#and when you see the backyard at night is basically all pitch black except for one light there that flickers on and off

[theghostofwilburtheworm]

top 10 messed up things my siblings do to me number 5

me, standing in the kitchen in the dark downstairs waiting for my tea to war up

little brother comes downstairs to get water

a few minutes of silence then he says ''hey remember that story about a girl who saw a weird man in her backyard that did nothing but to stare at her and signal her to come near him?''

''yeah?'' i say

he nods, looks at me for a second, and then goes running up the stairs leaving me standing in the dark alone again

[chilling-seavey]

Qui Totum Vult Totum Perdit (d.s.) - The Fight

A/N With Hope’s intense google doc analysis of trying to piece together Daniel and Avalon’s fight through his flashbacks, I figured I should give you the real thing!

“Your ignorance is fucking incredible, Daniel James!”

Her words were venomous, punctuated by the slam of the front door the moment we stepped back inside the house. I was still trying to put my wallet in my pocket after paying the taxi driver, showing exactly how quickly she decided to snap back at me after we already endured a terribly tense flight home. Yet, apparently a simple question of “are you okay” was completely disgusting of me to ask.

“You can’t just lose your temper like this every time you get a bit upset, Avalon! I’m just trying to talk to you.” I called as calmly as I could as I set my computer bag on the kitchen island.

She grabbed herself an empty glass from the cupboard and slammed the door shut before turning on the tap aggressively. Her brown eyes glared daggers in my direction over the rim of the glass as she raised it to her lips to take a sip and the diamond ring on her left hand caught the light of the late evening setting sun coming in through the window. Flickers of orange light writhed on the marble countertop between us and died when she lowered her hand out of the incoming rays.

There was a moment of silence as the beginnings of this obvious inevitable fight lingered between us.

“Trying to talk to me?” she repeated my words slowly as she stepped around the island, water glass held in both hands as if she was ready to interrogate me, “Well, gee, Daniel, that’s the first time in days you’ve even bothered.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I frowned.

“You spent most of our honeymoon with your laptop and your goddamn work rather than with me.”

I sighed, “Ava, come on, you know I had to-”

“No! You didn’t have to do anything! The only thing you had to do was relax for the first time in your goddamn life but that was too much to ask, wasn’t it? God…stupid me.” she shook her head in near disbelief, “I thought you might have actually given a shit about me once we got to Costa Rica but apparently, I was wrong.”

A rouge was rising on her sun-tanned cheeks, a clear indication of her true anger she felt, but her accusations weren’t making it easy for me to simply let her have this one. It was a fight we had before and were probably destined to again. It just came with the job.

“Give a shit about you? Avalon, you’re my fucking wife, of course I give a shit about you! You were the one complaining about wanting to leave the entire time. That doesn’t make the trip very fucking enjoyable.”

“You weren’t around me!” she yelled, tapping her hand against the cup in her hand so the sound of her ring against the glass punctuated each of her words. “What person wants to spend their honeymoon alone? Of course, I wanted to go home! I was basically there by myself and I was miserable!”

“I had to get some shit done! Jonah needed me to double check a few things while we were away. It’s not the end of the world and I’m sorry if you feel that way!”

I could see her visibly tense and she turned her head so she didn’t have to look at me, jabbing under her breath, “That’s always your excuse, isn’t it? ‘Always gotta get some shit done’. Well, I’m sick and tired of coming second to your work all the time.”

“Well what do you want me to do?! Do you not like having this house and a nice car and that huge fucking diamond on your finger? Well sorry to break it to you, honey, but without this job, you wouldn’t have any of that!”

“There you go again!” Avalon threw her hand up in my direction, “It’s not all about your fucking money, Daniel! I don’t care about that! I would even be perfectly happy living on the side of the fucking street with you because I love you! None of this other shit that you think is required for a happy and fulfilling life; because – news flash – it’s not!”

“Well it makes me pretty damn happy.”

“Oh really? Are you happy now? Huh? Does this make you fucking happy?”

“Yes! Because at least my house or my car doesn’t spew this fucking bullshit at me all the time!” I yelled back.

Avalon literally scoffed and took a step back, her voice lowered to a steady unimpressed drawl, “You’re a selfish prick, Daniel Seavey. I’m done trying to help you…you’re such a lost cause that…God…sometimes I wish I never married you.”

“Then why did you? If I make you so fucking miserable all the time! Are you that insecure that you’d rather be miserable with me than be alone? You can’t stand yourself either, can you?”

“Fuck you!”

“My brother always told me you were too fucking weak to be my wife…couldn’t handle the baggage that comes with the job.”

“Leave Christian out of this. He doesn’t know bull-fucking-shit about us and especially not about me. Neither of you know how hard it is!”

“It’s not hard, Avalon! You sit here and look pretty and I buy you sparkly things! It’s not fucking hard! You’re just being an obnoxious brat about everything, and you always have!”

“You invalidate my feelings all the time!” she yelled.

“You’re too goddamn sensitive! It’s not a big deal!” I shouted louder to top her.

“God, I fucking hate you!” she huffed. She turned to set the glass angrily on the kitchen counter but it fell and shattered on the kitchen floor between us, silencing our screaming match except for our heavy breaths and Avalon’s sniffled tears.

I sighed at the realization that the whole confrontation went on too far and I tried to reach for her, but she pulled her hand back and moved away from me, “Aves.”

“Don’t.” she snapped.

“Avalon, I’m sorry, I-”

“Sorry doesn’t fix everything.” she retorted sharply, yet I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. “I’m sleeping in the studio tonight.”

I swallowed thickly and nodded, glancing to the ground with a heavy heart, the pieces of broken glass shimmering in the kitchen light between us. She went to step around me but I instinctively reached out a hand to her to keep her back from accidently stepping on any broken glass, “Careful.”

“God, Daniel.” she huffed, “Please don’t.”

I didn’t make a move to stop her as she walked around me to storm across the living room and to the back door. She didn’t look back as she opened the sliding glass door and slipped out into the darkness that the falling night brought. I watched her disappear out of the house and into the backyard, her form fading from view like she had been a figment of my imagination the whole time, the cruelest most perfect kind of dream.

Oh, how I loved her. And I was so, so stupid.

I busied myself in her absence by bringing my laptop bag and our shared suitcase to the master bedroom and rested them against the wall just inside the door. I returned to the kitchen to clean up the broken glass and spilt water, glancing out the back door as if half expecting her to come back inside. I was met with darkness.

I squinted slightly to try and see the light from the backyard studio window but it was still pitch black. Odd. Usually you could see the light from the main house. I brushed it off that she simply went to bed early after such a fight and focussed on the broken glass. I had just crouched down to pick up the worst of it with a steady hand when the pling of the security camera peaked my attention. It rang steady from the monitor’s spot on the front counter and I headed over to it to check on the studio cameras, but the alarm was disarmed from the studio before I could reach it, sending the kitchen back into silence.

My phone buzzed in my pocket at that moment and I pulled it out to read the text from my older brother,

Did you get home okay?

I hesitated as I read his message, not particularly wanting to be honest with him and have to endure his confessions of his dislike of my new wife and her very personable opinions on my job. It was our private relationship and Christian seemed to like to weasel his nose into it sometimes. Ah, well. He meant well. Before I could decide if I wanted to answer him right away or not, I heard a faint scream from the backyard and my head shot up to look towards the sliding glass doors. I paused, expecting Avalon to come running in to ask me to kill a spider any moment now.

But there was nothing.

I pocketed my phone and walked briskly across the main floor of the house, broken glass forgotten, and slipped outside into the warm LA evening. The studio was only a few paces from the back porch and I jumped down the three steps and across the stone tiles to the door. I didn’t bother knocking before I went inside, the darkness that consumed me when I entered already adding more concern to my conscious, and I reached for the light switch blindly.

“Ava? I thought I heard you scream, are you-”

The scene that met my eyes with the flick of the switch had my breath stopping in my throat, my words falling into silence, and my heart dropping into my stomach. Avalon was laying over the rug across the small room, eyes staring blankly into the ceiling, and her throat slit until she was laying in a pool of her own blood.

“Aves.” I breathed shakily, taking a step towards her, then a second, “Avalon, honey…”

She wasn’t moving. I barely made it halfway across the studio but with my back to the door I had entered through, someone came up behind me and grabbed me, slapping their hand over my mouth and holding me down by an arm around my waist. I struggled and tried to get away but they had a good grip on me as they swiped my feet out from under me and took me to the ground. The sharp slam of my head hitting the side of the piano on the way down was the last sound in the room before I blacked out.

Detective Team: @jonahlovescoffee​ @randomlimelightxxx​ @stuffofseaveyy​ @hopinglimelight​ @tempus-ut-luceant​ @br4nd1s​ @xkelsev​ @hiya-its-amber​ @the-girl-who-cried-wolf​

[rudemaidenswrite]

Cash Prize

Michael Myers x Reader

Part 1            by: @pusantheamazonian       

You’re desperate for money. So you seek out the Shape of Haddonfield, hoping to strike a deal with him. Since there’s a contest you want to enter that’s happening at his house with a cash prize. 

It is 5:30am and it's cold. You've been standing on the sidewalk in front of the old Myers house for the past half hour debating if you really should seek out his help. Double checking the time it's now or never, your shift starts in an hour.

Pulling your jacket closer you quickly walk to the door. Knocking on it there's no response. Internally cussing at yourself, you cautiously walk inside.

“Hello? Michael Myers? ….Mr. Myers I wanted to talk to you about something.” You slowly creep down the hallway, your voice threatening to give out.

The eerie silence changes your mind about this plan. Backing up you run into something. You know there wasn't anything in the hall behind you. This feels like a warm body and that can only mean it's him. Taking a ragged breath you quietly turn around to face him. Wide eyed your face to face with the Shape of Haddonfield. You don't know how long you were staring up at him until the raising of his knife shakes you back to reality.

“Wait wait! I came to talk!” Taking a step back you throw your hands up in surrender. He halts his movement, keeping his knife poised in the air. “I was wanting to make a deal with you. Next Friday night the Horror Lover's club is holding a contest.” Word vomiting he gives a head tilt which you translate as hurry the fuck up. “The contest is to see who can stay in the Myers house the longest. The winner gets a thousand dollars in cash.” Carefully you pull the fyler from your pocket and hand it to him.  He snatches it, holding it close. “I was thinking you could go stabby mcstab stab stab them and I will win the contest. Except don't kill the host, well not until he hands over the money.” You feel the black eye sockets turn on you. “I really need the money. I'm willing to go 50-50, hell even go 70-30 with you. I just have to make it to 7am that Saturday morning.” You feel his attention return to the fyler and there's a long silence before he lowers the knife. “Well… they're supposed to have someone dressed up as you scaring the participants. That's why I thought we could do a deal… but if not... this is a heads up then.” You swear he can hear your heart pounding out of your chest.

It's another long silence of him staring at you before either one of you move. Ever so gracefully he tucks the fyler in his coveralls and walks upstairs. Leaving you alone, trembling in the dark.

Once you realize he's not coming back you dart out the door like a bat out of hell. Scared shitless you run all the way to work. You run all the way across town to work and you don’t run. Just barely getting there before your shift starts.

~

Your annoying presence stayed in his mind. Unable to shake the surprise that you willing searched him out. He stalks your every move, watching from a distance as you go back and forth to work and home. You live alone in an apartment complex on the top floor. The fire escape leads right to your living room window. Inside he learns everything he needs to know.

Your apartment isn't very decorated like the others he has visited. The fridge is covered with late notices about bills with a sticky note attached. Reminding you what order to pay them in. Your work schedule is also on the fridge. Apparently you've been pulling double shifts at work trying to scrounge up the extra money. You must truly be desperate since you risked your life to find him.

~

Today's the day. You'll see if he agreed to your deal in a few hours. Until then you change some comfy clothes, hell if you’re gonna die you might as well be comfy. Reheating some leftovers you plop down on the couch to watch The Aristocats on VHS for the umpteenth time.

Arriving at the Myers house it doesn't seem like anyone is here. But hearing some voices you wander around to the backyard.

“Hey! You here for the contest?” A goth dressed dude asks as you approach.

“Yes.”

“Sign up at the table.” He points to the shabby card table with a sign taped to it.

“Okay.”

Waiting in the sign up line you take note of other people. There seems to be only ten other people in the contest. You can make this work.

“Hey.” A voice comes from behind you.

“Uh hi.” You turn to face the voice.

“I haven’t seen you before. First time to one of these events?” The way he smiles creeps you out.

“Yeah, I saw a flyer for it and thought that it would be fun.”

“Name’s Tony. I go to all their events.”

“Y/N.”

Thankfully you reach the front of the line so you don’t have to continue talking to him. Standing in the back you stare at the windows, hoping for any sign of Michael. Loud yammering catches your attention as what you guess is the ring leader taking center stage on the back porch.

“Alright people! Thank you for coming to our contest! I have some ground rules before we begin. 1. You must sign the liability waiver. So if you are injured or killed, you and your family cannot sue. 2. You are not allowed to bring anything in to help pass the time. 3. No cellphones, all phones must be turned in at the door. You will receive them back at the end. 4. Once you leave the house either front or back door you are disqualified.” There’s a group groan at the cellphone rule. “Now if every would do so we can begin!”

One by one everyone walks up the steps, depositing their phones in the basket. You turn yours off before tossing it in. Shuffling inside towards the hallway you eye the stairs. You don’t believe the whole safety in numbers mentality right now. You’re better off alone since you already warned him. Minding your own business you walk into a room upstairs to basically hide. You wonder whose bedroom this is but you have the gut feeling it's Michael's. Since the bed looks sort of new compared to the rest of the house. You sit quietly on the bed and open the book you smuggled in.

“Hey hey. That's cheating.”

Looking up it's the creeper Tony from before. You really should have shut the door behind you.

“I'm just reading. It's not cheating.” You go back to the book hoping he will just go away.

“No I'm pretty sure that's cheating. They said not to bring anything to help pass the time.”

“Well excuse me for trying to catch up on my reading. I just don't think it's right to be snooping around a house that isn't yours.”

“Well how about we do something else to pass the time?” There’s a hint of naughtiness in his voice.

“Not interested.”

“Come on, I won't tell anyone about your book.” He shuts the door.

“You can-” Angrily snapping at him you freeze. Eyes glued to the shape in the corner. Michael Myers is home. He silently creeps up behind the man. Snapping his neck in one solid motion. Watching the body fall to the floor with a muffled thud you quickly look back at him.

You feel like you've been staring forever in the silence before he moves. The single movement of his arm has you jumping backwards, he brings a finger to the plastic lips of his mask. You nod in agreement to be quiet. Stunned you watch the shape throw the lifeless body over his shoulder and pat you on the head before exiting the room, closing the door with him.

Following orders you do not move from your spot on the bed and silent as possible. It’s hard to focus on your book with the knowledge that Michael Myers has agreed to your deal. The deal for him to go stabby mcstab stab stab on the other people. You swear you heard some screams too. But you think of it as he’s defending his home from intruders and your his guest that he doesn’t want to get hurt. After what seems forever it has become pitch black outside. Your only light is the moon and the outside lights from the neighbors. Putting your book up it’s not enough to keep reading.

There’s a loud scream followed by loud thuds as if someone is running.

“AAAHHH!!!” A girl runs in screaming.

“AAAHHH!!!” Screaming back at her you shuffle further into the bed. She’s bleeding from her arm with other blood stains on her clothes. You recognize her from earlier, she entered the house with you.

“You have to help me! Please!” She moves closer.

Shaking your head no you bring a pillow to your face. Michael told you to be quiet and quiet you will be. You don’t wanna end up like them.

“Please!-” Her plea is cut short with an unnatural crunch and squish. You count to a hundred to ease your nerves before lowering the pillow. Looking up you jump again. He’s standing at the end of the bed, the dude must be a ninja. There's blood covering a good portion of his coveralls and you have to hold back a gag.

“Oh hi... you’re super stealthy.” Not moving you stare at the black eye holes. Your attention is drawn away when he throws an envelope and your phone down. Confused you set the pillow aside and reach for the envelope. Opening it you almost dropping it, it's the cash prize.

“You..got money?” There's a slow head tilt as if he's monitoring your reactions. Petrified you take a deep breath before removing $300. You know he went and killed that dude, bringing the money back to you. Holding the envelope out you wait for him to take it. But he never does. “Here.” You jab the envelope at him again. He storms out the room. “Hey! Wait a minute. This is your part of the money!” Like an idiot you chase him down the stairs into the kitchen. “Don't you run off.”

Your voice dies down when you enter the kitchen, there’s blood dripping down the wall. With a body being held up with a knife. Abandoning ship with your mouth covered so you don’t gag. Blood was never your thing. Suddenly you’re thrown backwards to the floor.

“Ow!”

His hand placed firmly on your throat, not squeezing but with enough pressure that you are not going to be moving. With wide eyes you freeze, looking up at him. Like before he doesn't do anything but watch. Waiting to see what reason he should kill you or entertainment value you might have.

That's it, he's a people watcher. It's the best way to see how a person will react and then you can guess their movements. “You like to people watch huh.”

He doesn't move or say anything. You probably just made the situation worse. On que he removes his hand as if he heard your thoughts. He keeps close in case you show a reason to die. “...Thank you for your help...It’s been rough these past few months.” A gut feeling tells you he's not going to take the money. Maybe there's a different way you can repay him.

“Do you need me to dispose of anything on my way out?” With a head tilt you can feel him studding you. “I-I figured I could help. To make sure that they can't pinpoint that were last seen here. Let it be my way of helping you since you helped me.” After a long pause he backs away, allowing you to stand up. Rubbing your neck you watch him rustle with something on the counter. He abruptly hands you the basket of phones alongside the sign up sheet and waivers. “Okay I'll get rid of this..um well thank you again and… I'll see you later?” Not knowing what to say you ramble on as you inch towards the door. The invitation to see you again stuns him. You are a strange creature willing to see him again.

“Okie dokie… night then.” Since he showed no signs of stopping you. You took that as your cue to leave. You briskly walk through the backyard to the alley. Not daring to look back. To look back at the bloodbath you caused and the new acquaintance you have.

[grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales]

Hey! I'm the anon from slavicafire's blog asking about Yugoslav witchcraft traditions. I;m a child of recent immigrants from the ex-yugo regions and I'm trying to reconnect w/ my roots. Could you give me a very basic outline of simple traditions that might be common from the region? Hvala puno (:

Hi anon! Glad to see somebody interested in our traditions, that is always amazing. I hope this helps you.

Disclaimer, I’m not professional. This is just stuff pulled out of my own amateur research and love for balkan lore. Anybody with better understanding please pitch in.

First, to reiterate what likely everybody told you, Slavic traditions are very variable and unique, depending on which country you are looking at. While there is obviously much similar things, not all Balkan countries have same lore. So I would suggest looking up where your ancestors are from, and then digging in research ( sometimes there are differences even between like, villages in same country, which makes things both beautiful and amazing and irritating and bothersome).

Second, I am sorry to say that information can be kinda hard to come across when searching for Balkan sources. As result of most countries being ‘’still in development’’, (at least when compared to West), decades of communist regime which didn’t care much for spirituality, big influence of Christian church and being kinda small in population, there isn’t lots of people interested in such things, at least not openly. There has thankfully been revival and rise of interest in last years but ah still takes lots of work to find like minded people. You should have some luck searching through Tumblr and Reddit.

Rest of info under cut, keep on read more so we wouldn’t bother people with big wall of text.

Now, I want to say ( in case you aren’t already aware, in which case excuse me and forgive for taking up your time) that if you do research in Serbian or Croatian for veštica you will most likely come upon fantasy books, fairy tales and such. More folkloric stuff will talk about things like selling your soul to Devil, eating hearts of your family, soul leaving your body to do misdeeds and similar. Rather interesting stuff, which could be used for interesting if little dark path, but less easy to put in practice and being generally very Christian story about evil monsters ( I assume you can’t leave your body in shape of moth so you would cut up your neighbors and relatives and eat their insides but hey what do I know, that might work for you). If you are interested in hearing about that though please send me ask again!

What I assume you are looking for, and is generally much more likely to be practiced ( today too in some villages) are činjarice and vračare. These words while literally meaning something like charm-doer/maker and similar, are more like village wisewomen, cunning folk and similar, people who practiced mixture of magic, medicine, old Slavic lore and Christian beliefs, midwifery and superstitions. If you ask your parents, grandparents, relatives and similar, I’m sure they would be able to tell you of encountering or at very least hearing about at least one weird old woman who claimed to be able to read your fortune, help with fertility, protect you against evil eye… If you ever meet such old woman, remember they will most likely be very insulted if you call them witch. Some wouldn’t even call their workings magical, and many are very intensively Christian.

So, some advice which I hope will be useful. Traditionally those women (and probably some men, though I didn’t hear of it happening. Probably happened but people don’t like talking about such things because people are dumb) worked alone. I assume one witch was enough for one village. This doesn’t mean that you can’t join a coven or work with friends and learn from others, simply that solitary path is open to you and that lots of those witches worked on their own, combining superstition, tips passed to them from others and their own knowledge and thoughts. There is no hard tradition to stick to, you can freely experiment, and don’t listen to people who say you need witch’s blood or some nonsense like that. You only need your will and heart and what works for you.

Then, remember those people lived in villages and most likely worked at farm, in fields, with cattle.. They likely lived together with their families ( unless they were of course widows with no nearby relatives or spinsters). Point is, they didn’t have fancy stuff, because they had to take acre of cows and dung and carrots, so you shouldn’t feel bad about not buying athames, wands, cauldrons and such if you can’t or don’t want. You can repurpose normal ordinary stuff around you in magical tools. As Granny Weatherwax would say, witch can use kitchen knife to do magic and make a bread. Some would argue it is still good to have separate tools for magic, or regularly cleanse and charge your cutlery so energy wouldn’t get too muddled, and that is good approach too. Look what works for you. Suggestions for tools: mirrors, candles, knives, threads,stones, scissors.

If you want to get ideas for how to incorporate everyday things in your practice, look up tag cottage witchcraft, or hearth witchcraft, which is based on idea of making your home practices in magic. Remember that you don’t need to define yourself as anything but witch, or even that, if you don’t want. Think of ways how your passions and talents could be used as outlet for witchcraft. Sing your spells, paint your sigils, however you want. Balkan witches let their craft go out through ordinary stuff too.

Research herb lore! Living in villages and near woods Slavic witches always worked closely with herbs.  That seems to generally be witch thing, as herbs were for long time basis of spices and medicine. Research what herbs you can get your hands on (spices and weeds are easiest I’d say) can be used for, both magically and as teas, tinctures and similar ( remember that herbs should never be used instead of actual medication, and that you don’t need to bother with them if you don’t want to). Some starting points-generally, oak is associated with Perun, strength, protection and ancestors and was heavily respected and venerated. Walnut is associated with darkness, death, misfortune and evil witches and spirits so I’d say it would for example be good for curses. Hawthorn was used as means of protection against demonic spirits and evil creatures, especially vampires.

Research correspondences! People for example believed that certain workings should be undertaken only on certain days, such as holy days of saints, or that magic was best to be done on Friday. Water has different powers depending on day and place it was taken- frozen water or melted ice is used for spells of forgetting, but generally water is used for healing and purification, though time and place and way you collect it can charge it differently. Salt is of course as always amazing for protection and cleansing. Colours are also good start- black for death darkness misfortune, red for life and protection especially against spirits, white for purity cleansing contact with dead and positive energy and so on. Some things require really weird steps. For example to protect yourself from plague you needed to pull over yourself a shirt made by several naked old woman outside during Saturday night ( which I hope you will never need, and have serious doubts for how successful it would be)… If you are in for more ritualistic path it may work for you.

Spells, often called bajalice ( I’m not sure how to translate, except it vaguely means something like murmured song, or chant  I think) were either passed down, picked from folklore, or straight up invented. They consisted of several lines and often rhymed, in fact many of them sound like nursery rhymes. Some are full of seemingly nonsenses, others call upon saints.

They also often had psychical component, a piece of paper, poppet, anything…Those were used as anchors for spell, and if you were casting for other person, closer those objects were to them spell worked better. Good luck and blessings were often in form of amulets person carried on themselves, curses often required burning object or burying it in victim’s backyard.

As with all witchcraft I’d say, sympathetic magic is one of basics. Hair, nails, blood, names, images, all those are often necesarry to work magic upon another. Be careful what is done with yours.

There is strong focus on body with Balkan witchcraft (especially hair). If you feel comfortable explore it, learn about it. Your body is wonderful and reveling in it can be very beneficial not just for magic but for your health, in flesh and mind both. Just stay away from things talking about stuff like putting menstrual blood in potions or anything unsafe. If you want to explore blood magic take care. Just cutting or pricking yourself isn’t good at all.

Look out for superstitions. Most of them contain ritualistic roots. Think and ask why they are done, and how can they be used in practice. Knock on wood for good luck or to prevent bad things, it calls out to spirits. Pinkie and index finger pointed on person is used for casting curses of evil eye variety. And so on…

You don’t have to work with dead, but as amazing zmija already mentioned, there is always something undead. Graveyard dirt is powerful. Look out for ghosts and similar creatures. If you want, try to connect to ancestors or tend to graveyards. Forty days after birth and death are when such forces are most active. Our dead are always with us, and those who have passed on often frequent and play with those who replaced them.

Treat nature well. Remember that it is full of spirits ( some of which may be similar to undead-is rusalka a water nymph or drowned girl, domovoi entirely spiritual caretaker of home or ghost of distant ancestor ). Try to connect with them, to reach out if you feel safe. Dragons, vampires, fairies ( zmey, vampies/upyrsi, vilas in english sources) were most important to Balkans, as well as creatures of wilds like snakes and wolves.

Spaces American side of tumblr would call liminal are important. Thresholds, crossroads and watermills are folklorically connected with magic a lot.

Balkan Traditional Witchcraft by Radomir Ristic  from what I heard is very good book, if little awkward to read as it is translated in English.  Journal for the Academic Study of Magic  from what I have heard has some stuff on South Slavic magic in issue 2 and parts of it are  put up online, such as  The Human Body in Southern Slavic Folk Sorcery Andrija Filipovic and Anne M. Rader.   Solvenska Mitologija ( The Slavic Mythology) by  Nenad Gajić  is great start if you want easy to understand and comprehensive list of Slavic creatures, beliefs, lore and so but I don’t know if you can find it out of Balkans. Belgrade publishing house Metaphysica also apparently has some stuff, no idea if it is good.

If you know Serbian or Croatian, I would suggest websitehttp://www.starisloveni.com/index.html, which is pagan site and also has forum (you need to be registered though).  I have also found several threads of that topic on  https://forum.krstarica.com/ and https://www.ana.rs/forum/ though they require digging, especially for good stuff. Site is also bit less modern. I have recently came upon  https://thewitchandwalnut.wordpress.com/, a Wordpress blog of Balkan witch from Canada which seems very informative. @everett-the-mage is very awesome blog with lots of content on Croatian folk magic and lovely Etsy shop and lots of recommendations for reading.

I hope this helps at least a little! Good luck with your journey!

[imahoforthings]

Part 1 Part 2

Part 3:

Warnings: language, slightly smutty

Summary: You moved to Queens with your barely-there Dad only to find Peter Parker, the intriguing boy next door.

It’s Monday, and you and Liz are gossiping in French class. She’s throwing a party this weekend on Friday night.

“Obviously you’re invited,” Liz says, “I think I’m gonna invite basically the whole school, except the weirdos and the creeps.” You think for a minute. “Are Peter and his friends invited?” Liz’s face hardens. “C’mon, tell me what happened?” You whine. Of course, Peter had already told you what happened, but you wanted to hear her side of the story.

She sighs, and basically repeats what Peter had told you. “It just sucks,” she says, “because I really liked him, you know? He was this loveable, sweet guy...” You find yourself growing annoyed at her for some reason. She clearly wasn’t over him. “Well, I think you should invite him,” you say firmly, “you can’t stay mad at him forever, it’s time to let it go.” Liz nods slowly, and smiles at you. “That’s a good idea, I knew you were gonna make a good friend!”

At lunch, you told the gang the news. Beds jaw drops. “Oh man, you are so dead.” He says to Peter. “He is not dead.” You snap. You turn to Peter and say kindly, “she wants to clear the air.” He takes a deep breath, and you can’t help but notice how his brow wrinkles a little bit while he’s thinking, and- “Yeah, I’ll go.” He says. You blink, and then smile broadly. “Great! We should all ride together.” MJ raises a hand, “I can pick y’all up in my Dads truck.” You hug her, (which she looks extremely unhappy about) “Yay! Come get Peter and I at like 9ish.”

4 days later

Youre in your room getting ready. You decided on a red skater dress that has a slightly deep v-neck, and two straps that meet around your neck in a halter fashion. You put on some fire truck red lipstick to match. Your hair is down and curled, and you quickly slip on a cropped leather jacket because being fall it is a bit chilly outside.

You walk over to Peters apartment and knock on the door. May answers, “Hey y/n! What’s up?”

“Oh not much, is Peter almost ready?”

You hear his door open and out he walks, looking cute in a new blue sweater. He stops dead when he sees you. “W-wow, um, y/n you look amazing.” You blush. “You don’t look too bad yourself.” He smiles shyly. May clears her throat. “Oh right, MJ will be here in a second, we should go,” you say, “nice to see you May!” As Peter follows you past her, May grabs his arm and whispers something to him that causes him to turn red.

In the elevator you ask him about what she said, and the color returns to his face. “Um, she was just being embarrassing it doesn’t matter.” You look at him. “Peter come on, tell me.” He shakes his head. You attempt to push him against the wall to force it out of him, but he catches your arms and flips you around, pinning them above your head on the wall. Damn he is STRONG. He quickly let’s go and says, while standing far too close, “She just said ‘use protection’.” You start to giggle. He steps back and rolls his eyes. “It’s not that funny.” You sigh. “I know, I’m just sad I don’t have a parent to embarrass me like that.” He looks at you quizzically, but the elevator doors open and you dash out before he can question it.

MJ is waiting with Ned in the front seat, so the two of you pile in back. You all jam out to cheesy pop music as you pull up to the party. You’ve arrived right on time, 45 minutes late. Late enough so that the party’s going but not at its peak.

When you walk in, it’s madness. Liz must’ve invited way more people than the ones at school. You spot her sitting in a circle with a few people and you drag Peter over by the hand to say hi. “How’s it going?” You ask her. “It’s great so far, you guys wanna play?” You and Peter sit down. “What is it?” Peter asks, still holding your hand. “7 minutes in heaven + spin the bottle.” Says the guy sitting next to you. He reeks of alcohol and you don’t like the way he’s looking at you. Peters grip on your hand tightens. “Peter you should go,” Liz bats her eyes at him. He clears his throat and spins. It lands on him. “Um, so I have to go in the closet by myself.” One of Liz’s friends shakes her head. “It’s the player to your right.” You freeze. Shit. Liz’s stare darkens. “Umm, that might be weird, we’re friends.” You protest. She rolls her eyes. “You have to, or streak the people in the backyard.” You hastily pull Peter up. “Okay, closet it is.”

“Timer starts when you close the door!” Liz’s friend calls after you. You pull Peter in and close the door. The music is muffled, and it’s pitch black. “We don’t have to do anything.” Peter says. You sigh. Not the direction you were hoping this would go. “I know,” you say dejectedly. He’s quiet for a minute. “Y’know,” He says, “that kinda makes it sound like you want to do something.” You’re glad it’s so dark so he can’t see you blush. “Well maybe I do,” you retort, trying really hard to keep your lips to yourself. He puts on his phone flashlight. You wince against the harsh light. “What the hell?” He sets it on a shelf. He grabs your face and pushes you up against the door, he’s inches away from your lips when he says, “I wanted to see your face when I do this.” He then finally kisses you, fiercely, and passionately. His hands roam all over your body, and the door is shaking really obviously but you don’t care because you just want him. You take your fingers through his messy, curly hair and he moans into your neck as he’s kissing it, he hits a sweet spot on your neck and you gasp a little bit.

It seems like you’ve only got to taste him for a moment when all of a sudden the door swings open and Liz is standing there, drunk, and with red rimmed eyes. You almost fell over when she opened the door you were being pushed against, so you don’t exactly seem cool when you stutter out “H-hey, um, Liz what’s up?” She’s shaking for some reason. “I’ll tell you what’s up. You pretend to help me get over Peter just so you can have him for yourself!” You gape at her. “I meant in terms of your anger, I had no idea you still had FEELINGS for him!” She screams with rage and breaks the empty bottle on the door frame causing shard of glass to fly at you. The party goes silent, liz looks like she’s about to slap you, but Peter pushes you behind him. She blinks, stops, and turns around. “That’s it, everybody out NOW! Before I call the cops.” People file out quickly, and Peter grabs your hand to pull you past Liz. She’s not the only one who’s shaking now. Peter notices and wraps an arm around you. He calls a cab and takes you home...

@katevino hope you enjoy!

[entergamingxp]

Making a Video Game Hero: Sports Edition

May 29, 2020 1:00 PM EST

Our latest Making a Video Game Hero series takes to the digital sports arenas around the world as we strive to create the best athlete.

Thus far, these lists have been relatively easy to put together. After all, whether you’re platforming in 2D or 3D, you’re still jumping around. Action-adventure is a little murkier, but even there, you basically know what you’re getting yourself into. However, when trying to build the ultimate sports game star, we ran into some obvious difficulties.

What sport are you playing? How do you possibly weigh the difference between a silky smooth jumper and a devastating stiff arm? We decided to just do the best we could to build the Bo Jackson of virtual sports. Except without, ya know, the crippling hip injuries that will derail his career before it really gets started.

So, what does this monstrosity of bulging muscles, computer-like intelligence, and boyish charm look like? Well, give our creation a look below, and be sure to let us know why we’re wrong in the comments below. And remember, the only rule is we can only use one character per game entry. Otherwise, this would just be all Backyard Sports characters.

Brain: Pablo Sanchez (Backyard Sports) Runners’ Up: Tom Brady (Madden NFL 09), Tiger Woods (Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14)

Tom Brady in Madden NFL 09 is the football savant’s most cerebral version. While his arm skills are worth salivating over, it’s the star’s mind that makes him one of the all-time greats. And while he lost that season in real life due to injury, his virtual counterpart tore up the NFL with reckless abandon.

Likewise, there aren’t many athletes that possess the same killer instincts that Tiger Woods had in his heyday. While we can argue over which video game version is his best, you can’t tell us there’s a virtual player who dominates with their brain and brawn more than Tiger did.

However, our ultimate choice is Pablo Sanchez from the Backyard Sports series. Look at the young lad. If you’re on the playground and selecting your first pick for any sport based on appearances, Pablo is one of the last kids you pick. He’s short. He’s got a potbelly. Heck, he even pretends like he can’t speak English, tossing in an unneeded communication gap for literally no reason. But then you see him on the field.

Regardless of the sport, Pablo Sanchez is, in action, the most dominant athlete in the video game sports world. He is good at everything. Literally everything. That talent has to come from somewhere, and it’s definitely not his 8-year-old beer gut. He’s like that kid in intramurals who was a stud in high school but came to college wanting to party more than practice and got kicked off the football team. Now he looks out of shape, but if you give him a sliver of lane, he’ll still dunk all over you. Not that that specific situation ever happened to me, or anything.

Put that propensity to be great in a genetically superior body and you have something truly scary on your hands.

Eyes: Vladimir Guerrero (MVP Baseball 2005) Runners’ Up: Barry Sanders (Madden NFL 99), Kobe Bryant (NBA Live 2005)

Barry Sanders is one of the best to ever lace up. What set him apart from other running backs was not just his other-worldly body control that let him slip away from would-be tacklers, but his vision to find a sliver of daylight where no one else could. Plus, he was the subject of one of the best video game commercials of all time.

Kobe, on the other hand, had that locked-in glare that made opponents whither late in games. The Black Mamba was one of the most intimidating players in the NBA. When he got serious, you knew you were in for a show.

However, our choice for eyes is Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad never saw a pitch he couldn’t hit. Just watch some of the garbage he’s able to get a hold of in this video. And, in MVP Baseball 2005, the man was absolutely dominant. Manny Rameriz gives him a run for his money, but Vlad is certifiably that dude. He hit pitches off the ground, for goodness sakes!

Mouth: Michael Jordan (NBA 2K11) Runners’ Up: The Announcer (NBA Hangtime), Quentin Sands (Blitz: The League)

Please tell us you’ve watched The Last Dance by now. For sports fans, it is must-watch TV. Like, take a break from reading this, flip to another tab, and enjoy 10 hours of some top-tier content. Now that you’ve seen it, you know that MJ isn’t just the greatest basketball player ever. He’s also a truly next-level trash talker.

Sure, if our abomination had the booming voice of the Hangtime announcer, he’d be fun to hang out with. And, Quentin Sands certainly knows how to talk some junk. That said, Jordan takes it to a different universe. While some are going to say we’re wasting our Jordan slot on his mouth, others will remember he allegedly killed a man’s whole career just by talking to him. Ruthless.

Torso: Jadeveon Clowney (NCAA Football 14) Runners’ Up: Dante Culpepper (Madden NFL 06), Karl Malone (NBA Jam)

Dante Culpepper in Madden NFL 06 was an absolute hoss: impossible to bring down in the backfield and nearly unstoppable once he got up to speed on scrambles. His insane power would make for an excellent base for our monster.

Likewise, the Mailman was a force in NBA Jam. His defense and dunking were off the charts, making him the perfect counterpick when your friend inevitably selected Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant.

However, neither of those characters were inspired by this kind of real-world performance. That hit from Clowney might be the greatest hit anyone has ever laid out in any football game ever. Best of all, his NCAA Football 14 counterpart is capable of the same type of backfield destruction. Good gravy.

Left Arm: Ken Griffey Jr. (The Ken Griffey series) Runners’ Up: Michael Vick (Madden NFL 2004), Mike Tyson (Fight Night Round 4)

Some will probably balk at having Mike Vick’s arm as the option over his legs. That said, the sheer power that his Madden NFL 2004 character was able to generate essentially made EA rewrite the game’s defense for Madden NFL 2005 to compensate. The things he could do in that game were downright silly.

Another potentially surprising inclusion that comes due to our one character per game rule is Mike Tyson. While his turn in Punch-Out!! is legendary, we’re saving that game for something else. Iron Mike’s left arm is earth-shattering in the real and virtual worlds. Watch him throw punches as a 52-year-old man and then imagine taking one of those to the dome in his prime. No thanks!

But, for our money, we’re getting Griffey. If you were a ‘90s kid, there wasn’t a more lovable baseball star than Ken Griffey Jr. He has four different video games with his name on them and is among the best in every single one of them. We’d probably go with his Slugfest version, but you’re welcome to your preference. Regardless, there isn’t a left-arm we want more than The Kid’s.

Right Arm: Waluigi (Mario Tennis) Runners’ Up: Steph Curry (NBA 2K20), Scott Stevens (NHL Hitz 2002)

Steph Curry might just be the best pure shooter in NBA history. His touch from beyond the arc is without equal in the modern game and he makes full-court shots look routine. And Scott Stevens had one of the meanest right hooks in NHL Hitz. If you got into a fight with the New Jersey Devils’ man, you already knew the knockout was coming. But we can do better than either of those.

Waluigi was created in a vat at Nintendo for Mario Tennis. And, to this day, Nintendo refuses to allow him to take his talents to anything other than side games. They’re too scared to see what Waluigi could do to their poster boy in a mainline Mario video game.

We’re not afraid though. Instead, we’ll use what Nintendon’t and graft the best Wa brother’s arm onto our monster, turning his right arm into a machine of sports prowess.

Legs: Devin Hester (Madden NFL 08) Runners’ Up: Didier Drogba (FIFA World Cup 2010), Tony Hawk (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3)

Excuse the potato quality, but watch this rocket Drogba delivers from almost the centerline in FIFA World Cup 2010. Sure, it’s on a lower difficulty, but the power that the man from the Ivory Coast possessed in that video game was astounding.

Tony Hawk brings a bit more finesse to the party. His level of control with his feet baffles the mind. Later games would let him do more with the board, but THPS3 is the series’ pinnacle. It’s the Hawkman at his best.

However, Devin Hester is the first Madden player to get 100 speed. Seeing him line up for a return caused grown men and women to immediately wet their pants. He was absolutely a game-changer in Madden NFL 08, and we had to include him here.

Mentor: Doc Louis (Punch-Out!!) Runners’ Up: Bo Jackson (Tecmo Super Bowl), Stretch (NBA Street)

Sports aren’t just about your own personal skills. You need someone to teach you how to be great. Jordan had Phil Jackson. Brady had Bill Belicheck. Even an early prodigy like Cristiano Ronaldo needed a top-class manager in Alex Ferguson to completely bring out his visionary skill.

And so, our creation needs his own mentor. While we considered going with an all-time great player like Bo Jackson or an old-timer who still has it in Stretch, we ultimately went with Doc Louis.

After all, if he can take that chump Little Mac and teach him how to beat the video game version of Mike Tyson, imagine what he can do for our hulking behemoth. Our creation will not only outplay his competition but with Doc Louis’ help, he’ll outwit them too.

So there you have it. Our third video game creation is finished. Are there any changes you’d like to see? If so, let us know about them in the comments. And check back soon for our next dive into the wonderful world of human body modification. It’s sure to be a doozy.

May 29, 2020 1:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/making-a-video-game-hero-sports-edition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=making-a-video-game-hero-sports-edition

[deftonesdick]

buckle up fuckers cause this is gonna be a long post

Okay so me and my brother had to drive a really fuckin long time some time ago and my phone broke so I had nothing to do, so he was telling me about all this creepy shit that’s been happening to him over the course of this last month (give or take).

First of all, aliens have been fucking happening?!?!?!

A few nights ago, he was driving either home or to a friend’s bonfire, and this was on like a back road, so it’s dark as hell and really remote. All of a sudden, he sees this blue light fly into the sky from the treeline!!! He says it was shaped like a cartoon tornado, and he stopped dead in the middle of the road, him and his friends just watching this thing silently fly away into the sky.

Sometime after that, he was camping in that same friend’s backyard with his friends. At some point, he looks up to see two fucking lights watching him from a tree. Imagine two flashlights shining at you, but they don’t have that halo of light around them. That’s pretty much what they looked like. And of course he tells his friends, and get this: right as they clamber over and crowd around the opening of the tent, THE FUCKING EYES DROP FROM THE TOP OF THE TREE AND FLY AWAY. And they were flying low, so it was like some creature running away.

But wait, there’s more!

He was at another friend’s house sometime later, and they were playing a game called “Cutthroat Mafia”. Some of you might be familiar with this game, but I’ll just explain the rules right quick: You have a deck of cards. One of these cards represents each player (one card for each person playing). One of these cards is different from the others, whether it be a different color or a jack/ace/queen/king/etc.. Shuffle the cards and draw from the stack. The person who receives the “special” card is the Mafia. After all of the cards are doled out, you turn off The Lights. Now submerged in darkness, the players meander around the space and try to avoid the Mafia. If they are caught by the Mafia, their throats are (metaphorically ofc) slit and they play dead. If one of the “living” players find the person who got “killed”, they yell “BODY” or something to that effect, and the lights come back on. The remaining players then discuss who the Mafia might be. I guess the Mfia could drag away or hide the bodies so this doesn’t happen, but I’ve never played this so I wouldn’t know. ANYWAYS, this is like Roblox Murder Mystery but irl and much more terrifying.

My brother and his friends made it even more so by 1:, making everyone be as silent as possible, 2:, by playing the creepiest music they could find on the internet (which, being the internet, got pretty fucking intense), and 3, playing it in a massive house that one of them lived in. Now, here’s where my brother comes in, and where YET ANOTHER creepy-ass thing happens to him.

He was playing it, and was hiding from the Mafia. At some point, he ended up in a library of some sort, and this library had a wall that had glass panels over it (not windows, just glass paneling) with wood dividing the panels down the middle. As he’s looking around, his eyes land on the glass panels. He ends up seeing something fucking standing in front of it. He thought it was a person at first until he noticed that A: it was nearly 8 feet tall, B:, it had stretched-out arms and legs, and C:, it was completely pitch black. He yelled for his friends, and right as they got in it fucking disappeared.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR THE BOTH OF US, THERE’S MORE!!!!!!

HE’s also been having incredibly bad dreams that started around the same time that these encounters. Now, he’s never had particularly bad dreams other than the normal I’m Randomly Falling From A Great Height and normal nightmares like that. But these ones were like a combination of sleep paralysis, lucid nightmares (yikes), and night terrors.

In the first one, he had a nightmare where he was having an allergic reaction, except the only symptoms he was having was that it was getting hard to breathe. So he started climbing from the treehouse in our old backyard (this takes place in our house), except it was like moving through water, and the closer he got to the back door (like 10, 15 feet away), the harder it got to move and breathe. Finally, he makes it into the kitchen on the way to grab his Epi-Pen from his room in the garage. As soon as he gets to the garage door, he gets hit by this wave of terror (you know how you get like a wave of dread, kinda like goosebumps? Imagine that.). He opens the door, and the garage is not only pitch black, it’s now a concrete hallway that darkens as it goes on. He takes like 5 steps, and suddenly he gets hit by another wave of terror. Near the very end of the tunnel, out of the blue, a streetlight type of light shines down on fucking Nosferatu (look him up, he’s an ugly sonofabitch). Nosferatu starts moving  v e r y  slowly towards him, and the closer he gets the more scared my brother does, and after like 45 minutes of this bullshit motherfuckery going on, Nosferatu finally reaches him. Now, my brother has lucid dreamt before, so while all this was happening, he was pulling as hard as he possibly could to get out of this nightmare (think of the motion your arm make when you’re lifting a barbell; that’s what he was doing). Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t wake up until Uglyass III finally made it to him.

He ended up pulling so hard he whacked his girlfriend on accident.

Another one of these dreams was basically him going through his day normally, but he had an uncontrollably bad wave of dread and terror, and the mom from fucking Hereditary was in his peripheral vision the entire fucking time.

[kits-oldaccount]

my dream last night was really sad (at least for me) and im gonna tell it before I forget it just because I wanna remember. im on a camping trip with my family and there’s this big tree house in this one little flimsy tree and anyway the tree starts shaking really hard and we’re all struggling to hang on and not be thrown out and of course there’s no roof and my dad flies out and lands on the ground and im the only one concerned for some reason so I start making my way down and as im halfway down the ladder a bomb goes off and sends me flying to the ground but then I realise it,,,, the entire rest of my family (my mom, sister, aunt, and little cousin) were in that tree house where the bomb went off and all the ashes come falling down with no them. for some reason their shoes all made it so im there crying and trying to gather up all their shoes from the ash because it’s all I have left to hold onto them and then I rush over to my dad and he’s okay but now it’s just me and him. we go home and it’s night time so im sitting in my kitchen and out the back door are a bunch of kids in halloween costumes standing in my backyard and threatening me (it’s not even close to halloween and they weren’t looking for candy btw) and anyway I started freaking out because it was too much, between the entirety of my family dying and being threatened to be killed I couldn’t take it. then someone knocked on the door and I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and went to see and it was eli so I instantly dropped the knife and gave them a hug and for some reason that made about half of the monster kids go away but then eli disappeared too. as kids were leaving I noticed one was mir and she wasn’t in a costume or anything but she looked really sad and I started running after her which obviously since I was in a dream was hard to do but anyway I called her name and she turned around and gave me the biggest hug and all the rest of the kids disappeared and I started talking to her about everything that happened and I was crying and she started walking with me down the street and I was trying not to show I was scared but I really really was because it was almost pitch black except for one porch light and the kids were waiting on the sides of the road. she seemed completely oblivious to them and almost like she didn’t care at all but eli had noticed them which was weird. it was almost like they were invisible to mir. anyway we got to the end of the road and she stopped and said it was time for me to go back home and she needed to leave and so I turned around and started walking and was instantly attacked by the kids in costumes and I was screaming for help, basically drowning under these kids and she couldn’t hear me until finally I broke away and had to reach out to her to tell her I couldn’t walk back alone. that’s when she took my hand and even let me walk on the inside of the road away from everything she couldnt see and dropped me off at my house and then she left. then it was the next day at a beach. I was looking on snapchat and you know those stories you can add things to? well anyway I saw that my sister was on one and started crying because she died and then I got on this boat and immediately started driving really fast away and it hit something and me and this little kid I was now responsible for started drowning. of course I can swim on my own but not holding him. somehow I made it to the shore and everyone dragged him up but then just forgot about me and I sat in the water screaming for help but no one did anything and it was like I was invisible to them and then one of the monster kids grabbed my feet from beneath me and started pulling me under and I was drowning and couldn’t get up and I could feel my head pounding and feel myself fading and I felt myself die then I woke up