#I like adaptations and the hard choices they create for writing

[grandwitchbird]

Like most book readers, I have thoughts on the Witcher games’ adaptive choices.

I probably hate Triss and consequently her role in those games more than average. I’ve got nothing good to say about that choice. It’s the closest I come to agreeing with book purists that the devs fundamentally misunderstood something about these stories.

Amnesia plots are also ridiculous. But I think what we see in 2-3 is active acknowledgment and a sincere attempt to clean up the mess. So not a lot to say there. It creates problems the writers find ways to largely solve so we can get back to Ciri.

I don’t hate the Nilfgaardian choices. We see plenty of what makes Nilfgaard terrible beyond just Emhyr, and that’s important. Emhyr himself is also transparently a bastard and up to no good. He might be the least worst compared to Radovid, but that’s a low bar and still a debatable one. In 2 alone he and his entire network of ghouls were actively destabilizing the North (that was the entire plot), for all intents and purposes holding Yen captive, and exploiting the Witchers. We know about his betrayal of the Scoia’tael in the same way. It’s actively discussed in the game.

A lot of the criticisms of Nilfgaard’s portrayal come down to wanting the games to smack you over the head with a sign that says ‘empire bad’. Well. The empire is bad. We see that it’s bad. They’re not the worst when it comes to their satellite states but that’s only because this is a world full of kingdoms and those are inherently unstable. We open Witcher 3 to a countryside lined with bodies on pikes and hanged from trees. Because of the empire. The bloody fucking baron is their idea of local leadership.

The fact that Nilfgaard has knock on stabilizing effects and doesn’t allow active pogroms is smart. It’s also not ungrounded at all. Rome did build roads that people use to this day. Persia did foster education and stabilize entire regions. Empires can have some knock on ‘positive’ effects. That’s not the same as ‘empire good’. And Nilfgaard is a well-written empire. In the books and in the games. They’re not a mysterious threat come to steal your women and justify the patriotic nonsense of people like Roche. They’re a culturally advanced political entity with concrete values and goals. They’re bad news with the occasional silver lining. And it’s up to you to decide for yourself if the buckets of blood they shed are more tolerable than the buckets of blood Radovid sheds. It’s one of the smartest uses of player indulgence I’ve seen in a game. They let you choose, truly. And it sucks. Because you’re not the hero and you can’t save this world. It’s also balanced and reinforced as a commentary on player agency vs the cynicism of the setting by the fact that you can help Cerys stabilize Skellige. That’s her story. But you can play a supporting role to a net positive outcome.

Ok Emhyr himself. And the empress ending. This Emhyr is one who’s already come face to face with himself. I think that’s clear. He’s still a terror, but Geralt and Yennefer have watched him stand down from his pursuit of Ciri. I think Yennefer’s dubious alliance with him is tenuous and largely works because of the shifting political landscape of the continent. It’s an attempt to bridge between the end of Lady of the Lake and this game in a concrete way (one that nonreaders won’t even notice). I do not like the empress ending. I do like its inclusion in a perverse way. Do I think there’s any universe where Geralt would tell Ciri to hear out the man who made her life a literal hell and only wants to pawn his problems off on her? Of course not. And it’s great because Geralt can say that! If you’ve been paying attention to motivations, Geralt will tell Ciri that Emhyr obviously has plans for her. The only way you get the empress ending is by ignoring every single theme of the game and also all the red flags waving in your face about Emhyr. Over and over this game tells you to listen closely to motivations and to be wary of the powerful. It does smack you over the head with that, particularly if you’re a reader. The bittersweet fairytale framing of that ending should be a red flag in itself. Ciri isn’t going to change these systems from the inside. Emhyr himself is the way he is from existing within these systems. And no I don’t care about the dev’s opinions on it (authors are all dead). In the context of the game, that is a bad ending. And it should be.

I am sympathetic to people who haven’t read the books having to deal with the issues of the political plot. The problem for those players isn’t something as silly as ‘not like book’. Again, you open this game with bodies on pikes. Empire BAD. But Radovid is the literal worst. And we want him dead. And the other alternative is a crime lord who lost his grip on reality for a sec and decided to try to kill us and our bro if we don’t let him just kill said bro in front of us. And that’s all a game-only person knows. This isn’t bad writing* either so much as it’s the casualty of pretty normal dev issues. Like we can see that in game. And this is where I’m sympathetic. The cut threads in the political plot are highly visible. Even people who have no idea who Djikstra is or why the Scoia’tael matter or why Roche is our pal even if he is kind of a cop have spotted those cut threads. It’s very much like the truncated arc for the aldecaldos in cyberpunk 2077. You can see the edges where things had to be trimmed early on just to get the game finished. That’s an issue separate to bad writing. More of a planning and management problem and near inevitable** with games this ambitious. It’s why you don’t see any of those problems in the DLCs with their more contained stories.

And a final note. I’ve been talking about rp for a Geralt who is in character from the novels as a rule. You can make the other choices and a story emerges where he’s either hardened or changed from the books into someone who doesn’t listen. Someone who doesn’t respect all these very competent women or show awareness of motivation. And the outcomes for that are. Not great. Famously they lead to the ending most of the gamer bros got and then cried about for years. They still provide a satisfying narrative that fits that rp. And that’s a feat. It’s good RP value.

*Djikstra, I’d argue isn’t so much written out of character here as he is a bit of a casualty. This plot is banking on you just being more attached to one character or another. Geralt IS out of character because he wouldn’t have gotten involved in the plot at all. There’s a metatextual thing happening where the game gives players what they want (real world-changing choices and a chance to play the regicidal rebellious hero) and then makes a point about it. YMMV. I think it’s funny.

Also, I think the shape of this plot, had cdpr continued to workshop the Scoia’tael side, would have had Djikstra in more of a corner with both Roche/Iorveth as loose ends he had to deal with. But that didn’t happen alas. Project management casualties suck.

**The exceptions are notably Sony projects like god of war and whatever kojima gets up to now. Most devs do not have that kind of stability working for them.

[fir-fireweed]

Ok, I’ve delved into Twine Sugarcube a little and I’ve had some revelations I feel the need to share.

1. Sugarcube is the devil. I mean that in the nicest way possible. I thought I was coding before… nope! I’m going to learn it anyway because the breadth of stuff I can do is amazing and worth it, but holy hells is this hard. Which leads me to number 2…

2. My fellow IF authors who use Sugarcube, you are now like gods to me. Massive respect for you. 👊 Seriously, the time and effort it takes to create a story in this, and to do it so seamlessly as many of you do, is mind boggling.

3. I don’t feel I’ve given enough credit to Chapbook. You’ve seen me talk about the lack of a save system. But for a shorter story like Viatica (currently at 155k words with Rebellion ending and coding) I don’t feel it’s a massive deal breaker. It also has no easy way to display stats or inventory or a codex. I had to jerry rig my own stats passage.

But what it does well, it does exceptionally well. Chapbook is a complete out-of-the-box format and requires no previous CSS or HTML experience. It automatically formats everything for you, headers, footers, the adaptability to be read on any device, it’s all there. There is no style sheet to create, no Java script. The biggest challenge is coding choices and variables, but even then Chapbook comes with an easy to read guide that spells out everything you can possibly need. I would also be happy to answer questions or share screenshots of what I’ve done. If you’ve been wanting to try your hand at IFs but the idea of coding is daunting, you can use Chapbook. If you want to focus on the writing, your craft, and don’t have the time or inclination to heavily code, you can use Chapbook. If you’ve never coded a damn thing in your life and think CSS stands for “can’t style shit”, YOU CAN USE CHAPBOOK!

In conclusion, Sugarcube is evil incarnate, but I’m going to learn it anyway. Hail, Satan. Chapbook is mercy incarnate. Thank you, my lord and savior. And if you’re a newcomer and on the fence at all, I encourage you to give Chapbook a try. Say it with me… you can do it. 🤗

[zaebucca]

About scale, process, palette and canvas: a few considerations on pixel art as a medium

User moredogproblems answered an interesting and legitimate question by another, DiscountEarly125, regarding my work and canvas size. He also perfectly isolated two central concepts of pixel art, which are scale and process. Canvas size, which was the theme of DiscountEarly125's specific request, is more of a dependent variable to those two aforementioned concepts, rather than a starting point. I hope the following considerations I shared may help or prompt some other ideas, but this is what I could come up with 15-ish years of experience with pixel art (and a few more years of art and media studies). I was quite in the mood of writing down these few thoughts that have been floating for a while. I apologize as this may also result in a confusing wall of text, but it is all part of a my work and research, and I would love to polish all the material, hopefully with some thoughts, insights from other colleagues, as well as pictures and materials!

A. Scale and canvas size It is true that the bigger the canvas, the more distance one may visually create from pixel art, but I personally think this is to be possibly considered a matter of perceiving pixels, rather than a fundative problem of the medium. In fact I concur with the idea of "process makes the medium" rather than identifying pixel art as how (evidently) pixeled the result feels. The general picture, or the sum of pixels, though, is a really important matter to the medium nonetheless! Pixels themselves work in relation one with another, so it's their overall result that gives context and makes the subject recognizable. This relationship between pixels links back to all the art fundamentals that each artist is taught, from color theory to shape and composition - and so on. So, the canvas size debate usually boils down to a matter of scale or necessity of your subjects. As long as the dimension (canvas) of your subject (as in: a drawing of an apple, a character sprite, a mockup environment) allows you to operate, control and keep an eye on the quantity (number/area of pixels together) and quality (color, shaping of multiple pixels, texturing obtained through color and shapes) of isolated single pixels or pixeled areas, you're in the pixel art universe. The other way around to define the matter of scaling: in order to be operating pixel art fundamentals and techniques, your subject has to be on a scale that allows you to apply principles of pixel art within the space of your canvas and your personal style. These very same principles, or basics, can be applied with different results and extent to bigger and smaller canvases alike, each with their own specific difficulties and variables. It is important to adapt your scale when learning, and trying classic canvases per subject like "16x16px" (standard tile or character sprite unit, tied to older consoles and screen ratios, it's a bit complicated there) is always a nice idea - they also tend to be industry benchmarks and necessities so in case you'd like to consider a professional output, that's very useful.

Scale also applies to the array of colors, and there lies the concept of palette: a number of single hexadecimal hues we are using for each single pixel. Any single pixel can have one hexadecimal color only.

Consequentially it is absolutely true that either a huge canvas or a palette too broad may prevent a viewer from perceiving immediately the "nature" of your medium, namely seeing square pixels, recognizing a certain amount of color - or more thoroughly recognizing that you made some choices for each subject on a pixel level. What could possibly happen on a huge canvas (without zooming in) is that you can't really grasp the pixels, but just the "overall picture" - and that may not differ too much from digital, raster art, which is of course also based on pixels. Therein appearently lies a sort of threshold that is really hard to pin down for us pixel artists, as it depends on screen size, visualization methods, distance, filters and lots of other inherently subjective parts.

This kinda is my case sometimes: I make big environments (possibly too big, and too detailed in each part I tell myself) that are a sum of many lesser parts: both tilesets and sprites that relate (but not strictly adhere) to a basic space unit that is 16x16pixels. You can indeed consider scale in a broader sense as a subdivision or magnification issue, much alike squinting your eyes to focus on a picture's overall contrast or, conversely, analyzing its fundamental parts with a magnifying glass, and then a microscope - an analogy as follows:

a. the picture as a whole is like a colorful rock that you can analyze by magnifying its grain. b. the characters, geographical elements and textures, works like the different substances that compose the rock and give its visible characteristics grain and complexity, c. single pixels constitute the very atoms of those previously recognized substances.

I mean "atom" in the traditional, classical meaning of indivisible, fundative object. That's a "quantized" part of information, which for pixel art is ultimately color (or a binary value, like yes/no black/white). If you were, for example, to crop some parts of my work - let's say 160x144 pixels (a gameboy screen resolution in pixels) you would see the substances that are characters and elements of nature, and when you zoom in again, every atom becomes visible as a single entity of color. There are 29 different type of "atoms" in Ruin Valley as in different, singularly hexadecimal colors that work together in different combinations and shapes to create different substances and characters. 18 of them are used for the different qualities of the environment, and 11 more for extra hues for characters and other elements to pop out a bit.

It's really interesting to see how many pixel artists push this "threshold" of pixel art canvases to the extremely small or the extremely big, whereas, notably, palettes are less open to growth: it is indeed my opinion that pixel art tends to quantize color (quality) over than dimension (quantity). Palettes, notably, do not grow exponentially, but tend to a lower, fixed, controlled amount of individual values instead. This usually gives the artist the true possibility and toolkit through which is possible to think about/with pixels. In other words: color (or its absence) is the founding unit and identity of pixel art as a digital medium.

B. Pixels as process or pixels as objective? Pixels themselves (as strange as that may sound!) are not to be considered an objective of pixel art, I think, but the founding matter of its research as a medium instead. I think that making pixel art is not just devoting oneself to show those jagged, squarey areas or blunt edges that we all know and love: this is just one of the possible aesthetics that pixel art conveys or adopts - especially on small canvases. Pixel art is not about denouncing itself as pixels, but, rather, embracing the square, atomic unit to build an ensemble that conveys a content or a style. That's the important part of the discourse that emancipated pixel art into being a medium, and not just an aesthetic choice or style of representation. Again: process makes this medium. Speaking of that, I consider pixel art as part of a broader family of "quantized art", namely media that operate on/with "indivisible, founding bricks and unities" that can assume a certain quality (color, mainly) within a certain quantity (palette, canvas size) and in relation to its surroundings to describe something. This puts pixel art, with its specifics and with a certain degree of semplification, among other mediums such as cross-stitch, bead art, construction sets, textile art (on a warp and weft basis), (micro-)mosaics and others.

A classic threshold example of process vs objective: oekaki art. Oekaki art - which I love and also happen to make from time to time - doesn't really work or "think" specifically on a pixel base: it doesn't place pixels per se, but uses pixel-based areas and textures on bigger canvases with a certain degree of freedom, like one would normally do with brushes on raster digital art programs (adobe ps, gimp, clip studio and so on) in order to convey an aesthetic with fewer colors and a certain line style and texturing. That way, oekaki uses and knows pixels in a deep way, but doesn't see them primarily in a quantized way. As a result the "overall picture" shows pixels to a certain extent, and it's possible to recognize distinct pixels for each part, but the objective is not an analysis and use of pixel and quantized information, but the use of an aesthetic based upon accessibility of resources, their control and a certain rendering style.

A huge part of pixel art is its absolute accessibility: everyone with a fairly outdated computer or screen and a basic drawing program can study the medium. To be fair, it's indeed considering accessiblity that I highly support an inclusive approach to the term "pixel art" and I think traditional oekaki is a close, beautiful relative that builds upon the rules and techniques of pixel art and pixel rendering, yet keeping its identity as its very own medium - somehow like a dress may be built around/upon textile design. Anyway, boundaries are meant to be crossed and I think there definitely are lots of oekaki and pixel-based art that meet traditional pixel art mid-way - or further. I also think the "is it pixel art?" discourse possibly ensuing - and generally speaking any media belonging purist ontology - is a treacherous, slippery terrain leading to excesses, and this is not my focus today, neither am I able to tackle that subject extensively at the moment.

C. Conclusions and a few good exercises Everything above may be farfetched or too complicated as a starting point. I tried to write all down as orderly as possible. The point of this (possibly discouraging) analysis and the reasoning between scale and process is that (pixel) art is about trying different canvases, and reasoning on one's subject and objective, rather than limiting oneself to presets sizes or styles. It's important to choose something that resonates with us and, in doing so, thinking about other, more interesting limitations: that's the discourse about quantity of space and quality in color. Limiting is the best possible exercise and one I wholeheartedly encourage: by doing so we are progressively delving deeper on the basics, as we learn the fundamental relationships between shapes and colors that we can achieve through pixels. A few good exercises that I too implemented in my own workflow come to mind: 1. Trying different canvases (or sizes) for the same subject (sprite, character art, illustration or so on). This helps a lot finding a comfortable size to apply pixel techniques, as well as getting a hold over fundamentals such as aliasing, linework, conventional representation and so on. 2. Trying different palettes for the same subject, both by varying colors themselves (therefore learning about values and contrast and readability, as well as atmosphere and mood!) or singular hues and their components, in order to discover possible relationship between them. Have fun! 3. Reducing the width of the palette progressively for the same subject: reducing the number of singular colors forces a reasoning on shapes, rapresentation. You may go from 1-bit art (just black/white) to 3 colors, 4, 8 and so on. We'll not talk about transparency as a singular color there, but if you happen to be interested in retro art, transparency counts to the palette size. This exercise is very useful in rendering, and possibly tricky. And definitely fun. :') 4. Choosing an objective and usage of our work: for example trying to learn about old pixel art limitations for games, in order to reason within specifics. Get inspired by traditional games (spriters-resource is your best friend here, in case you have a specific retrogame you're thinking of)! I will probably talk about limitations and style on another post. 5. Four eyes (and other multiples) are better than two: try to talk with people and friends and other artists you trust and feel comfortable with to get their point of view. This can be scary, I know, especially at the beginning. You're not forced to, of course, but if you do (in a safespace) there's lots you can learn about concepts such as readability, subject recognition, rendering and composition. Our eyes and brains get accustomed to something, and pixel art being a rather analytic medium made of synergies, subtle changes, limitations and conventions is especially tricky on the artist's eyes on the long term. Either way, the important thing about pixel art is understanding that this medium is about recognizing and enjoying the process rather than the eventual aesthetic and in order to do so the best choice is to start simple, small, with few colors and techniques at a time! Have fun and hit me up with your progress and considerations. :')

[look-at-the-soul]

A night at Delux

Modern Tommy Shelby

Master list

Author’s notes: This story is for you, in no particular order @zablife @runnning-outof-time @red-riding-wood @teenwolf-theoriginals @justrainandcoffee @brummiereader I’ve had the main idea in my mind for weeks after driving past a luxury restaurant daily, I think it’d still haunt me if I didn’t write this one down lol… anyways I decided to a few names of lovely mutuals. This is a small nod to you all for the amazing work you do and in an attempt to cheer you up or anyone who might need it at the moment. If for whatever reason you feel down, without inspiration, worried, or anything else, know that it will pass. This particular moment that feels like too much won’t last forever ✨I just hope/wish you get what you are looking for. And to anyone else going through anything hard right now, this is for you too!

Ps. Don’t panic the fandom isn’t falling down, I just felt the need to dedicate this story to lovely mutuals to spoil and cheer them up a bit 🤗

Last but not least, extra 🌟 to @blondie-22 for creating this gorgeous moodboard!! 💖

Word count: 3,245

Friday night had been quiet compared to today, it seems like everyone decided to go out on Saturday and go to that club, as if there wasn’t enough options in the city.

Y/N swallowed hard feeling worried, this was her second weekend working at the club and she wanted to give a good first impression and save as much money as possible.

Her other job as secretary paid for the rent and services, but she needed to have this second one on the weekends to support her grandmother and her medicines.

As the hostess, she was requested to wear a total black outfit, so she thought her little black dress was the right choice, it was fitting for her shape, it wasn’t too revealing or short and one of the girls, Red had suggested spraying some lidocaine on her feet to be able to stand all night in those heels. She quickly adapted well to the group of girls that worked there, they were all so nice to her and welcoming.

“Ready? I’ve an amazing list prepared.” Lee, one of the girls walked past her, ready to take her place at the DJ booth.

“Last week was hectic, I’ve a feeling this will be crazier.” Y/N expressed fiddling with the guest list for the night.

“Here, drink this.” Brummie, another of the girls came closer placing a glass next to Y/N. After a week, Y/N learned the reason for that nickname was her strong Brummie accent even after all the years she left the place.

“Go easy on the drinks, she makes them strong.” K chuckled. She was the first one to welcome Y/N into their little girls-gang as they called themselves. The only ladies working in a place owned by men.

“Doors opening in ten.” The manager advised, taking one more look at the place, waiters were ready. “Make tonight a good night everybody.”

Lee started playing the music then, experimenting with some new beats, she mixed a couple of the new hits. Lights down, Y/N took a deep breath, approaching the door.

“They better leave good tips tonight.” Red raised her eyebrows. She was in charge of promos, she was great at convincing people to order another round of shots, or if it was ladies night and they got 2x1 on special drinks.

“We’re in your hands Red.”

“I’ll do my best ladies.” She replied through the device they shared to communicate.

“Alright, it’s about time.” Y/N rolled her neck. “Lee, we’ve a party of six tonight, celebrating a bachelorette, could you include some anthems?”

“Absolutely darl.” Lee then turned up the volume of the music.

“If someone sees that baker, let me know?” Rose appeared then at the bar, she had been hiding in the office, she was in charge of detecting any potential trouble from the monitors.

“Sweetheart, everyone knows he’s not a baker.” Lee informed her, talking about Alfie.

“I haven’t seen him, so I wouldn’t know.” Y/N called from her place.

“Oh he’s just the most handsome man ever.” Rose swooned.

Y/N chuckled, the club would be the last place where she’d find love, she just knew that. Walking towards the door, the guard opened it for her.

She started searching for the name she was given in the guest list. A group of girls wearing exaggerated make up and deep cleavage plus the shortest skirts or dresses where the firsts ones to make it in. She was totally against it, but it was an unwritten rule to let people in, the more skin, the better.

But she wasn’t there to judge anyone, let the girls dress as they preferred, in the end she wasn’t the one getting wasted and dragged in the end of the night to throw up outside. She was there just for the money. Another table was filled by three men, they were older and dressed in button shirts with ripped jeans, as if it was an uniform for them.

Y/N thought how it was funny to try to guess their backgrounds, where they came from and with whom they might leave the club. She was just trying to make the time pass faster.

In no time, the club was packed, but outside there was still a bunch of people trying to make it.

People tried to give Y/N money to get in, some were even rude to her but the guards took charge into the matter and invited them to leave.

“I made a reservation, could you check again?” The young guy requested politely.

Y/N started reading the names again, but by the corner of her eye, she caught someone skipping the line. “Ah, excuse me? Sir?”

The man who was already by the door, turned around slowly, opening the zipper of his jacket. His death stare made Y/N feel a shiver running down her back.

“There’s a line you’ve to make and wait.” Three more men arrived and stared at her with amused expressions. “Name?”

The man blinked and rolled his tongue over his lower lip. “Shelby. But you won’t find my name there, love.” Y/N saw him stopping the three other men with his hand.

“Then you’ll have to wait in the queue.”

For an instant, his expression was so transparent and Y/N knew he was offended.

“I’m sorry, but I’m just following orders.” She apologized and shuddered under his intense blue irises.

“Oi!” One of them, the one with a mustache tried to step closer.

“Arthur, leave it, we’re going to follow this lovely lady’s order and wait.” He then turned to face her again. “Accept a sincere apology for trying to get in.” He then winked.

The well dressed men followed his instructions and stepped back. Then she focused on the next people on the guest list, guiding them inside.

Barely a minute went by when Lucas, the manager grabbed her by the arm, dragging her inside in a blunt movement that made her go alert.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Lucas snapped, spit flying from his mouth. “You left the Shelby brothers outside! The fucking owners of this place.”

Just as Lucas was explaining Y/N her mistake , Tommy walked behind her, with his brothers following his steps.

“That was a first Tommy.” John grinned. “The first woman who doesn’t let you walk in as the owner of the place, and you did nothing.”

John was definitely having fun at Tommy’s expense. Arthur couldn’t help the smirk on his lips, but he tried to hide it behind his hand.

“Yeah, yeah she was only doing her job.” Tommy tried to excuse the hostess.

There was something that took him by surprise and startled him.

“And you walked back to the queue like a dog with the tail between the legs.” John went off again.

Tommy dragged his eyes across the club, he needed to know more about her. So he walked towards the bar.

“The usual Mr. Shelby?” Brummie asked her boss from behind the bar, he always waited to be served at his table.

Slowly, he posed his eyes on her, considering his options. “Please.” He replied then, clearing his throat.

“Here you go, I’ll take the other drinks up in a second.”

“Thank you.” With a nod, he turned his back at her and slowly strolled across the club. Although he had security, he always checked his surroundings.

After a while, he found the manager. “Lucas, come here.” Patting him on the back, Tommy asked him about the hostess, she was just passing by in that very moment, but Tommy noticed the quick glance she threw at him.

“Again, I’m sorry it happened Mr. Shelby, she’s new but it won’t repeat.”

“No problem.” He added calmly. “What do you know about her?”

Lucas shook his head, he didn’t care about the staff personal life. “Not much, but I’ll investigate her.”

In that moment, Tommy’s eyes found her, arms linked with the girl in charge of the checking the credit cards records.

“Damn it, I made a huge mistake, I’m so so done.” Y/N cried in a low voice. Worry written all over her face.

“What did you do?” Rose squeezed her shoulder.

“I didn’t know it was him.” She babbled. “I asked Mr. Shelby and his brothers to wait in line for their turn to get a fucking table.” Y/N explained over the music.

Rose stared at her for a split second and then bursted into an incontrolable laugh. “No you didn’t!”

“I did Rose! I did… and now he’s going to fire me.”

But she kept laughing. Trying to take a deep breath she sent their chat group a message urging the other girls to meet in the back.

You’re not gonna believe what Y/N did, she’s a hero! - she announced proudly.

“I can’t imagine the face he put on, must’ve gone like a stone.” Rose pinched her arm playfully.

Lee programmed a couple of songs to play automatically, Brummie left the bartender in charge while she claimed a quick bathroom trip. Red rushed the guys on the table to pay her for their drinks and tip.

As the group gathered in the back, they we waiting eager to hear what had happened.

“Our newest friend here, made the boss wait in line to get a table.” Rose announced ceremonially, pointing at Y/N.

She wasn’t trying to make fun of her, just trying to have a moment to relax.

Y/N groaned mortified, she kept shaking her head. Overthinking of what would happen.

“Nice way to get the Shelby’s attention.” Red pointed at Y/N with a smile, enjoying the teasing.

“Can we ask for the CCTV footage?” K asked. “I want to see him in the line.”

“I was looking for you,” Isiah one of the blinders appeared suddenly, “ladies how are you doing? Y/N… Mr. Shelby wants to see you.”

A chorus of ohhh’s from the girls filled the space.

Then, the girls started cheering on her.

“There she goes.” K sighed.

“Do you think she’s in trouble?” Lee looked around the group.

“Well it depends…” Red crossed her arms. “Hopefully he’s in a good mood.”

“I doubt it to be honest.” Rose raised an eyebrow skeptically. “But maybe she knows how to tame the beast.”

“Oh oh, if there’s group meeting it means something happened?” Mia joined the girls, she asked permission to arrive later that day. She had some personal affair to attend.

K placed her hands on Mia’s shoulders. “You just missed the fun, but I’ll make a short version while we prepare some drinks.” They were both in charge of the bar.

“Last time we had an urgent meeting, Michael got arrested.” Mia remembered with a chuckle.

“Oh, this is better than that.” Red assured before going back to the crowded tables.

As Y/N followed Isiah, her heart was pounding, grabbing her phone she texted her friend, Heidi.

I think I messed up, BIG.

A quick answer appeared on her screen, in the background a themed photo illuminated the phone, beautiful shades of green reminded her of nature and hope, it was made by a really talented friend.

What happened?! Are you OK?

Yeah. No… I confused the owner of the club and asked him to wait outside and make the line!

Her phone buzzed again.

No way! Tell me how it goes.

If I don’t reply back he probably let me blind. Carries a peaky cap with a razor blade.

Y/N took a deep breath and checked her phone again.

Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be fine. Her friend encouraged back.

She just prayed to not mess it up again and start babbling, arriving at the private area where the Shelby’s were she quickly tried to fix her short hair and bangs.

“Good evening,” her voice was shaking, her legs and her heart, everything! “I’d like to apologize for what happened earlier, I’m new and didn’t know any of you.”

Her eyes landed one more time on who seemed to be the leader, those icy eyes boring into the deepest part of her. His lips were pursed in a tight line.

“It’s okay, love. Don’t worry.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“Yeah, now me brother wants to find a way to speed the line up.” One of them explained, blowing his smoke towards the ceiling.

“John.” The man with the blue eyes warned. “Nevertheless, I’ve to thank you for keeping the line in check.”

His deep accent and the way he dragged each word gave her chills.

“Thank you, well that’s my job.”

“Here drink this.” Another of them, the one with a mustache offered her a glass. “To a very good job!”

The two youngest were whispering something and staring back at the leader.

“It’s alright, really.” Tommy assured her after seeing the fear in her eyes.

“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” The one he called John a moment ago suggested.

“Again I’m really sorry.”

“Y/N is it?” He rolled his tongue over his lips after saying her name. “It’s alright.”

“Just so you know, I’m John, so you don’t mistake me again.” He had a huge grin on his face. “This is Finn, Michael and Arthur.” He started pointing out at everybody. “And that’s Tommy.”

“I won’t forget your names.” She repeated them mentally. “Enjoy your night, I’ll bring you another round.”

Y/N excused herself and went back to work. He was wearing a simple white shirt with a jacket and black jeans, but somehow he made it look effortlessly good. She was trying to focus on the people in the guest list instead of those eyes that reminded her of the most beautiful sky.

She smiled at a couple that walked past her dancing to the beat of the music.

A table next to her exploded in shouts and claps as K and Mia arrived with their shots and sparklers.

From the second floor, Tommy was watching her every move, eyes following her everywhere, studying her moves and the way she approached clients.

Arthur waved his hand in front of Tommy’s eyes after he didn’t listened to what he said.

“Tom? What do you think?”

Finn nudged John’s arm, tilting his head towards Tommy.

Tommy took a long puff of his cigarette, pretending to be part of their conversation.

“Hmm?”

“Earth calling Tommy.” John teased. “He’s still waiting outside in the queue.”

Shooting John a death stare, he asked Arthur to repeat himself.

“Shall we call some women up?”

“Whatever.” He cleared his throat and stood up making his way through the club.

Talking to security, they informed him they kicked out a customer that got noisy and aggressive, but other than that, it was a quiet night. Everything seemed to be under control, the place was packed, everyone wanted to get in, live the experience and have the status only Delux could offer. He knew it was the best club in town, many club owners tried to copy his place, but they all failed, they tried to copy the details that made his club unique, it screamed luxury and good taste.

Eyeing Y/N across the club, Tommy decided to walk towards her, she was focused on the list before her eyes, swaying her hips to the beat of the music, pouting her lips murmuring the words… he could only imagine how would them feel against his, while his fingers tangled in her short hair.

Before he could reach her, she then turned her back at him to walk in the opposite direction, but abruptly, she changed her mind and turned around again, bumping into Tommy’s chest in the process.

“Mr. Shelby! I’m really sorry.” He could tell she was mortified, embarrassed.

“It’s alright, sweetheart.” Tommy reluctantly took a step back.

Y/N hoped her voice wouldn’t crack. “Do you need something?” Battling her lashes slowly at him. “Can I take you your drinks upstairs?”

He was startled by her overwhelming beauty, under some kind of spell by her voice and smile. It had been so long since he felt so captivated by someone… Shaking his head slowly to clear his mind, but she thought he was saying no to her.

Taking that as her cue to leave, Y/N started walking away. “Well if you need anything, let me know.”

“Actually I do.” Tommy managed to say, making Y/N turn to face him once more.

Everything happened in a blink, he grabbed her by her face and kissed Y/N, not able to resist the desire any longer. But when she answered the kiss with the same eagerness and placed her hand on the back of his neck to pull Tommy closer he lost it.

Guiding Y/N towards the wall, he trapped her between it and his body.

Kissing her hard, he tilted his head to the opposite side, relieved to feel her matching his desire. Feeling one of his hands, brushing down from her waist to her hip and then down her leg, she added some pressure on his shoulders.

“Someone can come.” Y/N warned him breathlessly, his lips barely away from hers, just what was really necessary for her to speak.

“I don’t fucking care, I own this place.” Tommy told her right before kissing her again with passion.

Squeezing the flesh of her thigh and he felt as if he had whiskey injected in his veins.

Y/N moved her head back slightly, that left Tommy with his mouth hanging open in an almost sensual kiss that had just slipped away from him. Opening his eyes after the failed mission, he found her bitting her lower lip playfully.

His blue irises darkened under the dim light.

“I really need get back to work or my boss might fire me.” Y/N explained before stealing one more quick peck on his lips and bending down to free herself from him, left Tommy leaning against the wall with his heart pumping so fast that it felt like he was having a heart attack.

He chuckled quietly at her statement.

Going back up, he stood looking down at the people at the club, his eyes scanning the place until he found that pretty little thing that with just one kiss, made him feel more than anyone else.

Feeling som eking of pressure on 5e back of her head, Y/N turned around and lifting her eyes, she found Tommy staring at her from the second floor. Raising his glass at her, he added a wink.

Y/N felt her cheeks blushing and smile quickly spread on her lips. Checking the clock, she walked towards the door it was about time to not let anyone else in.

“Your lipstick is smeared dear.” Mia pointed out.

“Damn it, really?” Worryingly she went back to the bar, to check her reflection on the mirror behind all the booze bottles.

As the girls started to ask her what had happened, she got another message on her phone.

Think you can send me back to the line twice and get away with it twice? Meet me in my office once you’re done. -Your boss.

She gasped. He oozed trouble from every angle, the one that won’t let you get up from bed after several rounds.

He was practically the bad boy your grandmother warned you about.

✨ thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed a little spiced story 🔥

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@onlydeadcells @gretelshelby @garrison-girl-08 @lespendy @fastfan

@stevie75 @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @esposadomd @forbidden-forest-witch @ange-thoughts

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[compromised-emotionally]

Racebending Interview with the Vampire: Power, Companionship and the Search for Freedom

I wrote a paper for a queer studies class that I'm kinda proud of. It's not particularly mindblowing as it was just a 200 level course, and it's kind of dry cause I was trying to stay formal. It's mostly just referencing other writings on race and queer studies and relating them to the show. It's about how the choice to racebend Louis deepens and transforms the thematic explorations of queerness in the original text. I wanted to share it below because I worked hard on it, even if no one reads this lol:

 

Racebending Interview with the Vampire: Power, Companionship and the Search for Freedom

Interview with the Vampire was originally a novel by Anne Rice, published in 1976. The novel told the story of a Louisiana plantation owner turned vampire named Louis de Pont du Lac, the French vampire named Lestat who was Louis’ maker, and the life they shared together. A film adaption was released in 1994 starring Brad Pitt as Louis and Tom Cruise as Lestat, that, like the book, displayed their relationship as deep but never explicitly sexual. It was not until the 2022 AMC television series that Louis and Lestat’s story was allowed to be explicitly romantic and sexual. The series was made further transformatively progressive with the casting of Black-British actor Jacob Anderson as Louis. In Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, Munoz stated “A soft multicultural inclusion of race and ethnicity does not, on its own, lead to a progressive identity discourse” (pg10). Rather than just using “color-blind” casting for empty representation, Louis’ character was changed from slave owner to a black Creole man in the early 20th century. The addition of racial elements deepened thematic explorations of the nonnormative. By racebending Louis, AMC’s Interview with a Vampire expands on the original works’ examination of the vampire as a societal “other” and metaphor for homosexuality as well as Louis’ struggle to assimilate to vampire life. It relates the power dynamics between Lestat and Louis as creator/created to racial dynamics and interlocking systems of oppression.  

            Episode 3 “Is My Very Nature That of the Devil” opens with Lestat and Louis sitting in a park, as Lestat pontificates about the history of that park and reads a column about its design in the newspaper. Louis replies asking if the story mentioned how they used to put the severed heads of runaway slaves on the gates, then ponders if there’s a “greater purpose” for vampires on Earth. Lestat does not take Louis seriously, telling Louis that only that he (Lestat) is his creator and he put him on this Earth for pleasure. This interaction is emblematic of their relationship throughout the show. Lestat repeatedly minimizes the importance and legitimacy of Louis’ struggles, both the external oppressions he faces and his internal struggle to adjust to vampiric life. Vampirism acts as a direct parallel to living a queer life in the original text, though that symmetry is more complicated in the series since there is also explicit queerness in the show.  If humanity is the dominant, normative group in this universe, then Lestat’s approach to vampirism can be read as counteridentificatory. Lestat considers himself and Louis to be completely separate from human society, and has none of Louis’ impulses to assimilate with the human community or hold on to any ties to it.  Louis, conversely, still values the things that were important to him before turning: his club, “appearances”, his relationship with his family. He decides in this episode that he no longer wants to kill people, that he will feed off of animals alone. Lestat interprets this as a Louis denying his “true” identity as both a vampire and a queer man, an attempt to assimilate and identify with humans while rejecting Lestat and their shared identity. In some ways this is understandable, as the drinking of blood within this text is explicitly linked to their sex drive. But Lestat is also continuously upset throughout this episode when Louis refers to the black community of New Orleans as “his people”.  Despite the fact that Louis’ resilience and strength as a black man succeeding in a white world was one of the things that first attracted Lestat to Louis, he cannot comprehend why he still feels such kinship with the race he has always been a part of.

            Lestat treated turning Louis into a vampire as if that would supersede or eliminate the other aspects of his identity. The only difference that mattered to Lestat was vampire vs human, paralleling Cohen’s critique of white queer activism that envisions the world in a hetero/queer divide (Cohen, pg 447). When Lestat turned Louis at the end of the first episode, part of his pitch and promise to him was that as a vampire, racial oppressions would no longer hold him back. Lestat’s proposal was that becoming a vampire would give him (Louis) the power to counteridentify from the racist system, as well as freedom from loneliness and companionship in the form of a life with Lestat. Throughout this episode, Louis is grappling with the lie of that promise. Though he has a physical strength and power of a vampire, he must still move through world as black man in the early 20th century and deal with all the indignities that come along with that. He is also lonelier than anticipated, with a partner who will not acknowledge their differences. Audra Lorde said this of difference “…community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist” (pg 112). E. Patrick Johnson expounds further on this in his article on quare studies, explaining that such communities and theories are not progressive ones, and that LGBTQ of color cannot afford to adopt such theories for themselves.

Louis begins working to integrate the different aspects of himself and his new immortal life into a theory of self that feels true to his experience and acceptable, feeling “the tug and pull of having to choose between which parts […] to claim and wear and which parts have served to cloak us from the knowledge of ourselves” (Moraga and Anzaldua, pg 23). Louis reunites with an old lover, a black soldier passing through on his way to deployment. They have sex out in the Bayou and Louis feels some true companionship, but this is followed by a series of emotionally fraught failures that isolate and disempower him further. He is rejected by and frightens his family. He gets news that his nightclub/brothel is being shut down due to segregationist laws. Lestat throughout this is throwing a temper tantrum over Louis’ dalliance with the solder, despite being the one to open the relationship and begin an affair with the singer at Louis’ club (a white woman). Lestat’s reaction here, paired with the way he shows his disdain for Louis’ choices throughout this episode, display how unsettled Lestat is when he is not in control of Louis, when Louis acts as an independent equal rather than adoring student. Louis pushes aside Lestat’s attention grabbing antics in favor of meeting with a group of white businessmen and politicians in an attempt to save his club. He had interacted with this group before regularly, in a manner that could be viewed as dis-identificatory. He had regular poker games with them, laughing at their jokes, sometimes letting them win, while simultaneously influencing their opinions and nudging them towards social policies that would help him “working on, with, and against a cultural form” (Munoz, pg 12). Johnson’s piece on Quare theory points out that disidentification has always been “the process through which people of color could survive a white supremacist society” (pg12). He gave them a performance of “Mr. Du Lac”, a version of himself that made them comfortable enough to for him to influence their opinions and actions toward him and his businesses. But his previous tactics are no longer working; he can hear the thoughts of the white men insulting and demeaning him while they outwardly suggest that Lestat acts as “the face” of his business. It is also an interesting visual note that Lestat is framed throughout this scene alongside the other white men in the room, despite theoretically coming to support Louis. The degrading tone of their thoughts as they offer outward sympathies suggests that Louis’ tactics with them were always more assimilating and conforming than he wished them to be. If his persona and his performance with them never actually gained him any respect, than perhaps this was little more than a minstrel show.

The beginning of the Munoz essay states:

[…] disidentification is not always an adequate strategy of resistance or survival for all minority subjects. At times, resistance needs to be pronounced and direct; on other occasions queers of color and minority subjects need to follow a conformist path if they hope to survive a hostile public sphere. pg 5.

Louis’ initial response to this realization was a type of malicious compliance: hanging a “coloreds only” sign on his establishment, thereby technically following segregationist wishes. This of course only brings further retaliation from the establishment. Louis’ final response to this situation is his first and most direct counter action He declares himself a vampire for the first time aloud, scaring the alderman and letting him feel powerless for the first time. He kills the man, and hangs his body on a fence with a whites only sign (likely the same fence where the heads of runaway slaves were once posted). But Louis does not get to revel in this at all, as it brings immediate retaliation via the burning of the black neighborhood and businesses of New Orleans. Lestat instead is the ecstatic one; he believes this act of violence is a sign that Louis has finally embraced only vampirism, still misunderstanding the reasons and meaning behind Louis’ rage that drove him to murder the alderman. It pushes Louis away from Lestat again, roaming the burning streets of the place he once belonged, lost and unsure of what the correct approach is to finding community, home, and freedom. Louis wavers, unclear and undecided on how to find this meaning (the writing asks the same; his attempts to play friendly brought only mockery and his show of rebellion brought destruction). It is not until he suddenly hears the voice of Claudia, a 14-year-old Creole girl crying out in his mind for help, that he seems to find an answer. He finds her dying in a burning boarding house and brings her to Lestat to be turned into a vampire. The become a family – “Daddy Lou” “Uncle Les” and Claudia.

            There’s so much to examine in this series even when just considering Louis’ relationship with Lestat and the world around him. But it would be an oversight to not spend some time on Claudia, who would become the guiding motivation and emotional core for Louis. Because Lestat is the one who turned both Louis and Claudia, he is unable to read either of their minds. This further eats at Lestat, this companionship which he cannot share, this difference that he cannot stamp out. After accidentally killing a boy she loved, Claudia grows resentful of the immortal life they’ve subjected her to (Episode 104). Her mind grows but she stays perpetually trapped in the mind of a teenager, and she begrudges being made permanently infantilized. She leaves them to travel on her own and try to learn more about vampires than the little information that Lestat offered.  But when she finally meets another vampire and is excited to find kinship, he rapes her. After this, she decides to return home, but only to retrieve Louis, who has been depressed without her. She recognizes the truth that Audra Lorde stated in Sister Outsider:

Without community there is no liberation, only the most vulnerable and temporary armistice between an individual and her oppression. Pg112

She is unwilling to trust Lestat, who has continuously demonstrated an unwillingness to grow, to empathize, to “recognize those differences and deal effectively with the distortions…” (Lorde, pg 122).  Lestat reacts to the threat of abandonment with a great act of domestic violence, beating Louis and dropping him from the sky, which almost kills him (Episode 105). Louis eventually forgives Lestat for this in the next episode, but Claudia does not. Though all three characters share the nonnormative vampire identity, Lestat chooses to wield his status as their maker as an oppressive tool against them. All three become more feared and hated as the series goes on. Their home is vandalized on multiple occasions, and it’s made clear by the end of the series that they will need to leave town. But despite this shared struggle, Lestat cannot or will not stand in solidarity with Louis and Claudia. “…our future survival is predicated on our ability to relate within equality” (Lorde 122). Louis’ condition for forgiving Lestat was that he was honest and treated both Louis and Claudia as equals. But Lestat values his control over their lives over having them as true companions, even after promising change; he lies and manipulates them both and threatens Claudia with sexual violence (via letting her know he can invite the vampire who raped her to their home).

Change means growth, and growth can be painful. But we sharpen self-definition by exposing the self in work and struggle together with those whom we define as different from ourselves, although sharing the same goal. Lorde, pg. 123

            Claudia changes and grows the most over the course of the series, beginning as a child but gaining maturity and intelligence as she experiences the pain and joy the world has to offer.  She desires freedom for the first time in her human or immortal life, and feels that both her and Louis can achieve it if they work to free themselves at last from Lestat as a master. By the end of Episode 106, she has finally convinced Louis of the same.

            Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire was already an intriguing piece of queer media that was progressive for its time and how it used vampirism as a vehicle to explore homosexuality, struggle, and longing. In the behind-the-scenes interview piece, producer Adam O’Byrne expressed the production’s desire to reckon with the media in a new way, as they were a new generation interpreting this art. Johnson stated: “quare studies offers a more utilitarian theory of identity politics, focusing not just on performers and effects, but also on contexts and historical situatedness” (pg13). With this new reckoning and interpretation of this media, the artistic team took a piece of queer media and transformed it into “Quare”. With all the inherent complexities of racial relations examined in this interpretation, the audience is able to explore the dynamics of power, freedom, longing and companionship in a deeper and more complicated way than was offered in the original text.

Bibliography

Ep 103 “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, teleplay by Rolin Jones & Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Keith Powell, AMC Studios, 2022.

Ep 104 “…the ruthless pursuit of blood with all a child’s demanding” Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, teleplay by Eleanor Burgess, directed by Keith Powell, AMC Studios, 2022.

Ep 105 “A vile hunger for your hammering heart” Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, teleplay by Colin Albert, directed by Levan Akin, AMC Studios, 2022.

Ep 106 “Like Angels Put in Hell by God” Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, teleplay by Hannah Moscovitch, directed by Levan Akin, AMC Studios, 2022.

Ep 8.1 “Interview with the Vampire: Behind the Scenes” Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, AMC Studios, 2022.

Lorde, Audra. Sister Outsider, The Crossing Press, Year, pgs. 110-123.

Munoz, Jose Esteban. Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1999.

E. Patrick Johnson (2001) "Quare" studies, or (almost) everything I know about

queer studies I learned from my grandmother, Text and Performance Quarterly, 21:1, 1-25, DOI: 10.1080/10462930128119

Cathy J. Cohen; Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?. GLQ 1 May 1997; 3 (4): 437–465. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-3-4-437

Moraga and Anzaldua, Entering the Lives of Others Theory in the Flesh, 23

[utilitycaster]

The thing I've realized, in the broader Actual Play space, is that a lot of creators are trying to turn Actual Play shows into TV shows.

You mentioned Kollok in your tags, and the creator of that has mentioned creating Kollok in a way to try to appeal to the Netflix audience.

And I'm all for experimentation, but tbh if I wanted to watch a TV show, I would go watch a TV show. That's not what I'm looking for in an Actual Play and over editing and gimmicks actively turn me off from it.

Folks creating Actual Play seem to put a lot of weight on it, but I don't know if it's that important from an audience perspective.

Hey anon,

Huge same - I've been thinking about this for a while, especially in regards to choices I didn't like (notably on D20, though the Candela split screen in chapter 3, while relatively minor, felt like part of the same trend and I'm really interested in seeing whether they keep it). I actually did mean to write more about this not in the tags of a reblog, so thanks for this ask because it gives me that motivation to do it!

Earlier this year I was at an event and someone who to be totally honest I found kind of annoying was talking about Dimension 20, and I decided to keep quiet and listen to what other people had to say, and another person (whom I respect and specifically know to be like, left-leaning and inclusive and not gatekeeper dudebro type, which is relevant to the next statement) who is solidly in Gen X and has been playing D&D since at least 2e mentioned that he doesn't like Actual Play at all because he is from the era where D&D was frequently played in third person and is somewhat of a purist in that sense. Ie, this guy would say "Gawain pulls out his sword and smites the dragon, with a 24 to hit", rather than "I'm going to pull out my sword and smite the dragon." He described his idea of D&D as being very much collaborative storytelling in the sense of a bunch of third person narrators who happen to be the storytellers for one specific character, not a first-person acted scene.

I happen to like both forms of narration and am not a purist either way, and indeed use both third person and first person myself as a player (as do many actual players; you see this on CR and D20 all the time). But I think this does show just how broad this spectrum is. You have people all the way on the "I am narrating an improvised story, I am the storyteller puppeting my character and I am not trying to be immersed" side and then you have shows that are trying to push this into full immersion...but so long as you have dice rolls, you'll never achieve it.

I prefer something in between: I do love watching people act, but I really like the gears and wires! I love mechanics! I think people who say "I love actual play D&D but I don't really care for combat, only RP" don't actually like actual play D&D! This is a specific format and I do not want people to hide the fact that they are using the rules of a game and are at a table, because they are and we know it.

This came up when I and others talked about the Legend of Vox Machina adaptation: they're probably going to have to find a way to convey the same tragedy and gravity of Scanlan's ninth level counterspell that doesn't require viewers to know the mechanics, because if you watch that scene as actual play the meaning of Sam saying "Nine" is immediately apparent. It hits hard with that one single word, but that won't be the case in an animated adaptation where no one is rolling a D20. Mechanics are in intrinsic part of actual play. You can enjoy actual play without that knowledge, but a solid grounding in those mechanics will only enhance that enjoyment (well, unless you're one of those rules-lawyery weirdos who gets bitter about any GM rule of cool/homebrew that they couldn't predict from the rulebooks but those people will never be happy).

The more general context of "being in a game", not just mechanics, is also in my opinion valuable. Brennan, on a Worlds Beyond Number fireside chat, referred to certain NPCs like Caramelinda as "furious that they are in a D&D game" and it's a funny and true statement. I feel like trying to push actual play into the realm of scripted shows is that: it feels like you're trying to hide the origins, and I think the quality of the show will ultimately suffer when you do that. It feels almost ashamed of what it is, and I don't think you can make something that transforms a medium/genre/thing in between the two without having a profound love and respect for the original, even if you also find it flawed. (This is also, tbh, how I feel about a lot of attempts to divorce D&D from the fact that it is ultimately a game influenced heavily by sword-and-sorcery fantasy, or about attempts to turn high or heroic fantasy into something that neatly affirms all of one's 2024 real world political beliefs, but that's another post).

I also think that the out-of-character element of actual play is a big draw. I have been open about having complicated feelings about the parasocial and projection aspects; but those feelings are "hey, this is still a show that is a source of livelihood, you are not hanging out in someone's living room and getting weird about the fact that the CR cast no longer responds to every tweet is dumb" and "you have not been betrayed by the creators because you didn't get the plot you wanted," and "the fact that two actors sit next to each other is not, in fact, a solid basis for shipping." I am equally opposed to the idea of "the actors do not exist, only the characters do," put forward in that attempt to make actual play Netflix-ready. It's fun to watch the CR cast rib Travis for turning bright red for, as people said, pretend kissing his real wife. It's fun to watch the Intrepid Heroes heckle Brennan when he plays a villain. It's fun to hear Aabria and Erika scream at WBN plot developments and for the McElroys or the NADDPod crew to wheeze with laughter and all of these shows but CR are to a degree edited, and all leave that element in, which I think says something really important about what actual play is understood to be!

It does not escape me that the seasons/shows using heavier camera edits have often, in my opinion, sacrificed story quality for a visual style I don't even care for. I do watch prestige television, and one of the more striking cinematographic choices I've seen lately are the extremely long single take shots used on both Succession's final season (Connor's Wedding, 4x03) and The Bear's first season (Review, 1x07). Prestige TV is not doing the glitchy Neverafter stuff. Hell, I liked Sagas of Sundry: Dread and never finished Madness before it went offline and haven't made an effort to seek it out specifically because the black box theater feel of Dread felt fun and new but not too removed from actual play vibes, whereas the higher production values of Madness, ironically, made it feel too artificial and stilted to keep my interest.

Actual play is its own beast, and in trying to appeal to a new audience you're probably going to lose a lot of the one you have. A big part of why I haven't been motivated to check out Kollok is that everything I hear about it, even positive reviews, makes it sound like it's missing the things I like from actual play and doesn't achieve the level of scripted shows. Honestly I think the REAL answer here is that if you want to find a space between a Netflix drama and an Actual Play show, ditch the rules and make stuff like Midst, which is as discussed inspired by ttrpg/actual play spaces, but is broadly plotted out in advance. I think that approach can combine the best of both worlds, whereas I feel as though attempting to be a Netflix show will usually spend so much time trying to hide the fact that there's a table there that it will detract from the actual story.

[silviakundera]

The Princess Royal ep 35 comments

So the writers made a signifucant change here, with having a traumatized, pregnant Li Rong decide to hide the revelation of the past from Pei Wenxuan instead of just having a complete breakdown in his arms.

The adaption has actually been overall shockingly novel complaint (it may be streamlined and less able to communicate complex character dynamics but on the whole the major events all track and tons of dialogue is lifted from the novel)... so I find myself curious about the few big deviations.

Why do I think they made this choice?

Suspense: the desire to create a conflict & tension btw our leads, because by this period in the story they are so on sync and united in purpose that I think the screenwriter is worried that it's too bland (if we recall The Double, some viewers felt a certain malaise with that couple at the end because they just supported each other w no conflict & drama).

No sex : in the novel they fuck about it; not gonna happen here. With all that stripped away, all of the emotional conflicts & resulting catharsis are happening between other characters in the last chapters. So what to do?

Mirrored behavior: I think perhaps we are intended to see a comparison in how SRQ didn't want to tell LR this secret out of protection for her mental health. He would rather be the villian to her who killed her for a blood feud, than see her face the truth. He originally wanted to "fix everything" without her having to know. SRQ is LR's foil. So I can see how perhaps drama writers thought it would be a plausible reaction for LR hide this from PWX and try to "fix it" behind his back, so his hands are clean and HE didn't betray the crown prince. In the drama as she is doing this, her voice over literally thinks that the only person she can trust is PWX. She just wants to keep him out of it. And then says some stuff in temporary anger when they fight about it.

So how do I feel about the change? While I do prefer the novel version, I guess I can agree it's a plausible scenario in the drama - because the drama's streamlining has reduced the emphasis on LR and SRQ standing on opposite sides politically. In the novel, frankly I do not see her joining w SRQ's camp for even 10 minutes. It just wouldn't happen. At this point, sure she knows he means well but they fundamentally disagree on what is the right path for the country. Even a panicking & broken novel!LR wouldn't be tempted to let a puppet Li Cheng take the throne.

But if I keep an open mind, I can see how in the live action version this might seem like a plausible stop-gap measure for LR and then she thinks she can recover and course correct after. I don't agree with the writing choice but I don't HATE it.

I'll be honest - It's hard for me to judge her too harshly for her immediate reactions in either novel or drama because her lament is just TOO SAD. I know she's far from a perfect person, but it really hurts my heart.

novel snippets of her soliloquy:

"Li Rong, let yourself go."

These words were like a heavy hammer hitting Li Rong, shattering her heart abruptly. She wanted to fight back, to retort, but in the end, it only became a rhetorical question, "If I let myself go, who will let me go?"

"No one has spared me!"

When these words came out, she could no longer restrain the pain she had been trying so hard to contain, "Everyone is using me, Chuan'er doesn't believe me and killed me, Shangguan Ya and Su Rongqing watched me die. Pei Wenxuan," Li Rong grabbed Pei Wenxuan's sleeve as she stared at him with tearful eyes, "how do you want me to let myself go?"

"No one believes me, you all think I'm bad, that I'm selfish, that I'm power-hungry, that I'm unscrupulous, that I won't think of any of you."

"So Li Chuan wants to kill me, Shangguan Ya wants me dead, Su Rongqing watches me drink the poison and says nothing, and even you," Li Rong tugged at his shirt with a deadly grip, "do you also think that I'm pushing you now? That I'm slandering your feelings, that I'm suffering so I'm making you suffer too?"

Pei Wenxuan froze, Li Rong lowered her head, she restrained herself, she tried to calm herself down a little.

She had hurt too many people, everyone had abandoned her, she wanted to be kinder to Pei Wenxuan, she shouldn't have indulged herself.

"I didn't."

She sounded dumb, "I just want to, to be nice to you. I want to be nice to everyone, but I can't do anything right."

"I don't talk well, I'm too dictatorial, I'm like a hedgehog, and anyone who sees me thinks I'm bad. I can't even, when I try to like you, do it well."

"I've done so much for Chuan'er," she said as tears poured down her eyes, "but he still doesn't believe me."

"I fought like that for a' Ya and Chuan'er, and a'Ya still gave up on me for the slightest risk."

"I'd gone to so much trouble to keep Su Rongqing, but I still can't live in his heart, he hasn't even given me a little trust."

"I'm not forcing you, I really just want to be good to you, I don't know what to do, I just want you to not suffer a little in front of me. But I still can't do it right."

"I'm sorry ......" she tilted her head to look at him and said it over and over again, "I'm sorry ......"

Pei Wenxuan did not say anything, he looked at Li Rong in front of him, she no longer had any semblance of decorum to speak of. The most wretched thing in life, he's afraid, is her now. Even when he met her in prison, she was fully clothed and tied up, her posture was calm.

*

"...That was the last life, I can ignore it, but just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't care."

"One has to hold the power to have a choice. And when you gain power, it shouldn't be mixed with feelings. I used to talk about liking power, but in fact when I made decisions, I always put a lot more trust in them and was willing to fight for them. So when I came up, I always thought of helping Chuan'er, solving his present problems for him, his future problems."

"My mother scolded me, saying that I was thinking all these things. That the emperor thought of me as a princess, and that in the eyes of the future emperor, I was no different in nature from the noble lineage. I thought she was silly at the time, but now I realise that it was me who was silly."

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I think what's truly horrible, what traumatizes her so deeply, is that this was a long process. LR and PWX remember her descent into chronic illness! How she wasted away as PWX brought her doctors to try to save her. Her brother didn't kill her in 1 momentary act of rage & paranoia. He decided over and over again that she must die and he killed her THROUGH THE GAMES THEY PLAYED TOGETHER. Poisoning the weiqi pieces. All of what she thought were private family moments were the tools of her slow murder.

While the confrontation scene she has together w Li Chuan in the novel was sincerely beautiful and literally made me cry... I SO GET her initial repulsion and urge to walk away.

[side note: I can empathize on 1 thing with SRQ - feeling he had no choice but to watch this cruel betrayal and hating himself & hating Li Chuan more and more as he watches what's happening to her... no wonder, considering what also happened to his family, he thinks of Li Chuan as a monster who must be stopped. Like, I'm not in his side at all because the nobles are fucked. But I do think his beliefs about Li Chuan are like the most normal thing about him. I also see why SRQ hates himself (cause he should) - and why he is increasingly distressed as he sees Li Rong prove in this life how little he understood her and much he underestimated her inner goodness & also her bond with PWX. All the reasons he thought he couldn't risk saving her in the 1st life were wrong. So of course this only makes him hate & resent LC more.]

[rosie-zia]

Luca Kaneshiro x Reader

A/n: After being on hiatus for eight months, I decided to go back and write stories again. This fanfic is an inspiration from Luca Kaneshiro's cover of "Honeymoon Un, Deux, Trois." This is a very long one so I hope you enjoy! :^) Word count: 2.3k+

Luca Kaneshiro was famously known as the evil mafia boss around the city and in the streets. Most people fear Luca because of the stories they have heard about his crime syndicate, but only a few knew he was like every other married man with a wife behind the closed doors of his manor. His beloved spouse was none other than you, Y/n Kaneshiro.

Luca didn’t see himself getting married so soon; however, it all changed when his father laid eyes upon you. You were known as the daughter of an elite mafia boss hailing from another country. Naturally, Luca’s father thought it was a good opportunity to create a strong alliance between two powerful organizations. Thus, a pact was formed and an arranged marriage took place. Despite you and Luca being against this whole ordeal, you two had no other choice but to go through it, and the rest was history.  In the beginning of your marriage, it was awkward as you two tried to adjust in spite of the pressure since you and Luca perceived marriage only as business and not as love. If needed, both of you would do your best to present yourselves as husband and wife in front of other mafias at every gathering and every meeting. When you and Luca fully adapted in the ways of matrimonial life, you two ended up catching feelings but were just too scared to tell the other. 

Luca saw you as nothing but a simple woman who has been involved with the dark side of the law, but his eyes were slowly opened and realized there was more to you. He highly thinks of you as a sweet lovely lady with kindness and beauty unlike any other. Your simplicity and grace immediately caught his attention that made him fall for you so hard that he feels he lost his breath every time he sees your bright smile. The blonde man doesn’t know how to express his love, so he only does it in which way he knows best: giving you materialistic things.  Ever since you married Luca, he often showered you with luxurious gifts that filled your entire room. From small trinkets, expensive clothing, and everything in between. As the recipient of his gifts, you were slightly overwhelmed how your husband provides you such an extravagant lifestyle. It felt like a one-sided marriage for you, so you did your best to be an obedient wife that takes care of the house and his needs while also involving yourself in the mafia business. Even though your marriage with Luca was mostly a smooth sailing, there had been some disputes that happened between you two. Lately, you have gotten yourselves in a heated argument with Luca, and it has been bugging you ever since.

_______________________________________

*Flashback*  “Luca, please let me know if you are in a bad condition from your missions. Don't try and hide it from me.” You and Luca are in the bathroom as you tried to tend his wounds carefully with bandages and ointments. He just returned home from another mission and unfortunately got hurt. The blonde man tried to ignore the pain and hide it from you but failed to do so as you caught him red-handed from the moment he stepped into the house.  “You don’t have to worry about me, Y/n. I’ll be fine.”  “But you are hurt right now, Luca. I worry about you sometimes… you should not let yourself get hurt like this.”  Every night, you mostly worry about him whenever he takes dangerous missions in the Kaneshiro mafia to the point you would always pray he will come back safe and sound. Although you sounded genuinely concerned about him, something about it irritated Luca into thinking you didn’t trust him enough to do his work “I said I’ll be fine, Y/n. Geez, you’re making me sound like I’m just a kid. You have no idea on what it is like to be in my position. Just mind your business will you?”  This led you two to argue for thirty minutes straight until he had enough and walked out. He may have looked irritated but deep inside, he felt like he hurt you. He ended up realizing that you were just looking out for him, but it was too late to take everything back. In that moment, he knew he had to make things right before it was too late.

________________________________________

After thinking about the events that happened that night, you were immediately snapped back to reality as one of Luca's men laid a ball gown with other fancy accessories that complimented the dress. "Greetings, Mrs. Kaneshiro. I was given an order from the boss to deliver his present to you. He wants to be present for the ball this evening. It will start in a few hours, and Mr. Kaneshiro will be escorting you to the party."

His bodyguard bowed down in respect and walked out the room to leave you alone to prepare for the ballroom party that will be hosted by Luca himself. You have no idea what is the special occasion celebrated in this event, but you assumed it was just a simple gathering to get more influential connections in the mafia.

You don't feel like going to that party, but Luca's small lion cub, Augustus, helps you raise up your spirits as he lets out small growls.

"You're so lucky that you don't have to attend a party with so many people. I wish I could just stay with you in bed."

You gently pet Augustus in which he gives out one of his toothy smiles. You knew very well that not showing up at the party is clearly not an option. Not wasting anymore time, you started your makeup routine to look good for the party. You're just hoping for the best that you will survive at the end of the day.

_______________________________________

You and Luca arrived at the ballroom before the event started as you two waited for the guests to arrive and made sure everything was in order. As always, you two will put up a face as a married couple in front of all the mafias who will be attending this gathering. One by one, you both greeted all of the guests with a smile on your faces while linking arms with each other. It may look like you and Luca are the perfect married couple and yet you both still did not resolve the argument that happened yesterday. You sighed to yourself and let Luca properly welcome the guests in his honor. When all of the guests had arrived, Luca clinked his glass to get everyone's attention. "Good evening, dear friends and loved ones, and thank you for attending tonight's ball here in my manor. I just want to celebrate a very special occasion that is very important to me. I do hope you all enjoy this night. May the party commence!"

As Luca finished his speech, all of the mafias and other guests talked away and enjoyed the party in their own ways. The gathering felt lively under the bright lights of the chandeliers in the ballroom. With the lively aura in the party, you're still confused on the special event Luca failed to specifically mention. You stayed beside Luca as he conversed with other mafia bosses until you felt like you're out of place. You excused yourself from Luca, and went somewhere else to get a breather and away from the crowd. The party was still going, and Luca can't help but steal glances once in a while to see how you are doing. He sees you by the balcony being alone by yourself with a glass of champagne in your hand. Luca knew how you can't deal with handling big crowds like this, but something about you was different from the way you look. He may be oblivious to most things but his thoughts went back to yesterday's fight, and he takes the blame for not considering your feelings.

________________________________________

After hours of dancing and drinking among the guests, the guests waved goodbye to you two and went to their respective homes. Finally, all of the guests have left, and you went back inside to close the lights in the ballroom and call it a night. The grand mechanized clock chimes to let you know it was quarter to midnight, giving you the signal to close the ballroom doors. Before you even got the chance to do so, you heard the orchestra on your left begin to play their instruments, producing an enchanting-like melody. You were about to stop them but you caught something from the corner of your eyes. Lo and behold, it was your husband by the grand staircase in all of his glory.

The heels of his shoes clicked as he made his way towards you. Something about him right now feels different than he usually carries himself. His lavender eyes seem more gentle, his outfit exactly matches the gold accents of your dress, and his overall appearance was much more dazzling compared to what he looked like during the party earlier.

Luca bowed slightly and brought the back of your hand against his lips to give it a small kiss which made you a bit flustered by the gesture. He uttered a few words that made you caught in a trance from how his voice dripped like honey.

"My dearest and beloved wife, shall we dance?"

---------------------------------------- Now playing: Honeymoon Un, Deux, Trois - Luca Kaneshiro Cover ----------------------------------------

Before you can properly process his words, Luca gently grabs you by the waist and sways you along with the music, taking the lead between you two. You let his fingers entwine with yours, and his hand fitted perfectly, letting your bodies become one. Under the dim lights in the ballroom, his features radiated perfectly, capturing the essence of the mafia boss before you. He also starts to sing along with the instrumental playing in the background in a foreign language you've never heard him speak before.

You may not understand most of the words he's singing, but you felt addicted to his voice like he was casting you under a deep spell you cannot ever break free from. It felt like a fairytale as he pulls you in twists and turns, also letting you have your way in the waltz of love. Every step you both took, you both were in sync with the song he's singing.

Never in your dreams he would act genuinely romantic towards you. This was the side of Luca you thought you would never witness, and here you are dancing with your husband in this empty ballroom. The moonlight illuminates the golden hues of the marble tiles beneath you two which makes it the perfect night for lovers exactly like you and Luca.

As he finishes up his song, he romantically dips you, and then pulls you back up. You wished it lasted longer, but you redirected your attention to Luca once more when you felt his fingers caress your hair to the side of your face.

"Y/n, I just want to apologize for last night. I'm sorry for being a jerk and not considering your feelings. I should have let you know that I took dangerous missions like these in the mafia. Could you forgive me?"

He says as he looks at you directly with tears in his eyes that are threatening to spill in a moment. With a sigh, you managed to forgive him.

"Alright, I forgive you, Luca. If you're hurt, please let me tend to your wounds after your mission, is that clear?

"Yes, I promise, Y/n..."

You both laugh while basking in each other's presence. It didn't take long before your laughter became silence... and silence became awkwardness. You knew you had to do something, so after debating with yourself, you decided to break the silence between you two.

"T-thank you for the lovely dance this evening. I still don't get why you hosted a party without any special occasion."

Up until now, you still don't know what the celebration was all about, to which Luca only replied with a smile on his face.

"It's our first wedding anniversary, Y/n. I thought I could celebrate it with you."

Hearing Luca's response made you so embarrassed and flushed that you forgot it has been one year ever since you married Luca. Now it was your turn to apologize to him.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Luca. I didn't know it was today. I have completely forgot about it, I-"

Your husband just chuckled and placed a finger on your lips, shushing you and stopping you from rambling such nonsense.

"It's alright. I know you don't see our marriage in a romantic sense but I wanted to tell you that I love you. I'm glad that I have you as my lovely wife."

He then proceeds to cup your face with his hand and pulls you by the waist with his other arm as he plants a chaste kiss on your lips. When you two pulled away, you ended up confessing how much you love him as well.

"I love you too, Luca. I'm also glad that I married you. You will always have my heart."

At that moment, you felt your hearts have become one. From this day forward, the marriage you have with Luca has gotten stronger from just business to pure and unadulterated love. Feeling so many positive emotions all at once, you just held him close to you just savoring this moment.

"Shall we dance the night away one more time, my lady?"

"Yes, Luca, we shall."

The grand clock chimed once more, telling you both it has struck midnight, but you just stayed there with the prince of your dreams without a care in the world and living the fairytale you truly deserve.

________________________________________

A/n: Thank you so much for reading this fanfic, and yes, I do Luxiem fanfics and possibly other Nijisanji members. I'm trying to explore and write more characters. If you liked this one, I might probably write more in the future, but it might take a while since I'm busy with school and other things. If you wish to chat me and give me some ideas for future fanfics like this, I would gladly accept them. See you in the next fanfic! ^^ - Rosie Zia

[jccatstudios]

I have been following your soc comic adaptation and it just so good!!! I love how you draw them!

I have just one question: Why did you not include Inej's opening musings about Kaz on the first page? (Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason etc) I actually really like how there is not text on the first two pages, it's really atmospheric and moody so this really is not a criticism, I don't want to insult you. I guess I was just wondering what the thought process behind that was?

Oh, I've been wanting to talk about this for a while! Buckle up, this is gonna be one of my long comic rants. (Also, no offense taken at all! Anyone's welcome to question my artistic choices and I'm always happy to take critique, even though that isn't your intention.)

So, the thing is I actually planned on including that first paragraph into the comic! Here's when I first shared the thumbnails on here. Just for the sake of this post, I'll insert them here too.

The boxes are meant to be where excerpts of that introduction would go. When I was creating the thumbnails, I was thinking about how iconic these lines were and how well they introduce the world and characters. I even finished the pages with the intention to include those lines. This is from my original csp file.

When I lettered it all out, I felt like something wasn't right...? Hard to explain. I wanted silence for the opening and the narration took that away. I then thought about the reader who'd go into this without reading the novel first, wondering if they'd be thinking, Who's this Kaz Brekker guy? Is it this character on the page? It's clearer in the book, but I didn't think it paired well with what I drew. I didn't want any confusion. It's also Inej's chapter, and while Kaz's parts take up most of it, I still wanted it to feel like her POV and her story. We can hold off officially meeting Kaz until page four.

But the main reason I took it out comes down to my philosophy when it comes to comic adaptations. I believe that an adaptation should use the original story in the best way for the secondary medium. A comic adaptation should play to the strength of comics, not the original source material.

Time and time again, I see a lot of comic adaptations of books try to use a book's strength instead of a comic's. When that happens, you get pages upon pages of narration boxes and exposition that could've easily been told in a single panel's image. If you want to read excerpts from the original novel, go do that! They're beautiful and well-crafted and you should be reading the original anyway! If you're making a comic adaptation, make a comic, not an illustrated version of the novel (that's a whole field of its own).

This whole thing really ties well into what I'm doing for Chapter 3. Kaz is such an internal character, his chapters have a lot more exposition that isn't setting description or character actions. I've had to do a lot more of my own writing for this chapter than the last just to turn that exposition into his own voice as an internal monologue. Sometimes, it's just a change from "he" to "I," but there are other times I've had to write new dialogue and find ways to naturally flow between thoughts. If I didn't do the work to adapt the expository text and instead just put in narration boxes of text from the book, there would be a greater disconnect between the reader and Kaz. Third-person limited works great in books and doesn't separate the readers from the story, but in comics, first-person internal dialogue keeps the readers inside the scene better.

If I were to redo Chapter 2, I think I would try to find a way to incorporate the information from the chapter intro better. I think by losing the intro I initially planned to include, I didn't establish certain ideas very well. Ketterdam and Kerch are established later on pages 4 and 5, but I don't think I ever go back and mention The Barrel. Also, the idea that Kaz is deliberate, even if his reputation says otherwise, is important too. I've made sure to fix this kind of issue in Chapter 3 and keep record of what kind of information I'm losing as I adapt it.

[narlieweek]

🎁🎄 to: @cwream from: @teejaysnow

Charlie has changed the group name to “EMERGENCY!!!”

Charlie: Help!! It’s Christmas Day on Wednesday.

Sarah: Yes, darling. We know.

Charlie: And I still haven’t gotten Nick a gift. And, I mean, it’s a gift. For Nick. So it needs to be, like, the best Christmas gift ever. Suggestions, please 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Darcy: You could always give him a blowjpppplm

Tara: …

Tara: Sorry about that, Darcy is no longer allowed access to her phone.

Elle: It’s a good idea though.

Sarah: I’m pretending like I didn’t see that.

Elle: Sorry, Mrs Nelson.

Sarah: I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. Just that I definitely didn’t see it.

Charlie: I hate you. All of you.

Tao: Can’t you just get him a chew toy and take him to the dog park like the good boy that he is?

Charlie: STOP REFERRING TO MY BOYFRIEND AS A GOOD BOY!!!

Tara: Are you saying that he isn’t a good boy?

Charlie: I’m saying that he isn’t a golden retriever.

Tao: But he’s just so dog-coded.

Charlie: Nick. Does. Not. Look. Like. A. Golden. Retriever.

Sarah: Oh, but he definitely does.

Tao has changed the group name to “Nick looks like a golden retriever”

Charlie has changed the group name to “Nick does not look like a golden retriever and stop changing the group name, Tao”

Charlie: I hate you most of all, Scarecrow.

Tao: Rude!! Anyway, just get Toto some Bonios, I’ve heard they’re good for a shiny coat.

Charlie: Toto? Would that make me Dorothy??

Tao: You called me Scarecrow. So if the shoes fit 👠👠

Tara: Wouldn’t he technically be a friend of Dorothy, though? So, with Scarecrow already taken, that would make him either the Tin Man or the Cowardly Lion.

Tao: Fine. The lion then. And Elle is definitely Glinda ❤️❤️

Sarah: Excuse me but who am I in this brand new Wizard of Oz adaptation you’re creating? 

Sarah: And think long and hard before you answer that.

Tao: …

Tao: New phone, who dis?

Sarah: Good choice. Anyway, I’ve got to go pick the golden retriever up from his Christmas shopping, please don’t say anything else that will make me regret being in this chat.

Darcy: You mean like Charlie giving Nick a lap danpppplm

Tara: Sorry again, I’ll hide Darcy’s phone better this time.

Elle: Another good idea though.

Sarah: Leaving now…

Charlie has changed the group name to “You’re all evil and I hate you”

Charlie: You all suck! You’re at, like, vampire level of suckiness.

Tao: Are we talking Bela Lugosi vampire suckiness or Twilight vampire suckiness? Because those are two very different kinds of suckinesses and I for one will not be accused of Twilight vampire-level of suckiness, thanks.

Elle: I’m pretty sure suckinesses isn’t a word. Also, you’d make a great Edward. 

Tao: You take that back! I’ve never been so insulted in my life!!

Tara: She’s got a point, though. Broody, stubborn, tall. That’s definitely you.

Elle has changed the group name to “Tao is a Twilight vampire”

Tao: Hey, when did this chat turn from roasting Charlie into let’s bully Tao?? I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of.

Elle: You’re too embarrassed to accept your Twilight suckiness but you’ll quote Taylor Swift like she’s one of your overly pretentious filmmakers?

Tao: I am secure enough in my masculinity to both listen to and quote Taytay, thank you very much. Also, Twilight is nothing but terrible writing and terrible acting.

Tao: Oh, and also capitalism.

Elle: Didn’t you say that Robert Pattinson was the best Batman?

Tao: Hey, I told you that in confidence.

Charlie: Wait, you, Tao Xu, have watched a Batman movie??!!!

Tao: Now see what you’ve done.

Charlie: YOU HAVE WATCHED ENOUGH BATMAN MOVIES TO HAVE A FAVOURITE BATMAN?!!!!

Tao: Christopher Nolan is an amazing director and I am therefore prepared to watch whatever project he’s involved in, even if it is a stupid superhero franchise.

Charlie: Yes, but

Charlie: Nolan didn’t direct the Pattinson movie.

Tao: …

Tao: Fine. I like Batman, okay? Can we get back to the fact that you just discovered that Christmas is in four days??

Charlie: Shit. Yes. Christmas. Help!!

Elle: I still say Darcy had the right idea.

Charlie: I am not giving Nick a blowjob for Christmas!!!

Elle: Why not? Even his mum said it was a good idea.

Tao: How do you gift-wrap a blowjob though?

Charlie: Can we all STOP TALKING ABOUT BLOWJOBS??

Elle has changed the group name to “Charlie should give Nick a blowjob for Christmas”

Charlie has changed the group name to “Elle is one warning away from being kicked out of the chat”

Elle has changed the group name to “Elle is surprisingly okay with that”

Tara: Can’t you just get him a book on rugby or something? I’m sure Waterstones has a million of them.

Charlie: But that’s not the best Christmas gift ever, is it?? And it NEEDS to be the best Christmas gift ever since this is the last Christmas before Nick leaves for uni.

Tao: Never to be heard from again, I’m sure. Jeez, Charlie, he’s applying for Leeds, not the North Pole.

Charlie: Might as well be. Do you know how far away Leeds is?

Tao: Yes. Because you keep telling us. It’s 229 miles.

Tara: Yep. 229 miles.

Elle: 229 miles.

Charlie: IT’S 229 MILES!!

Tara: Although to be fair, it’s about 3,700 miles to the North Pole, so… 🤷🏾‍♀️

Charlie: But none of those miles includes the M25.

Tara: Point taken. You’ll obviously never see him again.

Charlie: Exactly. And focus, people. Nick? Gift?!

Tao changed the group name to “Charlie is being annoying again”

Charlie: Funny. Really.

Tao: How hard can it be? I mean, you could get Nick a rolled up newspaper and he’d love it because you got it for him. He’s just as whipped as you are. 

Charlie: So your suggestion is a rolled up newspaper 😒😒

Tao: Maybe not my first suggestion but it’s among the top five.

Charlie: Such helpful. Very appreciate.

Elle: He’s right though, Nick is ridiculously whipped. I wouldn’t suggest a rolled up newspaper per se, but whatever you end up getting will be his “best Christmas gift ever” just because it’s from you.

Charlie changed the group name to “I am not getting Nick a rolled up newspaper for Christmas”

Charlie: And STOP CHANGING THE GROUP NAME!!

Elle changed the group name to “No!”

Tara changed the group name to “Now you’re both being annoying”

Tara: Can we please get back to Charlie’s dilemma or I’ll give Darcy back her phone.

Tao: Pretty sure that threat is in violation of the Geneva Convention.

Tara: I don’t think the Geneva Convention is applicable here. Maybe you could invoke the Animal Welfare Act instead?

Charlie: ANIMAL Welfare Act? Really?? Who’s the animal here?

Tara: Nick.

Elle: Nick, obviously.

Tao: That golden retriever of yours.

Charlie: …

Charlie: I asked for that one, didn’t I?

Charlie: Anyway, can you people stop being you for one second? I really need help.

Tao: Oh, we know.

Charlie: Shut it, Edward.

Elle: Okay, vampires aside, what are we thinking? Are we going for practical, sentimental, futurity?

Charlie: Futurity?

Elle: I don’t know, something Nick can take with him to Leeds to remind him of you?

Tara: Like an oil painting! Very Jane Austen. I’m sure Elle can paint one for you?

Elle: Not in four days I can’t!!

Charlie: And I am not giving Nick a painting of myself like some narcissistic twat.

Tara: You’re being a very Negative Nelly right now, which isn’t very Austen of you.

Charlie: Why did I ever think asking you lot was a good idea again?

Charlie changed the group name to “You’re all useless”

Elle: That’s a bit harsh.

Tao: Agreed.

Tara: 😭😭😭

Charlie changed the group name to “Sorry and I love you all very much a lot ❤️❤️❤️”

Tao: 😑😑

Charlie: 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Tao: Fine. I guess we love you too.

Charlie: Nice. Now, gimme suggestions!!

Tao: I still vote for the dog biscuits.

Elle: Can’t you make him some kind of gift basket, like, I don’t know, “10 things I love about you”?

Charlie: …

Charlie: That’s actually a good idea! Although ten doesn’t sound enough, more like “50 things I love about you”. Or 100. Maybe “1000 things I love about you”?

Tao changed the group name to “You’re gonna need a bigger boat”

Elle: “Of all the things I love about Nick, the one thing I love the most is his…”

Tara: Elle!! 😱😱😱

Elle: 😎🍆

Nick: Um. You guys do know I’m in this group too, right?

Charlie: Shit.

Charlie has left the group

Tao has left the group

Elle has left the group

Tara has left the group

Aled: Hi, Nick, what’s up?

[meltthefrozenheart]

FROZEN 3 and FROZEN 4 are both in development, and I can't wait!

The news sounded odd to me initially, I didn't expect anything like this from Disney Animation, but it became immediatly appealing the moment I realized the GREAT potential a double feature could have for the franchise, most importantly when Bob Iger specified “Jenn Lee, who created Frozen, the original Frozen, and Frozen 2 is hard at work with her team at Disney Animation on not one but actually two stories.”, which would mean:

More time to enstablish new elements, new characters, time to explore new lore and new places without the risk to rush everything;

A bigger story that can help flesh out our protagonists in their new roles, their new wants and changes they might face, considering how the F2 ending brought many new possibilities;

A narrative context where the new crysis (whatever it might be) could be explored even better, also allowing to maintain things in a complex prespective just as the Frozen movies like to do, where the matter of "good and evil" not at the center, and things are first of all deeply personal for the characters

It seems to me that Jennifer Lee always wanted to delve deeper into things, this is why the Broadway Musical was a perfect opportunity for her and the Lopez to expand the characters and flesh out things in the story, also adding new elements that would've been useful for F2.

And when they worked on Frozen 2, they built it as the "second part" of the story, reconnecting almost all the aspects of the sequel to the 1st movie, and the story was clearly meant to be BIGGER and longer compared to what we ended up having because of numerous issues and rewrites. J. Lee and C. Buck didn't want to introduce something that would feel just as "a new adventure", and more about the actual characters evolving, see what they left unresolved, breaking the "Happy ending" scenario of F1, which also led them to NOT give the new human characters (Mattias and the Northuldra) the same relevance given to Spirits of Nature, in order to remain focused on Elsa, Anna and the rest of the gang.

Now, Lee will most likely not direct or write these two new movies, but she is still directly involved, because it's both part of her job as CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studio and because Frozen is her (and Chris Buck) baby. It will be curious to discover with what idea Marc Smith came out with, but the fact he worked on the 1st Frozen as a storyboard artist and the became Director of Story for Frozen 2 says a lot about him and why Lee trusts him so much, and I'm sure they will follow the approach used with the 2nd movie and carry it on with 3 and 4. Numerous sagas used the two-parter approach, like the books adaptations of Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games series, or more "original cases" like Pirates of the Carribeans or what we are getting now with the animated Spiderverse movies (Across and Beyond). But I think the best similarity (and probably what led to this ambitious choice) is with Avengers Infinity War/Endgame, where the BIG FINALE gets developed in two movies.

[thethunderbirbxd]

My reality shifting spell ingredients list and spell deep dive.

Per request on discord. I'm gonna be putting a list of the herbs that I use for my spells relating to reality shifting as well as going over the ways I perform them

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This is going to be a long post Keep that in mind and some of the grammar might be funky.

For the record I am not at all an expert witch So unfortunately I do not have the answers for everything. This is a guide of what I know so far about this spell since it's only like a year and a half old.

Before this begins, I want to preface that I recommend you do your research before adapting any of these spells. Although I call this deep dive I purposefully left out information to make it more consumable for people who are new at this and this would have been a mile long otherwise. Again, I highly recommend you do your own research so you can understand it much better than how I already put it in this post. These signs, you might figure out other things that you can put in the spells.

I also went into more detail on some parts more than others such as the herbs being more detailed than probably the rest of the post.

Good luck and hope this helps ya'll!

The Main Herbs

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• Salt

I often use salt as a base for protection. Salt is the first thing I have to put it. Any assault should do, but I often like sea salt and Himalayan salt, but table salt is perfectly fine to use. Black salt may also work in this circumstance.

• Lavender

Lavender is often used as psychic enhancer. Often helping in meditation and dream work. I use it to help reinforce the protection of the salt. It is a very common herb that often aids with dreams. It is also good for cleansing. And anxiety for when you're shifting.

• Rose Petals.

Though often used in love spells, they did have other uses. I use them to add sweetness to this spell as well As to attract self-confidence.

(just to make you feel like THAT MOTHER FUCKING BITCH when shifting)

I most of the time use dried Rose petals. But regular rose petals Should work as well.

You can write runes on them if need be or just leave them as is. As for color, it's your choice. But when I can I choose yellow as to represent travel. I've just been using what I can find, which are pink and red roses.

• Rosemary

Rosemary is also an herb that's known for its protection and dream work. But it also has heavy associations with memory. In the way I use it It's for clarity as well as keeping and ATTRACTING memories from your DRs.

(I found out that last bit the hard way)

• Mint

As for this hurb, I use it for its travel symbolism. It will promote your successful and safe travel. Though it seems its associations with money are more prevalent in the everyday. It is also known for its amazing luck and success. This earth will be very useful with inducean your Successful journey.

• Star Anise

This herb is the main bulk of the spell due to it's various abilities it has for this particular spell. It covers almost all cylinders when it comes to this spell and is known as a Spell enhancer Meaning that it heightens the strength of one spells. It promotes And creates vivid dreams Including Lucid dreams and make it easier to remember them. It can heighten your psychic abilities, clarity, and awareness. Works amazingly with Divination. It can also potentially help with connecting with others from your DRs due to its property of also being able to connect with spirit guides and other such things.(So if you do channeling this should be a major help) It also Provides a lot of protection to boot.

One full star is usually enough, but feel free to add 2 or 3 more.

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I'll be providing visual examples Down here V

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My Other Ingredients

These are the Thanks I add Regularly to this spell.

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• Two Sigil bay leaves

The first Leaf

Skip to The 2nd leaf If you don't work with any Guides Or Entities.

First ask your Ditties or guides that you think you can help with this. If they agree to help you write their sigil on the bay leaf. For example one of the gods I work with is Hecate.

(BUT I DO NOT RECOMMEND DIVING INTO DEITY WORK SO EARLY IN ONE'S PRACTICE!)

Doing deity work is in fact a lot of work. You don't have to work with anyone for this spell.

If you don't already work with any Deities or guides you can just go with the second option which is....

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The Second Leaf

For the second bay leaf I write the Shifting symbol on one side and on the other I write.

"I am (Insert DRself Name) and I have shifted to (Insert DR)."

For example...

"I am Vesper Córvido and I have shifted to My hero academia."

After I set up both leaves amd I burn both In a pot, bowl, or bucket To activate them.. It is fine if there are remaining Bits of leaves and I'll explain why later. You can also substitute the bay leaves for paper or rose petals.

(Be safe around fire there are other ways to activate them!) Such as...

Breathing on them.

Speaking intention over them

Anointing oil on them

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• Boosting oil

This is optional and you can substitute it for a other things.

I made my own boosting oil that I use with every spell. If you do decide to make it just know that it's a lengthy process. The ingredients for this is.

• Vegetable oil-(But any cooking oil should be fine)

• Lavender

• Coffee grounds

• Mint

And I had it ferment for a month, so all the things would be infused into the oil, and I filtered it out later.

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Ways one can perform the spell

You can potentially do this spell in any way that you can easily do so. The three of these techniques here I did myself Before you do any of these however be sure to protect within your home and around the space that you're making this spell, as well as cleanse your tools and ingredients. There are millions of ways of cleansing that you can look up. I often use incents.

Also, for all of these, I recommend putting on subliminals and/or saying affirmations while performing these.

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• Candle spell

For candle spells, I recommend the following colors...

•Purple - Wisdom & Psychic Gifts +

•Yellow - Travel & Joy +

•White - Purity & Unity + (Because white is also made up of all colors, it can be used interchangeably for any candle you need)

•Black - Protection & Removing negativity +

•Blue - Communication and intuition +

Before you do anything with the candle You can crush up the herbs To prepare for the next steps.

After obtaining your candle (I recommend candlesticks, but T lights or container candles should work), you can carve any sigils, affirmations, or the shifting symbol Into the candle.

After that anoint Your candle with oil and cover it with the herbs Then slightly melt the bottom and stick it to a plate or anything that you're containing this in I'd recommend a plate that you think can withstand heat or Cookie pan. After planting it within the center circle it with salt. I usually contain it within a pentacle.

Then use any leftover herbs that you used to cover the candle and spread it about the circle as well as within it. At the base of the candle sit down the baileys or note. It is optional to have the the leaves burned or not burned beforehand.

After that Light the candle with intention And let it burn. For me during the process of burning I'd like to see how the flame and candle react during the process as a form of divination and possible messages I can use. You never know what you can you just gotta know where to look.

When The candle is done burning You can look around the dish and use divination to see if there's any signs for your journeys or any repeating symbols.

As for disposal you can Contain the herbs for later use or return both the wax Add herbs to nature. But if you're not sure if the wax is plastic based you can contain it for later use.

My notes

1st thing to mention with this It's to be safe around fire. 1st time I did this it went insane and cracked it's candle holder in half. As for results I got a major memory And accidentally went into the void state with that. They'll be story times about both of these at a later date.

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• Spell jars

The perks of having a spell jar are having a physical object to carry around with you and meditate on.

You'll need some type of food container like a bottle or in most cases a jar There are places online to get them for cheap or you can go to Craft stores. After cleansing it You can put all your herbs in it. Personally I'd like Lairing them like...

•Salt

•Lavender

•Rose Petals

•Rosemary

•Mint

•Star Anise

Then, take your activated bay leaves or paper and crumple/fold it up It in the jar. And it's at this point that I would put drops of my boosting oil into it. As for the next step Make sure the jar is properly sealed. Then take a candle of your Choosing and light the candle melt the wax unto the jar make sure it's sealed tight.

My notes

Very useful For when you're on a road trip and you're trying to hide it. During Spring vacation A while back I did the julia with this in my hand. My body proceeded to fist like a soda but Before anything else can happen my little brother woke me up.

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• Charm bag

Much more beginner friendly and is much less fire intensive With Bay leaves. You can refresh this spell when you need without having to dispose of everything. I You can put items in such as crystals and jewelry that you Want to charm for shifting. For example I put A large clear quartz that looked like it had a lightning Bolt in it.

Take a string pouch. You can also get these online or craft stores. After cleansing it, just pour in each herb, but you can also grind them before this. Then, put your bay leaves or paper into the pouch along with your items that you want to charm. You can meditate over it to activate it. You can also shake it around and mix all the herbs together within the bag.

My notes

This one had the Quickest results the first time I made it. I made it off of a whim I had put in extra star anise Crushing up one and put it in two hole ones and I had only gotten that crystal that day. I had set the bag next to me that night. The result was that very same night Me getting a memory from my DR in a dream And it was the most vivid vision I had ever seen. In fact this is the Koji Kode of memory I was talking about before in one of my last posts.

I'll be linking it here When I posted!

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If you made it this far Thank you so much for reading and I hope this helps you! If you do decide to do this spell commit your results or put it in the asks. That memory post will be coming soon! Good luck shifting!

blessed be<3

[mummer]

is hotd a good show ?

fascinating question. is it a good show? i mean, yeah, it’s pretty good. it’s a bit difficult to evaluate because season 1 is structured so weirdly (not a diss, i think they made the best choice given the crazy timeline of f&b), NO original tv show would ever EVER be structured like that. it’s also hard because i think as source material fire and blood isnt very good. like, it’s not a narrative in the same way and it has to make a lot of odd choices to make all the dates and character ages and stuff function, and it literally does not HAVE a definitive narrative, it’s epistolary, there is no character drama except for what the reader extrapolates from records, and it intentionally offers multiple versions of events. which is fine, but it’s bad when you have to make a tv show out of that. so in that way, again, i think they mostly made the most compelling choices they could have made in this highly specific scenario.

completely aside from the adaptation complexities of it all i think it’s good! i think it’s got interesting stuff to say and mostly layered characters with compelling conflicts. even with the extended timelines they make excellent choices in containing episodes to one big event, succession style, making them feel self contained in a fun way. i like the huge doomed tragedy of it and the way it plays into that. i like the horrible bloody web of incestuous and patriarchal family dynamics. alicent alone is a triumph of a character. it’s got some good writing, some kinda chunky dialogue, but it’s rarely bad. is there stuff i’d change absolutely. i think it’s missing levity really sorely, stick a comedic side character in there, i think humor is usually derided but it’s more important than people realize. i think some of the choices they make are done to create shocking moments but end up feeling a bit stupid or undercooked in the implications? idk lol

ummmm anyway, a lot of the really interesting stuff in the dance happens at the end so im not really mad about middling parts of the setup if they pull off the big culminations. it’s like a 7/10 so far but in a way that makes it interesting to think and talk about, which in a sense makes it more fun than a solid great 8/10 with nothing going on

[y-rhywbeth2]

Elves: Language/s

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index[tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest. Frankly these posts may get updated now and then. etc]

Physiology and quirks | Names & Clans and Houses || Pan-Cultural things: Social life | Time and 'Growing Up an Elf' | Homes | Language | Art | Entertainment | Technology || Elven 'Subraces' still a wip || Philosophy and Religion & Pantheons || Half-elves | [WIP]

I have a weak spot for fictional languages and a compulsive need to poke them with a stick and babble about it. It was this or get sucked into trying to build actual headcanoned conlangs out of this nonsense. So.

If your character has elven on their character sheet: no they don't, the elves are just humouring you. No PCs actually learned this istg.

'Are you still putting off that elven subrace post?' YES.

The 'Elvish' you put on your character sheet as a language proficiency - or Lalur ('the Singing') in Elvish - is actually a pidgin tongue akin to Common, a 'simple' trade tongue that allows elves from various backgrounds to communicate. Elven languages tend to be varied, sometimes to an extreme extent. Drowic altered rapidly due to adapting to Underdark survival and meddling from the church of Lolth, and each drow city has a different dialect; and the Lythari dialect is utterly unlike any other.

As per the advice in Drow of the Underdark (1e), it's a perfectly valid choice to simply cherry pick words from canon glossaries and invent your own elven languages and dialects.

'Standard' Elven seems to look like this: 'Ai armiel telere maenen hir.' 'Qu’kiir vian ivae, qu’kiir nethmet. Ivae marat vand Cormanthor. Mythal selen mhaor kenet. Qu’kiir vand tir t’nor' Very big on diphthongs and ' .

Menzoberranzan Drowic looks like this: 'Khaless nau uss mzild taga dosstan.' 'Kyorl jal bauth, kyone, lueth lil Quarvalsharess xal belbau dos lil belbol del elandar dro.' They like their hard double consonants along with their dipthongs.

And the Lythari dialect looks like this: 'Na kwast wahir athu kyene wekht unarihe.' Seem to be a lot of 'clipped' sounds.

Put a moon elf a drow and an elven lycanthrope in the same room and tell them they have to use their mother tongue and they're not going to get anything done. A fluent speaker of the standard surface elven can make out about 14% of drowic by linguistic overlap, but nothing more, and such applies to other elves: a group of green elves and a migration of aquatic elves that encountered each other once had to spend time breaking down language barriers to talk to each other.

Usually the structure of elven languages flows like English, because the writers aren't actually making a genuine conlang. And then sometimes it really doesn't which makes trying to mine vocabulary and grammar annoying.

As well as spoken languages for daily communication, there are complicated mystical formal languages like Seldruin and 'High Drow' which is used by powerful spellcasters (High Mages and High Priestesses of Lolth respectively).

Elves also utilise alternate forms of communication like sign language and a sort of braille on a regular basis, even if abled. Drow are most known for their use of sign language (its lack of verbal component in particular is useful in the open Underdark, where making a noise is extremely likely to guarantee your death) but surface elves also use it, and use of 'braille' was promoted by moon elves for the sake of the visually impaired and blind, though many sighted elves also use it for secret messaging. Drow in particular make use of it for that, but they're hardly alone.

The alphabet elves use to write in Elven and Common is espruar, created by moon elves and adopted by other elven people (likely due to the amount of wandering and mixing the early moon elves got up to, pre-Crown Wars).

Comes in two variants, the latter of which is the most usually seen:

There's also an older variant of pictograms used by early elves that were 'predecessors' of the Thorass alphabet... which also might actually double as music instructions.

Seldruin is written in a distinct and basically extinct alphabet called Hamarfae.

Elven includes at least six grammatical tenses not found in the languages of shorter lived races to accommodate the elven understanding of time. While it hasn't come up in canon, with the Seldarine being ambiguous about gender elves should probably also have more complicated grammatical gender as well.

Just about every word in Common has about ten or more potential translations in an elvish language, each with a slightly different nuance which may be context sensitive as every word in elven appears to have several meanings within itself. Sort of like there's a word for every facet of a concept or thing, depending on what about the topic you specifically want to discuss.

Want to talk about the winter this year? Two words that will get translated into 'winter' in Common are Loress and Orth. Loress means winter as in the aspect of the season as a period of dormancy, slowing down and hibernation and winter's effect on plant life, you'd probably use it to discuss gardening and crops. Orth means winter in its aspect as a period of danger and consequences (closed roads and frostbite and death by exposure). But in common they just say 'winter.'

What you stress and how you use it will give you an entirely different sentence.

For general elven: Ar means great, Cor also means great, Selu means great.

Cor has connotations of 'grandness' and 'monarch,' carrying connotations of highest authority, and possibly a sort of peak: the highest point its possible to reach, and maybe culmination and fulfilment.

Ar also means 'sun,' probably the colour gold (since teu means silver and moon), as well as connotations of a high rank and the responsibility of guardianship and/or guidance judging by the title 'Arakhor' (ar + akh (duty-need) + or (woods) - the tree guardian, grandfather tree, the one who protects the woods)

(Thus gold elves, the Ar'Tel'Quessir have a name that communicates that they are the people of the sun (by golden appearance and affiliation with Labelas Enoreth), the 'highest' of the People, and they are those with a duty to look after the elven people and their ways.)

Not sure about selu, it places an emphasis on a translation into 'high' and it mostly crops up in connotations of High Magic. Usually gets contracted to sel, like 'Seldarine.'

And then, by changing the stressed syllable, a word has a different meaning.

For example 'Cormanthor,' 'Cormanthor,' and 'Cormanthor' are three different words!

Combining Cor = 'Grand/great ' + Manth = 'Promise/vow,' apparently with connotations of hoping/having faith in the promised outcome + Or = 'Wood,' 'place,' probably also 'copper'

Cormanthor means 'the King's Vow Forest.' Referring to the forest of Cormanthor.

Cormanthor means 'Place of Great Promise.' Referring to the capital city of Myth Drannor, Cormanthor.

Cormanthor means 'Ruler of the Forest True,' and 'King of the Oathlands,' was the green elven title for the coronal (king) of Cormanthor. Apparently when stress is taken of manth and or they combine meanings to get 'faithful-wood/land' or 'oathland'

And then there's 'Cormanthyr' which is a different word altogether whose nuance can be translated as 'the Fulfilment of Promise' and 'Culmination of Hope and Faith' simultaneously.

Also sometimes seems like nouns double as adjectives.

Theur means 'shield' and 'unbreakable,' 'unyielding.'

Aegan means 'physical strength' and 'strong.'

Plurals are just come in so many variants.

Vel -> Vael Sig -> Sige Or -> Ora Athil -> Athila Quess -> Quessir

[astrojulia]

Hi! Thanks for your time and effort in creating your informational posts. Do you have anything about Saturn returns? My kid adult is coming up to his Saturn return and I can see he's feeling life is a little bit heavier. He's a Pisces so he's in his feels anyway but I was hoping I could ease the burden a bit by understanding more about it. I didn't know about Saturn returns until well past my own, and I remember that time as such a crisis. Thanks, Ms. Julia!

All about Saturn Return

I always write for people who don't know anything about the subject, so feel free to skip this part.

First we need to know what is the Saturn Return, a planet return is when the planet returns to have the same sign that is in your birth chart, for example, Solar Return and Venus Return is normally each one year, Saturn's return is already every 28 to 30 years. But of course the Saturn Return is the most talked about of them all. And yeah, just a reminder, it normally takes 2 - 3 years to end your Saturn Return.

While it may sound intimidating, the Saturn Return can be a time of growth and transformation. Saturn is often associated with qualities like discipline, hard work, responsibility, and maturity, so this period can bring about important life changes and challenges. Therefore, even if for many this event is a very difficult part, for a small part it is something very good, because above all Saturn is about harvest.

Saturn's Return forces you to review four points in your life, so if you haven't questioned yourself about these matters and haven't done something about them, you will be even more challenged, which are them:

To be responsible for your own decisions, whether they are big or small, without looking for culprits;

Accept that life has its own pace and there are times when the only thing we can do is wait;

Faced your own shadow and knowing how you are anything but perfect or an “angel on this cursed land”;

Waked up from living a “fake” life;

Or making an analogy to better understand all this… I don't know if this exists in all countries, but adapt it to where you live, but I like to relate the Saturn Return to a large income tax return, every year those who work need to prove how much they earn and what they are spending it's equivalent to what you're saying what you earn... with that you need to have several documents as well as invoices... Those who keep all these files find it very easy to make such a statement... but who leaves it for the last minute…May even pay a fine.

During the first Saturn Return, which occurs in your late twenties, you may face issues related to your own identity and an area of your life like family, your house and career. It can be a time of self-discovery and introspection, where you face your fears, take responsibility for your choices, and make important decisions about your future. That's why you hear about the thirties crisis, people starting a college "out of nothing", ending marriages... It's a time to reap what you sowed.

The second Saturn Return, which occurs in your late fifties or early sixties, is another opportunity for reflection and re-evaluation. This can be a time to take stock of your life, align with your true values, and make changes that bring you closer to your life purpose. Just as it can be a period where you need to see how you are going to take care of your life, many have much older and weakened parents who need care, so it is a time to evaluate what needs to be done to continue with the best way possible to live, if the first Saturn Return was successful, this one will be even more successful (because Saturn likes old things you know).

Now here's the part that gets interesting... Saturn Return is an astrological event that has a lot of hype, but digging about this subject... I found that there's not as much information as I'd like, so we'll have parts that will be A LOT of my theory, so feel free to comment.

Saturn Placements

The star of our show, where Saturn is will be where you will be charged.

Saturn has already offered you more than 20 years of tests on the subject, because where your Saturn is in the Natal Chart is already an area that, even if you love it very much, you have a lot of difficulty

It’s a even funny thing to think but since you want to be soo good about where your Saturn is, is like everything you do to achieve is never good enough. But when you reach the age of 28/30, the moment of truth comes, how hard did you work to achieve your long term dreams? The signs speak of the greatest fears that need to be faced and the houses show where this battlefield will be.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° Sun Placements in Saturn Return

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° Moon Placements in Saturn Return

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° Mercury Placements in Saturn Return (draft)

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° Venus Placements in Saturn Return (draft)

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° Mars Placements in Saturn Return (draft)

Saturn Return: Saturn in Different Zodiac Signs

Saturn in Fire Signs

Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) are known for their passion, creativity, and independent spirit. When Saturn is in a fire sign, its return may bring up issues related to self-expression, creativity, and personal goals.

A Saturn return in Aries can bring a much-needed dose of discipline to this impulsive sign, helping Aries natives to see their projects through to completion. In Leo, a Saturn return may focus on issues related to children, relationships, and creative self-expression. A Saturn return in Sagittarius may push you to reexamine your beliefs and philosophies and move beyond fanaticism.

However, Saturn's restrictive energy may also limit your creativity, pleasure, and moral compass during this time.

Saturn Return in Aries by house

The first house Saturn return in Aries is said to be the purest expression of a Saturn return in Aries, as the symbolism of Aries overlaps quite a bit with the symbolism of the first house. This return could involve becoming aware of physical aging and limitations of the physical body. However, it could also be a time to reinvent how the world sees you and try a new look, a name change, or a physical modification.

In the second house, having Saturn, the planet of restriction and limitation, could show that money does not come easily. However, Aries in the second house could show that one has the ability to get money quickly, even though they might be inclined to spend it just as quickly. A second house Saturn return in Aries could push one to get their finances in order and unlearn impulsive spending habits. It could also be an opportunity to accept one's own financial style and succeed on their own terms.

The third house is involved with communication, and having Saturn in this house could be associated with feeling like it is hard to communicate with others and make oneself understood. Aries in the third house might tend to think and talk fast, interrupting others often. At a third house Saturn return in Aries, one may need to make an intentional effort to learn how to listen to others. It could also be a time to address any aggressive communication tendencies and face the consequences of getting into fights.

In the fourth house, having Saturn could reflect feelings like one did not get the nurturing they need growing up, while Aries in this house might show that family dynamics include aggression or impulsivity. A fourth house Saturn return in Aries could push one to acknowledge how these dynamics have hurt them and seek more stability. Alternatively, one might want to claim the aggressive or impulsive tendencies from their heritage as their own and put their own spin on them.

The fifth house is associated with creativity and children, and a fifth house Saturn return in Aries could involve defining maturity on one's own terms instead of letting someone else tell them what is necessary to be an adult. Saturn in the fifth house might tend toward one’s inner child being overly serious, but Aries has a reputation for being a bit immature. This return could be an opportunity to balance the two and find a new understanding of what it means to be a mature adult.

The sixth house focuses on routine responsibilities and health, and having Saturn here can be associated with health problems or a very focused approach to staying healthy. Aries in the sixth house could show an impulsive approach to health, and a sixth house Saturn return in Aries could push one to get more serious about physically taking care of themselves. It could also give permission to listen to one's own intuition about how their body works best.

The seventh house is associated with significant one-on-one relationships, and having Saturn here suggests taking such relationships seriously. A seventh house Saturn return in Aries could manifest in working out the boundaries of significant relationships and finding more independence in them. It could also be a time for marriages or divorces.

The eighth house is linked with intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy, as well as sharing finances or property. Having Saturn here in one's birth chart can cause either an inability to get away from such difficult matters or a fear of approaching them. With impulsive Aries in the eighth house, one might experience heavy eighth house matters as seeming to blow up out of nowhere and out of their control. An eighth house Saturn return in Aries may encourage one to confront these issues proactively and deal with them before they deal with them.

The ninth house is associated with the systems of beliefs that make up society, like philosophies, legal codes, and religious doctrines, as well as higher education. A ninth house Saturn return in Aries might be an opportunity to pursue topics on one's own terms, like through independent study or a personal spiritual quest. It could also be a time to go back to school with newfound patience and perspective.

The tenth house is involved with matters of career and status, and having Saturn here could suggest that one's public role in the world is a source of concern. A tenth house Saturn return in Aries could push one to find a career that fits them better and provides more freedom. It could also be a time to confront the limits of one's body, especially if one's career involves risk or physical exertion.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups, and having Saturn here could mean that finding a peer group is an important focus of one's life. An eleventh house Saturn return in Aries could involve balancing individualism with social connections and finding ways to have things one's own way while also having others in their life.

Lastly, the twelfth house is associated with secrets and things that are out of view, and having Saturn here is a hidden structure or agenda running one's life that even they may not be aware of. A twelfth house Saturn return in Aries could push one to sit still and sort through the confusing matters of the twelfth house. It could involve trying walking meditation, long enough to figure out what is going on inside and gain insights.

Saturn Return in Leo by house

Saturn Return in Leo in the first house can affect a person's physical body and identity. Having Saturn in the first house could cause individuals to present themselves in a serious and dignified way, while also struggling with physical health issues. Similarly, Leo in the first house could make individuals flamboyant and artistic, but when paired with Saturn Return, they may feel like they need to tone down their personality to get a high-status job.

In the second house, Saturn Return in Leo can impact a person's financial situation and possessions. Individuals with Saturn in the second house may struggle to earn money, but they may have a disciplined attitude towards spending. Leo in the second house may tend to spend a lot on having fun, which can lead to overspending. Saturn Return in Leo in the second house can help individuals develop a budget and spend wisely.

The impact of Saturn Return in Leo in the third house is associated with communication. Saturn in the third house can make it challenging for individuals to communicate with others effectively. Leo in the third house can make individuals dramatic and self-absorbed in their communication style. Saturn Return in Leo in the third house can push individuals to become aware of their communication style and learn to express themselves within healthy boundaries.

In the fourth house, Saturn Return in Leo can affect home and family matters. Individuals with Saturn in the fourth house may feel like they did not get the nurturing they needed while growing up. Leo in the fourth house may reflect a family that is overly concerned with issues of status. Saturn Return in Leo in the fourth house can give individuals the confidence to move forward on a controversial path, and parents may grudgingly admit that perhaps they are on to something.

Saturn Return in Leo in the fifth house is associated with children and creativity. Individuals may feel like they need to become parents to be a proper adult. Leo in the fifth house may push individuals to pursue a creative career. Saturn Return in Leo in the fifth house can give individuals the discipline needed to make a go of it.

In the sixth house, Saturn Return in Leo can impact routine responsibilities, like day-to-day work and maintaining health. Individuals may be very focused on getting recognition for their work. Saturn Return in Leo can help individuals find recognition, but if they are not appreciated at work, they may need to find a job that suits them better.

Saturn Return in Leo in the seventh house is associated with significant one-on-one relationships, like marriage. Individuals with Saturn in the seventh house may take such relationships very seriously. Saturn Return can be associated with marriages or divorces, and a seventh house Saturn Return might be especially likely to go in this direction. Leo in the seventh house may tend to be concerned with the status part of relationship status, leading to the need to learn to follow one's own heart regardless of what others think.

In the eighth house, Saturn Return in Leo is linked with intense experiences, like death and sexual intimacy. Leo in the eighth house may tend to overshare about private matters. Saturn Return in Leo can push individuals to develop better boundaries around private matters.

Saturn Return in Leo in the ninth house is associated with systems of beliefs like philosophies, legal codes, and religious doctrines. Academia tends to be structured in a way that Leo in the ninth house would love, so a ninth house Saturn Return in Leo could involve finally getting a degree or going back to school. However, individuals may have better results if they pursue an academic path that is a true expression of their passion rather than one that they think will impress others.

In the tenth house, Saturn Return in Leo is involved with matters of career and status. Individuals may achieve prominence in their profession with hard work, but it may also be hard to feel like they have ever done enough. Saturn Return in Leo can drive individuals to examine what motivates their ambition and pursue a path that actually works for them personally.

Saturn Return in Leo in the eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. Individuals may find that their commitments to groups and organizations become overwhelming for them. Saturn Return in Leo can push individuals to drop commitments that they are not passionate about.

Finally, Saturn Return in Leo in the twelfth house is associated with secrets and things that are out of view. Individuals with Leo in the twelfth house may find it hard to access the flamboyant, creative energy of Leo. Saturn Return in Leo can give individuals an opportunity to acknowledge their potential in this regard and learn to be honest about their hidden side.

Saturn Return in Sagittarius by house

The first house is associated with one's physical body and identity, and having Saturn in this house can result in a serious and dignified personal presentation, as well as potential struggles with physical health. If Sagittarius is present in the first house, one may identify themselves with a religious or political commitment, and a Saturn Return in Sagittarius could cause one to question their identity without these beliefs. This house also relates to travel or contact with different cultures, and a Saturn Return in Sagittarius could lead to an emphasis on embracing one's unique cultural identity.

The second house relates to personal finance and possessions, and having Saturn in this house generally suggests that money does not come easily. Sagittarius in the second house may indicate a strong philosophy guiding spending and saving habits, but it is important to confront unrealistic views regarding money or possessions during a Saturn Return in Sagittarius. Pleasure may also become complicated, and one may need to correct imbalances related to entertainment spending and necessities during this time.

The third house is associated with communication, and having Saturn in this house can result in difficulty communicating and feeling understood. If Sagittarius is present in this house, one may find it hard to express deep thoughts in small talk and may be tempted to share unsolicited advice or divisive opinions. During a Saturn Return in Sagittarius, one may learn to stand up for themselves in conversation and acknowledge reasonable boundaries about what they can and cannot say.

The fourth house focuses on home and family matters, and having Saturn in this house can reflect a lack of nurturing during childhood. If Sagittarius is present in the fourth house, one may have emigrated from one country to another or have parents from different cultures. A Saturn Return in Sagittarius could be a time to explore cultural heritage and confront whether the beliefs one was raised with are truly fitting.

The fifth house is associated with children and creativity, and a Saturn Return in Sagittarius may lead to becoming a parent or feeling like one must become a parent to be a proper adult. Sagittarius in the fifth house also relates to pleasure and risk-taking, and a Saturn Return may prompt one to tone down excessive behavior or allow more pleasure into their life. If one is a parent during this time, they may need to balance their own preferences with other important factors.

The sixth house relates to routine responsibilities such as work and health, and having Saturn in this house can lead to a focus on maintaining good health or potential health problems. Sagittarius in the sixth house suggests an idealistic approach to habits and routines, and a Saturn Return in Sagittarius may result in finding new inspiration for organizing one's life. One may also desire work with meaning, and a Saturn Return may prompt a change from a frustrating job or finding purpose in their current work.

The seventh house is associated with relationships, and having Saturn in this house indicates a serious approach to significant one-on-one relationships like marriage. A Saturn Return in Sagittarius may lead to marriage or divorce, and Sagittarius in the seventh house suggests a desire for a partner with intellectual depth or cultural background. One may need to change beliefs about relationships to maintain a comfortable connection.

The eighth house invoeighth houselves intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy, as well as shared finances and property. Having Saturn in this house can indicate difficulty with such matters, and Sagittarius in the eighth house may lead to bold exploration of intimidating experiences. A Saturn Return in Sagittarius may prompt bringing one's belief system in alignment with profound experiences, and one may need to ensure they are not taken advantage of in financial or property matters.

The ninth house is associated with beliefs, higher education, and travel to different cultures. Having Saturn in this house may suggest a dogmatic approach to societal structures or difficulty with such structures. A Saturn Return in Sagittarius may involve questioning or clarifying beliefs, or finishing a degree or returning to school.

The tenth house relates to career and status, and having Saturn in this house suggests concern with one's public role in the world. Sagittarius in the tenth house may lead to a desire for a career with freedom and opportunities to learn. A Saturn Return in Sagittarius may prompt finding a better fit for one's job and examining beliefs about authority figures.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups, and having Saturn in this house may indicate a focus on finding a peer group. A Saturn Return in Sagittarius may lead to discovering true friends and examining one's own role in any loneliness experienced.

The twelfth house relates to secrets and hidden agendas, and having Saturn in this house suggests a hidden structure or agenda running one's life. Sagittarius in the twelfth house may involve hiding a thoughtful and joyful part of oneself, and a Saturn Return in Sagittarius may prompt acknowledging this hidden part. A great use of this time may be traveling alone to get to know oneself better.

Saturn in Earth Signs

Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) are known for their practicality, stability, and hard work. When Saturn is in an earth sign, its return may push you out of your comfort zone and encourage you to take risks.

A Saturn return in Taurus may bring up themes related to money, resources, and values. In Virgo, a Saturn return may force you to confront issues related to your health, career, and daily lifestyle. Saturn is very comfortable in Capricorn, its home sign, but even here, it can stir up themes related to career, family, order, duty, stability, and responsibility.

Saturn's energy can help you build a solid foundation for your future, but it may also feel restrictive or limiting at times.

Saturn Return in Taurus by house

In the first house, the physical body and identity are influenced by Saturn's presence, leading to a more serious and dignified presentation. With Taurus in this house, a desire for beauty could become all-consuming, especially during the Saturn return when one becomes aware of aging. However, this period could also provide an opportunity to focus on physical health and discover new ways to enhance one's current self.

In the second house, Saturn's influence on finances and possessions could lead to limited resources, but also a disciplined attitude towards what money is available. Taurus in this house is comfortable with financial affairs and has a practical approach to financial security. However, the Saturn return could trigger a shift in priorities, requiring a careful consideration of financial habits that no longer work.

The third house is associated with communication, and Saturn's presence here could make it challenging to express oneself effectively. Taurus, on the other hand, is associated with the voice, making this physical aspect of communication especially significant. During a third house Saturn return in Taurus, one may become aware of how physical quirks, such as an unusual voice or awkward body language, interfere with effective communication. This period could offer an opportunity to work on these issues and gain deeper psychological insights into how one communicates.

The fourth house is linked to home and family matters, and with Saturn's influence, one may feel a lack of nurturing during childhood. Taurus in this house desires a secure and cozy home, and during a Saturn return, one could feel an intense pull to buy the perfect house. However, one should be careful not to become obsessive about remodeling or house-hunting. Instead, this period could provide an opportunity to explore family origins and address any suppressed issues that could affect future foundations.

In the fifth house, children and creativity are associated with Saturn's return, and one may feel the pressure to become a parent to be considered a proper adult. Taurus in this house could make one a nurturing parent, but the Saturn return could also bring financial concerns to the forefront. Additionally, changes in one's body may affect how they approach attracting partners, requiring an adjustment of strategies.

The sixth house focuses on routine responsibilities, and Saturn here may indicate health problems or a strong focus on staying healthy. Taurus in this house is a reliable worker, but during the Saturn return, one may realize that their commitment to a job isn't appreciated. This could lead to changes in routine and a search for a better fit.

The seventh house is associated with significant one-on-one relationships, and Saturn's presence here suggests that one takes these relationships seriously. A Saturn return in Taurus could lead to a change in relationship status, but Taurus in this house may prioritize security over the right partner. This period could bring up the question of whether one has sacrificed too much for a relationship to work.

The eighth house is linked to intense experiences such as death, sexual intimacy, and sharing finances or property. A Saturn return in Taurus could emphasize the financial side of this house, leading to achieving financial goals or sudden financial struggles. Taurus's desire for things to be predictable and touchable could make it challenging to accept experiences that don't fit those norms.

The ninth house is associated with systems of beliefs, legal codes, religious doctrines, and higher education. Saturn's presence here could make one a dogmatic enforcer or someone continually blocked by these structures. Taurus in this house values belonging to a religious tradition, but during a Saturn return, one may be challenged to articulate their reasons for being there.

The tenth house is involved in matters of career and status, and Saturn's presence here could indicate a concern with one's public role. Taurus in this house may prioritize financial stability in their career choice. During a Saturn return, this could lead to solidifying one's commitment to a good fit or making changes if financial stability has tied them to a job they hate.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups, and Saturn's presence here could make finding a peer group an important focus. Taurus in this house may have stable friendships, and during a Saturn return, one may find their longtime commitment rewarded. However, if one has been loyal to friends without considering compatibility, this period could bring up a need to confront these relationships.

The twelfth house is associated with secrets and hidden structures, and Saturn's presence here could indicate a hidden agenda running one's life. Taurus in this house could desire security but may struggle with the more mystical experiences associated with this house. During a Saturn return, becoming open to mystery could be necessary.

Saturn Return in Virgo by house

The first house is associated with an individual's physical body and identity. With Saturn in the first house, individuals may present themselves in a serious and dignified manner, while also struggling with physical body issues. Additionally, their Saturn return in Virgo may push them to prioritize their physical health and well-being.

The second house is linked to money and possessions. With Saturn in this house, individuals may face challenges in acquiring wealth, but may have a disciplined attitude towards whatever money they do have. With Virgo in the second house, individuals may be very careful with their money, but their Saturn return may push them to confront any fears or anxieties around money and scarcity.

The third house involves communication and the way individuals express themselves. With Saturn in this house, individuals may find it challenging to communicate with others and make themselves understood. With Virgo in the third house, individuals may be precise and hold themselves and others to high standards in communication. However, their Saturn return may show them the limits of this approach and push them to become more attentive to things unsaid.

The fourth house is associated with home and family matters. With Saturn here, individuals may have felt like they did not receive the nurturing they needed growing up. With Virgo in this house, individuals may examine whether the financial lessons they learned from their family are still serving them. Additionally, their Saturn return may present an opportunity to learn domestic skills and develop routines that work for them.

The fifth house is linked to creativity and children. With Saturn in this house, individuals may feel pressure to become a parent in order to be considered a proper adult. With Virgo in this house, individuals may refine their artistic or creative skills with meticulous attention to detail. However, their Saturn return may push them to confront any perfectionistic tendencies and examine the limits of their creative abilities.

The sixth house is associated with routine responsibilities, such as maintaining one's health and work. With Saturn in this house, individuals may be very focused on staying healthy and may face health problems. With Virgo in this house, individuals may believe that putting in effort gets results, but their Saturn return may push them to confront whether their efforts are actually getting them the results they desire or whether they need to make changes.

The seventh house is linked to significant one-on-one relationships, such as marriage. With Saturn in this house, individuals may take such relationships very seriously. With Virgo in this house, individuals may look for a practical partner to balance out their dreamy nature. Their Saturn return may test how well they are handling this dynamic in their relationships and may push them to learn to take care of themselves more instead of relying too heavily on their partner.

The eighth house is associated with intense experiences such as sexual intimacy or death. With Saturn in this house, individuals may have an inability to get away from such difficult matters or a fear of approaching them. With Virgo in the eighth house, individuals may be very good at handling the technical details of complicated financial agreements. However, their Saturn return may push them to examine any assumptions they hold around mystical experiences and let go of some of their need for control.

The ninth house is linked to societal structures such as religion, philosophy, and higher education. With Saturn in this house, individuals may be either an especially dogmatic enforcer of such structures or someone who seems to be continually blocked by them. With Virgo in this house, individuals may be devoted to the rules of whatever system they are affiliated with, but their Saturn return may show them the consequences of enforcing rules in an overly rigid way.

The tenth house is associated with career and status. With Saturn in this house, individuals may feel that their public role in the world is a source of concern for them. With Virgo in this house, individuals may enjoy a career that allows them to use specific technical skills. Their Saturn return may provide recognition for their progress, but may also push them to confront any frustration with an overly critical authority figure.

The eleventh house is linked to friendships and community groups. With Saturn in this house, individuals may feel shut out of social connections early on in life, but may find commitments to groups and organizations overwhelming later on. With Virgo in this house, individuals may be drawn to volunteering for causes or organizations that matter to them. Their Saturn return may present challenges if their focused effort contributes to their organization achieving a success so big that it puts them out of a job.

The twelfth house is associated with secrets and hidden anxieties. With Saturn in this house, individuals may have a hidden structure or agenda running their life that even they may not be aware of. With Virgo in the twelfth house, individuals may keep a lot of worries to themselves. Their Saturn return may make it harder than usual to keep a lid on their anxieties, but may also provide an opportunity for reflection and self-organization.

Saturn Return in Capricorn by house

In the first house, Saturn's placement is associated with an individual's physical body and their identity. With Saturn in the first house, individuals may present themselves in a serious and dignified way, but may also struggle with a problem involving their physical body. Capricorn in the first house could have a similar effect of making individuals look wise beyond their years, allowing them to grow into the image they portray at their first house Saturn return in Capricorn. However, individuals might find that getting old is a bit different from what they expected once they get to this critical point, and having new insights that change their identity in some way could be jarring. Nevertheless, being adaptable can make them stronger.

In the second house, Saturn's placement focuses on money and possessions. In general, having Saturn in the second house could show that money does not come easily to individuals, but they might have a disciplined attitude toward whatever money they do have. With Capricorn in the second house, individuals may be careful about their finances, and their second house Saturn return in Capricorn could be a time when their saving pays off, allowing them to afford a major purchase they have been eyeing. However, they might also tend to think they have less money than they actually do. If their attitude toward their finances tends to fixate on scarcity, they may run the risk of making their fears come true at their second house Saturn return in Capricorn. Being grateful for whatever they have can help them expand their resources.

In the third house, Saturn's placement is involved with communication. Having Saturn in the third house, regardless of its sign, can be associated with feeling like it is hard for individuals to communicate with the people around them and make themselves understood. If they have Capricorn in their third house, they may be a person of few words. This might be at least partly due to an ability to clearly see the main points of any subject. Their third house Saturn return in Capricorn could be a time when they really hit their stride in explaining things to others. They might also be overly focused on being proper in their communication, to the point they are unable to express things that really matter to them. Another potential danger in this approach is that they could miss out on something important that someone else is trying to tell them because they don’t present their case in quite the right way. A situation of this sort could be significant at their third house Saturn return in Capricorn.

In the fourth house, Saturn's placement focuses on home and family matters. In general, having Saturn in the fourth house can reflect that individuals felt like they did not get the nurturing they need growing up. With Capricorn in the fourth house, their family may have prioritized ambition over an emotional connection. Their fourth house Saturn return in Capricorn could make them very aware of the soft skills they missed learning on their climb to the top. That said, Capricorn in the fourth house can also indicate a family that has a basically secure structure, even if it is not always the warmest family. Their fourth house Saturn return in Capricorn may nudge them to help their family when they need it – or their family might turn out to support them in some way.

In the fifth house, Saturn's placement is associated with children and creativity. Some people become parents at their Saturn returns, and a fifth house Saturn return could be especially likely to go in this direction. Individuals might feel like they have to become a parent in order to be a proper adult. Capricorn in the fifth house could make a serious effort to bring order to something chaotic, like children or the creative process. While this might sound like a doomed quest, they could potentially succeed in implementing their artistic vision at their fifth house Saturn return in Capricorn. If they are raising or working closely with children at their fifth house Saturn return in Capricorn, they may be challenged to weigh their idea of how things should go against what the children in front of them actually show them that they need. A truly sound structure must pass the test of messy reality.

In the sixth house, Saturn's placement focuses on an individual's routine responsibilities, like the day-to-day part of their work and what they must do to maintain their health. Saturn in the sixth house can be associated with health problems, but it might just show that individuals are very focused on staying healthy even if they don’t have an illness to be concerned about. With Capricorn in the sixth house, individuals may push themselves hard for productivity in their work and daily routines. Their focused effort could bring them to a significant achievement at their sixth house Saturn return in Capricorn, but they might also experience burnout if they have been pursuing their goals in a way that is not sustainable. Alternately, they might have a tendency to slack off, especially if they were burned by a parent or other authority figure who pushed them too hard when they were growing up. In this case, their sixth house Saturn return in Capricorn could help them find their own rhythm for getting things done.

In the seventh house, Saturn's placement is associated with significant one-on-one relationships including but not limited to marriage. Having Saturn here natally can suggest that individuals take such relationships very seriously. Saturn returns can be associated with marriages or divorces, and a seventh house Saturn return might be especially likely to go in this direction of changing their relationship status. If they have Capricorn in their seventh house, they may want a partner who can bring stability to their life. At their seventh house Saturn return in Capricorn, rushing into marriage for the sake of settling down could be tempting. Marrying now might not be wrong, but they should be aware of what they are doing and why. If they’ve already been in a committed relationship for some time, though, their seventh house Saturn return in Capricorn could be a time when they question whether they are getting all of the security they need from their relationship. They might feel like they have to choose between emotional warmth and financial stability. Perhaps they can ultimately have some of both, but they may need to develop the courage to ask for it out loud.

In the eighth house, Saturn's placement is linked with intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy. Boundaries tend to blur in these extreme situations, so the eighth house also handles situations of sharing finances or property. It can even take in paranormal experiences where the basic structures of the physical world do not perform as expected. Having Saturn here in an individual's birth chart can cause either an inability to get away from such difficult matters or a fear of approaching them. With Capricorn in their eighth house, individuals may have a practical attitude toward the financial commitments they make with others. However, it might be hard for them to acknowledge how emotional they really feel about their money and their possessions. If there is a major imbalance here, their eighth house Saturn return in Capricorn could bring it out. Also, Capricorn in the eighth house could potentially be refreshingly pragmatic about death. In that case, they might as well use the energy of their eighth house Saturn return in Capricorn to plan things like their will. They may even be called upon to handle someone else’s estate.

In the ninth house, Saturn's placement is associated with the systems of beliefs that make up society, like philosophies, legal codes, and religious doctrines. It is also linked to higher education. A person with Saturn in the ninth house, in general, might be either an especially dogmatic enforcer of such structures or someone who seems to be continually blocked by them. The organized nature of Capricorn overall fits well with the vibe of the ninth house. Individuals could achieve an academic degree they have been working toward at their ninth house Saturn return in Capricorn. Their academic journey might tend to emphasize effort and professional ambition rather than passion, and this is fine as long as it works for them. A potential problem with Capricorn in the ninth house could be a tendency to emphasize the letter of the law over the spirit of the law. If they do this, they might get called on it at their ninth house Saturn return in Capricorn. They should embrace opportunities to restructure their thinking in a way that makes it stronger.

In the tenth house, Saturn's placement is involved with matters of career and status. Having Saturn in the tenth house natally could suggest that an individual's public role in the world is a source of concern for them. With hard work, they may achieve prominence in their profession, but it may also be hard to feel like they have ever done enough. The symbolism of the sign of Capricorn overlaps substantially with the symbolism of the tenth house, so a tenth house Saturn return in Capricorn could have a double dose of the basic Saturn return in Capricorn themes. Professional ambition could definitely be a huge focus of a tenth house Saturn return in Capricorn. They may be able to achieve a career goal they have been working toward for a long time. However, any goal they achieve at their tenth house Saturn return in Capricorn might have to truly be their goal. If they were pushed into a particular career by a parent or other authority figure, they may wind up questioning it at their tenth house Saturn return in Capricorn.

In the eleventh house, Saturn's placement is associated with friendships and community groups. In general, having Saturn in the eleventh house could mean that finding a peer group is an important focus of an individual's life. Early on, they may feel shut out of social connections, like they do not come easily to them. Once they hit their stride, though, they may find that their commitments to groups and organizations become overwhelming for them. With Capricorn in their eleventh house, they could be drawn to friends who are ambitious and going places in life. In a best-case scenario, they might find at their eleventh house Saturn return in Capricorn that their friends are able to cheer them on as they pursue their goals. However, if they feel obligated to put up a good front for their friends, they may feel isolated at their eleventh house Saturn return in Capricorn. Most journeys toward success include both ups and downs, and relationships where they can’t be honest about their challenges might not last.

In the twelfth house, Saturn's placement is associated with secrets and things that are out of view. Saturn represents structure, so Saturn in the twelfth house is a hidden structure, a hidden agenda running an individual's life that even they may not be aware of. If they have Capricorn in their twelfth house, they might secretly be more traditional than the image they portray to others. This could especially be the case if they also have Aquarius Rising, as many people with Capricorn in the twelfth house do. At their twelfth house Saturn return in Capricorn, circumstances may push them to become more honest with themselves and others about the full complexity of their personality. On the plus side, they might discover they are more practical and organized than they think they are.

Saturn in Air Signs

Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) are known for their intellectual curiosity, communication skills, and social savvy. When Saturn is in an air sign, its return may challenge your thinking, communication style, and relationships.

A Saturn return in Gemini may push you to find emotional and mental balance by connecting to your truth. Saturn's exaltation in Libra makes this placement more harmonious, but it can still bring up issues related to partnership, finances, and independence. In Aquarius, Saturn may encourage you to question conventional wisdom and embrace your individuality.

Saturn's energy can help you refine your thinking and communication skills, but it may also create obstacles in your relationships or career.

Saturn Return in Gemini by house

In the first house, Saturn return in Gemini may lead to a wardrobe makeover or health issues. People with Saturn in the first house tend to present themselves in a serious and dignified manner. However, individuals with Gemini in the first house can tend to look younger than they are, and this may result in an awkward combination with Saturn in the first house. A first house Saturn return in Gemini may lead to purging one's wardrobe for a makeover. Individuals may also discover a health problem during this period, and the mental aspect of Gemini can be powerful.

In the second house, Saturn return in Gemini may test whether an individual has spread themselves too thin or needs a side hustle. The second house is associated with money and possessions, and having Saturn in the second house may indicate that money does not come easily to an individual. However, individuals with Gemini in the second house may be associated with multiple income streams, and they may be able to keep track of complicated financial arrangements. A second house Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to simplify their lives by picking one income stream and getting better at it.

In the third house, the symbolism overlaps quite a bit with that of the sign of Gemini. A third house Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to confront some of their basic strategies for interacting with others. They may start to notice things that seem small, like whether they interrupt or are interrupted by others in conversation. However, working on these issues could help individuals develop more fulfilling connections.

In the fourth house, Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to look at whether their home life worked well for them growing up. The fourth house is associated with home and family matters, and having Saturn in the fourth house may reflect that an individual did not get the nurturing they needed growing up. Gemini in the fourth house could reflect that there was a lot of activity and conversation in an individual's family life when they were growing up. A fourth house Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to nurture themselves and build a home life that suits their needs.

In the fifth house, Saturn return in Gemini may involve becoming a parent or dealing with childhood memories. The fifth house is associated with children and creativity, and some people become parents during their Saturn returns. A fifth house Saturn return could make individuals feel like they have to become a parent to be a proper adult. Individuals with Gemini in the fifth house may have common childhood experiences like learning to get along with siblings and attending school. A fifth house Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to make things better for their children than they experienced in their childhood.

In the sixth house, Saturn return in Gemini may help individuals nail down their system for getting things done. The sixth house focuses on routine responsibilities like work and maintaining health, and individuals with Gemini in the sixth house may be great at multitasking. A sixth house Saturn return in Gemini may be a time when individuals really nail down their system for getting things done, and they might even become the next organizational guru.

In the seventh house, Saturn return in Gemini may lead to changing relationship status or finding a mate who is versatile enough to keep up with them. The seventh house is associated with significant one-on-one relationships including marriage, and having Saturn here natally can suggest that such relationships are taken very seriously. A seventh house Saturn return in Gemini may be a time when individuals find a mate who is versatile enough to keep up with them. However, individuals may also struggle with dynamics similar to sibling rivalry in their adult relationships.

In the eighth house, Saturn return in Gemini may involve developing the courage to speak up about something they have shame about or having stronger boundaries in how they share resources with others. The eighth house is linked with intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy. Individuals with Saturn here in their birth chart may find it challenging to approach difficult matters. A twelfth house Saturn return in Gemini could involve developing the courage to speak up about something they have shame about, which may help others as well as themselves. Alternatively, it may push individuals to have stronger boundaries in how they share resources with others.

In the ninth house, Saturn return in Gemini may involve confronting political or religious turmoil. The ninth house is associated with the systems of beliefs that make up society, like philosophies and religious doctrines. Individuals with Saturn in the ninth house may be either an especially dogmatic enforcer of such structures or someone who seems to be continually blocked by them. A ninth house Saturn return in Gemini may be a time when individuals confront the political or religious turmoil they grew up with.

In the tenth house, Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to become more consistent. The tenth house is involved with matters of career and status. Having Saturn in the tenth house natally could suggest that an individual's public role in the world is a source of concern for them. With hard work, they may achieve prominence in their profession, but it may also be hard to feel like they have ever done enough. Individuals with Gemini in the tenth house could excel in a career that involves communicating and interacting with others.

In the eleventh house, Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to identify who their real friends are. The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. Individuals with Saturn in the eleventh house may feel shut out of social connections, but they may find their commitments to groups and organizations overwhelming. Individuals with Gemini in the eleventh house may have a social life that is broad but not necessarily deep. An eleventh house Saturn return in Gemini may push individuals to identify who their real friends are when the going gets tough.

In the twelfth house, Saturn return in Gemini may involve airing a personal or family secret or developing stronger boundaries in the way they talk with people. The twelfth house is associated with secrets and things that are out of view. Individuals with Saturn here in their birth chart may have a hidden agenda running their life that even they may not be aware of. A twelfth house Saturn return in Gemini may be a time when individuals finally get the courage to air a personal or family secret that has been holding them back, or it may push individuals to develop stronger boundaries in the way they talk with people, especially if they have been careless with the secrets of others in the years leading up to their Saturn return.

Saturn Return in Libra by house

In the first house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve presenting oneself in a serious and dignified way. Those with this placement may become more aware of their physical body and identity, and may feel that they need to take better care of themselves. They may also struggle with physical issues, and this placement can be a time of learning to take care of oneself.

In the second house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve learning to advocate for oneself financially. Those with this placement may find it difficult to make money, but they may have a disciplined attitude toward whatever money they do have. They may also have a desire to make others happy, but they will need to learn to prioritize their own needs when it comes to financial issues.

In the third house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve finding a balance between expressing oneself and maintaining harmony with others. Those with this placement may struggle with communicating with those around them and making themselves understood. They may also feel inhibited in what they say, leading to a desire to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. This placement can be a time of learning to find a point of balance where they can express what really matters as respectfully as they can, even if not everyone is happy in the moment.

In the fourth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve dealing with family tension or finding comfort at home. Those with this placement may have felt like they did not get the nurturing they needed growing up or may have grown up in a family that put a priority on looking good. This placement can be a time of discovering what makes them comfortable and arranging their current home life accordingly.

In the fifth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve changing one's approach to romance or becoming a parent. Those with this placement may be too focused on the physical appearance of prospective partners and need to pay more attention to other qualities. They may also feel like they have to become a parent in order to be a proper adult. This placement can be a time of learning to change their approach to romance or parenthood and finding a balance between their own desires and the needs of others.

In the sixth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve discovering a routine that works or becoming more grounded in reality. Those with this placement may have been pursuing a routine in an overly rigid way and need to allow their real needs to assert themselves. They may also consider physical beauty to be an important marker of their physical health and spend a lot of time maintaining their appearance. This placement can be a time of discovering a way of arranging their routine that truly works for them, grounded in reality.

In the seventh house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve facing gaps between ideal and actual relationships. Those with this placement may take significant one-on-one relationships very seriously and may struggle with gaps between their ideal relationship and how it actually functions in the real world. This placement is often associated with marriages or divorces and can be a time of significant change in one's relationship status.

In the eighth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve negotiating shared resources or facing trouble with unrealistic ideals. Those with this placement may be optimistic and assume the best in people, leading to trouble if others do not share the same ideals. This placement can be a time of negotiating shared resources or facing trouble with unrealistic ideals when it comes to one's finances or possessions.

In the ninth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve facing legal or philosophical issues. Those with this placement may become gloomy about the realization that life does not seem to be fair or may need to decide what they must accept as unchangeable and what they can work on to make the world a more just place. This placement can be a time of facing legal or philosophical issues related to one's beliefs or higher education.

In the tenth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve achieving career goals or dealing with dysfunctional authority. Those with this placement may feel like their public role in the world is a source of concern and may struggle with feeling like they have not done enough. They may also be drawn to a career that gives them an opportunity to put things in order and make them look good. This placement can be a time of achieving career goals or dealing with dysfunctional authority when it comes to one's public role.

In the eleventh house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve confronting unfair dynamics in friendships or deepening commitment to groups. Those with this placement may feel shut out of social connections early on but may find that their commitments to groups and organizations become overwhelming later in life. This placement can be a time of deepening commitment to a friend group or organization, or confronting unfair dynamics in friendships or other group commitments.

In the twelfth house, the Saturn Return in Libra may involve getting in touch with a sensitive side or facing secrecy in close relationships. Those with this placement may have a hidden agenda running their life that even they may not be aware of, and this placement is often associated with secrets and things that are out of view. This placement can be a time of getting in touch with a sensitive side or facing secrecy in close relationships and learning to be honest with oneself about the problems caused by trying to make everybody happy.

Saturn Return in Aquarius by house

The first house is associated with an individual's physical body and identity. Having Saturn in the first house can cause an individual to present themselves in a serious and dignified way, leading to a struggle with a problem involving their physical body. However, if Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may enjoy having a unique appearance, but this could become problematic when trying to achieve certain goals. This house's impact suggests a need for individuals to balance their individuality with their goals, finding ways to express themselves while working towards their aspirations.

The second house is linked with money and possessions. Having Saturn in the second house can indicate that money does not come easily, leading to a disciplined attitude towards whatever finances an individual has. On the other hand, if Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may have a logical attitude towards their resources and may be willing to try experimental investments. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their logical approach to finances with a grounded sense of reality, finding ways to make sound investments while not getting carried away by their innovative ideas.

The third house is associated with communication. Having Saturn in the third house can cause difficulty in making oneself understood. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may be comfortable using technology to communicate, which could lead to oversharing. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to develop better communication skills, finding ways to express themselves clearly while being mindful of what they share with others.

The fourth house deals with home and family matters. Having Saturn in the fourth house can make an individual feel they did not get enough nurturing during their upbringing. However, if Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may come from a quirky and independent family. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to acknowledge the nurturing they lacked in their upbringing, finding ways to embrace their roots while also developing healthy boundaries.

The fifth house is associated with children and creativity. Having Saturn in the fifth house can make an individual feel they need to become a parent to be a proper adult. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may not be satisfied with traditional ways of dating, mating, and having children, leading to a desire to innovate. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their desire for creativity and individuality with their responsibilities as parents, finding ways to express themselves while also nurturing their children.

The sixth house focuses on routine responsibilities and staying healthy. Having Saturn in the sixth house can indicate a disciplined attitude towards one's routine and health. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may have a clear idea of how things like their routine and diet should function, which could lead to dogmatic behavior. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their innovative ideas for health and routine while also being mindful of their bodies' needs and limitations.

The seventh house deals with significant one-on-one relationships. Having Saturn in the seventh house can suggest taking these relationships seriously. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may prefer to organize their relationships on their own terms. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to work on their communication skills, finding ways to express their unique views while also ensuring their partners are on the same page.

The eighth house is linked with intense experiences such as death and sexual intimacy. Having Saturn in the eighth house can cause fear or an inability to approach such experiences. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may have a desire to share their finances or property with others in the name of universal brotherhood. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their desire to share and their need for privacy, finding ways to express their ideals while also being mindful of potential exploitation.

The ninth house is associated with beliefs and higher education. Having Saturn in the ninth house can make an individual dogmatic or blocked by societal structures. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may have a gift for tracing societal ills to flaws in philosophical underpinnings. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their desire for change and their respect for established structures, finding ways to express their ideas while also being mindful of others' beliefs.

The tenth house deals with career and public status. Having Saturn in the tenth house can suggest concern for one's public role in the world. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may be drawn to a career involving innovation and technology. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their desire to innovate and their need to adhere to established structures, finding ways to express their unique ideas while also being mindful of their responsibilities.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. Having Saturn in the eleventh house can mean finding a peer group is an important focus. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may fall out with a bad crowd that discourages their individuality or solidify their commitment to a community that shares their vision for improving the world. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their desire for acceptance and their need for individuality, finding ways to express themselves while also finding like-minded individuals.

The twelfth house deals with secrets and things that are out of view. Having Saturn in the twelfth house can indicate a hidden agenda running an individual's life. If Aquarius is present in this house, an individual may conceal their unique quirks, but may need to open up to build select groups that understand them. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find ways to express themselves even in the face of potential criticism or rejection, finding like-minded individuals who understand and accept them.

Saturn in Water Signs

Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) are known for their emotional depth, intuition, and sensitivity. When Saturn is in a water sign, its return may challenge you to confront your fears, deepen your emotional maturity, and face your shadows.

A Saturn return in Cancer may manifest as emotional heaviness or the need to build better boundaries. In Scorpio, a Saturn return can be a time of transformation and spiritual rebirth. In Pisces, Saturn may push you to question your beliefs and find a path to living out your dreams.

Saturn's energy can be intense in water signs, but it can also help you develop greater emotional resilience and spiritual depth.

Saturn Return in Cancer by house

The first house is associated with an individual's physical body and identity, and Saturn Return in Cancer in this house can bring about opportunities to formalize one's role as a caregiver. People with Saturn in the first house tend to present themselves in a serious and dignified way, and those with Cancer in the first house are often seen as good at taking care of others. However, at the time of the Saturn Return, it is important to set boundaries and prevent others from taking advantage of one's kindness.

The second house is related to money and possessions. For someone with Saturn in the second house, money does not come easily, but they may have a disciplined attitude toward whatever money they do have. Having Cancer in the second house may lead to seeking emotional security through material possessions. Saturn Return in Cancer in this house can challenge this habit and push individuals to find security in other ways. If someone has been able to handle money in an emotionally balanced way, this Saturn Return can bring financial stability, which can help them achieve their goals.

The third house is associated with communication. Those with Saturn in the third house may find it hard to communicate with the people around them and make themselves understood. With Cancer in the third house, emotions could be a big part of communication. Combined with the blockages that Saturn in the third house can bring, this could come out as being afraid to say anything because you might hurt someone's feelings. At the time of the Saturn Return in Cancer in the third house, it is important to become more conscious of how emotions are used in communication.

The fourth house is related to home and family matters. Those with Saturn in the fourth house may have felt like they did not get the nurturing they needed growing up. With Saturn in Cancer, in general, the vibes are similar. A Saturn Return in Cancer in the fourth house could be an opportunity to examine childhood emotional wounds. This Saturn Return can also bring an opportunity to buy a home or settle down in a stable residence.

The fifth house is linked with children and creativity. For someone with Saturn in the fifth house, a fifth house Saturn Return in Cancer could push them to negotiate boundaries between self-care and caring for others if the possibility of having children is on their mind. This Saturn Return can also help them be more honest about what they want in dating and romance.

The sixth house is associated with daily responsibilities and health. If someone has Cancer in the sixth house, they may be drawn to a job that provides security or a nurturing environment even if it has other drawbacks. Saturn Return in Cancer in this house may bring attention to the bargains made for security and nurturing environments. It can also affect habits like diet and exercise and encourage one to nurture themselves more kindly.

The seventh house is related to significant relationships. Saturn Return in Cancer in the seventh house can push individuals to look at what they have given in exchange for security in relationships. They may also need to learn to open up emotionally in their relationships, even though they might feel like revealing their emotions would threaten the stability of their relationships.

The eighth house is linked with intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy. With Saturn in the eighth house, individuals may have an inability to get away from such difficult matters or a fear of approaching them. Cancer in the eighth house might tend to be emotional about heavy stuff, but Saturn there could block the release of emotions. At the time of the Saturn Return in Cancer in the eighth house, it is important to feel the feelings about significant events and trauma in order to move forward.

The ninth house is associated with beliefs and travel. With Cancer in the ninth house, individuals might be sentimentally attached to a religious or political affiliation that they associate with their family heritage. Saturn Return in Cancer in this house could push individuals to confront whether their beliefs work for them personally and try out new approaches.

The tenth house is related to career and status. If someone has Cancer in the tenth house, they may be drawn to a profession where they help or nurture others. Saturn Return in Cancer in this house may bring opportunities to find a profession that involves helping or nurturing others. The hard part about the helping professions is often knowing when to stop helping, and at the time of the Saturn Return in Cancer in the tenth house, individuals might learn important lessons about professional boundaries.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. With Saturn in the eleventh house, individuals may feel shut out of social connections, like they do not come easily to them. Once they hit their stride, though, their commitments to groups and organizations may become overwhelming for them. A Saturn Return in Cancer in the eleventh house can help them discover whether their commitments to these groups are a good fit for them.

The twelfth house is associated with secrets and things that are out of view. Those with Saturn in the twelfth house may have a hidden agenda running their life that they may not be aware of. With Cancer in the twelfth house, they might tend to hide their sensitivity. At the time of the Saturn Return in Cancer in the twelfth house, it is important to become aware of emotional triggers and achieve powerful insights.

Saturn Return in Scorpio by house

The first house is associated with a person's physical body and identity. With Scorpio in the first house, a person may have trouble viewing an illness or injury as just a random occurrence. Instead, they may feel compelled to look for deeper meanings in any physical challenges they experience at this time. The presence of Saturn in the first house may also cause a person to present themselves in a serious and dignified way.

In the second house, Scorpio's influence may cause a person to view their money and possessions not only as ends in themselves but also as the means to the end of getting what they want emotionally. This can lead to issues with control and manipulation in relationships. During the second house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may be forced to confront these issues and consider whether they are sabotaging themselves financially because they secretly think people will be more sympathetic to them if they are in need.

The third house is associated with communication, and having Saturn in this house can make it hard for a person to communicate with others and make themselves understood. With Scorpio in the third house, a person may either love or hate shallow small talk. Getting stuck at either extreme of that spectrum could lead to feelings of loneliness at the third house Saturn Return in Scorpio. A person may need to work to balance their need for depth with the limitations of the connections that others are able to give them.

The fourth house is focused on home and family matters. With Scorpio in the fourth house, intense emotions may have been a prominent part of a person's home life while they were growing up. The presence of Saturn in this house can complicate matters and tend to suppress open emotional displays. During the fourth house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may be pushed to consider whether the strategies they learned in their upbringing for coping with emotions are still working for them. If there was a family secret that couldn't be discussed openly, they may need to finally deal with it.

The fifth house is associated with children and creativity. With Scorpio in the fifth house, a person may feel like they have to become a parent to be a proper adult. However, Scorpio tends to like to control things, and children tend to resist being controlled. During the fifth house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may need to consider whether they are pushing their child in a particular direction in an attempt to meet their own emotional needs.

The sixth house focuses on routine responsibilities and health, and the presence of Saturn in this house can be associated with health problems or a focus on staying healthy. With Scorpio in the sixth house, a person may be capable of precision and insight in their work, and they could use these qualities to accomplish something significant at their sixth house Saturn return in Scorpio. However, they might also want their work to be meaningful, and they could reach their limit with a job that seems to be pointless.

The seventh house is associated with significant one-on-one relationships, including but not limited to marriage. With Scorpio in the seventh house, a person may crave relationships with people who bring intensity to their life. However, the presence of Saturn in this house can complicate matters, and a person might realize that an exciting partner is not well suited to bring them the security they also want. During the seventh house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may feel like they have to choose once and for all between intensity and safety in a significant relationship.

The eighth house is linked with intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy. With Scorpio in the eighth house, a person may be tempted to fight against a change that they know on some level is necessary. However, relinquishing control could show them possibilities they would not have thought of on their own during the eighth house Saturn Return in Scorpio.

The ninth house is associated with the systems of beliefs that make up society, like philosophies, legal codes, and religious doctrines. With brooding Scorpio in the ninth house, a person's view of the world may tend to emphasize the dark side of life. During the ninth house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may be challenged to learn what they need to learn from difficult situations without getting destroyed by them.

The tenth house is involved with matters of career and status. With Scorpio in the tenth house, a person may be drawn to a career where they get to solve difficult problems. However, the presence of Saturn in this house can make it hard for a person to feel like they have ever done enough. During the tenth house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may have to balance their desire for security with their desire to feel like they are making a difference.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. With Saturn in the eleventh house, a person may feel shut out of social connections early on. With Scorpio in the eleventh house, a person may be deeply loyal to their friends and other associations. During the eleventh house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may need to be honest with themselves about whether others are as committed to them as they are to those connections.

The twelfth house is associated with secrets and things that are out of view. With Saturn in the twelfth house, a person may have a hidden structure or hidden agenda running their life that they may not even be aware of. With Scorpio in the twelfth house, a person's secrets could be successfully hidden even from themselves. During the twelfth house Saturn Return in Scorpio, a person may be forced to confront a deeply repressed trauma or realize that they need to make more space for rest and contemplation in their life.

Saturn Return in Pisces by house

The first house is associated with an individual's physical body and identity. With Saturn in the first house, individuals may feel a struggle with a problem involving their physical body. Pisces in the first house could cause individuals to appear dreamy and imaginative, but this could cause them to struggle with finding a sense of self. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their individuality with their identity, finding ways to express themselves while also being grounded in reality.

The second house is linked with money and possessions. Having Saturn in the second house can indicate that money does not come easily to individuals, leading to a disciplined attitude towards whatever finances they have. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their finances, leading to an emotional attachment to possessions. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their emotional attachment to possessions with a grounded sense of reality, finding ways to make sound investments while also being mindful of their finances.

The third house is associated with communication. Having Saturn in the third house can indicate difficulty in making oneself understood. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may have a talent for creative communication, but may struggle with being understood by others. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to develop better communication skills, finding ways to express themselves clearly while also being mindful of others' perspectives.

The fourth house deals with home and family matters. Having Saturn in the fourth house can indicate that individuals did not receive the nurturing they needed growing up. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may have grown up in a chaotic or artistic environment. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to acknowledge the nurturing they missed out on while also developing healthy boundaries.

The fifth house is associated with children and creativity. Having Saturn in the fifth house can cause individuals to feel they need to become a parent to be a proper adult. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with making practical decisions about their creative endeavors. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their desire for creative expression with practical considerations, finding ways to express themselves while also being mindful of their responsibilities.

The sixth house focuses on routine responsibilities and staying healthy. Having Saturn in the sixth house can indicate a disciplined attitude towards one's routine and health. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their health, leading to a tendency to avoid facing responsibilities. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their creative approach to routine and health with a grounded sense of reality, finding ways to make healthy choices while also being mindful of their limitations.

The seventh house deals with significant one-on-one relationships. Having Saturn in the seventh house can suggest taking these relationships very seriously. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their relationships, leading to an emotional attachment to their partners. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to work on their communication skills, finding ways to express their unique views while also ensuring their partners are on the same page.

The eighth house is linked with intense experiences such as death and sexual intimacy. Having Saturn in the eighth house can cause fear or an inability to approach such experiences. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their finances and shared property, leading to an emotional attachment to possessions. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to balance their emotional attachment to possessions with a grounded sense of reality, finding ways to express their ideals while also being mindful of potential exploitation.

The ninth house is associated with beliefs and higher education. Having Saturn in the ninth house can make individuals dogmatic or blocked by societal structures. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their beliefs, leading to an emotional attachment to their ideas. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their desire for change and their respect for established structures, finding ways to express their ideas while also being mindful of others' beliefs.

The tenth house deals with career and public status. Having Saturn in the tenth house can suggest concern for one's public role in the world. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their career goals, leading to an emotional attachment to their professional aspirations. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their emotional attachment to their career goals and a grounded sense of reality, finding ways to express their unique ideas while also being mindful of their responsibilities.

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. Having Saturn in the eleventh house can mean finding a peer group is an important focus. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their goals for community involvement, leading to an emotional attachment to their vision for a better world. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find a balance between their desire for acceptance and their need for individuality, finding ways to express themselves while also finding like-minded individuals.

The twelfth house deals with secrets and things that are out of view. Having Saturn in the twelfth house can indicate a hidden agenda running an individual's life. If Pisces is present in this house, individuals may struggle with being realistic about their need for privacy, leading to an emotional attachment to their hidden parts. This house's impact suggests that individuals need to find ways to express themselves even in the face of potential criticism or rejection, finding like-minded individuals who understand and accept them.

Sources:

Sailor Saturn Render

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Ultimate Guide to Surviving Saturn Return

Retorno de Saturno: Descubra a idade crítica da sua vida - Marcelo Levi

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Saturn Return

Saturn Return in the houses

Saturn Return by element

[sol-consort]

I don't know if this is too odd, but what would you think a relationship with a Vorcha, Elcor, Hanar or batarian would look like because they are less conventional for cross-species relationships in the ME fandom. Or maybe I'm just deep in the alien fucker trenches who knows :)

"Is this too odd?" Anon asked the tumblr writer.

"I sure hope so," said the writer, whose was actually the weirdo writings guy.

Elcor In a relationship with a human

[romance, fluff, xenobiology, cultural differences]

Views on humanity?

So far, our species have yet to step on their toes... emphasis on yet. Through the trilogy, elcor have always been one of the most helpful and polite species to come across.

Our first encounter with an alien is with an elcor and volus mid-conversation. And despite all the volus's bad faith comments towards humanity, the elcor is quick to dispute his rude claims and apologetically tell us to ignore him; his frustration stems from the unfair practices of the council, not out of true malice towards humans.

The placement of humanity's first embassy next to the elcor one has got to have established some early bridges of trust between the two species. As far as the elcor masses are concerned, humans are chill.

Which is... a lot better of an impression than what the other alien species hold towards humans, shocking I know, who could ever hate us? Well, not the elcor, that's for sure.

Most salarians do hold prejudice against them... kind of a lot, so if you happen to be friends with one, it might wear thin on the stability of your relationship with your elcor partner. Otherwise, a human and an elcor are akin to two happy peas in a pod—politically speaking.

Communication?

We've already established how emotionally intelligent they are with the above example. Very composed and patient, albeit phlegmatic in the eyes of other species.

Elcor communication is intricate, multilayered, and subtle. Requiring their full cortex senses to decipher and convey a coherent reply back. The use of vocal speech has been adapted out of necessity to communicate with the other species.

Even if you studied your whole life, there is no feasible way for a human to reach a level of understanding capable of mimicking a fraction of elcor communication. It's one of those situations where you have to throw the towel in and find an alternative.

Luckily, most elcor are very understanding and considerate enough to lower their standards of communication. In more blunt terms, they settle for less with us.

Yeah.

But hey! Love is worth it, just like how you don't expect them to suddenly turn bipedal. They, too, are content with your limited range of communication and as subtle as a brick to the face.

In a one on one intimate situation, the two of you can easily work around it. But when it's time to meet your parents, or for you to meet theirs, it might create a lot of conflict. Both your families need to accommodate your choice of partner, otherwise the neglect will gnaw at your hearts.

Arguments aren't very fun, their way of speech tend to be irritating when you're already on your last straw and it feels like you're being talked down to.

As for them, you seem completely dramatic and emotional—borderline manic. It's hard to remember that humans are naturally this expressive when their patience is being tested.

It takes a great deal of effort to adapt and learn to the ways of a completely different species. A lot of times you'll wonder why do you even bother, why struggle so much to achieve a semi-normal relationship when you can get these things for granted in any relationship with another human?

And, well, you'll have to find the answer to the question yourself. Because the novelty of dating a shiny new alien will wear off in not a month's time.

In the end, you'll be left with another person, a whole being with a soul just like you, who longs, loves, and needs. Who is also wondering the same thing, why do they stay and make this difficult for themselves? Why don't they just leave to find another elcor?

Because there are many great difficult things in life that are worth the effort.

It's not always all doom and gloom; remember that line about how a human smile is as subtle as a fireworks show to an elcor?

Imagine how it must feel for the elcor, to see your partner being so loud and proud—in your prespective—with their happiness to be around you.

That every small nonchalant "love you, bye bye" you said at the end of a phone call, is akin to a declaration of love shouted from the rooftops. To be so clearly and shamelessly loved. There is no playing hard to get with an elcor, something as small as the glint in your eye as you steal a glance their way speaks mountains to them.

You are a fireworks display. They love you for it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Romance?

It's not elaborated on much, what their species consider romantic, where do they draw the line between platonic affection and other? How many types of love do they have?

Humans are tribal, herd mammals. We enjoy taking all of our treasured belongings and putting them in a cave, hopefully with another treasured person inside.

As children, we daydream about being neighbours with our friends when we grow up, we wish to visit our loved ones a ton, and sleepovers are beloved for a reason.

Elcor are the opposite. They are solitary creatures spread out across their planet. The dense gravity their species developed under might imply they find cuddling or any form of extra weight against them uncomfortable.

Or, actually, it might do the opposite.

Think of it this way, their bodies got so used to the crushing gravity of Dekuuna—their homeplanet—so much so that once they left it, they started feeling a lack. While they may hate the feeling of extra weight when on their homeworld, they begin to miss it and crave the added weight once they leave to the Citadel, Earth, or anywhere else.

So when you cuddle them, lean against them, or cover them in a weighted blanket, they feel at home.

The flora of Dekuuna not only offers an overabundance of lush forests but is also protected by the law. Meaning they place great cultural value on nature itself.

Which means their romantic gifts may also stem from nature, like ours, except an elcor would think it's more romantic to gift you a living plant than a bouquet of flowers; the act of cutting them itself is seen as insulting.

But if you give them a potted flower? The romantic innuendo will come across!

Elcor migrate a lot, as in walking the distance to move their capital, because they enjoy doing it. They like being outside, maybe dates to the park or somewhere vast and open will appeal to them?

Some of them are seen to consume nicotine and alcohol; you can safely ask them out for drinks, flirting by paying their tab and walking them home.

They enjoyed Hamlet enough to adapt it! They have a taste for theatrics and tragedy. Implying their preference overlap with humanity when it comes to art and expression. Not only that, but it proves they deeply enjoy art.

You've hit the jackpot, you take an elcor on a picnic at a nearby park, share a bottle of wine, use some classy flirting lines and watch them add "says flustered" in their speech tone indicator, then bring em home, cuddle on a pile of blankets and watch a doomed romance together!

Eventually, they, too, will get the hand of what makes your heart flutter and smile widens. That humans place sentimental values on material things and enjoy receiving fun little trinkets, shiny stuff, your prefered colour to receive them in, your favourite food to eat, the snacks you like.

They get the hang of it with practice and observation. They can pick up on a lot of your subtle body language that you're oblivious to. They recognise what you're feeling without you having to say a word. They act accordingly each time. Being considerate and thoughtful are in their nature.

Sex?

Wouldn't you like to know weatherboy