#MICRO PROJECTS LIMITED

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[megalommi]

I have some thoughts, in light of news that Underverse is cancelled.

Being put up on a pedestal is an inherently dehumanising experience, whether you're being idolised or demonised.

I've gone through a bit of harassment, demonising, bullying. It's a micro version of what the biggest creators in a field experience, but even THAT is extremely traumatising. It's one of the factors that contributed to my severe burn out.

Don't assume that it's because any particular fandom is 'toxic', because fandoms are just made of individuals, and you will always find bad behaviour and, yes, even abusers and predators, in any fandom and in any community. There are no squeaky clean communities. They are made of people, and people are messy and complicated. People are capable of incredible compassion, and of horrifying abuse.

This is a good time to self reflect, and practise not being reactionary. There will always be pressure to appear good on social media, and that will feel like a time limit. The healthy and mature thing to do is to step away and reflect on it, speak privately to trusted confidants, and collect information in which to make an informed decision.

The pressure you put on yourself to be perfect is also the pressure you put on others to do the same. You project that energy out into the world. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others.

And think very carefully about what justice means to you, how that looks. Who stands to benefit, and what the consequences are of pursuing it, or not. Does rehabilitation factor in to your view of justice? What does being held accountable mean to you, and how long does the punishment last?

And this is all most important when the accusations are so serious, the more serious the alleged action, the more careful you should be. Acting is becoming complicit, and your own individual actions are always meaningful and far reaching, even if it doesn't seem like it. Make sure you know exactly what you are becoming complicit in.

Be honest with yourself.

Being part of a community is work, there will always be conflict. You need to learn how to foster a better, healthier community. Not perfect. Better.

[fatehbaz]

"Industry" as a frame of meaning is [...] relevant from the beginning of [modern-era labor advocacy and the general practice of intentionally "taking it easy" or "slowing down" while at work in order to advocate for and take care of oneself] [...], a form of "working badly" [...]. This close link is understandable given the absolute focus on efficiency that marks management thinking - Taylorism [Frederick Taylor's time studies and his support for using stopwatches to micro-manage in the workplace], the Gilbreths' time and motion studies [...]. [W]e can feel that trace of disgust, a certain sneering affect [...]. The sneer gathers around the word "motionless," [...]. The promise of the “upstanding citizen” is posed against the figure of the cripple, etymologically bound to the one who creeps, who stays low, to the one who is not proud and erect and in public view. In this way, that figure - along with the hobbled, the mute, the blind, the mad, the deaf, the chronic, and, of course, the paralyzed - becomes the exemplary negative definition. [...] [T]he only culturally sanctioned options are to be hidden from public life or recuperated [...]. That [...] fantasy of [a] return to previous levels of mobility that aligns easily with ableist conceptions of normal function and health [...] is also grounded in the specific idea of a return to ["productivity"] [...].

We can find this dynamic in especially dramatic form in the influential work of early twentieth-century “scientific management” theorists Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, known both for their time and motion studies of labor processes [...]. [T]he Gilbreths are relentlessly devoted to the reduction of inefficiency in labor to save energy, reduce unnecessary fatigue, and, above all, neutralize the fundamental “waste” of effort and time hidden within every human movement, particularly when at work. According to Frank and Lillian, “there is no waste of any kind in the world that equals the waste from needless, ill-directed, and ineffective motions, and their resulting unnecessary fatigue.” The battle against this “waste” gets posed as a civilizational battle stretching back across human history, only now conquerable with modern means, yet theirs is also a project with explicitly nationalist overtones that can be strategically couched to suit a war economy and a desire for American imperial hegemony.

---

The solution they propose is a total analytical dissection of labor processes, breaking single tasks into discrete parts to detect the little gaps in time that could be closed. Such minute lags and “micromotions” will necessarily get missed without the tools the Gilbreths turn to, like moving picture cameras - turned to face workers with chronometers in front of the lens and reticular grids on the wall behind for scale - and a “chronocyclegraph,” which allowed them to zoom in on a single gesture to see its tiny deviations and wasted movements frame by frame. In their methodology, delays and breakdowns take a form almost directly counter to simple malingering or the kind of willful self-stasis that Spargo denounced. Rather, what causes the inefficiency that the Gilbreths target is too much movement, an excess of animacy and motions that need not be done to complete a task, resulting in unnecessary fatigue and wasted opportunities for profit.

Yet at the heart of this, there is one figure seen to most embody this “wasted” energy and time in full - not in a specific action, badly choreographed task, or laziness, but in their entire being. This is what they designated as the “cripple,” [...].

---

“What,” the Gilbreths ask, “is to be done with these millions of cripples, when their injuries have been remedied as far as possible, and when they are obliged to become again a part of the working community?” [...] The “cripple” therefore emblematizes the waste of America’s “human resources” for the Gilbreths. It manifests a physical limit - the body that is conventionally seen to be unable to do productive work - but also a political one that they cannot even fathom, or at least allow publicly: the idea that anyone might challenge either the supposed utility of this frenzy of streamlined work or the very category of what constitutes “waste” itself. For the Gilbreths, the “elimination of waste” is not merely a project of capital. It is a civilization-scale undertaking that benefits all involved in the process: “All workers are sharing in the savings made possible by the elimination of waste.” [...]

It is not mere surveillance, increased policing, or something that openly oppresses and invites a revolt. Instead, it is a mode of management and control that seeks to saturate every step of the process, all the while insisting that what’s good for profit is good for those whose stolen time generates that profit.

---

All text above by: Evan Calder Williams. "On Paralysis, Part 3". e-flux Journal Issue #147. September 2024. Published online at: e-flux dot com slash journal/147/624989/on-paralysis-part-3/. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Text within brackets added by me for clarity/context. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism.]

[osakanone]

"How realistic are mecha, really?": They aren't, but not for the reason you're thinking of or the one adjacent to it. Trust me.

Crossposted from reddit, since people seemed to like it. Like in the thread, I am very happy to answer questions about any esoteric weirdness.

Hold my beer. Again

They're not becoming a possibility. Yes. I know. This sucks. But stick around. Its not for the reasons you think. Well it is, but it also isn't. You'll see.

The robot needs the technology more than the technology needs a robot.

the technologies which the robot needs will improve and alter the doctrine of every other platform

This creates a doctrinal lock-in where the potential functional space for them to exist is unmet -- that they are so far ahead, that nothing new can emerge that isn't just other platforms becoming more generalized (eg, a post-stall recovery aircraft, or a helicopter with high impact landing-gear and a rigid rotor/jet engine design to act as a surface-fighter -- a tank which walks or manoeuvres like a robot is just flat out of the question: Tanks are made to be simple-as-fuck boxes which tank hits, and shoot and acquire asap and rumours of their deaths as a doctrinal weapon are exaggerated by recent events where obsolete weapons which aren't maintained properly who's crews aren't adequately trained were fighting very clever civilians with drones)

What you consider "realistic" (5th/6th) is just as if not more unrealistic than other gens purely because of their smaller size and very bizarre relationship with the environment -- they're just both too big, and too small to make sense, sitting in a size niche which is just very weird

If such a vehicle does exist, its going to be defined by its functions rather than a humanoid appearance

we know this because specialized platforms tend to beat specialized platforms historically until specialized platforms mature and become generalized

thus, the closest you're probably going to get is some weird variation of DARPA's Ground X Vehicle Project meeting with Gravity Industry' style mobility in limited cases, hybridized with smaller robots and wingsuits, which mix manoeuvring operation styles, with some rocker-boogie mechanism elements for terrain handling: It won't be humanoid, whatever it is.

This is assuming you can magically solve the square-cube law of volume-mass which is partially negatable with certain custom topologies exceeding graphene but actually manufacturing them would be miserable work probably not even be something you can make without microgravity

Energy flat out isn't solvable with what we know about right now. Nothing with that energy density can exist that isn't going to simultaneously make for an incredible fragile, dangerous and problematic source of power given the forces involved. Cooling is also a horrifyingly unsolvable problem on this scale, as is radiation management: You can't just dump molten tungsten in emergency cooling mode - you'll not only proceed to alert everybody who has even the vaguest IRST capacity to your position, but you'll also probably set fire to the environment and cook off your own ammunition. *

Motors aren't well suited to the tasks of such bodies (its like trying to make a slingshot out of dental floss), and we don't have an effective way to turn electricity into a form of motion which corresponds with the shock absorbing and motion control qualities which are actually desirable yet

Even if we did, the actual means of ensuring it doesn't fragment every time it moves don't exist. Every time an A10C fires its main gun, the fuel lines micro-fracture and have to be replaced after it lands. Metal, when you subject it to high physical forces ends up feeling and behaving closer to how you would think of glass. You'd need a material capable of repairing itself too, atop the quasicrystalline property which again, just isn't doable, let alone simultaneously.

So in terms of our mindset going into this?

Its... Probably not happening barring a very, VERY extreme change to how we understand physics to function, or some really kick ass (and actually entirely possible) changes in how engineering achieves outcomes (which could happen if the greatest threat to the mecha didn't exist)

Combat is moving towards information dominance. 

That's drone swarms, and role modularized long range travel, and the idea of fighter beyond-visual-range combat extending out to infared search and track systems which are networked to one another, which we're already seeing in singleton weapons and their mounting strategies even on the personal scale, which DARPA is currently investigating which everybody wants to mate with the gravity industries gear for boarding ops so the most likely avenue is to scale up from people, rather than scale down from vehicles as the development pathway -- but there's probably going to be multiple pathways with competing niches once the technology becomes cheap enough.

Costing

Ultimately its down to "how much money do I have to spend to defeat something more expensive than myself?" -- because our current structure of war is defined by cost, and by making the other guys surrender by using economic, and military violence (private, and publicly funded) instead of convincing them that we (NATO members, etc) have good opinions purely because of the natural benefits of "doing as we say" (which we see with basically any conflict in the last 70 years, which are usually feigned as ideological but pretty much always about disrupting market competition, dominating markets, or controlling a pressure position in another country to achieve those two things).

This isn't because they're particularly excellent weapons, but because they're cheap relative to the strength they offer, and how we define cheap is very different to how we defined cheap 100 years ago -- both in good, and terrible ways (such is the way of history).

Mecha are kinda the ultimate boondoggle. They are very very expensive, and just don't make sense.

They're cool as hell, yes.

But they don't make sense.

DISCLAIMER: If you're prone to depression, are dealing with a lot right now, or don't want your day ruining, you should stop reading NOW. What comes next is a psychosocial hazard and could be very bad for your mental health. LAST CHANCE . . .

The "real" reasons

If conflict some how became a meritocracy of leading by excellence rather than intimidation, and about human outcomes instead of cost outcomes, then things could change, but we don't live in that world.

Remember, violence exists to end human conflict (not to be confused with military conflict, which violence is the primary instrument of): Human conflict is when two parties oppose one another and communicate about what their goals and intentions are. Violence happens when communication stops. Communication stops, because parties cannot come to terms, or because nobody wants to be reasonable because the inherent request is unreasonable to the interests of the other party.

I'd love to say physics is the greatest threat, or maybe our concept of conflict but its not: * Its economics.

The concept of private-equity (not to be confused with venture-capital investment) is kiiiind of the dominant economic system on the face of the planet which dictates the interest of every nuclear power's actions against every non-nuclear power) is functionally dissolved, and investment models as we know them magically become better regulated OR a better economic system comes along which totally undermines private equity.

Its an economic finger-trap where most of the money that would be reinvested into people and technologies to push the world forward ends up getting swallowed up.

It also has private armies) and simulates the economy and political events in order to control them for maximum profitability. Yeah.)

We already live in Armored Core, folks.

And that economic system knows that if it gave free agents like ravens any kind of military power, it would functionally undermine itself, which is why it will never happen.

Private equity benefits from not having technology change, because its primary goal is wealth extraction. It leads to the collapse of every business you've ever seen go under, its why products undergo enshittification, which is coming for everything.

Its why the housing crisis happened, why the banking collapse happened, and its why there's an incentive to continue industrializing diseases like insulin instead of curing them.

tl;dr:

The one thing AC gets super wrong is you can either have the depressing relatable low-saturation late-stage hyper-capitalist dystopia where life is cheap on planet earth and everything terrible about South Korea times a thousand covers the whole world, and you need to have your own organs brought from you and leased back to you to lock you in to a lifetime of debt the same way everything else works...

OR

you can have the robot;

You can't have both.

e: I'd pick the robot any day

--

Apologies for any inaccuracies, I haven't edited this and I threw the original together in the space of around 40 minutes. Questions very welcome: I enjoy giving long detailed and substantiated answers.

If you enjoyed this, please consider reading my other work on the theoretical design factors of mecha, their control systems, and my fictional writing in mechposting.

[adrianthevampire]

A Somewhat Comprehensive List of Horse Video Games

I will be editing this original post with new games, new information, and so on. If you see a reblogged version of this post, it is worth going to the original post to see if updates have been made.

Ahead will be a list of games that either were released recently and/or are being actively maintained. I have not personally played all of these games. Do not take this list as my personal recommendations.

If you have games you would like to suggest for this list, please let me know!

Some games are listed in both the Single Player and Multiplayer sections. This is due to them having the capability for either.

Single Player

The Ranch of Rivershine [Steam]

Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch [Website, available for PC and consoles]

Rival Stars Horse Racing [Website]

Astride [Steam, Website]

Horse Club Adventures [Steam, also available on consoles]

Horse Club Adventures 2 [Steam, also available on consoles]

Wildshade Unicorn Champions [only available on consoles]

Tales of Rein Ravine [Steam]

Multiplayer

Rival Stars Horse Racing [Website]

Astride [Steam, Website]

Horse Isle 3 [Website]

Alicia Online [Website]

Star Stable Online [Website]

Star Equestrian [Website]

Browser

Horse Reality [Website]

Ropin' Ranch [Website]

Wild Horses Valley [Website]

Hunt and Jump [Website]

Mobile

Wildshade

Equestrian The Game

Star Equestrian

Rival Stars Horse Racing

Star Stable Online

Equestriad World Tour

Honorable Mentions

These are games that are not horse games technically but may have good horse gameplay, either in the base game or via user created content.

Red Dead Redemption 2/Red Dead Online/RedM

Minecraft

Roblox

The Sims 3 Pets

The Sims 4 Horse Ranch

Black Desert Online

Upcoming

Some but not all of these games have demos or paid beta testing, though none are officially available yet.

Fernhoof Grove [Trailer]

Unbridled: That Horse Game [Website]

Horse Life Simulator [Patreon]

Canter Crossing [Steam]

Pro Show Jumping [Steam]

Horse Project [Website]

Horse Trainer [Video]

Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori [Steam]

Details about some of the games:

Rival Stars Horse Racing

Rival Stars has two versions. Desktop via Steam and Mobile. While the gameplay itself (e.i racing, breeding, etc) are identical there are massive differences in how it functions. Mobile has micro transactions and limits on how much you can do a day without paying money. The desktop version has no micro transactions and no limits on how much you can do at any given time. Desktop, however, does not get updated as often as Mobile. I could go on and on listing various pros and cons between the two versions, but ultimately I personally prefer Desktop due to the lack of micro transactions or wait times and in addition Desktop has the ability to make custom horses, which is quite fun. It's worth checking out the mobile version first, however, so you can see if the game appeals to you as the Mobile version is free to play.

Astride

Astride is in "early access" on Steam, though that can be misleading. What is currently available is little more than a tech demo. You can create a horse and ride around an area on it, utilizing Astride's unique jumping system, and you can given play with friends. However, it is extremely glitchy, the lighting looks awful right now, and overall it just... isn't good. That said, it is still in progress and I personally have hopes that it will become a full fledged game as promised someday. That day is not today and so I personally recommend not purchasing it until it has gotten a few good updates, unless you just really want to financially support the developers.

Horse Isle 3

Oh boy. I'll just point you towards this article about some of the issues with the community management of HI3. Be warned if you intend to play, moderators are inconsistent about the rules they enforce and you can very easily get banned for saying harmless things. Personally, I stay out of the chat and I'm careful with what I name my horses. Horse Isle 3 is a one of a kind game, sadly, that allows for extremely detailed breeding. Realistic genetics combined with the ability to breed for all sorts of shapes makes it a very compelling game, which is why so many people continue to play it despite... the issues. It is free to play, though there are paid aspects to it. However, you can earn the premium currency within the game and utilize paid features without ever paying your own money.

Minecraft

Minecraft can be a fun horse game using mods or server plugins! The mod SWEM adds a lot of content that makes for good realistic horse roleplay, though doesn't fit well in survival style gameplay. The mod Realistic Horse Genetics actually doesn't change much of the horse functionality, making it a really good fit for survival gameplay, but adds lots of realistic genetics and a better system for inheriting stats than vanilla minecraft. The mod Genetic Animals will be adding horses soon.

Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online, and RedM

While it is not intended to be a horse game, RDR2 has horses that feel so very real. They are well animated so they feel alive and they respond to their environment in realistic ways. Many people purchase the game purely because of the horses. There are mods you can use to improve the horses in Single Player, though I've never used any so I can't offer suggestions. Personally, I really like Red Dead Online for the horses because the horses can't die and there are a few more breed options. You also can look into joining a RedM server. There is one called Rift that is specifically meant for horse enthusiasts.

Roblox

I know nothing about Roblox personally, but I know there are several worlds (games? I don't know what they're called) in Roblox that revolve around horses.

I will add to this as I think of more. If you are viewing this as a reblogged post, it's worth checking the original to see if it has been updated.

Please feel free to request more information or suggest games or add your thoughts.

[foxmulderautism]

boys who say they're going to write then go to sleep

boys who say they're going to write then watch tom at the farm

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

The Silver Dragon Cometh - Part 1

Summary: Lullaby and Khopesh and their gaggle of Primaris friends/acquaintances are having a lovely picnic under the sun. The weather is warm, the food is filling, the conversation is surprisingly easy flowing. Lullaby even makes a few new close friends, and confides in them some struggle they're having with their powers. If Only things could remain so lovely...

Previous Chapter Here!

Next Chapter Here!

Where is all started! Here!

Warning: Social Anxiety, Fights, Injury, Cursing, Literally messing with people's heads, and what could technically be considered micro aggressions to go with the Macro aggressions.

Tags: This one is another collaboration with @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan! We've also got characters from @sleepyfan-blog and @kit-williams making an appearance. If you've contributed a character and I don't mention it here just DM me I'll fix that right up!

@bleedingichorhearts @beckyninja @bispecsual @passionofthesith @egrets-not-regrets @felinisnoctis

“Right,” Karlsor says, “try again, just like before.”

He holds out a hand, and like you've been doing for most of this session you hold out yours, a few inches above his. Parallel, not touching

“If it helps,” Karlsor says, “try to visualize the mycelium network stretching out their roots- like leaves of a plant extending to reach the sun.”

You try to do that. In recent trainings you had learned to Sense the slight difference when your powers were working. Feeling the flow so to speak, you could even tell when power was flowing out vs in. Sometimes, you could even see…Things very faintly when you absorbed enough energy. But it never lasted very long. 

And try as you might, you really weren't feeling any power flow one way or another, no matter how hard you visualized your little roots reaching up (or down in this case) to make contact with Karlsors hand. You could feel the Strain of trying to push them, and it was honestly starting to give you a bad headache. 

Karlsor meanwhile was using his warp sight, and feeling his own headache starting. He could see the mycelium tendrils reaching, but it seemed like a few inches was Lullaby's current limit as far as projection went for now. 

Part of him wanted to say Fuck it and touch the little roots so they'd relieve his headache. He hissed, patience patience…His head throbbed in vengeance and his sight wavered, spots of darkness flickering in and out.

Yeah fuck patience they'd been at this same fucking bullshit for over an hour and went from one inch to a Maybe two inch limit. Karlsor dimmed his warp sight with a gruff muttered “enough…Fuck damn shit this hurts.”

He heard you huff with disappointment before a warm small hand made contact with his and the pain and throbbing lessened. “Sorry Karlsor,” You murmur. 

“Eh, some training is harder to do than others,” Karlsor says, “Try and, ugh, meditate and think about stretching the network, without trying to use your powers. That might help?”

He sighs in relief, “Fuck I’m glad that your powers help. My headaches are a lot better now. Thanks.”

“No trouble,” You smile wryly. “You know as much as I do right now, Teach. I'll give it a shot. Besides, I'm glad I can at least do a few things consistently.”

“Consistency in what you can do, is really important,” Karlsor says seriously, “being able to do it more than once, means that it’s repeatable rather than just only being able to do something once. Scientific Method and all that grox-shite.”

“I Do appreciate the Scientific Method. But speaking of once in a while things…” You glance at the clock, “Would it be okay if we call today's session a little early?”

“I fuckin guess, but what for?” Karlsor asks. 

You smile, and start gathering your things. “Khopesh said Claude wanted me to meet some of the other Primaris Marines they know. So we're meeting at the park for a picnic!” You answer cheerfully. “There's apparently some new arrivals And I even baked and decorated a cake! Do you want me to save you a slice?”

You omitted the near mental breakdown you had trying to make the icing look nice. It was a fun process but you wanted to make a good impression. 

“Ah- I heard about them, one of them is a feral bastard of a Lamenter, and one of the other’s is another, ugh, Ultramarine.” Karlsor says- remember what Claude’s spoken of some of the newly arrived Primaris Marines. “A break’s a good idea- go on, have fun.”

“Pfft,” You snickered a bit at the shade Karlsor was throwing around. “Well as long as they like strawberry cake I'm sure it'll be fine. Thanks, Teach!“

“You’re welcome. Save me a slice, yeah?” Karlsor says. He likes cake. “If you can. Lamenters are very… soft with baselines.”

“Push meets shove I'll bake you your own cake, text me your flavor preferences!” You call back, and hit an eager run to the pantry. 

“Deal!” Karlsor perks up with a grin.

He texts you [Meyer Lemon and Raspberry] for his flavor preference.

You pass by Pyrus in the hallway who gives you a cheerful greeting. “Hello Lullaby!”

“Hi Pyrus gotta run!”

You pass by the med bay where apothecary Zariel is exiting a room. He happens to see you. “Ah Lullaby finished with your studies?”

“For today anyway, gotta go, there's a picnic with my name on it!”

Zariel laughs, “Very well, mind where you run.”

“I will!”

You come to the food pantry where you happen to see Zaarius examining the larder and taking stock. 

“Hello Zaar!” You greet him, clearly still bouncing with energy. “Is it still here?”

“Naturally dear,” He cooes, reaching to one of the high temperature controlled shelves. “One Strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream icing and Adorable vanilla buttercream rosettes. Unmolested…no matter how Badly certain individuals wanted to.”

You hear a familiar grumbling walking in with more items for the pantry. “I only said I wanted a Bit of the icing.” Khopesh grumbled, placing items on shelves with rapid speed even while he complained. 

Zaarius rolled his eyes. You trotted over to give your love a hug. (Carefully while still holding the cake.) “Hey Sweetness! You'll get to have some soon.” You reassure him with a kiss on the lips. “I'll make sure you get the first piece!”

Khopesh trademark purrs picked up as you embraced him. “That is acceptable.” He agrees then turns to Zaarius. “As promised all the items are unloaded and sorted.”

“Properly?” Zaarius asks pointedly, knowing younger marines penchants for slacking on work they deemed unimportant. 

Khopesh huffed with slight indignance. “Of course! What do you take me for a Space Wolf? Any Nightlord worth their pelts does Not mess around with Food.”

“And yet you wanted to snag a bit of my cake early?” You ask dryly. 

“Sorting and Storing food, not eating it dear Lullaby.” He explained with a flash of teeth. “When processing a carcass the most important factor is proper cutting, sorting, and preserving for the Purpose of eventual consumption. Or eventual leather work or scrimshawing in the case of skin and bones.”

Zaarius arches an eyebrow at him, “No, but young ones can get impatient and sloppy.”

Khopesh made a slightly dramatic gesture for Zaarius to examine his section. Which the Noise Marine did and actually gave a somewhat impressive hum. “Not bad, very well Khopesh, you are released until your next kitchen duty. Enjoy your outing.”

“Excellent!” Khopesh growls with vigor, before scooping you, and the cake up so you were riding in the crook of his elbow.

“Oop! H-hey!” You say with delighted laughter, and sling an arm over Khopesh's neck for better grip. “By Zaarius! See you around.” You call back as you are whisked away by your goofy Nightlord.

Zaarius chuckles and shakes his head at the two. Young love.

________________

Olly had brought some chocolate rocks- which were not rocks at all, but were chocolate with a crunchy candy coating as part of snacks for the picnic that he was invited along with. Ramiel and Cedric had done the lion’s share of the cooking, while the rest of them cleaned up and carried the picnic food stuffs, drinks and supplies.

Olly turned to one of his brothers, careful to approach while the other was not doing anything too consuming. In this case Claude laying out the blankets and cutlery.

“So…this baseline Khopesh is bringing…what are they like?” Olly asks.

Claude pauses for a moment. “Don't worry. They're very sweet.” He assures Olly. “And funny, and warm and reassuring.”

Jophiel gives Claude a sideways glance, but doesn't comment. Warm and reassuring? There's nothing warm and reassuring about being crawling with bizarre unknown (possibly heretical) psychery. 

Olly looks down to the chocolate rocks he'd brought with him. “Do you think they'll like the candy?” 

Kerubiel sneered a little, his arms crossed over his chest, still not certain why they needed to be interacting with a baseline human that wasn’t Bonded to a Night Lord, but somehow someone that they cared for. 

“Meet'in a new person won’t, likely hurt us,” Thressl noticed the look on his face and shoved an elbow into his side, “lighten up ya sour puss!”

If Kerubiel had actual fur it would've raised in hackles at that comment. “I am not a Sour Puss!” He hissed. 

Thressl smiled. “Sounds like somethin a sour puss would say.”

Kerubiel huffed. “I just don't understand why we're playing baby sitter to a soft handed, Soft Headed baseline.” He turned to get back to his proper task. 

Only to be met with Claude appearing Right in his face. The Dark Angel nearly jumped at having his space taken up so suddenly. His teal eyes were Deathly, serious. “Don't call them that. Unless you want me to tell Captain Ash'val you've had another ‘lapse in good sense.’”

Lion on the Hill what the Fuck?! Kerubiel had never seen Claude look so serious…and Much less threaten to rat him out to a First Born??

Still though! He wouldn't take it back, he just…wouldn't push the issue. “Fine…but only because it would be unbecoming as a son of the First.” He groused. “When are they supposed to be here anyway?!” He asked, trying to distract himself from Claude still Staring at him. 

He was three seconds from bapping Claude in the face, when a call came from up the path they'd taken. Claude rolled his shoulders and tilted his chin a little, his eyes flashing teal- ready to smack the shit out of his brother cousin if need be.

Claude did break from staring him down to swivel his head in the direction. All of the Primaris Marines hear someone coming over, and Claude relaxes, and smiles a little when he spots Khopesh and Lullaby

“We have arrived!” Khopesh called out to his gaggle of little brothers and cousins. 

“And we brought cake!” Your voice came after. “Hi Claude!” 

Claude happily approached you and Khopesh first, as you were set down on your own feet. You approached the short haired Primaris, and offered a hug, which Claude gladly accepted. He keeps half an eye on Kerubiel- just in case the other tries to smack him when he turns his back on the other.

The firm but affectionate squeeze lasted a perfect amount of time, as Khopesh then took his turn… He returns the gesture to you very gently, making sure to not use too much strength.

“C'mere you little Bird Fiend!” He growled playfully, snatching up Claude and lifting him a bit off the ground. 

Claude tilts his head back in a laugh, and hugs Khopesh back just as strongly.

“Ah brother this is a bit much!” Claude stated but didn't actually struggle. Khopesh did acquiesce to placing him down with a gentle thud! Followed by playfully ruffling his hair. 

“So! What is there to eat!? I've spent all morning around food I wasn't allowed to eat.” Khopesh says cheerfully, before taking several deep sniffs of the air. “OoOooh! Brawts from the Bakery run by that Templar. Yes!”

You notice a much…Taller fellow standing a bit awkwardly behind Claude. He has something in his hands. 

“Olly, Cousin! Come here!” Khopesh crows joyfully. “This is my Lullaby.” He introduces you and you give a small wave and a “Hello,”

“I've told you about them before.”

Olly has a look of realization. “Oh! Is this the human you said you wanted to place in a terreriu-

Khopesh cuts his adorable dense cousin off. “Ah Hey! What have you made now? More things that bubble and foam?”

Olly seems to shift a little in place. “Ah No Sorry…didn't have the time or supplies. I made chocolate rocks with candy shells and gems inside. I Hope they are to everyone's liking…”

You peak to see and indeed, that's what he's got in the box he carries. “They Look good! I can't wait to try one!”

“You can have one now if you like?” Olly says shyly as he approaches the pair of them. The colors of the chocolate are slightly off- made from natural (safe to consume for baselines and space marines) colors. Rather than that weird ‘food dye’ stuff that comes from uh… less natural stuff? Which tasted wretched he could taste Red 3, and it was. DISGUSTING. Yuck.

“If it's okay with you.” You agree holding the cake in one hand and your other one out. 

Olly smiled, and grabbed a piece of his candy (tamping down on the urge to spend minutes finding Just the right one), handing it to you. Although, he did pick one of the Best Looking and Smelling one. He had tasted tested- and had the others taste test them (and had a Baseline human- one who was Bonded to Hura, try them, just in case. Baseline humans had different tastes, different preferences, but sometimes Astartes made food that could be… odd to baseline human palates.)

You examine the candy, marveling at the color and the tiny bits of sugar gems. “It almost looks too good to eat! You made these?” You ask for a bite to see the cross section. 

There is a cross section of the blue colored chocolate jewel candy, the thin coating of candy is a nice blue, with dark chocolate with little ‘gems’ of crystalized sugar and bits of jam. A cross between a chocolate truffle and a jammy candy.

“Yes,” Olly says, then rambles on the process he had to go through in order to make the candies, the temperatures, the timing, the flavors and the combinations, and why he’d chosen the colors and flavors he had- he was able to ramble more when Kerubiel stomps over and shoves a sandwich in his mouth.

“Olly, shush!” Kerubiel says, “I doubt they care about you prattling on about candy making. Honestly, you need to learn to be quiet.”

“... Yes Keru,” Olly says, shuffling his feet and trying not to visibly wilt. 

OH! Oh No, This catty bitch did Not. “Actually! I Like hearing him talk about baking and candy making.” You huff. “And no I'm not just saying that to Spite you, though I do enjoy doing that.” You aim pointedly at the…familiar Dark Angel. 

You turn a much kinder gaze onto Olly. “I'd be a big hypocrite if I didn't like candy making. I got my bachelors in chemistry after all, they say chefs are born in the kitchen. Chemists, are born in the bakery…candy store in this case but you get what I mean.”

It is Now Kerubiel fully recognizes both the Night Lord and the Baseline human. Oh no. Not them. Again. Claude as does Thressl, and they both notice the way that Kerubiel reacts to them and they look at each other and then at Kerubiel and are on either side of him, and wait for the scolding to end.

“What did you do?” Thressl asks Kerubiel, a shit eating grin on his face.

“When did you meet Lullaby and Khopesh?” Claude asks.

“And how badly did you piss them off?” Cedric asks, with a disappointed sigh. Kerubiel was great at a lot of things, socializing was not one of them. And he was shit at socialization at times. The Dark Angel just groans at the indignity of the memory, and his subsequent punishment.

“It's fascinating how just a change in temperature can Completely alter the resulting structure of the final product! I mean take caramel for example!” You posit. “Bless my mother she tried to make me a caramel syrup when we were out of the regular kind one morning, but the temperature was off and we ended up with caramel drops that were like Cement on our French toast. Couldn't even eat it, because it hurt our teeth. And getting it off the plates was a Nightmare.”

“It’s a lot of fun!” Olly says, after finishing the Surprise Bite of the sandwich, that Kerubie had shoved it into his face, and pulled the rest of it out of his mouth.

“Khopesh also said something about bubbling and foaming? Do you make other things besides candy?”

Olly nodded. “I have made Marble soda before, using marble pieces and the base facilities. I was told it was quite enjoyable.”

You balked for a moment. “Wait! You actually made soda out of rock? How??”  Then your chemist brain caught up. “Marble has Calcium Carbonate! You actually used the calcium carbonate in the marble to make the Carbon Dioxide for the soda water? That's amazing!”

“Yes- it was a lot of fun to figure out how to make- and the experiments were still edible- uh, by Astartes standards, anyways.” Olly says, with a big grin on his face as his eyes sparkled. He didn’t have the patience to be a fully trained Chemist- trying to understand the different symbols and whatever the fuck a neutron is and why the different numbers matter hurt his brain. The teacher-brother had said that “you asked the right questions, but can’t seem to do the math, I think you’re better off staying a battle brother, little one.”

“What acid did you use? Or what source?” You ask excitedly. “Or I guess boiling or heating would allow for thermal decay which would also release CO2. One moment.” You place the cake down on the picnic table and pick up a Stick and your phone. 

“There are acids that can be used? Source? I did the boiling and heating method,” Olly replied.

“Source as in what food ingredient. For example, vinegar has acetic acid or lemon juice has citric acid. But you did the thermal option so in that case…” You reference your phone and drawn 

         CaCO3 — Heat –-> CaO + CO2 

“In simple terms you took this starting ingredient or Reagent, and applied heat until it broke apart into Calcium Oxide and Carbon Dioxide, notice how the same number and types of symbols appear on both sides, they've just been rearranged. When you were heating a white powder was left behind and discarded, that is the Calcium Oxide. The other is the gas you used to infuse the soda. So your not human safe products likely had too much Calcium Oxide.” You declare. “Which would have made them more bitter and well…poisonous.”

You break from your rambling, realizing you got a bit Too excited. “I Really like chemistry…sorry.”

“Oh no! You misunderstand.” Olly reassures you. “You are correct that the ones that were not baseline safe Did have a much more bitter taste- and activated the anti-poison glands.” Olly says. “Um- Zaarius was happy to take the Calcium Oxide off my hands for… some… thing? Huh… I probably should have asked the Chaos Chemist what he wanted with the by product, yeah? Hm. But well- at least he has a use for it… whatever it was.”

“Maybe he's making Cement or blowing shit up.” You say, mostly joking…mostly. “Calcium Oxide, also known as Quick Lime, is Caustic and reacts with water.”

“Ah, oh dear,” Olly says, “Cement is the friendlier option. I don’t think that Hura would allow him to blow up the Rot Bone Base. Uh- maybe let Anrir know?”

He had looked towards Khopesh and Claude at that. He hadn’t known that white powdery stuff could be used to make concrete, or into an explosive. But- it made sense why the Chaos Marine would want it. And why he’d paid so well for the powder, once he knew what it had come from. Oh bother.

There are some stumbling, scuffling noises- and a space marine, of similar size to the primaris in badly damaged yellow-gold armor looking armor with red accents and with a black and white checker-marked pauldron with a bleeding heart in the middle. 

Nanael comes over, “Sorry I’m late! I got - uh- waylaid- oh no. Am I too late?” He had brought some of the last minute items that they had run out of - and had been sent off to go get and was back. “I got the stuff…”

“Welcome,” you pipe up cheerfully. “We've got cake and food and some damn fine candy rocks so even if you've come by accident you should still snag some.” You say jokingly. 

The newcomer perks up at your greeting. “It’s nice to meet you- uh? I go by Nanael, what’s your name?”

Nanael blinks down at you then over at Khopesh and tries not to growl at the Night Lord. Shifting closer and setting the stuff down. “Thanks for getting it Nanael,” Cedric says. “This is Lullaby, and the Night Lord is Khopesh. He’s one of Claude’s Claw.”

“Nice to meet you Lullaby,” Nanael says to you. He looks over at Khopesh, a calculating gaze in his blue-red eyes. “... I’m glad to meet a couple of people that Claude cares for so much. I have heard some. Interesting things. About both of you. Good things.”

“Awwww! Claude, you been talking sweet about me behind my back?!” You ask with glee, “I'd honestly say there's no better compliment than someone speaking well of you, even when you're not there.”

“Well Yeah,” Claude says, “you’re pretty cool. And some- uh- some of us haven’t really met many baseline humans before coming to Ancient Terra in non-combat situations before.”

You notice Jophiel looking…unsure when Claude says that. You decide to pivot the subject a bit.

“I am curious…how many battles has each of you seen? Like I know ya'll are all different ages From different ages, so who's got technically the Most experience out of all of you?” You ask, gesturing to the circle of space marines around you. 

A beat passes, and for a moment you feel the creeping dread of having committed a social faux paus crawling up your back and stirring in your gut. Cedric is not thinking about the fact that, due to the standards of certain eras, that Jophiel would be considered a Neophyte, not a Scout. He is so desperately not thinking about that.

Only for Khopesh to pipe up. “Well obviously it's me. I'm the oldest here!” He states confidently. 

“That is most likely true,” The Primaris say with varying levels of grace.

“How old are you?” Jophiel asks Khopesh. “I know that all of us have at least fought in… one battle- many of us multiple even!”

Your Nightlord seems to pause, thinking it over. “Hmm…you know what? I forgot!” He says simply eating another bite of brawt with a smile. 

“HUH!? How do you not know how old you are!?” You ask incredulously. 

Khopesh shrugs. “Never bothered to count. After I passed the trials, and became a full fledged Nightlord everything from before got pretty fuzzy.” He says, still eating. “Regardless, as a representative of the 30th millenia I am Confident I've got the most battle experience.”

“Well…true, but battle experience isn't Everything.” Thressel hummed, a glittering mischief in his eyes. 

Khopesh regarded the Primaris coolly, but with interest. “Is that so?”

“Aye! What do you say to a little…competition? Friendly match.”

Khopesh smiled and you suppressed a groan. “Right here right now? Don't tease me Scout, you don't play with a Nightlord when it comes to challenges.”

“You're on!” Thressel howls with excitement, literally, and bolts off into the more open part of the field. “Oi! Old timer! You gonna move those creaking bones or am I gonna have to wait for the 30th millenia to come again!?”

Cedric shakes his head, before standing. “Honestly,” He grumbles, then calls to the eager Space Wolf. “HOLD On If we're going to do this, we're going to do this the Right way.”

Khopesh stands, then dips back down to plant a kiss on your lips. “For luck! Watch me win my darling!” He bolts after, and the other Primaris turn to watch or gather near their brethren. Seems a small tournament is going to be held. 

Surprisingly, it's just you and Olly left by the picnic blankets while the others set up, and discuss rules. Things are peaceful, steady, if still a Little awkward with most of your mutual group out on the field. 

“So…” Olly posits. “How has your training with Claude and Karlsor been going?”

(!) “Uh…what do you mean?” You ask, trying to hide your underlying nerves. Does Olly mean…? No, no he couldn't Possibly. Why would he have been told-

“It's okay, Claude has nightmares occasionally and ah…he sometimes talks in his sleep.” Olly explained sheepishly 

Fuck. 

“So wait…you know about…the Thing?” You ask carefully, trying to keep your voice down. Olly nodded. 

“You have some gifts that need training and to keep quiet about it,” Olly says, “I won’t tell anyone else- and Claude doesn’t know that I heard his nightmare-mumbling- and kept him from telling others. If you wanna talk about it with me you can.”

You glance at the others in the field. “Are they far enough away? They can't hear us.” Olly nods again. 

You take a deep breath. “Well I'm not…unhappy. But I'm also…frustrated.” You explain, still keeping your voice down. “In theory I Should be able to project my gift further, so I can use it Without needing to touch things.”

“I've learned how to intentionally move psychic energy from one space marine to another. I've even learned to make it go the Opposite direction it would naturally flow. It's like walking against the flow of a stream but I can do it…”

“But no matter how hard I push, I can't seem to make the…roots of my power don't go out further than a couple of inches…” You say, rubbing the back of your neck awkwardly. 

“And…though it's unrelated, I can feel Jophie still isn't comfortable with me being here…” You say, with a little more sadness coming into your voice. “I guess part of me hopes if I can learn and Do more…he and others wouldn't be so afraid. I know that's silly, people are going to fear, it's their choice what they do with that fear. Still…kinda stings though.”

Olly hums for a moment, thinking over what you've just told him. He pulls out a candy rock and hands it to you, before taking one for himself and beginning to chew on it. 

“I don't know what to tell you about Jophiel…but for your Gift Perhaps…” Olly posits as he eats. “If your gift takes the form of Roots, maybe it doesn't want to travel in the air. Maybe it would prefer to travel through the ground?” He offers. 

You both sit there for a moment. Olly seems to think the pause is awkward and coughs a bit. “Ah sorry, that's a silly idea isn't it…”

“No, I think it makes a bizarre amount of sense and I'm…kinda surprised I hadn't thought about that.” You reassure him. You place your hand to the ground between the two of you. “I can't see it normally, but tell me if you Feel something…” You ask him. 

Olly looks confused. “Alright…what am I meant to feel?” 

You push on your power, taking hold of that subtle thread as you'd been trained to do. “Claude says it feels like…”

“Calm…” You glance up at Olly, who's now looking down at you with…well Wonder. “It feels calming…soothing…like a comforting hand on the shoulder but…in the heart.”

You smile widely. “Hang on Olly! Let me back up.” You scramble back a few steps then place your hands down again. “Ready?”

Olly nods and again, you push. It takes a moment, but Olly holds up his thumb when he feels the power connect. You feel the connection too. It's subtle but it's there. Olly grins a little- happy to be able to help, he doesn’t know much about Psykery, but he’s heard his Psyker touched brothers talk about it, part of sounds like it’s about finding the …resonance of things? 

Or something like that. Like with Psyhicic lightning- it’s like normal lightning, it wants to go down with the least resistance, so learning to not fight that and to direct and ground it so to speak is one of the major stumbling blocks- or so he’s heard the others complain about when he’s heard them talk about it. 

So he’s glad his idea about the roots wanting to be in the soil and loam, rather than in the air, is more than just a silly idea. Perhaps once they are more trained- and have a better idea of what they can do they’ll be able to push their roots through the air more? Sometimes that’s the case, sometimes it isn’t.

“What if I move?” Olly calls out to you- and then sends a vox text message that shows up on your phone. [Let’s see how far the reach of your root network is. I’ll back up a few steps.]

You give a thumbs up and the Ultramarine scrambles much like you had, just in the opposite direction. The others are still completely taken up with their sparring. Olly nods, and continues to move.

After counting his steps he sends another text message [I’m going to climb a tree and see if the Effect is still in place.]

After that he starts to climb- getting onto a supportive branch. You can just Barely see a bit of blue in the tree line, so you Push in that direction.

It's hard, but you feel a difference when you Assume your roots reach past the trees. You text Olly with one hand. [Can you feel it?]

No response comes for a moment, as you strain to make your roots Reach to their new maximum. But before Olly can respond you feel…something else. 

(!)You- you lose focus, and stop pushing causing the power to dissipate. You…you could've Sworn you felt…a Tap?

It was like something reached out to your roots and literally…poked them?? But that's not possible, the only one in the trees is Olly and he hadn't mentioned being able to do that?

Suddenly, your stomach feels…uneasy. You place your hand to the ground and push again, past the trees, past Olly on his branch. 

You pay closer attention. You feel the connection to Olly, same as you had before but there was…something that didn't feel like Olly, it didn't even feel like Claude or Karlsor or Xerxes or Dölgöön or any other psycher you'd touched it felt…

Dangerous. 

Draco had been walking through the forest- when he’d felt something strange- he had felt a light psychic energy. It wasn’t one that he recognized- so he’d crouched down and put his armored hand to the ground. He lightly reaches out his senses and pokes at the… whatever it is.

‘I wonder what that is?’ Draco thinks to himself. His brow furrows as he stretches out his senses to try and find the source of the strange weak psychic presence. It’s drowned out by some far brighter- and some far more familiar psychic presences- and some new ones as well.

Ah…the Scoutlings…and Other Scoutlings. Draco straightens back up to his full height. 

[Come to me.] Draco commands Jophiel and Claude- not only them, but to Thressl, Kerubiel and the very untrained Nanael.

Nanael- unaware of his nascent Psyker powers, that comes with his Perpetual state collapses to the ground clutching his head as his nose bleeds. “W-wh-what the fuck is this?!”

Jophiel, Claude, and Thressl all sway and groan clutching their heads and swear. “Fuck- it’s that silver bastard again.” Claude groans out.

Kerubiel hisses like an angry cat and clutches his head- he refuses to collapse- the way the other’s are. He’s a Son of the First- he’s better than that. The booming voice- has no Power of Him!

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Thressl bellows out loud and with his Psykery. Damned witch- trying to take his mind- Out- OUT. GET OUT!

You whip your head back to the sparring matches at Thressel's pained howl. It's not just him though; Claude, Thressel, Nanael, and Kerubiel are all doubled over. Cedric, Ramiel and Khopesh are frantically trying to get the Scouts to Tell them what's wrong!

“Silver bastard,” Claude manages to choke out to Khopesh. Fuck his vision is going strange.

“BAH! ENOUGH! FACE US COWARD!” Kerubiel snarls, you notice he turns a certain direction so you do as well. Something moves just beyond the tree line and your eyes are met with a reflective Flash.

Your heart Sinks into the acid churning your stomach into nausea. 

no…No…NONONONONONONONO! You tremble, you shake, your legs lock up and you find yourself unable to move. 

Time seems to slow, and what fills your ears becomes muffled. 

A bright flash in the trees…

Reflections of glimmering gold armor…

NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-

It's only when Khopesh's voice breaks through the haze that you come back to the present. “Silver Witch! Get your disgusting slimy mind bastardry Out of My Scouts Heads!” 

Wait…Silver? And that's when you see the true face of the current threat stride into the clearing where you'd all had your picnic. 

It's not an insurmountable monster in gold, but an unfamiliar and smaller Goliath in silver. Another Space Marine?

“Enough foolishness!” The silver space marine bellows again, and you see the way the psycher scouts tremble; grasping their skulls like something is ringing inside them. “Stand aside Bratlings, and I will make yours and your cousins discipline Merciful.”

Khopesh sets himself into position, alongside Ramiel and Cedric. They form a defensive wall between the afflicted Primaris, and the silver Goliath. 

Olly is Carefully hopping from tree to tree to get closer to The Asshole Witch in Silver. He heard about this asshole being here- and now from the others. Had seen some of his ilk take his Psyker brothers away. Some returned, some didn’t. Not again- he’s not going to let one of them take his brothers or cousins away!

You hear Khopesh respond, “It is You who will need Mercy, Silver Witch. But you will find it sorely lacking from us!”

Cedric's voice is lower, but were you to hear it you'd feel your bones ice over at the murderous tone coming out of the Marine you knew as a kind young apothecary. Who liked hugs but felt awkward about asking for them. 

“You wouldn't be the first body I've buried,” Cedric assures the Silver Witch. “Nor the first psycher to meet that fate, Any who threaten my brothers will be shown the same end.”

Ramiel, doesn't speak, his mind is pure focus, following and complementing the formation of his two other brothers. They are outmatched, and forced to defend, but they will give it their All.

A beat passes then…

The Silver Goliath becomes a blur, when your eyes can catch him again he has caught Rami with a blow, but the young Templar holds as firm as he can. It still causes him to skid back, leaving trenches in the earth. 

Cedric and Khopesh counter, setting upon the Silver Marine. Dealing with two opponents doesn't seem to phase him terribly, he bats away their strikes. 

For a moment it seems Khopesh has left him an opening, striking with his Lightning Claw his raised arm is a hazard. The Silver Knight moves to Capitalize!

Only for Khopesh to feint, turning both claws to catch the swinging blade, one sinking Into the Grey Knight's ceramite gauntlet. Like Ramiel he's pushed back a bit leaving short curved trenches, Cedric attacks the Goliath’s other side, covering and taking advantage of Khopesh momentarily stopping the sword blow.  

Only for the Silver Marine to raise his non-sword hand and set off a Blast of crackling silver Lightning, pushing Cedric back who is caught by Ramiel.   

“CEDRIC!” You scream in horror seeing the apothecary sporting soot marks and smokestacks on the armor he's wearing. 

“AGRh!” You turn back, seeing the Silver Bastard. Khopesh managed to pull one of his claws free and Sink it into the Bastards side while the fucker was busy frying Cedric. 

“VILE GUTTER RAT!” Draco bellows indignantly.  

Khopesh smiles with his full sharp teeth before he uses his claws to pull himself close and Slam the bastard for a jumping headbutt. It causes the Goliath to stagger, not expecting such an undisciplined move, but that's all Khopesh needs. He wrenches his stabbing lightning Claw free, and ferociously repeats the action, while the Other claw is still awkwardly impaling the bastard's hand, keeping them joined. 

And making the squirmy bastard Very hard to Hit! Draco thinks. As the Nightlord stays aggravatingly close, too close for punches or kicks to make impact. 

Meanwhile, Cedric only pauses for a moment to set back on his feet, before he lunges back into the fray alongside Ramiel. They capitalize on Khopesh being essentially attached to the Grey Knight: flanking their tormentor, and attacking his sides. 

The Grey Knight Is having a little more trouble batting aside these blows with the added weight of a Nightlord slowing his movements, And the bratlings, coming from his 3 and 9. Annoying little wretches! They want him to get mean? Fine!! He will get mean. 

You watch with hope as it seems your Space Marines are doing it! They're forcing him back! 

Until you see another crackling light, appear. Your heart jumps into your throat. “Watch Ou-!” You cry, but it's too late. 

A shock wave of silver lightning Blasts in a ring around the Goliath, knocking the attacking Space Marines down and back. This time they can't seem to get up as easily, and remnant sparks fizzle over their armor. 

“NO!” You cry out. This…this is your Nightmare! 

Weak, Pathetic, Not even worth a backwards glanc- Shut Up! There must be Something you can do! But it will mean...

Everyone with Know.

If the Silver Monster hears you he pays you no mind. Instead he flexes the fingers of his impaled hand, fucking casually. The psycher blast seems to have tired him a bit, but he's no where near going down.

He strides past the Space Marines he's just incapacitated, perhaps the shock has locked up their armor? They're still alive, at least you think (please be alive please still be alive Please Please Please!)

He's making his way to the Scouts, still incapacitated themselves, but they try…God they try to stand and fight. 

“We…we won't! We won't go with you!” Claude hisses. 

Though it strains him Draco uses his psychic voice. [Silence!] He says, forcing the defiant Scout to Bow. 

“That's better…Enough of your defiance. Obedience is what is expected of you. Now ACT LIKE I-!” He reinforces the next shout so it hurts more. All the Scouts tremble but he's cut off by a sudden Crashing weight!

“FOR MACRAGGE!” A voice bellows and the awful sound of Ceremite on Ceremite Screeches through the clearing! 

Draco is dumbfounded for a moment, only to find arms in Blue Ceramite wrapped around his midsection, pinning his arms and SQUEEZING. The strength is actually making it hard to breath, and denting the ceremite around his waist.

Draco glances behind and sees another unfamiliar face, another Scout, but Clearly not a psycher.…A shame, he must have guts or be Severely stupid. But the guts would be beneficial to a user of the psychic arts. 

As it stands though this Scout is just another Waste of his Time. Draco focuses his psychery into his core, and releases another Blast.

You watch in horror as Olly, sweet wonderful Olly is also Blasted back like your Khopesh…Like Ramiel…Like Cedric…

His body lays limp with the crackle of psychic lightning just like the others.

No…No…NO!

You slam your hands to the ground and you Push! You know this could mean your secret getting out, and you don't even know if you can soak up power like this but you're going to fucking try! You push your power to reach your Space Marines, to reach the Silver Bastard, you push to the fucking Limit!

And when you try…you finally See. 

[elminx]

Numerology, Part 3: Elminx's 3x3 Spell Creation Format

Note: This is by no means solely my own creation and many people have done 3x3 spell formats before me. What I am going to talk about here is why I use this spell format and some specifics on how I use this spell format.

So you want to cast a spell but you're not sure what or how to do it - this spell format works extremely well for me as a basis for the design of the spell. It can be used for spell bags and spell jars of all kinds as well as any other type of container magic, or simply as an adjunct to a candle spell.

The Numerology

The idea behind this is based on numerology and the meaning of the numbers 3 and 9.

The number 3 is associated both with Jupiter in astrology and the Empress card in the tarot - as you think about these associations, you may begin to understand why the number 3 is considered so powerful magically. In essence - it is the number of manifestations - or, at least, quick manifestations. This can be seen in the magic of human creation - it takes two people to make a third. Three is the number of birth of all kinds, not just gestational.

Likewise, the number 9 is the last of the core numbers in numerology - it represents the completion of a cycle. It is also the result of multiplying our power number of 3 by itself. So by combining the quick power of manifestations from the number 3 thrice over, we reach the total manifestation power of the number 9.

How To Put It Together to Make A Spell

This is where the fun and creativity (number 3 also rules creativity!) of this process come in. Once you have chosen your idea for the spell, you now need to separate that main concept into three parts. This can be done in a lot of ways: it could be past/present/future in a spell that really needs to move forward, three aspects of your final manifestation that you want to come to pass, or really anything that comes to mind.

For a general money spell, it might be money drawing (1), protection for your finances (2), and luck in money (3).

For a spell to protect you from the effects of Mercury's upcoming retrograde, you could base it on the three planets of yours that are going to be most impacted by the retrograde. Alternatively, you could do Keep My Thoughts Collected (1), I Can Write With Ease (2), and My Internet Signal is Strong (3) for a project that needs to be worked on during the retrograde.

The options here are endless just keep in mind that your three objectives should be interrelated in some way. And they should all feed the main objective of your spell.

Now that you have chosen three micro-objectives that support your main objective, you want to come up with three correspondences that feed your micro-objective. These can be as varied as you can imagine: sigils, herbs, rocks, feathers, individual petitions - the sky is really the limit here. You just want each set of three to be unique to one another.

To use the money spell example above: perhaps you might use a loadstone, catnip, and alfalfa for money drawing; bank dirt, a canceled check, and nettles for money protection; and basil, cinnamon, and tiger's eyes for luck in money.

In this way, we could see that we are casting three spells within one or three micro enchantments to support our larger goal. Depending on the complexity of the spell and the energies required, each micro enchantment can be cast on a separate occasion (say on the day of the week that supports each) but in close succession or cast all at once time.

The Details

This may seem like a lot, especially if you are a beginning caster. Remember here that although you are using 9 different ingredients for this spell, they do not need to be expensive nor do you need to use a lot of each item. When I craft a spell bag or spell jar in this type of fashion, I am often using a pinch of any particular herb.

There are a lot of ways to individualize this spell format.

If you use candle magic, I would suggest utilizing a main larger candle for the spell as a whole with three additional supporting candles (chimes work well here) to support the individual elements of this work. You can also choose to burn the candle in increments of three - for three hours at a time or for three or nine days. You can use color correspondences to support each individual goal or the whole.

Rather than being correspondences, you can create individualized goals for yourself - three physical actions that you need to take in the real world to enhance the magic of your working.

Looked at from a different perspective, each set of parts of the whole could be entirely different from one another. The first could be cleansing to rid yourself of the negativity associated with this work, the second could be creating a talisman of some sort to enhance that work, and the third could be the empowerment of this talisman.

The goal here isn't to create a rigid format with which you are forced to follow but to give you ideas about how to incorporate the power of 3x3 and its manifestation potential into your spellwork. The details, as always, are up to you.

--------------------------------------

This is part of an ongoing series about Numerology:

Part One: Combining Numerology and Astrology Part Two: Numerology Applications in Spellwork

Do you like my work? You can support me by tipping me on here or on Kofi, or commissioning me to write an astrology natal birth chart or transit chart just for you.

[audrinawf]

spiritual homework for my followers

think of something you’ve thought of pursuing in the past but then decided you didn’t want to and really think about it. did you convince yourself you didn’t want to pursue this business/hobby/dream cause you really didn’t love it or cause you are afraid of failing cause you can’t predict how it’s going to go? if the answer is that you just don’t know how you would achieve your dream then that’s just not a good enough reason not to even try.

I have this terrible habit of not even trying or not even starting a dream / project / goal cause I don’t know how I will achieve this cause x, y and z (insert any limiting belief) BUT every single time I genuinly with my heart decided that I was going to start something with ZERO expectation , zero attempt at controlling and micro managing and zero attempt at planning every detail of how it’s going to happen every single time I did that - I started an energetic link between me and my desire and the whole universe worked behind the scenes , conspiring (in my favor) to reveal the way for me.

whenever I started a business or project without any resources, connections or even plan of how it was going to happen and I genuinly let go I had to just wait and see cause opportunities and people would come out of the woodwork to help me achieve my desire every single time!!!!

that’s what we’re supposed to do. we’re supposed to just decide, visualize and then let it go and it will happen in one way or the other

[crocheting-cupio]

Queer Resources!

This is by no means a complete list and it's something I will keep adding to and improving. If you have any helpful links not listed here, please send them my way!

Please reblog this post, as you never know who may desperately need one of these resources. Feel free to share individual links with friends/family as well. Knowledge is power, after all!

General:

Online safety guide for queer people This guide is extremely thorough, having sections for being online while queer in general, dating online, navigating the workplace, advice for queer people under 18, and more. If you grew up online and think you don't need to read any of this, I am begging you to read it. There's always something you don't know, something you won't think to do in a stressful situation. Please, please read through it all. Safety first!

Coming out handbook by The Trevor Project (PDF) A downloadable PDF walking you through the coming out process. It's a bit long, but well worth reading even if you have come out already to friends and/or family. It is very supportive of you, the reader, so it is wonderful if you feel unsure or nervous about your identity.

Quick guide for coming out (nonbinary focused) This is a briefer guide for if you or someone else just needs an overview of the process. It doesn't focus as much on the emotional support part and more on the logistics of coming out. So this one is good if you're very confident in your identity and just need to come out.

Pronouns and names:

Pronoun Dressing Room This site lets you try different pronouns AND names for yourself. You can fill the text fields with literally anything you want. It also has lots of neopronoun presets, organized alphabetically and by theme. To "try on" pronouns and names it uses a simple example paragraph where someone talks to their friend about meeting you. But there is also sections of public domain books where your name and pronouns replace the main characters'.

Pronouns Page This site allows you to make a "card" that lists all your names, flags/identities, pronouns, and terms you want used for you, as well as your preferences for/feelings about of them. It is highly customizable, you can add neopronouns, nounself pronouns, and emoji pronouns. You can even make separate cards for other languages. These cards can be easily shared with others and linked in profiles. It is also a huge resource for terminology, definitions and descriptions of identities, and how pronouns have been and are used in culture and fiction. There's also a full calendar of awareness days/week, appreciation days/weeks, and days of remembrance.

List of nonbinary names These are organized into separate pages by first letter. It includes non-English names, gives origin and meaning for each name, and, perhaps most helpfully, includes how often that name is used as a feminine or masculine name. Even if you are not nonbinary, this can still be helpful in choosing a new name. Personally I found this page infinitely more helpful than going to baby name lists, which are often split by gender and don't have as much for gender neutral names.

Gender:

The Nonbinary Wiki home page This wiki is an invaluable resource, I'm not exaggerating. It has almost everything you would want to know about gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction. It has who made the flags, their meanings, when terms were coined, archived posts, the history of identities, sub identities and micro labels... everything. I will note that understandably, the info for binary gender experiences on this wiki is limited.

List of (common) nonbinary identities This list gives descriptions, history, and more for every common gender identity that isn't strictly the binary female/woman or male/man. Almost every one of these identities has its own dedicated page which goes into further detail. And this list includes nonbinary identities that have existed in non-European and non-American cultures for centuries, or even thousands of years.

List of uncommon nonbinary identities This is a huge and detailed compilation of identities that have as little as one person known to use that label. It also has links to the original or archived posts where the term was coined, if available. This page can be used as something to help you figure out what you like and what you don't like in terms of gender identity. And you never know, the perfect label for you could be in here.

Legal recognition of transgender and nonbinary people by country This page details how inclusive, or exclusive, countries are to trans and nonbinary people. Such as if they allow "X" for gender/sex on ID and passports, what is required to have it changed, and how easy or difficult it is to change your legal name. Canada, the UK, and the USA have dedicated pages for this that go into further detail and provide more resources.

Romance and sexuality:

List of romantic and sexual orientations (nonbinary focused) This list does include common ones like lesbian, but also includes rare identities such as Aquian, being attracted only to people who's gender changes. As I said this is focused on orientations that do not assume you are a binary gender, the people you are attracted to are a binary gender, or that your gender is connected to your sexuality.

AUREA (The Aromantic-spectrum Union for Recognition, Advocacy, and Education) AUREA is not very large right now, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. It has a large glossary of romantic, aromantic, queerplatonic, and other related terms. Which includes rare terms and identities under the aromantic umbrella. They have downloadable PDFs with basic info on aromanticism, as well as links to research that has been done on aromanticism.

Guide to Aromanticism This contains basic info about aromanticism, and "Am I Aro?" questioning section, and links to aro creators. Reading through the whole thing shouldn't take more than half an hour.

Allosexual Aromantic resources This site links to a wide variety of resources by, for, and information on allo-aros. There's terminology guides, how to write allo-aro characters, how to be a good ally towards allo-aros, essays, and fiction featuring allo-aro characters.

AVEN (The Asexual Visibility and Education Network) This is a wonderful resource for information on asexuality. It has a thorough FAQ section for both people questioning and friends/family who have questions and concerns about asexualism.

Asexual Perspectives This is a community blog where people can write about their experiences as asexuals. These posts are incredibly validating and eye-opening and I strongly recommend you read them.

The Gray Area This is a quick FAQ about greysexualism and demisexualism that is for questioning, allies, and people unfamiliar with greysexualism.

AVEN Forms AVEN hosts a form where asexuals, and people who once identified as asexual, can talk about their experiences.

An Asexual's Guide To... This is a brief sex ed taught from an asexual perspective. Which is to say it does not automatically assume you are interested in sexual activities and have some experience feeling sexual attraction. Even if you aren't asexual, it can be quite helpful in understanding the experience. It does not teach you much about the actual having sex part, though. It focuses more on being comfortable with yourself and your body. It is also inclusive to intersex people. (This guide has no pictures, if you were worried about that.)

Setting sexual boundaries with a partner list This is not queer specific but still helpful as it does not assume the sexual relationship is between the two binary sexes/genders and still works if you are intersex. To cut down the paragraphs at the beginning, this is a list of sexual and romantic actions and behaviours. You are supposed to assign a yes, maybe, no, or not applicable to everything on this list to indicate if you are willing, unsure, or will not do those things. It is suggested you go through it with your partner, but you can fill it out alone to figure out your preferences. This list/guide can be useful if you have sexual trauma and/or have had an abusive partner in the past and need to communicate what may trigger you.

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[rosewind2007]

Hey everyone! There is a micro fest for the Murderbot Diaries running!

“A collection for Murderbot Diaries drabbles dedicated to some form of love, either for self, for humanity/all sentient life, one special someone, or several special someones! Drabbles, drabble series, or micro-fics encouraged! There is no word limit, but we're aiming at short and quick here. Collection open until end of February, 2024.”

So here’s my first (double) drabble, inspired by:

[dindjarindiaries]

December Updates & Announcements

Hi, everyone! December is next week, if you can believe it! In light of this year coming to a close and things starting to wind down/fall into a routine in my personal life so far, I wanted to provide you all with some updates and exciting announcements about what you can expect from my blog and I heading into 2024!

DINCEMBER 2023

Dincember is coming back for our 4th annual year! I'm so excited to share more writing (and, from others, art and more!) with all of you and to continue this lovely tradition of ours.

To find the prompts, tag, and my own contributions, you can head to this post! We start next week, on December 1st!

UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS

I have a few things in the works heading into 2024 that I'm super excited to share with all of you! Here's a few that I'm ready to reveal:

I'm doing a Catalyst rewrite! I'm so excited about this one! I'm drawing upon my unfinished series entitled Catalyst and also taking inspiration from Pedro's wonderful performance in TLOU to create a new version of the story entitled Scattered Stars. It features a brand-new OC named Kyla Tiigan, a 14-year-old girl with a backstory you'll never see coming. I'm currently working on the first chapter and I can't wait to share it with you!

As per usual, I'll be writing at least two Security interludes as we wait for season 4! The Djarin family left off in a very happy place going into season 4, and I can't wait to show you how they continue to enjoy their home on Nevarro - and what their future may look like.

I have two new micro-series planned, both based off of Din's new position in the New Republic! Both are enemies-to-lovers, one a senator and one an X-wing pilot, though they're still mostly at the planning stage with no names set yet. I'm hoping to debut the first pieces of those after Scattered Stars!

MASTERLIST REDESIGN

I'm going to be redesigning my masterlist soon, as I've finally hit my 100-link limit! What I'm likely going to do is split my masterlist into their respective categories, with links to those separate masterlists. For example, there will be one dedicated to just Din one-shots, one to my series, and so on and so forth. One those fill up, I'll specify reader-inserts, OCs, and more. Be on the lookout for this change in the coming weeks!

PERSONAL LIFE UPDATE

Something I wanted to share with you all as the reason why I haven't been as active is because I got a job promotion! I've gone from a senior writer to an editor of the Star Wars beat at Screen Rant. I couldn't be more grateful for this change, and I absolutely adore the work I do. Now, I still get to write, but I have more freedom to write the ideas I want - hence why just about every Din Djarin article from the site as of late has been written by me! I have to thank you all for supporting me, because it was this blog that helped me to find such a niche and practice fandom writing in the first place.

Those are all the updates and announcements I have for now! I'm looking forward to finishing out the year with you and beginning yet another one as I prepare to celebrate 4 years of this blog in January!

[keyboardandquill]

I keep getting writer's block in every. single. scene.

so, a while back I wrote a post about writing badly on purpose as a motivation for myself and others to push through when we feel our writing isn't good enough.

while I still stand by what I wrote in that post, I've still been struggling with achieving and keeping forward momentum. I keep getting bored with what I'm writing, and this happens on every single scene.

eventually I figure out where the block is, fix it, and move on. but it inevitably happens again.

recently, I read a post I read about undercutting tension by @septembercfawkes.

in the post, September talks about writing tension threads through to their conclusion while balancing additional threads of tension in the background so the scene doesn't take a nose dive once that conclusion is reached.

I realized, hey! that's what's been happening to me!

so...... how do I overcome that? it's not as easy as simply Doing. I have to figure out why I keep copping out on my tension.

For me, I think it's a combination of things.

first, I have ADHD and find it difficult to finish stuff (including scenes!) because I'm already thinking of the next scene or project.

second, I'm a pantser (for the most part), so I don't often know how a scene is going to end. that often translates to summarizing what happens next in only a paragraph or two so I can get on to the next scene.

third, and I think this is the big one: I get tunnel vision. In my focus on getting from point A to point B, I simply forget about every other thread of tension I have going.

there isn't much I can do about the ADHD, but the pantsing + tunnel vision combo? I can work with that.

I don't "Plot" in general because, in telling the whole story like that, my brain says I'm done and tries to move on to another project. However, I think I'll personally benefit from some limited planning. Micro-plotting the scene I'm about to write, and ONLY that scene.

the funny thing is, I've known for a while that I find it helpful to note what needs to happen in the current scene. I think I still struggled despite that because I wasn't consciously aware of the need to pay attention to my tension. (pay at...tension? eh? eh? anyone?)

anyway, I think I'll come up with a list of generic questions to ask myself before I move on to the next scene or chapter to help keep myself focused on the big picture.

(this is a reminder to myself not to consider these questions set in stone, and not to worry too much about answering them if I'm in a flow state with my writing during a given session. this is also a reminder to you as a writer, if you're still reading after that atrocious pun I made two paragraphs back. <3)

the questions will include:

do the characters need to react to something major that happened last scene?

did the characters learn something they have to follow up on/debate about?

what threads of tension were resolved last scene?

what threads of tension are still on-going as of the end of the last scene?

what new threads of tension might start in this upcoming scene?

I might make the questions their own post, now that I think about it. I'm also going to write them on a sticky note and put them above my monitor so they're close at hand. otherwise they're out of sight, out of mind. (which is another problem I have related to the tunnel vision. because I'm so focused on the Point of what I'm writing in a given moment, I'll forget to look at scene structure, which is an important part of Not Getting Writer's Block. so it goes.)

anyway, thanks for following along with my rambling, and I hope I said something that helps you in your own process! happy writing! <3

[brickcentral]

🤩 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Yuan He Hello everyone! It's time to direct the spotlight toward our community members, and today we will get to know better Yuan He!

"Hi, my name is Yuan He, also known as lego_nuts in the AFOL community.

I began my LEGO photography journey in 2018. Initially, I just wanted to take photos of minifigures and official sets, creating interesting stories.

Later, I got into the MOC (My own creation) game, so to have full control of my stories and build more unique scenes, and to me is the best way to explore my creativity.

My works includes various themes, but as previously mentioned, storytelling remains at the heart of my creations and because of that I’m always trying to create the perfect moment for my stories and capture them through my camera lens.

I love using lightings to create different vibes on my projects. My favorite lighting setups are sunset and nighttime, where I appreciate the captivating drama and striking contrasts they can offer to viewers.

I would say the combination of environment, character and lighting is the key of my photos. I used to love shooting and building sci-fi themes, and I still do, but I don’t want to be limited in specific fields, that’s why I love exploring something that I have never tried.

I’ve been using SONY A7R2 camera since the beginning. Initially, I relied heavily on a 70mm macro lens, as I focused on capturing intricate minifigure scenes. However, as I started to make my own creation which became bigger and bigger, I found that wide-angle focal lengths such as 35mm and 24mm became more versatile lenses to use. They allow me to capture a wider field of view and better accommodate the scale of my scenes.

As I mentioned before, I firmly believe that good lighting plays a crucial role, even more so than the camera gear itself. For this reason, I have a collection of various lighting equipment. Among them, my go-to lighting fixtures are RGB LED lights. Their versatility allows me to mimic real-world lighting conditions with great convenience, resulting in more realistic and immersive scenes.

In my workflow, since I primarily focus on LEGO MOCs, I tend to envision the final shot of my projects during the planning stage. This allows me to strategically incorporate elements such as windows, doors, or hidden spaces that facilitate optimal placement of micro lamps and wiring. Once the project is completed, I typically experiment with various lighting combinations to achieve the desired overall atmosphere. This process often involves taking multiple shots, sometimes dozens, until I capture the perfect image that brings my vision to life.

I use Camera Raw in Photoshop to edit my photos, and the editing process is not as long as you may think. If the lighting is right, normally I would only spend like 10 minutes to clean up some dusts or exposed lighting wires."

Thank you for accepting our invitation and let the community knows you better!

If you want some insights on the exclusive picture and for a better view of the others, head to our blog at https://brickentral.net/.

- @theaphol, Community Outreach Manager

[lunaria7]

Soo I was thinking about making a small tutorial for F2P players for love and deep space. It's definitely a grindy game, even more than genshin especially the version prior to the recent 2.0 update (version 1.0 and after)

Like I deleted the game before because of two reasons:

1) Not enough storage, I played it on my phone so it's very laggy too

2) It's not F2P friendly and I remember the limited banners only lasted less than a week.

3) The micro transaction was crazy as well. So like I don't have enough time to save a lot of gems for even a 15 pull. And I didn't know a lot of stuff that you can do in game 💀 (aka clueless af)

It's like you HAVE to spend money on this game if you have a FOMO 😭. So I just don't gaf anymore (low-key petty, but that's just me)

Now I downloaded it back on my tablet and I can see some improvement. Such as:

Now it's easier to grind for materials, they included a skip button which consumes 8 or 80 stamina depending on what you choose

Giving out (back to back) free 5* memories - Now is the Sylus Memory (Immobilized card) which you can obtain by completing the event that's ongoing right now and the upcoming Rafayel memory card.

More content which gives out a lot of gems

Even so, there is still one problem that I wish the devs would take into consideration and hopefully fix/improve them; The gacha system. This is also one of the main reasons a lot of people spend tons of money or have to break their F2P streak. Like bro.. it's so much worse than genshin, mostly the pity. Cause wdym more than 5 people I saw reached 90 pity but still didn't get the memory 💀 not even one 5 star. I mean yeah, there are people who are lucky but most I've seen is that they had 1K ish gems reduced to dust but didn't get the card they wanted. I'm putting this problem in the survey so I sincerely hope the developers listen pls.

I should also say the micro transaction is still very much prevalent but it's not as bad as after a few weeks it was released (My only aim is progressing the main story ngl). I'm giving them the benefit of a doubt tho, since this is clearly a new project they're venturing out to and still trying to find a way around how they're gonna work this game. So for any of those who are like me, refusing to even spend a single dollar on a game I think it's important to fill out the survey so the devs can make the game more F2P friendly. I guarantee you, it can benefit the players more by doing this, just look at HSR and wuthering waves.

I haven't played in like 6 months I think so I missed out a lot, but like I said they did improve some stuff in the game compared to when I first played it. I remember it wasn't fun for me but I stick around for a while because I like the customization and the story. And I also remember there wasn't a lot of content to grind for gems unlike now, I mean that's a given since it's new. So it's clear they do listen to players' grievances, I assume. I hope they do so as the game progresses.

I'll probably do some like, tutorial on how you can get gems and stuff if you're a busy person or whatever hehe cause rn my gems are around 7K and I downloaded LnDs just last week when sylus was first released (yes I came back because of this dude 😭). Even I'm suprised I could obtain that much when I can't even get to more than 3K gems before this lol. So yeah maybe I'll do it soon.