The Royal Bethlehem Hotel @jane-d-ankh-veos - Tumblr Blog

Same place, 150 years later... I wonder what it will look like in another 150 years...

I've beaten Retail Hell twice but still chuckle every time when I see that a literal demonic horror maze, despite trying to devour the main character, has a considerately placed helpful sign. Priceless.

#retail hell #indie horror #indie horror games #tw trypophobia

When Smith in Resurrections says how excited he is to get to work, I instantly see him smugly smirking at Agents: "What's up, losers! I have actual weekends now! And a coffee machine! It's broken, though, but I do have one!" (While they stare with their unimpressed blank faces.)

And he must be really good at team management after all that previous experience of coordinating hundreds of versions of himself...

#matrix #the matrix #agent smith #the matrix resurrections #matrix resurrections

"Free Your Mind: The Matrix Now"

#the matrix #matrix #free your mind the matrix now #agent smith #theatre #theater #dance

Still thinking about her... ❤️

...and the mysterious fact that the Woman In Red is listed in Resurrections' credits and cast, but nobody (including me) managed to find her in that particular part of the tetralogy.

#the matrix #matrix #woman in red #the woman in red #agent smith

The Machine Herald: claims to have given up emotions Also the Machine Herald: makes sure that his dramatic villainous laughter is heard in both cities The Herald of the Arcane: claims to have given up emotions Also the Herald of the Arcane: even the damn mask is crying

(official concept art) Though in moments of self-reflection I notice that personally I ended up distinguishing between emotions (involuntarily, fleeting, impulsive) and feelings (profound, lasting, something that I had time to think over and agree with consciously), and I almost hate emotions for that, and my neurodivergence can't figure out how to express them properly, but on the other hand my deeper feelings in this particular sense can still be very strong and are much more valuable to me. So, I guess, one of the many things I'd love to discuss with Viktor(s) over sweetmilk is if he also separates the former from the latter, perhaps unconsciously, because it seems like he would never be really able to block feelings out (since compassion and creative determined passion, at least, are such fundamental parts of him).

#arcane #league of legends #viktor #viktor arcane #psychology #machine herald viktor #arcane herald viktor #the machine herald #herald of the arcane #my life

It's hard to paint on something so small, but I like the result.

#my art #crafts #handmade jewelry #jewelry #jewellery

At this point he almost sounds disappointed that this, ahem, penetration wasn't M-rated (or at least a not-so-figuratively-devouring passionate kiss):

...On a serious note, though, this aspiration to assimilate everyone indeed strikes me as a desire for connection, or for understanding and acquiring more of what others have (humanity, meaning, feelings, love) that he was deprived of. But that's just my interpretation, of course.

#the matrix #matrix #neosmith #neo x smith #smith x neo #agent smith #matrix revolutions #the matrix revolutions #matrix resurrections #the matrix resurrections

He just holds it with his leg with such serenity. Nothing can stand between him and sunlight.

#cats #cat photos #my life #my cat

"Reanimal" is pretty atmospheric, but I wasn't able to perceive it as horror, because getting more and more powerful weapons (up to a freaking tank) is pure comedy that takes the "Little Nightmares would have been much shorter if the children had a gun" joke completely seriously 😁

#reanimal #little nightmares #tarsier studios #video games

Out of context it may seem like this guy (in any of his incarnations) just really hates WATER instead of Neo:

Probably one of reasons why I've written a fic where he stole the interface of that cat (to spite the Analyst by intercepting his program and to hide in plain sight).

#matrix #the matrix #agent smith #neosmith #neo x smith #hugo weaving #jonathan groff #the matrix resurrections #matrix resurrections #the matrix revolutions #matrix revolutions

hovershiplogos

Storyboards from The Zion Archive - Power Outage

jane-d-ankh-veos

#the matrix #matrix #concept art #cats

[sapphic yearning intensifies]

This design reminds me of several paintings of this genre at once:

#fallen london #failbetter games #red-handed queen #the red-handed queen #pre-raphaelites #pre-raphaelite #character design

Also I decided to finally watch the Matrix 4 (maybe RE9 with Zeno's bullet-dodging made me nostalgic... maybe on the wave of waiting for the Backrooms and TADC finale...), and it turned out to be a surprisingly good addition to the trilogy for me.

I didn't find the recurrences and déjà vu-s annoying; they create an apt feeling of being stuck in the Wheel of Samsara (and in a simulation, and under the weight of the past, and so on), which comes to mind so naturally after Revolutions ended with Hindu mantras in its soundtrack, not to mention all other religious/philosophical references that I always loved in the Matrix films.

Having Smith save Neo and Trinity is absolutely awesome, because this is the real victory over him and his earlier nihilism. When the confrontation has a philosophical subtext, simply beating and killing an opponent doesn't prove the point; convincing him is much more significant. He is still himself – untamed, dangerous, vengeful and wanting to be free, but not through "burn the prison along with myself" kind of plan this time, and his words about big dreams suggest that he finally agrees that life and hope aren't meaningless, and I think this is the best way to triumph over an antagonist like him. Especially after all his "why, why" and inner conflict at the end of the previous movie that left me intrigued and unsatisfied because it wasn't addressed that he might have chosen evil not out of conviction but out of despair of never having been allowed to know and experience what good/love/meaning/hope even is and why it's worth fighting for, and this can't count as a free choice (in addition to the fact his role as an enemy of the One was orchestrated by the Oracle and the Architect). Now it can. It was, of course, necessary to test Neo with this whole are-you-sure-that-your-convictions-aren't-another-illusion (to separate attachments-upādānas and momentary unreliable human feelings from thought-out values and conscious choices), but Smith deserved more than to be just a narrative tool for this purpose. And, like Neo, he managed to defy predestined paths. Beautiful.

The new lead villain is memorable too: NPH is an excellent actor, and the Analyst makes me vividly remember the worst of my mental health doctors (you know, those ones from conversion therapy, and those ones who openly hate their patients but love control and money, and those ones who tried to "cure" autism and queerness while dismissing my depression and PTSD as "you can't have that at 14"... ugh...), so his comeuppance certainly scratches some vindictive old itch.

And don't even get me started on the whole idea of the video game as simulations-within-simulations and cycles and meta-fiction... As a fan of Pathologic, I'm eating it right up.

#the matrix #matrix #matrix resurrections #matrix revolutions #the matrix resurrections #the matrix revolutions #agent smith #neo x smith #neosmith #movies

What a feast for glitch horror fans ♥

#backrooms #the backrooms #backrooms movie #backrooms 2026 #the backrooms 2026 #glitchcore #glitch horror #surreal horror

Carnival Row concept art by Sean Andrew Murray

#carnival row #steampunk fantasy #victorian fantasy #steampunk #others' art #concept art #beautiful things

I always thought that Backrooms shouldn't have monsters, because for me its whole point was in emptiness, wrongness, uncertainty – and monsters provide certainty in "what is it?" (danger) and "what to do?" (run/hide/defend yourself), even if they are so unfathomable that these are the only things you can deduce about them. The beauty of noclipping outside the bounds of reality is in the fact that you've found yourself outside its usual logic, but they provide some logic to rely upon; in the fact that it isn't meant to be inhabited or even seen, but if something lives there after all then it loses a lot of this mood. Its horror is already present without any threats, it's in the realization that the world may be a simulation, in the feeling of being lost, etc., and that's already enough.

The film came up with a really good compromise in this regard, I think. I like it.

#backrooms #the backrooms #backrooms movie #indie horror #horror #liminal aesthetic #liminal horror

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

The Royal Bethlehem Hotel