#world: game central station

[muses-of-the-memory]

Happy 12th Anniversary, Wreck-It Ralph!

Tagged by: @hoshi-neko-hikari, @bluemajingirl, @the-world-hopper, @themultiverseheroines, @spirits-of-nature16

[friendlyheartless]

Star looks toward Lucas as he approaches. "Star, you remember Lucas. We met him back that Christmas in the House of Mouse." Asha reminded to Star, who smiles and waves back at Lucas.

( @the-world-hopper )

"Hey girls," Lucas waved to the Fortuneteller sisters, Penelope and Zoey, while riding on Bubbles' shoulders.

The two Fortuneteller Sisters, Cryst and Clayr Voiant, along with Penelope the Parasol Beauty and Zoey the Winterhorn had heard Lucas coming from the Second District, and they saw Bubbles the Bouncywild carrying him.

"Hello Lucas." Cryst greeted. "Welcome back." Clayr Voiant smiled under her headdress veil. "It had been a while." Penelope stated. "What have you been up to?" Zoey asked.

( @the-world-hopper )

[blastawaytournament]

as any kingdom hearts fan would know, sometimes old worlds make a reappearance in later games! i'm wondering if people would prefer a preliminary type deal where repeat worlds face off to pick the ultimate version to go in the main poll (I.E. KH1 Hollow Bastion vs KH2 Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden vs BBS Radiant Garden), just let them run wild in the main poll (I.E. have KH1 Traverse Town vs Dwarf Woodlands and DDD Traverse Town vs Arendelle at the same time), or group each version together as one?

[captain-ultimat-doggo]

Humans entering space and realizing we are so small. We are mice compared to these giant races with their advanced machinery and technologies and experiences beyond us- except that we're humans. And our engineers dive into the new tech and once we learn the principles we also soon realize how Inefficient everything is. Their "microchips" are the size of cars, their storage drives are basically buildings, and they somehow store less data than ours. So, human companies take advantage, and tech starts rolling out. Massive and there's a lot of wasted space so that it can be managed with larger hands/pincers/claws/tentacles, but also so much more efficient than anything the galaxy has seen before.

Human technicians start hopping ships and upkeeping the general maintenance, the stuff that most aliens put off or don't notice because they never access the crevices of their ships. As human companies become more popular and lead the tech world in everything from warp cores to game stations ("it's so compact! How are the graphics so good?" Says a 60' tall grimbleback, holding a new VR headset that has all of its components included because it's so BIG by our tech standards), soon many things have accessibility ports for humans to be able to use as well. This means that these shiprats hoping ship to ship cause such a huge improvement in everything running smoothly, and there's a huge downtick in pests on ships because those "pests" are not only big enough and aggressive enough to bite a pitbull or a person in half, they're invasive to so many planets and humans hate nothing more than dog killing planet overrunning monsters.

All the while, from the Aliens perspective, humans are an elusive race that don't fraternize much with them. You almost never see a human as most places aren't exactly safe for the little things to run around in. They do export so much stuff though, and the custodial staff at the Central Galactic Outpost insists that there's more humans around than any other race if you just know where to look.

And sure it's somewhat known that some of the little daredevils hop ships and help out in exchange for room and board, usually without permission, but that can't be that common, can it?

Maybe your ship is running better this cycle ever since you stopped at the last station, that just means that tuneup was better than you thought. And maybe for some reason that program you were working on last night is finished when you wake up, but you're so tired maybe you finished it before you passed out. Somehow that faulty light in the galley has fixed itself as well, which is odd, but maybe the Engineer finally got to it. You'd know if there was someone else on your ship.

Right?

... You leave a little bowl of berries out as a thank you, just in case. You're not sure what humans like but you've heard they have a sweet tooth.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 69

One time while escaping from a cell, Romana commented that it would be child's play to unlock the door with her sonic screwdriver. She then said it was literally child's play as doing so had been a game back on Gallifrey. (Audio: Subterranea)

One of Jamie's distant relations became a spy during World War II and used the name "the Doctor." (Audio: Operation Werewolf)

On his report, Borusa gave Theta Sigma a 7 in the subject of "Physical Inactivity." He commented that his pupil seems to think he is a mountain goat. (Short story: Report on Term's Work)

Memory lanterns are Time Lord devices that resemble paper lanterns but record an individual's thoughts and memories. During the Time War, many Gallifreyans released these lanterns as a desperate ploy to not be forgotten, as they thought they would all die. (Novel: Engines of War)

Ben, Polly, and Jamie played with a ouija board on the TARDIS. This caused a dark cloud from the time vortex to slip inside Jamie's mind, affecting his behavior. The Second Doctor banished the cloud by reading a recipe for Bajaxx stew written in Ancient Gallifreyan. (Short story: Something at the Door)

Jarra To killed the previous overseer of the Axis. Eventually, a Time Lord came to investigate, but they killed them. By the time the Fifth Doctor and his companions landed there, they described the corpse as "rank" with oozing flesh and insect larvae. (Audio: The Axis of Insanity)

After leaving Nyssa, Tegan, and Marc behind, the Fifth Doctor had several adventures on his own. Eventually, he encountered his Eleventh self, and he decided to return to his companions because he didn't want to be like him - companionless and disparaged in 1892. (Audio: Thin Time)

Time Vortex leeches live in the time vortex, and the Doctor had thought they were a myth from Ancient Gallifreyan songs until one of them clung to his Eleventh self's TARDIS exterior. (Comic: Space in Dimension Relative and Time)

One time, a man called Gaylord Lefevre played a game of cards against the Toymaker. He cheated and used a needle to mark cards, but the Toymaker was aware of this and altered his cards to be a hand full of jokers when Gaylord wasn't looking. The Toymaker claimed he wasn't cheating but instead following a new rule that Gaylord had introduced - that cheating was acceptable. (Comic: The Greatest Gamble)

Gallifrey has a transtube, which is basically an underground train. It has a central station under the Capitol. (Novel: The Ancestor Cell)

One time after the Seventh Doctor was knocked out, he drowsily told Ace that he had had a terrible dream. A man with ringlets had been reaching out to him, saying, "Come in, Number Seven, your time is up." He was talking about the Eighth Doctor. (Audio: The Silurian Candidate)

Maria Mazzini once commented on how powerful the Fifth Doctor's thighs were - after slapping them. (Audio: Serpent in the Silver Mask)

One time, the Fourth Doctor decided to take Sarah Jane to Geshtinanna. The journey in the TARDIS took nine weeks, during which both became bored and tired. While traveling in the time vortex, the clocks in the TARDIS all stopped, and the Doctor then detected the remains of another TARDIS in the vortex, trapped their because the pilot had made the mistake of locking their course. They were worried that they too had fallen to the same fate and were unable to change course, but when the day of materialization finally came, they successfully materialized. The Doctor realized that the TARDIS had stopped all the clocks out of respect for her fallen fellow TARDIS. Even after nine weeks of travel, they materialized nowhere close to Geshtinanna. (Short story: Eternity)

The Seventh Doctor has shifted his genetic makeup enough to disguise himself before and mimic someone else. He admitted that he learned this trick from the Master, who frequently used regeneration as a disguise. (Novel: Original Sin)

On Gallifrey, there are two hundred and eight tenses in their languages. They don't translate well. (Novel: The Crystal Bucephalus)

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[mazikeenhyde]

Oh Baby, Pain is Pleasure - Part 3

POLY JUDGMENT DAY X READER (WRESTLER) 

Y/W/N – Your Wrestling Name 

Y/W/N/F – Your Wrestling Name Finisher

WARNING – THESE WARNINGS COVER ALL PARTS OF THIS FICTION- THEY MAY NOT BE SPECIFIC TO THIS PARTICULAR PART!- 

SMUT,  GIRL X GIRL, MAN X MAN, POLY RELATIONSHIPS/SEXUAL, BDSM, BLOOD, SPANKING, VIOLENT REFRENCES, INJURY, ABUSE (CONSENTUAL) CHEATING, STALKERS/ STALKING

I’m going to apologize to you all now, and prewarn you in advance, this is an absolute rollercoaster of a storyline! Shits about to get REAL messy! 

TAG LIST - @babybatlover

Oh Baby…Pain is Pleasure – Part 3

Late afternoon had seen the sun burn the remainder of the clouds from the sky, leaving a beautiful blue horizon view from across the backyard. Flocks of birds gathered as they headed over the break line, waving in and out of the smoke coming from our BBQ pit. 

I sat, gently rocking my feet back and forth on the chair egg swing we had attached to one of the older grand oak trees in our yard. It was all I had wanted when we moved in, somewhere calm and content where I could just exist. Enjoy my time, enjoy my life, and admire the world around me. Ponder life’s big questions… 

‘LOCKER WITNESSES’ 

I re read that message repeatedly in my mind, who was it from? witnessed what? 

I had deleted the other text from my phone, I wasn’t going down that road. 

The sounds of two men’s deep voices bought me back, looking over to my lovers I could see Finn & Damien adorned in their matching ‘TOP CHEF’ aprons and cooking utensils with a beer in hand, either chatting away or debating about how best to cook the chicken. 

Whilst further down on the sun loungers, Rhea had stripped down to one of her thin black bikinis with the metal skull clip fastenings, she was catching the last of the sunrays to her already perfect Sunkissed skin.  Christ, how did I get so lucky as to be a part of this incredible love…. Pentagon? It’s a five-way love triangle, let’s leave it at that.

When we had been initially searching for a house to buy, one to really call home that is; we had all had something in mind we desperately wanted as a feature. We knew it needed to be a big house, one with a master bedroom where we could assemble out two King size beds that had been custom made to attach in the middle, I cannot begin to tell you how comfortable and comforting it is being held close and safe by the four people you love more than anything in the world. 

The guilt though…

Still, obviously Rhea & Finn were dead set on having a large garage/ open internal space to set up the home gym. Of course, whilst on the road we still used a lot of public gyms and one-off hotel workout rooms here and there, but when we are at home, in each other’s company, away from the world, the fans, all that attention. It is so lovely knowing we don’t have to leave our little safe haven.

Damian had specifically made it clear he wanted a huge kitchen, open planned that backed into a dinning area. When we moved in, he had taken the time to build up a barista style coffee corner and a breakfast station on the central island. Then with Finn’s help, they worked on a D.I.Y project together to design and create a full bar set up next to the table and chairs where we ate. They had eventually given in and allowed Dom to help with the painting of the bar, because he wanted to be a ‘DIY Man’ too. 

The boys always referred to it as the lad’s corner, a custom-built wooden bar that was painted a deep tranquil green and black with illuminated LED letters on the wall; ‘ALL RISE, ALL DRINK’.   That however did not stop Rhea and I from emptying some of those back bar bottles on one of many messy nights! For some reason, whenever Rhea breaks out the Tequila, we always end up playing strip twister… Odd. 

Dominick, of course… wanted a gaming room. Not just any gaming room mind you, a ‘Mens” gaming room. 

*Sigh* 

Problem is he is just so adorable at times, and we all give in, he had been granted his request of course! Although Priest put his foot down when Dom had asked for an indoor arcade style basketball hoop game, he was allowed a hoop outside but that was it. We had all seen enough broken windows during the season when Finn had tried to teach Damien and Dominick how to play golf. 

It still makes me laugh when the boys talk about how they would feel guilty that they were off spending time together, while Rhea and I would miss out? Ha. Little did they know when they buggered off to do ‘man’s stuff’ we girls would high tail it upstairs to the family bathroom and strip off into the bathtub for some… girl’s time. *Wink Wink* 

I remember one morning; Rhea and I were standing in the arched doorway at the crack of dawn waving the boys off as they set out on an early start to play a full days Golf. Leaning into her chest I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes as she bent her head down and nuzzled her lips into the crook of my neck. 

“I tell you now Y/N, I would rather run the risk of drowning when we get in that bathtub, and I bury my face deep in your pussy… then stand in a damp field hitting a stick at a ball.” Her teeth nipped at the skin of my ear lobe and my entire body melted at her touch. 

Christ the things that woman does to me. 

A loud crash had bought me back to reality, Dom had been trying to carry a tray of drinks out to the garden for us all but had tripped over some excess weigh plates we had left outside, sending the poor lad flying arse over tit. 

“Shit! God damn it, ow fuck!” Dom pulled himself up to his knees, swiping the drinks tray away in frustration before noticing blood trickling down his arm from the glasses that he had smashed across the decking. He was quick to freeze, unable to process what to do next or how to stand up safely. 

Rhea was quick to make her way over to him from the sun lounger, followed by Damian who handed Finn his spatula and beer before rushing over to help the poor lad. 

I know, I know I should have been focused on the fact that the boy I loved so much needed some help, some TLC, compassion, and support… 

But I am only human. 

And Rhea Bloody Ripley…. 

Running….

In a mini black laced bikini…

Slightly wet from the heat of the sun touching her skin, God how she glistened. How she got my motor running and…

Finn had noticed my distraction and whistled loudly, gathering my attention. 

“Aye! Lass, enough of that! Go... Take a lap!” He gestured, pointing to the end of the field in our garden. The yard stretched about 1/4 of a mile down and was cut off by the woodland. One of my favorite things about this house was the nature that came with it. It all felt so…natural and back down to earth compared to the chaos and mayhem at WWE. 

Pointing his BBQ tongs and Damian’s spatula at me, Finn raised his eyebrow. 

“No distractions, ya hear!” 

I tried not to laugh at his remark, turning my face away to hide my snicker and rolling my eyes. I was still wearing my gym gear from before; except I had nabbed one of Dominick’s merch shirts on the way to the garden from the drying rack, I was self-conscious about my stomach, and I liked to hide my body where I could. 

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?!” Finn sternly questioned me as he put the utensils down. 

At this point Rhea was taking Dom inside through the double doors, whilst Damian stood back up and turned in my direction. 

Fuck… they are hot when they get all dominant. 

“Mi Vida, did you roll your eyes?” Damian’s words were colder, flat, and prominent. I could tell he was almost looking for a reason to get me upstairs into the bedroom. Christ I was half tempted to give him a solid reason. 

Put me across your lap Papa Priest, let me feel the strength between your thighs and lay it into me Goddamn it! 

The devil on my shoulder sang its heart out at the idea, but I remembered earlier when Finn has spun the actions back against me. Leaving me alone and sexually frustrated I thought better of the situation. 

“Me? I would never…” I said quite obnoxious/sarcastically and smiled that cheeky brat look at them before hopping up off the tree swing. I could see Damian trying not to break or give in… but a slight smirk crept into the corner of his lips.  

“I’m going to take a lap!” I stated and grinned before making a run for it, heading down and out of sight from the lads. I had a much better plan in mind to deal with my frustrations when I got in the shower later anyway. 

I was out of breath by the time I got back towards our street, less than a ¼ mile to go! I had decided to go for a proper run to clear my mind. A good few miles should do the trick, that’s what Rhea always said! With my headphones in and a decent playlist on, nothing was going to stop me! 

One foot after another I pressed on, sweat dripping down my neck I desperately tried to Shake off all that nervous energy I had built up now that WrestleMania was less than 2 weeks away. I had been on edge at times, and it showed when I trained in the ring with Rhea and Dom. Running back-to-back moves, counters, pins, and submissions, it was like every time I thought I had learnt it someone would come along and wipe my slate clean, and I knew nothing again. 

Maybe I wasn’t ready to be a champion? 

Maybe I was out of my depth? 

Rhea should be in this match not me. 

Me? Y/W/N? Was I really cut out to be a champion? 

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket as I continued running. I tried looking at my smart watch as I ran, though it was tricky to focus on a smaller screen. 

I could see a couple messages from Finn stating the food was ready, one from Damian also telling me the food was ready, one from Dom telling me he was going to eat my hot dog if I didn’t hurry up and one from Rhea telling me she wasn’t going to let Dom touch my food. 

Honestly this lot, I love them so much. 

Turning into our street I could see our house gate entrance just up the hill, with a little spring in my step I pushed on feeling like I was picking up speed. I felt energized, I felt incredible, maybe I could do this after all! 

With the gate just in reach and the sweet smokey smell of the BBQ lingering in the air I put my head down to push those least few feet… 

But within a split second I felt something behind me. 

The music cut out as my headphones were launched to the floor and my arms locked in tight by a strength I hadn’t ever had to match. Kicking my legs out I felt them rise off the floor and before I could even fathom the mental capacity to make a sound the feeling of sticky back plastic tape suckered its way in across my lips. My eyes pooled up as the bag went over my head and my vision became darkness. A hard and cold metal floor was met with my body weight as I was hurled inside, my heart beating out of my chest the fear became all too real as I felt the ground under move away at speed. 

A hot breath came down my neck, raising every last hair on my skin to react. The voice was muffled, as if speaking through a mask. 

“You did this Y/N…” 

“You did this… and now you cannot handle the monster you created.” 

The silence in between each word was deafening, but it was the next voice that bought the fear of God into my soul. 

“ Told you I’d find you...miss me?” 

TO BE CONTINUED

[zvaigzdelasas]

Hydrogen-powered trucks are expected to reach life-cycle cost parity with their fossil-fuel-burning peers in China by 2027 even without the aid of subsidies, a milestone which the world’s biggest producer and consumer of the zero-emission energy source, seeks to achieve eight years ahead of Europe.

This will push forward the country’s ambition to dominate the market for hydrogen fuel cells in the transport sector as Beijing’s enabling environment starts paying off, an industry executive said.[...]

“China has developed a world-leading industry in commercial vehicle applications for hydrogen fuel cell technology, with enterprises ranging from upstream raw materials to downstream products over the past decade,” said Robin Lin, chairman and president of Refire Group, a Chinese supplier of hydrogen fuel cell technologies.[...]

China has stepped up its game this year with the central and local authorities releasing a variety of hydrogen-related policies and incentives, following the release of its first national-level guidelines for the hydrogen energy industry in 2023.

Nearly a third of its end-2023 fleet of 18,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were sold last year alone, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, indicating the gathering pace. In a further sign of accelerating offtake, China targets to have at least 50,000 units on the road by 2025, according to its national plan.

According to Lin, China has seen significant reduction in the manufacturing cost of hydrogen fuel cell systems, which account for roughly half the cost of a hydrogen vehicle. The cost has dived from over 30,000 yuan per kilowatt in 2015 to less than 4,000 yuan per kilowatt now.[...]

“In transport, heavy-duty trucks could be the first to achieve successful commercialisation of hydrogen fuel cell technology,” he said.[...]

In China, high-purity hydrogen generated as a by-product from industrial processes, such as Shanxi province, is around 25 to 40 yuan per kilogram at local hydrogen refuelling stations, while high-purity hydrogen in other regions, such as Shanghai, is around 50 to 70 yuan per kilogram at local hydrogen refuelling stations, according to Refire.

13 May 24

[love-and-deepspace-wiki]

Wiki Guide Post:

Welcome!

I'm V, an unofficial representative for the Linkon City Tourism Bureau. Allow me to be your personal tour guide through Linkon City and the surrounding areas! Whether you're a visitor passing through or a brand new resident, I hope you enjoy your stay! The links below will be updated as information is posted.

If you have any leads, screenshots, or info you'd like to contribute, please:

Send the info via dm

Include when/where in the game you found it

All information is sourced directly from public, in-game resources.

Any theories or extrapolation will be clearly defined as such. (For any Speculation & Theories posts, search the "#speculations and theories" tag)

Spoiler warning because 100% of the information I learn in-game will be posted without spoiler omissions.

My Sheet Music Transcriptions

Central Characters

Surrounding Characters

Individual/Miscellaneous Characters

Nameless/Faceless Characters

Criminals

Wanderers

Binsha Ancient City Area

Chansia City

Goldwood City

Greensprings

Jewel Reef Island (Gabriella's Atoll)

Linkon City Area

Moonfall Bay

"Mountain Journey" Event Locations

N109 Zone

Riverisle

Skyhaven

Snowraft City

The Arctic

Tulla Island

Unknown Locations

Verona

Verono

Yunshan Town

Holidays

Culture

Events

Currencies & Finances

Currencies & Finances: Part 2

Food & Drink

Arts & Culture

Medical

Toys & Games

Media & Entertainment

Podcasts & Radio

Movies & Television

Books, Magazines, and Publications

Apps & Social Media

Websites

Videogames

Other

Clothing & Items:

Footwear

Eyewear

General Clothing

Costumes

Jewelry & Accesories

Toiletries

Weapons

Shopping:

"A Second-Hand Bookstore"

"Local Supermarket"

Regal Antique

Pet Care Consultancy/Pet Health Consultancy

Philo

"One-stop Pet Supply Store"

Universum

Technology & Devices:

Devices

Droids, Robots, and AI

Transportation (Trains/Subways, Train/Subway Stations, Buses, etc.)

Trains/Subways

Buses

Train/Subway Stations

Transportation Technology

Motorcycles & Cars

Airports

Maxwell's Yacht

Government, Law Enforcement, Military, and Defense

Deepspace Garrison Base

Deepspace Aviation Administration (DAA)

Evol Special Rescue Unit

Evol Special Task Force (Evol Police)

Hunter's Association

UNICORNS

World Evol Government

World Hunter's Association

Academia, Research, and Education

Feathers Star

Philos

Philos: Tome of the Foreseer

Past Events

Present Time

Future Events

Another Name for Meow's Café?

Archives Text

DaniLeigh???

Greek Message/Poem?

Linkon City Map

Main Story Backgrounds

Raf Doing Math?

Zayne's Newspaper

[notbecauseofvictories]

I'm still thinking about it, so---if you're a local, I highly encourage Rough House Theater's "House of the Exquisite Corpse". It's lovely, arresting, from the performances down to the smallest touches. I still can't get over the ripped umbrellas hanging upside down in dreamlike suspension from the ceiling; the way each "station" is wrapped in plywood and decorated in its own meaningful pattern and design.

But first, let me step back. "House of the Exquisite Corpse" takes its name from the old Surrealist parlor game, at the heart of which is the idea that you can collect a disparate group, then smash their ideas together and create something from the smithereens. This is something like what Rough House has done, which is pick a theme ("Superstition") and then let the artistic groups loose to create short scenes built around that theme.

(I want to call them tableaux, because watching the performances I was struck by how it felt like something out of time---as though we were 17th century courtiers in Paris ushered into a candlelit ballroom, or early 20th century farmers in Minnesota, paying our penny to see what the circus brought to town.)

The set-up itself does a wonderful job ushering you into a time-outside-of-time---you step into a space divided from the rest of the space by black sheets, chunky headsets dangling from wooden ladders suspended just over your head. The emcee is carrying a clipboard and speaks into an old-school broadcasting mic---which you can only hear if you're wearing the headsets.

It is, you'll discover, the central conceit of the performance. From there, you're directed from station to station by silent ushers, carrying flashlights so they can point you forward. Unless you are wearing the headphones at each station, you can only listen to the absent, ambient music echoing around the room.

Not only are the stations set up to wrap you in a specific soundscape, but they play with your vision too---most stations have you peer through holes or cracks in the wall, though one station had us line up in front of mirrors and watch the reflection of the performance, while another station placed shards of glass at every peephole, so you watched the scene and the character's experience of the scene in a strange double-vision. A couple of the stations used tricks of the light---strobe effects that made the puppets' movements seem even more uncanny or imply violence; a haze of smoke or fabric to disguise the human "prowling" in the puppet-shape of a tiger.

(I always like when I can tell an artist is reacting to something I've seen before, and the Rousseau "The Dream" vibes in that scene were exquisite.)

I will say that “A White Bird in the House is an Omen of Death” was my favorite, not in the least because it featured a whole choreographed song (feat. a lovely articulated owl puppet, plus some very effective shadowplay work). However, “Through the Looking Glass” was beautifully up my alley, from the unique staging---this was the station where you watched the performance in a mirror---to the creative puppetry, and a meditation on loveliness that had some bite to it. “Broken Mirror” was more traditional in its puppet work, but it also had the most elaborate staging, a fully-realized world in miniature.

I keep going back to how enormously creative so many of these artists were, in ways I simply can't ignore. “Step on a Crack” didn't necessarily work for me, but I can't stop thinking about it---its trippy setup, the inhuman knit masks the creator used; the spines dangling, neon-colored, from the nearest tree as the protagonist recited lines about loving his mother with increasing, feverish and horrible energy. The glimpses I got during “An ill fate befalls those who pluck from fruit in their dreams” of the puppeteer's face---how she shut her eyes and turned away, as though she too was affected by the puppet's horror.

[joydoesathing]

in your tnmn au, which us state it takes place at? like i mean as in the setting of the location of the apartment

I assume that the apartment and the whole game is somewhere in the Western US, but in my AU, it would be somewhere in California.

I made a list of reasons for why I chose that (and also plausible reasons on why I think the actual game could be set in the Western US, so prepare for me to go all world building mode):

1.) The Western US is FedLandia

For those who aren't that familiar, federal land is basically land that is governed by the federal US government and not by the individual state and there's a high concentration of federal land located in Western states. One of the primary owners of federal land is the Department of Defense (the military sector of the government).

Based on the research I did, basically the government can do any operation they want on federal land. The military, for example, uses some of the federal land as weapon testing ranges (there's that joke that some people back in the 1950s have nuclear bombs casually going off in their backyard). So following the lore, the Trojan Horse Project could be considered an operation under the military since it's the one funding it and I also assume that the doppels were actually developed to be weapons for espionage.

So in a way, I believe that those involved in the THP do creating and testing operations of doppels on the wide ranges of military-owned federal property and since it's on federal property, most of the operations that goes on it is mostly kept hush-hush from the general public, cuz y'know, it's secret federal government business (like Area 51 type stuff)

You could argue that it could be possible that the game could take place in the Eastern US too, since there is federal land owned by the military located there, but the problem is the secrecy of the THP operations. As seen on the map above, there's only very little federal land on the East coast and the rest is state-owned land where the general public is located (and the population is quite packed in the Eastern states). If they wanted to keep the THP and its operations as top secret as possible, I feel like it would be more logical if their central base of operations would be somewhere where there's not much people living nearby and can't just have random access to (i.e. the Western states with loads of federal land and a generally less dense population)

2.) The DDD is managing and monitoring apartments

So, my assumption is that the DDD is some kind of special ops group created in the military, since they are directly involved in the THP. So, the personnel of the DDD are selected military personnel and their bases are just adjacent to regular military bases near the central base of operations of the THP

I also think that the apartments where doormen are stationed and modified with special anti-doppel security features are also government property, managed and monitored by the DDD ( and by extension, the military). And to ensure an adequate amount of DDD personnel get to places where doppels are located in in time, it would be more convenient if the apartments were built on or near federal land, where military bases are stationed.

And for my AU, I chose specifically California since it is said that the apartment is located downtown (so yeah probably in a city there)

3.) The occupations of some of the neighbors

Dr. W: Since she is lead researcher of the THP, she should naturally live nearby the central base of operations is located, which is somewhere in another state adjacent and east of California

Stephanie : Prior to moving to the apartment, she was already stationed in a military base in California, so it's just convenient for her and her mom to move to the apartment in downtown Cali.

The twins (this is only applicable in my AU): They work in Hollywood so again for convenience sake, they thought it would be best to live in downtown Cali.

Since the above mentioned neighbors have to come home everyday, their workplace needs to be nearby (you can't convince me that they'd be willing to travel interstate everyday just to come home)

4.) Aliens

The whole alien storyline we have with Chester in campaign mode is quite timing because that was the era where UFO conspiracy theories and sightings were all the rage or at least where the most prominent alien related incidents occured . Most of the prominent UFO/alien related topics and incidents seem to happen in the Western US (e.g. The Roswell incident in New Mexico and Area 51 in Nevada)

[muses-of-the-memory]

Princess Peach: "It certainly was, having to use the Ice Flower Toad hid in the bouquet."

Mario: "Yep. That Mini Mushroom was pretty useless in that fight with Donkey Kong."

Luigi: "Still, having to get stuck in the Bowser Badlands was the worst. The Dry Bones, and the Shy Guys..."

Vanellope Von Schweetz: "hey, Mario! I was just watching one of the movie trailer videos on the internet, and it says that this movie's about you, your brother and Bowser. is that true!?"

@spirits-of-nature16

Mario: "Oh hello, Vanellope. The new Super Mario Bros. movie's more than just me, Luigi and Bowser. Worlds to explore, Mario Kart, and a big Mushroom Kingdom adventure. It's-a going be great."

[ohsalome]

I often hear comments about Crimea and the other territories occupied by Russia being the “price of peace” in Ukraine. I, like many Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians, know that rewarding aggression and brutal occupation does not bring peace.

Crimea is not Russian to be “given back” to Russia. It never was. It never will be.

It is the homeland that has been repeatedly, brutally taken from us; it is the homeland we will not stop fighting for.

My grandmother, Shevkiye, was just 11 years old when on May 18, 1944, Soviet soldiers barged into her home at five o’clock in the morning. World War II was still raging and the Soviet regime had just accused the Crimean Tatars of collaborating with the enemy, the German Nazis – a baseless allegation that led to the unimaginable horror of genocide by deportation.

My great-grandfather was at the front, fighting those same Nazis whom he was accused of collaborating with. So the Soviet soldiers found at home just his wife and four children – the youngest one only a few months old. The soldiers gave them 15 minutes to gather their belongings and did not stop hitting my great-grandmother with their guns as she struggled to pack.

They marched them out of the house and – along with other families from their home village of Ayserez – hoarded loaded them onto a train meant for transporting cattle. The wagons were packed with people and there were no toilets on them; people struggled to breathe. No food or water was provided on the long journey, during which my grandmother’s family remained unaware of their destination.

Exhausted and starved, they focused solely on survival as hunger and disease killed many along the way. One of the most traumatising memories of the journey for my grandmother was witnessing a pregnant woman give birth on the train and then pass away shortly after. A Soviet soldier threw her body out of the wagon while the train kept moving.

After 20 days on the train, they finally arrived at Golodnaya Steppe station in the Mirzachul region of Uzbekistan, where they were unceremoniously unloaded onto a scorching hot platform. With no money or support, they struggled to survive in this unknown land.

They settled in a dilapidated barrack with no roof, windows, or doors. Their food consisted of grass, nettle, potato peels, and rotten potatoes; their drinking water came from irrigation ditches and often caused dysentery. There was no medical assistance available; the Soviet authorities clearly wanted as many Crimean Tatars to die as possible.

The forced deportation of the Crimean Tatars to Central Asia resulted in the death of 46 percent of the population, leaving a gaping wound in the hearts of those who survived. It was the culmination of a century and a half of deliberate and systematic destruction of the Crimean Tatar people, heritage and culture after the subjugation of the Crimean state by Russian imperial forces in the late 18th century. It is on this obliteration of the Crimean Tatars that the bloody myth of Crimea as a “Russian territory” was built.

[mariacallous]

Content warning: This article includes scenes of physical and sexual harassment and assault.

The trouble in Antarctica started in Boston. It was August 1999, and Stanford geologist Jane Willenbring was then a 22-year-old self-described “country bumpkin.” She had just arrived to start her master’s in earth science at Boston University. As an undergrad with an oboe scholarship at North Dakota State University, she’d studied beetle fossils found in Antarctica and learned how, millions of years ago, the now frozen continent once pooled with freshwater lakes. “That’s not so different from the conditions we might expect in the future,” she says. She wanted to explore this critical science. “It seemed really important for future global climate change,” she says.

Of all the geologists, few were more renowned than the one Willenbring had gone to Boston to study under: 37-year-old David Marchant. Marchant, a scruffy professor at BU, was a rock star of rock study. He was part of a research group that rewrote Antarctic history by discovering evidence of volcanic ash, which showed that Antarctica had been stable for millions of years and was not as prone to cycles of warming and cooling as many thought. To honor his achievements, the US Board on Geographic Names approved the naming of a glacier southwest of McMurdo Station, the main research base on Antarctica, after him.

Willenbring says Marchant had insisted on picking her up at the airport, an offer she thought was nice but strange. It got stranger when he started making her feel bad for his gesture, which she hadn’t asked for. “I’m missing a Red Sox game,” she recalls him chiding her. “You really should have picked a better time to fly.” He asked whether she had a boyfriend, how often she saw him, and whether she knew anyone in Boston or would be alone. In a few months, she’d be heading with him on a research trip to Antarctica and the region with his big chunk of namesake ice. “It was almost like a pickup line,” she recalls, “‘I have a glacier.’”

But it’s what happened in the glacier’s shadow that led Willenbring to take on Marchant and become the first to expose the horrors faced by women at the bottom of the world. A report released in August 2022 by the National Science Foundation, the main agency funding Antarctic research, found that 59 percent of women at McMurdo and other field stations run by the US Antarctic Program said they’d experienced sexual harassment or assault. A central employer, Leidos, holds a $2.3 billion government contract to manage the workplaces on the ice. One woman alleged that a supervisor had slammed her head into a metal cabinet and then attacked her sexually. Britt Barquist, a former fuel foreman at McMurdo, says she had been forced to work alongside a supervisor who had sexually harassed her. “What was really traumatic was telling people, ‘I’m afraid of this person,’” she says, “and nobody cared.”

With a congressional investigation underway, Willenbring is sharing her full story for the first time with the hope of inspiring others to come forward and claim the justice they’ve long deserved. But even now, decades after she first got into Marchant’s car, she can’t help asking herself how, and why, the nightmare happened in the first place. “You never hear a women-in-science panel where people are talking about stuff like I do,” she says, “because they’re smart enough to fucking run.”

[beeebird]

Uncleared bug

（Wreck-It Ralph AU）(What follows is a super long introduction…) (To put it simply, this is a story about a ghost.)

_________________________________________

(Background Premise)

In the years following the events of Sugar Rush (the plot of the movie), word that Turbo had survived the previous accident and had been lurking in Sugar Rush quickly spread to Game Central Station. The characters are shocked that Turbo survived, and glad that he is now dead. ... But is he?

Game companies never miss a good opportunity to continue making money. Of course, they had no idea that their character would murder another character. ... In short, a new TurboTime series of games has been launched. Cutting-edge 3D technology, a sequel to an old game - a well-run arcade has no reason not to buy this new arcade. So a brand new TurboTime game was plugged in.

New Turbo, and the twins, Drift, and Set arrive at Game Central Station. (There are other roles, if needed).

On the surface, at least, their appearance is very different from the appearance in the old series of TurboTime. And in character... well, Turbo is still the same cocky, attention-obsessed, over-conquering, annoying guy. The characters in the arcade game hid from the new series their previous accidents due to the old Turbo. And at the same time try to be friendly to them in the new series. But the previous accident had left a bad impression of Turbo in their minds. Naturally, the new Turbo was not welcomed by Game Central Station. (The twins, on the other hand, are constantly being looked at in the "poor guy" way, which is strange to them.)

Unaware of the tragic events that had taken place in the arcade, New Turbo assumed that the characters were simply rejecting him because he was the new guy. So he was determined to prove himself. Well, if you want to prove yourself worthy of affection. The easiest way is to challenge someone to prove themselves better - and that person is Vanellope. (" I must be a better driver than a little girl!" He said so at the time). It's a pretty embarrassing situation.

But all in all, Vanellope is friendly because "well, it wasn't the new guy who made the mistake, so maybe he's a good guy?" The idea agreed to the friendly match.

The day of the race went well. Turbo doesn't mind being stared at by candy residents. All he cares about now is the next game.

Start the engine and hit the gas as hard as you can. Turn the wheel, don't be pulled by centrifugal force... Pay attention. It's just a simple friendly match with a little girl from the candy world. Turbo thought. Until their go-kart made it all the way to Rainbow Cave (if that's what you can call it). As he rushed out of the tunnel, Turbo suddenly felt a strong sense of dizziness, and it seemed that he saw some red and white figure. Although he quickly shook off this sudden discomfort, he was thus overtaken by Vanellope.

Even if the game ends in a draw. Turbo still felt bad, physically and psychologically. His head has been aching ever since he felt a sudden dizziness at the mouth of the tunnel, like something was... Pull his code. "Maybe it's just the bright colors of the candy world that make me dizzy," he thought. So Turbo found an excuse to go back to his game and rest.

Back in his lounge, Turbo felt restless. Yes - that was a "draw," but it still pissed him off. He should be better than all the racers, not some "draw". Even more unbearable than the frustration of failure (which he thought he was) was the growing headache, the tearing of the code in his body that challenged his endurance all the time. "damnit, I really need to calm down and rest right now..." 'he thought.

In the bathroom, the cold water on the face temporarily relieved the headache. But a ringing in his ears put Turbo back into a trance. He's in a weird state today. What's going on? He held the edge of the sink trembling, trying to suppress the queasy feeling in his throat. Then he looked up ——

... Suddenly, the red-and-white figure he had seen vaguely as he walked through the tunnel appeared in the bathroom mirror. "Do you want to win?" The figure whispered. In a trance,

Turbo thought he must be crazy.

[monstermag]

Review: Electric Bones (2019-present)

by Hazel + Bell

Audience: Adult (18+) Genre: Sci-Fi Monsters: Robots Main Pairing: Human x Robot (m/m) Content Warnings: sex, violence

Summary: Enter a world of rogue robots and bratty rich kids, Electric Bones. Aboard a deep space cruise ship, Lucian encounters the last face he ever wanted to see: the robot who lost him dream job, Ezra. Except, Ezra doesn't recognize him at all. For now.

Review:  Electric Bones is a solid slow burn and is chock full of gorgeous artwork, charming characters, and an intriguing plot. Our protagonists won't be romantic partners anytime soon, but the chemistry between Ezra and Lucian is already tangible (mostly in the form of Lucian really wanting to sleep with Ezra).

I have already sent Ezra's many cute outfits to a friend of mine because he is always dressed to impress, and his intelligence is equally tangible. Despite Lucian ending up in an endless loop of misfortune by his own hands, it's clear that he has his own skills and resources in hand to get the job done. The central mysteries - Ezra's past, who blew up Echo Station, what Lucian intends to do with his life, and more - really help maintain interest and the way they intersect is endlessly engaging.

Recommended?: Definitely. The world is interesting, the characters have ever-evolving depth, and how often can I say the artwork is gorgeous!

Note: Electric Bones is an on-going series, and this reviewer last read Page 130. There are many way to read Electric Bones, but we recommend their Patreon first and foremost!! But you can also check it out on their website, Webtoon, and Tapas. We wouldn't typically point out sources, but independent artists have got to support fellow independent artists.

What should we review next?

Let us know! We're interested in everything monsterfucker; books, TV shows, video games, short stories, anything!

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[highrook]

The Two Worlds of Highrook

(part 1 ) Blacksands

There are actually two worlds that collide to create the highrook experience. The first is the town of Blacksands and its surroundings (such as the Highrook estate where the game is based). The second is the shadow cosmic realm of Nibiru. When these two planes are brought into contact, via magics and ritual, the intersection results in horrifying consequences.

Blacksands is a decaying sea-port, settled on the broken coast of the inmost ocean. Its ash colored beaches fold in and out of dank coves and dreary estuaries.  The town itself consists of a handful of shambolic districts, tumbling from the storm battered heights of Highrook down to the rotting docks of Aldwerth. 

Hemmed in by the oily sea to the east and treacherous cliffs to the west, the streets and its inhabitants exhibit a sense of dreamlike stoicism. Trade is sparse but well weathered ships still dock at the moldering port, bringing supplies - both mundane and exotic - into the town. Its isolation has made it a haven for those who do not wish to be found; thieves and heretics alike. And because of this gathering of minds and materials, the shadowed streets of Blacksands harbor wonders both revelatory and horrifying.

Blacksands is an amalgam of the many gothic locations that have inspired me over time. From the narrow streets of Bram Stokers Whitby, through the rotting shanties of Innsmouth and the candle-lit cities of games like Thief and Dishonored. Even though our game takes place on the cliffs overlooking the town, the characters, their background and their personal goals all align with their positions in the town itself. 

Blacksands also diverges from a purely accurate historical representation of similar locations, specifically with the addition of more steampunk and magical elements. This is most obvious with the introduction of the mecanists, a guild of expert engineers and machine workers. Ritualistic practices, backstreet medicine, smuggling and underhand diplomatic espionage are all part of the bustling but covert city scene. Even though Highrook - the game - takes place outside Blacksands  proper there are continual references to the geography, politics and history of the city. 

Influences

Cities have always been a favorite fantasy location for me.  They are usually more grounded in reality than the open world, which suits my tastes more. You don’t tend to get dragons or giants hanging out in cities, they are mostly the domain of human(oid)s. This doesn't mean that fantasy cities are relegated to being historical stage sets  though. Some of my favorite fictional cities; Viriconium, New Crobuzon, Sanctuary, Leá Monde, Gormenghast are far from realistic settings.

The city of Viriconium is the location for several novels and short stories by M. John Harrison. Like much of Harrison's work it merges styles,settings and tone in a way that feels deliberately inconsistent and dreamlike. In one tale it is the site of quiet poetic recollections, in another it becomes a hub for almost sci-fi events. But throughout all the iterations it very definitely seems to have a life of its own, beyond the page.. China Miéville’s New Crobuzon, featured in Perdido Street Station and other novels, is similar in its hybrid mix of sources, but feels less dreamlike and more cinematic. Instead of the blurred edges of dreams Miéville’s city is  described in cinematic clarity, like film sets ready to frame the action of the story.

Thieves' World was an anthology series published throughout the 1980s, it took the city of Sanctuary as its central theme, but allowed various writers to interpret the city as they wished. As a result the sense of place evolved over time through a number of fairly unreliable narrators and different authors interpretations. It wavers from complex tales of diplomacy to page-turning action-adventure. But the city as a container really appealed to me when I first read the series.

Gormenghast illustration by ian miller

Finally the ruined worlds of Gormenghast and  Leá Monde have always been visual touchstones to me. Both places are abandoned crumbling citadels where the remnants of once powerful families still cling on, alongside phantoms and decay.

Leá Monde is the only city listed here that is from a game rather than a book, but that makes it no less inspiring. It's the setting for the  PS1 game Vagrant Story (2000) and like the crumbling towers of The Last Guardian or the derelict districts of the Thief and Dishonored games it offers an incomplete history of a cities past, full of ghosts and half told tales.

In all these examples, and in the case of my own Blacksands, there is an interesting contradiction between people and place. All these cities are clearly a product of their successive inhabitants, yet also seem to have their own identity that persists beyond their population.

Highrook sits at the top of the salt cliffs of Blacksands, overlooking the smog filled port and its ashen coast. But it also sits on top of a gateway to a very different world, the hidden citadel of Nibiru, which I will talk about in another post soon!