#did our usual multiple choice options

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Multiple Choice - a Callum and Aaravos theory

Not to be all Han Solo or anything, but when it comes to Aaravos and magic in Xadia, I Have A Bad Feeling About This.

If there's one thing I love more than corrupt systems, it's breaking them, so let's get to it: please enjoy yet another way that Callum's pursuit of magic could potentially go very wrong for him - and how he can still fix it.

The system, in this case, isn't a monarchy (on either side of the border), wartime tensions reaching forward from the cycle, or a Xadia-wide racial hierarchy.

It's magic itself.

We don't know where it came from, magic. Was deep magic always here? Did one of the Star Touch elves create it, or perhaps choose to make it his bailiwick while others chose things like Justice and Mercy?

Aaravos, I mean Aaravos. If he's basically the god of magic (feel free to view him through a Loki-esque lens here, I am), then of course he's an archmage, and of course he's the only one among the Star Touch elves. Magic is His Thing.

And according to Zubeia, the Dragon Queen, its mages are his prey. We don't know yet what his full intent has been. We only have her millennia-long view from the surface of the planet. There's definitely more to the story, but which direction that story takes us is anyone's guess at this point. However, it seems clear that Aaravos's history during his time in Xadia does show a pattern of him targeting and influencing mages. He certainly has been during the years the show has covered.

What all he did with these mages, besides the manipulation, is also still unknown. But even if all he ever did was pull their strings, he's still choosing magic-imbued beings as his favorite puppets. The most likely explanation for this is that mages and Aaravos have something in common, making them easier for him to work with. Is it just magic? Does their ambition count too? Is there more to it?

I think there's more. I feel there is some deep dangerous secret Aaravos has managed to hide from everyone so far - including us. But just because it's dangerous doesn't mean it's evil, or even ill-intentioned. Do we consider the threat to anthills when we begin construction on a new apartment complex? Usually no. We're busy doing human-level tasks. The ants' welfare is truly not our concern. And most of them will probably be fine... right?

So. What's Aaravos really up to, and what does it have to do with Callum?

Something Rayla believes about Callum made me wonder: in the short story Chasing Shadows, she believes that he, and all humans, can change their destiny (and it's super annoying!). Why is that a human thing only, though?

Arcanums, perhaps. We've all seen the elven peoples get uptight about their own rules and the options they can choose for themselves. It's not just the Moonshadows. Sunfire elves can absolutely be sticklers for tradition - look at my disaster boy Karim over here, willing to go to war against his own people because his sister wants to marry a human.

Bruh.

So here's part one of the theory:

Having an arcanum in you forces your destiny into a certain path.

If you're born with it, you know the path of your whole life - and I don't just mean "serve your people" or "be a warrior" or "be one with nature." There is a very dark side to being locked into your destiny. It means you cannot escape it even if you desperately want to.

*wordlessly points to Runaan and his overly honorbound decisions*

*wordlessly points to Rayla and her overly sacrificial decisions*

*wordlessly points to Finnegrin and his overly fear-driven decisions*

*wordlessly points to Janai and her overly dutybound decisions*

*wordlessly points to Karim and his overly traditional decisions*

I don't need to say anything here, do I? Thought not.

But it's one thing to be born with an arcanum - maybe they know and accept this part of their destiny already. Maybe it's just a subconscious thing they... know.

It's another thing entirely to opt into an arcanum as a free choice. And here's where we get to part two:

Callum thinks he chose his destiny. He doesn't know he just gave it away.

If he just handed his fate to Aaravos by embracing an arcanum (and then one more), his destiny isn't currently in his hands at all. It's in Aaravos's. And the archmage has proven that he, at least, knows that, since he's been pulling at Callum's strings and toying with him for a while now. He wouldn't flex like that unless he was supremely confident - which he is, he always is - he wouldn't show that hand early on like this unless he knew Callum didn't understand what he'd done or how to reverse it.

This theory is about more than dark magic. It's about all magic. Even if Callum could cleanse himself from dark magic and never let Aaravos puppet him again, is he really free? He still has an arcanum. Where did that come from? He's walking around with a couple of magical bona fides stamped on his brain, and I just want to know...

Who crafted the stamps?

If all Xadian magic is some kind of... creation, or spill, or experiment... and Aaravos needs that power back for himself in order to be who he used to be and/or re-ascend to the stars, he's got more than one way to harness it again:

dark magic consumes primal magic - but matter and energy are never destroyed, so... where does that power go? Aaravos has a very convenient black hole symbol right on his chest. Maybe every spell dark mages have ever cast sends him some of his precious primal magic again. It would be a very convenient way of getting desperate humans to do his cleanup for him. And he has all the time in the world.

primal magic won't save anyone from his will - it just harnesses the elves to Aaravos's magic rules and binds their destiny to a predetermined outcome. They've become, in a word... predictable.

There's no way to beat a Star Touch Archmage at his own game. He literally wrote its rules. So what's a bright young kid like Callum to do?

To quote War Games, "the only way to win is not to play."

Callum's in a unique position, in that he knows who he was before he had an arcanum. Back when he could choose his destiny every day, without binding him to some powerful force he doesn't fully understand yet. This might lead him to a very difficult and dangerous choice, and it could break the game, and the world, wide open.

If Callum can choose to learn an arcanum, maybe he can choose to forget one.

If he can un-know the things that bound him to that magic destiny, he'd be free again, of Aaravos's reach and of his influence.

And that's just for him, but if everyone else is trapped too, how can he help them and hurt Aaravos's power grab at the same time? No idea, beyond "someone hand him a powerful magical artifact and wait," at this point, but I'm sure he'll find a way to break something important eventually! Something vital to the structure and distribution of magic itself, preferably.

If he manages to find a way to destroy magic itself, then everyone would be free. There would be no rules binding anyone to Aaravos. There would be no dark magic feeding off its fumes, either. It's theoretically possible that destroying primal magic would undo the taint of dark magic, all in one go.

And we all know how Callum loves to go around ruining ancient and powerful magical objects. Kid's got quite a track record by now!

Maybe he's not done yet. Maybe Callum's true destiny will be both Savior and Destroyer. But he'll have to play his own game to do it - he can't play Aaravos's game and win. He'll have to fight outside of magic itself. And if he's going to put down his most powerful weapon, forged by someone else - by the mastermind himself - and try without it, then he'll need help, just like always.

#tdp #tdp theory #tdp speculation #callum #aaravos #primal magic #dark magic

[brekkersource]

how to use beta + trim reblogs

so! we all know about beta editor by now. for better or for worse, a lot of us are using tumblr's new beta editor, and it's likely that everyone will have no choice but to use it soon. this unfortunately means a lot of us can't use the new xkit to trim our roleplay posts. there have been a lot of posts explaining this and the benefits of xkit rewritten; this one, this one, and this one especially helped me understand what's going on. however, a lot of people still seem to be floundering around in the dark so i wanted to make a tutorial that sums up everything i've learned from other tutorials as well as my own trial and error.

if you want a step by step guide to trimming reblogs (with screenshots) as well as a brief overview of beta editor's pros and cons, keep reading.

the first step, obviously, is to switch to beta editor and install xkit rewritten. the posts linked above explain how and why so i won't go into detail here. trim reblogs is the new version of edit reblogs, and it looks like this. one of the best features is that you can use it even after posting your reply, so if something glitches or you forget to trim, you still have a chance to fix it.

once you have them, there are two different ways i've seen people use xkit rewritten to trim their posts.

1. seperate reblogs

this is, in my opinion, the best and easiest way to go about this. mun 1 makes a post, mun 2 reblogs it, and then mun 1 uses xkit rewritten to trim their original post from the thread.

however, this only works if the original post was made in beta. if you try to trim a post that was made in legacy, you get get a warning, and if you go ahead with it, it's going to glitch somehow. in my testing, my reply duplicated! which is very annoying. and despite what the warning says, repeating the trim usually does not last—even if it seems like it does at first.

2. (probably) copy and paste

this is more visually reminsicent of editable reblogs from new xkit. there might be an easier way to do this that i don't know about—if so, please let me know. the name kind of explains it all; a mun will copy and paste their partner's reply, indent it, and write their own below. then, obviously, they'll have to trim all the past reblogs of the post. this is especially good for people who like doing pretty headers or editing their partner's url to look pretty, you know what i'm talking about.

there is a glitch i have run into on my own blog a few times that i was unable to duplicate, so i've just taken a screenshot of my own blog with most of the information blanked out. if only one person if using beta, trim reblogs will still sometimes glitch and duplicate. i trimmed my reblog multiple times but every time i reloaded, my duplicated reply was back. please, please communicate with your partners. i know it's annoying and awkward but it will save everyone so much frustration. especially if you're clinging to legacy, please let your partners know so they can adjust accordingly—or consider switching to beta, even if just for that thread.

but beta is not all bad i promise

i know how frustrating this all is (i fully refused to do drafts for a few days once beta really started kicking in and new xkit stopped working for me), but i am slowly coming around to it.

tags are editable now! i cannot explain the joy i experienced when i first realized this. no more typing up a long, rambling tag only to notice a typo as soon as you've hit return. you can edit tags at any point—even when going back and editing an old post! does this mean that i have accidentally started editing a tag when i meant to move it? yes but it's worth it.

making the text small is so much easier now. no more going into html or command+option+shift! instead, it's available as an option right in between the italic and link buttons when you highlight text.

you can now edit the size and type of text very easily! this did confuse me at first when i couldn't find the indent button, but it's now in a toggle list; if you click on the regular tab when text is highlighted, there are a ton of options including indent, chat, lucille (whatever that means), bigger/biggest, and more.

however, it's not all great. but it's tumblr, what did we expect.

the most frustrating thing for me personally is that you can no longer copy and past an image link into your reply, or else the image url will be tagged on underneath it. it looks funky and isn't great if you don't want to download a million gifs. while i've just been downloading/dragging the gifs i want to use to desktop and uploading them to my reply, it's annoying to have to clean up my desktop and empty my computer's trash so i'm not wasting storage space. additionally, this does not work if the gifset is in a post rather than a page; the only option there is to copy and paste and simply put up with the image url. clicking "add image" and then pasting the image or dragging the gif from the page/post's tab into the tumblr tab and onto your reply still results in a url. if anyone has figured out a workaround for any of this please let me know; otherwise, i think we should all just agree to ignore the url if it shows up. update: thank you sm to anon for informing me of @rpclefairy's roleplay formatter! if you put the gif in their formatter, copy the source, and paste that into the post when it's in html mode, not rich text mode, the link is gone! and thanks to tumblr realizing this was annoying, if you click the little link icon that appears when you hover over an image, delete the url, and hit done so it saves, the url will be gone!

formatting is......weird now. if you make your paragraph text small and then decide to add another sentence, the new text won't be small. you'll have to edit it again. text that has been formatted (small, italic, bold, etc) will be highlighted in a very strange way when the cursor is in the formatted section. as far as i've been able to figure out, even after poking around a bit in the html, there's no way to change any of this. not to sound like a broken record here, but if you've found a way to change any of this, please let me know. otherwise i think we just have to put up with this bullshit.

there's always a chance that these things will be fixed; it is still just a beta system after all. for now, i think the best thing the community can do is communicate with partners, ask questions, and just accept that there's gonna be some weird shit going on and we're all doing our best.

if any of this changes i will update this post, but in the meantime, pls share if this helped or you want to share the word. and for the last time, if i've gotten anything wrong, just let me know and i'll update.

#rpc #rp community #rp help #rph #tumblr beta #tumblr beta tutorial #xkit rewritten #tumblr rp help #rpt #idk how to tag this lmao #also i truly have no idea if this will be helpful to anyone #or if i'm just outing myself as a dumbass #if so pls just ignore lmao #also!! this is in no way an attack on people still using legacy #i'm autistic i get it #m*

[skyloftian-nutcase]

silver and i were discussing the ethics of physical restraint in medical situations and we were wondering what your opinion is?

obviously i'm super biased, i know that it can cause a lot of trauma and isn't very efficient anyway. i can reluctantly admit that it might be best if the patient is too out of it/violent/dying. in trust fall, legend's injuries aren't life-threatening, he's fighting back out of self defense, and he's very much aware of what's happening and already has major trauma from this happening before. so the medic would say that he was in the right, even though he wasn't.

but since you actually have to be on the other side, when/why do you decide that physical restraint is the best/only option?

Physical restraints are definitely a complicated issue, for sure. I was actually just dealing with this last night. In the specific context of Legend's situation, if I had a patient who was injured but not dying and who was actively trying to hurt me I'd just stay the hell away and let him bleed lol, I ain't getting myself beaten up over that. He'd probably get arrested for trying to hurt me, though, because if I were doing an EMS call and my patient got violent I would call PD, they're our guardian angels whether people like them or not. I usually try to de-escalate situations before they get to that point, but my and my partner's safety is higher priority than the patient's - that's how we're all taught. We can't help anybody if our patient knocks us out. If Legend had just said "I'm fine, please leave me alone" and sounded terrified the correct response would be to try to talk to him and when it became clear he wasn't going to let anyone touch him then maybe leave supplies with him, talk to someone who he trusts to take care of him, and leave. We can't force care on someone who's with it, they have a right to refuse.

But in general with restraints, it's... not something we try to go for as a first choice. Situations can be difficult - there's a huge difference between someone who's injured but with it and isn't dying vs someone who has a head injury and therefore is out of it, or someone who is suicidal and will hurt others who try to stop them, or someone who's high as a kite and frothing at the mouth going insane on drugs, or someone who's delirious from extreme illness and fatigue. Last night I had a patient with meningitis who was so freaking out of it, dude kept trying to pull out his IVs and he was receiving life saving treatment through them, kept trying to pull out his feeding tube and he'd starve to death without it, kept trying to get out of bed and he'd fall and hurt himself if he did so - not to mention he had a lumbar drain, which if that gets dislodged can lead to paralysis and death. So clearly he needed to be kept in line. However, he was also redirectable - he was confused as hell but he wasn't violent. If you told him he was safe, told him where he was, and said he needed to rest, he eventually settled. So while my provider offered to give me the option of using restraints on him, I declined - he had a sitter who could redirect him, and honestly I felt the restraints would agitate him more in his state. Another patient on the unit, however, was confused as hell and tried to lunge at a nurse to hurt her. He got restraints and a sedative, and he slept though the night just fine. Yet another patient in the ICU had hit multiple nurses multiple times before the providers finally let us put restraints on him - and that guy was with it, he was just being an ass. It's a nuanced thing. I think they're necessary but only in special circumstances.

#you ask skye answers #lovely triforce of mischief

[scumbag-monthly]

Meanwhile, on 9th November 1982...

Yes, it'll soon be 40 years since The Young Ones first aired on BBC2! Can you believe it!?

Naturally, we at Scumbag Monthly want to mark this important event - perhaps the most important event in 2022 - with a zine. Thanks to the Scumbags Discord, we've already got scumbags pencilled in to write reviews for 10/12 of the episodes, but the mindless violence doesn't stop there!

Please DM @neil-neil-orange-peel if you'd be interested in doing any of the following (you can do multiple or just one, it's up to you, but please please PLEASE be realistic about your free time/motivation):

*Drawing a portrait of your favourite Young One - we want at least one of each, so you'll have to get in quick to bagsy your fave. We're hoping for Vyvyan, Rick, Neil, Mike, and Balowksi, with possibly the Fifth Housemate and SPG too. If there's a lot of interest in this option, we'll be more than happy to double or even triple up!

*Writing a piece about your favourite Young One - why they're your favourite etc. Once again, characters will be dished out on a fist come, first served basis. We'd like one (though preferably two) for each of the main four at least yes we know Balowksi isn't very popular with the scumbags we know we're not gonna force you bastards to write about him unless you want to. 500 words minimum, no maximum.

*Tell us what The Young Ones means to you - in words, sentences, paragraphs, explosions of art, a kick up the bottom. How did you discover the show? What, if any, impact do you think it's had on you? Have you got any messages for the creators, if you had the opportunity to address them (we're not giving you that opportunity, but just ✨use your imagination✨)?

And now on to things that aren't just rehashes of the Rik zine... ✨

*Writing a review of either Demolition or Oil - we've got scumbags signed up to do the rest, so please get in touch if you fancy either of those episodes. Minimum 500 words, no maximum. Please don't sweat this if you've never reviewed anything before - we're not looking for expert, objective critiques. Please feel free to just gush. I mean, look at our Strip Teases. 😂

*Writing a piece about the relationship between The Young Ones and music - to be interpreted however you wish. We just need one scumbag for this and once this option's gone, it's gone. Musical scumbags, anyone out there? TYO is somewhat unique in its choice to feature musical artists in almost every episode (not Flood!) in order to get a bigger budget, so it's only reasonable we address this.

*A ruddy talented cover artist - the scumbags always produce bloody brilliant cover art for us! We're going to be a bit more picky than usual about what we want on this cover, but overall you'll still have free rein. Scumbag Monthly is going to hold a competition for this cover art in early September, so whoever's art is chosen will not only become our cover artist but will receive a prize too! Feel free to DM now to let us know you'll be interested come September.

*Writing a piece about your favourite guest star - there's a lot going on in your average TYO scene, but we've all got our favourite bits. Aside from the main quartet of Scumbag students, which guest star really stands out to you? Why is this? Here's a chance to witter on about something only a TYO fan would. No word count minimum or maximum; just one piece per guest star (so once someone's picked Jennifer Saunders, you can't have her!). Be quick in DMing if there's someone you want to talk about!

*Art, glorious art - as always, if you want to send us miscellaneous TYO art, we will always find a place for it.

We're also hoping to do a poll of the 12 episodes and create a page of TYO quotes, so let us know which episode and which quotes are your favourites!

Is that everything? Sounds like enough to get the ball rolling! If you've got any other ideas you think would work in PDF format, DM @neil-neil-orange-peel. Please, go crazy ape shit in our zine. Seminal works of comedy don't turn 40 every day, you know.

The deadline for all of this bastardly goodness will be 5th November - if you're late, we'll send Guy Fawkes after your bogey bum! The zine will be going up on 9th November as we tuck into Demolition for what is undoubtedly more than the fortieth time...

#scumbag monthly #the young ones #tyo #fanzine #calling all scumbags #rik mayall #40th anniversary #forty years of the young ones

[talisidekick]

Sorry if you've been asked this before but have you ever been in a relationship with another system or another trans person OR another trans system? If so, how is it going? Like, were there any clashes amongst the alters or (in the case of another trans person) did you feed off of each others dysphoria? There's someone we're interested in but we'd rather have a few opinions before we proceed. Thank you and sorry if this is a bother.

We haven't dated another system. We have dated another trans woman and are currently married to a witch.

As a system, it can be ... nuanced. We make sure to discuss if everyone is on board prior to getting involved. If any one of us is uncomfortable, the answer is "no". But that's just our system for dating/relationships. We're also up front about our plurality, we explain it clearly. If possible, we give a chance for all alters to meet with the interested party so they can be comfortable.

It's a new experience for many people so we usually sit down with the person, explain our interest, and our situation and leave the choice up to them if they want to go further. Not to do otherwise would be removing their consent to dating or being involved with multiple people, especially as switching can happen at any time.

This has made people ... weird around us when they learn we're plural. They usually ask if we've got a violent one, etc. There's a lot to discuss and a lot of stereotypes and stigma to work through. Plurality is publically villianized by characters like Moon Knight, Deadpool, Villain having "voices" in their heads, etc, with the violence they portray. It's unfortunate, but the public perception is not great so just be aware of that. I've found honesty, and a public setting/online message/call is best. Give people an easy option to leave because the last thing you want is their perception to be immediately negative when you tell them, and for them to think you've cornered them. That's how you get hurt. Unfortunately due to the misunderstandings of some neurodivergencies, people are more likely to lash out at you for being different than they are to hear you out, so giving them every other option not to is best.

Not trying to disuade you. Just choose how you come out wisely so you don't get hurt. And above all, be honest.

#talisidekicks asks #talisidekick things #talisidekick #plurality #multiplicity #system #neurodivergent #actually neurodivergent

[crymeariveronceagain]

i had this idea a long while ago but forgot about it until just now,

what if Veka where to get pregnant with twins? or TRIPLETS? just as a karma thing

Stinas getting a redemption Arc but her parents aren’t, i don’t think they’d react like the Songs did. i think they’d love their kids but would need to a full 180 on their view on multiples.

omg that's amazing and i'm completely here for it

.

Vika Heks, in abject horror, watching the ultrasound.

There's no running away from this.

Her husband clutches her hand tight.

She can't feel it.

Three children.

Three.

For a grand total of four.

Three too many.

Three too much.

Three was a number that was worse than two, and two was infinitely worse than one.

And now, here she was, sitting in a chair at the doctor's, listening to the man tell her he was sorry that she was going to have three too many. Like he could control it, like the stars frowned on him like they frowned on her, like he could do anything about it.

There were three people that belonged to her now, three new ones she'd never met.

The world would hate them, would spit in their face, would call them as they were, the multiples of a bad match, destined to ruin the gene pool.

It was all her fault.

There wasn't anything she could do.

Rumors can't be silenced after they've been proven, and if she had triplets, then stars, she could never expect the lies of matchmaking to cover the very reality she lived in.

So what could she do?

What could she change? What could she fix? This didn't belong to her, anymore.

This belonged to her children.

Her three children.

Her responsibility.

She had always prided herself upon being a good mother, and just because the stars had whispered something wrong for her, because they'd been frowning down on her, meant nothing.

This was out of her hands, and she would not stop being a good mother simply because a challenge had been dealt her.

It would take uprooting, changing, declaring, accepting.

The thought was horrifying. Terror piled in her chest, hot and fast, and this was out of her control.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, she couldn't breathe, the doctor's looking at her with disdain, his demeanor completely shifted from what it had been mere moments ago.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. You're carrying triplets."

Vika shut her eyes tight, her hands clenching into fists.

Then she took a deep, steadying breath.

And before she could think about it any more.

She just said.

"Okay."

Her husband's grip loosened on her hand, and he looked at her with a sort of pride that made her soul feel like it could crush the world if it wanted.

The doctor blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Okay," Vika said. "I'm having triplets. What's your point?"

The doctor raised his eyebrows. "Usually parents are more distressed by the news, and want to see our options for sending kids to Exilium right away--"

"Out of the question," Vika snapped, her voice fierce. "And you should know, sir, that we are not most parents."

The doctor snorted, turning back to the monitor. "You certainly are not."

Vika stepped into the foyer of Sterling Gables later that day and turned to her husband. "Tim," she said, softly, "Are we going to be okay?"

Timkin Heks smiled, gently, looking at his wife. "I think, Love, we have to be."

"They're not going to like this," Vika said, "No one is."

"No one has a choice," Timkin answered, fiercely. "These are our children, and they cannot make us feel ashamed of them."

Vika sighed, softly, and reached for her husband's hand. "What do you think Stina will think?"

"I think she'll be appalled, but she'll get over it."

"Good," Vika answered. "We raised her right, then."

"Well," Timkin said, "Like everybody else, she doesn't have much of a choice."

That night, when Stina had finally went to bed, Vika sat on the couch next to her husband.

"I just realized something," she said, quietly, into the silence, broken only with page-flipping.

"What?"

"We need more than one baby name."

"Oh. Rats."

#kotlc #kotlc vika heks #kotlc stina #stina heks #kotlc vika #kotlc timkin #timkin heks #vika heks #thanks for the ask! #kotlc fanfic #kotlc ficlet #ficlet #mini fic #good ideas #kotlc society #kotlc elf society #triplets

[saltyfilmmajor]

ethan and lane go to disneyland

I wasn't actually sure how to go about this prompt but i hope it's something along the lines of what you had in mind friend <3

-

Ethan had always wanted to go to Disneyland as a child. He’d recall begging his parents to take him ever since he could remember, but by the nature of their status as farmers it wasn’t a very achievable thing to want. He did end up going when he was in college during a spring break trip to California with Jack. 

The circumstances of this particular trip, however, were quite different. He had been sent out to reclaim a particular envelope at a dead drop by Tomorrowland. The enveloped in question held the financial information for a known arms dealer and his multiple foreign bank accounts. It was strange that the dead drop location was still in use, but apparently the agent who had dropped off the goods had no other choice Apparently During one of the expansions to Tomorrowland, the CIA had asked old Walt for hiding spot for state secrets. Given that it was the height of the Cold War, he was in no position to deny them. 

At the Tomorrowland Monorail station there would be a cubby space of some sort. Something trained eyes wouldn’t miss. He spotted the cubby space in the wall, right near the gate. Ethan grabbed the envelope and unsealed it to make sure it was what he was looking for. The was a sudden sense of unease building up in his chest as he heard footsteps approaching him.  

He shoved the envelope into his jacket as quick as he could. The footsteps stop as he turned, face going pale at the sight of the man before him.   “How the hell are you, here?” Ethan looked toward the man in front of him. If he hadn’t been a field agent for so long perhaps, he would have been more surprised. But given the nature of his work, and the ability for enemy organizations to regroup, Ethan understood that this was just another day in his life. 

Solomon Lane sighed heavily before stating “I should have expected this.” Ethan remained still weighing his options. He could fight Lane out in the open, getting banned from the park, and losing the money. He could just make a run for it. 

Lane looked back at him partly confused and partly amused. “There’s not going to be an easy way out of this is there?” 

“No,’ Ethan said in agreement, ‘And neither of us brought guns, right?” 

“Nope,’ Lane inhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose, ‘So now what?” 

Just as Ethan was about to answer, a park employee approaches them both. 

“Excuse me sirs, but you’re going have to move out of the way this part of the platform is off limits.” 

“Right, of course.” Ethan replies. Lane grabbed his arm and began to move them towards the exit, “Our apologies sir, come along love.” Ethan looked up at him bewildered at the cover Lane had chosen. 

“That was a bit unnecessary.” Ethan said. Lane kept his gaze straight ahead. “Better for the man to think we were having a row and wandered in a technically restricted area than the alternative.” Ethan sighed already feeling his blood boiling from frustration. 

Once they stepped out onto the park Ethan spoke up, still being dragged by Lane “We could just walk away from this; pretend we never saw each other and go back to our lives.” 

 “Ethan, unless either one of us has had a sudden and drastic change in personality, you know we’re not just going to walk away from this.”  Due to the amount of people in the park, the both of them begun to get jostled as they walked. The envelope falls to the ground, as it was not so secure inside his jacket. Ethan tried to get the envelope but is pulled down to the ground with Lane’s grip on his arm. Lane managed to pick up the envelope and pulled out the paper. 

Ethan saw the expression on Lane’s face change from his usual stoic to an annoyed grimace. He turns the paper over to Ethan, where there is a handwritten note. 

“Hey Ethan, the mission is already complete. Just thought you could use a vacation enjoy your day off.” -W. Brandt. 

Ethan would find this a kind gesture if he were alone. Given who’s ended up with he finds it mildly concerning that someone managed to leak a decoy mission. He sighs crumpling up the paper and putting it in his pocket. After the most dramatic 5 minutes of his morning, he was rather unsure of how to continue the day. He looks up at Lane, who is equally confused. 

Ethan shrugged, “Space Mountain, then?” Lane looks down at him, before he sighed out. “Yeah, aright. Why Not?”  

#Nancy's Inbox #rochc93 #My fic #Lane x Ethan #Lunt #Glass Box Boyfriends #mission: impossible #Ethan Hunt #Solomon Lane #crack fic

[theculturedmarxist]

The overriding sense I got throughout the operation in Gaza – and in its aftermath as well – was one of dissociation. Not support, not opposition, but simply a conscious dissociation from emotions, sensations, memories and thought constructs. A deep lack of emotional involvement in anything outside the dry practicalities of sirens and running to protected spaces, acts which are also performed in the silent mechanical fashion of those who feel that they have no choice. We shut our eyes tight and wait for it to end. No questions asked, no doubts voiced, and definitely no joy or excitement. We shrug and move on.

And the more you delve into this feeling, and into the fact that more and more people tell you again and again, almost irrespective of their political position, how much they simply don’t care, how much they have lost the words to articulate the Israeli political void, the degeneration, you realize that the deep lack of emotional involvement, which has been palpable for quite a while among growing circles – and which became horribly clear during the last operation, as evidenced by the miserable ratings of the newscasts – stems mostly from a feeling of inability to correctly understand and judge reality.

Dissociation usually appears in stress situations when a person feels helpless and unable to flee. There is probably no better definition of the Israeli consciousness today. Trapped between recognition of the unviability of the reigning order in all its aspects, and the lack of an alternative. The average Israeli has no real way to know whether this operation was justified or not, whether a threat existed and whether the threat justified an operation. By the same token, the average Israeli also has no ability to judge whether the “achievements” of this operation are indeed impressive and exceptional – as we are told incessantly – or possibly not.

I've seen people react with understandable incredulity at the fact that the US pandemic response has resulted in more than a million people dead and millions more afflicted by the virus, and that this insane result hasn't brought about violent revolution. I think this helps explain why. Americans in general do not understand what is happening, do not understand who is responsible, have not the means to bring about understanding, and even if they did, lack a vision of a viable alternative. Their only options are to keep their head down, pray that this crisis passes them over, and to hope that someone will come along that fixes things.

Until we build the revolutionary structure that can provide people with the method of understanding the problems they face and the means of dealing with them, we are resigned to the miserable, grinding death created by multiple ongoing crises, and the occasional paroxysm of frustration like the Floyd riots a few years ago, which only vent frustrations but provide no long term improvements to the situations of the people.

[cyanide-latte]

Got to thinking again today about pirating media and how many people make it about a moral quandary and how we here on Tumblr tend to be very gung-ho about pirating and this time in particular it boiled down to what I think the root is of why I'm largely okay with it.*

(*please take note, this post is about pirating platform-exclusive movies and shows. I do not support or condone piracy of books, comics/graphic novels or manga unless literally no other option is available to you. I've been a teen who had no choice but to read awful scanlations for manga growing up because I wasn't able to or allowed to purchase physical copies or even borrow them from the library. So I know that struggle, and I'm sympathetic to a degree. But please support your libraries, ask the librarians to teach you how to use the system, and use it to help support authors and artists before it is a legal and free way that actually helps. If you are in a situation where you have literally no choice for now, I recommend being responsible and trying to either buy the physical books when you can to help make things up or use a library when you are finally able to and borrow the materials, in order to still show support.)

This is probably my age showing but when I was a kid, we recorded shit on the VCR all the time. Buying actual movies was still something we did when we could, but in the 90s, stuff on VHS could get as high as $40 [USD] sometimes. Not all of them were, but the prices tended to be high enough we couldn't really afford to buy them ourselves; those had to be asked for as Christmas or birthday gifts, and even that wasn't a guarantee we'd open a rectangular gift to find a brand-new clamshell of the newest Disney movie.

But you know what we could afford to get? Blank video tapes. Depending on the brand and the length of the tape strip, they could cost as little as $3.99, and you could often get multiple blank tapes for a decent price. (I vaguely recall a half-dozen pack of tapes for maybe $25? We got a few of those when I was around 7 or 8 y.o.) And we would use that "Record" function on the VCR. We caught movies on the TV way less often than we would have liked because without a TVGuide or knowing someone who kept up with movie showtimes on various channels, you were kind of at the mercy of fate and fortune. Plus, we rarely tried to record a TV run of a movie if it was one we knew we REALLY wanted to buy on VHS.

Ah but shows! Shows we could generally depend on. You learned what channel(s) it played on and when, and you'd time it so you could record your episode(s), commercials included, and stop recording at the end of it. Presto! I could watch my episodes of Batman the Animated Series or Wishbone whenever I wanted. I'd have it forever (well, for as long as the tape can last anyway) even if the show went off the air and it didn't get any real VHS release. Lots of shows did get VHS releases, but they were limited to maybe three random episodes per tape, and were not usually for regular sale at most retailers; they were on the shelves of rental video stores and we couldn't keep them.

Until we got a special VCR that allowed us to record a copy of a tape onto one of our blanks. Again, not an endeavor we really did with movies, but when the family decided we were going to move in the future and wouldn't be sure we'd have a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video or Family Video wherever we were moving to, there'd be a burst of going to the nearest rental chain and carefully picking the tapes we knew we loved and wanted to be able to watch again, renting them for a couple of days, and putting that copy/record VCR to work before returning the proper copy back to the video store. Or if some friends had a movie and we wouldn't see them again, there was often an offer to record copies of their tapes. Didn't happen often but it was a handy solution to the desire to have access to the media in the long-term, and it wasn't looked down on as far as I can ever remember, because everyone recorded stuff on blank tapes and none of those people had no major moral crises about making copies in order to have the movies/shows they loved.

Now, when DVDs came out, things got a little bit different. DVD players and DVDs were expensive at the start, so the cost of all VHS tapes gradually started dropping. As with pretty much anything, pirating DVDs took off before long and soon just about every DVD had that in-your-face message about piracy, reminding you that copying and selling bootleg DVDs was illegal and "piracy isn't a victimless crime". I only vaguely recall being annoyed with DVD piracy, because what bootlegs I tended to see were extremely bad quality, and it was more annoyance at the idea that you could be swindled out of your money for something of barely-watchable quality. (I was 10 at the time and had not ever yet had to face the idea I could one day fall victim to being swindled myself, cut me just a little bit of slack there.) But to me it didn't really seem any different than what everyone I knew or ever interacted with did with VHS tapes. Selling the bootlegs to make your own profit, that I did eventually get; a chunk of a movie or show's success soon came to depend on DVD sales, and for a while I was very anti-piracy in that regard. But I never saw an issue with like, making DVD copies to trade with friends if we were able to do that.

Now it's 2022 and we are so inundated with streaming platforms left-right-and-center, I don't have regular TV channels or cable or satellite. I use a streaming platform to find what I want to watch, or a pirating site if what I want to watch isn't available otherwise. I also have a very large DVD and Blu-ray collection, and I use them regularly. And, the more and more so many streaming platforms release "exclusive" movies or shows that you won't be able to watch anywhere else and that they have no intent of making physical releases of? The more and more I find myself reverting to the mindset I had as a kid, wanting to make a copy of that Swan Princess tape we could only find at Blockbuster but couldn't afford to constantly rent. It isn't that I don't want to support the movies or shows themselves, or the people who pour themselves into making something I love. I want to support them in any way I can, including watching it on the platform if I have access to said platform.

But sometimes those platforms just...quietly remove the titles they've carried. Sometimes they jack their prices too high and I can't afford to keep paying that fee month after month because it stacks over time. Most often, I want to collect the media physically so I have the opportunity to revisit it in the future whenever I want, especially if I have a friend who has never seen it or even had access to it before. Physical media is wonderful, and there's something special about owning it. It's the same kind of special magic that it's always been about when I was 10 and could hold a freshly recorded VHS tape with episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess on it and know it was mine now for keeps.

This has already been quite a lengthy ramble and it's very colored by a sense of nostalgia, but for once I think that nostalgia really has come in handy for explaining why my outlook on something like pirating shows and movies is the way it is. I don't like this platform-exclusive direction; it's more or less just another paywall that can prevent entire swathes of potential audiences from connecting with movies and shows, and at this point, it's becoming almost too much for me to keep up with. So no, I have no moral quandary about cancelling subscriptions at some point and pirating episodes and movies and burning them onto a physical copy for keeps, and any reservations I used to have about buying bootlegs? Gone. I've seen blu-ray bootleg releases of platform-exclusive media that are much higher and more accessible quality than some official stuff, especially the made-on-demand stuff. At this point, I gotta respect the hustle and I can't complain about someone who burns a DVD better than I could.

Yo ho ho, y'all.

#long post #physical media #piracy #platform exclusivity #pirating media #streaming services #VHS nostalgia #personal experience #personal post #not sure what else to tag this #Cyanide speaks

[space-blue]

No spoilers review of Rings of Power's first 2 episodes

TL;DR : It's great so far overall. Pirate it if you will, but haters beat the hate drum for nothing, in regards to quality.

The detailed version:

I'd like to open by saying I've read the trilogy multiple times, and the hobbit too, but never finished the Silmarillion. I've seen the OG films a million times, and their extended bonuses. I've seen the Hobbit films once or twice (worked in a cinema in NZ at the time the second came out…) but generally dislike them. I've never engaged with fandom much and basically know precious little of what's supposed to go down in the series.

The costumes are good. Some better than others.

The characters are all engaging. I've seen reviews that didn't care much for the harfoots, but I found them adorable and was often grinning during their scenes. There is definitely a sense of slow pace, with the characters building slowly and giving no indication of where the series might take them. I don't mind actually. I don't want tropes thrown in my face 2h in if there will be time to build.

The CGI is perfectly fine. Some scenes are more obvious than others, but I never really broke immersion except for a couple of scenes where I thought "maybe this would be nicer if practical". I have no idea what the workload was like for CG artists. It's usually shit, and I can't imagine Amazon treats their workers well in any domain. But they did a fantastic job. This is NOT TV show quality CG. This isn't Marvel or even Star Wars. This is very careful, very well executed, and I felt like watching two movies, not two tv episodes.

The plot... Is very slow to build. I honestly don't mind, because there's a satisfying sense of mystery throughout. I'm invested in all the storylines so far, to my own surprise.

The music is good too. It's not often noticeably "insane" the way it could be in the films, with tracks like for the Nazgul attack at Bree that just rips you from your seat. but overall I never thought the music was lacking, and noticed a few great tracks, notably at Khazad-Dûm! There are some very interesting sounds here and there and I think I'll get the OST as it's the sort of stuff I'll do some great writing to.

The one massive drawback so far for me is EDITING. OMG the editing. I don't know what they think they are doing, but I suspect they believe audiences need some sort of constant back and forth between PoVs to keep our interest? It this the TikTok editing trend? lol I joke but I genuinely wondered if this was edited for the tik tok crowd.

I'm really looking forward to the whole show being out and some pro editor reclipping this nicely. Some scenes, you will have very low interest walking, some talking... there's a mystery afoot... ok... And then oof, they discover something suspicious! A creepy tunnel! Character drops down into it and finally, we're talking. Something interesting. CUT!! And yeah, that happens a lot. They cut away from scenes that finally become good, or that have been built up to.

For me it did nothing but frustrate me.

Otherwise, nope, I like it. MILD SPOILERS FOR CHARACTERS:

I think Galadriel is great as a Trauma Queen. She has that one line, telling a human who's asking her to "let it lie" that "It would take longer than your lifetime even to speak the names of those they have taken from me. So letting it lie is not an option."

And I was both like "yasss queen!" but also "do elves have therapy? Because please, try and get some of that, you need it."

There was a lot of misogyny dressed in white knighting for "strong female characters" online in the last months, and I wish a happy fuck off to all people who will be hating on "strong female uwu Galadriel". I think there's some interesting acting choices going on, and the more we see of her, the more apparent it is that she GAINED her composure, but wasn't always so. I feel it's a great exchange for knowing she isn't at risk in this show. Instead of wondering if she'll "make it", I can wonder how she became the Galadriel I know. I hope they do her justice!

Elrond is fine! He's got depth!

There also was a fuss around the black elf, Arondir... AND YOU CAN ALL FUCK OFF TOO, HE'S MY PRECIOUS!!! Dude is a fucking gardener turned soldier in this war, he's relatable in his fears and bravery... And his name means "to round up" in French. He's sweet and I'm invested in his story. Some of the more chilling scenes came from his side actually.

And OMG DURIN!!! During and Elrond have this fantastic energy to them, I loved their scenes. And yeah, no beard on the Dwarven ladies. But I didn't mind. I found Disa super charming.

Also, a lot of scenes had fantastic fandom energy. I was watching, enjoying myself, and a little monkey at the back of my mind was like "ooohohohohohoho the tumblrinas are gonna be posting about this, I know it." But not in a bad way at all. More in like... there is space for tropes and retellings, and fix its and missing scenes... and I can already tell what's gonna be excellent at a glance. The visit at Khazad-Dûm is one of those settings imo.

Anyway, if the quality remains the same, it will be a fantastic show and a great addition to my personal canon of the Lord of the Rings. I think my final edition will be taken from fandom spaces when someone fixing the woeful editing... But I'm going to keep watching religiously until further notice!!

#rings of power #review #mild spoilers #lord of the rings #amazon #rop positivity #rop review #lotr rings of power #lotrrop

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft Edition, Invidia Arc, Part 4

GM: As you come over the path, you see it is split into three separate paths with different signs pointing down them. They read "Doom", "Certain Doom", and "You don't want to know." "Whelp, time to do the old spin and pick at random." Nyx starts to spin around until she gets dizzy and falls over. "Too much spinning." "Doom, I wonder what it means beyond the tiger at the end of the path?" “That the designer was an EdgeLord?” "We'll show you ugly." “You’re doing an admirable job so far.” Poom holds out her paws as ghostly skulls begin streaming toward both ogres. Jonni: “Jeebus, Poom! Could you always do that?!?” Gorbash: "Be utterly terrifying? Yes, constantly." Irost: "... I'm glad they're on our side..." Marshal: "There are many paths of the third party others consider...unnatural." ogre: "Funny way of saying she's cheatin'." Poom: "Hey! I keep trying to switch over to warlock. But the voices in my head won't let me." Azathoth: "La~ame." Nyarlathotep: "We're eldritch: breaking the rules is part of our whole thing." “Oh, shit. They’re Cockney. Gorebash, pretend to be Scottish and put your hands over your head to appear larger, maybe that will scare them off.” "HEY OI! BAD CAULDRON. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO COOK THEM, NOT ME." "No loyalty to family, that is what I call uncivilized." "Your family isn't demon-worshiping cannibals." “Good job. I’m promoting you to New Irost.” "Hey! I take offense to that! I am Irost Classic." “Quiet, New Irost.” Gorbash: "...Are you here to be useful, give colour commentary, or get an asskicking? we've got openings for all options." “So, bets on how this ends? Murdering him, murdering someone else, or someone sleeping with him? Not it.” "Sooner we can get out of toy land, the better." "I made promises of freedom. I'll not be a liar." “Right, Marsh volunteers as tribute.” ...as you continue, you turn a corner, and come across an empty door frame standing at the edge of a cliff. There is a sign next to it, that reads "One at a time please." Nyarlathotep: "What are we: coyotes?" Gorbash: "You know, for a meatshield, I have a surprising number of people willing to hurl themselves into danger ahead of me." Gorbash: "And Nyx is already gone." Jonni: “I’d say we need to put her on a leash, but I’m pretty sure she’d take that wrong coming from me. And she’d probably be right.” Poom: "I'm fine with you going first." Gorbash: "...How are you the one with the best self-preservation instincts?" Poom: "Demon-worshiping cannibal family." "Do you want me to do the tail tickle torture on you again, Irost?" Nyx says with a big grin. Jonni, you enter a large tent filled with absolute debauchery. Jonni: “I brought you your orange juice.” "This is going to end in fire." Gorbash: "That tends to happen on days that end in 'y'." "What did you see, Marsh?" Marshal: "A test of character." "Was it multiple choice?" Marshal: "Not for me." "Well at the very least I have no plans on having you receive an enema." "What will I find in there?" "Only what you take with you." “I mean, also an asshole tiger.” "Usually when a guy talks about being above good or evil, they are evil." Poom emerges back out. "I did the thing." Gorbash: "Good job doing the thing." After a second the door is gone, and there is now a large drawbridge leading to a large stone tiger's mouth. "Boy, if this has been in a desert it would be like that incident with that Aladdin guy I watched on the crystal view screen." "So... hands off giant rubies?" "We're off to see the tiger, the terrifical tiger of toyland." Inside the stronghold you find a large ruined dining hall, with overturned tables, smashed chairs, claw and blood marks all over. “Orgy's over.” OOC: Is this a romantic power ballad moment? OOC: You always think of cool lines after you leave. It's a rule of the universe.

#dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #quotes without context #ravenloft

[ofhope-a]

"Its a bit out of the ordinary for a usual 'show' you get underway. Yet, someone with your scale of firepower would certainly be drawing a winning card." Thoma's complexion while one of heavy thought, couldn't resist a touch of spicy upbeatness in their presence. The troublesome situation could certainly use her might. At the same time, it remains entirely in the realm of optional too. Their choice decides it. "So, what do you say? You'll be properly compensated for this predicament. Mm, to think that multiple cases of that Perpetual Array began their rise from the ocean itself. With their target being the MIkage Furance, it'd be a matter that would certainly keep our hands full while trying to discover the reason." (For Yomiya!)

Unprompted.

The nature of the query was a shift in routine — the specks a-flutter in the air stood as evidence of her most recent activities, the smell of mixed powders heavy in the dewy air; the call of Thoma’s voice was a welcomed distraction from the clean-up, even if the clapping of her hands (gah, it always stuck to her fingers and imbedded itself beneath her nails no matter what garments she wore) intercepted his proposal. The Traveler had solicited her explosive expertise on a ‘specially hostile group of vagrants a time or two, but most of her impromptu jobs came at her leisure -- either stumbling upon them, or overhearing a problem and seeking a solution of her own volition. 

It was exceptionally interesting that Thoma, of all people, had requested her presence whenever Yoimiya was at least seventy percent certain that, should Teyvat hurl itself to a not-so-distant black hole, Thoma would likely impart a fix that would have manifested out of thin air seconds prior. Plus, it had been awhile since she had ventured outside of her workplace, the end of summer activities abloom as soon as the first gold-touched leaf fluttered to the ground... she hummed, the sound purposefully audible as she continued brushing at specks and dots of dye and clippings of yet-completed decorations.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” her contemplative posture broke away with a single word, her tone bubbly light and her sunset gaze alight with sparks. “I’ve been meaning to get out a bit more. It seems that, since the Shogun relinquished both of her uh, decrees, there’s been a whole mess of Nobushi, Kairagi, and as you mentioned: Perpetual Array spectating the grounds... but I haven’t had the time to clear them out myself. Now’s a better time than any!”

The Mikage Furnace... only twice did she glimpse the scene, and she was met with more questions than answers. The fellow wandering around seemed more inclined to darting left and right, counting his every worried step, rather than providing any context for the threatening albeit mesmerizing scenery beyond him, and so: Yoimiya left it be. However, if a throng of enemies were emerging from below sea level just in response to its tantalizing effects, there was clearly something afoot. 

“Besides, you’ll need someone with a sharp-shooter eye - you never know when they’ll take off in flight, and leave you wondering about where the heck they went. Gimme a ‘sec to close up shop, and we can head out! C’mere, I can strategize and lock up at the same time!” ushering herself to the back, she rose her voice to an acceptable volume before continuing. “I say we take it slow at first; they might be machines, but they clearly don’t act on a programmed schedule. They know how, and when, to attack, but they don’t follow the same walk patterns... so that leads me to believe they might be following their own ordinances and not ones that were instilled in them from creation.”

With a hollow thud, Yoimiya paused.

“Or something like that, I’m pretty sure!”

#scarletooyoroi #asks‚ yoimiya. #She's maybe thought about this once or twice. #Thank you so much for the ask! <3

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Task Failed Successfully: Five Games that Rewarded Death and Failure

   Nobody likes dying and failing in video games (or in anything, really), right? Just look at all the keyboards and controllers thrown about in frustration from one “YOU DIED” screen too many. It’s surviving and winning that usually gets all the recognition and rewards in the end, and the nigh-infinite “no deaths” challenges and playthroughs shows just how much we prefer to keep our characters safely in one piece. That being said, a handful of games take a different approach, with certain achievements and other rewards requiring the players put their character through all sorts of death and damage, or making completely stupid decisions. They’re often surprisingly entertaining, especially when you get them accidentally to take a bit of the annoyance out of whatever dumb thing you did. Just take a look for yourself at a few games here that encourage you to flop and fail as hard as you can.

THE STANLEY PARABLE    “Stanley reasoned that if he took a flying leap off this ledge, the Narrator would surely have something witty to say about it.”    As a game based all around choice and free will, The Stanley Parable doesn’t exactly have any wrong choices - but it sure has stupid ones. As you make Stanley wander about the office while the long-suffering Narrator desperately tries to get him back on track, you’ll encounter quite a few opportunities to make some really questionable decisions that often lead to their own branching paths and endings. Take this cargo lift for example; there’s a total of four different versions of an ending where you jump off to Stanley’s death, each with unique narration. If that wasn’t enough, there’s even an achievement for failing to play the game entirely, requiring you to turn the game off and not come back for ten years straight!

THE HENRY STICKMIN COLLECTION    “FAIL - Now why would you think THAT was the right option?”    The Henry Stickmin Collection is a series of choose-your-own-adventure games, with dozens of different successful endings and a truly staggering amount of possible failures. The game encourages you to seek out and reach every last fail, subjecting Henry himself to countless painful deaths and injuries (or just some really bad disappointments). For extra motivation, a number of fail screens contain some absolutely priceless gags, like an “instant replay” button that treats the player to an over-the-top MLG edit-style compilation complete with random explosions and cheering that make it seem straight out of an old Youtube Poop. The small team of developers behind this series know classic internet humour like the back of their hands, which makes sense considering the original Henry Stickmin game was released in 2008 on Newgrounds. Classic indeed!

TERRARIA    “This innocent-looking chest sure has a lot of wires near it. I’m sure they’re unrelated.”    Besides a handful of achievements for falling victim to the various traps laid around the caverns, Terraria doesn’t have too many real rewards for dying - the real humour lies in how completely over-the-top the punishments for failure are. The developers certainly seem to like overkill, and the punishments tend to be so ridiculous that they go straight past annoying and right back around to funny. For example, any death at all will cause the player character to explode into a bloody mess, even from something like drowning or poison. There’s also various treasure chests underground rigged with traps, and opening them will set the traps off. It’s not just a simple dart gun or anything either; opening the chest will simultaneously drop a handful of giant boulders on you, trigger several poison dart shooters, and set off a few tons of explosives under the player’s feet for good measure. 

RISK OF RAIN 2    “POV: You’re about to unlock an item that would have been really useful to have here.”    Roguelike games are known for two things in particular: unlocking items and gear over multiple playthroughs, and getting the player killed a LOT. Risk of Rain 2 puts these two concepts together, with several locked items requiring the player to die over and over from burns, lasers, claws, or just good old-fashioned blunt trauma to unlock them. The developers seem to have quite a sense of humour, since several of these items actually help prevent a few of these damage sources and defend the player - for example, burning to death three times will unlock an item that puts out fires! Gee, that would have been helpful earlier, huh?

PORTAL 2    “Yes, we should be escaping - but that room looks so safe and inviting!”    Putting all “counting to three” jokes aside, if there’s one thing Valve should be known for, it’s the excellent writing and humour of their games - especially when it comes to planning for players doing exactly the opposite of what they’re told. Take Portal 2 for example; as the player tries to escape Aperture Science multiple times throughout the game, everyone’s favourite sarcastically homicidal AI GLaDOS offers a few alternative options - all of which are very poorly-hidden deathtraps. Doing the dumb thing and walking into these traps will earn you various achievements and some hilariously bewildered comments from your ally Wheatley wondering just what you think you’re doing. Apparently all of Wheatley’s talk about a “brain-damaged test subject” at the start of the game might ring truer than he realised.

#article #gaming #the stanley parable #henry stickmin #terraria #risk of rain 2 #portal 2

[cowboylikedean]

She’s everything to me I love everything about her I will spend my whole life trying to explain in words and I fail every time because my love for Taylor is so much more than could ever be described. It’s primal. It’s religious. It’s integral to the foundation of my soul. I started telling people years ago that love for Taylor was not something I did anymore, it was something I was. It wasn’t an action, it was a state of being. And truly... I don’t make the choice to love her, I exist within an experience of love. There’s something so foundational about it that I couldn’t even explain my own life, my own existence, my own choices without incorporating and referencing it. Taylor is a part of me on the most basic level. I am not me, or anything that resembles me, without Taylor. I have been asked so many times over the years, as I’m sure we all have, “Why Taylor Swift?” and I hate that question because how do you answer it? It feels like asking me “Why oxygen?” I don’t have the answer, science does. It’s oxygen because that’s how biology works. It’s Taylor because that’s how it works. There are no other options. It’s chemical. The answer I give when I get that question is a rehearsed speech about growing up together. “When she wrote her first album, we were both high schoolers in public schools 8 hours apart.” It sounds so sweet, romantic almost. Turns out I-40 was my invisible string connecting Raleigh to Nashville. I was always meant to love her, it was fated. The fates decided this when I was born. When Apollo and Aphrodite gave her their blessings at birth, with the curse of musical genius and the experience of emotion at a strength and intensity usually only endurable for the gods, it was fated that she and I be intertwined. And the hilarious joke of it all is that she doesn’t know I exist. I’ve spoken to multiple people who, when they met her, told her about me. And she said to pass on her love to every single one. And they did. And she still has never seen me, spoken to me, acknowledged me. I don’t feel less for that, it’s just wild to me that my love for her is so foundational to my experience of life and she doesn’t know me in even the distanced way she knows any fan. It doesn’t matter though... She doesn’t need to know me for me to know her. And I can hear it now “you’re not her friend!!!111!” I know. “You don’t know her!!111!” You’re missing the point! I don’t know her personally, no. None of us do. But I know her heart, I know her soul. And I know that I know it because that’s what her music is. You can’t separate knowing her from knowing her music, it’s not possible. And to say it is possible is reductive at best and violent at worst. My love for her is foundational because I know that music is her soul, or the closest and expression could come. And her soul’s closest expression gives my soul its closest expression, because that music is both of our soul’s closest expressions. 

I didn’t choose this, I didn’t have to. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

#taylor #this long ranty post started as a sweet generalized post any of us could reblog #and i'll post just that top part on its own too #before it got long and ranty #but i just kept going #personal

[ahqgg]

Good evening everyone. With the bonfire coming up, it only felt natural to reach out to everyone again. I know that I wouldn’t want to go to any kind of event without knowing what I was walking into, and there is just so much to know about the residents in Animania right now. Worry not, I have your back. Whether you feel there is a knife in your back or not, everything I am doing is for the sake of the truth.

Where to begin? I would like to bring up the subject of love triangles. Animania is notorious for them, and who doesn’t love options? First we have a triangle that has been going on since childhood it feels like. Peter Pan, our local king of the youth, has been dragging along his best girls Tiara and Wendy since he met them both. It’s almost tragic just how obvious this one is. Multiple players try to get in the middle of this. From a certain lost boy on Tiara’s end to a poor wannabe chef and bug-eating fool on Wendy’s. Neither of these guys have even scratched the surface. The only update I have for you on this is that Peter has seemed to make his choice. I wonder how our little pixie duster is going to take the news? To choose a girl he is lying to over his proclaimed best friend has to hurt, but hey, no one ever said love was fair.

Our next triangle isn’t as simple. It seems our resident historian Willow Vanderquack has caught herself up in a triangle of her own. And they couldn’t be more different. An ice princess on one end and a shining star on the other, how could one choose? It almost mirrors a different triangle on its own. The only difference is, our damsel in distress Meg doesn’t even know about it. And her options are between an ice queen who has never made her feelings known and a flirtatious chef who has dug his own grave. If it helps, your little chef hasn’t been able to stop putting his baguette in different people since your little moment. Back to Willow, though. We really hope she can get her head together. If not, one of her options is sure to go back to her hot demon ex in a heartbeat. History tends to repeat itself with them.

This next one is a bit more complicated. It starts with a boy and a girl, who bonded over their passion for singing over their own personal interests. The basketball and the beaker. Both have claimed the fires have dimmed, but everyone in Animania knows better. The beaker thinks she has found something new in our favorite treasure hunter, but he has complications of his own that we will get into later. Meanwhile the basketball has been trying to sleep with every girl he sets his eyes on, forever unsatisfied that they aren’t his little beaker. I’m sure he really thinks there is something with our favorite little bat, but she has other kinds of hunger on her mind. Why not name them? Because they know who they are and they know they are lying to themselves.  Maybe at the bonfire they can rekindle with their love of karaoke. I heard it was going to be quite the night because of it.

Has anyone ever taken the time to really dive into Wonderland? I went out for cocktails and a show the other night, and I certainly found a show. It seems like the rabbit is starting his own drama. Flirting with his unknown ex one minute, letting our little demon kitty in his lap the next. Don’t worry, rabbit. Our little demon kitty is getting to know your ex just as well as you did and if he isn’t doing that he is wedging himself between our bachelor and his freshly declared ex. That leaves us with the Alice. As usual, she is dragging others down her own rabbit hole. It seems her former flame has taken the bait and it is only a matter of time before he is as unhinged as her. Good thing his little crush on our newly engaged redhead is done. At least it has to be. He wouldn’t want to be the one who ruins a wedding, would he?

Has anyone checked in on our last victims to the truth? Alexander, I don’t want your hopes to get up about your roomie. She seems to have moved on quite nicely, and besides, you both are going to need to be there for your precious Riley. All things look happy and well between Riley and her sporty boo, but then again, there hasn’t been much time or honesty between them. Secret kisses shared between different people will make things a lot harder for the two to really get it right, and Alex, you need to be there while Riley falls apart from finding this out. I don’t dislike them, and it would be a shame to see them come undone so easily. The rest of their crew can help too, they just seem to be so selfishly in their own shit that they haven’t even noticed Riley was on the edge already.

Readers, you know I wouldn’t be able to send one of these out without tearing into a Tremaine. Both sisters are pathetic, but the real focal point of this is the ex of one of them, Billy. I would vote him least likely to have a love triangle, and he has proven me wrong. He got his Tremaine under the sheets again, but then there is Marie. Beautiful, cutthroat, and so much baggage. She doesn’t even know she has caught the eye of our favorite bug boy, but he deserves to know that she is just as infatuated with Billy as he is with her. Truthfully, I don’t know how this will play out. I just hope that this scandal is big enough to hide Anastasia Tremaine’s own. Her man is still doing the most to not be hers, and that’s just as pathetic as her sisters endeavors.

Now, the rumor mill. I’ll summarize this all the best I can. Our favorite lumberjack has been spotted shoving their tongue down every women they can influence. I wish I was surprised. Resident d-list celebrity Jackson Storm is a father, and he is trying his hardest to not let anyone know. Why is that? Because he got a certain teapot in boiling water just by bringing it up. Poor Toulouse. He probably thought this was all over, but it is just the beginning. The team of superheroes named Big Hero 6 are not only all trying to bang one another, but they are also trying to get half the town in on their little orgy. I know that I wouldn’t mind masking up and getting in on that. Stop by the Lucky Cat Cafe for a piece of that cake! Resident stoner Shaggy Rogers has half of Animania in love with him but he can’t even stop cuddling his third dog long enough to notice. And finally, our resident mystery twins remain twenty steps behind as always.  What can we do to get them the help they need? Their own family is keeping things from them, and all I can hope is that they figure that mystery out on their own.

It’s a lot to process, but now that we know what we all know, we can go into this bonfire with clear heads and hopefully clear skin. Hopefully this bonfire with blast some Taylor Swift so everyone can deal with their feelings.

You know you love me,

xoxo

gossip girl

#animaniahqgg

[selflessanatta]

Tibetan Buddhist Lamrin: Actions and Their Effects, https://selflessanatta.com/tibetan-buddhist-lamrin-actions-and-their-effects/

New Post has been published on https://selflessanatta.com/tibetan-buddhist-lamrin-actions-and-their-effects/

Tibetan Buddhist Lamrin: Actions and Their Effects

Understanding Karma, morality, and personal responsibility

For every action a person takes, there is an inevitable response, a consequence that will follow, connecting the action back to the source.

Just as a spider’s web provides support while also ensnaring the spider, individuals reap the rewards of their wise choices and endure the consequences of their unwise decisions.

Despite some people’s hope of evading repercussions for their actions, eventually, possibly even across multiple lifetimes, they will experience the suffering brought about by their poor choices.

The yoke of Personal Responsibility

Individuals harm others out of personal self-interest, believing they can escape accountability for their actions.

If people’s actions carried no repercussions, they would likely act on their worst desires and impulses.

Many religions and cultures create the idea of Hell as a universal deterrent against escaping consequences in one’s lifetime, in the hope that some may choose to behave morally to avoid eternal punishment.

Over time, this concept has become weighed down by legalistic interpretations, fruitless debates over doctrine, and intellectual analysis that it lacks the emotional impact to effectively deter people, assuming it ever did.

Karma is the burdensome yoke of personal responsibility every ego wants to avoid.

Yet, it must be chosen.

People have been imposing their Gods on each other since antiquity, forcing them to see the Light by using Dark, usually extinguishing the flames of heathens and heretics if they refused to accept someone else’s Salvation.

It was never about them, the people supposedly being Saved.

Moral Compass

Buddhism is different: It’s a path of choice.

Everyone has the option to embrace or reject the influence of Karma, which serves as a guiding force.

If they reject Karma, that doesn’t negate the law of cause and effect. It merely means the individual foolishly ignores the potential (inevitable) consequences and hopes for the best.

If a person genuinely believes that their actions will inevitably return to them in some manner, with no possibility of evading accountability, they feel compelled to consider the consequences deeply.

This realization, when it deeply resonates within their being, dissuades them from imposing their self-centered desires upon others. They no longer feel like they can act with impunity.

The potency of Karma lies in its capacity to dissuade individuals from causing harm to others, and it bolsters their commitment to virtuous behavior.

When people learn to navigate their lives guided by Karma, it becomes an invaluable moral compass, akin to a needle that steadfastly directs their heart toward True North, guiding them along the Proper Path.

Below is a summary of Lamrim’s teachings as influenced by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso:

Law of Karma: Central to Lamrim’s teachings is the concept of karma, the law of cause and effect. Our actions have consequences, both in this life and in future lives. Positive actions lead to positive results, while negative actions lead to negative results.

Understanding Karma: Actions are not isolated events but are connected to intentions, motivations, and their effects. Karma operates on the principle of ethical causality.

Ethical Conduct: Practitioners are encouraged to refrain from harmful actions, such as killing, stealing, lying, and engaging in unwholesome behavior, and instead cultivate virtuous actions based on compassion and wisdom.

Understanding Rebirth: Lamrim’s teachings connect actions and their effects to the cycle of rebirth. Positive karma can lead to a fortunate rebirth, while negative karma can result in an unfortunate one, which motivates practitioners to engage in virtuous actions.

Four Powers of Purification: Geshe Kelsang Gyatso elaborates on the Four Powers of Purification, which are fundamental in Lamrim practice:

The Power of Regret: Acknowledging and feeling remorse for negative actions.

The Power of Reliance: Taking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and seeking their guidance and support.

The Power of the Opposite Force: Engaging in virtuous actions and cultivating positive qualities to counterbalance negative karma.

The Power of Resolution: Making a sincere commitment not to repeat negative actions.

The Power of Regret

The motto “Live with no regrets” embodies the essence of Desire, but it’s poor spiritual guidance.

Living a life devoid of regrets signifies a failure to derive wisdom from one’s mistakes.

Selfish people go through life obtaining whatever they want without regard to how their actions impact others.

Even if they were aware of the pain they inflicted, they wouldn’t feel remorse or regret about what they did.

Selfish individuals recoil when confronted with the uncomfortable emotions associated with remorse assuming they feel it at all.

Moral people, upon honest reflection on their behavior, have an unpleasant sensation of disgust emerge. The more they delve into this introspection, the more intense this inner turmoil becomes.

That unpleasant feeling is a virtue—the power of regret.

It’s a feeling to be cultivated and remembered because it will arise when it’s needed.

Anticipatory Regret

Whenever moral people consider actions, they consider how their behaviors will impact others.

If they foresee that their actions may harm others, remorseful feelings from past failings will arise.

Anticipatory regret serves as a warning that continuing down this path would likely result in hurting other people and feeling deep regret over that action.

Anticipatory regret is what moral people want.

The message from feeling anticipatory regret is clear: don’t do it because the likelihood of feeling regret later is high.

Personal Responsibility

Embracing the principles of Karma, people choose to shoulder complete responsibility for every event in life.

This decision stems from a profound understanding that unwise actions, causing harm to others, or engaging in wrongdoing, would inevitably rebound upon them.

Wise and moral people seek to avoid such negative repercussions altogether.

With personal responsibility, there is no room for appeals for clemency, transferring consequences to someone else, or presenting justifications in the hope of a favorable judgment.

The potential outcomes that await those who venture down a morally questionable path are both unpredictable and undesirable.

People endure retaliation from rivals, the revelation of long-buried past transgressions, and the tormenting presence of concealed secrets that disrupt their peace of mind.

Emotionally, this approach leaves a person in a perpetual state of anxiety, always dreading the unknown negative consequences of their previous actions.

This is a situation that wise people avoid at all costs.

Meditation on Actions and Their Effects

The purpose of this post and this meditation is to motivate you to live a virtuous life.

If you consider Karma carefully and observe how it works, you should be encouraged to purify non-virtue and practice virtue to ensure a human rebirth and progress on the path to enlightenment in this life.

Contemplation

Consider what you read in this post and focus on the following first-person narrative:

If I purify all my non-virtues, then there will be no risk of lower rebirth.

If I take advantage of my precious human life, and accumulate merit through virtuous behavior helping others, then I will take a human rebirth, and I will progress toward enlightenment in this life and in future lives.

As a bonus, I will enjoy peace of mind and happiness for the remainder of this life, for however long that is.

Object of Mediation

After repeatedly contemplating these points, you should form a strong determination to purify non-virtue and put great effort into accumulating merit through virtuous behavior.

You should hold that determination in your mind without distraction for as long as possible. If you lose the feeling of determination, you should remember the contemplation and repeat it until the determination returns.

~~wink~~

Anatta