#bootstrap material

[werbooz]

Component Libraries: Should You Build Your Own or Use a Prebuilt One?

Component libraries are a vital tool in web application development in maintaining uniform design, shortening the time taken to develop web applications and improving reusability of the code. Some developers find this dilemma; should they create a component library or use an existing one? In addition, they help reduce the struggle while building well-designed and interactive websites because of the availability of animation-oriented UIs such as Accentricity UI among others. Now, let’s get more to the point in order to help you find the right way.

What is a Component Library?

Component libraries are collections of reusable UI elements such as buttons, forms, modals, and more— and are intended to reuse the components across several projects. Such libraries not only guarantee a consistent look of an application but also save time and costs during its implementation because the elements have been already coded. So, there's no need to build components from scratch.

Prebuilt Component Libraries

Prebuilt Component Libraries

Prebuilt component libraries are the ready-made collections of different UI components that are specifically designed and optimized for common use cases that developers can face during development. Some well-known examples include:

Material-UI (MUI):

A library based on React and it follows Google's Material-UI design, MUI allows a comprehensive set of components customization.

Ant Design:

It's an UI design system framework for enterprise-level products, ant design offers built-in themes and a rich set of UI components.

Bootstrap:

It's an widely-used CSS framework that provides basic components and a responsive grid system.

Pros of Prebuilt Libraries :

Rapid Development: Prebuilt libraries save a lot of time of the developers by providing pre-designed reusable components that you can quickly integrate into your project.

Standardized Design: They help ensure a consistent user experience across different screens and features.

Community Support: Many prebuilt libraries come with robust community support, providing a wealth of tutorials, plugins, and enhancements.

Cons of Prebuilt Libraries

Limited Customization: Customizing components to fit your unique design can sometimes be difficult, leading to constraints on flexibility.

Performance Overhead: Many prebuilt libraries come with extra features you may not need, which can bloat your codebase.

Pros And Cons of Prebuilt Libraries

Animation-Centric Libraries: Bringing UIs to Life

In recent years, a new category of libraries has emerged, specifically focused on providing built-in animations and smooth UI transitions. These libraries not only offer pre-designed components but also emphasize adding dynamic, interactive features to web applications.

Here are some popular examples of animation-focused libraries:

Lottie

Category: Animation Integration Library

Lottie:The industry standard for motion design

What it Offers: Lottie allows you to render animations created in Figma or Adobe After Effects as JSON files using the built-in plugins. These animations are then rendered natively on the web, offering high-quality motion without a heavy performance impact.

Why It’s Useful: Lottie is perfect for apps or websites requiring rich, scalable animations that are lightweight. It’s commonly used for logos, loading animations, and subtle UI effects. Unlike other component libraries, it focuses purely on bringing visual design elements from tools like Figma & After Effects into the web environment.

Accentricity UI

Category: Hybrid Component and Animation Library

What it Offers:

 Accentricity UI combines traditional UI components with built-in support for smooth animations and transitions. It offers a wide range of components like buttons, forms, modals, and navigation menus, but with an added layer of predefined animations, making it easier to create interactive, dynamic interfaces.

In addition to these standard components, Accentricity UI provides responsive behaviors and subtle animation effects like hover states, fade-ins, and sliding transitions that enhance user engagement. The library's components are fully customizable, allowing developers to easily adjust animation timings, easing functions, and durations to match the look and feel of their brand, ensuring both visual appeal and performance across devices.

Why It’s Useful:

Think about it, what would be easy for a dev? Making a custom component with tons of animation which the dev has to write from scratch and polish it before the deadline or use a library, where the dev can make use of the library with the built-in support to combine the custom designed elements with smooth animations and transitions offered by the library.  

It’s particularly helpful for developers who want the convenience of a prebuilt library but need polished, built-in animations to enhance user experience without writing complex animation code from scratch.

Framer Motion

Category: Animation-focused Component Library (React)

Framer Motion

What it Offers:

Framer Motion is a powerful library for React that allows you to create fluid animations and micro interactions with minimal effort. It supports interactive features like drag, scroll, and spring-based animations, which makes it ideal for interactive & highly animated UIs. It also provides easy-to-use APIs for gesture-based animations and layout transitions, offering developers extensive control over complex animations while maintaining simplicity in implementation.

Why It’s Useful:

Framer Motion combines the simplicity of component libraries with the flexibility of advanced animation frameworks, making it easy to enhance user interfaces with dynamic visual effects. It’s a great choice for React developers who want to integrate animation without compromising performance or adding significant overhead. With its built-in optimizations for smooth rendering, Framer Motion ensures high-quality animations that enhance both usability and visual appeal.

Should You Use Prebuilt Animation Libraries?

The role of animations is really important in web applications to enhance the UX(user experience), by making interfaces feel more fluid and interactive makes user's remember the website due to its great experience. Since users are constantly getting used to smooth effects, micro-interaction and dynamic feedback, animations are no longer viewed as a good to have feature but are rather considered as a must have feature. Prebuilt animation libraries like Framer Motion and GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) simplify this process by providing powerful, flexible tools that allow developers to integrate complex animations without having to manually manage every aspect of motion or dive deep into animation theory.

Advantages of Animation-Centric Libraries

Advantages of Animation-Centric Libraries

Ease of Use

Prebuilt animation libraries abstract away the complexities of coding animations from scratch. Without manually writing keyframes, easing functions, or browser-optimized transitions, developers can simply use predefined APIs to implement fluid animations. This drastically reduces development time, as many animation details are handled by the library, letting developers focus on building features and interactions rather than tweaking animations for performance or cross-browser compatibility. For example, with a few lines of code, animations can be applied to any UI element, making the development process much more efficient.

Advanced Features

Many animation libraries offer advanced features that go far beyond basic transitions like fade-ins and slide animations. These include timeline control, scroll-triggered animations, physics-based interactions, and even 3D transformations. For instance, timeline control allows developers to create synchronized sequences of animations, which can be used to create smooth, coordinated interactions across multiple elements. Scroll-based animations enhance user engagement by triggering effects as the user scrolls, perfect for parallax websites or content reveal effects. Physics-based animations, such as spring-based drag-and-drop or object bouncing, add natural, realistic movement to interactive elements, elevating the overall experience. Additionally, 3D transformations provide extensive control over how objects rotate, scale, or move in three-dimensional space, something that is cumbersome to achieve with native CSS alone.

See What Happens Next

[themefork]

Material Lite – The Ultimate Free Bootstrap 4 Admin Template for Developers Who Mean Business

Why You Need the Material Admin Template If you’ve ever spent hours trying to build a backend from scratch—just to get a functional admin panel—you know the struggle. It’s not just about getting something that works. It’s about building something maintainable, responsive, and clean. And for developers or startup founders juggling multiple roles, the last thing they want is to start from zero.…

[ladyshinga]

"I'VE DONE EVERYTHING ON MY OWN, NO ONE HAS EVER HELPED ME" types some one on a computer or phone he did not make, onto a social media site made by some one else and maintained by hundreds more, specifically to SPEAK to other humans and have his statement SEEN by them, while wearing clothes he did not sew made of out of materials he did not create made from plants and other things he did not grow or cultivate.

He sits on a chair he did not make and would not even know HOW to make, made of wood from a tree another human planted on purpose, with the future of other humans and this world in mind as they did.

"I'M INDEPENDENT, AND ALL OF MY SUCCESS HAS BEEN MY OWN BOOTSTRAPS, CUCKS" he continues to type, ignoring that his job was only secured because he had friends in the right places at the right time willing to help him out and get his foot in the door, ignoring the schooling and training necessary to be good at this job that he needed others to help him learn, ignoring the car he drives to work and back every day that wouldn't have existed at all if not for years of engineering and perfecting of this model by countless humans who've come before him.

"GET ON MY LEVEL" he finishes his comment, laughs, and continues to eat the lunch made of ingredients he did not grow or kill. He closes his app, satisfied with his own prowess, never once noticing the thousands of human lives who've made this comment he left even possible.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

two ends of the socioeconomic spectrum

Okay this is crazy, because between Ruggie and Kalim’s Relax in Room groovies we got:

Completely different materials for their pajamas (Kalim’s fits him + is silk/other high grade material, while Ruggie’s is slightly baggy/too large for him, has clear wear and tear, and is made of normal ass stuff.)

Completely different methods of getting their makeup out (Kalim is so excessive he can afford to dip one finger into each pot and still has many options; Ruggie has to dig into his pans to get every last bit of product out.)

Completely different bags holding their makeup (Kalim’s bag is made of nice material which is embroidered and secured with a thick rope; Ruggie’s is a more common and plain drawstring bag. Kalim also has brushes ready, whereas Ruggie seems to apply makeup with his hands.)

Completely different selection of makeup (Kalim has many different eyeshadows when no one person needs that many, whereas Ruggie has only samples. Also note that Ruggie goes through every last drop of what he has whereas all of Kalim’s makeup looks virtually untouched or barely used.)

Completely different colors of eyeshadow (Kalim has a whole rainbow and even some glittery variants, some made from a highly valuable crushed magestone and from luxury brands according to his vignette; Ruggie has what appears to be a plain dark brown matte. The former can afford the variety, whereas the latter just has to make do with whatever he can find.)

Completely different surroundings (Kalim has an entourage of mobs willing to assist him and lend him their own products, perhaps mirroring how he grew up surrounded by servants willing to help him with the smallest thing; Ruggie is alone in his dorm’s washroom—he had no one to count on for his future, so he had to pick himself up by the bootstraps and figure that out for himself.)

Completely different posing and expressions (Kalim is smiling and looking up; Ruggie is frowning and looking down. One looks hopeful and like he has a bright future, whereas the other doesn’t have that easy upward mobility or guaranteed success. Kalim is even properly seated at a vanity while Ruggie is like squatting uncomfortably in his seat.)

The disparity is even worse when you factor in the fact that Ruggie couldn’t even consistently take showers or bathe🧍‍♂️whereas Kalim takes luxurious baths for as long as he likes and has servants applying skincare and other products on him. Putting these two side-by-side really does make things grim 💦

[sastrology]

SATURN: "WHAT DO I REACH FOR?"

SATURN IN THE NATAL CHART: HOUSES 1-5

disclaimer: what sign Saturn is in and how it is aspected will show a lot of information on how it is expressed in the natal chart, with some signs able to handle the energy of Saturn more productively. Saturn is not an inherently negative planet, as it signifies a lot of potential growth and karma for those willing to work hard for Saturn's demands.

MINI SEGMENT:

SATURN RETROGRADE: While it is not uncommon to have this planet in retrograde, it still makes an impact. It often signifies delays in the house it is in. Navigating public settings or those demanding specific etiquette may induce a sense of awkwardness for those with Saturn retrograde, revealing a complex relationship with social norms. Additionally, they may encounter more frequent karmic instances, suggesting a deeper connection to the consequences of their actions and choices.

SATURN IN THE FIRST HOUSE: To Find Myself

Saturnian energy exerts a pronounced influence in the first house, shaping the individual's appearance and demeanor. From my vantage point, the first house serves as a canvas, absorbing and reflecting the essence of any planet within it. They may appear older than they are, and carry a thin figure that harbors a serious expression. Others might describe them as having a somewhat solemn or cold demeanor, reminiscent of the impact Pluto can have in the 1st house. This effect can be likened to the aging process of a fine wine, where Saturn individuals may mature with time but grapple with underlying self-confidence issues. The late bloomer indication doesn't only apply to looks it also applies to the expression itself with most "finding themselves" later in life. In general, they will struggle with wondering if they deserve things. To top it all off, a deep yearning for the innocence of childhood may resonate within, as Saturn in the first house prompts a lifelong quest for balance between maturity and the childlike spirit buried within.

Positive aspects can help them navigate the challenges presented by the first house more adeptly. Nevertheless, a persistent struggle with feelings of deservingness may linger, casting a shadow on their sense of self-esteem.

RETROGRADE 1ST: Much like the expression of a direct Saturn the individual comes across as somber or expressionless, people with the retrograde here often heavily struggle with Saturn's demands, and the restrictions can be easily felt. The individual may struggle with extreme lethargy and motivation, and if negatively aspected they may easily break bones or experience dental issues. The demands of Saturn are especially burdensome to a rx Saturn as they can struggle with being shy or relying on other's often misconceptions of them to define them.

SATURN IN THE SECOND HOUSE: To Find My Worth

These individuals may have a deep fear of running out of things and emptiness. While the first house is all about self-expression, the second house is more about self-worth. It's no surprise that a positively aspected Saturn here could point to an individual who could be financially well-off. They may have a lot of projects to try to make money. While this position can be materialistic it is not in the way you'd expect. They're often trying to find self-worth through material items and possessions as each item has a "goal." Values for these individuals can be strict and unchangeable. They can have a strong fixation on money and will experience financial downturns very hard as this will reflect onto the self. When negatively aspected, debt could be a problem.

RETROGRADE 2ND: In the presence of a retrograde Saturn in the 2nd house, there is a heightened focus on financial matters and material possessions, with a potential inclination to prioritize them above other considerations. There could be a delay in financial stability and it may take them longer to pull themselves "up by the bootstraps" and struggle with being overly cautious when opportunities present themselves.

SATURN IN THE THIRD HOUSE: To Find My Words

Individuals with Saturn in the 3rd house often display a remarkable early aptitude for articulate and intelligent expression, or conversely, may choose a more reserved/silent approach to communication. Preferring to weigh their words carefully, they are not prone to impulsive statements, instead opting for a thoughtful and methodical approach to verbal expression. This is not a position known for public speaking, they have a quiet intelligence and excel in presentations and activities that afford them the space to think freely, unencumbered by the pressure of an audience. They are likely not known for being neighborly and may struggle with meeting strangers as they are not good at forced conversation or change. Auditory dyslexia/dyslexia is not uncommon here, either. They could also feel a strong sense of responsibility or burden regarding siblings if they have them.

RETROGRADE 3RD: Saturn being retrograde here in the third house points to an individual who struggles much more with communication than the direct Saturn. They may find themselves dealing with miscommunication on a daily basis. Likely to feel undervalued by peers, self-isolation is an indicator. The person may have to work harder than others to communicate or learn something effectively. They may struggle to relate to others especially when younger and feel self-conscious when speaking.

SATURN IN THE FOURTH HOUSE: To Find My Home

For individuals with Saturn in the 4th house, the words family and responsibility are synonymous. Being as the 4th house is a water house, Saturn's restrictions symbolize cold water. While it's not impossible to make the best of this position, It's possible the individual grew up in a frigid family, with a lot of rules and boundaries or with a parent(s) who were emotionally unavailable. Often they could have trouble being able to relax around family members/parental figures due to a pronounced level of strictness. The love received from family members may carry a sense of conditionality, where mistakes are met with little tolerance, marking an individual as a black sheep. There's a vulnerability to becoming entangled in familial responsibilities, especially if a family member falls ill, compelling the individual to assume the role of caregiver and potentially feeling trapped within the confines of the home.

RETROGRADE 4TH HOUSE: The person may find themselves at odds with the expectations imposed by the family, feeling constrained by a predetermined concept that doesn't align with their true self. This internal clash often gives rise to a natural rebellion or power struggle, as they grapple with the tension between their authentic self and societal expectations. They may have struggled to speak up or have a stable home. Reflection on the past becomes a significant aspect of their emotional landscape, influencing their present state of mind.

SATURN IN THE FIFTH HOUSE: To Find My Joy

Individuals with Saturn in the 5th house may struggle with the ability to find joy in things. More specifically, these individuals want happiness so much that the second they get it, they can give in to fear and over-analyzing. They will demand excellence in every creative endeavor they try to do, and if they fall short they could stop altogether. Within this house, Saturn's influence is particularly pronounced, shaping the individual's approach to joy, children, and love. Often they view love and children very realistically and are unlikely to suffer from rose-tinted lenses. Even if the individual has a bubbly, passionate chart, they will feel thwarted with spontaneity. Expressing themselves might pose a challenge, leading them to gravitate towards the background rather than the spotlight. During childhood, the vibrant colors of spontaneity were muted in favor of the practical tones of maturity.

Insecurity around dating and children is also common here as the individual may not find themselves very fun to be around, often trying to overcompensate for this. Due to this, they may find themselves drawn to older, mature partners. A negatively aspected Saturn here could point to issues with fertility, a worry/fear of children, or you may never have kids even if you wanted them. However, if children do come into the picture, the connection between parent and child is profound, often characterized by a sense of karmic intertwining, suggesting a deeper, soulful relationship.

RETROGRADE 5TH HOUSE: These individuals have learned to find joy they can only rely on themselves. Often introverted, cautious thinkers. Since the way these individuals experience joy appears to move backward, they may find they are the happiest when they are alone as the concept of joy is hard to grasp. While they can certainly enjoy carefree moments with others, these instances of happiness are fleeting, as living in the present proves to be a formidable task. Saturn's influence is marked by a perpetual forward gaze, always contemplating the future and analyzing potential vulnerabilities.

[alpaca-clouds]

Wait! So, nobody knows there are Pirates of the Caribbean books?

So, a week ago I learned that... really nobody bloody knows about those books? Really?

I knew that Disney really had not done their part in advertising those books, only to then be very surprised to learn that the books did not sell. Like, duh, Disney, in a pre-tiktok world, you cannot just assume that people will find out about those books you publish, if you do not tell anyone about it. Unbelievable, isn't it?

But yeah, indeed. There are a couple of pirates of the Caribbean books. Now mind you, most of those books - or rather: all but one - are "young reader" books, so they are not particularly challenging in terms of language, or story. They have been released under Disney Press and mostly have been marketed through Scholastic back in the day. (As such, it will not surprise you to learn: None of these books ever was translated into any non-English language.)

Only one book I would actually call GOOD. The one that was not targeted at kids. However, I will say: I had fun with all of the books back in the day. They were fun books, that often did immitate the voice of the characters rather well, and gave some nice interesting background to the universe as a whole. So... Let me talk about the books a bit.

The Jack Sparrow Series

The Jack Sparrow series is the longest series among the Pirates of the Caribbean books, that basically go into Jack's life as a teenager. Long story short: Growing up as Teague's son, he kinda rebels against his father a lot. Thus, he runs away as a young teen and finds his own pirate crew. Most notably among them of course a certain Bootstraps Bill.

There are a couple of other characters in this. We see for example the young Annamaria, and some other background characters from the movie as crewmates. We also see his first meeting with both Norrington and Gibbs in those books.

Additionally these books (again, this is a fairly long series) go a lot furhter into the Nahua gods and how they cursed Cortez, as Cortez's ghost is a recurring villain in those books. And yes, this quite clearly says: Jack knew the gold was cursed. He knew from the beginning, but it is one of those common themes: Nobody ever listens to good old Jack.

It should be noted: These are books for fairly young readers. Meaning: The prose is fairly simple as it is aimed at a very young reading level. Meaning, too, that the books are fairly short. For the books of this series I usually needed about two to three hours per book to read it from beginning to end. I would guess most of these books are about 30-40k in length.

Now, compared to the other books, these apparently did not sell that bad. I would argue that this mainly is because even if the kids who found those books at Scholastic did not need to be very invested in the franchise to read those books. They were fairly nice child friendly Pirate adventures.

The books are named:

The Coming Storm

The Siren Song

The Pirates Chase

The Sword of Cortez

The Age of Bronze

Silver

City of Gold

The Timekeeper

Dance of the Hours

Sins of the Father

Poseidon's Peak

Bold New Horizons

The Tale of Billy Turner and other Stories (anthology of the side characters of the series and what they do after the end of the series.)

Now, the books are technically out of print by now. Though I think these are fairly available in libraries still - and go for fair prizes on used book portals. So these are probably the easiest books from this list to get.

The Price of Freedom

Now, chronologically the next books that came out for Pirates of the Caribbean, is also the one actual adult novel. The Price of Freedom. If you wonder where you know the name of the author from: A.C. Crispin is fairly known for her writing of extended universe material. Most notably she has written the Spock series for Star Trek and the Han Solo trilogy for the Star Wars books, though I guess those are among the "Legends" now.

This is actually written as a proper novel - and a long novel at this. The book has more than 600 pages.

This story starts out with Jack Sparrow having joined the EITC. Having worked for them for a couple of years now, he is by now the First Mate on the ship The Wicked Wench. When the ship gets attacked by pirates, the current Captain suffers a heart attack and dies, making Jack finish the trading route on his own. Eventually he makes port in Africa, where the current overseer of the EITC hears of this: Cuttler Beckett. He invites Jack to his mansion, realizing the two of them have much in common. Most notably, they both believe in the magical things out at sea - and that there is indeed a magical island somewhere out there.

Now, Cuttler Beckett has two slaves working on his estate, that he suspects of stemming from that island, and he has a plan: If Jack saved those slaves, they might be willing to tell Jack about that magical place - and if Beckett then is able to find the island, he could not only proof his family, that he is not insane, but also gain the Lord title, he has been trying to get for so many years.

As I said: This book is actually really good. Like, sure, some things in it have not aged perfectly, I generally have to say it still aged fairly well. Most notably for a book that came out in 2011 is that the main relationship in this book is a polyamorous relationship between Jack and two non-white women.

(It should be noted: It is fairly clear in the books that Jack is mixed race and at the very least quarter-Black. Think of that what you will. This is not really white-washing of a character, given that indeed the authors of the screenplay wrote him as white - but books then gave his mother African ancestry.)

Sadly, nobody fucking knows that this book exists, because Disney has not marketed this back when it came out AT ALL. This book's release was so underadvertized (even though it released basically at the same time as the 4th movie), that several book logistics companies had not stocked this at all. So, obviously this book did not sell at all, and never got a second print, making it expensive as fuck. However, you can borrow it in several libraries still.

Due to the bad sales and the fact that Crispin was diagnosed with cancer not long after the book came out and died of it, we sadly never got a sequel to this book, which means that we also do not know how the story of certain characters end.

The Legends of the Breathren Court

Rob Kidd, who wrote the young Jack Sparrow books, was also hired to write another series of books that were once more aimed at young readers.

The plot is basically like this: Jack had gotten himself a curse - which is bad. But there are even worse news: He needs the help of the other pirate lords to safe himself. The only good news: He has the Pearl now, the fastest ship in the Caribbean, thanks due some minor magical upgrades. But it is not going to be easy to convince the other pirate lords to help him.

Now, I should say: This series sold by far the worst. I would argue the main issue is, that these are kids books, but take place when Jack is in his 30s. While the Jack Sparrow books could be easily understood by kids, who had nearly no idea about the plot of the movies, you do need to understand the movies for this series rather well. So yeah. The book series was cancelled halfway through, though Robb Kidd did those fans of the series a solid, by convincing Disney to allow him to at least provide the last few books as epubs on his website. :)

Still, the series was cut down due to the cancellation. So the ending is a bit... chaotic.

The series is made up of the following books:

The Caribbean

Rising in the East

The Turning Tide

Wild Waters

Day of the Shadow

These books are usually available easily online. Not to buy, but, you know... Through other means.

Some thoughts in the end

I am honestly kinda sad, that the entire thing with those books never went anywhere. Disney did want at some point to get an extended Universe going for Pirates of the Caribbean, with more lore and everything. Back in the day there was also a game in development, that was supposed to be a AAA single player experience - but basically they cancelled it pretty much last minute. :/ And it is kinda sad.

I do think that this franchise could have been very interesting - if Disney did not rely too much on Jack Sparrow as a character. Now outside of Depp being a misogynist pig who needs, but refuses therapy, I do think that generally speaking the franchise would have been stronger, if they did not construct everything around this one character. Because fun fact: We do not have a whole lot of seafaring fantasy stuff out there and the worldbuilding in those books is really super interesting.

Some part of me wants to write a sequel to Price of Freedom - but I doubt that anyone is ever gonna read that, based that nobody knows the book xD

[lilithlounge]

Sun and Uranus Conjunction

Hey 🐥, as a Taurus myself, I need you to understand how personally attacked I feel by this transit 😤. So yes, I’m feeling things. Yes, I’m processing and no, I did not ask for my comfort zone to be thrown into a blender. But here we are, so let’s talk about it.

Hold onto your bullhorn, because the Sun is kissing wild Uranus in Taurus today and this is huge. Astrologers are calling this mix electrifying, since the ego-Sun is fusing with Uranus’s rebel spark. Basically the universe is dropping a lightning bolt on our grounding vibes: Taurus, the stable bull never asked for this kind of shake-up. And get this, it’s the last time this tango happens in Taurus for 84 years. Uranus bolts into Gemini this summer, so it’s a one in a generation cocktail. If you thought your comfort zone was cozy, prepare for a jolt! I’m a fixed Taurus myself and I don’t like it one bit but we have to go with the flow.

So what’s that mean for us? Picture your identity and values (the Sun in Taurus) getting a sudden upgrade from Mr. Anything-Goes (Uranus). Sun–Uranus is literally one of the most electrifying aspects because it fuses who we think we are with who we want to be when we break the rules. In practice, that can look like wild inspiration or unexpected freedom. When this play happens in Taurus (the bull that loves routine), it shakes up everything solid: money, habits, security. Uranus in Taurus is the rebel that challenges traditional values, disrupts established norms and pushes for revolutionary changes in the material world. In other words, baby kiss me. That’s another song, sorry. For real, it’s nudging us to tear up the old playbook about what makes us feel safe and grounded. Maybe it’s time to rethink that side hustle, budget plan or even your wardrobe, the universe loves drama, after all. This transit literally calls us to revolutionize our values and the way we interact with the physical world. So if you feel like your inner bull is being prodded to run wild, that’s normal . Taurus is being woken up by cosmic puppy energy, as I like to say and change is on the menu.

Meanwhile, in the background, Pluto is retrograding in Aquarius (this kicked off May 4 and goes into October). Imagine the god of transformation (Pluto) doing shadow work in the sign of the Water-Bearer. It’s like the collective is on a collective therapy couch: secrets and deep truths are bubbling to the surface of our digital and social networks. In rebel, freedom loving Aquarius this retrograde is filtered through innovation, individuality and collective consciousness, and it urges us to break free from outdated systems and question what really serves the group. Think of it as a tech detox or a society audit: we’re rethinking the power we give to social media, our jobs, our friendships, our governments. Hidden patterns or buried truths may resurface (remember that weird text from an old friend? Or that glitch in the news you ignored?), potentially delivering shocks that jolt you awake. In short, Pluto in Aquarius retrograde is pushing collective evolution, it’s the collective wake up call to rebuild stronger foundations.

And don’t forget the emotional beat dropped last week The Full Moon in Scorpio 🌕🦂! That was our cue to feel it all and let go. Full moons are classic release points and Scorpio’s intensity meant we were detoxing on a deeeeeep level. Under that Moon we were reminded that fear and vulnerability aren’t enemies; they’re teachers. Scorpio energy is all about emotional depth and transformation, so last week we probably confronted something shadowy (jealousy, secret desires, grief) and were asked to flush it out. Honor what scares you, because embracing our fears would make us wiser. In other words, we were given permission to be human, shaky and all and it only builds our strength.

So what do we expect? transformation through disruption with a side of embodiment and collective evolution. Taurus brings the body and the bootstraps (we’re in this life, physically), Scorpio brings the soul-shaking release and Aquarius-Pluto brings the big picture overhaul. It’s like the universe is cleaning out the attic, basement and high rise at once. Feel those Uranian jolts in your body (maybe literally, you might twitch or get goosebumps when that new idea hits). Think about what emotions the Scorpio Moon unlocked and what seeds those planted. And notice how the Pluto retrograde in Aquarius energy might be poking at your social or work circles, what old narrative needs an update?

This is one of those rare times when the stars practically hand you a pen: write it out, scream into a pillow or dance with your journal (no judgment here 😂). Encourage yourself to reflect on where you’re resisting change or clinging to safe habits. The bull can charge forward into the unknown, after all, Taurus energy is about grounded persistence and the scorpion has shown us how to shed old skin. Pluto is testing us so we can rebuild better together.

So yeah….*sighs* these sky events are serving up a wild, soul baring punch. Lean into it: keep those channels open, trust that intuitive lightning bolt and let yourself be reborn a little. Write down your feelings, meditate in nature or even vent about it online with your astrology crew (that’s basically cosmic therapy). This won’t come around for another 84 years, so you might as well dance in the rain it brings and see what grows afterward. Good luck, we’ve got this 😉🖤.

Book a reading on Buy Me A Coffee or Ko-Fi 🖤.

[existentialterror]

ARG notes: ZampanioSim, part 2

Hey guys. catfishAnabasis (Light) here, continuing my… uh, ZampanioSim Let’s Play? That’s dumb. My investigation into the Homestuck/Magnus Archives/House of Leaves-inspired alternate reality game ZampanioSim. Read Part 1 first.

Now we have the bare minimum on Zampanio Sim’s format. Actually, we don’t know much and it’s constantly changing, but we at least have an idea of what we’re in for. Cool.

What is the story unfolding within Zampanio Sim?

So we know from the Classpect Menu game, the one that “is” ZampanioSim, that this was an effort to simulate a now-deleted game from the 1970s called Zampanio, based on a now-lost* FAQ on how to play it. At some point, possibly just search engines, I have learned that Eyedol Games is the company that makes Zampanio. Let’s take that going in.

*dubious

A lot of the “routes” off the house at the start of ZampanioSim – see the diagram – are procedurally generated places to explore or are otherwise collections of content. But other have a more directly obvious narrative to them. I have marked these places here.

Let’s go. We'll start... Uh...

…

(Okay, so there’s a recurring meme in ZampanioSim about whether personality-typing you based on whether you traverse labyrinths clockwise or counterclockwise.

But I’m confused about which one that means – like if I’m looking at a drawing of a labyrinth top-down, and I go from the entrance to the right passage, I guess I’m going counterclockwise. But if I were standing in a physical maze, the clockways framing wouldn’t occur to me – I mean, they’re both chiral processes, but like, the hand of a clock moves to the right, so which reference am I taking?

Maybe I’m not cut out for labyrinths. When I’m caving in minecraft I go to the right, so if I’m coming back into the house through the north door, then... I guess:)

We’ll start with the non-existent West Route (accessible by clicking on the west side of the house, where you’d expect a door to be.)

AdventureSimWest

AdventureSimWest is an audience-participation adventure game that, like Problem Sleuth or Early Homestuck, takes suggested commands from an audience that guide a character, and the author tells a story around it. This one has been running for quite some time, so there’s a lot of backlogged material!

AdventureSimWest gives us a lot of info right away. It’s about a character named Peewee, who is hired by Eyedol Games. Peewee and the staff of Eyedol Games are trapped inside a Space Loop. A Space Loop is like a Time Loop except that once you die, physical space (within the loop) and many of the circumstances reset, but its point in time is… not fixed. Peewee is a snakelike alien called a lamia. He first appeared in a different SBURBlike game on FarragoFiction.com called Farragnarok, which he remembers but which I don’t know anything about. He is a COOL GAMER who has lived various other lives including through the destruction of his home planet, Segundia. Keep in mind that he is from a SBURBlike.

Oh, hey, according to an offhand exchange in AdventureSimWest, solving mazes by following the righthand wall means you’re going counterclockwise. Everyone jot that down. We can bootstrap this. We can do this.

I read up through the “JR Rambles about Spoilers” interlude. And it was fun! It’s Peewee’s quirky, haphazard series of adventures in a quirky, sharp universe. The style is fun, self-aware and whimsical. I don’t know how much about the AdventureSimWest lore applies to mainstream Zampanio, especially given the multilayered narrative Zampanio serves up to us like a delicious but concerningly non-Euclidean cake, but some of the characters and concepts appear in other places, and so the worldbuilding might too. Here are some things we learn about the world of AdventureSimWest:

Peewee arrived here from his old universe by jumping into a giant, spiky, magical wall of flesh called an Echidna. He’s actually one of the set of gods who created this universe, but seems to be the only one left.

People central to the space loop remember the space loop exists.

Eyedol Games may have caused or be causing the space loop, but does not appear to be completely in control of it.

The space loop started in 1971 and is spiraling towards the end of the world in 2022.

Eyedol has other employees, including:

Wanda, the “CEBro” and “Lord of Space” (homestuck classpect). She’s tremendously rad and maybe a shapeshifter.

The Intern, a college-aged dude from Ohio, who Wanda is always trying to find and who seems unexpectedly critical to the existence of Eyedol Games. (I might apply a little homestuck logic and guess that he’s the “Muse of Time”, but this is my own speculation.)

The Closer, an aggressive businesslady in a suit and cape

Someone called the Eye Killer, who, like, lives in Eyedol’s basement and kills people.

Flower Chick, some kind of identity-stealing fae, who keeps a copy of Peewee’s skull on her desk.

Quotidians, which are another alien species – these ones are shapeshifting crows and are a hivemind. Many of them are named Tom.

Parker, a “waste”, who has made his business out of learning glitches, hacking, etc, in reality itself.

There are also just two other teams of people who don’t work at Eyedol Games, who both got ejected into some kind of infinite labyrinth around the same time. They have kind of SCP energy. I don’t know what their deal is. Yet.

What about that FAQ?

The mysterious lost ZampanioFAQ actually exists, more or less.

When I found it, it felt like natural game progression: I beat the Classpect Menu game, then there got a link to the official Discord. Then buried in one of the Discord channels, one of the pinned links goes to – yes – THE Zampanio FAQ.

But then it turned out the thing I’d found a link to was a fan-made transcript (by @verbosebabbler) of a different “official” ZampanioFAQ PDF. And through various link-hopping, most of which I now forget, I also found the original PDF on a different website by JR. So I don’t know if I got there the way I was “supposed to” or where else I might otherwise have found the FAQ. But we’re here now!

(The official discord, by the way, does not have talk permissions open in any channel. They are all frozen conversations from years ago, with only a spare few used threads acting as the actual usable channels. So the discord is its own labyrinth too. ITS A-MAZE-ING)

Okay. The ZampanioFAQ. In the frontnote to the FAQ, JR describes this finding a printout of fic they'd read long ago, and sharing it as evidence that they did not invent Zampanio – that this is a sburbsim/glitchFAQ (we’ll get to that, hang tight) crossover fanfic by someone else that they read once, lost, and recently re-found - and that it has a couple indications that it’s referencing Zampanio.

Mostly, contentwise, this FAQ is sort of a interuniversal document about how to play SBURB (the universe-creation game that the characters in Homestuck play), written by a group of players. The Zampanio FAQ has, unfortunately, been heavily redacted by interdimensional forces, perhaps SBURB itself.

It’s like it’s written by a new set of characters who are playing their own game of Sburb. They’re learning about it as they experience it! Haha, that’s a cute gimmick.

Oh, the skull? Yeah, don’t worry about that. Hah, no, I get how it looks. But it's actually totally fine.

The redacted words in the ZampanioFAQ seem mostly to do with certain details of SBURB itself, like SBURB is trying to keep its players from spoilers.

Drawing from VerboseBabbler’s transcript and partial de-redaction of the FAQ, I gave my hand at making what sense I could out of the original PDF.

Excerpt. You may not like it, but this is peak ARG performance: multiple collaborative layers of nested PDF annotation.

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

Trying to fill in these blanks made me appreciate the potential of the fan-ARG.

Homestuck is a story that both rewards a lot of knowledge about its worldbuilding and also often doesn't explain itself – I think that’s why it has such intense fanwork, because it implies so much but leaves you to fill in the gaps.

Like, okay, classpects, alright? Fans make a big deal about classpecting and it’s cool but it’s also kind of nothing, like, we get some gestures about what it means but not much. (Quick, what does a mage do?) There’s so much fanon trying to make sense of it that even the wiki explanation is based on fanon. But fanon can be dope and people have done some really, really neat stuff bouncing off of the gaps in canon.

ZampanioSim is about nested realities and missing information, and it's heavily based on specific fanworks of homestuck. And filling in missing information on this document, I could use my knowledge of Homestuck to make inferences about this related-but-separate storyline and worldbuilding. That’s so cool!

In the same way that the best fanfiction draws from and interacts repeatedly with canon, the fan-ARG can act as a commentary on or a dialogue with its sources - a story made stronger by connection to another.

There have been other fan ARGs and this is really my first experience with the genre (well - does EverymanHYBRID count as a fanwork? discuss), but like, holy shit, I get it now.

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

Okay, let’s regroup. So the FAQ is a bunch of advice written collaboratively by a group of people playing SBURB. The FAQ is about a kind of SBURB that is very similar to the one in Homestuck – but it’s even more similar to another game on the FarragoFiction website, SBURBsim, which is “is a fanmade browser simulation” of SBURB.

In SBURBsim, you can throw in a randomly-generated or customized set of characters into their own session, and SBURBsim will invent plotlines, fights, character progression, romance, alchemy, time travel shenanigans, and more, eventually telling you a story about how that session might go. It is mind-bogglingly ornate and cool, check it out.

Okay, anyway, so the game described in the FAQ is mostly Sburb-y but has some clear Farrago/SburbSIM elements in the form of the fan-classes – wastes, graces, smiths, and more. But it has some stuff that feels more Homestuck-classic-SBURB, like in the FAQ [EDIT: SBURBsim] there’s a convention where all the randomly generated player-usernames have the same initials as their classpects, so like the session’s Bard of Time might have the username belugaTrainer or belligerentTriangle or whatever, which isn’t a thing in Homestuck nor in the FAQ. It also adds a few elements all its own, like that there’s a recognized pantheon of gods who have sway over the rules of the universe, with their own usernames and classpects.

(Hey, synthesizing that with some background Homestuck knowledge + what we’ve learned from AdventureSimWest, I think the ‘gods’ are the players whose Sburb session created the ones that the FAQ authors were born into. Elegant!)

Oh yeah, as JR mentions, the Zampanio FAQ also takes heavy and pseudo-explicit inspiration from a fanfiction called the Sburb Glitch FAQ, a sprawling fanwork I haven’t read that’s sort of a game guide and technical manual to SBURB. Maybe more of this is references to that, I don’t know.

(Sidenote, Rose’s GameFAQ was one of my favorite plot points in Homestuck. I’m only sorry it wasn’t used more. So I’m delighted to see all these fanworks that took inspiration from it.)

So okay whether the FAQ players are more playing OG-SBURB, or SBURBsim, or a game that has aspects of both – well, they’re all pretty similar, I don’t’ think we need to split hairs. This document is an in-universe survival guide for a SBURBlike.

You know what it’s not particularly like? ZampanioSim, the game it supposedly inspired!

This is so fun to me. SBURBsim existed long before ZampanioSim. If you were going to make a simulator game based on the Zampanio FAQ, that game would be SBURBsim. But SBURBsim was already a thing! JR knows this – they worked on SBURBsim! Their sburbsona is on the about page!

They mention this in the introduction to the “found scanned printout” of the FAQ - they initially read it deeply to figure out, through the redaction, if it was a fanwork for their own project (SBURBsim). They write:

this is obvs JUST the faq, not any of the like, description or author name or all that shit that eventually lead me down the rabbit hole. like, you could find the missing sections in this weird ...not arg? I don't THINK? and they started talking about things like the achievement system and shit, stuff that stuck with me a lot more if what i chose to focus on in zampaniosim is any indication. still. having a record of the START of this branch is better than nothing

So, okay, the FAQ itself is not explicitly Zampanio. We’re missing the description and whatever else that’s supposedly out there somewhere, as lost media. I tried to find some reason to think the fic was supposedly out of time, like that it would have been from before SBURBsim was made, but there isn't any - everything lines up with what JR said in the forward.

So I think maybe reading so far into the FAQ without that other supposed metadata was a great time and, yes, sold me on a new art form, but it wasn’t that productive in terms of the broader Zampanio story.

... Or was it?

I've connected the dots

There was a reference somewhere – I think in the South route, though I can’t swear to it – that was pretty outright something like “JR added Magnus Archives elements to Zampanio because of an at-the-time obsession with the Spiral from TMA.” Now, some stuff like the south route is less in-character than in other places, so I don’t want to necessarily say that everything like that will “carry through” to the rest of canon, if that makes sense. But it helps put those pieces together, so here’s my running theory:

In the story, Zampanio is a memeplex that moves and spreads between dimensions - very diverse multiple dimensions, including different fictional worlds. (Think the Big Bad in There Is No Antimemetics Division - effecting "universes which embed ours as fiction".) Sort of a psychic prion that goes around twisting orderly systems and punching its way between meta-layers. The core of it stays similar between - it has a predilection for spirals, mazes, meta bullshit, and games - but some of the specifics change from instance to instance.

Zampanio probably spread rampant among this constellation of Sburb universes, perhaps because Zampanio is affiliated with games and Sburb universe is a game. (Or at least uses a game to reproduce.) It’s a great carrier. From there, Zampanio rode into our universe on the back of the FAQ. (Game FAQs being a known way to throw information between Sburb dimensions, in Homestuck.)

JR took the seed that came with the FAQ and instantiated Zampanio in this universe, and added their own compatible TMA-spiral flavoring to it.

(This also lines up with another cool aspect of Zampanio, which is that if you make your own fan-work or fan-story about Zampanio, that’s canon too. It is impossible to gamejack this. Thus far I’m focusing on JR’s ZampanioSim canon, but there are other people out there putting their own spins on it, which are also canon.)

Questions I have now, if that theory is true:

What other aspects of ZampanioSim carry on between versions?

Is Eyedol necessarily associated with the Zampanio memeplex? Does or did it actually create ZampanioSim in some causal way?

Does the Space Loop that occurs in AdventureSimWest have ramifications or equivalents in other instances of Zampanio?

Why does Zampanio like games so much? (Is it because interactive games are a convenient way to punch through from one dimension to the fictional dimension within it?)

There are comments about someone, maybe Eyedol, trying to scrub the ZampanioFAQ from the internet (in our dimension). Why would they want that?

What’s the other missing metadata that would have associated the ZampanioFAQ with Zampanio?

Who wrote the ZampanioFAQ? Was it written (...IC) as a fanwork of SBURBsim or did it “come from a SBURB universe”? Who censored it?

Aw man. And there's still so much I haven't even gotten into.

Like, okay, do you guys know gopher? It’s an early alternative to HTTP as a way of organizing the internet that was mostly sidelined, but a few servers are still around.

Apparently there’s a bunch more Zampanio stuff only accessible via Gopher and I’m going to have to figure out how to use it.

Thanks, JR, YOU MAD SORCERER.

So, that's where I'm at vis a vis ZampanioSim. I gotta get back to my own stuff for right now, but thank you ZampanioSim discord for helping blaze trails and mostly to JR for weaving such a wonderful weird mystery.

If you have questions or comments you want me to talk about in a future one of these, my ask box is open.* Also, if you get into ZampanioSim yourself, feel free to say hi on the discord.**

*(okay I know people have been involved in this for years and I’m still mostly trying to formulate my own opinions about what’s going on, so if you know something that’s like “an actual answer” and want to share, then consider phrasing it as an ominous clue instead of telling me outright – but I’m under the strong impression that this is an ARG where there’s not gonna be like a canonical underlying “answer” to a lot of things so, you know, do what brings you joy.)

**Your first challenge is to find the discord. I wanna be cryptic too!

[inolienkiki]

I'm being very vague about plot points and character names here in the faint hope that it may entice some of you to watch this show.

on my... 4th? 5th? rewatch of DARK I'm paying a lot more attention to the character arcs, to figuring out how everyone got to the point they did. For a while the extent of my Adam takes was "haha stupid idiot man point and laugh, you can't even kys correctly" but recently I saw a post that made me stop and think and actually try to empathize with this character. This was immeasurably depressing (which is probably why I hadn't been considering it before).

The material extent of my take hasn't changed- I still think Adam is a truly stoopid person and by far the dumbest out of the three main characters in this show- but the context I have for this has changed a lot. See, each one of these characters is a planner who develops strategies for years down the line and uses all the information at their disposal to make those plans- but the way they get that information, and therefore how much they're able to do with it, is VERY different.

Adam remembers information. Everything he knows he got from his younger self; he functions almost entirely on memory. When he does stuff, like sending his younger self to summer 2019, or sending his sister to the apocalypse, or even attempting to build the God Particle machine in 1888, he's doing it because he remembers how all this stuff happened, and thus needs to keep it that way. Adam never actually seeks out new information, because every time he has in the past, it's absolutely demolished his life. He was investigating at the very beginning of the show- going into the caves, talking to his family members to figure out how much they knew- but at some point, he stops. He's lost that. He no longer views the knot as something to discover or manipulate, he thinks of it as something to escape from, and often completely fails to take others' plans or ideas into account. For 33 years he was sitting on the information that alt-Martha said she knew him, and not once did it occur to him to figure out why she said that or what bearing it might have on his plan. Seriously! If he'd investigated that, he could have altered his plan so it actually worked! And I don't blame him.

Eva generates information. Everything she knows she got from her older selves. Because she has almost absolute control over her own domain, and because she's been working in harmony for almost her whole life, she essentially bootstraps the information back to herself. You could call this working on memory, too, but I think it's a clear enough distinction, since she's actually honest to her younger self once they start working together. We don't have much on Eva, unfortunately, but we do know that her son was responsible for the notebook, and somehow I doubt he went and measured the "megahertz values" of all the cave time travel when they could've just used Adam's notebook and copied them over. (I don't buy that he actually killed Eva, but that's a different story.) Eva's son also works with his younger selves just like she does. Noah and Egon seem to as well, working with her. It's smart, it's thorough, and it totally would have worked, if it hadn't completely backfired.

The White Devil researches information. Out of all the main characters, she seems to do the most research. First off, she's actually a scientist, so naturally it's in her background. Even before she finds out about time travel, she's looking into the incident at the power plant, questioning Bernd about it, and being weird with Tronte. The very first thing she does when she gets access to time travel is go 30 years forward and look herself up. When she can't find her future self again, she realizes she's going to have to do this on her own, and proceeds to do so for the rest of her life. When Eva presents her the opportunity to work with another version of herself, she decides she wants more information, shoots her in the fucking head, and thereby goes and gets it. I'm confident that out of all the characters in this entire show (apart from origin HGT) this character is the only one who has any idea how time travel works or what to do with it. I love her for it.

So, I guess... trust the numbers, not yourself?

[phantomwyvern]

Pokes u gently... How developed is the AU you've talked abt where you drag Firth thru a redemption arc? Do u wanna talk abt it. I wanna discuss that little loser. I want him to be in immense pain /silly

YOU GET IT!!! TO THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BLENDER WITH THAT LITTLE BLUE BASTARD!!

Kay, this does have an outline and dialogue for it so far in my docs and it’s gotten me to pick up comic art again. Under a cut because this got long af. And as always feel free to ask about anything else or even add your thoughts or what you think would be fun for this AU, I’d love to hear them. Also if you see anything in here that strikes you and want to do something with please take it and run with it. Whatever you come up with is bound end up different than mine on some level and I’d love to see what you do with it, universal blessing for plot beat borrowing.

The basic premise is Firth manages to dig himself from under the boot bar, into a New Carcinia that has been launched into a Great Depression because Firth has managed to make the vast majority of trash completely worthless within a matter of hours. You can find pretty much any type of trash you want by just digging around for it in the city now, the value for just about anything that isn’t a building material to them has tanked HARD. And on top of that people going nuts from getting Gunked has went from basically unheard of in the reef to a near daily thing. Crab Raccoon City my guy, Crab Ragoon City if you will.

Pretty much all the trash Firth had saved up as a just in case scenario is completely worthless now, and seeing as he seemed to be a trash reseller of some sort before all this, he no longer really has that as prospect seeing as that’s likely not in very high demand. He’s walking around with injuries both from his fight with Kril and being crushed by a building. His apartment building has been completely destroyed because of the trash island he decided needed to be dumped on top of the city. He has screwed himself and literally everyone else over so fucking bad with his idea and his only saving grace is that he, Kril and (unbeknownst to him) Nemma and Chitan, are the only ones who know he did it so he doesn’t have a whole angry mob after him for this.

Firth is now in the same place of everyone he’s ever thought he was above, and he has no clue what the hell to do about that. But he’s still in denial about any of this being a terrible idea, he thinks this was still a great idea on some level! If only everyone did what he thought they should have done things would have been perfect. He refuses to take responsibility for any of this, and blames everyone else for not acting how he wanted them to for his ideas to work. (It’s not Firth if he isn’t still kind of the worst, and he still has capitalist brain rot really bad. Don’t worry though, this is a redemption AU.)

He eventually runs into an old business partner named Strait. Strait is OC I made specifically for this and he’s very much meant to be a reflection of Firth if Firth was more self aware of just how selfish he was and knew how awful everything was for anyone who wasn’t actively in charge of stuff on some level and just…didn’t care and actively leaned into it.

And Strait, seeing how dire Firth’s situation is decides to take advantage of this. He offers Firth a job that he knows he doesn’t really have any choice but to take, and knows he won’t be able to leave as well with how injured he is and seeing as Firth never really mentions any family or close friends, and to be honest is probably someone who has a hard time asking for help and likely had a pull yourself up by you bootstraps mentality won’t have any help to get out of it. He knows Firth is desperate and a desperate worker is a hard worker and Firth already sees him as a friend so he can also spin this as Firth doing a favor for his friend. Strait sees the power vacuum that Roland left after he disappeared and is gunning to take it over and he’s going to need a lot of people to help him take that place, which in his eyes means to screw a lot of people over, and his old “friend” Firth unfortunately just so happens to be in a very convenient place for him to do so.

Firth begins working for Strait, very much under the impression his friend is actively trying to help him, completely unaware that he’s in no better of a position than everyone who ever worked for Roland was. Every time he sees someone get injured or gunked and he himself gets injured he goes to complain to Strait. Strait who always says he’s going to fix it, but that never happens. Firth waits and waits, watches as more and more people get Gunked and injured, including him when Strait starts sending him to kill the gunked crabs. Crabs that he had gotten to know usually and was sometimes friends with.

Firth’s mental health spirals further and further down until he’s eventually forced to acknowledge that this is just what happens to the people who aren’t on top, this is how you run a financially successful business that doesn’t stop growing. You oil its machinery with blood and cruelty and you can never stop. He doesn’t want do that to other people, doesn’t want others to die and get injured just so he can make money. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but that had been pretty much all he’d done before he’d wound up here. From trying to kill Kril to dumping trash on New Carcinia and getting just about everyone in the city sick. His world view is finally beginning to completely destabilize.

Enter Kril and Chitan, who post canon have become an adventuring bestie duo and are surviving and thriving despite the horrors. Protecting people from the gunked crabs. Kicking the asses of people who are screwing everyone over like Magista and Roland, which is how they hear about Strait.

The decide “Yeah, this guy probably needs his ass kicked, let’s make him regret every single decision that lead him here!” And off they go to storm Strait’s company!

Which is how they finally run into Firth again!

Strait sent Firth to go confront Kril, having already been using him as a sort of living shield up to this point. And Firth is rightfully fucking terrified when he realizes who Strait sent him to try and scare off considering the fact Kril kicked his ass even when had god powers and Kril seems to have gotten only stronger since then. The second Kril lays eyes on him and realizes that Firth survived, he knows he’s screwed beyond belief.

And Kril is pissed to see Firth. That’s not just Firth’s new found fear of him talking. He sees Firth looking to start another fight and jumps in without thinking twice about it.

And Firth is still fucking terrified but he also realizes he’s angry at Kril too. Kril who ruined his whole plan, Kril who broke the Whorl so neither of them could even fix what happened, Kril who who didn’t even have the shucking guts to finish the job and kill him and now he had now choice but to work for Strait with no way out that he could possible see.

What had begun as physical fight that Firth was terrified off descends into a yelling match with Firth blaming Kril for all this because he still refuses to take responsibility for his actions and there consequences and Kril calling him out on every single thing he knows Firth has done. From all the shit he pulled and said on the treasure hunt. To how he stole a magic glowing shell he knew nothing about and dumped trash on everything he’s even known and now the fact he’s blaming Kril for his own stupid and selfish actions. Tells Firth how he’s glad he failed to kill him because it’s only fair that he gets to live through the consequences of said actions along with everyone else.

And this is what finally completely shatters Firths world view. He knows Kril is right, has been thinking how Kril was right about him being selfish since not long after he got to Straits. How he very well could have been the one hurting other people like Strait’s been hurting him and all the other workers here in slightly different circumstances.

Firth finally just crumbles. Like full on sobbing crumbles as all the guilt, stress, grief, fear and anger and accepts the fact Kril is probably finally going to kill him here, thinks he deserves it even, he knew Kril would make it quick. That Kril was still merciful.

And that’s when Kril finally stops looking through his lenses of anger and finally takes a good look at Firth. Realizes just how beaten down and broken he looks. He’s injured, looks like he’s barely been getting anything to eat and Kril swears he sees the early signs of a gunk infection on him.

As much as he’s still upset with Firth he just feels like sort of a bully now. Firth is in no better of a position than all the other crabs here. Kril is stronger and in better shape than him by a long shot and Kril still decided to beat him up. Whether or not he still thought Firth was a complete jerk he didn’t think he deserved this.

So Kril tells Firth to wait right there and that he would be right back.

He goes off to find Chitan who had went ahead to go see if she could get a hold of Strait only to be told that Strait had escaped.

He tells Chitan he wants to help Firth. Chitan is far from enthusiastic seeing as Firth almost let her die because he stole the Whorl and then poisoned the entire city. She kind of wants to just kill Firth and be done with it but she sees Kril is trying to help someone and is willing to help him with that with the caveat that if Firth fucks up too bad and becomes a threat they do away with him.

They begin deciding where they want to take Firth because they don’t know of any family he has and they saw how his last friend went.

And then Kril lands on Moonsnail! Kril knows Moonsnail won’t hurt Firth, y’know probably.

They bring Firth to Moonsnail, not realizing they are about to put Firth with someone who is he is going to hate between Moonsnail narrating his own and everyone else’s actions and the fact Firth is now pretty scared of Umami Magic thanks to the Whorl.

Kril very briefly thinks this might be a bad idea before deciding they don’t have any better ones and there’s a Moonsnail shell right there so he can just come check on them every now and then. Chitan thinks the thought of both Firth and Moonsnail tormenting eachother is entertaining so she isn’t about to start thinking about anything other options either.

Cue the one of the stupidest situations Firth has ever been in. Moonsnail narrates whatever Firth does half the time because he finds it amusing. Firth is still scared of magic but his irritation with Moonsnail far outweighs any fear of him. And he can’t even bring himself to be mad at Kril for this. Kril didn’t have to help him with any of this, especially after all the shit he’s pulled, but he still did and even came by to check on him on a regular basis. Every time he mentally curses Kril for bringing him here he feels bad about it 5 seconds later. Kril still cared about him despite the fact he’d been a complete jerk so he wants to at least try and make him happy rather than do nothing besides complain about his new roommate.

Kril comes by to visit every couple of days, both to talk and check in on them, and honestly he does sort of just find Moonsnail’s and Firth’s interactions funny at this point.

Moonsnail eventually says that he senses some Umami abilities in Firth, gives him the magic awakening zap and tells Firth to try out some combat magic, Firth immediately hates it because it just reminds him of when he had the Whorl. So now he has new abilities he doesn’t even want.

And then one day Kril comes to visit them with a injury that’s a bit to concerning for Firth to just shrug off, because he does care about Kril quite a bit at this point if he’s being honest.

So rather than combat magic Moonsnail tells him to try healing magic instead. And what do you know he has a knack for it.

This is what I have outlined out for the most part. There’s a good chance this is going to get shippy with Kril and Firth and because they make a great enemies to lovers ship and I love something that’s one sided pining before it gets to be two sided and theybalso work really well for that, but they might also just become close friends we’ll see what I’m vibing with more.

Anyways thanks so much for asking about my silly AU, I hope didn’t spring to to much on yall but who am I kidding when I’m on the other side of this situation I’ll usually eat this up.

[themefork]

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[kinda-pushy-fem]

(tw: retroactive gender dysphoria, conscription, mindbreak(?), partial identity death, forcefem)

being assigned to a full neural synchronization mech previously piloted by a 20 year veteran who saw it all, the olympus mons campaign, the io incident, the battle of vesta, the whole works, but she’s been honorably discharged with her reflexes getting too slow to keep up even after being juiced up on a cocktail of amphetamines, H3X, and god knows what anti-aging serums the ranger corps keeps up their sleeve for ace pilots.

the first time your mind sank into the meld felt like being crushed under the weight of the ocean. any semblance of the idea of control was ripped away, your mind was grasped in a vice of carbon steel completely at the mercy of this alien intelligence. you wondered if it would just break you to pieces right there, shatter your psyche like glass across its firmware, fragments of you scattered in the cables and interface like shrapnel from an explosion.

instead it sculpted you. no fine piece of marble were you but it held you still and shaped your mind all the same, missing pieces filled in by scraps of stone and half vanished ghosts in the machine. vespers of thought course through your head, your first kiss, your first kill, your promotion to captain, and you scream into the void of zeroes and ones. these aren’t your memories, that isn’t you. 0.0007 seconds later in real time and less for you, it forces a tremendously complex set of synaptic impulses through the comprehensively bootstrapped biological computer you call your brain and you nearly pass out from the pain.

you are filled with unease, your body is wrong, the balance is wrong, what happened, you feel like a ghost in your own body your own life, it hurts it hurts it hurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithu-

a psychosomatic reaction the field hospital informed you, a rare but not unheard of occurrence. the mech was simply more familiar with a companion biological formatted in a slightly different way and saw fit to impose that on you. they had an informational pamphlet ready for you. the ungodly ache in your waist a combination of rapidly stimulated bone growth in the pelvis and female reproductive tissue beginning to accumulate from increasingly surplus material nearby being reverted gradually to stem cells. the accumulation of adipose tissue on your chest and the increasing rawness was likely to continue for several months at least before fully developing even under the highly accelerated regimen the mech had seen fit to implement. it recommended menthol chewing gum as an alternative to prodding the aching buds beneath your nipples. skin sensitivity and toughness liable to decrease sufficiently to warrant a higher grade jumpsuit to prevent g-induced skin tears. you can’t remember if you wanted this or not. part of you is screaming at all of it, how clinical it all is, but it gets quieter every day. it feels better than it did. it feels more normal. all those memories of you before melding, they hurt more and more, a stranger to yourself moving around like a puppet on strings. this is better.

this is better.

... I mean, that isn't exactly my thing, but. Yeah.

[kaiasky]

ok so a while back I was playing terrafirmagreg. once I got to steam power I switched over to gregtech community pack modern. i crafted the first hv circuit last night so my thoughts

Gregtech is desperately in need of better emi tooling. look this is a long one I made a GH ticket about it. (don't like. bother the author about it i just don't wanna explain twice)

note that this is not gtnh which is the pack everybody says is ultra grindy

Ore veins + high resource demands is fundamentally awesome. If you need more iron, you mine 20 stacks of iron. it is really nice to think in full stacks, and to know that e.g. if you turn 5 stacks of steel into plates you will find a use for them. By FAR the thing gt does best is just make huge ore veins so you're limited by your processing capacities and not raw materials.

Likewise, I like that thus far I haven't unlocked one-block solve-everythings. e.g. for ore processing it seems like I'll be using long lines of thermal centrifuges for the foreseeable future

Not a huge fan of having progression be "voltage" imo. like... LEDs are always gonna run at around 3.3 right. I understand that we're crushed under the weight of IC2 here but yknow.

the tier system as a broad concept I, surprisingly, really like. The goals of a tier feel different enough that it's not just "ok set up the same stuff again" but it's nice how you have to gradually bootstrap your way into being able to make that tier's stuff efficiently. Knowing that e.g. I will probably want a HV assembler helps with the learning curve.

I'm not a huge fan of the wiring and cable loss. "run diesel throughout your base, and put a generator adjacent to any machine you'd like to power" is less interesting than 'build a power station and run power everywhere from it'.

But at every stage gt seems to incentivize running fuel over running power. A fuel line can power lv/mv/hv generators. Even a wood pipe can transport diesel to power maybe 100 machines, while wires scale linearly in cost with the amount of amps you want to run through em.

(Probably this will change at some point, like if I'm gregtech I'm eventually making the only viable power source a multiblock nuclear reactor or something)

multiblocks: wallsharing is cool and I do like the capital investment of building an expensive but powerful multiblock. Buuuuut.... idk. I think especially when they just function like a machine but big, it's like.. eh. I think of create's "sequenced assembly" concept and wish it was applied here. Or just... something.

Item pipes: pretty good implementation. I think a lot of pipe mods err on the side of being too powerful. gt pipes feel like pipes, not conveyor belts/hopper chains (by this I mean that the pipes are kinda a symbolic connection and not a literal physical queue items travel through) but a pretty weak version of pipes compared to others.

I can feel on the horizon the specter of ae2 and I'm never sure how to feel about that. having every item/fluid/power available in one cable is just too much. At the same time, routing it all manually in separate pipes is a nightmare. idk. I haven't played with Create's package frog system but it seems like a good solution to 'how can we not just rely on ae2'.

The mod pack includes the classic gtnh decor mods and specifically the sloped frame blocks. It's interesting how iconic that is as part of the gregtech aesthetic.

I think the 1m^3 machine size is really good. That's silly but I was comparing it to Satisfactory a lot as two games where you need to build factories in 3d first person. and I think it's just a lot nicer to be able to walk around the machines at block scale instead of having machines that are too big.

The fact that a generator producing less than its full amperage does this crazy stutter sound as it rapidly goes off/on is INSANE. like c'mon if something is drawing a steady state 16 eu/t it should supply that & then make a softer whrrr than the normal one. Or have it wait until the internal buffer is 20%,kick on until it's 80%,shut off etc. Awful sound design

[kingsmoot]

No smoke and fully earnest ..sis ..what should every person be fully educated in by the time they are 30?

this is an interesting and intimidating question since i'm 30 in five months and don't really feel like i'm fully educated in anything

i think 30 is less of a definitive end to youth and start to maturity than it is framed as on the current internet. 30 year olds aren't transformed overnight into different creatures than 29 year olds. the day after your birthday is usually more or less the same as the day before.

i think also that everyone's life is unique to them and everyone needs to learn and prioritize different things. maybe you need to be less of a doormat, maybe you need to prioritize putting the people you care about before yourself. maybe you need to lighten up or maybe you need to start being honest with yourself about your shortcomings and how you'd like to change them.

i think if i were to try and give the most generic and broadly applicable advice possible i would say that you should truly face and internalize the addage that no one is coming to save you. there is no one who will show up at your door to do the work for you. no matter how hard you pray or hope or manifest for just this one thing to change and then from there on out it's all you, you promise!! all blood sweat and tears and hard conversations but please please please just this one thing!! that will never come.

i think there is a tendancy to interpret "no one is coming to save you" as "you are all alone" or "you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and i don't think it means either of those things!! i think both of those things are bullshit!! i think it just means that no one can do the impossible things for you. you're all you've got where those roadblocks are concerned.

and. you know. i'm not talking about like the material realities of oppressive structures. because if i were talking about that i would be talking about neocon bootstrap narratives. i'm talking about the individual interpersonal and introspective problems that most of the 20-somethings i know are struggling the most with. usually on top of the material struggles of living under oppressive structures.

i would also say literacy and financial literacy are crucially important and you should prioritize both. being able to read and understand the documents you sign on a daily basis and to parse the language of the law is a necessary life and survival skill. so is being able to manage your money.

in general no one should set their life path based on what random 29 year old fandom bloggers post on tumblr. that's maybe what i would stress above anything else in this post.

maybe also develop a niche fetish that drives your creative works in a tangible way.

[betterbemeta]

don't let the bad news (evil executive orders, play by play of obvious corrupt schemes, etc.) tire you out but here's the thing.

this is not the time to 'wait,' or 'hunker down' or 'take a break.'

I know that fact plays havoc with people who have anxiety, or have ADHD or experience mania, etc. It can be difficult for many people to handle 'urgency' without it feeling like

they are being screamed at maximum volume to have already done 'everything'

but also to do it right now

and also they're already a failure

and also they can fail worse or harder, etc. etc.

I understand these feelings. But we must navigate urgency now and fragility is unfortunately not an option. Increasingly 'breaking' doesn't mean another adult fixes it for you, it means 'swept into the trash.' I understand that many people need support to confront this reality, but accessing that support also takes work, unlike an algorithm it will never 'find you.' Not falling through the cracks is not always voluntary but we want to maximize the cases where it is.

And we can talk about how the removal of safety nets is a strategy to ensure as many people smash against the ground as possible. But not on this post.

The thing is, there is no material difference between the behavior that a violent ruling party wants us to do (stay put due to obedience) and the action that the 'freeze' reaction to danger wants us to do (stay put to conserve energy/endure pain).

Even if we frame it as 'needing a rest' or 'self-care,' every significant delay to critical tasks is still a delay that could have an impact on us. Moving forward is self care right now, and will be community care if we do it in groups.

It is the strategy of oppression to make moving at all feel so overwhelming that you believe you only have the strength to hide away as they do whatever they want.

Many people will relinquish their autonomy this way, sometimes even actively.

the creepy tradwife lifestyle is bait for overwhelmed women, that a Husband will take half of the artificially overwhelming responsibility of independence away from you, in exchange for being a robot that automates HIS independence. Which he believes he needs, if he can't afford to pay a servant!

The military benefits when poverty is un-survivable with dead ends, to-dos, shit jobs, waiting lists, especially for people who have been screwed over education, that giving yourself to a cult seems like a good deal. They house, feed, clothe you, they give you directions in a world that abandoned you! You can trade up 'get a job lazy poor' to 'god bless you for your service!' (don't ask veterans if they can eat that.)

But being overwhelmed can still cause you to give up autonomy passively. Especially if you are alone or feel alone.

You don't need to do everything all at once but make serious (incremental, sane, well-paced) goals to do things you may want to accomplish like

get your bank account or financial stuff sorted out,

apply for a passport,

change your name/get married/similar processes,

get on unemployment (may also require proof of weekly job applications depending on where you live),

go to the doctor,

renew your lease or move house,

whatever you need to do. This isn't an exhaustive list.

Pencil in your Saturdays and don't bail, is what I mean.

Make buddies and teams.

Start a group chat.

Whatever works.

As long as it does and you can hold proof of it. Not a 'I sent an email' or 'i left a message,' you MUST follow up. I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry ok. I know. You're ALREADY doing so many things, I know! Me too. I know it sounds like your parents or like "pull up your pants and clean your room!" or like someone's disappointed in you. But nobody is, or they shouldn't be. And this isn't about bootstraps: nobody will participate collectively if you don't. If you wait for there to be a puller upper group, there won't be one. you have to decide to do that thing tomorrow. Even if you're tired and did so many other things today. You have to tell your friends. I KNOW. I know.

these plans and actions will give you a 'tomorrow' and that is critical right now. It is the whole goal of those who oppose you to deny you that. To make them work for it, we have to also work for ourselves.

[verloonati]

What I'm saying is Conrad Clark is very ripe material to get recruited by the faction is all I'm saying

Guy sucks a lot. Has ambition, misgivings, believes in the power of lies, symbols and storytelling very hard, hates doctor who, is involved in a bootstrap paradox.

Mrs flood is a mother of the faction is all I'm saying and the reality war is faction paradox's onscreen debut