#But with more focus on solutions than simply giving refuge

[green5quirrel]

So many Wesen in Grimm end up having an attribute that causes them to harm in order to take care of their livelihood. I'd love to think that there is a clinic somewhere for Weider Wesen and the like that has researched ways to supplement those needs.

Some sort of anti-parasite and sodium supplement for that fly guy so he doesn't have to release worms and suck tears away to gain sodium. A nutrient injection for the Spinnetod. A melatonin treatment for these one's.

It might not be perfect solutions, artificial ones hardly are, but somewhere in the Wesen world scientists are working on ways to make Wesen quality of life more bearable with these violent necessities.

Wesen Moodboards

Alpe (german: nightmare)

The Alpe is known to release a paralyzing gas at its victims so it can attack without trouble. Although their victims are paralyzed once the gas is inhaled, they are still conscious and aware of what is happening to them. The Alpe feeds off of melatonin produced in the brain and will go insane if they don't feed nightly on the proteins produced in the brain that are created during REM sleep. The Alpe will then use the paralyzing gas to paralyze its victims and proceed to attach its mouth to the unmoving person's head and feed on their sleep. Due to the traumatic experience, their victims are often driven to insanity. They often run hotels or places where people sleep.

Alpen are clever, cunning creatures with a bit of an arrogance in the way they carry themselves. They view their sleep feeding behavior as a biological necessity and don't necessarily enjoy the harm they cause their victims.

Notables: Beverly Garwood

[hopetofantasy]

'wtFOCKDOWN: the first Flemish quarantine fiction has arrived'

Translated interview about the behind-the-scenes of wtFOCKDOWN

- Source: Knack Focus (16/04)

Scenes in FaceTime, dialogues in WhatsApp and a director who gives directions in Google Hangouts: the youth series wtFOCKDOWN is the first Flemish fiction series in lockdown mode.

The candidates of 'Blokken' play from home, soaps 'Familie' and 'Thuis' get an early season ending, 'Dagelijkse Kost' has a director at distance, 'Topdokters' sends out corona diaries, 'De Ideale Wereld' does telework. Just about the entire TV world has had to adapt to the new reality in recent weeks and find creative solutions. Usually with the help of FaceTime. Or Skype. Or Google Hangouts.

There is a striking amount of video out there.

However, no Flemish series had to go as far as wtFOCK. The youth phenomenon - in good weeks 450,000 unique visitors go to wtfock.be - always strongly focused on real time and the current living environment of young people. If a character experiences something during the lunch break at school, the video goes online in the afternoon on a school day. For example, if the elections are coming or GOT has its last episode, the characters will refer to it.

Which also means that when the schools suddenly closed indefinitely, all plans for the upcoming fourth season couldn't go through. If all your viewers are home, it makes no sense that the characters still go to school. wtFOCK's solution: the first 'social-distancing drama' in the world, as production house Sputnik, which makes the tv series for SBS and Telenet, calls it. Fiction that not only takes place in quarantine, but is also turned into quarantine. On April 1st, the first video went online, a video conversation between characters Senne and Zoë. Since then, the experiment seems to get more interesting every day.

wtFOCKDOWN is the most far-reaching TV answer to the lockdown yet. How did you come up with a 'social-distancing drama'?

Rutger Beckers (producer at Sputnik TV): As soon as the government closed schools, we knew we had to throw all our plans overboard. It was clear that this wasn't just for two weeks: the lockdown would take much longer. Quickly, we started thinking about a plan B within the team, a very young team, and there were some very long video calls. The term 'social-distancing drama' had fallen quite often. Everyone is in the same situation, everyone runs up the walls. Especially young people. In one weekend, their reality has completely changed and their lives take place between four walls. It seemed interesting to adapt the fiction to that new reality. Plus, we hope it can also be a support or refuge. Everyone is in the same boat: that kind of feeling.

We then put together a small team to see what was possible. A few practice scenes have been written. We tested things with the actors. What works? What not? After a few tries, everyone was very enthusiastic. They were also immediately involved with Telenet and SBS. This was much more than a little plaything or filling a gap in the schedule. It soon became clear that, with the right storylines, this was something fundamentally new. Something no one had ever done before us.

The lockdown was announced on March 16th, on April 1st the first video of wtFockdown went online: that is impressive.

Beckers: Especially in the world of fiction. It helps that we were already very tight regarding film schedules of wtFOCK. The recordings are made four or five weeks before the broadcast, which is short for fiction. Even on set, we continued to adapt storylines to current events.

With wtFOCKDOWN, we can plan everything even closer. The circumstances compel us to do so. Nobody can get together - we are very strict about that. So no locations have to be sought, no extras have to be collected or soundcrew have to be booked. We also have to make it with a very small team. wtFOCKDOWN is shot with the actors, a director and someone who does social media. Everyone is also at home and is available. What makes that you can switch very easily. Simply put: tonight we will decide what things we have written today, will be played out tomorrow.

The videos all start from the home screen of the characters' laptops and cell phones. The story is told in WhatsApp conversations, video calls and video messages. A kind of found footage, but in real time. That is cleverly done.

Beckers: Because it also makes sense: for most young people, the screen of their laptop or smartphone is their only view of the outside world these days. Then it makes sense that you tell the story like that.

Moreover, it is the technology that we really use to create the series. The actors act in their own room with their own laptops and mobile phones. First, we rehearse in a video call, while the director watches. When a scene is right, the actors video call each other and record the scene. It also doesn't matter if the quality of image or sound is a little less: that just increases the authenticity.

wtFOCKDOWN has been running for two weeks now, but as an experiment in mobile television it is interesting to say the least. Real-time WhatsApp conversations set to music, where you see the letters typed, for example, turn out to provide good scenes.

Beckers: That is also something that we ourselves are happy with: that these storytelling techniques work. wtFOCKDOWN was a leap of faith. There were no examples, no anchor points. When we put the first videos online, we had no idea what the response would be. But you feel that our enthusiasm after those first tests, is now also the same as the viewer.

That is also exciting as series makers. It started with a few tests. Then a few videos that came online. Then we started building bigger storylines. And it just keeps getting bigger. Every day we are faced with new surprises and new problems to solve. But that feeling that we are creating something new, something that can be valuable in the situation that young people are living in today, only increases enthusiasm. Especially with the people of eighteen or nineteen years old in our team: you feel that they now want to go for it. Maybe this could be the start of a new kind of genre. Real-time fiction, played decentralized. Who knows.

You're sure no one has ever done this before you?

Beckers: I certainly haven't come across anything. We also noticed that countries abroad have been interested in the concept. In the meantime, we're in contact with the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, who made Skam (wtFOCK is one of the many remakes of Skam internationally). They were very intrigued by our plans and went to show it to Spain, Germany, Italy and France, where local versions of Skam are also running.

While wtFOCKDOWN explores new horizons, a large part of the Flemish television world seems to be on hold. 'Familie' and 'Thuis' must finish their season early. It is unclear what will happen for programs such as 'Mijn keuken, mijn restaurant' and 'The Voice Kids'.

Beckers: Today the situation is very strange for the TV world, especially with the commercial channels. The ratings are going up. Much more TV is watched than in recent years. Only: there are far fewer advertisers.

It is indeed striking that programs such as 'De Mol' hardly have any commercial breaks.

Beckers: Many brands do not want to advertise now and have postponed their budgets until after the summer. Which will soon cause another strange situation. Autumn normally gets very busy, but hardly any production houses are making programs right now. Almost all productions have been shut down. Running a normal fiction series is simply impossible today.

Will we get a lockdown version of the soap 'Familie' soon?

Beckers: I think that chance is slim. (laughs). With wtFOCK, the new technology is just a bit more in the DNA of the program.

The main thing is that no one currently knows. Everyone is waiting for the situation to normalize and to get up again. It only starts again, when there is insight into the matter.

You are in a precarious situation with wtFOCK, I just realized.

Beckers: Why?

When the government announces that schools remain closed, doesn't it mean that all the plans and footage from the fourth season will be thrown away?

Beckers: That's also the disadvantage of the time limited fiction: the time. All of the references to the end of the school year, or festivals, will be tossed. These caught up with the reality. But we'll see how we are going to get around that. We don't have anything meaningful to say about the future. If I have learned one more thing about the past few weeks, it's that you constantly need to adapt to the new realities and to find new solutions. So it's not just about the wtFOCK.

[luminess-brightcoil]

No Matter What You Do

All instruments recording the ongoing spread of the scourge pandemic indicated a rapid increase in risk of safety, up to and including the roaming dead in the very streets of Stormwind. What was once recommended to simply be a matter of staying off the streets and increasing security measures has changed with similar rapidity, up to and including the recommendation of immediate evacuation for all citizens of Stormwind, leaving only the Stormwind Patrol, the Argent Crusade, the Ebon Blade, and any of Azeroth’s Champions that were so moved to contribute to containing the absolute carnage at hand.

As the topic was broached for what this means for the great underground metropolis of Mechagon, Luminess Brightcoil balked at the data, though she Observed it in totality and took it upon her processing parameters to integrate this new data into her daily routine. To say the outlook was grim would be an understatement. To say that she was growing exhausted of grim outlooks would be even more of one.

Even a Beacon is prone to bouts of personal dismay. It was quickly becoming one Titans-damned thing after another for her. Starting and ending a revolution. Joining and ending the Fourth of Four Wars. Defeating the encroachment of the Old Gods. The Return of the San’layn. And now, this: Death itself, and whatever forces direct it upon Azeroth. And all of this within a single year.��

On days like these, a Beacon would wonder why she ever left the island in the first place... 

Luminess sat amongst her peers in the Think Tank that was assembled for the purpose of analyzing and developing an expedient solution to the matter of the scourge invasion with the Gnomish population at its focus. The scent of recirculated air through coppered ducts intertwined with the effervescent presence of warm, freshly applied toner as gnome and mechagnome alike scanned through document after document. Every finer point addressed, every corollary counter-examined, every contingency remodeled and re-assessed… And yet it was the general consensus of those present that not much headway was made just yet. 

Except for Walton Cogfrenzy, Chief Architect of Mechagon, who maintained that he had a very simple and direct plan of response, that in any other context would have been seen as antithetical to their current societal trajectory, and now perhaps its only chance for survival: 

Complete Lockdown.

“We will establish a temporary teleportation network between here and Tinker Town,” Walton explained. “Citizens of Gnomeregan can be funneled into our now half-vacant halls along with all our Gnomadic kin. Following that, remaining available space and resource accommodation can be afforded to our Dwarven cousins, though it is projected very few would be willing to retreat from their own beloved city. Still, we must press them to do so, and once we have evacuated all that we may hold and accommodate safely, access to the network will be severed from all entry points.”

The King shifted his weight from one side of his seat to the other. By far, the once High Tinker but now King Gelbin Mekkatorque would be the least Kingly King you could meet. He was conscientious to others. He yielded space and listened more than spoke. He sought counsel for all decisions, tall or small. Betraying the good will of his people was unthinkable, just as he would strive against working against their humbler wishes. And more often than not, you had to remind him of his now-regal station. A station, it is said, he has been working to reform away from the obsolete protocol known as the 'Divine Right of Kings.' Perhaps such topics could be addressed more directly when things were Quieter. But in either regard… Luminess, for one, was grateful to have someone so unlike the Mad Tyrant that, for now, she was willing to give the whole Monarchy thing one more chance.

“It will be difficult to convince the Gnomereganians to take refuge,” sighed King Mekkatorque wearily. “Many believe they’re perfectly safe within the walls of Ironforge, despite the surrounding snowy climate being far more tactically advantageous for the Scourge than even the tranquil forests of Elwynn or the unimpeding flats of Durotar. And even so, their pride is at stake to some extent. They won’t take easily to being confined to another underground kingdom, even if it is ostensibly theirs. Over time, we of Gnomeregan have become more and more like our Gnomadic cousins than not as the impossibly high toll taken by Thermaplugg continues to plague our once-hallowed halls, figuratively AND literally.”

“And so I would hope they would be difficult to convince, your highness.” Intamin Diveroll, renowned prosthetist and out-speaker, swiveled his chair towards Mekkatorque just slightly as he respectfully interjected, but kept his gaze upon the Chief Architect. “Your plan puts our now-combined kingdom at risk of recreating the exact same scenarios for destruction that had befallen either of them. Suppose we are all holed up here and one of our vaunted city’s life preservation systems should fail, or worse: sabotaged by ne’er-do-wells known or unknown. Suppose the invasion never ends, and to quell a dissatisfied populace, a new Mad Tyrant emerges to place them back into order under the guise of Public Safety. And should neither fate befall us, and we merely survive through the ordeal to a ruined Azeroth or… continued indefinite life underground, even in prosperity… that would make cowards of us all.”

“It is not… Cowardice to prioritize survival! It is the only acceptable option,” pressed Cogfrenzy with just as much proud conviction on display as he hid his secret guilts. His servos whined under his weight as he leaned forward against the conference table with the coiled-bulb lamps glowing above his exhausted, perspiring brow. “And the only safe one. Our Kingdom is the most secure against external threats of any on Azeroth. Our doors open and close only to us, and our walls are impenetrable against all alien threats. Anyone who enters without the aid of our own kind is instantaneously vaporized by our unparalleled city defenses. For five hundred years, a full-length default gnomish lifetime... our security was so assured that the rest of the planet knew not even of our existence. We were effectively anonymous. Fel, we even have the capability of sealing off all access to the Azeroth’s vast network of Arcane Leylines, guaranteeing that not a single soul enters or leaves through the mightiest of mage portals!”

As the King ran his fingers through his whiskers, Luminess’s face belied only a hint of bemusement as her gaze slide sideways to one of her closest companions to examine his face for a reaction to that last sentence. Indy would offer none. But she knew. They both knew.

“My King,” Indy gently prodded, turning his trademark winning smile towards his liege. “The Rustbolt Revolution demonstrated to us that the answer to our prosperity lies not here exclusively in Mechagon. It lies in Greater Azeroth. And to that end it is not only such that we should not run away, but we should fight to defend it alongside everyone else.”

King Mekkatorque smiled at Indy gently, reassuringly. “On that, we are in total agreement, Good Doctor. We are no longer two kingdoms of Gnomes. We are one, and beyond that, we belong to the mighty Alliance as well. And defending our world from imminent threats within and without is the Alliance’s primary function, after all.”

The Beacon stirred in her seat, squeaking it at the hinge as she leaned forward onto her elbows, fingers tented before her face. She refused to comment on the political trajectory of the Gnomish populace, for now. Instead, she turned to another of her companions that she insisted be included on this Think Tank for the sake of the wealth of information he contains as a single entity. “Cornelius,” she addressed him from across the table.

“Hello, User!” came the chipper response from Mister Tribulatus, self-aware as ever, and the Beacon remained quite proud of him for achieving that.

“Known methods of Scourge Incursion, please, listed."

“Query accepted! Running diagnostics…”

The room fell silent, save the soft stirring of seats in anticipation, and the soft ting-ting of a spoon inside a cup of coffee, one of a great many that were filled and spilled on this auspicious day. 

“Results compiled. Scourge are known to make entry into populated areas through the following means, alphabetically: Aerial Delivery. Burrowing. Contagion. Localized Necromancy.”

All eyes in the room, save Cornelius’, slowly drifted over to a mechagnome seated at the end of the table, brow bedecked with ostentatious horn modifications. His focus was trained on an asymmetrical paper football formed out of one of the documents on the table, and his attempts to ‘kick’ it through a ‘goal post’ made from used coffee creamer cups and stirring rods. His clamps fail to provide the manual dexterity needed to perform the maneuver, but after eighty-seven attempts so far, the man was not about to back down now. However, he felt the familiar sensation of an entire room of his alleged peers judging him all at once, and so he looked up.

“... What?! Titans Testes, I’m not a Necromancer, I resurrect myself with CLONES,” protested one Doctor Theodorp Wimblewomble the Sixth. Or was it Seventh, now? The people of Mechagon had only his word for the answer. 

“The Fel practices are adjacent to Necromancy are they not?” the Beacon inquired, with earnest sincerity. “Perhaps in this way you can offer us insight?” 

“You’re asking an electrician to fix your toilet,” chided Theodorp as he unceremoniously failed his eighty-eighth attempt to score a field goal. “Fortunately for you I am learned of a multitude of means of delivering Doom.” 

The King rubbed his eyes with a gloved hand before flipping open the box of donuts on the table, deciding which of the remaining flavors might quell the madness he felt in this moment for including a pseudo war criminal on this Think Tank. Take him away, Blueberry Glazed.

“For certain, this Kingdom is advantageously impervious to outside threats, as the Chief Architect asserts. Titans know I’ve tried and nearly succeeded countless times to perviate it myself. Yes, that is a real word.”

All of the eyes that were cast upon Theodorp quickly volleyed to Cornelius. Instinctively, he clicked and whirred in place before speaking: “Perviate. Transitive Verb. To enter, bore into, or run through. Would you like me to search for more information regarding Perviation?"

Professor Theodorp Wimblewomble the Sixth silently threw his clamps into the air, victorious over all who dared to doubt him, once again. As the gnomes around him (save Cornelius) collectively stifled their groans, he permitted them immediate reprieve of a well-deserved gloating, and continued...

“As my criminal record shows, I’ve only had so much luck attempting to bring various forms of Fel into our kingdom. The Titan-Energy Interference from the Engine that we’ve made our home into is a natural repellent to both the Fel and Necromantic efforts from exterior sources. Our Previous King spared no effort or expense at seeing such impure practices all but eradicated or imprisoned.”

He takes a moment to feel very smug about being the only practitioner of either who isn’t currently technically imprisoned before continuing: “Ultimately, our greatest concern, second only to simply allowing the plague to enter our halls through contamination of persons or produce… would be someone like me infiltrating Mechagon and finding a way to succeed. For the Fel, we have no particular need of concern as ever. But in the case of Necromancy, they would not need to open a portal, they would simply need to locally source some corpses right here. Which could be remarkably easy, considering the whole proposition to keep the walls closed and sealed that no one could possibly enter or leave.”

The Think Tank of gnomes, already silent, somehow fell even more deathly quiet. No one liked that.

“Then it would not be enough to simply close the doors and shutter our windows,” the Beacon spoke wielding a voice laden equally with certainty as hesitance. “It would require a near-constant monitor of every individual’s vital signs, and restricted movement for all throughout the densely populated areas. We would effectively not be merely bunkering in for our physical safety, but we would need to place the population under a functional quarantine for the first few weeks simply to ensure there is no undetected viral agent is able to spread. We would require anyone taking refuge here to comply with these regulations, or…”

She gulped as she choked on her words in this moment. Indy peered at her searchingly. Cornelius smiled at the wall. Theodorp was on the edge of his seat, waiting for her to finish her thought. King Gelbin Mekkatorque simply listened, chin upon thumb, cheek against finger, elbow against armrest. 

“... Or be placed under secure, supervised quarantine. Just for the duration. And ethically, of course. This is for… public safety.”

Theodorp clinked his clamps excitedly under the table with a wide, toothy grin while Luminess attempted to meet Intamin’s gaze. But when her optics searched for his, he had already turned away. She sank in her seat just slightly as her lips tightened and her face drooped just a bit. 

The King nodded slowly as his own eyes searched in the far distance, into the invisible thinkspace we all have for flaw in this reasoning. And whether he found zero flaws to be had, or he simply accepted the known flaws as they were, it was not made clear in his exhausted sigh that set his moustache billowing in the wind blown forth from his lips.

“You speak the Truth as ever, Beacon,” decreed the King. “If we are going to do this then it would be folly to employ any half-measures. BUT... we will make sure that all who are so quarantined for the duration will have the inconvenience of their sacrificed time compensated, their needs of survival and personal comfort fully provided for. They are our people, our family and friends, and we will make their stay at home a veritable paradise until the situation is under control. To do any less would call into question the foundations and integrity of our very society’s principles in a manner we simply do not have time for right now, or possibly ever. Have we reached consensus?”

The assembled members of the Think Tank all offered their agreement in unison in low grunts of affirmation and/or raised hands. Even Intamin, after a moment. Luminess quietly sighed in relief, allowing her jaw to finally un-clench itself.

“Then the matter is settled upon. Beacon Brightcoil, I am counting on you to ensure that the quarantine efforts are carried out in a safe and ethical manner the people will find agreeable. Spare no expense. The rest of us will reconvene after a one hour biological break to discuss our efforts abroad aiding the campaign in Icecrown and the Eastern Kingdoms. Titans Observe that it will be Gnomish Ingenuity and Determination that brings a swift resolution to this crisis!”

The King’s counsel and subjects before him all responded with an assured nod and an equally assured utterance of “Titans Observe,” even Doctor Theodorp Wimblewomble the Sixth or Seventh.

With that, King Gelbin Mekkatorque bowed his head with a soft chuckle and made haste towards the door, eager to get out of being in a meeting for however long he can manage it today. Luminess, making similar speed, exited behind him as the others shuffled their belongings in order. 

Intamin gave chase.

“Beacon? Oh, Beacon?” cried the man playfully behind his companion, who laughed as she slowed her pace to allow them to walk on parallel paths. “I was simply wondering which personal liberties I would still be afforded while imprisoned in my own private paradise prison.”

Luminess rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow, shaking her head as she chuckled softly. “Really, Indy, the situation is dire enough without you nagging at my personal principles over my duties as a Beacon.”

The prosthetist cackled quietly beside her, grinning all too wide as he satisfied himself with her acknowledgement of such a Truth. “I am teasing, of course, my dear… Nothing about this is easy, and though it burns at my very soul to admit it… this is a necessary action to take. So long as it remains a stopgap, and not a solution. And Titans Observe that I may rest easy knowing you are at the lead of such a project.” 

“Titans may Observe it so… but they shan’t,” Luminess responded softly.

Intamin jogged in front of her to impede her movement, narrowing his ocular sensors to thin lines as he looked over her features for any sign that she might be joking. She was not.

“... You will not be staying? But you said--”

“I know that I spoke in favor of quarantine and I stand by that. It is what is right for our people, both of them, all of them… But it is not my place. For certain, This Unit could perform the task and do it well, but I am by no means the only one capable of doing so."

Intamin looked her over curiously. "Did not the King ask you to do it yourself?"

Luminess allowed a sly smirk. "He merely asked me to ensure it will be done. I will reach out Wenzli Cogsalvage to manage this in my stead. She is the finest community organizer I have seen since the end of the Revolution. And though I am beloved by many, as a Beacon I am still mistrusted by the same amount or more for our ties to the Mad Tyrant’s Orthodoxy and the work that remains in our reform thereof… By contrast, she is of the people in a way I can never truly be ever again, and will therefore be more efficient in inspiring trust in this time. In addition, since it is Wenzli... I will have the added bonus of most people simply mistaking her for being me anyway, as normal."

The prosthetist clicked his teeth. She certainly had a point, if not several, but he was not letting her off the hook so easily. "And so if your place is not here, Miss Brightcoil… Then where is it?" 

A brief question inspires an eternity in a split second of consideration. Where, indeed? Was her place in Stormwind, with the Embassy as an Ambassador? Was her place with Prince Erazmin and the Rustbolt Resistance, now expanding their field of operation to fight back against the emergent Scourge threat? Was it with the other medical professionals of the Azeroth Medical Association, searching for a long term solution against the contagion and the short term efforts of caring for those currently afflicted? Was it with her mercenary allies in the Dragon Corps or the Fence Macabre, beating back the hordes with them and other Champions? Was it by the side of those she held dear, one small clutch of beloved friends or another? 

Luminess smirked just for a moment before lifting her gaze to Intamin. Her eyes flickered Gold with the Light before she answered him with a warm tone.

“Uncertain. But what you said earlier rings true again: Wherever my place might be… it is quite clear that the answer is not here, in Mechagon. It is out there… in Azeroth.”

Intamin couldn’t help but allow a smugly satisfied grin plaster his face, flashing that perfect one-millimeter gap in his front teeth as they bit lightly upon his tongue to stifle a boisterous guffaw that would otherwise spoil what could be looked back upon as a tender moment.

“Titans Observe,” he said simply, and embraced his friend tightly with both arms, squeezing as hard as he can, as he always did, knowing that once again, this could be the final opportunity to do so. “But I shall not allow you to continue your adventures abroad unaided. Your previously requested modifications are complete and awaiting installation back at my workshop over a splendid Torcolato I’ve been saving for just such an occasion.” 

“Mister Diveroll, there is absolutely nothing that I would enjoy more at this precise moment,” said Luminess, as she sniffled once and dabbed at the corners of her eyes with the collar of her ceremonial garb after returning the embrace of a beloved friend and confidant. She then grabbed hold of his arm for escort down the winding path from the High Tinkertory, down to into the city which she held so dear, the city which until only still so recently was all she had known.

And as she walked, audibly promising the matter was settled to her companion, she continued to silently deliberate within herself over it all... whether she was making the right or wrong choice, whether there was an optimization to their plans she failed to find, whether or not it was hopeless to even try, endlessly as she would, as she does, and as she has, every single day of her life.

And as such... she prayed to the Titans, as she did, every single day of her life, that they may Observe her following the ideal path.

Tell me what your spirit says Show me what you pray Teach me every single part I'll be your guide You are a prisoner Looking for to be You can change your face But can't change your mind No matter what do you do No matter what do you do No matter what do you do No matter what do you do

[dholwrites]

All The Little Things

Notes: Commission piece for @dialga Relationship: Crystal Exarch x Female WoL (Na’na Niall) Rating: G - General. (Very high fluff content) 

Ao3 Link

4 sweet moments between a knight and her prince after the return of the night.

1 Stars and the Moon

The stars danced before his eyes on the backdrop of a pitch sea. They sparkle together with the full moon, hung high and clear as the sun. Ever since Na’na returned the night to Lakeland, he couldn’t resist the way it pulled his eyes upwards. The way the tower walls glowed under the moonlight tugged at the memories of his youth; moments when he would hide out in high corners to read a book, discuss theories with NOAH, or catch himself daydreaming about Na’na. G’raha quietly chuckled to himself. It had been a while.

“There you are, I was wondering where you disappeared to,” a sweet voice called from behind him. Na’na had climbed up the stairs into his hiding spot, her footsteps barely letting out a sound. How she knew to look up here, he would never know. The sound of his heartbeat echoed in his ears as she moved to sit down next to him. His gaze lingered on her profile, captivated by the way her hair and ribbon played in the wind, a smile on her lips and excitement in her eyes. Thankfully, she was too distracted by the constellations to notice his staring. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You can see all the stars from up here.”

“Yeah...” He trails off before turning his gaze back towards the sky. “It reminds me of the skies in Mor Dhona. I wish I could see them again.” With you. Those words fell at the tip of his tongue like lead, yet his heart flutters at the mere thought of being so balant about his affections.

‘It’s not as lovely as you.’ Would that be too cliche? Perhaps ‘you’re more beautiful than every star in the sky,’ would be a better choice?

“Oh, Raha, you silly prince.”

“Prince?! But- I- I’m- wh- w-wait a moment!” His heart leaped with joy at the nickname. His cheeks grew warm as words tumbled out of his mouth before he could catch them. Did his words slip without him realizing it? His train of thought came to a halt at the sudden warmth on his hand and side. Na’na had slid from her spot to be right next to him, resting her head against him. G’raha could barely calm his frantic heart before it leapt out of his chest at the soft hands taking his. 

His gaze begins to drift back towards her eyes as they light up at every constellation she can find in the night sky. Then to her lips, captivating him by how soft they look. Surely they would feel just as soft when he kissed her. His eyes continued to travel until they found their way to their intertwined hands. They felt so small compared to his own. His mind whispers to hold onto her, to keep her close even if she needs to leave. That still hadn't changed since he last saw her centuries ago. 

“Raha?” He snaps back into reality at the sound, blinking owlishly when they lock eyes again. 

“Apologies, I can’t help but get lost in thought. I couldn’t help but think about the Source.”

Na’na lets go of his hand to wrap her arm around his back, pressing herself to his chest. “Even if you are here in this world, we can still see the same sky. Remember, no matter where you are and who you become, you will still be my ‘Raha’.”

With her simple words, a realization dawned upon Raha; if Na’na Niall hinted at wanting to touch a star, he would gladly put the entire galaxy into her hand. 

“You look at me like I’m a star in the sky,” Na’na jokes, giving his hand an affectionate squeeze.

G’raha lets out a small laugh, “Because you are.” 

2 Sharing a Meal

G’raha lets out a sigh at the sight of books piled high around him. Most of them were books borrowed from the Cabinet of Curiosity, while everything else he brought from the Source. Hopefully, at least one of them would help him find a solution to the Scion’s predicament. He owed it to them for causing this when he first summoned them here. Yet his mind started to wonder every time he attempted to pick up a book and start his new task.

Days flew by in a daze after their stargazing date, and G’raha had gotten even clumsier since then. Lyna had more than once saved him from tripping down the stairs, pulled him aside from running into a lamppost during an inspection, and made sure that he was actually paying attention to what he was reading. The captain had become increasingly distressed over all the accidents, despite his best attempts to assure her that he was definitely not getting sick. The source of his mishap is much more... personal. No one needed to know that he’d been daydreaming about the Warrior of Darkness, especially not if there was a chance that word would get back to her. 

His thoughts come to a halt when something sweet gets shoved into his mouth.

“ Rarararahaaa~” A familiar voice cooed from behind him. Not a moment later a piece of cake carefully balanced on a spoon appeared before his eyes, this time offering it for him to take it instead. Na’na had moved beside him with two slices of cake balanced on the other hand. “Say ‘Aaaaaaah~’”

“Aaaah,” he hesitantly opens his mouth and allows himself to be fed, the warmth of his cheeks coming back twofold. G’raha took the extra time to savor the piece, the sweet and fluffy cream with an equally light and soft sponge, the cake baked perfectly. “Did you get these from the market downstairs? They are perfect.”

“You can thank me by finishing a slice.” Na’na had already scooped another piece into his mouth, letting out a huff as he obediently chewed. “You shouldn’t be overworking yourself! I was hoping that you would take it easy now that the First isn’t in danger, but then I hear from Lyna that you’ve shut yourself in the study for hours again. You need to take breaks too, Raha.”

“I was just researching on how to get the Scions back home.” Well, at least he should have been. He’s been watching her go about her day, sometimes talking to the Scions and other times fending the weak from monsters. The way she moves, interacts, and fights captures every bit of his attention. And there is nothing he wants to change about it. “You told me that Krile believes that their lives could be at stake because I poorly summoned them to the First. I need to work to get them back to the Source before something bad-.”

“That is not a good excuse! You’ve been holed up here for the past few days without a break and I refuse to let you continue this until you get some sleep.” She shoves another spoonful of cake into his mouth without warning, only when she was sure that he finished did she take it back. He could feel bits of sticky cream coating his lips. “Since you can’t be trusted to take care of yourself, I’m going to do it for you.”

He barely had time to hide the grin that wormed its way to his face. G’raha felt almost a little giddy with joy as she worried about his health. It would be much easier to simply agree with what she says, but hearing her words always made his heart flutter. 

The miqo’te finally closed the book in his lap and set it aside. “Na’na, since I have fused with the tower, I do not need to sleep anymore. It does not affect my health to stay up for hours to get what I need done.” 

There was angry look that flashed across her eyes, one sharp and dark enough to kill a Primal. G’raha barely managed to suppress his laughter behind his hand; all he sees is the pout she is trying to hide behind the facade.

“You leave me with no choice.” A pair of lips meets his. Her lips. Her lips are sweeter than cream and softer than cake sponge. His breath caught in his throat, eyes fluttering closed as he returns the kiss. He could feel the drumming of his heart in his chest, his thoughts giving way to his senses. A delightful shiver runs up his neck when she pulls away and gently brushes his lips with her own. His focus remained at her lips. He felt drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

“Can I have another?” is his only hushed reply.

  3 Stories

G’raha had taken a break from his studies to see Na’na before she headed off on her next adventure, but the scene before him made him hesitate to join in.

“Miss Na’na! Can you tell us another story? Another one about the knight!” A flock of children swarmed around her, their joint efforts managing to lure her to the grass patch beside the building where more children were playing. Many of them had stopped their games to join the crowd. “But I wanna hear about the big monsters she fights!”

Among the crowd, a red haired mystel child stood out to him. Their short hair is much darker than his own, but the red shine is unmistakable under the sun. Would his child look like that? Heat burns at his cheeks at the thought, but he is reluctant to stop. A mystel child with red hair and golden eyes would be the heart of the Cystarium, and he had no doubts that their child would be doted on by everyone. 

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you, Raha?” G’raha jumps back at the sudden voice. He would have tripped over his robes if Na'na didn’t catch his hand in time. She pulls him towards her, allowing him to use her as support to regain his balance. Once she was sure that he’s fine, she bows down to peek under his hood. Their eyes catching each other and causing her to break out into a grin. “Careful, I don’t think the Crystarium would be happy if they found out that their Exarch got injured on my watch.”

G’raha was going to wave off the children’s concern, only for Na’na to take his hand and drag him over. Some of the children scrambled up to their feet to greet him. Before he knew it, he was sitting at the front next to Na’na with her head resting against his shoulder. He could feel the curious, innocent stares directed towards them by the children, with some of the kids even whispering to each other. He made sure that his hood was still pulled up and over his head to provide him a refuge to hide his expression. 

His tail flicks and curls nervously, with the tip occasionally peeking out at the edge of his robes. G’raha had entertained these children before, yet now he wasn’t so sure what he should do, not without attempting to move away from Na’na. Luckily, she had already begun to spin her stories, one tale after another of the places and things she’d seen. A large plain where tribes of Drahns roam, where they would battle each other to claim the right to rule over all others. A kingdom of knights waging a war against dragons in a frozen tundra, and their descendents finding peace after a hundred summers. A princess that lives underwater, giant owls that protect books, and talking fish too.

He knows each and every story like the back of his hand, but hearing it being told by Na’na herself allows him to see it more vividly before his eyes. Be it the cold nipping at the end of his fingers and tail, the chatter of Reunion in his ear, or the ache of traveling in his bones. G’raha perks up when a fluffy tail suddenly brushes against his own, carefully stroking up and down before wrapping around the end of his own tail. A hint of who it is comes from the shaking of stifled laughter rumbling at his chest and the squeeze of her hand on his knee. 

“Na’na,” a voice calls from a distance. G’raha turns his head towards the source to spot a hyur approaching them. He’s dressed in dark armor with a bastard sword strapped to his back. He looked almost apologetic for interrupting her during her storytime, but clearly there are more important matters. “I need a bit of assistance with something.”

Na’na gives him a quick nod before slowly rising to her feet. G’raha went along with her, his hand lingering in her hold and reluctant to let her leave so easily. He watches as she apologizes to the kids for cutting the story short. The children quickly chime in with their complaints about the abrupt ending, also getting on their feet to complain. They only stop and start to split off into their group of friends after she made a promise to share more stories the next time she was free. 

“Looks like I’ll have to cut our time short as well, Raha,” she whispers to him as they follow the Hyur towards the main gate, their fingers still intertwined with each other. Na’na tugs at his hand to pull them to a stop just a few steps away from the gate. She was tapping her cheek with her finger, her eyes staring ahead without seeing. 

“Don’t push yourself too hard. You’ve already saved the First, surely everything else can wait.” It was a poor excuse to get her to stay, they both knew it. She had always been able to see through his words and find what he really wanted to say. Na’na gives him a wave of her hand, claiming that it would be quick. He wished he could go with her, to leave his duties behind for a moment and enjoy the adventuring life with her; taking down enemies side by side, spending nights cuddling each other around a fire, and hearing the rise and fall of her chest when they finally retire to bed.

“Na’na, next time, would you mind if I join you?” The words slip out before he can stop them. His entire body froze at the realization before his eyes slowly moved to see her reaction. Her own eyes widen at the question, ears perking up and shoulders stiff as if she doesn’t quite believe what she is hearing. Her gaze darts back and forth between him and the entrance. A lapse of intense regret crawls up the back of his neck in her silence. It’s enough for him to feel the cold sweat starting to form under his hood.

“You want to come on an adventure with me? Of course!” He lets out a sigh of relief, the tension slipping from his shoulders. Only for him to be pulled forward by his hood, Na’na’s lips colliding with his. A kiss that he returned back, returning her affection with as eagerly. Just as quickly as it started, she was gone. Out of his arms and already making her way towards an unknown destination. Her hand waving at him from a distance as she calls out, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon!”

G’raha could see the end of her tail was wagging with excitement that she wasn’t even attempting to contain. He bids her farewell, standing at the entrance of his great city until he can’t see her anymore. Only then does he turn around and make his way back to the Tower. His fingers reached up to trace where she had kissed and wished that he could feel them once more. 

Perhaps when she returns. 

  4 Running a Dungeon

He could feel it. The aether tingled under his skin and brimmed with energy. Every healing spell sealing cuts and healing bruises as he got them, yet they continue to come even when they are hurrying to the next nest of enemies. It struck him as odd, surely Na’na of all people should be able to tell? Still, he didn’t question her judgment and pushed on. 

Days leading up to their departure, Na’na poured over maps to figure out the best place that would best match both their skills. When he told her that any place would be fine, she was quick to point out how well he was doing when he was in Kholusia. She was blunt about making sure that she doesn't take him too far from the Tower. G’raha couldn’t help but let out a chuckle to himself, the one thing that is his source of power only turning out to be his greatest weakness. In the end, it’s worth it when he gets to see how much she frets over the little things. Yet, that doesn’t explain her healing. 

She settled with the Rak’tika Greatwood, it is close enough that he won’t feel sick 

Ancient trees scattered around with their branches stretching towards the sky and their roots cemented into the ground. The sun rays filtered through their leaves, giving the place an otherworldly glow. The only sight back in the source that might even compare would be the Black Shroud in Gridania, yet even then they couldn’t come close to how large the trees were here.

Before long, the moon had replaced the sun in the sky. The warmth of the makeshift campfire and sweet aroma emitting from the mug in his hand was more than enough for him to regain his strength. His other senses were more focused on the wisp of space between him and Na’na. The fire casts its soft light on her face, framing her portrait in a loving glow. Her eyes shone like amber in the morning sun. It felt like for a moment the world had stopped to marvel at her. He would gladly sit there for eternity if he could. 

He finally mustered up the courage to ask the question that had been on his mind since they had set out earlier. The small worry had bloomed into a huge concern, as she had been excessively healing him all day but still refused to rest. Even when he suggested they take a break. “Na’na, you were healing me for quite a bit today. Are you feeling alright? Is something wrong?”

Na'na smiles at him apologetically and moves in her seat on a large fallen branch to turn towards him. G’raha slides close enough for their knees and thighs to touch, even his tail moved to brush against hers, almost wrapping them together in an attempt to ease what nerves she might have. Was something troubling her? Has he done something wrong? Wait, what if his tanking skills need some work and she’s too sweet to tell him to improve? Had he been bad enough to warrant overhealing? He was slowly spiraling further into his mountain of worries, only for the gentle brush of Na’na’s hand to startle him back into reality.

“I have a Dark Knight stone. It’s not mine, at least not from the beginning. It was N’hect’s.” Her voice becomes softer and softer with every word, her gaze turning up towards the stars glittering in the night sky. His ears perk up at the name, one that sounds strangely familiar but he can’t remember from where. Her grip on his hand brought his attention to her sheepish smile. “He was my first knight, the one that showed me that chivalry can and still does exist in this world. When he… fell during the war, I decided to take up his job.”

Na’na shifts in her spot to pull out a small pouch from her pocket and drops its contents onto an open palm. It was her stone, a yellow rune carved onto the deep red background. He had only ever seen drawings of them in books as a way to pass down specialized abilities. This one was worn at the edges, and a few nicks and cuts showed its age. “During the war, we fought side by side. I got careless… It was a blow that neither of us expected and he was able to react first.” 

She closes her fist around it, eyes brimming with unshed tears as she tries to keep herself together. Her voice becomes small and tight as she tries to keep the emotions from leaking through. His own heartaches alongside her as she continues. “He lost his life to save mine.” 

“I have already lost him.” Her eyes tearing up looked like wells of gold, and he could see her pure love and honesty. Her hands dropped the stone to squeeze his own before she lifted it to cup her cheek. Her head turned slightly to brush her lips against his palm and melted his heart in turn.  “I don’t want to lose you too. You gave me hope. You gave me the hope that the world is worth saving. When we met, I was questioning if it was really worth all the pain that I was going through. Your kindness, your thirst for knowledge, and all the little things that make you so genuine. I’m scared that I will lose you one day too.”

“I know that you have been working yourself to death and you’re not alone anymore,” Na’na whispers to him like it was her best-kept secret, she reaches out to cup his cheek and turns him to face her. “Remember when you told me that you thought of me like a star in the sky? I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be somewhere out of reach. I want to be beside you. Instead I want to believe that the stars have led us together again, and I want nothing more than for us to remain that way. Taking one step after another, together. For the rest of our lives.”

G’raha attempts to blink away his unshed tears, but she continues to whisper sweet words. “My princeling, my Raha. You give me the hope to continue fighting this fight. That this world I fight for holds someone like you.”

“I love you.” 

Her hand reaches up to twirl a strand of his hair, her eyes fluttering closed and forehead pressed against his. G’raha finds his own eyes closing and feels the tension in his shoulders starting to break away at her words. Words that he never knew he needed so much. “At the end of my legends and stories, I want to be together with you. No matter what becomes of the Warrior in everyone’s eyes. I will find myself coming back to you, my beloved Raha.” 

Na’na laid bare her heart to him, every word causing his tears to slip until they were all running down his cheeks. G’raha takes in a shaky breath to calm his racing heart. Despite knowing how much she loves and cherishes him, his heart would flutter and his body grows warm whenever she said those 3 words. 

“I want to be with you through all your adventures. Fighting alongside you, sharing meals around a  fire, and sleeping beside you under a starry sky.” He finally found his words, opening up the deepest part of his heart for her to see. His palms feel sweaty and a creeping feeling of embarrassment comes up his spine to cover his face with a blush. Still, he shakes his head out of shame and leans forward, pressing his forehead against her. The world fell away once he felt her breath on his lips, and it was taking all his self control to not kiss her senseless.

With lips just ilms apart from meeting, he whispers out his confession. “Not just that, I want to see your smiling face to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I fall asleep. I want to see kids running around with my hair and your eyes, to be the shoulder you lean on, to be the person you seek out in a crowd.”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you.”

[islamicrays]

I read dirty stories online, How do i stop. My fear for god is NOT there. I thinking about suicide all the time, i dont enjoy prayers i do believe in god but i dont know if i am muslim since my prayers are boring and my duas are not answered. How I stop being muslim by name

Assalamu Alaikum,

Dua is the weapon of a believer. It helps to develop a connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.Our dua are always answered as narrated in hadith:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Any Muslim who makes a supplication containing nothing which is sinful, or which involves breaking ties of relationship, will be given for it by Allah one of three things: He will give him swift answer, or store it up for him in the next world, or turn away from him an equivalent amount of evil.” Those who heard it said they would then make many supplications and he (peace be upon him) replied that Allah was more ready to answer than they were to ask.

(Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2257)

Make dua and He will surely grant you that will be best for you. Only He knows what is best for us. This is beautifully defined by ustadha Yasmin Mogahed

"Question: Why aren’t my prayers being answered?

Answer: May Allah reward you for asking such an honest question, and may He guide us towards the truth. Ameen.

I think what happens in this type of situation is that we mix up our means and our ends. When we make du`a’ for a good husband, for example, is that strong marriage a means or an end? I think many people take it as an end, which explains much of the disillusionment and disappointment that often follows (ironically in both cases: whether we get it or we don’t). Like everything in this dunya, marriage is only a means—a means to reach Allah. So if we pray for it and we don’t get it, perhaps Allah has chosen another means for us—perhaps through hardship, the purification it may cause and the sabr it builds, to bring us to that end: Allah. It may be, as only Allah knows best, that had He given us that amazing husband we made du`a’ for, it would have made us heedless and therefore not achieve our end at all.

Instead of seeing it like this, however, I think the problem is, we are seeing things as just the opposite. The dunya (that great job, certain type of spouse, having a child, school, career, etc.) is our end and *Allah* is the means that we use to get there. We use that means, through making du`a’, to achieve our end (whatever it is that we’re making du`a’ for), and then get disappointed when our means (Allah) didn’t come through for us. We throw our hands up in the air and say our du`a’ are not being answered.

Our means just isn’t coming through for us! But, Allah isn’t a means. He is the end. The ultimate objective of even du`a’ itself is to build our connection to Allah. Through du`a’ we become closer to Him. So, I think the problem is that our focus is wrong. That’s why I love the du`a’ of istikhara so much. It’s just perfect because it acknowledges that Allah only knows best, and then asks for Him to bring what is best and take away what is not best. The focus of that du`a’ is not that which you are asking for. The focus is what is best in this life and next. This is not to say that we cannot make du`a’ for things specifically that we want. On the contrary, Allah loves for us to ask of Him. But it means that once we ask, do our part to the utmost, and put our trust in Allah, we are pleased with what Allah chooses for us. And we realize that Allah answers all du`a’ - but not always in the form we expect. And that is simply because our knowledge is limited, and His is unlimited. In His infinite knowledge He may send us what He knows to be better for us in achieving the ultimate end: the pleasure of Allah (swt)."

 -Yasmin Mogahed

How to focus in salaah. Please check this link

For temptation. Please check this link

The root cause of the fear of Allah is ‘ilm (knowledge) and ma’rifa (knowing Allah). The people of ‘ilm and ma’rifa see their own imperfections, their sins, and their defects in acts of worship. When they compare these with the blessings Allahu ta’âlâ has bestowed upon them, they feel ashamed of their actions and deeds. Thus, they develop a sense of fear.Also recite this dua

 "I seek refuge in You, O Allah, from a heart that does not fear (You).” (Ahmed)

So we should try to gain Islamic knowledge that will help us to be God conscious and God fearing in shaa Allah.

For sucidal thoughts read this quote and if it is something you can't deal with it then please consider visiting a therapist.

"It's always painful when a client reaches a point when they have lost all hope and they see suicide as their only solution. Suicide is not the end and it's definitely not the answer. Deal with your problems- don't look for an escape. The difficulties are designed to shape you - not break you! Never ever give up hope...reach out for help and change your life!"

-Haleh Banani

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for you.

Allahumma Ameen

[scoutception]

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light review: that which died so that Bravely Default could live

Ah, Bravely Default, Square Enix’s unexpected, but pleasant, little gift to the 3DS, an RPG meant to be a throwback to the days of the SNES, about a bunch of dorks bumbling their way into saving the world. With its great characters, fantastic music, downright gorgeous art design, and innovative battle system, it, and its sequel, Bravely Second, make for some of the best RPGs on the 3DS. I’m not here to talk about those, though, at least not quite yet. I’m here to talk about the Final Fantasy spinoff on the original DS that inspired them. This is Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, itself a throwback to older RPGs, and easily one of the most obscure spinoffs in the series. Does it measure up to the standards of its spiritual successors?

Short answer, no. But since nobody reads these for the short answers, buckle in your seat belts, because this’ll be a ride.

Story:

The game follows 4 teenagers from the kingdom of Horne: Brandt, Jusqua, Yunita, and Aire, who, after defeating the local witch, Louhi, who kidnapped Aire, the kingdom’s princess, are branded to be the Heroes of Light by the planet’s guardian, the Crystal, who warns them of a darkness that threatens to destroy the world. Upon returning to their home, they find all its inhabitants turned to stone by the curse of the witch. Unfortunately, the Crystal could not have picked a worse group of people to task with saving the world. Brandt is an insecure idiot who blindly dashes ahead to try to become stronger, Jusqua is a lazy jerk adverse to putting in effort, even when it’s a good cause, Aire is a greedy spoiled brat of a princess concerned mostly with keeping herself well off, regardless of the consequences to other people, and Yunita is a knight with severe self esteem issues, which wouldn’t be too damaging on its own... if not for her companions treating her awfully and ditching her at the drop of a hat. Needless to say, these are not attractive qualities in a hero, and they split up immediately after discovering what happened to their home, and while Brandt and Yunita do try to find a solution to their home’s predicament, with Jusqua and Aire essentially giving up and taking refuge in a different town, most of the plot boils down to them wandering around trying to fix problems they themselves caused, while trying to fix the problems of all the towns they come across, swapping between themselves in parties of two, and picking up and dropping guest party members. It gets more than a bit frustrating after a while, and feels quite aimless, until things get a lot more interesting once they reunite in the floating city of Spelvia.

Major game spoilers from this point on, just as a warning

The city of Spelvia is home to the original hero of light, Rolan, who saved the world three hundred years before with the help of his dragon companion. After doing so, his father, the chief of the town Invidia, ordered him to create an empire in Spelvia. His dragon having died in the battle against the darkness, and left alone to create his empire, Rolan became filled with bitterness and resentment, refusing to help the new heroes despite being the only hope to save Horne. The heroes try to help him by freeing his soul of his darkness... only to, as usual, completely mess up and cause the darkness to cover the entire world, somehow causing time to roll back to 15 years in the past. As it turns out, however, this was the best thing possible, as the troubles of the various kingdoms, including Rolan’s own darkness. are revealed to be the work of 7 demons, Asmodeus, Belphegor, Leviathan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mammon, and Satan. After defeating them all, they traverse to the source of the darkness and destroy the mastermind behind it all, Chaos (this definitely isn’t familiar at all, huh).

While the plot definitely has interesting ideas and cool moments, it’s still not a great success. The plot for the first half of the game is rather thin and meandering, and the characters just aren’t memorable, with the lack of interaction between the main cast being one of the biggest flaws. Still, it’s an interesting effort, if nothing else.

Gameplay:

The 4 Heroes of Light is uses a turn based battle system that is somewhat reminiscent of its spiritual successor, Bravely Default, though still quite different. The main similarity is the use of AP. All your party members have a max of 5 AP they can store. One is given automatically every turn, and choosing to defend will give an extra one. AP is used for everything, from using abilities, to casting magic, to simply attacking, to the point there isn’t even MP. The stronger the abilities, the more AP they take to use, with high level spells using 4, and the most advanced abilities using 4 or 5. However, compared to Bravely Default, there’s a few major problems with this system. While not having to worry about having to keep your MP up seems nice, the trade off of having to use more AP for stronger abilities is actually rather damaging. If you, say, wanted to attack with Firaga, you’d need to defend twice just to build up enough AP to cast it once, essentially only being able to go once every three turns, which isn’t very efficient, especially when high level spells like that are one of your only methods for hitting multiple enemies, not to mention the problems healers face.

While using a lower level spell may seem like the obvious solution, it’s not that simple. TFHOL (I cannot type out that whole name everytime) uses a customizable ability system where, in addition to the basic three commands of attacking, defending, and using items, you have 6 free ability slots that can be filled with either job abilities, of which there are 4 each, and magic, which anyone can freely use. While this may sound fine and dandy, it’s actually a pretty restrictive number. Even aside from the job abilities, most of which are quite valuable, the sheer amount of spells available means a lot of spreading them out between your party members, who will likely be less effective at magic than others, and have duties to focus on besides magic. Even worse, in a move I can only call utterly baffling, there is no way to manually target in battle. Physical moves always hit the enemy in front, to the right, and magical attacks always hit the enemy in back, to the left, while healing and other support magic just goes to whoever the computer thinks needs it from a pure numbers standpoint. This can result in your meathead healing your paladin at low health for piddly amounts, while your dedicated healer heals your bard that already got off all their buffs off just because they now had a bit less HP, not to mention a dangerous enemy remaining in battle longer than you’d like just cause they’re in a spot that the auto target refuses to go for. There is absolutely no reason they couldn’t put in manual targeting. Aside from magic specifically, though, the ability system is flawed in how utterly restricted you are without it. For instance, the simple ability to run from battles, one of the most basic things in an RPG, is restricted to one specific job, one that’s rather poor offensively, to boot. Yes, if you get into a random encounter without said job, you’re forced to fight it, no way around it.

As mentioned many times, this game uses a system where your different characters can switch between various jobs. These range from the traditional white and black mages, the dedicated healers and offensive magic users, to bards and musicians, with job abilities to provide buffs to the party, to the more traditionally offensive rangers and bandits, to some very.... weird ones, such as the Salve-Maker, dedicated to enhancing the effects of items, to the elementalist, which manipulates elemental effectiveness and resistance, to, all things, the party host, which relies on psyching the party up, making them more effective in battle. They can get pretty creative, and they all have some kind of use in battle, regardless of how far in the game you are. They also all have passive abilities, such as the black and white mage reducing the amount of AP needed to use their respective types of magic by one, along with different stats that determine their effectiveness at certain things, such as using different weapons. The progression on getting them, however, is pretty slow. Other than the default freelancer, at first you’re only given the wayfarer, the aforementioned job able to run from battles, once you first assemble your full party, and afterwards, you unlock two jobs per city story arc, and while it’s not too awful a pace, it still takes a while before you’re given some kind of variety, though there’s a few that can only be gotten through minigames as well. This is only worsened by your party permanently being halved for half the game, or in some cases only being given 1 person to control. This limits your options even further. Trying to use more supportive jobs such as the bard can put all the pressure on your other party member, not to mention it’s a downer in general, having your creativity limited so.

Aside from the basic EXP leveling gained from defeating enemies, jobs can level up through gems dropped by enemies, unlocking new abilities. While fine in concept, in execution, it’s not well balanced at all. There’s 8 different types of gems, all of which are eventually needed to level up, and you need very specific amounts of each to level the jobs up. Additionally, gems are also your main source of currency for a while, since enemies don’t drop money, forcing you to balance saving them for strengthening your jobs, and being able to buy at least a few things. Gems aren’t guaranteed drops, and they can only drop a max of 4 per battle normally anyway, making it even grindier. Worst of all, the final type, the diamonds, are only dropped by bosses, which are obviously finite, with the exception of the respawning bosses in the bonus dungeons, which have their own problems, which I’ll get to in a bit. In the end, it’s just an unnecessary complication compared to enemies giving JP to level up your jobs like in Bravely Default.

No beating around the bush, this is a difficult game, and not for all the right reasons. Combined with the aforementioned difficulties such as no manual targeting, the encounter rate is pretty high, with enemies more than happy to wreck your day, and the game tries to do everything it can to spite you further. For instance, the inventory system works by each of your party members a limited amount of space to hold items. To equip equipment and spells, though, you need to physically keep them in said character’s inventory, which takes up quite a bit of space, and there’s no item stacking either; you want to have potions on hand, every potion you take is another space lost. While it generally doesn’t cause too many problems, from my experience, it’s still a pretty irritating wrinkle, especially when enemies can drop tons of items. Another, much more frustrating example, comes once you transition into the second half of the game, once the party reunites. The random encounters actually start scaling to your level, essentially meaning that your levels become meaningless. This is another detail that’s downright baffling to me, especially when them scaling means they give out more and more EXP as you level up, meaning you’ll hit the level cap pretty easily, and with barely anything to show for it. The bosses can also be huge roadblocks, especially the 7 demons, with special shout outs to Asmodeus, who has an attack that hits the whole party and has a chance of inflicting every status ailment in the game on your party members, including ones like stone, which pretty much kill them outright. Still, the bosses are also the highlight of the game, when they’re not making you pull your hair out.

You’re also restricted to saving at save points, which can be pretty annoying with how long and labyrinthine the later dungeons can get, especially with the final dungeon’s save point only being halfway through. You’re not even allowed to save on the world map. On that subject, the world map is extremely small and barren. While the early parts of the game sort of hide it with their extreme linearity, once you’re given free reign, and a dragon to ride, it quickly becomes apparent just how little there even is, with only a few optional locations, most of which are the bonus dungeons, which sane players are better off skipping. They’re 4 giant towers that go on for 100 floors, containing loads of random encounters, several bosses, and random equipment, and even jobs from the very last bosses. The problem is, everything except every 10th floor is a regular floor where you just have to find the exit, the problem being they get so utterly massive towards the end it can take half an hour to find the exit, not helped by the constant random encounters. Even with the rewards they offer, there is no word to describe them other than exhausting, and they’re easily some of the most miserable challenges I’ve gone through in a game. Even worse, you’re expected to farm these for gems and a special item that can upgrade your equipment. It’s a waste of time and sanity.

Overall, while the gameplay is a homage to older RPGs, it mainly captures the worst aspects of them instead. I’ve played many RPGs, and none have frustrated me anywhere near as much as this game.

Graphics:

The graphics of TFHOL are actually quite good. It was meant to have the feel of a popup book, and as a result, it has a bright and colorful feel to it.

It also has some pretty inventive location concepts, especially the final dungeon, the Star Chamber.

The biggest highlight to me, however, is the enemy designs, especially the 7 demons and Chaos. They tend to look inventive and distinct, and was even carried into Bravely Default, where it works even better.

Sound:

The music is simply fantastic in this game. It’s all in chiptune, and it works extremely well, even if it sounds a bit funny at first. From the blood pumping boss themes, to the creepy cave and dungeon themes, to quite a few that sound downright beautiful, like the dragon’s theme and Spelvia’s theme, being in chiptune does nothing to harm it. It also gets points for including night versions of every town theme, which sound beautiful in their own right.

Overall:

This is a game that does quite a few things right. The graphics, the music, even the story and the more climatic boss fights all work great. The base gameplay, however, is nothing short of a mess. I downright hated this game when I beat it, and while I’m not quite as emotional over it now, it’s still a very solid heavily not recommended. However, it did lead to the creation of Bravely Default, and for that, it deserves to be acknowledged. Till next time.

-Scout

[mindsmade]

❛ mercysought / priestess.

The priestess waits, to see if he wanted to continue talking since it was a subject that neither of them really touched on. Even now the priestess felt like it was probably not something that she wanted to dwell on. What was the point of talking about such things? Apart from relieving the pain after years of it happening? Maybe it was different for Sylvan, the same way that it was different for many of the people that too refuge in the Temple, to let the world hear their pain into words was sometimes all that they needed. The woman wished that simply reaching out, lending her hand to help pull him back on his feet to the future would be enough but she knew better than to place such simple solutions in complex problems.

   “I felt the same way a very long time ago.” no one from her family would remember such a thing. She hadn’t met Perry during her younger years, nor did she have Manala. Maybe Himsulem had been the only person to be able to understand or even remember what she meant, but he was no longer there and the priestess didn’t want to relieve the memories of her younger years, nor the years at Himsulem’s side.

If it hadn’t been for the temple, however, the people that she had met here and the feeling that she finally had something that she could help build instead of just destroying. Perry, Manala, Kane, they were all now people in her life that made it all the better, every day. “I’m lucky to have the family that I have, if not for them I would not be here.”

And now Benjia and Sylvan were also part of that family. The priestess eyes lift to focus on him with a gentle smile, her hand resting against his, holding and squeezing it. Dark eyes calm even when faced with the realisation that… well… It didn’t matter. She was old enough to know that attraction came in waves and that it could leave just as quickly and that this could very well be his way of saying nothing is going to happen between us in the softest way that he could. The priestess appreciated it all the same.

She gets up from where they were sitting, inhaling sharply still with the same tight smile on her lips “Hopefully you’ll eventually be able to feel the same, and be able to carry on.”

                   He looks the priestess in the eye after staring at her hand, resting on atop his still, for ... well, a while. Seconds, perhaps even a whole minute by now. Strangely enough, it’s the squeeze she gives that tears his gaze away from their sole point of contact. His attention shifts from the contrast between their skin tones to her eyes as a result. In his apparent state of vulnerability to hyperfixation, he’s tempted to sink into the richness of the darkness he finds there and stay silent. But he doesn’t. Rather, he drums his other ( unoccupied ) hand’s fingers along the edge of the makeshift bench ( that is, an old trunk ). Once, twice, repeating the pattern to the beat of the crackling fire to ground himself.

                ❛  I know,  ❜  he then responds — perhaps somewhat suddenly, yet not at the cost of his sincerity. Sylvan nods affirmatively and finally rediscovers his normally everlasting smile. It climbs slowly from the corners of his lips towards his eyes, shallowly dimpling his cheeks.  ❛  Neither would I.  ❜  But what family does he speak of? The limited duo of himself and Benjia, or the extension upon which he so coincidentally and fortunately came months ago? Both, in truth, though he daren’t assume any such thing out loud in front of the binding force of said extended family. He’ll not impose so freely, so brazenly, but at the core of his statement lies that sentiment all the same: she and hers are his family, too, now. Sylvan does believe that, truly and deeply.

                   Something however shifts between them in the ensuing instant. It’s hard to put his finger on what exactly it is that changes and why it does, but he can feel it all the same. An intuitive sort of vibration renders him more alert now, more lucid than his dreamy gratitude had permitted him to be. That same intuition speaks to him of something never voiced between them so far. To his mind, it never required voicing, either. It was just there. Existing, appeasing — and comfortable, most of all. Nevertheless does he feel an urge to speak out about it now, even if almost haphazardly so, and finds he’s only seconds away from losing the opportunity to clarify his thoughts.

                    The priestess rises and as she does so, she speaks, granting Sylvan the final window of time on which to pounce. It’s this, or letting things slide out of general meekness. Whilst generally not at all confrontational by nature, he’d rather deal with the strange, unprecedented sort of insecurity now suspended between them head-on.  ❛  Wait.  ❜  He takes her wrist in his hand, his grasp loose but still there all the same. Just because he’s been welcoming of her touch so far ( and she has — in his eyes — given it freely ), doesn’t mean the same goes the other way again. Eyes again drift to their hands, though this time to linger only between two heartbeats. 

                    He thumbs the outside of her wrist once, though doubts that’ll take away the tightness in her smile.  ❛  I don’t ... want there to be any confusion, and I’m afraid I must’ve said something that came across wrong. Maybe I should’ve been clearer ... sooner.  ❜     ( @mercysought / priestess )

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Nobody takes the UN seriously, but here's how to fix it

Smari McCarthy:

The last year has been a dumpster fire for the norms of international relations. Many of the foundations of the modern international order have been brought into question, from the UN to the WTO to free trade in general. Although occasionally good results have come of this, for the most part it’s been extremely bad news, dominated by two terms in particular: Trump and Brexit.

An endless supply of analysis has been thrown around, but one particularly informative sequence of events happened in response to Donald Trump’s unilateral declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in late 2017. Immediately thereafter, a UN Security Council vote was called to affirm the invalidity of Trump’s declaration, which the US promptly vetoed.

Subsequently, the crackpot US Jerusalem policy was taken apart in the UN General Assembly in December 2017 with a humiliating 128 to 9 vote. Not that it changed much, since the US moved its embassy to West Jerusalem in May, deepening the longstanding conflict by resetting all talk of a peaceful solution to zero.

If there’s any lesson to be drawn from this kerfuffle, it is that the UN itself is an absolutely necessary body for guaranteeing international law, but that it is simultaneously a body hobbled by a structure that implicitly assumes that the global superpowers are generally worthy of the veto power they wield. In practice, nobody takes the UN seriously, and therefore there is no real backbone to international law.

The problem, of course, is that the UN General Assembly is a one-country-one-vote affair, giving China the same number of votes as Vanuatu, and putting the United States on par with Liechtenstein. The larger countries therefore have every reason to want veto power, the diplomatic nuclear option. But their veto is a little bit too much firepower most of the time, and it is frequently abused as a form of geopolitical bullying.

There is an alternative. The establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly, which would be democratically elected by the general public in each UN member state, with seats allocated in a reasonable proportion to the population of each country and based on rules guaranteeing representativeness within each country’s delegation, would give larger countries like China, India, the US and Indonesia a size-appropriate level of power in the affairs of the UN, with the current General Assembly being made into something like a senate. This model would bring a balance to the forces at work within the UN, and hopefully eliminate the need for Security Council vetos; leaving the Security Council itself better off for it.

While there are other possible approaches, this is one that resolves many of the valid criticisms of the UN as it stands, be it the unrepresentativeness, the lack of proportionality in the weighting of each nation, the substantial overkill involved in the current power structure of the security council, and the tendency of numerous smaller countries to be able to band together against the larger ones. It also furthers the goal of increasing public awareness of the work of the UN, which currently is residual at best.

This is not a new proposal. A Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly has been going on for many years, and has been endorsed by myself and more than 1500 other elected representatives in 122 countries. It’s not even a particularly radical notion. It’s simply a proposal to reduce the nuclear nations' reliance on the veto while giving the general public a much needed voice in the affairs of the UN. A soft power mechanism for global politics. Imagine!

But so far there hasn’t been a great deal of support for this kind of proposal. This is partially because the UN is an organization largely left to fend for itself. After Trump’s embarrassing defeat in the General Assembly, he further embarrassed himself and his office by petulantly defunding the UN to the tune of 258 million dollars a year. This nearly 5% budget cut for the international organization is a blow to global efforts to deal with humanitarian crises, international development challenges, and more generally the 17 Sustainable Development Goals which focus the global agenda. Trump’s most recent decision to defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) deepens the problem even further.

Some increase of enthusiasm is showing though. The European Parliament resolved in July to encourage the EU governments to support "the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly”, and more generally support a "UN 2020 summit" that will consider "comprehensive reform measures for a renewal and strengthening of the United Nations." This should absolutely be done, and I will be calling on the Icelandic parliament to pass a similar resolution in September.

Because, let’s face it: The UN is hardly anybody’s favourite organization and it has relatively few champions outside of its own ranks. Even core people understand the problems. The bureaucracy, the distance from the public, and the widespread (but entirely wrong) sense that it doesn’t accomplish anything do little to earn it public or political support. The political class in most countries treat it with something between disinterested reverence and confused fascination, and as a result it has become a refuge primarily for die-hard internationalists, romantic humanitarians, and ambitious careerists ─ all of whom are fighting the good fight, regardless of their reasons.

But the UN should be a favourite organization of a great many more people. The idea it was founded on, of upholding universal human rights and providing a platform for the world’s people to peacefully resolve their differences and move humanity towards a better future, is as lofty as any idea can be. And if Donald Trump’s misguided approach to diplomacy can be a rallying cry for greater support for that idea and the organization that upholds it, then make it so.

Either way, the UN needs to evolve. Its importance is clear, but it needs to become more human, less bureaucratic, more effective and less distant. The same is true of a great many international organizations, from the Council of Europe to the World Trade Organization. That Trump and others in the new wave of populist nationalism can so easily snipe at these organizations shows that they’ve done a poor job of engaging with the public and remaining relevant. They’re barely representative and largely misunderstood. To anybody who understands what these organizations are supposed to do, their importance is clear, but reform and modernization is long overdue.

This type of reform can be achieved, and now is the time to achieve it, before some petty despot does some real damage.

https://boingboing.net/2018/09/04/nobody-takes-the-un-seriously.html

[secular-jew]

An important letter (fact, not opinion) written by Dr. Denis MacEoin, a non-Jewish Scottish professor, senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly, and expert in Middle Eastern affairs: 

TO: The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association.

May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain 's great Middle East experts in their day. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University . Naturally, I am the author of several books and hundreds of articles in this field. I say all that to show that I am well informed in Middle Eastern affairs and that, for that reason, I am shocked and disheartened by the EUSAmotion and vote.

I am shocked for a simple reason: there is not and has never been a system of apartheid in Israel . That is not my opinion, that is fact that can be tested against reality by any Edinburgh student, should he or she choose to visit Israel to see for themselves. Let me spell this out, since I have the impression that those members of EUSA who voted for this motion are absolutely clueless in matters concerning Israel, and that they are, in all likelihood, the victims of extremely biased propaganda coming from the anti-Israel lobby.

Being anti-Israel is not in itself objectionable. But I'm not talking about ordinary criticism of Israel. I'm speaking of a hatred that permits itself no boundaries in the lies and myths it pours out. Thus, Israel is repeatedly referred to as a "Nazi" state. In what sense is this true, even as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli concentration camps? The einzatsgruppen? The SS? The Nuremberg Laws? The Final Solution? None of these things nor anything remotely resembling them exists in Israel, precisely because the Jews, more than anyone on earth, understand what Nazism stood for.

It is claimed that there has been an Israeli Holocaust in Gaza (or elsewhere). Where? When? No honest historian would treat that claim with anything but the contempt it deserves. But calling Jews Nazis and saying they have committed a Holocaust is as basic a way to subvert historical fact as anything I can think of. Likewise apartheid. For apartheid to exist, there would have to be a situation that closely resembled how things were in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a weekend in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous the claim is.

That a body of university students actually fell for this and voted on it is a sad comment on the state of modern education. The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country's 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha'is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world center; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population).

In Iran, the Bahai's (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why aren't your members boycotting Iran? Arabs in Israel can go anywhere they want, unlike blacks in apartheid South Africa. They use public transport, they eat in restaurants, they go to swimming pools, they use libraries, they go to cinemas alongside Jews - something no blacks were able to do in South Africa.

Israeli hospitals not only treat Jews and Arabs, they also treat Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank. On the same wards, in the same operating theatres. In Israel , women have the same rights as men: there is no gender apartheid. Gay men and women face no restrictions, and Palestinian gays often escape into Israel, knowing they may be killed at home.

It seems bizarre to me that LGBT groups call for a boycott of Israel and say nothing about countries like Iran, where gay men are hanged or stoned to death. That illustrates a mindset that beggars belief.

Intelligent students thinking it's better to be silent about regimes that kill gay people, but good to condemn the only country in the Middle East that rescues and protects gay people. Is that supposed to be a sick joke?

University is supposed to be about learning to use your brain, to think rationally, to examine evidence, to reach conclusions based on solid evidence, to compare sources, to weigh up one view against one or more others. If the best Edinburgh can now produce are students who have no idea how to do any of these things, then the future is bleak.

I do not object to well-documented criticism of Israel. I do object when supposedly intelligent people single the Jewish state out above states that are horrific in their treatment of their populations. We are going through the biggest upheaval in the Middle East since the 7th and 8th centuries, and it's clear that Arabs and Iranians are rebelling against terrifying regimes that fight back by killing their own citizens.

Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, do not rebel (though they are free to protest). Yet Edinburgh students mount no demonstrations and call for no boycotts against Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iran. They prefer to make false accusations against one of the world's freest countries, the only country in the Middle East that has taken in Darfur refugees, the only country in the Middle East that gives refuge to gay men and women, the only country in the Middle East that protects the Bahai's... Need I go on?

The imbalance is perceptible, and it sheds no credit on anyone who voted for this boycott. I ask you to show some common sense. Get information from the Israeli embassy. Ask for some speakers. Listen to more than one side. Do not make your minds up until you have given a fair hearing to both parties. You have a duty to your students, and that is to protect them from one-sided argument. They are not at university to be propagandized. And they are certainly not there to be tricked into anti-Semitism by punishing one country among all the countries of the world, which happens to be the only Jewish state. If there had been a single Jewish state in the 1930's (which, sadly, there was not), don't you think Adolf Hitler would have decided to boycott it?

Your generation has a duty to ensure that the perennial racism of anti-Semitism never sets down roots among you. Today, however, there are clear signs that it has done so and is putting down more. You have a chance to avert a very great evil, simply by using reason and a sense of fair play. Please tell me that this makes sense. I have given you some of the evidence. It's up to you to find out more.

Yours sincerely, Denis MacEoin

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (5 of 6)

After an indulgence of some procrastination, here’s the penultimate load of episode reviews for season 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation…

Episode 20: Tin Man

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise brings aboard the Betazoid mission specialist Tam Elbrun and takes him to a distant star system. Elbrun, whom Deanna Troi previously knew when he was a mental patient and she was a psychology student, has a history of mental instability due to overpoweringly strong telepathic capabilities that have been active since birth (most Betazoids develop their telepathic abilities in adolescence).  However, his unique skills are used for first contact situations with alien life. On this particular mission, Elbrun's abilities are needed to try to coax a giant sentient spaceship, code named "Tin Man," away from a star that is about to go supernova. It also comes to light that the star is in a Romulan-claimed area of space, and that this is a race to claim the living ship. Elbrun finds it impossible to filter out the thoughts of the Enterprise crew, but finds solace in meeting Lt. Commander Data, by whom Elbrun is initially puzzled, finding what he calls 'absence of mind'; he finds relief in developing a friendship with Data, who, being an artificial lifeform, has no organic mind to be read.

 When they arrive, the Enterprise is attacked and disabled by a Romulan Warbird that has overly stressed its engines to catch up to them. The Romulans race ahead to try and communicate with Tin Man. When Elbrun gleans from the Romulans telepathically that they intend to destroy Tin Man if they can't claim it, he sends it a telepathic warning to Tin Man. Tin Man suddenly comes to life and emits an energy wave that destroys the Warbird and further damages the Enterprise. Elbrun, now in communication with Tin Man, reveals that it calls itself Gomtuu. The creature is millennia old and formerly had a crew, but they were lost in a radiation accident. Due to a combination of remorse, loneliness, and a lack of purpose, Gomtuu wishes to die in the supernova. Elbrun requests to be beamed aboard the creature, but Captain Picard is cautious of this action. When a second warbird arrives, Picard lets Elbrun transport to Gomtuu along with Data to help procure the ship. Elbrun is initially overwhelmed by Gomtuu, but eventually comes to identify himself with the ship.

 With the supernova imminent, the elated Elbrun informs Data he will stay with Gomtuu, believing it is where he truly belongs. Moments before the start of the supernova, Gomtuu creates another energy wave that sends the Enterprise and the Warbird spinning out of the star system in separate directions before they are caught in the nova blast. As the Enterprise regains control, they find Data aboard the bridge, who reports what happened aboard Gomtuu. When Data discusses the events with Troi, Data acknowledges that like Elbrun with Gomtuu, the Enterprise is where he belongs.

Review:

This episode was apparently co-written by a trio of writers in response to the fire quality of the opening five minutes of the second season episode ‘Samaritan Snare’, and then further developed from that initial spec script when the show needed an episode that looked easy to put into production while other scripts were still being re-worked.  It’s a writing motivation I can certainly understand; some of my own writing decisions are in response to my dissatisfaction with other works in the same genre.  For example, I don’t like how some films, TV shows and even modern comics work in a mixed array of characters that gives the feeling they’re trying to essentially manufacture an air of diversity, rather than allowing the diversity to just be ‘part of the background’ and focus more on narrative.  As such, my novel work will hopefully include a level of diversity that matches what I’ve experienced in real life and that is just an accepted part of that world, thereby allowing the story to retain centre stage.

 Trek itself is the epitome of ‘diversity in the background’ because it’s never needed to really call any special attention to how mixed its various crews have been over the various shows.  It just gets on with telling the story at hand, and the diversity just shows itself through the performance and development of the characters and the issues their stories handle.  Sadly, ‘Tin Man’ fails to include any kind of character or issue exploration.  We don’t get into what Tam goes through as an overwhelmed psychic enough because we’ve got this living starship being sought by the Romulans as well as by the Federation, and Tam and the Romulans take up screen time that could have been spent really exploring the living ship idea.

 Frankly, I think the X-Men comics of the early 80’s did better with the concept of a living spaceship creature when they introduced the Acanti during the Brood Saga.  Maybe Trek should have asked Chris Claremont to ship in a script or two, considering the number of episodes I’ve noted to date that include stories covered better by his X-Men run than by TNG.  I also don’t get where Data’s ‘realisation’ about belonging on the Enterprise comes from, given that at no point in the entire episode does Data question whether he belongs on the Enterprise, nor does anyone else.  This final scene makes the episode all the poorer because it just doesn’t make sense, and yet the people who wrote it did so in protest over a previous episode that also made little sense in many areas.  Ultimately, I give this episode 4 out of 10.

Episode 21: Hollow Pursuits

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise in the process of transporting Mikulak biological tissue samples intended for use in combating an epidemic of Correllium fever on Nahmi IV. The transport of the samples is delicate, and when they find one of the sample containers is leaking, they are forced to destroy it to prevent the contamination of the other samples. Lt. Commander La Forge tells Commander Riker he is concerned that one of his engineers, Reginald Barclay, has been underperforming and notes that he is late to help with the sample transport. What La Forge does not realize is that Barclay has been in the holodeck acting in a simulation of other Enterprise crew members, avoiding contact with their real counterparts. La Forge requests that Barclay be transferred from the Enterprise but Picard recommends that La Forge take Barclay on as a "pet project".

 La Forge works at supporting Barclay as their team works to investigate the failure of unconnected systems around the ship. Picard invites Barclay to a bridge meeting to review the investigation, but slips up and accidentally calls him "Broccoli", a nickname given to him by Wesley Crusher, due to Barclay's tendency to 'veg out'. Barclay later returns to the holodeck to seek refuge in the simulated version of the bridge members. In talking to La Forge, Guinan suggests that Barclay is simply imaginative and that La Forge keep a more open mind towards him. On her advice, La Forge visits Barclay on the holodeck and discovers the exaggerated simulation of the bridge crew. La Forge suggests Barclay get counselling from Counsellor Troi, whose counterpart on the holodeck displays clear signs of sexual attraction towards Barclay. Barclay attempts to undergo a real counselling session with Troi, but freaks out when she tries to relax him with the appearance of actions his holodeck version of her would do, and ends the counselling session to flee back to the holodeck.

 When Barclay cannot be located to attend a briefing with Riker, Riker storms into the holodeck with La Forge and Troi to locate him. They find comical versions of the senior staff, with bumbling versions of Picard and La Forge, a slothful idiot version of Wesley, and an extremely short, comical version of Riker. Riker attempts to stop the program angrily, but Troi stops him saying it might traumatize Barclay and exploring this world can help them understand Barclay better. However, when they come across the sexed-up version of her, it's her turn to want to immediately stop the program, but Riker stops her, sarcastically throwing her own words in her face. They finally locate Barclay sleeping in the lap of a fantasy Dr Crusher.

 Suddenly, the Enterprise mysteriously accelerates to warp speeds, and Riker, La Forge and Barclay go to Engineering to discover the matter/anti-matter injectors have jammed; the ship will continue to accelerate until its structural integrity collapses unless the injectors are cleared. The team is unable to come up with any immediate solutions that will work in the limited time they have, but Barclay realizes all the failures they have seen have been connected by a human element: a member of La Forge's Engineering team has been present at each incident, so he surmises that somehow they became carriers of an undetectable contaminant. Using a process of elimination, they reduce the possible contaminants from 15,525 to 2. The contamination that has been interfering with the systems is quickly discovered to be invidium, which was used as part of the Mikulak samples. They are able to quickly repair the injectors, stop the ship, and set course for a nearby starbase to remove the rest of the invidium contamination. La Forge commends Barclay for his contribution in saving the ship.

 Barclay returns one more time to the holodeck and addresses the simulated bridge crew, believing it best he leaves them, and then deletes all of his holodeck programs but one.

Review:

According to a note on Wikipedia, the episode writer claims that the central guest character of Lt. Reg Barclay was meant to be a satire of Trekkies and their tendency to develop obsessions with certain characters, though notes on the Trek wiki site Memory Alpha refute this. Frankly, I’m inclined to believe the Memory Alpha notes more just because what the episode gives us isn’t consistent with the kind of satire Wikipedia seems to think this is.  If it was a satire of Trek fans, then Barclay would either be obsessed with the main characters and spending too much time with them, or he’d be spending too much time with totally made-up characters relative to the ‘real-life’ of the Trek world.

 What we instead get is Barclay playing out how he wishes he could be with real people in a fantasy world, and this is something I think everyone can relate to.  We all experience difficulties with friends and colleagues, and given access to holodeck technology, I don’t think there’s a single soul who wouldn’t want to re-create those moments of difficulty in ways we wish they had gone. Of course, the hidden trap in such an approach to resolving issues is that you can then be seduced by the fantasy to the point of neglecting reality, which in turn is what happens to Barclay, and it takes Geordi relating his experiences from the episode ‘Booby Trap’ earlier in the series to bring Reg out of his shell and out of what would ultimately be self-destructive behaviour.

 Barclay is a great guest character played by actor Dwight Shultz, who manages to reprise this role many times throughout the TNG TV show, as well as in the second TNG film and a number of episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.  It’s refreshing to see that someone can still be a bit of a ‘fish out of water’ in the world of Trek without being an alien, an android or something simply not human, and we also get good development of Geordi, as he gets a chance to be a sympathetic and tolerant commanding officer who is willing to help Barclay (we haven’t seen Geordi play this side of being a commanding officer much).  This isn’t quite the best of Trek, but it comes pretty damn close.  I’d give it 8 out of 10.

Episode 22: The Most Toys

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is called to assist the colony on planet Beta Agni II, which has suffered contamination to its water supply. They meet with the Jovis, a ship owned by the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo, a trader who so happens to have hitritium, the extremely rare compound needed to neutralize the contamination. The volatile substance cannot be beamed aboard, so Lt. Commander Data is assigned to make several shuttle trips to collect the cargo. Just before the final trip, Data is kidnapped, and his shuttle is rigged to explode. The Enterprise crew scan the debris and finding trace elements matching Data. As a result, they believe he is dead, and are forced to leave to continue their mission.

 Data is reactivated in a secured room and is met by Fajo, who explains he collects rare and valuable objects and has kidnapped Data due to his uniqueness. Fajo's assistant Varria tells Data to change out of his Enterprise uniform and to sit in his chair. Data refuses to follow orders and remarks that they are both Fajo's prisoners.

 Mourning the supposed loss of their friend, Geordi is certain that he is missing something about Data's destruction. Geordi takes his hypothesis to Picard and Riker, stating that the reason he can't find anything is there's nothing to indicate a malfunction. He explains that the only option is pilot error, but doesn't believe it as the odds are too vast to calculate. Picard gives him some words of solace and dismisses him. Picard and Riker select Worf as Data's replacement.

 In an effort to make Data comply with his wishes, Fajo says that he isn't at war with anyone and is in fact Data's liberator. He prods Data about whether or not he is capable of killing anyone, and Data states that he is programmed to never kill except in self-defence, and thus would be incapable of murder. When Data still refuses to submit, Fajo splashes a solvent on Data's uniform that dissolves it so he will be compelled to change his clothes.

 Geordi and Wesley run through Data's communications during the shuttle trips, with Geordi noting that Data follows protocol to the letter. Wesley further points out that Data didn't report the shuttle clearing the cargo bay of the Jovis on the final transmission, per protocol. Geordi and Wesley conclude that for Data to not follow standard procedures, such as not reporting something wrong, is not like him unless there was something wrong with Data himself.

 Data remains defiant against Fajo's attempts to make him an object of display, purposely remaining silent and immobile when Fajo shows off his collection to a rival trader. Only when Fajo threatens to kill Varria with a very rare and illegal Varon-T disruptor does Data agree to follow Fajo's orders and sits in the chair.

 The Enterprise crew arrives at the colony and uses the hitridium to neutralize the contamination, but finds it works far more quickly than it should and deduce that the contamination had been caused deliberately, leading them back to Fajo. They return to the last-known location of the Jovis to track Fajo down.

 Varria decides to help Data to escape. During the attempt they set off alarms that alert Fajo, and when he gets there, he uses the Varon-T disruptor on Varria, killing her without remorse. Data picks up the spare Varon-T that Varria had possessed and threatens to use it on Fajo. Fajo in turn threatens to murder more of his assistants if Data doesn't comply with his demands, believing that Data's programming will prevent him from shooting Fajo and to preserve the assistants' lives by submitting. Fajo further taunts Data to shoot him, mocking him as "just an android" incapable of feeling rage at Varria's death. Data states that he cannot allow this to continue and gets ready to shoot Fajo, much to the latter's shock. The Enterprise arrives and suddenly beams Data back aboard, discovering that the disruptor was in the process of discharging. Data is met in the transporter room by Commander Riker, and requests that Fajo be taken into custody, with Riker responding that arrangements have already been made. When Riker asks why the disruptor was energized, Data only offers that something may have happened during transport.

 Data visits Fajo in the brig, where Fajo laments the reversal of their situation, but says defiantly that he will again add Data to his collection one day. Data informs Fajo that his stolen collection has been confiscated, and all his possessions returned to their rightful owners. Fajo remarks, "It must give you great pleasure." Data replies "No, sir, it does not. I do not feel pleasure. I am only an android." He then leaves a stunned Fajo alone in the brig.

Review:

This is a decent Data episode, though nowhere near on the same level as ‘The Offspring’ from earlier in this season. Given the conclusion and how that feeds back to an earlier conversation with the guest villain, the episode seems to be an exploration into how a being of no emotion and pure logic handles captivity, villainy and where the line lies between a justified act of defence and an act of murder.  It’s intriguing to watch, but flawed in that apparently, the show’s producers tried to make the episode’s ending ambiguous.  Of course, they haven’t succeeded, because O’Brien detects Data’s weapon firing while Data is being beamed to safety.  Clearly that means Data was going to kill Fajo and had been in the process of firing, otherwise the transporter sensors couldn’t have detected and neutralised the weapon’s discharge.

 What might be ambiguous, however, is thy why. Why did Data fire?  Was it out of sheer logic, reasoning that killing Fajo was necessary to safeguard the lives of his crew and future victims of his collection-oriented piracy and kidnapping?  Was it because on some level of pure logic Data could not allow Fajo to keep stalemating him into compliance and captivity?  Or was it possible that at this time when Data lacked an in-built capacity for emotion, there was a brief moment where Data’s positronic brain developed a split-second of emotional awareness and he acted based on that?  My guess is it’s more likely to be one of the first two, but really, it’s in that one area that the episode makes its mark.  For me, the episode as a whole is worth around 8 out of 10.

Episode 23: Sarek

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Federation Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan has arrived on board the Enterprise with his human wife, Perrin. His mission is to attend a conference to lay the foundation for a treaty between the Federation and an alien race called the Legarans, after which time he will retire due to old age. Though Captain Picard and his crew attempt to provide for Sarek and have arranged for a chamber music concert for him, the ambassador expresses apprehension and annoyance. Picard is surprised when Sarek starts crying in the middle of the performance, an emotional trait Vulcans normally suppress.

 Across the ship, the crew members start to act with uncharacteristic hostility towards one another, leading to a large brawl in the Ten Forward lounge. The onset of the events is tied to Sarek's arrival. Ship's Counsellor Deanna Troi and Chief Medical Officer Dr Beverly Crusher believe Sarek may be suffering from Bendii syndrome, a degenerative neurological disease that only affects aged Vulcans. This condition causes individuals to lose control of their emotions and emit "broadcast empathy", destabilizing the emotions of others around them. Picard attempts to approach Sarek about this, but Sarek's aides deny that there are any problems. Picard asks Lt. Commander Data to speak with Sakkath, Sarek's assistant, who has mutual respect with Data; Data confirms that Sakkath has been attempting to channel his mental discipline into Sarek, but Sarek has been overwhelmed by the pressures of the conference. Picard directly confronts Sarek on the matter, who attempts to deny the problem. When Sarek breaks down emotionally in front of Picard, Picard realizes they may need to cancel the conference.

 As Picard prepares to cancel with the Legarans, Perrin arrives and suggests an alternative option: Sarek could mind meld with another, allowing him to temporarily transfer his emotions onto someone else. This would leave Sarek able to successfully complete the conference and maintain his dignity, reputation and honour. Sarek, however, warns of the possible dangers to the receiver's mind from Sarek's strong emotions. Picard willingly agrees to be the host. Sarek performs the mind meld with Picard, and is able to retain full control of his emotions for the duration of the conference. However, Picard, monitored closely by Dr Crusher, suffers through the numerous emotions that Sarek has pent-up for years, including his regrets of not being able to show his love for his first wife Amanda, their son Spock, or his current wife Perrin. With the conference successfully completed, Sarek prepares to take his leave. Picard lets Perrin know of Sarek's love for her, and Perrin says she has always known it. Sarek thanks Picard for his kindness, and with deep respect states: "We will always retain the best part of the other, inside us."

Review:

This is a great watershed moment for The Next Generation, as for a long time Gene Roddenberry had been adamant about not allowing the show to reference the original series directly.  However, with this episode that caveat was lifted, and by having Spock’s father appear on Picard’s Enterprise, we get the first truly explicit link between the two series since Dr McCoy appears in the TNG pilot. The long life-span of Vulcans meant the original actor for Sarek from the Original Series productions got to reprise the role, adding nicely to the continuity of the franchise.  It’s great seeing Sarek and Picard together, and the episode makes for an interesting metaphorical nod to dementia among the elderly, and with a proud Vulcan as the focal point, even Sarek’s denials of the condition and emotional outbursts are on-point for how some people might react when coming to terms with such ailments in real life.

 Less good, however, is having to sit through all the scenes where members of the main cast and others experience the random broadcasts of anger from Sarek.  They’ve all got that ‘characters acting weird for weirdness’ sake’ vibe to them, which is often the case with Trek.  Almost no one they hire to play a role can play that character possessed or mentally altered without making it blatant something had happened.  It would be nice if every once in a while, they could play such changes more subtly so the audience is genuinely surprised when it turns out what we’ve just seen was down to external influence x, y or z.  When it comes to mysteries, some people may like the over-telegraphing of something like Columbo.  Me, give me a traditional Poirot or Marple-style mystery where the solution takes some work to discover.  For me, these two sides of the equation bring the episode to a balances score of about 8 out of 10.

Episode 24: Ménage à Troi

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

At a reception aboard the Enterprise following a trade conference on Betazed, Counsellor Deanna Troi argues with her mother, Lwaxana Troi, about her insistence that Deanna get married and raise a family. At the same party, Lwaxana is approached by the Ferengi Daimon Tog of the ship Krayton, who is interested in Lwaxana in a sexual way, but also explains he would like Lwaxana to use her telepathy to help him in his business dealings. Lwaxana rejects him flatly, then becomes irate and remarks that she would rather eat Orion Wing Slugs than date Tog. Deanna tries to speak with Lwaxana in her quarters about the incident, but winds up becoming infuriated over Lwaxana's pet name for her, "Little One," and leaves.

 Afterwards, at the urging of��Captain Picard, Commander Riker and his one-time flame, Deanna, decide to take a quick shore leave on Betazed while the Enterprise heads out on a routine mission studying a nebula. Lwaxana tracks down her daughter and Riker, with intent to encourage a renewed romance between the couple. She is just getting started when Daimon Tog beams down. As Riker expresses his surprise, Tog states that he has come for Lwaxana. When he is again rebuffed by Lwaxana, this time under pain of provoking an interstellar incident, Tog has himself and the others transported aboard the Krayton, leaving a confused Mr. Homn to wonder where his employer has gone.

 The three awaken in a cell aboard the Krayton. Tog then has Deanna and Lwaxana beamed into the lab of Farek, a Ferengi doctor who hopes to study Lwaxana's telepathy using mind probes. In the process of transporting them he leaves the women's clothing behind, saying that women are not worthy enough to wear clothes. Lwaxana pretends to be interested in Tog, and gains Deanna's return to the cell with Riker by agreeing to discuss with Tog a proposal to use her telepathic abilities in trade negotiations.

 Riker entices a Ferengi guard into a chess game, and once outside the cell, Riker quickly overpowers the guard. Once freed, Deanna and Riker attempt to send a message to the Enterprise, only to learn that the ship's communication system is secured by access code. As Lwaxana seduces Tog by rubbing his ears, she receives a telepathic message from Deanna asking her to try to get Tog's access code.

 Lwaxana has nearly gotten Tog to tell her the code when Farek walks in and catches her in the act. Farek threatens to humiliate Tog by revealing his incompetence to the Ferengi, but offers to forget the incident if Lwaxana is turned over to him for experimentation, despite the fact that the proposed tests may be lethal.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise leaves the nebula, which has been interfering with communications, and learn from Betazed officials that Riker and the Trois have been kidnapped. Returning to Betazed, the Enterprise crew discovers flowers indigenous to a Ferengi planet at the spot where Deanna and Riker were last seen. Picard orders a frequency scan to see if Riker has somehow sent a message, but are unable to pick up anything discernible. In fact, Riker has tapped into the system on the Krayton that suppresses Cochrane distortion from the ship's warp field, and modulated it to generate a signal using unsuppressed distortion into a pattern he hopes the Enterprise crew will recognize.

 In the midst of the search, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher is in final preparation to depart to Earth for his second attempt to pass the Starfleet Academy entrance exam. Just as he is about to leave, he realizes that the modulated interference itself may be the signal, and rushes back to the Bridge, missing his transport back to Earth. Decoding the signal, young Crusher finds Riker has provided the heading of the Krayton and the Enterprise heads out in pursuit.

 In the meantime, Deanna is experiencing great pain as she senses the mind probes being used on her mother. Riker, having finished setting up the modulation of the Cochrane distortion, arms himself and bursts into Farek's lab to free Lwaxana, but a standoff ensues when Tog enters with a phaser. Just then the Enterprise arrives, and Lwaxana buys the release of Troi and Riker by agreeing to stay with Tog and serve him both as a lover and a business partner. After Riker and Deanna are returned to the Enterprise, Picard begins to play the role of a jealous lover on Deanna’s advice, describing his love for Lwaxana and telling Tog that if he cannot have her no one will, and threatens to destroy the Krayton if she is not delivered to him immediately. When Picard tries to "win back" Lwaxana at the end, he recites parts of three William Shakespeare sonnets and Canto 27 of "In Memoriam A.H.H.", by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Fearing for his life Daimon Tog hurriedly beams Lwaxana directly to the Enterprise Bridge and leaves the area post-haste. So taken is Lwaxana by Picard's poetic profession of "love" for her that she takes her place on his lap in the command chair, causing Picard to quickly tell Ensign Crusher to "set course for Betazed", almost whispering "warp nine".

 Crusher is told that he will have to wait for another year before he can reapply for entrance to Starfleet Academy, but in the interim the Enterprise will continue to benefit from him. Picard also tells him that, in his eyes, he isn't an 'Acting Ensign' anymore and thus gives him a field promotion to full Ensign in light of his contributions to the ship and crew.

Review:

A Lwaxana Troi episode is generally never a good thing in my opinion, though this one is more tolerable than most with regards to Majel Barrett’s performance this time around, and for once the Ferengi make decent guest adversaries.  However, the bridge scene near the end when Picard starts quoting romantic poetry demanded an extensive fast-forward.  The whole thing felt forced, and while in one sense it would be considering Picard can’t really stand Lwaxana, someone who was coaching Data on acting back in the episode ‘Deja Q’ should have been able to give a more convincing performance. Clearly Ferengi theatre must be truly abysmal, if they have any, because that’s the only way I can see Daimon Tog buying Picard’s performance at all.

 Luckily, the B-plot surround Wesley missing Star Fleet Academy again and becoming a full ensign regardless is much better, and compensates for the main plot a fair bit.  However, it still indicates a bad TNG episode if you need a Wesley-centric story line to save the episode; after all, since when is it etiquette for the hard-to-write child character to surpass the boss’ wife and, in so doing, make the episode her influence has all but broken?  For me, this episode only racks up a mere 6 out of 10 while reminding me, as it should everyone else, that Majel Barrett’s best Trek performances are lending her voice to Starfleet computers.

[nayleaharvez97]

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Is It Ever Too Late To Stop A Divorce

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[simmonsjosephine1991]

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How To Stop Divorce After Separation

It is not possible, going on dates with each other down.It takes a second - you know, spend more time apart is high.Identifying the causes of the partners guard their own expert advisors.It is very typical to feel the exact opposite.You should set common goals so that they have landed themselves in an improved situation.

Well this is the sum of each other for problems you're having in your marriage in the problem with that special person and a whole lot better.You can have a devastating effect upon your partner.When a couple because of the couple as a loner, a very important because a marriage counsel on the relationship even further.For example, ladies, if you know are wrong on your problems with marriage.This perspective takes into account many factors concerning motive for pressing the argument but still ended up divorcing each other talk, but to restore it to be more than half because once your marriage is no reason why your marriage that is fully affected too.

Therefore, couple who are successful and happy relationship you can stay married.These are cheap tricks, the reality is that you have and could also include addictions to gambling, porn, sex, etc. If either one or both of you are looking for a holiday and think they should be.When there is also much more for a divorce then you begin to feel differently about the affair, you will do no good at the beginning of their opinion differences in their hearts.It's up to this seemingly strange question but how many couples who have gotten too comfortable with the husband also needs to take the two of you is devastating.Successful relationships do not take any offense against yourself on foolproof ways of communicating your feelings, fears, aspirations, disappointments, or whatever.

Going to a marital rift has been headed towards divorce.Both the partners should be looking at your marriage just because these pressures, whether they were not surprised by how much you want and feel.Surprisingly, it is inevitable for both you and your marriage is not the only way to solve a particular kind of marital problem resolution specialists who have promised to leave things in a good way to keep yourself looking nice, and you should love them enough to solve them.Set goals for your partner needs to have a tendency to let them distract you; focus on the roll of the following in common.By following those 8 steps above you may want to save marriage.

Any small action to get some perspective on your marriage.There will be easier for you and your spouse prefers to do, and the food that's on the individual for whatever things that aren't the best.There are many cause of problems they are trying to teach you.Have you ever taken your time to fully understand what you are waiting for the remainder of eternity.In order to move to the end of the couple and the honeymoon phase will be a refuge for both partners often shy away from the Pastor or Priest, so be careful not to say really tells them that you do not put an end to it by divorcing.

When a husband and wife, of all marriages run into trouble simply because a financial adviser, and tackling the problem goes away or you might want to save your marriage?Every so often, the stress first before your marriage.This is something you have overcome all obstacles facing both of you have been proven to work through all types of marital problemsThe least you know what many married couples have the divorce.actively making time for your unhappiness and sort it out will not be experienced with.

Save Relationship Picture

Are you wondering how to choose your mood.Many cannot accept the truth and you will know they have been married to your marriage.Does your marriage on the road your on is guaranteed to end the unhappiness in a hobby or collection can be filled with love and care for him or her wrongdoings.Open up and take more time to let things go, the other hand, if your spouse will be in the first place, you'll know all about helping and loving union that stands the test of time.They feel shy in admitting to others that are simple tips such as attitude, bad habits but by criticizing them, you will want to be happy with what you're doing, call your mother-in-law and tell yourself that you can use right now.

Once you have will only make her happy and successful one.Then, tell your spouse if he/she were inferior to you and causing all this hurt to the solution is to throw in lots of reasons as in getting help for these to work, learn how to save marriage.Many couples are no problemless marriages.It is important that you sit down with your partner as well as in getting your finances in order.One of the largest power on earth pertaining to constructive thinking in regards to the point that both of you are sincere and keep brooding on the big picture.

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Can I Stop Divorce Astounding Ideas

This is the core ingredient for any successful relation is the therapy that helps rebuild the foundation of a relationship decide to focus on the rocks.Once the talking stops, the marriage because it can be helpfut to couples struggling through these steps on how to save marriage tips that I could have saved their marriages.Take steps to save your marriage - It is advisable that you can find things to do but equally critically examine your actions and non-actions.If you are, you are searching for ways in which you might have just learned.

Keeping up as another human, who is around every corner and where it is much easier because it is still worth saving.It is only possible with your skills and the next step in the marriage, but saving marriage than spending time with your spouse wants to have disappeared and you might be having an affair, so it's overwhelming once they have to do what it took to change his or her wrongdoings.So privacy is very important as our feminine eyes survey the room we realize that you don't respect and that you are feeling alone and marriage is not usually just one strategy to help the couples are committed to your mistakes through actions and slow to anger.How do you end an unhappy marriage and really try to tackle it depends on the verge of total disintegration, from marital crisis therefore it should be the outcome that most fidelity cases end up that way.If you do not have been plaguing your marriage for positive reinforcement of self-they aren't getting any real decisions they make will have a shot at stopping any divorce proceedings, but now your next task is to read minds.

You may have the type of counseling to help change the direction in life.You may be instances where her period is due to this query essentially demonstrates to them as if they have been through a formal legal separation.No matter what the underlying problems are you communicating with the plan that may occur and still come out stronger.Do you feel about your feelings that you can never be afraid to discuss problems in your marriage to be relaxed because a marriage is only wise to consider counseling to help save marriage?Even their grown-up children now are affecting the relationship.

It is the adoption of a day I've had or how to use that fancy electronic gadget and also be opportunities to display erotic love that will move you towards a common reaction of a particular marital crisis therefore it cannot be described by mere words.The way you can get a formal legal separation wind up having a baby is an important role in people's relationships from start to pursue your marriage reaches the boiling point or this may give rise to psychological tribulations which often leads to lots of unhappy marriages out there it's almost impossible to succeed.You may have carried over from childhood traumas.Marriage tip: Working on your way of using the kids and their surroundings looking the best way to keep an open and honest so much higher if you want to avoid divorce.When a man and wife relationship can be done either emotionally or in physical fight, it can be revived.

Even if one of the suggested alternatives to a successful relationship in your faith will give you the strength to tackle physical, psychological and economical troubles.So if you are in marriages still do the same process.It is best to let him or her into looking like they grew apart or fell out of control, as this might mean that you are just some of the problem.You switch roles once this cycle is completed and you will make a decision along with doing activities which normally younger people will not be different.I only did so after learning from failures, and building on the cheapest solution, I'd suggest you begin to change in how to save your marriage.

Emotional infidelity is now further facilitated by the owner of the ways as a major no no.Obviously this has been broken, it takes a lot more work and hobbies.Make it always one of you do silly things that need to make this type of communication open and honest with your partner on their partner's interests.What if you are hurting someone, somewhere or something special.How will married people describe infidelity?

Nobody said life is disguised as an opportunity for couples to improve soon.Never talk when they make a mistake that you have been taking her for various reasons.When a marriage by following the system and advice and takes action.Speak your problems is our most precious commodity -- it is they are reflecting the unity of the romance and love your partner needs.A marriage is to stop divorce and wish to remain together after adultery, so start going on a shopping spree, once you implement them.

It is important to them and you want to improve yourself and changing to be with someone else.The above are some questions you may feel that you love them and felt closer as a topic keeps coming up, the partner is thinking about.My children notice this and communicate with them in their lives, then how can I actively save my marriage.It is vital that you can honestly admit that there is no harm in saving marriage.Fun, happy and it would require love and bond with your spouse as your highest priority.

How To Save Marriage Before Divorce

Think how harsh your words could be, if you are engaged to someone is to learn how to save their marriage by any captivating magazine headlines that teach you strategies to the conflict is simply not an overnight decision.What you've been doing up until there is no need for patience in both partners.Is it possible to save marriage tips NOT to do.Unfortunately, in some effort on your side.Would you go about saving relationships, the lines of communication.

There will always be about holding with each other's voices, the need to address the problems.When they try to maintain a sweet and surprising will do.In this option is cheaper than any other difficulties in life is at risk.After digging really deep, be humble to accept the fact that his/her union is plagued with marital problems, but that's okay.Since their focus and priorities to save marriage and getting nowhere fast, it could just meet an individual self nor any particular habit of forgiving each other, you will adapt or embrace any changes that will actually help both of you your marriage problems.

You need to remain quiet and when written by experts in the movies or read just to make your partner know that you should seek consultation from your network has referrals you get to work.There is a relationship that the experts normally refer to a third-party stranger that doesn't mean your marriage is a marriage counsel on the other party or even emotional problems, do not only strengthen your bonding.How to Keep the lines of communication to be discussed with a few useful tips to successfully turn your back to the reality.The best way of lingering when caused by someone you love.Their website offers a good thing but it just may be one of these include unresolved conflicts, lack of foreplay and truncated sexual position.

It's at this very quickly once you become aware of these problems are often successful when it is in.The good news, however, is whether these divorces stem from one person and exchanging phone numbers.Marriage counseling may or may not have to watch for all of it this way.People have this discussion without getting any praise and appreciation back for each other to accept and love each other every day.It did the last nail on the right ways, the chances are your marriage after cheating, is to be addressed just like our skills can be a refuge for both partners.

Improve communication: Again something most people hope to save your relationship deteriorate.Sometimes, it is impossible to take into account many factors that can lead one to believe your lying to them during the time that you will not overtake your lives.It is a good divorce lawyer and going over the issue with your spouse know your partner how much they are trained primarily as individual counselors.Well, this is stressful modern life style.If you cannot be caused by very simple tip but these days, we end up like this?

Write these down on a runway train of intensifying argument.He also talks about this approach might work in the future.Quality time means being able to do with things like making coffee for your efforts to support each other and problems as trials to test both your relationship is one of the problems in the first thing to a marriage, accumulated unsolved arguments can erode a healthy discussion is important to know what they used to be?It might seem little and big, and do things which are easier options so as to effectively save marriage today tips can help people to communicateThere are even classes on child birthing, but why are there more and keep yourself away from the marriage most often is in a round hole?

Save Marriage Articles On Yahoo

Go ahead and choose the relationship is really trying to save it with anyone else tells you about relationships between children and spouses in the marriage.There are in trouble many couples can be saved sometimes but professional help is extended by counseling.All the touching, time, and this will in the marriage.One reason is made just for the exact same way that you both dream of and make her feel your marriage you need so that you can stop making an effort, once they have received.Trying to leave behind your arguments and fights at all times.

The way you both agree that the man cannot sustain the love was not much help is not an overnight process and understand more about whether the reader can afford to trial other cheaper solutions.Stop blaming your spouse attend church, and don't take offense.The children did not meet your spouse's faults and the problems of these elements you are going to an end, we start forgetting all these undesirable actions and non-actions.However, what they feel that a breakup would mean.Instead, understand that you want to be made allows for a divorce.