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mutable-manifestation · 1 year

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The Ghost King (of Miscommunication) Ch. 20

Part 1-12,Part 13,Part 14,Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19

Part 20!

Info:

DC timeline is fucked, I’m going with the “Batman know most ids but hasn’t revealed himself yet” and a use of the ol’ canon “Brucie Wayne is That Famous(™)" and known as being a serial adopter.

As for how Deadman knows things: Rama pulled a favor with clockwork to let Deadman mature as a ghost/learn about important zone information & culture before yeeting him back to the living world with no time lost bc balance reasons.

He doesn’t know everything about the zone - he’d be garbage at finding his way around and he doesn’t really know anybody - but he knows customs and he knows about halfas bc all info about the Ghost King was High Priority Know This Or Don’t At Your Own Risk (the risk is that will turn u into a . He basically spent a subjective decade practicing his powers or reading books on ‘how to ghost’ next to Rama. He never has to go back to the realm to ‘recharge’ because Rama just kinda beams him what he needs to keep going.

***

“Well,” Constantine starts as he - ‘Finally,’ Bruce thinks - steps up to the table, evidently finished examining the scene, “I can tell you why we couldn’t find shit wrong in Gotham.”

“Elaborate,” Bru- Batman - he has to be Batman, now, has to be calm and think if he wants to get Jason back - demands.

“Don’t get your cape in a twist, Dadman, I’m getting there.” Constantine rolls his eyes, taking a seat.

“There’s a reason I don’t visit Gotham if I can help it - other than its stellar reputation and your renowned hospitality to outsiders.”

His amused snort very quickly transitions to a grimace.

“Gotham’s got the magical equivalent of background radiation. Real uncomfortable stuff. Feels like walking in the world’s biggest graveyard. And that-” he jabs a thumb over his shoulder “-feels just like it.”

“You’re saying he’s being kept somewhere in Gotham?” Red Robin perks up, voice hopeful and doubtful at once.

“No,” Constantine shoots down. “I’m saying whatever little fairy theory the kid had going was wrong, the fae haven’t lived in hell for centuries now. Even if it were them, pocket dimensions don’t actually work like that.”

“Wherever that portal led to reeks of death-” the Gotham heroes all tense at this, the others shooting them tentative looks of concern as Constantine steamrolls on “-and Gotham is exactly enough of a cesspit to have covered up the stink of it before. If it weren't for him being treated relatively well there, I woulda guessed he’d been dragged to hell. Dunno much about heaven - obviously - but I’ve never heard of them having escapees.”

“Obviously not,” Robin snaps, standing. “Red Hood is not dead, he was just here. We were able to see and interact with him, without any need for your tricks. Now can you tell us what it is, or do you just intend to sit there and list off all of the things that it is not?”

Beside him, a brace of batarangs appears in Black Bat’s hand, fanned out threateningly.

“Black Bat, Robin, that’s enough.” Batman commands, voice leaving no room for argument.

“He didn’t have a pulse.”

All eyes snap to Oracle, whose voice is only barely heard thanks to the silence following Batman’s words.

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Red Robin insists. “Superman and Martian Manhunter don’t always have a detectable pulse! We already know Hood is…different now. But that doesn’t mean he’s dead! Some kind of magic or advanced tech could’ve-”

“You think I don’t know that?” Oracle demands softly. “I don’t want him to be dead either, but lying to ourselves will just make things harder. We need to know the truth if we’re going to get him back, whether we like that truth or not.”

Constantine allows a few seconds of somber silence before opening his mouth to break it, but is cut off by the door slamming open.

“I’m here,” Shazam says, rushing to his seat, “What’s going on?”

“One second,” Constantine interjects, “Deadman is here too. Let me just….”

Deadman pops into visibility over the table.

In lieu of re-explaining, they play back the relevant recordings - Batman had started them the moment he sat down, just in case.

There were only perhaps 15 minutes of relevant video, including the explanation, the re-kidnapping, and what little Constantine had told them - they’d spent much of the time Jason had been present getting details, brainstorming potential counter-strategies, and just generally killing time in the hopes that the clock would run out and everything would be fine.

“And that’s everything we have so far,” Batman says as he pauses the video - no need to replay the argument. “Thoughts?”

“Well, Conny’s right that they ain’t fairies. You’re not gonna like the answer, though.” Deadman starts, ignoring Constantine’s glare.

“If you have answers we want to hear them, whether we like them or not.” Batman insists, trying to reign in the fragile hope trying to bloom in his chest in favor of bracing himself.

“That portal led to the Infinite Realms - more commonly called ‘The Ghost Zone.’ As the name implies, it’s infinite and - whaddaya know - full of the dead.”

“Then Red Hood is…what? In heaven? Limbo?” Batman’s mind races; was it even possible to steal him back? Had they just…been allowed a final goodbye?

“Nah,” Deadman says, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Heaven, Hell, Purgatory - those places might be all Constantine has interacted with, but you gotta remember that I talk to Rama. Avatar of Vishnu? Yeah. The afterlife is a lot more complicated than most people think; fact of the matter is, all the afterlives people have believed in over the ages exist, and they all sit neatly in their own little slices of the Realms.”

Deadman floats to sit cross-legged at the head of the table.

“The only reason portals to hell and other locations in the Realms look different is because the local deity and/or devil makes them so, but much of the Zone is ungoverned by any specific deities or devils, so if you just open a portal to a random location, odds are it’s gonna be the green swirly.”

“So he is dead,” Signal concludes mournfully.

“Not necessarily. Kid said he got pulled through a portal to some kind of medical center, right? And his body was completely normal until one day he woke up looking different. And you lot didn’t find a body anywhere?”

“No,” Batman answered, “All we could find was the residue from the portal.”

“Well, if he’d up and died he shoulda left a body behind; it woulda been dumped back out by now - somewhere obvious, too, ghosts are big on proper burials. So unless someone managed to vaporize him, odds are he’s not fully dead, but he’s definitely at least a little dead.”

Robin scoffs, “‘A little dead.’ Do you hear yourself? Either he is dead or he is alive, there is no in between for that kind of thing.”

Deadman merely snorts.

“Says the liminal.”

Robin frowns.

“Liminal?” Robin, Batman, and Constantine all chorus.

“I thought that was just Gotham being possessive,” Constantine continues with a raised brow, turning an appraising eye on the batfamily.

“No,” Deadman answers, “All of you bats and birds are liminal - some more than others. Just a little changed, just a little touched by death. With any luck, the missing kid’s case is just a bit more severe. But we can talk more about that later. Back to the kid.”

And they will get to it later. Jason is their priority now, but if something is going on with his kids Bruce intends to know about it.

Deadman pauses to take an unneeded breath.

“I’m gonna be real with you - and Batman, don’t freak out - but it sounds to me like he’s been ghost adopted.”

A beat.

“Excuse me?”

Deadman waits for the litany of ‘what the hell’s and ‘ghost adopted???’s and ‘he already has a family!’s to die down.

The non-Gotham members of the League remain quietly confused - hoping this means things can be resolved peacefully while privately wondering if the bats and birds really would turn out to be some kind of self-unaware cryptids.

“Okay. Ghosts form when enough ectoplasm and ectoenergy - which you can think of as basically the carbon and electricity of the Zone, I guess, at least in this context - are present at the death of a being experiencing strong emotions. In the absence of that perfect mixture, a shade - just a soul with no real power - is formed, only able to become a proper ghost and form a core if brought to the Infinite Realms-”

“A core?” Batman asks.

“Ghost brains, basically. Anyway, ghosts can also form if there’s enough ectoplasm and energy in one place, either from the zone itself - known as neverborns - or from strong enough ghosts intentionally forming them - known as naturalborns. Now, ghost families don’t work the same as living families do. Ghost families form from a sort of ‘dibs’ system-”

“Dibs?” comes Flash’s incredulous voice.

“I’m gettin’ there,” Deadman sighed at the second interruption. “As I was sayin’. Regardless’a how, once a core is formed the new ghost is considered a baby ghost. It isn’t really a one-and-done process. Sure, once you’ve got a core you’ve got a ghost now, but not a mature one. Cores have to grow until they reach a stable size and energy level - usually marked by natural power acquisition settling down and ectoplasm fluctuations stabilizing. How long it takes depends on the quality and quantity of ectoplasm and ectoenergy available - the shortest known time was just under 5 years, longest was a few hundred, I think? Average is a decade or two.

This is relevant,” Deadman emphasizes for those who are visibly growing impatient, “For two reasons.”

“Firstly,” he holds up a finger, “The ecto a ghost takes in while maturing has an impact on how it develops, the powers it ends up with naturally. Everything in the zone is made of ectoplasm, and ghosts both take it in and echo out the excess - like plants, kinda. Maybe.

So if a baby ghost is around, say, a fire ghost a lot of the time it’ll probably end up with fire powers of its own. Assuming it was early enough and their core wasn’t already leaning towards ice or something. A stronger ghost parent also means faster growth.

Now, the Infinite Realms are infinite. People can’t always find each other, some people die at different times, some people return to the cycle before their loved ones die, some are neverborns, etc. Most sapient beings want friends and family, it’s just how it goes. So ghosts sometimes just kinda. Dibs each other.

Multiple dibs’ are pretty abnormal; baby ghosts aren’t actual babies in the human sense of the word. They don’t just pick a parent and stay there all the time while they’re waiting to mature. There’s generally that first few week-to-month period where they’ll stay put with whoever dibses them first for safety until the basics settle in, but after that? Ghosts explore, and dibs occur, and lots of newbies end up with something like a dozen parents and however many siblings-in-dibs.

Secondly,” another finger joins the first in a peace sign, “And what I suspect - and hope - is that while souls can fail to form cores and become shades, the opposite is also possible; a living being can become liminal enough to form a core. Making dibsing pretty much inevitable - no decent ghost is going to leave a baby seemingly stranded in the living world to starve into nonexistence. Gotham might have enough polluting the place, but it’s pretty much all rancid so that would’ve made them even more eager to get the kid outta there.”

“So what you’re saying,” Red Robin drawls, “Is that he’s dead-but-not-really and is only missing because a dead-for-sure person took one look at him, went ‘that’s baby,’ and pulled a Bruce Wayne?”

“Pretty much.”

“Even if it wasn’t intended to be malicious it’s still a kidnapping,” Batman says.

“Well, Wulf did offer to let the kid bring guests back with him-”

“What!?” Everyone choruses.

“Yeah, though given the whole fae-kidnapping assumption I think the kid took it as a threat, but he asked the kid how many of you he wanted to bring as guests. He said none, so Wulf said do not pass go, do not collect two-hundred dollars." Deadman said casually, as if that wasn't a heartbreaking bombshell to drop.

"Anyway, point is, if this really is just one big misunderstanding then you can go talk it out. Ghostspeak isn’t really living-friendly and the living language he did know clearly didn’t help. Lucky you, I can translate. And the Realms are a human-safe environment. Well, the air is breathable at least.”

"Human-safe my ass," Constantine spits. "If the demons I deal with dwell in one little slice I don't even wanna think about the kind of nightmares strolling around the rest of the place."

"We're not leaving Red Hood in there."

The Gotham heroes' words leave no room for argument.

They get down to planning.

***

Fun Fact:

Ghosts do change their names because of the whole ‘holds power’ thing - not in a mind control way, but in an emotional way. If someone can dig up how you died they’re probably gonna say something insensitive. Case in point: people on ghost shows being like “hey *ghost name* we heard *insert horrible thing here* happened to you. Is that true?” Rude. You’re a complete stranger.

Anyway here’re the ghost names.

The trio had been dating for over a year when Sam & Tucker died and it was a very stable relationship. They’d been planning out their future together by that point, down to details like where to live so all of their work would overlap, how to manage Danny’s lack of aging (aka moving frequency), etc. When they brought up thinking of ghost names Danny - distracted - immediately just said, “Well you could just go by Phantom now since you will be in another year or two anyway.” He’s incredibly embarrassed when he realizes what he’s just said, but they’re all happy and engaged by the end of the day. (They tease him mercilessly about that being the world's smoothest yet most clueless proposal ever for the next 10 years)

Jazz & Spike Spook were already mentioned in canon with their sense of humor being explained (you’d think the joke would get old after 40 years, it hasn’t. Not when Danny still pouts when he hears Spike’s full name)

Jack was really excited to help fight ghosts as a ghost to protect Danny (he’s really proud of his baby boy growing up and becoming a king via fighting ghosts). He dies before Maddie and calls himself Jack Specter “after the specter deflector, because I be deflecting [your enemies implied here]” (Danny had to go lie down after hearing this sentence [Jazz’s sense of humor came from somewhere and that somewhere is Jack Fenton. Jack Fenton’s knowledge of ‘hip phrases’ comes from Jazz and Jazz’s sense of humor, also known as brother-torture or simply ‘betrayal’ as Danny claims]). Maddie likes that it fits the family name theme and calls back to one of their inventions (& wants to match her husband).

Dani stay a Phantom, ofc, and is formally ghost-adopted by Danny after he tells his parents everything (his parents formally human-adopt her so she has a stable human-world home if she want it, but she calls them Gran and Gramps as a joke that becomes sincere over time)

Wes goes by Wes Wraith because it’s close to wrath and he is fully and consistently angry about fenton=phantom and also a slight edgelord.

Ida Mason is also a ghost. She simply goes by ‘Wilda’ now (pronounced like wild-uh) and looks shockingly like Ember if she was an adult. And her hair wasn’t made of fire. And also went more pink than blue. So barely like Ember at all lol. She died in the middle of trying to finish knitting a scarf and now her obsession is knitting. She knitted a moped. She knitted a house. Home girl knitted herself an entire island and has not stopped.

The Manson parents have a little door-realm connected to their house in the living realm (like Poindexter with the school) and spend their time pretending everything is normal (like how Poindexter was stuck in the bullying loop but just. Reading the same newspaper/remaking the same dress, watching the same shows/etc).

The Foley parents were perhaps the most normal people on the show.

When Sam and Tucker died, the only ones who knew what happened were them and Danny - even Jazz didn’t get an explanation until she & the Fenton parents followed them into the ghost zone to find out what was going on - so the police were left to draw their own conclusions.

The GIW had already proven themselves to be reprehensible and overly willing to step on anyone who got in their way. The tech the police found was a collab between Dalv Co & the GIW and with Vlad’s disappearance and the GIW’s emotionless denial no one ever gets prosecuted for Sam & Tucker’s deaths (Vlad has a warrant out for him & the Mansons try to drag the GIW to court but it never goes anywhere).

The Foleys switch job tracks to take down the GIW/the Anti-Ecto Acts/any other asshole ghost hunters they can find. The Fentons are only exempt because they tell them what happened, explain how their stance on ghosts changed when they found out about Danny, and help the Foleys on their journey.

As ghosts Angela is obsessed with Justice & takes the name Justitia and Maurice is obsessed with ethics (bc if the GIW had any they wouldn’t have made weapons like that in the first place. Literal animals had more rights than ghosts at the point despite them being provably sapient) & takes the name Ethos. (They keep Foley as their last names tho). Yes, Danny does royal-decree them into being Walker’s oversight. Pretty much everyone is a fan of that. Except for the observants, who complain about everything but especially about how much Ethos & Justitia argue with them (what is the ‘greater good’ does not often match up with what is right. Especially when their idea of greater good is ‘eliminate problem via murder or core-crushing before it can become one’ instead of literally anything else).

@mayoota-blog1 @kyrianclawraith, @do3y, @someonebored0100 @omegasmileyface

#dpxdc #Batfam #Justice League #Deadman #John Constantine #poor batfam running the emotional rollercoaster of is he-isn't he #(dead)

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prpfs · 1 month

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🕊 hi everyone! 23f, experienced advanced literate - novella writer, and desperately craving a dark roleplay. currently have two ideas in mind!;-

1. a notorious serial killer breaks out of prison / an escapee from an insane asylum / (etc) is on the run. they break into a writer’s house, and holds them hostage in their own home. the twist? the writer happens to be the killer’s favorite author. [would love for this to be set in the 70s-80s, but it’s optional!] I prefer to play the writer.

2. in which muse A, a government spy and secret agent, is dispatched to moscow with the task of infiltrating the russian mafia—however, things grow twisted when the mafia is alerted of this and they assign muse B, a psychotic killer, to find and identify the mole. worst of all? the two are partnered together. [inspired by the manhwa “codename: anastasia”!!] I prefer to play muse A.

both irl and art fc’s welcome—though i adore manhwas for references, particularly bl ones! the art style’s always pretty. please be enthusiastic and contribute to the plot , i don’t want to be the only one putting effort. let’s build it together! i just wanna gush about our oc’s and the story itself. bring me the headcanons, the worldbuilding, tiktoks, tropes, pinterest boards, playlists—you name it.

+ if i message you, don't just say 'yes im interested'; give me a little intro of yourself as a writer, ideas you might have / what kind of muse you were envisioning / etc., otherwise i won’t respond. i’m looking for creative, descriptive, and lengthy writers that don’t shy away from detail—so if you’re semi-lit to lit, don’t interact!

dead dove and dark themes [such as elements of dub/noncon, toxic/unhealthy dynamics, obsession - yandere, etc.] are all heavily welcomed and encouraged!!

like if you’re interested and I’ll reach out! 🫶

like if you're interested and op will reach out

#dark rp #oc rp #oc roleplay #ocxoc rp #fandomless rp #fandomless roleplay #dead dove

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b-a-pigeon · 1 year

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Writeblr Re-intro

I've been around for a minute, but after getting some new followers and returning from semi-hiatus and seeing a lot of new Twitter escapees around, I thought I should reintroduce myself :)

My name is B. Pigeon (they/he) and I'm an indie author who mostly writes queer adult fantasy of various subgenres! I'm also part of the queer indie publishing collective, EHLS, with @fellamarsh. With the shortest summaries I can manage, my published works are:

Mirrored in Evergreen: a dreamy contemporary fantasy about a wizard cursed to be forgotten;

Worm in a Jar, a cute fantasy novella about a witch who accidentally summons a shadowy but harmless demon;

A Hollow Contract, a fantasy serial (on hiatus) following the students & employees of two wizards with ancient beef;

Poised in Either Eye, a lighthearted urban fantasy about dragons in human form trying to survive on Earth by doing crime;

Hierarchy of the Unseen, a fantasy following a demon hunter and a demon subverting their religious order and military (respectively) to team up & prevent the apocalypse

Those last two were cowritten with Fell A. Marsh to serialize on our Patreon, and HotU is still being serialized! My main current WIPs are Heirloom, a moody urban fantasy about trans people with psychic powers who hunt vampires and break curses, and untitled, a fantasy about an amnesiac vampire trying to uncover his past in a world he no longer recognizes.

I post a lot about my own projects and processes, and also about the whiteness of publishing and writing spaces; the highs and lows of self-pub; the books I'm reading (which tend toward the weird, gay, and speculative - add me on Storygraph, btw); and my hot takes.

If you wanna learn more about my ~professional~ stuff you can check out the EHLS website; if you want the ~unprofessional~ content, you can follow me on here, lol. I'm looking for more people to follow, so I'll check out your stuff if you interact with this post; reblogs appreciated so I can find more mutuals :) Thanks!

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davros42 · 5 months

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Rewatching Classic Doctor Who, some episodes I haven't seen in years, some of the animated reconstructions I haven't seen at all.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth AKA Daleks Threaten Earth AKA The Invaders AKA The Daleks (II) AKA The Return of the Daleks AKA The Daleks in Europe AKA Serial K

In February, 1964 Dalekmania hit Britain. The Daleks was immediately popular, spiking ratings and drawing big attention to this new show, Doctor Who. The donation of two of the original Dalek props to a children's charity drew attention and interest in the Daleks remained high. In March a sequel story was commissioned from Terry Nation for the second season, based on the strength of both The Daleks and The Keys of Marinus.

And what a sequel it was! It made use of extensive location shoots, the sight of Daleks chasing the TARDIS crew around London were instantly iconic. It also features the first quarry shoot for the show and probably one of the few times a quarry appears as an actual Earth quarry in Doctor Who history. The original 4 Dalek models were joined by 2 new ones, to flesh out the ranks of the invading army, which led to some impressively complex shoots in and around the Dalek saucer. During one of these complex shoots, William Hartnell was injured and had to sit out for an episode. The less said about the slyther, however, the better. And despite the best efforts of the crew to step up their games, some of the sets feature some obvious backdrops.

The story opens with an fantastic hook, a man with some kind of strange apparatus on his head, lurches about, tearing the mechanical apparatus off his head, and throws himself into the river. The TARDIS arrives and everyone is excited to have apparently returned to Earth. They very quickly realize, however, something is amiss. Susan injures herself and the TARDIS is blocked by rubble, the party separates once again displaying absolutely no degree of genre savvy. Barbara and Susan are discovered and "rescued" by some human resistance fighters. The Doctor and Ian come face-to-face with the unexpected... a Dalek, rising from the Thames. It's quite a cliffhanger!

It turns out that the Daleks have bombarded Earth with meteorites, infected them with a plague, and then invaded. Some of the survivors were enslaved, others were turned into Robomen: cyborg servants of the Daleks who eventually go mad and kill themselves. The Doctor immediately starts sassing the Daleks, who do not realize they have made a grave mistake in invading the Doctor's favorite planet. The Daleks don't recognize the Doctor (or Ian). The Doctor assumes that their previous adventure with the Daleks is "millions" of years in the future, which seems like the Doctor making stuff up again. The Daleks are running a mining operation for reasons unknown and the Doctor and Ian are taken aboard a Dalek saucer and come face to face with the Black Dalek, first seen in the Dalek comics. Of course, he's not entirely black yet, he needs another episode or two to finish his paint job.

The human resistance attacks. The Doctor escapes, Ian stays behind, Barbara is hurt and separated from Susan who escapes with David, a member of the resistance. Upon recovery Barbara goes off with Jenny, another member of the resistance, to find bomb making materials and killing a Dalek by running it over with a truck. Amongst Barbara's many talents, she apparently has her CDL (or whatever the UK equivalent is). One wheelchair bound member of the resistance shows some limited ability to move without his mobility device, which, to judge from recent critique, some people think is the most unbelievable thing to ever happen in Doctor Who. The Doctor meets up with Susan and David, third wheel on their extended date. Ian and another escapee make their way toward the Dalek's mining operation, meeting Mr. Rumbold from Are You Being Served? along the way (Nicholas Smith in his first speaking role).

Barbara and Jenny get sold out to the Daleks by two old women and are taken to the mine. After a series of adventures and romantic moments: The Doctor, Susan, and David also arrive at the mine. It turns out the Daleks are going to mine out the core of the Earth replace it with an engine so that they can pilot the planet as they choose, like some kind of Death Star. Which is either the dumbest thing I've ever heard or the most brilliant, I'm not sure. The Daleks are in the process of dropping a bomb down into the Earth's core when The Doctor and Barbara force the Robomen to turn on the Daleks through the power of impressions and everyone escapes, except the Daleks who are caught in the explosion. The Earth's core survives intact, but England gets a new active volcano.

The TARDIS is freed from debris and while Susan is busy debating leaving David, the Doctor makes her mind up for her, leaving her behind (with only one shoe?) to help rebuild the Earth, becoming the first companion to leave. Or be left anyway. Jenny was originally meant to become the new companion at this point but there were issues behind the scenes that prevented the character from being more than a one-shot. Personally I rather like Jenny, she would have made a much more interesting companion than Vicki.

It's a wonderful serial, using it's six episodes to the fullest and throwing almost everything into the mix to craft an impressive story, even alligators in the sewers. It feels more like Doctor Who than anything we've seen thus far. The Doctor taking a keen interest in upsetting the Daleks' plans and the crew firmly in the protagonist roles. William Hartnell gets at least three all-time classic lines including the famous speech at the end. It is a little convoluted, maybe, but almost everything is in service to the plot. There actually is a fair amount of effort put in to justifying David and Susan's relationship, more so than I remembered. They're actually kind of cute together? While it establishes the terrible "marrying off the companion to a guy she just met" standard exit, it is handled better here than in most other stories. Despite some cheap set backdrops (and the horrible slyther costume), there's some great camerawork and much more complex staging and scenes than we've seen previously. The Dalek Invasion of Earth spiked the Daleks' popularity even further leading to an avalanche of merchandising, comics, live appearances, and two feature films. And another sequel story, cementing the Daleks as the Doctor's only recurring nemesis in these early days. It also assured the popularity of the show, scoring high ratings.

Next up, The Rescue. The Doctor gets a new "granddaughter". For the first time, but not the last time.

#doctor who #classic doctor who #first doctor #ian chesterton #barbara wright #william hartnell #carole ann ford #jacqueline hill #susan foreman #william russell #doctor who rewatch #daleks #dalek invasion of earth #Serial K

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mrs-nate-humphrey · 8 months

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ok so I have watched Riverdale and I have Thoughts about the bones of a gossip girl Riverdale AU but not necessarily about the plot. (GG was one of the first things to premiere after the rebrand from the WB (beat only by a show that lasted 8 episodes) and Riverdale is the last thing to go before it becomes a more "adult oriented" channel so it's fascinating to compare the 2)

Riverdale has a reputation for being "oh crazy weird show!!" (earned) but like... despite the escalating drama, the characters aren't really allowed to grow or change (or be fleshed out at all) they stay more or less the same one dimensional stereotypes for seasons 1-6 (season 7 is an alternate timeline it's a whole thing.) like I genuinely cannot place the plot of each season in order bc the characters aren't allowed to be affected by their experiences

(which is also exemplified by having them stay in high school forever, as opposed to the GG route of having them ignore their educations and pretend to be adults)

(I could go on a tangent here about how TV has gotten more serialized as technology develops. like early TV you watched when you could and things went into syndication so you had to be able to watch any episode out of context. but with streaming everything is binged. so stories can take multiple episodes and characters can change)

but GG and Riverdale arent streaming shows so the characters stay perpetually stuck in these cycles of Big Stories that Take Time but characters don't grow

we could also talk about narration and the story within the story. bc Riverdale is presented as a book that jughead is writing about his friends and gossip girl is being told to us by Dan (who also ends up writing a book about his friends.) the dark underbelly if Riverdale is the focus of the show vs the UES being more and more idealized as the show goes on

BUT!! I do also have plot thoughts!!!!

starting with the obvious. Riverdale stole the Derena/Rufly/Scott Rosson thing! but they took it a step further by having both couples dating, living in the same house, and having the love child move in! (then they revealed the guy who moved in wasn't their son at all but an imposter (and a serial killer! don't worry he marries the real illegitimate son!) Gossip Girl should've done this

Blair would start a cult predicated on her being the reincarnation of Audrey Hepburn. Serena (the most cult susceptible) would be a full fledged believer and a recruiter until she and Blair had that same fight about attention they always do then Serena would team up with recent-cult-escapee Jenny to take her down

Chuck would get involved with Carter Baizen's dog fighting ring for 2 episodes, but stop when he gets yelled at by his mom's ghost while high on psychedelics he got from Nate's drug dealer. a season later Chuck would do a seance and have the ghosts of his parents possess Jenny and Eric and force them to get married in some convoluted scheme to tax insurance fraud. they would stay possessed until Jonathan (upset Eric dumped him over text) showed up at the penthouse and was like "this is clearly not jenny and Eric" but nobody believes him so he has to exorcise them himself with a song (Riverdale would stop episodes for 3 minutes at a time so characters could sing, so be glad this song moves the plot forward)

Vanessa, while making a documentary, stumbles upon a society of mole men who hold her hostage bc she knows their secret. they let her send Dan a letter and she uses a secret code they made as kids to tell him where she is. he goes to rescue her but in the time it took she became queen of the mole people and now needs to be convinced to come home (again through song)

Nate is descended from serial killer HH Holmes. he Googles if that can be genetic and that's how we learn about the serial killer gene. he's relieved he doesn't have it but he makes all his friends do the DNA test and falls into a guilt spiral when it turns out that Serena does (she doesn't really care)

Dan, doing research for his book, finds out Lily had a girlfriend in highschool that she lost touch with, and reaches out to her. said girlfriend initially refuses to appear but changes her mind and arrives the night before the rufly wedding and tells drunkenly Nate the story of the body she and Lily hid one night. Nate (in the middle of his guilt spiral) tells Serena this story in an effort to get her to see the the effects of the serial killer gene

Rufus spends the entire show making waffles and getting divorced

This is my favourite thing in the world. This deserves to be written and filmed. Mwah!! chef's kiss. THANK YOUUU

#riverdale au #crossover tag #fritextramole

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fruitzbat · 9 months

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happy mollymauk week, everyone! as it's threeleaf day, I thought I'd use this time to spread the word about my fan novel trilogy to any enthusiasts who might not be aware.

The series is called “Devil & The Details”, but it’s more commonly referred to as “Devilverse” for short. The first two books are complete, and the third is currently being serialized.

Linked beneath the cut, we have an epic about Kingsley getting into new trouble on the seas, his captaincy of the Mollymauk, and ultimate rise to the throne of Darktow. While both Molly and Lucien make appearances — along with some other members of the Nein — the story is chiefly about Kingsley and his efforts to forge a unique path for himself. Since this is also a story where all three make an appearance, this trilogy potentially carries the dubious honor of being the longest threeleaf fic on ao3.

The goal of the series was to explore some of the things referenced by Taliesin about the ideas he wanted to explore with both Molly and Kingsley's existences, such as the notion of "soullessness" in mermaids and the philosophical concept of the tabula rasa. The overarching story is also about healing from different kinds of trauma, grief, breaking cycles of abuse, myths and realities of "the pirate's life" and "the resistance" as a concept, accountability, and how T4T love transcends petty things like death and fate. Think Black Sails meets Baldur's Gate with a Candide rising.

CW for: canon-typical violence and gay sex,* gore, mild body horror, frank discussions and depictions of slavery and genocide, cannibalism, suicide (especially in book III), and mentions (but not depictions) of sexual assault.

*There are also two short stories in the series that trend more towards the NSFW/PWP side and are about King and his love interest in the novels; their promo post can be found...

UPDATE: post deleted, flagged by tumblr censors since it's about two trans people in love, lmao.

The novels are written in what could be loosely described as historical fiction style, with other heavy influences taken from 90s anime and camp fantasy. They follow a standard fantasy trilogy setup, with the first book being more plotty, the second more character-driven, and the third currently shaping up to be a mix of the two.

BOOK I: Crowned Teeth (or, An Offering Revoked) [complete, 130,670 words]

We find Kingsley in dire straits after being betrayed by his crew and sold into slavery in the Hespet Archipelago. Breaking out with nothing to his name except a pair of enchanted pistols and a ragtag handful of other escapees, Kingsley vows to see himself avenged upon the leadership of the Tempest Fang.

BOOK II: Wine-Dark Sea [complete, 161,010 words]

With the Fang defeated and Kingsley trying to make things right in their absence, Fjord and Jester accept a quest to uncover a lost relic near the island of Glintshore. With the archdemon Maxima and the Abyssal Plane's intrigue unfolding in the wings, the three of them discover that there is more than what meets the eye.

BOOK III: Home to Roost [in progress, projected 300,000 words]

At long last, Kingsley and the other ex-Revelry members that make up the Diamond-eaters are sailing on Darktow. The long awaited showdown with the Plank King looms, and the archdemon Samiel plots to take the throne from Graz'zt. To his great misfortune, Captain Tealeaf catches the eye of both of them. To protect his new friends and ensure his path to the throne, Kingsley has to call on unexpected allies.

This is very much a labor of love on my end; King, specifically, is very important to me for many reasons. In case we never got the opportunity to explore his life and times on-stream, it was imperative to me that he get at least one story to call all his own.

If you want a proper pirate epic to tuck into, this is it!

#remy peddles his tiefling yuri #critical role #mollymauk week 2023 #threeleaf #kingsley tealeaf #mighty nein #mollymauk tealeaf #devilverse tag #mollymaukweek2023

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 2 months

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BATMAN: A CITY RIDDLED WITH DANGER

by Bloodraven2599 The City of Gotham falls under threat after a breakout from Arkham Asylum which results in the escape of several criminals. While most of the escapees are swept back up and returned to custody, one particular prisoner remains at large, the feared serial killer and domestic terrorist Edward Nygma, otherwise known as the Riddler. When the Riddler makes his return to Gotham to continue his reign of terror, it is up to Batman and Robin to find and stop him before more people die at his hands. But things are different this time around for Batman, the pattern in Riddler's attacks and the means by which he escaped Arkham are shrouded in mystery suggesting a deeper layer to his plans than what Batman can see. Words: 2783, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Characters: Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Lucius Fox, Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Edward Nygma, Oswald Cobblepot, Kate Kane (DCU), Hugo Strange, Jervis Tetch Additional Tags: Bruce Wayne is Batman, Jason Todd is Robin, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Edward Nygma is the Riddler, Gotham City is Terrible, Arkham Asylum, Wayne Manor, Batcave (DCU), Batmobile (DCU), Gritty via https://ift.tt/rRSqELv

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the caped crusader #gotham #dcu #dc #ao3 #ao3feed

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prestoniafarmhouse · 1 year

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Calving season is nearly over. I'll miss these naughty little serial escapees 🐮💕

(his mum was yelling at him to come inside but he gave no fucks)

#cows #calves #farm life #farmcore #western australia #country life #australia #farm animals #country living #nature #cottagecore

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

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[The Daily Don] :: [Primetime material]

[FACE IT: HE HAS NO "BOTTOM" :: TCINLA]

The Cretin News Network, mired in third place in the ratings and in danger of dropping to fourth place behind NewsMax, took an hour tonight to deliver “ratings” to their corporate overlord, “Reality” TV King David Zaslav. They did it by allowing anyone who could stomach looking to see that the monster known as Donald J. Trump has no “bottom,” that there is no line he will not cross repeatedly, that there is no proven lie he will not continue to spew, that he is not only completely and totally unfit to hold any office or position of responsibility, but is incapable of achieving the minimum behavior standards for inclusion as a member of the species.

And as he did all that, the lifetime losers, the escapees from Flyover Loserville, the senile old white male boomers who were fuckwits when I knew them 60 years ago in high school, are actually all worse than he is; they are people completely bereft of any moral sensibility, so mired in ignorance, mendacity and maliciousness, whose malign view of the world is so skewed, that they laughed and applauded the serial lies and threats to the country they claim to love that were spewed by the monster who sat in front of them.

Asked if he owed Mike Pence an apology for January 6, Trump launched into an attack on Pence, justifying the cries of the insurrectionist mob he called into existence that day to “Hang Mike Pence!” by claiming Pence didn’t “do the right thing,” “He could have sent the votes back to the states, he had the power to do that, and we would have had a much different outcome!”

And the audience of mental defectives applauded that.

Asked if he would recognize the result of the 2024 election regardless of the outcome, he refused to say he would. Just as he refused to say he would recognize the result in 2016 and 2020 unless he was declared the winner.

And the audience of moral defectives applauded that.

Asked about the judgement yesterday in the civil trial in New York, he again declared he didn’t know who E. Jean Carroll is, and then proceeded to defame her anew by calling her a ‘whack job” and then accusing her of being a “bad person” because “who would invite a man into a dressing room of a major department store in New York?”

And the audience of malicious morons laughed and applauded.

When he declared that he would pardon the January 6 insurrectionists, who he declared were all patriotic Americans upset at “losing our country,” almost including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keeper - the convicted seditionists - on the list of those whose crimes against the country he took an oath to protect he would pardon, the audience cheered and applauded.

The only people worse than the monster Trump are the 74 million who are so debased, so depraved, so lacking in all morality and intelligence, who voted for him after watching his assault on the United States and American society, the 74 million who support him for hating the people they hate.

These people see every crime he commits and applaud him. There will never be forgiveness for any of them, no “De-Trumpization” program that can restore them to participation in civilized society. That they have done what they have done over these past eight years since the monster first came down his golden escalator is proof they never were who any of us thought they were.

#CNN #outrageous behavior #TFG #TCinLA #malicious morons #political circus #The Daily Don #Primetime Material

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yellow0jello2 · 8 months

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Plague Spirit Society ranks

Scythes-Lowest rank, in charge of bringing spirits to final resting place

Smokes- In charge of finding vengeful spirits and bringing them to their final resting place

Whitecloaks- in charge of finding evil spirits(like serial killers) and bringing them to the Underworld for trial

Blackmasks- in charge of finding Underworld escapees and bringing them back for punishment

Wings- Highest rank, in charge of finding anyone who's escaped the Underworld more than three times and killing their spirit/soul

#Plague Spirit Society #secret society #Plague doctor #Ghost #Spirit #Ranking

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baby-dips-into-the-taboo · 5 months

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A living document

So, what is it that I'm doing here, sitting on the periphery of things, the edge of ideologies?

This is a special and, honestly, difficult day. It is a reminder of someone whom I loved very much. I know too much about grief and loss for someone who hasn't seen as much literal death as many people have; particularly, in this moment.

Many feelings and experiences seem to lie at the heart of the cult escapee's experience, including this familiar feeling of severing - of losing people who are very much living, who occupy space and time in a manner that is intimately acquainted to you, or that you're used to being very familiar with. Knowing you'll never see several people again, that your paths will diverge now, that like a coin flip you're eventually an enemy... In a way, it's a lot of break ups happening all at once. So much love lost - what can be done with this love? Possibly similar to experiencing a string of deaths in one's family (an experience that is, in fact, known to me), but with the added injury of having self-inflicted this pain with an eye to healing.

In some ways, leaving a cult, particularly for someone raised in it, is as radical an experience as the act of entering one for someone who wasn't raised in it. There is a symmetry to these things: the parent, grandparent, or ancestor completely leaves their understanding of reality and gains a lease on life, a sense of purpose, a community by adopting a new set of beliefs and leaving their old lifestyle behind. Similarly, their child or grandchild abandons the set of beliefs they are raised with to experience life in a completely different way - to completely rewrite their understanding of normal. Both child and ancestor are engaging in acts of curiosity and hope: they are rewriting how they transact with the world, how they relate to others, and so, in a lacunary fashion, leaving a cult or movement actually brings the younger generation closer to the parents who entered it even if proximity is removed or attachment is severed by leaving.

Interestingly, then, these multi-generational churches and movements, are stuck becoming a duopoly: they have to, of course, continue their current recruitment efforts, and they have to cater to an audience that has never been initiated from any other reality - that has never experienced the intensity, clarity, certainty, or euphoria around entering this space. There is no door for the latter audience to walk through, except out. How can they be kept sated - how can they be convinced that they have it so good that they never want to leave, or how can they be fed such despair about ordinary reality that it seems discolored and lacking any allure?

There are reasons why I wonder all this; reasons having to do with someone I've loved a lot, who is no longer accessible to me. It has been my choice to pull away from her, and now it seems that there is no going back - she was deeply hurt. Knowing her past breakups, she adheres to No Contact no matter what. Leave it to someone raised in a cult to understand how to go cold turkey serially, no matter the history or the true emotional cost.

I am living that 20s theme where some of us find ourselves consecutively severing relationships, becoming increasingly untethered, as the gaps in our lives and hearts are left unfilled. I find comfort in the memory of movies like Sleeping Beauty by Julia Leigh, even if I don't rewatch them because of the shame, the degradation.

Some of these losses feel like a gain: I am porous, elastic, like a sponge full of blood vessels and with eyes, free to stretch, bend, breathe in ways that weren't possible when I had fixed myself to accommodate things that didn't totally fit, and I couldn't admit it, thinking sometimes that I was just the worse for wear or unrested... Why is it, anyway, that sometimes a little bit of rest, a little bit of love, can make us anew?

And then there are times when the losses just leave this emptiness... Like a white noise machine at the top of its lungs, sucking us into the void with its O-gape scream. In times like those, I'm moving towards a siren barefoot, too saturated with dread to register the metallic chill of the rocks in this hypothermic air. So magnetized by the moment, I lose sight of the future and of myself.

This is the act of intentionally numbing yourself - something we never quite realize is taking a lot of effort and investment... How cycles or spiraling trick us into thinking they're effortless just because they have aced the short circuit. I brought you to a checkout line so quick and you do not remember how you got here instead of on that social media page for the ex you were initially planning to cyberstalk. "This doesn't exhaust you", the Devil always manages to say, unearthing some supernatural energy that cannot be found in routine.

(If Facebook were a family of functions, it would be mapping every human feeling or experience to an array of products, based on location, class, etc too of course. Any feelings you have, any connections you have, can be redirected towards shopping. Sometimes, I do wonder if cults work kind of the same: sublimate/repress what isn't useful for the cult's self preservation or proliferation, and the rest of feeling and connection can be subsumed to things within the cult. How much more of ourselves, of life, we can experience by metaphorically amputating some parts of ourselves. And, who knows, maybe sometimes it actually is a reasonable deal for some people: I'm sure some gain more than they lose.)

Anyhow, the promise of access to these hidden reserves of supernatural energy is part of what's, well, exhilarating about alternative lifestyles and religions. There is something about the humdrum of life, of routine, that makes us feel like we're not enough. Somebody or something seems to want more of us than we feel like we have, more of us than we can reasonably manage - at least not without some tailoring of our fundamental realities.

In America, our jobs are very good at this; frankly, in any economy that isn't developed it is common to break your back, but in America it's continually surprising because things will always be like this, no matter how developed or wealthy America gets to be.

There are too many ways to feel deficient, fractured, especially once you're already closely acquainted with this feeling because of the gift of history, of a continu: things were broken at the root, and don't people who know me, don't past memories, all love to remind me of this? Rites of passage swirl with all the bad stuff, so how can you forget? They are embedded in the reference points of your existence.

Personally, I could never be enough for my parents' egos - how could I possibly compensate for their insecurities, their proclaimed losses from choosing to birth, raise, and abuse me? And still, I haven't fallen into a single cult or movement, but chronically find myself in close proximity to cult members or recent/budding escapees. Where does this repeat proximity come from? Why are both parties magnetized by each other?

In any case, when it comes to her (the one whom I am recalling today), whether it be a kindness or a laziness, goodbye it is.

#experiment #social experiment #manifesto #life writing #memoir #memory #cult #culture #ideology #trashcan of ideology #loss #grief #phoenix narratives #absence #loneliness #yearning #numbness #white noise machine #ogape of despair

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suzy-queued · 2 years

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Too Much Information

A catch-up @galladrabbles from last week. Thank you for the prompt, Calli! @ianandmickeygallavich

Read all the parts of the serialized story Maze of Terror!

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

Ian is given the role of escaped convict. His clothes become a striped prison jumpsuit. Torn fabric. Shackles around his ankles. Bloodied fingernails.

It’s a cruel joke, mimicking an escapee when he remains trapped.

Mickey teaches him, tirelessly, every night. “You can’t touch anyone. Can’t remove your costume. Can’t borrow any phones.”

“Can we take a break? It’s too much information.” Ian sighs as the last patrons leave. “I need less about life inside. More about how to break out.”

“Sick of me already, huh?”

As if.

Mickey – and the help he provides – are the only things keeping Ian afloat.

#galladrabbles #galladrabble #maze of terror #100 words

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party-kat · 1 year

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Ok I have been thinking a lot about the danger days fandom from about 2015-2019 ish? I was wondering if you remember any of the specific lore that fans made up from that time? I found a google doc from around 2017 with some slang and ideas on the what killjoy society would be like and I can’t stop thinking about it T-T I can’t remember anyone else that I still follow that were even loosely involved at the time besides you and like one or two other people.

Oh geez I’m vintage now lol

Hmmm.. I do remember some- like different characteristics people gave to the Fab Four and my own headcanons (they never made it past 50 notes lol)

The first things that came to mind was the general personalities and backstories:

Party poison- progressive and empathetic maniac with a gun, some headcanons said they and Kobra weren’t siblings and met up later but general consensus was that poison was a city born and escaped as a young adult, the parentified big brother

Fun Ghoul- shoot first ask questions later, fiercely protective of friends, in love w poison generally agreed that he was one of the first in the desert or was desert born, but once saw a few hcs that said he used to be a drac, the shoner cousin

Jet star- the responsible one ready to crack skulls when necessary, poisons best friend, sometimes hc as desert born/neutral born, sometimes he as city born who escaped as an adult, I think was usually seen as one of the oldest or most recent escapee, the mom

Kobra kid- quiet but will fight to the death, has endured the most trauma than the rest, jet stars best friend, a lot of hcs said they and poison weren’t siblings and found each other as young adults recently escaped to the desert, generally considered a city born kid, the cool uncle

Random hcs:

There were many different gangs (good and bad) Including serial killers and bandits

I hc that there was a ‘neutral’ group of killjoy that provided “totally real info” to bli in exchange for wholesale supplies that were eventually sold to gas stations and motels like tommy chow mein (I mean how else did any of those guys survive out there in a post atomic desert??)

The “killjoy” zones weren’t exclusive to Southern California- bli actuyovertook the entire US and there would be killjoy zones in most major cities like Detroit, New York, etc.

The witch was totally real and basically the patron saint of the killjoys (there were a couple ask the witch blogs that were SO COOL—- I miss them :(

There’s definitely more but I would have to know what specifically about the world/characters you’d want to hear.

I remember drafthearse/ktzart had an askthekilljoys type blog that ran until 2019 w cool art and concepts

Hope this helped some though!!! Feel free to ask me more I just need my memory jogged a bit

Thank you so much for still following and remembering me- even if I’m not as dedicated to the killjoy persona anymore!!!!!!!

The internet is such a cool place :*3

~keep runnning, babe~

#sorry if this is not really detailed #I’m genuinely really honored that you still remember me #asks #ask party kat

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eclipsecrowned · 2 years

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It’s spooky season! I have all my muses listed! I think it’s time to drop a starter call! Below the cut, you will find a list of 28 horror-based/spooky CANON MUSES. Comment with the name of whoever you are interested in receiving a starter from, and I will message you to plot!

Count Dracula (Dracula, Vampire)

Damien Thorn (The Omen, Antichrist)

Daniel Molloy (The Vampire Chronicles, Vampire)

Dream of the Endless (The Sandman, Endless/Embodiment of Dreams)

Enrico Maxwell (Helling, Human Priest, has reanimated verse)

Eric Delano (The Magnus Archives, Human beset by Horrors)

Eva Portinari (Devil May Cry, Witch)

Father John Pruitt (Midnight Mass, Vampire Priest)

Gabrielle de Lioncourt (The Vampire Chronicles, Vampire)

Hannibal Lector (Hannibal novels, cannibal)

Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow (DC Comics, fear-based villain)

Lisa Tepes (Castlevania, Bride of Dracula)

Lord’s Blade Ciaran (Dark Souls, Human knight with Divine purpose)

Lothric, Younger Prince (Dark Souls, doomed experiment)

Lucien the Librarian (The Sandman, former raven-turned-librarian)

Lucienne the Librarian (The Sandman, former raven-turned-librarian)

Lyfrasir Edda (The Mechanisms, Eyewitness/Escapee of an Old One)

Melanie King (The Magnus Archives, Human/Avatar of Fear)

Melinoe (Greek Mythology, Chthonic deity of nightmares and madness)

Michael Morbius (Marvel Comics, Living Vampire)

Nuala (The Sandman, Fae of dubious history)

Orpheus (Greek Myhology, immortal seer)

Peter Lukas (The Magnus Archives, Fear Avatar)

Pip Bernadotte (Hellsing, Mercenary and Vampire Lover)

The Hillbilly / Max Thompson JR (Dead By Daylight, Serial Killer)

The Huntress / Anna (Dead By Daylight, Serial Killer)

The Twins / Charlotte and Victor DeShayes (Dead By Daylight, Serial Killers)

Unohana Retsu (Bleach, Shinigami)

#out of stories

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spectrallik · 1 year

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A Joyride from Beyond the Grave

Diving deep into my favorite troubled webcomic

Cover art for Caelum Sky Volume 1 by @alradeck

In the world of webcomics, 2022 felt like the year of the endless scene. No less than three artists I've been following got stuck in a lengthy, difficult sequence for months on end. One finally escaped a few weeks ago, one looks like he's found a way out and will be there soon, and one is still trapped with no clear way to fix what he's started.

That first one, Cælum Sky, fascinates me the most. Since its debut in 2019, it has been a strong contender for my favorite webcomic in recent years. But when it got stuck, it got stuck. It took over 100 pages and nearly 2 years to break free from its endless scene, and the frustration took a huge toll on both the author and the readers.

How did something this brilliant end up in such a rough position last year? What made this webcomic work so well in the first place, and what stopped working during that time? What lessons can I (and you) as writers learn from this artist's struggles and triumphs? In these next few posts, I will answer all of these questions.

Cælum Sky is based on an indie novel that was first serialized here on Tumblr in the mid-2010s. The story is centered on the two dueling leads. Neri, the red dino-looking thing, is an escapee from the underworld. Raziel, the guy with the white hair, is an angel who does the spiritual equivalent of pest control. When Neri reincarnates into a demon that is "haunting" (read: tearing apart) the home of a young widow and her spiritually gifted toddler, Raziel is sent in to exorcize the demon, and their worlds collide.

Cælum Sky builds off of its source material masterfully. From page 1, the tone and style are nailed down. Just like the protagonist, we're thrown into a world we know nothing about, right into the middle of a desperate battle for survival.

The action is beautifully chaotic, the pacing relentless, and the whole thing is rendered in this painterly art-style that's bursting with color and life. It's a bold opening statement: this comic will be a wild joyride, and you get to be on board.

After the first confrontation, the narrative shifts, and a few chapters are spent on Neri and the family. She is spiritually bound to the house, and so she has to find some way to figure out what she really is and make peace with the humans living there.

We figure things out at the same pace that Neri does. She becomes a sort of guide into this world. This is a great way to develop the narrative in a natural way while keeping the pace high. That tension, that mystery, is always there, but it creates space for deep character development along the way. That's so critical - plot is nothing without character.

By the end of Volume 1, we deeply understand who Neri is, as well as the humans in the house. Their stumbling attempts to understand each other make us feel for them. This all builds up to one of my favorite moments in any webcomic, and that's saying something.

So, to sum it up: the intense pace, strong character development and worldbuilding, and a mastery of tone and style are what make this webcomic so brilliant.

What I've shown so far covers the first 100 pages or so, and takes us to April 2021, when the endless scene began. However, there were a few cracks in the foundation that hinted at where things were heading. But this post is getting long enough, and I need to get to bed. So tune in next time where we'll get into the hard parts.

... by the way, I did mention that this webcomic has two protagonists, right?

This article is dedicated to the 50 bots following me. Because of you, I get to pretend I have an audience.

#webcomics #media criticism #caelum sky

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