#Simplify travel experience

[commsaquitilabs]

https://www.acuitilabs.com/acuitimobi/

[millersfinest]

the thing in your chest that beats ² | e.w

santa barbara!ellie williams & ex-firefly!reader

wc: 4.5k

mini-series: california | oregon (you’re here) | idaho | wyoming

blurb: you put up a good fight with those rattlers, but it wasn’t good enough—all it got you was strung up near a beach where the sun scorched you dry. abruptly, their set-up gets fucked by their own prisoners, saving your life by only a thread. but the wrath that lingered under your skin was immense, and you’re not the only one to experience that phenomenon. when another damaged soul encounters your brittle state; the dreams that put you in a tough position manifest into reality. along with a few extra miscellaneous things…

cw: angry!r, slow-burn romance, eventual smut, proximity trope, both reader and ellie on a path of redemption, afab body parts mentioned, vulgar language, reader being complicated, mentions of attraction, inner guilt, use of ‘y/n’ and ‘woman’.

note: honestly i just can’t wait for them to kiss (spoiler: not this chapter). but they’re learning to trust each other. just know in the idaho ch we’re gonna be UP! please, enjoy this for now!! (also: i hope the lot of you voted for the presidential election. these are very very important times #harriswaltz2024)

Oregon

Several days and nights were spent on a boat, cruising up the coast of California. It was one of those livable boats, where you could hide from the sun in a room with stable furniture to eat on, and a bed to sleep on. You spent a lot of your time inside the hatch, analyzing a map that Ellie had labeled with a marker. Hoping that you’d maintain your luck enough to actually see Wyoming for yourself.

Ellie had confessed that she came from Jackson, but she still hadn’t told you the why. Instead of asking about it, you refrained, in turn, asking about the settlement. Were the people kind? Did they have horses? Because you heard they had horses.

Those were the questions she could answer easily, with little to no hesitation. Until your questioning began to irritate her—which, in turn, irritated you.

The two of you bickered over the smallest of things in those days on the water. It could’ve been the heat, or the rationed food, or even your similar personalities. You couldn’t help but clash every chance you got. By the time the two of you drifted onto the coastline of Oregon, the conversations had diminished—because of your stubborn attitudes.

Leaving behind the boat was a drag, but there’s wasn’t much of a choice. The rest of the journey toward Wyoming was going to be on foot. Over cracked pavements and between dewey trees. If only the trip could be simplified by the use of a boat—it would be less extraneous.

The weather had gotten significantly cooler the more north you traveled. The mornings were the coolest, and the days were chilled with a gentle breeze. It would rain eighty percent of the time, which made it harder for you and Ellie to continue the trek. But both of you were resilient.

Somewhere between Salem and Portland, you found yourselves looking for a place to stay for the night. You had run across some nefarious people when you first arrived at the coast; and you’ve been recovering ever since. Trying to collect as many things as possible on the road to make up for the lost ammo and supplies. Which is what led to you looking for a place to crash in, basically, pitch black darkness. Navigating the dewey wood with nothing but the lights attached to your bags.

Droplets of water slipped off the waxy green leaves of the trees above. Splashing onto you—and it was shocking every time. The climate sent a gentle chill up your spine, so the water was even colder. Ellie walked ahead of you, mumbling under her breath from the lack of shelter. Her agitation was ruminating off her skin like a furnace. “We should’ve never gone this way— there’s nothing out here!”

Her agitation was obviously laced with panic. Ellie was exhausted from all the traveling and worries about conflict. “We entered a campsite a few miles back. At the very least there should be a cabin out here.” You surmised, squinting your eyes trying to defy the darkness. The auburn-haired woman scoffed under her breath, adjusting the hood of her raincoat. “If you wanna take a break, just say that.” You reached for her wrist, pulling gently. “It’s been a long day…”

“Absolutely not. We need a place to sleep tonight— with a roof.” Ellie pulled her arm away, placing her hands onto her hips. Her head hung low, clearly fatigued.

“How about this: you park it by this tree for a little bit, while I walk around to see if I can find somethin’ for us.” You offer, shrugging your shoulders, casually. The both of you were exhausted, but it seemed that Ellie was suffering a bit more than you were. Was that not that point of a team? To tap in someone else when you need it. Plus, you really felt that there was a cabin nearby. There had to be one. Most campsites had cabins that hikers and campers would go to before they began their adventures. For supplies or even important notices about wild animals.

Or, maybe, you watched too much tv at the firefly base.

She shook her head. “No chance. Separating in the dark doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. What? So, you can get lost and give us another problem to deal with?”

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you press your lips into an irritated line. “Are you seriously insulting my intelligence, right now?” You raised an eyebrow, glaring at the woman in front of you. “I was a firefly for six years of my life—“

“Oh, my God! The whole world knows that you were a fucking firefly, y/n. No need for the reminder.”

Ellie began to walk in another direction, sternly. You scoffed, following after her like confused duckling—which was an embarrassing thought. “You’re so insufferable. All I was trying to do was help you out— because to be honest, you’re not handling this well.” You quip, walking by her side with your hands shoved into your pockets.

She scoffed. “How could I handle this well? Please, tell me.” Stopping in her tracks, she glares at you. Olive irises blown out from the darkness around her, boring into your aggressive frame.

Taking a step closer to her, the corners of your lips curled, mischievously. “You could start by taking a fucking break and letting me take the lead.” There was something that differed between you and Ellie’s versions of frustration and anger. She took it up a level, while you brought it down. It could fool an idiot into thinking you weren’t mad at all, when really you were fuming. The pace of your voice was slow, almost menacing. True fire remained behind your eyes, in your posture—the way your lip twitched as you spoke.

“I’m not some damsel in distress you pull everywhere then blame when shit goes wrong.” You added, taking in her battered features. The scar in her eyebrow and her top lip. The freckles under her peeling skin from the days aboard. “I have a great sense of direction; I’ll have you know.” As you spoke, she examined your features the same way you did. “Stop arguing with me, sit your ass down, drink some water— and i’ll be back in twenty minutes tops!”

Ellie rolled her tongue in her mouth, averting her eyes from you. She was too stubborn to admit her own exhaustion to you—she’d rather be in control of the situation than someone she barely knew. Someone, who at the start of this trip, was, in fact, a damsel in distress. Your body had healed in the days since departing Santa Barbara. Not completely, but in progress. You were walking better, even though you still had a bit of a limp.

Her focus on you made it easy to forget her own ailments. The missing fingers on her left hand, the wound on her abdomen. They were healing, surprisingly. However, her attention still remained on your well-being.

She sighed, itching her nose with her index finger. “Fine. Whatever.” Ellie shrugged her backpack off, leaning against the tree. “Just come back in one piece, yeah?” Somehow, she managed to sound insulting with her hidden words of weariness.

You snickered, narrowing your eyes. “Is that worry I’m sensing or…?”

“Don’t make me change my mind.”

With that, you backed toward the path, chuckling under your breath. Adjusting the hood over your head, you focused to begin looking for the cabin that you just knew was close by. Feet crunching over dead leaves and sticks that were imbedded in the mud.

The light attached to the strap of your bag began to flicker as you pushed between the trees. “Come on…” You hit the light to stabilize it. “Now is not the time.”

When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light.

Your past affiliations haunted you like a ghost. Somehow, you always found yourself looking for that light. Perhaps, in this case, it’s Jackson, Wyoming—a place far from what you know. That was more of a long-term goal, though. The light you were currently looking for was a building made of wood, preferably insulated.

Ahead of you, you weren’t sure if you were seeing things, but what you were hoping for was coming into view. The brightness of the moon illuminating the starry sky outlined the top of the cabin, exposing its silhouette. In excitement, you rushed toward the building, peaking through the foggy windows. From what you could see, there was nothing inside but old furniture. Thankfully, no infected. You were beat; the last thing you wanted to do was fight that damn virus.

As you peeked through every window you could find, jiggling door handles to try and find a way in, you realized it was a home. Not some hiking administration building you surmised would be around the trail. Spending enough time circling the cabin, you pick up a rock from the ground to crack a window. You were getting in that house one way or another.

The rectangular shape was rather high for your reach. Huffing, you dug your fingers into the divots of the logs. It wasn’t the best grip, but it was enough to get you into that window. After throwing your body through the hole, you landed on the ground with a thud. A shallow pain throbbed in your thigh—the one that Ellie had stitched for you back in Santa Barbara. Shutting your eyes, you took in a breath from the slight pain. You weren’t one hundred percent just yet.

Exhaling, you stood tall on your feet to get a look at the interior. A long plaid couch was placed in front of what used to be a fireplace. Burned logs was still lying in the pit, but they burned to a crisp. You were certain that if you touched them, they would fall apart under the weight of your hand. The dirt shapes on the walls symbolized that picture use to fill this space—the cabin was drained of life.

It’s only source of existence was the fact that you were standing in it.

Before leaving to retrieve Ellie, you jogged up the steep stairs of the cabin. To check the upstairs rooms for any infected or people. You must’ve been one lucky woman, because there was nothing but dust occupying those rooms. Quickly, you went through the front door to grab your partner.

Crunching on leaves and sticks, you startled her. Ellie was spotted sat in front of the tree, leaning her back with her eyes closed—which was the least smart thing to do, but she was tired. The sound of your boots crushing the elements of the forest jolted her from her light sleep. She gripped her switchblade in a fist, looking at you with determination. “Fuck,” She sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. “I thought you were someone else…”

“Nope. Just me.” You breathed, watching her as she stood to her feet. “There’s a cabin about ten minutes from this spot.” Crossing your arms, a slight smile rested on your lips. A smile screaming I-told-you-so.

Ellie slung her bag around her shoulders, dusting off her jeans; doing everything to ignore your antics. “Are we just gonna stand here, or are you gonna show me where it’s at?”

Sucking your teeth, you pivoted, rolling your eyes. She was such a sore loser. It felt good to be right, and for her to be wrong. You didn’t get lost like she thought—instead, you carried out exactly what you planned: finding shelter for the night.

The two of you approached the cabin, Ellie releasing a sigh of relief. Hallow sounds of your shoes walking up the steps of the wooden porch sounded. You opened the door, allowing her to walk through. Staring her down with same smile you had a few minutes ago. “Nice place, huh?” You asked, shutting the door behind you, turning the lock.

She meandered inside, surveying the interior. Her fingers slide along the dusty bannister above the fireplace, pursing her lips. “Not bad…” Ellie lifted an eyebrow, peering over her shoulder at you. Lifting her finger, she eyed the dust that stuck to her skin.

“Told you there was a cabin around here somewhere.”

“I knew you were gonna say that.” Ellie chuckled, dryly. Taking moderate steps toward the kitchen. Every time you stopped, she insisted that inventory was taken of all of your supplies. She achingly tugged her backpack off, sighing. You followed behind her, leaning your arms against the counter—watching her tired movements.

“Why are you looking at me?” She dropped her hands onto the counter, with that familiar irritated glint in her eyes.

You purse your lips. “You know I could do this, right?” Shrugging off your bag, you swing it onto the counter. There was a slight sway to Ellie—the only reason being her exhaustion. “We’ve done this a number of times; you can go rest up. There are three bedrooms upstairs— take your pick.”

Ellie scoffed, continuing the work in front of her. Counting under her breath. You grit your jaw, glaring at her. She was truly insufferable—moments like these really highlighted that. Her stubbornness and pride amounted about the same to yours; causing you to wonder… Were you just as bad? You pity the friends you had in your youth if that was the case. Releasing a meditative breath, you placed a hand over hers. “Seriously, Ellie, I got it. Go get some sleep.”

She looks at you through her eyelashes, allowing your skin to remain on hers. “Aren’t you tired, too?”

“Yeah, but not as much as you… I could stand to be up for a little while longer. You on the other hand…”

She pulled her hand from under yours, pushing off her wet hood. Her auburn strands were damp, sticking to her freckled skin. “All right. Make sure to write down the things we don’t have that we need.”

“I know.”

“And mark the items that we’re running low on.”

“Again, I know.” You motion with her hand to run along with amused eyes. Waiting to begin, you watch as she hesitantly walks toward the steep wooden stairs around the corner.

It was like pulling teeth for Ellie to willingly hand over responsibility to you. In her mind, she was still doing you a favor—she was working for you. But being that she was extremely tired, her inhibitions loosened. The touch of your skin to hers, surprisingly, comforted her concerns; made her sleepier. She heavily stepped up the stairs, leaning on the railing for support.

She walked into the first bedroom she saw. The light from the moon cascaded through the window that the queen-sized bed was pushed against. Shedding her damp clothing, she spread them out onto a dresser before getting into the bed. Before nodding off, she peered out the window with a burdened mind. Remembering the bulk of her actions leading up to Santa Barbara. With the added misfortune of Santa Barbara. Then… You.

The moon reflected over a sparkling pier, that was down a hill behind the cabin. The lake was completely in her view, rippling subtly from the fish beneath the surface. She cracked a smile, peering at the beautiful sight. Rolling up a pillow, she propped it up enough to let that be the final thing she sees before sleeping. Using the elements of the earth as a night cap.

She’d woken up many times throughout the night, but she was used to that habit. When the sun peaked through her window, Ellie had gotten as much sleep as she could have. The smell of cooked fish had wafted into her nostrils, pulling her from the old mattress. With a groan, she swung her legs over, rubbing her eyes.

In a blur, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a figure walking toward the pier. Blinking, she leaned on the pillows against the window, watching as the figure began to remove their clothes—it was you. Ellie watched as you dropped your items, carelessly, before jumping into the water. For the first time in awhile, her mind went blank. Completely empty.

Well… Not that empty.

She checked the clothes she had on from the night before, and for some reason, they still were damp. Enough moisture resided in her jeans that she didn’t feel comfortable putting them back on. Sighing, she began searching through the drawers for anything she could put on in the meantime.

Finding a pair of plaid pajama pants, she slid those on, throwing her holed band t-shirt over her sports bra. “What time is it?” She patted her jeans for the watch she carried with her. Cursing under her breath, she realized it was left in her backpack.

Quickly, Ellie found herself navigating to the first floor. Her eyes widened at the organized sight of all of your supplies. You had grouped similar items together and left a piece of paper with the amounts in each group. At the bottom of the page, you had written a list of the items you needed more of. Ellie’s watch was sitting on the end of the counter, properly placed. “You have outdone yourself…” She muttered, picking up the paper you scribbled on.

When she flipped it over, the subtle grin her lips faded. Seeing the sorrowful words written on the page. Since leaving Santa Barbara, she noticed you pulling out this letter a lot. The one you fetched from under that infected woman. You had never gone into what this letter or note meant to you—probably, because she never asked. That didn’t mean she wasn’t curious about it, though. Ellie never would’ve expected that you’d write on it over something as silly as taking inventory.

There were so many things she didn’t understand about you.

The aroma of fish filled her nostrils again, leading her to slab of rock placed on the counter. A coverage of cloth was placed over the fish to ward off flies. She peeked under it, seeing a perfectly scaled and grilled fish. Hunger got the best of her, and she began to eat the fish with her hands. Humming at the satisfaction of filling her stomach.

After, she grabbed the cracked watch to check the time. It was ten in the morning, the both of you should’ve been back on the road.

Pressing her lips into a line, she walked out the back door to alert you. Her fingers fiddling with the plaid cotton on her legs.

The air was fairly cool, but the sun warmed you up. Basking in the lake was like splashing your face with cold water in the morning—it was a wake-up call. Something that you needed after the night you had. In the room across from Ellie’s, the bed was too firm, and the sheets were too prickly. Your mind kept you up with the image of Honey’s infected body. And, whenever you did shut your eyes, you were back on those pillars again.

You had no choice but to get up early and occupy yourself. So, you fished for a little while, then cooked what you caught—for yourself and the sleeping woman upstairs. After that, you thought you could use a bath. And there was nothing more satisfying than cool lake water—nature’s finest.

You allowed the water to engulf you, embracing your body like a chilled hug. Breaking the surface, you swam comfortable laps around the lake. As you lazily backstroked, you noticed Ellie walking down the steps that led to the dock.

Her auburn hair was spiked all across her head—she must’ve slept well. You chuckled, swimming up the edge of the dock. Placing your hands against it, to pull yourself up a little. Bare shoulders glistening from the sunlight reflecting off your wet skin. “You have a bad case of bedhead, my friend.”

“What?” She immediately became self-conscious, running her hands through her hair. Shaking her head, she adjusted her features, trying to uphold her naturally irritated persona; scrunching her eyebrows and clenching her jaw. “You let me sleep too late; it’s ten. We should start packing up.” Her eyes avoided you, instead, focusing on the plants surrounding the lake. Or your pruned fingers holding onto the dock.

Looking up at her with squinted eyes, you dramatically sniffed. “Why don’t you hop in? You smell like shit.” You ignored her small jabs of blame, coating your lips with a smile. Perhaps, you’ve been spending too much time with her, but her little irritations were beginning to amuse you more than bother you. Or, from the angle that you were peering up at her, she looked really… Pretty. Bedhead and all.

“Excuse me?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows, finally meeting your eyes.

“I’m serious. Let’s resume the trip smelling better than a sewer.” You began to paddle backwards, almost forgetting about your own nakedness. “Take off your clothes… I‘ll give you privacy. Unless you’re too… Chicken.”

She hesitated, watching you swim backwards. Catching an accidental glimpse of your breasts as you turned around. It was true that she didn’t smell the greatest. Before she could formulate her thoughts properly, Ellie spoke. “Chicken? Really, y/n?” She sighed, punching the bridge of her nose. “Fine. But not for long— I wanna make it to Idaho within the next two days…”

Ellie shed her clothes, dropping them close to yours. She jumped into the water, keeping her head from going under, loudly reacting to the coldness of the lake. “Shit!” She exclaimed, treading water.

You turned around, chuckling, noticing her hair still disheveled. “You’ll feel better if you dunk yourself under water.”

“Hell, no! It’s too cold.”

“This doesn’t have to be another I-told-you-so moment…”

She rolled her eyes, clenching her nostrils with her fingers, lowering herself under water. Allowing the cold, earthy, lake water to encapsulate her. The first few seconds were chilling, but her body began to adapt. It became rather comforting—easing her sore muscles and healing wounds.

The lake did the same for you, which was why you were still inside of it. Time stopped at the pier; at least it felt like it did. Existing felt normal, for once. There weren’t any violent rogue people, or hungry infected. Just you and Ellie bathing in a lake.

Ellie broke the surface, running her hands over her saturated strands. Her pale skin was flushed, from what you could only assume, was the briskness in the air and the chillness of water. However, that may not have completely been the case. “Feel better?” You ask, waving your arms under the water to keep yourself afloat.

The corners of her lips curled, subtly. You had to squint to really notice her amusement. She rolled her eyes in a way to avert her gaze. “Yeah, a little.” Ellie finally peered at you, pointing a dripping finger. “Don’t say it.”

“Say what?” A grin plastered on your lips. “I told you so?”

“Do you realize how annoying you are, or just me?”

You pursed your lips, feigning thought. “Just you, I think.”

Honestly, you’re proud of yourself. A lot of the relationship blossoming between your traveling partner and yourself had been developing under the pressure of your attitudes and circumstances. The fact that you could get her to crack a smile, even if it was faint, felt good. It was either the dock’s magic, or your own.

A beat passed while the two of you circled each other. Barely looking at the exposed skin above the water, trying to be distracted by the world around you.

Surprisingly, Ellie was the first to speak—or the first to question you. She rarely every asked you anything. “That letter you carry with you…” The woman awkwardly began. “I saw it on the counter— who wrote it?”

Her voice grabbed your attention immediately at the mention of the note. You held onto it like a totem, a piece of memorabilia from your past. Hesitating, you moved your eyes from left to right in thought. “I know that it came from Santa Barbara. From that house…”

“It’s from an old friend.” You started, lips parting slowly as you spoke. Mouth going dry at the question she asked. You’ve yet to physically get the chance to talk about Honey. From the days aboard the boat, you’ve been trying to forget what you saw. Maybe, you could convince yourself that she was off living the life she wanted—instead of spending her last days suffering under the hammer of infection. “Some girl I met at that God-forsaken resort…” You attempted to casually respond.

“She got infected?”

“Yeah…” You nodded with avoidance, shutting your eyes and moving your head with a cadence of I-don’t-wanna-talk-about-it.

Ellie pursed her lips, nodding. “Why’d you write on the letter? I don’t know… It looks like it means a lot to you— I don’t understand why you would write on it?” She spoke, thoughtfully, as if she didn’t want to say the wrong thing. That was certainly the first time.

You shrug, wanting to hide somewhere, even though there was nowhere to do so. “I just want to forget about it… I guess.”

“If you cared about her, why would you wanna forget about it?”

The muscles in your forehead twitched, bunching your eyebrows together. Your face burned, lips scowling. Ellie’s voice evolved from a soft curiosity, to a judgmental version of it. You sensed the difference the moment it fell from her lips. The intention of her words didn’t matter—it was what she said that bothered you. Did she think you were cruel for wanting to forget about seeing her in that state?

“If I cared about her?” You started, evenly, but with warning. “I did care about her— I do care about her! If I choose not to remember her as a fucking corpse, that makes me a bad person?” Your voice raised, for the first time in awhile, rasping.

Ellie sighed, shaking her head with pleading eyes. “I didn’t say that.”

You scoff, swimming toward the dock. “Well, I’m sure that’s what you meant, right?” Pulling yourself out of the water, you don’t think twice about the exposing of your naked body. Cold air pricking at your wet skin. “I’m the asshole for wanting to remember Honey alive rather than dead…” You wrapped the towel you brought with you around your body, balling your clothes into your arms.

Lamely, Ellie called for you from her place in the water as you left her behind. Before you covered up, she eyed the scars and bruises on your body—maps of what your vessel has been through. Perhaps, she should have entered the conversation with more caution.

Watching you stalk back into the cabin, wiping at your eyes felt like a punishment. A worse punishment than the fact that she didn’t have a towel to dry off with.

“Nice work, Ellie.”

[cappadociab]

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[cosmicdream222]

The Phase Basics

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・。.。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

I’ve heard so much varying information on The Phase going around here lately, I wanted to understand the concept from the source. I spent hours reading the extremely long textbook from the original creator, and would like to summarize some basic information that will help clarify what The Phase is.

As always, it’s important to remember this is just one way of explaining and exploring these out-of-body phenomena and should not be taken as a holy grail. I always encourage everyone to listen to their intuition and choose methods that align with their natural strengths.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・。.。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

✩ What is The Phase? ✩

The Phase is a state of consciousness between wakefulness and REM sleep where individuals can experience lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences, and other paranormal phenomena.

Diagram from The Phase textbook by Michael Raduga.

Phase states includes lucid dreaming, astral projection, sleep paralysis, and other OOBE. If you become lucid in a dream, or are able to induce sleep paralysis - congrats you’re already in a phase state, and don’t need to use The Phase Method.

This specific concept of The Phase was introduced by Michael Raduga. He has worked with groups of people for years helping them get into phase states with his Phase Method, and proven his techniques to be very effective.

✩ What is the Phase Method? ✩

The Phase Method is a series of techniques used to get into a phase state. It uses the natural awakenings we have in the early morning hours - where sleep is lighter and REM is more frequent - to try to induce a phase state.

✩ What are the steps to the Phase Method? ✩

Step 1: Sleep 6 hours and wake up with (or without) an alarm clock. Waking up around this time will cause lighter and more frequent REM sleep, which will make it easier to induce phase states.

Note: it’s not necessary to use an alarm clock if you already wake up frequently during the night. You can honestly just skip this step and go right to step 2, make your intention before bed, and using every natural awakening to induce a phase state. There are many successful astral projectors who use a simplified version of the phase method based on this idea, without disrupting their sleep cycles, which I will link in the resources below.

Step 2: Go back to sleep with intention. What do you want to do? Lucid dream? Astral travel? Enter the void? Decide what you want and what you will do to induce it.

Examples:

“When I wake up, I will remain still and focus on the blackness behind my eyes, which will take me to the void, where I will affirm for my desires.”

“When I fall asleep, I will enter a lucid dream. I will create a portal in my dream that will take me to my DR”.

Step 3: Perform a “separation technique” - a way for your mind to move your awareness away from your body. This can be done in various ways such as: peering into the darkness behind your eyes, listening to noises in your head, affirming your desires, making an imagined movement like sitting up, rolling over, or pulling a rope to disconnect your astral body from your physical.

Step 4+5: Repeat techniques until something happens. If nothing happens after a few minutes, go back to sleep and try again at the next natural awakening.

✩ Where can I learn more? ✩

The original Phase textbook by Michael Raduga

The Ultimate Astral Projection Guide, a simplified version of the Phase used by many successful travelers.

“Xanth’s Phasing Method” from an older website

The Phase Method for entering the void by @tia-222

Variation on the phase method that incorporates the recliner method by @pinksssecret

The Phase Method for Shifting Reddit post

[northopalshore]

what does each planet represent in an union persona chart?

Here's a simplified list:

Planets meanings in the Union persons chart

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹. ࣭ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Still curious? Checkout the union persona chart masterlist here! @northopalshore ! Mini guide series.

Sun- How you first met/heard about them

Moon- How you felt when you met, what you were curious about, what was comfortable

Mercury - What you'll think about them, or talk about the most

Venus- How they'll fall for you, how you'll fall for them, where you love to shower them w affection

Mars - Movements, flights, how you'll/they'll approach you

Jupiter - Where they bring the most joy, or what you'll be doing the most around them

Saturn- Restrictions, what might be difficult for you to do at first

Uranus - What they bring into your life (excitement, joy, fear, the unexpected)

Neptune - Misunderstandings, illusions, your fantasies (whether good or bad) around them

Pluto - What causes the most arguments, issues you have to face, problems early on

Chiron- Your biggest insecurities, fears around them when you first meet

Union- How you actually meet face to face, official introduction, first date even

The rising sign in your union persona chart

is the setting your union will take place in, whether physically or online. What you'll be doing even. It's not really an indicator of how you'll meet but rather the vibe of the setting you're in at the time.

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ₊ ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Aries- it's likely that you'll meet physically, or not online. You might be in your single era, or even doing something for yourself/in a fast paced setting.

Taurus - Could be very calm, or comfortable. You might be doing something familiar to you or with your siblings as well. Food, shops, spas could be related. You could be purchasing something as well or just feeling romantic.

Gemini - You were likely in the mood to learn or at a time where things were moving fast, quick thinking, communication could be involved

Cancer - Perhaps you were close to your mother at the time, or at home or just your hometown. Being with family, doing something normal.

Leo- you could be in a mood to have fun, or there may be entertainment & children involved with the scenario. Could be an open setting with a lot of people involved

Virgo - It's likely an average day to you. You could be working or minding your own business, or fixating on your routine.

Libra - could be related to justice, rights, women, love or even just to indulge in yourself. You could be in the mood to pamper yourself or deal with something related to law. Could also be doing business, or offering a service. You might be signing a contract at this time.

Scorpio - You'll likely meet at a point of renewal. Something could have happened or ended in the past, which has left you alone or just being alone in general. A closed, intimate setting. You could be focused on something, or curious about something. There might also be a goal you're trying to reach. Whatever it is, you're likely "in your zone."

Sagittarius - you could be in the mood to learn about something, or even teach something. Could be related to knowledge, whether spiritual, factual or occult. Enlightening people, gaining exposure/experience. You could also just be in the mood to travel. You could also be expanding something in your life at the time.

Capricorn - working. You'll be focused on your ambitions, your goals and your personal priorities. Your professional life is the main agenda here.

Aquarius - you could be feeling more rebellious or experimental, wanting to try something new. Could be related to the internet or your community, or just new experiences.

Pisces- you could be feeling less controlling, just going with whatever happens in your life. It could also be at a point of clarity, where you are at peace with yourself. Could be related to travel , healing & religion as well.

ஓ๑♡๑ஓ

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

***disclaimer: entertainment purposes only, reader discretion is advised***

Hope this helps!

@northopalshore

@northopalshore union persona chart 2024.

[fluideli123]

Okay so there's this Sonic Plurality meme going around

[IMAGE ID: Shadow and Sonic are standing side by side. Shadow says, "I have multiple personality disorder." and Sonic responds with, "Dayum!! Any of them freaky???" /END ID]

I'd seen it a few times across platforms but during one I stumbled upon an interesting response:

[IMAGE ID: I don't see anything to enjoy about this actually? Like I'm so confused. There have been no hints in the games and/or shows for Shadow to have DID (and losing memory is not the same at all, on the one hand it's trying to find out who you were, and on the other hand with DID it's literally different people living in the same body), so this is at best just something random that isn't funny, and at worst a poor attempt at a joke which both mocks people with such a serious condition and mischaracterizes Shadow. Then, the joke could reside in Sonic's answer, but considering the severity of DID, it would be pretty weird. And that's not even taking in account just how far from canon that answer is. I don't get it. I'm pretty sure there could have been many other explicit jokes to make that would have actually been funny, whereas this is just poorly thought-out. Plainly spoken, if Insta had a dislike button, you can pretty much guess what I'd use it for /END ID]

I will not be diving into the cesspool that could be created by creating a post in response to the claim that "this meme mocks DID people." So, instead I'm going to give my thoughts on the claim that thinking Shadow has characteristics of DID is mischaracterizing him might actually be an interpretation and not entirely a fact!

First of all, as stated by this person, Plurality is, in fact--in the most plainest and broadest of terms--multiple people living in one body! Shadow is partially alien since Dr. Robotnik used Black Doom's DNA to create Shadow The Hedgehog in a lab. Black Doom is part of an alien race in which one of their abilities is a collective hive mind!

A hive mind is, "a unified consciousness or intelligence formed by a number of alien individuals, the resulting consciousness typically exerting control over its constituent members." To simplify it means that a bunch of beings share one single consciousness, mind, and it can be shared between members in differing ways.

This is a characteristic of plurality! A lot of plural systems share a consciousness, thoughts, emotions, and ways of living. In some systems there are also "leaders" or types of headmates who are the main head of the collective. This would reflect Black Doom and his position of power within the hive mind and how it affects Shadow.

Outside of the similarities between the two there is also the biological aspect of plurality in play here. Shadow most likely has the genes for hive-mindedness, meaning he has the ability to share a mind with others, AKA a possibility for natural-born plurality. Which, differs from experience to experience!

Secondly, Shadow went through extreme trauma during his time on the ARK and on Earth. Disordered Plurality and Truamagenic Plurality share characteristics for their plurality being affected or formed by trauma within or outside the system. It is possible that he could have formed a type of plurality just from that experience alone, especially in combination of his natural alien genes. In a sense, he was never meant to be alone within his own mind.

Thirdly, he is a creature of chaos energy which is different and works in a hell of a lot of ways across media. So let's make a list real quick:

Chaos Emerald Energy

Manifest peoples' thoughts as power

Appliable to all living things

Can be channeled as a tangible energy

Feelings unleash energy and interact with the wielder differently

Can bend and affect reality (slowing time, warping, reshaping, travel through time and dimensions)

Temporarily enhance a user's innate talents

Channeled into Chaos Powers

Super transformations

2. Chaos energy (Archie)

Natural Liquid Chaos energy

Ability to track chaos energy

3. Chaos energy (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

Derived from Chaos Force

Shadow and Knuckles are the only two known to harness Raw Chaos Energy

There is a possibility to harness even greater amounts of it

4. Chaos energy (Sonic X)

Emerald Chaos energy is needed to create rings

In summary, Shadow being a being made of literal chaos energy in such amounts can mean he has the possibility of each and every one of these known Chaos Energy Abilities.

Plurality can involve the formation and creation of headmates or introjects, a kind of headmate formed from something or somewhere else than within the system. Having the possible ability to interact with reality, harness raw chaos energy that others cannot, and create things based on feelings mixed with alien genes and trauma would be a pretty incredible mix for plurality. Not only that but, as you can see, it heavily ties to his own history and biology to be plural in some form or another.

Plus, is it really far off if Shadow had headmates? Many people theorize that he may not be the original after he met android versions of himself or a clone (I can never remember). Plus, his differences between Sonic Adventure, Shadow the Hedgehog, and other games (if we're to place them all within the same timeline) would explain why he acts, thinks, or shows different characteristics that some people believe "do not line up."

All in all, Plural Shadow truthers deserve to have fun and anyone who does or doesn't enjoy the meme that started this post is valid to have their own opinion. Just as it is to have different interpretations about Shadow and his form(s) of plurality!!!

[thefallenangelsgang]

I'm losing my fucking mind

Or: I just saw Lord of the Rings the Musical at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and my brain chemistry has irreversibly changed

I'm too genuinely scrambled at the moment from travel to make a solid post (I am multiple states away from Illinois and I hate city driving) but I cannot shake the life-changing experience that was.

SPOILERS AHEAD

(Spoiler free tldr: story is changed sometimes severely to make a sub-3hr runtime or to simplify, but the message doesn't get completely lost. Tolkien fan approved)

First issue I can see everyone having is how much the story changes because it does change a lot. Rohan and Gondor being merged is probably the most glaring. I think it works because the show is more focused on the Hobbits (specifically Frodo and Sam). Personally I can look past it. My one issue is the missing Sam monologues (mount doom is a rather swift sequence, I'd have liked to see Sam give his devotion speech and his speech about the shire while waiting to die) those would have made insane songs but alas. The ending still was a gut punch though so it's more a personal preference thing.

First thing that blew me away was the technical aspect. The lighting and set design was GORGEOUS and EVOCATIVE. There were multiple times lighting alone drew me to tears.

The puppetry is immaculate. The nazgul chase is singularly some of the most beautiful choreo I've seen and I'm a slut for puppetry

The cast play all of the instruments live on stage, sometimes while doing choreography (nothing will prepare you to see Legolas holding a fucking trumpet or Boromir strapped into a goddamn accordion)

The costuming is more accurate to the original editions' illustrations which I found endlessly charming. One difference is, for safety (probably OSHA), all the hobbits (and Gollum) wear Sandals. This is never discussed. I love that.

BOROMIR IS KILLED BY HIS OWN SWORD WHICH I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW PERFECT THAT IS NARRATIVELY

GOLLUM PLAYED BY TONY BOZZUTO IS NEARLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM ANDY SERKIS

(I am not joking about this. Somehow he has mastered Andy's physicality and voice work. It truly was a sight to behold.)

Saruman/Elrond's actor (dressed as a hobbit) was hanging out in our section during preshow and was having a grand old time.

Bilbo and Frodo were in the main audience bothering people. Frodo was playing a stick and ring game and got absolutely shown up by some 10 year old he invited to play.

The Entmoot took literally 2 minutes (the way I had to stop from HOWLING at that)

I was SOBBING at the end, like actually.

Somehow this production managed to keenly make me feel the ending of Frodo leaving for the Grey Havens more than the movies did. The Irony of Frodo leaving being both a hopeful prayer that there is a place where people bound with trauma and wounds too deep to heal can live in peace without pain and also a grim acceptance that sometimes people cannot recover was STARK

Frodo and Sam really push the narrative of this show up until the end and it hits HARD. God bless this cast with steady work, they all deserve it.

[heyhihellosworld]

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞

Charles Leclerc x reader

Word count: 2.7k

Summary: Sending your boyfriend alone with his friends to Ibiza shouldn't be a problem, right?

Warnings: Angst, mentions of cheating, slightly toxic relationship (or maybe a lot)

Notes: Angst is all I can write right now so here is some for you all. I just wanted to clear everything up with the pictures as well. I did not intent to include the girls in the story. The girls mentioned in the story is made up people but since it's so much easier to find pictures with them and Charles I chose to have the pictures. This is a bit messy but I tried

Summer break was made for relaxation, made to spend time with family and friends, made for rest. It was suposed to be a break from the hectic reality, a break from all the different surroundings and traveling. A break from formula one.

However summer break didn't feel like any of those things for you. No it was nothing that at all. All it was was hurt, stress and heartbreak. Anger and betrayal, no time to rest and no relaxation.

A fucking mess was what it was.

Charle's eyes were wide blown, like he were a kid caught doing something he shouldn't and it was pretty accurate, he had been caught

"Don't look at me like that" you spat at him, feeling anger brewing in your veins after you'd found him stood on your doorstep, begging you to talk, fucking talk

You didn't need to talk you needed to scream, punch or at least kick something. Your anger needed to get an outlap from your body, trapped in your clenched fists.

His adorably sad face made your frustrations hit the roof.

You stood far away as he stepped into your condo, only in your pj's as it was too fucking early in the morning.

Your whole body hurt as he did those small things he always did at your house, like taking off his shoes and neatly putting them to the right of your door and changing the date on the small date-decoration you had on the hallwaybench. Something so domestic didn't feel right anymore, he had betrayed the right.

You had been with him for a year by now, a year of exciting travels, experiences, love and adoration. He had been your closest person for a long time, having had you under his wing and you genuienly thought he would be the one to the end. The one you'd end up marry and have a family with, the one to the end.

But oh how things can turn

"You're really about to let him go with his friends to Ibiza just like that?"

You shrugged at Carmen who stood over you on the sofa, her hands on her hips looking like a scolding parent. Her face was showed suprise, eyebrows raised and mouth in tight line.

"I don't know what I can do about it, he wants to go, I can't" you simplified, met with her shaking of the head. Letting you know she didn't think this was a good idea, didn't approve of it.

"What? You don't trust him?" you asked, looking her in the eyes, a rush of concern errupting in your body. "Do you?" she countered seriously

You sat up, shrugging your shoulders again, an unsettling feeling in your body "I don't know, I mean I really should, we've been together for a year"

"That's not a yes sweetie"

You groaned, throwing you head back "Ugh I don't know, I still can't get Ana out of my head you know"

"I know and I can't either, that's why I'm sceptical" "Well fine but that was a a year ago, straight in the start in our relationship, I wanna think he wouldn't do anything like it again" you spoke

"Okay, okay, it's your relationship" Carmen nodded, finally sitting down next to you in the sofa. "I don't wanna worry you y/n, all is that I care about you and that I want you to be happy and he just.. he screwed up once so I can't trust him"

The sigh that left your mouth was heavy, you knew she was right but you didn't want to admit it. You had been together for long, trying to push the warning signals to the ground, maybe it was time to see them for real.

"Well what to do, let's hope he dosen't screw this up" you sighed, dusting the dirt of your pants before standing up, looking at your friend who stroppily looked back at you "Again" she snarled

Wagsgossip

Liked by 573 783

Wagsgossip Charles Leclerc seen with multiply different women, women who is clearly not his girlfriend Y/n.

Charles Leclerc reportedly left to Ibiza with some friends and co-drivers on the grid this monday. Leclercs girlfriend Y/n, who he has been dating for around a year was not with the group to Ibiza despite the fact that many of the other guys have their missus with them. Rumours about the pair has been spread over the course of the last few weeks regarding a possible break up but nothing has been official if that's the case.

Pictures have been spread all over internet of Leclerc now cozying up to multitude different girls, wonder how this will reach Y/n

What do you think of this?

View all comments

f1lovees OMG what is he DOING?!

justanInchident No Leclec, no

charcharles finally

f1111 He fumbled

chacha Please tell me this isn't true

Carmen was at the door before you even had the time to gather your head around the articles that traveled all over the internet. You'd felt it coming, felt it since he took the step onto that fucking plane, you knew this was it. You should have known better, he was who he was, like he was, he was an ass.

Charles were sweet and loving, soft and calm. He was fun to be around and when things were good between you he was someone you could picture forever with. The only thing was that when he fumbled, he fumbled hard.

The first weeks into your relationship one of those situations had accured, he had seen this girl, behind your back a bit into your relationship. You should have put the breaks in then, but you hadn't. Forgiven and forgotten you'd said.

Now you regretted that.

You should have ended it before it even started after that fuck-up but you didn't, too smitten by his adorable smile and light mood. You got to pay the price.

And you did because now you stood here like an idiot.

-

Carmen stormed into your apartment, steam practically brewing from her ears as she let out a shout of frustration. "I told you! I told you you couldn't trust the fucker!"

You huffed, not knowing what to say or do, it wasn't rage, not sadness, no all you felt were emptiness, maybe a tad of embarrassment.

"He is such an idiot! I can't believe him!"

"Carmen calm down, it's fine. I guess"

"It's not fucking fine! Come on Y/n! He cheated on you! He made a complete fool out of you!" she spoke, her eyes so wide you worried they were gonna pop out of her skull.

Like on cue George stormed into your small condo, seemingly out of breath and clutching his stomach. "Shit, I'm so sorry Y/n, I tried to make her give you some space but she ran... fast"

You couldn't help but let out a small giggle at your friends. It felt weird in your body, not knowing what was going on, knowing your relationship would end. You didn't know how to react.

George sat down next to you in the sofa, taking your computer who sat next to you with the articles open. "I can't actually believe it" George muttered to himself as he scrolled to the hundred different articles and pictures that was circling around.

"I'm sorry but why aren't you more upset?!" Carmen spoke harshly, George shooting her a disaproving look "I mean, I am upset but it just feels like... I knew I had it coming"

"What?" Geogre echeod Carmen "I don't know, it just feels like our whole relationship is built on false hope, on false trust. Like since our rocky beginning I knew deep down something like this would get the best of us. I knew he would fuck up again and since the idea of Ibiza came up I don't know... I just felt it coming"

"Are you not mad at all?" George asked shocked but you laughed coldly at his question

"Of course I'm fucking pissed. Lets face it, the man tricked me into false hopes and false trust. He made me feel loved and comfortable only to go and jump the closest girl the second I'm not there. He made me look like a fucking fool in front of the media, not once, not twice but for all this year. Fucking hell, I can't believe I've actually been this blind, stupid love eyes" you grumbled, facinated by your own realization

"Finally" carmen sighed out, looking at you with a soft smile.

"So, what are you gonna do about it? Has he even contacted you about it?" George asked, propping his elbows on his knees, leant forward in the sofa. "No, he hasn't. He's probably to gushed with some chick down in Ibiza to even see all the notifications and articles. But when he do, well then he's gonna hear it all" Just as on cue your phone started ringing, the tone making you flinch up from the sofa. You didn't touch it, just stared at the phone which showed you Charles contact.

The ringing stopped, replaced by a never ending buzz as he sent you message after message and Carmen sighed

"Do you want us to stay?"

You shook your head "No, it's fine, thank you though, for coming so soon" you smiled, hugging both of them before walking them out the door.

When the door locked it felt like someone poured a bucket with ice-cold water over your head. Fuck.

This was the reality, this was actually happening. A sick feeling settled to your stomach, how could he do this? Why would he do this? Everything had been great, hadn't it?

You swallowed thickly before walking back to the sofa, settling in it, your knees to your chest as you put on the tv, hoping the sounds would distractract your wandering mind.

Soon enough you couldn't ignore your phone anymore, the never ending buzzing and ringinging on boardeline to drive you crazy.

"Yes Charles?" You spat down the phone, drowned by a hundred words at once. He shouted down everything he could down the phone and you could only make out certain words from the blur.

"We are not talking about this on the phone" you cut him off firmly. "Fuck, okay but I'm not home in another few hours, please stay there, I can explain"

"Just stop talking until you're here" you muttered, clicking him off and throwing your phone to the other end of the sofa.

The night was chilly, cold and lonely. Despite your gut feeling, despite his fuck-ups you loved the guy and had done for a long while so to sit here facing the truth that he apparently didn't, or at least didn't care enough to treat you with respect was though, harsh and heartbreaking. To think of everything you'd done for him, all the travels and extra work to get school done whilst supporting him. All the sacrafices and this was how he treated you. It was unfair.

Charles were on your step the first thing the morning after, not reading the situation at all because you were tired. Hadn't slept a wink and not in the mood for an altercation before coffee and breakfast.

But Charles were Charles after all. Storming into your condo and sitting firmly in your sofa like he was protesting before you could.

- "Well then, say what you need to say and then get the fuck out" you spat, the early morning not helping your hurt feelings as you opted to sit in the armchair, far away from him, arms folded over your chest.

He looked nervous as hell but he should be, he fucked up after all and this time it was all on him.

"Well... I just.. I'm really sorry, I-I didn't mean to-to"

"To fucking what Charles? You didn't mean to fuck her or you didn't mean to hurt me?"

"Well, both"

"Ah, how classic, is that all you have to say? You didn't mean too?"

Charles took a deep breath, swallowing all the words, accepting his fate because you were right, he'd fucked up big time, so big this was unfixable regardless of how much he wanted it to be fixable.

"Come on then, defend yourself, say what you needed to say so badly.

Charles bit his bottom lip, something you found annoying at the moment, but used to find so hot. His eyes fleeted around the floor, not daring to meet yours.

"I don't know what to say... I fucked up, okay! I did and I don't know what to say about it, It was a mistake but it happened!" You saw red at his raised voice, his voice accusing like you were the one causing problems, like it was your fault because you didn't forgive him and it made you furious.

"Lower your fucking voice" you growled at him, pinning him with your eyes as you spoke slowly but firmly. "You did fuck up, so bad, to the point were there are no return. I said that, but still you wanted to talk to me and explain. I'm giving you the opportuinty to talk so explain, nicely or leave me the fuck alone"

Another sigh left his mouth as he lowered his gaze again, having the heart to atleast look sheepish. He knew you, he loved you, knew you would never forgive him for this, loved you for that, for having that respect for yourself.

"I just wanna know why, Charles. Why did you cheat? What am I lacking? What needed to change? Was it me? Us? Or are you just an selfish fucking bastard, have you been using me this whole time? Talking me into this. Fuck I should have listened to my gut with Ana"

Charles shook his head quickly, his eyes so big he could be misstaken for an alien. "No, no I haven't used you! I just... I don't know, okay! I can't explain it, you weren't there and my mind didn't work right and it happened. I love you, I really do and I haven't lied-" "Don't fucking say you love me!" you spat at him, standing up, over this conversation since he clearly had nothing of value to say.

"But I do! I really do!" he promsied "Fuck off Charles! If you loved me you wouldn't have treated me like this, you wouldn't have held me in this relationship, built my hopes nor let me make the sacrifices I have done for you, for us! You wouldn't have talked to the media about me like I was worth nothing and you for sure wouldn't have cheated on me, multiply times!" you close to shouted, arms out from your sides in defeat.

"I don't know what you thought to achieve coming here today Charles, talk me into another chance? I don't know, I don't care but this is over" Charles met your glossy eyes, his own glazing over as his head dropped. "I am sorry" he whispered, standing up from the couch and walking towards you. If you had the energy you would move away but you felt drained, drained from all energy and all emotions.

His lips met your temple, forehead resting against the side of your head for a moment before he whispered "I'm sorry" and leaving.

Leaving you and your relationship behind.

yourusename

Liked by maxverstappen1, carmenmundt and 78 893 others

yourusername Life lately 😋

View all comments

Y/nstaan You go girl

F1worlds Y/n in her revenge era 😮‍💨

waags Love her sm, she deserves better

carmenmundt Lovee it!

georgerussell63 Y/nnnn

pierregasly 😮‍💨😮‍💨

[thehomelybrewster]

How Much Do Systems Matter?

This post is directly inspired by the video "You shouldn't use DnD for narrative campaigns." by Questing Beast (aka Ben Milton) about the Polygon article "Worlds Beyond Number is teaching me things that no D&D book can" by Charlie Hall.

The video and article basically posit the following:

TTRPGs can use concretely designed procedures for certain types of challenges and scenarios while having much looser procedures for other types of challenges or scenarios

Just because a TTPRG has less thorough rules on a type of challenge or scenario than a different RPG tackling the same subject matter doesn't automatically make the former worse at being used for these scenarios than the latter

Depending on the preferences of the table, having a robust mechanical framework for one element of gameplay while lacking that for other types of gameplay may be preferrable than having robust mechanical frameworks for both

Having distinct game mechanics for narrative progression and character interactions is uncommon in D&D and derived games, but is very common in story games, e.g. most Powered by the Apocalypse games.

The Polygon article includes this quote by Worlds Beyond Number's Brennan Lee Mulligan: "[People say that] because D&D has so many combat mechanics, you are destined to tell combat stories. I fundamentally disagree. Combat is the part I’m the least interested in simulating through improvisational storytelling. So I need a game to do that for me, while I take care of emotions, relationships, character progression, because that shit is intuitive and I understand it well. I don’t intuitively understand how an arrow moves through a fictional airspace."

This intuitive knowledge on handling emotional beats, narrative, and characters of course stems from years of experience Brennan has as a writer, actor, improv teacher, comedian, camp counsellor, and professional TTRPG GM and player.

Using Ron Edwards design language (s. his 1999 essay "System Does Matter"), Brennan wants to run primarily narrativist games, while 5e would fit Edwards' idea of a Gamist system, i.e. one which involves the pursuit of "winning" against NPCs.

Now let's look at 5e: it's generally agreed upon that 5e is opinionated on combat, while also being vocal that exploration and social encounters, while less fleshed-out, are still part of its pillars alongside combat, meaning the game is still encouraging you to pursue these types of play.

Combat is a very fleshed-out series of systems. The action system is centered on combat, both in terms of time and types. Spellcasting is very distinct and allows for casting mostly offensive or defensive spells. Class progression usually focuses on improving one's combat capabilities.

Exploration and social interactions are much more bare-bones.

On the social side, a few more recent supplements have reintroduced the classic Attitude table present in earlier editions and which are a mainstay of the OSR community. Additionally the DMG spends merely three pages on how to run NPCs, mostly using fairly general advice instead of concrete game mechanics. Interaction between player characters is also barely discussed in 5e rules.

Exploration is similarly simple, mostly related to the omnipresent but simple skill system, as well as some relatively simple rules on weather, hazards, overland travel speed, and tracking rations.

5e's shift towards simplified rules for these two pillars, including simplifying the skill system into a mostly binary failure-success affair is a shift away from earlier D&D editions and some of its direct competitors, e.g. Pathfinder, Rolemaster, GURPS, and The Dark Eye, which often would involve subsystems for various aspects of social or exploratory encounters, s. Edwards' "System does Matter" essay and his point on simulationist games.

So if Brennan wants to run a narrative game where we can realiably use his knowledge of narratives and character writing to create a compelling story while having a set system as his backup to run situations where violence becomes a factor... Using a game like 5e is a decent choice.

Of course other systems might be even better for that. Shadowdark for example may just be the perfect fit for someone wanting to run a narrative game with occasional combat. The combat rules are thorough enough to cover the fundamentals. Sure, you may just need to get rid of real-time torches, the key mechanic which sets Shadowdark apart from other OSR games, but subtracting a mechanic, instead of modifying it, is a relatively uninvasive procedure.

Personally I too like it when my TTRPG, especially stuff intended for medium- or long-term play, doesn't touch social and narrative elements much mechanically.

Meanwhile games like Ironsworn and Heart - The City Below, which are much more narrative-focused, do have issues where their resolution mechanics clash with the fiction in ways that would pull be out of the story we're trying to tell. Heart has the issue with the Supplies resistance not being shared within the group, and Ironsworn's fulfillment of vows can be glacially slow (s. A. A. Voigt's "Ironsworn: A Narrative Dilemma" video essay).

Ultimately, it all comes down to preference. Personally, if I wanted to run a fantasy game with magic and a strong narrative (like Worlds Beyond Number), with the clear goal of not getting bogged down in combat or minis, I'd legit use Shadowdark as described above. If I knew I wanted to tell a specific type of story and knew of a game that was designed for these types of stories, I'd definitely give it a read and talk about it with my players before we adopt it.

However, I do implore folks to not Ship of Theseus a game with tons of homebrew and houserules so that it's no longer recognizable as its original game. If you ever feel compelled to do that, ask other players what systems might be a better fit for your needs.

[in1-nutshell]

Hello! TFA request, what would Autobots reaction/interaction of Bot who's a triple changer on Earth

Bot who's a triple changer, similar to (Tfa) Blitzwing, except instead of Hothead, Icy and Random personas, they had their own personas

(You can change the personas, if you like) Bot has their own personas and these are (1st: Performer/Jester/other), (2nd: Guard/ villain/other), & (3rd: Caregiver/ Whimsy/ other) personas

(1st) persona known for being extrovert-like, yet anxious, and priorities safety of others. (2nd) persona known for being introvert-like, yet can be aggressive/menace and priorities security of others. Lastly, The (3rd) persona known as a balance/combination of (1st)'s and (2nd)'s, they're calm, gentle, and whimsical

Bot and their personas shared some personality traits, such as being oriented on care task/work, for bots (cybertronians & earth ones), humans, and other beings, especially young ones, being parent/guardian figure friend

Bot's origin: (You can change the origins) Bot used to be a famous Performer that loved and inspired others especially the young ones. Until Bot was chosen to be part of the triple changer experiment by Science Department of Cybertron after having found old files of Blitzwing’s triple changer experiment.

Whether it was successful or not, they successfully replicated the triple changer mod. However, to make sure Bot gets used to the new mod and get a handle on things, they 'convince' Bot to learn to control and handle being a triple changer.

Bot became a runaway autobot and came to earth. at first, bot decides to travel until Bot became some sort of performer/artist, community helper, and/or local caregiver/babysitter and oftentimes do guard duty

( I'm Sorry if this's complicated. Also Thank you so much and wish you a happy new year!)

Hello! SO this Buddy was a bit detailed in the asked, so I simplified somethings. Hopefully not too much. If this isn't what you wanted, please let me know.

Hope you enjoy!

Team Prime react to Triple Changer Bot Buddy

SFW, mentions of experimentation but nothing graphic, Platonic, Cybertronian reader

TFA

Before the war, Buddy used to be a nobody. They knew this. They weren’t an outlier or had any useful intelligence that would help them in a lab.

They did jobs here and there for the Autobots when the war broke out. The longest job they had was being a glorified messenger between generals and any higher up in Iacon. They were approached to go under a super soldier program, Buddy was right behind them. If this meant they could take their home world from the Decepticon’s then they will participate in it.

They didn’t know that the program was going to have such… dire side effects.

Their frame had been reformatted to be more war frame like. A frame to cause more damage. If that had been its Buddy honestly would have been fine with it.

It wasn’t until they started dealing with their processor that Buddy realized that the experiments weren’t as ethical as they had originally thought. This ‘program’ was hidden under wraps for a reason.

Their personalities had been split into three.

The first side was named Jester. They liked goofing off and making any bot laugh with their antics and jokes. They got on the guards’ nerves every now and then.

The second side was Guardian, they were a quiet soul that kept to themselves. But turned extremely aggressive when something they held dear was in danger.

The last side was Carrier, they were the calmest side that tried holding the balance between Jester’s loud antics and Guardian’s aggression to their enemies. They were considered one of the most dangerous side of the three.

Buddy felt like a monster.

A little after the experimentation was wrapping up, Buddy overheard some of the guards talking about how much of a waste of personalities they were and how they were going to permanently fix that the next day.

Buddy was horrified at the thought of going through the experimentation again. Something all three of their personalities could agree on.

So, they did the only logical thing.

They escaped.

They hopped into an escape pod that night, punched in random coordinates, and took off.

They ended up crashing on a quiet little planet called Earth, near a city called Detroit. They kept their vehicle form and went over to introduce themselves to the natives to ask for refuge.

They met a funny man named Issac Sumdac, he too was new to the city.

“Hello!”--Jester

“Hello?”—Prof. Sumdac

“We are Buddy. We seek for a safe haven on this planet.”--Carrier

“Safe haven?”—Prof.Sumdac

“Would it be possible to stay with you? We promise not to be a burden to you.”--Carrier

“Um…”—Prof. Sumdac

“Oh, thank you Mr.! We won’t let you down!”--Jester

“But—never mind. What is happening with your…”—Prof. Sumdac

“Why you gotta problem with that?”--Guardian

“No—”—Prof. Sumdac

“Sorry about that. Guardian is quite protective of us. I am Carrier, they other one is Jester.”--Carrier

“Oh… okay… what is it with me and robots?”—Prof. Sumdac

“What was that?”--Guardian

“Nothing!”—Prof. Sumdac

With Buddy’s help with some mechanics, Sumdac was able to start his life in the city. Though they did question why some of these materials looked familiar. But it wasn’t their business, so they left it alone.

While Sumdac started his robotics, Buddy decided to help the community that as of now was nothing but kind to them. Well besides some stray hagglers.

They created an outdoor daycare for the little ones. Sure, at first no one wanted to leave their kids with this giant evil looking robot, which Buddy understood completely no matter how badly it stung.

But as soon they did start getting kids under their care, Buddy proved to them that they could be trustworthy.

“Hello Ms. Jones, how was your day?”--Carrier

“Oh, Carrier you have no idea the amount of traffic today! I thought I was gonna loose my mind!”—Ms. Jones

“Sorry to hear about that Ms. Jones. Oh, here’s Johnny.”--Carrier

“Mom!”--Johnny

“Baby! How was your day?”—Ms. Jones

“I had so much fun! Jester gave me a coloring book and some crayons with my favorite superheroes!”—Johnny

“Wow honey! Now what do you say?”—Ms. Jones

“Thank you, Buddy!”--Johnny

“You’re welcome!”--Buddy

“You’re a blessing Buddy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”—Ms. Jones

“I’m just glad to be able to do my job Ms. Jones.”--Buddy

“No, but really if someone says something mean, call me. I’ll make sure their month is ruined.”—Ms. Jones

“Thank you, Ms. Jones?”--Buddy

Jester made sure that all the kids were entertained and having a great time. Guardian kept a watchful optic out for any kid trying to escape the daycare; for any creeps that wanted to take the kids; and especially for any signs for abusive parents. Fanzone has lost count how many calls he has gotten from Buddy about the parents. Carrier was thriving in this environment. They loved telling the kids bedtime stories, fixing their boo boo’s, and teaching some basic schooling.

When Sumdac came with Sari for the first time, Buddy pulled him aside to tell him that what he had was a sparkling, a cybertronain sparkling. They were shocked hearing that Sumdac didn’t want to tell Sari the truth of what she was. Buddy ended up compromising with him to at least tell her when she is older, so she could at least cherish her childhood.

Sari loved Buddy and all their sides. She became a regular at the daycare after hours since Sumdac would always be couped up in his office.

“Hey Buddy!”--Sari

“Sari?”--Buddy

“The one and only!”--Sari

“Is your dad still in the office?”--Guardian

“Yeah…”--Sari

“You want me to go and get him?”--Guardian

“Nah, he’s still doing work… Buddy?”--Sari

“Yes?”--Buddy

“Do you ever feel like you don’t belong?”--Sari

“Yeah, I mean look at me. I’m not exactly someone who’s going to blend in the crowd.”--Jester

“Hahaha!”--sari

“But, if it makes you feel better, you’ll always belong in our little family.”--Carrier

“Aww! Thanks Buddy!”--Sari

“You’re welcome.”--Carrier

“So… can you tell me about your past?”--Sari

“No.”--Guardian

“C’mon!”--Sari

“Nice try, its not gonna work kiddo.”--Jester

“I will find out one day.”--Sari

“One day, but not today.”--Carrier

Buddy became a second parental figure to Sari.

Buddy met Team Prime when the city started getting evacuated. As the Earth shook, Buddy rounded up all the kids and flew them to the nearest shelters. They suddenly realized that they were being under attack after hearing the familiar sounds of blasters in the air.

Part of them wanted to deal with the problem themselves, but the sounds of the kids crying pulled them back to reality. Buddy had to put the kid’s safety first, and by judging the sounds of blasters being shared, someone else was dealing with the threat. Plus, Buddy didn’t like the looks of the walls in the shelter.

Buddy covered all the kids with their huge body when the roof fell slightly on them. Buddy held on strong. The only thing they could hope for now was the threat being dealt with and that the Sumdac’s were okay.

Meanwhile…

Sari was introducing themselves properly to the Autobots when they suddenly remembered about Buddy.

“Oh no Buddy!”--Sari

“Who?”--Ratchet

“My friend, I don’t know if they’re okay! Please you gotta help me find them!”--Sari

“You got it Sari!”--Bumblebee

Buddy in the meantime had dug themselves out of the wreckage of the shelter and was carrying the uninjured kids out and back to the remains of the outdoor daycare. They brushed some of the debris with their pede to try and make some room to put down the children when they heard their name being called.

Buddy quickly put the kids down on the debris free ground and turned around.

It was Sari coming out of… a new version of Captain Fanzone’s car? And several emergency vechilces?

Oh…

Oh no…

Are those Autobots!?

Bots who tried to fight Buddy on sight:

The following bots immediately thought Buddy was a Decepticon and tried to fight them. Guardian was very angry seeing the blasters pointed towards them and their kids.

Sari luckily deescalated the situation before Guardian decided to let loose.

Optimus

Prowl

Bumblebee

Bulkhead

Bots who want to climb Buddy’s giant armor:

After the eventful first meet, Buddy starts helping the Team with some patrols or extra muscle when they don’t have work. Seeing the kids climb on Buddy gives them an idea to do it on patrol to ‘gain the high ground’. Carrier just rolls with it.

Bumblebee

Sari

Bots who help Buddy out in the daycare:

These bots want to help Buddy’s load. They know that rebuilding the city, dealing with Decepticon, and still having to go back to work is a hassle. They give Buddy an extra servo when looking after the kids. They do it in their own special ways, something that Jester appreciates when they are running out of jokes and coloring books.

Bulkhead

Ratchet

Optimus

Prowl

[elminx]

Note: I am updating this^^ OG post from 2021 with updated information about our upcoming eclipse cycle (September-October 2025).

We are fast approaching eclipse season and I am already beginning to see the warnings show up across the witch universe. I assume that people who warn others against doing magic during the lunar and solar eclipses mean well but as a longtime astrologer AND witch, I would like to kindly disagree. Eclipse energy can seem unpredictable but also follows some very specific rules (like all lunar energy). If you know and understand these rules, you can get back to doing your normal lunar magic in no time.

To understand how to work with the lunar energy of eclipses, you simply have to combine a basic knowledge of all lunar magic cycles and some basic astrology about the lunar nodes. Don’t worry – I’ll walk you through it.

To start with, lunar energy is quite simple and well understood in the witchcraft community. The old saying “Wax on/Wane off” can be applied to her. When the moon is waxing (from the point of the new moon through the hours before the full moon), it is well aligned to cast spells where you are bringing something towards you and when the moon is waning (from the point of the full moon to the house before the new moon), it is best to cast magic where you are pushing or removing something away from you. This can be simplified as we make wishes or set intentions for growth and forward motion with the new moon and remove and banish with the full moon.

Now we add in our astrology. All eclipses are just supercharged new or full moons where the lunar event falls into alignment with the lunar nodes. The lunar nodes aren’t objects in the sky, they are imaginary points – actual representations of the places in the sky where the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth could fall into a line with one another. This line is oppositional, in the sense that it has a North Node and a South Node which are always found within opposite signs in the natal horoscope chart.

Eclipses always come in pairs*. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes in between the Sun and the Moon and a solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. This always happens on the full moon and new moon, respectively. Because this happens near the lunar nodes, these cosmic events always include a conjunction between the Moon and either the North Node or the South Node.

This is where the complexity of eclipse magic comes into play.

Again – let’s simplify. The north and south nodes are a set of points that travels around the horoscope wheel. Energetically, they represent the tension point between where we’ve been (the South node) and where we are going (the North Node). In order to understand the energies of an upcoming eclipse, you must combine the energy of the lunar event (wax on for new moon/wax off for full moon) with the energies of whichever of the two nodes the moon will be conjunct at that time.

There are three possible options: new/new, old/old, and new/old.

I want to use the two upcoming eclipses to illustrate my point. On Tuesday, 9/17, we will experience a lunar eclipse (an eclipsed full moon) at 25° Pisces. Right now, our North Node is sitting at 06° Aries, and our South Node at 06° Libra; from this we can see that our lunar eclipse will be (widely) conjunct to the North Node. Therefore, we combine the energy of the full moon (old/waning) with the energy of the North Node (new/where we are going).

Likewise, our solar eclipse (eclipsed new moon) will occur at 10° Libra on Wednesday, 10/2. So we combine a new moon's waxing/new energy with the waning/where we’ve been energy of the South Node.

In both cases, these two lunar events will have both the energy of release and the energy of new beginnings at the same time. This is, I believe, the signature that has led many a witch to call eclipse energy “unpredictable” because if you are not accounting for both the push energy of the new and the pull energy of the old, you could easily get caught in a weird magic sandwich somewhere in the middle. We’re not those people though – we are empowered, well-informed witches!

The best way to harness eclipse energy, then, is to make sure that you have accounted both for the lunar energy and the nodal energy within your spell. See also: banishing an old love to make space for the new, or doing a ritual to remove something that is holding you back from pursuing your current goals. Just makes sure that you are working on both the bringing in and the letting go. You could include double action candles to represent both the push and the pull or have a part of the ritual dedicated to each aspect. That part is all you.

In this way, I believe that eclipses may be the best days of the year to perform big magic workings because, it seems to me, that all great endeavors involve both sides of the energetic coin in some fashion or another.

*occasionally threes **all dates/times in EST

Do you like my work? You can support me over on Kofi by tipping me, purchasing an astrology report, or signing up to be a monthly supporter, including perks like getting energy updates sent to you via email so you don't have to search for them on Tumblr.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

NERD!MIGUEL IS SO REAL I LUV HIM <3333

NERD!MIGUEL IS THERE I KNOW IT

Like...You saw what he said to Gwen when she called it a watch (which IT IS).

[omg she's so tiny small next to him]

He's a NERD. He thinks this stuff is COOL. He's WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK.

Like I imagine he's used to it by now - people's eyes glazing over when he begins to explain something technical or program-y, like Lyla's algorithms or the Multiverse Anti-Glitch feature of the watches.

He's put SO much work into all of this, the whole facility and the tech.

He made Lyla himself, but he knows that most people aren't really interested in that. So he's learned to simplify things.

If you ask a question, like how he made Lyla - he'll answer it basic and to the point.

_-_ 'She's an AI. She's my assistant and the notification system within your watch.'

He probably won't even look up from his work, thinking it's just the routine questions everyone asks before moving on to the next thing.

BUT IF YOU ASK FURTHER - Miguel's like

Because it's not often someone actually like...does that.

It's probably very rare that someone shows interest in his technological, engineering, or physics studies - all of which he's INCREDIBLY talented at and actively working on

You ask him how long it took him to make her, he says a year or two.

You tell him how impressive that is and BOOM NERD!Miguel.

He's telling you how her voice detection took the longest, and how her multiverse-monitoring probability algorithm was something he had to tweak twenty thousand times.

You compliment him about the design of the watch, he's like

_-_ 'I still have the protypes.' And he's ready to show you different ones, different shapes and materials he considered using, but eventually ruled out through experiments and tests

AND DON'T GET HIM STARTED ON THEORIES OH GODDDD

You mention the words 'String Theory' or 'Time Dilation' around him and you will NEVER hear the end of it.

He has so many opinions on it he's never had the chance to share.

Ideas and theories about things like fourth dimensions, worm holes, black holes, and dozens of other theoretical scientific concepts.

I mean, he MADE time travel. He is an EXPERT in that stuff.

I would KILL to have a Time Travel Movie Marathon with Miguel.

Sitting on the couch and watching things like Back to the Future, and he describes what they got right, what would be impossible, how it could work in theory.

He probably talks through the whole movie, and picks each one apart. You watch Doctor Who and he WILL NOT SHUT UP.

He's probably AMAZIINNGG at math.

Like math IS science. It's the answer for science. So he's probably a natural master.

You can be like 'Miguel, What's 34% of 12,967?' - Without blinking he'd be like

_-_'...I'm guessing 4408, or something? I don't know, am I right? Ask Lyla, don't ask me.'

But you don't need to ask Lyla cause HE'S RIGHT

HISTORY TOO!

I mean... the man time-travels. I think he'd have at least a good grasp on history, and time periods. Thinks like ancient roman historians and how their thoughts effect modern science, and how certain events effected the flow of time throughout history.

I imagine he finds it so fascinating, seeing the vast differences that can span in universes, just from one small change. Maybe he even finds comfort in it, seeing how histories and stories have a natural flow in a way fiction can only hope to imitate.

I love me some Nerd!Miguel.

I wanna get in bed with Miguel and by that I mean I want to sit next to him as he sits in bed reading a book on the Theory of Relativity with reading spectacles and a mug of sleepytime tea okay

A Miguel who runs up to his partner like 'Read this,' and he's all proud as he hands you a notepad full of numbers. But to him it's a formula he's been working WEEKS on, one that'll make Lyla run smoother, and everything much easier and he wants you to think he's cool for it

A Miguel who spends date nights watching NatGeo documentaries for fun

NERDY NERD MIGUEL DORKY MILD NERDY MIGUEL

[brujamala-aka-gigi]

Tarot card interpretation tip's

A short list on possible meanings of the same minor arcana card but from different suits. Kinda like this:

· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·

( I transcribed an old cheat sheet from when I was learning tarot myself, I think this one is from 2014 I do kinda keep this in mind to this day tho)

Please take into consideration that this is overly simplified and its most likely that you will have reversed cards and upright cards on the same reading, and that you should always be able to read the whole context and see the full picture even if having one minor arcana repeating itself in all suits. And, as usual, whenever you're learning new ways of interpreting don't loose your own ways and don't take them as something set in stone. Having your own personal interpretations based on the concepts already associated with the cards (by tradition or by experience of other readers) is always valuable and it enriches the learning experience for you and if you read for others, also for them.

✦✦✦THE LIST✦✦✦

✦ 4 KINGS: great honour // INVERTED: celebrity

✦ 3 KINGS: doubts // INVERTED: commerce

✦ 2 KINGS: minor advice // INVERTED: projects

✦ 4 QUEENS: great debate // INVERTED: bad company

✦ 3 QUEENS: deceit  // INVERTED: indulgence

✦ 2 QUEENS: honest friends // INVERTED: work

✦ 4 KNIGHTS: serious matters // INVERTED: alliance

✦ 3 KNIGHTS: intense debate // INVERTED: conflict

✦ 2 KNIGHTS: intimacy // INVERTED: susceptibility

✦ 4 PAGES: risky situation // INVERTED: obstacles

✦ 3 PAGES: dispute // INVERTED: stillness

✦ 2 PAGES: instability  // INVERTED: community

✦ 4 TENS: condemnation // INVERTED: event

✦ 3 TENS: new condition // INVERTED: disappointment

✦ 2 TENS: change // INVERTED: expectations

✦ 4 NINES: a great friend // INVERTED: earnings

✦ 3 NINES: success // INVERTED: imprudence

✦ 2 NINES: deep comprehension // INVERTED: small victory

✦ 4 EIGHTS: revival // INVERTED: mistake

✦ 3 EIGHTS: union // INVERTED: spectacle

✦ 2 EIGHTS: new knowledge // INVERTED: bad luck

✦ 4 SEVENS: intrigue // INVERTED: aggressiveness

✦ 3 SEVENS: illness // INVERTED: lust

✦ 2 SEVENS: news // INVERTED: gossip

✦ 4 SIX: abundance // INVERTED: nurture

✦ 3 SIX: success // INVERTED: satisfaction

✦ 2 SIX: irritability // INVERTED: fall

✦ 4 FIVES: regularity // INVERTED: order

✦ 3 FIVES: determination // INVERTED: confusion

✦ 2 FIVES: vigilance  // INVERTED: resurrection

✦ 4 FOURS: travel // INVERTED: strangeness

✦ 3 FOURS: reflection // INVERTED: insecurity

✦ 2 FOURS: insomnia // INVERTED: dispute

✦ 4 THREES: progress // INVERTED: great success

✦ 3 THREES: unity // INVERTED: serenity

✦ 2 THREES: calmness // INVERTED: security

✦ 4 TWOS: nurturing // INVERTED: reconciliation

✦ 3 TWOS: security // INVERTED: apprehension

✦ 2 TWOS: agreement // INVERTED: distrust

✦ 4 ONES: favourable opportunity // INVERTED: dishonour

✦ 3 ONES: small success // INVERTED: indulgence

✦ 2 ONES: minor obstacles // INVERTED: enemies

✦✦✦✦✦✦

i hope this is helpful to someone <3

check my blog for some more tarot related content if you're into that!

byyyeeee

much love, gigi.

[kaijuposting]

Jaegers of Pacific Rim: What do we know about them?

There's actually a fair amount of lore about Pacific Rim's jaegers, though most of it isn't actually in the movie itself. A lot of it has been scattered in places like Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters, Tales From Year Zero, Travis Beacham's blog, and the Pacific Rim novelization.

Note that I will not be including information from either Pacific Rim: Uprising or Pacific Rim: The Black. Uprising didn't really add anything, and The Black's take on jaegers can easily be summed up as "simplified the concept to make a cartoon for children."

So what is there to know about jaegers, besides the fact that they're piloted by two people with their brains connected via computer?

Here's a fun fact: underneath the hull (which may or may not be pure iron), jaegers have "muscle strands" and liquid data transfer technology. Tendo Choi refers to them in the film when describing Lady Danger's repairs and upgrades:

Solid iron hull, no alloys. Forty engine blocks per muscle strand. Hyper-torque driver for every limb and a new fluid synapse system.

The novelization by Alex Irvine makes frequent references to this liquid data transfer tech. For example:

The Jaeger’s joints squealed and began to freeze up from loss of lubricant through the holes Knifehead had torn in it. Its liquid-circuit neural architecture was misfiring like crazy. (Page 29.)

He had enough fiber-optic and fluid-core cabling to get the bandwidth he needed. (Page 94.)

Newt soldered together a series of leads using the copper contact pins and short fluid-core cables. (Page 96.)

Unfortunately I haven't found anything more about the "muscle strands" and what they might be made of, but I do find it interesting that jaegers apparently have some sort of artificial muscle system going on, especially considering Newt's personnel dossier in the novel mentioned him pioneering research in artificial tissue replication at MIT.

The novelization also mentions that the pilots' drivesuits have a kind of recording device for their experiences while drifting:

This armored outer layer included a Drift recorder that automatically preserved sensory impressions. (Page 16.)

It was connected through a silver half-torus that looked like a travel pillow but was in fact a four-dimensional quantum recorder that would provide a full record of the Drift. (Page 96.)

This is certainly... quite the concept. Perhaps the PPDC has legitimate reasons for looking through the memories and feelings of their pilots, but let's not pretend this doesn't enable horrific levels of privacy invasion.

I must note, though, I haven't seen mention of a recording system anywhere outside of the novel. Travis Beacham doesn't mention it on his blog, and it never comes up in either Tales From Year Zero or Tales From The Drift, both written by him. Whether there just wasn't any occasion to mention it or whether this piece of worldbuilding fell by the wayside in Beacham's mind is currently impossible to determine.

Speaking of the drivesuits, let's talk about those more. The novelization includes a few paragraphs outlining how the pilots' drivesuits work. It's a two-layer deal:

The first layer, the circuity suit, was like a wetsuit threaded with a mesh of synaptic processors. The pattern of processor relays looked like circuitry on the outside of the suit, gleaming gold against its smooth black polymer material. These artificial synapses transmitted commands to the Jaeger’s motor systems as fast as the pilot’s brain could generate them, with lag times close to zero. The synaptic processor array also transmitted pain signals to the pilots when their Jaeger was damaged.

...

The second layer was a sealed polycarbonate shell with full life support and magnetic interfaces at spine, feet, and all major limb joints. It relayed neural signals both incoming and outgoing. This armored outer layer included a Drift recorder that automatically preserved sensory impressions.

...

The outer armored layer of the drivesuit also kept pilots locked into the Conn-Pod’s Pilot Motion Rig, a command platform with geared locks for the Rangers’ boots, cabled extensors that attached to each suit gauntlet, and a full-spectrum neural transference plate, called the feedback cradle, that locked from the Motion Rig to the spine of each Ranger’s suit. At the front of the motion rig stood a command console, but most of a Ranger’s commands were issued either by voice or through interaction with the holographic heads-up display projected into the space in front of the pilots’ faces. (Page 16.)

Now let's talk about the pons system. According to the novelization:

The basics of the Pons were simple. You needed an interface on each end, so neuro signals from the two brains could reach the central bridge. You needed a processor capable of organizing and merging the two sets of signals. You needed an output so the data generated by the Drift could be recorded, monitored, and analyzed. That was it. (Page 96.)

This is pretty consistent with other depictions of the drift, recording device aside. (Again, the 4D quantum recorder never comes up anywhere outside of the novel.)

The development of the pons system as we know it is depicted in Tales From Year Zero, which goes into further detail on what happened after Trespasser's attack on San Francisco. In this comic, a jaeger can be difficult to move if improbably calibrated. Stacker Pentecost testing out a single arm describes the experience as feeling like his hand is stuck in wet concrete; Doctor Caitlin Lightcap explains that it's resistance from the datastream because the interface isn't calibrated to Pentecost's neural profile. (I'm guessing that this is the kind of calibration the film refers to when Tendo Choi calls out Lady Danger's left and right hemispheres being calibrated.)

According to Travis Beacham's blog, solo piloting a jaeger for a short time is possible, though highly risky. While it won't cause lasting damage if the pilot survives the encounter, the neural overload that accumulates the longer a pilot goes on can be deadly. In this post he says:

It won't kill you right away. May take five minutes. May take twenty. No telling. But it gets more difficult the longer you try. And at some point it catches up with you. You won't last a whole fight start-to-finish. Stacker and Raleigh managed to get it done and unplug before hitting that wall.

In this post he says:

It starts off fine, but it's a steep curve from fine to dead. Most people can last five minutes. Far fewer can last thirty. Nobody can last a whole fight.

Next, let's talk about the size and weight of jaegers. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters lists off the sizes and weights of various jaegers. The heights of the jaegers it lists (which, to be clear, are not all of them) range from 224 feet to 280 feet. Their weights range from 1850 tons to 7890 tons. Worth noting, the heaviest jaegers (Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave) were among the Mark-1s, and it seems that these heavy builds didn't last long given that another Mark-1, Coyote Tango, weighed 2312 tons.

And on the topic of jaeger specs, each jaeger in Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters is listed with a (fictional) power core and operating system. For example, Crimson Typhoon is powered by the Midnight Orb 9 power core, and runs on the Tri-Sun Plasma Gate OS.

Where the novelization's combat asset dossiers covers the same jaegers, this information lines up - with the exception of Lady Danger. PR:MMM says that Lady Danger's OS is Blue Spark 4.1; the novelization's dossier says it's BLPK 4.1.

PR:MMM also seems to have an incomplete list of the jaegers' armaments; for example, it lists the I-22 Plasmacaster under Weaponry, and "jet kick" under Power Moves. Meanwhile, the novelization presents its armaments thus:

I-22 Plasmacaster Twin Fist gripping claws, left arm only Enhanced balance systems and leg-integral Thrust Kickers Enhanced combat-strike armature on all limbs

The novel's dossiers list between 2-4 features in the jaegers' armaments sections.

Now let's move on to jaeger power cores. As many of you probably already know, Mark-1-3 jaegers were outfitted with nuclear power cores. However, this posed a risk of cancer for pilots, especially during the early days. To combat this, pilots were given the (fictional) anti-radiation drug, Metharocin. (We see Stacker Pentecost take Metharocin in the film.)

The Mark-4s and beyond were fitted with alternative fuel sources, although their exact nature isn't always clear. Striker Eureka's XIG supercell chamber implies some sort of giant cell batteries, but it's a little harder to guess what Crimson Typhoon's Midnight Orb 9 might be, aside from round.

Back on the topic of nuclear cores, though, the novelization contains a little paragraph about the inventor of Lady Danger's power core, which I found entertaining:

The old nuclear vortex turbine lifted away from the reactor housing. The reactor itself was a proprietary design, brainchild of an engineer who left Westinghouse when they wouldn’t let him use his lab to explore portable nuclear miniaturization tech. He’d landed with one of the contractors the PPDC brought in at its founding, and his small reactors powered many of the first three generations of Jaegers. (Page 182.)

Like... I have literally just met this character, and I love him. I want him to meet Newt Geiszler, you know? >:3

Apparently, escape pods were a new feature to Mark-3 jaegers. Text in the novelization says, "New to the Mark III is an automated escape-pod system capable of ejecting each Ranger individually." (Page 240.)

Finally, jaegers were always meant to be more than just machines. Their designs and movements were meant to convey personality and character. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters says:

Del Toro insisted the Jaegers be characters in and of themselves, not simply giant versions of their pilots. Del Toro told his designers, "It should be as painful for you to see a Jaeger get injured as it is for you to see the pilot [get hurt.]" (Page 56.)

Their weathered skins are inspired by combat-worn vehicles from the Iraq War and World War II battleships and bombers. They look believable and their design echoes human anatomy, but only to a point. "At the end of the day, what you want is for them to look cool," says Francisco Ruiz Velasco. "It's a summer movie, so you want to see some eye candy." Del Toro replies, "I, however, believe in 'eye protein,' which is high-end design with a high narrative content." (Page 57.)

THE JAEGER FROM DOWN UNDER is the only Mark 5, the most modern and best all-around athlete of the Jaegers. He's also the most brutal of the Jaeger force. Del Toro calls him "sort of brawler, like a bar fighter." (Page 64.)

And that is about all the info I could scrounge up and summarize in a post. I think there's a lot of interesting stuff here - like, I feel that the liquid circuit and muscle tissue stuff gives jaegers an eerily organic quality that could be played for some pretty interesting angles. And I also find it interesting that jaegers were meant to embody their own sort of character and personality, rather than just being simple combat machines or extensions of their pilots - it's a great example of a piece of media choosing thematic correctness over technical correctness, which when you get right down to it, is sort of what Pacific Rim is really all about.

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Seventeen Personality Reading

Okay, for them I will do one card, because they are a big group, and I wanted to see what personality aspect is strongest for them right now. This is always changing, so I am going with the strongest traits right now, as human we are always evolving and this is one card, so this is just a bit of insight to who they are right now. But it is interesting to see the card that represent them right now.

S.Coups (Ace of Pentacles)-It seems he approaches things in life slowly. He seems to be the type to look for a golden opportunity. It seems he is goal oriented and makes opportunities for himself. He may have the ability to manifest things in his life. He takes a more practical approach to things. It is like he grabs any opportunity he can.

Jeonghan (2 of Cups) This is so Libra lol He loves connections with others. He is a romantic and feels best in connections. This can be friendships, not just relationships. But this does indicate romantic relationships are of important to him as well. He is all about building bonds and connections. Two souls as one I got. Forming a bond. He has to be careful not to get too immersed in others and learn that he is an individual as well though.

Joshua (7 of Wands) He can be defensive and stubborn. He has a lot of fire energy. He is someone who can handle any obstacle that comes his way. He has a fighter spirit. I can see this card as someone who has the capabilities of demanding the stage as well. Not sure why this gave me this, but it did lol

Jun (10 of Cups) He is a family man. He loves being around family. He seems to find happiness in the simple joys of life. This card gives me someone not searching for money achievement, but to build a loving and strong support system out of life. He may want a family someday. He is someone who searches for what truly makes him happy. He may enjoy the support of a strong community, be it family, friends, the members, and fans.

Hoshi (The Fool) He can be quite naive, but he is a lover of new beginnings and starting new. He seems to like to simplify his life and doesn't like to over complicate things. He is a free spirit and can be a bit careless at times. He's got to be careful not to make careless decisions. He does seem like someone who seeks new opportunities. I can see him wanting to travel to new places with not a lot on him, just for the experience.

Wonwoo (Death) Although, this card can seem grim, especially in this deck. He is someone who is capable of facing endings and learning to grieve what is lost. He understands endings are part of life and it isn't something to push away or repress, but rather something to accept and face, once one does that, they can live more peacefully. This may have been a lesson he has learned, especially knowing his history.

Woozi (The Magician) This is not at all surprising. He is talented and skilled, and he knows it. He has a lot of confidence in his abilities, and he knows how to capitalize on it. He has all he needs at his disposal. He is great at taking nothing and making it to somethings. This is also someone who is great at manifesting things in life. I am getting taking scraps and making it into gold. Ooooh interesting, my bias for a reason lol

DK (6 of Wands)-He is a communicator. He is fast on his feet. He can get pretty defensive and can be a bit overconfident in what he says or does. He can share too much at times. Slip of the tongue with this energy. He has lots of ideas that run through his mind. He can struggle to stay on one task or one idea. It is like a lot of thoughts coming one after the other. Okay, I thought this was the Knight of Swords, wonder why I thought that, so there is a reason I thought that, this still applies, but he is someone who loves praise and recognition for his hard work. He could have a strong ego and pride. And he seems passionate about his pursuits and determination to win. Could possibly have a competitive spirit.

Mingyu (King of Wands) Mingyu is straightforward. He is an Aries and KOW represents fire signs that he is, this is basically his energy. Which tells me he is straightforward, and man of his word. He is what you see. He does what he says he is going to do. He is creative and passionate and follows his own path, a leader in his own right. Love this energy.

Minghao (Ace of Swords) He is someone who has ideas but may not go any further with that. He approaches things in life intellectually. He may plan an idea out, before doing something. This gives me he can be cautious about trying new things. There is a sense of clarity he has, but once again the thought isn't always planned out for him. I keep getting mapped out, not sure why that word is important. He has some bright ideas and some insights, but he might need to dig a little bit further, or look into things more, it seems he just sees the surface of things. In this sense, there is a lack of knowledge with him, but a curious nature.

Seungkwan (Temperance) He is someone who likes balance. He likes to keep things in moderation. As I say moderation is key in life, it keeps you at equilibrium. He may understand this. He is a Cap and we tend to be good at self-control and moderation, so makes sense. It seems he is a peacekeeper as well and he is very good at compromising with others and blending his ideas with others. He is not the type to try to outshine others.

Vernon (King of Pentacles) He may be the type that likes to be pampered. He is a businessman and money focused person. He is all about his career, money and building his finances. He likes things to be structured and stable. He would like to have a strong foundation and lots of wealth, so getting a lot about money, so yeah, he likes that. He is a hard-working person. This energy gives me someone who like their own business to be honest. He can be stubborn with his ideas and likes to control his environment. He would not enjoy changes or disruptions in life. This is interesting coming from an Aquarius and knowing a bit about Vernon, he seems more of a free spirit, but hey, we are complex creatures. I just see this more as someone who wants to build wealth and create some sort of business.

Dino (Queen of Pentacles) This is a little different from the King energy. He seems a little more appreciative of what he has built. This is someone who is proud and happy with what they created and find abundance in what they have. He is nurturing or he is someone that nurtures his talents, continues to work and make improvements. He knows he is skilled, but open to improve. He is also Career oriented. I see him as someone who enjoys his craft. I feel this is heavily focused on his skills and his need to nurture it. It is like he is proud of his skill, let me keep working on it.

Okay, didn't think I would get much with one card, but I felt I got more than I expected. It always surprises me how much you can get with one card.

[lazywriter-artist]

Brain itches so a bit more ock stuff :3

I had to make ock a ref sheet for art fight so here’s him with his frens!!!

Plus a kinda morbid meme— (for those who may not know cream uh— cream isn’t around anymore-)

A bit of baby ock and huntsmann :3 and a little height chart for ock, will (more info below) and huntsmann

This fella here is another one of huntsmann’s “projects” William Fillsworth (affectionately nicknamed WiFi by my moots), basically when finding a Psyker huntsmann finds ‘promising’ he forgoes protocol and takes the Psyker up himself (tends to work out as he has a ‘sixth sense’ for psykers after all and rarely travels [willingly] with another inquisitor who could ‘overrule’ him or keep him from doing so) and trains them/teaches them in the way he sees fit

Cough cough COUGH

At the point he gained William to his ranks is very early on in him beginning to do this so not a lot of his psykers have made it this far (getting out of hand, found out, ect.) and before ock will is probably his longest lasting psyker up to this point, and helpful because ock has grown very attached to Will and formed a father/son sort of relationship with the father older psyker. so when Will begins to experience warp-induced headaches saying huntsmann begins to stress is an understatement. Not wanting to lose his hold now gained over ock + his longest lasting psyker his darling AdMech bf (sooon you’ll see 😈) steps in to help. Loosely servitor-izing the psyker, leaving him a barely functioning husk of a man and giving him a few extra mechanical bits and bobs. Devastated ock doesn’t give up though, still clinging to and confiding in William, knowing he’s still in there somewhere, and he does sometimes get very minimal responses from will! So he’s holding out hope (even if huntsman often uses William as threats for ock..)

Now’s that little guy I said we’d get to! This right here is huntsmann’s AdMech boyfriend and resident Gay wrongs partner in crime 🥰 they make a very lovey dovey duo who really just aren’t the best morally but it’s fiiinnneeeee :3 hunts’ nickname for him and what I call him the most (for ease) is ‘Mecha’ while his “government name” is technically ZV-186 but shush it’s fine

He’s the AdMech who servitorizes(sorta) will and does most of the upkeep to ensure Will doesn’t explode in raw warp power among other little things and cuddling with his bf. All and all a solid nasty little manbot for his nasty husband

Finally is one of my favorite little shitposty little guilty pleasure ideas for ock to lighten the load a bit and that is the lovely and hilarious fact that all of the chaos gods wanna recruit him to chaos but he’s just having none of it. nurgle and slaanesh are having the least of it, they’re just kinda low steaks not too worried about it and don’t mind wether or not they walk away with a new follower, tzeentch and Khorne however at at one another’s throat for this kid- tzeentch is pissed Khorne is stepping on his toes [psyker] while Khorne is just there bc ock has eight in his name and that’s his favorite.

Again it’s dumb and silly but hey, I love it and it gets a good chuckle outta me to imagine my skittish little guy being visited by chaos and trying to be tempted when he has literally no reason to (at most nurgle bc his dying for some familiar structure but even then doubtful)

Ignore my old Khorne design & my complicated tzeentch designs these were drawn before I settled on Khorne’s and simplified tzeentch

Ofc the icing on this stupid hc cake is emps just kinda rolls with it and blesses ock to avoid touch of chaos culling so he can just shill this little goober to chaos =w=