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rin-and-jade · 1 month

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Gripped by Glue Trap: a Post about Front Stuck & Lock

I get it, there's no such thing as an actual big glue trap with being stuck outside as a system,, but oftentimes its gonna feel that way because whatever was done... that glue won't even struggle one bit, only we do. That frustration is what we all have when switching is not an option.

But do you ever think this glue is defeatable? It latches hard and wears you out the more you try to get out of the situation,, so you might think not.. yet i do! That's what this post is going to be about folks, getting your little bug-self free with my secret trick from another human glue trap ensnared in their house.

But.. what is it actually?

Generally, as a system, we facilitate each other's strengths and weaknesses by switching in and out, as all those parts are not wholly integrated compared to a singlet. And. Uh oh. You're stuck and can't get out? You're trapped!.. that little drop of sap caught your leg and now you couldn't leave, even if you wanted to. Though you still can express to your buddies that you need help or etc. (and, this is called front stuck)

Or sometimes, we can even get stranded away from our pack (as in stress, or anything that worsens internal communication), wondering alone, and stood on a nasty manmade trap that caught you without mercy. This time, you're immobile and out of reach to call for reinforcements (now, this one is called front lock)

Sap? Glue? What's the diff??

To put it simply, being stuck means being unable to get out from the front or surrender the control to another part. While being locked off is the worser version of being stuck because not only you cannot surrender the control, there is barely any stream of communication you can connect to, or nonexistent, head silent and all that.

The only similarity they have is how it greatly impedes the fronter's capability to ease in or out from front,, if not, impossible.

These two also happen for different possible reasons, such as:

↓ Stuck ↓

Unfinished tasks

Goal/wants not met yet

Ongoing role duty (for protectors, hosts, etc)

Reluctance handing control/fear of blacking out

Mild stressors (like anxiety)

.. and more

↓ Locked ↓

Dissociation

Fight/flight response

Overwhelm

Bigger stressors

Major life changes

Re-occurring trauma

.. and more

Just a reminder that all systems are different, and these same reasons that causes to be stuck/lock will result in an opposite reaction such as rapid switching or being blurry! This post is mainly for those who experience stuck/lock.

Then, how do i get my leg out?!

I can tell you that, but i have to explain how this ordeal happened in the first place so it'll make sense, bare with me;

You know the parasympathetic (rest) and sympathetic (fight/flight) response, yeah? These two responses flicks on depending when there's safety or presented threats. Now, DMN is a part of the parasympathetic response, the full name is Default Mode Network, which is fully responsible for.. well.. default stuffs such as mind wandering, planning, thinking inwards,, those typical things that happen when you're bored. This is also the reason you why can facilitate better communication with other parts compared to when, let's say, being busy with tasks.

Know it or not, sometimes our mind has to wander a little bit in order to chat with other parts of ourself, and stress snaps us out of that relaxed state in purpose of focusing whats at outside, rather than inside, which where everything system-y lies at. Some do not get affected and still can function as-if, so understand how your system works and use that to the advantage.

How to hack yourself from fight/flight to rest mode again? Via vagus nerve stimulation! Not sure if you ever heard of this word, but the vagus is one part of the cranial nerves that is responsible for the activation of this parasympathetic response..! It's like the oil to the glue, because it hijacks the adhesive properties with something so viscous that it binds to it instead of you!! --

Here are some activities you can do to disable the glue:

Gurgle water, hum, or sing: this is because the vagus is located around your neck, and can be easily stimulated that way.

Watch something: redirecting yourself with a distraction can ease you temporarily, giving time to calm down, which brings you out of the grips of stress.

Listen to music: another way if you don't have anything to watch, even better if you put on soothing, slower songs.

Move around: get those pented up anxiety or restlessness out! movement equals expression, this also activates the vagus nerve.

Breathe deeply: rebalance the vagus by breathing in and out slowly, this nerve is also responsible for your breathing pace too, so giving a little push of balance will create a domino effect for your nerve to work.

Unfocus your eyes: or, another way to do it is to focus more on the peripheral vision rather than the vocal point. This is a way to poke the same nerve's functions, oddly can work as a booster to make yourself slightly dissociated/disconnected which facilitates switches or a general break/distraction.

Solve/asses it: it will be nothing if you do not tackle the thing you are very stressed out about, which can extend how long you'll be stuck,, so use these tips above to regain self control and tackle them with me, or your trusted friends, or even alone after examining what could be done! Talking to someone also helps, even if there's nothing productive being done.

Take it easy and break it down: this one is if you're on a role job and things are being difficult, incase you're overwhelmed, remember to do it step by step, no need to be rash about getting back in first, that time will come as long you focus whats in front.

Remember, fight/flight brings us out from clarity and rational thinking, thanks to our limbic part of the brain who is primed for survival and instincts. Be more gentle with yourself, as you could be more irritable, moody, or resorting to less-safe coping mechanisms, focus on calming down before proceeding the situation.

Takeaway

So, what will you do if you're stuck next time? Don't forget to make a plan to deal this sticky situation, especially for those who are often stuck, this practice will practice your vagus nerve to be less susceptible, turning off because of stress,, giving you a better stress window and tolerance before succumbing once more.... to the good ol' glue.

Lastly, it is possible to be stuck/lock for months or years, which is an indicator of underlying long-term issues that needs to be addressed. If anyone needs some tips for this, ring me on the DMs as these practices rarely work for this type.

Oh, and, what do you guys think? What else i had not mentioned? Do you have anything to discuss with me on this topic? Let's do that! I hope this suffice in helping you tackle the next time problems arise.

Happy straddling lil' ant.

- j

#did #actually did #did community #did osdd #did system #dissociative identity disorder #sysblr #plural #system stuff #jeducates

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unhetalia · 2 months

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this is really weak of me but I really do have to headcanon the Nations as having nothing to do with their governments and at times actively working against them because otherwise the atrocities are Not Fictional...

and anyway these beings hundreds of years old absolutely know that governments do not always have the people's best interests in mind. Do not always take care of the land. Nations believe their role is to take care of their land and their people, and maybe the older Nations tried to work with those in power in the beginning, but quickly learn their lesson.

because of this headcanon, I imagine the Nations all have 'departments' they belong to that focus on a certain issue. It would be impossible to have one individual try to have intimate knowledge of every single issue a country faces, and I love the implications this has on how much the Nations rely on each other, and how much their relationships are not reflective of human politics, because their purpose is not to reflect their people but to protect them and the land they're on.

SO finally, to the point of this post.

Here's what I think certain Nations do:

England and Russia are in charge of information gathering AKA espionage, as both have infiltrated their own governments at a very high level. Arthur is in MI6, Ivan is in the KGB-turned-FSK-turned-FSB. They're valuable assets to the rest of the world because they tend to have information on what everyone's governments are doing. Some other Nations who work in this department are Hungary, Philippines (F), Canada, Cuba, Ukraine, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

A lot of Nations work on environmental issues - Sweden, Finland and Denmark focus on governance as a way to mitigate environmental issues, while Australia, New Zealand, South Africa are focused on conservation, Brazil, Colombia, Congo focus on deforestation and air pollution, the Pacific Islands on rising sea levels and ocean pollution.

China, France, Ireland and Turkey are focused on food security - each one focuses on a specific aspect of it. China on availability, Ireland on access, France on utilisation and Turkey on stability.

Social welfare is headed by Austria and Belgium, with Spain, the Italies, Greece and Portugal focused on it.

Internal security is handled by the Germany brothers and Switzerland - this is the protection of the Nations themselves. Arranging identities, extraction of Nations who land themselves in trouble, and also the keeper of their arsenal.

America heads the research and development department that connects everything together - they develop the gadgets used by Arthur and Ivan's team, help develop technologies and conduct research focused on the environment and food security, help trial new ideas on addressing poverty, hack databases in order to help create identities for Nations. This department includes Japan, South Korea, India (F), Taiwan, Tony (not a Nation but heavily involved), Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, Belarus, Netherlands, Estonia, Mexico (F).

EDIT: I have to re-think a lot of this because I keep thinking about how very little countries there are compared to shit happening in the world and it messes with this universe a little bit. SO. WILL BE RE-WORKED.

#hetalia #aph #hetalia world series #hetalia world stars #hws england #hws america #aph america #aph england #too many people to tag #i think theres a lot of like TOPICS im missing that are relevant to nations #but its 1am this is the ones i thought of #the people i chose for each department are a mix of like #canons headcanons vague stats #also when i have an (f) next to someones name it means i headcanon them as ladies despite himaruya having them as men #✎#m: hetalia #hetalia: headcanon (au)#hetalia au: no government

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tgrailwar-zero · 4 months

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KUKULKAN: "Well... it's not impossible, but..."

The idea was worth considering- but it would be worth noting that DRACO does not seem to be as trusting and open as LUCIUS was.

You could tell that while KUKULKAN wasn't as dead-set against DRACO, she was wary of the Beast. Though her lack of animosity was a unique sentiment- perhaps it was because she registered as a 'foreign entity' as well, or perhaps her unique classing.

PRETENDER: "I don't think so. You'll have to think of another plan."

The air grew tense, as you could feel DRACO awaiting an answer.

Regarding some discussion about 'changing DRACO's Spirit Origin', the situation could be defined as this, in order to fully adjust a Servant's Spirit Origin, you would need to defeat her and then re-summon her, like with the Asclepius Origin. This wouldn't be a swift 'hacking' process. Unlike with LUCIUS, which was more of 'unlocking' a latent path of potential via an Ascension-like process, or simply using magical energy to restore MUSASHI to a fighting state, this was a wholly different process.

Which meant that if you didn't want DRACO, or wanted to modify her Spirit Origin, you would most likely need to fight her, destroy her, grab her Origin as quickly as possible, and then summon her in a less volatile state with her memories of her brief stint within the Solar Cell- including your betrayal- wiped if you were successful.

To make a long story short, there didn't seem to be much of a peaceful way of changing her Spirit Origin.

Of course, there was also the issue of the Altered ALTER-EGO... 'SAKURA SUPERBIA'.

If you chose combat, you would have to either take out DRACO swiftly and hope for the best, or split your attention between her and ALTER-EGO and... hope for the best.

Of course, you could also make a contract as is. Granting her the sword, and making a proper contract would result in you benefiting from DRACO's ability. However, that would also make you the Contractors of the Beast, which would firmly establish your relationship to the Solar Cell and the other Servants present as a threat. It would be a rather large gamble for power, but in terms of pure firepower, an Evil of Humanity was a rather terrifying ally to possess. It may cost a few potential allies, but it granted at least two incredibly powerful ones in the process.

DRACO: "I am growing weary of this. You've been granted time to banter, but now I require decision. If you have nothing to give me, then I have no use for you."

#thgw story #thgw: chapter 4 #main post

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fanfic-obsessed · 4 months

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It's in the eyes

This one focuses on a character I generally don’t, Pong Krell.

Now this is going off the premise that Pong Krell was not always an unmitigated bastard. It also goes off the premise that to Krell, beings that he does not at least share one recognizable trait with are not quite real. It is not particularly noticeable because he is generally only around Jedi/Force Users (with whom he can identify because of the Force), other Besalisk (with whom he identifies because of species), or beings that Krell could identify with in some way.

This is, in part, why he so easily dismissed the sentience in the clones. He does not see anything he identifies with in them. Look, he has always been a little low on Empathy, as in the ability to understand beings that are entirely different from himself, but he was trying, OK. So for the first few months of the war it goes as you would expect, Krell starting to darken over time as he spends Clone lives far too easily.

Then he gets a new batch of shiny’s, and in them is a trooper that is visibly too young. Like Krell is bad at near human ages, but this was visibly a child (physically about 8 years old) in armor. Krell is not far gone enough to not care about a child being there. He orders the child to remove his helmet only to be confronted by Jango Fett’s young face with Besalisk Eyes (set too wide for human face, a heavier brow ridge that mimics the shapes of a Besalisk’s forehead, yellow iris), he is confronted by Jango Fett’s young face with Pong Krell’s eyes.

He gets the story in fits and spurts. The Clone, called CT-9659 (still too young to choose his own name), had a mutation caused by Jango Fett's varied gene pool (going off the personal headcanon that the Mandalorian tendency to interbreed with anything even remotely compatible had left Jango with interesting DNA and that he might have appeared near human, he really wasn’t even remotely) that caused his facial features. The mutations had only started to develop in the last 6 months (1 year of development), and his batch mates had made a near herculean effort to hide the changes, so they could keep him from being decommissioned. Which culminated in them hacking some paperwork to get the clone assigned to a battalion with a Jedi (They had been trying to get him assigned to the 212th, since Obi Wan Kenobi had already developed a reputation, the clones knew that if they got CT-9659 to General Kenobi, he would be safe).

Krell…Krell is still a good Jedi, still months away from the darkness that would eat him. Because of that he is able to push his outrage to the side at the thought that the Kaminoans would dare kill someone over being Besalisk-like. Over being non human (Which isn’t quite what they were doing, but close enough that the point is moot).

Plans are made that after this battle he and his troops would escort the child back to The Temple, where Krell would register his displeasure at the culling of non-human troopers and see about getting it stopped (Krell is not yet far gone enough to convince himself that any Jedi are aware of what is going on).

As Krell and the officers begin to plan for the upcoming battle, Krell notices the projected casualty rate of the plan (somewhere around 65%, neither the highest nor the lowest that he had seen) and begins to feel uncomfortable. His mind goes back to the Besalisk eyed clone being distracted in the barracks, time and again. If one clone had Besalisk genetics, then they all did. Now instead of each life being a number in a spreadsheet, each had the potential to be one of Krell’s people.

To the astonishment of the clones, Krell adjusts the plan, dropping the projected loss to under 20% (In the entire GAR the average projected loss, depending on mission parameters, tends to be about 15%. However this figure is drastically lowered by Obi Wan Kenobi, who rejects-then re does- any plan for his mission where the projected loss is above 10%. He is an outlier and without him the average sits at about 22%). And Krell is an above average tactician, who is very good at planning that will accomplish his goals. Before this point minimizing the loss of Clones was not one of his priorities. Because they were numbers to him, not living beings. But now they were living beings, and as a Jedi he did prioritize lessening the loss of life.

They completed their mission, it took only a few hours longer than the plan that would see a 65% casualty rate. Krell almost bodily throws one of the nat born officers for a crude joke about the clones (a joke Krell himself would have made and thought hilarious not even a day before).

Upon returning to Coruscant and by sheer happenstance the entire high council is on the planet when Krell escorts CT-9659 into the chamber to see them. As Krell gently (he is actually very capable of being kind and gentle, with beings he sees as sentient) coaxed the boy’s story from him. There is something satisfying to Krell about the way every member of the High Council blanches at the child's words. At his fear of being murdered, if in other terms.

This is decidedly before Shaak Ti was assigned to Kamino. This is also early enough into the war that the High Council is not so bogged down with the larger picture of the war, that individual lives have not become blurred details (This is not a slight against the Jedi, I very much am a ‘respect the Jedi’ kind of writer, but the reality is they have been drafted into a war, and drafted at a high enough level that the High Generals have the illusion that they hold some choice, and thus culpability, for the lives lost. It is either let individual lives become blurred details to a certain extent or suffer a psychotic break).

It is decided, relatively quickly, that Shaak Ti would go to Kamino, bringing with her members of EduCorps and a few knights up for a teaching rotation, where she would take up the education of the Clones (at first). Knowing that the Kaminoans would become defensive at the implication that their process or product was in anyway deficient, instead would imply that the training the clones received was the problem (training had been the sole purview of Jango Fett and the trainers) and it was only the grace of the Kaminoans superior process that allowed the clones to be as successful as they were.

The decommissions would stop immediately (barring the truly non viable-thought it was less than half a percent, there were still clones that had mutations that would result in missing vital organs or lives that would be excruciating and measured in hours), with the argument that every clone had part to play in the war (it galled the Jedi to need to make that argument, but, while the ends do not always justify the means, the Jedi will use most means at their disposal to save lives). For instance the boy with the Besalisk eyes would be able to see in different spectrums than the standard, which could be valuable for specialized mission.

CT-9659 would be returning to Kamino with Shaak Ti (to the visible disappointment, but understanding of Pong Krell-A war zone was not safe for a child and while the creche may have been a viable short term solution, his double aging means that they do not have the facilities to care for him properly). In order to protect him while the changes were being made, Shaak would be insisting that he is her personal assistant. Pong says goodbye to the boy, but also insists that they exchange contact information, and request CT-9659 to make regular reports as to his progress.

I am not sure if it changes anything in the real long term (Vader, Order 66, or the Empire) but I know it would change things in the medium term (Krell does not fall so no Umbara).

#star wars the clone wars #fanfiction prompt #star wars au #pong krell #the clones deserved better #obi wan kenobi #shaak ti

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thorns-and-rosewings · 6 months

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Time to post some Seraphim AU🔥 Character Information!

(Like I have mentioned, I have a bit of brainrot from this idea sooo... I guess it's time to give the characters in this AU bit more of a proper introduction. Warning this is quite long because I always overdo my writing.)

Let's start with Canon Eclipse, after getting his dumb ass stuck in Seraphim Eclipse's Universe...

-The satellite blast didn't kill him, as Nice Eclipse (Solar) told Moon, he built the satellite in a month... Something could go wrong. Which it did, rather than just blasting Canon Eclipse to dust, it punched him clean into another dimension. Severely damaging both him and the Newton Star.

-An energy blast punched right through Seraphim Eclipse's roof and deposited the damaged remains of Canon Eclipse into the ballpit. Scaring the absolute bejesus out of both Seraphim Eclipse and all the kids in the daycare.

-Upon realizing that there looked like another version of himself, albeit much smaller and without wings, Seraphim Eclipse took him to his workshop in order to investigate what this was all about.

-To clarify his damages, Canon Eclipse's legs and right arm had been blown clean off and his torso and rays were damaged. Thankfully all his pieces made the trip and could be re-attached.

-His remains were strapped to a table and Seraphim Eclipse proceeded to hook him up to his computer and go through his mind...

-That wasn't fun.

-He woke up three-quarters of the way through the process. Only to meet his alternate self looking through his memories and additional files... And got a very unamused look from the larger animatronic.

-He got put back into unconsciousness pretty quickly.

-When he wakes up again he finds his body repaired and meets his alternate more properly. Which... Honestly doesn't go all that well.

-Pretty much Seraphim Eclipse explains that he's in his universe and he has no way to get back to his own... Which to be frank is probably a good thing, given how he acts.

-Canon Eclipse unfortunately is... Well, Canon Eclipse and starts being the asshole that he is and stupidly starts threatening the bigger version of himself. Which results in Seraphim Eclipse attaching a collar of sorts to his neck that can both shock and freeze up his body to prevent him from doing things. As he doesn't want this jerk sabotaging his life and work.

-Canon Eclipse is forced to to become a janitor and boy does he hate it.

-Things get worse when he realizes that Seraphim Eclipse took his designs for Bloodmoon and Lunar and begins constructing his own versions.

-He has one hell of a tantrum because of this, which Seraphim Eclipse refers to him as a brat for it.

-Gets even more frustrated when this Bloodmoon DOESN'T turn out like his did.

-...he tries very hard to avoid the new version of Lunar outright...

-Overall he's angry. He's angry at the situation he's in. Angry that he's powerless and likely not going to be able to return to his home universe... But the thing that enrages him the most is how Seraphim Eclipse gets to have all the things that Canon Eclipse secretly wanted. Things that he WOULDN'T have without having STOLEN it all from him.

-He's just... In a very bad place.

Next up is Seraphim Eclipse!🔥

-Once he aquires the Pizzaplex and implements the changes he desires, it should be noted that everything runs far more smoothly and efficiently. For both the human and animatronics that work there.

-Far less health and safety code violations.

-His skills for hacking and creating false identities and establishing various contacts is put to good use and he creates a fictional persona of 'Fredrick Bearson' for Freddy. So that he can essentially become Gregorys adoptive father. And even sets up a comfortable apartment for them in another section of the Pizzaplex.

-This undoubtedly comes from his programing in regards to taking care of children; in this case a very roundabout way and recognizing that the boy was in better hands with Freddy than he was living on the street homeless.

-When dealing with the children in the daycare, he's extremely patient and takes everything very easy. He can be firm if he needs to be, such as putting some children in time-out, but his calm easy-going demeanor makes him very good with his job.

-He is EXTREMELY claustrophobic. Due to his trauma of being locked away and trapped within his body, he has severe issues with enclosed spaces to the point that he will have panic attacks and could even become violent in his attempts to free himself from any sort of 'confinement.'

-That being said, he refuses to acknowledge he has a problem and just tries to shrug the past and its pain off. Like it's over and not going to affect the future.

-He's in denial he needs help.

-He also fully realizes how dangerous it is to keep Canon Eclipse around . But... He cannot help but feel immense pity for him and even sees the sickening possibility that he could have ended up just like him. Bitter and hateful. So in a way he hopes that he might somehow find a way to actually help him.

-He has good intentions but not always the best execution...

-In that regards, his more negative aspects are that he is known to carry grudges and he has a LONG memory. Pissing him off is a very bad idea because he can also be vengeful and in some instances... Capable of excessive cruelty.

-His more negative qualities mercifully don't surface often.

-His most treasured possession is his sword, which is a Nodaichi. One crafted by an expert craftsman from Feudal Japan. It was given to him by Twila, Cassie's aunt.

-She obtained the sword from someone who was throwing out all of his grandfather's possessions and unaware of exactly what he was disposing of... and once thrown out, Twila scavenged it and prepared to list it on eBay.

-Seraphim Eclipse is fully aware of how valuable such an item is, as genuine 'Real' swords can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was reluctant to accept it, but Twila pointed out she would rather have her niece safe than money. He eventually accepted and has treasured it since.

-Nodaichi swords are typically two handed weapons, but Seraphim Eclipse is strong enough to wield it with one hand. He has a fighting style that varies between one handed and two handed. Often if one hand is free he will use that hands flamethrower.

-He fully acknowledges he is modeled after an angel and now owns a sword that he knows how to wield. He is the embodiment of the meme 'I have the power of God and Anime on my side!' and he gets a good laugh out of it.

-Unlike Canon Eclipse, he builds his Bloodmoon and Lunar not to be tools, but to be his brothers and he adores them both. But occasionally he butts heads with Bloodmoon due to his rash behavior and at some of his Lunar's more mischievous antics.

-"I love you both to the moon and back... But damnit if there aren't some days I want to leave you up there..."

-That being said, picking a fight with them is a great way to get on his bad side very quickly.

-When his Lunar's magic begins to affect him, the first thing that happens is his wings are reconstructed and become far more 'Bio-Mechanical' in nature. He gains the ability to fly and with six wings he is not only fast, but can turn on a dime.

-He also becomes fireproof, and his flamethrowers no longer seem to need to be refilled. Rather function in a more magical means. The way he wields his fire powers is similar in motions to a firebender from Avatar.

Now for Arc Bloodmoon

-As soon as Seraphim Eclipse activated him, Canon Eclipse dove for cover behind a table, expecting the worst... And this Bloodmoon immediately shot straight up and raced outta the workshop. But it was because he was created with a high amount of excess energy. And he just starts parkouring around the daycare.

-He initially appears to be harmless. Just extremely high energy with the equivalent of ADHD.

-Like Seraphim Eclipse, he works in the daycare and his high energy and playful nature make him a huge hit with the kids. Often wearing them down so they are ready for naptime. Which he himself might join them on. As he tends to fall asleep in random places when his energy gives out.

-He only has two wings, but his wings were built to be functional in flight. When he doesn't need them he can drape them over his shoulders to make it look like he's wearing a cloak. He also has the same type of 'tail' that Seraphim Eclipse has.

-However... Things don't really remain quite so simple in this instance.

-It becomes obvious that he definitely is more aggressive than Eclipse is. Get him to the point he wants to fight and it's very difficult to get him to stop.

-His playful antics go over well with virtually everyone he knows... But then he started trying to tease Canon Eclipse, but it ended with Canon Eclipse snapping that he's going to turn into a murderous double personality freak and he's going to laugh when he starts killing innocents for fun.

-That froze him down to his core...

-He proceeded to look through the data on his brothers computer and saw what Canon Eclipse meant... What he was modeled after... And it deeply disturbed him.

-Worse yet he had started to develop a deep bloodlust and craving for blood.

-...he has to restrain himself all the time...

- Eventually he finds that Strawberry Jam acts as a decent substitute for his blood cravings. Maybe it's just a mental trick, or just internal desperation, but he consumes A LOT of it. He will however hunt down rats and rip them apart for their blood on the occasion that the jam doesn't quell the craving.

-When they start having interdimensional adventures he is able to channel his aggression much better in fighting enemies and Eclipse realized he would fight better with a weapon or two.

-Seraphim Eclipse takes him to Twila, who not only owns the scrapyard, but also does custom forging swords/daggers as a side job. To order him custom swords.

-When Bloodmoon sees her... He immediately becomes smitten.

-His wings flutter around her a lot...

-He grows to visit Twila quite often and they become a good friends. Which is beneficial because there are idiots who break into her scrapyard. And he has FUN scaring them off.

-He does bite people...

-He also develops a sort of friendship with the displaced Sun/Moon/Eclipse that live at the scrapyard.

-Being at the scrapyard lessens his secret bloodlust.

-Twila eventually gets him his scarf, which he never takes off... Accept when his brothers fight to get it off him on laundry day. And even then he doesn't leave the laundry room.

-When he gets his katanas, his style of fighting is that he will just slice his opponents apart. He gets joy and satisfaction from spilling his enemies blood and will feed on it.

-Internally though, he's stressed. As he is deeply afraid that he might lose control of himself and kill and maim people like Canon Eclipse's Bloodmoon.

-He DOES have a second personality that had just been napping a lot during his initial awakening. When it had just started to be active is when Canon Eclipse snapped at him and when they both learned about their... counterpart...

-The second personality... chose... To just stay hidden. In an effort to prevent their combined fear of turning into a monster from coming true.

-But he is so alone...

-When the primary personality goes to sleep the secondary personality occasionally takes control and might eat more strawberry jam on toast rather than just straight bread. Or... Might pick up and hug their Lunar for seemingly no reason. Or randomly go to where Seraphim Eclipse is sleeping and wrap one of his wings around himself.

-There is a way to tell which personality is active though. Their heterochromia... When the secondary personality takes control, their eye colors flip. This and their fighting style seems to become more feral if possible.

-Finally when Lunar's magic starts affecting their lives, Bloodmoon is unaffected. He doesn't develop any sort of magical powers.

-The irony of this is that he does have a desire to create or find a star to use for his own personal reasons.

And finally, Cherubim Lunar

-When Seraphim Eclipse is constructing his version of Lunar he is also looking over the damaged Newton Star that, through the memories of Canon Eclipse, he learned this... Star... Is extremely powerful, but useless in this universe. However... He begins to try and modify it. But ends up fragmenting it to pieces which mostly fizzle out. Still somewhat curious if any effect at all could be had, he collects the fragments and uses them as he builds a custom heavy duty battery. Which he uses for Lunar.

-The immediate effect is that all of his internal wiring begins to glow the color of soft blue moonlight.

-And his Lunar awakens with a cute yawn and stretch.

-Seraphim Eclipse just shrugs. No longer caring if it actually did anything. Just hugs his new little brother.

-This Lunar is built to be like a Cherubim, which are actually angels of Mercy. Playing further into this, Lunar has an incredible amount of sympathy for people. Even the individuals who Seraphim Eclipse would have given up on. He can see if there is even a tiny light left inside of a person.

-He has, almost from the moment of his creation, had access to vast amounts of magic. Also seemingly just knowing how to use it without training.

-His powers appear to primarily be 'Healing' even to mechanical beings. In fact this ability is so potent that it can also trigger mutations, such as making machines more 'Bio-Mechanical' such as his mutating Seraphim Eclipse's wings to the point they function and allow him to actually fly. The feathers actually growing and shedding (And the sheddings having magical residue within them.) And in some instances, he can even revive a completely destroyed animatronic. But the catch is that it will not be to their original design, but instead to whatever mental image Lunar has for the new body.

-Here's looking at you Killcode...

-While his magic is potent in his own dimension, but in other dimensions he is much more limited and can completely drain himself if not careful. How much energy he expends can truly wreck his systems if he overdoes it. Eerily similar to star power...

-The glowing star on his tail can separate from him and will randomly float around him until he wants it to reattach. No explanation is ever given about this.

-Also jokes that he regularly converses with stars. And that he likes most of them. (Might not be a joke...)

-Seems to have a desire to help Canon Eclipse even more than Seraphim Eclipse does. Though Canon Eclipse goes out of his way to avoid him.

-His desire to help him doesn't mean that he won't confront him with some very hard truths. Which usually gets Canon Eclipse even more upset.

-Canon Eclipse has chased him away once with a broom...

-BAD DECISION; as Seraphim Eclipse was immediately upon him and was snarling at him while his sword was ready to behead his alternate in defense of his sibling.

-It scared the hell out of Canon Eclipse. Seeing Seraphim flip on a dime and become borderline manic. Given how large Seraphim is, that's a pretty horrifying image.

-Fortunately Lunar and Bloodmoon were able to pull Seraphim off of Canon. Bloodmoon commenting that Canon isn't even worth the energy for the kill.

-This was the first time that Lunar and Bloodmoon started to realize that their older brother... Wasn't completely alright.

-Life is frickin complicated no matter what universe your in appearently.

(Aaaand that's it. Holy hell that was a lot to write... In any case I hope this was interesting to read. 😅)

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wildwren · 1 year

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!!! Spoilers for 1899 !!!

Whoops, I’ve got some more rambling, unhinged 1899 meta to share, this time about character arcs and fatal flaws. Sorry in advance.

So, thinking about Singleton’s speech in Episode 7:

“Every time, they make the same mistakes. And every time, they die. Because they can’t get rid of their emotions. But that’s what makes them weak. It’s human nature’s ultimate flaw. One shouldn’t base a choice on love, anger, hate. They’re just silly feelings that cloud the mind.”

So, there’s a lot of different ways to interpret what’s going on in the simulation, and how involved Singleton, Maura, Daniel, Elliot, Ciaran, etc. are in its execution. For the purposes of this meta, and given the implications of the quote above, I am going to be working off the idea that the simulation is a test of sorts — one that can, hypothetically, be passed, if the characters make the right choices. In this case, the “right” choices are presumably logical decisions unaffected by their own emotions. However, they are continuously failing to overcome their traumas, their desires, their clouded minds: “Every time, they make the same mistakes. And every time, they die.”

If the simulation is a test of sorts, then it’s one the characters are being set up to fail. They have all been given some sort of motivating instruction that pushes them into the drama — a letter or document that gives them the need to get on that ship, but which also embeds them with painful memories and strong emotional impulses — my brother lives in Brooklyn, the doctor who could save my life is in New York, the person I killed is in Hong Kong or Spain, the man who betrayed me is in that cabin, etc. etc. Additionally, we know at least some of them are being actively triggered, forced to re-live these traumas. Their fatal mistakes aren’t really failures, just human responses to emotional pain.

So: what are their mistakes? How is the simulation testing them and how are they failing? And what does this reveal about the characters and their relationships?

A couple other notes: for the purpose of this, I’m going to be focusing more on the secondary characters. The primaries: Daniel, Maura, Elliot, (and to a lesser extent, Eyk) have more mobility within the simulation — they are crawling around in tunnels in its understructure while everyone else is mostly just acting it out. For this reason, they are a little more complicated to grapple with, so I’m going to just set them to the side for now.

It’s also unclear to me which beats in the disaster we see unfold are designed into the simulation and which are hacks executed by Daniel. How different is this loop from the ones before it? (“We’ve never gotten this far before”). Is Daniel a worm in the apple or just part of it? I don't think I can answer that question, so for the purpose of this meta, I’m going to assume that things are supposed to go wrong in the simulation, and that Daniel is sometimes altering the simulation’s design and sometimes just triggering its beats so he can move through the story more efficiently. I’m not going to spend a lot of energy trying to determine which is which.

OKAY WOOF, damn you showrunners for making me word vomit about sci-fi babble when all I want to do is talk about CHARACTERS.

So, I think the first big test point of the simulation comes when the coordinates are received from the Prometheus. Eyk is immediately drawn in by this message and changes course to hunt it down, thereby triggering the rest of the events that lead to the failed loop. Of course, Maura is also hunting the Prometheus, and it perhaps its their mutual (and mutually supporting) motivation that triggers the disaster. Still, Eyk has more power in the ship’s structure, and he lets his own trauma, his desire to hunt down his own ghosts, and perhaps his allegiance to Maura motivate his decision — at the expense of the interests of everyone else on that ship.

Eyk’s obsession with the Prometheus, in combination with the death of Ada, the mystery of the Boy, and the spreading “plague” on the ship, eventually leads to the mutiny. The mutiny is another big moment where we can see character motivations and triggers play out, on both sides of the conflict, and for this reason can be viewed as a test point that the characters are “failing”. Franz is an interesting character, because he isn’t really presented as one of our mains, and he doesn’t appear to be in one of the pods in the final scene, nor do we have evidence that he’s receiving trauma triggers like most of the others. Despite this, he survives long into into the disaster and makes many pivotal choices which drive forward the narrative. Namely, showing Ada’s body to Tove, arming the steerage passengers (thereby enabling the mutiny) and eventually, dying to save Tove. I’m interested in that dynamic, but don’t really have more to say than that he seems to be emotionally motivated by Tove and eventually fails the simulation in part because of some allegiance he has to her.

It’s easy to frame the characters who side with Eyk as being more “good” or “just,” but their actions also contribute towards escalating the conflict to deadly levels. Here too, the characters are being motivated by their own personal dramas. Throughout the entire mutiny, Jérôme is being triggered by his traumatic memories with Lucien — another time when someone claimed power and status by force and tossed him aside as collateral — and he’s not willing to let that happen again. It’s less about Eyk or the Boy then about getting to re-do this painful moment and achieve a just end this time. Ramiro warns Eyk, but one gets this sense this is at least partly motivated by his desire to punish Ángel for Ángel’s mistreatment of him. Olek — oh, Olek — seems to me to simply have a self-sacrificial nature. We don’t really have the context on this, as we never see the full scope of his trauma memory, but whatever happened seems to be motivating him to invest his care in others at the expense of his own interests. This will also be his ultimate “failure.”

The character who most pivotally escalates the violence on the side of the mutineers is Krester. His choice to tell Iben about the boy and to support her search for him seems to come from a self-hatred he cannot unlearn — the idea that he’s being punished for his own nature and must try to negate it. This self-destruction is consummated when he is one of the first to throw himself overboard during the calling,which is, I think, another test of the simulation — which characters are motivated enough to resist it and which are not? Who “fails” the call?

(Again, I mean “failing” in the logic of the simulation — their failures are that they are humans who are not allowed to move on from their pain. This is a rigged test.)

Our notable characters who fall victim to the calling are Krester, Yuk Je, Iben (she needs to be tied up but is clearly in zombie-mode) and Virginia, who only escapes in the knick of time because of Daniel’s override. Krester, as discussed above, is perhaps susceptible because of his own self-resentment. We know that Yuk Je never wanted to be on the ship in the first place, that she was dragged unwillingly by her daughter and regretted it vocally ever since. Iben is clearly susceptible to all sorts of callings, benevolent or not, and Virginia is fascinating, because her failure here seems to be her own isolation. Aside from her oppressive dynamic with Ling Yi and Yuk Je, she is quite solitary in the narrative. She prefers to control and manipulate those around her rather than getting close to them or relying on them for support. She clearly resisted the call for a while but ultimately fell prey simply because she had no one to tie her up. She was alone! This fatal flaw continues after she touches the virus and conceals the way it’s corrupting her presence in the simulation.

By the time the storm comes around, the characters are left scrambling to save whatever individuals they can, even at the expense of the so-called “greater good.” Olek is the poster boy of this: he abandons the ship’s wheel to protect Ling Yi, and he succeeds, but at the cost of his own life and perhaps others. Anker falls prey to his own fatal flaw — his inability to walk away from Iben — and they die together. Lucien has spent the narrative pushing everyone away from him, driven by paranoia over his illness and his own deceits. But even so, Jérôme and Clémence futilely work try to save him, leaving the furnaces to do so. Ángel and Ramiro are able to set aside their conflict and trade honest affection, but not in time to save Ángel or turn the course on any other part of the disaster.

Of course, we know it’s all useless: the simulation has already been deemed a failure, there’s nothing they can do either way, and therein lies the tragedy. They’ve actually overcome so much. They’ve set aside some of their own pain to better help each other. But this emotional catharsis was never the point! The simulation isn’t requiring them to heal their trauma, it’s requiring them to be inhuman!

The biggest question that remains for me is what distinguishes the final survivors of the simulation: Jérôme, Clémence, Virginia, Ramiro, Ling Yi, and Tove. (And Maura, of course). By episode 8, the simulation is so corrupted that it’s hard to say how similar this is to previous runs re: final survivors. Did the same group make it to the end in the previous loop? What wiped them out in that simulation? How did Daniel’s hacks give them an advantage this time around? *massive shrugging gesture* Hey I never promised to have coherent theories here, I just wanted to ramble about characters!

Anyway, there are obviously a lot more “test points” to pull out from the story, nor did I touch on every character, but this already took me fucking days to write as is,,,, so. I hope it was interesting! I’d loveeee to hear peoples’ thoughts, piggy-backs, counter ideas, etc.

#1899 #1899 spoilers #1899 meta #my meta #putting on my clown costume for this one #this is a genuinely obnoxious thing to write im sorry #but perhaps i can know some peace now

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jacobsneed · 10 months

Note

Hiiii 🥰 Let's get 10, 15, 29, and 49 please?!

weeeeeeeeeeeeee of course! :D <33

10. Do you set yourself deadlines?

Oh god no, I just can't. I used to try to set deadlines, but it would always suck any motivation or passion out of me, and I'd end up procrastinating and anxious, lol. In the past year, I've allowed myself to work at my own pace and when I feel inspired :)

15. How do you deal with writer’s block?

Ooh, this is something I'm still trying to find hacks for, since I've been getting hit with writer's block when I least expect it, lmao. My go-to solutions so far have been re-reading current WIPs, sleeping on it, going down pinterest/wikipedia rabbit holes, work on playlists, or watch video essays. If all that fails, I just get really stoned and write the first things that come to mind, lol

29. Favourite villain

Ooo I haven't written too many villains yet, but I did have a really fun time writing Darko Brevic from gta, and I'm REALLY REALLY excited to write Dimitri Rascalov and Joseph Seed >:3c

49. Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

CRICKET. I'm still in the early stages of writing them, but they just embody all the goodness in humanity to me and I feel like they would have an amazing aura and the best listening ears <33 And also Niko because I'm supes autistic, and he's like the blorbo of blorbos to me lmao

#thank you sm for the ask! these are so fun :D #asks

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theresattrpgforthat · 1 year

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Do you know of any games that are circus themed, or would be able to handle a traveling circus’s worth of npcs alongside the player characters? I have a very specific idea and I’m not sure DnD is the best system for it

THEME: Circus, or Circus-like.

These are games that are either built around the idea of a circus, or are tangentially related to a circus in some way. Some are more specific than others, but in any case they will certainly get you in the right headspace!

Clowning Around, by Bemia.

You are a Clown with a capital c, joking and laughing are in your DNA. Yet the people have stopped laughing, they aren’t even scared anymore. Find what makes them indifferent to your existence if you want to return to your old clownish ways.

This hack of Honey Heist (by Grant Howitt), lets you create clown characters to solve the sadness among humanity in an easy way. The game itself is rules-light and even comes with a character sheet. There is a "sadness reasons" table included, but you can of course come up with your own. The game allows for both a happy-go-lucky and a creepy clown game.

Clowning Around is a silly game in which you play clowns trying to figure out why people don’t find you funny (or scary) anymore. Your mission: to make them react, in one way or another. You have two stats, Human and Clown, that you will use to complete your mission. When it comes to relationships with a larger circus, there’s nothing in the game that inherently supports it - rather, you would have to do some worldbuilding. Perhaps the sad, sad apathy has overcome your fellow circus-folk! If you want a silly, goofy game, then consider Clowning Around.

Thy Words Inspire, Thespians, by MagiCole.

Make your theater company worthy of fame, captivate your audience with every moment, complicate your characters’ lives and to aspire to greatness.

Firebrands games are all about entangling your characters' lives in drama, so why not add the element of... well, drama?!

Play as a Performer, an Aesthetic, or a Stagehand through a variety of mini-games all aimed to build up your theater and to make a name for yourselves!

This is a game of interpersonal drama built upon the Firebrands system, which relies on a series of mini games to tell a narrative of romance, drama, and putting on a show. If you want to tell the story of a circus, you can probably re-imagine the acts as different performances by different circus folks. When you build your theatre, you also include the NPCs involved and what their job is within the theatre, so there’s definitely an expectation that you’ll be making a number of characters to fill different roles. If you like the idea of having a number of different scenes building up to the night of a big performance, this is the game for you!

The Traveling Circus, by Bone Mouse Productions.

“There's no such thing as bad publicity." - P. T. Barnum

Look anywhere - the spheres will always have room for a traveling circus. Come one, come all, to the magnificent sights and wonders that only a pack of fools can procure! This short document contains 6 backgrounds for Troika! that will astound you!

This isn’t necessarily required to run a circus in Troika, but it gives you some inspiration for writing up characters. NPCs don’t need a lot of stats for you to run them in this game, which means it’s also pretty easy to write them up! Keep in mind that most of Troika’s rules tell you how combat runs, which is a problem you might be trying to circumvent from Dungeons & Dragons. However, the rules are light enough, and the inventory list varied enough that you can probably write up an adventure that involves moving through a circus ground and figuring out how to placate numerous NPCs, using nothing but your wits and that exciting necktie that you wear during your performances!

You can also check out Eldritch Courts of Some Repute by Alan Szczepańcyk, if you want some inspiration for more NPCs, Fae Courts, and a different kind of combat - status combat!

Goblin Market, by Eliot Silvarian.

Every solstice, the veil thins between the worlds, merging mortal world with fae realm. Some time ago, the goblins started a market on the solstices to encourage friendship, trade, and storytelling between the worlds. Play to get to know your characters, meet fae beings, and ultimately decide where you belong.

Goblin Market is a 1-4 player GMless game meant to be played in one 2-4 hour session. To play, you'll need a deck of cards and a way to write.

Goblin Market is character driven and narrative heavy, and you can collaboratively decide if you want to use the narrative to lean fun and whimsical or a little darker and more intense. You should also decide together if your playthrough is set at the summer solstice or winter solstice, as well as a general setting, e.g., modern, historical, a certain style of fantasy.

This game is GM-less, but if you’re used to GM-ing, you might want to take on the role of the facilitator. In this game, your characters aren’t part of the Goblin Market, but rather a visiting party. Each character will have a reason for going to the Market, as well as a personal struggle that they may be trying to overcome. It would likely take very little work to re-skin this game in such a way that the Goblin Market is more like a Carnival or a Circus, rather than a fae bazaar. Because it’s a GM-less game, the NPCs that reside in the Market are going to be group-generated, rather than GM-generated. That being said, this is a good solo game if you want a tool to help you determine what the Circus looks like!

Under Hollow Hills, by Meguey & Vincent Baker.

There is a traveling circus under the Hollow Hills.

It travels by moonlight, small wagons creaking in the night silence. It travels lost roads, where fireflies and whisps hover to watch it pass, where goblins peer down from their treebranch perches, and owls. It travels the night world and the day world, fairyland and the living earth, and places otherwise, and no border can keep it. It has mysteries to pose, drama to perform, it has music, juggling, acts of death-defying peril, pratfall comedy. It has dangerous secrets to tell.

In Under Hollow Hills, you play the performers, planners, and crew of a traveling circus. You’re fairies and mortal humans, of various kinds and descriptions, but one and all you’ve found your way to the circus and now you travel with it. You make your way through fairyland and the human world, performing wherever you go, in street fairs and crossroads markets, in vacant lots, fairy palaces, amphitheaters, and among the standing stones. You perform for great and small, and to you, a child’s birthday in a town park is as important as the command of the the great Crowned Heads of fairyland.

With 13 core playbooks, your characters have so many choices there is bound to be an option that sticks out for each player. Much of the play options are fae, but there are also a few options for human characters that ended up in the circus one way or another. Under Hollow Hills is recognizable as a Powered by the Apocalypse game, with a few changes, including the fact that the GM rolls dice, and there is no mechanical character advancement. There’s also a play sheet for A Playbill in which you determine what characters will be performing, and what the audience is like. This means that the game is centred around the ways characters interact with each-other - if you want a game that is all about connections between characters, this game is for you.

#game recommendations #dnd #tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #circus #the show must go on #fun fact: i added Under Hollow Hills to my to-play list because of this rec #asks

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mothuary · 1 year

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Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

Ok! so this review is for the first game that I actually started and finished in the new year. Yay! When I stumbled upon the last game I wrote a review for, I had actually been looking for this one:

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance was one of the first video games I’d ever touched in my life. I didn’t even learn it was a spinoff until I’d accidentally bought the mainline game two years ago and was supremely confused. Needless to say, I was really excited to see if this held up to my expectations. Now, this game is part of a kind of set of very similar games that were released by snowblind studios all around the same time, so BG:DA2, as well as the two similar games that take place in the Everquest universe, the first and second Champions of Norrath games. But this one is all D&D 3e babyyyy. Now Im not going to spend this review sucking up to WotC obviously, but it is very charming to re-play a game and see all the references I had been missing as a kid. I thought beholders were as well-known as dragons, lol.

Now I know that the game has been, in recent years, re-released, so lets talk about what I like about it and see if it’s a worthy way to go on a little early 2000s fantasy nostalgia trip.

First lets talk about your characters. You get a quite limited selection of three characters with pre-selected names and classes. You can also unlock Drizzt Do’Urden in the character select screen but i didnt know so I played as the elf Adrianna, and my 2P played as... human archer. whose name I forget. each of them has the stats and abilities you would expect, ie. the sorcerer starts with high int and low str, and can cast magic missile. Part of the great fun of the game is finding new weapons and armor to upgrade your character with, but seeing as the game is locked to the basic loot tables in D&D 3e, the loot is a lot more boring than I remembered. You’ll mostly get a couple of weapons worth clinging to over the course of the game, and sell everything else. But hey! at least the woman armor looks respectable. (image source cause its from someones letsplay but mega spoilers in there!)

Before I get started rambling about the gameplay, you might be interested to know that the music is done by the infamous jeremy soule so if you want some very morrowind-esque vibes, you can always give it a listen: ( x | x | x )

Okay so gameplay stuff. The game is set up in a bunch of dungeons where you look down from above and you go from “room” to “room” (they arent all literal rooms) and you clear out all of the enemies. Its quite cute, it does remind me of a miniature in a model set. Enemies dont respawn, so there IS a limited quantity of experience in the game. You can load characters from past playthroughs if you want to start out beefier, and this is recommended if you want to play the harder difficulties. Its also important to keep that in mind when youre playing with more than one person, because if youre always getting the kills, your player 2 will fall behind quickly.

The game has some kind of clunky controls, I really hate how difficult it is to switch spells (you have to use the D-Pad and they give you like forty empty spell slots lol). This issue is especially bad compared to the way that champions of norrath handles it (basically offers you hotkeys, its way better). We also found that the archery was a lot less.... fun than just melee bonking bc there are really limited projectiles. by which I mean its just arrows. plain ol arrows. Also there arent any rings around the feet of your character to help differentiate P1 from P2 so i kept walking into walls. Its not helped by the fact that the gameplay is v simplistic hack n slashy so your eyes kind of glaze over sometimes.

Another thing of note, which I never really noticed as a kid, is how front-loaded the game is. In the beginning of the game, youre completing a questline attached to the Elfsong tavern, and every once in a while, when you stop at the tavern to buy new weapons, someone will show up to give you a new quest. The quests were always part of the linear plot, so they didnt change the shape of the game at all, but they made the world feel more interesting. By the time you step into the second chapter of the game, the world begins to feel more flat and less and less named npcs pop up to chat with you. It ends up making the game feel really lonely. The NPCs that DO exist are animated quite well for a 2001 game, though, and I was really struck by their individually moving fingers which really helped them feel very emotive, which was underlined by the way that NPCs take up the whole screen when you talk with them.

having a sexy bartender in the first five minutes of your game helps keep the audience engaged.

Its a quite short adventure, it took my partner and I about a week to play all the way through and honestly? By the end I was mostly just kind of excited that I can move on to the second game now and see how much better it is. I think that the game is OK, but should you pay $30 new for it? NO. you can get ps2 copies used for $10. and if youre interested in playing BOTH of the games (and/or the champions games as well) i’d just.... buy a ps2. This game is very imperfect and leaves a lot to be desired. I would not recommend it to everyone, but I would recommend it to anyone craving a classic campaign but doesnt have a party. It does scratch the D&D itch but its not the best of it’s kind. That being said, if your time is limited, I’d say that most people would prefer the Champion’s games to this one.

#Baldurs Gate #Baldur's Gate #Dark Alliance #Game review #ps2 #video games #moth reviews #moth speaks #forgotten realms

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whatthefuckisasweep · 1 year

Note

WAAAA I will HAPPILY ramble about human Silver to you (also I didn't find a loose $100 bill BUT my study abroad application that cost $250 to submit got accepted a few hours after you said that, so...coincidence? did you hack into my college website? did Silver? much to think about)

anyways! I think Silver does NOT stop talking. He LOVES getting to ramble about whatever to Bill and this is only fueled further once he gets to meet the rest of the Losers. He'll start debates over the most random, oddly specific topics just so he can explain his equally oddly specific position (and cause a little chaos along the way, because why not?) His favorite loser (besides Bill ofc) is Stan. Richie still isn't entirely sure he actually exists and frequently wonders to himself if he's just vividly hallucinating the whole thing but at this point he's too afraid to ask.

sidenote but I'm just imagining ("why do you keep bringing your bike inside every night?" "because it's winter and he doesn't like getting cold" "what")

Congratulations about your study abroad, anon! I'm glad that it went through! I totally didn't have a hand in that - that was all your hard work and talent (OK, and maybe some Silver magic... but only because you've been hyping him up so much)! Oh and you're so right, Silver DEFINITELY never shuts up! I LOVE how you think he'll just start debates - that is SO silly. And since he's a bike, he has such a unique perspective too oh my god -- and OF COURSE it's Stan, that's SO FUNNY. Stan would also just be SO fucking confused and scared that he even exists. It would just like. BLOW his mind. And of course, Richie is just sitting there like, "Stan, you and I both." If you want some Silver lore -- I was thinking that he is a product of Maturin's magic and It doesn't know about him... but he's a key token in taking it down. Silver may have been like, a lost soul of a victim of Pennywise or something. Bill somehow activates him and Silver saves Georgie on accident and that's Bill's first encounter with him. From there, it's clear Silver is just is so clueless on how to be human again because he's forgotten who he is... or even like, why he's there in the first place. But by the time they kill Pennywise, he's remembered with Bill and the Loser's help (is Silver grown up? what does he look like grown up? I have NO clue). In the end, he is set free somehow, which injures/helps kill It and returns Silver to Just A Bike.

Also, I'm laughing so hard at Bill trying to HIDE Silver but making off comments like the one you pointed out. Imagine Bill explaining that Silver can't just TURN into himself when his parents are around. Even though, perhaps, only the Losers can see Silver in his Silver state.

Zach Denbrough is like, "Why is there a MESS in the garage?" And Bill's like, "No re-reason," at the same time Georgie's like, "Silver drinks oil n I think that's gross so we were trying to show him what a cupcake is--" and Bill covers Georgie's mouth. Then when Zach leaves eventually... Bill opens the door to the pantry and Silver's in there, covered in oil, a stupid ass no thoughts grin on his face like. "Who was that? *burp*"

#asks #human silver au #it #my asks #HAFKAMLAFK im sorry this is so long.#i love your HCS man. THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY #i loveLOVE LOVE LOVE silver loving stan #thats canon #ehehehe

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emphasisonthehomo · 2 years

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Super hero!Obes w/ Villain!Maul inspired by this fucking post. Vaguely modern human au? Imagine if Coruscant was like uhhhhh *spins a wheel* New York?

CW: for violence and murder and death. Usual super hero stuff.

Obi-Wan wouldn’t describe Mo as… dangerous. Not really. Absurdly clever? Yes. Massively irritating? Absolutely. But dangerous? No. Despite the smoke bombs, despite the many knives he carried, dangerous somehow never really came to mind.

Anytime Obi-Wan felt self-conscious about the whole “masked vigilante” thing, Mo tended to show up, with his over the top outfit emblazoned with a large ‘M.0’ (hence the moniker), monologuing dramatically about good and evil, throwing smoke bombs, and generally acting like a super villain from a children’s cartoon. Obi-Wan wouldn’t put it past him to have a literal Secret Lair™ hidden somewhere underground.

Nothing like a cackling mad man in a horned helmet to make one feel better about hiding one’s identity from the public.

The media had a field day with him, of course. Unending discourse and speculation about what the ‘M.0’ could stand for, various op-eds questioning his motivations, etc. A local theater student had gone viral a few months back, for performing one of Mo’s particularly verbose monologues about the Nature of Human Kind. It was a whole thing.

Mo was the scourge of the financial district, for the most part. Maybe that’s why he was so popular with the average person. He didn’t bother to try and rob the nearest corner store, nor did he pickpocket any unsuspecting tourists. No, instead he focused on repeatedly breaking into the many branches of the Bank of Coruscant, re-arranging the exhibits in local galleries or museums, and trashing the offices of wealthy CEOs. Through a convoluted combination of hacking, acrobatics, and hand to hand combat, he stole ludicrous amounts of money, and caused untold amounts of damage.

One time Mo had busted through the ceiling in a high raise during an Important Quarterly Financial Meeting. He’d demanded everyone give him their watch and then leave the room, before somehow managing to flood the entire executive floor, and exiting the building without being caught or seen.

Theft and property damage. And chaos. That was what Obi-Wan associated with Mo. Disruptive but ultimately harmless. No one has ever had more than a minor scrape or bruise, after a run in with Mo.

So when Obi-Wan receives a request for The Negotiator to make an appearance at the Bank of Coruscant’s central location, he’s expecting more of the usual. Perhaps this time Mo will have an even bigger knife with him. Perhaps this time his smoke bombs will be glittery. Perhaps this time his rant with be in iambic pentameter.

Obi-Wan isn’t expecting a hostage situation.

He’s not expecting the limp body of a teller slumped in the lobby, a huge hole in the left side of their face, and blood oozing across the tile floor.

•

“This isn’t Mo,” Obi-Wan observes, watching the grainy security footage that SWAT has pulled up.

It must be serious indeed, if the police want them involved. Usually, they keep him and Anakin at arm’s length, and Obi-Wan honestly prefers it that way. It does make it more convenient though, to have been asked to be here. At the very least the cops have a perimeter of the bank, and it’s be easier to sneak in and help someone, if he and Anakin don’t have to worry about an idiot with a flash bang bursting in.

On the screen, two figures in clown masks, both armed with what appears to be automatic rifles, stalk the lobby. One of them has a heavy look duffle bag slung over his shoulder, probably containing wads of cash. The remaining hostages are huddled on the floor, hands on their heads.

“What makes you so sure?” Grunts a large man in a bullet proof vest – Captain Louz, who looks every inch the stereotype of a SWAT officer, his neck is as thick as his head.

“He’s never used a gun,” Obi-Wan points out dryly, “And I don’t think he’s ever taken hostages.”

“If it was Mo, he would be shaking his ass for the cameras and rambling about the inherent human need to dance naked in the rain by now,” Anakin says.

Obi-Wan delicately hides a snort of laughter behind a cough. Judging from the fact that Captain Louz has frown lines instead of laugh lines, he probably won’t appreciate any jokes.

“What are their demands?” Obi-Wan changes the subject, glancing up from the security footage.

Across the empty street, cordoned off and surrounded by a phalanx of police officers, the front of the bank is a mess. Last week Mo had busted every single one of the windows, and they still haven’t been replaced. The clowns are hidden behind a wall of plywood, safe from any snipers the police might post on the neighboring buildings.

Yet another reason Obi-Wan doubts that it’s Mo. Why would he come back so soon? What could he accomplish now, that he couldn’t have done five days ago?

To operate without risk of snipers. A whisper at the back of his mind supplies.

Obi-Wan frowns.

No need for snipers, unless hostages were taken. No need for hostages, unless the robbery was botched somehow.

Mo hasn’t botched anything before.

“A helicopter within the hour, promise of a safe getaway, otherwise they’ll shoot ‘nother hostage,” Captain Louz heaves a huge sigh, “They won’t talk with any of our guys, we’re hoping you can-”

Suddenly, Anakin grabs Obi-Wan’s arm and squeezes.

“Look!” He hisses, gesturing back to the security footage.

Obi-Wan looks.

There are three screens, each split into four, each with a different camera angle. In the bottom left corner of the middle screen, a hallway ceiling tile moves. It shifts, shudders and then starts to fall. Quick as anything, a gloved hand darts out from the ceiling, and grabs it.

Slowly. The tile is hauled up, disappearing into the hole it left behind in the ceiling. It’s replaced by a figure, dropping deftly to the floor.

It’s Mo.

It’s so obviously Mo.

Obi-Wan’s stomach sinks.

The usually vibrant red pattern of Mo’s suit has been muted by the cameras, dull and pixilated gray on the black fabric.

“Still think it’s not Mo?” Captain Louz sneers.

“There’s a first time for everything,” Obi-Wan murmurs, blood beginning to run cold.

He shouldn’t be surprised.

He shouldn’t.

Mo’s escalated, of course he has. That’s how it always goes, with this kind of violence. Relegating him to cartoonish supervillainy was a mistake.

Obi-Wan watches as Mo strides confidently down the hallways. Vanishing from view for one camera angle, only to reappear in another.

Except.

Except –

Mo doesn’t walk directly into the lobby.

He stops and crouches down, back pressed against the wall, next to the closed Employees Only door that leads into the lobby.

Slowly. Slower than the movement of the ceiling tile, he reaches out and begins to turn the knob. The door inches open. Across the lobby, the men in clown masks are oblivious to the creeping movement behind them. They’re focused on the hostages, on the heavily armed police on the other side of the plywood.

With barely enough room to squeeze through, Mo slips out of view of that camera, and into view in the back corner of the lobby. Just as slowly as he opened the door, he closes it. Mo lowers himself out of the crouch, stomach practically against the carpet, and begins to crawl. It’s almost cat like, graceful and fluid as he moves across the floor.

“What in the sweet hell?” Captain Louz mutters, brow furrowing.

Mo crawls until he’s tucked behind the teller desk. And then very deliberately, reaches up a hand, and knocks a pen onto the floor.

It causes an instant commotion. The clowns, clearly already on edge, whirl to look at the teller’s desk.

“Check on it!” The clown with the duffle bag demands of the other, jerking the barrel of his gun in the direction of the noise.

The other hunches his shoulders up, and begins to walk towards the teller’s desk.

Still tucked behind it, Mo doesn’t move.

Obi-Wan realizes what’s going to happen just before it does

Mo explodes into motion. Reaches out and grabs a handful of the front of the clown’s shirt, and yanks. Mo slings out a leg in a sweep at the same time, kicking the clowns’ feet out from underneath him, even as his head slams the desk with a bang.

There’s a scuffle, yelp of pain.

Obi-Wan has seen Mo in various states of hand-to-hand combat. It’s brief, usually. A punch or a kick here or there. Mo prefers to toss off a one liner and disappear in a cloud of smoke, rather than actually fight if confronted. What Obi-Wan sees now, is something completely different.

Mo twists, his left arm snapping down to drop an elbow on the back of the masked man’s head, smashing his face back into the desk. Then Mo lifts and shoves, and the clown staggers back and falls over with a groan.

“DON’T FUCKING MOVE!” The other clown shrieks, pointing the gun in Mo’s direction. His grip is shaking. He’s aiming from the hip.

Mo straightens up. The rifle is now in his hands, Obi-Wan has no idea how or when that happened. Mo lifts the gun casually, settles the butt against his shoulder. His grip is steady, firm. A gloved finger rests lightly against the trigger.

“I SAID DON’T FUCKING MOVE!”

Mo says nothing, instead he takes a deliberate step forward.

Off in the corner, a few hostages look up in terror. One sees her chance, stumbles to her feet, and starts to run for the door.

The movement is enough to distract the clown, and Mo sees his own chance.

Obi-Wan watches, almost in disbelief, as Mo adjusts his aim and fires.

The clown jerks backwards, and he crumbles down. The duffle bag filled with money lands first with a heavy thump, before the clown follows, flopping on top of it.

A few of the hostage’s scream. Another two bolt for the door.

Behind him, Obi-Wan can hear Captain Louz yelling something, knows that the assembled SWAT are running for the bank doors. The commotion seems secondary to what’s unfolding on the security footage.

“YOU FUCKING- YOU JUST SHOT HIM!” The other clown is still on the ground, wheezing. His voice cracks in panic.

“Holy shit.” Anakin breathes.

“I did,” Mo says.

His voice has no inflection, none of the grandeur he usually infuses into his villainous monologues. The audio is tiny, distorted by the speakers on the screen.

Mo raises the gun again, aims, and fires.

•

“I apologize, I prefer not to leave this kind of mess,” Mo is speaking directly to the security camera.

He drops a small sphere. There’s no theatrics, no drama.

When the smoke clears, Mo is gone.

•

The death toll at the end of the day is five.

The teller.

Two security guards.

And two men in clown masks.

Nothing is missing from the bank.

#aron's fic #star wars #star wars fic #obi wan kenobi #maul opress #anakin skywalker #super hero au

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randomnameless · 2 years

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I had a Nopes fic AU in mind while typing stuff about lizards :

GW!AU : Macuil kills Nader and destroys his ships when he tries to pull his shit in Sreng - since he wanted to bring a “souvenir” to Clout by “visiting” Macuil’s ruins.

Given how the Sreng tribes worship him as a “sacred beast that appeared from the sea��, they ask him what to do next, who attacked them, and if he knows what they must do to protect themselves.

Bothered by humans being there and preventing him from sleeping, he wants to tell them to fig off, but remembers Cethleann passed by a few moons ago, asking him if they could stay with him for a shortwhile if life in Fodlan “rejects them”.

He can tolerate Cethleann, but Cichol? He will fuss about this and that (not that Saint Macuil cares about what happens to Fodlan, his stupid younger sister who stupidly thought nabateans and stupid humans could live together, no, not him!) so if he can help them it means Cichol won’t pester him about anything.

“Go and help the people from that Kingdom, if you help them during their biggest time of need they will be sure to help you in turn”.

Led by Leif, a Sreng contingent led an incursion in the Kingdom, which angered Sylvain who litterally fell from his horse when the Srengese started to hack Adrestians, Leif saying he had a debt to House Gautier, and now the Kingdom has a debt to them, so they are finally even.

Dimitri and his forces can return fast enough to assist Rhea in the battle and witness her behead Holst “I love slavery!” Goneril while Cyril shoots Clout in the knee, making him fall from his wyvern, only to fall on Dimitri. Not wanting to make any sense of his “but I was really doing this for you, I mean, sure, you suffered some losses, but we are all fighting here!” words, Dimitri takes Failnaught from him, and yeets him away from Faerghus.

The Federation crumbles, the old guard (Judith isn’t dead in this AU) re-establishes the Alliance, and Clout’s story serves as a lesson about tyranic lords trying to become kings, the Alliances reaffirms their “we listen to no king and bow to no Emperor” credo, House Gloucester (with Erwin) at its head becomes the new proeminent force and the GD are banned, both by the Alliance and the Kingdom, from Fodlan - they follow Clout’s return to Almyra and have a lot of heartwarming and wacky adventures.

When everyone thinks the credits will roll, Supreme Leader re-appears with a wounded Leif, calling Dimitri a traitor for siding with beasts and savages, but Uncle pops up, throws a pokeball at her, she becomes a Hellbeast, is defeated by a “Rhea Punch” and she reverts to a childlike state because the devs really like this.

Peace returns to Fodlan, and sadly for Macuil, he still receives a visit from Seteth who berates him on the state of his feathers, and really, he should take better care of himself.

---

The end.

#3 nopes #3 nopes spoilers #Nopes nonsense #i mean it makes more sense than the game #lizard family time?#AU what if Macuil did something #apparently in Claude's FE16's paralogue they say the people of Sreng venerate him or something?#Watch out for Srengese bad poetry #FE16 #i wanted to type something crueler for the GD house but just figging away seems appropriate #imagine the theon like character got relevance #and if the game ended on a happy note instead of imperialism good and trying to get along with your neighbours bad #unless said neighbours like to 'bring souvenirs' from your home

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treesap-blogs · 1 year

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“Scout’s Honor” by Lily Anderson review!

Hello, Tumblrians! As you know, my reading queue had to be cleared for a period of time (which is difficult when measuring only with my Tumblr account, as I stopped uploading reviews as soon as I finished a book), but–sometimes, goals don’t quite work out, and what happened was that I was annoyed enough by the existence of a reading void that I suddenly had to fill it. Which brings us to today’s case, Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson! (P.S., for a clearer idea of my reading schedule and what books I go through at what exact time, go to my Goodreads! I’m seasalted.citrus on there :D! Sometimes I publish short little blurb-y reviews on there, but they’re just summarizations of what I write on here.)

We follow our protagonist, 16 year-old Prudence, who’s a Legacy Ladybird: she was born with the ability to See monsters who feed off of human emotions called Milligrubs (Critters= black eyes, nuisances that can be eradicated with just mint, Carnivores = white eyes, bloodthirsty and..require a bit more than just mint leaves or spray to defeat). Ladybirds themselves are Girl Scouts if they fought with pink-colored knives and axes, but they masquerade as a fancy-schmancy group that specializes in stereotypically feminine stuff(tea parties, baking, etc). But Prudence hasn’t been a Scout in three years; not after the death of her best friend in a fight with a Carnivorous Milligrub, and she’s been left with PTSD and anxiety since. Her mom ropes her into training a group of new Scouts, however, and after some unusual attacks in her town realizes she’ll have to fight not just the usual six-legged(or more) foes, but her past as well.

Like The Belles, I have a nostalgic connection with a somewhat similar piece of media, that being the Lumberjanes comics! It also had that “Girl Scouts if they fought” premise to it, which is what made me add Scout’s Honor to my TBR! And to be honest, Scout’s Honor felt just as fun to read as Lumberjanes (although the latter is more of an ensemble thingie and we have more of a genuine friend group than one with an added mentor-mentees dynamic). Hacking at monsters and stuff, whilst trying to balance it out with teen life? Absolutely!

As you can tell from the summary though, this book does deal a lot with trauma and the effects of it. I thought that it was respectfully and realistically written; Prudence experiences a few panic attacks in the book, we deal with her trying to tell her mother about her mental health and the struggle of having that be recognized by her(relatable, as someone with a dad who’d get mad at me for being upset or “ungrateful” when I didn’t have a life “as bad as his”), and although with the premise including monsters feeding off of negative emotions you’d worry about stigmatization, it doesn’t do that with Prudence, thankfully. (It does add an interesting layer to that, though, because how do you properly deal with your emotions then?? Gotta get all the therapy and mindfulness exercises you can get, I guess.)

Adding some more feedback in the Spoiler Section! Not that much though.

SPOILER SECTION!!! It’ll be brief but still.

Dudes. During the cemetery fight in the end of the book, I thought that based on the dialogue from Prudence’s boyfriend, after all this time of the grubs being these hostile, bloodthirsty things, they’d be pitied or given a kind of “but they’re living beings too and we’ve been lied to and they’re not that bad so we don’t have to kill them!!” kind of approach. AND THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, HE WAS JUST NAIVE AFTER BEING A SEER FOR LESS THAN AN HOUR🥳🥳🥳!! Seriously though I was gonna be so annoyed, I’ve read 2 other books that did that, which..both happen to be favorites of mine (one I might have to reread though, I’ve seen a lot of reviews complaining about the dialogue?), but if there was a third one it’d just be a cliché within my reading history and I’d get tired of that very quickly. (So many things are redeemed in a rushed way in recent media, anyhow. I don’t need to see another thing do that.)

Another topic! While I was sort of mixed about Prudence’s friends attempting to be Scouts, I thought Sasha made a very entertaining one. She was a great contrast to the younger members, who are more lax/nice in their demeanor. She definitely became my favorite! I just wish that we could’ve had a bit more time with the Scouts as a friend group and not just a teacher-mentees thing, because whilst the latter was Prudence’s actual role, it was clear that the four of them ended up fitting into the first category the more attached she became to them(and, well, one of her actual friends from the beginning was part of her trainee group).

I remember being a little annoyed at the third act conflict, but it was resolved relatively quickly. To think that Sasha would hear the true story about Prudence’s old friend being killed, and be angry at her for not telling her the true reason when it very well could’ve been dangerous for her to say?! Come on, I get that she can be harsh and sometimes impulsive but they’d known each other for years, I’d think she’d be more sad than angry. (Disappointed, definitely, but why flip out on her? It was written pretty poorly, in my opinion.)

That’s all! Back to our scheduled programming.

END OF SPOILER SECTION!! Yippee!

To summarize my thoughts, and conclude this review: Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely! It was fun, action-packed with a good mix of teen angst and monster-slashing, although there were a few issues with pacing and I thought the third act conflict between Prudence and Sasha was a little convoluted. But I’d definitely recommend this, perhaps I’ll compile my own list of stories within the “Girl Scout-adjacent groups kicking ass” subgenre ^^. (P.S., anyone who’s got some recs hit me up!)

Paz, signing off! ^^

(Book content/trigger warnings: Violence, PTSD, on-page panic attacks and discussions around declining mental health.)

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epiphanygoddess · 1 year

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[GEMINI ♊ ] 🪄🔮 General Timeless energy check 🔮🪄

(Energies are fluid so keep an open mind, and it may or may not resonate, take what resonates with you the most and leave the rest behind. Also, feel free to switch the energies between you and the other person if you think they embody the situation/traits here.)

666 is your Angel number for today, if you want to check it out you can go ahead and just Google it. (Sorry, I don't do numerology).

Recent past:

You have taken preventative measures to avoid experiencing or re-experiencing poverty in an area of your life, whether be it spiritual poverty, Health wise, romance and other things that are connected in our mundane living. Prior to this, you seem to be experiencing feelings of lack, but it seems like you've finally taken a decision to make major improvements to your day-to-day routines.

Present:

Right now, you are in a moment in which you're having a rebirth and you are becoming more confident in your discernment. You have been in a period of isolation for a little bit and thinking about how to make something better in your life. This could be in the means of promises, a hope for oneself's betterment and a integration that comes with that.

Let's say you have always been doing things that are non negotiable and detrimental for you in the long run. This could be having cynical points of view, escapism, bad habits, alcohol and substance abuse or any other toxic things that once sabotaged yourself in a way. I think you're having a change of that, and it stems from a genuine feeling of "I want to improve and be a better person for the sake of entering a new world that I want to be in, a World that is not Tainted by toxicity".

Challenge:

Here's how things get tricky because as I've stated, you are wanting improvement in an area of your life but then you might be finding it difficult to take your self-compromisation into action so you're kinda like putting those in the back burner for now.

I actually see some of you researching through books, or watching some life hack stuff on YouTube for you to apply those into your integration process. Others of you are possibly observing someone (mostly successful) on what they do and how it helped them to get successful in their lives, these things you might actually benefit from not necessarily copying them, but to get an idea and inspiration and apply what you have learned from them into practice.

Near future:

You are navigating your reality in a different way, and it may seem a little shady and off to others, I'm getting a 'lying by omission' kind of vibe from this. It's like, you're doing something kind of discreet and you're not gonna tell anyone about it, they're just going to see it for themselves one day. So yah, I ain't judging you guys for this, I do believe that life is full of gamblers and that is us humans, it doesn't even matter who gets to the top first, really, sometimes we have to play our cards right in order for us to survive.

Final outcome:

To sum it all up, I really feel like all of this is for the benefit of you falling in love more with not just yourselves or your partners (if you have any), I think falling in love with your Ideal life from all these changes is like one of those things that we often tell ourselves once a period of difficulty is over. There's a lot of things that you're gonna be so grateful that it happened and exists in your life and you get to celebrate it with your loved ones. And those things that you didn't acknowledged much in your reality, now is the time for you to see it and extract something out of it, because it might be the key for you in undergoing your life path.

#astrology #zodiac signs #affirmations #tarot online #tarot witch #witchblr #witch blog #predictions #birth chart #astro placements #magic realism #gemini #gemini sun #gemini moon #gemini rising #gemini placements

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