#anton arcane

[nerds-yearbook]

Swamp Thing (Alec Holland version) first appeared in Swamp Thing 1, cover date November, 1972. The origin issue also introduced Matt Cable, Linda Holland, Anton Arcane and his Un-Men, Mr. E, Louisiana Blue, Bruno and the dog Mutt. They were created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. ("Dark Genesis", Swamp Thing 1, DC Comic Event)

[bitsofbats]

DC vs. Vampires #2, 2022 James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg, and Otto Schmidt

[90ssuperheroes]

Mark Lindsay Chapman, as Dr. Arcane, gave off a real Duran Duran vibe in Swamp Thing (1990)

[bitchycatwizard]

The SPECTRE AU-Year 1- The ABC’s of Villains

(Teaser)

I will let you take a look into the super secret archeives of SPECTRE the files that tell the stories of their first year as a Superhero Organization.

These files will tell you about all the battles and all the villains they faced, in alphabetical order.

These will function as teaser’s for the future stories.

(The Addendums will be the most telling)

If you like what I’m doing.

Tell me!

Reblog, Like, Comment, send Frogs or Gif’s of The Muppets!!!

[scapeghoastgoatstoghost]

re-watched Batman and Harley Quinn a few months after having watched the old Swamp Thing movies and i think the scene where Plant Man and Poison Ivy eat a piece of vegetation that had been part of Swamp Things body to connect to The Green hast to be a reference to the part in Return of Swamp Thing where Swamp Thing and Abby Arcane eat something grown from Swamp Thing to have a hallucinogenic "sexual" experience together

[blacjaq1]

[sebeth]

Who's Who In The DC Universe #1: Arak, Arcane, Arion

Arak, Son of Thunder by Ernie Colon

Arak Red-Hand (Bright-Sky-Alter-Storm) was a shaman of the Quontauka tribe.

He was taken by the Vikings to medieval Europe (8th Century) where he journeyed with his captors until settling out on his own

Arak battled in the defense of the court of Carolus Magnus (aka Charlemagne) in central Europe

He was slain in battle and his spirit rose to meet He-No, the Quontauka’s God of Thunder, a spirit-being who is also his father

Resurrected on earth, Arak is now a “mystical shaman surviving in a world only beginning to understand science.

I have not read any appearances of Arak. A quick google search indicates the Quontauka tribe is a creation of DC Comics. Hé-no is a thunder spirit of the Iroquois and Seneca people. The Iroquois and Seneca tribes were in New York and Pennsylvania so it would make sense for the fictional Quontauka to be in the same area.

Arak is an example of the differences between pre-Crisis DC and Marvel. Marvel remained firmly in the “superhero/villain” lanes with a small subset of horror and comics. DC went all over the place with their creations and concepts. Marvel sold more but DC was the true “House of Ideas”.

Arcane by Steve Bissette & John Tottleben

Scientist/Alchemist Anton Arcane discovered the secret of immortality.

His body had grown too old to take advantage of immortality so he sought to create an artificial body to house his spirit.

The Un-Men were the result of these experiments, “misshapen but incredibly loyal creatures, who would assist their master in his quest for an alternate body.

The quest resulted in a confrontation with Swamp Thing that ended with Arcane falling to his death.

The Un-Men “repaired” Arcane’s broken body, transforming him into a hulking monstrosity.

Arcane went Round 2 with Swamp Thing and was left a disassembled corpse, buried in the Louisiana Bayou

The Un-Men resurrected Arcane as a half-human/half-insect cyborg.

Round 3 with Swamp Thing ended with Arcane’s physical form destroyed.

Arcane is now a disembodied spirit, imprisoned in the darkest reaches of Hell.

Anton Arcane is the uncle of Abigail Arcane, the love interest of Swamp Thing.

Arcane is a prime example of why you shouldn’t search for immortality. He’s one of the creepiest characters in the DC Universe. Body horror for everyone! Alan Moore began his run on Swamp Thing in 1983 (if you haven’t read Moore’s run, you should, it’s fantastic). Arcane makes his return in Moore’s run. I’m not sure if his return has happened before or after Who’s Who #1 was published. If it was before, DC could have omitted the details as Arcane’s return storyline was rather horrific for an all-ages publication. Poor, poor Abby.

I’m not sure if Arcane has made any non-Swamp Thing appearances but he’s guaranteed to play a role in the various Swamp Thing series and adaptations.

Arion, Lord of Atlantis by Jan Duursema

Arion’s base of operations is noted as “Civilization of Atlantis – 45,000 years ago

100,000 years “before the story of Arion began”, Calculha and Majistra had two children: Ari’ahn and Garn

Calculha followed the Light (magic) and raised Ari’ahn

Majistra, mistress of the Dark (magic), raised Garn

The brothers became mortal enemies

Majistra obtained the Twelve Crystals of the Zodiac

Majistra attempted to kill Calculha but Ari’ahn sacrificed himself to prevent his father’s death

Ari’ahn was turned into pure energy, becoming one with the crystals

Calculha sent what remained of his son to the stars

Garn was stripped of all color and learned to hate with all his soul (I’m guessing this a reference to magical abilities but it’s possible Garn became an albino in this confrontation)

Garn studied sorcery and became a master of it over the centuries (are the Light/Dark abilities different from magic?)

Garn threatened Atlantis as the great Ice Age began.

Calculha, from his self-imposed exile in the Darkworld dimension, brought his son, now called Arion, back from the heavens

Arion became the protector of Atlantis and battled his brother many times

When Frostfire, the Ice Queen, was held the captive of the Light, Arion sacrificed most of his magic to save her

He is now a mortal man with limited magical abilities

The only Arion appearances I’ve read were during the post-Crisis era when DC tried to connect Power Girl to Atlantis. DC wanted Superman to be the sole remaining Kryptonian in the aftermath of the Crisis of Infinite Earths. Supergirl was killed during the Crisis while Earth-2 Superman, Earth-2 Superman was exiled to a hidden dimension, etc. Both were erased from continuity and forgotten by the residents of the DC Universe. Power Girl remained in the continuity but needed a new origin. Instead of the obvious solution of making Power Girl a Daxamite, DC attached Karen to Atlantis, descended from Arion. I don’t remember the explanation for how Karen, now descended from a magical Atlantean bloodline, still had the Kryptonian power set. If I remember correctly, Arion reappeared when Kara mysteriously became pregnant by an unknown baby daddy. I don’t remember the details for that either. I do know there was fan speculation the father would be Hal Jordan and that would have been much more enjoyable than the garbage that was dished out. The early to mid 90’s were a tough time for Power Girl.

[vegaly-art]

If not for Marcus, they might have been together again... (My Love uses They/Them pronouns :P. As will all my different listener character designs when I get to them.)

[silverior968]

Did my take on the blorbo car redraw meme lolz (and an alternate version as well)

[Image IDs: The first image is a colored digital drawing of Anton Shudder from Skulduggery Pleasant, a muscular irish-east asian man with black hair and gray streaks, violet eyes and scars on his nose, hand and chest. His hair is long and he is leaning on his hand, looking spaced out. He is wearing a white button-up shirt and a black jacket. He's sitting in the passenger seat. Viktor Arcane, a thin white man with choppy brown hair and ochre eyes, is sitting in the backseat, holding his cane. He looks neutral and is wearing a brown button up shirt, a white vest and a red cravat. In the driver's seat is a human version of Ratchet from Transformers Prime. He's drawn as a white man in his early 50's, with choppy ginger hair that's mostly gone white, sideburns and a beard without a moustache. His eyes are cyan and he has several scars on his face. He's talking and looking at Anton. He's wearing a white and red jacket with reflective stripes. The car is black. Everyone is wearing their seatbelts. The second image is a doodle with colored lineart. The car is now an ambulance. Anton is sitting in the passenger seat with his arms crossed, looking befuddled. Viktor is peeking out from the back, also looking befuddled. Ratchet is no longer there as he is the car. / End ID]

[archive2394934]

So this is going to be a long, odd but maybe funny "question" for you; and since I can't talk to you via MP, this'll do. X)

I'm going to be very honest with you, I extremely dislike Henry Creel and the whole concept surrounding the character, in all of it's forms, whether it's 001 or Vecna. I don't think he's well written, I find him pretty lame & cliché and honestly quite dislikable both as a person and character. Stranger Things 4 is my least favorite season and I consider what's been done in it to have ruined many parts of the show. Yet all of it still weirdly compels me and it's hard ignoring & leaving something you loved and has been the meat your blog for some years now.

Yet I am finding myself in a situation, (not just with you, others that talk about the same things as you, which here is Henry Creel. XD), where I simultaneously agree with you yet I also disagree as well with some of the things I've seen since obviously I've seen some of your posts in my feed and others that are from this side of the fandom. X) It's quite strange to say the least.

And I have to admit I have a soft spot in fandoms for those who get outside the norm and see the show in a different way than most people, especially the GA. 👀 Including in a way different than me of course. ^^ (It's always nice to have a different perspective on things.) And like stuff that usually would get them heat as well. 😏 It's nice to have people who follow and stay with their own ideas and passions that go outside from what you would mostly see from most people. Have debates and exchange ideas or analyses that may or may not change our minds as well, etc etc...

There's however one thing I do agree with you & that I think would be great and solve some of the MANY mistakes, I think, The Duffers made in Season 4: it's your theories about how Henry/The MF & The Creel House are connected and what was truly happening. I do agree with you since it lines up with my thoughts and would bring the complexity that I think was lacking with the character, in my opinion, & would perhaps provide an interesting perspective with what has been going in & with the UD.

It would be too long to elaborate on it but I'm already working on posts about it.

I just wanted to say, I don't know if you already do do this but you should check the ST4 VSF movie inspos. Because they could be very interesting for you and your theories! Since of course they inspired S4 but probably previous seasons as well and is likely going to be used for S5 too.

I don't know how to finish this question but I do like JCB's acting though & he's quite cute too. :3 So that's a plus. 😏

Hi friend! I'm glad you like some of my posts and agree with some of my nonsense. I really liked your post with the DC/comic heroes and the Stranger things characters! I had to look twice when you had Vecna as Batman because that is such a good take and when a majority of this fandom is hell bent on misinterpreting him as a boring, one-dimensional monster who is the source of all evil despite that being completely false and not what canon ever told us, it was a surprise hdjfjdf. Honestly this fandom comes out with the craziest shit and then insists its canon and that they totally analyzed canon to get that take when so much of it is absolute garbage and directly conflicted and disproved by actual canon it literally gives me a fuckin migraine. ALSO while I'm here I think I forgot to add it to the post and I didn't realize till after you were probably going for just DC heroes-- and I really forgot to mention SWAMP THING? Like hello?? I'm gonna blame it on being half asleep but I can't believe I forgot to mention Swamp Thing because Swamp Thing was actually used as inspo to create Vecna as well!! I was meaning to make a post about it actually but this fandom burns me out with its ignorance. Not just its ignorance even but the way it insists its ignorance is actually knowledge and 'narrative awareness'. Absolute KILLS the man. So I'm just gonna info dumb about it here real quick bc this is hilarious and very significant. Swamp Thing as a character is the previously human avatar of "The Green" He was transformed into his demi-god self by "The Green" and he serves The Green which is an ethereal cosmic energy force that is actually portrayed as a massive hivemind. So ONCE AGAIN we have another character important to Vecna's creation and function who is a character who was once human, and was transformed by a powerful eldritch force and serves/is guided by that particular force. Better still, in the DC universe the concept of "The Green" isn't the only comic elemental force. Theres a few of them but in particular there is "The Black" or "The Rot" and this is INCREDIBLY similar to the Mindflayer and the way the presence of it rots and poisons anything it touches/infects. Not only that but the depiction of The Black in the comic is strikingly similar to the mindflayer and the way Henry fond it in the upside down.

I MEAN COME ON LOL. A storming black sky with red lighting hovering above a pit of decay. The scene is near identical.

Vecna is basically the "Swamp thing" of the stranger things universe except as the avatar of stranger things answer to the "The Black" rather than the green.

BUT YEAH. Thank you for taking the time to look at my posts. I promise I'm right about everything.

And as for the ST4 VSF movie inspos, no I actually haven't seen them-- I mean, I havent seen the "list" or its relation to ST/S4. I heard about it and tried to find it but I couldn't, sadly. When I thought I found it turned out the google doc with the list and the info was deleted :(! All the shit I come out with is stuff that I've picked up myself due to being a fan of it as well (Like IT, Hellraiser, HP lovecraft, Comic stuff, Dracula, Silent Hill, The Thing, Ledged, various mythology, etc) And due to a lot of these things being directly referenced through the actual show (Hence I consider them to be the most obvious and important references) but Id love to see the video list of other inspos if you have it!

[gavinsdeviant]

Okay, but can we all collectively agree that Viktor in Arcane is Anton in the Redactedverse?

Like the accent, the intelligence--

[cookinguptales]

Okay so now that I've had some time to digest and think about Late Night with the Devil, some thoughts.

Sorry in advance, this got really, REALLY long as I rambled about all-male secret societies, who and what was possessing whom throughout this movie, literal and metaphorical hauntings, how fame and fortune tempt us all to give up our humanity, and uh. Family youtubers.

I really enjoyed the film, but I do have to wonder, to start with, if other people will get all the allusions...? I didn't think about it until later when I was reading confused posts by other viewers, but I guess the film does kind of predicate on a lot of somewhat arcane knowledge. Like you can understand what's going on without it, but I do think you get a lot more enjoyment out of it if you have a good working understanding of, like, the Satanic Panic of the 70s, the parapsychology/esper craze, James Randi's whole thing, Anton LaVey, Waco, late night hosts like Johnny Carson, and of course the Bohemian Grove.

The Bohemian Grove is kind of... like, obviously a lot of the people making up conspiracy theories about that recently are alt-right assholes (see: Alex Jones), but it is very much a real thing. It's kind of a modern Masonic situation, imo, where you get these big groups of rich, influential men together and they do silly, juvenile vaguely pagan frat boy shit. It's edgelord stuff. But because they are secretive and they are powerful, people come up with all of these conspiracy theories about them.

(I mean lbr that's kind of the history of the occult in general, isn't it? lmao. People ask me if I was afraid when I was studying secret societies and occultism and it's like -- no, these were by and large just rich assholes fighting over headcanons about rituals that they made up based off of deeply faulty scholarship. But I digress.)

The fact of the matter, though, is even if the actual rituals and stuff are kind of silly, the main focus is really rich, powerful men meeting up with other rich, powerful men and networking like crazy. It does keep the rich rich, the powerful powerful, and political resources focused on men. Like the Masons, women aren't allowed in the Bohemian Grove -- and women in politics have bitterly criticized the way that they're being excluded from this kind of networking.

(God, it's so fratty. It's so fucking fratty.)

So in that respect, it is kind of something to be feared.

And... I do think you see that aspect of it reflected in Late Night with the Devil. The consolidation of power, the networking with shitty people, and the way that women are "sacrificed."

[massive spoilers for the entire film to follow!]

I do think I want to see this movie again to firm up some of my ideas, because I suspect that there are a lot of details that I missed the first time I watched this. (And I really should have watched the open captioned version of this; I couldn't understand a lot of what the demon was saying, rip.) But here are some initial thoughts.

The heart of this, obviously, is the demonic presence at the Grove and the way that men go there to sell their soul for power. In a very literal sense, that's what's happening in this film and it's what happened to Jack Delroy. He made a deal with a demon for fame, and that demon ended up taking everything from him to achieve that.

But... metaphorically speaking, it seems clear that Jack Delroy was very willing to make human sacrifices in his day-to-day life. He may have literally (and I think accidentally) sacrificed his wife's life to a demon at the Grove, but he very consciously and willingly sacrificed her for fame when she was alive, too. I mean... imagine having a spouse who is actively dying of cancer and making her make an appearance on your show two weeks before she passes. For ratings. Imagine how much it must have physically taxed her. Imagine how difficult it must have been for them both emotionally. It even could have hastened her death. But he was still willing to do all that for views. He sacrificed his wife, his home life, and his overall privacy for views.

(Family youtubers, anyone? 🙃)

He's also willing to sacrifice his girlfriend, his crew, his audience, and a little girl for ratings. Gus, his voice of reason. He was willing to humiliate him onstage and wouldn't let him go home when he was scared. His audience, whose trauma he was entirely willing to capitalize on through Christou's act. His gf, who I'd argue was probably using Lilly as well, was totally thrown to the wolves when he realized it'd make good television.

Like -- yes, there were supernatural forces at play. Supernatural forces claimed these lives. But Jack sure as shit wasn't being very careful with them, and these supernatural sacrifices always, always mirrored his mundane ones.

(I mean... he performed a human sacrifice of a little girl on national television while in a hallucination about using the sacrificial dagger on his dying wife. It wasn't subtle. lmao)

Moreover, the producers of the show were also very willing to put people in harm's way and capitalize on tragedy for ratings. So... there's a really unsubtle message here about fame and capitalism and the way it tempts you to sacrifice your humanity to get ahead.

(MAYBE LIKE UNDERMINING YOUR ARTISTIC INTEGRITY BY USING AI INSTEAD OF HIRING ARTISTS, IDK)

I'd in fact argue that pretty much everyone who got on that stage that night sacrificed their humanity a bit for fame, with the possible exception of Gus. Gus was the voice of reason, but I mean... he was still there. Maybe a message about how once you get in, you can't get out. :(

But yeah, Jack's obvious, but also Christou, who was willing to use people's trauma for fame. June, who was willing to use a little girl's incredible trauma to advertise for her new book. Carmichael, who got off on humiliating people just to make himself seem smart.

Like... they all started with a kernel of something good (wanting to help the grieving, wanting to help traumatized children, wanting to stop charlatans) but in the end, show biz turned all those urges into the most amoral, selfish, and cruel versions of themselves.

And all of those people crumbled when they were confronted with something real.

(Side note, our theater was in hysterics when Carmichael tried to offer the demon the check. lmao)

Truthfully, it felt like all of them had made their own individual deals with the devil years ago. Halloween 1977 was just the devil finally coming to take his due.

That's the main message of the movie, I think, but there are still some smaller details I want to talk about.

The Grove itself was an obvious allusion to the Bohemian Grove, which is a secret society of powerful men who meet amongst the redwoods in Northern California. Their mascot has always been an owl, which is why you repeatedly see the owl motif throughout the movie. (Happy Owl-ween, the owl mask, etc.)

Abrasax makes sense as a demon to choose (the strong historical associations with magic and demonology, the reoccurrences in many world religions (and occult groups), the role in Gnosticism, etc.) but there seem to be vibes of Stolas, an owl deity who communicates arcane knowledge to humans in exchange for their souls, as well. I noticed a lot of little allusions to Abrasax throughout the film even before Lilly started manifesting, like the movie being shown after the show being about Abrasax.

Lilly... She was rescued from a cult that seems to be a hybrid of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan and the Branch Davidians who died during a siege by the US government in Waco, TX. (Like the cultists in the movie, their compound caught fire when they were being raided. IRL, it's unclear whether the fire was started as a suicide cult situation or if it was started by the actions of the government as they tried to flush people out.) In this cult, girls were sacrificed at age 13, and all who witnessed that sacrifice would fall under the control of Abrasax.

So... she was rescued at age 10. Three years have passed. So she is now 13, the age at which these girls were sacrificed. She was due, in other words. Who and what was possessing her... that's the question, I guess. Demons, historically speaking, were known to speak foreign languages, speak in the voice of other humans, have psychic knowledge their hosts shouldn't know, etc. So she did exhibit symptoms like that.

I think... there are a couple of options here. There's Abrasax specifically, there's June's theory that she was possessed by a minor demon, and there's Minnie. Or a combination of the three.

It's pretty clear that Minnie's presence is felt throughout the whole taping. You can see her reflection various times throughout the movie, she manifested through Christou, and obviously you see her in the tape playback.

(And when I say my theater YELLED. lmao)

The question is, though... Is it really Minnie? And if it is, what does she want? Has she been haunting Jack all along? Is she there because, as it's the first Halloween after her death, it's her last chance to deal with her unfinished business? Did the demon allow her to manifest? Or was the whole thing an illusion created by the demon all along?

(I'd like to note here that, historically speaking, there was a theory that ghosts aren't actually real. They're actually demons masquerading as the spirits of departed loved ones, and they want you to summon them and listen to them so they can tempt you away from God. You can read this in the writings of a lot of the ancient Christian theologians. Or you could have talked to my grandmother, who also told me this when I was a kid! :') But she's dead now so I guess you'd have to do a summoning and find out for yourself.)

All that said... I come down between two current theories. I'd have to watch it again to firm up my ideas.

The first theory is that she's been trapped on earth for the past year, but because it's Halloween, she can haunt them. They mention at the beginning of the film that Halloween is a recent spirit's last chance to take care of unfinished business. So this could have been the case with Minnie. That said... what exactly was her unfinished business? Was she trying to protect Jack and the others? Or hurt them? Was she angry, or was she just, as Christou said, sad? Was her "an unmarried man wearing a wedding ring" referring to the way that Jack was grieving her and still wearing his ring, or the way that he wasn't much of a husband to her when she was alive?

The second theory is that, when she was sacrificed to Abrasax, she became a part of that legion. She was, like Lilly and the other little girls, essentially raised to be sacrificed, and once she was, she joined everyone else who is under the control of the deity. It's still hard to sense whether she was trying to help or hurt throughout the broadcast, but it explains her presence (she came with Lilly, not Jack) and how she was used during Jack's hallucinations to ultimately get him to perform the sacrifice on Lilly, thus bringing all audience members (both in the studio and at home) under Abrasax's control.

Either way, Minnie, in this film, is literal ghost haunting the stage -- but also a metaphorical one. The ghost of all of Jack's past misdeeds and the humanity he's sacrificed to get ahead. She's guilt and she's shame and she's desperate grief, and I guess it's no wonder that the negativity surrounding her was enough to kill Christou when he touched it.

I do think it's fascinating that all of the women in this movie are, in a very real and physical sense, sacrificed for the aspirations of men. (The little girls are sacrificed, Minnie died of a mysterious cancer, June dies because Jack pushed for her to stay, etc.) But metaphorically speaking that seems to be the case as well. They're constantly expected to put their own comfort and safety aside for the men in their lives, and their own aspirations are consumed by the men's.

Like I said, it feels very telling that women aren't allowed at the Grove. Women are constantly being denied power in this movie (or are only allowed power when it's in service to a male costar/deity) and it's largely because they just don't have the connections that the men do. The deals were made while they weren't in the room, essentially.

I'm not sure if that was a conscious choice being made, but it does seem to dovetail nicely with the strong, strong sexism and male privilege present in real-life secret societies of powerful men that disallow women. Like June only getting to shill for her book because Jack let her, women are only allowed at the real-life Bohemian Grove in very limited areas -- and only as a male member's guest.

Um... back to Lilly, though. What the hell is possessing her? She speaks as Minnie a few times, but that could be because Minnie is a part of their legion or just because she's trying to freak out Jack. Demons are known to lie using the voices of loved ones. Minnie's presence could have been influencing her, but I definitely don't think that's all that was in there.

The question, really, seems to arise from what June said about Lilly changing like a week ago and how she started talking about Jack nonstop. At least one presence in Lilly seems to be the same deity that Jack spoke to in the Grove when he was making his deal with the devil (so to speak) because it mentioned that encounter. But is that the only one in there? Is it the same deity that's always been in there? Or did it come to her only a week ago as a way to get to Jack and complete their contract? ("It is done.")

Lilly refers to her demon as Mr. Wriggles (which feels like an Exorcist allusion) and it seems like she has a pretty good lid on it. And when that demon is brought out of her by June, it seems confused and frightened. But Lilly is pretty clearly possessed the entire rest of the broadcast, so really the two options are that she was faking the entire time just to fuck with them (entirely possible) or there were two different deities, perhaps the original (lesser) one put in her in the cult and Abrasax(?) newly arrived to claim Jack and his audience.

It's fascinating watching her, because you can see her slip in and out of a possessed state several times when people aren't paying attention to her (jerking, spacing out, etc.) but it's hard to tell whether that's different presences coming in and out of control, her "talking" to what's inside her, etc. Again, this is a thing I think would benefit from multiple viewings. I'm really not sure if the Grove creature is new to her body or if it's been there all along biding its time, and it's only changing its behavior now because it wanted to be on tv.

While her recently changed behavior seems to lean towards the former, I am sort of stuck on the detail that Jack said early on, that he read June's book and couldn't stop thinking about it. That could just be normal fascination (and he did end up having an affair with her) but it could also be demonic intervention. That would indicate that the demon was manipulating him into putting Lilly on TV long before a week ago.

What is not really up for debate is that the presence inside Lilly now is one that has connections to Jack through the Grove and promised him fame. Lilly (before she was visibly possessed) alludes to this promise by telling Jack that he'll be very famous after tonight. And once the ritual starts, she is seen taking electrical energy from the set and cameras. She is literally getting her power from the audience viewing the sacrifice. (It's very Ringu.) And after Jack stabs Lilly, the studio audience, audience at home, and presumably real-life audience watching this movie, are all put under Abrasax's control.

("Hail Abrasax" is seen multiple times throughout the film, which might also imply that the documentarians themselves are trying to spread this contagion after watching the video.)

Uh... a few more small things.

Carmichael Haig is obviously James Randi. Like Houdini before him, Randi was also a stage magician who dedicated his life to exposing "supernatural" charlatans. He did indeed offer a huge sum of money to whoever could prove him wrong. Carmichael even looked like James Randi. (Though I'd point out that "Haig" is the name of the man who constructed the owl statue at the real-life Bohemian Grove!) I suppose it makes sense that he'd be such an asshole in a world where demonic possession does actually exist.

The one thing I'd say is... it's hard to say whether this was a case of the filmmakers not thinking through implications or if this really was a nasty joke, but Randi was, IRL, gay. He came out late in life and got married to a man shortly before he died. So the implication that Carmichael, in the movie, wanted to join the Grove largely because he was perverted is... iffy. Carmichael was never stated to be gay in the movie (that I noticed) and it's hard to suss out whether the orgies he was talking about were relating to the all-male membership of the Grove (i.e. a gay orgy) or the women that these powerful men had hanging all over them (i.e. a... less gay orgy) and I do think which they were implying has major implications for what they were saying about a man who was, IRL, gay.

Like... if the implication was that he must've been willing to hurt people in order to have wild sex because he's gay, that's uh! Not great! But if the creators didn't realize that aspect of Randi's life (it was less publicized because, as I mentioned, it happened later in his life) then they might have just been pushing on that trope of powerful men using women.

Really, really hard to say.

Next, Christou. Christou... it's hard to say whether the man was psychic at all. It's clear that he was doing a lot of fake-ass cold reading beforehand (though I do want to go back through it and see if there really was any allusion to a Peter- character involving the skeleton) and was using interviews to find grieving audience members. (Two practices that James Randi talked about a lot IRL.) But he also did have a very real experience when he sensed Minnie and, while overwhelmed, didn't seem particularly shocked by it.

If I had to guess, I think that Christou does have some psychic powers (which is why I want to investigate the Peter thing) but can't control them well and is easily overwhelmed by real phenomena. He plays things up for the cameras (I noticed his accent slipped when he had his real experience, lmao) but I wouldn't be surprised if, like everyone else on stage, there's a kernel of something real in him.

Finally... that fucking skeleton! I want to do an entire watch through just to examine that guy. He was in the flashbacks about the Grove, so I think it's likely that he might've been a member of that. He also is the only one who refuses to take off his mask, which seems to relate to the dialogue at the beginning of the film about wearing a mask to protect yourself from spirits during Halloween. I think he's definitely in on what's going on, to some extent, but it's hard to figure out exactly in what capacity. Was it a Grove member, or maybe a cult member? A follower of Abraxas? Was it actually the personification of Death?

Hard! To! Say!

Like I said, I really do want to rewatch this movie to pay more attention to small details I might've missed in the theater. I'm also looking forward to seeing it with subtitles. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was intriguing and original enough that I really enjoyed it and want to watch it again to puzzle through it. Really, the one big mark against it was the brief use of AI, which is just -- god, it's infuriating.

It's such a small part, so it would have been so easy to not do. (Apparently it wasn't even IN the first festival showing.) But it kind of pollutes the whole movie, especially when such a large message is not fucking over real people in the quest for success in the media landscape.

Plus, it just kind of looked like shit.

I know it's probably a lost cause, but I would be thrilled if they hired a real artist and redid those images for the Shudder release. It would be so easy to fix, and it would make the movie a lot better. Those commercial breaks were so funny and if they had better interstitials (that didn't make you feel icky just looking at them) then it would boost an already great film.

I just. I don't even know why they did it in the first place. I'm guessing, based on the fact that they weren't in the original screenings, that they were pressed for time to finish things...? But come on, surely you can find some artist who can do something quick for you. It wasn't even a moving image.

So uh... yeah, I guess that's where I'm at. It was an interesting (if slightly hokey) movie pulling together a lot of threads to make something cool and mysterious, I liked a lot of the acting (particularly Jack Delroy's) and set design, I wanna chat with people about it -- but I can't really in good conscience fully recommend it because of the AI thing. It's just such a disgrace to artistic integrity. Here's hoping they hire a real fucking artist.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

public shaming time again

I am not permitted to check out, place holds on, borrow, buy, or otherwise acquire any new books until I have finished the following:

Book Banning in 21st Century America (Emily J.M. Knox)

Necropolitics (Achille Mbembe, trans. Steven Corcoran)

Babel : Or the Necessity of Violence : An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution (R.F. Kuang)

Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston)

Hijab Butch Blues (Lamya H)

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures (Sabrina Imbler)

Cursed Bunny (Bora Chung, trans. Anton Hur)

Priory of the Orange Tree (Samantha Shannon)

the sole exception to the above rule is that if I am unable to acquire Red, White & Royal Blue in a timely manner so as to finish it by the end of February I may substitute it for another romance novel so as to uphold my dark pact with @dykerory to read one romance novel a month for the entirely of 2023.

[bitchycatwizard]

The SPECTRE AU- The ABC of Villainy. Extract from the Archive- A

Name: Albert/’Alvin’ Desmond

Alias: Dr. Alchemy, Mister Element

Description: Middle-age or close to middle age white man in a green hood with a domino mask. Black pants and either a green or dark blue flowey shirt.

Powers: Transmute any substance into any other substance Transform the molecular structure of the human body. Some form of mental control over the Philosophers Stone.

Albert Desmond suffers from dissociative identity disorder, this is both a strength and a weakness. Making him both unstable and extremly hard to mindread or mindcontrol. Identities wants very different things.

Items and Artifacts: The Philosopher’s Stone or atleast a shard of it.

-Item gives Power: Yes

-Item Side effects: Either the cause or the increase of his  dissociative identity disorder.

Weakness: Body of a normal human.

Dissociative Identity Disorder. Makes hm on occasion more dangerous for himself than others.

Allies: Star City underworld.

The Rogues.

Enemies: The Flash.

Goals: Money, Power, generally criminally stuff.

Obssesion: Human levels.

Status: Incarcerated, 

Philosopher’s Stone: Unknown

Living Status: Alive.

Incident Report: O2 and O9 was returnng from a training session.

Flying over the woods South East of Star city were they got to see the arrest of Dr. Alchemy by the Flash.

The Fight was long and gruelling and Dr. Alchemy’s powers are close to reality bendng, O9 has raised the concern that even few Elder Ghosts, IN the Ghost Zone, IN their own Haunt would be able to manipulate so much material.

Addendum: The Philospher’s Stone is a extremly powerful magical item that can make even a stage magican a city threatenng entity.

It is said to have been made by Merlin himself and is sought after by many magical individuals that CAN NOT HAVE IT.

Main Concern: Morgana Le Fey

Lethal Force has been approved to make sure this does not occur.

This CANNOT be aloud to happened.

Destruction of the Stone: Undecided.

Name: Anton Arcane

Alias: -ll-

Description: Arcane is a tall bald humanoid, with skin that appears to be rotting, with many crude stiches.

Arcane’s one eyed and his mouth is filled with sharpened teeth.

He wears the skin of other humans to fit in society, he can shrnk atleast somewhat.

Powers: Elemental Manipulation: Rotting.

Magic- Necromancy

Genius Level intellect

Regeneration, even if only small pieces remain.

Weakness: Monsterous Apperence.

Can hide in the skin of others, but is never 100% convincng.

Items and Artifacts: N/A

-Item gives Power: N/A

-Item Sideeffects: N/A

Allies: The Parliment of Decay also called The Rot, aka the Blue

Enemies: The Parliment of Plants akaThe Green and The Parliment of the Animals aka the Red.

Goals: To cover the entire planet in the Rot.

To watch it all decay.

To kill and kill and kill and kill.

And watch it all ROT.

Obsession: Beyond anything, the Goal is everything.

Status: Unknown.

Living Status: Unknown, how the Parliment of Decay’s power effect a willing person is unknown.

Incident Report: None

This is a name from O1 to all other members, this is a name you have to have, this is a name you have to know, this is a name you have to be prepared for.

Addendum: Born in 1875 and has had his powers for over a century. Do not take him lightly.

Name: (Prince) Aragon

Alias: Prince Aragon

Description: Male, older, long gray hair, pseudo medival clothes wth a spiked golden crown.

or. a Large Black Dragon.

Powers: Standard Ghost.

-When transformed:

Firebreathing

Super human strength.

Super human endurance, do to his scales.

Claws, razor sharp.

Items and Artifacts: The Amulett or Aragon

-Items gives power: Outside of standard ghost: Yes

-Item side effects: On humans increased negative emotions.

Ghost: N/A

Allies: Henchmen, The Executioner and the Archer Ghosts.

Enemies: Princess Dorothea, O3, O6, O7

Goals: Get bride, become a king, be a dick to his sister.

Obsession: Normal Ghostly ones.

Status: In the Ghost Zone.

Living Status: Ghost.

Incident Report:  In an attempt to get himself a beautiful human bride for his wedding, he ordered his sister Dora to hold a beauty pageant in Amity Park, allowing hm to choose just the right girl.

After seeing O12 as the current judge of the pageant Aragon sends out his two henchmen, the Archer and Executioner ghosts, to keep him busy. After O7 was captured by Dora for Aragon, O3 and O6 go into the Ghost Zone to save her.

Meanwhile in Aragon's castle, it was revealed to O7 that Aragon pushes his sister around, always getting what he wants; Dora is forced to obey his every command and whim.

After O7 tries much convincing to lift Dora's confidence and hope, she turns herself into a wild and sloppy bride to convince Aragon that she is not the girl for him and thus call off the wedding.

Her plan almost worked, but Aragon planned to lock her up if not for O3 and O6 arriving at the same time to rescue her.

Feeling angry that his future wife is being "kidnapped," and hateful towards his sister  Aragon turns into his dark dragon form and fights O3 while burning the castle and the trees. Just before he finishes O3 off, Dora begins attacking him after a big pep talk from O7 to fight back.

Afterwards, O3 removes the amulet on Aragon's neck which grants him the power to become a dragon, transforming him back to his normal form.

After Aragon's defeat, Dora turns the sky from dark to light, causing time to move forward than continue its permanent hold as it had been for 1600 years.

(Source Phantom wiki phandom)

Addendum: The Amulett of Aragon was taken back to headquarters in a locked strongbox, but disappered around the 14th hour mark from it’s original capture.

If  it was stolen or returned to it’s master is currently unknown.

Like, Comment, Reblog, send Frog or Gif’s of the Muppets if you like what I’m doing.

[niabridges]

I wanted to write a character profile for my MC, Ennea Bragge, and some cool moments with her new best friends. (I’ll probably have better screenshots coming)

Full name: Ennea Emiliana Bragge m. Ennea Sallow Name explained: The word "Ennea" is the Greek word for "nine". Nine represents the combination of three trinities (3x3). This symbolizes Ennea's internal struggle between light and darkness, her past self and her new identity, or conflicting loyalties.

DOB: February 1st, 1876 Nickname: E, Enny

Gender: Female (she/her)

Nationality: English

Blood Status: pureblood

House: Slytherin

Wand: Phoenix core, 10 ¾" Length, Willow, white or black (haven’t decided yet)

Patronus: Unicorn

Likes: Butterbeer, cats, owls, cheesy jokes

Dislikes: liars, stupid rules, getting up early, Ravenclaws (sometimes when they bully her) 

Magical pet: Siamese cat Loona

Owl: Boisie the eagle owl

Hobbies: Seeker on the Slytherin team, drawing, piano

Appearance

Hair: Hazelnut brown

Eyes: Azure blue

Height: 166cm

Physique: slim, too skinny, but she develops curves later on when she gets older

Other features: Tiny freckles on the nose, moles, blush

Parents: Unknown to her (grew up in a Muggle orphanage), Anton Bragge, Mona Bragge

Siblings: Ivanna Briarwood (Bragge), Ivory Bragge

Future

Career: Unspeakable at the British Ministry, briefly Arcane at MACUSA Arcane Department

Partner/Spouse: Sebastian Sallow Children: twins Silas and Slaine Sallow, Anya Sallow, Eloise Sallow

Primary background (will edit)

Background: Ennea Bragge comes from a long line of pureblood witches and wizards, but having grown up in a Muggle orphanage not much is known about her family. She transferred to Hogwarts in her 5th year, having previously been homeschooled (her magic more suppressed than encouraged) due to her unique magical abilities and the dangers they posed.

Personality:  Ennea possesses the shrewd mind and relentless ambition of a true Slytherin. Her intelligence is her weapon, resourcefulness her shield.  Though fiercely independent, she forges bonds of unwavering loyalty to those who earn her trust. A strong moral compass guides her, but it's tempered by a pragmatism honed by Slytherin House.  Though guarded, her deepest secrets-- her ancient magic, her hidden fears-- burn with an intensity that rivals any Gryffindor's courage.  Never underestimate what Ennea will do when she sets her sights on a goal.

Magical Abilities: Ennea possesses a unique form of magic that allows her to tap into ancient, nearly forgotten spells and incantations. She has a deep connection to the magical world and can sense magical auras and disturbances. Her ability to see and understand the hidden layers of magic makes her a formidable witch, but it also makes her a target for those who seek to exploit her power. In her 5th year she won a battle against a rebel Goblin Ranrok and saved Hogwarts in secret. She lost her mentor professor Fig in the battle. She contained all the repositories of ancient magic. Her famous reputation at school slowly started to grow.

Hobbies and Interests: Ennea is an avid reader and spends hours in the Hogwarts library, researching ancient texts and forgotten spells. She's also passionate about dueling and has honed her skills in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She loves to explore the outdoors around the castle.

Key Relationships:

Sebastian Sallow: Ennea shares a close bond with Sebastian, which has evolved from friendship to something deeper. She admires his courage and strength, and their shared adventures have created a strong connection between them.

Ominis Gaunt: Ominis is Ennea's loyal friend and confidante. She values his wisdom and unique perspective, and they share a deep mutual respect.

Challenges: Ennea grapples with the responsibility of her unique magical abilities and the dangers they pose. She is keeping a lot of secrets like ancient magic and Sebastian’s dark secret of killing his uncle and sometimes it become a burden. She's also navigating her feelings for both Sebastian and Ominis, creating a complicated love triangle within their trio.

Role in the Story: Ennea is the central character in their adventures, often guiding their decisions and actions with her knowledge of ancient magic. Her character growth is closely tied to her acceptance of her abilities and her relationships with Sebastian and Ominis. As they face increasingly perilous challenges, Ennea's determination and strength become vital to their survival. Ancient magic: A Double-Edged Sword

While potent and alluring, ancient magic is a demanding force. Unlike the controlled spells of modern times, it operates on a primal level, often reflecting the raw will of the caster. This translates to several key limitations:

Unpredictable Power: Ancient magic is notoriously difficult to control. The desired outcome is never guaranteed, with spells potentially backfiring or producing unintended consequences.

Emotional Volatility: Ancient magic is a reflection of the wielder's deepest self. Strong emotions, especially negativity, can corrupt the magic, twisting its effects and potentially causing harm to both the caster and those around them. Maintaining emotional control is paramount.

Hidden Costs: Tapping into such potent magic can exact a toll. Using ancient magic can leave the wielder drained, both physically and mentally. Overuse can lead to a dependence on its raw power, making it harder to utilize traditional, safer magic.

A Legacy of Power, a Burden to Master

Ancient magic offers immense power, but it comes with significant risks.  Those who wield it must be prepared for its volatile nature, the emotional discipline required, and the potential consequences of wielding such a primal force.  It is a legacy of power, but also a burden to master.

[tortillasconsal]

Here's a list of characters that remind me of the Slenderfam, because I can't handle it anymore:

Trenderman

Squidward.

Bobby Fabulous, from Phineas and Ferb.

Regina George, from Mean Girls.

Chanel Oberlin, from Scream Queens.

Patrick Bateman, from American Psycho.

GLaDOS, from Protal.

Adrien Brody, from The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Count Olaf, from Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Miranda Priestly, from The Devil Wears Prada.

The Riddler, from Gotham.

Bloberta Puppington, from Moral Orel.

Slenderman

Anton Sugar, from No Country for Old Men.

The other Mother / Beldam, from Coraline.

Roy, from Don't Hug Me I'm Scared.

Emperor Belos, from The Owl House.

Judge Frollo, from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Hades, from Disney's Hercules.

Kyubey, from Madoka Magica.

Silco, from Arcane.

Mother Gothel, from Dinsey's Tangled.

Splendorman

Willy Wonka, from both the 1971's film and Tim Burton's film.

Jack Skellington, from Nightmare before Christmas.

Sardonyx, from Steven Universe

Sun Stone, from Steven Universe aswell.

The Cat in The Hat. Yes, I'm talking about the one from the fucking live-action movie.

David, from Camp Camp.

Brett Handman, from Inside Job.

I want to say Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter because a lot of people are expecting it, but I don't rlly see it. I'll leave him as an honorary mention though.

Surrenderman

Arthur Fleck, from The Joker (talking specifically about how he was at the beginning).

Shinji, from Evangelion.

Milo Oblong, from The Oblongs.

Peppa Madrigal, from Disney's Encanto.

Peter Graham, from Hereditary.

Morty, from Rick and Morty.

Cabadath

Jafar, from Disney's Aladdin.

Dracula, from Castlevania.

Pinhead, from Hellraiser.

Hannibal Lecter, from Silence of the Lambs.

Deathstroke, from 2003's Teen Titans.

Judge Frollo, aswell.

Jigsaw, from the Saw series.

These are based on my own take for the characters in my AU. I didn't add Offenderman because he's still the original version here.

Might update this as I write more of each character, but for now I want to post this to have some Creepypasta content while I keep finishing the requests