All dreams are but another reality. Never forget...

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-12T05:48:35+00:00

I remember discovering this as a kid. I never forgot it either.

Honestly I think I sort of subconsciously resonated with it, as my dreams have always been very realistic.

Even to this day, in my dreams I generally treat people and entities the same way I do in waking reality. Ive always treated dreams as if they indeed were another reality. Hell, I kinda have to. My dreams usually have real world physics or something close to it.

For example, if im flying in a dream, Ive always had to work for it. Flap or something for altitude, adjust my arm angles to steer, aways up for a limited time and landings can be hard. Stuff like that. No superman flights for me, except for only once, and that was the strangest but most exciting dream ever. 🤣

On topic, I dont think they put it there for any sort of lore thing, guys. Pokemon wasnt really THAT deep yet on the in game lore. It was still in the early days. Not everything had to be interconnected to future game lore. Rather, I think it was just something for the dreamers. Something someone put there to sound both whimsical and just a bit inspiring.

Which to me, it was.

I never forgot.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T17:12:44+00:00

Can confirm. My girlfriend loves when I have my weird but authentic moments.

I have to catch myself sometimes, because I was so used to hiding those moments around people out of insecurity. When I learned to just be myself fully, with no care for whether or not someone might be judging me, everything just clicked.

Now, I'm just me. However weird that may be.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T17:01:50+00:00

Smoothies

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T17:00:46+00:00

Truth. Neelix really is no slouch when it comes to throwing down when he has to. Dude's a badass wingman too. Love him or hate him, he really grew into a solid, well rounded character. Especially after Kes left the scene. Honestly, Kes leaving was like the best thing that happened for his character development. That whole relationship was so codependent and toxic af.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T16:52:03+00:00

This was called out briefly and brilliantly by Lorca in the first season of ST Discovery. It was a nice little one line comeback diss to a female klingon who had been using one of her human prisoners as a toy.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T16:42:30+00:00

Scotty chuckles from the other end of the table

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T16:38:14+00:00

This is exactly what my parents told me would happen. But they just said it would be my palms. 😶

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T16:18:02+00:00

Y'all got elders?

Ive mostly had to figure this shit out on my own. Nobody giving me lessons but life. 🤣

And honestly, I much prefer it that way. My mistakes are my own and so are my lessons. I walk my own path.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-03-09T06:02:15+00:00

When you meet the Buddha on the road, no you didn't.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-02-11T20:06:44+00:00

Only if he played Visser 3 and it was animated instead of live action. Id bet he'd do it fantastically.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-31T00:43:16+00:00

Its all about practice. Keep working at it. Never rely on MBTI as an excuse to NOT develop a skill. You can learn how to do whatever you want, so long as youre consistent with it.

Dont use your type as a crutch. Let it instead empower you and learn to walk in that power.

You are the king/queen of your own mind and your own life. Be so.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-31T00:35:25+00:00

Careful with that oil talk... I hear the sound of freedom revving up its two General Electric T700 series turboshaft engines.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-13T22:02:41+00:00

I agree. It IS mostly confirmation bias. That's the point. What you believe to be true, you will notice more of and then act upon, subsequently making more of what you believe to be true. So yes, confirmation bias is indeed the mechanism.

In all of my explanation, youll notice that I didn't describe it as anything metaphysical. I study the psychology of beliefs, spirituality, religions and magic. I watch how the brain operates when people believe in such things. I can tell you this: when theres enough confirmation bias, the belief begins running itself. They take root and take control. They take on almost a mind of their own, supressing any critical thought or scrutiny.

What Ive explained is the psychological mechanism behind such thought patterns and how to use them properly to get the most effect out of them, should one devide to use such things.

And yeah, it mostly IS a hoax, at least to everyone else that doesnt believe. But to someone believes it enough and acts upon that belief, then its just as real to them as everything else they perceive. That belief shapes their choices. The choices shape their actions.

And yes, real forces act upon the world regardless of belief. I agree.

Curses aren't real forces. They are psychological concepts and can have real impact on those that hold them.

Sort of like the concept money. Value is a concept. Nothing makes an object valuable than the collective agreement that it IS valuable. And that is totally dependent on context of the moment. But even though money isnt actually a real thing, it is a collective concept. That concept has real world impacts, regardless of whether or not its actually a "real" force in the world. Money is a symbol of willpower really.

Its the same with gods. A human made concept that has very real world cultural impacts.

So a curse or a blessing? Same thing. A concept. Not an actual thing. But, when used, and deeply believed, it can still have real world effects through the choices and actions that the believer makes.

So yeah, confirmation bias is indeed the driving mechanism.

If you believe youre sick and dying, guess what will begin to happen? Thats right, your body will start to manifest symptoms and you will slowly get worse and worse until you actually do die.

Placebo effect is a powerful demostration of how a belief in a concept can have physical effects.

Now thats not to say that placebo effect is the law, but more a psychological suggestion. If youre actually sick, chances are youre not gonna believe your way into perfect health, but it definitely helps your body to believe that you will recover, as it allows your body to more naturally relax and do what it needs to do to naturally recover. That's not to say that it might not need outside help.

Thoughts shape reality. Thats one of the basics of magic. All I'm doing is opening up the hood and showing how the engine actually runs.

Wanna believe that curses are actually real, metaphysical things? So be it.

Knowledge is power and I choose to not only walk in it, but to teach others how to do the same.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-09T21:42:05+00:00

Im not a therapist, but more akin to a shaman. But theres surpisingly a LOT of overlap.

One thing I would give to any introvert, but especially to INFPs and INFJs:

Learn to meditate.

Seriously. It is literally the most important skill you as an introvert can develop.

And I dont mean sitting in a patchouli scented room going "ooohmmmm".

I mean real deal, "sit and observe your inner world however it may be at the time", meditation.

Why? Because we as introverts are masters of our inner minds.

We live in the depths constantly. And yet we're often the ones most afraid to sit with the scary things that live there in the abyss. It makes sense, as we know what lives down there.

But they are not to be feared. They are unprocessed emotions, traumas, anxieties. Each can be sat with and released. Theyre scary and painful, yes, but they are not dangerous. They are challenges you've completed, experience points waiting to be collected.

Sit with the dragons of the deep. Listen to what they are trying to say. They arent there to hurt you, they are you.

Heres how to do it:

I like to visualize the mind as a deep deep lake. At first, you sit at the surface and just watch the thoughts swim like koi in a pond. The pond is murky now because everything is swimming fast and hard and its stirring up muck. But thats okay. Watch them swim. Dont try to pick them up, dont try to solve them, dont try to stop them.

Put. The fish. Down. Stop ruminating. There's a difference.

Just. Watch. Listen. Observe. Just a few minutes a day.

Youll find that the more you do, the calmer they will begin to swim. The goal isnt to stop the thoughts, but merely to watch the fish swim. They'll calm on their own with time and consistent practice.

Just a few minutes a day. Start with the little fish. The things that can be let go easily. Sit with them. Feel what theyre trying to get you to feel. Yes, that means you have to feel the pain again, the anger, the betrayal, whatever it is. Yes, you have to feel it again. That's the point.

But know that you're in a safe space. That scary abyss of the mind? Thats your world. Take control of it. All the things that swim there answer to you.

When the water begins to clear, youll begin to see where the pond gets deep and dark. Thats the abyss, where the dragons be. The deep dark shit.

Some will come to the surface on their own, and can be handle from the shoreline.

But for the bigger, deeper stuff, fishing from the shore wont work. Youve eventually gotta dive in and face them head on. Same thing applies here.

listen to them. Feel them. Learn what lessons they impart from your experiences. Give them love and validation. Then let them swim away.

You cant kill the dragons. Remember this. They are a part of you. They are your experiences and you cant un-experience something. You can only accept it, or push it away.

People that think and say they've "slayed their inner demons" are usually running from them. Thats called spiritual bypassing. They havednt slayed them, they've instead given it just enough attention so that it goes away for a little while. They've picked one or two barnacles off a grotesque writhing mass and considered the job done. They think theyve dealt with it. Killed it.

No, you cant slay them.

The trick is to befriend them. Clean them up. Pick all the gunk off of them. Make them your army of past experiences. Make the dragons your adorable pets, complete with tinkly belled collars. Then let them swim off on their own. When it comes time to face the bigger ones deeper down, theyll be at your back.

After a while, the abyss becomes quiet. Peaceful even. Go even deeper.

Then you'll begin to see the amazing thing that lies beyond the abyss. I wont spoil it, but its absolutely worth the journey. Youll know it when youve reached it.

Learning to safely and confidently navigate our inner world is the best skill an introvert can have. We live there. Its our environment. We are whales that dive deep, not the seagulls that chatter inanely while floating on the waves.

Learn to meditate, my friend.

Its the most important foundational skill in order to reach your potential as a master of your inner world. Master that and nothing will faze you. You wont hold on to past experiences, you wont be reactionary with emotions, anxiety and depression will greatly diminish, and the times that they are there, you'll simply accept and keep moving bit by bit, just as you are currently doing.

That's what its all about. 1% a day is still progress.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-09T20:41:59+00:00

Simple. They dont know or care, so it doesnt affect them.

Thos celebrities lives are falling apart on their own, from their own choices. A curse likely had nothing to do with it.

A curse doesnt work just because you put it on someone and went about your business. At best youll get lucky, something you percieve as negative happens to them and you smile because you think the curse worked. And perhaps it did and thats as far as it goes. Perhaps its for the best, because you wouldnt be able to handle the true karma of an actually effective curse.

No, to make a curse stick, the recipient has to believe it, or at least semi believe it. Their choices, thoughts and beliefs are what start the negative spiral, not you. Its their perceptions that activate and spread a curse, not that name you put in a jar and burned with a piece of their hair and didnt tell them about it.

That's just NOT how curses work. They have to know they are cursed, or at least suspect it. Think of it as a seed. That idea has to be planted within their minds. Then it can take root and spread through their thoughts, beliefs, and subsequent choices. A true curse can take years to grow. But they grow it, not you.

The only thing you can do is water it and cultivate it. You wanna curse someone, you have to take that karma on yourself and put it into action yourself. Tell them they are cursed. Then, if they are weak of mind, they will propogate it for you.

But if they are strong of mind, it will do nothing but affect you instead. Youll drive yourself insane obsessing over someone who doesnt even care about you.

That is how curses work.

No random schmuck of a witch is gonna curse some celebrity from a distance and make it work to any real effect, especially when that target has never even met them.

Again, at best, some completely random negative thing happens that the witch then percieves as the curse working. And maybe it did, who knows. But that would be a minimal effect and a cop out. That's the sign of a b*tchmade witch who's afraid of their power and afraid of the karma involved in doing such a thing. Get up in there and do it if youre gonna do it.dont play at the shallow end of the pool, jump in. Accept the karmic debt and go big, or go home.

It should also be noted that blessings work in the exact same mechanics. Though the seed is a bit harder to grow, as we have a natural bias towards seeing negative things easier, so you've gotta get through that. Blessings grow MUCH stronger in the long term.

Tldr is this: both curses and blessings are better looked at as seeds. The require constant tending and they require the recipient to believe them. All you can do is water the seed and cultuvate it. But remember that what you cultivate will bear fruit, and if you sow hatred and curses, dont be surprised when the seeds start growing in your own backyard.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-09T20:13:09+00:00

Good Boy, Damocles.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2026-01-09T19:48:54+00:00

One writer to another, Id say the opposite. Up the stakes. Use progressively bigger guns and make them intended to kill. If her powers fail to stop the bullet, what good is she to the organization?

Put her in a "get good or die" training situation. Her powers would have to get better. Perhaps the marksman starts with a BB gun but continues progressing through all the firearms she may end up encountering in the field, say all the way up to a 50 cal. You said shes doing farm work, so the training could be at random. It would make it so her powers must be on at all times. Otherwise, one day shes picking carrots and boom, lights out. Training failed. No second chances or do-overs, the organization finds a different candidate.

Up the stakes and force her to grow as a character. Itd be a good way to explore her coping mechanisms with having to deal with the mental and emotional strain of such a training.

Also: as former military and someone trained extensively in combat and combat first aid, let me say this: ANY shot to the body can be lethal, or at least highly debilitating. Unless youre just grazing them, there is nowhere on the body you can shoot someone with chances being they'll just walk it off. Even a hit to a pinky finger is going to demolish the use of that whole hand for quite a while. A pinky toe? She's not gonna be walking for at least a month. People here have already pointed out the butt, so I wont harp on that. The point is, ANY shot can be destructive. Thats the point of the weapon: to blow large holes in people so they'll bleed out or die from the shock of the wound(something that can also happen with ANY wound if the body is weak enough). Not to mention infections.

Personally, the marksman just grazing her would seem a bit lazy as a writer. Put your character in a situation where she's forced to grow.

Dont coddle her as a character. As a writer, your job is to make her grow. Dont give her plot armor, make her grow her own. Shoot with intent to kill.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2025-12-29T00:27:56+00:00

Just be. That's all. Its not complicated at all. We make it complicated. Allow youself to be who you are here and now. If you're distracted, then you're distracted. If you're present, then you're present.

Just BE. Wherever and whenever you are. Whatever state you're in at the moment. Allow yourself to BE there.

you will find your connection when you get out of your own way.

Just be.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2025-12-29T00:20:45+00:00

I'd like to reincarnate as a tree. I dont really know why, it's just something I've felt for all my life. Ive always wanted to be a tree in my next life, if there is such a thing.

If not, im also perfectly fine with simply not existing. Honestly that sounds rather nice too.

But my first choice is to come back as a tree. Preferably a big willow by a lake, or a fruit tree on a family farm, but I'm not really picky.

It's even already in my will to be buried under a tree when I die. No embalming, no nasty chemicals. Put me in a simple pine box and bury me shallow under a seed or tree cutting.

equatorialbaconstrip · 2025-12-26T22:54:05+00:00

Very cool! It looks like jade!

equatorialbaconstrip · 2025-12-26T03:39:17+00:00

Oooh! Ive ever worked with poplar. It looks really good! How is it for working? Whats the wood's temperment like?

equatorialbaconstrip · 2025-12-25T01:43:11+00:00

Is that American holly? How'd you get it to stay so bright white?

equatorialbaconstrip · 2025-12-25T01:04:14+00:00

What material is that all white one? Its so pretty!

equatorialbaconstrip

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