#specifically in cryptic entries

[primhundus]

T.R.K’s Ahaashi Archive, Entry #1

"Al rañalfir olra shalom, olre entreshi. Ulre hendre al umraf movarava, saliñe itsin himiri umavarava al pasñi Khatha."

—An old Maranian Elvish verse in the song, Kanse he Movarava

[evermourning]

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞, 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞. ˚｡୨୧˚

pairing: Lee Felix x GN!reader

genre: drabble, non!idol au, established relationship, fluff(?)

wc: 1k

warnings: lots and lots of kisses, suggestive, making out, language, pet names (honey, sweetheart, babe, lix)

summary: you have an amazing idea. the idea in question being a romantic tiktok trend that your boyfriend is over the moon about trying.

a/n: so...i was listening to cigarettes after sex and i remembered that one tiktok trend to k., and ik it's dead now but IT WON'T BE DEAD UNTIL I DO IT RAHHHH so here's me feeding you guys while the last two lovertober entries are being worked on

Felix knew something was up the second he stepped through your door.

You had texted him randomly, a cryptic message he'd stared at for an actual eternity (five minutes) attempting to decipher but ultimately giving up.

"come over. as soon as possible."

Were you in trouble? Did you want to fuck him? Was it both? He decided he should just go over to your apartment to see if you were okay. He slipped on his coat and left hurriedly.

You were on the couch, dozing off to some early 2000's movie you couldn't bother watching. When the door opening, you jolted out of the state you were in and turned to stare at Felix, a look of utmost delight upon your features.

"Hi, honey." You cooed, getting up from under the comfy blanket to snake your arms around his neck and press a loving peck to his plush lips. "You look lovely tonight."

Blood rushed to Felix's cheeks, turning them the color of blossoming pink roses. You were wearing his shirt and a pair of simple, black sleep shorts. Felix gulped, trying to fight the urge to pin you to the wall and kiss you until your lips were raw.

"What do you need? I saw you wanted me to come over quickly so I rushed here." Holy shit, he was a blabbering mess. You grinned.

"You know that one Cigarettes After Sex song, right?" you asked, plopping back down onto the couch and pulling out your phone.

"Very specific." Felix teased, hanging up his coat before awkwardly sitting down beside you. However, he relaxed once you leaned into him, your head resting on his shoulder.

"Hey! But it's called K., and it's that one where it goes like 'Stay with me, I don't want you to leave'..." you tried to explain, and Felix giggled.

"Yes, I know it. Did you call me all the way here for a song recommendation?" You shook your head, before zeroing in on the black, form-fitting turtleneck he'd been wearing beneath his heavy coat.

"Not really, no. There was this trend that was going around...I don't remember when, but every time I hear the song I think about it." You mused, gasping softly when one of Felix's arms made its way to wrap around your waist. Good god. "You look really hot in that turtleneck, by the way."

"Thank you, sweetheart." he laughed softly, pressing a kiss to your exposed neck. "Now, what was this trend about? I feel like I know what you're talking about..."

He knew exactly what you were talking about. To be honest, he was overjoyed you were even bringing up the idea to him. Being kissed all over by his partner sounded like the perfect Saturday night.

"I hope this jogs your memory, then!" You pulled up a video you had saved on TikTok, moving your phone over a little so that he could see it better. It showed some girl putting on lipstick, and messing it up. Then, a hand reached into the frame to wipe it away, and the camera panned to show her boyfriend, covered in lipstick marks and staring at her affectionately. "So...what do you think?"

Felix was staring in awe. Which pretty much answered your question.

"Please use that one burgundy lipstick you have. I'm begging you." He murmured quietly, still staring at the video on loop. You laughed out loud with glee, dashing off to go grab it.

Felix was waiting patiently, staring at the empty doorway as the distant sounds of you rummaging through your drawers excited him to no end. He just hoped he wouldn't get too excited...

When you finally came back, holding the tube of lipstick he loved so, he swore the butterflies flitting around inside his stomach began migrating. He changed the position he was sitting in so he could lay his back comfortably against the armrest of the sofa. Unfortunately, every one of his emotions were on full display as you climbed on top of him, straddling him.

"Wow, you're pretty red, Lix. I'm a little worried that the lipstick might not show up!" You slyly teased him, only adding more color to his adorable cheeks. He reached up to caress the soft skin on your cheek, his lips curled upwards into an endearing smile.

"Babe, I love you and your teasing but put on that makeup and fucking kiss me already." Felix grumbled playfully. You had no hesitation as you applied the dark lipstick, leaning down to press kiss after kiss onto his freckled face until his skin was stained red inside and out.

Felix felt like you were edging him.

You'd kissed everywhere except his lips, and it was making him feel embarrassingly needy. You noticed this, and with an airy giggle, you moved towards his lips. However, at the last second your head swiveled and you left a mark on the corner of his lips. That was his final straw. With a groan, he reached up and pulled you down so he could kiss you passionately, his hands going to your waist to steady you.

His kisses were dripping with love and adoration, fiery with desire. They slowly became more and more intimate, tongues dancing with each other. Your hands went to his blonde hair, holding them tightly. When you pulled away, a string of saliva connecting you to him like some otherworldly string of fate, your lips were swollen and his were the color of spilt red wine.

"You can't jus' leave me hanging like that, sweetheart. C'mon, get my neck too." He said, panting. His chest was heaving. You liked it.

"But you're wearing a turtleneck." You pointed out, blinking once, twice.

He grinned.

"Exactly. Go ahead, take it off of me." With his help, his expanse of tanned, bare skin was exposed to you. A perfect canvas to create art upon with your lovely lips.

Needless to say, you never finished filming.

@evermourning, ©2023. all rights reserved.

[sallowsdiary]

Hello, little snake.

I'd like to play a game.

I thought you weren't worth a second thought at first. I mean, who loses their journal so often that there's a note telling them which dorm to return it to?

However, reading your entries, your intelligence has peaked my interest.

So, just to make sure I'm not wasting my time. A riddle.

"Out of thirteen, nine are numbers. What are the four letters?"

I'll be waiting, Sallow

What. The. Hell.

So, some mysterious person has decided to play a game with me—starting with a riddle that’s making me question my sanity. "Out of thirteen, nine are numbers. What are the four letters?" What kind of mind-bending nonsense is this?

I’ve gone over it a hundred times in my head. Thirteen... nine are numbers, and four are letters. What numbers? What letters? It’s like this riddle was designed specifically to drive me mad. Is this some sort of elaborate prank? A test?

I’ve even tried to break it down logically. Maybe the numbers are part of a code? Maybe it’s something to do with the alphabet? But no matter how I twist it around, nothing fits. Nine numbers, four letters. Why does it sound so simple, yet it’s like trying to solve an Arithmancy puzzle with half the variables missing?

This is it. This is how I go mad—obsessing over a riddle left by some cryptic individual who’s probably laughing at my frustration right now. I can’t let this go unsolved. I refuse. But damn it, what are those four letters?!

It’s got to be something obvious, something I’m just not seeing. Maybe I need to step back, clear my head... or maybe that’s exactly what they want me to do. To underestimate it.

Thirteen, nine are numbers, four are letters. What the hell does it mean?

—Sebastian (teetering on the edge of insanity, thanks to a riddle)

P.S. Is it nine? Please, Ominis is laughing at me.

[uououtr]

GRAVITY FALLS symbol AU 🌲:so, the new entry.. um.. it happened relatively recently, probably..Three days ago? Uncle Ford was arguing with someone, but I couldn't hear who it was. I wouldn't be surprised if he's involved again. Well, Mabel likes everything..

✨::It is now impossible to play ball with Dipper. He's become too prickly! Of course, we tried to do something, but there are too many needles. We don't even have enough marshmallows for half his head! P.S: pine specifically tries to write as cryptically as possible. Don't take it seriously, it's just a blueprint for something bigger.

[starleska]

hi! im a really big fan of your fanfics (especially the wally ones) and i’m really curious to know what are songs that you associate with him?? please don’t be afraid to share!!! i really like talking and gushing over wally darling with a fellow wally simp lol

hey there anon!! 💖 aww my goodness you are so lovely, thank you!! it brings my heart so much joy that you like my writing...i can't believe the surge of wonderful feedback fired my way over this past week 🙈🙈 what a fun question!! there's a few songs i associate with Wally right now, and i'm sure more will pop up as we learn more about him;;; some are less overt, and more to do with Wally x Reader vibes - or, my terrible musical taste/hallucinating scenarios while listening to the same twenty songs 😂 fun simp challenge!! have a listen to a few of these with your eyes shut, thinking about Wally. you're guaranteed to have a good time 😉

Songs I Associate with Wally Darling:

Touch-Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon. no one could've seen this one coming 😂 no, as soon as i discovered Welcome Home i knew i'd finally found the right character to edit this song with. the conspiracy theory, cryptic vibes, slight desperation and of course retro-phone theming all work so well for Wally! 🥰

Out of My Mind by CG5. total coincidence that this banger dropped just as i learned about Welcome Home, and there's something cathartic and hypnotic about that repetitive chorus that fits with a lot of theories about Wally's struggles with Home...i had this one on repeat while writing The Nightmare Picnic 👀

An Unhealthy Obsession by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra. this one's for all the yandere!Wally fans out there - i think every person who's a fan of terrifying, obsessive characters loves this song 😉 this is the one had on repeat while writing those yandere!Wally headcanons - i actually included it to listen to whilst reading in the original post, but i ran out of space!! 🙈

INSANE by Black Gryphon & Baasik. i know, strike me down for including a song made specifically for another Tumblr Sexyman on this list!!! but come on - the static, the showmanship, the overt friendliness masking a smiling, curious sadism...don't pretend like you don't enjoy this take on Wally, i've seen the fanart 😂

LA Devotee by Panic! at the Disco. this one's jam-packed with fun occult imagery and all about fame and obsession, so it feels perfect for our children's puppet show ARG!! something about it just hits right with how the fandom perceives the darker side of Wally 😳 i'm listening to this a lot at the moment as i've got a Metalocalypse MEP part to this song in the works, but my thoughts can't help wandering to Mr. Darling;;

Super Psycho Love by Simon Curtis. lord help me, you can tell i was in the AMV-making community in the late 2000s/early 2010s 😂 this song's a staple for attentive, manipulative, obsessive characters...even if we end up being totally wrong, and Wally is a Darling in more than name, we'll always have fun with our unhealthily possessive fantasies 🥰

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. hey, i'm a basic bitch - i love listening to sugary-sweet, fluffworthy AMV music whilst writing my x Readers 🙈💖 a lot of the folks who request Wally often bear a little bit of their souls when asking - revealing insecurities about themselves, and wanting to be reassured he'd love them anyway. this is such a pretty, nostalgic song, and i think it captures the softness with which many of us would like to be treated by him ✨

Crush by Mandy Moore. similar to the last entry, yet leaning even more into that bubblegum romance vibe...i'm simply weak for blushy crush scenarios 🥴💖 i like this one a lot for x Readers, especially an embarrassed Reader absolutely overcome with how precious they find Wally 💖

Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng. one of my favourite songs of all time, and the perfect choice if you want your heart to ache 💔 i think this is a wonderful choice when thinking about a hurt Reader...someone who has fully given up on love, only to be confronted with Wally's relentless sunshine personality and falling head over heels 🥺 this song speaks to why i think many of us are infatuated with Wally...his charm coming from that childlike outlook, his tendency to love everything and everyone. lots of us could benefit from that kind of unconditional love, i think;;

[undiscovered-horizon]

"Speak no evil" - Mafia!Billy Russo x Reader

[TW: violence, mob/mafia themes]

🫀REQUESTS ARE OPEN🫀

SUMMARY: When one of his men steps out of the line, Billy wastes no time putting him in his place. Remember for the future that when it comes to his wife, you should speak no evil.

WORDCOUNT: ~ 1.3k

The fact that Billy made your house an open office for his business affairs made you occasionally not as furious. That day, however, it seemed as if every one of his underbosses and their closest subordinates came over. What was once your house suddenly became a get-together for criminals.

Billy knew that you disliked those events mainly because they were hardly interesting to you - it was, basically, very specific business talk weaved with cryptic slang that was only partially understandable to you. Because of that, you'd leave Billy and his men on the ground floor, doing their business, while you were sitting on the first floor, catching up with the responsibilities of owning a small business. You've lost count of how many times Billy offered to employ an assistant who would manage the coffee shop for you. As a prolific 'business owner' himself, your husband sure did miss the point of having something to do.

The only reason you were trespassing that invisible border between the ground floor and the first floor was that one file Billy seemed to misplace and asked you to retrieve from his actual office. It was supposed to be a short trip: get the documents, give them to Billy, exchange polite greetings and be on your merry way back upstairs. You had no interest in learning the intricate workings of the underworld, even if you were part of it, simply for your own peace of mind.

Walking through the door leading to the dining room, the Pentagon for New York's criminals for the day, you noticed a young guy, maybe in his twenties, smoking a cigarette by the garden screen door. The gap between the door and their frame was narrow enough that only his arm and the cigarette smoke could fit through. The first time Billy's subordinates came to your house, you made it very clear that you wanted no cigarettes indoors and, technically, that young guy by the garden door was abiding by the rule. Seeing the scar above his eyebrow, you thought you recognized him:

It was Jamie - someone whom you knew only from stories and passing glances during some big events. Anytime someone said something about him, it painted Jamie as a sheepish, maybe a little awkward guy, who didn't quite grasp social cues.

His eyes were focused on the floor as he smoked the cigarette and clearly thought hard about something. Among the dress shoes, your furry slippers looked at least amusing. They must have caught his attention as he tore his eyes away from the hardwood floor and looked up at you.

Jamie recognized you immediately, which was probably why he frantically threw away the half-smoked cigarette. He took a step towards you, effectively blocking your way.

"Sorry, sweetheart, no entry. This is now gentlemen's club, talkin' 'bout business n' stuff. Nothin' you should worry your pretty little head about."

Before you could answer him and remind him whose house he was in, somebody else interrupted the conversation:

"Something you want to share with everyone?"

The room fell silent. You turned to look at Billy, standing with his hands in his pockets. His eyes were slightly squinted and you could just tell he was irate.

"No, nothing, sir," Jamie frantically answered. He was quickly shaking his head.

"Weird, I thought I heard you being disrespectful to my wife."

The rest of the gathered men weren't willing to step in, they didn't even dare look anywhere else than each other or the floor. There really was no use in playing a hero - nothing good could come from it. Standing up to one's boss was always risky but it became downright moronic when the hierarchy in question was a gang. The other thing was that none of the other men thought Jamie was no longer salvageable: even among the demimonde, the wives were granted a certain amount of irrefutable respect regardless of what kind of men they were married to.

"No, I swear to God, boss, I didn't mean anything by what I said." It seemed ridiculously hard to believe that it was the same man that was gatekeeping your own dining room just minutes ago. "I was just being stupid, sir."

"You do seem really good at that," Billy answered with a mocking smile on his face. He appeared to be... enjoying that whole lark.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to offend," Jamie reassured. His eyes wandered everywhere but Billy's face - he simply lacked the courage to look his boss in the eye.

"Don't apologize to me, you idiot," Billy spat out. If the dining table was any shorter, you were sure he would vault over it and strangle that man with bare hands. "Apologize to the lady you dared to talk shit to."

This wasn't the first time Billy got slightly overprotective. Although you did find his attitude tiring at times, you knew it came from a good place - he loved you a little too much to bear seeing you being pushed around. In his mind, you were nothing short of a queen and he was going to demand others treat you the same way.

Jamie turned back to you. His face was pale, his hands were shaking and tears began pooling in his eyes - if that man was anything, it was terrified. It was such a sudden change of demeanour you couldn't quite wrap your head around it.

"I'm sorry ma'am, it wasn't my intention to offend, I swear," he said rushing his words.

"Don't sweat it, Jamie," you reassured him while slightly shaking your head. Truth be told, he did anger you but it wasn't something worth escalating - judging by his sudden fear, he probably learned his lesson already. Although you were still talking to the blond man, your eyes wandered to meet Billy's. You wanted to make sure you got your point across. "We're all good."

Billy's eyes remained squinted as he continued to stare at Jamie with vivid contempt. He was unconsciously tapping his fingers against the surface of the table. You could tell that he wasn't over the situation just yet, despite your sincere assurance.

"Come on, Jamie." Billy gestured at the younger man to come closer. His voice was suddenly softer - something that made very little sense given the situation and his obvious anger. "Let me give you some advice."

Reluctantly, Jamie began walking towards Billy while all the other men took a step back to let him pass. Although their daily lives were filled with life-endangering situations, they withheld their breaths while Billy Russo was quite clearly upset with someone. Only once did you wonder what tactics got Billy's subordinates so docile towards him but you quickly realized that the truth could be, most probably, fairly horrifying or at least deeply unsettling, so you never paid it much thought anymore - for your own peace of mind.

When Jamie was within reach, Billy suddenly grabbed his jacket and forcefully pushed him against the wall. Not letting go of the poor man, he hit the wall with his head a few times before leaning in and whispering a promise he was surely going to keep:

"If you ever talk to her like that again, I will kill you."

Billy hit the man against the wall once more before letting go of his clothes. The man fell to his knees, his body swaying due to dizziness. He seemed to have a fair amount of trouble aiming his sleeve at his nose to wipe the blood that was running out of it. Billy sat back down at the top of the table and casually looked around at the silent, anxious men:

"So, where have we left off?"

[cidthesquid]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Character Creator Critique

[Previous Post]              [First Post]              [Next Post] It's been a long and tough week, so I don't think I'll have the energy for the weekly style savvy post. But hopefully you enjoy this instead.

Here's a new entry in my 'Character Creator Critique' Series Where I live-blog working through the creator in various games. So I have played this game and created a character previously. However, that was about a year ago, and I don't remember much, So let's start fresh, new character new island!

So the game starts out asking for your same and birthday. And I must say, I really love the UI in this game, the color/textures, really make it look just so inviting! Next you get to start making your character,

I have noticed that some more recent Nintendo games, (like splatoon) Have done away with specific gender labels, and they don't use any cryptic working like "Body Type A", I think this is nice, you just choose how you want to look. As soon as you select your style, you'll be randomly assigned one of the staring outfits, here's a few that I saw when restarting the game a few times:

Next up is skin tone:

(Your starting outfit is picked at random, when you reach this point) And, I think they offer a good selection, it may not be the most realistic, but I think they cover a good range, without breaking the game's art style. Next, you can pick one of the starting hairstyles:

Honestly, I find this a little disappointing. Yes, I'm aware you can get more later, But only four starting options tailored towards each gender feels slim There's not much in the way of variety, especially considering you'll probably be stuck with this look for a few real-time days or weeks. I do like the hair color options though! That shade of orange, and the pale yellow options are nice lesser seen presets. Next is Eyes:

They have a TON f options for these, it looks like the options even span a few different art styles, as I recognize some from the Gamecube entry. Some can look a little odd, in the modern art style, But I feel they all fit well enough that you could get used to them with time, and it means you could probably care over your (basic) look from previous games. I could have gone for a few more eye colors, maybe a brighter blue, or something that offers a warmer brown color, but I think the selection sticks to the AC color pallet well enough Next up, nose & mouth in one combined screen:

And wow, that's... pretty sparse. I get that eyes are important, But it feels like there are more eye options than hair, skin, nose and mouth combined! I kinda wish the nose color adjusted with the skin tone, it looks a little 'clown like'. imo. Also, what's with the mouth choices, Smile, and slightly wider smile take up half the choices. oh well, I like 'option 3', it seems like a a happier version of the standard neutral face. Next is makeup options:

And I did not expect much from this, but I'm surprised they only offer two blush colors. Neither option or color really shows super up well on darker skin in my opinion, so I'll go without. So here's the final product:

Yeah, Animal Crossing does not really cater towards the 'Rock' look, But I think it's a decent enough reimagining. (Why do I always do these comparisons at the end, lol) They then ask more details about where you live, so seasons will work properly, (it's just for norther vs Southern Hemisphere)

Next You get to pick your starting island shape:

And you're asked a question to decide your starting items:

And now we've made it to the island!

My starting villagers were Muffy and Sampson:

If you're unhappy with your starting outfit, villagers, or your island's starting fruit, you can just close the game and try again. And I think the randomness for how your island starts is pretty cool, But I really think, the starting outfit could be something we choose, Even if they only give us a few randomly generated choices, or just let us pick a favorite color. But it's not a huge deal.

My starting island had apples, (same as my main island) so I restarted the game a few times, and eventually found a good mix. Peaches and the sailor style shirt. (and villagers 'Reneigh' and 'Rowan' --- ...And in retrospect... maybe I should have waited a while before making this post. This probably came off as fairy negative, as I was just picking on the lack of options this game starts with. That was not my intention, I've missed most the AC entries, but I know the character builder as still come a LONG way. (Especially from the 'quiz based' character creator on GameCube)

But regardless, I feel this serves as a decent "Part 1" coverage of this game. If I stick with the game I'll come back for a "Part 2" when I've unlocked more stuff. I've always though animal crossing was "neat", But the linear progression the “nook miles” system offers, may be enough to keep me interested for longer. I dropped the game previously because I found it a little confusing how to unlock stuff, but after watching a few youtube video to get me started, I'm ready to give the game a second chance! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next critique: Fashion Dreamer Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun making this, so I hope you had fun reading it as well!

As always, all comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! (I'm also looking for feedback on this new style, how's the formatting)

You literally can't bother me, (unless you go out of your way to be a jerk), so post whatever you need to say!

[fishy--friend]

FISHY'S BACK BABY!!

THATS RIGHT, YOUR FAVORITE BOYFAILURE IS BACK!!!! HOCKING HILLS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!

But first, gifts! you didn't think I'd leave you guys in the dark for a week and not come back with gifts right?

@astralphobia

BAM OMORI FALLS SHIT

@cryptic-platypus

BAM I DREW YOU

THOSE ARE ALL MY SPECIFIC GIFTS BECAUSE I WAS BUSY HIKING AND SHIT

ILL POST MY JOURNAL ENTRIES SOON AND ALSO A COMIC I MADE KAY BYEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

[witchcraftingboop]

Currently (finally) reading Holy Heretics, and this quote in particular, as well as quite a few statements before this point, have really highlighted for me the pursuit of Chumbley & Co. and led me towards finally organizing my thoughts on certain aspects of their final products that I've mostly kept to myself hitherto.

I've read quite a few books by the Cultus Sabbati group now, as well as plenty of others such as Paracelsus and Alm, and while I'm reading Acher's work, I find myself reflecting, even without intentionally doing so, on the chthonic Greek initiation rites I had put together. Perhaps due to the non-dualistic perspective on cosmology I have, after their first draft, I started unraveling those rites and leaving almost "placeholder slots" in them where I had previously affixed Greek-specific rivers, deities, and mythological references. Now, when I'm reading this book in particular, it becomes even more obvious 1) why I was so intent on unraveling my own views on those rites and my cosmology in general (and in turn, how useful that ended up being), and 2) how Chumbley's works, and a few of his peers, appeared to crumble in their pursuit of a homogenous, one-size-fits-all-or-does-it concept.

"But now, to the best of our ability, we use symbols appropriate to the things Divine, and from these again we elevate ourselves." This sentence in particular feels like a perfect summary of where/why the Cultus' books fell short for so many I've seen attempt "decoding" them.

In the pursuit of transcending and "encoding" their work, a lot of the symbols, names, and concepts they latched onto and blended lost their ability to be used effectively in their presented form. Often, my peers would relate back to me that DBoE rites, if worked through to the letter, took many more hours than anticipated and that time seemed to just fall away and be absorbed into the working, and then when they inevitably restructured and reworded them to their needs/desires, they had an increased impact, reliable results, and took a significantly less amount of time. Truthfully, Chumbley & Co.'s works are the outer emanations of an inner, closed group, so it can, and really imo should, be argued that those extra bits and bobs and the declared so-called "ciphered" way of writing is done intentionally and that these results may in fact be what they'd intended all along. There can be a multitude of reasonings attached, but my ending note is the same:

The symbols used, in any system, must be adequate to the practitioner's understanding and relation to the divine in order to be usable in the pursuit of transcendence and unity with that which is beyond.

Cultus works just so happen to be the first that come to mind for me, especially given how quickly I have seen folks discard them entirely. A mish-mosh, rushed undertaking of DBoE will likely leave you in a room surrounded by just thoughtforms and archetypes rather than with a powerful eminence of divinity. And while this was more than likely the intended affect, it is still worth reflecting on for those like me who seek out experience with multiple different paths and systems.

It is something I have seldom verbalized, but that I carry with me when developing or seeking the understanding and knowledge necessary to undertake new ways of thinking and organizing the world around me. And, quite honestly, I think it is better put in this way than in the multitude of articles and entries I have seen that cryptically and obliquely describe Chumbley's works as "ineffectual" or "overhyped."

It is a matter of perspective, at the end of the day. Perspective and perhaps willingness to embrace the essence, rather than the presented, Crooked Path around you.

[rebloggingrexan]

heyo! i’ve got over 2000 Dracula Daily posts, all tagged by date! so this is my spoiler-free post where all the dates are easy to get to. (and this is my extra ginormous Dracula Daily masterpost WITH SPOILERS and more; and links to fun tags like “dracula meta” and “dracula is a comedy”)

Draculadailytracker, Cattuladaily, ourgoodfriendjonathan, and draculadailyreactions are good Dracula blogs to check out too!

ALSO THO, SINCE THIS IS MY PINNED POST AND I REBLOG MORE THAN DRACULA, BE SURE TO BLOCK ‘#HEAVY POST’ IF YOU WANT TO BLOCK ANYTHING LIKE BODY HORROR, GORE, SERIOUS POSTS, OR ADULT CONTENT

for Dracula Daily posts, the format here is "#dd (date) (month)," (i also use simply “#dracula daily,” but seriously beware spoilers. EVERYTHING is there) so the start of Dracula Daily and a glut of paprika memes would be "#dd 3 may," but on this post, to make things pretty, i'll just list them without the "dd" at the start. September, October, and November only use their first three letters in the tags, though, e.g. #dd 3 oct

(right now as of June 2023, there are a few scattered dates without posts, or with fewer posts than i’d prefer, but i’m working on that! some empty days will get filled when a given day rolls around and scheduled posts get reblogged :) )

you can sign up for the Dracula Daily emails HERE and you can check out past installments HERE!

(please glimpse through my “dracula important” tag to get some information on racist instances in the story as well as other places/ways that may be more convenient to read the story)

BONUS: APRIL

• 21 April • 25 April • 28 April • 30 April (one queued for 2024 lol)

MAY

• 3 May • 4 May • 5 May • 7 May • 8 May • 9 May • 10 May • 11 May • 12 May • 13 May • 14 May • 15 May • 16 May • 18 May • 19 May • 24 May • 25 May • 26 May • 27 May • 28 May • 30 May • 31 May 

Rest of months under cut!

___

JUNE

• 5 June • 6 June • 13 June • 17 June • 18 June • 24 June • 25 June • 29 June • 30 June 

JULY

• 1 July • 8 July • 18 July • 19 July • 20 July • 22 July • 24 July • 26 July • 27 July • 28 July • 29 July • 30 July

AUGUST

• 1 August • 2 August • 3 August • 4 August • 6 August • 8 August • 9 August • 10 August • 11 August • 12 August • 13 August • 14 August • 15 August • 16 August • 17 August • 18 August • 19 August • 20 August • 21 August • 23 August • 24 August • 25 August • 30 August • 31 August

SEPTEMBER (a busy month!! hold on!!!)

if you want some audio readings to help stay caught up, scroll down the archives of Cryptic Canticles’s Dracula Daily audio readings to get to any dates you may need

(note: in the tags, all months starting here and on use shortened versions with only their first three letters: sep, oct, nov)

• 1 Sep • 2 Sep • 3 Sep • 4 Sep • 5 Sep • 6 Sep • 7 Sep • 8 Sep • 9 Sep • 10 Sep • 11 Sep • 12 Sep • 13 Sep • 17 Sep • 18 Sep • 19 Sep • 20 Sep • 21 Sep • 22 Sep • 23 Sep • 24 Sep • 25 Sep • 26 Sep • 27 Sep • 28 Sep • 29 Sep • 30 Sep

OCTOBER (another busy month!!)

NOTE: OCTOBER 3 IS THE LARGEST ENTRY, OVER 50 PAGES. MAYBE START READING AHEAD IF YOU WANT. and again, you can scroll through the Cryptic Canticles archives to listen to any dates you need

• 1 Oct • 2 Oct • 3 Oct • 4 Oct • 5 Oct • 6 Oct • 7 Oct • 8 Oct • 11 Oct • 14 Oct • 15 Oct • 16 Oct • 17 Oct • 18 Oct • 19 Oct • 20 Oct • 21 Oct • 22 Oct • 23 Oct • 24 Oct • 25 Oct • 26 Oct • 27 Oct • 28 Oct • 29 Oct • 30 Oct • 31 Oct

NOVEMBER (NEARING THE END!!)

• 1 Nov • 2 Nov • 3 Nov • 4 Nov • 5 Nov • 6 Nov • 7 Nov • 9 Nov :)

SOME MORE BONUS TAGS

• prep (posts of people hyping Dracula Daily before it starts!)

• after (recaps, epilogue-ish non-November-7-specific posts, etc.!)

• ddn (posts that don’t really relate to any specific day and aren’t spoilery)

• other (Dracula-related posts that don’t directly relate to the story but may be spoilery for people who haven’t read it yet! like The League of Extraordinary Gentlefolks's posts. also basically a “miscellaneous” tag for posts i can’t otherwise figure out huehue.)

[geneajournals]

Amos Fuller - Earning a Living

Amos Fuller is my 2nd great-grandfather (Ahnentafel #26).  He  was born in Alabama between 1847 and 1850 of Alabama parentage.

The earliest record found for Amos Fuller is the 1870 U. S. Census. He is listed as “Ames” Fuller, a twenty-three year old black male, born in Alabama. His occupation is given as “St.Bt.L???.[1] This abbreviation at first glance is rather cryptic. Ancestry transcribed the occupation as “St Bt Land”. Additional research on Amos’ occupations suggest that “St. Bt.” stands for steam boat.

I was able to trace Amos consistently through the Mobile City directories.  He first appears in the directory in 1877 with the occupation of “laborer”.  Amos is also classified as a laborer in the 1879 and 1880 directories. [2] The 1880 U. S. Census gives Amos Fuller’s occupation as stevedore. This is a dock worker who loads and unloads ships in port.[3]

In the 1884 Mobile City directory, Amos Fuller is listed as a steamboat hand.[4] This means that he was employed by a steamboat as part of the crew. Deckhands made up the bulk of the crew. Most of the deckhands were immigrants and freedmen. Their job was to load and unload cargo transported on the steamboat. Deckhands worked almost 24/7, bunked with the cargo and were paid low wages.[5]

Amos Fuller had a change of occupation as noted in the 1885-1886 and 1887 Mobile City directories. He is listed as “fireman Mobile ice Factory.”[6] Contrary to our popular image of a fireman, Amos was not putting out fires, he was stoking up fires. A fireman’s job was to shovel coal or wood into a boiler to keep it running.[7] Ice factories of the late 1880s used steam engine powered pumps which were integral in the process of making ice.[8]

For the next several years, Amos Fuller was listed in the Mobile City directories as a laborer.

In the 1894 Mobile City directory Amos was listed with the occupation of “fireman stbt D. L. Tally.”[9]   Steamboat firemen reported to the engineer.  The fireman’s job was to stoke the boiler to keep the steam engine running. They shoveled coal all day, hour after hour.  Not only was this a strenuous job, it was also dangerous. If a boiler exploded the fireman would be the first to die. [10] 

The steamer D. L. Tally was a packet boat based in Mobile, Alabama. It traveled the Alabama River carrying freight, mail and passengers.

“The Steamer D. L. Tally,” The Monroe Journal (Claiborne, Alabama), 18 October 1894, p. 2, col. 4, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/244603449 : accessed 7 February 2024).

Image: Left to Right: D. L. Tally; sternwheel C. W. Anderson, n.d., black and white photographic print. From the Collection, UW-La Crosse Historic Steamboat Photographs. Used with written permission of Murphy Library Special Collections / ARC, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Image: D. L. Tally (Packet, 1870-1895), n.d., black and white photographic print. From the Collection, UW-La Crosse Historic Steamboat Photographs. Used with written permission of Murphy Library Special Collections / ARC, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

In the 1900 Mobile City Directory, Amos had the following listing: “Fuller Amos, c, stbtmn, res 252 Lipscomb.”[11] This was the last time his occupation was specified as a steamboat man.

Amos Fuller died on 4 September 1909 of pulmonary tuberculosis.[12] One wonders if his exposure to coal dust had any relationship to the tuberculosis.

Sources

1870 U.S. census, Mobile County, Alabama, population schedule, Mobile Ward 8, p. 36, dwelling 257, family 257, Ames Fuller; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6FZ9-M5B : accessed 17 April 2021); microfilm 545530/digital 4257608 > image 673 of 818; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 31.

Henry Farrow & Co's Mobile City Directory For the Year 1877, (Mobile: Henry Farrow & Co., 1876), 76, entry for "Fuller Amos"; also subsequent years with varying titles, specifically (1878) 68 and (1880) 69; imaged in “U.S., City Directories,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 September 2017).

 1880 U.S. census, Mobile County, Alabama, population schedule, Mobile, enumeration district (ED) 140, p. 21 (written), 367A (stamped), dwelling 189, family 190, Amos Fuller household; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYL-HRT : accessed 13 September 2017) microfilm 1254025 / digital 5157243 > image 459 of 791; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 25.  

George Matzenger’s Mobile Directory For The Year 1884, Volume XX (Mobile: George Matzenger, 1884), 104, entry for ”Fuller Amos”; imaged in “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2024) > Alabama > Mobile > 1884 > Mobile, Alabama, City Directory, 1884 > image 55 of 215.

“Steamboat Heroine: The Crew of a Western Steamboat,” Oklahoma Historical Society (https://www.okhistory.org/learn/steamboat4 : accessed 7 February 2024).

George Matzenger’s Mobile Directory For 1885-6 (Mobile: George Matzenger, 1885), 100, entry for “Fuller Amos”; also the subsequent year (1887) 113; imaged in “U.S., City Directories,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 September 2017).

Wikipedia contributors, "Fireman (steam engine)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fireman_(steam_engine)&oldid=1187171257 : accessed February 4, 2024).

"When Steam Brought Cold, and Fire Made Ice," blog post, Hometown by Handlebar, posted 14 July 2022 (https://hometownbyhandlebar.com : accessed 4 February 2024).

George Matzenger’s Mobile Directory For 1894, Volume XXIX (Mobile: George Matzenger, 1894), 122, entry for “Fuller Amos”; imaged in "U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2024) > Alabama > Mobile > 1894 > Mobile, Alabama, City Directory, 1894 > image 72 of 273.

 “Steamboat Heroine: The Crew of a Western Steamboat.”

George Matzenger’s Mobile Directory For 1900, Volume XXXV (Mobile: George Matzenger, 1900), 149, entry for “Fuller Amos”; imaged in "U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2024) > Alabama > Mobile > 1900 >Mobile, Alabama, City Directory, 1900 > image 80 of 322.

Alabama Department of Health, death certificate no. 147 (1909), Amos Fuller, d. 4 September 1909, Mobile; digital image,  "Alabama Deaths, 1908-1974," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 August 2022). This image is only viewable at a family history center or affiliate library.

[goonsquadgaming]

Assassin's Creed Mirage Review

While the last three installments of the Assassin's Creed series (Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla) deviated from the play style of the original titles to go bigger and bolder with an open world setting and a full blown gear system to grind, Mirage is a return to the franchises beloved roots... for better or worse. (Spoiler free review to follow) Players take on the role of Basim Ibn Ishaq, a thief in the City of Baghdad, who frequently takes jobs for a secret organization known as "The Hidden Ones". One such job leads to the discovery of an artifact that upon touching, gives Basim a cryptic vision. This event also directly lead to the killing of a city official the culling of innocents in response, Basim's escape from his home, and his induction into The Hidden Ones. Once his training is finished, Basim returns to Baghdad to hunt for answer about his vision, and members of the Order of the Ancients, a secret cult pulling all the string in the region. (Pretty standard stuff for an Assassin's Creed game.) I'll start off by saying, the game looks amazing. I played on the PS5, and the graphics are visually outstanding. The only issue I ran into was the white cursor would blend into the background of the menu, but that was fixed by adjusting the brightness in game or the display setting on the TV. The map size has been significantly condensed compared to previous titles, and focuses solely on the main city and a few outlying areas. Less to explore: yes, but this also means less emptiness across the map that we saw in the open world predecessors. Regions of the map are also no longer "level based" as in previous titles. Where an imaginary line could mean the difference between being a literal god, a fair yet challenging fight, or being an ant smeared on the bottom of an enemies boot in combat. With leveled enemies gone it also means that there is no longer that annoying drastic in-campaign difficulty spike because the main quest line takes you to a new area of the map with a higher set level for enemies. Combat has also reverted back to a pre Origins form. Seemingly slowed down, the combat system in Mirage rewards patience & timing rather than attempting to overwhelm enemies with attacks. One specific enemy type is only damageable from behind, & certain enemies are block happy & will deflect all incoming blows almost forcing players to play the waiting game, holding attacks until they can counter or dodge out of the way to flank. Getting outnumbered by these enemies can easily lead to player death as dodging & attacking can eat up a small stamina bar that once gone leave players vulnerable to attacks from all directions.

This leads to a return of the emphasis on stealth, which I am a big fan of. It doesn't necessarily make the game any less or more difficult, but does add a level of strategy that could be neglected in the other most recent entries in the series. You're not going to fight your way out of all situations like you might have before. Guards are everywhere, & while their AI is not all that great, if the player leaves bodies lying around in the open, guards will eventually find them. A civilian seeing an aggressive act will report it and notoriety increases just as if a guard saw it. This makes it easy to accidentally stack levels of notoriety and bring in more challenging enemies that will hunt the player down until the level is decreased or they they die. The not so great things about the game are mostly small, but these things add up in the end. This is a personal nitpick of mine & has no effect on game play, but for being a secret group called "The Hidden Ones", an abnormal amount of NPCs are aware of the groups existence and activities.

Character are bland & forgettable, protagonist included. Basim is neither likable or unlikable, he's just there.  Lee Majdoub does a great job voicing the main character, but nothing the protagonist does in-game really makes you want to root for or even against him.

Mirage adds a faction token feature as currency for hiring mercenaries & the like to distract guards, open secret chests, and purchase other specialty services. I personally like the idea of this feature, but where its implemented seems flawed at time. For instance, having to leave a campaign mission to go do side missions to get more tokens to buy a key or bribe an NPC is emersion breaking and frustrating. This didn't happen a lot, but it happened enough that it was beyond annoying.

This next bit has happened the last few games, but once the last "boss" is defeated the game ends on a 15 minute cut scene broken up by a walking simulator in the middle. If a lot of information was dumped at this time or there was some ridiculous twist that needed some exposition I could understand the lengthy scene, but the revelation we got (no spoilers) could have been made in a fraction of the time and without making me walk in 4 different directions to stagnant points in an dark, open, empty space to hide the loading of the next half of the cut scene.

Luckily they skipped any "out of animus" segments this time around, but it's starting to feel like series wide Isu plot is hindering the franchise. It doesn't feel like it seamlessly blends into game specific plot and almost feels forced in after the fact as an obligation in a sort of "oh yeah, we committed to this thing, throw it in here" kind of way.

Lastly for my "negatives", other than looking great graphically there was nothing about this game that makes you go "Wow". Total run time for Mirage's main campaign is about 20 hours. Anyone hoping to complete everything Mirage has to offer can realistically add anywhere from another 10 to even 20 hours to that total. While I can appreciate a shorter adventure, with as quickly as I finished the main game it almost feels like this could have just been a big DLC for Valhalla. Overall I did have a good time playing Mirage. Its a "Good" game, it's not a "Great" game though. Fans of the franchise, especially fans of the early entries in the series, should enjoy it. It also feels like it could be a decent spot for anyone who has never played an Assassin's Creed game before to jump into the series. Mirage was a fun experience, I would definitely recommend anyone that thinks they want to play it, does, I doubt you'll be disappointed, but I would also recommend maybe waiting for it to go on sale because the 50 to 60 dollar price tag for the base game seems a tad steep for the amount of game you get.

[tat-ch]

Fic stats game

Rules: Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most bookmarks, fourth most comments, fifth most words, and your fic with the least amount of words.

got tagged by @spinecorset to do this, so here we are 😂 I hope I got these right and it is the first most, second most, etc otherwise these aren't correct 🤣 I mean, i can always correct it if I was wrong ahahaha

Len is cryptic. It's super effective. Mick is confused A mostly canon following piece adding bits and pieces to their relationship and spinning it towards romance but with a positive twist at the end. Finished from Mick's pov, pending Len's pov on the whole thing. (I have plans to finish it one day)

Are you okay? 'Cause I feel fine. This was a very self indulgent piece where I just added Jason Todd, aka the Red Hood, to the Young Justice Universe and gave him the retribution/vengeance he deserved. It's one of the first things I wrote and posted and it's kinda old now? I still like it but I can tell my writing was baby at the time.

Hands wrapped around my soul Oh wow, I'm kind of surprised by this one. This one was originally for a challenge of "One must die" and had to be 2500 words tops. It's set during the length of time where Jason was dead, and Zatanna brings Constantine to the Watchtower because she's certain there's a ghost up there. This is the first part to my Serendipity series, which I love dearly.

There is no such thing as luck Aaaand that's a Big Bang entry. In which Gabriel Reyes isn't exactly human but gets stuck on Earth for a very specific reason.

Trinity A role reversal fic, probably the only one I ever wrote? (I would need to check) In which Gabriel is a bitter vigilante and Jack is... something else. Unfinished because of the whole fandom pairing drama that happened, though I do have some more chapters written for it.

There's actually two, because both are art compilations/fics. One is Family of heart an exchange fic, for... Gen dmbj? iirc. The other is Artwork for From Russia with Love which an art compilation for the series I cowrite with Shaish.

Tagging hmmmm @shaish @lunanoc @kelly42fox @ilgaksu and whoever wants to join in on the fun ✨

[ange1attack]

the great @arthousebrat has created a lovely horror-themed music game and then tagged me in it! this was quite a tough one! still, to make things more difficult i decided to try and keep some semblance of genre coherence... i don't know if i succeeded though ahahah. anyway, tysm for the tag <3

RULES: pick five or more songs that would be in your ideal horror movie soundtrack. any songs except actual horror movie soundtracks. you don’t have to explain your choices but I’d love to hear it!

Skinny Puppy - Killing Game i really wanted to have one outlier - a song that doesn't really match the rest of the score. there were SO many possible picks for this spot, honestly... but i knew i needed something industrial/metal & this specific skuppy has the perfect song structure to make a dope opening track!

Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - The Sun Roars into View TSRiV is definitely the spotlight of my score, serving as a background to the most important yet cryptic scene! it's akin to Stetson's Among the Sef, one of the first songs that came to mind (but couldn't choose since it's already part of a horror soundtrack). also... MORE! BRASS! IN! HORROR!

Nurse with Wound - Darkness Fish i'd use this song to set the mood for one of the many body horror/gore moments in the film. Easy Snapping and Livin' Fear of James Last from the same album could also work... i guess we would have to remove/rework the spoken parts to stay in line with the plot of the film, though

Uboa - The Sky May Be (Enthropy) THE perfect choice for a chasing/escape scene! while TSMB (Extus) and Thigh High Cat Tights are the scarier and bleaker tracks out of the whole TSMB project, TSMB (Entropy) would make a better soundtrack entry imo

Puce Mary - The Spiral you just watched the most fucked up horror film of your life, the credits roll and you are left staring at the screen wondering what just happened... all while this is playing <3

and i guess that's it !! i always get so scared of tagging people ahahah so please, feel free to tag yourself if you're a mutual and you want to do this!

[myatlantispoets]

ok so thoughts on this year's entries, in no specific order

-moldova once again showing us how it's done with folk pop

-italy coming in with a beautiful ballad IN ITALIAN (take notes everyone else)...bless. i don't even know what he's singing abt and that's okay! that's how esc works

-ukraine...the guy is cute and the message is ok but it's not giving, i'm sorry

-switzerland has a song abt not wanting to take part in wars...the joke writes itself

-the denmark guy looks like the love child of timothe chalawhatever and noah centineo. the song is boring :((

-austria...they understood the assignment. it's unhinged and nonsensical, there's no context whatsoever. same energy as the banana wolf song from norway last year

-armenia girls has such a pretty voice but the song is mid. if she'd sung it in armenian, it might've been a serve

-slovenia has rly good vibes and the music video is rly fun

-portugal KNOWS WHAT'S UP. the beat is good, we've got some latin pop vibes going, they're actually singing in portuguese (which is a rly pretty language imo)

-croatia GETS IT. idk what's going on but i'm here for the ride! also the music video is unhinged

-I LOVE THE SAXOPHONE IN MALTA'S ENTRY. the rest is sort of underwhelming tho, idk how to feel abt it

-poland....okay. are they trying to write the next summer hit

-australia darling, you're already on thin ice, and this is just. you can do better. i'm falling asleep

-everyone's talking abt serbia's entry but like. it's not clicking for me. i feel like they're trying to recreate the vibes of last year's (amazing) entry with the serbian lyrics and the cryptic message but it's not giving!! that being said, the line "i just want to sleep" is a mood and it can turn into a good meme at the very least

-czechia baby...you were so close. the chorus is a spiritual experience but the verses are clumsy and idk what to make of it. i like the message, tho, and it's def better than a lot of other entries

-i hate saying this but france is actually better than i expected. she has a good voice and the melody is kind of a vibe.

-ok spain kinda went off? it sounds so good, even tho i don't understand the lyrics, and the music video has this haunted aesthetic that i'm digging. i hope they keep the candles for the live version

-ok georgia...the chorus is great but everything else is mid

-lithuania giving us this year's depression song. that's it that's all i've got

-norway's entry actually deserves the hype. it's a vibe

-ok cyprus is kind of good, as far as esc love ballads go. he's putting his whole pussy into it

-ok albania is actually singing in albanian, love that for her! it's a very balkan song (affectionate), it kind of reminds me of like. balkan soap opera soundtracks (more specifically turkish and romanian cuz that's what i'm used to lol)

-ok belgium's entry is rly gay, is that a drag queen in the music video? bless their souls. the chorus is v upbeat, it's giving 90's music...yeah i'm down

-OMG GERMANY JDJSJHCWH. blood and glitter???? they're embracing the hardcore vibes lol. the guy's voice could cut through diamond. they get it!

-ireland i want to like you but i'm afraid the song is just.ok.

-WHERE IS BULGARIA????? NOOOOO

-ok the san marino guys are fun! i love the live guitars

-finland is so cursed yghg

-greece is ok.

-won't even bother with israel <333

-sweden, latvia, estonia and iceland being boring, nothing to see here. what's going on with the baltic and nordic countries? are u guys ok?

-and last but not least...romania. idk what we did here. the song is a bop and i can tell that the guy is trying his best but the coreography feels like a rip off of last year's entry. he can never have what wrs did, tho. wrs actually served cunt and objectified himself, as well as the dancers! this guy just stands there while the girls are carrying the show. maybe next year we can get our shit together :(((

[wickedsrest-rp]

NAME: Office of the Medical Examiner (Wicked’s Rest Morgue)

LOCATION: Deersprings

The Wicked’s Rest Morgue isn’t the town’s only morgue, but it’s certainly the nicest, and the one you probably want to end up in after your untimely death. Located in the forensic science center and equipped with some of Maine’s finest pathologists (kind of), state of the art technology, and a refrigerated holding room, you can really get an autopsy in style here. It would be a little hard to enjoy it, but still. Though the ME’s Office is an independent entity, it works closely with the town’s police as well as the hospital to gather the right information (and bodies). Not that most deaths in this town come with information that’s all that helpful. It’s always a toss up on whether the ME’s death investigators are aware of just how strange the truth can be. And as for the Medical Examiners… well, that depends on which one you get. 

People who died alone or under suspicious circumstances are stored in a high security hall here, and are autopsied by the Medical Examiner. Most often that’ll be Regan Kavanagh or Morty Rickers. A pass from either of them is required for entry into any secure areas. They don’t take bribes. Marcy, the receptionist, can at least check you in so you can make yourself comfortable in one of the waiting rooms.

While Dr. Rickers doesn’t seem to know anything at all about the supernatural, Dr. Kavanagh just might. That doesn’t mean the death certificate can state “assailed by leprechauns.” However, saying the right thing to Marcy might literally open some doors for you to ask the doctors about more cryptic details.

Try not to find yourself alone with Dr. Rickers. He will talk your ear off about his grandchildren, even during autopsies. How does he have so many?

They manage to keep the main areas nearly free of the smell of decay, covering it up with clouds of Febreze.

You need a pass from an educational institute or ME if you wish to observe anything behind the scenes, as they want to make sure people are serious about learning from the experience, rather than just snooping or even looting.

The holding room is highly secure with an alarm system and video feeds. Some of them cut out at seemingly random times – often in Dr. Kavanagh’s office. No one has found any indication of a technical problem.

There are fully functioning research labs in the hospital nearby that focus on specific pathologies. They frequently collect bodies to use for organ transplants, skin grafts, and research. It’s not unusual to see a number of trucks in front of the building – either picking up or delivering.