#Parlor Tricks

[thethirdbear]

[bardnuts]

@gojiberry-bbq

jumpscare

woah!!!! character sheets!!!! click to enlarge for some Good Good Parlor Friend Facts!!!!

because of ~Circumstances™~, goji wound up being the one in charge of most of the pilot’s visuals and a good hefty chunk of the text. that’s going to change once the comic proper begins! we’re going to be alternating who’s doing what between each update.

our art styles are radically different (and you can see our formatting tendencies aren’t exactly the same either), but don’t worry–we’ll give you all a heads-up when we switch!

stay tuned!

[arcadebroke]

Doctor Doom

[thebookwormdaydreamer]

i love the magic in jonathan strange and mr norrell. no system, just mysticism, folklore, and nature. that kind of mystery and wonder is something i love in fantasy. don’t need intricate world building or detailed magic systems, give me the sense of wonder.

[adara-of-the-flame]

"Thank you." Though, now Adara really was in the mood to show off. ...A little. She got the feeling if she went all out, she'd run the risk of freaking out her future in-laws. They'd need to know her a little longer before witnessing what she could really do.

"I can do this, too." The flame woman snapped her fingers. As usual, a lick of flame bloomed onto one of her fingernails, though this one lacked the usual orange-red color. This one was white-hot.

A flick of the wrist, and the little flame-creature rollled and hopped a little ways above the dinner table. The white flame of it's lengthy body resembled soft fluff; a long, little creature on stubby legs. It raised it's snout curiously before jumping energetically around the table. "Voila! A white ermine. Untouchable, of course. But, it knows to stay far enough from anything it'll burn."

Winter Breakfast being a sweeping success, Adara moved onto lunch. A light yet filling affair for the season: warm, fresh-baked crusty breads and a thick, creamy chicken stew with winter vegitables. Like the first meal, this was served outside, prepared in mystery.

For the final dinning experience, the flame woman made sure to set up early, and that's all she did. A glorously huge cut of meat sat raw in the center of an equally large baking pan. Veggies and herbs chopped but unmixed and uncooked. All out in the frozen Palace gardens, away from the warmth of an oven fire.

This was her performance peice. It was to be special. Tonight, Edgar's Kingly brother, and the Queen, and anyone else in attendance would see what this mystery woman was made of.

Edgar cleared his throat upon seeing his King and Queen later that day. "Adara has also prepared dinner for You," he stated before leading Them deeper into the palace gardens where there was a table and chairs set complete with a huge cut of meat and the fresh smell of herbs.

[televisionenjoyer]

if you think it's bad writing why do you watch it

it's the supernatural effect. When it's good it is so fucking good you couldn't even comprehend the epic highs and lows of 9-1-1. There are episodes that are so fucking notorious and make you fervently convinced network television is alive and well. And then they kidnap maddie again and it's like wow we really are just all watching pure garbage aren't we.

[duckapus]

Somehow these are all the same kitten.

[coreofgold]

@youllalwaysbemyporcelain for Kieran for a Discord starter

The difference between Aloth and Iselmyr is always apparent. While Aloth is graceful, methodical, shows affection in private, Iselmyr is loud, boisterous, not afraid to fight and not afraid to show anything in public. So, the person who runs and hugs Kieran from behind while shouting his name is definitely Iselmyr. "Kierie! I found ye!" She lifted him up in the hug

[modest-little-mice]

Well the help ain’t short

When your digging your grave

And the help ain’t short

I’ll help you dig it

The help ain’t short, short!

Now you’re speaking my language

[phoenixwithapencil]

Ohhhhh fuck. I don’t think I picked up on it on my first playthrough of rebirth, but Seph definitely intentionally teed up that Tifa is an imposter, that Jenova can imitate the people you love just as well as those you loathe, and then told cloud ‘don’t let her fool you’.

Who is she, Cloud?

She’s Jenova.

(Don’t mind that there’s one other person in the room who’s supposed to be dead and flickers in and out of being like a mirage. Don’t mind that Jenova can imitate those you loathe just as well as those you love)

[anthonycrowley]

don’t believe in ghosts don’t not believe in ghosts but a secret third thing (have a healthy skepticism to most spiritual things but overall am willing to hear you out unless your device was invented in the victorian era at which point i automatically press the bullshit button)

[curetapwater]

Out-of-tune pianos kinda scratch my brain.

[justletmeon12]

Thing that Definitely Isn't Going to Happen That'd Be Cool to See

So, whoever Alastor's puppetmaster is (probably almost definitely Lilith) is going to attack the hotel and/or Lucifer and Charlie, which means he's going to have to fight everyone. He knows this, and Nifty and Husk know this, but all anyone else knows is that some enemy's going to attack. Nifty and Husk want to defend the hotel, but they know that if Alastor has to fight, they'll have to fight for him.

Now, Alastor doesn't like Charlie or his servants or want redemption or anything, but he does want to fuck this person over for controlling him.

So, he offers Nifty and Husk some modifications to their contracts. Specifically, he gives each of them a lot more of his power and a lot more freedom to do as they will (basically, he can't order them to fight for him), with the "catch" that he can take the extra power back whenever he wants or if their contracts are broken, plus they can't talk about the deal or why it happened. It's an obvious win for both of them, so they do it.

Leading up to the fight, Alastor lets Charlie know he'll be calling in his favor: he simply has to do his radio show on time today, and he'd appreciate it if she could make sure he makes it no matter what happens.

Cut to whatever battle happens. Alastor pops up, the villain gives some kind of dramatic monologue about how their precious little puppet will destroy them all, reveals his chain to the horror of all, and commands him to attack with all he's got... Only for him to have jack.

He politely explains that, while he knows it's rude, he's "regifted" their power.

While Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, and Lucifer are still picking their jaws off the floor, this person starts wiping the floor with him and Husk and Nifty leap into action with suspiciously-familiar powers. And because Alastor signed them away, they aren't "his," so unless his mysterious benefactor knows exactly how to make him reclaim them, he won't take them back.

Then Charlie realizes that his "little favor" was a cute way of telling her to literally save his ass and get him away from the battle back to his (presumably somehow safer) radio tower.

[thetableshavetabled]

So I like your takes I was wondering what you thought about Jeremy's backstory?

All I really have to say about it is that if the only way you can build suspense is to deliberately and repeatedly withhold what the viewpoint character already knows then the story itself probably isn’t all that interesting.

[wisdomfish]

We are waiting for a moment when the machine speaks...

The first thing to note is that, if I am right about idolatry—namely, that it is an image which animates itself (through the agency of a demon to which it is bound)—then this is a wonderful description of what it is that we are making with AGI. Google and OpenAI are on the hunt for an image of the human mind which is not merely automaton, not merely a parlor trick, but which truly convinces us that it is human apart from any direct human input or prompting. Of course some hieratic ritual must first be undergone (called “training”) before the animation occurs; but once man has made the god, the god can move itself. The Turing test is, seen from this perspective, just the same as Psellus or Iamblichus describing statue animation: we are waiting for a moment when the machine speaks to us like a human but without humanity; it is the test of whether the “demon” is present, whether it “animates,” or, as the official OpenAI language has it, acts like an “agent.”

~ Robert Cotton

[orcinus-the-orca]

Whumptober Day 08: Sleep Deprivation | Isolation chamber | Forced to stay awake | “Leave the lights on”

Guess whaaaat, it's more Parlor Tricks! This was completely incidental, the stroke of luck kicking in for day 7. Just to let you all in on a little secret, I have ideas written for every day of Whumptober prompts save for a few (day 7 being one that didn't have any concrete ideas). This planning of mine is mostly the reason I'm continuing with Whumptober; they're just too good to pass up!

Okay, rambling over. Enjoy!

 Kaito was severely underprepared, and this time there was no pulling out. He really should have seen this coming, should have known that they would do anything if it meant they got what they wanted. His mistake was thinking that it would only be his life at risk. The truth was, the opposite was true.

 The woman with the voice, that horribly gentle voice, had come in and asked the same question. At that point, he had given up answering at all, learning that any answer but the one they wanted earned him a brutal reminder that he was awake; he was alive. His silence wasn’t taken lightly, either. The woman, touching him so gently and promising him it would be so much better if he just cooperated, had to pull away when he responded with a snap of his teeth. She didn’t even the decency to cry out, only snicker as she turned her back on him.

 “Why don’t we leave the lights on,” she said, her voice so very heavy and comforting. “Perhaps a change of perspective will convince you into good behavior.”

 The perspective turned out to be insanity, or at least the cusp of it. Kaito was very aware the risks of sleep deprivation, and he could feel the adverse affects. The room was empty, he knew that for a fact, but he swore he could hear someone shuffling in the corner. There was no evidence, no shadow (yet) but logic was fleeting. He began to question if he was really remembering right or if he had been awake for that long. Maybe if he could rest his eyes–

 BZZT.

 He stutters awake, limbs jerking as his brain struggles to coordinate. The culprit is the collar around his neck. It’s not electrical, it isn’t shocking him into wakefulness, but it does buzz violently when it detects he’s falling asleep. At least, that’s what he assumes. They never told him, had simply slipped it on and walked out.

 He needed an out. If he was having auditory hallucinations, then he was nearing the fourth stage if he wasn’t already there. He tried to recount what all the symptoms were for each stage, if only to gauge where he was at, but he was so tired. If he could just close his eyes for a minute.

 BZZT.

 “I GET IT!” He slammed his head into the wall, regretting it immediately when the room spun faster than before. Why were the lights so bright? Couldn’t they dampen them a little bit so his eyes wouldn’t hurt? Nooo, they had to make him feel sick. Make him feel miserable, as though his whole life weren’t already a train wreck. He lifts his head, still throbbing from the hit, to look at the camera in the corner. “I bet you think this is…this is…” 

 His head hits the floor, followed by the rest of him. He hopes the position won’t trigger the buzzing collar, hopes it’ll leave him alone so he can at least rest his neck. He needs to keep it together, needs to remind himself of reality, but it’s getting so very hard to focus. To think, even. Why is he even here? What is so important that they would torture him like this?

 Because you’re KID. Because you have what they want. Don’t let them have it. Don’t let his death be in vain.

 Wherever the thought comes from, he’s not sure. It’s not his, so he decides it’s probably KID’s. It makes sense, KID is meant to know how to escape these things. It’s him who prides himself in his ability to escape from anything. Maybe he should be here instead, since he’s so good at it. Kaito hasn’t done anything deserving of this.

 I do appreciate your hard work, Kuroba-san. Hold out a little longer, yeah? For Ol’ Pop’s sake.

 BZZT.

 “Do it yourself,” Kaito hisses, fingers pulling at the tightly wound collar. “You good for nothing–“

 What would Pop think?

 “Pops is dead! If he cared so much, he wouldn’t fu–“

 BZZT.

 “I’M AWAKE!”

 It’s not glamorous, I will admit. But you took this responsibility, everyone is counting on you. Even when the lights fade, keep your poker face.

 Never let them know you’ve stumbled.

 Time passes, he hears the door open. He opens his eyes.

 “How are we feeling?” Asks the woman, lips twisted into a wicked smile.

 KID smiles back. “How pleasant it is to see you again, Gila-san.”