#traveling and returning home to a disaster zone

[incaseyouart]

A Cure for the palette thing with Connor and Hank from Detroit Become Human?

This palette actually really works for them!!

Palette sheet~

Requests are now closed thanks!

[lingshanhermit]

Lingshan Hermit: Is It the Buddha or the Devil Awakening?

In a society like India with a thousands-of-years tradition of revering ascetics, why have so many rape cases recently erupted? To the point that the whole world now discusses India's dark turn. I have been asked such questions before.

Regarding the rape incidents in India, I previously watched an Indian TV drama called "Delhi Crime" I believe. In Delhi Crime Season 2, it depicted a tragic story - a woman murdered an entire family of her client through cruel means. This murderous woman was from the lower echelons of Indian society. Working at a small Delhi beauty parlor, she had the opportunity to interact with wealthy clients coming for treatments. There was an elderly rich regular client who loved her massage technique, always requesting her service. Perhaps because the massages were too long and boring, the two began chatting, and she started sharing her own story. The rich old lady seemed sympathetic after hearing it, wanting to help, often telling her that once she found a suitable place, she could assist in opening her own parlor. Such irresponsible words made her mistakenly believe they had a friendship, mistakenly thinking this woman was a benefactor in her life. But later, that person did not fulfill her promise. She seriously started looking for a place, and when she found a suitable one and brought it up, the old lady was dumbfounded (likely not even remembering saying such things), advising her to just work hard instead of fantasizing about impractical things daily. Her life hopes were shattered, she felt cheated and started hating this world. One night after, she and some acquaintance friends broke into that rich woman's gated community, brutally killing her entire family, not even sparing guests at their home. She also stole and sold many of the woman's valuables. This woman had a husband and children, but had long run away from home, never returning after leaving. A restless soul, she felt she should not live in poverty, should not be stuck in an obscure village - feeling the heavens treated her unjustly, so she left her hometown for Delhi, determined to use her own strength to forcefully attain happiness. (Many modern scholars and intellectuals see this as female awakening, but if such an "awakening" only brings disaster, then it is merely the devil awakening.) But this forced pursuit of happiness only ended up bringing immense disaster to herself and others.

For thousands of years, Indian society has relatively been a place of peace, with most Indians docile and content under the strict caste system, the higher and lower castes largely coexisting peacefully for most of the time. But now the situation has completely changed. In the past decade or so, Indian society has frequently seen negative rape news emerging. Many view India as a no-go zone for female travelers, but few understand why the peaceful, fatalistic Indians of the past thousands of years have suddenly turned into fearsome criminals. From what I can see, there are many reasons, including the large-scale invasion of inexpensive smartphones into Indian society, the popularity of films like "Dangal" and "Lipstick Under My Burkha," the proliferation of pornographic videos - these have all played an undeniable role in rewriting Indians' mindsets and ways of thinking. Unlike a century ago, today's Indians can see others' lives daily on TikTok, see scantily clad women dancing, see celebrity parties. When you see someone else's drink costs more than your income for several years, few remain unmoved. The internet also has many teaching how to become wealthier, how to turn others' money into your own. Consuming such content frequently, even decent practitioners would be influenced, let alone ordinary people whose faith is far more fragile. Previously you could only see neighbors' lives, but mobile internet's proliferation gives you the chance to see lives and value systems worldwide. You see many living completely differently - expressive individualists, stopping at nothing, yet seemingly living well. This causes values you previously upheld to start crumbling. Slowly, you go from being contented and honest to restless and anxious; the devil within awakens, your desires activate, you start feeling you should not live this way, that you could actually live much better. But changing your destiny is extremely difficult, as it means creating immense good karma short-term, impossible for ordinary people. For them, the only way is crime, making deals with the devil. Inexpensive smartphones made going online extremely convenient, enveloping us in all sorts of information daily, gradually replacing traditional mindsets with so-called modern thinking. Traditional culture is vanishing, more in Indian society have their minds filled with new thinking, the gates holding their desires thus opened. Shy low-caste youths who used to blush at words have become rapists; women previously devoted to husbands and children have become willing to kill to open parlors. India's traditional culture is being slaughtered through various means, and its death's consequence is more people having desires unleashed. Meaning everyone starts becoming dissatisfied with their lot, coveting things not theirs, finding ways to divide others' wealth, making life increasingly perilous. But such things are not just happening in Indian society - nearly every culture and ethnic group worldwide is experiencing similar situations. No matter where you are, you will be deeply impacted.

Originally posted on April 6, 2024.

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灵山居士：苏醒的是佛还是魔

[t0tentanz]

MAELSTROM — Origins

(via DATAFORTRESS 2020)

Maelstrom is one of the most violent and dangerous gangs in Night City and is the very definition of boostergang (1). Unlike most street gangs whose bottom line is money, a boostergang's primary focus is on combat often just for the sake of combat, like a giant game of King Of The Hill. Maelstrom is the king of the Combat Zone (2) when it comes down to violent reputation. Originally, joining the gang required that the applicant be able to start and win a fistfight unaided by an enemy of the gang. Gaining ranks in the gang is done by challenging for the position, and any member who refuses a challenge automatically abdicates his position to the challenger. Maelstrom has no specific colors, however, most members wear leather, spikes, and/or have wild hairstyles. Cybernetics are common and displayed openly as a sign of pride and survival. The (original) Maelstrom tag was a clenched blood-red fist.

Maelstrom was formed from two smaller booster gangs, the Red Chrome Legion (3) and the Ironsights (4). The majority of the gang members were veterans of the Second Central American War (5) who had come home augmented. Many of these enhanced vets had returned home to blank stares and apathy, if not being downright ostracized, due to their prosthetics and the VA’s near bankruptcy, turning away countless former soldiers suffering both from post-traumatic stress disorder as well as the original cases of Cyberpsychosis.

These vets would band together, some by neighborhood, some by former unit, and feeding on drugs and the addiction to the superiority cybernetic enhancement bestowed, these already damaged vets became increasingly violent and their behavior erratic. They gathered together, both for protection and company, and soon found themselves roaming the streets, staking a claim and setting up the turf. As these gangs grew in size, their crimes and violent behavior spread. The first known violent incidents from the Inquisitors (6) were against the Steel Warriors (7), whom they nearly wiped out.

— ANNOTATIONS —

(1) Boostergangs: Bands of street gangs whose members enhanced themselves with cybernetic technology. They are also the most common type of gang. Due to members typically suffering or near the edge of cyberpsychosis, they tend to be the most benign or outright violent type of gang, and in all cases, extremely territorial. They form together out of necessity, due to the dangers of urban living — especially in lawless Combat Zones.

(2) The Combat Zone (Section D (2020)): a dangerous lawless area of Night City during the first half of the 21st century. It is found south of Night City downtown. Combat Zones are lawless "No Go" areas of Urban Sprawl. Law Enforcement is limited or non-existent and gangs control large territories within it. Travel into or through a Zone is not recommended. By 2045, much of this area became known as the Old Combat Zone.

(3) Red Chrome Legion: A gang comprised of militant neo-fascist, otherwise known as "skinheads", individuals, focused on terrorizing those different from themselves. By 2045, their operations have changed to suit the world during the Time of the Red, uniting youths around various hate group ideologies, and making uniforms and militaristic slogans the rule. The Legion continues to attack anything and anyone they think isn't "right".

(4) Iron Sights: A gang financed and controlled by Arasaka Security. The gang not only hates humanity (which, in itself could be the reason for its existence) but also likes to hurt, mutilate and kill others for what would seem to be the pure pleasure of it. It is assumed most, if not all, members suffered from Cyberpsychosis.

(5) Second Central American War: Also known as the Second South American War or "New Vietnam", was a conflict from 2003-2010 in which the US invaded Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The war resulted in a disaster that cost thousands of American lives and left thousands of veterans that struggled back home.

(6) Inquisitors: They hate all forms of cyberware, considering it to be evil and blasphemous. They rely only on training and bioware enhancements. They are at war with every other gang in the city. Pretty much everyone hates them from the Slaughterhouse to the Givers of Pain and most will kill them on sight.

(7) Steel Warriors: No info. Perhaps originally called the Metal Warriors? (SOURCE)

[spacecdt]

Artemis I: Launch Viewing Guide

@nasa is planning to launch its new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on its maiden voyage later this week. The uncrewed Artemis I mission will be the first integrated test of NASA’s new deep space exploration systems, designed to return humanity to the Moon and, eventually, explore Mars. Currently targeting Wednesday, November 16, at 1:04 AM ET (0604 UTC), with a two-hour window from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B), the mission is anticipated to bring hundreds of thousands of spectators into the area with hopes of witnessing history. With paid viewing options selling out near-instantaneously and large crowds flocking to the area, many launchgoers are scrambling to find the best spots to watch the historic launch.

As a lifelong space nerd, former spaceflight media, and current NASA Launch Control Operator, I’ve seen launches from practically every viewing location on the Space Coast, from our gorgeous beaches to the rooftop of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). In this guide, I will provide my recommended viewing locations for launch and give some pro tips to help ensure you have an unforgettable viewing experience.

Scrubs Happen!

After previous scrubs and launch delays, I wanted to include this little section to help manage the expectations of first-time launchgoers. Scrubs and delays happen, more so with the first launch of a new vehicle. Keep in mind that a million things must go right for liftoff, and only one needs to go wrong for a scrub. While scrubs are disappointing, operators will always prioritize safety and mission assurance. As history has shown time and time again, “go fever” leads to disaster. As many veteran launchgoers will tell you, scrubs are part of the business. Always plan for a launch as if it were going to scrub. Include extra days to account for delays. If we happen to scrub on Wednesday (knock on wood), here are our backup dates:

Saturday, November 19, at 1:45 AM ET (0645 UTC)

Friday, November 25, at 10:10 AM ET (1510 UTC)

Pay attention to the NASA broadcast and local officials for the latest updates on the status of the launch.

Safety First!

As exciting as rocket launches are, please don’t do anything that would jeopardize your safety or the safety of others. NOTAMs, NOTMARs, launch hazard areas, and exclusion zones will be issued by the FAA, Coast Guard, Space Force, NASA, and local authorities in the days leading to the launch. Violating these can result in legal prosecution, heavy fines, and even delay the launch. It is best for everyone to follow the direction of local officials.

Pack Enough Supplies and Charge Up!

Bring enough bug spray, food, and water to last the entire day. Be sure to fully charge your devices and bring a power bank or two. Keep in mind that cellular coverage will be spotty due to the influx of traffic on launch day, so plan accordingly.

COVID-19

As much as we all hate hearing it, the pandemic hasn’t disappeared, and Brevard County is still considered a high transmission community — even without the large crowds. Please do your best to maintain social distancing. Make sure you are up-to-date with your vaccines and wear a mask if you are indoors. Most importantly, stay home if you are sick or have been exposed to/tested positive for Coronavirus. Don’t risk the health of others just to get a closer view of the launch. Be responsible.

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic!

Due to the high number of spectators traveling to the area for the launch, officials will enforce special traffic flows on launch day. Please drive carefully, remain vigilant, and follow the directions of local authorities. Yield to pedestrians, be patient, and drive defensively. Be sure to look over the traffic flow map below before heading out to your chosen viewing area!

Paid Viewing Options

While there are many fantastic areas to view for free, paid options offer amenities and stability that public viewing simply can’t. That said, this does not mean that paid locations are always better for the view. Public areas often offer a comparable, sometimes even better, view than their paid counterparts. I only recommend paid viewing to families, those physically unable to camp roadside for hours with limited amenities, or those interested in a more exclusive viewing experience. Most paid viewing options have sold out, and thus been removed from the list. Of those still available, here are my recommended paid viewing locations:

Airbnb, Vrbo, etc. Another option for private launch viewing with maximum comfort is renting a house/room via Airbnb, Vrbo, etc. Prices and locations vary widely, though I recommend looking for rentals along the Indian River.

NOTE: Be weary of resale scams and scalpers. KSCVC does NOT allow the resale or transfer of purchased viewing packages.

Free Viewing Options

The Space Coast is known for its beautiful beaches and parks, all of which are excellent areas to view from! Free viewing options can often offer better views than paid viewing. However, they do require a bit more planning.

When to Arrive

You will need to get to your planned location EARLY! The most determined launch enthusiasts will be camping at their spots for 8-10 hours. Unless you are a photographer needing the absolute best spot your site has to offer, you do not need to do that. I recommend arriving around 3-4 hours prior to launch for the best chance at viewing from your chosen location.

Clean Before You Leave

When viewing at any location, please clean up after yourself! Leave the area better than you found it. Help keep our beaches and parks safe and beautiful.

Public Viewing Areas

Some of the best public viewing areas available are located just west of KSC along the Indian River. Many of these locations offer an unobstructed view of launch. However, because of this, you can expect the majority of the traffic to be centered there. If you don’t mind viewing a bit farther away, or don’t need an unobstructed view of the pad, there are plenty of areas to the south that offer decent viewing and may escape the worst of the traffic.

You can view it practically everywhere in the area. This is one of the largest, most powerful rockets ever launched. Trust me, you’ll see it no matter where you are. However, if you want the best possible viewing spots, here are my recommendations:

Max Brewer Bridge / Parrish Park Distance: 10 miles (16 km) Amenities: Bathrooms Parking: Extremely limited

Space View Park Distance: 11 miles (18 km) Amenities: Bathrooms Parking: Extremely limited

Sand Point Park Distance: 11 miles (18 km) Amenities: Bathrooms, Pavillions Parking: Extremely limited

Marina Park Distance: 11 miles (18 km) Amenities: Bathrooms, Pavillions Parking: Extremely limited

William J. Manzo Memorial Park Distance: 12 miles (19 km) Amenities: Bathrooms, Pavillions, Electric Outlets Parking: Extremely limited

Rotary Riverfront Park Distance: 12 miles (19 km) Amenities: Pavillions Parking: Extremely limited

Chain of Lakes Park Distance: 13 miles (19 km) Amenities: Bathrooms, Pavillions, Observation Tower Parking: Limited

Cherie Down Park Distance: 16 miles (26 km) Amenities: Bathrooms, Pavillions Parking: Extremely Limited

Cocoa Beach Pier Distance: 18 miles (29 km) Amenities: Bathrooms, Pavillions, Restaurants Parking: Available

NOTE: Playalinda Beach will be CLOSED for launch due to its close proximity to LC-39B and the launch window opening outside of its normal operating hours. Max Brewer Bridge will likely only allow foot traffic on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. SOME OF THESE LOCATIONS MAY HAVE BEEN SEVERELY IMPACTED BY HURRICANE NICOLE.

Remote Viewing Options

Can’t make it over for launch or simply want to enjoy from the comfort of your home? No worries! Here’s where you can watch, listen, and follow along with the launch of Artemis I!

NASA TV

NASA will be streaming live coverage on NASA TV and NASA social media. A clean feed will be carried on the NASA TV media channel featuring views of the rocket and audio from a commentator in the Launch Control Center (LCC) throughout. Countdown net will be begin streaming publicly at T-15 minutes.

Content Creators and Online Streams

There will be plenty of content creators and spaceflight media outlets hosting their own streams of the launch as well! Check in with your favorite creators to see when their coverage begins.

NOTE: Be weary of clicking links posted to social media. Double-check to ensure the poster is a trusted source BEFORE clicking. Be on the lookout for phishing attacks and malicious links, which tend to increase during large events like this.

Radio

The best option for those viewing the launch in-person. Get live launch updates while circumventing the area’s overburdened cellular coverage! Coverage will be broadcast on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz and UHF radio frequency 444.925 MHz, FM mode. Only availble to those in the Brevard County area.

Dial-In

The second best option for those viewing in-person. Want live updates but don’t have a radio or enough signal to stream a video? No worries! Full audio from the launch broadcast will be carried on 321–867–1220, -1240, -1260 or –7135., -1240, -1260 or –7135.

We Are Going

As someone lucky enough to play a small role in this incredible program, thank you for sharing your excitement and coming out to witness this historic launch. We are going because of individuals like you, those who look up and see not an empty void but a vast sea of stars beckoning our exploration. Launches, especially ones of this magnitude, ignite the curiosity and imaginations of people far and wide. It was in the final years of the Shuttle Program that my passion was realized. I hope that, with Artemis, the next generation will hear their calling too. Through Artemis, we are going to push further than ever before and test the true might of human adaptability and ingenuity. We. Are. Going.

[aromanticbuck]

If you're taking prompts, "my life is yours." Mouse/Deke because I am trash

I'm so sorry this took me 9 months to write. here is... almost 3k of a kinda meet-cute pre-relationship thing? they grew on me, so if anyone wants the moodboard I made for them, just be patient, I will probably post it after lunch.

Mouse decided, almost immediately after landing in Georgia, that going back to Chicago wasn't an option. There was too much history there - with his parents, with the stupid little crush that still lived in his chest, with the connections that had thinned over his years away. Going back and trying to return to the home and the new family he'd left behind felt like going backwards, in a way, like the version of him that had left Chicago wasn't the same him that would be returning. He was too different, too changed by half a decade away, and the idea of going back to his old life wouldn't serve him anymore, would be like undoing the progress he had somehow made while worrying about fighting for his life.

The new version of him was still in love with someone he couldn't have, and he couldn't bear to keep watching Jay's life unfold separate from his any longer.

So, instead of going home and trying to fit a new version of himself into the hole he'd left behind, he bought a ticket on the first nonstop flight out to the west coast. It was far away from home, and far away from everything he was avoiding, and it was the perfect way to build a new life for himself. Los Angeles was warmer than he was used to, but that wasn't a bad thing, not when it meant he could walk every afternoon, and use his savings to get a small place for a month before even looking for a steady job. And, even then, his technological knowledge left him with plenty of options.

Everywhere he looked was a new start up that needed another programmer, or a new security system, or someone trained enough to be security. He put in a few applications, spent a few afternoons at the beach, fully settled in and attended the interviews he'd been invited to for various positions. For the first time in over a decade, Mouse could safely say that his life felt normal, like there wasn't some disaster or rejection around every corner, like the home he was building wasn't conditional, this time. He wasn't walking on eggshells to stay on someone's good side out of fear anymore, or keeping his head down and staying out of the way, or hiding some part of himself to make everyone else a little more comfortable.

No part of his past was going to come back to haunt him. He was free for the first time in far too long.

And, when he got an interview with a company for a position as a personal security guard, he didn't see any reason not to go in and consider it. It wasn't quite what he was used to - it wasn't some desk job like he did for the CPD, with phones and computers and the safety of officers all around him, or some communication post in a war zone. It was field work, only a step below the kind of thing he would have been doing if he'd stuck around in Chicago in the first place and joined the police academy. He'd be by some executive's side for twelve hours a day, while the company was reestablished, and then he'd be traveling to meetings and conferences all over the country. If he got the job. If things worked out and he didn't screw it up by rubbing anyone the wrong way.

( "so, Gregory... do you use Gregory, or do you prefer Greg?"

"I prefer Mouse, actually. I know, it's a silly nickname, but-"

"no, I get it. I don't use my name, either. Mouse it is. all of your employment history is overseas or in Chicago. what brings you all the way out here?"

"I, uh... I needed a fresh start. I spent a lot of time away from home, and I'm not entirely sure I can go back? Los Angeles was the first direct flight out here. I couldn't change my mind if there weren't any layovers."

"yeah, not being able to back out of a relocation will do that. and, you, uh, the military background? the people who have to clear you will like that. seriously, all of that high stress experience will come in handy around me."

"if you don't mind me asking, what does a start up executive need a personal security guard for, exactly?"

"you have to accept the job offer before I can tell you all of the fun, classified stuff." )

After the interview with the head of the company - Deke Shaw, full name unknown and irrelevant - everything moved a little fast. He had paperwork to fill out, and a background check that ran through three different databases and then a more classified system that he didn't recognize when he looked at the form he had to sign off on. That was fine, really, a question he could answer another day, when things were less hectic and his time wasn't spent going through all of the hoops needed to actually get the job offered to him.

It was when he was home one afternoon, lounging around his apartment in comfortable pants and an old tee shirt, that Mouse got a few of his answers. The knock at the door was unexpected, but he got up from the couch to answer it anyway, the face on the other side unfamiliar but professional. And the badge the woman held up was one he didn't have to think too hard to place.

"Daisy Johnson, Agent of SHIELD. I'm going to need a few minutes of your time. It's Mouse, right?"

Mouse blinked at the words and took a small step back. He rarely got any visitors outside of food delivery, and it was the first time since relocating that anyone from any government entity had paid any attention to him, let alone a personal visit. "Uh... yeah. Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you?"

"I have some follow up questions pertaining to a background check we ran for Deke Shaw. Do you mind if I come in? I'll try not to take up too much of your afternoon, but some of this might be better discussed sitting down."

He let out a slow sigh before nodding his head, letting his shoulders sag in a show of defeat. There were plenty of things that he knew would come up, if people dug deep enough, no matter how many forms got filled out and signed. If he'd known that his past would be looked at with a fine toothed comb, he wouldn't have even applied for the position. It wasn't very often that people looked as closely as something like SHIELD did, with all of their pull and connections and reach. It certainly wasn't routine for them to check out some aspiring bodyguard. "Yeah, go ahead." He stepped back again to give her the space to enter his apartment, the small kitchen and living room suddenly seeming cluttered and unprofessional. "Is it safe to assume this is about the...?"

"Your felonies? You're smart." She flashed a smile and tucked her badge away again, taking a glance around his home. "I'm sure you're wondering quite a few things, and I'll tell you everything you're allowed to know. Deke Shaw and his company are SHIELD assets. We just need to make sure that the people protecting him meet our standards. Hence the check we had to run on you. I'm here to make sure the things you've done in the past aren't going to be a problem going forward. Think of this as... a final interview."

Mouse hesitated before slowly nodding his head, closing the door slowly and making sure it clicked shut. "Right... Agent... Johnson, was it? Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. Can I grab you anything to drink?"

"I really do intend for this to be quick. I won't have time to enjoy anything you offer to me. Really, it's just a few questions to cover all our bases." Daisy kept her smile on while she stepped over to the couch and settled onto the edge of a cushion, the device she took out only slightly larger than a regular smartphone. "Deke seems to like you enough. Yours is the first name he's even forwarded to us to check out, and I know for a fact that he's been interviewing people for almost six months. If the people who signed off on removing those charges from your record are to be believed, then I can sign off on letting Deke hire you."

"I don't get it." Shaking his head, he moved over to the other side of the couch to sit down slowly. "We barely talked. The interview with him lasted less than five minutes. How can he know that I'm the right person for the job that quickly?"

The smile on her face turned into a smirk for a moment before widening again. "Deke is... he trusts his gut. And, usually, that doesn't get him into too much trouble. If he likes you, then I trust that feeling until I have a reason not to. Personally, I don't care about the hacking, no matter what you got into. I got started with SHIELD because I hacked into their servers. And there's no similar charges anywhere on your record. I'm just curious as to how you went from using daddy's money to get rid of that, to stealing tech to pay for drugs in less than four years. There hasn't been any death in the family, so you didn't blow through an inheritance. Explain that one to me."

Mouse bit his lip, taking a slow breath in through his nose without quite meeting her gaze. "That... I know, it looks really bad. I've been clean for a little over seven years, now, so the drugs really aren't a problem anymore. I had a, uh... a falling out, with my parents? Kicked out, cut off, no more family money to clean up my messes. But that truck... I was in a bad situation, and I'm not in that situation anymore. I understand the worry. I used to pawn off stolen tech, and now I'm putting in for a job with a tech company. Anyone would worry about my intentions, knowing what you know. But that part of my life is in the past. The hacking, the pills, the theft, all of it. I got back from my last tour and knew that not all of it would be, if I went home to Chicago. That's why I'm here, instead of there. I need to start over."

"A new start. I think we can all understand something like that."

The first month of the job was the hardest part. It was filled with more paperwork, and training that felt simple compared to everything else he was capable of, and passing a firearm safety test. It included getting the appropriate license to keep a gun on himself, touring the building he'd be spending most of his time in, learning the layout and every weak point and exit in the event of something going wrong. There wasn't much time to ask questions or get any answers for anything beyond the basics.

It wasn't until the end of his first real day of work that Mouse even had time to sit down in the office that he'd only gotten brief glimpses of. Deke's office wasn't small, but he didn't spend much time in it, either, instead usually splitting his time between checking in with the development team and investment meetings. He didn't seem to be still very often, which meant that Mouse wasn't either, and that was how he preferred it, but it was still nice to be able to sit down at the end of the day and not feel like he had to look over his shoulder every few seconds. So far, watching Deke's back had been easy, but one day of keeping an eye on a SHIELD asset wasn't something to base all of his expectations of the job on. He'd give it a week before he brushed off any part of his job as easy.

"Sorry to keep you so late on your first day. That meeting wasn't supposed to last that long."

Mouse shook his head while he settled into the nearest seat, letting himself slouch. He could still watch the door and keep an eye on the window from where he was. He could still do his job, even if he was being kinder to the aches in his body. "I don't mind. I don't have anything else going on in my life, right now." He frowned to himself and let out a slow sigh, sinking deeper into the chair. "God, that's sad, isn't it?"

Deke was at least polite enough to try to cover his laugh, only barely glancing in his direction. "Well... didn't you just move out here? You're not supposed to have this big, established life, yet. Give it a few more months, at least. If you still don't have a life outside of this job in like... a year? Then it's gonna be a little sad."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair. But I didn't really have a life outside of my job in Chicago, either, and I worked there for a year and a half. I think I might just be like this."

"I mean, if that's what you're happy with." Deke shook his head before settling into the seat at his desk, relaxing back into it. "Or… I don’t know. Don’t get too attached to anything outside of this job, depending on how much SHIELD has you doing. It’s pretty dangerous, working with them. A lot of good people have ended up dead. The last guy who had your job ended up dead.”

Shaking his head, Mouse let out a slow breath and kept his own voice steady. It was never out of the question, a job putting his life in danger. It had happened more times than he could count. He was in danger as a soldier, and as an informant, and he couldn’t even avoid that reality as a tech consultant. He’d been held at gunpoint in the middle of a police precinct, and he’d still chosen to keep throwing his life into the fray. There was no reason Los Angeles should be any different, especially when something like SHIELD was involved. Danger followed him everywhere he went, and he’d long since gotten used to it. 

“You know, you probably should have put that in the job description. Warning, very dangerous, Shaw Industries is not responsible for injury or death that occurs on the job.”

The joke earned him a laugh, something that broke through the still semi-awkward quiet of the dim room. “Yeah, maybe. But then no one would have applied.”

“I mean, I probably still would have applied.” Mouse shrugged and avoided meeting his gaze directly, making a show of keeping an eye on the door. “In this economy? A job’s a job.”

“I think that says more about you than the economy. Especially when it means you could potentially be, you know, dying for someone you don’t even know. All the business side of things isn’t usually dangerous, but you still accepted the job and showed up even after you found out it’s a SHIELD operation. That’s the part that’s gonna get you killed.”

He shrugged again, glancing away from the door with a small, forced smile. “I’ve done three tours with the Rangers, one of which ended with me basically getting blown up. I worked as a professional snitch for the Chicago police department for a while, and then worked with them officially for almost two years after that. I had a gun to my head in the lobby, once. Jobs that could get me killed... that's not new. For some reason, I keep signing up for them very willingly."

There was a thoughtful hum from the direction of the desk, the voice behind it something he had already gotten used to hearing. He'd heard it so much throughout the day, between meetings and conversations in the halls, and before that, when he was going through the steps to officially accept the job that had been offered to him. "But you didn't really know all the details going into this job. You couldn't, not with how much top secret shit that goes on around here, so... before this goes any further, I want you to know there's no hard feelings if you want to quit before things get bad. No one would blame you if you got out while you still could."

Mouse bit his tongue, giving a small shake of his head. He'd had plenty of chances to step back, from the moment he read the word bodyguard in the job listing to the moment SHIELD showed up at his apartment to the moment he signed the rest of the paperwork to get where he was then. Every step revealed more of what the job would be, and he'd worked with detectives for long enough to know how to be a few steps ahead. It wasn't like he was going into things completely blind, not by a long shot.

"I knew what I was signing up for here. Very willingly. If the situation calls for it, I'll do exactly what I signed on as your bodyguard to do. My life is yours."

[void-botanist]

Happy WBW! 👑 - What world leaders are most remembered? Why? Is there division in how they are viewed among people in the present day?🌪️ - What great natural disasters still linger in the history books? What impact did they have on the world, both historically and in the modern day?

Happy WBW! These are honestly better questions for Pajiir, where I know more than nothing about world leaders and important natural disasters.

👑 - What world leaders are most remembered? Why? Is there division in how they are viewed among people in the present day?

These are only a few but they were the ones I had the best idea about, roughly in chronological order.

Verussico Zivelek: Past king of Navar (and ancestor of Aza & Sheri) who reinstituted every measure of separation that his grandparents had put in place between Navar and its northern neighbor, Gurenii. Did this prevent a war? Probably. Did he do it for the power? Significantly. Generally used as a figurehead of the enemy for the surrounding countries that formed the Wall (not a literal wall, a travel and trade restriction zone). Within Navar people tend to have mixed feelings about him still.

Arsalis Sitrobeli & Ginomet Quintall: Forged the alliance between the Quintall (human) and Sitrobeli (uep) families that persists to this day. There remains a helping of intrigue and rumor about them, despite the fact that their lives and dealings were decently well documented, primarily because the power this small country wields in global politics is partly due to the Sitrobelis' influence with the Forests. They're also remembered in fiction, with the tempestuous formation of the alliance as backdrops to other stories.

Barrea Genwrntol: The first swl king to wage out and out administrative war against the magistrates of the five nAkkanswl. The kind of person you lampoon in a shanty about how docking laws are so particular because of her that you are doomed to never return home. People sometimes try to make her out as a victim or a woman of poor advisors but the more widely held view that she was an asshole who set the stage for the nAkkanswl legal system to still be kind of broken several hundred years later is arguably more correct.

HJ Elviret: Former Council Lead on Elbas Island, and child of one of its founders, Herric. Technically still living, but thoroughly excommunicated from Elbas. Though mostly an offhand mention in mainland - and especially nonrooted - history books, HJ is remembered in the Companions as a sellout piece of shit, which is funny because he actually briefly decimated the tourism economy of Elbas Island, which in turn took a chunk out of tourism on its neighbor, Hoscha. What was he selling out to? His mother's dreams of Elbas being a haven for the Pure and Unfortuate of the Forests' upper crust network investors.

🌪️ - What great natural disasters still linger in the history books? What impact did they have on the world, both historically and in the modern day?

Pajiir has generally all the same natural disasters as earth but I've thought most about hurricanes. The south Liliniek rarely experiences hurricanes/tropical storms, much like the south Atlantic. But some sixty years ago, one did form, and it destroyed segments of the archipelago rail bridge that connects two continents. There was a lot of discussion about whether this was a one off - it hadn't happened since the bridge was built, and anything resembling a tropical storm rarely appeared in the area, but no one wanted to keep perpetually rebuilding the bridge. In the end they did rebuild the bridge stronger, though no new tropical storms have yet materialized.

[trustednewstribune]

Turkey's President Erdogan unveils plan to return one million Syrian refugees

Tens of thousands of homes have been built in Idlib province

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday unveiled a plan to return one million Syrian refugees to their country as he tackles an economic crisis and sagging popularity before elections.

Mr Erdogan said people could return to the 100,000 houses in what Turkey calls a “safe zone” in north-west Syria.

“We are now preparing a new project that will enable the voluntary return of one million Syrian brothers and sisters” to areas secured by Turkish and allied forces in northern Syria, Mr Erdogan said in a video message to mark the delivery of homes built by Turkey’s disaster management authority.

Turkey hosts more than four million Syrians who fled the civil war in their country. Turkey is home to the world’s largest refugee population, of which Syrians form the largest single group.

Ankara has spent about $100 billion on housing, medical care and schooling for Syrians who began to arrive weeks after the conflict began in 2011.

Mr Erdogan said more than 57,000 houses for 50,000 families had been built in the Idlib area with the support of Turkish and international NGOs, as well as local councils in Syria.

Turkey has troops in parts of north-west Syria and supports militias and hard-line factions in the area. Mr Erdogan has discussed the importance of creating safe zones in the region to allow those who fled the war to return.

But the government has not yet persuaded Syrians to volunteer to travel to the areas, which reportedly include Azaz, Jarablus, Al Bab, Tal Abyad and Ras Al Ayn.

However, the move is likely to win the government support among voters who are increasingly worried about overcrowded classrooms, increasing wait times at hospitals where refugees are treated free of charge, and other pressures of hosting large numbers of refugees.

Mr Erdogan will seek to cut inroads made by nationalist Umit Ozdag, the 61-year-old leader of the Zafer Party, who has vowed to send millions of refugees home.

Many of Turkey’s houses are around Idlib, the last rebel-held area of Syria. The province, however, is surrounded by Syrian forces with backing from Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies who regularly clash with rebel factions and hard-line groups.

Air strikes have destroyed almost all of the hospitals in the area, as well as other vital infrastructure.

The UN has said Syrian and Russian air strikes and ground operations in Idlib have driven about a million civilians from their homes since December 2019.

After 11 years of war in Syria, hundreds of thousands have been killed, with more than half of the country’s pre-war population of 22 million displaced.

Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/syria/2022/05/03/turkeys-president-erdogan-unveils-plan-to-return-1m-syrian-refugees/

[catcze]

This is my first time sending an ask, so please forgive me if it's not correct. So, fem!(y/n) who is a simp for Kazuha and got isekai'd in Genshin Impact. (Sorry if I'm bothering you, and English isn't my first language so forgive me if there is any spelling error).

You sent your ask very well sweets, don't worry! <33

I haven't really gotten into isekai that much before, so my definition on it might not be exactly textbook, but I'll do my best in sharing my thoughts !!

Imo I think that it would be best that, if you’re from a world where Genshin is merely a game and you’re transported to Teyvat, that you’d hide the fact that you have knowledge about the game, since it could make you a potential target, you know? One of the best ways to protect yourself would probably be to join a capable group that houses outcasts without asking too many questions, like the Crux and the captain, Beidou.

When you do join up with them, I think that Kazuha would notice that you act a bit... strange. From seeming immediately comfortable around him and Beidou, to knowing ––strangely–– when that Fatui Harbinger in Liyue would awaken Osial, and purposefully making sure that the Alcor and the rest of the Crux were far from the disaster zone. He noticed all of it–– along with the way you watched him as if he was something you couldn’t believe was real. Kazuha’d probably confront you about your strange behaviour and even stranger knowledge somewhere private where neither of you can be overheard. He’s someone who appreciates frankness, after all, so it’s in your best interest if you come clean easily.

After you tell him everything he’s knowingly a bit surprised, though after some contemplation, I think he’d take the realization well. It explains things, as hard as it may be to initially believe. It also explains why you seem so amazed and fixated on him–– it’s actually flattering to know that you had favored his character very much in your home world, but he also appreciates you maintaining your distance when he was living and breathing right in front of you. I don’t think anyone would appreciate being randomly fangirled over by a stranger, you know?

Anyway, after, Kazuha would probably be more protective of you, and he’d encourage you to inform Beidou as well so that she can be aware of it. Your safety becomes one of his priorities, and he unintentionally becomes a sort of guide-slash-guard for you in this new world while you travel aboard the Alcor. It’s nice, being able to talk to and interact with a character that used to be fictional to you, but it’s even nicer when you learn more about him that the game never explicitly told you, or when you begin to see Kazuha as more than just a fictional character who you simped for, and more as a living, breathing person who is worth being admired for a reason.

Maybe you’d want to pursue a romance with him–– Kazuha would be receptive of your feelings, of course, but there’s an underlying feeling of finality, though. After all, aside from just surviving day-to-day, what is it that you want? Do you want to try to find a way to go back to your home world, or do you want to run the risk and stay in Teyvat in the end? This question is a big one, and one that hangs over your head ever since you’ve first been thrown into the world.

You can answer that question however you want, but you have to remember that you can’t have everything–– obviously, returning home to the world you were born in, where there isn’t a near-constant need to be on your guard should someone find out you have hidden knowledge, which could strain your mental health, would mean having to leave Kazuha behind, though it would also remove the burden of having to be your primary line of defense should anything happen, but at the cost of him losing another person that he loves. Or you can choose to stay in Teyvat and not find a way back, but this means that almost every day you and Kazuha have to be hyper-vigilant about what you say, where you go, who you’re around, in order to not raise suspicion and have people wondering about your unknown origins and strangely sharp intuition. This does mean, though, that you and Kazuha stay together, but at what price?

ajsdas This got a bit more real than I initially intended (It’s like 2:45 AM as i type this whoops) but I hope you still enjoyed my take on an isekai into Teyvat with Kazuha <3

[jackyjango]

Part 1- Mouth to Mouth Combat

Pairing: cherik

Written for this prompt

Erik's empty stomach grumbles in protest. The digital clock on his monitor displays it's 2:30 PM, but he hasn't had a bite to eat since that morning. An ache has been steadily building in his head that throbs with every pump of blood through his jugular. Three ounces of coffee somehow hasn’t seemed to tame it. He needs something stronger. Something like nicotine.

He's mulling over how he wants to torture Sean for screwing up the third blueprint in a row when his phone begins to ring. Though he's set the ringing volume to the minimum, it draws the attention of his interns. Angel gets up from her seat with an excuse of locating a fallen pen while Sean leans back in his chair pretending to stretch his legs. Even though Alex’s eyes are stuck to the monitor, Erik knows that his ears are pointed in his direction. Utter bastards. At least Darwin is the only one in their lot who has the decency to pretend that he’s minding his own business. Pretend, being the key here.

Erik glares at all of them until they pretend to shrink back to work before picking up the call.

'Hello, aunt Ruth.’ He tries to keep his voice to a whisper, but it comes out as a growl. ‘No aunty, I'm not angry with you for calling. That's absurd- No aunty, I'm just at work. Yes, yes…. - yes aunty. You know I will. Of course, I will. Yes- I'm eating. He knows it too. What? This Saturday? Alright, I'll ask him if he's free. Yes, I'll bring him if he's free. Of course, I will.’

On the other end, aunt Ruth goes on berating Erik’s unhealthy eating habits without giving him a breathing pause while Erik nods and aquices to whatever she says. He’s just about to reassure her the third time that he’s been eating his meals on time when Azazel bursts into life in front of him with a hiss of air which overlaps with whatever Aunt Ruth says next.

Tapping on his watch, Azazel mouths the words: ‘Let's go.’

'Alright, aunt Ruth, I have to go now,’ Erik says, half getting up from his desk. 'Yes, yes. I'll check with him and text you. Love you, too… Bye.’

Pocketing his phone, he turns to glare at his sad-excuse of team members. Like a flock of birds dispersing at a pelted stone, they lung back to staring at the screen and tapping idle keys.

Azazel chuckles beside him as they head out into the roaring Genoshan sun.

The chicken roll they both take from the street vendor manages to vaguely quieten Erik’s stomach. He lights a cigarette after walking a short distance to the smoking zone in front of their office building. Floating the lighter to AZ, Erik sends out a text to Charles.

Hey, Aunt Ruth’s invited us to dinner on Saturday. You free?

The reply comes immediately, which means that Charles is on his free hour.

When am I not free for her cooking? Count me in! :)

While Erik sends aunt Ruth a text to confirm that both he and Charles would be coming for dinner, a second text comes from Charles.

Speaking of dinners, how does pasta sound for today?

Smirking, Erik takes another puff of his cigarette.

Are you cooking? Really?

Hey, my cooking isn’t all that bad. I’m decent. Well… mostly.

They both know that Charles’ cooking doesn’t come anywhere near the decent territory, so Erik doesn’t comment on the decency of Charles’ cooking or bring up the fact that he almost burnt the kitchen on three different occasions. Instead Erik sends out: In that case, A okay for pasta.

Stomaching substandard pasta is a small price to pay for being Charles’ roommate.

I assure you, my friend. You won’t be disappointed, comes Charles’ text followed by a grinning emoji.

The devil that he is, Az peeks into his phone and smirks. 'Taking to your boyfriend, huh?'

Erik rolls his eyes. 'Charles is not my boyfriend, Az. He's my friend, just like you are.'

Az shudders and blows out a cloud of smoke through his nose, the image rendering as the incarnation of Satan himself. 'Please, don't compare me with him.'

Erik supposes Az is right. It'd be grossly unfair to compare someone like Az with someone like Charles.

‘Hey,’ Az says, inhaling another puff of smoke into his lungs, ‘A friend of mine is playing at the pub downtown this Saturday. I’m going out with the boys. Wanna join?’

‘No, I’m going to aunt Ruth’s for dinner. You carry on.’

‘And is Charles going with you?’ Az asks way too innocently for Erik’s liking.

‘Yes.’ Erik agrees begrudgingly.

Az pins him with a look that spells out crystal clearly, see what I mean by boyfriends?

Erik barely restrains the urge to smack Az on the head. ‘He’s a friend and a roommate, Az. Nothing more.’

‘Really?’ Az asks leaning on a pillar, his movements gracefully feline; almost akin to a bored cat toying with a ball of yarn aware of the level of destruction it’s capable of. ‘Is that why you refuse to move out or is it because you prefer to travel twenty five kilometres to work?’

Okay. Erik will agree that travelling almost an hour to work is a bit of a hindrance. But it wasn’t a hindrance two years ago when Erik was looking for a place near the engineering firm he was interning at the time. He’d seen an ad on a communal mutant app asking for someone to share a two bedroom flat with. The man who had posted the ad, Charles Francis Xavier, at the time had been a freshly minted post graduate eyeing the position of a junior lecturer in the Genoshan university with a lease amount to a nice house too hefty to bear on his own.

The house itself was more agreeable to Erik and More importantly to Erik’s meagre stipend.

Charles had declared that he’s gay and a telepath the day they’d met, and that Erik should look elsewhere if he had a problem with either of those. In response, Erik had plucked the pen tucked into Charles’ breast pocket with his powers and had signed his half of the lease agreement.

Erik’s not an easy person to live with (and Az will enthusiastically attest to it). He’s weird and particular and controlling and territorial (And that’s just the first four entries on AZ’s list). He doesn’t know what to attribute it to, but living with Charles for a roommate is …. easy.

His living arrangement with Charles is comfortable. Charles doesn’t have any irritating habits. He isn’t stingy with money or particular with the groceries. He carries out his fair share of cooking and cleaning around the house. They take their turns doing the laundry and the dishes. What talent Charles lacks in cooking, Charles makes up for it in baking (And that’s coming from a man who hates anything with more than two spoons of sugar in it). He isn’t overly dirty or messy. Charles picks up after himself (except when he has finals or is in the middle of a research. The house is a dump zone for his tea mugs and their dining table is a disaster zone for papers during such bouts).

More importantly, Charles respects Erik’s boundaries. He doesn’t poke his nose into Erik’s business or needle Erik for anything he isn't willing to share. It helps that they keep their personal lives separate, too. Whatever flings he has, Charles keeps it outside of their shared home and Erik returns the favour. The only things they argue on are which show to watch on TV or which place to order in from. And all the times they’ve come very close to fighting are nights spent over a chessboard pitching points to and fro, for or against human-mutant relationships and ideologies. Erik would be lying if he said that he didn’t live for such nights.

In little over two years, Charles has become Erik’s best friend. And apart from Az (who’s more of a brother Erik can’t get rid of no matter how hard he tries), Erik doesn’t have many of them. So he doesn’t see why he should give up all of that for a few hours saved in commute to work.

Voicing any or all of it will only encourage Az to needle him more, so Erik shrugs and squashes his spent cigarette with the heel of his boot. ‘Come on, it’s getting late. I still have two blueprints to review before seven.’

Az groans at the mention of blueprints. ‘I have three to finish. God, Shaw will bite my head off my shoulders if I don’t complete it by today.’

With that, they move into the blessed cool of the air conditioned building.

Just before Erik turns on his monitor, a text alerts Erik (and by proxy all of his interns he shares his cubicle with). It’s from Charles and says: Got to get to my classes now. See you at home Erik! :)

See you at home, Erik sends and smiles to himself.

He just hopes Az doesn’t see it.

-

[sparktober]

Sparktober Bingo 2021!

Back for a new generation: Sparktober Bingo!

Instead of coming up with an Atlantis-specific list of prompts, I compiled a bunch of 2021 -tober prompt lists into one google doc here. (Links to original prompt lists are on the google doc.) Add in a list of Atlantis episodes and...

How to play:

Choose a “flavor” from the prompt sets below the cut, then paste it into this fandom bingo card generator.

Adjust your browser size til it looks right and take a screenshot, or use the html script if you’re familiar with using html on tumblr. Tag @sparktober​ if you want us to reblog it so everyone knows you’re playing!

  Sparktober Bingo Rules:

Complete a row/column, corners, or a blackout of your card by November 1, or not! Update as you go.

All fan-works are allowed: art, edits, fic, meta... bonus points to anyone who picks the “sprinkles” flavor and goes full mid-aughts by filling their bingo cards with 100x100 pixel icons.

You are allowed to pull multiple cards until you get one that inspires you, and you can also go through the prompt list of your choice in advance to pull out squicks or things you absolutely won’t write. I recommend not googling unfamiliar words from your work computer.

Use the prompts liberally! Episode titles can be treated as the episode or as generic prompts (e.g. “Epiphany” can be for an episode-related fic or a prompt for an epiphany of your choice).

  Flavor descriptions:

VANILLA: Gen prompt lists from Fictober, Inktober, Trektober Gen, and Trektober Trek.

CHOCOLATE: Zesty prompt lists from Trektober NSFW, Kinktober, and Whumptober. The multiple-prompts-per-day from Kinktober and Whumptober have been broken into individual prompts.

CANDY CORN: Fall / holiday themed prompts from TUA-tober.

SPRINKLES: Atlantis episode list (in order, in case you only want to copy certain seasons), along with characters and a few Atlantis-specific prompts.

TWIST: All of the above! (You can also manually mix and match different flavors, of course.)

Text blocks to copy into the bingo card generator are below the cut. Enjoy!!

VANILLA

“I need you.”; “You have no proof.”; “I’ve waited for this.”; “Fine, I give up.”; “I’m not saying I told you so…”; “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”; “That could have gone better.”; “This is it, isn’t it?”; “There’s no right side to this.”; “It’s so quiet.”; “I swear, it’s not always like this.”; “You keep me safe.”; “The things you make me do…”; “Your information was wrong.”; “I like that in you.”; “Not this again.”; “I’m with you, you know that.”; “This was not part of the plan.”; “I feel strange.”; “That’s what I’m known for.”; “What did I say?”; “No promises.”; “This time, do what I say.”; “Is this supposed to impress me?”; “Do you know what time it is?”; “I’m sure this has never worked, ever.”; “You could have died!”; “I don’t have to explain myself.”; “Why are we whispering?”; “Don’t ruin this.”; “Take me with you.”; Crystal; Suit; Vessel; Knot; Raven; Spirit; Fan; Watch; Pressure; Pick; Sour; Stuck; Roof; Tick; Helmet; Compass; Collide; Moon; Loop; Sprout; Fuzzy; Open; Leak; Extinct; Splat; Connect; Spark; Crispy; Patch; Slither; Risk; Meet-Cute; Amnesia; Age Difference; Pining; Sick Fic; Fake Relationship; Accidental Meeting; Epistolary; Secret Identity; Historical AU; Nightmares; Monster Hunter; Reunion; Soulmates; At Pride; Angst; Seasons; Fix-It; Coffee Shop; Movie Plot AU; Kid Fic; Actor's Other Crossover Work; OT+; Getting Together; Only One Bed; Pirates; Making Up; Forbidden Relationship; Tattoos; Halloween; Prime Directive; Lower Decks / Background Characters; Away Mission; Ship's Bar; Aliens Made Them Do It; Observation Deck; Crew with Family; Holodeck; Science Crew; Character Survives; Headcanons; Diplomacy; Decontamination; Trek Crossover; Replicator; Worldbuilding; Redshirts; Sex / Love Potion; Medical Crew; Transporters; Medbay; Interspecies Relationship; Mirrorverse; Uniforms; Mutiny; Stranded on a Planet; Rec Room; Academy Era; Second Contact; Command Crew; Off-Duty

  CHOCOLATE

A/B/O; Soft; Anonymous Sex; Penetration with Object/s; Sleeping; Intercrural Sex; Restraints; In/Under Water; Group Sex; First Time; Possessive Behavior; Dry Humping / Grinding; Overstimulation; Roleplay; Rimming; Stretching / Fisting; Power Imbalance; Food Play; Fingering; Body Worship; Sex Work; Voyeurism / Exhibitionism; Safewords; Technology; Oral Sex; Omorashi / Wetting; Crying; Underwear / Lingerie; Friends with Benefits; Pain Kink; Dirty Talk; Trick or Treat; All trussed up and nowhere to go; Talking is overrated; Sticks and stones may break my bones...; Trust fall; I've got red in my ledger; Touch and go; My spidey-sense is tingling; Coughing up a lung; Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated; Oops, I did it again; Just keep swimming; It'll be fun, they said; That's gonna leave a mark; Under pressure; Feed a cold, starve a fever; On a need-to-know basis; Field care 101; The doctor is in; Just a scratch; Lost & found; That's where the blood's supposed to be; They made me do it; You break it, you buy it; One down, two to go; Hide & Seek; You will go down with this ship; “I'm fine, I prom...”; It's (not) just in your head; All work and no play; Digging your grave; Hurt & Comfort; “You have to let go.”; Garotte; Taunting; “Do you trust me?”; Betrayal; Bruises; Helplessness; Pneumothorax; Presumed Dead; Hospital; Adrift; Torture; “This is gonna suck.”; Crush injuries; Delirium; Recovery; “Please don't move.”; “Now smile for the camera.”; Bitten; Trunk; Bleeding through bandages; Cursed; Auction; Self-induced injuries to escape; Escape; Fallen; Passing out; “Good, you're finally awake.”; “You're still not dead?”; Major character death; Disaster zone; Barbed Wire; Choking; Insults; Taken Hostage; Misunderstanding; Touch Starved; Numbness; Exotic Illness; (Blind) Rage; Flare-Up; Drowning; Made To Watch; Burns; Beaten; Fever Dreams; Scars; Hemorrhage; Doctor Visit; Bleeding; Trapped Under Water; Pressure; Demon; Ransom; Flashback; Flight; Waterfall; Vertigo; Nightmares; Too Weak To Move; Left For Dead; Trauma; Bound; Gagged; “Who Did This To You?”; Pushed; Broken Nose; Hunger; Blindness; “Definitely Just A Cold”; Tears; Ice Chips; Dehydration; Begging; Cauterization; Force; Bees; Aftermath; Dread; Cpr; Stabbing; Solitary Confinement; Blood-Matted Hair; Obsession; Pursuit; Revenge; Hiding; Trap Door; Collapse; Panic; Overworked; Ghosts; Prisoner; Losing Control; Threats; Caning; Mercy; Forgotten; Head Injury; Screaming; Comfort; Self-Sacrifice; Trapped; Near-Death Experience; Regret; Tragedy; Battlefield; Anxiety; Gore; Petplay; Bimbofication; Panties & Lingerie; Bondage; Double Penetration in 2 Holes; Breeding; Humiliation; NTR; Incest; Emeto; Omorashi; Free Use; Crossdressing; Public; Three (or more) some; Daddy & Mommy; Double Penetration in 1 Hole; Distention & Cockbulge; Xenophilia; Shotgunning; Watersports; Pregnancy; Lactation; Waxplay; Grooming; Human Furniture; Feet; Prostituion; MacroMicro; Spanking; Cockwarming; Glory Hole; Somnophilia; Body Modification; Temperature Play; Leather; Size Difference; Sounding; Stockings; Tentacles; Medical Play; Stripping; Orgasm Denial; Master & slave; Scissoring; Titfucking; Frottage; Knifeplay; Formal Wear; Breathplay; Fisting; Pegging; Scat; Beastiality; Fucking Machine; Tickling; Boot Worship; Bukkake; Collaring; Foodplay; Non or dubcon; Feederism; Sensory Deprivation; Oviposition; Clone & Selfcest; Exhibitionism & Voyeurism; Impact Play; Sadomasochism; Bloodplay; Praise Kink; Body Swap; Sweat; Branding; Massage; Role Reversal; Armpit; Masturbation; Inflation; Sex Toys; Burnplay; Menophilia; Stuck in Wall; Deepthroating & Facesitting; Dacryphilia; Hate Sex

  CANDY CORN

Birthday; Sick Day; Autumn; Candles; Plaid / Flannel; Leaf Piles; Sweaters; Baking; Cinnamon; Pumpkin Spice Latte; Carnival; Movie Night; Candy; Graveyard; Black Cats; Goosebumps; Pumpkin; Party; Monster; Ghosts; Witch; Vampire; Traditions; Magic; Mask; Haunted House; Trick; Treat; Costume; Monster Mash; Halloween

  SPRINKLES

Rising Part 1; Rising Part 2; Hide and Seek; Thirty-Eight Minutes; Suspicion; Childhood's End; Poisoning the Well; Underground; Home; The Storm; The Eye; The Defiant One; Hot Zone; Sanctuary; Before I Sleep; The Brotherhood; Letters from Pegasus; The Gift; The Siege Part 1; The Siege Part 2; The Siege Part 3; The Intruder; Runner; Duet; Condemned; Trinity; Instinct; Conversion; Aurora; The Lost Boys; The Hive; Epiphany; Critical Mass; Grace Under Pressure; The Tower; The Long Goodbye; Coup d'Etat; Michael; Inferno; Allies; No Man's Land; Misbegotten; Irresistible; Sateda; Progeny; The Real World; Common Ground; McKay and Mrs. Miller; Phantoms; The Return Part 1; The Return Part 2; Echoes; Irresponsible; Tao of Rodney; The Game; The Ark; Sunday; Submersion; Vengeance; First Strike; Adrift; Lifeline; Reunion; Doppelganger; Travelers; Tabula Rasa; Missing; The Seer; Miller's Crossing; This Mortal Coil; Be All My Sins Remember'd; Spoils of War; Quarantine; Harmony; Outcast; Trio; Midway; The Kindred Part 1; The Kindred Part 2; The Last Man; Search and Rescue; The Seed; Broken Ties; The Daedalus Variations; Ghost in the Machine; The Shrine; Whispers; The Queen; Tracker; First Contact; The Lost Tribe; Outsiders; Inquisition; The Prodigal; Remnants; Brain Storm; Infection; Identity; Vegas; Enemy at the Gate; Ronon Dex; Teyla Emmagan; John Sheppard; Carson Beckett; Elizabeth Weir; Rodney McKay; Jennifer Keller; Samantha Carter; Aiden Ford; Radek Zelenka; Kate Heightmeyer; Evan Lorne; Laura Cadman; Kolya; Chuck; Peter Grodin; Steven Caldwell; Lantea; Ocean; Ancient(s); Richard Woolsey; Athosians; Daedalus; Wraith; Nanites; Asurans; Genii; DHD; SGC; Stargate; Earth; Antarctica; Ascension

 TWIST

“I need you.”; “You have no proof.”; “I’ve waited for this.”; “Fine, I give up.”; “I’m not saying I told you so…”; “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”; “That could have gone better.”; “This is it, isn’t it?”; “There’s no right side to this.”; “It’s so quiet.”; “I swear, it’s not always like this.”; “You keep me safe.”; “The things you make me do…”; “Your information was wrong.”; “I like that in you.”; “Not this again.”; “I’m with you, you know that.”; “This was not part of the plan.”; “I feel strange.”; “That’s what I’m known for.”; “What did I say?”; “No promises.”; “This time, do what I say.”; “Is this supposed to impress me?”; “Do you know what time it is?”; “I’m sure this has never worked, ever.”; “You could have died!”; “I don’t have to explain myself.”; “Why are we whispering?”; “Don’t ruin this.”; “Take me with you.”; Crystal; Suit; Vessel; Knot; Raven; Spirit; Fan; Watch; Pressure; Pick; Sour; Stuck; Roof; Tick; Helmet; Compass; Collide; Moon; Loop; Sprout; Fuzzy; Open; Leak; Extinct; Splat; Connect; Spark; Crispy; Patch; Slither; Risk; Meet-Cute; Amnesia; Age Difference; Pining; Sick Fic; Fake Relationship; Accidental Meeting; Epistolary; Secret Identity; Historical AU; Nightmares; Monster Hunter; A/B/O; Reunion; Soulmates; At Pride; Angst; Seasons; Fix-It; Coffee Shop; Movie Plot AU; Kid Fic; Actor's Other Crossover Work; OT+; Getting Together; Only One Bed; Pirates; Making Up; Forbidden Relationship; Tattoos; Halloween; Prime Directive; Lower Decks / Background Characters; Away Mission; Ship's Bar; Aliens Made Them Do It; Observation Deck; Crew with Family; Holodeck; Science Crew; Character Survives; Headcanons; Diplomacy; Decontamination; Trek Crossover; Replicator; Worldbuilding; Redshirts; Sex / Love Potion; Medical Crew; Transporters; Medbay; Interspecies Relationship; Mirrorverse; Uniforms; Mutiny; Stranded on a Planet; Rec Room; Academy Era; Second Contact; Command Crew; Off-Duty; Soft; Anonymous Sex; Penetration with Object/s; Sleeping; Intercrural Sex; Restraints; In/Under Water; Group Sex; First Time; Possessive Behavior; Dry Humping / Grinding; Overstimulation; Roleplay; Rimming; Stretching / Fisting; Power Imbalance; Food Play; Fingering; Body Worship; Sex Work; Voyeurism / Exhibitionism; Safewords; Technology; Oral Sex; Omorashi / Wetting; Crying; Underwear / Lingerie; Friends with Benefits; Pain Kink; Dirty Talk; Trick or Treat; All trussed up and nowhere to go; Talking is overrated; Sticks and stones may break my bones...; Trust fall; I've got red in my ledger; Touch and go; My spidey-sense is tingling; Coughing up a lung; Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated; Oops, I did it again; Just keep swimming; It'll be fun, they said; That's gonna leave a mark; Under pressure; Feed a cold, starve a fever; On a need-to-know basis; Field care 101; The doctor is in; Just a scratch; Lost & found; That's where the blood's supposed to be; They made me do it; You break it, you buy it; One down, two to go; You will go down with this ship; “I'm fine, I prom...”; It's (not) just in your head; All work and no play; Digging your grave; Hurt & Comfort; “You have to let go.”; Garotte; Taunting; “Do you trust me?”; Betrayal; Bruises; Helplessness; Pneumothorax; Presumed Dead; Hospital; Adrift; Torture; “This is gonna suck.”; Crush injuries; Delirium; Recovery; “Please don't move.”; “Now smile for the camera.”; Bitten; Trunk; Bleeding through bandages; Cursed; Auction; Self-induced injuries to escape; Escape; Fallen; Passing out; “Good, you're finally awake.”; “You're still not dead?”; Major character death; Disaster zone; Barbed Wire; Choking; Insults; Taken Hostage; Misunderstanding; Touch Starved; Numbness; Exotic Illness; (Blind) Rage; Flare-Up; Drowning; Made To Watch; Burns; Beaten; Fever Dreams; Scars; Hemorrhage; Doctor Visit; Bleeding; Trapped Under Water; Demon; Ransom; Flashback; Flight; Waterfall; Vertigo; Too Weak To Move; Left For Dead; Trauma; Bound; Gagged; “Who Did This To You?”; Pushed; Broken Nose; Hunger; Blindness; “Definitely Just A Cold”; Tears; Ice Chips; Dehydration; Begging; Cauterization; Force; Bees; Aftermath; Dread; Cpr; Stabbing; Solitary Confinement; Blood-Matted Hair; Obsession; Pursuit; Revenge; Hiding; Trap Door; Collapse; Panic; Overworked; Ghosts; Prisoner; Losing Control; Threats; Caning; Mercy; Forgotten; Head Injury; Screaming; Comfort; Self-Sacrifice; Trapped; Near-Death Experience; Regret; Tragedy; Battlefield; Anxiety; Gore; Petplay; Bimbofication; Panties & Lingerie; Bondage; Double Penetration in 2 Holes; Breeding; Humiliation; NTR; Incest; Emeto; Omorashi; Free Use; Crossdressing; Public; Three (or more) some; Daddy & Mommy; Double Penetration in 1 Hole; Distention & Cockbulge; Xenophilia; Shotgunning; Watersports; Pregnancy; Lactation; Waxplay; Grooming; Human Furniture; Feet; Prostituion; MacroMicro; Spanking; Cockwarming; Glory Hole; Somnophilia; Body Modification; Temperature Play; Leather; Size Difference; Sounding; Stockings; Tentacles; Medical Play; Stripping; Orgasm Denial; Master & slave; Scissoring; Titfucking; Frottage; Knifeplay; Formal Wear; Breathplay; Fisting; Pegging; Scat; Beastiality; Fucking Machine; Tickling; Boot Worship; Bukkake; Collaring; Foodplay; Non or dubcon; Feederism; Sensory Deprivation; Oviposition; Clone & Selfcest; Exhibitionism & Voyeurism; Impact Play; Sadomasochism; Bloodplay; Praise Kink; Body Swap; Sweat; Branding; Massage; Role Reversal; Armpit; Masturbation; Inflation; Sex Toys; Burnplay; Menophilia; Stuck in Wall; Deepthroating & Facesitting; Dacryphilia; Hate Sex; Birthday; Sick Day; Autumn; Candles; Plaid / Flannel; Leaf Piles; Sweaters; Baking; Cinnamon; Pumpkin Spice Latte; Carnival; Movie Night; Candy; Graveyard; Black Cats; Goosebumps; Pumpkin; Party; Monster; Witch; Vampire; Traditions; Magic; Mask; Haunted House; Trick; Treat; Costume; Monster Mash; Rising Part 1; Rising Part 2; Hide and Seek; Thirty-Eight Minutes; Suspicion; Childhood's End; Poisoning the Well; Underground; Home; The Storm; The Eye; The Defiant One; Hot Zone; Sanctuary; Before I Sleep; The Brotherhood; Letters from Pegasus; The Gift; The Siege Part 1; The Siege Part 2; The Siege Part 3; The Intruder; Runner; Duet; Condemned; Trinity; Instinct; Conversion; Aurora; The Lost Boys; The Hive; Epiphany; Critical Mass; Grace Under Pressure; The Tower; The Long Goodbye; Coup d'Etat; Michael; Inferno; Allies; No Man's Land; Misbegotten; Irresistible; Sateda; Progeny; The Real World; Common Ground; McKay and Mrs. Miller; Phantoms; The Return Part 1; The Return Part 2; Echoes; Irresponsible; Tao of Rodney; The Game; The Ark; Sunday; Submersion; Vengeance; First Strike; Lifeline; Doppelganger; Travelers; Tabula Rasa; Missing; The Seer; Miller's Crossing; This Mortal Coil; Be All My Sins Remember'd; Spoils of War; Quarantine; Harmony; Outcast; Trio; Midway; The Kindred Part 1; The Kindred Part 2; The Last Man; Search and Rescue; The Seed; Broken Ties; The Daedalus Variations; Ghost in the Machine; The Shrine; Whispers; The Queen; Tracker; First Contact; The Lost Tribe; Outsiders; Inquisition; The Prodigal; Remnants; Brain Storm; Infection; Identity; Vegas; Enemy at the Gate; Ronon Dex; Teyla Emmagan; John Sheppard; Carson Beckett; Elizabeth Weir; Rodney McKay; Jennifer Keller; Samantha Carter; Aiden Ford; Radek Zelenka; Kate Heightmeyer; Evan Lorne; Laura Cadman; Kolya; Chuck; Peter Grodin; Steven Caldwell; Lantea; Ocean; Ancient(s); Richard Woolsey; Athosians; Daedalus; Wraith; Nanites; Asurans; Genii; DHD; SGC; Stargate; Earth; Antarctica; Ascension

[crimeculturepodcast]

Hispanic/Latino horror movies

In honor of Hispanic Heritage month, this week we talked about horror movies out of Latin American and Spanish speaking countries. There were some we couldn’t get to so here is the full list:

Spain

The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Audience Score: 89%

Google Score: 85%

IMDb: 7.4/10

Critics Consensus: Creepily atmospheric and haunting, The Devil's Backbone is both a potent ghost story and an intelligent political allegory.

Description: “Set during the last years of the Spanish Civil War, The Devil's Backbone is a Spanish gothic horror movie that follows Carlos, a young orphan boy who is deposited at Santa Lucia School among several other children who have been displaced by the conflict. Though he finds friends in the professor and the head mistress, he is plagued by a wandering spirit with a link to the violent caretaker's secret past.”

Trivia: The movie, which he wrote in college and was in development for 16 years, is strongly inspired by Del Toro’s personal memories, especially his relationship with his uncle, who supposedly came back as a ghost. It is also included among the "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" edited by Steven Schneider. Although filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is Mexican, this film is set in the Spanish countryside (largely filmed in Madrid) that’s why it’s on the Spanish list. The Devil’s Backbone has all of the impactful elements of spirituality, horror, and the supernatural that come up again and again in Del Toro’s work. This film has been referred to as the “brother film” of one of Del Toro’s best known works, Pan’s Labyrinth. 

[REC] (2007)

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%

Audience Score: 82%

Google Score: 85%

IMDb: 7.4/10

Critics Consensus: Plunging viewers into the nightmarish hellscape of an apartment complex under siege, [Rec] proves that found footage can still be used as an effective delivery mechanism for sparse, economic horror.

Description: “Late-night TV host Angela and her cinematographer are following the fire service on a call to an apartment building, but the Spanish police seal off the building after an old woman is infected by a virus which gives her inhuman strength.”

Trivia: The movie was filmed chronologically in real locations (no sets were built for the movie). The actor’s were never given the script in its entirety and didn’t know what was going to happen to their characters until the day of filming. The movie is also a big inspiration for the horror survival game Outlast.

Considered The Blair Witch Project of zombie movies, REC had a lot of competition in the found footage style (it came out the same year as George Romero’s Diary of the Dead and the first Paranormal Activity movie). It more than holds its own among them, so much so that an American remake called Quarantine came out the next year. Director Jaume Balagueró keeps the movie disturbingly real and doesn’t fall prey to jump scare after jump scare.

Veronica (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience Score: 49%

Google Score: 80%

IMDb: 6.2/10

Critics Consensus: A scarily effective horror outing, Veronica proves it doesn't take fancy or exotic ingredients to craft skin-crawling genre thrills. 

Description: “During a solar eclipse, a teenage girl and her friends want to summon the spirit of the girl's father using an Ouija board. However, during the session she loses consciousness and soon it becomes clear that evil demons have arrived.”

Trivia: Based on the true story of 18-year-old Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro. I won’t go too far into it because we may do an episode on it in the future but if you want spoilers, watch the movie (if you dare).

Directed by Paco Plaza (same as REC), the possession theme is done over and over again in horror but this movie is a terrifying and fresh take. 

The Bar (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience Score: 55%

Google Score: 75%

IMDb: 6.3/10

Description: “In bustling downtown Madrid, a loud gunshot and two mysterious deaths trap a motley assortment of common urbanites in a decrepit central bar, while paranoia and suspicion force the terrified regulars to turn on each other.”

Directed by Álex de la Iglesia, it’s labeled as a horror-comedy. You can watch it on Netflix.

Who Can Kill A Child? (1976) - Tells the story of a happy couple, two English tourists who decide to vacation on a secluded island in the Mediterranean. There they discover – almost too late- that the island has been taken over by a group of murderous children.

The Baby’s Room (2006) - Featured on Six Films to Keep You Awake at Night. A new family renovates and moves into a grand old house. Nervous first-time mom installs a baby monitor but hears mysterious sounds on the other side. Once they install a high-tech video baby monitor, what they see chills them to the bone.

Sleep Tight (2011) - Apartment concierge Cesar is a miserable person who believes he was born without the ability to be happy. His self-appointed task is to make life hell for everyone around him, a mission in which he has great success. It has big home invasion/stalker vibes. 

Timecrimes (2007) - A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences. It sounds like a “Happy Death Day” type of plot (but proceeding it by a decade).

Thesis (1996) - Angela is doing her thesis on the effect of violence in the media when she discovers a snuff film. This discovery leads her down a dark path where she must confront her greatest fears and question everybody around her.

Witching and Bitching (2013) - One article I read said it perfectly, “What Shaun of the Dead did for zombies and What We Do in the Shadows did for vampires, Witching & Bitching essentially did for the cinematic depiction of witches, albeit on a less visible scale.” Great pick if you’re looking for something a bit more lighthearted.

Mexico

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Audience Score: 91%

Google Score: 90%

IMDb: 8.2/10

Critics Consensus: Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable. 

Description: After the Allies invade Nazi-occupied Europe, a sadistic captain sends a troop of Spanish soldiers to flush out rebels,bringing his new wife and her daughter along on his exploits. While his family resides in the countryside, he leads his men on a murderous rampage, much of which is witnessed by his step daughter. In an effort to escape her reality she plunges into Pan's Labyrinth, a mystical world at the border of her own.

Trivia: Guillermo del Toro is famous for compiling books full of notes and drawings about his ideas before turning them into films, something he regards as essential to the process. He left years worth of notes for this film in the back of a cab, and when he discovered them missing, he thought it was the end of the project. However, the cab driver found them and, realizing their importance, tracked him down and returned them at great personal difficulty and expense. Del Toro was convinced that this was a blessing and it made him ever more determined to complete the film. Del Toro also repeatedly refused offers from Hollywood producers, in spite of being offered double the budget, provided the film was made in English. He didn't want any compromise in the storyline to suit the "market needs" (he even did the English subtitles himself). The film received 22 minutes of applause at the Cannes Film Festival and in 2007, it became one of the few fantasy films ever nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars. It’s another on the list "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" edited by Steven Schneider with The Devil’s Backbone. It was on more than 130 top 10 lists in 2006. It is also the 5th highest grossing foreign language film in the US.

The Similars (2016)

Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

Audience Score: 49%

Google Score: 75%

IMDb: 5.9/10

Critics Consensus: A smart homage to genre filmmaking, The Similars is a fun and frightening film that balances socio-political issues with aplomb.

Description: A monstrous, once-in-a-lifetime thunderstorm strands passengers in a remote bus station outside Mexico City in 1968. As they listen to the radio, they realized that the storm has spread all over the world. As they look at each other, they also realize that everyone’s faces are slowly changing, and not for the better. 

Trivia: The film used make-up and special effects techniques never before done in Mexico. Director Isaac Ezban was influenced by B-movies of the 50s and 60s as well as TV shows and movies like “The Twilight Zone”, “The Thing”, and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

We Are What We Are (2010)

Rotten Tomatoes: 72%

Audience Score: 48%

Google Score: 77%

IMDb: 5.7/10

Critics Consensus: We Are What We Are is elevated horror that combines family drama and social politics, with plenty of gore on top.

Description: After a family patriarch dies, his survivors are tasked with continuing the rigid family rituals that involve hunting meat, preparing it for consumption, and eating it. The “meat” in question is human flesh, since they’re a family of cannibals. With two detectives hot on their tail, the family of cannibals strains to maintain their family traditions in a modern urban environment.

There was an English language remake in 2013 (86% on Rotten Tomatoes) with Wyatt Russell and Odeya Rush (Lady Bird, Dumplin’, and Goosebumps)

We Are The Flesh (2016) - A joint French-Mexican production released in Spanish as Somos la carne, this post-apocalyptic nightmare involves a brother and sister who roam the land desperately seeking food until a kindly old man takes them in under the condition that they help him renovate an abandoned building. Oh, and they also have to have sex with one another while he watches. And after he breaks their will by getting them to do that, he makes them do all sorts of other things. This film was one of only four in Mexico to receive a “D” rating—which is reserved for subject matter that is considered extremely disturbing and/or pornographic.

The Witch’s Mirror (1962) - An abusive and cheating husband kills his wife so that he can be with his mistress. The woman’s godmother was a witch who originally tried casting a spell on a mirror to protect her from domestic violence, but the spell failed. Still, she is able to bring the woman back from the grave, and the two witches set out to destroy the evil woman-beater.

Here Comes The Devil (2012) - A married couple lose their children while on a family trip near some caves in Tijuana. The kids eventually reappear without explanation, but it becomes clear that they are not who they used to be, that something terrifying has changed them.

Chile

Downhill (2016)

Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

Audience Score: 22%

Google Score: 43%

IMDb: 3.5/10

Description: Deeply upset by the passing of his best friend, a professional BMX rider accepts to partake in a race in Chile. Everything goes as planned until he stumbles upon a man who is infected by a mysterious virus and becomes the target of local assassins.

Trivia: Filmed in 13 days

Post Mortem (2010)

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience Score: 61%

Google Score: 70%

IMDb: 6.5/10

Description: In Chile, 1973, during the last days of Salvador Allende’s presidency, an employee at a Morgue’s recording office falls for a burlesque dancer who mysteriously disappears.

Aftershock (2012)

Rotten Tomatoes: 39%

Audience Score: 24%

Google Score: 61%

IMDb: 4.8/10

Critics Consensus: Aftershock hints at an inventive twist on horror tropes, but ultimately settles for another round of mind-numbing depravity that may alternately bore and revolt all but the most ardent gore enthusiasts.

Description: In Chile, a group of travelers who are in an underground nightclub when a massive earthquake hits quickly learn that reaching the surface is just the beginning of their nightmare.

Trivia: Horror icon Eli Roth wrote and stars in this film.

To Kill A Man (2014) - An attack on his daughter leads a mild-mannered family man to take revenge on the vicious street thugs who have tormented him and his family for a long time.

Columbia

Out Of The Dark (2014) This is in English

Rotten Tomatoes: 24%

Audience Score: 22%

Google Score: 77%

IMDb: 4.8/10

Description: A family moves to Colombia to take over the operation of a manufacturing plant, soon they learn their new home is haunted.

Trivia: Starring Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You, Dexter) and Scott Speedman (The Strangers, You) 

The Squad (2011)

Audience Score: 53%

Google Score: 82%

IMDb: 5.3/10

Description: After a secret military base ceases all communications, an anti-guerrilla commando unit is sent to the mountainous location to discover what exactly happened. The squad expects to discover that the base was attacked and taken over by guerrilla units, but instead find only a lone woman wrapped in chains.

Trivia: In one scene where the actors are shooting guns, one actor accidentally picked up a real gun instead of the prop and fired a real shot (no one was hurt).

Cord (2015) - On a post-apocalyptic world of never-ending winter, a sparse cast of outsiders live underground. Due to their unsanitary conditions, sexual contact has become dangerous. Masturbation has become the paradigm of sexual experience and an array of low-tech devices with this purpose has come into existence. In this bleak reality, a dealer of such machines a sex addict make a deal: she will allow him to experiment new devices on her body in exchange of pleasure. Soon however, their relationship goes out of control.

The Hidden Face (2011)

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Audience Score: 72%

Google Score: 86%

IMDb: 7.4/10

Description: Shattered by the unexpected news of their irreversible break-up, an aspiring orchestra conductor is puzzled by his girlfriend's mysterious and seemingly inexplicable case of disappearance. But, can he look beyond the facts?

Trivia: There is a Turkish version of this movie and a 2013 remake out of India called “Murder 3”

At The End Of The Spectra (2006)

Google Score: 83%

IMDb: 6/10

Description: A young woman who has become agoraphobic due to a traumatic incident is holed up in her apartment, she begins to suffer from hallucinations, paranoia and an obsessive neighbour.

Trivia: There is a Mexican remake called “Devil Inside” and there were once rumors of an American remake starring Nicole Kidman but that’s the end of that.

Uruguay

The Silent House (La Casa Muda) (2010) 

Rotten Tomatoes: 68%

Audience Score: 37%

Google Score: 63%

IMDb: 5.4/10

Critics Consensus: Shot in a single take, The Silent House may be a gimmick movie, but it's one that's enough to sustain dread and tension throughout. 

Description: A girl becomes trapped inside a house and becomes unable to contact the outside world as supernatural forces haunt it.

Trivia: The plot is supposedly based on a true story that occurred in the 1940s in a small village in Uruguay. With a budget of just six thousand dollars, it was filmed using a handheld high-definition digital single-lens reflex camera (the Canon EOS 5D Mark II), 2 handheld lamps, and a couple of lightbulbs over a time period of just four days. The claim that the movie was filmed in one continuous take are suspect. The Mark II camera can only record up to 15 minutes of continuous video at a time. Uruguay's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012.

Monos (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 

Audience Score: 85%

Google Score: 69%

IMDb: 6.9/10

Critics Consensus: As visually splendid as it is thought-provoking, Monos takes an unsettling look at human nature whose grim insights leave a lingering impact.

Description: On a faraway mountaintop, eight teenaged guerillas with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow. Playing games and initiating cult-like rituals, the children run amok in the jungle and disaster strikes when the hostage tries to escape.

Trivia: Moises Arias (Hannah Montana) and Julianne Nicholson (I, Tonya, August: Osage County) most of the other actors had never acted before. The movie draws inspiration from Lord of the Flies. Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. It was selected as the official Colombian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Peru

The Entity (2015)

Google Score: 66%

IMDb: 4.3/10

Description: A group of students decide to study 'reaction videos' and are led toward an old film, hidden in the archive room of a cemetery. It appears that everybody who has witnessed the film has met an untimely demise under suspicious circumstances. When the students view the footage, they discover first hand, what the demonic spirit is capable of. Fulfilling the ancient curse of a woman cruelly killed during the Spanish Inquisition.

Trivia: The Entity has been billed as Peru's first 3D horror film and to have been loosely based on true stories. Review websites Flickering Myth and Nerdly commented that the movie suffered from being too overly familiar to pre-existing works (Blair Witch, The Ring).

The Vanished Elephant (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%

Audience Score: 72%

Google Score: 88%

IMDb: 6.5/10

Description: Crime novelist Edo remains obsessed with what happened to his fiancee Celia after she disappeared during an earthquake. When an enigmatic woman brings him photos that may help him solve the mystery, he senses he is being drawn into a dangerous game.

The Secret Of Evil (2014)

Google Score: 65%

IMDb: 5/10

Description: Video footage depicting a supernatural encounter is all that remains of a filmmaker and his crew who disappeared while exploring a haunted house.

When Two Worlds Collide (2016)

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Audience Score: 69%

Google Score: 93%

IMDb: 7.6/10

Description: An indigenous environmental activist takes on the large businesses that are destroying the Amazon.

El Vientre (2014)

Google Score: 81%

IMDb: 6.1/10

Description: Silvia, a beautiful 45-year-old widow, is obsessed with having a child and finds in attractive but naive Mercedes the perfect candidate to bear it. Silvia kindly offers her a job and a room in her house, and then manipulates her into seducing a young man named Jaime. They soon fall in love and Mercedes becomes pregnant. Silvia will do anything in her power to keep the baby, even if it means leaving a couple of bodies behind.

Argentina

Terrified (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 77% 

Audience Score: 65%

Google Score: 82%

IMDb: 6.5/10

Description: Paranormal researchers investigate strange events in a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires.

Luciferina (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

Audience Score: 25%

Google Score: 69%

IMDb: 4.6/10

Description: Natalia is a nineteen-year-old novice who reluctantly returns home to say goodbye to her dying father. However, when she meets up with her sister and her friends, she decides instead to travel the jungle in search of mystical plant.

Francesca (2015)

Audience Score: 67%

Google Score: 73%

IMDb: 5.3/10

Description: Two detectives track a serial killer who has been targeting the impure. To catch him, they'll have to solve the case of a girl who went missing 15 years ago.

Cold Sweat (2010)

Rotten Tomatoes: 75%

Audience Score: 

Google Score: 58%

IMDb: 4.8/10

Description: The movie follows Román, who stumbles upon his ex-girlfriend Jackie, who has somehow gotten caught up in a torture cult run by two sadistic, old men. The aging political radicals have managed to put Jackie’s life in incredible danger. But when Román and his friend try to help Jackie out of her confines, the elderly psychos prove to be more than meets the eye.

Penumbra (2011)

Rotten Tomatoes: 50%

Audience Score: 26%

Google Score: 75%

IMDb: 5.5/10

Description: A woman desperate to find a tenant for her decrepit apartment apparently finds the perfect candidate, unaware of a sinister plot involving an imminent eclipse.

Venezuela

The House At The End of Time (2013)

Rotten Tomatoes: None 

Audience Score: 72%

Google Score: 91%

IMDb: 6.8/10

Description: Dulce encounters apparitions in her house and unleashes a terrible prophecy. Thirty years later, Dulce, now an old woman, returns to unravel the mystery that has terrorized her for years.

Trivia: Winner of the Audience Award at Gävle Horror Film Festival 2016 (Sweden). Not only is it Venezuela’s highest-grossing horror film, it’s also the most distributed film from the country. By August 2016 it was announced that the American studio New Line Cinema acquired the rights of the film to make a remake for the American public. Hidalgo is still at the wheel so its chances of success are high.

Ecuador

Cronicas (2004)

Rotten Tomatoes: 71%

Audience Score: 77%

Google Score: 80%

IMDb: 6.9/10

Critics Consensus: An unsettling and absorbing cautionary tale with John Leguizamo playing an unscrupulous TV reporter who uses the medium to further his own goals.

Description: Reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo) goes to a jail in Ecuador to interview Vinicio Cepeda (Damián Alcázar, Narcos, Narnia), a hit-and-run driver whose crime incited a riot. After Cepeda tells him he knows where a murderer called the Monster of Babahoyo buried a young female victim, Bonilla posts bail in the hopes that he'll learn more about the crime. Bonilla finds the girl's body, but, as he nears the scoop of his career, it looks as if Cepeda might be withholding some key details.

Trivia: Inspired by a true story? As well as being both a Cannes and TIFF favourite, Cronicas is the official submission of Ecuador for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, it was produced by Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) This is John Leguizamo’s first film in Spanish. He said he felt awkward talking in Spanish while acting, like he didn't know the language. 

English Language Horror

The Silent House (2011) This is in English

Rotten Tomatoes: 43%

Audience Score: 

Google Score: 72%

IMDb: 5.3/10

Critics Consensus: Silent House is more technically proficient and ambitious than most fright-fests, but it also suffers from a disappointing payoff.

Description: Sarah is working with her father and uncle to renovate an old family home to prepare it for sale. Long vacant, the house has no utilities, forcing the trio to rely on battery-operated lanterns to light their way. Sarah becomes separated from her relatives and soon finds she is trapped inside the cabin, with no contact with the outside world. Panic turns to real terror as the young woman experiences events that become increasingly ominous.

Trivia: Elizabeth Olsen (Wandavision) The plot is based on a true story that occurred in the 1940s in a small village in Uruguay. Contrary to the marketing's claim that the film was shot in one uninterrupted take, the entire movie was actually shot to mimic one continuous real-time take, with no cuts from start to finish, as a result the time span of the film's plot is exactly 86 minutes. It was shot in roughly 10 minute segments then carefully edited to hide the cuts.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) - This along with the rest of the Dead series are the work of George A. Romero, whose father is from Cuba.

Ash vs. Evil Dead - I love the Evil Dead movies and although this series wasn’t perfect (I’m sure die-hard fans will say it's far from it), I still think it kept to the heart of the main story. Bruce Campbell is obviously perfect and the addition of Lucy Lawless is amazing, it’s really Puerto Rican actor Ray Santiago that steals the show.

The Others (2001) - Directed by globally renowned Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar, The Others starring Nicole Kidman is a Spanish gothic horror movie that combines elements of the supernatural, psychological, and mystical. It focuses on the strange events that occur at the estate of a woman and her young children, plagued by spirits in the aftermath of WWII. It has the distinction of being the only English-language Spanish movie to be given the Best Film Award at Spain's national film awards, the Goyas. In total, the movie has seven Goya Awards, including for Best Director. Although it might not read as particularly “Spanish,” it was produced, written and filmed all in Spain, shooting in Cantabria, Northern Spain and Madrid.

[cicadaland]

hi can i get an intro to st. lawrence center universe and characters im getting cool vibes from it but i dont really know whats going on

get ready for a lot of reading!!!!

ok SO st. lawrence centre universe is named after where its story begins, in the st. lawrence centre mall of Massena, NY. In this universe there was a catastrophic apocalypse of plague and radiation because of a chernobyl-but-worse-type explosion in two nuclear waste sites at once, both of them in Illinois. This story takes place 500 years after that, and since then humanity has sort of returned to the medieval era. HOWEVER: instead of Europe, it's North America, so things are different than how they would be in Europe. (All communication across any ocean has been cut off btw.) Because of how much our culture is centered around freedom and because of passed-down intergenerational stories of better times luckily feudalism doesn’t really take off, so at least we dont have to deal with that.

St. Lawrence Centre is a mall that has stood still for 500 years, gradually crumbling away and repaired until only the outer walls and the entrance thingy remains intact.

People from Montreal and New York City came to it around 100 years after the apocalypse because aftershocks made their cities unlivable. (by now the cities are fine though.) It became a town, mostly crammed together inside the mall, and some people living in the overgrown forest that Massena became. It would become a lucky location for its proximity to the St. Lawrence River which leads to the Great Lakes.

This is where the states of Maine and Michigan come in. At the time of the apocalypse, they were both governed by lunatics with an obsession with doomsday prepping. The governor of Maine wanted independence for her state, and the governor of Michigan wanted to make his state completely self-sufficient. They put plans in place that allowed their states to not completely collapse with the rest of America and Canada, and they became their own countries (with a much less powerful government though). Over time Maine turned into Greater Maine, an empire that then conquered all of New England and Upstate New York. The Empress of Greater Maine (a descendant of the original governor) came in control of St. Lawrence Centre and isn’t currently using it for anything. The white space in this map is unorganized land, mostly micronations and city-states along the old county borders.

The red line indicates where the heroes of this story start and where they go, from St. Lawrence Centre in Greater Maine, through Michigan, and to the blast zone that surrounds what is left of the LaSalle nuclear plant. Everyone who lived nearby either fled just before the blast or died from it. So why are our beloved heroes going directly to the center of a nuclear explosion site you ask???

WELL!!!! it’s kind of a weird reason. Ever since the nuclear explosion there’s been a religious movement that manipulates the generational trauma caused by the irreparable damage of nuclear disaster into some kind of divine punishment for the sins of humanity by God, and that He is giving the people of the Earth (or at least North America) a second chance by returning them to the dark ages. This is obviously not true. The nuclear disaster was caused by humans (but who sent them? they would argue), but a lot of people don’t know this. The majority of people in North America actually don’t think it was caused by the wrath of God, but every family has their own idea of why. The knowledge of what a nuclear plant is is long gone so nobody comes close. Anyways. 

There is one man in the town of St. Lawrence Centre who believes he must make a pilgrimage to what he has been taught is the place where God touched the earth. This is, unfortunately, the LaSalle nuclear plant. There’s another man in St. Lawrence Centre who wants to travel the world and come back home with amazing stories and become famous, so the two embark on their respective quests on the same road. They become friends so they decide to go together to LaSalle. 

ALONG THE WAY:

They meet and become friends with a lot of people they meet

They encounter epic beasts (!!!!!!!!!!) that came from the radiation (Or from Hell, as they’ll believe)

There is a scene where they’ll step into the parlor and everyone will stop talking and playing instruments to glare at the out-of-towners like a western movie

Learn about the past of Greater Maine (or, Upstate New York) as they repeatedly come across ruins of overgrown towns and highways

More cool stuff I can't think about right now

YES they will fall in love by the end because I love slow burns

Eventually they'll reach LaSalle and find that it was caused by humans, or something we (as people living in 2022) would indicate as caused by humans. They'll never know for sure but they'll come back home with skepticism towards that weird radioactivity religion

That's all I have for now thanks for reading this far!!! :)

[comm-caribou]

☀️ What makes your OC genuinely happy? A person, an item, their hobby? Where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? What is the happiest they’ve ever been?

❤️ What would your OC’s ideal lover be like? Appearnce, personality, voice? Would their family approve or would it be civil war?

🍼 Does your OC have any children or want children? What names would they pick? Are they good with kids or a complete disaster?

for Juliette 🌹

Oooooo, excellent questions for my darling non-Jedi General! 🥰🥰

What makes your OC genuinely happy? A person, an item, their hobby? Where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? What is the happiest they’ve ever been? Her friends and family (and she considers her friends her family), the main one being Cosmos; she and him have an unbreakable bond. She doesn’t really feel at home in a specific place, as she constantly traveling across the galaxy in their main ship called the Stormrider. Being on board is as close as a place being home, even if it’s constantly heading to or in war zones. Her happiest day was after Order 66, when she successfully escaped the with all her closest troops and returned to her hometown on Vixnix.

What would your OC’s ideal lover be like? Appearnce, personality, voice? Would their family approve or would it be civil war? Juliette has three partners throughout her life, and one thing they all had in common was that they all were extremely loyal to her as a person than just her General rank. She really likes clean scents and soft voices as her senses are a bit more heightened from years of advanced training, and if they’re nice then she’s swooning. Both her parents would love Digger, her father would not be too keen on Fang but warm up to him while her mother would never like him, and her mother would have been wary of Fury while her father would love him.

Does your OC have any children or want children? What names would they pick? Are they good with kids or a complete disaster? She wants a kid, she really wants to have a child one day when she’s not constantly in danger. She doesn’t have a name picked out, but she would be a good mother. (I do picture her with a daughter, and I have an AU where she does end up pregnant during the war)

[razzle-zazzle]

Five times others noticed something off about Cole + one time it was explained

3083 Words; Coleverlord

Something was wrong with her son.

Lilly couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment she realized it, but something had changed since that disaster of a boating trip. Cole had been more quiet, lately, had been listless and almost eerily pensive at times.

Lilly didn’t like it. It was unnerving.

They never should have gone. It was supposed to be a fun outing for the three of them, a four-hour tour off the west coast alongside some other passengers.

It ended up being a ten-day stay on an uncharted island. It ended up being Lilly in charge of a group of people not quite accustomed to wilderness survival as they waited for rescue to stumble upon them. It ended up being exhausting, and draining, and the exact opposite of a fun outing.

And then they’d finally been found, and finally arrived home—

And now something was wrong with Cole.

It wasn’t what one would expect in this situation, either. Cole wasn’t sick, wasn’t running a fever, nor was he injured—no, it was none of that.

But there had been a drastic change in his behavior, and Lilly didn’t like it. It felt like there was something in her home, something that never should have been let in but had come in anyway, and that something was pitter-patting down the halls with steps eerily similar to her son but just so slightly off.

“Mama?”

Lilly jumped at her son's voice, caught off guard. She was in the kitchen getting herself water and trying to sort through this awful feeling she had. Her seven year old son was standing in the doorway, hand gripping the frame.

Despite the moonlight streaming in through the window onto his face—or maybe because of it—he didn’t seem quite real. Something about the way Cole was holding himself was just… off.

“Yeah?” Lilly shifted uncomfortably under her son’s stare. Something was definitely wrong with this child. Just him standing there in the doorway had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

Cole took a step forward. “Had a bad dream.” He murmured.

Lilly set her water on the counter and crossed the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her son despite her instincts telling her to be wary. “Oh, baby, it’s okay,” she lifted him up, bracing him against her hip to hold him more easily. “Do you wanna tell me about it?”

Cole buried his face in Lilly’s shoulder. “Don’t remember.” He mumbled.

Lilly hated that her first instinct here was to set Cole back down again. Hated that, for all that her son was right here and seeking comfort, part of her was convinced it wasn’t him.

Cole was still clinging to her, though, so she returned to the counter to finish her water, holding him close the entire time.

She’d have to tell Wu about all of this, about this unsettled feeling she had, but—

That could wait until the morning.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole had a really weird presence.

Jay didn’t really mind that Cole could sometimes be a little… off. Cole was Cole. Besides, Zane was also weird, but he was no less their brother; the same applied to Cole.

But for how sweet Cole could be, there was still something… unsettling about him. Something that had Jay’s arms erupt into goosebumps whenever Cole was around. And that was after several months of knowing the guy—when they’d first met, Jay couldn’t even look at Cole without his stomach tying up in knots.

It probably wasn’t really anything to worry about, but Jay couldn’t help but wonder why Cole had such disconcerting vibes. And it wasn’t the same as Zane’s uncanniness, because at least when Zane acted uncanny it didn’t put Jay on edge the way Cole sometimes did.

Jay knew Cole… or maybe he only thought he knew Cole. He was probably just being paranoid, but he couldn’t help but wonder sometimes.

He really hoped he was just being paranoid.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole was certainly… odd.

But that was fine. Zane was odd, too. They were both a little odd, but their family still loved them for it.

Sure, Cole’s tendency to occasionally stare westward was unusual, but Cole was Cole. It was when Zane started keeping track of it that things got… interesting.

As they traveled around searching for the Fang Blades, Zane noticed that Cole didn’t stare exactly westward. Rather, it seemed that the angle changed depending on the latitude, as though Cole was looking towards a certain location in particular rather than just out west in general.

So Zane conducted an experiment. Whenever he noticed Cole zoning out to stare west, he tracked the location and angle as best as he could.

Zane collected this data over the course of several days. When he was finally satisfied and had the free time to do so, he found himself a map, a ruler, a marker, and a compass.

It was time to record the data.

“Hey, Zane,” Jay greeted as he came into the room, “Watcha doing?”

“Recording data.” Zane responded, another crisp line appearing under his steady hand.

Jay came over to look at the map over Zane’s shoulder. “Kinda looks like you’re just drawing lines on a map, buddy.”

“That is what I am doing, yes.” Zane drew another line, extending it out until it intersected with the first. Since Jay was still watching, Zane elaborated, “I am marking down the directions of Cole’s… ‘trances’, as it were.”

Jay hummed consideringly. “Looks like they all converge at a certain point.”

Zane nodded. “Yes, it seems they do.” He added the final line, then capped the marker and set it and the ruler aside to survey his work.

Ten lines, crisp and neat, from ten different starting positions. Ten lines that all converged on the same point off the west coast.

There was nothing at those coordinates other than ocean, at least, there was nothing on the map. It was very puzzling.

“Wait.” Jay pointed at a small island just a few degrees north of the intersection. “What’s that?”

It was the only charted island for miles. Small, nondescript, and uninhabited. But it was also the closest thing to the intersection, and probably their best bet for answers outside of directly asking Cole.

“I’ll have to look into it.” Zane made a mental note to do just that as he stood up and began to fold the map.

Jay grabbed everything else. “Here, I’ll help.”

Zane nodded. “Thank you.”

+=+=+=+=+

Nya liked to think she was good at noticing the little details.

And she was! Whether it be the small details of her mech’s innards or the little things her brother did when he was stressed, Nya was really good at noticing small details.

Which was probably why she had noticed so many odd things about Cole. To be fair, a lot of things Cole did or said were just plain odd—and there was nothing wrong with that—but there were some things he did that just… felt off, sometimes.

So yeah. Nya noticed the small things, paid close attention to the boys and their habits and their moods. Paid attention to the small details of their faces, like the way Jay’d stick out his tongue when he was concentrating, or how Zane’s brow would furrow when he was deep in thought; how Kai’s eyes crinkled when he smiled—

And how Cole’s eyes seemingly changed color every so often, for seemingly no reason. How that dusty, tawny brown that looked so much like the sunbaked earth around the shop could suddenly shift into a deep violet. How sometimes it almost looked like his eyes were glowing in certain lighting. How it definitely wasn’t a trick of the light, no, his eyes definitely changed color.

Which was probably not normal.

Then again, their sensei was technically part dragon and had slitted pupils, so maybe Cole’s magical color-changing eyes weren’t that out there.

It was just a little unnerving, to look at Cole expecting those gentle eyes and see foreboding violet. Almost like there was something else there, something lurking behind those eyes. Something that shouldn’t be trusted.

But Nya didn’t like to think that way about Cole, so she just noted that his eyes changed color sometimes and moved on with her day.

She had more important things to stress about.

+=+=+=+=+

Kai didn’t like this.

There were a lot of things about this island that Kai didn’t like, but the way Cole had been acting since it rose was most definitely on the top of the list.

Cole was always pretty weird. And that was fine! What was unsettling was that he was acting differently from how he usually did.

First, they sail out to this random little island in the middle of the ocean because Garmadon somehow managed to get himself marooned out here, and was demanding they come and pick him up. Then, Cole disappears into the jungle with Jay and they trigger something that makes the island rise, revealing it to be some big evil mega island from Misako’s old texts. It didn’t help that Cole didn’t seem at all bothered by this.

Ever since then, Misako and Wu and Garmadon had been furiously discussing whether to stay and explore or leave immediately, and Kai was pretty sure Misako still had her weird grudge against Cole because he’d overheard her calling him a “problem” again, so Kai was staying away from that argument.

And so the ninja were cautiously poking around the edges of the jungle after having moved the Bounty back out to the new coast, and Cole—

He wasn’t acting like Cole.

He’d been muttering, too quiet to make out any of the words, and he’d go silent if you came closer. He stared into the jungle a lot, sometimes zoning out so bad that not even Jay’s bad jokes could snap him out of it.

All in all, Kai was very unnerved. And an unnerved Kai was an angry one, snapping at anyone who came near.

His stress levels weren’t helped by the fact that last he’d seen Cole, he and Lloyd had been wandering into the jungle. Kai had followed, but he’d lost track of them what seemed like hours ago.

So now the whole group was on an island Misako didn’t want to be anywhere near, Cole was acting like he was possessed and had disappeared with Lloyd for unknown reasons, and Kai was lost in the jungle.

“Amazing! Incredible!” Kai kicked at the dirt at his feet, “Oh, this is just perfect!” He had no idea how to get back. Great. Fucking wonderful.

The jungle had no response for his tantrum, just a few faint bird calls and wind rustling the leaves.

Kai huffed. He wasn’t going to be finding Cole and Lloyd anytime soon, so he should probably try to get back to the beach and tell everyone else what he knew. Of course, being lost would put a damper on it, but Kai was reasonably sure he could figure out where he was.

He looked at the trees surrounding him.

He just needed a little more height.

+=+=+=+=+

Lloyd was pretty sure they were lost.

When he voiced this concern, however, Cole just replied with a chipper “oh no, we’re definitely getting closer!” that wasn’t reassuring in the least. So Lloyd continued to trudge through the jungle after Cole, hoping he’d at least get an explanation for why Cole felt the need to drag him along to… wherever they were heading.

Another leaf smacked Lloyd in the face. “Are you certain we’re not lost?” He asked once more. “Because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the same tree more than four times already.”

Cole didn’t say anything, just took Lloyd’s hand to help him up a small ledge. They continued their little trek, the jungle slowly thinning out and becoming a mountain.

“It’s just up here.” Cole said. He’d been unusually quiet up until this point.

Lloyd looked up at the rock face that Cole was suggesting he climb and groaned. But Cole was already ascending, so Lloyd swallowed his complaints and got to climbing. It was strenuous and sweaty and exhausting and if Cole was only dragging him up here to show him a killer view or some shit then Lloyd was going to scream, but he’d let himself be led out this far so he was going to climb all the way to the top, dammit.

Gasping and aching in ways that shouldn’t be possible, Lloyd hauled himself up onto the top, flopping over onto his back to catch his breath. Why did killer views have to be so hard to get to?

Cole was already moving, striding towards whatever he’d wanted to show Lloyd. Lloyd blearily turned his head towards Cole, not prepared to see anything in particular—

Oh.

That was definitely… something.

A big metal… thing sat proudly atop the stone, with a whole bunch of gears and rings and big metal balls on the end of rods like some mad scientist’s evil machine or something.

Lloyd pushed himself up into a sitting position while Cole approached the metal abomination. “Am I gonna get an explanation, or… ?”

Cole stopped, still facing towards the Big Metal Thing. “It’s the Celestial Clock.” He said quietly. “It’s supposed to count down to the final battle.” Now that he said it, Lloyd could see something that looked vaguely clock-like near the center of the rings.

Lloyd frowned. “It doesn’t seem to be doing a whole lot of counting down.” Which was a relief. Lloyd would like the final battle to maybe just not happen, please and thanks.

“Yeah.” Cole stepped forwards, tracing his hand gently along one of the rings as he moved towards the center of it. “Because it hasn’t been activated yet.” He stopped at the center and put his hands on a helmet Lloyd hadn’t noticed before. “But if you remove the Helmet of Shadows…”

Lloyd stood up very fast. “Uh, Cole, what—”

“Do you trust me?” Cole’s voice cut through the air like a knife. Lloyd stopped where he stood.

“Lloyd.” Cole still didn’t turn around, “Do you trust me?”

“I—” What was the right answer here? What was Lloyd supposed to do?

“Yeah, I—I trust you.”

Cole picked up the helmet and stepped back, his back still to Lloyd. With a grind and a groan, the clock started moving. “Then you won’t worry about this.”

“But the final battle—”

“Isn’t happening.” Cole snarled. “The clock is going to run down and nothing will happen because there isn’t going to be a final battle. We are not fighting.”

Lloyd took a step back. Okay, this was definitely starting to cross the line into Not Okay. “Cole?”

All the tenseness in Cole’s shoulders dissolved. “I’m sorry.” He murmured. “You’re not talking to Cole right now.”

At that, Cole—or rather, Not-Cole?—turned around, helmet still cradled in his hands. His eyes were a brilliant, glowing violet—no iris, no pupil, just pure, deep violet that had Lloyd’s instincts screaming at him to flee from.

Immediately, Lloyd assumed a defensive stance. “What are you? What did you do to Cole?” He demanded, green lighting in his hands.

Not-Cole laughed, an eerie, broken sound. “Relax, Lloyd, I don’t intend to hurt you.” It took a step forward, but stopped when Lloyd stepped back. “Or did you not hear me when I declared that there would be no final battle?”

“You better start explaining,” Lloyd snarled, “Right now.”

Not-Cole nodded. “That is why I brought you up here, yes.” He sat down, helmet still in his lap, and gestured for Lloyd to do the same.

Lloyd dropped the stance, but stayed standing.

Not-Cole sighed. “Alright, let’s start with an introduction. I am the being known as the Overlord. I came about not long after the First Master created Ninjago, as a counterbalance to his light and order.”

Lloyd processed this, turning it over in his head. “Okay.”

The Overlord nodded, then continued. “The First Master and I engaged in a battle for control of Ninjago. What was going to be a stalemate turned in my favor when I created the Stone Army, so the First Master split Ninjago in half and sunk my half, leaving me bound to it.” It traced Cole’s hands along the edges of the helmet, gaze fixed on Lloyd.

Lloyd frowned. “So, what, you possessed Cole when we got here? Is that it?”

It chuckled. “You’re correct, but your timing is off. My vessel first arrived on this island years and years ago, when a freak stroke of luck resulted in a ship washing up here.” Cole—no, the Overlord—sighed wistfully. “I wanted off this island. My vessel was sympathetic enough to let me in.”

Lloyd tensed. “So you’ve been controlling Cole for years, then.”

“No.” Cole said, eyes suddenly back to their normal brown. “We share this body.”

“Cole.” Lloyd put his hands on Cole’s shoulders. “Are you really, truly okay with this?”

Cole nodded, sincerity in his eyes. “Made It promise not to fight you.” He muttered.

And then his eyes were violet, though not the fully obvious, solid violet of moments before. Just the irises.

“There won’t be a final battle.” It said, “That clock will count down to nothing.” It stood up, still holding the helmet. “And nothing will happen.”

Lloyd walked over, standing beside It. “How can you be so sure?”

“My vessel was never supposed to end up on this island. I was never supposed to leave it. And look at us now, sharing a single body.” It strode forwards, Cole’s arms spreading out to the sides in an sweeping gesture as It stared out into the landscape below them. “Destiny has been defied once.” It turned towards Lloyd, extending a hand. “So why bow to such a shitty destiny if you don’t have to? Why submit yourself to a fight none of us want when it’s not even necessary?”

It gestured towards the clock, which was still ticking down. “Just wait. Nothing will happen when the clock hits zero, because there won’t be a final battle. Destiny has no power over us.”

Lloyd watched the clock tick down for a moment, processing what the Overlord was telling him. Could he really trust it?

But then he remembered his father telling him that he was proud of Lloyd, as well as all the things his dad tried in order to stop the prophecy from coming true.

“Alright.” Lloyd made his decision.

“Let’s defy destiny.”

[myghostltyromanc3]

Pretty solid AU idea of the girls swapping. So, how do Marcy at the Gates, Scavenger Hunt, A Day at the Aquarium (given how now Marcy has to decide between Sasha or the Plantars), The First Temple, The Second Temple, and New Wartwood go? Heck, does Marcy end up befriending Maddie even earlier than canon during season 1?

Like I mentioned in my previous question post, i’m still figuring out how it’s plays out but I’ll give it my best shot.

1. Marcy at the Gates ( or should I say Sasha at the Gates ): Marcy finally reunites with Sasha but with the ant problem at Newtopia, She and The Plantars need to figure out how to get rid of them in order to be able enter Newtopia. Of course Sprig not trusting Sasha ( similar to the original episode ) and Sasha wanting Marcy to stay behind to keep her away from danger ( Since we all know that Marcy was very clumsy back on Earth ) however Marcy tells Sasha that she has changed since she got here and staying with the Plantars. However during the attack of the queen ant, Marcy tells Sasha that she isn’t how she was back and that her time with her frog family has really changed who she really was. Sasha admits that she really changed and decides to go in rescue Sprig ( her real reason was to rescue Sprig was so she could get Marcy by her side since in this AU she has her toxic personality and manipulation skills till True Colors ) After they return to the surface, Sprig apologizes to Sasha for his suspicions to which Sasha says it’s cool. When at the Fountain, Marcy tells Sasha that she was hoping to find her for so long and now She doesn’t know what to do. Then Sasha mentions that they both need to find Anne to which Marcy has already find they had fight with swords and explosions to then Marcy tells Sasha the reason for that was because she was the one who sent them here in the first place. Sasha at first is a bit surprised and mad but she admits to her that she has felt happy and amazed here. Then Marcy tells Sasha what’s the plan ( Since we all know that Sasha made the plans back on Earth ) to which Sasha decides that Marcy should make her own decisions since she saw that Marcy has changed. Finally Marcy shows Sasha the adventures she had while they are both being watched by the King.

2. Scavenger Hunt: Marcy has been feeling jealous on how Sasha goes for it and makes the plans so when the King sent’s a scavenger hunt, this could prove Marcy that she isn’t that smart, fantasy loving, shy person. Through the episode, Marcy tries to figure out something before Sasha only to fail. However by the end of the episode, Sasha admits that she is jealous on Marcy for her nerdy, smart thinking, and studying since Sasha really doesn’t like school, by the end Marcy solves the final clue to which reveals that the King. ( One of the few episodes I think I need to redeem :p )

3. Day at the Aquarium: With King Andrias giving info on the temples on getting the girls home, Marcy plans on heading back with the Plantars however Sasha confused and consider Marcy staying with her while the Plantars to go back to Wartwood, Which leads Marcy and The Plantars going to the Aquarium to share one final moment with each other before the family leaves and Marcy stays. However it doesn’t go as plan with the artifacts and fishes bringing them memories from their adventures. Their final attempt is a show that the Aquarium was having, however the beast turns out to a similar creature that Marcy and Sprig encounter in Best Fonds. After the family defeats the water creatures, they are kicked out of the Aquarium but they did make it the best. When the Plantars leave, Sasha decides to let Marcy go with Plantars only because to make sure the box doesn’t get lost or get stolen. Marcy happily returns to the Plantars and they all head back home. Meanwhile Sasha is actually disappointed that Marcy choose the frogs over her to then King Andrias walks over to Sasha and makes a proposal to her ( if you don’t know what it is head over to my concept drawings where I mention it )

4. The First Temple: The Gang travel to The First Temple which has dangerous and deadly challenges which studies your intelligence. Sasha warns about Marcy being "in the zone" to which Marcy reassures her. Meanwhile Marcy is dealing with her relationship with Hop Pop after the events of After the Rain, They make to the first temple to which they have their puzzle. Marcy decides to do the first puzzle which leads to disaster on the gang. After the first puzzle is complete the head into the next room, which the floor has traps with the red fire and blue crushed. Sasha is first to step on the green platform, Marcy and Hop Pop both volunteer to go only for Hop Pop to reassure Marcy that he should do it. However Marcy tells Hop Pop that she should do it since it was her fault that she put her friends and herself here in the first place. But when Marcy goes to step on, she accidentally steps on the red and blue steps. When that’s over Marcy and Hop Pop start to have a argument till they stop on the last puzzle, Sasha mentions that She sometimes plays filpwart with King only to lose to him. Marcy then decides to do this since filpwart is similar to chess, however Marcy gets "into the zone" which leads to a disaster. Similar to the talk with Anne and Hop Pop in the original episode, Marcy isn’t ready and she needs more time. Then realizing what she done, she then jumps in to save her family and friend. After saving everyone, Marcy is disappointed as she failed everyone then thinks they should again without her. But they noticed the line going to the outhouse which reveals that this is where they charged the green gem. Marcy charges the green gem and the gang head home. However Marcy doesn’t realize that she hasn’t fully charged it. ( that’s right she gets the wit gem powers in True Colors ) Meanwhile King Andrias tells the mysterious entity that they are making progress.

5. The Second Temple: ( don’t get me wrong but I haven’t got anything for this, like I’m not sure if this is the episode where we see Anne and Grime since after this episode is Barrel’s Warhammer so I’m not sure how this is going to work but I do know that the blue gem gets charged by Anne )

6. New Wartwood: While Sasha is staying at Wartwood, she wants to make great impression on the frogs ( however she’s secretly hates the frog like the original series until True Colors ) but the frogs don seem to like her, So Sasha decides to make changes to Wartwood so that the frogs like her, to Marcy mentions her that there are a few problems. After they fixed the problems, Mayor Toadstool comes over and suggestions some changes to Sasha, after that Marcy says that it may be a little too much and tells Sasha that they will warm up to her eventually but later that night Sasha decides to make more changes. Next day the village is transformed and the frogs are fascinated. But when the village sinks with the weight, Sasha and Marcy rescues the villagers and take away stuff in order to lighten the town. After the town is saved, Sasha apologizes to everyone and agrees to let them warm up to her.

7. I’m pretty sure Marcy does befriend Maddie somehow :3

( Thank you @babywonderlandwerewolf for these questions and anyone else have questions about this AU? )

[star-maiden]

Weekly Tarot Forecast

For the week of August 29th, 2020 - September 4th, 2020

This is a weekly tarot reading by zodiac sign for the collective. Please use your sun, moon or rising sign to find the message that resonates most strongly for you. May these readings serve you well in the week ahead! 💜 

♈️ Aires - Strength Reversed: We are seeing a return of energy that was present around you near the beginning of August (strength reversed was pulled for aires in the weekly forecast for the week of the 8/10/20). Repeating cards mean that the message is amplified. Aires, in this coming week it will be very important for you to play close attention to where you are placing your energy. Take care to not allow yourself to fall into patterns. If something is not working out for you, don’t waste your energy. Try a different angle, or a new endeavor completely. You have so much inner strength, and sometimes that strength is best expressed by knowing when to walk away.

♉️ Taurus - 3 of Swords: There’s some dissonant energy around you this week. You may find that there are arguments or hurt feelings among your close relationships. You may even feel that a situation is hopeless, likely due to a situation or conversation you will experience with someone close to you. This could be a warning against gossip. Taurus, remember where your power is. You are resilient and practical in your approach. There is a lot of wisdom to be had in standing your ground. If you feel that your needs are not being met, say so plainly, but take care not to be argumentative. Do not engage in petty arguments or word games with others. They won’t get you anywhere, and will likely prolong the drama. A refusal to engage in the drama is response enough, and sends a powerful message.

♊️ Gemini - 3 of Wands: There is some really big, expansive energy brewing this week! If you have been working on a project, this is the week where things are going to start really taking off. If you are considering something. your prospects are looking pretty good. Stay focused on your end goal and keep moving forward, and you should see results. This card may also indicate an opportunity. If something pops up this week and you aren’t sure if its for you, this card tells you to go for it. Take advantage of what is being offered to you, but be prepared to move beyond your comfort zone. Growth and success are likely, but you’ll need to step beyond your current beliefs and self-held limitations.

♋️ Cancer - The Empress: A world of beauty, prosperity, happiness and indulgence in the senses are your themes for this week. Overall, you should have a fairly harmonious experience. To take advantage of this Empress energy, spend some time close to home. Focus on self-care and creating an environment of elegance and luxury in whatever capacity that means for you. You may find yourself greatly benefiting from taking time to appreciate all of the beauty around you. This is an important time to to reconnect with your inner empress. What are you being called to create? How can you stay with this energy until your work is done?

♌️ Leo - The Tower: This week brings some big changes. This could be an internal change, as old beliefs and paradigms crumble away, or it could be more literal. If the latter, you may find yourself standing in the ruins of something  that was once a major part of your life. Don’t be scared of this energy. It is not inherently negative, even if it may seem like a disaster on the surface. The message of the tower is an opportunity to rebuild, reform and create something that is truly in alignment with your spirit, passion and life path. This is your clean slate. You can go anywhere  and do anything you’d like from this point. What will you build in the tower’s place? Tower energy comes into our lives when we are ready to change. The possibilities for how your future will unfold are endless. How will you choose to move forward?

♍️ Virgo - 6 of Swords: This week, brings a dream-like and peaceful energy. Any conflicts, worries or fears that you may have previously experienced are starting to fall away. Their energy has dulled, and you are now moving toward a new sense of calm. Alternatively, if you have been experiencing any negative self-talk or distracting mind chatter, this card is telling you to let that go. It simply isn’t true, and you are ready to move away from that mindset. Take some time to relax this week, either through an activity you enjoy, or something more spiritual (like meditation, yoga or by practicing mindfulness). Relax into the moment. You don’t need to act right now. See where the current takes you.

♎️ Libra - 4 of Pentacles: The energy around you is very stable this week.You should be feeling pretty secure in areas related to the material world. This could be in relation to finances, personal safety or your home space. You have worked hard to make this stability a reality for yourself, but also take care not to hold too tightly. There is the possibility of letting things get stagnant. If you find yourself unwilling to budge or reach consensus with others, it may be time to consider a different perspective. If you find yourself feeling stuck or bored, let some new ideas in and see where the fresh outlook takes you. There’s no harm in at least considering new angles. You can choose to act on them (or not) when you are ready.

♏️ Scorpio - 4 of Wands: Your home life will be at the forefront this week, and the energy is looking very supportive and stable. Keep in mind that “home life” may be your family, your living space or even the people who are closest to you. I’m hearing very strongly that, for some of you, you will be experiencing this family-like energy with roommates. Overall, it’s a very positive energy. There is a very prominent sense of safety and feeling as though you belong. All heads are working together well, and things are running smooth. Take advantage of all this support and use it as an opportunity to rest and recharge. You’re in good hands.

♐️ Sagittarius - Queen of Cups: This week, you may find yourself needing to connect with your emotions to make a choice or to see a situation in its entirety. If you encounter any difficulties, uncertainties or situations that require you to interact with others, be sure to source from within. Go deep, like the Queen of Cups, and listen to the ebb and flow of your emotions. No one knows them better than you, and you will have exceptional emotional clarity this week. Use that as your mantra. Tell yourself “I can clearly see and understand my emotions.” Let that be the light that guides you forward. Don’t try to rely solely on logic this week. A softer approach may be needed. You are strongly connected yo your inner wisdom this week. Breathe into the feeling. You’ve got this!

♑️ Capricorn - 8 of Wands: There is a lot of movement around you this week. This may be literal movement for some of you, such as travel or mobility in the work place. However, for many of you this card is referring to the movement of information. Messages are arriving and situations that were once shrouded in uncertainties are now becoming clear. Pay close attention to any signs or messages you receive this week, as they will contain important information for your benefit. If you have the opportunity to make a choice this week, do so immediately. This is not the time to be waiting around. If an opportunity presents itself, act on it. You don’t want to run the risk of missing out on something wonderful. At the same time, be sure to be sourcing your decisions on a foundation of clarity and understanding. Make sure you know what you’re doing. 8 of wands energy runs the risk of being scattered. Don’t go chasing after things willy nilly or you won’t get the results you are hoping for.

♒️ Aquarius - The Moon: This week, you may find yourself walking the delicate balance between the dream world and cold logic. You are deeply connected to your intuition this week, and that connection can be a great source of inspiration and guidance. However, it will be necessary for you to fact check at times. If something is making you react with fear, anxiety or worry, that is a sign to examine the matter a little more deeply. What is clouding your judgement? What preconceived notions or deeply held beliefs are influencing your reactions? Once you uncover the answers, the way forward will seem much more clear. Additionally, don’t allow fear to make decisions for you. You need to move beyond the literal, and get to the real heart of the matter. This may be done through questioning, soul searching or by simply being tenacious about a situation. 

♓️ Pisces - 6 of Cups: You may find yourself feeling nostalgic this week, or experiencing a deep longing for the way things used to be in the past. It is likely that these memories hold a deep sense of comfort and security for you. It’s alright to take comfort in them and to use them as a source of strength, but take care to not cling too much to the past. You may find that clinging too hard to the past will prevent you from moving forward. We all reminisce at times, but do not forget that your power resides in the present moment. For better or worse, we cannot change the past. It is in the present moment that you can determine where you life will lead you. Take action steps that align you with what you want to achieve.