#entirely self inflicted may i add

[wreckedandpolemic]

thinking white & gold thoughts (as per usual). thinking about surprising matty while he’s traveling for work by waiting in his hotel room and the rest of the thoughts are not innocent and i’m afraid will have me put down😀😀😀😀😀

FIRST OF ALL any and all horny thoughts are welcome here!!!! but i Suppose i will bear the burden of finishing the thought for you…

you were expecting getting into his room to be a mission, armed with a stack of cash to slide a concierge’s way, but the girl at the front desk just giggled and waved you up with a conspiratorial grin. which, mildly concerning, but not your problem. you let yourself into his suite and sprawl on the bed in your underwear, a pastel-pink number that you know he loves, your sheer, lacy stockings clipped to a garter.

you start getting bored waiting for him and snap some photos of yourself, careful to crop out anything that might give you away before you send them to him. thinking about you, you add to the last picture, your hand in your panties, your fingers buried deep in your cunt. matty’s groan is practically audible through his reply, had to cut dinner short because of you, brat. better make it worth it.

you shudder excitedly hearing him unlock the suite door, but he only wanders onto the couch before your phone starts ringing. “hi,” you giggle breathlessly, heart thudding. whether from being found or getting away with it for a while, you’re not sure. “everything ok?”

matty growls. “you fucking know what you did. my slutty girl can’t keep her hands off, can you, darling?”

“maybe i just wanted you to come see me quicker.”

“soon, princess, i promise. just a few more days.” you can practically hear the pout in his voice.

smirking to yourself, you fan your hair out on the pillow and arrange your face into the picture of innocence. “maybe sooner than you think. on the couch, daddy?” you can’t resist teasing. “so dirty.”

matty gets to his feet so fast he’s probably lightheaded, hanging up the phone and striding into the bedroom, his jaw going slack at the sight of you. “oh, my god,” he says, laughing in disbelief. “you’re here.”

you arch your back and slide a provocative hand down your body, playing with your waistband. “couldn’t wait any longer to see you. s’not the same, i’m going crazy.” you dip your fingers into your panties and toy with your clit. “please help me, daddy,” you pout up at him.

he’s on you in seconds, attacking your lips with breathless savagery, the familiar taste of him finally soothing the dull ache of loneliness. tearing out of his clothes as fast as possible, he doesn’t even take your panties off, just pulls them to the side and slides home. “god, missed you so much, princess,” he murmurs into your neck, your cunt fluttering around him. “missed filling up this needy little pussy.” he kisses over your heart. “missed my sweet girl.”

you thread a hand into his curls, moaning as his teeth graze your skin. “missed you too. so much. missed this, missed being your little slut, taking my daddy’s cock like a good girl,” the filth pours freely from your mouth, too long pent up to fall victim to your brain-to-mouth filter.

“it’s okay, princess. daddy’s got you, now. i’m gonna take care of you.”

[midniiights-garden]

My take on Mizu's character (+ why I don't actually want her to end up with someone at the end of the show)

Ok so, I'm going to start off with my analysis on Mizu before moving onto the possibly controversial part of my post which is: Why do I not want her with anyone?

Mizu has, obviously, a lot of trauma. Ranging from the trauma inflicted onto her because of her mixed race and around her gender and her role as a woman. And to add onto that she has ended up developing a trauma towards intimate relationships and relationships in general due to both her mother and Mikio playing a part in breaking apart her trust.

Despite what a lot of people seem to headcanon I do not think Mizu is non-binary. And before people get mad I say this as someone who is non-binary myself. Mizu is a woman. A woman who has not been able to explore who she is as a person because of the fear of being caught. I believe that deep down she holds this interal mysogyny, not because she hates women but because of what the societal standards are for them. She correlates anything with femininity with negatives (being married off, sex work, being treated as property and so on). This causes her to be reluctant in showing her feminine side, but this does not make her any less of a woman.

Next up is her relationship with revenge and positive emotional outlets. Due to her less than happy past she has formed an innate reaction to link vengence as her only outlet to some form of freedom. In the end, a lot of what she does actually prevents her own self-healing, even if the people she is out to kill do deserve to die. The thing is, she formulates her entire outward persona on these people. On the revenge she plans to take and her anger. And what I'm trying to say here is that she is not herself. In the end, her own bitterness as well as her circumstances prevent her from healing herself, prevent her from allowing her inner self to become her outer persona as well.

This leads me on to the part that may be a bit controversial. I just want to put a disclaimer that this is my personal opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own so please do not hate me for this.

Because of the many issues in her own self and in her mental stability I actually would rather not see Mizu with a love interest. I want Blue Eye Samurai to focus around Mizu healing herself. I want to see her grow into someone that doesn't have destruction and death as her core. I want Mizu to accept and heal herself, a testament that healing doesn't necessarily need to rely on others, but is also attributed to self-awareness and discipline. I feel like pairing her up with someone would kind of overshadow her personality and would actually lessen the quality of the show rather than aid it. If she is to be paired up with a character though, I personally see her ending up with a woman.

(A/N: That's all!! I hope you enjoyed and I plan on making some general headcanon's for Mizu as well, although I do tend to try to stick to canon. If you'd like to discuss or add onto my ideas always feel free to do so!! :DDD)

[galactica7071]

let's diagnose the Irish guy from punch-out

disclaimer: I am but a lass with ADD, so while I do know a lot from both my own experiences and research, you should still take my ramblings with a few grains of salt. I encourage anyone reading to form their own headcanons, and would love to hear them!

So, the Punch-Out wiki (in its current state) implies that Aran Ryan has some sort of mental disorder, so I projected onto dissected him like a deep sea specimen, and may have found out what's going on in his very empty and screwed up head

🎉congrats! it's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder! (probably)🎉

ADHD has a bunch of characteristics that go with it, but I'll only be going over the ones that apply to Aran and are displayed in canon. Of course, I'll insert some speculation here and there to further support and reason through some of my points. For more reading, I suggest checking out organizations like Mayo Clinic and the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as any self-reports and blogs by people with ADHD (the latter tends to be more personal and far less clinical-sounding, but are just as helpful). Wikipedia is also a good place to go for anything, and you might even find yourself down a few rabbit holes!

Hyperactivity and restlessness

Aran exhibits this in PO Wii heavily. He has a high-stamina fighting style with lots of shuffling around, always bouncing around Little Mac. He can only be stunned through counter-punches and being faster than him (During round breaks, Doc Louis literally says "beat Aran Ryan to the punch"). It is extremely difficult to KO or TKO Aran without intercepting him due to this mechanic. During round breaks, regardless of how beaten and bruised he is, Aran will bounce his leg constantly in Contender and harass the audience in Title Defense.

Impulsivity and recklessness

This one's consistent between his two appearances, surprisingly. In Wii, Aran is portrayed as a dirty cheater who would "do anything to win", according to supplementary comics. He has the most rule infractions in the Punch-Out series, at 32 combined. He stuffs his gloves with horseshoes before his Contender fight and brings a homemade flail made from a broken boxing glove to his bout with Little Mac in Title Defense. During matches, he makes use of headbutts and elbows quite frequently. These are both illegal and very stupid moves, due to the potential of self-inflicted trauma. His flail in Title Defense could be a sign of creativity by thinking outside the box, which is often seen in people with ADHD. In supplementary material for Super Punch-Out!!, it's implied that a fight usually broke out whenever Aran was made fun of in school, showing that he was reckless during his childhood as well.

Emotional dysregulation

In Super Punch-Out!!, Aran Ryan is rather grumpy, and is one of two characters in the entire game to never smile in any of his sprites (the other being Nick Bruiser). Compared to his Wii portrayal, Aran is as clean as it gets in this game, even complimenting the player during the credits. Supplementary material attributes his lower mood to the teasing he endured during his childhood, and that he got into boxing to channel some of his pent-up anger. Depending on how you view it, him being so angry over his peers making fun of his name could be an overblown reaction. This hot-headedness is retained in PO Wii (which could be a sign of impulsivity), but he's essentially the inverse of how he was in Super. He's boisterous, reckless, dishonest, and smiles even while he's stunned. Many of Aran's reactions to being hit are him laughing, which might imply masochism on some level, but is nonetheless seen as an inappropriate response to being hit. He displays some antisocial traits, even, as seen when he throws aside the referee in Title Defense. This is likely caused by a low tolerance of authority, but is still an extreme reaction to the referee just trying to maintain order in the ring (good luck with that, ref...).

Difficulty starting tasks

This is a sign of executive dysfunction, which is closely linked to inattention in people with ADHD. It's exhibited in his Contender intro, where he spends the first three frames of the cutscene messing around. For this one, I'm going to compare Aran's behavior in his Contender intro to all the other boxers that spend their entire intro cutscene in a gym/dojo/training environment, spend the majority of their cutscene explicitly training, or are in several training environments. Here's a neat little chart, where the numbers represent how many slides they spent being "off-task":

can you tell that graphic design is my passion

I've counted any activity that builds strength and endurance (like eating, running, lifting, or practicing magic in Tiger's case), or requires a large amount of work put in to do (like chopping trees or playing hockey, for Bear Hugger). Some of you might be wondering why I didn't include certain characters, but that's because they're either in a combat setting, switch from training to non-training settings, or are doing unrelated things in what could be a training setting.

If Aran has 3 instances of being off-task, he ties with TD Kaiser, Don, and Macho in terms of how long they're off-task for. If "gearing up" is being counted as being on-task, he only ties with TD Kaiser and himself. Of course, context matters heavily. TD Kaiser, Don, and Macho aren't off-task purely for the sake of slacking off, but show developments of their story throughout Career Mode. TD Aran is off-task for storytelling as well, but it's not motivated by a grudge towards Mac like the other three and falls under the normal definition of "slacking off". Speaking of cutscenes,

Inattention and distractibility

Aran shows this several times in Title Defense. In his intro, he notices a rope in the trash can and gets the idea of making his flail, seemingly forgetting all about training for his match with Little Mac. During round intermissions, he's distracted by the audience throwing objects at him, and threatens them instead of spending the break resting or strategizing.

Anxiety

ADHD is highly comorbid with anxiety, due to executive dysfunction (mainly sensory processing), and the risk of overthinking. I admit that this one is a bit of a stretch, since general restlessness and anxiety are linked in many mood disorders, but it's shared between both of his appearances. Super's version of Aran being caught up in his own past can be a sign of social anxiety as well as falling victim to overthinking. In PO Wii, the leg bouncing can be a sign of anxiety for various reasons, whether it be physiological (ex. outside stimuli being unpleasant) or psychological (ex. overthinking the match). His stance in Exhibition's menu for his Contender match is also a little shaky, which is common in fight-or-flight reactions, though it could also be plain hyperactivity.

Pressured speech

In PO Wii. Aran usually talks very quickly, which can be caused by the classic ADHD experience of "having a lot to say, and feeling like there's no time to say it". It's very likely that it's just be a characteristic of his accent, though.

🍀🌠🌈this is a cool section break🌈🌠🍀

There's plenty more symptoms you could make arguments for, but these were some of his more prominent traits. ADHD shares symptoms with a lot of other disorders, though, so let's see some other possibilities...

Counter-Diagnosis #1: Bipolar II Disorder

Bipolar II, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, is characterized by a a pattern of depressive states and hypomanic states (notice the hypo- prefix). We can attribute Aran's demeanor in Super to a depressive state, and his demeanor in Wii to a hypomanic state. I've chosen bipolar II instead of I due to the specifications of a "manic state" not fitting his Wii portrayal as closely.

Hypomania (literally meaning "less than mania") shares many characteristics with full-blown mania, but is more toned-down. People who have experienced genuine hypomanic states usually describe it as helpful towards their productivity, while manic states are notoriously more harmful and often directly affect productivity. Symptoms of mania include restlessness, racing thoughts, pressured speech, overconfidence, increased agitation, impulsiveness, a disconnect from one's surroundings, extreme anxiousness, and many others. Already, we can observe many of these symptoms in Aran's Wii portrayal that are shared with the ADHD diagnosis. However, hypomania tends to lack the "reality disconnect", and we can see that Aran is very aware of his surroundings. Him being in the World Circuit in both Super and Wii can be interpreted as a sign of the hypomanic states being more helpful than detrimental (maybe less so in Super because of the existence of the Special Circuit, but I digress).

I think this take has a lot of ground, maybe more than the ADHD hypothesis. A lot of my earlier points in favor of him having ADHD can also apply to him being bipolar (specifically hyperactivity, recklessness, and especially emotional dysregulation) as well, which blurs the line in some places, but it's still a very strong argument.

Counter-Diagnosis #2: Oppositional Defiant Disorder

According to Mayo Clinic, ODD is "a frequent and ongoing pattern of anger, irritability, arguing and defiance towards parents and other authority figures". The characteristics of ODD can be observed in both SPO's and Wii's Aran.

I think this one's weaker, for a few reasons. First, ODD is considered clinically relevant only during childhood; from then, it can "evolve" into a number of other conditions, including but not limited to borderline personality disorder and the aforementioned bipolar disorder. Obviously, Aran isn't a child, but he could have had this disorder in the past and "grew out of it" from a clinical standpoint.

You could make an argument for the anger issues due to a few of his behaviors, as well as his voice lines in Wii having a sort of "growl" to them, but his irritability is infrequent and mild enough to where it can be attributed back to emotional dysregulation, and the "growl" could just be how the character or his voice actor naturally sounds (I haven't found any clips of Stephen Webster speaking out-of-character, but if anyone has any, I'd love to hear them).

Counter-Diagnosis #3: Antisocial Personality Disorder

The DSM-5 defines APD as consistent displays of deceitfulness, issues with authority, impulsivity, irritability, recklessness, and a diminished capacity for remorse after hurting someone. Again, a few of these symptoms are shared with ADHD, so there's a significant grey area here. Yet, I believe it's stronger than the ODD argument, since his cheating can be a sign of deceitfulness and his apparent antisocial traits in Wii. However, boxing as a combat sport doesn't leave much room for feeling remorse, since doing so can result in throwing or forfeiting a match. I'm not going to count the lack of remorse due to the nature of the sport, but you as a reader can interpret it how you like.

Counter-Diagnosis #4: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Because of how broad the autism spectrum is, you could easily go crazy in-depth with this. I'll do a miniature version of the ADHD symptom setup, which includes traits observed in canon. I won't be including every shared trait, but do keep in mind that ADHD is comorbid with a bunch of different spectrum disorders, and misdiagnoses, especially in women, are fairly common in the real world because of it. I know I'm going to fail to list certain symptoms due to just how many ASD traits there are, so if anyone reading has any more connections to make, be my guest! This "counter-diagnosis" section is for provoking further discussion, after all, and I'm happy to learn from you all.

Hyposensitivity

In PO Wii. To wind up for his right uppercut, Aran hits himself in the side of the head, and after round breaks in Contender, he hits himself repeatedly. Considering his gloves are confirmed to be loaded in his Contender fight, his relative indifference might be a sign of this. People with autism have reported tuning out various stimuli if they become overwhelmed by a bunch of them (sometimes related to meltdown or shutdown), and it's possible that that's what Aran is doing here. The bright lights of the venue combined with the crowd noise and the feeling of being sweaty could be overstimulating, and the supposed hyposensitivity towards being hit is caused by this "tuning out" to avoid a shutdown mid-bout.

Stimming (repetitive movements)

In PO Wii. The leg bounce in his Contender round break can be interpreted as a stim, as well as the wind-ups for his right uppercut (bopping himself in the head) and headbutt (choosing to wind up on the ropes). His bouncing around Mac could also be stimming.

Pathological demand avoidance

This phenomenon can also be comorbid with anxiety, which happens to be a risk factor for ADHD, so we're looping back around with this one. PDA is characterized by a person exhibiting an intense aversion to something that is asked of them, even if they wanted to do it beforehand. It can be associated with feelings of unfairness and like they don't have any control, so someone with PDA may "break the rules" to feel as though they have some control over what happens to them. Aran's high infraction count in Wii could be a sign of a more obsessive form of this. Avoiding the process of carrying out the demand can be conflated with executive dysfunction as well.

TL;DR get this man into a psychiatrist's office ASAP

[sinisterexaggerator]

Genuinely curious: How did you get hooked on Banaka?

I have an enabler, that’s why. A few, but none so great as @allsystemsblue and I thank her every day for that. Not only do we have daily discussions about those two, but it makes the ideas run wild in my head. The more and more I think about them, the more ways I see them being good together, so much so I name them my OTP.

At first, like most Bane Stans, I was like, nah, he’d hate him. Hondo would annoy the fuck out of Bane, and while that may be true, that doesn’t account for things such as nuance, or growing to be obsessed with your “enemy” to the point it becomes homoerotic. >D

But I sell myself short. I have thought way too long and hard to give a simple explanation such as this, so let me delve a little more into the idea by explaining a bit of their canon backstories, and then my own takes on how they work well together and why.

Bane grew up on Duro, specifically in New Tayana, and lived in an area called the “Descent Ghetto.” It was not a nice place. Hondo was raised for a time on Sriluur, a not so nice place either, in Hutt Space where his mother taught him how to pick-pocket, among other things. Eventually, he was sold into slavery, but he knew deep down I am sure that it was for the money. He escaped, but we can determine they both have a rough start in life.

At this level we might say there could be an understanding. A mutual respect for a man who is self-made. In this they can relate, and while Hondo has his own set of problems commanding an entire crew, both could possibly confide in one another and discuss life’s ills.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Jango and Bane are an “item” if you will, for a period of time. I have yet to decide all the determining factors or all the things I want to cover in this part of my story, but based on what I know about Jango, he was not an affectionate sort. Gruff, surly, to the point, a man of few words, and with a short temper who has little patience for bullshit. If we take that and add to it a cunning, outspoken, brash, ill-tempered, sassy, aggressive Duros, to me that equates to an unhappy ending, or a clashing of personalities are they are both so similar. In this case, opposites attract.

If Jango and Bane were to part ways, Hondo being in the picture and observing their relationship, seeing the value in Cad, becoming fascinated and absorbed in him, regardless of if Bane knows or acknowledges that fact, should he give the Weequay a chance, all those things he has been denied through Jango easily come into fruition via Hondo Ohnaka.

This man needs love, support, a friend even, healing. He is traumatized in part due to his past (my story), and Jango is not that empathetic or concerned.

Hondo is attentive, charming, a deep thinker despite his clownish façade. If Bane can get past his petty grievances, if they were to share a moment or two alone, if they had a chance to talk, to linger in each other’s presence, if BANE ALLOWED HIM A SHOT, I think Ohnaka could sweep him off his feet. He would see there was more to him than just the flamboyant, foppish pirate.

Granted, Bane is untrusting. He sees the women; men; sentients, that Hondo brings to Florrum. He knows of his sexual escapades. He knows he’s a flirt and a scoundrel, so it is tough going in the beginning for Bane to accept what he is experiencing or receiving from him is genuine.

Perhaps they engage in something together, possibly among others, that is a sexual awakening in Bane. I see Hondo as giving to Bane things he has never felt before or even knew was possible.

He would hate it. It would unnerve him. He wouldn’t know what to think, to do, how to address this feeling inside himself, and it would soon devour him alive.

Maybe he needs more of it, despite wanting to inflict violence or damage against the person (Ohnaka) that made him feel this way. It becomes a need, a thirst so infuriatingly strong in him that it must be quenched.

This could develop in to a tentative, informal, even secretive relationship. It could go on for months, weeks, Hondo one of the few people who can bounce right back after one of Cad’s terrible mood swings. He doesn’t take offense to his words, or rarely if that, something more personal perhaps, but he is able to deal with this terrible, bratty boy and knows just how to placate him, how to soothe him.

Maybe casual sex “digresses," or “upgrades” to feelings being involved, real affection occurring, yet also hidden behind closed doors.  I foresee angst, drama, hurt, comfort, and a whole plethora of other tropes occurring between these two.

One is the concept of “sun” and “moon.” Hondo is the sun to Bane’s moon. He is the sunshine one, the happy one, the one who can get this bounty hunter out of his funk on more than one occasion, despite his jealous, possessive tendencies.

To me they are perfectly complimentary. That’s basically it. Not only that, Hondo knows when he needs his space, when not to crowd him, when to stand down, and even though Bane may raise his hand against him, Hondo would never afford him the same reaction. Not like Jango.

Though Hondo speaks many, many words, actions speak louder to Bane, and Hondo can read him, whereas many cannot.

Pair that with his almost obsessive interest in Bane, and the fact he is without a doubt attracted to him from the moment Fett brings him to Florrum, and we have for a most interesting potential ship, IMO.

[doppel-drop-distance]

The Dubiously Needed, Unnecessarily Extensive Magia Record Stat Sheet Guide: Spirit Enhancement

Now we get into the stuff that really questions my ability to know what I'm talking about! Please correct me if I'm wrong. Please.

Spirit Enhancement is a form of upgrading your units introduced in the Japanese server. By using upgrade materials, a unit can gain further buffs beyond what is provided in their kit, such as increased stats, passives, and actives. 

There are two types of Spirit Enhancement buffs: passives and actives. They work exactly as they do with Memoria: passives are always in play, while actives must be triggered manually. A character’s Spirit Enhancement tree will have a handful of passives and one unique active. 

A character’s Spirit Enhancement tree will have around 12 passive nodes. 4 of these nodes will usually (but not always) be reserved for two Doppel Adept nodes (Doppel Damage Up and Magia Damage Up) and two MP Boost nodes (MP Gain Up When Over 100 MP). That gives you eight passive nodes to add whatever additional buffs that you think support your character’s playstyle. 

I’ll use a recent release, Amaryllis, as an example. 

Amaryllis is a Support type character with four Accele discs. Her Connect, Magia, and Doppel are all focused on inflicting and dealing damage via status ailments. 

Her Spirit Enhancement passives play off of this kit. Many of her nodes support her MP gain with effects like this:

Fast Mana Up: MP Gauge Increased On Battle Start (40% full)

Endor Adept [VIII]: MP Up When Damaged [VIII] (8 MP)

Mana Spring Aura [VIII]: Regenerate MP [VIII] (Self / 13.5 MP / 5 turns from battle start)

By generating Magia quickly, Amaryllis can apply more ailments and deal more damage. She also has some nodes that support her ailment infliction:

Addict Killer [III]: Damage Up Versus Enemies Inflicted With Status Ailments [III] (25%)

Poison Edge [III]: Chance to Poison on Attack [III] (20% / 3 turns)

Addict Killer helps Amaryllis deal more damage with the ailments she inflicts. Likewise, Poison gives her access to a multi-turn ailment, doing more damage over time and giving her more turns to take advantage of the benefits she receives. 

Spirit Enhancement provides the means for your character to have a more specific playstyle, outside of what they can do with their discs, Connect, and Magia. For example, a tank may not have the best MP generation. Their Connect and Magia won’t really be able to help that out. But their Spirit Enhancement may give them effects like MP Up When Damaged and Mp Up When Attacked By Weak Element. This creates a playstyle that encourages tanking hits to retaliate with the Magia. Or, maybe your unit deals the most damage with their Magia when their HP is low. Their Spirit Enhancement could have an effect like Crisis Bloom, which increases Attack and Defense at low HP. These are just ideas, of course. With Spirit Enhancement passives, you have access to nearly the entire skill list. Whatever playstyle you have in mind, there’s usually an effect or two that can define it. 

As with the Connect, there are usually consistent effect percentages for SE passives. Here are the patterns I could find:

Attack Up: 10%

Attack Up At Max Health: 20%

Attack Up At Critical Health: 10-15%

Defense Up: 22.5%

Defense Up At Max Health: 40%

Defense Up At Critical Health: 30%

Damage Up: 10%

Magia Damage Up: 5%

Doppel Damage Up: 5%

Status Ailment Resistance Up: 25%

Accele MP Gain Up: 12.5%

Blast Damage Up: 16.5%

Charged Attack Damage Up: 25%

Charge Disc Damage Up: 10%

MP Gain Up: 7.5-10%

- Attribute Attack Up: 7.5%

Status Ailment On Attack Chance: 15%

Damage Increase: 10%

Damage Up Versus Witches: 15%

Defense Pierce Chance: 15%

Damage Cut: 10%

Accele Damage Cut: 10%

Blast Damage Cut: 15%

- Attribute Damage Cut: 15%

Magia Damage Cut: 20%

Critical Hit Chance: 15%

Evade Chance: 15%

Counter Chance: 20%

Follow Up Attack Chance: 20%

Damage Up Versus Enemies With Status Ailments: 20%

Provoke Chance: 15%

Regenerate HP: 4%

Regenerate MP: 9 MP

Skill Quicken Chance: 15%

Guard Chance: 15%

MP Up When Damaged: 4 MP

MP Up When Attacked By Weak Element: 11 MP

MP Gauge Increased on Battle Start: 15% full

Ignore Damage Cut: 45%

Blast MP Gain Up: 3 MP

If you’re thinking “hey, some of those percentages are kind of small”...Well, yes, they are. But like the EX skill described in the last post, Spirit Enhancement passives give small bonuses, with some exceptions. There are definitely some larger bonuses in there, but as they aren’t the majority, they don’t end up in the list. As always, I would recommend checking the wiki for percentages that fit your character. 

An effect percentage may also look small because a character has more than one of that node. For example, the Doppel Adept node I mentioned earlier. This list describes an average of 5% for Magia Damage Up. But since most characters have at least two nodes with Magia Damage Up, the average is closer to 10%. This is also something you should keep in mind while planning your unit’s SE. Not every passive node has to be unique!

One more thing to consider is that there are occasionally “aura” effects. In Spirit Enhancement, an “aura” is an effect that lasts a certain amount of turns after the start of the battle, usually to an increased effect. Think of it kind of like an EX skill, but with a turn limit. Shizuka Tokime has an example of this with her SE node, Bloom Aura:

Bloom Aura [V]: Attack Up [V] (25%) & Defense Up [VI] (45%) (Allies / 5 turns from battle start)

Do you have a headache yet? Good! Let’s keep going. Don’t worry, there’s only a little bit left. 

Every character gets one Spirit Enhancement active. It’s the equivalent of a third active memoria slot. The effects you have to choose from are the exact same as the passives, with the addition of turn duration, targeting, and different percentages. As always, you can decide the active based on your character’s playstyle. 

Since we already talked about Amaryllis’ SE, let's look at her active.

Quell Bloom [I]: Defense Down [I] (5%) & Defense Down Further [I] (5%) & Attack Down [III] (20%) (All Enemies / 3 turns)

Amaryllis is a character who supports the team by crippling the enemy. This is mainly through ailments, but there’s a bit of debuffs in there as well. Her Magia and Doppel also inflict Defense Down. An debuff active gives Amaryllis more options to restrict the enemy and support her team. 

There are no consistent percentages for actives. As with Magia, the differing targets and turn duration make things too variable. You can use other characters’ SE actives as reference, but memoria are also a good source to sample from. Many SE actives have effects that are similar to memoria. 

…Oh right, you also get stats from Spirit Enhancement, don’t you. This is another thing that’s a bit too variable for me to jump into the Math Witch’s Labyrinth again. I usually determine Spirit Enhancement stats at the same time that I determine base stats. Just like with Growth Type, you can pick one or two characters with the same Type and Growth Type and average out the amount of stats they gain from Spirit Enhancement. From there you can determine how many stats your character might get. 

There’s no real need to split the stats up into individual nodes unless you really want to torture yourself. I just total it all into a single number like I do with base stats. But it’s up to you how you want to approach it!

[davyjoneslockr]

can i request narancia for the 4 hcs?

(For this)

I got multiple asks about Nara hell yeah. I've been waiting for an excuse to talk about him for so long <333

Headcanon A:  realistic

His skirt used to be his mom's. One of the clearest things Narancia remembers about her is how she always wore brightly-colored dresses and skirts. They tended to be cheap and outdated, since the Ghirga family didn't have much money, but, to Narancia, they always reflected how much light she brought into others' lives.

After she died, her clothes sat and collected dust in what used to be her closet. By the time Narancia came back home, his dad would often discuss packing them up and selling them. On some level, he knew his dad could never bring himself to do that. Still, the night he finally ran away for good, he snuck into the closet and took as many skirts and dresses as he could find.

He wore his favorite skirt to his Passione initiation, and continued to wear it for most of his teen years. It makes him feel like a part of her is still with him, and as he grows into his own person, the shades of orange and yellow start representing a part of himself, too.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

Maybe only unrealistic by virtue of Everyone Lives AU but idk. He gets a growth spurt when he's like 18-19, to the point where he's almost the same height as Fugo. Meanwhile, Fugo, who has only managed to grow an inch or two, is in complete denial.

Thus begins a height war. Narancia wears platform boots to add a few inches, and Fugo, in retaliation, starts borrowing stilettoes from Abbacchio. Narancia stands on his toes around him and taunts him like "lmao how's the weather down there >:)" and Fugo tackles him. They stand back-to-back and make a neutral third party (usually Bucciarati) measure who's taller.

According to legend, the sheer volume of combined screaming when, one day, Bucciarati determined that Narancia was ever so slightly taller was enough to shatter windows.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

When he first joined the gang, Narancia was a bit skittish around Fugo. Not because of his temper or attitude, as others initially thought. The problem was something Narancia kept secret, as he thought it was a bit silly - it was because of his hair color. He'd had his trust recently shattered by another blond teenage boy, and it was hard to make himself realize that Fugo was different. Of course, soon enough, Narancia got past this, and he came to genuinely love Fugo, placing unwavering trust in him and knowing he'd never leave him behind as his former "friend" had.

He tries not to think about it too much, but he can't help noticing a familiar pain in his heart when Fugo stays behind at the pier - leaving them out of self-preservation, sure, but abandoning them nonetheless.

And, of course, putting trust in yet another blond boy ultimately gets Narancia killed.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

Okay so basically he lives. And when he's in his 20s, he gets a bunch of tattoos. He has sleeves on both arms; one has all of the gang's stand motifs, and the other is made of apple blossoms (representing his mom) - together, he says, they represent his entire family. There's an airplane trailing across his chest, and a little cluster of bullets right over his heart (to say that Mista swoons when he first shows him is an understatement). Maybe he gets some wings or something on his back. He complains about the pain the first few times, but he loves how they let him express himself and carry the people he loves with him at all times.

Also he goes to see Shrek for his 18th birthday. He drags Mista and Fugo with him. It's glorious.

[asksoldieron]

SO-23: Meet Marc!

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

No art, but I am working on it and I will add it retroactively. The eyes are letting me draw, just real slow.

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for Picture Book (252|23) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

I'm excited for everyone to meet Marc, and appalled at his situation, and still very aware that everything I do to this broke-ass website is built on sand. Mixed emotions!

Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to fix social issues with eugenics! We still do this! We're a bit more subtle about it, but we do it! I was naturally disposed to be "one of the smart ones," so I got thrown in a class with more people like me, and we got more resources and higher expectations! Then, later, I was naturally disposed to be one of the loser, burn-outs, and I got thrown in a class with more people like me, and we got fewer resources - but lots more supervision! - and lower expectations! Except then they decided I was smart again, and then dumb again, and now Capitalism and I don't have much to say to each other. I need money to eat, but I'm not worth any. All things considered, I haven't earned a place here. I'm a burden! Some people would like to be rid of me!

And sometimes those people have really fun ideas about how to be rid of me. Sometimes allowing me to exist at the edges, as long as I figure some way to get by, just isn't enough, ya know? There's a little bit of that folded into this as, if you'll recall, immies are as many of us at once as possible. We do try to train the children to be a little more convenient when their way of being is inconvenient - not just the autistic ones, but it's still considered a legit "treatment" for them, and a few others. And psychosurgery is not that far in the past!

It's not fixing the social issues in my story any better than it works IRL, of course. They've just created entirely new ways of being divergent that are no easier to control. ...Except maybe that last guy on the sheet, the smoke, but we'll deal with that later.

Marc will return too! As you can tell from the tags at the site.

I needed something happy to mitigate the horror, so I got to write a tiny short story for the NDA to find. It's hard to keep pushing to heal from damage someone inflicted on you, sometimes it's hard to even figure out what "healing" means, but it helps to keep trying. You do pick up a few wonderful things when you keep trying.

I want to write what really happened to him, for continuity reasons, but I'm still murky on the circumstances of the reveal. I'm pretty sure I know who'll help out, but not exactly how. Broken is just the beginning!

(Man, I dodged several bullets with David, by putting off writing his past for so long. I managed to connect all the dots! Even if you'll probably never get the whole truth out of him. I could tell you if I had to. For now, only the spouse knows!)

Marc would not be happy with the NDA taking Erik home, but he also wouldn't be happy with how Erik ended up helping the RA. He'll have to reconcile on his own time, but I think he'll manage. For now, at least he gets to register an objection, even if he may issue a partial retraction later. I think he's justified. I'm still gonna send Erik home, but Marc's not wrong.

I prrrobaby should've made Marc a girl, just for gender diversity in pathetic, lovable characters, but I like my men pitiful and damaged and my women competent but conflicted. (You can tell!) I can only self-correct so much. And, in this case, Erik's not into boys, so that prevents things from getting to complex on my end. The romantic entanglements are gonna be bad enough as it is!

And now, I need to leave off with minimal proof-reading, and just post this early to get it out of the way, because Windows 11 installed an AI on my computer without my permission, and I need to kill it if I can. Thanks, Microsoft! I didn't have enough to do today! I NEED TO BUY COFFEE, YOU ASS!!

...This inst. is gonna go live without me finalizing and formatting the song lyrics, isn't it? *headdesk* Sorry, Readers.

[Back to Site?]

[tangleworm]

NOMIA Devlog 7 -- Costs and Resources

Turn-based games are ultimately about strategizing around resources and effects. The strategic possibilities should be deep and expressive, but not overwhelmingly complex. I approached this from two angles:

Card games have the advantage of managing complexity load on the player. Even if the game has a huge possibility space, the player only has to consider the cards they have in their hand.

DnD's various resources -- actions, bonus actions, spell slots, and class-specific feature charges -- enable strategic depth, but it can feel arbitrary what is considered an action versus a bonus action. In addition, there is a lot of memorization of which resources enable which tactical options, and many are only differentiated by when they recharge.

I knew I wanted more interesting ways to pay for your cards than just deducting action/gambit points. With the two things above in mind, I settled on making cards affect your other cards.

Overheat cards are mostly carried by Mighties. They lock down your Actions, representing physical strain.

Bane cards are mostly carried by Magicals. They gum up your Gambit deck, representing mental strain.

…and there's also cards that cost HP, inflict debuffs, and discard other cards when played.

Hopefully, these additional costs add more depth to each turn, allowing the player to strategize around their detrimental effects, or even turn them to their advantage. For example, minor self-damage can burn vulnerability stacks that may have been used by strong enemy attacks, and discards can remove Banes from your hand.

The ultimate goal is to have additional costs hook back into the other gameplay systems, instead of becoming deductible resources running entirely parallel to them.

[huntunderironskies]

Gift of Carrion (Werewolf: the Forsaken)

Today's post is going to be something I've been tinkering with for a while now! Some time ago I asked Werewolf writer Chris Allen on his Patreon (link here!) about what the Eaters of the Dead might look like as a full Tribe. He suggested they might get a new signature Gift, something to the tune of Carrion. As the co-president of the Eaters of the Dead fanclub, I took that and ran with it. This is my second or third pass at it and has been...lightly playtested, so hopefully this is fairly workable!

Shed (Cunning)

Cost: 1 Essence Dice Pool: n/a Duration: 1 scene Action Type: Reflexive

This Gift may only be used when inflicted with Arm Wrack, Leg Wrack, or Blinded Tilts, or when put in an arm or leg lock maneuver while grappling. The damage is downgraded by one level from aggravated to lethal or lethal to bashing and the afflicted body part merely sloughs off harmlessly and then rapidly decays. However, the limb or eye can still move and perform some crude functions with a penalty of (5-Cunning.) A detached arm can still crawl on the ground, a detached eye can still see and so on. The body part remains animate for one scene before it crumbles into nothing.

This Gift may still be used if the damage is self-inflicted.

Putrefaction (Glory)

Cost: 2 Essence Dice Pool: Presence+Science+Glory Duration: n/a Action Type: Instant

Dramatic Failure: The werewolf suffers the moderate Poisoned Tilt as their own body begins to putrefy.

Success: This Gift affects all corpses and formerly living organic matter within a radius equal to the werewolf's Glory Renown x100 yards. That matter begins to rapidly decay and putrefact. This will not damage living dead beings, but it will make their true nature immediately clear to all observers. Those who have partaken of anything that has turned to rot, whether before its turning or after, gain the Sick Condition as the meat turns rancid in their guts.

Exceptional Success: The Uratha adds their Glory Renown to tracking rolls against anyone who took the Sick Condition.

Incorruptible Flesh (Honor)

Cost: Permanent/1 Essence Dice Pool: n/a Duration: variable (see below) Action Type: Reflexive

As a permanent effect, anyone who tries to eat the werewolf's flesh or drink their blood reduces the Essence, Vitae, or other similar benefits they would have gained by the werewolf's Honor Renown. This portion will persist after death. Secondly, if the werewolf is the victim of a bite attack, then they may pay 1 Essence in order to cause painful boils to erupt onto the mouth of whoever bit them. These cause eating or biting to become excruciatingly painful, and the afflicted must spend a point of Willpower to even try to do either. This effect upon the target lasts until sunrise.

Hidden Killer (Purity)

Cost: 1 Essence (+1 Essence) Dice Pool: Wits+Investigation+Purity Duration: n/a Action Type: Extended (5 successes, 1 min intervals)

Dramatic Failure: Anyone investigating the remains will have a success on the investigation roll upgraded to an exceptional success.

Success: The werewolf must be able to touch a corpse that is not an animate being to use this Gift, or part of the deceased's remains. After accumulating successes, the werewolf entirely confounds forensic attempts to determine the cause of death or forensic evidence that might connect the werewolf or their pack back to the death. DNA unthreads, bite marks distort, fibers rot, scent spoors degrade, and so on. This includes evidence not directly on the corpse, such as hair left behind at the scene. Scrying powers to discover a cause of death force a Clash of Wills.

The werewolf may spend a second point of Essence in order to instead have evidence point to a specific party they name, and whose blood they must have tasted within the past lunar month.

Exceptional Success:  Clashes of Wills to determine the cause of death or culprit will suffer the werewolf's Purity as a penalty.

Carrion Clothes (Wisdom)

Cost: 1 Essence Dice Pool: Intelligence+Medicine+Wisdom Duration: 1 scene Action Type: Instant

The werewolf must consume a small amount of a non-animate corpse that still possesses most of its flesh and connective tissue before using this Gift.

Dramatic Failure: The werewolf gains the Ban Condition. They must wear a part of the corpse's skin or bones on their person.

Success: The werewolf may possess the corpse in a similar manner to other possession Gifts. The corpse will be animated by the werewolf as their own body lies insensate, with both their senses and voice being projected through the corpse. Any dice rolls for the corpse are made using the werewolf's Wisdom+Primal Urge. However, the animated corpse's movements are clearly unnatural and all social rolls to interact with other beings fail bar Intimidate, which will receive an exceptional success on three rather than five successes.

Exceptional Success: The werewolf remains aware of the state of their body.

[cyberp-1-nk]

Okay so I have another ocv idea...hope you don't mind. So this is where cp Anni ends up in the oc-verse.

Fang and Viper are freaking out, Kellin and Vince are sitting there like dude....this human is kinda cute, Varrick is standing there holding onto Anni and quite literally is about to kill anyone who tries to touch or get too close and ocv Anni is being unreasonably aggressive, insulting Anni and threatening her, saying things like... "If you were smart you wouldn't be here. You are weak and pathetic and could get us all killed ! In fact I hope some demon catches you and decides to eat you."

"I won't fucking hesitate to kill you. In fact i'd relish in it." which is making Varrick tug her closer to him. Once everyone calms down they realize that human Anni is very much human and smells like such so they have to get rid of the smell. Fang offers to use a spell but Varrick practically jumps at the chance for affection and scents her by hugging her, rubbing his face against her, kissing her cheeks and neck, ocv Anni is seeing this and is just glaring, she feels jealous and kinda lonely but says nothing and sits there with her...."cat". Human Anni even tries to pet her "cat" but Azrael goes into his actual form and screeches, unhinging his jaw and scaring the piss out of poor cp Anni, and Varrick just shields her and glares at ocv Anni and her "pet."Then cp Anni just looks at her other self and narrows her eyes and says, "Why are you such a bitch? This entire time you've been sitting scowling and sulking, so what the hell is your problem?"

Ocv Anni: "YOU are my problem. You shouldn't be here!" and the arguing goes on until it gets to cp Anni just completely calling out ocv Anni.

"Oh whatever, you're just jealous and you know what, I know what your scared of. Your scared of being close to people, your scared that if you get close to anyone like you did with Ris, something bad will happen and you'll get hurt again....you and me may be different but we both have the same fears. So stop acting like you're all high and mighty."

Ocv Anni: "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT NAME! YOU DON'T GET TO SAY HER NAME, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE LIKE THAT!"

(I am so so so sorry this is so long, no pressure, feel free to ignore this or change and get rid of/add anything you'd like and if you have any questions then feel free to ask!)

[ jealousy. || simp party. ]

Warnings: none.

Tags: @insane-horror-movie-addict

A/N: Never mention Ris around her...-- also, not really proof read?

Word count: 2,769

Fang and Viper found themselves in a dimly lit room, the flickering torches casting eerie shadows on the stone walls. The room was filled with demons, their glowing eyes fixed on the two of them as they entered. Fang's heart raced as she realized the gravity of the situation. She had messed up, and now she was in the presence of Enid and her shadow-proxies. She could feel their stares piercing through her, and her mind raced with thoughts of what kind of punishment Nightmare would inflict upon her.

"Oh no, Nightmare is going to be so angry with us," Fang whispered, her voice trembling with fear. "We're going to be in so much trouble! We allowed them to bring another human— you know how much Nightmare fucking hates humans?! We're all going to be fucking executed by her fucking proxies!" She paced back and forth in a panic, her heart racing as she began to sweat

Viper, who had been calm and collected up until this point, suddenly became more forceful. "Fang, pull yourself together!" she yelled, her voice echoing off the walls, she jumped up and grabbed Fang by the shoulders and striking a palm on her face to get to snap out of it, "We knew this was a possibility, and we have a plan. If we handle this correctly, everything will be fine." Fang nodded, trying to steady her breathing. She knew that Viper was right, but it was hard to shake off the feeling of dread that had settled in her stomach.

Fang looked at Viper with wide eyes, her breath coming in short gasps. "How the fuck would you know?! You're the one who got us into this mess!" she asked, her voice trembling.

Fang's eyes blazed with fury as she confronted Varrick, the large demon who had brought a human into their world. "How could you be so fucking idiotic?!" she yelled, her voice echoing off the walls of the cavernous room. "You know that Nightmare will punish us all severely for this! And if we manage to escape death like that, then creatures from all over are going to TRACK her scent down just to get a taste of this human!"

Varrick looked sheepish, his eyes darting around the room as if he was searching for an escape. "I didn't think it through," he muttered, his voice barely audible over Fang's angry tirade. "But I know I didn't make a mistake— she's so precious.."

Fang shook her head, her long black hair whipping around her face. "You never think anything through," she snapped. "Now we're all going to suffer the consequences of your stupidity!" Everyone's eyes fixed on Fang and Varrick as they argued. Fang could feel their collective tension and fear, their bodies tensing as they braced themselves for the wrath of her furious state. "Varrick? Are you even listening?!"

Varrick, a large demon with rippling muscles and a fearsome countenance, looked down at Anni with a tender expression. He had always been fond of the small, fragile human, and he couldn't resist the urge to show her affection. Gently, he reached out and traced his fingers along her cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin. Anni looked up at him, her eyes wide with wonder. "You are so delicate," Varrick murmured, his voice low and rumbling. "I must be careful not to hurt you."

Anni smiled up at him, her face glowing with happiness. "You're always so gentle with me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Varrick leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers, his large, calloused hands cradling her face. "You are precious to me," he whispered, his voice filled with emotion. "I will protect you, always." Anni felt a warmth spread through her body as she gazed up at him. Despite his fearsome appearance, Varrick was always so gentle and caring with her. She felt safe and loved in his arms. Varrick pulled her close, his massive arms enveloping her in a warm embrace. Anni snuggled into him, feeling his heartbeat steady and strong against her chest. For a few moments, they stayed like that, lost in their own world of love and affection. In that moment, nothing else mattered. They were together, and that was all that mattered.

Finally, Varrick leaned back and gazed down at her with a soft smile. "You are my treasure," he said, his voice filled with reverence. "And I will cherish you always." Anni smiled back at him, feeling her heart swell with love. She knew that with Varrick by her side, she could face anything that the world might throw at her. He was her protector, her guardian, and her love— he was nothing like the other Varrick back at home. When Vince tried to walk up to the human, Varrick started growling— glaring at his brother with disdain.

"Seriously, can you stop touching that human? It's fucking pathetic to see you that desperate for attention, Varrick." Ocv-Anni bit at him, clearly angered by his irritating display of affection towards her alternate self. Kellin snorted with a chuckle at her behavior, but quickly shut his mouth when he realized she had been glaring at him with vicious intent. "I can't believe you can even be considered a proxy with this behavior."

Ocv-Anni grunted and rubbed her head, a headache suddenly eating at her brain. Clenching her eyes shut, she moved towards her alternate self that was being smothered in affection, "And you. You pathetic little human. I can't believe you're even a version of me! Why are you so weak looking? I could kill you right now!"

"And I can't believe even when my alternate self is some badass asshole, I still don't get any taller." Anni said bluntly— looking at the angered woman with a completely flat-tone while saying that. "Why are you even trying to threaten me? You're like 5'3…at most." Anni narrowed her eyes.

Ocv-Anni felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as the room erupted into laughter.

The laughter continued, growing louder and more raucous with each passing moment. Anni could feel the weight of their amusement pressing down upon him, suffocating her with its intensity. Finally, one of the onlookers spoke up, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yeah, Anni," Kellin said. "Why are you threatening her? Varrick could easily just pick you up…and put you on top of a fridge so you wouldn't hurt his treasure." Kellin's tone was laced with mockery as he snickered and teased both ocv-Anni and Varrick.

Ocv-Anni's embarrassment turned to anger as she bristled at the insult. "Shut up," she spat, her voice shaking with annoyance. "I could kill you right now." The room fell silent, the laughter dying away as her threat hung in the air. He felt a pang of regret, knowing that he had probably ensured that ocv-Anni was going to kick his ass later.

"And you." Ocv-Anni was sharp with her words, but she managed to spit them out. Her colorless-eyes were venomous with her, letting the human know she wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, "If you were smart you wouldn't be here. You are weak and pathetic and could get us all killed! In fact I hope some demon catches you and decides to eat you— in fact, I hope a crawler comes to tear you apart. Limb by limb."

"You know what? I don't need those creatures to do the job." The much more dangerous version of Anni paused to look at her, her eyebrow raising and it was enough to send her little human heart leaping from her chest- but she smirked shortly after. "I won't fucking hesitate to kill you. In fact I'd relish it. It's your fault for being stupid enough to decide to come here in the first place."

Varrick, the large demonic man, could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he surveyed the dimly lit room. He knew they were in danger, and he would do anything to protect Anni, the young human girl who was with him. "Anni, come here," he said, his voice low and urgent. He pulled her closer to him, his massive arm encircling her protectively. Anni looked up at Varrick, her eyes wide with wonder. She could see the worry etched into his face, and it made her so curious— why was he so worried? Would that other version of her actually go through with her threats?

Fang, the only other human, let out a low groan as she surveyed the group of people gathered before her. She couldn't help but shake her head at the tension in the air.

"Can we cut this soap-opera act and come up with a plan, please?" Fang said, her voice dripping with annoyance, "Do any of you have a plan to cover up Anni's human scent before the crawlers come to hunt her down? Or are we just going to let her be a sitting duck?" The other demons looked at Fang with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

They knew that Fang had a tendency to be sarcastic and snarky, but they couldn't deny that she had a point, "The moment she steps out of this place, crawlers are going to surround us. My magic has been lacking as if recently, so I'm not certain I can hold them all off. These things can't be killed with regular weapons, people."

"We could use some of the herbs from the forest," suggested Vince tentatively, a look of concentration as he carefully set his finger on top of his chin, "They might help mask her scent."

Fang rolled her eyes. "Oh, great idea," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Because I'm sure the demons won't be able to smell the human girl walking around with a bunch of herbs stuffed in her pockets." Vince quickly flipped her off, while the others were unsure of how to respond to Fang's biting comments.

"Well, then what do you suggest we do, smart-ass?" Kellin rolled his eyes at the snarky woman, his azure-eyes trailing to her with annoyance.

Fang let out a sigh, her expression softening slightly, "We need to be smart about this. We need to find a way to protect Anni, or else we're all in trouble." She said, "I guess I can cast a spell on her temporarily but—"

"Let me do it." Varrick quickly interrupts— an adorable yet goofy smile as he grinned down at his little treasured human. Anni certainly was confused on what they had been talking about, this entire situation as a whole was confusing— I mean, until now, she didn't even know other worldly travel was possible— like at all. She didn't even know she had an alternate self, with differences that she'd never begin to imagine. Anni's eyes widened even further, and she instinctively moved closer to Varrick. She could feel the heat radiating off his massive body, and it was comforting in such a difficult moment.

Anni felt her face getting warmer. She hated to be the center of attention, and at this moment all the girls were piercing her with their curious eyes, making her sigh. It was all irritating to her, until she felt a chaste kiss being pressed against her soft skin— that was the one thing that hadn't changed about Varrick, he wasn't ashamed to show her affection— at all. A soft smile crossed her lips without her realizing it, her eyes glued to her intertwined fingers resting in her lap while he continued with practically rubbing himself against her. Smiling sheepishly, she turned to run her fingers through his hair, enjoying the way his large fingertips slipped alongside her skin, abnormally warm fingers drawing random patterns on her skin while he pressed kisses all over. Placing her hands over his, she slightly bumped her head against his chin, receiving a kiss on the cheek in return. Giggles were spilling from their throats, and Ocv-Anni felt sick.

Ocv-Anni sat serenely on the plush velvet couch, her long fingers delicately stroking the soft fur of her magical feline, Azrael. The feline purred contentedly, arching her back in pleasure at the sensation of her owner's touch. Ocv-Anni's eyes were narrowed, lost in the moment of pure jealousy that came from watching Varrick throw himself at somebody new, as soon as they gave him the attention he craved. As Ocv-Anni continued to pet Azrael, the room grew quiet, the only sounds being the soft purring of the cat and the gentle rustling of fabric as she shifted position. Anni approached the couch, a look of curiosity on her face. She reached out to pet Azrael, but as her hand made contact, something strange happened.

Azrael's fur bristled, his eyes turned deep red, and his body began to contort and twist in a grotesque manner. His once-soft fur became spiky and sharp, and his purring turned into a low, menacing growl. Anni recoiled in horror as the creature before her continued to shift and change, growing larger and more monstrous by the second. Varrick's face fell as he realized what was happening. He had forgotten to warn Anni about Azrael's tendency to shape-shift when she was agitated or startled. He quickly leapt to his feet, grabbing Anni's hand and pulling her towards the door. As they fled across the room, the monstrous creature that had once been Azrael let out a deafening roar, its sharp claws raking the furniture as it began to unhinge its jaws— before it turned back into a small feline, jumping back onto Ocv-Anni's lap as she snickered.

"Why are you such a bitch? This entire time you've been sitting scowling and sulking, so what the hell is your problem?" Anni heard her alternate self scoff under her breath, while her feline followed her lead. Anni was already prepared for her alternate self's disgruntled stubbornness— quickly flipping off her and her terrifying cat— which only caused the feline to hiss even more.

"YOU are my problem. You shouldn't be here!" Ocv-Anni's nails were buried deep in the palm of her hands, creating moon shapes. Her fists tighten, shivers running through her spine and her arms shaking uncontrollably, "You're causing nothing but problems, once they find out an ordinary human is here, we'll be killed. If not by the hundreds of crawlers tracking us, it's gonna be by the same damn goddess who killed the only fucking person I've ever cared about!" Varrick felt oddly offended by that statement, he narrowed his eyes slightly and sadly buried his head into Anni's neck, pulling the human closer to him for utmost comfort.

"Oh whatever, you're just jealous and you know what, I know what you're scared of," Anni could feel the power of her alternate self, a few meters away from her and her friends, like she was just by her side— her aura was terrifying. It was like her hands smashing her body, pushing her to the ground. Just standing there was hard, and all she could do was repeat the same phrase; 'please don't kill me for saying this,' "You're scared of being close to people, you're scared that if you get close to anyone like you did with Ris, something bad will happen and you'll get hurt again....you and I may be different but we both have the same fears. So stop acting like you're all high and mighty."

Ocv-Anni's heart accelerated. She observed her fingers. They were the same as when she had stretched them towards Ris, seconds before her life was taken by the blue–haired devil. Anni could still see her eyes being engulfed by black— smoke even emitting from them. She could hear her voice echoing her name, the pain she felt once she reached the floor alone. And the darkness, "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT NAME! YOU DON'T GET TO SAY HER NAME, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE LIKE THAT!" Her fist struck the wall near them, causing the unstable wall to collapse beneath the strength of her fist. The entire house they were hiding in almost collapsed, with most of it already being obliterated. Light steam emitted from her fist, from the pure strength and velocity from the punch.

Everyone watched in sympathy as ocv-Anni hyperventilated, smoke still engulfing her fists while she glared at her freckled alternate self. Vince glided his hands to her shoulder, in an attempt to calm the shadow proxy, but she only shoved him off and turned on her heel, towards the forest.

"I'm going out to let off some steam."

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

...Yeah I've got another song rec here. This time for Gabriel. I originally thought of this for Felix, but he's not penitent enough for it to fit. I'm pretty sure Gabriel is. What I've Done by Linkin Park.

In this farewell There's no blood, there's no alibi 'Cause I've drawn regret From the truth of a thousand lies

Gabriel recognizes everything he's done wrong, the harm he knowingly caused through his actions, the lies he told, both to Adrien and to himself. He's not trying to come up with excuses anymore. He's seen the thousand lies he's told, and has seen them AS lies, since he's been put in Adrien's shoes these last few years - as well as watching Adrien explicitly suffer from actions that aren't entirely out of the realm of what he's done to Adrien before, it's just that now, Adrien knows about them.

So let mercy come and wash away

What I've done I'll face myself To cross out what I've become Erase myself And let go of what I've done

Gabriel wants to face his past actions, his past self, the harm he caused, his thought process behind doing so, why he thought it was justified at the time. He's disgusted by his own actions, having seen someone else inflict them on his son through him, and having suffered through being controlled and silenced himself. He wants to erase that version of himself, to let go of what he did, of who he was back then.

Put to rest What you thought of me While I clean this slate With the hands of uncertainty

I think this fits better post Reveal of the twist to Adrien, when he learns that Gabriel hasn't been in control in quite some time, recontextualizing most of his interactions with his father over the past six years. Yet, Gabriel would also own up to who he was, to what he was doing, before. Most of what Adrien thought he did, like using his amok to change his mind about things when he was tired of Adrien's rebellion, forcing him to do what he wants, are things he actually did. He can't clean the slate until that's confirmed.

But he IS trying to clean the slate, to make things right. Has been for a long time, as little as he can do. He's tried to keep Adrien safe for the past six years, as much as possible, and not add to his misery.

For what I've done I start again And whatever pain may come Today this ends I'm forgiving

What I've done I'll face myself To cross out what I've become Erase myself And let go of what I've done

Gabriel's moving forward. I don't think "forgiving" in this case means "absolving himself of the pain of his own actions", but more just not living completely in the past. Trying to make things right, to DO things right this time, however hard and painful that is. To just... be a better person than he was, to the best of his ability. He's no longer the sort of person who would mind control his son for his own convenience, or dictate who his friends are. He's seen that Adrien's far better at making those decisions than he is, and that he doesn't have the right to make them, in any case.

remember when i was beta'ing your fic and i told you my gabe would act differently than yours? now you know why!

isn't it sad that what it took for gabe to realize the horrors he's committed against adrien was lila doing the same thing? and not just to adrien, but to gabriel too?

and now he's penitent and it's too late and it's kind of all his fault. you can't feel bad for him, and he can't feel bad for himself. all gabe knows is, if he could put things right he would.

"What I've done/ I'll face myself/ To cross out what I've become/ Erase myself/ And let go of what I've done" <- i like this stanza for gabriel because that's the only way he can begin to make recompense. he's done evil things, malicious things, has been deeply selfish and short sighted and all because of a skewed sense of entitlement. how to forgive a person like that? how to forgive yourself when you've been like that?

[rickrakontoys]

The Northman (2022): 4.5/5

A Viking epic that is much more thoughtful than the violent revenge movie it was marketed as.

This is a slow burn with few action setpieces. The meat lies in the exploration of characters and their desires, particulalrly the burden of enacting violent means to a fulfill self-imposed destiny and prophecy. The plot certainly has shades of Hamlet (or rather Hamlet was inspired by the legend this movie is based on), so it can come across as a bit familiar. However, the film forges its own identity through its use of Norse mythology and Viking culture.

Prevalent are the themes of masculinity's proclivity towards violence, blind devotion to bloodlines, the role of wanton barbarism in a culture that values a death by sword highly, and the complex interrelationships between men and women in such a society. These are not explored as much as they are used to add depth to the characters and the world they inhabit.

Protagonist Amleth's quest for vengeance is not so clear cut, as it is hard to see him as heroic for all the horrors he ultimately inflicts in the name of his slain father, King Aurvandill. The film posits the choice to him early on: will he choose kindness for his kin, or hatred for his enemies? The film is an effective display of blood-soaked machismo as much as it is a deconstruction/criticism of it. Even Amleth seems to realize the terror of his transformation into a revenge monster once certain truths are revealed and deeds done.

The film is absolutely steeped in Viking lore, with imagery of Norse gods, Valkyries, and references to the deeper mythology providing painstaking historical accuracy. Various rituals are showcased, often with little to no explanation, which some viewers may find too bizarre (I loved them). Much of the more grandiose imagery provides an ethereal atmosphere, blending the realms of gods and mankind, not quite leaning entirely towards either reality or magic, but settling comfortably into a mysterious middle ground (much like Robert Egger's previous films, The Witch and The Lighthouse).

The cast is terrific all around, as expected from a Robert Eggers film. Alexander Skarsgård plays Amleth with great depth, showcasing unyielding animal brutality and vulnerability. Anya Taylor Joy isn't given quite as much to do here as Olga, a Slavic "sorceress", but her work is always top notch regardless. Nicole Kidman is biting and fierce as Queen Gudrún, Amleth's mother. Claes Bang also provides great depth and pathos to Fjölnir, Aurvandill's traitorous brother who is the object of Amleth's quest for revenge. Willem Dafoe and Bjork provide some memorable minor roles, and Ethan Hawke is impactful in his small appearance as Amleth's father King Aurvandill.

Robert Eggers once again provides impeccable historical authenticity, steeping his gorgeous shots with a mythical, mystical ambiguity. The cinematography is gorgeous, showcasing breathtaking landscapes and stunning shots of natural grandeur. The action scenes are presented with brutality, but the film never glorifies the bloodshed, instead presenting it as horrific, gory, and painful. While violence is the usual goal of a revenge story, here the it is more of a curse or burden that ultimately causes only suffering.

It is a shame this film seemed to bomb in the box-office. This will only result in film producers funding fewer original, ambitious works in favor of easy crowd-pleasing films.

There is a sequence roughly in the middle of the film that reminded me a great deal of a boss fight in Dark Souls of all things... also Conan the Barbarian.

[harper-collins]

Hello Everyone,

I come to you with news about both my mental health and the state of my writing;

First off, I probably won't be posting anything of my own for a while here. Maybe an update for a book if it happens, but not anything outrageous. It's more of a quiet one for me as I have somehow gotten to one of the worst points in my life.

I won't give too much information, but I'm currently off work and taking time for myself, and I realised I should probably do something about my writing, whether it's just finishing it off awkwardly or explaining.

I don't want to give any of my stories an unfinished ending, and I really do love them all, even if I may not be super into their respective fandoms anymore; this includes all 7 projects. (ohmygod)

I've been working on my book semi-regularly, but as it's still in the basics, I won't share anything until I've built it up more. I know I say that a lot (whether you guys hear it or not), but taking on a project the way I have done is exciting and scary.

That said, here is the list of things I will be taking from now until I decide I can either handle multiple things again or finish them.

Rewriting An Eternity To Wait

Proceeding to finish the last few chapters of An Eternity To Wait.

Finish Mission: Return Home

Finish Experiment Gone Wrong...?

Write more or finish Scar in Yandere High School (RP) (as there is only one at the moment and it's a very bare project I started on a whim)

Finish Trapped in 'Dreams'

Rewrite the rest of The Twins, The Triangle And The Magic

Finish The Twins, The Triangle And The Magic

Add or Finish Billdip Cards Against Humanity

Full focus on my book, maybe write oneshots etc

To explain, The start is simple, the least amount to do in the projects goes first (AETW, M: RH), and then finishing some long-term projects (EGW?, Scar in YHS), and then T4ATM is put essentially in the back due to the pure size of the project. I plan on it being longer than the HP books, meaning it will probably take years to complete.

I have no doubt that T4ATM will signify the end of my fanfic writing (or at least series writing). I will then focus on my book, which has its own blog. These should be primarily easy considering that I have started all of these projects, and for all, apart from like two, I have plans ready for them. All I need to do is write them.

I can't say how long this will take, and I do apologise to anyone who's been wanting an update of others etc., but I'm just so fucked that this is probably the only way I'm going to get over this heap of self-inflicted work that I want to finish.

Of course, if the entire idea of making a oneshot inspires me (this includes the oneshot series I have), then I will probably write that, but then I will go back to the list. If anything changes in the list, I will let you know.

Thanks to anyone who cared to read this; it means a lot. I hope anyone who likes my projects will wait for them to be finished or just read them as they come out, but once I get my hands on something, I will do my best to sink my teeth into it and only that instead of going around in circles.

Thanks, cya.

[suckerbluhd]

# 03*16*23

Something really sent me back today. It's hard to be one of those people stuck in high school because of all the bad shit that happened then. I never really truly accepted that I had issues with my self image until tonight. Looking at an old picture of me that I used to spend dozens of minutes a day just analyzing on my phone and thinking, " how fat!"

It was probably the lowest weight I have been from teen to now.

I know that such things have been an issue to people of all sorts, least likely cis males, but even they have these insecurities. Of course, as a cis-woman ( my gender identity is a discussion for another time) it's worse due to media. And so the extremes keep worsening, to add dysphoria to dysmorphia is straight up lethal. On an entirely different note, I was also recalling things people have told me that may have created an almost " gifted child" like syndrome within myself. I have been described as unusual in various ways by teachers and students in my past. It was always followed by " You're gonna be famous, I know it" I admit now that it has stunted me heavily as I think, maybe tomorrow I'll create the thing that will do it. But that's not how it works. My practice has been stunted due to being surrounded by people who have traumatized me. They have started to change for the better but that does not retract any of the damage they have inflicted. I wake up and talk to them like nothing happened, all for the sake of a good day ( which is rare) for everyone. Soon this cycle will end.

[josnashak69]

External motivation: the first step to opening up a new situation

People generally believe that fear is more effective than profit induction and can quickly prompt people to take action to make changes. This may sound like a reasonable explanation, but scientific research HE Tuber shows that warnings have very limited impact on behavior.

Just like a large number of diabetic patients who are advised by doctors to diet, abstain from alcohol and exercise more, they still cannot help but overeat, drink alcohol and are too lazy to exercise.

Is it a mistake for people to fail to change their behavior? Is it self-inflicted? In fact, it is human nature. Everything is always difficult at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. Abraham Lincoln also said the following:

How to change? Professor Uri Gneezy proposed in "Mixed Signals" that when people are very motivated to change, behavioral scientists usually try to introduce external incentives as the first step to break the impasse.

Just imagine, when you plan to exercise for 1 hour every day, it may be painful the first time you go to the gym, only exercise for 10 minutes, and come home sweaty and exhausted. When I woke up the next day, I was sore all over and had no fat loss at all. But if you stick to it, you can accumulate exercise practice and experience.

 The fashionable saying is to build your own "habit stock."

Working out is more enjoyable (or at least less painful) when your fitness results are clear. For example, when you lose a few pounds and your leg muscles are vaguely visible, this will make you feel better in your daily life, healthier, and better able to balance life and work.

Exercise is indeed anti-human, and researchers have also conducted incentive experiments to test their conjecture: whether providing incentives for college students to join campus gyms can encourage them to develop long-term exercise habits.

First, commit $25 to all students to go to the gym at least once during the week. Then, after the students completed the tasks and received their rewards, they were randomly divided into two groups:

Incentive group: If you go to the gym at least 8 times in the next four weeks, you will get an extra $100;

Control group: verbally encouraged to continue going to the gym, but no reward provided.

As expected, the researchers found a significant increase in gym visits in the incentive group that continued into week five (for the $100 effort).

Then the researchers stopped the incentives, and interestingly: Over the next few months, the incentive group was on average twice as likely to go to the gym. The increase in gym attendance was entirely driven by changes in people who did not go to the gym frequently before.

Experiments show that it is indeed possible to promote the formation of good habits by providing incentive compensation for a sufficient number of events.

How do we apply this principle in reality? Commit to giving yourself a little extra reward after each workout (after changing it up). Or, just as Nintendo released the game "Ring Fit Adventure" to great acclaim, by combining game rewards with exercise rewards, our rejection of fitness and the initial difficulty will be reduced a lot.

2. Commitment mechanisms and social networks: making it harder to give up

Although initial external motivation can help us develop short-term habits and get you started taking action. But in terms of long-term effects, it may not be ideal.

Just like the student fitness motivation experiment mentioned above, after extending the observation time to half a year, it was found that after a winter vacation, the exercise frequency of the students in the motivation group returned to a low level.

In order to enhance motivation and maintain habits, if possible, we can also add other psychological strategies, such as commitment mechanisms and social networks, which use social signals and self-signals to increase the cost of "giving up".

(1) Commitment mechanism

Given the issue of self-control, how do we ensure that people follow through on an incentive program? One way is to use the commitment mechanism: lock yourself into a plan that would otherwise be difficult to achieve through willpower alone.

One of the oldest examples comes from Greek mythology: sirens were dangerous creatures of the sea that lured nearby sailors with their enchanting songs. Legend has it that King Odysseus of Ithaca came up with a strategy to avert disaster: He tied himself to the mast of his ship to prevent him from being confused and jumping overboard after hearing the siren's song.

The researchers also conducted incentive experiments to verify the commitment mechanism: correcting the self-control problem of bodybuilders.

Incentive group: Subjects will receive a $10 reward for visiting the company gym three times a week. After the incentive period ends, half of the people are required to pay a deposit and promise to go to the company's gym in the next two months and not exercise for more than 14 days in a row, otherwise the deposit will be donated to charity.

Control group: no incentives.

Is the commitment mechanism effective? The answer is yes. It helps form habits and enhances their long-term effects. Two months after the initial incentive ended, the experimental group that received the commitment contract maintained half of the increase in physical activity caused by the incentive.

In business, we also often see such strategies, such as "Punch in for xx days and you can purchase for 0 yuan", "Punch in to learn vocabulary for free"...

This strategy takes advantage of loss aversion . In addition, participants experienced the power of self-signals : breaking commitments to achieve goals sends negative self-signals that indicate weakness of will and undermines self-image. On the contrary, keeping a promise sends a positive signal and shows that you are determined, thereby improving your self-image and prompting you to persist in action.

(2) Social networks

In addition to this, meeting more people who are motivated to do it will also increase your motivation.

Imagine two scenarios, both taking place on a lazy Sunday afternoon: In the first scenario, even though you promised yourself to go to the gym today, your couch feels extra comfy. Another scenario is that you're also relaxing on the couch, but suddenly you get a text from a friend saying she's on her way to the gym. You remember you and her talking about working out together. Under what circumstances are you more likely to get up from the couch?

Researchers have also conducted related motivation experiments and found that if people who are motivated to exercise have more friends who are also motivated to exercise, then the number of times they go to the gym will increase. Conversely, the more unmotivated control group friends the experimental group students had, the less often they went to the gym. People's exercise behavior seems to be heavily influenced by their friends.

Also in business, such strategies are not uncommon: WeChat Reading’s design of team reading to earn points/draw experience cards is a good combination of WeChat’s strong social advantages; the “collaboration culture” that became popular this summer also uses social partnering The plan will be carried forward - travel companionship, meal companionship, study companionship, photo-taking companionship...

This commitment to not letting your friends down exemplifies the power of social signaling. If you cancel plans with friends at the last minute, you send a signal to your friends that you are unreliable, which can hurt your social image. On the other hand, consistently keeping your promises and sticking to your plans can improve your social profile and thus inspire continued action.

[forgottenyear]

I never stop worrying about how firmly I have my feet planted on the ground. When I feel a thing, I always question if the feeling is real. I question if it could be a fragment of underdone potato.

We (and I, since I often use “we” when referring to the other parts without me) tend to store “facts,” and to regurgitate them later and without verification. We ("they") once believed, into our late teens, that that the parents built a new garage because the old one was stepped on by a giant monster like Cookie Monster. This was what we were told as a preschooler by no less an authority than our grandfather, and the subject never came up again. There was no opportunity or need to check the veracity of the “fact” until a friend asked, and this was the answer we very nearly blurted out. (The original garage was small enough to be moved and used as a shed, and the parents wanted a two-car garage that was attached to the house.)

We have also had depression for life. I am the first to break the habits of thought that cause us to worsen depression. I am the first to question what depression would have me believe about myself and my life.

I am the first to mitigate the self-inflicted portion of the chaos from depression, but also to be relatively free of the chaos of the frequent cycling of parts to front. I cannot claim active involvement with the latter change, though.

I am also the first to have enough awareness to recognize that some feelings, beyond the mishigas of depression, are not real. That if a feeling appears unrelated to what is actually going on, it may be a stray chemical imbalance (not necessarily an illness or disorder or whatever, but maybe just a one-off occurrence).

And feeling memories fit into this picture somewhere. (Not that they are insignificant, but they are not entirely pertinent to my point.)

Turning this around, I must also recognize that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. There are times when random selection will result in a run of similar feelings that are appropriate responses to their individual events, and they just happen to resemble the pattern of a stray chemical imbalance.

So, when I wrote nine posts in a row on the weekend, I did see that this resembled mania. I have no diagnosis for mania, but who knows what havoc those dastardly potatoes may wreak? In this case, I am reasonably sure it was just a run of new thoughts. There was also a reasonable chance the thoughts were the sort that occur after the edibles kick in, but I would rather sort the good from the not-so-good after the chance I would forget had passed. (Do they make edibles with underdone potatoes?) I did have good cause for worry about the stamina of my short-term memory. (Just for the record: I avoid recreational drugs, including alcohol, because I have too much trouble already. No edibles were harmed in the making of this post.)

I continue to look at this, as I add new posts to the chain of thoughts from the weekend. It is unusual for me to have the short-term memory necessary to continue a chain over several days, but I am taking them at face-value for now.

If anyone is not already convinced that am crazy, this spate of posts is unlikely to sway their opinion appreciably.