Bell for a 1950 s amf hook and ladder

The Way We Were

2012.03.08 23:42 SmellsLikeUpfoo The Way We Were

What was **normal everyday life** like for people living 50, 100, or more years ago? Featuring old photos, scanned documents, articles, and personal anecdotes that offer a glimpse into the past.
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2018.06.30 01:22 tacobellblake Living Más - Taco Bell Community

Taco Bell's Fan Community
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2011.07.11 18:45 RedSofaPolice Noir

In this subreddit you can post anything remotely related to noir and neo-noir. May it be film, drawings, books, music, clothes, people, et cetera. All are welcomed.
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2024.05.19 08:18 Courier_vi [SF] the crash continued

I move toward it and I put my thumbs under its arm pits and pull it out of the pile of crates it was under. I pulled it to the center of the room and check over where the missing arm was attached and then rolled it over to check the power supply and main processor unit to ensure it’s still intact.
As I leave the cargo area I yell for the mech() to come and see if it can get the synth put back together and powered on. I go towards my quarters praying that it’s still intact and my gear isn’t damaged. I start to slow down as I approach the door and hold my hand out to see if I can feel any heat coming off the door. Once I make sure it isn’t hot I lean in close to see if I can hear anything that might have made its way inside from any of the exposed parts of the ship. Once I’m satisfied that I’m not hearing anything moving around I start to pry the door open. After about a minute the doors finally give way and slide open and lock, I enter with my gun at the ready slowly scanning the room taking everything in making sure nothing is hiding in the dark corners. I sign in relief to see that nothing made it into the room and I move towards a footlocker at the foot of my bed, once I’m there I put my hand on the palm scanner to unlock it and pull out the combat suit and rifle that was stored.
After about ten minutes of messing with the suit, it was finally on and sealed, I grabbed the helmet and it started to sync to the suit once I dawned it. I went through the sensor calibrations and finished searching the ship for any possible intruders. I made sure there were no other breaches and nothing else in the ship, from there I started to move back to the cargo bay to see if the synth is repairable or scrap. To my surprise I saw the synth moving when I entered the room, well the head at least, it seems that the only damage was the torn limb and some gashes on its body.
I kneeled down to talk to the synth for a few minutes to make sure its processor or memory unit wasn’t damaged, I inquired to see how long it would take for both it and the droid the be able to start repairs on the ships haul. I inform them that the client probably doesn’t care if we use the fabricator or any of the other supplies we were transporting and having a sealed place to sleep and possible power would be nice for the upcoming night. I looked at the droid and the synth and explained that I will be stepping away to recon our crash site and see what might be in the immediate area, hopefully there’s some no hostile life on this planet because if not it’s going to be a pain in the ass.
I start making my way to the exit hatch on the top of the ship, when I get to the bottom of the ladder I stop and stare at the hatch praying it isn’t jammed shut. I drop the rifle so it catches on its sling and start to climb, with one arm hooked around the bar I use my other to twist and open the hatch. As the hatch pushes up and over it lets in a soft morning light, and the sounds of animals and insects. I slowly pop my head out doing a slow 360 to take in the immediate surroundings and once it’s clear I pull myself out and close the hatch locking it. I start walking across the top of the ship to check on some of the haul to see how badly it was damaged, and surprisingly it’s not in bad shape, minus the giant hole in the cargo area.
As I jump down I hear something big moving in the forest to the left, and as I start to head that direction I hear what sounds to be a scream from a human to the right. I pivot and bring my gun to the ready and start moving towards the screams, hoping that what ever I’m walking away from doesn’t decide to follow the screams also.
submitted by Courier_vi to shortstories [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 03:06 House_of_Lij Lij's Drag Race Recasted: CVSTW EP4 "Comedy Queens" Lip-Sync

The "Comedy Quens" Stand-Up Challenge results are in!
DURING THE EPISODE...
Monét X Change has won the "Cameo-Style Filmed Videos" Mini Challenge!

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 🇨🇦 ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖──

ON THE MAINSTAGE...
The tops and bottoms of the week step forward to hear their critiques...
Adore Delano receives negative critiques from the judges. Brad told her that the main problem with her performance this week was that she started well and did well overall, but she let them see she was sweating too much. She kept dropping the f-bomb every 5 seconds and dropped her cards when she knew they were out of order. She didn't let it flow as much as needed. She was allowed structure like every other queen, but she relied on the structure instead of being her naturally funny self. Her runway this week, though, is gorgeous. She blended her rebel aesthetic into this gorgeous elevated punk look.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels receives positive critiques from the judges. Brooke told Angeria that her performance this week was just a fantastic level. She came out and told them the funniest story on the planet, and even though they didn't believe it was 100% true in hindsight, the way she said it had them hooked every second. Facial expressions, voices, body movements; she put everything into that performance to make them laugh, and it worked. This week, her runway also disappointed them; loving how she made this southern belle mixed with this plaid aesthetic but noticed minor clashes.
Eva Le Queen receives positive critiques from the judges. The judges say that she's one of those queens who don't know what she'll do next because this comedic performance was fantastic. She blended stories from her childhood into this funny stand-up set, even working with the crowd to make them laugh and make herself relatable. That's what she did best as a comedienne, making herself relatable to the crowd and making sure they felt comfortable laughing at every joke she made, no matter how wild. Her runway was gorgeous and different for her, but just because it's plaid doesn't mean it's Vivienne Westwood.
Monét X Change receives positive critiques from the judges. Traci says she had the best performance of the entire night. She made an intelligent decision by putting herself last because she warmed them up again with one final excellent performance. She told these fantastic stories, complete with crowd work and whole-body movements where she dove across the stage and made them laugh. She had no holds barred with this challenge because she put her everything, clearly so hungry for a win. Even though her runway this week isn't their favorite, they love how she blended the plaid into this dragged-up lumberjack.
Plastique Tiara receives negative critiques from the judges. The judges say that she is more than just a pretty face; she had to prove that when it came to comedy. It wasn't that she wasn't funny; it was just that she performed it as more of a roast than a stand-up. She came out and started telling them stories about the competition and making fun of the other girls. It was funny at some points but oddly unrelatable for others since she was saying things that would only be funny if the audience had been there. Her runway, though? It was a superb Heathers-inspired ensemble with a funny death reveal.
Shannel receives negative critiques from the judges. Brooke says that the main thing they have to say about Shannel is that she left them more to be desired this week. She had to start the whole thing since she wanted to be first so severely, but she didn't do what was required of her. She is a drag professional by the way she handled the scene. Still, she seemed to be monologuing consistently and needed to make more effort to interject the comedy into a speech. This week's runway also disappoints them since this is her 6th time wearing a gown, and she needs to switch it up.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels, Monét X Change, Condragulations! You are the Top Two All Stars of the week!
Plastique Tiara, Shannel...I'm sorry, my Dears. You are both up for elimination.

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DURING UNTUCKED...

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AFTER DELIBERATION...
Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Plastique Tiara make their lipstick choices and walk back to the stage, where the other Queens are waiting for them...
TOP2: Angeria Paris VanMichaels / Monét X Change
HIGH: Eva Le Queen
LOW: Adore Delano
BTM2: Plastique Tiara / Shannel
The Top Two Queens will Lip-Sync for their Legacy to "Your Daddy Don't Know" by Toronto. This is your chance to impress me, win the challenge prize, and gain the power to give one of the Bottom Queens the chop. Good Luck, and Don't Fuck It Up!
POLL / Track Record
submitted by House_of_Lij to RPDRfantasyseason [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 22:46 SamMorrisHorror Them Devils Part 2

Scott Masterson had first met Scarlett at a rooftop party in downtown Dallas. Their age and the time of year were both in late springtime, them in their mid twenties and the date in early May. He had on a sharp yet breezy blazer and she astonished in a thigh length sleeveless blue dress.
“Oh hey Scott I don’t believe you two have met…” his then happily married friend had remarked with a slow swinging open hand toward her.
“Scott Masterson…reluctant friend to this knucklehead” he said with a tight lipped grin, trying not to be so obvious with his instant rapture.
“Scarlett…a pleasure…”
Her hand was so delicate to Scott’s touch. They locked eyes. It was like looking back through centuries of connection, endless days of laying in the sun next to the Seine River, or rising to Hollywood fame in the 1940’s and only having each other who would understand the glory and the pain of it all, or generations of quiet, simple country love that would bear such beautiful, happy children that would go on to raise beautiful, happy children, all with their dark blue eyes. Yes, the memories of every love story since the beginning of time was swirling right there in Scarlett’s irises. Scott had to catch himself before he stared embarrassingly too long.
“Sorry Scottie here doesn’t get out often” his friend quipped, which Scott appreciated actually, it helped him snap back to professionalism.
“Well I don’t either…at least I prefer not to.” Scarlett’s words flowed through the air like a flock of rose petals.
“Hey, kindred spirits.” Scott was really sensing a rising energy out of her, they had barely broken eye contact.
“Well, I’ll let you two have at it, I got a wife around here somewhere. Hey…Scott and Scarlett…not bad, not bad.” His friend exited stage right with a sly chuckle.
“Nice guy…so…what are you drinking, Scarlett?” Scott looked around for the emptiest corner of the rooftop bar, hoping to find a nice place for them to be able to hear each other. This night had just become something.
“That depends, Scott…what do you like?”
Oh man.
Well, as you can expect, the evening blossomed into a beautiful, long winded conversation that etched a long list of similarities between the two. They both lived in the city, had never married, and had dreamed of stable, simpler lives far away from tall buildings and busy streets. The next morning Scott awoke in her arms, which warmed much deeper than just his skin. He could feel her soothing his very identity, his future, everything. Her arms were tailor made to fit his very soul, and he had never felt more safe and at home.
“Mmm…you can stay right here…” she whispered, eyes still closed.
“I will…I will”
They both fell back asleep, into a dream that wouldn’t end upon waking.
Two years passed and suddenly they lived that simple backwoods life, way out where acres of land far out-populated the few and far between people. They took a lovely home, which happily looked over a long backyard, right up to a lively yet mostly undisturbed river. Their only neighbor within a mile was an older ranch worker named Charles, who rarely made himself perceivable. Days were spent way on into town where they both had offices. They didn’t mind the commute. Nights were spent mostly like this night, cuddled outside near a lovely little fire, with a slowly shrinking amount of wine sitting between them. Enjoying their Kingdom. Tonight, however, would prove to be a special night, for many reasons, all unexpected.
“Honey, I’ve been thinking…” Scott began, sitting up and opening his hands to the warmth of the fire.
“Oh?” Scarlett also sat up, eyes widening.
“So look, Scarlett, the last two years have been the best of my life. An absolute dream…”
She held her breath, her focus darting between his eyes and mouth.
“Yeah?”
“We have everything we ever want out here. But…what if there’s more?”
“More?” She had envisioned this very conversation hundreds of times.
“Our dreams have come true, but what if we…made some new dreams?” Scott turned and embedded his eyes into hers. He burst into a big smile.
“Scott…I thought…”
“Nevermind what I said” he cut her off, which he always made a point to never do, but this was a good exception.
“I’m ready, Scarlett…let’s have a family.”
“Ohhhh Scott, oh Scott”
They hugged tight enough to where it hurt.
“Well, in that case, we may need to open another bottle.” She said playfully, bouncing her eyebrows twice.
“Excellent. I’ll be right up. I’ll put this fire out and then start yours up.”
“Oh stop!” She bounded away girlishly, up the snowy back steps and into the house.
Scott let out a big sigh that he could see in the cold air and sat back in his chair, taking in his decision. He really was ready. He had secretly been keeping a long list of names that he liked and that he thought would work in front of Masterson. Especially little girl names. He stared into the campfire flames, getting lost imagining the three of them sitting right here, a little girl resting securely in Scarlett’s arms, as Scott had found himself, and stayed within these past two years.
Suddenly his trance was broken when, from the road in front of their house, came the sound of a vehicle approaching at high speed. Scott snapped his head back toward the house to get a better listen. He could see, around the house and through the trees, a large truck barreling down the country road, its headlights racing and bouncing with intensity. In an instant, it had passed up the road and out of sight.
“Huh?”
Soon, after a moment of silence, another sound echoed into the night. This sound rattled Scott to the bone and tore all that was right in his world into pieces. A sharp, bellowing squeal. His eyes shot over to his neighbors house, which was about a tenth of a mile to his right but still had a couple dim lights on that he could see. The shriek seemed to come from there.
Then, more squeals. It was hellish. More than animal but not quite human. Scott stood up. He heard crashing and tearing and further destruction coming from Charles’ house.
“Scarlett!! Scarlett!” He yelled toward his house, where he looked and could see her silhouette behind the curtains at the kitchen window. She didn’t seem to hear him.
He turned back toward his neighbors. The chaos had gone quiet. Not a half a moment after, though, he heard something big barreling through the trees as fast as that truck had been sprinting. Running, running furiously between the two houses. Searching, hunting. Scott was taken aback so hard that his heel had caught the edge of the fire pit, throwing him down only inches away from severe burns. He had knocked his head in the whiplash, making him groan and take a moment to regain his bearings.
“SCARLETT!!!!”
He screamed out toward his home as he sat up, rubbing a quickly rising bump on the back of his head. He heard a loud breaching on the side of his house. The patio door. No. No. Then, all hell broke loose. Scarlett started wailing and crying and he could hear crashes of plates and glasses and deep guttural roars coming from the kitchen inside. Shadows danced in a frenzy from the curtained windows. Sounds of instinctual survival seemed to be thrown from Scarlett inside. Sounds of defeat. Sounds of agony. Sounds of insanity. Scott sprang to his feet, his equilibrium being more damaged than he realized after his fall. He had to catch his hand on a chair to stabilize himself. Scarlett’s symphony of pain had gone quiet. Soon after something burst back out the patio door again and off in the same direction as that truck before.
Scott struggled back up to the house, slowly climbing the wintered, crunching stairs that led to the patio. He no longer yelled for Scarlett. In fact, the only thing that came to his senses was the sound of his own heavy breathing. Everything else had been turned off, save for a heavy and sudden dread that he had prayed he would never feel. He came to the side of his house where indeed the patio door had been busted and forced open. It laid inside the kitchen, its hinges snapped like toothpicks. Scott, with eyes wide and twitching, slowly entered his home and looked into the kitchen.
He didn’t scream. He didn’t even change his breathing. He didn’t blink. He just got a good long look at what laid before him.
Everything was broken. The fridge was on its side, the door hanging open and food and drink scattered all over the floor. The table was upended, its legs to the ceiling. A chair was resting on the counter, possibly having been thrown in defense. And Scarlett. Oh Scarlett. She…was…everywhere. She was all over the floor. She was sprayed against the walls. She was stuck to the window. She was in the sink.
Scott gently walked through the carnal mess and sabotage of his world. Long ago he had known exactly what he would do if something anywhere near this bad were to happen to him. He politely stumbled through the kitchen, down the hall, and into the bedroom. He opened his closet door and lowered a fire safe from the top rack. He unlocked it with a passcode. 511, after that warm May date when he had first met Scarlett. In the safe was a Sig Sauer P320 handgun. Scott took it out, along with a box of bullets, loaded one into the gun, put the safe back on its rack, and walked out of the closet, sitting on his bed. Their bed. Where they should’ve been laying right at this very moment, working toward a happy future. Where he would’ve kissed her forehead and put a hand on her growing midsection. Where they would have awoken on Christmas morning to the sound of children who were way too excited to remain asleep. Where they would’ve grown old. Where they would’ve smiled at each other through wrinkles, satisfied with all the love they shared and passed on to the next generations. Where they would’ve held each other in deep peace as they finally fell asleep to this world.
“I will…I will”
In one quick motion Scott pulled back the hammer and stuck the barrel of that pistol right up against his Governor and blew himself away, far away, right back into Scarlett’s loving arms.
Jeremy “Smallmouth” Bassett quickly yet stealthily made his way back to his Uncle’s house. He hugged the sides of the dark country road, keeping his eyes and ears wide open as to notice any sounds pertaining to the event that he had just witnessed there in the field next to the huge blaze. His only thought was Uncle Chuck. His house was right on the warpath of that horrible thing and Smallmouth had to go to him and make sure he was safe. He dared not go back to his truck, which would bring a lot of unwanted attention. No, Smallmouth walked and walked and finally saw the lights of his Uncle’s house. He carefully approached the front door from the shadowed driveway. Suddenly it occurred to Smallmouth that something was very wrong here. The door was busted in, having been plowed through by something very large and very strong.
“No…no…no”
Smallmouth slowly entered the house. The kitchen and living room were a disaster, chairs and tables and bottles strewn about and shattered. Bloody hoof-prints covered the floors, each of them the size of dinner plates. Smallmouth heard no noise. He felt himself well with tears, his nose a faucet that he began to sniff up as he worked his way through to his Uncle’s room, the door there also being broken in. A small whine growing in his throat, Smallmouth peaked into his uncles bedroom.
It was all in tatters. The bed had been attacked and shredded, the mattress being ripped up and thrown about as if it were made of cotton candy. More bloody hoof-prints were painted all over the brown carpet. Smallmouth trembled and put a hand up to his wet face. He didn’t see a way that his Uncle was anywhere near alive, knowing what he knew about the monster that had been in this house.
Smallmouth slowly walked to the living room, to the only little table that had been untouched in the attack. It was almost as if the bottle of whiskey teleported into his hand from the overturned cabinet, unopened. He fixed that real quick.
Soon he was several pulls deep of the only thing in the world that he knew would make him feel better, even if only for a few hours. He found his pack of cigarettes in his coat pocket and lit one up, although he was indoors. What did it matter? He sat in a chair that he had turned right side up and set the bottle on the table and looked out the back window into the pitch black. He cried for his Uncle and he cried for the world. He cried for himself. He cried for broken promises and his own weakness. He drank and drank until his vision shook from right to left everywhere he looked. At first he didn’t even notice the figures on the back porch. Then his vibrating focus did pick up on them, but by then it was too late. It was so dark out there but in their outlines he could see they wore long robes and hoods.
“HA!! COME AND GET ME! HAHA!! YOU COME AND YOU GET ME!!” Smallmouth boasted with a delusional amount of courage.
A creak escaped from the kitchen and he drunkenly slung his head over toward it. Three more figures stood there. Or was it just one? Smallmouth was none the wiser. All at once the hooded intruders from both inside and outside began to chant a strange, twisted rhyme in strikingly low and dissonant harmony:
“A sliver…of liver…goes down…with a shiver… …and gives…your gullet…to gall… …but drink…the Cider…that drowns…the Spider… …and you…will be free…of it all… …so tighten the grip…that loosens your lips… …O raise…the bottle…of brown… …and wake tomorrow…to find…in sorrow… …ANOTHER…SPIDER…TO…DROWN”
Smallmouth groaned at them in dissatisfaction and turned his bottle up again and began to chug the whiskey. As he did they repeated the chant except this time it was louder and closer. By the time Smallmouth had finished his bottle he was quickly losing consciousness. This wasn’t just whiskey. As he closed his eyes he felt hands grabbing him from all sides.
Smallmouth pulled open his sticky eyelids. His head felt like someone had bowled a strike into it. Wind froze his face. The smell of sickly, wet iron stung his nostrils. His vantage was higher than usual. Way higher. He was looking out into another field, but from easily ten feet up. He saw an old church, formerly painted white but now a flaky pale-beige. He heard the friction of a quick pull of rope below him, matched with a slight, tight pain at his feet. He looked down. A red-robed figure was fastening him against a wooden structure of some kind. His feet sat on a small flat platform perpendicular to a post that went from the ground up past smallmouths head. He couldn’t move his arms, so he quickly shot his eyes side to side. They were also tied to another horizontal post. A cross. He was being tied to a crude wooden cross. His shirt had been removed, exposing a hairy, overweight belly. Smallmouth tried to speak, but all that came out was a slow, unintelligible grumble. He was still drunk. No, this was more than that. He was under the influence of something strong and absolutely inhibitive. He wallowed again, and took in a deep breath. The smell of iron once again hit his nose. He looked down at himself. He was covered in a thick, red liquid. That wasn’t just the smell of iron. He had been splashed full body with blood.
“Now now, young servant…” the figure at his feet had finished his task and took a couple of steps out to admire his own handiwork.
“Ahh…perfect. The picture of martyrdom. Yes, you will always be remembered, Brother Bassett. You are to be the first Saint of The New Bible.” He opened his arms in his declaration.
Smallmouth looked up into the cold night sky. The moon shown down, giving everything a midnight spotlight. It was a gorgeous waxing gibbous, big and bright but not quite full. Yes, he was in a great big snowy field that housed an old worn down church. From the windows of the church he saw candles glowing, showing dark heads and shoulders looking out to him, also covered in loose hoods, hiding faces. He was hanging on a cross about one hundred feet from the old church. In front of the cross was a partially covered pit, a couple of two by fours supporting double armfuls of branches and dead leaves.
The figure at the base of the cross put his arms back to his side. He was still looking right at the drugged Smallmouth’s dumbstruck face. Even with a veiled mouth you could hear the twisted smile in his voice.
“Tonight you will help us finally defeat this legion, Smallmouth. You see, it may have the evil spirits within it, but at its core, it is still an owned animal. An animal that knows its Master very well. An animal that will remember the smell of its Master. You, my friend, are covered in its Master right now. And you are hanging on a cross, the symbol of this brute’s most hated enemy. But take heart, young Brother. Before you is our pit of spears. Yes you will attract the beast, but our Divine plan will intercept it and the beast will fall and be pierced. And then, oh dear brother, you will forever be immortalized. You will be purified in fire by the hands of your church brethren. Out of your screams and into the smoke the iniquities of all will be released. We will go on to preach your good example and your sainthood forever and ever.”
Smallmouth began to drool and hum pathetically. He could hear and understand the words of the robed man but he couldn’t fight back. His body was useless, limp inside its rope confines. All he could do now is think, and watch, and wait, and dread his fate.
The figure turned away from him, walking over near the pit and gathering up a bundle of brambles and throwing them over the last open area, covering it completely. He then crunched through the snow over to the front door of the old church, groaning open the door. He stood at the dark doorway for a few seconds in silence, and then began to make a noise. An over exaggerated pig squealing noise, high pitched and infuriating. Soon after other voices from inside the church began to do the same, their wailing echoing out of the building and all across the field, loudly signaling, calling out. It may as well have been a dinner bell. Not a half minute after they began the distress signal it was loudly answered by a distant squall. A furious squall.
This was it. Either way it happened Smallmouth was about to die. Experience terror, and then die, and not even have the ability to put up any kind of defense. It wasn’t fair. He just slowly lifted up his head and watched out far into the moonlit, white field. He then raised his heavy head further and took a good gander at the moon and stars for the last time.
“God,” he thought to himself, still having full inner monologue yet no outer motor function, “I am so sorry. I am so sorry for being what I am. I am so sorry for ending up in this place. It’s only my own fault. If it wasn’t for me being so stupid and messy and drunk and terrible then this wouldnt be happening to me.”
He began to shed tears that washed lines into the blood on his face.
“Please forgive me God. Please, please, please forgive me for all of my sins. This is it. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!” He yelled inside his own mind, hoping and trying to send his silent words as far up into heaven as they could go.
He lowered his eyes back to the ground. He looked over at the church again. The windows were empty, the candles were extinguished. Those hooded cowards were hiding from their own handmade sacrificial service. All was quiet for a long pause until a much louder, closer bleating began at the edge of the forest not even three hundred feet away from Smallmouth’s glazed over eyes. It was time, and it was too late for a miracle.
Out of the woods, slowly and heavily, stomped the massive hog. As it marched closer and closer Smallmouth could see its white, boiled over eyes and black-burnt skin. Its jaws were flying open and snapping its sharp, pocket knife-sized teeth together in an intimidating “clack”. It was now less than a hundred feet away, the dark old church to its right shoulder. It stopped, its pale glowing eyes fixed right on Smallmouth on the crude cross. It truly was a monster. It stood as tall as a man and as long as a canoe. Around its murderous mouth were stains of red, the remnants of all that it had taken from the world on this unholy night. In its clanging jaws were bits of flesh. It snorted and scowled.
Then, in a fury, it wailed that horrible squeal and started off into a dead sprint. It galloped and galloped toward Smallmouth at a high, blistering speed. It kept yawping and howling as it cut the distance from the cross down to fifty feet, forty feet, thirty, twenty. All at once it passed over the covered pit and plunged in. In his doomed, dead eyed stupor Smallmouth could hear what sounded like paint being dumped from a rooftop onto concrete. Trails of black liquid squirted and splashed up from the pit, which had been uncovered in the fall of the beast. Unbelieving, Smallmouth saw dozens of steel spear tips standing up from the dug-in ground. Right in the middle of them the beast was stuck. The sheer weight of the animal had caused the spears to pierce through its tough skin, sticking out of its back, soaked in black blood. One spear had stabbed right under the hogs chin, passing up through its jaws and out its black snout. It made agonized sounds. It roared and roared and shook the spears inside it, beginning furiously, then growing weaker and weaker within seconds. Finally, it let out one last weak little squeal, before it went still and quiet.
Smallmouth was frozen both physically by drugs and constraints and mentally by shock. His mouth hung open toward the pit of spears, his vision blurry. He took in a deep, troubled breath and let out a moan of disbelief and relief. The old church doors sprang open, and the sound of jubilation within flowed out into the night. The red robed figures flocked out of the building toward the pit, arms raised in celebration. They surrounded the hole, getting a good look at their success and their enemies defeat. Some held additional spears and began further stabbing the dead animal, causing more black blood to be shed up at them. They all yelled loudly and triumphantly. Some danced around the pit. Some skipped over to Smallmouth on the cross and danced around him, slapping his legs and spinning in circles.
Smallmouth looked on at the raucous celebration, both in utter disbelief of their trap actually working and also in turmoil. How long now until they fully execute their plan.
A taller robed man, whose voice matched the same one who spoke to Smallmouth as he tied his feet, spoke up, sounding almost happily intoxicated.
“Ahh yes my Brothers!! It is done!! We have won!!!”
They all whooped and cheered.
“Brother Norman, go into the church and bring me the small tank of fuel. Let us send our dear Saint Bassett to the Holy lands, where he will be adored for all eternity!”
They all clapped and hollered. One figure began childishly skipping away from the pit and over toward the front door of the church.
Then, it happened.
From the pit all of a sudden a great blaze erupted instantly. It stood as tall as the cross, and it burned a furious red and blue. It raged and raged, blinding Smallmouth and making him clumsily turn his face away from the heat.
All of the figures panicked, screaming and scattering away toward the church. They didn’t get far. Up from the fiery pit, dozens of long, long, black arms, adorned with six hooking claws emerged and stretched out of the flames and latched on to the legs of those trying to escape. Smallmouth heard crying and wailing from the men as the black, razor clawed-hands of the legion grabbed them and began pulling them back, into the blazes. One by one the red robed people were dragged into the flames, their clothes catching instantly. Smallmouth could see violently shaking bodies in the evil furnace. Oh, the screams. Above the tortured howling, the sound of laughing broke out. Deep, menacing laughter, hundreds of voices, echoed up into the air from the burning hole. Then, in one extinguishing squeeze, the ground swallowed the entirety of the fiery pit, leaving it completely covered in dirt, still and quiet. Soon after, and just like the pit of spears, the old church building caught in an instant and raging fire, quickly toppling the walls and dropping the steeple into its ruins. The smoke towered high in the night sky, which had just began to hint at a pale morning blue. Smallmouth hung on his cross in utter horror and surprise.
As the late evening hours glowed into early morning the smoke eventually tapered off, as Smallmouth’s drugs finally began to wear off as well. The fires of the church did garner long distance attention, though. Just as Smallmouth was able to regain control of his muscles and voice he heard emergency sirens call out into the cold morning air. Not long after, two fire trucks, an ambulance and a sheriffs truck tore into the field and toward Smallmouth on the cross. Not long after Smallmouth could feel the tied ropes being cut loose by firemen, their uniforms easily the best red clothes he had seen all night.
“What on God’s green Earth happened here son?” A bearded man with a dark hat and brown shirt and pants asked Smallmouth once he had been lowered down from the cross and sat on the ground with a shock blanket around his shoulders. The Sheriff, no doubt.
“God’s green Earth. It really is God’s, isn’t it?” Smallmouth whispered, staring out across the cold field. Then, at the very place he was staring, an old, familiar truck came barreling out of the gravel road in the woods and through the field in the steadily growing morning light. It was Uncle Chuck’s truck. It hurried over toward the other emergency vehicles, parked, the driver’s side door burst open, and Uncle Chuck came bounding out over to Smallmouth, his eyes wide and his mouth a wonderfully shocked “O”.
“JEREMY! JEREMY!!!” He basically fell on Smallmouth in a tight, warm hug. Smallmouth was caught off guard by Chuck using his real name.
His Uncle held him for several seconds and then let up, but kept his hands on Smallmouth’s shoulders.
“I thought you were dead.” Both of them said at almost the exact same time.
“I came back and your house was a mess and there was blood everywhere. I thought you were dead.” Smallmouth weakly spat out.
“Well, I woke up and you were gone, son, so I walked to the ranch to get my truck. I was worried bout ya son. I came back home and the whole place had been turned upside down. Blood on the carpet. I just thought the worst. Then I tried my neighbors house. Buddy, they’re dead. Looks like some wacko murder-suicide if I ever saw one. Scott probably tried to come kill us too and wrecked the place when he found it empty. I don’t know. But what I DO know is that you are right here! You are okay Jeremy!! Ahhh Praise Jesus!!”
“It’s not that, Uncle. That isn’t what happened out here. It’s..it was a..a, uh…”
Smallmouth’s fried brain couldn’t even comprehend what he had witnessed over the past few hours. It was all a violent blur.
“Dont worry bout it son, you can tell me everything on the way to the hospital. We gotta go get you checked out and cleaned up. C’mon.” He helped Smallmouth up and they walked over to the ambulance, his Uncle’s arm thrown around his shoulder.
Smallmouth would be sent home later that afternoon. It would take him and his Uncle a long time to sort through the chaos of that deadly night and rebuild their lives. But life kept on. Smallmouth would remain living with his Uncle, and would begin a job working with him down at the ranch. Together they started to attend a local church. Smallmouth never touched a drink or a drug or even a cigarette ever again, and remained steadfast in his newly revitalized faith.
submitted by SamMorrisHorror to TheCrypticCompendium [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 16:31 3L3M3NT4LP4ND4 I am unapologetically lost right at the beginning. Any hints for a total noob? [Spoilers]? I guess??

It's so early I can basically give a rundown of everything I've ever done. I don't even really know how I could spoil anything why would you be here without being this far in at least-
I've found a stick, I found a health potion, I went to soms places and found instruction pages 10-15. I reached the hero's shrine, I killed the green spear miniboss and the Guard Captain. I've explored every nook and cranny found numerous shortcuts but I haven't msnaged to tick off any boxes under "Ringing the East bell" (provided that they do get ticked off in the game). Nor have I found a way back up the broken ladder in the tower.
I have ran around everywhere opened every chest and I am lost.
It doesn't help that I have 0 memory for these types of games so I might run through the same room 5 times trying to remember where it leads but yeah.
I understand I need to ring the Eastern bell, I have all the locations accessible and think I've done everything possible in them. I see two hooks that look like I could attach a rope but there's no rope and the manual keeps referring to a shield I don't have.
submitted by 3L3M3NT4LP4ND4 to TunicGame [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 14:41 Contactunderground “Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality", a compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez.

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality
“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway/
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/
submitted by Contactunderground to HighStrangeness [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 14:37 Contactunderground “Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality", a compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez.

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality
“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job buzzed me on the 405 Freeway
Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/
submitted by Contactunderground to Experiencers [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 14:33 Contactunderground “Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality". a compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality
“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A Similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway.
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/
submitted by Contactunderground to ContactUnderground [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 14:30 Contactunderground “Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium was published and edited by Rey Hernandez.

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium was published and edited by Rey Hernandez.
“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway
IINTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/
submitted by Contactunderground to CE5 [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 14:28 Contactunderground “Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium was published and edited by Rey Hernandez.

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium was published and edited by Rey Hernandez.
“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job, buzzed me on the 405 Freeway
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/
submitted by Contactunderground to AnomalousEvidence [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 14:25 Contactunderground “Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez

“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing” The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez
“Seeing is Believing & Believing is Seeing”
The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model
Joseph Burkes MD 2019 edited 2023

A similar chopper, but with a bizarre paint job buzzed me on the 405 Freeway .
INTRODUCTION

This article is based on my chapter in Volume 2 of the 2022 book “A Greater Reality.” This compendium published and edited by Rey Hernandez can now be viewed without charge on the CCRI, Consciousness and Contact Research Institute’s web site, links provided at the end of this narrative.

A familiar statement by members of the public is, “I’ll believe in flying saucers when I see one.” As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” During my many years of contact activism, I have learned that “believing” can also lead to “seeing.” The aim of this report is to describe two important features of the contact experience. The first concerns how UAP intelligences shape encounters depending on the existing beliefs and expectations of contact experiencers. The second theme is that intelligences responsible for flying saucers employ what from a physicalist perspective is “illusion” as a mechanism of contact. I present a case in which both mechanisms were likely employed.

Readers of this blog please note the following: This narrative was originally conceived when I was writing about UFOs from within what can be called a “physicalist” or philosophical materialist’s perspective. This paradigm makes the metaphysical assumption that mass/energy is the wellspring of creation, and that mind/consciousness is merely a product of brain activity.

More recently with the assistance of my friend and publisher Rey Hernandez, I have increasingly viewed this physicalist assumption as flawed. If Consciousness is primary, not mass/energy then the psi mediated mechanisms of contact might be viewed as being closer to the wellspring of creation (and therefore perhaps more “real”) than the construct of our senses that we call “physical reality.”

My changing metaphysical views have been propelled in part by the “simulation hypothesis” that has gained some popularity within professional scientific circles. My growing acceptance of Consciousness being primary, and that the physical world is an illusion therefore compels me to view technologically based psi technology as creating “illusions” within the physical realm that could very well be an illusory simulated reality as well. In Eastern mystical traditions, the illusory nature of the physical world is called “Maya.”

THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONNECTION

It has been said that UAP intelligences are able to access experiencers’ consciousness as readily as you and I access light by turning on a wall switch. Among contact experiencers it is common knowledge that the so-called “aliens” are totally telepathic. In my opinion, such awesome power also allows them to readily access our entire storehouse of memories. This capability, when combined with their ability to create psi mediated “illusions”, enables them to co-create with us any kind of encounter that you and they can “co-imagine.”

THE PHENOMENON IS “REFLECTIVE”: THE RADICAL CONCEPTS INTRODUCED BY JOHN KEEL

John Keel,(1930- 2008) was a legendary UFO and paranormal researcher and author. He published over a dozen books. These include the “The Mothman Prophecies” (1975), that was made into a successful film starring Richard Gere. In 1966, Keel entered into an intense investigation of the flying saucer phenomenon. As part of this study, he read thousands of local newspaper articles on UFO sightings provided by clipping services. He travelled across the United States interviewing hundreds of witnesses. Keel coined the term MIB (Men In Black).

In 1967, after just one year of his intense field investigations, he abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis. He did so because of, “an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs...” Famous investigators like Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Dr. Jacques Vallee eventually came to similar conclusions. John Keel was one of ufology’s most controversial writers and his work still influences current debates about the nature of the flying saucer phenomenon.

Keel, in his classic book, “The Mothman Prophecies” discusses how flying saucer intelligence manipulated his own investigations in ways that reinforced his beliefs about what was going on. On page 111 he states,

“I was being led to people and cases to support whatever theory I was working on at the time. I tested this by inventing some rather outlandish ideas. Within days I would receive phone calls, reports, and mail describing elements of those ideas. This was the feedback or reflective effect. Other investigators concerned with solving problems such as how flying saucers are propelled have automatically been fed, or led into, cases in which the witnesses supposedly viewed the interiors of the objects and saw things which confirmed the investigators' theories. If the phenomenon can produce any effect through hallucination, it can easily support any theory.”

As a physician I prefer the term illusion rather than “hallucination” to describe the mechanisms involved in Close Encounters. Hallucinations, from the medical point of view, are manifestation of disease states and should not be applied to encounters with non-human intelligences in which the witnesses are generally not ill.

According to my analysis, psi-mediated technologically induced illusions are being presented to human subjects. This noted, I cannot over emphasize the importance of Keel’s above quote from “The Mothman Prophecies.” In addition, it is important to note that the reflective nature of the contact experience exists on both a societal as well as an individual level. Researchers John Keel, Dr. Jacques Vallee and others have aptly observed that the appearance of the UAPs reflect the cultural expectations of each historic period in which they have manifested.
Thus, to the ancient Chinese, they appeared as “dragons.” During the 1890s airship wave in the USA, they took on the appearance of Zeppelins that would be built a few years later. For the last sixty years, as we have gotten out into space, they are now thought of as “extraterrestrial.”

The following narrative is an example of an encounter that is both “illusory” as well as reflective of one’s own beliefs about what the phenomenon is “supposed to be.”

Mystery Helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass

During the mid 1990s, I was a Working Group Coordinator in Los Angeles for the CE-5 Initiative. This involved staging what I now call Human Initiated Contact Events (HICE). My contact team regularly travelled to remote locations in the high desert. There we used consciousness techniques such as meditation and thought projection to stage limited interactions with UAPs. To our surprise UFOs appeared not only during our fieldwork but also during everyday types of activities. These multiple data points helped me understand the psychic mechanisms used to engineer Close Encounters.

During the five years that I was a contact team leader, my sightings occurred, not only during fieldwork, but also in my West Los Angeles neighborhood. Some of the sightings demonstrated a flat two-dimensional quality. This made me suspect that they were not physical objects at all. Instead they appeared to be visual displays that were being produced by some kind of holographic technology. As the result of these encounters, I developed a new model incorporating the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact. I call this theory, The Virtual Experience Model.

The Virtual Experience Hypothesis

Virtual Experiences of the First Kind (VE-1) are illusory visual displays of structured objects or “alien” beings that typically convince witnesses that they are physical “craft” or “extraterrestrials” beings respectively.

Other categories include the psychic creation of a kind of virtual reality that produces a full sensory illusion that is convincingly real to the human subject. I designate this type as a VE-2.

The final major category is Virtual Experience of the Third Kind (VE-3). In this setting, artificial memories are implanted into the consciousness of the contact experiencer. Although the witness recalls seeing a non-human being or remembers going on-board an ET craft, according to this scenario no such event has actually transpired. The false memory does the job of convincing the witness that was happened was “real”, i.e., a physical event.

A HIGH LEVEL CONTACTEE JOINS THE TEAM

One member of our HICE/CE5 Los Angeles group was a high level contactee from the former Soviet Union. I refer to him as “Misha Goldman”, a pseudonym. He worked as an EKG tech in the Kaiser Hospital where I was employed. He was what you might describe as a “human UFO magnet.” As soon as he joined the group our level of contact, as measured by the appearances of UAPs, increased dramatically. I deemed it highly likely that he had direct telepathic communications with what contactees might call “friends in high places.”

Living just a few miles from Hollywood, “the entertainment capital of the world,” I thought that perhaps Misha’s boost to our contact efforts was analogous to how Hollywood describes climbing the ladder of success. “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that facilitates getting the next job as an actor, director or producer.

MISHA’S PROBLEMATIC SIGHTING OF A FLYING SAUCER & MYSTERY HELICOPTERS IN THE SEPULVEDA PASS

One Tuesday morning during Easter Week in 1994, Misha called me at home to describe a sighting that he had the previous evening. While driving on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley he reportedly saw a typical disc shaped UAP flying overhead. It was about 1000 feet up and approximately thirty feet across. Misha was not the only member of the team that was having sightings while driving, but what made this sighting highly unusual was that this saucer according to Misha was being chased by several military helicopters.

Based on my growing suspicion that some UFO sightings are illusory in nature, I told Misha that there were features of his sighting that were problematic. It is important to point out that the San Fernando Valley had a population in 1994 of about one million people. In addition, there are no major US military facilities located nearby. I told him that his assessment that the military helicopters were chasing an “alien craft” didn’t make much sense. The flight characteristics of some UAPs include their ability to fly circles around top performance military aircraft. Slow moving helicopters in pursuit mode would never be able to keep up with a “real flying saucer.” So, then what was going on?

Reverse Engineered Craft was not a likely Explanation

I suggested to Misha another possibility. What if the flying disc were a top-secret prototype military device? Then, perhaps the helicopters were escorting it rather than chasing it. This notion was reminiscent of the famous Cash-Landrum Incident in which supposedly a reverse engineered radioactive craft accompanied by US military helicopters injured several witnesses on the ground. However, there was a problem with this possible explanation. The densely populated San Fernando Valley was the least likely place for the authorities to test such a craft. Just imagine the uproar with thousands of witnesses if the saucer had to stage an emergency landing in a community of a million people. Prized government/corporate assets were better kept secure, way out in the desert where they might be secretly developed, and test flown.

I told Misha that the entire sighting might have been a kind of “theater of the mind production.” (This conversation occurred years before I coined the term Virtual Experience describing the role of illusion as a mechanism of contact.) Instead, I told Misha that the disc he had seen over the 101 might be the product of some kind of advanced alien “mind control” technology.

“Helicopters” vs Bizarre Visual Displays

After making this sweeping speculative analysis of Misha’s encounter on the phone, and feeling quite proud of myself at that, I said good-bye to my contact team buddy. I set off to work, driving on the 405 Freeway. I didn’t want to be late for the noon doctors’ meeting. Back in 1994 my department was still offering fresh donuts at conference and I didn’t want to miss my share.

So, there I was, driving through a sea of cars, on what seemed like a normal Tuesday afternoon. Or was it? As I reached the middle portion of the Sepulveda Pass, I noticed something a bit strange. Above the eastern rim of the canyon, I saw two military helicopters. This in and of itself was strange. There are no major military bases located near the City of Los Angeles. What was even more bizarre was that both choppers were vintage aircraft. One was an old Sikorsky, the kind first used in the Korean War. I recognized its typical large rounded nose with the cockpit located high up above the main cabin. The other was a Huey, a Bell UH 205, the standard workhorse helicopter of the Vietnam War.

I was immediately struck by the wild colors on both craft. The Sikorsky, instead of the standard military dark green was a brilliant candy color green. It looked like something out of a circus. The Huey appeared a bit more respectable. It was painted a darker olive color, but the bright green circle surrounded the US star insignia on the side of the craft just didn’t look right. Both helicopters were slowly moving back and forth above the over the canyon. They appeared to be no more than 200 feet above the rim. This was several hundred feet below the minimum altitude required by government regulations when flying over densely populated areas.

A Coincidence or an Example of what John Keel Would call the “Reflective Factor.”

I thought to myself, “This is very strange.” I have a conversation with Misha about his sighting possibly being a simulated visual display and then I am witness to craft that were fit for a carnival. I had specifically mentioned to Misha the notion that helicopters might be used as props in his sighting. Now I was witness to not one, but two bizarre “identified flying objects.”

Was this just an amazing coincidence, or was I being given a rather theatrical visual display similar to Misha’s? The sequence of events in retrospect suggests that the “reflective” aspect of UFO intelligence as described by John Keel was in effect. I had formulated a “belief” that the craft and helicopters from the previous night were illusory in nature, and as if to confirm my “pet theory” bizarre helicopters were flying overhead. Things got even stranger however. I wondered if Misha’s sighting was a kind of a test as to whether I would choose to attempt to interact with UFO intelligence.

On the chance that the choppers were psi mediated visual displays and not “physically real” and were produced by a telepathic non-human intelligence that might be able to communicate with me, I decided to “send out” a mental message of welcome. This, after all, was part of the contact protocols that I was employing during fieldwork. As my vehicle approached the top of the Sepulveda Pass, I was doing about 55 miles per hour. I watched the helicopters located now above me and to the right. They were still moving back and forth perpendicular to the freeway.

Human Initiated Contact Event: Was a Consciousness Connection Evident?

Not actually expecting a response from the craft overhead, I sent out a mental message of welcome. My 1983 Toyota Camry reached the crest of the Sepulveda Pass. The San Fernando Valley stretched out before me. As always, I took pleasure in the spectacular panoramic view. I accelerated as I headed down the hill into the Valley. To my surprise, I noticed that the Huey had broken away from the Sikorsky. It was headed my way! Just another coincidence?

The Huey was now above my vehicle, and I noticed that it was descending rapidly. It kept pace with me, flying just a few dozen yards out front. I had a perfect view of its underbelly through my windshield. The chopper leveled out at less than 100 feet above the roadway. I could hear the chopper’s engines, but they seemed quite muffled. The roar should have been deafening, but it wasn’t. My heart pounding, I continued to silently chant welcoming thoughts.

For about one mile, we traveled together. As we passed the Sepulveda Basin Dam, the Huey moved off to the west. I looked towards the walls of the reservoir, (a favorite “shoot site” for film crews.) The large concrete plaza in front the dam was totally deserted. Apparently, the choppers were not part of a Hollywood action movie being filmed on the spillway of the reservoir.

After the medical conference, I worked an evening shift in the ER. I then called Misha and told him about the helicopters in the Sepulveda Pass. Was the appearance of the helicopters an example of the “reflective aspect” as described by John Keel? Did I really have a contact experience while driving through the Sepulveda Pass? I suppose skeptics would reject any positive interpretation of the events as nothing more than “UFO fan club wishful thinking.” Coincidence might explain all. I should point out however that prior to this experience, I had never been buzzed by a helicopter while driving, never before and never since for that matter. It all might have occurred by chance. But I don’t think so!

Addendum: A much expanded, footnoted version of this article appears in the anthology “A Greater Reality” edited by Reinerio Hernandez. This multivolume work is published by the newly formed The Consciousness and Contact Research Institute (CCRI) and supports the concept that consciousness rather than mass/energy is the wellspring of creation.
My chapter titled “Report from the Contact Underground: The Consciousness Connection and the Virtual Experience Model” can be accessed at:
https://agreaterreality.com/downloads/articles/Burkes%20-%20Report%20from%20the%20Contact%20Underground.pdf

Other chapters published by CCRI may be viewed at the organization’s web site at:
https://agreaterreality.com

Form additional articles on the Virtual Experience Model, the following links are provided:
This is an overview of the Virtual Experience Model (VEM) with a brief explanation of categories one, two and three.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/the-virtual-experience-model-an-overview/

I further develop the VEM by discussing the traditional Tibetan belief in “tulpas.” These are thought to be more than holographic projects, but rather physical objects and beings.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/the-interdimensional-vs-et-hypothesis-virtual-experiences-and-ufo-sightings-as-thought-forms/

American physician Andrija Puharich’s work with psychic Uri Geller gives a striking example of “virtual memory” a Virtual Experience of the Third Kind.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/andrija-puharich-mds-work-with-uri-geller-supports-the-virtual-experience-model/

I describe field observations of anomalous shooting star visual displays that played an important role in the development of the VEM.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/why-might-ufo-intelligence-hoax-shooting-star-displays-reflections-on-the-virtual-experience-model/

Virtual Experience of the Third Kind: “Virtual Memory” is a concept explored here considering advances in memory science.
https://contactunderground.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/virtual-memory-a-virtual-experience-of-the-third-kind-ve-3/
submitted by Contactunderground to aliens [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 04:48 NecessaryHospital430 Objectives, Close Encounters, Quality of Life and Lots of Chickens. Meta Shakeup + Big List of Changes/Ideas.

Objectives, Close Encounters, Quality of Life and Lots of Chickens. Meta Shakeup + Big List of Changes/Ideas.

Intro

My ideas for a meta shakeup that includes buffs, nerfs and some minor reworks to mechanics.
What do you agree/disagree with and what would you change or suggest?
owie

Objectives + Chickens

(1) Chickens will be at every final exit gate.
he'd see you at every final gate/door.
If a Victim alerts a chicken they will be highlighted for everyone to see just like how Grandpa highlights Victims nearby.
(2) Fuse and Valve will NEVER spawn near eachother on the same side of the map.
Generator
  • Kicking the generator will be considered a loud action and create the noise VFX accordingly.
Fusebox
  • Fuse alignment will take a base of 6 seconds to install each fuse button. Proficiency will affect this.
White action bar that occurs before the fuse button is placed. Make sure you know how to add.
Valve
  • Inserting the valve will take significantly longer (5-7 seconds) and will NOT have a mapwide sound when it is put in.
  • Valve turning for victims will be changed to an action bar like what family has.
The action of turning the handle is now affected by Strength rather than Proficiency.
action bar instead of noise meter. because how can you turn a valve loudly.
  • Hare or Meat is changed to increase valve turning when a family member is within range by 15/20/30%
Car Battery
Unchanged

Tampered Objectives

Danny would need to first tamper an objective and then complete the objective. Or complete the objective and then tamper when it is turned off/open.
Example: Danny tampers Generator but he still needs to kick it. A Tampered Generator takes less kicks to turn off and stays off for longer (like how it works now)
Tampered Generator
  • Reduced time to turn off the generator. Cooldown is 3 times as long.
Tampered Fuse
  • Fuse button installation time will be reduced. Fuse cooldown is 3 times as long.
Tampered Valve
Valve pressurizes 3 times as fast and will stay open for 3 times as long when its open.
A Tampered Valve can be turned off by family but it will depressurize (regress) 3 times as slow.
Comments: Danny will still have to get the valve to reach max pressure for it to be open. However with it being tampered Danny and his friends can have an easier time fighting for it due to the increased pressurization rate, without it being completely one sided.
This change can open up different strategies and create these really intense moments where you need to decide if you send a family member to guard the tampered valve, but be down a chaser, or if all victims just decide to brawl by the valve to pull it off.
Tampered Car Battery
  • Reduced time to turn off the car battery.
  • Cooldown is 3 times as long.

Voicelines + Leaderboard

(1) When a victim or family member crouches they immediately stop whatever voiceline it is they are saying.
While crouched your character will not speak at all.
(2) The leaderboard will no longer show the other side's score. Score for both sides will only be seen on the results screen.
Comments: This removes the cheesy strategy of using score to guess what objectives each Victim has complete.

Door Slams

Door slams only work on CLOSED doors.
Open doors can't be closed while running. You have to walk for a bit and then continue running.
When performing a door slam both family members and victims are stalled like how Bubba is when he slams open a door currently.
you would need to be running to perform a door slam that stuns.
Slight knockback will be added if you are door slammed, moving you away from the door a bit.
Tae Kwan Door
Changed: Slamming doors on Family members will deplete 30/40/50% of their stamina.
Current: Slamming doors on Family members will stun the target for 5/6/8 seconds.

Traversals (Crawl spaces, Wall gaps, etc)

(1) EVERY traversal will have a Rushed variant like the Car traversals do currently (Wall gaps, crawl spaces, barricades, etc)
this is in the game right now lol
Rushed traversing will be fast, create a loud noise VFX and consume 15 stamina for both Victims and Family Members.
(2) When not using a Rushed variant, Victims are susceptible to being Grabbed like how you can be Grabbed out of a Hiding Spot.
Victims would need to manage their stamina so that they aren't performing Slow traversals in chase.
Slippery
Changed: After performing a Rushed traversal you move 15% faster for 5 seconds. The cooldown is 40/30/20 seconds.
Current: After using a crawl space or gap you move 5%/10%/15% faster for 5 seconds.
Wire Frame
Changed: After performing a Rushed traversal your stamina consumption is reduced by 20% for 15 seconds. The cooldown is 45/35/25 seconds.
Current: You can traverse gaps 20/30/40% faster, and crawl spaces 20%40%/60% faster.

Victim Mechanics

(1) Noise will no longer follow victims.
Comments: Noise following victims was never a good solution to discouraging rushing and it takes skill out of the chase when you can track a victim's exact movements.
(2) ALL I-frames during get up animations, stuns, etc are replaced with Stun frames, like when you step into a bone trap. Allowing family members to immediately strike victims that have gotten stunned or have just dropped from a well.
(3) Victim attributes will behave like Family and they will be unique.
For example: Leland at max Toughness wouldn't have the same health as an Ana at max Toughness. It would be like 20-25 less health.
Comments: I think it's a bit boring that you can make up for a Victim's downsides by just building toward their lowest attribute, to keep the identity between each Victim they should behave like how Savagery or Endurance works for Family and have their own values.
There'd still be a reason to build into Toughness for low health characters like Leland, it just won't ever match a character like Ana's.
(4) All Small Health Bottles are replaced with Large Health Bottles.
(5) Victims can drop items using Down D-pad or G on keyboard.
Comments: This is just quality of life. In a team game i don't get why this isn't a thing Victims can do, it'll also help prevent wasting a health bottle.
(6) When Victims search and their inventory is full, the item that gets replaced will be put on the floor instead of being discarded.
Comments: Quality of life.
(7) The leaderboard for Victims:
- What exit each Victim has used.
https://preview.redd.it/1dl99roy031d1.png?width=403&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ae88aa13f944bfb24ee0c0456cfc57b79922983
- Each Victim's health bar.
- Each Victim's inventory.
(8) When being pulled out of a hiding spot or traversal the Victim loses ALL of their stamina.
(9) Ability cooldowns at the start of the match will corrospond to each Victim's ability cooldown.
Example: Julie's ability cooldown is 120 so at the start of the match she would have a 120 second cooldown on her ability whereas Ana's ability cooldown is 180 seconds.
This would change depending on if you have an Ability Perk that changes the cooldown duration of course.
(10) Disarming traps and bone chimes will not lock the camera of the Victim.

Family Mechanics + Grandpa Perks/Mechanics

(1) Stun immunity is reduced to 5 seconds. 10 seconds is WAY too long. I address perks related to stun durations below.
(2) Family members will see eachother highlighted at ALL times without needing to use family focus
Comments: I think this change is especially important given how this game is meant to be """"""""""Casual""""""""" but it has such a heavy reliance on communication.
To help newer players and to make the game a bit less sweaty Family members should see eachother as unlike victims, Family NEEDS to work together. Victim is a bit more independent and you can carry your team usually.
(3) Family Focus will show padlocks, bone traps, barbed wire traps and ALL objectives (without you needing to get within range)
(4) ALL Family members (excluding Bubba) will spawn near Grandpa.
Comments: You shouldn't have cases like family house Johnny or slaughterhouse Sissy.
(5) Grandpa's stab cooldown will be 5 seconds and is seperate from him being incapped.
Comments: This is to prevent camping Grandpa at high levels to just level him back to level 5.
(6) When Grandpa is incapacitated, Grandpa perks will be disabled until he recovers.
(7) The highlight of victims during the grandpa sonar will linger depending on the victims stealth stat. Low stealth means the highlight can linger up to 6 seconds for example.
(8) Actively performing actions such as lockpicking, healing, crouching, kicking generators, etc. will highlight victims during a Grandpa Sonar.
Comments: Grandpa's sonar doesn't make victims stop what they're doing and i think to slow the game down this mechanic can be introduced to make for some interesting gameplay. You would have to be actively lockpicking to be highlighted by grandpa, being in the animation will not highlight you.
(9) Blood buckets are empty at the start of the match. During this time Family should set their traps up or close traversals.
(10) Family members can drop from ladders the same way victims can.
(11) Grandpa will spawn with at least 2 possible areas to stab him from.
Comments: So if a Hitchhiker does want to trap Grandpa he has to use at least 2 traps in the best case scenario.
(12) Victims highlighted by Grandpa will play the flashbulb SFX for family side as well.
(13) Endurance will no longer affect attack speed.
Comments: Endurance is a bit over tuned and it increases your DPS, which is what Savagery is meant to do.
(14) The leaderboard for Family will show:
- Each Family member's blood vial amount/capacity
- Each Family member's inventory (if they have their traps, padlocks, etc on them or not)
Exterior Alarms
Changed: When active, all final doors and gates are highlighted if unlocked.
Current: When active, all critical doors and gates are highlighted for 5 seconds if opened.
Comments: This perk counters stealth way more than it should so it has been changed to work on final doors instead to fit the "Exterior" name.
Brute Strength
Tuned: Melee damage is increased by 15% for all family members.
Current: Slightly increases melee damage for all family members.
Windoom + Well Well Well
Combined: Victims take 50% more damage when jumping out of windows or jumping down a well.
Barge To The Point
Changed: When a Family Member is door slammed by a Victim, the door will instantly break.
Current: Barging doors always opens them on the first try.
You'll Pay For That!
Changed: When Grandpa is incapacitated, your damage dealt to Victims is increased by 15%/20%/25% for 40 seconds.
Current: If Grandpa is incapacitated, your damage dealt to Victims is increased by (15%/20%/25%) until he recovers.
Agitator
Tuned: Incapacitating Grandpa has a greater negative affect on the Family. Family bond is reduced by 1.25/1.5/2 levels.
Current: Incapacitating Grandpa has a greater negative affect on the Family. Family bond is reduced by 1.5/2/2.5 levels.

Grappling and Grappling Perks

(1) While in a close encounter a victim receives 30% more damage when hit. This damage vulnerability will end when the "Close Encounter Won" notification is triggered.
Once the victim is hit the close encounter will immediately end as both the family member and victim regain control of their character.
If a victim is below 50% health and is hit by another family member, the victim will be instantly killed.
https://preview.redd.it/gowjo7ptk31d1.png?width=319&format=png&auto=webp&s=9716bbaa5494d0aadbf27666af405d93f93673f1
Comments: This is the best of both worlds, grappling won't be super punishing but it also won't feel like shit when your attacks slide off of a family member and fatigue.
(2) Lighter characters such as Hitchhiker and Sissy will be stunned the longest during close encounters whereas Johnny, Nancy and Cook will be stunned slightly less:
HitchhikeSissy Close Encounter base stun time: 4.5 seconds
Nancy/Cook Close Encounter base stun time: 4 seconds
Johnny Close Encounter base stun time: 3 seconds
Comments: Lighter characters trade off power for mobility so why aren't they stunned for more than 0.5 seconds?
(3) After winning a close encounter as Victim the family member will lose all of their stamina when they are stunned, like when you're backstabbed.
Choose fight
Changed: Fight or flight? Choose Fight. Sneak Attacks and Close Encounters gives the Family member a damage reduction of 15% for 20/25/35 seconds.
Current: Fight or flight? Choose Fight. Sneak Attacks and Close Encounters stun the family for 2/3,5/5 seconds longer.
Empowered
Changed: After surviving a close encounter, you heal for 15% of your health. The cooldown is 90/60/30 seconds.
Current: After surviving a close encounter, you regain 50/70/90% of max stamina
Pack Animal
Changed: After being hit with any type of stun your attacker is highlighted for 3/6/9 seconds.
Current: After being hit with a sneak attack, your attacker is highlighted for 3/6/9 seconds.
Dracula
Changed: Winning a close encounter gives you 40/60/80% more blood and increases your maximum blood storage capacity by 5/10/15%, while losing a close encounter gives you 20/30/40 blood.
Current: Winning a close encounter gives you 10/40/70% more blood, while losing a close encounter gives you 20/30/40 blood.
Comments: I remember initially thinking this perk would be THE blood perk because of the misleading description leading me to believe you got more blood capacity with each grapple kill, since grappling kills aren't all too common i think this buff wouldn't be too op. Could open blood Johnny meta?!?!
Efficient Grappler
Changed: You will not consume your Bone Scrap after using it in a close encounter. Has 1/2/3 charges.
Current: You have a 10/15/20% chance to keep your Bone Scrap after using it in a close encounter.

Other Perk Changes

Fast Hands
Tuned: If a Family member is within 10 meters, 75% more progress is awarded for each tap in the lockpicking minigame. Has 4/5/6 charges.
Current: If a Family member is within 10 meters, 25/50/75% more progress is awarded for each tap in the lockpicking minigame.
Comments: Perks like these that are just another Victim's ability really shouldn't exist.
BUT to make it less like Connie's ability in a perk it having charges can make it not completely overshadow her.
Jump Start
Changed: While above 80% health your stamina consumption on dashing is reduced by 20/30/50%
Current: Stamina consumption on dashing is reduced by 10/30/50%
Second Wind
Changed: After being injured, instantly recover 40% stamina. The cooldown is 50/40/30
Current: After being injured, you are able to recover 30/50/70 stamina by avoiding damage for the next 7 seconds.
Scout
Tuned: Your sprint speed is increased by 5%, but melee damage is reduced by 25/20/15%.
Current: Your movement speed is increased by 5/10/15%, but stamina regeneration rate is 20/15/10% slower.
Comments: Toned down a bit and only affects sprinting speed for family members.
Rescue Medic
Changed: Healing others is 50% faster and adds 50/70/100% more health to your target
Current: Healing others adds 50/70/100% more health to your target, while simultaneously healing you a random amount.
Rally Leader
Changed: When within 10m of an incapacitated Victim they will recover 50/75/100% faster. Incapacitated Victims are highlighted to you.
Current: Help all Victims recover from being incapacitated more quickly. Recovery is (15%/25%/35%) faster.
Safety In Numbers
Changed: You will receive a 10% bonus to your max health and stamina for each Victim that is alive and has not escaped.
Current: While all Victims are alive and before any have escaped, you receive (5%/10%/15%) bonus to your max health and stamina.
Comments: This would be a 30% bonus assuming the other 3 Victims are alive, 20% if there is 2 other Victims, 10% if there is only 1 other Victim.
Efficient Backstabber
Changed: You will not consume your Bone Scrap after sneak attacking a family member. Has 2/3/4 charges,
Current: Sneak attacks have a chance to not consume a bone scrap. Chance is 10/15/20%.
Efficient Locksmith
Changed: You will not consume your unlock tool when unlocking a door or fusebox. Has 1/2/3 charges.
Current: When unlocking doors, there is a 20% chance (Level 1)/30% chance (Level 2)/40% chance (Level 3) the unlock tool won't be consumed.
Dinner Bell
Changed: When a Victim is caught in a trap they will be highlighted to you for 15 seconds and you will instantly refill 30/40/50% of max stamina.
Current: Victims caught in traps will be highlighted, and your maximum stamina is increased by 20/40/60 points for 15 seconds.
Comments: Highlight is only available to the perk holder.
Jump Scare
Changed: Triggering bone charms or chickens replenishes 40% of max stamina. The cooldown is 50/40/30 seconds.
Current: Triggering bone charms increases your sprint speed by 10% for 4/8/12 seconds.
Chicken Whisperer
Changed: You will not disturb chickens. When chickens are disturbed by a Victim instantly refill 30/40/50% stamina and gain 10% increased sprint speed for 15 seconds.
Current: Chickens won't make noise unless you're very close to them. Chicken detection radius is reduced by (20/50%). (Level 3) Chickens will not generate noise if you are spotted. Does not affect Victims.
Vialent
Changed: When Grandpa wakes up this perk becomes active. When carrying a full blood vial your damage is increased by 10/15/20%.
Current: Your damage is increased by (10%/15%/20%) when carrying a full blood vial.

Danny

Comments: With Tampered Objectives being reworked so that Danny still needs to play the game he doesn't too many changes other than his ability tree perks.
(+) Danny would gain access to Bomb Squad as a random perk.
(-) Applying knowledge will take significantly longer. 6-7 seconds.
(-) The metal clanking sound that plays with each tap of the Tamper minigame will now be audible for everyone.
This would mean gaining knowledge is the best way to tamper an objective as you'll do it quieter.
(+/-) Tamper Ability Tree Changes
https://preview.redd.it/kbcremhq531d1.png?width=760&format=png&auto=webp&s=8cff0608cad86f094ae09d10730bad65f6983ab7

Ana

(+) Damage over time effects will be negated while Pain is Nothing is active. (Serrated, bleed damage)
(+) Bleedout timer will be paused while Pain is Nothing is active.
(+/-) Stamina Recovery on Hit is changed to Highlight Attackers
When Ana is hit, her attackers are highlighted for Victims to see.
Comments: Stamina Recovery is too much like Julie's ability.
(+/-) Ana's Strength is reduced by 5 points and given to her Toughness.
(+/-) Grappler is replaced with Agitator on Ana's skill tree.
Comments: Grappler should NOT belong to Ana. She isn't a wrestler, even with Grappler being nerfed her having it makes no sense. Agitator is fitting seeing as she is the reason the Victims even go out looking for Maria.

Sonny

(+) Sonny can now use Heightened Senses while doing actions that would lock the victim's camera. With the exceptions being when you have an overlay on your screen like fuse alignment.
imagine him lockpicking or doing any other objective.
(+) Sonny stat rework
There are better posts on this subreddit that handle Sonny's stats better than i could but what i'd suggest is lowering his aggressive attributes (strength, endurance) and bumping his stealth and proficiency.
(+) All Knowing is basekit and will be replaced with Quicker Recharge LVL 3
(+/-) Sonny loses access to Efficient Grappler and gains access to Bomb Squad.

Julie

(+/-) Julie's stealth is reduced by 10 points and given to her Endurance.
(+) Choose fight is replaced with Jump Start on Julie's skill tree.

Leland

(+) Barge cooldown nerf is reverted so that at LVL 3 Cooldown it will be 126 seconds.
(+) Barge will stun for 6 seconds and fully deplete the stamina of every Family Member THAT ISN'T LEATHERFACE. Bubba would just get stunned for 30% less and not lose stamina.
(+) Barge Ability Tree Changes
https://preview.redd.it/60h2nbdzy21d1.png?width=796&format=png&auto=webp&s=2644a4320c5e396316194164f1fc912776a9b4d7
(+/-) Leland loses access to Bomb Squad and gains access to Jump Start
(+/-) Leland's Proficiency is reduced by 10 points and given to his Endurance.

Virginia

(+) Contaminating blood buckets rework
Contaminated blood buckets will no longer stun family members.
Contaminated blood buckets stay poisoned until collected.
When collected the Family member's blood vial will be Contaminated with NO indication.
Feeding Contaminated blood to Grandpa he loses ALL levels and becomes incapacitated.
Increase Contamination Duration will be changed to Increase Incapacitation Duration.
Poisoning blood buckets will cost 25% of her 100% ability bar. She can poison 4 blood buckets before having to reload (20% if she uses her ability perk that reduces the cost allowing for 5 blood buckets)
(-) Boon no longer disables Leatherface from his chainsaw sprint. It already blinds you why does it need to disable the main character's primary attack.
(-) Walking through Sissy's Bane will remove the effects of Boon from Family members.
Artful Dodger
Changed: Crawl spaces are highlighted within 10m/15m/20m of you.
Current: When within 6m/8m/10m of a Family member, nearby crawl spaces are highlighted and open in 3/2/1 button tap(s).

Connie

(+/-) Focus Rework
Cooldown: 240 seconds
Description: Focus allows for objectives to be completed quicker at the cost of leaving you vulnerable.
Requires at least 50 stamina to activate and to be performing car battery, fusebox and door actions. (Proficiency related tasks)
When focused proficiency is increased by 100%.
On activation Connie consumes ALL stamina and enters Focus. While in Focus Connie's proficiency is increased by 100% but she cannot sense family proximity and won't regenerate stamina.
Focus can only be activated while lockpicking, interacting with the car battery or fuse alignment.
Focus duration lasts as long as it takes for Connie to complete what task she is doing.
Once Connie completes a task, is hit by a family member OR cancels the action she will begin to regenerate her stamina and be able to sense the family proximity.
Comments: This rework aims to make Connie less boring and although it is a significant nerf, her ability isn't useless as she can use her ability for more objectives and would still be able to open doors fast, just not instantly.
https://preview.redd.it/187uicqz231d1.png?width=724&format=png&auto=webp&s=f38cb234c1321b5f6db70044e8ede8d1225c86ab

Sissy

(+) Sissy will move at 4.1m/s (up from 3.9m/s).
(+) Poison Cloud is now basekit.
(+) Sissy can walk while placing her cloud, like Virginia.
(+) When Sissy is hiding her proximity radius will be 0 and she can stay in the hiding spot for as long as she wants without being forced out of it.
Hiding will make Sissy stfu and not say voicelines.
(+) Poisoned Victims will receive 10% more damage and have their proficiency cut in half for the poison duration.
(+) Tables will always have 3 powders.
(+) When a Victim is poisoned they are highlighted to all Family Members in red for the poison duration.
(+) Sissy's 3 powders will be changed to a bar like Virginia's Boon. Clouds will cost 30% of the 100% bar, last the same duration as they do now and have slightly less width to compensate for this buff. (She can set 3 clouds before having to reload)
(+/-) Sissy can now ONLY poison health bottles and Hitchhiker's trap. (No electronics)
Poisoning Health bottles or Hitchhiker traps will consume 25% of the 100% bar. (She can poison 4 health bottles before having to reload)
(+) Bane Ability Tree Changes
https://preview.redd.it/6ntyd5b0l31d1.png?width=740&format=png&auto=webp&s=2dc65263dda9567662e0bb4cd8740a290e52ccc7
(-) Consuming a Health Bottle or walking through Virginia's Boon will remove the poison effects of Bane from a Victim
Efficient Herbalist
Changed: You will not consume a powder when reloading at pestle tables. Has 1/2/3 charges.
Current: Poisoning an object has a 25/50/75% chance to not consume any powder.

Nancy

(+) Nancy's barbed wire pickup is now 3 seconds like Hitchhiker's bone trap.
(+) Family members and Nancy will no longer disarm her traps.
(+) Nancy's barbed wire setting and resetting is now 8 seconds.
(+) Disarming Nancy's trap will be increased to 10 seconds.
(+) Barbed wire traps will now deal 7 damage.
(+) When initially stepping in a barbed wire trap, Victims are highlighted for the stun duration to all family members.
(+) Confusing Mechanic will be replaced with Big Swings on Nancy's skill tree.
(+) Nancy will lose access to Rubber Boots and gain access to Vialent as a random perk.
(+) When Nancy senses a victim the victim is only notified until AFTER Nancy has sensed them.
(-) Spy will take 4 seconds longer to startup. Making Nancy MORE vulnerable to being back stabbed.
Poison Claws
Changed: Hitting a victim 3 consecutive times within 5 seconds will inflict a poison effect for 7/8/9 seconds.
Current: Attacks have a slight poison effect for 2/5/8 seconds.
Hurt 'Em
Changed: Each time a barbed wire victim uses a traversal they take 1 HP per second of damage for the next 3/4/5 seconds.
Current: Barbed wire traps do 20/35/50% more damage.
Comments: Since Nancy doesn't have serrated and this perk is worthless, this can be changed to somewhat mirror Hitchhiker's Venom perk.
Pins and Needles
Changed: Placing a strand of barbed wire will not consume an inventory item for 1/2/3 charges, but your barbed wire traps will be permanently destroyed.
Current: Placing a strand of barbed wire has a 10/15/25% chance to not consume an inventory item.
Comments: Prevents abuse by limiting the amount of traps Nancy can place, but also guarantees value as you will always be able to place up to 6 traps. Your barbed wires are limited with this perk so keep that in mind.
Sip Sip Sip
Tuned: Melee attacks give 40% more blood in your vial, but attack damage is reduced by 20/15/10%.
Current: Melee attacks give 10/20/30% more blood in your vial, but attack damage is reduced by 10/15/20%.

Hitchhiker

(+) Victims that step in bone traps will be highlighted while they are trapped. Family All See Noise will be replaced with "Increased Disarm Time" and will increase the time it takes to disarm a bone trap by 2-3 seconds.
(+) Bloody Traps will now give 60 blood.
(+) After setting a trap Hitchhiker's trap related voicelines will be in his head and only heard by him.
(+) Bone traps will no longer show the prompt to disarm it with a bonescrap to Victims
this can be seen in grass if the victim is carrying a bonescrap lol
(-) Hitchhiker bone trap setting and trap resetting is now 5 seconds.
(-) Disarming Hitchhiker's trap will be reduced to 7 seconds.
(-) Scout will replace Slow and Steady on his skill tree.

Johnny

(+) Johnny gains a 20% increased grappling effectiveness. This can stack with suffocating grip so beware grapplers.
(+) Victims can no longer crouch to hide from Johnny's hunt.
Comments: Johnny should be able to find hiding victims considering Nancy's ability can find hiding victims without her needing to analyze anything.
(+) Johnny will lose access to Blood Banker and gain access to Vialent as a random perk.
(+) Johnny closes crawl spaces faster than Cook/Nancy.
(-) When attacking Johnny will now be slowed down to his walk speed (like every other family member)
His walk speed will be the same as Hitchhiker's.
Comments: Johnny is in a pretty unhealthy spot as he can wildly swing at victims and melt them since he doesn't lose speed while attacking, but that is all he has going for him. If you took away his "lunge" and didn't buff anything else about him he would be the worst character in the game.
Patience
Changed: Standing still for 5/4/3 seconds will reduce your family proximity radius to 0 for 20 seconds.
Current: Standing still will reduce your ability consumption rate by (20%/30%/40%).

Bubba

(+) Closed crawl spaces can now be destroyed. Closed crawl spaces are destroyed much faster than opened ones.
Comments: I don't understand why this isn't in the game already as right now it is a detriment for a Johnny to go around closing crawl spaces since victims can just open them. To give all the fat characters a reason to close crawl spaces they should be destroyed faster than open ones.
(+) Bubba will be unable to be backstabbed while he is swinging his chainsaw.
Comments: Not being able to be grappled ironically makes Bubba a bit of a punching bag when he is in close quarters with victims as you get hit and immediately run behind Bubba to cheese a backstab. The main face of the game shouldn't be this easily bullied when he is right on you.
(+) Bubba will have ALL stuns reduced by 30%. (Leland barge, backstabs, lamps lol etc)
(+) Bubba will start the match with a full blood vial. Considering he just murdered a victim.
Comments: Mostly to incentivize people to play Bubba and to help newer Bubba players that might not understand they can go to the surface.
(+) The chainsaw can now be activated while walking.
(+) Bubba's overheat duration is now 10 seconds.
(+) The chainsaw can be used 20% more before stalling.
(+) Maim Ability Tree Changes
https://preview.redd.it/ku4im31z431d1.png?width=758&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d9accbdcace86c8707962b4b0eb04522608d35c
Comments: Sound range reduction could allow Bubba to get a bit closer to unsuspecting Victims.
Bloodlust
Changed: For each Victim executed by Leatherface. Leatherface will deal 10/12/15% more damage.
Current: Leatherface does 10/20/30% more damage after executing a Victim at the gallows.
Bringing Home The Bacon
Changed: When carrying a Victim your movement speed is increased by 5/10/15%. When executing a Victim at gallows your maximum blood capacity is increased by 15/20/30%.
Current: Carrying a Victim highlights Leatherface to all Family members for 5/10/30 seconds.

Cook

(+) Family all see noise is now basekit and will be replaced with Increased Range LVL 3.
(+) Cook can padlock ANY door with no restrictions. (Basement doors, etc)
(+) Padlocked doors cannot be destroyed to prevent epic trolling from Bubbas.
(+) Victims that perform loud actions (loud searching, kicking generator, anything that makes a noise vfx basically) are susceptible to being highlighted by Cook's hearing ability.
(+) Seek will only detect Victims, no generators.
(+/-) Victims will also see the highlight of Seek and when it wears off.
Security Pins
Changed: Added locks will be highlighted to all Family Members when unlocked for 3/5/7 seconds.
Current: Added locks are 10/30/50% harder to unlock for Victims.
Comments: The slowdown this perk has is very obnoxious and unlike Nobody Escapes Hell where you actually need to feed Grandpa, this perk is free and has MORE slowdown than a Grandpa perk. I thought this change is more fitting to the name "Security" pins and wouldn't require you to use family focus every 3 seconds to know if your padlock has been broken.
Prey Drive
Changed: Spotting a Victim decreases stamina consumption by 50% for 10/15/20 seconds.
Current: Spotting a Victim increases stamina recharge by 20/30/40% for 5/10/15 seconds.

End :)

submitted by NecessaryHospital430 to TXChainSawGame [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 02:56 MythicMoonStudios 9 Informative and Inspirational GameDev YouTube videos

I've spent way too many hours watching game dev videos on YouTube. I kept notes on some of my favorites and figured they would be worth sharing for anyone who might want a somewhat curated guide to interesting videos. I put this together for threads initially and it's a couple months old, but I hope it's useful to some:
"This Problem Changes Your Perspective On Game Dev" - Jonas Tyroller Jonas is a YouTube indie dev staple. His latest video was the inspiration for this list as it has years of knowledge and tips distilled into an easy to understand and entertaining package. If you can only watch one video on indie game dev, this should be it
"My Wife and I Made an Indie Game and it Made Millions!" - Eastshade Studios Eastshade Studios quit their jobs, went all-in on their game, and came out a huge success. This video will inspire you to live your dream, might make you shed a tear, and will definitely leave you believing that the dream is a possibility.
"The Game Dev Success Ladder with Chris Zukowski" - Georgia Game Developers Association Chris is a joy to watch and a treasure trove of knowledge. This is his best talk where he unveils the secrets of Steam and lots of concrete steps you can take to improve your game's marketing performance on Steam and beyond.
"How One Programmer Created Gaming's Most Complex Ecosystem" - ThatGuyGlen Every indie developer should know the story of Rain World, and this video tells it wonderfully. The joy of game dev is you can create whatever you can imagine. Push the boundaries, re-write the rules, and get inspired by one of the must unique games ever created.
"i made this indie game and it changed my life" - Jordy Lakiere This 16 minute recap of the development and launch of "We Who Are About To Die" has some great insights into launch day, and will definitely inspire you shoot for the stars with your own game.
"How This Game Dev Got 100 Million Views In 1 Day" - Thomas Brush Gavin Eisenbeisz, the creator of Choo Choo Charles, is brilliant. Tons of lessons in this video, especially that taking shortcuts is okay. If commercial success is your goal, focusing on viral moments, screenshotability, and visual hooks has a much better ROI than trying to make a "pure" game where you did everything yourself from scratch.
"12 Games We Loved from Steam Next Fest" - Second Wind If you were too busy with your own game to follow the most recent NextFest, check out this recap where they highlight some incredible current indie projects. Get some new games for your wishlist and find awesome devs to follow and get inspired by
"Spending a Month Rebuilding my RPG's World" - DevDuck DevDuck is a masterclass on DevLogs and his latest one is no exception. He'll make you want to go to the gym, clean your desk, and work on your game all at the same time. Check him out for game dev inspiration or just a great example of a beautiful DevLog
"I Made a Game in Unreal in 14 Days... (No Experience)" - Jack Sather It\s easy to worry that game dev is getting too easy. That all the hours you've invested into learning are getting devauled due to AI and tools getting better. This video reminds you that learning game dev is still hard, and the experience you've gained so far is valuable.
submitted by MythicMoonStudios to gamedev [link] [comments]


2024.05.17 21:38 HFY_Inspired The Prophecy of the End - Chapter 25

Chapter 25 - The Job Offer
Previous Chapter
The massive shuttle rocketed through the atmosphere as Trix reached out to nudge the throttle down slightly. Josh was right, it wasn’t anything like flying an Aircar. At first it consisted of programming in the destination, desired speed, height, and letting the computer do all the work. When she expressed dissatisfaction at that, Ma’et had kicked the boys out of the cockpit and showed her how to access the manual flight stick. That was where things began to get fun.
And then when turning down the gravitic inertial compensation so she could FEEL the power of the shuttle pressing her back in her seat, feel the vibration of the wind against the shuttle as it roared through the skies, feel her body pulled to one side or the other as she sent it into a tight turn… that was when the world fell away entirely. The skies opened up in a vast vista before her.
Ma’et sat beside her, occasionally mentioning a tip or trick here. A small adjustment to make there. The shuttle had zero control surfaces, it handled like a brick - but it compensated for all of that with sheer, raw power. The power to smash through the sound barrier like it was made of paper. The power to soar effortlessly a few feet above the waves, or to rocket up into the stratosphere with ease. Gravity was a mere suggestion, one which Trix rejected entirely.
After a few minutes Ma’et went into the back to speak with the others. “I think our girl is completely hooked. She picked that up faster than anyone I’ve ever seen before.”
Josh walked over to Ji, handing him a small pill and a cup of water. While most of the crew was fine with the reduced inertial compensation and the feeling of actual motion that Trix was putting the shuttle through, Ji was the exception. He was definitely looking very green about the gills. “Guess we’re seeing thousands of years of flight instinct coming to the fore. That’s the best explanation I can come up with at least.”
“I was wondering about that.” Ma’et sat down next to the captain’s head and smacked the side of his head lightly. “Would a species that evolves from birds be naturals at flying? If she’s any indication the answer is ‘yes’.”
“I don’t know how universal it was. In the races there were some pretty decent pilots but you ask me, Trix outflew them all. S’why I’m thinking maybe she’d be a natural pilot.”
Josh glanced over at them. “I think she’s better than me. And I’ve been flying this thing for decades.”
Ma’et nodded. “She took to every bit of instruction we gave her like it was second nature. I don’t know if it’s because she descended from a flying species or what, but she’s a natural. If the rest of the planet has as many naturally skilled pilots as she is, then every captain this side of Mars will want to hire them on.”
“Well, that’s assuming we let her fly stick in the first place.” Min pointed out. “I think that first bit where we had her on autopilot actually made her mood WORSE.”
“Either way, I want to see whether or not she can take those flight skills and upgrade ‘em to zero-g.” Alex sat up and tapped the conference button on his breath mask and turned off the translator. “Crew meeting. Amanda, you there?”
Amanda had spent most of the morning in the Presh manor, going over some of the finer details of the proposals for exchange between Terrafault and the locals. Meaning while they were out joyriding above the ocean, she was up to her neck in paperwork thousands of kilometers away. “I’m here, Alex. What’s going on?”
“We’re on the shuttle. I put Trix at the helm. She’s phenomenal. I’m taking an official vote. All in favor of offering her a position on the ship as pilot?”
“Aye.” Ma’et and Min-ah spoke as one. “Sure.” was Josh’s response.
“Wait. Pilot? Hold on, Al….”
Ji raised a thumb, but didn’t speak - concentrating on keeping his mouth closed as much as he could. “Par?”
“There are a number of advantages it would bring. I have not interacted with her as much as you have, but our conversations have been pleasant. I vote yes.”
“Hold on, hold on!” Amanda tried to interject. “Alexander, before you go tearing off and….”
“Too late. Six to one, you’re outvoted. Do me a favor and draw up an employment contract.” Alex pushed the leave button on the chat, smiling. He missed whatever response Amanda made but he was sure it was spectacular judging by Min and Ma’ets reactions to it.
He unbuckled himself from the seat restraint, and made his way up to the cockpit. “How’s it going up here?”
“Fine, fine.” Trix made a dismissive gesture. “I’m doing fine up here. No need to check in on me.”
“That’s not why I’m here. Do me a favor, and put the autopilot on back to the Presh mansion. I’ll send Ma’et up here to watch it. But you and I need to have a little chat, so out of the cockpit for now.”
Trix looked up at him in surprise, then frowned and pushed the release button on the control stick. She pulled up the list of previous destinations just as Ma’et had showed her before, and touched the control to send the shuttle back to land near the capitol of the Presh lands.
In the back of the shuttle, Ji was looking decidedly unwell, and Josh was at his side. Ma’et scrambled back up front while Trix took a seat on the center couch, and Alex sat down opposite her.
“So, Trix, not gonna beat around the bush here. You were great in the race. You took to the shuttle just fine. I want to see how well you do flying a bigger ship. My ship.” he gestured up above his head.
“What, like now? I thought we were heading back to the Presh?” Trix glanced up, as though she could see the massive bronze ship out there through the ceiling of the shuttle.
“We are. But I don’t mean right now. I mean, I want to hire you as a pilot. For our trip out to JR692 to survey minerals. Off planet, on my ship.”
Trix froze up entirely at this. Not even a direct impact to her helmet by a challenge round could have been more unexpected and surprising, and she found herself entirely unable to respond. Unable to THINK.
Alex took her sudden silence as indecision, though, and decided to just press forward. “Honestly it’s a huge decision, it’s not something I’m expecting a yes or no right now on. You haven’t been around us very long, just a few weeks here on the planet. But you’ve gotten along superbly with Ji and Min. That alone makes me think you’d do well up on the ship.”
“I… uh, I hadn’t…” Trix stumbled over her words for a moment, then coughed suddenly. “I’m not sure. Uh, I really don’t know how to fly a space ship.”
“I know. I’m not expecting you to know how to right away. Flying outside an atmosphere with no gravity is worlds different than flying an aircar or the shuttle, and you’ve got zero experience. But to be blunt, I have a good gut feeling about you and I want to give you a chance to learn and join us.” Alex held up a hand, ticking off points on his fingers.
“First, we are a seriously social species. We make friends easy and quickly. That means when we find someone we like we want to be around them. That’s already a big point in your favor. Second, after we complete our survey mission your testimony to Kyshe can help alleviate her worries about whether or not we can be trustworthy. Third, ours is a small crew and we have to split duties. If you’ll join us and take on the role of pilot, that will reduce the load on the rest of the crew. And lastly, in the future I hope that our two societies will be able to interact a lot more closely. But people will be reluctant to take that first step. If you join us and it works out well, then others who would be reluctant will be more likely to do the same in the future.”
“However!” Alex let his hands fall back to his sides. “With all that said, it’s not all sunshine and roses. It’s going to be a lot of work to learn how to fly the ship. It’s going to be long hours spent learning and training, and lots of the training will be boring. If you do decide to come with us, then it means spending a lot of time in close quarters with the crew. We won’t be able to return until we complete our survey mission, which normally lasts at least a full month. During which there WILL be a lot of tedious chores that need to be done around the ship, and you’ll be expected to help out. We split the chores fairly, and you won’t be made to do anything unreasonable that the rest of us won’t do.”
Alex leaned back on the seat, and crossed his arms. “So that’s the offer. I want you to become the first Sovalin to work alongside Humans. You’ll be paid fairly, you’ll have good accommodations and recreation available, but it’s going to be a lot of work and if you agree you can’t back out anytime soon. Our current plan is to head to JR692 in roughly a week. Take as much time until then to decide. If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to let us know.”
—--
Kyshe glared irritably at the human across from her desk. He had arrived at her request, alone and without any of the rest of his crew. “Captain. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”
“Always happy to be here. Since I wasn’t escorted by soldiers this time I take it I’m not in trouble?” Alex grinned and tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
“I would not go that far. The only reason I did not order your arrest is because I am trying, very hard, to afford you the benefit of the doubt. And I would appreciate it very much if you would explain to me why I should continue to exercise that restraint.” One of her wingtips, adorned with a metal sheath similar to the ones that Sophie often wore, tapped against the floor as she sat waiting in her chair.
“Okay, I’m assuming this isn’t about us breaking the sound barrier out over the ocean.” Kyshe glared and nodded. “So it’s about the job offer. There’s really not a whole lot to explain really. I felt like Trix could be a good fit with the crew and it seemed like a natural way to put my ideals into practice.” Alex leaned forward as he spoke. “I’m not trying to force her into anything, she’s free to refuse and we won’t hold it against her. It’s not a big deal.”
Kyshe closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m having a difficult time believing it’s so simple. You said your people wouldn’t use ours as labor. Yet now you attempt to lure one of our young adults into your employment?”
“Now hold on. We’re not trying to use her for labor! The job that I offered to her was Pilot, not janitor or anything.” he protested.
Kyshe opened her eyes and banged a fist on the table. “You expect me to believe that?” Her hand swept out around in a big arc. “She’s a farmer! Nearly everyone in this valley is! She’s used to hard work day in and day out. Not flying starships. You seriously expect me to believe you don’t just want to dump all the difficult tasks on her?”
“Okay. Point taken, I can see why you’re concerned about that. And, to be fair, she WILL be doing more than just piloting. We all do.” Alex held up a hand. “The crew has seven members total. On a starship. Even with all the automation we have, that’s still running fairly bare bones. We all of us, myself included, have to do dozens of things every single day to keep things running smoothly. Equipment checks. Replacing worn out components. Making meals for everyone. But even though she WILL be expected to help out, there’s nothing at all we’ll be asking her to do that we won’t also be doing. That’s just the nature of being on a small ship.”
Kyshe continued to tap her wingtip on the floor. “It is perhaps the fact that you’re trying to hire an untrained farmhand that most concerns me. It seems as though it would be much, much easier to simply look for someone already trained as a pilot. The M’rit for example often ferry resources up to orbit. I’m sure that one of their pilots would be a much better fit.”
“Eh, that’s a bit doubtful. They may have experience with your ships and systems but from what I’ve seen, ours are going to be pretty alien to them as well. They’ll likely require just as much training. Hell, if anything Trix might have an easier time because she won’t have to un-learn what she already knows. Plus we’ve already built up a rapport with Trix. That’s important when you’re spending weeks and months together. That’s a big reason why I offered the job to her in particular.”
Kyshe grunted noncommittally, and Alex stood up. “It was a gesture made in good faith, Matriarch. When I spoke of our two peoples standing beside one another this is pretty much what I had in mind. Humans and Sovalin working together. On a ship, on a planet, on a station, whatever. But working together as a team is the important part.”
Kyshe looked unconvinced so Alex continued. “Matriarch, if the offer is going to cause difficulties then I’ll retract it. I hadn’t thought it’d upset you this much, and I’m not willing to lose what little faith you have in me over this.”
“I’m very, very tempted to tell you to do exactly that.” Kyshe muttered. “I already feel like we’re placing far too much trust in you as it is.”
“Yeah, I understand. And I’ll leave it up to you. I really do want to have her join us up on the ship, but earning your trust is more important. That said, I think maybe you should talk to her directly? She’s been around us the longest out of any of your people, after all.”
Kyshe hesitated at that, wondering whether or not the girl had somehow been influenced by the Humans. Ultimately, she nodded. “That’s reasonable.” She sat there in thought for a few minutes, then stood up and walked over to the other side of the desk. “I won’t make any choices until I speak with the girl. But I do question the necessity of this. Do you truly need to take her with you?”
“No, we don’t. It’s not at all necessary.” Alex admitted. “We can still continue on with our original mission without another crew member. But just because it isn’t necessary doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea. Matriarch, every single thing I know about Humans and everything I’ve seen here on the planet tells me one thing - sooner or later our societies WILL become friends or allies. The big question is gonna be ‘when’ because I am sure it’ll happen. I for one want that to be ‘sooner’. I think it’ll be better for your people if we can cooperate quicker. I think my people have been alone in the void too long and need new friends to help us grow as a people. And your people have been betrayed by ‘friends’ and could use someone to help you regain the independence that was stolen from you. We have plenty of reasons to come together.”
Kyshe grimaced as she leaned back against the desk. “I wish I could share in that sort of optimism. I admit I would prefer if everything went as well as you say it will. I simply doubt things will go as smoothly and as easily as you claim.”
“Probably not, if I’m being honest.” Alex stood up as well and gestured out the window. “I know I often talk big, but that’s because I like to dream big. I know that I’m moving quickly but that’s just how I do things. Sometimes it gets me in trouble and sometimes everything works out well but either way I live without regrets.”
Kyshe pressed a button on the desk she leaned against, and an aide came in. “Please call Trksehn into the office. I’d like to discuss this with her.” As the aide left, Kyshe nodded towards the Captain. “Just know, Captain, that I will hold you responsible if something does occur.”
—--
Trksehn walked into the office, and upon sighting the Matriarch immediately took a knee, placing a closed fist in front of her respectfully. “Matriarch, you have summoned me.”
Kyshe motioned to the aide who tugged on the girl’s arm. “The Matriarch doesn’t enjoy the more formal expressions of respect.” they whispered into her ear.
“Thank you for coming promptly. We wish to speak with you about the offer you’ve received.” Trix glanced over and noticed that Captain Alex was present in the room. She raised a hand to him in greeting.
“So, uh, if you two are going to be talking, maybe I should go?” He offered, taking a step towards the door.
“No. Stay. There may be questions we have for you.” The Matriarch commanded, and he froze, before stepping back to the chair he’d vacated shortly before. “Have a seat.” Kyshe told Trix as she gestured to the empty chair next to the Captain.
“The reason I called you here is because I have a number of concerns with the Captain’s proposal to you.” Kyshe began, as she moved back to her chair on the opposite side of the desk from the others. “I know you have not had much time to consider it, and I do apologize for that. My primary concern in this matter is with your well being.”
“Uh, in what way Matriarch?” Trix shifted uncomfortably in the chair. The Matriarch was clearly quite unhappy and being in the presence of an unhappy leader was incredibly intimidating.
“We know so little about the Humans. We still have little more than the Captain’s reassurances that they are as they say - here to befriend us, to offer help. He speaks passionately about wishing to walk beside us as friends and allies. As you have been around the Humans the longest, I wish to hear your thoughts on the matter.”
“Yeah, he’s said the same to me.” Trix glanced over to the captain and back. “And to the others in the Hab. The rest of the crew makes jokes about it.”
“Do you believe that he means what he says?”
“Well, the crew thinks he means it. Or more like…” She hesitated a moment, not sure how he’d take this. “Well, to be honest from what I hear they all think he’s being overly optimistic. And they, uh, often claim he has other motives.”
Kyshe's eyes narrowed at that. “And have they specified what those ‘other motives’ are?”
Trix glanced over at the Captain, who was not looking particularly comfortable with the way the conversation was going. “Yeah, most of the crew thinks he’s attracted to our people.”
“Now hold on. HOLD ON. That is absolutely DEFINITELY not why I offered you a job!” he immediately protested.
Kyshe was a bit stunned by the girl’s statement and the captain’s outburst, and she found herself trying very hard not to smile at his discomfort. “Well, Captain? Are you attracted to us?”
“Matriarch, that has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the topic at hand!”
“His face is red. According to Ji, that’s a sign of embarrassment.” Trksehn helpfully pointed out. Indeed, he was blushing rather hard at the way the topic had shifted.
“Indeed?” Kyshe could not suppress her smile now. “Captain, you never mentioned attraction to us in any of our previous conversations.”
“That’s because it’s irrelevant! Whether or not I find you all appealing has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not our species can earn your trust!” He shot to his feet as he said this. “I most certainly am not inviting Trix to join up just based on her attractiveness!”
“But you do find her attractive?” Kyshe pressed him on this, clearly enjoying his frustration and embarrassment.
“That’s not relevant. It has nothing at all to do with anything!" Kyshe and Trix sat there waiting for an actual answer, and he sighed and sat back down heavily in his seat. "Okay, yes. She’s gorgeous. So are you. And Sophie back on the station. But!” He made a cutting motion with his hands. “None of that makes any difference at all. It doesn't earn me your trust and it doesn't help you all out in any way. I didn't mention it because it's absolutely inconsequential.”
“No, but perhaps it does explain why you’re going to such great lengths to try to befriend us.” Kyshe’s face turned thoughtful as she said it. “Do you think that by aiding us in trying to escape the Bunters’ influence that you’ll be able to find a partner among our kind?”
“NO! I'm trying to aid you because I don't want an incredible species with immense potential to be trapped in sevitude!”
“Hmm.” Kyshe glanced over at the captain as if she’d not heard a single one of his protests. “I am sure that there are many who might be interested in your people, but whether or not you could be accepted would be quite another thing entirely…”
“The crew just like to joke and make fun. It’s not serious!”
“Well, that’s at least partially true, Matriarch.” Trix was enjoying watching him squirm, but he was becoming more frantic as Kyshe pressed him on it. “They enjoy jokes at his expense.”
“See? It’s just my crew giving me a difficult time!”
Kyshe nodded, but continued on anyway. “Whether they’re joking or not, at least now I believe I understand your motivations better. I won’t say I share in them,” She glanced the human up and down, “But then at least you are not as repulsive as the Cetari or the Fwenth. I am certain that if we were to put out the offer, there may be a number of females who would wish to court you…”
Alex buried his head in his hands. This conversation had gone completely off the rails and he desperately tried to find a way to steer it back to safer ground. “Please, no. I swear to you on my ship, that my purpose in helping you all is NOT due to my attraction to your species! I’m NOT trying to find a partner!“
“Very well.” She dropped the topic for now, but mentally made a note of how easy it was to rile up the captain on this subject. His response made him particularly fun to tease. “Trksehn, back to the relevant point. The Captain’s offer to hire you for his ship. I’ve spoken with him about it. May I hear your thoughts on the matter?”
Trix sat in silence briefly before she answered. “It’s kind of surreal. When they landed and I spoke about flying my aircar I was just trying to make conversation. And now they’re talking about me flying out in space. I wanted to race the Firelands Challenge just for fun and because I thought it might make me stand out to the men of the valley, but this?” She waved a hand as she spoke. “The attention I’m getting from everyone is way outside anything I ever expected!”
“I would say that you are indeed standing out. From my understanding on the subject, you’ve become a celebrity overnight.” Kyshe stood up and walked over beside the younger woman. “I am not particularly a fan of the challenges, but I am not ignorant of their influence. I have had reports given to me of the fans you’ve acquired. And of the fact that not everyone is particularly pleased with your success.”
Trix was surprised by this. “Wait, really? You know about all of that?”
“Of course. I take care to know the goings on here in the valley, and you’ve made a name for yourself. It’s always important for a Matriarch to know of all the major goings on of her people, and I was apprised of your success within an hour of the challenge.”
“Thank you, Matriarch.” Knowing she had achieved global fame from her race was still mostly just a thought. But actually hearing it from her Matriarch made it all the more real. “It’s been, uh. Kind of weird?”
“I can imagine. Fame thrust upon someone who is unfamiliar with it can be quite overwhelming. In truth, I should have reached out to you sooner to offer my aid should the need arise. The Noarala may be a small Teff but all those who live under the Presh are my responsibility, and any assistance you need is available if you ask.”
Trix nodded, then turned to face the Captain. “Thank you again, Matriarch. For the Captain’s offer, though, I think it’s an offer in good faith. I spoke with Min about it and what he said to me is true. The others fly the ship but that often isn’t their primary duty. They all share in the work and responsibilities on the ship, and Min thinks I would fit in well. I don’t know the others as well as Ji and Min but they have offered their support.”
Kyshe ignored the captain for now and focused her attention entirely on the young avian. “It is a major decision. You would be apart from us, from our protection. If they would mistreat you, offer offense or harm…”
Trix actually laughed at that. “I don’t think they’d do that. Not deliberately. I’ve spent enough time around them that I don’t worry about that at all.”
Kyshe visibly relaxed at the younger woman’s confidence. “But then you would also be away from the rest of the society. Away from males, for some time.”
Trix nodded at that. “Yeah, that part worries me too.”
“Wait up. Worried why?” Alex’s face had regained its normal color and he looked back and forth between the Matriarch and Trix. “Are you dating… errr, I guess exploring? Or what’s that about?”
“Extended time away from males can be distressing.” Kyshe explained. “Not necessarily exploring or becoming accepted is required. Simply being around other males can be calming.”
“Okay, that’s actually news to me.” Alex had to sit and think about that. “Could you be a bit more specific? What you mean by ‘distress’, and how long until it becomes a problem, things like that?”
“It can vary, but usually after a few weeks signs and symptoms begin to appear. Frustration, more hostile and aggressive behavior is the most common issue encountered.” Kyshe answered, and pressed the aide call button on her desk. As the smaller male walked in at her call, she immediately instructed him. “Go gather information on Rhenima for the humans.”
Meanwhile Alex had tapped the page button on his breath mask. “Hey, Josh. I’m hearing about something you never mentioned, wondering if it’s a concern. Something about emotional distress for Sovalin who are away from males too long. Ring any bells?”
“Not off the top of my head, no. I’ll have to go over the data dumps for info there.” Josh’s voice was clear over the comms.
“Get together with Par. Look up something like ‘Renimah’. The Matriarch’s also getting us info it sounds like, so if you come up short I’ll try to get the details to you as well.”
“We shall begin looking into it immediately, Captain.” Par responded immediately, and Alex closed the channel. “Sorry. I just asked our medic about it and he wasn’t familiar, but we’re going to start looking into that. Our plans right now are to spend about four weeks out doing the mineral survey, and with travel times that’s pushing it.”
“I had thought it might. Still, while it is tremendously unpleasant, it is not life threatening. The trip could still proceed despite the circumstances, but it would virtually cripple any productivity until it can be remedied.” Kyshe glanced between the Trix and Alex. “Trksehn, we are still a number of days out from the planned departure date. Do you require more time to consider?”
“Well…” Trix shrugged slightly. “The past few weeks I feel like the Humans have been better company than my friends. I’ve had a lot of fun with them modding my aircar. We don’t have much in common but we still always find plenty of things to talk about. I don’t know if it’s because of what happened in the race but I almost kinda want to just go to get away from everything back here.”
“An understandable feeling. Though, perhaps, a bit extreme - usually when on the run from unwanted fame it is normal to retreat to a remote location in the plains or perhaps spend some time in the temples. Not to escape the planet itself.” Kyshe smiled and patted the young woman on the shoulder. “I’ve no desire to restrain you against your will, I simply wish to ensure you’ll be safe.”
“She’ll be as safe as the rest of us, that I can promise.” Alex cut in suddenly. “We’ll be adjusting her duty roster so she won’t have to do any EVA, and we won’t be getting into any fights this far away from Human space. Piracy isn’t a thing out here and if the Tanjeeri show up, we plan to hightail it. Errr, I mean run away rather than stay and fight.”
Trix looked slightly apprehensive at that. “Do Tanjeeri just… I mean, do you expect to see them out there?”
Alex shook his head. “The first time we encountered them they were chasing a ship they’d damaged. That’s been more than five weeks ago. There’s a chance they’d still be in the system, so we do plan to gate out a fair ways from the system proper. We scout from way outside, if the Tanjeeri are there we abort and look for an alternative. If they’re gone, we carefully complete our survey and grab the most valuable minerals we can before we come back here. Either way, no fighting.”
Trix sat in silence as she weighed that up, and spoke confidently to Kyshe. “Matriarch, I would like to take them up on their offer. If I refuse, I will always wonder what I would have missed.” She lifted her wings confidently.
Kyshe shot a glare over at Alex, then nodded. “Very well. Captain, I expect to be seeing you back here in six weeks. Not one feather missing or injured, do you hear me?”
“Clear as a bell, Matriarch.” Alex lifted his hand in a very human-style salute and nudged Trix. “C’mon, let’s go before she changes her mind.”
—--
“Not even one day later and I’m already regretting this decision.” Trix slumped forward over the table, and dropped the stylus from her hand.
Amanda reached over and grabbed the implement as it rolled across the tabletop before it had a chance to fall to the ground. “Stop overreacting. It’s not THAT bad.”
“It absolutely is that bad!” Trix complained as she tapped the board. “Half the questions and fields on here don’t make sense!”
“I told you, just skip the ones you don’t understand and we’ll come back to them afterwards.”
“I did that!” Trix shoved the board over to Amanda. “And I got to the end and it said I missed fourty-seven fields and it wants me to go back and re-enter them.”
Amanda picked up the board and skimmed it. “Wait. I think you broke the form. Did you really try to put in over sixty names for your immediate family?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? It asked who I was related to and so I started writing in the Teff.”
“The form is for close personal relations. Like, your mother and father, your brothers and sisters…” Amanda went down the list. “Nothing here for schooling, no dependants, we’ll have to go over the indemnity clauses later. Independent Contractorship involves a slew of confidentiality and non disclosures, so we’re going to have to waive sections C and D but there will be forms 8114-A and 8114-B to fill out instead. Oh, we should absolutely also begin discussing whether or not you’re going to be pa-HEY!”
Alex had picked up the quickboard, and threw it over his shoulder onto the grass. He slid his own over to Trix. “Yeah, welcome to Proxima. Always in direct competition with Sol as to who can produce the most ridiculously boring paperwork in the galaxy. Here. Sign your name on the line on the bottom. Press your thumb print next to it. You’re not working for Terrafault, you’re working for ME.”
Trix groaned and reached over to take the stylus from Amanda, scribbling her signature down. “You couldn’t have told me that an hour ago before I sat down to start all this?”
“Nope. I had to do some on-the-record statements with Kyshe about your employment, and Par had to record ‘em. Lots of boring legalese like this crap. Anyway, welcome to your new job. Here’s your first two weeks of payment.” Alex fished a large bar of metal out of his pocket and dropped it down on the table.
“Eh? Payment? What’s this?”
“One solid kilogram of Silver. 99.9% pure. To be honest, not that expensive to us. But for reasons we have no idea about, Silver’s hard to find on your planet. So in local currency… probably around 32 or 33 hundred moyu.” Alex sat down and thumbed the off button on the signed quickboard. “Standard pay for a fully licensed pilot is around 3000 credits per week, at least in the private sector. But our credits are worthless here, but a rough conversion tells us that a kilo of silver is roughly the same. Since you’re going to be a trainee for this trip, we felt like half pay was a good compromise. First two weeks up front, and you’ll get one more of these bars every two weeks. So two more until we’re back here on Kiveyt to decide how we want to…You okay there?”
Trix’s jaw had dropped as she started at the small heavy wafer. Her AIRCAR had cost 2500 moyu and that was two YEARS of saving up for it working overtime on the farms. Now she was paid more than that, every two WEEKS. She tentatively reached out and lifted it up. It felt heavier than she thought it would.
Amanda walked back from picking up the quickboard where Alex had thrown it, and lightly smacked him on the back of the head with it. “Fine then. If she’s not on the Terrafault payroll though that means her cut is coming out of yours.”
Alex snorted at that. “Manda, you think that’s gonna matter? After the bonuses we get from this op it won’t matter. I’m already planning on doubling everyone’s cut as it is, and we’ll still have enough to buy a damn fleet carrier afterwards if we want to. But if you really, REALLY want to try to adapt and adjust that paperwork for Sovalin then knock yourself out.”
Amanda sat down opposite of Alex and Trix, and set the board down in front of her. “You realize that the reason I’m so adamant about all the paperwork being completed is to protect everyone from liability? To make sure that there’s no confusion about her employment? To try, god forbid, to avoid any complications or problems that being vague will cause?”
“Sure. And I’m telling you right now, there’s no need. I take full responsibility.” Alex responded to her diatribe with a big grin. “C’mon, Manda. After all the shit we’ve been through convincing the Matriarch to, y’know, not arrest or murder us and then even more to let her allow Trix to go up there in the first place. After all that you think there’s any actual confusion left?”
Trix glanced up at the two bickering humans. “You said I get one of these every two weeks. But if I complete training I get double that?” She balanced the bar on her palm and stared down at it.
“Yep. Once we get some decent asteroid mining ops going the price of silver’s gonna plummet. Best to spend it before that happens. But by then we’ll have good trade avenues with Terrans open, so we’ll just pay you in credits that you can spend normally at that point.” Alex put his elbow on the table, propping his head up with his hand. “As for the training, it’s fairly easy. There’s a licensing exam that’s just proving that you know how to fly to a bunch of boring pencil pushers. Completing that will be a cakewalk if we can get some practical experience under your belt.”
“Oh. But I don’t know if I’m going to do well as your pilot yet. I know absolutely nothing about flying a space ship.” Trix carefully placed the silver back on the table. Alex picked it back up and put it in her hand.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re flying with me, you’re learning, you’re getting paid. If you do well then that’s perfect and we can talk licensing. If you don’t do well, no harm done. Maybe we find another role for you or maybe you come back home. Either way you walk away with silver in your pocket and a fun story to tell everyone and impress the guys.” He smiled and gestured to her room. “You should probably start deciding what you want to take with you. Kyshe is sending along several months worth of food to bolster our supplies and to make sure your nutritional needs are fully met, so I’m heading over with Josh to start loading it all up on the Shuttle. We’ve committed to a departure date four days from now.”
“I’ve never really packed for something like this. What do I bring?”
Alex didn’t answer verbally, but instead made a short, sharp whistle with his lips followed by a shout. “MIN!”
The engineer was on the other side of the courtyard, and immediately jogged over when called. “Yeah?”
“Go with Trix and help her pack up for the trip. Six weeks worth of clothes, hygiene supplies, whatever.” Alex glanced over at Trix. “Sorry, actually I just assumed you’d be more comfortable with another woman helping you pack. I can call Ji over if you prefer.”
“No, no. I’d rather Min help me.” Trix stood up from the table and jerked her head over towards her room. “Thanks, Min. Sorry to be a bother.”
“No problem. Gets me out of lifting the heavy shit to put in the shuttle.”
—--
Next Chapter
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2024.05.17 21:12 AdmiralMizufugu Promotional merch isn't reliable for powerscaling

Promotional merch isn't reliable for powerscaling
“The author said” “No, he didn’t” “Yes, he did” “NO, HE DIDN’T” “YES, HE DID
We’ve all read the age-old debate more times than we would honestly like to. That one debate so pervasive, so long-standing that it transcends the borders across series and generations. As long as fictional media exists, it will do so as well
A topic so extensive that no singular dialogue is likely to ever cover every single argument available in either side’s arsenal, dooming the discourse to be started from scratch all over again without a verdict in sight
Are third-party sources reliable for drawing conclusions about the source material?
In a broader sense, nobody on earth has the catch-all answer to that question, as its true answer is variable on a case by case basis. In the particular case of the One Piece manga series, we will attempt to answer that question here and now
If you find reading from Google Docs more comfortable, you can do it here, which would be my recommendation due to formatting and the possibility of future updating, since this format of Reddit posts can’t be edited
In this post we will aim to holistically examine the role of promotional merchandise in One Piece powerscaling, seeking to grasp the big picture of the subject as well as delving into the more technical and detailed points, while also dabbling in various adjacent topics relevant to the main conversation
It would be my preference to give individual credit to every soul who has contributed their stance in this discussion, whichever it may be, but really it was an innumerable number of posts and comments over the years that collectively helped me put together this behemoth of a write-up. So, to everyone who paved the way— thank you
Although there is some continuity and callbacks between sections, this is a long read so I don’t expect anyone to just sit through the whole thing in order. Feel free to see this post as more of an encyclopedia rather than an unbroken prose. Hopefully this or that individual section can be of relevance to you at some point or another
For easier browsing, here’s an index:

1- Reviewing promotional material claims

2- Defining reliability and promotional merchandise

A) Reliability
B) Promotional merchandise

3- Addressing the arguments for merch being reliable

A) Oda has mentioned merch in the SBS
B) Oda supervises Vivre Cards
C) There is an official website that corrects Vivre Cards

4- Is One Piece promotional merch reliable for powerscaling the manga?

A) Is it reliable?
B) Is promotional merch necessarily wrong?
C) Should merch be trusted “with a grain of salt” or “until proven otherwise”?
D) What sources of information are reliable for powerscaling the manga?

5- Greg, the One Piece live-action series official advisor

A) Who is Greg?
B) What can we learn from him?
C) What makes these insights trustworthy?

6- Conclusion

Without further ado, let’s begin!
 
 

1- Reviewing promotional material claims

 
As an appetizer, let’s first go over this post’s slides and take a look at a few claims that would be confirmedly true if promotional merchandise was reliable for powerscaling the One Piece manga
1- Jozu top 1 offense and defense confirmed. Also blocked the confirmed strongest slash in the verse
2- The confirmed strongest slash in the verse couldn’t scratch him, however, somehow Daifuku is totally capable of cutting Jozu’s diamond skin that “repels anything and everything”
3- The “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” with strength that is equal to her beauty
4- Apparently Mihawk > Whitebeard and Whitebeard > Mihawk are simultaneously true, with both men being confirmed to be the strongest man at the same time
5- Tamago kicks > Kizaru kicks confirmed
6- Ben Beckman confirmed to have intimidated Kizaru in four different sources with release dates ranging from 2012 to 2022
7- Don Chinjao, the 500.000 million berry one-shot fodder, is confirmed to have rivaled Gol D. Roger
8- Marco, who has been effectively damaged after running out of stamina is confirmed to be capable of regenerating no matter how many times he’s attacked
9- Sentomaru is confirmed to be an “impregnable” guard
10- Apparently who is stronger between Wano Zoro and Cavendish is a legit question worth asking, and a rivalry between them is something that Oda wants us to seriously consider
11- Whitebeard, who has pronounced his disinterest on more than one occasion, is confirmed to have contended for the title of Pirate King
12- Old Big Mom from Wano confirmed to be stronger than prime Shanks
13- The Egghead Incident and the fate of Luffy and his crew confirmed by the editors to be addressed in Chapter 1099, which ended up being an entirely Kuma-centric flashback chapter
14- Vista is confirmed to be capable of overwhelming and cutting down any opponent no matter who they may be
15- Speed Jiru, a background WB commander with no relevance, no feats and no hype in the manga is confirmed to be faster than YC1 Marco and Yonko Oldbeard
16- Katakuri confirmed to be literally flawless both offensively and defensively and yet lost a fight to someone who is multiple tiers below the strongest characters in the verse
17- Katakuri > Big Mom confirmed
18- Doflamingo confirmed to be the toughest enemy Luffy’s ever met, after having met Magellan, Blackbeard and the Admirals
19- We’ll come back to the last couple slides later on
And we are up to a rocky start. These takes certainly don’t inspire much confidence, if any. This section alone already speaks volumes about how credible third-party products really are, simply by observing the claims made by promotional merch directly from the source and without the need for additional reasoning
Take into consideration— this is only a fraction of the amount of absurd or contradicting statements that can be found in promotional merch. If you take some time to go through the translations of any source of merch, you’ll come to find that these types of claims are par for the course
 
 

2- Defining reliability and promotional merchandise

 

A) Reliability

 
Before diving deeply into the credibility of databooks and other promotional merch, let’s first establish what does it mean for something to be reliable, and what material can actually be qualified as such
We will use the word “reliable” instead of the word “canon” because the latter is a fan concept that has never been used by the author and thus can lend itself to unnecessary misunderstandings and disagreements, muddling the discussion. The word reliable is, redundant as it sounds, a much more reliable and fitting term for our objectives, and will enable us to all be on the same page moving forward
A.1) What is reliability?
Reliable: “Someone or something that is reliable can be trusted or believed because he, she, or it works or behaves well in the way you expect”
Source: Cambridge Dictionary
Reliable: “Of a person, information, etc.: able to be trusted; in which reliance or confidence may be placed; trustworthy, safe, sure.” Reliable: “Of a product, service, etc.: consistently good in quality or performance; dependable.”
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
As we can see, none of the definitions above are anywhere close to being synonyms of the words “Official” or “Supervised”. A product can be both official and supervised by the author while also not providing reliable information. This is true when it comes to information of any type about any series in general, and it’s also true when it comes to information concerning One Piece powerscaling specifically
Reliable ≠ Official
Reliable ≠ Supervised
Reliable = Trustworthy, Safe, Dependable (for a particular purpose)
First-hand content from Oda directly about the manga — like the SBS — is already a given when it comes to reliability, of course, but what about everything else? Following the definitions we just established, how do we define a product that is “reliable” for accurately powerscaling the One Piece manga?
To that end, it would have to be a product that we can empirically prove “can be trusted because it behaves well” (behaves well for a purpose, in this case powerscaling the manga), or that we can empirically prove is “consistently good in performance” (in this case a good performance means providing accurate powerscaling for the manga)
In other words;
A third-party product is only reliable for powerscaling the manga effectively when it can be empirically proven that the information it provides translates to accurate estimations of the real abilities and real scaling of characters in the actual manga
A.2) How do we apply these concepts?
When evaluating any particular source, an useful approach that allows us to put things into perspective is to just ask three simple questions. Is the source official? Is it approved or supervised by the author? Is it reliable for powerscaling the manga? We’ll see that a positive response to the first two questions does not imply a positive response to the last question
Oda took part in One Piece Film: Strong World, in which pre-timeskip Luffy beats old Shiki 1. Is Strong World official? Yes, it’s not fanmade, this was 100% an official project from Toei and Shueisha 2. Is it supervised by Oda? Yes, he even had a hand in writing the story himself. Nothing made it into the film without his own foreknowledge and compliance 3. Is it reliable for powerscaling the manga? Hell no. Post Thriller Bark Luffy with no training, no Haki, no Gear 4, no awakening is not beating an old legend no matter how you spin it
We didn’t have to dig deep at all to find a suitable example. Information from a perfectly official source with Oda’s very own supervision and shiny stamp of approval can be unreliable for powerscaling the manga. The same can be said for a myriad of other sources with information that had Oda’s supervision or his personal approval
Novels, shows, games, films, magazines— I’m sure there are plenty of examples you can come up with of One Piece products that are official and fully supported by the author while also not being reliable for powerscaling the manga effectively
 

B) Merchandise

 
B.1) What is merchandise?
Crudely, merchandise is defined as “goods to be bought and sold”. However, in the distinct context of the anime and manga industry that is relevant to the subject we are discussing, the more appropriate definition would be:
branded products used to promote a film, pop group, etc., or linked to a fictional character; merchandising”
Source for both definitions: Oxford Languages
Going by its definition, merchandise refers to branded products used to promote. The role of merchandise is not to give an accurate depiction of manga characters and events, but to make sales, create hype and get more people invested in the source material and buying other official products. In essence, it exists to promote the brand and cash in on its popularity
The landscape of merchandise includes an incredibly vast assortment of products (and services or experiences) ranging from figurines to keychains to apparel to concerts to theme parks to fanbooks. In this post we will, of course, be dealing specifically with the latter. Currently, all existing arguments vouching for the reliability of a particular medium specifically concern databooks and — especially — Vivre Cards, while there are no notable arguments for magazines and other forms of media being reliable to powerscale the actual manga. Consequently, when mentioning merch from now on we will mostly be referring to databooks and Vivre Cards— which also happen to be the most prominent source for merch scaling by far
B.2) What are Vivre Cards?
For those who may not know, Vivre Cards are official two-page character outlines about One Piece characters— to give a few examples; the Vivre Cards of Blackbeard, Kin'emon and Marco. These cards are sold separately in many different packs/sets and meant to be progressively collected in the “Vivre Card ~One Piece Illustrated Encyclopedia~” databook, which is an initially empty binder book designed to store these collectible cards. Basically, it’s like a One Piece version of those popular World Cup collection albums
In the “Profile” page of a card we can find a profile with miscellaneous information about the character, including completely original details not found in the manga (depending on the character), like their age or bounty. On the “Essence” page of a card we will find character-relevant panels ripped straight from the manga, each accompanied with a paragraph of text describing it, much like you would find in an online wiki page. This text is popularly referred to as “flavor text”, which is roughly a synonym for fluff or filler text. Most of the examples of the images above come from Vivre Card flavor text
Contrary to popular belief, Vivre Cards are not written by Oda, his editors, or even anyone within the Shueisha company or its affiliates, despite Oda’s name being on the cover of card packs (including credit to the author of the source material is standard practice for derivative material, in and outside of the manga and anime industry). While Oda does provide his supervision plus some original character details and sketches, Vivre Cards are, in fact, outsourced to a book production company called Caramel Mama (キャラメル・ママ), which is in charge of the creation and publishing of the card packs
Any information about the specifics of Caramel Mama’s services and work history can be found in close detail on their website. They are specialized in the elaboration of manga and anime promotional merchandise, so you may already be familiar with some of their products from other series
Artur from the Library of Ohara, the most well-known Vivre Card translator in the One Piece community (you’ve likely seen his translations before), has his own explanation about Vivre Cards, which can serve as a compliment to this post for anyone interested. You can also find here his translations of the first batch of Vivre Cards, in which he describes in detail the anatomy of the cards and breaks down the information they contain
B.3) What are databooks?
Databooks (also known as fanbooks) are a number of books which contain a wide array of information about the story, world and characters of One Piece. This group includes the prominent collection of the 5 color-themed databooks as well as other separate individual booklets like Volume Stampede, for example. As of now, no sources claim Oda personally writes or even supervises databooks, although he does provide tidbits of original info and sketches, just as he does with Vivre Cards (we will go over this in-depth later on)
Unlike Vivre Cards, which have very specific and standardized formats and topics, databook content has great variety in format and subject matter, including sections like interviews, games, gag strips, concept art, behind-the-scenes info, etc. Here is an excerpt from databook One Piece Green: Secret Spices, which gives us a peek at what the content of a more typical section of a databook looks like. As we can see, it’s composed of flavor text highlighting characters and recapping manga events, containing no original information
Let’s use the Road to Laugh Tale booklet to check out a couple of very popular claims which serve as opportune examples of how databooks operate. Rocks straight up confirmed to be stronger than Primebeard? An skewed reference to Sengoku stating in the manga that he was perhaps Roger’s greatest foe (Ch. 957). Shanks being too much for the Gorosei to handle? Again, an exaggerated reference to the Gorosei’s comments in the manga (Ch. 233)
When it comes to powerscaling claims, taking manga events and statements and paraphrasing them in a severely embellished manner is the standard methodology of databooks, every bit as much as it is for other sources of flavor text
 
 

3- Addressing the arguments for merch being reliable

 
As of now there are three prevalent arguments vouching for the validity of promotional merch, which we will be thoroughly addressing one by one in this section. As mentioned before, databooks and Vivre Cards are the only formats with arguments to fall back on, so those are the two sources we will be chiefly referring to in regard to merch
 

A) Oda has mentioned merch in the SBS

 
One of the two most common arguments cites Oda referencing on more than one occasion exclusive material provided by himself for databooks, as well as describing Vivre Cards as being for “readers who want to know everything”. What do these author comments tell us about the reliability of promotional merch to powerscale the manga? Let’s find out
A.1) Reviewing the SBS statements
First, let’s check out every one of these instances and all additions Oda claims to have provided for merch in his SBS answers: * • SBS 293: Oda shares sketches of a pair of gag characters he mentioned in fanbook One Piece: Blue * • SBS 451: Oda references descriptions he provided of a few devil fruits belonging to marines for fanbook One Piece: Yellow * • SBS 695: Oda brings up a name he provided of a background Whitebeard fleet pirate for fanbook One Piece: Green * • SBS 914: Oda names Galette’s devil fruit and says that SBS and Vivre Cards are for “people who really want to know everything” * ○ Note: the Viz version mistranslated “ONE PIECE図鑑もありますので” as just “bonus materials” instead of “ONE PIECE Illustrated Encyclopedia” (which is specifically the name of the Vivre Card binder book, as mentioned earlier) * • SBS 982: Oda addresses the name of a Roger pirate according to fanbook One Piece: Blue Deep differing from his name in the manga, by urging to call him whatever or just not bother with his name at all * • SBS 997: Oda discloses trivia about Jinbe and mentions that Jinbe’s favorite foods were already revealed in his Vivre Card * • Vol. 108 SBS: More recently, Oda also referenced a name he provided of Roger’s sword for his Vivre Card
Now, what do all of these additions from Oda have in common? 1. They are NOT about powerscaling 2. They are NOT related to flavor text or retellings/summaries of the manga in any way, shape or form 3. They are completely original worldbuilding tidbits (character names, weapon names, fruit names)
Without fail, every single thing Oda comments about is a piece of trivia or original knowledge that he provided for external sources, and not one of his comments even tangentially references the endless paragraphs of hyperbolic flavor text that are published in them
Based on the examples he himself puts forward in his SBS comments, we can see that by “know everything,” Oda is alluding to niche knowledge like design sketches, character names, devil fruit names— all entirely original content that he actually needs to come up with on his own. Unlike flavor text, none of these things are subjective reinterpretations of already published panels that anyone could just see for themselves in the manga volumes
There is no explicit or implicit indication to be found here of Oda writing or supervising merch flavor text, or of any personal participation beyond the names and sketches he provides. The argument “Oda has brought up databooks in the SBS” may sound sensible at first glance, however, when we take the time to actually look into these SBS comments and what they are communicating, we will find that there’s hardly any evidence at all supporting the reliability of flavor text for powerscaling the manga
In short, what Oda himself is personally contributing and sharing with us through databooks and other merch is not the recycled flavor text, but just the previously unheard of tidbits of info that are meant to enrich the worldbuilding and carry no major implications in the manga
A.2) Oda’s philosophy on bonus materials
In order to shine a light on Oda’s personal stance on bonus material and non-manga sources, here are a few insightful quotes from the man himself:
“First and foremost, I am a manga artist. I don’t create anime, and that’s that. But I do help out with character design for original anime stories and movies based on my manga. I don’t really do much. So I have to entrust the world and characters of One Piece, which I created in the manga, to other people”
SBS 194
“Stuff that’s talked about in SBS really doesn’t need to be remembered for the main story. I don’t talk about certain things in the main story because I omitted them on purpose. I think that too much unnecessary information will only confuse the readers. So please enjoy the stuff in SBS strictly as an extra.”
SBS 569
“Not remembering their names won’t affect your ability to understand the story. If I don’t make a character’s name clear enough through the story, it’s not that important of a name to begin with”
SBS 730
“Because the motto of the SBS is “you’re not missing out if you don’t read it”!!”
SBS 846
“You’re right that there’s a lot of Devil Fruit powers here, but it would bog everything down to stop and explain them all, so my idea is, if it’s not central to the story, just breeze through and take it all in stride!”
SBS 914
Oda’s opinion on bonus materials expressed throughout his many comments can’t get much more clear-cut than this, and has remained perfectly consistent for over 20 years. The manga is the manga and everything else comes last. Oda is determined to include any and all even remotely relevant information directly in the manga, and when the series is 1000+ chapters, you know he’s not bluffing. If it’s not in the manga, it wasn’t important to begin with— his words, not mine
Not only has Oda made the claim, but he has also proved through his actions that he has no qualms about taking a hands-off approach on non-manga material and entrusting projects, especially merch, to other people. When he actually does get involved in something, you know that it will be relentlessly promoted and we won’t ever hear the end of it. Case in point: Oda’s involvement in the live-action series
Something that really stands out about these comments is that this is mostly the SBS that Oda is talking about, which actually happens to be a very reliable source written first-hand by the author himself. Even though it’s the most reliable source there is outside of the actual manga pages, Oda still insists on the SBS being an inconsequential source to the point of choosing to repeatedly reiterate how you can dismiss it entirely, as anything of importance will be revealed in the manga
If that’s the author’s take on his very own work that is published on the actual manga volumes themselves, then what does that suggest about third-party products like databooks and Vivre Cards, which aren’t even first-hand sources like the SBS is?
Anybody who has read the SBS corner can testify to how stubbornly unwilling Oda is to reveal anything powerscaling related in his SBS comments. If the man is adamant on not giving away straight answers on his own personally written corner published in the manga, then it firmly stands to reason that he did not — in a completely out of character manner — decide to just casually settle in some external source years ago all the age-old debates and biggest powerscaling enigmas that are still being built up in the manga to this day
Let’s put forth the questions we posed before, concerning this specific argument: * • Is merch official? Yes, it’s supported by Shueisha * • Is merch supervised by Oda? No mention of that whatsoever from these comments * • Is merch trivia reliable? Yes, something like character names or fruit names are open-and-shut cases directly provided by Oda and not up for interpretation * • Is merch flavor text reliable for powerscaling the manga? Nothing in Oda’s SBS comments even begins to suggest that Oda had a hand in the flavor text from merch or that their powerscaling claims conduce to effective estimations of the reality in the manga. On the contrary, we now know for a fact that Oda is actively averse to giving away that kind of information outside of the actual manga pages
 

B) Oda supervises Vivre Cards

 
The most prominent argument out there in favor of merch reliability comes from a statement from One Piece editor Naito in an interview concerning Vivre Cards, in which he states that the cards are supervised by Oda. It’s also mentioned that Oda contributes information, which will be addressed in the next point— for now, let us just focus on the elephant in the room, that being Oda supervising the Vivre Cards. Reading the full interview before proceeding is recommended
Original source of the interview with editor Naito
English translation (images are unavailable)
B.1) Author supervision
Oda allegedly checks out Vivre Cards, which inevitably raises the question: is Oda just giving a routine thumbs up simply as a formality, or is he actively correcting flavor text to make sure every word printed in them is accurate to the reality in the manga?
To begin unraveling this topic, let's follow our methodology once again, but this time in the context of Vivre Cards instead of databooks: 1. Are Vivre Cards official? Absolutely. Although published by Caramel Mama, a simple search will confirm they are supported by Shueisha 2. Are Vivre Cards supervised by Oda? The answer is yes, according to editor Naito 3. Are Vivre Cards reliable for powerscaling the manga? Now this is the part where the editor statement falls short
Let’s remember the definition of reliability and its criteria that we defined earlier
A third-party product is only reliable for powerscaling the manga effectively when it can be empirically proven that the information it provides translates to accurate estimations of the real abilities and real scaling of characters in the actual manga
This editor statement by itself fails to prove that Vivre Card flavor text claims translate to accurate estimations of the real abilities and real scaling of characters in the actual manga. As we’ve seen with many projects approved or supervised by Oda before, author endorsement does not automatically guarantee that the powerscaling involved will translate to actual manga accuracy. When it comes to manga powerscaling, this statement does not give promotional merch a better standing credibility-wise than the live-action series or the films, which also have the benefit of counting with author supervision
To conclusively prove reliability, the merch needs a successful track record and consistency with manga showings, which is a qualification that — as we all know from reading the actual thing with our own eyes — merch spectacularly fails to fulfill. This is all the more so true for Vivre Cards, which are the single biggest culprit out there when it comes to churning out ridiculous claims
On paper there may truthfully be a certain level of supervision in place, but when we look at the claims made by the Vivre Cards, it really is nigh-impossible to argue that there’s actually any back-and-forth between Oda and the third-party writers about flavor text powerscaling with rectifications being produced as a result
B.2) Editors and their role
In order to apply some very relevant perspective to this discussion, it’s useful to keep in mind at all times that Shueisha is a business and its editors are businessmen. Shueisha is a company whose foremost concern is to maximize value for its shareholders by securing sales and earning as much profit as possible through any means available, while its editors’ ultimate priority is none other than to turn the franchise they are in charge of into a money printer
It’s a common misconception that editors are primarily artists, when in reality their job is first and foremost to handle the business side of a franchise. Editors are marketers, supervisors, representatives, publicists, salesmen and managers, and every decision they make reflects those roles. Editors of huge franchises are very, very high up on the corporate ladder, and you simply don’t get that far up in the hierarchy without proving that your motivation and actions align with the interests of the company and the shareholders
This is how you end up with editors issuing blatant false promises like the Straw Hats supposedly showing up in Ch. 1099. They did not choose to publish that preview because it was the statement with the most accuracy — which ISN’T their objective — but rather because it was the statement that would generate the most sales— which actually IS their objective
While Oda himself doesn’t mind being open about his indifference towards bonus material (as we went over in a previous section), you are never ever going to hear an editor in an interview declare that “the author approved this thing but didn’t really look into it that much” or that “he supervised it but didn’t really provide any meaningful feedback”, because author involvement is their biggest selling point and that’s how the entire marketing machine behind it works
Career-wise, every editor is highly incentivized to overpromise and put out the kind of idealized claims and half-truths that we often see from them. The system hinges on them asserting “Oda approves this thing and he wants you to buy it”, and that is why you should never expect to hear otherwise. Author involvement will always be susceptible to be overstated, and in this case it’s an easily verifiable truth for anyone reading the bizarre, contradicting statements that databooks and Vivre Cards are publishing
B.3) Information added by Oda
Now, as determined earlier, it’s time to go back and take a closer look at the interview, regarding Oda “adding missing information” to the Vivre Cards. As it turns out, Oda actively contributing to merch exclusively by providing concept sketches and background details in particular is an assessment that is even supported by the editor himself
Firstly, when the editor elaborates on the information being added by Oda, the accompanying image used to describe it specifically points out the yellow box from the “Profile” page and nothing else, along with the caption “Oda sensei's handwritten additional instructions”. As stated in the second section of this post, this yellow box from the “Profile” page contains an assortment of completely original knowledge that, unlike flavor text, no one could possibly interpret from manga panels, like a character’s exact height or birthday
Does any of this ring a bell? It probably does, because — unsurprisingly, knowing Oda’s MO — this is the exact same situation we went over recently. What we’ve been told about Vivre Cards is perfectly consistent with the information that we already know is the kind that Oda actually prefers to contribute to bonus material, based on his own SBS comments about merch that we just checked out and that exclusively reference trivia
Secondly, this is then even further confirmed by the next question and answer in the interview right after the aforementioned image and, much more importantly, we are told that flavor text is not even supposed to contain new information. Translation provided by ChatGPT:
Katsuhei: Whoa~~~ Oda-sensei is serious. Are there any first-time revelations?
Naito: There's quite a lot, like blood type and birthplace! Also, they've published rough sketches of Oda-san's character designs. It's information disclosure pushing the boundaries, getting pretty close to the edge (laughs).
Editor Naito is directly asked if there’s any brand new content being revealed for the first time in Vivre Cards, to which his answer is that the brand new content is the trivia information like blood types and birthplaces and the sketches from Oda. This cannot be stressed enough. Once again the editor refers specifically to concept drawings and the yellow box trivia from the “Profile” page as the material provided by Oda himself, while the flavor text in the “Essence” page isn’t even part of the equation. He then goes on to add that even just the trivia and sketches is already pushing it in terms of giving away info
What we have here is an explicit clarification straight from the horse’s mouth. The statement from the editor is as blunt, clear and conclusive an answer as there could ever possibly be on the topic. Same as databooks, the only original content Oda provides to Vivre Cards are trivia and sketches. Flavor text, from the very beginning, plain and simply has never been meant to contain original information at all in the first place. Its sole purpose is to serve as filler for the collectible cards based on information that is directly compiled from the manga. Fundamentally, “Essence” pages are no different from the subjectively interpreted character articles you can find in the One Piece Wiki, except in a physical format instead
To sum up: Vivre Card flavor text can agree with the manga, but it can’t add on original information to the manga or clarify any ambiguity in the manga because its one and only source is actually just the manga itself— it is by design not supposed to contain any new information or insights that weren’t unequivocally in the manga already. Any disagreement with the manga or any claim that wasn’t previously explicitly confirmed in the manga is not to be considered a new piece of reliable information, but rather a personal exaggeration or interpretation derived from the writer of that card
 

C) There is an official website that corrects Vivre Cards

 
Lastly, the third and least recurring argument is based on an official website geared towards correcting mistakes that were caught in Vivre Cards after their printing. The logic behind the argument being this one: any of the powerscaling claims that haven’t gotten a correction yet are reliable, otherwise they would have already been addressed in the website by now
Original source
English translation
Just like the previous two arguments, this is another case of an idea that can sound really solid on the surface, but utterly crumbles when you actually look at the source for yourself and get the full picture. What this argument fails to mention is the fact that the website covers a very specific set of mistakes, and powerscaling claims in flavor text are simply not part of that group
The entire argument hangs on the assumption of there being a precedent for erroneous flavor text claims being corrected in the website, which would in turn mean that the claims that haven’t been corrected were ultimately considered accurate. Except, no such precedent exists in the first place. There is not one example of an erroneous powerscaling claim being corrected. The website deals with a narrow range of issues and has never dabbled into the subject of flavor text powerscaling, ever
Anyone is free to check the website for themselves and confirm it. You can read every single correction in the page from top to bottom and will find nothing but “fixed typo, fixed year, fixed name”. Even the page’s own description refers to itself as correcting “typographical errors”
So, is someone going to go back and update the list to add “My bad, Sentomaru isn’t actually an impregnable guard”? No, not at all. Nobody is showing up to take back statements that pertain to powerscaling, after hundreds and hundreds of Vivre Cards have already been published and there hasn’t been a single instance of a flavor text powerscaling claim being updated yet
If someone wrote that the Germa Kingdom is from the South Blue instead of the North Blue and corrected it, or wrote that the name of the Cocoyasi Village sheriff is Gen instead of Genzo and corrected it, does that somehow make it true that Katakuri is the strongest paramecia in his family and has flawless offense and defense? No— fixing trivial mistakes like a name or a number is something completely unrelated to flavor text powerscaling claims, and under no possible reasoning whatsoever does it prove their credibility
For the last time we make our questions, in the context of this argument: 1. Are Vivre Cards official? Yes, same as before 2. Are Vivre Cards supervised by Oda? No mention of Oda involvement from this website, but as we know from the editor interview earlier, the answer is still yes 3. Are Vivre Cards reliable for powerscaling the manga? Nothing about this website supports the notion of Vivre Cards being reliable for powerscaling the manga, especially when the particular cases that are handled by the website are completely removed from the area of flavor text powerscaling and doesn’t acknowledge it even once
With that, we reached the Reddit post character limit. You may continue reading through the Google Doc here, or in the comments if you sort by top or controversial, depending on how the post is received
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2024.05.17 17:04 nahimavegan (Selling) Huge List Of 1100+ Movies! Lots Of New And Rare Titles!

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Fool's Paradise HD/VU $6
Force of Nature '20 HD/VU $3.5
Forger HD/VU $3
Freeheld HD/VU $4
Friendsgiving HD/VU $4
Front Runner HD/MA $4
Frozen '10 HD/VU $4
Funny Girl 4K/MA $5.5
Gandhi 4K/MA $5.5
Gateway 4K/VU $5.5
Gattaca 4K/MA $6
Ghostbusters 1 & 2 Set HD/MA $6.5
Ghostbusters Afterlife HD/MA $4
Ghoulies Go To College HD/VU $3.5
Glory 4K/MA $6
Godfather 3 Coda HD/VU $4
Good Boys HD/MA $3.5
Good House 4K/VU $5.5
Goodnight Mommy HD/VU $4
Goosebumps 2 HD/MA $3
Gran Turismo 4K/MA $7 or HD/MA $5.5
Grease Trilogy HD/VU $9 or 4K/IT $10.5
Green Knight 4K/VU $5
Green Room HD/VU $4
Groundhog Day 4K/MA $5.5
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 4K/MA $6
Hail, Caesar! HD/VU or IT $2.5
Hammett HD/VU $4
Halloween Ends HD/MA $4.5
Halloween Kills (Ext) HD/MA $4.5
Harriet 4K/MA $6 or HD/MA $4.5
Hex 4K/VU $5.5
High Tension HD/VU $4.5
Hellbenders HD/VU $4
Hellraiser: Judgment HD/VU $4
Home Alone 1 & 2 Set HD/MA $6.5
Hook 4K/MA $6
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 HD/VU $3.5 or 4K/IT $4
Hunger Games Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes HD/VU $6.5
Ice Age Continental Drift HD/MA $3
I, Frankenstein HD/VU or IT $3
I Saw the Light HD/MA $4
Identity Thief HD/IT $3.5
Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade HD/VU $4 or 4K/IT $4.5
If Beale Street Could Talk HD/MA $4
Inhabitant HD/VU $4.5
Insidious The Last Key HD/MA $3.5
Insidious Red Door HD/MA $5
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot HD/VU $3.5
Jerry Maguire 4K/MA $6
Jesus Revolution HD/VU $4.5
John Wick 4 4K/VU $6.5
John Wick 4-Film Collection HD/VU $13
Journey to Bethlehem HD/MA $5.5
Jumanji '95 4K/MA $6
Jungle Book '67 HD/MA $4
Jurassic World 6-film Set HD/MA $18
Kandahar HD/MA $5.5
Karate Kid '84 4K/MA $6
Kiss the Girls 4K/VU $6
Knights of the Zodiac HD/MA $5
Kramer vs Kramer 4K/MA $6
Last Action Hero 4K/MA $5.5
Last Christmas HD/MA $4.5
Last Night in Soho 4K/MA $5.5
Leprechaun 8-Film Set HD/VU $15
Lincoln Lawyer 4K/VU $6
Little Mermaid '23 HD/MA $5
Lost Boys 4K/MA $6
Love Again SD/MA $2.5
Lucky Number Slevin HD/VU $4.5
M3GAN (Thea & Unr) HD/MA $5
Ma '19 HD/MA $4
Madame Web 4K/MA $10 or HD/MA $8.5
Mamma Mia Here We Go Again HD/MA $3
Manodrome HD/VU $5.5
Marsh King's Daughter 4K/VU $5.5
Martyrs HD/VU $4.5
May HD/VU $4
Memories of Murder 4K/MA $6.5
Menu HD/GP $3.5
Meryl Streep 8-Film Set HD/MA $22
MIB International HD/MA $4
Midnight Meat Train (Unr) HD/VU $4
Migration HD/MA $6
Miller's Girl 4K/VU $9.5
Miracle on 34th Street HD/MA $4
Missing HD/MA $5
Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Pt 1 HD/VU $6
Mist 4K/VU $6.5
Mitchells vs the Machines HD/MA $4.5
Monster High Electrified HD/MA or IT $2.5
Mortal Kombat Legends Cage Match HD/MA $5.5
Mr. Holmes HD/VU $3.5
Mulan '98 HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 HD/MA $5.5
My Girl 4K/MA $6
National Champions 4K/IT $5
New Mutants HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Next Goal Wins HD/MA $7.5
Night at the Museum Secret of the Tomb HD/MA $3
Night Swim HD/MA $8
Night Train to Lisbon HD/VU $4
No Good Deed HD/MA $3
No Hard Feelings HD/MA $5.5
Nope HD/MA $4.5
Nun 2 HD/MA $5.5
Ocean's Trilogy 4K/MA $16
Old 4K/MA $6 or HD/MA $4.5
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood HD/MA $3.5
Oppenheimer HD/MA $6
Other Side of the Door HD/MA $4
Out Of The Blue HD/VU $4
Overlord 4K/VU or IT $4.5
Parental Guidance HD/MA $2.5
Parents HD/VU $4
Parasite HD/MA $4
Paw Patrol Mighty Movie HD/VU $6.5
Pet Sematary Bloodlines HD/VU $5.5
Peter Pan Return to Neverland HD/GP $4
Philadelphia 4K/MA $5.5
Pick 1 (Black Christmas '18 4K, Dog's Purpose 4K, Sparks Brothers 4K, Raw, Agnes Bourne, Antz, Being Frank, Loving, Don't Let Go, Kicks, Final Account) HD/MA $4
Pitch Perfect 3 4K/MA $5
Pixels HD/MA $3
Plane 4K/VU $5.5
Poor Things HD/MA $7.5
Pope's Exorcist HD/MA $5
Prey for the Devil 4K/VU $5.5
Priscilla HD/VU $6
Punch-Drunk Love 4K/MA $6.5
Queen & Slim HD/MA $4
Quick & the Dead '95 4K/MA $6
Rambo First Blood HD/VU $4
Rambo First Blood Pt 2 HD/VU $4
Rango HD/VU $3
Real Genius 4K/MA $5.5
Red Rocket HD/VU $4
Red Sparrow HD/MA $3.5
Renfield HD/MA $5.5
Requin HD/VU $4.5
Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City HD/MA $4
Robin Hood '73 HD/MA $4
Rosemary's Baby 4K/VU $6.5
Rhythm Section HD/VU $3.5
Ruby Gilman Teenage Kraken HD/MA $5.5
Rudy (Dir Cut) 4K/MA $6.5
Run Lola Run 4K/MA $6.5
Saint Maud HD/VU $4
Samurai Jack Complete Series HD/VU $40
Saw 8-film Set (Unr except Jigsaw) HD/VU $20
Secret Life of Walter Mitty HD/MA $3.5
Shaun of the Dead HD/MA $4 or 4K/IT $4.5
Shrek 6-Film Set (1-4, Musical, Puss in Boots) HD/MA $19
Skiptrace HD/VU $3.5
Scorpion King 4-Film Set (1, 3, 4, Book of Souls) HD/MA $12
Scream 3 4K/VU $5.5
Scream 5 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Scream 6 4K/VU $7 or HD/VU $5.5
Sharktopus HD/VU $3.5
Shazam 2-film Set HD/MA $8
Shazam Fury of the Gods 4K/MA $6 or HD/MA $4.5
She Said HD/MA $4.5
She's the Man HD/VU $3.5
Silver Linings Playbook HD/VU $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Sisu 4K/VU $6
Sixteen Candles HD/MA $3.5 or HD/IT $3.5
Sleepless in Seattle 4K/MA $6
Smile HD/VU $4.5
Social Network 4K/MA $6
Sometimes They Come Back...Again HD/VU $4
Sometimes They Come Back...For More HD/VU $3.5
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 4K/VU $5.5
Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse 4K/MA $7 or HD/MA $5.5
Split HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Spoiler Alert HD/MA $5
Star Trek First Contact 4K/VU $5.5
Star Trek Generations 4K/VU $5.5
Star Trek Insurrection 4K/VU $5.5
Star Trek Nemesis 4K/VU $5.5
Star Wars A New Hope HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Starship Troopers 4K/MA $6
Step Brothers 4K/MA $6.5
Stillwater HD/MA $4
Studio 666 HD/MA $5
Sum of All Fears 4K/VU $5
Supercell HD/VU $4.5
Super Mario Bros Movie HD/MA $5
Super Troopers 2 HD/MA $3.5
Superfly HD/MA $4
Suspiria (2018) HD/VU $4
T2 Trainspotting 4K/MA $6
Talk to Me 4K/VU $6
Talladega Nights 4K/MA $6.5
Taxi Driver 4K/MA $5.5
Thanksgiving 4K/MA $7.5
The Batman 4K/MA $5.5
The Bay HD/VU $4
The Color Purple '23 4K/MA $8 or HD/MA $6.5
The Descent (Unr) HD/VU $4.5
The Flash HD/MA $5
The Marvels HD/MA $6.5
The Natural 4K/MA $6
The Other Guys 4K/MA $6
The Professional (Ext) 4K/MA $6
The Super '17 HD/VU $4
Ticket to Paradise HD/MA $4.5
Titanic 4K/VU or IT $6 or HD/VU $4.5
Top Gun Maverick HD/VU $4
Toy Story 3 HD/MA $4
Trading Places 4K/VU $6
Transformers Rise of the Beasts 4K/MA $7 or HD/VU $5.5
Trolls 3-Film Collection HD/MA $12
Trolls Band Together HD/MA $6.5
Truth or Dare (Unr) HD/MA $3.5
Tusk HD/VU $4.5
Umma HD/MA $4.5
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent 4K/VU $5
Universal Monsters 4-Film Set 4K/MA $17
V for Vendetta 4K/MA $6.5
Vanilla Sky HD/VU $5.5
Velvet Goldmine HD/VU $4.5
Venture Bros Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart HD/MA $5.5
Violent Night HD/MA $5
Walking Dead Season 9 HD/VU $7
Watchmen Ultimate Cut 4K/MA $7.5
Waxwork 2 HD/VU $3.5
We Summon the Darkness HD/VU $4.5
Welcome to Marwen HD/MA $4.5
Welcome to Monster High HD/MA or IT $3
Whiplash 4K/MA $6 or HD/MA $4.5
Whitney Houston I Wanna Dance w/ Somebody HD/MA $4
Wicker Man 4K/VU $5.5
Wish HD/MA $7
Witch HD/VU $3.5
Woman King 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $4
Woman Walks Ahead HD/VU $4
You're Next HD/VU $3.5
X-Men 1-4 Set SD/MA $7.5
Zombieland Double Tap 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
All other movies (A-Z)
10 Cloverfield Lane HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
101 Dalmatians '61 HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
13 Hours HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
14 Blades HD/VU $3.5
1917 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
2 Guns 4K/MA $4 or HD/MA or IT $2.5
21 Jump Street HD/MA $3
22 Jump Street HD/MA $3.5
3 Extremes HD/VU $4
3 From Hell (Unr) 4K/VU $4 or HD/VU $2.5
3:10 to Yuma 4K/VU $5
31 HD/VU $2.5
47 Meters Down HD/IT $3.5
47 Meters Down Uncaged 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
47 Ronin HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
600 Miles HD/VU $3.5
71 HD/VU $3.5
A Christmas Story 4K/MA $6
A Dog's Purpose HD/IT $3
A Good Day to Die Hard (Ext) HD/VU $2.5
A Journal For Jordan HD/MA $4
A Quiet Place HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
A Walk Among the Tombstones HD/IT $3.5
A Wrinkle in Time HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
A.C.O.D. HD/VU or IT $3.5
Abominable 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
About Last Night HD/MA $3
Action Point HD/IT $2
Ad Astra HD/MA $4
Adaptation 4K/MA $6
Adrift HD/IT $3.5
Adverse 4K/VU $5
After Earth HD/MA $3
Aftermath HD/VU $3
Air Force One 4K/MA $6
Aladdin ‘19 HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Aladdin ‘92 HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Alien HD/MA $4
Alien Covenant HD/MA $2.5
Alfred Hitchcock 4-Film Set Vol 1 4K/MA $18
Alfred Hitchcock 5-Film Set Vol 2 4K/MA $21
Alien 6-film Set HD/MA $16
Alita Battle Angel 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
All Eyez on Me HD/VU or IT $3
All is Lost HD/VU $3.5
All the Money in the World HD/MA $3.5
Allied HD/VU or IT $3.5
Almost Christmas HD/MA or IT $3
Amazing Spider-Man 2 HD/MA $3.5 or SD/MA $1.5
Amazing Spider-Man HD/MA $3.5 or SD/MA $1.5
American Assassin 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
American Hustle HD/MA $3.5
American Reunion HD/VU or IT $3
American Ultra HD/VU or IT $4
American Underdog 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Anatomy of a Murder 4K/MA $5
Anchorman 2 HD/VU or IT $2.5
Angel Has Fallen 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Angel Heart 4K/VU $5.5
Angel of Mine 4K/VU $5.5
Angry Birds Movie HD/MA $3.5
Anna Karenina HD/IT $3.5
Annie ‘14 HD/MA $3.5
Annihilation HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Antebellum 4K/VU $5
Antlers HD/GP $3
Ant-Man & the Wasp HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Ant-Man HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Apache Junction HD/VU $3.5
Apollo 13 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Arctic HD/MA $4
Arrival HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Art of Self-Defense HD/MA $4
Ash vs Evil Dead S.3 HD/VU $5
Assassination Nation HD/MA $3.5
Assassin's Creed HD/MA $3
Assignment HD/VU $4
Atomic Blonde 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
August Osage County HD/VU $3
Avengers Age of Ultron HD/GP $3
Avengers Endgame HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Avengers Infinity War 4K/MA $4 or HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Baby Driver HD/MA $4
Backdraft 4K/IT $5.5
Bad Grandpa HD/VU or IT $2.5
Bad Words HD/MA or IT $3
Bandslam HD/VU $4
Bank Job HD/VU $3.5
Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar HD/VU $4
Barbie & Her Sisters in the Great Puppy Adventure HD/IT $3.5
Bart Got a Room HD/VU $4
Battle Royale HD/VU $4.5
Battleship 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
Baywatch HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Beauty & the Beast ‘17 HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Beauty & the Beast ‘91 HD/GP $3
Bedknobs & Broomsticks HD/GP $3.5
Before I Fall HD/VU or IT $3.5
Begin Again HD/VU $3.5
Beiruit HD/MA $3.5
Belly 4K/VU $5.5
Ben-Hur ‘16 HD/VU $3.5
Between Worlds HD/VU $3.5
Big Hero 6 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Big Lebowski 4K/MA or IT $5.5
Big Short HD/VU $3.5
Big Wedding HD/VU or IT $3
Billy Elliot HD/MA or IT $4
Birdman HD/MA $4
Black & Blue HD/MA $4
Black Christmas '19 HD/MA $4.5
Black Panther 4K/MA $4.5 or HD/GP $2.5
Black Panther Wakanda Forever HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
BlackKklansman HD/MA $4.5
Blacklight HD/MA $4
Black Widow HD/GP $3
Blackhat HD/IT $3.5
Blair Witch Project ‘99 HD/VU $4
Bleeding Steel HD/VU $3.5
Blindspotting 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Blood Money ‘17 HD/VU $3.5
Blood Ties HD/VU $3.5
Blue Jasmine HD/MA $3.5
Blue Ruin HD/VU $4
Blues Brothers HD/MA $4 or 4K/IT $4.5
Bob's Burgers Movie HD/GP $3
Body Cam HD/VU $4
Bohemian Rhapsody 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Bombshell 4K/VU $5
Book Club HD/VU or IT $2.5
Book of Life HD/MA $3.5
Boss Baby HD/MA $2.5
Bourne Identity 4K/IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Bourne Legacy HD/VU $2 or 4K/IT $2.5
Bourne Supremacy HD/MA $3.5 or 4K/IT $4
Bourne Ultimatum 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Boy ‘16 HD/IT $3.5
Boy & the World HD/IT $3.5
Boyhood HD/VU or IT $2.5
Braven HD/VU $4
Breakfast Club HD/MA or IT $4
Breakthrough HD/MA $3
Brian Banks HD/MA $3
Bridge of Spies HD/GP $3.5
Brothers Bloom HD/VU $4.5
Bumblebee 4K/VU or IT $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Butler HD/VU $3
Cabin in the Woods HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Cake HD/MA $4
Call of Wild 4K/MA $4.5 or HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Calvary HD/MA $4
Candyman '20 4K/MA $6 or HD/MA $4.5
Candyman 3 HD/VU $4
Captain America Civil War HD/GP $2.5
Captain America First Avenger HD/GP $3.5
Captain America Winter Soldier HD/GP $3.5
Captain Marvel 4K/MA $4 or HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Captain Phillips HD/MA $3.5
Captain Underpants First Epic Movie HD/MA $2.5
Carol HD/VU $4
Cars 3 HD/GP $2.5
Casablanca 4K/MA $5.5
Case for Christ HD/MA or IT $2.5
Casper HD/IT $4
Celebrating Mickey HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Chaos Walking 4K/VU $5
Chappaquiddick HD/VU $4
Chasing Mavericks HD/MA $3.5
Chicago HD/VU $4
Child 44 HD/VU $4
Children ‘08 HD/VU $4
Christopher Robin HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Chronicles of Riddick HD/IT $4
Clerks 3 4K/VU $4.5
Clifford the Big Red Dog HD/VU $4
Cloverfield 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Coco HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Cold Pursuit 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Collection HD/VU $3.5
Collide ‘17 HD/VU or IT $2.5
Colma The Musical HD/VU $4
Colombiana (Unr) HD/MA $4
Colony 4K/VU $5
Come & Find Me HD/VU $4
Commuter 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Company of Heroes HD/MA $4
Conan the Barbarian ‘11 4K/VU $5
Conspirator HD/VU $4
Contraband HD/IT $3
Contractor HD/VU $4.5
Cooler HD/VU $4
Cool Hand Luke 4K/MA $5.5
Cooties HD/VU $4
Cotton Club Encore 4K/VU $5.5
Countdown ‘16 HD/VU $3.5
Courier 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Craft Legacy HD/MA $4.5
Criminal HD/VU or IT $3
Croods HD/VU $3.5
Cruella HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Crypto 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Daddy's Home HD/IT $2.5
Daddy's Home 2 HD/VU or IT $3
Damsel HD/VU $4.5
Dangerous 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Danny Collins HD/IT $3.5
Dark Crimes HD/VU $4
Darkest Minds HD/MA $4
Dark Places HD/VU $4
Dark Tower HD/MA $3.5
Darkest Hour ‘17 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes HD/MA $3.5
Deadpool 2 (w/Super Duper Cut) HD/MA $4
Deadpool HD/MA $2.5
Death of Me HD/VU $4
Death on the Nile HD/GP $3
Death Wish '18 HD/VU $3
Deepwater Horizon HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Deliver Us From Evil HD/MA $3.5
Dentist 2-Film Set HD/VU $7
Despicable Me 2 HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Despicable Me 3 4K/MA or IT $4.5
Despicable Me 4K/MA or IT $4.5
Detroit HD/MA $3.5
Devil Inside HD/VU $3.5
Devil's Due HD/MA $3.5
Die Hard HD/MA $3.5
Die Hard 5-film Set HD/MA $18
Die in a Gunfight 4K/VU $5
Dilemma HD/VU $3.5
Dirty Dancing 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Disney Animated Short Films Set HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Disneynature Monkey Kingdom HD/MA $3
Django Unchained HD/VU $3
Doctor Strange HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness HD/GP $3
Dolittle HD/MA $3.5
Dom Hemingway HD/MA $3.5
Don Verdean HD/VU $4.5
Doorman HD/VU $3.5
Doors 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Downsizing HD/VU $2 or 4K/IT $2.5
Downton Abbey A New Era HD/MA $4
Downton Abbey The Movie HD/MA $3.5
Draft Day HD/IT $3.5
Dragged Across Concrete HD/VU $3.5
Dragonslayer 4K/VU $5.5
Dream a Little Dream HD/VU $4
Dreamkatcher HD/VU $4
Dreamworks 10-Film HD/MA $25
Dredd 4K/VU $4 or HD/VU $2.5
Dying of the Light HD/VU $2.5
E.T. Extra Terrestrial 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Early Man 4K/VU $5.5
Earth Girls are Easy HD/VU $4
Eddie the Eagle HD/MA $4
Edge of Seventeen HD/IT $3
Edward Scissorhands HD/MA $3.5
El Chicano HD/MA $4
Elysium HD/MA $3.5
Emoji Movie HD/MA $3
Empire of Light HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Empire State HD/VU $3
Encanto 4K/GP $3.5
Enough Said HD/MA $3.5
Enter the Dragon 4K/MA $6
Epic HD/MA $3
Equalizer HD/MA $3.5
Equalizer 2 HD/MA $3.5
Escape From Planet Earth HD/VU $3
Eternals HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Everest HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Everything Must Go HD/VU $4
Evil Dead 2 HD/VU $3.5
Ex Machina HD/VU $3
Exodus Gods & Kings HD/MA $3.5
Expired 4K/VU $4.5
Fair Game (Dir) HD/VU $4
Fantastic Four ‘15 HD/MA $4
Fast & Furious 4 4K/MA $5
Fast & the Furious 8-film Set HD/MA $17.5
Fast & the Furious 9-film Set HD/MA $20
Fast Color 4K/VU $5.5
Fatale ‘20 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Fatherhood HD/MA $4
Fault in Our Stars HD/MA $3.5
Fear of Rain 4K/VU $5.5
Fences HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Ferdinand HD/MA $3.5
Field of Dreams 4K/MA or IT $5.5
Fifty Shades Darker (Unr) HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Fifty Shades Freed HD/MA $4
Fifty Shades of Grey (Unr) 4K/MA or IT $4
Finding Dory HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Finding Nemo HD/GP $3.5
Finest Hours HD/GP $3
Firm 4K/VU $6
First Man HD/MA $4
Flashback ‘20 HD/VU $4
Flight HD/VU or IT $3
Florence Foster Jenkins HD/VU or IT $3
Footloose ‘11 HD/IT $3
Forbidden Kingdom HD/VU $4.5
Ford v Ferrari HD/MA $4
Forest HD/IT $3.5
Forever My Girl HD/IT $3
Fortress HD/VU $3.5
Fortress Sniper's Eye HD/VU $3.5
Fox & the Hound 2 HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Foxcatcher HD/MA $4
Frank & Lola HD/VU or IT $3
Free Guy HD/GP $3
French Dispatch HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Friday the 13th 4K/VU $5.5
From Here to Eternity 4K/MA $5.5
Frozen (Sing-Along) HD/MA $2 or HD/GP $1.5
Frozen HD/GP $2
Frozen 2 HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Frozen Ground ‘13 HD/VU $3.5
Fury HD/MA $3.5
Future World HD/VU $3.5
G.I. Joe Retaliation HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Gambit ‘12 HD/MA $4
Gambler HD/VU or IT $3
Gamer 4K/VU $5.5
Gemini Man 4K/VU or IT $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Get Out 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Ghost in the Shell ‘17 HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Ghost in the Shell ‘95 4K/VU $5
Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance HD/MA $4
Ghost Team One HD/VU or IT $3.5
Ghostbusters ‘84 HD/MA $3.5
Ghostbusters (Thea & Ext) ‘16 HD/MA $3
Ghostbusters 2 HD/MA $3.5
Gifted HD/MA $3
Girl in Spider's Web HD/MA $4
Girl on Train HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Girl w/ All Gifts HD/VU $4
Giver HD/VU $3.5
Glass Castle 4K/VU $5.5
Glass HD/MA $4
God Bless The Broken Road HD/VU $3.5
God's Not Dead 2 HD/MA or IT $2.5
God's Not Dead 3 HD/MA $3
Gods of Egypt HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Gold ‘16 HD/VU $2.5
Good Dinosaur HD/GP $2.5
Good Kill HD/VU or IT $3.5
Grease 2 HD/VU $4
Great Wall 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
Greatest Showman HD/MA $3.5
Green Book HD/MA $4
Grey HD/VU or IT $3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 HD/GP $2
Guilt Trip HD/VU or IT $3
Gunman HD/MA or IT $3
Guns of Navarone 4K/MA $5.5
Hacksaw Ridge 4K/VU or IT $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Halloween ‘18 HD/MA $3
Hammer of the Gods HD/VU $2
Hannibal S.1 HD/VU $5
Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters (Unr) HD/VU or IT $3
Hard Luck Love Song 4K/VU $5.5
Hard Target 2 HD/IT $1.5
Hardcore Henry HD/VU or IT $3.5
Hate U Give HD/MA $4
Hateful Eight HD/VU $3.5
Heat (Director's Cut) ‘95 4K/MA $5.5
Heaven is for Real HD/MA $3.5
Hercules ‘14 HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Here Comes the Boom HD/MA $3.5
Hereditary HD/VU $3.5
Hidden Figures HD/MA $3
High Note HD/MA $4
Highlander 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Hitchcock '12 HD/MA $4
Hitman Agent 47 HD/MA $3
Hitman's Bodyguard HD/VU $3.5
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard 4K/VU $5.5
Hocus Pocus HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Home HD/MA $3
Home Again HD/MA $3
Home Alone 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Homefront HD/MA or IT $3
Homesman HD/VU $3
Honey 2 HD/VU $3
Hostiles 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Hotel Transylvania 3 HD/MA $3.5
Hot Fuzz HD/VU $4
Hotel Mumbai HD/MA $4
Hours ‘13 HD/VU $4
House of 1000 Corpses HD/VU $4
House of Gucci 4K/IT $5.5
House w/ a Clock in Its Walls sHD/MA $4
How to Train Your Dragon 2 HD/MA $2.5
Hugo HD/VU $3
Hunt for Red October 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Huntsman Winter's War (Ext) HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
I Can Only Imagine HD/VU $3.5
I Feel Pretty HD/IT $2
Ides of March HD/MA $4
I Know What You Did Last Summer 4K/MA $5.5
Imitation Game HD/VU $3
In a Valley of Violence HD/MA or IT $3
In Secret ‘14 HD/VU $4.5
In the Blood HD/VU $4
Incredibles 2 HD/GP $3
Independence Day ‘96 HD/MA $4
Independence Day Resurgence HD/MA $2.5
Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark 4K/VU or IT $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom 4K/VU or IT $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Indignation HD/VU $4
Indivisible HD/MA $3.5
Inferno HD/MA $3
Initiation 4K/VU $5
Initiation HD/VU $3.5
Internship HD/MA $3
Interstellar 4K/VU or IT $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Interview HD/MA $3.5
Into the Woods HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Invisible Man '20 HD/MA $3.5
Invisible Man ‘33 HD/MA $3.5
Iron Man 3 HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Iron Man & Hulk Heroes United HD/GP $3.5
Iron Mask ‘19 HD/VU $4.5
It Follows HD/VU $3.5
It's a Wonderful Life HD/VU $3
Jack & Jill HD/MA $3.5
Jack Reacher 4K/IT $4.5
Jack Reacher Never Go Back HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit 4K/IT $4 or HD/VU $2.5
Jacob's Ladder HD/VU $4
Jane Got a Gun HD/VU $4
Jarhead 3 (Unr) HD/IT $2.5
Jason Bourne HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Jesus Music HD/VU $3.5
Jexi HD/VU $3.5
Jobs HD/MA or IT $3.5
Joe HD/VU $3.5
Joe Kidd HD/IT $4
John Wick 1 & 2 Bundle HD/VU $4
John Wick 3 Parabellum 4K/VU $4.5
John Wick Chapter 2 HD/VU $3.5 or 4K/IT $4
John Wick HD/VU $2 or 4K/IT $2.5
John Wick Trilogy (Parabellum 4K) HD/VU $9 or all HD/VU $8
Journey to the West Conquering the Demons HD/VU $3.5
Joy HD/MA $3
Judy 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Juliet, Naked 4K/VU $5.5
Jumanji Welcome To The Jungle HD/MA $2.5
Jungle Book ‘16 4K/MA $4.5 or HD/GP $2.5
Jungle Cruise HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Jurassic Park 3 HD/VU $3.5 or 4K/IT $4
Jurassic Park 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Jurassic World 5-film Set HD/MA $14
Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom 4K/MA $4.5 or HD/MA $3
Jurassic World HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Justice ‘17 HD/VU or IT $3
Kama Sutra HD/VU $4
Kick-Ass 2 HD/MA $3.5
Kid ‘19 HD/VU $3.5
Kid Who Would Be King 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
Kidnap HD/VU or IT $2.5
Kill Zone ‘05 HD/VU $4.5
Killer Elite HD/IT $3
Killing Gunther HD/VU $4
Kin ‘18 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
King Kong ‘05 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
King of Staten Island HD/MA $4
King's Man HD/GP $3.5
Kingsman The Golden Circle HD/MA $3
Kingsman The Secret Service HD/MA $3.5
Knives Out HD/VU $3.5
Knowing 4K/VU $5.5
La La Land HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Labor Day HD/VU or IT $3
Lady Macbeth HD/VU $4.5
Lady of the Manor 4K/VU $5
Lair of White Worm HD/VU $4.5
Lake Mungo HD/VU $4
Lara Croft Tomb Raider 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Last Dragon HD/MA $4.5
Last Duel HD/GP $3.5
Last Exorcism HD/VU $4
Last Knights HD/VU $3.5
Last Man ‘19 HD/VU $4
Last Stand HD/IT $2
Last Vegas HD/VU $3
Last Witch Hunter HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Lawrence of Arabia 4K/MA $5.5
Legend of Hercules 4K/IT $3
Legends of Oz Dorothy's Return HD/MA $3.5
Leprechaun 7-film Set HD/VU $12
Let's be Cops HD/MA $3.5
Let Him Go HD/MA $4
Let Me Explain HD/IT $2.5
Life ‘17 HD/MA $3.5
Life of Crime HD/VU $3.5
Life of Pi 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA or IT $3.5
Light of My Life HD/IT $3.5
Lightyear HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Like a Boss HD/VU $3.5
Lilo & Stitch 2 HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Lion HD/VU $4
Lion King ‘19 4K/MA $4 or HD/GP $2
Lion King ‘94 4K/MA $5 or HD/GP $3
Little HD/MA $3.5
Little Mermaid ‘89 HD/MA $4
Live Free or Die Hard HD/MA $4
Locked Down 4K/MA $5.5
Logan HD/MA $3
Logan Lucky HD/MA $3.5 or /IT $4
Lone Ranger HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Lone Survivor HD/VU $2.5
Longest Ride HD/MA $3
Longest Week HD/VU $3.5
Looper HD/MA $3.5
Lorax HD/MA or IT $3
Lord of War 4K/VU $5.5
Lords of Salem HD/VU $4
Lost World Jurassic Park HD/MA $3.5
Love & Mercy HD/VU $3.5
Love the Coopers HD/VU or IT $4
Love, Simon HD/MA $3.5
Loving HD/VU or IT $3.5
Luca HD/GP $3
Lucy 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile HD/MA $4.5 or SD/MA $2
Madagascar 3 HD/MA $3
Maggie HD/VU $2.5
Magic Mike's Last Dance HD/MA $4.5
Magnificent Seven ‘16 HD/VU $3
Maleficent HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Maleficent Mistress of Evil HD/GP $2.5
Man Who Fell To Earth ‘76 4K/VU $5
Man Who Shot Liberty Vance 4K/VU $5.5
Marauders HD/VU $3.5
Marksman HD/MA $4
Martian HD/MA $3.5
Mary Poppins ‘64 HD/MA $3.5 or ‘64 HD/GP $3
Mary Poppins Returns 4K/MA $4.5 or HD/GP $2.5
Mask of Zorro 4K/MA $6
Mauritanian 4K/IT $5
Max Steel HD/IT $3
Maze Runner HD/MA $3.5
McKenna Shoots for the Stars HD/IT $2
Meatballs HD/VU $4
Megan Leavey HD/VU or IT $3
Memory HD/MA $3.5
Men HD/VU $4
Men in Black 3 HD/MA $3
Men in Black 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
MI-5 Spooks '15 HD/VU $4
Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts HD/GP $4.5
Mid-Century 4K/VU $5
Midnight in the Switchgrass 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Midsommar (CANADA) 4K/IT $3
Midway 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Mile 22 HD/IT $3
Million Dollar Arm HD/GP $2.5
MindGamers HD/MA or IT $3.5
Minions 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Miracles from Heaven HD/MA $3.5
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children HD/MA $3
Mission Impossible 3 4K/VU $5
Mission Impossible 6-film Set HD/VU $17
Mommy HD/VU $4
Moneyball HD/MA $3
Monster High Electrified HD/IT $2.5
Monster Hunter HD/MA $3.5
Money Monster HD/MA $3.5
Monster Trucks HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Monsters University HD/GP $3
Monuments Men HD/MA $3.5
Moon 4K/MA $5.5
Morbius HD/MA $4
Morgan HD/MA $4
Mortal Engines 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
Mortal HD/VU $4
Mortal Instruments City of Bones HD/MA $3
Mortdecai HD/VU $3.5
Mother! HD/VU $2.5
Mountain Between Us HD/MA $2.5
Mr. Peabody & Sherman HD/MA $3
Mud HD/VU $2.5
Mulan 2 HD/GP $3
Mulan ‘20 4K/MA $4.5 or ‘20 HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Mummy ‘17 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
Mummy ‘99 HD/MA $3.5
Mummy 4-Film Set (Mummy 1-3, Scorpion King) HD/MA $12
Mummy Trilogy 4K/MA or IT $14 or HD/MA $9 4K/IT
Muppets Most Wanted HD/GP $3
Murder on the Orient Express HD/MA $3.5
My All American HD/MA or IT $3.5
My Best Friend is a Vampire HD/VU $4
National Lampoon's Vacation 4K/MA $5.5
Nebraska HD/VU $3
Need for Speed HD/GP $3.5
Needle in a Timestack 4K/VU $5.5
Nerve HD/VU $3.5
News of the World HD/MA $4
Night at the Museum Trilogy HD/MA $11
Night House HD/MA $4.5 or HD/GP $4
Nightmare Alley HD/GP $3.5
Nightmare Before Christmas 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
No Time to Die 4K/IT $4.5
Noah HD/VU or IT $2.5
Nobody's Fool HD/IT $2.5
Non-Stop HD/VU or IT $3
Norm of the North HD/VU $2.5
Nostalgia ‘18 HD/MA $3.5
Now You See Me 2 4K/IT $4
Now You See Me HD/VU or IT $2.5 or SD/VU $1
Nut Job 2 HD/IT $2.5
Nut Job HD/IT $2.5
Nutcracker & Four Realms HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Oblivion 4K/MA or IT $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Occupation ‘18 HD/VU $3.5
Occupation Rainfall HD/VU $4
Office Christmas Party 4K/IT $3.5
Olaf's Frozen Adventure HD/GP $3
Oliver! 4K/MA $5
On Chesil Beach HD/MA $4.5
One Ranger HD/VU $4.5
Onward HD/GP $2.5
Open Water 2 Adrift HD/VU $4
Open Water HD/VU $4
Operation Avalanche HD/VU $4
Other Woman HD/MA $3
Ouija HD/MA or IT $3.5
Our Kind of Traitor HD/MA $4
Outlander S.1 Vol 1 HD/VU $5
Overboard ‘18 HD/VU $3.5
Oz the Great & Powerful HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Pacific Rim Uprising HD/MA $4
Paddington HD/VU $3.5
Pain & Gain HD/VU or IT $3.5
Paper Towns HD/MA $3
Paradise Highway 4K/VU $5
Paranormal Activity 3 (Ext) HD/VU or IT $3
Paranormal Activity 4 (Unr) HD/VU or IT $2.5
Paranormal Activity Ghost Dimension (Unr) HD/VU or IT $3.5
Paranormal Activity HD/VU $4
Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones HD/VU or IT $3.5
Passengers HD/MA $3.5
Patriot Games 4K/VU $5
Patriot's Day HD/VU $3
Paul Apostle of Christ HD/MA $3
Peanuts Movie HD/MA $3
Penelope HD/VU $4.5
Peppermint HD/IT $3.5
Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters HD/MA $3
Perfect Guy HD/MA $2.5
Perks of Being a Wallflower HD/VU or IT $3 or SD/VU or IT $1
Pet Sematary ‘19 HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Pet Sematary ‘89 HD/VU $3.5 or 4K/IT $4
Peter Rabbit HD/MA $3.5
Pete's Dragon ‘16 HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Phantom Thread HD/MA $4
Philomena HD/VU $2.5
Pirates of the Caribbean 5 HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Pirates! Band of Misfits HD/MA $3.5
Pitch Perfect 2 4K/MA $4 or HD/MA $2.5
Pitch Perfect HD/MA $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Pixar Short Films Set Vol. 3 HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Planes Fire & Rescue HD/GP $3
Planes HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Planes, Trains & Automobiles 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Playing w/ Fire HD/VU or IT $2.5
Poltergeist ‘82 4K/MA $5.5
Poltergeist (Ext) ‘15 HD/MA $4
Pompeii HD/MA $3.5
Power Rangers ‘17 HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Predator ‘18 HD/MA $3
Predator ‘87 HD/MA $4
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies HD/MA $3.5
Primal HD/VU $3.5
Promise HD/MA or IT $3.5
Protege HD/VU $4
Proud Mary HD/MA $3.5
Psycho 4K/MA $5
Pulp Fiction 4K/VU $5.5 or HD/VU $4
Punisher War Zone 4K/VU $5.5
Purge Anarchy HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Purge Election Year HD/MA $3.5
Purge 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3 or
Push 4K/VU $6
Quantum of Solace HD/VU $4.5
Quarry 4K/VU $5
Quartet HD/VU $4
Queen of Katwe HD/GP $2.5
Quiet Ones HD/VU $3.5
Rambo ‘08 HD/VU $4
Rambo 5-film Set HD/VU $18
Rambo Last Blood 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Ran ‘85 4K/VU $5.5
Raya & the Last Dragon HD/MA $3.5
Rear Window 4K/IT $3.5
Rebel Without a Cause 4K/MA $5.5
Reclaim HD/VU $3.5
RED 2 HD/VU $2
Red Dawn ‘12 HD/IT $3
Redline ‘10 HD/VU $4.5
Reign of Assassins HD/VU $4.5
Replicant ‘01 HD/VU $3.5
Replicas HD/VU $3.5
Rescuers Down Under HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Rescuers HD/MA $4.5 or HD/GP $4
Reservoir Dogs HD/VU $4
Resident Evil Retribution 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Resurrection of Gavin Stone HD/VU or IT $2.5
Retaliation ‘17 HD/VU $4
Revenant 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Ricki & the Flash HD/MA $3
Riddick (Unr) HD/VU or IT $3
Ride Like a Girl HD/VU $4
Right At Your Door HD/VU $4
Right One 4K/VU $5.5
Rings HD/VU or IT $2.5
Rio 2 (Sing-Along) HD/MA $3
Riot HD/VU or IT $3
RIPD HD/IT $2.5
Risen HD/MA $3
Rob Zombie Trilogy (3 From Hell, House of 1000 Corpses, Devil's Rejects) HD/VU $8
Robin Hood ‘18 HD/VU $3
Robocop ‘14 HD/VU $2.5
Rocketman ‘19 HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Rocky Horror Picture Show HD/MA $4
Roman J. Israel Esq HD/MA $3
Ron's Gone Wrong HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Room '15 HD/VU $3.5
Rough Night 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Run The Race HD/MA $3
Runner Runner HD/MA $3.5
Rush HD/IT $3
Safe HD/VU or IT $2.5
Same Kind of Different As Me HD/VU or IT $3
Samson HD/MA $3.5
Santa Clause HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Santa Clause 2 HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Santa Clause 3 HD/GP $2.5
Sapphires HD/VU $4
Sausage Party HD/MA $3.5
Saving Mr. Banks HD/GP $3
Saw (Unr) 4K/VU $4.5
Saw 7-film Set (Unr) HD/VU $16
Saw HD/VU $3
Scarface HD/MA $4 or 4K/IT $4.5
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 4K/VU $4.5
Schindler's List 4K/MA or IT $5.5 or HD/MA $4
Scream '96 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Scream Trilogy HD/VU $11
Secret Garden ‘20 4K/VU or IT $5.5
Secret in Their Eyes HD/VU or IT $3
Secret Life of Pets 4K/MA or IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
See No Evil 2 HD/VU $3.5
Selma HD/VU or IT $2.5
Serenity ‘05 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
Seriously Red HD/VU $4
Sex Tape HD/MA $3.5
Shack HD/VU or IT $2.5
Shallows HD/MA $3.5
Shang-Chi Legend of the Ten Rings HD/GP $3
Shape of Water HD/MA $3.5
Sherlock Gnomes HD/VU or IT $2.5
Shivers HD/VU $4
Show Dogs HD/MA $3.5
Sicario HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Sicario Day of the Soldado HD/MA $4
Sicario, Wind River, Hell or High Water HD/VU $7.5
Side Effects HD/IT $3.5
Silencing HD/VU $4
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3-Film Set (3-5 HD/VU $7.5
Silk Road 4K/VU $5
Sing ‘16 HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Sing Street HD/VU $4
Sinister HD/VU $3
Sisters (Unr) HD/IT $2.5
Skeleton Twins HD/VU $4
Skyfall HD/VU $2.5
Skyscraper 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5
Sleeping Beauty ‘59 HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Sleepless HD/IT $2
Sleepy Hollow 4K/VU $6.5
Slender Man HD/MA $4
Smokey & the Bandit HD/MA $3.5
Smokin' Aces 4K/MA $5.5
Smurfs The Lost Village HD/MA or IT $3
Snitch 4K/IT $3 or HD/VU $2.5 or SD/VU or IT $1
Snow White & the Huntsman (Ext) 4K/VU or IT $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs ‘37 4K/MA $6 or HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Snowden HD/MA or IT $3.5
Snowpiercer HD/VU $4.5
Solo A Star Wars Story HD/GP $3
Son of God HD/MA $3
Sonic the Hedgehog 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Soul HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
Source Code 4K/VU $5.5
Southpaw HD/VU $3
Spartacus HD/MA $3.5
Spectre HD/VU $3.5
Spider-Man 2 (Thea & Ext) HD/MA $4.5
Spider-Man 3 HD/MA $3.5
Spider-Man 4-Cut Set (Spider-Man 2 w/ Thea & Ext) HD/MA $11.5
Spider-Man Far From Home HD/MA $3
Spider-Man Homecoming HD/MA $2.5
Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse HD/MA $4.5
Spider-Man No Way Home HD/MA $4 or SD/MA $2
Spies in Disguise HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Spinning Man HD/VU $4
Spiral 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Spongebob Sponge out of Water HD/IT $2.5
Spontaneous HD/VU $4.5
Spy Who Dumped Me 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
St. Vincent HD/VU $3
Stand Up Guys HD/VU $3.5
Star Trek 3 Search for Spock 4K/VU $5
Star Trek 4 Voyage Home 4K/VU $5
Star Trek Beyond HD/VU $3
Star Trek Into Darkness HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Star Trek The Motion Picture ‘79 4K/VU $5
Steel Dawn HD/VU $3.5
Still Alice HD/MA $4
Straight Outta Compton (Unr) HD/MA $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Strange World HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Suburbicon HD/VU $3 or /IT $3.5
Sundown The Vampire in Retreat HD/VU $3.5
Super 8 4K/VU or IT $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Sword in the Stone HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Taken 2 HD/MA $3.5
Taken 3 (Unr) HD/MA $3.5
Tangled HD/GP $3.5
Ted (Unr) HD/MA or IT $2.5
Teen Spirit ‘19 HD/MA $4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ‘14 4K/VU or IT $4.5 or HD/VU $2.5
Terminator 2 Judgment Day (Special) HD/VU $4.5
Terminator 2 Judgment Day 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Terminator Dark Fate HD/VU $3.5 or 4K/IT $4
Terminator Genisys HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
Texas Chainsaw ‘13 HD/VU $3.5
Thanks for Sharing HD/VU $4
The Heat HD/MA $3
The Impossible HD/VU $3.5
The Sting 4K/MA $5.5
Think Like a Dog 4K/VU $5
This is the End HD/MA $3.5
Thor Dark World HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Thor HD/GP $3.5
Thor Love & Thunder HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
Thor Ragnarok HD/MA $2.5 or HD/GP $2
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri HD/MA $3.5
To Kill a Mockingbird HD/MA $3.5
Toll HD/VU $4.5
Tomorrowland HD/GP $3
Top Five HD/IT $3
Top Gun ‘86 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Total Recall ‘90 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Touched w/ Fire HD/VU $4.5
Toy Story HD/GP $3.5
Toy Story 4 HD/GP $2
Training Day 4K/MA $5.5
Transformers Age of Extinction HD/VU $2.5 or 4K/IT $3
Transformers Dark of the Moon 4K/VU $4.5 or HD/VU $3
Transformers The Last Knight 4K/VU or IT $4 or HD/VU $2.5
Trolls HD/MA $2.5
Trust ‘16 HD/VU $4
Tucker The Man & His Dream 4K/VU $5
Tulip Fever HD/VU $4
Tumbledown HD/VU $4
Turbo HD/MA or IT $3
Turning HD/MA $4
Ugly Dolls 4K/VU or IT $5.5
Unbreakable HD/GP $3.5
Unbroken HD/VU or IT $3
Uncharted 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
Uncle Drew HD/VU $3.5
Underworld Awakening HD/MA $3
Underworld Blood Wars HD/MA $3
Untouchables 4K/VU $5.5
Us ‘19 4K/MA $5.5 or HD/MA $4
Valerian & the City of a Thousand Planets HD/VU $3.5
Vampire Academy HD/VU $3.5
Vanishing ‘18 HD/VU $4
Venom HD/MA $3.5
Victoria & Abdul HD/MA $4
Virtuoso 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU $3.5
Vivo HD/MA $4.5
Voices ‘14 HD/VU $4
Voyagers 4K/VU $5
Walk HD/MA $3.5
Walking w/ Dinosaurs HD/MA $3
Wall '17 HD/VU $4
War for the Planet of the Apes HD/MA $3
War of the Worlds ‘53 4K/VU $5.5
War on Everyone HD/VU $4
Warcraft 4K/IT $4.5 or HD/MA $3
Warhunt 4K/VU $4.5
Warm Bodies HD/VU $3 or SD/VU $1.5
Warning HD/VU $4
Watch HD/MA or IT $3.5
Wayne's World HD/VU $4.5
We Die Young HD/VU $3.5
Weekend HD/VU $4
Werewolf The Beast Among Us (Unr) HD/MA or IT $3.5
West Side Story 4K/MA $5 or HD/MA $3.5 or HD/GP $3
What Men Want HD/VU $3 or 4K/IT $3.5
What We Did on our Holiday HD/VU $4
When the Game Stands Tall HD/MA $3
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot HD/VU or IT $3
Why Him? HD/MA $3
Widows HD/MA $3.5
Wild Card HD/VU $3
Willow HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Wilson HD/MA $3.5
Winchester HD/VU $3.5
Winnie the Pooh Springtime w/ Roo HD/MA $4 or HD/GP $3.5
Wolf Hound 4K/VU $4.5
Wolf of Wall Street 4K/VU $5 or HD/VU or IT $3.5
Wolverine (Unr) (w/Thea) HD/MA $3.5
Woman in Gold HD/VU $3.5
Won't Back Down HD/MA $3.5
Woodlawn HD/MA or IT $3.5
World War Z HD/VU or IT $2.5
Wraith HD/VU $4
X-Men Apocalypse HD/MA $3
X-Men Days of Future Past HD/MA $3
XXX Return of Xander Cage HD/VU $2 or 4K/IT $2.5
Z for Zachariah HD/VU $4
Zero Dark Thirty HD/MA $3.5
Zeros & Ones HD/VU $4
Zootopia HD/MA $3 or HD/GP $2.5
submitted by nahimavegan to DigitalCodeSELL [link] [comments]


2024.05.17 01:02 Deep_Turnip1162 This is like a $7 taco can I please get a full scoop of tomatoes 🥲

This is like a $7 taco can I please get a full scoop of tomatoes 🥲
I used to be a manager for Taco Bell and my go to order was a supreme cheesy Gordita crunch with chicken instead of beef. (I will never eat the beef there again) There was a much cheaper way for me to ring it up back then but I’m hooked so I still get it. It’s $1.30 for the sour cream and tomatoes and this is what I get more often then I’d like. 10c a tomato 😅
submitted by Deep_Turnip1162 to tacobell [link] [comments]


2024.05.17 00:00 Ultim8_Lifeform Respect Clover! (Undertale Yellow)

Clover

Five humans, missing...
Spoilers for all of Undertale Yellow's main routes below
Undertale Yellow is a fan-made prequel to the hit indie game Undertale. While Undertale follows the story of Frisk, the seventh human child to fall into the monster ruled Underground, Undertale Yellow follows the story of their immediate predecessor. Meet Clover, the sixth human. Unlike the humans that fell before, this gun-toting cowboy is unique in the sense that their journey to the Underground was no accident. Clover entered the Underground voluntarily in order to investigate the disappearances of the previous five humans and, if it turned out they perished at some point after their fall, hoped to avenge their deaths. See, while Frisk possessed a red SOUL that embodied Determination, Clover's SOUL is yellow for the trait of Justice. Clover's journey would lead them all throughout the Underground, meeting some monsters that will be familiar to those who have played Undertale and some brand new faces as well.
Like Undertale before it, Undertale Yellow's story can be altered significantly depending on the player's actions. Perhaps Clover befriends the monsters they meet and determines they were unfairly trapped underground, deciding to sacrifice themselves to bring monster kind closer to freedom. Or maybe Clover will blame the monsters for the deaths of the previous human children, avenging them with swift cruelty. Either way, Clover will act in the way they believe they can best embody Justice.

So How Do the Fights Work Anyway?

Like its predecessor, Undertale Yellow tends to treat RPG mechanics as literal aspects of the game's world. Due to the abstract nature of fights in both Undertale and Undertale Yellow, with enemy monsters targeting Clover's SOUL rather than their physical body, it's understandable that there may be some confusion about how Clover actually scales to certain monsters. Luckily, this is a bit more clear in Undertale Yellow than it was in the original game, as the reveal trailer shows that the attacks of monster are things that Clover physically has to react to and dodge (we even see this same attack utilized in game) even though the battle menu only shows their SOUL.
But this is just for when encounters have already begun, what about before that? And what triggers encounters anyway? There's an area in the Wild East where boulders are falling onto the path that Clover needs to dodge. If they fail to avoid them, this begins an encounter too, where Clover is given the opportunity to avoid the "attacks" in the battle menu to negate damage. Other examples include Clover escaping damage from hot steam after touching it and avoiding damage from Axis' energy balls after they hit them. What this means for standard versus fights is a little vague, but it likely means that any attack that would deal meaningful damage starts an encounter and that it would be impossible to simply kill Clover with a sneak attack. Even if it hit them, Clover would still get the opportunity to dodge before the proper fight begins. That said, there is one example of Clover dying without triggering an encounter at the end of the Neutral Route. It's possible this is because it was an unescapable situation but the mechanics of it are still vague and unclear.
As seen with the previous examples such as the falling boulders and steam, it seems that attacks that hit Clover's SOUL and their physical body are more or less interchangeable. Or rather, it isn't possible to circumvent the SOUL to only hit the physical body because even attacks that hit Clover's physical body will trigger an encounter that can then be dodged or endured by the SOUL.
Finally, it's worth noting that the sizes of objects can vary from their appearances in the battle to what they look like in the overworld. We see Clover's SOUL alongside their physical body a few times throughout the game and it's pretty consistently a little larger than their torso. So this thread will describe feats with that scale in mind.

Other Things To Note

  • At the end of certain routes, Clover acquires certain abilities/powerups that don't necessarily apply to the rest of the game. Feats or items that are limited to those routes will be marked with the corresponding route.
    • [Pacifist] Feat
  • Like your standard RPG's, Undertale Yellow possesses a leveling system that will increase the more enemies that Clover kills, with certain abilities being unlocked after certain levels are achieved. However, in the Genocide route Clover showed off the ability to level up rapidly simply by being filled with enough righteous fury. Abilities that are locked behind certain levels will also be marked accordingly.
    • FeatLV 19
  • The majority of feats will come from Undertale Yellow, but occasionally clips from trailers and other promotional material on the director of the game's Youtube channel will be used, which will be labeled with a T like so:
    • FeatT

Physicals

Strength
Speed/Agility
Durability
Blunt
Falling
Heat
Other

Skill

Justice SOUL

Gear

Note that while Clover can store excess items in boxes they find around the Underground, they can only carry eight items in their inventory not including their current Weapon, Ammo, Armor, and Accessory. Later in the game they discovered the Dimensional Satchel which allows them to access the boxes from anywhere, but they still only have eight slots to bring into an encounter.
Weapons
Guns
Feats
Note that cutscenes will always play out the same regardless of whether the Toy Gun or Wild Revolver is being used, so while the Revolver is obviously the more powerful of the two the Toy Gun is much more powerful than it's name would suggest and the following feats apply to both weapons.
Ammo
Rather amusingly, Clover will jam whatever odd materials they can find into their weapon which somehow works perfectlyT
Armor
Accessories
Food/Healing Items
Note that at their weakest (LV 1), Clover has 20HP and at their strongest (LV20), Clover has 100HP
Single Use
Two Uses
Unlimited Supply

Misc

Somebody calls for help
You answer the call
submitted by Ultim8_Lifeform to respectthreads [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 22:10 Hefty_Fix_8416 WBW Spectactle Season 1, Episode 1 - Surprises after Surprises

Tuesday May 7th 2024
Wolstein Center, Cleveland, OH
WBW Presents: Tuesday Night Spectactle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This theme plays as KO comes down to the ring. Kevin grabs a microphone and says “CLEVELAND! 2 nights ago I had a classic match with my best friend Sami Zayn.. Then the Nemeth Brothers decided to get involved and for whatever reason chose me to win. Now tonight I am in the main event against Drew Mc-”.This theme plays and Drew McIntyre comes down to the ring with a microphone. Drew says “Kevin would you please stop worrying about my friend Nic. This is going to be your downfall my friend. Focus on our match tonight. We are supposed to have a 5 star classic but instead you're worrying about a cheerleader. But if you want to keep focusing on the Nemeth’s they are here!”. Drew exits the ring much to KO’s confusion. Nic and Ryan hop the barricades and surround KO on both sides of the ring. KO throws a strike at Ryan first but the number’s game catches up to him fast. Sami runs down but is intercepted by Claymore from Drew. Drew hits Sami with a Futureshock DDT on the ramp and throws him into the ring. Drew says “Get a referee down here. I got confirmation already its Sami Zayn vs my boy Nic Nemeth next!”. A referee comes running down to the ring as Drew gets on commentary for the match.
This segment takes 10 minutes (2:50 left of show time)
Sami Zayn w/ Kevin Owens vs Nic Nemeth w/ Ryan Nemeth
Sami is still down after the vicious attack from Drew McIntyre. Nic hits his 10 Elbow Drops going for the pin right off the bat. Sami kicks out at 2. Nic hits the ground in frustration expecting an easy win. Nic sets up in the corner for a Sweet Chin Music connecting! Nic falls into a pinfall. Sami kicks out at 2 and a half. Sami finally begins to fight back with a few strikes and goes for an Exploder Suplex. Nic lands on his feet. Sami turns around right into a superkick. Nic sets up in the corner connecting with another superkick. Nic then climbs the turnbuckle and goes for a big Elbow Drop. Sami gets to his feet and connects with a Blue Thunder Bomb out of nowhere going for the pin. Nic kicks out at 2 and 3/4 much to Sami’s shock. Sami lifts Nic up and hits a Exploder Suplex into the corner. Nic stumbles into the corner and Sami backs into the other corner for a Helluva Kick. Ryan grabs his legs and drags Sami into the turnbuckle. The referee was busy checking on Nic! KO grabs Ryan and hits him with a powerbomb onto the apron. KO turns around right into a Claymore Kick from Drew. Drew taunts KO and Sami as Sami turns his attention to Drew upset at him. Nic sneaks up behind Sami and hits him with a Zig Zag going for the pin. Nic gets the 3! Nic slips out of the ring as Drew joins him on the ramp. Ryan holding his back joins them laughing. KO checks Sami, staring up the ramp at Drew pissed off.
This match takes 10 minutes (2:40 left of show time)
Sami is seen backstage with KO. KO is pissed off saying how he is going to make Drew pay for this. Sami calms KO down and tells him to just be prepared for his match. KO agrees and walks off. Sami walks up to Mark Steel’s office door and knocks. Mark yells “Come in”. Sami walks in and Mark ushers for him to sit down. Sami says “Mr Steel you have to realize that if nothing is done the Nemeth Brothers will get involved in the main event”. Mark looks at Sami and says “I've already dealt with that. They were asked to leave the arena. And as such you will too. That way neither Drew nor KO will have unnecessary help tonight. Do I make myself cl-”. Drew bursts into the room and says “Mark I don't care if the Nemeth Brothers are there or not. Unlike Kevin I don't need their help to win”. Drew walks out as Mark and Sami stare at each other in shock.
This segment takes 5 minutes (2:35 left of show time)
Seth Rollins vs Carmelo Hayes - Round 2 of Winners Bracket for World Title Tournament
Seth and Carmelo begin circling each other. Seth offers a handshake and Melo takes it. Seth quickly rolls Hayes up for a quick kick out at 1. Melo and Seth both get to their feet at the same time and Seth laughs. Hayes throws a right fist sending Seth right to the ground. Hayes lifts Seth up and hits a Suplex into the Spinning Back Elbow combo. Hayes climbs the turnbuckle and hits a Fedora Frog Splash going for the pin. Seth kicks out at 2. Hayes climbs the turnbuckle again going for a Nothing But Net. Seth gets to his feet and hits Hayes with a Revolution Knee in mid air. Hayes hits the ground with a thud and Seth takes advantage with a Pedigree going for the pin. Hayes kicks out at 2. Seth backs into the corner stomping and preparing for a Curbstomp. Hayes throws Seth up into the air and hits a Samoan Drop on the way down. Hayes follows up with a Fedora Frog Splash going for the pin and getting a 2 and a half on Seth. Hayes doesn't stop as he climbs again and hits Nothing But Net going for the pin again. Seth kicks out at 2 and 3/4 which makes Hayes hit the ground in frustration. Hayes backs into the corner with his eyes glazed. He sets up to hit Seth’s curbstomp. Seth rolls out of the way and Hayes turns around right into a Spinning Elbow. Seth drops into the corner and hits a Curbstomp. Seth connects and goes for the pin. Hayes kicks out at 2 and a half. Seth hits the ground before throwing Hayes up the Turnbuckle going for a Falcon Arrow followed by a second Falcon Arrow. Seth climbs again going for a Frog Splash but Hayes rolls out of the way. Hayes quickly climbs the ropes going for a Nothing but Net but Seth rolls out of the way before connecting with a Superkick to Hayes while he was on his knees. Seth climbs to the second Turnbuckle and hits a super curb stomp right then and there going for the pin and getting the 3. Seth sits on his knees as the announcer announces his victory! Seth is going on to Round 3!
This match takes 15 minutes (2:20 left of show time)
Austin Theory and Grayson Waller ambush Seth from behind. MJF jumps the barricade and joins the assault when Laredo Kid, Myzteziz and Artemis come running down to the ring. They chase off MJF and A-Town Down Under before helping Seth to his feet. Seth grabs a microphone and says “Hey Max. I'll see you next week”. Seth stands tall with the Air Riders as MJF and A-Town Down Under retreat up the ramp!
This segment takes 5 minutes (2:15 left of show time)
This theme plays and out comes AJ Styles. AJ grabs a microphone and says “Last Sunday in Pittsburgh I lost everything. The Judgement Day attacked me before my match and broke my arm. Now I make no excuses cause at the end of the day I am the one who tapped out. But now I must focus on whoever wins next week to decide who will face me next week as well in the Second Round of the Losers Bracket. Whoever it is just know I will walk through the fucking fi-”. This theme plays and Finn Balor comes down to the ring with JD and Dom. Finn says “Next week I have to face the winner of the main event but before that. Thought I would pay you a visit. To make sure you remember.. THE JUDGEMENT DAY RUN WBW”. Out of nowhere AJ is attacked from behind by Chris Ridgeway. Judgement Day has a new member! This theme plays The Calamari Catch Kings theme plays and Chris Brookes runs down to the ring with the Lykos Gym. The Lykos Gym and Chris Brookes even the numbers and chase the Judgement Day up the ramp. AJ puts out a Bullet Club forever sign and CCK joins him! Judgement Day has bigger worries now as Chris Ridgeway’s first round opponent in the Battleground Tournament is in the ring with Judgement Day’s biggest rival!
This segment takes 10 minutes (2:05 left of show time)
The Riott Squad vs Shafir and Duke - Qualifier for 6 team Ladder Match for Women's Tag Titles
There are currently 3 titles without champions crowned. The World Championship, The Battleground Championship and the Women's Tag Championship. The latter is the only one not in a tournament. Instead there will be 6 qualifiers, 2 per spectacle. Where the winners are added to a 6 team ladder match. Tonight we get the first of 6 qualifiers as Liv Morgan and Ruby Soho team up once more in WBW to take on 2 enforcers of the ring in Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. It starts with Liv Morgan and Ruby Soho on top. They have slightly more chemistry and experience allowing them to take the early edge. However as the match goes on it gets more balanced as the technical duo begin to roll in the later half. The match reaches its boiling point when Shafir locks Liv in an arm bar. Liv manages to get out, tossing Shafir into the ropes. Duke tags in but gets off the apron. Liv doesnt know as she hits a ObLIVion followed by a tag to Soho. Soho sets up and hits Shafir with the Soho Kick going for the pin. Duke comes out of nowhere and hits Liv with a German right onto Soho. Liv and Shafir both roll out of the ring as Duke drops into the corner. Soho stirs to her feet and Duke connects with a spear. Duke falls into the pin and gets the 3 on Soho. Shafir joins her in the ring as they celebrate one step closer to the Women's Tag Titles!
This match takes 15 minutes (1:50 left of show time)
After the match The Riott Squad attack Shafir and Duke from behind clearly upset about their loss. Lola Vice runs down to the ring with a steel chair and chases them off. Liv and Ruby retreat up the ramp as Lola grabs a microphone. Duke and Shafir stand at either side of her and she says “WE ARE THE HORSEWOMEN” to a massive cheer from the crowd!
This segment takes 5 minutes (1:45 left of show time)
This theme plays and the Rated R Superstar makes his WBW debut! Edge comes out to a loud pop. He enters the ring with a microphone and says “CLEVELAND OHIO! I HAVE BEEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD. I HAVE BEEN IN COMPANY AFTER COMPANY. AND NOW I'M HERE IN WBW. Man it feels good to be here. A Lot of great men in that locker room. The Judgement Day, Seth Rollins, Matt Cardona and Brian Myers. All these men I have history with. And all these men I suspect I will have a match with at some point in my tenure here. But enough talking cause I'm itching to step in that ring once again. So if anybody in the back wants a shot at beating one of the greatest to ever step in the ring, come out right now.. THIS IS AN OPEN CHALLENGE!”. This theme plays and out comes WBW’s newest star, A little less massive but still a great get, the ever talented Cara Noir!
This segment takes 10 minutes (1:35 left of show time)
Edge vs Cara Noir
Edge offers his hand for a handshake but Cara bats it away. Edge looks shocked and before he can react Cara hits him with an uppercut. Cara Noir begins hitting aerial offense in hopes to put Edge on the back of his feet. It works at first until he goes for a springboard knee and gets speared out of mid air. Edge stomps into the corner and prepares hitting a second more impactful spear going for the pin. Edge gets the 3 over Cara and stands tall after a 5 minute match!
This match takes 5 minutes (1:30 left of show time)
Edge stands up after getting the 3 on Cara Noir to a load of cheers! His head then turns to the ramp as This theme plays. The crowd pops once again as Randy Orton slowly descends down the ramp. He begins circling the ring like a shark. Edge prepares for a fight as Orton reaches the front of the apron. Orton acts like he's gonna jump up but backs off laughing at Edge. Orton turns and returns up the ramp and the only question of Edge, and the crowds, mind.. What is Randy Orton up to?
This segment takes 5 minutes (1:25 left of show time)
The System are backstage celebrating their title win when The Premiere Athletes walk up to them. Woods says “Moose I could care less what you think I want my rematch”. Moose just starts laughing at him and then says “You just lost the Scramble Match you're gonna have to earn that rematch”. Woods responds with “Oh don't worry i'm well aware which is why I came back here to inform Brian Myers. It's me vs him next, sanctioned by WBW Owner Mark Steel himself. Cya out there Champ”. Josh Woods puts his hand on Brian’s shoulder for a second before walking off. Daivari and Nese follow him out.
This segment takes 5 second (1:20 left of show time)
Josh Woods vs Brian Myers w/ Eddie Edwards
Josh Woods and Brian Myers circle each other as the bell is rung. They quickly get into a technical lockup which Woods gets the better of pushing Myers into the corner. Woods backs up as the referee tells him too and Myers takes advantage with a low knee. The referee yells at him but Myers doesn't care going for an early pin. Woods kicks out at 1. Brian continues his assault for a little bit before climbing the ropes going for a Heat Seeking Elbow. Woods rolls out of the way and tries to lock in a Knee Bar. He cant get it in properly and Myers escapes with a Enzuigiri followed by a Roster Cut going for the pin. Woods kicks out at 2. Myers climbs the turnbuckle and hits a Heat Seeking Elbow. He climbs up one more time to hit a second one once again going for the pin. Woods kicks out at 2 and a half. Myers hits the ground and is frustrated. He then lifts Josh up looking for a Taste the Danger. Woods drops down behind him and catches him in the Knee Bar. Myers screams in pain as he's in the hold for well over a minute before finally tapping out. Woods has just gotten a massive win!
This match takes 10 minutes (1:10 left of show time)
After the match Moose hits Woods from behind with his belt. Daivari and Nese try to intercept but the tag champs get in their way and the 2 teams begin brawling through the crowd and out of the arena. Moose now has Woods all to himself as he sets up Game Changer. This theme plays and the Monster Among Men runs down to the ring. He hits Moose with a shoulder tackle sending him flying. Moose quickly slides out of the ring and retreats up the ramp as Braun helps Woods to his feet. Braun and Woods stand tall as Moose stands at the top of the ramp outraged.
This segment takes 5 minutes (1:05 left of show time)
Mark Steel is backstage talking to KO. KO says “Why did you tell Sami to go home, It was the Nemeth Brothers and Drew getting involved not him”. Mark responds with “It is my job to focus on safety and wellbe-”. Moose interrupts him, as KO storms off, “Wellbeing my ass. Braun just showed up and attacked me. I demand retribution”. Mark says “That's funny cause he only came out to protect Josh Woods who you attacked first. Instead i've decided it's going to be Josh Woods and Braun Strowman next week to decide who will be the #1 contender for your WBW Intercontinental Championship. Oh and if you or any other member of the System show up.. You will be forced to vacate your title immediat-”. Josh Woods walks up interrupting “Next week I'm gonna beat Braun Strowman and then I'm going to make you regret attacking me tonight”. Woods walks off as Mark takes a deep breath clearly annoyed about being interrupted yet again.
This match takes 10 minutes (0:50 left of show time)
Stupid Youth Project vs Paige Sisters w/ Ella Envy - Qualifier for 6 Team Ladder Match for Women's Tag Titles
Alice Crowley and Billie Starkz team up to take on Pretty Empowered’s Kylie and Kenzie Paige. Alice and Kenzie have a powerhouse display while Billie and Kylie use their high-flying ability. Both teams wanted to win badly. In the end it comes down to a last second ditch effort from Billie to connect with a frog splash and pin Kenzie for the 3 count. They will be joining The Horsewomen in the 6 team Ladder Match!
This match takes 10 minutes (0:40 left of show time)
Drew Gulak and Alpha Academy w/ Maxxine Dupri vs Legado Del Fantasma w/ Elektra Lopez
This match is a very chaotic match so like the Women's Tag Qualifiers I decided to just give it a basic description. All potential encounters happen as everyone from each team fought everyone from the other team. In the end Maxxine and Elektra argue and Elektra lays Maxxine out. This takes Otis’ attention for one second and the Los Lotharios take advantage with double chopblocks. Garza forces Otis to his feet and hits a Wingclipper as Humberto hits a Suicide Dive wiping out the rest of the Academy. Garza goes for the pin and Gulak attempts to get involved when he's hit with a Canadian Destroyer by Aeroboy. Gable gets to his feet and attempts to slide in but Escobar grabs his legs as Garza gets the 3! Legado Del Fantasma stood tall together in the ring celebrating.
This match takes 15 minutes (0:25 left of show time)
Chad Gable begins yelling at Otis. Drew Gulak gets in the way and tells Gable that's not how you treat your student. Gable shoves him and Gulak delivers a stiff kick before locking in an arm bar. Otis gets to his feet dejected as Gable yells out “Remember No Matter What”. Otis mutters under his breath “No Matter What” before lifting Drew off Gable and sending him crashing through the barricade. The rest of Alpha Academy meet them on the ramp as LDF watches the chaos in awe.
This segment takes 5 minutes (0:20 left of show time)
Drew McIntyre vs Kevin Owens - Round 2 of Winners Bracket for World Title Tournament
We finally reach the main event. Sami Zayn isn't allowed to show up, nor are the Nemeth Brothers. It's just Drew and KO. The match starts with KO lunging at Drew with a stiff kick before hitting him in the back sending him to the ground. Drew rolls out of the ring but KO follows persisting on the attack as the count starts. KO bangs Drew’s head off the announce table before throwing him into the steel steps. KO follows and Drew manages to get to his feet connecting with a Claymore. Drew quickly ducks in the ring looking for an easy 10 count. Kevin gets in at 9. Drew persists on the attack hitting a Futureshock DDT going for the pin. Kevin kicks out at 1. Drew looks shocked and backs into the corner. Drew begins counting down from 3 and goes for the Claymore. Kevin catches him mid air and hits a Powerbomb on the spot going for a pin. Drew kicks out at 1. KO hits the ground in frustration as Drew stumbles into the corner. KO kicks Drew in the midsection before backing up. He turns around and goes for the cannonball but Drew moves out of the way just in the nick of time! Drew connects with a Claymore going for the pin. KO kicks out at 2. Drew gets in the referee's face and asks him why it wasn't a 3. KO takes advantage pushing Drew into the referee knocking the referee out. KO then hits Drew with the Stunner followed by a Powerbomb. KO goes for the pin but Drew kicks out at 2.. Not that the referee was up anyway. KO climbs the turnbuckle and goes for a frog splash. Drew rolls out of the way and connects with a second claymore as the referee gets to his feet. Drew goes for the pin but KO kicks out at 2 and a half. Drew hits the ground in frustration, confused how it wasnt a 3. Drew lifts KO up for a Futureshock when KO reverses into a stunner. KO then lifts Drew up but his knee gives out and Drew lands in front of him connecting with a Glasgow Kiss followed by a Futureshock DDT going for the pin. KO kicks out at 2 and 3/4 and Drew goes absolutely crazy dropping back into the corner and connecting with another Claymore. Drew isn't done as he drops into the corner a second time hitting yet another Claymore. Drew doesn't care as he drops into the corner for a third time and begins counting down from 3. KO gets to his feet and hits a pop up powerbomb out of nowhere going for the pin. 2 masked men jump the barricade with “3MB” shirts on and pull the referee out of the ring. KO gets the 3 before he realizes the referee is gone. The 2 men remove their masks and climb onto the apron on both sides, thus revealing themselves to be Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal! The crowd pops as Drew’s buddies enter the ring and go after KO. At first KO does alright but then the Numbers Game catches up to him when Drew gets involved. Drew drops into the corner and begins counting down from 3 as Jinder and Heath force the referee up and toss him into the ring. Drew connects with the Claymore for a 6th time in this match going for the pin. This time Kevin cannot answer the 3 count! Jinder and Heath join Drew in the ring as 3MB celebrate together!
This match takes 20 minutes (Show Finish)
submitted by Hefty_Fix_8416 to fantasybooking [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 20:02 Flagg1991 Children of the Night (End)

The pain was the worst thing`Dominick Mason had ever known…and he knew what it felt like to die. It felt like his brain was in a blender, being chopped to liquid for a Jeffery Dahmer smoothie and though it seemed melodramatic, he imagined he could feel himself losing brain cells by the minute. The sun, Merrick told him, would not burn him, but it would decay him faster, so sleep or rest during the day. With the sick, throbbing agony in the center of his brain, however, that was impossible. He spent most of the day curled up on his side, hugging his knees, and moaning. He had flashbacks to dying in his apartment, and that made things even worse. The room became too small, too close, the air too stale. His heart, filled with the blood of last night’s meal, pounded in his chest, and he went from slightly chilly to hot and feverish as blood was forced through his circulatory system. It mixed with the embalming fluid and left him feeling full and constipated. He didn’t want to get up, but he also didn’t want to go on lying there. He was the definition of miserable.
Before long, the pain became too great and he got up to pace, pressing his hands to the sides of his head and gritting his teeth. Merrick, who slept very little if at all, sat in his chair and watched, trying his best to talk him through it. “It’ll be over soon,” Merrick said. “The pain receptors in your brain are the first to go. When they burn out, you won’t feel anything.”
“When?” Dom asked, his voice raising with the tide of pain.
“A couple days?”
“A couple days???”
“The pain will lessen gradually,” Merrick said, “this is the worst of it.”
Dom believed that this was, indeed, the worst of it, but he doubted it would lessen gradually. For the rest of the day, the pain got worse and worse until every light blinded him, every sound turned his stomach, and the smell of anything made his gorge rise. The cloying smell of the embalming fluid, the light but unmistakable odor of dead flesh, and the scent of stale blood sitting in decomposing stomachs made him want to vomit, but he was afraid to. He didn’t think he could handle the sight of blood rushing from his mouth and splattering the floor. He still possessed enough of his facilities, he believed, to go insane.
Pain has a way of darkening one’s mood, and by the time the sun began to set, Dom was in the most sour mood possible. Even Merrick’s calm, fatherly voice was beginning to get on his nerves. When he took the oath to him the day before (or was it the day before that?), he turned his faith and trust over to Merrick entirely. He was finally accepted, included, finally had the love and fellowship that, in the pit of his soul, he had always wanted. Merrick understood him, Merrick was kind to him.
But deep down, Dom realized that he didn’t fully trust him. He said that his brain didn’t rot because he was “lucky.” That sounded like some bullshit to Dom. Why wasn’t Joe a blithering idiot too? Was he lucky as well? Did lightning strike in the same place twice? In life, people had done nothing but hurt and lie to Dom. Why would death be any different? He thought back to the strange liquid that always seemed to leak from Merrick’s nose, and Joe’s. He thought it was embalming fluid, but it never leaked from his own nose, or from anyone else’s. He tried to tell himself that it was far too soon to judge, but once he began to doubt something, his mind raced away. He felt a twinge of guilt, as Merrick had done absolutely nothing to deserve his doubt, but goddamn it, his head was on fire and he wanted it to stop. Anything to make it stop.
Just after sundown, the music began as Club Vlad opened for the night. It throbbed in the center of Dom’s head and made him want to claw his eyes out. When it became too much for him, he slipped away and stumbled into the sultry summer night. He came out in the alley running behind the club, clutching his head and breathing through bared teeth. He staggered, bumped into a metal trash can, and roared at the top of his lungs, as if he could purge himself of the pain by screaming.. His voice echoed and came back to him, making the pain worse.
Merrick was lying. He knew it. People always lied to him. His brain was rotting and PEOPLE WERE LYING! Flashing with anger, he slammed his fist into the brick wall of a Chinese restaurant. He barely felt anything so he did it again and again until his hand was lumpy and shaking. He sat heavily on the ground and pressed his hands to his head. It felt like maggots were burrowing into his brain, and he was suddenly terrified that they really were. He needed to stop this awful pain, but how?
An idea came to him.
The funeral home.
Maybe there was something there.
He was on his feet and lumbering there before the thought had even finished reverberating through his mind. It was a long shot, but he was desperate. On the way there, he stuck to the shadows, staying out of the light cast by the streetlamps and avoiding people. When he passed them, he kept his head down. When he reached the funeral home, he went to the back door where he and Jessie had gone the other day. He tried it, and it opened.
Inside, he bounced off the walls like a pinball, knocking over an end table and tearing at the flesh of his head, pulling it away in long, gray strips. He panted like a wild animal, his body a raging tempest of emotions. It was reaching a crescendo, he thought, his brain was about to go supernova. The world dimmed, things got really echoy. The young man he’d picked the embalming fluid up from was there, looking scared.
Flashing, Dom grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall, knocking a painting of a flowery field to the carpet. Everything seemed to go in slow mo. “How does Merrick keep his brain from rotting?” Dom heard himself demanding from far away. “How does he keep the pain away?”
The man trembled. “I-I-”
Dom slammed him again. “Tell me or I’ll make you like me.”
“No!” the man wailed. He shook his head from side to side, his eyes wet with fear.
“How?”
“He-He uses a solution,” the man stammered. “Some kind of special thing. It preserves his brain. That’s all I know.”
An idea occurred to Dom.
Holding the man by the back of his neck, Dom dragged him into the embalming room and pushed him against the table. His head felt like it was swelling. Hot, screaming, getting ready to explode. He looked around, found the embalming machine, and grabbed the hose. There was a sharp tip on it so that you could jam it into a body. He held it in his hand, hesitating for just a moment before pressing it to his temple. The man watched in horror as Dom slowly shoved the tip into his head. It tore his flesh, broke through his skull, and sank into his brain. He felt no pain, only pressure, but cried out anyway. His eyes rolled up into his head and a shudder went through his body.
“Turn it on!” he yelled.
“That’s not what he -”
“TURN IT ON!”
Starting, the man turned the machine on. Cold embalming fluid squirted directly into Dom’s brain. Almost at once, the pain began to ebb away, replaced only by a fuzzy sense of numbness. His knees buckled and he sank to the floor, looking for all the world like an addict taking a hit of his favorite substance after a long and trying day. Fluid leaked from his nose, ears, and eyes and dripped down the back of his throat.
The man waited for a long time, then turned the machine off.
The pain was gone.
At least for now.
“Tell me again,” Dom said.
The man did. Merrick used a special preserving agent to keep his brain intact. Joe, the man suspected, got it as well. So Merrick had lied to him.
Dom felt betrayed.
And angry.
Leaving the man (Dom realized that he didn’t even know his name), he walked back to Club Vlad, his hands fisted in his pockets. All his life, he had been hurt, lied to, and ignored. All his life, people had done wrong to him. And all those years, he just took it.
He resolved not to be so accepting in death.
At last, he was going to stop being a sniveling little bitch and stand up for himself.
When he reached Club Vlad, he slammed through the back door and took the stairs two at a time. At the top, he called out Merrick’s name. The old man was sitting in his chair, being attended to by Jessie and Matt. He looked startled when Dom came in. “You lied to me,” Dom said, stalking over to his benefactor.
“What are you talking about?” Merrick asked, doing his best to sound innocent.
“You lied to me!” Dom screamed. He bent over and got so close to Merrick’s face that he could have kissed him. “You told me there was no way to save my brain, but that’s not true. You’re pumping your head full of shit and letting the rest of us rot.”
A dark shadow flickered across Merrick’s face. “Watch your tone when you talk to me,” he said. His voice was low, menacing.
“Fuck you,” Dom said. “I should k -”
Suddenly, Dom was being grabbed from behind and yanked back, an arm around his neck. He cried out in alarm as Joe swung him around and slammed him face first into the wall. He heard his nose crunch, felt his teeth shatter. Next, Joe wrestled him to the glitter-sprinkled floor and wedged his knee between his shoulder blades.
Merrick watched with a sneer of disgust, his hands gripping the arms of his chair. He wheeled himself over, Jessie holding his IV stand steady and following behind. “Listen, you son of a bitch,” Merrick said, “you’re lucky to be a part of this family.”
Cold fear filled the pit of Dom’s stomach, yet he wouldn’t back down, couldn’t back down. He had lived his entire life like a mouse in a burrow, he wasn’t about to live his entire death the same way.
“Fuck your family,” he said defiantly. “And fuck you.”
Merrick’s face darkened and he sat back in his chair. He looked at Jessie and nodded. She went away and came back a moment later holding something in her hand. Dom’s eyes widened when he saw what it was.
A wooden stake, one end honed to a razor point.
Why they had one of those lying around, Dom didn’t know; it’d be like Superman keeping a piece of kryptonite on the mantle over the fireplace. Merrick directed Max and Matt to hold Dom’s arms down/ Joe pivoted, kneeling on his head now so that Dom’s back was exposed. Dom’s heart slammed with terror and tremors raced through his body.
“Is this what you want, Dominick?” Merrick asked. “To die? To truly die?”
Dom swallowed hard. No, it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to live, to love, to have a family one day. He wanted a happy, normal life, the life TV and social media had been promising him since he was a little boy.
But all of that went out the window the night he died in his little apartment. There was no life anymore, just a grotesque parody of life. What was there for him other than death? Clinging desperately onto life for decades like Merrick? Stuffing himself full of embalming fluid and moth balls? Grinding for one more minute just so he could sit hooked up to a machine?
Dom spoke.
“What?” Merrick asked, not having heard.
Dom licked his lips. “Just fucking do it.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Expectation hung in the air. Finally, breaking the tension, Merrick nodded to Jessie. Kneeling down, she brought the stake up, and Dom closed his eyes.
This was it.
He braced himself for death.
Jessie brought the stake down just as a shot rang out, deafening in the small space. Her head whipped back, embalming fluid, skull fragments, and gray, sickly pieces of brain showering from the back of her head. She flopped back and landed on the floor with a sickening thud.
A woman cop, her black uniform in stark contrast to the burning white light, stood in the doorway to the hall, her gun drawn. Everyone did, indeed, freeze, more out of surprise than respect for authority. They all looked at her, their dead mouths agape, resembling children who’d been caught doing something wrong.
“Everyone on the ground!” she barked.
No one knew what to do. They hadn’t expected to be raided by the police so had not prepared. She jerked her gun and everyone instinctively flinched. “On the ground!” she repeated. To Max: “You too, bone boy.”
The first one to react was Joe. He sprang at her like a big, undead frog. She brought the gun around and fired, but he was already crashing into her. The shot went wild and struck the IV bag next to Merrick; he ducked and let out a sound of fear. The others rushed her, and Dom got quickly to his feet. Jessie lay on the floor, her mouth open in a silent scream and her bony fingers frantically examining the ragged hole in the center of her forehead. For a moment, he was frozen; everything was happening too fast. Then, when Merrick saw him and cried, “Stop him!, he came alive. Jessie tried to grab at his leg, but he kicked her hand away and stomped on it like it was a giant spider. On the other side of the room, Matt, Joe, and Max had forced the cop to the ground. Perhaps excited by all the action, perhaps just hungry, they began to tear her apart. She howled in pain, and the last thing Dom saw before he fled was her open, blood-filled mouth. Her eyes were filled with pain…with terror.
After that, Dom ran.
***
When the interloper was dead, Merrick directed Joe and Matt to dispose of the body. “Get rid of it,” he said wearily and rubbed his temples, “make sure it isn’t found.”
They rolled her into a carpet from the office, and the way her feet stuck out may have been comical under other circumstances.
Goddamn it, this was bad. Merrick’s entire philosophy rested on avoiding detection. He had done well in that regard. Whereas other vampires had attacked their villages and gotten themselves dug from the ground and staked, he had made it four decades. He never shat where he ate, and there is no bigger turd than killing a cop. They might dawdle on all the boys who’d gone missing - taken because their blood was stronger and more robust than the blood of girls - but they would not take a cop dying lightly at all.
Merrick owned various businesses around the country. He and the others would simply move on. Tomorrow night, they would disappear into the night. They had done it before and they would likely do it again. Once things were settled at their new base of operations, he would have Joe killed for all the trouble he’d caused.
And Dom?
Let him go.
The little rat wouldn’t last a month on his own.
“Jessie?”
Jessie sat against the wall, gazing into space.
“Jessi…start packing. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
She didn’t move, didn’t seem to hear. The shot had all but lobotomized her.
Damn it.
Joe backed the van up to the back door of Club Vlad, and then helped Matt carry the carpet-rolled body down the stairs. They loaded it in and closed the back doors. Together, they drove around looking for a place to dump it. Merrick wanted it to go unfound, but Joe doubted there was anywhere isolated enough in the city. On a whim, he drove to Washington Park, a vast expanse of green trees and shadows. There was a large pond there. It seemed the best option. They were leaving tomorrow anyway, so did it really matter?
Joe backed the van to a railing overlooking the dark water and put it in park. He and Matt got out, fetched the body, and carried it to the railing. They lifted and heaved it over. It splashed. Thus, they rid themselves of Vanessa Rodregiez.
***
Bruce sat anxiously up in his easy chair and waited for his cell to ring.
Parked in front of the TV by warm lamplight, a beer wedged between his legs, he’d been watching the 11’o’clock news when the phone rang. He picked it up and it was Vanessa. “Hey,” she said, “I think I found our body?”
“Which one?” Bruce asked and took a drink. “We have a lot of those these days.”
“Dominick Mason.”
Bruce sat forward in his chair. “Dead Dom? Where?”
“He just came out of a funeral home, ironically enough.”
“That sounds about right,” Bruce said. “Where are you now?”
“I’m following him east on Central.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Bruce asked.
“I think so, but I’m not sure. I’ll call you back when I’m done.”
Bruce sat the phone aside and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
At some point, he fell asleep sitting up, his head lulled to one side and his mouth open. He snorted himself awake, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. He checked his phone and was perturbed to see that it was past 2am.
Vanessa hadn’t called.
He dialed her number and let the phone ring until it went to voicemail. Sighing, he ended the call, then waited a few minutes and called again.
Still no answer.
It was possible she had forgotten. Maybe the guy turned out to not be Dead Dom after all. She followed some random guy around, realized it, and that was that. Hell, she was probably too embarrassed to call and tell him about it.
Something told him that wasn’t right, however.
There was something else going on here.
Something…darker.
Just before 3am, his phone rang. He snatched it off the end table next to the chair and answered it. It was Burt, the night sargent. “Rodriguez is missing,” he said simply.
Bruce’s heart sank. “Missing?”
“Yeah, she hasn’t checked in for hours and she isn’t answering calls.”
“I’m on my way,”
Bruce tore through the house, pulling on his uniform, socks, and shoes in less time than it took a Daytona 500 pit crew to service a car. In ten minutes he was speeding down 787, the Albany skyline rising in the distance. As he hurried to the station, he thought back to his last conversation with Vanessa. She’d found Dom the Dead Man, the “corpse” who’d scared Ed Harris out of a 20 year career. Despite all their talk about vampires and the living dead, Bruce didn’t believe it, not really. Even so, he was sure that Dominick Mason had done something to Vanessa.
He checked in at the station before doing anything else. They had triangulated Vanessa’s last known location via cell towers. Cops were already out searching the streets for her. Bruce went out as well, intending to start from her last known position and work his way east on Central. The closest funeral home was Tebbutt and Frederick on Central. There was also Lasak & Gigliotti on North Allen Street. Bruce didn’t know which one Vanessa had seen Dom come out of, so he checked both.
Both were deserted at this hour.
Undeterred, Bruce drove up and down Central Ave. At one point, he noticed a shape in an alleyway that looked human. He hit the brakes, jumped out, and pointed his gun at it. “Freeze!”
An old wino stepped out of the darkness. “Alright, you got me,” he said, hands up. “I started COVID. It was an accident, I swear.”
Bruce sighed and put his gun away.
For two more hours, Bruce searched the streets of Albany for Vanessa. At 4am, he spotted a squad car abandoned in the rear parking lot of an abandoned gas station on lower Lark Street. He called it in and the desk sergeant confirmed that it was the one Vanessa had signed out that night.
Still there was no sign of Vanessa herself.
Just after dawn, as the city came alive and CDTA buses began lumbering up and down the streets, Bruce got a call on his cell. “A jogger found a body in Washington Park.”
Bruce was in his personal car. He had no bubble light, no siren. Even so, he sped through the streets like he did, blowing through red lights and stop signs with little care to himself or anyone else. When he got to Washington Park, he found an army cops by the pond, the scene cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. He slammed on the brakes, threw open the door, and jumped out without even turning off the engine.
The body was rolled up in a carpet and lying on the bank. Two beat cops unrolled it at Bruce’s direction. “We should wait for -” one of them started, but Bruce cut him off.
“Do it.”
They compiled, and at the carpet’s center, like a rotten cream filling, was the body of Vanessa Rodregiuez. Her head was tilted to one side, her eyes wide and staring. Her throat had been mangled and ripped away, her head nearly severed. Even in the black and red mess, Bruce could make out the teeth marks and puncture wounds. They may have looked like something else to anyone else who saw them, but he knew, in that moment, what they were dealing with.
A sharp pang of horror sliced through him, and his knees went weak.
“Jesus Christ,” one of the beat cops drew.
Bruce fell to, rather than knelt on, one knee. He bent over the body, a mixture of horror and grief welling his throat. He wanted to reach out, to comfort her in death, but he stayed his hand. Instead, he visually examined the body. She had bruises on her face, defensive wounds on her hands, and her gun was gone. Whoever had attacked her, she put up a fight.
Something glinted on her pants.
“What’s that?” one of the cops asked.
“I dunno,” the other replied, “but it’s all over the carpet.”
Indeed, there were glinty little specks all over it, winking like mocking eyes. Nice work, eh? We really fucked her up, didn’t we? Wink wink.
“It looks like…”
The other cop cut him off. “Glitter.”
Bruce flashed back to his visit to Club Vlad the other day.
There had been glitter everywhere.
Bruce stood up.
He had work to do.
***
Instead of going back to the station to start his shift, Bruce went to Lowes. There, he bought a mallet, a gas can, and a dozen sticks of wood. An employee in a blue vest used a machine to sharpen them to a wicked point and he took his purchases to the car. Next, he drove over to the Mobil station and filled the gas can. He was so hellbent on revenge that he sprang for premium, the good stuff. No expense shall be spared.
His final stop was at a Catholic church. He filled a canteen with holy water from the marble font by the door, then swiped a crucifix from the wall. He stopped by the station, went inside, and grabbed a black duffle bag with POLICE written across the front in yellow. He opened the gun cabinet in his office, took out a shotgun, and loaded it with shells. He grabbed a handful from the box and stuffed them into his pocket.
He was just finishing up when Bertha came in. “There you are,” she spat, “I’ve waited long enough for you to do something. I demand -”
Bruce shoved the duffle bag into her arms. “Make yourself useful.”
“What?” she demanded.
“We’re going to get your granddaughter,” Bruice lied. Kind of.
Bertha’s demeanor changed. “Good. It’s about time. I was starting to think you were a complete incompetent.”
Bruce didn’t answer. Outside, he plucked the bag out of Bertha’s hands and tossed it into the backseat. He slipped behind the wheel and Bertha sat in the passenger seat. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Club Vlad,” Bruce said and started the engine.
“I want all of them arrested.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bruce said.
She barked orders the entire way there. Bruce was so deep in his thoughts that he barely heard her. The image of Vanessa’s ruined throat and terror-twisted face haunted him, and he felt a lump forming in his throat. Hot tears filled his eyes but he blinked them back and forced himself to calm down.
I’ll cry when I’m done killing, he thought.
A few minutes later, he pulled to the curb in front of Club Vlad. It was a hot and sunny day and the place seemed even more ominous because of it. The windows were black, the front cast in perpetual shadows by the old marquee from when it used to be a theater. The place was surely closed, but Bruce could hear music still playing from inside, some techno dance bullshit. “Alright,” he said, “let’s go.”
Getting out, he slung the dufflebag over his shoulder and carried the shotgun, the canteen full of holy water clasped to his belt. Bertha carried the gas can, looking confused. “Why do we need this?” she asked.
“We’re burning the place down.”
Bertha blinked in surprise…then an evil grin carved across her face. “That’ll show the bastards.”
Unlike last time, the door was locked. Bruce used the butt of the shotgun to break the glass, then reached inside and unlocked the door, being careful not to cut himself. This was the point of no return. What he had in mind would probably get him kicked off the force or even thrown in jail - and we all know how tough jail can be for a former barnaclehead. The memory of Vanessa’s contorted face pushed him on, however.
He’d suffer any consequences he needed to just so long as he got the sons of bitches who did this to her.
Inside, the club was cool and cave-like. Strobe lights flashed, on and off, black and white, dazzling Bruce’s eyes. The bartender was at his station, cleaning up from the night before. When he saw Bruce and Bertha come in, he started. Bruce pointed the shotgun at him. “Don’t fucking move,” he commanded.
The bartender hesitated, then reached for something under the bar.
The shotgun kicked in Bruce’s hands, and the bartender flew back, turning as he crashed into the barback. Bottles, glasses, and mugs crashed to the floor along with the bartender. Bruce racked the gun, and the shell flew out. He moved low and fast now, expecting to be swarmed by vampires, living thugs who worked for vampires, or vampire thugs who worked for themselves.
Though the shot had been like thunder, no one came.
Bruce had no idea where to go, but he imagined that vampires were naturally gravitate to the lowest part of the building. Was there a basement? Shit, he should have looked up the building plans at city hall. Damn, this is what happens when you go off half-cocked. He searched around a bit, opening doors and sweeping the rooms beyond with the shotgun. He found no basement, only stairs leading up. “Stay close,” he said to Bertha.
In the lead, Bruce crept up the stairs, the flashlight on the shotgun providing a cone of clean, white light. At the top of the stairs, he went right, and came to an office and a store room. Backtracking, and bumping into a bungling Bertha, he went into the next room. It was large and open with a vaulted ceiling, almost like a ballroom. Here the same strobe lights throbbed on and off, making him dizzy. Was this to dazzle prospective vampire hunters?
Either way, this was the place. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, some curled up on their sides and others in the classic vampire pose: Flat on their backs with their hands laced over their chests. In the center, like the sun to the planets, Merrick Garvis lay slumped back in his wheelchair, his neck exposed for any potential assassin to come and cut. Not that it would kill him. At least Bruce didn’t think it would.
“They’re all dead,” Bertha whispered. She looked around and gasped. “There’s Jessie.”
Jessie lay on her back, her hands folded on her chest. She had a ragged bullet hole in the center of her forehead. “Oh, God,” Bertha wavered, “someone shot her.”
He hoped it was Vanessa. And he hoped it fucking hurt.
Looking around, Bruce couldn’t find Dominick Mason. Was he the one who killed Vanessa? Was it a group effort? He wanted the little son of a bitch bad, but it looked like he’d have to go on without him. They didn’t have much time.
Unshouldering the duffle bag, he knelt down and rummaged around. “Start splashing that gas on the bodies,” he said.
“But -”
“Just do it,” he snapped.
There must have been a harder edge in his voice than normal, because Bertha jumped and did as she was told. She upended the can and began to splash gasoline onto the sleeping forms, the smell of it acrid and strong.
Taking out a stake and the mallet, Bruce went over to Merrick and knelt down. He gripped the stake in one hand and placed it firmly against Merrick’s chest. He brought the mallet up and hesitated, the gravity of what he was doing finally reaching him. What if he was wrong? What if -
Merrick’s head whipped up and their eyes locked.
Too late.
Bruce brought the mallet down as hard as he could. The stake drove deep into Merrick’s heart, and the vampire let out a howling screech that rang through the chamber like the cry of a banshee. His bony fingers clawed at the stake and his head whipped from side to side, his back arching and his robe coming open. In the quick strobe pattern, Bruce was shocked to see that his body was little more than a wood frame, chicken wire, and cotton balls. His blacked heart was hidden behind a screen of mesh that the stake had easily torn through. It throbbed, seemingly in time with the strobe lights, and Merrick let out another wail.
Bertha screamed, and Bruce jumped to his feet.
The vampires, drawn by their master’s cries of distress, were rising to their feet. Two, four, six of them, pale and ethereal like ghosts in a gothic mansion. They came toward Merrick, and Bruice fell back a step. The old man had gone still and lay slumped to one side, his eyes open and his mouth slack, embalming fluid leaking from the corner of his lips. Jessie bent over him and touched his face. Though she moved like a zombie, with no human emotion, Bruce was crazily sure that it was a touch of tenderness and love. Merrick didn’t stir.
He was dead.
Jessie looked at him. Yellow liquid leaked from her eyes like tears. Instead of attacking him, she turned on her grandmother and slammed her against the wall. Bertha screamed and dropped the can. It landed on its side, its contents sloshing out onto the floor. A man that resembled the pictures Bruce had seen of Joe Rossi only deader rushed him, slamming into him and knocking the shotgun aside. It hit the floor and skidded away. Joe grabbed Bruce around the throat and squeezed. Still the lights flashed, off and on, off and on. The walls thrummed with the mechanized beat of dance music, pierced only by Bertha’s screams as Jessie ripped out her throat.
Joe leaned in, his fangs wicked and glowing in the light. Bruce clawed at the monster’s face, tearing away strips of dead flesh. Joe turned his head to the side, and Bruce kneed him in the groin. Even dead, getting kicked in the balls hurt like hell, apparently. Joe’s grip loosened and Bruce was able to shove him off. Bruce unclasped the canteen and frantically screwed the cap off as Joe recovered. Joe sprang at him again, and Bruce splashed him in the face.
A sound like sizzling meat filled the air, and Joe screamed at the top of his lungs. He pressed his hands to his face and danced around the room, his skin liquifying and oozing between his fingers. The others were coming now, led by a terrible skeletal thing. Bruce scooped the shotgun off the floor, brought it around, and fired. The blast hit the thing dead center, tearing it literally in half. The top half flew back, an all too human look of surprise on its face, and the bottom half fell over with a wet thud. Another vampire came at, and Bruce slammed it across the face with the butt of the gun. He heard its jaw crack, saw teeth flying.
Bertha lay dead on the floor, Jessie bent over her. The smell of Bertha’s blood attracted the others, who seemed to forget about Bruce, Merrick, and everything else. Joe was on his knees, wailing in pain, and the skeletal thing was pulling itself toward Bertha. A feeding frenzy broke out as vampires fought to get a piece of her the way piglets might fight over their mother’s teat. Bruce watched in a mixture of horror and fascination, but recovered himself. He grabbed the gas can from the floor and dumped the rest of its contents on Merrick’s body, the feeding vampires’ backs, and the floor, using the last of it to make a little trail to the door. He tossed the can aside, bent down, and stuck a match.
A huge, fiery whump filled the room, and fire streaked along the trail. The vampires all went up in a huge ball of flames, and fire shot up Merrick’s body, catching his robe, his hair, and the wooden frame that had kept him semi upright for God knows how long. Letting out inhuman screams, the vampires broke from Bertha’s corpse. One stumbled around, bounced off the wall, and fell; another toddled toward Bruce before falling to its knees. The half skeleton kept drinking from Bertha’s neck even as it burned.
The heat was enormous, baking. Bruce backed away, and the last thing he saw before smoke obscured his vision was Merrick Garvis.
He was literally melting.
***
Dominick Mason tried to go home, but he no longer had a home. All of his worldly possessions sat on the sidewalk in front of his building, discarded coldly as easily. His key didn’t work in his door and there was a FOR RENT sign on it. Why would it be any other way? He was dead. Sooner or later, everyone forgets you when you’re dead, and all the things you held so dear wind up in the trash. It was a hard pill to swallow, but most people aren’t around to see it after they die.
He was.
From his building, he walked east toward Washington Park. In the distance, thick, black smoke billowed into the air, and sirens rose. He barely noticed and wouldn’t have cared even if he did. No more rubbernecking for him. That was for the living.
The pain that had plagued him so the previous day came back, only less this time. Maybe he was imagining it, but it was getting harder to think. Not that he cared, really. What was there to think about anyway? How he had no one to mourn or miss him? How he died and not one single person, except for maybe his mother, cared, or even noticed? How he had done nothing with his life? Even to the women he’d slept with, what was he? Just another dating app hookup. They probably didn’t even remember his name.
Merrick had been right about one thing. Death was easy. It was life that was hard…life that hurt.
With that in mind, Dominick made his way to Washington Park. It was a vast and deep place with many small caves and thickets. Kids played on the playground, their cries of laughter scenting the still air. It had grown cloudy and began to rain. Still, smoke poured into the sky in the direction of Club Vlad. Dom didn’t wish ill on Merrick and the others, didn’t hope it was them burning. He didn’t care anymore. Not about them, not about anyone. For better or worse (and he would argue it was worse), his life was over. His time came days ago, he just missed the boat.
Picking out an isolated little area, Dom sat against a tree with his legs splayed out in front of him. He titled his head back and closed his eyes. Yes, thinking was hard now. His mind felt sluggish, cold. He was thirsty…so, so thirsty, but he ignored it.
Slowly, the bugs found him. Flies buzzed around him and laid their eggs in his skin. Beetles scuttled over him, followed by worms.
Next, it was the birds. They ate out his eyes and nibbled at his blue, bloated skin.
The animals came last.
Their appetites were bigger.
And they left little remaining of poor, outcast Dominick Mason.
***
That night, Bruce sat alone in his little trailer, a bottle of whiskey wedged between his legs and unshed tears in his eyes. He stared at his reflection in the darkened TV set and took long swallows from the bottle. He planned to drink until he forgot or passed out, whichever came first. He tried to not think about Vanessa, but in his addled state, he couldn’t control himself, and began to cry. When that storm passed, like the others before it, he chugged from the bottle.
As distant church bells clanged the hour - midnight - a feeble knock came at the door. Bruce took another drink and it came again. Getting up, he stumbled, nearly fell, and gripped the bottle tightly. He didn’t want to lose one precious drop.
Again, the knock.
“I’m coming,” Bruce slurred. He staggered to the door and fought with the lock. He was dizzy and seeing double.
When he got it, he opened the door.
The bottle dropped from his hand and clanked onto the floor.
Vanessa, clad in a puke green hospital gown, stood on the step, her hands pressed to her chest and a look of anguish on her milk white face. Her head tilted to one side, the wounds on her neck cleaned but open, gaping. Her dark eyes shone with tears. “I’m dead,” she said.
Breaking down in tears, she collapsed against him and they sank to the floor. She was cold and smelled. Bruce wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest anyway. “Shhh, it’s alright,” he said drunkenly. “Hey, it’s alright.
“I’m dead,” she repeated, and her voice broke. “I don’t want to die.”
Bruce held her close, trying to warm her icy skin. He didn’t know what to say, so he cried with her.
“You’re safe now,” he said, “it’s going to be okay.”
“I want blood,” she said and sobbed harder, “I want to hurt people.”
“Shhh,” Bruce said again. “It’s okay.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a utility knife. He flicked the blade across his wrist and searing pain shot up his arm. “Here,” he said and offered her his blood, “drink this.”
He did this without care and without thought. She needed him, and one barnaclehead always backs up another.
Vanessa hesitated, looking from his face to the oozing blood, unsure.
“Go ahead,” he told her.
Vanessa brought his wrist to her mouth.
And began to drink.
submitted by Flagg1991 to LetsReadOfficial [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 18:56 Purno3029 Hot Take: Buzz is really underrated.

Yeah, I know that Im a bit biased since Im a buzz main. But in my opinion, he is not only good in ladder due to how much teamwipes u can make if u r good at buzz, but he is also really underrated in competetive scenario.
For example, he is really good against fellow assassins like Melodie(who is like the best brawler rn), Fang, Edgar, Mortis, Lily etc. He is basically good against any long range brawler without a escape mechanic(like piper, Angelo), if u r good at hitting ur super. He is good against some meta tanks like bibi and buster. He is really good against throwers given he is a assassin.
He's also underrated in various game modes and maps. For example, hot zone. You can use your gadget hook to gain control on the zone first(Its evident in maps like parllel plays). He's good in brawl ball maps like center stage and sneaky fields(if enemy doesnt have high dps tanks), since he can scout enemies in bushes with his gadget. He is good in gem grab due to how tanky he is and his assassin capabilities. He is really good in heist due to how good dps and mobilty he has. He's super's stun is also great against enemies thart are rushing ur heist safes.
While he is not that great in passive modes like bounty and knockout due to his short range, you can still make it work in ladder and low elo. I have buzz on rank 28 and I still sometimes push him on knockout(maps like flaring phionex, belles rock, four levels, and between the rivers) and wipeout(on maps like quad damage and infinite doom).
He's gadget and stapowers are really good. His starpower especially the 1st one is pretty good. He has good health, damage and overall well rounded stats. His hypercharge is also really good at pressuring the enemy.
I think people should realize how good buzz is due to his ability to counter meta brawlers. People probably ignore him due to his high skill floor, but if u know how to play him, you can absolutely carry ur team. Even though cord and melodie are top assassins st the moment, he is really great in his own scenarios mentioned above. So, what do u think about buzz)
(Note:While im making this post, spenlc just uploaded a video where he said buzz is really underrated. And also Im making this post after bashing a user who said crow is underrated, so i hope i dont get roasted for that.)
submitted by Purno3029 to BrawlStarsCompetitive [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 06:56 Krayzfrog There’s something off with the people on campus

I think there’s something off about my campus
Hey everyone, I’m typing this on my phone so I apologize if there is weird formatting. Anyways, to get to the point, there’s something really off with some people on my campus. I have come seeking answers.I noticed it first walking home from my 7pm class last Wednesday.
To set the scene, most of the campus is tucked back into the woods a little, and my 7pm class is in the farthest building from the parking lot (further into the woods). I get out from that 7pm class around 9pm, so on cloudy nights like last Wednesday, the only lights on that long sidewalk are the lights radiating from the other buildings. Usually, there’s roughly 30 feet where it’s pitch black because the foliage is pretty dense. I usually walk back to my apartment with some classmates that live in the same complex as me, but I told them to go ahead of me while I finished the rest of the project.
After packing my laptop away, I started heading back home. It was roughly 9:30 at this point, and my brain was slowly shutting down preparing for the deep sleep that has yet to come.Walking down the sidewalk, I heard somebody not too far into the woods laughing like they’ve just heard the funniest joke ever. I immediately thought, “probably some Freshman walking the trails with their friends smoking weed”. Chuckling to myself, I put in my AirPods and picked a playlist for my journey back home.
When I looked up from my phone, there was the silhouette of somebody walking towards me. I have no idea how I missed them before, but honestly, it’s very possible they were just in a spot where the light wasn’t quite reaching them. A little unnerved, I shifted over to the left side of the sidewalk.
(Now I’m usually fine walking alone at night; I’m a 6’2 man who’s dabbled in the world of MMA. But something about this person gave me a primal feeling of unrest.)
When they shifted over to the left mirroring me, I felt my blood run cold. But alas, I had to keep walking because this was my only way back home. As I neared closer to the figure, I almost laughed at myself when I realized it was just some harmless girl walking towards the Murphy building. If anything, I’m the intimidating one to her.
This is where it really gets weird. She stopped as I was passing her and turned to me. Thinking she needed to ask me something, I took an AirPod out and asked “what’s up?”. After staring at me for an uncomfortable amount of time, she opened her mouth, and I kid you not, mimicked the laugh I heard moments before perfectly. Before I could chalk it up to it just being her in the trails earlier, I noticed something. Her mouth wasn’t moving at all. If I had left my AirPods in, it would just look like she was just opening her mouth and staring at me. She then shifted into a deep raspy laugh. She did all of this without moving her mouth at all; I couldn’t even see her throat moving as you would expect if someone was laughing. It was almost like she was some fucked up human-shaped gramophone. The feeling of absolute horror that came over me is something I’ve only experienced in my imagination. Before I could think to do anything next, My body began to run off some sort of primal instinct. With my legs burning, it took me about 10 minutes to get all the way back to my apartment and lock myself in relative safety.
I’m coming on here now to ask if anybody knows what I experienced? I have been hearing that same laughter outside my window every night since that night, I am too terrified to sleep well and have refused to go to any of my classes. Please I just want answers, I don’t want to keep living in fear.
Part 2:
Hey everyone, I’ve gotten some DMs telling me what it may be. I’ve heard everything from banshee to skinwalker. After further research I pray to god it was neither of them. I’m praying it was just some girl with a speaker playing some sort of cruel joke. I mean yes there are people who don’t like me on campus, I’ve made some enemies over the past 4 years. But, I just don’t understand what could’ve brought it to this point. I had to stop hiding in fear and go to my classes before my grades plummet, I’m almost done with my degree and only have a few more weeks. If I let some sort of stupid prank ruin my career, It would be everything I swore against to my parents.
A lot of you guys in the DMs were also asking what college I go to and what my name is. First I want to say sorry for not providing that information in the first post, I’m sure you can understand where my head was at typing that. So let me introduce myself, my name is Nick and In order to keep my privacy, I will only provide that I go to a midwest university.
I’m sure you may be wondering, “so did it just stop?”. I would love to say yes, but really things have just gotten weirder. Though, I am pleased to say that there is no longer laughing out my window every night.
Ever since that night, I’ve been noticing more things off with the people on campus. Now you may just think it’s paranoia, but just be patient and listen.
Yesterday, I decided to muster up all of my courage and go to class. Luckily my first class is at 10AM, when the sun is well in the sky, so walking across campus seemed much less threatening. When I sat down in my first class, I noticed something off with the girl that sits in front of me. Usually she’s chatty and excited to be in class, but today she just stared blankly ahead. I tried to say good morning and ask about her weekend, as we do every Monday, but she continued to have that blank stare. She did turn her head towards be, but her eyes read “lights on, but nobody is home”.
Thinking to myself, she may just be hungover, or going through the bout of college student depression. I decided to shrug it off and turn to the front of the class and get my notes ready. But the moment I turned around, I could feel it. Her eyes burrowing deep into the back of my head. When I flipped around to see if I was just being irrational, I quickly learned I wasn’t. Her eyes went from the blank glare, to the most enthusiastic face I’ve seen on her. It was horrible, it almost seemed like she was trying so hard to pretend she was thrilled to be in class and to speak to me. It was inhuman.
I’ve been on the internet long enough to catch on to the term “Uncanny valley”, and what I witnessed In my first hour gives me that same gut feeling I got when I saw that girl last Wednesday.
I was right to be uncomfortable though, I texted her after class to make sure she was doing alright. But her response only reignited the flames of deep fear burning in my soul.
I’ll copy and paste the messages here:
Me: Hey Is everything good? You seemed off in class today.
Steph SCI 101: Uh yeah, I’m fine. but I was not in class today, I’m severely hungover from Tanner’s party last night.
Me: Haha, good one.
Steph SCI 101: No I’m so Fr, are you okay?
Steph SCI 101: Are you trying to fuck with me or something?
Me: Nevermind, I’m sorry to bother you.
(End Of Texts)
Okay so I’m sure that this gives you all the same feeling of dread that it gave me but I’m sure scaled down a bit. This is where I have started to doubt that it’s a prank, because me and Stephanie are cool. There’s no level of hate for either of us, and even if it was some joke, we don’t know each other on that type of level.
Not only did this seem to happen in my first class, but in between classes while I was walking across campus as well. I walk past hundreds of faces in my many treks across campus, and I swear to you, at least 1/4th of the people I walked past had that same dead stare look. And the way they walked, god I hate even thinking of it. It was like they were an alien trying out their new body suits for the first time. The steps and the bends of their legs just seem so meticulous, dramaticized, and puppeteered.
I’m going to try to investigate further, because at this point my fear for my life is more of a reason to try and figure out what it is so I can try to stop it.
I’m no hero, and I’m sure as hell nothing special, but If I can know what to expect for another encounter, maybe I can avoid meeting the demise I have imagined.
Part 3
First off I would like to apologize for my 20-day hiatus. For those who were worried that curiosity killed the cat so to speak, I appreciate your concern. On top of my investigation, I have also had to go through finals and work for a boss who didn't believe in life outside of work. So let's start where we left off. I had a feeling that this task was left for me to solve. it may sound stupid, but let me explain why. That night, after my last post, I had a dream that further solidified my need to solve the mystery. I tried to write all that I remembered down the morning after so here is what I wrote. 
April 4th, 2024
I had a strange dream last night, stranger than usual at least. I awoke in the woods, laying face down in the grass with someone looming over me. I heard their footsteps flee rapidly before I flipped over. I found myself just off the trail where the “incident” happened, on the trail laid a girl, bloodied and motionless. When I got up to approach her, she was quickly dragged into the parallel section of the woods. Seeing this I turned and ran into the section of woods I was in. When my legs gave out I found myself near an old supply shed, worn and long abandoned. Searching for cover, I tried the door, which luckily gave after a quick pull. There I found a trapdoor which emanated a blue hue through the cracks. The only thought on my mind, survival brought me to throw it open and climb down. I clattered down the ladder and right before my feet touched the ground, I was pulled backwards by my shirt. That’s where I woke up.
I have always trusted my gut and having a dream that vivid gave me a sense of courage I did not previously have. I know where to start my search now. I have decided my best course of action will be to record my findings on a tape recorder app. After I finish each entry it will be uploaded to a cloud that will ensure if anything happens to me, the story will get out. I am packing my backpack now with a flashlight, glow sticks to mark my trail, and a machete I was gifted by a local in Mexico. All of my recordings will be uploaded below and auto posted after 10 days. Wish me luck everyone, I’m going to need it.
Entry 1: I have started at the only place that makes sense, the trail. It is currently 1:45 PM and I have plenty of sun left in the sky. I just needed to find exactly where to start my journey into the woods. Strangely it was very easy to find. I recall one of the trees having a funky twist near the middle of the trunk. Probably just some two lovebirds trying to carve their name into the tree and realizing there were softer trees to carve into. Anyways hiking further into the woods I believe I can see the shape of the shed through the branches. I wish you guys could see how dense these trees are so you can understand my struggle.
Entry 2: I made it to the shed, but unfortunately the floor in here is concrete. This really sucks for me because I have absolutely no idea where to go from here. It’s identical on the outside but I just don’t understand. Maybe I’m just delusional, which in that case what a waste of time and energy. I’m going to head back home and just start packing for summer. Maybe it’ll be best if I just forget about all of this and leave it behind me. I am graduating after all. Wait hold on what is this?? there’s a button behind one of these shelves. I am going to press it, but idk how it would work because this floor is seamless. I’m just going to leave this recording so if anything does happen I don’t have to worry about holding the phone the whole time. Holy shit, the entire floor is lowering. It’s a fucking elevator.
Entry 3: Okay so I’ve been going down this elevator for like 30 seconds, how far down am I going?.. Oh wait hold on, Im stopped… There’s a metal door with a padlock. Ig since I have the machete there’s only one thing to do, break it. Im going to use the blunt side so I don’t ruin this thing, I like it too much. the lock clatters to the ground after 3 solid hits. Well ig there’s only one way to go now, there’s no button to get back up so I pray there’s another way up. The metal door creaks loudly. Fuck I regret this, It’s dark and I can tell it’s a big area because it’s so echoey in here. I’m currently praising my past self for thinking about the flashlight and glow sticks. I need to find out what in the hell this place is and most importantly, if there’s a damn light switch.
Entry 4: God this place is terrifying I’ve been walking around the sterile white halls of this place for like 10 minutes and have found nothing, no doors, no light switch. I feel like a rat in a maze. Also scratch what I said about being glad I packed glow sticks, because my stupid ass only brought like 20 of these things and I’m already down to 5. Also I feel like I’m not alone, every now and then I’ll turn a corner and the glow from the previous glow stick quickly vanishes. I feel like it might just be because the darkness seems to envelop everything like a blanket. But I have that feeling that I’m being followed. You know the one, where you know somethings wrong you just can’t pin point what it is. Oh shit no way, there’s light, I think there’s a door or something up ahead.
Entry 5: Holy shit… It’s a lab, and worse, there’s people strapped too tables, completely naked and unconscious. I know they are alive because each of them are hooked up with a million different cords, and one of those are plugged into a heart monitor. This place is huge, there has to be at least 50 people on these tables.
“Hey you, you’re not supposed to be in here” yelled a man adorned in a lab coat.
“What are you doing to these kids you sick fucks.” I yelled back at the man across the lab.
In a haste the scientist rushes towards a red button, setting off a loud alarm, turning the lights to a flashing red. With no exit behind me, I could only do one thing... Rush towards him. My training kicked in as I launched into a flurry of calculated strikes. My first hit connected, a right overhand clean under his eye. The doctor stumbled back, but I didn't give him a chance to recover. I pressed the attack, keeping him off balance with a relentless barrage of punches and kicks. He fought back ferociously, but I was one step ahead, anticipating his moves and countering with swift, efficient strikes. We wrestled, the room around us becoming a blur of pain and adrenaline. I used the environment to my advantage, improvising weapons from the scattered medical equipment and turning the empty tables on my opponent. Pinning him to the ground, I laid down a harsh barrage of final blows. His face was a bloody pulp, unrecognizable. But I didn’t walk away unscathed, somewhere in the tussle, the scientist buried a scalpel deep into my stomach. With my adrenaline wearing off, the pain overtook me, sending me into darkness as I fainted from the blood loss and adrenaline dump. I awoke with my arms and legs strapped to the cold metal operating table. Before I could try to struggle, a face overtook my field of vision.
“Quite a fight you put up, you turned poor Dr.Samson into a soup” the looming face said with a chuckle. “You are the first person to put the pieces together and for that I am thoroughly impressed Mr. Hayes”
“Who are you?!” I said fighting at my binds. “Let me go!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that Mr.Hayes. You have seen far too much, and I definitely can’t have you running around telling the world what you saw here. Although nobody would believe you.” “And to answer your other question, I’m surprised you don’t recognize me… really take a moment and look at me” He said pulling down his face mask.
“Dr.Blackwood?” I said as I looked back on my freshman year biology class.
“Ding ding ding ding. We have a winner!” He said in a maniac joy.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked.
“Well Mr.Hayes, first I’m going to sew you up from your little tussle you had with my late assistant and then I will put you under and cut into that skull of yours and take out a small piece of what we call in the science world your hippocampus. Then I will draw from that all of the necessary memories to create the perfect clone of you.” He responded.
“Why? Why would you need a clone of any of us. Why can’t you just clone someone willing to be apart of this?” I asked
“Because that’s no fun Mr.Hayes, the hunt excites me. Actually you’re lucky I didn’t get you the first night. Unfortunately my creation had a little bit of a malfunction and formed a wee bit of an attachment to you. I’m sure you remember the ruckus outside your window? Anyways I digress, I do this because everyone of you lowly students will go onto do mediocre jobs where you waste away at a desk. I must also add that with having a clone of you under my control, I can do anything and get away with clean hands. My plan with you originally was to have you go into the admissions office and steal every last cent all for me. On top of that I like the power, because one day I will have a clone of every student on this campus and eventually I will cause a revolt against our comedy of a government. Who will stop me, when I won’t even be on the front lines?” Dr.Blackwood explained.
“I will” I said freeing my last hand from the binds.
What he didn’t realize is that with all of this monologue and the questions I had been feeding him, I was slowly loosening my binds with each wiggle and movement in retaliation.
Lurching forward I grab onto his collar, pulling him into a vicious headbutt. The impact sent Dr. Blackwood reeling backward, his grip on consciousness loosening as he staggered. Seizing the moment, I lunged off the table, adrenaline coursing through my veins despite the searing pain in my abdomen. With a swift motion, I grabbed a nearby surgical instrument, holding it in a defensive stance as I faced my adversary. Dr. Blackwood, recovering from the blow, snarled with rage, his once calm demeanor now replaced by a feral intensity. The room seemed to shrink around us, the tension thickening with each passing second. This was my chance to stop Blackwood's twisted plans. As he lunged forward, I met his attack head-on, the clang of metal reverberating through the room. Blow after blow, we fought with an intensity born of desperation and determination. Despite my injuries, I refused to yield, driven by a fire burnt under me to protect myself and others from Blackwood's actions . In a final, swift move, I delivered a powerful front kick, sending Blackwood crashing to the ground. The room fell silent, the echoes of our struggle fading into the darkness. Coughing he sat in the corner laughing with blood spilling down his face. “You know that it’s too late to save any of these one lying on the tables. I would’ve released you, you know that right? I would’ve simply taken your memory from today out of your brain and leaving you in your bed to wake up thinking you had a fun night” he said with final resolve as he watched me grab the scalpel from the ground taking slow steps near him.
Looking down over him, It was my turn to laugh. Kneeling down to eye level with him I grabbed him by his hair and delivered a final message to him “Fuck you and your little science experiment” as I sliced deep into his throat watching the life fade from his eyes.
I eventually found an exit door, which lead me to a storm drain deep in the woods far from my campus. It took me 2 hours to limp my way onto a main road and flag down a passing car. Pulling over I was rushed to the hospital and later interrogated by some men in suits, my guess is CIA. Here I am now, writing my final entrance. I think I heard them say something about trying a new medical process on me to help me heal quicker
submitted by Krayzfrog to CreepsMcPasta [link] [comments]


2024.05.16 06:55 Krayzfrog There’s something off with the people on campus

I think there’s something off about my campus
Hey everyone, I’m typing this on my phone so I apologize if there is weird formatting. Anyways, to get to the point, there’s something really off with some people on my campus. I have come seeking answers.I noticed it first walking home from my 7pm class last Wednesday.
To set the scene, most of the campus is tucked back into the woods a little, and my 7pm class is in the farthest building from the parking lot (further into the woods). I get out from that 7pm class around 9pm, so on cloudy nights like last Wednesday, the only lights on that long sidewalk are the lights radiating from the other buildings. Usually, there’s roughly 30 feet where it’s pitch black because the foliage is pretty dense. I usually walk back to my apartment with some classmates that live in the same complex as me, but I told them to go ahead of me while I finished the rest of the project.
After packing my laptop away, I started heading back home. It was roughly 9:30 at this point, and my brain was slowly shutting down preparing for the deep sleep that has yet to come.Walking down the sidewalk, I heard somebody not too far into the woods laughing like they’ve just heard the funniest joke ever. I immediately thought, “probably some Freshman walking the trails with their friends smoking weed”. Chuckling to myself, I put in my AirPods and picked a playlist for my journey back home.
When I looked up from my phone, there was the silhouette of somebody walking towards me. I have no idea how I missed them before, but honestly, it’s very possible they were just in a spot where the light wasn’t quite reaching them. A little unnerved, I shifted over to the left side of the sidewalk.
(Now I’m usually fine walking alone at night; I’m a 6’2 man who’s dabbled in the world of MMA. But something about this person gave me a primal feeling of unrest.)
When they shifted over to the left mirroring me, I felt my blood run cold. But alas, I had to keep walking because this was my only way back home. As I neared closer to the figure, I almost laughed at myself when I realized it was just some harmless girl walking towards the Murphy building. If anything, I’m the intimidating one to her.
This is where it really gets weird. She stopped as I was passing her and turned to me. Thinking she needed to ask me something, I took an AirPod out and asked “what’s up?”. After staring at me for an uncomfortable amount of time, she opened her mouth, and I kid you not, mimicked the laugh I heard moments before perfectly. Before I could chalk it up to it just being her in the trails earlier, I noticed something. Her mouth wasn’t moving at all. If I had left my AirPods in, it would just look like she was just opening her mouth and staring at me. She then shifted into a deep raspy laugh. She did all of this without moving her mouth at all; I couldn’t even see her throat moving as you would expect if someone was laughing. It was almost like she was some fucked up human-shaped gramophone. The feeling of absolute horror that came over me is something I’ve only experienced in my imagination. Before I could think to do anything next, My body began to run off some sort of primal instinct. With my legs burning, it took me about 10 minutes to get all the way back to my apartment and lock myself in relative safety.
I’m coming on here now to ask if anybody knows what I experienced? I have been hearing that same laughter outside my window every night since that night, I am too terrified to sleep well and have refused to go to any of my classes. Please I just want answers, I don’t want to keep living in fear.
Part 2:
Hey everyone, I’ve gotten some DMs telling me what it may be. I’ve heard everything from banshee to skinwalker. After further research I pray to god it was neither of them. I’m praying it was just some girl with a speaker playing some sort of cruel joke. I mean yes there are people who don’t like me on campus, I’ve made some enemies over the past 4 years. But, I just don’t understand what could’ve brought it to this point. I had to stop hiding in fear and go to my classes before my grades plummet, I’m almost done with my degree and only have a few more weeks. If I let some sort of stupid prank ruin my career, It would be everything I swore against to my parents.
A lot of you guys in the DMs were also asking what college I go to and what my name is. First I want to say sorry for not providing that information in the first post, I’m sure you can understand where my head was at typing that. So let me introduce myself, my name is Nick and In order to keep my privacy, I will only provide that I go to a midwest university.
I’m sure you may be wondering, “so did it just stop?”. I would love to say yes, but really things have just gotten weirder. Though, I am pleased to say that there is no longer laughing out my window every night.
Ever since that night, I’ve been noticing more things off with the people on campus. Now you may just think it’s paranoia, but just be patient and listen.
Yesterday, I decided to muster up all of my courage and go to class. Luckily my first class is at 10AM, when the sun is well in the sky, so walking across campus seemed much less threatening. When I sat down in my first class, I noticed something off with the girl that sits in front of me. Usually she’s chatty and excited to be in class, but today she just stared blankly ahead. I tried to say good morning and ask about her weekend, as we do every Monday, but she continued to have that blank stare. She did turn her head towards be, but her eyes read “lights on, but nobody is home”.
Thinking to myself, she may just be hungover, or going through the bout of college student depression. I decided to shrug it off and turn to the front of the class and get my notes ready. But the moment I turned around, I could feel it. Her eyes burrowing deep into the back of my head. When I flipped around to see if I was just being irrational, I quickly learned I wasn’t. Her eyes went from the blank glare, to the most enthusiastic face I’ve seen on her. It was horrible, it almost seemed like she was trying so hard to pretend she was thrilled to be in class and to speak to me. It was inhuman.
I’ve been on the internet long enough to catch on to the term “Uncanny valley”, and what I witnessed In my first hour gives me that same gut feeling I got when I saw that girl last Wednesday.
I was right to be uncomfortable though, I texted her after class to make sure she was doing alright. But her response only reignited the flames of deep fear burning in my soul.
I’ll copy and paste the messages here:
Me: Hey Is everything good? You seemed off in class today.
Steph SCI 101: Uh yeah, I’m fine. but I was not in class today, I’m severely hungover from Tanner’s party last night.
Me: Haha, good one.
Steph SCI 101: No I’m so Fr, are you okay?
Steph SCI 101: Are you trying to fuck with me or something?
Me: Nevermind, I’m sorry to bother you.
(End Of Texts)
Okay so I’m sure that this gives you all the same feeling of dread that it gave me but I’m sure scaled down a bit. This is where I have started to doubt that it’s a prank, because me and Stephanie are cool. There’s no level of hate for either of us, and even if it was some joke, we don’t know each other on that type of level.
Not only did this seem to happen in my first class, but in between classes while I was walking across campus as well. I walk past hundreds of faces in my many treks across campus, and I swear to you, at least 1/4th of the people I walked past had that same dead stare look. And the way they walked, god I hate even thinking of it. It was like they were an alien trying out their new body suits for the first time. The steps and the bends of their legs just seem so meticulous, dramaticized, and puppeteered.
I’m going to try to investigate further, because at this point my fear for my life is more of a reason to try and figure out what it is so I can try to stop it.
I’m no hero, and I’m sure as hell nothing special, but If I can know what to expect for another encounter, maybe I can avoid meeting the demise I have imagined.
Part 3
First off I would like to apologize for my 20-day hiatus. For those who were worried that curiosity killed the cat so to speak, I appreciate your concern. On top of my investigation, I have also had to go through finals and work for a boss who didn't believe in life outside of work. So let's start where we left off. I had a feeling that this task was left for me to solve. it may sound stupid, but let me explain why. That night, after my last post, I had a dream that further solidified my need to solve the mystery. I tried to write all that I remembered down the morning after so here is what I wrote. 
April 4th, 2024
I had a strange dream last night, stranger than usual at least. I awoke in the woods, laying face down in the grass with someone looming over me. I heard their footsteps flee rapidly before I flipped over. I found myself just off the trail where the “incident” happened, on the trail laid a girl, bloodied and motionless. When I got up to approach her, she was quickly dragged into the parallel section of the woods. Seeing this I turned and ran into the section of woods I was in. When my legs gave out I found myself near an old supply shed, worn and long abandoned. Searching for cover, I tried the door, which luckily gave after a quick pull. There I found a trapdoor which emanated a blue hue through the cracks. The only thought on my mind, survival brought me to throw it open and climb down. I clattered down the ladder and right before my feet touched the ground, I was pulled backwards by my shirt. That’s where I woke up.
I have always trusted my gut and having a dream that vivid gave me a sense of courage I did not previously have. I know where to start my search now. I have decided my best course of action will be to record my findings on a tape recorder app. After I finish each entry it will be uploaded to a cloud that will ensure if anything happens to me, the story will get out. I am packing my backpack now with a flashlight, glow sticks to mark my trail, and a machete I was gifted by a local in Mexico. All of my recordings will be uploaded below and auto posted after 10 days. Wish me luck everyone, I’m going to need it.
Entry 1: I have started at the only place that makes sense, the trail. It is currently 1:45 PM and I have plenty of sun left in the sky. I just needed to find exactly where to start my journey into the woods. Strangely it was very easy to find. I recall one of the trees having a funky twist near the middle of the trunk. Probably just some two lovebirds trying to carve their name into the tree and realizing there were softer trees to carve into. Anyways hiking further into the woods I believe I can see the shape of the shed through the branches. I wish you guys could see how dense these trees are so you can understand my struggle.
Entry 2: I made it to the shed, but unfortunately the floor in here is concrete. This really sucks for me because I have absolutely no idea where to go from here. It’s identical on the outside but I just don’t understand. Maybe I’m just delusional, which in that case what a waste of time and energy. I’m going to head back home and just start packing for summer. Maybe it’ll be best if I just forget about all of this and leave it behind me. I am graduating after all. Wait hold on what is this?? there’s a button behind one of these shelves. I am going to press it, but idk how it would work because this floor is seamless. I’m just going to leave this recording so if anything does happen I don’t have to worry about holding the phone the whole time. Holy shit, the entire floor is lowering. It’s a fucking elevator.
Entry 3: Okay so I’ve been going down this elevator for like 30 seconds, how far down am I going?.. Oh wait hold on, Im stopped… There’s a metal door with a padlock. Ig since I have the machete there’s only one thing to do, break it. Im going to use the blunt side so I don’t ruin this thing, I like it too much. the lock clatters to the ground after 3 solid hits. Well ig there’s only one way to go now, there’s no button to get back up so I pray there’s another way up. The metal door creaks loudly. Fuck I regret this, It’s dark and I can tell it’s a big area because it’s so echoey in here. I’m currently praising my past self for thinking about the flashlight and glow sticks. I need to find out what in the hell this place is and most importantly, if there’s a damn light switch.
Entry 4: God this place is terrifying I’ve been walking around the sterile white halls of this place for like 10 minutes and have found nothing, no doors, no light switch. I feel like a rat in a maze. Also scratch what I said about being glad I packed glow sticks, because my stupid ass only brought like 20 of these things and I’m already down to 5. Also I feel like I’m not alone, every now and then I’ll turn a corner and the glow from the previous glow stick quickly vanishes. I feel like it might just be because the darkness seems to envelop everything like a blanket. But I have that feeling that I’m being followed. You know the one, where you know somethings wrong you just can’t pin point what it is. Oh shit no way, there’s light, I think there’s a door or something up ahead.
Entry 5: Holy shit… It’s a lab, and worse, there’s people strapped too tables, completely naked and unconscious. I know they are alive because each of them are hooked up with a million different cords, and one of those are plugged into a heart monitor. This place is huge, there has to be at least 50 people on these tables.
“Hey you, you’re not supposed to be in here” yelled a man adorned in a lab coat.
“What are you doing to these kids you sick fucks.” I yelled back at the man across the lab.
In a haste the scientist rushes towards a red button, setting off a loud alarm, turning the lights to a flashing red. With no exit behind me, I could only do one thing... Rush towards him. My training kicked in as I launched into a flurry of calculated strikes. My first hit connected, a right overhand clean under his eye. The doctor stumbled back, but I didn't give him a chance to recover. I pressed the attack, keeping him off balance with a relentless barrage of punches and kicks. He fought back ferociously, but I was one step ahead, anticipating his moves and countering with swift, efficient strikes. We wrestled, the room around us becoming a blur of pain and adrenaline. I used the environment to my advantage, improvising weapons from the scattered medical equipment and turning the empty tables on my opponent. Pinning him to the ground, I laid down a harsh barrage of final blows. His face was a bloody pulp, unrecognizable. But I didn’t walk away unscathed, somewhere in the tussle, the scientist buried a scalpel deep into my stomach. With my adrenaline wearing off, the pain overtook me, sending me into darkness as I fainted from the blood loss and adrenaline dump. I awoke with my arms and legs strapped to the cold metal operating table. Before I could try to struggle, a face overtook my field of vision.
“Quite a fight you put up, you turned poor Dr.Samson into a soup” the looming face said with a chuckle. “You are the first person to put the pieces together and for that I am thoroughly impressed Mr. Hayes”
“Who are you?!” I said fighting at my binds. “Let me go!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that Mr.Hayes. You have seen far too much, and I definitely can’t have you running around telling the world what you saw here. Although nobody would believe you.” “And to answer your other question, I’m surprised you don’t recognize me… really take a moment and look at me” He said pulling down his face mask.
“Dr.Blackwood?” I said as I looked back on my freshman year biology class.
“Ding ding ding ding. We have a winner!” He said in a maniac joy.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked.
“Well Mr.Hayes, first I’m going to sew you up from your little tussle you had with my late assistant and then I will put you under and cut into that skull of yours and take out a small piece of what we call in the science world your hippocampus. Then I will draw from that all of the necessary memories to create the perfect clone of you.” He responded.
“Why? Why would you need a clone of any of us. Why can’t you just clone someone willing to be apart of this?” I asked
“Because that’s no fun Mr.Hayes, the hunt excites me. Actually you’re lucky I didn’t get you the first night. Unfortunately my creation had a little bit of a malfunction and formed a wee bit of an attachment to you. I’m sure you remember the ruckus outside your window? Anyways I digress, I do this because everyone of you lowly students will go onto do mediocre jobs where you waste away at a desk. I must also add that with having a clone of you under my control, I can do anything and get away with clean hands. My plan with you originally was to have you go into the admissions office and steal every last cent all for me. On top of that I like the power, because one day I will have a clone of every student on this campus and eventually I will cause a revolt against our comedy of a government. Who will stop me, when I won’t even be on the front lines?” Dr.Blackwood explained.
“I will” I said freeing my last hand from the binds.
What he didn’t realize is that with all of this monologue and the questions I had been feeding him, I was slowly loosening my binds with each wiggle and movement in retaliation.
Lurching forward I grab onto his collar, pulling him into a vicious headbutt. The impact sent Dr. Blackwood reeling backward, his grip on consciousness loosening as he staggered. Seizing the moment, I lunged off the table, adrenaline coursing through my veins despite the searing pain in my abdomen. With a swift motion, I grabbed a nearby surgical instrument, holding it in a defensive stance as I faced my adversary. Dr. Blackwood, recovering from the blow, snarled with rage, his once calm demeanor now replaced by a feral intensity. The room seemed to shrink around us, the tension thickening with each passing second. This was my chance to stop Blackwood's twisted plans. As he lunged forward, I met his attack head-on, the clang of metal reverberating through the room. Blow after blow, we fought with an intensity born of desperation and determination. Despite my injuries, I refused to yield, driven by a fire burnt under me to protect myself and others from Blackwood's actions . In a final, swift move, I delivered a powerful front kick, sending Blackwood crashing to the ground. The room fell silent, the echoes of our struggle fading into the darkness. Coughing he sat in the corner laughing with blood spilling down his face. “You know that it’s too late to save any of these one lying on the tables. I would’ve released you, you know that right? I would’ve simply taken your memory from today out of your brain and leaving you in your bed to wake up thinking you had a fun night” he said with final resolve as he watched me grab the scalpel from the ground taking slow steps near him.
Looking down over him, It was my turn to laugh. Kneeling down to eye level with him I grabbed him by his hair and delivered a final message to him “Fuck you and your little science experiment” as I sliced deep into his throat watching the life fade from his eyes.
I eventually found an exit door, which lead me to a storm drain deep in the woods far from my campus. It took me 2 hours to limp my way onto a main road and flag down a passing car. Pulling over I was rushed to the hospital and later interrogated by some men in suits, my guess is CIA. Here I am now, writing my final entrance. I think I heard them say something about trying a new medical process on me to help me heal quicker
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