spellsandcircuits

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Karlach sketch. I might draw them all eventually. The order isn’t based on how much I love the characters. They’re all amazing. (But Karlach would definitely be first if it were.)

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Update on the Casefile #143 campaign

We have now completed both sessions 0 and session 1 of this campaign! I don't think I realized how nervous I was until we actually started but even then I was able to get through all my notes and my players did amazing.

Somehow they've managed to take better notes than I had on the session but we love to see committed players.

I put together a lot of visuals and story synopses/written elements. I'm wondering if I should share those things here (with my players permission, of course). It would be nice to have a running archive of it all.

Not only have I not DM'd a game of D&D but I also haven't played in a game of D&D in almost two years

But did I let that stop me from volunteering to run a homebrew campaign themed around Stray Kids for my discord group?

Absolutely not.

Chan wouldn't want me to hold myself back from greatness

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Karlach cosplay from Baldur's Gate 3

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Cosplayer: The Puddins’ Cosplay

Instagram: nessy.fox

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There's this interesting thing thats happening more often the more I unmask. I started masking very early in life so majority of the time in conversation I would just mirror what the other person was saying or say nothing until recently.

The good ole "don't speak unless you're spoken to and even if you are spoken to, don't speak" situation

But now that I'm unmasking and trying to be more authentic (whatever the fuck that means), I'm finding myself saying "the wrong thing" to people. I don't have specific memories of doing this as a kid but I can see it clearly now. When I say something and someone just stares at me and I realize "oh no, I fucked up again, didn't I?"

Now that I'm feeling this at 31, I can only imagine what 6 year old me felt.

I get it now.

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Take Two: Me and You

Divination Wizard Tav x Karlach

Word Count: 545

Who knew the snapping of such a small twig could sound like a thousand drums all banging in Sajora’s head at once. Her eyes widened in fear as Karlach, wreathed in flames, whipped her head around and watched the wizard with wild eyes.

Sajora failed to steady her breathing; she’d dreamed of this before. A moment in time where she startled Karlach just as she’d lost control. Sajora never woke up from that dream.

Perhaps it was the way her hands trembled at her sides, or the fear bubbling up her throat that made her eyes burn with tears. Either way, Karlach’s flames died down and her expression softened.

“You don’t look like a Paladin… or a Blade…��� she murmured, scanning Sajora’s dingy wizard robes.

She shook her head, not daring to speak just yet.

Karlach frowned. “Ah hell, you looked terrified. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I-” she sighed heavily and looked to the sky. “Did you fall out of that ship too?”

Sajora bit her lip. She’d rehearsed this many times before but lying was not her strong suit. She had always been the one who told the truth, even when others wanted the gentle caress of lies. But in this case, she had no choice but to lie to Karlach in order for them both to make it out alive.

When Sajora nodded silently, she felt acid pool in her stomach.

Starting off by lying to your soulmate, huh? You’re doing exceptionally well in this run, aren’t you?

Her mind hissed at her and she fought the urge to sneer back.

Instead, Sajora took in a deep breath to steady herself. She really didn’t have a choice here. What could she tell Karlach?

Oh, me? No, I didn’t fall from that ship. I don’t have a brain eating tadpole in my head either. But what I do have is an undying love for you and a soul that sees into every timeline imaginable. And I know that there are more realities where you don’t make it out of this alive than you do. And I know I can’t let that happen again.

“Shit… I didn’t think they’d take someone as small and soft as you. What the hell kind of army were they trying to make?” Karlach laughed, trying to ease the tension with humor. As she always had.

Sajora’s heart felt safer in Karlach’s presence and within a few moments, the acid in her stomach eased to a slightly nauseous sensation. At least she was no longer in danger of losing her footing… or her head based on the way Karlach’s hand had gone for her greataxe.

“We’d better shove off and try to find a way to get this thing out of our heads, yeah? I hear they move quick so we’d better be quicker.” Karlach’s tone was cheery, her feet light, but Sajora had spent enough lifetimes beside Karlach to sense the anxiety brewing beneath her horns.

“Wait.” Sajora finally croaked, falling in step behind Karlach. “My name is Sajora.”

Karlach stopped short and turned to the drow with furrowed brows. “Sajora…” she murmured before nodding, satisfaction on her tongue. “I’m Karlach!” she smiled.

Sajora nodded and smiled back.

I know.

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reasons why i relate to tav, the main character from baldurs gate 3:

shouldn’t have wished to live in more interesting times.

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Karlach - Sun🧡 tarot card for @bg3tarotdeck I also have BlueSky now!

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The God frowns. "You truly forsake your divine duty for a dalliance with mortals?" The once shimmering light has now turned to sparks bouncing off the their ethereal form. The heated energy causes ripples of anxiety to roll through her stomach.

"You cannot forget that I am now mortal, too." She says, her voice failing to stay steady.

"That is by choice." The God hisses. "You make that choice. You can undo that choice."

The outlines of energy begin to soften as they fade from the mortal plane with one final warning:

"Desertion of divine duty is punishable by death. But I believe you may suffer more from eternal life."

“Are you sure?” The god asks. “Yes. As much as I’d love to go, I won’t leave my family to go on some magical adventure.”

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BANG CHAN — dominATE Toronto (250629)

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Not only have I not DM'd a game of D&D but I also haven't played in a game of D&D in almost two years

But did I let that stop me from volunteering to run a homebrew campaign themed around Stray Kids for my discord group?

Absolutely not.

Chan wouldn't want me to hold myself back from greatness

[spellsandcircuits]

Diary of a 12th House Moon

July 23rd, 2025

The Moon offers only hushed whispers as The Sun takes the stage. But remember the saying: behind every great man is a great woman.  Let The Sun take stage but always let your Moon lead.

Today's Tarot:

Judgement - Reflection, Awakening, Purpose, and Renewal

Moon in Cancer Aspects:

Conjunct Jupiter in Cancer

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Astrology Lesson

🪞How to Know If a Transit Is Meant to Change You or Reveal You

Not everything that shakes you is here to break you. Some winds arrive only to blow the dust off your reflection. There are transits that dismantle your life like a storm uprooting trees; obvious, undeniable, unmissable. And then there are transits that shift the lens, not the landscape. They don’t crash through your doors. They stand at the window and ask: have you looked closely lately?

Astrology teaches us that time is not linear, but we forget that change isn’t either. Some transits build the earthquake. Others simply echo a fault line that’s been rumbling under your skin for years.

So how do you know which is which?

✦ 1. Transits That Change You:

These are the ones that reroute your timeline. The big ones. The ones that move events into form. You lose the job. You meet the person. You leave the home. You become the version of you who cannot unsee what they saw.

These transits often come from:

Outer planet squares and oppositions (Uranus, Pluto, Saturn)

Eclipses on personal points

Conjunctions to angles (ASC, IC, MC, DSC)

Return cycles (Saturn return, Nodal return)

They can feel:

Fated

Chaotic

Necessary

Disorienting at first, but clarifying in hindsight

🔥 Examples:

Pluto square Moon: your emotional survival patterns fall apart so you can finally build intimacy from truth, not fear.

Uranus conjunct Venus: your entire template for love and pleasure gets disrupted. A new desire awakens.

Solar eclipse on your Ascendant: a sudden opportunity or crisis that shifts your identity. You can’t return to who you were.

These transits arrive like thunder. They come to cut cords, not to comfort you.

But what they give you, clarity, power, authenticity, is something you couldn’t have reached on your own.

✦ 2. Transits That Reveal You:

These are quieter, not less important, just less external. They come with a whisper, a memory, a moment of stillness that changes everything. These transits don’t make things happen. They ask you to see what’s already happening and admit it.

They often come in the form of:

Trines and sextiles from outer planets

Mercury or Venus retrogrades

Transits through cadent houses (3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th)

Long-term Neptune or Saturn aspects that evolve slowly over time

Progressed Moon on an angle or to the natal Moon

They tend to stir:

Self-awareness

Emotional maturity

Clarity around old patterns

A return to something forgotten

🕯 Examples:

Neptune sextile Mercury: you suddenly understand why you've always told stories a certain way and you begin to rewrite them.

Saturn trine Moon: you stop explaining your feelings and start honoring them, even if no one understands.

Mercury retrograde in your 4th house: you find an old photo or letter and everything clicks. The past isn’t haunting you. It’s informing you.

These are the transits that open the door but only if you’re willing to walk through it.

✦ 3. How to Tell Which One You're In:

Ask yourself:

Is something outside me shifting (circumstances, people, events)? → likely a changing transit.

Or is something inside me becoming clearer (thoughts, emotions, realizations)? → likely a revealing transit.

Look at the planet and its nature:

Pluto, Uranus, Saturn — demand transformation.

Neptune, Mercury, Venus — ask for reflection.

Look at the houses:

1st, 4th, 7th, 10th — tend to affect outer life and identity.

3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th — tend to stir the mental/emotional/spiritual layers.

✦ 4. Why This Distinction Matters

Because not every feeling of tension means something is going wrong. Some feelings are just the undoing of old defenses. Some discomfort is just clarity finally catching up with you. If you mistake a revealing transit for a crisis, you might try to fix something that was never broken. And if you treat a changing transit like just another phase, you may miss the moment to act with courage.

✦ 5. A New Way to Hold Transits

Let your chart be a conversation, not a script. Let the transits be invitations, not punishments. When you feel the shift coming, ask:

What am I being asked to feel?

What part of me wants to resist?

What version of me might be emerging?

Some transits will set your whole world on fire. Others will simply light one candle in a dark room and you’ll realize the room was always full of truth. Both are valid. Both are powerful. And both, in different ways, bring you home to yourself.

with love, F

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Diary of a 12th House Moon

July 20th, 2025

An internal rebirth allows for grounded dreams to take flight; Expect turbulence but don't stop.

Moon in Gemini Aspects:

Conjunct Uranus in Gemini

Sextile Saturn & Neptune in Aries

Trine Pluto in Aquarius & Mars in Virgo

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Post Saturn Return Reflection

Post Saturn Return life is so weird

I wasn't sure what to expect when Saturn left Pisces because of what I learned when Saturn was in it, but I'm in this time period where the tower has fallen but the star feels so far away

I'm surrounded by nothing but rubble and ash. I keep asking what to do but I never get an answer. Thats the point

My Saturn in Pisces is Opposite my Chiron in Virgo. There is no right answer. There is no perfection and that eats me up everyday

Because now who am I without external standards of perfection to strive toward?

Pluto is retrograding through my 4th House. I wish I could get a damn break

It's making me face all the reasons why I became a perfectionist in the first place. What/who I was protecting myself from

I keep trying to internalize the idea that "there is no wrong or right, only resonance"

It's starting to stick.. barely...

I can't keep letting fear of being wrong or being judged stop me from living the way I've always wanted

I did everything they said to do but it never worked. It never made me happy & they were never happy with me either

So, I guess we have to try something new.

The period in between the tower falling and being rebuilt high enough to touch the star involves a lot of picking through bricks, sweeping ash, and wiping away the tears that threaten to blur the vision

But I'm doing it.

Brick by boring brick

Because I'll be damned if I waste another 30 years on another false tower.

Maybe I don't do it "right" this time either, but I am gonna do it my way.

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To Dream Without Drowning

When Saturn and Neptune dance with the child of Mars, we cling for dear life as the ship of our dreams sets sail. Along the way we must learn to navigate the choppy seas of Aries.

Saturn and Neptune are battling in the arena of Aries right now and this particular combination gives the vibe of a chained animal.

Only the animal is me and my Piscean daydreams running rampant.

Aries is raw power and aggression. It's passion. It's an intensity that's easy to get lost in if you aren't careful. And if there's anything Neptune likes to do, it's cook up the thickest fog you can imagine. While throwing in some of the most tempting illusions that may have you thinking you're running into the embrace of your future— only to find yourself broken nosed and bloodied when you connect with a brick wall.

Enter: Saturn.

Dear Saturn, fallen in Aries, gripping the reins of Neptune as she threatens to leap from the S.S. Sanity chugging toward a flickering lighthouse.

Let's be real about it— Saturn is the wall.

Saturn who is struggling with his own impulse control, feeling frayed at the edges. He has to keep it together or else nothing gets done, nothing changes, and nothing lasts.

The child of Mars isn't one to be chained without a fight. In fact, the more you try, the more his Martian DNA kicks in as he gnaws at the shackles around his feet. He doesn't care that he'll soon run out of steam. He demands liberation and he’s willing to break his teeth trying.

Aries lends a force to the fantasy; he brings a fire that can carry Neptune's dreams across the seas surface. But a force without direction is chaos in motion.

In order to get to the shore, these two must find balance. Saturn must loosen his grip on reality and allow himself to ponder possibility. While Neptune must tighten it by grounding her dreams in tangible action, not just smoke and mirrors. Clinging to realism can be just as damaging as clinging to idealism. But without one, the other becomes nothing.

Without the romanticism of Neptune, Saturn has nothing to strive for. Without the structure and discipline of Saturn, Neptune's dreams will never take flight.

This transit invites you to stop clinging to extremes — to realism or idealism — and meet yourself in the tension between. Let Aries' fire inspire your movement but give it a container.

The blaze of dreams needs direction, discipline, and hope in equal measure.

Thank you for spending time in the Celestial Playground! We hope you enjoyed.

This space has been created as a devotion to clarity, connection, and the joy of translating stars into stories.

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