#2. eaten by a carnis

[banukai]

The new layout of my room is basically the perfect hunting grounds for a VC Mimic.

[auspicioustidings]

Lost Boys

Summary: Shameless COD Lost Boys AU as an excuse to try writing some smut because @ohbo-ohno has been killing me.

Words: 3.7k

CW: Dubcon bordering on noncon, rough sex

One thing about Santa Carla she could not stomach? All the damn locals.

She was used to working in Coney Island and she had thought this boardwalk out in California wouldn't be much different. She had been immediately proven wrong when she had arrived a week ago, moving in to a falling apart cabin out on the edge of town that Keegan had sworn up and down would be her dream home if she was willing to fix it up. He hadn't really explained how he came to own the place, but then he was the definition of a carny if she ever knew there to be one. She was pretty sure there wasn't one amusement park that man had not worked at, although conversations always seemed to draw back to Santa Carla.

It wasn't like his charming convincing had been the only reason she'd found herself here. She loved Coney Island, had practically grown up on the Thunderbolt, was damn near inconsolable when they shut it 5 years ago. But Coney Island now was not the same as the one she grew up with, everyone who worked there felt it. The rides were falling apart, closing or being torn down. Two people she knew had been shot this year alone. The place turned into an open air brothel at night it felt like, and not in the fun way back when it had all been music and moonlight and sex and rock and roll. It was sad.

Plus she was dirt poor, the decline of the amusements meaning she wasn't picking up as much work. If Keegan had wormed his way into her head with all his talk about how dangerous a neighbourhood she lived in, how much safer an actual house would be, how if someone would renovate it he wouldn't even charge rent because it would really help him out since he was currently travelling, well then she had been stupid enough not to pick up on the obvious trap.

Falling apart and very eerily decorated cabin aside, her first day on the Boardwalk felt like a series of increasing red flags. She loved the scent of the place, the bright cars grinding against their chains as they were dragged bodily up to the summit of the coaster under the hot sun, the sticky sweetness of candy apples being cut through with the salt the surfers dragged with them from the sea, the slight undertone of something mischievous, something even sinister. Any boardwalk she had been to had that same undercurrent, the same lurking sense of danger that sent her heartbeat running in excitement. This one it was dialled all the way to 11.

"Oi chiquita! I've not seen you around here before."

She turned. Surfer, well 2 of them actually. The one who had spoken was older than her in a way that really made his handsomeness cause her to scold herself. No sleeping with older men on your first day in a new city, even if the accent was like molasses. The one next to him was younger. Both incredible looking if she was honest, Keegan had not been kidding when he had said the people in Santa Carla were deathly attractive.

"Maybe I'm a tourist" she replied.

"Ah a pretty thing like you visiting all alone? You'll get eaten right up" said the other, both of them looking at her with an amusement over a joke she was not in on.

"Good thing I'm so bitter then, reckon I'll get spat right back out."

They laughed and she kept a light look of friendly amusement on her face, internally thinking that these guys were rude as fuck. She near jumped out of her skin when she felt a breath at her neck, whipping her head around to find a female surfer had sniffed at her throat.

"Ella huele dulce, ella sabrá más dulce" the newcomer purred.

"Atrás Valeria" the older man snapped.

"You're so up tight Alejandro" Valeria laughed meanly before turning to look at her, eyes dragging up and down in heated appraisal. "If you get bored of them, you'll come find me won't you dalzura?"

With that the woman sauntered off towards the beach, all arrogance and sex appeal. It wasn't like she hadn't heard her fair share of pick-up lines and come ons, it was practically a given when you worked at places like these, but it was rarer for a woman to come on to her and rarer still for the woman to have such an aggression about her. She'd be lying if it didn't cause a little spark of excitement to zip up her spine.

Alejandro and the other man watched Valeria go with something like suspicion.

"Be careful after dark, the boardwalk gets crowded with all sorts" the younger man said with a knowing wink.

"If you're still around tomorrow in the sunshine, me and Rudy will be on the waves" Alejandro added before they both took off after Valeria, seemingly intent on getting into some sort of fight.

Odd trio she thought, but most people who lived near places like this were. The locals only got odder as the day went on.

An absolute giant of a man in a hood whose eyes had narrowed in on her when she passed him, an exhibit in a freak show. The chains on him must have been for show, but the way they strained when he had lunged at her actually did make her jump.

The Southern man who seemed to have some sort of control over all of the game stalls, told her when she had tried out the ring toss that his shadows had been telling him she had won most of the games she had tried but not taken any prizes. It ran a chill up her spine the way he eyed her when he introduced himself, the name Graves spilling off his tongue like whisky.

The one who actually gave her a job, Alex, seemed normal enough, the only thing out of the ordinary being a false leg. Well normal enough until it became apparent he was very knowledgeable about Santa Carla being the murder capital of the world. She didn't like that he spoke about it like it was something exciting, but as long as she had money in hand to operate a carousel she could overlook his quirks. He told her she could work the evening shift after watching her carefully run through things, proving that this was all familiar to her. This one had brass rings, she knew she'd probably spend her evening ducking out of the way of them when rowdy ride goers decided they would rather hit someone than redeem the ring for a free ride.

--

With the last wash of sunlight she wandered the shops around the area, sliding into a video store just as night fell to see if she couldn't find something to watch when she would get home after her first shift. Maybe Hellraiser was out on VHS now, she had missed it in the theatre and Keegan had told her it was fun.

"Hello there. John Price, how can I help?"

Back in New York it wasn't uncommon to hear a British accent, but this was the first one she had heard here. The man it came from was tall and had a hell of a beard. Bit eccentric looking with a fishing hat on his head, but with the people she was coming across today that seemed par for the course.

"Hi sir! Is Hellraiser out yet?" she asked as politely as she could muster. She knew that she was as much a carny as Keegan and that it tended to make respectable older people intensely dislike her from the get go if she didn't do everything to assure them she was an upstanding young lady.

"Horror fan?"

"A friend recommended it, to be honest I'm not sure what it's about."

She heard the bell going off, more people coming into the store. Her eyes caught on them, not least because one of them was in a skull mask. Tall as well, God so many people on this Boardwalk dwarfed her. Mr Price reacted very much like he knew them and was keeping an eye on them. The one with the mohawk was staring openly at her, leaning over to whisper something to the one with the moustache. Probably trouble makers, young men who lived in the area and were generally a nuisance on the Boardwalk. It got her back up a little, she had always hated people like them bullying everyone else, menacing businesses in the area because they were bored.

Mr Price had his arms crossed as him and the masked one stared at one another. To try de-escalate whatever this was she put a hand gently to one of his forearms.

"I'm happy to take any recommendations from you though."

Her attempt both worked and failed. Mr Price did turn his attention back to her, giving her a soft smile that all but made her melt. He seemed like a genuinely lovely man, the first one of the day. It was somewhat ruined by the boisterous laughter of the one with the mohawk.

"Look at this wee lassie, speaking all bonnie" he laughed, his rumbling accent and mocking putting her firmly in a place between annoyed and aroused.

He took a few steps forward, getting into her space. God he didn't half loom over her and he was not even the tallest man here. With him on one side of her and Mr Price on the other she felt like a prey animal. She could not tear her eyes away from the Scottish man as he grinned down at her. He was magnetic in the way watching an acrobat was, it felt like someone could die at any moment but she couldn't help but look. His rough hand carded through her hair and settled at her neck and she was sure he was about to kiss her. There was something terrifying about his presence the more she was in it, if he kissed her she thought her fight or flight might fail her and go instead to freeze.

"That's enough" Mr Price said, snapping her out of the odd trance she felt she was in. "You have a shift to get to love, on you go" he continued, putting a firm hand to the small of her back and steering her a little to get her moving towards the door.

The other man only moved when the one in the mask wrapped a gloved hand around the back of his neck, squeezing like she imagined someone would do to an errant mutt. It wasn't until she was out in the open air and gulping in breaths that she realised she had never told Mr Price she had a shift that evening. Word must travel fast here she supposed.

--

Her first night on the Boardwalk had put her out of her mind. God it was like being punched in the face with the ghost of what Coney Island should have been; swarmed with bodies that choked out all the oxygen, making it difficult to breathe anything that wasn't thick with the taste of the writhing masses. It made her sick in a way that bordered on delirium.

The carousel was always full, the music throbbing all the way into her molars. The bright colours flooding with artificial light meant she couldn't see much beyond the machine, feeling like she existed on a tiny island of horses and bodies. Touch was the only sense she felt she could trust now, a sensation that was what made her fall in love with this line of work in the first place. She would drag her hands past the horses, grip the brass rings so tight it made her knuckles white before returning them to the dispenser for the next person to try their hand, walk against the direction of the floor just to feel the breeze prickle goosebumps on her skin.

The hand on her arm felt searing hot.

"There you are, didn't even introduce yourself before you were running off like a scared little doe."

The man in the skull mask had a voice like gravel, speaking right into her ear to be heard over the music. It made it feel intimate knowing that the sound of him would not travel to anyone else, that it was only for her. She could not let him know that she was scared of him, of any of them. If she was going to work here, she needed the locals to know she could hold her own, that she wasn't someone for them to mess around with.

"I'm not scared, certainly not of you" she lied, puffing out her chest.

"Prove it."

He left her standing there dumbstruck, shaking and feeling slick between her legs from the way he had growled it into her ear. The moment he was off of the carousel it was like he had melted into the crowd beyond. Alex showed up at some point, she didn't know how long it had been, and told her that he would take over. His eyes were bright and excited and it made her want to throw up.

--

He was waiting for her, the skull mask man. Her stomach was doing flips at the sight of him on a bike. She thought it might fully turn itself inside out when the Scottish man materialised behind her, pressing his nose to her pulse point before tugging at her earlobe with his teeth. Sharp, they felt sharp.

"Ghost says yer naw a fraidey cat, reckons you'd be willing to prove it" he cooed into her ear, big hands wrapping around her waist and lifting her onto the back of the bike behind Ghost. "Better hold on, he's naw going tae go slow."

Before she could get herself right back off of the bike one of Ghost's hands grabbed her arm, wrenching it around his waist and holding it there in a vice grip. When the bike took off she had little choice but to wrap the other arm around to avoid being thrown off, screaming into his ear to let her go. He did, putting his second hand back to the handles. At the speed they were going it didn't help, she had to keep clinging. She heard the howling of the Scottish man, on his own bike speeding along next to them.

She was scared out of her mind but the solidness of the body she was wrapped around and the hard vibrating of the seat between her legs was torturous in a way that was so sickeningly incompatible with her fear.

When they stopped she was dazed, trying to resist the whine that wanted to escape when the engine cut out and the bike stilled beneath her. The body in front of her shifted, moving until he was sat facing her. She put her hands to his shoulders, meaning to use them as leverage to push herself up and off the bike but instead The Scottish man pushed her back down from behind, his hand quickly moving from her shoulders down her front.

"Fuck baby, ye enjoy that huh? Could see ye grinding down whenever Si revved up" he groaned, groping roughly at her tits.

This was wrong, she should not be here. She should not be doing this. The adrenaline was so she could get out of this situation, not so she could moan loudly when his fingers found her nipple and fucking twisted.

"I already know you're soaked, can smell it pet" Ghost said, almost cruel, before biting off a glove and shoving a hand into her pants. He stroked two fingers up the length of her cunt, making sure his nail caught her clit the second time and laughing at her when she cried out at the sensation. Watching him withdraw his hand and show his glistening fingers to the man behind her made humiliation burn through her.

"Open up Johnny."

She was caught in the middle of them as Johnny took Ghost's fingers in his mouth, moaning as he messily suckled her off of them. There was no music here, no crowds to cover the noises of Johnny sloppily choking himself on Ghost's fingers, his saliva dripping onto her shoulder.

"Please Si, please let me eat her" he begged around Ghost's fingers and fuck if that didn't make her clench.

"Patience Johnny" Ghost scolded in response, withdrawing his fingers and grabbing at her jeans, pulling them off of her. It was a little awkward with how they were positioned, but once he got one leg off of her foot he just left her jeans dangling from the other, not bothering to get them all the way off now that he had the access he wanted.

The cool night air smacked onto her bare skin like an open palm. He rucked up her shirt next, pushing her down until her lower back hit the bike in the process so that her head was hanging off the end, lined right up with Johnny's dick which was visibly straining against his pants.

She tried to bring herself back up only to scream when a hand slapped hard onto her pussy, the thin fabric of her soaked panties doing little to soften the blow.

"Stay fucking still doll unless I tell you otherwise" Ghost growled at her.

He didn't take her panties off, just shoved them out of the way so he could spear two fingers into her. She yelped, trying to move back but only managed to grind her face against Johnny who growled long and low.

"So fucking tight" Ghost hissed, pumping his fingers in and out, "Johnny get her to relax would you?"

She could hardly breathe when Johnny leaned over her, clothed dick pushing relentlessly against her face, so that he could grip onto her hips and start lapping at her clit over her panties. She weakly pounded her fists against his thighs but if he could feel it then he wasn't reacting, seemingly lost in the task at hand.

"That's it, such a little slut for it, making a fucking mess of my bike."

It was overwhelming, the lack of oxygen, the feeling of Johnny sucking and licking at her clit like he was made for it, the fingers pistoning in and out, Ghost's degrading. Her hips tried desperately to buck up but Johnny only growled like an animal and held them roughly down as she came, not letting up for even a second.

The tears were streaming from her eyes by the time they made her cum again, a delicious stretch coming from Ghost adding a third finger. Johnny was rock hard against her face, rutting into her and starting to whine.

"Si, please. Please I'll be good. I'll be so good. Need her bonnie mouth around my cock or I'm gonna die. Please" he begged incoherently.

She was boneless when Johnny stood, giving her some breathing room. The pathetic whine she gave when Simon's fingers left her cunt should have been embarrassing, but she was barely able to formulate a full thought. The sound of clothing being adjusted should have been the first clue that they were nowhere near done. The sight of a throbbing cock at her lips was a pretty big second one.

"Come on, there ye go lass, fuuuuuck that's it" Johnny hissed as he pushed himself into her mouth. Nobody had ever been in her mouth at this angle, her head dangling upside down. He kept pushing in even when her panic response set in at the intrusion, hands battering against his legs and she gagged around him and tried to shift away, further towards where Ghost was sitting.

She screamed around the cock in her throat when Ghost rammed himself into her.

"I said stay fucking still!" he growled, leaving no time for adjustment before setting a hard and fast pace, every thrust sending her jolting back onto Johnny's dick.

Fuck it was so much, she was so full, she couldn't fucking breathe. Johnny had a hand around her throat, feeling his own bulge there as he fucked in and out of her.

"Steamin' Jesus, you take cock like a fucking dream bonnie."

The reverence he said it with sent her hurtling towards another orgasm, the pain still just on the side of pleasure.

"Fucking slut, trying to milk me aren't you? Want me to cum in this pretty little cunt and knock you up doll? Is that it?"

"Fuck Si, need tae cum, please let me cum."

Ghost was growling, not giving her a break as he fucked her through her orgasm to the point that the overstimulation was painful. Johnny's thrusts were erratic now, making it even harder to figure out when to breathe.

"Earn it, make her cum again."

She was pretty sure she would die if she came again, but Johnny leaned over her body and went right back to work, slobbering all over her clit as Ghost continued to mercilessly piston in and out of her. She tried to squirm, tried to do anything to get Johnny's mouth the fuck off of her. The hand around her throat squeezed.

"Fucking take it" he growled against her clit, a sharp sting from an incisor grazing against it jolting her before he sucked hard. She howled around his cock and felt herself squeeze hard against Ghost's as she saw stars.

"That's it, good fucking girl" Ghost hissed, burying himself to the hilt and letting that delicious squeeze milk him dry inside her.

She was so thoroughly fucked out that when Johnny came down her throat she couldn't swallow, just choking and sputtering as she hung limply off of the bike. When hands gently pushed her back up so she was sat upright the blood all rushing back down from her head made her pass out.

It could have been seconds or hours later when she screamed herself back into consciousness, feeling the sharp sting of teeth sinking into the flesh of her throat.

[fivenightsatghosts]

Help wanted 2 spoilers!!

Okay I don't know if this has already been considered or not, but I have a theory of who the second candy cadet story is about

The two takes I've seen is either Vanessa or Cassie, which is absolutely fair and valid bc it does make sense! But I feel like there's problems with both interpretations

The story is basically, a young girl is tricked by a witch's friendly voice and barely escapes being eaten but is scarred for the rest of her life. Then when she grows up she seeks revenge, a young boy helps to guide her through the woods, and at the end we learn she was tricked again, and the witch finally has her meal

Here's my problems with both interpretations

Vanessa. Most of this works, I won't lie to you! I was willing to believe it up until "the oven door closed, the witch would finally have her meal." We do see Vanessa get possessed, or "scarred" for life, and we see her seek revenge, potentially accompanied by a young boy to some extent, however we don't get any clear indication that she fails this goal, as the only time we clearly see her is the princess quest 4 ending, where she's successful

Tldr, most of it fits, but I don't think the ending does

With Cassie, the second half of the story fits to a T! She's led by a young boy who's later revealed to have been a trick to lead her to the mimic, who, as the first half of the story says, she barely escapes from. However, the story clearly states a past encounter with the witch that left her scarred, and it's only after a significant amount of time, now with the "confidence of age and wisdom" that she comes back to get revenge. As far as we know, Cassie never encountered the mimic before ruin, and she's still a young child when she does encounter it. And considering we see her in the basic ending getting the mask the timeline doesn't match up either

Tldr, only pieces of the story fit, and important details such as her age definitely do not

SO, who do I think the story could be about

First thing to consider, the player character could potentially be who it's about, as the player can't be vanny since we see her as a separate entity, and I don't think it's cassie as the game seems to be set pre-ruin (in the real/non-AR world sun and moon are in a similar state Cassie found them in before turning them back into eclipse, for one). And then in the basic faz tron ending, the player is then attacked by, supposedly, glitchtrap/mimic controlling the nightmare bots, which could be the witch finally getting her meal, but, the player has no known correlation with the rest of the story right?

Well

Who says the characters in the story have to be a 1 to 1? The witch is certainly a different concept from mimic, so in theory the woman's gender doesn't have to be relevent, and that opens up more options

So my thought process here was, is there any other character who we know for sure has gotten "scarred" by glitchtrap/mimic in the past, and we can reasonably assume to still be alive/likely to come back?

Help wanted Jeremy.

From what we understand he was the first known character to interact with glitchtrap, and it ended with the paper slicer incident, that sure as hell will leave a scar. And I'm not sure we know how many years its been between both help wanted games, but I feel it's safe to assume it's been enough time for him to have grown a bit, even if more so mentally than physically, and want to put an end to glitchtrap. And then let's say he's the player character, and the basic ending is the witch getting her meal.

(I'll be honest, I don't know how the young boy would play into this interpretation, so, this is by no means a perfect solution)

But also, there's the evidence that the player is Cassie's dad

Carnie saying "You look like you got kids, win a prize for the little one!" Freddy saying "you are a fazbear technician, are you not?" Which I get is played off as a joke but considering mystic Hippo says "the key is familiar to you" in refrence to the faz wrench, I feel like there's merit to it, plus the fact that the player has a vanni mask, which is a fazbear technician thing.

But the biggest thing, to me, is the secret Bonnie mask, which appears with the text "this feels familiar" and it gives you an achievement titled "remember Jeremy"

Cassie's dad's favorite is said to be Bonnie, and "remember Jeremy" is pretty straightforward I'd say.

So, anyway, I don't have a coherent conclusion to this, I've never written out a theory before so take it easy on me lol, but I had an epiphany in the shower today and needed to share it! I don't have anyone to bounce ideas off of as of right now so if anyone has any additional ideas or counter points (respectfully!) I'd love hear it! :)

[bracketsoffear]

Godrick the Grafted (Elden Ring) "By dismembering someone and attaching/grafting their body parts to his own form or one of his creations, they gain the resulting limb's properties. Godrick's rampant grafting especially on himself has turned him into a shambling mass of limbs. In addition to having at least six fingers on what are presumably his natural arms, Godrick has grafted dozens of arms onto his back and dozens of legs onto his legs. If that wasn't bad enough, in his second phase, he cuts off his own left arm and fuses a dragon's head to it. It’s for this reason that his epithet was changed from "the Golden" to "the Grafted". Disrespected by his subjects and never commanded as much respect as the other demigods due to only being distantly related to their godly lineage, producing a raging inferiority complex that drove him to depracvity in order to “prove” himself. He has slaughtered thousands of people and literally grafted their limbs to his horrible, malformed body, has torture chambers full of bags of human remains in his castle, chops off his own arm and sticks the bare bloody nub into a nearby corpse at the start of his second phase, and cackles like a maniac all throughout his fight with the Tarnished. Also, judging by the contents of the kitchen and dining hall at Stormveil, Godrick and the other Grafted regularly eat the leftovers of their victims once they've taken all the valuable limbs. Godrick has his followers conduct hunts for the Tarnished so they may be sacrificed and be grafted onto the Grafted Scions, chaotic messes of limbs and body parts—at least 2 torsos (with one being as large as a Troll's), several limbs held together by the hands, random feathers strewn about its sides, and a small bird wing, with a young noble being the head in the center. Represents fears of cannibalism, mutilation, being slaughtered for meat, bodies being twisted/reshaped/butchered, and insecurity."

The Giant Meat Snake (Vita Carnis) "Technically meat snakes are a category of creature within the alternate Earth world of Vita Carnis, but the specific Meat Snake I’m referring to is the one that engorged itself on a bunch of WWII corpses and was only discovered because it ended up clogging a sewer. Meat Snakes are worm-like creatures made entirely of living meat. Unlike some of the Other creatures of Vita Carnis (who are better-fit for other entities), Meat Snakes don’t consume living matter, making them very useful for things like corpse disposal. The more meat they consume, the bigger and stronger they become. They also sometimes wear the skulls of the animals/people they’ve eaten like Halloween masks. Vita Carnis as a series in general is Very Flesh-core, but the giant WWII Meat Snake feels like the best candidate for becoming a Flesh Avatar."

[psychicdreamfriendoperator]

Remember the Flesh of the Bones: The Black Market’s Respect for the Eaten

Hello all! I was inspired to write this by two scenes in the manga:

1) The scene where Agata calls Melon out for being disrespectful (context: Melon offhandedly mentioned that he doesn't even know what he's eating);

2) The scene where Legoshi takes Haru into a shop that sells rabbit meat, and reveals that a priest comes often to pray for the bodies.

That isn't much to go off of, and this isn't really a long post as a result, but I figured I’d try my hand at writing something nonetheless. I hope this is enjoyable (and if anyone has anything else to add ... please do!)

— Psychic

intro

As pro-carnivore activists try to break the stigma surrounding the consumption of meat, more eyes than ever are pointed at the Back Alley Market. At first glance, the BAM appears to be a case study of all that is wrong in society. At second glance however, it is evident that the attitudes towards meat consumption dffer in the BAM when compared to the rest of society.

In the BAM, meat consumption is seen as a respectful act, and a way for the departed to serve a purpose even in death.

bones remember the flesh

There is an old superstition that purports that the deceased remember core elements about themselves.

There is disagreement over what qualifies as a ‘core element’, it is generally believed that the deceased’s: 1) species, 2) age at the time of death and 3) sex are an integral part of a person's being, even in death.

This belief informs much of the habits surrounding the consumption of meat, including, for example, what parts of the body are ‘disrespectful’ to consume.

In summary: the deceased remember the most important parts of themselves, even in death. By treating their bodies with respect, the deceased are honoured properly.

bones remember the flesh cont’d

Species:

Certain stereotypes should be honoured when consuming meat.

Cats, who are popularised as favouring mice, are the most ‘suited’ to eat mice meat.

By eating the meat of their prey-counterpart, the predator gives the prey animal a respectful send-off.

It is difficult to come up with a proper comparison, but imagine two enemies who have fought against each other for eons. It's considered best if one person ends the other, or vice versa — doing so marks a befitting end for the defeated.

Though this is considered a core element of the deceased, it is seldom observed.

—

Age at the time of death:

While it is not considered taboo to eat the meat of a young animal (assuming the meat is sourced legally, from say, a funeral home), these are generally eaten at more solemn events.

In other words: the meat of a young animal is a delicacy all on its own.

Meat from young animals tends to be prepared in a more bland manner: fewer seasonings. It's more likely to be boiled or baked rather than fried or barbecued.

It varies from person to person, but, generally, people try especially hard not to waste any meat taken from a young animal — it's seen as extremely ungrateful and disrespectful.

—

Sex:

As a rule of thumb, private parts (reproductive organs especially) are generally thrown away rather than eaten. It's considered indecent to eat them.

the cycle of beasts

The ‘cycle of beasts’ is a school of thought that reframes predation as a natural act, that is neither good nor bad.

In summary: It is the destiny of certain animals (usually prey, though predators are also included) to die so that others may live.

Though the ‘predation is a natural act’ point rubs many people the wrong way, it simply means that predation, as it occurs now, is the natural consequence of the way meat consumption is demonized.

Followers of this school of thought point to the fact that predation itself is a very recent crime, being almost non-existent prior to the Carni-Herbi war.

Indeed, the number of recorded predations spiked when social norms began to view meat consumption in any form as a faux pas.

The cycle of beasts also suggests that consuming meat fulfils the deceased's purpose, and also avoids the body being treated disrespectfully.

[marisramblings]

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a Mess

(Did no one reread the script?)

The Good

The animation is lovely. Let’s get that out of the way. I love stop motion. Pinocchio’s design is fantastically creepy, he’s an annoying little shit, and I liked the death aspects. Positives are done.

The Bad

The plot of this movie is terrible. The story beats and characters aren’t fleshed out, the plot progression is clunky, and the music was unneeded. This movie is about 2 hours long, more than enough time to tell a wonderful story with characters that are good. I felt nothing during the finale because the relationships were not developed.

Let’s start at the beginning. We have a younger Geppetto and his first son, Carlo. The mom and wife? Dead. It’s a cute opening, skip some stuff, Carlo gets blown up and only Carlo, I think. Maximum sadness, etc.etc. Geppetto, understandably, becomes a drunk and is miserable for 5-10 years. A tree grew in the time between Carlo’s death and Pinocchio existing. No one in town seems to have consoled him in any way, but that’s not really a criticism of the movie. He goes all Victor Frankenstein and a creepy blue fairy thing brings our puppet to life. There’s also a talking cricket who I think is just there because the original had one. He’s not magic. There’s just a walking, talking cricket that reads, writes and plays violin. The monkey can also talk, through puppets, but mostly speaks in monkey gibberish. I’m more okay with that than the cricket; I can’t tell you why. It’s a “kids’ movie” but that is doing the work of gods.

The movie sets itself up to be a story of Geppetto working through his grief and accepting that Pinocchio is not Carlo. Pinocchio is learning how to be a real boy. We have one day of him going to school. He is then picked up by an evil carnie. We spend more time with that than developing the relationship between our protagonists. I’m not against this plot point, I just think it could’ve been shortened or been the main focus. I didn’t get a sense of time progressing with Pinocchio and Geppetto interacting in close proximity. Pinocchio dies, we get an interesting death sequence, and then runs away to join the circus because of a contract. I’m paraphrasing. Geppetto misses Pinocchio and I don’t know why. It’s been a week. Am I supposed to believe that this man cares about a living puppet this much so quickly? He travels Italy to find him. With how much history plays a role in the background, you’d think a talking puppet would be burned by the catholic town. Anyway, a whale eats him. The cricket is eaten as well, but I don’t care. He gives a few unearned speeches. He’s trying to live inside Pinocchio. That was a thing.

The movie still has an hour at this point. All of this could’ve been stretched out so we could truly experience this journey.

Anyway, Pinocchio makes fun of Mussolini and is killed. Then the secondary villain kidnaps him so he can fight in the war. We have a brief interlude where Pinocchio spends one day at a training camp and Candlewick, son of 2nd villain, has his character arc. Then the camp is bombed. Candlewick seems more concerned for the puppet he first attempted to incinerate than his dead dad and falls of the face of the earth. Evil carnie comes back, dies, Pinocchio and his new monkey pal get eaten by the whale. The time wasted on fridging Geppetto and Pinocchio’s foray into war would’ve been better spent developing their relationship. While I enjoy the historical perspective, shoehorning in a lesson on “facism is bad” was unneeded. You don’t have the time. The whale is there because of the original story. It could’ve have worked.

Anyway, they escape, Pinocchio dies blowing up Brendan Fraser, and sacrifices his immortality to save his dad. I don’t mind this, I just wish we had a little more focus on the afterlife aspect of the film. It’s really interesting. For some reason, Pinocchio dies despite having no lungs or a heart. Cricket gives an unearned speech to make the fairy bring him back. Seriously, what did Sebastian actually do? He spends most of the film with Geppetto. He taught Pinocchio two things??? At least they were self aware enough to mention it.

The Opinion

I like the movie, and I see it’s potential, but nothing was earned. If its time was better distributed, I think this movie would be a fantastic adaptation with a beautiful story. We spent time on a side character who was barely relevant and literally disappears with no resolution. Fascism also disappears. No one came for the talking puppet? Pinocchio fosters no relationships with the townspeople, he has no discernible arc because immortality wasn’t something he desperately wanted, so…

No one read this damn script. We are thrown lessons that aren’t learned by the characters, plots are dropped like stones and once again, what happened to Candlewick? Did he die? Why don’t we see him grieve over his father?

Score: 4/10 this might’ve worked as a limited series.

Post Script:

Fuck the cricket. What did he actually do? Why is he such a major part?

Don’t give me shit about Pinocchio trading his life to save Geppetto. He was alive and drowned. How does that work???

[myinconnelly1]

Poe Reads a Newspaper Pt 1

There is a lot going on with this particular fic.  Please note that it is a completely original work, and that none of the characters will be known to anyone.  

I think you can read it without knowing anything in advance other than the fact that it takes place in a circus.  The main characters are all carnies.

Let me know if you have any thoughts.... i am working this out still:

Update 1: I have made some adjustment/added more so that hopefully it will give you more insight as to what is going.  But probably just more questions.

update 2: thanks to @the-fox-den​ for their help getting more stuff worked out!!

update 3:  shits gonna be bad....

W/C: 7,044 (oh my god....)

A big thank you to @firefly-in-darkness​ for the use of her magic divider!!!

@donnaintx @perfectluminarylight

Friday night

April 8

8:30 pm

“Hey,” Arthur says to Emily after his small top show. “You’re Emily right, with the skeletons?”

“Yeah,” Emily blushes as she realizes that he saw her watching his show. “Sorry for stalking your show.”

“Nah it’s cool,” He says putting an arm around her back to usher her away from the stage. “You’re with Vincent right?” He asked sounding nonchalant.

“It’s not like that,” Emily brushes off and takes a step away to face him. “I mean he is like that, but not with me.” She crosses her arms protectively to conceal her body.

“His loss,” Arthur chuckles letting his hand caress her cheek. A shiver runs through her body as the cool metal of his ring made contact with her skin. “Wanna get dinner with me after your last show?”

“Sure,” Emily flushes and looks around quickly to see if they are being watched seeming almost paranoid.

Friday night

April 8

11:30 pm

“Vincent seems very protective of you,” Arthur says as they sit outside in front of his trailer when they returned from the waffle house.

“He’s like an older brother,” Emily says with a small sigh. “He saved me when my world came crashing down on me.”

“We’ve all been there,” Arthur laughs ruefully. He puts his hand out and runs his fingers over her scarred skin. “Did you hurt anyone else?” he asked very quietly.

Emily jerked away from his touch, looking at him in obvious pain.

“Me too,” Arthur said as he looked down at the ground. “Maybe you should go home for the night.”

“Wait!” Emily jumped from where she had been sitting and reached out to grab his shoulder as he moved to go inside of his trailer.

“Why are you here, Emily? Vincent hates me. You know he’d be mad if you were here. Hell, he was pissed that we were at the same restaurant.” Arthur sighed as he took a step closer to her. “Are you here to prove something to yourself?” Emily could feel Arthur touching her mind, sensing the emotions that were just under the surface.

“What are you looking for?” She asked as he reached out and carded his fingers through her hair. That thrill of being near him hit her again. It was like all of the best moments of her life being lived in that moment. She felt in touch with her femininity and felt her blood pound through her.

“Something real,” He whispered before leaning down to kiss her lips. Fireworks exploded from her skin and electricity sparked on her lips. The forbidden kiss with the tenderness of his lips caused her to spiral out of control as he brought her into his trailer. Her skin was hot and only his touch soothed her fever.

He was still in bed when she woke up early the next morning. She slipped out of bed and back into her clothes. It was a mistake to have stayed with him. Arthur was right that Vincent hated him. Emily scurried out in the very early morning light running back to her trailer. Her stomach roiled as she contemplated the consequences of what she had done. Vincent would be furious. He might not be willing to teach her anymore.

She made it back to her bathroom and threw up what felt like everything that she had ever eaten before. Her body shook as the emotions of everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours crashed down on her. She needed to put space between herself and Vincent and Arthur. She couldn’t tell Vincent about what had happened and she had to make sure that nothing happened with Arthur again. She washed and put on clean clothes with the intent of going to see Harry. He could help her.

Friday Night

April 15

7 pm

~wanna meet up? My show just ended

Emily sighed as she saw Tommy’s text message. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him. He was fun when he was in the spotlight. But that applied to every situation. She just needed to be with someone and not be a show. Someone real.

She huffed as she realized she was thinking of Arthur. 

~I need time to myself tonight. Ghost stuff…

She was leaning on the crutch, but he didn’t know any better. Besides knowing her luck it would end up being ghost stuff. She needed to get all of this under control.

“Fuck,” She cursed under her breath as she realized she was at Arthur’s door. She wanted to slap herself. She reached out and knocked on the door. A shiver ran through her at the thought that he might open the door and want to see her. Her hand ran over her arm in a comforting motion similar to the way that he had touched her arm.

Nothing happened. The door didn’t open. She didn’t bask in the ray of light coming from inside the trailer as he swept her into a scorching kiss. She scoffed at her own betrayed thought, feeling all the self-deprecation and self-loathing she had felt when she left his trailer last time.

She fought to hold back her tears as she stumbled back to her trailer almost making it before she heard screaming. She scrubbed at her cheeks and took off running towards the mayhem.

Saturday

April 16

9 pm

“No sleeping on the job,” Vincent chides with a small chuckle as Emily sits bolt upright in the dim light of the haunted house. “Stephanie thought you might like some popcorn,” he says as he places the small container from the concession stand in front of her.

“You know I don’t like popcorn,” Emily huffs dramatically as she pops a piece into her mouth. “It just makes a mess on everything and gets stuck in my teeth.”

“Yeah, then you might get caught with a real mess on your hands,” Vincent teases as he kisses the top of her head.

“You’re jokes are better because you bring me crappy food that your girlfriend made you get.” She looks from Vincent to Stephanie. “Thanks anyway.”

“It’s not like he gets it for me,” Stephanie smiles bumping against Emily’s side.

“I get popcorn for you all the time!” Vincent defends hysterically while the girls break down laughing and Emily throws a piece of popcorn at Vincent.

“Hey Steph, did Vincent tell you about what me and Tommy are working on? There’s gonna be a dragon!” Emily’s eyes light up as she starts to describe the illusion that she and Tommy had started creating.

“I really think Harry did you a favor, setting you up with Tommy,” Vincent said. 

“This haunted house is lame!” Some kid yelled as he and several friends started to head to the exit.

“Stephanie, remind Vincent that he doesn’t have a say in the kinds of guys I see,” Emily teased half-heartedly.

“Hey losers!” The kid from the ride shouted at them. “The ghosts aren’t real and your attraction sucks!”

“Uh-oh,” Emily whispered looking from Stephanie to Vincent and taking a step backward.

“Hey, Stephanie, he doesn’t know any better,” Vincent said reaching out to soothe her.

“Vincent, don’t!” Emily shouted reaching out to grab her friend and pull him away from the ghost. Vincent threw his arm defensively around Emily as the box of popcorn exploded and pieces went everywhere.

“You fucking kids don’t know the first things about the dead!” Stephanie’s shadow shouted at them.

“Oh fuck! A Ghost!” The teens shouted as they ran away.

“Okay, you scared them, that’s enough,” Vincent said reaching out to his girlfriend.

“Look out!” Emily screamed as she spread her arms and created a barrier between Stephanie and Vincent that even death couldn’t touch.

“Emily stop!” Vincent shouted as Emily struggled to hold the wall. “You're going to hurt yourself. Stephanie tell her!”

The look on the shadow’s face softened as Emily strained to keep her grip on her magic and keep it from crashing down on her.

“Emily you need to stop,” Stephanie said as she became herself again. “I won’t hurt anyone.” Vincent came up from behind Emily and pulled her into a comforting hug as they collapsed in front of the haunted house.

“Very dramatic,” one of the other wraiths that lived in the house said as he saw the two mages on the ground.

“Fuck off,” Emily huffed in exhaustion. “See I told you I hated popcorn. Nothing good there,” She giggled as she tossed a piece that had fallen on the ground. “Now Cotton Candy, that’s a different story.”

“I can totally get behind cotton candy,” Vincent said holding her tightly. Emily allowed herself a moment in his arms. A moment when he might not have been her older brother like he tried so hard to think of himself.

“Isaac, what are we doing here?” Emily asked as she trailed behind her brother. It was a Saturday and the schoolyard was closed yet here they were. She had a bad feeling about being here. Like she knew how much trouble they would be in if they got caught.

“I left my gym stuff here yesterday. I need to get it.” Isaac said as they climbed over the fence and started to cross the football field to the gymnasium.

“It’s not even gonna be open! I knew this was a bad idea,” Emily said as Isaac stopped abruptly and slumped for a moment. “Isaac? Are you okay?” Emily reached out to touch him. Something was horribly wrong according to the pit in her stomach.

He turned around and shoved her to the ground. His eyes were empty except for rage and hatred and the slack look to the rest of his features only enhanced her perception of it. He grabbed her throat and started choking her. She felt the world slowly flex around her like there was great resistance. Someone was yelling her name. She knew whoever it was they would help her.  

She had a knife in her hand as the world shook with her power. The world was starting to grow dark at the corners as her oxygen was slowly being cut off. She stabbed up wildly with the knife to defend herself. The voice that was calling for her was getting closer she thought but as the world grew darker, the lighting changed and she realized she could breathe.

She was sitting slumped over Arthur’s knee, with his hand on her back. Her skin was on fire as heat and embarrassment flooded her. She was completely naked for the entire audience in the big top. Isaac was there dressed up as one of her paper-mache Skeletons.

“Why did you kill me?” Isaac asked her as he showed her his blood. His blood was on her skin, making it easier for Arthur to manipulate her body. She could feel the entire circus quaking as she tried to hide herself from the audience and Arthur. Her magic surged through her as her fear heightened and Arthur played her body for the crowd. She screamed for Arthur as he finished his show and made them both bow. The applause from the audience was thunderous as she gasped and panted. She looked around and only saw the disappointment on Vincent’s face, the rest of the Circus was empty. His mouth was working to form words, and she realized that he had never stopped saying her name. He had been talking to her since she had been attacked by her brother. Arms grabbed her body and shook her as everything continued to tremble and shake.  

“Emily, wake up!” he shouted at her as ruble started to fall around her in the big top. “Wake up!”

“Emily, wake up!” Vincent shouted as he slapped her cheek lightly. She shot up into his arms gasping and sobbing.

“I’m sorry!” She wept as he held her. She realized that she was holding a spell and let it go. She could hear rain falling and patting down against her window.

“It’s going to be alright,” he whispered against her hair as he comforted her.

Saturday

April 16

4 am

“What the fuck?” Harold looks at Emily’s trailer as he skids to a stop outside the door.

“What do you sense?”  Vincent asks as he runs from where his trailer is at.

“Nothing, other than this,” Harold gestures around them as if there is something obvious to see.”  He opens the door to the trailer and moves for Vincent to go in first.

“I think she’s dreaming,” Vincent says as they see Emily on the bed tossing and crying in her sleep.

“She’s not hurt.  Elevated Heart rate and blood pressure.  Her Serotonin and Dopamine production is pretty low…”  Harold says as he analysis her.

“I didn’t know you could see all that,” Vincent says taking a minute to stop and look at the young man.

“Can’t do anything with it,”  He flings his arms out uselessly.  Vincent moves onto the bed and staddles Emily to keep her flailing to a minimum.

“Emily, wake up!”  Vincent shouted as he shakes her gently.  She shoots up into his arms gasping and sobbing.

“I’m sorry!”  She weeps as he held her.

“It’s going to be alright,” he whispers against her hair as he comforted her.  

Harold goes to the sink and brings some water to Vincent.  He leans across the room as much as possible seeming to not want to get too close to Emily.

“How about you wait outside,” Vincent offers to Harold as Emily sniffs and seems to be calming down.  “What were you dreaming about?  There was some really weird stuff happening.”

“I was dreaming about the day we met.”  She says quietly.  It seems to hold a lot of meaning for both of them.  

“Did you cast in your dream?”  He asks.  She looks up at him.

“Only to get the knife.  The dream got all weird after that.”

“Emily, I think you were casting and making things go crazy here.  Everything was shaking like it was being pulled to the other side.”

“I’m not strong enough to do that!”  She is crying and on the verge of hysterics as she argues that she is not capable of teleporting the entirety of the circus into the shadowlands.

“I know, but I think you were trying to. And after last night, saving me from the mirror, I think - something is going on.”

“Sometimes I have dreams, and they come true.”  She whispers.  “Nothing important usually.  Just like a dream where I know not to eat something or go somewhere.  But I’ve never been able to cast in my sleep.  Isn’t that basically impossible?”

“Well, that is really fucking weird,” Harold says looking around outside.

“What?” Vincent asks as Harold goes outside and then walks back in to show something in his hand to Vincent.  There is nothing there, but they both react to something.

“Dirt?”  Vincent asks.

“There’s dirt and debris everywhere.  Nothing is damaged though.”  Harold says as he dusts off his hands.

Vincent ruffled her hair gently before standing to go check on Harold and look around for anything else.  

“What do you think?” Vincent asks as they.

“I don’t know,” Harold says as Vincent casts and looks around.  His posture stiffens as he notices something while casting then he goes back inside to sit on Emily’s bed and begins talking.

“Well, you managed to do something that I have never been able to do,”  Vincent says as he rubs his hands over his face.

“You mean the shadowlands?”  Emily says as she sits up.  “I looked when you walked away.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do anything that powerful,” Vincent says with a small smile.

“I think you mean destructive.” Emily groans as she curls her knees up to her chest and hides her face.

“I think you were just trying to hide,” Vincent says as he lays back on her bed arms out.  Emily scoots down on the bed to lie next to him and he wraps an arm around her.  “I could feel you pulling on Stephanie’s necklace.  I think you were trying to pull everything.”

“Oh God,”  Emily turns to look at him.  “What if I had gotten the spell off and all of their fetters had been pulled into the umbra?  What if I had destroyed them,”  She is hyperventilating and on the cusp of a panic attack as she thinks of the ramification. Vincent calms her reminding her that everyone is okay.

“What do you think would have happened if I had been successful?”  she says quietly after they are quiet for a good minute.

“I think you would have either dragged the whole circus to the umbra or you would have split everything so that it was not in either world,”  Vincent says matter of factly.  Emily stares at him in horror, before running into her bathroom and retching.

Vincent chuckles to himself as he hears her turn on the water to start cleaning herself up.  He stands and goes out to where Harold is outside to talk with him.

“You alright?”  Vincent asks him.

“She terrifies the crap out of me.  She’s a fucking time bomb,” Harold whispers.  They both lower their voices so that Emily won’t hear them.

“It’s a fluke, something happened, and everything will be okay,” Vincent tries to convince the younger man.

“That’s not what is happening, and I think you know it,” Harold says disbelievingly.  “Being around Emily is like throwing darts and knowing you’re a lousy shot, but still knowing that you are going to hit the bullseye every time.  Just because.  I don’t know that doesn’t make any sense…. It – she just makes me feel uncomfortable.”  Harold finishes.  Vincent sees Emily come out of her bathroom and flop onto her bed.

“I think I know what you mean.  Go ahead and go back to sleep.” Vincent sends Harold away and lies back down by Emily as she falls asleep again.

Sunday April 17 3pm

“Not that I don’t like being here, but why are we sneaking into the big top?” Tommy asked as they looked around to make sure that no one else was there.  It was early enough that all the vampires would still be asleep.

“I talked with a ghost last night.  I’m pretty sure that I can free her from the material plane,”  she grinned a little manically, and Tommy looked at her a little uneasy.

“You sure that’s a good idea to do unsupervised?”  He asked obviously nervous.  “I mean I’m sure it would make a great show, but it could be dangerous.”

“I need to try.  If I can set them free then I could help all of the other too,”  Emily said sounding a lot more like herself.

“There’s my girl.  Always trying to help everyone except herself,”  Tommy grinned ruefully at her.

“You should stand back,” She ushered him away as she started to cast her ritual.  She panted and breathed heavily as she attempted to control the unseen world.  Her scars turned bright red and angry as some started to tear open and bleed.  She continued to cast and exert her will as her gasps for air turned to screams of pain.  The energy within her and around them thrummed as her spell came to its climax, and Emily dropped to the ground in exhaustion before she and Tommy looked up to see a teenage boy standing in front of them.

“Oh God,”  Emily breathed as she saw that she hadn’t released the ghost to move on from the shadowlands simply severed his connection with his shadow.  And brought the shadow to the skinlands.  “Tommy get out of here!”

“Yup!”  He cried out as he ignored her and lashed out at the ghost with a holy fire that smote the material specter to its core.  It screamed in anger and pain as it burned and Emily stumbled over to where Tommy was standing at.

“You were amazing,”  She gasped as she hugged him.

“You’re bleeding all over me.  Let’s get you dressed up.  Hopefully Harry and Vincent don’t hear about this.”  Tommy said wrapping an arm around her and basically carrying her to his trailer.

Arthur sat from his hidden corner as the remain bits of the specter finished burning.  He was going to have so much fun dangling this over Vincent.  He just wasn’t sure how Emily had done what she had.

Thursday April 21 4pm

“Em? What are you doing here?”  Arthur asks as he pulls Emily into his trailer.  He didn’t want anyone to know she had come to see him right now.  But he was lonely and he didn’t have anyone else he could be with.

“I need some help.  I was scared to go to Vincent.  I think he would be really mad about what happened,”  She offered as Arthur closed the door behind her.  He grinned to himself as he realized that she was starting to trust him.

“What did you do?”  He asked in a gently accusing tone to get her on the defensive.

“It’s not like that!”  She fell for his trap like a leaf in autumn.  “Well…. Alright maybe it was.  I broke a trust.  I have to be better than this.  I brought that specter here and let Tommy destroy it!”  She was hyperventilating by the end of her panicky stream.  He let her get it all out and feigned surprise and a little disgust for good measure.

“You brought a ghost to the material plane?”  he asked.  This was the part that he was actually interested in.

“I didn’t mean for it to go that way!  Please believe me,”  She begged as she grabbed his arms.

“Of course,” Arthur whispered as he pulled her against his chest and cradled her.  “I believe you.  I won’t tell Vincent.”

“You won’t?”  She hiccuped as she looked up at him.  Arthur had to keep his face from curling into a smile.  He could see the desperation for him in her eyes.  She needed a fix.  She needed his approval.  She wanted him.  Not Vincent.

“Of course.  Come on, lay with me.  I’ll make you feel better,”  He offered as he rang his fingers and his ring over her cheek.  She always leaned into his affection.

“No, I shouldn’t.  Tommy will be waiting for me,”  She muttered as her eyes fluttered closed.  

“Fucking Tommy,”  Arthur growled.  “He’s not the one comforting you.”

“You’re hurting me,”  Emily groaned as he gripped her arm.  “Let me go.  I want to leave.”  Her eyes were full of fear as her memories of killing her brother washed over her.  He saw the moment things changed.  She started to cast and he panicked.  He reached up and backhanded her across her face.  Her spell misfired and one of the tires on his trailer blew out.

“I’m sorry,”  He moaned as they both stood up from where they had fallen at the abrupt stop of the trailer.  “Why did you make me do that?”  Emily stared up at him as she clutched her cheek.  “Let me heal you.”  

Emily shook her head emphatically as she took a step back from him and tripped over a book that had fallen to the ground.  She hit her head on the coffee table and was knocked unconscious.  

“Shit,”  Arthur cursed under his breath.  He needed to get her out of here, and make sure she didn’t remember this.

“Vincent?”  Emily rasped.  Her throat felt like sandpaper, and the room was cold and dark.  She was covered in sweat and her whole body hurt.  She was alone in the dark she realized sluggishly.  She reached into her pocket but her phone wasn’t there.  She reached out and fell forward as he body gave up on supporting her.  She fell on top of something stiff and spongy.  Gingerly she felt around her and finally found her phone.  She turned on the flashlight and screamed as she saw the body of a man under her where she had fallen.  She registered somewhere in her mind that he was dead, but wasn’t sure how she knew.

“Vincent?”  She sobbed into the phone when he answered.  “I don’t know where I am.  I-I can’t cast.  It’s dark and I’m scared.  I think I screwed up.  I don’t remember what happened.  Please help me.”

Friday April 29 10pm

“Arthur, please let me in,”  Emily whimpered as she stood outside his trailer.  She had barely had time to shower before she came rushing to his place.  She missed being near him.  And her traumatic incident with the dead body just made her want something familiar and comfortable.  “I know you’re here.”  She pounded on his door again ignorant of her own fidgeting.

“What are you doing here?”  He asked as he opened the door for her.

“I wanted to see you,”  Emily pushed past him and inside the trailer.  She rubbed her arm to comfort herself from the coldness in his voice.  “I want something real.”

“Maybe you should go be with Vincent then,”  Arthur offered like a slap in the face.  He cheek stung at the thought but she couldn’t think why.

“It’s not like that,”  Emily protested.  She just wanted him to hold her again.

“It took you almost a week to come and see me after you called him,”  Arthur sneered as when he mentioned Vincent.  “It was like a bucket of cold water when I heard that he had gone to save you.  You could have called me.  I thought you could trust me.”

“I do trust you.  I was scared and alone in the dark.  I panicked and called Vincent.  He’s like my brother!”  Emily cried as the tears fell down her cheeks.

“Brothers don’t want to fuck their sisters!”  Arthur shouted back as Emily flinched.  Everyone in the circus thinks the two of you sleep together.  It’s like you don’t care at all.  Why would you hurt me like this.  I would never hurt you.”  Arthur’s voice shook with emotion.

“I’m sorry,”  Emily apologized as she cupped Arthur’s face in her hands.  He leaned down and kissed her hard, catching her off guard.

“I’m sorry,”  He copied her as she pulled away from his kiss.  She shook her head at his apology and Arthur grabbed her face to pull her close to him.  He knew she felt the magic from his ring as she leaned into him trying to get more contact from him.

“Are you sure?”  Arthur asked as he pulled himself away from her for air.

“I need you,”  She whispered as she rested her forehead against his chin.  He grinned in triumph.  He was going to finally beat Vincent.

“I love you.”  He let the words caress her, and watched her the look in her eyes soften as she stared up at him.  He nodded, trying to convince her he was being sincere, but knew that her own body chemistry was working against her, as she pulled him back to his bed.

Saturday April 30 12:30pm

“Where were you last night? I thought we were gonna work on our act?”  Tommy asked wiggling his eyebrows.  Heat flooded Emily’s cheeks as she remembered where she was the night before.

“I don’t really remember. I was really tired after the show and the fight.”  She dropped her gaze to the floor.

“Oh,” Tommy pulled back from her.  “Right the fight.  How is Vincent?”  He asked with little care.

“He’s beat up pretty bad, but I’m sure someone is tending to him.  Raphael probably won’t leave him look like he did,” Emily joked hesitantly. “Did Harry get mad at you?”

“Nah,” Tommy shrugged his shoulders.  “Well, a little but he’ll get over it.  Did you see my light trick on the mirror to trap that thing?”

“Yeah, Tommy, I was there. It was awesome.”  Emily’s voice held no enthusiasm.

“Wanna watch me practice for the dragon?”  Tommy offered as he slid of the couch to kneel in front of her.  Emily jumped to her feet anger and humiliation flooding her blood.  “What is it?’ Tommy asked as he leaned away from her feeling the shift in her mood.

“It’s nothing.  I just need some air.  I’ll see you later for the late-night show,” she held back the sob as she rushed out of his trailer stumbling across the uneven grass.  

Her emotions pulled at her as tears streamed down her cheeks.  Something uneasy settled over her thoughts as it gnawed at her belly. She tripped and tapped jittery at the door to the trailer that she didn’t remember walking to.

“Emily?”  Arthur asked as he opened the door.  “Are you okay?”  He stepped back to let her inside.

“Last night.  Arthur, I need to know if it was real.  I feel awful for doing this to Tommy.  I know he doesn’t really care about me, but it’s still not right to treat him this way.  And Vincent…”  She trailed off thinking about her teacher.  Vincent hated Arthur and would never accept how she felt about him. Hell, she didn’t even know how she felt about Arthur.  Why was she even here?

“Shhhh,” Arthur soothed as he lifted his hand to cup her cheek and brush away her tears.  To coolness of his ring a comfort. Something constant in what felt like an ocean of changing emotions.  The gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach eased as he touched her face and she reached out to him to touch her more.

“You’re beautiful, Emily. Tommy and Vincent don’t care about that, but I do.  I care,” He whispered against her lips.

Harold sat and watched them for a few minutes.  He had seen Emily run out of Tommy’s trailer and had called out to her, but when she ignored him, it had piqued his interest.  This was not what he had expected.  He wondered if Vincent knew about her tryst with his rival.  Harold assumed he did.  Vincent had a way of knowing things that it seemed impossible to know.

Poe the raven sat on the roof waiting for something interesting.  He had seen the entire interaction, or lack thereof, between Emily and Harold.  And he was much more patient than the young mage.  He saw Harold leave when his interests were no longer draw to the drama. He had seen Arthur leave the trailer, straightening his clothes and smiling smugly as he went off towards small tents where his show was about to start.  Still Poe sat there and watched and waited.

He was still sitting there a few hours later when Emily came out of the trailer.  She looked dazed as she nearly fell coming out and moved quickly to a partially concealed place and vomited the few contents of her stomach.

“I’m fine,” she muttered to one of the dead souls that she could see, and Poe knew was there.   Her hair was disheveled, and a light sweat coated her skin.  Poe landed on her shoulder when she had righted herself.  He tugged at her hair in a friendly playful manner trying to provide her some comfort.

“Hey Poe,” she whimpered. “Don’t tell Vincent.  He’ll worry about me.  He doesn’t need that right now.”  She reached into her pocket and pulled out some string and handed it to Poe before he flew off.

“Damn girl,” Lola said as she came around the corner to avoid the crowd.  “I’ve been strung out before, and if I might say so, you need to stop while your ahead.”  Emily lifted her head as she leaned back against the closest building.

“What are you talking about?”  Emily asked trying to clear her head.  Everything was foggy and it was still just as hard to concentrate as when she had awoken in the trailer.

“…kinda feel like the world won’t stop spinning, you know what I mean?”  Lola asked crossing her arms over her chest and Emily realized that she had been talking the whole time.

“Yea,” Emily found herself saying.  She really just wanted to be alone and curl up in bed.  Her body was sore, and she was tired even if she had just slept.

“Anyway, I know you probably know what you’re doing, and you don’t need any advice so I’m just gonna gather a group and since they will be so busy looking at me, they probably won’t notice you.”  The young woman offered a small smile then walked out of the shadows shouting as she pulled out a large knife.

Panic flared through Emily as she thought about her own show.  She ran as fast as she could on still wobbly legs to her trailer to gather her things and get to the small acts.

Saturday April 30 6 pm

The human statues were still at work guiding people to their seats when Emily came skidding to a halt backstage.

“There you are!”  Tommy called to her.  He ushered over to her skeletons and helped her get them set up so that she could get them on stage.  She was a sweating mess, exhaustion evident as she tried to get a grip on herself.  Lola’s words were still swimming in her head as she cast to get get her skeletons on stage.  Tommy gave her a quick kiss then left to get himself cleaned up for his own show.

Vincent was sitting in the audience watching her show.  Emily panicked and felt her magic surge.  Why was he watching her show.  He must know.  About Arthur and the specter and her magic.  She felt herself going stiff as she let everything wash over her.  She wasn’t sure where all her paranoia had been coming from lately but she needed to stop.  Vincent always came to watch her shows.

A sudden sense of dread over took her as she realized that Vincent look terrified.  She had stopped casting when she had panicked.  Her eyes flitted over to her skeletons, which were still dancing of their own accord now.

“Emily, Stop!”  Tommy shouted when they were alone backstage. “You’re show if floundering.  You haven’t had a coherent idea in weeks. I’m having to improvise on my own show. Less people are coming to see us. I don’t care what’s going on, but you need to get your shit together.”

“You don’t care?”  Emily couldn’t keep the almost maniacal giggle to herself.  “That’s my problem.  You don’t care about me.  You and Vincent don’t care.  Fuck you, Tommy.”  Emily slapped him before walking away.

“You’re show is going to be fucking over!”  Tommy snarled at her as he rubbed his cheek.  Emily was halfway to her own trailer when she changed her mind and direction.

Saturday April 30 11:45pm

“Emily what the fuck?”  Vincent asked in surprise when he got to his trailer.  She was sprawled naked on his bed.

“I ready now.  Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for?  Why you wanted me to get more confidence with my show, and gain my voice with Tommy?  Don’t you want me?  Aren’t I good enough for you?”  She asked as her voice got quieter.

“Of course you are,”  He said instantly, moving onto the bed with her to frame her face with his hands.  Her skin was hot to the touch and she leaned into him with a ravenous desperation.  She pushed him onto his back and straddled him, kissing him drunkenly.

“Wait, Emily,”  Vincent put his hand between them to try and get her to listen to him but Emily maneuvered their bodies so that he was groping her breast.

“I need you,” She whispered against his mouth.  “Need something real.  Please.” He could tell she was crying.  She pulled his shirt off and pressed her body against his skin to skin.  Vincent rolled her onto her back, kissing her back as he unbutton his pants and shoved them off.  

“Are you sure?”  Vincent asked as he grabbed her leg and wrapped it over his hip, letting himself rut against her heat.

“You can’t hurt me.  I’m ready,”  Emily’s voice was husky as she seemed to experience his lust at a deeper level.  Her words were meant to be seductive but the jarring reality of what he was doing stopped him dead and he let himself look at her.

Sweat glistened on her face and made her hair damp.  She basked in some kind of inner radiance that almost glowed around her, hot and beautiful.  Emily opened her eyes to look at him as he had stopped everything he was doing.  Her eyes were glassy as she panted beneath him.

“Where are you?”  He asked bushing the back of his hand over her cheek.  She shivered at the contact, and he let himself cast on her despite her intense vulnerability with him.

“What are you looking for?”  She mumbled as her eyes flitted closed and she wiggled in his grip.  The movement would have been arousing if he wasn’t suddenly acutely aware of how high she was.

“Who’s been drugging you?”  Vincent asked as he pulled away from her and brushed her hair out of her face.  The heat of her skin and glassiness in her eyes suddenly a cause for concern rather than seductive allure.  “Em, look at me.  I need you to focus.”  Her eyes snapped open at the nickname and she made cold eye contact with him.

“What were you looking for?”  She asked her voice harder now as Vincent pulled himself away from her and they both sat up on their knees.

“You,” He said quietly.  Tears fell suddenly again and she pushed herself off the bed and away from him.  She gathered just barely enough clothes to cover herself and opened his door.

“Emily, where are you going?  You need help,” He tripped trying to get off his bed and the door to his trailer slammed in his face.

Sunday May 1 12:30 am

“Hey Em,” Arthur said as Emily came into the large tent where he was fiddling with his props.  Tears stained her cheeks, and her eyes were puffy from crying.  

“This is what you wanted from the beginning isn’t it?!  You never wanted me,” She sobbed.  He jumped up from his seat and moved over to her to cradle her cheek.  The coolness of the ring a stark reminder to her of everything that had happened.  “Don’t fucking touch me!” She shouted she pushed him away.

“Emily calm down. You’re causing a scene,” Arthur said looking around in an almost paranoid fashion.

“Don’t cast on me,” She scoffed in astonishment and hatred.  “You hated Vincent, and you USED me!”  She was starting to scream as passersby started to stick their head in and investigate what was going on.

“Don’t be a bitch.  You liked it,” Arthur said dropping any pretense as he snarled at her.  “Besides you played your part perfectly.  I needed to knock the foundation out from under Vincent’s feet.”

Emily stared at Arthur and scoffed as she realized she had been played and might have done worse than break the foundation.

“Come on, Em, no matter how long it takes, I will always win,”  Arthur shrugged with a crooked smile.  

It was all Emily could take. The rage boiled over and she could feel the fire on her skin as she started to cast something she couldn’t even describe.

Tears began to form on the sheet of the tent as the wind howled, blood started to drip down Emily’s nose from the exertion of the spell, and Arthur fell to his knees clutching his ears and screaming.

“Emily Stop!”  Vincent shouted as he pushed past some of the onlookers.  He grabbed Emily by the shoulders to get her attention.

“He tried to kill me,”  She sobbed as her body shook.

“You’re going to kill yourself!  Let the spell go!”  Vincent held her as she grabbed his arms back and tried to focus on her magic.

“It’s too strong,” She gasped.

“I’ve got you,”  He whispered and held her gaze.  “Let go.”

Emily wept as her magic turned back on her and she let it loose. Emily, Arthur, and Vincent were all thrown across the small tent, and the viewers screamed and left.

“Vincent?”  Emily asked groggily as sat up and held her forehead.  There was a pounding behind her eyes, but she couldn’t care about that.  Vincent was laying less than twenty feet away with a metal bar threw his chest.  “VINCENT!”  She cried as she scrambled off the ground and ran to him.

“Get some help!” Arthur yelled before moving to where the two of them were.  “Let me help,”  He said as he reach out for the piece of re-barb.

“Don’t Touch him!”  Emily hissed at Arthur.  He scurried away from them out of the tent.  “Don’t leave me,”  She whimpered and took Vincent’s hand.  She could feel the presence of his spirit and held onto him as she squeezed his fingers.  “Somebody, please,” her voice was cracking as she called pathetically for help.  “I’m sorry.  I screwed up everything,”  She cried as she nuzzled his face with her nose.

“Emily, back up,”  Xing said as she came into the tent to see the mess.

“Don’t make me leave him,”  Emily whispered still clutching his hand.  Xing seemed to take stock of the situation and what Emily was doing.

“Alright, I don’t know how you’re doing that, but don’t stop.  I’m gonna heal him,”  She said gently resting a shoulder on Emily.  She pulled the metal from Vincent with her other hand then channeled life energy from Emily to Vincent.

Emily screamed as she felt a tugging on her soul just before Vincent gasped and sat up.  Emily let go of her power as his spirit returned to his body and then passed out on Vincent’s chest for a moment.

Sunday May 1 3 am

“I’m just so embarrassed,” Emily said to Xing later.  “Maybe your mother is right.  Maybe my destiny is just to hurt people.  Is there a place that I can hide out away from Vincent?  I don’t want him to see me like this.”

[aspencrown]

An Update from the Mun

Hey folks! Long time, no talk.

While I know I’ve been prone to falling out of contact with various hiatuses from time to time, I’ve been pretty damned quiet here for a long while. SO. Updates.

I’ve lost interest, for the time being, in World of Warcraft -- though I can’t say I’ve quit.  Battle for Azeroth had a good bunch of things to it, but combined with my lack of excitement on later installments and how displeased I’ve been with Blizzard as a company has cooled my heels. (And paired with the shitshow Tumblr’s management has been over the past year, it’s not done any favors on keeping me active here.)

Plus life. Plus school. Plus I’ve been dating my very lovely girlfriend, @thingsstuffnuances​ (IE: Caetielle), for one year strong now. <3

Lots of pluses amidst the current hellscape we all find ourselves inhabiting at the moment. (Seriously, 2020 can just stop, breathe, and quit acting like an overeager super villain for just a moment...)

In my free time, though, what I’ve been really diving into the past half year or so have been various TTRPGs being ran by friends, loved ones, and hell... I’m even running one myself. I’ve always wanted to get into playing D&D (and other related RPGs) but never had a group I could run with.

I’ve started posting again on a secondary blog devoted to all related shenanigans that’s unfolding there -- as well as some of my DM inspiration stuff.  You can check it out, if you’re curious, at Magpies and Kobolds.

In my campaign, I’m running one for Lancer -- which was a bit of a surprise to me, and others, since I tend to gravitate towards fantasy and not sci-fi.  But as Lancer is co-founded by one of my favorite artists/authors (Tom Parkinson Morgan of Kill Six Billion Demons fame) and I absolutely adore how it’s all presented, I just had to give it a try (and I’m absolutely loving it).  To partially quote the website pitch, it’s "a mix of gritty, mud-and-lasers military science fiction and mythic science fantasy”.

Lovely Caet also is hosting an inspiration blog that’s full of cool pictures and art on behalf of the campaign I’m running, because she’s an absolute sweetheart. <3

Other than that, said I’m also active in three other campaigns, all fantasy based and all amazing.

1)  Traitor’s Bay - A homebrew eldritch horror campaign retrofitted with a D&D ruleset. I play a surly angry terrier Kobold Battle Smith named Grifkah and each installment makes me wonder just how many times Grif is going to further doubt her sanity, if today’s the day they’re going to be eaten by flesh abominations, and, more recently, what creative ways she might blow herself up.

2)  Curse of Strahd - Caetielle is DMing this as kind of a “double date night” for us and another pair, in which I play a Kenku Circle of the Shepherd druid named “A Tiny Gentle Sneeze” (or Sneeze for short).  So far she’s avoided death and cursing (watch, I jinxed myself for typing that) in Barovia, perhaps namely due her dumb luck and positive attitude. Though things are getting more dire, so who knows how long that positivity will hold out...

3)  City of Ravnica - A bi-weekly campaign I play a Loxodon Battle Lawyer Order Cleric named Bachittar, an Azorius Senate law official on contract on representing a shady-as-fuck Orzhov Syndicate conquest paladin. We also have an Izzet Warforged Wild Magic barbarian on contract as well as two Rakdos terror-carnies that have a debt to pay.  Needless to say, it’s been interesting...

ANYWAY. That’s a lot of words, but that’s the fun stuff I’ve been up to over the long silence. I’ll try to post more here where I can, but I just wanted to give an update and say that I hope you’re all doing well in these crazy times. <3

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

okay but headcanons of the ericson kids all going to a fair??

It’s a beautiful spring day and the fair is in town…

Clementine and AJ are total rollercoaster/ride junkies. They ride all of them at least 2-3 times throughout the day. They only take small breaks in between to get some water and talk with the others, inviting them to ride the rollercoaster with them. 

Louis rides with them a lot of the time, but he also likes to go to the entertainment area and watch the locals play guitar and sing. He also manages to pull Clem and AJ away from the rides to watch the hypnotist because the guy just pulled Willy up to be hypnotized and now Willy’s dancing and it’s hilarious.

Louis and Clementine also get caricatures done of them together. 

Mitch spends a good chunk of the day trying to win Willy a goldfish, as well as other cool prizes from the carnies. He manages to win Willy a few goldfish and a ton of plushies [some which he gives to the others] and eventually the carnies ask him to leave because he keeps winning. He ends up throwing hands with one of them and gets thrown in fair jail.

Willy’s a little terror at those boring business booths, playing pranks on them and defacing their signs to say inappropriate things. 

Omar keeps pissing off all the different booths in the food court, telling them how dry the corndogs are, how sour this caramel apple is, these dutch oven potatoes are hard and undercooked. He does, however, love all the deep fried candy bars, as well as the donut burger. Everyone else gets a critique. He also gets thrown in fair jail after getting into a fight with a guy over his poor funnel cake techniques.

Louis has to bail these two dingdongs out of fair jail and he’s wheezing the entire time. 

Ruby spends most of her time admiring the horses and cattle, as well as gushing over the cute animals in the petting zoo. She and Aasim feed the goats and pet the pretty rabbits. Aasim loves seeing Ruby with all these animals because she looks so pretty when she’s happy like this. He gets lots of pictures of her with them. 

Also, Ruby finds the mechanical bull booth and fucking shows everyone how it’s done. 

Aasim was bucked off almost immediately. 

Violet likes to look at all the different jewelry shops, as well as the crystal booths. She ends up getting a bunch of little pins to put on her jacket and to give to Clementine and Louis. Her day is made when Omar brings her a bowl of “gourmet” chicken nuggets with homemade barbeque sauce. 

Tenn submitted one of his art pieces to the fair art show and he won a ribbon! He and James go around and talk about the different techniques and take pictures of their favorite pieces. The whole group celebrates Tenn’s ribbon by getting tickets to one of the night shows.

At some point during the day, Louis gathers the group back together so that they can go to one of those costume photo booths and talks [and bribes] everyone into getting dressed up in pirate gear to have their pictures taken. 

As evening falls, Clementine and AJ are drained from the rollercoasters, so AJ goes to hang out with Tenn while Louis and Clem ride the farris wheel, cuddling together and laughing about the day. Louis snuck some chocolate covered pretzels on that they snack on. 

James brings Mitch a deep-fried KitKat to ease the embarrassment of being thrown in fair jail.  

It’s the most delicious thing he’s ever eaten. 

Willy has named all three of his goldfish Billy, Curly, and Willy Jr. 

Ruby’s sunburnt from the day, even though she wore a thick layer of sunscreen, and her cheeks are super red and she’s never looked so damn adorable Aasim can’t-

Violet is so proud of Tenn winning a ribbon for his art that she treats him to a dinner of even more “gourmet” chicken nuggets. 

They all end the night at the music show, all sitting together with blankets draped over them [and Louis with a pillow Violet bought him at one of the shops] where they enjoy the fun music and comedy of the group. 

As night falls, they’re all exhausted from the insane day of fun, looking through all their goodies and the fun pictures Aasim took. They already plan to go back tomorrow. 

[tallat-of-thralls]

Note on Astral Projection

This is not a post on how to do it, this is a post on reassurance for those whom have projected elsewhere and encountered... Oddities.

Even after years of periodic deep meditation, experimentation with psychoactive chemicals (do Not recommend), learning from yogis and gurus amongst other carny like mentors, and just my own practice in relatives terms, i cannot rightfully say that i am considered "experienced". There are no academic parameters that state you are experienced, there arent true degrees to attain nor controls to compare the experiences to. So, mind what i am about to express based on the principle of my own judgement (as biased and convolulted as it might seem...)

Let me first state that one of the principles, one of the sacred laws i follow (i follow about 13 give or take) is Tacere or "To be Silent". Its one of 4 (or five depending on the practice) rules of i learned as The Laws of the Magus. By the element water 🔻, it warns the practitioners on sharing their meditative or astral experiences. It expresses the urgency about refraining from speaking to others about your magical workings, lest they seek to undo you. Accept that sometimes it's better to say nothing and discipline yourself to avoid unneeded consequences.

With that in mind, Im not sharing any of my bizarre experiences. Its not something i talk about just because the very few times i did, i scared people. Most people dont want affirmation of their eldritch nightmares existence and prefer covering their heads with a sheet until that notion goes away. They dont like it when you tell them for what reasons you have the opinions that you do based off the principle of fluid and subjective factors. People scare easily even those who have been involved with the craft for decades.

Not every practitioner is comfortable with cross dimensions or wyrds or aethers or voids or anything outside the first three of the sephiroth and it is not your responsibility to show them that. Opening doorways just to say, "look what i found! This my new friend so-n-so in the xth sephirah. They like coffee and metaphysics." Dont do that... The amount of eyes usually scare the jesus into people whom are unaccustomed to working with extra planes. Even if you try to explain that your wrinkly, tentacle bearing, eyeball covered friend is equivalent to a stressed out ritalined strained and caffeine soaked college student. All they see is this mess of wiggliness too excited to speak coherently and may wreak havoc on their mind by chanting numbers.

Like in this dimension, understand that some of your friends are xenophobic because their upbringing taught them no different and dropping them into the middle of a advanced session of nothing but mathematics and tentacles will freak them out.

So, keep your dreams, travels, and other experiences to yourself or just use complicated metaphors to skip over the slimey bits.

Now, if youre a beginner and you are unsettled or excited by those possibilities that i had mentioned... I made the previous up. Those are just examples of what you *may* experience when traveling through some of the more intangible sephirah. Essentially, you would want to stay in the first two or three to start with. And when i say the first two, i mean the one you currently exist in (our plane the first sephirah) should be thoroughly explored and extrapolated from before you seek answers in another place.

Imagine travelling to a foreign country because you heard that the scenery is amazing without first researching the tourist points, land, people, or even knowing the name of the country. You just hop in transit and arrive in some random hamlet asking about hidden knowledge only confusing and frustrating the locals. You never learn anything and you were bit by several insects and now your tummy hurts. Same principle. Research and look into the experience you wish to have or beings you wish to encounter then come up with ways to attain that which you seek so that whatever you encounter has a foundation for which it can build upon.

Even if you're exploring the forest down the street from your house, be prepared to encounter local wildlife and stock up on supplies to ensure your safety. Im not only saying to supply honey to the fae that live there, im saying make sure you wear proper attire and have a snack and some water before hand and on you.

One of the things i have experienced from some of my more lengthy and arduous meditations that if i hadn't done proper preparations i came out of it so hungry I felt sick or so thirsty that i chugged water like i had hiked a desert trail. But if I had eaten light meal and properly hydrated im not distracted by my body's exasperation therefore allowing me to reflect upon what i had just experienced instead of rushing to the nearest open box to satisfy my afflicted hunger.

Now, i covered safety lets mold the prospect of successful projections.

The first three sephiroth (not including the one we live in) are much like what we know since it is so very close to the mundane that concepts will over lap....

As a side note, if you have absolutely no idea what the hell the sephirah and sephiroth are i suggest to research that. In short, its a conceptual design mainly used for categorizing fields of astral and celestial magic or manifestations based off of the Kabbalic Tree of Life. There are ten in total. We live in number 10 while the "godhead" resides in number 1. The typical astral projections travel to 7, 8, 9. The sephiroth 4,5,6 come directly before a "veil" that separates the top three from the rest of the tree. 1, 2, 3 are, in simple terms, existential planes that embody creation... That's the basics for the purpose of this post but there is a ton more on the tree of life and should be one of the first things you look into if you are interested in continuing the astral/wyrd/aether/celestial/sephiroth/extraplanar studies.

As i mentioned 7,8,9 are the sephiroth you'll spend most of your time projecting into. You really dont have to go much further from them, as all the sephiroth are, they are infinite in the universes that occupy them and you will find much of what you're searching for within them without confusing the f*ck out of yourself.

Sephiroth 4,5,6, are higher up on the tree and farther away from 10 but closer to 1. They are extremely intangible and physics does not make sense nor do the beings that live there. If you find yourself in the mess of geometric shapes and warped concepts, the most i can advise is not panic. Act like its the first time you watched the willy wonka tunnel scene and reflect on the horrors after coming out. Most likely you wont learn anything other than the thought of "Huh... That was weird and terrifying."

In any regard, you shouldnt share the experiences you met in 7-4 just because if it freaked you out imagine how others would respond if they even thought you came up with that on your own. They will stare at you the same way they would stare at any other intangible horror.

In short, travelling extraplanarly will change you. No ifs or buts about it, the concepts and images you will encounter will separate you from those who spend their entire lives in the bottom sephirah. Its both good and bad in my opinion. Good if you find what you seek, bad in the sense that you will be alone in these expiriences.

Last thing, this Doesn't make you superior. There is nothing wrong with those who practice the craft and decline to travel through the gates and rings. There is nothing wrong with refraining from the extra dimensional and wyrd. Not everyone has the need or desire to do so.

As i had said, each sephirah is infinite. There are many universes within the tangible places to explore without even having to leave our own sephirah.

Keep that in mind. Understand that projecting and manifesting isnt a vertical sensation. It can be a lateral exploration just as easily. You dont have to just go up, shifting side to side can be as informative and interesting.

As something selfish of me, im open to reading any of your experiences if you wish to tell some one. You can dm me or tag me in your posts about your projection stories and i will happily read them. No judgement, simply curiosity on my part. If you want me to comment on the experience just ask me in the post/message. Other wise i wont.

Have Safe Travels ☺

AethyrSecretary

[bartonstrickarrows]

1ST  RULE   —   tag some muses you would like to know better.

2ND  RULE   —   BOLD the statements that are true for your muse.

muse.  Clinton ‘Clint’ Francis Barton

fc.  Jeremy Renner

occupation. SHIELD Agent, Avenger, former carnie  

age.  early to mid 40s

sexuality.  bisexual

pronouns.  he/him

APPEARANCE: i  am  5'7"  or  taller.   i  wear  glasses (occasionally). i  have  at  least  one  tattoo. i  have  at  least  one  piercing. i  have  blonde  hair. i  have  brown  eyes. i  have  short  hair. my  abs  are  at  least  somewhat  defined. i  have  or  have  had  braces.

 PERSONALITY: i  love  meeting  new  people. people  tell  me  that  i’m  funny. helping  others  with  their  problems  is  a  big  priority  for  me. i  enjoy  physical  challenges. i  enjoy  mental  challenges. i’m  playfully  rude  with  people  i  know  well. i  started  saying  something  ironically  &  now  i  can’t  stop  saying  it. there  is  something  i  would  change  about  my  personality.

 ABILITY: i can sing well. i  can  play  an  instrument. i  can  do  over  30  push–ups  without  stopping. i’m  a  fast  runner. i  can  draw  well. i  have  a  good  memory. i’m  good  at  doing  math  in  my  head. i  can  hold  my  breath  underwater  for  over  a  minute. i  have  beaten  at  least  2  people  in  arm  wrestling. i  know  how  to  cook  at  least  3  meals  from  scratch. i  know  how  to  throw  a  proper  punch.

 HOBBIES: i  enjoy  playing  sports. i’m  on  a  sports  team  at  my  school  or  somewhere  else. i’m  in  an  orchestra  or  choir  at  my  school  or  somewhere  else. i  have  learned  a  new  song  in  the  past  week. i  work  out  at  least  once  a  week. i’ve  gone  for  runs  at  least  once  a  week. i  have  drawn  something  in  the  past  month. i  enjoy  writing. i  do  or  have  done  martial  arts.

 EXPERIENCES: i  have  had  my  first  kiss. i  have  had  alcohol. i  have  scored  the  winning  goal  in  a  sports  game. i  have  watched  an  entire  season  of  a  tv  show  in  one  sitting. i  have  been  at  an  overnight  event. i  have  been  in  a  taxi. i  have  been  in  the  hospital  or  er  in  the  past  year. i  have  beaten  a  video  game  in  one  day. i  have  visited  another  country. i  have  been  to  one  of  my  favorite  band’s  concerts.

 RELATIONSHIPS: i’m  in  a  relationship (verse dependent). i  have  a  crush  on  a  celebrity. i  have  a  crush  on  someone  i  know (verse dependent). i  have  been  in  at  least  3  relationships. i  have  never  been  in  a  relationship. i  have  asked  someone  out  or admitted  my  feelings  to  them (verse dependent). i  get  crushes  easily. i  have  had  a  crush  on  someone  for  over  a  year. i  have  been  in  a  relationship  for  at  least  a  year (verse dependent). i  have  had  feelings  for  a  friend (verse dependent). 

 MY LIFE: i  have  at  least  one  person  i  consider  a  “ best  friend ”. i  live  close  to  my  school. my  parents  are  still  together. i  have /  had at  least  one  sibling. i  live  in  the  united  states. there  is  snow  right  now  where  i  live. i  have  hung  out  with  a  friend  in  the  past  month. i  have  a  smartphone. i  have  at  least  15  cd’s. i  share  my  room  with  someone.

 RANDOM SHIT: i  have  break–danced. i  know  a  person  named  jamie. i  have  had  a  teacher  with  a  last  name  that’s  hard  to  pronounce. i  have  dyed  my  hair. i’m  listening  to  one  song  on  repeat  right  now. i  have  punched  someone  in  the  past  week. i  know  someone  who  has  gone  to  jail. i  have  broken  a  bone. i  have  eaten  a  waffle  today. i  know  what  i  want  to  do  with  my  life. i  speak  at  least  2  languages.

 Tagged By: @strangcrdoctor​

Tagging: anyone that wants to do it

[sleepyhollo]

SO, I am back playing The Isle. Last night was....interesting.

(BTW everytime I play, at least once a day, I end up being a babysitter.)

An entire herd had been attacked and killed down at PP (Party Plains, inbetween Trips and Donut), swarmed by spinos, rexes, little carnis, everything. Was actually not allowed to have that many hunting at once in that server, but eh. Me(Shant) and my friend(Trike) decided to escape while we could. Not far from where we had left we found this tiny little baby Diablo. He was headed towards certain death so we ushered him along with us, up towards donut and down to swamp. We were joined by a Theri and a Stego, had a small run in with a carno and a rex(I smacked both of them). After stopping at Swamp, we kept going. Followed by more carnis. 

One problem, which was present the entire time we journeyed over hills and eventually to Canyon, that little Dibble would not.be.quiet. He gave us away multiple times, and it was rather annoying. My trike friend was more annoyed than me about it, and I was the one trying to talk to him to shush. Meanwhile, every 2 seconds my friend was just “Can I kill it yet?” “if it doesn’t shut up i’m letting it get eaten” etc XD we all lived in the end, though the their and stego vanished. The carnivores lost our trail luckily, though trike and dibble almost starved. but that was an eventful 2-4 AM in the morning XD

[artemisnightingale216]

Okay, but that ending really pissed me off.

Not because of the cliffhanger. Not because they keep killing off all the characters who actually give a s*** about the children (though I am peeved about it). Not because Mr. Poe, who have seen Count Olaf on MANY occasions in and out of disguise, still cannot identify him (don't even get me started on that amd how he somehow believed Jacques was Count Olaf).

No. I am f***ing pissed at the Carni's for three reasons.

1. They were more than willing to push Madame Lulu into a pit of starving lions and watch her be mauled to death and eaten.

2. They had somehow confinced themselves that they couldn't fit in to regular society just because they had special talents/deformities (though that I can kind of let slide)

3. They were more than willing to let Klaus amd Violet, two people who had shown they cared about their best interests rather than see them be miserable, fall to their deaths.

All of this just to join a man who shoved them in a cramped trunk that was just barely big enough for three children, cared nothing for their well being and would no doubt have left them to die, and had no real guarantee that they could join him with only the word of mouth from a woman who verbally and threatened physical abuse just because she said she was their friend.

I would honestly not feel bad if something happened to them because they have it coming at this point.

[juniper-tree]

thank you for the tag @laraslandlockedblues my lovely :)

1ST RULE: tag 9 people you want to get to know more!

I’ll tag @katnisshawke @moonlightbrunette @steampoweredstrawberry @cretia76 @blacktabris​ @jurassicapark3​ @techwitchprincex @shibaterasu @carnie-vorex 

2ND RULE: BOLD the statements that are true.

APPEARANCE - I am 5'7 or taller - I wear glasses (contacts) - I have at least one tattoo - I have at least one piercing - I have blonde hair - I have brown eyes - I have short hair - My abs are at least somewhat defined - I have or had braces

PERSONALITY - I love meeting new people - People tell me I am funny - Helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - I enjoy physical challenges - I enjoy mental challenges - I am playfully rude to people I know - I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it - There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY - I can sing well - I can play an instrument - I can do over 30 pushups without stopping  - I am a fast runner - I can draw well - I have a good memory - I am good at doing math in my head - I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - I have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - I can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES - I enjoy sports - I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else - I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else - I have learned a new song in the past week - I exercise at least once a week - I have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - I have drawn something in the past month - I enjoy writing - Fandoms are my #1 priority - I do some form of martial arts

EXPERIENCES - I have had my first kiss - I have had alcohol - I have scored a winning point in a sport - I have watched an entire TV series in one sitting - I have been at an overnight event - I have been in a taxi - I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year - I have beaten a video game in one day - I have visited another country - I have been to one of my favorite bands concerts

MY LIFE - I have one person that I consider to be my Best Friend - I live close to my school/work - My parents are still together - I have at least one sibling - I live in the United States - There is snow where I live right now - I have hung out with a friend in the past month - I have a smart phone - I own at least 15 CDs - I share my room with someone

RELATIONSHIPS - I am in a Relationship - I have a crush on a celebrity - I have a crush on someone I know - I’ve been in at least 3 relationships - I have never been in a Relationship - I have admitted my feelings to a crush - I get crushes easily - I have had a crush for over a year - I have been in a relationship for over a year - I have had feelings for a friend

RANDOM - I have break-danced - I know a person named Jamie - I have had a teacher that has a name that is hard to pronounce - I have dyed my hair - I’m listening to a song on repeat right now - I have punched someone in the past week - I know someone who has gone to jail - I have broken a bone - I have eaten a waffle today - I speak at least two languages - I have made a new friend in the past year

[applekelly]

Hanoi 3 Seasons 🌺🍂❄️ Great for vegans 🌱 and carnies alike! 🥩 @hanoi3seasons • • • • • • • 1. Back patio. 🤫 Kind of a little secret - you must walk *through* the kitchen to get there. 2. Thit Lon Nuong (seasoned pork) - eaten by lapsed vegan husband. 🙄 3. Hubs and the kitchen. 4. Patio and lanterns. 5. Goi Cuon (fresh shrimp rolls – but we had tofu instead!- not pictured) and Cha Gio. (And beer 🍻) 6. Ga Nuong Xa Sua Dua (lemongrass and coconut milk, but with tofu instead of chicken - they can veganize most menu items!) 7. ‘Fish sauce.’ Even though Fish sauce (nuoc cham) is very important in most Vietnamese dishes, but this restaurant skips it - mainly for customers who dislike its strong taste. I actually like the taste of it, but skip it since it’s made from fish! 🎣 🐟 🐠 This is their veggie version. • • • • • #vietnamesefood #hanoi3seasons #queenstreeteast #nuoccham #nướcchấm #vietnam #vietnamese #vegan #chooseplants #goveg (at Hanoi 3 Seasons) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0bu4HYBNgb/?igshid=1pzfi9bmpk8mj

[vertigoambrosia]

quick quick trip report of this weekend

friday night: battle club pro

got a pic with british strong style during the meet & greet

was too awkward/nervous weird to say anything more than ‘hi’’ even the girl who cried probably said more

i’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear tyler bate is adorable and trent seven is such a doof dad

it was very hot inside

since i had bought tickets entirely for bss i didn’t really know most of the wrestlers, but i can say that local indies are real good at making heels that you can point and laugh at

like the dudes from maine that were REALLY PROUD of being from maine

unexpected ‘this escalated quickly’ of the night was logan black vs shane mercer

intermission realized a stain on my pants made it look like i peed myself so that was the end of any plans of interacting with anyone

the ugly ducklings still kinda frighten/confuse me but one of them liked my magneto shirt so next time i see them (i’m sure they’ll be back) i will get something from them

bss/carnies was amazing and the carnies really did live up to all the hype

my phone overheated and died halfway through that match

dunne vs carter was super sick; dunne did all his usual brutality and mischief

bad end: darius carter somehow fucked up a belt shot and cut pete dunne p. bad; match ended suddenly, dunne had to have stitches and was def pissed off as fuck

saturday; evolve

was really late and barely arrived before the (advertised) bell time, which i feel real bad about cause my friend finally came to a show and he had to wait for my late ass

didn’t get to meet walter :(

but did say hi to riddle; i should probably stop being surprised that he acts like we’re buddies considering 1) it’s matt riddle, and 2) i have been going to every nyc evolve show for...almost the last year, actually

i have a lot of opinions about the troll boys

tim’s sendoff after his match kinda reminded me of ‘i have to go now, my planetgermany needs me’, and for some reason he never turned on stokely, but i fucking squealed when walter came out

[v. jealous that progress boston got he and tim teaming up]

main event was insane; my boy hot sauce kinda got destroyed

[actually all of the people in that match are my boy]

i hope walter comes back to evolve (or nyc) again soon

those chops omg

i got my friend to buy tix for the next show too!

i should have actually eaten food between the shows but i didn’t really

progress nyc

this is what i wanted to write about the most b/c you’ve definitely heard some shit about it

although i obviously know of progress pretty well, i’d never actually seen a show from them before

crowd was hot af; it was almost overwhelming before the show started and jim started talking

venue was hot af; apparently it was massively overbooked (1500 tix for a gym that supposedly is only supposed to hold up to >650), and the AC broke.

also apparently they ran out of water for a bit, which....really?

jack gallagher was supposed to challenge dunne before he was injured, but instead he roasted the shit out of pete and then zach gibson came and fought him

gallagher really is adorable

i forgot bss are heel in progress; the boos! middle fingers!

tim beat dijak in a fun match and is no #1 contender for the atlas title

nyc progress crowd are more ambivalent on him than nyc evolve crowd

havoc vs janela included

many chairs

a table

a wood board (possibly a door?)

bare foot biting

thumbtacks [in bare foot]

cinderblocks

boys i am glad you are not dead

oh did i say the ac broke? what i actually meant is that the building is apparently heated by some sort of water pipe cooling system, and it was so humid in there that water started condensing on the outside of the pipes

and the walls

the building was actually sweating

pete dunne was at ringside during sppt/bss being a lil shit

a very bad thing i know you heard about: tk cooper got a dislocated ankle. i didn’t see it, but people said it was super gnarly. it was real tense for a while; for some reason the emt wasn’t like, in the room and had to be found, and the locker room had to help carry him out cause there was no stretcher?

i didn’t know this until later cause i was in GA, but apparently two people fainted, presumably from the heat

after they carried tk back, it turned into a handicap match, which travis won (and which also featured pete dunne getting the GET OUT from the ref)

i have to give props to jim smallman, progress, bss, and travis banks for being able to recover from that; it was really tense for a while

there are too many chops in wrestling these days but walter should always be allowed to do them, even if they make us cringe

one of the chops got a ‘you sick fuck’ chant at one point because damn

riddle actually won though, which made me a lil sad, but it was obviously a Good End for most and surprise surprise both those dudes are so great

bss had a long ass line for merch/pics/etc; was also surprised banks was out there since he had to be real worried

didn’t see walter on the way out :(

riddle did wave to me though as i went past

so overall, real exciting, sometimes uncomfortable, and some tragedy, but i had a real good time

fucking exhausted though; i have done nothing this entire sunday