#way scarier than any eldritch nightmare | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ghost-bxrd · 1 month

Note

(Don't know if this was asked already but)

What are the Titan's first reaction to Dick calling to them in owl hoots?

And what's their reaction to Batman answering Dick the same way?

At first he wouldn’t make any birds sounds around them at all, opting to wear contacts and talk as little as possible.

The first time they witness the bird sounds would probably be in response to Robin hijacking the comms after Dick didn’t check in with him at the alotted time, suddenly Nightwing is just standing off to the side, hooting and chirping softly in the the comms.

The titans are definitely confused because??? They thought Nightwing was human???? But apparently the name means something after all so whatever. If they can have an alien on the team then a bird-man-whatever is nothing. And Dick, upon seeing that they really don’t care at all, starts making bird sounds more frequently around them. And the Titans likewise learn to interpret some of the sounds (“look!” Is a sharp hoot, “stop!” a chittering hiss, and “nice-move-but-I’m-going-to-show-you-where-it-really-hurts-now” is an amused little chirrup).

The real surprise is Batman and Robin responding to Nightwing with the same sort of bird sounds and it takes them a good moment to realize that—- yep, “tall-dark-and-scary” just hooted at him like an owl. And now, apparently he’s not mocking him because Nightwing appears very happy about it and Robin also makes those weird little cheeps and trills that genuinely don’t sound like they should be coming from a human throat at all and—-

Yep, now Nightwing is??? Cuddling Robin???? Is that a thing?????? And making the softest bird noises yet?????? (One of the Titans definitely tries approaching them but the dead stare Dick gives them makes them backtrack very quickly. The message is clear: no approaching Robin.)

((Jason meanwhile jabs Dick in the ribs hard and pointedly makes his way over to the Titans to cheerfully say hello and let them know that if anything happens to Nightwing on their watch, he’s going to become their worst nightmare. The Titans are reluctantly impressed but also very much aware that Nightwing is still giving them that eerily blank stare that promises a world of pain if anybody even thinks about harming a hair on Robin’s head. Like they ever would. Batman’s wrath alone wouldn’t be worth it, but now they’re starting to see that Nightwing might be even scarier than him.

Wally eventually takes one for the team and introduces himself to Jason, offering to share some silly stories about Nightwing from their last mission and eat ice cream.The speedster is the first Titan to get his individual bird call.))

The Titans obviously aren’t going to question Batman hooting at Nightwing (no way, they value their skeletal integrity thank you very much) but that day, many wild rumors and speculations about Batman are born, some them gaining enough attention that JLA hear of them.

None of them want to ask, but the running bet is either that the Batfamily are all metas with bird characteristics (“It explains how they can stomach swinging through the city like that Roy! They’re meant to have wings, but now they have to compensate!”), or that they’re secretly some kind of eldritch entities that embody all the weirdness of Gotham City (“No Donna, think about it, it makes sense! Remember all those random owl statues and carvings around the city? They’re literally an embodiment of that cursed place!”)

#theories are going wild #Nightwing never confirms nor denies #but he has a fun time listening to them fumbling about in the dark #they never do find out about his talon past #well maybe Wally does #who knows #Batman likewise never admits to anything #and any questions in that regard are answered with a blank bat stare #Robin is a gleeful little shit who makes more bird sounds around the JLA than Dick does #nobody knows the batfam’s civilian identity #Oliver would probably drop dead of shock if he knew Brucie Wayne was Batman #did I mention they’ve known each other sicne childhood in owl song?#hm well I have now #Brucie and Oliver are childhood somethings #owl song

130 notes · View notes

viviaubm · 9 months

Text

Autumn screams about how good monster hunter designs are 1: Shara Ishvalda

this guy isnt really my favorite monster or anything but its one of the monsters i feel the most strongly about if that makes any sense to you. i dont know who needs to be told this but rock monsters are fucking cool. dude looks like a fucking primordial god of the very ground we stand on.

i think its safe to say its sick as FUCK that they actually like. didnt just use the same type of rock for this dude. like theres actual variation in this guy's armor which you dont really see much of in media containing big rock dudes. including monster hunter itself

basarios for example is just like. a rock wyvern. with one kind of rock. but i really think it goes to show how much the design team for monster hunter has improved given that basarios is from the first game and shara ishvalda is relatively new. i just think thats pretty damn neat.

there are no good pictures of this so you gotta trust me when i talk about how cool it looks when you weaken its parts. most monsters just like put a texture over its leg or its head and call it a day but with shara its much more unique. like it actually changes the color of the rocks.

anyway once you crack this cold boy open youre greeted with the most terrifying eldritch nightmare youve seen in your entire goddamned life

im not sure how to describe this thing other than it being cool as hell. its wings are like. fucking veiny. and look like roots. they look like exposed nerves. and this fuckin guy causes seismic activity by CONTROLLING VIBRATIONS. this guys fuckin clothes were kept on with vibrations. and i just. fucking need to talk about how goddamn cool that concept is and how they utilize it.

THIS BITCH FUCKING MAKES DRAGON BALL LAZERS BY VIBRATING THE GODDAMNED AIR. ITS JUST STRAIGHT UP DOING SOME GOKU SHIT. IT ALSO JUST DOES A SPIRIT BOMB?? FROM DRAGON BALL?? MADE OUT OF VIBRATIONS??? AS ITS ULTIMATE ATTACK??? ITS FUCKING AWESOME.

AND IT GETS FUCKING SCIENTIFICAL IN THIS BITCH. IT VIBRATES THE SAND TO MAKE IT ACT LIKE A LIQUID. THATS A REAL THING. THATS JUST ACTUAL SCIENCE.

and dont worry it gets scarier when you hit it more

it opens its fucking eyes. i dont like that. it gives me the heeby jeebies. its great though. its modeled in a specific way to always be looking at the camera no matter what angle youre at. so its just fucking staring at *you*. not the hunter. but like actual you in real life.

quite beautiful and also fucking terrifying if i say so myself.

the lotus flower motif on its design is really cool. i didnt know you could make a design basedon a flower that goddamned terrifying but i like it.

unfortunately there arent many good pictures of it but when you break its parts off with your big cool weapon its like. a fucking amethyst geode. this fucking thing is just rocks all the way down.

in conclusion i think its really neat how capcom managed to make a creature seem so fucking terrifying and incomprehensible in a game where the creature still fucking make sense as part of an ecosystem no matter how wild they get. i dont know what monster i'll be screaming about next but i probably will. probably astalos or something

#autumn monhun screeching #Monster Hunter #Shara Ishvalda

93 notes · View notes

sk1fanfiction · 3 years

Text

the many faces of tom riddle, part 5

- more myth than man... or not? the mortality of tom riddle and the anatomy of a villain-

That leaves us with Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of adult Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort in movies 4-8.

I generally find adult Tom Riddle disappointing, even in the books, in terms of character depth. Instead of delving into his motivations and the inner psychology of a villain, we get... slight body horror? And in the movies, it’s even more egregious.

If a story is as good as its villain, adult Tom Riddle is a bit of a let-down, especially on-screen.

“I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost . . . but still, I was alive.”

Perhaps the very first time I watched it, I found this scary, but I must confess that nowadays, Voldemort’s resurrection is more funny to me than anything else. The forked tongue and the nose slits, yes, are supposed to allude to Tom Riddle’s loss of humanity, but I don’t think it...worked out that way in practice.

I know that’s how it is in the books, but ugly equals evil (and vice versa) is a tired trope. not only that, but under the CGI, Lord Voldemort is so difficult to relate to, so inhuman, that it’s hard to (1) see his true depravity (2) connect with him emotionally (3) at least for me, not laugh at him flapping around the graveyard in GOF like an oversized crow.

Now, the reason I’m going on about this is not (just) me being petty. Lord Voldemort is the Boggart for most of the characters in the HP universe, meaning their greatest fear is Lord Voldemort. He represents Fear; as such, he should be utterly terrifying. Now, I don’t mean horrifying in that sense, but Voldemort’s grand entrance should at least feel somewhat unsettling, have some sort of a Gothic atmosphere...

"But then, through the mist in front of him, he saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron."

Visually, this looks great. But it’s not scary. And I’m not a purist by any means, but the words are scarier than the book. Darkness induces fear.

“The lack of any kind of visual stimuli increases anxiety, uncertainty, and tension.”

So, having Voldemort’s pale body materialize isn’t as scary as it could be.

Furthermore, I think Fiennes’ overexaggerated expressions would actually come across as properly horrifying/threatening rather than funny if they just left his face alone. Yes, Fiennes does manage to emote the fear and the anger through the CGI, but it’s like he’s too alien to be scary, at least to me. The amount of memes with Voldemort suggest I’m not the only one this way inclined.

I think there’s probably a problem going on with the uncanny valley. (Images from the Mori essay linked).

[When things are still]

[Creepy things are creepier when moving]

Now, I assume Voldemort is meant to be zombie-creepy, or at least that how Harry describes him in the books.

"The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry...and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's but with slits for nostrils...."

Now, we can’t get Harry’s experience of being haunted by Voldemort in his dreams, because what I think makes Voldemort’s countenance so truly frightening to the other characters isn’t his snake-like nose or his red eyes, but the potential. Voldemort is, in essence, the Grim Reaper. You are at his mercy, and you’re probably going to be dead.

“This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.“

And yes, Voldemort can be quite funny and witty, but..

“I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers will give their right hands to perform.” (To Peter Pettigrew)

...it’s still incredibly dark, sadistic humour. Whereas the teenage Tom Riddle we’ve been discussing has just barely dipped his toes into evil, Voldemort is, well... swimming in it. At this point, he think he undeniably enjoys causing pain.

And much of what makes Voldemort scary is subtle.

For example, what I personally consider haunting is the fact that he’s got a cave full of Inferi. A cave full of reanimated dead bodies.

Either he dug them up, which is unlikely... or perhaps, a twenty-seven-or-so-year-old Tom Riddle would lie in wait like a bird of prey, very quietly and patiently, perhaps reading a book, waiting for an unsuspecting Muggle to wander past. Maybe killing is a game to him at this point, when it’s not so personal as killing Harry Potter. Maybe it’s a whispered Avada Kedavra, and then he carries the dead body away to his cave. Maybe he Imperiuses them to walk off the cliff. Maybe he tortures them first.

Shudder.

And I don’t think you can show that kind of horror through any CGI or make-up, so...

You know what is terrifying? Revolting? True crime; real-life people who do unspeakably horrible things. And I think a lot was missed out on, in stripping Tom Riddle physically of his humanity. Yes, Riddle is a monster...

But, as we’ve seen, he’s a human monster, not some eldritch horror from the seventh level of hell or something.

I just think it would be interesting to have this perfectly normal-looking human do all the horrific things Voldemort does. I want to see that sick joy in a human face and feel disgusted. I want to see fear make his bottom lip tremble, and feel a misplaced sense of empathy. (Think President Snow from the Hunger Games -- now, that’s a sick, twisted villain who we can relate to as a human being, but still love to hate -- or what about The Joker?).

And out of everything they chose to CGI, why on earth did they not make his eyes scarlet? That might have made him look at least somewhat menacing, rather than a failed lab experiment.

(Don’t even get me started on his and Bellatrix’s death scenes in the movies-)

Here’s President Snow. He’s got a cute little granddaughter, he sends kiddies to kill each other Battle Royale-style every year, and he poisons all his political opponents. He’s also a master manipulator and has a penchant for white roses. They cover up the smell of the sores in his mouth from eating the poison too, to conceal his treachery.

Heath Ledger as the Joker in Dark Knight (2008), who is, according to NYT (which I totally agree with), the best Joker. Now this is a villain done right, with many Voldemort-like traits. On a scale of one-to-ten, he’s absolutely terrifying. Why? He’s (unlike Voldemort in the movies) incredibly intelligent, shows young-Tom-Riddle-like skills for charm and manipulation, plays with humans like they’re his own personal psychology experiment (and to hell with the Institutional Review Board), and has one, single, very clear goal -- chaos. Like Voldemort, he wears an inhuman mask that’s not horrifying in its own right; but unlike Voldemort, the human is all there -- terrifying, real, and with a bottomless, obsessive desire to destroy. His disordered thinking is all out there for the audience to see. The Joker’s motivation is to enjoy himself; whereas Voldemort seems to lack drive. Why does he want to take over the world -- who knows, with Voldemort? The Joker wants to see it burn.

Let’s try to do the same with Lord Voldemort:

[SLIGHT FLASH WARNING]

I had to go with this because Voldemort isn’t legitimately terrifying in many scenes. And yes, this unrefined anger somewhat speaks to Tom’s immaturity

By this point, seventy-one year old Tom Riddle is a hollowed-out shell of a human being. After decades of building his power, he was defeated by a one-year-old, and ended up slumming it as a spirit for a decade, got defeated again, was a shrivelled-up baby for a year, then finally got his body back.

He’s angry, okay! And Fiennes does a great job of portraying the sheer, destructive, unbridled rage of this character.

The body language. again, since his face is inhuman, this is super important. and Fiennes’ body language is great. Voldemort/Riddle commits to his actions. He is very emotionally-driven.

But yet, he doesn’t feel capable, in the way that the Joker or President Snow do. Yeah, we know anecdotally that he’s incredibly evil, sadistic, and second only to Dumbledore in terms of power, but he loses to a baby, and then that same baby as a teenager. So, we really could have done with seeing Voldemort’s power, cruelty, and evil firsthand a lot more often.

Voldemort is not well-characterized. I don’t understand his motives, and the ones that I do understand are not compelling.

Not to die? Well, he’s already made several Horcruxes. Why not sit back and relax? Why start a war and risk himself?

JKR said that Voldemort’s great desire was to become all-powerful and eternal. But that’s... boring! It does little to tell us about Voldemort, other than that he’s a villain and a wannabe dictator.

Furthermore, the charm, manipulation, and cunning that are hallmarks of younger Tom Riddle’s personality are gone.

Is Voldemort (to return to Jungian terms) all shadow? An empty creature of simple creation and destruction, perhaps? We’ll discuss this further down...

And this isn’t a problem of having a fantastical world with magic and the like. Grindelwald’s quiet, self-possessed, almost coy “So you think you can hold me?” was infinitely scarier than anything that has ever come out of Voldemort’s mouth. It was chilling.

OOTP is my favorite book, and the Ministry sequence is one of my favourite in the films.

This scene where he psyches out Harry, talking so quietly that he could just be a little voice inside his head (and again, during the possession scene)? Absolute perfection.

Why? Because this showcases what’s truly scary about him. Voldemort can get into your head. He can make you do things. And perhaps, if we had seen that more often, we’d understand how scary he is.

I wish this had been his grand entrance, and not whatever that scene in GOF was. Somehow, him screeching “I WANT TO SEE THE LIGHT LEAVE YOUR EYES!” is not menacing. At all.

But, I can’t help but think how much greater the emotional affect would be if he had more human features (think the burned-and-blurred, waxy features from Dumbledore’s memory).

Just imagine these scenes if Voldemort looked human, and spoke as quietly as he did in this one.

Because of the reason that I have little to go on in terms of characterization that I haven’t already covered, we’ll discuss the myth and legend of Lord Voldemort.

I can’t decide if the statue in the films is supposed to be the Angel of Death or the Grim Reaper. He has a skeleton and carries a scythe, but he also has wings. There are so many different interpretations, attitudes towards, and personifications of Death across the world that I don’t want to draw any one conclusion. But I must wonder if Lord Voldemort, with his yew-and-phoenix wand (which carries heavy symbolism of immortality and rebirth) and almost deified figure is meant to be a personification of Death himself? His name, Lord Voldemort, is a shade close to Lord Death.

For years, it has stumped me that wizards and witches are afraid to utter Voldemort’s name, especially since we only see the Taboo in the middle of the last book. It didn’t make sense just based on fear; in the real world, we don’t circumvent Hitler’s name, for example.

Perhaps this may have been obvious to others, but it wasn’t to me.

Here’s a counterargument to myself; why Voldemort shouldn’t look human.

Voldemort, in the Wizarding World, is seen as a literal deity.

I promised to attempt to answer this question in Part 3:

And so, I can’t help but wonder if the opposite is true… if Tom Riddle creates Horcruxes, would that grant him additional magic powers?

In Part 3, I likened Tom Riddle to a sorcerer in Russian folklore, Koschei the Deathless, also famous for sequestering his soul in objects. This source suggests that Koschei was considered not an ordinary magician, but a representative of the ‘other’ world, the world of death.

So, what if... creating Horcruxes makes you... more than human? Now, I could definitely see god-like status being appealing to sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle. Perhaps, even appealing enough to kill for. Now, his proclivity for Avada Kedavra makes sense. We know it’s an incredibly sinister spell, but at the same time, it’s a very humane way to kill. Why might it be so horrifying?

Here’s a weird theory.

To the best of my knowledge, no one but Voldemort is seen using the Killing Curse more than once or twice.

Perhaps, ordinary mortals can only cast Avada Kedavra a few times, but Tom, having split his soul and having become in some way a non-human instrument of Death, can cast it however many times as he likes, and that is part of what serves to make him so terrifying.

This makes the idea of Voldemort tossing around Avada Kedavras actually incredibly terrifying, if you take into account what that might mean.

The collective cultural fear of speaking Voldemort’s name supports this theory.

Take the chthonic (underworld) deities of Greek mythology; most notably, Hades and Persephone, the king and queen of the underworld.

Hades, the god of the dead, was feared.

So feared that the word ‘Hades’ (”the unseen one”) was so frightening, that people came up with all sorts of euphemisms to circumvent actually saying it and he was rarely even depicted in art. For example, they would refer to him as Pluto (”the rich one”), Clymenus ("notorious"), Polydegmon ("who receives many"), and perhaps Eubuleus ("good counsel" or "well-intentioned"), amongst many other names.

However, he was not seen as evil; just stern, cruel, and fair. Like most Greek gods, he had an associated cult (the Death Eaters, anyone?)

Another interesting connection between Hades and Voldemort is that Hades was associated with snakes.

Persephone (suggested to have a pre-Greek origin and probably pre-dates Hades), who was also a vegetation/fertility/spring goddess, similarly, was referred to as Despoina (”the mistress”), Kore (”the maiden”), etc, because as the terrible Queen of the Dead, it was considered unsafe to speak her name aloud. In mythology and literature, she is sometimes referred to as ‘dread Persephone.’

--Just like how Lord Voldemort is referred to as The Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who... (and if you’re Dumbledore, ‘Tom’.)

Her central myth served as the context for the secret rites of regeneration at Eleusis (which was basically a mystery cult devoted to her and her mother, Demeter), which promised immortality to initiates.

We don’t know for certain what exactly went on, because, mystery cult -- the members were sworn to secrecy -- but it revolved around immortality and rebirth and possibly psychoactive drugs.

Perhaps ironically, in comparison to the Death Eaters, anyone could join, as long as they could speak Greek and had never committed murder.

And that concludes my assessment!

#tom riddle #the many faces of #tom marvolo riddle #character analysis #lord voldemort #character study #tw: murder #the body horror was 1/10 #don't make your character design hilarious if you want him to be scary #i'm not saying voldemort is a vegetation deity #but i'm not-not saying it either

52 notes · View notes

tigerkirby215 · 4 years

Text

5e Nocturne, the Eternal Nightmare build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Alex Flores. Made for Riot Games)

In my continuation of terrifying builds for terrifying characters here’s a build for the scariest champion in League of Legends. The prime horror icon on the rift who everyone points to and says “now that is a scary champion!” Nocturne!

Fiddlesticks? How could that bag of twigs and metal be scary?

GOALS

Do I scare you, summoner? - Nocturne is a champion of fear... I mean at least until someone else came along. Still pretty good at making other champs terrified though.

The light is fading - Fighting Nocturne with spells is pointless: cast one and he gets more powerful.

Darkness... - An assassin is scary. An assassin who can turn off the lights, pop up behind you and scream “OOOGA BOOGA!” is even scarier!

RACE

There’s several things Nocturne could be and none of them really fit the description of “shadow spirit demon.” So fuck it may as well be a Changeling, to take the form of whatever your prey fears the most! As a Changeling you get +2 to Charisma and +1 to another ability of your choice... which can be Charisma! So fuck it +3 to Charisma! You also get two skill proficiencies of your choice thanks to Changeling Instincts (take Intimidation and Insight to see through your prey and strike them with fear) and you can learn two languages to compliment your Common language. (Pick whatever it doesn’t matter.)

But of course the main feature of a Changeling is their Shapechanger trait. It’s basically Disguise Self but your clothes don’t change: you still have to have a basic arrangement of limbs, can’t change your size so much that you change size categories, can’t disguise as something you’ve never seen, etc. etc. etc. But even so there’s more than enough shapechanging you can do to strike fear into your foes!

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - You are a being of ultimate horror who knows exactly how to get under someone’s skin.

14; DEXTERITY - Nocturne is an assassin who can travel across massive swaths of the map in an instant, and your arm blades don’t seem like they’d be too heavy.

13; WISDOM - To truly terrify someone you’ve gotta know what makes them tick.

12; INTELLIGENCE - You need smarts to be scary. You need to know why they’re scared.

10; CONSTITUTION - Nocturne is a squishy assassin. (Though that being said feel free to swap INT and CON if you want better health but worse RP.)

8; STRENGTH - Nocturne is a ghost so weak that he can only attack you in your dreams... at least until your dreams become real.

BACKGROUND

There’s no background for “Ancient Nightmare Demon” so how about you join an assassin’s club instead? The Volstrucker Agent background from Wildemount gives you proficiency in Deception and Stealth along with a Poisoner’s Kit and a language of your choice. (Again pick whatever.)

Your feature Shadow Network lets you talk to other demons... the worst of the worst... assassin mains. If you write a letter in special ink, address it to a member of the Volstrucker, and throw it into a fire, the letter will materialize on the person of the agent you addressed it to. The ink used to send a letter is the same as the ink to write in a spellbook, and writing a letter in this ink costs 10 gp per page. Tell Talon you’re ganking, or tell Evelynn that she’s a hoe.

This background is fairly easy to adapt outside of Wildemount but be ready to alter it in case your DM doesn’t allow Wildemount content.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - MONK 1

What? Were you expecting the magical nightmare demon to have magic? Well we need Monk levels for a number of things (notably Saving Throws) but firstly let’s talk skills: take proficiency in Acrobatics and History to jump into people’s dreams and know exactly how to frighten them! You also get a tool proficiency so take Brewer’s Supplies. A spirit making spirits? How droll!

As a Monk you have Unarmored Defense equal to your Dexterity plus your Wisdom. Yeah Nocturne does kinda wear armor, but you’ll have to go without it if you want to use Martial Arts. While unarmored and unarmed with nothing but Monk weapons (which are simple weapons and shortswords - I’d argue that your arm blades are sickles?) you gain the following benefits:

Your fists and Monk weapons can be used with DEX instead of STR.

Your unarmed strike becomes a d4 (and will increase as you level up in Monk.)

When you make an attack with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.

LEVEL 2 - MONK 2

Second level Monks can chase down their prey with Unarmored Movement, increasing their movement by 10 feet while unarmored (as the name suggests.) But if you need to chase them down faster with Duskbringer then Ki will help with that. You have a number of Ki points equal to your level in Monk which you can use in a number of ways:

Flurry of Blows will let you spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action after attacking, instead of just one.

Patient Defense will activate Shroud of Darkness for 1 ki point so you can take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn.

Step of the Wind will let you take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn at the cost of 1 Ki, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.

This should be more than enough to chase down your foes, but realize that your Ki points are limited. They come back on a short rest though, so you needn’t worry much.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 1

Oh hey look it’s Warlock again. Warlocks can choose their subclass at level 1 so it’s time to go Unearthed Arcana with the Undead patron, not to be confused with the Undying patron which doesn’t have the abilities we want.

Abilities such as Form of Dread: As a Bonus Action you can transform for 1 minute to gain temporary hitpoints and immunity to the Frightened condition, but most importantly all your attacks will force a Wisdom save on the target or else frighten them for a round. You can transform a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

And of course Warlocks get Pact Magic: you learn two cantrips from the Warlock list. To attack around you with your Umbra Blades take Sword Burst, and to let your foes know for whom the bell toles take Toll the Dead, because not taking Eldritch Blast would be a true nightmare.

You can also learn two first level spells: Hex will let you single an enemy out to do more damage to them, and Cause Fear lets you cause fear! Funny how that works. Hit your foes with Unspeakable Horror before cutting them down.

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations to boost their abilities in the realm of dreams. Devil’s Sight will let you see through magical darkness which is good considering that your ultimate (which we don’t have yet) makes the whole world dark. For your second invocation Misty Visions will let you create an illusion of your target’s greatest fears. And then don’t even have to be asleep!

You also get another spell but we’ll hold onto it until...

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks can learn second level spells like Blindness / Deafness from the Undead list for some more darkness, and Cloud of Daggers, because a spinning knife box is pretty spooky.

Yes I am aware that you can get the Darkness spell proper at this level but wait for a minute!

Of course more importantly you get your Pact Boon at level 3 and for a sword-arm ghost take Pact of the Blade, to make your swords on your arms or somewhere else on your body.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 4

4th level means an Ability Score Improvement, and since you’re going to be doing a lot of slashing take a Dexterity increase.

You also get another spell at this level along with another cantrip: Suggestion will let you mess with a creature’s thoughts a little to make them do things they’d never dream of! For your cantrip Prestidigitation lets you do a bunch of minor major spooky stuff. Because the true fear is not taking a d10 damage cantrip.

(Artwork by Choe HeonHwa. Made for Riot Games)

LEVEL 7 - MONK 3

You’re probably wondering what the point of these Monk levels are. Simple: Way of Shadows Monks are masters of darkness thanks to Shadow Arts. You can now cast spells using your Ki: you can cast Minor Illusion for free and for 2 Ki points you can cast Darkvision, Pass without Trace, Silence, or DARKNESS. You also get Deflect Missiles at level 3, making you an unkillable nightmare. Or at least a resilient nightmare.

LEVEL 8 - MONK 4

4th level in Monk means another Ability Score Improvement: more Dexterity is needed to survive. Speaking of survive: Slow Fall will help in case you get stuck in that dream where you’re constantly falling.

LEVEL 9 - MONK 5

5th level Monks get an Extra Attack, letting them attack an extra time with their arm blades, or their fists as your Martial Arts die also increase to a d6.

But of course to scare your foes to the point that they can barely move Stunning Strike will let you force a Constitution save or stun your target! I mean, it probably won’t work because your Wisdom is so low but...

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 5

Quickly hopping to 5th level of Warlock for Shroud of Darkness: grab Counterspell to counter any spells coming your way. You also get another Eldritch Invocation and while Nocturne doesn’t turn invisible in on the rift One with Shadows will let you hide effectively in bushes.

LEVEL 11 - MONK 6

6th level Monks can finally embrace the darkness thanks to Shadow Step. When in dim light or darkness you can teleport up to 60 feet as a bonus action to an unoccupied space you can see, as long as that spot is also in dim light or darkness. You also have advantage on the first melee attack you make after teleporting.

You can make Darkness with your Ki which means that this ability should almost always be available. So let the Paranoia set in before jumping behind your foes to scream “OOOGA BOOGA!” Oh and your Unarmored Movement increases by 5 feet, up to 45 feet now.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Undead Warlocks are Grave Touched. You no longer need to eat, drink, or breathe, because nightmare logic. Additionally, when you hit a creature with an attack you can replace the damage type with necrotic damage. While you are using your Form of Dread, you can roll one additional damage die when determining the necrotic damage the target takes. So instead of doing bludgeoning damage with your fists you can do necrotic damage instead, and rip at their minds! Wait no that’s psychic damage...

Regardless you can learn a third level spell like Speak with Dead, because what’s spookier than a talking corpse?

LEVEL 13 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation: to never lose track of your prey take Ghostly Gaze for some All Seeing Spirit.

You can also learn 4th level spells like Shadow of Moil to shroud yourself in darkness. Yeah I hope you didn’t think I’d stop linking to that sound clip!

LEVEL 14 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement: maximize your nightmare blades with a capped Dexterity modifier. You can also learn another spell like Death Ward to come back from anything your foes may throw at you. Guardian Angel? What a nightmare!

LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation. Want to hover? Ascendant Step lets you hover!

You can also learn 5th level spells at this level so it’s time to finally give people proper nightmares with the Dream spell. It’s a fairly complicated spell but in essence you can project yourself into someone’s dreams to talk to them, or to yell “OOOGA BOOGA” at them to make them take Psychic damage while also being unable to get a proper long rest.

LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Undead Warlocks can leave their Mortal Husk: You gain resistance to necrotic damage, and you are using your Form of Dread, you instead become immune to necrotic damage.

Additionally, when you are reduced to 0 hit points you can explode! Each creature within 30 feet of you takes necrotic damage equal to 2d10 + your warlock level and you get up with 1 HP. Once you revive this way, you receive a point of exhaustion and you can’t do so again until you finish 1d4 long rests. Look: Nocturne doesn’t explode in-game but there’s nothing saying he can’t do so.

You also don’t get another spell at this level, but you do get another cantrip! Mind Sliver is an Unearthed Arcana spell (that’s been confirmed for Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything) which will let you further reach into your prey’s mind, and see their deepest fears of not taking a d10 damage cantrip.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 11

11th level Warlocks get their 6th level Mystic Arcanum, which is a 6th level slot that comes back on a Long Rest. So it’s basically a normal spell slot but you can’t upcast your Pact Magic or your Mystic Arcanum. There are some good options to choose from (shoutout to Mental Prison) but if you want to freak out your foes with a spooky eye trick take Eyebite. Along with making your eyes (and I quote!) “become an inky void imbued with dread power“ you can force your foes to make Wisdom saves or suffer a variety of effects. I suggest reading the spell over properly to learn everything it can do.

Oh but you know what else is cool? Regular Warlock spells! And you get a third pact slot no less! I’m actually going to suggest hopping back to 4th level for Hallucinatory Terrain to shape the world around you into one of pure nightmares.

LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 12

12th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement, and seeing as we’ve had an uneven Wisdom score this entire time I’m actually going to suggest grabbing Resilient (Wisdom) this time for some spell defense and some better stats.

But more importantly you can learn another Eldritch Invocation so it’s finally time to get value out of your ability to cause fear! Lifedrinker will let you fill your blade (because technically you only have one) with Unspeakable Horror, allowing you to deal extra Necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier when you strike with them!

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 13

13th level Warlocks get 7th level Mystic Arcanum such as Power Word Pain to subject a target with less than 100 health to Unspeakable Horror.

You can also learn another Pact Magic spell and have you ever had that feeling of someone watching you? Well Scrying will let you watch people. Cut some claw marks through a girl’s blue dress and use the cloth fragments to watch her when you can’t strike. …That was a Nightmare on Elm Street reference…

LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 14

14th level Undead Warlocks can truly instill Paranoia with Spirit Projection. As an action you can go beyond your body, leaving it behind in an unconscious state of suspended animation. Your spirit can remain outside your body for up to 1 hour or until your concentration is broken. When your projection ends, your spirit returns to your body or your body magically teleports to your spirit’s space (your choice). While projecting your spirit, you gain the following benefits:

Your spirit and body gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

When you cast a spell of the conjuration or necromancy school, the spell doesn’t require any components as long as they don’t have a gold cost.

You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed and can hover. You can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, but you take 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside a creature or an object.

While you are using your Form of Dread, you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage dealt with an attack once per turn.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest, but one hour of pure terror should be enough to slay any foe.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Drip drop; the sound of blood - While it’s mostly tied to your Form of Dread you do a lot of damage. 3d6 + 23 damage with your blade(s and fist) every turn, increasing to 6d6 + 23 with Form of Dead.

Their twilight approaches - You have quite a lot of mobility. 45 feet of movement speed and if you want you can hover. Or even fly! And of course you have dozens of ways to teleport around the battlefield and be everywhere at once.

Are you getting tired yet? - It wasn’t my intention but you are remarkably hard to kill. Good saving throws (or at least good enough), good AC, incredible mobility, and ways to both heal and grant yourself temporary hitpoints.

CONS

Afraid of the dark? - The sad truth about fear in D&D is that most high-level monsters are immune to it. Necrotic damage is thankfully spared but even then if you face an enemy who’s resistant to Necrotic damage (yet alone immune!) you’ll run into a lot of problems.

People are flames to be blotted out - While both your Ki points and your Pact Magic slots come back on a Short Rest a lot of your best abilities are tied to Long Rests. Perhaps it’s the nature of Unearthed Arcana, but even then your pact spells are mostly meant for utility, which is fine and all but it means that you won’t have much for combat. There’s a lot of great combat spells that Warlocks get which you can grab instead of the spells I listed.

I sense fear - All the resilience and mobility in the world won’t save you from Power Word Kill. With a d8 hit die and no Constitution modifier you won’t have much more than 100 health on average.

But as day turns to night it’s your time to strike. Your role above all is to cause fear. Let your victims know that if you want them dead they won’t survive. Stalk them in every moment regardless of if they’re awake or asleep, and let them know that when the world goes dark their time is up. Just be wary of anyone who remembers to bring a flashlight: you don’t want to be blinded while chasing your prey.

(Artwork by Francis Tneh of West Studios. Made for Riot Games)

#DnD 5e #dnd #DnD build #dnd guide #League of Legends #League of Legends Nocturne #dnd warlock #darkness

4 notes · View notes

cupids-flight · 5 years

Text

Spooky Santa 2019 - Gift

Good afternoon! This is my Spooky Santa present - I was lucky enough to get @minibattlehero and they requested... basically anything! Unfortunately, I have the artistry skills of a brick through a windshield, so what I can offer my writing skills.

It’s one hundred percent Izuocha - and I hope you like it! It’s under the cut, as it’s somewhat longer than I expected.

Story Information:

Title: “🐝 To say there were too many bees was an understatement. 🐝” Pairing: Izu/Ocha Word Count: 2082

🐝 To say there were too many bees was an understatement. 🐝

It was not often that Ochako wished revenge on someone that didn’t have it as part of a greater goal, but it did happen. And – in her eyes – pranking her classes Secret Santa party with a box full of angry bees was taking things far too far. She didn’t know who had sent the cursed present but seeing the smirk on Monoma’s face at the sight of her many stings was enough in her mind.

She had stepped forward, about to give him a piece of her mind, when an angry force of nature sped forward with an anger that seemed unsuited on his frame; the green sparks flared over him. Whatever he was feeling, it was not going to be pleasant for Monoma.

🐝 🐝 🐝

It wasn’t so much a party as it was a gathering; the class coming together to exchange gifts; not unlike a Secret Santa, but for the most legendary of holidays. Halloween.

The names had been drawn, and the only rule for present purchasing was simple – not too expensive, and something spooky or related to the season.

Some of the presents had been oddly fitting – Mineta receiving a pumpkin that had been made to look like his head, while Tokoyami received a rather sizable book on eldritch mythos – and some had been... odder. Izuku receiving a full vampire costume (save that it was in magenta) and Shoto receiving a full campfire and smores kit. (Mina had gotten particularly defensive when he opened his present, leaving no one to doubt who had gotten Shoto in the draw.)

Everyone had switched presents and the party was winding down. Kirishima was the first to notice the elephant in the room; two final packages. One of them was clearly marked for Koji, but he had not been able to attend. The other was untagged and unadorned, lay in the remnants of the original gifts. It’s wrapping was a plain metallic gold, adding to the mystery.

Kirishima glanced around, before shrugging.

“Hey, anyone going to claim this present or should I open it?”

His classmates, having been roused from their merriment, turned their attention to the package. Jirou, taking the initiative, placed one of her ear jacks carefully against the box. Within a moment, she turned back towards her friends with a single eyebrow raised and an apprehensive look on her face.

“It’s buzzing. Whatever is in it, it’s buzzing.”

The reactions were mixed; Denki looked almost abashed (his mind having rapidly drifted toward the impure) while Shoto looked on with a stoic gaze, seemingly unfazed. He sighed, before walking towards the mystery present.

“I am going to open it. Does anyone object?”

Everyone looked on, curiosity now roused; even if there were misgivings, none would announce them. Izuku (in a case of extraordinarily good judgment) gently stepped back, pulling Ochako as he did.

Shoto opened the lid, and pandemonium ensued.

An unreasonable (almost improbable) number of bees poured from the box, having been freed from their prison; and to say that they were (as a collective) angry bees was an understatement. Their rage could only be surpassed by Bakugo; who to his credit had sprung into action, the sparks from his hands proving more than enough to send the bees flying off, desperately avoiding him.

🐝 🐝 🐝

Ochako was panicking; she was not a fan of bees in any capacity and being confronted with a frankly preposterous number of bees was – to her – far scarier than any threat posed by a villain. Izuku very quickly caught up on this, stepping forward; doing his best to shield her from the incessant buzzing.

It was just a shame that she had chosen today, of all days, to wear a shirt with a floral design. The bees were homing in on the promise of nectar from the flowers on her shirt, almost trying to swarm her.

The first sting went unnoticed by many, but they continued.

The bees, to their credit, weren’t trying to intentionally hurt anyone; but they were scared insects who were desperately trying to get out of the room. (All the windows had been rapidly opened, and they were pouring out of the windows.) In the excitement, no one was aware that the number of bees pouring from the box were vastly more than it could hold.

It all came to a sudden, sweltering stop when Torodoki, stung to hell and back and fed up with the entire situation, let loose a torrent of flame that incinerated any luckless bee in the area that was still flying, adding to the pile of dead bees on the ground. He also successfully singed a lot of hair, but most of them were accepting of this fact if it solved the bee problem.

Bakugo, naturally, was the first to start swearing.

🐝 🐝 🐝

Most people simply tuned out the unending stream of profanity emanating from the angry blond, instead focusing on the stings and the countless remains of bees.

Kirishima took a moment – sting-free, due to his hardening – to glance at his friends. Hakugure was somehow giving off an air of displeasure despite not saying a word nor having any capability for expression in any form. Mina was crying, Jirou carefully patting her on the arm avoiding the many stings laced across it. Ochako was nowhere to be found; nor was Izuku (which lead him to smile, mentally).

Denki was passed out on one of the couches – he had let loose an ill-advised burst of electricity to try and shock the bees, which had simply made them angrier.

He sighed, before sitting down himself, the quiet they found themselves in only disturbed by Bakugo’s profanity; he was still going and had not yet even managed to repeat himself. (Kirishima would privately note this as impressive, despite everything.)

🐝 🐝 🐝

Ochako hissed as the cool liquid splashed onto yet another sting, Izuku’s hand carefully on her shoulder as he applied it. She had been one of the worst off out of the stung; it was with no small measure of extraordinarily good sense that had Izuku quickly get her out of the room before the bees swarmed.

(He did wonder why no one else considered leaving the room and just allowing the bees to leave through the window; or why someone didn’t think of calling Koji and seeing if he could intervene.)

His face was contorted with concentration as he applied the final bit of anti-sting lotion he had, the final drips of the blue liquid leaving the bottle. He put on a cheerful face for Ochako, even as she looked up.

A cheerful face would not disguise the fact he was similarly covered in stings.

“That should do it.” A nod from the green-haired boy. “It’ll still hurt for a little bit, but they should go down soon.” His face turned grave for a second. “It’s really lucky none of us were allergic…”

Ochako looked up at him, thinking for a moment.

“Why did you not use any of the lotion on yourself, Deku?”

And hearing her voice say his name slammed into Izuku’s train of thought like a lead weight, throwing all other thoughts out of his mind. His crush on her was (to everyone but the pair) common knowledge, barring Ochako herself.

“I- I wanted to make sure you were taken care of.” He held up a depleted first aid kit, some of its contents long since consumed. “I only had a little bit left.” Ochako looked at him with a level gaze for just a moment, before sighing.

“…thank you.” Her voice was a bit more subdued, the cheerfulness that was often in her tone making its absence known. She seemed to shrink into herself at Izuku’s speech.

Izuku frowned a little at that, before standing up – ignoring the omnipresent discomfort from the bees – and offering a hand to Ochako. She looked up towards it, almost hesitant.

She took it.

🐝 🐝 🐝

They were walking down one of the many streets; having made a hasty exit from the ‘restarted’ gathering. The fact that dead bees now covered many surfaces (and the discomfort from stings sending many people to bed early) made it fruitless endeavour.

Izuku had bought Ochako an ice cream, but she still looked somewhat uneasy. Izuku, to his credit, had not forced the issue. He simply let her enjoy her ice cream in companionable silence, focusing as best as he could on his own.

(If he kept glancing to his right to catch a glimpse of her face, that was his business and his alone.)

The silence continued on, as the final touches of the day passed on leaving a starlit sky in its wake.

“Izuku-kun.”

Her voice was quiet; not as subdued but lacking the normal boundless enthusiasm she put into everything she did. Izuku turned his head, ice-cream long since finished, and looked at her.,

“Why did you jump in front of me when the box was opened?”

Izuku barely hesitated in answering, conviction in his voice.

“…because you looked like your worst nightmare had come true when the box opened. A-and…” A moment to pause, as Izuku considered his next words; whatever he said next would have to be poignant. (Or so it had been drummed into him, as a life lesson in talking to girls.)

“…well, I never want to see you look like that again if I can help it?” A nod, as he felt emboldened. “I fully believe in you as a hero, but everyone has something they don’t like… like… like bees.” His voice lowered a notch. “…I don’t like them either. They scare me.”

Ochako’s face seemed to shift at that admission, just a little.

“But… if it was anyone else, I’d have… I don’t know. Probably not jumped in front of a swarm of them.”

A moment passed between them, a moment that seemed to pass for an age.

Ochako spoke next, equally as quiet.

“…thank you. It… did make me happy, in a way, to see it was you who had jumped in front of them.” A soft smile, the ever-present blush enlightening her face.

This, once again, sent Izuku’s thought processes sideways, even as she continued to speak.

“It was really stupid. I had this whole plan to talk to you, and then I didn’t get a chance before the bees…”

A nod. Izuku did not want to consider the bees.

“…I was actually going to tell you something.”

This caught Izuku’s attention even as he was reeling from the unexpected turns of phrase she had used; his analytical brain desperately trying to figure out what she was going to say. It could have been anything, to him – an invite out with her and some friends, a question about homework-

“I like you, Izuku.”

-and his mental processes slammed to a complete stop for the third time that day. He watched down, nervous (and in a state of shock) as she took his hand, holding it in her own. It had been something he had often considered (alone, obviously, because he was not about to mention it in any way that Bakugo could find out) but he had long since cast the idea aside.

He – almost in autopilot – reaffirmed her grip, the tip of his finger making contact with one of her pads; she giggled, a little bit, at that. The small tremors in his hands, the callouses and marks from constant training and the sheer damage he had caused to them, all fading into the background under the simple touch; the gentle feeling of her hand pushing everything else aside.

He looked at her; gazed into her eyes for just a moment, before speaking. It was a simple sentence he said in return, but it held a lot of meaning.

To them both.

🐝 🐝 🐝

It was with little fanfare that Izuku, Monoma and (having followed along in a fret of concern) Ochako found themselves sitting in front of Aizawa, his gaze as level and tired as it ever was.

“What, precisely, led you to believe that using your quirk to intimidate Monoma was a good idea, Problem Child?”

A small nod from Izuku; a well-rehearsed answer.

“It was when he upset my girlfriend by sending our party a box of bees.”

And that caught everyone’s attention. It was back to their classmates within the hour.

#//Originally the 🐝's were centered #//But Tumblr wasn't having any of that.#[ BNHA RP Spooky Santa 2k19 ]#//I forgot to tag Mat before I went into HTML editing mode so I'll just tell him another way.#minibattlehero #//Sorry I couldn't make any graphics; I hope this brings a smile to you! :)

5 notes · View notes

peanutdracolich · 7 years

Text

Peanut Dracolich Watches Horror: The Final Reckoning

So over the course of this month I’ve watched a lot of horror. 15 days ago I ranked those I’d watched then, and now I’ve watched a fair bit more. Now some aren’t making it onto the list, and some have had their ordering changed, but I will discuss that later.

Again I am judging these as Horror Movies. If the movie’s value is not as horror primarily it suffers. I really enjoyed Alien Covenant and either it or Dracula Has Risen was my most enjoyed movie of the month, but Alien Covenant is good because it is sci-fi and horror in a 55/45 mix I’d say, and Dracula Has Risen is more about Christopher Lee vampire than horror, I mean yeah vampires are a type of horror but it’s not the same. When I want a horror movie I want... well actually it’s a large genre and I want different things from it at different times. Sometimes I want a Horror Film, a film to cause a visceral fear reaction. Sometimes I want a slasher, which is a type of horror film but with a specific narrative (I rarely want slashers). Sometimes I want a Horror Story and while horror films in theory have horror stories I mean something different with it, something that’s actually more about creep and tone, more about the gothic fantasy elements, or the eldritch terror, and less about the visceral reaction. Sometimes I want a monster movie, or a vampire flick. So I tried to balance it based upon the things I want in a horror movie. And so... the list is below the cut, but before it is those that weren’t included.

Non-included Entries: Chronos (I intend to talk about it), Young Frankenstein, and Captain Kronos all are not included on the list because of them only Chronos really fits Horror Movie and even then only sort of kind of. They were all good movies, but to judge them for horror movie would be misleading. Chronos was more dark supernatural tragedy with elements of horror (in fact the supernatural elements were horror and not fantasy) but still the enjoyment is as a tragedy more than anything I’d think of with Horror. Young Frankenstein is a fairly famous horror parody, a better film than many on the list, but impossible to properly judge as horror. Captain Kronos is the same way, one of the most fun films I watched this month, but although it has vampires it was a heroic adventure film.

Also absent from the list are Alien, The Horror of Dracula, and Evil Dead because they’re all rewatches and Alien/ED not particularly close ones (I’m watching Evil Dead while typing). It would go Evil Dead, Alien, and then the list if I included those anyway as they’re my 1 and 2 of Horror (Dracula would get tied with Has Risen beating it out slightly).

1) Ju-On the Grudge (02)

2) The Descent (05)

3) The Vampyr (32)

4) Dracula Has Risen from His Grave (68)

5) Mouth of Madness (93)

6) Prince of Darkness (87)

7) The Whisperer in the Darkness (12)

8) Call of Cthulhu (05)

9) Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (65)

10) Alien Covenant (17)

11) The Omen (76)

12) The Vampire Lovers (70)

13) IT (90)

14) The Mummy - Hammer Horror (59)

15) The Mummy - Universal (32)

16) The Oblong Box

17) The Exorcist (73)

18) Poltergeist (82)

19) The Kiss of the Vampire

20) Friday the 13th Part 2 (81)

21) Frankenstein (31)

22) The 7 Golden Vampires (74)

23) The Return of the Living Dead (85)

24) Child’s Play (88)

25) Saw (04)

26) Alien 3 (92)

27) Uzumaki (00)

So like last time some thoughts:

Ju-On: A legitimately good film, even though I have no desire or intent to rewatch it. It is a good horror film, though. While something does bother me about it which kept me from wanting to see more of the universe, it still manages to do what a horror film is supposed to do best of the ones I watched this month.

The Descent: This film moved up! Because I refigured how much emphasis ‘egads this film is actual art’ should be given. Also watching Evil Dead scenes with them driving and then their cabin remind me even more of Evil Dead scenes (the near crash, the stuff coming in through the window, the approach to the cabin). Evil Dead did a better building creep/horror with them, but The Descent was repurposing them and did that well, while taking advantage of the subconscious connections. Well done film.

The Vampyre: While I may have liked this film better than Ju-On or The Descent that’s for the artistry and probably in part because I was dehydrated. Still it’s a good film and it does have its spell. It doesn’t have the terror that really spells horror film for me, but it has the spell of nightmare like a true horror story.

Dracula Has Risen from His Grave: And here we have the best of the vampire films of the year (including Chronos) and possibly the best film of the year for pure enjoyment (though Captain Kronos and Alien Covenant might rival or beat it). But wait didn’t The Vampyre get higher. Yes, because it is better horror, but I don’t want vampire stories primarily for horror and this gave me what I wanted from a vampire story. It’s a good film and quite enjoyable.

Mouth of Madness: This meta-Lovecraftian film was while not my personal favorite of the John Cameron apocalypse films I watched, the better story and probably the better film, the other merely hit my buttons better. The concept alone makes it so much fun, and I do almost want to rewatch it now... except I know it will be better to do so in several years where I still vaguely remember the twists but don’t remember the film.

Prince of Darkness: As you can see I do still include ‘I personally really liked this one’ rather highly. It actually does the early horror set up better than most of the rest, it’s just that the cheese is too high and not stylistic but earnest enough to feel detrimental because the film is good enough that the joy is not in the cheese.

The Whisperer in the Darkness: A fun film, a good film. This film’s cheese is stylistic and adds to it plain out. It does a good job of the Cold War Alien Film take on the story, and in general is just a good film that I enjoyed.

Call of Cthulhu: This film was hard to place. It’s artistic. It feels it. If it didn’t have some ‘this stylistic suck went to far compared to what it was imitating’ it’d probably be higher because it very much has the spell, but in the end it’s not as fun as Whisperer, not got the spell of The Vampyre, and ends up feeling like it belongs here.

Dr Terror’s House of Horrors: Nothing new to say really.

Alien Covenant: I really liked it, but as sci-fi first and horror 2nd. I mean it was fully functional horror despite that, but it was not how I enjoyed it.

The Omen: This is still my B- film of the year. This and above are good films, below it are lukewarm or something else more than horror. It’s also where ‘listening to Evil Dead while not looking at the screen’ gets ‘better horror’ (note Evil Dead’s visuals are creepy and good horror that enriches it).

The Vampire Lovers: This might should switch with IT, in fact they’ve switched already once. It was not like IT ever considered for the B- film role because it’s close enough to erotica to be hard to place, but it definitely was pretty good and better at being a horror story than part 2 of IT and more enjoyable than IT for its length. So it squeezes past.

IT: If I was judging just part 1 this would be the B- film. Judging both parts, Part 2 is definitely lukewarm. Overall it’s a C+. Good enough, but 3 hours and Evil Dead is scarier just by listening to it.

The Mummy (Hammer): Probably better than Part 2 of IT, worse than Part 1 and closer to the latter in quality. It’s a functional monster movie, but nothing to really write home about. Alright if you want a monster movie, but I won’t be rewatching it any time soon.

The Mummy (Universal): And here we get to the Frankenstein issue where I’m scared I’m inflating it for the sake of ‘historical place’. Still Boris Karloff was interesting, the story left less of a hollow feeling in my mouth and it was almost good and all the films below here are at best almost good. I think it deserves this place.

The Oblong Box: Is another hard placement. While Vincent Price and second tier relatively non-villain Christopher Lee were fun the film was not great. It might swing up to beat The Mummy (both versions) but I was too tired of the type of horror at the time to really say. On the same note it might swing down to below Poltergeist. It is however in the Lukewarm area.

The Exorcist: Is not my type of movie. I mean I can see its influence; girls crabwalking down stairs, demons talking about your mother being lewd in Hell. It has some very memorable bits... It’s just not a scary movie, not that enjoyable movie, and with the exception of a few very memorable bits sort of forgettable. It was too long, and too slow in that I sort of started getting bored of it faster than I did the Universal Studio’s Mummy which I could understand my nephew leaving after 20-30 minutes because it was sort of boring. Where The Mummy picked up afterwards, The Exorcist waits another hour to pick up. That said the drama to someone who is watching for a drama has its value and art and I have to respect it. I’m probably rating it higher than I would otherwise due to sacred cow status, but at the same time it has some very good elements it just mixes them with stuff that leaves it lukewarm. The music does it too. Never got to me and... Well Evil Dead just went quiet and it got me spooked. The Exorcist goes quiet and I don’t notice because quiet felt like the default. The sound was bad is what I’m saying. Still it does have those classic moments that are better horror if you just watch them alone than some of the films lower down.

Poltergeist: This film was lukewarm. I probably enjoyed it better than the Exorcist, but I’m guessing the last 40 minutes of the Exorcist is a better movie than Poltergeist.

The Kiss of the Vampire: It’s really hard to place this. I was sick of Hammer Horror by the time (though watched the Mummy the next day). It was definitely worse than the Oblong Box, though, and the Mummy, and I enjoyed Poltergeist more and Poltergeist was more horror. So yeah I’m going here. It’s above the ‘must find alternative enjoyment’ line but it’s probably the worst of those that are.

Friday the 13th Part 2: This marks the line of ‘I don’t actually enjoy this as horror if I enjoy it at all. The film was so bad it was good. I will probably watch 3 or 4 at some point (whichever the internet tells me is good).

Frankenstein: More and more I thought where I put it before was really just Sacred Cow. It fails to hit any of my horror buttons, it fails to be a good Frankenstein story. It’s worth watching for its historical place and because it has one or two good scenes, plus is short increasing the relative impact of those. But still I have to work to find some other means of enjoyment from the film.

7 Golden Vampires: This film is not good. It is enjoyable. But it is not good. Still I enjoy Peter Cushing and the bad horror bad kung fu was nice even if there are better films later that mix bad horror with good kung fu and comedy (Mr. Vampire) or good ghost story with good kung fu (Chinese Ghost Story) which are legit pretty good films (watch those over this one, though).

The Return of the Living Dead: First and foremost I didn’t watch it too closely. It’s horror comedy, but it is horror comedy and not just comedy about horror. The comedy, though, was less funny than Friday part 2 and the horror wasn’t that scary. I’d rather watch Peter Cushing fight kung fu vampires (which have trouble with limping old men). Candidate for so bad it’s good I guess.

Child’s Play: Nothing has changed here. If The Omen is my B- this is my D-. It passes... barely and it’s not getting real credit. Still I can see so bad it’s good vibes... still would watch Fright Night instead.

Saw: Nothing has changed. Still contemplate whether this should be below Alien 3. This is still in the ‘I sort of regret watching this.’

Alien 3: This film is worth watching if you like the franchise and want to see it all. This film does not stand on its own, though. Too long. Too confused. Not good enough. Still in fairness it might be up to Ft13-2 level, but I can’t judge it fairly so I’m going with here because trying to judge it from ‘not in love with the Alien franchise’ (I sort of love the franchise) I don’t think I could see a reason to watch it.

Uzumaki: I want the time I spent watching this film back.

Random Observations:

Best and worse films are Japanese horror and the only Japanese horror on the list (I intended to watch more J-horror but).

4 Out of 6 Cosmic Horror films were in a row (5-8).

Only 4 vampire movies got on the list despite watching 7.

#peanutdracolich watches horror #Ranking of things

7 notes · View notes

weekegg2-blog · 5 years

Text

Thirteen of Third Coast’s Favorite Scary Gaming Moments

As Halloween weekend comes to a close, you might be feeling a bit of sadness at the prospect of all the spooky fun fading. Don’t fret though, because Halloween isn’t over yet, and neither is all the scary fun. Here at Third Coast, we’ve compiled a list of the scariest moments we’ve had playing video games, and we’re here to share them with you. So grab some Halloween candy and explore our favorite frightening game moments. Then, if you dare, scout the Halloween sales on Playstation, Xbox and Steam’s Halloween sale (starting today) and spend some time reliving the horrifying moments we mentioned. Third Coast gamers Antal Bokor, Marielle Shaw, James Brod, Matthew Bucher and Allison Manley share their favorite scares below.

Screenshot: Penumbra: Overture (via igdb.com)

Penumbra: Overture

I came across Penumbra a few years after it came out, and I’m not sure exactly what drew me towards it. It immediately gave me an eerie, found footage sort of vibe, like I discovered something forbidden, or even cursed. Penumbra’s inherent jankiness really helped drive that impression home, but if you’re willing to suffer through some clunkiness you’ll find a truly unsettling, extremely atmospheric and compelling game about a man trying to find his long-presumed dead father in a remote underground facility in northern Greenland. Brave creatures, fight your deteriorating psyche, solve physics-based puzzles, and uncover horrific mysteries. Developed by Frictional games, known for Amnesia and Soma, Penumbra is a survival/psychological horror that will haunt you.

-Antal

Screenshot: Tomb Raider III

Tomb Raider (Series)

I may have already mentioned I was hooked on Tomb Raider from the very first game, but what needs mentioning in a list of scary games is that there are some truly terrifying moments in those first three Tomb Raider games. Some are by design—like the incredibly creepy last two levels of the original game, where the walls pulse and strange aliens abound—but others happened more organically. I remember being engrossed in a complicated puzzle in the midst of a lush jungle in Tomb Raider III only to nearly die of a heart attack when a tiger would suddenly ambush me, destroying my moment of quiet contemplation. Perhaps the scariest thing I remember happening in any Tomb Raider game I’ve played though was during Tomb Raider III, when a giant Shiva statue came to life in what had previously been a peaceful puzzle room. The legacy continues, too, as Shadow of the Tomb Raider turned out to have some very frightening foes in the depths of its cave systems.

– Mariel

Screenshot: Subnautica

Subnautica

Not a conventional horror game, Subnautica is perhaps the game that scared me the most on this entire list. When I reviewed it last year (link to review) I mentioned its scarier moments, and even after putting about fifty more hours into that game since I reviewed it and even knowing all of its secrets, I still feel uneasy in its depths. There’s an extremely primal fear throughout as you are introduced to an underwater food chain that places you somewhere in the middle. Star Trek-like technology helps surviving under the oceans possible, but not necessarily easy as uncovering its mysteries puts you closer to some of Subnautica’s more terrifying creatures and environments.

-Antal

Screenshot: Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear is great because it’s a first-person psychological horror game featuring classic works of art mixed with grotesque uses for body parts… but it’s also got a LOT of great jump scares. Throughout the game (set in an artists’ manor), a lot of the paranoia comes in constantly-shifting hallways, many of which have words written on the walls and over the doorways. In one of those hallways, the wall above the door says “DON’T LOOK BACK.” When you see that, you just have to turn around, right? Let’s just say that if you play the game, you probably don’t want to. Unless you want to change your pants.

-Allison

Screenshot: Dead Space

Dead Space

I’d heard of the Dead Space games for years, and I’d always been interested. Resident Evil 4 in space, and gorier? Sign me up. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Dead Space is a horror game for people who don’t like feeling completely defenseless, without sacrificing the teeth-grinding anxiety that horror games give you in spades. It has plenty of satisfying weaponry, which is perfect when you’re going up against some of the most disturbingly scary creatures in any horror game I’ve played, because when every enemy you face looks like it was ripped right out of The Thing (which is a must watch for horror movie fans), you know you’re going to have a bad time. All of this is brought together with a setting that feels like Alien but scarier makes Dead Space a must play for fans of the horror genre.

– James

Screenshot: The Evil Within

The Evil Within

Legendary director and developer Shinji Mikami, best known for his work with Capcom and the Resident Evil Series, helped not only create the modern survival horror genre—but he also helped redefine it with Resident Evil 4 in 2002. When Evil Within came out, I think people were expecting another genre defining game. Instead, we got a mind fuck that is worthy of cult status. Gritty and rough around the edges, Evil Within is like playing through a horror hodgepodge. Taking cues from Silent Hill and the Resident Evil series, The Evil Within plays like the nightmare you would have after binge playing as many games in those series as possible. With a story that jumps from setting to setting without much explanation (until the end), increase the sense of hopelessness. And if that wasn’t bad enough, even on “Normal” difficulty The Evil Within can be pretty difficult, and checkpoints can be pretty sparse adding another layer fear in the form of lost progress. The sequel (see our review here) is a lot more conventional to modern horror standards, and while it never felt as gritty as the original, is also worth a look.

-Antal

Screenshot: The Forest

The Forest

I went into The Forest preparing to be scared. I knew it was a sort of Descent-esque survival game, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much horror would be involved. Try as I might to convince myself that the terrifying mutations that exist in the forests where my plane crashed weren’t real, the sounds they made, the way they hunt in packs, and the particular combination of twisted body parts they’re made up of had me legitimately terrified for almost the entire first half of the game. Adding to the fright factor, the monsters’ attack patterns are erratic—sometimes they’ll charge straight for you in groups, but sometimes they’ll fake you out, letting out a crazy sort of laughing sound as they do. Once you start exploring the caves, you’ll find newer and deeper horrors, with bloody limbs you’ll need to brush past, empty camps where things went terribly wrong, and the knowledge that just around the next bend you may encounter something you can’t get out of. While I eventually conquered my paralyzing fear of The Forest’s citizens and was better able to face off with them, I still can’t shake that uneasy feeling every time I load back into the game.

– Mariel

Screenshot: Bloodborne

Bloodborne

Not strictly a horror game, its risk/reward mechanics can create some stressful moments—but more than that, Bloodborne is absolutely chock full of horror style. Werewolves, giant insects, and even eldritch horrors abound in a game that is just as horrifying as it is difficult. Arguably the best game in the Souls series, Bloodborne reinvents as much as refines the Souls series in a way that even Dark Souls 3 couldn’t completely match

– Antal

System Shock 2

When you think of evil video game AIs you might think of GLADoS, but the first think I think of is Shodan. While GLADoS had a sort of plucky wackiness to her evil, Shodan was ruthless and terrifying. Not satisfied with sending her zombified, mutated and cybernetically enhanced minions after you, Shodan also enjoys taunting you as you fight for your life, as seen in the above reveal rant from the original System Shock game. While the original System Shock is a cult classic that has been re-released over the years (with Nightdive Studios even working on a complete Unreal engine-based remake) I personally found System Shock 2 to be the scarier of the two, but they’re both great atmospheric games—and the spiritual predecessors to the Bioshock series.

-Antal

Screenshot: Bioshock

Bioshock

Going into Bioshock, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d picked up a PS3 a year or two after its initial release and was going back and trying to play the games I’d heard everyone raving about. I didn’t expect to be taken in by the game, but as soon as I emerged from that initial bathysphere ride into Rapture I was hooked. And scared. The lonely corridors paired with the cheerful 50’s dance classics set the mood perfectly, and it was all downhill from there, from the terrifying masks on the bunny splicers in their bloodied dresses to the Scripture quoting, hymn singing others gone mad and waiting to tear you apart. All this without even mentioning the terrifying stomping and hissing of Big Daddies lurking nearby, or the inherent scariness of the Little Sisters who accompanied them and their high-pitched shrieks. Bioshock had me so entirely immersed in its world that I still think of those frightening depths today.

– Mariel

Screenshot: Raw Data

Raw Data

Raw Data is one of the few VR games that really manages to feel like a “full” game. It can also be really terrifying. Sure, we’ve seen a lot of horrible things in games, as evidenced by the stories you’ve read in this article so far alone. But when you’ve got the headset on and you’re in a dark laboratory corridor where there’s been a containment problem and robots in various stages of disrepair start attacking, it’s a whole new sort of fright. The worst ones for me were the ones that slowly slithered on the cold tile floor only to leap into your face at the last second. Even with weapons at the ready, I felt ill-prepared for their glowy red eyes and cold metallic skin so close to my face I could almost feel it.

-Mariel

Screenshot: Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 2

One of the scariest moments I remember from a video game was in Resident Evil 2 for N64. One of the most memorable things about early Resident Evil games for me was simply opening doors. The creak of the door and the darkness inside served as a loading screen, but was also nerve wracking. Would something pop up? What was waiting for you in the next room? After playing through Resident Evil 1 and growing used to that loading screen, RE2 made it scary again. Opening doors was business as usual until one door opened to reveal a horde of zombies coming into your area.

– Matthew

Screenshot: Alien: Isolation

Alien: Isolation

When Alien: Isolation came out to rave reviews, I was super psyched to wash my mouth of the bitterness that was Aliens: Colonial Marines and finally embrace a truly good Alien game. And then it was so scary I couldn’t beat it. I played it for several hours, reveling in its retro-futurism and its recreation of a 1980s Alien world—one that believably sat between Alien and Aliens. But then I ran into that damned xenomorph, some primal childhood fear reared its head, and I was paralyzed. My mom used to warn me that watching the Alien franchise would scare me, but I certainly did not listen. After imagining there was a slickly oily, acid-blooded creature waiting to kill me with its razor claws and extending, stabby jaw for the majority of my life, facing a moving and thinking manifestation of my childhood fear was too much. I never beat Alien: Isolation—because it scared me too much. But I vow to return someday…just not today.

– Antal

We hope you’ve had fun with this list of our favorite scary game moments. If you’ve got your own favorite moments to add to this list, leave them in the comments!

Hi! If you made it down this far you must’ve liked what you’ve seen. If you did, consider donating to our Patreon. Your donations enable us to continue to provide this type of content and more. Check out our Patreon page at patreon.com/3CR. Thank you for your support!

Categories: Game, Games & Tech, Round-Up

Tagged as: Alien: Isolation, Bioshock, Bloodborne, Dead Space, gaming, halloween, Layers of Fear, Penumbra: Overture, PlayStation, ps4, Raw Data, Resident Evil 2, scary gaming moments, shadow of the tomb raider, Steam, Subnautica, System Shock 2, The Evil Within, The Forest, Tomb Raider, Xbox, XBoxOne

Source: https://thirdcoastreview.com/2018/10/29/eleven-scary-gaming-moments/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

0 notes