Picks up Joshua. What do you know boy. What knowledge of the fucked up oni lore do you or do you not possess boy. Does your bestie know. Why must you only ever be present in extremely casual interactions boy.

i watched the poughkeepsie tapes and, ignoring everything else about it, i seriously legitimately at the end of the movie went "huh, thats a cool twist. the serial killer is the one making the documentary," but i cant.... find anyone else saying as such online

like!!!!! to me, it makes so much sense. the obsession with filming, the occasionally odd interview questions("do you [admire him]?", the entire interview with Cheryl), the fact that he's already proven to be someone who taunts the police and likes to insert himself/make his presence known somehow, it feeds into how "intelligent" and "good at hiding his tracks" they said he was, it adds a beautiful layer of irony at the end when the cop is like "man when yr documentary comes out we're gonna be watching the theaters, he'll come see it, mark my words," it explains why there was so much graphic footage that would NEVER be allowed in a documentary, and it could also explain the MISSING TAPES(he kept some of them in order to have footage for the documentary)

also i figured at the end, either cheryl's death was faked and then he went and picked her up(although that seems a bit elaborate), OR she did actually kill herself, because he left AGAIN and didnt take her AGAIN and she was too devastated to handle it.

plus, if he's that vain and intent on documenting his story and his crimes WITHOUT getting caught or revealing personal information, then surely a long movie where you hear about all his crimes, step-by-step, and also all the cops are admitting that he's a genius who gave them the run-around and saying they might never find him, where we learn nothing about who he is in the slightest except that he was so good at murder, would be pretty appealing to him.

so like you can imagine my surprise when i dont see ANYONE else mentioning it lmao. so after that i gave it another thought.

admittedly, it does raise a few issues.

1) the cheryl interview. the weirdness of some of the questions couldve just been awkwardness in the face of someone so clearly and extensively traumatized. she didn't fall over herself with joy about how "you came back for me!!!" but with how hardcore he trained her, i think he could easily get her to act like she doesnt know him. in general, her acting here works for being read as both "abuse victim and no other reason" and "youre pulling a con and im in on it but i dont know the plan and im Flighty and Nervous(and also an abuse victim)."

the "i dont know what you want me to say," is completely applicable whether he's the killer or not. she's either saying "i dont have an internal barometer yet for what answer you specifically are looking for from me, so i dont know what to say," or shes saying "im frightened that if i answer that im happy to be home youll be mad at me for saying i missed it, but if i say im not happy to be home itll make your documentary unconvincing, you didnt fill me in on what you wanted from me(possibly on purpose to distress me) and im scared of the repercussions of me making the wrong choice." the stuff at the end about how she loved him makes just as much sense if its not the killer, but when i saw it i read it as a semi-coded message. "i love him(you), and i know he(you) will sweep me away from here soon, *makes heavy eye contact with the camera man*"

2) the mother didnt recognise him, and no one recognised his voice from the tapes. this ones a big sticking point, but if hes so meticulous at preparing crime scenes and has such a wide array of tools and "toys", he must have a decent amount of time and money on his hands, so he couldve possibly hired a dude off, idk, craigslist to interview the mom. as for his voice, he was only ever shouting and growling in the tapes, but the interviewer was very quiet and softspoken whenever he did speak. possibly that was enough to make him sound different? he was shown using sign language at one point, so maybe he hired an interpreter and signed questions to obscure his voice, so the voice we hear when the interviewer speaks would actually be the interpreter's voice.

3) i guess, thinking about it, documentaries usually have a whole crew, not just the guy doing the interviews but a lighting guy and a sound guy and a camera guy and an editor... but again, he doesnt lack the resources to do time-consuming and expensive tasks, so i dont have a hard time believing he'd be able to cobble together a small crew, just bare-bones enough to technically function.

actually, if he had something to mount it on, he wouldnt need anyone to hold the camera, and he could set up the lights and sound himself before he starts each take. and i cant imagine he'd let anyone construct his magnum opus except himself, so he'd do the editing. itd be work, but he could probably pull off being a 2 man crew(him+either an interpreter, or a craigslist interviewer.)

4) if he did, indeed, take the missing tapes in order to use them in the documentary, then as soon as it was played somewhere, theyd find out this was previously unseen footage and theyd know he was the killer. BUT if he gave them fake info and didnt leave any dna, they might not be able to find him. BUT ALSO itd be nearly impossible for them to not get him on surveillance footage, so he'd have his image spread around like wildfire. but then again, this issue could be solved by just saying "ok he used footage from the tapes in police custody. the other ones were special, possibly mementos or future breadcrumbs to taunt the police with."

idk. idk!!!!! i think my theory holds up. i think it makes a lot of sense, and also its literally the only reason i can think of that such graphic scenes would EVER be allowed-- or put-- in a documentary... because he doesnt care about censors or ratings(like pg-13 sort of ratings) or legality. all he cares about is showing off and preserving his legacy. he led the cops to the house because he wanted them to see the tapes, yaknow?? he wanted someone to see them.

like!!! the interview segments, while not perfect, were good enough that i felt more than a little jarred when we just straight up saw mr. serial killer decapitate someone. and not, like, a good jarring, like how horror movies are supposed to be upsetting. it just brought me out of the experience and felt so fake it was almost goofy. it was preposterous. (and also the effects were a little cheesy/plasticy in that scene, so that didnt help.)

a regular editor, putting that clip in, unblurred? who. who on gods green earth would ever do their job that poorly

a vain serial killer who wants people to see his creepy snuff films putting in that unblurred clip? extremely logical. makes sense.

hey hewwo i need to know... more abt ur zizi strider au. have u thought about like. the first meeting with them and their friends in person?

not explicitly until this moment ! 

like ive said before a big insecurity zizi has is the fact that theyre not human and they worry about what it means about them as a person. theyre afraid of being inherently bad because theyre a troll and because the condesce is the only other example of a troll that they know and its not like dave left them any physiology books. (edit: he didnt fuckin . theres no way he couldve known thered be an alien claiming his legacy. this is so funny. tyzias looked at this badass dude who fought alongside roxys mom and just went “this is my rolemodel now” thats so funny to me. oh god once they have the thought “wait this guy hated the condesce wouldnt he hate me” aaa the crisis that would entail. eee. )not to mention the weird attitude condy would have towards them like? her whole Thing is wanting to give humans the caste system so that she can use that against them but it never worked out. but here tyzias is like. a troll? a tealblood no less. like, how differently would he be treated from roxy because of that? i can still imagine a lot of fighting off drones that are basically )(IC trying to get at them. maybe shes waiting until his ‘ordeal’ age to do anything drastic and shes just trying to emulate alternian culture? condy voice let me raise you like a REAL troll. oh thats something to think about.

back to the actual question,

cue me looking over the wiki and being forced to remember how canon ACTUALLY happened. 

“ According to this page, he landed in the middle of the ocean with Lil Cal, and used the puppet as a flotation device to somehow get to a house to live in. He grew up alone in the single remaining penthouse apartment of a high-rise building in the now-flooded Houston, Texas. “

still not relevant to your question. ill get there in a second. so much bullshit happens thats technically related to dirks prince of heart powers? theres just so fucking much going on with dirk. this is gonna be a matter of figuring out what needs to happen and getting it to happen WITHOUT it being dirk. oh my god.

FRIENDS IN PERSON.

in canon, ‘in person’ for the alphas didnt happen until a whole bunch of dreamself shenanigans came about. remember that sick flash with dirk fucking around on his jet-powered skateboard thing? yeah. that fucked. im pretty sure the fast pace and “lets get this shit DONE” attitude would be something zizi goes with too, figuring if he focuses on the stuff that needs to happen to keep his friends safe he wont have time to consider their feelings towards him being a troll and all that jazz. id imagine he might say something to at least jake abt bein an alien? and while roxy would have their moment of surprise i dont see why they wouldnt just Fuckin Go With It. unless they already knew? theyd bond w zizi a lot over condy, itd make sense for zizi to bring it up as a relevant part of the conversation. maybe they dont, out of fear? out of not wanting it to be seen as a Big Deal? or just procrastinating it. hrm. i think hed avoid telling them until the last possible fkin second (aka in person) because of just like. dummy fear.

jane might have a hangup about it. maybe? but in the end im sure itd just be something jane Ignores For The Moment To Consider And Bring Up Later In An Awkward Conversation

as for jake and zizi. theyd hug so fucking good bro theyd hug SO good zizi is shorter than jake and would tug him down to give him the worlds worst noogie dont even fucking LOOK at me their broship means the world to me.

I'm not hating at all, this is a question of pure curiosity. What made you ship Talisto? You're art of them is really adorable, so I was wonder the fuel to the fire was. Blessings~

Hehe it’s okay ive gotten this question A LOT lol; first, I’ll link you to this ask, which links to another ask, so theres 2 explanations there technically..(https://kireiscorner.tumblr.com/post/159808441098/hey-so-this-might-be-a-weird-question-but-why-do)

I think what started it was that at that point, I didnt know about Kyle, and I was kind of upset that the character I identified with didnt really have anyone. I was already in love with both twins, and so I started thinking about whether or not which could work. Of course, Praxina tends to be the main source of antagonism for the group so its easier to pair her off with the girls. Mephisto was more challenging bcuz he was very different from her and didnt always interact with Talia the way praxina did. Not only that, but I also noticed that no one was pairing them off. Idk why but I found that strange, especially with her being a fan favorite. Ive heard speculation on this but to each their own. That left me wondering what that would be like and how they would react to one another, especially when the show left us hanging and never rly showed them together aside from Xeris. I really enjoyed the idea of them getting into all sorts of nonsense together and growing and developing because of the other person. It had an appeal to me that all of the other ships didn’t.

Unlike the other two meph ships at the time, yes we only had the two, it wasnt expected. There was no “but theyre so similar” or “shes the main heroine tempted by the villain” story to use, as the latter only applied to one and the other could be used for all three. We didnt have lines or scenes. We had to use our imagination and really focus on the characters to figure things out bcuz it was like we were given a blank canvas. We had like one episode to work with, but we did our best and made something unique out of it.

I think that may be the biggest draw. Its got no confines and endless possibilities. Not only do we get to experiment with Talia and Mephisto, we get to work with Praxina and the girls without depending on default canon. In addition, while the two characters are opposites in the way they hold themselves, the more I look into them the more similarities I pick up on which makes me more curious about the two. Talia is very stubborn and sees things in black and white often because of her practical nature and serious upbringing. We saw her mentally shut down her lively, rebellious, and spunky personality in Xeris. Mephisto on the other hand struggles with impulse control, has a creative mind, and isnt always sure of his actions so he rushes into things to avoid having to consider what he does. We can see him slowly having to do so as the series goes on and sometimes getting nervous and desperate when he is unsure or frustrated. I think the two together would act as a source of stability. Both are afraid of being alone and losing the last of their family they know of, both need reassurance, whether it be a compliment or trust in ones magical capabilities. Mephisto seems to glow whenever he gets approval for his spell casting, and Talia of all people would be one to appreciate skills in illusions and complexity. Sometimes Talia needs emotional support, like when she gets shy or doubts shes got enough knowledge on something. She needs someone to tell her “hey, ive seen u take on worse, if anyone can do this its u,” or “stop doubting yourself youve got this”. She needs someone with enough recklessness and confidence in her to break through that doubt. We all know meph is a total suck up sometimes, but we also know he gives out genuine compliments from time to time. Even when she was zombified in Dancing Shoes, Mephisto still tells her she’s done a good job, which is cute and hilarious, especially with the little clap. Also flirting seems to catch her off guard and Mephisto is pretty straight forward and id love to see hoe that in itself would go about cuz I think itd be hysterical to watch them develop romantically.

And I’m not the only one. I’m honestly still surprised by how many people dig it. Its got an appeal that just seems to snag ppl. I could go on and on but I think I’ve said enough and I’m getting lost in my own fangirling lol Its a multifaceted ship and I think that makes it extremely fun to work with 😉

well, if Melvin is no longer supplying Vivian with guns, does Melvin still know shes a demigod? i feel like she’d consider confiding in him, since theyre fairly close in age and close as siblings. He’s more trustworthy with secrets than Kenneth, and Tai is only 10 so you probably shouldnt trust him w/ that sorta stuff. i mean, itd be interesting if Melvin knew, since then she’d have a partner in crime, helping her get out and maybe even helping her get around, similar to how Spencer helps Kay. though he wouldnt actually participate. At most, he’d drop her off, and instruct her to call her by X time or hes calling the cops to her location. he wants his baby sister safe, man.

Which then continues on to when she eventually has to leave home to deal with the whole Demon Thing, and hes trying to support her while staying at home, not telling anyone that he knows, and struggling with the idea that she could even POSSIBLY hurt someone. since at that point, she hurt/killed another demigod.

perhaps she confides after she witnesses that demigod die when the merger ends. Maybe she wants someone to know, to understand. Hes probably also the one who would have caught her sneaking out and she’d want to offer an explanation. ooh, maybe if its after that demigod dies, she also has to explain that whole side, and it means that if she does like, straight up end up involved in the death of another demigod, he HOPES its because the merger ended. keeps him in. then, of course, news starts coming back, and he compares it to the news from That demigod, and it just sorta.... sinks in.

not sure she would actually kill, though. it wouldnt be the ideal. of course, her dear step brother is being held to ransom and shes Not Having It. its not wholly impossible that in the struggle with them, she ends up getting one killed. that would cause some serious problems, though - beyond the fact that she Killed Someone, itd be seriously incriminating. for a lot of people? like, well, why was Vivian there, why was this person there, and why was Vivian’s step brother Tailer, who was reported missing only days earlier, found at this location. What happened? and the other demigod (there are 2 who kidnap Tai), what would theyyy do. Like, would they claim to have seen Vivian leave that house after she heard loud noises and came to investigate. that could work. but then, how would that demigod then know who Vivian is and be able to perfectly identify her (which they would be able to do because they Know who Vivian is, they called her there, yknow) so like. yknow. shit gets funk if she actually causes someone to die.

but it also wouldnt make sense if she didnt? because if she didnt, then what becomes the Crime? Vivian wouldnt run from home just because Tai knew she was a demigod. theres more to it. shes committed a crime. yea, vigilante justice, but if the demigod didnt DIE, then whats the problem? because if you find that person injured, with the crying boy, whats the story? did the demigod decide to falsify their story to say they were plucked off the street by Vivian after she walked into the house? or were lured there by Vivian and attacked? that’d.... also be interesting. AND both demigods are injured. they could easily figure out a story around that, like that one of them was lured there by Vivian and that they had called the other to come check on them (or come with, but they hadnt arrived when that first one entered) and that vivian attacked them both but was forced to flee when she got hurt. but then theres Tai’s testimony, which would be the more truthful, but also the most fanciful, what with magic weapons and magic n shit. so everyone would discredit his testimony as bogus, or trauma induced (which is fair, poor boy was kidnapped). except Melvin, who knows Vivian is a demigod, and knows that what Tai has said is correct. hhhhh thats interesting too.

EXCEPT, Tai’s testimony would also state that he was kidnapped BY the two demigods. so what is their explanation then? even if his description of the fight is really weird, he was still kidnapped, many days ago, and by most accounts Vivian hasn’t been near that house until the day he was found. so then how could she be involved in the kidnapping? what possible reason would she have to be involved? meanwhile the police are checking the demigods’ alibis and finding not enough data to convince them that they WERENT involved. so then what? Vivian hasn’t committed a crime, at this point. technically she has, assault, vigilante justice, whatever, but she could easily get a heavily reduced sentence or even a full acquittal by jury based on the fact she was acting to protect her step brother and was told he would be killed if she didnt come alone. though the magic bullet wounds are... pretty damning. dunno how shed explain that. at the same time, the demigods dont have weapons either, yet Vivian’d be covered in similar wounds. but she WAS also on the run and wouldnt have them as evidence at that point.

i mean itd be complicated. itd make.... more sense, as a weird story, for her to have killed the other demigod. its a moral issue, its a crime even if it IS ostensibly for a good purpose (for instance, did you know that if you injure a home intruder in Victoria, you can be charged with assault despite the fact its in self defence? :) i love this country, protecting fucking criminals lol). cool motive, still murder? yknow how it is. still raises the question of the other demigods testimony. after all, Tai will testify that he was kidnapped/held captive by Both the dead demigod and the other one. what do they say to that? What’s their alibi? what the fuck is their story. how would the media be able to really spin Vivian as the ~real~ criminal. yknow? unless... idk. itd be difficult for the second demigod to really get around? like, theyd eventually be tried for kidnapping. which they did! they kidnapped a 10 year old boy. blackmail charges too? though Vivian isnt there to attest to those, since she was the one blackmailed and shes like, on the run. so.... yknow.... this whole situation is actually way more complicated than the original hostage situation back when the demons were like, aliens.

idk. id be very.... complex. yuck. i mean it would be a big turning point, in the story n shit, so its.... sensible? but like. not exactly what i hoped to happen for that character. actually, OOOOHHH, ooooooh i had an idea. so, Vivian roundly kicks the demigods asses, but their injuries are not life threatening. But as Vivian is about to leave (with Tai, ofc), one of the demigods’ merger is broken! and while the demon demigods are mostly volunteers, having the gods strength taken from you while in a vulnerable state would still probably kill you???? like just. in general, yknow. so as theyre leaving, Vivian pulls out her phone and prepares to call 000, for the ambulance and police to pick them up, and turns back to look at them and the two of them see the god (likely the Demon of War, since the idea was that the characters in the demo are these characters. could be any demon, though) break the merger for their failure. and they see the demigod begging, absolutely distraught, before letting out an absolute DEATH SCREAM (like that other demigod) and then just. flop. the other demigod starts screaming too, but in a more emotional way. and they turn to Vivian and scream ‘MURDERER’ and that just carries throughout the street. and Vivian realises what has happened. the demons dont care. its not even because they failed, necessarily - its because splitting the merger here, and letting that demigod (demidemon?) die will weaken Vivian. and Vivian has to leave. she’ll be accused of murder. the injuries she inflicted did, in general terms, cause this persons death. she must flee. she hands the ringing phone to Tai, kisses his forehead, and tells him to go next door and stay safe. and she leaves. voila! shes no longer a direct murderer, shes a proxy murderer, her soul is left.... light enough? but shes still enough of a criminal that even if the living demigod/demon confesses to kidnapping Tai, she did still commit murder. yknow. that works! ooooh that does work. i like that