#probably why I failed to get into dimension 20

[ecto42]

I think in D&D terms the typical assumption would be that a character with a chronic illness and/or chronic pain would have a low constitution score. The reality is a lot of people like myself would probably have constitution as our biggest stat because not only are we constantly staying up while fighting our bodies, we’re generally expected to ignore our own physical needs and wellbeing in exchange for being able to get things done. For example, I have been fully in the middle of a POTS episode and had to cook myself dinner, carry multiple loads of laundry up and down the stairs, etc. Like there’s such a real thing to Ashton Greymoore having chronic pain and yet their highest stat being Constitution.

I think something people are really good at acknowledging for Ashton as well as being apparent with Taliesin is that chronic illness generally means you’re stronger than people would assume, but you also blow through your resources faster and they can be just as counterproductive as they are helpful. It’s important to note that Taliesin struggles with chronic issues like hand tremors and has other chronically disabled friends like Dani Carr.

Like personally as an AMAB person with a condition that primarily hits AFAB people particularly hard, I’ve had cardiologists tell me “If anything your heart is overly muscular.” Which like, thanks dude yeah that’s decades of anxiety and years of POTS hitting and me having to stay standing up. Like I was in marching band in high school and I was the kid basically double-time marching in giant steps every show because I was the easiest to place since I’m so tall. Then when I worked fast food I had to either maneuver through hoardes of people to get back to my station or just push through them completely. In 90+ degree weather in the summer in Alabama with an anxiety disorder and a “heart condition” that’s actually just another neurological condition. Like I spent years doing manual labor and unloading trucks and pallets while exhausted on like 3 hours of sleep. You have to develop that kind of resilience when the capitalist system reinforces a world where no matter what if you want to survive as a person straddling the poverty line you have to work your ass off.

This doesn’t even get into the kind of resiliency you have to develop as an undiagnosed neurodivergent person who’s being told by absolutely everyone for most of your life that you’re doing everything wrong. Like Adaine from Dimension 20 is such a good example of that. This is also why I love the portrayal of Ayda Aguefort so much, because she really is like me having to learn everything from books because no one else in her life can explain things the same way that a book can. That is one of those things that as a late diagnosed autistic & ADHDer it’s really hard to explain personally without getting really like tragic or depressing in conversation because it sometimes is just a matter of “I’ve effectively been abused my entire life purely because the system wasn’t built for me and I had a lot of expectations I failed to live up to.”

All of this as a way to say that neurodiversity and disability are much more interesting and heroic feeling when they are portrayed by actually neurodiverse and disabled people, as well as those who love those people enough to tell stories that include them. I think TRRPGs and RPGs in general are a great way to explore this. Often times when we see disabled people in shows or movies that revolve around their disability there is a lack of agency, whereas often times with TTRPGs you have to create your own agency in the first place.

[hetazoeylia]

Hetalia Characters Playing Minecraft

Italy

- plays on peaceful. he's TERRIFIED of hostile mobs

- his fav biome is the flower forest. he always tries to build there bc he thinks it looks pretty

- has a fully organised 10x10 storage room, with item frames for every chest and everything. not automatic tho

- he has a pet cat named Carbonara

Germany

- probably built a tiny hut in the mountains. it's a pain to get up and down and he kinda regrets it now

- has a pet dog. he actually takes it on walks sometimes

- "why would i fight the dragon?"

- he actually likes wandering traders

- likes making redstone stuff. most of his farms are automatic

Japan

- he has like 20 bases that he travels between through the nether

- builds nicer houses for the villagers

- he just likes building in general

- always has the worst luck finding diamonds. he could mine through 7 iron pickaxes at y -58 and still not find any

- trying to get every achievement in the game (he can actually do it)

America

- pure chaos

- doesn't even have a base, he just moves from place to place and sets things on fire

- tried to get a pet creeper, which ended very badly. anyway, he's now trying to befriend a guardian

- "enchantments?? pfft, who needs those?"

- thinks the warden is easy to kill, also died to it like 15 times

- he names every mob he sees. his current favourite is a cow he calls Jim and he accidentally transported to the nether

- leaves trees mid-air

- trying to get every achievement in the game (he absolutely won't do it)

Canada

- probably gets the worst seeds ever

- he built a village for his base but he doesn't want to kidnap villagers and bring them there, so it's kinda empty

- his most common death is probably something like getting suffocated by gravel

- he really likes endermen but he doesn't wanna go to the end bc he'd feel bad to bother them at their home dimension

- really enjoys fishing

England

- doesn't build farms, he just steals crops from villages

- went to the nether once and got killed by a piglin. he refuses to ever go there again now

- actually likes the illagers

- loves enchanting. he probably has a book for every enchantment in the game

- tries VERY hard to be a good builder, fails miserably

- has a pink pet sheep he named Mr Wilson

France

- definitely prefers pretty farms over efficient farms

- wants to take over a woodland mansion

- may or may not switch to peaceful when he has half a heart left

- absolutely loves armour trims

- digs straight down, dies, gets confused, repeat

- he thinks the warden is hot

China

- built a huge base, he constantly expands on it actually

- probably made golden tools / armour at least once

- he doesn't understand how to spawn the wither, but still somehow makes better redstone contraptions than Germany

- has a pet panda that he built an entire bamboo mansion for

- tries to get max trades with every villager, insists none of them are useless

- regularly dies to desert / jungle temple traps

Russia

- loves the snow biomes, he always builds there and says they feel like home

- kills iron golems for early game iron

- probably built a really tall evil looking tower and decorated it with flower pots and pink wood inside

- he didn't kill the ender dragon and actually bridged through 1k blocks of air to get to the other end islands

- he hates acacia wood with a burning passion

[fromankyra]

tag game! got tagged by @venndaai thank you so much!

favorite colour: it's been orange for a while now, and it probably always going to be close to my heart, but recently I've been wearing a lot of really bright green as well and it looks *so good* on me

last song: I'm on my commute right now and listening to the album Bourdon by Topette!! cause they announced a tenth anniversary tour and I'm really excited ^_^ Before getting tagged the last song on my music app was Le Temps De Vivre by Boris Vian but the song that was stuck in my head this morning was Laid in Blood by the Mechanisms

last movie: it has been a while since I watched any, but I think the last one was whedon's much ado about nothing. It was, kinda disappointing, honestly, it hasn't held up super well since I got to know the play a lot better

currently reading: mostly fanfic, my brain hasn't really had space for more because of phd reasons. I kinda wanna start in the hugo packet, and Starter Villain should be pretty easy reading

currently watching: Leverage with @sersorrel , Dimension 20 on my own (Fantasy High Sophomore yr) and dr who along with basically everyone I know

currently craving: a really good cup of coffy. Kinda considering whether i can afford to go to the Nice Cafe to do some marking this afternoon

tea or coffee: ... Actually both. Why would I ever choose?? Tea is for first thing in the morning or in the evening, coffee is a wonderful process to either make or look at, and an espresso after a big meal is genuinely perfect, I love it all.

I'm supposed to tag people I wanna know better or catch up with, so let's do one of each: @vulturesrottencorpse @failed-human-being

[grayintogreen]

@spoondrifts did a general catch-all for anyone who wants to do this meme and I’m failing at life SO BOOM. FACTS.

Last Song: “King of Sin” from Leap of Faith which was hours ago judging by my post about it, which is probably why I’ve sucked at writing today. I didn’t have my earbuds in. Rookie mistake.

Favorite Color: It changes depending on what character I’m currently basing my entire vibe off of, but in general I tend to love a lot of characters associated with red or green so I’ve just decided I’m drawn to those colors specifically.

Watching: Aside from Critical Role and Dimension 20 every week, nothing. My brain is like NO. CLOSED FOR BUSINESS. NO NEW MEDIA. FUCK OFF.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: it’s about the savory for me, but I love savory things with a little jalapeño kick.

Relationship Status: Aromantic Asexual who wants none of that, no thank you.

Current Obsession: Sorry about the Hazbin Hotel spam. In my defense, Bleach TYBW still isn’t back and I was left unsupervised.

Last Thing I Googled: I wish I had a fun answer for this but the last thing I googled was Devexian because I needed to bring up his wiki page for some fact checking for YCDHN.

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS. Because I’m a baby bitch who thinks pinging people for silly reasons will get me shot.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Hi! I have a few points about dates and such, so I'll just get to it:

- Miles' quiz says Decembruary 2, 2018 (but a poster later in the film says December, so that's just him playing dumb in front of his teacher).

- Jeff says Miles has been at the school for two weeks when he drops him off at the start.

- If you count the days as the movie progresses, it's about 6-7 days. There might be a few unseen days between Peter's body being found and his funeral, but if we assume he's buried immediately after, it takes place in about one week.

-The security cameras when Spot tries to steal the ATM seem to say it's July 2023. Consistency!

Anyway, the date on the quiz plus the fact that the film was released in December 2018 makes me think it also takes place then.

Thanks for your notes! I have some things to point.

I actually knew about the Decembruary detail! I watched the ITSV video from CinemaWins.

Actually, what Jeff says is that Miles needs to give it at least 2 weeks, not that he has been there for that long.

The week reference is interesting! Thanks.

Huh, I didn't notice that detail previously.

Now, with these details out of the way, what we can say?

I was right on the money about the creators not paying too much attention to dates. My original theory was that they avoided putting anything too concrete to don't run into timeline problems.

Is good to keep in mind that both the test (Miles could have easily put the wrong year too, considering he put Decembruary;) and the Security Camera are all little details that aren't really relevant to the plot; like this isn't an "if we don't do this before X date the world ends. I consider Miles Saying "And for the past year and four months" heavier proof of the time passed that what the security camera and the test had written on aren't as valuable as that. After all, if this ITSV happened on December 2018 but ATSV was on July 2023, that would mean it has been over almost 5 years for them, which has obviously not been the case.

So with the pieces of this new puzzle, what do we end up with?

New Dates

If we weigh the test Miles failed on Purpose vs the Security Camera, I think believing the Security camera makes more sense. Miles putting 2018 on a test that already says Decembruary can easily be chalked to him wanting to mess up even more.

If it has been a year and four months since he became Spiderman, and in July in ATSV, this would mean that Into the Spiderverse is happening around March.

This would mean Miles having this birthday fall between March and July, and Gwen's possible Birthday months to move from June to October.

If we continue to go with my theory of the outfits they use in the movie can count as a measurement of time, I would say March and June are very likely.

Headcanon dates for the new timeline

While I may or may not go with these dates in future stories (Which I will explain my reasoning later for those who like my fic writing.) I thought it would be fun to give some new headcanons to these dates.

Since the anomaly situation hasn't been done, my alternative number for Miles would be 24. Why 24? Because the number 42 plays a big role in his life (is the number which he won the "lottery," his spider is from that dimension, and is seen around in ITSV a lot too.) And since 42 can't be a date, 24 it is.

For Gwen, I thought it would be fun that since her universe is 65, and the month of June seems like a good lead, her birthday could be June 5 (since 06/05) I know this means there isn't an example of 15 months of difference between them, however, I think everybody goes more with the month than the exact day for these things.

I have a cousin who is roughly, 20 days older than me, but we always said "a month" while mentioned in passing because why bother with semantics.

Will I ignore this in my writing? Probably

Now, this next section is mostly there for those who like my writing, since usually, the headcanons I have here tend to translate into my works.

I will probably go with my original dates.

Here is my situation; I could believe Miles is in school in July because of the alternative universe (it seems traditionally it ends in June.) I could believe they use fluffy jackets in July because, in Miles' universe, July is colder than our own; heck I was joking with my partner that Miles probably didn't have coronavirus in his universe and the reactions to other spideys who dealt with that,

What I can't deal with, is Miles starting school in March.

While students can move to other schools all year around, the fact that the lottery part is mentioned as well as the test, makes me think this has to be at a reasonable timeline for the school year. After all, why they would host a lottery for a student when the school year ends in four months? Why Rio and Jeff would try to make Miles change school if nothing prompt them to?

Granted, this could be explained with the school year working differently, maybe they start in January, and is still early enough to do this, or start in March.

However, I disqualified the December bit (which I also discard because NO ONE HAS A STUDENT START CLASSES JUST BEFORE WINTER BREAK UNLESS THEY ARE MOVING OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.) I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to put imagine it was in December just because.

Again, this is not an important detail. Gwen's dad is different between ITSV and ATSV, as well as the fact that the situation and Peter's look are different.

(You could make the case it looks like this because Miles is imagining everything instead of being a faithful adaption. However, I firmly believe they didn't put too much time into it or stick with those concepts because it wasn't necessary. Also, this will mean Peter B maybe wasn't eating pizza instead of pushups, and I will NOT give up that.)

Why not have a different way the calendar works? Too many details to keep track of, and fics are supposed to be fun; I will not try to bend backward my writing to adhere to the canon if is not enjoyable.

Is not the only time I do this, Noir should be around 19 because of comics and stuff, but if you think I will give up the idea that Noir is in his 40s, you are dead wrong.

This part will be edited into the original post (since people don't tend to reblog reblogs, I prefer people will have the chance to see the corrections.) And queue for tomorrow so more people can see it.

Also, I made a mistake in my original post, I said Gwen's Birthday would be in June, when in reality it should May, sorry for the confusion!

If you read all the way, thank you for your patience! I know this is long.

[dukhlontales]

Resource Pacing: The Martial vs Caster Problem In D&D

The differences between martial classes and spellcaster classes in D&D have been talked to death, but there’s an aspect of this problem that doesn’t comes up nearly as often as it should, and is a crucial point of ttrpg design in my opinion. Martials and casters tend to have resources that regenerate at different paces.

People constantly talk about the versatility of spellcasters: how they have a spell for every combat, social, and environmental challenge. People constantly talk about how it is boring as a martial to “move and attack” over and over and over and over. These are valid points. The latter rings true far more for me personally because I can’t stand not making interesting decisions. If I’m not making choices that matter in a roleplaying game, I may as well just roleplay while playing Snakes and Ladders.

But the biggest issue for me in terms of feeling outshined as a martial character is that I don’t get my fair share of resources. Let’s talk about Long Rests, Short Rests, and why the division of resources in D&D5e sets martials up to fail.

The most important resource for spellcasters is undoubtedly spell slots. They let spellcasters cast their best spells! Martials tend to rely on a variety of resources, almost all of which have names unique to the flavour of the class: action surge, second wind, ki points, rage, etc. HP is also pretty relevant. The problem here is most resources that martials care about regenerate on Short Rests (and Long Rests), while the resource that casters would sell their soul for regenerates on Long Rests.

Now, while I don’t like many aspects regarding D&D5e’s design (and I’m writing about this for that very reason), I’d be lying if I said the game wasn’t designed around this. It is! You should get 1-2 Short Rests for every Long Rest. The game assumes your sessions will be paced as such, so everyone gets to use their resources to a fair extent. The game does not assume that you’ll have one combat encounter per Long Rest.

Unfortunately for the game, that’s extremely common. Unless you’re in a dungeon or some kind of fighting area, you probably have combat interspersed with all kinds of social interactions and exploration. While the game gives next to no rules to support those explicitly important pillars of play (combat is clearly the youngest child, social encounters are the eldest, and exploration is the middle child that WOTC feeds once a week), people LOVE them. I have a great time roleplaying in combat, but I’ll be damned if roleplaying in social encounters and exploration isn’t more fun.

Actual play shows really help bolster this sentiment. I doubt many people watch Critical Role or Dimension 20 for the strategy involved in their combat encounters. The roleplaying is the draw of content like this. And it’s good. But I wouldn’t watch either if it was consistently five or more consecutive combats. People like specifically roleplaying more and more.

The resource issue in D&D5e is that martials don’t get the resources that the game expects to give them. If I’m the fighter in our one combat, I get to action surge and second wind. Maybe my subclass has a couple more resources to burn, but those are assumably balanced against subclasses that don’t. The casters get to dump all their spell slots! It’s no wonder I feel useless!

Even if I’m level five and can attack four whole times in a turn, the wizard gets to follow up their fireball with another fireball, and then scorching ray after scorching ray. My turns after that action surge are me attacking twice. I’m not just bored by the lack of interesting options. I’m being robbed of features that should make my class feel powerful.

There are a couple solutions to this issue that can get these resources back on track. You can use the “gritty realism” optional rules to restrict Long Rests. And that does work. But if you’re only having one big fight for several sessions, it’s going to feel pretty bad as a caster to have your spell slots from the last mini boss still be missing. You can also just run more combat! Play the game in a way it’s designed for that you specifically don’t enjoy. That one isn’t exactly an option. Of course, if you’re already enjoying having lots of combat and this isn’t an issue, you’re someone who D&D5e was actually designed for. That’s pretty cool.

In terms of ttrpg design though, there’s a glaringly obvious lesson to be learned here. Don’t pace resources differently for different characters! Imagine a world where the fighter gets three action surges per Long Rest. Or a world where casters get one spell slot for each level per Short Rest. A party of diversely powerful characters could rest on the same schedule!

Ironically, D&D4e already did this. But while many people disliked that edition, and it certainly has its own problems, there is much to learn from D&D4e. This is just one of them. And it’s a lesson worth learning.

In Dukhlon Tales, the ttrpg I’m designing, all characters have their resources on the same schedule. Some resources are akin to regenerating on Long Rests, and some are akin to regenerating on Short Rests, but all characters use both sets all the same. In my games with my friends, I’ve never worried about someone outshining someone else because I didn’t pace enough fights into a session. I can run as many, or as few, combats as the story we are telling requires. I don’t see why I’d want to run a system where that is an issue.

[ghnosis]

getting a PhD in Ghost 1: prehD

I keep getting questions so here’s my life thus far! getting a PhD is a long road, so I’d like to break this into sections. I’ll edit this post with links to the rest of em as I write em

ACADEMIC HISTORY:

4 years BA in Music Industry, fail out of that college a semester before graduation bc I got mono and then became extremely depressed! being 20 is hell!

3ish years combined MA/BA program in Gender & Sexuality Studies - an MA is not always required for a PhD, but it helped in my case. I am in the US and I am getting my PhD from a school in the UK, which has different admission guidelines

gap years to live life, get a full-time job, and assess future goals/research directions/identify WITH WHOMST I wanted to do my PhD, and on what. you have to come into the PhD application with a pretty solid idea of what you want to study, how, where, with who, and why it matters!

THE PhD ITSELF: GETTING IN

December 2020: attend information sessions about the university and PhD process specific to that uni

January 2021: submit an Expression of Interest, a form provided by my uni with all the basic info you’d expect as well as: 

research themes

where I planned to get funding

outline of my research (proposed title, proposed research question, subject area, aims, objectives, historical, contemporary, and theoretical context, proposed methodology, ethical dimensions of research, indicative bibliography, supplementary evidence, academic qualifications and other relevant experience)

January 2021: heard back from my thesis advisors on feedback on the EoI. again, the EoI is specific to my school

January 2021: submitted formal application - the EoI was a (very useful) pre-step there specific to my uni. the formal app included: 

3 letters of recommendation

my transcripts

same sort of project-specific info as the EoI, but fleshed out bc I’d worked with my advisors at that point

March 2021: invited to interview. for my interview, I needed to prepare a presentation covering: 

my research question

how my project makes a contribution to knowledge (this is what a PhD is. brand new information.)

the broader context of the project

the methodology

the impact/importance of the research (aka why does someone else care)

April 2021: offered a place to study with the university but did NOT get a scholarship lololololol

April-July 2021: bureaucratic hell! this probably won’t happen to you but it happened to me so I’m documenting it!

July 2021: officially put a deposit down and registered

September 2021: officially began program

part 2 of this post will be explaining a lot of the academic terms I used in this and also the milestones specific to my school. feel free to ask me questions though my case is quite unique in some ways!

[pseudonymousposting]

Just use the word from before. You don't really need to worry about having a different word for everything unless the difference serves a purpose.

If your story is first person or primarily follows a specific POV or is told by a specific narrator, wouldn't it make sense that the storyteller is not a walking dictionary?

When people speak, they tend to have patterns anyway, and you don't notice them unless you're looking for it. I can refer to Hbomberguy's bit in his plagiarism video where he mentions that an AI asked to write a segment in his style uses the words, "buckle up." This points to how he uses that phrase often.

He jokes that this is because he's bad at writing. I beg to differ. The consistent use is really fucking good, actually, and I hope he doesn't correct for it in the future.

The pattern, when used specifically by him, has certain implications that will prompt a fan of his videos to notice when he is making a salient point integral to the theme he is conveying throughout the entire video. You also know that the example he is about to use is probably pretty goddamn funny, or notable, or egregious. Maybe you noticed that before. Maybe. If you've watched all of his videos, like twice each, at least.

If you're a fan of Dimension 20, it's quite likely you know all the words Brennan Lee Mulligan uses ALL the time.

Rad

INcredible

Hell yeah

All are little communicators from him as a DM. They're used so often, even casual watchers meme about it. Also Matt Mercer saying "how do you want to do this." Also make note, if Brennan Lee Mulligan starts monologuing with a question, brace yourself.

The use of these common, consistent, repetitive phrases actually communicates more. It would be ridiculous if Brennan Lee Mulligan got shy about using the same term and clumsily said "inferno affirmative," or something. Unless he was purposely doing it as a clunky bit just for laughs, and even then, doing it unprompted would just get a blank stare at this point. The repetition has a benefit, not a deficit.

Your peerless vocabulary is not the most important component of your craft. Your story is. Care less about finding a million different words to say the same thing, and focus more on saying what you need to say. Story good, not word good.

When people read a story, they might say "the plot was well constructed." Or, "the suspense kept me on my seat." Or, "I laughed so hard."

You know what they won't say? "There's was a nice diversity of words there. The writer did a good job of making sure they didn't use a word twice on a given page." I'd argue that if that's what a reader notices, the writer failed to craft a good story.

Complimenting a person on their extensive vocabulary is more a thing an adult does for a 'gifted' child. It's better to write an excellent narrative at a 3rd grade reading level than to write a bad story at a collegiate level.

Hell, it's better to write a good story at a 3rd grade level than it is to even write an amazing story at a collegiate level. You're communicating. Make sure you are doing so effectively first and foremost. Everything else is just fluff.

This falls in line with the thing where people will try to cap off quotes with unnecessary modifiers where "said" does just fine and is almost invisible. Y'know, the ol' "'snape!' Slughorn ejaculated." Why say many words when few words do trick, eh?

Not to say finding the right synonym isn't useful. Sometimes, a synonym carries specific implications or a slightly different meaning more suited to that particular use case. In this case, that synonym might actually be a better fit to serve your purpose.

Alternatively, it's possible the character could be more likely to use that word over another for any particular reason. It can speak to who they are in a way that can help you avoid a little exposition here and there. Hell, using outdated terms might do the same.

For example, a now deceased man who was an instructor before I flunked out of college, who was nearly 90 years old. I think he sometimes used stories from his career to try and provide a point without giving answers.

He started one such story with "there was this guy I worked with a long time ago. He was uh ambidextrous, yknow what I mean? Uhh, he was a switch-hitter or a uhh..a bisexual..."

I'm not gonna lie, I was fucking awestruck at the term "switch-hitter," referencing bisexuality. That term instantly made me a patriot for about two weeks. I'd never heard anything more apple-pie, bald eagle with a single tear, and inside the tear, you can see the twin towers, Ole Glory waving proudly in the background with fireworks bursting over the top motherfuckin AMERICA than "switch-hitter" meaning "bisexual" holy shit.

Anyway, shortening things, I flunked out, met my abuser, and fled town because I just couldn't live in the same town as them anymore. He called to check on me.

He told me he keyed in that something was wrong and felt the need to check in. He believed my story. He said a lot that helped me with my recovery.

Part of my story involved the fact that I'm trans, as queer relationship dynamics were, like, central to the abuse. Interestingly, unlike many people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, this man pushing his 90s understood every single damn word of what I was saying.

I bring up this story because of the synonyms he uses and how we can think about their use in context. My mind trails back to the term "switch hitter," a 1960s slang term for bisexual used right after "Ambidextrous," an earlier term. Of course, the man immediately understood all this queer mumbo-jumbo I was saying and didn't flinch even a little about my being trans.

However, its use from a 90-year-old right after "ambidextrous" tells an entirely different story. It drops a hint that this guy may have been, at the very least, accepting of people who were involved in the gay rights movement during the time.

Desperately seeking a synonym for "bisexual" might yield you to terms which are today potentially offensive or harmful, but before the 1970s were descriptors that bisexuals would sometimes use to describe themselves. So, depending on who uses that term, it could be harmful, or it could be someone who fought against that harm long before that term ever had potential negative implications.

Also, note how many times I just said, "bisexual?" Did it feel repetitive? Probably not.

If the use of the synonym serves no purpose other than feeling like you need to use a different word, consider, "Why am I really looking for a synonym, here?" If it doesn't serve a specific purpose, then feel free to just use whatever word makes sense. If it matters for one reason or another, use that. Just use what works. This ain't a vocabulary test. You don't need to impress your middle school English teacher anymore. You're free.

[insaneloner27]

Reflecting on the energy called women on Navami

The way I see it, females have kept pushing the boundaries, they have kept claiming the space, many got martyred and do get the burnt of it while in the process. but it's the energy that never stops. It's heartfelt to realize that

There are thousand reasons to die and then for women there are some extra just because they are women, they married on their own, they cheated, they were caught alone, they became victim to some sexually frustrated being who does not know how to deal with his own demon, they said "no" and someone's ego were hurt.

Women just for once want to own their body, they don't want it to be owned by their family, their husband, in-laws and their communities.

Women mostly wants a little attention and a little care, they want to see that you deserve to have them. They know what you are after and they want to trade it with romance. We fail them because we are too obsessed with ourselves.

That's why men often loses their true love, by the time they realize it's already too late. But let's not digress.

We have come a long way, That's why people above 40 sees women plight a lil too much. they compare the women status 20-30-40 year old and think that women condition back then was so so worse, now it's like million times better , what the hell now they(women) are crying for.

They do not realize the standards keep changing and its ever growing struggle, there is no origin to it as from what point it started, its just there to continue without end point. And when you detach yourself from the situation you can realize how beautiful and poetic it is.

People see semi-nude women dancing on social media and think is this the freedom they are asking for. Remember kid "True freedom is where you can make bad choices". A lot good has come from bad choices and error. Our evolution is due to error in copy of DNA from ancestors itself.

There is a natural progression of human mind, while young and teenage it's rebellious and goes against the norms, it pushes and pushes and then later on it settles down, it stops reasoning and makes a choice which it think is good or better. You need to think at what stage you are and the person you are judging at what stage they are.

Last night I saw a borderline ugly girl with an attractive dress, probably from lower middle class, she was heavily limping, clearly she was physically handicapped, she was out there with other girls maybe cousin, maybe friends. I cannot say how beautiful it was. she was claiming the space. Everyone who was looking at her was unknowingly agreeing to not only her existence but to her energy to push forward.

Oh! and I have still not understood the women and their love for dresses!!

I think this rant might sound weird compared to rest of my posts, but then a person is not in a single dimension.

For today I will acknowledge and appreciate the women around me and by extension women in general.

Since tomorrow and afterwards it will be imprinted somewhere until I reflect back again.

[rythemic-journey]

I wish

I opened the journalising app in my phone today and it asked me to reflect over a feeling I had recently. It brought me back to a moment-

I had started reading a book and remembered why I was so into reading at one point. I do regret getting out of that habit but we grow and with that I guess, grows our priorities. 13 year old me had the priorities set down to the T and back then they were of finishing all the Roald dahl books. As puberty hit I got into romance fantasy genres. That felt so so fascinating, I felt like I was transported to another realm altogether. The perfect blend of my imagination and my hope. 

Still very much being engrossed in that genre I wonder when this fascination first started. Maybe from the tales I relentlessly read at an age my mind shouldn’t be comprehending it, or maybe it was from the ‘fantasy’ I made up in my dreams. I had an entire world in my dreams and naturally so I wished nothing but to sleep and live in it. Somewhere I have entire control. Somewhere with not a single soul to judge. I truly believed I was a princess or a fairy- even asked my mom to open the windows when my wings will sprout from the ‘dents’ in my lower back.

Comes age 16 and all the insecurities. All the thoughts of being a princess or a fairy were deeply hidden, probably discarded, under layers of my anxiety. I cried wishing to be back to the age of 10 when I felt I was perfect, like I could accomplish anything- hell I believed I could be an astronaut and a model altogether. 

The onset of anxiety changed my dreams, they were now filled with stress and me constantly running from something, what it was I’m still unsure of. I hated every being of myself, I wished to be someone else, I wished to be in another reality, in another dimension. 

I wouldn’t say I was in depression, with god���s grace I always had my family’s love and had the best friends. Still I felt lonely. And from that age I feel stemmed my under confidence- “ I can never do this, I’ll fail at it, no everyone is better than me, I can’t be better than them”

Now that I’m 20 and graduated my college with high grades, I wish I could go back and talk to others more. I wish I could participate in events more. I wish I had developed more hobbies. I wish I had tried for leadership positions. I wish I had trusted myself more. I wish I had stopped thinking about what people think because truly no one gives a damn. I wish someone reading this would know how great of a power is in the words we articulate through speech or text.

No more now, I still can change that, I still can reverse all that, I can again get into hobbies, I can still overcome my fears, I can stop caring about how I look or how others feel, I can again not give a damn myself. I wish I will be able to believe all this one day

I wish.

[amethysttribble]

I simply Do Not Understand people who don’t like Critical Role’s pacing. I mean, I do understand, on an intellectual level, but the rest of me simply doesn’t get it. Maybe it’s my love for and dedication to stupid long anime, but… the fun of CR is that it’s long and meandering and messy

I’m there to watch a live streamed dnd campaign. I don’t want the rules litigation and the mechanics questions and the side conversations cut. It’s a live dnd game, I want to watch people play dnd, which is like that, it makes it feel real. That’s the experience I came for, if I wanted all that cut, I wouldn’t be watching a live streamed dnd campaign, I’d go watch a tv show. A 12 episodes, no filler tv show at that, lol

It’s about understanding the medium and engaging with it that way. I got into CR knowing that the episodes were long and liable to be slow in places; my expectations were set accordingly. And when I see folks saying they wish CR was more streamlined, all I can think is… I’m not sure you actually like/want to watch Critical Role

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

God. I just finished watching the first spiderverse movie and ATSV really makes you forget that ITSV was just as perfect and amazing and flawless and every other good adjective I can think of (although ITSV has way fewer flashing logos at the start which was good for my beady little eyes).

It's almost 2 hours long (a little shorter than ATSV) but it really doesn't feel like it. But I think the pace is a bit different too?

In ITSV, everything is happening so quickly that if you asked me how long the movie was without letting me look it up, I'd probably say about 90 minutes. It's a super easy watch and the plot is brisk enough that it introduces 5 new Spider people (and Aunt May), gives us their backstories, and gets us emotionally invested in their lives WHILE ALSO developing Miles' coming of age story and his development into his dimension's Spiderman without the story feeling bloated or rushed. It's really impressive.

ATSV on the other hand, has pacing similar to a Breaking Bad episode where everything just keeps building and building and while it never feels like it's dragging or becoming boring, you can feel the length. The last 20-30 minutes of ATSV, I was dreading the ending because I knew we'd been watching this movie for a while and that the cliffhanger was coming up and I just wanted to keep watching this awesome movie!!!

ATSV feels like a movie that's almost 2 and a half hours long while ITSV feels like you're watching an episode of a TV show or reading a comic book (Imagine that!).

And it's so funny because ATSV is such a piece of fucking art that it made me forget that ITSV was just as groundbreaking and that it was also one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.

Also, and this is kind of off-topic, but I like that the Spiderverse movies are breaking away from this nepo-baby adjacent Spiderman that works for a big strong super hero organization and is a billionaire's successor that we're getting with Disney's Spiderman movies. Don't get me wrong, I saw the first 2 movies and thought they were pretty fun (forgettable, but fun), but Spiderman in those movies just... isn't Spiderman!

Spiderman is a normal person, that's kinda the point. While he can be a gifted student (or artist or inventor etc), he's still a middle class kid who fell into his powers. He can only do so much while having school, a job, bills, and all of his relationships to maintain. That's why Spiderman's civilian life is such a freaking mess! Well, that and I am of the opinion Spiderman is a metaphor for ADHD but I have a comic planned to explore that.

He's a vigilante, yes, but he's not like the Batmans of the world where he just bought himself a superhero identity (not necessarily ragging on Batman. I like him too).

He's a superhero for the people. Not only does he stop the occasional Green Goblin or Doc Ock, but he also helps with muggings, corner store robberies, little shit that big heroes like Iron Man, Hulk, and the like can't be bothered with. I bet if you asked Spiderman for help after you locked yourself out of your apratment, he'd find a way to get you back in because that's who he is!!

Spiderman Homecoming making a working class man who was fucked over by Stark Industries the villain feels so against the idea of Spiderman. And then Far From Home has Mysterio go from a failed actor and Hollywood illusionist turned criminal to an employee of Stark industries who has his work taken from him, literally named BARF by Stark, and is then fired. Say all you want about intellectual property rights and whether Stark legally stole this man's life's work, but the point is this series made several intentional changes to these villains that demonize the working class and glorify Stark (who is vindicated by the narrative of the overarching MCU and the Tom Holland trilogy).

Why are the working class the enemy? Spiderman is the working class!

ATSV having a super secret Spider-government that borders on being a totalitarian nightmare is much more Spiderman's speed.

Spiderman can't go at it alone, that's made clear in several of the movies and even the Spiderverse series itself ("You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"). But Spiderman doesn't need expensive equipment or the power of a government-like entity. He just needs his loved ones whether they be other Spiderpeople or the people living around him.

I just can't get over these movies man.

[kissbentennyson]

Can you write a part 2 of wasteland, Baby. I really liked the first part.

Of course, I've been trying to but i had almost no motivation to work on it until I got this ask. Thank you so much.

Wasteland, Baby!

Ben Prime x reader | Mad Ben x Alternate dimension! Reader

“I want to help, in whatever way I can. Whether that's helping you fix the power watches or helping free my people from their chains. I failed them once, I can’t do it again.” A look of pride fills Ben Prime’s expression, like he’d just watched his kid take their first steps. He leans forward, patting your shoulder lightly before rubbing it, as a silent gesture of reassurance.

“I’m not sure at the moment, but just having someone on the inside- on our side- helps. Is there any way you could go in and get any other information?” You bite your lip.

“Well… If you had ended up closer and this conversation was 20 minutes shorter, then maybe. I’ve been out for too long.” You look over your shoulder at the mines in the distance, his tower even farther than that, and you know that by now he’s probably pacing around- or already sent out a squad to look for you. “I wasn’t supposed to be out today- earlier today I mean. He’s extremely protective over me, and had wanted me to stay with him in the tower all of today.”

“Why?” the squeaky voice of 23 cuts through yours, and you feel your face warm. That’s not something you want to reveal to a 13 year old, or the other two strangers.

“That’s not the point. What is- is that I went against that, snuck out, then didn’t go back to the tower like he told me to- so he put me under a ‘new order’ as he calls it.” You look down at the sand below your feet as thoughts swirl between both of their eyes. Ben Prime leans down, and you look at him through your lashes.

“What is this ‘new order’?”

“I’m not allowed to leave his sight, and as he said-” you lower your voice and mimic his accent. “Even if I have to chain you to the bedroom wall.” Choking out a light laugh and trying to turn it into a joke- but it only breeds concern. “If I go back now, he actually might, or worse. He loves me, but he isn’t kind.”

“Seems right to me, putting a curfew of sorts onto his property.” Was followed by a small giggle, received with a glare from your lover's Prime counterpart.

“Quiet Psychobos.” He returns his gaze to you. “That isn’t love then, you aren’t an object. He doesn't own you.” There's a firmness to his voice. You look out at the wasteland of sand and rubble, beyond that is a kingdom of mines, and even farther is a ruthless plain where gangs roam free to kill and destroy whenever they feel like it.

“That’s lovely, really, but I don’t think your kind of love can exist out here.” It leaves you tired and worn.

“Well, I think it could.” He says with so much conviction. His green eyes locked on you, a gentle fondness behind them.

You had spent the whole night picking parts left over from the stolen truck, as instructed by Psychobos. The sun rose, and even with your pleasant company, you could feel the warlord whom you reside under anger rise with the sun. A few hours before the sun was at its highest, the Omnitrixes? Omnitrises? Where finished. The two counterparts look down at their watches, completely skeptical.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Is said in perfect unison.

“Quite safe, though I use the term extremely loosely!” There was a lot of enthusiasm in his voice, and you cringed, giving the boys in front of you a fearful look.

“Then let's hope our Omnitrix-ei…” “Omnitreses.” the younger Ben corrects, earning a slightly annoyed look from Prime. “Yeah, Omnitrixia… Omnitrixum? Lets just home the watches can get us out of here. Here comes Humungousaur.” He looks down at his power watch raising his hand, and you get more nervous, backing up to avoid an outburst. You’ve accidentally ended up on the receiving end of a few blows from your lover… no need to get it from these two.

He flips through the options before pressing down, there's a flash- but nothing happens to Prime- instead, you watch as 23 transforms into one of the big guns. An alien you’ve only ever seen used when a rival gang attacked. “Yeah, Check it! I’m Dinomighty!” The smoothie hut splits in half as he stands up, and you jerk back to avoid the rubble. “Hey! Careful!” Prime scrambles to his feet. “Quick Dinomighty- get us out of these chains.”

23 crosses his arms, a smug grin growing. “Who do you two shorties think you’re ordering around?” The two of you give each other an exhausted look of annoyance, having already spent the whole night dealing with the whiny 13 year old. Prime looks back up at his altar. “Just do it.” Reluctantly, 23 lifts the other two up by the chain that binds them- and snaps it, freeing them. Psychobos is the first to speak.

“Liberation at last! Now if you Gentlemen and...” He looks at you, but doesn't bother to address you. “Will excuse me!” Then scuttles off.

“Hey!” The younger Ben tries to follow the mad doctor, and you try to approach Ben Prime. “You should see if this goes both ways.” “Right- Hey! Just let him go! Change me into Humungousaur.” 23 reached for the symbol on his chest, turning the dial before locking on. A bright flash of green takes you off guard as his height and mass more than triples. “Oh dang, you’re Orbit Man.” His voice reeks of his intentions not to share the same alien as his counterpart. “Gravattack- That’s not who I asked for. You did this on purpose.”

The younger Ben crosses his arms with a bright smile. “You can’t prove it.” Ben Prime groans in annoyance as his younger version continues on. “You know, I’ve been thinking about which combo transformation might get us back out of here-” As he turns, Prime slams his hand onto his Omnitrix symbol, causing 23 to detransform. He lands on his backside, immediately pressing his own power watch. With a flash of bright green, prime has returned to his normal body.

“What did I say?” “Yeah! Yeah! Zero tolerance for alternate dimension warlord us’.” “That's probably the lesson your Asmuth wanted me to teach you.” Ben 23 looks back over at the two of you, lips pressed flat in an unamused expression. “Whatever, you only want to do it because a cutie who looks like your babe asked you to.” Primes face flushes a bit. “No- Not entirely. I mean, let’s just go do it. C’mon.” You feel your own face warm as you pull your hood back up. Prime walks towards the mines with a red-ish face as 23 gets up and joins you.

“That is the reason.” he whispers as the two of you begin to follow prime, you having to stifle your laugh.

-

In the mine, a slave collapses to the ground from exhaustion and dehydration. Pacmar slides down deeper into the mine with a bucket full of water, jokingly offering it out to the close to dead miner. Almost an hourly occurrence in the mines, nothing but cruelty from all superiors. “Customers who can pay.”

“Please…”

“Give him a drink.” The voice of Ben Prime booms over the entire mine. “He said please.” “And while you’re at it, any chance of getting me a smoothie?” Pacmar’s scream rings out as he runs off in fear and tripping over his own feet, just like before. You’d call him a coward, but you aren’t much better.

“You’re fools for coming back here- You! You’ve been with them?” Rook says as he spots you behind your new allies, and it takes everything within you not to shrink into yourself and hide.

“Yeah! And they’re done being on the wrong side.” His brows knit as he points to the guard next to him, then you three. Signaling you as the targets. Guards run forth as slaves run away for cover, guards dropping to their knees and beginning to fire. You close your cloak around you as ben prime looks over at 23. “You ready? Here comes Big Chill!” Slamming his hand down on his omnitrix, his counterpart explodes with blue light- becoming a white and blue moth-like creature.

“Oh, Freeze Ghost.” “Freeze Ghost? Really?”

Prime looks over at you, and you nod.

“Turn me into Wrath.” “You got it!”

As that interaction happens, you slip away coming to the other side of the mines. Sliding down into a crowd of terrified slaves running every which way. “Alright, this way! This way!” you say in a- well, more of an inside voice then an outside one. A lot of them pause- and you recognize them. They were the sector you had been held with before being ‘taken under Warlord Tennyson’s wing’. “Come on, out of the fire, you might get hurt.”

Even with their distrust in you, they listen. Letting you herd them together and away from the gun fire, hiding behind rocks and mining equipment. They all watch as the guards are then taken out, and Rook is frozen by one of the Ben’s aliens. Midair, both of their transformations time out and they fall straight onto the man left behind. They quickly jump off of him out of pure shock, letting out a yelp as they do so. He points up to the water tower, his overworked body shaking. Both Bens rise to their feet, looking up at the tower.

Are they… going to open the tower up? They are!

They both turn each other into different aliens, Prime lifting 23 up to the water tower. As 23 punches a whole through the metal, prime shifts his arms into a ramp for the water to roll down into a reservoir- which is also wart of his alien body. The water bursts from it’s container and flows forth, Earning you a glance from all the people you had just gotten out of the way. Obviously they were asking for your go ahead- but you’re not sure why. You glance around before gesturing forth.

“Um, it’s alright. Go ahead, you’re safe.”

With that, they run to the water. Drinking more in one sitting than they have in years, You just stand at a distance while Pacmar yells and cries in defeat. You didn’t need it at all, what you needed was to make sure they got all they needed. That past year and a half you had been offered spoils every waking moment, and that is why you didn’t understand them looking to you. You had left them for a warm bed and a higher position while still living under the same boot. Even though that boot allowed you to kiss it and sweetened your mind with loving falsehoods.

Once the people had gotten their fill, Prime shifts out into the alliance form’s normal shape. “Can we try to go home now?” Is all that comes from his younger counterpart. Prime's eyes shift to you for a second, and you offer a small smile as a thanks for what they’ve already done, then back to his counterpart.

“Not quite yet.”

-

The next 15 minutes were spent by you and Ben Prime breaking the chains and shackles of the previously enslaved miners. The last one thanking Ben before they all begin to walk off. Deep down, you were worried for them. There was a chance they’d be caught by a squad sent out by the warlord, and even if they managed to evade them… How long until they die for other reasons? Getting attacked by wasteland gangs, heat exhaustion, starvation, dehydration. It’s a high likelihood of many of these people- that you had known- becoming vulture food. You wanted to speak up, to say something- anything, but you know how little your voice actually means.

You look over at Ben Prime, and you both make eye contact. It seems he is also not thrilled at the idea of them just running either, similar thoughts have probably crossed his mind as well. In that moment, he takes your hand, gently pulling you with him to the ledge overlooking them.

“Hey, hold up a sec!” They all stop, looking back at the two of you. At that moment you wanted to vomit, even with nothing in your stomach. “You guys are welcome to run, but that won’t change anything. You’ll all just wind up in chains again. The way to win is to stop Warlord Ben once and for all.” Ben has their undivided attention, and you have no clue what you should be doing at this moment. He looks over at you, letting go of your hand. It is then it dawns on you that he expects you to say something- anything to get them motivated. You look out at the crowd of tired and overworked, honest people… and it’s then you can feel just how dry your mouth is.

You look at the hero in front of you with a pleading look before taking a few steps back and out of view of the people below, shaking your head no. You are probably the last person they want to hear from right now. His shoulders go slack and his brow curves with, not anger, but disappointment. It is then that he looks out at them again. “You stand together, you can do anything. Anything.”

All of the sudden, you feel a hand on your arm. Looking down, you see 23 with a worried look on his face.

“Dude, Bad move.”

At first, it seems like Prime’s attempt to rally them didn’t work, leaving everyone in an awkward silence before a shout of ‘I am!’ comes from the crowd. Seemingly all at once they begin to agree and cheer. Raising their mining tools in an act of alliance. And just like that, there's a flicker of true hope in your chest.

“And what do we have here?”

That oh so familiar voice spoils your empty stomach like curdling milk. You all look in the direction it was coming from at once, turning on your heels and looking up. There’s a smug grin on his tanned features. His eyes lock on you immediately, and that smile fades into a snarl-like baring of his teeth. You knew your visions were correct, you couldn’t doubt yourself. His other dimension’s counterparts were fated to bring him down, but the angered look is one you have come to fear so deeply. In the almost zero percent chance you were wrong, your head is more than his.

“There he is! That one destroyed Pacmar’s business! Have you ever heard of such a thing?” The warlord breaks his gaze from you, instead switching his focus to the head guard currently trapped in ice.

“You fool!” He says, being handed a blaster, aiming it at the Ravanagander. “Can’t leave you alone for a minute, now can I?” He says as he takes the shots, the ice exploding and freeing him. The Ravanagander looks around for a second before running and joining his higher up on the ledge.

“I will make it up to you.” Is said before he is handed the blaster. Primes turns, looking at the crowd of newly freed people and gesturing up to their enslavers.

“What are you waiting for? You’ll never have a better chance to take him down than now.” The crowd immediately bursts into a loud yell, charging up the planted mine walls. They bare their weapons ready to fight, but you feel that hope inside of you flicker out. They have no more than their wills and mining tools- the guards all have blasters that- legally- shouldn’t even be on earth. With a smug grin, your former love activates his power watch- turning into an alien you had yet to see. A spiked metal suit with a red glow from the inside.

“If you want me, come get me!” From the face grate of the suit comes a large blast of a red heat. It doesn’t directly hit any of the workers, but causes the ground to explode. In shock, everyone begins to scream, turning and running back in the direction they came as more blasts are sent their way. “But I promise you, it won't be easy.” As people run past, you know that it wasn't directed at them- but at the three of you. When you look at the other Bens, Prime has already grabbed 23’s arm- turning himself into a more animalistic alien, and then 23 into something else. And just like that…

They leave you there.

You watch them run up the mine wall, yelling things at each other- and all you can do is stand there. You stand there, completely alone and having no idea where to go. Do you run with the other workers and make sure they have a safe place to hide, or do you hide yourself and disappear… like you always do. That feeling, that realization washes over you that you aren’t anything more than a puppet, you are useless on your own. You need someone to tell you what to do.

It is then your Ben’s transformation times out, immediately transforming again. Your gut sinks as his new form towers over everything- even some of the mining equipment- with a loud roar. You’ve only seen this one once before. He had used excessive force on a outland gang that had tried to steal slaves. And what happened to those gang members… Well, you hope their poor souls are at rest now. Another feeling begins to overwhelm you. Even if his target was his counterparts, with this new size he could injure and even kill someone else in the process… even if he didn’t care about that, you did.

With a newfound motivation, you turn and run in the direction that every one else did. Knowing that some people were still hiding in the mines. Behind you, you feel the earth shake as he tries to crush the other Bens by stepping down into the mines. You gut twists as others peak their heads out from their hiding places. You were right. Their eyes lock on you behind their goggles and masks.

“Come on, go! You’re right in his warpath!” You screech, and they seem to take you seriously. Getting up and running with you, some even out running you. There is one who seems to have a similar speed as you, but worse coordination. He stumbles over his feet a few to many times for you to feel okay. You grab onto the back of his shirt and keep him up and running. The ground shakes, the warlord chasing down his prime counterpart- well, he seems to be doing more of a lazy walk in order to keep up with the much smaller Ben Prime.

Suddenly the sound of metal being ripped cuts through the air like a knife hot with panic. You look over your shoulder to see the crane having been torn off, metal parts flying everywhere. And one large one in particular, flying straight towards you faster than you’d like. You push the man you had a hold of forward and into the group of people in front of you, causing them to run a little faster and out of its path- you however drop and roll in the opposite direction. It lands a foot away from you, causing the ground to shake even more.

You sit up with heaving breath, completely not believing that actually worked. As you survey the mine you spot some of the places people had hidden- some of the caine part and landed exactly there- people could have died. All of the sudden you're hoisted up by someone asking if you were okay. You give a startled nod, realizing that the entire group and stopped to make sure you were okay.

Behind you all there was still a battle going on, and even with your ushering, they pulled you to the edge of mine floor. It is then you are able to watch your Ben chase his younger counterpart after completely destroying one of the watchtowers, like a fucked up game of tag. But instead of 23 being it, he would probably end up dead. He suddenly stopped, letting out an exclamation of pain and grabbing at the side of his head. He begins to stumble back, his hands at his head in pain. With whatever forms his power watch provides, Prime must have transformed into something small enough to enter the large alien's head.

“You terrible insect, out! Get out of my… head!” The last part is drawn out as his large form stumbles even more and begins to fall straight back- onto the shredded remnants of the crane. The miners press themselves to the wall of the mine to prevent getting in the way on any of his limbs. The crane being crushed under the sheer weight of his body, sending dirt and bits of debris flying everywhere. You all shield yourselves from it until the dust clears, revealing your warlord- laying weakened on the floor of the mine.

Everyone begins to cheer around you as his transformation times out. A group of miners- completely separate from your group- grab a blaster from an incapacitated guard. Pointing it at Pacmar and few other guards- causing them to surrender. You and Rook happen to look at each other at the same time, and in that second you both are thinking the same thing. Both of you in a silent agreement for what has to come next. He heads down and towards the weakened lord, and you follow not too far behind.

The warlord himself gathers himself to his feet, and above him, prime times out as well- standing proud at what had just happened.

“You cheated.” Your Ben says

“There are rules to this?” His Prime counterpart retorts.

Rook joins them before you can, earning a very annoyed former warlord. “What are you just standing there for? It’s time to end the madness!”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.” The Ravanagander grabs his arm, slapping a cuff over the power watch. Ben Grunts, looking down at the cuff in shock and anger.

“Remove this thing immediately.” But Rook doesn’t, he just stands there. “What do you think you’re doing!?” Ben’s voice is louder, and he thinks that if he continues to yell that he will get his way. Just like before. But, that is far from the truth.

“Precisely what you asked of me. I’m putting an end to this madness. You’re not fit to rule this world-” You join him- but slightly behind him. Even without his weapon, Ben is still stronger than you. He continues. “Without your power watch, you're nothing more than a petty little thug.” Ben struggles with the cuff for a second as the words process.

“Little? Little!?”

“It’s time the people were allowed to fend for themselves, and time for you to pay for what you’ve done to them.” Everyone rises at attention, looking down at the former warlord. You can tell just how small he feels, how small and weak he feels in this moment- just like he made you feel the entire relationship. His orange eyes shift over to you.

“Aren’t you going to do something? Help me!” A pang of fear fills your gut as he targets you, but is overwhelmed by your own feeling of pride. There’s so much weakness in his voice, even if he’s trying to masquerade it with anger and fake confidence. Even he knows how weak he looks.

“You want my my help? After everything you've done?” It comes out thick and bitter, you are angry- you are bitter and rightfully so. “I’m not doing anything for you ever again. You deserve what's coming to you, and I wouldn’t stop it if I wanted to. This is your fate, I've seen it.” His teeth grit and grind against each other, he takes a step forward but so do you. "You can't change fate."

“You traitorous brat, this is all your fault! You’re nothing without me. I’ll-” Two workers come up behind him- chains in hand. They latch the shackles over his biceps and pull him back and away from the two of you. “This ain't over, I’ll be back to make you suffer. Every one of you!” He struggles against the chains and the two of you just watch as he explodes in on himself. “You haven’t seen the last of me!”

“If there's any justice in the world, we have.”

-

After everything with Psychobos, everyone- Psychobos, former guards, Pacmar, and the former Warlord himself were rounded up and sat waiting for their imprisonment.

“There’s room in Warlord Tennyson’s cell for you too.”

You stand beside Rook as everyone is shackled together, you felt relief that your prophecy has come to fruition- but now had no clue what to do with yourself. From behind you, there is the friendliness of a familiar voice. “Nice job.” You both turn to Ben Prime and Ben 23, and you greet them with a friendly smile- which Prime reciprocates. However, his attention is turned to Rook. “You know, as these people start to fend for themselves you’re gonna be one of the major… um… fenders.”

“Come again?” This obviously doesn’t make much sense to him, and you have to admit it didn’t make much sense either.

“Trust me, you’re a natural born piece keeper.” Prime’s hand rests on Rook’s arm for a second before falling back. “But if you wanted to sound more like an authority, I'd drop the contractions.” Rook smiles a bit.

“Thanks I’ll- I will consider that.”

Prime looks over at you, his expression softening.

“Hey.” “Hey.”

“How are you holding up?” He asks, to which you shrug. You knew he was leaving soon, and you almost didn't want him to. He was the reason this all happened, and you haven't seen this far. Even then, what do you do now?

“I don’t know. Honestly, after everything, I think I should be with them. I don’t deserve to be free after abandoning my people.” You say in a low voice, enough for the welcomed company to hear, but not the unwelcomed one. “All I’ve ever known was working under someone, doing everything asked. I don’t know what to do on my own.” You felt vulnerable, but he makes you feel safe enough to be vulnerable.

There’s this disbelief in his green eyes. “Maybe the old you was like that, but think of what you’ve done in the last 24 hours. You’ll be alright.” He says as something else pops into your mind.

“What would I- er- Your me do?” You ask, watching his eyes fly wide. Then, he smiles gently at the thought of the you in his universe, a pinkish tint rising to his palace face.

“Well, they would do whatever they wanted. You- they’ve got a big heart, and even though they can be overbearing sometimes, everything they do is because they think it’s the right thing. Which it usually is. That’s in you, I know it is.” He looks at Rook then back at you, and his smile grows wider. “Y’know, where I'm from the two of you get along really well. You two would make great partners.” Ben patted your arm gently as you looked up at the Ravanagander beside you, and he down at you.

The two Ben’s look at each other, the younger making the first word. “We're out.” Before the two of them turn into another set of aliens unknown to you. They combine and create a huge ball of green light before streaking off into the sky. However, as you look a little a little farther- you see they just landed somewhere in the old mines. But a minute later, not too far from them a very brightly colored building- that looked like some of the Mr. Smoothie remnants- appears. They both run towards it, leaving for good this time.

“Farewell, alternate Ben Tennyson’s.”

-

“I remember this joint.”

“I bet you do, It’s professor Hokestar’s special dimension hopping Mr. Smoothie.”

-

After dropping off 23 and a whole lot of explaining to grandpa Max, Ben only had one thing left to do. Rook had told him how you had been left in the home dimension because he didn’t think it was safe enough for you to come. Which meant you were at your apartment worried sick- and that’s exactly where Ben went once he was off the hook. Straight to your apartment. Not only did he not want to go home and explain what happened to his parents yet, he has a few apologies to make.

The spare key to your place is hidden on your windowsill under a fake succulent. It’s fake because you’d forget about it and it would absolutely die. Your words, not his. He opens it with a knock, sticking his head in. “Babe? You home?” There was a good chance you were at work, after all keeping an apartment as a teenager wasn’t the easiest. He takes a step in, and is greeted by the sound of feet on the hardwood floor.

“Ben!”

You throw yourself at him, pulling him into a huge hug. He stands there in shock for a moment. In situations like this, he is so used to being greeted with frustration that he half expected you to yell at him in anger. You never have before, but he’s seen people change so quickly… it’s hard to tell. Slowly, his arms wrap around you in a tight hug. His nose buried deep into the side of your head, taking a deep breath in and smelling your shampoo. There it is. There you are. Slowly, you rock from side to side and he starts to hear your shuddered breathing.

“I was so worried. And I know, I know you’ll always be okay.” You say with a cracking voice, holding him just a little tighter. “You always come back alright- but I get so worried. You just disappeared. No one would tell me what was going on… Everyone just told me I couldn’t go.” You start to rub circles in his back, feeling the tension in his muscles. Letting out a shaky breath, pulling back and taking his face in your hands. He looks so shocked, but he melts into your hands. “I’m not mad at you Ben, how could I ever be mad at you for something that isn’t your fault. I may not know the details, but I just know that this isn’t your fault.” You feel him relax in your hands, and slowly he leans forward, pressing the bridge of his nose to yours.

“Thanks babe. I missed you too.” You let out a small chortle, closing your eyes and enjoying the knowledge that your boyfriend is- not only here with you, but alive and okay. He sighs against you, and against his own ego and big-headedness, he lets it out. “I’m sorry. For everything.” You pull back, looking at him with a confused expression. You open your mouth to speak, but he keeps talking. “I’ve been ignoring you.”

You squeeze his face gently with a small smile. “You've been busy.” Pressing your nose to his again. “And if you're worried about me putting up with you, I do it because-” You rub the tip of your nose against his. “I love you, Ben Tennyson. I. Love. You.”

Months Later in the Wasteland Dimension

You took a deep breath of the cold night air, leaning against a sign poll that has been bent into more of a railing. Looking out at the empty mine, you let out a sigh. There was nothing. The sound of nothing. Around this time of night a few months ago there would have been the sounds of metal tools hitting rock and the groans of overworked bones. But now it was nothing more than the gentle winds out in the wasteland past. That’s pretty funny. You’d never have expected yourself to ever call these lands gentle, but they have been as of recent.

When Warlord Tennyson was overthrown, you had truly expected everyone to leave on their own or become greedy and selfish- but they didn’t. It took a while to separate yourself from the views of the boy who used to have such a hold on you. When showed that kindness can exist, humans thrive. They build and rebuild to their needs. They discover how to live better with the resources at hand- and boy have they.

Many buildings had been designed and were currently being built, or the remnants of the previous Bellwood had been used as residence when needed. The minerals in the water had been discovered to help certain patches of soil gain back it’s nutrients- the parts that weren’t sand and clay of course. Some seeds of fruit previously lost to the devastation of the world were found in a shortage area of a building that had been uncovered. With regular care, they had started to grow as planted.

In the ruins of Benwood- No. Bellwood is a community that is in the middle of being built, and you can not believe you didn’t it's possibility before.

“There you are, I have been looking all over for you.” You smile, letting Rook join you. He looked out in the same direction you were, but there was nothing but the empty mine. It was a tragic place, why would you ever want to look at it? “Is everything alright?”

You look up at him and give him your warmest eyes and a smile. “I’m alright, really. I’m sorry if I worried you, I just got woken up by a vision.” As it sunk in, you watched him get obviously worried. Under Tennyson he had seen you during a few of your visions, none of them had been good. Your body usually reacts violently, and you were always in a state of shock afterwards. “It’s okay, I promise. For once… it was good.” After you speak, he - very awkwardly- leaned on the pole with you.

“It was?” He asks, and you give a small but genuine nod. “If you do not mind me asking, what did you see?”

Your smile grows wider.

“I don’t mind at all.” You look over at where everything is being built, not at the moment of course. You two are probably part of the only few awake at this hour. “I saw a town. Not yet a city- but thriving with life and trade. Even gangs coming through to trade and buy with their flags down. I saw the start of peace, of a life more than fear and war.” You let out a small laugh, looking down at your feet. “I- I’ve never been wrong before, but maybe it’s too unrealistic.” You look up at him again, to see a genuine smile there.

“No, I think that is possible. Afterall, you have not been wrong. You can't change fate.” You both laugh, but it’s obvious he believes you. Looking him over you realize.

“Hey, you’re not wearing your head covering.” Everyone had ditched the edgy punk spikes a while ago, but a lot of people had maintained their head and face coverings to protect from the sun. But, you had never seen Rook without his head covering.

“Yes, I… Took it off for the night.”

“You look nice.” You say in a whisper, looking down at your hands. Fiddling with the wrapping on them. With that you didn’t see just how flustered he had gotten, not that it’s what you had meant to do. Clearing your throat, you look back out at the mine. Every so often glancing over at him, and the both of you seemed to be in the same mindset- your eyes locking every so often. After a while, you two find solace in the quiet and with each other. You personally find enjoyment in the silence. In the presence of another person. In him.

And like that, you rest your head gently on his arm, and he does nothing to stop it.

Wasteland, Baby! I’m in love, I’m in love with you.

That’s it.

[circethegoblin]

STAYING ALIVE MASTERPOST, FROM A BROKE TEEN WITH ADHD

here you go. some down to earth tips on how to not die metally nor physically.

tired of those "drink three liters of water everyday uwu" and "wake up at 5 am" and "buy a bath bomb and a fec mask and some other things you don't have the money for" shit? i'm here for ya.

1. NOT DYING

eat at least three meals a day, one of which m u s t be warm and above 300 kcal (it can be istant ramen with an egg added if you have to)

you technically should shower everyday, but we know how it is. A change of clothes is sometimes enough.

DRY SHAMPOO AND BABY WIPES!!!

keep bottles with water everywhere. On your desk, near that spot on the floor you always end up sitting on, near your bed, basically whenever you know you spend a lot of time. No need to get up and go to the kitchen will help. Obviously change the water in the bottles as often as you can.

Get some form of physical activity. It doesn't have to be much, you can for example replace scrolling on tiktok by walking around your room and scrolling on tiktok! Brilliant, isn't it? Obviously, running or doing those 10 minutes workouts from youtube is better, but you are still getting like an hour of walking.

Buy blankets. Steal blankets. Summon blankets from other dimensions. Just make sure you have a lot of warm, soft blankets in your house. You will thank me when you won't have the anergy to wash your sheets (just take them off and throw some blankets on your bed), or when the power goes out.

If you have pets, ALWAYS keep spare food that'll last for a week for them.

things to always have in the kitchen: milk, eggs, flour, rice, pasta, yeast, cheese, oil, a leafy vegetable, onions, tomatoes, apples, patatoes, some flavourful sauce, sugar, salt, spices and an emergency chocolate bar. You can make a lot of food with those. Just make sure you won't eat the chocolate too fast.

Have a lot of spare batteries. A lot.

Get urself a flashlight, a lighter, and a pocket knife.

Remember the apples? eat one a day. if you don't like apples or you can't eat them for any other reason, you can take a kiwi, banana, orange, basically something that will give you vitamins and non processed sugar.

do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem

drugs from that one guy around the corner = very bad time

2. NOT DYING INSIDE

Open the damn window.

Don't watch so many commentary videos. You are probably not even checking the sources, so you can easily make unjust judgement, and like. did you even hear of half of those people before?

make a discord server just for yourself. get into the habit of writing little things that happened to you there. rant about the fanfics you read. or the movies. vent there if you don't have anyone you can vent to. write your ideas there, write e v e r y t h i n g. make a section for passwords, for quick ideas, for your to do lists. you won't lose it as you do with sticky notes or notebooks. there is no risk anyone will see it. oh, and when you'll have a strong impulse to tell emily that you hate her? write that message in your private server and list all ur arguments. look at tat the next day and decide if you really mean that.

life sucks. come to peace with it.

cuddle ur pets if you have them

1 hour a day without a lot of sensory input. if you have to, reduce to half an hour.

if you find yourself scrolling endlessly through social media, make sure it's pintrest (just don't compare urself to the people here; if you have issues with that, tumblr may be better)

delete. twitter. from. your. phone.

influencers are lying to you; maybe not even intentionally. remember when you were watching that cute-aesthetic-productive morning routine, and you were wondering why your life isn't that pretty? why your room is a mess? why you cannot for the life of god be aesthetic 24/7? its the filter. don't worry about it, their lifes arent that nice either.

realize there's actually nothing stopping you from screaming as loud as you can right now. like there is no physical barrier. think about it. realize there's no actual physical barierr to many other things.

your body is your body. you can decide how it looks like; just remember it's in your greatest interest to keep it healthy.

3. BEING A LITTLE BETTER THAN JUST ALIVE

If you wear make up, take it off before you go to sleep.

moisturize your body; everything is better when your skin doesn't feel dry

have a one brand of cosmetics that you love and buy things mainly from it. they often have sets of products that complete each other. i like ziaja. it's a polish brand, it's surprisingly cheap and has nice quality

cleanser, moisturizer, face mist

of you can, change your sheets once every two weeks

do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem

do a deep house clean once a month (don't beat yourself up when you don't tho)

keep your workspace organized (it doesn't have to look organized to other people, remember)

sunscreen

cook your own food

keep a calendar

no money for scented candles? got ya. make a simmer pot: throw some apple peel, a couple of cinnamon sticks and whatever spices that smell good you have into a pot, add some water and simmer. boom. your house smells good, and you haven't spend 20 dollars.

If you really like candles, buy scented wax melts. it's cheaper.

Buy urself scented mists. they're pretty cheap and will make you feel A LOT better.

keep your clothes clean. if you aren't sure if that shirt thats on your chair is dirty or not, throw it in the washing mashine anyway. better be sure.

if you can, make your bed right when you get up

wear clothes that make you feel good. put some effort into your outfits. really.

4. OTHER PEOPLE

be nice to essential workers.

if you have money, give tips.

remember, you do not owe anyone love; it is not something you can force. even if they saved your life. even when they helped you in your darkest time. if you don't love them, you don't.

you don't have to be in a romantic relationship to be happy.

if you want to, date! date everyone! date girls, date boys, date nonbinary people! date people completly different than you, date people from different countries, date them!!! just make sure they're kind and won't kill you. even if you don't end up in a relationship, you can learn a lot.

don't be afraid to piss off people that deserve it

smile to strangers :)

5. NOT FAILING SCHOOL

heard of dark academia? check it out

romanticize the heck out of studying

do not let your studying be just reading the same partagraph over and over again. it won't work. believe me.

seterra for geography, quizlet for everything else

try to make yourself intrestet in whatever you are studying (watch veritasium, listen to podcasts about weird history facts)

notes are for you and you only; don't worry about them looking pretty. doodle on margins, make weird metaphors, squeeze in as much info as you can.

when you're studying, listen to music without words/in a language you don't understand.

chew gum while you study

get the forest app, get attached to the trees, focus.

don't feel guilty for taking breaks

grades aren't everything, but they are important.

eat something in school

don't just use the cheapest pens. invest a couple dollars in something that will make writing enjoyable and smooth

those study with me videos? they're great

if you like to argue with the teachers, take care of your grades becouse. they may not like you afterwards.

be nice to your classmates and help them with homework. if you don't do your homework they'll help you

executive dysfunction won't let you study? been there. sometimes it's better to wake up ealier tommorow and do that homework then.

don't feel guilty for failing a test

go to the goddamn class

don't pull all nighters oh my god don't especially on weekdays

6. OTHER LIFEHACKS

don't get involved in the crime, and if you do always have a believable explanation why you were doing it

have different alarm sounds for every day of the week

set a daily limit of money that you spend

great hobbies that don't require a lot of money; urban exploration, writing, hiking and learning other languages

thrift stores

don't eat grapefruits while on meds

nail polish removers dissolve most strong glues.

if you have a cut on your skin, desinfect it. do it. please just do it.

always have pads with you. even if you don't get periods, at least one of your friends probably does

sign up in your local library. its free

[rocksanddeadflowers]

AAAAAHHHH IM GOING FERAL OVER THIS!!!! Jesse trying to Aladdin his way around and failing miserably (that's for the best hun). Peter is so precious I love him... putting his future boyfriend in his place lmao. Lizzie having a complete 180 of a day. ("Come home with me." "Who are you?" "The man who's gonna marry you." but its TWO!!!) Fully scooping her up and taking her home oh my god..... Can we keep her?? And she's still processing (but she is safe, and she is now loved).

CONFESSION AT THE LAKE!!!! (Some of the spirits gathered behind stone and tree munching on treats bc they KNOW btw.) Literally something something why should our love be confined to just one other person when we all love each other so equally and deeply fuck what anyone else thinks idk going crazy about the thems....... i mean if some dumb british king can start a whole new church to get divorced over and over why can we do something to be together and not treat it like a dirty secret you know.....

(<- I've been running so long, and I know that you've been hiding, and we shouldn't have to live like this anymore, and the world will know our love and the world will know our faces, if I had you by my side, I wouldn't care anymore. Let's get married!) (Sorry it felt like them to me.......)

also HI HELLO HEAR ME OUT when Jonny is stabbed by Toy during the main plot climax does he see his parents for a moment. I think they've been watching over everyone the best they can and probably say something alone the lines of "Oh, darling, we were so worried about you... We're all so proud of you. We're so happy knowing you have found your love in you heart, and that you have the right people to share it with." (BWOOSH [Brennan Lee Mulligan DM sound effects] Jonny is alive again with a gasp. Sorry I'm also fixating on Dimension 20 ignore the last bit.)

URGHH!!! I WON'T STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM... I DON'T CARE IF I START ANOTHER THREAD BUT I NEED TO DROP MY IDEAS

Okok!!! I think Jesse was probably a snooty rich boy before meeting Peter and Lizzie.

One day, he was kinda forced to go out into the streets and socialize. Jesse kinda just... wandered the nearby city (Really large town). He walked by a school and saw a person sneaking out through the roof. He slid down a side and looked around before spotting Jesse. They marched up to Jesse and pointed. "You don't tell anyone." Jesse shook his head and then just spat out "You're a very pretty lady" (he had no social skills). He was met with a snort "I'd prefer being a very pretty man". Jesse absolutely turned red and stuttered out an apology. Then the dude talking to him asked if he was the prince. Jesse tried (emphasis on tried) to hide it but definitely couldn't. The boy laughed and introduced himself as Peter. Jesse would continue to head into town after that. Around Peter, he wasn't able to act high and mighty. Peter knocked him down a peg and would pick on him CONSTANTLY!! Peter was also able to help with his cocky attitude outside of interactions. When Peter noticed his high attitude, he would elbow Jesse and then talk to him about it. Jesse quickly found himself pining for Peter after a good few months and Peter was hard crushing too.

Around 2 years later they're kissing in some alley and they hear sobs. Running down, they see a girl with long brown hair and a teddy. Peter helped her to her feet and Jesse asked what had happened.

(this one is much rougher and more of a "Suggestion to add and workshop" than a straight-up idea.) Lizzie was only Peter and Jesse's age. She had just watched her dad beat the shit out of her mom, possibly to death. Over the wall she had just jumped was her backyard. And she wasn't going back. Her dad would kill her. That's not even to mention her being a closeted trans girl.

So, Peter picked her up. He was very tall and she was kinda short so he was able to easily. He and Jesse took her to Aurora and begged Jesse's parents to keep her in Aurora. They were able to and Jesse took care of her. Eventually, he and Peter realized that they were both falling for her. Confession at their favourite lake, they all get married eventually!!!!

(Just an idea. I can't stop thinking about them. What do you two think @rocksanddeadflowers and @unsat-and-strange?)

[ardently-queer]

I'm glad I got into critical role. I miss playing dnd and it's making me remember why I loved it.

I was introduced to dnd as a young teenager through a local youth group programme that ran games for autistic teenagers to help us learn social skills and stuff in our own way - the program was run by an autistic guy it wasn't like patronising stuff it was genuinely useful and creative.

And I think my favourite thing about tabletop storytelling games is that they gave me a space to be really bad at things, to critically fail, and for my teammates to laugh WITH me and problemsolve how to get out of the mess rather than laugh AT me, and where my successes were cheered on with equal delight.

I found that at a time I really, really needed it and it helped me so much. And I know it's done the same for others, right from the first people I ever played with.

I'm glad that it's becoming more popular and accessible through shows like CR and dimension 20 and so many more. I'm glad more people are finding these things that helped me and others, and I'm glad to have more people of all kinds to play with - there's no downside! There's literally no lose here, welcome in!

And I love that it's inspired me to pick up art forms I thought I'd lost. I haven't written songs in years. I haven't DMed in a decade because of anxiety. I don't miss who I used to be but I miss making art and it can only be a good thing that I managed to do that after such a long time.

Probably a rambly mess but it's my blog and I write the posts. I love tabletop games and I sincerely do not understand weird gatekeeper mentality, welcome new weirds, that's more people to play with! Awesome! Idfk where I'm going I guess I just wanted to share the good feelings because is it Thursday yet? Yes! But I got the time zones wrong and it's another eighteen hours!