#also. he still has the crucifix on him i assume

[gentlyouttatime]

where are people getting the idea that dracula is actively feeding on jonathan from. is this just fanon i missed the memo about or have i been ignoring actual text

#like i am seeing variants of 'there's no one else he could be feeding on' despite the multiple children he's kidnapped #also. he still has the crucifix on him i assume #is this me being too casual about my reread or is this just a popular headcanon #it's not that i don't think the idea is interesting i just like the idea of being in the castle itself transforming jon better #it also lines up with some thoughts i have on mina later #plus the whole 'i'm not touching you' aspect makes it all the more frustrating for jonathan #ugh maybe i should write a longer post later

[slightly-depressed-sloth]

Details I noticed in my third watch through of Nimona:

(I’m so normal about this movie)

Ballister’s sword originally had a G engraved on it which has been made into a makeshift B via scratchings.

My guess is that the sword either used to be Goldenloins or his families and Ambrosius gave it to Bal at some point as kids (given that Ambrosius is the only one I can think of with a G name)

Also about the sword: people have been pointing out the religious themes (like with the T in “true villain” looking like a crucifix) on that note the symbol on Bal’s sword in this shot looks a lot like the Christian fish

Ballister literally hopped the fence and broke into the knights practice to beat up a dummy as a kid before getting tackled by a bunch of knights

I just thought he was doing an obstacle course when I saw it before but nope! This makes everything about him becoming a knight so much funnier. Also the fact they have this footage? Amazing 100% Ambrosius has it saved to tease Bal with, no way he isn’t embarrassed about that

On a sad note; dang the institute really drilled in “do what I say, be a good kid and don’t break the rules” cause Bal as an adult didn’t even want to break the rules when his life was on the line vs as a kid breaking and entering into an ongoing knight practice while being chased

The director asks Ambrosius for a sword during the roof scene but Ambrosius looks at her and back at Ballister before telling her she needs to get to safety

He saw how angry she looked and knew she’d try to hurt Bal so he sent her away instead

Where Nimona as Ambrosius broke the wall on the miniature of the city being foreshadowing for the end of the movie

Bal batting Nimona off when she starts mocking him for caring about what Ambrosius thinks

So clearly a recurring conversation given Bal’s ‘whatever’ gesture here lmao

Ambrosius being really timid with this crowd of people and overly polite

He’s chasing down a criminal/the love of his life and barely even says excuse me 😭😭 and he half heartedly asks them to move before immediately folding and giving an autograph, we love a man whose great at public speaking but still has social anxiety

Ambrosius’ eye roll as soon as Todd shows up

(He’s so done with him)

Todd’s actual name being Thodeus

Idk why I just assumed this was a different guy the first watch through

#Nimona #nimona netflix #nimona movie #nimona film #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #riz ahmed #chloe grace moretz #eugene lee yang #Nimona discussion #nd stevenson #nimona spoilers #slightlyslothspeaks

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

Can I request a Marko x fem reader with the vampire promptlist 6 + 8 please

6. "So are we talking Dracula, 30 days of night, what we do in the shadows? What kind of vamp are you?"

8. "Why do you care so much whether I turn into a bat or not?"

Thanks for requesting! I hope you like this💜

-----------------------

When my boyfriend told me that he needed to talk to me, there were many things that came to mind. Maybe he wanted to take me out on a weekend trip, so he would need to know when I'd be free. Or maybe he wanted to talk about taking the next step in our relationship. Or, perhaps, he wanted to tell me that he absolutely despised my cooking and "would you just please stop refusing to go out to eat?" Maybe he wanted to tell me that he didn't like that I felt awkward around his friends. Maybe he wanted to tell me that the amount of clothes I'd borrowed from him had definitely gotten out of hand. Or maybe he wanted to tell me that the amount of stuff I'd just left behind in his room at the cave has become too much... or maybe, I thought as I poured myself some tea, maybe this was it. Maybe he found someone else, someone different, someone-

"Baby, look at me." He turned me, holding my shoulders. I hadn't noticed how my breath had picked up, how I had slowly begun to panic. "I don't know what you're thinking right now, but I can figure that it's something along the lines of a breakup?"

I nodded. "What you want to tell me is good news, then?"

Marko shrugged. "It has nothing to do with you. But let's decide whether it's good or not after I'm done telling you." He took my hand, taking me back to the living room. He looked at me, hesitating before opening his mouth.

"I'm a vampire."

I blinked. Once. Twice. Then I frowned, looking at him. No red eyes, no fangs. He was pale, but so many people were just naturally pale. "You don't look like a vampire..."

"You want proof?"

"Yeah." I nodded, still not truly believing him. My eyes widened as I saw his face morph from the handsome, familiar face I'd fallen in love with, to a different one. His forehead had changed, and his nose was different. His eyes glowed orange, and his teeth were significantly sharper than before.

"So you're a vampire?"

He nodded. I was quiet for a moment, taking a sip of my tea. This was not what I had expected him to tell me, but I didn't think it was all bad. I mean, he told me. He could have also let me know by biting my neck and killing me or something, so for now I assumed we were good.

"So are we talking Dracula, 30 days of night, what we do in the shadows? What kind of vamp are you?"

"A handsome one?" He grinned cheekily, before thinking for a moment. "I think none of them kind of compare? Certain elements sure, but-"

"Should I add Count von Count on that list?"

"Very funny," he looked unimpressed but grinned anyway. "We do burn in sunlight, but don't sleep in coffins. Crucifixes don't do anything, but holy water hurts like hell."

"So, how do you sleep? I thought coffins were the standard?"

"Don't believe the movies. We sleep upside down."

"Like a bat?"

"Yeah."

"Is that why your vamp face looks kind of batlike?"

Marko paused for a moment. "It does?"

"You've never seen it? Oh, wait, do you have a reflection?"

"Not really?"

I pouted slightly. "So you don't even know how hot you are?" I paused for a second. "Scratch that question, you obviously do know. Now for the real important question: do you turn into a bat?"

"Nope."

"Can you fly?"

"Yeah."

I grinned. "Really? That's so cool! Do you fly like a bat or-?"

"I don't know? I just fly?"

"If you sleep upside down, what do you do when you need to pee? I mean, baths just kind of turn right side up and do their thing, but I can't imagine-"

"I didn't need that image burned in my brain!" Marko looked semi horrified. "We don't do that. We just use the bathroom, we're not uncivilised or something."

I nodded. "But you do kill?"

"Obviously."

"And you're certain you don't turn into a bat?"

"Why do you care so much whether I turn into a bat or not?"

"Because, " I put my cup of tea down and looked at him, "I fucking love bats."

"Sorry to disappoint," he said with a small smile.

"And I was just thinking that if you did turn into a bat, I would definitely lovingly carry you in my pocket."

"Is this- is this because when you asked if I would still love you if you were a worm, I said I would hope it happened outside the cave so my pigeons would not get to you?"

I grinned, before laughing. "Maybe?"

"But you're not freaked out that I'm a vampire?"

"Nah, I always knew there was something off. I'm glad it is vampire and not psychopathic serial killer you know."

"I'm not a psychopath, " Marko pulled me closer, letting me kean against him as he turned the telly on, "but technically I am a serial killer."

"Can we keep it on population control?"

"Will that make it easier to accept?"

I nodded, causing him to chuckle. "Whatever you want, love. Now, is there anything you want to watch?"

#the lost boys #marko #david #paul #dwayne #tlb #the lost boys 1987 #tlb 1987 #star #the lost boys x reader

[katyahina]

Did Brador kill Laurence or someone else?

Okay so I realised that I never had a coherent reference, so here

It is kind of visible in the game, but it is true that Old Brador does have unique head piece variant that is not accessble for the players by normal means without datamining (similarly to Arianna's pregnant state dress, Eileen's set variant torn by beast claws, Fauxsefka's barefoot leg piece etc)! And the difference here, is one horn being broken!

Brador secluded himself in the cell and according to him we are the first person he meets physically past that time! It is not certain how exactly he died, only that it likely happened when he was old (and killed the Cleric Beast in his middle-age (?) state). If his words are any indication, it isn't likely that the horn got damaged in the battle or something like that! But at the same time, we meet Bradord in the Nightmare Realm, so he might in reality refer to just his stay here.

However, an interesting bit is that suggests that one horn might have gotten ruined with the time; in Chalice Dungeons, beast-like Messengers show horns developing asymmetrically!

Coincidentally, they depict the same horn that Brador has broken as smaller one!

Brador's beast hyde is specifically that of a Cleric Beast, which Laurence was the first precedent of, so what we know for certain is that Brador could not have had his hyde while Laurence was still alive! The Cleric Beast that he had to kill had to be either Laurence himself, or some Cleric Beast that came after Laurence's deasth!

Laurence's beastly skull does have a hole in itself, and no traces of antlers, so this is actually a reasonable assumption that the scalp might be his! The model of headless Bloodletting Beast is drastically different, so I think it is safe to assume that they either never planned that implication or retconned it when DLC was finished! It lacks the asymmetrically larger left arm and has a tail, for one + from the version that does still have a head we can see this type of beasts lacks the antlers (the trademark of Cleric Beasts), let alone very different type of skull

(Models from this ( x ) video by Sinclair Lore) Ok ok sorry for making ya'll look at Laurence's ass I just need to show that in model he has no tail, and with the fur variant he has only the tiniest tuft of fur

On the other hand, only so many things could be blamed on them basically reusing Cleric Beast model for Laurence just with fire textures, as they're not entirely identical like I thought before! In fact, there is a potential evidence against linking him to Brador's hyde as the horns are different:

Not only Laurence has one horn broken when the hyde Brador is wearing had both horns whole at the moment of the murder, but also it is the different horn; left one rather than the right one!

Brador is wearing clothing that is almost identical to male Black Church set, who are the lower-ranking members of the Healing Church, whereas his headpiece says that the person he killed was his friend. Now, it is fair to assume that maybe someone from lower ranks was, in fact, not 'friends' with Laurence, who was THE head of the Healing Church!

According to Alfred's dialogue we can further confirm that Healing Church leaders are so secretive that they do not give the full lore even to their own lower-ranking personnel, and Brador was only given his bell after the murder of that Cleric Beast!

At the same time, Brador uses the Frenzy-Inducing Bloodletter, not unlike Black Church Servants with their crucifixes that cause Frenzy. Meanwhile, White Church Servants rely on the weapons that, on the contrary, are sensitive to high Insight: when you have 15 Insight or more, their lanters become covered with eyes and their scythes emit blue Arcane glow! Insight-sensitive weapons align with.. well, the bell that only someone aware of the Fishing Hamlet secret could hear.

So far, the evidence points more towards Brador having been a more or less lower-ranking member of the Healing Church, that one time killed his (higher-ranking?) cleric friend, not Laurence, but by effect learned too much about the Healing Church's secrets that were NOT meant for him, and obligated to keep them safe. It would align with his philosophy of some things "better left unknown", as if he regrets having learned all this, as well as with Laurence's horns not being true to his beast hyde scalp.

.....and yet, at the same time, I would not put it past Laurence to be friends with someone from lower rank, or maybe Brador's lower rank was merely a cover? Even his horns situation could be blamed on some life still yet residing in his scalp, and thus, the antlers attached to it still grow and crumble on their own. In other words, I do not have a strong point towards this or that version. Question isn't answered, but maybe some observations are helpful to choose one on your own!

#bloodborne #brador church assassin #laurence the first vicar #bloodborne theory #bloodborne observation #screenshots #bloodborne reference #not art #text post #polls

[vickyvicarious]

Once more have I seen the Count go out in his lizard fashion. He moved downwards in a sidelong way, some hundred feet down, and a good deal to the left. He vanished into some hole or window.

I love how quickly Jonathan goes from "repulsion and terror" at Dracula's lizard crawl to just, "ugh. that again." It's really funny.

But also, there's some interesting castle layout details in this entry. We know that Dracula's coming out from his room about a story below where Jonathan was looking and to his left - but that's after Jonathan took the stairs up to look out a higher window (a detail I missed the other day), so his room is probably on the same level as Dracula's. So, in order to leave the castle, he goes down a hundred feet more and much further left... but that's not enough to get to solid ground it seems. Instead it takes him back inside somewhere - and yet Jonathan seems uncharacteristically certain that Dracula has left the castle entirely. He's confident enough in this that he embarks on a thorough, lengthy, and at times possibly quiet loud search of everywhere he can reach.

I'm not sure if this is a plothole or if there is supposed to be some way that this path down the wall lets you leave. Did Jonathan see him do the exact same thing last time, and just not mention the details because he was so horrified at the method of movement? It could make sense, because he heard Dracula return in through the front door after going down the wall that way. And it would match up with Dracula not being here after going that way today.

But that raises the question of what sort of window or hole he's going into. Is there some kind of secret tunnel through part of the cliff, only accessible by going down the wall? Does this path lead to some part of the courtyard that is just too hard to see from where Jonathan is?

Finally, the broken door to the room Jonathan assumes belonged to ladies... that's "in a wing of the castle further to the right than the rooms I knew and a storey lower down." So it seems like this is probably on nearly the opposite side of the castle from Dracula's room (and Jonathan's room closer to Dracula but still in between) as well as being on a different floor. It's further from the front door, but with that blocked off regardless, this may be the furthest room from Dracula's that Jonathan can enter. If so, I understand why he wants to hang out there. Even with the crucifix above his bed, he obviously doesn't feel safe there. In fact, he speaks of his rooms as almost the same as Dracula's:

Still, it was better than living alone in the rooms which I had come to hate from the presence of the Count,

No distinction there between 'public' areas like the library, and his own rooms. Obviously, Dracula has been keeping up his habit of casually just walking in to Jonathan's room. Or at the very least, Jonathan feels no certainty that he won't do so in the future. This suggests that Jonathan's rooms might not even have a lock at all. He doesn't mention it either way, but if it does he clearly expects Dracula to have a key that would let him in whenever he wants anyway.

#dracula daily #jonathan harker #castle dracula #some of this stuff is interesting for spoiler reasons other is just me noting to myself

[underagoldenmoon]

COULD THE UNDER A GOLDEN MOON PROTAGONISTS SURVIVE CASTLE DRACULA? 

(inspired by Tumblr user @canyourfavesurvivecastledracula)

HAZEL: 

So first things first, we need to de-ghostify Hazel, because ghosts Do Not Have Blood. And blood is. Kind of Dracula's thing. Plus she can't die as a ghost except under certain circumstances :)

So yeah that's Happening. 

So Hazel would probably accept the crucifix, but that doesn't matter so much; she doesn't carry a mirror so she wouldn't die shaving. 

She knows that ghosts exist (she is one. Well, was for the purposes of this. No I'm not explaining how she comes back to life, this isn't canon.) I'm not sure that she'd know what vampires are, but from the start she's seeing clues that Dracula is Not A Normal Human Being. 

She had to become a people-pleaser while she was alive to keep herself safe. So she's mainly fine on the Not Annoying A Rich Jerk front. 

I'm assuming that the characters aren't aware of who Dracula is beforehand, and similar to Jonathan Harker they initially assume he's just a normal guy. So she has no reason to bring a weapon. She doesn't own one anyway (Starry is the only one who does. Unless you include Golden's whittling knife). 

The second she's told not to explore, she gets suspicious. She assumes that Dracula has a Dark Secret. At this point she starts trying to imply about how she used to be a ghost because she doesn't realise it's an Evil Dark Secret she thinks it's a Cool Dark Secret (not a Sexy Dark Secret because she is a lesbian). But as time goes on, she realises that Dracula is not to be trusted. 

She's had to learn to be stealthy; there are cats who hunt ghosts. So she won't necessarily get caught. 

She's choosing the castle over the wolves if it comes to that. All of them are, really. They're teenagers they're too young to die /hj

If she happens to be Romantically Staring Out of the Window™ while Dracula is climbing, she does get curious. "Curiosity killed the cat" type situation - but actually, this convinces her that Dracula really is dangerous. 

She might try to mislead him with a few lies about England once she realises this; she's been trustworthy up to this point, since she knows her way around well, but Dracula might be able to tell. In which case she's dead. 

But if she doesn't try to be too clever and doesn't get too obvious in her attempts to drop hints that she's a ghost, Hazel would survive Castle Dracula. 

GOLDEN: 

Golden, too, would take the crucifix. Ze reads a lot of fantasy stories. Never ignore the strange old woman's warnings. 

Let's be honest – ze is not going to put up with being forced to stay up all night. Ze needs a regular sleep schedule, and ze would rather die than have hir circadian rhythm messed around with. 

Also, hir instincts are pretty good – ze's going to work out that there is something going on. 

Unfortunately, this does not help hir. 

Ze is not going to put up with any jerk for long, let alone a rich one. 

And ze's wanted to try lock-picking for a while… and all these locked doors are so tempting…

You'd think that the fact that ze reads a lot would save hir. But no. Ze's clever, but ze has no common sense. Negative amounts, really. If ze's lucky and works out Dracula's a vampire, even that won't save hir. 

Because ze died picking that lock to try to get into the room. 

Sorry. 

Golden would not survive Castle Dracula. 

MOON: 

Honestly, I think Moon is the protagonist who would last the longest if they were all to die at any point. Golden dies after being caught lock-picking, Hazel (if she dies) is too clever for her own good, and Starry… well, you'll see. 

Moon would accept the crucifix out of awkwardness if nothing else. Because how do you turn it down without making it a thing? That doesn't really matter – he's not going to shave anyway, he's a cat. But still. 

He trusts Dracula at first – why wouldn't he? 

He works out, as time goes on, that there's something dodgy about Dracula, and since he's been raised to distrust ghosts and gods, he's going to Panic. Like when Jonathan was just. Running around the castle. He would do exactly that. 

He would avoid doing anything to anger Dracula once he realised there was something weird – he's used to the idea of supernatural creatures that can destroy you if you look at them the wrong way, though he hasn't met one. Yet :)

He would probably try to help Dracula – the idea of tricking him would occur, but he'd decide against it. He knows some supernatural creatures can tell if you're lying. He's not going to risk it. 

He spends a lot of time staring out of the windows, so he sees Dracula climbing the walls. At this point he is certain that there's something going on. 

But don't worry – he has a plan. 

A terrible one. 

He tries to climb out of the Castle. And he nearly makes it. 

He's bested Dracula, he's escaping, he's –

Fallen off a cliff to his death. Sorry. 

Moon could not survive.

STARRY: 

I think that Starry was the hardest to get an idea on. She's the newest protagonist, so she's not been floating around in my brain for… two to three years, I think? I think I started version one in 2021. Certainly during Covid lockdown.

Good grief. 

Anyway, Starry takes the crucifix because she knows by now that if there are rumours about strange things, it's better to be safe than sorry. She decides pretty early on that he's a ghost, which makes her distrust him. She doesn't like ghosts. 

She does everything perfectly most of the time she's there. She's learned to act; she's had to. 

She does nearly break when Dracula takes her stuff. After all, how will she live without her knife? 

But she manages to control herself. 

She's doing well; Dracula doesn't suspect. She makes sure to follow his rules whenever there's the slightest shadow of a chance that she could be discovered. But she quietly rebels, too. 

Then she decides she's had enough and tries to fistfight him. 

Life hack: do not fistfight a vampire. It will not end well. 

Starry would not survive.

And I can't work out how to draw this so. Uh. Sorry about that.

#under a golden moon #character: golden #character: moon #character: hazel #character: starry #my art #art #This was actually really fun and a cool way to develop the characters!

[one0p1nk]

// Ehhhh dumping some silly Horrocalist HCs made out of self-indulgence <333 {+ silly doodles}

Like what I said before, they’re both autists (probably even different types of autists individually/ih) it’s sometimes funny to imagine autists interact sometimes. It can be either wholesome or a secret recipe to disaster./lh

Even if Horropedia categorizes Philocalist as the sweet empathetic Asian girl, he also wonder if her Hispanic side of her roots might say otherwise or just a different kind of charm. In reality, Philocalist is just a sweetheart who for some reasons thinks romance and horror can go hand in hand as her favorites. No matter how cheesy romance is, and no matter how disturbing and spine chilling the thrills of horror can be;;;

Philocalist is a good girl!!! She loves kids, and finds beauty in many things. Just like what her alias means. Sometimes, Horropedia kinda is a bad influence to her like encouraging her to go all nighters watching horror movies or play horror games with him/ih. Ofc, the gal doesn’t let it slide at times. Even if she doesn’t even sleep.

Joshua would tease her when he finds out Philocalist’s drew him a couple of times before- When she quietly explains that she tends to draw whatever she cherishes on her drawing pad, that’s when brunette felt some butterflies on his stomach/ih

“Wait a minute, who’s this man?” *points at a blonde guy with glasses, Journo(my nonfandom OC)

“He’s my friend, Journo.”

“…”

“Horropedia…?”

*scrolls the drawing away before taking out his journal entry with an empty page shown* “Draw something here instead-“/ih/j

Horropedia wouldn’t be the jealous type, I’m sure he’s quite observant and tries to analyze things before assuming. But of course, it sometimes wouldn’t stop making him feel this small bitter feeling on his chest;;; (why his babe has so many male and female friendssss??? <//3/ih/pos)

I can imagine Horropedia being a strange but sweet boyfriend… he gifts Philocalist dream catcher earrings, a ghost hunting pistol, and even a crucifix and talismans for some reasons.

“Is to keep you safe, Boo.” He would always answer to Philocalist’s light skepticism with those single words.

I’m going silly and having Horropedia calling Philocalist her name in general is just good enough. And when he’s so happy and just has this emotional moment, he would call her “Boo” or even “Babe”…-

Even before they established their relationship, he still calls her “Wife” as a joke. Since Philocalist kinda first resembles him as a cute 90s anime girl/waifu by the moment he first heard her speak Japanese- finds it quite fascinating that she’s programmed to learn multiple languages.

Horropedia still tends to sound pretty strange and insensitive with his humor. Philocalist sometimes can’t take his words lightly. But tolerates a decent amount because she can tell that half of the things he say may be just for funny shows/ih

If Horropedia calls her baby girl, what if Philocalist calls him babyboy (cues Horropedia spilling his coffee HAHA-)

He’s quite happy the fact that Philocalist doesn’t get easily scared with horror stories, as she’s more fascinated than disturbed,..-

Joshua first wondered what’s behind Philocalist’s mask. But it turns out there is no secret behind it, she just happens to have this pandemic experience crisis from the 2020’s that she tries to prevent herself from getting contact to smelly, stinky, and yucky germs and it kinda benefits her that it keeps her face warm at cold maps. Horropedia, on the other hand, probably would find it interesting that Philocalist has a special case when it comes to belonging in a specific timeline.. when she doesn’t even belong to anywhere. She’s out of this world!

Horropedia often gives Philocalist forehead kisses, and even cheeks. Sometimes on the lips indirectly or directly either because he may be in a hurry that Philocalist can’t remove her masks quickly or when he really wants to feel her lips/ih/gets bonked.

I will write soon about how they both have first met in my writing blog! It’s still in progress atm.

Mawan(Klai’s oc) is like a father-figure to Philocalist. According to Klai, Mawan would be calm about the pair’s bond (but also would lightly threaten Horropedia to not break her heart is funny djjddjjd-) Meanwhile Philocalist is just standing there not certain about what’s going on in front of her.

#pins’ art #oc// hana dyanthus #reverse 1999 #reverse: 1999 #r1999 fanart #r1999 #reverse 1999 oc #reverse 1999 horropedia #horropedia #horropedia x oc

[tarnishedinquirer]

The First Steps

Wouldn't you know it? as soon as I step outside, I start getting answers. Hope they all come as easy to me, but that's too much to hope for.

This character was standing right outside the tomb, as if he was waiting for me. Doesn't take a master inquirer to peg this man as a suspect. Even if I didn't already have a backlog of crimes, I'd start looking for one. This man was born guilty.

The weapon hidden in the back of his belt where he assumed wouldn't notice is a "kunai," a tool favored in the Land of Reeds by both gardeners and assassins. I didn't see any dirt on his gloves, just suspiciously fresh blood. From what I hear, the land has been locked in civil war so long, the grass itself feeds on blood instead of water. Seems exaggerated, but every tale from there is about blood. Not assuming he's a Reedlander, but he still seems very familiar with blood.

The audacity of this man. I don't even have to talk to him for a minute before he all but confesses. "Unfortunately, however, you are maidenless," he says, like he might have something to do with this. He tells me all the things that I'm denied from being maidenless. Runes, an invitation to the "Roundtable Hold." He's practically gloating about how, if I continue to follow the path before me, he's condemned me to certain death.

I'm waiting for him to make his offer, but it doesn't come. Not yet, at least. He must want me to squirm. Well, there's only one way to make me squirm, and his grubby fingers aren't coming anywhere close.

I do manage to get some info out of him. His name is White Mask Varré, and Godrick the Grafted is the owner of that castle up ahead, called Stormveil. The voice makes sure I know how it's spelled.

"The Grafted"? Interesting epithet. Like the "Grafted Scion" at the chapel?

Conclusion 1: The spider at the chapel was a minion of Godric the Grafted. Possibly one of his kids. Why the fuck it looked like that, or why it was there to attack me, is a different series of questions.

Conclusion 2: Varré murdered the maiden. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but the timetable fits, and that blood is less than a day old. I don't think he used the kunai, but it's so poorly concealed, it can't be his main weapon.

Couldn't help but also notice all the burned corpses on crucifixes, or the enormous knight on horseback, but I'm gonna deal with those problems later. Much, much later, if I can avoid it. I'm curious, yes, but I know when I'm punching above my weight class.

((forgive the poor resolution, I had to cut things down to potato quality to keep the recording from fucking up. I'll try bumping it up a little more soon))

#elden ring tarnished #elden ring lore #elden ring #in character blog #in character post #in character #white mask varre #godrick #tree sentinel

[tacticalhimbo]

Hi, I wonder if you have some theory / thoughts about damnatio memoriae ending, losing faith and his (worsen?) mental state.

I'm not Catholic but the connection between mental health and faith is one of my favorite issues to talk about.

Also why Gary tried to make John as the new vessel?

Thanks!

Hey, thank you so much for asking!

I personally see the loss of faith having a few possible explanations! And Gary's focus on John is entirely intentional, both from a mental health standpoint and a general-ish standpoint.

A recap for the general audience (and myself, because I had to look a few things up since it's been a while):

The ending, "A New Vessel" is accompanied by the soundtrack (and text, if I believe) Damnatio Memoriae, which comes to mean a "condemnation of memory", akin to where a person or event is stricken from all official records.

As for the plot of the ending, here's the Wiki's summary -> On the day of the Profane Sabbath, Ward finds his house surrounded by cult members and unlocks the crucifix-riddled door. Inside he confronts Amy, and he begs for the nightmares to end. Amy drags him into her gaping portal, and John finds himself at the abandoned Martin house in complete disrepair, somehow much worse than it was only a month ago. Inside, he discovers that the twins he's been searching for throughout the entire story never existed. Nancy, Amy's mother, miscarried the twins, but was in complete denial of it, going so far as to host a birthday party for them. Eventually, John finds two effigies in their room and succumbs to his despair. Amy and Michael appear and take his hands before a giant demonic hand appears and swallows them up. Then the entire Martin house vanishes.

Please let me know if this needs to be tagged! I also apologize for any grammar errors, I got excited to answer this and I'd just woken up, so my brain isn't all there yet sdjdkdkd—

I'll put my thoughts below the cut, though, because this got more wordy than I'd thought ^^;

In regards to John's deteriorating faith, the explanation for why his faith is so weak/withers so easily is dependent on how the game's plot is interpreted (at least, in my opinion). So, to circle back to some of the points I made in my first solid meta post regarding John [LINK], I'll break down the two primary perceptions.

If assuming everything happening is 100% real and John's perspective is reliable:

It's simply a matter of fighting a losing battle. Seeing your faith be challenged so successfully (re: multiple dead priests, a church taken over by demonic entities, etc) is... a lot!

As someone who's loosely Catholic (vaguely raised, abandoned, and now on the fence of re-converting), the main lesson people are taught is that sin and evil are two very powerful things. They swallow and consume a person. They're what made the world the place it is today, and why humanity could not remain in the Garden of Eden. Of course, the emphasis put on these points and the way they're told is variable on the individual church's belief system (re: the difference between "normal" Catholics and fascist Evangelicals), but that's besides the point.

So John seeing that happen over and over and over, and ultimately failing to save Amy, is just tiring. It's draining. He realizes by the end of Chapter 3 that he's lost, and Gary has won. Gary was right.

However, if assuming that either everything was "in John's head" (lack of better phrasing), or that some things were true but exaggerated by John's mental health:

Then I believe that John's loss of motivation/faith could genuinely be him coming out of an episode and perceiving the gravity of everything.

This is a bit harder to explain given the precursor for this ending is not entering Garyland, and the strongest case could be made by pointing to the fact that, allegedly, John was the one to eviscerate the cultists in the bloodied room... but still. A lot of things happen in Chapter 3 outside of Gary's labyrinth that would weigh heavily on John's consciousness. One of the other most notable circumstances being if he cannot save Lisa from Alu/the cult, and she dies because he (while possessed or in a state of psychosis) ultimately kills her.

That, and there is the idea that John is outright killing the cultists/people he flashes the crucifix to.

Now, before I explain part of that, I just want to say that all cops are shit at their jobs. They protect nobody and often target folk just because they can, and use "self defense" as a way to get out of the repercussions. However, it is interesting that when John raises the crucifix (when exiting the front door of the daycare, opposed to the back entrance), the cops state that he has a gun. Of course, this could be that classic "shoot anything that moves and make a move" mentality, or it could be a genuine observation (after all, they are fictional so there is a chance they have some intelligence).

My disdain for the law aside, the very act of exorcism is a banishment. A damntation of demonic entities back to Hell, where they either are imprisoned (returning to their natural states and unable to re-enter the surface) or executed (if the demon is too weak to presumably recuperate from Christ's intervention/flee to Hell). So, in the assumption that the UNSPEAKABLE really is grasping every cultist's soul... Yeah. They're gone. John has effectively killed the person and, maybe, left behind a husk. A shell of who they were.

And that acts as a segue into the second question:

Why in the hell (pun intended) would Gary want to use a priest as a vessel?

The short answer is that John is, genuinely, the perfect vessel. My understanding of the process is that the victim must be on the younger side, physically healthy, and (most importantly) non-consenting to the process (able to be manipulated and coerced into "consenting").

John is in his early 30s, is pretty healthy minus the achey knee and dormant asthma, and very much non-consenting, seeing as he goes through so much to attempt to stop the UNSPEAKABLE's commanding demon, Gary/Astaroth. Plus him being in active bouts of psychosis makes it so much easier for someone like Gary to affirm the delusions and essentially become the little devil on John's shoulder.

EDIT: I've posted some audio files regarding this! Check it out here [ LINK ]

But aside from that, it comes down to power. Gary wants to demonic rebellion to have influence. To be something that compels people and leaves behind a great legacy.

What better way to do that than take a holy man (assuming John is/was ordained) and make him a tool for the devil?

In context of a cult structure, the move is one of the biggest chess plays Gary can make as a leader.

Cults, especially those with destructive and a religious structure, are hierarchial and authoritative. There is supposed to be no question to what the leader wills. What Gary says should go. That's why he ultimately ended up targeting Lisa. As a failed attempt by Tiffany to make Lisa a vessel (and therefore prove her own worthiness to Gary), she knows too much about the true intentions. She is a flight risk. She's been found to be communicating with John (an extension of the church). People like Lisa are dangerous to the cult's imbalance, as are the ties they have within the greater community.

Which is why, too, John becomes such a pertinent target for Gary (lest we forget one of the Chapter 1 endings has him and his cult confront John on an empty highway).

It all shows that, even if he were not a demon, that he is convincing. That he can wear down at someone with a (presumably) strong conviction and duty to Christ. People would be fools to question him! He must know what he's doing if he can "break" a priest.

TLDR: Gary's entire mentality as a cult leader (and demonic commander) trying to regain control after a critical incident ks

And this, ultimately, is what is referred to with the idea of Damnatio Memoriae! John is so overshadowed and overtaken (whether by the UNSPEAKABLE, the cult, or his own mind) that he's effectively erased from memory. Him, the twins, Michael, Amy, they all mean nothing in the grand scheme of what would come should the cult succeed in its plan. They were all mere cogs in the machine.

#txt #ask #faith the unholy trinity #faith chapter 3 #faith airdorf #john ward #gary miller #mentioned: #lisa pearson #tiffany robinson #the unspeakable #meta post #meta analysis #my writing

[moonlight-fan2008]

Moonlight rewatch part idk? I’ve rewatched this show a lot lol

Episode 1 random thoughts and feelings I had while rewatching again: cause I’m bored and have nothing else to do or watch. And I love this show

I wish they were able to go into the why and where we get the old wives tales of vampires being repelled by holy water and crucifixes and garlic etc. Did vampires evolve like humans did over time and those were some of their weaknesses or was someone lucky and their crucifix had silver on it or something? And they just assumed that since vampires are “unholy” creatures that they must be repelled by the cross

Also also did vampires used to sleep in coffins before the invention of the freezer because what were vampires doing prior to the 20th century when there was no freezer?

Mick “there’s no such thing as vampires” me “hey that’s the name of the episode”

I liked Steve (the camera guy) and Beth’s friendship. I wonder what happened to him he just disappeared mid-seasonish

With sunlight being one of their weaknesses Mick and Josef sure do have a lot of windows at their home. I’m assuming that Josef’s first scene was at his home since it’s a completely different location than his office

I was always (and still am) curious about how a vampire recruits a “freshie” because I don’t know about you but if some guy I was interested told me he was a vampire and he wants to drink my blood I’d probably just laugh and be like oh okay 😉 🤣

I wonder if Mick’s blood type is A+ and that’s why he prefers that blood over others like when your body craves a certain nutrient that you’re lacking and you eat salty foods or more iron rich foods or whatever to help pick up where your body is lacking.

Moonlight doesn’t have a love triangle. It has a love square Coraline x Mick x Beth x Josh

I always thought Christian Ellis was weird even as a tween. Idk how this man was able to get so many smart pretty women to fall for his crap

I like the subtle detail of Mick sniffing the mask, a nice little mix foreshadowing and red herring for the later part of the episode

Funny how Josef wasn’t a fan of Beth at the beginning (or rather just the first episode) then towards the end of the season they plan a murder together

It’s ironic how Steve’s joking with Beth and says he wants to make sure she’s protected when she goes into the “vampires den” and she says she’ll be fine and that’s literally after she just back from another vampires den and was perfectly fine but when she goes to the fake vampires den she isn’t alright

I think this episode was what kick started my love for Evanescences’ “my immortal” I think I listened to that song on repeat for a whole month after this episode

Was that kid Daniel ever arrested or did Mick actually kill him? In the next episode Beth thanks Mick for saving her but I don’t think they ever explicitly state what happened to the kid and in second to last episode ADA Talbot mentions “demented college students” but that’s the extent of it

What the disk menu looks like for Disc 1

#moonlight cbs #mick st. john #alex o'loughlin #cbs moonlight #moonlight tv #moonlight #beth turner #sophia myles #mick st john #tv show #josef kostan #jason dohring #1x01 no such thing as vampires

[martian-mellow2]

Story [so far]:

The game basically had you play as a custom character but the default character would be fern (as sort of a face for the game),it would be a stardew valley type game where you take over a farm, the farms soil is unusable so you are unable to make a profit. after the first night a meteor crashes into your well on the farm, that morning while inspecting the well you hear a voice (scene depicted in one of the older drawings), going down into the well you meet an alien who makes you a deal, you feed him and he’ll purify a small portion of the soil for you for each meal. This is where choice comes in, you can feed him live stock (which gives you less land) or feed him towns people (which will give you more land), or you can do neither and find another way to make money (this will cause the alien to die). This will lead to a few of the endings I had planned.

More info about my game, the alien (still no name, maybe I’ll let the player name him) will get bigger the more you feed him, his form will also be determined by how much friendship you have with him also (feeding him will only get you a max of 3 hearts, no more hearts through feeding after that, but giving gifts or talking to him everyday will give more) and yes you can marry him (because I thought it would be funny lol), anyways, depending on how many hearts he has. Keeping him at 3 hearts will keep him at his current look, just bigger; having high friendship or marrying him will cause him to look more human (though I’m struggling on a way to give him a humanized form). Unfortunately he’s kinda stuck in the well because he “rooted” himself to the farm in order to purify the ground.

NPC’s:

Sage is the priest at the local church in town, he also guards the local cave claiming it to be “demonic” though most towns folk call him crazy. He’ll give you a sword he has blessed so you can fight whatever is down there, and plead that you don’t go, but he can’t really stop you. The cave is where you can mine (similar to stardew valley) there would be dungeon segments with bosses also!

Mars is a self proclaimed “ghost”, who “haunts”the graveyard by the church. Sage doesn’t like him very much because he thinks it’s “disrespectful to the dead”, to run around a graveyard pretending to be a ghost. He’s mainly under a white sheet, but if you have high friendship with him; when talking to him his talk sprite will look similar the image I drew with him peaking out of the sheet.

You can feed both of them to the alien and when you do they’ll drop “evidence”, that will be hard to get rid of. Sage will drop his crucifix and mars will drop his heart glasses. If you had high friendship with them NPC’s will assume they gave them to you and won’t question you. Being caught with them or having an NPC see you throw them away will result in your arrest and cue one of the endings in which you lose your farm. NPC’s who see you with them that have high friendship will not question how you got them.

Both Sage and Mars do have romance arcs in which you can marry them. Sage’s romance arc will be harder since he’s a priest and involves you killing the first dungeon boss.

Concept art:

Now this could become a game or more than likely a comic (since I know nothing about programming), so don’t get your hopes up, anyways enjoy!

#digital art #art #drawing #artwork #my art #oc art #oc #orginal character #oc artwork #sketches #art sketch #character design #game idea #writing ideas

[eolewyn1010]

Daily commenting on Dracula's shenanigans, I'll make this another two-parter because this story is getting dense, yo. 1/2:

Sometime during the evening, Jack is called to talk to Renfield who's very agitated. He takes the entire dude squad including van Hellstoker with him to the cell, and Renfield makes some surprisingly smooth conversation (including bootlicking Lord Godalming and the author's avatar, plus Stoker's eyebrow-raising speculations on the future of the United States) and asks to be released from the asylum immediately. Can only assume that his Master-Slave thingy with Dracula didn't go so well. Hey, not every dom is compatible with very sub. Jack, knowing Renfield's mood swings, doesn't want to rush, and when Renfield won't say why he needs to get the heck outta dodge right now, Jack is all: "Okay, bye!" Causing Renfield to beg frantically, and to warn Ominously(TM) that there's a lot of trouble coming their way. Jack nopes out of there with the dude squad.

Oh, great, Jonathan opens his journal entry by mentioning how strong and healthy Mina looks! *sigh* We all know what that means; Mina is a snack. And just to top it off, he literally says he's glad that she "hold[s] back and let[s] us men do the work". Twat. Pretty sure this particular sexism aspect will hold on for a while. When the dude squad notes some doubts if keeping Renfield in the asylum is the right thing to do, Jack points out that Renfield's connection to Dracula is a risky thing, especially when it comes to mind control. He calls Renfield "a respectable lunatic". I love Jack. Then the dude squad marches over to Dracula's estate where van Hellstoker gives another brief pep talk and hands out guns, knives, lamps (electric lamps, too; how fancy!), Communion wafers, crucifixes and garlic for everyone. As they enter, the fucking doors creak dramatically. Eh, I forget that this probably wasn't a cliché yet when the book was written. Van Hellstoker spits an incomplete Latin phrase into the dark, but their sneaking produces nothing but a lot of dust for now, although Jonathan feels like they are being watched.

Off to the chapel they go, which has some gross stench on it of earth and blood (Jonathan talks of "miasma"; when has everyone gotten thesausrus syndrome?). And only twenty-nine of fifty earth boxes. Also, the Count is watching them from the shadows, but these morons wave it all off as hallucinations because whoops, can't find anyone once we go there with lamplight! But so things won't get boring, Dracula sics the rats of the place on them. Arthur, bless his heretofore unknown brains, opens the next door and blows a dog whistle he brought along, calling a bunch of terriers to them. Pretty neat. Where did he get the doggos? And what does he mean by "lugubrious"? Can I hit Bram Stoker over the head with a dictionary? Arthur sends those good boys after the rats while the dude squad smokes a cigarrette or something similarly productive, and just ere break of day they calmly swagger home because this old spooky house is fascinatingly unfascinating after all. Van Hellstoker for some reason says this was perhaps their most dangerous step...? Counting boxes? Oh, it's Subtle Foreshadowing(TM); he's glad no harm or trouble has come to Mina in the meantime. Right.

Back at the asylum, they are greeted by a madhouse's sweet morning music - Renfield moaning, some other poor soul screaming; who cares. Jonathan finds Mina pale and with faint breath, and concludes it's good to keep her uninformed, since "it is too great a strain for a woman to hear". Brainless sexist asshole. Mina awakes not fully aware, with terror in her eyes, and complaining of still being tired; our Victorian himbo fails to catch on. Two things: Can Dracula use his boxes as teleportation localizations once they are placed elsewhere? Because that would be hella cool. And: Mina and Jonathan are newlyweds. Shouldn't he notice the bite marks sometime when he, you know, wants to take a more harmless nibble himself? Let's see how this goes.

#Dracula Daily #why does van Helsing the Foreigner(TM) know a bunch of fancy words no English person would use in everyday? #but can't get the basics of grammar and proverbs right?

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Hidden Oracle: Chapter 29 (SPOILERS)

"I had never been so happy to see a killing field." Ummm, a killing field? Have we found the missing persons and are they now corpses? "we had found the myrmekes' dumping site" Oh ok good. UNLESS THE BONES OF THE DEAD CAMPERS ARE IN THERE. No, right? Tell me no.

"I was looking at a set of living doors." That sound like it'd make for an epic movie set. But, uh, what would opening these doors imply if they're living?

"I think this is more of an antechamber" ANTECHAMBER (n.): a small room leading to a main one

"Each stake was about the height of a crucifix" Startin' off positive, I see. "something that looked like a human head . . . They were human heads." Yep. Figures. But six of them? Who's the other demigod? New character? Oh, it's Paulie the palikos. But hey, we found 'em! Wait, are they gonna get set on fire?

Peachesssssss is here!

"Germani." ...Germans? Probably different from the ones we know. Do they count as monsters or mortals?

"Nero had always had expensive, impractical tastes." Hey, people keep saying that about me! I don't like having things in common with this neckbeard Nero.

"a bolt of white-hot power" Wait a minute, if we assume the Triumvirate have already achieved god or semi-god status, then do they have powers, too? Uh oh.

"my right hand, Vincius, and my left hand, Garius." I'm glad we got their names. That's very nice. I wonder if they mean anything. Anyway, I guess this answers who the three people in the Woods were. "their Batavi names, which I can't pronounce." Nero, you've had two millennia. Didn't you practice? I guess I shouldn't expect that basic courtesy of you. "like those street thugs you sent to attack me." Oh, so Cade and Mikey are the same kind of people. I wonder what their Romanized Batavi names and real names are.

"souls escaped from Erebos all the time." Oh, so they are mortal. And escaped souls. Nico and Hades are not gonna be happy to hear this.

"Without hesitation, Vince planted the butt of his spear against the ground." Vince, don't do it! You can find a better employer than Nero, I'm sure!

"And, of course, we are all descended from you, Lord Apollo." That's gotta sting.

"Considering she was facing the man who killed her father, she sounded remarkably calm." Oh, yeah. The Beast killed Meg's father, yet she's almost definitely working for him. That means he either has something she wants/needs or is holding something against her like maybe her stepdad's life or something else I can't think of off the top of my head.

"We have divided up the new empire... by which I mean North America." First of all: they're not thinking big enough. The last two big threats wanted to take over the world. These guys are going after barely a single continent. Second of all: they'd better not just split it by Canada/United States/Mexico. They can be more creative than that.

"'We would rather die,' I said. 'Wouldn't we, Meg?'" Okay, Apollo. You've got the conviction to oppose Nero even to the death, but don't assume Meg the twelve-year-old child is as eager to go rushing in to her death as you. "Then I realized she was crying." Exactly.

"Meg brought you here, just as I asked her to. Well done, my sweet." Yep. Knew it.

"The Beast killed my father. This is Nero. He's--he's my stepfather." Many questions. Is she disassociating Nero and the Beast because she doesn't want to think of them as the same person (especially if Nero has acted nice to her)? 'Cause it sounds like the Beast and Nero should be the same person. Also, how the heck did Nero come to be her stepfather. Did he just take her in off the streets? I really hope Meg's biological dad wasn't insane enough to marry Nero. Especially since Nero killed him. Well, maybe he manipulated her dad. Still seems unlikely that he'd do that just to get his hands on one demigod kid. He probably just killed the dad and adopted Meg and she had no choice in it -- the much easier method of obtaining an unwilling child soldier. Or child gladiator. Wait, did we ever get confirmation on that?

#reading trials of apollo #reading the hidden oracle #reading toa #reading tho #toa spoilers #trials of apollo spoilers #trials of apollo #the hidden oracle #percy jackson and the olympians #apollo pjo #apollo #meg mccaffrey #all the missing persons #and paulie the palikos #paulie the palikos #nero pjo #nero #emperor nero #and whoever the heck the beast is #and whoever the heck meg's stepdad is #we now know that it's all been Nero all along #plot twist??? #all roads lead to Rome indeed #triumvirate holdings #pjo #toa #pjo hoo toa #rrverse #riordanverse

[scary-movies-on-netflix]

THE UNBINDING (2023)

This is a “documentary” by the same folk who made “Hellier,” which I think is complete trash.

We start off with a pair of dudes hiking in the woods.  They come upon a cave, inside of which is a little wooden statuette with nails driven into its eyes and a little noose tired around its neck.  We then move on to the Newkirks, a nice couple with an interest in the paranormal, who have a “traveling museum of the paranormal and the occult.”  They receive artifacts from fans, who send them spooky items, and the Newkirks explain that most items are just that, mundane items, but every now and then something is freaky!

Moving on, we return to the hiking guys from the beginning.  Someone posts a creepypasta on Reddit about the spooky statue: the guy hears noises at night, the statue appears in different room, he sees moist footprints on his floor.  The guy eventually is spooked enough that he spends the night at his hiking-bro’s house, rather than sleep in his own domicile.  Someone points Mr. Newkirk to the creepypasta post, and he responds with some helpful advice to apologize to the statue.  Hiking bros do that, but instead of finding peace, they see a shadowy figure in the corner!  They mail the statue to the Newkirks.

The Newkirks then proceed to be spooked by the statue.  They put it in their office, and a little Jesus figure is ripped off a hanging crucifix!  They put a camera in the room, and the statue appears to move at night!  (I mean, it shifts a little to the side.)  One night, Mrs. Newkirk is lying in bed and a shadowy figure open the bedroom door and looks at her!  This is obviously not sleep paralysis and definitely something spooky.  They see some moist footprints on the sofa.  Eventually, the Newkirks have an intervention for the statue: they talk to it and tell it, essentially, “look, we live together so be chill,” but the statue refuses to be chill!  They hear rushing water from the other side of the house.  When they return to the living room, with the statue, they find it hiding under the TV stand.  Mr. Newkirk is retrieving the statue, and the TV almost falls on him!  They end up putting it in a box.

Things seem ok, I guess, until they take their traveling museum to Michigan.  Some curious dude asks to see the statue, which for some reason they brought along with them.  Mr. Newkirk releases the statue from the box, and all hell breaks loose!  A woman spills her soda, a wind moves the chandeliers about, and some poor dude has a fit.  Some time later they have a livestream and mention the statue, which they’ve taken to calling the “Crone.”  One of their buddies on the livestream makes a joke about the Crone, and he is then spooked! 

For reasons, the Newkirks decide to 3D scan the statue, so they can make a replica.  They have to do this in a hotel, and for other reasons they decide to…sigh…carry out the “Estes Method.”  Allow me to explain: these people use the “SB-7 spirit box,” which basically is receiver that leaps through radio channels.  If the person using the spirit box (i.e. the medium) happens to hear a random word as this occurs, that means something, because obviously the ghosts/spirits/whatever must be communicating via those random radio signals.  The “Estes Method” involves blindfolding the medium and covering their ears with headphones, so the only input they receive is from the spirit box.  This is done, I assume, to eliminate any bias the medium might experience from observing the scene around them, which sounds reasonable, right?  No!  It’s still bullshit!

Mrs. Newkirk dons the blindfold and headphones, and as the 3D scanning starts, she blurts out words which appear to relate to the scanning process.  (The statue doesn’t like it.)  She also reports hearing two voices: a man and a woman, with the man somehow oppressing the woman.  Bullshit!  It’s all bullshit!  Even blindfolded, Mrs. Newkirk generally knows what’s happening.  She knows about the statue of the Crone, and she knows that it is being scanned.  She’s obviously going to be predisposed to blurt out words relating to those topics!  A “true” “Estes Method” would involve preparing some third party, who knows nothing about what you’re doing, with the blindfold and headphones outside of the presence of your study subject. Then you bring the medium to that object, and then they would then no doubt blurt out random nonsense, because they’re not already predisposed toward the subject of your interest.

Anyway, they scan.  The scanning guy must be really bad at it, because they get weird artifacts in their 3D file.  Or, the file is haunted.  (Hint: they think it’s haunted.)

Eventually, they decide that they’re going to return the statue to the mountain from whence it came.  They go to the town in New York and discover that the community has a notable Ukrainian population.  This leads them to look up Ukrainian folklore, which leads them to Baba Yaga, which leads them to Etsy, which leads them to some person selling little wooden statuettes, which leads them to the Slavic pagan goddess named Mokosh.  This leads them to talk to a professor of Russian Studies, Folklore, and Linguistics, who very nicely explains that very little is actually known of early Slavic mythology.  What is supposedly known was fabricated recently by Russians in order to create a national mythology.  The professor looks at the statue and is noncommittal about it.  Mr. Newkirk asks about potential conflicts between pagans (neo-pagans, actually) and Christians, and she says, yes, there could be conflicts.  Despite the professor’s advice to take their internet research with a grain of salt, the Newkirks ignore her and instead run with the theory that this is a statuette of Mokosh.  In a roundabout way, they suggest that some Christian drove nails into its face and put a noose around its neck to oppress it, or something. 

Continuing more quickly now, they hike up a mountain.  Mrs. Newkirk performs some rituals, and they ritualistically remove the nails and noose, and they say that everything suddenly feels better once that is complete.  They bury the statue and descend the mountain.  This is basically the end, but they then spend a few minutes blabbering about the value of stories, look up some more internet sources that seem to align with their pre-conceived notions, and express the rather egotistical belief that they were somehow assisting the actual spirit of the goddess Mokosh in its quest to be free of Christian domination.  Something something about the value of stories again.  Oh, they also made a mold of the statue so now they have a replica, which they display in their “traveling museum.”

So, look, I like the Newkirks.  They seem like cool people with a cool hobby.  They’re charismatic.  Their videos have good production values and decent writing, but someone writes a creepypasta on Reddit and mails them a funny statue, and they run with it.  Their credulity knows no bounds, they draw unwarranted inferences, and the Estes Methods is a joke. I do appreciate that they didn’t stretch this out to a multi-episode series, because that would be terrible, but even 90 minutes of this is about 40 minutes too many.

#the unbinding #movie review #horror movie #2023 #meh #documentary

[enbykelpie]

had an extremely shitty experience at a disability determination appointment today, and still. fuming tbh, but also just So Damn Tired bc this isnt the first or last time this has happened

photo attached of an email i sent to my therapist basically to make sure I'm justified in my anger, alt text added and id'd below cut

[ID: Screenshot of an email. White text on a black background that reads;

"During the appointment he asked if I was married, and I told him yes, and so he first assumed I hade a husband, but then asked and I said I had a spouse. I referred to Arche with they/them pronouns and he stopped me like "they? how many do you have?" I told him just one, that they're nonbinary, and he made a kind of confused face at me and just, "oh, well I never really caught up with all that. i just wanna know how one person can be plural" which i was just "singular they exists" and he almost laughed at me and then changed the subject, just like "well, anyways, I'll just refer to… your 'spouse' as she, then" which. made me uncomfortable first

and then he asked, straight up, "are you a man or a woman?" and so I told him I'm a trans man, bc thats visible in my medical records, and he replied with "oh, so you're a biological woman, then." which made me even more uncomfortable, and made me clam up a lot.

on top of that there was also a ton of Christian iconography around his office and waiting room, crosses and crucifixes and psalms on the wall, plus bibles and books about sin, and pamphlets for churches in the waiting room, and. i dont care if folks are christian obviously, but it feels… not great for someone working with the state to have such Obvious religious bias not just present but overwhelmingly so in their office, especially given how many "Christian"s use their beliefs directly against queer folks like me"]

#personal #transphobia tw

[writingwithcolor]

I have been writing a Christ-like antagonist. He’s meant to oppose the mc for personal reasons in which they’re after the same zero-sum goal, but the story around him is that he is respected by the very same leaders who once persecuted him and continue to persecute his people. This is meant to reveal his motivations to the mc (who, btw, is coded Arab/Muslim since thats my own background). Knowing this, do you think a Christlike antagonist can be anti-Semitic? (1/2)

This might seem like a strange question since Christ figures are associated w Christianity, but it feels different when you antagonize him, plus I don’t include any Christian symbols like martyrdom or crucifixes, which are usually included in a Christ *figure* trope

Christ-like Antagonist; is this antisemitism?

Thank you for considering this. I think you’re right, most people would automatically think of Christianity, but there is potential for anti-Semitism here.

My first question is how close your antagonist is to actually being Jesus? Because lots of stories have a character who is a metaphor for Jesus in some way, and while that makes the story a bit less interesting to us and can be used as Christian propaganda to our detriment, the character is seldom read as an anti-Semitic portrayal of a Jewish character. Sure, they’re based on a historical/Biblical figure who was Jewish, but the character themselves is Christian.

Assuming the parallels are more literal than for, say, Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia or Jack from Room, then yes, you have a Jewish character with all the associated responsibility. Since your character is an antagonist, you’ll need to make sure they don’t fall into negative stereotypes. You’ll also need to have some good Jewish characters to avoid the implication that Jews are just bad people.

The main stereotypes I’m worried about here are string-pulling, since he has befriended the leaders, and possibly money-grabbing, depending on what the goal is that he wants to reach before the MC and why he wants it.

The idea of a Jewish character befriending the leaders who continue to persecute his people is a little troubling to me. When I reflect on Trump’s relationship to Jewish people, it seems to me that he likes to surround himself with a certain type of Jewish person: those who can help him with finance, since that’s what Trump thinks Jews are for. Meanwhile, he has no qualms about using anti-Semitic tropes to boost his popularity, or empowering white supremacists who want to kill us. Does this sound like your Jewish character’s relationship with those in power? Why do they suddenly like him, if they used to hate him and still hate his community? Is there a power imbalance, and if so, who holds the cards? Is it fair that your Jewish character is the antagonist, or does the blame really belong with the bigoted leaders? These are questions you should be able to answer confidently without invoking anti-Semitic stereotypes. It sounds like you will be walking a fine line between suggesting that the Jewish character is covertly controlling the leaders, and blaming him for the story’s conflict when really he is a victim of the leaders’ control.

It’s harder to talk specifics about the money-grabbing stereotype as we don’t know much about the goal he is trying to achieve before the MC. You say he wants it for personal reasons. As long as these reasons aren’t to do with being greedy, materialistic or miserly, you should be fine. The more humanising his motivation, the better.

Finally, about the good Jewish characters. Its totally up to you how you do this, but I personally would love to see an Arab Muslim MC, like yours, with some trusted Jewish friends! I’ve always been blessed to have many Muslim friends, but white Christians will sometimes make it sound like Jewish and Muslim people are always enemies, or like you can’t care about protecting both groups simultaneously. Fiction definitely needs more Jewish/Muslim friendships based on love, respect and good times!

-Shoshi

#aacme #Christianity #Judaism #antisemitism #trump tw #antagonists #Jewish #asks