄️ Red Valley. Man alive. One of the things I love about this show is how there are no real heroes, but this season from the POV of the villains—the architects of the apocalypse, in a lot of ways. Creeps. It’s delicious. Today’s episode, watching Clive finally reaping what he sowed, was absolutely glorious. @redvalleypod

🦷 Welcome to Night Vale - HOBOY. Idk if the return of Kevin is going to be a plot point, but it’s the perfect idea for a Halloween ep. Chilling work as always, Kev! It’s also fun to listen to him seethe about his loss of power.

🅿️ Podcube is always a delightful treat, but this week had a fantastic little bit of sound design, which I’m told is this sound designer’s first attempt at such a thing. He did a great job! I love this show, everyone listen to PodCube. @podcube

👑 Malevolent: We’re Back To The Horrors. I’m honestly relieved. Arthur having friends and family is so scary, I keep waiting for something horrible to happen to them. And now something has! Which is not to say more terrible things won’t happen, but i feel like the other shoe has dropped. This is not a criticism at all, Harlan is so good at this.

🌞 I finished Fall of the House of Sunshine this week and…it made me cry? This goof goof show made me CRY? It really is just You Make Your Own Meaning The Musical, isn’t it? If this show had to have a moral, then “even if all you can do is something small, it matters” is a pretty good one. The fact that there was a moral at all is pretty miraculous. I’m going to go listen to the soundtrack a million times now.

🧛🏻‍♂️ Re: Dracula is coming to an end in just a few days and here is a secret: i haven’t heard these last few eps yet. Tal and Stephen finished working on them while I was in the thrall of New Job, so I get to hear their excellent sound work new with you. I am so excited for the final showdown, let’s GO. @re-dracula

🧟‍♀️ The Dead premiered this week! Go subscribe to it, it’s about to get REAL WEIRD. We did some table reads for the next story this weekend (and we have one more today!) and if you think zombies on a plane are scary…

Go check it out!

Now that all is well on the job front, I hope to get back to recording Inn Between soon, because I Want It To Exist. If you want to help us out or you just like what I got up to today, please drop by my ko-fi!

#audio drama sunday #audio drama #audio fiction #fiction podcast #freaking podcasts

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another-clive-blog · 6 months

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Would be funny if Dimitri had your stereotypical sci-fi weapons. Yknow like freeze rays and stuff of that nature.

That’s what he uses if Clive ever gets too crazy (which is probably often)

Anon I love you to death for this occasion to talk about my favorite platonic pairing <3 <3 <3 Thank you so much, I had fun hehe

POST IN TWO PARTS !! Rambling starts here, drawings are under the cut !

Okay first some rambling/headcanons (where we'll pretend Dimitri had those) ! I believe Dimitri is a pacifist and almost never resorts to violence, he's more of an 'ignoring the obnoxious man-child' type of guy. However the rare occasions he DOES use these guns would be at the very beginning of the Dove-Allen partnership, when Clive would be openly taunting him and deliberately pushing him to his limits. (He hates scientists, he hates Dimitri). THEN, I can see Dimitri snapping and using these, but only if he knows they aren't going to kill Clive because Dimitri has strong morals (not a joke this man has all the morals of the duo). He would only do it once or twice tho, both because he hates violence/feels guilty about it and also because Clive is Clive (see below).

RAMBLING OVER ! Sorry for that I needed to get it out lol. Anyway drawings under the cut

So first of all your ask made me think of this picture and I just couldn't resist lol

Transcript : I don't have any defreezing option on this thing. He's probably alive anyway. I should time how long until he gets out. For science.

BUT THEN as I said, I think Dimitri could not use these more than two or three times on Clive 'Well the best way to deal with my grief is to build a mobile fortress filled with weapons' Dove. That man would absolutely go feral. Don't try him.

Yes he threw that flashbang to the ground. This event is known in Future London as the First Layton-Luke battle (no puzzles included)

#Thank you so much anon <3 <3 #Also sorry for the traditional drawings it's faster/easier but my coloring/photo skills are lacking #If it's not readable I'll go back to digital drawing #Anyway this ask was so cool ! =) I'm working on the next one rn it should be done by tomorrow evening hehe #Clive dove #Dimitri allen #professor layton and the unwound future #professor layton and the lost future #unwound future spoilers #lost future spoilers #My art #Ask #TW : gun #I don't have many colors but I'll try to compose better palettes sorry

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luce-speaks · 4 months

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in honor of finishing the editing on Laid to Rest (yippee!) here is my vision for @good-beansdraws dnd au (tagged #echoes dnd au on my blog)

campaign one - alm route

DM’ed by Mila; the players are Lukas, Forsyth, Python, Clive, and Mathilda

Mila is a novelist (Forsyth likes her books and he is being sooooo normal about this) and it’s her first time running D&D

Duma writes the combat encounters for her in exchange for worldbuilding and plot help

The campaign was pitched to the players as a classic, knights on a quest sort of campaign, only to surprise the players with the fall of the current monarch and the new Deliverance in their hands

Not sure how relevant i want the kid characters on this route to be but there’s definitely fun complexity added by having Alm, this Chosen One character, be an NPC

The other thing I was considering was removing/replacing clive and mathilda but idk who I’d replace them with

campaign two - celica route

DM’ed by Duma for an old group of gamer friends who love strategy games and hardcore combat

Not sure exactly who I’d put in the group but I’m thinking Saber, Kamui, Mae, and maybe Jesse, Deen, and/or Sonya

Mae is played by a competent adult woman who just enjoys the cutesy killer kid trope and is blowing off steam from a frustrating job or something. Duma made an exception to the campaign plot hook to let her be part of the group they’re escorting

This is also around the time I realized I can have the irl versions be a different gender so I think I might have Saber played by a woman as well

The party is not all that into roleplay but they do surprise Duma by getting really attached to the healer npc Genny and being so ready to kill anyone who threatens her

the main thing keeping me from writing this is the lack of an actual plot - i have a couple vague ideas (would probably make lukas the main character because i want to write more of him) but no driving conflict or character arcs yet. would absolutely take suggestions here!

#echoes dnd au #fire emblem echoes #not character tagging #fic writing

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wandringaesthetic · 6 months

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Some very belated thoughts regarding Final Fantasy XVI (and Game of Thrones)

If you've ever had a conversation with me about A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, you would know that my exhaustion regarding it is endless. I read the first three books circa 2003, when I was in highschool.

There was the slow release of the books. There were the absolutely depressing things that happened to the characters. There was the show, which I initially viewed with enthusiasm but then I couldn't stand the mention of for reasons I couldn't articulate. I fell behind on the show, and then it caught up with the manga, and then the show was about to end, and I thought, well. If I ever want any closure on this story I had better finish watching the show, because god only knows whether or not GRRM is ever going to finish the books. So I watched every season so far in preparation for the last one, some 15 years, two college degrees, a marriage , a child, and several jobs later than when I first started this journey.

And we all know how that ended. D&D apparently had information regarding how GRRM is planning on ending the story, but I'm pretty sure they misunderstood the themes badly enough that GRRM, if he ever gets there, is going to take a very different route to those conclusions.

Meanwhile, Jon Snow is still at least mostly dead in the books.

I will never know peace regarding Westeros. It's fine. (It isn't).

Other than being left hanging, a major reason A Song of Ice and Fire absolutely exhausts me is the misery train. I remember seeing a gifset, early in the show days, with images of the Stark Family with the words "we are never ever ever getting back together." Nothing good ever happens here. No one is getting back together.

And this is where FFXVI departs from Game of Thrones. You'll get your childhood friend slash adopted sister back. You'll get your brother you thought you killed back. You'll get your dog back. You'll get your beloved chocobo back. (Reuniting with Ambrosia made me maybe the most emotional that anything in the game did, I so did not expect it.) You might die at the end (maybe, it's up to interpretation) but there will be some relief from your loss and misery.

Allegedly, early in development for FFXVI, Yoshida made the whole team watch the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. There's a kinship here, and it's intentional. As much as part of me groans at this, there's a precedent for this in Final Fantasy. Yoshida has long been an admirer of Matsuno, and Matsuno directed Final Fantasy Tactics, a game that was not influenced by Game of Thrones (I don't think it was translated into Japanese at the time), but that was influenced by The War of the Roses, especially as told by Shakespeare, something A Song of Ice and Fire was ALSO influenced by. Yoshi-P should have made the whole team watch Henry IV part 1, 2, and 3

Anyway! FFXVI has a kinship with GoT, especially early in the game. There are a lot of warring factions. There's a lot of moral dubiousness. There's sex and violence and swears. But somewhere in the middle it breaks down and becomes so extremely Final Fantasy. Perhaps (as someone who really loves Final Fantasy) TOO Final Fantasy.

Early in the game, you have human enemies. The ironblood, the empire, Benedikta and Kupka.

But pretty soon, you find out that there's something Beyond, gunning for you (Clive) specifically. Arranging his life in a certain way so that he will acquire certain powers.

Something Final Fantasy does Very often is a villain switcheroo. Either a henchman of the villain overthrows who you thought was the main villain and becomes the main villain, or some Dark Force was influencing the main villain this whole time. This is done sometimes well and sometimes poorly.

So, Ultima, he's some kind of ancient alien. He claims he's a god and probably isn't, exactly. He's going to suck up all the lifeblood of the planet and cast the spell that ends the world. He takes up all the light and air from any part of the plot that does not involve him.

He is playing Final Fantasy villain greatest hits, is what I'm saying. But he sucks. He sucks so bad. He is near the bottom in my ranking of Final Fantasy villains. If I had to choose villain rep from this game for a future Dissidia game, I would choose Barnabas Tharmr over him.

(I feel the Final Fantasies that don't have strong villains are that way because the real villain is organized religion, or time, or despair, or something like that, but that's another essay)

This kind of singular, definitely evil, otherworldly antagonist is the opposite of what makes the morally gray, messy, many factions storytelling of Game of Thrones work. So in the end all of the GoT stuff is set dressing. It means very little.

Part of me wants to see an FFXVI that didn't pull its punches, in which Joshua really died in the prologue, in which none of the dominants or their nations are really right or good. Where it's about power. Where we maybe focus on the messy liberation of the bearers.

But that story maybe ends more like A Song of Ice and Fire might end (if it ever ends), where most of our characters are dead, where the people left just barely survived because they banded together against the oncoming night or blight rather than fight each other over scraps.

And that story is... Exhausting.

#final fantasy xvi #final fantasy xvi spoilers

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sevicia · 1 month

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give me the movie recs instead! scary is ok

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Under a read more cause I looove talking, and the sections are ordered by like, priority of recommendation if that makes sense ... I also tried 2 actually rank them but I am not very good @ that LOL

Personal Enjoyment ONLY!!!:

No theme besides personal enjoyment "just for fun"/not relatable edition:

The Batman - I love it I just love it. I watched it bc my sister put it on and my pen's battery had run out. I was CLUELESS

Spree - That's my attention whore wife that would kill me for views !!!!!!

Jacob's Ladder - The best fever dream anyone could ever ask for !!! Everything about this movie is perfect. And this doesn't really matter TOO much ....... BUT …….. !!!! Tim Robbins in short shorts towards the end .......... save meeeee .................

Antiviral - I rewatched this one just before writing this LOL. It made me crazy when I first saw it back in 2022 and it makes me crazy now too!! The entire movie feels cold & sterilized but it's still Completely Sexual. Syd March I know what you are. OH also I like to think Mr. Cronenberg Sir is proud of his son bc this ruuuuules

Martyrs - This is like the ultimate "can't rec it as-is" movie bc of the amount of people that are genuinely disturbed by it & don't get me wrong I am one of them!! But there's just something here that has me thinking about it so often. The violence is amazing and the feeling in my stomach is horrible every time !!

No theme besides personal enjoyment mental illness edition:

Pulse (AKA Kairo) - Extremely close to my heart, the way loneliness relates to the internet & technology in general is such an interesting topic it would be enough to make this movie stand out for anyone, but I have such a personal fondness for it because of how much I felt it understood me. In a few ways.

Pearl - IDGAF how many people have gone "just like me fr" cause I am also one of them. I don't get the whole "female rage" thing that gets mentioned a ton (on account of me being some guy), but the theme of never being able to escape a life you hate ??? Absolutely fucking terrifying & hits super hard for me specifically

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - The RESENTMENT, the ANGER, the DESPAIR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It resonated w/ me a lot more in the past but not so much anymore, which is good LOL

HORROR!! YAY!!:

Horror SERIOUS edition:

The Thing - certified classic I legit think everyone should watch this one at least once in their lives. The practical effects r amazing, the story is GRIPPING & many of the actors r hot. Literally what else could u ask for…..

Hellraiser - Huge DUH ….. The short story is so good too Mr. Clive Barker I owe you my life !!!!!

The House That Jack Built - Pretentious, yes! But also really fun/satisfying to watch. I've seen some people comment on this kinda movie being typical for the director? But IDK who that man is & I don't care either. Like at all.

Ringu - Just a classic. So creepy I have to hype myself up to watch it LOL

Persona - INSAAAAANE INSANE INSANE. I saw someone say it's toxic yuri which like. Yeah I think. But also it left me confused in a rly good way

Noroi: The Curse - honestly should be self-explanatory @ this point. GENUINELY scared the shit outta me

Repulsion - Also a drama (besides a horror), the way the main character's paranoia escalates is just .... haunting, I think is the word. There's some degree of irony in here, because of who the director is, that I can't really articulate.

Gorefest / not too serious:

Creep - INSANE found footage about a guy making decisions that seem questionable if not stupid to most people, but not to me. I understand him. (disclaimer that this one could also go in the prev. category ..... I don't knowwww)

Intruder - I was on a slasher kick a few years back and this was one of the better ones. The convenience store setting is so much fun & something I'd never seen before! Or since.

Rec - SOOOO anxiety inducing, there's a lot of moments where people r talking/yelling over each other & the part towards the end that explains the whole thing is just. 0_0. to me. Bc it's among the top 3 things I do NOT fuck with !!! (same disclaimer as w/ Creep).

Hostel - I actually really like this one & don't understand most of the criticisms besides the obvious misogyny. It irks me a lot that it gets called "torture porn" so often when it's just … not that bad ? As edgy as that sounds !!

Cube - go there. in the cube? go in the cube.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes - Zero excuses for this one, you just gotta embrace your shit taste sometimes

Terrifier - Separate from the 2nd one cause that one is different in more than a few ways ..... but this one is just like charming to me in a weird way. It 's fucking filthy like, visually tho cause of the abandoned building & other such things ....

Terrifier 2 - This one I also enjoyed a lot though it IS really really long, I found it fun! The whole family aspect of it I liked a lot bc fictional siblings my beloved :3 though Art's backstory is still rly muddy (4 me at least) I do think it's like, a fun silly slasher if you've got 2 hrs and a lot of patience LOL

Just fun overall!!:

YAY!!!!!!!!!:

ROBOTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Oh my GOD I love this movie. I love this movie so much it's probably my favorite childhood movie. It's funny as fuck, really pretty AND has a good story. IK it may sound like nostalgia's involved but I just truly believe it's an amazing movie<3

Birds of Prey - This one is just a serotonin machine for me I love Harley so so muchh

Wendell & Wild - Visually insane I looove the look of this movie. It's also just rly enjoyable, I watched it multiple times at one point since it's on Netflix I think ? My mom got sick of it LOL

Bottoms - Absolutely bonkers it's such a fun movie. Gay and untalented and ugly and yet one of the most lovable movies I've ever seen ?? They need to print more of these

A Trip to Infinity - This one's actually a documentary on um. Infinity. Which is lovely because watching scientists be enthusiastic about their work and gush about it is just so good for my brain + it made me cry

The nostalgia I have 4 these ones is craaazy:

The Butterfly Effect - this was on TV SO OFTEN it was insane. I watched it so many times as a kid I always insisted on not changing the channel

The Voices - SO fun & silly I think of it so fondly .....

Paranorman - I love this movie so so much forever it's just so beautiful & funny

Zombieland - It's just fun man IDK what else to tell u

Sucker Punch - Another one that was often on TV, it's just embedded in my memory forever. I learned what a lobotomy was bc of this movie!!

MISC!!!:

These are dramas !!:

Parasite - Just watch it if u haven't. Everyone says you should watch it and they're RIGHT !!!

The Devils - I love horny church stuff so much

Let the Right One In - fucking loved this one. Freezing cold, very pretty AND probably the best vamp movie I've ever seen. Though I haven't seen a lot

Girl, Interrupted - insane behavior from the girls here but they're literally in a psych ward so who cares

These r good but I don't remember them much SOB:

The Eyes Of My Mother - this one gets called slow/boring a lot but I really don't gaf I still liked it

Wolf Creek 1 + 2

The Descent

Phenomena - The 1st game of the Clock Tower series was based on/inspired by this movie! Nothing else 2 say I just think it's cool lol

American Mary

A Clockwork Orange - I watched this nearly an entire decade ago but it goes here because of the fact that sometimes I still hear that dumb cunt Alex DeLarge go "I've suffered, and I've suffered, and I've suffered!" inside my head a lot. Also I have to mention that he did look good beaten up despite everything going on w/ him.

#danties #long post #literally so so fucking long I'm sorryyyyyyyyyyy .................................................. it's my verbose soul ..................#much to think about #<- thoughts were displayed

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lumeha · 7 months

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For the series questions... Fire Emblem?

Fire Emblem, my Forever Fandom TM !

... I'm excited about doing that one. It's large but. Heyyy !!

Favorite character

According to my poll (checks notes) it's Rhea :D

Considering where I started with her (not liking her at all), it feels quite strange to now sit here, with an ita bag dedicated to her that features art I got made specifically for it (tiny crochet Rhea !), and a tattoo with her sword and shield and flowers. But Rhea is such a fucking fantastic character. She is what people say they want when they want a morally grey character. She's stuck between a rock and a hard place, she takes decisions that aren't clean cut, and yet.

I adore her. I adore the layers to her character, with grief and revenge and the care and softness and she's so so so good ;; she deserves so much more love than she gets

Honourable mention to Arvis in particular, who had my heart for years and years, and he is still one of my absolute favourite trashfire, but. Yes.

Second favorite character

Just because I did shout out Arvis in the last one, I'm going to avoid him. And without making a joke about the current poll about people deciding my favourite FE character...

There are a lot of candidates.

But right now, I'm feeling it, I'm going to pick Knoll. Knoll is, in the grand scheme of things, a character that means a lot more to the world of FE8 than it looks like, I feel. He was the one working with Lyon. He has knowledge of what happened behind the scene. He's a tired, depressed man who thinks about killing himself and awaited for his execution with the serenity of someone who had accepted his fate. Knoll knows the shit that Ephraim and Eirika don't, about Lyon, Vigarde, and what happens with Grado.

And I love that all of this comes in the form of a quiet, depressed man who does want to find some spark back because maybe there's a hope to let Grado live on and survive in the way Lyon wanted it to.

It's so fucking nice.

Least favorite character

It's a large franchise. There are many characters that someone might not like (that someone being me).

...

But maaannnnnn fuck Clive. I really don't like him. He's just a bit annoying to me, it's not the biggest crime, but actually, yes it is. He's annoying. He's just not doing it for me. I really don't like Clive. /o\

The character I’m most like

... I'll be honest. Luthier. Well. I'm not as much of a hard worker as Luthier. But I do feel like I am quite like him. Certainly not confident and quite awkward and making friends with cat better than with other people.

Some might say I'm endearing and I think he is in his own ways but I'm probably endearing in a similar way to him : awkward and just very, very nerdy.

Favorite pairing

I think this one is going to be coming out of left field for some people because I have not written NOR drawn them. But it's Ephinnes. Been a ship since I was a teen ! I love them ! the energy ! it's so perfect !! They have a dynamic that is just so good, without even having a damn support !!!! I Love Them !!

I have complicated feelings with some of my favourite pairings for FE, like, (carries fraldarddyd) I have Opinions on how they are depicted in general and it makes it a little weird to interact with people about the ship

Shout out to Duessel / Knoll, though, my absolute rarest of rarepair, they are so good and I love them :>

Least favorite pairing

Edel///eth (sorry it looks a bit ridic but look we don't want this brick of a post in the search for people who like the ship)

Favorite moment

Most recent is probably Rhea turning into a dragon to protect Garreg Mach when the Empire walks over to it. It means so much for her character and for the game. Like you know the gloves are coming of.

... But I do need to shout out a very specific moment of FE7. And that is when Ninian and Nils are talking about Elbert to Eliwood, telling him how he died, but actually mostly telling him how this man who didn't know them helped them so, so much, telling them stories of his home and his family, and helping them escape, and. idk. it has stuck with me all this time. Like that fucking tiny ass GBA art ?

That one ??? I still think about it

Rating out of 10

Look. I adore Fire Emblem in general. I think it's a franchise that has many, many cool moments, some really good gameplay, and often stories and characters whom I love very much.

But Fire Emblem can only be rated on a scale from 5.5 to 9 out of 10 as a rating. Because it varies between games. And some of the highs are high and some of the lows are very low.

#barks.txt #Fire Emblem #askbox meme #no Engage specific thing but I need to replay it soon #I have enjoyed it though

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thewardenofwinter · 11 months

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Character Inspo Tag

Tagged by the wonderful Nopal over at @writernopal! Thank you so much, here is their post with some absolutely insane character combinations lol

(also some of these are not characters but real people but I wanted to include them anyway)

Rules: List your OCs and the characters that inspired them!

Very gently Tagging: @sam-glade @elshells @zestymimblo @crowandmoonwriting @captain-kraken @indigowriting @rownanisntwriting and @eurydicefades

Give No Quarter

Circe

Circe of Aeaea (Greek Mythology)

Gamora (Guardians of The Galaxy)

Golsifteh Farahani (Actress)

Wonder Woman and Talia al Ghul (DC Comics)

Sypha Belnades (Castlevania TV show)

Yennefer (Witcher)

Aya/Amunet (Assassins Creed: Origins)

Mix together mommy issues, witchcraft, and ancient knowledge in large bowl with a gilded dagger you get Circe.

Adam Bonny

EDWARD FUCKING KENWAY (Assassins Creed: Black Flag)

Trevor Belmont (Castlevania TV show)

Charlie Hunnam (Actor)

William Thatcher (A Knight's Tale)

Jack Sparrow (Pirates of The Carribean)

Westley (Princess Bride)

Flynn Ryder (Tangled)

You let a BLONDE MAN speak to you like that??? Ceo of 'maybe if he were a little less fuckable we wouldn't be in this mess.'

Henri Bellamy

Ichabod Crane (Sleep Hollow TV Show)

Chris Cornell (Musician)

Julien du Casse (Assasins Creed: Black Flag)

Dracula (Bram Stoker's Dracula 1992)

Armand (Interview with the Vampire 1994)

The only Frenchman to ever exist, the rest are fake. Don't let anyone lie to you.

The Resurrectioners

Samara Dombroski

Isabel Dodson (Constantine 2005)

Selene (Underworld Series)

Victor (Umbrella Academy)

Sidney Prescott (Scream)

Sarah (The Craft)

Pretty much the human personification of what happens when you gain too much Insight in Bloodborne.

Nazriya Akkineni

Theodora (The Haunting)

Morana *gasp* (Castlevania TV show)

Zoya (Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse)

Satine (Moulin Rogue)

Nancy (The Craft)

Jennifer (Jennifer's Body)

God only made her 5 feet tall because was afraid of her being too close to him.

Zekiah Rush

Chyna Parks (ANT Farm)

Janella Monae (Actress)

Belle (Beauty and The Beast)

Rachel (The Craft)

Karen (Blade)

Resident walking encyclopedia. If you give her a bookmark she might propose to you on the spot.

Dmitriy Mikhailovich

Dmitri Pisarenko (Actor)

Morpheus (Sandman TV Show)

Levi (Attack on Titan)

Viktor (Arcane TV and for his design ONLY that weird mix of a czech/russian accent fucking kills me)

Men with big noses and dark hair>>>>> Frequently pretends he doesn't speak English so people don't talk to him.

What We Undertake

Dolores Clive

Dolores O'Riordan (Singer)

Mina Harker (Bram Stoker's Dracula book)

Edith Cushing (Crimson Peak)

Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice)

Being the village freak isn't easy but someone has to do it.

Charles Morrison

Alan McMichael (Crimson Peak)

Hercules (Hercules)

Thor (Marvel Franchise)

Milo Thatch (Atlantis)

I wouldn't call Charlie a himbo per say because he's actually quite clever, so I guess he's more of a 'golden retriever nerd with really weird interests.'

Vincent Karloff

Thomas Sharpe (Crimson Peak)

V (V for Vendetta 2005)

Jason Dean (Heathers)

Edward (Edward Scissorhands)

Victor Frankenstein (Mary Shelly's Frankenstein)

Voted most likely to disappear under mysterious circumstances in high school.

Reading some of these combinations is giving me whiplash.

— M. Warrin

#tag game #oc inspiration #oc #original character #wip #current wip #The Resurrectioners #What We Undertake #writeblr #writeblr community #character inspiration #writeblr tag game #Give No Quarter #my writing

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iliektehhaxs · 3 months

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clive would SOOO pull that “is this what your spouse would’ve wanted” in the fight with barnabas something similar to the ketheric thorm fight in bg3 but whilst ketheric is a depressed bastard and killed him self over remembering his wife (and being self aware of how much he would disappoint her) barnabas is not only so insane and in love that it’s near religious fervour but he would also have a split second of “mention them again and i will kill your for real”. he’s more like castlevania dracula style of widow to me

This would probably happen either when Clive is saving Jill or when Odin finds Clive in Waloed when he’s scouting with Gav, there’s a very ominous change in the air, his tone, the very atmosphere itself seems to weep an all-encompassing darkness as Barnabas speaks slowly.

“Mention that name again, and it will be the last thing you say, Mythos.”

In that moment he completely forgets his mission. He is eerily calm, almost daring either of them to say a single word before he remembers what he is here for, and begrudgingly leaves.

Also yes, he’s absolutely Dracula-coded, you could put Barnabas in his place and his wife as Lisa and absolutely nothing would change about the plot.

#robo speaks #ask

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bestboygav · 7 months

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Curious about human emotion, the apathetic deity brought the scout within a domain hidden from reality. " Welcome, companion of Mythos"

“Oh for fuck’s sake.”

One minute he’d been on his way back from Lostwing after procuring a bottle of Gaultand Rouge. Clive had ordered it from Quinten but hadn’t had time to go fetch it himself. Gav volunteered to grab it while he was out - he was being sent on a mission out that way anyways, so a slight detour afterwards wouldn’t kill him. Plus, Clive had offered to share; he would never say no to good alcohol.

The next minute, he found himself in some… well, he wasn’t really sure where he was. The endless expanse stretched out as far as he could see. ‘Definitely not still in Valisthea,’ he thought to himself, trying to assess whatever impossible situation he was currently in. Curiosity killed the cat, sure, but he hadn’t gone looking for trouble this time. A sudden voice behind him broke him out of his thoughts; it sent a chill down his spine.

At least he still had his sword, which he promptly unsheathed and pointed at his kidnapper as he turned around to face him. “I don’t know why you’ve brought me here, but I’m not helping you with… whatever it is you’re planning.” Ultima could take any form he wanted, but Gav would always know when it was him. The feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach while in his presence would always give him away.

“If you’re going to try to hurt anyone again, you’ll have to go through me first.” Did he stand a chance against the being? Absolutely not. He wasn’t idiotic enough to think he could do substantial damage to Ultima. But he wasn’t going to roll over and let his friends get hurt while doing nothing, either.

#oultima #Gav is ready to fight god #he's so ridiculous I love him #Good luck Ultima lol!

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dragongutsixofficial · 2 years

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I noticed that some of the people that are Edelgard critical are also the types that usually stan evil pretty boys.

Hey anon ! Thanks for your insight ! ^^

I think I should begin by telling you what happened just after I read your ask. I was wondering how I could make an articulate answer (because I’m a mess), and so I decided to seek the perspective of my dearest mutual @ninadove, who I knew would have something interesting to say on the matter. You see, apart from being a massive Edelgard fan, she also has a 10+ year brainrot on a evil pretty guy from the Professor Layton saga: Clive Dove.

(Don't worry, I know the legend is pretty confusing.)

What are this bad but sad boy's crimes, might you ask ? Here's a list :

identity theft

heavy manipulation

Building an entire replica of London ten years in the future right under the city without a permit

Kidnapping people to populate his fake town as well as scientists

Using said scientists to build a death machine to eventually destroy the entirety of London

Pretty heavy stuff, right ? So, I screenshot your ask and sent it to her because I knew she in particular would have interesting stuff to say on the matter. And she did !

But the thing is, she read it sideways at first and misunderstood. She thought that your observation was that a lot of people who liked Edelgard also enjoyed evil pretty boys. And she told me, “it makes total sense”, and started explaining why. I’m summing up the gist of her reasoning here. Don't worry, this is relevant to answering your ask:

There is a phenomenon of constant demonization of antagonists, especially pretty male antagonists -evil pretty guys if you will. This is interesting when you realize that that kind of character is often tailored to speak to a younger audience, and especially to appeal to young girls. Those fangirls are, in turn, often shamed for taking an interest in characters which are deemed unredeemable. However, liking said characters isn’t bad in itself.

Indeed, the real problem arises if said fans of a character are willing to excuse their objectively bad actions because the evil pretty boy is, well, pretty. But that isn’t the case in the vast majority of cases. Most of them actually appreciate the complexity of the character they root for. Would @ninadove condone someone trying to commit a mass murder irl? No. Does she understand that Clive had damn good reasons for turning evil in the first place (his parents and most people in his apartment building were killed in an immoral scientific experiment which only took place due to a considerable amount of corruption, so he feels the need to “purge” the city of it), and that the situation is not black and white? Yeah, absolutely ! Clive isn’t the Devil Incarnate; but just as with Edelgard’s, some aspects of an evil pretty boy’s narrative might talk to people more, depending on where they’re at in life.

According to her, the fact that so many people who were already attracted to evil pretty boys were also attracted to Edelgard's character is a testament to the fact that it isn't just because they're hot guys that they're so popular, but because of the themes in their story, the moral dilemmas their actions lead the audience to, and the potential said audience sees in them. The very fact that she misunderstood your ask in the first place is proof of that- it's just the logic continuation of liking a given type of character.

Now, this isn't to say that some people don't act towards Edelgard the way they did towards Daenerys- but that as a general rule, one can't extrapolate what a person's values are irl based on their personal fictional likes. A ton of people who stan a pretty evil boy will stan a pretty evil girl for the exact same reasons.

In the same way, the bullet points just above list a few of the criticisms fans of evil pretty boys are subjected to:

that rooting for a fictional antagonist means that the fans would be willing to justify the same kind of crimes if they took place in the real world.

that the only reason they like the character is because they're only attracted to their physical appearance

that there is only one way to read and enjoy a fictional work and going against it is wrong, thus you should feel ashamed/are a bad person if you see it any different. If your blorbo is an antagonist then you should only view them as a villain.

Do you recognize any of these lines ? Yup. They're usually the ones hardcore Edelgard criticals use when talking about her fans.

So, what can we conclude from this ?

In truth, the problem isn’t with liking or disliking a character in itself. People will always enjoy different things -and that’s what’s so fun about fandom culture! In the same way, people are allowed to criticize any given character and call them out on their actions. I’ve seen some very eye-opening posts from some Edelcrits who helped me understand why so many people feel uneasy about Edelgard, and actually made me think even more about what her motivations are and who she is at her core, making her all the more interesting to me. I might disagree with some takes, yes, but I don’t have anything against them as long as they are said respectfully.

To me, at the very least, the real issue is when people cross the line to reality, and start making assumptions about other fans based on fiction. Most of the time, one’s blorbos aren’t a viable way of determining what kind of person they are. For instance: I have seen a lot of people criticize Edelgard’s imperialism and explain that it makes their skin crawls. I love Edelgard and I admire her character arc in CF, as well as her iron resolve to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Does that mean I condone imperialism in the real world, especially the modern forms of imperialism? Heck no. No way in hell would I ever support that kind of thing.

You never have a right to bully other people into thinking like you, however misguided you think they are, be you an Edelgard or a Dimitri stan. I once made a post about this exact issue, calling out people who claimed liking Rhea (who I personally kinda dislike) made you an abuse apologist.

Reciprocally, that means no one should have to feel bad about liking a fictional character if that brings them joy. I know liking Edelgard made me a better, more accepting person, and she keeps inspiring me to speak up for myself and others. We should fight against that trend that consists in shaming fans of certain characters. They really do make you better, as @ninadove pointed out herself just how much liking Clive Dove did for her.

All in all, what I mean is that we should all just try to be respectful and mindful of other fans. There is rarely such a thing as manicheism when it comes to antagonists like Edelgard and Clive, and we must always be careful about who we apply that kind of black-and-white logic to.

So, yeah ! I hope that clears up my perspective of things at least.^^ Thanks for sharing!!!

Edit: fixed Clive's picture cause it was incredibly blurry and honestly sad

Second edit: fixed some typos and also added Catra because damn girl

#ask #edelgard von hresvelg #clive dove #edelgard positive #professor layton #professor layton spoilers #fe3h spoilers #fe3h #fandom culture #daenerys targaryen #got #dgix thoughts #catra #she ra #she ra princess of power

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laveyanist · 10 months

Text

Final Fantasy XVI Ramblings~! (spoilers)

I'm not done with the game yet, a little over 50% of the way through so I might mute this in case someone sees it and feels a need to say 'so and so dies at the end' or anything like that because people are incapable of just letting people enjoy things on their own but- (here's your warning, this has started to get long as I'm writing it. Basically a disorganized essay.)

TL;DR w/o spoilers - the game has heavy left-wing political themes that I'm enjoying but really hoping they don't undermine in the late-game.

This game has been absolutely fucking insane. Like, in all the best ways, but first and foremost has been how HEAVILY political it is?? And unapologetically communist to boot? Holy fuck. I don't know how many games in the series were this political, the only one I've ever finished was XV so I can't speak on this being a prescient theme throughout the entire franchise or just a part of XVI and VII.

Having a literal commune run by a violent anti-imperialist who they very cleverly turned into a direct reference to the Punk subculture as a main character? Genius. (There's a line of dialogue, maybe it was his actual nickname as well, where Cid refers to himself as Cid The Vicious... Y'know, Sid Vicious.)

The very direct killing of the planet by the mass exploitation of its resources is nothing new to the series, VII being the first to come to mind, but it's definitely interestingly more prescient than ever, but also a lot more on-the-nose this time around. Normally I'd criticize that aspect of it, but it's pretty necessary with how media illiterate I've noticed people becoming... Plus I'm really looking forward to whenever it is the game sends me into an area that's succumbed completely to the Blight (I think that's what it's called) because it established early on that magic doesn't work there, and that sounds like foreshadowing.

I'm a bit worried that by the time the game ends, it'll undermine the revolutionary spirit it seems to foster by turning Clive into some form of 'look at this everyone, he's going to be corrupted and lose his way, iPhone Vuvuzela 100 trillion dead' communist caricature. It'd be pretty disappointing to build this narrative about revolting and breaking the shackles of exploitation by the ruling class and undercutting it at the last minute. Clive's dialogue sometimes feels like it's a potentiality, as they've made a point to engage with the reality that before anything get's better it's going to get much worse for the exploited class during this revolution, but it could also be used to vilify him in the narrative as well.

"Though every soul in the realm may judge my actions heresy, I am certain my cause is just." - a line that sent a chill through me and honestly can be read as foreshadowing a brutalist reign, or just accepting that he'll be viewed as Guevara or Castro or any other revolutionary who the west vilifies for the struggles of their countries after we sanction the fuck out of them.

(Also, this is a bit of theorycraft but the abilities map being a big circle that's slowly being surrounded by each eikon I gather the problem from, and the nickname of Mythos given to Clive has me speculating that Clive's eikon isn't Ifrit. Clive is gathering power to become the Knights of the Round. I really really hope that's what their going for and if so they did a really good job setting up that reveal!)

#final fantasy #final fantasy 16 #final fantasy xvi #ffxvi #ff16 #ramblings #ffxvi spoilers #final fantasy xvi spoilers #clive rosfield #cidolfus telamon

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aotopmha · 10 months

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If you do all the sidequests and look up the lyrics of "Moongazing" it's very obvious that Clive survived. Metia goes out at the end because Jill's prologue wish came true, Clive was returned safely to her. That's why she smiles. "I realized that, no matter how terrible the night, dawn will always come. You will always come for me." The dawn came, Clive returned to Jill.

Yeah, at a point I skipped the side quests, but I do plan on going back and checking them out and people have been telling me this.

But I believe y'all.

I hate stories that play with death like this (and I adore FF14, which also has issues with death).

To elaborate on my issues with the thematic core of the story: Joshua surviving was on really shaky ground from the moment it was revealed he survived.

In fact, it is pretty much the central thematic element to Clive's character.

I think the Ifrit battle is absolutely fantastic character work and it's all based on the fact that Clive killed Joshua. But I gave Joshua surviving a pass because he is the Pheonix and Clive still had to put in the work to overcome his trauma.

If Joshua is alive, all of that struggle IS softened because well, the object of grief, Joshua, is alive.

And if Clive is alive, that revival has no cost whatsoever. He just defied death with no consequence whatsoever.

And this wouldn't even be this big of an issue if it also wasn't part of the thematic core of the story that life is suffering, but we move on regardless.

If Clive can get his brother back by just crying and wishing really hard and Jill can get Clive back just by wishing really hard, what was that entire talk about accepting humanity's suffering and accepting humanity's flaws?

What is the measure of suffering?

Clive and Joshua have been through a lot more than just losing each other.

Their father is dead, Clive was a slave for 13 years and being a Dominant was especially painful for Joshua.

Cid still died.

But aside from Joshua, Wade lived, Torgal lived, Ambrosia lived. Jill lived. Clive basically was handed almost everything back by the narrative.

The suffering he felt is obviously valid and character growth comes from a real place.

And the setup for the survivals is valid, too.

Metia has been there since the very first cutscenes. Ambrosia, Wade, Torgal and Jill were all off screen enough to believe it.

And we see the flaws of humanity in other strong ways.

Clive gained the power of a literal God. Of course he could revive Joshua.

But this is all stuck in the execution of the writing.

Joshua already lived to begin with. I think he just could not have had that fake death.

While Ultima is a god, it has been established Pheonix Downs actually can't bring back the dead. Throughout the series, they heal from unconsciousness.

And I even cried at that scene!

What was all that about not stooping on the level of an arrogant God? Nope, here, have all the dead back because you prayed hard enough.

And Jill went through some shit, too.

It's not like all of the *feelings* were undone.

But that 10 minutes at the end undermines the strongest themes really hard, even if it "makes sense".

It's so frustrating.

And I'd even give it an easier pass if Barnabas or Ultima were interesting characters, but I thought they were painfully one-note with maybe good ideas buried in there.

The final battle was mostly just repeating old character beats with less nuance and depth.

If Clive truly is as definitevely alive as the side quests imply, what can they do to fix the thematic substance?

This is like the most basic writing mistake *the first Pokemon movie* made.

So many stories do this.

Writing advice:

Don't fucking write a story about loss if you don't fucking want to kill characters. Depicting death and then undoing it is horrible for the sense of danger and reread value of the story, rather than an easy way to produce it.

There's plenty of other powerful themes to explore that don't involve death or simply have it at the periphery.

Not wanting to hurt your characters can still yield meaningful stories. (All you need is simply *some sort* of interesting conflict.)

I think the story simply would be so much stronger if either Joshua or Clive (or both) stayed dead.

But if they don't, I at least want some consequence to *literally reviving the dead*.

(I guess some can take comfort from that fantasy, but I can't because that's just not how people work.)

As I said above, if Joshua wasn't fake-killed to begin with, this entire thing would already be better, too. Because Clive wouldn't need to revive the dead. Let both of them fuse into the Ifrit fusion, share the destruction of the crystal and let them survive it and you've got an actual, even if loose, satisfying happy ending.

So what can potential DLC do to fix this mess?

I'm still keeping the possibility of Clive's death in here, as obvious as his survival might be from side quests.

- Maybe even if Clive lived, he's still somehow stuck in his mind or not entirely "saved" and this time Jill and Joshua have to work to truly save him. Would at least lead to some consequence for playing god and reviving dead people.

- If Clive died, maybe Jill and older Joshua could be playable, become heroes in their own right and work through their trauma. Grieving, but remembering him.

There's still plenty of summons to make into boss battles/playable.

That or they just make it an addition to main story because all of the magic IS gone after Ultima and there's no additional epilogue material.

Thank you for the ask!

#Final Fantasy 16 #Final Fantasy XVI #FF16 #FFXVI #FF #Final Fantasy #Asks

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munchflix · 2 years

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HELLRAISER TIER LIST

Munch: This is, I say regrettably, my favorite franchise. That being said, my version of my favorite franchise ends abruptly at the fourth installment.

Biscuits: This your boy??? This your man???

M: Yeah...I know.

B: This one took a while because...we had to watch the movies. I wish we hadn't. I wish I had not watched the movies. I will never forgive me for making me watch ALL OF THESE FUCKING MOVIES. Each one took years off my life span. I'd already seen the first four but...

M: They're bad. They're direct to video bad. They're 3 dollar bin at Walmart bad and I still want my money back.

B: They'd be walk out of the theatre movie bad but you can't because most of them weren't in theaters. They're turn it off and watch some porn bad.

M: That being said...I am a huge Hellraiser fan. I love the lore, I love the mythology. I own the comics, I own the movies, I love Doug Bradley so much. Pinhead is my absolute favorite boi. But alas....we must review this shit. So here we go. PART THE ONE. A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body so he can escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their sadistic underworld. That's a weird version of things IMDB.

B: Those are things that certifiably in the first movie, if you've never seen Hellraiser you're probably confused.

M: The first, arguably the best, our introduction to the cenobites, to Kirsty, to the entire mythology and the Lament Configuration ( the iconic box ). My only gripe is that like so many of the Hellraiser movies, not enough Pinhead. The special effects, for 1987 are off the fucking chain, and they still hold up, honestly. This movie still looks better than most of the shit we watched. S tier shit.

B: The fx are really impressive for the time it was made and the fact that they didn't have much of a budget. You know what I liked about this movie? Stuff happened in it. There was a plot. The cenobites, the Lament, it was part of the plot. It was significant to the story.

M: Well this one was actually made to be a Hellraiser story, unlike six others in this series. PART THE TWO. Kirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld. This one is probably my favorite, ten times more crazy cenobite shit, way more Pinhead.

B: We get to see their weird liminal space hell and Leviathan, the giant rotating space diamond. It's weird and out there, and that's pretty cool. Clive Barker created such a unique impression and aesthetic of Hell. So weird and distinct.

M: It's amazeballs, some more really iconic lines from our boy Pinhead, and nobody but Doug Bradley could say that shit and make it sound cool. We know, we've heard other people try. It's bad. Also S tier.

B: Yup.

M: PART THE THREE. An investigative reporter must send the newly unbound Pinhead and his legions back to Hell. This starts the eternal trend of fucking detective/investigator/reporter nonsense in this series.

B: Like they couldn't think of ANY other plotlines. This movie is balls out, batshit insane. It's hard for me to delineate in words how bizarre this movie is. There's a guy who looks like Hulk Hogan who gets turned into a cenobite who kills people with his telescoping eyeball lens? There's Pinhead in a statue in a nightclub that just happens to be an art museum?? And Pinhead is just like, hey Nightclub guy you should just kill people.

M: It's fantastic. It's just utter chaos from the moment it starts. Pinhead spends half the movie trapped in a statue, he's so great. Sassy and unhinged Pinhead. The main character is some redhead named Joey who does stuff but we don't care because there's a fucking dude shooting cd's out of his cenobite mouth hole. I love this movie. Tons of Pinhead, tons of cenobites, some of the most iconic lines in the series here. S tier as well.

B: That's understandable. I'm willing to put it in A tier, but I like it an S tier amount. I will acknowledge it's not a great film, but it's fun as hell.

M: PART THE FOUR. In the 22nd century, a scientist attempts to right the wrong his ancestor created: the puzzle box that opens the gates of Hell and unleashes Pinhead and his Cenobite legions.

B: I can't lie...this kind of H.R. Giger shit that happened in the 90's...I fucking hate it. It's so fucking visually boring. Alien movies were good but ugh, I watched Event Horizon and it was BORING. This movie falls into that trap and I don't like it. Compared to the other movies in this franchise after this one, this movie is great. It's high cinema.

M: You're entitled to your wrong opinion about Giger and Event Horizon. I love this movie. It's so stupid. Hellraiser in space, c'mon. Most of the movie is about LeMarchand and we don't really care, but Pinhead has some of the BEST lines in the whole series.

B: " Do I look like someone who cares what God thinks?" I love how Pinhead is this like, very serious Hell priest but then at the same time is very sassy.

M: Sassy Pinhead is the best Pinhead. Unfortunately after this, everything went straight into ass tier. I'm not willing to S tier this. This is at best B tier. Compared to the rest, this is still like...the best movie.

B: B tier is fair.

M: PART THE FIVE. INFERNO. A shady police detective becomes embroiled in a strange world of murder, sadism and madness after being assigned a murder investigation against a madman known only as "The Engineer". This is the first one where they made an entirely different movie and then slapped Pinhead into it. No really, they did that for like four movies. It's also the second movie that centers around a fucking detective.

B: I feel a visceral hatred for this movie. It is a GRUELING experience. At the beginning, I was like, I'll give this a chance. It's not going so bad, it might be alright. But no, it just drags on. It's so, so fucking boring. You stop caring about this detective like a quarter of the way in. And this is the movie that begins the HORRIBLE, AWFUL, I FUCKING HATE IT trend of having fucked up shit happen and then have it be like OH IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. It was a hallucination or something. That's half the movie, stuff that isn't happening!

M: The original movies had a ton of fucked up shit happening, but it was ACTUALLY HAPPENING. That's part of why it was so insane. This movie is....painful. It is blindingly dull. They bring in the chatterer but he's just a torso. They throw in the wire twins and some like...slenderman motherfucker but it's just the detective.

B: They quit making new cenobites after this, they just recycled the same ones. They got rid of chatterer and butterball and female cenobite, kinda rude tbh. There's barely any cenobites in this.

M: Pinhead is here for like...literally two minutes.

B: It's a four course meal of just Saltines. Bland, dry, and unfufilling. Hell tier. Piss hell tier.

M: Whatever the worst, lowest part of hell is, this movie belongs there. PART THE SIX. A shady businessman attempts to piece together the details of the car crash that killed his wife, rendered him an amnesiac, and left him in possession of a sinister puzzle box that summons monsters.

B: At least this time, he's a shady businessman!

M: There are detectives tho. This movie brings back Kirsty, but like....she's a side character. The movie would have been way more interesting if it was about her. She manipulates her husband into the cenobites hands but WE DON'T GET TO SEE ANY OF THAT. It's all told from her stupid husband's point of view.

B: I remember him throwing up a lamprey but that was the only gross thing. If I wanted to watch a white guy lose his grip on reality I'd just go watch Hannibal. Or go look in the mirror.

M: SELF BURN. This movie is so boring. AND - it does the fucking this didn't really happen bullshit hallucination crap even more than inferno. It's slightly, and I'm measuring this is in millimeters, less boring than Inferno.

B: This one does have a lamprey coming out a man's mouth. It's still bad though. I have a hard time putting this is anything but shit tier as well. If I had to choose between this movie and staring at a blank wall for the same duration, i'd pick the wall, because then I could at least imagine a better Hellraiser movie. Still D tier.

M: I agree. It's awful. And now... PART THE SEVEN. Deader. A journalist uncovers an underground group who can bring back the dead and slowly becomes drawn into their world.

B: The cover for this one also looks like ass, look at that fucking photoshop glow around the cube, now just slap that girl's face on it. Who's more dead?

M: Yet another fucking journalist detective and we don't know what's really happening and what's not.

B: This one actually feels shorter than the other ones. The pacing isn't quite that slow but it's better than the other things. There's one or two visually interesting things. The guy on the train was kinda interesting. The scene where she has the knife in her back is compelling, the stark white of the bathroom and the blood. The scene with the dead girl in the bathroom also has tension. That's more than any of the other shit movies in here.

M: You're gonna give a rank up for not feeling eternal??? It's still awful. It is slightly less awful, the plot is really out there, there are holes you could drive a mack truck through. This one, like the past two though was also just another fucking movie that they threw Pinhead into and called it Hellraiser. Like...why does Lemarchand's ancestor have the ability to raise the dead?

B: It has a bit more merit as a piece of cinema than Inferno, which has nothing. It's like that gold star meme that says - not as bad as you could have been.

M: But can we rank it above hell piss tier? I mean really. We have like two rankings here...the first four, which we can't even compare these to, and then the rest against each other.

B: Compared to the originals, it's not good. It could be C tier, I guess.

M: I'm willing to go along with that, but it's still really really bad. PART THE EIGHT. HELLWORLD. Gamers playing a MMORPG based on the "Hellraiser" films find their lives endangered after being invited to a rave, the host of which intends to show them the truth behind the Cenobite mythos.

B: I'm almost willing to move Deader to C tier after remembering this one. This one is piss hell tier. Plot, that word doesn't apply to this movie.

M: The plot is....shaky...at best. This isn't remotely a Hellraiser movie. This is the WORST offender here.

B: The entire movie only has a Hellraiser themed party until the VERY END when Pinhead shows up for like a cameo and cuts a guy to pieces. It has nothing to do with hellraiser. The plot is a dude who's mad at his dead kid's friends because his son killed himself and he's seeking revenge.

M: It's more like a Saw movie tbh. Henry Cavill is here tho. There's a lot of banging and even more of the fucking this didn't really happen trope and also Pinhead is wearing a neck brace.

B: And at the end it's implied that a ghost used a phone to save his friends? There's nothing at all to do with Hellraiser. You could remove all the hellraiser iconography and it would still be the same movie. You could remove Pinhead and it would be the same movie.

M: Piss hell garbage tier. It's irredeemable.

B: These movies feel like being tortured by the cenobites in real life.

M: PART THE FUCKING NINE REVELATIONS JESUS CHRIST. Imdb won't load the synopsis. We already reviewed this one.

B: Jerma cries a lot, the movie.

M: I hate that I have to elevate this absolute piece of shit in the rankings, but it's at least a Hellraiser movie??? It's at least about Hell???

B: This one at least has some moments that are funny bad and not just bad bad. The unnecessary baby murder.

M: That's funny??

B: It's so hamfisted, it's so edgy, it just becomes comical.

M: This movie was made entirely so that they didn't lose the rights to hellraiser. Clive Barker said - and I quote - "I have NOTHING to do with the fuckin' thing. If they claim its from the mind of Clive Barker,it's a lie. It's not even from my butt-hole"

B: The makeup is so bad. He looks tacky, like if I reached out and touched him, he would be sticky. I don't like sticky airbrushed Pinhead.

M: They also messed up his eyes, it's just weird. This movie is laughably atrocious, but at least it's laughable. You can't even laugh at Inferno. You're too busy pulling your hair out. Regrettably, C tier.

B: It's poopy garbage and I don't like it, but compared to the other fecal matter I've had to review, it's slightly better.

M: PART THE FUCKING TEN OH MY GOD. JUDGEMENT. Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of this world. Hey guess what? Fucking detectives.

B: This movie is really gross but it just feels way overdone. It loses it's shock value when you're being nasty 24-7. and I would know. A lot of these movies I was like - not nasty enough! This one...maybe build up a little.

M: This is a different kind of nasty tho, like there's barfing. A lot of barfing. And playing in barf. And drooling, and splashing blood on naked chicks and it honestly feels a WEE BIT FETISHY to me.

B: You're talking about Hellraiser, it's always been kinda fetishy.

M: I don't feel like it was Hellraiser fetishy, I feel like it was director fetishy.

B: They blew their load way too early. You can't just come out of the gate swinging like that. It's not as bad as some of the other ones. There's some Hell stuff in it at least.

M: I kinda like the Auditor.

B: I liked the weird butcher guy. The auditor guy is kinda cool but you can tell he can't hardly talk with that makeup on because he can't move his upper lip. I hate all the detective shit. There's no explanation of why this one detective guy went bonkers. I don't like the angel chick, she feel really out of place.

M: The Pinhead is at least better, though I wish they'd never showed the actor without the makeup. He also looks way overdone, like they hit him with some flocking.

B: Way too airbrushed. His lips are kinda blue. Blue lips, pale face, I hate the entire human race.

M: Still...in the grand scheme of things...not the worst. I still can't even go to B tier. I could go C tier.

B: B tier has four, we're not going there. It's still bad and I wouldn't advise that you watch it, but comparatively....it's better.

M: And the bar is SO LOW. Like we got excited that Deader didn't feel six hours long. That's how low the bar is. I will never forgive these people for what they did to my boy, MY BOY! But thank you Doug and Clive for giving me the first four. We are tentatively very excited about the new Hulu version.

B: "Look how they massacred my boy!" - The Godfather, 1972.

#hellraiser #hellseeker #deader #judgement #hellworld #pinhead #cenobite #clive barker #revelations #bloodlines #my boy #munchflix #review #tier list

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