#and the spooky object appeared a whole bunch of times in the same place and time as the spooky monster

[personnotfound]

Y'all keep saying that Jon lied about his age when he didn't? Where does it say he lied? In Mr Spider he says that people are often surprised at how young he is. That isn't lying about your age. People think I'm a decade older than I am all the time. And the wrong gender. Sometimes they even think I work at target! I didn't lie about working at target! I just took my winter coat off after three hours of circling the mall and happened to be wearing red. Jon happens to have greying hair and carries himself like Dracula's less cool shut in cousin.

He's not a liar he's a loser. Get your facts gay.

If you're going to correct me site a source like a proper acedemic. Please. I am on my fifth relisten while I wait for Thursday. I have been specifically listening out for this and I'm on MAG 97 and haven't heard him actually say he LIED.

Martin did lie though for sure. It's Plot that he's a silly goofy little guy who lied on his resume to work at The Paranoia Institute and thus, naturally, got the job.

[shinyacademy]

Spooky Shining Flutter Mane!

Hi friends! Look at all of those shiny Flutter Mane! Would you like to be the hero of your friend group with a gift of shiny Flutter Mane? Or perhaps you just want a lot of them? Today we’re embarking on a trip to the mysterious Area Zero with the goal of catching a bunch of shiny Flutter Mane!

Before we embark, a few notes of importance. First, you need to attend Naranja Academy for this trick to work. Uva students will need to bribe a friend who goes to Naranja Academy for a shiny Flutter Mane or pick up some classes at Naranja Academy.

Additionally, this trick is what we call an “exploit”. An exploit is a mechanism in a game that does not break any rules of the game or involve cheating but uses tactics that are probably unintentionally possible by the developers. While these Pokémon are legal and legitimate some people may consider the tactic to be “cheating”. As a professor, I would never condone actual cheating but I want my students to understand what they are getting into.

To start, we need to make sure that we go to Area Zero during the day. This trick won’t work at night. I find it best to wait for sunrise. That will give you the most time to hunt. Now we need to make our sandwich before entering area zero. The sandwich recipe I used is:

Any two herba mystica 🌿 except 2 sour and 1 sweet with 1 sour

1 serving of hamburger

1 serving of onion

1 serving of green pepper

2 servings of red onions

This sandwich can be a bit difficult to build but remember to put down your flattest ingredients first and you should be fine. Make sure that you save before prepping your sandwich so that you can just make your sandwich again if you accidentally lose ingredients. I made my sandwich right in front of area zero so that I could get inside really quickly afterward!

Next we need to get to Area 3. To find Flutter Mane we’re going to cycle between areas 3 and 4. To make it easier I port right to Area 3. As soon as you get out you should be seeing the effects of the sandwich.

What are the effects exactly? Well we’re calling Flutter Manes by using the sandwich recipe but Flutter Mane is a ghost type so it can’t spawn during the day. What you get is a very empty cavern! Friends, Area Zero is always weird, but let me tell you it was super weird darting around with no Pokémon showing up!

If you start to feel like you’re questioning your sanity (and I did many, many times) you can push ZL and you should be able to see the Flutter Mane phasing in and out. Don’t hold it down for too long though, it’s distracting you from your main objective of finding a shiny Flutter Mane!

At this point you may be wondering what the point of all of this is if all the Flutter Mane are disappearing. The answer is simple: shiny Flutter Mane are immune to the daylight rule and will just pop up for you to catch!

By my estimates, trainers without a shiny charm should be able to catch at least two shiny Flutter Mane in a span of 30 minutes. Those with a shiny charm should encounter at least 4 in the same amount of time. Personally, I was able to catch 6.

This trick makes it both easier to see the shiny Flutter Mane and also makes them appear with more frequency. You do have to remain diligent and make sure you’re paying attention for the shiny Flutter Mane when they pop in. While they won’t disappear, they can pop up in weird places, like behind crystals.

To optimize your time it’s good to cycle back and forth between the 3rd and 4th station. This should force more Flutter Mane into the area. Travel slowly and be alert!

If you do this at night or run out of daylight, you’ll see a whole bunch of normal Flutter Mane in the cavern and they will not disappear. While you can still hunt like this, you will naturally encounter less shiny Flutter Mane this way.

I love this method because it’s super easy to do and you really don’t need the shiny charm to be effective. Flutter Mane is such a top tier shiny too - everyone should have one!

Much thanks to my wife for allowing me to hunt with her alma mater (Naranja Academy). This tutorial would not have been possible without her. How many shiny Flutter Mane did you catch? Let me know in the comments! Until next time, stay shiny! ✨

[vicunaburger]

Admittedly, I’m Hard to See

Fandom: Beetlejuice the Musical Chapters: 2/? Pairing: Beetlejuice x OC (Holidae) The Players: Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz, Holidae Bell Word Count: 1,679 Warnings: M for Language

Notes: Gettin’ spooky up in here.

In Which Odd Happenings Occur

It took several hours of the women to fully unpack the truck and start to settle in their respective space in the house. Lydia had given Holidae the guest room next to her own bedroom on the second floor, which happened to be nearest the steps to the attic. A situation that was not Lydia's original intention, but Delia had commandeered the other bedroom to store her art pieces while she and Charles were away. Holidae wasn't the sort of person go to poking around by herself, so there wasn't a danger of her discovering the secrets lurking around the home. However, there was a zero percent chance that the resident ghost would extend the same courtesy to her friend's privacy.

The proximity of the new breather to his humble abode did not escape Beetlejuice's attention. A nagging little thought in the back of his mind warned him that this might some sort of test set up by Lydia to see how well-behaved he could be with such an opportunity.

Fuck that, he thought, not as though she could do much in retaliation.

The specter watched the girls throughout the move-in process, hovering just out of sight to not alert Lydia to his presence. One glance from her and there was good chance he would be sent back to cool off in the Neitherworld before you could say sandworm.

No, he had to stay inconspicuous, which was a struggle for the extroverted bioexorcist truth be told. He followed Holidae up the stairs to her room, picking occasionally at her sweater to make her pause and glance around to look for the stray nail or some other object she might have caught it on. At one point, her gaze had landed right on his face, her dull-green eyes staring right into his molten gold.

It made him pause, thinking that he had pushed her a little too far and the jig was up on his playtime. After a few moments, she continued her trek up the stairs, heading into her bedroom. Beetlejuice was safe, for now. The benefit to such a position was that it allowed him a very intimate look at the new house guest without her freaking out.

She was pale as Lyds; and between the smudged eye makeup and dark circles she gave the impression she hadn't slept in a good several years. Insomniacs were the best when it came to frightening breathers. Fish in a barrel. Not that he wouldn't have appreciated a harder challenge, but hey, everyone likes to have a little break now and again.

Holidae's lips were full - matching her overall face shape - but noticeably bitten. Nerves? Bad habit? Things that he definitely kept tabs on to create the perfect storm of scares for the unsuspecting breather? Yes.

Beetlejuice busied himself with being nosy while Holidae haphazardly unpacked her suitcases, moving the clothes into a nearby dresser under the window. He frowned at the lack of frilly lingerie and other scandalous things one might hide away out of embarrassment. Nothing obscene to gossip with Lydia about, how disappointing.

The only thing worth noting were the copious number of notebooks and accounting ledgers.

What was she, a nerd?

While she was distracted with the dresser, he caused one of the ledgers to "accidentally" flutter open to a random page. They were filled with detailed lists and monetary amounts; a few random acronyms he couldn't identify in the side margins. After a moment, it dawned on him that the lists were titles of Lydia's photographs and art pieces.

"Oh God/Satan, don't tell me she's an accountant." The ghost ran a hand through his hair, the green fading into a more solemn blue tone.

Lydia had told him about the growing number of followers who frequented her art shows in the human world; to which he would always offer himself up as the next model for her studies. For some reason she always turned down his offer, stating that it would be difficult to photograph a ghost that wouldn't appear on film.

Thoroughly dejected after yet another rejected, Beetlejuice decided to be a brat and take a chunk of her photographs down into the Neitherworld with him. Turns out, human paraphernalia was a hot ticket item to all the ghouls and demons down there, and he was able to make a quick'n'dirty profit off Lydia's work. Sure, he kept the profits for himself, since he was the one who had the brilliant idea in the first place.

It was only fair.

Holidae must do the same thing for Lydia topside, he surmised, although by the shabby state of her wardrobe and sparse furniture... it wasn't a profitable venture for her. Did she not know that sellers get at least a 75% cut of all deals? What do they teach breathers up here anyway?

"Gonna have to teach you the fine art of the deal, girly," Beetlejuice muttered, floating over to drape himself over the dresser. "Be happy to lend you my expertise on a whole bunch of topics."

The woman paused in folding her clothes into the dresser, looking around the room with a sour expression. She could have sworn she heard someone talking, but Lydia had gone back downstairs not too long ago. A chill up her spine made her shiver; not having noticed the temperature of the room dropping sharply.

The ghost above her grinned from ear to ear, "C'mon, I know you're not scared already, are you? I haven't even done anything. So sensitive, huh?"

Holidae hugged the sweater she had been folding against her chest tightly, her mouth curving into a pout. A faint buzzing sound... like someone mumbling constantly from several rooms away.

"It's an old house, probably fried wiring buzzing." Holidae reasoned with herself, continuing her task and closing the dresser drawer. "Maybe an animal got into the walls at some point; it's an old house, probably needs new insulation. ...or some sort of eldritch horror beckoning me into the deep abyss through some portal in my closet."

Beetlejuice snorted with a cackle, "You have no idea how accurate you are, baby doll. Oh boy, I have got to get us better acquainted."

"Lydia?" Holidae stood up straight, rubbing her arms to generate some heat. "Are you trying to talk to me?"

Soft footfalls were heard coming up the staircase, and soon Lydia's head popped into view from the doorway. She opened her mouth to reply, but what came out was a choked gasp.

Lydia could clearly see Beetlejuice balanced on the dresser beside Holidae, his expression like a snake toying with a mouse. When he noticed his bed friend staring at him, he waved enthusiastically, his hair turning a bright, luminescent green. Her jaw worked up and down like a gaping fish, her brain furiously scrambling to process the scene.

"Babes! Aren't you going to introduce me to your breather buddy?" He vanished and then reappeared on Holidae's bed, lounging like a great cat. "Teach her the magic words and we'll have the best housewarming party."

Holidae noticed Lydia's distressed expression, "Lyddy! What happened?"

"Nothing!" The tone was so high pitched it could cut glass, "You... startled me and I ran up here. I thought you like, fell or something."

Her eyes kept nervously flicking over to the bed, trying to ignore the ghost rolled around on the sheets like a child.

"Laaaaaaaame. Better come up with something quick before she gets suspicious." Beetlejuice taunted her.

"I meant the house makes things sound weird, so I rushed up," Lydia placed a hand on her hip, "Haunted and all that."

Holidae's eyebrows furrowed, "Right. So, the buzzing noise is a portal to another dimension, yeah? Just want to make sure none of my clothes get stretched out by demons trying them on."

Lydia laughed, "Exactly. Demons aren't exactly known for being petite."

"I resemble that remark." Beetlejuice hissed, sitting up on the bed and smoothing out his striped suit.

"Good to know." Holidae cleared her throat, "Oh, hey, mind if I snag some extra blankets? You weren't kidding about the drafts in here."

"Third door to the left," Lydia gestured out into the hallway, moving aside as the other woman moved past her.

As soon as they were alone, Lydia marched over and grabbed Beetlejuice by his tie, putting them nose to nose with each other. The childish attitude he had was completely dropped, replaced by with a much more placating tone.

"Now now, babes, I wasn't bothering her that much. Just wanted to know what was going on since you hadn't come and said hello yet." He held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "How was I supposed to know she would be thoroughly engrossed by my humble presence."

"Nothing about you is humble, BJ." The deadpanned tone said it all. "What did I say about Holidae?"

There was a pause, "...that when there's a school holiday you get to come visit longer?"

"Beetlejuice," Lydia let go of his tie, running a hand over her face in anguish. "No."

Beetlejuice winced at the use of his full name, "Okay, okay... I know. Don't bother her. But Lyds, she looked right at me. She knows I'm around! You're not gonna deny me the chance to be seen, are you?! You were the last human in aaaaages that could see me first thing."

As much as she wanted to stay angry, to say him name three times and banish him for a while as punishment for breaking her rules, she couldn't refuse his plea. It was true what he said: she had been the first living person to notice him in a long time. To end his invisibility. If Holidae could already feel him around... maybe it was better to treat the subject like a band aid and rip it off quickly.

With a heavy sigh, she rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Give me some time to ease her into the idea."

"That's why you're my best bestest friend, babes." He loosened his tie, vanishing from the room.

[taiblogcomics]

Star-Crossed

Hey there, applewood-smoked bacon jerky. Oh boy, we're getting into the really cool Pony comics now. Let's do this one first, mostly because it's so big. Last week was issue 74, and this week would logically be issue 75. Wow, can you imagine 75 whole issues? That's a milestone for sure, and the comic agrees. That's why the issue is an absolutely huge prestige format book. And being IDW's 20th anniversary, too, that makes it really a milestone to celebrate~

Here's the cover. Well, part of it:

Yeah, this is only the front cover. It's actually a wrap-around cover, with the other characters on the back cover. I chose to put only the front half for a couple reasons. One, because putting the back cover on the left while the logo is on the right just didn't look right. Two, you're still not going to see the back cover when it's on the shelf or in a collection. The front cover is the selling point, so that's what we'll look at. And it's a very nice stained-glass look. Rather than betray the story, the cover opts to just celebrate the main characters for its milestone, and that's respectable~

The comic opens with a long-ago battle with Discord. Princesses Celestia and Luna are in resplendant armour, and joined by Queen Novo of the hippogriffs, the cat queen of the Abyssinians, and even that deer king of the Everfree that I don't remember the name of. Everything's going nuts, and the wonderful combination of Andy Price's art and Discord's magic is a treat to look at. However, when confronted, Discord bleats out that "It's not me this time!", and indeed some other being appears on the horizon. Discord and the five monarchs team up and combine their magic (in a display vaguely reminiscent of the Elements of Harmony) to banish this mysterious intruder. The magic and the creature dissipate. When Celestia then demands an explanation from Discord, he puts them all to sleep, saying he can't let anyone remember what happened here. He leaves them an apology cake as well, which is nice.

Cut over to the present day, where the mane six are out at a bazaar or rummage sale of some kind. Rarity's found some sort of necklace, with a stone that not even she nor Twilight can identify. Rarity offers it to Twilight, since the purple matches with her colour scheme, and that's when things get weird. No sooner is it around Twilight's neck does a mysterious voice boom out "FIND THE REST". A voice only she can hear, no less. After a quick reconvening back at the castle, it seems only Twilight can hear the voice, no matter who wears it. Fluttershy is the voice of reason here, suggesting that maybe wearing jewelry that talks to you in a voice nopony else can hear is a bad idea. But that's when the necklace suddenly starts projecting a map. Not just any map, though: it's a star map.

The star map interacts with the Cutie Map in Twilight's castle, showing a projection of the sky and then several objects falling from said sky and impacting with the map of Equestria. There are also a bunch of space-related shout-outs in the star map, and if you recognise them all, you're a bigger nerd than I. Also, the display of the celestial objects impacting Equestria is one of those two-page spreads you have to turn on its side, which is especially difficult with the stiffer prestige-format cover. Anyway, all that aside, Twilight identifies the celestial objects not making Star Trek references as the Andalusian Constellation, a lost constellation that appeared from the sky centuries ago (gonna go out on a limb and guess probably "a thousand years ago"), and then disappeared just as quickly. The origins of both its appearance and disappearance are one of the greatest mysteries in Equestrian astronomy, so Twilight is eager to solve it.

Now, I should note that every time the necklace starts whispering to Twilight, her eyes go a bit... weird. Wobbly and bright pink. So I'm sorry to tell you that everypony's hopes that this will just be a nice, safe adventure about astronomical research are probably going to be dashed rather spectacularly. And indeed, after the rest of her friends depart to make travel plans, Twilight ends up snapping at Spike for daring too close to the necklace, unleashing one of Andy Price's legendary Scary Character Faces, a fan favourite of this blog that we haven't talked about in some time. Once Spike clears out, it is indeed revealed that something's not quite right here. Twilight is being possessed through the necklace by some sort of malevolent entity, one sharing a silhouette and name with the creature banished in the prologue...

Speaking of said prologue, we get another brief scene of probably a thousand years ago, with the same spooky silhouette rampaging. It seems that Discord could even have been in a relationship with this mysterious Cosmos, and now he's looking to break up with her the only way he can think of: by bringing it before Celestia and making it her problem. Real mature, Discord. Anyway, back in the present, the teams and travel plans have all been... planned. Since it's such a big undertaking (both the quest and the milestone comic), there's gonna be some cameo teamups. Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh will go to Klugetown. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike are off to the Crystal Empire. Zecora and the Crusaders are headed to Griffonstone, while Fluttershy and Angel Bunny are going to scour the Everfree Forest. And finally Twilight herself will take Applejack with her to Canterlot. And when they each recover the fallen stars, bring them back to Twilight. She literally demands it.

We follow that latter team first. Twilight and Applejack ride the train to Canterlot, and Twilight begins to report that her necklace is detecting where the next nearest star fragment is. Despite AJ's concerns, Twilight leads her to the castle. Without even telling the princesses they're there, they head into a secret basement. This is apparently where Celestia stores all the dangerous things she doesn't want lying around the castle, and there's a few more cameos littered in the backgrounds here. The nature of some of this stuff starts to make Applejack even more suspicious, and when she reaches for the necklace, Cosmos drops the facade of being Twilight and attacks AJ. After a short (but really cool) fight, AJ ends up locked in a cage while Cosmos claims her prize.

Since the Everfree Forest is not too far from Fluttershy's place, she has time to stop at home and prepare there, unlike the rest of the teams. Discord's already visiting, and he tries to tempt Fluttershy off to some fantastical adventure. When she explains she's already on one, to find a fallen star, he suddenly begins to panic--especially when he finds out Twilight's already found one of the others. Rather than the Everfree, he warps the both of them to his realm. To Discord's credit, he then tells her exactly what's going on: Cosmos was a magical being like himself, but much more actively malicious. She was imprisoned in the stars, which fell to Equestria to keep them apart. He found the one in the Everfree and hid it himself, to keep it away from anyone else. Fluttershy is understanding, but reasons with him that perhaps they'd better bring the matter to Celestia.

Discord agrees, and the pair retrieve the star from the Everfree, just to further ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of some villain later on. They then warp to Canterlot--Discord's powers really cut down on travel time--where Celestia is waiting for them. Failing their spot check, Twilight grabs the star from them and tosses it to Luna. Now there's three stars, each possessing one of the princesses with a piece of Cosmos' consciousness. Yes, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna are all speaking in unison and getting flirty with Discord. Half of Cosmos being reunited has begun to bring back enough power to start warping the area around them, and Cosmos begins discussing her new takeover with Discord. Discord, however, declines, having reformed since they were last together. Cosmos is deeply displeased to hear he plans to oppose her. So, to distract him, she zaps Fluttershy with some sort of spell to give him something else to worry about, while Cosmos waits for her remaining fragments to return to her...

First of all, congratulations to My Little Pony for reaching 75 issues! It’s very rare to see a comic book reach such a high number nowadays, especially one based on a licensed property. Everyone who’s worked on this series to get it here should be very proud! I’m pretty sure I said the same sort of sentiment fir the 50th issue, and now it’s even more true~

Now then: here’s yet another villain of ages past come to wreak havoc on modern day Equestria, as they so often do. If it was anyone other than Discord, I’m not sure I’d buy the whole memory spell that he used to make them forget the incident, but Discord’s powers can suspend any disbelief. Either way, Cosmos is scary. I know Nightmare Knights just introduced Eris as another sort of “malevolent counterpart to Discord”, but Cosmos sells it way better in her flashback scenes. Additionally, when you finally get to see her in full glory at the end of the issue, she’s way scarier than a big pink anthro bird. And her being able to take over the princesses so easily is highly chilling. Of course, this is also all helped by Andy Price’s art, which continues to knock it out of the park as always~

Whatever she’s up to, we’ll just have to see if the heroes can handle it next issue. I know I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully another 75 more~

[kimjongdaely]

The Labyrinth [Bonus]

All members; EXO

Genre: Mystery, horror, choose your own adventure

Warnings: Violence, blood, language, character death

Summary: You are now on The Labyrinth. Are you ready to play?

Prologue (1) (2)│Overview│Chapter 1│Chapter 2│Chapter 3│Chapter 4  │Chapter 5│Chapter 6│Epilogue│Bonus

One year ago...

He types away quickly on his keyboard, codes flashing across his computer screen as he finishes the final touches of the game.

Learning coding in private really paid off. This game is just what he needs—a way to escape. A way to cope with the pressures from his life.

He finally finishes the code and he breathes out a sigh of relief, cracking his sore knuckles and leaning back in his chair to admire his work. 

He loads up the game, pressing start.

The Labyrinth became a viral game in Korea within days of its release. No one knew what it was—it was unheard of until it suddenly popped up on search engines and game websites.

People were curious, of course. What could this game possibly be about?

So they downloaded the mysterious game, excited to play.

You, of course, was no exception.

The Labyrinth is an interactive game. Earphones are recommended to be fully immersed in the game, and players could chat with each other throughout the game.

It seemed like the typical horror/mystery game in the beginning, with the standard menu screen and overly dramatic spooky music.

But no.

Everyone underestimated it.

Once you play, you can’t stop. It’s designed like that. So terrifying yet incredibly addicting, a mixture of horror and curiosity as you play, almost as if you were in a trance.

The game objective is simple.

To get out.

The game seemed boring at first, when you first loaded it. You typed in your username and the graphics of a standard labyrinth popped up. You were confused at how to play at first, the controls were slightly confusing. The arrow buttons were used to move—easy. But then there were a bunch of different commands such as shoot, fight, defend, etc.

It overall seemed weird, but you shrugged it off, thinking you would understand as you play.

The game seemed simple enough.

That’s when you get your first message from another player.

This game has a bug.

You click on the little pop-up message in the corner of your screen, opening up the chat box and you type back: Really? What bug?

My avatar won’t move. My game is just frozen and the only thing I can do is chat. wtf

You quickly type back: maybe try restarting.

I tried. It won’t restart

That’s odd...You think to yourself as you quickly try to restart the game too. Just as the other player says, you can’t. You click on the exit button on the menu several times, but there’s no response.

You decide to just power-off your computer, so you hold down the power-off button. Nothing.

“The hell?” You mumble as you try again, thinking you didn’t hold it down long enough. Still nothing.

You quickly type back to the other player: my computer won’t even shut down. Maybe we should contact the GM.

That’s when another message pops up, this time from another player. The player’s username is GM.

“Oh,” You say to yourself, letting out a breath of relief. “I guess they realized there’s a bug too.“

You quickly open the message the GM sent you, but your heart drops to your stomach and your blood runs cold when you see it.

This game cannot be closed until you’ve either won or lost. Game objective: get out.

You re-read the message a few times, feeling your body grow cold as dread fills your body.

Your fingers fly over the keyboard as you reply to the GM: you must be kidding me! I don’t have time to be on my computer 24/7

Not a second later another message pops up.

Then you better make sure your avatar doesn’t die while you’re out. Good luck :)

You stare at the message in disbelief, going back to the previous player you were talking to. Did you get a message from the GM?

The other player replies instantly.

Yes.

The GM said we can’t exit the game until we win or lose.

You feel slightly relieved to know you aren’t the only one who received such a message. What do we do now then?

Idk...

The other player answers honestly.

Maybe I should just die so I can end the game quickly.

You contemplate that decision for a moment, thinking that it would be a good strategy to end the game. There’s a green number on the top of the screen that tells you how many players are currently online, and it suddenly blinks red before another message from the GM pops up.

One player has died.

The large number blinks red several times, the same message popping up from the GM for over twenty people. Others must have used the same strategy by dying so they could end the game.

Another message suddenly pops up and you click it open, this time from a stranger.

DOn’T DiE

You furrow your brows at this message, checking the username of the player, but the person’s username is crossed out.

Another message comes from the stranger.

WHAteVER HapPEnS

DoN’T DIe

This user is no longer in the game.

Your heart pounds loudly as you quickly go back to the previous player, typing frantically. Hey, are you still there?

The player replies.

Yeah

Why?

You type: I just got a really strange message. Someone told me not to die no matter what and then the player got removed from the game. I don’t think dying is the best strategy.

Wtf

This is crazy

You breathe out, answering: yeah, ik. Btw, what’s your name?

Kam

Let’s be friends so we can stick together

You agree, and a friend request from Kam pops up immediately afterward, which you click accept.

You start to navigate the labyrinth, trying to find the exit. You see several avatars of other players around you, each of them also trying to find the exit.

The graphics are dark and glum, each turn seeming the same as the last. You bump into a few other players, and each conversation is always crisp and short and filled with anxiety. Everyone is eager to get out.

Whenever you had to go out to buy food or to work, you would always be incredibly anxious, but also glad at the same time. It reminds you that there’s life outside the game, that there are still people unaffected. You started taking shorter shifts from the place you worked at, to the point you only left for an hour or two everyday.

While you were gone, you made sure to keep your avatar hidden in the game, somewhere in the shrubs and bushes or others structures that existed in the game in attempt to keep yourself alive while you were away.

Having Kam around was also a plus, since she would help look after your avatar whenever you were away, and you would do the same for her.

You never really understood why the other player told you not to die. The game lasted for over a month now, and the player count has dropped drastically over that time. 

Whenever a player dies, you could hear their screams. Gut-wrenchingly painful cries that made your blood freeze and your hair stand on end as you wait for it to end. It’s sharp, piercing and even when you take your earphones out, you could still hear it ringing in your head.

What is dying in a game like? Is it really this excruciating?

But then news articles started bombarding the country with news of players of The Labyrinth who were reported to have gone missing from families and friends, only to be found in their rooms, eyes glued to their computer screen and mind gone completely insane.

So far, the majority of those who lost their minds have been players who lost in the game.

You messaged Kam about it, and she says that she also saw articles like that. She warned you to be more cautious while playing, scared one of you might lose your minds too.

 The game lasted six whole months before someone finally found the exit, immediately sending out a mass-text to all the surviving players.

There were more than 700,000 players in the beginning.

Now there are only 11.

And those remaining 11, including you, are the only ones who were able to win the game.

Kim Junmyeon breathes out a sigh of relief when he finally makes it to the exit, following directions from the sole player who was able to find it.

His sanity is hanging by a thread as it is, hearing thousands of players die, their excruciating cries for help but receiving none. Occasionally he bumps into a player at the verge of death, having fallen in one of the many fatal traps that the GM has littered around the labyrinth. The gore and blood that appears makes him sick, even though it’s just on a computer screen.

He thought it was all over; he had made it out. He could go back to his usual life.

But then a message pops up, and no matter how many times Junmyeon clicked on the exit button, he couldn’t leave. Groaning in frustration, he goes to his message box and clicks on his new message.

It’s from the GM.

Congratulations! You have been chosen to start the next round of The Labyrinth. Only one player may survive The Labyrinth. You must win, or die.

Whatever sanity he managed to preserve was broken with just three sentences that glared at him from his screen.

Panic fills his veins and lungs until he can’t breathe—suddenly he snaps, clutching his hair as he gnaws his teeth together. No, no, no, he thinks frantically, I can’t die. No. I can’t—What about my company? What about my life? Everything I’ll leave behind?

His breathing becomes ragged as he loses control over himself. He beat the game...only to find this? To find that the game didn’t end, and that a new one needs to be started?

All his regrets and dreams crash into him like violent waves—until it suddenly settles down into a calm pool of decision.

There’s only one answer.

He needs to win.

One and a half years later...

There’s a soft knock on the door that interrupts your chat with Kam, who you invited over that afternoon. She looks at you with raised brows, silently asking if you were expecting anyone. You shook your head ‘no,’ rising from your seat to open the door.

It was Jongdae, who gives you a soft smile and a wave when you open the door for him. “Jongdae? What brings you here?”

He looks sheepish, his hand coming to rub his neck as he struggles to look anywhere but at you. “I...um...I have something to tell you...”

He momentarily looks past you, meeting Kam’s eyes. He looks surprised for a moment, before a light smile graces his face. “You two are together. I guess that makes it easier for me.”

You look at him with furrowed brows, confused. “How about you come in.” You step aside to allow him into your house, and he takes a seat across from Kam at the dining table. You sit next to Kam, facing him.

He takes a deep breath before finally starting, “I have something to confess.”

There’s a pause as he tries to collect his thoughts, wondering how to say it. He finally blurts out, “I made The Labyrinth.”

“What?” You exclaim, eyes growing wide as you stare at Jongdae, who looks embarrassed to admit it.

“Yes.” He bobs his head slowly. “I studied computer coding in private, and created that game out of my own selfishness.” He takes a sharp breath as he starts explaining everything. “As the second son of the Kim family...I was never getting the company. I knew that. I always knew Minseok-hyung didn’t like me...I didn’t like myself either. I always felt so alone...No one really cared about me. I spent a lot of time alone in my room...and I came up with The Labyrinth. It started out with me being unhappy and angry with my life, creating a labyrinth that was hard to escape from just like my fate. It was my cry for help—but I never thought it would do so much harm. I never...I never wanted that.”

Jongdae let’s out a quiet sob, making your watch him with pity. “I’m so sorry.”

“Everything’s already in the past.” You say softly, trying to soothe him.

Jongdae nods, his expression determined. “Yes.” He rummages the backpack he brought with him, pulling out a laptop and setting it on the table. He types furiously for a moment, before turning it towards you and Kam. “As the survivors of The Labyrinth, I would like you two to finally destroy the game.”

The coding of the game covers the screen, and just one click of the delete button will clear everything away.

You glance at Kam who nods, a small smile gracing her face. You look back at Jongdae, who looks at you encouragingly. You take a deep breath, your hand hovering over the keyboard.

One click, and everything will really be over.

You press down on the delete button, watching the game code disappear. Jongdae smiles widely at you, closing the laptop. “I’ve already erased it from all websites and computers that had it installed. It won’t be seen ever again.”

You nod at this, feeling yourself relax after so long. Finally, the game that caused all this misfortune is gone. Jongdae looks relieved, glad to have this off his chest.

He bows at you and Kam, biding you goodbye. He leaves, and you close the door behind him, feeling your worries and fears leave with him.

The Labyrinth has officially ended.

Congrat@!&ns!

You have been chos#n to s!art the n$*xt r@und of The Lab!@#&*%. 

@NLY O#!NE PL*!&YER C@#N $URV!V#

O#!NLY @NE

ON#%!#^&

This game has been deleted.

Epilogue│Overview

The Labyrinth Mini Masterlist

A/N: Finally the long awaited bonus chapter. Sorry it took so long! The ending is open-ended, so what happens next is up to your interpretation! I’d love to hear some of your thoughts and theories! There are still a few trivia questions unanswered, so maybe I’ll make another extra to answer them. Or maybe you guys can start making your own spinoffs of this haha 😂 Thanks for reading this guys! It was fun to write~

©kimjongdaely

Send me your answers!

[salted-barbed-wire]

Sacrifice

A 13 Nights Of Halloween story: Night 3

Prompt #9 Spooky- Summoning Demons Featuring- Aleister Black Requested by @indywrestlinglover-life Rated: M- Smut, witch craft, sacrificial magic, demons, death Word Count: 3500+ 

A/N: This is my first time actually writing Aleister so I hope you guys all enjoy this because I had A LOT of fun writing him for this prompt.

Tag list:  @straight-outta-the-asylum @i-kneel-for-king-loki@geekoftv@ladym0xley @satansstrawberry @shieldlovereve@iwannadiehere@vampstampbby @shironichi @blackwidow2721 @the-shy-type@mangagirl232 @wrestingtrash @akihikothekitsune@kanupps06@kingslayers-angel @isawthesights @castielscamander @shieldsandbulletsandflips @extremelylost @thirstiswet@inamoxbrose24@reigns420 @bebbyt @nickie-amore @devitts-girl

The smell of ink on paper was the greatest thing in the world. Even though I was surrounded by it every day, it never got old. I pushed the cart of returns through the library, skimming over a book that had caught my interest. I had been working in this dusty library for the last few months and it had been a dream. I had all the time in the world to read, seeing as how we were hardly ever busy.

I pushed the cart and placed the last return on the shelf I needed. Checking my watch, I couldn’t help but smile. The library was only open for another hour but it was doubtful to have too many visitors until we closed, especially since school had just started up two months ago. “Plenty of time to finish this.” I sung to myself and I dog eared the page I was on and pushed the cart back to my desk.

Finishing the book I had been skimming through, meant I was going to have to return it. Seeing as how it was close to Halloween I had become fascinated with witchcraft and the history of witches and magic. The idea of conjuring love, luck, spirits with just a few ingredients and some words was a fantasy but an interesting one at that.

THUD

“Fuck!” I hissed as I fell backwards onto the tiled floor from the impact, the book fell onto my head and I saw stars. There was a grumble of curses and apologies then a soft chuckle. A tattooed, thick hand was extended towards me. I looked up to see a tall, heavily inked, bearded man. His smile was wicked, eyes were deep and mischievous.

“You okay?” He asked.

I licked my lips, looking at the way his lip piercing glimmered as he spoke. “Fine. I’m fine.” I told him and took a hold of his hand. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, usually there’s no one in this section except for me.”

He cocked his head, “You work here,” his free hand pointed to my gold name tag, “(Y/N)?”

The way he said my name was delicious. I nodded, “Yes.”

The corner of his mouth continued to pull up, then his dark eyes rested on the book on the floor. He bent to pick it up. “Interesting read you have here,” he looked over the title then flipped it over to read the back. “’Wicca: Herbal Magic’, hmm? You’re a wiccan?”

“Um..” I drug my lower lip between my teeth, “Just researching out of curiosity really.”

“Curiosity?” He handed me the book back, “Are you interested in magic or gardening?” His tone was mocking.

I put my hands on my hips defiantly, “I just thought it was somewhere to begin. Who are you to judge anyway?”

“Aleister,” He stuck his hand out again to me, “Aleister Black.”

My brows furrowed and I pushed passed him, denying his hand shake. “The library closes in forty-five minutes Mr. Black, I suggest you find what you’re looking for and check out.” I could feel his eye bearing into me as I sashayed away.

“I think I already have.”

I stopped in my tracks and whipped around to face him, “I’m sorry?”

“I mean, I could use some help.” He took a couple slow steps towards me.  “I’m looking for an old book, it might actually be in the section you’d be returning your garden witch book.” His eyes flicked to the piece of literature I held close to my chest, then he shamelessly let his eyes wander down my body before meeting my nervous gaze. “Can you show me where you got that book?”

A gulp and a simple nod was all I could manage before he gestured for me to lead the way. We walked on through the towering bookshelves silently, only the clicking of my heels echoed through the building. They halted at the section marked ‘Personal Interest’ and I scanned for the spot where I had pulled the book from.

“It was up here,” I told him reaching up on to the shelf almost out of reach to put my spell book away. “What’s the title you’re looking for?”

Black drug his index finger along the spines of the books on the shelves, his eyes scanning the titles. He seemed to ignore me as he walked along the row. I took the few minutes I had to take him in completely. His dark hair was pulled up into a bun, shaved on the side of his head. He wore a black button-down dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled. Only some of his tattoos were showing; they were all beautiful. There were a few even peeping out from his shirt collar. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think he was sexy.

“You’re staring.”

I shook my head at his words, trying to force the thoughts of where else he had tattooed. “Not at you.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest and my started to twitch as his grin returned as he skimmed through the names of books in front of him. “Did you need any further assistance, Mr. Black?”

“Ah!” He breathed as his single digit hooked onto the top corner of an old, hard back book. “No I’ve found what I need, and please,” He locked eyes with me, “Call me Aleister.” I felt my heart jump up to my throat from the way he looked at me. I couldn’t hardly breathe as the distance closed between us, his hand tipped under my chin and tilted my head up to look at him. “And I’d really like for you to call me, maybe later tonight?”

My eyes widened in shock, “What are you talking about?”

“You’re interested in magic, aren’t you, my dear?” He posed the question still pouring that sinful look into me. “I can show you some real magic if you’d like.”

“Is this a cheesy pick up line?” I tried to joke, “Because I’m not the type-“

Aleister tsked and took a step back, releasing my chin, “No pick-up line.” He tapped on the brown covered book he held, “This will help me. Unlike that gardening book, this right here is an actual spell book. Maybe you’d like to see it first hand?”

My mind raced at a thousand miles a minute. Actual witchcraft? Spell casting? Was it real or was it all just a bunch of “Hocus Pocus.” I muttered aloud without realizing.

“Hmm?” His left eyebrow rose again.

“Oh, no. I meant that I wasn’t quite sure yet. Can you really do magic? Is it all real?”

He nodded, “It is and I can. I’m sure you have plenty of questions.” He held out a business card in front of my face, “If you decide you want a taste of the dark side, give me a ring. I’ll give you my address so you can watch everything first hand.”

----

After checking out Aleister and sending him on his way I had turned the card over in my hand several times while I waited for the last few minutes of work to run down. No one else came in after he said his salutations, leaving me alone to weigh out my options.

I was intrigued, both by him and the idea of seeing magic up close and personal. On the other hand, I hardly knew the guy. What if he tried to sacrifice me? I thought, What if he put a love spell on me? I did a mental eye roll at myself. No way a guy like him would even waste the energy on someone like me, right?

I locked the front doors and headed back to my desk to grab my purse. Aleister’s business card still sat next to my stack of papers. My shoulders slumped and I bit my lip, finally coming to a conclusion of what I was going to do. Was it crazy of me to be considering this?

Flicking the lights to the building off, I swung my purse onto my shoulder and punched the number into my phone, mouthing the numbers off the card. The other line only rang twice, but each rang brought my heart rate up another speed.

“I knew you couldn’t resist,” I heard his grin in his voice.

I did yet another eye roll, “Just tell me where to meet you.”

-----

The address he gave me was to a house on the south side of town. It was an old, Victorian structure with a wrap-around porch and windows that looked like eyes and the door like a mouth ready to swallow me whole. “You sure you wanna go in there?” The driver of the cab that had driven me asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “My friend is waiting for me inside.” Friend, I nearly laughed at the word. If only the cabbie knew that I had just met Mr. Black.

I paid my fair and turned my attention back on the ominous architecture that loomed across the lawn from me. The door opened as I took a single step towards the porch and Aleister appeared. He was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing earlier and was sipping from a coffee cup. I felt his eyes never leave me while I walked up the cemented pathway.

“Good evening,” he said simply when I finally reached him. “I’m glad you decided to come along with me, I kind of needed another person to assist anyway. Please, come in.”

His hand raised and he gestured for me to walk through the door into a worn, run down living space. The wood floors creaked under each step I took, there was no furniture and obviously no electricity, considering all the candles that were used to light the room. At the focal point there was a fire place filled completely with white candles of all shapes and sizes. They were all lit and dripping with wax. In front of the hearth, a few pillows and blankets were sat down around chalk markings that had been drawn onto the floor. There were various objects surrounding the mess in front of me.

“Is this your house?” I asked, breaking the silence.

Aleister shut the door, “Not quite. It’s a property that’s been handed down through my family. I have an apartment downtown, this is where I...” he made a face trying to find the word he was looking for. “Experiment.”

“What is this?” I asked him, walking towards the markings on the floor. There were characters that looked like they were from another language, one I didn’t recognize and a giant pentagram drawn at the center.

“This,” Aleister came to stand beside me, “This is the spell I’m trying out.”

“Trying out?”

“Yes, I didn’t have the incantations until I stopped at the library this afternoon.” He walked around the pentagram, his gaze still didn’t waver from where I stood.

“What does it do?” I asked him, locking eyes with him. “And what did you mean when you said you needed another person to assist?”

Aleister set his mug down on the mantle above the fireplace and pulled a book off the shelf. There was a page he had dog ear-ed that his fingers immediately flipped to, “This require energy from two people, I didn’t realize it until I had this book. I thought I had all the ingredients, plus I really was looking forward to seeing you again.” As he spoke, he rounded the circle on the floor towards where I had firmly planted my feet.

“Me?” I blushed.

Black nodded. “Come here,” he beckoned with his hand outstretched to me. I took it and followed him to the front of the fire place where the pile of blankets and pillows sat on the floor. We stopped and he turned to face me, still holding my hand. He brought my knuckles to his lips, “I apologize if I’m rushing things,” he whispered against my flesh. I was sure he could hear the hitch in my breath at the way his scent filled my nose; it was intoxicating.

“R-Rushing what, exactly?” I stammered.

Aleister pulled me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist and pushing on my back so our bodies collided. His mouth met mine feverishly and my whole world was rocked. Our lips mirrored each other’s pecks until his tongue snaked out and flicked along my lower pout. I whimpered and gave him access to my mouth. Aleister took his time, teasing my tongue against his. The cool metal of his piercing numbed my lower lip.

My hands were splayed against his broad chest; it felt strong and hard beneath my fingers- it wasn’t the only thing that was hard between us. The feel of his ever-growing erection pushing firm against my thigh as we kissed had me soaked. He picked me up and wrapped my legs around his hips for support. I moved my hands to his hair that had been pulled into a bun and held on tight as he dropped to his knees. The way he held me close as we descended to the pile of blankets was sexy, comforting, and protective.

Aleister laid me gently down against the pillows and he rose up onto his knees. Wordlessly, his fingers began unbuttoning his shirt and he pulled it off to reveal his well sculpted, inked body. I reached up and touched the words printed on his chest. “Diligentia Cresto,” I muttered the Latin phrase. “By diligence we shall lead.” I saw a smile in reward for my recognition of the motto. My fingers moved to the palm on his chest and his hand caught my wrist.

“I’ll teach you the road map of where these lead another night,” he smirked at me then glanced at the small clock on the wall. “We’ve only got so much time.” His strong hands moved to my thighs, trying to push my tight, black pencil skirt up my thighs. I could hear the slit over my left legs tear from the force. My fingers began tugging the blouse over my head, not wanting to waste another second. The overwhelming feeling of lust and need ached in my core.

I whined against Aleister’s lips as the pads of his middle and first fingers rolled over my currently soaked panties. My hands wandered from his shoulders to his pants, attempting to undo the belt and zipper. I struggled and let out a frustrated sigh, Black growled impatiently and undid his buckle, ripping the belt from the loops with great force. My legs got tossed upwards and he threw them over his shoulders and laid down to lower his mouth against my heat. I shivered in anticipation from his hot breath between my legs.

“Zo heerlijk,” I heard from under his breath.

I propped myself up on my elbows, trying to repeat what he had said in my head to detect the language he spoke. “Wh- Ohhh my god!” I interrupted myself as his fingers pulled aside the crotch to my panties and fully attacked me with his tongue. “Oh God, Mr. Black!” I muttered again, my eyes rolling to the back of my head.

Aleister pulled back and looked up at me with a glint in his eyes, “Let’s not bring him into this, shall we?” And with that, he dove between my legs and continued his assault on my swollen clit. His tongue licked up and then down; his lower lip pouted up against the bud and I whimpered in pleasure. I fell back on the pillows behind me, giving him room to move his hand down to my heat and slide a single digit into my wetness. I moaned and he added a second finger, curling his appendages inside of me.

“Oh, G-.. Yes, Aleister,” I called out as a wave of pleasure rolled over me, trying not to call to any deities in fear of him stopping. He was my only god now.

Aleister sat up on his knees and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “I need that pretty little mouth of yours,” he said, grabbing his cock that was tenting in his briefs.

I sat up and crawled over to him, laying down on my stomach and lining my mouth up with his crotch. He pushed his pants down his hips to the floor he knelt on and took me by my hair, pulling me towards his throbbing member. My fingers hooked onto the band of his briefs and yanked them down gently, allowing his erection to spring free.

It was far thicker and longer than I had thought when I had felt it pressed against me. I swallowed, knowing that it was going to take quite a bit of work to get it down my throat, let alone between my legs. My tongue flicked out along the tip, I heard him groan in response. I gave him a few more kitten licks along his length.

His hand tangled up in my hair and forced me to look in his eyes. “You’re teasing,” he growled. Aleister pushed himself into my waiting mouth while he held my head in place. Slowly he began to thrust in and out between my lips, coating himself in my saliva. The look he gave me as he watched my mouth wrapped around his cock was of pure lust and desire. A shiver ran down my spine as his free hand brushed against my cheek lightly.

“Be a good girl, get my cock nice and wet, and I’ll fuck that tight little cunt of yours until you’re a screaming mess beneath me,” Aleister told me; his voice soft, but his tone was commanding.

I did as I was told when he released my locks, allowing my head to bob on his cock. I looked up and watched his head fall back. Aleister’s moans of ecstasy pushed me on, taking as much as I could of him in my mouth. The tip of him barely brushed the back of my throat and I nearly gagged, backing off and focusing more on the head of him and using my hand as an extension of my mouth.

There was a low, gnarl coming from his chest and his head lowered back to meet my gaze. “Too much for you?” He asked. “Here, let me help.”

He repositioned his hand against my scalp and pushed his throbbing cock into my mouth, the tip sliding down my throat as I gagged and choked. Tears rolled down my cheeks, Aleister pulled out and force me onto my back. His hand trailed down my thigh, just barely touching me with his fingertips. “Good girl,” Aleister praised me. “You’ve proved to be worthy in more ways than one.”

He pushed my thighs apart and pushed his cock against my entrance. I whimpered, “What do you mean by that?” My vision was beginning to get a little foggy; it was like looking through a cloud of smoke around me. There was a ringing in my ears that kept me from pursuing with any further questions.

The moment he penetrated me, the questions of what he was talking about were completely gone from my mind. My eyes rolled back as his hips thrust up into me and he bottomed out. My whole world became euphoric and my orgasm seemed to be within reach. I refocused my gaze onto him.

Aleister’s eyes were rolled back, but he didn’t seem to be focused; in fact, he didn’t even seem to be on this world. The haze covering my senses parted for a moment, I could hear him muttering just barely over the ringing in my ears. It was Latin, being spoken in rhythm, like an incantation.

“Aleister?” I whispered his name, it didn’t seem to shake him, “Aleister, what are you-… Oh!” I cried out when his thumb found its way to my clit and applied pressure. My orgasm rolled through me and my legs shuddered, squeezing his hips. Screams escaped my lips and I arched my back.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through my abdomen, my breath was stolen from me with a gasp. Aleister’s voice had silenced. I felt my muscles twitch and then slouch as I laid down. There, in my sternum, a long blade was buried in between my bosom. My jaw dropped, “What the fuck?” I whispered.

“Grigori, through this vessel, enter.” Aleister commanded. The whole house shook and the candle lights went out, I could feel my life fading and blackness invading my body. I wasn’t sure if the cold that nipped at my skin was from death’s hands pulling me to the other side, or if it was Aleister’s spell. I took a breath, and exhaustion began to lull me into the void.

Just as my life began to fade, I saw Aleister’s eyes turn completely black and a voice that was not his own speak to me one last time.

“Thank you for your sacrifice my sweet one, too bad I can’t keep you around to play some more. Perhaps you and Mr. Black will get some more private time in hell…”

[equinoxparanormal]

12 Scientific Explanations behind Paranormal Phenomenon

We've all felt the uneasy, spine-tingling feeling that someone or something is watching us - be it an intruder, a ghost, or something far more sinister. And the truth is, scientific explanations for ghosts really don't mean much when you're overcome with that creepy-as-heck feeling in the middle of the night. All the logic in the world couldn't disprove what you already know: your house is probably haunted and some sage or holy water isn't going to cut it.

On the other hand, most of the time there really is a normal, logical explanation behind seemingly paranormal experiences. Even an apparent demonic possession can be explained pretty soundly with science (sorry, Lucifer). There's a real science behind haunted houses, and the reason our bodies sometimes feel on edge is usually kind of anticlimactic. Listen, no one is trying to tell you to buy property on top of an Indian burial ground anytime soon, but before you pack up all your belongings and move out of your haunted mansion in the middle of the night, you should really consider a couple of facts.

These scientific explanations for haunted houses may ease your mind, but you could still burn your Ouija board just in case.

Infrasound Makes You Feel like You're Being Watched

If you suddenly feel a sense of panic for no particular reason, it could be the result of infrasound - sounds that are too deep for humans to hear, but that we can still pick up on. Think of it like a dog whistle: we can't hear it, but dogs can. Does that make the sound any less real? Humans can only hear sound waves between 20 and 20,000 Hertz, but we can still feel the vibrations of everything else. This often manifests in the pits of our stomachs as strange, indescribable feelings. Ever feel awe-struck and happy for no reason? You can blame it on infrasound. The feeling depends entirely on the circumstances. If you're in a creepy house alone at night, you may feel panic rather than excitement.

Infrasound happens for a few reasons - storms, wind, weather, and the like. Even your kitchen refrigerator can emit them. This happened to be the case for Vic Tandy, a scientist who was convinced that his laboratory was haunted after seeing what he thought was a ghost. Tandy, a scientist and fencing enthusiast, eventually noticed that his fencing sword had been vibrating on its own, and then understood what had happened: A new fan he had installed in his lab was emitting vibrations of about 19 Hz. Since eyeballs have a resonant frequency of 20 Hz, when the fan vibrated his eye, it caused him to see shadows because his brain couldn't interpret what was happening. When he turned off the fan, all the ghosts went away.

Ghostly Orbs in Pictures Are Purely Camera Problems

Many of us want so badly to believe that those floating, glowing orbs in photos are real-life proof of ghosts. The problem is that while ghosts may be haunting every inch of your house, they're probably never going to let themselves be caught on film. Even real ghost believers are skeptical about orbs because they're usually just the result of a faulty camera.

Ever notice how orbs are mostly in flash photography? That’s because when a small bug or piece of dust gets caught in the flash, it reflects the light back - and since the camera doesn't have enough time to re-focus before the shutter clicks, it comes out like a blurry circle. There's also a high possibility that whatever paranormal photographer took the picture accidentally smudged the lens with his finger. Oops.

Automatism Makes Mediums Think They've Channeled Ghosts

How sad would it be to live in a world where a medium couldn't actually contact the dead? While some mediums are able to expose details so specific that they can't possibly come from anyone but your dead relative, a whole bunch of mediums are shams. The worst part, though, is that many of them really, actually believe they have a gift.

Mediums are often misguided by their spirit-channeling talents because of automatism, an altered state of conscious where people aren't aware of what they're saying or thinking. When mediums effectively clear their minds, readying themselves to be filled with other-worldly messages, they become filled with random ideas and images instead. Mediums often attribute this to channeling a spirit, but the reality is that it's all just random. It's the same science behind why your dreams are super strange, nonsensical, and sometimes super creepy.

A Mold Infestation Can Make Your Home Feel Haunted

Mold is a pretty boring answer to a really exciting - and terrifying - problem, but it's an answer nonetheless. Rather than burning some sage, you may want to invest in some quality bleach-based cleaners.

The reason you may feel terrified for no explicable reason, or suddenly see things that aren't there, could be because of toxic mold growing in your home. Research shows that certain molds have somewhat ghostly effects, causing irrational fear and even dementia. Whatever you do, don't spray the area with holy water, as dampness just helps mold thrive.

The Ideomotor Effect Causes Unexplained Things to Happen

Every little girl who has ever been to a sleepover probably used an Ouija board at some point. Some of our parents may have banned them from our homes, but for the rest of us, we enjoyed scaring ourselves by waiting for ghosts to communicate with us through a series of letters even more inconvenient than T9 texting. While it's definitely possible that a few odd-ball spirits have attached themselves to Hasbro's bestselling occult-themed toy, most of the time those messages can be attributed to the ideomotor effect. In fact, most scary sleepover games (hello, "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board") have no paranormal ties whatsoever.

Ideomotor action occurs when our muscles unconsciously move thanks to the power of suggestion. Basically, merely thinking about something wills it to happen. This was tested by physicist Michael Faraday who discovered that the tables used during a séance moved or appeared to levitate only because people expected them to do so. Once people expected a table to move, they unintentionally moved it. In 1853, this was tested in an experimental séance (where no ghosts were present). Half the people involved were told the table would move to the left, and half were told it would move to the right. As a result, the table didn't move at all.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Causes Ghostly Hallucinations

Strange voices, hearing things in your house rustle around, and even seeing ghostly shadowy figures can all be attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning - the notoriously slow, silent killer. According to a 1921 study in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, a family began experiencing strange, paranormal things when they moved into an old house. They heard strange noises and truly felt like they were being held down in bed by ghosts. The feeling of weakness was undeniable and so was their fear. The ghost turned out to be a faulty furnace that was seeping carbon monoxide throughout the entire home. As soon as the furnace was fixed, they never heard or saw anything weird again.

So, if you're feeling a ghostly presence, you may want to check your carbon monoxide detector. If that hasn't buzzed, you should probably move before you end up in The Conjuring.

Seeing Spooky Shadows? It's Probably Some Extra Electricity

It Follows was so scary mostly because we've all felt like we were being followed at some point. The shape-shifting, evil shadows that follow the main character around throughout the film didn't just haunt her house - they haunted her entire body. And once your whole body is haunted, you're kind of screwed.

In the real world, seeing shadow people has a pretty boring explanation: an excess of electricity in your brain. Swiss scientists tested this theory by electrically stimulating an epileptic patient's brain. After the quick shock, she saw a shadow person behind her copying all of her movements (just like in It Follows). She even claimed that the ghost grabbed her, but it turned out to be a miscommunication in the left temporoparietal junction of her brain - that's the part that helps you tell yourself apart from others, and in this case, it created a creepy duplicate.

Solar Winds Create Mysterious Ghosts

The earth is completely blanketed in magnetic fields. As a result, some places have stronger magnetic fields than others - and if you ask a paranormal investigator, they'll probably attribute that to ghosts. But if you ask a scientist, they'll definitely disagree.

The reason so many ghost encounters happen at night is actually because of the sun. The sun is constantly pushing solar winds towards the earth and these winds in turn push into the earth's electromagnetic field. During the night, you're faced away from the sun, so this causes the electromagnetic field to expand, which in turn, has a greater effect on our brains. We already know that an electric shock to the brain can cause hallucinations - this is a similar premise.

Drafts Close Doors, Make Things Move, and Make Us Feel Cold

Haunted houses always have a few hallmarks - doors randomly closing, things getting knocked off of shelves, and rooms suddenly getting filled with brisk, cold air. A ghost needs energy to move, so it sucks all the heat out of the room, uses it as fuel, and leaves behind cold spots, right? Sorry to break it to you, but no, it's just the weather.

Drafts entering through open windows, doors, or chimneys can cause some ghost-like things to happen. Cool air rises and hot air drops, so when outside air enters a room, it rushes around trying to equalize the temperature. This results in rooms randomly getting colder or slightly breezy. Many times drafts cause open doors to slam and lighter objects like paper and picture frames to blow off of shelves. If you feel like your body is suddenly getting colder, this could really just be from a lack of humidity - so go grab a sweater, you'll be fine.

Ions Are Actually Making Your Hair Stand on Edge, Not Ghosts

Many ghost hunters carry something called an ion counter, which literally counts the ions in the atmosphere. When that sucker goes off you know a ghost is taking a stroll nearby. However, ions are pretty natural - and they're the very reason you get an electric shock when you're wearing certain types of clothing.

Ions are caused by a ton of natural factors like weather, solar radiation, and radon gas. You can even buy ionic hair dryers that emit negative ions to help evaporate water faster. Ions have such a strong presence that they can even change our moods. Negative ions calm us, and positive ions give us headaches. If you live in a house filled with negative ions, you may feel tired and tense, but it's definitely not because of a ghost.

You Only Think a House Is Haunted Because Everyone Else Does

Have you ever noticed that you become increasingly aware of a problem once someone else points it out? The same can be said for a haunted house. Mass hysteria is a very real phenomenon, and one person's account of something can have you looking for signs that just aren't there.

This was proven in a 2014 study by Goldsmiths University of London where participants watched a video of an alleged psychic bending a key with his brain. Subjects were paired up with either a person who said they saw the key bend or a person who said they did not. Those sitting next to people who claimed to see the key bend were more likely to say they saw the key bend, too.

Quantum Mechanics Proves Ghosts Are Real

There are a ton of scientific explanations behind haunted houses that completely dispel the idea of them actually being haunted at all; however, what if science could prove ghosts actually do exist? Quantum mechanics is the study of the smallest types of matter, which some scientists believe make up the very foundation of ghosts.

Dr. Stuart Hameroff and physicist Roger Penrose believe that human consciousness comes from microtubules in our brain cells. These tubules are the very foundation of our souls. According to their theory, when people have near-death experiences those microtubules leave the brain and continue to exist (hence the idea of out-of-body experiences).

Another quantum physicist named Dr. Henry Stapp also believes this theory. He thinks a person's personality can exist as a mental entity after death (AKA as a ghost), and that if these entities can manage to pull themselves back into the physical world, things like channeling and possession can actually happen. So, maybe those mediums weren't making it up after all.

[Mariel Loveland, Ranker]

[impurelight]

Control - You Can Tell Instantly About A Game By How The Doors Work

Control is the most recent Remedy game and it lies at the halfway point between the technological explicitness of Quantum Break and the uncanny strangeness of Alan Wake. Put another way if Alan Wake and Quantum Break had a baby it would be this game. But that's not exactly a good thing. And here's why.

So you start the game playing as tall Ashley Birch as you make your way to the Federal Bureau of Control where you are inexplicably made the new director. Yeah, I thought affirmative action has gotten a bit out of hand but this is ridiculous.

So it's a really interesting set up for a game. But here's the thing. That initial set up is never really explained. Oh, there are hints of what's going on throughout the entire game but no one really tells you. And there are multiple examples of this. By the time I was wrapping up the game all the big stuff was explained but the little things, like what the janitor was doing all this time, were not. In fact the ending is a pretty big disappointment. I mean I think the bad ending is better than the good ending as it makes more sense. The good ending is just... weird in the Captain Marvel 'How do I beat this threat?' kind of way. AKA just get stronger. Whatever that means.

I know it's supposed to be 'Ooo spooky...' with the whole 'Hiss' threat which manifests by weird chanting that you can hear all the time which is super creepy. It actually reminds me of a horror movie I saw once of a virus that spread by chanting. Anyways it's clear the story wants to be like Alan Wake. Speaking of Alan Wake there are a few Alan Wake references. Because it's pretty clear Control is set in the same world as Alan Wake.

But anyways, in Alan Wake the game opens with, "In a horror story the victim keeps on asking 'why' but there is no answer and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered question is what stays with us the longest and what we'll remember in the end." And this appears to be what Control is aiming for. But you can't do that if you just explain half the story points and use pseudo science mumbo jumbo to explain all the lore. It just doesn't work.

So yes, the story is a sore spot for this game. I mean, compared to other games the story is phenomenal but not quite up to the high bars set up by Quantum Break and Alan Wake. I do particularly like the opening of this game. In the opening of Quantum Break I was like, "Dude, you could tell me everything I need to know right now but you're not!" and it frustrated me so much. In Control you genuinely know nothing because everyone else genuinely knows nothing. It really gives you this feeling of building up the Bureau from scratch.

But the story is also very disjointed. There's this 'internal monologue' thing which would have been fine if it was just to deliver witty one liners. But it is often, especially earlier on in the game, used as an excuse to dump exposition like this thing called 'P-uh-laris' in your head. It's not explained super well. This has always been a Remedy problem. No one tells you anything, you always have to put the pieces together yourself. But it's just worse here because they also combine it with tons of inexplicable exposition and there's a very noticable disconnect between what tall Ashley Birch knows and what you know.

Also problematic is that the story sort of putters out a bit near the middle of the game. Your intentions go from, "I want to help the people." to "I'm going to do what I want." Basically they include this whole sepparate plot arc about tall Ashley Birch's brother and they should of just dropped it. It doesn't pay off in any meaningful way. They should have kept the story about rebuilding the Bureau.

So onto the gameplay. I think Remedy outdid themselves this time. There are two ways to damage enemies. Your powers which you unlock throughout the game (I mostly just spammed the telekinesis power) and the service weapon. The service weapon is what you get at the start of the game. It's basically a pistol although you can unlock some alternate fire modes. I just mainly used it as a pistol throughout the entire game. There's just something nice about manual fire weapons.

So the service weapon has infinite 'ammo' but it doesn't reload in the traditional sense. Basically it recharges which can take some time. And during this time you have to use your powers (or sit around awkwardly waiting for it to recharge). And this fixes the number one problem with 'powers' in shooters. Why should I use them? Also enemies have shields which are easier to take out with your powers.

Also some powers are better against certain enemy types (the grenade launcher guy can't even hit you when your floating which is so so unfair but cool and dodging is great to get out of tough spots like those invisible pulsing guys) but these enemies are few and far between. Mostly you'll be fighting only two types of enemies. The pathetically easy guys and the pathetically easy guys with shields. Oh, and the would-be pathetically easy guy if they didn't have a rocket launcher that could take out half of your health in one shot without any warning. No, I'm not mad.

Speaking of the enemies Remedy has got to cool it with their boss enemies. In Quantum Break there was a Paul Serene fight which was way too hard. I had to turn it to easy and try multiple times. Here there's really only two hard fights. The fight with the levitating guy that hurls rocks at you (all the hurling rocks at you guys are really tough because they're basically flying rocket launcher guys) and of course the final fight that is a bit on the long side with no checkpoints.

This is doubly annoying when you can only respawn at 'control points'. Basically quick travel points. They're pretty common but not common enough as sometimes I'll sometimes be running through areas I already cleared of enemies. Thankfully enemies don't respawn that fast. Also the loading screens take forever. So I soon discovered the optimal strategy in any fight: stay as far back as you can and pick up enemies one by one as they get near. Not very fun but it works.

This is not to say the combat is amazing. The entire game takes place inside 'The Oldest House', which is a giant building in the middle of New York City. It actually reminds me of Prey with the whole 'science-experiment-gone-wrong' thing. And in both games you're trying to find out exactly what's happening. Yeah, it's basically a better written less futuristic version of Prey. Seriously, there's this document explaining that the Old House doesn't like new technology so everyone's using old CRT's and pseumatic tubes to get mail around.

But as I said the entire place takes place in the Oldest House. Which is basically a giant concrete building. Sort of like the Science Wing from my University. Anyways I was a bit concerned that the game would be super repetitive. Not so. I mean, yeah, most of the places look the same. But they're just different enough. There's the executive area with tons of offices, the research area with a cafeteria and a giant tree growing through it, and the maintenance area which has a bunch of pipes going through it.

Also they play around with the lighting a lot. Well, not as much as they should. Also this game definitely uses the same tech as Quantum Break. And I should know, in Quantum Break there was so much volumetric lighting. Same here. You can hardly see your hand in front of your face. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But sometimes I wish they turned down the volumetrics just a touch.

And the amount of damage is very impressive. You can shoot through cover and it will break apart and the telekinesis power will actually pull objects from around you and fire them which is very cool. Except when it can't find anything it'll just pull a generic piece of concrete off the wall. All the powers are really cool. I'm reminded at Saint's Row 4 which I thought had pretty cool powers when I was playing it but it's nothing near Control.

Of course with this new 'items can be flung anywhere' comes some problems. Mostly the enemy pathfinding which can be quite annoying if you're trying to find the right enemy to kill just to proceed. And they'll sometimes fire from weird spots.

But perhaps the biggest problem with the game is it's just not clear what to do at certain places. It's a bit rare but there's this one location that I was just dumbstruck of what to do. I finally read a guide and it was like, "Oh, just shoot at the things that no one ever told you to shoot at."

There's also a crafting system and a quest system and a skill tree. Yeah, I know who is getting my vote for the most unnecessary crafting system/quest system/skill tree of the year. Well, maybe not skill tree. There are some interesting power modifiers here.

Anyways, the game wants to be a metroidvania and I guess it sort of works. When you enter a new area you get full screen text like the Captain America Civil War transitions which is cool except when you're being shot at while they play. My only complaint is they should have used the powers more to get to new areas rather than just for combat. Now they're just using 'clearance levels'. It doesn't make much sense because I'm the director. I should have all the clearance levels.

So that's Control. Remedy said they're doing something more agile this time so the game came out after only 3 years rather than the usual 5. And I don't see that much quality reduction. It's still through and through a Remedy game. Although that could be because the engine here has no disernable difference than the one for Quantum Break.

Sure, there's a lot of things I think could have been improved, but it was ultimately a very fun experience if a bit unsatisfying at the end.

[mi4011annabodgal]

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ANIMATION DAY - 31.10. 2018 

Task: Let’s create a spooky Halloween themed alphabet together, all the students, from all levels, like a big happy family what

Animation day is an optional program organized for all animation student from foundational year to masters to gather together and in small groups let’s do together a piece of animation by the end of the day. How you solve the lunch is your problem.

Egh… I’m not gonna lie, that was my first thought about it on that morning. Don’t get me wrong, just one day before I was head over hills by that idea, because I was pretty aware of how much I could benefit from it. Building connections, meeting with new people, gaining experiences, chances of free pizza and candy, yep, sure I wanted to dive into it, who doesn’t?!

Then on that specific day, somehow the exact same reasons become the cause of your anxiety because your lazy introvert mind recognizes what is it up to for real:

 Meeting with new people - greeeeat, I need to socialize, go through countless small talks to warm up to strangers, like I’m not doing that since the past 2 months heh?

Building connections - oh sugar honey ice tea, so I even have to do a good first impression

Gaining experiences -  aka showing how poor skills I have compared to demigod 2nd and 3rd-year peers

 Free pizza - Free pizza DECLINED… Oh…

So after waking up to thoughts like that, I don’t think that it’s surprising that I had even considered the idea of ditching that day because first, it’s optional, second I had so so so many other things to do such as finishing storyboards or updating blogs… but worry not, I go through thoughts like that in relation to almost everything, some call it worrying, I call it listing my options and the possible outcomes before I start anything. I usually have my priorities sorted out right, so a little social anxiety won’t stop me of living up all my possibilities, and also funnily, the exact same reason to cons can become a quite supporting statement to pros… I could put it on the blog…

Talking from experience, an attitude has a lot to do with how we handle stuff and what we end up with. So I walked in taking big steps, deep breaths, putting on a smile and deciding that I will do everything in my power to collaborate and make it as good of an experience as I can. I have to make the best of it. I have to make it worth it. 

And I immediately got much much more relaxed when I realized that there were others in nice numbers from my classmates who turned up too. Probably with the same bothering thoughts. And we stayed like that. Together. For some time. 

After the 3rd and 2nd-year students were sorted out equally for different letters we came to the part that where we had to sign up for letters. Now by that time excitement took over most of the place of my anxiousness so while some of my classmates decided to stay together and sign up for the same letter, I boldly chose a random letter with an unfamiliar name. Long story short, I ended up being in a group with a girl from 3rd year, two guys from 2nd year, and 3 other boys from my class to make animations for 4 letters. Now comes the interesting part, teamwork.

I have always found teamwork the most interesting but also the most challenging task of all. The basic concept is quite admirable, people with different views and ideas create something phenomenal by making compromises and working toward the same goal together. Now here comes the problem, the phrase “working together” has as many definitions as many people exist, that’s why sometimes it can result in a rather unpleasant experience. Who doesn’t remember from group projects from preschool and secondary school when usually one person did 80% of the work, one person ditched completely their part, and the others did only the minimum?! We are all one of them. It also hides lots of conflicts, tension, and disagreements of who wants to do what part, who’s idea are we keeping, who is the leader etc. I personally think part of the conflicts wouldn’t even exist if we didn’t take so many things personally. Look at the questions above, who’s who’s who’s. It emphasizes the importance of the person behind the idea. Change some of them to which. Which idea do we keep, which parts should be done, it’s not perfect but you get the idea of this phrase sounding more objective. It emphasizes the idea itself. Just because your idea didn’t make it, that doesn’t make you stupid. The decision is not against you, and not even against your idea, it is for a concept that will have the most efficient result.

 Every group needs a leader otherwise, it’s chaotic. We are humans, we don’t know it but we like to be told what to do. Let me give you an example. At the beginning of a project, the same question crosses through our minds, what are we doing? At a group project, the leader is the one who knows. They keep it all together, usually because they are the ones who know which step comes after what mostly because they have the most experience in it. They see the whole picture. They don’t oppress or boss around but supervise and make sure the group stays on track. At least that was how we sorted it out and made the girl from 3rd year - let’s call her A - the leader. We hadn’t had to discuss it really, from the first minute it was visible that she has the most experience and she had known where to starts and how to go. And we just naturally felt it right. Of course, it had to have to do a lot with the fact that we discussed everything together and everyone’s thoughts were listened.

First thing first was to decide if we wanted to do 2D or 3D. Who was not a newbie preferred the idea of 3D but we greenies were absolutely terrified of it. Given that we did not have any mentionable experience in using Maya and that we were a majority of the group, they ended up making compromises and agreed to do 2D or anything that does not include advanced software knowledge. Even tho they were incredibly nice and offered to help us learn to use the software or they just wanted to see us suffer as and I quote them: ”Maya is a special kind of hell”, we only had one day to make 4 pieces of 2-3 seconds of animation, it was pretty clear that there was just not enough time for that.

We chose to work with charcoal mostly in one paper for every animation because it has a special unique effect. Our teachers even suggested that we should shoot it on putting it on easels, vertically. Do you remember the part when I said an idea should be accepted when there are more useful things resulting from it than problems? Well… Now tell me how do you say no to a teacher, if you wanna build connections and you are also just a dummy newbie and it’s only been your first month here? Exactly, you don’t.  Well, it was definitely interesting and challenging to work on. I am not entirely sure if it was worth it, because we sometimes accidentally bumped into the easel so it moved a bit off place and we couldn’t put it back to the exact same spot it was so it resulted in small jumps in the animation, and also the camera was extremely close  to the paper for small details and high resolution so we had to work in a rather interesting poses, very very carefully. But one more experience to gain. Yay!

We decided to dissolve into smaller groups within our group so we can work on the animations more effectively. When we had some solid designs we discussed them together and gave critique to each other. Getting feedback from your peers is incredibly useful as they are also part of an audience you will want to make stuff for. I ended up being with A and we were given the letter “M”. Which was awesome because we know many words starting with M which had a spooky vibe. Monster, mystery, murderer, moon… And by saying moon I did get some extra knowledge about the course. There are 3 banned cliche things, that under any circumstances should not appear in animations, these are dragon, robot, and vampire. Vampire or werewolf, she was not sure which. That was one of my favourite aspect of it all, that we ended up talking about all sorts of kind of things, and not just with my group mates but with others too through them. I was disappointed in a pleasant way, I don’t know what did I expected but it was half as not friendly and open-minded as it turned out to be.

 We agreed on making a monster who has mad cow disease and committed mass murderer and adding mystery by it’s appearing from the fog.“A” did the design as I was pretty clueless of how this should look like or where was I supposed to start. Seeing my distress she asked me what were my specialties. I immediately said character design. She asked me if I do stuff like taking random words and design a character from them. And I said no, I meant humans, I draw human characters. Until that moment I did not realize how boring that sounds, but yes it is boring. Only humans are boring. Sure anatomy is important and gestures and poses too, and yes you can have a bunch of own humanoid characters with a whole storyline that you promised yourself to bring alive once you have all the skills you think are required to have before starting and concept arts and designs and mood boards, hell yes, of course, I do have, but you need to realize that they are incredibly interesting for you because you have a strong emotional attachment to them, because you created them, you know everything about them, you love them, and it could easily happen that strangers without that amazing backstory knowledge won’t find them as captivating as they are in your eyes. Additionally, it’s always better to be good in more stuff than just in one. You stand in more legs you have more opportunities, so just have the courage to move out of your comfort zone, it can only benefit you in the long run.

At the end of the day, which we previously decided to be 5pm, all the animations were done and we even had a look at them as a whole sequence. It turned out pretty amazing, seeing so many different styles and solutions was really fun.

To sum up, all, if one thing to learn from this day was to dare to move out of our comfort zone, whether socially or artistically,  chances are we are gonna end up with more benefits than regret. I know now that I have a lot to improve in terms of creative character design, need to leave humans alone for a while for sure. Also, let’s be brave enough to collaborate and get your ideas out, being wrong is not a failure. Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will and a wrong idea written down whorts a thousand times more than keeping it in and contemplating whether it’s good or not. We can soon realize that something is off and it can give space for new ideas if it’s out early. If we keep something in for a long time we become over biased for certain concepts and don’t notice the black holes in it. We need feedback from the outside world because their opinion is objective, and that is something that every artist who wants to move an audience is in desperate need.