#and by some I mean mostly Imperfect Animals

[joyfuladorable]

More art from Twitter! Still on that Rise sapphics train (I will never disembark)

[blindmagdalena]

Night Terrors

1.6k homelander x reader. established relationship. pure comfort fic. remaster of this old prompt. very mild spoilers for s4 if you squint. mostly just wanted to self-soothe with some comfort/cuddle fic. gif credit.

It's been decades since Homelander last stepped foot in The Bad Room, but when he wakes from a nightmare of it in your shared bed, it's as if he never left.

Most of the nights you spend with Homelander are peaceful. 

Tonight is not most nights.

The scream that wakes you from a dead sleep is guttural, barely human. Homelander is sitting upright, frenzied and wild-eyed, the ocean blue of them obscured by crimson glow. You're not even sure that he sees you through it when he looks at you. He's panting like he just ran a marathon, and the comforter is ripped cleanly in half, the two sides strewn on either side of him. "John," you call softly, reaching out to touch his arm, but he jerks away from your hand like you've burned him. "Don't fucking touch me," he hisses, wrapping his arms around himself. Sometimes he is small during these fits, curled in on himself, begging you to make it stop. Not tonight. Tonight he is another self, spitting rage and violence through remembered agony. A cornered animal. "I'll fucking kill you!" "John," you say again, pleading. You know he isn't talking to you. He's speaking to the ghosts of his past. "You're in our bed. You're with me. I would never hurt you. I love you, John." His name is a double-edged sword. It cuts clean through to something at the core of him in a way that “Homelander” doesn’t. Each use of it acts like a shock to his irregulated system.

You keep your hands outstretched, but you don't touch him. You show him that you aren't holding anything. Not a pen, not a notepad, not a needle. You show that you don't mean him any harm. 

God knows he's suffered enough. With the sound of your voice, the red glow of his eyes gradually dims, flickers, and then finally it goes out entirely. He's still panting, hands moving slowly down his arms, his torso, checking himself for injury. Though his body bears no scars of the pain he’s endured, his mind knows exactly where each one of them would be. Bit by bit, you watch him come back to himself. He looks around the room, taking in the evidence of your truth. Framed photos, décor, the life you’ve built together. It isn't a concrete dungeon. It isn’t a lab. It isn’t an incinerator. It's home. "Fuck," he says quietly, hiccupping the word into his palm. He says it again, louder, screwing his glassy eyes shut. The third time he says it, it's nearly a sob. It’s agony to wait, but you don’t touch him before he’s ready. You fist the bedsheets, you don’t stop talking. I’m here. I’m right here. I love you. You’re safe. You’re not sure if it’s minutes or seconds before he reaches for you. All you know is you act immediately. You move swiftly up on your knees, climbing over the ruined blankets to take him into your arms, pulling his head to rest against your chest, bringing his ear close to the beat of your heart. You hush him while you work to unstick the words from your throat, unable to help the tears that well in your eyes.

The fear and misery in him is so palpable, you nearly feel as if it’s your own. He wraps his arms around you without hesitation, pulling you to sit sideways in his lap as he weeps against you. It's taken a long time to reach this point. He used to swallow it back like bile, adamant for the longest time that you not see this side of him, this aspect of himself that he thinks ugly, imperfect, broken. You fought for this. As you hold him through these bone-deep sobs, it shatters you that it's taken him this long for him to find someone who would. "You're safe," you whisper, battling to keep the tears from your voice. "You're home. You're with me. You're safe. I love you so, so much." He rocks back and forth, choking on his sobs. “I could feel it,” he tells you, the words barely escaping the clench of his teeth. “It hurt. Every second of it, and they just–they all just watched.”

You close your eyes, tears rolling down your cheeks and disappearing into the softness of his hair. You kiss the crown of his head again and again, combing your fingers through his hair where it’s damp with sweat and your own tears. “You’re safe now,” you whisper, swallowing the lump in your throat. It isn’t enough, but these words and touches are all you have to offer him against the torment of his childhood.

His grip on you tightens. It wouldn’t take much for him to snap you in half.

That scare you? He’d asked you once. How easily I could break you?”

No, you admitted. It makes me appreciate how hard you try not to. It takes time for his breathing to even out. His hold softens, but he doesn't relinquish you. For as terrible as the nightmares are, it's the shame he experiences in the aftermath that often requires the most care. 

You rub firm circles on his back with one hand while cradling the back of his head with the other, trailing butterfly kisses along his temple, his forehead, down to his cheek. Any part of him you can reach, you kiss, murmuring quiet assurances in between, as if to imbue him with each word. Eventually, the rocking stops. He's breathing more steadily now, arms encircled firmly around your waist. He gives a shaking sigh. "Sorry," he whispers, voice strained. That's a word in his vocabulary that rarely comes up, but when it does, it is always drenched in shame. He hates himself for this. "Don't," you whisper, carding your fingers through his hair. You sniff back your tears, letting out a breath. "I asked for this. I begged you for this," you emphasize, earnest. You cup his face, angling him to look up at you. "Let me do this for you. Please. You have nothing to be ashamed of." He stares at you with large, watery blue eyes. The whites are red, strained by the force of his grief, his durability tested only by his own power. In his gaze you see damage done to him that may never heal, but your words settle over invisible scars like a soothing balm. It’s that very look of vulnerability that has driven you to this depth of love. You know his violence, his viciousness, but so too do you know the fragile man it protects.

Most of all, the scared boy beneath it all.

His grip on you flexes, his jaw clenched. The nature of your insight into him is both a blessing and a curse to him. He cannot hide from you. You know his shame, and despite how deeply he needs your compassion, your understanding, it’s something he has to bleed for every time. He’s perpetually torn between his desperation to be your perfect hero, and his soul-deep yearning to be safely vulnerable. 

If you have to, you'll spend the rest of your life convincing him that he can have both.

Finally, his shoulders sag. "I love you," he says, quietly defeated by your warmth. "I'll never hurt you. Ever." You recognize the plea in his words. He's terrified that someday it will be too much. You’ll see what everyone else sees, and your love will be tainted–destroyed–by your inevitable fear of him. You hope one day that he’ll understand why that will never happen. Someday the depths of your love will soak in as deep as the misery of his past, and he’ll be able to forgive himself for the human way his god’s heart bleeds. "I know. I know that.” You kiss the top of his head, still rubbing his back, taking your hand away only to swipe the tears from your face. “I love you, too. Every part of you."

Even the parts you hate. Gingerly, he lifts you just enough to lay you back down on the bed. He wastes no time cuddling back in against you, burrowing his face into the crook of your neck. The bedding is ruined, but he runs warm enough that you hardly notice the absence of cover while he’s holding you. Your legs tangle with his, bodies slotting together easily. He nuzzles as if he can worm his way closer than skin to skin. If you could, you’d open your ribcage to welcome him inside. He could eat your heart if it kept his beating another day.

"Will you... talk me to sleep?" He asks, threads of shame lingering in the request. The tension has drained away, leaving him vulnerable and exhausted. His blinks are slow, the curve of his lips mournful. "Of course," you whisper, smoothing your hand up and down his back. This isn’t the first time you’ve talked him back to sleep, and you doubt it’ll be the last. Sometimes you tell him the plot of a book as best you can recall, other times it's random anecdotes from your life. Sometimes it's complete nonsense. To him, it doesn't matter what you say. All that matters is that when he does finally drift back into sleep, it's your voice that safeguards him there. 

Gladly, he rests his head back down on your chest, closing his eyes with a rumbling sigh while your nails drag along his scalp. You cradle him there, savoring the warmth of him as it seeps into the marrow of your bones, the weight of him grounding you.

You tell him stories until sleep finds him. Even then, you continue to speak until your voice frays and you can no longer keep your eyes open. You speak and speak and speak hoping that somehow, in some small way, you can help make up for the years he spent with only his own voice for comfort.

[teaboot]

If you could pick 2 to 5 current animals to make a hybrid, what would you pick?

I would do platypus for most of the body, raven for wings and intelligence, peacock for coloring, and pigs for the noises because pig snorts make me laugh.

Asks are supposed to be fun, if you don't want to answer or take a while to answer that is perfectly fine. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

I have been thinking about this ALL DAY

My ideal animal to play God at making would HAVE TO BE:

Soft. Ideally pettable. Furry, but not like. Bristly or oily

Not stinky. Dogs always smell like foot, I'm sorry

Affectionate, but not clingy

Character-ful. Imperfect. TOO cute or sweet and we get into uncomfortable uncanny Valley territory.

Self-sufficient. Will it survive in it's natural habitat? Can it protect itself from stupid people? Needs some form of self-defense.

NOW, given these criteria I have chosen THESE CREACHURS :

MOLE

Mole fur sticks directly up from its body to minimize friction when digging forwards OR backwards. With the fur of the mole, THIS CREACHUR is PETTABLE IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

2. CRESTED AUKLET

For some godforsaken reason, the crested anklet is a bird which releases the smell of SWEET TANGERINES, a scent which I am personally fond of. THIS CREACHUR smells DELIGHTFUL.

3. DOMESTIC CAT

THIS CREACHUR is AFFECTIONATE TOWARDS HUMANS, but not so much that it's constantly trying to crawl up your ass. IDEAL SOCIAL COMPANION

4. SILKY ANTEATER

The silky anteater, like the platypus, is a SLIGHTLY FUCKED LITTLE GUY. Look at him. He's adorable, but not saccharine. He's approachable. Believable. Somewhat muppet-like. A real down-to-earth guy. An everyman sort of freak. A friend.

5. EMPEROR SCORPION

One of the more chill scorpions, the Emperor Scorpion is MILDLY VENOMOUS. By which I mean, like. Bee sting-level. You probably won't let your toddler goof around with one, but you could still feasibly keep one as a pet. THIS CREACHUR is SECURE

TO CONCLUDE:

We are looking at an affectionate, roughly kitten-sized animal with a cat's temperament and the fur of a mole, which smells of citrus fruits, is shaped like a silky anteater, and is able to deliver a first-painful, then mostly-just-itchy sting when threatened. Artist's render pending

[monstersinthecosmos]

Hi, completely agree with what you said here but it makes me very sad to think about it. As someone who imprinted on Armand at 12, Marius/Armand was my first ship in VC but I find it hard to ship them post Venice era, even though Blood Communion seems to suggest some positive developments in their relationship (Marius standing behind Armand during his argument with Benedict supporting Armand being his own person iirc?). Idk I want them to work their shit out but it’s still hard to imagine them putting their differences aside sans an apocalyptic scenario like in QotD.

And sometimes idk if Marius loves Armand enough to work on it. I know that the corner of tumblr that loves Marius (And I certainly understand the appeal of a complicated and polarizing character like him. Kudos to Anne for creating Marius!) likes to push the idea that the turning of Benji and Sybelle was mostly out of love (and to a varying extent depending on the person’s pov, due to Marius’ mental health issues) but how much was that love and how much was it ‘my pet needs to have pets so that he stays alive for ME’. Not saying these 2 motivations are mutually exclusive but I’m genuinely curious about your views.

I’m rambling but guess what I’m trying to say is, how much do you think Marius’ love for Armand is unselfish, whether in Venice, at the end of TVA or after Blood Communion?

Asdghjakl yeah I have really similar feelings about them as a ship! Like the Venice era is my favorite time period in the VC but modern/present-day Marius/Armand doesn’t really hit the same way for me because it’s just such a motherfuckin mess lol.

What I do want to say, though, is that we’re kind of dancing around a topic here that involves the inhumanity and inherent monstrosity of Marius, and while I tend to think “THEY’RE VAMPIRES” is a lazy approach to analysis, there’s a deeper version of it that’s relevant here.

What I mean is that Marius can love Armand truthfully, sincerely, unselfishly and STILL cause harm, and still love him imperfectly, and still cause problems. I think when we really wanna start dissecting Marius/Armand as a ship, and the Venice era as a whole, and whatever trauma it left on Armand vs Marius’s motivations/intentions/character morals, it’s important to remember that Marius was not human. 

I think a lot about like, when we say that Armand is a “pet”, or that Denis, Daniel, Benji, and Sybelle are Armand’s pets, there’s sort of a connotation or shorthand to TLDR that it’s their cute little human. But I think about like, for example!, my fucking cats! Like, when I think about ACTUAL pets IRL, um, I would fuckin die for my cats? They’re my lil babies? I love them so fully and with my entire fucking soul but they’re dumb little animals that live in my house and I take care of them and I don’t think they have a single thought in their fucking skulls. 

So when you think about like, a 1500 year old immortal night creature adopting a little human, he can love Armand with his ENTIRE being, and I believe he really really did, and it’s still “aww the cute lil human that I feed”. And Marius is unique amongst the vampires for how hard he tries to stay connected to the human world, and it’s still never enough, he’s still never quite there, so I have always believed he had the right intentions even if he fumbled it or did things that could cause harm. It’s not like, he’s a ~MONSTER~ in a scary way, but literally, he’s so removed from humanity that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. 

(Don’t let me get into a side essay here but it reminds me so much of like, imperfect boomer parenting, like looking at different generations’ parenting styles and realizing how much harm they caused, but most people aren’t intending to harm their children and just don’t know any better. Every generation will likely experience a form of this as we learn and grow and try to be better, but I find this really interesting for Marius specifically because of the age of the author!)

He was fifteen hundred years old when he met Armand. I think in a lot of ways he acted with good intentions that wound up causing a lot of harm. But it does a disservice to the story and to him as a character to only look at the outcome, without considering the universe he’s operating in. 

And idk like, where is the line between selfish and selfless love? Like, Marius is clearly a fucking mess at the beginning of TVA and didn’t take the news of Armand’s suicide very well. Is it selfish to do something drastic because he’s worried that Armand is still suicidal? Where does one end and the other begin? Especially with immortals like, is your own death a gift? Is it an act of kindness to save someone’s life instead of allowing them to check out? Idk idk! Grief is fucking messy, it can be both, but I don’t think it’s fair to characterize it as purely for himself. He even immediately fucks off to Norway in shame afterwards. I think I prefer to think he just wanted Armand to be happy and safe. By the end of the book they're still struggling to communicate with each other about religion, and in some ways I think Marius doesn't think Armand truly wanted to die, vs seeing a religious fit for what it is. So I'm not sure he sees Armand's suicide attempt as sincere, either, and maybe doesn't feel the need to respect his wish for death.  

I think a lot about the conversation Marius has with Armand after he turns Benji & Sybelle and realizes how bad he fucked up. 

"You loved them selflessly," he whispered. "For all their strange faults, and wild evil, they were not compromised for you. You loved them perhaps more respectfully than I... than I ever loved you." He seemed so amazed. I could only nod. I wasn't so sure he was right. My need for them had never been tested, but I didn't want to tell him so.

Even at 500 years old, Marius still doesn’t entirely understand Armand as a complete person. He doesn’t completely understand Armand’s needs, or the person he wants to be, or what his human companions were to him. I think it even starts when Armand is still alive, how Marius treats him like a silly little pet, like, Armand’s piety is a cute little quirk that Marius humors without ever truly respecting. It doesn’t occur to him that Benji & Sybelle aren’t just pets. And I think Marius being stuck in his trauma means he’s just perpetually trying to believe in himself and control everything around him, while Armand stuck in trauma means he’s constantly trying on different roles and figuring out who he is. 

(But FUCK ME, christ, “I wasn't so sure he was right. My need for them had never been tested, but I didn't want to tell him so.” this really fucks me up so bad, we have to keep talking about this another time because like, these two can NOT communicate with each other! They are useless with the barrier between them maybe they need to drink from each other more often and iron this out.)

Someone can do their best, and mean well, and still cause harm. Humans do this, too. I’m sure we’ve all been there. And Marius is a great example of vampires being stuck in the trauma of their turning—it doesn’t matter how wise he tries to be, he always comes back to the same trauma, over and over. Even the way he treats Armand in Venice is a direct result of Marius trying to fix his own trauma. And like, would therapy even work on a vampire, or are their brains stuck forever where they were? How much of their “changing” is just learning behavior, and learning to mask?

Because I think Marius 100% could do that for Armand. He loves Armand. Armand is his child. He was the first fledgling Marius ever made of his own will, after 1500 years! But I think canon left us off in a place where neither of them are quite there yet. Marius is in decent shape at the end of the series, I think—it feels like he’s made some huge strides in accepting himself and his nature, so I think there’s some potential! Armand also has to learn how to use his fuckin words a little bit better, which he’s never been good at, but I think the way he goes off on Lestat after keeping that inside for 200 years is a really great sign! 

I go back and forth about “does therapy even work on vampires” all the time, like, do they have neuroplasticity, are they capable of change, have we uncovered something in the PL Trilogy that could be a key to them functioning better and learning to change. I don’t really have an answer because canon doesn’t, it’s just a fun thing to think about, but it’s the best way that I can reconcile Marius’s intentions vs his actions, and how he somehow continues to make the same mistakes and never learns! 

Basically, I think it’s not helpful to ask if Marius loves him enough. He does! But loving someone doesn’t mean we magically know how to behave, and the qualities in Marius that cause him to behave selfishly are so deeply tied to his trauma, his control issues, his use of ego as a defense mechanism. And even in real life we can have boundaries and hold people accountable when they hurt us, even if it’s because of mental illness. We can have empathy and still have boundaries, and we can be hurt and still know when something wasn't personal. That feels kinda IRL and serious to frame vampire meta but like, Marius can love people and still fuck up, because he can’t help it, and I don’t think it’s a fair reading of the text to insist he’s a diabolical abuser because it just doesn’t really match his characterization otherwise. 

I hope he gets better! 

[docholligay]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is when I'm supposed to tell you about the weight of history and what it is to see the human experience of the human experience all collected into a large building, and how it being labyrinthine is a part of the art itself, giving one the feeling of the human journey, up and down and backwards and lost, always lost, but surrounded by beauty and blah blah I'm sure it would have been very evocative and I'm clever as shit or whatever but honestly one of my FAVORITE things to do in museums is play games with myself. I like to pick categories, and find things that fit them, and here's a sampler of what I found

Something I’d like to steal: 

This punch bowl could very possibly hold two gallons of my sangria in one go, which would enable me to be an even better hostess, not having to constantly be looking to see if the sangria needs to be refreshed with the jugs from the kitchen waiting in the wings. There’s such an intensely organic feel to it, I just think it would feel good to carry this. I feel like I always pick a serving piece for this category--I always spend a lot of time in the functional arts--but in fairness, that’s the things I like and also, it sounds very frivolous to say that I love throwing parties, but it’s a part of connecting with my community, and I think, in some way, serving them. Genuinely, I would love to host something like a Sailor Moon mixer or something if people could teleport in. That’s what I do for my congregation, is basically catering for the shabbat meal. Anyway, I would use the SHIT out of this for the Shabbat meal, and also for parties. 

Something that moved me:

This is The Angel of Death and the Sculptor, and I must have stared at it for five solid minutes. My mom was wondering what in the hell I was looking at, and it was hard to describe. There is something so beautiful about the way the young sculptor is caught by his wrist, in the middle of his art. It will ever be unfinished, but no less the beautiful for that imperfection. The look on his face, as I moved around the piece in the corner of the Parisian-style square set into the Met, that horror and knowledge all in one. The Angel of Death cannot look him in the eye. He does what she needs to do, and then moves on, but that in no way means that each work is wanted, and this is not the act of calling an ill old man home. He was scultping the sphinx! He was doing greatness! But that matters not at all, when Death comes to call. I thought about it a lot then, if I had been alone I might have sat there and written down every fool thought that came into my head, but I wasn’t, and so I moved on, but it was lovely, and I was really touched by it. 

Something I learned: 

I did not know this kind of multi-shelved thing made to hold mostly objects was called an étagère! I had seen them plenty in interiors, but hadn’t connected a name to them.

The ugliest thing i saw: 

This fucking??? “Display platter”??? So it’s a platter, but you can’t use it as a platter because you have the ugliest fuckign fish this side of Billy the Big Mouth Bass over here blocking every useful part of the platter, joined by his good friend why the fuck is there a crawdad desperately trying to escape this place, and several venomous snakes circling the place. This looks like something my beloved and very sexy wife would buy at a garage sale for 2 dollars and put up in the garage because I deemed it too ugly to hang by the dead animal skulls in our house.

[tyrantisterror]

While we’re on the subject of Billionaire superheroes, what are your top ten favorite Batman stories? And by that I mean your favorite Batman stories in which the character of Batman himself is the focus rather than one of his villains. I recall you stating that you usually gravitate more towards Batman’s rogues than to Batman himself, but that a few writers have managed to get you to do the opposite. I’m curious to know which stories those are!

So I think we should re-establish that while I have read some superhero comic books and consumed some superhero media, I am what comic book shop geeks would refer to as a "fake comic fan." I have barely scraped the surface of superhero comics, and even then mostly from only a few specific angles. You are asking a very filthy casual this question - you are not going to get any mind blowing answers. I haven't really felt inspired to dig into his comics very much beyond some surface level "top ten Batman stories for beginners" list stuff.

For Batman books, I like The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and the vampire elseworlds stuff a lot, which I'm pretty sure made the people who follow me that are actual Batman fans groan in dismay and disappointment. I've been told the first two are overrated and most people seem to dislike the vampire Batman stories. I love them, though, they're schlocky and fun. I like the Long Halloween/Dark Victory duology for having fun (if imperfect/slightly contrived) mysteries, emotional origins for Two-Face and Robin, and some really gorgeous art even if some of the design choices are a bit weird.

(If we include Batman spinoffs, I could cheat and say the Amanda Conner Harley Quinn run is my all-time favorite Batman comic, but I feel we all know that's not what your question was looking for.)

Beyond comics, I like Batman the Animated Series - though if I sat down and did a "top ten episodes" list it would almost certainly be ones that focused on the villains over Batman himself. I like the 60's Batman movie with Adam West - it's Batman focused and Batman himself is very enjoyable in it. I like the Lego Batman movie too, and Holy Musical B@tman.

Honestly, I guess what makes Batman work for me is either when he's more a supporting character/part of the ensemble in a story rather than the central focus, and/or when he's played primarily for humor. The sillier Batman is, the more I enjoy focusing on him, and the more serious he is, the more I prefer him to be, you know, just one of several characters we're focused on - either splitting the "main character" role with the villain of the week or, like, the Justice League.

[puddleorganism]

Oh god I think I just realized why ai generated images work. It’s our own weird ass monkey brains being uses against us.

Like, we all already know the brain fills in the gaps in your perception automatically. Especially with sight. I think when you look at ai generated images your brain automatically does that - it smooths over the imperfections. Especially with photos, because they look real at first glance. The textures, the lighting, it just looks like a real photo so you don’t notice even glaring imperfections. Your brain is literally designed to fill in the gaps. To make it make sense.

Like, for instance, me and my friends were roasting some ai generated image scams (which you should do because it’s honestly good practice for learning how to see those imperfections), and I didn’t even notice the scale was wildly off until a friend pointed it out - for 15 minutes. I was looking at the image for 15 minutes and didn’t notice the focus of the image was completely out of scale with the background.

Anyway. If you want to learn to recognize the hallmarks of ai images (specifically the ones mimicking photos, ai generated art is different) I recommend looking real hard at some. Here are some thing I’ve noticed to be common, though*:

The decor of rooms tend to all be the same sort of style. I don’t know how to describe interior decorating but it’s all like. Mostly white, boxy furniture, lots of houseplants. Kind of like… rustic modern I think?? This could probably change if you put in specific prompts for the background though

Speaking of houseplants, those seem to be hard to do. The leaves tend to just kinda form a blob, and can be odd shapes. I’ve also seen them kind of bleed into the image? Like there was just a fuzzy smudge of green by the plant.

Repeating patterns seem to be tricky for ai. Things like tiles, keyboards, feathers, and sometimes bricks. They look mostly fine at a glance but if you zoom in they’re so janky

Similarly, flooring can be inconsistent. Like, the lines of floorboards can go behind something, and be a different pattern on the other side.

Framed pictures look indistinct or are just a solid block of color

Lighting! Sometimes it makes sense, but sometimes shadows just go a random direction regardless of light sources (eg. shadows are cast to the right, but there is a bright window behind the thing casting the shadow, so they should be moving forward). Also, I don’t think ai can do multiple light sources? Like, in real life you know that thing that shadows do where they duplicate if there’s multiple lights in a room? I’ve yet to see that.

Animals, especially mammals (ESPECIALLY cats) seem to be easy to make a good approximation of, but often aren’t anatomically accurate. Unfortunately, you need to know what they look like beforehand, and with so many ai images out there now looking it up is probably going to be hard. For example, birds species have pretty defined shapes for their wings and tail feathers, and if you know what those are it’s glaringly obvious when ai gets them wrong. I recommend looking at zoos’ social media, Wikipedia, other scientific articles, and older books (photo books, encyclopedias) if you want good references now.

It seems to usually do extremely smooth, but somewhat contrasted lighting. Which means bright light source, and often darker, defined shadows. (But not too dark? For some reason it has more contrast than usual, but not a whole lot)

Scale and perspective are often inconsistent. For instance with scale, a human might be too small compared to the background. With perspective it can be floorboards at a different angle to the wall, or like a cabinet could be flat against a wall when it looks like you should be able to see the top.

*note: these are my personal observations/patterns I’ve noticed, they’re not like a set rule book on what ai can and cannot do. They’re also liable to change, as ai is advancing very quickly.

[miasudare]

Ladies and Gentlemen the boi you have been waiting for!

(Please note that it's not rule 63, it's canon that pj is genderfluid and the second version is just to add color to the character)

Name: Paperjam (PJ/Jams/J-J) @7goodangel

Age: 18

Gender Fluid (any pronouns - he/him preferred)

He mostly grew up with his mom around. Since Error was still in school the time him and his twin Gradient born. But their dad always tried his best to be a part their life as much as possible. Pj always looks up to him. When he was 2 his brother Cil was born and he take the "older sibling" thing a little too serious. Even to this day she cares about Cil more than anyone. She is currently living with her father for 6 years. He doesn't like to talk about his mother.

PJ is known for being the extremely hot-headed, jerky and sassy student in the school. He can't stand people generally and is quite mean towards the newbies. Sometimes Fell or SF messes with them just to make them angry. But his lover Omni is always there if he gets a little bit too mad. If Omni isn't there her group will always make sure that the fight is settled. And since his "passion" for fights is very noticeable, you might see him around the faculty room a lot. It doesn't mean that they are bad at their classes ofc. I mean, your father works with these people of course you're gonna get free tutoring from them. You have to have good grades now.

He is the captain of the basketball team. He is pretty short when you compare her to her teammates. 1.70? (5.5) But that doesn't stop him from winning every game.

At lunch time if he is bored, he goes to the library to mess with his cousin Goth. Goth usually gives her his ancient legends books since PJ kinda likes dark magic and stories about it so she would leave him alone.

His room is messy. She has some classic posters on the wall, like the basketball team she likes, a very attractive lady, her favorite singers album cover etc. He has a corner filled with sports equipment and unused cloth materials.

☆She usually runs away from home at night to mess around with his friends. Error isn't happy about this at all.

☆They are usually mean but if they love you at one point, you'll see that they are quite sweet and relaxed.

☆She has a plush collection of everyone she knows. She likes to sew a lot like her father but is scared of anyone knowing this since this kind of hobby is quite ridiculous to others. He keeps the plushes in a chest.

☆He is allergic to feathers and Palette having a sparrow is not helping.

☆She has Atelophobia (fear of being imperfection). He wants to be best at everything and tries to be like his father. He wonders if she would be the next destroyer.

☆They like drawing too. They usually try to make animations by themselves. Then he gets frustrated and chokes a plushie.

☆He likes make up. Also pink stuff. And shiny stuff. With glitter and everything.

[ghost-kitty-cat]

Kane Headcanons! (Time to meet the unofficial yet at the same time official guardian/bodyguard of Dion and Bunny/Vasserva as he decided to call them...)

First Headcanon, I totally imagine Kane is the type of person who's like "Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" (but in Kane's case, instead of coffee, it's tea....)

Second Headcanon, (slightly also a Bunny and Dion Headcanon... but..) I totally imagine Bunny bought Kane and Dion quite a few "human" clothes (despite both Kane and Dion telling them it was unnecessary..) and they had a little fashion show when Bunny eventually got home…

Third Headcanon, (slightly connected to my Headcanon that Dion has a broken horn... but..) I imagine Kane has a bunch of cracks on him... (and I don't mean cuts... literal cracks...) we don't know how he got them... all we know is that he uses magic to hide them.... (it's possible he got the cracks from when he tried to protect Dion at one point... and he hides the cracks to make sure Dion doesn't feel bad and also because he's somewhat ashamed of them... cracks can somewhat symbolize "imperfection" or "weakness".....things i imagine Kane doesn't want to be associated with.... and that got depressing.... let's just move on!)

Fourth Headcanon, (slightly also a Bunny and Dion Headcanon… but..) I totally imagine Bunny has dragged Dion and Kane into taking some group photos (not to post, just photos for Bunny to keep of their new friends/roommates… I like to imagine Bunny is the type who hangs up their photos on a little bulletin board in their room…)

Fifth Headcanon, (slightly also a Dion Headcanon and slightly connected to my Headcanon that Dion has tried to keep a rat as a pet... but..) I totally imagine Kane is sorta the "protector" of the home/apartment while Bunny is at work and he has stopped Dion multiple times from bringing random animals into the home...

Sixth Headcanon, (slightly also a Dion Headcanon... but..) I don't know why but when I picture Dion and Kane, I like to imagine they both have long yet also Fluffy hair... (Bunny definitely has at least once style their hair for them...)

Seventh Headcanon, Kane definitely seems like the type who keeps a journal.. (maybe Bunny gave him the idea... also do we know where he keeps his journal?.. Nope.. I think that's mostly because he doesn't want Dion finding it...)

Eighth Headcanon, I definitely think Kane is the type of person who had to learn how to sew/knit because Dion kept accidentally ripping his own clothes...

Ninth Headcanon, I definitely think Kane his own little bubble/shield (but unlike Cyril's bubble/shield) Kane's bubble/shield isn't to keep people away, it's to hide his emotions... I imagine since Kane is a bodyguard and his "job" is to protect Dion that Kane hides his emotions so they don't interfere with the job... (I imagine though that despite his best efforts because of Dion and Bunny that the bubble/shield has began to crack.... it's not much though... but he has show a little more emotion... its just baby steps... annnd it got more depressing again, let's move on once more!..)

Tenth Headcanon, (slightly also a Bunny Headcanon... but..) Kane definitely has a quite few friendship bracelets now because of Bunny (and he treasures the bracelets though he probably wouldn't say that out loud..)

[shallliveoninsong]

◇ Alright, I keep putting this off and I know I'll keep doing so until I force myself so here we are my thoughts and criticisms of Penacony as a whole. Spoilers for content from 2.0 to now are below.

Overall I enjoyed playing it. It was not by any means a bad part of the game. The new puzzles were interesting even if some of them frustrated me, they were something new and neat. The theming and setting were great, (hello hospitality industry rep thank you). The maps were far more varied and bigger yet didn't feel empty, there were tons of things to explore in each but not to the point of it being tedious padding. It felt like there was love and interesting details in every set piece. The trippy dreamscape parts of the were very neat too.

But overall I'm just kinda left... feeling like Penacony didn't live up to it's own potential. 2.0 and 2.1 set up so many things, they introduced a shit ton of new characters and it was great, it felt like it was creating this elaborate chess game between all the different factions that were there- the Express, the different branches of the Family, Sparkle/the Masked Fools, Acheron, the IPC, Firefly/the Stelleron hunters, and the mystery of the old Nameless.

And yet in the end, barely any of this was explored past a relatively surface level for some and just a few cutscenes for others telling us stuff but in an exposition dump.

It feels frustrating because I know how great it could have been if everything was given more time to breathe and we actually got to know the characters and grow to care about them in their debut. What confounds me is that they really did this well for the most part with Aventurine, 2.1 was honestly the Aventurine Update ™ and while I have some criticisms that it got a bit exposition-dumpy at parts and didn't loop back together to the main plot and with what the rest of the characters were doing at least it made me care? I got to know him beyond just a few things? So with how much time they put into that I don't think I'm wrong in having expected them to have done that with everyone?? Especially with the new POV change segments. It gives us an opportunity to explore characters deeper without the Express crew being involved. But sans Aventurine whenever we did a POV switch was mostly to just walk around and talk to some people and not any actual gameplay (combat OR puzzles).

There are so many more questions about Acheron, Gallager, Misha, Sunday, Robin, and the rest of the family and yet? We just don't really get much that's not vague or only lightly explored.

And sure, there is also the extended content (animated shorts, character trailers etc) and while I DO watch those and follow the star rail socials you shouldn't have to in order to care about the characters. They should make their splash in their debut of the game, not a word of god making you care about them only post-mortem.

I DO like the message and themes it seems like it was trying to say, how yes life is imperfect and full of pain but blindly existing in a sweet dream isn't the answer, people need freedom to truly experience life. And that it's not that nothing we do matters, it's the meaning we make from it even if we are all going to die one day/get engulfed by the nihility. The trailblazing journey never-ending is also was a nice theme.

But again both of these are moreso just told to us after the fact. The 3 Trailblazers are only brought up again in the update before the last one and aside from Mikhal we really didn't get to know what they were like all that much. At least the guard guy Acheron was doing the favor for we got a bit more of but the lady researcher we only got that one NPC who looked up to her talking about her and that's it. So it lessens the impact of seeing Misha pass on and Gallager's goodbye too. Because we never got to truly know these people before their stories were being wrapped up in a bow real quick.

Obligatory I'm sure the game industry has a lot to do with why the final product came out the way it did so of course I'm not going to just say I think the story ended up like this because of laziness or anything, but it just makes me sad for what could have been. The sad goodbyes could have hit so much harder, the hopeful message of the future however imperfect it may be could have been more uplifting, I could have been really worried for everyone making it out alive but for me anyway, it was lacking a lot.

This isn't to say Belebog or Luofu arc was perfect of course, they had their own issues too but they felt like they had far more cohesion and steadiness throughout than Penacony did.

If Penacony had been treated more as a fun romp through the Dreamscape I think I wouldn't have as much disappointment, but it wasn't? It was treated as this big event that could impact the whole universe? It really seemed like Black Swan and Acheron were going to have pivotal roles in shattering the utopia the Family were trying to keep but we really don't even see most of the Family?

Again, a lot of this could have been fixed by just... letting things breathe more? Giving more time to characters and fewer exposition dumps. Like I felt more emotions during the Drinkmaker event story with Sioban even though that plotline was far more straightforward it gave time to all the monsters and Sioban to get to really connect with them.

But ye, I have other gripes but also other praises but I need to stop this ramble at some point so here it is.

[starrygazingpie]

For the reverse opinion ask, how about kingdom hearts 3 or the 90s Trigun anime? :3c

i enjoy talking about things i adore so let's do both kh3 - i actually did a replay literally last week. i LOVE the combat and exploration. it feels so good to play that game and the worlds are big and bright. and the combat is smooth as hell and satisfying. (when you really get into the flow of combat, it feels like how good it felt to finally beat the lingering will and understand the flow of the battle)

I'm not gonna mention the stuff i don't like about the endgame but i do mostly like the endgame! it felt good to finally start tying threads together and getting those emotional reunions of the characters. alongside some great as hell boss battles- it's cool to see how familiar bosses from the old games (and their fantastic music) get updated to the kh3 system.

i felt like the re:mind dlc with the pov shifts and the playable kairi hit so GOOD.

90s trigun anime - another imperfect thing i love so SO much. i honestly still rec it to pals i drag into trigun bc it gets the ambiance right. and it's also this great slow build into the mysteries that allows for a bit of a slow burn rather than tristamp/trimax dunking you right in immediately.

it gives the world of no man's land time to breathe. and you get to spend a lot of time with the side characters and background folks- and that really just gives so much life and light to trigun in a way i genuinely adore.

i also love the balance of the polygun quartet here- the girls get more time to shine, and like. once nick is introduced to balance the quartet out, they genuinely become one of my favorite group dynamics of all time. this specific dynamic is what made me go from "yeah i mean people keep telling me to get into trigun but i keep dropping it one episode in because mehhh" to well. (gestures to my blog for the last year)

also the donut scene is genuinely one of my personal favorite depictions of grief.

[sunfish999]

The nitty gritty is watering down katara's character so she's just a meek girl ? Your lying If you really think that's the same character. The producers said they would take an axe to the main characters and that's where the show really suffers...also nothing is perfect people like you is why we get stuck with mediocrity

?? I finished episode 5 but what😭 how is katara just a meek girl, i feel like yes she has a little less rage but other than that she shows that shes smart and powerful and her own person? Explain what is watered down i feel like animation usually over-exaggerates facial expressions and voices for the most part, so i’m not surprised that katara has more subtle strength so far, and also the actress has a very kind face, but i think shes still able to show some of that anger. (I havent watched the water master fight yet so maybe thats where you’re talking about, so i cant speak on that)

Idk what taking an axe to the main characters means (like really cutting them apart? Cuz i doubt they would promote a show by saying its gonna be bad but who knows). But i feel like the characters are all pretty accurate with how they carry themselves, of course they’re younger so acting wont be perfect but i think the imperfections are what brings them to life. I know a lot of people hate the writing, i feel like it’s quite similar to the show? (Though its been maybe 3-4 years since i last rewatched it) and some lines especially from something previously animated are gonna sound awkward in real life, which is why generally i believe live actions arent necessary for any animation, though in this case i’m really enjoying just rewatching atla and my childhood be brought to life.

Nothing is perfect: ok i was using perfect mostly because i was very excited about it, of course i know theres things that could be changed to improve it but a lot of those things are impossible (like you cant get an actress thats EXACTLY katara and will make everyone happy, because shes a drawing) but overall, i think the landscapes come close to perfect (i’m just really into fantasy scenes and i think it’s so beautiful and impressive to see things like the omashu supply rail and the air temple come to life. And zuko’s boat looks so awesome and so accurate too.) And i thought the cgi looked slightly silly at first (especially air) but then i realized that we were always seeing drawings of aangs air in the animation which would look even stupider irl so i made my peace pretty quickly.

People like me is why we get stuck with mediocrity… hm. I feel like my opinion probably has nothing to do with what comes out on tv, especially because in this society haters have the real power, and you guys tearing it down are more likely to get it cancelled. I don’t think any production team takes an animated film or show and thinks ‘yea im gonna make this absolutely awful,’ (though i’m really not sure what they were thinking when making the pjo movie, its good as a standalone but they went so off course from the plot…) of course they’re all just trying to fit what they think into the show and express their own opinions, which are ultimately going to be a lot different than some people watching it.

Overall, ok i haven’t watched the og in years, so my memory on comparing each episode of the show to the live action is not going to be at the level of others (which i think boosts the enjoyability 100x over). But as i watch it, i remember tons of parts of the animation, and it makes me super happy that it has the same air as the show, albeit slightly more serious because they can’t fit all the funny filler episodes (if they ever created a live action lost appa episode i would lose it that cannot happen).

Maybe i sounded rude in my original post (i changed it quickly bc it was very angry at first lol) so sorry i know you’re all entitled to your opinion, it’s just i was SO EXCITED and then checked the tag on tumblr only to see that everyone hated it… i always feel inferior to people who really like films etc because i tend to enjoy things that other people hate, (like i really enjoyed the avatar way of water movie even if it was super long, and i know people DESPISED it). So maybe i seem like someone who is satisfied with mediocrity, and maybe i am, i focus mostly on the backgrounds and beauty of movies because im really into art and much less on acting and script (though i can appreciate beautiful characters, i was Blown Away by live action suki and hair down sokka my jaw dropped fr) i agree i am fairly simple to please in terms of this type of thing.

SORRY THIS IS GETTING QUITE LONG IM SURE U WONT READ IT ALL but i hope ur finding joy in life since live action atla is obviously not doing it for u

[darthchic]

It’s literally been years since I’ve posted anything TMNT related on here (mostly I just come on here to lurk… That’s such a great word…)

But I have now seen TMNT: Mutant Mayhem and I wanted to jot down my thoughts before I forget, cause I freakin’ LOVED it!

- first off, loved the animation, it was hideously beautiful, an imperfect beauty. I mean, the style is supposed to look like a teenager’s messy scribbles, right? And it does.

- Did anyone else get ‘Stranger Things’ vibes from the background music at times? Guess they wanted to inject a little 80s/90s flavour. Understandable.

- Most people seem to have a favourite turtle and mine is still Leo. I’ve not consumed every iteration of the turtles, especially not the comics, but for everything I’ve seen, he’s always consistently won my heart. He’s just such a GOOD BOI! My blue lame-o dork (said with much affection)

- I was just awwwing away during that scene where they were watching ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. For me, it’s really the first time a version of the turtles really hammered in the longing the boys have to be a part of the human world and be normal teenagers. And seeing Leo notice a couple snuggling together and clearly wanting something like that himself? My boy just wants some romance dagnabbit!

- They added another element of sentimentality into Splinter’s backstory. Establishing that as a common rat, humans didn’t like him, and not many other animals liked him either. And then he finds these baby turtles who just love him unconditionally from the start? You can kinda see why he’s overprotective and a tad clingy. And when all those people made him drop his babies on the street, and Mikey onto the road in front of incoming traffic, it was a very “HOW DARE YOU” moment for me.

- April was a pretty cool character, I liked that she could relate to the turtles’ goal of wanting to achieve something great in order to be accepted. Throwing up in front of your school would be hard for a teen to live down. Poor Puke Girl. But I also liked that April kinda realises, at least from my point of view, that even though she went through something humiliating, it really doesn’t compare to what the turtles have to deal with. Maybe she even realised that she takes what she has for granted? So, I love that by the end, she was more focused on helping the turtles find acceptance rather than trying to help herself.

- Then the same could be said for the turtles. They still wanted to be heroes, even if that doesn’t guarantee they’ll be accepted by humans. It was so cute seeing Leo hype up his bros; I think the music for this scene is called “Better Than Mark Ruffalo”, and I had to go find it to listen to it again, cause it puts a smile on my face. Plus, Raph is able to tip over a van with his bare hands. Do they all have super strength or is this just the awesome power of Raph’s rage?

- Can I say, I was kinda shocked that SuperFly was allowed to say things like “Piss me off” in a PG rated movie? I’m so used to PG movies being extra kiddie-proof, where even words like *gasp* God and “kill” are seen as baaaaaaad words

- It’s kinda amusing to me that only poor Mikey and Raph got their blood sucked by the ‘Milking Machine’ and Leo and Donnie got off scot free. Though they did all get electrocuted several times before that.

- Also, Cynthia Utrom, is she gonna reveal that she’s really a tiny alien in a robot body some time down the road, or is this gonna be a red herring?

- I think the all-star cast they had for all the extra mutants (minus Ice Cube as SuperFly) was kinda wasted a little bit, but if they’re brought back for the sequel and the series then I’m assuming they’ll get a bit more attention.

- Seeing the turtles going to school was such a sweet new take, I imagine there’s probably a few fanfic authors out there screeching

- As for any romantic subplots, I don’t think people are gonna be as bothered by Leo’s crush on April as they were by Donnie’s crush in the 2012 series. But, we’ll see how the series deals with it going forward, especially if they decide to re-introduce Casey. Please not another love triangle! Does anyone even like those things anymore!?

- And uh, Splinter’s ‘relationship’ with Scumbug? Well, at least he’s happy…

- And last but not least, the reveal of Shredder at the end of the mid credits scene... Why is he connected to TCRI? Will the Foot Clan still exist? Is Shredder really just gonna be some bounty hunter for TCRI? Cause I feel Shredder always needs a much grander role, or a more personal vendetta with the turtles, and seemingly with Splinter no longer being Hamato Yoshi or having any connection with that character, I wonder where they’re going with this version of the Shredder?

[colorisbyshe]

im officially sick (not covid but still) AND my copy of crisis core reunion was delayed and isn’t coming til next week

i am at the fucking BRINK!!!!!!!!!!!!

but other updates on my life... going through my old music is fun, some thoughts are:

i should’ve been shot in the streets for my edgy music phase (mostly hollywood undead and *** which i do genuinely regreT)

very frustrating that whenever i find old emo/pop punk music, i do google “band name accused” just to make sure none of them were abusers

likewise when i find old metal/industrial i do google “band name fascist” and similar. luckily none so far but i feel SO aware of how many groups have dogshit politics

that said the music on the hard drive is mostly from 2004-2009. in 2006-2008 it seems like i mostly listened to rave, screamo, and anime theme songs. some of it great... some of it sounds like ass. a lot of it is decent tbut is just... too loud for me at my advanced age. 14 year old me was built different

i can sing along to 50% of songs, nearly perfectly

i got jumpscared by opening a gackt song that apparently just came with a random picture of him... i can’t tell if it was just one bad photo but christ alive... no.

i have ever single remix possible of hide & seek by imogen heap... like... dozens of them. why did everyone want a club mix of fucking hide and seek???????

you know that post that’s like “we will become nostalgic for hte imperfections in old media? the static on old tvs, the limitations of vinyl” or whatever??? i kinda feel that with old ripped music. like i DO prefer the cleaner official versions i find on apple but... idk... i listen to the crinkly, MQ versions i found on limewire and it just... feels like home my dudes

bring back silly ddr music but make it mainstream.

i was into kpop WAAAAAAAAAAAY earlier than i remmber?? i apparently was super into a 90s dude who ended up getting banned from korea for draft dodging... king (his music is not good tho)

the pop punk “revival” that happened with like MGK, Willow, yungblud, and all that is even worse now that i am in the think of old pop punk. like old pop punk wasn’t even that good but it had EDGE! it wasn’t overly produced. it also wasn’t really meant to be radio friendly which made it so much better

and my final thought is... i have some music on this hard drive that you literally cannot find anywhere else. like the links arae dead, they’re not on streaming, the groups are disbanded. piracy really IS archival work. that said... that just made me feel very bad because i’m deleting a lot of the music i do not like. which means... instead of uploading them somewhere to ACTUALYL do the archival work... i am just taking one of hte few remaining copies and sending htem into the ether. whoops

anyways can someone please blow my nose for me i feel so GROSS

[klwl-truck]

2, 7, 9, 21, 25!! You can pick either kny or Haikyuu for this idm :))

I picked kny for this one, since I don’t talk about it as much 😁👍

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

It’s hard to think of characters that I genuinely dislike in kny, since I can appreciate all of them, but I’d have to say it’s Douma for me. Idk I felt like he was over hyped, I never really liked him that much anyways and the way the fandom absolutely eviscerated his characterization dug his grave for me (SPECIFICALLY HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH AKAZA, DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HOW THE FANDOM FUCKED THAT UP).

9. worst part of canon

Oooh this one’s a hard one, since I like the canon story of demon slayer a lot. But i think it’d have to be the way the characters felt a little,, shallow at times?? A lot of it was just fight after fight after fight and we don’t see much about a lot of characters besides one little exposition piece in the middle of one. I mean hell, a LOT of the info we get about characters isn’t from the main manga itself but from fanbooks made by the creator, so I’ve seen it can be hard for people who aren’t big fans of the show to get what I think can be pretty important information. This is mostly me saying that I wish we got more about each of the pillars individually, since some got a shit ton of backstory and exposition while others (cough himejima cough) got basically a conversation and that’s it.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

I genuinely can’t think of anything besides maybe the animation on the part of the anime-only fandom?? And maybe mugen train (not saying it’s a bad arc, it’s just insanely overhyped oh my god)

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Oh my god I am so sick of hearing about the animation from inside and outside of the fandom. SICK. It’s either overhyped to the moon and back (sometimes for good reason I’ll give them that, the animation is good) OR it’s treated like the worst animation in the fucking world. ITS GOOD. ITS FINE. STOP COMPLAINING. NOTHING IS EVER ENOUGH FOR YOU PEOPLE SOMETIMES. They say it’s the best in anime history, but then there’s barely noticeable fish monster cgi and they think it’s the worst animation on the planet (we have the berserk anime, this ain’t nothing compared to that PLEASE). They just don’t stop complaining about every little imperfection in the animation, as if those animators aren’t likely living off a corn chip and diet soda and working 25 hours a day just to meet deadlines, like cmon you people need to be fucking nicer even when you don’t like something. (my point is, sometimes it’s good to shut up 😄)

[the-haunted-office]

✂️ I offer Alice to Sept for some of the death angst, she hasn’t gotten her fair share recently

So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. You don't care whether you live or die… so long as your friends are safe.

[Yes] [NO]

The ruined soul watches from beyond the grave she was never given, through the computer screen, on the other side of it, from a place neither here nor there, in a place that's In Between.

The prompt she has provided to the young woman known as Alice Graves will be the difference between death, and another death. Alice Graves is a ghost, Employee #432 knows this, but so is she, and she's a lot more alive now than she ever was while living. However, it seems one of her ghostly kin has chosen to act like even her death is over, like her life in death means nothing, and so 432 means to teach her a lesson. Even if it's mostly out of spite.

"Yes" has been chosen as the response. And that's all the signal needed.

(The rest is under a cut due to violence and horror and gore!)

As an incorporeal being, it's actually quite difficult to hold one's energies together. It's like pouring water out of a glass. Remove the container, the vessel, and the liquid cannot hold itself together - it runs out everywhere and disburses. A soul without a body is like that, especially a shattered soul without a body. Those can never truly hold their form again, not permanently, and not without a lot of effort on their part.

Bonding with other shattered souls makes holding a form easier, if not imperfect. Some ghosts - like Ghostday - are able to hold a more solid, singular shape through their own means. Ghostday has done this by merging with her own soul from so many timelines, she is able to present her own image.

432, on the other hand, has merged with seventeen other individual shattered souls, none of them her own. Several non-human.

As a result, her form is less human and far more alien in appearance.

Through the computer monitor on which Alice had just signed her death warrant, a face appears.

A human face, at first glance, but that's only until you spend longer than half a second looking at it, and then you realize that it's still human but in such deplorable condition it doesn't look human anymore.

The eyes are missing, first and foremost. In place of the eyes are empty sockets emitting an eerie yellow glow, beaming out like the headlights of a car. The nose is also missing, reduced to the skeletal remains and empty nasal cavity behind where the soft flesh would normally be on display. The teeth are thankfully normal, the ones that remain, anyway. The rest of the mouth is filled with gaps and dangling rotting bits of what surely used to be muscles, ligaments, and other living tissues, all now dead and pulling away from the rest of the structure in a grim parting of ways.

The face seems to grin as it pushes through the surface of the monitor but doesn't shatter it, and more follows.

Attached to the face is a mass of unidentifiable blackish, semi-translucent material, in which can be seen all manner of things grotesque enough to make one lose their most recent meal. Various organs, not attached to anything, are floating around. Teeth. Eyes. They swivel and spin, as if searching, and when they spot Alice they lock onto her, not letting her out of their sight from that moment forward.

Limbs also follow. Many limbs. Several of them not human. At least thirteen human arms pull the rest of the form through the monitor, where the additional limbs all cater to the whole, propping her up and simply towering over Alice. Her head bumps into the ceiling and two pairs of what look like the arms of a backhoe each tipped in dagger-length green claws rip it out of the way in a fury.

Torn and shredded bat-like wings tear themselves out of what is presumably her back, springing open into a ten-foot wingspan, knocking over anything in their path.

And faces. More faces. Some human, some animal. Pushing themselves outwards and staring around, dead-eyed but somehow still alive.

The floor seems to tremble in the presence of what is now 432.

And if Alice isn't trembling yet, she will be shortly once she gets her claws on her.

Which she does immediately.

The backhoe-like arms dive forward, seizing the other ghost by the shoulders and latching on in a grip of iron.

There is no escaping now.

What is apparently the "main" face - the first one that emerged from the monitor - leans in closer to Alice, breathing putrid puffs of decaying air directly into her very normal human face, and what comes out of the mouth is not one voice, but many. Different depths, different tones, different inflections. All speaking over one another with all the harmony of a blender full of screwdrivers while the mouth itself doesn't move.

"Be careful what you wish for, Alice Graves," is the one and only thing the being known as 432 says before pulling Alice apart by the shoulders like a Potato Head doll.

Her shoulders don't so much pop out of place as they do tear, severing them from her torso in two very unclean breaks. They're then tossed aside like a couple of sticks snapped off a log before the monstrous arms go in for more, a few of the others joining in. The young woman's body is relieved of her legs next, in the same manner as her arms. All the arms join in for taking care of the rest in between, gouging haphazard shapes and holes out of their chosen canvas.

Any screams and cries from the younger ghost are ignored and do nothing to abate the process.

It's clear from the way 432 makes quick work of disassembling Alice Graves that she's not in it for the pain or pleasure of it, or even out of any kind of necessity like sustenance or survival like the ways of wild beasts, but rather for proving a point.

That she can tear you down in more ways than one.

Before too long all that's left is a mess of what used to be a human, and a mess of what used to be a human. One torn apart and reassembled into something new; the other torn apart and left disassembled upon the floor, desks, walls, and even the ceiling. Walls that were just scrubbed clean of their previous scars and repainted, decorated now with speckles of red and pink and gray, the remains of Alice Graves.