#the person WITH the ability could directly affect the possible outcomes

[upsidedowngrass]

i've always found it odd that stone knows everything and yet their plan failed so hard. like there's no way in hell that was the optimal sequence of events to rescue the contestants. maybe they aren't as omniscient as they claim.

the way i see, they actually ARE as omniscient as they say they are!! the thing is, is that it seems that their ability to know future events isnt set in stone (pun not intended), because it also accounts for EVERY variation of events, every way a person could act, how stone THEMSELF acts (given that stone DID predict most things, down to who would be the best people to have eliminated first, that the lightning on the smokestack would kill liam and bryce, etc, but also, stone is shown having to check what others are doing, likely to gauge what possibilities are currently possible based on the environment, to check how things are developing). because he can see everything and every possibility, he can STEER things a certain way, but i dont think that actually enables them to get things towards the Best outcome. i think stone was also operating on the best possible outcomes, but that said outcomes are EXTREMELY hard to put into place exactly, and had to cast a wider net that allowed for the best possible chance of things at least mostly turning out okay, rather than anything highly specific that would ACTUALLY be the best outcome

stone themself can alter events, but he cant fully account for how others will act, because there are infinite possibilities. they just had to pick the best ones, and hope for the best. hell, we dont actually know IF liam this was what stone wanted. the note with the five on it kinda indicates that the outcome was mostly the same, but who knows if everything was how 100% how stone intended. there are hundreds of ways liam couldve interpretted the notes, stone just had to set him on a path where it was more likely that things would turn out okay (and i think statistically there WOULDVE been at least ONE course of events that wouldve turned out good for everyone, but while it exists, i dont think stone had the power to put it into action all on their own. they cannot account for others, only nudge people as best they can)

[papamado]

A "theory" regarding Sampo's abilities

okay so this is an absolute mess and more of a ramble but I think it might be worth sharing so here I am Since I'm very normal about Sampo Koski, I've noticed some paralels to.. osme things... and i ended up with a concept that Sampo might be aware/know the future/what is supposed to happen, aka the same/similar thing to what Elio is using as a base to write his scripts, or is aware of the scripts that Elio creates. On Belobog we don't encounter stellaron hunters (for obvious reasons), but Sampo does end up being the one who affects the way the plot goes and actively puts it in motion, he's the one in control (to some extent) He also appears to be aware of stuff that has yet to happen and its possible outcomes (getting Natasha even before we started fighting Svarog, knowing that we will arrive on Luofu despite it being an unplanned stop, the possible future Belobog catastropy) There's 2 ways to approach this: 1. He works with how it's supposed to go, (following the trailblazer around, kinda like stellaron hunters happen to do) 2. He deliberately works against it (Jarilo VI is supposed to face destruction but he prevents it, could be for personal reasons) Theres also the whole thing about him breaking the 4th wall, which could be connected. Awarnesss of the fact that this is a game could result in him having a knowledge of what the plot of said game is.

I strongly HC Sampo to be an Elation emanator, so I thought about what being an elation emanator could mean, as in, how realistically the powers could manifest From the recent guide that was released along side the 2.2 stream, we have a small entry about Masked Fools which confirms that the path powers are DIRECTLY tied to their masks (this could mean both metaphorical or physical masks but from what i get from the context here it most likely refers to the physical ones?? the concept works with both possibilities tho so whatever <3 )

We know that sampo doesn't have his mask currently (which also works in a symbolic way, Masks represent the devotion to Elation, him not having it could represent how he wants to distance himself from what Elation is considered to be and pursue his own idea of it instead. The general description provided here for how masked fools are doesn't exactly fit him either whichmight further prove that idea, i should write a seperate post on that, anyways-) , so how the hell can he do shit that we assumed earlier was Elation-related powers? i have 2 possible explanations for this 1. Him being an emanator lets him use the path powers without a need for a mask, if thats the case - the mask would only provide a powerup 2. Elation emanator powers are something else altogether

when we look at his current power set/abilities it can all be tied to the fact that this is a game so, him bieng an emanator of elation would allow him to ignore the rules of this world/mainupulate said rules, simple as that it would also explain why he can break the 4th wall, why he is aware of the future events, what leads to them and/or how to stop them in the first place and how he can do stuff that contradicts what's been established lore vise (like how nobody should be able to cross the barrier between the Overworld and Underworld), those rules don't apply to him, he's beyond them. But there's more we DO have an in game example of people already messing with the reality in the same manner - Silver Wolf From what I gathered (with help of some friends of mine mwah mwah), the "reality editing" abilites of Punklorde people are directly tied to a technology present in said world - that combined with the world view of those living here results with them reating the world they live in as if it was a game

Adding onto that, during "punklorde mentality" mission we get to hear Leonard say this:

"Masked fools believe it really exists" so are the Masked Fools aware that someone could posses *actual* (not provided by technology) power to alter/manipulate reality and ignore the established rules of the world? We can kinda see such thing happening with Aha in stimulated universe, not only do they break the 4th wall, but according to Herta they also seem to be affecting the stimulated universe itself Aha's manipulation of reality is also mentioned in the "Glimpses into the Beyond"

So maybe to wrap it all up: 1. Sampo could be aware of the possible future events and use the reality manipulation abilities/the fact that the rules don't apply to him to achieve a desired outcome 2. Him and the Stellaron Hunters have some paralels in the narrative when it comes to the role that they play and what they do?? kinda??? 3. Punklorde people could be affiliated with Elation to some extent, even if not directly blessed by it I am probably VERY wrong about all of this but honestly I'm having fun with this theory so idc <3

[viralwritershub]

Cancer Treatment Edison Patients Need to Know About

Cancer is a formidable foe that affects millions worldwide. For patients and caregivers, navigating the myriad treatment options can be overwhelming. This blog post aims to shed light on the latest advancements in cancer treatment Edison residents can access. We'll explore cutting-edge therapies, innovative care strategies, and essential information that could make a significant difference in your battle against cancer.

Why Staying Informed Is Crucial?

Staying updated on cancer treatment options is essential for making informed decisions. Knowledge empowers patients and caregivers, enabling them to ask the right questions and seek the best possible care. With advancements happening rapidly, being aware of the latest treatments can offer new hope and improved outcomes.

The Rise of Personalized Medicine

Personalized medicine tailors treatments based on individual genetic profiles. This approach ensures that therapies are more effective and have fewer side effects. In Edison, oncologists are increasingly adopting this method, offering treatments that are customized to each patient's unique genetic makeup.

Genetic Testing and Its Benefits

Genetic testing helps identify mutations that contribute to cancer growth. Knowing these mutations allows doctors to prescribe targeted therapies, which are more likely to be effective. This tailored approach not only improves treatment outcomes but also minimizes adverse effects.

How Personalized Medicine Works?

In personalized medicine, blood or tissue samples are analyzed to identify specific genetic markers. These markers guide the selection of targeted therapies, ensuring that the treatment attacks the cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. This precision reduces side effects and improves the overall quality of life for patients.

Real-World Success Stories

Numerous patients have benefited from personalized medicine. For example, individuals with specific genetic mutations have seen significant improvements using targeted therapies that were not previously available. These success stories highlight the potential of personalized medicine in transforming cancer care.

Immunotherapy: Harnessing the Body's Defense

Immunotherapy is a groundbreaking treatment that uses the body's immune system to fight cancer. Unlike traditional therapies that target cancer cells directly, immunotherapy boosts the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Types of Immunotherapy

There are several types of immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapy, and cancer vaccines. Each type works differently but aims to enhance the immune system's response to cancer.

Benefits of Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy offers several advantages, such as fewer side effects compared to chemotherapy and the potential for long-term remission. Many patients in Edison have experienced remarkable improvements, making immunotherapy a viable option for various cancer types.

Success Stories in Immunotherapy

Patients who have undergone immunotherapy often report significant improvements. For instance, individuals with melanoma and lung cancer have achieved remission, showcasing the potential of this innovative treatment.

Cutting-Edge Technology in Cancer Treatment

Advancements in technology are revolutionizing cancer treatment. From robotic surgery to artificial intelligence, these innovations are improving accuracy and outcomes.

Robotic Surgery

Robotic surgery allows for minimally invasive procedures with greater precision. This technology reduces recovery time and minimizes complications, offering patients a quicker return to normal activities.

Artificial Intelligence in Cancer Care

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in cancer care. AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and predict treatment outcomes, enabling doctors to make more informed decisions.

Success Stories in Technological Advancements

Patients who have undergone robotic surgery or benefited from AI-driven treatment plans often experience better outcomes. These technologies are paving the way for more effective and personalized cancer care.

The Future of Cancer Treatment in Edison

The future of cancer treatment in Edison looks promising, with ongoing research and clinical trials offering new hope. By staying informed and exploring all available options, patients and caregivers can make the best decisions for their care.

Ongoing Research and Clinical Trials

Edison is home to several leading cancer research institutions conducting groundbreaking studies. Participating in clinical trials can provide access to cutting-edge treatments that are not yet widely available.

Innovations on the Horizon

Emerging treatments, such as gene therapy and nanotechnology, hold great promise for the future of cancer care Edsion. These innovations aim to provide more effective and less invasive treatment options.

How to Stay Informed

Staying informed about the latest advancements in cancer treatment is crucial. Patients and caregivers can subscribe to medical journals, attend conferences, and join support groups to stay updated on new developments.

[tarragonblack1235813213455]

SOCIAL SCIENCE

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PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGY: The study which will center on understanding the complexities of the mind and our behavior.

■SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY is a branch of psychology that will investigate how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

■COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology dedicated to studying how people think. That perspective will focus on how the interactions of thinking, emotion, creativity, and problem-solving abilities affect how and why you think the way you do.

■EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY is a branch of psychology that will examine cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It will also seek to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolved to solve.

■DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology that will study how and why a human will grow, change, and adapt across the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan.

■CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology that will provide continuing and comprehensive mental and behavioral health care for an individual, a couple, a family, and a group; consultation to an agency and a community; training, education and supervision for anyone; and a research-based practice.

■PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology that will study the characteristics and behavior that comprise a person's unique adjustment to life, including their major traits, interests, motivations, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.

■ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology which will study a person’s emotional, thought, and behavior patterns to identify, understand, and potentially resolve any issues that may be negatively affecting a person's life.

■COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior. This could be important because the study of how an animal will behave can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of our psychology.

■CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY is a branch of psychology that will look at how cultural factors will influence human behavior. This may also involve looking at the differences between the collective and the individualist culture.

■EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology concerned with schools, teaching psychology, any educational issue, and any student concern.

JOB: Educational psychologists often study how students learn. They may also work directly with a student, parent, teacher, and administrator to improve any outcome regarding a student.

■FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology that will involve applying psychology to any criminal investigation.

■NEUROPSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology that will address the structure and function of the brain in relation to any behavior and psychological process.

■OCCUPATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY is the branch of psychology that will involve the assessment and formulation of possible recommendations about the performance of people at work and in the process of training either as an employee or becoming an employee. This can help companies to find more effective ways to function and to understand how people and groups behave at work.

[pujakhatri]

Understanding Low Sperm Count Symptoms and Seeking Help at Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital

Fertility is a deeply personal and significant aspect of many people's lives. For couples struggling to conceive, it can be an emotionally taxing journey. One common issue that affects male fertility is a low sperm count symptoms. In this article, we will explore the symptoms of low sperm count and introduce you to Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital, a trusted name in the field of infertility treatment.

Low Sperm Count: An Overview

Low sperm count, medically known as oligospermia, is a condition where a man's semen contains fewer sperm than normal. It's a leading cause of male infertility and can make it difficult for couples to conceive naturally. While the average sperm count varies, a count of fewer than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen is generally considered low.

Symptoms of Low Sperm Count

Difficulty Conceiving: The most common and evident symptom of low sperm count is difficulty conceiving despite regular, unprotected intercourse. Couples who have been trying to conceive for over a year without success should consider seeking medical evaluation.

Reduced Ejaculate Volume: Men with low sperm count may notice a decreased volume of semen during ejaculation. This reduction in seminal fluid can be an indication of an underlying issue.

Abnormal Sperm Morphology: In addition to low sperm count, abnormalities in sperm shape and structure, known as teratozoospermia, can also impact fertility. Abnormally shaped sperm may have difficulty reaching and fertilizing the egg.

Erectile Dysfunction: While not directly related to sperm count, some men with low sperm count may also experience erectile dysfunction, which can affect their ability to have sexual intercourse.

Low Libido: Reduced sexual desire or libido can sometimes be associated with low sperm count. However, this can also be influenced by various physical and psychological factors.

Pain or Discomfort: Some men with low sperm count may experience pain or discomfort in the testicles. This could be due to an underlying medical condition, and it's essential to consult a healthcare provider if such symptoms persist.

Hormonal Imbalances: Hormonal imbalances, such as low levels of testosterone, can contribute to low sperm count. Symptoms of hormonal imbalances may include fatigue, mood swings, and changes in body composition.

Seeking Help at Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital

If you or your partner are experiencing any of these symptoms, it's crucial to seek professional help. Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital is a renowned medical facility specializing in infertility treatment and assisted reproductive technologies. Here's why you should consider Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital for your fertility needs:

Expertise: Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital boasts a team of experienced and highly skilled fertility specialists. Their expertise in the field ensures that you receive the best possible care and guidance throughout your fertility journey.

State-of-the-Art Facilities: The hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge technology, ensuring that you have access to the latest advancements in fertility treatment.

Personalized Treatment Plans: The medical team at Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital understands that each patient is unique. They tailor treatment plans to address individual needs and concerns, increasing the chances of a successful outcome.

Comprehensive Services: Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital offers a wide range of services, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination (IUI), and sperm retrieval procedures. They have the expertise to diagnose and treat various causes of male infertility, including low sperm count.

Supportive Environment: Dealing with fertility issues can be emotionally challenging. Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital provides a supportive and compassionate environment to help you navigate the emotional aspects of infertility.

Success Stories: Many couples have successfully achieved their dream of parenthood with the help of Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital. Their success stories are a testament to the hospital's commitment to excellence.

Conclusion

Low sperm count is a common issue that affects male fertility, but it doesn't have to be a roadblock to parenthood. Recognizing the symptoms and seeking help early is the first step towards overcoming this challenge. Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital offers hope and advanced treatments for couples struggling with fertility issues. With their expert guidance and state-of-the-art facilities, you can take a positive step towards achieving your dream of starting a family. Don't let low sperm count stand in your way—seek help and explore the possibilities at Alka IVF Shree Kanak Hospital.

[egot1stical]

Interesting notes about TSPUD:

TSPUD works differently than TSP in an interesting way.

TSP is a simple time loop. You do something, you get an ending, you get back to the start. You can’t really affect other endings aside from Button Heaven, but even then that doesn’t affect anything in itself.

TSPUD is… different. It’s a branching loop, I guess I’d call it. You go in, do one thing (skip button), it creates its own branching timeline, it resets.

You can’t go back to it, and getting it directly affects the next loop. You still reset back to the office but it changes the future upon completion. Then, you go back, do something else, (or if you do the hole, you do that, you create another timeline, then you loop back to the exhibit), then you loop back to a completely different office. Once again; it affects the outcome, but creates a branching story.

Then, once you’ve beaten the new content routes, two interesting things happen. 1. You can go back with the bucket; something that proves you’ve done this before. And you can affect the outcome slightly. You actually have an impact.

If you’ve dealt with the Settings Text, you can get the achievement, something that wasn’t possible before. You can change things. In a way The Narrator never intended.

2. Through the Epilogue, you can go back to an ending timeline. Specifically, the Skip timeline. You actually get to continue an ending. And once again, this affects the actual routes, and then the game itself. Something The Narrator could never do.

It’s the opposite of TSP: Where there, you could make so many choices but they didn’t really affect anything in the long run, here you can’t really choose anything but it has an effect on the story.

Theory stuff:

1. This may be because we are now playing As Stanley.

Quoting the promotional text, “You okay as Stanley, you do not play as Stanley.” In TSP, majority of the time, we do Not play as Stanley. He’s just a vessel. TSPUD treats Stanley as a person. He makes choices without us, he can disobey, he is independent. There are more examples of him “speaking” than in TSP.

He is part of this world, so he interacts with it differently. We are not.

2. We can assume 432 is the Settings Text through a new paper on the desk. My guess is that they are in a similar position to Stanley and this allows them to do things the Player can, but, uh… more? I mean, they deal with settings, something specifically made for players. They also have the ability to manipulate the game itself. I dunno. Something to think on.

[teawaffles]

Louis and the Aquaria: Chapter 3, Part 2

The next morning.

After yesterday’s incident, Moran was keen to know what Louis would do next — and so he headed to the hall with Fred, who presently had some time to spare. Perhaps it was because he’d been working late into the night, for Fred kept yawning as he rubbed his bleary eyes.

But the moment Moran pushed open the hall door, the startling sight before them banished all of Fred’s sleepiness in a flash.

“This is……”

“What the heck is this?” Moran exclaimed.

Dumbfounded, the two men stood where they were.

One corner of the hall—— had been turned into a dense jungle.

Numerous South American trees, planted in giant pots, were now surrounding the angelfish tank. At the same time, the two men were struck by the feeling that somehow, the room’s humidity had risen since yesterday.

Hearing Moran’s shout, Louis poked his head out from behind an ivy-wrapped tree.

“You’re being much too loud in the morning, Mr Moran. It’ll stress out the fish, so please refrain from shouting; but what on earth’s the matter?”

“That’s my line: what have you done here?!”

A flash of light gleamed off Louis’s spectacles.

“I was seeking a more conducive environment for my bro—…… no, the fish, so I have recreated a South American rainforest here. They were ordered a few days earlier, and arrived last night; I’ve just finished arranging them.”

Apparently, the luxurious water plants had just been the beginning for Louis. Even so, Moran had not expected this much progress in one night.

The situation raised so many questions that he had no idea where to begin. But for now, Moran refused to back down, and raised one of the problems at hand.

“First off, you were obviously going to say ‘my brothers’, but still: don’t talk about such grand feats as ‘recreating South America’ so lightly! No, I had a feeling about this. A normal person would reflect on what happened yesterday, and restrain themselves after that — but for you, you’re the type who ends up going amok instead. And yet, I didn’t think you’d do something as drastic as this!”

Moran had launched into a heated tirade, but Louis kept his cool as he replied.

“Thank you for taking the time to point out each and every one of those things. However, I believe I’m treating all of the fish equally; and in my view, it’s unfair to say that I’m favouring some of them just because some plants have been placed at specific areas.”

“What kinda nerve is that, to not even admit it after going this far…….. I mean, you are actually a little aware of it, aren’t you?”

“Also, it’s actually quite amazing that you’ve managed to remain calm all this while, Mr Louis……”

Even after weathering that torrent of questions, Louis was unmoved — and if anything, that had inspired a sense of awe within Fred.

“Well, it was us who said you were free to do as you liked. In any case, your love towards your brothers is certainly terrifying.”

To Moran, it seemed meaningless to continue arguing with the youngest son of the Moriartys, who stubbornly refused to acknowledge his biased rearing of the fish. He gave up trying to persuade Louis, and went on to watch the fish as he normally did.

“…………”

He tried to focus on the vibrant fish before him. And yet, Moran couldn’t help but notice the trees standing at the edge of his sight.

Tormented by that conflict, he finally succumbed to temptation. With sure steps, Moran made his way toward the vegetation, and Fred followed cautiously behind him.

“……Well, if they’re already here, we may as well enjoy them to the fullest.”

Mumbling to no one in particular, Moran walked up to the row of trees. Using one arm to push away the leaves in his path, he moved through the greenery; then, his gaze landed on an aquarium placed on a nearby table. Inside, were some animals with incredibly striking colourations.

“What’re these?”

“They’re indeed very colourful,” Fred remarked.

Within the tank were several tiny frogs. They were a deep blue, and mottled with red.

The two men were full of questions about the presence of these unfamiliar creatures. Nevertheless, out of sheer curiosity, they moved their faces near the tank and peered in.

Louis, who was feeding the other fish, called out to them in a loud voice.

“Please don’t open the tank lid: they may look beautiful, but they secrete a lethal poison so deadly that some indigenous tribes of South America use it to coat the tips of their blowdarts.”

In an instant, Moran and Fred leapt away from the tank. Due to their natural athleticism, the distance they’d retreated was further than that of the average person.

As it were, they had narrowly escaped the jaws of death. But even as the sudden appearance of these poisonous frogs gave them chills, Moran stilled his pounding heart, and shot Louis a look of anger.

“Why are such dangerous things here?! Even recreating a South American environment has its limits, doesn't it?!”

“My apologies. One of my motivations was indeed to recreate the fishes’ native habitat. But more than that, I wanted to prepare for a scenario where Stapleton expresses an interest in other creatures besides fish. Hence, I began rearing these frogs just in case.”

As he said that, Louis made his way beside the tank. Opening the lid just a crack, he tossed in some tiny insects: food for the frogs.

“…………”

Seeing his practiced hand, at this point, the other two men had nothing else to say. In this extraordinary space created within the mansion they lived in on a daily basis, their ability to process information had long since hit its limit.

After confirming that the frogs had eaten their fill, Louis proceeded on an efficient path around the room to check on the rest of the tanks.

Moran gazed into the distance.

“It sure is amazing, what people can do in such a short time……”

But excessive zeal, once taken in the wrong direction, can lead to outcomes no one would’ve expected.

Even as various points had deeply impressed upon them just how amazing Louis was, at the same time, Moran and Fred also grew conscious of a certain truth in life. Once again, they stepped through the row of trees.

The two men parted the curtain of leaves, some part of them nervously wondering if those dangerous frogs had escaped, and walked up to the aquarium they had in mind.

“Oh, there they are.”

Seeing that the tank itself hadn’t changed, Moran finally breathed a sense of relief, and went on to admire the three “Moriarty brothers” swimming within.

The one at the head of the group was ‘William’. Right behind him was ‘Albert’, then ‘Louis’. Within the jungle Louis had created, the three angelfish shone in a way that lived up to their angelic names.

However, in contrast to the joyful Moran, Fred’s expression was serious. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Don’t you think…… its movements are a bit awkward?”

“Ah?”

Moran stared at the focus of Fred’s attention. Immediately, he perceived a subtle change in that fish.

Although it seemed perfectly fine at first glance, if one were to observe all three of them carefully, it was clear that the one at the head of the group was swimming a little differently from the other two.

“Is there something wrong?”

Louis came over, sensing something was off. But even before Fred explained the situation, he noticed the abnormality with ‘William’.

He put his face close to the tank, observing the fish for a few moments; but gradually, his expression turned grave.

“Oi, Louis: what on earth’s going on? Could it be that he’s sick?” Moran asked.

Louis placed a hand under his chin, thought for a split second, then quickly made a decision.

“——First, let’s move it to a separate tank. There’s a smaller one near the hall entrance: Mr Moran, please bring it here. Fred: please read the measurements from the devices installed on this tank and report them.”

Hearing those instructions, the two men assumed their roles at once.

Meanwhile, Louis took a notepad from his breast pocket, and checked the emergency response measures he’d studied on his own. Though he had already memorised all of them, he wanted to avoid any potential for error.

Moran returned with a small tank.

“Oi, is this one alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

First, Louis transferred some water from the angelfishes’ tank into the one Moran brought over, such that it was deep enough for one fish. Then, he set up some equipment to confirm the water temperature and quality once more, then added a bit of salt to the water.

Watching him, Moran cocked his head.

“Why’re you adding salt?”

“Saltwater is an effective treatment for diseases in fish. Though it certainly isn’t all-powerful.” [1]

Saying that, Louis used a net to gently scoop up ‘William’ and move it to the tank they’d prepared. Although there were drawbacks to isolating sick fish, his priority was to stop the disease from spreading, as well as limit any damage that could be caused by the other fish.

As he worked, Louis listened to the measurements Fred read out, but his puzzlement only deepened.

“The water quality and temperature are both normal. As far as I can see, there isn’t any obvious debris or dirt in the tank, and the equipment doesn’t seem to be malfunctioning. In that case, perhaps some foreign substance had entered its food, or maybe it got stressed from its surroundings……”

“Maybe it got bullied by the other fish?” Moran asked.

Louis immediately dismissed that idea. “From what I’ve observed, there were no such quarrels between them. In that case, another possibility I can think of is the change in its environment.”

He cast a sideways glance at the trees surrounding them. And Fred picked up the implication behind that casual gesture.

“By ‘stress’, do you mean these trees? But it’s not like they came into contact with the water, so they probably didn’t impact the water quality, at least not directly. Also, weren’t they only added a while ago? To affect the fish so rapidly……”

“We can’t dismiss that possibility. Perhaps the changes to the view outside the tank had caused some visual stress…… Well, regardless of the reason, the blame for its ill health rests with me: the one in charge of its care.”

“…………”

After isolating the fish, the three of them remained standing where they were.

They gazed at the sick angelfish, swimming alone in its tank, with a sense of misery and frustration growing within them.

Footnotes:

[1] There is some truth to this: Practical Fishkeeping UK

[gravityofforteana]

American Psychologist – the official peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Psychological Association – has published a paper that reviews the research so far into parapsychological (‘psi’) abilities, and concludes that the “evidence provides cumulative support for the reality of psi, which cannot be readily explained away by the quality of the studies, fraud, selective reporting, experimental or analytical incompetence, or other frequent criticisms.”

The new paper – “The experimental evidence for parapsychological phenomena: a review“, by Etzel Cardeña of Lund University – also discusses recent theories from physics and psychology “that present psi phenomena as at least plausible”, and concludes with recommendations for further progress in the field.

The paper begins by noting the reason for presenting an overview and discussion of the topic:

“Most psychologists could reasonably be described as uninformed skeptics — a minority could reasonably be described as prejudiced bigots — where the paranormal is concerned”. Indeed, it quotes one cognitive scientist as stating that the acceptance of psi phenomena would “send all of science as we know it crashing to the ground”.

To address this, the paper quickly outlines some current theories in physics and psychology that might help to explain psi effects without smashing the pillars supporting the scientific establishment: quantum physics, ideas on the nature of consciousness, theories of time, and psychological and evolutionary theories of psi.

Cardeña also notes that, despite its current, controversial reputation, the field of psi research has a long history of introducing methods later integrated into psychology (e.g. the first use of randomization, along with systematic use of masking procedures; the first comprehensive use of meta-analysis; study preregistration; pioneering contributions to the psychology of hallucinations, eyewitness reports, and dissociative and hypnotic phenomena). And some of psychology’s most respected names, historically, have also shared an interest in parapsychology, including William James, Hans Berger (inventor of the EEG), Sigmund Freud, and former American Psychological Association (APA) president Gardner Murphy.

The meat of the Cardeña’s paper, though, is in the listing of positive results in various areas of research that support the psi hypothesis.

The Ganzfeld:

Research on ganzfeld has been meta-analyzed repeatedly and is the most consistently supportive database for psi of the last few decades… The most recent and comprehensive meta-analyses of the database by Storm et al. (2010b) and Williams (2011) supported a psi effect.

Implicit cognition:

In implicit anomalous cognition studies, volunteers respond to a psychological task, with a hidden psi aspect to it… Although there has not been a meta-analysis of these studies, Palmer (2015b, p. 227) concluded in a review that studies with a hidden reward had more significant outcomes than would be expected by chance.Related to this paradigm, studies designed by Cornell psychologist Daryl Bem (2011) tested the hypothesis that a future stimulus might have a retroactive influence on a previous response… Bem (2011) reported on nine different protocols with more than 1,000 participants and found that all but one of them was independently significant and that the mean effect size was significant.‘

Dream telepathy‘:

In everyday life, ostensible anomalous cognition often occurs during dreams. The first comprehensive analysis of controlled studies was carried out by Yale psychologist Irvin Child (1985) on the dream psi studies conducted at the Maimonides Medical Center sleep lab… Child reported that in 20 out of 25 experiments the dream content on average had been correctly matched (blindly) to the target directly or on the top half of a binary division of multiple choices at a better than chance level, with a probability against chance of 1.46 x 10-8.

Remote viewing:

RV (remote viewing) is a technique in which an individual describes a place, chosen at random, where a sender is located at the present or at a future time (there may also be just a location chosen without any observer there)… [In] Baptista et al.’s (2015) summary of the available data the overall effect remains significant (Baptista et al., 2015).

Forced-choice studies:

In forced-choice studies, the guessing possibilities are finite and the possibilities are known by the person, for instance cards in a randomized deck. The protocol measures whether the participant can guess correctly more often than would be expected by chance. Honorton and Ferrari (1989) conducted a meta-analysis of forced-choice precognition research conducted between 1935 and 1987 by 62 investigators…the analyses for all of 309 experiments and for the 248 homogeneous ones [reveal] highly significant but very small effect sizes.…A second meta-analysis of forced-choice experiments was carried out by Storm, Tressoldi, and Di Risio (2012) on 91 studies conducted between 1987 and 2010, and on 72 homogeneous studies. They concluded that there was a small but significant effect, and no evidence that the results could be explained by low-quality designs…or selective reporting.

Anomalous perturbation:

Anomalous perturbation refers to the ostensible influence of intention on nonobservable systems, evaluated statistically (there are no meta-analyses of anomalous force).Schmidt (2015) summarized his meta-analyses of three areas: (a) direct mental interaction in living systems, such as measuring the electrodermal activity (EDA) of a receiver while a distant agent is, at random times, trying to make that person aroused or calm; (b) remote staring, or changes in the EDA of a receiver as an agent looks at him/her through video at random times from a separate room; and (c) remote helping (or attention-focusing facilitation), in which a remote helper tries at random times to help a meditator focus on a target. [Schmidt’s data] shows that all three research paradigms were supportive of psi.

Dice experiments:

Trying to affect the fall of dice, typically in a machine to avoid possible manipulation, was a common research paradigm used in the mid-20th century. Radin and Ferrari (1991) meta-analyzed 148 studies involving more than 2 million dice throws, in which participants intended to affect the fall of dice without touching them, and which produced a highly significant but small effect.

Micro-PK:

Bösch, Steinkamp, and Boller (2006) metaanalyzed 380 studies on attempts to affect random number generators (RNGs). [The data] shows significant but very small effects.

Overall, Cardeña concludes, this overview of meta-analyses of various different research protocols “supports the psi hypothesis”, satisfying the criteria of a critic of psi “who demanded replicability, consistency of effects, and cumulativeness”.

The meta-analyses, conducted on studies using different protocols and by different researchers, provide cumulative vertical and horizontal support of psi. Vertical in the sense that across time different protocols have continued to produce positive results beyond what would be expected by chance, and with increasing methodological rigor; horizontal in the sense that there is support for psi across research areas. If only one or a few protocols out of 10 were significant and the rest were not, it would be easier to speculate that the supportive results might be due to an artifact. In addition, the rigor of the psi meta-analyses has increased with time and typically include evaluation of possible selective reporting, quality of studies, and so on.

Cardeña finishes with some suggestions for researchers to integrate into future studies of psi – in particular, the need for using more ‘selected participants’ (that is, those people that seem to be ‘better’ at psi than others). He notes that while psi laboratory results are scientifically significant, they are also small in size – and this could be because they are the result of the ‘averaging’ of larger effects of talented individuals mixed with the smaller (or even null) effects of others.

According to Cardeña, “characteristics shown to increase the likelihood of performing well in a psi experiment include a belief that one will do well in the study, some psychological traits (e.g., extraversion and openness to experience), a mental practice such as meditation, and previous experience in a psi experiment”. Artists in particular “tend to score better than chance and other groups”, he says, and “there is evidence that testing while a participant is in a different state of consciousness than the ordinary, waking one is conducive to psi performance”

But the paper also mentions one more suggestion to help psi research become more accepted by mainstream science: the need for “a change in the editorial policy of some journals so that the default position is not to automatically reject papers on psi but to have them evaluated on their own merits by knowledgeable and open reviewers”. Given the appearance of this paper in American Psychologist, that may now be happening.

[a-x-ce]

Me, not too long ago: As a Tokoyami fan I’m ride or die with Hawks, if Toko loves him, I love him!

*Applies my brain for 5 seconds*

Oh brother, here I fucking go

Hawks does not reciprocate even a fucking fraction of the emotion Tokoyami puts into their relationship. Horikoshi has butchered their dynamic and made it so unfairly one-sided. The way Hawks has become completely attached to the Deku storyline completely betrays any of the development between him and Tokoyami. Even IF Hori decides to backtrack, all of the emotional payoff will be completely diminished.

First, he only accepts him during the work study to use him, which is really shitty. Tokoyami is rightfully angry at the implication that his only value is that he’s been involved in attacks on him and his classmates by the LOV and therefore has some fucked up “insider information”. Tokoyami gets stronger out of sheer anger at this point to come back and prove himself to a hero who basically looked down on him as a tool. Oh and also some jokes about Tokoyami having a bird head because we’re still not tackling anything in this series in regards to discrimination on mutants, but it’s ~funny~ because Hawks is mutated too! He’s just also hot because his mutation is some really pretty red wings and not an actual animal head or anything else that would make him ~ugly~ :))

Hawks invited him back again for the same shitty reasons, he’s got info. and he wants to tap into his personal, horrible, experience with the LOV. Which this time included losing control of his quirk and nearly hurting his friends, being nearly kidnapped, multiple of his friends being hurt and nearly killed, the ACTUAL kidnapping of one of his classmates, and the entire fallout of Kamino. Like, what the hell! But this time thanks to how much of a badass Tokoyami is in training himself he can keep up with Hawks, which earns him a night-flight opportunity and some vague advice on learning to fly for reasons he doesn’t even explain in terms of how that directly connects to Tokoyami and his ability to fly that didn’t even exist prior to this very conversation. Okay? So Tokoyami yet again learns some badass move because he’s awesome and U.A. and his internship opportunities so far are basically useless, this kid teaches himself. 

Which is exactly what happens during the 2nd internship, Hawks isn’t even around...but Tokoyami gets stronger regardless because fuck Hawks taking him in again and abandoning him. All we get before the war arc is some internal dialogue from him about how grateful he was that Tokoyami came and showed him he could rely on the next generation of heroes, and acknowledges Tokoyami’s strength. Tokoyami doesn’t know any of this.

While on the other hand Tokoyami ends up appreciating and even being thankful of Hawks advice after the first internship. He admires him, during the war arc he thinks of him specifically and desires his praise for how far he’s come and how much stronger he’s gotten. Tokoyami wants nothing more than in that moment to see him again. And then when he does see him again? Tokoyami is saving Hawks’ life. 

Against an opponent with the worst possible ability, Tokoyami gets hurt in that rescue, burning his foot/ankle/leg in the process. In the worst possible moment near the end when Dabi is on the verge of KILLING them Tokoyami clutches Hawks in his arms as Dark Shadow becomes a shield. He’s willing to die for him there. But thankfully due to the BS of Geten fucking things up, Tokoyami can escape and take Hawks with him. Where he then stays by his side the ENTIRE time he’s treated, through the Machia destruction, until the very end of the arc...

And what? What was the payoff for all this? What could possibly come later to make up for the fact that so far, at no point, ANY of this has been acknowledged by Hawks? Not one word. Not one thought. Nothing to show us he’s even said a goddamn thing to Tokoyami about his near life sacrifice for him. His injuries? Why he had to kill Twice? How ANY of that affected Tokoyami? NOTHING.

Now the “best case scenario” is some shitty flashback way down the road MAYBE. It’s not even guaranteed there will be payoff for all of that, it’s just assumed because all of us expect something otherwise, what the fuck? That’d be horrible writing and some of us would like to keep thinking Hori knows what the fuck he’s doing sometimes (I’m on the fence these days...)

There was so much potential here for just ONE chapter’s worth of dialogue, maybe not even a chapter since god forbid we take too many panels away from the main 3 (lord! I’m sorry for asking for too much!!! forgive this selfish bitch!!) a page to show us that they TALKED AT ALL would have saved me a lot of frustration and annoyance. No amount of flashbacks potentially are going to undo these last few months of anger.

And I KNOW Horikoshi shows us that they have a good dynamic in SIDE art, we got that amazing new image on twitter showing us how Tokoyami makes him laugh, showing his happiness with his little intern. But WHY is that in some twitter image and NOT in the manga?! SHOW US IN THE MANGA TOO, it’s the same shit with all of Tokoyami’s power-ups, ALL off-screened. He just, gets stronger, develops new techniques, and we see the outcome of all of it...details given to us in fucking extra pages maybe in the back of a volume or included in a character data book that only people who buy it get to know. I want information IN the series, not just brushed off to the side so we can just keep focusing on the same 5 characters over and over and over again. Develop your cast Horikoshi, it’s literally not that hard EVERY other mangaka has done it before you and many will do it after you as well, it’s the bare fucking minimum.

[transhitman]

A desire to return what has been lost, to mend the broken and undo mistakes. A seam-ripper for the threads of fate, the power to reconfigure the tapestry of reality itself. Creation born of destruction, destruction born of kindness.

 The Hand Requiem.

Contrary to The Hand’s original appearance, The Hand Requiem appears as a feminine figure shrouded in cloth which is unaffected by light. The cloth is a pure white in color, and its threads unravel and extend into the ground, or any solid object within 5 meters. The Hand Requiem stands 3 meters tall, but only manifests its top half out of Okuyasu. When this is not possible, its lower half is completely obscured by the white cloth. Most of its height is supplied by an elongated torso that contains two rib cages. The parts of its body that aren’t covered by the cloth are a kaleidoscopic metal the color of labradorite. When standing up straight, its two pairs of arms reach nearly to the ground, and each hand has a total of 9 digits (two thumbs and 7 fingers). Its top right and bottom left hands are backwards, and all hands can be used to erase rather than just one. The Hand’s original blinders have moved to cover its face completely. The now visible inside of its head is a black sphere, presumably a representation of the void to which The Hand banishes things.

The Hand Requiem is sentient, but, much like Okuyasu before he met Josuke, it does not make its own decisions. It will only act on Okuyasu’s command.

The Hand Requiem’s ability is the power to return that which is lost. Its erasure process is identical to its original, but rather than simply erasing objects, it is now able to erase the events attached to them. The universe then corrects itself as if the object had never existed. However, the erasure can only bring back things that have been lost because of or destroyed by what has been erased, and can not erase things that were created by the object. This stipulation prevents paradoxes.

For example, if The Hand Requiem erases a bullet that was used to kill someone, the person will exist again. They are not being brought back to life, rather, The Hand Requiem makes it so that they never died in the first place. But if the metal in that bullet was once used in a factory machine, the things that the machine made are not destroyed. Memories will also not be changed, but a new set of memories will exist alongside the original ones. (Though both sets of memories are equally real, people affected will still be able to tell which set is the original.) Effectively, this means that The Hand Requiem tacks together two timelines and causes them both to exist at once.

Ironically, the stipulation that prevents Okuyasu from making a paradox by being an idiot also hinders him. The larger or more powerful the thing he erases with The Hand Requiem, the bigger the change to the timeline, and the larger the amount contradicting things created. If used incorrectly, The Hand Requiem could create an unfixable disaster though its ability to fuse realities. Luckily, most objects or people aren’t important enough to affect the entire world, but care must be used to prevent small-scale disasters. Acting with care is not something Okuyasu is great at, so, like its original form, The Hand Requiem goes underutilized for fear of what could happen though the butterfly effect.

Important Things Removed By The Hand Requiem As of 2005:

The Angelo Rock - resulted in the resurrection of each of Angelo’s murder victims, as well as Josuke’s grandfather.

Kira Yoshikage’s ashes - Nothing. The ashes no longer counted as a part of a greater whole.

The electrical outlet in Okuyasu’s attic - resulted in the creation of 3 years worth of new memories, starting with Josuke and Keicho continuing to fight, causing the whole group to fall though the broken floorboards, and the death of both Nijimura brothers at the hands of Red Hot Chili Pepper via a different electrical source. This hypothetical timeline continues normally, but without Okuyasu. However, Okuyasu’s motorcycle appeared in his garage, completely fixed. No other changes were noticed. Since the sequence of events diverged so little, the new memories of a timeline without Okuyasu could easily be ignored, and eventually forgotten, though they did have a very tangible effect on those close to him.

Dio’s Coffin (Provided by the SWF) - resulted in the resurrection of Mohammad Avdol, Noriaki Kakyoin, Iggy, and anyone else directly killed by Dio, his subordinates, and his descendants after he stole Jonathan’s body. However, it also resulted in nearly 20 years worth of split memories that wildly varied from the original timeline. These memories are incredibly difficult to sort though, and can cause physical pain if focused too hard on, as doing so is literally trying to reconcile two completely different, but equally real timelines. It is also worth noting that Okuyasu’s father remained a monster, presumably because he was still alive and whole, and nothing was technically “lost”. Because of this, Keicho still sought the bow and arrow, and all the events that occurred in Morioh after Dio’s death, though changed slightly, lead to the same outcome. Because Dio was dead, Jotaro never developed a Stand, and he and Joseph did not come to Morioh. Josuke did not develop his Stand until much later, when Keicho shot him with the Stand Arrow. (This also means he never got sick, was never saved by the unknown delinquent, and sported a different hairstyle in that timeline. This concept pissed Josuke off to no end.) Other than that, however, events played out normally, culminating in Okuyasu being the one to subdue Kira with his teleportation, rather than Jotaro with his time stop. Kira was still hit by the ambulance. Furthermore, though this was unknown to Okuyasu at the time, Diavolo remained banished to limbo by Gold Experience Requiem, as he was also never technically “killed” by Dio’s son.

From the last two tests, it can be inferred that The Hand Requiem takes the path of least resistance. The end results are as similar to the original as possible, and to get the wanted effect, the thing that is erased must be absolutely pivotal to fate.

[bakezart]

When given the brief to make a zine, I wanted to relate it back to the topic of universally human. Mental illness relates strongly to that topic, and it personally has had a substantial effect on not only me, but also my family. Hence my titled project, Family Inheritance.

Order is important to me, even if the tone remains the same no matter what. I ordered them from my mother's side to my father, which interests me now because I sit closer to my father's side in mental disorder than I do my mother. This project held a special interest to me because mental illness in general is inescapable but especially in regards to my family, where I have grown up and seen the effects of poor mental health on the sufferer and those around them as well.

I enjoyed working with the reisograph, I found that it's ability to layer colour from hand drawn images and block images alike mental that I had a lot of freedom, and it's ability to make prints by the many cheaply was a great way to make a zine.

This is the back page of my zine, of which I am yet to finish. I specifically like this page because it represents the possibility for growth, contrasting from the desolate dead tree illustrated on the front cover. I feel the font used for my title is unprofessional, my handwriting is not my strong suit, and so next time I would endeavour to include either a more stylised typeface to lean into my short comings or perhaps use a computer to print out the title, leading to a cleaner look. I am currently unsure what approach I would prefer, a cleaner look would be more professional and lead to a more finished look. However following the sketchy and stylised look of my zine if a stronger front was to be developed, it could further illustrate the message behind my zine.

This is the final outcome to the pages of my zine. I overall feel that it's effective in portraying mental illnesses, the bold colours are stark, and mean the message is more obvious, however I feel that messing around with the colours might have lead to a more interesting look and I could have attached different colours to my impressions and experiences with mental illness, adding a depth to my zine. The stylised figures play on being both humanoid and distinctly surreal, a link to mental illness both being a human experience but also stigmatised and misunderstood. Should I have had more time I would have worked to personalise these figures more and make them more consistent in proportion. I also worked directly from my draft to create my layers, which lead to the layers all being offset. On the one hand, it has quite an interesting effect the disjointing of the colours mirroring the disjointed experience that people hold. On the other hand this is a mistake, and I would at least like to see a print in which the colours align with each other.

I was inspired by Shawn Coss' work, he represents many illnesses in his work but his works on mental illnesses touched me. I drew from his grotesque take on the human form and stark use of colour. I deviated in that I personalised it more to me and my family, trying to draw on more experiences I had. However Shawn Coss did extensive research on mental illness and I would have liked to do that as well. It is my hope that if I explored the subject more, I could read more stories and talk to people more on how mental illness has affected their lives, as I would not want to cause any disrespect through a subject that devastates lives

[lunaleetarot]

Gemini 2021 Year Ahead Birthday Spread

Starting from the top clockwise, theme in the middle.

May 2021- Queen of Wands

This month you may be surrounding yourself with a friendly individual who loves animals. This person may be you- or your mother or a mother figure or your romantic partner. Sometimes it just means you need to take on the traits of the Queen herself. Good or bad this may be a person who has a significant say in your current situation. I feel for some of you this may be a mother in law. This person will be more relevant in your life this month. The Queen is ambitious, she wants to climb the career ladder or do other great things. Usually this individual finds themselves playing the role of the leader for having the ability to take charge. This person takes pride in being a good friend and ally. They will consider how their decisions affect others before making any moves, making sure everyone involved is being treated fairly. Enjoy time in nature as much as you can this month. If possible, go to the zoo or take a nature hike. Keeping fit and taking care of your health will be important to you. There may be a demanding and domineering woman standing between you and what you want. Watch out for controlling and oppressive behavior. If you find yourself micromanaging everyone around you- check yourself. You may be dealing with someone born on the Pisces-Aries cusp (March 19-24th).

2. June 2021- Ten of Swords

Disaster may be coming to your doorstep this June. This is not a welcoming card, as it usually indicates destruction. I feel this has been brewing for weeks and it’s finally coming to a head with the Queen of Wands above. All may be lost here Gemini. Drama, conflict will reach their next stage or conclusion. Your relationship may end in the most terrible or cruel way. Something may happen that will strip you of your confidence. This card and abusive relationships can go hand in hand. Business, career and fiance many make a turn for the worst. Once the dust settles you can start anew, but I feel for this month you're still going to be in the thick of it. You may be in ill health. Take care of yourself from physical and emotional pain. At the very least I feel some type of betrayal is going to occur and you won’t be able to resolve the issue. This is your card Gemini, this is going to affect you directly.

3. July 2021- Seven of Wands

As we move into sweltering July, you're going to face the challenges from last month head on. You're ready to preserve and defend yourself. It could possibly result in a fight for you. The person who betrayed you last month is going to make a hassle for you, and it may become a severe problem in your life. You do not see eye to eye with this person, but I feel this is someone who you were once very close to. This person does not respect you or your way of doing things. For some of you, this could be a co-worker out to steal the spotlight from you in the office. Although this is frustrating, you have the long term advantage here. They covet what you have, but you earned it with your merit, talent and personality. Because of this, even if you have to fight, you will remain on top. You may be dealing with a Leo here.

4. August 2021- The High Priestess

All the conflict from last month has really helped you to trust your intuition. However this may be a time where you need to brace the unknown, Gemini. Your insights will be so spot on, it will almost feel like your psychic. You may have strong suspicions. You may suspect your partner is being unfaithful to you. It will be revealed to you. Something in your life isn’t quite right, and you’ll feel it Gem. A lover or a business partner may be keeping a secret from you. You will sense the dishonesty, even if you're not completely sure what it is. The secret will be revealed to you this month.

5. September 2021- Ten of Wands

You learned a harsh truth last month, and it’s leaving you physically shattered this September. The truth was revealed to you, but it left you wounded. Now you're facing many burdens. This is a card of hard work, and there is a lot of work left to be done for you Gemini. You’re going to have to put in a lot more effort than you have been previously. Now is the time to decide if you want to buckle down and complete the challenge or throw in the towel. This card isn’t telling you what to do, it’s only telling you that things are about to get more difficult. You will have a lot on your plate this month. You're most likely juggling work, family and other responsibilities. You go to bed at night thinking about all the work that is facing you the next day. You will be very overwhelmed. You're going to need to take care of yourself, especially since stress related illness is likely to crop up at this time. This card is often drawn for new parents who are spending sleepless nights and drained from responsibility. It could also mean you're working hard trying to get a business off the ground. You keep pushing and pushing but there’s no end in sight. If you keep grinding there is a cozy environment in your future. If you stay committed you will see the fruits of your labor. Keep pushing towards the life you want. You may be dealing with a Sagittarius.

6. October 2021- Five of Swords

As we move into Autumn, you will face defeat. You will lose something through a fault of your own or for some something may be stolen from you. Regardless you will experience misfortune in your conflicts. This is a theft card so make sure you have proper insurance, make sure you're careful with what you brag about within the home. An enemy is going to outsmart you. You may experience loss of reputation, position or your entire career altogether. This could come from friends instead of co-workers for some. A lover being stolen from you is also a possibility. It won’t be fair, but it won’t matter very much. You may be dealing with an Aquarius here.

7. November 2021- Five of Cups

After your fall from grace in the spooky month of October, you're facing setbacks in November. You're dealing with a lot of disappointment and negative thoughts. This will be a period of great sadness for you. Instead of feeling thankful this month, you will find yourself in a negative place. At this time you will be confused about what your next move should be, and possibly indulging in self-pity. This card often makes an appearance during a break-up or divorce. Although this is difficult now, there is someone out there who is better suited for you, Gemini. Your life is by no means over. If you're battling depression, get help. You don’t have to battle these feelings alone. You may experience this fall out over a strained friendship or family relationship. All is not lost, a second chance is within your grasp. However, you're going to have to try. You may be dealing with a Scorpio here.

8. December 2021- Ace of Wands

As we move into the holiday season, you're ready to start over and begin creating a new life for yourself. This month you’re creating something that will have an impact. This could be a life changing event like a new child or a new job- but for most it will probably just be a new hobby. You will be excited about new opportunities that present themselves. You may be starting a new relationship that is filled with spark and fire. If you find yourself pregnant- this card can indicate it will be a male child. This could be you or someone you're close to. Be mindful not to get so caught up in the excitement that once it isn’t fun anymore you stop putting in effort. You don’t want something promising to never get past the first stages because of this. However, I will say this is the first promising month I see for you. I feel like the holiday season will be when Gemini gets their groove back.

9. January 2022- Four of Cups

Coming into the new year, you may find the spark you had last month is now fizzling out. Perhaps reality stepped in or a new lover has decided to leave you this month. If this is the case for you, it’s likely they got bored of the relationship. If it isn’t, you will be the one feeling the boredom. You feel unhappy and discontent in your current circumstances this month. The excitement from December has fizzled out. You won’t be happy until you do something to change it. You may be procrastinating at work or your boredom could be leading you to an affair. You may feel like you're suffering from some sort of mid-life crisis (or something that closely resembles one) You covet what other people have, wishing your own life was better. You may be chasing something that just isn’t meant for you. Use your jealousy of others for good and work on the areas of your life you're upset about. Work hard and strike for the things you see others have that you want. Keep in mind, the grass may not be greener on the other side. Count your blessings and be grateful for what you have. You may be dealing with a Cancer this month.

10. February 2022- Six of Swords

You find yourself feeling apathetic this month. You're just not interested in the drama that’s been going on all year. You're ready to forgive and move on. This can result in moving towards or away from conflict- that’s up to you. This card is all about movement. You may be physically moving residence or leaving your hometown. You may be close to the water when you travel on a boat or make a plane trip. You're moving towards a certain goal or outcome. Keep the faith, you're making progress even if you don’t feel like it. Something could be progressing in a way you didn’t want to expect. Once you get what you want, you see the grass isn’t greener on the other side. I feel this could be you achieving a goal you set out last month and realizing it doesn’t really suit you. Keep your options open for now.

11. March 2022- The Magician

With the energy of moving on, you're setting your sights on your own talents, possibly sales. You will have a lot of willpower this month. A nice change for you as winter becomes spring. You’re setting goals and seeing them through. Nothing will stop you, Gemini! Taking action at this time will attract the opportunities you crave. Be careful, for some of you a con man may be coming into your life (or trying to come back into it). One thing is for sure, you will be starting something new. A new business, job or hobby is in store for you.

12. April 2022- Six of Wands

The talents you displayed last month will lead you with victory and new found popularity this month. Success is finally coming to you! You will receive recognition for your hard work. Soon you will be able to sit back and bask in the glow. It’s been a hard year, you deserve it. There is a possibility that you will be looked up to as an authority. You may become a sort of celebrity in your field or interest. Your social media following will likely increase at this time. You will also be rewarded financially. A well deserved ego boost may also be in order. For some this may mean your letting your stubbornness get in the way of your happiness. You can’t admit when you're wrong or deny that others may know more than you. This arrogance may turn people off. You may be dealing with a Leo at this time.

13. Theme of the Year- Page of Cups

This will be an emotional year for you, unfortunately a year of emotional immaturity. For the next 365 days you may be feeling sensitive and a bit soft. You desire love, care and affection- but you're going about getting it in all the wrong ways. This gentleness may be coming from a good place, but you appear overly sensitive and annoy others. You will come off childish, moody and downright silly. In other words, you need to act your age, Gemini. I feel you will spend much of this year day-dreaming. Be mindful not to lose time because you have your head in the clouds. A certain stage of your life is coming to a natural end so a new stage can begin. You will notice this especially in June and September. This will be a painful experience for you, but it’s all for the best. I feel this could mean the end of a relationship so a new one can begin. Big events will occur in August and March. In October and November you will feel as though you’ve been defeated. February and April a special relationship may begin to bloom. It will start off slow but could lead to something amazing.

[legacyofabsolutewalnuts]

I have plans to write an AU for kotfe/kotet that involves at least the big four of my alts, that being Viticalia, Thomsyn, Montym and Belville, but I’ll likely add Erminide, my smuggler Beau, and my BH Donahelm at some juncture. For now I’m still figuring out the logistics, so consider this a test run of what may be to come: In which the others find out Bel is now force sensitive and he wants absolutely nothing to do with it while they treat him like a padawan

He definitely wasn’t meditating. Not on the light or the dark, or anything in between. Montym would have bet their title as a Master that Belville wasn’t thinking about the force in the slightest. He looked like he might be, having settled down across from Montym, kneeling on a cushion, although they couldn’t tell whether the man’s eyes were closed behind the tinted glass of his cybernetics. They may have been, and he was simply thinking, or perhaps he was staring at nothing, or perhaps he was staring directly at Montym and dissecting them.

The thought was enough to make them flinch, visualizing what a Cipher agent might look for when looking at someone, until they remembered that Belville couldn’t actually look at them anyway. And he’d probably long since cataloged anything he thought he could use as a weakness against Montym. They cleared their throat softly to get Belville’s attention. “You’re thinking, not meditating.”

“I don’t have time to sit around thinking about nothing.”

Montym huffed out a sigh. “You need to learn to center and focus yourself if you want to be able to control the force.”

“I am perfectly capable of focusing while doing other things. Is that why you force users are so predictable? Not good at thinking on your feet?” The Cipher’s tone was snide and Montym raised a brow at him and let the silence stretch.

“There is no need to take your frustrations over harnessing this technique out on me.”

“I am not frustrated. I think this is a waste of time no matter the outcome. I don’t need the force.”

“It seems very unlike a spy not to utilize all the tools at his disposal.”

“In my experience, the force is only a tool for those who regard it as one. And neither Jedi or Sith regard it as only a tool. You let it rule you, one way or another. This implies that following teachings from either of you is likely to cause me to follow the same faulted thought process.”

“Debating philosophy is a lesson for another day. I usually like to start that when the learner can at least lift a rock.” they swallowed a smirk and shook their head. “Is there never a moment when you allow yourself to rely on instinct, to empty yourself of thought and focus only in the moment?”

Belville looked distinctly unamused, head tilted to one side and expression bland. “My instincts are there when I need them. I don’t have to engage them.”

“You’re being obtuse on purpose.”

“Yes. And I can see why they put you in charge of Padawans. I was hoping you’d have snapped by now.”

“I have significantly more patience for you to try if you like, Belville. But you aren’t getting out of this until I’m satisfied you have some control over the connection Valkorion forged for you.” Montym smiled then, truly and with more than a little amusement. “Are you trying to frustrate each of us into letting the subject drop?”

“It worked with Lana and Viticalia. Thomsyn didn’t even try.”

“No, she called me. And with good reason, it seems. She does not have the patience to handle you, but you already know that. She’d have had you on your ass by now.”

Belville’s lips raised in a minor snarl and then his expression flattened. “A good spar would be better than this. I also do not appreciate being treated like a child.”

“I’ll treat you like an adult when you treat this like you’re an adult.”

The Cipher sighed and fell silent, letting the confrontation fall away, but there was no ease to his aura, instead a sharp, dissecting focus that shifted with his thoughts, planning and calculating. It always surprised them a bit to find an Imperial that wouldn’t rise to the bait, but they were quickly realizing many of them, like Belville himself, were more accustomed to diffusing confrontations when necessary. A need when dealing with Sith, they supposed. Montym sighed. “You still aren’t taking this seriously.”

“Is this truly necessary?”

“The force requires focus to wield. You have that, but you need to learn to let it be present so you can use it. Using it without understanding how to let it fill you, breathe through you, requires an amount of focus that would distract you from all else. You need to make the ability to pinpoint and take hold of it second nature if you want to be effective.”

Belville was quiet for a long moment. “Silence is indicative of danger, both in my line of work and how I operate. It means there are no tells, no clues, no information given one way or another. Silence means you’ve run out of options.”

“This makes you uncomfortable.”

“I thought that was obvious.”

“Less obvious than you would think.” They hesitated for a moment. “How did you learn to hide yourself in the force? I’ve felt you do it. You hide your emotions and thoughts with ease, to the degree that you can go unnoticed in the force when you chose to.”

The Cipher seemed thoughtful for a long moment. “It’s an interrogation technique. The ability to hide any instinctual reactions and override any physical instincts can be the difference between life or death. According to theory, it affects what the person using it puts out into the force. We used to practice it on acolytes so that we could successfully employ the technique against Jedi.”

Montym winced as they spoke. “An...interrogation technique?”

“Yes. The ability to hide micro-expressions and control the urge to vomit, swallow, or breath at certain points, depending on what’s being done.” His tone was so casual it cut at pieces of Montym harshly. “It can be the difference between life or death, if you’ve been captured, or under the rare occasion infiltration through capture is required.”

“And how do you do that?”

Belville’s lips pursed for a moment. “Dissociation from the surroundings, while focusing on the individual responses of the body. Granted it’s preferable to be able to use what your interrogator says and does against them rather than have to completely separate yourself from the situation. But it is possible.”

Montym swallowed harshly and nodded a little. “I see. I apologize, I am...a little disturbed by the thought.”

“You wouldn’t be the first.” Belville’s smile was tight. “You were hoping it would lead into this lesson.”

“I was, but I feel as though that may be too connected with negative thoughts and emotions to be useful.”

Belville’s head tilted again. “This is what I mean. Jedi, or Sith, you see everything as attached to emotions, when things can simply be tools. That technique is helpful in many other aspects, but that’s the reason I learned it. But it makes you uncomfortable to think I could use the same process used for handling torture to access what you see as a gift.”

“I...yes.” Montym settled their hands in their lap for a long moment. “It would almost be more useful if we had someone who had seen both sides of the fence. At least until you have the basics- except we do.”

“Excuse me?”

“Theron. He had Jedi training when he was younger. And it would not be a matter of him understanding your point of view better, he’s practically lived the same life in reverse, from Jedi to spy. Theoretically, he’ll be able to connect with your mindset better, and give you a way to access it without us having to completely change the way you think.”

“You know, I really thought I was going to annoy you out of attempting this five minutes ago.”

“You haven’t. I’ll be able to expand upon the base Theron can provide for you, and we can move forward from there.”

“Damn.”

[hypnoticwinter]

110 Epigrams, in no particular order

1. there is no such thing as bad writing so long as you are saying what you mean to say the way you mean to say it to the people you mean to hear it.

2. prose is only inexcusably purple when it is pretentious or unnecessarily complex.

3. the most important part of any relationship is knowing what you want and knowing what they want.

4. you handicap yourself if you have power but refuse to exercise it.

5. characters don't have to be likeable and don't have to grow, but they do have to have logical motives for their actions.

6. everything is art, but that doesn't automatically make it worthy of discussion.

7. literature is multidimensional and the original author should not be placed on a pedestal; however, the original author should also not be completely disregarded.

8. intelligence is the ability to take in knowledge and dissect it; wisdom is the ability to use it in your life.

9. the good don't need the law and the bad don't obey it.

10. in great attempts, even to fail is glorious.

11. it's not what you do with your life, it's how you feel about it. If you're content, nothing else matters.

12. the quickest and laziest way to solve a problem (provided the entire problem is completely solved) is always the best way.

13. money can't buy happiness, but it can buy fun.

14. irony has come to define people and their vain struggle to escape the cage only accentuates its existence.

15. either have something new to say or a new way to say something old.

16. you shouldn't marry someone unless you'd still do it if there was no cake, no celebration, no witnesses, no rings, and the only thing you got from it was a little piece of paper that said 'ur marid now grats.'

17. never buy people things they are better at selecting themselves.

18. being truthful is preferable to lying, but if you have to lie, do it to anyone but yourself.

19. the point of marketing is to make people think they want your product.

20. you can have an infinite set without having all possibilities.

21. morals are for people who want to feel better than anyone else, but can't get money or sex.

22. people only do things because it benefits them in some manner.

23. a law is only as powerful as the apparatus that enforces it.

24. being fat is prole, but having a lot of muscles is prole too.

25. you're not a dog, so don't reward yourself with food.

26. the only person who will always be there for you is yourself.

27. you're not as good as people say you are, and you're not as bad as people say you are.

28. if you need to do it with friends to have fun, then it isn't fun.

29. to feel sorrow is to deserve forgiveness.

30. we never love anyone. What we love is the idea we have of someone. It's our own concept—our own selves—that we love.

31. slang is the weapon of elitism.

32. art should never be censored.

33. someone fucking someone over because of the bottom line makes sense, but getting fucked over because people are friends irks people the worst way.

34. trust the written word the least, the spoken word a little more, and actions the most. The way people act is the way they feel.

35. carefully cultivated vagueness is any artist's best friend. Let your audience fill in most of the blanks themselves and they'll invent things much more fantastic and memorable than you ever could.

36. no matter how little you care about what other people think of you, their opinions of you still affect you.

37. saying 'then you do it better' is never a valid response to criticism.

38. if you don't respect yourself, nobody else will.

39. make no more enemies than necessary.

40. when people say 'just be yourself' what they really mean is 'don't try to trick me' or 'don't get uppity.'

41. true communication is distinguishing between when the other person doesn't understand you and when they do understand you but don't care.

42. it is always the speaker's responsibility to ensure their message is heard.

43. how hard you work does not and should not affect the value of something you create.

44. the government is a tool to serve a purpose; it should never be the focus of love or unconditional loyalty.

45. finding an aspect or the entirety of a work of art offensive is not a good reason to not absorb and attempt to appreciate it.

46. either have substance or have form.

47. the surest way to identify constitutional weakness in someone is if they phrase their insults and other opinions in the form of a question for no reason; people only do this when they don't believe in themselves because they're afraid of their own voice.

48. the best scams of all are the ones that punish people for not partaking: marriage, taxes, degrees.

49. if you can't bear your power/status gracefully, you don't deserve it.

50. the secret to empathy is to suggest something believable enough that the other person thinks that's what they were thinking.

51. whenever you feel you must do something, make sure you are doing it because you want to do it, not because someone else thinks you ought to. Note that the two are not always mutually exclusive.

52. you cannot feel shame unless you already harbor guilt.

53. it is the responsibility of the commissioner of a task to ensure that it is done to their liking; it is the responsibility of the doer of a task to ensure that it is done to the best of their ability.

54. ignorance is never shameful unless it is willful.

55. once an individual accepts the inherent injustice in the world, all things become just.

56. for praise to be worth something, it has to come from a higher source; thus the object of praise lifts the praise-giver to a superior level.

57. success in life does not come from actual virtue or competence, it comes instead from appropriately and frequently signaling one's holiness through ideological gang signs.

58. people do things publicly so others will notice them. What people do when they're alone is what they truly enjoy.

59. it is difficult to be kind to a person who wants nothing.

60. trying to be calm is not calmness.

61. it is safer to beg than to take, but finer to take than to beg.

62. you are only as good as your latest work.

63. being a victim has become a currency and like all currencies, it is counterfeited.

64. faith is a tool that becomes more necessary when an individual is living close to death.

65. poetry is the only art not consumed by its 'fans' ... it is an art divided between snobs, who refuse to accept any but classical poetry, and other snobs, who ape contemporary poets with none of the requisite skill or understanding.

66. companies are sociopathic entities. They don't have any empathy or desire to help people, nor should they. Their only purpose is to function efficiently and produce money, and it's the government's function to impose human values on them through regulations.

67. if you're actually proud of something, you won't be offended when someone uses it as an insult against you.

68. silencing an opponent through brute force rather than logic makes them a martyr.

69. people want sympathy, not solutions.

70. rules have no inherent power, and people no inherent obligation to follow them. Rather, the enforcers of rules are the ones with power, and rules are only obeyed out of fear of punishment. Corollary: the degree to which a particular rule is obeyed is directly related to the power or aggression of the enforcer of that particular rule. Hence why everybody obeys the law of gravity and nobody obeys laws against jaywalking.

71. people do not normally react aggressively to honest, non-aggressive criticism unless there is an underlying insecurity about the thing being criticized.

72. never put a person in a position where they have to defend themselves, even if they're wrong.

73. never apologize to people who do not believe in forgiveness.

74. never pick up something you aren't willing to put down.

75. if you can't change the situation, change your view of it.

76. the best way of learning is to accept your ignorance and regress to a childlike state where you are not ashamed of not knowing what you are doing and you are free to experiment even with the most basic elements of what you are trying to learn.

77. if you are proud of your country you are either a thug or you haven't read enough history.

78. justice without dispassion is rarely justice.

79. do not do anything for someone that they can do for themselves.

80. the truly marginalized people are the ones you never hear about.

81. change is not the same as progress.

82. the more irrational and bizarre a person's beliefs are, the more their subjective viewpoint is proven to exist.

83. believe in the ideal, not the idol.

84. know when to stop.

85. it is impossible to argue with someone who knows they are right.

86. when you reduce your character to one aspect of yourself, you will begin to assume that every criticism levelled against you stems from prejudice against that aspect instead of any legitimate wrongdoing on your part.

87. trust no information that was transmitted or created in exchange for money or favors.

88. praise the person, not the act.

89. giving an excuse means that you are not sorry.

90. looks depreciate.

91. you will only change if you see a need to.

92. if you want to be noticed, be irreducible. The larger the box you can be shoved in, the more you will stand out.

93. make no quotes in languages you don't speak unless you are certain of what you are saying.

94. a bad defense looks worse than silence.

95. do unto others as they do unto you.

96. if you can't explain something to someone, it's not because they're stupider than you are.

97. if the worst someone can do to you is yell at you, they are no threat.

98. groups are not defined by the outliers.

99. make decisions with irreversible outcomes rarely and with grave consideration.

100. those who refuse to follow are doomed to lead.

101. tribalism allows for blatant hypocrisy without even a trace of self-awareness.

102. a sequel should not undo what was done in the original, it should instead expand on it without damaging the original's legacy.

103. the only people against gatekeeping are those it's meant to keep out.

104. the only human right is the right not to have to do things that you don't want to do, and it is violated wholesale.

105. fudge everything you can get away with.

106. the only law is might makes right, all else is vanity.

107. believing features of a different culture are by default sacred is just a sophisticated way of insulting them for being savages.

108.  never attribute to incompetence that which can be explained by malice.

108a. sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.

109. anything good that flows downstream is an accident.

110. you can't gatekeep if you don't own the keys.

[siryaksalot]

Stealing from AI 

BOLD all that applies to your character I ITALIC all that somewhat applies to your character I STRIKE out what does not apply to your character

4th Wall Awareness: Some Cartoons have the ability to acknowledge that there is an audience or some type of people watching them, and they're working for a cartoon company.

4th Wall Interaction: Cartoons and users of this power can actually communicate and interact with the audience or people watching them, or the people animating them.

Accelerated Metabolism: Cartoons and users of this power can eat vast qualities of food but never seem to gain permanent weight as they lose it in later/certain events or shortly afterwards.

Acme Arsenal: Cartoons and users of this power are able to be creative and use anything and everything as a weapon.

Anatomic Construct: Caricature without any life-threatening effects.

Anatomical Liberation: Users may be able to detach their body parts.

Animation: Create soldiers, escape Portals, traps, weapons, etc. with art materials, like ink.

Antagonal Impairment: Violent rearrangements are impermanent.

Cartoon Constructs: Constructs out of cartoons.

Cartoon Creature Creation: The ability to create creatures out of cartoons.

Cartoon Materialization: The ability to bring cartoons to life either by creating them with the mind, or using an already created cartoon as a base.

Cyclone Spinning: The power to spin in a tornado-like manner.

Deflation/Inflation: Cartoon characters can be inflated, like a balloon, and then deflated as a result (possibly too much).

Destruction: In setting off an explosive, user can destroy a larger area than planned, possibly annihilating an entire planet. This often leaves only a piece of rock and a character hanging from a root.

Digital Form: User's may acquire this ability while going into the cartoon dimension.

Direct Anvil: Anvil will fall directly on a caricature whether they are still or in motion.

Dream Walking: Can see and jump straight into the dreams of other characters.

Dynamite Action: Dynamite (ACME) and possibly other explosives cannot cause any fatal injuries, while only causing the victim to be covered in black soot and surrounded by smoke.

Empathic Weather Manipulation: Manipulate the weather with your emotions, when your angry you make storms etc.

Elasticity: Stretch limbs or any other part of ones body to absurd lengths.

Extreme Inertia: Any subject/object falls at higher speeds than terminal velocity.

Fantastic Travel: User may freely travel between the lines of variant world faculties (i.e. picture frames, drawings, television, cyberspace, storybooks, reality, painted black dots).

Fat Expansion: User may become much fatter by eating lots of food.

Flat Body: May actually become two-dimensional, like a cartoon character.

Gravity Manipulation: Body suspended in space (i.e. air) will remain suspended until made aware of the pertaining situation of gravity. Also, sometimes gravity still works in space.

Hammered!: This is where a character is slammed by a heavy object (such as a giant POW hammer, or fat people) where they will then be slammed deep into the ground. This usually results in the character making a crater in the ground shaped just like the character and the object combined.

Helicopter Propulsion: The characters can use any part of their body to fly like a helicopter.

Information Viewing and Editing: To bring up and edit a person's information, such as removing powers, adding powers, or doing other wacky stuff with it, even edit their own.

Injury Immunity: User's do not die and are not truly affected by injuries that would otherwise be fatal, but will at least be annoyed or experience some pain from it.

Instant Momentum: Can instantly reposition their body in any location without moving, allowing something similar to teleportation.

Invulnerability: User's can survive situations that can be dangerous, like falling from a certain height or hitting hard surfaces.

Knowledge Manipulation: User can use events to manipulate the knowledge of other characters, leading one of them to take the fall.

Letter Generation: Just like in a comic book, in terms of using swearwords, symbols like @# or ! may appear above the caricature. This may also happen in surprising situations. Words like "BLAP!" or "BOOM" can also show, just like in a comic book.

Luck/Jinxed: Cartoon characters can either be infinitely lucky or infinitely unlucky, to the point that impossible outcomes happen to them either way.

Fictional Mimicry: Cartoon characters are often seen mimicking others from different forms of media.

Omnipresence: If the following someone, the user may happen to be anywhere the follower goes, possibly learning to fly for a moment.

Opening Fanfare: Appearance may cause music to be played.

Pain Suppression: Users can suppress pain until they notice it or until they need to let out a scream.

Parasol Flight: Using a mere umbrella to fly, glide, and hover to various destinations.

Pencil Warping: The user can grab a #2 pencil (Or another tool(s) that can write and erase) and play God.... within comical limits. (IE, Draw Tunnels, Holes, Erase such, mess with attacks, draw attacks, ECT.)

Physics Infringement: In the cartoon world, physics is messed within a lot of ways.

Pocket Dimension: Ability to draw out large objects from seemingly nowhere, usually behind their back or in a pocket.

Possibility Inducement: User can make impossible and illogical events happen.

Randomness Inducement: User can make very random and improbable events happen for seemingly no reason.

Regenerative Healing Factor: Recover from damage and regenerate lost limbs, organs, and other body parts. Some almost instantly. For animal cartoons, this is mostly seen only applying to tails.

Reversed Vocifery: When saying things like, "Nothing can go wrong," something wrong can happen. The character ultimately says "I could be wrong" just to prove it.

Ricochet Inducement: Users can cause people or object to ricochet in a cartoonish fashion. Enemies may also cause them to bounce instead.

Semi-Immortality: Cartoon characters never age. They stay exactly the same age over the years.

Sharp Jab: Slightest perforation implicates caricature to shoot skyward, screaming.

Shapeshifting: If the character is interacting with the animator, the animator can erase the body of the character and replace it with a new one - for example, Screwball Daffy.

Smoke Generation: When a fight is beginning, a gray cloud appears and covers the involved caricatures, with hands, feet and/or heads sticking out.

Spontaneous Musical Number: Users can break out into song and dance or cause one. As with some musicals, this can temporarily create a different world suited for the song, and have a variety of physics-defying effects.

Supernatural Condition: Be physically/mentally superior to humans.

Synchronized Movement: Cause another character to move in a way that is synchronized with that of the user, until someone secretly breaks the chain.

Targeting: When discharging a firearm, user can still cut through its target, even if it looks like that they missed by a long way (but not too far).

Tasks: Some cartoon characters are willing to go through a lot of trouble to pull off their personal missions. If they ever put these missions aside for any reason, they come back to them at some point.

Technology Manipulation: User can cause technology to do bizarre things. For example, the cherries on a fruit machine can turn out to be bombs.

Teleportation: Can go inside one tunnel or door and come out of another one. This usually results in two characters ending in different places, despite going through the same door.

Zip!: User may run away at very high speeds. Some cartoon characters, like Road Runner or Speedy Gonzales, have this as a natural ability.

Nature Manipulation: This can also apply to every aspect of nature, possibly causing volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or meteor showers when angry.

Flattened: In some cases the character will be made paper-thin. However, this can also be caused by being hit by large objects, like a train.

Wing Manifestation: In some cases, they can use two things or body parts as wings.

Energy Solidification: Sometimes, this applies to kinetic or emotional energy, making it appear outside of an impact area or a sudden change in emotion for a split second.

Magic: An idea that messes more with physics, and is believed to be magic, can be part of the cartoon's storyline.

Metaphoric Shapeshifting: The character will turn into something depending on the metaphorical situation like a lollipop emblazoned with the word "Sucker" (the character has just been tricked) or a donkey with optional braying (the character is stupid or being a (jack)ass).

Tagged by: NO ONE

Tagging: DO IT

[strad-214]

Sunday, 06/14/2020 The Force:

The Force… the energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the universe together. It was discovered before the founding of the Republic… before the founding of the Jedi even. Its applications are limitless, so long as one has a strong enough link to it and knows how to control it. Control it, yet listen to its will. Allow it to give life, and understand when it destroys life. Bask in its light, and be able to wander in its darkness. To trust it, listen to it, feel it, see it, touch it, touch the universe with it, become one with it. The Force is everything and nothing, it is even possibly real… let us explore it now together.

Approximately 100,000 B.B.Y., the Sith civilization took shape beyond the outer rim in what is now counted as the Trans-Hydian Borderlands, the bordering systems of the latter region in the New Territories, and the northern tip of The Slice regions of the Galaxy. Together they discovered the Bogan, the Dark Side of the Force. They began to use these magics, as they called them, to manipulate their surroundings, to conquer and enslave each other, and to build weapons. Likewise, literally across the other side of the Galaxy in the wild, unexplored regions and around 30,000 B.B.Y., the Rakata people also discover the Bogan and use it in similar ways. They create hyperdrives and invade the core systems, wielding this power to enslave many races and build technology. The Rakata rule the Galaxy at large for nearly 5,000 standard years, but infighting and greed got the best of them and the empire implodes, as often happens to civilizations that practice the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. In the wake of their own demise, the Core Systems begin to reach out to one another for support and soon, the Galactic Republic is born from the ashes of tyranny and oppression. With them, many philosophers and scientists began to study this mystical power the Rakata were able to wield. They went to the ancient world of Tython to investigate this power and test the limits of its applications. These early scientists named the power the Ashla and decided that, unlike their oppressors, they will use this power to help and aid the peoples of this new Republic. And thus, the Jedi Order was born. Not all Jedi agreed with using this power to help and aid others, however, and a schism formed in the Jedi Order. Many wars followed this first schism; much of these wars were fought exclusively against the Jedi. By 7003 B.B.Y., a second great schism occurred. This time, one singular war occurred, between legions of Jedi Knights and Dark Jedi, wielding the Light and the Dark sides of the Force respectively. For one hundred years this war lasted, bringing death and destruction to the fledgling Republic. Once the war was over, the remaining Dark Jedi were sent into Exile to the far reaches of the galaxy… to the Sith Empire, which not even the Rakata had known existed. There, in the darkness, the Dark Jedi overthrew the Sith Lords and took over their empire. They expand the Sith Empire in faction and power, and they return to the Republic to exact their revenge in 5,000 B.B.Y. The event is called the Great Hyperspace War, and it ended with the fall of the Sith Empire, the remnants of which were sent back from whence they came, scattered and broken. Every time thereafter that the Sith have returned, they have taken another slice of the Galaxy with them back to their graves, a little more goodness, a little more disaster. But every time, they were indeed defeated and the Jedi stood victorious. Thus the balance of the Force has always swung one way or another for many eras of time. It only came truly into balance when the Prophecy of the Chosen one was realized in 4 A.B.Y. when Darth Vader, the last of the original Jedi Order and Sith Lord, destroys his Sith Master and himself, perishing due to damage to his life support systems. The only Force wielding major now left in the Galaxy was his own son, Luke, who’s knowledge of the Force was segmented at best. And his Jedi Order—in both versions of canon—never amounted to the strength as that of those first who rallied together on Tython those many years ago.

The Force has been described to be this mythical energy that is created by the living creatures of the Galaxy. It emanates from all beings touched by the Force and its will is our command. Whenever we come across a coincidence too good to be true, whenever our instincts and our reflexes perform beyond our realm of capabilities, whenever we have a strange feeling and wind up finding out why, this is the Force speaking to us, guiding us. This, in all versions of Jedi lore, is constant. There are believed to be two sides to the Force as a whole: The Living Force and the Unifying Force. The Living Force is the energy that directly emanates from living beings; through the Living Force, the Jedi can connect with their colleagues, those they protect, those they fight against and the environments they explore. The Unifying Force is the cosmic energy that travels between stars; this energy is what makes up the gaps between nebula and the rippling fabric of space and time. When Jedi study the Force, they first study it as Youngling Initiates. The extent of their abilities are limited to self directed applications of the Force all labeled “Control”. These abilities are designed to help a Jedi protect themselves and others: Tutaminis is the ability to diffuse radiations by using the benevolent energy of the Force; it’s application could be as simple as protecting one’s skin from too much sunlight or as forceful as reflecting a blasterbolt or even wild electric tendrils like Force Lightning. Curato Salva is a whole family of abilities that focus on healing. Jedi can draw on the Force to refresh their own energy, to increase the growth of new cells when healing wounds, to flush out toxins and poisons from the bloodstream and ignore the affects of which, to locate and burn out clusters of disease in the body, and to increase one’s tolerance to pain when you cannot heal yourself. Altus Sopor is the practice of deepening one’s connection to the Force, it is the act of directly reaching back through your connection to touch the Living and the Unifying Force, so that you can strengthen your access to it and your understanding of it.

Once a Youngling has mastered the family of “Control”, they then, as Padawans, train in the families of “Sense” and “Alter”. Under “Sense” abilities, a Jedi can now use what they’ve learned from “Control” and reach outward, feeling the same energies they’ve learned to manipulate around them. Through this they can detect other life forms, feel the energies they emit and through that, their intentions and feelings. Like feeling the life of other creatures, Jedi can also feel the Force wherever it is strongest like on Ilum, Ossus, Dagobah and Tython. By learning how to control and protect their own bodies through the Force in Curato Salva, Jedi can enhance their own physical senses, seeing farther, smelling deeper or hearing more sensitive than they naturally could, even being able to deafen their ears to all but one sound they seek in a sea of noise. Some Jedi can apply their sense abilities to the Unifying Force, in doing so, they can see moments in time, even perceive visions of the future. If this ability where applied to an object, a Jedi could perceive what happened to that object and the person handling it. This ability is called Postcognition or Psychometry.

Under “Alter” abilities are the powers we see a Jedi perform more often. This is the practice of indeed applying the Force to the environment around a Jedi. “Telekinesis” is the ability to move objects with one’s mind. The Jedi is enacting their will on an object, causing it to move at their desired rate and direction. In this ability Jedi can push, pull, lift, levitate, throw, crush, open, or close anything no matter it be the size of a molecule or the size of a planet, for “size matters not.” Jedi have been known to part rivers, build bridges, construct their lightsabers, fuse items together, fill oxygen tanks, lift ships, boomerang their lightsabers, leap great distances, knock over armies, split open glass, and levitate themselves just by careful practice of this ability alone. If a Jedi were to apply “Telekinesis” to themselves while accessing the Unifying Force, time around them would slow while they themselves do not slow down. To their adversaries, the Jedi would be moving at an unnatural speed and have a very dramatic effect on the environment. This ability is almost exclusively tapped into instinctually, for a Jedi’s remarkable increase in speed has almost been entirely witnessed as a reaction, like for dodging. If the Jedi truly focused, they could apply this ability to specific parts of their bodies—say, their fists—and thus punch at a ridiculous speed, being able to possibly punch straight through durasteel plating. They better protect the part of their body they are using or risk irreversible injury. The Jedi can also use this ability to reach a great distance over a short time. But using this ability can be remarkably exhausting.

“Affect Mind”, more commonly known as the “Jedi Mind Trick”, is the ability to relate directly to the individual the Jedi is trying to affect and override their basic impulses. If a Jedi controls their inner most instincts enough and reaches out to the mind of a beast using this technique, they may be able to calm their primal rage this way as well and even possibly control them and communicate with them. In doing so, you can convince the person or the beast to do nearly anything. If a Jedi is particularly good at “Affect Mind” and can swim in both the currents of the Living Force and the Unifying Force at once, they can deeply meditate and affect the layout and outcome of an entire event. This is commonly called “Battle Meditation”, since most Jedi used this ability to bolster their troops in battle and to discourage the enemy troops.  While deeply meditating in this way, a Jedi can also create immaterial copies of themselves or their comrades and project them into the minds of those around them. This allows a Jedi to confuse, distract, or overwhelm their opponents without ever having lifted a finger. This ability has been called either “Force Projection” or simply “Doppelganger”. 

With enough time, study, and patience, a Jedi can also apply their manipulation of energy outward. If they do, they can possibly produce lightning from their fingertips just as the Sith do, except the emotion of rage and power hunger is removed and replaced with a determined sense of justice. When lightning is cast and is rooted in a sense of justice, the lightning may appear a bright emerald in color. A Jedi may also contain this raw energy into an orb called a “Kinetite” and throw it at their adversaries. Some Jedi and Sith have even been known to throw waves of fire using this method. If a Jedi focuses this energy the right way, they can also possibly interact with droids and other technology on a synaptic level. In focusing and training at the advanced and basic levels of all these abilities, a Jedi can apply the Force in so many various ways, many of which may not have even been considered yet. 

 Now... let us next address the controversial topic of the Midichlorians, because this is a focus on all aspects of Star Wars and the Midichlorians are in fact a part of this universe. First and foremost, Midichlorians are NOT the Force. The Force and its history has been described in detail here and in previous essays already. The concept of Midichlorians came to Lucas as a way of describing a tangible way of making the Force real. He did that by taking the two power houses of the living cells in our real every day life: the mitochondria of animal cells and the chloroplasts of plant cells, and combining them into one tiny sub-cell. Scientists today believe that mitochondria and chloroplasts were once single celled organisms that found a symbiotic relationship with another single celled organism. One cell absorbed another and before it could digest the absorbed cell, that cell began to provide high levels of energy and nutrients for the cell that absorbed it. Over the centuries, as life began to diversify on Earth into plants and animals, those symbionts grew together and helped each other evolve into the multicellular organisms we are today. Proof of this can be found in the separate DNA strands housed in both the mitochondria and the chloroplasts that are organized like that of a single celled organism and code out to be exclusive to those organelles of the cell, not the organism of which they are a part of such as a dog, fish, bird, tree, cactus, or human being. And, the more mitochondria or chloroplasts the individual cell has, the higher rate of energy production that cell has and the higher the metabolism of the organism as a whole. This is sound, proven science. The more batteries you hook up to a generator, the longer it runs. The more cables you hook up to an antenna, the more stable your connection. The more midichlorians you contain, the stronger your connection to the Force. The midichlorians are the conduit, just as the batteries and the cables are. It would make sense to distinguish the difference between Force Sensitives and everyone else this way, especially if “all life is touched by the Force and produces the Force”. Then who can wield it if we are all touched by it? It’s no longer special if we could all access the Force directly, and yet, the fact remains that we all exhume the Force. So we all carry these conduits, some of us carry more than others. These are the ones who are Force Sensitive. Thus, the midichlorians play their roll. They do not define a Jedi’s ability to become strong, anybody can achieve anything if they train hard enough, but they do define their accessibility.

The Jedi Order has frequently been labeled as a religion of sorts because they study this almighty power. In order for the Jedi’s practice of the Force to be a religion, there would have to be deities to worship. There are supernatural beings like The Bendu and The Father, The Daughter, and the Son on Mortis, but their involvement in the story of Star Wars has been to accentuate main characters and their faults or strengths and the Jedi do not worship these beings, they acknowledge and study them. The Force itself may be considered a deity, but the Jedi have yet to be described as a people who offer sacrifices—vital, immaterial, or monetary—to the Force or even pray to the Force.

They study the Force, study being the key word, by directly communing with it, attempting to understand its intentions, and testing its limits; all very scientific approaches, approaches that are rooted in philosophy, not worship. The Jedi simply attempt to apply what they know about it to the Galaxy around them, and they have indeed proven it to be very real. This doesn’t make the Jedi not a religion, but I think simply calling them a religion is falling short of their true meaning and purpose which has always been to expand the boundaries of what’s possible and nurture life.

I ask you all reading my essays, is the Force real? Do you believe it can be real? Do you have to be able to lift a car with your mind and an outstretched hand in order for the Force to be real? After reviewing what the Force is already, I don’t think this is the case. The Force is much more than the superpowers we can tangibly see in the movies; it is the energy we feel between two lovers making a connection, it’s the miracles we witness when we hope hard enough, it’s the coincidence that we exist here. Some call it the hand of God, some call it evolution and perfect mathematics. I ask the religious, we were created imperfect so that we can grow and experience, so why would there be such perfect things around us, things that we cannot yet perceive or understand? Yes, that may be God’s doing… who’s God? Which God? Why are there so many versions? Well, the logical answer is because we are all individuals with individual ideas and we share those ideas… what a coincidence that those ideas happen to be so similar and so different at the same time. Like how Zeus is the God of Gods all living on Mt. Olympus together and each being responsible for specific things on the Earth below and how the Christian God is THE God and his Angels are instead responsible for specific things on the Earth below. The two religions are centuries apart in the founding, but the idea is the same. It’s really just a way for us to rationalize existence in the universe, but they all represent the same thing, they represent “a Force” that makes this Galaxy spin, that makes gravity work, that allowed all the right compounds to form at the right time in the right way to evolve into us. Here. On our planet. And we can feel that every day just by remembering that we’re here and that we can indeed feel that energy, when we make a connection between each other and the world around us. We feel that through the same emotions the Jedi maintain control over— inspiration, desire, belonging, and compassion— and the ones they avoid so they can keep a clear mind— frustration, hate, prejudice, and desire again… That hate and frustration we feel when we don’t know which side is right in a war… that desire when we want something better and don’t know how to reach it… that inspiration when a jazz band is silently communicating to weave the sweetest of melodies the likes of which never been played before… that compassion we as a race are compelled to offer each other when we forget those prejudices we all are bound to have… that is the Force.

 I’m sorry this is a week late everyone, life has taken a bit more precedence lately. I hope you gained something from this. Enjoy the rest of Jedi June.

May the Force be with you.

@jedijune