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jeweled-blue-eyes · 2 months

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hi, i was stalking your blog - and i adore your aus! i like your analysis and you're really good with your words! i just wanted to know - hypothetically, do you think anastacius and diana would ever work in any au?

I'm not sure but what I'm sure of is that it would never be as intense as the love of two emotionally broken people. Claudiana's whirlwind romance sounded like severe mania to me. Falling in love with a tyrant at first sight and deciding on having a baby with him a few weeks into the relationship, even sacrificing your life for said child and having faith that said tyrant would never let any harm come onto them, all this after a few months of knowing each other is a decision no woman in their right mind would ever make. Realistically it would make sense if Diana was a person who was attracted to toxic men like the moth to a flame. A person who wanted to fix others and struggled with their own mental health in a way that was not obvious to others because she was introduced when she was in a mania episode of euphoria, delusions, and overactivity. With Claude's she was his maniac pixie dream girl and died before her problems became apparent. With Anastacius her own struggles could be explored too.

How would the palace life affect Diana in the long run? Perhaps it is her fairy imaginary that makes me view Diana as someone deeply connected to nature and ever-changing. With time she might feel stifled like a flower in a vase or a songbird in the cage. Diana would hate the restricted life in the palace and go on long trips or mingle herself on the streets with the common folk. Someone like her would miss the life of a travelling entertainer and seek to replicate such life as best as she can at court. It's entirely possible that Diana and Anastacius' relationship would be something short-lived. They would break up on good terms and remember each other fondly many years later. I can imagine Diana as someone who jumps from relationship to relationship and doesn't really differenciate between romantic and platonic love. She loves someone as a friend but said friend wants more? She doesn't mind it and would sleep with them to see if she could feel the spark.

Supposing they stayed together: Unlike Claude I don't see Anastacius' breaking traditions easily. He cannot marry Diana and make her Empress. The logical conclusion is that he would have to take a princess as his official wife while keeping Diana as his concubine. Rather than offending the other party like Claude who would behead every envoy with marriage proposal and send their heads back, the best Anastacius could do would compromise and reduce at least his number of concubines. Now I have to pose the following questions: Does Anastacius have it in himself to put his lover through the same suffering Claude's mother had to endure? Would he be willing to humiliate his wife in the same way his own mother had been humiliated? Is he able not to play favourites between the child that was born out of love and the one that was born out of duty? Anastacius seems to have a soft spot for children. He would try to love them in equal measure but I think the children would understand unconsciously that he loves one of the mothers more than the other and his legitimate child might feel insecure because of this and doubt the extend of their fathers love. It would cause Anastacius many grieviances if his children would not get along.

However I think if Anastacius' married a good woman she and Diana would grow as close as sisters and she would love her stepchild as much as her own blood. Of course this requires that Diana doesn't die in childbirth. I think the chances of Anastacius committing himself completely to dark magic are slim in an AU like that. Throughout the series people only turn to black magic if they feel betrayed or unloved by their family. If Anastacius were to have a person like Diana by his side his heart would be purefied just by the goodness and love she gives so freely away. He wouldn't be so insecure and bitter if there was someone who loved him in spite of his lack of power or his status as crown prince. Ideally he would have to meet her in disguise. Maybe he's hunting and got lost or he went out to collect magicial herbs in the woods where Diana's dancer troop pitch their camp, they meet each other, fall in love, Diana notices that he's being targeted by an evil spirit and gives him a protection charm or performs an exorcism ritual that she has learned in Siodonna. She could have her own heroine arc where the lady saves her prince with the help of the prince's brother. Anastacius' relationship with Claude would improve after a heart to heart talk and a sincere apology, but I think Claude would fall for Diana in every universe and it would end on a bittersweet note for him.

In a darker AU Anastacius would have an affair with Diana to use her to give birth to his miracle child and would only realize once its too late the kind of danger he is putting her in (and that he has hopelessly fallen in love with her). Apart from that even if he never performed any experiments on her it's possible that Diana would die in childbirth. Despite Anastacius' absurdy low amount of mana he still comes from a long line of magicians and might have passed on the gene that has skipped him onto his own child.

Aeternitas could hijack someone else. Anastacius' father for example. Or Claude who is tormented by his unrequited love towards Diana. Anastacius might die anyway because of the aftereffects of his black magic usage in his youth (remember Aeternitas targeted him since childhood). Tragically Claude would find himself in a succession crisis with the children of his brother and the woman he loved and might even be forced to kill them one day.

#wmmap #anastacius x diana #anon #answered asks

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bourbon-ontherocks · 2 months

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Don’t really know anyone else that watches this show lol but I fell like I need to rant. Honestly “The Art of Crime” is a good show, I like how well they incorporate the art and the artist and they have an array of suspects to choose from. My only gripe is how they’re writing Antoine and Florence relationship, especially Florence.

I got that she’s quirky and she’s got issues she’s working through and I like how often she goes to therapy for that. But I have no idea why they portray her as a child when it comes to Antoine. It was bad enough when they introduced Juliette and he’s already hooking up with her at the end of the episode. But she’s still pining after him, even going so far as to wear the wedding ring, pretending she’s in a relationship with Pardo, and then twice kissing Antoine even though she knows he’s with Juliette and she saw it! I mean, it’s just so childish!

I’m sure you see it differently, how do you explain her behavior?

... Well, those season 6 links escalated quickly! 😂

Look, anon, I'm gonna be honest here and say that I don't really see your point. You're mentioning wildly different things that, even if they connect to each other on some level, have radically different causes, and I see no childishness in any.

Pining after someone isn't a childish thing to do, unless adults can control their heart and feelings now and nobody thought to inform me.

The first kiss was an undercover one. Also Juliette did the exact same thing with her target two episodes before. I don't see the issue here.

Wearing the ring was the consequence of an impulsive decision to live a fantasy just for a minute, and pretending to date Pardo the only way out of the unintended catastrophe that ensued (which, incidentally, remains one of the most hilarious trainwreck I've ever seen on TV)

And so on.

And of course, the bigger picture depicts someone with HUGE issues to address, and a chronic walking disaster, but to me it doesn't mean that Florence is a child, in fact she's a grown woman with a very adult approach to many of her relationships. It's just that in her case, her inner child (we all have one by the way) takes over a little more often than average. That she loves living in a fantasy. That she's impulsive. That she's a dreamer.

And sure, she's completely neurotic and I love that she's seeing a therapist but it's mostly because for me the only thing that's superior to the "walking disaster who should see a therapist" kind of character is the "actually sees a therapist and manages to STILL be a walking disaster" type.

Obviously you are totally entitled to your opinion on her actions, but pardon my bluntness here, I genuinely don't think The art of crime is a show for you if you're seeing it that way. And that's fine, not everything is for everyone! But the whole show is about the way reality and imagination interlace in our lives, it's about how art bleeds through real life, it's about fantasy, hell why do you think there are so many dreams/hallucinations/imaginary conversations/magical realism sequences?? The entire show is about Florence and the way she sees the world, actually, and stating "I like the show but I dislike Antoine and Florence's relationship and/or Florence's actions" sounds like a total oxymoron to me, because that's the point of the show.

Besides, it looks like you're assessing her actions according to a "real life" moral compass which sure, why not (although it's never proven itself to be a good idea), but I think this is missing the point entirely. The show is supposed to be goofy!! This is not something that should be taken seriously.

Also, this might be unintentional, but the way you phrased your ask suggests that you're asking me to justify myself for enjoying Florence's character, which is something I do not appreciate. I do not owe you anything, and frankly I have better things to do than trying to "convince" you or whatever. I'm glad that you got to rant if you needed to, but I'm not gonna write a full-length essay defending Florence's behaviour and explaining the essence of her character as I see it (in case you were wondering this was not an essay, we barely grazed the surface of the beginning here 😂).

I'm sorry that this reply probably won't meet your expectations, and I apologize if I misinterpreted some of the stuff you said in your ask, but I sincerely don't know what else to say, and I'm not interested in getting into an argument over whether Florence is childish or not.

That being said, feel free to come back anytime, and maybe I'll have more interesting insights then... 🥺

#l'art du crime #the art of crime #anon #ask #julia's adventures with the ADC anon #look when I said nature was healing new tag etc this was not what I meant lol #I seriously considered turning this ask into a love letter to Florence #but I don't have the energy rn to descend into a passionate rant about why she's acting the way she does and why I love her so much #especially not as a response to a more hostile interpretation #but hey maybe one day?

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acealistair · 8 months

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🛡️ 🎵🤲🧸 for csilla!!

🛡️: How does their class inform their characterization? How does their personality match or clash with the stereotype for that class?

Being a Circle of Stars druid, I feel like the subclass itself already kind of subverts the druid stereotype of being very in tune with nature in an earthly sense. Most people probably wouldn't clock Csilla as a druid just by looking at her; she looks more like a wizard, wearing big glasses, robes, and carrying books. 😆 But her subclass informs her backstory of being nomadic and traveling from place to place, guided by the stars "telling" her and her mom where people needed help the most. Csilla also does fit the hermit-esque social outcast stereotype of druids, being intensely shy and anxious until she's in her element (reading/mapping the stars or saving people in dangerous situations).

🎵: Are they any good at singing? What situations do/would they sing in? Would they sing in the shower?

I do think Csilla would be all right at singing, even though she was never formally trained. If she's ever traveling completely alone she'll sing to keep herself company. I could also see her singing in the shower lol

🤲: Do they have any deep desires that they don't talk about and/or don't even realize they have? Do these desires conflict with their main goal at all?

I think Csilla is (honestly not-so-deep down) desperate for not just friends but a community to call her own, aka a true home. She doesn't realize it herself because she's never seen anything wrong with the way she was raised, especially since she can't imagine criticizing her mother.

With her main goal being to help those the stars tell her need help, it has the possibility to stand in the way of that but doesn't necessarily have to. The idea of committing to calling a single place "home" is scary to Csilla mostly because she feels it would prevent her from traveling and doing her nomadic hero thing. Which of course isn't true, and she just needs to reconcile that.

🧸: What was their favorite childhood toy and why?

While her mother did the best she could and Csilla loves her very much, Csilla didn't have any friends her age when growing up thanks to constantly traveling. Thus, she got very attached to a doll who became somewhat of an imaginary friend for her. The doll looked like an elf and Csilla named her Gigi (she wouldn't be able to say why she chose that name, just the whims of a young child).

#csilla savik #thankies brooke

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morphedphaseblog · 4 years

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The starless sea by Erin Morgenstern

Goodreads version

The introduction

This is just to warn everyone that I'm not a literature student, an English major nor a native English speaker, so I'm sorry in advance if this is a jumbled mess. I tend to ramble a lot but I've really tried to keep this as short as possible. (Short meaning a little bit over two thousand words for one review, I've never written a review this long.) I wrote this for self indulgence and for my lovely book club @readerbookclub

The first impression

This book pleasantly surprised me, it was like a very long dream that you don't want to wake up from. The moment I finished it I wished that I hadn't because I couldn't part from it just yet. It would feel almost like cheating, I wanted the intertwined stories to continue and for me to remain in its trance, lost in the beautiful writing and bizarre world.

I will be the first to admit that when someone says the story is written almost poem-like, in prose, and similar, I will immediately think of meaningless quotes that are there just to look pretty. Characters saying things just to sound deep, frilly writing that leads nowhere, and dragged on descriptions that had no place being that long and boring. Those are the first things I think of when I'm confronted with someone explaining those kinds of books to me, and that's completely my fault. This book was none of that, it was captivating from the first page to the last.

"There is a pirate in the basement. (The pirate is a metaphor but also still a person.) "

I can tell you, when I first read this, on the first goddamn page, I was hooked. This book has a strong bizzare sort of setting, one that almost reminds me of Neil Gaiman, distinctively Neverwhere with its underground society and twisted perceptions of reality, and yet this book stands out on its own as an individual. It's definitely a unique book, one that I'm still hesitant to part from.

The writing

This book has a very unique writing style, one that is extremely consistent throughout the book. There's nothing I hate more than an inconsistent writing style that changes without a reason. The author plays around with words and describes things simply yet poetically. There were only maybe two instances where I thought the writing was a bit pretentious, but ultimately the good outweighs the bad.

I don't know what exactly it is, but I will try and explain through the next few quotes:

"The book is mis-shelved in the fiction section, even though the majority of it is true and the rest is true enough"

(This really gives you the sense of vague foreshadowing in the book, where even though the description tells you sweet sorrows is mostly true you don't realise how true it actually is. I never saw the fact that the characters in that book would be actual people that interact with our main characters. Plus the writing is really pretty)

"It's binding has been cracked a handful of times, once a professor even perused the first few pages and intended to come back to it but forgot about it instead."

(Is it just me but these small detailed descriptions really give you a sense of real world happenings and that the story is really set in the real world. You can imagine people passing their fingers over the spine of the book before glancing around and getting distracted with something else. The professor taking it into his hands and skimming it but ultimately forgetting all about it later, and finally Zachary reading the whole book from top to bottom.)

"His dark hair is grading at the temples, framing a face that would be called handsome if the word rugged or unconventionally were attached to it."

(Now I'm in love with this kind of mental visual, it's fun and it almost plays with your expectations. I just really like small things like these, they immediately make my reading extremely entertaining.)

"Someone in the corner is dressed as a highly recognizable author or, Zachary thinks as he gets a closer look, it might be that highly recognizable author."

(Again as before, this is the kind of writing I like. It plays with your imaginary visuals of what's happening and making them ten times more fun, especially when we confirm a bit later that that had indeed been that highly recognizable author.)

"He walks over bones he mistakes for dust and nothingness he mistakes for bones."

(Yet another example of those fun visuals, I didn't even realise how many of these I had marked until I had to go through them for this review. I just adore this writing style.)

I have so many more of these so here are just a few more to really make this review even longer:

"A portrait of a young man in a coat with a great many buttons but the buttons are all tiny clocks, from the collar to the cuffs, each reading different times."

"His face is so much more than hair and eye colour, she wonders why books do not describe the curves of noses or the length of the eyelashes. She studies the shape of his lips. Perhaps a face is too complicated to capture in words."

"There are dozens of giant statues. Some figures have animal heads and others have list their heads entirely. They are listed throughout the space in a way that looks so organic that Zachary would not be surprised if they moved, or perhaps they are moving, very, very slowly."

"The figure in the chair is carved from snow and ice. As her gown cascades down around the chair the ripples in the fabric become waves, and within waves there are ships and sailors and sea monsters and then the sea within her gown is lost in the drifting snow."

"Allegra watches him with studied interest from the other end of the table, the way one watches a tiger in a zoo or possibly the way the tiger watches the tourists."

"It sounds strange and empty now, in her head. Rhyme can hear the hum of the past stories though they are low and quiet, the stories always calm once they have been written down whether they are past stories or present stories or future stories.

It is the absence of the high-pitched stories of the future that is the most strange. There is the thrum of what will pass in the next few minutes buzzing in her ears- so faint compared to the tales layered upon tales that she once heard- and then nothing. Then this place will have no more tales to tell." .

(Probably one of my favourites, it really highlights everything I like about this style of writing.)

Another kind of writing style I noticed in the book was an abundance of making things literally feel alive, giving human emotions to objects, personification. I don't come across this too often in other books, and when it happens it isn't repeated as often in that same book,since it tends to get old, but as we have already learned Erin Morgenstern never makes this boring. She plays around with this and never seems to stop, adding another layer to her writing cake. I love how she gives these characteristics to even the smallest of crevices hidden in shadows, something just people wouldn't even think of.

"He takes his torch and explores the shadows, away from the doors and the tent, among jagged crystals and forgotten architecture. He carries the light into places long unfamiliar with illumination that accept it like a half-remembered dream."

"Outside the inn the wind howls, confused by this turn of events. (The wind does not like to be confused. Confusion ruins it's sense of direction and direction is everything to the wind.)"

"The wind howls after him as he leaves in fear of what is to come, but a mortal cannot understand the wishes of the wind no matter how loud it cries and so these final warnings go unheeded."

"If the sword could sigh with relief as it is taken from its scabbard it would, for it has been lost and found so many times before and it knows this time will be the last."

One more thing that caught my eye in the writing was also the composition, where we technically start with in medias Res. We find out by the end of the book that everything that has happened was one big ass story wrapped in stories and overlapped with other stories. So Zachary literally comes in not even in the middle of the story, but at the very end that has been overdue for quite some time. This makes for a very interesting storyline as all the other storylines intertwine into eachother, it makes for an even more interesting read as our MC comes in only when the plot is at its end, tipping over the very edge.

(I also got the feeling that the entire book is almost told through the perspective of the story, if that makes any sense whatsoever. It's almost like the story, that is bound together like the most complicated twister game, is alive and is smiling over our characters smugly waiting for everything to run its course. Like an omnipresent god, that's at least the vibe I got reading the book. )

The world building

Now in my opinion the world building goes hand in hand with the writing in this book. Every detail I mentioned before builds the atmosphere and the base of all the world building in this book. The way the plot is written is written also contributes to the world building, as all the stories overlap and meet at the very end. The looping plot line is actually my number one favourite thing in the entire book.

There isn't that much to say except 'what the hell is going on?' in the best way possible, to the world building, because as confusing as it can be it's amazing to read and I think that it's one of my favourite aspects of the book.

The Characters

Now is time for the weakest part of the book, its characters, who even though I think are amazing, are definitely flatter than everything else in the book.

In my opinion most characters personalities I just can't pinpoint, and even though this personally doesn't take away from my enjoyment too much, I know a lot of people love well defined character personalities.

For some characters I can understand the constant change in character, like Mirabel, whose multiple lifetimes make it so it makes sense why her personalities overlap and make little sense. She constantly felt a bit inconsistent to me, but again I personally didn't think it ruined the book.

The most well developed personalities I could feel were Kat and the keeper, and at times Dorian. Zachary is a weird gray area for me, because even though I loved his character, I can't really tell who he is besides the son of the fortuneteller. I think that most of the character building was sacrificed to make the plot and the world feel alive. As I said before, it feels like the omnipresent god and the world is more developed than any of the characters personalities.

I usually love marking all 'character moments' where I feel like I can understand what kind of person the character is, their sense of humour, friendship, socializing, thinking and so on. But I found myself marking basically nothing of that kind in this book, just the beautiful descriptions of the world. The story was just more alive than the characters in it.

I liked all the romances even though they all lacked some depth, but the fairytale style writing of the romance definitely made them extremely enjoyable. If it weren't for the fairytale vibe all the romance would have been just flat, and I wouldn’t be invested at all.

The Conclusion

I wouldn't reccomend this book for everyone, as I think great many people wouldn't be fans of the writing, and so the lack of character depth wouldn't help either and there would be no good to outweigh the bad. I truly think this book is a perfect 4 starts but to me personally it is 5 stars. I am just such a big fan of the looping storyline, I still haven't gotten over that. To finish it all off here are a few extra quotes that I liked:

"No one takes responsibility. Everyone assumes someone else will do it, so no one does."

"It is critical to steep the tests in ignorance to result in uncorrupted responses."

"They all have similar elements, though. All stories do, no matter what form they take. Something was, and then something changed. Change is what a story is, after all."

#books #book review #the starless sea #erin morgenstern #book club #reading #bookblr #bookworm #quotes #goodreads

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arethereanyoriginalusernames · 4 years

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Laughing Jack: When the joke gets old

A Creepypasta analysis and critique

Requested by @eclecticcoyote

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Disclaimer and Warning. This post will contain mentions of death and gore. Anyone sensitive to this subject matter may want to skip over this. Also, I will be writing this from the perspective that anyone reading this has already read the following stories: Laughing Jack, The Origin of Laughing Jack, and Mr. Widemouth. If you have not, I advise you read them first. The stories can all be found online. Finally, keep in mind that this post is opinion based. You are not obligated to agree with me, and this post should not be taken as an invitation to start conflicts over. Debate is fine, as long as you remain civil to everyone involved. Thank you.

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Like most things involving creativity, writing a good story involves going through a learning curve. We will all make clunkers, and we can always be better. Even stories that you may adore may very well be disliked by their creator. Such is the case for Laughing Jack.

Laughing Jack (a name I'll replace with LJ for brevity's sake) has become a fan favorite since his conception, which an impressively large fanbase behind him. It might seem odd that the creator would go on to say that the LJ's titular Creepypasta stories weren't that good. Well, at least until you consider that the stories, in spite of their popularity, weren't actually that good.

To explain what I mean, let's look at both LJ stories individually, then at the character of LJ himself.

___

Let's start with Laughing Jack, the story that started it all.

If I were to name any positives about this story, it would be its concept. The idea of having this dangerous "imaginary friend " endanger the life of a mother and child, and having the be in the POV of the mother sounds like a decent idea on paper. However, what works in theory doesn't always work in execution.

The most dire problem this story has is a problem that drags down both LJ pastas, and is a fairly common issue in Creepypastas: unnecessary death and gore.

In this story, it's not enough that LJ kills the son, James, and the pet dog. Oh no, he has to go the extra mile and go over the top, pulling out organs, etc. I've seen some people even argue that the deaths were completely unnecessary, and I agree with that to some extent.

Unnecessary gore is something you'll usually find in lower quality Creepypastas. While I can't say for certain, if I had to guess, I think people use this in an attempt to scare people by disgusting them, or to show how powerful their monster is. The issue is that over the top gore can unfortunately become borderline cartoonish, and it can make the story unrealistic to the point where nobody's going to buy it.

The gore and death are especially unnecessary in this story. While you could argue that the death of the dog was meant to build some kind of suspense by letting us know what LJ was capable of, why did we need the death scenes we got? I understand that LJ, being a clown monster thing, will probably integrate circus related things into his kills, which could make for some "unique" deaths. But why does he need to kill people in such gruesome ways?

The gore also kills any ambiguity the story could have had. The mother is convicted for the death of her child, but what if the story itself made it seem possible that she could have actually done it? Was it really the gay nightmare clown, or is she actually insane? Wouldn't that be more interesting? But no, it's obviously the evil clown, and ambiguity can go fuck itself.

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The Origin of Laughing Jack is so much worse in this regard.

Again, the concept of an innocent imaginary friend becoming corrupted sounds like a good idea, but the execution fucks over any potential it could have had.

The gore issue is even worse, as almost half the story is comprised of Issac murdering innocent people in terrible ways. Of course we couldn't just have one kill, and explain that he's a serial killer. Oh no, we need a drawn out scene of every. Single. Victim. Being. Killed. And I swear to the coffee overloards, the death scenes actually become boring. By the time LJ was killing Isaac, the scene dragged on and on. It was like if you were forced to watch the same scene in a movie again and again.

Once again, there's no need for the gruesome actions here. There's no reason for why Isaac has to kill people in such a way, much less LJ. Seriously, answer me this. Why couldn't Isaac just strangle someone, poison them, stab them, or bonk them on the head really hard? I mean, Isaac is given little to no motivation for what he does, so I really don't see why he couldn't. Oh, it wouldn't make it scary? We need the gore to be scared?

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Unnecessary gore is Creepypasta's version of jump scares in horror movies. You don't need it. If you don't believe me, let's talk about the character of LJ himself, and why he doesn't need to be this over the top when it comes to kills.

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Once again, the concept of LJ himself is a good one. An evil imaginary friend as an antagonist could make for a unique, creepy story. Unfortunately, LJ is turned into just another Jeff the Killer, a bland monster that just kills you.

You know what story does something similar to LJ, but better? Mr. Widemouth. Like LJ, Widemouth is an evil imaginary friend that kills children. But here's why Widemouth works;

Widemouth does not kill the children himself. Rather, he tries to trick and manipulate them into killing themselves. He tries to convince the protagonist to jump to their death, and potentially hurt themselves by playing with knives.

He's also a more believable imaginary friend. Remember how LJ looks like a fucking nightmare clown with razor sharp teeth and claws? What child is going to want to trust him or be around him? And while Widemouth has a... wide mouth, he looks like a furby. He's small, furry, and you could probably pick him up and yeet him if you wanted to.

Finally, you know how in LJ's stories, we apparently needed these long, drawn out death scenes?

Widemouth's tale still sends shivers up my spine to this day. At the end of the story, the protagonist, older and no longer a child, visits Widemouth's house (they had moved to another house a few years ago with their family). While wondering around, they find a path near the house that they've never seen before. Following it, they come across a graveyard. The protagonist notices the dates on the tombstones.

Everyone buried there was a child.

When they return to the house, they glance up at the uppermost window of the house. They spot Widemouth staring out at them, who then smiles, and waves at them, a knife clutched in his paw.

Nothing is outright stated. Nothing has to be. We don't need any more information. We don't need to be shown or told anything. We have a clear idea of what the story is implying.

Compare that to Laughing Jack. The gore feels like it's there in a desperate attempt to make itself look scary, like a child covering their Halloween costume with fake blood to impress their friends.

It doesn't help that LJ's motivations don't line up with the things he does. His supposed origin story tries to make it seem that his friend Isaac being a murderer was what twisted him, but does LJ have to murder people in such gruesome fashion? Does he need to murder at all?

Here's a suggestion. Since Isaac basically left LJ trapped in a box for years, upon being released, LJ could simply kidnap children, bringing them to his "Wonderland ", where they all can "play forever and ever". He could murder, sure, but perhaps it could be limited to anyone who gets in his way, or tries to save "his friends ". What is his Wonderland? What happens to the children there? That's up to the reader's imagination...

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Now, I realize that LJ's pastas have more issues in them than just the gore. My friend Coyote, who's pretty knowledgeable on history, would have a field day if I asked him to find every historical inaccuracy in the Origin of Laughing Jack. Nonetheless, the issue I talked about here is an issue that not only extends to many Creepypastas, but also stories outside of Creepypasta. This desperate attempt to seem edgy and interesting by throwing in something cheap that will get a reaction. Weather it be jumpscares in horror movies, contrived misunderstandings in romance stories, over dramatic and tragic deaths in adventure stories, this writing technique is cheap and not nearly as effective as one might think.

Laughing Jack and his stories are examples of instances where something such as gore is just turned into an expected staple. However, much like how a joke becomes less funny the more you hear it, frequent attempts to be edgy and shocking can reveal how lackluster your story really is.

I apologize for wasting your time

-Spooky S Skeletons

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mightevenwrite · 5 years

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WIP INTRO

THE INEVITABLE DISAPPOINTMENT OF EXISTENCE

[Unumgängliche Enttäuschungen der Existenz] (Working Title)

--My Nanowrimo project--

GENRE: science fiction, fantasy, ya/na

NANOWRIMO GOAL: Complete first draft (~50K Words)

POV: third person

MAIN THEMES: escapism/guilt/growing up/bigotry/propaganda/fear/extremism and terrorism/ etc. (to be added)

FEATURES: LGBT and POC main characters

SYNOPSIS:

Have you ever wondered if there's a version of our universe where the impossible is possible? Perhaps there's an alternate earth where the grass is orange and wet dogs smell like vanilla. Maybe there's a universe where no physical laws exist, where everything is possible. Everything we can and can't imagine could exist somewhere, or maybe it doesn't, maybe we're just getting ahead of ourselves.

Well, Noel Babel knows for a fact that the multiverse exists. They've been traveling through dimensions for quite a while and have seen quite some things, though between you and me they haven't even scratched the surface of what's 'out there'.

And you'd think "That's excellent, just think what fascinating things they must have encountered on their adventures" but if you asked Noel they would assure you that the laws of existence get down to two very simple principles:

life - existence - is unpredictable, indestructible and fascinating. No matter how impossible it seems there will always be something crawling around or hanging in the air, something living and trying its best to fulfill its purpose, whatever that may be; and

it always ends up being disappointing

After all what's the point? Nature put so much effort into humans, and look at them, they're majestic, they're fascinating.

But you can't help feeling disappointed in the human race. Becoming sentient their first impulse was to build vague, misinterpreted concepts and imaginary walls in their heads and if anyone dared to question their narrow minded impression of life they would get hit over the head with a large rock before they could even try to say "well gosh darnit this didn't work out quite the way I intended it to now did it"

It would be nice of course to imagine that this is a purely local problem, unfortunately existence disappoints (yet again and always)

So you must forgive Noel, they really aren't so pessimistic, actually they're quite the life of the party on a good day.

But they've dropped on yet another version of earth where the air is dirty, the people are uncaring and additionally there are two young adults eying them oddly, as if they were dressed in a zucchini costume.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

Noel Babel (26)- claims to be a scientist from the FOUR association doing research, yet they're lacking any sort of team. It's evident they aren't set on getting back to their dimension any time soon.

Oliver "Odo" Hipp (17)- a typical teenage boy. To most he will appear as one of the mass of young peole who go drinking with their friends every Friday and joke about anything remotely edgy or concerning sex. Once you get to know him you'll find he's energetic, empathetic and passionate towards life as a whole.

Ruth Warnink (18)- convinced that she doesn't have to make friends or share her inner thoughts and feelings with anyone if not necessary, she is seen as an emotionless asshole by most of her peers. Her principles are easy: if you don't set your hopes up you can't be disappointed. If you don't open up to anyone you can't be hurt. The only state in which she feels safe to reveal her true self is through shielding anonymity.

[Lilly (?)- TBA]

~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for reading. I will tag my old taglist in case any of you are interested but the taglist for this project is empty. If you wish to be tagged in future posts about this project, please interact with this post.

@crypticsx @ellfewritings @clarissalopeswriter @agentorange-writes @mouwwie @writing-but-also-procrastinating @astra-the-cat

#Writeblr #Wip intro #NaNoWriMo #NaNoWriMo Wip #Scifi Wip #Fantasy Wip #Ya Wip #Wip introduction #Nano #NaNoWriMo 2019 #The inevitable disappointment of existence #OC: Noel #OC: Odo #OC: Ruth #OC: Lilly

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team-crimsonfade · 6 years

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CrimsonFade

Chapter One - Ruins

——

It's so dark, so dark and so cold.

Where... where am I?

Who am I?

I... I'm so alone, so lost.

Mom, dad, A...

Huh? What's that?

I see a bright light, so red and... and warm.

Please... just...

Could I have help so that I can pretend to be alive? For just one night?

Please...

***

Frisk awakens in a field of golden flowers. Her body ached, her mind a blurry fuzz of disorientation, and her spirit felt... different. However, maybe it was the shining light that shone down onto her, or the melodic sounds of the distant singing birds somewhere above her. Was she dead? Certainly that had to be the case, the last thing she remembered was falling into a hole in the ground of some old mountain.

In any case though, it wouldn't do to merely lay down and stare at a shining hole in the ceiling. She forced her body to get up, but every strain of her muscles felt sluggish. It felt strange, ominous in fact. It wasn't by any fatigue or exhaustion, but as if by pure lack of motivation. Something definitely felt off, if not unusual. But maybe this is what dead people felt like.

So then the real question was if she was in Heaven, or the other place?

She intended to find that out for herself.

***

It took almost forever for her to get up, and it was at that point that she recognized the pain all over her body. From head to toe, her body writhed in agony. Maybe she really was in that other place, for whatever reason of just or otherwise. But still, she must push forward, even though it felt like each ache, pain, or agony in every part of her body was a ball of chain which weighed her down.

Maybe... maybe this was what Hell is.

A land where eternal pain resided for all those who dwell, that was the common knowledge. But perhaps the pain goes far further than physical, and even mentally. No, Frisk could feel it. The will to live, to be happy, to see any spark or twinkle of light in the darkness. Gone, devoured by the shadow. The memories of such feeling, of such joy are all that keep you going, but even then, it becomes even more and more faint, until you believe that those times are a figment of imagination, of hope that doesn't exist. And when you're at your peak, incapable of taking any more of this eternal and blind walk, begging to any being real or imaginary to bring death upon you, only to remember you aren’t even alive to begin with, not really.

Which is worse? To have all light extinguished from every plain of reality of existence, or to have the ability to see such beauty in the world taken from you, leaving you alone in darkness?

***

Frisk couldn't see anything, she was just wandering in the darkness. No sense of direction, no real destination in mind, just aimless wandering. It felt like an eternity, but then, out of nowhere, a faint, golden light appeared in the distance. It was so small, and yet glowed so bright, it felt warm from Frisk was. It appeared so far, but as she tried to walk towards it, it was actually that it was just so small. It was such a tiny star, a little ball of light, the very sight of it warmed her spirit.

She was compelled to touch it, and as she extended her hand towards it, a warmth enveloped her fingertips. She felt her blood flow more freely, color returned to the plains around her, joy could find it's way into her heart, and she was able to see the beauty of the world again. It was then, that a text appeared in front of her. She didn't question where it came from, or how it appeared in front of her, but the words told her that everything was okay now.

You are filled, with DETERMINATION.

It was like coming out of a dream, or perhaps from a state of depression. Regardless, it felt very strange and unnerving. Now that she felt back to normal (or so she assumed), it seemed time to process her current situation. Her eyes surveyed the surrounding area, and she found herself gazing around a cavernous clearing. Light reflected off of the rocky walls and floor, just faint from some opening above her. She could feel herself hurt a lot, a feeling she assumed is what one would feel if they fell down a deep hole in a mountain. Well, and survive the ordeal that is.

Her survival instincts kick in, and she realizes that she should seek shelter, or at least some form of sanctuary. She would have a lot easier of a time making heads or tails of her circumstances if she had someplace to think clearly. Maybe rest under a warm hearth, or eat something relaxing and warm, or have a flower with a face, or have a soft bed.

Frisk blinked repeatedly, and her gaze returned to a spot in the center of the room. But sure enough, whether she actually was dead or just having a concussion, she was looking at a flower with a face, looking back at her. The petals were a pinkish shade, as if they were magnificently red once but have long lost their luster. The center was colored a shade between orange and yellow, but not quite the color of flame. Three black markings were on it as well, two where it's cheeks would be, and the other where his chin might. Aside form that, it was just a flower with a face and a smile, as eerie and or creepy and strange that sounded.

And of course, it spoke to her.

"Howdy, I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower." He greeted.

Okay, she wasn't having a concussion. She didn't have the imagination to come up with anything like this.

"Hmm... You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?" He asked. "Well, worry not friend. I'll lend you a hand. Here, take these."

White pellets appear floating in the air, and gently fly towards Frisk. She watched as the little pellets floated towards her, as if carried to her by a gentle breeze. Eventually, they landed on her hand and she looked at the little pellets in her hand. She looked back at the flower, and he looked very insistent.

"Go on, eat them." Flowey insisted. "It will restore your health and stamina, and their also rich in vitamins and nutritional value."

Frisk felt uneasy just sticking foreign, unfamiliar objects into her mouth, let alone swallowing them. She usually red the nutrition facts on the packages from top to bottom before so much as opening them, but it wasn't like she expected things to go normal when she woke up in a cave. Bottoms up.

She sticks the half a dozen seeds into her mouth, and they were small enough to swallow. As she swallowed each of the little seeds/pellets, she felt a strong "umph" inside of her. Her aches were relieved, her fatigue reinvigorated, her drowsy feeling gone, and her energy completely returned to her. It was as if she were Popeye and had devoured some spinach, or had partaken in a Senzu Bean. She looked at the little flower, smiling happily.

"Uhm... thank you." Frisk says gratefully.

It was all still a lot to take in, but she was grateful towards Flowey. The flower nodded his head.

"You only need one for the effects to take in." He says. "But I gave you several so that you could get used to the texture and effects."

He turned his face to gesture towards an exit behind him.

"Follow me." He says. "I know it can be a lot to take in, but I'll help ya out in any way I can."

As he says that, he burrowed underground, disappearing without a trace. The only trace remaining was a small pile of dirt from where he was originally sprouted from. Frisk looks over at the entrance to some sort of Ruins, where she could see traces of age around the carved structures. A moment ago, adventuring would have been the last thing on her mind. But now, she really wanted to venture out into the unknown.

And so she skips over into the unknown, beginning her adventure under the world.

***

————

Part one of “CrimsonFade; Ruins” credit to Red Wolf on Undertale Amino

Prequel— https://team-crimsonfade.tumblr.com/post/174093439178/crimsonfade-prequel

Next part— https://team-crimsonfade.tumblr.com/post/179558905806/crimsonfade

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fly-pow-bye · 7 years

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Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Power Of Four (Parts 1-2)”

Written by: Jake Goldman, Haley Mancini

Written & Storyboarded by: Kyle Neswald, Benjamin P. Carow, Julia Vickerman, Cheyenne Curtis, Alicia Chan, Grace Craft (sic), Jaydeep Hasrajani, Leticia Abreu Silva

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

The first ratings stunt special! Might not be the only one.

(I know, I promised one review. I'll just say I really should have learned my lesson with the hour long DuckTales episode. Parts 3-5 will be up tomorrow.)

Before we start, some explanation about how I split this review up: While this episode aired as a 1.25 hour special in the US, this episode will air in at least one other country as five separate episodes, all with the word Bliss in the title. Cartoon Network's app has it both ways, just in case you want your pain piece-meal. Or is it pain? Let's just get this "bliss" over with.

Part 1 - Find Your Bliss

Written & Storyboarded by: Alicia Chan, Grace Kraft

The special starts with Blossom and Buttercup accusing Bubbles of breaking an award and melting a Candle Man action figure, respectively. Bubbles says it's not her, it's Bliss, a teenager who can't control her emotions!

Blossom and Buttercup don't believe her, because, as a montage shows, she has a habit with making up imaginary friends. But there's no time to worry about Bubbles breaking random things thanks to her "imagination", they got a Space Tow Truck movie to go to! Basically, the writers think 6 year old girls would be into Star Trek. Before they can do that, the Professor tells them to do chores.

While Blossom and Buttercup are able to finish their chores easily, Bubbles can't help but be found with a bunch of broken plates. This time, she blames Bliss's elephant friend, named, according to the captions, Mee! Yes, that will turn into several "Who's On First?" gags, none of which are particularly bad. After a little "pow-wow", Blossom and Buttercup decide to do some drastic measures.

See, as this reboot has proven time and time again, the Powerpuff Girls can easily be stopped by tying them up like Penelope Pitstop. Even the Powerpuff Girls knew this, as all we needed to keep someone who can fly and lift buildings full of people at the same time from causing trouble is a tiny hand truck and some green ribbons. Not the silliest thing that stopped them, by a long shot.

Blossom runs out of popcorn immediately before the movie, and the Professor tries to use his new invention: a pen that could fire lasers, immobilize people, scratch your back, and maybe write! After accidently immobilizing a few kids in the audience, he realizes it's stuck on the immobilization option, and decides to just get some popcorn. This will be important later. Mostly the pen, though the popcorn does lead to a smirk-worthy joke.

Earth Plow, an old-time radio character that the Professor used to like that is somehow real, bursts through the screen, and because this is a 3D movie, we get the obvious joke. Of course, Earth Plow is not too happy about other vehicles that are not of this Earth, and wants to show off that he's still got it by doing a Mark Twain impression. He also has a problem with getting criticized, as he starts attacking with his lasers as soon as everyone starts booing. The Powerpuff Girls intervene, but will they prevail?

Not really, Blossom and Buttercup just can't seem to handle this guy, as he almost instantly traps them with a claw. What's worse is that Bubbles is still stuck on that hand truck and green ribbon of doom. Clearly, someone else has to appear out of nowhere and help them, and that's not something unique to this special. As Earth Plow attempts to run Bubbles over while she yells for Bliss, we get a flash of light, and we finally get the reveal everyone's been waiting for.

Well, that's a slight lie considering a certain Cartoon Network division jumping the gun, but we'll just keep it to ourselves.

It’s Bliss! She has blue hair, because natural hair colors are not cool enough! She has long legs, and yet she essentially has the same body design as her 10-years-younger sisters! And she’s totally not an overpowered fan-character, because just this flash of light was able to blow a villain that easily took care of two Powerpuff Girls out of the theater. Okay, that’s a bad example. I have a feeling this special is going to be full of them.

The Professor comes back with his trashcan full of popcorn that he was, a result of said smirk-worthy popcorn joke, and he finds Bliss. The first thing he does when he finds this new Powerpuff Girl? He calls her "Blisstina", tells her sorry, and zaps her with the immobilization pen. I'll admit, this was a legitimately shocking scene, and a great ending for this part.

By reboot standards, this was a great opening, and it actually intrigued me for future parts. That's something I didn't expect from watching more than 40 episodes of this show, and certainly not something I expected when I watched the initial promos. Where did this Powerpuff Girl come from? What are her special powers? Why did the Professor decide to immobilize her daughter the first time he saw her for years?

All of this will be answered, and I'll say this: if you are thinking this quality is throughout this entire special, this must be your first episode.

Part 2 - Bliss Reminiscence

Written & Storyboarded by: Kyle Neswald, Benjamin P. Carow

It turns out, the Professor put her in a stasis bubble, protecting her from the rest of the world, and protecting the rest of the world from her. This part is all about Bliss's origin story, as told by three different people, including herself. We start with the Professor, and from the first sentence, we can tell that they’re not going to pay any respect to the original. It all started ten years ago...

Envious of "bitter"-never-before-mentioned-"rival" Professor Neutronium’s perfect little boy, who looks like Astro Boy and apparently saves Tokyo on a regular basis, he wanted to make the perfect little girl. So instead of wanting to make the world a better place and/or wanting to have a family, Professor Utonium made the Powerpuff Girls out of envy. Is this the Professor, or Dick Hardly from the original's Knock it Off?

Other than that, it is the all familiar story, complete with animation similar to the original's opening: the Professor mixes together sugar, spice, and everything nice, and somehow manages to knock into a vial of Chemical...W? That does explain why she seems to have powers the Powerpuff Girls don't have, besides "we gotta make her special", but we’re supposed to believe he messed up twice? It gets even worse. Not only did he bumble twice...

...he bumbled 22 other times with 22 other chemicals! This scene raises far too many questions that, unlike previously, will never be answered, as I don’t think they thought further than "Chemical X? Whatever happened to Chemical A through W? Wakka wakka!" There's a slight implication that it might have made at least one monster, but that's all we get.

We also learn that her name isn't just Bliss, but Blisstina Franchesca Francis Mariam Alicia Utonium. At least it's not Blisstina Powerpuff. The father of the year that he is, he even tells the girls we're familar with that Blisstina was his favorite little girl. Buttercup calls him out on this, and he just immediately denies it. Not funny.

Her powers began to evolve, as she starts teleporting around the room. Is this her unique power? Not really, this is just one of her normal powers. It's because she's made of Chemical W, you see. It's not just because "we got to make her special!" That's not the only power she gets, either.

Even as a preschooler, even in the original they're all born preschoolers, roll with it, she can't control her emotions. Literally! Whenever she feels a strong emotion, any of them, she causes a large blue explosion that destroys the house. It all ends with Bliss getting fustrated over not having any milk for her cereal, and causing the whole house to explode. When the Professor woke up, she was gone, and he assumed death. For those in the know, they never mention Bunny. Are you really that surprised?

After the Professor leaves for a reward for "best ham" after promising never to leave Bliss, father of the year, Bliss suddenly wakes up from her immobilization. This stasis bubble being able to prevent her from teleporting, She tells her side of the story, starting with the Professor creating her before the Powerpuff Girls immediately stop her. Bliss actually left the Professor while he was knocked out. She goes to a island because, despite being so powerful, she causes problems!

Specifically, she goes to Bird Poop Island. It's here that she meets Mee, her magical pet friend that will surprisingly have more of a reason to exist other than "we got to make her special!" Even when he demonstrated her ability to self-destruct, Mee didn't care. After 10 years, she finally got homesick, decided to teleport back to her old home, and she found Bubbles and started her "pretend I'm your imaginary friend" game.

As Bliss begs to be let go, it's Reboot Jojo's has to make his appearance in this special, as he posed as the "ham award" giver for the Professor to leave the room. Unfortunately, he is the "ham". No, not really, Jojo, not even if you make this face for no reason:

Sweet dreams, kids.

He decides to tell his side of the story, starting with the time he pushed the Professor right into the chemicals. Actually, they never even get to this, as the Powerpuff Girls immediately tell him to skip to his friendship with Bliss. Judging by this and the extended opening, I’m not convinced they’re even aware of that plot point. Now, I know this is supposed to be a reboot...

...though I'm not convinced the writers know this, but it's one of the biggest aspects that made Mojo Jojo significant as an arch-villain. It's a part that seperates him from being just a silly monkey with a silly hat; he was involved in their creation. To have it pushed aside is just...a stab in the heart.

The silly monkey explains that Bliss was his best friend when he was still an ordinary baby monkey. When Bliss went bye-bye, he was so sad. The end. You know, I would have accepted that the Professor actually bumbled with the Chemical W, and that he missed Bliss so much that he intentionally bumped the Professor when he was mixing the Chemical X. That would have been an okay retcon. Instead, we got...

...that. Reboot Jojo uses this backstory as a reason for Bliss to join him. He hits the lever, accidently opening the garage door. Finally, a decent joke, and it took them this long. He then hits the other lever, freeing Bliss.

The Powerpuff Girls and Jojo try to convince her at the same time, and Bliss feels that's she's about to explode again. She uses her telekinesis for the first time to flip back the lever to use the bubble to protect the house from a huge explosion that makes her disappear again. They don't cry this time, as if they knew she didn't actually die.

To make a long story short, she didn't. She wants to start this family thing, and maybe this will help her control her powers. The part ends with her accidently making the house explode again. Oops.

There wasn't a lot to like about this part besides the garage door gag. While the last part ended with a great twist, the twists and retcons they put with this one just feel like bad jokes at worst, and misguided at best. I can't even respect that this is the first time they even mentioned Chemical X. If there's any good news, it's all uphill from here. A very, very slight one.

See you tomorrow for parts 3 through 5, and my final rating!

← Bridezilla ☆ Power of Four (Part 3-5) →

#fpb ppg 2016 #ppg 2016 #powerpuff girls #cartoon network #fpb reviews

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