#and it's like 1.) i dont have respect for any of the higher ups except the one team lead and even then hes more of an equal than anything | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mejomonster · 1 year

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I decided I'd write bulletpoint summaries to figure out how to write the next few chapters. So like "x happens, you happens" etc.

But the thing is... when I do that, it helps me get ideas (yay) so then I flesh the bullet point out into 1-20 paragraphs but its STILL in note format so there's some actual lines that are DONE done (like dialogue and some particularly impactful moments of description).

then there's some in a format I HAVE to rewrite later (like "he absolutely loses his shit, tries to rip X limb from limb" I will have to reword ALL the stuff like this which is like 70% of the "fleshed out" summarized notes I write... and its always annoying because it's like... those parts are Basically done conceptually, they have all the details I Needed to include, it's just I worded them like notes and not in nice literary wording so they're NOT fucking usable yet).

And of course, there's the priginal summary bits where I'm just like "They flee the city, go to x. He says never talk to me again, he cant bear it, and goes off to the mountains." Which I'll have to fully flesh out of course. But at least it's all malleable stuff I can word however.

The 2nd kind of summary notes are my best/worst friend ToT on the one hand it's great, the whole scene is fleshed out! On the other hand it's awful cause I know Exactly Every detail I have to write but I have to translate it from "he fucking smashes his head in, seeing red" to like "he crushes his skull under his heel, watching the blood spread across the wooden floor. It's finally over." And like.... ;-; I have to do that shit with every single line, except the occasional blessing where I wrote Full Finished lines in between the 70% note-taking descriptions.

Like. Here's my summary notes I wrote for chapter 11 of what makes monsters stop devouring:

Scenes of Kunlun LEAVING the alliance, and Ye Zun so desperate to help his bro that he marches out there to go confront Kunlun and army ALONE, and ends up telling him off and telling him hes no hero compared to shen wei if he LEAVES, and then Kunlun grabs him and intimidates him just enough for Ye Zun to panicked grab back and absorb a little energy threateningly, then YZ stops cause he wants to make this negotiation work and appear acquiescing no matter how scared he was. Kunlun thinks that’s very brave of him, and proves he’s also very loyal to the thing he came here for and thinks that proves Ye Zun really believes his Black Cloak Envoy is noble and worth all this, and then lets him into his tent to discuss returning. Then the scene of them riding horses ahead back to alliance camp, shen wei immediately seeing them (with mask on) and coming to meet them, and Kunlun inexplicably apologizing for having left without discussing with the chiefs and hearing them out first, and promising he will hear them out if they allow him. Meanwhile SW is just BAFFLED his brother isn’t in danger and that Kunlun isn’t angry and SW is SO confused over what’s going on, but very floored, cause he admires and respects Kunlun at least rep/status wise so he doesn’t know how to handle someone ‘higher’ than him bowing to him and pleading forgiveness and acting submissive to him. What the FUCK did his brother go do???

And in a later arc I wrote a mess of dialogue notes:

At some point after, YZ confronts Kunlun over and over about WHY he got so mad when YZ was trying to help, and finally gets the answer ‘ i already told u i dont’ want you hurt, i don’t want you hurt because of me’ and YZ doesn’t get it, so Kunlun threatens to LEAVE. So YZ tries to get a brainwashed minion to read kunlun’s mind for the answer to avoid a problem for SW, and then Kunlun knocks out the guy before it can happen and goes and finds YZ to privately chat. YZ goes wild and desperate n tries to provoke KL into either telling the truth or injuring him so at least shen wei doesn’t feel like there was any choice BUT for KL to leave or die. Because despite yelling n threatening YZ, to keep YZ away and to keep him from touching his energy, KL still hasn’t actually hurt him. Again, KL says he doesn’t want YZ hurt he wants to keep him safe - and YZ has NO idea how leaving YZ helps

And its like wow I turned that into a 10k chapter but also ;-; is that some people's first drafts? Just the word jumble coming out of your brain trying to summarize? I assume not, I assume a first draft has to actually Be finished sentences lmao. But yeah I write this kind of stuff for long stories and they're a fucking mess because 1 yes I'm grateful cool I know what the plot outline is but 2 dear god its frustrating taking so many Half Written pieces of description and turning them into proper pretty 5 paragraph prose. Anyway yeah some behind the scenes on writing process! ToT

#mejo writing #writing #rant #tbf #i wrote 1.6k of summary notes today #which will probably become 6-15k of actual novel words once fleshed out #if you have seen ANY of my headcanon or meta posts or writing idea for fanfic posts #you know i have a tendency to do the Half Summary Half fleshed out mess thing here #where it would be proper finished fanfic snippet if it didnt START like a notes summary #and if it didnt USE he freaks out/she FUCKING kills him/ etc type wording lol

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wuffzilla · 9 months

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Time to type up everything I can recall about this absurd dream so that I can maybe design these characters later. I sure hope people block my "Taffy Dreams" or at least my "Long Post" and "Very Long" tags since I can't put these under a Read-more for fear of losing the text because Tumblr is a functional website.

ANYWAY - General plot: Humans are being abducted by an alien & being released right where they were abducted from a few hours later. Standard amount of belief + disbelief is had from the public about their experiences, but with a lil more disbelief since their description of the experience is all basically the same but also extremely mundane. So even people who believe in aliens + abductions think they're just folks who know each other online & are pulling a coordinated prank.

General description amongst the abductees is that a giant snake/planarian/worm/eel(?) with arms and HUGE TITS is making them take PE class. They're made to take a quiz on various "Earth" swimming terms to see what they already know, then made to learn any they missed, then being forced to swim various strokes in an indoor pool. They were also warned that a random selection of them will be taken at a to-be-determined later date to other planets where they will be made to swim again in various fluids similar to their Earth water, so they better study.

And they're right, a giant Snake-Planarian-ETC alien lady with HUGE TITS IS making random people swim laps & study swimming techniques. She's a scientist working on a research paper. She works at an alien college & studies various "Thinking" races to test our swimming skills for her upcoming Thesis paper on other worlders ability to function in liquid elements they didn’t evolve to survive in. I think there's about 10 other planets that are on the same level as Earth she's pulling members from for this study.

I was, and still kinda am, pissed she had those mega tits tho as im one of those boring people who hate when human standards for gender/sex are applied to other races for no reason. ESPECIALLY REPTILES. But also, it was REALLY funny. And Funny usually nulls any objections I have to fictional design choices. And apparently every member of her species has them, they arent a sexual dimorphism thing. They work kinda like camel humps & some other things I dont recall. ANYWAY.

She's a vaguely ethical scientist I guess. She didn't let anyone die but she did make them push their limits & several people did end up with lungfuls of water. Her lab was some kinda refurbished abandoned big city underground sewer/subway station, but immaculately cleaned. Like, the Ninja turtles couldve stumbled upon this place if not for the things she used to deter people away from it. They were kinda like those machines that make lil whistles & clicks that some people use to scare off mice. Except people didn't really sense anything, theyd just feel like "HMMM I definitely wont go over there after all for no reason whatsoever".

She was Dream Main Character 1 & DMC2 was some dude she snatched from a skatepark in the middle of the night while he was scarfing gas station hotdogs. He was immediately smitten with her????? And tried SO HARD to impress her. She thought this was very odd but had also heard that humans will absolutely court anything, so whatever. It felt to her kinda how like when certain birds do courting dances for their keepers at zoos. Tho they do recognize that humans are not mentally like "animals". Humans are considered a higher thinking race, but others just have no respect for us due to the way we treat each other (which is hypocritical considering how some of their own customs are BUT THATS ANOTHER STORY).

So since she was bored ONLY working on her swimming paper she decided to start another paper chronicling all he went thru to attempt to Woo her. She'd give him a vague set of criteria for how certain kinds of courtship happens on her planet & give him 2 weeks to figure out some Earth equivalent. Some were actual courtship practices for her kind, but several were for other races, and several were just bullshit to see how far he'd go. She might catch professional flak for allowing one of her research subjects attempt to court her tho.

He also had to think up his Own methods of what he thought might work, without using any of the info from the vague guidelines. One of which was him finding a Were-Crocodylia & convincing them to turn him into one. Her 1st reaction to this was being surprised Earth Humans had such a evolutionary/adaptability, but but also why did he pick that species. Why not something that looks similar to what you all call her (Snake/Worm/Planarian/ETC). He had to admit that he just thought Crocodylia were super cool & it hadn't occurred to him to pic a species that resembled her.

She's pleased tho cause now she gets to work on a THIRD paper while here and I hope she gets famous on her planet for being the first to discover & study "Lycanthropy" on our remote backwater planet.

Last bits of the dream was her getting really into studying Lyncathropy & finding what animals humans could "merge" with and looking thru genetic material to see if any were predisposed to certain kinds & just SO MUCH excited nerd research. She also researched various ways to "cure" it and to see if any kinds could be mixed & matched.

Dream dude was more than happy to let her experiment on him & by the end I do think they were officially some kinda couple???? I know she found it handy to have such a willing guinea pig & at first it was a personal convenience thing. But I /THINK/ she was starting to actually like him riiiiight before I woke up. Maybe. It was really hard to tell.

He also ended up some kinda MegaWere who could turn into all kinds of shit & mix + match features, it was cool as hell & he looooved it so at least theres that. Hopefully he gets to keep the rad powers if they ever break up.

#Taffy Dreams #Long Post #Very Long #I sure hope people blacklist my Long & Very Long post tags #Id put these under readmores but Tumblr deletes the text after so many years or if I change the name of the blog #Plz Block These Tags #Unless you actually want to see my weird dreams lmao

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lunar-lair · 3 years

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ok say hello to my insanely new oc who ive made entirely to be a villain who is still an excellent adult and a decent parent, probably. cares too much abt kids. think reigen mob psycho with a drop or two of milla. worked under Nick From The Mailroom and was actually in on his scheme.

has always been rather cold and brash towards adults, but is more caring towards kids. in my brain he has a brooklyn type accent? rough and tumble, walks around without a tie, yknow? they keep him cause he sorts mail real good, though.

(added a read more because this got INSANELY LONG AKSKSK i spent like an hr on this h)

he was a delugeionist, but only because he kinda just wanted to rip the world apart a little; lysandre vibes, thinks a lot of it is scum and needs to go. thinks the *psychonauts* are scum and need to go. hes psychic but suppressed it, think aquato parents but extra toxic about it, and straight up just saying being psychic is unnatural. wouldnt go to loboto parent lengths tho. so he adopted that thought of 'being psychic is unnatural and wrong', which contributed to a lot of self hate that was never learned out. likely, he realizes hes a shitty person and thinks he needs to go too. so like...yknow hank, dbh? kinda the vibe im gettin right now. way more formal, of course, and while usually gruff, is more polite when its needed; can and *will* beat the shit out of you verbally in a factual way, though, and can talk more street-lingo if hes talkin to real thugs. (probably winged it on his own after failing college or smth, hes got the vibes.)

anyways, its this plot where he slinks off and starts planting mistrust in the psychonauts or something. and inevitably he just...shows up and starts kidnapping people. dismantling things from the inside and all that. he left and formed a group who also hated psychics at some point, likely friends of his parents and friends of friends, all from his hometown. all of them fight *insanely* dirty, and a lot of them are insanely vulgar. the kids are supposed to be kept away.

but theres a line to follow here.

this man is a fold to raz. hates the psychonauts, hates being psychic, adopted his parent's hate of psychics, hates the *world.* raz is young and unburdened and unjaded...mostly. hes not the shock of water some young characters can be when it comes to being the foils of other characters; think steven with a villain or something, right? but raz is sassy and a little jaded, and not total sunshine positivity.

hes a child this man could look down on and not be immediately annoyed by, who is worried by yet respects raz's realization of the world as it is, however little that is.

and yet raz is still his foil. he still mostly loves the psychonauts, despite it all, he loves being psychic, for the most part, he dodged adopting his parents previous values, he still seems to have an even view of the world as a whole.

raz is jaded, if only a little, but he moved past it and accepted that things could still be bright. this man is jaded, but he stayed in his stormclouds, never looked for the sun.

ok where. was i. RIGHT ok so. at the beginning of this...story? the man finds raz being talked down to by one of the office workers; someone with weak psychic powers whos insanely jealous of his prowess. an adult who envies the young prodigy. and theyre giving him some insane task to do, like cleaning all of the closets within the hour, but hes saved the world twice, so he smiles and nods along, because he said he would help around the motherlobe, and this adult is asking him to do something that seems simple enough.

and this guy, internally, goes 'bitch.' for a good long second bc 1. dude even if you envy a kid, kinda fucked to show that?? not their fault 2. WHY are you asking a 10 year old to do that. why is there a 10 year old here. holy shit thats a 10 year old oh my god hes so tiny (no one told him there was a 10 year old because they knew hed stomp right up to management but. regardless. he is going to stomp up to management after this and no one can really stop him. except maybe raz well see)

so yknow. dude fixes his slight slouch and walks forward and politely tells this woman that 1. hes 10 why are you jealous of him and 2. hes 10????????? and shes like shit hes 10. and apologizes. and walks away

and raz is VERY ?? bc she was doing what? why is him being 10 important? and its that young part of you that gets pissed when people try to keep you from doing things because youre young and hes DEFINITELY yet to learn that piling responsibilites that should be handled by adults onto a child is fucked up in its own special way (looking at you ford, *nick*)

and the dude calmly explains because yea. he gets that. and he still sounds gruff and a little peeved but he squats down to razs height and he talks simply and factually, telling him straight on why it isnt right.

and. huh. people dont really do that for raz. except for sasha, sometimes, everyone likes to dodge the truth a lot with him, because hes 10, and sometimes, hes too nice to tug it out of them.

and this guy, this man that raz is already polishing a trophy for 'good adulting' in the back of his brain with his striking statements about how adults should handle things and kids should-kids should...get to have fun. not be traumatized.

for the shock on his face when raz said hed already saved the world a couple times, whats some closets. he reigned it in, said that its weird he saved the world, because thats usually their jobs.

and this guy offers his hand on instict before he stands up, even though he doesnt seem very sweet and kind like the adults that usually offer raz a hand. and he takes it, i think. he takes it.

warm. warm, a little nice.

reminds raz of his dad, maybe. he wonders if this man has any kids himself, but keeps his mouth shut, because he thinks he already has the answer, and its yes.

(he doesnt have any. he would wish he did, but he knows hed fail to raise them right.)

and when he stands, he asks raz what he was asking that woman for, and he says hes doing tasks around the motherlobe because his papers are still coming in. the man doesnt ask. (he knows what 'papers' means, realizes this is the tiny junior psychonaut every room in the damn place has been buzzing about, and he has fucking words for forsythe.) he just offers for the kid to sort mail under his supervision.

and that sounds boring. at least, it usually would.

this man is interesting, and a good...person? a good adult? hes...hes new. hes new, and calm, and a little like sasha but a lot not, and he thinks he trusts him.

so raz grins and says yea, mail sorting sounds nice.

(debatably, raz does not take his hand. hes too jaded when it comes to adults. debatably, he does not feel any warmth from this man who has taught him every adult has been telling him wrong. debatably, im projecting. but thats the whole point of ocs, hm?)

and then holes crop up in motherlobe systems. people are kidnapped.

raz keeps seeing the strange man, keeps telling him things, keeps hearing back, gruff and factual and a little annoyed, but raz can almost-just-barely tell its not at him, with the way he talks.

he can tell. he can tell.

he can never tell. this man is making sure he can tell.

raz trusts the man, is still polishing that trophy for 'best adulting' he has settling in the back of his mind.

and then the man comes with a militia.

he did not seem jaded. he did not seem hateful. he never showed any anger or hate towards raz.

but thats because he knows kids dont deserve it.

an excellent moral or two. a rotten, broken heart.

and at first, they keep the kids away, because these people fight dirty, because this isnt their battle, because the man has been sending emails about why 15 year olds are in a secret psychic agency.

(he does not mention raz. by razs second visit, he had just marked the boy down as another reason to hate the psychonauts as a whole, and especially its higher ups.

hes also regretting his alliance to nick by about the third. if he had known the man would puppet a child as if they were a toy, he would have organized his own rebellion ages ago.)

but eventually, the psychonauts need all hands on deck.

they send the children to find the missing agents.

the interns are fought on the way. some of them avoid the child, know the boss would pummel them.

they get to the base, and the strange man, the one with the broken trophy for 'best adult' (still barely-polished, because hes still so sure) still nestled in the back of razs brain, is still there.

the junior psychonauts are spotted. one of the guards throws a few rocks aimlessly.

they surprise them. one almost hits raz.

its intercepted instead.

and the other junior psychonauts watch as this man, their enemy, a villain, in their eyes, reprimands the other man for even accidentally daring, for even trying. for doing something they might have done just a month or so ago, if they had decided he was too much weirder than they already had.

and he yells something like, "Why the hell is he even here?! This is an enemy base, of whats a rebellion! This is a *10 year old*! What kind of adult sends a child *near* something like that?!" and he truly sounds angry this time, raz finds. hes too angry to keep it in. he still sounds gruff and oddly proper. raz is standing there, arms hanging. hes baffled in a specific way, the way he was every time the man's brow furrowed when he mentioned a harrowing story, the way he was the first day they met.

and he asks, a little quiet, a little small, a reminder of how young he really is, "Why are you still trying to keep me safe? We're supposed to be enemies now."

And his brow furrows further before flattening out, and he tilts onto one leg, and he swears he almost kneels to a knee.

He cant believe it. He really cant.

"You're 10." he says simply, softly, that factual way. "You shouldn't even be here."

and raz pauses. the interns freeze.

"...well, here I am."

and i think...it would be so intriguing if this was done halfway out of the mind, because this man is so against anything psychic. it would be so *compelling.*

so raz steps forward and asks again, asks why hes doing this.

and the mans eyes harden, he tries to turn off that soft heart, trying to remind himself of all that he hates. because he hates the psychonauts, because he sort of hates the world.

and raz asks why he could ever hate the psychonauts, head tilted, before listing off the few he knows to be true. but other than that, how? and ok, the world sucks a little, yea, hes seen that, gets that.

and he appreciates that this kid isnt totally gung ho about existence.

but he hates that he isnt, too.

and its this back and forth. everything the man hates, why he hates it. raz saying why its good but admitting why its bad.

and hes swayed, just a little.

but the man stands up from the kneel hed inevitably instinctively put himself into, and walks forward, hand held out yet again.

"You shouldn't be in the Psychonauts," he tells him, soft, factual, brow furrowed. "Come with me. I'll bring you back to your parents, or wherever it is you want to go."

raz contemplates. thinks, for a long moment.

he grabs the mans hand, warm and firm, yet again, for a terrifying moment.

before he reaches up to slap a mental door on his forehead, and astral projects into it.

he thinks this man is good. thinks hes just jaded.

thinks hes the best adult hes ever met, one who just happens to hate a lot of things.

hes only 10.

hes not letting someone who can tell him so clearly whats wrong and right for adults to tell him go that easily.

aaaand yknow. raz does his razzy thing. learns about why the guy hates the world and the psychonauts and himself. helps him learn that its not all bad, that he was excellent to raz, and still is, that things can be bad and good all at once.

the man concedes that raz is very capable, very smart, and can do a lot. but that doesnt mean he should have to.

raz tells him, though, that he likes working for the psychonauts. its his dream. and he realizes some things he was told to do were kinda screwed up, now. that maybe, in honesty, he was dealt a bad hand.

but hes done what he can with that hand, and he ended up with a royal flush.

and uh! yknow!! then raz leaves his mind and he calls off the rebellion! its like a rhombus of ruin type adventure, except without the villain being present beforehand. its just not clustered in insanely close with a ton of other wild shit.

anyways this got really long? sorry?? its an oc i just saw good adult and slight father vibe potential in the vibe i instantly got on him and then i went feral???? rip maybe someone will read this and if you did. congrats i honestly really liked how the whole foil and good-yet-bad and consideration of raz being 10 thing worked out. this oc is almost like our representative in the psychonauts world the way reigen is for the audience in mp100. yea :) i match them up a lot but thats just cause they vibe a lot. anyways its 1:40 am now and i spent abt an hour on this hope it vibed mildly byeeee

#GOD THAT GOT LONG. ALSMSKKS APOLOGIES OH MH GOD #psychonauts #psychonauts oc #and my personal tag:#pn oc #trash talks #long post #like! insanely long!!!!!!! i am so so sorry maybe i should make a cut #psychonauts 2 spoilers #like a lot tbh alskssk #OK READMORE SUCCESSFULLY ADDED!!! THNX GOOGLE <3

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chibimyumi · 5 years

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how would you describe ciel’s and sebastian’s relationship? like yes literally it’s contractor and the one who agrees to the contract. but like their day to day relationship with eachother. i dont ship them but i love how they interact with one another but don’t know how to characterize their relationship.

Dear Anon,

O!Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship is not something I could fit into any inter-human relationship categories. This is because theirs is simply something that seems very unlikely for humans to have in our society. However, that is exactly what makes this master-servant duo interesting.

Most clinically, O!Ciel and Sebastian are indeed master and servant, child and adult. Though surely very rare, child-employers with adult-employees might exist in our world. What makes O!Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship unique is by no means limited to this ‘subversion’ of child-adult dynamic. Let us unpack this master-servant bond category by category, layer by layer.

1. Child vs Adult – Age Dynamic

A unique characteristic of O!Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship is how they do not behave like any child vs adult would. Sebas treats O!Ciel like a child, but he does not see his master as a child. And by ‘child’, I mean more specifically ‘a less-than-adult’ person. To Sebastian who is centuries old, a human who is 13 is as inexperienced and foolish as a 30 or 60 year old human. Instead, it seems like Sebas treats O!Ciel like a child only because it gets on his master’s nerves and it is entertaining.

We must remember that humans are cattle to Sebas, and that O!Ciel is no exception. For analogy’s sake, let us imagine a pig. Humans usually don’t have a higher regard or respect for adult pigs than they have for piglets. We don’t take adult pigs more seriously than we do piglets.

2. Master vs Servant – Power Dynamic

The most unique part in O!Ciel and Sebas’ relationship is not that a child is the employer of an adult, omnipotent demon. The uniqueness is in the detail that this specific employer has absolute command over Sebastian, and can even use the demon’s powers against him at will. We see in the Werewolf Arc for example, how O!Ciel has practically already broken his end of the contract. Sebastian was in full right to claim his payment for his service and return home. But since the contract was technically not over yet, O!Ciel stopped the demon from exerting his right with just one simple phrase: “it’s an order.”

Sebastian may seem all-powerful, but if O!Ciel wishes to make Sebas do something against his will, O!Ciel merely needs to use the binding magical term “it’s an order”. This binding term is so powerful it can infringe all of Sebastian’s personal autonomy, and it would be ““legal””. What if Sebas doesn’t want to be touched? “It’s an order, let person X touch you and get away without harm.” What if Sebas doesn’t want to expose himself to lethal danger? “It’s an order, do it anyway.”

This is the reason why SebaCiel could never work (even if O!Ciel were an adult!), simply because the power balance is inherently tipped way too much to O!Ciel’s side. A romantic and/or sexual relationship cannot work as long as the power balance is off, and true consent cannot be given on all sides. Consent that can be coerced, or cannot be withdrawn freely, is not true consent, after all.

3. Master vs Servant - Bickering

There is a lot of back-and-forth bickering between O!Ciel and Sebastian, which is very uncharacteristic of employer-employee relationships (No way I’m going to bicker against my boss!) Sometimes the bickering is light-hearted and comical, and I surmise this is part of the reason people might have the illusion that their power-dynamic is not completely off (as described above).

This light-hearted bickering is a great appeal, and it makes the master not behave like a full master, and the servant not like a full servant. On surface their contract bears semblance to a friendly relationship wherein both parties also fulfil their respective roles in this employment. This is a powerful ingredient in their usually fantastic cooperation during their missions! O!Ciel allows Sebas some freedom (when he sees fit), while Sebas returns this ‘kind gesture’ with helpful initiatives (when he sees fit). I dare say that many if not most ‘Kuroshitsuji’ fans are here exactly for this reason. Regardless of how fantastic this cooperation might be however, at core their relationship is still ‘employment’.

On the darker side however, this bickering is also one of the fruits born from insidious manipulation. In this post I discussed how Sebastian stretches his arms and legs as WIDELY as possible within his tiny constraints. To a certain extent, O!Ciel turns a blind eye (pun not intended) to it. Why though?

Of course O!Ciel is not a complete tyrant towards Sebastian, but this is the result that Sebastian managed to fight and win for himself. All the way back in chapter 138 Sebas didn’t even know O!Ciel yet, and yet he already made very clear that:

He should not try to exert too much control over him

That if he does try to do so, he should be careful with words

That if he is not careful, Sebas will take any opportunity to punish him for careless word-choice

In this small incident O!Ciel learned that if his demon misbehaves, he’d have himself to blame. THIS is the silent lesson Sebas instilled into the boy; that if Sebas mistreats O!Ciel, it is not Sebas who crossed boundaries, but that O!Ciel didn’t set the boundaries right. “O!Ciel had it coming”. This lesson taught by Sebas leans dangerously close to – if not downright within – the category of victim-blaming. (Sebas you trashy Trash Demon™, I love you.)

3.1. Circus Arc

So far in the manga, the most obvious example of this victim-blaming dynamic is the incident with the snakes in the Circus Arc. Sebas very clearly reminded O!Ciel that he is not above allowing his master to get hurt semi-mortally. O!Ciel was seething when he found out, and justly so. But did Sebas show any remorse? Of course not. Instead he blamed O!Ciel for:

Not being careful enough with his commands

Being too boring to see the ‘fun’ in this game

3.2. Jack the Ripper Arc

Far more dramatically, this same victim-blaming dynamic can found in the Jack the Ripper Arc, and this one arguably even dictated how O!Ciel is going to become as a person.

In the Ripper Arc Sebas also obeyed O!Ciel’s order to the T. But that’s it; only to the T and nothing more. Because the demon deliberately withheld information from his master necessary for the investigation, more victims fell while the case was still in O!Ciel’s hands. Who gets the blame? Jack the Ripper obviously. But who is made to bear the guilt? O!Ciel is; through the victim-blaming Sebastian made him internalise.

O!Ciel is still O!Ciel, so he probably didn’t really lose any sleep over the deaths of 5 people. But had he not been him, then surely this guilt would have been mind-crippling. However, we need to bear in mind that O!Ciel was not unaffected; had Sebas not withheld information, then O!Ciel would have stopped the murders earlier, and presented a scapegoat to the Queen. Let’s be fair, had Madam been arrested then she’d still be awaiting capital punishment. But as the Watchdog, O!Ciel pulls some strings. He would have tried VERY hard not to lose his aunt too.

As it is however, the enormous guilt about the death of his own aunt is what Sebas made O!Ciel suffer through slow and insidious manipulation. Sebas never gave O!Ciel the time to mourn his aunt, and instead pressured the boy into admitting that he ‘callously sacrificed Madam as a pawn’. He made him mentally TAKE the blame for the murder that Grell committed, and Sebas could have helped prevent.

As we can see in chapter 13, O!Ciel was desperately trying to externalise the blame, coming up with excuse after excuse, justification after justification. None however, works. Good seasoning skills, Sebas, amazing food-prep.

I am fairly certain that O!Ciel doesn’t even realise how much he’s being emotionally manipulated by his butler throughout the years. This insight about emotional manipulation and psychological abuse is something that requires a level of abstract comprehension we cannot expect from most people, let alone a 13 year old child (however smart they may be.)

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, both Sebas and O!Ciel exist in this relationship rather amicably on surface level, but they are inherently toxic to each other. Sebas is continuously manipulating and emotionally abusing O!Ciel, while O!Ciel holds the absolute power to infringe all of Sebastian’s autonomy.

This ⇊ illustration by Yana is the perfect symbolisation of their bond.

We can attach adjectives like “f*cking toxic” and “fascinating” to this relationship, but we can’t find a category of inter-human relationship to fit O!Ciel and Sebastian into. In real life there are no children who can wield magical command to strip someone entirely of their autonomy. Likewise, there are very few adults who would not consider a child as ‘less-than-adult’. Should we try to shoe-horn O!Ciel and Sebas into a human category, then we risk over-simplifying this relationship. Over-simplification of this relationship can be very harmful, because the subverted formula of “child-master and adult-servant” SEEMS to compensate for the inherent power imbalance.

Yana however, managed to write this relationship SO brilliantly complex, that Sebas will always remain the servant who is at O!Ciel’s mercy, while O!Ciel suffers continuous mental abuse despite holding the ultimate ace card against a demon. This complex relationship is the ultimate evidence that even the most toxic relationships can look functional on surface level, and I love hating it!

I hope this helps give some insight!

#Kuroshitsuji #Black Butler #Sebastian Michaelis #Ciel Phantomhive #O!Ciel #Our!Ciel #Our Ciel #Relationship #relation #bond #master servant #NOT Sebaciel #Honestly ... the power dynamic is ALL off #Sebastian CAN'T consent #Character analysis #analysis #relationship analysis #THEY ARE SO TOXIC AND I LOVE IT

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seoafin · 4 years

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tbh,, i havent read the raws of the interview yet, only the translated ver from fan-translator and b4 i start, i think that this will be just me talking in circle and in no particular order AND a real mess (my brain does weird things after exams) but uhh here we go

gojou collects talented people, and by doing so he finds the people he can most probably relate to, except that he can't, not really, because something in the universe shifted when he was born. and it makes me think of how he's always known it, that he is special, and he's proven it, time and time again— he wants to take in talented ppl and he does, but there rly isn't much he can do for them. for they are talented, more talented than the world can understand,,

but they aren't gojou satoru

gojou took in megumi, bc he knew megumi was strong, and would grow up to be someone even stronger, but gojou can't facilitate or encourage his growth, bc for all they're similar, they are so fundamentally different. ALSO,, while geto was in his life, gojou rly judged everything according to his understanding of geto’s moral compass. gojou wears a human suit and geto is how he learnt to wear it well 🏃

the dragonfly analogy regarding to geto’s response to gojo, who was shown wearing a dragonfly patterned yukata in HI arc,, i’m trying to not think abt the fact that dragonfly symbolized victory in jpn....pain. i quoted from a web here for more explanation : In Japan the dragonfly is known as the "victory insect", or kachimushi, because of its hunting prowess and also because it is known to never retreat. Dragonflies are agile and fast fliers and can even hover, but never fly backwards

and bringing this up again, matricide and patricide are 2 of the 5 worst act to commit in buddhism, and it was said that if u commit one of those act u’re going to spend a real long time in the deepest pit of hell before continuing the samsaric cycle (higher chances to be born as an animal after that probs)— this might be geto’s divine retribution. held no power over his own body and could be considered that he’s the same as those “monkeys” 💀

ALSO the fact that sukuna's interest is "eating" rly drives home his hedonistic philosophy of seeking pleasure for himself. and he’s a cannibal...makes me think if he’ll just chomp on ppl with the mouth on his stomach

randomly, to date i think he hasn't really called himself a human, shaman, or a curse, and has held himself apart from all 3, and we've also the intro of the cursed wombs so i wonder if he’s trying to become, or is, a different entity altogether

so onmyoji got mentioned in the interview and what they practice is called onmyodo and abe no seimei and kano no yasunori were the notable practitioners,, and the kamo in jjk is the same as irl who served the imperial court back then

maybe i was right when i said that the relation between the govt. and jujutsu elders are similar to how the shogunate and imperial court work (ie, the former holds the actual power) but... lets see later,,

and i cant believe that i actually nailed it on the analogy of jujutsu practices by religion,,, so mahayana buddhism, shintoism, and taoism is present in jjk along with their respective jujutsu practices...but between the 3, it shld (?) be taoism > shintoism > mahayana buddhism (which could took a path to pure land buddhism)

it’s weird that the number of curses are supposedly higher in jpn comparable to other countries when taoism was brought from china....tengen sus

so the zenin family tree is sth like :

brothers: [toji's dad] ; naobito ; ougi

so toji, naoya, and maki & mai are cousins of the same generation

[toji's dad] → jinichi (probs) ; toji → megumi

naobito → other brothers, naoya

ougi → maki, mai

but yea i’d call anyone who’s within/close or below my age range as cousins and others above 30 as uncles/ aunts LMFAO,, i dont rly memorize my own family tree 😭😭 especially since most call the other by honorifics instead of names : aunt, uncles etc or attaching said honorifics at the end of a name for an older sibling figure/ older cousins [but like ppl in my country also call the other who are older with sibling honorific even if we’re strangers,,, rly similar to korea’s hyung/oppa—eonnie(unnie)/noona but some uses more genderless honorific] (1)

tw // topic of incest, mentions of abuse

if anyone got the wrong idea when reading this : i am not glorifying/ romanticising incest(uous themes),, i’m looking at this with absolutely no lenses of bias even tho im rly against it

初恋 = literally : first love, or puppy love

恋 = romantic love/ deep longing

i literally don't know how else to put this...🧍and with language barrier...using a western interpretation of the eng word "love" to explain a jpnese term is not quite that simple, unfortunately

that thread omg,, i rly do understand how exactly someone could associated kindness with love bc of my upbringing, it was when i was slightly older that i was just...oh so its not like that orz,,, so the most plausible explanation would be that

but the problem is that,, akutami never specify when exactly she had a crush on them,, and when megumi answered todo’s question she had a “♡” reaction 😶,, uhmmm there’s rly no way to look past this if its this way or be in denial

i’ve seen some of "why wouldn't mai react that way after hearing megumi say he'd like someone who's compassionate when she's surrounded by men like naoya",, well I MEAN,,, that, but also mai probs admires that megumi grew up so well out of the clan, regardless of the fact that he had the foundation (10 shadows) to do so. imo she seems happy for him the way she can't be for maki, bc maki ultimately had to leave her behind

hate to say it but yea,, the 3 clans most likely still practice inbreeding in order to preserve their power and presumably their wealth too 😀

i had an idle thought abt it at first but i filed it deep in the back of my mind asap,, bc i ont wanna jump to conclusion abt this out of all things too early. it’s probably not even in jjk, but all those elite clans in other ani/mangas that produce powerful heirs and whatnot also do the same,,, but this way of (my personal) thinking was influenced when i first got into tsukihime (type-moon),,, i read abt the nanaya family background and found out that they practice that in order to keep their bloodline “pure” (to keep it short : they have an optical power),, and i had this kind of assumption ever since so there’s that

i’m,, convinced the zenins' inbreeding made it more difficult for them to get powerful shamans bc they got 2 jujutsu technique-less children with heavenly restrictions in the same generation: toji & maki

even more convinced that maki might be a bit stronger than toji bc toji could see curses without aid while maki can't so the pay-off must be higher,,, SJJASN IDK ,,, plus naoya sort of implies his older brothers are nothing compared to him, and idk if we should take that as his arrogance or that his older brothers rly are weak/powerless. it would make sense as to why naobito had a lot of sons, ig, as head of clan

i feel so bad that if one of the factors that can caused heavenly restriction is inbreeding,, toji and maki and mai had no say in how they wanted to be born but are scorned for it,, typical asian families projecting their traumas and ideals onto their kids but get mad when they realize that those ideals are ugly...😁😁😁

since the zenin are conservative,, i wonder if they still hold onto old jpnese dining traditions. where in ancient jpn, hierarchical relationships were made readily apparent even within families. a dining table where everybody sat down and ate as equals would be unheard of. rather, each individual is given their own table that indicates their status,,, someone who is not considered “strong” according to the zenin’s views most likely have no place at the table, and probs eat when those who are “strong” finished/ serve them when they are eating

if toji was tossed into a swarm of curses,, i dont think abuse during said time is below them,,,

the zenin clan was already great, but they further amassed power and strength by, what i assume to be, marrying and adopting powerful individuals into the clan 🤔 ,,, i imagine they're like the hiiragi but without doing what they did to shinya (ons reference)

BUT after all that, i like to think that since akutami’s a big horror fan, jjk might be an outlet to explore said topics or even darker ones, so i wouldnt be that surpised abt it. given that there’s more than enough “red flags” before this was dropped : a reference to “tale of hikaru genji” when a grown woman asked for gojou’s number in HI arc (out of all things); granny who transformed into the man’s daughter, sat on his lap and man just touched her waist; mei mei and ui ui ; and...this (incestous theme is in the novel btw)

lets not start with whatever the fuck in kubo’s head in the interview otherwise i’m writing paragraphs with every curse words possible,, those big 3 mangakas are so— UGH,, a planet w out (cis) men like him sounds real good rn 😌 if one of yall out there decide to do it,, pls hmu rly cant do this shit anymore

akutami said i like my men pretty and i like women who will step on my neck and spit in my face (I REMEMBERED TATSUKI FUJIMOTO’S INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABT MAKIMA AND IT WAS SO 😭😭😭😭) but ykw,, love that for both of them <3

when i said 3 : one piece, bleach, naruto. aside from the blatant depiction/ characterize of women in those 3,, idk if some ppl arent aware yet but oda is friends with two (2) convicted pedos,, man...the major disappointment and disgust when i first find out abt it

anyways this is just my 2 cents (which i think rightfully belong to the trash can) so pls just take this w a lil to no grain of salt - 🐱

YEAH THE ♡ LMFAO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A “good answer ♡“ heart BUT NOW IM RE-EXAMINING?????

honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if the three clans practiced inbreeding. but ik people are going to be 😡��😡😡😡 about it when the queen of fucking england is literally married to her (something) cousin. i’m not justifying it but like....love the double standards, just as always with the west 😍

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING PED* LIST THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN JAIL. JAILLLLL. it’s all so gross. that’s why i fucking hate when people look towards manga for positive representation because the chances of that are super slim to zero, especially since the industry is saturated with misogyny and ped******* and a lot of other gross stuff.

i think ppl forget jjk is a horror manga LOL so obviously it’s going to confront darker themes. the question is whether it’s going to be done tastefully or not......

#honestly I don't have high hopes unfortunately 😭#but who knows I might be...pleasantly surprised #idk I don't have high hopes in manga nowadays so hmmm #anyway as always I enjoy ur thoughts <3 ❤️❤️#hope ur doing well!!!#and getting all those genshin impact goodies #🐱 anon #long post

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vampirewalterskinner · 5 years

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The fact that no one talks about Monk makes me so, SO sad because this show is amazing and genius for so many reasons.

A long list of reasons why I adore this show so damn much.

The show is centered around a man (guy with the super curly hair) with OCD who also has a shit ton of phobias (heights, germs, death, naked people, milk—and those aren’t in order btw he has a list) and the writers treat it with so much respect. Yes, his condition is sometimes used for jokes, but it’s not used to make people with OCD or phobias a joke. Like, they’ll put Monk in a dangerous situation where he’s about to be killed (for instance, held up at gunpoint in a car dealership), but he can’t help himself and has to fix a flaw that’s bothering him (literally takes his time to fix a peeling sticker on a car and uses the butt of the villain’s gun to push out air bubbles). That shit is funny, but it in no way makes fun of people with OCD. Plus, this boy is a genius and I love him.

OTHER MAIN CHARACTERS DONT MAKE FUN OF HIM FOR HIS CONDITION. Yes, they get irritated, but they never berate him for his condition and usually let him fix what’s bothering him unless they’re in a serious situation. (One time, Monk accidentally stepped on an unraveled roll of bubble wrap and popped a few bubbles and he had to pop the rest. His friend Leland [blonde w/ a mustache] started to help him pop them and ordered two other officers to help—and they were at a crime scene lmao) They actually usually help him??? Monk has a phobia of people being naked and in one episode someone was killed on a nude beach. They tried so hard to keep him distracted and focused on the dead body so he wouldn’t notice 😂

There’s multiple instances where he’s shown to overcome or brave his phobias to save his friends when they’re in trouble.

They also normalize seeing a therapist who often encourages Monk to try new things and advises him on what’s healthy for him and what isn’t and NEVER berates him for his issues or for relapses. (I can really relate to when they speak of Monk’s depression. They handle that stuff really well.)

Contains the best romance story I have ever seen????? Which is a big deal for me to say because I HATE romance. Monk used to be on the police force but was kicked out on psychological discharge after his wife passed and his condition worsened. So, this is a bittersweet romance, obviously, because his wife has passed, but holy shit is he in love. The way he speaks of her is so beautiful. She was his life. Years keep passing and he still wears his wedding ring and he stills thinks of himself as being married. Like, oh my god you guys don’t understand how much I love his love for Trudy. This show makes me bawl my eyes out when Trudy is involved. He’s dedicated the rest of his life to find out who killed Trudy. Believe me, when Monk is angry and it’s about his wife, he’s not to be messed with.

The dynamic Monk has with his assistants (Sharona was season 1-half of 3. Natalie was half of 3-8) is so great. They get annoyed with him and put up with his cheap, stubborn ass but love the shit out of him. These two women by themselves are amazing, too. Sharona was a divorced, single mother raising her son Benjamin (who Monk stated many times he was proud of and loved him like he was his own son), and was nursing—which is how she met Monk, being hired by Leland to take care of him after Trudy died. Her past is a bit dicey, bringing up how she used to pose for dirty pictures among other things—and it’s all treated with respect. Not once is she mocked for doing what she had to so she could take care of her son. Natalie is also a single mother to Julie, and unlike Sharona she isn’t devorced, but the widow of a Navy pilot. Despite having the same essential role in the show they made their personalities and characteristics very different from one another, except they both complain about Monk being cheap and not paying them enough lmao.

Monk and his assistant(s) have a normal ass relationship without any romantic possibility and zero awareness of their sexes. Natalie hugs, cuddles, and kisses Monk (as often as she’s able to catched him off his guard) and it’s shown simply as a wonderful friendship. Monk protects her (and Sharona), buys her flowers, and fed her cake, but they’re still shown as friends. I adore this for so many reasons. Monk is still deathly in love with his wife. Of course he can get a crush or two (which he does) but lasting any longer than an episode would be odd and uncomfortable for Monk’s character. Not to mention they don’t fit each other’s tastes at all. And how often are male and female relationships presented in media without it being romantic or turning romantic? Chicks and dudes can be friends, guys, it’s not a big deal.

LELAND 👏🏻 AND 👏🏻 MONK’S 👏🏻 RELATIONSHIP 👏🏻 IS 👏🏻 MY 👏🏻 LIFE 👏🏻 Those two have a super long history. They’ve known each other since Monk graduated college and fuck their relationship just gets better and better. Leland knows more about Monk than anyone else, except for Trudy, naturally. He was Monk’s partner while on the force. He was there when Monk got the call about Trudy. Leland hired Sharona to help Monk get back on his feet. Leland has ON MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS threaten to resign (he’s the captain of the homicide division btw) if the higher ups tried to get rid of Monk or installed a highering freeze which would keep Monk from getting back on the force. Monk is always willing to help Leland. Monk was his best man and was PROUD AF. Monk also freaked tf out and rushed to help Leland when he was shot. Like, I could go on and on about their relationship. Leland is the ONLY person that gets away with touching Monk. Usually Monk flinches or eveades or wipes his hands when people touch him or shake his hand, but he doesn’t really do that with Leland. He’s really comfortable with him. Their friendship means so much to me.

They never pulled the “no homo” shit. Leland has told others and told Monk to his face many times that he loves him. No “as a friend” or making a joke out of him saying those words. They let his character be a normal fucking person who can tell his best friend he loves him. Randy (the other guy in the picture) tells both Monk and Leland that he loves them and still no jokes are made about it, even while Randy is usually comic relief.

This show is honestly just so damn good. I seriously cannot remember a single, bad episode. I highly recommend taking a look into Monk because it’s such a great story, and the finale will butcher you and you’ll end up saying “thank you” I promise.

#monk #monk usa #adrian monk #long post

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inventors-fair · 4 years

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Shining Stars

So, this contest got pretty wacky and wild. There were a lot of people experimenting with what Characteristic Defining Abilities (or CDAs) could do to a card. I think a lot of people were trying to go as far from the norm as possible without going over, like some card designer’s version of price is right. While I did encourage and appreciate creativity, I wish I had seen a few more people playing it safe and putting new abilities on existing star cards.

But enough of me rambling, let’s get to me talking! If you’re looking for your card, they are sorted top to bottom alphabetically by the name of the entrant. If you were a winner or runner-up, your commentary was on the post marking you as such.

@antmations - Keldon Lightning-Slinger

I like what the star does here. If they’re your only shaman (somehow), it’s an aggressive 3/1 that can get in for damage. If you have a board of shamans, it gains enough toughness to be a defensive wall while you use its ability to start controlling the board. As effectively as you used the star, though, the card has two big issue. The smaller issue is that the card doesn’t really seem green at all, but I can understand how the set as a whole would need it to be green to cement the archetype in two colors and encourage splashing. The bigger issue is that the ability is ridiculously strong. Most cards that can repeatably do 3 damage to creatures are either mythics, 6+ mana, or both. At a minimum I think it needs a mana cost or needs to tap itself. As it is now, your opponent can’t play a creature with <4 toughness as long as you have two shamans, and if you have four shamans they’re practically hard locked from playing creatures.

@arakis-selfinsert - Krark, Thumbless Gambler

You’ve mentioned that the star is really more of a way to track the activated ability than anything, and I respect that. In silver-bordered land, I also don’t mind as much that one bonesplitter massively changes this guy’s math, because it’s all just coin flips anyway. Also, this card doesn’t NEED to be silver-bordered, since black-border has coin flips, but I doubt this would see print there, so I appreciate the fact you did it preemptively. I will warn you though, I don’t like the last ability. Not only is it fairly weak, it’s really slow and tedious to actually perform, and the phrasing means that all of the damage will go to one target that is picked before you flip the first coin. I don’t blame you for missing that interaction, the rules are pretty awkward when it comes to targeting mid-ability. There’s a reason Karplusan Minotaur and the Battlebond coin-flip guys are phrased the way they are.

charmera - Candle-Wrought Caretaker

I was scared at first when I saw the art the fact that it was a two mana 4 power haste creature, but then I realized it has both a skaab-style additional cost (even if not phrased as one, though it probably should be) and a magmaroth-style shrinking effect. Even so, I think 2 mana is just way too cheap for this kind of effect on such an efficient body. That said, I really like the design of the card, and I love the way it interweaves the downside and upside, and how it has an Endless Horizons type risk where if it dies before it does anything you’re out some important resources. I really like the card, but I wish it cost a bit more mana or was a little less aggressive in some way.

@corporalotherbear - Treasure Golem

Seeing this card in the discord made me change my example card, because it looked almost exactly like this, except it was a little cheaper, made one treasure, and counted all artifacts. So that’s a good sign! I like how you make it count itself, and in doing so turn it into a treasure, which seems cool and silly to me. I think this card does have two big issue, though: first, it’s colorless ramp, letting you go from 5 mana on turn 5 to 10 mana on turn two in any color. It’s not too much worse than composite golem or gilded lotus, but it could wreak havoc in some formats. Second, and this is what I was going to bring up in my example, treasures are very fickle. This creature wants you to make a bunch of treasures in your precombat main phase so you can attack with a big creature. However, if it gets blocked, you’e put in a really awkward situation in your second main phase. If you sac too many tokens, your golem will die from the damage marked on it. If you mis-tap mana on a digital client, your golem will die and it won’t let you undo. I think this card is really cool but I worry it might be asking a bit too much from the player.

@dubudder - Chandra’s Firemaw

It takes a little more work than I wish was necessary to play this over spark elemental. I like how the last ability combos with ball lightning effects, but I think most decks playing cards like that are going to have pretty empty boards. I’d really need to know what kind of support this card was getting in the set to know how playable it was. I think the card is a good design, but I think it could afford to be pushed just a little more compared to recent cards.

@demimonde-semigoddess - Erupting Wurm

Wood Elemental… is that you? All joking aside, this card is… weird. I think the two directions to go with this card are either A) ramp a bunch then play this as a massive creature or B) use this to bounce a few lands so you can get more landfall triggers. I think the first version is going to be pretty rare, considering devastating summons doesn’t see much play and would usually be the better card compared to the wurm. The second version, bouncing 2-4 lands, might be nice in decks running llanowar scouts or Azusas, and especially as a flash reach creature to block with. It’s a pretty fringe use card, but not every card needs a perfect home, and I wouldn’t mind this card existing out there in the card pool. You’re also one of the only people to enter a card with a set it and forget it star card, so good for you! That said, if printed it’d probably just use +1/+1 counters.

@dimestoretajic - Riodan, Nature’s Watcher

Not much to say about this guy. I like his simplicity, I like how trample is green, crusader text is white, and countering is blue, but they all work with each other very well. He’s also got a crossbow, which is playing to the judge but you didn’t know that. The closest thing I have to a complaint with this guy is that he protects your other creatures even though it seems like he’d be the main target most of the time anyway. Having him and Shalai out seems hilarious though. He’s just a solid dude.

@dont-wanna-wanga - Extended Ego

I love how much care was put into this card to make it go in the deck that would use it. It needs to go in a deck that keeps cards in hand, which are usually defensive, so it’s a flying defender. It’s also one mana because most control decks need their defenses early, or to leave up mana in the late game. I’m also glad you let players take it back if they accidentally play it after topdecking or get hit with discard. My only gripe is that I wish the death effect were a trigger not a replacement effect, just because it seems like it should be. I also wish the cycling cost were a little higher, since it seems like it’s there mostly to give it a use if you topdeck it, and it might be a touch too strong otherwise.

@driftingthruthecosmos - Mura, the Discerning

An enchantment god that isn’t and enchantment creature. Neat. So this card is based all around enchantments, and being black-white, it cares about them in graveyards as well as in play. I think enchantments is a great thing to track since they are on the board and a lot of enchantment decks need good win-cons, and an indestructible */2 is a good way to get the job done. I don’t understand the combat condition, though. All of the Amonkhet gods had activated abilities that let them trigger attack in some way or another, but yours is about what to do after you trigger it. There aren’t a lot of easy ways to get enchantments to enter graveyards, especially pre-combat (since auras and enchantment creatures can die in combat), and I think the card is just weak enough that it’s hard to justify building around. If she were just a mana cheaper I think she’d be great, and if she had a way to sac enchantments she’d be amazing, but even as is I think she’s very good.

@fractured-infinity - Verdant Necrophage

This is one of the first cards that count counters on both sides that I really like. It still encourages filling your deck with -1/-1 counter creatures like channeler initiate, but its focus is on your opponents creatures. Thanks to how -1/-1 counters work, there will never be too high an amount on the board so it won’t be too hard to count, and when it goes down it’s usually from something dying so it’s all upside. I like how you got around the 0 toughness issue by putting -1/-1 counters on non-creatures on cast. It effectively acts like +1/+1 counters but could have fringe benefits being thrown on enemy creature lands or guardian idols. Giving two -1/-1 counters to anything on cast / every turn would normally be way too strong, so the non-creature rider is a clever way around that. It’s also a great way to dodge the 0 toughness issue, and has some fringe use against manlands and guardian idol type cards.

@ghost31415926535 - Apex Hydra

What a big hydra! I like how the base rate is effectively just a hydra with 2*X P/T, which is pretty good. With even some moderate building around this guy gets really big and strong. Normally I’d say counting counter on creatures including itself can make for some difficult math, but the fact that it’s just a vanilla creature otherwise helps keep it from coming up too often. I don’t know why you let it count your opponents’ counters, though, that seems like it won’t come up often but will get awkward when it does. Still, I really like the design.

@gollumni - Cymede, Claimed by Keranos

Hey, it’s what happened to Cymede! I like the continuation of the demigod cycle, with the implication that there is one for every two color combination. Devotion to two colors might be a little strong, considering Anax already sees play for practically being a vanilla creature, but it’s forgivable. That activated ability also looks like it could be really really strong in the right deck, though it’s awkward that it is at odds with Cymede herself, who much prefers permanents. Also, neither of these colors should be caring about enchantments in graveyard, even if it is Theros. The cards a bit mixed, but I really like it and I’m happy you picked up a trend and worked with it.

@ignorantturtlegaming - Towering Brontodon

What a monster he is! Reach and vigilance make this a great defensive creature while slowly accumulating advantage by dropping lands into play. However, players having extra lands in hand after they hit 7 mana is rare, and can make them feel like they’re wasting an ability. I think this card really needed some way to encourage that last ability to become relevant, either by somehow drawing cards or maybe having an ability that bounces lands to your hand. The dino is nice, and it’s big, but I don’t think anyone would be excited to see this in a booster pack.

@joecurryat - Tuali, Attuned with the Horde

So it’s a Heedless One but you get to choose the creature type. That sounds like a great deal, but I’ve got two gripes. First, this card essentially makes you discard a card when you play it, and worse yet a creature. It would need pretty good stats to make up for that. Second, it’s not very strong. Unless you have a massive board of creatures, this probably won’t even be a 5/5 most of the time, and if you’re playing it in a tribal deck, it would usually be better just to play a card of that tribe. At 5 mana, this card is just too much for too little. Maybe with some keywords or another zone to imprint from it might be more playable.

@jsands84 - Kyuss, the Worm that Walks

Ah yes, eminence, the ability that everyone loves. I love the clear top-down design of this card, and the -1/-1 counter synergy is a cool build-around theme for a worm deck. This card has a lot of overlap with Hapatra as a -1/-1 commander, but the eminence ability pulls it far ahead. Too far ahead if you ask me. A lot of commander players consider eminence a mistake, and a free 1/1 every turn no questions asked is too strong, and making one on every player’s turn is ludicrously broken. A commander deck with Kyuss, 50 swamps, and 50 forests could win a surprising amount of games.

@kavinika - Eldrazi Gravelurker

Goyf got Eldrazi’d. While I’m not a huge fan of interacting too much with the exile zone, I think this might be the best way to do it. Making it count exile instead of graveyards fix a lot of issues with lhurgoyf; mainly that the graveyard is so volatile. I also like the ability, giving it some corner cases uses but also letting it interact with itself. I do worry that the card might be a bit too powerful, seeing that it counts ALL cards in ALL exile zones, meaning this could be a 4 mana 10/11 with upside in any color. I still think this would be a great fit for a set aimed at modern.

@legs-diamond - Spellbane Blockade

Someone wanted to get wacky! Good job figuring out just about the only way to make a card like this work. I like how, if you put a lot of work into getting a lot of spells on the stack, it limits your mana enough that you can’t just spam the ability and murder everyone. My big issue with this card is that it really doesn’t want to be a star card. If it had said RR: deal damage to any target equal to the number of spells on the stack, it would better serve its supposed function. As it is, slapping a bonesplitter on it just seems so much easier. At uncommon, one +1/+1 counter and waiting for your opponent to cast a spell just lets you pick off everything for little to no investment. I really appreciate you shooting for the moon, but I think you may have shot too far.

mardu-lesbian - Yarr-Harmogoyf

Great name, great creature type. So, let me get this out of the way: the adventure is way too strong. It’s Role Reversal with a free Misguided Rage tacked on and no card type restrictions. The creature half by comparison is just tacked on, and I suspect won’t usually be larger than a 5/5 unless you are already handily winning the game. I also think this isn’t a very good star card, and would probably be better off as just saying “this gets +X/+X” but I know this was a tough contest and you wanted to make to work. I think if you would have swapped the mana costs and dropped the 2s in place of the goyf’s traditional */*+1 this would have been a much more solidly designed card. And no matter what, this card is probably the entry that made me smile the most.

@milkandraspberry - Orphanage Watchdog

Good boy, friend of the children. I appreciate the attempt to stop the card from bugging out, though hopefully no one plays sakshima the imposter on it. I love the flavor and the cool effect. I think you could have made it a mana or two cheaper, though, considering it’s worse than crusader of Odric 90% of the time, I’d also be worried about this card dying as soon as it enters play. There’s also going to be awkwardness with it being pumped by your opponents creatures, meaning killing then will shrink your dog. I think this card would be really cool if only it’s power or toughness changed, and it checked creatures for the other stat. You were sadly one of the only people to submit a P/T card before the ask came in about the rules not allowing it.

@nine-effing-hells - Vengeance

Wow this card packs a wallop! So all you have to do is lose 10 life all at once and you get a 10/10+ with haste for two mana? Well, that actually doesn’t seem that bad. It can always just be chumped, and you are now at half your life or less. Still, it’s got fling and warstorm surge value. This is a really hard card for me to judge, because it’s sort of a death’s shadow for twice as much mana but with +7/+7, but it’s also sometimes a 7 mana 0/0. It also seems off color, since white usually wants your life high, not low. I think only the most dedicated of Jennies would try and make this card work.

@real-aspen-hours - Omnath, Hammer of Life

I like the throwback to classic Omnath, back when he had weird cool abilities instead of generic ones. That said, this card’s got issues. This star can get really high really quickly, and has some very unintuitive interactions with effects like prophetic prism. I also think the mana ability, while nice, is not really needed, since every player is already going to have a way to “turn on” the stars. I like what you were going for, but I think you picked something a little too challenging to keep track of and a little too easy to go off the rails with.

@reaperfromtheabyss - Eminent Belphagor

Grave Pact as a flyer with upside. I don’t see why not. A unique star value, to be sure, and I think the card does well to support it. At first the “dies” trigger instead of “is sacrifice” trigger seemed odd to me, since any death triggers the grave pact but only sacrifices change the power, but I can understand it as a way to push the card’s power a little. As much as I like the card, I think the mix of counting your creatures dying versus any creature sacrificing makes the card a little too hard to track, and the fact that it is generically good means it will go in decks that aren’t focused enough on sacrificing to keep track of the number normally. A high pick for most unique star value.

@shakeszx - Knowledge Piercer

I started reading the card and got scared but by the time I got to the end I was impressed. This is a really cool Viashino Sandstalker type ability that just gets bigger and bigger and can be a heavy hitter in the right decks. I think that this card might have a few tracking issues, since a player might draw into it in the middle of their turn, and be confused because they can’t remember how many cards they’ve drawn already. It shouldn’t be too bad, because those cards have got to have gone somewhere, but brainstorms and X costs draw spells can make this really difficult in the decks that need it most. However, I think this one is possibly the most helped by digital formats, since it’s almost closer to a burn spell than a creature, so you don’t really need to know the number, you just want it to be big. There’s also already some precedent, if small, to count card draws because of thundering djinn and thought sponge. I like the card, and could see it being printed and played.

@shandylamb - Daghatar, Eternal

I still have my daghatar EDH deck, for some reason, so I’m glad to see some abzan rep. There’s a couple of errors in the formatting (“are each equal” not “is equal”, capitalizing the keywards), but I like what you went for. I think you could have been fine doubling his P/T, considering he’s starting as a 2 mana 1/1 and then a 4 mana 2/2, but he makes up for his small size with his very good activated ability, which is a good way to incorporate his green color identity. I’m a little worried about how he will play, though, since most players will end up putting a die on him when he enters so they know his P/T, then might end up putting counters on him and lose count.

@snugz - Realmbreaker Demon

Having to sink 29 mana into a creature just to have it turn into a 5/5 flampler doesn’t seem worth it, especially when it starts as just a vanilla 4/4. Having to spend 54 mana to make it a Marit Lage also seems not worth it. If the level up cost were, say 1BB, I think this card could be really cool. I think it’s cool that the stars let you keep using level up as a sort of Carnivorous Moss Beast ability. I like how you accepted the challenge, I just wish you would have pushed the card a little more.

@socialpoison - Lurking Replacer

So, that last ability is clearly the focus here, and buy is it weird one. I like how it plays into the first two abilities, and in general I think it’s a cool effect. I will say it’s not clear to me where this card goes. In theory the star would like it to go in mill decks, but the unblockability makes me think tempo decks, and the last ability makes me think… control decks? I don’t know, it’s hard for me to figure out where that ability goes. I like the card, and the flavor is crazy good, but I just don’t know what to do with it.

@starch255 - Spirit of Vigor

I figured I’d see a card like this, and you did it in a really cool way. I like how you recognized that a lot of lifegain comes from lifelink, and tried to adjust for that with the ability that I THINK works. Granting first strike is different than a lot of other keywords because there is exactly one point in the turn phase where it is checked. I think it’s one of the only reasons Kwende works. Anyway, the card is cool! I honestly wouldn’t have minded if you just used last strike, but calling out lifelink at least makes deckbuilding with this card clever. And it needs to be, because this might be the most difficult star to track (that doesn’t break the rules) of all the cards entered this week. Life gain regularly happens in almost every phase of the game, and so does life loss, making it insanely hard to remember how much life you’ve gained over the course of a single turn. I still really like the card, but I don’t think it would ever see print.

@teaxch - Spirit of Discovery

Keyword stone soup. You get a bunch of abilities on your 5/5 but only if you put in the work. You listed Matca Raiders and Tek, but this also gives me a strong chromanticore and woodland wanderer vibe. I think this is a solid card that’s very easy to track and is fun to play and likes being put in the right deck. That said, a 5/5 for 4 with a bunch of keywords is just not that exciting. It will either die to removal immediately or run away with the game, but that’s just what green does nowadays so who am I to say.

@tmstage - Fiery Orator

This is a fun, very strong card. A couple slower burn decks might run this as a finisher, and in standard this could wreak havoc. I just don’t think there’s any easy way to track this card’s power. It counts all damage to players, planeswalker, and creatures, no matter how much and whenever it happens, which is going to be an absolute pain if you’re playing anything but the most straightforward of burn decks. I also think this card might just be too strong. Compared to war elemental, it trades off the sacrifice downside with having the power be temporary instead of permanent, but also gains trample and a lot of toughness and triggering off of ALL damage, even to you. Maybe I’m overselling this card, but I think at a minimum it would just be unfun to play against and linear when you are playing it yourself.

@wolkemesser - The Marovore

So, I’m pretty sure, as discussed in an ask on Tuesday, that this doesn’t work within the rules. The stars are there for humans playing the game: once they’re in the game, the stars essentially stop existing and the P/Ts are just what they are. Ignoring that, I appreciate that you put effort into turning the contest on its head. I think this could be a fun build around commander. “Draw a card when you do thing” is a tried and true commander formula, and the surveil rider is a cool way to make the card work with your theme. I think it may be a little basic, but I could see it being a fun card if the rules allowed it. Also, I like the name.

And I think that’s everyone! Thank you all once again for participating in the fair, I think everyone did a great job. It was fun running the fair for a week, hopefully it won’t be the last time.

-Mod @mistershinyobject signing off, for real this time

#mtg #custom magic card #inventor's fair #seeing stars #proving grounds #mistershinyobject #thank you #commentary #magic the gathering

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veeranger · 4 years

Text

ok here are my thoughts on SPV3.2′s rendition of Halo CE’s first level: The Pillar of Autumn, which i played last night.

please keep in mind these are my subjective opinions based on my single playthrough of the level on normal difficulty, and that i have nothing but respect for the obviously large amount of effort put into this mod by its creators.

first of all its great that this level skips the camera orientation shit even on normal difficulty, thank god.

so basically the level plays out exactly the same as it did in the original game with the exception of the weapons behaving differently, until you get to that one staircase room that was a nightmare on legendary in the original game. its clever actually because the enemies are positioned on the same side as you but above so you run up the stairs and turn around to find yourself face to face with....a brute! not an elite but a brute in the halo 2 style.

with the brute comes their signature brute shot, brute plasma rifle, a new brute plasma pistol, and a new weapon called the shredder, a brute version of the needler that lacks the projectile tracking of its sister weapon but has a much higher projectile speed making it very fun to use and extremely deadly to unshielded foes including the brutes, who all lack energy shields like the halo 2 and halo reach variants, which makes sense. gameplay wise they’re much less of damage sponges than they were in halo 2 however i did notice that theyre markedly less aggressive again compared to their halo 2 iteration. i have yet to see a brute do its signature charge, but im going to chalk this up to engine limitations and not developer oversight, for all i know these brutes are probably just reskinned elites with no shields. brute chieftains are also missing alongside their iconic gravity hammers, though i assume this is engine limitations preventing something like that from existing.

now all this said i am sorely missing the spiker as the brute’s signature weapon because way too many of these bastards are carrying brute shots which can make encounters a bit frustrating at times, while paradoxically making other encounters far too easy due to the weapon’s ability to one shot weaker enemies and carry much more ammo than its halo 2/3 counterparts. it also makes vehicle segments suck sometimes because there are 2-4 brutes with these things knocking your warthog around but thats for the next level.

anyway back to the level, it quickly takes a turn into uncharted territory with a major detour that has you going through large storage areas and a lot more hallways before you finally end up back on track in the original level. i dont hate this per say and it certainly spices the familiar levels up but i can’t say i love how long these new areas are. i think i spent at least 30 minutes on this level and most of that was the new areas. now this isnt bad per say and the areas were not explicitly poorly designed, though i wasnt the biggest fan to be honest, its more so that the level becomes a slog after a while with no end in sight. i also think this addition muddles the intended game design of a tight corridor shooter than blossoms out into a massive open sandbox in the second level but that is not relevant really so i will not actually put stock into that opinion.

after getting through the new stuff you just drop back into the original level and the rest of it plays out basically the same as it would otherwise, new sandbox notwithstanding. if this level and the second level are showing me any kind of pattern, its that i can expect every level to just suddenly branch into new content before eventually falling back on the original level path and playing out like that. more on this in other level reviews i’m sure.

all said it was not the best level ive ever played and it dragged on too much but i wouldnt say it was all bad. i had fun more or less and i will say the level ran together pretty organically even with the new additions. oh yeah theres a few extremely minor environmental manipulations you can do like turning gravity down in some areas giving you moon physics and turning on auto turrets in some battles. nothing major but still cool.

i dont think i want to speak on weapons yet because i havent gotten to use everything yet but i dont like this mod’s assault rifle. it added the smg from halo 2/3 (which i also dont like in this mod) so now the ar is the 32 round variant with a severely nerfed rate of fire which doesnt feel very good to me. the smg has way too much kick to fill the roll of the original ce assault rifle so i feel a little lost without a reliable spray and pray gun, but i suppose comparing and contrasting to the original game is a bit pointless considering this mod really wants to be a totally different experience. still i dont like the ar and im not crazy about the smg.

i will speak on grenades though, there are two new ones, a clusterbomb which is self explanatory and a gravity bomb, which pulls enemies into it and then weakly explodes, killing weaker enemies and usually dropping elite shields. interesting additions to the sandbox but i feel like the clusterbombs make frags redundant.

this mod has armor abilities now like halo reach, taking the place of your flashlight when equipped. i assume this has to be this way otherwise i would want to berate them for making me kill my flashlight for sprint or VISOR, which is basically just the detective vision mode from odst but in a really displeasing color pallet. now im nitpicking but yknow. the game is still very dark in a lot of places thanks to this mod still using halo ce’s original lighting engine or just respecting the fact that it was like that for a fucking reason unlike anniversary edition, so losing the flashlight is a real pain sometimes.

oh also this mod changed the HUD, now your shields and health are where the should be, in the top middle of the screen like in every halo game starting with 3.

anyway i think thats all i have to say about level 1, not a massively successful first impression but it was not bad and i did not hate it. pretty so-so for me. the next level i’ll have more positives to talk about i think

#Apple Post #riley plays halo: ce spv3

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deniigi · 5 years

Note

I had a really bad day (I wont say why because I wouldnt want you to feel like I'm guilting you into anything) and I was wondering if maybe you had a dfv/lfv or inimitable verse drabble you havent put up or one on here you really like you could point me to (navigation is hard on mobile) or even just some like hcs. If not its totally ok! You dont owe me anything. But I thought I'd ask and see if that's ok.

Oh no!

Sorry that you had a rough day my dear. I don’t have much in the works for those verses right now (I’ve been hammering my head against a wall, trying to write out a piece exploring Gwen and Murderdock’s relationship–it’s not working tho, so I’m stopping). Of course any of the Clint-based pieces are fun in those verses if you need a pick me up, but I am equally fond of Chapter 13 of Sidebars.

But! If you don’t mind a little piece from Lying by Omission/The Sprawl I’ve got cute little bit of Jack and Ben going out to dinner with Matt and Peter?

I’ll put it under the cut if you’re down

—-

“Dad, let’s go out to eat.”

Jack didn’t trust that. Jack had been scarred by the durian. Permanently scarred. He was never coming back from the durian. He was etching a durian with a big ‘X’ through it into the top of his next coffin for future archaeologists to find and have absolutely no questions about.

Matt, sensing that he was presently not receiving the amount of attention that he could be receiving, oozed out of the kitchen and draped himself over the back of the couch, right behind Jack’s shoulders. Jack glanced to the side and noted that he was wearing shoes.

He wasn’t chancing it.

“No shoes on the couch,” he said.

“It’s my couch,” Matt hummed, already migrating over to the couch’s arm, no doubt to burrow his way under Jack’s own arm.

“It’s a couch.”

“My couch,” Matt hummed, plucking Jack’s phone out of his hand and tossing it callously to the other side of said couch. He then executed the burrow and wriggled himself over so that he was the sole occupant of Jack’s lap. He waited, as sweet as could be, until he had Jack’s more or less undivided attention.

The kid was heavy. Jack couldn’t tell if he knew just how heavy he was.

He suspected that he was more than aware of it.

Matt beamed at him. He did not pull his shoed feet over the couch’s arm.

A sign of obedience. Or perhaps a buttering-up technique.

Tricky, tricky.

“Why do we need to go out to eat? What’s wrong with what’s in the fridge?” Jack asked Matt’s untrustworthy grin.

It faded a little because there was a pout which needed doing.

“I’m tired of eating potatoes,” Matt huffed.

“Take it back,” Jack scolded him. “I won’t hear any raggin’ on tatties in this household.”

“I want rice.”

“I’ll make you rice, Matty.”

“I don’t want your rice.”

Picky little shit. Just like his mother. She’d been the type to refuse a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if the slop wasn’t equally distributed.

Jack’s rice was perfectly fine. It even had bits of onion in it. If he was feeling real fancy, he might even cook it in broth or something.

“Fine, so make rice yourself,” he said. Matt squirmed up and wrapped arms around Jack’s neck. He put his cheek against it and immediately made the skin there it itch.

“You need a shave,” Jack huffed, reaching back for his phone. Vanessa was doing battle with her replacement: Bella the cat. She was giving their zombie group the play by play of the her and the cat’s opposing campaigns to win Wade’s favor. Thus far, Bella had broken a plate and gotten scratchies and kisses for it. Vanessa was outraged.

It was an outrage to behold.

“Daddy.”

Not this again. This was no reason to bring out the big guns.

“Get your shoes,” Matt whined.

“Baby, you can go out. I’m not stopping you from going out. No one is stopping you from going out, god help us,” Jack told him.

Matt abandoned his neck, stretched out, quick as a whip, and snatched the phone on the other cushion. He crammed it into his shirt and then replaced himself and his face-broom against Jack’s pulse point.

Yeah.

Yeah, Jack didn’t know what he’d expected to happen here.

“Matt,” he warned.

“Dinner.”

“The last time we went to dinner, you broke my heart, soul, and trust.”

“I won’t do it again.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah, right. ”

“I won’t,” Matt promised, pulling back to add puppy eyes to the mix.

That was unfair. Uncalled for. Totally underhanded.

“Why don’t you go out with Foggy?” Jack tried as a last-ditch effort.

“Because I want to go out with you,” Matt emphasized. “My pops. My old man. We gotta bond. It’ll make me more well-adjusted. The internet says so.”

Jack was confiscating the internet. The internet was a know-it-all snitch.

“DAD.”

“Fine, for fuck’s sake, boy. Get off, you’re drowning me here.”

Jack would go out to dinner on one condition.

Two conditions actually.

1) There was to be no durian. Anywhere. At all.

2) He got to bring moral support.

Matt was more than cool with that because it meant that he could replace the durian with another creative element which would equally torture Jack.

So Jack asked Ben Parker to come along. Parker was sharp as a tack. Compared to Jack, he was a man of the world. A reasonable and sensitive body with respect for his fellow humans. He promised to help Jack identify potential threats to his person flung his way by his uncaring and mischievous son.

Unfortunately, to that end, Matt insisted that they take Ben’s nephew, Peter, out with them too.

Jack knew from the start that this was Matt inserting his chaos element into what might otherwise be a perfectly tolerable and uneventful night out. But he also held out hope that Peter would be the sweet, kind-hearted boy he appeared to be.

It really was too much to ask for.

Peter latched his whole body onto Matt within seconds of their two parties meeting up and the two of them immediately set to whispering which bode poorly for everyone else involved.

“I believe we may have made a mistake,” Ben observed, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin.

Matt wanted rice and Peter wanted something sour enough to leave ulcers in his mouth, so the two of them decided that Thai food would achieve both of these effects. Jack was suspicious. Ben told him that Thai food was very tasty and he had little reason to fear, except.

Except.

“Peter hates durian, it’s fine, he won’t be setting up any conspiracies around it,” Ben promised him.

Mm.

They’d see about that.

Foggy had said something similar when he and Matt had dragged Jack out for Filipino food.

Jack was pretty sure that Peter just wanted a lime. He was 90% sure that all Peter’s cravings could be satisfied with a lime right now.

Matt, however, in an unlikely turn of events, convinced him that he should get food-substances to accompany his burning desire for limes. Peter grumbled at this and deferred to his uncle for support in the face of this logic.

Chaos element, located.

“Pick a carb,” Ben directed.

“Sugar is a carb,” Peter argued.

“Pick a carb in a less refined form,” Ben countered easily.

“If it’s raw sugar, it—”

“Veg, noodles, or rice,” Ben offered him.

Peter scowled.

“You said a carb,” he pouted. “I want sugar.”

“I have good news for you, sweet child of mine,” Ben said fondly. “There is sugar in everything served in the United States of America. You will have your sugar. Pick its structure: veg, noodles, or rice.”

Ben made Jack feel like a shit dad sometimes. Although, to be fair, Jack hadn’t been a dad as long as Ben had.

Peter, outwitted and bitter about it, agitated Matt to help him.

Matt saw no need for that.

“You’re gonna be hungry in an hour and then you’re gonna whine about it,” he declared.

Peter scowled at him and then turned his lethal puppy eyes onto Jack. Jack set up a menu between the two of them because he was not strong enough to cope with that.

Peter whined behind it.

Things were going too smoothly for too long. Jack did not trust the decent behavior happening at this table. Ben got a kick out of his paranoia, which was great because someone needed to.

“What are you hiding?” Jack asked Matt. Matt scoffed.

“Chill, old man,” he said. “We’re literally just having dinner. Maybe try to have a good time, huh?”

No.

Something evil was afoot.

Peter snickered. Matt swatted at him; he easily dodged the hand.

Trouble.

Dinner was eaten and paid for and Jack eventually gave up and settled down. Begrudgingly, he had to admit that Matt was right. Thai food was nice. No incidents had occurred. There was no durian. Ben and Peter made for good conversation, even if everything led back to Peter’s obsession with sci-fi films.

Ben told him that if he kept mentioning them, the aliens would hear him and his name would start to move up higher up on their list of potential captures.

The kid was horrified.

Matt helpfully started counting off the number of times Peter had mentioned aliens in the last week and Peter had briefly looked like he was going to cry.

“Is your wife not going to hear of this?” Jack asked Ben as they walked after the trouble duo who had determined that they were finding dessert at a different location. They seemed to know what they were after, so Jack and Ben left them to it.

“Oh, she will,” Ben said.

“And you don’t mind?”

“She encourages it. She’s convinced him that if you leave a tv on static, aliens can pick up on your watch history.”

Interesting parenting techniques going on here.

Ben laughed.

“Well, I guess we just figure that if you’ve got a weird kid, it’s easier on everyone if you just lean into it. My brother probably wouldn’t be so down with it, but he’s not here, so whatever.”

Ah, right.

“Peter’s your brother’s son, then,” Jack noted.

Ben hummed.

“I…guess,” he said uneasily. “I—it’s hard to explain. I mean, biologically, yeah he’s Rich’s son. But, you know, me and May’ve raised him for longer than Rich and Mary were ever in his life, so, I dunno. Is it fucked up that I kind of think of him as my son?”

No. Not at all.

“My eldest brother pretty much raised me,” Jack told him. “My mama couldn’t be assed to do anything more than scream at the drop of a hat and my daddy was busy drinking himself to death, so Bill was the one who got me up and dressed and off to school in the morning. I always thought of him as a mix between a brother and a mom.”

“No shit?” Ben said. “Where is he? He still around?”

Uuuuuuuh.

“We haven’t talked for a long time,” Jack said.

“Oh? Well, now’s your chance you know.”

Jack tried not to wince too sharply. Ben caught it anyways.

“Or not,” he said. “You don’t have to if its painful or something.”

Oh, buddy.

“We’ll see,” Jack decided. “I’ll need to think about it.”

He didn’t know how Matt would react. Hell, he didn’t know how he would react to seeing Bill again.

Matt and Peter presented Jack with a drink that had evil hiding in the bottom of it.

He should have known better to think he’d escape that night uninjured.

–

I hope this cheers you up my dear and that things get easier for you soon!

#fic #jack murdock #matt murdock #ben parker #I need to do smth for the sprawl for real #ficlet

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survivorbehemoth · 4 years

Text

Episode 15: "congrats daisy for winning season 7 of celestial: behemoth!” - Jules

congrats daisy for winning season 7 of celestial: behemoth!

________________________________________________________________

JIOFEOJIFEWOJIWOJI THAT SOUNDS SO BITTER BUT DYLAN SIR U HANDED HER THE GAME! HANDED IT TO HER! GOD! and its what she deserves!

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anyways. let it be known this was NOT MY FAULT.

________________________________________________________________

let the record show, before last night's tribal, I SAID SOMETHING WAS NOT SITTING RIGHT WITH MY SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!! AND???? what happened. look what happened.

Vocaroo

Vocaroo 2

Video

Vocaroo

Vocaroo 2

Vocaroo 3

Video

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still practicing my slide puzzles WJIJIEFIJWJIFIFWJEJWIEEJWIF

OH MY GOD I HATE THIS GAME I HATE THIS GAME I HATE THIS GAME!!!

this final 4 is absolutely amazing and i literally love all of them so much, but that just makes things 10x worse. i think that playing my idol on daisy was a huge risk and the fact that it is now a final 2 makes things a bit more interesting. my ideal plan was to have daisy in the final 4 with me so that i wouldnt be the next target, but now that she won immunity it just didnt work out how i intended at all!!

voting out jules and szymon is purely going to come down to which one of them will sway my way and it's going to hurt to send one of them to jury no matter what, but i just feel like i came all this way and not making top 3 would just suck so badly. so yeah, this sucks. i hate that no matter what i do im going to be upsetting people and hurting feelings but... i guess that's just the game! at this point im not even sure if i can win against daisy but it seems like she will take me, it just depends on whether or not i stay loyal to her if i win FIC or if i take whoever is with me in final 3.

much to think about, BUT I JUST CANT BELIEVE I MADE IT THIS FAR !!!!

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Jules is voted out 3-1. She becomes the 8th member of our jury.

Watch the Cast Assessment take place below:

youtube

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Vocaroo

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Szymon is voted out by Daisy. He becomes the final member of our jury.

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idk thought this would be cute to include my voting log and stuff hehe <3 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RiA0RUWX4TRpqBTgRzLJJ3fHu2jBqZ-bCJozFd3HcRs/edit?usp=sharing

Jules: https://youtu.be/6zKeJuOJKeY

https://youtu.be/5dV_-X6Rv2U

https://youtu.be/N5tnq-4QAT8

someone (zach) asked me to rank the jurors from nicest to meanest...so here we go. ily all <3 <3

1. seamus (this will def come as a surprise, but seamus was the most levelheaded and nice one on the jury. he really never made a bitter comment even though he had every right to, especially at me/daisy/dylan and really anyone who was in after him except chips. like. he was the only person to reach out in pms after and it was immediate, he really comforted me and i really admire men who can have like good relationship w/ women that are platonic??? i know he's been like terrible in the past and i did call him on some stuff in hydravivor and ill be the FIRST to admit that i called him a crackhead on a daily basis but i think he's grown a lot!!!!!! idk. i think he's also the MOST self aware!!!! im a seamus stan, what about it?)

2. brandan (while brandan was kinda irrelevant game wise this season -- but not in our hearts -- he was very objective and a peacemaker. he had good reason to be MIA too so the fact that he got as far as he did means to me that he did form some strong social connections. and he did!!! with me, i think w/ conor, so idk, he had a role like i did in the game imo. i really liked him and he really brought a fresh perspective on things!!!)

3. szymon (he's only not ranked higher bc he's pissed off rob and he stands his ground a lot more outwardly than the first two, at least in the jury chat. also he's not had as much time as a juror. but even then, i think szymon is not a bad guy like some of the ppl make him out to be. like, idk, i think he made a mistake on a game level and he even admitted it and idk he's a legend. truly. im so glad to have met him and i think he was a really nice juror to have around while he was ACTUALLY around bc he stood up for me/daisy the way seamus did)

4. lovelis (lovelis makes some pointed comments but.....he's not dumb at all and so i don't think he's been bitter. also his pointed comments have been funny and mostly radiating the energy of the other Bitter Jurors so idk. i really like him on a personal level as well and have for a while so idk. i dont KNOW KNOW him but he's never been the type to make harsh comments without them having some merit to them. so i kinda trust his judgement even though he wasnt in the game long/an early merge boot. idk i think he's open minded enough and he's also someone who admits when he's done a Lil Too Much but he's really lovely. just competitive.)

5. chips (i dont think chips is MEAN per se, in fact, i dont think he has a mean bone in his body on a personal level. like WFIJFJIFWE I DONT KNOW HOW ELSE TO SAY IT HES SO FUCKING NICE!!!!!!! but thats why it's so funny to see him in games bc he's a lil lying, a lil backstabby and sometimes he's a lil passive aggressive. but its not undeserved. its also a pisces thing WEFJIEIEJWEFJIWEF i think what i saw in the jury house was sometimes chips going along w/ things, but i dont know, i really do not know much about chips game and ill probs ask him more afterwards?? but idk he was REALLY nice to me tho so FWIJFWEWFIFW i just dont trust him in games.......i dont know whats on his mind half of the time......)

I WANNA SAY FOR THE NEXT 3 MEN THEYRE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY THEIR FIRE SIGN PLACEMENTS SO while i know some of them do hold resentment, its a lot easier to deal with and work with and with all 3 of them we've talked it out with/are going to talk it out. only #8 has been the MOST stubborn but idk imma let him do his thing & try not to pass too much judgement u know cause i dont need to waste my braincells on that

6. conor (knowing conor's astrological placements makes this make sense to me. but i wanna say that i think he's the type of leo to like be upfront, get it out, vent, and be fine? which is why i respect him a lot and i think we do have a mutual respect for each other. some of the comments he made were kinda rude tho and him fake liking astrology for social game was SO UGLY TO ME!!!! like i'll clown him for it for as long as i know him now cause....JOKE'S ON HIM!!!!!!! WJOEFWEOWEFO but that was kinda mean but def conor's come around and seen the light / has also reached out to me to talk. he's also admitted he left a mean speech in sbbb9 and regretted it so i think he might just shoot off at the mouth a bit. but BETTER THE DEVIL U KNOW THAN THE ONE U DONT and i appreciate the transparency NOW as opposed to the fakeness of him saying he liked astrology for social game. THIS IS A HILL I WILL DIE ON!!!!! im a fan of leos tho and he's a leo moon like me. so. i think we'll be fine. )

7. rob (i actually really REALLY like rob on a personal level but i really do not know if i could play another game with him, at least survivor, id be open to playing bb. i think ill say that the best thing about rob is that he's also apologized, was one of the first to when i confronted them all, me and him have a good personal relationship tbh!! but some of the game comments he made were p harsh and he's definitely a lil bitter but again, he's admitted it, i think while he's more up front -- i dont think i ever wanna be on his bad side in a game. EVER!!! cause we didnt even have any loyalty to each other in the game but he was SO harsh on my game like it was wild bc i dont think id ever be that harsh to ANY OF THEM ABOUT THEIR GAMES LIKE THAT???? anyways. its fine bc again he's apologized and he's owned it but PHEW he got a lil bit of a sharp tongue. really eloquent tho!!!!!!!!!!! love hearing him speak)

8. gage (last but least the southern belle himself................this man an aries and i dont know his other signs but him being an aries man is enough. they POP OFF!!!!!! a lot of times there's some truth to it, sure, but sometimes they just be popping off and FOR WHAT!!!!! i do understand gage's frustrations though but even he apologized for being too mean in HIS FUTURE FUCKING CONFESSIONALSSSSSSSS TO MEEEEEE so. idk. he's got an issue with letting things go in games and miss annajane calls him on a lot of BS and it does NOT seem to really knock him down but. gage is really wht u see is what u get, doesnt really own his faults but at least u kinda know where ur at w/ him. but he's still probs the meanest one in there but i do understand from a game level why he was so fucked up about it, especially after hearing FTC. its just that. i understand his position. BUT HE NEEDS TO TAKE A XANAX SOMETIMES I S2G GAGE I WILL GIVE YOU ONE!!! girl it is NOT that serious!!!!!!)

also forgot to mention that i admitted to gage that chris from s1 was NOT actually my brother and his jaw was on the floor <3 I GOT TO DO ONE TROLL THING RIGHT!!!!!! rip me/seamus' showmance serious!!!!!!)

okay just to add onto my last confessional -- the songs i think represent me best from this playlist game wise are: - perfect for you - punchin' bag - stayin' alive - flip - femme fatale/future nostalgia (for the girls alliance that never was....rip but also me/daisy at merge vibes) - X - the shortchange - TAKE ME AS I AM!!!!! THAT SONG IS THE ONE THATS BECOME MY SONG!!!! for this game especially!!!!! - over yet (the lyrics literally speak for themselves) - tough on myself (sorry for stealing ur song vincent) - seven devils - villains pt. 1 (i dont think i was a villain but i did stuff in this game that i usually dont and would consider villainous for myself FEWIWFEJIFEW i was in my feelings!) - passion & pain taste the same when i'm weak (me coming into the jury house and realizing they'd all snatched my wig w/ the edges and the glue.....i DID cry to this song for at least 2 hours! yes i did! WIFJWJIWEIJE) - tar ('under the stars -- pull yourself from the tar'. at the end of the day, this season was fucking stacked and there wasn't one person who was a bad player at all. at all.stars, if you will. i was under a lot of stars and from all the breakdowns in my game to me actually breaking down -- i GOTTA PULL MYSELF FROM THE TAR!!!! learn!! grow!! be better!!)

TOP 5 (not 'perfect for you'): - punchin' bag - take me as i am - over yet - tough on myself - tar

good for my whole journey imo!! the last 3!!! okay this is my ACTUAL last confessional okay thank u for everything!!! bye!!!

https://youtu.be/T5wRzWwlOp8

and here's my personal playlist for the org: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2E8KGCo1SrBgoJIQ9DycfM?si=96PWq-6ERCyisacQr3zPww

it is literally an hour and a half until the winner reveal and i really just have no idea what's going to happen. like in the back of mind i just have a feeling that im losing bc, yeah you know self-deprecation woo! but yeah idk i think i really gave this game my all and while i dont think i played it flawlessly, i still think i played a strong game i can be proud of :,)

having it be a live final tribal for my first ever like, jury questioning was just--- ugh wild but i actually think it went really well. just based on what people were saying it definitely seemed as if some of the jurors didnt really want to see me and daisy at the end or like, really werent consider voting for me but i think i was definitely able to sway some people who were willing to listen and definitely gave some of the jurors something to think about. so whether or not i win i do think that i had a really great final tribal performance, maybe it was even enough to sway enough people into giving me their vote?? WHO'S TO SAY

anyways this has been such a wild experience and it's surreal to think that it's ending in like, a little over an hour but no matter what happens i can say confidently that i will be able to look back on this season fondly and will be leaving it with my head held high bc I REALLY DID THIS LIKE!!! I REALLY MADE IT TO THE END!! WOW I STILL CANT GET OVER IT HAHAHA!! but yeah bye forever <33

Rob’s Last Video: https://youtu.be/X3krxxfJ3oo

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Daisy wins in a 7-2 vote!

#superspooky

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nilmerg-ecid · 4 years

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updated ideas

One piece inspired pirate rpg Basic stuff and ideas: Instead of 6 stats, instead only have 3: body, mind, and spirit Have different skills, based on combinations of body mind and spirit as well as just normal skills “Saves”: wisdom (mind and spirit), endurance (body and spirit), focus(mind and body) Speed and strength also important stats that feed into dodge and block respectively, as well as movement for speed Skill list: persuasion (mind/spirit), deception (mind/spirit), history (mind), animal handling (spirit), insight (mind), intimidation (body/spirit), perception (mind/spirit), performance(body/spirit), nature (mind), stealth (body), sleight of hand (body/mind), constitution (body), athletics (body), investigation (mind) Combined skills are the average of both unless you get a feat Instead of simple ac, have dodge skills and block skills that act like saves to physical attacks Get to take special skills, basically feats, either 1 major or 2 minor and a skill proficiency, at start Each class/subclass gets extra special skill and boost to stat + proficiency in something related Initiative is somehow body, mind and spirit; If subtracting for any mod, it is a 1:1 ratio, body is always 1:1 for initiative, mind is 0.5x mind mod, rounded down, and spirit is 1.5x spirit mod, rounded up Add all together after calculating +1 to mind is +0 to initiative, +2 to mind is +1 to initiative, +3 to mind is +1, etc. +1 to spirit is +2 to initiative, +2 to spirit is +3 to initiative, +3 spirit is +4, + 4 spirit is +6, etc Ex: +1 mind, +2 body, +3 spirit would be 0 for mind, 1 for body, and 4 for spirit, so a total of a +5 initiative Armor and weapons give bonuses to block, depending on weapons and armor, might detract from dodge Basically a feat in any given crew for “captain” that gives them bonus to initiative, bonus to persuasion to own crew and bonus to intimidation for others (or vice versa if you're a crappy captain/ maybe a marine) Design your own ship? Upgrade it during rests, have lots of fun weapons? Everyone has a swim speed, but tritons and mermaids have more, plus certain classes and feats might make it faster? Movement speed: every 10ft walking spd is +1 to dodge (round up), so 25ft is +3, etc. Stats?? Roll 5d6 drop the lowest or just standard 4d6 drop the lowest….. Point buy so total of mods is +7 or total points for body mind spirit is 42?? idk

Classes: Fighter (with altered subclasses based on monk, ranger/gunslinger, and fighter/barbarian) Sniper- ranger/gunslinger Fighter- what it says on the tin Monk- idk if there's a better name Spellcasters Archaelogist- (ok this one is just straight up only robin) basically a wizard, good at languages?? And history and stuff navigator - combination sorcerer +divination powers? Weather related mostly musician - basically a bard doctor - basically a cleric with hints of druid? Or maybe thats just chopper Other: shipwright - can control ship, gets to choose upgrades?, kinda like artificer, cook - paladin ish and can give buffs during/after rests, thief - just a rogue bc nami is both navigator and thief so i made a separate role, hmmm maybe warlocks could just be devil fruit users tho that would be complicated

Races: Humans - basically just variant humans with a way wider range of size and can have fun stuff like horns and teeth Three eyed people - divination powers? Long arm and long leg - bonus to attack and speed respectively or something Skypeople - useless wings and have primitive observation haki aka super high perception and passive perception snakeneck - honestly idk man but why not Cyborg - halfway between warforged and human Modified humans - humans but physically better and not nice Minks- furries aka shifters but they have an animal form and an even more animal form Fishmen- tritons basically Merfolk- what it says on the tin\ Giants?- idk how that would work in a dnd inspired world bc they too big Dwarfs- like pixies/halflings Celestial dragons- worse and more stuck up than elves but otherwise humans Hybrids: Centaurs, satyrs, harpies, zombies?, skeletons, clones, idk everything

Skills: Major skillz Uhh captain First mate - gets basically telepathy w captain, same but lesser skills plus attack bonus coward - gives you bonus action disengage/hide/dodge/dash Heckin skilled mate - lets you use the full combined total for 3 skills and 1 save Swimmer - underwater combat, higher swim speed, dont need to breathe for like 15 min idk, can get like sneak attack if they come up from the water Minor skills Artist - honestly mostly an aesthetic but also possibly can give bonuses to the ship for stealth, intimidation, plus can make money on the side or something Liar - prof in deception, exceptionally good at distracting and granting advantage Good with animals idk - proficiency in animal handling plus get to have basically a familiar? Built in weapons Language expert idk this is becoming very straw hat specific Helmsman - idk what this one would do if you already have a shipwright i guess allows you to also control the ship bc someone has to be manning the ship unless somehow they get autopilot Blocking - bonus to blocks Coward but cheap - bonus to dodge Like,, calligrapher or forgery artist or something that gives adv on persuasion and deception when through a written message

Fighter Class features: HP: 1d12 per fighter level Proficiencies: all armor, shields, simple and martial weapons Saves: Endurance, strength or speed Bonus to body Fighting style: Evasive: bonus to speed and dodge, get bonus action disengage Just straight up dueling: +2 to damage rolls with that one weapon, goes up to +3 at level 5 Two weapon fighting: goes up to 3 weapon fighting at level 5 Protection: when someone attacks an ally within 5ft of you, can use reaction to give their attack disadv and attempt to block it, at lvl 5 can attack back if you successfully block their attack Second wind (1d12 instead) Action surge Reckless attack

Sniper Class features: HP: 1d10 per sniper level Proficiencies: all ranged weapons and simple weapons, light and medium armor, and shields Saves: the focus one, maybe also wisdom Bonus to mind or body Fighting style: Rifle: long range bonus, adv if use action to aim last turn Pistol: closer range bonus, no disadv on melee range ranged attacks Slingshot: multiple types of shots Bow: bonus to something idk, prolly somewhere between slingshot and rifle Can do dif types of shots, like fire dmg, pierc, ice, basically cast entangle, but unless rifle and pistol get to choose 2 types outside of standard, bow gets 3, slingshot gets 5 Second wind Action surge

Monk is basically exactly the same as 5e so far

Archaeologist/wizard Class Features: HP: 1d8 per archeologist lvl Proficiencies: 4 simple weapons of your choice, 2 mind based skill of your choice, idk some sort of archaeologist kit Saves: wisdom Bonus to mind Spells!!! - mind based Ritual Casting the wizard way Learn spells by spending time during a long rest 1hr/spell Arcane recovery School: - get history related bonuses for each of these? Conjuration Illusion Enchantment Invention

Navigator Class features: HP: 1d8 per navigator lvl Proficiencies: 5 simple weapons of your choice, two skills of your choice, navigator’s tools Saves: wisdom Bonus to mind Spellssss No ritual casting but more cantrips i guess “Navigator points” aka sorcery points also metamagic but i need a better name Style: Weather manipulation/prediction - divination and weather magic mostly Playing field control- move other people/extra charismatic, illusions

Bard is basically the same as 5e so far

Doctor Class features: HP: 1d8 per doctor level Proficiencies: light, med armor, shields, simple weapons, medical kit Saves: focus one, blocks Bonus to mind Speellllss; more healing spells and buff spells, less ranged spells -- mind based Ritual casting,, the cleric way Style: An actual doctor ^™: bonus to healing spells, prof. With heavy armor and more weapons Animal doctor: talk to animals, wildshape basically but still appear weird and sentient and only have like 3 forms and limited uses until later levels War: what it says on the tin again Surgeon of death: hey its trafalgar law and he's here to steal your heart (literally) - confusion powers, plus bonus to dodge and more weapons

Shipwright Class Features: HP: 1d10 per shipwright level Proficiencies: any weapon used in building a ship as well as guns and unarmed attacks, carpenters’ tools, alchemist supplies, woodcarver’s supplies, tinkers tools, smiths tools, leather workers tools, steering the ship, shields, light and medium armor Saves: endurance idk Bonus to body “Magical tinkering” its just cola but sure Infusions Cannons Style: Artillerist- extra cannon options and damage, plus can eventually add them to the ship Armorer- more personal focuses, can idk have extra attacks Battle smith - yeet a companion (or a tank if you want) also eventually get extra attacks

Cook/chef Class Features: HP: 1d10 per cook level Proficiencies: cooks supplies, all weapons, shields, light and medium armor Saves: endurance? Probably Bonus to spirit Essentially casts spells only during rests and as rituals, but has cantrips?? Basically divine sense except its chef’s instincts and specializes in if something is edible or a threat or neither Can essentially craft potions that give buffs and health and use them during battle if necessary, can make like 5x chef level in common “potions”, increase rarity costs more Fighting style: No weapons fighting, no hands, aka the sanji: feet are weapons and boy are they good ones Knives: common weapon, extra damage and bonus to attack rolls Literally any other weapon: idk same as above??

Rogue Literally a swashbuckler rogue,,, idk what else to say, except all rogue ac bonus goes to dodge

Warlocks Required to multiclass into warlock, have 3 basic types: -can turn into animal (aka a zoan) - animal related powers -control/produce element (aka logia) -other (aka paramecia) idk how to do this one tho

#long post #dungeons and dragons #one piece #my posts

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antoine-roquentin · 6 years

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“Don’t be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi Party” is an intentionally obnoxious line from the hilarious “Springtime for Hitler” in Mel Brook’s The Producers. Not hilarious is the reality that doctors in Nazi Germany were “smarties” in Brook’s sardonic sense, as they joined the Nazi SS in a far higher proportion than the German general population. Also not funny is that U.S. doctors and healthcare professionals—from their “aiding torture” (description used in the CIA Inspector General’s Report) at Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere to the more recent drugging of detained child migrants—have served U.S. authoritarian policies.

In the Journal of Medical Ethics in 2012, Alessandra Colaianni reports “More than 7% of all German physicians became members of the Nazi SS during World War II, compared with less than 1% of the general population. . . . By 1945, half of all German physicians had joined the Nazi party, 6% before Adolf Hitler gained power.” Colaianni points out, “Physicians joined the Nazi party and the killing operations not at gunpoint, not by force, but of their own volition.”

Colaianni offers several explanations for doctors’ penchant for authoritarianism—reasons that continue to exist today. Two of her explanations are doctors’ socialization to hierarchy and their exceptional career ambitiousness. “Medical culture is,” she concludes “in many ways, a rigid hierarchy. . . . Those at the lower end of the hierarchy are used to doing what their superiors ask of them, often without understanding exactly why. . . . Questioning superiors is often uncomfortable, for fear both of negative consequences (retaliation, losing the superior’s respect) and of being wrong.” She also points out, “Becoming a doctor requires no small amount of ambition. . . .The stereotypical pre-medical student [is] ruthlessly competitive, willing to do anything to get ahead.”“

Authoritarian”is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “characterized by or favoring absolute obedience to authority.” Authoritarians in power demand unquestioning obedience from those with lower rank, and authoritarian subordinates comply with all demands of authorities.

I have a special interest in authoritarianism among psychiatrists and psychologists. In their schooling and training (and often beyond that), they live for many years in a world where one complies with the demands of all authorities, and so their patients who challenge authority and resist illegitimate authority appear to be “abnormal” and “mentally ill.”

In my training to become a psychologist, I discovered that students, trainees, and subordinate mental health professionals who challenged authorities routinely got labeled as having “authority issues,” which stigmatizes them in terms of career advancement. Both the selection and socialization of mental health professionals breed out most anti-authoritarians, and the handful of anti-authoritarians who manage to slither through the academic hoops to obtain their degrees have all, from my experience, paid a career price for challenging illegitimate authority. And that punishment has intimidated other mental health professionals from taking an anti-authoritarian path.

Corroborating my personal experience of the retribution heaped upon those rare anti-authoritarian psychiatrists, the journal Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry (in 2017) devoted an issue to dissident psychiatrists Thomas Szasz (1920-2012) and his protégé, psychiatrist Ron Leifer (1932-2017).

Perhaps the most famous anti-authoritarian psychiatrist in U.S. history is Thomas Szasz. His The Myth of Mental Illness (1961) brought the wrathof the entire psychiatric establishment against him. Szasz continues today to be widely misunderstood. “He did not deny that people suffer mentally and emotionally,” Leifer pointed out, “He was not even denying mental illnesses exist. He acknowledged that they exist, but . . . not as diseases in the same sense that diabetes or pneumonia are diseases.” Szasz argued that “mental illness” is a metaphor for emotional and behavioral problems in living. Szasz has been widely accused of being anti-psychiatry, but what he opposed was coercive psychiatry. Szasz was a fierce opponent of involuntary psychiatric treatment, believing psychiatry and psychotherapy should only be utilized when there is informed choice and consent.

What was establishment psychiatry’s reaction to Szasz? Psychologist Chuck Ruby reports, “Starting immediately on his open revolt, Szasz’s colleagues ridiculed him, and they considered him a traitor to the profession of psychiatry.” Ruby, the Executive Director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry, notes, “There were unsuccessful attempts by New York state officials to remove him as a professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University at Syracuse, and his superiors at the university attempted to goad him into quitting.” Szasz was a full professor with tenure; but the chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, David Robinson, according to Leifer, “tried to drive Szasz into insubordination so he could fire him.” Szasz ultimately had to hire a lawyer to defend and protect his tenured appointment.

Ron Leifer, lacking tenure, was far more vulnerable to a career “hit.” Leifer reported that he was “excommunicated” from academic psychiatry in 1966, “fired [by Robinson] in retaliation for publishing a book that was interpreted to be criticism of psychiatry.” Leifer recounted, “I applied at other departments of psychiatry . . . but was rejected because of my association with Szasz. So much for the free expression of ideas in academic psychiatry!”

Then there is the case of Loren Mosher (1933–2004), the psychiatrist perhaps most respected by ex-patients who have become activists fighting for human rights. In 1968, Mosher became the National Institute of Mental Health’s Chief of the Center for Schizophrenia Research. In 1971, he launched an alternative approach for people diagnosed with schizophrenia, opening the first Soteria House in Santa Clara, California. Soteria House was an egalitarian and non-coercive psychosocial milieu employing nonprofessional caregivers. The results showed that people do far better with the Soteria approach than with standard psychiatric treatment, and that people can in fact recover with little or no use of antipsychotic drugs. Mosher’s success embarrassed establishment psychiatry and displeased the pharmaceutical industry. Not surprisingly, the National Institute of Mental Health choked off Soteria House funding, and Mosher was fired from NIMH in 1980.

Dissident psychiatrists are a rare breed, and those whom I have known tell me that the attempted hit on Szasz and the successful hits on Leifer and Mosher were as predictable as any hit by La Cosa Nostra (“our thing”)—as the psychiatry establishment is also not exactly tolerant of any challenges to “their thing.”

Anti-authoritarian patients should be especially concerned with psychiatrists and psychologists—even more so than with other doctors. While an authoritarian cardiothoracic surgeon may be an abusive jerk for a nursing staff, that surgeon can still effectively perform a necessary artery bypass for an anti-authoritarian patient. However, authoritarian psychiatrists and psychologists will always do damage to their anti-authoritarian patients.

Psychiatrists and psychologists are often unaware of the magnitude of their obedience, and so the anti-authoritarianism of their patients can create enormous anxiety and even shame for them with regard to their own excessive compliance. This anxiety and shame can fuel their psycho-pathologizing of any noncompliance that creates significant tension. Such tension includes an anti-authoritarian patient’s incensed reaction to illegitimate authority.

Anti-authoritarian helpers—far more commonly found in peer support—understand angry reactions to illegitimate authority, empathize with the pain fueling those reactions, and genuinely care about that pain. Having one’s behavior understood and pain cared about opens one up to dialogue as to how best to deal with one’s pain. Because anti-authoritarian mental health professionals are rare, angry anti-authoritarian patients will likely be “treated” by an authority who creates even more pain, which results in more self-destructiveness and violence.

It is certainly no accident that anti-authoritarian psychiatrists and psychologists are rare. Mainstream psychiatry and psychology meet the needs of the ruling power structure by pathologizing anger and depoliticizing malaise so as to maintain the status quo. In contrast, anti-authoritarians model and validate resisting illegitimate authority, and so anti-authoritarian professionals—be they teachers, clergy, psychiatrists, or psychologists—are not viewed kindly by the ruling power structure.

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seoafin · 3 years

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jjk & tower of god chapter on the same day,,, i spent all of my brainjuice talking abt tog w some friends + working on my wip so this one might be incoherent LMAO but nsjdhfjd this my 2 cents for the chp (1) - 🐱

first of all, the zenins shld just eat shit 🥰 the bar is just nonexistant now 😭😭😭

also maki’s mother said sth that hits way too close to home for me too🥴

the maki & mai, megumi & tsumiki "make a place where they are happy” parallels...mai,, maki wanted a place where u'd be happy!!! 😭😭😭 good points abt any interesting nuances the original jpn might have had though

ALSO MUSCLE MAKI IS HERE

and lmao megumi's "ew no" face ,,, i didn't think he could make a face like that JDJJDJD ,, once again i think his outsider-insider status is interesting but the amount of ppl counting on him/leaning on him bc of strategic position is a lot. ig this is what kamo meant by supporting the 3 families,,,, gojou indeed is playing the long game. megumi in the meantime, very persistent in not getting more involved in clan politics, not using power that is offered to him, or leveraging it - in a way it is good, and it also makes sense with "stress is other ppl" but is interesting from a structural pov. megumi may not rly give a shit abt the rest of the jujutsu world. if the ppl close to him are affected, then he cares. otherwise, forget it.

also im interested in power implications here bcs it sound a little like there’s a slight split b/w leadership and everyday zenins and im curious what it's like if u have no connection to the top of the clan,, and again higher ups being unaffiliated with the 3 clans so they have to appeal to them. curious what other talents the gojou clan have and what they're known for bc clearly it's not just gojou, they still have power without him and still have a stake in the shifting power structure. kamo must be busy too...

MAKIIIIII ,,, honestly my heart hurts a little seeing her getting beat up in recent chapters. but i’m rly happy,, shes FINALLY getting the focus she deserves and i’m confident she will make a recovery and she IS in fact the one leading efforts on the zenin side. im rly hopeful she can take over the clan one day and no longer say she's not good enough

that stomach wound is bad news though so im wondering how she will come back from that,, that she didn't know her own father's abilities says a lot, too. i wonder if she could see the extension of his blade, or if she hasn't been able to see/understand many ppl abilities

im hopeful for next chp now. u can do it maki!!!!

flashing back on these bits, it makes more sense now why megumi wasn't melting down post-shibuya,, seems most information came to him in a sort of timely and calm way? also i rly have to wonder if gojou did not spend a decade plotting in front him bcs he's done it before,,,, like the whole clan head scene in megumi's middle school years....in a way i imagine he wouldve seen that gojou come out of the high school and watch him get more serious as he acquired even more skin in the game

all the time though i wonder abt megumi's tendency toward inertia and nonaction to things that would seemingly give him power and trying to understand it and that IS him being selfish and that IS,, imo the biggest indication of what he actually does or doesn't want. he wants it, he will act and work on it immediately himself. he doesn't like it? act like it doesn't exist. it make me want to shake him around like NO!! megumi pay attention!!! But his reaction to this clan stuff is a contrast to his behavior in recent chapters imo

and more mahjong references,,, between this and yuuji’s pachinko,, i wonder abt the undercurrent of gambling haha. a gamble for the shaman world and who will come out on top? a contrast to the flowy ocean imagery that connects shaman stuff out to the rest of the world

also this ,,,, there's that one jp tweet (i cant find it again😞) that talks about how toji, as the point of distortion, created megumi, who is currently playing a potential convergence/healing/uniting role (if he actually takes it on as a responsibility lol) and connects this back to the medicine buddha,,, whose mudra (hand sign) is used for chimera shadow garden. with the commentary abt ppl with heavenly restriction needing to know what to throw away in order to become strong or tap into their full strength and toji’s commentary at the end of fight with gojou,, i actually always felt that toji died not having been entirely resolved with himself bc he talks abt going against the self that decided to forget abt self-respect, to live without thinking abt himself or others,,, in a way, living selfishly, for himself, by ignoring anything immediate and i think he succeeded for a while bc he didnt even remember megumi's name. he remembers it when he talks to getou abt him being thankful for toji not killing him bc of potential drawbacks

and at the very end he thinks of megumi again and that last act does think of someone else, like a "life before your eyes" moment where toji thinks about how the zenin's treatment of him led him there or how his return to shibuya ends with him remembering how he gave megumi back to the zenin,,, i think atm of his death he was starting to think he did want to care, in a different way, or that he needed a different paradigm. or,, maybe he was just starting to realize how far the zenin thinking had set into him

so we dont rly talk abt that being an enlightenment moment for toji but i kind of think it was. that megumi has the potential to become a pivotal piece as a legacy of distortion is interesting. i dont actually think toji set up everything intentionally bc he didnt know megumi's ability, and i dont think he wouldve thought that far. i think a lot of the heir and inheritance stuff is sth naobito set in after seeing megumi's development under gojou. it's clear now everyone has been keeping eyes on everyone else

at some point there's some interesting discussion to be had abt megumi and privilege - i'm surprised the canon characters dont hate him more for having stuff just fall into his lap, and so i liked that maki pointed this out that he could use this and he shld bc theres a frustration there - and yet at the same time megumi himself seemingly feels very little attachment to the zenin and the shaman world still. he just cares abt his little circle of people, and it's a very intentional choice, based on his good/bad ppl thing

u cant really affect the entire world, but u can assert urself on the environment around u and decide what u do and dont act on. this part of megumi is more teenage boy and kind of toji-like, i think,,, hence the emphasis on action

u express ur effect and existence through action, who u kill or who u save. toji having very little, while so much falls into megumi's lap while he doesn't want it, doesn't want to acknowledge it, likely doesn't want to take part in a system he doesn't like or, having been raised under gojou's wing, resents or finds corrupt or useless, or doesn't even think on bc he thinks its above his pay grade and gojou's there - this is also megumi's moment to solidify his own direction and commit to working in the system or out of it

the "not caring" is a defensive measure in a way too, i think. i dont think megumi is Big Good and wants to save everyone and everything and the world to be good and pure, i tend to think of him as a resigned chaotic neutral, who wishes he could be good orz

ANYWAY i think there's some interesting juxtapositions with the whole toji > megumi thing, that someone who is born without, restricted, births and creates someone full of blessings. its very shaman-like, action then reaction

AND i wish u luck on ur final paper (bless ur eyes to see incels bc i’ll just log off for the day when i saw one (1) of them on the net) AND DONT FORGET TO TAKE A REST,, the self care is much needed me thinks <333 (2) - 🐱

i love u 🥺🥺😭😭😭 you take care of yourself too!!!

also ur right...all this political intrigue im so curious i need to know how the jujutsu world is structured in terms of the higher ups and the clans. like i assumed that the three clan elders WERE to some extent also part of the higher ups???? but now it seems that the higher ups are a separate entity altogether, so like checks and balances i suppose. except both the higher ups and the clans are corrupt so no balance there 😭

the chapter implied the zenins are losing when it comes to the power struggle between the three clans. im interested. i want to see them all rot!!! like i also said though it’s going to be interesting to see the state of the kamo clan though, considering “noritoshi kamo.” like what do you even say to that???? im going to be surprised if it doesn’t affect their standing in the jujutsu world but then again the kamo clan IS one of the big three.

megumi really is a character that was blessed in all regards but like. doesn’t want anything to do with it LOL he really said ‘this is a pain no thanks.’ like gojo like megumi i suppose. i agree with u the whole toji and megumi set up....genius....i also love their juxtaposition. it’s so interesting and another source of irony.

#MAKI THOUGH......MAKIIIIIII #that stomach wound was worrying tbh at first i was like??? what is that panel even. but now.......ughhhhhh #🐱 anon

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sunnyvaiprion · 6 years

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Since my followers happen to like Julius here’s another Julius as a unit in FEH appreciation long post because I said so.

You already know it but I think Julius is just absolutely crazy, but I’m constatly reminded of that in real life, like I just went against yet another pulse team in AR, and what is my instinctive choice when I see 5 units with pre-charged Luna? (and L!Azura who is just there for dances, blue with 49/42 is nothing for him its just easy facts) Which is probably the worst special for Julius because it scales of HIS defences, which is 99% of time higher that enemy’s... Nah, sniping isnt safe and Reinhardt isnt killing that Micaiah because she has 42 res at the start and horse effectiveness anyway, that’s just too much. Right, Julius just goes in, no visible buffs because I had def but I entered idiot mode, in a spot where notably Flora then Micaiah (other options were Micaiah and anti-dragon H!Sakura, no thanks) can reach him. These girls right here. Physical damage and blue damage huh, which is pretty bad for Julius?

He then takes Lunas from a red dagger and a blue mage with 53 and 63 attack respectively (brazen was active from bolt tower proc), under ever-present chill res on Ophelia above I hate chill res so much you dont even imagine. Every time I see that a team has no chill res I just feel like Julius got a +7 buff to res instead . And kills both of them plus a stray L!Azura because he didnt die from them. Like... my god, why do people sleep on Julius, this is absolutely stupid damage, and without those pre-charged specials (which took most team’s C slots by the way, and offed the posibility of a tactics team cause too many infantries) they’d be 0-ing him or close (mind you, I forgot to put visble(s) on him) and he deals legit damage in return, his attack stat paired with Iceberg just deletes people even if it’s blue Micaiah with 49 res (brazen active) just ... go home 36 damage (not 100% health but she would have 7 less res if not for brazen) . That’s right, his special is named “Iceberg” but it’s actually called “DIE” and it has 3 cooldown. Which essentially means every second round of combat if he gets attacked. Greens and frail red/colorless dont even need the Iceberg but still charge it.

And that’s not for chosen few units, this is actually worse-end scenatio with pulse and stuff, he spits on like ... absolute majority of ranged units in the game, no matter the color or stats. Only exceptions are non-green daggers with bucket/cloud fan/kitty paddle (but not always) OR full-charge bladetomes/super high attack blues with dragon fang pre-charged (fully pre-charged, not even 1 tick left, and AoE isnt the same.). I personally find ranged units harder to avoid because of ... their range, and if range overlaps with some melee you can just snipe them out of the way with another (PP) ranged unit (if Julius cant just do it himself) and reposition away with Julius in range of only ranged units again. But if you can’t do that, depending on who the melee unit is, Juli may be able to ignore them at least for a turn too, leaving them at player team’s mercy then (but without anti-dragon prfs yeah). Greens - definitely, reds and colorless - maybe, usually it’s a yes but calculations required. Blues - usually no... but well if they cant double then maybe. I had lance Hector (special fighter in B so no auto-follow-up) hit him once. It scared him but he didnt die mmmhm.

He just doesnt die almost ever he just... he doesn’t care. He is invested in (with a cheap build though, it costs 20k feathers and 170 coins that’s it), but... so are all those units he’s fighting. It’s AR tier 21+ top 1000 baby, you get lucky if only 3-4* available units are +10 and not the whole 6-people team minus possibly the dancers. (5* locked are usually like +1 or +3 but full teams of +10s pop up too. Micaiah in particular was +10) Not that it matters to him, it gives them a chance sometimes I guess?

No, really, how do most tier lists have him very low, he’s equally or even more stupid than Reinhardt, coming from a person who loves Reinhardt and has him just as invested. His stats are just right and his prf is also great but maybe because he’s so unpopular and people dont use him he might get a refine (not that it’s a criteria) which will make him even stronger even if it does literally nothing for him like... a def ploy. You can pick 2HP 3def, It will still count. And people will still not use him ayyyy ... but what he has now is not something you can get on just about any unit, not in red mage pool or any other (there ARE similar ones, though).

I think Julius deserves more recognition than he has now. He’s great.

#fire emblem heroes #Julius #I mean when he's talked down on all the time it's hard to take him seriously but #if you know what to do with him he's literally a dark god #I dont try to say he's the best unit in the game but he's definitely very good #and his quote on quote counters are pretty specific #I can use him everywhere and he'll be useful just... he's not a niche unit #or let's say his niche makes half of the game and he's not bad outside of it either #if you like Julius then build Julius #he's a monster #a dragon #also a small disclaimer is that even though he might doing 1vs6 s at times it's still important not to completely ignore positioning #most of the time bad positioning kills some of my other unit though not him hhh #but still going versus super-high stat foes he can die if not careful enough #I sometimes spend a lot of time to make a good snipe and/or position him just right for a miracle EP happening #like if this Sakura reached him he'd be capital D Dead #but like... all units be like that #they are mortal just like that #my dragon still needs a merge and some flowers #I capitalize on ranged units because he can natively counter them without wasting slot on close counter #and yeah they usually go further and hit harder so neutralizing them is noice

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