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lettucebee17 · 1 year

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TWST Summer Camp AU - Night Raven Camp Infodump

General Information:

Night Raven Camp is a 9 week summer camp that runs through the whole summer, accepting campers from age 16 to 18. Crowley is head counselor and the rest of the NRC faculty are counselors for various activities. The kitchen ghosts work in the mess hall, but they aren't ghosts for reasons explained in the next paragraph.

This au takes place in an alternate version of Twisted Wonderland, where the geography is all the same but most of the population believes magic to be just a fairytale. So the camp is on Sage's Island but the boys aren't mages and the camp isn't like a prestigious magic camp or anything. Beastmen are still a thing (mostly because I can't stand the thought of humanizing the Savanaclaw boys), however fae and merfolk are usually thought of more myth than truth so the octatrio have to be careful with their potions and Malleus, Lilia, and Sebek use fae glamours to hide their inhuman features. The fae are the only ones that have some innate magic.

All campers are separated into 7 cabins (based on the dorms obvs), with each cabin having a cabin leader (the housewardens). I've messed with the order of the dorms to make them match the rainbow because I gave them all team colors

Cabin 1: Heartslabyul Team Color: Red

Cabin 2: Scarabia Team Color: Orange

Cabin 3: Savanaclaw Team Color: Yellow

Cabin 4: Diasomnia Team Color: Green

Cabin 5: Ignihyde Team Color: Blue

Cabin 6: Pomefiore Team Color: Indigo

Cabin 7: Octavinelle Team Color: Purple

The camp is on a lake, RSA (Royal Sword Adventure-Camp) is a rival camp on the other side of the lake because I think it's funny.

The woods that the camp is in have vague supernatural/magic/paranormal qualities (akin to gravity falls?).

Character Headcanons:

Riddle: - has printed out the entire camp handbook + has like 3 wilderness survival guides that he follows to the letter - convinced his mom to let him come to camp by telling her it was a good learning opportunity

Trey: - helps out in the kitchens at mealtimes so he can get special privileges to use the kitchen for baking - carries a first aid kit around 24/7 in case anyone gets hurt - makes camping puns far more often than he will admit

Cater: - does not do well without reliable phone service - but he's adapted since it's his third year at camp - now, instead of his phone, he's got a polaroid camera that he brings everywhere with him and the heartslabyul cabin walls are absolutely COVERED in pictures - obviously still takes a billion pictures on his phone, he just likes to be able to put some of them somewhere (hence the polaroid camera) - has an acoustic guitar that he pulls out almost every night at the campfire

Ace: - his brother went to camp a couple years ago and told him a bunch of far fetched stories about the woods - he now uses those stories to terrify everyone around the campfire (it's a joint effort with Lilia, who also enjoys scaring people)

Deuce: - his mom sent him to camp so he'd stay out of trouble - but now he feels bad for making his mom sad - so he's made an oath to himself to just be really good at camp to make her proud

Leona: - he's still 20 in this au and just no one wants to question why he's still coming to camp - he just shows up and Crowley doesn't care enough to try and stop him - he's really just doing it because it's an excuse to not be home

Ruggie: - picks up little odd jobs around the camp for extra snacks or just some cash - like lifeguarding, activity cleanup, helping out with cooking, etc. - as a result, has a constant stash of granola bars and candy

Jack: - is here simply because he genuinely enjoys camping - uses the activities as physical training - puts his all into every activity, even the ones that aren't physical (like crafts)

Azul: - refuses to participate in any water activities because he doesn't want to put on a swimsuit - always knows what the activity is going to be the next day and no one knows where he gets the information - runs a snack trading system for smuggled goods and strategy tips

Jade: - leads nature hikes that even the counselors didn't have planned - *read: drags Azul and Floyd into the woods at randoms times without telling anyone so he can show them cool mushrooms

Floyd: - likes to light his marshmallows on fire before putting them in his s'mores - has a bad habit of taking swims in his eel form at night (sure hope no one catches him doing that)

Kalim: - over enthusiastic about every single activity - but hates the competitive ones and ends up helping the other cabins - the only activity he's really good at is crafts - makes friendship bracelets for everyone else at camp (Jamil has many and he must wear them)

Jamil: - hates bugs, which is really fun when you're in the woods - constantly has to ask people to remove bugs from the cabin - usually Kalim offers but then ends up befriending the bugs and making Jamil's panic worse by trying to introduce them - carries around a first aid kit 24/7 but it's specifically for Kalim

Vil: - has to leave the campfire early every night to account for his extensive skincare routine to combat being in the woods all the time - carries around a hairbrush and emergency makeup on him at all times

Rook: - is having a great time at camp, even if Vil is constantly yelling at him for neglecting his skincare - sometimes also gets dragged away from the campfire early to either help Vil with his skincare or be forced to do his own - excels at manhunt - dominates archery competitions and can be found at the archery range if he's not busy doing something else

Epel: - wanted to come to camp to get stronger - is very angry about his cabin placement and doesn't understand how the cabin system works and why he can't just go to a different one (Crowley refuses to elaborate on his cabin placements) - pretends to hate crafting activities but is actually really good at them

Idia: - why is he here? - you think this boy would go outside willingly?? - Ortho probably convinced him to get him to make friends or something... - somehow manages to check his games even without internet or a phone signal but he will not reveal his secrets

Ortho: - not a robot - got in a really bad accident (akin to what actually happened) when he was 8 and Idia's tech is pretty much the only thing keeping him alive - other than that is actually a normal 16 year old just excited about his first year at camp - even if Idia is constantly worried about him - aroace because I still refuse to ship him with anyone even if he isn't a child anymore - plus I feel like he would be anyway - drawing of him

Malleus: - Lilia dragged him to camp, claiming it would be good for him to interact with society more often - people constantly forget to tell him about the activities, or he's missing when they try to - can often be found stargazing late at night down by the docks

Lilia: - is certainly too old to be going to summer camp, but no one needs to know that - only came along because Malleus refused to go alone, then he decided it was fun - has to restrain himself from using magic during sport activities (though people have claimed to see him floating during a particularly intense game of volleyball) - helps Ace with his ghost stories around the campfire by adding facts that he's definitely just making up and aren't true

Silver: - is here because Lilia convinced him it would be fun - can sometimes be found at the archery range hitting dummies with a sword that no one knows where he got - has a bad habit of falling asleep in the middle of activities, especially crafting ones - it's rare if he DOESN'T fall asleep on someone's shoulder at the campfire (usually Sebek's) - sometimes random woodland creatures will come up to him with flowers or hang out on his shoulders and everyone is very confused by it

Sebek: - came to camp because Malleus goes to camp - takes every activity way too seriously and will turn anything into a competition, even if it shouldn't be - tends to bring a book to the campfire and read by the light of the flames - unless he's telling stories about the fae and/or Malleus that no one believes - sometimes spars with Silver with a sword that, once again, no one knows where he got

Yuu: - I think Yuu will be some variety of relative to Crowley - they don't have a cabin because they aren't technically going to the camp - magic doesn't effect them for some reason so they can still see the faes true forms and grim looks nice and cuddly - lmk if anyone has any better ideas for their role, I'm open to suggestions

Grim: - running idea for grim is that he's a fully corrupted monster living in the woods - this is also the main point of the vague plot I have forming in my head for if I ever write a cohesive fanfic - Yuu has adopted him as their pet cat even though everyone else is very concerned about the eldritch monster hanging around the camp

Other Points:

If I write this into a fanfic it will most definitely have some ships in it, I'm just trying to work out exactly which ones to use. If anyone wants to talk to me about that, please feel free to

Also, if anyone else wants to get in on this au, whether it be by drawing or writing, I would feel honored

Again, my ask box is open for any and all discussion about this au (or anything else really, I'm trying to interact with people more). If anyone's got fun little scenarios or headcanons hmu. I'd even take little writing requests to help me flesh out the au!

Sorry for the really long infodump...

Extra Info via asks: Grim and Yuu The Great Idia Shroud Investigation™ Extra Octatrio Info

#my ask box is open #please talk to me #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #summer camp au #night raven camp #infodump

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forbiddensaintessandsinner · 3 years

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Supernatural Investigation Department Center (SIDC)

Note: A very, very, very long post. Damn- This took a lot of days to finish-

__________________________________________

The 'Supernatural Investigation Department Center' (SIDC for short) is known to be the top one police force of the whole Island of Enchantment'.

Due to the conflicts has been created, especially the hate between the non-magical half-animals race and the magical race (Human Race and Half-Myth Race). This rare police company existed to bring the peace between the three races by the five country rulers command, for the forsake of their island and to change for the better good.

No other regular police companies like them can handle tough cases, they out it into an end despite the difficulty.

What's makes this company special is that they fight against unnatural/supernatural beings considered them into normal cases, courthouse cases, spy missions, army battles, and more. Whatever they do is necessary to real sense of justice to their island.

But to anyone surprise... There's no much adults working there. In fact, there's a lot of teenagers working there as well, and that's not a lie.

It makes everyone believed that the company is a lot like a school.

But hey, despite it being like that. The inside... Is rather like a safe place for a lot of people to visit but sometimes chaotic to see.

They also accept some school trips as well.

Additional Note: The current chief sees a lot of potential in young teenagers when it comes to a real sense of justice than the adults. Perhaps this is why the company is like this.

__________________________________________

There are eight ranks in the company, but the current head captains are ranked from lowest to highest. Most likely based on their strictness and management on their ranks.

Strict rules were there as well, follow them. Some of them aren't serious while others are actually.

People who can work in actually cases are the official workers, ones who can join in a case once is a trainee.

Officials can work in a group or alone, depending on which rank. Plus they have their own workspace during work hours.

While the Trainees are sorted and worked in group by three members. They are sorted in the same room during work hours as well.

The head captains workspaces are bigger than the official's workspace, of course they are the ones who are in charge of their progress. It depends on how each one does it's including the results as well.

During any types of cases, some officials and trainee are in permanent groups. Which it was each member's decision and choice.

They can bring their two weapons based on their chosen battle courses. Of course, they take good care of it. Each and different weapon is kept safe in specific but guarded lockers.

Once work hours are done, it's either that they come back to the school but around 5-10 P.M. or they will take in their chosen bedrooms for the night and come back tomorrow morning.

For important and serious missions or cases, anyone either official or trainee will get picked by their rank captain. And they will leave thier school early morning to get the job done, will might take a few weeks for them come back once the missions are done.

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SIDC's Ranks

Investigator/Detective Rank: For anyone to work as a detective/investigator.

Scientist Rank: For anyone to work as a scientist for assistance.

Medical Examiner Rank: For anyone to work as a medical assistant for victims.

Hacker and Tech-researcher Rank: For anyone to work as a technologist and hacker

Mechanical Weapon-maker Rank: For anyone to work as a weapon maker for assistance.

Army Scout Rank: For anyone to work in an army trope.

Spy Regulations Rank: For anyone to work as a spy agent.

Courthouse Jury Rank: For anyone to work as a defense attorney or a prosecutor.

__________________________________________

SIDC Groupings

(Post Explained- Here)

__________________________________________

Current Head Rank Captains

Investigator/Detective Rank: Quinn Cromwell - Due to his strictness on both officials and trainees, he's 1st rank.

Scientist Rank: Marleigh Gonzales- Due to her sass and coldness on both officials and trainees, she's 2nd rank.

Medical Examiner Rank: Fuyuhiko Huxley - Due to his strictness on the offcials and slight lightly on the trainees, he's 3rd rank.

Hacker and Tech-researcher Rank: Whitney Elsher - Due to her being a big-sister figure along with her being serious on both, she's 4th rank.

Mechanical Weapon-maker Rank: Manase Lindsay - Due to her big-sister figure alongside with her management on both, she's 5th rank.

Army Scout Rank: Sienna Belladonna- Despite her personality, she managed the rank well with effort, she's 6th rank.

Spy Regulations Rank: Elijah Rodriguez - Due to his personality, Included his management of the rank, he's 7th rank.

Courthouse Jury Rank: Naoki Flores - Due to his personality but also his strictness of the rank, he's 8th rank

__________________________________________

Official Rank Workers

-Investigator/Detective Rank-

Lynette Mitchell

Kiara Winston

Amelia Kimura

-Scientist Rank-

Eldoris Treyton

Sylvie Vespertine

-Medical Examiner Rank-

Saburou Lewis

Izumi Fukuda

-Hacker and Tech-researcher Rank-

Freya Hoshino

Chenoa Acquarone

-Mechanical Weapon-maker Rank-

Hibiki Nakamura

Riyon Gushiken

-Army Scout Rank-

Aimi Hestia

Chouka Memphis

-Spy Regulations Rank-

Fursat Clodwal

Yuzuki Furukawa

Doremi Lennon

Eugene Chariton

-Courthouse Jury Rank-

Irelyn Mendoza

Khamari Nephele

__________________________________________

Trainee Rank Workers

-Investigator/Detective Rank-

Akio Kingsley

Yaeko Akamine

Sayoko Cerulean

Kaytlinn Gregorios (@kurov3sochouse)

-Scientist Rank-

Arianna Suzuki

Miyoko Herrera

-Medical Examiner Rank-

Cynthia Tamami

-Hacker and Tech-researcher Rank-

(Soon to be added later)

-Mechanical Weapon-maker Rank-

Jovanni Santiago

-Army Scout Rank-

(Soon to be added later)

-Spy Regulations Rank-

(Soon to be added later)

-Courthouse Jury Rank-

(Soon to be added later)

__________________________________________

SIDC Work and Business Activities

Rank Entrance Exams - (Once)

Normal Paperwork Schedule - (Daily Basis)

Rank Activities - (Daily Basis)

Rank Training Exams - (Once a month)

Rank Physical and Weapon Exams - (Once a month)

Case Files Work Schedule - (If something happened)

Government War Battles - (If something happened)

Target Elimination Tasks - (If something happened)

Courtyard Debate Schedule - (If something happened)

Rank Tournaments - (Once a month)

Weapon Training Hour - (Daily Basis)

Lunch hour and Food Fights - (Daily Basis)

Head Rank Captains Meetings - (Daily Basis)

Exams Retakes - (Once a month)

__________________________________________

SIDC Clothing Uniforms

Uniform Clothing Colors: Black, White and Grey. Most likely in any type of shades from the three colors, to match to anyone liking or style.

Clothing Style: It depends for anyone, they can style it to match to their liking. Some accessories are added as well, with additional clothes that needed to be worn too thanks to the rules.

Training Uniform: That is clothes for any type of training for any incoming exams. Depends on what style they chose.

Official and Trainee Rank Uniforms: Each uniform from the eight ranks are different and unique. But for officials workers they wear a black necktie or bow, while trainees wear a white necktie or bow.

Investigator/Detective Rank: Mostly school-uniform suits, but more detective or investigator-like. They have their own case-file reporting bags to send info or clue to their captain.

Scientist Rank: Always wear labcoats, black rubber gloves and eye-goggles when testing new experiences. They have their own lab kits to test any substances.

Medical Examiner Rank: A long doctors coat and surgeon clothes as well. They have their own medical or first-aid kit.

Hacker and Tech-researcher Rank: They wear something technology-like which it looked very tight and comfortable. They bring their hacking gadgets.

Mechanical Weapon-maker Rank: They wear something like mechanics wear, but they are slightly tight but comfy enough. They bring their own toolbox.

Army Scout Rank: Military-like clothing for battle fields, somewhat baggy and big but comfy to wear. They bring their own but small weapon box.

Spy Regulations Rank: Somewhat spy or agent-related type clothes. They bring their own spy/agent gadgets bag.

Courthouse Jury Rank: Suits again, but their badges shows what side they are in. The sun badge means defense attorney while the moon badge means prosecutor. They bring their own file-reports with a suitcase.

Head Rank Captains Uniforms: It's actually warden or boss captain-based clothing. Which it makes each rank captain look presentable and intimidating. But like before, in each rank, their uniforms are different from each other.

Quinn looks like a head CEO of the rank for anyone's opinion.

Marleigh looks like the creator for something new or scary.

Fuyuhiko looks like an actually head surgeon, cause he ties his hair up.

Whitney looks like a main humanoid heart of the computer.

Manase looks like a busy mechanic, to make a weapon or something else.

Sienna looks like a savage but scary boss for the rank.

Elijah too looks like a CEO as well, but a bit more agent like.

Naoki looks like an actual judge of the courthouse.

__________________________________________

And that's about it. I'm done-

#masterlist #mc #oc #SIDC info #half and full myth race

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h2ojustaddmako · 4 years

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Headcanon: The Origin of Mermaids & Magic

Wooooooo...it’s been a long time since I’ve written one of those. I can truthfully say I’m been sitting on this one for maybe over a year...letting it cook up inside me...like a dumpling of information. Okay, weird image, i get it, but that’s the truth.

Basically today I wanna go over a little idea of mine I’ve had for a long time, and every time I rewatched the show, it was fed and grew larger and larger, with more and more information to help me piece out the puzzle of mermaid powers, and why all you thought you know was absolute garbage.

As I went over in my (pretty popular, if I may) post about how the powers work, mermaids use electromagnetism in a way that helps them alter the magnetic field around them and manipulate water in multiple ways to be able to “control” it. The moon is magnetic, and so is Mako Island, therefore, something in the full moon evokes the powers. But what is it?

While watching season 3 and Mako Mermaids as a whole, you’d realize they are more similar than you’d think. Actually, the lore introduced in season 3 seems to be the base foundation to the entire world-building in Mako Mermaids. One thing that is highly notable is the appearance of the crystals. Moon crystals, as I call them, can indeed release “moonlight”, this blue, hypnotizing energy wave. But that’s not really moonlight, per se. You see, moonlight isn’t a real thing in nature; the moon doesn’t radiate like the sun, it’s just reflective, and it’s surely not deep blue. And so, the so-called moonlight in the show is actually something else. Like the stones of Mako, the crystals in them also originated from the moon, and Mako (and every other “moon pool” out there) is probably sitting on millions of them. Considering how many were inside that one piece Ryan and Sophie tried to grab, the foundation of Mako Island is rich with these blue bitches. Now, these crystals are unique because they store inside them the secret to mermaid magic.

You see, throughout the Mako show, one of the most valuable items are these little ‘moon rings’. These little rings with a nice, big blue crystal right in the middle. While the show never explicitly reveals that the crystals are originated from the moon pool, or Mako at all, but given the pretty obvious design choice, it’s very clear to us that it’s more than just an artistic design. They also work in a very similar way - they both radiate blue energy that is very strong, and have serious powers. Mako gave us a very big hint to the origin of that, by saying the moon rings need to be recharged in full moons. That’s when the power of the moon is the strongest. Now going back a little, we said the moon doesn’t really shine a light of its own, so what are we talking about? Well, like the crystals on the rings, the crystals on the moon absorb power daily, from the sun and space. The sun uses a strong magnetic field, holding the planets and what-not spinning around it in perfect rings since the creation of the solar system. The crystals on the moon absorb that power, and every night, the moon radiates it back to earth, to its cousin, Mako Island. Simplifying things, the moon absorbs power and in return release it towards Earth, only for that power to charge the entire Mako Island crystal colony. Many have spoken about the weird sensation Mako gives them - electromagnetism, and no wonder mermaids feel it stronger, since they are sensitive to it more than most people. The girls felt the comet getting closer because a part of them is now sensing magnetism in the environment.

So Mako is charged with energy, so what? You see, the moon pool’s shape is very interesting. The decision to place it at the bottom of a volcano isn’t just a creative choice (though it is very cool). The shape of a volcano is that of a cone, of a funnel, if you may. The moon centers around the small opening above and radiates into the moon pool itself. Unlike the rest of the island, which seems unaffected during full moon nights, the shape of the moon pool allows the power to get trapped in the spacious room of crystals walls, awakening the power that is also trapped inside the crystals themselves, probably magnifying the intensity of it by a lot. Add the fact that the full moon is the stronger of the faces of the moon considering all of it is facing Earth and you have yourself a force not to be played with. That means that the moon pool as a room has very strong energy to it, one that apparently can turn someone into a mermaid.

The mystery of why a mermaid, of all things, and what mermaids have to do with the moon is still a puzzle left to be solved. But one thing’s for sure, mermaids are not natural creatures, despite what Mako Mermaids tries to sell you. They have too many human characteristics to only be relatives to humans and go through such an evolution is a short (evolutionarily speaking) time. Plus, no power in the world can turn you into something you’re not, and for Lewis’ examinations and the medical tests they went through in the “fake sick” episode, it’s pretty safe to say that genetically, mermaids are very slightly different to humans, and it’s not something that can be detected without looking into their DNA. But that tells us enough to safely bet that the origin of mermaids is human, and not another species adapted to live in the ocean.

And yet - sea-born ‘natural’ mermaids are so different from humans. They can siren sing, they give birth to “hatchlings” (whatever that means), and heck, some can even speak to sea animals, what’s up with that? Well, these could all be considered under the umbrella term of rapid evolution. In simple words, rapid evolution is the process a species goes through in order to adapt to a new environment that is foreign to it and different from its natural habitat. While humans don’t really have a natural habitat, we are land animals, and therefore, to live in the ocean we’d have to adapt to different factors. The transformation of the full moon only does about half the work, but a mermaid like Cleo couldn’t live in the ocean forever, as we saw when she ran away. She was hungry, ‘cause she didn’t know how to hunt. She was tired, ‘cause she didn’t know where to sleep safely. And you would be too, if you were to be thrown out of your natural environment and into some place you may have the physical skills to handle, but not the knowledge.

So my theory goes as follows: in an order of events, at some point throughout Earth’s history, a piece of the moon detached and entered our atmosphere. The piece broke off, landing in several places around the world, such as China, Ireland, perhaps the Caribbean as well, but the biggest piece landed off the coast of Australia. The new mass of stone tore through the layers of the Earth, resulting in an active volcano, that eventually cooled down and turned into an island. Million of years later, ancient humans, probably a male and a female, discovered one of the moon pools around the world (probably Ireland), sometime around 3000 years ago, before the first mentions of mermaids in Greek mythology. Said humans were probably considered as witches, gods, beings of magic and power. It is not far fetched to assume they may have escaped into the ocean. Perhaps more people were interested in getting such powers; maybe it was more than two, maybe even tens of people. Mermaids were considered as monsters, beings of evil to be feared of, and when Christianity rose, perhaps unholy abominations. The moon pools were considered supernatural places. All that led to merpeople being secluded, escaping humans, and accepting the ocean as a new home. They adapted quickly, and with time, the mermadic gene was implemented into their DNA. They were still humans, just highly adapted to life underwater. With the industrial revolution, the stories of mermaids became nothing more than folklore, one with ancient gods, monsters, and myths. Every now and then someone saw a mermaid, like Christopher Columbus, but who would believe a person that saw a being half woman half fish?

this actually started as a whole other headcanon, but go figure

#Headcanon #h2o just add water #mako: island of secrets #mako mermaids #natural history

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shirtlesssammy · 4 years

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2x13: Houses of the Holy

Providence, Rhode Island

A woman sits in the dark, smoking cigarettes, and watching TV.

The lights start to flicker and the television flickers back to an evangelical preaching. Her house starts shaking and her angel statues start falling. There’s suddenly a bright light and the woman watches it in awe.

Sam Winchester, decked out in white scrubs, greets his patient, Gloria. Sam wants to talk to her about what she saw that night. Gloria tells him that she stabbed a man in the heart “because it was God’s will.” Sam wants to know if God talked to her (too busy fucking with your life, Sam) but she says no and that an angel came to her. The angel told her that the man she stabbed was guilty. She needed no other proof to do it.

Sam later finds Dean enjoying some music and magic fingers.

Dean’s on lockdown because he robbed a bank in Milwaukee. They discuss the case. It really seems that Gloria is just a religious nutjob. And Sam would agree if she wasn’t the second person in town to have murdered someone because an angel told them to. “Supernatural maybe. But angels? I don't think so,” Dean insists. BLESS.

They then have a very fun conversation about how unicorns don’t exist (And Truly, BLESS Andrew Dabb. This dude took this one off joke and made it reality.) In any event, Dean firmly doesn’t believe in angels. (In a far off voice I hear: This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith.)

Once they stop arguing about angels, they decide to check out the victim, Carl’s place. They head to the basement to see what secrets he had hidden.

Sam finds scratch marks on the wall. On a closer inspection, he also finds a fingernail. They start digging up the dirt floor and find a skeleton.

In a lonely apartment, a man lays on his bed, drinking himself to oblivion. His lights start flickering and the room starts shaking. Suddenly there’s a bright light.

Cut to the man, Zach, walking to another house and stabbing a dude right in the gut.

Dean’s listening to the police scanner when Sam walks back to the motel room with food. He also has news that three people disappeared from the library where Carl worked. Dean has other news --the not-angel struck again.

They head out to the victim’s house and sneak inside. Sam hacks into the dude’s computer and Dean browses his catalog collection. Sam finds locked emails that turn out to be to an underage girl.

Dean is baffled by this spirit or demon they’re dealing with. Sam points out it’s like an avenging angel. Oh, Sam, if you only knew angels are dicks. Dean connects the two victims --they both go to the same church.

They meet with the priest posing as new parishioners. They discuss this whole angel crap but the priest is a believer (obv.) and talks openly with Sam about what angels are thought to be like. They look at a painting of Michael, the archangel, while the priest describes his belief that they’re “more loving, than wrathful.”

As they’re leaving, Dean notices a memorial on the steps of the church. It’s for Father Gregory, who was shot there two months prior in a carjacking. Dean thinks they’re dealing with a vengeful spirit, but Sam still humors the angel aspect of it all. Dean knows that Sam prays everyday (and I sit weeping in the corner, thinking of Purgatory.)

An angel statue begins to quake. Sam looks at it with curiosity, only to be overtaken by awe as bright light suffuses the room. He passes out.

“I saw an angel,” Sam gasps to his brother later. He reports that the angel spoke to him and told him to kill a man. The kicker is, the doomed guy on Sam’s hit list hasn’t actually committed any crime...yet. Dean’s unimpressed by Sam “Minority Report” Winchester’s insistence that he’s been chosen by the angels and God for this mission. I give Dean a high five, then methodically throw rocks through every single one of my windows as I think about the next thirteen seasons.

Their mom used to tell them every night that angels were watching over them. “She was wrong,” Dean says bitterly, “There’s no higher power. There’s no God. There’s just chaos. Violence. Random unpredictable evil that comes outta nowhere. Rips you to shreds. You want me to believe in this stuff? I’m gonna need to see some hard proof.” (I gallantly resist making a dirty joke about Castiel’s “hard proof.”)

Ahem. Anyway, Dean’s solid on the ghost theory. At the priest’s crypt they find wormwood growing - it’s a sign of a restless spirit. LOLLLL early seasons. Sam agrees to hold a seance.

They head out of a corner grocery a little while later, stocked with SpongeBob mats and candles for the seance, when Sam sees THE SIGN. Light glows around his mark - the guy he’s supposed to kill. While Ace of Base plays in my head, Sam makes a move to kill - er, stop - the ghost-tagged perp. Looking to forestall Sam’s murder-to-be, Dean tells Sam to run the seance and tails Sam’s suspect on his own. Dean watches the guy pick up a date, and then they’re off again.

Meanwhile, Sam’s obediently running the seance.

The priest appears in the crypt, horrified to see what looks like THE VERY DEVIL WORSHIP taking place. “I can explain,” Sam says before utterly failing to explain anything. And then light fills the room. The priest wonders if it’s an angel, but Sam sorrowfully notes that it’s only Father Gregory’s ghost.

The glowing angelic vision suddenly distills into a normal human figure. Father Gregory wonders why Sam isn’t killing his marked man. After all, he’s an angel and he commanded it! Sam glumly explains that NO, Father Gregory is just a normal ectoplasm-slinging ghost.

Dean loses the trail of the marked man, while Father Gregory explains that his kill orders are redemption for the killers and every one of his marks is guilty. “This is vengeance. This is wrong,” the older priest declares and I look VERY HARD at the rest of the show.

Meanwhile, the guy Dean was tailing parks his car in an abandoned alley and attempts to attack his date. JAB HIM IN THE EYEBALLS, LADY! Dean bashes his head in just in time and saves the date. The guy drives off and Dean follows quickly on his tail.

The old priest offers last rites to Father Gregory, who begins to flicker.

Sam watches in full puppy eyed mode as Father Gregory disappears, presumably to high five ghosts in Heaven.

Dean chases the Bad Guy through the streets until a truck pulls out in front of Bad Guy’s car. A metal pole bounces off the truck, pierces the windshield, and impales the guy right in the chest.

Later, Sam morosely packs his bag back at the motel.

For What the Fuck is this Motel Room Design Science:

Sam’s sad that there wasn’t an angel watching out for people on Earth. Dean pulls out his flask, takes a big swig, and promises to watch out for Sam. “You’re just one person,” Sam tells him. He’d hoped there was a higher power guiding their lives. One who’d grant Sam salvation.

“Knocking on Heaven’s Door” starts to play, while Dean confesses his current emotional state. He proposes that the insane way the Bad Guy died MIGHT have been God’s will. I kick Chuck right in the nuts.

Quakin’ Quotes:

Aw, dammit! That was my last quarter. Hey! You got any quarters?

There's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams and they shoot rainbows out of their ass

You’ve got faith. I’m sure it makes things easier

One of the perks of the job. We don’t need to operate on faith

Men cannot be angels

There’s so much evil in the world, Dean. I feel like I could drown in it.

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn 2x13 #houses of the holy #supernatural season 2

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amethyst-geek · 3 years

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My predictions for Felix’s role in season 4

A few episodes into season 4 (possibly episode 9 as we know that’s the episode titled Gabriel Agreste), Felix will return to stay with the Agrestes while Amelie has to go on a ling business trip. As to why Amelie is having Felix stay with the Agrestes in Shadow Moth-ridden Paris instead of having him stay with relatives back in London, I have a couple of explanations:

1. Just because London doesn't to deal with Hawk Moth, that doesn't mean London doesn't have its own supernatural problems. Zagtoon has a series in the works called Miss Rose, which is about a magical spy and this series will do with crossover with Miraculous in the upcoming London special, so it stands to reason, that London has just as much supernatural drama as Paris, if not moreso. Therefore, Felix probably has to deal with supernatural threats regardless of where he is, but at least in Paris, the damage caused by akumas and sentimonsters can be reversed by Ladybug.

2. Felix’s paternal relatives have sort of lost interest in Felix following the death of his father for reasons that I’ll explain later in the post (though u can probably already guess if u read my post about a possible return of Chat Blanc).

After Amelie leaves for her business trip, Gabriel asks Felix to meet with him in private. Gabriel then confronts Felix about the ring he stole. Felix tries to deny it, but Gabriel calls him out of his bullshit. Felix then states that Gabriel doesn’t deserve the Graham de Vanily rings and ask him if he even know the story of said rings. Gabriel says no, so Felix then proceeds to tell the story that Amelie told him. Felix tells him that when worn together, they give the wearer special powers. Gabriel then realizes how similar this sounds to the miraculous, particularly the Bat Miraculous he read about in the Grimoire. So he then takes off the ring he’s wearing and asks Felix to put it on to see if the story is true. So Felix puts on the ring, takes out the ring he stole out of his pocket, and puts it on his other hand. When he does this, a bat kwami appears.

After silently kicking himself for not realizing sooner that he had a third miraculous literally on hand this whole time, Gabriel then takes Felix down to the basement. Felix is pretty weirded by this, and Gabriel then asks him if he remembers the deal he made with Hawk Moth. Felix responds “how could u possibly know that... oh crap you’re Hawk Moth aren’t u?” Gabriel confirms that he is and transforms into Hawk/Shadow Moth. Shadow Moth then asks Felix to use the bat miraculous to help him in his quest for the ladybug and cat miraculous. Felix (after getting over the initial shock that his uncle is Hawk/Shadow Moth) is hesitant because while Felix had offered to help Hawk Moth back in his intro episode, that was before the NY special (AKA the one where Hawk Moth threatened to start a nuclear war, not to mention having Mayura have a sentimonster wreck Paris then recall said sentimonster before Ladybug could fix the damage). Shadow Moth then proceeds to change back into Gabriel and show Felix Emilie’s coffin.

Gabriel the proceeds to explain to Felix (and the audience) that Emilie had been using the damaged Peacock miraculous (ok we already knew that, but we still don't know how, and I hope that episode 9 will be the episode we find out via flashbacks). After the explanation, Felix then agrees to help Gabriel, but asks him refrain from trying to start another nuclear war (and to also stop akumatizing August. Not only is it really fucked up to akumatize a baby, but it also proven ineffectual).

The next episode mark the debut not only Bat!Felix, but Swan!Lila (for those who haven't read some fo my earlier posts, I predicted a while back that the Swan Island location that was announced a sometime ago will be home to the Swan Miraculous, which Gabriel will get his hands on and give it to Lila). Throughout season 4 (and probably season 5) Lila and Felix will team up both in and out of costume to cause all sorts of trouble (with Felix only wearing the twin rings when he’s about to transform into Bat!Felix while he wears the ring he already had prior to his debut in his civilian life, this helps throw Ladybug off his trail). However, unlike Lila who has almost everyone fooled (save for Marinette, Adrien, and probably Alya now), a good chunk of Adrien’s classmates will be wary of Felix because of the prank he pulled back in his debut episode. Marinette will especially cautious of him because of the shit she saw him pull while she was Ladybug. That said, some classmates r willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the “impersonating Adrien to make them think he didn't like them” thing was an grief-induced isolated incident that he feels remorseful about (and I can see Rose being among the classmates to give him that benefit of the doubt, as she’s very trusting). He will still get along with Adrien for the most part =, at least in public. Also at some point in this season, we will also be introduced to Adrien and Felix’s maternal grandfather, an actor and film producer who comes from old money.

Around episode 20 of season 4, Felix will then confide in his kwami about his backstory. At his dad’s funeral his paternal grandmother revealed that he was not the biological son of said dad and that this grandmother only tolerated Felix for her son’s sake but now sees no point in acknowledging Felix now that his dad was dead. After the funeral, Felix asked Amelie is what his grandmother said about his dad not being his biological father true. As it turns out, Felix is actually the son of Emilie and Gabriel and Adrien’s twin brother. When Emilie was pregnant, Gabriel’s career hadn't taken off yet and they were financially struggling enough so that they couldn’t take care of more than 1 child. Around the same time, Amelie and her husband were struggling with infertility. So when Emilie found out she was having twins, she decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by letting Amelie secretly adopt 1 of her twins (or at least this is Emilie told Amelie; based on the interactions between Gabriel and Felix in the latter’s debut episode, I’m assuming that Gabriel isn't aware of Felix being his bio son and that Emilie convinced him that his Amelie just happened to get pregnant at the same time she did). This lead to Felix to become envious of Adrien for being the one Emilie apparently chose to keep. He also started to resent Gabriel for failing to realize that he was his biological son (because it’s pretty obvious, even if Emilie and Amelie r twins, the idea of them having identical-looking sons around the same time is pretty improbable, especially since the color of Felix’s hair and eyes is more consistant with with Emilie and Adrien than Amelie, so Felix is certain that Gabriel knows on some level he's his bio son (but Felix doesn't want to tell him until after Emilie has been revived as he fears Gabriel finding out any sooner that Emilie hid hid this from him might lead to him giving up his plans to revive her). While bat kwami can sympathize with Felix’s angst about all this family drama (plus the bat Kwami hates Gabriel's guts for obvious reasons unrelated to the twin drama), the bat kwami points out to Felix that Adrien didn’t any more of the say in matter of which twin Emilie gave to Amelie than Felix and that given Gabriel’s controlling nature, Emilie may have done Felix a favor by giving him to Amelie and her husband instead allowing him to be raised by Gabriel. This causes Felix’s resentment towards Adrien to die down a bit... until he finds out Chat Noir’s true identity.

Somehow, Felix will begin o deduce/suspect that Adrien is Chat Noir. Since Felix knows Shadow Moth’s reasons for wanting the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, he sees Adrien being Chat Noir as a huge betrayal and decides then and there to destroy Adrien one and for all. The bat kwami tries to talk some sense into Felix, only for Felix to renounce him and place the bat miraculous in his pocket and put his civilian ring back on (which I headcanon as having belonged to his deceased adoptive father). He then asks Gabriel to akuamtize him into a superior version of Chat Noir. Shadow Moth is confused by this, but complies, and the akuma goes into Felix’s civilian ring, transforming him into the new Chat Blanc (if this sounds familiar, that’s probably because I wrote another post predicting that Felix will become the new Chat Blanc. He proves powerful enough for Ladybug and Chat Noir to bring out several temp heroes, but the heroes eventually manage to defeat him. Also during the battle, Shadow Moth overhears Chat Blanc 2.0 refer to Chat Noir as Adrien and Shadow Moth explains to Chat Blanc 2.0 that he saw Chat Noir and Adrien at the same place at the same time back in Gorizilla, and after the battle Chat Noir (thinking that Felix had been unwillingly akumatized and thus wouldn't remember what Shadow Moth told him) assures Felix that he and Adrien r separate people. Felix then goes home and un-renounces the bat kwami. Meanwhile, in order to ensure Felix believes that Chat and Adrien r different people, Chat Noir later approaches Ladybug and tells her “Felix thinking that I might be his cousin reminds me. Someone in my family keeps asking me if I’m Chat Noir, and don’t seem to believe me when I say no. Can I please borrow the fox so I can throw them off their trail?” So Ladybug loans Chat the fox.

Later when Sabine is akumatized into Verity Queen and exposes Lila’s lies, she also finds out about how Lila framing Marinette back in “Ladybug” was partly motivated by Gabriel offering Lila a modeling contract in exchange for keeping Marinette away from Adrien. Confused as why Gabriel hates Marinette that much, she considers the possibility that maybe Lila fed him some lies about Marinette, but she decides to her lasso of truth on Grandpa Graham De Vanily (who happened to be in the tv studio with them as he and Lila were both scheduled for interviews) to get his opinion on Gabriel, this leads to a reveal that the the reason Emilie gave Felix to Amelie was not because she and Gabriel couldn't afford to raise more than 1 kid but because Grandpa Graham de Vanily forced Emilie to do so. You see when Amelie and her husband realized that they wouldn't be able to have biological children, they deciced to look into adoption. However, Grandpa Graham De Vanily loathed the idea of having a grandchild who wasn’t related to him by blood, so when the then-pregnant Emilie told her father she was having twins, grandpa Graham de Vanily (after asking Emilie is she already told Gabriel she was having twins yet, to which Emilie replied “not yet, he still thinks I’m just having 1 baby and I’ll tell him about the twins when he gets home) suggested that she give 1 of the twins to Amelie, then when Emilie said no on the grounds that she didn't want to choose between her kids, grandpa Graham de vanily threatened to use his connections to destroy Gabriel’s budding fashion career and make sure that he and Emilie couldn't get any kind of work needed to support their children. Bat!Felix (who made it to the studio in time to hear his grandfather’s confession, then asks Grandpa Graham de Vanily if Amelie was aware that Emilie had been coerced into giving her Felix, to which grandpa replies that he specifically told Emilie to not tell Amelie about the blackmail. And yes, this is when Gabriel finds out Felix is his biological son, and this would also be when Adrien (as Chat Noir) finds out Felix is his brother.

Amelie returns soon after this and she is pissed at her father for forcing Emilie to give up one of her babies.

#felix graham de vanily #gabriel agreste #amelie graham de vanily #lila rossi #ml predictions #I'm a sucker for long lost family reveals

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mst3kproject · 4 years

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The River of the Giant Alligator

A bunch of Italians pretending they’re not Italian in a movie about a guy who chose the wrong place to build a hotel… it’s like Avalanche by way of Devil Fish, with an alligator. And racism. You can’t have a 70’s Italian jungle movie without the racism, and this one layers it on real thick. I think The River of the Giant Alligator has its MST3K bases covered.

Rich Asshole Joshua has opened Paradise House, a resort in the middle of the ‘virgin jungle’. He proudly tells visitors that not only has he left the surrounding ecosystem undamaged, but he’s helping the local people by giving them jobs and improving their standard of living. Naturally it’s not as simple as that. Trouble begins when Sheena, the model they brought for their advertising photographs (just for a dash of Killer Fish), vanishes overnight. Photographer Daniel and hotel manager Ally go to the locals looking for her, and are told that the River God has awakened and intends to drive the white people away by assuming the form of a giant crocodile and eating them all. Considering how mind-bogglingly stupid the tourists in this movie are, that should take all of twenty minutes.

The locals, who call themselves the Kuma, have a name for their River God but it’s pronounced five different ways and I won’t guess how to spell it. Because of the deep breathing sounds that presage its first appearance, I shall call the creature Darth Gator.

Let’s get the basics out of the way first. The whole movie is dubbed and the voice actors are bad. The Darth Gator prop is completely immobile but they mostly keep it in the dark or in really tight shots so we don’t notice… it’s only the occasional ill-advised wide shot where it’s obviously fake enough to be funny. There’s a spiky fence that exists mostly so that people can get impaled on it and a cloying little kid for no reason whatsoever. The ‘wildlife’ is a stock footage smorgasbord that includes orangutans and hippos on the same river. The worst effect in the film is a terrible miniature shot of the hotel on fire, which would have looked just fine if the people involved hadn’t forgotten that flames don’t scale.

So all that sucks, but is fairly harmless. Now let’s talk about the racism.

We’ll start with the movie’s treatment of its two ‘love stories’, and I use the floating commas because neither of them quite qualifies. Daniel and Ally are the main ‘couple’ of the movie. The camera lingers on each of them to show that he thinks she’s beautiful and she thinks he’s rugged, and they spend the whole movie hanging out on balconies and boats together and discussing whether the resort is good or bad for the local people… but they never get so much as a kiss. This is kind of nice, actually, because there’s very little time to stop and make out when you’re being chased by a large carnivorous reptile. It does, however, make for a hell of a contrast between them and the other ‘couple’ we see.

This is the model, Sheena, and her Kuma boyfriend. I am unclear on where this movie is set (the closest we get to a clue is Ally referring to the area as ‘the Orient’, which could honestly mean anything) but it’s perfectly clear that the reason they hired a black woman for their publicity photos is to make the place look ‘exotic’. There’s a weird moment when Joshua attempts to flirt with Sheena by telling her, “it occurs to me that Eve herself may have been black”, which… yes, that is how human evolution worked, what about it? All that aside, at the end of the day, Sheena runs off for a romantic evening with one of the tribesmen. We never see her talk to this guy or have any clue what made her pick him over any of the others. They just go fuck on a beach and then get eaten by an alligator.

So… we have blonde, blue-eyed white people having a perfectly chaste, wait-for-marriage love affair in which they actually get to know each other… and black people who run off with a stranger and screw out in the open like animals. Holy shit. I want to say I hope this wasn’t something the film-makers actively thought about, but it might be worse if they didn’t. Naturally, this is also a version of the ‘people who have premarital sex must die’ trope from slasher movies, and the movie makes doubly sure we know this is Bad Behaviour by having Ally remark that the Kuma are forbidden from visiting ‘the Island of Love’ on the full moon.

The deaths of Sheena and Nameless Kuma Guy also begin a pattern that lasts almost the entire movie. Even though we’re told, repeatedly, that Darth Gator wants to drive the white people out of his jungle, for the vast majority of the running time it’s the brown people who are getting chomped. We’re told that twelve white missionaries came here years ago and Darth Gator ate all but one of them, who then became a crazy jungle man (not gonna lie, Father Jonathan was my favourite character and I wish we’d seen more of him). We see Sheena, her boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s brother get eaten alive. Furthermore, most of the white deaths in the movie are at the hands of the Kuma, who run in and kill the tourists with spears and fire arrows in the belief that they’re doing their god’s bidding, and much of this happens offscreen. Those hit by the arrows quickly fall into the water and vanish from sight. The only time the camera lingers on a white person dying is Joshua, who I guess they think deserved it. The impression one gets is that white death is a horror better implied than shown, while brown death is a spectacle. Again… holy shit.

The River of the Giant Alligator can’t seem to decide what we’re supposed to think about the Kuma people. Early in the film they’re portrayed as victims. These foreigners have invaded their land and built this giant hotel, and claimed to be helping them by giving them ‘work’. Ally notes that they’ll be able to live longer, healthier lives, but Daniel wonders if it’s worth it when they’ve basically become Joshua’s slaves. The movie leaves this question hanging there without exploring it any further. When Daniel and Ally come looking for information about the alligator attacks, the Kuma direct them to Father Jonathan, knowing they’re more likely to believe a white man, even one who’s obviously not quite all there. The movie really wants to be about the exploitation of indigenous peoples, treated as decorations and curiosities by white tourists.

The problem is, it wants to eat that cake, too. By the end of the story, the Kuma have devolved into stock savages. They attack the hotel and kill everybody, and kidnap Ally so they can tie her to a horizontal King Kong contraption as a sacrifice. The ending just makes it all the more confusing, as they turn up to discover that their god has been blown to bloody chunks after biting into a van full of explosives, and they cheer and they just leave. Is it really that easy to kill a god? Won’t a dead god demand vengeance anyway? Does this mean they actually like the white people after all, and were only angry because Darth Gator was eating them?

The ending also muddles the movie’s other point, about the nature of eco-tourism. One of the selling points of Paradise House is that it’s in the middle of virgin jungle. Joshua brags about how he’s left the surrounding ecosystem untouched – but then we cut straight to trees being cleared using dynamite, and later we see live piglets being thrown into the river to keep the crocodiles hanging around so people can gawk at them. You can’t build a hotel in the middle of a place and then call it ‘virgin jungle’. You’re the one who violated it!

The script is a little unclear on whether Darth Gator is a natural or supernatural threat. Ally and Daniel insist that it’s no mere alligator (I don’t think this movie knows the difference between crocodiles and alligators any better than I do) and Father Jonathan seems to believe it’s the Devil Himself, but it certainly dies like a flesh-and-blood creature. Whatever its nature, it’s clear enough that Darth Gator represents the jungle striking back at these intruders to drive them out. The Kuma literally say as much. So what are we to take from the fact that it dies at the end? Have we won the right to destroy the forest by killing its guardian? I don’t believe the people who make these movies think this stuff through.

I can tell that we’re supposed to hate the tourists, and we do, although not always for the reasons the movie wants us to. Minnow, the red-haired little girl who ‘only likes to play with boys’, tries so hard to be Adorable that you want to punt her across the room. Her mother leaves her to wander around the hotel alone, because Mummy’s got a smarmy mustached boyfriend to bang (even this relationship gets more attention than Sheena and Unnamed Kuma Guy, by the way… we are told that Mummy and Mustache have met before, and are here mostly to see each other rather than the jungle). Other notable annoyances include a lady who seems perfectly sane until she starts talking about the aliens, and a guy who loves to complain about Youth These Days and will seize any opportunity to do so.

I kinda wanna gripe about these obnoxious characters, but I don’t feel like I can. You may recall that I spent a month stuck on a cruise ship earlier this year. I can tell you definitively that these people do exist, and I hate them even more in real life.

Man, this could have been a fun monster movie. I’ve seen movies about man-eating crocodiles (or alligators… does it honestly matter that much?) that I really enjoyed. Primeval wasn’t even that bad – it was about how humans are more monstrous than anything nature can produce. Lake Placid had that immortal bit where Betty White says if I had a dick, this is where I’d tell you to suck it. The River of the Great Alligator is just boring bullshit and things that seem kinda racist on the surface but then you think about them a little longer and realize they’re incredibly racist. I went into this one hoping to like it, but it absolutely pissed on the last shreds of my optimism... like a lot of other things in 2020.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #the river of the great alligator #the great alligator #fuck this movie #fuck it so much #70s

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norahastuff · 4 years

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god I can't believe they gave sam's kid long hair because otherwise it couldn't have been Sam's kid lol. And ppl comparing Dean's death to Jesus... what a finale

Well, this is the same finale that brought you profound imagery like Sam making one slice of toast after Dean died in order to depict how alone he was, so the bar was pretty damn low. Also, Sam’s long hair was going to be concealed beneath a truly magnificent wig so I guess they felt someone needed to carry the long hair torch, and since Sam’s son was already just a stand-in for one Winchester brother, why not make him represent both as much as they could?

As for the Jesus thing...Ummm what? I haven’t seen that so I have no idea how you could even get there. Isn’t Jesus' whole thing dying for humanity and then being resurrected? What part of that applies to Dean’s death exactly? He died for nothing and most certainly was not resurrected.

I mean there’s only one person who died for Humanity (capital H intended) and was resurrected (supposedly) and it definitely wasn’t Sam or Dean. It wouldn’t be the first time Cas was shown as the Jesus figure on the show...although is this a good time to get into my “Cas went from a Jesus like figure to more of a Mary Magdalene role over the course of his time on the show” manifesto? I mean you didn’t ask but I’ll mention it briefly anyway. I will preface this by saying, I’m not a biblical scholar by any means and this isn’t much more than a superficial parallel I’m drawing based mostly on what most people know about the Mary and Jesus relationship. There’s probably more I’m missing.

I mean you can’t really avoid the Jesus imagery around Cas when his first episode on the show was called Lazarus Rising and Dean played the Lazarus to his Jesus. Dean also as the representative of humanity grew to have faith in Cas. He wouldn’t pray to God but he would pray to Cas. And I know resurrection is a pretty common occurrence on Supernatural but it was also the cause of a lot of sacrifice and suffering. You had to fight tooth and nail to get someone to come back. Not Cas though. As if by magic, Cas always returned to Dean. He’d sweep in all divine light and power and he would fight.

And then...something changed. In my estimation, it happened around season 9 after Cas became human, and it didn’t flip back after he got his grace back. The narrative changed, both for in story reasons as well as real-world reasons, but the result was that Cas was no longer the larger than life figure who would burst in seemingly out of nowhere and cause a commotion. No his role shifted, and he became a big part of the emotional heart of the show in general, but also for Dean in particular. He was his emotional support. Think of all the times in the midst of all the great chaos, pain, suffering how Dean and Cas would take time away from the bigger plot machinations and carve out these little islands of peace where they were just there for each other. I was going to make a list of all these moments but that would have gotten far too long so I’ll leave it for now. The point is, Cas became Dean’s confidante, his emotional support in a much more significant way, just like Mary supposedly was to Jesus.

Their relationship was often misunderstood with people (mostly Angels and Demons) diminishing its importance by reducing it to merely a sexual connection and thus using that connotation to further denigrate Cas. The angels in particular did this a lot. Cas who had fallen in every possible way because of Dean and lost the respect of most of heaven because of it. I could go on about this one for a long time because there was a really fascinating thread that ran through the show about Dean/Cas vs Heaven/Hell but that’s a much longer conversation.

The main gist is Cas was so very important to Dean. He saw him and understood him in a way nobody else ever did, and yet he never quite got the credit for that. His importance in Dean’s life was often underestimated by characters in the show (I mean arguably nobody but Crowley truly understood what they were to each other because he’d been on both sides of it with both of them) but if you watch any scene where the two of them confide in each other it’s very plain to see how much they need and value each other.

I apologise I said I was going to talk about it briefly and well...it turns out I have no idea how to do that. I could have gone on for a lot longer so consider yourself lucky! I’m sorry you didn’t ask about any of this - where did this all come from? Oh right the Dean as Jesus thing from the finale. Well if I see Cas as the Mary Magdalene figure well then yes Dean does play the Jesus role in that particular parallel, but I have a feeling that’s not at all what people are talking about when they mention any Jesus imagery around Dean in the finale...which again is literally the opposite of what his role was in 15x20, so godspeed to anyone trying to make that work.

#asks #love and...love #my spn thoughts #15x20 #oh cas

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monstersandmaw · 4 years

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Here's story number four for Mermay! How did that come round so quickly? This time we have 5k words of budding friendship and fluff when we meet a kindred spirit on a remote island nature reserve where we've been posted as a ranger for the week. We meet some actual orcas, weather a nasty storm, and get chatting to Viggo who lives and hunts in and protects the waters around the island. It was supposed to have a female reader, but when I read it back, there was no indication of gender, so I left it as is. If you're looking for the kind of weather/storm/landscape I'm imagining for this, this video from Fair Isle, Shetland, basically covers it.

Thanks for being such an engaging and lovely bunch of patrons, and I hope you enjoy this latest offering!

Chunky preview:

“Yer gonna be in for a storm in a few days,” the old fisherman grunted as he steered the craft through glass-smooth seas, across the yawning channel to the remote mound of rock and grass that rose like a sea-monster’s back from the depths. Dark, imposing rock, sheer cliffs, miles of deep, wild ocean, and no company but the wheeling birds through an endless, blue sky; it was about as remote a place as you’d ever been for work, and you grinned at him.

It wasn’t that you didn’t believe him - on the contrary; if anyone would know, it would be the wizened, scar-knuckled old selkie whom the Bird Conservancy had hired to take you out to the reserve, miles off the coast of the mainland. He was grim and gruff, with wild white hair like sea foam atop his head and quick dark eyes that twinkled with hidden mischief. That was the first thing he’d said to you in the whole forty minutes you’d been out on the water with him.

“I’ll be careful,” you said, but he shot you a look that said he didn't think you knew how to be careful out here on the ocean. “You think it’ll be a quick storm? I’m only supposed to be there for a week…” The fisherman didn’t respond, and you found yourself rabbiting on to fill the suddenly awkward silence. “I mean,” you added, tapping one of the four plastic crates of gear that surrounded you, “I’ve got enough supplies here for a fortnight, and the previous ranger always leaves something too, so I’m sure I’ll be alright if someone can’t come and get me, but still…” Eventually you did peter off into silence, but the old selkie didn’t fill it with any contributions of his own.

Instead he leaned into the tiller and guided his craft expertly between the currents that flowed inexorably along at deceptive speeds, making the sea seem about to boil in places, just beneath the glassy surface. It was eerie, thinking about the power of the water and how you were as out of your element here as many of the merfolk would be in the middle of a landlocked city.

The number of birds in the blue sky soon began to pick up as you neared the looming island, but while you were staring up at them, the selkie grunted something at you.

“Hmm?” you asked, attention snapping back to him. “What is it?”

“Look’ee there,” he chuckled, pointing a gnarled, brown finger out over the water behind you. “Perfect day for ‘em to play.”

Turning, you gasped as you saw the tall, unmistakable silhouettes of three orca cutting through the water like chef knives through butter. One male, one female, and probably one young one between them. Plumes of spray rose intermittently from their blow holes with a soft puff. You couldn’t tell from that distance whether they were the animals or the merfolk who resembled them, but regardless, the easy economy of their movements and the coiled power harboured in their muscular bodies was enough to make you shiver and stare. If the selkie was bothered by their presence, he didn’t show it, and they left the little craft alone as he continued to steer it up towards the concrete jetty at the base of the cliff.

“I suppose you can’t pull up here in rougher seas,” you commented, instantly regretting the banality of the comment and focusing instead on readying your stuff as much as you could without standing up. You didn’t fancy embarrassing yourself in front of him any further by overbalancing and tipping backwards into the deep blue sea.

He didn’t speak immediately, but he nodded, working his jaw as if trying to remember how to form words for a moment, and then said, “Anything rougher ‘an this, ‘n we don’t bring you landfolk out ‘ere at all.”

“That’s… probably for the best,” you grinned and to your surprise, he gave a rasping laugh, somewhere between the bark of a seal and a smoker’s cough.

“Aye. You take care now,” he said as he held the boat steady for you while you heaved the four crates of gear and your rucksack of clothes off and then clambered out without very much grace.

“Will do. And thank you,” you smiled as his fingers loosed the knot again, acting almost without thought, and he turned the craft around. It answered him as if it were an extension of himself, cruising away through the water like a marlin and as you stood there and watched, it caught the attention of the orca.

Still motionless on the dock, you watched in horror as they accelerated and began to stalk the craft. Fear rose in your throat for the grizzled old selkie, and you stepped forwards, as helplessness crushed you from the inside. Were they drawn to him because of his supernatural connection to seals; to the creatures they hunted? Only when one of them breached the surface did you see that they were the animals and not the merfolk. The fisherman didn’t react to them though, and continued to cut his craft through the water, making for the mainland, but you were certain that the big male was going to land on top of the boat and smash it to kindling each time he reared up and crashed down beside it.

A moment later, a fourth orca joined them; a male with a long, blade-like dorsal. Or at least, you thought it was another orca until the newest arrival also breached the water and you saw a merman with a huge harpoon in one hand. Was he planning on attacking the selkie? Or the orca? Morbidly transfixed, you hurried to the end of the jetty to watch.

The merman, you noticed as he breached again, had only one arm, his right ending in a stump just above his elbow. Scenarios involving the champing jaws of orca began to play in your mind. Did he hunt the orca then? Mystified, you stayed rooted to the spot and stared.

As you continued to watch, it seemed as though the merman was driving the orca off the boat with just his body, and eventually they turned and headed off down the wide sound. The selkie continued on towards the mainland, waving a hand at the merman, who gave one last spectacular breach, body smacking down on the smooth surface of the sea to give a huge spraying slap, and then he disappeared beneath the water.

An unsteady breath escaped you and you stepped back, turning wide-eyed from the scene. The unexpected drama left you surprisingly shaky, and the switch-back cliff path which wound up from the beach-level dock to the top of the island seemed almost insurmountable, especially with all your gear. Taking a moment to enjoy the sunshine in the shelter of the little cove, and to let the adrenaline drain out of you, you dug out your thermos flask and a cereal bar from your rucksack, and plonked yourself down onto one of the sturdy crates. It felt a bit like a fainting couch to a Victorian lady, and you snickered at the thought as you reclined on the decidedly uncomfortable box.

After no more than five minutes, a lone dorsal fin rose steadily the water, followed by a short puff of air through an orca’s blow hole, and your eyes locked onto it instantly. Whatever they were - mer or animal - they were fast approaching, and you swallowed, wondering if it was the merman come to harpoon you for lunch. The more rational side of your brain told you that he’d just protected the selkie, so it was unlikely that he’d come after you. But then again, you were one of the landfolk - a human no less - and in many countries, your kind hunted merfolk down for sport. How was he to know that you were here to protect and not persecute?

Before your panic could gather much momentum, the orca mer swam into the crystal clear waters of the cove and poked his head above the water. His hair was black with a streak of white at his forelock, and the skin of his upper half was a patchwork mixture of monochrome, though largely greyish white. On his face he had two patches of dark skin over his cheekbones and around his eyes. The irises of his eyes, you noticed as he blinked at you for a moment, were almost red, though also shot through with pale blue, and he was strikingly handsome.

“Hi,” you chirped nervously, swilling the cloying remnants of your cereal bar down with a huge, too-hot gulp of tea and trying not to choke.

You can read the whole thing right now for just $1 over on my Patreon, and gain access to exclusives from both Mermay and previous months!

#orca #orca merman #orca merfolk #mermay 2020 #mermay #male monster #gender neutral reader #sfw story #fluffy #friendship #kindred spirits

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doomedandstoned · 3 years

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Italian Doomers BRETUS Tell Ghostly Tales on New LP, ‘Magharia’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Artwork by DamianaMerante

Hailing from the City of the Two Seas, Italian doomers BRETUS return with a new album of ghost stories. Longtimers know that Bretus and Doomed & Stoned practically grew up together. Though the band has been active since the turn of the century, our first exposure came with their debut full-length 'In Onirica' (2012) and subsequently we formed a friendship with the Catanzaro doomers that continues to this very day. It's hard to believe they're already over two decades old (okay, 20 years young, if you like). And what do they have to show for it? A handful of LPs, an EP, and a split with fellow Italianos Black Capricorn.

If you're as much a fan of vintage horror movies, H.P. Lovecraft lore, mysticism, and the occult as Zagarus (vox), Ghenes (guitar), Janos (bass), and Striges (drums), there's a whole world of story and sound awaiting your deep dive into the Bretus catalog. Adding to their already excellent discography, a fifth album now reveals itself: 'Magharia' (2021).

I won't spoil my interview with the band (see below) if I tell you that the album concerns, shall we say, several tales of the supernatural variety. An ominous gong is struck to the backdrop of monastic chant as Magharia opens in epic fashion "Celebration of Gloom," a song characterized by a chugging proto-trash tempo, trve metal stylings, and Gothic vocals appropriate to it's subject. It's a rather grim account of a certain sacrilegious priest and his daliences with young women of the church. As a preacher's kid, I've seen this kind of thing play out a hundred times and can assure you these sweeping romances between clergy and laity never end well. In this case, it winds up with a ghoulish rite and a victim's vengeance.

"In the sky lightning strikes...wicked laments rise from the ground." Welcome to "Cursed Island." True to the spirit of the lyrics, this track really let's it all hang out, with quasi operatic vocals that occasionally erupt in maniacal laughter (reminding me vintage Reagers-era Saint Vitus, with its lusty swagger). And why not? This is after all about the mystery that surrounds one of the most haunted islands on earth.

Thus far, the record's been sporting a pretty up-beat pulse, so surely you're ready for some good old fashion doom? "Moonchild's Scream" concerns a albino girl accused of being possessed by the devil for her appearance. One day, she disappears in the dungeons of a castle and legend has it that her cries can still be heard every five years during the Summer Solstice. Doesn't get more doom than that, folks!

After a brief interlude ("Necropass"), we arrive at my favorite track of Magharia. "Nuraghe" concerns the spirit of a woman judged and condemned for a crime she was innocent of still roams among the ancient stones. Boy, the ancients sure did have a hang-up with free-spirited, independent women, didn't they? The song itself is possessed by the spirit of Pentagram in its biting guitar work and rhythmic attack. Love the riffage on this one! Some of it could have been played out just a little more for my taste, like the all-too-brief Soundgardenesque motif at the two-minute mark. It returns a minute later, again in brief. C'mon Ghenes, let your inner Kim Thayil loose! Maybe we can convince them to improv at this point with a bitchin' guitar solo at their next festival appearance. Then again, perhaps this fits artistically with the song, which speaks of obscure "grim dancing bats" and a ghost that haunts through swift shadows passing over glimmers of light. Once again, Zagrus expressive song style comes through to distinguish this as a gem of the genre. I shall be revisiting it on my personal playlist often.

"Headless Ghost" strikes graceful Goatsnake groove as the yarn is spun about the restless and tormented soul of an ancient Roman warrior who has risen from his place of rest. All he wants is the skull that was looted from his place of burial. Give it back to him! "No one will be spared tonight," the lyrics warn, as the song shifts down to a dire doom dirge as the night unveils a strange moon and the wanderings of a cursed soul, seeking his head and not more. "He is living again in this hell."

"The Bridge of Damnation" is one of the creepiest of the record, said to be about "a bridge, a young boy, and his three torturers." The mood is quite dark, with esoteric atmosphere, reverberating vocalizations, guitar and bass trading off notes. Oh, and did I mention this tale from the crypt involves death and resurrection, as well? The riffmaking and drumming are absolutely on point, as is the singing -- which by now in the record I'm not only am accustomed to, but have grown to admire. Another keeper!

"Sinful Nun" winds and grinds as Zagarus croons about the inner torment of a Sister who has never gotten over her beloved, who died under such unspeakably tragic circumstances that she decided to consecrate herself to God in celibacy. However, her vows are in vain as she still pines for her long lost lover. The verses are sung to the accompaniment of a galloping tempo, which seems to represent the fevered anguish of a soul forever stricken by grief and the haunted memories of lost love. This is juxtaposed in the chorus by a cursed riff that seems to speak as the Hand of Fate itself. "Farewell to this life," are the Sinful Nun's final words.

At last, we reach the album's namesake and though "Magharia" is entirely instrumental, it would be a mistake to assume you know what it's going to do. Around the four-minute mark, I had to check and make sure I was listening to the same album, as dark synth busted out a metronomic rhythm, leading to a declamatory section of keyboards to accompany the math-like guitar play and an improvisation of almost creepy seventies-sounding prog, which after its playful fit dissipates suddenly in a bluesy collapse.

Bretus have cooked up a remarkable horror soundtrack that, though it speaks of ancient lore, is very much a fitting backdrop to the unreality of our own times. Fitting somewhere on the stylistic spectrum between Candlemass and Paul Chain, Reverend Bizarre and Cardinals Folly, Margharia may be the band's finest effort to date. Certainly, it rewards repeated listens, and will haunt you for many years to come. Look for the record to drop this weekend (pre-order here), with multiple physical formats releasing via The Swamp Records (compact disc), Burning Coffin Records (cassette), and Overdrive Records (vinyl). Until then, you can stream it all, right now, right here!

Give ear...

Magharia by BRETUS

An Interview with Bretus

What is the concept behind the new album and what themes do you explore?

Musically the new record is most "in your face" than the previous album. Also our approach to the recording was different. We rehearsed and arranged together more than before. The result is an album more raw to us. It is a concept album born around different italian old ghost tales. Some of these is supposed to be legend or myth, who knows.

When did you write it? Was it during the pandemic lockdowns?

We had more ideas about new stuff long before the pandemia arrived. We spent this time working on the pre-production of the tracks.

Can you give us a track-by-track explanation of each song on the album?

For sure!

"Celebration of Gloom" is a strange song because there are many influences in it. Including a solo flute in the middle of the track. However is a very loud and gloomy song.

"Cursed Island" probably is the most rock 'n' roll song of the album. If you know what I mean. Rock in the attitude. Also the first video of the album.

"Moonchild's Scream" is 100% pure Doom with a heavy mid-section.

"Necropass" is like Caronte travelling the damned souls across the Stige River.

"Nuraghe" is a heavy oriented track with a very dark feeling.

"Headless Ghost" has a more stoner trend than the others and in the end there is a psycho riffing.

"The Bridge of Damnation" includes our '80s dark influences into our sound, probably the most haunted track of the album. The story is based upon an old weird story that happened in our native city, Catanzaro.

"Sinful Nun" is like an experiment and neither of us can explain really what it is... ah ah aha! For sure the most heavy track of all.

Finally "Magharia." You cannot believe it but the idea comes from a Who's album, Quadrophenia. Either of us wrote a part of the song. The result is a kind of horror soundtrack.

Magharia by BRETUS

How do you feel that your basic style or approach to song composition has changed since you first started writing songs in the early days?

You already know a lot of things about us, we know you from so long ago! Please don't ask how old we are. (laughs) Basically our approach is the same from the beginning. Of course we listen to a lot of new stuff during these years so every album brings different "colors."

Where are you most looking forward to playing live once pandemic restrictions are eased?

Everywhere! We are angry for live gigs or simply to drink beers with friends.

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#D&S Debuts #D&S Interviews #D&S Reviews #Bretus #Catanzaro #Italy #doom #metal #doom metal #horror #occult #stoner rock #HeavyBest2021 #Doomed and Stoned

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typingtess · 5 years

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New fall shows

So there were a number of TV festivals and events here in New York over the last few weeks and I wound up seeing the pilots of a number of the new shows (like 13 of them). So, with the US TV season starting next week, here's what I thought of what I saw.

ABC:

Emergence is really well acted. Allison Tolman plays a Long Island police chief who finds a young girl (Alexa Skye Swinton) as the sole survivor of a plane crash. When odd government forces – official and unofficial – try to take custody of the girl, Tolman, her father (Clancy Brown), ex-husband (Donald Faison) and their daughter (Ashley Aufderheide) all fight to protect the girl. While the acting is great, there is a "plot twist" at the end that has me thinking if they're doing this in the pilot, what are they doing next week? May give it a second episode but like Manifest, I'm worried about where this is going.

Stumptown is great. Cobie Smulders plays Dex Parios, an Afghanistan War vet with issues. She lives in her hometown Portland with her developmentally disabled brother in their childhood home. She has a best friend, a dead fiancé with a powerful family, a running joke of a car and some PTSD issues. There's nothing new here except it is a woman with issues trying to make her way in the P.I. business instead of a man but it is really well done. The supporting cast is strong with Jake Johnson, Michael Ealy, Camryn Manheim, Cole Sibus and Tantoo Cardinal.

CBS:

Bob Hearts Abishola is the typical Chuck Lorre comedy where there is a little heart and some fart jokes. Folake Olowofoyeku is terrific as Abishola. You'll learn more about socks than the average sock wearer probably needs but hey – learning is good.

Evil sort of taped into all my good X-Files feelings. He's a believer, she's based in science, they team up to find the truth. I'm there. It does not hurt that Mike Colter is the believer. Katja Herbers is really strong in the non-believer role. The two work with Aasif Mandvi and against Michael Emerson. Christine Lathi shows up the mom of Herbers's character, Kurt Fuller from Supernatural is there as Herbers's shrink. Concerns about what they're doing next week are there but the way the case was resolved makes me think the producers are not picking sides (in The X-Files, Mulder was always right).

The Unicorn took Walton Goggins, who was a villain in not one but two of my favorite programs - The Shield and Justified - and made him into a charming, likable leading man. Goggins’s character is a widower, a year after his wife’s death, doing his best to run his gardening business and raise his two teenage daughters. He has help from two couples who are longtime family friends who want Goggins’s character to start living for himself. It sounds like another dead wife show but it has real depth. It also has a great cast around Goggins with Rob Corddry and Michaela Watkins as one of the couples. Omar Benson Miller and Maya Lynne Robinson are the other couple (and Robinson is great). Since I lost LIfe in Pieces, I’m giving this one a spin.

CW:

Batwoman fits right in with the whole Arrowverse world. Ruby Rose as Kate Kane is a stunning screen presence. Demands attention in every scene even when she's just standing in the background. Dougray Scott plays Kate's father. There are family conflicts, crime in Gotham, missing family members and the Batman vibe without the Caped Crusader actually appearing. I've been out of the Arrowverse for a while – the time travel baby Sarah is now baby JJ stuff had me check out – but this is a good way to return.

Katy Keane is the anti-Riverdale in a really great way. Sunny, happy, positive – this is a "making it in the big city" (with the big city being a real place – New York) story for four young folks interested in fashion (Katy), singing (Josie from Josie & the Pussycats), performing (Jorge/Ginger) and sports (K.O.). There are ups and downs for everyone with rivals all around but these are characters that are easy to root for. This show isn't targeted at me as I am old but it is really cute.

Nancy Drew is Riverdale 2.0 in a not so great way. Dour, depressing and physically dark – the program is about yet another dead young woman and the town full of secrets. Been there, seen this going back to the original Twin Peaks.

FOX:

I don't know who thought Almost Family was a good idea but I did not one. Brittnay Snow is the daughter of world-renowned fertility doctor Timothy Hutton. As Hutton's character is getting a lifetime achievement award, a reporter asks about fraud at his clinic. Seems Hutton was providing more than just medical treatment at the clinic – he was providing biological material. Some of this is played for laughs, some of it played as jealousy between friends. It is just tone-deaf about what a violation this is (and an early season Law & Order episode). They push how great it is only child Brittnay Snow has all these siblings! Not good.

Prodigal Son has serial killer Michael Sheen helping his FBI Profiler son Tom Payne solve crimes. Lou Diamond Phillips shows up. I'm in as this is my type of show.

NBC:

Bluff City Law has Jimmy Smits as a civil rights/victim rights lawyer in Memphis whose estranged daughter Catlin McGee works for big corporations. After a family tragedy, the two team up in Smits law firm. Based on the pilot, it looks like there is a case of the week (high school gardener dying of cancer after using certain pesticides) and what looks like a season long case (high school teacher serving life for killing a student who he didn't actually kill). The performances are fine but this seems likes season one of Bull where every client is innocent/a victim of a big corporation/super sympathetic and our heroes will always find a way to get them justice even if it means bending the rules. Nothing new but nice to see Jimmy Smits again.

Perfect Harmony and Sunnyside have the same basic set up. A person in a position of importance (Bradley Whitford as a Princeton music professor; Kal Penn as a New York city council member) suffer professional fall (Whitford is a prick who threw a chair at a student; Penn is a prick who tried to bribe a cops after at DUI). Wallowing in failure, person accidentally comes across a plucky group who all are working toward a goal (Whitford finds a choir; Penn has a group of green card holders trying to be citizens). While still being mostly awful, person finds some heart working with the rag tag group. There are differences – Whitford's character just lost his wife to cancer and is in competition with John Carroll Lynch's choir, Penn's character lives with his sister, a doctor. But they're the same show.

#emergence #stumptown #bob hearts abishola #evil #batwoman #katy keene #nancy drew #almost family #prodigal son #bluff city law #perfect harmony #sunnyside

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theparanormalperiodical · 4 years

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17 Ways To Predict The Future That You Can Do For FREE (#8 Will Have You Shook - And I Should Know, I Totally Saw It Via Augury)

It was 8.57pm on a Wednesday night. I was sitting on my bed, waiting for the microwave to let me know my lasagne is ready, and that’s when I first heard it.

Silence.

Day 2 of UK lockdown was nearly over, but the tidal wave of boredom - and the consequential existential crises - was set to hit the nation at any moment if it hadn’t already.

Amazon orders of ‘watercolour kits for beginners’ had surged, YouTube workouts I’m pretty sure were filmed in some murderer’s basement were clogging up YouTube's trending page, and returning to the dark side of Duolingo was filling the days of my fellow countrymen.

Whether it’s not being able to work, losing your job, or being sick with the virus yourself, people across the globe are on the hunt for new skills, hobbies, and how-to’s on filling the 24 hours.

The thing is, your next hobby (the one you will inevitably ditch once you realise you have the artistic ability of a dented tin of tuna) will probably require items you can’t scavenge in the home you’re currently self-isolating in.

And God forbid the skill you decide to take up includes making self-expressive sculptures about your childhood with toilet paper.

Why not take up a skill that doesn’t require paint pots you will inevitably spill on the carpet and lie to your landlord about? Why not occupy your time with the occult, instead?

Of course - you should become a fortune-teller!

With 44 methods of predicting the future available and most of them requiring, well, nothing - or, at the very least, a handful of beans and maybe the odd animal sacrifice - trying and testing methods of seeing need not use up your time, nor the scraps left in your cupboards.

And once you’ve fulfilled your destiny as a prophet, why not let us know when this pandemic will be over?

But before you’ve even learnt to read palms, and before you’ve even considered how Mercury’s retrograde will affect the heaviness of your next period, you should probably find out what the methods are, and which ones you can do with half a tin of bins and the protein powder from last year when Love Island shamed you into thinking you weren’t good enough.

(Bro, you totally are.)

That’s why I’ve decided to guide you in the next step your spiritual journey. Or at least keep you busy for the next 79 minutes. And given the current state of the world, the latter is far more precious.

But before I launch into the 17 different ways you can trace out your future in self-isolation, I thought we should actually know what fortune tellers are.

A Brief And Totally Ironic History Of Predicting The Future

*pushes glasses up nose*

Fortune telling is defined as the principle of predicting the future events of someone’s life. There are many different types of the practice and the people that predict the future, from those that practice divination (which involves rituals to see into the future), to fortune telling (which takes place in a less formal setting and is far more symbol based).

The latter found its feet in the Renaissance era, and was firmly planted in Romani culture, explaining why gypsy fortune tellers are the most prevalent image representing the art. In fact, it was ol’ Nostradamus that made his name in this period.

Michel de Nostrodame was a typical 16th century Frenchman.

Only he spent his time working in apothecaries, predicting the future, and writing down what he claimed would happen. In total, he made 6338 prophecies and 11 annual calendars, and it’s one of these prophecies which has become rather relevant to 2020.

That is, it predicts the end of the world. And it’s kind of coming true.

Nevertheless, the once forbidden art of predicting the future has been founded in our cultures since ancient times.

Astrology was the OG, setting the trend that would spark the uncountable practices currently in practice. Those that could predict the future - whether from their own abilities as prophets, or using systems as clairvoyants - had a strong political stance as prominent advisors.

Obviously, the role has lost respect over the years.

However, the practice faced their greatest amount of opposition during the Enlightenment era as reason began to prevail, ditching superstition. Once it had become, like, so uncool, it became cool again in the 19th century alongside the rise of Spiritualism - AKA dead people can talk to us, k - which tied the capabilities of mediums with those that could see the future.

This was the root of popular culture’s current approach to today’s soothsayers, a relationship sealed with the New Age culture of the 1960s.

Getting your palm read, or having a flick through some tarot cards became a tradable commodity during this decade. And an odd 30 years later, the term ‘psychic’ officially hit the scene.

Psychics were people that utilised ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) to identify extra sensory information we normal mortals can’t quite detect. Often, this involves telepathy or clairvoyance to assist in their predictive skills.

So - are you ready to join the ranks?

*Throws sticks onto floor to find answer*

Here Are The 17 Ways You Can Predict The Future Even If You’re In Lockdow

Aeromancy

Divination that uses the weather to predict the future

Go outside. Look up. Look for symbols in the sky.

Boom - you’ve just practiced one of the oldest forms of divination to man.

In less stuttered terms, aeromancy is the practice of seeing symbols in the weather that point you to what’s happening in your life right now, and what will happen in the future. Most of these practices rely on this symbolism, and thus have a few explanations for certain types of weather-based events.

Not only is this one of the simplest - and least costly - ways to predict when the lockdown will end, it also makes you a bad bitch. And that’s because it was one of the forbidden arts in the Renaissance period.

Once you’ve discovered your inner rebel when getting your daily quota of vitamin D, you might wish to specialise in one of the sub-types of this art: you can investigate storms, peruse wind patterns, stare at the stars or keep it simple with clouds.

Astrology

Divination by the movements of celestial bodies.

Okay - this one’s gonna take some reading.

Finding out your horoscope these days is as easy as mispelling ‘Gemini’ in google and hoping you don’t end up on a website dodgier than that kebab you consumed 3 days ago.

(Just hasn’t quite settled in my stomach, yet.)

Astrology is a pseudoscience - that is, it mixes sciences and the supernatural - which studies how the position of the celestial bodies impact events here on Earth. It might be mocked within an inch of its life, but it's figured prominently throughout history.

Going back to 2BC, this has designed the basis of our calendars and our seasons. Historically, cultures have assigned vital importance to astronomical events of note. And now you can too!

Astrology these days focuses merely on horoscopes as astrologers believed those born around the same time of the year when the planets were aligned in a similar way had a lot in common and thus had certain personalities. From there, individual predictions created in the forms of charts were brought to the table.

Finding your chart might be a simple feat thanks to the internet, but interpreting it? Whole ‘nother ball game.

And that’s what you’re going to do for the next 3 hours!

Numerology

Divination via numbers

As with all methods of divination, numerology has a variety of sub-types held to its name - but the basic definition is the practice of assigning spiritual value to numbers. This typically focuses on numerical patterns.

One of the more basic methods of seeing the future, numerology is actually more anchored in our culture than you’d expect. Pythagoras - yeah, that guy that forced you to spend two sevenths of your teenage years obsessed with triangles - even followed its basic principle, claiming numbers were a universal language offered by god(s) as a “confirmation of truth”.

Triangles, man.

This started with the Ancient Egyptians, who believed life was made up of cycles of numbers, and that harnessing those cycles was how you could discover your key to success. Their fundamental claim was that each individual number has a personality, for example, the number 7 is the thinker or the searcher of truth.

By deducing key facts of your life with numerology, such as your date of birth, and what you should do on the different days of the months, navigating your future via numbers is your next hobby.

Augury

Divination via the pattern of bird flight

As I write this post, I am following the UK government’s guidance to only go outside once a day. You’d think that this would restrict access to this form of fortune-telling, but if you can get to a window, you’re ready to forecast major world events.

Birds have always featured prominently in cultures, with many belief systems claiming the animals are messengers from the gods and can even transcend the borders of heaven. This means if you want to try your hand at augury, you will have to consult ancient texts which outline the patterns you need to be looking for.

And there’s a lot of patterns to look for.

You could be investigating how fast they fly, you could be interpreting the movement of their flight, and you could even be considering the way birds eat if you chuck a handful of grain on the floor.

Evidently, this form of divination is best practiced at Brighton when you’ve got a bag of chips in one hand, and an unknown meat-like substance in the other.

Automatic Writing

Divination via writing

This one might be the easiest to do - but it's the most difficult to do right.

Pen? Check. Paper? Check. Access to the inner thoughts of spirits surrounding you? You’ll need all three to correctly practice this form of clairvoyance.

Many believe that otherworldly beings essentially write through you in this process. So, clear your mind, take a deep breath, and let your hand be guided.

Bibliomancy

Divination using books

Another simple form of fortune telling, this requires you opening a book to a random page, reading the paragraph you feel drawn to, and interpreting the message the gods are clearing letting you in on.

Bibles are the most popular book used for this practice, but any ol’ book will do.

Ceromancy and Capnomancy

Divination using candles

If, like me, you have a minor addiction to candles, this is the perfect pastime to enjoy the pleasant experience of burning a candle and predicting your future.

The former requires you asking the, uh, candle a question, pouring melted wax from a candle into the water and interpreting the shapes of the cooled wax to find your answer.

The latter involves the interpretation of the smoke of the candle. As this is measured in the same way as interpreting the clouds, you can follow the same principles of aeromancy here, too.

Palmistry

Divination via hands

One of the most famous forms of telling the future, palmistry follows several simple principles and practices. You can read hand shape, you can investigate line reading… And the options don’t stop there.

From more general observations of your own, to more specific divination, all it requires is a hand, and a guide to reading that hand.

Scrying

Divination using mirrors or crystal balls

It’s the official mascot of telling the future - but you don’t need a crystal ball to master this art. In fact, using a mirror to open a portal to another realm and contacting the spirits is far more common.

It’s also far more dangerous due to the potential for negative spirits to cross the barrier into our realm. In fact, that’s how Bloody Mary really made her name.

You can read more about her story here.

Favomancy

Divination using beans or peas

Are you a selfish prat? Were you one of those people that panic bought everything in my local Waitrose, and left shit all for that old guy who just staggered past me?

A - fuck you. And B - this is your new hobby!

All you really need to tell the future is a can of beans, and an open mind. With its origins in the Middle East, by dropping a handful of beans or peas and interpreting how they fell, you can see how the next few weeks might just pan out.

It might follow a complex set of rules, and it might follow very precise principles, but nevertheless, it can help point out the favourable and unfavourable signs for your future.

Haruspicy

Divination via liver dissection

This is by far one of the simplest methods of fortune telling - trust me.

First, you sacrifice an animal to a deity of your choice. Second, you reach into its corpse, and rip out its liver with your bare hands.

Then, you sever the liver into several parts based on deities of your choice. From there, you’d investigate it for signs from the gods based on size, shape, colour, and texture.

Signs interpreted, messages understood, future predicted.

*drops mic into small intestine*

Iching

Divination via yarrow stalks and Chinese coins

This might be the most complicated method of divination on this list, and this might cost the most as you try to get yarrow sticks by next day delivery, but thanks to websites offering to carry out the process for you virtually, finding your future might actually be the most effortless.

Harness the power of ancient Chinese divination via the I Ching (AKA The Book Of Changes) and the principle of cleromancy, the production of random numbers to determine messages from the divine.

This ancient Chinese manual is based on 8 symbolic trigrams and 64 hexagrams which are interpreted in terms of yin and yang...

Okay. I’ll be honest.

I don’t really know what’s going on.

There’s some vegetables, there’s some loose change involved, there’s more yin and yang references than the first day of Coachella… All I know is you find a website that does all that for you, and you ask it a question.

Moleosophy

Divination using the moles on your body

Live in an urban area? More chance of seeing a fox hump a Chicken Cottage box than the Big Dipper?

Then why not try your hand at reading the moles on your skin?

This system of divination assigns significance to your moles, allowing you to interpret the marks on your body as warning you of your future. And warning is the right word.

Got a mole on your throat? You’ve more chance of being beheaded than Damien’s family members in The Omen. Freckle on your nether-regions? You’re a god-forsaken whore.

There’s many more meanings left to be unlocked - and hopefully not all of them are negative attributes about yourself or your death.

Oneiromancy

Divination of dreams

Ever wondered what that dream you had, you know, the one with Gabriella from High School Musical saying all the old people should just die from Covid-19, cause, like, it’s inevitable, actually meant?

Well now you can!

With more online guides and overpriced books offering to analyse and interpret your dreams for you, accessing your subconscious and predicting future events has never been easier. But you will need to remember what actually happened in your dreams.

Fuck.

Cartomancy

Divination using cards

Couldn’t get Prime delivery on your tarot cards? Have a knack for solitaire?

Pull out your pack of playing cards, and use ‘em to guide your future. There are many rules you need to follow, but it’s a good way to practice your divination skills before you move onto other oracle based cards.

It even follows the similar principle of tarot, with each card having a different meaning, e.g. the 8 and Hearts represents an unexpected gift or a visit.

And if you give up, just play a game of Clock Patience!

Scapulimancy

Divination via bones

Still got the carcass of that animal you slaughtered in the name of your chosen god/goddess?

Good.

Reach into the body, and pull out the shoulder blade bones - aka the scapulae. Examine for messages and markings from your chosen god/goddess, and jot down the future events you predict on your calendar.

Then, check out your council website to see which day they take out the sacrificial goat bin.

Tasseomancy

Divination using tea leaves

It’s the pop culture representative for the occult, making its name in the Harry Potter films and leaving us all with the vile experience of coughing up tea leaves into your morning.

It might be one of the most accessible forms of fortune telling - especially as it is primarily based on symbolism and your own interpretation of the messages your favoured god has left in the dregs of your hot drink - but tea leaves must be used for this practice.

Tea from tea bags won’t have the same effect.

Which One Are You Trying Out Tonight?

Leave me a comment and let me know. Or will I know already?

Fancy seeing a weekly article on horror films/the occult/ghost stories/all of the above? Also want to hear a new real ghost story everyday? Follow this blog and join the fam.

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dungeonecologist · 5 years

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WILD ARMS 2 - Raline Observatory

The Raline Observatory is a neat set piece, albeit one riddled with issues in English. It distracts us with side characters, but actually sets up a pretty core feature of the world that will come back much later in conjunction with the Live Reflectors (which are about to become defunct once we finish this quest and unlock our flying ship) The name however is yet another mistransliteration from the Japanese for “Ley Line.”

Ley Lines came from the observations of one Alfred Watkins, an amateur archaeologist/explorer of the 1920s (as was not terribly uncommon at the time) who made note of the arrangement of major historical landmarks in straight lines across the British country side, from which he questioned the meaning, cause, or function. In the 1960s this work was incorporated along side Chinese fengshui to theorize that a kind of natural flow of energies across the Earth existed, and that spiritually attuned cultures all across history had been drawn to places where such streams of energy intersected, either by divination or by the consequence of ideal circumstances for settlement or ritual structures stemming from said concentrated energies.

Here, it those theories are applied rather literally, and will be revisited more explicitly at a later point in the story. Not coincidentally, this dungeon is located on a string of volcanic not-quite-islands, volcanoes being a rather on the nose example of a point at which energy has built up and been released from the Earth, literal energy obviously but in many belief systems spiritual energy as well. Oddly there aren’t actually any apparent Ley Lines on the Filgaia map; the dungeons are all pretty evenly distributed. The only semblance of patterns* are that various locations that come in 4s are deliberately scattered across 4 quadrants, but that’s less meaningful and more just practical when you don’t want your game’s marathon of dungeons to take place right next to each other.

*(The ones I’ve marked here are the 4 Live Reactors: red, the 4 Diablo Pillars: Blue, and the 4 Ray Points: Green. Perhaps the only real deliberate design here is that the finale dungeon which is tied by lore to the Raypoints, is located right in between the 4 of them; the intersection if you draw lines between opposite points. On this note: the Raypoint dungeons may also be a mistransliteration, meant to be “Ley Points.”)

Anyway we get into this neat abandoned lab setting and immediately have a boss thrown at us.

I think I’ve mentioned both the Kobold, and accidentally the Salamandra, now but among those iconic elemental monsters is also the Undine; Generally portrayed as a beautiful humanoid water nymph. The boss monster, Undines (I don’t know why there’s an “s”, the Japanese even reads ウンディーネ:u-n’-di-ne) is very much not. Actually, given the circumstances I’d almost assume this was some kind of mistransliteration, but the boss card even says “Elemental Spirit,” so what else could it be other than a water spirit? (although when I looked over the epithet in Japanese the phrase is 素体精霊獣, so what they translated as “Elemental” actually means something more in line with “base form” as in a chemical element, not an alchemical one.) Also of note are its moves: Hookey Bust, Intafada, Reject all Fools, and Shocking Guinea.

We’ll start with Shocking Guinea, as it might be the most straight forward; it alludes to Undines being a manufactured monster, and presumably kind of a lab experiment. It has turned on its creators so perhaps it was inhumanely experimented on until it lashed out? This move is also perhaps the outlier in the set. Intafada I can only assume refers here to the literal meaning of “shaking” or a small tremor and not the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza in the early 90s... Ignoring the bizarre language choice for that, the move Hookey Bust is a little confusing but suggests one of two things to me; either being caught playing hooky, or rolling a losing number in a game of dice. The former fits with the idea of an escaped experiment, but the latter along with Intafada and the general jester look of Undines seems to suggest shaking and rolling dice? That in some vague sense seems to match with the Reject all Fools, if it means Fool like a court jester.

Okay you know what, I gave the translators too much credit. The moment I started digging things got all kinds of muddled. The move Reject All Fools in Japanese is 理解できないモノは拒絶: “[I] reject things [I] don’t understand.” I take it the translators interpreted 理解できないモノ as “things/people that can not understand” i.e. “Fools,” but it might also be, “things/people that cannot be understood.” I make the distinction because I think it has to do with ghost stories and belief in the supernatural, although what “supernatural” would really mean in a fantasy setting isn’t super clear...

The move Hookey Bust is 学校の怖い胸像: “Scary Bust of School” as in a scary sculpture found in a school, which I’m pretty certain is a reference to the trope of Japanese middle or high schools having a kind of local hauntings where some kind of ghost turns out to be the anatomical model in the science lab or the nurse’s office. It ties into the science lab/experiment theme going on all throughout here. Spooky science lab also explains the “shiver”/”shake”/”tremor” we get from Intafada.

Speaking of terrible translations, the baffling Lilly Pad monster appears here, a bizarre imp with a little sword and cape, and boobs on its head??? The katakana here is I believe meant to be a transliteration of Lilliput, as in Lilliputians from Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels. The actual design doesn’t make much more sense in light of that, as they aren’t especially tiny, but at least the basic idea gets across, as opposed to the entirely nonsensical Lilly Pad. I’m not sure they add to the theme going on exactly, but the visual aesthetic of a tiny or shrunken person does resonate with some classic mad science lab cliches.

And we also have the Jelly Blob, which is just a staple of RPGs by this point. Technically speaking I think the origin is, again, Dungeons and Dragons, with he Gelatinous Cube and Ooze monsters, and in turn any number of variants on the both as well as the off shoot Slime family of monsters. Again, very in line with the science experiment vibes.

The one thing that presents a tiny hiccup in this is the Pas de Chat; in Japanese simply named Laughing Haunt. It might be a stretch, but I think it’s just another reference to school hauntings, like the Hookey Bust reference. It’s the only way I can think to fit this into the overarching themes of the dungeon. The “English” name, Pas de Chat, is a ballet term referring to a jump in which the legs are brought up toward the opposite knee in quick sequence before landing. It is French for “Step of the Cat.”

I have no idea why it looks the way it does, but it does display some interesting animations with leaps and twirls that is understandably evocative of dancers. It also fights with a pair of stiletto daggers.

I kind of neglected to mention, but throughout this whole dungeon we’ve been followed by the wacky comedy relief duo, Liz and Ard. (Toka and Ge in Japanese: You get one guess as to what the word “Tokage” translates to.) As we reach the end of the dungeon they of course spring on us that they too are after the rare Germatron mineral, and that they are apparently Odessa’s free lance monster engineers. The two jump us with a second boss fight where the two showcase a host of battle tactics about as wacky as everything else we’ve put up with from them thus far:

Liz, the self-styled lead researcher of the duo can throw concoctions to ail the team, but that also hit himself and his assistant, Ard. Meanwhile Ard is a tank and a powerhouse, even as the inevitable Poison ailment from Liz’s attacks chips away at his HP. But to add to it, his strongest attack deals huge recoil damage to himself trading off for yet more offensive power. If you focus your attacks on Liz and heal as needed, Ard will likely kill himself even before Liz falls. An appropriate end to the mad science theme of the dungeon all around. And naturally, we’ll be seeing more of the lizard duo as the game goes on.

#wild arms 2 #jrpg #psx

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soulvomit · 6 years

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Another thing I’ve walked around with overwhelming shame about, has to do with my mom’s side of the family having mystical traditions and really really heavy amounts of superstition, and it being very Old World stuff, and it also being connected to ways in which the family is deeply fucked up, and wanting to be a person who “appears to be normal” let alone someone who has high credibility yet straddling the world between two radically opposed cultural worldviews. (Yet that tension led me to be a passionate anthropology major when I was younger, led me to be deeply interested in culture and psychology and semantics and the whole idea of worldviews or frames.) I never talk about it because I know how it will make me look and seeming like a sensible and rational person is deeply important to me. If I could absolutely say I absolutely do not believe in any kind of supernatural forces, and deal with my family from a completely materialism-based and pragmatic frame, then... I would still have to say that there is a specific self-consistent set of superstitions in my family that frame their actions and beliefs and how they interpret the world. It seems to have gone on for enough generations in that one family line for me to believe it may be some kind of cultural holdover that didn’t get assimilated after Ellis Island. And that is non-trivial, whether you believe their shared belief in some kind of magic or another, is real, or not. My family is some kind of Magical Realism family IN REAL LIFE.

#my life

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sweetcerac · 6 years

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SUMMER SCARIEST BOOK TAG

I saw this tag on Emmmabooks‘ channel and thought it looked so fun that I wanted to do it too!!

On to the questions!!

1. Specter: A book still haunts you after reading it.

Ryan’s Bed by Tijan

This book was just gorgeous and Wow! This girl is dealing with the suicide of her twin sister and her rollercoaster of emotions and decisions is just a twisty anxiety filled ride. But she’s found Ryan. And Ryan is the support she needs. He lets her do what she needs to do, whether she is fighting mean girls at school or do something stupid, but he’s there looking out for her and loving her the way she feels her own family isn’t. And the end of this book is just a punch in the gut that it’s stayed with me.

“I crawled into Ryan Jensen’s bed that first night by accident.

I barely knew him. I thought it was his sister’s bed—her room. It took seconds to realize my error, and I should've left...

I didn’t.

I didn’t jump out.

I didn’t get embarrassed.

I relaxed.

And that night, in that moment, it was the only thing I craved.

I asked to stay. He let me, and I slept.

The truth? I never wanted to leave his bed. If I could've stayed forever, I would have.

He became my sanctuary.

Because—four hours earlier—my twin sister killed herself.”

2. Don't split up: A book would you want to read around a campfire with friends.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell This book just takes me back to my childhood Girl Scout camping! I brought these books every single time we went and read it around the campfire and in the tent. The illustrations are gross and spooky and awesome! And the stories are straight up scary for a girl in her tweens.

“This spooky addition to Alvin Schwartz's popular books on American folklore is filled with tales of eerie horror and dark revenge that will make you jump with fright.

There is a story here for everyone -- skeletons with torn and tangled flesh who roam the earth; a ghost who takes revenge on her murderer; and a haunted house where every night a bloody head falls down the chimney.

Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories -- and even scary songs -- all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark.”

3. Ghost: A book would you like to ghost.

The Harvest Festival by Jack Gallow

Man! Really did not like this book! It’s one of three books in my life that I can put on my totally dislike list. The concept seemed so fun, but it was so poorly written. The plot line was so inconsistent and there were a lot of loose ends that also made no sense to introduce. And I definitely feel like make a character just disappear without any explanation was such a cop out. Not a well thought out story at all. Ghosting this if any more in this series comes out.

“When Mallory Watson’s family moves to Fallen Oaks, she quickly discovers dark and dangerous secrets lurking beneath the surface of the quiet town. Last year’s prom queen is missing. Sean Bolan, the only suspect in the disappearance, sets his sights on Mallory. She finds herself drawn to Sean and realizes that things aren’t always as they appear.

Welcome to Fallen Oaks. Discover this haunting tale of love and betrayal. A paranormal romance for any fan of the genre.”

4. Frankenstein: A book that mixes genres well.

On The Edge Of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

I really loved how this story wasn’t just a sci fi story and a world ending disaster story, but it had some really diverse characters. The main character is autistic, her sister is transgender, and her mom is a drug addict. And they are trying to get off planet in this ship that was designed to only hold the most “perfect” people. A lot of family drama is happening while the world is ending and I loved the blend of dealing with saving family while trying to survive. This book can really fall into a few different genres.

“January 29, 2035.

That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter near their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time.

Then a last-minute encounter leads them to something better than a temporary shelter: a generation ship that’s scheduled to leave Earth behind and colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But each passenger must have a practical skill to contribute. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister?

When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?”

5. Murder: A book with a twist you didn't see coming.

Wake The Hollow by Gaby Triana This book was so cool with it’s integration of the Sleepy Hollow legend with a contemporary story of a girl who grew up in the town of fame and having to go back to deal with her family demons when her mother dies. It had this supernatural essence to it that made you feel for the character. Was her mom crazy or was this supernatural entity what got her killed? And there are some crazy twists in this that really keep my hooked and I couldn’t put it down! “Tragedy has brought Micaela Burgos back to her hometown of Sleepy Hollow. It’s been six years since she chose to live with her father in Miami instead of her eccentric mother. And now her mother is dead.

This town will suck you in and not let go.

Sleepy Hollow may be famous for its fabled headless horseman, but the town is real. So are its prejudices and hatred, targeting Mica’s family as outsiders. But ghostly voices carry on the wind, whispering that her mother’s death was based on hate…not an accident at all. With the help of two very different guys—who pull at her heart in very different ways—Micaela must awaken the hidden secret of Sleepy Hollow…before she meets her mother’s fate.

Find the answers.

Unless, of course, the answers find you first.”

6. Zombie: A book or series you would like to revive from the BookTube graveyard.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry

I remember this book got some major buzz when it first came out and I feel like we should be buzzing about it again!

A story about this guy, living on this Caribbean island, whose been hearing ghost stories all his life about this girl with green skin who lives in a large walled in house with a garden full of poisonous plants. And she grants wishes?!?! What?!?! And it turns out to be somewhat true! But with all urban legends, while there is a grain of truth to them, there is also the disappointment of realty and he learns the truth about her while all this crazy crap is happening around them.

“Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the señoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.”

7. Witch: A horror book with a strong female protagonist.

The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass

To say this book is disturbing would be an understatement. Or maybe my life with my family has been so loving and wonderful that I can’t possibly imagine a life like this. But that is the life that Cas has and how she finds the strength to fight through it is beyond me and so admirable. Disturbing and scary reading what was happening to Cas and her siblings but awesome to watch her be the strong force her siblings need.

“Castella Cresswell and her five siblings—Hannan, Caspar, Mortimer, Delvive, and Jerusalem—know what it’s like to be different. For years, their world has been confined to their ramshackle family home deep in the woods of upstate New York. They abide by the strict rule of God, whose messages come directly from their father.

Slowly, Castley and her siblings start to test the boundaries of the laws that bind them. But, at school, they’re still the freaks they’ve always been to the outside world. Marked by their plain clothing. Unexplained bruising. Utter isolation from their classmates. That is, until Castley is forced to partner with the totally irritating, totally normal George Gray, who offers her a glimpse of a life filled with freedom and choice.

Castley’s world rapidly expands beyond the woods she knows so well and the beliefs she once thought were the only truths. There is a future waiting for her if she can escape her father’s grasp, but Castley refuses to leave her siblings behind. Just as she begins to form a plan, her father makes a chilling announcement: the Cresswells will soon return to their home in heaven. With time running out on all of their lives, Castley must expose the depth of her father’s lies. The forest has buried the truth in darkness for far too long. Castley might be their last hope for salvation.”

8. Mind Control: A spooky book you would recommend to everyone.

Fear The Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh

The concept of this book is so cool!! Love the setting on the Isle of Man and the seaside scape. A body of a girl washes up on shore one day and the whole town is scared of what lays in the deep. And Birdie, the main character, is already scared of the water because her grandfather drowned out there and the stories of a monster. But then one day a gorgeous guy washes up on shore too and the fear and fantasy mixes in with a love story. Gorgeous! Lyrical! Atmospheric! And totally Magical!

“Witch’s apprentice Bridey Corkill has hated the ocean ever since she watched her granddad dive in and drown with a smile on his face. So when a dead girl rolls in with the tide in the summer of 1913, sixteen-year-old Bridey suspects that whatever compelled her granddad to leap into the sea has made its return to the Isle of Man.

Soon, villagers are vanishing in the night, but no one shares Bridey’s suspicions about the sea. No one but the island’s witch, who isn’t as frightening as she first appears, and the handsome dark-haired lad Bridey rescues from a grim and watery fate. The cause of the deep gashes in Fynn’s stomach and his lost memories are, like the recent disappearances, a mystery well-guarded by the sea. In exchange for saving his life, Fynn teaches Bridey to master her fear of the water — stealing her heart in the process.

Now, Bridey must work with the Isle’s eccentric witch and the boy she isn’t sure she can trust — because if she can’t uncover the truth about the ancient evil in the water, everyone she loves will walk into the sea, never to return.”

#booktag #book #goodreads #booktags

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assholejail · 6 years

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Chapter 3: A Day at the Faire

The group arrives in Baratara. Their first course of action is to disperse, going their separate ways to homes and other business. Thomas is dismayed, yelling at them instructions for their check-in at the Navy headquarters as they run off.

Upon seeing banners, pennants, and other decorations around town with colorful patterns and people on street corners giving away candies and sweets, the group individually comes to find that it is the end of the Harvest’s End festival, a time of celebration in Baratara.

Dacceus goes for a flight around the docks and encounters a fellow Aarakocran. The seagull man notices him while in flight but does nothing to return his greeting. Dacceus, growing frustrated that his greeting in Aarakocran has garnered no friendly response, begins shouting at the man, to whom he was only trying to be friendly earlier. The two begin hurling insults at one another in Common until they grow tired.

Dacceus, flying away: I LOVE YOU!

Mellowloaf is stirring up trouble in the docks below, though largely going unnoticed in doing so. Weaving his way through the docked ships, he tries to flirt with many of the sailors, and ends up even slapping one on the behind much to the rest of the crew’s disliking. After being chased off the ship, he goes to the marketplace a block over, where he haggles with a merchant for prosthetic arms, eventually settling on purchasing a prosthetic leg, breaking it in half, and using the two halves as makeshift arms.

Wrynn approaches the worship place of the cult of Celestian and other rare gods in Baratara, encountering an old dwarven man who cannot seem to make any more sense of the trinkets and artifacts Wrynn has found on his travels than Wrynn himself. Rather than bartering all of them off to the man, Wrynn holds on to the shield he has found and some others of his findings before turning tail and heading out.

Shifty navigates toward the shadier side of town and attempts to find the best deals for daggers and other small weapons as well as find accurate pricing for the stolen goods she has procured during her travels. While clinging to the shadows, she sees an alleyway she does not recognize. Though tempted to go down and investigate, she elects to scout out one final knife vendor before returning. The alleyway is no longer there. However, on the ground where it previously stood is a business card that more or less reads, “You need all to find me.”

Cassius is drawn to the alleys of the marketplace, where many children are playing games. She gathers the children near her and begins singing the praises of the Great Old One and performing simple magic tricks, much to the delight of the other children. They begin following her around the marketplace and center of town, where there is a big carnival set up, and she calls them the Cult of Cassius. The children shower her with candies and other goodies they’ve picked up throughout the day.

Lis goes to the Siren’s Song, her place of residence in the shadier side of Baratara, in hopes that she will meet Rok there. She finds that the door is not only locked, but has been completely blocked by tables and chairs on the other side. On the front of the door is a hastily scribbled note that reads, “Closed for Harvest’s End!”

She circles around to the back and begins to scale the wall to get inside through the bedroom window. When she reaches the kitchen she finds a note tacked to the counter, explaining that Rok went on an extended trip for Harvest’s End to avoid crazy customers and that she hadn’t expected Lis to be gone as long as she was. She says she will be back at the end of the week.

Cutting her losses, Lis leaves home, checks up on the neighbors who are watching her pets, and brings them home after the disgruntled neighbors demand she never leave them at their home again.

She then goes to the Navy yard, where she attempts to enter the front of the building (where the Commodore’s office is located) before being flanked by uniformed men and taken to the back of the building, where she is forced to enter through the back door.

She is led to the office of Commodore Maulf Arsammar, her handler, who checks her in and asks her the standard questions for each completed mission. She takes a seat on the desk and begins drinking from her flask, annoying him further, until he asks her to turn over any and all pilfered materials from Newleigh and the temple of Suné. She begrudgingly hands in the potions and, in exchange, he gives her a bag of knucklebones collecting dust in one of his desk drawers before instructing her to gather the other members of the party.

She finds them in the center of town, where Cassius and Shifty are being awarded candies for winning carnival games. Mellowloaf has attempted to participate in some games but is unsuccessful due to both vendors not noticing him and being physically unable to play archery and other range-based games.

Lis rounds up the rest of the party and directs them back to the Navy yard, where they are given a new assignment. Maulf instructs them to go to the island community of Crimson Isle, as the few residents have been sending messages mentioning of supernatural disturbances that are quite distressing. Though reluctant to go back on a mission so soon after the completion of their first, the party agrees to set sail the following morning on the condition that they have the rest of the evening to themselves for enjoying the fair and tying up loose ends.

Upon being dismissed, Shifty backflips out the window of the office to exit the building. Mellowloaf follows suit. Dacceus is the last to fly out the window before Maulf demands the rest of the group leave through the front door.

Lis returns to the Siren’s Song to leave the pets with another neighbor. Cassius returns to the carnival grounds but finds many of the children have gone home.

As the party members reconvene in the Navy barracks, Shifty reaches into her back pocket and pulls out the business card she found earlier. She inquires if the group is interested in making contact with this unknown person, as she believes that, with the party together, such a thing can be done. The group as a whole is hesitant, and they separate before who or whatever left the card behind can be reached.

They all head to bed and prepare for the adventure awaiting them the next morning.

(End of Chapter 3)

#chapter 3 #summaries #the misdemeanor mateys #dnd #mod lis art

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