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cartoon-lovers-world · 2 months

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Thanks for @blorbopostingtime for this idea!

FERAL BRANCH!

LET OUR BOY UNLEASH HIS INNER MONSTERS!

Anyway, I suck at writing angst so you can TOTALLY feel free to add or say anything about this. I accept and appreciate criticism

Enjoyyy!

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, an apology isn't going to fix everything…" Branch muttered, taking a step back.

"We know, but-"

"But what?" the youngest stammered, anger slowly replacing his initial fear. "But what?!"

"Branch, calm down-"

"Calm down? Calm down?!" he yelled, not caring if it was Floyd he had interrupted this time. "Do you even have any idea what I've been through?!"

Clay took a deep breath, trying to speak in a gentler tone than his brothers, if that was even possible. "We know we messed up, but we're here now, and we want to make things better."

Branch scoffed. "Now? Now when what? Now when I've managed to battle my own demons? Now when I've found happiness? When I've moved on from Grandma's death? Where were you during all that?"

They froze, racking their brains for a logical justification.

But there was none.

Seeing no response, he went on. "Where were you when I was having a panic attack every single day, blaming myself for Grandma's death?! Where were you, when I was living alone in the wilderness, huh?!" He stomped his foot in frustration, his hands unknowingly clenching and unclenching in fists. "Do you even know what it feels like to be rejected by your OWN people, just because you're different, because you're sad?! Instead of them actually helping you?!"

Poppy hesitated, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to move towards her boyfriend, to hug him, to comfort him, but something inside her screamed at her to stop. He needed this moment to let it out, and they needed to hear it.

He glared at them with tears in his eyes, feeling a surge of resentment and betrayal. "You abandoned me! You left me alone and I was only a freaking five-year old baby! And now you come back, acting like nothing happened, like you care about me?!" he shouted.

"Branch, we're sorry, we're so sorry-" Clay said, his voice cracking.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it!" Branch snapped. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you? How many days have I woke up hoping against hope that you were back?!"

They took a step back, unsure of what to do or say, if there was even something to be said. They messed up, big time.

Floyd's eyes were starting to water, and he managed to mutter, "Branch, we don't want forgiveness, we just want to talk about it-" before his brother stopped him with his sarcastic tone.

"Oh, that's so great, let's talk about why we abandoned our baby brother and never came back, even though we promised, didn't we, Floyd?" he spat. "Was I even on your mind? Because if I was, I'm sure this whole talk wouldn't be happening right now!"

"That's not true, Branch, that's not true!" Floyd protested. "We love you, we've always loved you!"

"Then why did you leave me?" Branch asked, his voice breaking. "Why did you leave me when we could've talked it out? When we could've been a family?!"

They lowered their heads, unable to answer. They had their reasons, but they knew they were not good enough. They had made a mistake, a terrible mistake. And now, it was their turn to handle its consequences.

"Branch, please, listen to us-" Floyd tried again, reaching out his hand.

However, his brother flinched and slapped his hand away, shaking his head. "Don't touch me!"

"Alright, no touching, no touching!" the red-haired troll retreated, holding his hands up. "Just listen to us, please."

"Alright." Branch took a deep breath, letting it out as a frustrated sigh as he pretended to zip his lips. He gave them a sarcastic smile, silently allowing them to stand up for themselves.

Bruce began, seeing no attempt from the others. "We messed up, okay? We know we did. But we love you, we love you so much."

"Yeah, bro, and nothing will change that," John added, his voice shaking slightly as he expected another interruption. But to his surprise, their youngest brother stayed silent.

"We just want a second chance," Floyd chimed, "And we promise, this time, we'll do better."

But Branch had stopped listening long ago. What was the point? He'll trust them, get attached, then bam, they'll leave again. Same old story. Even Floyd, the one who's never broken a promise in his life, broke one promise - his and Branch's promise, and Branch didn't know if he'll ever be able to forget this one.

Everything hurt. His head hurt, his chest tightened, and his limbs were starting to shake. He closed his eyes, trying to pull himself together, but the dull troll was greeted with the room swirling around him in a dizzying manner as soon as he opened his eyes, and his brothers' intertwined voices weren't helping, if anything, they were adding to his headache. He put a hand on his forehead, desperately trying to regain his balance, but the more anyone talked, the more the room swirled. All he wanted was some quiet.

Which was the opposite of what he got when he collapsed to his knees in a heap.

"Branch! Are you okay?"

His girlfriend, as always, he thought, was the first to be by his side, and he felt her hand gently lifting his chin, locking their gazes.

"You okay?"

He nodded, deciding it'd be better if he didn't try to get up in his current state.

"Do you want water, anything?"

He shook his head, and instantly regretted the small gesture as the dizziness that was starting to subside persisted.

"Sure?" He felt her hand squeezing his, as if trying to convey as little reassurance as she could provide at the moment.

He blinked, just now realizing that his brothers were surrounding him, each putting a hand on either his shoulders or back. He took a deep breath, finally managing to his voice, and without thinking, he choked a weak, "Leave…"

"But-"

"Leave!" Branch yelled. He stood up abruptly, and quickly reached out for the nearest piece of furniture to steady himself. Great, now the room was spinning again.

"Branch, you're not okay, at least lie down-"

Branch cut off the pink troll, softer than he did with his brothers as he slurred, "Fine… fine…" His head was pounding, but he didn't care. He turned to the remaining audience with a feeble wave of his hand. "Get out…"

But their bodies wouldn't listen.

"GET OUT!"

They gasped, unconsciously taking steps back but not fully comprehending their youngest brother's words.

Till they hardly dodged the shreds of his wooden table.

"Get out! Leave me alone!"

At this point, Branch was crashing anything that came his way as he paced back and forth, moans and screams escaping his lips and palms pulling at his hair, taking out dark hairs on their way back.

"Leave! Now!" he shouted, not even looking up to face his brothers. "What part of NOW don't you understand?!"

They tried to move, but they couldn't. What happened to the baby of the family?

"Get out of my bunker! Now! Or I'll show you CRAZY!" He screamed, flipping his entire bookshelf and maniacally tearing at his books, a sight that left Clay in a trance-like state.

Poppy was the first one to recover, eyes darting between the shattered furniture and the blood on her boyfriend's hands.

When she said she wanted him to let it out, this was not what she meant, not at all.

Slightly panicking, the Queen took her sister's hand and quickly led her to the elevator, before doing the same with Branch's brothers. Each was holding another one's hand in an attempt to drag him along, though Poppy was already on that mission.

And in a blink, they were gone.

He was alone.

—------------

He was alone.

So why wasn't he calming down? Why was he still screaming?

The bunker, once tidy and organized, was now messy and dusty, debris crumbling down the walls and onto the ground. Why was he doing this? Branch didn't know for sure, all he knew was that his hands were itching.

He wanted to crash something.

He needed to crash something.

He wanted to let it out, but on what, when he's destroyed his own home?

The troll felt a surge of rage as he smashed his belongings. He had spent years building this bunker, treating it like home, like his safe place. But now it felt like a prison. He was alone, just like he had always been, so why did it hurt this time? They didn't really think that after leaving him for over two decades, and then come back, that he would want to join their party with open arms, did they? He didn't need them. He didn't need any of them.

He stormed in and out different rooms through his bunker, looking for something else to break.

But there was nothing. He'd crashed everything.

And that's when he collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving.

#Trolls #Trolls fanfiction #Branch #Poppy #John Dory #Bruce #Clay #Floyd #Brozone #Viva's there too #Feral Branch #FERAL BRANCH #Wow i suck at writing angst #Sorry but i had to write this #Trolls band together

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recoveryregression · 26 days

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Engaging with religion when you're a regressor

Religion can be a tricky topic for a lot of regressors due to trauma and unpleasant experiences in the past. This post will talk about possible ways to engage with religion when regressing.

As a disclaimer I am someone who was raised Catholic although now we have alters who's beliefs span over Christianity, Wicca and Buddhism. We tried to make this post as inclusive as possible, but if I made any mistakes please let us know. Additionally, if you have any suggestions for any of the points in this post feel free to add them!

Advantages to engaging with religion when you are regressed

Recovering from religious trauma and engaging with religion is a hard topic to tackle, but I have found it personally healing, especially for younger parts who hold religious beliefs.

It can help with acceptance and understanding that what happened to you is not right, even if the people who hurt you used religion as a justification.

Reclaiming something that has been used to hurt you is a personal choice and it is scary, but in my opinion it can be worth it.

Ways you can engage with religion while regressed:

Coloring sheets and activity pages- this is a simple and effective way of learning and engaging with your religion. Usually going to Google and typing '[religion] activity pages for kids' will give you results- If you need help finding some, I am more than willing to help.

Listening to stories- This can be slightly harder to do for some religions that don't have a scripture to follow, but for other religions this is a very easy and fun thing to do. Just go to youtube or google and type in '[religion] stories for kids'. They will often have them in a child friendly format and can be fun to listen to in the background. Another method would be to use an actual kids book of stories from your religion.

Learn and/or practice the language that may be tied with your religion- I know some religions require people to be able to speak a specific language and others may be easier to understand if you have knowledge about the language. Although one day I plan on making a bigger post on language learning as a regressor, looking at kids videos and songs in your language can help.

Engage with and/or learn about the culture associated with your religion- Of course this is different for every religion and subsets of the religion as to how you could learn about them and engage with them, but I find that engaging and participating is better than not doing anything at all.

Celebrate holidays and events your religion has- This can be hard if holidays are a difficult topic for you, it can be even harder if you can't openly celebrate your religion for any reason. If you can openly celebrate and participate with your holidays, make them unforgettable in the best way you can. If you can't openly celebrate make them unforgettable and special in your own way. Remember that celebrating is a personal thing, so don't worry if you can't focus.

Prayer- Prayer is a great way to engage with religion. There's a lot of different prayers you can learn and say. I know in Christianity there's prayer books specifically for kids, so that learning what to say is easy.

Tips for engaging with religion while regressed

Don't push yourself- If you have religious trauma there may be a limit to how much of your religion you can engage with before it becomes too much for you. Listen to your body and mind and know when to take a break.

Be safe- Linking to the previous point, religion can be an amazing thing, but it can also be harmful for some. Know your signs and the beliefs of those around you so that you know it's safe to engage with your religion.

Have fun- I know for us as a child religion was never about having fun or enjoying yourself, know that this isn't true and that you are allowed to have fun and enjoy yourself!

#age regression #agere #pet regression #petre #religion #advice

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bookished · 1 year

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feel free to make edits to better suit your muse, but please don’t edit or add on to the original post 💛

"At midnight. Meet me at the central fountain."

“HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME!” “Even the devil knows the bible, sweetheart”

“Why are you here?” “For the same reason as you, my dear.” “What reason would that be?” “To be remembered. What a shame it would be to waste a dance and be forgotten when the song is over.”

“You are enjoying this far too much” “Well I’m imaging ripping this dress off you and seeing you beg”

“Tell me, what will you do when this is all over?” “Will it ever be over?” “For it to be over, one of us has to die...” “It was fun while it lasted, darling. Maybe in another life we could've been together.”

“How can you be so cruel?” “Because cruelty is what kept me alive, the people I once cherished.”

“Well, looks like you assumed me the villain of the tale, didn’t you?”

“Dance with me.” “I don't think it's appropriate to waltz with the past king's murderer on my coronation, don't you think?”

“To be fooled or not to be, my queen. You never answered my question, you still remember the nights you’d dance with me, correct?” “Yes, unfortunately, I remember,” “Then dance with me once more, your highness.”

With time to kill and entertainment to have, you lay your hand on his and the new waltz commences.

“Do you mind if we take this waltz to the balcony?”

“Anytime now, I want you to follow me silently down the stairs, do you hear me?”

“You did not fulfill the end of your deal.”

“I'm supposed to be your enemy, but your worst enemy is yourself. You are your own downfall.”

“Do you remember that night? This was the one that played - our first waltz.” “Ah yes,” He cooed, “It was the first time you tried to kill me. You were so filled with fire. Such exquisite anger and self-justification!”

“When your dagger missed my heart, I knew then that I had to win yours.”

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papakhan · 9 months

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@lynettethemadscientist replied to your post “Oh actually I think if you only play fallout 4 and...”:

Oh is this about me? I just only played Fallout 4 so far. I’m new to the Fallout series. Are people in fandoms not allowed to enter discourse until they’ve consumed every piece of relevant media?

I didn’t want to make this its own post but I’ve written so much I kind of have to. I've turned off reblogs but feel free to add to this in my replies.

You put up a sign saying "I don't think raiders can be humanised, change my mind" and then argued with people who tried to have discussions with you. All 3 of the people who tried to engage in a discourse with you gave up and I can see why. You're ignoring their points and talking as if these characters in a video game have agency and are choosing to “dehumaniz(e) themselves” when they don't, they are lines of code written by somebody else with their own preconceived biases. What people are asking you to do when humanising raiders is to think outside of the mechanics of a video game and think about their nuances. What led them to this way of life? What do they think of it? Do they wanna get out or are they happy as they are? Forget yourself as the player character ready and willing to blast their brains out for a second and just think of them as people.

Here's the thing, I like Raiders. That doesn't mean I think everything they do is justified, but I like to think about how they justify themselves, which is something the og Fallout and Fallout New Vegas are very good at. Fo1 and FoNV's raiders are defined and their actions and rationale make sense and even if you don't personally agree you can still understand how and why they came to those conclusions. Fallout 4 and Fallout 3 are some of the worst games when it comes to talking about character justifications, including both raiders and normal wastelanders (and your companions!) Nobody in-game can explain why they're still living in the same bombed-out crumbling building full of skeletons because the writers don't care, they just want their wasteland setting and don't want to think about anything else. You coming in to complain about how "I have yet to see any backstories for the settlers" and how the prewar skeletons and raiders typing in terminals are stealing all the limelight with their "sob stories" when you've only played 1 game out of 6-8 is just silly. I promise you the other games are full of settler stories, it's just the game that you're playing and using as your source doesn't really bother with it.

I also don't have a problem with you only just getting into the series. I promise you that I'm NOT trying to gatekeep or anything like that, Fallout is a great series with a lot of stuff I'm sure you'll enjoy. However what you need to understand is that a lot of the games, especially Fo1 and FoNV are very politically heavy games and unfortunately you cannot engage in discourse with them without stepping on some people's political sensibilities. You acting like there's a hardline between right and wrong and stealing, dealing/doing drugs, and being in gangs are objectively evil things to do just comes across as you showing your ass regarding how you feel about actual real-life poor people who are right now in jail for doing those things just to survive. I don't know if those are actually your beliefs but that's just the nature of publically discussing these topics. Good and Bad, and Right and Wrong are very contentious topics and again you acting like the only thing that makes us human is being able to "*choose* right over wrong" and saying "An important aspect of humanity is self-control" is a bad look. Are you saying that people with self-control issues aren't human? Because that's how you come across.

I wanna finish this by saying I'm not mad at you. I didn't wanna pick a fight with you, hence why I made a vague-post instead of replying directly. I'll be honest with you I made that post because I saw your replies and was very disheartened and disappointed, maybe I shouldn't have made a post when I was emotional and for that I'll say that I'm sorry. However, the reason why I've taken time out of my day to write this huge reply is because I love Fallout and I want people to be able to enjoy it and have as much fun with it as I do, so I want you to understand what other people were trying to explain to you and why it might have felt like the discussions weren't going anywhere.

I encourage you to have discussions about this game and think about it as deeply as you want but you do need to be mindful about what it is you're discussing. This game has plenty to dissect but unfortunately, classism and racism are some of the things hard-baked into a lot of the lore by the nature of how old it is and who some of the writers/devs are. Of course I don't think you're those things, but it's important to me that you know where this comes from, why it's so important to be critical of the media you consume AND why so many people are critical of Fallout's writing especially when it comes to the Raiders. This isn't a You thing, I don't have a problem with you, it's just the writing choices that you're choosing to defend.

#if anyone wnats any part of this post to be rebloggable just lmk and I'll make its own post #txt #dont reblog

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wisdombooklets · 10 months

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Lot to unpack here. This is a fascinating section of the wisdom booklets because it leaves a lot unsaid, reminding me of how much additional (more explicit) info was likely being conferred by the parent/religious authority who’s teaching from these. It all ultimately adds up to the states-rights-ification of Civil War history, of course, but I’m interested in the way they get that across without saying it—and with biblical justification.

some areas of interest:

1. “This war accomplished far more than the freeing of slaves.”

This is their only mention of what the war was actually about, phrased in such a way that it kind of skirts around having to say “slavery wasn’t really the main focus.” Maybe saying that kind of thing outright was passé by the 80s-90s.

2. The Civil War changed America from a country with state-controlled government to a federally controlled country with its power centrally located in Washington D.C.”

Pointing this one out just because it’s stupid: they seem to have mixed up the Civil War with the Constitutional Convention? Maybe Shays’ Rebellion?/s Either that or they’re suggesting federalism and the Constitution just fully didn’t exist until 1865 lmao

3. “Now there existed ‘equality’ such as the ‘equality’ the French Revolution propagated.”

This is referencing an earlier section that talks about the French Revolution: “French law promotes individual liberties, equality in labor relations, and equal rights. While on the surface these qualities seem good, in effect they totally changed the view of law. They promote a substitution of situational ethics for Biblical principles.”

What’s left unsaid: ‘inequality is righteous if it can be supported by Biblical principles; slavery is supported by Biblical principles; therefore, slavery is righteous.’

4. “The Fourteenth Amendment did more than simply create bad changes, it created a major problem by shifting the philosophy.”

What are the bad changes we’re talking about here? They’ve given themselves plausible deniability (if you can call it that) by saying earlier that 14′s problem was that it “took the power from the states and gave it to the government,” but they’re referring to “changes” plural here.

Also, of course, them not saying specifically how 14 “shift[ed] the philosophy” says enough on its own. I imagine it would be much less attractive for them to say outright something like: ‘Granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to formerly enslaved people replaced God’s authority with man’s authority.’ But that’s the implication.

Now that I’m looking at it, they don’t mention the actual content of the Fourteenth Amendment at all. Good luck with your education if you’re being homeschooled with this, lol.

5. “The fundamental emphasis of America’s founding fathers in interpreting law was that law was God-given with its foundations rooted in the Bible, possessing definite absolutes.”

again, read as: ‘inequality is righteous if it can be Biblically justified’. Also worth examining are those “definite absolutes,” as well as the “denial of absolutes” which the author asserts as a “myth” of “humanistic” law —what are these absolutes? Did Jesus make sure to proclaim the objective correctness of American states’ rights in the Bible? No? Well surely they’re not referring to segregationist readings of the Bible which assert that “black people were inferior to white people, cursed by God and naturally suited to manual labor.” /s

I need to do some more research to figure out when the wisdom booklets were published (specifically the ones I have access to) because that would offer some more insight as to the contemporary implications of their histories. But regardless of that, it’s obvious the author is still pissy about the Civil Rights Movement and that seeps into the writing here.

— Apologies for the long read— I didn’t feel it was responsible to post this section of the booklets without making it clear what is couched in its language and why it’s wrong. Anyways, I’m from the north and don’t recall ever encountering the states’ rights argument in school (aside from refutations, that is) — for any folks from the South, is their rhetorical positioning here fairly common to what you’ve seen?

#iblp #exvangelical #ex christian #apostate #history

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astrobydalia · 1 year

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How did you get into astrology and when? Do u have advices fir begginers?

How I got into astrology and when

I've always been exposed to spirituality and the occult from a very young age and my family and I have always taken it really seriously. When I was 14 my aunt randomly introduced me to this new thing she had found out called a "birth chart". At first I was not interested at all but I started investigating, one thing let to another and here we are

Advice for beginners

Please scrap out any stereotypes and don't listen to any astrologer that endorses stereotypes without any justification. This may sound obvious but this is the biggest obstacle when you're a beginner. The main thing people struggle to understand about astrology is that it's not black and white and it's much more complex and multi-layered. Yes there are set meaning to planets, signs, etc which are the basics, but you have to really open your mind to really UNDERSTAND what it all really means and how it actually works. Investigate, learn but also use your own judgement (this applies to anything new you are learning)

Dab into the original meanings and studies on astrology, they are the basics

Learn the mythology related to the signs/planets/asteroids. It can be very insightful and an easy as well as fun way to understand the energies

Stay away from persona charts for now if you're a beginner. You're just going to get more confused if you haven't even understood the basics of natal chart or astrology all together (this goes for any more advanced technique but I mention PC specifically cause I know they're pretty popular now)

I recommend the following learning order, but of course do what works for you:

Planets (first inner planets then outer planets)

Signs then houses (it's important to understand the difference between signs and houses)

The angels (ASC, IC, DSC, MC)

Aspects

Asteroids/points

Degrees

Doesn't matter what house system you start learning with. Once you have understood and learnt astrology enough, you will feel more confident to choose the house system(s) that resonate for you

Experience is the best teacher. I don't recommend you do this if you know nothing of the basic theory, but the most interesting part about astrology (and imo the most fun) is actually analyzing how that theory applies. My favorite thing about astrology observations is hearing other people's experiences and perspectives on placements which really give brand new layers to the things I already knew (when those observations are justified, backed up and make sense of course). Observing how energies manifest can actually be a really fun exercise that adds up new layers to the theory found in books and it can really help you understand that the same energy can manifest is many different ways, also helping you break stereotypes or understand why those stereotypes exists. Of course you have to use your own judgment and discernment to avowing projecting or seeing things that are not there, but I can tell you that I have gotten such deeper understanding of the energies just by observing and listening

Don't use astrology to validate/justify your fatalism, ego or lack of self-responsability. I don't believe in this deterministic approach to astrology. Any occult practice should be used for guidance and guidance is supposed constructive, not destructive. Yes there are forces bigger than ourselves. No you are not doomed. You can use energies to your advantage. You have free will.

If you don't consider yourself to be very analytical, maybe learning astrology is not for you. This is not like tarot, there's a lot of the reader's discernment and analysis that needs to go into an astrological interpretation, that's why it's important to have a deep understanding of the energies and how they work

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monster-n3ko · 2 months

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My almost entirely spoiler free analysis on the morality and ethics themes in Undertale

There's nothing too inherently in your face that would suggest undertale is a horror game, however it still manages to feel horrifying in its own sense.

It makes you afraid not of the game but of you, yourself. The fact you could become desensitized enough to harm the innocent out of morbid curiosity and an urge to complete the game is a very bizarre thought, and yet it all feels so normal at times.. Because that's all it is to you; a game.

But here's where undertale is unique, instead of letting this feeling remain 2d, it adds the concept of consequences and depth to your choices.

Now, You're no better than the games main antagonist, and depending on your choices you practically ARE the main antagonist. There's something scary about seeing all these Consequences to your actions, however big or small they were.

You can die and respawn infinitely, and eventually you'll learn every single character's patterns. You can predict them.. ..but they'll never be able to predict you. It's one sided. The characters are written in a way that makes them feel real. Not literally, but their emotions, their ambitions, their relationships.. It's all very resemblent of real people's goals. Nobody is bad or good.

However, while you grow and adapt, over time, you'll be able to beat them anyway, ignoring their personalities and button mashing to avoid paying attention to their dialogue. It really makes you wonder.. If you could do all these terrible things and justify it as "it's just a game", imagine what you could do to real people with the right "justifications"

After doing so many pacifists at first, as most people typically do, you'll start to get bored. Curious on what would happen if you killed certain people. Curious to see new content. Who's that sound like?

Yep. The games main antagonist, Flowey, is meant to literally represent you, the player

Doesn't that feel ominous to you? The fact this game manages to make the only unjustified merciless villan YOU? It really makes you question your morality and stop to think about how your choices affect others.. Or at least it did for me.

Thats kind of what I love about it, though. Undertale isn't "just a game", it's a morbid but realistic reflection of human nature, and how our own greedy desires can sometimes overwrite our morals.

The character's deep and interesting individual stories, their bonds, their morals and values... Its all resemblent of us as humans.. Its that concept alone that kept me so hyperfixated on it in the first place; For Undertale is the only peice of media I've ever found that truley makes you fear yourself and what you're capable of as a human being.

Anyways sorry for the rant type post, I just figured I'd share my views on the game ^_^

#undertale #rant post #analysis #game analysis #shitpost #undertale analysis #undertale theory #undertale post #undertale shitpost #analysis post #game rants #video games

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aronarchy · 9 months

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Abuse as a Form of Oppression

A home where a woman is abused is a small-scale model of much larger oppressive systems that work in remarkably similar ways. Many of the excuses an abusive man uses for verbally tearing his partner to shreds are the same ones that a power-mad boss uses for humiliating his or her employees. The abusive man’s ability to convince himself that his domination of you is for your own good is paralleled by the dictator who says, “People in this country are too primitive for democracy.” The divide-and-conquer strategies used by abusers are reminiscent of a corporate head who tries to break the labor union by giving certain groups of workers favored treatment. The making of an abuser is thus not necessarily restricted to the specific values his society teaches him about men’s relationships with women; without realizing it he may also apply attitudes and tactics from other forms of oppression that he has been exposed to as a boy or as a young adult and that he has learned to justify or even admire.

If you look at any oppressive organization or system, from a racist country club up to a military government, you will find most of the same behaviors and justifications by the powerful that I have described in this book. The tactics of control, the intimidation of victims who try to protest, the undermining of efforts at independence, the negative distortions about the victims in order to cast blame upon them, the careful cultivation of the public image of the oppressors—all are present, along with many other parallels. The people in power generally tell lies while simultaneously working hard to silence the voices of the people who are being dominated and to stop them from thinking, just as the abusive man strives to do. And the bottom line is the same: Oppressive systems stay in existence because the people in power enjoy the luxury of their position and become unwilling to give up the privileges they win through taking advantage of other people and keeping them down. In short, the abusive mentality is the mentality of oppression.

The connection among different kinds of power abuses can add greatly to the stress experienced by an abused woman. If you already face discrimination as a woman of color or if you are a low-income woman or a lesbian, you may feel overwhelmed at times by how similar the control and abuse from your partner feel to other forms of oppression you have endured. Some abusive men even deliberately take advantage of their partner’s social vulnerabilities. I have had several clients, for example, whose partners are undocumented immigrants whom they have threatened to have deported if the women ever disclose the abuse. In some geographical areas you can find supportive services for specific groups of abused women, such as immigrants or lesbians, or locate agencies where there are staff people from your background who understand the additional challenges you face.

…

Changing the Culture

Abuse is the product of a mentality that excuses and condones bullying and exploitation, that promotes superiority and disrespect, and that casts responsibility on to the oppressed. All efforts to end the abuse of women ultimately have to return to this question: How do we change societal values so that women’s right to live free of insults, invasion, disempowerment, and intimidation is respected?

…

… Promote alternatives to abuse and oppression by recognizing how intertwined different forms of abuse and mistreatment are. The opposite of arrogantly defining reality is listening respectfully to each person’s perspective. The opposite of placing yourself above other people is seeing them as equals. The opposite of establishing a hierarchy in which the top few people lounge comfortably while everyone else gets squashed is sharing resources. The opposite of madly scrambling to the top, whether it’s the top of the corporate ladder, the top of the softball league, or the top of the household pecking order, is building communities devoted to cooperation and support, where everyone wins. To consider a world without relationship abuse is to open up to even more profound possibilities, to the potential for human beings to live in harmony with each other and with their natural environment.

- WDHDT

#repost of someone else’s content #book #currently reading #abuse #authoritarianism #hierarchy #oppression #misogyny #domestic abuse #patriarchy #racism #classism #lesbophobia #anti capitalism

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audiovisualrecall · 5 months

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Maybe the 'passive aggresive' posts telling ppl to go vote no matter what aren't aimed at the ppl who are being actively prevented from doing so by individuals and/or systemic issues?

Maybe the posts are actually aimed literally at the people they mention, who self-profess to being uninterested in voting and have xyz bullshit justifications for why voting doesn't work or whatever. If you're not the group being addressed by a post, don't go getting defensive about it!

Don't make your own equally passive aggressive post telling people that posting about one issue without also including something else isn't doing enough when their posts AREN'T about people who WANT to vote but are disenfranchised or physically or otherwise prevented from voting!

Make a post reminding people that that's not the only reason people don't vote, or that sometimes disenfranchisement can make people give up on trying to participate or vote, and add your information and links to resources there as you did! But don't make it out to seem like those other posts - which are very clearly strictly arguing with the fuckers who do not want to vote because they're stuck in something that has more in common with purity politics than anything else - aren't doing enough to, uh, help people who are disenfranchised access resources??? When that's not what their post set out to do?

Actually feel totally free to reblog one of those posts and add on your reminder and resources!!! Reach out to the people who might only agree with those ones, who sit on their hands and go lalala, because they have been disenfranchised so don't feel there's a point. If you reblog the posts that bother you, even tho they're not about you, add your information and resources on to those posts so that anyone else like you or otherwise who sees it on their dash or goes thru the notes will see your info! That's a good way to reach more people, as well! Obviously not saying u can't post abt what happened to u, just saying it has nothing to do with posts that aren't aimed at u anyway....

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lucky-katebishop · 10 months

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Casting the Batfamily - Dick & Tim

Hi! I’m very new to the DC fandom so I may be wrong but I wanted to add my own two cents! I watched a video by Nando vs. Movies who did this, and I had some major reservations about his choices so I wanted to throw my hat in the ring! I’m doing Dick and Tim today because I have no idea for the others at this particular moment. Feel free to tell me your own fancasts! Also, I’m tired so my justifications won’t be great, I’m mostly working on vibes. (Also the pics SUCK sorry I made this on desktop)

Dick Grayson

1. Armani Jackson aka Travis from Honor Society

-this would be a Dick who’s a bit younger, probably when Jason is just becoming Robin

-in Honor Society, Travis is extremely charismatic and he’s sweet but I could see an edge to him that would require him to play Dick

-Travis in the movie kept dating a girl even though he was gay and I feel like Dick would continue to put himself in a situation like that just because it made other people happy, you know?

-He has a really good natured vibe to him that Dick has

-I didn’t originally want to put him because I don’t want well known actors, but I think he’s new enough that it really wouldn’t matter all that much

2. Hunter Doohan aka Tyler from Wednesday

-Tyler in the show is charming enough for Dick and Dick is a super charming guy

-He’s capable of playing a serious role but he has that sweetness and that feeling of loyalty to him

Tim Drake

1. Jake Ryan aka Woodrow from Asteroid City

-he’s pretty serious in this role, so I got major Tim vibes

-I’m serious, as I was watching this movie all I could think about was Tim

-so Woodrow in this movie is a genius but he also has a pretty big heart and softness to him (aka Tim)

-he’s around a good age to play Tim, the only reservation I have is the athleticism but, hey, body doubles

-Woodrow in this movie is surrounded by adults who act like children and children who act like adults so... yeah, basically the batfam

-I see major potential here!!

-you probably don’t know who this is so I’ve enclosed a video clip from the show I’m talking about. This will be a harder sell...

2. Ali Khan aka Joshua from Everyone Else Burns

-he kind of gives me Wayne Family Adventures Tim vibes

-this would be a Tim where Damian is already part of the family and it’s post saving Bruce from the time stream

-he’s goofy but also can play a serious role, he’s afraid of letting his family down but also he can’t help but go against them when it’s important

-I know he’s not athletic or anything, and Joshua isn’t even portrayed to be a genius and it’s pretty much the opposite of my other choice, but this is a Tim who has mellowed out a bit. He’s older, he’s more hardened and cynical, but he can’t help but be a good person in spite of that

Those are my choices. Argue with me in the tags and comments. Give me your choices. I know I didn’t sell that well, but I can’t stop thinking about this!!

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wjbs-bonkle-au · 2 years

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Yo i did the descendent bionicle continuation and saw your reblog and i must know your idea

Ok so I tried to come up with stuff, but I ran out of ideas, so here's the most concrete stuff I have about both the hypothetical concept, and the equally-hypothetical meta stuff surrounding it:

It's a series rather than a film trilogy, with four seasons; the fourth one ends on a cliffhanger, with Tuma (who is there, I'll explain later) having just destroyed the school.

All the characters are human, with the exception of the Spherus Magna characters (again, I'll get to it later).

The villain protagonist characters are Teridax's fairly-generic daughter Therese, Roodaka's son Rodney, Nocturn's himbo son Noah, and Vezok's tomboyish daughter Violet. Noah stops appearing in Season 3 due his actor being cast in a film, and he's replaced by Mutran's "son" (that is to say, creation) Mike, who is basically the same character as Noah in terms of personality and plot-function, except as a Frankensteinian stitched-together monstrosity. The in-universe justification for him being written out is that he punched the school's gym so hard it collapsed.

The main hero characters are Tahu's mean-girl daughter Tina, Helryx's nerdy granddaughter Helen (who is one of three hero characters to be a protagonist), and Onua's himbo son Oscar. In Season 3, Hewkii and Macku's kids Henry and Marina start at the school, and are an extra set of protagonists who have their own plots.

Season 2 has a prom story-arc, where Therese wheres a white dress with big shoulder pads and gold gloves, which is a reference to Melding!Teridax. The arc's antagonist is Vakama's grandson, who invites Therese to the prom, then tries to trick her into using her shadow powers to destroy the school.

Takanuva is the principal.

Axonn is the school's caretaker. He stops appearing around the start of Season 4 due to his actor retiring, but the writers don't bother justifying it.

Season 4's plot has the Spherus Magna characters, who are now aliens, landing their spaceship and warning everyone of impending danger; however, the Skrall attack the school (and surrounding city), so the protagonists have to defeat them to save the world™. And then Therese delivers a big dramatic speech telling everyone heroic and evil, to rise up and save the world, dramatic music plays and... the credits roll. The show's over.

A few months after the show ends, it receives a Lab Rats: Elite Force-style crossover-sequel with a Hero Factory-themed monster-of-the-week series. It "resolves" the cliffhanger in a very anticlimactic way in a flashback at the start of the first episode (the Hero Factory heroes show up and apprehend Tuma, who doesn't even try resisting), and it ends up being cancelled after only 15 episodes, the last of which also ends on a cliffhanger, with Tuma breaking out of a Hero Factory prison-facility with a bunch of villains from the Hero Factory half of the crossover.

If anyone wants to add to this or draw what they think the characters would look like, feel free. Also, I might do a relationship chart possibly, unless someone does one first.

#bionicle #descendents #ask

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cold-reviews · 1 year

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The Fire Within My Heart (Scarlet Cherie: Vampire Series #1) Review

Ayshen Irfan @thevampireaesthetic kindly sent me a copy of this book to review. I will start by saying I have immense respect for them as a self-published author. I think that’s frankly kick ass and incredibly inspiring. The last couple of chapters especially gripped me and I have a lot of thoughts I wish to convey. I’ll try to keep the first part spoiler free and then add some thoughts after going more in-depth. Disclaimer: These are just my personal thoughts, not aimed to hurt or offend anybody. If you disagree or have a different opinion that is just as valid. I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. I strongly encourage anyone to form their own opinions by reading this book regardless of what I have to say about it.

Review:

The Fire Within My Heart follows Scarlet as she is catapulted into the world of the supernatural after being horrifically murdered by a serial killer and next granted immortality when the vampire Nikolaus finds her before she can take her last breath. Throughout the book, we follow her navigating seeking justice for her murderer, her new supernatural existence, and her complicated romantic relationship with her vampire master.

The story unfolds in a rich universe mixing your classic vampires with high fantasy and the arcane. I’d say that for the most part, the lore of the world and the supernatural powers are explained and described in a way that makes it easy to follow and doesn’t feel too heavy.

It has a great cast of characters. I think it’s very apparent in the text that the author has a great affection for their characters and there are some great character dynamics. I especially loved the ragtag family dynamic that develops amongst the most unlikely of supernatural creatures. The strength of the story in my opinion is really the characters and their strong and yet at times troubled ties to each other.

There are undoubtedly some heavy themes in here of death and violence and very questionable morals at best but the book manages to balance it with humor. There are tropes in here that I loved as well. The main character and her vampire master share a special bond almost like a contracted demon in which they can feel each other's pain and emotion. I thought it an interesting layer to their dynamic and I’m curious to see how it will develop. That said, the romance here is not a slow burner and the attraction between the two is apparent instantly. Some people might enjoy that, although for me personally, it felt a little rushed and I didn’t quite buy into the justification that the vassal/master relationship justified the instant attraction.

Ayshen's iteration of vampires takes the symbolism of vampires and makes it very literal. The sensual and tempting are explicit. It’s described in various places how vampirism in this book is quite literally sex, orgasmic, all the guilty pleasures you know you shouldn’t enjoy but do. An iteration I’m inclined to think writes itself into a wave of continued contemporary vampire fiction. It’s an evolution in vampire fiction that I’m interested in but haven’t read enough contemporary works of this sort to form a conclusive theory on.

The language in the book I feel can best be described as purple although I know this tends to have a pejorative meaning and that’s not my intention. It’s very rich with descriptions. Illustrious with poetic and ornate metaphors and imagery. I find that it’s very much a matter of taste whether this style is something that engages you or not. Personally, there were some parts I loved and found beautifully phrased and cleverly constructed. In some scenes, I appreciated how detailed a picture I was painted to imagine. Without any spoilers, I can’t come up with examples but in general, everything has a very gothic and decadent vibe. Other times I found it a bit redundant. I didn’t always care to get a detailed description of every character's outfit and sometimes I felt like the description of rooms or feelings stunted the pace of the narrative. I’d forget where a conversation was going or had to be reminded what the characters were doing amongst all the beautifully described scenery. Towards the end, I felt it may have added unintentional suspended tension waiting for the plot to move on or for someone to reply.

I’m still not sure what to make of Scarlet, the main girl of the book. She seems like she has the potential to be a great strong female character. First-person narratives are hard because the narrating character is under the constant scrutiny of the reader. I loved when she’d put Nikolaus in his place and insist on her independence. That to me was the real meat of the story. At other times I couldn’t sympathize with her in scenes where I’m pretty certain I was supposed to. She seemed very self-aware almost as if the narrator anticipated the reader's judgment. In general, I think I would have liked Scarlet better if she wasn’t so carefully written to be sympathetic and likable, I found myself almost rooting for someone to corrupt her a little to make her more interesting emotionally.

My final thoughts will contain light spoilers, you have been warned.

This mix of vampires and high fantasy is something I’ve only encountered in Empire of the Vampire and I’d say it’s a fun subgenre of vampire fiction that can be fun to explore but It’s not a genre I normally gravitate to. I think that my experience with the book is very much affected by the fact that romance and fantasy are two genres I’m somewhat cautious with. I think people who are avid readers of these two genres are gonna love this book. For me, all the supernatural stuff about her exploring her heritage and powers just wasn’t that interesting to me and all the feeling of aura and metaphysical battles just got too aloof. I felt like some of the potential of the plot was wasted on it. I would have loved it if the serial killer wasn’t a supernatural creature for example. I would have loved it if there had been a point to his murders. I would have loved it if Scarlet’s gift for reading memories played a bigger part in finding him. I got very excited at first thinking they were gonna go around and revive the undead to read their memories and piece together a puzzle to catch the killer, like the vampire version of Pushing Daisies. Instead, she reads the memories of ten zombies in paraphrase just to practice and then subtracts the killer’s identity the first time she tries. Even that I thought could have led to more. Like when discussing altering a memory could prove fatal I thought “oh! She can’t just sit and watch the victim be murdered, she’s going to alter the memory!” but no. I’m left to conclude that some of these things might not get a payoff until later books perhaps and furthermore that the serial killer plot wasn’t the focal point of the story. As much as I would have liked a more intriguing mystery, the priority in the story was on Scarlet figuring out what she was, and to some people, that’s a riveting story too. Her being a nymph is almost more centralized than all the vampire stuff.

I found the most gripping part of the story to be the strange dynamic she has with Nikolaus. The climax of the book to me is the confrontation she has with him right after he kills her killer, robbing her of the justice they all worked so hard to get her. The way he reveals himself to her. Reveals that he takes pleasure in her fear, how she’s just another vulnerable woman to him who gave herself to him blinded by his beauty. The fact that he isn’t at all very different from the person who murdered her, he loves murder himself. There’s so much at stake here, one because she can’t sever her ties to him because of the master/vassal relationship, and two because not only has he revealed this but he also proved to be terribly selfish and emotionally inept in a situation where she needed his understanding and support the most. He turns out to be more harrowing in my eyes than the two-dimensional serial killer. This was a moment I felt actually had some weight to it because it was built throughout the book. Their lust at first sight, magical connection, and insecurities come to a collision. After this fight, when there wasn’t a confrontation later, no talk or apology, no consequence I was left looking at my kindle in disbelief haha. I really hope this goes somewhere in further books. There’s potential for some interesting outcomes. Either Nikolaus becomes powerful enough to control Scarlet and their love turns into hatred, or Scarlet somehow manages to become the master because her powers keep growing too, what would that do to his wounded pride and desire to own her? Maybe they do sever the connection, I can almost see a sort of Geralt and Yennifer dilemma here of not knowing if you’re in love or just under a spell. Or perhaps Nikolaus manages to admit his faults?

In conclusion: This is a typical contemporary iteration of vampires with an arcane fantasy twist. The plot is a little simple to give way to the main character's self-exploration. The mystery of the narrative is just a backdrop to project the complicated character dynamic between the two protagonists but it does hold its punch. For anyone who enjoys romance and fantasy with ornate language, this might just be your thing. I had some hesitations with the genre but ultimately still found lots of things to like about it and I’m curious to see how the story develops further.

Thank you again, very much for letting me read this. I appreciate the art you put into the world and the bravery it takes to share it. You can buy the book on amazon.

#cold reviews #vampire reviews #the fire within my heart #the fire within my heart review #scarlet cherie: vampire series #book review #self publication #vampire fiction #vampires

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whatskraken · 1 year

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God of War is still my favorite contemporary video game in terms of play style and story delivery, but did anyone else feel like Ragnarok was just Fimbulwinter DLC?

The actual in-game Ragnarok was literally just an on-rails Ghost of Tsuchima chapter-ending strategic fortress siege?? I think they probably initially did this to reconcile the fact that you can’t have an apocalypse that doesn’t actually affect the entire world, but “magic and myth are bound to their homelands” denied me of feeling any sort of stakes in the war? Kratos isn’t from here, the Fall of Olympus meant nothing to the Norse cannon, so why does this insular war affect me? Why did we make such a big deal connecting all the Gods of War through Tyr if the Celts and Egyptians and Japanese versions aren’t going to council at least in an inter-dimensional cut scene.

“THE PROPHECY!” you say? Nope. Sorry. We deus-ex-machina’d that plot-driver by letting giants literally retcon anything we feel like. Maybe if the giant’s prophecy was something clever like “you THOUGHT the Norse meant this, but if you look at it from a different camera angle using our Giant Magic you’ll notice this shattering detail!” Instead we got “here’s a ‘secret’ true ending that we just totally made up in contrast to the one you thought you saw. Except for the most important one— in that case we just say the giants can’t POSSIBLY bother to add secret retcons to EVERY shrine, silly!!!”

I also feel like we got ripped off from experiencing the in-world justifications for the stuff in IRL Norse mythology I was looking forward to the storytellers clarifying. Cool we figure out how Jormangandur is “born” of Loki, but the ouroboros notion of Ragnarok isn’t ever explained. They even joke during an end-game boat ride story: “How did that big snake recognize you?! Must be time travel or something?!?!?!?” Remember that boar from last game? Remember that squirrel runic companion? We forgot we kinda wanted to flesh them out so as long as we joke about the meta it’s cool to add them back.

Odin at first is so fascinating because his clever conniving villainy is just…….systemic capitalism. THATS a smart way to address his traditional anti-hero/noble-villain status in mythology. But if I slice Elon Musk in half with a hammer, an entire realm whose singular economy is based off exploitative industrial slave labor isn’t really free from the tyranny of their own societal structure. I guess in a sense, Kratos killing Zeus/Odin and destroying the realms of gods in both Olympus/Asgard helps explain our current non-magical, non-god-driven secular reality. But that’s not the theme or goal of these games, narratively. Ragnarok always felt inevitable, but never necessary.

Odin asks so many interesting ethical questions about the meaning of godhood SEPARATE from its impact on the life of a generic mortal. His answers to moral quandaries never felt manipulative or dark-sided: in fact I think he and Kratos always gave Atreus two sides of the same advice. However it felt like every time we jumped back to Kratos & Freya insisting on Odin’s villainy, the writers never gave them enough justification to counteract his sound logic. We start to touch on the question of “what toll does Machiavellian decision-making take on the psyche of a god, and how does the psyche handle when traditional morality is off the table?” Kratos is directly allowed to do MAJOR morally dubious things through a constant lens of protagonist favor. “Open your heart to their suffering” because Kratos Is Main Character so all destruction is sacrifice worth the cost. ODIN IS BADGUY BECAUSE WE NEED TO HAVE FINAL BOSS BATTLE!!!!!

Remember in the post-game of the original how Fimbulwinter reskinned the entire hub world in response to Ragnarok approaching? Well even though we make a BIG deal about how all realms have their own unique seasonal weather affectations, the END of Ragnarok doesn’t actually cosmetically affect any of the realms in the reverse direction after the final battle. There’s nothing new or interesting to see in any realm (even though this would have been the coolest way to motivate players to go back and explore) but hey you can FOLLOW THE PATH BACKWARDS AND OPEN ONE OR TWO MORE TREASURE CHESTS! Some of that ouroboros sci-fi logic would have been perfect here: pieces of Asgard blocking major pathways from the start of the game that were actually a result of the final battle. That mirror-logic already exists in other cool ways: Memir comments on how the stories of Jotenheim say the landscape is SO BEAUTIFUL, but that “legendary beauty” is really a fungal overgrowth of decaying bodies of (literal) giants. The Mother Forge is an underwater mermaid because “the essence of a thing isn’t the same as the reality of a thing.” That’s not a logic applied to the entirety of the world-building, only when it’s convenient.

When the game breaks off to solo Atreus play, I was pumped to experience how every single character was going to get unique play style. Instead they just all end up as reskins of Original Boy. This isn’t an insane issue, but it only ever felt like I was adventuring with Brok/Sindri/Freya because we wanted to have some sidebar dialogue, not because the gameplay necessitated new skills or unique puzzles.

When I played the original, there were moments that floored me artistically and changed the way I think about video games as a medium. I know some of my lofty expectations come from comparing this dev cycle to unhealthy industry practices of others. Yes GOW Ragnarok is a really really really clean and solid experience. But if we’re complaining that to Assassins Creed and franchises that push out “unfinished product only considered a finished AAA game once 3 DLC packs are released 3 years later,” then TBH Ragnarok is admittedly pretty anemic overall in comparison. Maybe I’m the issue with the industry, but there wasn’t really enough of a significant shift in scope, gameplay, or narrative/cinematics for me to think of this installment as anything but “a continuation of existing digital assets rearranged to wrap up a masterpiece that we didn’t feel like bloating into a trilogy.”

I think we’re going to get some extra gameplay out of Atreus. I do believe this is Santa Monica’s end with Kratos: I think Sony let them put him to bed. We’ll either get a third game in the “Valhalla series” that’s focused on Loki/Tyr (and will HOPEFULLY follow up on the non-Norse Gods of War & expanded locations hinted at in the 2018 game) for a true epic reboot a la 2018, OR they’ll poop out one more existing realm’s worth of DLC and give us 5 minutes of Faye as a Kratos re-skin DLC to wrap up this cycle.

#gow ragnarok #reviews #long post

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crystalelemental · 2 years

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Unit Viability Speculation - Courtney

Oh look, they do add villain team admins. Well, they do if they have an unexpected following. Seriously, why is Courtney so popular? I get that the design is cute, but I can’t remember anything about Courtney. I heard something about “adorably autistic” but you’re playing Pokemon bro, they’re all autistic, what makes Courtney any different? I dunno, maybe I’m just being harsh because we’ve gone through Team Rocket and Team Galactic without adding anyone, and we’re now only getting Courtney without the other Magma and Aqua admins, but this doesn’t feel great. I’m really not that excited, I’d probably skip if it weren’t for her being general pool and easy to access, but honestly if gems are tight, maybe I just skip anyway since I don’t really care about he-

IS THAT GROUND ZONE?!

So yeah, Ground Zone Courtney, in the general pool, very normal thank you DeNA. Honestly, I support this 100%. Not to be the way I am constantly, but I always felt a bit pissy about how Zones were introduced as PokeFair or MasterFair exclusive abilities. Weather effects are on commons and story units, while Terrains were introduced through the general pool. Why did Zones need to be locked to limited availability? It’s not like these types were all that much better with their multiplier. Maybe Ghost, given Shauntal and Agatha’s potential, and definitely Grass given the combo Sun/Terrain bonuses. But why was Bug limited? There aren’t really good Bugs anywhere but maybe Alder. That could easily have been a general pool addition. I dunno, it’s a small thing, but it bugs me because I’m like this.

My point being, no type had more justification for being general pool than Ground. We have three other options: Hapu (no), Clay (maybe after grid), and Bertha (considered the weakest general pool addition this year). This was needed, and it’s helpful. But to cut straight to the chase, how good is Courtney at actually supporting these Ground-type damage dealers?

Good, but not great. Her utility outside of Ground Zone is debuffing, and guys. Guys, you will never guess what combination of stats Courtney debuffs. You could never imagine what stats she drops. It’s Defense and Speed! DeNA, this is the third time you’ve shown Def/Spd debuffers in class this week. Her sync nuke powers up with her defense being raised, which is an odd choice but sure. She also gets Team Sentry Entry and Towering Force, which is great for the sync. She also gets Trip Up 4 on Bulldoze for a potential -2 to speed, and has built-in Defense Crush. This is where Courtney’s problems need to be addressed.

Defense Crush is only Defense Crush 2, until she mega evolves, at which point it’s Defense Crush 9. This...hurts. A lot. Speed debuffs are effectively useless outside of multipliers, and no one among Ground types, barring Clay’s potential Cakewalk on grid, needs them. But Defense debuffs? Those are absolutely massive for any Ground-type damage dealer, because they all benefit from it. Every Ground-type damage dealer is physical. But to reliably access them, she needs to hog first sync, and get those debuffs rolling. To incentivize this, they added a passive on grid that summons Ground Zone after her first sync. That’s great! Sets the Zone for your team and frees up energy from MPR. ...where is MPR? Oh, she doesn’t have it. Okay, cool. You can make the argument that MPR on Zones isn’t strictly necessary, and you’re technically correct, but in Gauntlet it’s still nice to have. You don’t really want to be without the multipliers at a critical moment. Moreover, Courtney wants to sync immediately for Defense Crush 9, but may not want to use that extra application of Ground Zone right away, to say nothing of how it can interfere with her own sync damage if you choose to conserve an MP and not set it pre-sync. This is a pretty rough issue, and it’s one shared by Winona. Although I’d almost be willing to argue that Winona’s broad utility is more consistent than Courtney’s. Aggravation Air Slash actually has a use, and you can conserve Winona’s sync to set Rain later on, or run an ally like SS Kris to set Rain for her sync. Courtney is the only user of Ground Zone, she has no such reprieve.

Now, obviously, Ground Zone is dead in the water for F2P until Clay and/or Hapu get grids. Hopefully good ones. Bertha appreciates it alright, as long as she has support for her physical attack. This is fine because Courtney admittedly also wants to just let someone else buff. Someone like Sonia, who can cap attack, defense, and crit in three actions. SS Giovanni and Maxie obviously just want the Zone. They’re so absurdly powerful on their own that it barely matters what else Courtney can do. If she hits a defense crush, great. Otherwise, it’s not important.

The real money is Cynthia/Ingo support. Cynthia has a ton of Sandstorm based multipliers, and Ingo is the ideal complementary buffer, giving not just Sandstorm, but rapid attack, crit, and eventually speed buffs. But even with all that, Cynthia’s damage output is nowhere near where you’d want it to be. Enter Ground Zone. Now Cynthia has damage behind her attacks. Better still, Cynthia’s mega evolution isn’t strictly necessary. It’s a 20% boost to move damage under Sandstorm and increased physical attack, but you could easily let Courtney take a sync to auto-set Zone, and Cynthia legitimately will not care. This makes the comp pretty reliable in getting to Defense Crush consistently, which further improves Cynthia’s damage output. And because it’s all AoE, Cynthia has an absolute field day with this. This is actually a great combination that, while a bit slow, actually works for Cynthia. Thank god. Girl needed so much help.

On the whole, Courtney is...good. Definitely good. I think she’s kinda limited in her functional utility, but Ground Zone, for the most part, carries its weight. If you spend on gems, I’d have a hard time recommending against the 7500 gem investment for a guaranteed EX copy of Courtney for the utility alone.

But, like a lot of things this update, the most exciting aspect isn’t the unit, but the implication of future occurrences. Ground Zone is real. They didn’t assume Sandstorm was sufficient as “the Ground type field effect.” Meaning they likely won’t do the same for Rock and Ice. Rock and Ice Zones are very possible, and that? That is worth getting excited over.

#pokemon masters #unit viability speculation #courtney

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dreaming-marchling · 1 month

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Candle rollerskate juicebox dice mushroom planet candy tooth icecream tomato bug flower

on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

I think I'd have to go 5. Dead center because I really love the first like 15 times I read something lol. I re-read my writing a LOT in preparation for posting. So that initial edit when it's all really fresh and then later when I'm making it all cohesive to make sure it matches with the way the story flows is great. Then it gets really miserable and tedious. The final read through before I post is like dragging myself through mud.

describe your latest wip with five emojis

🌿🐻🐍🔒🌧️

share some personal lore you never posted about before

I don't talk about books much but I'm a huge reader outside of fics too. Like I own hundreds of books.

what stops you from writing more in your free time?

I have a hard time focusing. Fighting the "I feel emotionally blah, I'm just going to mindlessly scroll" thing is a battle some days.

share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

I've not written it (yet) but I have kind of endless daydreams about Magnus using Pandemonium as an informal court for the warlocks (or just Downworlders in general but technically it's meant for the warlocks he leads) to bring him issues/requests. And then on nights when Alec is with him, this powerful Shadowhunter just drapes himself on Magnus, sits in his lap, sitting on the floor at his feet and laying his head on Magnus' leg... just not having to put on his Leader face and letting himself be Magnus' instead. Maybe only on Downworld night? And the Downworlders are unsure of how to take this but Magnus is very "he's surprisingly cuddly *shrug*" about it

name three good things going on in your life right now

I have two wonderful cats who make my home happier, I finally bought a new mattress (it's glorious) and though I'm dealing with some crap at work I do have a job that is not bad and allows me financial stability

post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

I think this was the popular opinion and then the tide has since turned but I continue to loathe Nesta from the Court of Thorns and Roses series. The main justification after all those pages was like "you can't hate her, she hates herself" but like no, I can totally continue to hate her.

share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

Steam a cut up head of cauliflower, slowly roast 5 to however many garlic cloves as you want in a few tablespoons of butter (or oil), combine, season, thin with a little water (especially pasta water if going on pasta) and then blend in a food processor for like a decade. Literally walk away and start cleaning up your kitchen. Blend until you worry for the motor. It'll transform into the fluffiest creamiest garlicky "alfredo" sauce that won't break and get all greasy when you reheat later. Great for batch cooking that requires reheating.

name three good things about a character you hate

Jonathan in Shadowhunters: It wasn't his fault really, he loved Clary, his little move while he was activating Clary and Jace's runes was super smooth

give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing

I need to understand and internalize the difference between lay and lie. I can't forever go off what sounds right in my head and defying spellcheck. I'm sure some reader is like BITCH YES PLEASE lol

add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

“I will.” She promised. He hated dumping so much on her. Lying to the police, having to take care of Brian in the aftermath of something so major without him, calling everyone and having to tell their family and the team what had gone down… This was a lot to ask anyone.

They had no choice. Dom trusted her. He trusted her so fucking much.

do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

Unfortunately I am a weirdo who likes to keep all photographic evidence of my life off the internet but I do have 2 awesome cats. A tortie girl and a black boy who are littermates. They're 3 now. She never shuts up and he squeaks. She demands I wiggle the string constantly, he's literally got an anxiety disorder that in the last year has really let up its grip on him and he's like blossoming. They're great little monsters.

Thank you for asking!

#My Writing

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