#whose game are we playing. whose labyrinth are we trapped in. whose is the face we will see when we leave this world. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

occultruby · 5 years

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i did this a while ago but heres my imscared white face gender transing theory diagram. putting explanation under the cut for... courtesy? the amount ive thought about this is kind of embarrassing

ok first off i think wf is genderless because its not human or even corporeal, its just a terrible little computer curse. if anything i honestly think its more aligned with the feminine. idk its weird to me that most people gender wf as a man when ivan zanotti (hello sir if youre reading this im sorry) at least from the perspective of an english speaker, has pretty much done everything to avoid gendering wf at all (only ever having used “it” pronouns for wf! hello!), besides the only other appearances of humanoid forms (also wf) being coded as women/images of womanhood/concept of womanhood/whatever

down to business. maybe it isnt as specific as this but a potential idea is the entity being made and intended to be female or at least read as female. since it clearly is sentient and keeping in line with the knowledge that wf is not human and isnt the ghost of the deceased, i dont think its hard to believe wf would not only not understand gender, but also feel constrained by it. if the question is “why would it give a shit” my answer is 1. throughout the game its pretty clear that wf doesnt like being constrained, literally or metaphorically and 2. the same reason any actual person would feel trapped and uncomfortable with their assigned gender or any gender. it comes with expectations for how you should act, look, talk, where you should go, and what you should do there.

the sketch labeled “original” isnt really literal, more of an idea of “someone made a computer virus and its a girl i guess”. HER i think is what white face perceives itself to be, and therefore becomes, as its world is essentially made of its own imagination

everything about HER screams “caricature of womanhood” just straight up This Is How Dysphoria Makes You Think You Look. her huge [REDACTED] and hips/thighs, cinched waist, exaggerated limp wrist, and absurdly long hair. her name is literally “HER”. HER is white faces experience of feeling “this is all i am”, an embodiment of unwanted expectations.

what in general we know to be “white face” is the same entity, named for its appearance as a floating head. i read this as wf hiding its body (something that could be done by editing its own code to make it invisible) but i visually represent it as a black cloak. i also thought a neat but kind of odd idea would be wrapping itself up in its own long dark hair?

on the events of the game. the important part lies in the transition from the first part into BURY HER, in which wf changes into HER, making its body visible and adopting somewhat different behaviors (which seem to communicate a more depressed demeanor and an instinct to self isolate/hide). wf if pretty clear with the player that it makes this change to keep the players interest. personally i have known other trans people who, despite knowing they were trans and going through some levels of social transition, will go back to performing their assigned gender in an attempt to please someone whose approval they desire. and like in real life, wfs practice isnt sustainable. wfs monologue before shooting HER has SO much to dig into. of course it established that it made this change for You. but then, the rain turns to blood as it bitterly remarks that it hates what it became (knowing that wf feels like the mask of HER takes the players interest away from itself, meaning that even if HER and wf are the same entity, wf does not identify as HER. in the end its just an act to impress you). the part that gets me the most about the grave level is that she specifically tells You to “bury [HER] in front of [HER] birthplace”. she was already dead and buried. wf dug her up for You. even though You are the one playing the game, wf is the one seen with the gun. in the end, it was about wf once again burying this past version of itself that it cannot stand any longer.

i dont think it hits as hard as the main events of BURY HER, but im going to come back around to the concept of all figures in the game being coded as women. in the labyrinth we see the various portions of womens bodies (which some people use to theorize that wf is a serial killer but this is nothing to me because. it wasnt a human person lol) that lead into/are portals to a “dark world” (the whole thing with having to reconstruct shards of a broken mirror also kind of screams dysphoria, the whole dress thing! idek how to put this into words im just feeling it), the portrait of a girl in the house (maybe an “original vision” for what wf was intended to be? wfs one source for what a “woman” is?). you could argue that the weird little things with the long arms when youre trying to break the gramophones arent female but 1. literally whatever and 2. theyre essentially extensions of HER made to be mini jumpscares and 3. i think they parallel the “you shouldnt be here” area where HER is seen hanging from the sky by weird distended limbs.

we know wf is entirely unreliable and likely s completely lying on occasion. but i think lies, especially in a game like this, can be dissected to discover something truthful in the narrative. something so specific is the story wf tells about having a brother that it had horrible thoughts about getting hurt in an appliance store, only to reveal that it never had a brother. this is in one of the more vulnerable text files in the game. im gonna go on a limb here and say the story isnt literal, but also does hold significance. no one is reading at this point and its 2:30 so im going to word this more abstractly because thinking is getting harder and i have a 9am class. brother/not real brother is about an imagined person, who wf wants to be or how it perceives itself to be. like it is metaphorically the brother that it doesnt have because it WANTS to be that. honestly if you wanted to you could argue this point works towards the idea that wf is a trans man because of the idea that it wants to be a man but doesnt perceive itself to be a real man so it tells the story of a brother it does/doesnt/is/isnt/wants to be. the whole thing about being injured in the appliance store probably means something about the fragility of the concept or identity or whateverless complicated idea came to me like two paragraphs ago. and its that imscared is about coping with the loss of a sibling by trying to recreate their identity as a program but that its inherently impossible (program saying “i never had a brother” because the brother MADE u to be his sibling but you ARENT because you are just a little game file) but like i got too invested in white face transgender ANYWAYS SO IMSCARED IS OFFICIALLY ABOUT GENDER DYSPHORIAAAAAAA

#imscared #imscared a pixelated nightmare #six will do #bury her #sketch

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dat-town · 4 years

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CODE Z3RO | CODE 03

characters: BTS & Red Velvet genre: thriller, futuristic au warning: none summary: The twelve most ambitious and promising university students are welcomed in Choego, the world’s first entirely artificial intelligence-driven city, to compete for five job contracts that could change their life. But what if something goes wrong? What if they get trapped? What if the city suddenly turns against them? Can they find a way out before the countdown reaches zero? words: 5K tagged: @philosopher-of-fandoms

➼ Chapter Index

At the peak of dawn, merely a sliver of burgundy illuminating the glass and metal giant, Choego indeed resembled a ghost town. There were no people around, not a single proof of living creatures without the buzzing of a city with cars and pedestrians. Even the flickering electricity disappeared from few sections of the town.

Park Jimin, older son of the Park Genetic Industries’ CEO, was so used to the nightlife of the capital city, he found the calm quietness way too eerie. It was surreal and unnatural and yet, he felt a pang of pride to be one of the first ones to explore its labyrinth. However, he found it rather embarrassing to compete with people who complained about having to wake up without enough of their beauty sleep. That said, he agreed with Jungkook on the missing girl’s case. It wasn’t the younger boy’s fault that Little Miss Perfect took too long to get ready. They were better off without her anyway. It was a competition after all and despite the importance of their team work, it wouldn’t have hurt to get rid off the weakest links. Born into a wealthy and prestigious family, Jimin had always known what he was expected to do: to reach for the stars and achieve more. So it was the perfect opportunity for him to show that he was worthy to be the heir of the company.

“Can someone explain in detail what the hell happened and why we had to leave the dorms?” Hoseok, one of his supposed-to-be roommates groaned, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The group of eleven stood in the middle of the street packed with luggages, staring ahead of the road with dim artificial lights while the other end of the road disappeared into darkness. It was a good question because even though it was quite obvious to anybody that something happened, not everybody could figure out what exactly was wrong. What was the researchers’ plan with all this? Setting the beginning of the simulation in the middle of the night when they were supposed to be sleeping? What would have happened if nobody had woken up? Where were those damned cameras watching each of their moves? And what were they supposed to do without instructions?

“The electricity got cut off in the buildings next to ours and the following ones were those near our dorm building. I guess the simulation tries to imitate an evacuation,” the eldest boy, Seokjin, said and if he was any good in what he was majoring in, they could trust him.

“So we should get out of the city? That doesn’t make sense,” the lilac haired, quite temperamental Taehyung spoke up posing the question that had been on everybody’s mind. But if not out, then what were they supposed to do?

“Do you have any better idea?”

“Okay what about we all calm down and I call dr. Han?” Jimin suggested already fishing out his phone from his back pocket. He didn’t like to stay in the dark for too long. He needed answers and normally he had his own methods to get them. Money and power weren't nice things to take advantage of, yet why wouldn't he use his privilege when he could?

While Namjoon murmured something like that they should be figuring it out by themselves, Jimin had already pressed call on the lady's contact and waited… fruitlessly as even the annoying beep sound remained silent. He double-checked the signal on his phone and let out a frustrated sigh at the sight of the saturated bars of the icon. “What the hell.”

His disappointed reaction didn't went unnoticed and Hoseok, who stood next to him, raised an eyebrow at him curiously. “What?”

“There’s no signal and no internet either in the area like we were totally cut off the outer world,” the boy answered, his fingers twitching to check his emails and social media despite knowing that without internet he wouldn't access anything for now. Even his mobile data was somehow disabled on this land which was ridiculous. What kind of test was it? Lexical knowledge was so outdated and old fashioned. Isn't their analytic thinking and resourcefulness should have been rewarded? However, not everybody agreed with him on this matter. Seokjin for example took the news with a short nod as if it was a known fact. He wasn't the only one.

“Well it’s only fair. They don’t want certain people asking for help from the outside,” Taehyung mumbled under his nose barely audible but certainly loud enough for Jimin to hear it.

“What are you trying to say?” the chaebol guy straightened his back trying to look intimidating as he strolled to the mocking boy of his age. It wasn't the first time he was judged because of his family's influence but this was one of the times the accusation left a nasty taste in his mouth like swallowing a bitter pill. Of course, he knew these people were often just envious of his background, so usually he didn't care about them but under the careful watching eyes of the miniature cameras and the surveillance of researchers reevaluating their every move, he wasn't willing to be ridiculed by somebody who had the manners of a caveman. No wonder why the guy had the strong dialect of Gyeongsang Province.

“Oh nothing. I’m just saying that it might be better this way. Equal chances for everyone,” Taehyung shrugged with a challenging look in his eyes.

Jimin's hands itched to punch him straight on the nose, wipe off that shit-eating grin off his face but he couldn't let himself lose his cool over the stupidity of a rival. As a marketing major, being an expert in manipulating people, maybe it was Taehyung’s ultimate goal from the beginning: to rile up and provoke everybody he could. He was nothing more than a kid with a big mouth from the countryside. Only bark, no bite, Jimin was sure and he was smarter than to play this game.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he stared down at the tanned guy - which was quite bold on his part being the shorter one. Then as arrogant as he could, he took a step back with a huff and turned his back on Taehyung. The others stared at their intermezzo expecting it to blow up and most of them seemed relieved, relaxing their tensed shoulders as they saw nothing extraordinary was going to happen under the dim lights of street lamps so early in the morning.

"Let's not argue, guys, we need to work together," Seokjin said in a parental voice which earned a few eyerolls on the youngers’ part. Even if according to the conservative Korean age system, it was polite and a must-do thing to respect their elders no matter what, Jimin didn't plan on playing the role of the perfect dongsaeng.

"But if we cannot leave the city, then what should we do during an evacuation simulation?" one of the girls with baby face spoke up and Jimin recognized her as the Psychology student from the introduction they did on their way to the dorms.

For a while, her question fell on deaf ears but her patience was rewarded with an answer after a whole minute of utter silence.

“We need to keep moving,” a dark haired figure said quietly but still bringing all the attention to himself. Min Yoongi, the mysterious postgrad student, majoring in some fancy named IT stuff, had a cold demeanor and he certainly didn't get on the good side of anyone present after boosting his own ego at the meeting. But if he was so smart, how could he not have any better idea than ‘to move’?

To be honest, Jimin eyed him quite suspiciously because unlike everybody else the guy barely had anything on him. He only threw a small backpack on one shoulder but nothing else which was stupid, wasn’t it? They didn’t knew how long they were going to be gone or what they would need, so his confidence was either recklessness or arrogance.

“Why?” Hoseok whined trying and failing to suppress a long whine. “Can’t we just stay here and rest a little? Not even the Sun is up.”

“Sure. If you came for having fun, be my guest. I won’t shed a tear when you won’t be one of the chosen candidates at the end of the test,” Taehyung said in a mocking tone and to his own dislike, even if he didn’t voice out his opinion, Jimin had to agree with him. They all came here with a purpose and if the researchers woke them up in the middle of the night, they must have had a good reason behind it.

“Oh you have a big mouth on you, don’t you? Then tell me what the fuck is happening because I’m quite sure you’re just as clueless as the rest of us, Mr. Know It All,” Hoseok had enough of being the clown everybody made fun of and told the younger guy off easily. He was right, kind of. They could only guess the cause, some better than others though.

“The technology behind it is pretty simple,” Jeon Jungkook spoke up in a low voice, almost shy but confident in his knowledge. Of course, he knew. Among all of them there had been three other engineers apart from Jimin whose bioengineering knowledge couldn’t help much in this case. However, this was the time for the others to shine. The chaebol boy hated it, the feeling of being useless and depending on others but he was also keen on cooperating if Jungkook had anything useful to say.

“And will you tell us, Golden Boy?” Taehyung crooked an eyebrow at him, voice sounding harsh and impatient.

“Normally complex security systems similar to this have a timer and every certain minute, it goes off in different sections of the place, so if we assume that the city has districts or any kind of separated areas with different electricity panels, they will turn off one by one. The dorm’s was the last one to go, so maybe where we are right now is the next one. Whoever is controlling this, they can easily guide us anywhere they want to unless we find a city map with the sections and their order to know it beforehand.”

After Jungkook’s explanation, Jimin hummed, considering. The whole situation reminded him of those old escape games he used to play on his father’s computer when he was little.

“What happens to the sections that got turned off?” he prompted.

It was time for Namjoon, majoring in mechanical engineering, to have his part of the conversation:

“Those sections are cut off electricity that’s for sure and since basically everything runs with electricity here, that can be pretty dangerous if you’re in a closed area like a building.”

“But they wouldn’t do anything that could possibly hurt us, right? The researchers don’t mean harm to us,” Joohyun’s lips quivered and she looked cold even in her light blazer pulled over the pretty blouse she wore. She seemed worried about Sooyoung being left behind but even the hypothesis was ridiculous. Who would dare to hurt them? Even if the simulation was discreetly kept as a secret from the country’s common netizens, the whole committee that chose them for these roles, knew about them. And their family - including Jimin’s influential father - were aware of their whereabouts and would never let anything like that happen. “It’s just a psychological test, right?”

“I guess,” Seokjin nodded with a lazy shrug as his gaze wandered to his little sister. “They test our reactions, skills and boundaries. They want the five best, so they need to push us a little over the edge.”

“This isn’t the kind of test I signed up for to be honest,” Hoseok admitted while scratching his nape. He looked tired already and the day hadn’t even started yet.

“Well, it’s apparently too late to turn back and give up. Or maybe you can just chill out here and wait to see for yourself what happens when this section is switched off,” Taehyung snorted which was nothing new and Jimin realized fairly quickly that the marketing student cannot be trusted. He was obviously here to win, ready to step over anybody in his way.

They kept snickering in hushed voices but the chaebol guy had rather looked around than to pay attention to them. Maybe it was the early time or just the personality of the group’s other members but they were all uncharastically quiet. Wendy almost dozed off on his boyfriend's shoulder a bit, Joohyun and Seulgi stared ahead of them into the distance at the hundreds of glass buildings reflecting the amplitude of light. And there was the journalist girl, too young to even be there in Jimin’s humble opinion, walked around as if she was on a vacation in a museum and even took photos. She was lucky that her brother was with her or otherwise she would have been in quite a trouble without a chaperon. Too young and too naive to think nobody would notice her secretly snapping photos of the youngest engineering student.

Love has no place in a competition, they said and a part of Wendy agreed, sadly. If you were as ambitious as her, you were bound to lose something even if you won. Sure, she loved Namjoon, they had been dating for more than two years now after that fateful frat party at SNU, but she treasured her dreams more. Being here was a huge step towards becoming what she had always wanted to be: somebody in charge of big chances, helping people, being more than a cog in the system. She couldn’t let herself get distracted but at times like this, nerves tense and breathing shallow, she leaned onto her boyfriend.

Namjoon was a kind soul, a big softie who liked to think of everything in black and white. He could talk about the stars for hours and sometimes he lost track of his own train of thought. He built small robots in his free time and once when Wendy’s car broke down in the middle of nowhere, he drove all the way there and spent an hour single-handedly fixing the gears. But in spite of his huge love for physics and the theory of relativity, he loved Wendy more and they both knew it.

That was the root of all their problems. Wendy thought they were too young to settle down, they had time, a whole life ahead of them and she would have been willing to sacrifice a relationship for her career. On the other hand, Namjoon was a hopeless romantic claiming that she was the one for him and he would have given up everything for her.

This competition was a challenge for both of them. They were majoring in so different fields that their application didn’t endangered the other’s and heck, who would have thought that they both make it there? There was such a slight chance and yet, here they were, fighting for one of those five contracts. One for both of them which seemed even more impossible.

“You up?” a calloused hand nudged her shoulder gently and snapped her out of the crazy theories. Namjoon’s voice had always soothed the girl, so she was able to sigh content despite the circumstances.

“Yeah, just needed a breather. I wouldn’t have thought it’d be so hectic already.”

And it wasn’t even that bad. They have done nothing but wake up and leave the building as soon as it was possible. The most difficult part was to cooperate with others. A system’s weakest point was always the human variable.

Namjoon hummed, agreeing and for a few precious moments they could enjoy this soft bubble around them. It was a fragile little thing, bursting out with the first question thrown into the pit.

“What are we going to do now?”

It felt like the million dollar question in a game show and nobody knew the right answer, the one that they should have figured out, earning points by the researchers.

“I’d pay a visit to the main lab. They have lots of stuff there and maybe we will meet somebody there who can help,” Jimin suggested, fingers adjusting the hem of his Gucci shirt. Wendy had to stop herself from snorting. As if the researchers wanted them to seek help. She firmly believed that they were on their own because that would have made it the perfect trial. Trial of what? That was the good question actually.

“Good idea,” another guy supported the cause but the med student also had a reasonable suggestion:

“We need to find food and water, too. We never know when we need those,” she claimed and as the only medical assistance in the team, Wendy felt like she had to think of everybody’s wellbeing.

Maybe if she weren’t so stubborn and earnest, they would have all gone to the center in that instant, but she couldn’t bypass Joohyun’s nervous behaviour. The eldest girl had been pacing up and down like a lot of others not knowing what to do with themselves. However, unlike the others, she was looking around quite panicked, glancing backwards at the dark dorms on the other end of the street. It was enough for Wendy to take actions and pry herself out of Namjoon’s loving arms to rush to the other girl.

“Hey... what’s wrong?” she asked gently, a soft hand on the shoulder, massaging it with reassuring circles. Joohyun’s breathing became irregular and hasty as the panic settled deep in her bones.

“Insulin. I forgot to bring my insulin,” she replied and incoherently mumbled something about putting it into the common kitchen’s fridge the previous day. They still had hours until breakfast time when Joohyun would have to take the insulin shot before eating, but the thought of not having the medicine on her seemed enough to freak her out which made it worse.

“Oh no, why haven’t you told us before?” Wendy sucked in a breath with a little shake of her head. Of course, nobody would go around announcing to have diabetes since none of them had any idea something like this would happen. With one of her hands still rubbing on the shoulder blades of the other, Wendy raised the volume of her voice to call out to the whole team.“Guys, we need to go to the hospital. Joohyun needs medicine.”

“Fuck it, she can just go alone,” Taehyung growled unimpressed without even sparing a glance at the pale girl resembling an eerie ghost under the moonlight.

“Actually we should go. The hospital must have food in the canteen and if I remember correctly it’s not far from the researchers’ headquarters,” Seokjin stepped in to soothe the uptight nerves.

“It’s right next to it,” a soft, quiet voice supplied and a few heads snapped towards the girl with heart-shaped face and almond eyes. Kang Seulgi, as far as Wendy knew, had majored in architecture and was currently continuing her studies in environmentally-friendly architectural engineering. So at least nobody doubt her word.

“Okay, so you wanna split up? Or do we need to vote?” Seokjin who seemed to be good at managing the team work and handling conflicts looked around. Wendy admired him for his collected, calm words and the way he dealt with even the roughest reactions. He was great in damage control and without him they would have been struggling still to get out of a shutdown area. “Great so who doesn’t agree on going to the hospital for food and then checking out the lab?”

Not a single soul protested, not a single hand flew into the air.

In the end, without much commotion, all eleven of them started walking towards the general direction of downtown. Yet, without a map or GPS signal, it took them almost an hour from the dorms in the residential area to collectively get to the canal dividing the island into two. From the shore at least they could already see the U-shaped building of the hospital and directly on its left, the prestigious building of the researchers.

“We’re here,” Namjoon breathed and pointed at the stocky, glass-walled building with the universal red positive sign of hospitals. Wendy who walked beside Joohyun to keep a careful eye on her looked up relieved.

“Thank god, I really need to pee,” Hoseok let out a sigh and despite the weight of his backpack and suitcase, he jogged ahead to search for a toilette in the building. The two-winged glass door opened as soon as he touched the control panel with his bracelet.

“Nobody wanted to know,” the med student murmured with an eye roll.

Each of them followed Hoseok without precaution into the hospital which was the first open building they found at the break of dawn. Even illuminated by the orange hues of the rising Sun, the city was still so lonely like an empty shell. They all wondered: where were the researchers? Have they gone home into their commonplace houses on the mainland? Or were they in a very different dorm, safe from the turned off electrical circuits? There was nothing like this in their schedule that was placed on their bunk beds. According to that, they had nothing to do until the meeting at nine o’clock.

Inside of the building, they split into smaller groups in search for the canteen, toilettes or just so they can drop off their heavy bags.

“Come on, let’s find insulin for you. Then we can eat,” Wendy nudged the older girl in the side and a slight discomfort settled in her throat as her boyfriend followed them.

“You don’t have to come with us,” she said sulkily like a child angry at their parents for sending a guardian even though they were old enough to be by themselves. That was exactly what she feared when both her and Namjoon’s application was accepted. She needed her own space, the alone time while the boy like physical closeness. He wasn’t touchy but he liked to be there with her even if it didn’t meant for her.

“I know, still I’d like to. But I won’t if you would prefer me not to,” Namjoon’s steps halted and Wendy immediately felt guilty as she looked at the sincerity on his handsome face and heard his genuine voice. She knew Namjoon would always agree to her terms if she voiced them out, but that became a burden after some time. Shouldn’t he have learnt that by now?

“Whatever,” she shrugged and didn’t turn around to watch her boyfriend’s smile fade as she walked towards the pharmacy of the hospital with Joohyun by her side.

Of course, it was closed, like everything normally at 5am, but they didn’t have time to wait for the opening time. Wendy’s empathy was greater than her sense of justice anyway, so she didn’t waste time to climb over the counter.

“What are you doing?” Joohyun questioned furrowing her neat eyebrows.

“Getting you insulin. I won’t wait and sit around. They want us to prove our resourcefulness. Here it is,” the girl flicked her red hair behind her shoulder.

On the shelves there were regular vitamins and medicines, nothing that needed prescription which was understandable. It wouldn’t have been wise to let those be out in the open for everyone to take. The med student’s eyes scanned through the names of the boxes but quickly realized she won’t find the insulin here. Gosh, how could she be so stupid?

“Don’t you see a fridge or freezer?” she asked Joohyun who eventually followed her suite. They were both looking at every corner they could until the psychology major squealed.

“Here.” She squatted down to the small refrigerator hidden under the counter. “It won’t open.”

And she was right. No matter how much they tried to move the metal door it didn’t nudge for god’s sake until…

“Wait!” Joohyun stopped suddenly, looking down at her wrist and the glimmering silver bracelet on it. Lightly she touched it to the small screen next to the fridge and waited. A few moments later the panel displayed Authorification accepted and the door opened with a beep.

Luckily, inside there was the desired insulin to both of their relief and they found syringe right on the next shelf. Injecting the serum was a piece of cake after all this.

“Thank you. Really,” Joohyun whispered, words a bit broken as she looked up at the dishevelled haired girl. Wendy, taken aback by the gesture amidst the supposed to be fierce competition, blinked dumbfounded at first.

“You’re welcome,” she nodded and hoped she wouldn’t have to regret helping her later.

Jimin grimaced at the pre-wrapped food in the hospital canteen. They had found a storage behind the empty stools that opened under the touch of their identifying bracelets but its content couldn’t satisfy the chaebol’s taste. Sure, he knew he wouldn’t get caviar or any other fancy food but sandwiches? Dry waffles and bottled banana milk? What was he, a freaking child?

He forced down a few bites of a ham sandwich just to fill his grumbling stomach with something but deep down he hoped that the evacuation test either ends soon or people start to fill the city with daylight and they can have a normal meal like they did yesterday evening. He had already finished when he saw the cyber tech guy stand up from one of the tables where he had eaten alone and wander down the hallways. It was suspicious enough for him to get up and follow him.

It took a few turns until he managed to catch up and since he wasn’t even trying to be subtle, he was certain Yoongi knew that he was being followed. Yet, the older guy didn’t question him nor he seemed surprised when Jimin spoke up.

“Where are you going?”

Yoongi looked at him from under his dark lashes.

“The main nurse desk or the offices. Somewhere in here there must be something about the evacuation plan. They also have to have extra generators and torches,” he said and it seemed so logical. Why hadn’t anyone else thought of that before? And why he didn’t tell anyone about his little plan? Did he intend on getting all the good points for himself?

“I can help,” Jimin offered not wanting to be left out and Yoongi gave him a stern glance. He looked a bit wary but sighed, giving in.

“Okay.”

The two guys followed the maps on the corners of the walls to find the main reception of nurses but looking through the closets, they couldn’t find anything useful. Only when they arrived to the camera control room on the sixth floor, did their pursuit turn out to be fruitful.

“Ah huh,” Jimin remarked as he pulled out a set of torches, batteries from one of the drawers. They also found a huge but not too detailed city map on the wall of which Yoongi took a photo of before he sat down in front of the computer. As soon as it booted up, a nice robotic female voice greeted them.

“Good morning, Min Yoongi and Park Jimin. How may I help you today?”

“How the-” the chaebol wanted to curse as he jumped back in surprise.

“Artificial intelligence, dumbass, we used the bracelets to get in, remember?” Yoongi groaned under his breath and then cleared his throat raising his eyes to the six black computer screens on the wall. “Uh... hello. Can you tell us the purpose of this simulation?”

“Keyword: simulation, purpose. Searching… One search result found within 0.563 seconds.” The computer decoded his question and a few moments later a video footage appeared on each monitor. It played a recording of them from yesterday when they talked to Miss Raina.

“Don’t forget, even though we evaluate you individually, you have to work together in teams to succeed the simulation. Any questions?”

“What is the simulation about exactly?”

“I can’t tell you, sorry. It would change your natural reactions and the results of our research would be false.”

Yoongi sighed.

“We already know that but...”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you. There’s nothing more in the database that you can have access to,” the computer interrupted his protest in a calm, soothing voice but it couldn’t ease neither of them. Jimin’s jaw clenched as he watched the whole situation unfold, the still picture of the video of them on the screens.

“Great.”

“Can I help you with anything else?” the strangely real voice asked nicely and the IT guy didn’t even have to think about the next question.

“What’s happening in the city?”

“The main computer is shutting down the sectors one by one. But you have already known this, didn’t you, Min Yoongi? You graduated Computer Science on the top of your class a year ahead-”

“Enough,” said boy hissed and Jimin had to admit: it was scary, that this computer knew so much about them. It must have been in their files for the application but still… What else did it know? Did it have access to their social media, too? Because fuck, then he was screwed.

“Shutting down… Have a lovely day in Choego, Min Yoongi and Park Jimin!” the computer said goodbye because it interpreted Yoongi’s earlier harsh word as an order and just as he wanted to make it more clear (Hey, wait…!), the monitors’ screens changed to live video footage of different parts of the hospital. Currently it showed the others heading towards the eastern wing of the experimental labs in the basement.

“Shit.”

“What? What’s happening?” Jimin leaned closer confused because he didn’t see anything wrong. Yoongi typed on the computer so fast he could barely follow with his eyes.

“The lab room, they are going towards for god knows why, is specially guarded. It has some messed up defence system if they don’t have the right authorization,” Yoongi whispered and the chaebol couldn’t decide what was the scarier: the flashing red exclamation mark on a certain part of the screen or the tremble in the usually collected older guy’s voice. “We need to warn them.”

#series: code zero #bts fanfic #btsvelvet #red velvet fanfic #bts x red velvet #stories

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21ate · 5 years

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CLARIFYING PRINCETON

[google docs version]

so i wrote some stuff about emh again, but this time i think its actually a very necessary part of the story that needed to be discussed and clarified. this is very...very long. sorry!

~~~

The Princeton iteration of the everymanhybrid timeline is one of the hardest to consume, as dates and the chronological order of events is moreso implied through the context of the dialogue provided in the tapes rather than outright and plainly shown.

We know that the Fairmount era begins in 1971 with the first Corenthal Report, and ends in 1981 with the news that the last child of the mining town 4 had finally succumbed. We know that the Everymanhybrid era begins in 2010 when the youtube channel was created, and ends in 2018 with the deaths of Evan and Vinny.

We know that the Princeton era begins in December of 1987, just before Christmas, as evident in what Vinny tells us throughout the first few entries of the tapes. But...when did Princeton end?

It’s not as simple as just figuring out when Vinny himself died, because he isn’t solely reliable for when iterations begin and end. A big, very important part of it for sure...but Vinny has friends: Jeff and Evan. And to assume they died immediately following their disappearance from Vin’s life as described in TRAILHEAD would simply be jumping the gun a bit.

Why? Well the answer isn’t too hard. It’s because Evan was alive in 2005, and Habit used his body during the confrontation with Corenthal at Baldpate (described in house phone 2005, and referenced in an article from the microfilm collection). So what happened? How had Evan been alive in 2005? What happened to Jeff, Steph, and Vinny during the time period between 1993 (the year Vinny presumably died) and 2010? To answer this, we will need to cross reference between the Tapes, house phone 2005, and -.-. (the morse code video “C”) - as well as take a deep dive into the dates at which entries occur in the Princeton Tapes. In doing so, we will find a coherent timeline of events which will explain many details that before now have yet to really be discussed.

in the princeton iteration, vinny mentions that evan and jeff have disappeared on him (TRAILHEAD), and in the entry following (SHOPPING), he reiterates a sentiment about being abandoned...and ends with stating the Phillies won. if the listening order of these tapes is to be believed as entirely correct, then these two entries MUST take place before MOVIES, which we know was recorded in 1989 because that is the year Pet Sematary was released and when Vinny saw it.

lets take a look at the phillies 1983 and 1989 seasons. in 1983, the phillies won the national league east title. in 1989, it was the phillies 107th season. they did not win the title - in fact, they placed last. they only played 163 games in the regular season; in the june 5th game against the pittsburgh pirates, the score was tied 3-3...however, rainy weather caused the game to be interrupted. thus, a replacement game was played at a later date. this would mark the last regular season tie game for the phillies as playing rules changed in 2007 allowing tie games to continue from the point of interruption at a later date. on june 8th 1989, against the pittsburgh pirates for the second time, the phillies won.

If the tapes begin in December of 1987, that only leaves a few years time between then and TRAILHEAD/SHOPPING. FRIENDS & GAMING takes place in 1988, which we know from the reference to that year’s presidential election with Dukakis. Thus, its pretty indisputable that Jeff and Evan must have disappeared between FRIENDS & GAMING in 1988 and TRAILHEAD/SHOPPING, 1989. With that being the case, we can then assume that Vinny was indeed referencing the June 8th Phillies win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1989.

So Jeff and Evan were gone from Vinny’s life before June 1989, but what happened to them?

The short answer: they had to have died at some point, of course. but we can get more specific than that. Let’s take a look at Jeff.

in -.-., jeff says, "nineteen years go by...you forget...for a moment i thought it was all real."

-.-. takes place in 2010 (we know this because evan states its been 5 years since corenthal and habits confrontation which we know for certain takes place in 2005.) 2010 - 19 is 1991. jeff may not necessarily be referencing how long he has been in the candleverse, but there is a connection worth making here. in box 7 there is a labyrinth books bookmark with dates written on the back, written by vinny presumably. 1989, 1990, and 1991 are present

1989 is crossed out, and 1990 and 1991 have a question mark to the side. there could be a few ways to interpret this, but my assumption is that this note was written in 1989 around the time vinny received the zine (explained in detail below:)

1989 is the year TRAILHEAD takes place, as we’ve figured out earlier. later entries will suggest they were recorded in close succession:

in trailhead, vinny's dialogue tells us that he had just sat down at the diner before pressing record, we're listening to his reaction to the zine and the girl in real time on a tape recorded in 1989. he talks about evan and jeff going dark on him, and ends by saying that he's going to find the girl to ask about the zine

in SHOPPING, vinny reiterates his current distress about feeling abandoned by those closest to him, obviously meaning evan and jeff again. he buys his groceries and ends by mentioning the 1989 phillies win (likely the june 8th game)

HOMELIFE is misplaced as entry 15, as the news report recorded on the tape is about hurricane hugo. this storm took place around september 1989.

if we assume the tapes are in order, this creates a discrepancy because in the next entry MOVIES, vinny sees pet sematary which came out in april 1989. shopping takes place around june 8th when the phillies won, and in movies vinny references back to the strangeness from "earlier this week", meaning the zine and the girl. thus, trailhead, shopping, and movies take place in the same week in june 1989 (and homelife, for some reason, is out of place. we can gloss over this though, i dont think it changes much)

So with that said, jeff must have died at some point in order for him to be present in the candleverse in 2010, pre-emh iteration. he could have died anywhere between 1989 to 1991, since we can't say for certain that his death was immediate, or even the direct cause of his absence.

so ev and jeff disappear around 1989. they may not have died immediately, only separated from vinnys life. in 1993, vinny dies and we know it must be around this time because he had been in contact with Davidson, whose law practice only just begun in 1993 (both versions of his death take place in the same time frame, per soft reset rules). in -.-., jeff talks about nineteen years going by. since this takes place in 2010, nineteen years prior would have been 1991. given that 1991 is written on the bookmark and made light of, and given all this concerns the iteration cycle, i think it'd be fair to say jeff died that year and entered the candleverse, two years before vinny bit the dust.

So, what about Evan?

evan was distanced from vinny around 1989 alongside jeff. vinny dies in 1993, and in one version of this event, its habit who kills him at fairmount. of course, habit was not using evans body to do so, instead apparently possessing doctor peters instead. that doesnt mean evan was out of the picture though, he simply wasnt what habit used in this particular instance to get at vinny and have him make the north star. this may be because habit was still ironing out the details of his grand scheme, with this particular method being a test of sorts. or, perhaps separately or in conjunction to this, habit planned to keep evan alive intentionally for whatever reason habit needed him for.

that reason, i conclude, would have been to get to corenthal. with jeff and vinny dead, and steph somewhere being irrelevant, habit and the other monsters all flocked to corenthal and plagued his life wherever he went. 3 deaths described in the microfilm collection, which contain news articles about corenthals activities from 1984 to 2005, match the MO for habit. the victims were described as all having been involved in an intense struggle with the assailant, one case "lasting a few hours, at minimum."

the articles in question are dated october 11th, 2002 and march 2nd, 2003

as far back as 1998, elizabeth was an active player as a psychic solving crimes through her special ability. as i said earlier, i had my doubts about her having been the offender to these crimes through habits actions. until 2005, elizabeth really is just a psychic, or at least she had been gifted her ability by one of the monsters for their own nefarious purposes. regardless though, she was not being controlled...yet. with that being the case, of course habit would have needed another vessel in the meantime.

on june 11th, 2005, elizabeth's place of business burns to the ground. on august 26th, corenthal had been set up by habit using elizabeth to lead him into a trap. we even know HOW habit did it: using elizabeth, s/he had contacted adam roberts. adam then relays the information to corenthal. according to house phone 2005, adam mentions the meeting a month prior to it occurring. thus, in july, elizabeth and adam decide to meet with corenthal in august and of course they do - except corenthal was lead to the wrong place.

corenthal encounters evan on a bench near the meeting place, a diner. This means evan is ALIVE at this point AND being possessed by habit, because in -.-. evan recalls being shot in the face. he recalls the confrontation that occurred, and he knows what year it took place and how long ago it happened relative to 2010, when -.-. was recorded. in true habit fashion, this encounter is brief as corenthal describes evan having been gone like he evaporated into thin air

corenthal gets to the diner and receives a call from elizabeth. this elizabeth is the real deal, and she calls to try and warn corenthal about having been set up. it was too late of course, and corenthal is ambushed by the patrons of the diner all possessed presumably by habit. corenthal struggles but manages to get out, heading towards baldpate now. he could hear sirens as he fled

at this point, elizabeth calls the house phone - now possessed by habit once more. habit mocks corenthal as elizabeth, "missed you at the diner, but you sure as hell bit it with me!", as if to imply corenthal intentionally skipped out on their meeting and had disappointed elizabeth in doing so. however, its pretty apparent the true intention is to mock him for falling for a trap. habit as elizabeth tells corenthal that s/he will see him at the park, obviously meaning balpdate to which corenthal would be currently fleeing to at the time of this call. we know this to be the order of events thanks to the inclusion of the siren detail and the order of habit/elizabeth and corenthals voicemail as they were recorded to the house phone.

we dont know what happened to elizabeth following this last bout of possession. it could be possible that habit brought her along to the park in addition to evan, given habit can and had just proven he could possess more than one body at a time and hop between them. however, i find it more likely that habit only confronted corenthal with evans body alone.

habit may have had company of a different sort, though. corenthal mentions that he felt like he was being watched, and his dialogue implies there being two distinct entities involved. the first, corenthal says, "knew it would end up like this", and corenthal says this shortly after mentioning evan from the bench again - therefore this is habit. the second entity corenthal describes as a "spectre" and the monster that took his children - Man, of course

whether man had any involvement with habit and corenthals confrontation is unknown, but we can at least say that he was around. corenthal and habit presumably have a fight, which for certain results in habit being shot in the face and corenthal ending up in the candleverse/eden

evans body dies there in 2005, leaving habit without him as a vessel in this plane of reality. with evan dead, the candleverse then had jeff and vinny and now evan. this aligns with what we see in -.-., the boys together while steph was nowhere to be seen. however, there is a five year gap between the events of 2005 and the candleverse conversation in 2010. this means steph was still alive, since the next iteration cannot begin until all four of them are in the candleverse...

Therefore, Steph had been alive since the Princeton iteration starting back in late 1987. the reason she lived so long? she never met vinny, evan, or jeff in the princeton iteration. or at least, she was distant enough from them to survive as long as she did. this reflects the nature of her role in that she does not have one, not like the boys do. she is different because she knew how to stay alive through ignorance. while we dont know the specifics of stephs relationship with man during the princeton timeline, it stands to reason that she was aware of him just like before during fairmount and after during the emh iteration. thus, her survival tactic of willful ignorance and aversion kept her alive for two decades.

Simply put, the Princeton iteration did not truly end until 2010, just before the beginning of the Everymanhybrid channel and its iteration cycle…

Making the Princeton era span a total of 23 YEARS. Jeff died in 1991, Vinny was next in 1993, Evan’s death is third in 2005, and around 2010, Steph perishes and the EMH Iteration begins.

Below I have written a more condensed timeline of events based on everything ive broken down here. There are a few details missing date-wise, but for our purposes we dont have to delve into them in order to understand with satisfying accuracy about what exactly happened in the years between 1987 and 2010.

DECEMBER, 1987: the princeton iteration begins.

BEFORE JUNE 8TH, 1989: jeff and evan disappear from vinnys life.

FIRST WEEK OF JUNE, 1989: vinny despairs over the loss of his friends in conjunction to the strange going ons of his life and a peculiar zine. trailhead, shopping, and movies all take place within this week.

AROUND 1991: jeff succumbs and appears in the candleverse.

BETWEEN 1989 AND 1993: tape 3 is recorded

DECEMBER 14TH, 1990: corenthal has a premonition about linnie heading off to find her siblings (noah release 1)

BETWEEN 1990 AND 1993: vinny encounters linnie (tape 3)

SOMETIME BEFORE OR AROUND 1993: vinny speaks to patrick andersen from mlandersen0 (tape 3).

AROUND 1993: vinny dies at fairmount, joining jeff in the candleverse. evan and steph remain alive at this time.

JULY 22ND AND JULY 23RD, 1995: corenthal encounters milo asher.

SOMETIME AFTER 1995: corenthal sends the piece of cloth found by milo’s house to his colleague adam roberts, who then creates the black box device.

BETWEEN 1989 AND 2002: evan is possessed by habit at some point, maybe as the reason for jeffs death in 1991, and go after corenthal alongside man and the rake.

OCTOBER 7TH, 1998: an article is published regarding elizabeth solving her first case.

BETWEEN OCTOBER 1998 AND JUNE 2005: corenthal discovers elizabeth and writes to adam roberts to listen for her name on the news, claiming she can help

MARCH 22ND AND JUNE 11TH, 1999: elizabeth solves two more cases.

OCTOBER 11TH 2002 AND MARCH 2ND, 2003: habits MO is apparent in three deaths following the appearance of corenthal at the homes of two families.

AROUND 2002 :elizabeth starts teaching classes at bucks county community college.

ON JUNE 11th 2005: an article is published regarding elizabeths place of business burning down

JULY, 2005: elizabeth is possessed by habit and using her body, s/he contacts adam roberts to arrange a meeting with corenthal in august. soon after speaking to a possessed elizabeth, adam roberts leaves a voicemail for corenthal telling him of the meeting.

AROUND AUGUST 26th 2005: corenthal heads out to his presumed meeting with roberts and elizabeth - only to find out he has been set up by elizabeth (habit). he sees evan, whose body is still alive at this time. habit has control over evan, and ultimately he and corenthal have a confrontation at baldpate. corenthal shoots him, killing evans body but not habit, and corenthal ends up in the candleverse/eden

AUGUST 2005: evan dies, joining vinny and jeff. This makes steph the sole survivor for the time being.

2010, PRE-EMH: evan jeff and vinny meet around a cluster of candles as seen in the video -.-.. evans dialogue suggests that while he had died in 2005, it hadnt been until 5 years later in 2010 that he has been able to meet up with jeff and vinny together properly since his death. further dialogue in -.-. suggests that steph is still missing from their group. presumably this means she hadnt been killed yet. jeff remarks about having no idea they were even looking for her, which falls in line with the idea that steph was not around the boys much if at all during their time alive in princeton, further solidified by her...well, lack of existence in the tapes.

BETWEEN 2005 AND 2010: before the start of the emh iteration but after evan died and came to the candleverse, evan and jeff work together making trips to a powerline in order to have a chance at making contact with the outside world (as in, us the audience).

this results in the phantom tweet telling us to stop watching, which appears in 2011. vin is of course dead at this point too, but its apparent that meeting up is risky and kept to a minimum. it may not be intentional that vin isnt present here, but jeff and ev WOULD have good reason for excluding vinny from this particular plan of theirs, given that vinny is the cog that powers the emh iteration (and a lot of what happens before too, frankly). perhaps they couldnt trust him, which would make sense since at this point, ev and jeffs recent memories of vinny would be from the princeton era and fairmount + whatever glimpses they get when they bump into one another in the candleverse. vin's involvement with their plan could cause a hinderance, and they wouldnt want that to happen

also note that jeff and evans powerline plan is also something corenthal is closely involved in, at least as shown in the day the world ended (2018). i dont think its too much of a stretch to imagine he was also involved in coming up with the plan years prior, between 2005 and 2010. this further highlights vinny's absence in the general affairs of the candleverse, despite the fact that he had been around since 1993. again, theres credence to believe he was intentionally excluded by jeff, evan, and corenthal

AROUND 2010: steph dies and rejoins the boys, and with all four now in the candleverse, the princeton iteration finally comes to an end.

MARCH 21st, 2010: the everymanhybrid channel uploads their first video - marking the beginning of the emh iteration

MARCH 17TH, 2011: the unsigned phantom tweet sent out by Jeff and Evan from the powerline tower in baldpate finally surfaces

STATS:

FAIRMOUNT: 1971 to 1981 (10 years) PRINCETON: 1987 to 2010 (23 years) EVERYMANHYBRID: 2010 to 2018 (8 years)

Steph lived the entire 23 year period for the Princeton era. Evan lived 18 years. Vinny lived 6 years. Jeff lived 4 years.

Jeff spent the longest amount of time in the candleverse post-Princeton at 19 years. Vinny spent a total of 17 years. Evan spent 5 years. Steph spent less than a year.

#everymanhybrid #long post #emh

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pennywaltzy · 5 years

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A Fiction Versus The Reality (2/2)

So I got a comment on this Labyrinth-inspired fic yesterday that I had attempted to write during the Halloween season for @strangelock221b and decided that, what the hell, it was only supposed to be two chapters, might as well finish it while I’m on this roll. And voila! Here you guys and gals go, part 2!

A Fiction Versus The Reality - The night of Mycroft's Halloween costume party, Sherlock plans an outfit where there's no way to know it's him to have a dance with Molly, perhaps a kiss as well. What he gets is so much more but he leaves too soon to find out Molly knows.

Read Chapter 1 | Read Chapter 2 | Help Me Survive? | Commission Me?

It was with surprise he found a small music box on his pillow a few nights after the party. He was wary at first, thinking this was a game of some sort that one of Moriarty’s lackeys he hadn’t picked up could be playing or some associate of Magnussen’s. He carefully opened it and within a few moments, the song became recognizable.

The song at the masquerade scene. She knows.

Of course, he didn’t know that Molly knew he had been the one in the Jareth costume at Mycroft’s party, and it still could be a trap, someone telling him that they knew he, indeed, had a heart and who held it. He closed the lid and stuffed the box into the pocket of his Belstaff before looking for the only person he could think of who set it there. He marched down to stairs to her portion of the flat and knocked. “Mrs. Hudson?”

“Coming!” she said, her voice quite breezy. He pulled the box out and held it up at what would be her line of vision so that it was the first thing she saw when she opened the door. As the door opened she took one look at the box and smiled. “You got her gift?”

“Whose gift, Mrs. Hudson?” he asked with his heart almost in his throat at the reveal it had been given to her by a woman.

“Why, Molly, of course! It plays such a lovely song from some movie in the past. I thought it was beautiful when she let me listen to it, though why she thought you would enjoy it is beyond me. You don’t like trinkets and baubles like that.”

A smile blossomed on his face and he handed her the music box, grasped her head between his now empty hands and kissed her forehead before turning on heel. “Keep that safe for me!” he called out behind him as he headed out the door to flag the first cabbie he saw.

The ride to Barts was torturous, and his arrival was marked by extreme disappointment with the news that she had taken time off early to go home and get ready for a date. His heart sank at the thought of her going out with some other man when she had taken the time to get the music box and give it to him. What did it mean if it wasn’t to say she wanted more of what had happened that night?

Maybe she simply wants you to have a token of a fond memory, the voice inside his head rang out. He subconsciously shook his head and made his way back out to the street, trying to figure out the quickest way to Molly’s home before hailing another cab.

Once he arrived he nearly flung his money at the driver and then dashed up the stairs to her door. It was all he could do to keep from banging on the door, instead ringing the doorbell and waiting. Molly opened it, standing there in a cream dress whose skirt was covered with white magnolias. Not quite as brilliant as Sarah’s ballgown but stunning still the same. “You're late.”

His brain struggled to function for a moment. “Late?”

“Did Martha forget? Bother. I should have written a note.” She stepped outside of her door once she clasped a small clutch off the table by her door. “We have reservations. I told her if you were going to snog me senseless I wanted a proper date and you should meet me here at six.”

“I’m...sorry,” he said. “She didn’t tell me so I went to Barts to be told you were going on a date.”

“Well, even if we don’t make the reservation,” she said, slipping her arm in his, “we’ll figure something out...won’t we?” There was a small sense of trepidation in her voice, and he paused and turned to face her, letting go of her arm and cupping her face gently before lowering her lips to hers. He had thought that giving himself the experience once was enough to walk away, but apparently, fate, and Molly, had other plans.

“We’ll find something to do,” he murmured as he pulled back slightly after one of the most delightful snogs he’d ever had. Her too, if the contented sigh was a signal, and then he reached for her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers before heading down the steps to what he hoped would be a bright future for them both.

#sherlock #sherlolly #mollock #fanfic #fanfiction #sherlock holmes #mrs. hudson #molly hooper #multipart: a fiction versus the reality #strangelock221b

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lalka-laski · 4 years

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1. Candyland: What is your favorite type of candy? Sour patch kids. Or really any kind of sour gummy! 2. Chutes & Ladders: Do you have a fear of going up on ladders? Does your house have a laundry chute somewhere? Ha, interesting question. I don’t fear ladders much but I *am* super clumsy, so I need to exercise more caution than the average person. And no, my house doesn’t have a laundry chute. I don’t know anyone who does? 3. Operation: How many surgeries have you had in your lifetime? I had a tonsillectomy as a little kid and then two dental surgeries in my teens. 4. Sorry!: Do you sometimes apologize, even when it’s not your fault? I’m VERY guilty of that. But I had animosity/awkwardness so I’d rather just own up to something that wasn’t my fault for the sake of clearing the air.

5. Game of Life: What is your greatest accomplishment thus far? What do you hope to do with the rest of your life? I like how this question is forcing me to think positively. My bachelor’s degree & the honors with which I graduated top my list of accomplishments, along with the fact I lived in my own apartment entirely solo for almost a year. I’m also really proud of the breakthroughs I’ve made in therapy, specifically through the use of EMDR. I’ve come along way and I deserve to congratulate myself for that.

6. Cootie: Did you really used to think that boys/girls had cooties? Nah, I don’t think so. My best friend growing up was a boy. 7. Trouble: What is something big that you got into a lot of trouble for? Underage drinking in the park. Looking back, I realize it wasn’t a big deal at all but the cops insisted on driving me home in a squad car and making me wake my parents. I still resent that to this day. I know that most people face WAY WAY worse abuses of power at the hands of cops but I still felt that was an unnecessary move for them to make. I was only 6 months away from turning 21 and I wasn’t even fucking drunk. 8. Puzzles: When was the last time you felt puzzled/confused? How often do you feel like you don’t fit in? Um, daily? And I regularly feel like I don’t fit in. I guess I’ve just never had a niche group where I belonged. It probably stems back to elementary-high school where I never had a core group of friends. I had friends from all different groups and backgrounds but no single clique where I felt completely accepted and welcomed. I wasn’t “cool” enough to be one of the popular kids but I also wasn’t “uncool” enough to be accepted by the nerdy crowd. It was a weird time and honestly something I still struggle with. Which is why I just make it a point to be friends with anyone and everyone now and I don’t like to associate with cliques. 9. Hungry Hungry Hippos: What’s your favorite meal to eat? PIZZA. With garlic dipping sauce.

10. Uno: Can you count to ten in another language? If so, which language? French and Polish 11. Go Fish!: Have you ever been fishing before? I used to go here and there with my best friend and our dads. It’s not my ideal hobby but we had fun memories. 12. Old Maid: Did you ever have a maid in your house, growing up? HA HA HA you can’t be serious. 13. Simon Says: Did you always do everything you were told as a child? I was a pretty straight-laced goody two shoes, so yeah. 14. Red Light, Green Light: When you approach a yellow light, are you more likely to slow down or speed up? I don’t drive. 15. Are you any good at jump rope, hopscotch, or hula hooping? Have you ever used a pogo stick before? I’m really good at the first three activities. I never learned how to pogo stick even though I always had one growing up 16. Do you prefer chalk or bubbles? I loved both! I guess I’d choose chalk though since I was very artsy as a kid and I LOVED drawing. 17. Did you used to go on a lot of bike rides as a child? Tons! Another one of my favorite activities. Sometimes my parents wouldn’t see me for a whole day because I’d just take off on my bike for hours and hours. 18. Capture the Flag: What is your country’s flag? What about your state’s flag, if you have one? I’m pretty sure we all know what the American flag looks like, no? And I live in New York state, whose flag illustrates Lady Justice and.... Lady Liberty? I think. I’ve never given it much though because who gives a shit? 19. Tic Tac Toe: When you played, were you the “hugs” or the “kisses”? I preferred being X! 20. Have you ever won a game of Marco Polo in the pool without cheating? Oh yes! 21. Scrabble: Are you any good at spelling? I’m pretty great at it 22. While playing rock, paper, scissors, which do you usually throw down first? Scissors

23. Were you always stuck being the pickle in the middle? 24. Limbo: How low can you go? Not very low at all. I’m not flexible! 25. When playing, did you usually pick “Truth” or “Dare”? Always truth! I’m comfortable being emotionally vulnerable but no way in hell was I gonna prank call my crush or streak through the neighborhood or whatever dares kids came up with

26. Have you been involved in any innocent games of Spin the Bottle or 7 Minutes in Heaven? Mhm

27. Twister: Are you a flexible person (figuratively or literally)? Nope on both accounts 28. Did you used to pretend that the floor was lava? Um, I STILL do. 29. Guess Who: Are you any good at guessing games? No. But I did love Guess Who! 30. Clue: Do you think that you would be able to successfully solve a murder case? Absolutely not 31. Mouse Trap: Have you ever felt trapped before, in some way? Of course I have. I’m working on techniques for how I can escape those feelings, though. 32. Labyrinth: Have you ever gotten lost in a maze? Corn mazes as a kid! 33. Jenga: Are you careful about what choices you make in life? I’m not the most cautious person. I have a tendency to act irrationally and without thinking. 34. Bop it or Skip-it? OH, I loved both. I’d choose Skip-It just because it wasn’t as anxiety inducing. The pressure of a Bop It was INTENSE! 35. Tag: Are you in shape? Do you enjoy running? No and No. 36. Kickball: Did you kick the ball over the fence a lot as a kid? Ha, never. 37. Are you any good at mini-golf? I wasn’t particularly good or bad at it? 38. Telephone: What do you do with a rumor once it’s been told to you? I won’t lie. If I hear something particularly juicy I do like to go discuss it with someone. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to serious secrets or information that could hurt somebody. 39. Hide and Seek: Have you ever hid so well that it felt like it took somebody forever to find you? What was your best hiding spot? I think so. Though I don’t recall what the spot was. 40. What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?: When were you old enough to tell time on an analog clock as opposed to a digital one? I’m not gonna lie, I still struggle to read an analog clock. 41. Mother May I: Did you always ask your parents for permission? I pretty much had no other choice 42. Follow the Leader: Can you be bossy at times? Just the opposite, actually 43. Monopoly: Are you good with your money/finances? I’ve always been more a saver with just a small tendency to splurge here and there. My biggest issue is spending too much money on food and booze. 44. Chess: Have you ever wanted to be king/queen? Princess 45. Play-doh or Slime? BOTH! [a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

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itsraininginspace · 7 years

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Pagan Symbols and Their Meanings

Pagan symbols were a part of everyday existence for countless people from over the world for many millennia. In a time where danger lurked around every corner on every day, be it in the form of a wild animal, disease, conflict or simple injuries for which there were no remedies, divine protection gave Hope.

Pagan Symbols of Protection

Protection symbols emerged from pagan cultures across the globe, each ascribing a layer of defense against enemies physical and supernatural. Here are some which have proven both effective and popular. They come to you from ancient times on the winds of Faith.

1. Pentacle

The pentacle is simply the pentagram enclosed in a circle. Because pagan rituals associate the circle with power, eternity and the infinite, it can be said that the pentacle enhances and empowers the basic pentagram with an infusion of additional energy.

The Circle of Power makes this a spell of protection.

2. Eye of Horus

Horus was the son of the god Osiris and his wife (and sister), Isis. Depicted with the head of a falcon, Horus was the god of healing and protection.

His eye was said to watch over the faithful wherever it was emblazoned. Egyptian fishermen painted it on the hulls of their boats; it was placed on coffins to watch over the dead as they made their journey through the netherworld to the Afterlife.

Pagans embrace the Egyptian view of the Eye of Horus and wear this symbol as a protective talisman.

3. Thor’s hammer (Mjolnir)

Most people know Thor as a character from the Hollywood movies, a weak caricature of what Thor, the god of thunder in Viking lore actually is. Mjolnir was Thor’s magical hammer, blessed to strike its intended target every time and return to its wielder by command.

It is a pagan symbol of protection that was seen across the Scandinavian countries with small variations between neighboring cultures.

4. Om

The intricate, pleasing curves of the ‘Om’ make it one of the most common tattoos out there. The Om is central to Hindu belief; the ancient texts of the world’s oldest living religion, the Vedas, explain that the Om is the sound of vibration of the universe.

Picked apart, the Om represents the four states of human existence: waking consciousness, deep sleep, dream state and the Enlightened consciousness. It is a symbol of blessing and of good beginnings.

5. Triple Horn of Odin (Triple Triskele)

Tripartite symbols are prevalent in pagan belief and allude to the triple nature of the world which we can see and that which we cannot. The realms of earth, sky and water; heaven, hell and earth; genesis, middle and end; and the states of solid, liquid and ether all point to a trinity that comprises a whole.

The Triple Horn is a testament to Odin’s wit and magical prowess that help him gain victory against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is borne by pagans who want help from the gods and the Universe to gain victory in trying circumstances.

Ancient Pagan Symbols

1. Air

One of the four elements of pagan beliefs, Air does not just represent the ether but also the breath of life. It is connected to the East and is associated with the colors white and yellow. In modern representations, it may be shown as a fan or a feather, too.

2. Water

The symbol for Water is a downward-facing triangle, a shape that invokes the shape of the womb and is therefore a potent feminine symbol. As water is used in real life to cleanse, the symbol of water is a sign for cleansing your spiritual life and of new beginnings. It is associated with the West.

3. Earth

The pagan symbol for Earth is an inverted triangle with a horizontal line cut across it. Associated with the North and the colors green and brown, it represents to pagans the bounty of Mother Earth, prosperity and fertility.

4. Fire

The last of the four pagan elements, Fire is the opposite of Water, an upward-facing triangle reminiscent of the phallus and, thus, the masculine. It is linked to the South, and is an agent of change through strong will.

5. Pentagram

The pentagram is probably one of the most easily-identified pagan symbols today. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily a good thing; many people automatically assume that it is a sign for devil worship or of Satan himself.

However, the pentagram actually represents the four elements of life – air, fire, water and earth, accompanied by a fifth, the human spirit.

The direction in which the pentagram points is of significance. When the single point points upwards, it is indicative of the human spirit rising above earthly desires. The inverse depiction represents the human spirit embracing his carnal and materialistic side.

6. Triple Moon (Triple Goddess)

The triple moon symbol is a combined representation of the three stages of the moon – waxing, waning and full. The full moon is depicted as a circle in the center with the waxing moon on one side and the waning moon on the other.

Because the moon was associated with the female menstrual cycle, this is a symbol strongly associated with the feminine in all of us. The female reference also relates to the pagan belief that a woman’s life was divided into three stages: maiden, mother and crone.

7. The Horned God

As the Triple Goddess is the pagan representation of the feminine, the Horned God is the symbol of masculinity. Together, they form the dual nature of pagan godhood. This sign indicates strong will, virility and also carnal desire.

It is interesting to note that the Horned God is part of the symbol for the Triple Goddess turned on its side.

8. The Ankh

The ankh is another one of those pagan symbols that virtually everyone has seen before, but at whose meaning only a small proportion can accurately guess at.

No one really knows exactly how to decipher the Ankh but is believed that it is strongly associated with the gift of Life after Death because of its prevalence in the tombs of pharaohs.

It may also be that the Egyptians saw it as representing conception and the start of a new life. Others suspect that the Ankh may be a phallic symbol for the loop at its top.

9. Corn Dolly

The corn dolly played a significant part in the pagan history of subsistence farming. The pagans of old believed that the spirit of the corn lived in the fields. When the corn was harvested, the spirit was deprived of its home and food.

To appease the spirit, corn dollies were left in the field, often beside a section of the plot that was intentionally left unharvested. Before the next season’s crop was sown, the corn dolly and remaining grain were burnt and the ashes mixed into the soil to ensure a successful upcoming harvest.

10. Labyrinth

The labyrinth is often associated with the Minotaur. However, not every labyrinth is a deadly trap. In fact, the serpentine twists and turns of the labyrinth can be said to be a representation of human life, with a single point of entry and a single exit point.

11. The Seven-Pointed Star

Another pagan image made popular recently by television – Game of Thrones in this case – the seven-pointed star was originally meant to represent the seven days of the week, and/or the seven classical planets (the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). There are also theories that say it was a symbol of the seven stars (Pleiades).

In recent pagan tradition, it has become associated with the seven chakras of the body according to Hindu scripture and the practice of yoga.

12. Valknut

Valknut translates as ‘Slain Warrior’s Knot’ or the ‘Knot of the Dead’, which is a name not to be taken lightly.

A design of three interlocking triangles, the Valknut may represent them as three discrete shapes or as a unicursal of a single, unending line. Wherever it is found in archaeological remains, the Valknut is only ever depicted as a symbol associated with the death of the one who bears it.

This is a pagan symbol whose true meaning still defies a full explanation but it has a decidedly macabre aspect.

13. The Svefnthorn

This is a representation of one of the most potent magical tools the Norse people record that they used. While the exact shape of the symbol varies between sources, they all share certain crucial characteristics, a long tine with an angled hook at one end, coupled with a circular or semi-circular shape at the other, and a number of horizontal lines in between.

The Svefnthorn was said to be able to put an individual or group of people into a deep sleep when used. It is a pagan symbol usually employed in an offensive capacity to gain an advantage over the enemy.

14. The Swastika

The Swastika is truly the worst case of an ancient symbol being appropriated and completely distorted for selfish gain. Used originally by the proto Indo-European race, the Aryans, it was seized by Hitler’s Nazi party as the symbol of race-based discrimination.

Both the Vikings and the ancient Hindus inscribed the Swastika onto any object that they wanted to have blessed by the gods. In fact, even in modern-day India, Hindus paint or engrave this ancient pagan design onto new purchases and on either side of the doorway to a new home.

It is a powerful symbol of oversight and protection that few use outside of the subcontinent.

15. The Vegvisir

This intricate symbol is interpreted as the ‘Revealer of the Path’ or ‘Shower of the Way’. It is said that if you carry this pagan sign with you, you will not lose your way to any destination even if you do not know the way.

Very similar to the Aegishjalmr, which was a protective charm, the Vegvisir shares the design of eight outward-facing sets of prongs. Whereas these prongs are universally tridents in the Aegishjalmr, the Vegvisir features more elaborate design and does not abide by the limit of three points each as seen in that stave.

The Vegvisir is the perfect pagan symbol to accompany you on your trip to a new destination or an unknown environment.

16. Snake Swallowing its Tail (Ouroboros or Infinity Snake)

With its origin in ancient Egypt, the Ouroboros (Greek for ‘tail swallower’) was a symbol of the sun because of its disc shape. Gnostics interpret this shape as signifying the eternal soul, a common pagan theme with circular designs.

The Chinese dragon has also been depicted in this manner.

17. Yin and Yang

Another easily-recognizable pagan symbol, the Yin-Yang motif speaks to the duality of Man, nature and all of existence itself. It represents the perfect balance with which we are all born and which we spend the rest of our lives trying to regain.

The gentle, sweeping curves of the shape soothe the soul and the two ‘eyes’ look back at you when you regard it closely. It may be said that the shapes represent the circle of life, death and rebirth.

It is invariably used in East Asian cultures but very early iterations of this symbol have even been found on Roman shields dating back 15 centuries.

The concurrently light and dark nature of the Yin-Yang remind us that no bad situation is permanent and that we simply have to abide by our chosen path to attain the light. It is simply a matter of time.

18. Sun Wheel

The sun-shaped disc is a recurring motif in pagan symbology, always pointing to continuity and progress. Besides representing the power of the sun and its ability to grant life wherever its rays pass, the circle also speaks to immortality, the cycle of life and the unending nature of both the soul and the universe.

The Sun Wheel is a sign for the demarcation of the solar year into eight Wiccan Sabbaths (Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lamas, Mabon, Samhain, and Yule). It is also reminiscent of the halo that we see in the depictions of gods from around the world.

The sun is associated with fire, the most masculine and virile of the four classic pagan elements. Use the Sun Wheel to garner success in new ventures where a firm hand is desired.

19. The Spiral

The spiral is a symbol of the goddess but the exact way it is deciphered as such is unclear. There are theories that say the shape represents the movement of the planets and stars across the night sky.

It is one of the most ancient symbols of which we know – spirals have been found at sites from the Neolithic era, which dates back over 17 millennia. Celtic symbols also feature the spiral regularly.

While it is connected to the circle, the spiral is more complex and also more beautiful.

The post Pagan Symbols and Their Meanings appeared first on Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha, Rollo, Vikings, Ouroboros, Symbols and Meanings.

Source: http://mythologian.net/pagan-symbols-meanings/

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