#and point it whichever direction fits your bias!

[sage-hendricks]

Biting my tongue so hard I fear I'm gonna lose it. Ugh.

I'll just leave it with this again: don't claim to speak for me and mine and then ignore the words we say. I'm not a fucking pawn and I used to respect you.

#the fun thing about this post #is that if you know the context #but don't know me #you can take this post like a gun #and point it whichever direction fits your bias! #but those who know know #and that's good enough for me.

[danceswithdarkspawn]

You've got me interested in Dragon Age with all the content you post or reblog, but I've been a bit curious about the actual gameplay itself. Can you tell me about some of your favorite portions from the game series?

First of all I'm flattered you decided to come to me, the backwater dumbass that lives in a ramshackle hut and yells at the sky about this godforsaken franchise. There are probably far better people to ask this question. I hope you are okay. Second, I meant to get around to answering this a few days ago, I Forgor. Third, buckle up, it's Dinosaur Post all over again but extremely long.

I'm going to split this up into the actual, technical gameplay bits and the other stuff because both of these play a role in why I like or dislike certain aspects of all three games. Also, I will be including some things I don't like or didn't work for me, but that's a small portion. I'll label each part so you can skip to whichever section.

To preface: Dragon Age: Origins was THE game (along with Skyrim) that got me away from MMOs and into single-player RPG games. DAO will always be special to me because of that and thus I have some bias towards it. Because I can't do anything in short-form, this is long as hell, and contains my thoughts on each game.

Before we begin: GIANT DISCLAIMER that these are my opinions, not fact. I love these games despite their many flaws, and if I didn't want them to be better, I would not be critical of them.

I will not be going over any of the DLCs because frankly there are a lot of them, but in my opinion, all the DLCs for all the games are excellent additions to the base games they belong to.

The Technical Gameplay Stuff

General:

All of the combat in Dragon Age plays out something like this: You have your party of up to 4 consisting of your Player Character (PC) and three other companions who you recruit at different points in the story. You can choose to fill out your party (meaning you have the max of 4) or you can go solo, bring only one companion, etc. You control one character at a time while the game controls the rest, but you can freely swap between characters, pause mid-combat, move your camera around the battle, and give direct commands to individual party members that will execute when unpaused. Combat is persistent, not turn-based, and will only end if all enemies are killed or the player gets far enough away to disengage battle.

Each game also has their own 'tactics' system that dictates what other members of your party do in certain situations when not controlled by you

Dragon Age has a condensed classical RPG class setup consisting of Warriors, Mages and Rogues. There are subclasses of these (known as Specializations, which unlock stat bonuses, new skills and passives). Each class has unique advantages that encourage you to have at least one of each in your party. This is especially true of Inquisition with obstacles which can only be cleared by certain classes.

Furthermore, Origins was a little more flexible in its class choices because a: weapons and armor were not restricted by class, but by stat investments and b: warriors have access to all weapon talents (two-handed, sword and shield, dual wield and bow) while rogues only have talents for dual wield and bow.

Following Origins, weapons and armor types are restricted by class.

Dragon Age: Origins/Awakening:

DAO's combat is fairly slow and a bit clunky and perhaps dated, but I think that's the charm of it. As far as how interactive the combat is, DAO is the least interactive of the three games. That does not mean you can let the battles play out on their own, especially if you're playing harder difficulties. You will still need to do some tactical positioning, switching characters, using items, etc. But DAO does not require you to hold down a button to perform basic attacks on your controlled character. You simply select your target and start attacking it, and activate skills as you see fit. What i mean by 'least interactive' is that, compared to the other two games, you'll be doing less actions per minute most of the time.

For me, the typical combat gameplay loop for Origins is something like this:

combat starts, pause game, move party as necessary, unpause

mage controller AOE paralyze largest cluster and/or stunlock the most dangerous enemy

warriors to largest cluster > tank AOE taunt, melee DPS AOE/Stun

ranged DPS target ranged enemies; intercept with warriors/melee characters as necessary; dual wield rogues with max stealth can also be sent to kill enemies in the back, or flank at largest cluster and AOE/stun spam

pause to adjust as necessary (heal, use items, reapply crowd control)

Your options early in the game will be limited, as AOE taunt and mass paralyze require a few levelups and stat investments to unlock. In the early game, you'll be using single-target stuns, knockbacks, etc to keep the battle under control. Luckily, each class has access to a stun early on. The Mabari hound is also great to bring along for an early-game AOE stun if you're struggling.

You'll need to carefully choose which skill trees you want to invest in, particularly for your primary tank and a controller-oriented mage (highly recommend for the utility), because there isn't an easy way to reset skills.

Also, many mage skills have Friendly Fire, particularly with AOE damaging abilities. Be cautious with these.

The tactics system in Origins/Awakening is, in my opinion, the best in the series. It's very in-depth, you can have multiple loadouts and change them as needed, iirc you can switch them on the fly through the menu, and generally make your life easier, especially if you just want to stick to controlling one or two characters.

These settings operate largely on a 'if X condition, then Y' set of logic. For example, when setting tactics for a two-handed warrior, you can have, "If surrounded by X number of enemies, use AOE ability,' or 'If Controlled Character is targeted by EnemyClass/DamageType, do X Action.' On harder difficulties, I wouldn't solely rely on tactics but it is very, very useful.

Origins also had craftable and placable traps, flasks and poisons that largely got baked into skills or potion crafting in the other two games, which is neat and fun because you could do stupid shit like this to oneshot a fucking dragon. Also Muh Roleplay.

TLDR: I like Origin's combat loop because of how simple, but effective it is. It's influenced by DnD-type strategy and is complex enough that I have to think about what I'm doing, I can't just bumrush through, but not so difficult that it feels impossible or unfun.

Dragon Age 2:

DA2's combat departs from Origins somewhat; you still don't have to hold down an attack button for basic attacks, but the combat, in my opinion, feels much faster paced, more akin to an ARPG. In comparison to DAO, I am constantly pausing the fight to move targets or use my next ability. There are also far more enemies per fight than Origins, as they come in waves instead of all at once. They typically have lower health, but their numbers combined with the amount of waves can make some fights challenging and a slog. There are, however, a plethora of AOE abilities to assist with this.

I'm not sure about the complexity of DA2's tactics as I don't use it that much and just opt for intense micromanagement during combat, but from memory it does also have some depth. DA2's difficulty scaling is, in my opinion, pretty steep compared to Origins and I prefer for play it at the normal setting. Personally I have the most fun playing as a rogue and flipping around stabbing people and kicking them in the face. Overall, fun, flashy.

Typical loop for combat is something like:

Miasmic Flask largest group > AOE the shit out of that group > Warrior Taunt > heal > repeat

Mostly though, it's a loooot of pausing and unpausing for me personally.

Dragon Age: Inquisition:

Somewhere in the middle of DAO and DA2 with a few extra bells. You can jump now! On keyboard the jump button is spacebar, which happens to be the button that pauses the game in the previous two games. I'll let you imagine how that goes mid-fight. Anyway, the combat for DAI is fairly interactive and now requires you to hold down a button to perform your basic attacks. The game is much more open-world ala Skyrim with different contained regions you can travel to. I hate to say it, but combat outside of boss battles in Inquisition is somewhat boring. It's very pretty thanks to the Frostbite engine, but that's about it.

Additionally, you no longer heal out of combat. Your healing options are also limited. You start the game with a fixed amount of health potions that are shared across your entire party. The potion-sharing is similar to DA2, but there was no max potion cap on DA2. You are limited, always, periodt. You can expand this number through crafting upgrades, as well as healing effectiveness. There are also potions that heal over time with an upgrade that heals in an area around the user, and a grenade that heals in the target area. (idk man don't ask)

There are some skills/ultimates/weapon abilities that give some healing or shielding, but combat is made artificially harder because of this change. In longer missions, there are typically one or more supply caches where you can resupply, however (unless you turn that off in Trials). I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just trying to be thorough. This only becomes a pain in the ass for long fights like bosses or high dragons.

There is a learning curve to Inquisition's combat, which the prologue tests you on (Pride Demon my beloathed). While initially challenging, there is a point at which combat outside of boss battles/high dragons feels trivialized, even on Nightmare. The DLCs, however, bring some punch back to combat and are actually difficult, which is nice. If playing on Nightmare, it is much harder to brute-force your way through, especially if doing it for the first time without the special schematics you obtain from them. I was literally shooketh when I took my endgame Nightmare build through Trespasser the first time and got clapped. (Just to be clear, this is a good thing. I like a little difficulty in my combat, so I play on Nightmare to suffer, but you don't have to.)

Hands down the absolute worst thing about Inquisition's combat, especially if running on Nightmare like I do, is the tactics system. It is hot fucking garbage for Nightmare. It is so far condensed from Origin's tactics that it's laughable. I had to google optimal tactics settings for Nightmare because some DPS character would inevitably stand where the tank was standing and eat an entire dragon's breath and die regularly, no matter how much I micromanaged.

I do, however, very much like most of the skills/specializations in Inquisition, especially for Warriors. Compared to the previous two titles, it is FAR easier to keep everything's attention on the tank and not your squishes (even more so if you have Trespasser DLC). Also, performing cross-class combos feels much more satisfying (and is far easier right out the gate) on Inquisition comparatively. There's nothing like freezing an enemy and having your 2-hander warrior cleave into them for a chunky combo. Big number make brain go unga bunga.

Additionally, it also doesn't take much skillpoint investment to get a decent handle on fights. This is especially true if you have the Trespasser DLC, which adds new upgrades to active abilities. Two taunts can be acquired pretty early (three with Trespasser) and all are relatively low cooldown. Also! If you fucked up your build (or want to respec for something specific/try something new) you can easily reset your points to reinvest them! Keep in mind you can't change your specialization once you've unlocked it though.

The Story Gameplay Stuff

In my opinion, the thing that makes the Dragon Age franchise great is the characters and the relationships experienced with them. The games are as much about their stories as they are about the conflict that brings the characters together. This is the type of thing that makes me stick with this franchise; the characters really make it for me. The characters are well-written, feel unique, and have their own strengths and flaws that make them grounded. There are characters I don't enjoy, but I appreciate them because, again, they are well-written.

DAO and DA2 is very much the flavor of RPG where your choices matter, and this includes both what you choose in the story and with individual characters. You can befriend said characters or you can let your rapport with them get so low that their disposition toward you can change, and they might even leave your party. There are some companions whose dispositions you can change. Known as softening or hardening, this can sway a character's decisions and make them more likely to go along with certain player-made choices.

DA2's Friendship/Rivalry system, in my opinion, a nice middle-ground approval system. Your decisions/interactions will garner approval or rivalry, changing your companion's disposition toward you, but a high-rivalry companion won't abandon you simply for having high rivalry. Rather, the companion will still go along with what your decisions, but there will always be underlying tension. You're also not locked out of romance simply because of high rivalry levels. Honestly, I enjoy some rivalmances more than a high friendship romance, but either way, the system gives you more ways to freely play your character and interact with the cast of companions. Companions in DA2 may leave/become unavailable because of decisions made in the story, but not for approval, which I think is nice.

DAI is also a game about decisions, but doesn't do it as well as DAO or DA2. The first two games do a good job of "show, don't tell" with your impact on the game. Inquisition does a lot more Telling than Showing, which I think is a shame for an RPG with its premise. Regardless, DAI's approval system is back to an Origins-esque style, but your total approval with individual characters is hidden from you. Furthermore, companions will approve or disapprove of major decisions you make regardless if you bring them with you or not (which feels much more realistic to me).

While I feel that Inquisition squandered a lot of the potential it had with its main conflict, it handles its characters, their relationships with the player and other characters very well. In fact, a lot of the Show part of "show don't tell" in Inquisition is displayed through your companions, either literally by changing their tarot cards or their reactions/interactions to you and other characters. As I said before, the characters are what makes the franchise for me, and Inquisition, for all its faults, does its characters exceptionally well. Their backgrounds, motivations and personalities are diverse and complex, and is what makes Inquisition replayable for me.

Each game also features its own protagonist/player character, which is probably my favoritest thing about Origins, specifically. A lot of the replayability for Origins is playing through each origin and/or class combination. Aside from simply adding more ways to roleplay, which is always welcome in my book, each one gives different perceptions to the game's conflict with some interactions specific to your chosen origin. If playing DAO, I highly recommend working your way through each origin.

DA2 technically only has one origin, Hawke. While I personally see Hawke as a more defined character compared to the Warden and Inquisitor, Hawke is still a malleable character, and of course, headcanons are free and cool to have. Anyway, you can play Hawke as any class, and I'd recommend to play through the game at minimum as a rougue/warrior and mage. Given the subject matter of the game, this gives you a different look at the game's conflict.

Inquisition offers more race options once again, but forgoes an origin prologue like DAO. While there is some depth to Inquisition's origins, they're not as complex as DAO's. However, this does lend the player some flexibility to fill in the gaps, if they choose. Why use a canon backstory when you can make your own? That's the fun of RPGs, no? I'd still recommend playing through one or two of the origins, while not quite as impactful as the previous titles, some things change depending on which Inquisitor you choose.

But Dances, what about the other stuff you like?

Maps:

DAO and DA2 have a level/dungeon system (idk what else to call it) that are self-contained areas/sub-areas that you explore. Each area is initially concealed by Fog-of-War and some of these areas can be quite large and (especially in DAO) lead to secrets/loot/sidequests etc, which encourages thorough exploration. This is less so in DA2 because of how many assets and areas are reused, but still shows up from time to time. DAI uses open-world maps that allow you to explore huge areas in different locales across Ferelden and Orlais. Kind of like in the spirit of Skyrim, except the maps don't feel "lived in" if that makes sense. A lot of them are big and open with not enough in between for my tastes. DAI encourages the player to explore each of these maps through quests, completionist objectives, minigames and more. These areas are beautiful and I appreciate them for what they are, I just wish they were a little more robust. If doing exclusively the main story, there's a lot you can miss in DAI and that's honestly a shame.

Sound Design/OST:

Ok so this isn't technically gameplay but I didn't know where else to put it. But the music completes the atmosphere for me. I typically do not play anything with the music on; typically I'm listening to a podcast or something in the background when I play. I don't do that with Dragon Age. I want to be immersed in it and the background music etc. plays a good part in that. DAO and DA2 use what I'd describe as dark fantasy music that's more atmospheric in nature. It's very simple with few instruments/vocals, but effective for what it does. DAO's main menu music and I Am The One are good examples of this.

DAI's OST is done by Trevor Morris and is much more orchestral incorporating many different instruments. Morris' work for this game did some heavy fucking lifting because it's honestly incredible. Always a high-fantasty feel, but each track perfectly captures the tone of its setting and immerses me into it. Whether its the subtle background music drifting through Halamshiral, or eerie chords plaything through the Fade, or you just got to the end of Trespasser and time is running out for your Inquisitor, it is a crime to play without music. In my opinion. Don't come for me. Please listen to Morris' work I beg you. He gave Dragon Age the grandiose music it deserves.

Lore:

LORE! I love lore. Dragon Age's lore is somewhat nebulous and has unfortunately been subject to retcons and a few questionable decisions. However, the depth of the lore is something I really, really appreciate. While somewhat frustrating, said retcons and inconsistencies, along with some areas that are more ambiguous in nature, allows speculation and gives me PLENTY to think about if I really, really wanted to. Also, because the lore is so sprawling I learn new shit all the time. It's fucking unreal. I will rarely go a playthrough without learning (or relearning) something new.

The only downside is that a lot of the fine print of the lore is hidden in codex entries, which can get easily passed up if you're the type of person to not pay attention to things like item descriptions, for example. If you're familiar with how Dark Souls tucks a lot of lore into item descriptions, it's kind of like that. Some codecies will be displayed on-screen when you acquire them which you then have to close out of, but many just get relegated to a 'Codex Acquired/Updated' notification somewhere on the side of your screen.

Additionally, for Inquisition specifically, some deeper context and nuance is lost because of two books published before Inquisition's launch. While forgoing these books doesn't make Inquisition's story incomprehensible, knowing the events in these books might change your perception of major events and give further insight to some of the characters.

Final Thoughts:

absolutely none. I just delivered an essay upon thine lap. head empty. I like this franchise a lot if you'd like something really really specific please hit me up.

Bonus:

#girls will literally do anything to avoid writing their fics smh #just kidding i like getting these kinds of things #the dancer answers #“Dances what is your hyperfixation” #*broadly fucking gestures* #oh boy I'm glad you asked #long post #this is a fucking essay

[whatudottu]

Petropia wouldn’t exactly be the type to grow its own plants, but with a few quick searches, I can say that’s it’s possible. And, when looking at the existance of Petrosapiens, surely there comes animals too, right?

This will hardly be concrete, just speculation, but this will... fill out the world of Petropia a little more.

So, starting off, y’all know how I love to include red sleep in my string of headcanons. It’s a little plant that can be easily added to a rock garden, not that you’d want to.

A little tidbit on rock plants though, there IS a tiny requirement for soil. Now, for our little crystal eating friend here, we can say that red sleep has adapted to turn crystals into soil, which it then consumes and takes its nutrients. This, for one, signifies an evolutionary adaptation that may have occurred in more that one species.

Convergent evolution is a wonderful thing, and given the mostly if not all crystal environment of Petropia, it’s highly possible that a lot of its species has this crystal to nutrience adaptation. Yes, I am essentially saying here that crystalivores (crystal-eaters) are most likely to produce the same chemicals in digestion.

So, much like stomach acid to Humans is more than likely to harm ourselves, Petrosapiens have the same issue. Unlike Humans, where most soil-based plants on Earth do not produce the same stomach acid, the plants that eat crystals on Petropia DO, and it’s far more common and widespread.

But rock plants aren’t the only plants that can grow on Petropia. There are air plants and water plants too.

Now, Petropia doesn’t have much in the way of weather, not only because it’s naturally subterranean, but also because there isn’t a lot of stuff on the surface to actually form weather (save from wind of course). However, that does not mean that moisture does not exist on Petropia at all. One of the cornerstones of cave development is water, made not from rain, but from condensation.

Life may or may not exist thanks to water, life may or may not come into fruition without it, but to avoid going fantasy, water Petropia shall have. Their ocean would take up quite a lot of the planet’s deepest reaches, but that’s how our ocean works anyway.

Lakes, rivers and the odd waterfall also exist on Petropia, but running water only typically forms after years of crystal erosion. An occasional, unique water system are shrinking lakes, where instead of growing from the condensation, the minerals in the water actually form new crystal ground. It’s a cycle.

Getting back to plants, water plants can take root in these conditions, requiring at least an inch of water most of the time. Air plants, despite the name, would also thrive in these damper areas, seeing as though they take the water heavy air and incorporate it into their systems.

But what of sunlight you ask, what about photosynthesis.

Well my friends, my recent Petropia post talked about how the crystals of its walls would glow from the UV light of the sun. Plants closer to the surface would be bright light plants, but those deeper in still get a glow, being naturally low light plants.

Truly underwater plants, like the equivalent of seaweed, may have some trouble in forming like Earth seaweed. But no matter, low light rock-based plants may adapt to survive no light, feasting on the walls, floors and cliff edges of the underground sea that they cling to.

Now that the plants have been set, let’s begin talk about animals. Maybe as a way to try and make this flow, underwater animals may in fact exist. Since direct exposure to the sun is impossible from an underground, a lot of the creatures underneath may be more akin to midnight zone fish on Earth.

Almost in reference to Petrosapien’s occasional glowing eyes, the idea of having majority a of the sea creatures be bioluminescent seems really cool. Ah, my bias is showing, yes, but scientifically bioluminescence is a certain natural chemical reaction to oxygen. Structure wise, the deeper the fish the less likely they have bones, or in the Petropian equivalent, natural biological crystal structures.

Motile creatures can and do occasionally evolve armour, and depending on the pressure of the water, may be Petrosapien-like with their crystal structure acting as an exoskeleton. Sessile creatures, however, are more likely to grow or even dig into the crystals. In fact, a rather large proportion would most likely be crystalivores too. Not to say that Petrosapiens had initially evolved from sessile coral type creatures, but there is a higher chance that they do share a common ancestor than not.

Predators of crystal-covered animals are typically both carnivores and crystalivores (a combination word would need to depend on what... i think it’s class if insectivores have anything to say about it). However, certain predators are only crystalivores, while others are pure carnivores. Herbivores typically don’t have this battle, as a majority of plants don’t typically rely on crystals for protection.

Stepping out of the water, terrestrial animals can either have endoskeletons of crystal, with whatever appropriate skin material as their outer layer, or exoskeletons, where their skin is almost completely not present, acting more so a liner between crystal and flesh. Fur is most probably not a factor, it’s rather humid underground in damp caves, but perhaps one or two species develop a waterproof coat.

There’s sure as heck gonna be loads of little critters that no doubt contribute heavily towards pollination of plant life, if not just serve as the Petropian equivalent of bugs. Being small would mean that there is an explosive amount of niches yet to be fulfilled, and even if I new every one of them, it would take forever looking into the specific.

I would say, the creatures that have endoskeletons would most likely grow to large sizes, mainly due to the square-cube law. This would mean that Petrosapiens themselves are not all that large in comparison to certain animals. Perhaps to the point of predators? I’ll get to that.

Whether or not Petrosapien’s have the same innate Human desire to adopt something can vary, but my brain is smooth and only thinks of funky alien animal companions. Like, just imagine a little dog-sized pillbug-armadillo looking buddy that’s just... you as a Human can’t tell, but from a Petrosapien’s perspective could just as well be a VERY happy puppy. And it’s just, it’s baby but aside from the funky alien pupper I have no clues on how culturally they would be domesticated like???

A!

Anyway, back on track.

Ever since I starting thinking of north and south Petropia, I couldn’t exactly stop. I would say that Petropia’s ‘moons’ may have previously been apart of the planet, ages and ages ago, so that safe passage from north and south WAS a thing. Just like how the ice age opened and closed some pathways to different areas of Earth, this could functionally be the same for Petrosapiens.

However, I will say that, because there’s no feasible way for Petrosapiens to get across the planet (unlike Humans and boats across the sea), whichever side was the last to be populated and eventually trapped on the other side were forced into changing to fit the new environment’s niche. Now, they didn’t change all too much, being still very much Petrosapien, but there are some visual distinctions.

Uh, what those are though I don’t know.

The primary differences however are the different ecology, since animals don’t demand finding out new things and being ocean-bound prevent water to land back to water journeys. So, if Petrosapien’s were to have predators, it depends on who you ask.

I have two ideas, mainly inspired by caves and also rock eaters of Earth. One, being the cave influence, are essentially megafauna bat, that can play frequencies that can on the odd and most beneficial occasion ring crystal (not a good thing if you have tuning forks on your back). The other are giant seaslug squids, ones with shells that glitter with consumed crystals.

Who gets who is up in the air, but this post wasn’t meant to be a specific analysis of all the species and body plans of Petropia.

Welp, I hope you at least enjoyed it.

And yeah, I’ve learnt my lesson. Went straight to notes on this one.

#petrosapien #petropia #xenobiodiversity #xenoecology #ben 10 #headcanon #ramblings #this is a very long one #i have many thoughts on petrosapiens #this was just a smattering of google searches and vague imagery #so it’s not as focused as the other posts but #i hope you’re still into it

[extraantlers-blog]

so this is it then. all my practice, my care, and my patience leads me to this, and i’m going to have to use all of it. every good habit, every good instinct, every caring thought, every early bedtime, every sun-facing moonlight-dancing dream-weaving still-frame of my self, the untreaded-snow-recent and the weathered-log-ancient alike, needs to come into play. this is the final final act following the main final act, where the story teases you with “yay, that was it!” only to throw one more little mini conflict -- not quite as serious or dramatic but all the more character-revealing because it takes place after all the character development phases, so how the character handles this last conflict is really like a before-after image to demonstrate just how much they’ve changed and to showcase the person they’ve become -- at you just to keep you on your toes. 

i’m going to have to accept that it won’t be her. not because i know it won’t -- see, i still have to somehow introduce a lack of certainty, look at me, the optimist eternal -- but because it is entirely possible, and fair, and apropos, and fitting that the way this story unfolds is not how i’d like it to, in this one particular sense. i’m going to have to type that sentence. i’m going to have to be less vague about it -- not to elucidate the specifics -- i know what i mean -- but to wrestle with the words and their gravity. i’m going to have to accept this not because it will come to pass, but because it could, and i need to be intimately acquainted with that reality lest it blindside me like a cement mixer. i’m also going to have to accept it because latching onto the alternative runs the risk of extinguishing its possibility -- although, at the same time, i cannot undergo this with the secret motivation of actually invoking the very same future i’m trying to accept the inverse of. and yet, i know that letting go of this is the best -- or only -- way to make it more likely to swing back around to me after orbiting the,,, well, i don’t know. 

so how to go about accepting the yin (black) while also denying / ignoring / setting aside my awareness that doing so often incites the yang (white), i don’t know. 

\__ if i call it “denying,” then it sounds like the wrong approach, implying that i should not block it out of my mind [those six words further implying the same] and thus granting me cosmic permission to keep in my mind the possibility of my yang future undergoing the formality of actually occurring -- while, of course, simultaneously releasing the hope that it occurs -- a task which seems ludicrous when laid out in detail as such.

\__ if i call it “ignoring”, much the same. telling that i led with these two words and their connotations, despite the bias of the latter and their overlapping meaning making it not really necessary to introduce the other after starting with the one.

\__ if i call it “setting aside”, it sounds like the at-peace, aligned, wise thing to do, which of course bears all the attributes of the being i would like to be. 

so, obviously, these last three points tell me that i will need to [”need”, as if i have a choice; i know this, i cannot un-know it] accept my awareness that the successful cultivation of this acceptance will simultaneously cultivate a potential -- or the potential of -- a future that i would much prefer to the future i’m trying to accept. i will need to do that despite simultaneously knowing that if i cultivate this acceptance with the motivation of benefitting from its side effects, i ultimately am performing a spiritually-aware end-around tactic for avoiding this future; and that avoidance combined with the attachment-derived motivation would ensure the failure of my efforts. 

perhaps i typed all of this to avoid doing the inevitable task which i laid out for myself before descending into this tangent: clearly stating that which i need to accept.

perhaps i need to accept it not because i know it will happen, or as an emotional / spiritual failsafe in case it does happen, but rather because I know that there is the yin timeline and the yang timeline, and if i accept one and not the other, then i tip the scale in the direction of the timeline i have not accepted (the yin one). maybe i can be driven not by a desire [whoops! Desire] to tip the scales and invoke any one specific eventuality, but rather a desire to leave it up to ~~~. I will leave it up to ~~~. And to do so, i must make the decision objective, uninfluenced by my hopes or preferences. And to do that, I must release these hopes, and accept my un-preferred versions as much as i accept the preferred versions (-- which, maybe, evaporates any preference altogether? What is a preference if one accepts its fulfillment just as much as its denial? Does it still even exist at all?) 

i will let time / the universe / all / love decide [again; as if i have a choice] what it will, but i want the choice to be fair. i will trust time to unfold how it is supposed to (-- though i don’t like the tone of “supposed to”, so maybe “how it has / does / will”). time will unfold the horizon. what ever will be will have its place. maybe i won’t end up with her -- not in the way i want to right now. 

---

it’s funny - i had to word that last sentence so carefully, because so many phrasings of it are just not true: “i won’t get to be with her” - but i will; “i won’t get to love her,” - but i will, and i do now, “she won’t love me”- already wrong,  she does [-- good god, a reciprocal love, what more could i possibly ask for];  “maybe i won’t end up with her” - but this is wrong, because i know she will be there -- the only difference being the context, the particulars, the technicalities of her presence. and really, when i split hairs between what will happen and what i want, the distinction seems laughably minute -- if even tangible at all. 

---

so maybe the difference does not exist at all. maybe the real comedy is not the occurrence of whichever eventuality i expect less, or whichever would be more funny / apropos / fitting, maybe the real challenge is not accepting one of two eventualities, but realizing that there is only one. the two eventualities i perceive are an arbitrary line i’ve drawn in the beach’s sand. maybe the distinction between the future i want and the one i don’t want actually doesn’t exist -- or exists only as long as i insist upon its reality. because whenever i try to define the distinction, or examine it, instead of just accepting it as foregone and guaranteed and moving right along, i cannot define the distinction at all -- at least not without definitions like “significant other” -- although even that doesn’t work: we are both significant to each other, and perhaps the “other” is not the kind that implies a false duality, but rather the “other” of “each other” -- maybe the difference doesn’t exist at all outside the realm of arbitrary, nonexistent, technical categorizations, which we both know time has no obligation to.

maybe the joke is that the road already forked, and this is the yang timeline. this maybe is the good timeline. this already is the good timeline.

[dani-studi]

Here is how I outline a research review essay!

Sometimes called a literature review cos it’s lit, it’s main focus is to “review the state of the literature” regarding a certain topic. Think of it like a book review; but instead of evaluating a book, you’re evaluating several research articles within a topic. Alright, here we go!

CHOOSING A TOPIC

When choosing a topic to write about, it’s important to be sure that it’s not too broad but also not too specific. You want enough articles to work with, but too many will make it harder to focus on certain themes.

My advice is to start with a general idea, something that interests you, and then work your way from there. 

(ex. sleeping problems)

Some ways to narrow down your topic:

Incorporate some of the five W’s (who, what, when, where, why).

(ex. sleeping problems --> in children)

Find a specific subtopic. As you’re skimming through articles, keep an eye out for common themes.

(ex. sleeping problems --> in children --> with behavioral problems)

You’ll know when you’ve narrowed down your topic when the article results are narrowed to a few hundred or so. 

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Now that you’ve got a topic narrowed down, it’s time to read! After reading through a handful of articles, I suggest narrowing down the articles you’re going to work with to 5-8 (while having less articles to work with may seem easier, it’s actually harder later on haha).

And for every one of those articles, fill out this guideline...

Citation:

Whichever citation format you’re using (like apa, mla, etc.) It’s extremely useful to properly write out the citation for each article beforehand. That way, you can simply ctrl c ctrl v that ish in the final draft. 

Also, I suggest writing it out yourself, following the format’s guidelines, instead of using a generator because those can sometimes be unreliable according to my professor who might’ve just said that to make me cite on my own :/   but either way, learning to cite on your own is a very useful skill!

Summarize:

A small summary of each article will help you to quickly recall what each article is about. What is the point of the article? What topics are covered? Also write down any significant annotations you made while reading the article.

Assess:

Now that you’ve summarized each article, it’s helpful to write your initial evaluations for each. Was the source credible? Were the research methods valid? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Was there bias? Any gaps in the article? etc. etc.

this is the part where the reviewing of the book comes in. Don’t repeat what the article said (that’s what the summary is for), but analyze how it was said.

Reflect:

Instead of focusing on the singular article, now you need to focus on how it will fit within your paper as a whole. Write how you think you’ll use this article in your paper. Any comparisons or contradictions to other articles? Has this article changed your thinking on the overall topic?

Be sure to do an annotated bibliography for EACH article.

PAPER OUTLINE

Now the specifics for your paper will vary depending on what your professor wants, what class it’s for, as well as the topic of the research articles; but, here is a general guideline...

Intro:

1. Introduce your topic.

2. Focus your topic into the specific research question.

(ex. what is the relationship between sleeping problems and behavioral problems within children)

3. Discuss the importance or relevance of your topic.

(ex. this is important because it can help treat children with behavioral and/or sleeping problems)

4. Discuss how you outlined the rest of your paper into sections as best fits your topic. (Write this at the end of the rough draft)

Body:

This is the hard part. But you’ve actually already have half of it done. Yeah, remember those annotated bibliographies you wrote? With the information from those, simply arrange and rearrange your evaluations from those.

Some examples of subtopics to write about:

Evaluate the kinds of studies, discuss similarities & contradictions, write about gaps or inconsistencies between articles, write about patterns within the articles, and possible biases. 

those are just a few, but always keep in mind that you’re not stating what the articles say, but how they say it. (this is the mantra)

Conclusion:

1. Discuss the implications & your interpretations of your findings. Basically, how does what you found in your evaluations affect what we know about the topic?

(ex. If there were many gaps and inconsistencies in the research, would that make the findings of the overall topic credible and useful or nah?)

2. Direction of future research. After bashing on everyone else lmao jk, what do you suggest should be done next in terms of research? (different approach, more attention to minimizing biases, etc.)

♡

And that’s it! yay!! While this may seem like overkill for an outline, keep in mind that the more attention you put in it, the easier you’re later drafts and editing will be.

Anyways, I hoped this helped, and I’m sorry if this seems like a lot TT just know that once you start, the rest is easy :)

I’m gonna tag a few of my favorite studyblrs cos why not lol so @studyblr @studylustre @studyrose @study-owl @sherlockian-studies @stvdybuddies @emmastudies  ♡ 

#study #study tips #essay #tips #research #studyblr #studyspo #mine

[losingsiide-archive-blog]

eyyy so ya boi made it to 200!! i think these are still cool? who knows, i’m not hip with the kids. but i made this blog just a few months ago and hit 100 in a few weeks, and now i’m here. honestly coming back to rp after?? god knows how long?? was one of the few good decisions i’ve made. i mean, granted, i made plenty of bad ones afterwards ( skipping class to talk about headcanons, writing 2500+ words in a little under an hour, like 90% of the stuff that makes me cool ) but it was well worth it. i came into the sherlock rp community cautiously, honestly expecting to leave within two weeks, but i’ve made some really good friends who are incredibly important to me. i love them a lot you guys.

RAIN MARS INSERT SHITTY JOKE HERE,

so. i’ve talked about kacie a thousand times, i know i don’t have to. you guys know how much i love her. but i say it because it’s important. kacie and i built a friendship off of loving each other and rolling our eyes at everyone else; at the end of the day, she’s who i have. she’s my best friend, my soulmate, my partner in far too many bad decisions but all of my good ones, the only person who call my on my bullshit and encourages me to be my saltiest self in the same breath. for three years, i’ve gotten nothing but love and support from her. so please excuse my outward affection, all the appreciation posts, all the replies on her munday photos and every ooc post, how i yell about rain to people who don’t even know who kacie is, i’m just trying to make up for three years of her doing the same for me. nobody else can make me laugh like she does, the kind that leaves me gasping for air and smiling so hard my entire face hurts, and nobody else can make me go from angry and annoyed and frustrated to flopping over onto my bed and pressing my face into a pillow because her anger at whatever is bothering me, no matter how small or how little she knows about it, makes my chest hurt from all the love. so just, like, let me have this. even though she’s gonna read this and call me gay, and i’ll tell her i’m just gay for her, and she’ll send me a heart and i’ll send her one and know i made her smile, and that will be enough // @fxrechild​

MY ENGLAND MOM, MARTHA,

i guess i should probably start at the beginning. sophie was my first friend in the fandom. my rp blogs don’t last long without partners to write with. i get bored easily. so to everyone who likes my blog, everyone i met after sophie, you have her to thank for my being here. sophie let me rant to her about headcanons i had barely developed, back when i had even less of a grasp on sherlock than i do now. she was my rp partner, and then somewhere along the way she became a lot more than that. she’s a teacher. if there’s one thing i’ve learned in all my years, all sixteen of them ( guys help i’m so old ), it’s that teachers are very much born. it’s not an occupation, it’s a type of person. sophie just happens to be employed as a teacher as well as being one. i know i’m not making sense so let me explain: few people are capable of the warmth that sophie displays, and even fewer are capable of directing it towards someone so far away, and then, once you have that, you have to actually be able to teach something. for sophie, it’s how to care. sophie is, without a doubt, the first person i think of when someone says compassion or kindness or love. she’s there for me when i’m anxious, sad, upset, but she’s there for the good times too, for all the smiles and the laughter, and she never misses a beat. i said once that she was family and that still stands. some people are just too important to simply say ‘friend’ // @adler-thewoman​

MY ANGST QUEEN SUPREME,

i’m half-tempted to leave it at that, actually. i swear, allison has made cry as many times as she’s made me smile. allison is incredibly involved in her character. she understands abigail in a way that shocks me every day, but it makes her wonderful to talk to. her dedication to her character is, in short, absolutely beautiful to see. allison is absolutely beautiful to see in general. she’s chill as hell, which is great for days when i’m too tired to do much else but talk about sherlock and abigail being cute together. she doesn’t get nearly enough sleep but that’s okay; it means she’s always awake when i need her. allison is, in every respect, one of the best listeners i have ever had the pleasure of being friends with. whether it’s long-winded headcanons about our muses or just my irl problems, she’s here, ready to talk. and when i need time alone, she understands. i can’t explain how important that is. being able to listen, to understand, these are skills i’ve struggled with my whole life and allison makes it look easy. when i’ve had a long day and i want quiet, chill time, she’s who i go to. my gratitude for her patience and time can’t be expressed in words // @suumuxor​

MY ACTUAL IRL ANGEL,

i don’t actually write with jack all that much. jack isn’t someone i have to write with to maintain our friendship. there’s genuine affection here. when i come home, when i’m sad, when i wake up, he’s the person i go to. i couldn’t tell you why to save my life. i’ve tried a thousand times, written jack novels about why he means so much to me, but it’s the kind of thing i can’t put into words. but i’ll try one more time. half the time he’s making a joke, the other half he’s being one of the most affectionate people i’ve ever met. i can’t think of what i could have done to earn his singular love, so i assume he’s like that with everyone. as funny as he is, as much as he makes me laugh and roll my eyes in equal measure, it’s that ridiculously thoughtful, caring part that fascinates me. i still haven’t quite figured jack out, but i’m gonna. i guess until then, that’s my excuse to keep talking to him // @psychopatx

MY PERSONAL RAY OF SUNSHINE,

every day i call her my sunshine and every day she tells me i’m wrong. i wonder when she’s gonna figure out that i’ve never been so right about anything. zoe is an amazing person. incredibly strong and determined, intelligent as hell and passionate about what she does. she loves mary like i love her, and that’s saying a lot. even without knowing i’m in a bad mood or in a bad place, she cheers me up, and has never failed to do so. being around her is like being outside in the perfect weather in your favorite place. it’s impossible to not feel better when you talk to her. she’s such a beautiful person, insanely caring and always ready to help her friends. she cares so deeply for the people she chooses to surround herself with, and never fails to make me feel loved, which is hard to do. if i can be half of what she is to me, i’ll consider myself a success // @traiinedassassiin

&& MY PARTNER IN MY SLOW DESCENT TO HELL.

sometimes michelle is indistinguishable from john watson. i haven’t told her this yet, but sometimes she says things or does things and i sit back and wonder if that’s why she’s so good at writing him. here’s the thing about john watson: sherlock pulls a lot of bullshit. he does a lot of stupid things, he’s a ridiculous man with mood swings like hell, but john puts up with it. not only does he put up with it, he loves sherlock. and that’s a lot like michelle. i do a lot of ridiculous things. i get anxious for no reason, sad over small things, i have mood swings like hell, but michelle is right there. always calm, always telling me to talk to her about it instead of letting it get all bottled up. michelle is balancing on that thin line between caring and commanding, which can really throw me off sometimes when she tells me to talk to her and yes, i want to, but she’s also very hard to say no to in general. so maybe that’s why i keep writing sin and further cementing my place in hell. it’s here i have to point out that while writing this, michelle saw fit to send me absolute filth from a johnlock fic, so she’s going down with me. but back to my point. michelle is the most patient person i have met. she deals with me at my worst and somehow comes out of it still sane and wanting me around, and i don’t quite think i can express how important that is to me // @julietthotelwhiskey

and a note from the author. i have argued and will continue to argue that roleplaying is about one thing: people. it’s people who like writing, yes, but it’s people. we’ve all fallen into this odd little hobby together, so we may as well make friends. my bias list is short because it’s honest; the people above are people i genuinely care about, and i will continue caring about them as long as they allow me to, or as long as i am meant to, whichever comes last. i have five ( yeah, fuck kacie ) IM conversations open right now. little icons on the side of my dash and i can’t tell you how big my smile is when one of my friends messages me. so let yourself make ridiculously close friends through this dumb little hobby, because knowing that someone cares about you for you is one of the most rewarding things in life, far better than having good graphics or formatting or hell, even being the best writer.

that’s all, folks. <3

#―♚ ❝ why do you write like you're running out of time? ‣‣‣ OOC. #fxrechild #adlerthewoman #suumuxor #psychopatx #traiinedassassiin #julietthotelwhiskey #y'all i cried six times writing this #i just really love my friends okay