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vrishchikawrites · 3 years

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Reverse transmigration wangxian where LWJ who cultivates to immortality found an old summoning array where mxy fails to summon wwx but the whole thing with JGY still got revealed. LWJ in his grief summons WWX in our modern world, and the rest is up to you :) Maybe get WWX some therapy and loving family and how different modern days people are

This one is a bit angsty and has vague descriptions of sex. Modern AU.

“The Tragedy of Wei Wuxian - The Man Behind the Legend”

Lan Wangji caresses the title of the book with a thumb, eyes tracing a name he has always held close to heart but hasn’t heard for a long time.

“We all know of Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian as Yiling Laozu. He’s one of the first to cultivate successfully with ‘resentful’ energy. His theories and papers helped us develop a greater understanding of yin energy, Qi deviation, and resentful spirits. He was a visionary, a man ahead of his time, someone who thought outside the box and looked for solutions instead of sticking to the norm. He’s also the first known person to donate his Golden Core.”

Wangji looks away for a moment, remembering Wen Ning’s snarling face and Jiang Wanyin’s rage, denial, and guilt.

“But we don’t talk about what brought that great visionary down. Society, as it did with many great thinkers, turned against him. In his youth, Wei Wuxian was one of the most accomplished cultivators of his generation. No one knows exactly what happened for him to develop the so-called ‘Ghostly Path’. His loss of the Golden Core may have been a factor, but the actual circumstances are shrouded in mystery.

What follows after the War of the Five Great Clans, known as the Sunshot Campaign, is nothing short of a tragedy. Wei Wuxian saw injustice happening and decided to fight against it. Society tore him up for it. At that time, all actions against him were justified and considered righteous. Those actions don’t stand up to scrutiny under the modern lens. Like all great and radical thinkers, Wei Wuxian ideals made him the enemy and that led to this tragic death, along with the murder of innocent war prisoners he sought to protect. There are unconfirmed reports of there being a child among the Wens.”

Wangji’s eyes flicker over to a picture frame sitting on his desk, an image of Sizhui and Jingyi smiling up at him through the glossy image. They’re well, he knows. Last he heard from them, they were in South Korea and having a great time.

Sizhui must not know of this book or he would’ve called immediately, always so concerned about his a’die.

“It was later revealed that hunger for power and political maneuvering led to his death. When we study the historical records, it is obvious that the man was pushed into the corner and was forced to retaliate. Unfortunately, no one cared about his fate-”

“I did,” Wangji whispered to himself, thinking back on silver eyes in an indistinct face. He loved - still loves Wei Ying - but the physical aspects of him have long since faded from his memory. He sometimes remembers Wei Ying’s laugh. Sometimes, he dreams of his smile. He doesn’t recall what Wei Ying sounded like, only remembering his tone when he said ‘Lan Zhan.’

And yet, Lan Wangji hasn’t forgotten love.

He reads the book in silence, going through all 375 pages of it without pausing to eat or sleep. It tells the story of Wei Ying in stark, blunt terms. There are a few facts missing or erroneous. He wasn’t the adopted child of the Jiangs. There was certainly no unrequited love between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli.

There’s very little mention of him. According to this book, Lan Wangji is a mere footnote in Wei Wuxian’s life; a childhood acquaintance, a disapproving comrade, and later a man who unraveled the truth because he pursued justice.

“He was just 23 years old when he died,” Wangji lingers over that statement, “23-year-olds are barely adults. They hold the promise of a bright future. They have so much potential inside of them. At 23, some people graduate from college, some take up their first serious job. At 23, young people fall in love and maybe form a life-long bond. Wei Wuxian became a key player in a big conflict at 17, he donated his core at 17. At 17, we still have children in high school. Our seventeen-year-olds aren’t even allowed to drink or drive. Our seventeen-year-olds are still protected and sheltered by their parents.

That is perhaps the biggest tragedy of Wei Wuxian’s life. He was only allowed to live a carefree life for seven years, from the day he was taken off the streets to the day the YunmengJiang Sect was attacked. After that and until his death, his life was marked by war, strife, betrayal, and persecution.

A visionary, a hero, a brilliant mind, dead by what most would consider suicide.” Wangji’s breath hitches and he takes a moment to collect himself, the sentence ringing in his head.

“He deserved better.”

---

He deserved better, Wangji thinks as he walks sedately towards his library.

There had been a glimmer of hope, all those years ago when Mo Xuanyu attempted to resurrect Wei Ying, but when he failed to do so, Wangji felt something shatter in him.

Whatever Wei Ying had done had completely destroyed his soul. His precious, noble soul. One that was formed for justice and kindness.

He deserved better.

He knows what he must do.

---

An immortal’s Golden Core has immeasurable power. It is the result of several hundred years of Cultivation and diligence. Wangji is more powerful than most, having survived through war, strife, grief, and loss.

An immortal’s Golden Core can also be an ingredient.

‘Draw the talismans shown below in the blood of your heart. Pin them in eight directions, north, northwest, west, southwest, south, southeast, east, and northeast. Sit in the exact center of this circle and sacrifice half of your cultivation to the being you wish to summon.’’

Wangji’s heart and hands are steady as he draws the talismans from blood drawn directly from the artery. He pins them in all eight directions and sits down in the middle, his hands moving elegantly to summon his Qi. He breathes in and breathes out, sinking into meditation with habitual ease.

It will work.

It has to.

The room floods with Resentful Energy.

---

He deserves better.

Wangji feels torn apart in ways he has never experienced before. The ritual summoning carves something out of his chest and drags it away. His mouth floods with blood and his body weakens alarmingly.

But it doesn’t matter.

Wei Ying.

---

Wei Ying is more beautiful than Wangji remembers. He is bloodsoaked, covered in cuts and bruises, saturated with Resentful Energy, but he’s alive.

And he’s beautiful.

Wangji stumbles to his feet, shakily walking into the bathroom to fetch some warm water. He walks back, his arms feeling the weight of the bucket like they have never carried such weight before. With every step that he takes towards Wei Ying, his heartbeat spikes up a little. He doesn’t know if he chose the right time. He doesn’t know if Wei Ying’s spirit had shattered before his death and dying had just been the aftermath.

Maybe Wei Ying’s body is here and not his soul.

Wangji cannot bear thinking about it.

With weak, shaking hands and the taste of blood lingering in his mouth, he slowly reaches forward. Layer by layer, he removes Wei Ying’s clothes, his fingertips tingling because his beloved’s body is warm.

He deserves better.

With aching tenderness, he wipes Wei Ying clean, removes all blood, grime, and mud from his body.

Wei Ying doesn’t stir.

---

There’s a gentle touch against his cheek. It is strange enough to wake him up because few people dare touch Lan Wangji. Slender fingers tap once, twice, almost playfully and Wangji knows who it is even before he opens his eyes.

Like a sun emerging from the horizon, Wei Ying appears before him, his smile bright and questioning.

“Wei Ying,” He breathes and Wei Ying nods, eyes a sparkling silver. There is so much beauty in that face that he can’t help but reach forward. Ignoring Wei Ying’s surprise, he cups his face and leans forward pressing his forehead against his beloved’s.

Wei Ying is still for a long moment, but he moves eventually, setting hands on Wangji’s shoulder. He doesn’t push him away, just huffing in soft amusement.

“Wei Ying,” He whispers, closing his stinging eyes, “Forgive Wangji for his selfishness.” He says, “I summoned you.” I summoned you without asking, knowing you wouldn’t desire it.

Wei Ying huffs again and that’s when it strikes him.

He pulls back and looks at his beloved in concern, scanning his eyes, face, neck, and chest quickly, his heart racing.

Why wasn’t Wei Ying speaking?

---

“You’re right in suspecting that his spirit sustained some sort of injury even before he was… killed.” Lan Jingyi says softly, pulling away from the sleeping Wei Ying, “There’s nothing physically wrong with him, Hanguang-jun, please don’t worry! His spirit just needs a little bit of time to recover.”

Wangji nods gratefully as he watches Sizhui lean over Wei Ying, his expression full of wonder and desperate happiness. As Sizhui’s cultivation grew, he started remembering more things from his childhood. They have never spoken on the matter of Wei Ying, but Wangji knows his son remembers more than he did when he was a child.

“Now, please let me check you.”

He levels a sharp look at the younger man but Lan Jingyi is no longer the adoring and naive student Wangji taught all those years ago. He’s a strong, accomplished cultivator and an avid researcher.

Lan Jingyi ignores him cheerfully and checks his core, stepping into Wangji's personal space without a care.

He narrows his eyes at the steely glint in the boy's eyes.

"I know you love him, Hanguang-jun," Lan Jingyi says, "And love is worth a life." They're immortals, life has little meaning for people who have lived for centuries, "But I wonder if the Wei Wuxian that you so adore will be happy about you risking your life for him."

Wangji's eyes flicker towards Wei Ying, who looks exhausted even in his sleep. "He deserved better."

Lan Jingyi is silent for a moment before he speaks, "Sizhui and I read the book on our flight back. Everything was horrible, I'm not surprised that his spirit sustained so much damage. But it is almost entirely intact now. It shows how much he wants to live, Hanguang-jun."

It's a relief.

---

Wei Ying can't speak but his presence is still loud. He rests for a few weeks to recover from his injuries. During that time, Wangji spends most of his days moving from Wei Ying's bedside to the library and back again.

His beloved has an insatiable hunger for knowledge. He wants to know everything about the modern world.

Every morning, Wangji is confronted with a bright face with sparkling eyes waving a book or a scroll in his direction.

Wangji hasn't experienced such liveliness in centuries. The very air of his home glows with Wei Ying's vitality. Wei Ying's body recovers quickly and soon the man is out of bed and following Wangji around.

His heart feels too big for his chest.

By all appearances, Wei Ying is perfectly content. He walks around Cloud Recesses, visits Caiyi Town, and is happy to watch the sunset with Wangji every evening.

That had been Wangji's wish when he performed that summoning.

He wanted Wei Ying to have another chance to live free and happy.

Looking at him now, Wangji wants to reach out, cup that cheerful face, and pepper kisses all over it. He wants to kiss those fluttering eyelids, smooth cheeks, sharp jawline-

That soft, smiling mouth.

Wangji is an immortal. He has endless patience. He can wait for Wei Ying to come to him.

He must wait.

---

The modern world fascinates Wei Ying. His beloved looks at everything from tall buildings to food stalls with wide, stunned eyes. Cloud Recesses and Caiyi Town are still relatively untouched by the passage of time, but Wei Ying has free access to the internet and has learned how to use it within two months of his arrival.

Wangji doesn't restrain him.

He just watches as Wei Ying, his brilliant and enthusiastic love, learns to thrive in his new world.

His voice has still not returned but that doesn't seem to bother Wei Ying. He is delighted to learn that there's a way to communicate nonetheless.

He starts learning sign language and Lan Wangji, with patient and steady hands, practices with him.

---

Lan Sizhui follows Wei Ying around with quiet affection and aching tenderness. He's much older than Wei Ying now, but he remains their son in spirit. He treats Wei Ying like a senior, with respect and adoration.

His Wei Ying notices, of course. At first, he finds the situation quite strange but Wei Ying isn't stupid.

'Lan Zhan,' He asks, 'Who is Sizhui?'

Wangji brings his fingers up and replies, 'He's your a-Yuan. I went looking for you but found him instead.'

Wei Ying's eyes widen and he spins around, running out of the room to seek Sizhui.

Wangji follows sedately and when he finds his love and his son, they're embracing while crying tears of joy.

---

'Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!'

Wangji huffs under his breath and carefully sets his brush down, tucking the scroll away before turning to meet bright silver eyes.

Wei Ying leans forward with an eager expression, 'Do you know where Suibian is?'

Wangji nods, 'In storage. I was able to retrieve it from the Jin Clan.'

'Can I have it?'

Wangji rises smoothly to his feet and leads Wei Ying to storage where both Suibian and Chenqing.

Wei Ying only glances at Chenqing for a moment before reaching for Suibian with a desperate expression.

Suibian, a blade that has remained sealed since Jiang Wanyin unsheathed it once, easily reveals itself again.

Wei Ying spins around eagerly and looks at him with pleading eyes.

As Wangji is able to deny Wei Ying nothing, he reaches for Bichen and they immediately head for the training grounds.

It has been a long time since Wangji has really used Bichen to its full capacity. With half of his core pulsing within Wei Ying, they're almost evenly matched.

Wangji has not fought in ages but Wei Ying is still a Cultivator. The spar is fast-paced and thrilling. Wangji acquaints himself with Wei Ying as his love becomes reacquainted with his sword.

Wei Wuxian had been one of the best swordsmen of his generation. He has lost none of his elegance and skill. Wangji presses him and Wei Ying laughs soundlessly, twirling around him in white GusuLan robes, bright and joyful.

He breaks Wangji's heart and mends it at the same time.

---

Wangji has missed Wei Ying for hundreds of years.

He can't resist the urge to touch. He keeps it chaste and respectful but his hands have a mind of their own in Wei Ying's vicinity.

When they're out and about, Wangji guides Wei Ying with a hand on his back. It becomes natural to grasp his love's elbow if he wants Wei Ying's attention.

His touches can easily be dismissed as gestures of friendship by most. But Wei Ying knows him.

'er-gege,' Wei Ying's smile is sweet, 'Wei Ying is cold.'

Wangji's eyes flicker over to the lit fire briefly before landing on his love, 'Are you feeling well?' He asks in concern, reaching forward to place the back of his hand on Wei Ying's forehead.

His beloved laughs and nods, leaning into the touch with a sly smile, 'I'm well, just cold.'

Wangji feels a stir in his chest at the intent look in Wei Ying's eyes. Hesitantly, he cups Wei Ying's cheek in silent question.

Wei Ying nuzzles his palm, his eyelids fluttering close gently.

Desperation and elation flood him and Wangji sucks in a sharp breath. He moves in a blur, lifting Wei Ying off his seat and placing him on his lap.

Wei Ying gasps and giggles, his tall, strong body seeming to almost shrink as he cuddles close. Wangji wraps both arms around his love and squeezes him tight, rocking them gently as he is assaulted with painful love.

"Wei Ying, Wei Ying, Wei Ying," He chants in Wei Ying's hair, holding him so close, it feels like there's no part of him not touching his love.

When Wei Ying turns to him with a smile in his eyes, Wangji doesn't hesitate to lean forward, bringing their lips together in a long-awaited kiss.

He presses Wei Ying back against the crook of his elbow and tastes his silent laugh on his tongue.

Wangji has never felt so blissful and complete.

---

Jingyi convinces Wei Ying to go to therapy.

Eager to learn and curious, Wei Ying agrees.

He returns from every session with a thoughtful expression.

Months pass but his voice is still lost.

---

They make love and Wei Ying mouths the words he wants to speak. He smiles, sobs, laughs, and pouts as Wangji takes him apart bit by bit.

Wangji has never known such pleasure. He loses himself, drowning in Wei Ying's scent and finding heaven in his body.

He enjoys feeling smooth skin. He sinks his fingers into Wei Ying's silken hair. He tastes the sharp edge of his jaw. He bites. He drives in and takes ownership of Wei Ying's pleasure.

He presses his mischievous sprite into their bed and doesn't hold back, centuries of love pouring out of him.

---

A combination of therapy and Wei Ying's natural approach to life makes his recovery quick. Within a year, he's well-adjusted and happy.

He laughs at almost everything. The first time they fly, the first time they visit an amusement park, the first time they go to an aquarium.

He laughs and Wangji starts noticing the color of his voice returning to it.

Wangji is grateful for what he has. He's grateful that Wei Ying is back, safe, and happy. He is grateful that Wei Ying is unharmed.

But he cannot lie to himself. He misses Wei Ying's voice.

---

"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,"

Wangji almost misses it, as engrossed as he is. He presses in deep and feels a shiver of pleasure race down his spine. Wei Ying's fingers curl around Wangji's nape and his lips caress his ear.

"Lan Zhan,"

He stills.

Wangji takes a deep, bracing breath and pulls back a little, balancing on his arms to peer down at his lover.

Wei Ying is a vision. His cheeks flushed, his eyes wide and dark with passion, his lips bitten red from Wangji's kisses. His long hair is scattered and wild, a tangle of glossy strands across Wangji's pillow.

"Lan Zhan,"

Wei Ying's lips move and a voice accompanies that movement. It is slightly hoarse, somewhat weak, but it is still the voice he barely remembers.

Heat flares in him and he sinks deeper, pulling a sharp gasp from Wei Ying.

He spends the entire night filling their room with that precious voice.

---

Wei Ying doesn't ask questions. He doesn't ask why Wangji did what he did. He doesn't ask how he did it. His beloved has always been perspective and he understood Wangji's desperation from the moment he woke.

He reads the book that triggered it all and laughs, "Aiya, they make me out to be some sort of martyr for justice." He says fondly, for he is very fond of the modern world.

Sizhui is sitting at his feet, eyes closed in bliss as Wei Ying gently combs his hair, styling it into an intricate braid.

"They're not wrong, though." Jingyi can never sit straight and he has forgotten all of his Lan teachings over the years. He has his legs thrown over the arm of his chair and his head is dangling over another arm, his hair sweeping the floor as he nods.

Ridiculous.

"I never asked to be glorified in such a way." Wei Ying protests with a chuckle.

"Baba should be grateful no one knows about his resurrection." Sizhui pipes up, "At least, you don't have to deal with modern stans."

Wangji arches a brow at the word and Wei Ying laughs, already more accustomed to the Internet language than Wangji is. "Oh, heaven forbid!"

"But listen, you and Hanguang-jun have the greatest love story ever, you could write a book about it, Wei-quanbei!"

Wei Ying tilts his head to the side and Wangji urges him to consider it with a subtle nod. Wei Ying is happy but he's never content to be idle. The modern world doesn't need cultivation, but perhaps it can benefit from their stories.

---

‘Once you summon successfully, you belong to this being for all eternity as payment for the one wish they may grant. Half of your core will live within them. If they die, you die. If they live, you live. If they hurt, you hurt. If they become corrupt, you become corrupt.

You will sacrifice immortality, but not the eternal bond. Every time you are reincarnated into this world, you will be tethered to the being.

Beware.

Wangji tucks the scroll away, sealing it so that it is never discovered again.

He has no regrets.

#short prompts #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan suzhui #lan jingyi #modern au #canon divergence

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purpleyellow · 3 years

Text

Road To Kingdom

The boyz 12th member

Mae’s masterlist

“A summary of Mae during RTK”

a/n: not @/ me using the performance names as historical events. Feel free to share your thoughts with me. Requests are open! 🧡

... After the concept meeting for Sword of Victory...

Mae cracked open the door to a practice room, making sure no one was inside before dropping her stuff, as well as her body, on the floor. The lightbulb making it almost impossible to keep her eyes open reminded her that she used to do that during her trainee days.

Here she was again, feeling hopeless like she was going to face the biggest challenge ever. And the girl was sure she wasn’t ready for it.

Minkyung had a problem of self-doubting even though she couldn’t pinpoint it, all the members seemed willing to take on the challenge, yet she felt like she’d be the downfall of the group. And yes, she had a thing for being dramatic as well, that’s why she rested the back of her hand on her forehead and sprawled out her other arm.

The door flung open with mild force, startling her from her thoughts and sending her body into a more normal position. Q entered the room without a word and just laid on the floor next to her. Both members looked at the ceiling deep in thought.

Mae went back to the idea she had during the meeting. Not a particularly bright one, though it did attack the fact she felt like an upcoming burden to the group. Taking a deep breath she mumbled, “I think I should take a hiatus”.

After her words, the room went back to silence. Her heartbeat had increased due to the heaviness of what she had spoken, and looking to the side, she saw Changmin frown.

“Are you sick?” He asked after a few minutes and the girl shook her head. “Physically or mentally unwell? Is there an issue we can fix?”

His questions made her taken back, for Mae it was very clear why her taking a break would be beneficial for the group.

“I’m saying because of the program”

“We’re joining a competition, so you want to drop out?” Changmin sat up confused.

“I’m thinking of the bigger picture. The group will do better if you don’t have to worry about me keeping up with you guys”.

“No, you’re not. I’m sorry, but you’re being selfish now” He chuckled. “We don’t mind if you need to repeat the same move a couple of times extra to understand how it goes. Do you honestly think it’s going to help being one person down?”.

“I figured I wouldn’t be setting you back. It can be stressing sometimes and -” She sat up trying to explain her thoughts, and he shook his head.

“Minkyung, you bring a lot to the team, just because you struggle with something doesn’t mean it’s worth losing everything else. When we were rookies I used to get annoyed because you were so quick to give up. But then you began understanding how you learn and your limits. And even though it takes you a little longer you push yourself. Why did you suddenly come back to assuming you can’t do it?”

“The meeting today. Everyone is preparing a lot, there’s so much thought involved and maybe not pulling it off would mean I failed you guys”

“I’m terrified too,” Changmin nodded, placing a hand on his chest “I mean, did you listen to the stunts they were talking about. My first thought was to run away. But then I remembered we’re here to prove ourselves”

Sighing, Mae looked at him annoyed “You’re a great dancer, and singer and whatever else, you’ll do fine because that’s how your body works”

“And you’re an insane performer” He cut her off with wide eyes. A random giggle left his mouth before he continued “I’m talking about acting and becoming another person on stage, you literally do that in the blink of an eye. This is your chance of growth. Who cares if you pull an all-nighter to get the right angle? When you’re on stage it’s like someone else entirely, and we haven’t even done some crazy concepts like we’re planning on doing”

“If the angles are wrong then we won’t look synchronized” The girl mumbled looking at the big mirror and Q chuckled.

“And that’s why you’re not going to rest until it’s perfect. None of us is going too actually. We’re going in as a team, with all our flaws and strengths”

“It’s nerve-wracking, isn’t it?” She mumbled after a moment of silence. Changmin laughed and added. “I’m scared to death”

… Five hours before Catching Fire…

The last rehearsal before the performance had ended and the group went back to their dressing room. Sitting sideways on the couch, Mae rested her head on her arm and watched some members go get their makeup retouched.

Jacob sat on her side and stared at the girl’s blank face before laughing. “Can you blink, so I know you’re still alive?”

Blinking once, she slowly adverted her gaze to him and bit her lip “This is crazy”

“It’s not as fast-paced as they show it on TV though. At least we have some time to process what’s going on” Jacob shrugged making her narrow her eyes at him “But yeah. It is crazy”

“Sunwoo keeps going on high places. And there’s some acrobatic stuff I’m not sure how it works and-” She kept mumbling like she hadn’t been there for the tiring practices and rehearsals. Laughing Jacob interrupted her by adding.

“And you fake kicked someone”

“And I fake kicked someone” Mae repeated with wide eyes making him laugh and Hyunjae approach them.

“Hey, I’ve been jumping on high places too,” He said defensively making her stare at him and shrugged. Jaehyun laughing before patting her on the back “How about once we get home today you have a really long night to sleep”

“I’m good” Mae shook her head “I’ll sleep but tomorrow don’t let me miss the meetings please”

Agreeing with her, Hyunjae stepped back to the styling session and the girl stood up to use the restroom.

Just as Mae turned around the corner, a faint sound of a violin came from Golden Child’s door. Before she could fully process the song it was playing, the door opened wide showcasing Jangjun.

“Well, do we have a spy among us?” He laughed bowing at her and Mae repeated the gesture a little embarrassed.

“I was just passing by and heard the violin. I didn’t mean to interrupt” She said making an x with her hands.

“Nah, I don’t believe you” He teasingly said and dropped an arm over her shoulder, ultimately bringing her inside the room “So, what did you hear? Are you going to sell this information to your members? And what is it going to be your concept today, I can see the hunger games thing on your shirt, is it like a revolution”

“Uh, I don’t know… Hello” Bowing to the rest of Golden Child, the girl tried to remember what he had first asked her. “I only heard a melody, and don’t worry I won’t spread it around”

“Hyung, I told you not to play it right now” Bomin scoffed to Joochan, who seemed to realize he was still holding out his violin before hiding it on his back.

“But Mae-ssi is a friend, isn’t she? She will hold out the shock factor for us” He laughed making the girl nod and give them a thumbs up. “Do you know how to play it too?”

“I do actually” She laughed and Joochan gestured her to take the instrument “Oh, no it’s fine”

“You heard our song already. At least play for us or tell us something about your stage” Jibeom teased leading her to sigh and take the violin to herself.

Fixing up her posture, Mae quickly played a random song she had learned as a child making the boys cheer.

“Okay, I should be going now,” She said bowing embarrassed by their compliments and Denyeol nodded along. Fist bumping her before raising a finger.

“But, Mae if you could do us a favor” He started grabbing her attention “Please make sure you show you’re surprised”

Laughing she nodded making her way to the door, before leaving she held up her hands with her fists closed “Golden Child fighting!”

“Mae fighting!”

(requested by 🍓🥛 anon)

… Behind the scenes for Heroin…

“Why are we so embarrassing?” Sunwoo giggled and clicked his pen repeatedly. He and Mae were sitting on the same side of the table waiting for Leedo from Oneus to show up for the writing session.

Bouncing her leg, Mae hugged the boy’s arm and looked at the door expectantly, only to get startled by it opening up.

“Hello” The tall boy put his head inside the room and entered it slowly. The three idols greeted each other and sat down still a little awkward from being the first time they truly interacted.

“I got the demo, so we can write the raps to go with it” Leedo said unlocking his phone. A piano melody that would blend in with Sunmi’s Heroin started playing, and Mae quickly unlocked her own device.

Opening a piano app, she waited for the recording to be over before quickly replicating it on her phone in different tempos.

“You picked it up quite fast” Leedo laughed scribbling down on his paper, and she smiled. “Sorry, just a habit before writing. This way we can adjust it as we go”

“No yeah, sure” He cleared his throat and Sunwoo bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing.

“Anyway, for the lyrics, I was thinking we could talk about becoming an idol”

After finishing up with their rap parts. The three idols made their way up to the practice room where the rest had began working with the choreographer.

“Mae, come here” Juyeon called out as soon as she stepped in the room, so he could run over some parts with her and Ravn. “There’s only actual choreography for you after the last chorus, but we do some kind of puppet thing during your verse”

“My love for this song couldn’t be any bigger” Mae giggled and looked around the room for the camera “Sunmi Sunbaenim, if you’re watching this, let’s be friends”

Laughing, Juyeon pulled out a chair for them to start while saying “Watch out. Taemin Sunbaenim commented on danger, maybe she’ll actually see this”

“Wait, he did” Mae stopped with wide eyes and Juyeon nodded. “Holy sh-”

“Yeah” Laughing he pulled her arm “Just remember this is still a broadcast”

“Honestly, if she ever reaches out let me know. I want to be her friend too” Ravn added making them giggled, and she gave him a positive sign.

“As long as you don’t tell Juyeon, because he’s been censoring me a lot lately”

“Well, we have an agreement”

Sulking, Juyeon added “I don’t see how this is fair but okay”

… 1 minute after Quasi una fantasia …

The members bowed to the staff and extras before slowly stepping away from the stage. Mae could see some of the boys crowding around Juyeon who seemed pretty upset, though she had no idea what was going on.

Holding her side, the girl went behind the boy and gave him a back hug making them waddle together back to the dressing room. Once they were all settled back, she stepped away from the crowd and raised her shirt a bit showcasing a forming bruise right above her waist.

“Crap, how did that happen?” Kevin who looked her way at the right time said under his breath. “You need to ice it, probably"

“I bumped on the corner of the piano," She said recalling the incident. “Hopefully it wasn’t noticeable. The camera wasn’t turned to me anyway”

The one part that had gotten her most nervous during this performance was her piano solo for the climax of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Not only it dictated the rhythm for the first dance break, but it was also challenging for her as she hadn’t played something like this in a while, and it ended a few seconds before her part.

So strategically speaking, she had to run off the instrument as soon as it was done and went back to the center of the performance. Not without hitting her hip against the wood.

“Is it hurting?” He asked while waving for a staff member and asking them for ice.

“It’s starting to. Do you think it’ll leave a big bruise?” Mae shrugged and hissed as the cold hit her warm skin. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on something else “Well, not mentioning everything. How was the performance?”

“Weren’t you there to see it yourself”

“I don’t know. I kind of blackout every time we go on stage” She made him laugh, but her face was dead serious.

“Wait really?”

“Kind of. I can remember it roughly I guess. Today there was so much to focus on that I’m not sure if I was entirely present. I banged my hip and didn't feel it at first for all things”

“Dude, same I guess. I need to lay down and get smushed by ten weighted blankets tonight” Kevin added hugging her on the other side and leading them to the couch.

… 3 days before Checkmate …

“The synchronization feels off” Eric spoke from the huddle of members watching the recording of their practice.

“Mae…” Q started, but before he could finish the girl spoke “Right arm higher. I got it”

“If you got it then why didn’t you do it right away” He turned playfully to her and poked her nose.

Massaging her back, the girl laughed and walked back to her spot next to Haknyeon. The boy dropped his bottle on the floor to help her out “Did you fall on your side?”

“No. I did trip while running from one side to the center, so maybe that was it” She shrugged looking around the room “Nobody is intact”

“Tell me about it” He pouted and called Sangyeon closer. “Hyung, maybe we should work on another part. We’ve been doing this section of the chorus for too long”

“Go talk to the captain, I’m not in charge of that” The leader laughed sending him towards Changmin, Juyeon, and Hyunjae talking to one of the choreographers.

“They would listen if you’re the one asking,” Mae said leaning on his side and Sangyeon nodded.

“Yeah, but I already came all the way over here. I don’t feel like walking back” Sangyeon chuckled, looking to the side where one of the staff members started calling his attention.

“We’ve got the costumes ready if you want to do a rehearsal with them” Looking up at the leader, Mae separated herself from him to run for the stylists while he went to call the other boys.

After the stylists helped her put on her clothes, one of them brought a box and quickly pulled her to the side “I know we’re not doing hair and makeup for today. But I’d figure it’s best for you to have it on for the rehearsal so we can make sure it won’t fall”

“Wow, is she getting a present?” Eric laughed approaching them and the stylist opened the box to reveal a thin black tiara to go along with her outfit.

“The crown itself is one of the props, so we had to make it subtle, but we couldn’t pass away the chance to represent the nickname you were given during the program,” She said helping her adjust the thing on her head and Mae walked to one of the mirrors.

“Wow, thank you so much Unnie,” The girl said checking herself out in the mirror “My face looks dead but damn this is pretty” She added making Eric and New, who also had joined them, laugh.

“You know, during a chess game, the Queen is one of the main pieces” She turned around to them holding a hand to her chest and a teasing expression “Thank goodness we didn’t go with a narrative that would give me that role because I’d crumble under the pressure”

“Only for the first week, then it would quickly get to your head” Chanhee scoffed patting her on the back and making her giggle. Eric chuckled as well and urged them outside “Let’s go work, so we can get Kingdom’s lost princess back to her place”

“Mock me as you want, I never asked for the nickname”

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ramblesanddragons · 4 years

Text

I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks Eda’s curse is a metaphor for mental illness. At least I hope I’m not. That’s one of the many reasons I think I’ve been so drawn to her character and I could (and might) write a whole thing about why I like her so much but her dealing with her demon might be the biggest factor.

Now of course I’m not saying those who have a mental illness are demons. Just putting that out there. I just see my own issues as my own demons. So here’s a bit of stream of consciousness thoughts on the similarities I see in my own mental health struggles and Eda’s curse. My journey is of course different from others so the things experienced wont track to everyone. Putting it under a cut and with a warning about discussing depression.

1. How tired she gets after doing magic.

The biggest aspect that I relate to is how tired she gets. There’s been a few times now where she’s had to nap and is so tired she can’t physically stay awake. When my depression is bad I’m the same way. All I’m able to do is sleep. Sometimes I can’t even move I feel so drained. I noticed that Willow can pull off big feats of magic I would consider on par with Eda but doesn’t get as worn out after doing it. That could also be an age thing but Lilith doesn’t get “I need to sleep NOW” after her fight with Eda and we can assume that they are at least somewhat close in age. So I think the exhaustion is caused by the curse

2. Memory Problems

Eda can’t remember who cursed her and doesn’t get her potion(meds) sometimes (I am so thankful for reminder text messages). Plus that ending song from Something Ventured, Someone Framed kept bringing up the idea that someone can’t remember the singer. I’m pretty sure that’s related to Eda. Depression can cause memory issues as well.

3. Onset with Trauma

Someone cursed Eda. She wasn’t born with the curse as far as we know. I see it as a metaphor for a traumatic event. While this isn’t the case with all mental illness a traumatic event can be the onset of one.

4. Hunger

Demon!Eda will eat anything. Other creatures, potion bottles, swing sets. etc. Some people loose their appetite as a symptom but I actually eat a lot.

5. The Potion (meds) not working anymore)

Sometimes when you’ve been on something long enough the amount that it helps you goes down. Then you have to up the dosage or try something new.

I could be reading into all of this too much but if it is intentional I appreciate it. I don’t think I’ve seen a representation of an adult really struggling with a mental illness before in a “kids” cartoon.

So where would I like to see this go from here?

Part of me kind of hopes that Eda learns to control the demon and deal with it. It being a part of her life but it not controlling her. If she gets cured of it though I will also be thrilled for her. Some people do get better, heck some day I hope I do, and seeing her recover would be wonderful too.

#The Owl House #Meta #I think #Eda The Owl Lady #Eda Clawthone #Mental health #depression #Depression TW #Here I am having feels over Eda again

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ilguna · 4 years

Text

Whist - Chapter One

summary: you can’t protect her forever.

Word Count; 6.5k

Warnings; swearing

NOTES: not a finnick odair x reader. it’s a ‘what if’ series

–

“Good morning.” Finnick’s voice is rough, tired.

You pause the pencil right where it is, looking over to him. He’s got his eyes half-open, squinting at you through the sun rays that are running through the window. For a moment, he lifts himself to see what you’re doing, and then he rests back against the pillow, back to the window.

“Good morning.” you place the pencil down temporarily, running your hand over his forehead, “Still feeling unwell?”

“Little feverish.” he admits, “Nothing I can’t handle. The Capitol will have all the medicine I need, anyway.”

“If you say so.” you give him a sweet smile, turning back to the black book.

You read over the words, trying to recollect your thoughts. After reading over the sentence a third time, it picks up in your mind. You finish it, write the date down, and then close the book for good. You’ll pick it back up when you get back from the Capitol.

“Do you know the time?” Finnick asks.

You turn to the nightstand, sliding the book--with the pencil neatly tucked between the pages--and check the time, “Little past seven. The whole house is awake already.”

“Little past seven?” he repeats, “Maybe I should stay home.”

“It’s likely the medicine that made you sleep in so late, honey.” you say sweetly, slipping out of the bed, “Either way, you have to be there for the reaping. Better not drag your feet.”

“Right.” he agrees, “Start up the shower?”

“Of course.” you agree, heading into the bathroom. You lean into the shower, turn on the faucet to warm, and then leave.

“I’m going to help Alyssum. It’s her first year and all.” you go back over to Finnick, crawling onto the bed long enough to kiss him, “Gotta reassure her and everything.”

“The first is always the worst.” he says.

“Yes, it is.” you agree, “I’ll be back up, holler if you need something.”

“Will do.” he sighs, and right when you make it to the bedroom door, he calls your name. You turn to look at him, seeing a smile on his face, “I love you.”

You smile back, “I love you too, Finn.”

You head out of the room after that, closing the door but not entirely. There’s a small gap between the frame and the door itself. Just in case he does yell, you’ll be able to hear him from the entire house.

Knocking on Alyssum’s door, you wait patiently for her to answer. She doesn’t say anything, opting for swinging the door wide open for you to see her instead. Her eyes are wide, and she’s got two dresses hanging from her arm.

“I don’t know which to choose.”

She holds them up for you to see. The dress on the left is baby pink, with white accents. There’s a ribbon that runs along the middle, and in the back it can be used to tie it up. Like an apron. The dress is long-sleeved, which might be awful in this weather, but even Finnick had managed to catch a cold.

You have a feeling that it might be because of all the time he’s been spending out on the water lately with Reed, Mox and Caspian. You warned all of them to take a coat, just in case they were to fall into the water and get frozen. But none of them listened, and now your husband is at the end of a nasty bug.

The other possibility is that he caught it while he was in the square--the black market of District Four. Again, lately he’s been out there with the boys doing god knows what. But you heard from Mags that people have been catching colds, and with how jam-packed the square is constantly, he probably got it there.

You’re just glad that Mox and Reed seem to be in good health.

The pink dress also has a nice trim along the bottom. When you reach out to run the fabric between your fingers, it’s soft. Might even be easily damaged. Things will easily stick to it, but at least it’ll be warm. You can already picture the possibilities of accessories that she could pair with this.

As for the second dress, it’s strangely familiar. You can’t place your finger on it though, even while you look over the material. It’s a little more stiff, a slight gold color. Black trim and ribbon, and it’s not long-sleeved. It’s got the arms of a regular t-shirt.

“What’s the weather like today?” you ask her.

“Hot.” she says, “It’ll start warming up around the time we leave.”

“Which is what? Eleven? Twelve?”

She nods.

“Then I’d say to go with the gold dress.” you pick it up from her fingers and hold it against her body, “Make sure you choose something black that will go with it.”

“If I find a black ribbon, will you tie it in my hair?” she asks hopefully.

“I’ll do your hair entirely.” you promise, “All Capitol fancy.”

Alyssum has a smile spread over her face, “Okay.”

She turns back into her room, shutting the door. Turns out she’s not as nervous as you thought.

As you go down the steps, you come to realize that she doesn’t really have a reason to be afraid. She’s surrounded by older people who have either been inside of the games or trained relentlessly in case they would be. And when Alyssum finally turned ten two years ago, all of you jumped on her back at once.

Of course, she’s been being fed little things since she was seven. You started out with the easy things, like how to tie the ‘fun’ knots, and how to start a fire. And ever since, you had a theme with the year. When she turned eight, if she wasn’t in school, she was on a boat with you and Finnick learning to fish or she was tying knots. She was already a strong swimmer, so there wasn’t much to worry about with that.

When she turned nine, you took it upon yourself to teach her how to use a knife. Places to hide one, how to get it out easily. You bought her a pocket knife from the square for her to have. Even if she wouldn’t be allowed to have it at school, it was good practice. She carries it with her everywhere now.

That same year, you and Finnick had taught her how to use a spear, which she didn’t like very much. So then, you two switched to the swords. And you’re talking about the illegal ones also from the square. However, you weren’t buying them, you were only borrowing them from some old gal that you’ve known for a while now.

On top of the sword, someone offered up a bow in trade for teaching his daughter how to do it in a way that would make her want to learn how. Then someone else pitched in a dummy and a couple of target stands. That summer was by far the craziest.

Then she turned ten, and you started to teach her other things. You wanted to ease her into the idea of having to kill someone. So, instead you taught her the anatomy of the body. You showed off exactly where the major arteries were and told her that if she were to ever get hurt there, she would have to act quick.

You didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d likely die unless she knew what she was doing with medical stuff. So, you brought her to the local clinic that year and convinced some of the staff to allow her to watch how it was done. In return, you funded some medical supplies.

You thought it would be better if she learned it straight from a professional. Especially with practices like District Four’s. They’ve all been handed down from generation to generation. All the shortcuts to getting better, the medicines to avoid--namely morphling because of how addictive it is--and what to and not to do.

She learned how to do stitches, and by the time the school started up again in the fall, she answered all your questions flawlessly. When you asked her how to treat stab wounds, the words would come from her mouth before she realized it. At first, she thought it was embarrassing, until everyone around her was so excited.

Reed had thought you were the prodigy, with how you learned and never complained. But with Alyssum, she was always so eager to learn more. And the way she retained information too was a big deal. No matter the situation, if you ask her a question about a past lesson, she’ll know it.

When she turned eleven last year, that’s when you started to get more serious. More survival skills that would help her in the long run. What berries looked like, what leaves looked like. What food would be useful inside of the arena, the three rule especially.

And with her turning twelve this year, you finally decided that she couldn’t be babied any longer. She could like all the little kid stuff, but she’s eligible for the games. The chances of her getting picked on her first year are so slim that you won’t even consider the possibility. But you took the precaution of teaching her how to fight anyway.

Most of the time it was plastic swords and knives. You’d set up a mock hunger games with you, Finnick, Reed, Mox, Caspian and his family, and her just a little outside the gates of victor’s village. In the middle would lay everything that she would need. And you focused on the if factor. If she ran to the middle rather than away, she would have to act quick.

None of you went easy on her. You all might have tens of years of age on her. It’s clearly unfair with the first thought. Then the second rolls in. That the career kids have been taught this stuff since they were young. This is their first nature. They’re going to think like the predators. They’re going to be bigger than her, smarter than her, and more skilled than her.

And hell, they wouldn’t give a damn if she was twelve or seventeen. If they were to see her face, they would go straight for the kill. Unless she made allies.

At first, Alyssum wasn’t any good at the fighting, but she gradually got better. She’s fairly shorter than all of you, so the first place she goes when she swings is the legs. It’s not a bad move.

You’re just happy that after everything that has happened, she’s realized that running to the middle is always the biggest gamble. Reed and Mox are sure to enforce that every year when they’re in front of the television set. They point out every little mistake of the tributes that run to the middle.

So now, she roots for the people that run away and get frustrated with those who head in.

Anyway, as you were saying, she has no reason to be afraid. She’s been growing up with it for a while now. The questions, the training, the lessons, the mock hunger games. She’s no professional, and she’s still got a lot to learn, but she’s getting there.

It’s not like she has much to worry about this year. Her name is going to be in there only once. As the years climb--you’ll start to worry. Until then, she knows as much as you can afford to teach her.

She’s even had practice with real weapons. Ones that can kill.

“How’s Alyssum doing?” Mox asks, he’s waiting at the bottom of the staircase, nibbling on his fingers. You reach over, pulling them from his mouth.

“Getting dressed. You should too. The hosts might talk about us since Alyssum is now eligible for the games.”

In the kitchen is Reed, hovering over a plate of pancakes. On the stove sits a pot, and when you take a peek, you’re able to see that it’s soup for Finnick.

“Are we still quarantining Finnick?” Reed asks.

“He’s feeling better today, so I think he can come down.” you reach over for the coffee, thanking Reed when he passes over the cream, “But he might stay home this year. I think he’s still sore.”

“He nearly died, so it makes sense.” Reed says, “Looked like you when you had typhoid.”

You pause for a moment, raising your head as you think.

You suppose that’s right. He was pale, it was hard for him to move but he made a point to. He didn’t like it when you fussed over him and consistently insisted that you spent your day doing something else rather than showing fantastic bedside manner. To no avail, though. You don’t have much to do these days besides show Alyssum how things are done.

“Strange.” you tell Reed, raising the coffee to your lips. The cream has cooled it considerably, and you’re able to drink the entire thing without burning your tongue.

You grab another mug of it for Finnick, since he’s going to need all the energy he can get with how he is. The medicine that the clinic had prescribed him has made him all sorts of tired. Which he can’t really afford to be today, or any other reaping day. It would be awful for the cameras to zoom in on him and make fun of him the same way they do Haymitch.

Mox has joined the kitchen, and you pass him on your way out. You go up the stairs and straight to the bedroom. You can hear the occasional large splatter of water as Finnick rinses his hair. You knock on the door once or twice, slipping inside.

“Brought coffee.” you tell him.

The sliding door opens and he holds his hands out for the mug. You pass it over, watching as he does the exact same thing that you did. And when he’s done, he gives it right back with a smile.

“Thank you.”

“Want more?” you ask.

“I’ll get more when I go downstairs.”

“Alright.” you grab a few things out of the bathroom drawers. A brush, some hair ties, a curling iron, hairspray.

All while you’re grabbing these things, you can’t help but to feel a little guilty. The reaping is no time to look pretty. With a brand new dress and nicely done hair, it’ll make it look like you’re glorifying the games.

But everyone has to know that you’d never do such a thing. You haven’t taken the games lightly ever. You take your job seriously, and you showed them when you sacrificed thousands of dollars just to get medication inside of the arena for Annie. Without a single clue of knowing whether or not it would actually work.

Alyssum gets nice dresses because she doesn’t have to take hand-me-downs anymore. They’re not expensive in any way, and they’re not imported from the Capitol either. None of your clothing is. Hell, you’re supporting the local businesses, the ones that struggle without you going in to buy a new pair of socks or shoes or underwear for your family.

And you might as well spoil Alyssum, because she’ll never have to live through what you older kids had to. She’ll never have to worry about selling the living room furniture, pawning off family jewels and getting rid of her toys just to make that month’s rent.

“When are you getting ready?” Finnick asks, shutting off the shower.

“After I do Alyssum’s hair.” you tell him, “How are you feeling?”

“A little better, but still sick.”

“We could always tell the peacekeepers that you’re sick, since you are.”

Finnick frowns a bit, drying off his body with a towel, “Then that would seal my fate on not going.”

“I want you to heal.” you press a hand to his chest, “And you can’t do that if you’re running around with me in the Capitol.”

“I’ll manage. I don’t want to miss Alyssum's first reaping anyway.”

“Whatever you say.” you give him a smile, “Your coffee mug is on the counter. When you go downstairs, make sure to tell Mox everything is fine. Don’t go to Mags or Annie’s without me.”

“Sure.” he says, and pulls you in for a quick kiss.

Once you pull away, you leave the bathroom, then the bedroom. Down the hall and straight to Alyssum’s bedroom. You hardly knock before opening the door, revealing Alyssum to be standing in front of a mirror. She’s already got her black shoes on.

“Can you tie the back ribbon?” she asks.

You set everything down on the bed, tying the ribbon, and then getting her seated in front of the mirror. You pull half of her hair up loosely, putting the hair tie in. Then, you neatly tie the ribbon around the bands. After, you begin to curl her hair at the ends.

“Ask me questions.” Alyssum insists.

You give a smile, “What are the ways to clean water?”

“Boiling, iodine or a few drops of chlorine, but not enough to get you sick.” Alyssum says.

“Why do we clean water?”

“To get rid of the bacteria, otherwise we can end up with a ton of viruses--like typhoid, cholera, salmonella and a couple of others. They become more deadly the longer they’re untreated.”

“How can we start a fire?”

“Flint and a rock, typically.” she thinks for a moment, “A lighter, matches if it’s available. Sticks. Or glass and the sun, but that takes a while.”

“Name the big arteries.” you let a curl fall, shaking the hairspray and then spraying it on.

“The one in your neck, on your thighs and the arms.” she says.

“If someone pins you down, how do you get free?”

“Buck your hips and then flip on top of the person.” she says.

“What’s the one berry you don’t want to ever eat inside of the arena?”

This one takes her a moment, “...nightlock?”

“Yes.” you smile at her through the mirror, “What does it look like?”

“They appear black, but once squished they’re red.”

“Alright, why don’t we run to the cornucopia?”

“Easy, because the careers go there, and since I’m small, I won’t make it. So, I go when they’re not there instead.”

You’re proud of her for this. To know that she should wait until the careers have gone out and started their hunting. They go out at night, looking for easy fires to catch. Kill the easy tributes. Depending on how far they’ve gone away from the cornucopia, they’ll either head back or stay in the woods for a night. Then they’ll pick up where they left off, and end up right back at the cornucopia by the end of the night.

“All done.” you tell her.

She turns her head in the mirror, looking at what you’ve done for her. She springs to her feet and takes you in for a long hug. When she lets go, you gather your things to head back to the bedroom so you can get ready yourself.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.” you tell her, “Go study with Finnick some, okay?”

She beams, and follows you out the door. She takes a turn for the stairs and you head to your bedroom. You shut the door behind you, drop everything off in the bathroom, then pick out a simple outfit. Once it’s all neatly laid out, you take your shower, cleaning your hair.

You dry it, carefully dry as much as you can, and then you leave the rest to air-dry. You pull on the simple flowing tank top with the stitched back. Then the black jeans and a pair of nice tennis shoes. Showing up to the reaping in casual clothing stopped being a heinous act a while ago.

Finally, you go downstairs. Alyssum is eating breakfast, Finnick is enjoying a second or maybe a third cup of coffee, asking Alyssum questions. Every now and then, the other two will pitch in. Once Finnick realizes you’re there, the two of you pack up some breakfast for Mags and head out the door.

“She’s getting better.” Finnick says, “I had her show me a few knots. She’s got quick fingers.”

“I hope so.” you laugh, he joins in.

You and Finnick enter the house after a couple of knocks so Mags can know that you’re there. She’s already waiting in her living room, a book in her hand. You and him wait patiently in the doorway. She closes the book, and then gives you both a welcoming smile.

Finnick helps her to the table while you lay out Mags’ food. She sits, eats in silence while she reads. Finnick finishes his coffee, you scrunch your hair with your hand to try and give it some character.

Before you know it, you and Finnick are taking Mags back to your house, and then heading towards Annie’s. Just as you reach the door, Annie’s mom sticks her head out and shakes her head.

“Annie’s got the flu, the peacekeepers already know. Thank you, though.” she gave a kind smile and then shut the door in your face.

Right back to the house, it gave you extra time to do something to your hair and eat. So, that’s exactly what you did. Curled your hair like you did to Alyssum’s, put on a little makeup, and right back down the stairs. After breakfast, you played a memory game with Alyssum, Reed and Mox.

Then time was up, with only thirty minutes to get to the stage. All of you headed out as one big bunch. With Finnick holding your right hand and Alyssum holding onto the left. Ahead of you guys were the other victors of four--the ones that hardly glance at you all.

Since it’s Alyssum’s first year, it took a little longer to get her signed in, but right after you went to your regular spot behind the cover near the staircase up to the stage. Mags went up without you guys, but you hung back to talk to your family, as usual.

It’s the normal nonsensical stuff that wasn’t able to be fit on the walk here. Casual banter between all of you. The peacekeeper at the top of the staircase is kind enough to inform you guys when there’s ten minutes left. Time to wrap it up.

“Okay, Aly.” you hold out your arms, “How are you feeling?”

She throws herself into your arms, squeezing tightly, “Little nervous, but it’s natural, right?”

“Yes it is, and it’s okay to be nervous.” you kiss the top of her head.

Mox, Reed and Finnick move in to join the hug. You all hold tight for a moment, and then pull away.

“I’ll make sure to stand so you can see me.” Alyssum promises.

“Sounds good to me.” you give her one last smile, “Good luck.”

Reed takes her hand when she turns around, waving goodbye. You and Finnick head up the cracked stone steps, nodding to the peacekeeper when you pass him. The two of you make your way over to where the victors, mayor and Elysia sits. You sit between Finnick and Elysia.

“Alyssum’s first year.” Elysia whispers.

“Yes it is, she’s grown so much.” you tilt your head a little.

Alyssum has found a friend, and the two of them are talking about Aly’s hair for a moment. Then, they bid your bothers goodbye, heading to the twelve year old section, right up from. They slide in right in place, and just as she promised, you have a clear look at them.

Aly and her friend hold hands, and the two of them chat while the rest of the sections. Along the outside stands parents and bystanders alike. Your brothers are where they always are, behind the boys section and standing out like sore thumbs. They’re dressed better than most of the people around them.

Right as the last few people file in, Caspian comes up beside Reed, and the two of them start talking too.

The mayor takes a deep breath, and then gets up. She readjusts her blazer as she heads to the microphone. You look over to the camera, noticing how it’s on you guys right now. There’s a long moment of eye contact before the camera is the first to break it, focusing on the mayor.

“Happy hunger games.” her voice echoes, and by her tone, you can tell she either really hates her job, or she’s tired of having to introduce the games every year.

She launches into the speech on the dark days, and to reinforce it, she shows a video made by the Capitol, narrated by Snow. It’s all required, she doesn’t have much of a choice. When the video is over, she hands it over to Elysia.

This is when a sick feeling washes over you. You fan your face with your hand, thinking that the dizziness will fade, but it only grows. The nausea is hardly bearable.

“I think I might be sick.” you admit, and Finnick apologizes. He then holds out a water bottle that he had brought just in case any of you needed it. You take a couple gulps of it, glad that it eases some of the knots in your stomach.

“Happy hunger games.” Elysia says, her voice isn’t as excited this year. You can’t even see the look on her face, but you can only guess that she looks tired too, “And may the odds be ever in your favor. As usual, ladies first.”

She moves over to the girls bowl, picking out a random slip of paper. You can see Alyssum has her eyes glued to it, eyebrows drawn together. Elysia moves back over to the mic and carefully removes the black tape to reveal the name.

She inhales, like she’s going to say the name. Then, she deflates, the mic catches the wind. Elysia seems to go rigid after that, eyes glued to the paper slip between her fingers. You squint, trying to catch the name, but it’s too far away.

Ten seconds pass, then twenty. The head peacekeeper clears his throat, letting her know to get a move on. It’s enough to snap her of her daze, but when she speaks, it’s barely above a whisper.

“The girl’s tribute this year is uh--” she pauses for a moment, taking in a deep breath, but lets out half of it again before she speaks, “--Alyssum Gallows.” her voice drops out during the last time.

The two cameras on either side of the stage turn in different directions. With one looking in the crowd for your dear baby sister, and the other landing straight on you and Finnick.

You jerk in your chair like you’re going to get up, but Finnick holds you back, clearly as stunned as you are.

The air is still.

Your eyes manage to find your brothers and their friend, standing there just as stunned as you are. Mox hasn’t started to cry yet, his eyes are wide and his mouth is open. While Reed looks like he’s paled several colors, as white as a corpse.

The dizziness comes back, bigger than ever.

‘No,’ you think, not being able to bring yourself to shake your head, ‘She’s twelve. Her name is in there once, she’s twelve.’

“Come on, honey.” Elysia’s voice is soft, like silk.

Alyssum can hardly pry her fingers from her friends. She stiffly moves into the aisle where the peacekeepers are, waiting to escort her to the stage.

‘Someone volunteer. Please, someone volunteer.’

She reaches the steps and she’s careful not to scuff her brand new black shoes. When she’s at the top, her eyes find yours, and it’s almost like a reflection. The amount of horror you feel is replicated on her face. Only, she’s got tears forming, and you can’t even bring yourself to move.

“Right here.” Elysia stops her in front of the bowl, going back to the microphone, “Any volunteers?” she urges.

You’re too old to volunteer. Disregarding the fact that you’re a victor yourself, you’re too old. If you were younger, you’d be jumping right now for her. You’d go back into the arena twenty times just so she could have a normal life here.

The silence is deafening and clear; there are no volunteers and she must carry on whether she likes it or not.

Alyssum glances over her shoulder again, and you’re able to see the tears running down her face.

“Now to the boys.” Elysia is defeated, and she heads over to the boys bowl. She doesn’t dally with this one either, pulling out the name and heading to the microphone.

She removes the tape, “Rigg Estridge.”

You find yourself selfishly wishing for an older boy. But watching the way the crowd moves, it’s another twelve year old.

You bury your face in your hands, squeezing your eyes shut tightly. This can’t be happening. You can’t be getting two twelve year olds. Their first year of the reaping, and one of them is your sister.

When you look again, a short redhead with curly hair is being moved down the aisle. Without a prompt, he heads up the steps and stops in front of the boys bowl.

Once again, Elysia asks if there’s any volunteers. There’s more silence, one look to Reed and Mox tells you that they wish they were fifteen years younger too. They desperately want to be in the same boat as Alyssum like you do.

With no volunteers, Elysia tells them to shake hands. Alyssum moves forward with a shaky palm. There’s shiny tear streaks on her cheeks, but her face is serious. The boy looks more shaken than she does.

After that, it’s over. And the tributes are being escorted off stage and into the justice building. There, they will wait for their friends and family to say their final goodbyes.

You stand from your chair, running your fingers through your hair as you try to get a grip on what just happened. Finnick wraps his arms around you tightly as a hug.

“I’m going to the Capitol.” He says.

“I expected no less.” You tell him, wrapping only one arm around him.

Elysia looks even worse than she did before, “(Y/n)—I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry—“

“You didn’t know.” You tell her, eyes fluttering for a moment.

The dizziness hasn’t subsided. In fact, the world feels like it’s spinning out of control. You look to where your brothers had been, but they’re long gone. Likely trying to get to Alyssun.

“We need to see her.” You tell Finnick, “I have to be together with them all one last time.”

You make him let go, heading down the same steps that the mayor had taken, disregarding everyone that tries to reach out to you. One peacekeeper tries to offer his condolences, but you slap his hand away and move right inside of the building.

The ones guarding the door move out of the way, and when you enter the room, your brothers are already there. With you as an addition to the room, their bodies turn, and you’re running the small distance to bring them so close to your body.

“Finnick is coming with.”

“Good.” Reed says, and then they let go.

You let them talk to her since you’ll be seeing her for the next week. This is their goodbye, not yours. Not just yet.

“You listen to (Y/n).” Reed tells her, “She knows what she’s doing, and she’s going to try her hardest to get you everything you need.”

She nods, it won’t be difficult for her.

The door opens a second time, and you look over to see that not only is it Finnick, but Mags is on his arm.

“You can win.” Reed says, his hands are on her shoulders, “You’re smart, you’ve been learning all of this information for years now. The only disadvantage you have is that you’re small, but even that has advantages.”

“Mags has a token for you.” Finnick says, your brothers move aside.

Mags pulls something out of her pocket, weighing it in her hand carefully before she holds it out for Alyssum to take it out of Mags’ palm. Alyssum reaches up with shaky fingers to carefully bring the jewelry out.

There’s a special gem attached to the necklace. The gem is expensive, and you recognize it almost immediately. It’s tanzanite. And just by the look of it--how polished it is--it’s new. And it costs more than her dress. Not only all of that, you recognize it for a whole separate reason.

Like how you had your mother’s ring for your games. She’s getting mom’s most expensive necklace. One that was given to her by grandma.

Reed and Mox seem to remember too, but Alyssum has no clue. She turns the necklace over in her hand gently.

“It was mom’s.” you let her know, “And grandma’s too.”

“Oh.” her voice is soft, and she wraps her fingers around it, looking at Mags, “Thank you.”

“She was planning on surprising you with it after the reaping.” Finnick says, and you all know what he was implying. A gift for after, when she hadn’t been reaped and survived her first round. Instead, she’ll be taking it as a token now.

The doors swing open again, and you watch as Alyssum is shown some sort of affection. A kiss on the forehead, a long hug. Until the four of you are huddling in for the last time. The peacekeepers are surprisingly patient with this long goodbye.

“I love you, Alyssum.” Reed tells her, and Mox agrees, “We’ll be cheering you on.”

Reed and Mox go to leave before you, Finnick or Mags budge from where you stand. You crouch down, trying to get to her height.

“On the train station, there will be cameras. The whole country is watching us right now, so you need to do me a big favor and not cry on that platform, okay?” you fix her hair, “You can cry as soon as the doors are shut, but you need to have a brave face until then.”

“But the reaping--”

“I know about the reaping, and that’s okay. No one reacted well when you were called, not even me. It’s okay to make mistakes, but we need to start not making them anymore.”

She nods, “Yeah.”

“I have to go, okay? I’ll be at the train waiting for you. Elysia will be with you, stick close. Don’t fight the peacekeepers, they’re on our side.”

You stand up, and Aly hugs Mags for the last time. After that, the three of you are heading out. The doors slam shut behind you, rattling the door frame. Outside stands your brothers who had been waiting patiently.

You take in a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down.

“We have to start heading to the station.” Reed says, squeezing you tightly, “We’ll see you there.”

“What about Mags?”

“I can walk her.” a peacekeeper volunteers, you know who it is.

“Thank you.” you place a hand on his arm.

There’s a car that’s already waiting for the two of you. In passing, you tell Elysia that she should probably keep quiet inside of the car when it comes to the two of them. Inside the train is when you’ll introduce and begin to get them used to the idea of it all. Other than that, they just need a moment of silence to collect their thoughts.

The car ride to the train consists of you biting your nails until you finally decide to stop, knowing that your stylists friends will be upset if they have nothing to work with.

Finnick holds your hand tightly.

“The Capitol is going to love all of this.” you tell him, “(Y/n)’s little sister. The Executioner’s twelve year old sister is going inside of the games.”

“They’re probably going to be comparing you two the entire time.”

“Yes, they probably are.” you agree, “And I can’t wait to see what Caesar Flickerman has to say about all of this.”

The car makes it to the train station, you and Finnick get out, go up the steps and then into the train. You don’t stand on the platform with the tributes, Elysia does. Then, they come inside after the final glance after the reaping.

You run your fingers through your hair, taking a seat by the door.

You need to focus on her training score right now. If she scores high, then she’ll be in the clear. It’s not often the first years get something so high. They’re expected to get something so low, anything below an eight. But with all that you’ve been teaching her, she should hit the eight mark.

And if she does something flashy inside of the private session, that will increase her score, just like how it increased yours.

It’s a while before the tributes have even shown up at the train station. By the sound of it, there’s a lot of people out there. You and Finnick don’t dare to peek your heads around the corner, though. You strictly stay inside, waiting and listening for Elysia to tell them to say their goodbyes.

Another ten minutes later, their car has finally shown up, you lean your head against the wall, closing your eyes. You can hear Alyssum’s shoes against the stone steps, and how they crunch when they come to a stop.

There’s sniffling coming from someone, but you don’t think it’s Aly, but the other boy--Rigg. He doesn’t know not to cry, you weren’t there to tell him. For now, you’ll let him give off his look.

Soon, they’re being brought inside. The doors shut, and you’re hugging a crying Alyssum, pulling her onto your lap as you rub her back. You let her get it all out, telling Finnick to go ahead and start with the boy, since he doesn’t look like he knows anything.

Finnick gives you a kiss on the forehead, and then leaves with the boy to take him into a different car. Elysia has already left to do whatever, you’re not too sure what that is exactly.

You try your best to comfort Alyssum, but you can’t help but to think that she’s not going to make it. You can’t tell her that, she has to realize that for herself. But there’s eighteen year old careers waiting for her in the Capitol. There’s the older kids from other districts too, but they’re not nearly as ruthless.

Careers are taught to think of their fellow tributes as animals, not people.

You scoop up Alyssum like a baby, carrying her to your mentor room. Along the way, peacekeepers open the doors for you. When you get inside, you lay Alyssum down on the bed, and then you slide in next to her, pulling her to your side as you run your fingers through her hair soothingly.

It’s not long before she falls asleep, exhausted.

#ilguna #whist #whist chapter one #lacuna au

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tatyanadyachenko · 4 years

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2020’S Best CBD For Pets – CBD Oil For Cats And Dogs

For the last couple of years, I have been praising cannabidiol, or CBD oil for its remarkable ability to help me relax in any situation. I have tried powerful CBD tinctures, festive gummies and even high quality vape pens. Since using the various hemp derived CBD products, all of my stress is completely manageable. As a direct result, I now sleep much better at night. The improved rest does wonders for my energy level at work. I am more fruitful and content throughout my long days at the office and at home. It wasn’t until a recent visit to the vet that I realized dogs and cats can take full advantage of CBD as well. CBD snacks for pets are amazing.

It’s important to realize that hemp derived CBD is not the same as CBD from marijuana. Although they both stem from the cannabis plant, hemp has less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabidol, or THC. That means there is not nearly enough THC to give an animal the high that most folks associate with mary jane. Industrial hemp is also legal in all 50 states, thanks to President Trump putting the 2018 Farm Bill into effect.

A consumer must realize that not all CBD treats for cats and dogs is the same. It’s up to every pet owner to do his or her homework and buy trustworthy goods that will keep your pets calm and cool. Maybe it’s in the middle of a nasty thunderstorm or perhaps it’s during a Fourth of July fireworks show. There is plenty of whining, panting and shaking. Puppies hide in the corner and kitties refuse to leave your lap. It is up to you, your fur-baby’s loving parent, to do a little homework and only buy safe and efficient products.

Your CBD oil for pets should work quickly to help them chill out whenever it is raining cats and dogs. Everything should also be made with nothing but organic ingredients. Meanwhile, the CBD treats for dogs and cats should be laboratory tested and manufactured in the United States. You certainly don’t want CBD food or drinks that are made with flavor additives or low quality hemp oil. Otherwise, who knows what potentially dangerous substances you are giving to little Pooky?

Let’s take a good look at 10 of the biggest and best companies out there selling CBD oil for our tail-wagging buddies.

1 JustCBD for Dogs and Cats

Since 2017, JustCBD has been leaders in the CBD industry that has been the winner of the Best CBD Pet Products awards from Hempressa CBD Shop Directory, Vapetelligent Vape Shop Directory and Chill Hempire CBD Magazine. They possess a great reputation for helping men and women, along with cats and dogs efficiently fight of stress. You simply give your little rug rats Just CBD for Pets whenever you have a stranger over, there is a nasty thunderstorm outside, or the neighbor insists on lighting off fireworks.

Every Just CBD product sold is created in the U.S. with domestically grown hemp and ships all around the world from the Sunshine State. The company makes it a point to use nothing but the finest ingredients, including pure oil and concentrates, in all of its merchandise. The last thing you want to do is buy CBD snacks for pets that are produced with flavor additives or low-quality hemp oil. It is also laboratory tested to ensure users’ safety. Just CBD’s packaging is straightforward, and they make it a point to never misrepresent what exactly is used in their goods.

Another one of the factors that makes Just CBD stand apart from its competition is its reputable customer service team. Feedback can be found all over the web complimenting their well-knowledge and courteous team. After sending an email, individuals usually hear back from a representative within an hour’s time. At the same time, JustCBD offers plenty of top-notch promotions for new customers, holidays and more.

Thankfully, JustCBD for Pets works quickly the first time it is used. Unlike expensive pharmaceuticals, it doesn’t take a few days for CBD to work in an animal’s body. Overall, I was very happy with Just CBD Oil for Dogs and Cats. Tails wag and everyone can chill out. While Marley and Charlie may not be able to verbalize how they are feeling, Just CBD oil for cats and dogs can put their worried minds at peace, regardless of any uncomfortable surrounding.

From JustCBD’s Steak Bites, Chicken Biscuits, Liver Meatballs, and Chicken Meatballs for dogs to their Purr Treats and Chicken Treats for cats, all for about $20 for a 100 mg jar, it couldn’t be easier to keep your beloved pets calm and cool.

Check out Just CBD for Pets at CBD Wholesale Marketplace and Love to CBD – CBD Marketplace.

2 Charlotte’s Web CBD for Dogs

Without question, Charlotte’s Web is one of the biggest names in the cannabidiol industry. Working out of Boulder, Colorado, the company was formerly known as Charlotte’s Web PAWS. It was started by the Stanley brothers who created their own strain of hemp in 2012.

According to its business website, Charlotte’s Web CBD for dogs helps their minds, bodies and souls to remain calm. At the same time, it should improve a puppy’s physical and mental well-being, as it supports brain function, vision, healthy hips and joints.

Charlotte’s Web CBD for dogs focuses on staying calm, supporting the brain or easing stiffness in the joints. The powerful CBD merchandise also comes in a couple flavors, chicken and an unflavored Medium-Chain Triglyceride (MCT) oil. Ingredients include vitamin E, elderberry powder, valerian root, chamomile, and Charlotte’s Web’s own hemp extract.

Nowadays, a pet owner can have a field day on the site, as there is a wide range of CBD options available when it comes to potency and strength. A small bag of Cognition Chews for Dogs costs $19.99, and a consumer can pick up a Canine Bundle with both oil and chews for $79.98. There are even combos that mix CBD for pets with calming gummies for their owners. Unfortunately, Charlotte’s Web inventory gets a bit expensive. Buyers also complain about their complicated website, along with Charlotte’s Web slow shipping methods.

Generally speaking, consumers appreciate that every one of Charlotte’s Web’s CBD products is tested. The problem is the assessments are performed in-house and curious buyers, like me, never get to figure out how the testing is being performed. Why can’t I see the laboratory results on the company site? Is there something they don’t want the public to see? Sure, a buyer with a batch number can always contact the customer service department, but why bother? Next.

3 PureKana CBD for Dogs

Centered in Arizona, Pure Kana sells a few different flavors and sizes of CBD for dogs, including the popular Peanut Butter & Pumpkin and Blueberry & Chicken options. A few years ago, the company became one of the most recognized names in the CBD industry thanks to its naturally grown oil tinctures from farms in Kentucky. Today, their “therapeutic and nutritional alternative” to traditional dog treats are extremely popular in domestic households.

Offering numerous benefits to pets, Pure Kana apparently assists with everything from separation anxiety to loud noises, inducing hunger, anti-aging, nausea and elasticity in the skin. They make it a point to use nothing but organic hemp that is grown in the United States.

Supposedly, PureKana has some of the best hemp growers in the world. The Pure Kana team also uses its own technology to extract the strongest hemp possible with just the right amount of THC in every piece of CBD merchandise. PureKana says everything is tested to ensure quality by preventing potentially dangerous toxins being mixed into the CBD treats for cats and dogs.

PureKana CBD for dogs is free of dairy, soy and gluten. There are no artificial flavors or preservatives. Everything is created with full spectrum CBD, meaning they have other cannabinoids, terpenes, and phytocannabinoids. Farm fresh eggs and oat flour are also found in the mix.

A 3.25 oz bag of 25 treats with 25 mg hemp extract for small dogs (up to 40 pounds) costs approximately $30 a pop. The same size selection of 50 mg CBD goodies for larger canines is about $35.

I like how Pura Kana is stringent about only working with certified companies. I also appreciate the fact that all of their CBD concoctions are tested at a third party facility. To top it off, you can easily look at the PureKana website to see certifications and read all kinds of laboratory reports.

4 Green Roads CBD Oil for Pets

Located in South Florida, Green Roads is a relatively small business, but is growing on a daily basis. Back in 2013, Laura Baldwin Fuentes was a pharmacist who created a smart alternative for a friend suffering from a bad opiate addiction. The pharmacist’s work paid off, as her broad spectrum formulas are now sold in thousands of Green Roads stores across the country, as they are one of the most widely seen brands of CBD sold in the U.S.

Nowadays, Green Roads strives to help men, women and pets with the top CBD products on the market. The store offers a wide variety of CBD merchandise, ranging from oils, edibles and capsules to topicals, syrups and CBD drops designed specifically for pets to keep all users nice and calm. Buyers like Green Roads’ big selection of CBD for dogs and cats. All of Green Roads CBD for our beloved fur-babies is produced domestically from pure hemp and is non GMO, soy free and nonintoxicating. Everything is mixed with MCT oil, making it easier for a pet to digest.

The smaller bottles for petite puppies and felines run approximately $20 each. Each bottle holds 30 ml of CBD with 60 mg of total CBD, equaling 2 mg per serving. The medium sized dogs get 30 ml bottles with 210 mg of CBD for up to 7 mg per serving for about $40. Finally, the big dogs that weigh more than 50 pounds get to enjoy 30 ml bottles with 600 mg of CBD, equaling roughly 20 mg per serving, for a whopping $59.99

Shoppers can keep their eyes open for more Green Roads CBD for pet products hitting the market soon, such as baked treats and soft chews. The CBD oil for pets is most effective when used on a daily basis, but it may take a few days for Marley to start enjoying the benefits of CBD.

I particularly like Green Roads’ highly informative website, such as lab reports. Plenty of essential information is not only present, but it is easy to find, unlike Charlotte’s Web. You can even scan a CBD product’s QR code to learn details about the purity and the quality of the goods?

5 HempMy Pet Hemp Dog Biscuits

Like so many of its competitors, HempMy Pet creates everything from naturally grown hemp in Loveland, Colorado. Since opening its doors in 2016, the company and its founder, Marc Brannigan have been on a mission to improve the daily lives of animals with handmade CBD products.

Ingredients include everything from pumpkin, apples and eggs to garbanzo bean flour, tapioca starch, mint and parsley. Each containing 2 mg of CBD, there are 25 biscuits to a bag. A person is supposed to give a pet one biscuit for every 10 pounds of the animal’s body weight. Of course, pet owners are still instructed to test the waters, as every creature is different.

Besides organic dog biscuits, Hemp My Pet sells human-grade CBD oils and tinctures that are third party tested. There are no solvents and zero pesticides. The goods are made with the CO2 extraction process, and everything is gluten free, GMO free and 100% vegan. Besides dogs and cats, their CBD pet products can also be used on horses.

Hemp My Pet offers a variety of CBD infused items, from a $25 bag of pumpkin flavored hemp extract for small dogs to a $99 jar of 500 mg CBD infused jar of coconut oil infused with CBD and a 1 oz tincture with 1000 mg of CBD for $149. An experimental consumer can grab a Wellness Bundle for $118.

What consumers don’t care for the limited number of products offered by HempMy Pet. Also, people can only get their money back within 30 days if everything remains unopened. That means if it the CBD for pets has no effect on four-legged family member, you are simply out of luck. And according to the internet, there are several buyers who have been left with the short end of the stick.

6 Fab CBD Dog Treats

Fab CBD’s dog treats are crunchy snacks that are made without THC. Relying on a top quality formula of hemp extract, there are still dog-friendly cannabinoids present. They may not be the largest CBD retailer, but Fab CBD is continually growing. Since starting the business in 2018, the company has opened facilities in both Tampa and the U.K.

Formulas and flavor options include peanut butter apple to keep a dog nice and calm. The chicken treats are designed to help a pup’s skin and coat, while the salmon flavor is designed to stimulate the immune system. Along with CBD, they are made with the potent antioxidant turmeric, flaxseeds and milk thistle. Unfortunately, feedback all over the web criticizes Fab CBD’s pet merchandise for its taste. Apparently, owners have to hide the goodies in other food, or their dogs will never eat them.

A pet owner should give anywhere from half a CBD treat to two full ones a day to take the edge off a stressed out pup. Every selection for a dog contains 3 mg of CBD. The CBD for pets runs $34 for a 9 oz bag. If you want to get experimental, you can try all three in an $87 bundle pack.

Too bad that user feedback often claims the taste Fab CBD oil for tinctures leaves in a user’s mouth is quite disappointing. On a positive side, the business website is quite educational and impressive. It claims that their powerful CBD is grown naturally in Colorado with a full spectrum cannabinoid blend. The site is also written in everyday language that an everyday buyer, like us, can relate to, rather than trying to impress anyone with fancy jargon and technical talk.

Consumers like me also appreciate all of product photos shared by (what I assume are) real buyers. This provides plenty of color to the site that other online CBD stores lack. A buyer can discover suggestions about how much to use and how to administer their pets’ CBD online, as well as on the packaging.

7 Canna-Pet

Headquartered in Seattle, Canna Pet is proud to say they’re the only CBD company out there making stuff specifically for pets. Since 2013, the hemp nutrition products have been driven by years of research with thousands of animals. As a result of Canna-Pet’s proprietary formulas, dogs and cats get to efficiently manage anxiety, along with sore joint issues, cancer and other ailments resulting from old age. Today, Canna Pet is found in retail stores and vets’ offices around the world.

The product is derived from natural cannabis and uses the popular CO2 extraction method. Everything is free of animal parts, preservatives, dairy, wheat and sugar. According to the Canna-Pet website, they are the only company on the market to make pet merchandise with 25 different and terpenes. What sets Canna-Pet apart from every other name on this list is that its hemp derived goods are created to use with your pet medications and supplements.

An 8 ounce box of Canna-Biscuits for Dogs: Advanced MaxCBD formula costs about $39. Featuring a Maple Bacon flavor, there are about 40 biscuits in each box. Customer feedback seems to appreciate the big discounts that Canna Pet gives to both shelters and charity organizations. They are involved in research studies for various veterinary universities. Consumers also appreciate the 30 day money back guarantee.

I always like reading customer reviews on business sites and posting photos of dogs and cats gives them authenticity. As far as negatives, I don’t like the fact that Canna Pet doesn’t share their test results on their products or on their business website. It looks like they have something to hide. The CannaPet site says its covered by a number of different pet insurance providers. Maybe it’s just me, but I think of pharmaceuticals, not organic treatments, when dealing with insurance providers. No thanks.

8 Fur Goodness Sake Organic CBD Hemp Gold by OmegaPet

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fur Goodness Sake is a family business that strives to keep dogs and cats content and healthy by developing the best dietary supplements available. Labeling their product as “Calm in a bottle,” the oil is made with pure hemp seed extract.

Aiming to make anxious pets calm and cool, Hemp-Gold is third party tested, non GMO and grown in the United States with Co2 extraction. One big difference between HempGold and its competition is the fact that it should be administered to a pet on an empty stomach. Then you still shouldn’t feed the animal for at least another 60 minutes.

1 ounce of 300 mg Hemp Gold in a 30 ml bottle sells on Amazon for about $25, and a 500 mg bottle is roughly $35. Feedback often complains about the products’ high prices. The biggest issue that buyers have with Hemp Gold is made with a thick fatty substance. Even if they’re advised to apply the CBD every day, users find the instructions unclear on how much CBD oil to use at a time. Most people have to depend on trial and error to find their ideal dosages.

I also came across a few negative reviews. For starters, there is a very low amount of CBD in Hemp Gold. Also, most folks don’t follow directions and give the hemp oil to their pets with food. Not only does this cause Hemp Gold to have zero effects on cats and dogs, it also makes other animals sick. There are reports of diarrhea and even aggressiveness. Yikes!

On the bright side, HempGold comes with a money back guarantee. Users also claim that regular use improves effectiveness for reducing separation anxiety and seizures. The company even donates 10 percent of their profits to pet shelters, charities and other not for profit organizations.

9 CBDfx CBD for Pets

CBDfx says their pet CBD oil helps dogs and cats enjoy the same calming benefits as humans. Operating in Southern California since 2015, CBDfx is undoubtably one of the most popular names in the domestic industry. Making it a point to sell nothing but naturally grown hemp products on a Kentucky farm, CBDfx now sells everything from gummies and vape juice to CBD pens, topicals, oil tinctures and various other products, including CBD for cats and dogs.

A buyer can choose from three different strengths of CBD oil for pets, 150 mg, 300 mg and a whopping 600 mg for the big dogs. A buyer can choose how to administer the CBD to his or her pup or kitty. Some drop the CBD oil right into the animal’s mouth, and others prefer to place a little on top of a meal or treats. There is no right or wrong way to give CBD to your dog or cat. Whatever you decide, you can purchase the right sized bottle to go with your fur baby.

All of the CBD in the treats for cats and dogs is extracted with care using supercritical CO2 extraction. Besides cannabinoids, the CBD oil for dogs and cats is plentiful in terpenes, amino acids and fatty acids. There are zero toxic elements, or any nasty chemicals used. Rather, every ingredient in the pet CBD oil is completely safe and natural. It has also been tested. In fact, a consumer can read about the products in reports issued by a third party laboratory.

Prices are $29.99 for 30 ml of 150 mg of CBD oil for small dogs and cats, $44.99 for a 30 ml bottle of 300 mg for medium breeds, and $69.99 for 600 mg of 30 ml of CBD designed for large pets. Buyers can experiment here and there before choosing the ideal portion of CBD to give their four-legged family members.

10 Highland Pharms PAWS+ CBD for Pets

Highland Pharms PAWS+ CBD for dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets and horses relies on organic ingredients mixed with its own hemp extract. Despite the “Pharm” in the company’s name, Highland makes it a point to use zero pharmaceuticals in their high grade CBD products. Since a cancer patient named Luke Johnston opened it in Texas in 2015, Highland Pharms has made Olympia, Washington its headquarters.

Using organic hemp that comes from a farm in Colorado, Highland Pharms CBD for pets claims to be produced in the best natural conditions possible. What supposedly sets Highland Pharms apart from their competition is their full spectrum hemp extract that has all the same cannabinoids and phytonutrients as hemp plants.

The Highland Pharms website claims that ALL of their products for sale can be used for all pets, ranging from dogs and cats to horses and ostriches. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t see myself, or even my Labrador retriever taking the same hemp extract as the Black Stallion or Seabiscuit.

Highland Pharms PAWS+ CBD oil for pets is available in two sizes. The 25 ml bottle of 100 mg runs $24.95. The same size with 250 mg costs $39.95. There is also a total of 60 small cheddar flavored pet treats in a 5 mg of CBD for animals under 25 pounds for $59.95 and a 30 count of large pet treats with 15 mg of CBD for larger animals. The ingredients include dried cheddar cheese, yellow peas, potatoes and cranberries.

Besides the confusing pharmaceutical-like name, what turned me off the most about Highland Pharms is its business website. The pages are anything but user-friendly. Also, I am certain that tinctures are not the easiest way to give CBD to a pet. Why not mix it into an edible and make it fun to give the little munchkin a delightful bite?

Want to know more about CBD treats for cats and dogs? Look no further…

IS IT SAFE TO GIVE CBD TO A PET?

Yes, CBD treats are safe for both dogs and cats. Just look for CBD merchandise with less than .3% of tetrahydrocannabidol, a.k.a. THC. That way, you never have to worry about your little munchkin getting high and experiencing any unwanted psychoactive effects or even the munchies. While you can always read books and trustworthy websites for advice, you should always talk to a vet about what CBD products and dosages to use.

WHAT CBD PRODUCTS SHOULD I GIVE TO A DOG OR CAT?

When shopping for the best CBD oil for pets available, be sure to look for natural CBD treats. It is also important that all the goodies are made in the U.S. with no additives or chemicals, such as pesticides. It is also important to administer the right dose to your cat or dog. While some boxes and blogs give directions, it is best to experiment a little until you find the right dosage for your furry little buddy.

HOW LONG DOES CBD STAY IN A DOG OR CAT’S SYSTEM?

Once you give your beloved pet a CBD treat, it will start to kick in within 10 to 30 minutes. A person can then expect CBD and its positive effects on dogs and cats to last for approximately 6 hours at a time. Regardless, the CBD will stay in your pet’s body for several days. Generally speaking, you should give your pet 1 to 2 mg of CBD on a daily basis. It depends if you are dealing with a 10 pound kitty or a 120 pound Labrador retriever. With a bit of trial and error, you’ll have no trouble figuring out how much CBD oil to use on little Athena and hefty Precious.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO SEARCH FOR WHEN BUYING CBD OIL FOR PETS?

When looking to buy CBD oil for cats and dogs, it is crucial to know where it was made. A consumer can only trust merchandise created in the United States. Otherwise, you could be spending your money on nothing more than expensive water, or worse. Your beloved pet’s safety may come into question. Also, be sure to look for the CBD product’s ingredients on the package, or at least on the company website. If you cannot find them, beware! The manufacturer may have something to hide.

WHAT EFFECTS WILL CBD HAVE ON MY PET?

CBD products for sale have a reputation for helping dogs and cats to relax, whether the animal is scared of a thunderstorm or going through separation anxiety. When you need to get your four-legged monster to chill out, ask your veterinarian about CBD treats to manage stress in your pet.

ARE THERE CANNABINOID RECEPTORS IN DOGS AND CATS?

The brains of cats and dogs have cannabinoid receptors. As a matter of fact, the furry animals possess more cannabinoid receptors than we do. In other words, legal CBD products are often more useful to our pets’ physical, emotional and mental states than they are for men and women.

IS IT OKAY TO GIVE MY CBD OIL TO A DOG OR CAT?

While CBD can have wonderful effects on pets, you should not give any products made for humans to a dog or a cat. Most of the CBD goods for humans are made with much higher concentration of cannabidiol. That’s means you could end up giving your four-legged family member a bit too much CBD. It’s okay, nothing bad will happen. In fact, it is not possible to overdose on CBD. It is just a shame to waste such a valuable product.

HOW ARE CBD TREATS FOR DOGS AND CATS PRODUCED?

The best CBD products available, including CBD for pets, is created with natural hemp, as opposed to marijuana. As a result, the merchandise contains less than .3% THC, which is nearly enough to give an animal the euphoric high associated with mary jane. Meanwhile, all the hemp should be grown organically on domestic farms and thoroughly tested to ensure safety and effectiveness.

IS IT AGAINST THE LAW TO GIVE CBD TO A DOG OR CAT?

No, it is now completely legal to buy and administer CBD products for pets in all 50 states, thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill. You just have to make sure that the CBD goods are derived from the hemp plant, as opposed to marijuana. If not, the pet snacks may have more than .3% THC. Not only is that illegal in many states, but the CBD treats may make an animal high. As long as your CBD items stem from domestic hemp, you and your pets have nothing to fear.

HOW DO I CHOOSE THE BEST CBD FOR PETS?

As a consumer and a caring pet owner, it is up to you to get nothing but the best for your dogs and cats. Fortunately, getting the top CBD treats for your furry little guys and gals couldn’t be any easier. There is a seemingly endless supply of information and products on the internet. That’s why it’s always smart to speak to a veterinarian to confirm that you are getting a high quality CBD oil for a good price. While you certainly don’t want to purchase the cheapest supplies on the market, there is no need to spend an arm and a leg to get exactly what you want and need.

HOW DOES CBD KEEP CATS AND DOGS CALM?

CBD is often extremely effective when it comes to keeping a pet calm and cool. Maybe it is during a terrible storm or perhaps while there are strangers walking around the house. Whatever the case may be, the right CBD treats can help an animal relax by binding to its serotonin receptors. Daily stressors won’t magically disappear, but the right CBD products are known to help dogs and cats relax.

DO CBD TREATS FOR DOGS AND CATS HAVE TO BE LABRATORY TESTED?

Yes, it is crucial that you only buy CBD pet treats that have undergone testing at a third party lab. Look for a laboratory’s name on the packaging, along with the ingredients. You should also make sure that you only purchase CBD merchandise that stems from hemp and are made in the United States. Otherwise, you have no idea what you are putting into your system. Your overall safety can come into question. Thankfully, it couldn’t be easier for you the consumer to do a little homework online to find the best CBD products for cats and dogs.

HOW SHOULD I STORE CBD SNACKS FOR PETS?

It is always best to keep your CBD products protected from light and heat. Store them in a dark and cool setting, like your fridge or freezer. By keeping everything in a controlled environment, the CBD goodies for your puppies and kitties will have much longer shelf lives. While a refrigerator can help the best CBD for dogs and cats last for roughly 6 weeks at a time, a freezer can keep everything potent, as well as tasty for about 6 months.

IS ALL CBD FOR PETS MERCHANDISE THE SAME?

No, the world of CBD retail is full of various products for dogs, cats, horses and other animals. While there are plenty of recognizable CBD brands out there that are respectable, there are even more CBD vendors that simply cannot be trusted. It is up to you, the buyer, to find a reliable CBD for pets by doing a little homework. Make sure everything has the ingredients listed and was manufactured in the United States. Otherwise, your safety could come into question. It also vital that your CBD goods stem from hemp, as opposed to THC-rich marijuana. Don’t be afraid to test different CBD items. What may work wonders on your neighbor’s cat may have zero effect on your dog, and vice versa.

#CBD #CBD for pets #cbd oil for dogs #cbd for cats #cbd for dogs #hemp for pets #pets #cats #dogs

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sims2shrine · 4 years

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“This soulless game isn’t really ‘The Sims’ for me”

I am starting off this blog with a review for The Sims 3 from Amazon.com user Valentinegirl. Why The Sims 3 on a blog dedicated to The Sims 2, you ask? Because this review details just about everything about The Sims 2 that makes it so special and endearing. Whenever I come back to playing The Sims 2 after a long break, I like to re-read this review because it always excites and inspires me to play this game that I am so passionate about. Note that the opinions expressed in this review do not necessarily correlate with my own -- I do enjoy all of PC versions for the most part. I just believe that The Sims 2 is far superior to the others, hence why this blog was born.

“Like many of the other reviewers here, I have been a HUGE fan of The Sims franchises, losing many pleasant hours to The Sims 1 and its wonderful sequel The Sims 2. Even before The Sims came out I was a Maxis fan, playing games like Sim City and Sim Tower with pleasure. I can't say that The Sims 3 has ‘disappointed’ me because the more I heard about the new game over its development period the more I thought to myself ‘why are they including this feature or dropping that feature? It sounds like they are tampering with the heart of the things I enjoy about The Sims’. But I bought the game anyway in good faith. Needless to say I am now back to playing The Sims 2. The Sims 3 has no interest for me at all in comparison. Despite all the ‘improvements’ - and I admit there are some surface ones - the heart and soul of what The Sims means to me is absent from this game. Unlike other reviewers here, my negative review of this game is not due to any technical difficulties. Perhaps I haven't played long enough to experience any, and at any rate - every hard-core Sims fan has learned to live with the bugs shipped with the game and love it anyway. The modding community has always done a sterling job of cleaning up our games and making them more playable and enjoyable. So my negative rating is not due to bugs or crashes - it is purely based on my perception of the game's enjoyment factor, especially when compared to The Sims 2. To be fair, I will sum up what to me are improvements to the game compared to The Sims 2: - the ‘open neighbourhood’ - the ability to go from one place to the other without a loading screen is a fine idea and works well in principal. But I found that it really didn't impact my playing habits as much as you might think at first. While playing a large, busy family there would be very little time to go rushing off to the park or elsewhere and I found I was ‘household’ focussed in my game playing just as much as in The Sims 2. I actually prefer in some ways the way community lots worked in The Sims 2. If you could organise your sims enough to go off to a community lot, time would actually stand still in the meantime, taking the pressure off your enjoyment of this change in pace for your sims. - No doubt about it, the ‘Create a Style’ colour wheel/pattern maker is the one thing that is far superior to recolouring in The Sims 2. It's great fun and so easy to go through and match up clothing, furniture, wallpaper, etc in an obsessive fashion that suits my type of playing down to the ground. But even here is a caveat - there is no Body Shop type program to truly customise textures. You can recolour only which is hardly satisfying in a creative way compared to being able to extract a texture and import it into Photoshop, thereby putting your own personal stamp on the texture. For example, in The Sims 2 you could export a dress texture and by pasting on a texture of your own you could make the outfit appear to be a cardigan and skirt instead. I am sure custom content creators in time will come up with ways of importing new meshes/textures into The Sims 3, but it is obvious that EA is trying to limit this type of thing to the ‘regular’ user right from the beginning by eliminating a ‘Bodyshop’ program from their development tools. - The ease of angle rotation is an unmixed blessing in this game - something that I wish had happened in The Sims 2 - The outdoor scenery in The Sims 3 is gorgeous from the beach, the shimmering water, to the parks, rolling hills etc. But the limitations put on being able to make this neighbourhood your own again shows up the inflexibility built into this game. Whereas in The Sims 2 you could completely customise your neighbourhood, building it up from a terrain created in Sim City, to decorating it and laying out your lots etc, in this game, EA gives you this beautiful scenery and then severely limits your ability to customise it. You cannot create your own terrain, the community lot buildings are the same everywhere and are not even properly functional, and there are a limited number of lots for your houses. It feels like a ‘dumbed down’ version of a neighbourhood to me that even the ‘open plan’ of the game cannot make up for. - There are a lot more surface details to gameplay in The Sims 3 by the way of person and object interactions and the little missions/opportunities that pop up. I do appreciate the amount of thought that has gone into a lot of these things, like adding depth to the career paths and making such things as painting a picture personal to every different type of sim. But again, when playing a busy family (six kids!) I found that I would just click the opportunities away as an annoyance without even reading them. There was no way my busy mother or father could go running off to the town park for a chess tournament when they were caring for screaming toddlers at home! - The lighting of the new game is a nice update and beautiful. It is also flexible if you have the time or inclination to mess around with the many options provided So even the improvements included in The Sims 3 are mostly mixed blessings for me! Here are the things that have decided me against the game: - The sims themselves. Try as I might, I cannot bond with these weird looking people and that bond between the player and their ‘Simmies’ is the major factor that holds many Sims fans in thrall. For a start, these creations just don't look like sims to me. It is laughable that the creators of this game are claiming that the sculpting tools given to create a sim are more flexible and customisable than in The Sims 2! In fact the sliders are very limited in their scope and have less points of difference than those provided in ‘Bodyshop’. That round-faced, chinless look that we all noticed and wondered at in preview pictures of this game is there for the very specific reason that you can't provide your sim with a proper chin and all of them look blobby and quite fat in the face. The noses look like they are just stuck on anyhow and look very unfortunate in profile. And the empty-looking eyes roll in a very disconcerting and unappealing alien manner. The sims toddlers and children - one of my prime delights in The Sims 2 - all look very ugly and all look exactly the same. One couple I played had six children, just to check out the genetics and all of them looked like peas in a pod until they got to their adult years, and even then the differences were minimal. It was very unsatisfying spending so much time and energy raising these unappealing little clones! - Obviously, I have had trouble creating sims I like to look at. That wouldn't matter as much if I could love the way these sims act and interact. If you think back to The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 what charmed fans of these games was how cute, quirky, funny, unexpected and unique all these characters seemed to the player. I don't accept the criticism the developers of this new game kept stating that ‘all previous sims games had sims who were all the same and all they wanted to do all the time was go to the toilet!’ Well really - do they think The Sims 1 and 2 would have been such world-wide successes if this were actually true?? Of course not! Our sims charmed us, made us laugh, surprised us and often took their own little lives in their own hands and pulled the game in a direction all their own. The two things promised by The Sims 3 creators about how the new sims would behave were 1) There would be a lot more time to attend to the sims' lives and less need to run around after them caring for their basic ‘needs’ - such as sending them to the toilet or to bed; and 2) the new ‘traits’ system would ensure truly unique behaviour from the sims and open up entirely new vistas of personalities and interactions for sims fans to enjoy. I'm sorry to say, but I have to rebut both of these stated improvements. 1)I think every Sims 3 player, no matter how dedicated a fan they are will admit that you spend more time waiting for your sims to fulfil needs than ever before. You spend ages just watching them sleep every night. They seem to have bladder and hunger needs that are never satiated, and you spend more boring time staring at their work building while they are off at work. So between taking them to work, watching them sleep, fulfilling their needs and trying to skill up, there is actually zero time left in a sims' busy day to take them to the park, the beach or visit a neighbour! How is this the ‘new balance’ of life over needs that the developers were so proudly proclaiming?? 2) As for the ‘traits’ system - that has to be the biggest disappointment of all. Sure, picking different traits for your sims will give them some very superficial differences, such as different interaction possibilities with other sims, or different animations. but at a deeper level, each and every sim seems the same over and over again. I think the main reason I say this is if you watch a household full of sims who all supposedly have a unique set of traits, you don't see them acting differently unless you tell them to. In fact they barely interact with one another at all if you don't tell them to. They ignore one another and spend their time being boring - fulfilling the endless needs or perhaps using a skill object. They don't care to interact with one another at all! It is quite possible to have two sims living in the same house forever and they remain total strangers to one another. You have to force them to interact which I find really annoying - I had hoped that they might work out their own relationships as they did in The Sims 2. Another annoying thing is the lack of familial affection between sims. Unlike The Sims 2, you never see a parent hug, kiss or play with a child unless you tell them to. You just don't feel that these sims love/care about one another at all, and I remember that feeling that ‘love is real’ between sims being the primary and most striking point that charmed me when The Sims 2 came out. I am sorry to say, if I compare the depth of personality of a houseful of Sims 2 and 3 sims, the Sims 2 sims would win hands down. In Sims 2, they would take one another in like or dislike, be attracted to some and repulsed by others. The parents would hug their kids when they got home from work, and kiss them goodnight. Husbands and wives would find a quiet corner and canoodle in a very romantic way. In Sims 3 they all coldly ignore one another and act in boring and one-dimensional ways, totally uninfluenced by their so-called ‘unique traits’. This lack of true feeling for my sims and between the sims themselves is my primary reason for calling this latest instalment ‘soulless’. How can you feel attached to these ugly, alien-like people who all look and act the same? - I do not care for one of the key selling points of The Sims 3 - the so-called ‘story progression’. Which sim fan really wants to leave their playable family for a little while only to come back and find they've moved out of the neighbourhood, or had a family while you're not looking with kids you didn't get to name? Where is the appeal in that? Most sims fans love to micro-manage their sim's lives - who they love, marry, have kids with, what they name their kids, where they choose to live, etc. Even more frustrating, the ability to turn story progression off is broken!! Good one, EA!! Another one of my criticisms is that EA has written out some of the most enjoyable and endearing elements of The Sims 2. Eliminating these things really proves to me how little the developers of the game understood the things that true Sims fans love about their games. Here are some as an example: - Story mode is gone. Yes I know there is a camera and yes I know they have all this fancy equipment that enables you to easily upload stories and movies onto the web to share. But I bet 90% of Sims players are not all that interested in sharing stories on the world wide web. The Sims has always been a highly personal game - a fantasy world unique to each sims player, and making up and sharing sims stories is not the driving reason to play the game for most. It is to get lost in your own little self-created kingdom and fall in love with the little pixels that people it. In Sims 1 & 2, using the camera as I played and building up an album for each little family became a mainstay of my playing style over the years. Most of the time I would not even add text to the pictures. They would be safely stored in each family's little album and every once in a while I would choose to browse through this visual record of my sims' little lives and enjoy again the sentimental, surprising, funny little incidents that marked the passage of that family's life. I would record the unexpected or charming little things that made my sims seem unique, like when my prim little sim teenager fell in love with the neighbourhood ‘bad boy’ all on her own and against any of my expectations. Or when my shy, nerdy sim who lived with a party animal room-mate spent all her time in her room reading on the bed or, of all things - washing the windows! whenever her room-mate threw one of her wild parties! Not having this record at hand of the family's little story in Sims 3 is definitely a contributing factor to the feeling of the game having little forward progression - every day seems like the one before. - Eliminating memories from the Sims is another way EA has wiped out the sense you might have of the family's story and history. I know memories caused all sorts of trouble in The Sims 2 if you moved sims indiscriminately from one neighbourhood to the next, but I think for many of us, having that sim's little milestones recorded in their memories really gave the sim a feel of individuality and personal growth. After not playing a particular family for a long time the first thing I would do would be to flip through the family's album and check their memories. This would put me back in touch with where the family was in their own particular life story. - Another charming Sims 2 feature that was wiped out was the attraction system. I know the original Sims 2 game did not ship with this, but it was added early on in one of the expansion packs and I am sure every Sims 2 fan absolutely loved it. It was another way to differentiate sims from one another. You could create down to the finest detail two sims who you thought would be ‘perfect’ for each other, only to find they couldn't stand each other! Then two of the unlikeliest sims would get together all of their own accord, making you feel that these little people had minds and hearts of their own. I loved this feature so much that my playing style was to resolutely let each sim choose his or her own mate with no help from me. There are other reasons for me not to like this highly polished, highly superficial instalment of The Sims franchise. But in the end, it came down to these basic feelings about the game - I don't care how gorgeous it is to look at if the gameplay is shallow and boring - I feel like EA is really dumbing down long-time sims fans by trying to eliminate custom content, charging like a wounded bull for their sub-standard stuff and doing their best to stifle the creativity of the custom content community - The sims are cookie-cutter clones of one another, and have no charm either of physical appearance or personality. The life and soul has been sucked out of these pixel-people - There is no sense of story, no unexpected interactions, no story mode or memories to record the sims lives. They no longer care about one another at all - parents, children, lovers, room-mates, friends - it doesn't matter what relationship the sims have to one another, there is no desire for these people to interact or develop their relationships unless you force it. I am mad at EA for ‘missing the boat’ on this franchise upgrade. In fact, it no longer feels like The Sims at all to me. All the charm and spontaneity has gone out of the game. I suppose it's not surprising I feel this way - Will Wright and his unique Maxis team of developers are long gone and EA has taken over. EA have no idea, and do not care what made The Sims beloved of fans the world over and instead are forcing something on them that has only a surface relationship to previous games. Much in the same way they ‘improved’ Sim City out of all recognition of the original game (’Sim City Societies’), they have done this to The Sims and that, I think is unforgivable. Fortunately, The Sims 2 will always be here and I am gladly getting back to my cute, funny, irreverent, surprising little sims with the huge added bonus of all the expansion packs and custom content I have built up over the years. I doubt if I will ever come back to The Sims 3 even if they bring out boatloads of expansion packs. If the game has no soul, it cannot be loved.

This review was written on July 27th, 2009. Source: Amazon.com. Link to original review: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RCEHMW5QIIA7B/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00166N6SA

#text post #long post #first post #amazon.com #the sims 2 #the sims 3 #amazon review

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built-from-nothing · 6 years

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See Through My Eyes

Genre: Soulmate AU

Pairing: Dean x Reader, Sam x Reader

Synopsis: Upon turning twenty-one, you get to experience life through your soulmate's eyes for a brief moment. Today is your birthday, and you can not wait to wake up and see Sam's reflection staring back at you, but when you gaze through the mirror his hazel eyes aren’t the ones staring back at you.

Words: 1718

Warnings: Fluff, and angst.

A/n: Thought it would be cool to do a soulmate AU and switch between Dean’s and Reader’s perspective. Hope you enjoy and would love to hear what you think!

Your eyelids flutter open from a long night's sleep as your head begins to pound. You knew those last few shots were a bad idea, but why you let Dean talk you into them you'll never know.

The boys had taken you out for drinks last night as a pre-celebratory 21st birthday, full of laughter, booze, and bad karaoke. However, fun that may have been, (you can't quite remember now anyway), your true excitement lies in discovering the identity of your soulmate.

For as long as you can remember, people have told you stories of when they first saw their soulmate. The rush of waking up on their 21st birthday to physically see through the eyes of the one they are meant to be with. To truly solidify the connection of two souls by walking in each other's footsteps, if only for a moment. To have undeniable proof that this person was made for you, and you them.

Ever since meeting Sam you have dreamed of this day, to wake up, see his reflection staring back at you, and know that you have found the one. Butterflies soar through your stomach, the anticipation killing you.

Waking up in the bunker confirmed your suspicion on being Sam's soulmate. You've dated for a few years now, but have been hesitant to take any big steps with your 21st birthday being so close. You wanted to be certain. The day finally here, all doubts are erased from your mind for you can now feel the Winchester on the other end.

Desperately wanting to see him, you sit up rubbing the sleep from your eyes, and walk over to the dresser mirror. You smile at the picture of a tall man with long brown locks in your mind's eye and slowly open your lids.

The smile vanishes and your eyes widen at the green-eyed man staring back at you, his sandy blonde hair sticking up at odd angles begging to be fluffed down. Freckles dance across his cheeks contrasting nicely against his morning shadow. Dean grins causing small crinkles to form at the corners of his eyes illuminating his face.

Shock sends you flying back to reality and your eyes burst open to see the familiar room surrounding you. You were back in your room at the bunker. You sit at the foot of the bed and take a deep breath to calm your nerves.

It was a mistake. The 'soul vision' got it wrong. You aren't in love with Dean. You've been best friends for as long as you can remember. Memories of all the good times you and Dean have had the past couple years flash through your mind. The time you drove for hours the night before a hunt looking for a diner and had to settle for convenient store fruit pies. You sat on the hood of the Impala and talked for hours eating pie after pie, never once running out of things to talk about.

Or that time you managed to get tickets to see Metallica a few towns over from where you were hunting. The way his face lit up when Kirk walked on stage and started blasting riffs was priceless. He let you drive Baby for weeks after that concert...

A smile tugs at the corner of your lips. What if you really are soul mates with Dean? You've never heard of linking with someone platonically, but the love of a friendship is still love. 'No this is ludacris,' you think. 'You're in love with Sam. You are meant to be with Sam.'

"You are meant to be with Sam," you tell yourself over and over each time becoming less convincing than the last. Not wanting to spiral, you decide to get some coffee in your system before attempting to make sense of all that's happened. You slap your face a few times and make your way to the kitchen.

DEAN'S POV

I wake up and roll out of bed, my head groggy from last night. A smile crosses my lips as the memories of last night come pouring back. (Y/n) went all out last night, not hesitating when I pushed those last few shots. A beautiful girl who can handle her hard liquor, damn is Sam lucky. I shake my head scoffing, and continue to the dresser to get dressed.

It's good Sammy finally found someone. This line of work is brutal and as strong as he may be, it's reassuring to know he has someone to lean on that won't fuck it up. (Y/n) really is a great partner.

I step into my jeans and glance in the mirror as I pull a t-shirt from the drawer. My heart falters at the girl in the mirror, (Y/e/c) eyes staring back at me. I examine every inch of her features committing the image to memory. I reach my hand to the mirror, my fingers tracing the outline of her jaw on the cool glass. I thought for so long this day would never come. The day that I, Dean Winchester linked with my soulmate.

A knock on the door snaps me back to reality, the image of (Y/n) not leaving my mind. I had long ago given up hope of ever finding my soulmate. After years of waiting to see her, I assumed I was one of the unlucky few who never link. Oh, how wrong I was. I sit at the foot of the bed grinning, and pull my shirt on.

"Come in," I rasp. Sam creaks the door open and steps inside, face discouraged. Too engrossed in the feeling of finding my soulmate, the biggest complication slipped my mind. (Y/n) is with Sam. "What's up?" I ask and run a hand down my face pulling any emotion from it.

"Dean, can I ask you something? As someone who hasn't linked?" Sam asks, nervously pulling on the zipper of his jacket, and I hum for him to continue.

"Well with her birthday today and all, I thought-" he sighs and looks up, his eyes full of defeat. "I didn't link with her, Dean."

The image of (Y/n) flies through my mind, warming my heart. I push the feeling down and focus on helping Sam. "It's not a simple thing. There's a lot of different things that factor into it."

"Like what?" he retorts and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Ugh Sammy, I don't know." I place a hand to my temples, frustrated he had to discuss this before coffee. "Maybe you didn't give it enough time yet. Not everyone links first thing after turning 21."

He eyes me skeptically, not pleased with my half-assed answer. I sigh, knowing he won't give up until I tell him the most possible scenario. "Or you're not soulmates."

Sam nods his head curtly as his eyes begin to glisten, the truth more painful than he expected. He thought for sure you were meant to be.

"Food's ready," he chokes out, holding back tears. "I made breakfast to celebrate-" he clears his throat unable to finish the sentence and leaves for the kitchen.

I run a hand down my face, the whole situation harrowing. Not linking with (Y/n) was hard enough on Sam, the way he scurried out of here looking like a kicked puppy. He can never know I linked with her, that me and (Y/n) are soulmates.

READER POV

You enter the kitchen to find Sam flipping pancakes. You walk up behind him and lace your arms around his middle. "Good morning," you say placing your cheek against his back and inhale deeply taking in his scent. His shoulders tense as he lowers his head.

"Hey," he grumbles and continues with the pancakes. You hesitantly remove your arms and take a seat at the table. Sam plates the cakes and sits down opposite you. "So, did you get a good night's sleep?" Sam questions, his voice on edge as he pours the syrup and takes a bite.

"Yeah, I-" You look away to hide the blush creeping up your cheeks and see Dean enter. He slicked his hair making the small tufts of disarray from earlier no longer visible. You frown slightly having preferred the look of a sleepy Dean in his boxers. Your eyes wander the bow-legged man examining his features as a pulling sensation fills your stomach, drawing you to him.

You remain seated and continue to watch as a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth, almost as if he can feel it too. You shake your head clearing your mind of such a ridiculous thought, and push the growing desire deep down within you. You are meant to be with Sam.

"I slept well, but didn't link with anyone." You glance at Sam before piling pancakes onto your plate and sheepishly look down as you lather them in syrup. You sneak glimpses of the two brothers as you cut your food trying to gauge their reactions. Sam relaxes his shoulders and leans back in the chair relief flooding through him. Dean's face hardens, his lips sitting in a tight line. 'Could be worse.'

"But it's some stupid old tradition anyway that doesn't even happen to everyone, so." You say and hastily shove pancake into your mouth. Your grandmother's words repeat the old saying in your head.

"Only those whose souls are truly connected-" you mock and look up from your plate, your mouth still full. Your eyes snap to Dean's locking instantly as you both complete the phrase said to you time and time again.

"Can see through each other's eyes." A bolt of electricity rushes through you making your heart skip. You stare fixedly into his bright green orbs, the longing building in your stomach once again as you lose all awareness of your surroundings. The only thing you know for certain being the way you feel right this moment. The desire, the pull, the need to be with Dean.

A hunger arises behind his eyes, turning his adoring, sweet gaze into one of passion and need, the intensity of which leaves you feeling exposed. Embarrassment flooding your cheeks, you unglue your eyes and cross your arms over your chest. "What a load of crap," you scoff and take another bite of the fluffy pancakes.

Part Two

#Dean x reader #dean winchester #reader x dean #dean #dean x you #dean x y #fluff #soulmate alternate universe #soulmate au #sam winchester #sam #supernatural #spn #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural family #supernatural fluff #dean fluff #spn fic #soulmate!dean

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diveronarpg · 6 years

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Congratulations, HONEY! You’ve been accepted for the role of PARIS with a faceclaim change to Luke Pasqualino. Admin Jen: I had high expectations for Priam as he’s such a nuanced, multi-faceted character but you exceeded them by leaps and bounds, Honey! You captured all the concepts that I was hoping to see someone explore and unravel such as his identity, search for purpose and moral ambiguity and you added all these little details that built off of that but also made the characterization wholly yours. My favorite one was the detail regarding his knack for fixing up cars and the backstory you built off of that in terms of his family’s corporation. I can honestly keep going for hours because there was just too much to love about your app. It’s left me absolutely thrilled to see how you’ll develop him on the dash! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Honey

Age | 22

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | I’m a final year college student who’s doing a short film as my final project, which might take up some time. But I’m taking less classes this semester so that kind of evens out the workload a little. I’d place my activity level at about a 6 (maybe even 7 if I’m feeling particularly inspired) out of 10.

Timezone | GMT +8

Current/Past RP Accounts | apcstasies.tumblr.com

In Character

Character | PARIS ; Priam Taravella (FC: Luke Pasqualino)

What drew you to this character?

The fact that everything about Priam is manufactured, a carefully curated collection of personality traits and mannerisms that he can turn on and off at will whenever it suits his purpose. By all intents and purposes – be it business or personal – Priam is a self-made man. But even though his perfectly-crafted veneer is his greatest strength, paradoxically, it is also his biggest weakness. There is a void inside him, a hollow point that eats away at him. It is a slow decay, but it consumes nonetheless. Personally, I feel that this emptiness he feels is a lack of human connection, and for all his ambition and apparent desire to rise to power, what he truly seeks is a sense of belonging. Priam wants so badly to be seen, but ironically the way he makes himself visible is by putting on a mask.

I feel like he probably struggles a lot with his upbringing and his resentment towards his parents. On the one hand, he’s very aware that as far as childhoods go, his isn’t terrible. He grew up extremely privileged and never wanted for anything (besides his parents’ affection, but that’s besides the point). Sure, it sucked that his parents were distant and that he’s had all these expectations placed on his shoulders from such a young age, but Priam is very aware of the fact that there are many people who would give anything to trade lives with him. He was deeply unhappy with his life growing up, and when he was younger he had been more inclined to complain about how much he hated his life, as children are wont to do, but then everyone around him constantly reminded him how lucky he was and so he learned to bury his discontentment. He carried his unhappiness inside him like a cancer, letting it fester until he was sick with it.

I also find his potential struggles with self-identity to be a compelling part of his character. At what point does the mask become the man? When does the line between the part he plays and his true self start to blur? Does he ever catch himself in the middle of a moment and think–– am I still pretending, or is this truly the man that I have become?

+ Bonus: I just find it amusing that he’s named Priam.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character?

TENDER LIKE A BRUISE

Love is an abstract concept that Priam can’t quite grasp and it shows. Still, there is a part of Priam that believes in love. Perhaps it is because he’s never had it that he wants it this badly, or perhaps it is the way he’s heard Julianna speak of love. Romantics talk about all-encompassing love, the kind of love that consumes you until you can think of nothing else except your dearly beloved and being with them. Priam is no stranger to being consumed, except it is poison that fills his veins and a monster within that eats at him inside out. As a teen, he’d thought that he could fill the void inside of him with love, only he never quite understood what love meant. He’d confused love with lust and, sleeping with girls, and boys, and girls and boys, but even if it kept the hunger at bay for a little while, the emptiness alwayscrept back in. Whether Priam realises it or not, he wants Juliana to be the one who might finally be able to carve a home in his ribs. Maybe they’re not in love, but when he’s with her, something in his chest settles, and maybe, maybe, maybe, that will be enough.

WE MUST BE KILLERS

Priam’s never had much of an appetite for violence, but if there’s anything he’s learned from his parents, it’s that the means are always justified by the ends. And if that’s the case, then what’s a little bit of spilt blood in the grand scheme of things? But just because he can understand the necessity for violence doesn’t mean he’s any more willing to be an active participant. He’s a hypocrite and a coward; he may not ever be the one pulling the trigger, but he is the one who looks away and lets it happen. It makes the ugly parts of the job easier to stomach, soothes his conscience some. But things are changing, tensions are rising, to remain passive is to bare your neck your enemy and pray they won’t tear your throat out. Priam is a survivor, and if it comes down to killing someone or being killed, he knows which side of the line he wants to fall on. He’s a liar, he’s manipulative, he’s ruthless –– he’s never been a killer, but perhaps it’s time to change that.

SHIFTING IN THE LIGHT

Despite being neck-deep in the corruption of Verona, he likes to think that he has some morals, or at least a sort of ethical code that he follows. People like him are the worst, criminals who refuse to acknowledge themselves as such. For Priam, part of the reason is pride, but fear is a factor as well, even if he won’t admit it. He had been the one to go to Cosimo, and the man has always treated him as something of a son, but sometimes he does wonder if he’s sold his soul to the devil and it’s days like those that he can’t bear to look himself in the eyes. But Priam can’t run from the person he’s become forever. One day he’s going to look in the mirror and not recognise himself, and he’ll wonder if maybe the mask is stuck, or if he’s just become the mask. He’s grown into a man, hardly recognisable as the little boy he used to be, and only time will tell whether that’s a good or bad change.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character?

Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve killed off one of my characters : )))

(That means yes, please feel free to kill Priam.)

In Depth

In-Character Interview:

• What is your favourite place in Verona?

“My favourite place?” Priam echoes. The slight twist of his lips hints at amusement, but it is the sort of indulgent humour one might direct at a particularly precocious two-year-old. It’s an expression that borders on condescension, but the reporter is either oblivious to it or doesn’t much care, continuing to watch him with expectant eyes. Over the years Priam has found that people are usually too enamoured by his pretty face to really notice the ugly parts of him that lurk underneath the surface, and it feels like a challenge, almost –– sometimes he toes the line just to see how much he can get away with by virtue of being young and beautiful.

“You’re standing in it,” he finally answers, the words accompanied by a vague sweeping gesture of his hand, inviting the reporter to take a proper look at the garage they’re currently in. This is the first time anyone other than him has been in there, and a part of Priam tingles with the wrongness of a stranger in a space that had before this been only for him. Still, it’s a small sacrifice he has to make. People love to be reminded that the rich are regular people with regular hobbies behind the glamour of wealth, and if Priam throws them a bone now, it’ll keep them from digger further into other truths he’d rather not divulge. “I apologise for the mess, by the way,” he adds, allowing a sheepishness he doesn’t actually feel to seep into his voice, “I probably should have cleaned up a little, but it slipped my mind. Don’t usually let people in here, y’know?” Hook, line, and sinker, Priam thinks, watching the man flush slightly at the implication that he’s the exception.

• What does your typical day look like?

“A lot of paperwork,” he answers with a laugh, and then, “No, really. I left Taravella Corporation because I got tired of sitting around in an office all day. Albeit it was a very nice office, but I’ve always been more of a hands-on kind of guy.” He pauses to pick up a wrench from his worktable, pretending not to notice the double entendre, or the way the reporter’s gaze catches on his fingers as they wrap around the shaft of the wrench.

“I traded aerospace for automotive, thinking with a smaller company I’d get to be more involved with the actual manufacturing process, but I still spend most of my day signing papers.” He looks up from the car then, sharing a wry smile with the reporter before adding, almost cheekily, “Except now I get to do it in a smaller office.” Despite the reporter being the only other person in the room, Priam lowers his voice anyway, letting the reduced volume provide the illusion of candour. “Some might say it’s a downgrade, but it’s nice to have a space that finally feels like it’s mine. It sounds silly, but back at T-Corp, I always felt like I was just messing around in my old man’s chair.”

“Anyway,” he says, talking normally once more, “After work I like to grab some drinks with my friends, maybe dinner with my fiancée if I end early enough. I’m really not all that different from other guys in their twenties.” If other guys his age routinely met up with members of one of Verona’s most well-known mobs, of course, but he decides to leave that last bit off the record.

• What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

“I accidentally wore mismatched socks to work once,” he deadpans, and then more seriously, “I suppose it depends on how one defines ‘mistake’, but to me, a mistake is something you wish you could undo.” He ducks under the open hood even as he continues to talk despite previously having made it a point to make eye contact whenever he answered a question, knowing that the reporter will interpret it as him feeling more comfortable being honest when he’s not actually looking at the person he’s talking to.

“For a while, I had wondered if leaving the family business had been a mistake,” he admits, sounding genuine even as he lies through his teeth. Priam had never been more sure of anything, determined to forge his own path to the top without the burden of his family’s legacy weighing him down. “But that worked out pretty well for me, I’d say, so no regrets there.”

• What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

“Picture this––” he starts, “You’re five years old and your father brings you to work.” It’s perhaps his earliest memory of his father. Before that, the man had been a mere spectre in Priam’s life, the bogeyman that his nannies had used to keep him in line. Your father wouldn’t want you to use that word, or keep your voice down, your father’s resting in his office. That day at Taravella Corporation’s main office had been the first time they’d spent more than half an hour in the same room. Back then, Priam had thought it had been some sort of a father-son bonding experience, but he knows better now.

“He showed me around, brought me to all the different departments before he took me to his personal office. There, he said to me: this will all be yours someday.” On some nights, he can still hear his father’s voice, still remembers grappling with the realisation that he’s not so much a son as he is the heir to an empire he never asked for. It’s not a happy memory, but he recounts the tale with a carefully calculated smile that’s just this side of sheepish and a half-shrug, proud and self-deprecating all at once, “That’s quite a lot to ask of a young boy, don’t you think?”

• What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

War. It’s such an ugly word, but there’s hardly any point debating the reporter’s choice of words when it’s the truth. Priam is under no illusions –– while the interview might have been disguised as a spread on one of Verona’s most successful young entrepreneurs, this one question is the true crux of it all. But he wouldn’t be such an invaluable piece on the Capulets’ chessboard if he hadn’t been well-versed in the art of lies and half-truths, and that ability is sure to serve him well now.

“If you think that I have anything profound to say just because I’m engaged to Juliana, then I’m afraid you’re mistaken.” He places his wrench back down, walking away from the open hood of the car to lean against the passenger side door instead, allowing the reporter an unobstructed view of him. His stance is carefully neutral, arms at his side, nothing in his posture to suggest that he has anything to hide. “I’m a businessman, I make and sell cars,” he starts, but knows that there’s no way he can get away with not commenting on the issue at all. “That being said, my family has always been close to the Capulets, so. Whatever Cosimo and Juliana are doing, I trust that they’re doing the right thing.”

“Speaking of my fiancée––” Priam straightens up suddenly, his tone returning to it’s earlier light-heartedness as his lips pull into a grin. “I’m supposed to meet her for lunch today, and I should probably wash off all this grease before I do that. I assume we’re done here?” It’s phrased as a question, but combined with the slight raise of a single eyebrow, it’s clear that it’s a dismissal more than anything else. The reporter’s smart enough to catch on, nodding in agreement as he thanks Priam for his time.

Extras:

Taravella Corporation is an aerospace engineering company, mostly dealing with the manufacturing of commercial planes, but they have the occasional military contract as well as an R&D department that’s looking into space travel

After leaving T-Corp, Priam went and set up Argentum, an automotive engineering company that produces some of the most innovative luxury cars in the world

In his youth, Priam had a brief stint with street racing. It had been an attempt to distract himself from the gnawing emptiness inside of him, and for a while it worked. Now, occasionally he’ll drive over the speed limit, but he’s not nearly as reckless anymore

Really good at poker but we’ll probably never actually get to see this in a thread (besides maybe a passing mention) because I have no idea how to play poker despite having been taught multiple times

Sexy and he knows it !

I wish I could end this app on a more coherent and/or profound note but it’s 4 in the morning and I just want to write a fake ass hoe whose entire existence can be boiled down to: was unloved as a child and now has no idea how basic human emotions work

He tries though, really

#accepted: paris #accepted

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livingwithlucie · 4 years

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3 True psychology experiments and what they tell us about human behaviour.

I’ve always had an interest in psychology and why people act the way they do and if nature or nurture plays the biggest part in making us who we are. Some of my favorite topics when studying psychology was biological, behavioral, and forensic psychology. In this post, I want to talk about 3 psychological experiments, who’s procedures were shocking, yet the outcomes caused us to have a deeper understanding of why we act the way we do.

Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)

We can’t talk about psychological experiments without discussing Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment. In August 1971 Professor Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University wanted to test the theory that personality traits are the main causes of conflict and mistreatment between prisoners and guards. There were 2 groups, knows as ‘roles’ that 24 volunteers were places into. One was ‘prisoner’ and the other ‘guard’, and they were dressed accordingly to those roles. Zimbardo gave himself the role of ‘superintendent’. The idea was for the guards to create a sense of powerlessness among the prisoners. Four out of 12 of the guards became sadistic, stripping prisoners and humiliating them. The conditions of the ‘prison’ were left unsanitary and the prisoners were left sleeping on concrete floors. There was a string of mental breakdowns, outbreaks of sadism, and hunger strikes. Zimbardo became so immersed in the experiment he did not realize how out of control the experiment had become. The experiment was supposed to last a total of two weeks, however, ended abruptly after only 6 days.

So what does this tell us about human nature? Zimbardo’s experiment tells us that certain institutions and environments can form certain behaviors. The situations you are put in can influence how you behave. The guards were put in a position of power and they played into their roles of being the guard, causing them to act in a way that may be in a way that completely opposite to how they react in their everyday lives. It shows us that seemingly good people can turn into perpetrators. Along with this, it more likely does not support the idea that a person's individuals traits may not be the cause of their behavior, but rather the situation they find themselves in.

Side note: there is an excellent film about this experiment!

The Third Wave (1967)

This experiment was designed in a California high school by Ron Jones. Jones was struggling to explain to his students how the German population could accept what the Nazi’s were doing during World War II as his students were finding it difficult to understand. Over the course of the experiment, Jones implemented an authoritarian atmosphere in his class, emphasizing discipline, and community with the intention of it mirroring the characteristics of the Nazi movement. By the third day, the student had complied with his command, even creating a salute involving a cupped hand similar to that of the Hitler Salute. The experiment began to take on a life of its own and began to spread across the school. They were given the task of creating a banner to stop nonmember entering and to initiate new members. The original 30 students had now become over 200 students, most of which did not even take the original class. Some of the students even began reporting other members to Jones, who had established himself as the leader. By the fourth day, Jones decided to end the experiment as his concerns grew that it was slipping out of his control. Jones ordered the student to attended an announcement at noon on Friday. On the day of the announcement, the student was presented with a white screen where Jones had Tod the student that they had willingly created a similar sense of supremacy to that of the German people during the Nazi regime.

This experiment illustrates the horrifying idea that those within the SS were not sadistic but rather very normal. What I mean by this is, experiments like this have taken place to try and show how anyone can fell into being complicit when it comes to having an authority figure. Take Milgrams experiment for example, where participants were made to inflict pain through a (fake) electric shock, and being encouraged to carry on despite the person being shocked claiming they were in a lot of pain. As humans, we fall into this trap of following those who we believe to be of authority.

The Bystander Effect

The Bystander Effect was popularised by social psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley after the infamous 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964. Kitty Genovese was a 28-year-old who’s murder became a catalyst for what we now know as the Bystander Effect. Kitty was stabbed to death outside her apartment and dozens of neighbors stood by and failed to step in or to call the police. Latané and Darley attributed the effect to two factors:

Diffusion of responsibility: the more witnesses/onlookers there is the less responsibility those around the situation feel.

Social influence: people look to those around them on how to react to a situation.

It is normal for people to freeze in times of shock or witnessing an attack, this can be a response to fear. People can feel they are too weak to intervene, or that the inactivity of those around them can make people feel like they are not needed in a situation. Often times when there is a crisis people may not understand what is going on, and during processing the events around them, they will look to other people to determine what is an appropriate response. When those around them are not reacting, it can send a signal that there many not need to be any action needed.

Sources

https://www.online-psychology-degrees.org/10-bizarre-psychology-experiments/

https://www.boredpanda.com/psychology-behaviour-experiments/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/bystander-effect

#psychology #experime #shocking #effect #bystander #zimbardo #experiment

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stonedslushie · 4 years

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random babby gamedev babble read at your own risk

thoughts about my dream game... i really like games that you are emotionally invested in not just the overarching story but also the elements you play the most with, the characters and the world i want to make a game where character creation is random in one way and fully customizable in another basically i want to make some kind of personality generator that makes believable people. this influences their dialog and autonomous choices when you aren't playing as them in the game and then on top of the personality traits they would all have some innate special or magical trait that makes them unique but you can't change any of that. you can only save their seed or reroll a new random character what you can change is what they look like on the outside I'm thinking of like... somehow combining the Sims with a JRPG Persona kind of does it. Not really, but it's the best example I can come up with but instead of prewritten characters, in my game most of your team would be randomly generated and the way they interact with each other is mainly dependent on their personality types. i think realistically there has to be some random chance for things not to be dictated by personality completely so that's important to factor into the equation The hard part would be writing allllll of the possible outcomes but I think I could do it by heavily recycling code Like if 3 of your heroes are hotheaded, do they constantly get in each others way or are they some kind of unstoppable fiery trio? That would be really interesting to map out and program this all sounds like a wet dream that peter molyneux had 2 years ago but for me it would be a passion project. or something i fund directly depending on how my life goes lol i feel like AAA devs promise this shit and then soil the bed 18 months later because they can't possibly churn out the work needed to be done to fulfil every idea even with millions of dollars But anyway back to the pipes in this dream You should care about the world too! Fuck not caring about the world! The world is important just as much as the characters I'm mecha this was my presentation thank you bye now we're talkin

I have been mulling this over quite a bit and I think I'm overthinking I think... each character gets 10 personality points. Make that 20 They're all randomly assigned an attribute. And these attributes are the innermost wheel shown above Then... the game counts up how many are in each category and ranks them accordingly If you have a higher number of attribute points in something like Anger, the higher the chance of getting a severe anger emotion being associated with that character. So this means that that same angry character is going to have happy, sad, and confused emotions as well. But the range is limited to mild emotions because most of the points are in anger. The emotions, the outermost wheel in the chart, would be a basis for a pool of emotions and other thoughts/feelings that would basically have predetermined values which make them more likely to be chosen by the game For example... a character associated with Anger should not be furious, courageous, and somehow also cowardly. The very first emotion the game chooses for the character will either attract or repel other emotions depending on the values I set for them Yes it would be a lot of work to program how each emotion responds to one another but I think that's the legwork here It's not even the programming. That sounds trivial from a professional's point of view (which i am not i am still a novice) It sounds harder to have to profile each emotion, or trait, so that the game knows well it makes no sense to put these together

perhaps i'm just a fool and the hardest part is going to be coding all the cool random traits they get irrespective of their personality type or just even coming up with them Step 1. Game puts random numbers into 7 pools. Step 2. These random numbers are now the core personality points. Step 3. The game looks at every emotion/trait and picks the most compatible candidates. It works its way down to 1. This is the core emotion. Step 4. Repeat step 3 but now, instead of just the personality points determining which traits get picked, the core emotion also deters or attracts based on how mild or severe the core emotion is. Step 5. Repeat step 4 until you get 5 main emotions. Step 6. Main emotions get boiled down into some prebaked profile defined by the developers. So people would be defined as heroes, downers, conniving, truthworthy, depressive, mysterious, etc. But the 5 main emotions determine social interaction choices and dictates autonomous social decisions they make as NPCs

THINGS TO DO IN THE GAME - Make friendships through a large array of social interactions. Hang out, go on dates - Level up a profession - Super character-oriented mechanics that use their personalities to do some procedural event generation - The main story, of course. Mystery and horror fantasy - Combat to improve skills, gain rare items to boost social relationships/skills, and gear to improve combat skill - Honestly should just feel like the Sims mixed with Persona - Control 4 randomly created characters and 2 premade characters with existing ties to the plot that provoke the player's curiosity in finding the truth of their situation apologies to anyone getting smacked in the face with this wall of text Social gameplay: - Start the day with a fresh pool of conversation possibilities and responses for those conversations. NPCs dictate how the conversations start but you can direct it in different ways. - You start as a high schooler/college freshman so a lot of social situations happen in that setting - Make friends, enemies, start a relationship - Permanent choices that will forever alter your relationship with characters both procedural and premade Combat gameplay: - Dungeons with unique monsters and loot, loot is never the same per each playthrough - Still not sure if this should be live combat or turn-based. Currently the game is live combat but I could easily turn it into turn-based, in the grand scale of things - Bosses, mini-bosses, puzzles, secrets, all the stuff you expect from a decent RPG - Combat improves when you have a party of people that get along. There is no penalty for having poor relationships with your party members for anything combat related. Main story: - Living in a huge city going through the growing pains of an industrial revolution - City is a nation-state that was once led by a monolithic godlike figure who has since disappeared - The woman he left in charge is beset on all sides by her political opponents vying for power - This godlike person has been gone for about 50 years by the start of the game, the doubt that this was even a real person is growing - You, the player, have to either embrace the coming tide of anarchy and chaos or try to stop it - Main story gameplay ranges from interrogations a la LA Noire and puzzles that reward the player with powerful augmentations - Story provides unique rewards like the ability to grant a character another special trait or one-of-a-kind gear The Sims?: - Game focuses around a day/night cycle and basic needs like hunger, thirst, and sleep. Other necessities like entertainment and social interactions give buffs instead of hampering the gameplay experience when the player isn't multitasking those needs - You control one person at a time with the ability to give general commands to the characters you don't control - Characters you don't control are NPCs that make decisions based on the character needs and basic functions, like going to school, work, or some other random activity - Unique events where you can tag along with your character. These include taking a test at school, going on a date, going to the market, even just walking down the street. - You can do up to 3 of these events at the same time, which will result in a higher bonus to social relationship gain or skill gain depending on the event By the end of this course I should have all of the necessary mechanics in place. Movement, combat, cutscenes, inventory, stats and attributes, and enemy scripting. That means the biggest thing I need to tackle after all of that is the social system, since most of the game revolves around it. Thankfully there are wonderful Unity tools for this, so if I myself can't program something there is always a way through the Unity asset store Big game experience points: players should feel like they're playing through an epic story. they should care about their characters and if they live or die. They should want to come back to the game time and time again to check on their characters. My goal for the next 6 months - Finish RPG course - Try to build a conversation system. If I can't, find a good asset to use - Have a fully fleshed out conversation that can either go neutral, good, or bad depending on the choices

Building the dialog system is going to be interesting but not hard, I don't think. If I can just get the general system of displaying text and making choices working, I can assign those social options a score for each response. Then every NPC you talk to stores a list of emotions they associate with you. And this would store values for all 6 party members of course. So if you fuck up interactions with one character you can switch to another one and try again. I actually like that idea as a game mechanic, exploiting the player's position as an omnipresent third party

The game starts with one of the premade characters. You are a young teen about to venture into adulthood. Your 20th birthday is next year and expectations are high. Your father, a mercenary, expects you to enlist in combat training immediately. Your mother implores you to relax and find the time to sit back and enjoy your formative years.

The opening scene sees the character about to get a job at one of three possible businesses, which will affect who you socialize with and opportunities later in the game. Choose between a restaurant, a tailor, and a blacksmith. Either way, you're taken through a series of tutorials that explain the dialogue system, how to save, and navigation. You play through a minigame depending on which job you picked, which further explains the game controls. This will all net you a sizable amount of social interaction and relationship building, as well as some money to buy early game gear or artifacts.

You finish for the day and learn more about navigating between locations, the game sends you home and into bed. Before you can go back to work the next day, you run into one of the random characters you generated at the beginning of the game and they both go on some combat hijinks in the caves.

On the third day you're free to roam around wherever and start interacting with whoever you want. The main draw from the daily life to the main story is a dark turn, you see a politician get cornered and murdered in cold blood on the way back from work early in the game. You can either choose to investigate or run away. If you run away, that triggers an event the next day where you accidentally tell your friend and they beg you to take them to the dead body. Choosing to investigate initially will get you some pretty hard evidence about who did it and how. Waiting will only give you a vague clue, but will also start a side mission unique to that choice. The side mission will be for extra exp or a cool starter weapon/gear. After this the game starts to pivot halfway between slice of life and murder mystery. People start following you, sending you letters, you start bumping into people you've never seen before in the streets. It makes you concerned that something bad will happen and forces you to think about how you play the game. Also, crime! Your character can be a criminal. This is the main choice fork in the game. Going full on criminal will give you a much different ending. But anyway Story Basically you become wrapped up in a large government conspiracy to unseat the Regent Lady. People mistake you as someone working for her and they start surveilling you. How you decide to deal with this is crucial to how you want to play the game. A stealthy, detective-like approach will let you breeze by using tacticool mechanics. Ignoring it will get one of your random characters kidnapped and you'll have to go through considerable effort to get them back. or you can risk it all and confront them headfirst. Just as you're about to pull the mask off of the entire operation, you get word that the Regent Lady locked herself away in her impenetrable tower and has renounced all power. If you go the good route you get to know one of her handmaidens who tearfully reveals that she killed herself. The second half of the game is then about

Just as an exercise I'm gonna walk through this.

in Update, the game is running these boolean methods every frame which calls them like normal but returns a true or false value at the end. if either of them return with true the game runs them again and again until both are false. Then it prints "Nothing...".

Under InteractWithMovement I define the RaycastHit hit. This then has the GetMouseRay result fed into it (a Ray), which itself is checking to see where the ray being cast from the mouse is being hit every frame. hasHit knows if the ray from GetMouseRay hit something because it uses Physics.Raycast and that can detect terrain collisions. If the ray is colliding with something, it goes into the if statement, if not it returns false and if InteractWithCombat is also false it prints to the console. Lastly, the if statement checks to see if the LMB is being held down, which if true then passes the RaycastHit to the Mover script (moves enemies and the player).

In InteractWithCombat the raycasthits are put into an array because it will punch through everything in the game and give a list of what it hit. This is also fed the Ray from GetMouseRay. This is because you want the player to hit enemies even if they're behind a building or tree. Then each of these items are checked in a foreach statement to see if anything which was hit with the raycasthit has a CombatTarget component (that's what GetComponent is for). If not, it returns with null and goes back to Update. As far as I understand it "continue" is a much more blunt way of getting the game out of the loop than break? Anyway. If the raycasthit DID hit something with a CombatTarget component, and the LMB is being held down, the game then calls a method in the Fighter class named Attack. Then return true, back to Update.

I think the 1 change made to PlayerController was that

if (Input.GetMouseButton(0)) { GetComponent<Mover>().MoveTo(hit.point); } is now if (Input.GetMouseButton(0)) { GetComponent<Mover>().StartMovementAction(hit.point); } to match changes made to Mover.cs Now, Mover and Fighter on the other hand... TLDR The code has been restructured to reduce dependencies.

The 2 variables: weaponRange is the range at which GetIsInRange will check against. This method determines if t he player is within "maximum" melee range of the enemy. target is the variable which will be passed to from the PlayerController.

In Update, the game determines if a target has even been set. Looking back, target is set whenever you simply hover over an enemy with the CombatTarget script in PlayerController. This is passed into Attack method in Fighter as a CombatTarget. So we know how the game knows what the target is and how it passes it into Fighter. Now since this is in Update the code is going to go fucking ham and repeat every frame. So we need if (target == null) return; to tell the game to keep going about its day until it has a target. If you don't do this Unity will have a tantrum UNTIL you acquire a target because it has no idea how to handle the if statement right after. In this said if statement, we make sure target isn't null and call GetIsInRange, but as !GetIsInRange because we want to know when it isn't. The function following that just makes the player mover closer to the enemy to get into melee range. When GetIsInRange comes back as true (it's a bool hehe) then it breaks the if statement and goes into else, which stops the player exactly at 2 meters away from the target.

The way the Attack method is written is still kind of shaky to me so I might get this wrong. In order to reduce dependencies on namespaces we're using interfaces as schedulers, to pass information along to the appropriate namespaces/classes without having to use every single namespace in every single class. The first function was just what PlayerController passes to get the above behavior working. GetComponent<ActionScheduler>().StartAction(this); is how we get this working.

namespace RPG.Core { public interface IAction { void Cancel(); } }

This is the Action interface, or IAction. What is this shit. How does it work. It literally does nothing? Spoilers it's dark magic that any class can invoke to talk to any other class. IAction is using RPG.Core so these namespaces need to be added to Mover and Fighter. Now how do they talk to each other? Easy. Just kidding it's black magic like I said. In each class there's a Cancel() method with unique code specific to that class that does a specific thing. These two specific things are to 1. Stop the AI from moving along the navigation mesh (just stops movement and begins the "melee phase"), and to set the enemy to null when we aren't attacking one, in Mover and Fighter respectively. The clever thing is how they talk to each other. Instead of directly communicating, it's more like talking over each other and making a 3rd party sort out what's going on.

namespace RPG.Core { public class ActionScheduler : MonoBehaviour { IAction currentAction;

public void StartAction(IAction action) { if (currentAction == action) return; if (currentAction != null) { currentAction.Cancel(); } currentAction = action; } } }

This is the ActionScheduler. Its job is to listen to key methods in Fighter and Mover that announce what's going on to the "3rd party" which is IAction. When the game starts both currentAction (defined variable) and action (method variable) are nothing. It will return not a single thing so long as nothing is happening. Then the moment the player moves, GetComponent<ActionScheduler>().StartAction(this); is called from Mover and tells ActionScheduler, "Hey dumbfuck, right now I'M the action!". ActionScheduler painfully nods and waits until the player clicks on an enemy, which is when that same line of code is called from Fighter.

Fighter also tells ActionScheduler that it is now "action". Uh oh. StartAction will no longer return, instead it checks (almost wrote fucks) for a null just to be safe. Now this is where the magic begins. ActionScheduler has no idea what a Fighter or Mover is. But what it can do is pass a message to the IAction class that simply says "Cancel();". I don't fully understand it but I know that StartAction(this) hands off info to ActionScheduler and I just confirmed that while typing this out cool screenshot below. Once that happens to the currentAction, the new action is set to currentAction and the cycle begins again.

So anyway, currentAction.Cancel(); just lets ActionScheduler telepathically whisper to whatever class currentAction is set to and say "My dear, Cancel();" and that will run in any class with public void Cancel(); SO LONG AS IAction ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!! IAction is the magic. Interfaces. Black magic. Absolutely insane. My hands hurt now and it's time to go to bed. I'm glad I at least have a basic understanding of what's happening. I forgot. Screenshot.

C# just says "this". And it stores all that shit in one IAction variable! :sleepkirby: WAIT I HAVE TO COMMIT TO SOURCETREEE!!!!

using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; using RPG.Movement; using RPG.Core;

namespace RPG.Combat { public class Fighter : MonoBehaviour, IAction { [SerializeField] float weaponRange = 2f; Transform target;

private void Update() { if (target == null) return;

if (target != null && !GetIsInRange()) { GetComponent<Mover>().MoveTo(target.position); } else { GetComponent<Mover>().Cancel(); } }

private bool GetIsInRange() { return Vector3.Distance(transform.position, target.position) < weaponRange; }

public void Attack(CombatTarget combatTarget) { target = combatTarget.transform; GetComponent<ActionScheduler>().StartAction(this); }

public void Cancel() { target = null; } } }

using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine;

namespace RPG.Core { public class ActionScheduler : MonoBehaviour { IAction currentAction;

public void StartAction(IAction action) { if (currentAction == action) return; if (currentAction != null) { currentAction.Cancel(); } currentAction = action; } } }

I'm just going to go over each script one at a time. Starting with fighter. [SerializeField] float timeBetweenAttacks = 1f; This is a new float that will control how often my character attacks. It's serialized so you can change it in the editor. float weaponDamage = 5f; grr the spaces weaponDamage is, surprise, the damage the weapon deals. Currently is controlling unarmed melee damage. Health target; In the previous iteration of Fighter this was a Transform object. It's now a health object because 1) Fighter is already using the RPG.Core namespace (which Health is in) and would shave down some of the functions, 2) Getting the transform of a Health object is trivial work for the game compared to getting the Health of every target variable.

float timeSinceLastAttack = 0f; is a problem because this is what we set timeSinceLastAttack to in AttackBehavior. That is to say, by starting out with 0f, the game will not trip if (timeSinceLastAttack >= timeBetweenAttacks) in AttackBehavior because it takes over 1 second for timeSinceLastAttack to be greater than timeBetweenAttacks... and that's because the way we calculate this "attack haste" is by measuring time in frames and checking them against timeBetweenAttacks. This is the function that increments timeSinceLastAttack timeSinceLastAttack += Time.deltaTime;

THIS MEANS... that when you start the game or level or whatever there will be an awkward delay between when you can and can't fight. You do not want that if you have some kind of dungeon-type environment where the player is going between levels which may or may not have monsters/enemies right at the door to fight Though I don't know why it prints two results when I print from update...

I think... When it increments that's its value until it hits 1... Then it iterates the value to the actual variable Fuck! I'm dumb It's because... there are 3 enemies... and they each have a Fighter script... Yeah that is exactly what is going on not whatever bullshit I went off on OKAY I GET IT! Now... Fuckit I'm posting it all here IT'S OVER 2,000 CHARACTERS AAAHHHH

//Variables of Fighter [SerializeField] float weaponRange = 2f; // Determines how close the Fighter needs to be to attack [SerializeField] float timeBetweenAttacks = 1f; // Delay, "attack haste" rating float weaponDamage = 5f; // Damage per hit Health target; // Converted from Transform to Health float timeSinceLastAttack = Mathf.Infinity; // Stores value determining how long ago the Fighter attacked float attackAnimTime; // Experimental and should be commented out bool canAttack = true; // a bool, whaddaya want from me? explained below OK BEFORE I FORGET I HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS! In Fighter we changed the argument for CanAttack (determines if it's appropriate to attack something) and Attack (attacks that something) from a CombatTarget to a GameObject! This is so that ANYONE CAN ATTACK ANYONE! So long as they have a health script But this breaks a lot of stuff downstream... let's go over it In PlayerController we used to have the method if (!GetComponent<Fighter>().CanAttack(target)) well, target is no longer valid because CanAttack doesn't want that shit. It says I don't know what the hell is in that joint bro but I don't like it that's why we say... if (!GetComponent<Fighter>().CanAttack(target.gameObject)) because even though target stays as a CombatTarget variable it can still produce what gameObject it's connected to if (target == null) continue;

if (!GetComponent<Fighter>().CanAttack(target.gameObject)) { continue; } Then you just cover it up with a null check at the top Also changed the actual LMB mouse down action trigger from target to target.gameObject. GetComponent<Fighter>().Attack(target.gameObject); So going down the list of changes to Fighter... we have this if (target.IsDead()) return; What does this do. Well like I mentioned above we changed target from a Transform to a Health because being a Health is way more useful than being a Transform. So now we get to ask anything that is of class Health IsDead(); In Health, IsDead is a simple bool. It just controls whether or not something with a Health component is dead. public bool IsDead() { return isDead; } Well, how do you know if something is dead? That is determined by a method in Health that controls whether or not the Health of this gameObject it's attached to goes down called TakeDamage public void TakeDamage(float damage) { healthPoints = Mathf.Max(healthPoints - damage, 0); // HP never goes below 0. print(healthPoints); if (healthPoints == 0 && isDead == false) { Die(); }

} And how do we know when to apply damage!!! Because Hit will be called in Fighter void Hit() { if (target == null) return; target.TakeDamage(weaponDamage); //Weapon damage defined as a variable in Fighter. } which is subsequently called whenever AttackBehavior is called (when both a target is neither dead, null, or out of range) private void AttackBehavior() { transform.LookAt(target.transform); //A handy Unity method for turning the Fighter toward what it's attacking

if (timeSinceLastAttack >= timeBetweenAttacks) { TriggerAttack(); timeSinceLastAttack = 0f; //Reset timeSinceLastAttack so that they aren't DBZ hyper fighting each other.

} Whew Ok. So we know when we're losing HP finally How do we know when we're DEAD private void Die() { if (isDead) return; // Die() is no longer relevant after the bool is tripped below here. isDead = true; // IsDead will now return true to Fighter! GetComponent<Animator>().SetTrigger("die"); // Tell the Animator to show dying animation GetComponent<ActionScheduler>().CancelCurrentAction(); // Still working on this... } The last line is going to stop all animation upon death Ok i explain the rest later gonna play something

Okay So I think that's it besides these two methods I have to deal with the attack animations. To avoid getting too specific they cancel each other out so they don't step on each others toes when the player clicks away or is attacking while moving. For example if you were to click away in the middle of an animation before, and you went back up to hit an enemy, it would start from the middle of that animation in some weird blended motion. private void TriggerAttack() { GetComponent<Animator>().ResetTrigger("stopAttack"); GetComponent<Animator>().SetTrigger("attack"); }

public void StopAttack() { GetComponent<Animator>().ResetTrigger("attack"); GetComponent<Animator>().SetTrigger("stopAttack"); } StopAttack() is called from Cancel(); which, if we remember from before, triggers Cancel(); from IAction every time we switch from moving around to fighting and vice versa. Finally I think that is it for the changes... besides a big one And that is the AIController I'm still working on it and I hope I finish tonight using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; using RPG.Combat; using System;

namespace RPG.Control { public class AIController : MonoBehaviour { [SerializeField] float chaseDistance = 5f; // "Aggro" range of AI float timeSinceLastAttack = 0f; // Needs for attacking, determines how long it's been since Attack(); was called

Fighter fighter; // Used for telling Fighter to start attacking the player/opponent GameObject player; // Use this to find the Player via Unity's tagging system

private void Start() { fighter = GetComponent<Fighter>(); // Initializes the fighter variable player = GameObject.FindWithTag("Player"); // Finds the player }

private void Update() { if (InAttackRangeOfPlayer() && fighter.CanAttack(player)) // Using fighter to determine if it's appropriate to start hitting anim/damage { fighter.Attack(player); } else { fighter.Cancel(); //If not in range, or not appropriate to attack (dead or null), run Cancel(); in Fighter } }

private bool InAttackRangeOfPlayer() { float distanceToPlayer = Vector3.Distance(player.transform.position, transform.position); // finds the difference between the player and the AI Vector3 (proximity) return distanceToPlayer < chaseDistance; // InAttackRangeOfPlayer will return true above if distanceToPlayer is less than the 'aggro" range } } }

using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; using RPG.Combat; using RPG.Core; using RPG.Movement; using System;

namespace RPG.Control { public class AIController : MonoBehaviour { [SerializeField] float chaseDistance = 5f; [SerializeField] float suspicionTimer = 3f; [SerializeField] PatrolPath patrolPath = null; [SerializeField] float waypointTolerance = 1f; [SerializeField] float waypointDwellTime = 3f; float timeSinceLastAttack = 0f;

Fighter fighter; Health health; GameObject player; Mover mover;

Vector3 guardPosition; float timeSinceLastSawPlayer = Mathf.Infinity; float timeSinceArrivedAtWaypoint = Mathf.Infinity; int currentWaypointIndex = 0; ah fuck it In order to handle the autonomy of enemies a second class was made in the RPG.Control namespace. This is AI controller I'm not going to paste all of the methods here but you can kind of get an idea of what's going on here

So I have decided to leave the inventory system until I finish the bare social system It's a separate course currently going for $95 kinda bummed but oh well The thing is that the inventory system they use is not built from the ground up like the core RPG game so maybe i can just take that inv system from the asset store and try to decipher it myself At the end of the current course I'm going to have a really basic but functional RPG, hopefully I can add keyboard support but for now it's mouse only The best part about it is that I know what's going on under the hood and expanding the game is going to be a journey full of pushing commits and reverting fun Why even have a social system to begin with? 1. You should care about the characters on a level deeper than just the time you've poured into making them stronger. 2. You should want to do "filler" or fetch quests for your characters that aren't as mechanically difficult as other parts of the game because it actually makes you feel accomplished. 3. Every playthrough should be different and character creation should be a fun, random, and thought-provoking time. The rest of the game is focused about giving that cool character a world they can feel cool in. The world shouldn't feel like a static environment. NPCs should react to what the player has done in the game. 4. Social dynamics provide bonuses in the crafting and combat mechanics. Lots of opportunity for procedural customization

- Demonic Lineage: This character's first child will be imbued with demonic energy. - Demonic Soul: This character was born with demonic energy etched into their soul. - Chosen: This character is the heir of a secret organization actively seeking them out. - Firebranded: This character's affinity is always Fire. Beings from a fiery realm seek them out for reasons unknown. - Deathtouched: This character's affinity is always Undeath. Necromancers seek their blood for powerful rituals. - Beastmaster: This character gains the Animal Handling skill twice as fast. Can have pets. - Talk of the Valley: Special social events are made available for this character and they become a sort of celebrity throughout the game. Different outcomes for good and evil aligned characters. - Mob Family: This character's parents got out of the mob, but many in the family still carry a chip on their shoulder about it. Special social events and combat scenarios are available for this character. - Sharpshooter: This character's projectiles almost seem to seek out their enemies like they have a mind of their own. - Iridescent Spirit: This character shines with a brilliant, mysterious light from time to time. - Moonstruck: This character's affinity is always Darkness. They seem to have an unsettling connection to the night and the moon. - Spark of Leadership: This character earns Leadership points twice as fast. Leadership points can be spent on overriding conversation blocks in addition to their normal benefits. - Paranormal Connection: This character is haunted by some force beyond the grave.

#souldev

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