#Food Chain Magnate

[whovian223]

Friday Night Shots - Catch Up Mechanisms

Friday Night Shots - Catch Up Mechanisms

It’s the last Friday before Christmas and all through the malls, too many creatures were stirring, so much so that I would rather carve Shem Phillips’ initials into my hand with a penknife than go shopping. I think that’s how that old Christmas poem goes. I could be a bit off. Anyway, welcome back to the bar! I’m glad you decided to get cozy and warm here, having some libations (maybe not…

[maristane]

Food Chain Magnate: Special Edition

Except for the covers, by the great Kwanchai Moriya, all characters in this video and all Employee Cards so far have been illustrated by me ✨.

A deluxe, very limited edition of one of the 40 best board games of all time, according to its rank on BoardGameGeek. My style was a great fit for what they had in mind and it's super fun to work with Lucky Duck Games and the amazing team they have assembled for this. Grab your copy while you can! This update showcases a bit of my work and process:

[thenightfolknetwork]

I am an antichrist.

The Real thing, born to a seventh virgin daughter after her soul was consumed by my father, Satan, in a ritual of fire, glory and light.

I was raised as instructed by The Book— Don't ask which Book, you don't want to know, the knowledge would melt your eardrums— to be the destroyer of the world, the prince of sins and the devourer of souls. I am the One Who Will Bring Fire to the earth, I am the One who will run the blood of innocents through the streets and boil the sea with my mere desire, I am the dark side of the moon, I am humanity's nightmare, I am—

I am 12 years old.

And I'm at school.

I just learned about ecosystems: The delicate balance of a food chain, the harmony that exists in the earth when a network of fungi extracts nitrogen from the earth and a rotting tree leaves the soil rich for next spring.

I found out about corals recently too. They are alive and an extremely complex life form for something that will never move, corals don't die as long as nothing kills them, isn't that a strange and wonderful concept?

I always wanted to be the World Destroyer.

It never occurred to me that bringing hell to earth would mean no deer or bees or coyotes.

If you increase the average sea temperature by more than two degrees, millions of corals will die. I don't know if I want to boil the sea if that's the end result.

But I am the Antichrist and I like being the Antichrist. I like to be Apotheosis, the crack in the glass, the rotten apple, the mercury in the water.

But I also like the world as it is, even if it doesn't bow down to me in fear.

What do I do?

(What do I say to my father?)

This is the problem with prophecies – they always put the subject under such a tremendous amount of pressure! I feel sure that, if your father had simply not mentioned his plans for your future, you would have grown up without these anxieties and likely gone on to fulfil your unholy purpose without a second thought, in a time frame that felt sensible and natural to you.

Instead, you've been burdened with a terrible and unreasonable amount of responsibility. No wonder you're feeling torn! This is more than any twelve year old should have to consider.

The important thing to remember is that you don't have to make a decision about this right away. You are the Antichrist and you will remain the Antichrist while you take a little while to decide the best course of action for you. The end of the world will still be there when you're ready for it.

As to the apocalypse itself, this is the other reason prophecies can be so frustrating. They are simply never specific enough to be helpful. Yes, you may be destined to end the world – but which world, exactly? And how much of that 'blood of innocents, boiling seas' stuff is literal, and how much is just a religious scribe getting carried away with himself?

In my experience, there are many, many ways a person might fulfil a prophecy without having to bring a fiery demise to this particular realm of existence. You might take a short hop over to another reality and destroy an uninhabited world, for example.

Alternatively, you might take your prophecy in a more metaphorical sense. “The world” we live in today is one that allows billionaires and business magnates destroy our environment in the name of profit. Perhaps you could fulfil your great purpose by destroying the social and political structures that make that world possible.

I understand your trepidation about bringing this up with your father. However, I really do think that you should consider it. Looking after you is his job, after all, and I'm sure he wouldn't want you struggling with these feelings alone. Reach out to him, and let him know how you feel.

You don’t have to decide this all at once. Whatever else you say to your father, you need to make it clear that you will not be embarking on any sort of apotheosis until you've at least finished your GCSEs. You are a child, and you deserve to have a proper childhood, whatever the future might hold for you.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[captain-gillian]

Here is a nice ask right back 💜🩷

What culture shock and antics would the 126 get into if they visited Australia?

(I will answer yours later probably when I am not doing what I'm supposed to do on my prep time at work again haha)

thank you so much for the return nice ask! 💕

this is a really fun one, i think they'd be on seperate trips not all at once, so they'd have different culture shocks and experiences. i have deffs overthought all of this, but it was fun. there's some new fic ideas brewing now.

so tk & carlos are on a vacation to celebrate their anniversary, tk has always wanted to see the great barrier reef.

owen is on a vacation because tk raved about the australian beaches so much, mateo tags along with owen.

grace, judd & charlie are in victoria visiting grace's sisters who are in aus for their music and doing a trip along the great ocean road.

tommy and the girls go on a trip to australia zoo because while tommy was sick she realised life is too short and she's always wanted to see a koala in real life, so once she's better, she pulls the girls out of school to spend two weeks in australia. they also visit uluru and learn about aboriginal culture and bush tucker.

paul and asha go on their honeymoon.

marjan and nancy are chosen to go to a global conference in perth about leadership for female first responders, to represent the AFD.

as for their antics and culture shocks:

for tk, I think he would somehow end up rescuing an animal, maybe an orphan wombat joey and trying to convince carlos that he can raise it fine and they don’t need to call WIRES (a wildlife carer organisation), carlos calls anyway. as for carlos, who we know is not a great traveller, I think he'd struggle with how even the familiar stuff, like american chain stores/fast food places, and basic foods like bread are different in Australia, but he'd find how laid back it is, even in touristy areas really relaxing for his anxiety.

I think judd would be surprised by how different and challenging he finds it to drive on the opposite side of the road. at first he assumes it'll be easy, he's a really competent driver, he can drive a firetruck, how hard is it to drive a minivan on the 'wrong' side of the road. He also absolutely loses his mind at hook turns in melbourne (for good reason, who came up with those?) In the end, grace takes over for their road trip along the great ocean road, and is a total natural at driving on the left. judd sits in the back with charlie pointing out every animal they pass and playing "i spy" with her. at some point in their trip, they pass a bunnings and charlie gets really excited because that looks just like hammerbarn from bluey.

i think owen would go to bondi beach to surf, and end up in an episode of bondi rescue stealing the lifeguard's thunder by pulling off some daredevil rescue before the lifeguards get there (but not before the cameras do), then he gets a really hipster vegan smoothie from a nearby cafe and somehow ends up getting a date with a rich much younger local blonde woman who's sole heiress to a mining magnate.

meanwhile, mateo takes a day trip to the blue mountains, to see if they're really blue in real life. he comes across wild kangaroos and thinks it would be so dope to send everyone back home a selfie of him petting a kangaroo and thus becomes intimately equated with the differences between paramedicine in austin and sydney. after he's been stitched up he avoids the wildlife, opting to wander around the city near their hotel playing pokemon go when owen goes to the zoo.

paul & asha are looking forward to a really relaxing honeymoon, along the east coast, eating good food, drinking good wine, sitting by the pool reading, walking along the beach, hiking and taking in the wildlife. unfortunately, as a member of the 126, paul can't stop attracting trouble, with people having emergencies everywhere they go. on the flight there, there's bad turbulence, a few people get hurt and paul has to give minor first aid. then they get to a resturant that had amazing reviews for the australian fusion cusine, paul has been dying to try it and a woman at the next table chokes just as their first course arrives. paul has to render aid until the ambulance arrives, by the time it does his food is cold, the resturant comps their meal though. then when they're driving to a mountain to go hiking, a car crashes in front of them, they help rescue the driver with no equipment before the car is engulfed in flames. by the time help arrives and they give their details etc, it's too late in the day to start their hike. a man almost drowns in the hotel pool just as paul gets to the good part of his book, the lifeguard doesn't notice, so he has to rescue them. asha starts to joke they shouldn't leave their hotel room. that said, paul is shocked by how good all the food is in australia, and the coffee. he struggles to adjust back to american coffee when he gets home, and starts importing a specalised blend from a cafe they visited in australia who ship worldwide.

while nancy and marjan are at their conference, they're constantly next to each other, in each other's personal space and making inside jokes/laughing at things the other says, to the point everyone they meet, including hen who's there representing the afd, assumes they're dating (they aren't, yet) and asks what it's like working together and dating. marjan wants to go to rottnest island while they're in perth and get a quokka selfie for her instagram, she gets at least a dozen, and convinces nancy she needs to be in at least one quokka selfie with her. they send it to the 126 groupchat and tk assumes it's an announcement that they're finally dating. they both blush. by the end of the trip they are, infact, dating.

tommy & the twins go to queensland first, they have the best time as a family at australia zoo where they cuddle a koala and tommy is so excited to see robert irwin doing the croc feeding show. then they go to the gold coast and stay by the beach, where tommy expereinces the culture shock of how much more laid back and peaceful it is. she wants to have a really 'authentic' experience, so they have fish and chips on the beach. they're surprised that nobody else is eating on the beach, until they get attacked by a flock of seagulls. after losing half their chips and all their calamari to the gulls, they decide to have ice cream for dinner instead. the twins dare tommy to try vegemite flavoued ice cream, and not only does she like it, but she gets it with a scoop of cookies and cream. when they're learning about bush tucker on their uluru trip, tommy is the only person in the tour group willing to try witcherry grubs.

[ghostpalmtechnique]

On Friday I played Food Chain Magnate (with the updated milestones from The Ketchup Mechanism) and Keyflower with The Merchants. Yesterday, I played Voidfall, Brass Birmingham, and First rat. I will be getting at least one game in at an event this evening, as well. So at least the year is going out on a high note.

[saluteofthejugger]

i fucking love board games i set up food chain magnate while at my lovers and we didnt even have time to play it but i just imagined playing it and got so excited

[treeremovalpensacola]

More than a cheeseburger in paradise heres 3 business lessons from Jimmy Buffett

If you're in the Pensacola area, then you have probably already experienced the need for having to remove a tree or stump or getting your tree's trimmed. The cost of tree removal varies depending on a few factors, such as: - The type of tree that needs to be removed - The size of the tree - The location of the tree - The condition of the tree Pensacola Tree Removal offers competitive pricing for our tree removal services. For a full list of services Tree removal services visit Tree Services Pensacola Florida for a fast, friendly and reliable quote that you can count on. This will help not only beautify your property but also is the safest way to do it. (Photo: Viktor_Gladkov/iStock/Getty Images/Getty Images Plus) With the passing of Jimmy Buffett, I pondered his life and what it can teach us about the right and wrong way to build a business. Jimmy sings about working as little as humanly possible. Life should be about beach bumming, drinking whenever and fooling around. And yet, Mr. Buffett passed away a very wealthy man after working exceedingly hard in life. Here are three surprising business lessons from Jimmy himself: 1. Success is 1 percent inspiration Surprisingly, Jimmy Buffet had only one Top 10 song. We all know “Margaritaville”, it peaked at No. 8 in July 1977. But, he had a mind for business. Buffet saw that he could do better than most musicians if he could control his own supply chain of music, products and spin-offs. He had built up a following (called parrot heads) and he realized that they wanted more than his concerts — they wanted to live his lifestyle. 2. Selling the lifestyle Jimmy built a business empire selling food, drinks, products, merchandise and experiences all related to that “Margaritaville” lifestyle. That was his big idea (the 1 percent). The rest was hard work (99 percent perspiration). Based on the advice of business magnate Warren Buffett (no relation), he built a management team, but he could never let go of the details. He had become so diversified that only he could grasp the level of authenticity needed with every detail. He worked hard to keep it all going, but was that the best way? 3. Work/life balance The term work/life balance became popular in the 1980s as hard-charging baby boomers recognized the need to slow down to enjoy life. Recently there has been a countertrend. Today’s experts say there is no work/life balance, but rather work/life integration, where we fluidly go from work to play to work again. As an entrepreneur, I fully grasp the meaning of a blended life. But it’s not enough. I propose we cycle back to how the early entrepreneurs pursued success. My very successful grandfather would always implore us to work hard and play hard, but do them separately. I think he got it right. To enjoy your success, find time for the people who matter most, including yourself. But, like Jimmy Buffet, you have to find your own path. Your challenge Pick a business strategy that allows you to have a joyful life. At my Summer Growth Summit, we dove into the inner workings of Mariani Landscape and saw that huge success requires a huge effort. There is no way around it. The key is to keep your business streamlined enough to scale it and still have a life. Jimmy Buffett built an empire that only he could manage. Was that really the only way? Develop your vision, build your empire — but allow others to help you get there. We will miss you, Jimmy. I hope you find that lost shaker of salt! The post More than a cheeseburger in paradise, here’s 3 business lessons from Jimmy Buffett first appeared on Landscape Management.

[lunarfly-studios]

Katherine "Kit" Price

Okay so dA's being the usual buggy garbage site it is and won't let me upload this reference sheet there cause the submission page keeps crashing my browser

SO THIS BBY'S GOING HERE FIRST

I haven't organized/structured a reference sheet in YEARS but I'm actually really happy with how this one turned out, especially for one of my favorite characters to draw/write!

Kit would absolutely put "Eat the rich. Yes, that makes me a cannibal" on a t-shirt, and I appreciate that kind of energy.

She was conceived as both a counterbalance to the corrupt business and political climate present in Biker Mice From Mars while also giving the main cast a broader breadth of resources and putting them on a somewhat more even playing field with Limburger (considering I write him to be a way more calculating threat than he was in the show).

Plus it helps greatly expand the potential for slice-of-life stories as well as major conflicts if they can access for exclusive places or travel anywhere in the world without much hassle.

She's an ally that plays ball in Limburger's court while everyone else is outside throwing rocks and Maltov cocktails at the stadium if that makes sense. It definitely pays to have someone on your side who can afford a lawyer to keep your rebel vigilante tail out of prison.

She's just out here doin' her best to help as many people as possible, send aid, her imposter's syndrome is astronomical

~~~

Basic Introductory Info about her:

Full Name: Katherine Guinevere Price

Honorifics:

Lady or Marquess (On Venus)

Mx. or Ms. (on Earth; Mx. is by default, and she's very selective with Ms.)

Master/Madam (Li only. He uses them pretty interchangeably. Master is pretty general, but Madam is generally when she's getting on his nerves or when he very urgently needs to get her attention.)

Nicknames: Kit, Kitten, Kitkat, Princess, Katie

Aliases:

Kit's someone who tries very hard to keep her work and personal life separate. In the public sphere, she goes by the name Kathleen Victoria Moon.

LunarLight99 is her online gaming handle and her handle on most of her non-work-related social media platforms and personal e-mail.

K.V.Moonlight is her handle on her work-related platforms and her work e-mail.

As a fiction writer, she operates under the pen name Cordilea Rosewood.

Titles:

Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of Lunarlight Enterprises

Co-Owner of LunarTech Industries (With her father, Cedar Price)

Founder of the Iridescent Youth and Wellness Rebahilitation Center

Pronouns: She/They (She is by default in narration. Both are equally acceptable in conversation)

Age: 26-27 Years Old D.O.B: June 20th, 1999

Species: Caucasian/Native American Human / First Colony (Butterfly/Moth) Venusian Kinkaeda

Occupation: Business Magnate, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Investor | Fiction Author (mostly just for fun, but it does bring in a small income too)

Economic Class: Billionaire

Personal Summary:

"Wha--No, no, listen. Listen to me. No one buys caviar because it actually tastes good, they buy it to announce to the world 'LOOK AT HOW MUCH MONEY I CAN AFFORD TO THROW AWAY'. And I'm just... not interested in food that doesn't taste good. I'd rather just get Chick-Fil-A and be done with it."

Katherine Price is a creative, compassionate, artistic, and charismatic young woman who achieved great success through unconventional means.

She wasn't born into great wealth, but she didn't work her way up from the bottom either. Her wealth, her position of influence and power, was granted to her as her grandmother's final gift in her will after her death six years ago. After spending her entire life a slave to circumstance, chained by her disabilities and her family's well-intentioned sheltering, she had been granted the tools to lift herself out of poverty. And since then, she made an eternal promise to be the same person for others that her grandmother was for her.

Kit is a firm believer that those with wealth, influence, and power are social leaders with responsibilities to their communities, even if the current sentiment among the wealthy elite feels otherwise, and that those who would horde their wealth like dragons and exploit and trample on the working class for their own benefit have no place in prominent positions of power.

One would think her unending empathy and compassion for the working class would lead to well-intentioned but irresponsible business decisions, but by surrounding herself with accomplished people and utilizing clever, outside-the-box thinking, she's created a business model that created success by putting her workers, consumers, and the public first, and her investors and board of directors second.

She's developed a brand and reputation for herself that's made reception towards her very mixed, in the eyes of the media, the public, and inner elite circles. Some criticize her for her practices being unreasonable, uncompromising, risky, and costly, others admire her for her unbending value in human life above the dollar. Some just can't bring themselves to argue with success, while others are envious of the media attention her controversial decisions generate for her.

Any PR is good PR, but she prefers hers to have positive outcomes. And if nothing else, she's become extremely popular with the younger generation.

Despite all the good she's done, though, Imposter's Syndrome is cruel and unforgiving. None of her success changed her being disabled; suffering Chronic Pain, being autistic, suffering from mental illness, and constantly having to guard her half-alien status from the public. She's created jobs by delegating tasks to those she deems more qualified, but no matter how many lives she's changed and improved, it's never enough. Never enough to justify her obscene wealth.

Despite all the personal freedom and free time and luxuries she has now, in many ways, she still finds herself beholden to others and what she can do for them.

Full Toyhouse Bio (WIP): https://toyhou.se/13050960.bmfm-kit

~~~~~

Katherine Price, Art (c) Me/Lunarlight/QueenFighterfly

Disclaimer: Please do not steal, repost/redistribute, use, edit or trace any of my written or visual works without my written consent.

I also do not consent to my art being taken and utilized for AI training.

I do not post my art on Instagram or Pinterest, so if you find it there, it wasn't me and was posted without my consent or knowledge.

[vivistarlight]

Food Chain Magnate is a weird game to me in particular. Normally as much as I like strategy games, I tend to overthink it and just like set my brain on fire with keeping track of too many things and making it extremely difficult for me to actually keep everything in my head or plan something long-term. And then Food Chain Magnate I feel like I can perfectly comprehend and can even plan several turns out with a little bit of room for error due to the natural variance of, ya’know, other players doing stuff. I really enjoy the game, it’s really fun. Highly recommend if you can stomach a horrible eldritch monstrosity of a game masquerading as an innocent food chain management game.

[scrumpyfan43]

just got the worst Food Chain Magnate map

[whovian223]

Friday Night Shots - Playing with Non-Gamers?

Friday Night Shots - Playing with Non-Gamers?

It’s another clear, and cold, Friday night, but it’s warm here in the bar, isn’t it? I think I turned up the heat. Or maybe I just have a bad fever. Either way, have a seat and let me get you your favourite libation! We can start chatting after David Gray is done. That was nice. I hope you’re looking forward to a nice weekend! Maybe you’ll be playing some games with new gamers? Hey, let’s…

[never-sated]

Walked into our Friendly Local Game Store (Atomic Empire) today and saw this just sitting on one of the display shelves. Obviously I had to buy it.

[reversedguins]

[ghostpalmtechnique]

On Saturday morning I drove the eight miles to the meet-up, only to discover that Herndon was having its winter festival, and there was nowhere to park. So I didn't get to game, and went home and watched The Batman instead.

Fortunately, made up for this in the evening, where I got to try Brick & Mortar (2021), which finally and fortuitously arrived on my doorstep about an hour before I had to head for my friend's home. (

This probably my second favorite new game of the year (behind only The Great Wall, which is in my top 5 of all time). It is a medium-weight economic game, although rather than winning by having the most money at the end it features the mechanism (most famously deployed in Clinic) where players must decide how much of their cash on hand to spend buying victory points at the end of each round, a decision that is here also complicated because the tiebreaker for buying and selling goods is being further behind on the VP track. (details and pictures below cut)

This falls into the same category as Keyflower and The Estates, in that the whimsical art is hiding a cutthroat game. (Below: main board/a player board, shop cards, and money cards)

This is an extremely heads-up game; you have to be paying close attention to what other players are trying to/capable of doing. When acquiring goods from the wholesale market or selling to customers, players secretly set prices and quantities (where you get early dibs if you buy more dearly or sell more cheaply.

On top of that, the amount of stock available to acquire and demand from customers is also set by the players, who each have a hand of cards that they prepare behind player screens - either face up to fill the market during supply, or face down to appear as customer demand during sales. Opponent has a monopoly on selling art? Guess nobody but them is putting any cards with art on them in the demand pile, etc.

In addition to the tight economics, there is a dash of Glory to Rome/Mottainai in this, in that each store is unique and breaks the rules in some small or not-so-small way, so you are also looking for good combos in the shops in your storefront.

The box claims that Brick & Mortar takes 1-2 hours, which is a lie. Even when you're fluent in the rules, figure 1.5-2.5 hours. And while it's technically for 2-4 players, these mechanisms are only going to shine with at least 3 and ideally the full 4. But if you have 3-4 people who will want to play a tight economic game I highly recommend this one. (Complexity-wise, this is a definite step up from, say, Smartphone, Inc. but a step down from e.g. Arkwright or Food Chain Magnate.)

[prvtocol]

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓇𝓎 𝒮𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈

Vez and Brianne Landry are half-sisters. Brianne is 10 years older than Vez. They share the same father who sits at the top of the corpo food chain as the COO of the ECC Division of Arasaka Bank. While Brianne’s mother is not a corpo (she is a wealthy Parisian heiress of real estate magnates), Vez’s mother is the chief representative of Arasaka Paris (also French). Both girls were raised with expectations to work for Arasaka and provided the education to do so: top notch boarding schools, elite universities, career advancement camps and training, physician augmentations, etc. 

The difference in age meant they were not schooled together. Brianne was schooled in London; Vez in Paris. However, the shared pressure and reality of trust being in short supply beyond family ties meant the two formed an unbreakable bond. It continues the further they get into their careers. It goes without saying that Brianne’s caring, nurturing personality clashes with Vez, who is cold and apathetic, but they accept and understand each other. Between campaigns or during undercover operations in NUSA, Vez lives at her sister’s estate in North Oak. When Vez goes dark (on missions), Brianne is never not awaiting to hear from her.

The big sister mentality of Bri is heightened because of the past. When Vez was 12 years old (Brianne, 22), she was the victim of a kidnapping incident and held hostage by Militech for 13 months. The trauma of this event altered the child’s bright personality, making her more reticent and distant. Over time, it seemed Brianne was the only one she could tolerate and open up to. No one in the family (father, mother, or Brianne), liked the path Vez chose (by entering Black Ops). They all shield themselves from the dangers of their corp existence, while Vez rushes head first into them. But as Brianne would say, a calling is a calling and for her sister, “in the field” seems to be the only place she comes alive.

[poscidxn]

ψ KAI ANTHONY PIERCE ψ

full name: kai anthony pierce age: 34 nicknames: kai, k, pierce deity: poseidon gender identity & pronouns: he/his sexual orientation: bisexual birthplace: new york city, usa nationality: american languages: english occupation: co-owner and martial arts instructor at the agoge gym

moral alignment: chaotic neutral temperament: choleric vices: volatile, hot-headed, independent virtue: magnetic, adaptive, quick-witted power traits: mental serenity and physical pain-relief while in water, for him and sometimes for others around him locked powers: manipulation of water

full biography below; ( triggers: parental death tw, car accident tw, surgery tw, smoking & drinking tw, )

you are born into the family of medical science magnates and everything you want is presented to you on a silver platter. the mother isn't really your mother, you're a result of your father's affairs, yet that is a secret only your parents know. your father's wife isn't a fool, though. she knows and she keeps silent but you find security in your father. you grow up spoiled, a bully who is nothing but bitter to the people around him. your circle is small, but genuine and you like to show control over them. life is good on top of the food chain, yet when your father dies all of his responsibilities fall on your head. you've never moved even a finger to work towards accomplishing a goal and when you decide to not interfere in your deceased father's business, your 'mother' tyrannically picks up his pieces and starts growing cold on you. she allows another man to step into the household and both of them show you how easily removable you are.

they have a child and suddenly you don't exist. you are no longer a pierce. by the point you're fully forgotten by the pair you move into college and reality truly engulfs you. your so called 'mother' pays for an australian education under the condition you stay there and never return or she'll make sure your life miserable. so you go and you're no one there. your name means nothing, your life means even less. so, logically, you draw upon the nature of your personality. charming people is the only ladder to success and you slowly see it. you engulf in your hobbies and start working on yourself.

you become the college's favorite swimmer, you star and win championships while reading newspapers of your forgotten family's success. you change majors and become an athlete and you conquer new horizons. finally seeing your future drawn right before you reliefs you; you become a better person. you find love in the eyes of a person who is able to break through your walls and reach your heart. life is good for a fleeting moment.

and then you are hit by the inevitable. fate.

at the age of twenty-four, while on a swimming tournament in Australia you are hit by a car and your promising career comes to a swift end. your body survives but your heart bears the most damage. your friends and your partner abandon you in this time of need and you are left alone again. a few surgeries and recovery sessions later and your coaches forbid you to participate in their high-intensity plans for the future and you just chose to stay here. begin anew, again. you find yourself on an island, you feel drawn to it. you swim in its waters and you feel the serenity your body exhumes; you feel your heart at ease, your mind ever-clear; as if you were destined to be here.

but, there's a downhill to every successful story. you begin smoking and drinking, you begin fooling around with people at every opportune moment. the old kai pops at the surface and your tongue begins to incinerate everyone around you. there are two assumptions around magnetic island about you - either the kind man who is ready to help with your problems or the inferno of a human who will tear you down. but maybe that's who you are supposed to be; a person of contrast. perhaps it was always in your nature, so why run away from it?

the only thing that keeps you calm and at home is water. it's like you are one with it. with time you understand it holds a special place in your heart and soul; odd and eerie, yet you accept it. with your path toward the skies you begin finding yourself in different stories. you flip through pages and you start unraveling this mystical connection you've always had with the substance of life, finding yourself in stories and visions. you think you're insane at first, but then you just accept it.

you start investing and researching businesses, tap into your father's legacy. martial arts is your new hobby-turned-profession. you take it easy, yet you discipline yourself, you find yourself anew this time without charming others into your life, but all alone. you lost yourself once because of arrogance, twice because of fate; you don't want people to come close to you again. you rely on yourself. the guarded walls of your soft heart are your words; you ignite at the first spark, you don't let much people in. you want to burn, but instead you levitate above. you try to channel the serenity of the nocturnal ocean and feel at home. you build kingdoms and you clutch them in your fists, daring anybody to try and steal them away from you again.

but how long will you thrive alone?